Here are four stocks with buy rank and strong income characteristics for investors to consider today, June 3rd: Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (MMLP): This company that engages in the terminalling, processing, storage and packaging of petroleum products and by-products has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 9.4% over the last 60 days. Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Price and Consensus Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Price and Consensus Martin Midstream Partners L.P. price-consensus-chart | Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Quote This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has a dividend yield of 9.5%, compared with the industry average of 0%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 15.3%. Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Dividend Yield (TTM) Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Dividend Yield (TTM) Martin Midstream Partners L.P. dividend-yield-ttm | Martin Midstream Partners L.P. Quote City Office REIT, Inc. (CIO): This company that invests in high-quality office properties has witnessed the zacks consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 13.3% over the last 60 days. City Office REIT, Inc. Price and Consensus City Office REIT, Inc. Price and Consensus City Office REIT, Inc. price-consensus-chart | City Office REIT, Inc. Quote This Zacks Rank #1 company has a dividend yield of 6.2%, compared with the industry average of 4.6%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 7.8%. City Office REIT, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM) City Office REIT, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM) City Office REIT, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | City Office REIT, Inc. Quote B&G Foods, Inc. (BGS): This manufacturer of shelf-stable and frozen foods and household products has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 19.2% over the last 60 days. BG Foods, Inc. Price and Consensus BG Foods, Inc. Price and Consensus BG Foods, Inc. price-consensus-chart | BG Foods, Inc. Quote This Zacks Rank #1 company has a dividend yield of 7.9%, compared with the industry average of 0%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 6.2%. BG Foods, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM) BG Foods, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM) BG Foods, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | BG Foods, Inc. Quote Frontline Ltd. (FRO): This shipping company has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 17.1% over the last 60 days. Story continues Frontline Ltd. Price and Consensus Frontline Ltd. Price and Consensus Frontline Ltd. price-consensus-chart | Frontline Ltd. Quote This Zacks Rank #1 company has a dividend yield of 17.6%, compared with the industry average of 0%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 5.6%. Frontline Ltd. Dividend Yield (TTM) Frontline Ltd. Dividend Yield (TTM) Frontline Ltd. dividend-yield-ttm | Frontline Ltd. Quote See the full list of top ranked stocks here. Find more top income stocks with some of our great premium screens. 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 >> 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 Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (MMLP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Frontline Ltd. (FRO) : Free Stock Analysis Report City Office REIT, Inc. (CIO) : Free Stock Analysis Report BG Foods, Inc. (BGS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the leading trade and logistics hub in Dubai, has announced its readiness to facilitate the full operations of over 8,000 companies through conducting a massive disinfection programme across all its facilities. The area covered for internal fumigation and disinfection of buildings is around 3,300,000 sq m. The road disinfection campaign carried out a couple of months ago to limit the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19) covered more than 35 km, said a statement. The disinfection programme started in March 2020, and has not stopped since then. It has covered all office and accommodation buildings, security gates and commercial centres, as well as the main roads in Jafza. With the return of staff, Jafza has implemented comprehensive policy and guidelines such as executing complete disinfection and sanitisation programme for all equipment, vehicles, offices and other physical assets. Isolation rooms have been identified, and all processes and procedures are in line with DHA guidelines for dealing with such cases. All Covid-related essentials such as identification of symptoms, emergency numbers, awareness and instructions will be conveyed through desktop displays, emails, text messages, notices and flyers. Such resolute measures will sustain business continuity and facilitate resumption of essential operations, it said. Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO and Managing Director, DP World, UAE Region and CEO of Jafza, said: As the world is working to cope with Covid-19, Dubai will play a pivotal role in the post-pandemic economy recovery thanks to its state-of-art infrastructure, effective resilience strategies and its ability to efficiently deal with all circumstances. In line with Dubai Governments directives for private sector businesses to operate at 100 per cent capacity while Dubai government employees would fully resume working at their offices from June 14, 2020, we are ready for the immediate return of Jafza companies to pursue normal operations. We will continue to implement the highest precautionary measures and full inspections aiming to protect the health and safety of all our employees and partners. Were also working closely with all companies in Jafza to continuously raise awareness about the required measures which will keep their staff and customers safe in compliance with the directives of the competent authorities in Dubai and the UAE. Al Muallem added: The safety of our community is our top priority because people are our most valuable asset. Over the months, we have implemented a resolute action plan. The measures we implemented have enabled our companies to continue their services and facilitated essential trade flowing in the midst of the global pandemic, while adhering to the requirements of the UAE Government, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the World Health Organization. Jafza is home to the worlds well-reputed companies, including over 100 of the Global Fortune 500 enterprises, and has attracted 23.9 per cent of Dubais foreign direct investment (FDI) sustaining more than 135,000 jobs, the statement added. TradeArabia News Service The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the advice of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has directed AFCONS, the company constructing the rail line from Tema to Mpakandan in the Asuogyaman District, to resume work immediately. The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour, communicated the Presidents directive to the company at a short ceremony to welcome AFCONS workers back to site. All the 82 workers of the company who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have recovered. The workers, mostly Indian supervisors, and other workers of the company had to quarantine themselves, leading to the suspension of work for more than 11 weeks. Major project Mr Darfour, who addressed all the AFCONS workers and top Eastern Regional health officials at the camp at Belekope, a suburb of Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo municipality, said the railway line under construction cost the country $398 million, adding that it was a major project dear to the government and the people of Ghana, as it was going to bring about much development. He noted that the work, which was supposed to be completed within a year, was going to be delayed for almost six months due to the three-month break and the onset of the raining season. He, however, urged the workers not to be discouraged but work assiduously to complete the project on time for them to go and join their families in their country. He also reiterated the need for the workers to observe the etiquettes of physical distancing, frequent handwashing with soap under running water, use of alcohol-based sanitisers and, above all, the use of nose masks at all times to prevent further infections. Cooperation The Eastern Regional Director of the GHS, Dr Mrs Alberta Biritwum Nyarko, who declared all the 82 infected workers recovered and fit to work, expressed appreciation to the AFCONS management and workers for their maximum cooperation during the period of treatment. She expressed the hope that such a relationship would continue until they were done with the construction work. Dr Nyarko, however, explained that in spite of the recoveries, we are not completely out of the woods yet and surveillance is ongoing to ensure that we chase the disease completely out of the region and the country at large. The Deputy General Manager of AFCONS, Mr Korimilli Murthy, said every worker had learnt a lesson in one way or another from the outbreak of the pandemic and would abide by the safety protocols. He expressed the gratitude of the company to all the stakeholders, including health staff, the security and the Municipal Chief Executive for Lower Manya, Mr Simon Kweku Tetteh, for their support. He gave an assurance that the company was going to work hard to complete the work to satisfy the desire of both the government and the people of Ghana, in spite of any challenges the company might face. In attendance were the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Nuertey Ayertey; the Eastern Regional Director of Public Health, Dr Antobre Boateng; the Akosombo Divisional Commander of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Supt Cosmos Damoah; the Akuse District Police Commander, Supt Winifred Asare Nyarko, and the Head of Administration of AFCONS, Mr Pramod Kumar. 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 BOGOTA - Out of work, broke and left with few good options during the pandemic, a growing number of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia have set up a makeshift camp on a tree-covered patch along a highway outside the capital of Bogota. Aside from 160 tents theyve built out of black plastic and ropes, they have no running water, bathrooms or electricity. They survive on the charity of neighbours who bring food. The migrants are crowded with up to six in each tent and no way to easily wash their hands, creating the potential for the new coronavirus to spread, although residents said they havent yet experienced any illness. Were living in a nightmare, said Cecilio Zagarra, an organizer and one of hundreds in the camp. We dont know when it will end. In the last two weeks, Colombian authorities slowed the number of Venezuelan migrants being allowed to travel to the border city of Cucuta from 400 a day by more than a quarter. They say Venezuelan authorities are only allowing Venezuelans to cross three days each week at whats normally a bustling border crossing. This has caused a bottleneck of Venezuelans trying to go home. The new shantytown just north of Bogota has become home to hundreds of stranded Venezuelans, many children, pregnant women and the elderly. The Associated Press visited the makeshift camp, observing a lack of sanitary conditions. Most of the migrants do not have masks, and keeping a safe distance from others is nearly impossible. Zagarra, 30, is a leader in the community. He said that like many there, he uprooted from crisis-torn Venezuela two years ago and travelled to Colombia, where he found steady work building communication towers. Then, the coronavirus swept across Latin America, bringing with it orders to stay at home and quickly leaving him penniless. It changed my life by 180 degrees, Zagarra said. The resources we had ran out. They kicked us out for not paying the rent. Zagarra and others said they were forced to make the camp, receiving no help from the government. While maintaining order in their community, Zagarra said theyre pressuring officials to pay for the long bus journey back to the Venezuelan border. We dont have the necessary resources to pay for the tickets to get back, he said. Theyre among a flood of an estimated 5 million Venezuelans who fled their native country in recent years, escaping a historic crisis that has left most without reliable running water, electricity, gasoline and health care. The largest number of Venezuelan migrants 1.8 million crossed into Colombia. Others went to Peru and Ecuador. Quarantine orders in these countries have sparked a reverse flow of Venezuelans, who say they have no other choice but to return home, where at least they can live with relatives. Roughly half of the Venezuelan migrants worked informally as street vendors and clerks, having no safety net to help them survive without going to work each day. Colombian migration officials report that so far, more than 72,000 displaced Venezuelans have returned to their native country, many walking up to 20 days carrying their belongings. Juan Espinosa, a Colombian migration official, told the AP that border communities and bus terminals throughout Colombia are growing crowded. This is not the time to move and travel, Espinosa said, urging them to stay put and isolate as best as they can. Venezuelan nurse Rosmery Sanchez, 34, said she came to Colombia six months ago. She said she is out of work, homeless and surviving on the charity of nearby residents who bring bread, soft drinks and other food. We came to Colombia for better economic stability, but we found the coronavirus, Sanchez said. What we are experiencing is a horrible situation that none of us asked for. The Sahara: boundless dunes shimmering in the relentless heat, nomadic tribes following paths as old and inscrutable as time itself, fierce-eyed warriors on camel-back, clad in indigo... These images of the great desert are familiar around the world, but in France they have a special allure. France, say historians, has a deeply romantic notion of the western Sahara, forged in colonial times and tinged by the literature that emerged from it. The honeyed perspective endures today but has been eclipsed by pragmatism as France pursues its military commitment to the Sahel. "The French vision of the Sahara comes from camel-mounted French troops" of a century ago, suggests Thierry Tillet, a French archaeologist who has been exploring the Sahara for half a century. This specialised corps of France's Army of Africa battled nomads for decades before emerging victorious in the mid-1930s. From their adventures emerged a canon of literature about derring-do in the desert and the Tuareg, its hardy people. Sahara novels flowed from the pens of Joseph Peyre, whose brother was in the camel corps, Pierre Benoit and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who later gained worldwide acclaim as the author of "The Little Prince," Tillet said. Newspapers and magazines helped cement the romance, said Pierre Touya, of the Association of Saharans, a 64-year-old organisation in Paris whose membership of more than 800 includes archaeologists, geographers and other specialists. 'Untrustworthy or noble' But colonial-era writings about the Tuareg -- the main inhabitants of the Sahara -- also bred stereotypes, said Adib Bencherif, an Algerian researcher at the University of Florida. Tuaregs, he said, were typically depicted as one of two things -- "rebellious and untrustworthy" or "noble and free." A century or so later, the frontier notion of the Sahara still colours French involvement in the region. French blood and treasure have been committed to fighting a jihadist revolt in the Sahel that erupted after Libya's descent into civil war following the death of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. The nomadic myth is central to France's fascination with the Sahara, say experts. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) Its Barkhane force of 5,100 troops are supporting four poor former colonies -- Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad -- battling an insurgency that threatens to expand southwards, towards the Gulf of Guinea. Colonial-era perceptions of the nomad fighter still prevail among French soldiers, a Barkhane officer acknowledged, pointing to the "desert warrior" image of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, a general who is a close French ally. Among rebel groups, "certain leaders have played on this colonial fantasy with French soldiers, and still do," a senior Malian rebel said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Look at Mano Dayak," the source said, referring to a leader of a Tuareg revolt in Niger in the 1990s. "He was a rebel and yet at the same time organised the Paris-Dakar" motor rally. Enigma of Kidal The intertwined French-Tuareg relationship may well have a connection with the "special" status of Kidal, a northern Malian town that has been turned into a de-facto fiefdom by Tuareg rebels, said Mohamed Fall Ould Bah, a Mauritanian anthropologist at the Centre for Study and Research on West Sahara. Kidal is a stronghold of the Ifogha, a clan within the Tuareg community which became predominant locally under French colonial rule. The French officer who spoke to AFP confirmed that the Ifogha retained a special relationship with the French, particularly the intelligence service. In 2013, France launched Operation Serval to roll back jihadists in northern Mali. Its troops entered Kidal with the help of an armed rebel Tuareg group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), rather than with the Malian army. France's then defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said there was a "functional relationship" with the MNLA, who he said was "coordinating" with the French. France has deployed 5,100 troops in Operation Barkhane, an anti-terror mission stretching from Mauritania to Chad. A barkhane is a crescent-shaped dune shaped by the wind. By MICHELE CATTANI (AFP) Critics of France's military presence often brandish the events of 2013 and Kidal's status as proof of double-talk in France's declared attachment to Malian sovereignty. Another French officer in the Sahel played this down: "There have been links between the MNLA and France, there is a colonial past, that's true -- but not everything is based on this, far from it." Yvan Guichaoua, a researcher at Britain's University of Kent, said the French military "need operational knowledge" from local populations. They drew on "simplistic anthropology rooted in colonial literature" to search for a source -- a notion that today still "provides the background for certain decisions," he said. Even so, said Guichaoua, "operational pragmatism" is more important. "The military are willing to change alliance if this means greater effectiveness." YPSILANTI, MI Businesses in Ypsilantis commercial districts can use sidewalk space and potential road closures to increase capacity as storefronts reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Ypsilanti City Council voted 6-1 to approve a plan that allows the Downtown Development Authority to potentially close several streets downtown and allow businesses to expand into sidewalk space or street space through the summer. Councilman Anthony Morgan voted no. The idea is by giving businesses more space, capacity would expand, and customers could spread apart outside, lowering the risk of potentially spreading COVID-19, DDA officials previously said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says outdoor activity is the least risky public activity. From hair salons to gyms, experts rank 36 activities by coronavirus risk level Joe Meyers, director of economic and community development for the city, said most businesses in Ypsilanti have been affected by shutdowns during Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home order. The vast majority of our businesses have been shut down, Meyers said to City Council. Most said in a survey they would reopen after the stay-home order was lifted, he said. Ypsilanti businesses can apply for an outdoor cafe permit along north and part of south Washington in downtown, along East Cross Street in Depot Town and West Cross Street in the West Cross district. Permits will apply to sidewalk and parking spaces. At least two businesses must request a street closure for it to happen, according to the plan. Businesses may also use some parking spaces as reserved spots for curbside pickup orders. Summer street closures to help expand business capacity being considered in Ypsilanti The Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority, which proposed the plan to city staff, will pay $2,500 to the city to make up for lost parking revenue. Christopher Jacobs, the DDAs executive director, also said it will pay for or provide temporary barriers between cars and customers in parking spaces. Some businesses and council members expressed concern that the measure could grant an unfair advantage to businesses along those corridors. Morgan said he thought some businesses with better access to sidewalks and parking spaces have an unfair advantage over businesses without access. He also worried the plan favors restaurants over other retailers or services like barbershops. I do believe perception is reality and it just appears since most of these businesses have been regulated to curbside service it just appears that the businesses in question have already a leg up on the other ones, Morgan said. It just seems that way, they already seem to be having more businesses than the other surrounding businesses. Other councilmembers agreed they were concerned about favoritism by drawing business to the commercial districts most. Councilwoman Jennifer Symanns said she had concerns with the plan but thought some help is good as long as the city proceeds mindfully with parking space and street closures. Businesses with liquor licenses will need to get permission from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to serve drinks outside, using a Limited Permanent Outdoor Service Area Permission Application. The liquor board said it would streamline those applications, which can be in effect through Oct. 31. They require that the area of service be within 25 feet of the licensed bar or restaurant and not separated by a street. The business must also submit permission from the local government. Businesses can begin the permit process Wednesday, but any potential street closures will not take effect until several businesses on the street make the request. Ann Arbor also passed a similar weekend street closure plan early Tuesday. It includes potential closures on Main, Washington, Liberty, Maynard, State, Detroit and Church streets, as well as South University Avenue, beginning June 12. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Downtown Ann Arbor bars, restaurants get councils OK to expand patios into streets DTE Energy raises concerns about Ann Arbors plan for 100% renewable energy Economic recovery in Washtenaw County expected to start slow, speed up in mid-2021, UM researchers say Forces allied with the UN-supported government in Libya said they have regained control of all of Tripolis entrance and exit points after taking back the airport, and claimed that the siege by rival troops trying to capture the capital for over a year has effectively ended. The announcement marks another defeat for the east-based Libyan Arab Armed Forces, led by commander Khalifa Hifter who has recently lost several strategic spots in western Libya. Just hours earlier, late on Wednesday, the Tripoli-allied troops said they had retaken Tripoli International Airport, which fell to Mr Hifters forces last year. In these historic moments, we announce that all municipal boundaries of Tripoli have been liberated, Mohamed Gnono, spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, said in a video posted on the social media. Libya analysts, however, warned it was too early to conclude that the fighting over Tripoli was finished. Since 2015, Libya has been divided between two governments, one in the east and one in the west. General Khalifa Hifter (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP) Mr Hifters east-based forces launched an offensive in April last year to take the capital from the west-based Government of National Accord. Hifters plan to take over Tripoli has been smashed, Colonel Salah al-Namroush, an undersecretary with the defence ministry, said after the airports capture. Today, we have fulfilled our pledge to liberate Tripoli airport. The airport was closed in 2014 following heavy fighting that destroyed much of it. For years, flights were diverted to the Mitiga airport but that one was shut down several times over the past year due to heavy shelling blamed on Mr Hifters forces. The frontline developments came after the UN earlier this week announced that Libyas warring parties had agreed to resume ceasefire talks. Photos of bombed-out Libyan commercial planes at the airport were posted on the official Facebook page of the Tripoli-allied forces. Story continues Videos of the government-affiliated militias celebrating outside the airport circulated online. The fall of Tripoli airport is a symbolic achievement for the GNA, said Claudia Gazzini, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. It is the base of Hifters forces since more than a year and one of the main conflict lines in the capital. However, Ms Gazzini said she believed it was too early to conclude that Mr Hifters offensive is over, given the seesaw nature of the conflict. We have seen the boundaries of the conflict shift by kilometres everyday; forward one day and backward another, she added. There is still room for a continued offensive. It all depends on how much military backing Hifters backers are willing to give him. Late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi seen during a visit by Tony Blair (Stefan Rousseau/PA) In recent months, the Tripoli militias, backed by Turkey, Italy and Qatar have recaptured some key towns surrounding the capital. However, Mr Hifters forces, supported by Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have responded with airstrikes. US and Libyan officials have accused Russia of deploying fighters from the Wagner Group in key battleground areas in Libya. Last month, the US military accused Russia of deploying 14 aircraft to eastern Libya to help Mr Hifters forces, saying the move was part of Moscows goal of establishing a foothold in the region that could threaten Nato allies. Russia dismissed those claims and has repeatedly denied any role in fighting in Libya. On Monday, the UN announced Mr Hifters forces and the Tripoli militias had agreed to resume ceasefire talks. The UN acting special representative Stephanie Williams held talks Wednesday with a delegation representing Mr Hifters forces to follow-up on the agreement. She is expected to hold similar talks with the Tripoli government in the coming days, the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The escalation in fighting in Libya comes against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. Libya has about 170 confirmed cases but testing remains scarce. There are fears a large outbreak would have a severe impact, given the protracted conflict and the countrys poor healthcare system. The UN mission said it hopes the new talks will mark the beginning of calm on the ground that can give Libyan authorities the chance to focus their efforts on curbing the spread of the virus. The North African country slid into civil war following the ousting and killing of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Shen Yueyue, President of the All-China Women's Federation, attends an activity to mark the International Children's Day at the China National Children's Center on June 1. [China Women's News/Yang Rui] An activity to mark the International Children's Day and the opening ceremony of the China Forum on Children's Development in 2020 were held at the China National Children's Center on June 1. Shen Yueyue, President of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of the ACWF and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, Li Wei, Director of the Committee of Population, Resources and Environment of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Wang Anshun, Deputy Director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, attended the activity. During the event, the leaders attended a flag-raising ceremony and extended festival greetings to the participating children. When hearing that the children said that General Secretary Xi Jinping's greetings are the best holiday gifts they have ever received, the leaders encouraged them to keep Xi Jinping's words firmly in mind, study hard, firm up their ideals and convictions and develop strong bodies and minds to prepare for realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. "Your parents are warriors and you are also little warriors. I hope that you will learn from your parents and try to be good children of the motherland and the people," Shen said to the children of the frontline medical workers in the fight against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Noting that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core attaches great importance to and shows great care for children, Shen said China has made historic achievements in children's development. The children's health has been effectively safeguarded since the epidemic outbreak, which fully demonstrates the principle that nothing matters more than the people's lives and the remarkable advantages of the strong leadership of the CPC and the socialist system. The Government Work Report approved at the just concluded sessions of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC, and the newly-issued civil code provide a strong guarantee for the healthy growth of children, Shen continued. Shen Yueyue, President of the All-China Women's Federation, attends an activity to mark the International Children's Day at the China National Children's Center on June 1. [China Women's News/Yang Rui] Shen stressed that fostering a new generation capable of shouldering the mission of national rejuvenation is critical to long-term interests. She urged more attention to be paid to family, family education and traditions and called for greater contributions to the healthy growth and all-round development of children. Shen also noted the necessity of keeping a firm hold of the fundamental task of China's education system, and of forming a government-led work pattern of children's cause, which is under the leadership of the Party committees and with people's organizations and social forces involved in, so as to create better conditions for children's growth. Shen said the principle of fostering children through moral education should be adhered to and efforts should be made to guide children to learn more about China's strength, spirit and efficiency in the anti-virus battle, and help them develop good mindset, virtues and habits. Enhanced efforts should be made to improve and implement the policy and system of giving priority to children's development and promoting their all-round development, build a system of family education guidance services that covers both urban and rural families, and form a strong network in which multiple departments work together to protect the legitimate rights and interests of children, in a bid to promote the coordinated development of the children's cause and the economy and society. The activity to mark the International Children's Day included three sections: "We Love the Motherland," "We Are Together" and " Family Happiness and Well-being," with the themes of "patriotism" and "blessings." It called on all sectors of society to create a friendlier and warmer supportive environment for children, and encouraged children and their families to adopt healthy and green lifestyles. The China Forum on Children's Development in 2020 focused on social care and children's growth in the epidemic situation, discussing such topics as children's health, education, welfare and social environment from the perspectives of teacher-parent education, social support and self-empowerment. It also brought together relevant departments, experts, scholars and social forces to offer intellectual support to children's work in the regular epidemic prevention and control. Shen Yueyue, President of the All-China Women's Federation, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the China Forum on Children's Development in 2020 on June 1. [China Women's News/Yang Rui] (Women of China) Leading national dailies on Thursday, June 4, widely focused on National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale's woes even after he survived Jubilee Party purge on rebel MPs, with fresh details revealing at least 117 MPs have ganged up to impeach him. Also covered in the dailies is the new Executive Order by President Uhuru Kenyatta that seems to have stripped of power the Office of the Deputy President. READ ALSO: Melania Trump's reaction to husband asking her to smile goes viral As of Wednesday, June 3, Kenya had recorded 2,216 cases of COVID-19 out of which 74 were deaths and 553 recoveries. Photo: UGC. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Don't blame me for FORD Kenya woes - Francis Atwoli tells Wetang'ula 1. Daily Nation As Kenya's COVID-19 cases continue to rise, hitting 2,216 on Wednesday, June 3, it has also emerged the country is now fighting nine strains of the coronavirus. Researchers from Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) who have been studying the virus, said the strain causing infections in the country (SARS-CoV-2) is not different from the one unleashing terror in other parts of the world. According to the KEMRI scientists, the strain came into the country from Asia and Europe. The new finding is expected to enable medics to understand the virus and also know who is infecting who and from where. "This successful sequencing of the novel coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 - in Kenya is a significant milestone in the response to the pandemic in Kenya and the entire world. This will strengthen surveillance for tracking mutations of the virus and aid in tracing of sources of community infections," said KEMRI director-general. Eric Osoro, an epidemiologist at the Washington State University said Kenya was not badly off since certain factors like favourable weather and possible pre-existing immunity due to prior exposure to other coronavirus made Kenyans a safer population. READ ALSO: Polisi wanamsaka mwendesha bodaboda aliyetoweka na KSh505,200 za rafikiye 2. The Star The Star reports on the Executive Order No. 1 of 2020 issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta that disbanded the institution of the presidency and replaced it with the executive office of the president. In the new directive, the president seems to have clipped autonomy of the deputy president after he put his (DP) position under his office. According to The Star, the order means William Ruto will no longer be able to host delegations at his Karen resident offices or will require the president's permission to do so. The second in command will also not be able to decide his own diary and may not be able to make development tours. The order also deals Ruto a funding blow and this may threaten to cripple his plans to succeed Uhuru whose tenure expires in 2022. READ ALSO: Celebrated actor Ken Ambani alias Baraza proves hes still King in new Swahili telenovela Kovu 3. People Daily The daily reports that National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale is facing yet another fight to save his job after a section of MPs kick-started a process to oust him from the powerful House position. Led by Kieni MP Kanini Kega, the MPs accused Duale of disloyalty to Jubilee Party and careless chest-thumping after he was spared the axe during Tuesday, June 2, Parliamentary Group meeting at State House. Over 117 MPs signed to impeach Duale. The current situation appears even worse since a section of MPs allied to DP William Ruto who were against his ouster before the PG had joined the mob. The Ruto allies took issue with Duale after he revealed he was going to lead a cleanup process that will send the DP's lieutenants from some House committees. Duale has, however, rubbished the impeachment plot. READ ALSO: Foul future: Scientists say bird flu could wipe out half of humanity 4. Taifa Leo Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli has sparked controversy after he insisted ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi was still the spokesperson of the Luhya community. Atwoli said Mudavadi was crowned the position in 2017 maintaining that nothing had changed. According to the trade unionist, his meeting with over 40 leaders from Western Region had nothing to do with appointing Luhya leaders since the meeting was also attended by leaders from Teso community, for instance, Busia governor Sospeter Ojaamong. During the meeting, Atwoli, Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Devolution CS Eugine Wamalawa were elected spokespersons. Atwoli, however, affirmed the position of Mudavadi as the community's mouthpiece will only change after another meeting will be held at Bukhungu to appoint another spokesperson. READ ALSO: Angry Uhuru lectures Jubilee MPs disrespecting him 5. The Standard The bromance between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto on June 1 Madaraka Day celebrations, The Standard says, awakes memories of Kenya's founding fathers Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Odinga. The daily says the camaraderie shown during that day was for the cameras since acrimony between the two was getting worse by the day. In 1963, Jaramogi served in an almost similar position to DP Ruto under the leadership of Kenyatta. However, it was Kenyatta's nemesis Tom Mboya and Mwai Kibaki who had the president's ear. The same thing is happening today. Despite Ruto being second in command, it is Raila, once Uhuru fierce critique, who is calling the shots. 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 son has breasts and he is ashamed of himself - Lilian Alango | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke Waitress Karissa Medina delivers breakfast to Dan Folkner on the first day Granny's Pantry Restaurant reopened to the public in Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) The leaders of Atwater had just declared it a "sanctuary city" for businesses in defiance of California stay-at-home orders when they showed up at the future home of Jessie Chauhan's Rapid XPress Car Wash. They came last month to the dirt lot by Highway 99 for a cheery civic ceremony that felt extra symbolic in the midst of a pandemic that has wrecked the economy: A groundbreaking ceremony. Chauhan, who also owns a car wash in nearby Merced, had been requiring employees to wear masks and have their temperatures taken. Each night, his mother disinfected his keys and cellphone and made him change clothes in the garage. He immediately noticed that officials coming to his groundbreaking on May 18 were unmasked. When the city manager approached, Chauhan extended his arm for an elbow bump, but she reached out for a handshake. In a split second, Chauhan uncurled his fingers and accepted it. "I did it," Chauhan said. "Obviously, I sanitized after." Caving in to the moment and accepting a human gesture that has all but evaporated during the coronavirus outbreak "felt really nice," he said. Still, it didn't change his belief that the way out of the health crisis would be paved with the colder reality of social distance and curtailed niceties. Jessie Chauhan, 33, owner of Rapid Xpress Car Wash, on the site of his future car wash in Atwater, Calif., which declared itself a "sanctuary city for business" amid the coronavirus outbreak. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) In this Central Valley city, where there have been 27 cases of COVID-19 among its 30,000 residents, reopening has been marked by a slew of awkward interactions and questions about how to both resuscitate a flailing economy and stay safe from a deadly virus. The "sanctuary city" designation, designed to benefit from the buzz of a phrase used in the context of protecting undocumented immigrants, won Atwater support from officials across the U.S. But it also provoked anger among some residents who called it political grandstanding. "That's especially gross here in Atwater because this is a community supported by agriculture," said Caleb Hampton, 30, a special education teacher. "There are plenty of undocumented people who support our local economy and are part of our community." Story continues Chauhan, 33, had to shut down his Merced carwash for a few weeks in April and temporarily lay off about 15 employees. Any relief he feels about reopening is tempered by fear that cases will rise and everything will get shut down again. "I'm OK we're reopening. But I'm not OK with not following the social distancing rules," he said. "I want my employees and myself wearing masks, gloves, all that, to protect them and others. But at the same time, the show must go on, right? We've got to reopen." The Atwater water tower anchors Atwater, which has declared itself a sanctuary city from the state's stay-at-home order. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) The shutdowns walloped Atwater just as it was starting to claw back from the financial brink after the Great Recession. Last year, the state auditor ranked Atwater the second-most financially distressed city in the state, behind Compton. But in July, Atwater passed its first balanced budget in eight years and ended a nearly decade-long Friday furlough for municipal employees that kept City Hall open just four days a week. A sign on a closed storefront window makes a statement to residents regarding the pandemic in Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) The sanctuary resolution said local businesses that had been the catalyst for recent economic recovery were now "perilously on life support," and it was their Constitutional right to make a living "in the face of tyrannical government overreach." The politically potent "sanctuary city" label was the brainchild of Mayor Pro Tem Brian Raymond, who said he knew that "using the state's own language against it" would turn heads in liberal California. Mayor Paul Creighton quickly found himself on "Fox & Friends," calling California's lockdown orders "draconian." Politicians and police chiefs from across the U.S. reached out, saying they too wanted to create sanctuaries. In a widely shared statement, Merced County Sheriff Vernon H. Warnke, an Atwater resident, said that although he initially enforced the rules, even citing a pastor for holding a church service, he would no longer do so. "I truly believe that Governor Newsoms motivation is to have the majority of the citizens (and illegal residents) dependant [sic] on governments assistance so he could maintain this control once this 'pandemic' is declared over," Warnke wrote. Atwater residents have had to navigate varying levels of restrictions at the state, county and city levels. Jeri Warren, owner of Aura 11 Beauty Studio, prepares her hair and make-up salon for reopening in Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) "We have heard and experienced much confusion from residents, and from business owners," Merced County Public Health Director Rebecca Nanyonjo-Kemp said in an email. Atwater resident Stacie Martinez, who still stays home as much as possible, called the sanctuary decision brash and concerned only with the fate of business owners, not the safety of workers or patrons. She said people seem to be wearing masks a lot less now, and that "it feels like there's a stigma, like, 'Oh, you must be really afraid.' "I'm not hiding at home, wearing a mask and surrounded by hand sanitizer, hiding behind a chair," she said. "We go out. We just take precautions." Larrie Long waits for customers in front of Thrift and Treasures in downtown Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) Meanwhile, customers have not exactly rushed back to reopened mom-and-pop stores. Last week, Reyna Bautista reopened The Sewing Room, an alterations shop she runs with her daughter. It was 106 degrees outside and warm inside, but she wore a cloth face mask as she leaned over a sewing machine, altering a black dress for the only customer who had called that afternoon. This time of year is usually busy with prom dresses and graduation outfits. If this keeps going like this, we cannot stay in business," Bautista said. "I am worried. Next door, Rosa Pedraza peeked one eye through a miniblind when a Times reporter knocked on the door of Rosa's Hair Salon, where she was seeing customers by appointment. Rosa Pedraza, wearing a protective mask, cuts Robert Nunez' hair at Rosa Hair Salon in Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) "The city said it's OK, but the governor said it wasn't," Pedraza said, visibly relaxing only when told that Gov. Newsom, just that afternoon, had said that counties could reopen hair salons. Down the street at The Pawn Shop, Michael Gose spoke to customers from behind three-sided plexiglass barriers in front of the cash registers. "It's been kind of slow," Michael Gose said. "People are still huddled in their homes, even though we got the go-ahead." Social distancing signage greets customers at The Pawn Shop in downtown Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) When the beloved Granny's Pantry Restaurant opened its dining room last week, Fawn and Larry Oliver, 65 and 69, were delighted to be the first customers. They come every Sunday, calling it the Church of Bacon and Eggs. "This feels really, really good," Fawn Oliver said. But owner Jean Kirby, 77, worried aloud about the smaller-than-normal breakfast crowd. Kirby, who has worked at the diner since 1979, arrived early, thinking there would be a line down the street. There wasn't. By lunch, most tables were full. No one wore masks. Jean Kirby, co-owner of Granny's Pantry Restaurant, takes an order from Anthony Moles, 10, while his mother, Ashley Warnock, and other family members wait on the first day the eatery reopened to the public in Atwater. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) For Granny's Pantry, the sanctuary city designation was a boon. Donations poured in. One woman who heard the mayor on the "Glenn Beck Program" drove five hours from Upland to hand Kirby an envelope stuffed with $4,000. At a City Council meeting last week, three of the 14 people in the crowd wore masks. Council members embraced and shook hands with police officers being honored for National Police Week. Councilman Danny Ambriz, the only person on the dais wearing a mask, assured the crowd he was not doing so because he disagreed with the sanctuary city designation. On the contrary, he supported it, and had only missed the vote days earlier because his wife had just given birth. Atwater City Council members John Cale, from left, Danny Ambriz, city manager Lori Waterman, and Mayor Pro Tem Brian Raymond bow their heads during the invocation at the start of a city council meeting. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) "Yes, I shook hands with the officers tonight," he said. "But I know afterwards I'm going to go home, and I'm going to wash my hands. I'm going to change out of my shirt, and then I'm going to love on my child. I know the steps I'm supposed to take. I'm hoping the rest of our residents know as well." Councilman John Cale, a cancer survivor, told the Times that he sees the virus this way: If he's scared of dying, he's not living. Atwater Police Chief Michael Salvador said he stopped requiring officers to wear masks about three weeks ago. More concerning than the virus, he said, was the economic fallout and a significant rise in domestic violence cases and property crimes since the stay-at-home order began. For weeks, police cars sported bumper stickers that said: "Is Your Trip Necessary? Stop the spread." They were pulled off last month. Now, the cars have new license plate frames reading: "Shop Local." UPDATE: Easton takes lead in cleaning up building where chemicals found after fire INITIAL POST: The Easton Fire Department responded about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday to a minor incident in an abandoned building along Route 611 just south of the George S. Smith Memorial Bridge over the Lehigh River. The fire in what appeared to be rubbish or debris was quickly put out, Deputy Chief Henry Hennings said. It wasnt clear if it was started by chemicals or squatters, he added. But as firefighters came out of the space, they noticed smoke coming from another room in the onetime industrial building where no one has worked for more than 20 years, Hennings said. A chemical reaction had happened in an area containing decaying, various sized containers of acid -- too many to count, Hennings said when asked for a number. The off-gassing might have come from the humidity or one of the barrels falling, Hennings said. Several of the containers were in very, very poor condition, Hennings said. Easton firefighters on June 3, 2020, encountered a hazardous materials situation in an old industrial building in the 200 block of South Delaware Drive and called in containment specialists overseen by Lehigh County's Special Operations division.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor Its a mess in there, he added. Lehigh Countys hazardous materials team was called in to deal with the initial containment, which was achieved by 2 a.m., Hennings said. Im just glad we have them as a resource, Hennings said. Once it was determined it was a hazardous materials situation, Easton firefighters withdrew for their safety and went through basic decontamination, Hennings said. The fire department remained on the scene in case they were needed, Hennings said. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday morning was expected to meet fire and emergency management officials at the site in the 200 block of whats also called South Delaware Drive, Hennings said. A plan will have to be developed to remove the containers and clean up the building, Hennings said. Various companies can handle that work, he added. Easton firefighters on June 3, 2020, encountered a hazardous materials situation in an old industrial building in the 200 block of South Delaware Drive and called in containment specialists overseen by Lehigh County's Special Operations division.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com While the building is only about 200 yards from where the Lehigh and Delaware rivers meet in Easton, there were no streams or storm sewers nearby that could have carried the chemicals into the waterways, Hennings said. With heavy rain expected later Thursday, Hennings said the buildings roof is intact and likely would protect the acids from being disbursed by the weather. There have been similar small fires over the years at the site, and the fire department was aware there might be chemicals there, but since the building had been empty for so long, they didnt know the extent or condition of the containers before Wednesday, Hennings said. Normally, if a company is storing such chemicals, it is required to report to the city, he said. Easton firefighters on June 3, 2020, encountered a hazardous materials situation in an old industrial building in the 200 block of South Delaware Drive and called in containment specialists overseen by Lehigh County's Special Operations division.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com The building has been owned since 1979 by Easton Plating and Metal Finishing, Northampton County property records show. A phone number listed for the company was disconnected. Property records show just a post office box for the company. City police and EMS as well as Northampton Countys emergency management chief assisted at the scene along with various people from Lehigh and Northampton counties who make up and work with the hazardous materials team, which is part of Lehigh Countys Special Operations division. The road was closed for hours. 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. A phrase from the show popular Korean Drama "Crash Landing on You" has earned the ire of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who according to reports saw it as a mockery to his position. When translated, the phrase which meant "You think you're the general or something?" or "Who died and made you the general?" has now been labeled as a form of mockery to Jong-Un's absolute authority as he is usually referred to as "The General." However, several reports claim that the crackdown is one of North Korea's target as an attempt to eliminate the cultural influences of South Korea. According to Daily Mail, a resident from the North Hamgyong area shared that people in North Korea started to popularize lines from famous South Korean dramas so it prompted authorities to start an investigation. He also added that another reason why the Law enforcement authorities conducted such investigation, it is because of the usage of South Korean-style of speech in criticizing the Supreme Leader. South Korean slang is banned in the North. According to Express UK, the resident from Hamgyong also mentioned that the Judicial officers are now using their crackdown capabilities to determine how the media of South Korea entered the Hermit state. The phrase now becomes a common part of North Korea's speech due to the start of its popularity late of last year, since then according to the resident when people are trying to point out someone inexperienced or young and thinks they are above themselves they use the said the phrase relating to the general, which for him mocks Jong-Un. While a resident in South Pyongyang shared that they use the phrase whenever they are mocking someone for being arrogant and stuck-up. According to the resident, in the past, they held the utmost respect for the highest dignity, but not anymore as people use the South Korean phrases more than using the terminology 'highest dignity' on a daily basis. Read also: Kim Jong-Un Dead? Portraits of Supreme Leader's Ancestors Removed from North Korea's Famous Square The authoritarian regime of Pyongyang currently focuses to eliminate the usage of cultural references and speech style of South Korea in their area. Even the usage of South Korean spellings and slang are banned for North Koreans, but there is a current trend specifically among young people, it is speaking the dialect of Seoul. The resident from North Hamgyong also revealed the reason behind the addiction to South Korean dramas and culture, it is because many are interested in talking with the South Korean accent. At first, as per the resident, authorities were unfamiliar about the real meaning behind it, but when the phrase became widespread, they right away pulled the alarm. He also shared that currently, the police and the Security Department launched an investigation regarding the South Korean culture-source of the country. Since the end of last year, authorities have been cracking down people who use the phrase. Meanwhile, Crash Landing on You focuses on a South Korean woman who is about to enter a new marriage but ended up in North Korea after accidentally paragliding into the premise of the inter-Korean border. But she was found by a North Korean Special Police Force member who agreed to help her secretly return to the South, but on the process of the escape, they fall in love, which caused the complications with her family and fiance after returning to the South. Related article: Kim Jong-Un's Executed Girlfriend Came Back from the Dead? @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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. We are in the midst of a lethal pandemic. There are also unprecedented protests against police brutality and curfews in place. And the attorney general of the United States is using his time to actively undermine confidence in the integrity of the November elections by floating nonsense conspiracy theories about counterfeit absentee ballots. Republican attempts at voter suppression are nothing new. Whats new is the chaos element that Barrs remarks inject into the 2020 election cycle. Its an attempt to foment a climate in which Trumpian authoritarianism can take center stage over liberal democracy. Advertisement For decades, Republicans have used false claims of voter fraud to justify voter suppression efforts. For example, in the 1981 race for governor of New Jersey, the Republican National Committee and the state party executed a voter-caging scheme by mailing out letters targeting thousands of primarily Black and Latinx New Jersey voters using an outdated voter registration list. They then used the bounced-back mail to try to purge those voters from the rolls. That same year, Republicans deployed a group of off-duty police officers wearing armbands identifying themselves as members of the National Ballot Security Task Force, armed and carrying walkie-talkies, to patrol polling places in minority neighborhoods on Election Day. They posted signs reading: WARNING THIS AREA IS BEING PATROLLED BY THE NATIONAL BALLOT SECURITY TASK FORCE. These tactics resulted in a consent decree against the RNCs ballot security programs that remained in place for the next 25 years, but Democrats lost that 1981 gubernatorial race by fewer than 2,000 votes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The traditional Republican voter suppression machine remains as revved up as ever, only now it is freed from any need for pretext. Fast forward to October 2016, when candidate Donald Trump used the illusory specter of voter fraud to send out a call to the universeat rallies full of white peoplefor poll watchers to go into cities in swing states to watch the polls for cheating, a barely coded mechanism for intimidating minority voters. And just in case the code wasnt subtle enough, Trump told the crowd at an Ohio rally: And when [I] say watch, you know what Im talking about, right? Roger Stone, who was receptive to the presidents broad call for campaign help from Russia, was equally receptive to the presidents wish for a ballot security task force. Stone deployed his own group, called Stop the Steal, to send volunteer vote protectors into nine cities to engage in aggressive poll watching under the fig leaf of exit polling. Democrats filed a flurry of lawsuits, including one to enforce the consent decree that came out of the 1981 election in New Jersey. The suits briefly gained some traction in the courts and prompted Stone to walk back his voter intimidation efforts, but we know how the election turned out, and the courts rejected efforts to enforce the RNC consent decree against the Trump campaign. Then, in 2018, federal courts allowed the consent decree to expire, leaving voters vulnerable to more voter suppression schemes. Advertisement Advertisement The traditional Republican voter suppression machine remains as revved up as ever, only now it is freed from any need for pretext because Trump likes to say the quiet bits out loud: If more Americans voted, he recently blurted, youd never have a Republican elected in this country again. This is the classic vote suppression playbook: old wine, new bottle. Trump also added his own pages to the traditional Republican playbook by doing something unusual during the 2016 campaign: He repeatedly talked about the 2016 election being rigged or stolen, hedging for an excuse should he lose the election. Said one astute observer of American politics: I have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes doing it again in advance of the 2020 election. For the past few months, Trump has made a string of increasingly vehement false claims about voting by mail. One of the most absurd was a May 20 tweet: Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path! The tweet followed another suggestion from Trump, which he tweeted and then deleted, that said Michigan had sent actual ballots, rather than applications, which isnt true. But even the second tweet, like all of Trumps tweets about voter fraud, is nonsense. Michigan sending out absentee ballot applications to registered voters is certainly not illegal, let alone any kind of fraud. Even states that now send most or all voters mail-in ballots dont see any increase in fraudincluding deep-red Utah, which has, unsurprisingly, managed to escape any ire from Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trump isnt trying to fact-check here; hes just trying to make people suspicious of voting by mail. Just as in the 2016 election, the escalation in Trumps efforts to sow doubts about the 2020 election have increased as polling shows him losing to Joe Biden in November. Republicans have been eager to keep the voter suppression machine revved up and runningincluding publicly committing $20 million to pushing their attacks on voting by mail (while the coronavirus pandemic continues, by the way) and defending their voter suppression tactics in court. While Republicans have generally been more reluctant to take up Trumps efforts to sow chaos altogether, thats begun to change behind the scenes. The network of conservative lawyers known as the Federalist Societythe architects of Trumps highly successful effort to remodel the federal judiciaryhas expanded its focus beyond pumping tens of millions of dollars into supporting the nominations of archconservative judges into spouting unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud to support suppressive voting laws and cast doubt on the legitimacy of elections in which Democrats can win, as Dahlia Lithwick and Rick Hasen pointed out last week. Advertisement Advertisement Bill Barr, a devoted member of the Federalist Society, has now publicly taken up that cause from within the attorney generals office at the United States Department of Justice. On Monday the New York Times published a profile of Barr by Mattathias Schwartz that included two interviews with the attorney general last month. Of the May 20 interview Schwartz writes: Advertisement When I asked who was going to referee the 2020 election, Barr replied, The voters. He said his departments role would be limited, as the power belongs to the states and their electors. But when I brought up Trumps tweet about Michigan, which he posted that same morning, Barr quickly seized the opportunity to float a new theory: that foreign governments might conspire to mail in fake ballots. I havent looked into that, he cautioned, offering no evidence to substantiate that this was a real possibility. But he called it one of the issues that Im real worried about, and added: Weve been talking about how, in terms of foreign influence, there are a number of foreign countries that could easily make counterfeit ballots, put names on them, send them in. And itd be very hard to sort out whats happening. Advertisement Experts in voting and elections, including Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida, and Michael Li at the Brennan Center, quickly took to Twitter to explain why the scenario that Barr had cooked upof a foreign entity mailing in ballotswas unbelievably difficult for anyone to pull off and would be easy for elections officials to spot. Grace Panetta of Business Insider provided a step-by-step breakdown of what she described as possibly the least efficient and effective way for a bad actor to influence an election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moreover, its not remotely clear that undermining voting by mail will help Republicans win this election. It might even hurt them. So why on earth would Bill Barr pop off to a New York Times reporter about an implausible absentee voter fraud scheme and claim its a grave new threat to U.S. elections? Advertisement The answer is simple: chaos. The chaos is the point. The same chaos justifies using police to clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Park so a president who does not seriously profess any religious faith can have a photo-op in front of a church awkwardly holding a Bible. The same chaos keeps the cameras on Trump and Barr rather than on Joe Biden, who was out meeting with protesters on Sunday while the White House lights were off and Trump was hiding in the bunker. The chaos puts the head of the federal law enforcement apparatus in a position to exert enormous power over both the use of force and the flow of information. On a Monday morning phone call, an unusually unhinged Trump said to the nations governors: You have to dominate. If you dont dominate, youre wasting your time. Theyre going to run over you. Youre going to look like a bunch of jerks. After advising the governors that youve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years, Trump then made the deeply curious comment: We will activate Bill Barr and activate him very strongly. Chaos is an environment in which Barr, well known for his deep religious conservativism, affinity for a powerful executive branch, and contempt for progressivism and secularism, thrives. Advertisement Advertisement In a 2019 speech to the Federalist Society, still posted on the Department of Justice web site, Barr described a group of Americans by stating: Their holy mission is to use the coercive power of the State to remake man and society in their own image, according to an abstract ideal of perfection. Whatever means they use are therefore justified because, by definition, they are a virtuous people pursing a deific end. They are willing to use any means necessary to gain momentary advantage in achieving their end, regardless of collateral consequences and the systemic implications. They never ask whether the actions they take could be justified as a general rule of conduct, equally applicable to all sides. You could be forgiven for your surprise that Barr was talking about so-called progressives, whom he characterized as waging a scorched earth, no-holds-barred war of Resistance against this Administration. After all, that was Barr you saw standing in Lafayette Park on Monday, inspecting armed Humvees before ordering police to use chemical weapons to disperse a peaceful protest in broad daylight. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to The Gist on Apple Podcasts or listen below. This year has been one of the most volatile in the history of the oil market. After starting in the mid-$60s, the main U.S. oil price benchmark, WTI, plummeted into negative territory following the dual shockwaves of the COVID-19 outbreak and the collapse of Russia's market support agreement with OPEC. Oil has since bounced back quite a bit. It recently recovered into the mid-$30s after OPEC and Russia made amends in a big way, and governments started easing the economic restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19. Crude oil could have much further to go if demand continues bouncing back, which means oil stocks seem to have a lot of upside from here. Three that stand out are ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Enbridge (NYSE:ENB), and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). Here's why they top the list of the best ones to buy this month. Ready to turn the taps back on U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips has taken several actions to preserve its balance sheet strength and profitability. It slashed its capital spending, suspended its share repurchase program, and shut-in unprofitable wells. These actions demonstrate the flexibility of its business model to react quickly to changes in crude pricing. ConocoPhillips' production curtailments will impact its output during the second quarter. However, it made sense to shut in those wells and hold the production until prices improve. As that happens, the company can restart those wells and quickly cash in on the rebound. That catalyst could catapult its stock, which has lost about a third of its value this year. That lower price point makes ConocoPhillips stock look especially attractive when considering its near-term catalyst and long-term plan to create shareholder value. Immune to all the volatility Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge doesn't have any direct exposure to oil prices, so the market downturn hasn't had much impact on its financial results or operations. While the company did defer $1 billion Canadian ($740 million) of expansion projects, it expects its financial results to come right in on its budget since long-term, fee-based contracts back the bulk of its earnings. With cash flow on target, Enbridge has the funds to pay its nearly 7%-yielding dividend as well as finance the majority of its expansion program. Because it can easily cover the remaining gap with its strong balance sheet, Enbridge should have the fuel to continue growing its earnings and dividend. With shares now about 15% cheaper following its sell-off earlier this year, its long-term growth catalysts as more expansion projects come online make it a great buy this month. Bouncing back with demand Shares of refiner Phillips 66 have lost about a quarter of their value this year. That's primarily because the demand for refined products like gasoline and jet fuel has plummeted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. That slump in consumption took a huge bite out of the company's earnings during the first quarter. However, demand for gasoline has started bouncing back as states reopened their economies. That trend could become even more pronounced this summer. Some analysts believe that gasoline demand could skyrocket as consumers stay away from mass transit like subways and airlines and instead opt to drive everywhere, including taking "staycations" to beaches, lakes, and parks. That potential for record gasoline demand could boost Phillips 66's profits, fueling a big rally in its stock price. A compelling combination All the volatility in oil prices this year has caused most oil stocks to lose value, leaving investors to buy shares of several top oil stocks at lower prices this month. Add in their clear catalysts as pricing and demand bounce back, and these stocks have the potential to enrich investors as the oil market continues its recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak. 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. Hyderabad: Thirteen post-graduate doctors, one gynaecology professor and three healthcare workers at Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. Seven post-graduates of Osmania Medical College, two of Gandhi Medical College, four of NIMS have also tested positive, taking the total number of doctors affected to 25 in government hospitals. Earlier, 12 PG doctors of OMC were infected with the virus which they contracted from a canteen worker. There has been a huge rush of patients for non-Covid care after the easing of the lockdown but there is no proper screening of these patients or sanitization in government hospitals. Patients scheduled for surgeries are not being tested for Covid-19 and this exposes the doctors and nurses tending to them. This is what happened in NIMS where a patient in intensive care developed bilateral pneumonia, exposing the doctors. A senior doctor explained, Doctors of cardiology and general medicine have been affected. This is because there is no proper screening of patients or testing of healthcare workers. After the PGs tested positive, only those having symptoms are being tested or those who came in contact, which is very unfair. This calls for mass screening of all healthcare workers as they are exposed and are asymptomatic carriers. In Osmania General Hospital, all wards and the out-patient department are full as the other government hospital, Gandhi Hospital, is taking only Covid-19 patients. This makes it difficult to sanitize the wards and causes infection to spread, say doctors. Another problem is that people, including healthcare workers, are not disclosing if they have symptoms, either due to economic considerations or because they are under pressure to work and earn. This too increases the risk of spreading contagion. The Telangana Junior Doctors Association has approached health minister Etela Rajender and demanded mass screening, personal protection equipment, N 95 masks and sanitization facilities in government hospitals. Said a senior doctor: Our senior doctors are all above 60 years of age and they are in the high risk zone. We need people and government to understand that they must opt only for emergency healthcare services for now. To rush to hospitals for small and minor ailments will lead to further spread of infection. This message has gone away from peoples minds as they now think that lockdown is over and everything is back to normal, which is not the case. For Subscribers Senate votes to increase Partners in Education tax credit program Senators voted to increase the amount of money the Partners in Education tax credit program can give out for scholarships to private school students. The mythology of America is rife with meaning and symbols. On no other day of the year is this more apparent than the 4th of July. There's no more American holiday. As fireworks boom, flags are waved and worn, and bald eagles weep over the Statue of Liberty every time someone plays the 1812 Overture thinking it's an American song. It's about the Russians beating Napoleon. Look it up. Even though George Washington was afraid that the office of the president would too closely resemble the pomp and circumstance surrounding the monarch they had all bled to escape, it has nonetheless traditionally been a position of very high esteem. In the history of the nation, only 45 individuals have held it. So is it a little weird that 11% of United States presidents have had a significant, (mostly) unplanned personal interaction with the anniversary of our nation's independence? We submit that it is. 1. Calvin Coolidge Was Born on July 4th The "Mr. Burns" of American presidents. Good ol' Silent Cal was the man who brought peace to the tumultuous years between Warren G. Harding's scandal-wrought presidency and the Hoover administration's stunning descent into economic collapse. He was born on the 4th of July, but not in an Oliver Stone kind of way. Calvin Coolidge was practically Mayflower material, as his American ancestors settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1630. Coolidge is the only president to have been born on Independence Day. 2. Zachary Taylor Ate the Cherries That Killed Him on July 4th Imagine being the president of the United States on July 4. What a great feeling it must be to watch everyone in America celebrate their freedom. In Washington, D.C., however, it gets swelteringly hot. So it makes sense that President Zachary Taylor, dressed in his finest presidential garb, would stop for heaping bowls of cherries and a "jug" of iced milk to cool down and celebrate the day. "Yolo." - Zachary Taylor Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, he ate some bad fruit (allegedly cherries) and contracted a stomach bug. By the time Taylor returned to the White House, he was already sick. A few days later, he was dead. The cause was "cholera morbus" -- 19th century doctor-speak for "I Don't Know, But I'm Pretty Sure It Was Something to Do With His Stomach." A big bowl of fruit did what 82,000 Mexican soldiers couldn't. 3. Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Died on the Same Day On July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after American Independence was declared, former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died just five hours and 490 miles apart. In their political lives, no two politicians could have been further away from each other. In their post-presidential years, however, they became much closer. Ben Franklin just wishes they would both shut up so he could read. When Adams died in Quincy, Massachusetts, his last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives." Sadly, Jefferson was the first to go, dying at his Virginia estate. 4. Actually, 3 of the first 5 Presidents Died on July 4th How cool is it that three of the first five presidents, all Founding Fathers of our nation, died on Independence Day? Stop pouting, Monroe. It's kinda cool. James Monroe, the last of the Founding Fathers, died on July 4, 1831. He lived long enough to see his Era of Good Feelings shattered by the rise of Andrew Jackson's brand of democracy. 5. They Tried to Keep James Madison Alive Until July 4th How cool would it have been if every Founding Father president after George Washington had died on July 4? James Madison's doctor thought so too -- and considered keeping the fourth president alive using drugs after he came down with a severe case of rheumatism at age 85. The face you make when you ensured the Bill of Rights and led the War of 1812 but all people remember is that you might have choked to death on eggs. Madison, likely in terrible pain and barely able to move, declined to stay alive for six more days, even though it would have been cooler if he did. The former president died on June 28, 1836, from congestive heart failure. -- 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. A cat that looks permanently grumpy has took social media by storm, amassing a huge Instagram following for her constant scowling expression. Feline Kitzia has more than 47,000 fans on her profile, which was first created in April 2018 to celebrate the cantankerous-looking cat. But her Ukrainian owner Viktoriia Otdielnova, now based in Florida, says people shouldn't be fooled by her stern facial expressions because Kitzia is 'sweet and lovely', Bored Panda revealed. Ever since the passing of the Internet's Grumpy cat, whose real name was Tardar Sauce, on May 14 2019, fans have been trying to elect her successor. And these selection of pictures show that Kitzia could be the perfect candidate... Moody: Kitzia, a feline based in Florida and owned by Ukrainian photographer Viktoriia Otdielnova, has gained fans around the world for her miserable expression The professional photographer set up an Instagram account for her pet and she has gained a huge following of nearly 50,000 fans The original: The Internet's beloved Grumpy Cat (pictured in 2014 with her owner Tabatha Bundesen), whose real name was Tardar Sauce, passed away, aged seven on May 14 2019 She may look fur-ocious, but this peeved looking cat isn't actually angry at all. She is actually very sweet according to her owner In her social media posts, Kitzia appears to have got more and more annoyed thanks to her stern facial features and bright eyes Not impressed: The small cat looks perpetually discontent due to her stern brow - even when receiving affection from her owner Looks that could kill: According to her many Instagram followers, sweet Kitzia is an 'adorable grinch' when posing for the camera Look into my eyes: The feline often likes to sit and watch her owner with her piercing yellow eyes, looking as if she is going in for the kill Feline Kitzia has more than 47,000 fans on her profile , which was first created in April 2018 to celebrate the cantankerous-looking cat Ever since the passing of the Internet's Grumpy cat, whose real name was Tardar Sauce, on May 14 2019, fans have been trying to elect her successor. And these selection of pictures show that Kitzia could be the perfect candidate Talk to the paw! Don't be fooled by her outraged look, the feline is actually very 'lovely' according to her owner, who is based in Florida 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. 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By PTI NEW DELHI: As Indian and Chinese troops remained engaged in a high-altitude standoff in eastern Ladakh, Russia on Wednesday hoped that India and China will resolve the dispute soon, noting that a "constructive" relationship between the two countries was important for regional stability. Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin said Russia was hopeful of a "positive development" on the border row in eastern Ladakh. "We are hopeful of positive developments for the sake of peaceful neighbourhood between the two great civilizations. Constructive relationship between our Indian and Chinese friends is very important to promote regional dialogue on stability and sustainable development," Babushkin told PTI. He also said that Russia was looking forward to further expanding its interaction with India and China at the upcoming meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the BRICS and Russia-India-China trilateral forum. Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a bitter standoff in several areas along the Line of Actual Control in mountainous eastern Ladakh for close to a month. Both the countries are holding talks at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the dispute. The issue figured in telephonic talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. On whether the delivery of the S-400 missile systems to India will de delayed due to the coronavirus crisis in Russia, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission said there could be some delays in implementation of military contracts in view of the pandemic. "When it comes to the implementation of contracts, including in the area of military and technical cooperation, there naturally may be some delays due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, both sides are dedicated to timely implementation of all current agreements, including with regard to the supply of S-400 systems to India," he said. In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions. Last year, India made the first tranche of payment of around USD 800 million to Russia for the missile systems. In February, Deputy Director of the Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), Vladimir Drozhzhov, said that Moscow will begin the delivery of the S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India by the end of 2021 and that there will be no delay in execution of the project. Asked about US President Trump's pitch last week for expansion of the G7 grouping by including India, Russia, Australia and South Korea, Babushkin said the grouping appeared to have outlived its purpose, adding blocs like G20 were equipped to deal with the key challenges facing the globe. "This proposal by President Trump was also discussed during his recent telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin. While taking note of this initiative, generally we share the opinion that when it comes to global challenges and dialogue on global governance, G7 seems to be out-of-date, and more representative mechanisms are required such as G20," he said. The G7 comprises the world's most advanced economies like the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada. Paula Gehring-Kevish is a married mother and grandmother who holds a masters degree in school counseling and currently resides with her husband, Steve, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has published her new book Gunner Gets a Forever Home: Book 2: a heartwarming story for animal lovers of all ages. This is the story of Gunner, the rescue dog, who started his life without even having a name for his first year. Follow Gunner as he learns to trust his new family of humans and rescue buddies. Published by Page Publishing, Paula Gehring-Kevishs engrossing book is a delightful addition to any childrens library. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Gunner Gets a Forever Home: Book 2 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. Passengers wearing protective masks sit as they wait for their flights at Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, in Chinas central Hubei province, on May 29, 2020. (Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images) China Eases Flight Curbs After US Targets Its Carriers BEIJINGChina will ease CCP virus restrictions to allow more foreign carriers to fly to the mainland, shortly after Washington vowed to bar Chinese airlines from flying to the United States due to Beijings curbs on U.S. airlines. Qualifying foreign carriers, about 95 of them currently barred from operating flights to China, will be allowed once-a-week flights into a city of their choosing starting on June 8, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Thursday. But considering some countries are still banning international flights, it estimated the number of international flights would increase by 50 to 150 per week while the average of passengers arriving per day would rise to 4,700, up from around 3,000 now. The CAAC said all airlines will be allowed to increase the number of international flights involving China to two per week if no passengers on their flights test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, for three consecutive weeks. An airline worker wearing a protective mask checks the body temperature of passengers in the boarding area at the Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, in Chinas central Hubei province on May 29, 2020. (Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images) If five or more passengers on one flight test positive for COVID-19 upon arrival, the CAAC will bar the airline from services for a week. Airlines would be suspended for four weeks if 10 passengers or more test positive. The CAAC has slashed international flights since late March to allay concerns over rising CCP virus infections brought by arriving passengers. Mainland carriers are limited to one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines are allowed to operate just one flight a week to a city in China. A flight attendant wearing a protective mask checks the body temperature of the passengers next to the door of the plane at the Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, in Chinas central Hubei province on May 29, 2020. (Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images) Carriers could also fly no more than the number of flights in a weekly schedule approved by the CAAC on March 12. U.S. passenger airlines already stopped all flights to China at that time, meaning they were unable to resume flights to China. On Wednesday, the U.S. government said it would bar Chinese passenger carriers starting from June 16, pressuring Beijing to let U.S. airlines to resume flights. The U.S. Department of Transportation could not be immediately reached for comment, though it has said it will reconsider the decision against Chinese airlines if the CAAC adjusts its policies affecting U.S. airlines. Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said at a daily briefing on Thursday the CAAC is lodging a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation for the ruling against Chinese air carriers. He said the CAAC is in close cooperation with its U.S. counterpart about passenger flights. We hope the U.S. side will not create obstacles for the resolution of this issue, Zhao said. China suspended the entry of most foreigners in late March, meaning only Chinese nationals can enter on commercial passenger flights. By Stella Qiu and Se Young Lee Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. [The stream is slated to start at 10:00 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] The U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is holdings a hearing Thursday with top university officials about how to return students to college campuses safely in the fall. The university officials include Mitchell Daniels, president of Purdue University, Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, Logan Hampton, president of Lane College, and Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association. Some universities have already announced their plans for returning students to campus this fall after the coronavirus outbreak sent most students home early in the spring. Stanford University announced on Wednesday that it will modify its academic year schedule with some distance learning still in place and will rotate its students on campus each quarter. Boston University said in May that it plans to have its own coronavirus testing program this fall for students, faculty and staff as part of a larger strategy to hold in-person classes on campus. Some universities, however, have opted for a mostly virtual fall semester out of fear of a second wave of coronavirus infections. CNBC's Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this report. Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak. T his is the moment Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was interrupted during a press conference by an annoyed homeowner worried about his front lawn. The premier had gathered reporters at a New South Wales housing development on Thursday to announce a new residential construction project. But moments into the briefing a frustrated neighbour came out of his property and demanded everyone get off his new grass. And the bearded resident, dressed in a hoody and dark jogging bottoms, was not satisfied when Mr Morrison asked reporters to "just move back for a minute". The homeowner asks the PM to move his press conference from his lawn / 9News In footage of the press conference, the man is heard pleading: Come on..hey guys I have just reseeded that." After Mr Morrison chivvies the reporters further off the lawn the resident apologises to Mr Morrison, who replies: Its all good, thanks. It came as Mr Morrison unveiled a new $688 million Government scheme which would see singles and couples receive $25,000 to build or renovate their homes. Mr Morrison held a briefing outside a man's home / 9News Following the press conference the Prime Minister could be heard joking with reporters, adding: "Make sure you get off that bloke's lawn. WA's opposition leader says WA's hard border closure is a complete myth and needs to be lifted after figures revealed hundreds of people from interstate were entering the state each day. Liberal leader Liza Harvey has called for WAs border restrictions to be loosened to create a travel bubble between Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory all states with no evidence of community spread of coronavirus. She said the 21,000 people who had entered WA from interstate since the April 5 border closure proved Premier Mark McGowan was playing political games keeping the border shut and causing unnecessary damage to the economy. It proves the Premiers hard border has been exposed as a complete myth, Ms Harvey said. Protesters had only begun preparing to assemble peacefully in Idaho when a Facebook page for retired police officers advised its followers to stay on high alert. "We will protect our neighborhoods," it vowed. So when early reports about potential violence surfaced just a day later - claiming "ANTIFA agitators" were storming the state this week - scores of residents took to the streets. Armed with military-style assault rifles, they stood guard in places like Coeur d'Alene, aiming to protect the resort town of 50,000 nestled along a lake in northwest Idaho. "Enough of us swung into action, and put the word out on social media and elsewhere, that we were able to deploy and meet any violent elements that might come here from out of state," said Trevor Treller, a sommelier and one of the armed locals. Treller, 48, said he mobilized after hearing from trusted voices that "antifa types" were on the move. It would not prove to be true. As vigils and protest actions unfolded in Idaho this week, local officials across the state confirmed that not a single participant had defiled a home or storefront in the name of "antifa," a loose label attributed to far-left activists. Many of the rumors about violent protests originated from a series of dubious Facebook posts, often shared widely and rarely debunked, residents there said. The raft of myths and misstatements that triggered visceral reactions throughout Idaho illustrates how long-standing grievances have fused with the vast reach of social media during protests that have swept through big cities as well as rural towns following the police killing of a prone black man in Minneapolis last week. Though many of the protests have been peaceful pleas to redress racial injustice, scenes of burning buildings and trashed businesses - often not at the hands of the demonstrators - have fueled the perception of a country under siege. RELATED: White House deletes bogus brick video accusing Antifa of planning for riots As President Donald Trump militarizes the government's response to the roiling protests, armed civilians across the country are taking matters into their own hands. They've engaged in preemptive acts of escalation often in response to imaginary threats, raising tensions at demonstrations touched off by the death of 46-year-old George Floyd and intensified by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic collapse, which have disproportionately affected black Americans. The vigilantism is particularly visible in Idaho's Treasure Valley, long a hotbed of the anti-government militia movement and a magnet for disaffected whites fleeing more diverse and increasingly liberal enclaves, experts said. The mobilization of counterprotesters offers stark evidence that rising calls for racial justice are echoing across the country at the very moment that white resentment is also flaring. "It's combustible," said Todd Shallat, a historian at Boise State University. "The local acts of vigilantism show how a rising population of discontented whites is reacting to the increasingly visible claims of minority groups." The demand for racial justice, as well as the reception to it, are especially striking in Idaho, a state that has fewer than 10,000 black residents, or less than 1% of the population, according to Census estimates. Just Vermont and Montana have smaller percentages of black residents. "There's so much implicit bias about black people's criminality that some people assume there's going to be violence or infiltration when we gather," said Whitney Mestelle, a local activist in Boise who helped organize a peaceful vigil on Tuesday. "They may even have good intentions, but it doesn't make me feel more comfortable to see people open carry." She added: "Our agenda is peace." Vigilante actors wielding everything from bats to firearms have appeared at protests in Philadelphia, San Antonio and other cities. At times, their involvement has resulted in violence. A black protester in Casper, Wyo., injured his hand after punching the side mirror of a counterprotester's truck, according to local media. And in Boise, an 18-year-old white man was arrested after allegedly firing his rifle into the ground during a protest outside the state capitol. Most of the protests in Idaho have been peaceful, including in places where armed counterprotesters and militia groups have been prominent. Many said they mobilized out of concern about rioting and looting by antifa, a movement that Trump has blamed for violence nationwide. Trump's claims have drawn support from his attorney general, William Barr, who pointed to the role of "anarchistic and far-left extremists" without yet offering evidence of their involvement. Varied actors have been accused of exacerbating the unrest, from police officers filmed brutalizing people who had their hands raised in surrender to a 20-year-old clad in the insignia of a militant movement for veganism attacking a police vehicle. Prosecutors in Las Vegas on Wednesday announced charges against three men in what they said was a right-wing conspiracy to push protests on the Strip into violence. But discussion of antifa has reverberated especially widely across Facebook, including on a page that bills itself as "North Idaho News." The page itself acknowledges in fine print that it is "not affiliated with any real news company." On Monday, though, it claimed to have "credible information that violent rioters, not just peaceful protesters, have plans to come to Coeur d'Alene." Reached Wednesday via Facebook message, the unidentified operator of North Idaho News declined to comment. The post quickly gained widespread attention, troubling the likes of Chris Dawson, a retired police officer from Santa Clarita, Calif., and the president of the ex-law enforcement group on Facebook that put its members on high alert. His Facebook page shared the notice, as Dawson himself said he had been "given information that antifa would be coming in from Portland or Seattle." Amplifying their fears was the rioting that marked some demonstrations in neighboring states. Soon, armed members of local militia groups began patrolling the streets of cities including Coeur d'Alene, said David Hagar, a captain in the city's police department, who described the gatherings as peaceful. Asked if antifa-affiliated individuals had targeted the city, Hagar said: "Not that we've identified." "I think a lot of it was fueled by social media," Hagar said. Dawson acknowledged in an interview that there was "no concrete evidence that was going to occur." His intention, he said, was to tell his network to "be prepared in case something goes wrong." Similar rumors gripped Payette County, a rural expanse on Idaho's western edge. One post shared widely on Facebook said antifa had dispatched a "plane load of people," arriving from Seattle targeting Idaho's rural regions. "The sheriff in Payette has already spotted some of them," the notice continued. Phone calls soon flooded the sheriff's office, leaving local law enforcement perplexed. "It indicated maybe we had given some warning to our citizens, which we hadn't done," said Lt. Andy Creech. The original Facebook post had been shared more than 200 times before local authorities put out an alert of their own, clarifying: "The information in this social media post is not accurate." Facebook declined to comment on the proliferation of falsehoods in Idaho. But a spokesman, Andy Stone, said in a statement that the company generally has been "working to find and remove violating activity since the protests started." The false notion continues to have traction with local paramilitary groups, including the far-right Three Percenters, who draw their name from the disputed claim that just 3% of American colonists were fighting at any one time during the revolt against the British crown. An Idaho branch said in a Facebook post on Sunday that it had "credible intel" about plans for an antifa-induced riot in Boise. No such riot took place. Treller, who left California five years ago for Coeur d'Alene, said reports of extremist activity were "quadruple verified," including by "those who monitor some of the communications going on between these groups." He could not produce the communications. "Several of them were going to be coming in from out of state, particularly from Washington and Oregon, in hopes of causing trouble of some indeterminate kind," he said. "Possibly rioting, possibly looting, certainly demonstrating, which can lead to those sort of things if it's the wrong kind of people demonstrating, like the more radical elements of Black Lives Matter or left-wing extremists." The apparent intention, Treller said, was to "strike a symbolic blow against a state that doesn't cultivate these sorts of unpleasant and not-very-patriotic movements." "The fact that we appeared in such great numbers, and with much more efficient weapons than they have, could be the reason it did not happen," he said. Others decried the show of force. The focus on outside agitators discredits homegrown organizing, said Lisa Sanchez, a member of the Boise City Council. "To assert yourself and your right to live in a safe, welcoming environment is threatening to the point where people feel they need to show up with guns," Sanchez said. She noted that armed protesters had appeared last month on the steps of the state capitol to demand the reopening of the economy during the pandemic - a mobilization that brought no similar warning about rioting. In other states, similar demonstrations interfered with Democratic deliberation. In Michigan, gun-toting protesters gathered at the statehouse demanding that lawmakers ease pandemic restrictions, causing the legislative session to be canceled rather than running the risk of facing an armed insurrection. Recent protests against police violence in Idaho have not caused similar disruptions. Tai Simpson, an indigenous activist in Boise, said the Tuesday vigil she and Mestelle had organized drew a crowd of about 5,000 to the city's downtown, concluding at about 10:30 p.m. "without any interruption from agitators or antifa protesters." Several altercations with counterprotesters broke out later in the night, she said. Misinformation, Simpson said, inflames antagonism to black residents. "It's fear tactics," she said. When on May 12, 1948 David Ben-Gurion pressed members of the People's Administration to support his intention to declare Israels independence, many questions had to be answered. One of the most important of those was: Will President Truman extend his support? That was and is the power of the head of the executive branch of American government. No other institution, no other human being serving the American people, matters that much. It is a one-man show when it comes to dramatic foreign-policy decisions the United States must make. Israels Declaration of Independence proclaimed Jewish sovereignty after 2000 years of exile. Yet it did not set the borders. The ensuing more than half a century of wars, peace overtures and treaties have failed to demarcate the countrys borders as well. Exile does not require borders, but a state does. The time has finally arrived to put the canvas on the Declaration of Independence. The people of Israel are ready and, what perhaps is not least important, the sitting president of the United States shares that sentiment. As in 1948, this unprecedented opportunity must not be missed. for history is an air-headed capricious teenager. The main argument against setting of the borders now, or the annexation as the detractors of the move tend to frame the action, is the negative sentiment among the American public, specifically the Democrats, who may, as the argument goes, as the result of Israels unilateral move become even more alienated from the Jewish state. Ironically, that is exactly the argument used in 1948 against the original Declaration of Independence. Back then everyone was against it: the leadership of both parties, the entire State Department and Department of Defense, most of the Jewish-American leadership. There was only one person with a handful of supporters who stood for the idea: President Truman. The doomsday prophecies of the critics did not materialize. However, assuming history never repeats itself and now is different from then, may Israels unilateral actions lead to its worsening standing among its friends and foes? The friends, the overwhelming majority of the GOP, the Independents, and the remaining old-style Democrats, will definitely support the move. The Left wing of the Democratic Party will protest and denounce. But these are the people who have found nothing positive to say about Israel in the last 25 years. The last time we heard them praising the Jewish State was for its sacrifices for peace in the midst of suicide bombing in the mid-90s. The only action to appease those folks is for Israel to give up self-defense and cease to exist as the Jewish State. In their view, even Israels unilateral pullout from Gaza was a passive-aggressive move. The progressives are in perpetual mode of criticizing Israel, so it does not really matter if the reason is real or imaginary. In any case the leadership of the Democratic Party would prefer, though obviously never admitting so, that Israel make its move under Trumps watch so, in case Democrats win come November, they are presented with a fait accompli. There is another aspect of the very same argument and it is related to the reaction of the EU and neighboring Arab countries, specifically Jordan. The EU does not have a unified stance on the subject. A number of Central European countries, particularly Hungary and Austria, are leading the charge against possible sanctions. But even if the threat of sanctions materializes, Israel will easily swallow that poison pill. These sanctions will be of superficial nature and of limited duration as the economic relationship between the EU and Israel is of mutual benefit and in some areas, such as defense and intelligence, are more in the interests of the EU. Jordan abdicated its responsibility over the West Bank more than three decades ago. Its relationship with Israel and the U.S. are the only reason why the Jordanian monarchy is still around. In the last few years, we have heard too many warnings of impending disasters over the recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital and Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights. None of them came to fruition and passed through the Middle East like a caravan through the desert. King Abdullah will find a way to accommodate himself to the new reality. He needs Israel as much, if not even more, than Israel needs stable Jordan. However, if the New York Times keeps repeating the mantra of Jordans refusal to accept Israels unilateral moves, the king may have no choice but to oblige. No Arab leader wants to look less Arab than the newspaper of record, which has a perfect record of predicting the second Holocaust (including on the eve of the Declaration of Independence) every time the Jewish state acts in self-interest. And the final remaining argument concerns future peace. Since the Oslo Accords set the peace process in motion in the early 90s, Israel has put forward a number of real proposals for settling the border dispute with the West Bank and Gaza Arabs. Some of them were not answered at all, but some got a violent response costing thousands of lives on both sides. And that was the case when the Palestinian Authority could actually, at least in theory, respect a possible agreement. Now with the West Bank and Gaza representing two separate entities and the Palestinian Authority on its deathbed having very little real power over its subjects, the prospect of any agreement is nonexistent. Israel cannot continue its borderless existence and must move forward on its own initiative. Knowing, based on the previous attempts, that the most Israel can offer is not sufficient for the other side, Israel must create its own secure and defensible borders. That by no means precludes an agreement that may or may not happen in the distant future. Most of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip are going to be waiting for a responsible Arab leader to lead its people to a statehood or whatever they wish. As in 1948, without a real partner for negotiated agreement, the destiny of the Jewish State must be decided by its people with the support of the only other person who matters the most: the president of the United States. Benjamin Netanyahu realizes this historical opportunity and its newly formed government seems to be united around the idea of settling Israels borders. The final chapter in the Declaration of Independence, the unfinished work of David Ben-Gurion, is about to be written. Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) on June 4 said it has taken full control of the capital Tripoli and its suburbs from Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army. GNA is the UN-recognised government of Libya which lost control of some parts of Tripoli more than a year ago. Mohamad Gnounou, a spokesman for the forces of the Government of National Accord, said in a Facebook post that their 'heroic' forces have taken full control of Grater Tripoli and airport. Read: Libyan Leaders Hold Ceasefire Talks Amid Fear Of Escalations Post Tripoli Strike: Reports The development came hours after the United Nations said its envoy held ceasefire talks with a delegation from Haftar's forces on June 3. The Government of National Accord is backed by Qatar and Turkey, while the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army receives support from the UAE and Egypt. Even though the Government of National Accord is Libyas internationally recognised government, it's authority remains unrecognized by the House of Representatives, currently under Haftar's control. Read: UN Expects Movement Soon On New Libya Cease-fire Talks Libya's power control As of May 2020, the House of Representatives controls the eastern Cyrenaica region and parts of the southern Fezzan and Tripolitania regions and Sirte. The Government of National Accord controls most of the coastal Tripolitania including Tripoli and Misrata. Meanwhile, the southern region is controlled by local tribal forces and militias, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), al-Qaeda, among others. The leaders of Libyan National Amry are supporters of deceased Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was assassinated by NTC militants in 2011. Read: UN Envoy Holds Cease-fire Talks With Libya's Eastern Forces Read: Libya's GNA Declines To Suspend Fighting During Ramzan, Says It Doesn't Trust Haftar (Image Credit: AP) Snap has stopped promoting the Snapchat account of President Donald Trump after determining that his public comments off the site could incite violence, in another hardened stance by a social media company against the president. Snap, which makes the Snapchat app that is popular among young users, said Trump's account would remain intact but will not be promoted on its Discover home page for news and stories. Trump's account was previously regularly featured on Discover, along with the accounts of other high-profile users like Kim Kardashian, actor Kevin Hart and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Snap's move is part of a toughening position by social media companies against Trump's posts, which are often aggressive and contain threats and inaccuracies. Over the past week, Twitter has labelled several of the president's tweets for misinformation on voting and glorifying violence. In contrast, Facebook has not touched Trump's posts, arguing that they are newsworthy and should remain up in the name of free speech. Trump has a following of about 1.5 million people on Snapchat, according to Bloomberg. Credit:Bloomberg Snap said it decided to stop highlighting Trump's account based on tweets he posted on Saturday in which he threatened to send "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons" into the protests that have erupted across the nation after the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis. The comments did not appear in Trump's Snapchat account. By PTI LOS ANGELES: A number of actors, who worked with "Glee" star Lea Michele, have accused her of mistreatment and appalling behaviour. Michele found herself at the centre of a storm on Twitter after her "Glee" co-star Samantha Marie Ware called her out for her creating a toxic environment on the sets. Ware, who accused the actor of "traumatic microaggressions" on the hit series, was responding to Michele's Twitter post supporting the Black Lives Matter movement amid the protests over the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in police custody in Minnepolis. On Wednesday, the actor issued an apology after meal-kit company HelloFresh dropped her as its brand ambassador. But now, more actors have come forward with their stories of mistreatment at the hands of Michele. Another "Glee" star Heather Morris posted a statement on Twitter, saying that she had an "unpleasant" experience of working with Michele. "Let me be very clear, Hate is a disease in America that we are trying to cure, so I would never wish for that hate to be spread to anyone else. "With that said, was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out." "Community" star Yvette Nicole Brown, who worked with Michele on ABC's "The Mayor", also shared her experience in a post on Twitter. Responding to Ware's tweet, Brown said, "I felt every one of those capital letters. Every person on a set matters. Every person on a set deserves respect. And it is the responsibility of every series regular to make every person who visits their home feel welcome. This dismissive attitude is what's wrong in Hollywood and the world." Actor Amber Riley, who featured as a series regular on "Glee", said during a discussion on Instagram that many women have similar stories to share about Michele. "In my inbox, there are a lot of Black actors and actresses telling me their stories and letting me know they have dealt with the same things on set, being terrorised by the white girls that are the leads of the show," Riley said. In her apology on Wednesday, Michele said even though she does not remember making the specific remarks that Ware says she made, she regrets her actions. "What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people. Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologise for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused," she said. The 33-year-old, who is currently expecting her first child with husband, entrepreneur Zandy Reich, said will keep working to be a better person so that she can be a "real role model for my child". "I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience," she added. The World Health Organization officials were all aware that China withholds vital information about COVID-19 in early January, according to a recently published article. The World Health Organization and the Chinese Communist Party The Director-General of the World Health Organization has long been accused and criticized for protecting the Chinese Communist Party in keeping away the blame of COVID-19 that at present has infected more than 6.2 million around the globe. In fact, an online petition was called for the resignation of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus because he was accused of allowing China to underreport the devastating impact of the new coronavirus. Additionally, some Republican lawmakers also wrote a letter to Ghebreyesus questioning his real nature of the relationship to the CCP. The lawmakers stipulated in their letter that Ghebreyesus as leader of the WHO, even went so far as to praise the Chinese government's 'transparency' during the crisis, when, in fact China has lied to the world by underreporting their actual infection and death rate statistics. Read related article: Online Petition Calling for WHO Director-General's Resignation Nears 1 Million Signatures WHO Received Early Warnings But Disregard It In the late week of December last year, WHO already received information from Taiwan that there is a SARS-like disease that was believed to have been transmitted from human-to-human. Instead of investigating it, they said that they will wait for the result of China's investigation about the outbreak. At that time, the WHO even posted on their official social media account that there is no human-to-human transmission. However, the outbreak escalated into an endemic and by late January was already declared as a pandemic. Chinese Government Prevented Information About COVID-19 According to a recently published article, even a Chinese laboratory has already revealed the potential devastation that the new coronavirus will bring and even published its genome, it was found out that China prevented for at least two more weeks on giving the World Health Organization the details it needed, according to recordings of multiple internal meetings held by the UN health agency in January. This simply means that the Chinese government deprived the world and the international health organization to have the vital information needed in designing tests, drugs, and vaccines that could possibly control the pandemic. Moreover, the report also said that the World Health Organization has continued to publicly commend China, even though the recordings China was not sharing enough information to assess the risk posed by the new virus, costing the world valuable time. CCP Prevents its Scientists to Discuss COVID-19 It was also found out in the leaked document that CCP prevented its scientists to discuss any information about the new coronavirus and even ordered the destruction of its samples which is a complete breach of WHO protocol. WHO Director-General already knew about this issue about the origin of the virus. Instead of alerting the world about its potential destruction, he instead decided not to mention it and only spoke about it when the organization declared the disease as a pandemic. Read related article: Early Warnings Ignored: WHO and China Disregard Post-SARS Guidelines A U.S. Republican Lawmaker Gave A Comment About the Leaked Document Meanwhile, Rep. Rick Scott, a Republican Lawmaker from Florida, said: "Now we know for sure that Communist China hid critical data that could have altered the global response to the pandemic." He also added that China was more concerned about their image instead of saving lives by reporting immediately to the WHO and the world.Meanwhile, WHO praised their response and was complicit in China's cover-up instead of exposing Communist China's deceit to the global community, the World Health Organization. He also said that the WHO clearly manifests that they do not qualify to handle the health crisis and that is why he is now leading the investigation due to the failures of the organization. He also asserted that Pres. Trump's decision to cut off funding for the WHO was right and CCP must be held accountable for the devastations brought by COVID-19. A rebellious grandmother left her house for the first time in three months and headed straight to a skate park to hit the ramps on her mobility scooter. Amy Penman posted a sweet video of her grandmother celebrating her first trip out of the house in Broxburn, Scotland, zooming over the ramps. She can be seen cheering 'wee' and laughing while wearing a face mask as she put her skating skills to the test on Tuesday. Amy Penman's grandmother went to the skate park for her first trip out of her house after not leaving the house for close to four months Her granddaughter shared the video on Twitter and jokingly said her grandmother 'has lost the plot'. As of Monday everyone in England and Wales has been allowed to leave their homes as long as they maintain strict social distancing rules. However, in Scotland, lockdown rules are still in place for vulnerable people. Miss Penman said: 'It was her first time out in four months, as she had to self-isolate because she has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with an oxygen tank on the back of her scooter.' When it came to other trade agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and a separate pact with South Korea, Trump used the threat of withdrawal and imposition of tariffs to negotiate new terms. While he succeeded in both instances, its debatable how much of an improvement the new agreements are over the old. Much of the new NAFTA, for example, incorporates provisions that had been negotiated as part of the much-derided TPP. And analyses by the International Monetary Fund and U.S. International Trade Commission suggest the new pact will have no or even negative impact on economic growth. CLEVELAND, Ohio Laid off? Hours reduced? Business slow or gone away if youre self-employed? A lot of people have become eligible for unemployment checks who never before encountered the system. Some might not know theyre eligible. Perhaps they were rejected earlier under Ohios regular unemployment system and didnt realize a new one is now available for lower-wage workers and people such as free-lancers who report income on IRS 1099 forms. Changes were made this spring by the federal government in response to the coronavirus crisis. Some new benefits just recently became available. A bonus not to miss is an extra $600 per week through July 25. NEW: See update: Explaining what questions will have to be answered to get $300 extra, how to extend your benefits beyond 26 weeks, and more answers. Navigating the Ohios online application system(s) can be complicated. But going in with a little knowledge can go a long way to getting what youre entitled to under the laws. So heres a primer. Thats Rich! is cleveland.coms and The Plain Dealers new personal finance column by Rich Exner, who as data analysis editor since 2007 has worked to bring clarity and meaning to numbers in the news. The goal of Thats Rich! will be the same, with a focus on helping readers make their money go further, whether it be how and when to contest bills, buying decisions, making investment and borrowing choices, or safeguarding personal information. From June 11 - Coronavirus and taxes: Revised July 15 filing deadline nears; IRS not yet processing paper forms - Thats Rich! Standard unemployment insurance The unemployment insurance plan that existed before the COVID-19 crisis (and still exists) was designed for employees who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Think of it generally as a layoff or a plant closing. Weekly unemployment checks are for 50% of the persons average pre-tax wages, though no more than $480 a week for a person with no dependents, $582 with one or two dependents and $647 for three or more. To qualify for this unemployment insurance, a person applying now had to have at least 20 qualifying weeks of work last year (or secondarily in some cases from April 2019 through March 2020), with an average pay of at least $269 before taxes for the weeks worked. Otherwise, there is no benefit under the standard unemployment insurance. Payments normally can run for 26 weeks of being out of work for those who worked at least 26 weeks during 12-month qualifying period. But the federal government in the spring as part of its coronavirus relief package provided funding for an additional 13 weeks 39 weeks in all available through Dec. 26. Hours cut but still working Importantly, it doesnt take a full layoff to qualify. Lets say a person averaged $800 a week last year. That persons full unemployment benefit would be $400 (50% of his or her average wage). If this worker is still employed but now making less than $400 a week (their established unemployment benefit), this person qualifies for a partial payment. It gets a little complicated, but lets say this person is now making $200 a week instead of $800. His or her weekly unemployment check would be $280. Heres how that works. Encouraging people to find some work while on unemployment, the rules permit making up to 20% of the benefit amount without penalty. Thats $80 on $400. After that, the unemployment check is reduced dollar for dollar for what is earned, or in this case the remaining $120 of $200 in earnings. This program is paid for by payroll taxes, so those who werent on payrolls such a self-employed workers dont qualify. But there is a new program for these workers, and low-wage employees. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance The federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) signed into law this spring was designed to help workers who dont qualify for standard unemployment insurance. Like the regular program, it provides benefits for up to 39 weeks. Unlike the regular program, there is no minimum income requirement. This program not only helps self-employed workers, but also part-time employees who didnt make enough to qualify for the regular unemployment insurance. Once qualified, the rules are much the same. But while the regular unemployment program is for people out of work through no fault of their own, for any number of reasons, this PUA program is only for people out of work for COVID-19-related reasons. These reasons could include, among other things, being diagnosed with COVID-19, diagnosis of a family member, advice from a health care professional to self-quarantine, being laid off as a direct result of COVID-19, or the place of work being closed because of COVID-19. The minimum benefit is $189 a week, even for those who didnt make that much a week. $600 weekly bonus Heres a bonus to help out people unemployed (or in some cases with reduced earnings) during the coronavirus crisis. The federal government also approved an extra payment of $600 per week for people qualifying for either the standard unemployment program or the special PUA program. This is in addition to the unemployment benefit amount explained above. So if someone qualifies for a $400 unemployment check weekly, that person will receive a total of $1,000. This amount was arrived at by estimating the total wages an average person nationally would lose if they were put out of work, and attempting to replace those wages through a combination of regular unemployment and the extra $600. The $600 per week runs through July 25. What happens after July 25? Stay tuned. The U.S. House passed a bill to extend the $600 payments through January. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he is against that. Dont be surprised if a compromise is worked out, maybe for a smaller payment or for a shorter time period. But as it stands now, the $600 extra payment ends July 25. While the standard unemployment program for 26 weeks is paid for by payroll taxes assigned to an unemployment fund, the additional 13 weeks of benefits, the $600 payments and the PUA were all being paid by the federal government. When and how to apply Apply as soon as possible. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services acknowledges that the system is backed up, taking in more than 1.2 million new claims during the crisis. There have been many complaints. Internet issues are possible. Getting through on the phone can be time consuming. But its important to start the process. Normally, standard unemployment claims cannot be made retroactively; so you have to apply the week you become unemployed. But because of system problems, exceptions are now being made, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said. For the PUA program, benefits are retroactive to the point of lost earnings, as early as Feb. 2, because the new system just began processing applications in mid-May. But remember, those have to be for coronavirus-related reasons. Youll have to return to the website each week the weeks run Sunday to Saturday to report on your earnings or lack earnings for the previous week. Go to unemploymenthelp.ohio.gov to learn more about the programs and start an application. This link explains in more detail the eligibility for the PUA program. For more details on the standard program, see the Workers Guide to Unemployment insurance at this link. There is an option to call for help at 1-877-644-6562, but be prepared for very long wait times to talk to a person. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes cleveland.coms and The Plain Dealers new personal finance column - Thats Rich! Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral. See later Thats Rich! columns Taking college classes online this fall? Heres how students can save a lot of money Thats Rich! Does it make sense to pay off your mortgage early? Heres what to consider: Thats Rich! CARES Act makes this ideal time for a student-loan payment checkup: Thats Rich! Coronavirus and taxes: Revised July 15 filing deadline nears; IRS not yet processing paper forms - Thats Rich! FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 21, 2019. Picture taken August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo Brazilian meatpackers JBS SA , Marfrig and Minerva purchased thousands of cattle linked to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest since 2018, advocacy group Greenpeace Brasil alleged in a report published on Thursday. The report provides a window into so-called cattle laundering, in which steer raised on illegally deforested land are moved between farms to obscure their origins. Ranching is a major driver of Amazon rainforest deforestation, which surged in Brazil last year to an 11-year high. Livestock pastures occupy roughly 60% of the deforested area of the Amazon, according to data published by space research agency INPE in 2016. The three meatpackers reportedly bought cattle from a farm called Barra Mansa in Mato Grosso state between January 2018 and July 2019, with JBS buying at least 6,000 cows, Minerva buying at least 2,000 and Marfrig buying roughly 300, according to Greenpeace's investigation. During that period, at least 4,000 cattle were moved to Barra Mansa from a nearby ranch, called Paredao, according to Greenpeace. Paredao is illegally located inside a state park that has been largely deforested, according to land registry records and satellite deforestation data. Public records show the farms share an owner, Marcos Antonio Assi Tozzatti. Listed phone numbers for a company linked to one of the farms and registered to Tozzatti were disconnected. Asked about the allegations, JBS, Minerva and Marfrig in statements to Reuters reaffirmed commitments made since 2009 not to buy cattle from illegally deforested areas or farms under environmental embargo. The companies said Brazil's cattle tracking system made it hard to scrutinize "indirect suppliers," which can be farms in bad standing that sell cattle to those in good standing. JBS said Barra Mansa is compliant with the company's responsible procurement rules and that Paredao has never been listed as a JBS livestock supplier. Minerva said it has blocked the Paredao farm from its system since 2018, but Barra Mansa is one of its licensed suppliers and it would now be investigated for any irregularities. Marfrig said it had purchased 180 cattle in the period in question from Tozzatti and Barra Mansa farm, which complies with all of the company's standards. Marfrig said it was not familiar with the Paredao farm. Reuters reviewed government records corroborating the Greenpeace report and documented livestock transfers, including dozens of cattle sent from Barra Mansa to the companies' slaughterhouses, but was not able to verify all of the transactions involved. The report details how the three meatpacking plants exported about 53,256 tonnes of meat valued at $267 million in periods roughly corresponding to the cattle purchases from Barra Mansa. Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates were the top consumers, while about 15% of their exports in the period went to Europe. A lack of end-to-end tracking in Brazil's cattle market makes it difficult for the buyers to know for certain if beef is linked to deforestation, according to Greenpeace. "No slaughterhouse or supermarket in Brazil that currently buys animals from the Amazon can assure that all cattle produced and purchased in the Brazilian Amazon is completely free from deforestation," the Greenpeace report said. It's a crazy and confusing time in the world right now and many people are, understandably, looking for answers. Yet, while some of these can be addressed quickly, this era has prompted deeper questions about that require longer and more detailed reflection. What the world needs now is a good reading list - so that's what we're providing. All of these five books explore a topic or theme that should help you to gain a more informed perspective on the world around you at this confusing time. Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, by Laura Spinney The Spanish Flu has suddenly become a much more pertinent historical moment thanks to the spread of the coronavirus, but how many of us really understand what caused it and the impact it had? Laura Spinney's excellent book looks at the impact of the 1918 outbreak, as well as the context of other pandemics in history. Somewhat presciently, it also demonstrated how the conditions needed for a pandemic were present - making this essential reading if you want to understand how the coronavirus could happen today. Investment Biker, by Jim Rogers The coronavirus has shone a light on just how globalised we've become - and also just how differently nations approach a crisis. It's not always easy to see the world from the perspective of other countries, so you need a good writer to do that for you. Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers is perfect for this. It's the tale of a Wall Street legend - the 'Indiana Jones of finance' according to Time magazine - and his 52-country tour. It's a healthy mix of travelogue and investment advice that offers a great insight into the state of the global economy and, as a result, was picked as one of IG's top ten trading books. The Fifth Risk, by Michael Lewis Like it or not, government matters right now. But, how does the Trump administration really work? Forget the tweets, press conferences and talk show squabbles, what's going on behind the scenes. That's what Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk explores - it's an analysis of the US Government and how it manages risk - and how the Trump administration approaches this. As he explained to Vox, Lewis feels the current situation is going to cause more people to want to peep behind the curtain and see how things are really running. He argued: "What I think might happen because of the pandemic is that voters are going to start asking: Is this someone I would trust to manage this situation? Just like we ask, is this someone I trust to manage my money? Or, is this someone I would trust to drive the car? Maybe we'll start treating the president as someone who is going to handle a risk that, if handled badly, could kill. I think that we've gotten away from that, largely because we've forgotten what government does." The Plague, by Albert Camus This might be a work of fiction, but it has gained a newfound relevance in the coronavirus era. Set in 1940, this is loosely based on the events surrounding a cholera epidemic in Algeria in the mid-19th century and serves as an exploration of the way human beings react when forced to stay at home - and the way they cope in a time of suffering and death. It can also be read as an allegory to Nazism and the French Resistance during the Second World War. Publishers are having to hastily order reprints to keep up with demand - with more than ten times as many sales in the UK in March as in the whole of 2019. Of the current surge in interest, Camus's daughter wrote: "It is wonderful that a new generation is discovering Camus, and I hope that in the silence of the confinement his words will have an echo." No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference, by Greta Thunberg Reckon the coronavirus will be the crisis that defines this generation? There are plenty of people who feel this will pale into insignificance when compared to the battle to control climate change. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has been at the forefront of the movement to force action on this front - and this compilation of her speeches offers a useful primer to those wanting to understand her message and explore a key debate that will need to be returned to once all of this has blown over. Speaking recently to the New Scientist, Thunberg has urged the world to tackle climate change alongside the coronavirus - and warned against people using the current situation to sideline efforts to cut emissions. She also believes that the reaction to the crisis has shown how countries can quickly act to change their behaviour. Maybe history will judge this crisis as an early warning shot? T he Cambridge dictionary definition of to kowtow is specific: to show too much respect to someone in authority. So, have HSBC and Standard Chartered really kowtowed to Beijing? Shown too much respect by approving its hideous imposition of Chinese security rules in Hong Kong? Depends how you see it. As multinationals headquartered in a country - the UK - whose prime minister has roundly condemned Chinas actions; yes. But in the real world, in which both firms rely enormously on both Hong Kong and China for their profits, the answers no. They showed the amount of respect needed to keep operating there. Just look at the numbers. Standards Asian business is derived 61% from Hong Kong and 14% from China. HSBCs Hong Kong revenue is 35% of its entire business, and that will only grow as it shifts further towards Asia. HSBC - the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp - is known simply as The Bank by Hong Kongers. It, and Standard, are so local to the city that they are two of only three institutions allowed to issue banknotes there. To stand against its Chinese overlords would have been commercial suicide. HSBC got a taster when it was accused of helping the US probe into Huawei (which it denies). Beijing went ballistic and reputedly withdrew some business. If you want to make your money in China and, sadly, Hong Kong, you have to do whatever repellent Beijing orders. Its a totalitarian state - thats the way it works. There can be no such thing as too much respect. President Jair Bolsonaro threatened Friday to pull Brazil from the WHO over "ideological bias," as his counterpart Donald Trump said the US economy was recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and Europe sought to reopen its borders. Adding fuel to the political fire raging around the pandemic, its origins and the best way to respond, Bolsonaro criticized the World Health Organization for suspending clinical trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 -- a decision it reversed this week -- and threatened to follow in Trump's footsteps by quitting. "I'm telling you right now, the United States left the WHO, and we're studying that, in the future. Either the WHO works without ideological bias, or we leave, too," the far-right leader told journalists. Sometimes called a "Tropical Trump," Bolsonaro has followed a similar script to the US president in his handling of the pandemic, downplaying its severity, attacking state authorities' stay-at-home measures and touting the purported effects of hydroxychloroquine and a related anti-malarial drug, chloroquine, against COVID-19. The WHO had suspended trials of hydroxychloroquine after major studies raised concerns about its safety and effectiveness against the new coronavirus -- irking Trump, a fan who even took the drug himself as a preventive measure. On Thursday, most of the authors of the studies that appeared in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine retracted their work, saying they could no longer vouch for their data because the firm that supplied it refused to be audited. However, adding to the swirling scientific and political debate, a new study from Oxford University said Friday that hydroxychloroquine showed "no beneficial effect" in treating COVID-19. In another potentially confusing reversal, the WHO changed its advice on face masks, saying that "in light of evolving evidence" they should be worn in places where the virus is widespread and physical distancing is difficult. Story continues - US 'largely through' - The new coronavirus has now killed more than 394,000 people and infected 6.7 million since it emerged in China late last year, the world's worst health crisis in more than a century. In the US -- the hardest-hit country, with 109,000 dead and nearly 1.9 million infections -- Trump said the economy was bouncing back after being pummeled by lockdown measures. "We had the greatest economy in the history of the world. And that strength let us get through this horrible pandemic, largely through, I think we're doing really well," he told reporters. Trump, who is facing a tough campaign for re-election in November, reiterated his calls to further ease stay-at-home measures, after surprisingly upbeat employment numbers showed the country gained 2.5 million jobs in May. In a sign of the slow return to normal in the US, Universal Orlando became the first of the giant theme parks in sunny Florida to reopen -- albeit with temperature controls at the entrance and mandatory face masks. - EU to reopen borders - In Europe, badly-hit countries slowly continued on a path toward a post-pandemic normal, seeking to revive key tourist sectors in time for the summer season without triggering a second wave of infections. The EU said it could reopen borders to travelers from outside the region in early July, after some countries within the bloc reopened to European visitors. In France, a top expert meanwhile said dramatic drops in daily deaths and new cases since their March peaks meant the worst was over. "We can reasonably say the virus is currently under control," said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, the head of the government's scientific advisory council. - Shifting epicenter - But bleak numbers streamed in from Latin America, the latest epicenter. Brazil's death toll rose to more than 35,000, the third-highest in the world, after the United States and Britain. Tolls are also rising sharply in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. And in Chile, deaths have risen by more than 50 percent in the past week, despite a three-week lockdown of the capital, Santiago. burs-jhb/mtp With graduation plans scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic, Ocean City High School teachers wanted to find a way to pay tribute to the students they spent four years guiding and preparing for the next stage in their lives. Since social distancing prevents any sort of gathering for the more than 300 grads, the teachers decided to take their best wishes to the skies over South Jersey. A banner plane, paid for by the Ocean City Education Association, took off late Thursday morning and soared across the towns where the high school students call home on a flight expected to last three hours. Instead of advertising local businesses, though, the banner on this plane offered a special message for Ocean City Highs grads: Congrats OC Class of 2020. The flight covered the school districts entire footprint, from Woodbine to Brigantine. Teachers provided updates about the trip via the education associations Instagram page. The teachers union has an annual budget for activities, but as the pandemic has scrapped many plans, they had extra funds available and wanted to do something for the students, explained association president Paul Matusz. A banner plane with the message "Congrats OC Class of 2020 [heart] OCEA" flies over Ocean City, N.J., Thursday, June 4, 2020. The Ocean City Education Association honored this year's graduates with the flight, which flew over the entire Ocean City School district, from Woodbine to Brigantine.Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com One of our members came up with this idea, he explained. Teachers wanted to make sure their students knew they were thinking about them during these rough times, Matusz said. We all remember what it feels like to graduate from high school and that feeling of moving on to bigger and better things, he said, but this year is obviously different for these graduates, who had to complete their senior years via remote schooling. The feeling isnt the same, and I think its not the same for the teachers, either. Having worked with these students all through their final years of K-12 learning, its like seeing one of your own kids graduate from high school, Matusz said. He praised High Exposure Aerial Advertising, which flies out of Woodbine, for giving them a good rate for the flight. Matusz, who has taught art at Ocean City High for 16 years, headed to the airport with his two young kids Thursday morning the see the plane take off. The flight circled above Upper Township, then flew over Sea Isle to Ocean City, where it will circled several times to cover the entire town before heading for Longport, Margate, Ventnor, Atlantic City and Brigantine. From there, it was slated to swoop over the back bay area of Ocean City and head over Upper Township a final time. A banner plane with the message "Congrats OC Class of 2020 [heart] OCEA" flies over Ocean City, N.J., Thursday, June 4, 2020. The Ocean City Education Association honored this year's graduates with the flight, which flew over the entire Ocean City School district, from Woodbine to Brigantine.Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. A man sweeps broken glass out of a window at a restaurant damaged in a protest that turned violent overnight, in Atlanta, Ga., on May 30, 2020. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images) Dozens Arrested and $46,000 of Property Recovered After Unprecedented Looting at Arizona Mall Police in Scottsdale, Arizona, said they have arrested dozens of people and recovered $46,000 of property in connection with looting and rioting at Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall and nearby businesses on Saturday. The Scottsdale Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that they had made eight additional arrests, bringing the total to twenty, and recovered property, in connection with an incident at the mall that authorities earlier called unprecedented. On Saturday, May 30th, the City of Scottsdale experienced an unprecedented event. Hundreds of people came to Scottsdale, specifically, the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall, under the guise of protesting police violence, Scottsdale police said in a statement cited by ABC15 Arizona. While some may have indeed come to join what they believed would be a peaceful protest, what occurred was neither peaceful, nor a protest. It was a riot that saw several dozens of individuals collectively damaging property at and near the mall, breaking into businesses and looting the interiors. Footage shared on social media showed looters jumping into and out of the mall through broken windows and the sound of breaking glass could be heard. Millions of dollars of damage was reported after multiple stores were broken into and vandalized on the night of May 30, local news KTAR reported, with names of businesses that were targeted including Neiman Marcus, Urban Outfitters, and the Apple Store. Other footage showed shattered glass at the Apple Store and debris strewn on the ground. Police said that as a result of the criminal activity, the mall and area around it had to be closed. As a result of last nights criminal activity, Scottsdales Fashion Square Mall, as well as Camelback Rd from Goldwater Bl to Scottsdale Rd is CLOSED today. This area is to be avoided. Updates on last nights activity will be provided later today. pic.twitter.com/GDclrlM0oC ScottsdalePD (@ScottsdalePD) May 31, 2020 Police were caught off guard, according to KTAR, when around 500 people showed up at a demonstration at the shopping center, while authorities expected only between 50 and 100. We built our response based on the intel that we had, Scottsdale Police Department Chief Alan Rodbell told KTAR News 92.3 FMs The Gaydos and Chad Show. He denied that the department sat idly by and let the looting happen. Some property damage occurred before we could respond, but we never gave up property and said OK, have your way with this, he told the outlet. After reports of damage to businesses, Scottsdale police declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly and ordered people to disperse at risk of arrest. Other law enforcement agencies responded to the scene to assist, dispersing the crowd at around 5 a.m., KTAR reported. Rodbell said officers didnt observe any behavior that was worthy of shooting people, but Scottsdale Assistant Police Chief Scott Popp told a press conference Sunday that police used chemical munitions to control the crowd. Scottsdale police on Wednesday said they expect to make more arrests in connection with the looting and property destruction. A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request to release notorious Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernie Madoff early from a 150-year prison sentence despite Madoff's plea that he is dying from kidney disease. Judge Denny Chin's ruling noted that Madoff, 82, committed "one of the most egregious financial crimes of all time," and that "many people are still suffering from" it. Chin's denial came four months after Madoff, who orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in history at his self-named Manhattan investment firm, said in a court filing that he had less than 18 months to live, and asked to be set free to spend his remaining days living with a friend. Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to 11 crimes related to swindling billions of dollars from thousands of investors. He is currently being held at a federal medical facility in North Carolina. Chin's ruling detailed the massive scope of Madoff's crimes, the approximately 500 letters from victims that opposed his release because of the "staggering human toll" from his deeds, and the judge's own belief that "Mr. Madoff was never truly remorseful" for his decades-long fraud. One of Madoff's victims had written Chin, "I believe with all my heart that my husband would be alive today if he had not had to deal with the stress and emotional despair that the loss of almost all our money had on our family." The judge in his ruling U.S. District Court in Manhattan wrote, "When I sentenced Mr. Madoff in 2009, it was fully my intent that he live out the rest of his life in prison. His lawyers asked then for a sentence of 12 to 15 to 20 years, specifically with the hope that Mr. Madoff would live to see "the light of day,' " "I was not persuaded; I did not believe that Mr. Madoff was deserving of that hope. Nothing has happened in the 11 years since to change my thinking." "While Mr. Madoff's present medical situation is most unfortunate, compassionate release is not warranted," wrote Chin, who like other federal judges in 2018 was granted the power to release federal inmates on health grounds under The First Step Act. Shi Rong visits a kindergarten in Guiyang to publicize security awareness against abduction. [For China Daily] Forensic expert Shi Rong is keen to stress the crucial role big data technology, and its wide application, plays in enhancing public security. Born in 1968, Shi is now the deputy chief of the criminal investigation unit at the Guiyang municipal bureau of public security in Guizhou Province. When a murder case is being investigated, she and her colleagues need to examine the victim's body and the crime scene to provide evidence for the court trial. In the past 28 years, she has worked on more than 3,000 crime scenes and filed over 2,000 forensic documents. She says in 2018, she worked on a single case for 28 hours continuously. While dealing with a heavy workload and the flow of information related to cases, she says she realized the importance of using big data in public security systems. "In my everyday work, when investigating cases, we need to use big data systems as a means of scientific support to track and find the suspects," Shi says. "Its utilization in enhancing general public security and serving the people is much broader, encompassing different aspects such as traffic, exit and entry, and population management." The Guiyang bureau of public security has upgraded its database in the past few years. Official statistics show the number of criminal cases in the city has consistently declined over the past seven years. Over 95 percent of Guiyang residents have expressed a sense of security in annual surveys since 2015, and the figure reached a record high of 99.05 percent in 2019. Since Shi became a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress in 2018, she has been paying closer attention to local big data construction and proposing relevant suggestions at the annual two sessions in Beijing. Last year, she spotted a few issues with the local data systems of government organizations after conducting research on the building of databases at a grassroots level. "The data-sharing and data integration across departments and regions is insufficient, and the application of big data systems at county level is not extensive," Shi adds. Shi Rong, deputy chief of the criminal investigation unit in Guiyang, Guizhou. [For China Daily] Based on these findings, at this year's two sessions, she suggested bringing laws for data integration across government organizations, standardizing data platforms to offer convenience to the people and supporting big data infrastructure construction in less-developed regions. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, big data systems at a local level have also proved useful in disease control. The Guiyang bureau of public security has been cooperating with local disease control and prevention centers on contact-tracing. "Based on the activities of confirmed cases, we need to locate people who have had close contact with patients as quickly as possible, many of whom might not even know the risks they have been exposed to. The big data system can help us find these people more effectively," Shi says. According to official statistics, by April 15, the bureau had registered 127,000 people who came to Guizhou from other parts of the country and identified 2,712 people with a fever. The thorough health-screening also helped the bureau identify criminal suspects who were on the run. Of Guiyang's 49 fugitives, 13 were apprehended during the process. Shi also delivered face masks and disinfectants to villages that lacked medical supplies. "She sets high standards for herself, with self-restraint and a rigorous work attitude. She also has strict requirements for her colleagues," says Zhang Ying, who has worked with Shi for more than 20 years. "She also likes to cook and dance, and at the end of every year, she invites us for dinner at her home. To our team, she is an 'iron lady' at work and a big sister in life." (Source: China Daily) Eyad Hallaq liked to watch cartoons. He loved dressing up and wearing cologne. He even dreamed of getting married. But his favorite activity was walking to school, where he volunteered in the kitchen, preparing meals for his fellow special-needs students. Early on Saturday, the 32-year-old Palestinian with severe autism was chased by Israeli border police forces into a nook in Jerusalem's Old City and fatally shot as he cowered next to a garbage bin after apparently being mistaken for an attacker. He was just a few metres from his beloved Elwyn El Quds school. The shooting has drawn comparisons to the death of George Floyd in the United States and prompted a series of small demonstrations against police violence toward Palestinians. The calls for justice have crossed Jewish-Arab lines, a rarity in this deeply polarised society. Yet for his devastated family, such gestures have provided little comfort and even less hope that the officers who shot Hallaq will be punished. "Whenever a person is martyred here, we say that we hope for change," said Hallaq's father, Khiri. "Where is the change?" Two large photographs of Hallaq sit in the living room of the family's modest home in a Palestinian neighbourhood of east Jerusalem. In one photo, wearing an Adidas sweatshirt, Hallaq holds a cactus he planted during the coronavirus lockdown. It was the last photo the family took of him. His tiny bedroom is neatly made up, with a small photo of Hallaq above the pillow, next to his cologne collection. What exactly happened on Saturday morning remains unclear. According to the family, Hallaq, wearing a badge that identified him as having special needs, left home on his daily walk to school, about 10 minutes away. Police said officers in the Old City spotted a man carrying a "suspicious object that looked like a pistol". When the man failed to heed calls to stop, police said they opened fire and "neutralised" him after a chase. Hallaq's teacher, who had accompanied him on that last walk to school, told Israel's Channel 13 TV that she repeatedly cried out to the police that he is "disabled" and tried to stop the shooting. "They didn't listen to me. They didn't want to listen to me," she said. She told the station they fired three bullets at him. He fell to the ground, asked her for help, then ran for cover in a small area housing a garbage bin. Officers came after him and killed him. At least five bullet holes could be seen in the wall of a small structure at the site. Hallaq's parents said they rushed to the scene but were not allowed to see him. Police later came to the house, cursing them as they searched for weapons, they said. They said police found nothing in the home. Israel's Justice Ministry said two officers have been placed under house arrest, but gave no further details. Security camera footage has not been released. Khiri Hallaq said he has heard nothing from investigators. Even with the world's attention focused on the unrest shaking the US, Hallaq's death has reverberated across Israel. Scores of people, mostly Jewish Israelis, marched through downtown Jerusalem on Saturday night to condemn the shooting. Demonstrations were also held in Arab towns throughout the week. Inspired by the protests in the US, demonstrators have held signs that say "Black Lives Matter," "Palestinian Lives Matter," or showed photographs of Floyd and Hallaq. Hallaq's death is expected to be a theme at a larger Arab-led demonstration planned in downtown Tel Aviv on Saturday. "Is there anything lonelier than an autistic person cowering and trembling in fear in a garbage shed, not understanding what is going on and why, while policemen empty a magazine of bullets into him," wrote Haaretz columnist Rogel Alpher, a parent of a grown autistic child. "Good God, they executed him. If that happened to my son, I'd find it hard to go on living." The shooting came two weeks after another fatal shooting of an Arab man outside an Israeli hospital. According to police, the man was shot after stabbing a security guard. Security camera footage showed the man, who reportedly suffered from mental illness, lying on the ground when he was shot multiple times. For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem, and members of Israel's Arab minority, these cases reflect what they see as Israeli forces' loose trigger fingers when it comes to dealing with Arab suspects. Israeli leaders typically stand behind the country's security forces and have stopped short of condemning the shooting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained silent. But several top officials, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, whose daughter is autistic, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz have expressed sorrow. Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, who is close to Netanyahu, said the family "deserves a hug" and vowed to introduce new tactics for police to better identify individuals with disabilities. A stream of Jewish and Arab well-wishers, including a former chief rabbi of Jerusalem, have visited the family. Hallaq's mother played down the outcry and said nothing will bring back her son. "Sympathy is temporary and then ends," she said. Making things even more painful, the family has little faith in an Israeli justice system they see as hopelessly biased. Seasoned journalist, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says security services should ignore the seditious comments by politicians in the country. According to Kweku Baako, a lot of the political figures resort to making ugly but ''empty noises'' eventhough they do not have the capacity to cause mayhem. He was commenting on recent comments by PNC National Chairman, Bernard Mornah, Major Osahene Boakye Gyan (rtd) and other political leaders which smack of civil war. Incendiary Comments By Politicians Bernard Mornah is quoted as saying well beat and kill each other should the Electoral Commission (EC) refuse to address their grievances on the Commission's decision to use the Ghana card and passport as the only legal documents for the new voters' registration exercise. Major Osahene Boakye Gyan (rtd), on the other hand, is accused of instigating a riot by rehashing the position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the EC wants to rig the 2020 elections for the current administration. He reportedly stated that ''should the EC continue to toe the line of their paymasters, it will certainly spell doom for this country." "This party (NPP) won power with the biggest electoral margin; so what has gone wrong? . . . this morning, I overheard an NPP activist on radio claiming if elections are held today, Nana Addo will be re-elected with some one million, three hundred thousand votes difference. See, the NPP has cooked up the figures already, they are simply looking for the means to legitimize their rigging by undertaking a registration exercise (through the EC)....," he futher alleged. Calling Their Bluff Contributing to Wednesday's edition of Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', Kweku Baako said the Ghana Police Service should not always be quick to jump in to arrest people for making empty threats. To him, it's a complete waste of time on the part of the security forces. ''These are not just ugly noises but empty noises. Nobody has a capacity to do the thing they threaten most of the times . . . Arresting or inviting them even give them more armour. Ignore them. Just make sure that your intelligence gathering is clear, so if you feel what they're doing can lead to some potential commotion, just ring intelligence around. Find out and you'll soon realize that it's a waste of time and space. They just making noise. They have no capacity." "Are you really going to police all what people say and act on that? To be honest with you, it's a personal belief. It's a conscientious decision I've taken. Most of these things, leave them alone. Leave them alone! As long as you know, your intelligence capability should be able to tell you; this is empty noise, however ugly it is," he insisted. 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 Minneapolis: A full autopsy of George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police, was released Wednesday and provides several clinical details, including that Floyd had previously tested positive for Covid-19. The 20-page report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office came with the familys permission and after the coroners office released summary findings Monday that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers, and classified his May 25 death as a homicide. Bystander video showing Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyds neck, ignoring Floyds I cant breathe cries until he eventually stopped moving, has sparked nationwide protests, some violent. The report by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker spelled out clinical details, including that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3 but appeared asymptomatic. The report also noted Floyds lungs appeared healthy but he had some narrowing of arteries in the heart. The countys earlier summary report had listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under other significant conditions but not under cause of death. The full reports footnotes noted that signs of fentanyl toxicity can include severe respiratory depression and seizures. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday upgraded charges against Chauvin to 2nd-degree murder, and also charged the three other officers on the scene with aiding and abetting. Floyd family attorney, Ben Crump, earlier decried the official autopsy as described in the original complaint against Chauvin for ruling out asphyxia. An autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family concluded that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression. Lucknow: As Rahul Gandhi undertakes his 2,500-km yatra in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday termed the Congress scion as a good human being and said they can forge a "friendship" if he spends more time in the state, setting off speculation about a political realignment. Akhilesh, however, shrugged off a question on possible alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party in run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. "Rahulji bahut acche insan hain, bahut acche ladke hain. UP me jyada rahenge to hamari bhi dosti unse hogi...do acche log mil jaye to kya kharab baat hai? (Rahul is a good human being and a good boy. If he spends more time in UP, we can also have friendship with him...If two good human beings meet, what's wrong in that," he said. During his ongoing 'Kisan Mahayatra' in the state, Gandhi has been aggressively attacking Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi but has taken only veiled jibes at the SP government in the state. When Akhilesh was asked about chances of SP-Congress coalition, he said, "Aap isme rajniti kyun dekh rahe hain (Why are you seeing politics in it?)" He was talking to media after a Cabinet meeting. On locals carrying away cots, many on their bicycles, after Gandhi's 'Khat Panchayat', Akhilesh said, "At least the bicycle (SP's poll symbol) has some use for them...had it been taken by samajwadis, you (media) would have said samajwadi goondas took it away". Asked about state minister Azam Khan's controversial comments on BR Ambedkar, Akhilesh said the issue should not be politicised. "In Uttar Pradesh, elections are nearing. No one should become 'thekedar' of 'mahapurush' (great personalities). You should not let them become 'thekedar of mahapurush," he said. On the Cabinet meeting, Akhilesh said, it was decided to hike old age pension from Rs 300 to Rs 500 per month, formation of new nagar panchyats and construction of Acharya Narendra Dev Memorial park in Sitapur. Besides, the Cabinet also discussed formation of UP Yuva Niti-2016 and a policy to give free smartphones to people. "How to give smartphones in the days to come was discussed. Its registrations will be started soon. It (smartphones) will help reduce distance and information will reach fast in rural areas," he said. "It is being felt that information regarding government schemes and policies did not reach people. Giving smartphones will help in governance," he said. The Cabinet also decided to employ over 30,000 BPEd (Bachelor in Physical Education) pass outs, who were agitating for past few years while working on honoraium in government schools. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A judge in Glynn County, Georgia, ruled Thursday that three white men accused of killing a black jogger in Georgia earlier this year will stand trial for murder, after a day-long hearing that included testimony that the shooter allegedly uttered the words "f---ing n-----" as the victim lay dying in the road. William "Roddie" Bryan, who captured Arbery's death on cellphone video, told investigators that Travis McMichael, 34, used the slur before police arrived at the scene, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special-Agent-in-Charge Richard Dial. In his closing statement, special prosecutor Jesse Evans said the men - along with the McMichael's father, Gregory, 64 - forced Arbery into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as they used their vehicles to corner him before they "gunned him down in broad daylight." Bryan, 50, and the McMichaels were charged last month with felony murder in the February shooting death of Arbery, 25. Lengthy testimony by the lead investigator now in the case Thursday appeared to contradict earlier assertion by authorities that the three men had acted in self-defense, as well as statements from the lawyer for Gregory McMichael that there was no racial animus in the crime and the death did not fit the pattern of extrajudicial killings of black people. Lawyers for the McMichaels continued to argue Thursday that their clients had acted in self-defense, while Bryan's attorney said he was an innocent bystander who merely filmed the deadly encounter on his cellphone, which subsequently was leaked, went viral and caused national outrage. The McMichaels face an additional aggravated assault charge while Bryan faces a charge of attempting to illegally detain and confine. The case has been plagued by allegations of bias and mishandling by both law enforcement and prosecutors after prosecutors brought charges against the men only after a video showing Arbery's killing surfaced. Anger over the episode has added fuel to the ongoing protests across the country, in the wake of George Floyd's death last week in Minneapolis. Even before Floyd's death, activists in Georgia took to the streets, angered that it took 74 days and the video of Arbery's death to compel authorities to arrest the father and son now accused of killing him. A local district attorney, George E. Barnhill, argued in April the suspects' actions were lawful - that they were trying to make a citizen's arrest of a suspected burglar. The case is now on its fourth prosecutor. Travis McMichael's attorney, Jason Sheffield, on Thursday asked the special agent in charge of the case whether Arbery's killing was really a story of "self-defense." "You are of the opinion that this was not self-defense by Mr. McMichael?" he asked Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special-Agent-in-Charge Richard Dial, after reviewing the details of the encounter. "I don't believe it was self-defense by Mr. McMichael. I believe it was self-defense by Mr. Arbery," Dial responded. "I believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued, and he ran until he couldn't run anymore. And [his choice] was: turn his back to a man with a shotgun, or fight with his bare hands against a man with a shotgun, and he chose to fight." Dial spent several hours on the stand Thursday testifying to the events of Feb. 23, as the three men - two of whom were armed - chased Arbery through Satilla Shores, a marshy enclave near his home where he often jogged. The incident began when Gregory McMichael saw Arbery running through the neighborhood and suspected he was responsible for recent burglaries, Dial said. Security video had shown Arbery had been spotted in a nearby house that was under construction, prompting a neighbor to call 911, although there is no indication he took anything from the site. Dial said McMichael called for his son, Travis McMichael, and the pair hopped into a pickup truck and gave chase - the son armed with a shotgun, the father carrying a .357 magnum. Soon after, Dial said, they were joined by a neighbor, Bryan, who helped corner Arbery and later recorded his death on his cellphone camera. None of the suspects called 911 before pursuing Arbery, Dial said. Dial said Gregory McMichael told authorities he shouted at Arbery: "Stop! Stop! We want to talk to you" as they tried to affect a kind of citizen's arrest before McMichael fired the first shot and a scuffle ensued that ended in Arbery's death. In his testimony, Dial described aspects of the case that have been debated among prosecutors and people across the country. He said Arbery was shot after trying to evade Bryan and the McMichaels for several minutes and engaged only after he appeared to run out of options to flee, Dial said. He also gave testimony that disputed Bryan's version of events - that he was just a witness and a bystander. Gregory McMichael "described that Mr. Bryan was trying to block him in as well," Dial said. "Mr. Bryan admits to joining the pursuit of Mr. Arbery. He admits to trying to block Mr. Arbery in, trying to detain him several times." Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, argued Thursday that he was nothing more than an "innocent bystander" doing the duty that any "patriotic" American would do. Thursday's testimony was a marked contrast to the version of events authorities in Georgia had detailed in April before the damning video came to light and caused a national firestorm. In an April letter to the Glynn County police chief, Barnhill, a local prosecutor, had characterized the fatal shooting of Arbery as justifiable. The McMichaels were "in hot pursuit" of a suspect with a checkered criminal history, the district attorney wrote, which helped "explain his apparent aggressive nature and his possible thought pattern to attack an armed man." The McMichaels were making a citizen's arrest of a person they believed to be involved in a burglary, he argued - and Arbery contributed to his own death by attacking Travis McMichael as he held a gun. "Arbery initiated the fight," Barnhill wrote. While McMichael's finger was on the trigger, "we do not know who caused the firings. Arbery would only had to pull the shotgun 1/16th to 1/8th of one inch to fire the weapon himself and in the height of the altercation this is entirely possible." On Thursday, Travis McMichael's attorney, Jason Sheffield, asked Dial about Arbery's history of mental health problems - which Barnhill had earlier implied contributed to the altercation, along with a criminal history that included a weapons violation and shoplifting accusation. The prosecutor raised an objection. "There's no evidence before the court . . . that these defendants even knew what history the deceased victim in this case had, so this serves no purpose in this case other than to cast his character into question," he said. Arbery, Dial said, had been previously diagnosed with a mental illness that manifested as hallucinations, he said. He did not know the date of that diagnosis. He said Arbery was not being treated for any mental illness at the time of his killing. The lead investigator on Thursday also detailed other examples of Travis McMichael's alleged racism. "Have you seen any other evidence that he has used that horrible 'n-word' anywhere else?" his attorney, Jason Sheffield, asked Dial. Dial said that investigators found an Instagram post where Travis McMichaels had suggested that someone should blow a "f---ing n---er's head off" and also wrote on social media that he loved his job in the U.S. Coast Guard because he was out on a boat, and "there weren't any n words anywhere." Authorities worried that the day's testimony would further inflame tensions in a nation already on edge after the killing of Floyd on May 25. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on the black man's neck for more than eight minutes. Protests calling for police reform, equal justice and an end to systemic racism have convulsed dozens of cities around the world over the past week. A day before the hearing, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said security around the demonstrations in the state would be increased. "We will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable if they try to infiltrate peaceful gatherings to cause chaos," Kemp said. "Let me be clear: We will not tolerate disruptive, dangerous behavior or criminal conduct. We will put the safety of Georgians first." Karnataka government decides to lift weekend curfew, but night curfew between 10 pm to 5 am everyday will continue: Revenue Minister R Ashoka. Tiffany & Co's store in Vienna's prestigious shopping zone. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Luxury fashion conglomerate LVMH (MC.PA) on Thursday indicated that it was hitting the brakes on its $16.2bn (13.1bn) takeover of famed US jeweller Tiffany and Co (TIF), noting that it was not considering buying Tiffany shares on the market. The statement comes after fashion trade publication WWD reported that the board of LVMH the parent of brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Givenchy had raised concerns about the deal amid the coronavirus pandemic and the civil unrest in the US in the wake of George Floyd's death. Citing recent market rumors, LVMH on Thursday seemed to confirm uncertainty about the deal, which was originally announced in November. LVMH confirms, on this occasion, that it is not considering buying Tiffany shares on the market, it said. But the conglomerate did not elaborate further, and representatives could not be reached to clarify whether the deal has been scrapped entirely or whether a renegotiation was on the cards. If LVMH were to acquire Tiffany on the open market, it would shell out less than it had bargained for as part of the deal. Stock in Tiffany closed at around $114 per share on Wednesday, 12% lower than the $130 price LVMH had pledged as part of the takeover agreement. READ MORE: 1.1 million people to plunge into poverty in UK by 2021 The board of LVMH met in Paris on Tuesday night specifically to discuss the proposed merger, according to WWD. The luxury goods giant also reportedly raised concerns about Tiffanys ability to cover its debt covenants once the deal is closed. Tiffany has had a difficult period of late: When LVMH first made its approach in October with an unsolicited $14.5bn takeover offer, the jeweller had been hit by lower tourist spending, a strong US dollar, and the trade war between the US and China. Even though the all-cash offer was a 30% premium on Tiffany's share price, the company rejected the first approach and LVMH came back with the higher $16.2bn offer in November. Story continues Tiffany accepted that proposal, but market conditions have deteriorated significantly since then. By March, Tiffany had lost around half of its trading days in China since the onset of the pandemic, and it was subsequently forced to close most of its stores around the world. Tiffany warned then that its financial results would take a significant hit due to the pandemic, but it declined to issue forecasts, citing the pending LVMH deal. The jeweller was expected to announce earnings from its first quarter on Friday, but said in a filing that the results would now be issued on Tuesday, without citing a reason for the delay. READ MORE: Berlin unveils 130bn package to reboot German economy Tiffany, founded more than 180 years ago, helped establish the diamond ring as an enduring symbol of commitment, and its iconic blue jewellery boxes are recognised across the world. LVMH, which owns 75 prestigious brands, has around 4,500 stores worldwide. The acquisition of Tiffany would greatly expand its relatively small jewellery division, which currently includes TAG Heuer and Bulgari. The deal was approved by the boards of both companies and overwhelmingly by the jewellers shareholders in February. It was expected to close in the middle of 2020. A Northern Ireland MP has said she will not risk travelling to London after MPs were summoned back to Westminster. The government has dropped virtual proceedings, despite concerns that shielding politicians will be unable to attend. Claire Hanna, the SDLP MP for South Belfast, has no plans to return in the near future. She said: "You're disenfranchising whole constituencies if there's not a way to facilitate participation of their MP." A series of innovations introduced in April had allowed MPs to work remotely during lockdown and appear virtually via Zoom and to vote online. The government's main justification for abolishing the "hybrid" sittings was that MPs could not do their job from their constituencies because they were not able to spontaneously intervene in their colleagues' speeches. House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg argued this meant the quality of debate was reduced and ordered a return to socially distant business as usual. Around a third of MPs have said they can't, or won't, be there, citing health or age reasons or to shield sick relatives while others are choosing not to make the journey to London. Ms Hanna has said she does not intend to go back to Westminster this side of the summer. "On balance, it's too much of a risk at this point. The Northern Irish public health advice is still 'stay home' and to work from home where possible," she told the New Statesman. "Clearly that is possible, as the virtual arrangements for the last month demonstrated. I genuinely don't think Jacob Rees-Mogg has presented a decent argument for not continuing it. "I wouldn't want my constituents to feel pushed back to work when it doesn't seem safe and when they are able to work from home, so it wouldn't be a great example if I did. "The risk of air travel during the pandemic is an additional complication, particularly when it takes me to a virus hotspot while Belfast Health Trust area has a relatively tiny number of new cases (and there were no deaths on the island of Ireland on several days in the last week)." North Down Alliance MP Stephen Farry said the measures were "farcical and not sensitive to those who need to shield or with travel logistical difficulties". He added: "I am not able to travel at short notice for Thursday's business but anticipate travelling to London over the coming weeks subject to sufficient notice of relevant business." However several DUP MPs, including Ian Paisley and Jim Shannon, took part in Commons debates yesterday. The party's Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said removing the current 'hybrid' system raises problems for many MPs in constituencies geographically distant from London. The Lagan Valley MP said: "For Northern Ireland MPs transport remains an issue, with flights not fully operational. "Similarly for MPs unable to travel home each day, the availability of accommodation in London does not appear to have been fully considered given that hotels are not yet open. "Beyond this there are concerns that a 'two-tier' system of MPs could end up being created. "Those MPs who have underlying health conditions would find themselves excluded from proceedings. The abiding principle that all MPs are equal must remain and must be facilitated as we move forward." Hundreds of protesters take a knee and listen to speeches outside of City Hall in Philadelphia on Wednesday. It was the fifth day of protests against the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Read more Even if you tear it down, they will come. Just 13 hours earlier, a giant crane deus ex machina, indeed had airlifted the 2,000-pound likeness of Philadelphias nightstick-wielding ex-mayor and top cop Frank Rizzo from its 21-year-long command post at the Municipal Services Building. The stench of brutal and oppressive policing still hung thick in the muggy air. And so on late Wednesday afternoon, a window of sunny glare sandwiched between a deadly derecho and a tornado warning, they kept coming to the intersection of 15th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard, even as several thousand were marching elsewhere around the city. They stood in a line that kept growing with signs that read SAY THEIR NAMES and Im not black but I see you ... and Defund Demilitarize Reform #BLM. On the other side of a barricade was a thin blue line of Philly cops backed by a gaggle of heavily armed tin soldiers of the National Guard, whod been guarding the Rizzo statue a day earlier and now were defending only a giant void Meredith Lowe snapped a picture of the scene, then sat down in the middle of the intersection with her wife, Karen Specht the fifth straight day theyve been out demonstrating. We were waiting for this to happen," the 32-year-old principal of Philadelphias Andrew J. Morrison Elementary School said, of the Rizzo statue. We think its a great first step, and theres a lot more to do. We believe white supremacy is real, we believe [there is] systematic oppression. READ MORE: Heres live coverage of whats happening June 4 Moments later, the crowd had swelled to 200 and began to march, past the boarded-up windows along Market Street East, up 9th Street in the heart of Chinatown chanting Whose streets? Our streets!" and then down Race Street past police headquarters, the Roundhouse. Its brutalist architecture has, to so many, served as a symbol of oppression since Rizzos 1960s heyday, but suddenly it looked very small. As the march crossed the lawn of Independence Mall in the shadow of where the American Experiment was fomented and near where Ben Franklin captured lightning, the electricity was all about not knowing where this thing was headed next. The last two weeks of American history have been truly remarkable. Since the violent Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the knees of four Minneapolis police officers was captured on videotape, Minnesota officials have now arrested all four cops and increased the charges on the most culpable one, while officials from Philadelphia to Richmond race to yank down statues memorializing racial oppressors that had long seemed immovable objects. And yet the protests are not fading. Instead, the crowds are growing bigger and bigger, especially as images of fresh police violence against peaceful protesters and journalists has only heightened the contradictions in American society. The loud bangs of looting and vandalism have mostly faded, and as I write this, it is the cadence of nonviolent dissidents not President Trumps toy soldiers that are dominating the streets. And not just the usual suspects in Portland or Lower Manhattan. As you read this, Americans are protesting in all 50 states, in places like Havre, Montana (100 showed up, in a town of 9,700), or Columbus, Mississippi, where a biracial gaggle of a dozen or so people are holding aloft signs that read, No lives matter until black lives matter. But the questions reverberate even more loudly than the chants. Why now, when so many black and brown men and women have been senselessly killed before George Floyd was suffocated? Will the protests lose steam theres no evidence of that yet and if they dont where is this all headed? At what point do we acknowledge that while these are the George Floyd protests that they are becoming even more than that, that as the crowds grow bigger and more diverse this is becoming a peaceful revolution in the streets of America? And if it is becoming a revolution, what are the demands? READ MORE: SIGN UP: The Will Bunch Newsletter The thing is, the protests are not new. Ever since thousands of folks left the comfort of home to camp out for the Occupy movement in the fall of 2011, there has been march after march from Ferguson and Black Lives Matter to a massive Peoples Climate March to an even more massive Womens March and Occupy ICE and many more. Yet our elected officials and the mainstream media has done a shameful job in playing deaf before their communities. I keep thinking back to one event from just 10 months ago a nationwide Lights of Liberty protest against the inhumane conditions that the Trump administration inflicts on refugees at the southern border. On short notice, more than 100,000 people held vigils in more than 700 communities in all 50 states. Thats remarkable, and yet the mainstream media ignored it or grossly downplayed it, as it has done with every progressive protest for decades. Meanwhile, camera crews trip over each other and news editors set aside a corner of the front page any time a couple dozen yahoos with AR-15s slung over their Hawaiian shirts show up at a state capital. Theres a weird confluence of reasons images of protesters with guns get more clicks than those with candles, and theres newsroom guilt over a need to amplify right-wing voices that melts away when its time to hand the megaphone to black and brown ones. But the media isnt the only entrenched institution whose failings have been laid bare. Since Mike Brown was gunned down in Ferguson in August 2014, black folks and their allies have marched and laid down in the street and blocked bridges and after all that, police still kill more than 1,000 people every year in America, no fewer than before. I know one is considered a deluded conspiracy theorist to speak of a deep state but what is one to call it when an entrenched network of quasi-fascist police unions and career prosecutors who celebrate mass incarceration wont yield to the will of the people? When I arrived at Dilworth Plaza, I emerged near the Starbucks stand that had been heavily fire-damaged in Saturdays unrest. It was just four months ago on a frigid February night that I sat in that Starbucks, drinking a venti coffee to prepare to cover a small but spirited protest over Trumps impeachment acquittal and wondering if change would ever come to America. No one at this weeks protests was condoning destruction, but if a riot is the voice of the unheard, the deafness of the Establishment had been shattering ... until now. As the crowd on the edge of Philadelphia City Hall grew nearing sundown and two marches merged, I met Jessica Downing, 27, and Joey Clayton. Downing, who is black, and Clayton, who is white, are best friends and coworkers from the Anthropologie store, shuttered for weeks because of the coronavirus. She told me shed grown up hearing from her parents what it was like to be born when segregation was still legal in America, and the lack of progress had finally pulled her and her sign DANGER: Racist Cops/I Cant Breathe and her friend out into the streets. READ MORE: From Minneapolis to broken streets of Philly, the human capital stock has finally had enough | Will Bunch Like many protests, the demands started simple arrest the cops who murdered George Floyd but have swelled into much broader demands for systemic change, even as many protesters are just beginning to have the complicated conversation about what these radical solutions might look like. The scenes of the last three months, with some nurses forced to use plastic garbage bags as protective gear even as police departments stock up with tear gas and rubber bullets, have convinced many that the battleship of a decades-old police state must be turned around. In Los Angeles, efforts to appease protesters with Mayor Eric Garcetti promising to move $150 million out of the police budget and into programs for low-income communities have run into the realization that its only a fraction of a gobsmacking $3 billion that Americas second-largest city spends on its cops. Here in Philadelphia, Mayor Kenneys current budget scheme increases police funding by $14 million, largely to cover a pay raise, yet would slash police oversight. Thats drawing increased scrutiny as it should, But too many of these decisions will be made by the generation of politicians who entered public service to get tough on crime, and were too far into the 2020 cycle to easily replace them with a new batch. In 1968, after two years of urban riots over so many of the same issues, a more predominantly white and conservative electorate embraced the law and order politics of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. This is not the same America. Weve transformed from a nation where a majority of folks blamed the students gunned down at Kent State to one where 64 percent of Americans are sympathetic to these protests, even after reports of some looting. And yet our current system may be too battered, broken and gridlocked to change and this terrifies me. As I write this on Thursday morning, folks are planning to do it all over again in Philly and still marching in the most unexpected places, like from Wayne to Paoli on the comfortably un-afflicted Main Line. There is no end in sight. Outside City Hall, a 27-year-old black man in a Phillies cap, from the Broad and Olney neighborhood he didnt want to give his name saw my notebook and approached me to say that the only thing we want is ... peace! But how do we get there? He thought for a long time and then said, When we dont act like we have races but just one race the human race, and then he quickly melted into a rainbow crowd of a couple thousand humans that seemed to only get bigger. Columnists note: On a related matter, I want to offer 100% support and solidarity with all of the journalists of color at The Inquirer who are engaged in acts of protest. The organization must change, and it runs much deeper than the racially insensitive headline that was published this week. As someone who has benefited from white privilege throughout my career, the most important things I can do are listen today, and act tomorrow. I promise to do both. 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 The Prime Ministers spokesman said Mr Johnson will obey if told to isolate again by test and trace officials, even though he has had the disease already . Mr Sharma spent 45 minutes in a meeting in the Cabinet room with the PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, No 10 revealed. But the spokesman said the meeting was socially distanced, with the trio sitting two metres apart and said that handshakes would not normally be exchanged. Asked if Mr Johnson would go back into isolation if asked, No 10 stressed that the question was hypothetical but agreed: We would follow the advice which is given by the medical experts. The words used by No 10, that the PM would obey medical experts left open the possibility that Mr Johnson would take separate advice from the contact-tracing officials if Mr Sharma tests positive. Mr Sharma was visibly taken ill while giving a speech in the Commons on Wednesday during a second reading debate on the Insolvency Bill. He rubbed his face and eyes and looked tired, prompting former Labour leader Ed Miliband to hand him a glass of water. His spokeswoman said he had had a temperature and a headache, which are possible symptoms of Covid-19 but was able to work from home this morning. He is waiting for the results of a test. Alok Sharma, pictured in the Commons, has had a coronavirus test and is awaiting results / PRU/AFP via Getty Images Earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis suggested Mr Sharma may have nothing more serious than an allergy. Speaking to Radio 4, he said: " Alok, who I wish well and hope he recovers quickly, may well have had severe hay fever, we're not sure yet. Downing Street said that, if the test is positive, test and trace officials will question Mr Sharma about his contacts with other people and then get in touch with anyone who needs to take action. The guidelines that contact tracers follow say a close contact counts if two people are just two metres apart for 15 minutes or at closer quarters for a briefer period. The PMs spokesman said his understanding was that Tuesdays meeting was socially-distanced and said being in a room with a carrier did not necessarily count as a close contact. It will be for test and trace to speak with the Secretary of State and find out the nature of his contacts, said the spokesman. Downing Street officials appeared to be confident that Mr Johnson and the Chancellor would not be instructed to isolate because they adhered to social distancing rules. Alok Sharma tested for coronavirus after appearing unwell in the Commons Mr Sharma did not stay in No 10 for Tuesdays full Cabinet meeting. However, he could have touched objects at No 10 that other ministers and the countrys most senior officials also touch. The PMs spokesman said Downing Street is subjected to a deep clean every day to reduce the risks of the virus spreading. Im stressing to you that that particular meeting was socially distanced. The Secretary of State will go through the test and trace process in the proper way. It would be disruptive and embarrassing for Mr Johnson to have to go back into isolation just four weeks after getting back to work from his serious brush with Covid-19 that saw him rushed to intensive care at St Thomass Hospital. The difficulties of social distancing in the warren-like building was shown when Mr Johnsons fell ill at around the same time as the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, the Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, his senior advisor Dominic Cummings and the Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill. And eyebrows were raised again after Mr Johnson appeared to stand closer than two metres to Mark Spencer, the Tory chief whip, when they chatted in the Commons chamber after Prime Ministers Questions yesterday. Medical experts think it is not likely that a person who has had coronavirus once could carry the disease, but the guidelines on test and tracing do not contain a blanket exemption for people who have tested positive in the past. The Government has repeatedly said the science of covid-19 immunity is still uncertain. Mr Sharmas spokeswoman told the Standard he was up and working today. He is in good spirits, talking to his team and chairing internal calls, she said. He had a temprature and a headache last night. We are waiting for the test result. Meanwhile, Downing Street said the Government was not planning to review its move to end virtual voting in the Commons, which has forced MPs to take part in debates in person at Westminster. But Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg came under fire from Opposition MPs this afternoon when he defended the move. Angela Eagle said: He is the worst holder of the job in memory. Tory MP Michael Fabricant told the Standard said MPs could be superspreaders carrying the virus to and from their constituencies. With 650 MPs coming from all parts of the country to an early Victorian building of narrow corridors, then returning each week to their constituencies, super-spreaders is an understatement, he told the Standard. It is an epidemiologists worst nightmare. Labour said the concessions including proxy voting did not go far enough because MPs with sick partners would not be eligible. Lib Dem Jamie Stone said his need to care for his disabled wife. RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent for 8th time in a row RBI Monetary Policy Dec 2021: Governor Shaktikanta Das to announce decision today; Here is what to expect Not in favour of waiver of interest on loans, RBI tells SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: The Reserve Bank of India has told the Supreme Court that it is not in favour of waiving interests on loans during the lockdown period. The RBI said that if the interest is waived of it would risk the financial viability of banks. SC orders Delhi-UP-Haryana to frame common policy for travel in NCR | Oneindia News The RBI made the submission in an affidavit on a petition which objected to the interest on loans being charged by banks. PSBs sanction loans worth over Rs 10k crore under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme The petitioner said that the interests on the loans were being charged when the RBI had already announced a moratorium on payment of loan instalments from March 1 till August 31. "The RBI does not consider it prudent or appropriate to go for a forced waiver of interest, risking the financial viability of the banks it is mandated to regulate, and putting the interests of the depositors in jeopardy," the RBI said in its affidavit. We have a mandate to secure the interest of the depositors and maintain financial stability as well. For the latter, it is essential that the banks remain financially sound and profitable. Interest on advances forms an important and vital source of income for banks, which allows banks to sustain and remain financially sound and profitable, the affidavit further read. Donald Trumps photo opportunity at a church has been compared to Winston Churchills leadership during the Blitz by the White House press secretary. The president has been criticised by opposition Democrats and members of his own Republican party after peaceful anti-racism protesters were forcibly cleared so he could pose with a Bible in front of St Johns Church, in Washington DC, on Monday. The church was damaged by fire during a protest. Speaking about the images, his press secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared it to the UKs wartime leader who was photographed inspecting damage to buildings from German bombs. Through all of time, weve seen presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for our nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination, she said. Trump posed with a bible outside St John's Episcopal Church this week, leading to criticism over protesters being cleared so he could do so. (PA) Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage and it sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people. Churchill would watch bombing raids from rooftops and then deliberately walked the streets where the munitions fell. The attacks killed thousands of people. Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, criticised the comparison. The comparison is worse than merely laughable; it verges on obscenity. Churchill wept when he visited bombed neighborhoods; he offered compassion and hope, and helped people find their courage. https://t.co/RLXp6GTCuR Erik Larson (@exlarson) June 3, 2020 Winston Churchill, with his wife and the US ambassador, visits the bombed city of Bristol in 1941. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Protests have been held throughout the US and the world after George Floyds death in Minneapolis. He died after a white police officer was seen pinning him to the ground by kneeling on his neck. The demonstrations have been overwhelmingly peaceful but pockets of violence have at times emerged, and Trump has chosen to use aggressive rhetoric in response, including a threat to deploy the military. Story continues His rival for the presidency in the upcoming election, Democrat Joe Biden, said Trump is part of the problem and accelerates it and is consumed with his blinding ego. Biden has criticised Trump's response to the anti-racism protests. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) He dismissed the images of Trump holding a bible as a photo op, noting it caused authorities to clear protesters around the White House so he could travel to it. The president held up a Bible, Biden added. I just wished he opened it once in awhile instead of brandishing it. The photo has been criticised by Republicans, with Nebraska senator Ben Sasse saying he was against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the word of God as a political prop, and Maine senator Susan Collins said the US leader came off as unsympathetic and insensitive. Tehran (AFP) - Iranian scientist Cyrus Asgari returned to Iran Wednesday after being released by the United States, the Islamic Republic's arch enemy, where he had spent nearly three years in detention after being charged with espionage. Asgari, 59, who has been cleared by US judicial authorities, fell into the arms of his relatives on his arrival at Tehran's international airport, images broadcast by several Iranian media showed. He was wearing a face mask but appeared to be in good health despite having caught the coronavirus while in US custody according to the Iranian foreign ministry. "As soon as I arrived in the United States on June 21, 2017, I was arrested by the FBI," he told state television as he left the airport. "The reason given for my arrest was a charge of stealing commercial documents. The legal proceedings concerning my case took two and a half years. Finally, a federal judge acquitted me." A US court had in November cleared Asgari of charges of stealing trade secrets in 2016 while he was on an academic visit to Ohio from Tehran's Sharif University of Technology. He told The Guardian in March this year that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was holding him at a Louisiana detention centre without basic sanitation and refusing to let him return to Iran despite his exoneration. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Tuesday denied Asgari's release was part of a prisoner exchange and said "he was freed after being exonerated", adding that his return was delayed because he was infected with COVID-19. "Mr Asgari was stranded in America for a while because of (being infected with) the coronavirus and the situation with flights," he said. - Prisoner swaps - The US State Department has yet to respond to an AFP request to comment on his release. However Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of US homeland security, said on Twitter that the US had been "trying to deport" Asgari since last year but that it had been "stalled every step of the way by the Iranian government". Story continues Both Iran and the United States hold a number of each other's nationals and they have recently called for them to be released amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Iran is battling the Middle East's deadliest outbreak, while the US has reported the highest total number of deaths worldwide from the disease. The Islamic republic is holding at least five Americans and the US had a minimum of 19 Iranians in detention prior to Asgari's release, according to a list compiled by AFP based on official statements and media reports. Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated in 2018, after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. The sworn enemies have also appeared to come to the brink of a direct conflict twice in the past year. In January Iran fired a barrage of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq, without causing any fatalities, in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general. But Trump refrained from taking any military action in response. The two have at times swapped prisoners despite having no formal diplomatic relations. Iran exchanged Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian in January 2016 for seven Iranians held in the US, on the day the nuclear agreement entered into force. In December, Iran freed Xiyue Wang, a US academic, in exchange for scientist Massoud Soleimani and said it was open to further swaps. Americans and dual nationals currently known to be held by Iran include US Navy veteran Michael R. White, Siamak Namazi along with his father Baquer, Morad Tahbaz, Gholam Reza Shahini, and Karan Vafadari. Most of the Iranians held in the United States are dual nationals charged with evading sanctions by either exporting goods to Iran or using the US financial system. Johannesburg, June 3 (Peoples Daily Online) On June 3, the Canton Fair SA Promotion Conference was held online with more than 40 representatives from businesses in South Africa and China participating. Liu Quandong, general manager of international communication department of China Foreign Trade Centre, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to South Africas business community for their long-term support to the Canton Fair and efforts to promote economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. He noted that with the theme of Canton Fair, Global Share, the 127th Canton Fair will leverage digital technology and display new products of Chinese and overseas companies online to create business opportunities and foster a win-win outcome for enterprises at home and abroad. Neo Goodman, director of Bladeview Investment, said South African companies need to take advantage of China's strong production capacity and abundant products, along with the opportunities and information provided by platforms like Canton Fair to achieve their own long-term development. Elizaberth Dudu, director of Eli Air Logistic, said South African businesses need to be aware of the many policies of the South African government regarding the import of goods, including registering import licenses, understanding tariff categories and regulations, and understanding the booking process and fee information. Daryl Swanepoel, CEO of Inclusive Society Institute, has visited the Canton Fair many times, and believes it is a professional exhibition. With convenient transportation and accommodation, buyers can travel back and forth several times during the exhibition. In addition, there is enough time to understand the products and purpose of purchases. As the coronavirus is still raging across the world, the 127th Canton Fair will be held online from June 15 to 24 on its official website. . In this session, 25,500 Chinese companies will exhibit 1.8 million products online, covering 50 sectors of Made-in-China. The vast number of companies and wide varieties of products will present a feast of products for buyers around the world. A total of 2,253 foreign-funded enterprises in China and 382 foreign companies from 28 countries and regions will exhibit at this session. To provide convenience for buyers from around the world to attend the fair online, the fair will further promote the Global Partnership Program and deepen cooperation with Belt and Road countries. New Delhi: Dell Inc's USD 67-billion acquistion of EMC Corp on September 7 has created world's largest privately-controlled technology company. The new company christened Dell Technologies Inc. will comprise of Dell, Dell EMC, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware. It will be headquartered at Round Rock, Texas. and employ about 1.4 lakh people globally. The strategic accquistion shall leverage the benifits of joint synergies and capabilities with the new entity delivering integrated solutions in areas like hybrid cloud and security. The newly formed entity shall have a sky rocketing valuation of USD 74-billion. Dell and its partner investment firm Silver Lake raised over USD 40 billion in debt to finance this enourmous accquistion announced last October. Excerpts from Dell Technologies Inc. Chairman and CEO Michael Dell's quotes on this gigantic accquisiton are as follows - "We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution. Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things. This is why we created Dell Technologies," Dell said. He added that the company has the products, services, talent and global scale to be a catalyst for change and guide customers, large and small, on their digital journey. Dell said the company's R&D efforts, with over 20,000 patents and applications pending, is fuelled by USD 4.5 billion in annual spends.It has 140,000 employees globally. The announcement follows regulatory approval by China's ministry of commerce (MOFCOM). The companies have already been given clearance from regulatory agencies in the US and other geographies. "We are also privately controlled. We don't have to cater to short-term thinking that exists in the market, we can think in decades," Dell said. Dell Technologies will operate under three business units - Client Solutions Group, infrasturcuture Technologies and VMWare. What happened Shares of precious metals miner Silvercorp Metals (NYSEMKT: SVMLF) were higher by 12.5% at 1 p.m. Wall Street time on June 4. Since April 27, when the company announced it had agreed to acquire Guyana Goldfields, the stock has been up nearly 40%. The funny thing is, the deal keeps hitting snags, and yet Silvercorp's stock keeps heading higher. So what On May 17, Silvercorp and Guyana amended their original agreement to increase the price that Silvercorp would pay because a third party had entered with a better offer. The change was significant, taking the per share consideration from the original CAD $0.60 to CAD $1.30, more than doubling the cost for Silvercorp. When Silvercorp originally stepped in to buy Guyana Goldfield, it looked as if Silvercorp was getting at least a decent deal, if not a good one, because Guyana Goldfield's shares had fallen materially over the previous year. Silvercorp stock rose. But perhaps not surprisingly, the stock fell over 10% when it had to match the higher offer. And now Guyana has announced that it has received another bid that is higher than what Silvercorp is offering. This time, the per share consideration is CAD $1.85, an increase of about 40% over the previous offer and over three times Silvercorp's original proposal. The news has sent Silvercorp's shares sharply higher this time around. Silvercorp has five days to match the price. If the agreement between Silvercorp and Guyana Goldfields is terminated, Silvercorp would receive a CAD $3.65 million termination fee, according to the original agreement between the two companies. Although it is impossible to predict what will happen from here, it seems likely that, this time around, investors believe Silvercorp will bow out and take the CAD $3.65 million in cash. Thus, the sizable stock price advance for Silvercorp today. Although Silvercorp's original plans of creating a more diversified miner would have been foiled, the current offer has materially diminished the long-term value of the transaction. Assuming investors are correct, it makes sense that the shares would move higher. The complication is that, at this point, Silvercorp's shares are up 40% since it started this journey and, if it does step aside, nothing will have really changed about the company. Which brings up yet another possible twist: It's possible that investors think Silvercorp could find itself in play, too, if it doesn't end up acquiring Guyana Goldfields. That's purely speculation and not something to trade around, but not an unreasonable thought given that the price tag for Guyana Goldfields is now three times higher than it was less than two months ago. If Silvercorp does end up matching the new offer, however, it wouldn't be shocking to see its stock price fall as it did following the previous deal revision. Now what Most investors looking at the metals space would be better off sticking to larger, more established players as they seek to diversify their portfolios with a precious metals investment. The twists and turns in this on-again, off-again merger are a perfect example of why. Although the drama is, indeed, exciting, long-term investors should generally try to avoid complicated situations like these. There are simply too many other options to take on the uncertainty. Im hoping I can get somewhere around 50 police officers, FBI, DAs, Secret Service to talk about how we should engage, how do we deal with injustices, what prompts cops to be visceral toward us, Rawls said. If we can come together, police officers and my boys, on the fact that were all humans, were all people who want to get home to our families, that feels like a good space for us to begin to heal. A California man arrested Monday used an ice pick to murder his grandmother before being found eating her by his aunt, authorities say. Police say they found Dwayne Wallick, 37, 'straddled' over 90-year-old Ruby Wallick 'actively pulling out her flesh with his hands' after they were called to the Richmond home by the victim's daughter. Wallick has been charged with murder, with an enhancement to include the use of the ice pick and a knife. He also faces mutilation charges. Ruby's daughter is said to have found her mom 'bleeding on the family room floor and her nephew in the room covered in blood' before calling police. Dwayne Wallick, pictured, has been charged with murder, with an enhancement to include the use of the ice pick and a knife. He also faces mutilation charges Police say they found Dwayne Wallick, 37, 'straddled' over 90-year-old Ruby Wallick after they were called to the Richmond home, pictured, by the victim's daughter In a statement police said: 'Officers entered the residence and found 37 year old Dwayne Wallick straddling his 90 year old grandmother, Ruby Wallick. Dwayne was actively using his hands to assault the victims neck and head.' Law enforcement say they were forced to taser Wallick, who had been his grandmother's primary caregiver for a number of years, after giving him 'numerous commands and orders for him to stop his assault'. The spokesman added: 'Four officers physically had to restrain him to get him into handcuffs. While doing so, Dwayne attempted to continue his assault on his grandmother.' Ruby is said to have been 'missing pieces of flesh' and paramedics were called. Richmond Police spokesman Sgt. Aaron Pomeroy told The LA Times: 'Ive seen it all in 26 years of law enforcement, I have never seen a crime scene of a victim that badly injured.' Pomeroy said it is believed Dwayne Wallick - who has no criminal history and no known mental health issues - may have taken a synthetic drug. Ruby was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is pending into the cause of death. Bail has been set at $1.1 million dollars. This year weve seen fires, floods, disease and protest. And its only June. So: while the meme lords joke an alien invasion would round off 2020 nicely, theres (some) truth behind the quips; July to December is certain to see more upheaval, even if its not extraterrestrial so much as economic. Thats according to the experts, anyway, with everyone from National Geographic to Quartz making the case that Americas tourism industry is in for a ride bumpier than a Grand Canyon donkey trip. Why America though? After all, as commercial flights dropped to the lowest levels in 26 years, the travel industry world-over screeched to an emergency halt. Correct as that is, things have changed, with Americas case-load of The Virus ramping up (latest stats sit at 1.89 million confirmed cases) as Chinas, Australias and various European countries dwindle. Of course, there may be more outbreaks. But for the time being, Europe is cautiously restarting its tourism industry, with Greece inviting select countries tourists to come for a quarantine free visit, Sicily offering to pay for half visitors flight and Iceland finding ways to make the airport testing experience less offputting. Not to mention the re-opening of this Tuscan celebrity hotel. In America, however, the situation is more precarious. As National Geographic reported in April, The U.S. Travel Association projects a loss of 4.6 million jobs through May, a figure likely to increase. U.S. weekly jobless claims skyrocketed to a stunning 6.6 million, doubling in a week and by far the biggest spike in half a century. Tourism decline is a driving reason for job losses in states including Nevada, where Las Vegas casinos and jumbo hotels have gone dark. And that was before the unlawful police killing of George Floyd sparked protests and riots all across the country. Now, when tourists survey the globe, America is in the near term, at least likely to have dropped a few spots on peoples bucket lists. And its not just that tourists are concerned about social unrest; given the uncertain situation around travel insurance, visiting the US is now quite a financial (as well as health) risk. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carlos D. Ramirez (@cdr35) on Feb 24, 2020 at 1:22pm PST The upshot? A surge in domestic travel, or trips to more ~chill~ locations where the virus is next to nada. This sounds great and for many tourists, it is but for Americas economy and tourism industry it spells trouble. As Quartz wrote recently, a huge boom in domestic travel wont affect every country evenly. Quartz then cited a thought exercise from Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke, which looks at which nations stand to benefit, or suffer, if international travel demand was redirected domestically. The idea is that countries like Canada, China the UK and Germany, whose wealthy globetrotting citizens will now holiday more domestically, could end up (economically) better off than countries like Turkey, the US and Spain, which typically receive more international tourism than they put out. Though the graph is purely speculative, it paints a dire picture for the US Only time (and flight bookings) will tell. Read Next New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has become a convenient punching bag for both the Right and the Left. But if nothing else, de Blasio deserves credit for candor in offering an explanation for a glaring contradiction in his enforcement of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The mayor has been a zealous enforcer of lockdown regulations, with a particular emphasis on targeting ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn. Though Jews were far from the only ones accused of violating social-distancing rules, in April de Blasio tweeted out a warning to the Jewish community in which he threatened to send the police to arrest all those who gathered in groups, a reference to instances of Jews attending weddings, funerals, and religious services. After several days of mass protests against police brutality (with some simply supporting the abolition of police), followed by nights in which crowds of rioters rampaged through parts of the city looting iconic stores, such as the Macys in Herald Square, it was clear that stopping people from gathering in large numbers was no longer a priority. Yet even as the NYPD stood by as huge crowds marched against racism, the police were rousting Orthodox families out of Brooklyn parks and breaking up religious study sessions that were not in compliance with social-distancing regulations. On Tuesday, a reporter for Hamodia, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish publication, asked de Blasio about this discrepancy. His reply spoke volumes about liberal contempt for religious freedom. The reporter asked how it was possible for the city to tolerate mass demonstrations over George Floyds murder when the police were still enforcing pandemic restrictions on small businesses as well as churches, synagogues, and mosques. The mayors answer was that the extraordinary crisis seated in 400 years of racism was not the same question as the understandably aggrieved store owner or the devout religious person who wants to go back to services. Story continues In other words, because he approved of the motives of some protesters and of the content of their protest, their demonstrations are uniquely privileged in a way that those seeking to exercise their right to religious liberty were not. While de Blasio was more outspoken about this policy, his pronouncement appeared to reflect the way other states and cities were prepared to wink at protests against the police while insisting on pretending that the pandemic prevented other activities. Perhaps this is just a function of the identity politics that governs many on the left, or the plain fact that cities and states dont have the ability to enforce the law, let alone pandemic restrictions, when so many people are determined to ignore them. But coming as it did just a few days after the Supreme Court case of South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, in which Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the courts four liberal members to rule that Californias prohibition of religious services during the COVID-19 outbreak was not unconstitutional, it seems like a bad joke. There, the majority held that it was indisputably clear that the Constitution gives officials of the states the duty to guard and protect the safety and the health of the people, meaning California had the right to issue pandemic restrictions on houses of worship and other mass gatherings alike. Only a few days later, the same mainstream media and governmental-establishment consensus that viewed religious services and other public gatherings during a pandemic as irresponsible has disappeared. The brutal killing of George Floyd rightly outraged most Americans. But lost amid the debate is the question of whether selective enforcement of the law has fundamentally undermined religious liberty. Mayor de Blasios blithe assertion that he has the right to pick and choose which kinds of constitutionally protected behavior to respect and which he may trample may have been unique in its candor. But it is indicative of the way states and cities are treating the issue. If some citizens can break pandemic rules with impunity because they are protesting racism while others can have their right to worship or to go to work taken away by the government because of fears about the spread of disease, that is more than merely a legal conundrum or hypocrisy. It is a sign that big-government liberals view respect for basic constitutional freedoms as dependent on whether they approve of the intent of those seeking to exercise their rights. Its one thing if supermarkets are allowed to stay open while churches or synagogues are not. Its quite another when the right to freely assemble to allege that America is a racist nation is considered more important than upholding the First Amendment rights of other Americans to practice their faith or to express opinions that are not favored by the editors of the New York Times. Theres no real debate in this country about whether George Floyds murderer should be punished. But if coronavirus restrictions dont apply to the right of one group to assemble peacefully or not how can they legally, logically, or morally be imposed on others who want to exercise the same right? They cant. If states and municipalities are going to turn a blind eye to the way mass gatherings of people with fashionable opinions violate pandemic restrictions, then they must also drop their efforts to prohibit religious services and other constitutionally protected activities. This selective enforcement as well as the seeming inability of our leaders to defend the lives and property of citizens is the death of the rule of law and faith in our democratic institutions. More from National Review San Franciscos Grace Cathedral has long been one of the citys most progressive faith institutions. On Tuesday evening, the church turned its front facade into a symbol of protest of the death of George Floyd. Projecting an illustration of Floyd created by Bay Area artist Oree Originol alongside images by Shirien Damra demanding justice for two other recent victims of racial violence (Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor), the church offered a stark contrast to the photo-op by President Donald Trump in front of St. Johns Church in Washington, D.C. The bishop of St. Johns criticized the president for using tear gas on protesters in order to clear a path to the church, a sentiment echoed by the Rev. Canon Dr. Ellen Clark-King of Grace Cathedral. We are disgusted and distressed that peaceful protesters were tear-gassed for a presidential photo opportunity, especially one which misused our scriptures and sacred space as a prop for violent speech and actions, said Clark-King, who is also vice dean and canon for social justice at Grace Cathedral. RELATED: SFs Grace Cathedral closes for first time since 1918, priest blasts still-open Florida churches The imagery is part of a broader series of Originols Justice For Our Lives series, featuring portraits of 83 victims of police brutality. High-resolution versions of the images can be printed from his website. The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young felt it was important to make a visual sign of support for protesters. We felt very strongly and wanted to do something people could see, said Dr. Young. Its just a powerful statement when weve seen such terrible examples of police brutality in the United States. The church also rang its church bells for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the same amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on George Floyds neck. Dr. Young and Dr. Clark-King also joined in protests on Monday at the Civic Center. Additionally, the church has been projecting messaging concerning the coronavirus in coordination with design lab Amplifier, which coordinates public art projects to build awareness of social causes. We really believe that what people see or dont see is really important, and visual art becomes a compass pointing toward the future that we want to live in, says Amplifer executive director Cleo Barnett. Especially in times like these where theres so much fear and disinformation. Art is much more than beauty or decoration, it has the power to wake people up and create longterm and systematic change. Dan Gentile is a digital editor at SFGate. Email: Dan.Gentile@sfgate.com | Twitter: @Dannosphere Two passengers on-board a trotro met their untimely death when a gas fuel tanker fell on their vehicle at Osamkrom in the Gomoa Central District of the Central Region on Tuesday afternoon. The fully loaded tanker with registration number (GN 7728-16) was traveling from Accra towards Swedru while the Hyundai trotro with registration number (GT 4110-13) was traveling from the opposite direction. Assistant Division Officer (ADO) II Abdul Wasiu Hudu, the Central Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), confirmed the tragic incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA). He said the GNFS received a distress call at about 1245hours yesterday Tuesday 02, 2020 and a team was dispatched to the scene from Swedru. The nature of the accident posed a serious challenge to the GNFS personnel as they tried to lift up the tanker loaded with Gas to have access to the passenger vehicle that was fully trapped between a ditch and the gas tanker while managing the risk of explosion from the tanker. Upon assessment, the fire personnel from Swedru called for assistance from Agona Nsaba, Winneba and Apam fire Stations and it took them hours to reach the trap victims who were already dead. The tanker driver and his mate sustained injuries and were rushed to Swedru Hospital and the bodies of the deceased were taken to the Mortuary of the same Hospital Police. 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 WASHINGTON Swann Street is a normally quiet stretch between the well-heeled neighborhoods of Dupont and Logan Circles. But for hours on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, this picturesque block of small, historic row houses was filled with pepper spray, the sounds of flash-bang grenades and police wagons filled with arrested protesters. The street also played host to an extraordinary dialogue between police and demonstrators that touched on several of the complex and emotional issues at the core of the intense protests that have spread around the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Scenes of aggression and empathy unfolded as police alternated between arresting protesters and engaging them in conversation about the state of race relations in America. An Washington police officer in riot gear wearing a patch indicating his last name was Gonzalez tried to convince an African-American protester that he shouldnt assume that people of color in the department did not share the concerns of those who had taken to the streets. His voice full of emotion, he lamented that the inclusion of minorities on the police had not helped spur more reforms. What has changed? the protester asked. Plenty has changed, Gonzalez said, adding, Not enough. LIVE - Arrests on 15th Street https://t.co/0VhyVG4ce2 Hunter Walker (@hunterw) June 2, 2020 The exchange was just one of dozens that took place early this week as D.C. Metropolitan Police officers arrested nearly two hundred people on the block. During a press conference on Tuesday, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said 194 people were arrested in the vicinity of Swann Street and 15th Street NW between about 9 p.m. on Monday and early Tuesday morning. Police corralled the crowd on Swann Street using pepper spray and flash-bangs as military choppers flew low overhead. When Yahoo News arrived on scene at around 10 p.m., the situation was relatively calm. Police used bikes to block off a line of protesters from those who were being arrested for violating the 7 p.m. curfew. Story continues One senior-ranking African-American officer who wore a patch indicating his name was Tubbs was overheard telling a younger African-American protester about his 31-year-old son. Will you be proud of him if he gets pulled over by the police, his neck is stepped on, and he dies? the protester asked. I would be highly agitated, and pissed off, and I wouldnt be out here in the streets, Tubbs replied. I would be at an attorneys office getting it corrected. Late Monday night, a group of protesters managed to avoid arrest by taking refuge in the home of a man named Rahul Dubey, who opened his doors to them even as police shot pepper spray into his home. In an interview with Yahoo News, Dubey blamed the officers for unleashing hell on innocent protesters on the block. But Gonzalez told Yahoo News it was important not to assume all officers involved at the scene felt the same way about the protests. The first mistake that the community is making is believing that the majority of us ... are not pissed off at what those police officers did, Gonzalez said, in an apparent reference to Floyds death. Of course were pissed off. It makes us all it makes everybody look bad. Tubbs piped in to share his own thoughts on Floyds death. Im pissed off as a person, not as a police officer. Im pissed off as a person and a police officer, Tubbs said. However, because of my job, just like my skin color, Im thrown in a box. ... You all are profiling all of the officers out here as bad people because of the profession that we do. Protesters look up as a military helicopter releases a strong vertical blast of air onto the crowd on Monday night. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) Gonzalez referred to the people who have started fires and conducted looting during the protests. Then he addressed the crowd standing in front of the bikes. They hide behind you and everyone else, he said. The protesters questioned the pair further. One asked Tubbs, who said he is a 32-year veteran of the police force, if he thought the officer who killed Floyd in Minneapolis was a bad apple. Are there any bad apples in your family? Tubbs asked, rhetorically. Human nature is what it is. ... I dont put anything past human nature. ... On a given day, under the right circumstances people have, a whole lot of things that can come out. I think he was an individual making some very piss-poor and crazy decisions. Yahoo News asked Tubbs if he believed there was racism in D.C.s police force. Do you believe [theres] racism in America? D.C. is part of America, said Tubbs, adding, That is a self-answering question. A Metropolitan Police Officer Tubbs on Monday night in Washington, D.C. (Hunter Walker/Yahoo News) Asked if he had family members taking part in the protest, Tubbs shrugged. Im participating as a member of my family, he said. Im here with you on ground zero standing up for whats right. Most people just want change, a white protester replied. I would hope that would be the story, Tubbs replied. Do you want change? the same protester asked. Every day, Tubbs said. If I didnt think change was possible, I would just give up. _____ Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides. Read more: Coronavirus pandemic: Global cases pass 6.38mn mark, over 379K dead Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 6:57 AM More than 6.38 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 around the world, and some 379,131 people have died of the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. One-third of all the deaths have occurred in the United States, which stands on the top of the list of the worst-affected counties with 1,831,821 confirmed cases and 106,180 fatalities. Some 2.7 million patients have recovered from the disease around the world. The virus continues to rip through Latin America, the "red zone" of transmissions in the world, according to the UN, with more than one million cases and over 50,000 deaths. Brazil alone has reported half a million of those cases and more than 31,000 deaths. Italy, which at one point was the hardest hit country, has started to reopen its borders for the European summer, after three months of economically crippling lockdown measures. The following is the latest on the coronavirus pandemic from around the world: Brazil sets new daily record for deaths Brazil has set another daily record in coronavirus deaths, with 1,262 people having lost their lives in the 24 hours to Tuesday evening, the country's Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The latest figure pushed the country's overall tally to 31,199 the fourth-highest death toll in the world, after the US, Britain, and Italy. And while many countries are emerging from weeks of quarantine, others are tightening their restrictions as infection rates fluctuate from country to country. Peru extends national emergency Peru has extended its national emergency until the end of this month. Peruvian officials reported 4,845 additional cases of infection and 133 new deaths on Tuesday. Those figures pushed the country's overall tallies to 174,884 cases and 4,767 deaths. Peru has the second-highest number of cases in South America, behind Brazil. Bolivia set to hold polls in September In Bolivia, authorities are making door-to-door checks as part of efforts to contain the virus, which has infected 10,991 people and killed 343. The Andean country's presidential election, which has been postponed due the epidemic, will be held on September 6. Contagion 'at maximum intensity' in Mexico Mexico has begun reopening several sectors of the economy, including the mining and construction and tourist industries, as the country's deputy health minister said on Tuesday that the epidemic had reached its maximum intensity in Mexico. The ministry reported an additional 3,891 cases and 470 more deaths on Tuesday. Those took the country's tallies to 97,326 cases and 10,637 deaths. Health authorities say the real number of cases is higher. Italy opens borders to EU travelers Italy opened its doors to travelers from Europe on Wednesday. The number of active cases in the country dropped to below 40,000 on Tuesday, for the first time since March 20, according to Italy's Civil Protection Agency. There are currently 39,893 people being treated for COVID-19. Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the epidemic, has officially reported 33,350 deaths and 233,515 confirmed cases to date. French daily death toll passes 100 The number of the deaths from COVID-19 in France rose by 107 in a 24-hour period for the first time in 13 days. The figure pushed the total tally to 28,943, the fifth-highest in the world, according to the French Health Ministry. France, with 188,450 confirmed cases of COVID-19, began the second phase of easing lockdown restrictions on Tuesday, under which cafes and restaurants are allowed to reopen indoor sitting in the areas where the infection rate has significantly diminished. Germany lifts travel warning for Europe Germany is set to lift a travel warning for Europe on Wednesday, according to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. The travel warning will be replaced by travel advice that provides tourists with detailed information about the situation in each European country. The wider global travel warning still applies, though. On Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 342 to 182,370, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. The reported death toll rose by 29 to 8,551. Russia reports over 8,500 new cases Russia reported 8,536 additional cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking its nationwide tally to 432,277. The death toll in the country reached 5,215 after authorities registered another 178 deaths in the past day. Russia is now the third in the world in terms of confirmed cases of infection. South Korea approves emergency use of remdesivir South Korea on Wednesday approved imports of the antivirus drug remdesivir, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. "Remdesivir can help reduce the amount of coronavirus in the body," the ministry said in a statement. "This can help the patient's condition improve faster." The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the drug last month after a US government study said it reduced hospitalization stays by 31 percent, or about four days. Japanese health authorities have also approved Gilead Sciences Inc's remdesivir to treat COVID-19. The drug is considered an investigational treatment for COVID-19 elsewhere in the world, according to Gilead. South Korea reported 49 new cases of the viral infection on Tuesday, bringing the country's total to 11,590 cases, with 273 deaths. New Zealand considers restoring normal life New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will decide to lift all social distancing measures to return the country to normal life. She said on Wednesday that she would wait until Monday to see if recent changes, like the removal of restrictions on the number of people in bars and at social gatherings, had led to a rise in cases of infection. "If it hasn't, then we will be in a good position to move," she said during a televised news conference. There will be no immediate plans to reopen the country's border, though. New Zealand has had 1,504 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 22 deaths. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address [June 04, 2020] MDxHealth Shareholder Transparency Declarations Press release Regulated information 4 June 2020, 11 p.m. CEST IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM 4 June 2020 MDxHealth SA (Euronext Brussels: MDXH) (the "Company" or "MDxHealth"), a commercial-stage innovative molecular diagnostics company, announces today in accordance with Article 14 of the Belgian Act of 2 May 2007 on the disclosure of important participations in issuers of which shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market and regarding miscellaneous provisions (the "Belgian Transparency Act"), that on 2 June 2020 it received the following notification of significant shareholdings as a consequence of the capital increase completed on 15 May 2020. Scorpiaux BVBA notified MDxHealth that the aggregate number of shares with respect to which Scorpiaux BVBA can exercise voting rights passively crossed below the threshold of 5% of the outstanding shares and voting rights of MDxHealth. Notably, it follows from the notification by Scorpiaux BVBA that it owns 3,867,776 shares of MDxHealth, representing 4.26% of the 90,691,449 outstanding shares and voting rights of MDxHealth. The notification states that Scorpiaux BVBA is exclusively controlled by Bart Versluys. For further information, reference is made to the information published on MDxHealth's website (http://www.mdxhealth.com/investors/shareholder-information). Pursuant to the Belgian Transparency Act and the articles of association of the Company, a notification to the Company and the Belgian Financia Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is required by all natural and legal persons in each case where the percentage of voting rights attached to the securities held by such persons in the Company reaches, exceeds or falls below the threshold of 3%, 5%, 10%, and every subsequent multiple of 5%, of the total number of voting rights in the Company. About MDxHealth MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable molecular diagnostic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Company's tests are based on proprietary genetic, epigenetic (methylation) and other molecular technologies and assist physicians with the diagnosis of urologic cancers, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. The Company's European headquarters are in Herstal, Belgium, with laboratory operations in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and US headquarters and laboratory operations based in Irvine, California. For more information, visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on social media at: twitter.com/mdxhealth, facebook.com/mdxhealth and linkedin.com/company/mdxhealth. For more information: MDxHealth [email protected] Important information The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx and SelectMDx are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Attachment Click here for pdf [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 03:53:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks at a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on June 3, 2020. Turkish health minister on Wednesday said Turkey does not expect a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak as long as the citizens take precautions. Turkey's total COVID-19 cases climbed to 166,422, with 867 new patients in the past 24 hours, he said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) ANKARA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish health minister on Wednesday said Turkey does not expect a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak as long as the citizens take precautions. "Under the current circumstances, we can say that we do not expect a second wave depending upon your understanding with regards to the pandemic and precautions," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at a press conference. He warned about the risks of the virus although the country has gone to the normalization stage for the outbreak measures. As people take measures against the infection, they can protect their health while "speeding up the economy which has slowed down" due to the outbreak, the minister said. "We have not returned to the normal conditions, but we are trying to do that in a planned way," Koca stated. Turkey's total novel coronavirus cases climbed to 166,422, with 867 new patients in the past 24 hours, he said. In a single day, 24 more people have died, taking the death toll to 4,609, the minister said. Turkey conducted 52,305 tests for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests carried out so far to 2,155,349, he stated. Koca noted that a total of 130,852 patients have recovered in the country since the outbreak, while 612 patients are being treated at the intensive care units and 261 others being intubated. Turkey reported the first COVID-19 case in the country on March 11. Turkey and China have supported each other in the fight against COVID-19. Chinese doctors and medical experts held a video conference with Turkish counterparts to share experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus. (Natural News) The summit of the worlds tallest mountain is about to get a technological makeover. In a stunning show of arrogance, Chinese telecom giant Huawei and state-owned China Mobile are joining forces to erect two 5G stations on the summit of Mt Everest. The 5G stations will be an eye sore, polluting the visual beauty of one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. The two installations will be the worlds highest terrestrial 5G base stations, boasted the Chinese Communist Party in an April 29th edition of Global Times. The CCP called the project a priceless opportunity to promote China and Huawei. Huawei project manager Wang Bo boasted about installing a 5G station on the 6,500-meter high point of Mt. Everest. He has been working on the project site for the past 20 months. Whether the signal can extend as high as the summit at 8,848 meters still needs to be tested, he said. However, we are striving to make that happen. The 5G stations will serve little to no economic purpose. Their construction is all for show, as China boasts of its 5G dominance in the world. If Huawei can help build a 5G base station on Mount Qomolangma [the name for Mount Everest in the Tibetan language], it can help bring 5G to any corner of the world, industry analysts told the paper. The summit of Mount Everest is the boundary line separating China and Nepal. China arrogantly building a world-domination spy grid through Huawei Technologies Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are showing the world that they will dominate next-gen Internet, ultimately giving Chinas military and intelligence operatives a way to intercept highly sensitive corporate and government data. U.S. officials are concerned that Huawei Technologies Co. can covertly access mobile-phone networks around the world through back doors designed for use by law enforcement, allowing Chinese operatives to spy on important communications around the world. Huawei, beholden to the CCP, builds its equipment in a way that secretly keeps the manufacturers ability to access networks without the carrier or operator knowing it. This allows Huawei to get around asking operators for permission to access their networks. National Security Advisor Robert OBrian told the Wall Street Journal that U.S. officials have evidence that Huawei has the capability secretly to access sensitive and personal information in systems it maintains and sells around the world. Huawei and Microsoft, an espionage operation Huawei is currently under federal investigation for carrying out espionage against America, yet U.S. tech company, Microsoft, continues to work with Huawei at home and abroad. Senator Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley and Marco Rubio penned a letter to Microsoft on August 7, 2019, demanding answers from Microsoft on why they have been working with Huawei and the Chinese government to develop listening devices that could eventually be used to spy on millions of Americans. Microsoft continues to sell Huawei products, despite Huawei interfering in the U.S.-Iran nuclear arms deal and being blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerces Export Administration Regulations Entity List. Microsoft has also been working with China on drone software and voice recognition systems that will be used to track and monitor Chinese citizens, who are being abused by a communist social ranking system. Sources include: Breitbart.com WSJ.com NaturalNews.com Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd pictured in 2014. REUTERS/Bill Cotterell Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Monday that homeowners should shoot any looters who break into their homes during protests that broke out following the death of George Floyd. "They're going to be in their homes tonight with their guns loaded, and if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I'm highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns," he said, according to Fox 13 News. Protesters have gathered in Polk County's Lakeland for days to demonstrate following Floyd's death, and Judd said he feared protests could turn violent. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A Florida sheriff told residents to shoot anyone who broke into their homes and tried to loot them during protests that broke out following the death of George Floyd. In a press conference Monday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd warned residents about potential looting, according to Fox 13 News "I would tell them, if you value your life, they probably shouldn't do that in Polk County," Judd said of possible looters. "Because the people of Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns, and they're going to be in their homes tonight with their guns loaded, and if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I'm highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns. So, leave the community alone." Protesters have gathered in Polk County's Lakeland for days amid nationwide uproar over Floyd's death, and according to Fox 13, demonstrations had been mostly peaceful through the weekend, until Sunday night when protesters jumped on a car and police threw tear gas at them. Judd said at his press conference that he heard rumors of violence on Monday night, and issued a warning against anyone who turned the protests violent. "We are going to hunt you down and lock you up if you engage in any criminal conduct," he said. Story continues "Minneapolis is not Polk County," Judd said at the press conference. "And I want to say unequivocally that the community here is unbelievable But please understand, that if you come here to riot, to loot, to injure people, we're going to lock you up in the county jail." Monday marked one week since Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, who was recorded kneeling on his neck for eight minutes as he told officers "I can't breathe." Four officers have been fired since Floyd's death, and the officer who knelt on his neck has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Read the original article on Insider Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal The Navajo Nation will end its weekend-long curfews, President Jonathan Nez announced Wednesday. But the reservation will extend the closure of its executive branch offices to July 5. We are extending the closure so that we can clean up the buildings, get our employees tested, and get them back into a safe working environment, and also get them the personal protection equipment that they will need, Nez said during a video update Wednesday. The Navajo government will also reconfigure office spaces for social distancing. The reservation has had 57-hour weekend curfews for two months to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Businesses were closed, and residents were told to only leave their homes for emergencies. Nez said the weekend-long curfews could return if the reservation sees another spike in COVID-19 cases. New public health orders will provide guidance for events like religious gatherings and graduations. A daily curfew on the reservation will remain in place from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The reservation has tested more than 36,000 people, nearly 18% of the population, according to Navajo Department of Health data cited by Nez. Of those people, 5,533 had tested positive as of Tuesday night. The Navajo Nation reports that 252 people have died from COVID-19, and 1,960 people have recovered. Navajo Area Indian Health Service hospitals on the reservation may have reached their peak of COVID-19 admissions and ICU patients in late April. We all are in this fight together lets keep up our vigilance in this fight. Please do not let up, Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer said. Although our curve has flattened, we are still averaging a high number of infections. Speaking about nationwide protests against police brutality and racial inequality, Nez said that Navajo leaders advocate for equality every time we speak. Weve been protesting to the federal government during the duration of COVID-19 that we Navajo people, that we 574 tribes throughout the country, should be equal to every citizen throughout this country, Nez said. People who protect us should honor that sacred, sacred duty. The treaty that was put in place, the federal government should honor that sacred obligation. One of the major and understated reasons behind Indias relative success in initially slowing down the growth of Covid-19 can be credited to our large rural population. More than two-thirds of our population (close to 68%) live in rural areas. They had been isolated till now from what is essentially an urban pandemic in India. The two reasons behind this less mobility and lower density of population compared to urban areas. But worryingly, the situation is changing now. The Central Government has identified 145 new districts, a large percentage of which are rural, that have reported new cases over the past three weeks and could emerge as potential coronavirus epicentres in the near future. Half of these districts are in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. These districts have reported 2,147 active cases, accounting for 2.5% of the total cases in the country. Twenty-six of these districts have more than 20 active cases, as well. The easing of lockdown has resulted in better mobility from highly infected urban areas to relatively unscathed smaller towns and villages, leading to a sudden spike of infection in rural India. Millions of migrants have returned from big cities to their villages in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, resulting in a high number of cases in these five states. It is primarily because of the return of migrant workers from Covid-19 hotspot states that the cases increased in eastern India, said a Health Ministry official. As the rush of migrant workers was huge, there was no proper screening of passengers at railway and bus stations. Therefore, many took infections from one state to another. Uttar Pradesh saw a surge of 369 cases on June 2, taking the state tally to 8,729. Out of these, 2,404 cases are of migrant workers. Barabanki District here, which had no cases on May 1 has now witnessed 159 infections with returning migrants accounting for around half the number. Jaunpur, which had five cases as on May 10, now reports 180. Almost 20% of Etawahs 56 cases are in migrants returning back home. Bihar has so far reported 4,155 coronavirus cases, 85% of which have been registered during the last month. Alarmingly, 82.19% of these (2,903) have been migrant workers who have returned to their homes and villages. From these, 1,763 have come from the three severely affected states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi. While Patna has the highest caseload, there has been a sharp rise in the rural districts of Munger (195 cases), Madhubani (185 cases) and Rohtas (174 cases). Jharkhand also witnessed a massive increase in the number of cases since May 1. The state had only 113 cases with 12 out of the total 24 districts affected at that time. The capital, Ranchi accounted for 83 of these. Now, the total number of cases has now gone up to 712 with all the districts reporting infections. While Ranchi has recorded an additional 55 cases in the last month, there has been a surge in infections in rural districts with the influx of migrant workers. The number of cases has risen from 3 to 103 in Garhwa and 3 to 91 in Hazaribagh during this period. East Singhbhum has also seen a spurt and has now reporting 72 cases. The story is no different in Chhattisgarh. Mungeli District reports the highest number of cases in the state at 84. There has been an increase in Jashpur (41 cases) and Rajnandgaon (37 cases). The state which did not record any new case between May 6 and May 14, suddenly saw a surge and has now reported 564 infections. Rural districts in Madhya Pradesh have seen a recent spike which include Neemuch (238 cases from 51 on May 15), Satna (24 cases), Annupur (17 cases), Bhind (40 cases), Jhabua (12 cases), among others. Ganjam is the most severely hit district in Odisha with 458 cases. More than 80,000 workers have returned to the district leading to an increase in the number of cases. Incidents of migrants getting off trains before reaching the designated station by pulling the chain to escape quarantine have also been reported. There has also been a sudden surge of coronavirus cases in rural West Bengal post May 19, which is after Shramik special trains were allowed to enter the state. Cases in Uttar Dinajpur have gone up from 2 on May 15 to 163 on June 3. Similarly, Murshidabad has seen a rise of 97 cases from 6 to 103 in the same time period. Out of the total 732 Districts in India, 406 were affected by Covid-19 on April 18. In one-and-a-half months, this number has increased to 653 by June 3, with a majority of new districts being rural. Till the last week of May, rural districts accounted for 21% of the total number of cases in India. This number is expected to rise as 57 lakh migrants have been transported back to their villages in Shramik trains and at least 40 lakh others in buses by June 2. Any significant rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in rural India could lead to catastrophe due to the existing poor health and infrastructure system, which could collapse. To put this in perspective, rural India has just 3.2 government hospital beds per 10,000 people. There is an acute shortage of doctors, specialists and equipment especially in the densely populated states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. With most Covid-19 cases being reported from metropolitan cities and towns, rural India had not needed to ramp up its testing numbers. But with restrictions eased amid a gradually lifting lockdown, millions of migrant workers are back home now and there is an urgent need to test, isolate and trace contacts. If authorities fail to do so, rural India may become the next Covid-19 hotbed. While a third night of curfew in New York City saw another largely peaceful protest against police brutality, it also saw more violent confrontations between police and demonstrators later in the night. Videos circulated on social media of NYPD enforcement tactics against protesters that were condemned by New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. A police officer was stabbed in the neck and two others were shot in their hands by a man in Brooklyn. With episodes like these, some officials are calling for backup from the New York National Guard. The National Guard is perfectly well suited to step in and provide a supporting role to the NYPD because what is being asked of the NYPD is incredibly significant and arduous, Rep. Max Rose a captain in the Army National Guard told City & State on Wednesday. And that is to keep the peace, while also not inflicting any unnecessary violence in any way, shape or form. Rose clarified, however, that hes not calling for anything like President Donald Trumps threats to deploy U.S. military forces to respond to the protests, which has been criticized by former military leaders. But some states including California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, where George Floyd was killed by police have taken the less extreme step to deploy their own National Guard troops to respond to civil unrest. New York has so far not indicated that it will deploy its National Guard personnel to New York City, though Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that forces remain on standby for cities that request them. The New York National Guard a force consisting of the part-time military members that make up the states Air National Guard and Army National Guard can be deployed for a variety of reasons, including natural disasters, overseas wars and even the coronavirus pandemic. But given the history of those forces being deployed to help quell unrest at protests over systemic racism, City & State took a look at how exactly the Guard might be deployed, and the risks that are involved in doing so. Heres what you need to know about a potential deployment of the National Guard in New York. Why are some calling for the National Guard to be deployed in New York City? Over the weekend and early this week, as many protests against police brutality across New York City have been peaceful demonstrations, a smaller number of people have seized the moment to incite violence and/or loot stores. Despite New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defending the NYPDs ability to handle the situation and Cuomo walking back criticisms of the NYPDs behavior some New York officials believe the NYPD cant handle this on their own. New York elected officials including moderate Democrats Rose and New York City Councilman Robert Holden, along with Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, are calling on Cuomo to deploy the National Guard to New York City to help tame the rioting, looting and violence. That call has been echoed if not led, in the case of Stefanik and Zeldin by Trump, who has called repeatedly for the National Guard to be deployed in places where protests continue. While Trump went as far as to threaten the deployment of the U.S. military in cities and states and he had police and the National Guard clear peaceful protesters with tear gas ahead of a photo op in Washington, D.C. Rose said a deployment of the National Guard wouldnt look anything like that in New York. I cannot judge the circumstances of those individual soldiers, but if I were, as a soldier, given orders to infringe upon someones constitutional right to peacefully protest and peacefully express their right to be heard, those are orders I would not follow, Rose said. But with that being said, the National Guard is perfectly well suited to step in and provide a supporting role to the NYPD. Where do Cuomo and de Blasio stand? Though Cuomo acts as the commander in chief of the New York National Guard as does each states governor over their own forces he has said he would not send Guard personnel to cities unless they are requested. On Wednesday, when walking back criticisms he made the previous day about the NYPDs response to looting, Cuomo said that while hes still prepared to send the National Guard to New York City, he doesnt think their services are called for yet. I was prepared to send the National Guard to help to provide resources if the city needed them, but I said I dont believe the NYPD needs the National Guard, Cuomo said Wednesday, calling on the mayor to utilize all of the NYPDs more than 30,000 uniformed members. I believe there was an issue of management and deployment of the NYPD. Those comments put Cuomo closer in line with de Blasio who, despite facing widespread criticism over his handling of the crisis and accusations that the NYPD has used excessive force against protesters, has stood firmly against bringing in the National Guard so far. We do not need nor do we think its wise for the National Guard to be in New York City, nor any armed forces, de Blasio said at a press conference on Tuesday. When outside armed forces go into communities, no good that comes of it. We have seen this for decades. Go back to the 50s, 60s with the civil rights movement, on through all the way up to today, de Blasio added, possibly referring to instances in which National Guardsmen were called to quell rioting after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. We have 36,000 police officers. They are the best equipped to deal with this situation, de Blasio said. And you know what will help them deal with the situation? Not the National Guard. The people of New York City are much more powerful than anything the National Guard could do, he added, asking clergy members, civic leaders and block associations to help discourage violence. Of course, members of a states National Guard are also typically residents of that state, though its possible personnel deployed in New York City wouldnt be city residents. As of Wednesday, the National Guard had yet to be deployed to any other cities in New York. A spokesman for the governor did not respond to requests for comment. What role would the National Guard fill in New York City? Given the size and resources of the NYPD, it hasnt been entirely clear from those calling for deployment of the National Guard what role they want those personnel to fill. Rose told City & State that the National Guard had an important supporting part to play with the NYPD. You can imagine the National Guard helping the NYPD with resourcing. You can imagine them helping the NYPD with precinct activities. You can imagine them assisting the NYPD in terms of their patrolling capabilities, but in a supporting function, Rose said. He noted that examples of the National Guards functions were already on display in New York City, including with the National Guard being deployed to assist in coronavirus relief efforts as well as with National Guard forces being deployed to large New York City transportation hubs like Grand Central Station, Penn Station and area airports to deter and prevent terrorism. When you view it through those lenses, this is not something that is totally out of left field, Rose said. Lindsay Cohn, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College, went into further detail about the ways that the National Guard could theoretically be deployed to aid in a citys response to the current unrest. It is typical for Guard personnel to be used as support to police in basic patrolling activity, and they can also provide command, control and communications help, Cohn wrote over email, clarifying that she spoke in her personal capacity as a scholar and that her views did not represent those of the U.S. Naval War College or the U.S. government. Cohn added that whether or not National Guard personnel are armed is also dependent on how each state chooses to deploy them. Does that mean that National Guard troops could be authorized to make arrests, just like a police officer? Cohn said that the ability of Guard personnel to arrest or detain people depends on how the governor chooses to deploy them. If they are not given that authority, they will always accompany law enforcement personnel and simply provide extra manpower/presence and possibly security, she wrote. She added that in most cases where the National Guard has been deployed so far, they havent been tasked with law enforcement powers, but have provided logistical support, protection for police and security at municipal or state buildings. As to whether National Guard personnel are trained to de-escalate conflicts an obvious imperative when it comes to law enforcements response to the current protests Cohn said that while all personnel are trained to a basic national standard, training can vary widely from state to state. She added that aiding civil authorities and responding to civil disturbances are core missions for the Guard. But the resources devoted to those missions over others like Guard personnel being deployed to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan depend entirely on the political leadership of the state. Since Kent State, most Guard forces have worked to improve their professionalism and to emphasize restraint in dealing with civil disturbance, but I do not know the extent to which any are specifically trained in de-escalation techniques, Cohn wrote, referring to one of the most famous examples of the National Guard being deployed in response to protests at Kent State University in 1970, where the Ohio National Guard killed four students protesting the Vietnam War. A spokesman for the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs referred a request for comment about National Guard training to the governors press office, which did not respond to requests for comment. Rose declined to go into detail about whether the New York National Guard is trained in de-escalation or not, but said he was confident in the Guards ability to not further escalate violence. Its not perfect, not all soldiers are created identically, Rose said. But I have extraordinary confidence in their training and their capacity to deal with those situations, all the while applying military values and their own personal values to the situation with the intent of de-escalating at every possible opportunity, all while obviously protecting themselves and ensuring the safety of others. Whats at stake when the National Guard is called in? Historically, deployments of the National Guard to deal with protests and civil unrest are not without troubling examples. The Kent State massacre is one. A lesser-known example is in Wilmington, Delaware, where National Guard personnel were deployed after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and essentially occupied the city for nine months. Rose pushed back on some of the historical allusions made by de Blasio, saying that the presence of Guard personnel would not escalate violence. The mayors comments are ignorant and offensive to National Guard soldiers, Rose said. And quite frankly, they are completely detached from the reality of National Guard elements throughout the country right now, as we speak, positively contributing to ensuring a reduction in tensions, a rise in public safety, all with the goal of achieving it in a just manner, without any additional violence being unnecessarily incited. In these protests specifically, however, deployments of National Guard personnel have been criticized. The National Guard is investigating the use of helicopters to disperse protesters in Washington, D.C. In Kentucky, the National Guards presence is being reduced after Guard personnel were involved in a shooting in Louisville that left one man dead. The National Guard in Minnesota joined aggressive efforts to clear Minneapolis streets after protesters remained on the streets after the curfew there over the weekend. Meanwhile, Trumps threats to deploy active U.S. military forces to cities have been panned by ex-military leaders, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis. When it comes to introducing a military element into already fraught protests even if that element is the states own National Guard some say there is a risk that even the presence of uniformed, possibly armed soldiers could aggravate the conflict. Oftentimes it has been the case that when the military appears, the protesters who to begin with are already protesting violations of civil rights see the military coming in and its like an aggravation of the violations that theyre protesting to begin with, said Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School. I dont know for sure, but it seems to me that it certainly (would be) inflammatory for a lot of the protesters. Cohn suggested that the potential for their presence to escalate violent confrontation would depend on the rhetoric of the states leadership, the behavior of the Guard personnel themselves and the nature of the situations theyre responding to. That those concerns would bear out in New York of course depends on whether the National Guard is called up. For now, at least, it seems that Cuomo is not yet ready to take that step. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 04:21:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RABAT, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Morocco on Thursday called for more support to African countries in the fight against terrorism, mainly the militant Islamic State (IS), official news agency MAP reported. During an online ministerial conference of the Restricted Group of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh (IS), Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita underlined that IS is seeking to take advantage of the raging coronavirus pandemic, in an attempt to organize its return by increasing acts of violence. Bourita highlighted the importance of stemming the terrorist threat in Africa, noting that the collective efforts of the coalition have made it possible to wipe out IS's territorial ambition in the Middle East. IS in Africa is using sophisticated weapons, including drones, and seeking to control local communities, while trying to bring fighters from other terrorist branches, Bourita said. Central Africa and the Sahel are currently experiencing a sharp increase in attacks from the terrorist organization whose fighters are estimated at 6,000, he said. Bourita called for increased efforts to ensure the global and lasting defeat of this terror group, by depriving it of time, space and resources necessary to support its violent actions. The meeting, co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, was attended by 30 countries. The conference adopted a declaration, reaffirming the commitment to strengthen cooperation within the coalition in order to achieve a full and enduring defeat of IS worldwide. Enditem Australian online retailer Kogan has launched a massive end of financial year sale, with prices slashed by up to 69 per cent across Apple gadgets, kitchen appliances, high-end sneakers, TVs and laptops. Bargain hunters can shop a selection of favourite items from popular brands including Apple, Samsung, Sony, Google, Philips, Microsoft, Garmin, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Swarovski and more. Notable deals include an Apple iPad Air from $299.99, half-price Michael Kors handbags, Kogan LED TVs from $159.99, and 50 per cent off Swarovski jewellery. Online retailer Kogan has launched a massive end of financial year sale, with prices slashed across Apple gadgets, high-end sneakers, TVs and laptops The best deals from Kogan Michael Kors Mercer Pebbled Leather Tote: On sale $169.99, was $339.99 Swarovski Spiral Crystal Pave Ring: On sale $56.99, was $114.99 Swarovski Cherie Long Pendant: On sale $56.99, was $114.99 Kate Spade Cedar Street Handbag: On sale $121.99, was $244.99 Kate Spade Cedar Street Wallet: On sale $91.99, was $184.99 New Balance Women's Running Shoe: On sale $86.99, was $174.99 Kogan 15.6" Full HD Portable USB-C Monitor: On sale $269, was $499.99 Ardor Weighted Blanket: On sale $78, was $319 Apple iPad Air Refurbished 16GB with 12 month warranty: On sale $299.99 Dell 11.6" Chromebook Refurbished: On sale $289, was $599 Apple AirPods 2 with Charging Case: On sale $215, was $249 Nike Alpha Adapt Crossbody Duffel Bag: On sale $46.99, was $94.99 Nike Renew Arena runners: On sale $51.99, was $104.99 Puma Women's Heather Jacket: On sale $29.66, was $54.99 Kogan 3-in-1 Vacuum and Steam Cleaner: On sale $149.99, was $260 Jason Allergy Sensitive Quilt: On sale $49, was $119.99 Advertisement For half price, shoppers can snap up shoes and apparel from big brands including Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, New Balance, 2XU, ASICS, KingGee, and more. Sneakers, runners, men's and women's fitness wear and accessories such as gym bags, jewellery, handbags, and wallets have all been slashed by 50 per cent. The top deals include a pair of Nike runners for $51.99, women's Puma jacket for just $29.66, New Balance women's running shoes for $86.99. In the high-end department, shoppers can get Kate Spade handbags and wallets for half price, including a crossbody handbag for $121.99, or a wallet for just $91.99. The 50 per cent off discount will be automatically applied at checkout. Australian bargain hunters can shop a selection of favourite items from popular brands For a fraction of the price, there's Apple AirPods for $215, or Kogan wireless earphones for just $69.99. There's a range of laptops on sale, including Dell 11.6-inch Chromebook for $289, Lenovo 15-inch for $519, or a Kogan 15.6-inch portable monitor for $269. Home essentials have been slashed by up to 73 per cent off, including Australian-made wool blankets, towels, quilt cover sets, and memory foam pillows. There's kitchen and home appliances on sale, with prices starting from as little as $15, while audio has been reduced by up to 39 per cent. The sale is on now for a limited time only, while stocks last. You no longer have to wonder whether or not you can transfer Facebook pictures and videos to Google Photos. The companys Alexandru Voica has revealed that everyone worldwide now has access to a tool that sends media to Googles cloud service. As before, youll have to dive into Your Facebook Information in settings and tell the site to transfer all your photos or all your videos (you cant do both at the same time) to Google. This is part of an industry Data Transfer Project thats meant to increase the portability of your info between services. Its partly meant to reduce scrutiny from antitrust regulators worried that internet giants are using locked-down data to discourage competition. Still, the immediate user benefits are obvious you wont have to keep a Facebook account open (or worry about it being hijacked) just to preserve all those family photos and concert clips for posterity. Lee Kang-Seung's "Imaginaries of the Future" offers an insight into the lives of members of the LGBTQ community in a book lounge-style setting as part of the 2020 MMCA Asia Project "Looking for Another Family" exhibition. Courtesy of MMCA By Kwon Mee-yoo The definition of family has changed over time and a new exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) sheds light on the new definition of family, departing from the conventional idea of a "normal family," which consists of a married couple and their children. MMCA director Youn Bum-mo said the 2020 MMCA Asia Project "Looking for Another Family" provides an opportunity to introduce diverse and dynamic Asian contemporary art. "As this time of global crisis marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the innovative work of the Asian artists in this exhibition and their collaboration will hopefully communicate the spirit of social solidarity and coexistence to the world the message should particularly resonate in Asian territory," Youn said. The exhibit is part of the MMCA's effort to discover a new critical perspective on Asian contemporary art. Established in 2017, the first edition of the project was the 2018 exhibition "How Little You Know About Me." The idea for this exhibition stemmed from the first exhibit, which emphasized the value of individuals. "There are many different types of families from the one-person household to the alternative family, but they require explanation if not the 'normal family,'" curator Park Joo-won said. "A family is more than just blood ties. It provides love, support and solidarity, but also involves restrictions and responsibility. It could either be positive or negative. This exhibit began from the question, 'What is a shape of family?'" Park said the term family in this exhibition is used to emphasize social solidarity. "So in this exhibition, family is not the traditional definition of family as parents and their children, but those who build social solidarity are called family," the curator explained. "Looking for Another Family" features 15 teams of artists from eight Asian countries Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. "We tried to diversify the range of participants and researched artists outside of each country's capital or major cities. Then we picked artists whose work fits with the theme of this exhibit," curator Park said. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international artists could not visit Seoul to install their work. "Instead, we had a lot of conference calls, reporting the progress and sharing news from different countries. The process reminded us of the meaning of solidarity and family amid the 'new normal' in the COVID-19 era," Park said. Even the opening ceremony was substituted for an online livestream, with participating artists having a look around the exhibition online and sharing their thoughts. Isaac Chong Wai's "One Sound of the Futures" / Courtesy of the artist and MMCA The exhibit begins with Lee Kang-seung's "Imaginaries of the Future," a bookstore-lounge that offers an insight into the lives of members LGBTQ community. The installation consists of multiple pieces as the artist shares the space with other artists of the queer community. Visitors can read LGBTQ-related books from shelves, archived in collaboration with literary critic Oh Hye-jin and predict the future in "The Future Perfect," created in collaboration with Beatriz Cortez. Drag artist MORE will present a performance, while Lee presents a series of drawings inspired by Tseng Kwong Chi, who died from AIDS in 1990. Dew Kim's "Kiss of Chaos" interprets queerness in relation to multiple layers of shamanism in a K-pop style music video. The catchy tune and stylish video discusses the blurring boundaries of queerness and gender, centering on the physical performances of shamanic activities. Indonesian artist Tandia Permandi's photo series "Self Portrait" reveals how the artist explores his identity through art. He is the first-born son in his family in a culture where the first-born boy is of evil presage. He grew up being forced to act feminine and shows a sociocultural identity that defies even LGBTQ categories. "This showcases diverse state of individuals in different societies," curator Park said. Korean-Japanese Jong Yu-gyong questions the nationality of Koreans through the hot topic of military issues. Upon the revision of the Military Service Act in 2018, Jong, who was born and grew up in Japan, was designated to serve mandatory military service, along with other second-generation Korean men who were born abroad and lived in Korea for more three years. Inspired by the popular song portraying sentiments of young Korean males, Jong presents the layers of military service in Korea through YouTube comments and paintings reinterpreting North Korean propaganda posters. Taiwanese artist Ni Hao's "Structure Study" employs a familiar musical instrument - a recorder. Asian students are required to learn and play Western folk songs using the cheap plastic flute and Ni relates the idea to imperialism pervading the educational system. Isaac Chong Wai's 2016 three-channel video "One Sound of the Futures" was filmed in three different places Kai Tak Runway Park in Hong Kong, Democracy Square in Gwangju in Korea, K11 Artist Village in Wuhan in China. Each student states what they think about the future, which varies widely even though they are in the same group. RESBAK's "Everyday Impunity" is a collage of social media images of people fighting against state-endorsed violence. RESBAK stands for "Respond and Break the Silence Against the Killings" and this collective of artists promotes awareness of human rights. Dew Kim's "Kiss of Chaos" / Courtesy of the artist and MMCA US, South Korea Agree to Fund Furloughed Workers on US Bases By William Gallo June 03, 2020 Thousands of furloughed South Korean workers could soon return to their jobs on U.S. military bases in South Korea under the terms of a deal announced by the Pentagon. In a statement late Tuesday, the Defense Department said it has accepted South Korea's offer to fund labor costs for all Korean national employees on U.S. bases through the end of 2020. The agreement does not completely resolve a months-long impasse between Washington and Seoul over how to split the cost of the roughly 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. The allies' previous military cost-sharing agreement expired at the end of the year. Over 4,000 South Korean civilian employees were placed on unpaid leave in March, after temporary U.S. funding ran out. Military officials and analysts have warned the furloughs could jeopardize military readiness, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic and increasing North Korean provocations. Under the new agreement, South Korea will provide more than $200 million for the entire Korean national (KN) workforce through the end of 2020, the Pentagon said. The U.S. said it expects all Korean employees to return to work "no later than mid-June." "This decision enables a more equitable sharing of the KN employee labor burden by (South Korea) and the U.S.," the U.S. statement said. "More importantly, it sustains the Alliance's number one priority - our combined defense posture." A South Korean foreign ministry official confirmed the arrangement, according to the Yonhap news agency. But the announcement does not mean that a broader cost-sharing deal, or Special Measures Agreement (SMA), has been reached. Critical defense infrastructure projects will remain suspended and all logistics support contracts for USFK will continue to be paid completely by the United States, the Pentagon statement said. "Burden sharing will remain out of balance for an Alliance that values and desires parity," the U.S. statement added. "USFK's mid- and long-term force readiness remains at risk." President Donald Trump, who has long accused South Korea of taking advantage of U.S. protection, last month said he rejected South Korea's latest offer. The negotiations have spilled over into the public - a rarity for such talks - greatly straining the alliance. South Korean officials have said publicly that a 13 percent increase is their final offer. Washington is reportedly now asking for a 50 percent increase. "It does not seem like we are anywhere close to an agreement," said David Maxwell, an analyst who focuses on U.S.-South Korea military relations at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "This is only a band-aid. It will not stop the bleeding in the alliance." Any eventual cost-sharing deal must be approved by South Korea's National Assembly, and observers have noted that allies of South Korean President Moon Jae-in may be less likely to cede ground on the issue after winning a landslide election last month. It is not clear if the narrower labor proposal will need to be approved by parliament. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Drake showed solidarity with protesters across US when he donated to the National Bail Out. The 33-year-old rap superstar shared a receipt for his $100,000 donation to the charity in his Instagram Stories after the songwriter Mustafa the Poet urged him to exceed his own contribution. The donation came as major cities across the United States have experienced massive protests inspired by the death of George Floyd. Drake initially re-posted a receipt for Mustafas $400 donation to the National Bail Out fund. My Toronto Kings, he wrote, while tagging Drake and his fellow Canadian The Weeknd. Swipe up and match my donation but add 3 zeros! Lets help reunite black families, Mustafa wrote. Drake seemed to be on the same page and wrote, Say less brother, meaning say no more. He followed the post with his own donation receipt for $100,000, though he didnt do the $400,000 as Mustafa had initially suggested. The In My Feelings rapper also included a check mark and a red rose emoji, which is a common symbol for the Democratic Socialists of America, though Drake hasnt previously mentioned being a supporter of the group. The donation was so large it triggered Drakes fraud alert to pop up. They just called fraud on my card lol, Drake said in a text message to Mustafa, who posted the exchange onto Twitter. Trying to call them right now. I donated 100k, he added. They were like nah. Bailout funds have cropped up across the country to help arrested protesters get out of jail, where their risk of contracting the coronavirus is significantly increased. Drakes donation comes days after 46-year-old George Floyd died on May 25. He was killed when a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, including two minutes beyond when he stopped breathing and became unresponsive. So far, the four officers involved in the arrest have all been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is planning to spend more than $88 million to get its message out on everything from health advice to government programs related to COVID-19, CBC News has learned. That's on top of money that government departments have already budgeted for communicating with Canadians on other issues. In fact, the $88.7 million the government plans to spend this year on communications and marketing related to COVID-19 is more than its annual budget for all subjects combined over the past decade. According to supplementary estimates tabled in Parliament this week, the government plans to increase the Privy Council's budget by $58.3 million $48.7 million of it for communications and marketing. The move would increase the Privy Council's budget for the coming year by 39 per cent. The Privy Council Office serves the Prime Minister's Office and plays a role in co-ordinating government departments. However, that's just part of the tab that taxpayers will be footing to send the government's messages about its response to the pandemic out to Canadians. Julian Tang/The Canadian Press Privy Council spokesman Stephane Shank said $10 million of the new money will be used to extend an existing $30 million campaign the Public Health Agency of Canada has been running. Another $12 million will extend an existing $10 million ad campaign by the Finance department "promoting economic supports for businesses and individuals." The remaining $26.7 million being added to the Privy Council's budget will be spent on "other advertising departmental initiatives related to COVID-19 as necessary." Shank said the money will ensure Canadians receive important information about how to stay safe and healthly, and how to access government programs. "These efforts have and will continue to provide critical information to Canadians throughout the pandemic in four key areas: public health information, financial support for individuals, financial support for business and the economy and public safety and security information including travel advice," wrote Shank. Story continues While the amount pales in comparison to the billions of dollars the government is shovelling out the door to help both Canadians and companies hit by the pandemic, government spending on advertising has previously triggered controversy. For example, the "economic action plan" advertising by Stephen Harper's government was sharply criticized by both the NDP and Liberals, including Justin Trudeau. This time, critics say the money being spent to advertise the government's messages on COVID-19 could be better used helping Canadians hit hard by the pandemic. Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press New Democratic Party House Leader Peter Julian said the money is needed by Canadians. "When we're talking about marketing at a time of pandemic, every single dollar that the federal government has available needs to go to support families and seniors, small business people, students. People who are struggling to get through this pandemic," said Julian. "For tens of millions of dollars to go to marketing at this critical time, it just defies belief. It shows that the government's priorities are not in the right place. They really need to make sure that those resources are invested to support Canadians." Conservative Treasury Board Critic Tim Uppal said the new money for Privy Council is on top of existing budgets. "So now, we have additional funds that are on top of all the other departments that are also spending money on communications and marketing," Uppal said. "It's starting to look like this government is very concerned about their communications and marketing plan." Julian and Uppal also question why the money is being added to the budget of the Privy Council, rather than individual departments like Health Canada or the Public Health Agency of Canada. "I don't think anyone would have difficulty if they were increasing the budget for the Public Health Agency," said Julian. "The Privy Council Office has traditionally been the political support for the prime minister and as a result of that, it's doubling disturbing that at a time when so many people are struggling and so many people are looking for resources just to get them through the month that the federal government and Mr. Trudeau are choosing to spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing." Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association has reached a tentative deal with the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board on local terms and conditions for the boards elementary and high school teachers. The agreement was reached late Wednesday night through virtual negotiations, according to a press release from the board. Ratification votes by both the boards trustees and OECTA membership will take place in upcoming weeks. There was no immediate word on what local terms have been agreed upon. The union and the provincial government had agreed upon provincewide conditions March 12 for contracts for 45,000 Catholic elementary and high school teachers across the province, retroactive to Sept. 1. Terms included 1 per cent raises per year for three years and no changes to average class sizes for junior kindergarten through Grade 3, while the average class size will be 24.5 for Grades 4 to 8, and 23 for Grades 9 to 12. The provincewide terms have already been ratified. That deal followed an acrimonious school year which saw OECTA stage one-day provincewide and rotating walkouts to back up their contract demands. We are pleased that a tentative deal on local issues could be achieved and we value our strong working relationship with our OECTA partners. We are happy to be moving forward on the strength of a new collective agreement with our dedicated and passionate teachers, education director Michael Nasello stated. Id like to thank all members of the negotiating teams for their hard work, commitment and spirit of co-operation. Progress has been made locally for our members, and I am proud of how the table teams worked together in this virtual world, in reaching a deal. It was not easy, not being in person, to accomplish this task, but our chief negotiator Andy Butler and the boards chief negotiator Joan Carragher kept us focused. Congratulations to all involved, stated PVNC OECTA unit president Kelly McNeely. President Trump holds a Bible outside St. John's Church near the White House on Monday. (Associated Press) To the editor: The president has only two tools in his toolbox threats and insults. When these don't work, he's got nothing. They didn't work against the the virus, and they are worse than useless in dealing with protests and riots. ("Trump calls for 'law and order,' threatens to deploy troops to major cities," June 1) He has no political sense or powers of persuasion. As for empathy, well, it's too late to start now. What he does have is a great sense of drama. This will of course play well with the base. He does have to make a calculation whether he would like to risk a Kent State-type incident. My money says no, he's perfectly willing to make idle threats to satisfy his followers. As mom used to say, it's the thought that counts. Peter Scofield, Corona del Mar .. To the editor: Our president apparently discovered he can conference call with the governors of all states, just in time to admonish them to "dominate the streets," before protestors were violently cleared from outside the White House so he could walk across the street to pose in front of a church. How unfortunate he did not make a call in late January, when he had been made aware of the dangers of the coronavirus. He could have discussed coordinating federal and state responses, including talking about the responsibilities and limitations of the federal government to undertake its most pressing task of protecting its citizenry. Connie Becker, La Canada Flintridge .. To the editor: It would take so little for Trump to quell the uprising after George Floyd's death. All he needs to offer are sincere words of sympathy and acknowledgment of the pain and sense of injustice among people of color. These feelings of injustice are real, and likewise people know when expressions of respect and sympathy are genuine. If Trump is incapable of offering these, because inside he feels no respect or sympathy, the protests and violence will continue, and he is unfit to lead. Story continues Nancy Kiang, La Crescenta .. To the editor: I am a white woman and a former Republican. I will tell you who is responsible for the rioting and looting: Trump and his followers. Amid the worst pandemic this country has seen in a century, this president tweets utter garbage. November cannot come soon enough. Sandra Stubban, Stanton .. To the editor: Has no one else noticed the irony of the photo of President Trump standing in front of St. John's Church, Bible in hand, in front of a sign reading, "All are welcome"? Ruberta Taylor, Orange .. To the editor: I call on your newspaper to demand that Trump resign. This week, he gassed his own people does that ring a bell? A front-page opinion piece calling for the president's resignation is in order. Daryn Eller, Pacific Palisades .. To the editor: Yes, Mr. President, that's a Bible. It's usually used for prayerful reflection inside our houses of worship, to foster love, hope, inclusiveness and equality before God. The book calls on us to show humility and empathy in dealing with all our fellow humans. Its meant to unite us, not divide. Phil Ryan, San Gabriel Bringing affordable, friendly, and reliable service to Canadians. Flair makes it their mission to provide service when the time is right. Edmonton, Alberta, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Flair Airlines announces a return to Kelowna and Winnipeg, while making the difficult decision to delay the launch of certain locations as a result of travel restrictions related to the global pandemic. Flair is thrilled to announce an expansion of their current route schedule which includes service to Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver with a much-anticipated return to Kelowna and Winnipeg. Carrying out a mission to bring affordable, friendly, and reliable air travel to Canadians while balancing the impact of a global pandemic has not come without difficult decisions. As a result, Flair will be delaying the launch of service into Ottawa and Atlantic Canada. In the face of adversity, Flair has decided to stand out as a leader in the industry and offer full refunds for passengers booked on cancelled flights to the affected destinations Ottawa, Halifax, Saint John, N.B and Charlottetown. Due to the current provincial travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, we feel this is the best balance right now for both the provinces, and for Flair as a business, says John Mullins, Vice President of Customer Experience and Airports. Safety comes first for Flair and our customers are our priority. Based on feedback received from Canadians in a recent Nanos Research survey, Flair knows there is a need for choice and affordable air travel in Canada. Atlantic Canada remains a priority region for Flair and the company will look to return to these destinations soon. When Flair does return to these markets, it will remain committed to stimulate the local economies by increasing tourism to the areas as well as sourcing local products and vendors. This is only temporary, added Mr. Mullins. Flair is proud to bring Canadians affordable and friendly air travel and we look forward to providing more choice to our customers for their travel needs. We will be there for Ottawa and Atlantic Canada as soon as everyone is ready for our arrival. Story continues Passengers already booked on flights to the affected destinations will be contacted through email with instructions on how to receive refunds, further proof that Flair is a different kind of airline than its larger competitors. If customers require support, they are asked to contact Flair at 1-800-441-7214. Information on affected flights can also be found at https://flyflair.com/rerouting-passengers. About Flair Airlines Flair Airlines, Canadas only independent low-fare carrier, is democratizing domestic airfare to make it affordable and accessible for all Canadians. Flair flies across Canada into the major city centres. For more information please visit www.flyflair.com Jamina Kotak Flair Airlines 7808879209 jamina.kotak@flyflair.com M&S claims to have settled a centuries-old row over how to make a perfect cream tea by creating a strawberry flavoured clotted cream, that has now sparked more controversy. The store has marketed the solution to try and bring a truce to the warring factions in Devon and Cornwall. People in Cornwall have always put jam on first while Devon folk start with the clotted cream. But from this week, shoppers were given a third option - which is hoped to showcase the best of both methods. M&S claims to have settled a long-standing row over how to make a perfect cream tea by creating a strawberry flavoured clotted cream The new product has caused controversy on Twitter, with some social media users pointing out that M&S still put jam on their scones first (pictured) in their advertising photo The new product is made with Jersey and Guernsey milk and is recommended by M&S to be served with fresh strawberries and scones The invention hasn't pleased everyone though, with one twitter user even labelling it 'an abomination against decency'. In promotional material released for the product that appeared in stores from Wednesday, M&S claimed its 'new and exclusive Strawberry Clotted Cream from M&S ends the debate'. M&S said: 'Whether you do it the Cornish way or the Devonshire way, the age-old debate of what to top a scone with first, often results in a heated debate over a cup of Earl Grey. Until now! 'M&S introduces the first ever product to silence both parties, by combining jam with clotted cream and making one ultimate afternoon tea delight.' M&S have released the strawberry clotted cream just in time for picnic season, claiming the product will end the age-old 'heated debate' One Twitter user even went as far as to call the new product 'an abomination against decency' while other people on social media joined in to voice their opposition to the flavoured cream April Preston, Director of Product Development at the store said: 'Jam first or cream first, there's no doubt this question makes for a healthy debate amongst cream tea fans up and down the country. 'I'm a proud Devonian, so up until now I've always slathered my cream on first, before adding jam. 'Now, all I need is our Collection Strawberry Clotted Cream to have the best of both worlds, it is quite simply heaven on a scone. So next time you indulge in an afternoon tea, try it the M&S way and let us know if you have been converted! I know I am.' But some social media users have expressed their disgust at the product and refused to accept the truce. One Twitter user went as far as to call the cream 'an abomination against decency'. Twitter users, including comedian Dawn French, who lives in Cornwall, have expressed their disgust at the strawberry clotted cream, proving they have not been 'converted' Actress and comedian Dawn French, who lives in Cornwall, got involved in the outrage, taking to Twitter saying: 'There's hell on! Am mobilising the Cornish Barbarian Horde... we will not rest til this battle is won & our cream is safe again... appalling.' Paul Couchman, a traditional regency cook and recipe blogger, even voiced his annoyance at the new invention. Some Twitter users also pointed out that M&S had still put jam on their scones first, despite their claims the new product ended the long-standing argument. One user said: 'If the order doesn't matter because it's strawberry clotted cream, why have M&S got jam in the scones too?!' M&S marketed the solution to try and bring a truce to the warring factions in Devon and Cornwall, but instead seems to have united the two groups against the new invention Another user called M&S 'animals' for the invention, saying that have 'gone too far' with their new cream. The controversy around M&S's strawberry clotted cream has united the two factions, Cornish and Devonshire people, in opposition against the new product. YouGov also shared its scone research from 2016 in response to M&S's new product, which had 61% of people saying that scones should be done the Cornish way. The controversy continued on Facebook, where Nigel Kitto said: 'Only place for that would be in a 'DevonWall' area.' Hazel Burrows said: 'This would have my Cornish grandparents turning in their graves, not to mention my mother!!' The South Pars non-associated natural gas field is at the core of Irans strategy to produce at least one billion cubic metres per day (bcm/d) of natural gas as soon as possible and it is as important a target to Iran as reaching 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil output. Unlike the oil production target, however - which has been particularly hard-hit by the re-imposed U.S. sanctions the natural gas production target is well within reach. The Islamic Republic is now conservatively estimated to be producing around 875 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d), according to senior oil and gas industry source exclusively spoken to by OilPrice.com last week. The target [1 bcm/d] will be hit by the end of the year [current Iranian calendar year ending 20 March 2021], allowing Iran to consolidate its gas exports to Asia in general and to China in particular, in the first part by increasing LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] supplies and then by asserting itself in the global LNG [liquefied natural gas] market, he said. The key to these gas targets lies in the supergiant non-associated South Pars natural gas field, the 3,700 square kilometre portion of the 9,700 square kilometre gas basin that Iran shares with Qatar (the North Dome field). Irans share holds an estimated 14.2 trillion cubic metres (tcm) of gas reserves (8% of the worlds total) plus 18 billion barrels of gas condensates. Already it accounts for around 60 per cent of Irans overall gas production and is currently producing about 700 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d) of natural gas. With the completion rate of a number of the now-27 phases due to be increased in the coming months and a dramatic improvement in the development of Phases 11 and 14 in particular due over the same timeframe, another 150-180 mcm/d of natural gas output will be added to the South Pars flows. This will swell the overall gas output from Iran over the magic one billion bcm/d figure, according to the Iran source last week. Following the highly adverse reaction to the news that China was set to be handed extremely generous terms for taking over the share in Phase 11 that was vacated by French major Total as a result of the re-imposed U.S. sanctions, both Iran and China believed that their arrangement could be resuscitated after a suitable period of time away from public consciousness had passed. Given the ongoing trade war with the U.S., however, and the fact that this may be broadened out to include some sort of COVID-19 reckoning for China by the U.S., China is currently reluctant to provoke the U.S. further by flouting its sanctions on Iran and re-entering the fray with a high-profile major field development project. Although China has communicated to Iran that it is still there for any financing, technology, and expertise that it may require from China, Iran has been moving ahead on its own in Phase 11 in the past few weeks. Related: Lithium-Ion Battery Demand To Increase By More Than 1000% This Decade Last week, Irans Petroleum Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, attended the official ceremony for the installation of the jacket of Phase 11s Platform B, taking the opportunity to underline that even without Frances Total and Chinas CNPC working on the ground, Phase 11 is still being developed to reach capacity of 56 mcm/d, plus 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gas condensate and other tangential products, albeit by Irans Petropars alone. Zanganeh added that after the start-up of the Platform B jacket, drilling operations for five new offshore wells in the Phase would begin. According to the source spoke to by OilPrice.com last week, this and other advances will bring Phase 11s overall completion rate up to at least 30 per cent. Overall, Phase 11 is now to be developed in two integrated and consecutive stages, with each stage containing 15 wells and, according to Zanganeh, two 32-inch pipelines jointly stretching over 270 kilometres will be constructed and installed to ensure the onward distribution of the gas to the refineries in Assaluyeh and Kangan in the Bushehr Province. At the same time, most of the work on most of the original 24 phases is close to completion, said the Iran source, with just a handful not having a 95 per cent plus completion rating. Aside from the Phase 11 developments outlined, another relatively under-developed site Phase 14 has now begun gas recovery at a full rate. According to the Pars Oil and Gas Companys director of the Phase, Mohammad Tavasolipour, the third offshore topside of the project was installed in the middle of 2019 and became fully operational at the end of last year. He added that Platform B of Phase 14 was developed for production of 14.2 mcm/d of natural gas from the Phase, and that in addition to this it would produce daily 20,000 barrels of gas condensate and 100 tons of sulphur, plus yearly 250,000 tons of LPG, and 250,000 tons of ethane. Its adjunct phase SP13 is targeted to produce 57 mcm/d of gas on its own, and saw two platforms (B and D) become ready for operation just prior to this development on 14. This follows the drilling of 38 offshore wells, and gas delivery to the onshore refinery scheduled to begin when an offshore pipeline becomes available to transmit gas to be used to produce sweet gas, ethane, propane, butane, gas condensate and sulphur products. In preparation for this, a fourth train is now ready, allowing for the processing of up to the full 57 mcm/d of nominal gas capacity, which would then be fed into the Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT) system. In the meantime, Phases 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 are fully functioning, although Phase 21 which was due along with Phase 20 to produce a joint 51 mcm/d - is currently producing around 35 mcm/d. One third of this amount is being processed at the dedicated Phase 20 and 21 refining facilities, with the rest being sweetened at the Phase 15 and 16 refineries. Once the second and third trains of the Phase 20 and 21 refinery come online, then all of the 51 mcm/d gas recovered from the two phases will be processed at the facility for injection into the Iran Gas Trunkline 8 for use in the domestic power sector, freeing up other oil and gas resources for exports. With the plans for the full rolling-out of the Goreh-Jask pipeline route now in place and being advanced apace, the onus for Iran now falls on building out its LPG export plans (its plans for international gas pipelines are moving forward at a much slower pace, for sanctions-related reasons, whilst its LNG plans come second due to the slump in global LNG prices). In the matter of LPG, it should not be forgotten that just after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on 16 January 2016, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) through it Deputy Director of International Affairs for Marketing and Crude Oil Operation, Safar-Ali Karamati clearly stated that Iran planned to double its LPG production in the post-sanctions era. Related: Are Investors Ignoring The Largest Financial Risk Ever? Already one of the biggest and most reliable suppliers of LPG in the world at that time, Iran had lost almost none of its LPG market share under the previous U.S.-led sanctions on its nuclear program, and was then producing around eight million tons of LPG annually. Karamati added at that time that when all of the Phases of South Pars came fully online Iran would see at least a doubling of this LPG output figure, allowing it to capture at least a 40 per cent of the Middle East LPG exports market. Feeding directly into this target is the fact that, according to a comment earlier this year from Hassan Torbati, the head of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), linking more Iranian homes and industries to the natural gas network has led to a dramatic increase in the countrys LPG exports. He underlined that Irans investments of about US$4 billion in expanding its natural gas network to remote areas have been an integral step to save around US$9 billion primarily through the creation of LPG export capacity. Specifically he noted that replacing one litre of LPG with one cubic metre of natural gas leads to a US$0.3 increase in export income for Iran. The key target market for Irans LPG exports remains China. Despite sanctions and the threat of an upping of the severity in the trade war with the U.S., China was very conservatively importing half a million tons of LPG from Iran each month in the first quarter of this year, before the COVID-19 outbreak, generating at least US$200 million per month of revenues for Iran from this product alone. Indeed, if the past is any guide, the worse the trade war becomes, the better for Irans LPG exports (and others, incidentally) to China. Before China placed tariffs on U.S. LPG, it sourced around 20 per cent of its total imports from the U.S. After the tariffs were imposed, Chinese buyers turned to Iran principally to make up the difference, so that by last year China accounted for at least 80 per cent of all Irans LPG exports. Exactly the same methodology for avoiding sanctions remains intact switching off shipping transponders, using false loading ports in Qatar, the U.A.E, Malaysia, and others so there is no reason not to expect the same boost to Iran LPG this time around as well. By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Express News Service BENGALURU: An increasing number of pre-university students have chosen to change their exam centres due to fears that they could contract Covid-19, official figures show. Until Wednesday, 16,957 students had applied to write the English exam, to be held on June 18, at centres close to their native places, according to a draft list uploaded on website of the department of pre-university education. That is up by 728 from the number released on Monday. Students have time till June 5 to apply for a change in the exam centre. Minister of primary and secondary education S Suresh Kumar had said on Monday that 16,229 students had expressed interest in writing the exam at centres near their native places and that arrangements were being made to accommodate them in centres nearest to them.The draft list shows the revised district exam centres of only students studying in hostels or children of parents who migrate to Karnataka for work but are not in the state at present. Principals will be given time to make necessary changes, if any, to the list up to June 5. The government is also making arrangements for students who live in border districts to write the exam in a district in Karnataka closest to them. For instance, the office of the deputy director of pre-university education in Dakshina Kannada has been told to make necessary arrangements, including for travel, for students from Kasargod district in Kerala. The draft list of students in border districts will be uploaded on the department website on June 5. Principals of colleges will get a days time to make amendments. The final list of students with the revised choice of exam centre will be uploaded on the departments website on June 7. Students must download a copy of the final list and produce it at the exam centre. For details, students can contact: 080-23083900. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Precipitate Gold Corp. (TSXV: PRG) (the "Company" or "Precipitate") is pleased to announce latest target refinement results for the Copey Hill Gold Zone as derived from an expanded compilation and review of historical geochemical data from the Company's 100% owned Ponton project, located approximately 20 kilometres ("km") due east of the Company's Pueblo Grande project in the Dominican Republic. Final interpretation of the Copey Hill Zone historic surface geochemical sampling data (soil, rock and stream sediment) confirms and enhances the large and strong multi-element geochemical anomaly characterized by elevated concentrations of important epithermal-style elements such as gold, silver, arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium. The accompanying multi-element geochemical figure and grid sampling map illustrate the detailed contours of the anomalies outlined at Copey Hill. Based on currently available data, the Copey Hill anomaly measures up to 1,200 metres by 1,000 metres and remains open to the northeast. At such time as current COVID-19 restrictions allow, the Company expects to commence a follow up program of detailed geochemical sampling and a possible magnetic geophysical survey to test for possible expansion of the zone and further delineate near-term drill targets. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1718/57251_765fa2b3f454091e_003full.jpg To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1718/57251_765fa2b3f454091e_004full.jpg As previously reported by the Company, the Copley Hill Zone hosts the region's strongest multi-element geochemical anomaly, likely reflective of a near surface epithermal gold system. The accompanying multi-element geochemical map clearly demonstrates the consistency of elevated concentrations of multiple epithermal related elements within the zone. Copey Hill has never been drill tested and will be the focus of the Company's drill targeting plans. See the accompanying maps or the Company's website (www.precipitategold.com) for the zone's summary illustrations and also additional Ponton related figures. Story continues Copley Hill Epithermal Gold Zone, Major Attributes Early stage rock sampling with gold values up to 4.1 grams per tonne ("g/t") , associated with fine grain silica (+/- pyrite) veins, often with boxwork and cockscomb textures; Pronounced epithermal gold system characteristics with coincident rock and soil geochemical anomalies, including gold, silver, arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium (and other important epithermal pathfinder elements); Significant size potential with current anomalous zone measuring about 1,200 by 1,000 metres and open to the northeast; Hosted in prospective Los Ranchos Formation volcanics, similar to the host rocks at the Pueblo Viejo Gold Mine located about 35 kilometres to the west; and Excellent logistics and road access, with a high power electrical line bisecting the property. Jeffrey Wilson, Precipitate's President and CEO commented, "We're pleased that, in spite of current COVID-19 related restrictions to our planned ground work, we have been able to utilize existing historical data to refine and improve our understanding of the target via desktop analysis. The Copey Hill Epithermal Gold Zone is evolving in the right direction as this final compilation and interpretation of the historic surface geochemical sampling data reinforces our belief that the zone reflects a near surface epithermal gold system. Refining the specific scope and characteristics of these anomalies allows the Company's technical team to effectively formulate plans for follow up exploration. Copey Hill provides the Company and shareholders with a highly prospective gold exploration target with drill-worthy anomalies, in an area of excellent access and logistics. Once the current Covid-19 related restrictions are relaxed, we intend to immediately commence fieldwork, including soil sampling, geological mapping and ground magnetic geophysical surveying to advance the target to a drill stage as promptly as possible." Ponton Property The Ponton Project is located about 20 kilometres east of the Company's Pueblo Grande gold project or 45 kilometres north of Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic. The Project covers 3,250 hectares, has excellent road access, is bisected by a high power electrical line and importantly is underlain by the similar prospective Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary aged Los Ranchos Formation volcanic rocks that host Barrick's Pueblo Viejo Gold-Silver Mine. Work completed by past operators includes both property-wide reconnaissance scale exploration and detailed follow up work on two of the three surface geochemically anomalous zones identified on the Project. The property's three notable exploration zones are (i) Copey Hill, an epithermal gold target, (ii) Majagual Hill, a copper-gold porphyry target (tested in 2017 with five diamond drill holes) and (iii) a broad area of early stage rock and stream sediment anomalies, which require follow up investigation. The Project's historical surface geochemical database includes 2,880 soil, 1,403 rock and 317 stream sediment samples. At the Majagual Hill copper-gold porphyry zone prior work includes surface trenching, 4.7 line-kilometers of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying, and 1,666 metres of diamond drilling (5 holes in 2017). The Ponton Project historical soil, rock, stream sediment and core samples collected by past operators were collected on a wide range of surface or drill hole densities and were submitted to Bureau Veritas (previously Acme Labs) for multi-element ICP-MS analysis, all data is stored in various digital formats and is in the Company's possession. This news release has been reviewed by Michael Moore P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Precipitate Gold Corporation, the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under NI 43-101 standards. About Precipitate Gold: Precipitate Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on exploring and advancing its mineral property interests in the Pueblo Viejo Mining Camp and Tireo Gold Trend of the Dominican Republic. The Company is actively exploring its 100% owned Ponton and Juan de Herrera projects. The Company's Pueblo Grande Project is subject to an Earn-In Agreement with Barrick Gold Corporation, whereby Barrick can earn a 70% interest by incurring US$10M within six years and producing a qualifying Pre-feasibility Study. Precipitate is also actively evaluating additional high-impact property acquisitions with the potential to expand the Company's portfolio and increase shareholder value, in the Dominican Republic and other favourable jurisdictions. Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.precipitategold.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Precipitate Gold Corp., "Jeffrey Wilson" President & CEO For further information, please contact: Tel: 604-558-0335 Toll Free: 855-558-0335 investor@precipitategold.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service 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 may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Precipitate Gold Corp.'s ("Precipitate" or the "Company") current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Company and on assumptions it believes are reasonable. 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 Precipitate to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the exploration concessions may not be granted on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the concessions acquired by the Company may not have attributes similar to those of surrounding properties; delay or failure to receive governmental or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation affecting mining; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Precipitate 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Precipitate does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57251 Which was better -- the movie or the book? When it comes to the literary origins of 21 genre classics, this time-honored question is finally answered in a new book by film historians Jim Nemeth and Bob Madison: It Came From ... The Novels and Stories Behind the Classic Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction Films. Each of the book's essays provides comparisons between original source material and screenplays for such well-known titles as THE WIZARD OF OZ, PSYCHO, WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and PLANET OF THE APES. Familiar treasures -- Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher" and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol -- are covered, as well as lesser-known gems like Daphne du Maurier's short story behind the thriller, DON'T LOOK NOW, and M. R. James' "Casting the Runes," the basis for the spooky NIGHT OF THE DEMON. Faithfulness to the original, contributions of screenwriters, the challenges they face, and analysis of both versions of the famous works, all lead to an authoritative consensus for "Who wrote it better, and why?" Also provided is a comprehensive list of horror, fantasy and science fiction films based (closely or loosely) on other material, with each entry containing the author, publisher and publication date of the source. Jim Nemeth and Bob Madison are available for interviews. Contact: press@itcamefrom.com Fun facts and amazing revelations in the book include: Alfred Hitchcocks film PSYCHO was an enormous financial success. Unfortunately for the book's author, Robert Bloch, his contract with publisher Simon & Schuster did not allow for a percentage of profits upon sale of the film rights. As such, after taxes and agent/publisher cuts, Blochs total remuneration for his contribution to one of the classic films of all time netted him only a little over $6,000! F.W. Murnaus silent film NOSFERATU introduced one of the most enduring breaks from Bram Stokers iconic novel, Dracula: that the Vampire King can be destroyed by sunlight. In the book, Dracula freely walks about during the day. While alien invasion was always a staple of science fiction literature, it wasnt until the 1950s that Hollywood fully embraced the theme -- due in great part to Cold War-generated paranoia that had overtaken the country. Then it seemed Hollywood couldnt churn out such films fast enough: encompassing interplanetary war (THIS ISLAND EARTH), insidious infiltration of the human population from within (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS), and even monstrous plants (THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS). Imagine WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY without irresistible songs like Candy Man and Pure Imagination. Yet, a tuneless WONKA almost came to be -- director Mel Stuart did not envision the film as a musical, and author Roald Dahl only dabbled with the notion of his Oompa-Loompa poems fitting into the film with melodies. With both authority and humor, It Came From ... The Novels and Stories Behind the Classic Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction Films fills a noticeable gap in film scholarship. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jim Nemeth is a technical writer in computer software and biotechnology. In 1993, he won first prize in a national magazines short-story writing contest for which Ray Bradbury and Robert Bloch were judges, an award which held special meaning, as Bloch remains his favorite writer and main literary influence. Nemeth has had essays, articles and reviews printed in a variety of publications, including FilmFax, Mad About Movies and Monsters From The Vault. Additionally, he contributed to the book Peter Cushing: Midnight Marquee Actor Series (2004.) A long-time community activist, Nemeth is particularly committed to the causes of animal rescue and breast cancer research. He and husband Ken Bowden live in the historic harbor town of Marblehead, MA. Bob Madison is a West Coast writer. His short story Red Sunset received a starred review in Locus Magazine; he is the author of American Horror Writers (2000) and editor of Dracula: The First Hundred Years (1997). Other credits include numerous articles for Wonder Magazine, FilmFax, and a comic strip adaptation of Conan Doyles The Lost World for The Dinosaur Times, illustrated by Gray Morrow. As a talk show guest and lecturer, Madison has appeared twice on WABC-TVs "Good Morning America" and WORs "Joey Reynolds Show," among others, and he has served as an on-camera expert in documentaries for several DVD film releases. It Came From ... The Stories and Novels Behind Classic Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction Films (Midnight Marquee Press, Inc., 2020) ISBN-13 978-1644300916 / 340 pp / $30.00 # # # Country Braces for a 9th Straight Night of Unrest, went the headline at the top of the New York Times home page Wednesday evening. Lower down, on the right-hand side, the usual spot for opinion articles, was the headline for an essay by a United States senator that had stirred opposition outside and inside the paper: Send In the Troops. The Op-Ed, written by Tom Cotton, a Republican of Arkansas, argued for the federal government to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would enable it to call up the military to put down protests in cities across the country. One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers, Mr. Cotton wrote. The Times has reported on the debate within the administration over whether or not to follow this course of action. Making plans: Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey The Bank of England looks likely to ramp up its money-printing programme to almost 1trillion over the next year, experts are predicting. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to add another 100billion to the so-called quantitative easing (QE) stimulus package when it meets this month. But that won't be the end of it, according to analysts at Capital Economics, who expect the Bank to spend 350billion on QE in total at intervals over the next 12 months. That would take its programme to 995billion, almost half the size of the UK economy. QE involves the Bank buying government and corporate debt, effectively creating money which is injected back into the economy. As the UK faces its worst recession for 300 years due to the coronavirus crisis, the Bank has already increased its bond-buying programme by 200billion. And yesterday the European Central Bank bumped its equivalent scheme by another 600billion, to 1.35trillion. The Bank of England's concerns over the state of the economy were evident in a letter sent by Sam Woods, chief executive of the its regulatory arm, to UK lenders yesterday. He told the chief executives of all the banks that he would be collecting data from all of them ahead of their second-quarter earnings announcements on the losses they were expecting to book due to loans turning sour. The Bank fears loan losses could reach 80billion. And the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned that hundreds of thousands of loans which banks are handing out under Government-backed coronavirus aid schemes will never be repaid costing the taxpayer 5billion this year alone. In another sign the Bank is on high alert, deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe wrote to so-called financial market infrastructure firms such as payment processors Visa and the London Stock Exchange's clearing house warning they must not pay any dividends to investors without the sums first being cleared by officials. The Bank has already ordered major banks not to pay dividends, so they can hold on to cash to help support their customers through the economic slump. And in a speech given at a Bloomberg event, the Bank's executive director of markets Andrew Hauser revealed its emergency response to the coronavirus crisis was being drawn up as Mark Carney was handing over the governor's role to Andrew Bailey. The two governors were hammering out the Bank's response 'with the removal vans waiting outside', he said. Since most of the staff have been working from home during lockdown, he added, they are making more than 12,000 audio and video calls every day. Kaila Methven, above, is a model and fashion designer, and the heiress to the KFC fortune. (Madame Methven) KFC (YUM) fortune heiress and celebrity lingerie designer Kaila Methven has pledged to raise $1m (800,000) for members of the LGBT+ community who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-inciding with Pride month, Methvens newly-launched charity PLUR Peace Love Unity Respect will hire LGBT+ people, as well as domestic violence suvivors and recovered alcoholics, as independent contractors. In addition to helping the community secure employment in the lucrative fashion industry, a percentage of the programmes proceeds will be donated to LGBT+ charities. READ MORE: 15 rich and famous LGBT people around the world While the coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the daily lives of everyone in UK, national health organisations have warned that LGBT+ people could be disproprtionately impacted due to higher rates of HIV, cancer and smoking, as well as health care discrimination. The Independent Contractor Program primarily assists the unemployed and disenfranchised members of the LGBTIQ+ community, the domestic violence survivor community of both men and women, and the sober living community community, said Methven. The 28-year-old is the heiress to the KFC fortune. Her grandfather Stanley Methven founded the South African company Rainbow Chicken Limited, which at one time supplied 90% of KFCs chicken. READ MORE: The OUTstanding Top 50 LGBT+ Ally Executives She interned at her first Paris fashion show at just 16 years old, before attending the International Fashion Academy in Paris. Methven has now dressed some of the worlds highest-profile celebrities, including Demi Lovato, Katherine McPhee, stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Abigail Ratchford and more, through her highly-acclaimed lingerie label Madame Methven. She plans to raise money through sales of her new festival lingerie line, Special K, among other means to help as many people as possible. READ MORE: LGBT issues should be taught in every subject, campaign group says Story continues I want my contribution to the world to be the soldier spreading the message and true meaning of PLUR, Methven said. I aim to use my voice as a philanthropist, its my dream to make a difference in the world. She added: This is the beginning of days, we all unite globally as human beings. . SEOUL, June 4 (Reuters) - North Korea on Thursday said the United States is in no position to criticise China over Hong Kong or human rights when Washington threatens to "unleash dogs" to suppress anti-racism protests at home. In an article carried by one of North Korea's main state-run newspapers, an unnamed spokesman for the international affairs department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) criticised recent comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Pompeo said recent actions by the Chinese Communist Party suggest it is "intent upon the destruction of Western ideas, Western democracies, Western values" and "puts Americans at risk." Pompeo's remarks on Hong Kong, Taiwan, human rights and trade disputes were "nonsense" that slandered the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the WPK spokesman said. "Pompeo, who has been deeply engrossed in espionage and plot-breeding against other countries, has become too ignorant to discern where the sun rises and where it sets," the spokesman said. Such statements by American leaders are a sign of their concerns about a declining United States, he said, citing the ongoing protests against police brutality. "Demonstrators enraged by the extreme racists throng even to the White House," the spokesman said. "This is the reality in the U.S. today. American liberalism and democracy put the cap of leftist on the demonstrators and threaten to unleash even dogs for suppression." South Korea's Yonhap news agency said it was the first time the WPK international affairs department had issued a statement of its own since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in 2011. (Reporting by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle) New York, June 3, 2020 Cameroonian authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts and the health and legal status of imprisoned journalist Samuel Wazizi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Samuel Wazizis friends, family, colleagues, and lawyers have unsuccessfully sought answers about his arrest from the Cameroonian government for far too long, said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. We are extremely disturbed by recent reports of the journalists death in government custody, and demand that authorities immediately and publicly account for his status. News reports and a tweet by Denis Nkwebo, the president of the Cameroon Trade Union of Journalists, published yesterday and today, allege that Wazizi died at a military hospital at an unspecified date after being tortured by security forces. The Cameroonian government has not commented on those reports. CPJ called and texted representatives of Cameroons Justice Ministry, Communications Ministry, and prime ministers office for comment, but did not receive any replies. Wazizi, whose legal name is Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, was arrested on August 2, 2019, was transferred to military custody on August 7, and has not been seen since, according to CPJ research. Until his arrest, he worked as an anchor for privately owned broadcaster Chillen Muzik and TV. Here is a list of top 10 stocks that could deliver double-digit returns in the next 12 months: The brokerage firm is of the view that most companies have seen earnings downgrades and commentary has been cautious across sectors. However, some green shoots like the rural economy and agriculture-focused plays are indicating improving prospects. The earnings season to date with a significant number of companies yet to declare results has been tepid with more negative surprises. The extension of moratorium by the RBI poses challenges across the sector. Nonetheless, there is a case to gradually increase portfolio weight in the forthcoming months accumulating high-quality private banks, it said. The BFSI sector now actually offers good contra plays across the sector as there are high-quality companies with solid liquidity ratios available at cheap valuations. Top 15 things you should know before the opening bell today Trade Spotlight | What should you do with Cholamandalam Investment, Bharat Dynamics, Minda Corporati... Daily Voice | Market can give double-digit returns, but Nifty rising above 21,000 looks unlikely in ... We find both the sectors attractive from long-term value creation. Valuations is also attractive in the BFSI segment but moratorium extension poses challenges. The BFSI sector valuations have come down significantly as the sector has de-rated on expectations of significant COVID-19 related NPAs, said the note. The pharma sector has been the best performing sector since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. The FMCG sector has also performed quite well during this period in terms of capital protection. Sustenance of rally in defensive sectors depends on visibility of factors like sustained improvement in global stocks, or the government capital spending picking up, Axis Securities said in a report. Bulls managed to reclaim some of the lost glory as Nifty50 gained around 10,000 while the S&P BSE Sensex also managed to reclaim 34000, but it could be termed as catch-up rally as the correction was quite significant and valuations for these sectors have become quite attractive. ICICI Bank: Target Rs 495ICICI Bank (ICICIBC) is amongst the largest private sector bank in India with business operations spread across Retail, Corporate, and Insurance, etc. It is supported by a strong liability franchise and retail corporate mix of ~63/25%. Its subsidiaries ICICI Venture Funds, ICICI Pru AMC, ICICI Securities, ICICI Prudential and ICICI Lombard are amongst the leading companies in their respective segments. We expect higher provisioning over FY21/22E cushioned by stable NIM, low cost of funds and healthy capital adequacy. We believe valuations are undemanding for the stock given strong liability franchise and leveraging opportunities across group products, said the report. Mannapuram Finance: Target Rs 150 Manappuram Finance (MGFL) is amongst the leading gold loan NBFCs in India and is well diversified into other business segments like housing loan, vehicle loan, and microfinance, with a branch network size of around 4,623 spread across the country. We expect moderate loan growth and higher provisioning over FY21/22E cushioned by improvement in cost ratios. There will be pressure on the non- gold portfolio as it is less seasoned, said the report. However, gold lending will remain an attractive option for customers looking for credit as banks will be more risk-averse. Axis Securities expects MGFL to maintain ROAE of ~24% over FY21/FY22. Varun Beverages: Target Rs 804 Varun Beverages (VBL) is the 2nd largest franchisee for PepsiCo in the world (outside USA). Products manufactured by VBL include Carbonated Soft Drinks - Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Seven Up, Mirinda; Non-Carbonated Beverages - Tropicana Slice, Tropicana Frutz; and Bottled water Aquafina. It operates in India and is also the exclusive bottler for PepsiCo in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Axis Securities expects VBL to register Revenues/Earnings CAGR of 10%/28% respectively over CY19-21E. This growth will be driven by 1) consolidation in newly acquired territories, 2) distribution led market share gains, 3) cost efficiencies and 4) margin tailwinds. Escorts: Target Rs 1035 Escorts Ltd is the 4th largest manufacturer of tractors in India with a presence in three business segments, i.e. agri-machinery (EAM), construction equipment (ECE), and railway equipment division (RED). It has a strong presence in north and central regions and in 31-50HP (Horse Power) in the agri-machinery business. The company has gained market share and improved EBITDA margins significantly in Q4FY20. "We expect annual revenue to grow by 7 percent YoY and 13 percent YoY in FY21E and FY22E, respectively. EPS is expected to grow at 2 percent YoY and 16 percent YoY for FY21E and FY22E, respectively," said the note. Minda Industries: Target Rs 318 Minda Industries (MNDA) is the largest supplier of switches, acoustics and alloy wheels (PV segment) and is a top 2 player in lighting and safety air-bags in the automotive Industry. MNDA has 62 manufacturing plants and 8 R&D centres across the globe. Group is headquartered in Manesar, Haryana, India. "We expect annual revenue to grow at14.5% CAGR over FY20E-22E. Expect EPS to grow robustly at 35% y/y and 32% y/y for FY21E and FY22E, said the note. The company trades at 23.8x FY22E P/E multiples and will continue to command premium valuation due to an unmatched product offering among auto ancillaries and long history of superior growth. Aarti Industries: Target Rs 1130 Aarti Industries Ltd. (AARTO) is the largest producer of Benzene based basic and intermediate chemicals in India. AARTO is a preferred partner of choice for +1000 customers globally. "While, FY21E earnings would be impacted by COVID-19, we expect Aarti to report Revenues decline of 0.9% in FY21E and 24% growth in FY22E. Lower crude prices could partially offset the weak operating leverage thereby help protect Op. Margins in the near term," said the note. As a result, Axis Securities expect Aarti to report earnings de-growth of 2.7 percent in FY21E and a growth of 36 percent in FY22E on the back of a strong recovery in volumes. It expects a strong improvement in FY22E ROE to 19 percent from a dip in FY21E owing to COVID-19 impact on the overall business. MindTree Ltd: Target Rs 1088 Mindtree Ltd (MTCL.IN) is an Indian IT services company headquartered in Banglore. Mindtree provides specialized IT solutions, ER&D services to various industries like Hi-Tech, Manufacturing, BFSI, Travel and Hospitality. Mindtree also specialized in providing digital transformation services and solutions. "We expect annual revenue to grow by 11% y/y and 11% y/y in FY21E and FY22E, respectively. EPS is expected to grow at healthy 16% y/y and 15% y/y for FY21E and FY22E, respectively," said the note. Biocon: Target Rs 474 Biocon has created a niche in the business of custom research in pharmaceuticals space; it operates in four broad business verticals, viz., small molecules & generic formulations, research services, biologics and branded formulations, each contributing 32%, 32%, 24% and 12% of revenues respectively. "We expect annual revenue to grow by 25% CAGR over FY20-22E, EBIDTA to expand by 35% CAGR and PAT by 47% CAGR over the same period. The EBIDTA margins are expected to expand from ~27% in FY20 to 29% by FY22E driven by increased contribution from high margin Biologics segment," said the note. Bharti Airtel: Target Rs 650 Bharti Airtel is one of the largest telecom companies in the world with operations spanning 18 countries and a subscriber base of more than 420 mn subscribers. It is the second-largest wireless telecom operator in terms of revenue after Reliance Jio. Bharti Airtel is a well-capitalized telecom operators with offerings across the telecom spectrum of enterprise and fixed-line broadband services. "We value the company based on SOTP valuation at Rs 650. The value could increase by a further Rs 40/share if Vodafone-Idea shuts down. Our SOTP valuation implies an EV/EBIDTA of 9.5x on FY22E EBIDTA," said the note. HCL Technologies: Target Rs 653 HCL Technologies Limited, an Indian Information technology (IT) service and consulting company headquartered in Noida, UP is a next-generation global technology company that helps enterprises reimagine their businesses for the digital age. HCL technologies products, services, and engineering are built on strong innovation making a more sustainable business model even in uncertainties "We believe HCLT has a resilient business structure from a long term perspective. The recent deal trend continues to be healthy for HCL tech and is reflective of traction in Retail & CPG, Manufacturing and BFSI verticals. HCL Tech has received various digital transformational deals worth more than $2.4bn in Q3 FY20," said the report. Axis Securities is of the view that the COVID outbreak will create huge opportunities across geographies for HCL Tech to post strong organic growth over different verticals. 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. Phuket Commerce office relaunches Blue Flag market to provide vendors COVID-19 relief PHUKET: The Phuket office of Ministry of Commerce has relaunched its monthly Blue Flag market to help vendors sell household necessities and consumer products at cheap prices as the island looks to restart its economy. economicsCOVID-19 By Eakkapop Thongtub Thursday 4 June 2020, 04:17PM The Commerce market against COVID-19 will be held over five days each month through to September. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Blue Flag markets organised by the Ministry of Commerce are well known across the country for providing vendors a market where overheads are greatly reduced so they can pass on the discounts to customers. The ongoing Blue Flag market that was held in front of the Ministry of Commerce Phuket office on Suthat Rd in Phuket Town since July last year was last held in February, where it was held on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month. The market was shut down by provincial order in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Phuket Governor Phakaphong Pavipatana said at the press conference held at Phuket Provincial Hall today (June 4) to announce the relaunch. The monthly market has been rebranded to Commerce [Ministry] market against COVID-19, he said. In order to help local people and vendors, Governor Phakaphong said. The monthly markets before the outbreak of COVID-19 saw about B250,000 of goods sold each time, he pointed out. The easing of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions has allowed the market to reopen, but there must be controls on the people entering and exiting the market, body temperatures must be checked and there must be appropriate spacing between each person, Governor Phakaphong stressed. Present for the relaunch today were Ministry of Commerce Phuket Office Chief Sasiphimon Mongkon, Phuket Provincial Public Health Office Chief Dr Thanit Sermkaew, among other officials. Chief Sasiphimon explained that the market was being set up in order to help local vendors affected by the virus outbreak. In the market, there will be around 50 booths selling agricultural products, local handicraft goods, low-priced essential goods, and ready-to-eat foods, Ms Saisphimon said The market is currently scheduled to be held over five days each month, as follows: June 8-12, July 13-17, Aug 3-7 and Sept 7-11. We aim to create a place where local people can sell their products at value prices in order help people cope with their living expenses, Ms Sasiphimon said. This will also show that Phuket has effective measures to protect the virus from spreading and is a safe place to visit, she added. We expect there will be around 1,000 people coming to the market each day and around 20,000 people visiting the market during the whole campaign, altogether generating about around B3 million in sales, she said. Chief Thanit reminded that people visiting the market must maintain social distancing and wear a face mask at all times. Any vendors who develop a fever must stop selling at the market and see a doctor immediately, he said. BGR Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, up to and including the present day, shoppers have encountered the effects of everything from supply chain disruptions to pandemic-related labor constraints which have unfortunately led to grocery store shortages. Just as the effects of the pandemic are not evenly distributed around the country, though, neither are these kinds of products The post 5 popular grocery shortages that are making shoppers so angry right now appeared first on BGR. Former Rookie magazine editor Tavi Gevinson has called out model Karlie Kloss over the her encouragement for people to end racism by healing it in your own family, citing her ties to the Trumps. Telling Kloss to give it a rest, Gevinson called the post a f***ing joke as Kloss is Ivanka Trumps sister-in-law. Last week, Kloss shared a quote by writer Cleo Wade on Instagram that discussed the importance of discussing racism with your own family. Getty Images It read, The world will say to you: We need to end racism. Start by healing it in your own family. The world will say to you: how do we speak to bias and bigotry? Start by having the first conversation at your own kitchen table. The world will say to you: there is too much hate. Devote yourself to love. Love yourself so much that you can love others without barriers and without judgment, the quote continued. Kloss thanked Wade in the caption for the reminder to live by these principles and promoted sales of the print, which would go towards The Antiracist Research and Policy Center. Kloss has previously indicated that she would not vote for Trump and was pressed on her views during an interview with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live!, after a contestant on her show Project Runway alluded to her ties to the Trumps on live television. (She responded to the contestant by saying, "Keep it to the challenge.") She told Cohen, "Im sure Im not the only person in this country who does not necessarily agree with their family on politics... I voted as a Democrat in 2016 and I plan to do the same in 2020." Gevinson responded to Kloss post earlier this week, writing, You have a lot of nerve to make a show of championing girls coding and your other causes while only politely disowning your family in public (lmao @ you ignoring Ivanka on social media; she still went to your wedding). I cant believe youre not more embarrassed not just by them but YOUR decision to only publicly disown their politics in polite ways so you can have it both ways. I dont know what kinds of conversations you have behind the scenes (besides when Jared asked your dad to solicit solutions to a global pandemic in a Facebook group back in March) but like... what am I looking at, she said. This is a f***ing joke, she finished. Larry Busacca/Getty Images Others on the post including Wade (who wrote I love you) and Gisele Bundchen praised Kloss for the post. Kloss has not directly addressed Gevinsons comments, but has continued to write and support the Black Lives Matter movement on Instagram. A day after Gevinson posted her comment, Kloss wrote a long statement revealing she was only beginning to recognise my privilege as a white woman and added that she was ashamed that it takes this much for me to recognise how uninformed Ive been. Promoting a number of organisations and initiatives including Fair Fight Action, Your Rights Camp and Vote Save America, she said, I will never understand the full extent of the pain, suffering, fear and injustices we have wrought upon Black citizens... I am here to listen, learn and act. Its time people like me contribute more than just words. I am committed to a world where blacklivesmatter! she continued. President Donald Trump has been criticised for his response to the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two unarmed black men and women who were both killed after encounters with the police. Trump's daughter, Tiffany Trump, has been one of the only members of the family to show her support for Black Lives Matter - joining in the Black Out Tuesday movement. Gevinson has also expressed her support for Black Lives Matter on her personal Instagram account, promoting a number of funds to support the black community as well as free therapy for communities of colour. Gevinson also shared an Instagram post regarding actionable items for New Yorkers, which included demanding a review of New York Citys budget for the police department and promoting the Safer New York Act. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Zachary Fagenson (Reuters) Miami, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 18:45 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc32b8b 2 World Florida,COVID-19,Botox,lockdown Free Quarantined Florida residents worried about their laughter lines and crows' feet need frown no longer - Botox is back, and it's being offered at a drive-through. On May 4, the US state allowed a partial relaxing of restrictions imposed to slow the coronavirus pandemic. That means certain elective medical procedures could resume, including Botox injections and cosmetic surgery. Michael Salzhauer, a plastic surgeon known as 'Dr. Miami' who has also starred in a reality television show, has been conducting drive-through Botox injections in the garage of his building in the posh Miami neighborhood of Bal Harbour. Salzhauer said the idea struck him as he was sitting in his car waiting for a blood test for COVID-19 antibodies. "The areas that we inject Botox are the upper face, exactly the parts of the face that aren't covered by the mask so it's really ideal," Salzhauer said, while wearing a mask, face shield and surgical gown as he waited for his next drive-up patient. Patients sign up online, paying an average of $600 each for a stippling of shots across their foreheads. Arman Ohevshalom, 36, was enthusiastic as he waited in line with his wife in their car, although it was their first time receiving the injections. "It's very creative, and after seeing how they're running it I feel just as comfortable as I would in the office," he said. Florida's tattoo artists, however, are frustrated. Shuttered since March, they asking why they cannot open, too. Botox injections are "kind of like tattooing, he's injecting stuff into the skin," said tattoo shop owner Chico Cortez. Florida is home to about 10,000 working tattoo artists, according to the Florida Professional Tattoo Artist Guild. An e-mailed statement from a Miami-Dade County spokesperson said Mayor Carlos Gimenez has yet to set a date for reopening tattoo shops. "He is working with industry members and the medical experts to come up with the best way to reopen safely," it said. DUTCH HARBOR, Alaska June 3, 2020 Joel Watson Dutch Harbor Tommy Little /PRNewswire/ -- Bering Select, a boutique manufacturer of Marine Stewardship Council-certified omega-3 ingredients, has announced the launch of wild caught salmon oil. Sourced from pristine Alaskan waters, the salmon oil requires minimal processing which maintains the native fatty acid, astaxanthin, vitamin D, and pro-resolving mediator levels., President of Bering Select, commented, "Our company was founded by and is run by fishermen, so we are very tuned in to ecological and sustainability issues. Bering Select only sources raw materials from our own line-caught fishing infrastructure and from fishing groups that have a proven record of low-impact, responsible fishing methods."Bering Select salmon oil contains high levels of natural vitamin D, robust levels of pro-resolving mediators (active forms of omega-3 fatty acids), and low levels of vitamin A. The fatty acid profile includes healthy levels of EPA and DHA as well as appreciable levels of DPA (Docosapentaenoic acid).Bering Select, established in 2015, is an Alaskan manufacturer of specialty marine lipid ingredients. Enjoying strong relationships with the local fishing industry and operating a production facility in, the center of the Alaskan fishing industry, Bering Select has unique access to fresh, restaurant-grade seafood that requires minimal processing to achieve or exceed international omega-3 quality standards. Bering Select has been producing the only available cod liver oil ingredients made from fish sourced from the pristine, thriving Bering Sea. For additional information, please visit www.beringselect.com.For ingredient or finished product inquiries, please contactat tlittle@beringselect.com/(206) 418-9977. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bering-select-announces-the-launch-of-nutrient-dense-wild-caught-alaskan-salmon-oil-301069592.html SOURCE Bering Select Norwegian shipyard company Vestdavit has announced on June 3, 2020, the delivery of four boat-handling systems to Australian shipyard Austal. The PLAR-4501-type davits are due to be installed on two Cape-class patrol boats acquired by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to enhance the island nations border protection capabilities. Norwegian shipyard company Vestdavit has announced on June 3, 2020, the delivery of four boat-handling systems to Australian shipyard Austal. The PLAR-4501-type davits are due to be installed on two Cape-class patrol boats acquired by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to enhance the island nations border protection capabilities. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Australian Border Force Cape Class Patrol Boat. (Picture source Austal Australia) In July 2018, the government of Trinidad and Tobago announced the acquisition of two Cape class patrol boats. The vessels will enhance the border protection capabilities of the country in conjunction with the existing Coast Guard fleet, and will join six Austal Fast Patrol Craft acquired in 2009. The Cape class is a ship class of eight large patrol boats operated by the Marine Unit of the Australian Border Force. Ordered in 2011, the vessels were built by Austal to replace Customs' Bay-class patrol boats, and entered service from 2013 onwards. As the newest addition to the PLAR family, the PLAR-4501 is as light, tough and flexible as previous iterations, but offers even greater safety and efficiency in line with the latest performance standards. This makes it highly-effective as a davit system for fast-patrol craft and the perfect choice for the dynamic and unpredictable operations of coast guards and navies, says Vestdavit Sales and Business Development Director Bjrnar Dahle. With this most recent delivery, Vestdavit has now supplied Austal with over 60 marine davits. Between 2004-2006, Vestdavit delivered 28 units of the PLAR-4500 the PLAR-4501s predecessor to the Henderson-based shipyard for installation on the Royal Australian Navys fleet of 14 Armidale-class patrol boats. The latest announcement follows a run of successes for Vestdavit in the first half of 2020 with shipbuilders fulfilling navy contracts, including orders for Royal Navy, United States Navy and French Navy ships. Dahle sees Vestdavits relationship with Austal and some of the worlds most prominent naval organisations as testament to the companys ever-growing reputation. This is another significant deal with a big name in shipbuilding for navies, and it reinforces our status as a supplier of premium-grade davits for high-stakes missions. Clearly, navies and coast guards like that of Trinidad and Tobago need reliable, high-performance systems for boat launch and recovery, and they are increasingly opting for the credentials and expertise of Vestdavit. (Bloomberg) -- U.S. federal and state authorities are asking detailed questions about how to limit Googles power in the online search market as part of their antitrust investigations into the tech giant, according to rival DuckDuckGo Inc. Gabriel Weinberg, chief executive officer of the privacy-focused search engine, said the company has spoken with state regulators, and talked with the U.S. Justice Department as recently as a few weeks ago. Justice Department officials and state attorneys general asked the company about requiring Google to give consumers alternatives to its search engine on Android devices and in Googles Chrome web browser, Weinberg said in an interview.Weve been talking to all of them about search and all of them have asked us detailed search questions, he added.Weinbergs comments shine a light into how the inquiry is examining Googles core business -- online search. Bloomberg has reported that the Justice Department and Texas are already examining Googles dominance of the digital advertising market. The Justice Department and a coalition of states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have been investigating the company for a year, and the DOJ has begun drafting a lawsuit, which could be filed in the coming months. It would kick off one of the most significant antitrust cases in the U.S. since the government sued Microsoft Corp. in 1998. The investigations have been wide-ranging and are looking into various parts of Googles business. States including Utah and Iowa are focusing on search, according to people familiar with the matter. Texas is looking at the digital ad market and related technology. Google handles the majority of online searches in the U.S., with Microsofts Bing, DuckDuckGo and other providers trailing far behind. Google Search is free for users, but the companys lead helps it charge thousands of businesses high prices for ads that run above the free web listings in results. Last year, that business generated almost $100 billion in revenue. Story continues Read more: Google Search Dominance Has Businesses Paying for Their NameWe continue to engage with the ongoing investigations led by the Department of Justice and Attorney General Paxton, and we dont have any updates or comments on speculation, a Google spokeswoman said. In the past, the company has said that online competition is just a click away. The Federal Trade Commission previously investigated whether Google stifled competition in the market for online search advertising, but it closed the probe in 2013 after the company agreed to relatively minor changes. However, portions of communications between FTC commissioners and staff later showed that staffers recommended bringing an antitrust lawsuit against Google. Read more: Google Should Be Afraid of Latest U.S. ScrutinyWeinberg said the questions he has fielded recently about requiring Google to present users of its tech alternatives to its own search engine suggest thats something the government could include in a possible future settlement.Thats one direction we think has a decent probability, he added. The Justice Department declined to comment. Attorneys general in Utah and Iowa didnt respond to requests for comment.In Europe, Google was fined a record $5 billion for antitrust violations in 2018. As part of that ruling, the company is required to give consumers using phones that run its Android operating system a choice of different search engines and web browsers. Competing services must bid in an auction to be included in a choice screen. Could this be a precursor to similar changes in the U.S.? Mark Shmulik, Toni Sacconaghi and other analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote in a note to investors earlier this week. Europes remedy has gone through various iterations and some rivals have argued that having to pay to be included in the choice screen is unfair. Read more: Google App Prompts Watched Very Very Closely by EUs VestagerEcosia, a not-for-profit search engine based in Germany, boycotted the auction. DuckDuckGo participated in the most recent auction, but said it may not be able to compete if prices rise. This auction remedy, proposed by Google, was constructed to make Google money, not to provide meaningful consumer choice, DuckDuckGo said in a blog post last week. It suggested scrapping the auction and said that an unpaid search preference menu has increased competition already in Russia. In 2010, Microsoft created a successful browser preference menu without an auction where the top five web browsers by market share appeared randomly, DuckDuckGo said. While our view is that users are unlikely to switch search engines, Yandex grew their search engine share by 2,000 basis points to 58% in three years following a similar ruling in Russia, Bernsteins Shmulik wrote in the recent Bernstein note to investors. If the U.S. incorporates these suggestions, it could bypass Europe as the most successful regulator of Alphabet Inc.s Google, Weinberg said.The U.S. gets criticized for being behind Europe but in reality whats happened in Europe hasnt worked, the CEO added. The U.S. not only can do it right from the start but has the opportunity to leapfrog the EU. (Updates with analyst comment in 13th paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump strongly hinted Thursday at a pardon of friend and longtime political adviser Roger Stone, who has been ordered to report to prison later this month. Trump said Stone was the "victim of a corrupt and illegal Witch Hunt" and should "sleep well at night." Trump's comments on Twitter came in response to a tweet by conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who complained that Stone would be serving more time in prison than "99% of these rioters destroying America," a reference to violent protests in the wake of the death in police custody of Minneapolis man George Floyd. "This isn't justice," Kirk said in his tweet, asking his Twitter followers to retweet him "for a full pardon of Roger Stone!" In his words, Trump wrote: "No. Roger was a victim of a corrupt and illegal Witch Hunt, one which will go down as the greatest political crime in history. He can sleep well at night!" A jury convicted Stone in November of lying during testimony to the House Intelligence Committee in September 2017 to conceal his central role in the Trump campaign's efforts to learn about Democratic computer files hacked by Russia and made public by WikiLeaks to damage Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. Stone, the last defendant charged in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, suspended pending his motion for a new trial. A federal judge denied that motion in April. Last week, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Stone must report to federal prison by June 30. Trump has hinted at a possible pardon of Stone before in his tweets, but Thursday's was the first since that announcement. In a separate tweet on Wednesday, Trump wrote that Mueller "should have never been appointed" to investigate Russian interference in the election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign. - - - The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report. New York, June 4 : Chicago-based public relations firm Edelman is laying off 390 people or about 7 per cent of its workforce, a reversal of an earlier pledge to avoid layoffs during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report in Chicago Tribune, Edelman, which has about 5,700 employees worldwide, would also cut salaries from 5 per cent to 20 per cent for the senior staff not affected by the layoffs. In an email, Richard Edelman, President and CEO, explained the move. "This decision is gut wrenching, especially as I told you in March that we would have no job losses due to the pandemic. Despite all efforts, we are beyond the threshold of loss-making and to ensure the long-term health of our business, I must change course," he told the employees. The PR firm cited "a succession of body blows" to the business, with travel, hospitality, automotive and airline clients facing "historic declines in demand." Declining oil prices brought "massive cuts" in the firm's energy business, he added. In addition to severance, the affected employees would receive career transition services, employee assistance programming including "emotional support" and a $1,000 credit toward personal technology such as a laptop. Founded in Chicago in 1952, Edelman generated $892 million in revenue last year. GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Falls Despite Weak Australian Retail Data The Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate fell by -0.2% today, with the pairing currently trading around AU$1.811. The Australian Dollar (AUD) struggled today after US-China trade tensions once again flared up, with the US Trump Administration banning passenger flights from China to the US as of from mid-June. As a result, Aussie traders are becoming increasingly jittery as the conflict between the worlds two largest economies continue to escalate. Daniel Kliman, director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Centre for a New American Security, commented: We're already seeing de-coupling of the United States and China. It's an acceleration of a trend that has really been building up. Meanwhile, Australian retail sales posted a record slump in April as much of the country was locked down to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Retail sales plummeted to -17.7% in April, its biggest fall ever. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) commented on the data: There were record falls in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-35.4%), and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-53.6%), as well as a large fall in department stores (-14.9%) Consequently, the Aussie could begin to fall as Australias economic data continues to paint a bleak picture for the nations economy going into the second quarter. Pound (GBP) Sinks as UK Construction PMI Disappoints in May The Pound (GBP) struggled against the Australian Dollar (AUD) today following this mornings release of the final UK construction PMI for May. The index increased from 8.2 to 28.9 but this fell below forecasts of 29.7. Tim Moore, Economics Director at IHS Markit, commenting: With construction firms anticipating a reduced pipeline of work and fewer tender opportunities, business expectations for the next 12 months remained negative in May. Since the start of the lockdown period in March, business sentiment has remained more downbeat than at any time since October 2008. Meanwhile, previous chancellors, including Philip Hammond and George Osbourne, have warned that the UK could face 1980s-levels of unemployment. As a result, this has left many Sterling traders concerned for Britains economic performance going forward. Former Chancellor George Osborne commented: There will be loads of people in businesses that have gone bust that arent going to return, and people who are coming off furloughs into unemployment. That is going to be a big social challenge, and of course economic challenge, for this government. GBP/AUD Outlook: Could No-Deal Brexit Fears Return to Haunt the Pound? Australian Dollar (AUD) investors will be looking ahead to tomorrows release of Australians HIA new home sales report for April. However, if Australias economy continues to show a downturn, we could see the Aussie fall. US-China trade tensions will also remain in focus this week. Any signs of tensions between the two superpowers escalating would prove AUD-negative. The GBP/AUD exchange rate could continue to fall this week, with investors becoming increasingly nervous over the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. However, any signs of Downing Street requesting an extension for the transition period beyond December would benefit the Pound. Amidst the continued violence and protests in the aftermath of George Floyd's death within close proximity to the White House, United States President Donald Trump was brought to the White House bunker which is usually intended to keep the president safe in times of terrorist attacks and war on Friday. In a report by The Guardian, unnamed officials have stated that the president stayed inside the suite made of hardened underground rooms which is designed to withstand attacks for about an hour. The said secure bunker in the White House is the same one used by former vice-president Dick Cheney during 9/11. Did Trump call out Obama regarding the condition of the bunker? In line with this, several reports and claims stated that the president complained of the condition inside the bunker through Twitter in the duration of his stay. It was also reported that Trump allegedly called out his predecessor former President Barack Obama for leaving the bunker in bad condition and without a food supply. The said information was fact-checked by snopes.com, who concluded that the "tweet" was not legit. The said tweet which has now been taken down was posted on the 31st of May. However, it was noted that the tone of the tweet was implying that the "president" sent it from inside the bunker. Read also: Trump's Church Visit and Bible Photoshoot Shocks Religious Leaders, Disperse Demonstrators Moreover, the site checked if the tweet indeed existed in the timeline of the president but found no indication that it was deleted or that it existed at all. In addition, since the tweet implied that it was sent from inside the bunker, the fact-checking site noted that the date between the tweet and the date that Trump stayed inside the bunker showed a discrepancy. Thus, the website has rated the said claims and allegations as False and advised to fact-check everything before posting. Why was Trump moved to the bunker? According to reports, it was the US Secret Service that decided to move the president inside the bunker in view of fulfilling their duties to make sure the president is safe and protected. The New York Times also reported that the chants of the protesters from Lafayette Park which is just across the White House that could be heard in the presidential complex was also the main reason that the secret service decided to take action. Moreover, the protesters have already resorted to violence such as throwing stones and water bottles, thus, the authorities in the area needed to push them back and put up barriers to the White House. Earlier this week, as the protests continued and some have gotten more violent resulting in riots and looting, the president has already warned to deploy the military in order to bring order back inside the country. He has also threatened to label the group of activists Antifa as terrorist if the violence continues, this, however, had caused constitutional issues. The protests that stemmed from the death of Floyd continues throughout the country up to this day. Activists joining the protests call for the end of the rampant racism and police brutality in the country. Related article: Trump Considers Using Military Force If Protests Threaten More Lives and Properties @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Trump endorses Bennett in 11th District runoff President Trump on Thursday endorsed Lynda Bennett in the 11th Congressional District runoff for the Republican nomination, calling her a "great fighter and ally" who would be strong on issues of crime, the U.S.-Mexico border and military veterans. "She will be a great help to me in DC," he said in a Tweet, reminding his Twitter followers that early voting starts today. It does not come as a surprise that Trump would endorse Bennett, despite a kerfuffle within the party over a recording of her calling herself a "never Trumper" before the November 2016 election. During the Republican primary campaign, she has declared strong support for Trump. Moreover, Bennett has a very close link to the White House. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, whose resignation created the open seat Bennett hopes to fill, is now Trump's chief of staff. Meadows and his wife, Debbie, are friends of Bennett, who has been a business owner and real estate agent in Maggie Valley. In the March 3 primary, Bennett edged Madison Cawthorn, of Hendersonville, 22.7 to 20.4 percent, setting up the runoff. In-person early voting is open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays from Thursday, June 4 to June 19, and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, June 20. In Henderson County the only one-stop early voting location is the Board of Elections office, at 75 E. Central St. On Election Day, June 23, all polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. PITTSBURGH Watching worldwide protests over the death of George Floyd and racism and police brutality in the United States, Steven Nelson thinks something bigger might be changing. Nelson was asked a question in the context of the 400-plus years since enslaved Africans were brought to what would become the country. And took the question in the same vain. I think youre right. This stuff has been going on for, you know, all of us really, and I do think that things always have to get worse before they get better. If this is what it takes, people have to protest, riot or loot, just to send a message, then thats just what it is. But Im all for positivity and trying to do everything the right way. But thats just me. And this is not just in America. "You see protests all across the world. So its kind of a big deal and I think it will if it doesnt change all of it, I think it changes a great amount of it. If that makes sense. So, I think its good. As Nelson referred to, protests in solidarity with those in the U.S. have broken out in Paris, Amsterdam, Athens and across New Zealand. Floyd died in police custody with Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvins knee on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. He is being charged second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The other three officers accompanying him were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Protests in Pittsburgh turned violent on Monday as police fired tear gas on peaceful protesters an hour and a half before curfew. 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. President Trump walks from the White House through Lafayette Park to visit St. John's Church on Monday. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) When George Floyd died last week after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him down with a knee on his neck, President Trump reacted much as he had in the past when a black person's fatal encounter with law enforcement was caught on video. He declared himself disturbed by the "terrible thing" that he saw then offered nothing in terms of policy to address enduring concerns about policing and racism. "Right now I think the nation needs law and order," Trump told the conservative media outlet Newsmax. "You have a bad group of people out there." Trump's first instinct is always to look tough rather than make concessions, even when there's a growing recognition across racial lines that black people suffer from racist policing. Apart from supporting a federal civil rights investigation into Floyd's death, the president has offered no proposals for changing how police use force, train new officers or interact with their communities. Theres been no signal from the Trump administration that they are interested in doing anything other than photo-op-style events, maybe a listening session or something, said Scott Roberts, senior criminal justice campaign director for Color of Change, a racial justice nonprofit. Trump has pledged to crack down on the looting and rioting that has occasionally accompanied peaceful demonstrations, urging governors to "dominate" the streets and threatening to deploy the U.S. military. His approach has transformed parts of the nation's capital into a garrison, with an ever-expanding security perimeter around the White House and armed troops at many intersections and national landmarks. Trump faces increasing pressure to act as lawmakers from both parties begin drafting legislation on Capitol Hill, and Floyd's family announced that they're working with civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton to plan a march on Washington in August. Recent polls indicate more white people recognize that black people are more likely to be treated unfairly by police. Story continues It seems we have reached a turning point in public opinion where white Americans are realizing that black Americans face risks when dealing with police that they do not," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "They may not agree with the violence of recent protests, but many whites say they understand where that anger is coming from." The White House appears to recognize that Trump needs to offer some kind of proposal. "The president believes that most police officers in this country are good, hardworking people, and he notes that," said Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary. "But he also notes some of the injustices weve seen and the need to make sure that the appropriate use of force is used and that our officers are trained in that capacity." Atty. Gen. William Barr acknowledged that racism remains a problem in many police departments. "It is undeniable that many African Americans lack confidence in our criminal justice system. This must change," he said at a news conference Thursday. Trump, with his record of racist comments and tweets urging police to crack down on protesters he calls "thugs," is unlikely to take any action that would satisfy activist groups. As much as he wants the protests to end, he's constantly wary of upsetting his base of overwhelmingly white supporters. "Trump has been in bed with the police unions since his campaign," Roberts said. "I think he shares their values, frankly, and they share his. Trump's approach to Floyd's death echoes his comments on Sandra Bland soon after he announced his candidacy in 2015. A black woman, Bland died in a Texas jail cell after she was arrested during a routine motor vehicle stop that was caught on video. Officials said she hanged herself. "I thought it was terrible, to be honest with you," he told CNN at the time. But Trump hedged when asked whether a persons race makes a difference in how he or she is treated by law enforcement. "I hope it doesn't, but it might," he said. Trump pushed a tough-on-crime message on the campaign trail, tweeting about attacks on police officers and declaring that "we must restore law and order and protect our great law enforcement officers!" After he was elected, Trump's Justice Department scaled back "pattern and practice" investigations, which are intended to improve policies at local police departments. More than two dozen had been launched by the Obama administration. "The priorities have shifted," said Laurie Robinson, a criminology professor at George Mason University who co-chaired President Obama's commission on policing. "It sends a signal to local departments that this is not a priority in Washington." Trump's rhetoric sometimes indicates that abusive police don't need to worry about accountability, such as when he suggested roughing up suspects in a July 2017 speech to law enforcement officers in New York. "When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon you just see them thrown in, rough I said, 'Please, dont be too nice,'" he said. President Trump suggested during a 2017 speech in New York that police should be "rough" with suspects when they're arrested. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Trump also complained that police were held to an unfair standard. "I have to tell you, you know, the laws are so horrendously stacked against us, because for years and years, they've been made to protect the criminal," he said. "Totally made to protect the criminal. Not the officers. You do something wrong, you're in more jeopardy than they are." During a 2017 memorial service for law enforcement officers killed on the job, Trump described police as "the thin blue line between civilization and chaos." We must end the reckless words of incitement that give rise to danger and violence, and take the time to work with cops, not against them, not obstruct them which is what we're doing, Trump said. When pressed about his record, Trump frequently points to the legislation he championed to reduce prison sentences and create programs to help former inmates rejoin their communities. But he has not addressed issues involving how police do their jobs. Asked on Fox News radio about black Americans' lack of confidence in law enforcement, Trump conceded only that police "have to get better than what they've been doing." Maria Haberfeld, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who specializes in police training, fears that whatever Trump decides to do will only lead to more deliberations about the problem rather than reform. "I'm not seeing the transformational changes that need to be introduced," she said. "We are far behind as a democratic country in terms of standards for recruitment, standards and training." Residents of San Antonio and Bexar County no longer have to stay home because of the novel coronavirus. City and county stay-home orders, first imposed on March 23 and extended repeatedly since then, expire Thursday. Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff have no immediate plans to reimpose the restrictions. The city and county were among the first local governments in Texas to act forcefully to limit the spread of the virus, and public health experts say Nirenbergs and Wolffs early action helped prevent a steep rise in cases early in the pandemic. The stay-home orders contained numerous exemptions for public safety employees, health care workers and people employed in essential businesses like pharmacies and construction. But the orders shuttered parks, gyms, hair salons, theaters and other enterprises and limited restaurants to takeout or delivery service. The local rules became moot after Gov. Greg Abbott asserted control over the states coronavirus response and ordered a phased reopening of the Texas economy starting in May. On Wednesday, the governor announced Phase 3 of his plan, which allows virtually every business in Texas to reopen by the end of this month. The stay-at-home moniker really doesnt apply anymore, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Wednesday at the daily city-county briefing on the state of the pandemic. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio mayor to forego plan to expand public transit in favor of coronavirus recovery Nirenberg reported that three more Bexar County residents all in their 60s had died of COVID-19, bringing the countys death toll to 78. Ninety COVID-19 patients are in San Antonio-area hospitals. Of those, 37 are in intensive care and 21 are on ventilators. Eighty percent of the countys ventilator stock is available, and 32 percent of its staffed hospital beds are empty, officials reported. And most residents who have contracted the disease have recovered 1,801, or 61 percent of confirmed cases. With the stay-home restrictions removed, residents of San Antonio and Bexar County are entering a new phase of the pandemic one with fewer protections even though the virus is still out there. Abbott has allowed bars, restaurants and retailers to reopen with restrictions in phases since the beginning of May. That meant more people mingling in indoor spaces where the virus can be transmitted. Nevertheless, Bexar County has experienced a smaller increase in COVID-19 cases than health officials anticipated, said Anita Kurian, assistant director of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. It is less than what we thought we might see, which leads us to believe that folks are still complying with the health recommendations that we have been reporting out, Kurian said. A majority of the countys cases 56 percent stem from close contact with someone who already had the disease, Kurian said. That indicates a moderate amount of disease transmission in the community, she said. On ExpressNews.com: Amid novel coronavirus pandemic, San Antonios Nirenberg has emerged as steady, cautious leader who relies on data But official continue to recommend that residents wear face coverings, keep their distance from others and leave their homes only when necessary, even in the absence of stay-home orders. Wolff said businesses should require customers to wear face masks but acknowledged that may not be feasible for every establishment. We need to be cognizant of the fact that its not about us, Wolff said. Its about helping to protect the people that youre around. Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. To read more from Joshua, become a subscriber. jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports Ranjani Madhavan By Express News Service BENGALURU: Private hospital associations have proposed to the government a COVID-19 treatment cost of around Rs 10,000 per day for general ward and Rs 20,000 for special ward with ICU and ventilator facilities, sources revealed. The state government is in talks with private hospitals to evolve a pricing plan for treating COVID patients, should the situation come to a stage where private hospitals have to share the burden of patient load. Maharashtra and Gujarat have already negotiated the rates for various slabs of treatment with private hospitals. In Gujarat, depending on the bed charges, the cost varies between Rs 10,000 and Rs 23,000. In Maharashtra, a routine ward and isolation costs Rs 4,000 per day, while services with ICU and without a ventilator costs Rs 7,500 and with a ventilator, Rs 9,000. Now, government hospitals are treating most of the corona patients and the cost comes to around Rs 3.5 lakh per patient. This includes N95 masks, PPE kits, triple-layer masks, sanitisers, medicines, equipment purchased for Covid, building works, conversion to COVID wards, salaries of staff, investigation charges, meals for staff and patients, logistics and transport. There are three types of patients. One, asymptomatic, who have to be isolated in general wards as they can still be a harm to society until tested negative. The second, with mild symptoms like fever and cold who can receive symptomatic treatment at any isolation ward of a nursing home. The third category is 10 per cent of the people who need high-intensity monitoring with or without a ventilator and need high-end care in the ICU, another source said. We have taken into consideration the rates fixed by other states and what insurance companies have paid so far to arrive at the rates proposed to the government. We have in fact quoted lower than the treatment cost and the figure includes the cost of PPEs. If a patient has co-morbidities, such as cancer, kidney issues requiring dialysis, liver problems, etc, the cost will increase, the source added. The treatment cost could go up to Rs 30,000 per day if a patient is on a ventilator. A decision is likely to be announced by the government in a day or two, another source revealed. The average cost per day at a government hospital comes to Rs 30,000 per corona patient. It goes up if high-end antibiotics are used for ICU patients. Whether the government will provide us PPE kits and at what cost needs to be decided as well, said Dr Naresh Shetty, president, MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital. Dr R Ravindra, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, said, We need to invest in high-flow oxygen and negative-pressure operation theatres. This is so that you do not want the contaminated air inside the operation theatre spreading outside. The heavily pregnant niece of veteran greyhound trainer Karen Leek has been charged with murder. Jessie Moore, a 25-year-old from Berwick, was arrested on Thursday morning in relation to her aunt's death. Jessie Moore, a 25-year-old from Berwick, was arrested on Thursday morning. Credit:Nine News Emergency services were called to Ms Leek's rural property on Cross Road in Devon Meadows, south-east of Melbourne, on May 26 after the 69-year-old's body was discovered. Ms Moore had been expected to face Melbourne Magistrates Court but during a hearing on Thursday afternoon her lawyers requested she not appear in court and instead remain in the cells because she is heavily pregnant and due to give birth in just eight days. The digital platform 'KYC Insider' provides interested readers with background information and current updates on the latest changes by the regulatory authorities via newsletter. Through her daily interaction with regulators and governments and her close contact with IDnow's clients, author Rayissa Armata has her finger on the pulse of the sector and knows the needs and background of all parties. "The regulatory landscape in Europe is highly dynamic. There is a variety of regulated industries and differences in each country - a complex sector. At IDnow, we work with companies in a wide range of sectors and have gained a wealth of experience over the years. I would now like to share this knowledge and provide interested parties with up-to-date and exclusive information via our new platform KYC Insider," says Rayissa Armata, Head of Regulatory Affairs at IDnow. "Cooperation with regulatory authorities such as BaFin in Germany (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) has been essential since the company was founded. When we had the first idea for a video identification service in 2012, it was not yet approved by the authorities. We have now been working closely with the relevant bodies for many years to make our current product portfolio possible," adds Armin Bauer, CTO and co-founder of IDnow. IDnow has recently been selected by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to participate in a new working group on electronic signatures and infrastructures (ESI). As a member of the Special Task Force 588, IDnow is part of an exclusive group of specialists who started work in April 2020 to fill existing gaps in identity verification standards. The objective of the Task Force is to develop new standards and guidelines for electronic signatures and related trust services. About IDnow With their Identity-Verification-as-a-Service (IVaaS) platform, IDnow is committed to making the networked world a safer place. The forgery-proof identity verification offered by IDnow is used in all industries in which companies process customer interactions online that require a maximum level of security. IDnow technology uses artificial intelligence to ensure that an identification document has all security features in order to reliably detect forged documents. It can potentially verify the identities of more than 7 billion customers from 193 different countries in real time. IDnow covers a wide range of applications in regulated industries in Europe and for entirely new digital business models around the world as well. Through the platform, the identity flow can be adapted on a case-by-case basis to suit regional, legislative and economic requirements. IDnow is supported by the venture capital investors BayBG, Seventure Partner, G+D Ventures, Corsair Capital and Jet A as well as a consortium of renowned business angels. With more than 250 customers, their clientele includes leading international companies in various industries such as Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, eventim, Raisin (Weltsparen), Sixt, solarisBank, Telefonica Deutschland, UBS, Western Union and wirecard in addition to FinTechs such as Fidor, N26, smava and wefox. About Rayissa Armata Rayissa Manning Armata, a native from the San Francisco Bay Area and Head of Regulatory Affairs at IDnow, has more than 15 years of experience leading business and regulatory initiatives in the United States, EMEA and the United Nations. Rayissa Armata's passion is the bridge between business and government. She has represented companies up to Fortune 125, and generated significant revenue growth for her clients and employers. In addition to her work with FinTechs, she has led projects in the fields of telecommunications, defense, aviation and international real estate investments. Her recent employers and clients include Boeing, Lufthansa Airlines, Polimeks Holding and the United Nations. Rayissa began her career at the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva and holds a Master of Science in Science Technology Policy from the University of Sussex (SPRU program) in Brighton, England. In her role with identity verification provider IDnow, Rayissa needs to stay up-to-date on the latest regulatory changes and upcoming issues. With KYC Insider, Rayissa shares this knowledge with anyone interested in the complex world of regulation. Press contact: Christina Schwinning [email protected] +49 89 41324 6054 SOURCE IDnow GmbH Related Links http://www.idnow.eu/ On the one-year anniversary of the release of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls final report, those involved in its creation are criticizing a year of inaction from the federal government. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. On the one-year anniversary of the release of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls final report, those involved in its creation are criticizing a year of inaction from the federal government. A statement published by the four commissioners of the original 1,200-page report, which contained 231 calls to justice to address systemic violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, criticizes a lack of commitment to implementing change and ensuring changes are led by Indigenous people since its release. "We said clearly the status quo has to change, we said clearly the involvement of the experts the families and the survivors, the people with lived experience needs to be there, then well see a change," Michele Audette, one of the commissioners of the report, told the Free Press Wednesday. Audette said despite being pleased with initial conversations with the federal government beforehand, events in the year since including the federal election, mobilization of other Indigenous issues in Canada and delays attributed to COVID-19 Indigenous women had been "pushed aside." "Many groups, including the government, were focusing or putting the energy on (other) situations," she said. In May, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said the promised national action plan would have to be delayed due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, she had said the government was looking to have something to show by June. "Indigenous women are affected and paying for that systemic discrimination, the colonial violence, the impact and the effect of that colonial violence," Audette said. "If we were a top priority, we wouldve heard it during the election, we would be involved... theres so many of us that should have been involved, but because of that culture in Canada, and the way were treating Indigenous women, sad to say, but Im not surprised that were not that involved." Her hope is that if inaction continues, the report is used as evidence to bring international oversight to the calls to justice. "Were at a level, I believe, like many of us, that now they are legal imperatives, theyre not just recommendations," she said. One of the new billboards, Lost But Not Forgotten, was designed by by 18-year-old artist Ida Bruyere (above). (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press) Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, a billboard campaign has launched in hopes of bringing additional awareness of a culture that one organizer says hasnt valued Indigenous women and girls. The billboards, which were organized by the Southern Chiefs Organization, will be partnered with bus boards and social media posts. Two are up today, and three more will go up around the city in the coming weeks. "Every facet of society is a part of creating that change, and until we start to take action on that, we wont see the change," SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said. "Governments can provide the funding, but we need to take it personal, and we need to have our young people being educated not just in the education system, but at the kitchen table in our homes." The campaign features a painting of an Indigenous woman titled Lost But Not Forgotten by 18-year-old Ida Bruyere, whose piece was chosen after the SCO called for submissions earlier this year. Her painting features an Indigenous woman who has gone missing, and what she wears is filled with symbolism, Bruyere said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "The eagle feather (represents) the lost one, the rainbow regalia for all the queer community parties, and then the red to show her strength and resilience, and also being silenced about this tragedy," Bruyere said. The billboards are up not just as a call for systemic change, but also as a reminder that Indigenous people are being heard and seen, she said. "I just want all the girls, and all the Indigenous people who experience almost going missing on a daily basis to know that theyre seen and heard, no matter what other people say or how hard they try to shut them up." malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: malakabas_ About 6,000 tonnes of diesel seeped into the ground and another 15,000 in nearby waterways, according to state media. Waterways near Russias Siberian city of Norilsk have been rapidly polluted by a spill of more than 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel in recent days, according to state media. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Wednesday a state of emergency, dedicating federal resources to the clean-up effort. He said local officials had been inefficient in dealing with the disaster. A portion of the petroleum products have spilt into the Ambarnaya River, a significant portion, Putin said in a meeting with senior officials, according to a Kremlin transcript. The spill occurred on Friday when a diesel tank ruptured at a thermal power plant, according to a statement by the citys main employer, metals miner Nornickel. Melting permafrost amid abnormally warm temperatures is believed to have caused a collapse of a structure that had been supporting the tank, the company said. About 6,000 tonnes of diesel have seeped into the ground and another 15,000 ended up in nearby waterways, state news agency TASS reported, citing a state environmental protection agency. Authorities estimated that it would take at least two weeks to clean up the area, TASS reported on Wednesday. Investigations launched Russias Investigative Committee, which deals with major incidents, announced it launched three criminal probes over environmental violations and detained an employee of the power plant. Alexey Knizhnikov, World Wildlife Fund expert, told AFP news agency the environmental group alerted clean-up specialists after confirming the accident through its sources. The accident is the second largest in modern Russian history in terms of volume, Knizhnikov said. It is only exceeded by a crude oil spill in the northwestern region of Komi that took place over several months in 1994, he said. HONG KONG, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Wednesday expressed strong opposition to wanton remarks by British politicians that smear China's move to safeguard national security and interfere in Hong Kong affairs, China's internal affairs. Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, China has unswervingly, fully and faithfully implemented the principles of "one country, two systems," "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong," and a high degree of autonomy, a spokesperson said. Hong Kong residents now enjoy democratic rights and freedoms unimaginable under the British colonial rule, and Hong Kong's status as a global financial, shipping and trade center has been reinforced, the spokesperson said. The overall jurisdiction exercised by the central authorities over Hong Kong according to the Constitution and the Basic Law of the HKSAR is not limited to foreign affairs and national defense, the spokesperson said, stressing that national security legislation for the HKSAR falls within the state's legislative power. While the central government authorizes the HKSAR to enact laws on its own to safeguard national security through Article 23 of the Basic Law, it does not change the fact that national security legislation is essentially within the purview of the central authorities, nor does it mean the central authorities have forfeited the power to uphold national security, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson stressed that the decision of the national legislature to make national security laws for Hong Kong has received widespread support of Hong Kong residents from all walks of life, with nearly 3 million signatures collected in eight days. The allegations that the legislation is forced upon Hong Kong and the high degree of autonomy will be damaged are nothing but slander and distortion, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the legislation protects law-abiding Hong Kong residents and only targets a small number of criminals who endanger national security. The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and right to assembly, will not be affected, and Hong Kong courts will continue to exercise independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the wanton remarks by British politicians will do no good to ease the tension since Hong Kong's social unrest last year. The violence of radicals and "Hong Kong independence" organizations, and rampant interference by external forces have exposed the major loopholes in national security protection in Hong Kong and showed the urgency of the legislation, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the legislation will guarantee Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability and reinforce the foundation of "one country, two systems." The Sino-British Joint Declaration does not give Britain the right to interfere in Hong Kong affairs after Hong Kong returns to China, the spokesperson said, stressing that Britain has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of "supervision" over Hong Kong. Britain and any other foreign countries have no qualification to refer to the Sino-British Joint Declaration to justify interference in Hong Kong affairs, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson emphasized that China's strong will and firm determination to establish and improve Hong Kong's legal system and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security should never be underestimated, and all external pressure and obstruction will be futile. The spokesperson urged the British side to respect China's legitimate efforts to safeguard national security in Hong Kong, or it will receive the resolute counterattacks of all Chinese people. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results 1. Learn a new language Being fluent in a second language, especially Spanish, is one of the more attractive skills that you can have on your resume, regardless of your profession. Learning any language takes time and practice, but it's never too late to get started. There are several smartphone apps and websites that can help you master your language of choice. Babbel ($6.95$12.95 per month) lets you choose from 13 languages (Danish, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish). Most lessons are 10 to 15 minutes long and use snippets of interactive dialogue and speech-recognition technology to help you learn the language as you would use it in everyday conversations. Other options for learning a language include Duolingo (free with ads or $6.99 per month) and Rosetta Stone ($11.99 per month or $299 for a lifetime, unlimited membership). 2. Take college-level courses for free Ever wondered what it feels like to take a course from Stanford or Yale? Coursera (prices vary by course, but many are free) lets you choose from nearly 3,900 online courses from more than 190 influential universities and businesses (including Google) around the world. Whether you can get college credit or a certificate depends on the course, but the knowledge you gain can enhance your resume. The range of classes available seems almost endless. For example, you can take a quick free course on Microsoft's popular Excel spreadsheet program from Australia's Macquarie University. Or if you have more time and have taken some college courses but never earned a degree, you might consider the bachelor's degree from University of North Texas that is designed with working adults in mind. Other options for free or affordable college-level courses include edX and FutureLearn. 3. Give computer programming a try Jobs working with the technology that makes websites function are some of the most in demand. They can also offer the opportunity to work from home, flexible hours and great pay the exact benefits that many older adults want. While it helps to have a knack for computers, it's possible to jump into computer programming from other careers. For instance, at age 55, one Seattle woman decided to switch from the office administrative work she had been doing for years to computer programming. The website she used to learn coding was Codeacademy (free to $19.99 per month), which more than 1 million people worldwide age 55 and older have turned to. Another option if you're interested in acquiring programming skills is Udacity (prices vary, though many courses are free). 4. Get an introduction to starting a business While it's a tricky time right now to launch a business, it could be the ideal moment to work on a business plan and learn entreprenurial skills you will need if you decide to give it try. EdX offers a free Becoming an Entrepreneur course that you can complete in six weeks or less; it can teach you how to identify business opportunities, perform market research and plan your business logistics. Also consider Daymond John's Tools for Success, as these online courses are free to anyone who registers on AARPs website. Designed by the Shark Tank star and AARP brand ambassador, they can teach you how to find the best small-business opportunity, how to build your personal brand and how to make the most of your skills. 5. Fix your finances With unemployment rising, many families are struggling to make ends meet. Coursera offers a free Personal & Family Financial Planning class from the University of Florida that can help you get a better grip on your finances. The course can teach you to manage your budget, handle your income taxes, build good credit and make investment decisions. Trespassers on farms will face new on-the-spot fines but abattoirs may be required to install CCTV cameras to ensure animals are slaughtered humanely and security is maintained. The state government is introducing new measures to protect biosecurity in agriculture and enhance animal welfare in response to a parliamentary inquiry into the impact of animal rights activism on farms. Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said the government wanted to protect farmers. Credit:James Ross The government has accepted a range of recommendations from the inquirys report, including a review of biosecurity management plans on farms and agriculture businesses across Victoria. It has also agreed to update the prevention of cruelty to animal laws "as a matter of priority". This will include incorporating existing welfare codes of practice in legislation so they become law. On the night of presidential elections in the United States, many Americans stay up late to find out who won. The reason? Most areas use electronic voting machines and computers to count-up ballots. With electronic balloting, election results are usually reported on election night or early the next day. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, and a move to mail-in ballots, it is likely that Americans will not know who won the presidency on election night. If that happens, some people are worried that U.S. President Donald Trump may not accept the results. Days of counting ahead Some state election officials recently warned that it may take days to count all the ballots that arrive in the mail. They must be mailed by Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. If the election is as close as it was in 2016, that delay may prevent news organizations from calling a winner. Jocelyn Benson is Secretary of State in Michigan and a member of the states Democratic Party. She said, "It may be several days before we know the outcome of the election. We have to prepare for that now and accept that reality." Ohio's secretary of state, Frank LaRose, is a Republican. He has urged the public to be patient. "We've gotten accustomed to this idea that by the middle of the evening of election night, we're going to know all the results," LaRose said. He warned, "Election night reporting may take a little longer" this year. A few states already hold elections largely by mail. There, delayed results are common. But the results of a presidential election have not been in dispute since 2000. That year, problems with ballots in Florida led to weeks of chaos and legal appeals. Some election observers and Democrats worry about what may happen this year, as the president criticizes mail-in voting. Trump is a Republican. He has claimed without evidence that widespread mail balloting will lead to a "rigged" election. It's very problematic, said Rick Hasen, a law professor with the University of California-Irvine. There is already so much anxiety about this election because of the high levels of polarization and misinformation," he added. Hasen is among the experts who have been studying how the pandemic may cause problems for the U.S. electoral system. He recently gathered a group of academics from both political parties to suggest ways to avoid having a disputed election. Some members have thought about possible events like state legislatures or governors refusing to seat electors, or a candidate refusing to admit defeat. Millions more ballots Since the pandemic began, many Americans have been looking for a safer alternative to in-person voting. Voters requested large numbers of mail-in ballots for presidential primary elections this spring. The state of Maryland will hold an entirely vote-by-mail primary on June 2. Election officials from both parties have supported calls for mail-in and absentee voting. Many states expect to be struggling to process millions more mail-in ballots than they usually do in November. Each state has its own rules for accepting and counting mail-in ballots. In some areas, mail-in ballots can be accepted several days after Election Day. But they must be stamped with a postmark before voting stations close. Some states count mail-in ballots as they come in, but others like Michigan and Pennsylvania have laws that bar processing such ballots until Election Day. That means the count will extend well into the next day. Another thing that could delay the count is that Democrats are pushing to require states to accept mail-in ballots postmarked on Election Day. Democrats have taken legal action, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court required it for Wisconsin's April 7 election. But, because of that requirement, Wisconsin did not release results from its election until April 13. Still, news organizations may try to predict a winner of the presidential election before the official vote count is completed. Those predictions are based on partial results, earlier elections and studies of likely voters. Without enough information, the broadcasters may not be able to call a winner on election night. Im Jill Robbins. Jill Robbins adapted this Associated Press story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story pandemic n. a disease spreading over a whole country or the world accustomed adj. familiar with something so that it seems normal or usual chaos n. complete disorder; unrest rig v. to control or affect something in a dishonest way to get a desired result polarize v. to cause (people or opinions) to separate into opposing groups academic n. a teacher at a college or university alternative n. a possibility primary n. an election to appoint delegates to a part conference to choose the candidate for a general election absentee n. someone who is expected to be present at an event, but is not stamp v. to leave a mark on something Do you have mail-in ballots where you live? What do you think of the us of mail-in ballots? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. A federal judge says Bernard L. Madoff should die in prison. Mr. Madoff, who stole billions of dollars in historys largest Ponzi scheme, asked for his freedom in February after he learned he has kidney disease. On Thursday, Judge Denny Chin who had handed down Mr. Madoffs 150-year sentence more than a decade ago in New York denied the request. When I sentenced Mr. Madoff in 2009, it was fully my intent that he live out the rest of his life in prison, Judge Chin wrote in his decision. While Mr. Madoffs present medical situation is most unfortunate, compassionate release is not warranted. Late last year, the Bureau of Prisons also denied a request by Mr. Madoff to end his sentence. He filed a request in federal court, arguing that he had less than 18 months to live. Federal guidelines make prisoners in his condition eligible for early release, but the decision is often up to government officials or a judge. With Thursdays ruling, Mr. Madoff will most likely remain in prison until his death, although he has also asked President Trump to commute his sentence. Foreign investment laws in Australia will be completely overhauled to protect the country's national security. The government wants any foreign bid for a 'sensitive national security business' to be vetted by the Foreign Investment Review Board. Previously, bids from private investors were only vetted if the asset was worth more than $275 million. That threshold was as high as $1.2 billion if the bid was from a country with which Australia has a free trade agreement, including China. In November 2015, the Northern Territory government was paid $506million to lease the Port of Darwin (pictured) to a Chinese company for 99 years in a controversial deal called into question by then-US President Barack Obama. Foreign investment laws in Australia will now be completely overhauled as part of tough new rules to protect the country's national security Sold to the Chinese: This map shows some of the companies and places that have been snapped up by Chinese investors Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said industries deemed 'sensitive' would include energy, telecommunications, utilities, defence and security, and any others he decides. 'These are the most significant reforms in nearly 50 years and we hope of getting bipartisan support for them,' Mr Frydenberg said. Under the new system, the thresholds will remain the same for foreign bids for non-sensitive businesses. The treasurer will also gain powers to force a foreign owner to sell if national security concerns arise. At the same time, the government wants to make it easier for foreign companies to invest in non-strategic assets to boost Australia's economy. The government will put the new rules before parliament in July and, if passed, they will come into force on January 1. Until then, any foreign bid for an Australian company is subject to a review under temporary rules to protect ailing companies during the coronavirus crisis. The biggest foreign investor in Australia is the US followed by the UK, Japan and then China. The government has let its trading partners know about the proposed rules through diplomatic channels. Mr Morrison said there was 'no reason' why China should be angered by the change. What do the reforms involve? A new national security test for foreign investors who will be required to seek approval to start or acquire a direct interest in a 'sensitive national security business' regardless of the value of the investment. A time-bound 'call in' power enabling the Treasurer to review acquisitions that raise national security risks outside of proposed acquisitions relating to a 'sensitive national security business'. A national security last resort power that provides the ability to impose or vary conditions and in extraordinary circumstances order disposal on national security grounds. Stronger and more flexible enforcement options including the expansion of infringement notices and higher civil and criminal penalties. Measures to streamline approval for passive investors and investments into non-sensitive businesses. Advertisement The new laws follow a series of recent controversial takeovers by Chinese-owned companies - including the lease of the Port of Darwin to Chinese Communist Party-linked Landbridge Group in November 2015. The deal was called into question by then-US President Barack Obama at the time, leading former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage to say Australia had 'blindsided' its ally. Government sources have claimed the agreement with the group's subsidiary Landbridge Australia would not have been approved had the FIRB's rules been in place, The Australian reported. 'Through the introduction of a new national security test, stronger enforcement powers and enhanced compliance obligations, we will ensure that Australia can continue to benefit from foreign investment while safeguarding our national interest,' Mr Frydenberg said. In 2016, then-treasurer Scott Morrison also overturned a Chinese bid for energy company Ausgrid over national security concerns. The intervention just 10 days before the deal's deadline led to the Chinese government accusing Canberra of 'discrimination' and 'protectionism'. Chinese buyers spent $24billion on Australian real estate during the last year, making them by far the largest group of foreign purchasers. China is also the largest foreign stakeholder in the Australian water market - with Chinese investors owning 732 gigalitres or 1.89 per cent of the water. Chinese buyers spent $24billion on Australian real estate during the last year, making them by far the largest group of foreign purchasers (pictured is a Sydney ad targeting Chinese buyers) Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has declared there will be a zero dollar threshold for all proposed foreign investments in an Australian business or business entity It comes as Australia strengthens ties with India as relations with China, its largest trading power, continues to sour. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi signed off a new agreement in a virtual summit on Thursday. It aims to boost economic trade between the two countries, build closer partnerships around science and technology and strengthen defence cooperation. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership comes as Chinese forces become more aggressive in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as slapping huge tariffs on Australian imports. Victoria and Tasmania Consul-General of China Long Zhou. The announcement of the new government powers comes amid worsening diplomatic relations between China and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic With Australia and India both seeking to push back against China's encroaching presence, Mr Morrison said 'trusted partners' must work together. 'It is time for our relationship to go broader and deeper,' he said on Thursday. 'In a time like this we want to deal very much with friends and trusted partners. 'And this is a partnership which has stood the test, time and again, and is during the course of this current crisis. The single foreign entity with the largest share of water rights is the Cubbie Station (pictured), a massive Queensland cotton farm largely owned by a Chinese textiles company 'We share a vision for open, free, rules-based, multilateral systems in our region. 'Whether that is in the health area or it is in trade or other places. We engage in those as confident but sovereign nations.' While Australia has faced a backlash from Beijing over calls for an independent international inquiry into the origins of coronavirus and the actions of the Chinese Communist Party, its relations with India have also eroded dramatically. The two countries share the world's longest land border, with China also being one of India's biggest trading partner. But in the past few months month tensions over disputed territory in the Himalayan Sikkim region once again flared up resulting in a mass buildup of troops in the mountainous area. In May, China announced a 80.5 per cent levy on barley exports, after weeks of threatening to boycott Australian industries. Australia sends between half and two-thirds of all its barley to China, making the tariff decision a massive blow to the $600 million a year industry. India is Australia's eighth-largest trading partner and fifth-largest export market, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) speaks to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2020 Virtual Leaders Summit Two-way goods and services trade between India and Australia totalled $30.3 billion in the 2019 financial year, with coal and education Australia's main export drivers. But under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Prime Minister Modi expects those figures will increase even further. He described the agreement as a 'new model of India-Australia partnership and a new model of conducting business'. 'We had an outstanding discussion, covering the entire expanse of our relationship,' Mr Modi said. Australia has faced a backlash from Beijing over calls for an independent international inquiry into the origins of coronavirus (pictured, a Chinese soldier at Tiananmen Square on May 28) 'With Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Australia, we aspire to achieve yet new heights in our collaboration.' One of the big winners from the deal is expected to be Australian barley farmers who are looking to expand into new markets after one of their biggest buyers China slapped an 80 percent tariff on their product. Other areas of focus will include the internet and maritime security. 'Australia and India are working together to promote an open, safe and secure internet, and to ensure critical tech does not pose risks to security and prosperity,' Australian Foreigh Minister Marise Payne said. '(We) have also marked a major step forward in our security and defence relationship. 'Today we signed a wide-ranging maritime declaration committing our nations to supporting the rules-based order at sea in the Indo-Pacific region.' The United States has benefited from a six-decade decline in racial tension, now threatened by recent events. Progress has been uneven, and in law enforcement tragically minimal, but real gains were made through nonviolent protest. While he is less well known than other civil rights leaders, pacifist Bayard Rustin deserves much credit for steering our nation away from its entrenched history of racial oppression. He modeled and promoted the most effective methods of resistance. One question raised by the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Lloyd - and the uprisings they sparked - is: "What would Bayard Rustin do?" Nicknamed "Bye," Rustin organized the 1963 March on Washington and advised the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the nonviolent techniques that led to generational breakthroughs. Raised outside Philadelphia, Rustin was influenced by Pennsylvania's Quaker traditions, personified by his Quaker grandmother, who was the first family member to accept him as gay. Rustin's commitment to peace ran so deep that he served time in federal prison during World War II for draft resistance. The state offered Rustin a deferment as a Quaker, but he rejected the easy out in solidarity with men who had no religious exemption. With a handful of white colleagues, Rustin went to prison for his principles in 1944. There, segregation was routine. Rustin petitioned the warden to allow all inmates use of common recreation rooms. A white prisoner, Elam Huddleston, took offense when Rustin became the first to attempt the experiment. Huddleston warned Rustin not to come back. When Rustin did, Huddleston savagely struck him with a wooden mop handle. Rustin knelt and crossed his arms over his head. His white friends stepped forward to deflect the attack, but he urged them not to intervene. Violence would beget violence, Rustin believed. Only nonviolence had a hope of breaking the cycle. Passive resistance subverted the aggressor's claim to superiority by showcasing the resistor's more civilized behavior. Huddleston shattered Rustin's wrist and ultimately the mop handle. Then, ashamed of himself, Huddleston dropped the stick and never made trouble again. Desegregation of the rec room proceeded. A decade later, Rustin traveled to Montgomery, Ala., to advise the 27-year-old King, who had just become spokesman for the bus boycott that kick-started transportation reform. Homophobia prevented Rustin from exercising leadership openly at the time, so he operated mostly behind the scenes. A Baptist minister, King had bought a pistol after racists threw a bomb into his home where his wife tended their 7-month-old daughter. Rustin told King to give up the gun if he wanted to capture the moral high ground. King not only did so, but told followers, "I want you to love our enemies." King heeded Rustin's example again in 1962 when attacked by an American Nazi Party member who jumped onstage at a public convention to stop him from speaking. King dropped to his knees and calmly pleaded with the 200-pound Roy James, a hale 24-year-old who rained blows so heavy that King toppled backward. "Don't touch him! Don't touch him!" King called to his aides, and afterward refused to press charges. The new medium of television beamed the startling dissimilarity between the nonviolent King and his crazed opponents, in peaceful protest after peaceful protest, into homes across America. It awakened the nation's conscience. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for leadership that led to the implementation, at last, of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing equal protection to all. The Nazi Party awarded Roy James the "Order of Adolf Hitler Medal." The contrast could not have been brighter for the post-World War II generation. King's nonviolent movement did not achieve all it set out to do, especially for the poor, but it transformed the country. In Native American legend, an old man tells his grandson that a good wolf and a bad wolf fight for mastery of his soul. When the boy asks which wolf will win, his grandfather replies, "The one you feed." History shows that the United States must nourish what Abraham Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature." There is no alternative, if reform is the desired outcome. Rioting after King's assassination in 1968 pushed through a final civil rights bill, but it was the last gasp of major reform. Activism had acquired an air of menace, at least to white Americans. Even before King's death, many younger activists had turned away from his creed of nonviolence and universal brotherhood. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee abandoned pacifism and expelled all white members. The Black Panther Party flaunted guns. Spasms of inner-city violence alarmed middle-class America. In 1968, the nation elected Richard Nixon on a "law and order" platform that attracted Southern states to the Republican Party, slowed reform and led to draconian new sentencing laws that were applied disproportionately to black communities. Bayard Rustin preached his entire life that "we need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers." By troublemakers, Rustin meant people of all ages, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations who vehemently opposed every violation of common decency, yet never gave in to the temptation of violence - a point made by Barack Obama and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., today, among others who understand the value of Rustin's philosophy. Police officers, too, can be part of the solution - if they act as peace officers. Rustin might commend men like Sheriff Chris Swanson in Michigan, who urged his colleagues to lay down their riot gear on May 30, and join the march to honor George Lloyd. Cops of all ethnic backgrounds in Kansas City, Mo., Camden, N.J., and Santa Cruz, Calif., showed the same courage when they stood, and sometimes knelt, in solidarity with peaceful protesters against police brutality. Injustice and prejudice remain, and racists have become more open and virulent in the past four years. But we have also made giant strides since 1960, when most African Americans couldn't vote. Black people serve at all levels of government even if, like women, their numbers do not match their percentage in the population. Reporters who better reflect the nation's diversity work together to get today's story out, in contrast to the all-white, all-male press corps (and police forces) of the 1960s. The country enters this crisis better prepared than before to make the changes still urgently needed. Progress across six decades must be treasured, not disparaged, to strengthen it further. What would the indefatigable Bayard Rustin say to today's civil rights activists, most of whom are struggling hard to keep protests peaceful? Don't fall for the aggressor's trick of luring you onto his level. Keep calm and carry on. - - - Cobbs is the Melbern Glasscock chair in American history at Texas A&M, a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and author of "The Tubman Command, A Novel," released this week. Mitch Farmer, senior nuclear engineer at the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has been named a fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the organizations highest honor. Farmer received this fellowship for his outstanding scientific contributions and leadership in the area of nuclear reactor safety, particularly for his work on addressing severe accident issues in the light water reactor industry. Farmers work has helped shape the thinking of the nuclear industry and regulatory bodies around the world regarding the effectiveness of accident management strategies. Farmer leads the Light Water Reactor Programs within the laboratorys Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) division, where he studies reactor core melt accidents. With over 30 years of experience in reactor development, design and safety, he is considered an international authority on light water reactor severe accident behavior. The Melt Attack and Coolability Experiments he spearheaded at Argonne showed how a melting reactor core interacts with concrete, and how that interaction can be halted by flooding with water. These were some of the largest experiments of their kind in the world. His teams research on mitigating these types of events help save the U.S. nuclear energy industry $1 billion in potential costs for modifying boiling water reactors, keeping power plants running while ensuring safety. Mitch is truly deserving of this honor for his extensive contributions to nuclear technology experimental research and modeling as well as for his distinguished record of achievement and service to the nuclear reactor safety community, said Temitope Taiwo, interim director of the laboratorys NSE division. Farmer garnered international acclaim for his work simulating core melt accidents to improve nuclear reactor safety. Using data from tests conducted at Argonne, he developed two important codes to model ex-vessel i.e., beyond the reactor vessel phenomena, the CORQUENCH code for assessing core ex-vessel debris coolability, and the MELTSPREAD code for evaluating ex-vessel melt spreading. First developed more than 25 years ago, these codes continue to be used by industry researchers, regulators, and other DOE national laboratories to gain insight into important severe accident issues and improve accident management strategies. Farmers expertise was central to U.S. efforts to aid Japan as it responded to events at Fukushima in 2011. His work remains vital to the ongoing efforts to fully understand those events, the effectiveness of response actions, and future safety tactics. Farmer received many awards for his important technical contributions assessing the Fukushima events, including the Department of Energys 2011 Secretarial Honor Award, a letter of appreciation from the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, and the 2014 Special ANS Award for enhancing nuclear power plant safety. In addition to his work on modeling accidents and improving safety at existing nuclear power facilities, Farmer is working with his team at Argonne to develop and test new and improved safety measures for the next generation of nuclear power plants. They are now designing, conducting, and analyzing experiments on the operations and safety of Generation IV reactor concepts including sodium fast reactors and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Its an honor to be named a fellow of the American Nuclear Society, said Farmer. This recognition shows the importance of large-scale nuclear safety experiments that can only be done here at Argonne. This research helps us understand and address issues before they arise and how to minimize the impact of incidents in the future. ### Farmers work has been supported by a broad coalition of funders, including DOEs Office of Nuclear Energy, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Electric Power Research Institute, U.S. plant operators, as well as a number of international partners. Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nations first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance Americas scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science. The U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science. Germany introduced an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March AFP/Christof STACHE Germany introduced an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March. But with new infections sharply down, the government is looking for ways to restart the economy. "We have decided today that the travel warning for the named circle of countries will not be continued but replaced by travel advice," Maas said, referring to EU nations, other Schengen countries and Britain. The individual advice will be on a total of 31 nations, "provided that there are no longer any entry bans or large-scale lockdowns in the respective countries", he said. The advice could still include warnings against travel to certain countries, such as Norway and Spain, which still have their own entry restrictions in place. Germany will be watching contagion data very carefully, Maas added, saying that warnings could be reintroduced if new infections were to reach 50 per 100,000 people in a week in the country concerned. Germany reported just 342 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday - down from more than 6,000 a day at the height of new infections in March. PHASED RESTART The European Union set out plans in May for a phased restart of travel this summer, with EU border controls eventually lifted and measures to minimise the risks of infection, like wearing face masks on shared transport. Some countries have already started reopening their borders in a bid to revive the embattled tourism industry. Italy reopened to travellers from Europe on Wednesday, and Austria is lifting restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. German tour operator TUI said Wednesday it would be resuming flights to popular holiday destinations, with the first flight scheduled for Portugal on Jun 17, according to news site Business Insider (BI). "Our main destinations will be the Balearic Islands, Canaries, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus," Germany boss Marek Andryszak told BI. However, foreign minister Maas continued to urge caution. "I know that this decision raises great hope and expectations but I want to say again: Travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel," Maas said. He also warned that Germany would not be repeating its unprecedented and costly effort to rescue stranded Germans from around the world in the first weeks of the pandemic. In Berlin, residents were divided over whether lifting the travel warning was a good idea. "If I fly somewhere, I will be afraid about coming back again because maybe it will get worse and they will close the borders again," said Berlin resident Regina. Another, Henri, was more optimistic: "There are masks, so I'm not afraid. I mean, I don't understand what this is all about anyway." Germany still has a travel warning in place for Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans. The government will review this after an expected European Commission decision next week on whether to extend entry restrictions for citizens of third countries, Maas said. Other countries, such as Belgium and Britain, are still advising against, or forbidding, all non-essential travel abroad. WASHINGTON Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said on Thursday that she endorsed scathing criticism of President Trumps leadership by Jim Mattis, the former secretary of defense, and was grappling with whether to support the president in the coming election. Ms. Murkowski said the critique by Mr. Mattis, in which he said that Mr. Trump had divided the nation and failed to lead amid growing protests across the country, was necessary and overdue, and might prod other Republicans to go public with their private concerns about the president. I was really thankful, she told reporters on Capitol Hill. I thought General Mattiss words were true and honest and necessary and overdue. The comments by Ms. Murkowski, one of the few Republicans in Congress who have been willing to break with the president on occasion, suggested that Mr. Trumps response to nationwide unrest over police brutality and racial discrimination had emboldened at least some members of his party to speak out against him. While many Republicans privately regard the presidents conduct with distaste and even alarm, few have been willing to publicly air those concerns. In response to the historic multi-racial protests against the murder of George Floyd and other police killings, the top executives of major US corporations have issued hypocritical statements criticizing racism and injustice in America. The pain of the last week reminds us how far our country has to go to give every person the freedom to live with dignity and peace, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared, pledging to give $10 million to groups working on racial justice. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos posted on his Instagram account that the pain and emotional trauma caused by the racism and violence we are witnessing toward the black community has a long reach. GM CEO Mary Barra at a press conference with other corporate leaders speaking out against racism Wednesday at City Hall in Detroit (Source: General Motors) Similar remarks were made by the heads of tech giants Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Cisco and Google, the chief executives of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and other Wall Street banks, and the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and other industrial corporations. Well aware of the massive popular support for the anti-racist protests throughout the US and the world, the tech billionaires and other corporate executives have issued these PR statements to protect their marketing and commercial interests. But the statements also express concern within ruling circles that the protests, which have not been stopped by state repression, are becoming a focal point for far broader social grievances and anti-capitalist sentiments. The protest movement has been fueled by the worsening conditions confronting all sections of the working classblack and white, native born and immigrantexacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and the indifference of the government and big business to the suffering and death of workers. The priorities of American capitalism have been starkly revealed. On the one side are the deaths of nearly 110,000 people from COVID-19, most of which would have been avoided had basic containment measures been carried out when called for by the World Health Organization. The rate of infections and deaths will accelerate as a result of the drive to send workers back to unsafe workplaces in order to resume pumping out profits for the corporations. This is combined with the loss of 40 million jobs, many of them lost for good, and the spread of hunger and homelessness. On the other side are the multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and the resulting stock market bonanza, which have added $434 billion to the wealth of US billionaires. Bezos concern over pain and emotional trauma does not extend to his own workers, of all races, at Amazon. He has forced them to choose between staying home without sick pay or an income, or going back into infected warehouses where at least eight workers have died from COVID-19, and bringing the deadly disease back home to their families. Like Walmart, Kroger, Rite-Aid and many other companies, Amazon and Amazon-owned Whole Foods have canceled the $2 an hour hazard pay bonus for their essential workers, leaving them in even deeper poverty. At the same time, Bezosthe worlds richest manhas seen his personal fortune rise by at least $36.4 billion since the pandemic began, just ahead of Facebook CEO Zuckerberg, who has become $25 billion richer. The Wall Street titans were not to be outdone in their professed concern of over injustice. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said, [W]e are watching, listening and want every single one of you to know we are committed to fighting against racism and discrimination wherever and however it exists. Notwithstanding their professed concerns about the plight of minorities, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other financial institutions made billions by preying on low-income minority and working class households during the subprime mortgage swindle. After the 2008 crash, which led to a wave of foreclosures, job losses and economic devastation, the banks and their criminal executives were bailed out by the Bush and Obama administrations. This theft of public funds is now being eclipsed by the $6 trillion bailout enacted in the bipartisan CARES Act, signed by Trump in March. In a blog post titled I cant breathe, Mark Mason, Citigroup Inc.s chief financial officer, wrote: Even though Im the CFO of a global bank, the killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky are reminders of the dangers Black Americans like me face in living our daily lives. Mason, who has an annual salary of $7.7 million and an estimated net worth of nearly $1 billion, is part of the layer of African Americans brought into the highest echelons of corporate America and the political establishment over the last half-century. What Mason and his fellow black bourgeois really fear is a united movement of workers and young people of all races that would threaten their wealth and power. In an email to employees Monday, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Hackett acknowledged the pain of African American workers at Ford, saying, We cannot turn a blind eye to it or accept some sense of order thats based on oppression. They added, As long as so many of our colleagues, our friends, live with that fear, how can we live with ourselves? As long as we have the privilege to breathe, its on all of us to summon new levels of empathy and humanity. General Motors CEO Mary Barra sent a letter to employees on Saturday, declaring, I am both impatient and disgusted by the fact that as a nation, we seem to be placated by the passive discussion of why. Lets stop asking why and start asking what. What are we going to do? According to Automotive News, Barra said she will commission and chair an inclusion advisory board of internal and external leaders by the end of this quarter, with the long-term goal of inspiring GM to be the most inclusive company in the world. Barras dismissal of any examination of the root causes of police brutality and racismthe whysserves definite class interests. It is a matter of historical fact that the American ruling class has long used racism, xenophobia and other reactionary conceptions to divide and weaken the working class. Henry Ford was a racist, anti-Semite and admirer of Adolf Hitler, who returned the admiration. His efforts to provoke anti-black hatred by hiring poor Southern blacks as strikebreakers was defeated only by the socialists who led the fight for new industrial unions during the Depression. In its effort to block the unionization of its industrial empire, GM employed the Black Legion, a fascist organization considered even more violent than the KKK. The Black Legion was notorious for kidnapping and murdering blacks, socialists and labor organizers. Throughout US history, the capitalist class has employed police and military violence in response to any movement perceived to be a threat to its interests in the US and around the world. Imperialist wars coincided with the labor wars that lasted from the late 1800s to the late 1900s. National Guard troops suppressed urban uprisings and anti-war protests in the 1960s. Following the upheavals against police violence and poverty in the 1960s, the ruling class brought black mayors into power in Detroit, Los Angeles, Gary, Newark and other major cities. Affirmative Action programs were used to promote black capitalism and enrich a layer of privileged African Americans. The police forces were integrated. But the addition of more black executives, business owners, union officials, judges, mayors, police chiefs and even a US president did nothing to stop the exploitation and oppression of black workers and the entire working class. On the contrary, GM, Ford and Chrysler have shut down hundreds of factories since 1979, ravaging cities like Detroit, Flint and many others, while demanding corporate tax cuts that robbed schools and other vital social services of funding. Police violence continued and intensified, because its real source is ever-rising social inequality, requiring ever more brutal forms of police terror on behalf of the corporate oligarchy. Today, economic polarization is greater within the black population than in the US population as a whole, and the conditions of African American workers are worse than they were a half century ago. In an effort to defend their wealth and property, the corporate chiefs are now preaching inclusiveness, even as they back the state repression of protesters. Inclusiveness is a code word for the promotion of more blacks, Hispanics and women into high-paying positions on the corporate ladder. As for the workers of all races, the conditions will only get worse. The companies will make use of the pandemic-triggered depression to carry out a vast restructuring of social relations. This will entail the permanent destruction of millions of jobs and spread of part-time, temporary and contingent labor. The CEOs hollow professions of opposition to racism and injustice are a smokescreen to obscure their stepped-up offensive against the working class. IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Brilliantly verbal and intuitive, you are a workaholic and at the top in your field. Remember to take time out in your personal life. If single, you actively date but are too critical to be satisfied with one person. If attached, a degree of freedom when in a committed situation is essential to your happiness. Together, you are like two peas in a pod, and both need to give equally. GEMINI also likes to be free. ARIES (March 21-April 19) The positive and negative potentials of passions of every kind are evident today. Resist temptation; seek fulfillment of wholesome desires. The financial realities of life need special attention. Tonight: Do not let money matters generate anger; instead, channel energy into constructive changes. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Your attachments are deep and lasting. But learning to let go of one relationship that has become addictive or outlived its usefulness is a must today. Legal matters are concluded successfully. A child blossoms with a new beauty or talent. Tonight: This brings you joy. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Your health is emphasized today. Be aware of how stress impacts your well-being. Accept imperfections philosophically. A deeper love and appreciation for animals builds. Tonight: Think about buying a new bird feeder or adopting a kitten; you will be amazed at the joy it brings you. CANCER (June 21-July 22) Today brings new pleasures and loves. Happiness with children and creative breakthroughs are likely. Express affection; tender sentiments will be returned. If lonely, you might connect with a true soul mate. Tonight: Online interludes have a surprise and fated quality. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) A partner expresses new needs and interests. Others involve you in their plans. Memories are poignant. Focus your attention on the happy times, and enjoy old photos or other keepsakes that make you smile. Tonight: Despite distractions, be cooperative and understanding. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You are more cheerful today and will be led to important sources of information, enabling you to find answers to burning questions. Virtual travel is uplifting, especially to an island, along the shore or to historical sites. Tonight: Pursue writing; return calls and emails. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Financial planning will be in your thoughts. A relative or business associate might affect your financial situation. Be aware of how current trends and new conditions impact your earning ability. Resist the temptation to overspend. Tonight: Get a good night's sleep. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Both finances and love take a turn for the better today. Benign forces are at work. Opportunities arise that might open doors to a better life -- pursue them. Friends greet you with applause and appreciation. Tonight: Your image and reputation take on new polish. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Fantasy is more vivid than reality today. Make your imagination an asset by applying creativity in constructive ways. Your intuition is guiding you toward long-range goals -- heed it. Tonight: You relieve the loneliness and problems of others and win a new friend. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan 19) Today creates a harmonious aspect. A feeling of lightness and hope is generated. You are motivated and encouraged by positive, productive friends. Involvement with organizations, worthwhile causes or political issues adds new meaning to your life. Tonight: Your charisma is intensified. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You are more visible today and will be highly motivated. Your emphatic expression of ideas and warmth will win the confidence of others. Welcome opportunities to speak publicly or assume new responsibility. Changes are brewing in matters of the heart. Tonight: Serious networking online. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) An email or call from afar suggests a worthwhile idea. Your intellectual horizons widen through exposure to studies, publications or other learning experiences. It is a marvelous day for virtual travel. Tonight: Entries made in your journal will prove valuable when reviewed in the future. BORN TODAY: Therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer (1928), comedian Russell Brand (1975), actress Angelina Jolie (1975) ELKO Nevada Gold Mines took many steps to protect workers from the coronavirus that had already infected seven employees in Nevada by early May, but mining operations remained in full swing. Nobody has been laid off, and we have no intention of laying anyone off, said Greg Walker, executive managing director of Nevada Gold Mines, which is the joint venture of Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Corp., with Barrick as operator. Walker said of the employees testing positive for COVID-19, the first one had returned from Africa and tested positive in Elko after being back about a week. He worked at the Cortez Mine. His symptoms were very mild, and he was back to work after about 10 days, he said. In addition to the Cortez employee, there were three cases at the Phoenix Mine near Battle Mountain, one at the Carlin operations and two at the Turquoise Ridge Mine in Humboldt County, Walker said in a later interview. Any employee testing positive and quarantined must have a doctors approval to return to work, he said. NGM also has been in constant contact with the emergency organizations in Elko and other communities near where the joint venture operates, Walker said. Although restrictions began easing in Nevada in May, NGM took precautions beginning in March to protect workers and was continuing protective measures. One effort was to limit the number of underground miners on the elevator cages. The total number of employees being transported by a cage conveyance system to our underground mines varies by site. All of our mine sites that utilize this type of underground transportation system have reduced the number of employees per cage deck, and employees are encouraged to wear their respirators and gloves while traveling in the cage, NGM spokeswoman Natacia Eldridge said in an April 29 email. Walker outlined additional efforts NGM took as the coronavirus pandemic took hold to protect employees and their communities: A key social-distancing step NGM has taken is to limit the number of people riding a bus to a mine to 15 and using vans and large vehicles to transport others. Limiting the number also limits the people exposed if an employee contracts the coronavirus, Walker said. Usually there are 35 employees on each bus. Nevada Gold Mines took another unique step with the hiring of 75 people with health backgrounds who were currently not working due to medical-related business closures. They are working on a contract basis to monitor the temperatures of mine employees. All employees reporting for work have their temperatures checked, and they go through a screening that includes questions about symptoms, travel and contact with anyone who is known to have the coronavirus. If anyone shows symptoms, they must isolate themselves at home for 14 days, Walker said. Conferences that include more than 10 people are split up into video conferences in three different meeting rooms, so weve reduced the number of people in one room, Walker said. Safety meetings are sometimes held outside. We apply the six-foot distancing rule. Nonessential vendor visits are controlled, and the front door to the NGM office in Elko is locked. People must ring a bell, and the person they are seeing will meet them outside. People who arent in direct mining operations have been relocated to office space in Elko that keeps them separated. Some people have been relocated to the former Barrick Gold building that was left vacant after NGM combined functions into the former Newmont building, and some people are in an office across the road from the former Barrick building, Walker said. Employees who are at risk can work from home, he also said, including those with weakened immune systems or with families with weakened immune systems and pregnant employees. The last thing we want is for an employee to feel uncomfortable going to work. We give them the right to go into self-quarantine, Walker said. Hygiene is emphasized, with increased sanitation at facilities, and regular reminders to wash hands or use hand sanitizers. NGM also received a shipment of 40,000 masks. Those were made available to employees and a portion were donated to medical rescue people in the communities. Major maintenance projects that could involve as many as 500 contractors were postponed. NGM is covering deductible medical costs for testing and treatment related to COVID-19, and employees can use accrued leave in advance. If they are not working and not getting paid, the company will continue medical coverage, Walker said. Decisions on protecting employees where NGM operates are mainly up to Barrick as operator, but Newmont representatives also sit on the NGM board, and Walker said he keeps both the Barrick and Newmont chief executives regularly informed. SPRINGFIELD - The mayor and police commissioner are praising organizers and participants in Wednesdays Black Lives Matter demonstration for remaining peaceful and avoiding the violent clashes with police that marred similar protests in other cities. I commend the peaceful protesters, and believe that peaceful movements like this can help to lead to justice and reform across the nation, said Mayor Domenic Sarno. We heard your message, anger, and frustration, but commend you on keeping this protest peaceful, said Commissioner Cheryl C. Clapprood. Im grateful that this protest ended peacefully. An estimated 3,000 people packed into Pearl Street in front of Police Headquarters for several hours Wednesday after marching 3 miles from Central High School. It was the largest demonstration that anyone in the department can recall in Springfield in the last 30 years. According to police spokesman Ryan Walsh, there were no arrests or reports of violence at the rally, and no looting or vandalism, or any arrests or incidents of violence anywhere in the city overnight related to the demonstration. One man was shot on McKnight Street just before 7 p.m., roughly a mile away, during the heart of the rally. Police said the shooting was not related to the rally. The victim suffered a serious but not life-threatening injury, and detectives are investigating. Pressed up against a barricade fence demonstrators chanted, shouted and waved signs and banners that denounced police abuse and systemic racism. The perimeter line of officers standing a few feet away maintained order and did not react. In all, the demonstration lasted for 8 hours before finally winding down to the point where police could stand down at around midnight. A number of demonstrators remained in front of the police station overnight, and the very last person left just before 9 a.m. when her parents came to give her a ride home, Walsh said. Although the event was peaceful, police were prepared in case it wasnt. Hundreds of Springfield police, Massachusetts State Police, officers with the Hampden Sheriffs Department, and Massachusetts National Guard were on duty at the police station Guard members were also deployed at key locations on main streets and by high-visibility businesses in the event of looting, Walsh said. Those units stood down at around 4 a.m., he said. The deployment of personnel to the city to aid police was as large as at any time since the 2011 tornado response, Walsh said. The demonstrations nationwide are in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd during his arrest in Minneapolis for misdemeanor charges. Video of the arrest shows an officer restraining a handcuffed Floyd by pressing a knee into his neck for more than 8 minutes as three other officers stood by. All four officers have been fired, and are facing charges, including second-degree murder. In anticipation of the demonstration turning violent, Springfield police had hundreds of officers, state troopers, sheriffs department officers, and national guardsmen deployed to the city. The deployment of personnel to the city to aid police was as large as at any time since the 2011 tornado response, Walsh said. Clapprood and Sarno each expressed gratitude to the Governors office, the state police and the Hampden Sheriffs Department for sending personnel to aid in crowd control and security. They also thanked the Springfield police for their professionalism over the course of the demonstration. To those who participated in the demonstration, Clapprood said I just want to reiterate that police officers are as frustrated as you are when incidents like this happen across the county. Cities across the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington and Philadelphia, have over the past week seen similar protests marred by violent confrontations between police and protesters. Minneapolis has seen successive days of unrest and looting since the Floyd death, and the governor has called in thousands of national guardsmen to restore order. In Boston, 53 people were arrested and nine officers injured when a confrontation escalated at the end of a rally on the Boston Common. In Worcester, police used smoke canisters and pepperball rounds to disperse a crowd that had grown violent following a rally there. In Springfield, Sarno and Clapprood marched for a time alongside the protesters. Sarno said it was important to allow people the opportunity to demonstrate peacefully while protecting businesses and residents, and watching out for any outside negative individuals who infiltrated the crowd simply to cause violence and disruption. With the exception of a brief moment when officers in riot gear filed out of the police station, police avoided displays of militarization. The crowd, though vocal throughout, refrained from throwing objects or acting hostile toward police. At the end of the rally, the police department arranged for PVTA buses to shuttle people back to their cars at Central High School. The message from these peaceful protests came across loud and clear to honor George Floyd, Sarno said. Several groups of armed Casper residents patrolled downtown on Wednesday night following a day of protests against police brutality. The groups, which consisted of mostly men, were gathered throughout the downtown area. Some sat in front of businesses. Others lingered at David Street Station, where the march began hours earlier. The armed residents told a reporter they were not there to disrupt additional protests, but rather to protect downtown should things escalate. Josh Wheeler, a Wyoming candidate for U.S. Senate, stood armed with a long gun on a corner downtown among maybe five or six others, to be "better safe than sorry," he said. Wheeler supports the rights of protesters to demonstrate, but was worried that there was the potential that protesters from earlier in the day could return downtown and start damaging property. His largest concern was the threat of outside influences wanting to agitate things. All the protesters the Star-Tribune interviewed earlier said they were Casper residents. Otis Blume said the group was planning to hang out downtown just to observe and report, and step in if need be. A bunch of guys are worried about our town, Bloom said, pointing to the destruction that has occurred during protests in major cities across the U.S. in the last week. Although there were several groups of armed residents, they said they were entirely unrelated from one another and organized independently. All of the men the Star-Tribune spoke with Wednesday night said they were not affiliated with any organization, but rather just groups of friends all seemingly with the same idea. A variety of armed bystanders also attended the protest earlier in the day. Some were there to protect the rights of the protesters themselves, they said. Others wound up in verbal altercations with those marching for George Floyd. John Creamer, armed with a small handgun in a holster at his side, patrolled Second Street downtown Wednesday night dressed in a cutoff T-shirt with Freedom Chasers printed across the front. He was accompanied by a young man who was also armed with a larger firearm slung across his chest. People were making comments that after dark these businesses werent safe, Creamer said. A family in a white SUV pulled into a parking spot behind them, and a man and his daughter got out to thank the men for what they were doing, and to take a photo. A handful of others honked or yelled encouragement to the men as they passed from vehicles. Creamer said the businesses downtown have already struggled for three months, and property damage could ruin them. There were a lot of us who heard rumors things would be violent, he said, adding that hed had a brush with one hostile person earlier in the night. He said they were out to support "All Lives Matter." Buster Morgan, Shane Ogden and Rick McComsey stood amid a gathering of maybe 10 others near David Street Station, another group concerned about the potential for property damage downtown. Morgan and McComsey were both heavily armed -- Morgan carried a shotgun and shells belted across his chest. We dont care about politics, we just dont want anybody to get hurt, Morgan said. He said their group -- separate and organized independent of the others -- had been watching what was going on in cities across the U.S., and worried once night fell, thats where the bad element comes out. He added none of their group had real plans to use their weapons, but thought the firearms would be a powerful visual. Mostly this is just a show of force type of thing, Morgan said. If Im coming at you with a 12-gauge Mossberg (shotgun), youre probably going to run away. Ogden emphasized the group was not there to dissuade protesters, only property destruction. Were not protesting the protest, were protesting the riots, he said. McComsey added, Conflict is a last resort. Wednesday's protests attracted hundreds of people to downtown Casper. There were no reports of arrests and one report of property damage involving a protester punching the mirror of a truck. In the days leading up to the protest, rumors spread that antifa or other groups might loot and vandalize Casper. Those rumors turned out to be unfounded. Follow local government reporter Morgan Hughes on Twitter @morganhwrites Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 12 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. March 30, 1951June 1, 2020 June 1, 2020 the world lost a very special soul, Dr. Larry Martens, 69 years old. Cancer was Not on his bucket list. You knew him He was your family, He worked with you, He hugged you at a meeting, He held your hand at a visit and, most of all, He rode next to you on a Grand Motorcycle Adventure. Larry was born Laurence LeRoy Martens on March 30, 1951. Please, never call me Laurence, he would always say. Larry worked hard to put himself through College at Mankato State University. Larry then went on to Medical School, graduating with Honors from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1984. He finally settled in Twin Falls, Idaho where he worked and loved his job at Twin Falls Clinic and Hospital. Larry always said that his time at TFC&H was Real Doctoring, that those times and those people were the best. Larry loved being a Doctor. He enjoyed sitting with patients, holding their hands and being there for them. Eventually the new rules of how to treat patients took that passion of Real Doctoring away from him. But even at the end of his career, he did not want to retire. He said hed miss all of his patients way too much, that they were His and he couldnt let them go. Larry was happiest riding his Harleys. If he wasnt riding all over town, he was talking about riding all over the world! He rode across the U.S. on Route 66, from Oregon to Maine, down the Pacific Coast Highway and through the majority of the United States. He also rode most of the Canadian Provinces, Australia, Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, and Morocco. Larry was the jokester, and boy he loved a good jokeespecially if He was the one saying or doing it to someone. His unique sense of humor will always be included in stories of Larry for many years to come. My name is Rayna Martens and Larry has been my love and life for 18 years. He was my movie buddy, my best friend, my traveling companion, my Most Significant Other and eventually my Husband. Larry married me on a beautiful Spring day in May, for now and forever. Larry always said Family was most important to him. He told all of us last Christmas, I dont have a bunch of separate families; I have one very big family. In addition to his biological children; Alex (Tiffani) Martens of Twin Falls, Erica and Allison Martens of Twin Falls, Larry loved and adopted as his own Kayla Gepner (Michael Callen) of Redding , CA, Jerika (Joey) Touchette of Twin Falls and Lauren Gepner of Twin Falls. He was the Best Grampa to Marcus and Cyrus Callen of Redding, CA, along with Aden and Ilaria Touchette of Twin Falls, Idaho. Larry will also be missed by his mother, Judy Martens of Twin Falls, siblings Keith Martens of Nevada, Kristi Martens of Twin Falls, Bruce Martens of Minnesota, Barry (Jody) Martens of Wisconsin, Mike (Diane) Martens of California along with niece Madison and nephew Bobby. Grieving for Larry will also be his step-mother Dorothy Martens of Pelican Rapids Minnesota as well as numerous Cousins such as Peg Carbone, Brian and Marsha Miller, Ron Gabrielson and families. Larry made friends and family wherever he went, please forgive me for not naming them all as they are too numerous to mention here. Larry held a special place in his heart for his riding buddies, Cole Johnson and Terry and Sue Greene. Thank you for always being there for us, to help make adventures and funny stories that will be shared forever. To Larrys medical family; he cared about you all. Special shout out to Bekah Bishop and Cassi Whitaker who took such good care of him both in the office and at our home once the cancer took over our lives. I personally want to thank Dr. Warren Dopson for saving Larrys life in so many ways, as well as being a good friend to him. Dr. Dan Preucil, and Visions Hospice, thank you for supporting Larrys choices throughout his cancer journey. I want to thank you, the person reading about Larry Martens. You knew him; he has touched your life, made you laugh, and healed your soul. You knew him, and he always knew you. Larry did not want a sad funeral day; he wanted a Celebration of Life. He wanted people to gather to share stories and laughterits always about the stories for Larry. In keeping with Larrys wishes, there will be an informal gathering and viewing at the Reformed Church on Poleline on Saturday, June 6 from 3 to 5 p.m. Please come prepared to share stories about Larry and how he touched your life. The dress code will be casual, but please wear blue which is Larrys favorite color. You are welcome to bring a small token to send with Larry on his final Grand Adventure. Please remember to be mindful of other peoples feelings and social distance. Interment will be a private ceremony by invitation only. File Photo There is good news for drinkers as food delivery company Swiggy will now deliver alcohol to your home. A food delivery company called Swiggy has now started delivering alcohol as well. The service has been launched in four states and will soon be extended to other cities. Swiggy has started home delivery of liquor in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Kolkata. Advertisement PhotoThe company plans to launch the service in other cities in the state soon. The company said in a statement that Swiggy was using its existing technology and logistics to meet social distance and other guidelines. A spokesman for the company said that the decision has been taken by Swiggy with the intention of reducing the crowds at the shops in the lockdown. "After a successful start in Jharkhand and Odisha, we have now started home delivery of liquor in West Bengal," he said. The company has partnered with authorized retailers in major cities after scrutinizing the licenses and other necessary documents as per the directions of the state government. Advertisement Photo According to the spokesperson, the company is working closely with the West Bengal government to provide grocery and essentials to the needy in Kolkata on lockdown. In order to avail this service, customers will have to upload their age, identity card and their photo. At the same time, limits have been set on orders so that customers do not place more orders. FAIRFAX, VA More than a thousand people, almost all of them wearing protective masks, gathered at the Fairfax County Government Center Wednesday to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the crackdown of protesters across the nation. The people at the protest spoke of peace but expressed defiance in their signs and words against police violence across the nation against black people. Fairfax County police were not wearing riot gear. They were not yelling at protesters. They weren't there in large numbers. The only time police officers went on alert was when they went to help a young man who fell ill from heat exhaustion. The Fairfax County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People organized the demonstration, described as the Justice for Black Lives car rally. Organizers estimated that at least 500 vehicles showed up in the parking lot at the headquarters of the Fairfax County government. Many people also walked from nearby areas to the government headquarters building. Speaking to the diverse crowd, Sean Perryman, president of the Fairfax County NAACP, criticized leaders' failure to adequately address police violence as well the coronavirus crisis. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and President Donald Trump "have proven themselves incapable of responding to these crises," he said. Perryman also wondered why only a few weeks ago the government was unable to provide medical workers and the public with enough personal protective equipment or sufficient testing as the coronavirus ravaged the nation, especially African American communities. "They couldn't get financial assistance for the 40 million unemployed," Perryman told the crowd. "But now, they've got endless supplies of tear gas and rubber bullets and any manner of weapon you can imagine." The crowd was filled with young and old people, black and white. Parents and their teenage children were attendance in large numbers, many participating in their first-ever protest. Jason Koduah, who is finishing his junior year at South Lakes High School in Reston, told Patch that he attended the rally to make sure political leaders know they need to listen to African American voices. Story continues Jason Koduah, left, and his family attend a rally against police violence Wednesday evening at the Fairfax County Government Center. (Mark Hand/Patch) "We shouldn't have to face such police brutality and fear for our lives whenever we step outside of our homes," Koduah said. The 16-year-old said the aggressive response by police agencies across the country to protesters "shows how broken our system is and how the culture within our police forces is wrong and urgently we need change." "It's sad that when we use our First Amendment rights that we get hurt for it and punished for just doing what we're allowed to do," he said. "As they continue to try and scare us and bully us, we have to show more solidarity and unity and show up even more to let both the police and Trump know that we're not going to back down until we're heard and changes are made." In his speech, Perryman said many people may be surprised the NAACP invited Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. to speak at the rally. "That man is not my enemy. The police are not my enemy," Perryman emphasized. "My enemy is injustice. The enemy is systematic racism." Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. speaks Wednesday at the Justice for Black Lives rally at the Fairfax County Government Center. (Mark Hand/Patch) In his comments, Roessler said the Fairfax County Police Department has worked hard to improve its relationship with the community. He noted that the county has a Police Civilian Review Panel that provides a layer of independent oversight of the police department The panel reviews completed FCPD investigations into complaints containing allegations of abuse of authority or serious misconduct. In an interview with Patch, Perryman said the FCPD is slightly more progressive than police agencies in surrounding jurisdictions. "But they are far from perfect," he said. "Like most police departments, they are nervous about oversight and we need to make sure that we have accountability so that people have faith in the system." Sonia Myrick, who lives in Reston, attended the rally with her son, who goes to South Lakes High School, and her daughter, who just graduated from George Mason University. Reston resident Sonia Myrick, right, and her children attend the Justice for Black Lives rally Wednesday evening at the Fairfax County Government Center. (Mark Hand/Patch) "I'm out today because of the injustice and I'm just tired, exhausted that we're having to do this all over again," Myrick told Patch. "I never thought in 2020 that we would be dealing with this and my children would have to be dealing with this. I just want to make sure something actually changes this time around." ALSO READ: This article originally appeared on the Fairfax City Patch Protesters in Baltimore, Maryland, are taking to the streets in support of a black man who died in police custody more than a thousand miles away. Baltimore is no stranger to protest even rioting after its own troubles with alleged police brutality. A Swiss bishop has appointed a lay woman to a leadership post previously held by a priest in a move she says represents a "small step" for women in the Catholic Church that doesn't clash with church law. The appointment of Marianne Pohl-Henzen, a mother of three, as an "episcopal delegate" in the diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg has raised eyebrows in some arch-conservative corners, in part because she will also be joining Bishop Charles Morerod's episcopal council, the main governance advisory body which is traditionally made up of priests and bishops. Conservatives are particularly sensitive to any moves involving women in decision-making roles usually reserved for men, fearing they could amount to a slippery slope toward ordaining women priests. Church leaders in Switzerland insist Pohl-Henzen's role as "episcopal delegate" for the German-speaking part of the Fribourg canton, or region, will be different from that of her predecessor - a priest who had been "episcopal vicar." Under church law, an "episcopal vicar" is an ordained priest whose main task is to help the bishop govern a part of his diocese, including with authority over priests. Pohl-Henzen, who had been the vicar's No. 2 for years, is simply rising to the top job Aug. 1. She says she obviously won't carry out key religious duties that only a priest could. "It's a small step," she said in an interview. "If others steps happen when it comes to women in the church, it will be through men first. For example, perhaps the requirement of the celibacy of priests will fall. The next step could be women as deacons. And maybe far, far later, women as priests." "But we know many people don't want that to happen so we cannot push much," she added. "We need to take it step by step." Catholic doctrine reserves the priesthood for men, and church tradition requires Latin rite priests to be celibate. Like many countries in western Europe, Switzerland has seen a steady collapse in the number of Catholic priestly vocations, with fewer than a dozen new diocesan priests ordained each year for the past several years, according to Vatican statistics. Morerod said his move was really about letting "priests do the job of priests" and outsourcing administrative matters to a layperson _ whether a man or a woman. In a phone interview, Morerod said he hadn't received any "reproach" from the Vatican over Pohl-Henzen's appointment. Pohl-Henzen noted some "not very flattering" comments about Morerod after her appointment announced last month, but said many in her community have congratulated her over it. Some conservative and traditionalist Catholic commentators in Italy and the United States have claimed that the appointment is ambiguous, since she apparently will be doing the work of a vicar but with a different title. The Rev. Robert Gahl, a moral theologian at the Opus Dei-run Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome, said the title change is crucial, and Morerod clearly is not making her a vicar. "Marianne Pohl-Henzen seems to have proven her capabilities in bridging diverse language groups that sometimes have conflicts," he said by e-mail, adding "It's wonderful that she has the confidence of the bishop." Gahl said her appointment to the episcopal council was also to be welcomed, saying it brings "the possibility to offer a new perspective." Conservatives' fear has been heightened because of a push in neighboring Germany to open up even more leadership roles to women and an official dialogue process that began earlier this year between Germany's bishops and a powerful lay group that is demanding change. Even traditionally Catholic France is seeing women increasingly protest their second-class status in the church, fueled in part by the clergy sexual abuse and cover-up scandal. In Lyon, Anne Soupa has made a splash with her unprecedented, symbolic, and admittedly impossible bid to take up the post of archbishop left vacant after the resignation of former Cardinal Philippe Barbarin. He was convicted, then acquitted, of covering up for a pedophile priest. Barbarin resigned anyway, saying it was time for change, and Pope Francis accepted the resignation in January. "My candidacy is not for me, it's so that other women can take this opportunity and apply," Soupa said. "So that tomorrow, other women can say 'I could be bishop, I could be nuncio, I could be priest, I could be deacon.'" "I think there is a blindness problem inside the Catholic Church," she added by video call. "Canon law has been written by men and for men, and it's inconceivable to put women in it. And we are not even given the freedom to think that it could be different." Soupa has no chance, since the church's in-house law and centuries of doctrine says only ordained priests can be bishops and archbishops, since bishops must trace their lineage to Christ's original apostles. In addition, one doesn't campaign to be a bishop, since the vetting process is conducted in secret and directed by the Vatican's ambassador in consultation with the country's bishops, for a final decision by the pope. Francis, for his part, has insisted women should be given greater decision-making roles in church governance. He has recently reconstituted a study commission on whether women can be ordained deacons, but he has upheld the ban on women priests and counts no women among his top advisers. Someone forged the will of the missing husband of Carole Baskin, a woman prominently featured in Netflixs Tiger King" documentary series, a Florida sheriff said. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told 10 Tampa Bay on Tuesday that two experts had confirmed the will of Jack Don Lewis is a forgery. Lewis disappeared in 1997 and was declared dead in 2002. The millionaire's will left most of his estate, including a private Tampa zoo that would eventually become Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary, to Baskin, cutting out his children from a previous marriage. BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hungary's president on Thursday stressed the need for mutual respect between Hungary and neighboring countries where some 2 million ethnic Hungarians live following a post-World War I peace treaty signed exactly 100 years ago. At the same time, Janos Ader spoke of Hungarians' right to keep unaltered their spiritual borders, despite the changes on the real map, and stressed the need to rectify" the damage from the treaty. Hungary was on the losing side in the war and was stripped of over two-thirds of its territory, populated by some 3.3 million ethnic Hungarians, after the June 4, 1920, Treaty of Trianon signed in the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles, France. The fate of the ethnic Hungarian minorities in countries like Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine was a taboo issue during the roughly four decades of Hungary's communist regime that ended in 1990, when it regained attention. Since his return to power in 2010, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has prioritized support and advocacy for the roughly 2 million ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries, and for the rest of the Hungarian diaspora around the world. No one can dispute our right to work, given that the nations geographical borders have changed, for the nation's spiritual borders to remain unchanged, Ader said during a special parliamentary session. In separate speeches, Ader and parliament speaker Laszlo Kover also talked about the 100-year-old grievances felt by Hungarians because of Trianon, especially the perceived anti-Hungarian bias during negotiations leading to the treaty and the disproportionately large number of Hungarians who suddenly found themselves as minorities in other countries. Hungary, then a kingdom in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was one of the Central Powers led by Germany which lost the 1914-1918 war to an alliance led by Britain and France, and joined later by the United States. We respect our neighbors but we ask them to also respect us and the Hungarians living in their countries, Ader said. We have to work for each other, not against each other." Story continues We have to rectify what the (WWI victors) damaged, he added. If we do so, the curse of Trianon will be removed from us. At the same time, Ader said Hungarians will not be partners in suppression, in falsifying history, in the denial of Hungarians living outside the motherland." Long-standing disputes about the Hungarian minorities rights,mostly regarding education and the use of their mother tongue, have flared up in recent years, especially with Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. "On the other hand, we will be partners in candid talk, in taking advantage of the historical opportunities, in strengthening ties between Hungarians and Hungarians and between Hungarians and those of other nationalities, Ader said. Thanks to legal changes promoted by Orban's government, since 2011 some 1.1 million ethnic Hungarians, mostly living in neighboring countries, have received Hungarian citizenship, including the right to vote in Hungary's national elections. In the 2018 parliamentary election, over 95% of the votes from neighboring countries were for Orban's Fidesz party. In Budapest, public transport will halt for one minute Thursday afternoon to mark the Trianon anniversary. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Most children with rare genetic diseases spend years undergoing medical tests and waiting for a diagnosisa long, exhausting process that takes its toll on children and their families. Almost half of these children never get a definitive diagnosis. Now an international team led by scientists and clinicians from the University of Colorado, University of Calgary, and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has developed a prototype tool based on three-dimensional (3-D) facial imaging that could shorten that diagnostic odyssey by making it easier for clinicians to diagnose genetic syndromes. "Families tell us having a diagnosis for their child's rare disease is life-changing," said Benedikt Hallgrimsson, Ph.D., professor and head of the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, and scientific director (basic science) at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. "A diagnosis is essential to children getting the right treatments and connecting with other children and families with the same syndrome." Most developmental genetic syndromes affect multiple organ systems, and clinical geneticists have long relied on distinctive facial features as an important guide to diagnosis. In a new study published online in Genetics in Medicine on June 1, 2020, the research team created a unique library of 3-D facial images of participants of diverse ages and ethnicities, including 3327 children and adults with 396 different genetic syndromes, 727 of their unaffected relatives and 3003 other unaffected individuals from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The secure database is hosted by FaceBase, an international consortium funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The researchers then used this secure database to train a machine learning algorithm to identify most of the genetic syndromes included in the dataset with moderate-to-high accuracy. Based on facial shape, 96 percent of study subjects could be correctly classified as either unaffected or having a syndrome, and for most, the algorithm was able to provide a prioritized list of likely diagnoses with high accuracy. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a rapid shift to telemedicine by genetics clinics, including those at UCSF, University of Colorado, and University of Calgary, but the study team says the field still lacks tools to replace many aspects of the in-person physical exam. The automated diagnostic approach developed in this study could extend the ability of clinical geneticists to diagnose patients without requiring travel to a specialized clinic. It could also help general practitioners without genetic training to home in on potential diagnoses, enabling them to connect patients with appropriate specialty care and community support. "Clinical genetics is labor-intensive," said Ophir Klein, MD, Ph.D., the Larry L. Hillblom Distinguished Professor in Craniofacial Anomalies and the Charles J. Epstein Professor of Human Genetics at UCSF, where he is chief of the Division of Medical Genetics. "Some clinics have a two-year waiting list to get in. Using 3-D imaging could dramatically enhance clinicians' ability to diagnose children more quickly and inexpensively." The researchers emphasize that the current study represents an important proof-of-concept for facilitating genetic diagnoses, but further work is required to deploy a clinically available, privacy-protected tool. Currently, the approach relies on expensive 3-D cameras, but this is expected to change with advances in smart-phone camera technology. "We have designed a prototype with significant potential to become a clinical tool around the world," said Richard Spritz, MD, professor of Pediatrics and director of the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Our hope is that one day soon, our patients can securely take a photo of their face with a smart phone and send it to their doctor for analysis in a confidential database." Added Hallgrimsson, "In low-income countries where genetic testing and medical geneticists aren't available, this could become a transformational new tool." Explore further A new facial analysis method detects genetic syndromes with high precision and specificity More information: Benedikt Hallgrimsson et al, Automated syndrome diagnosis by three-dimensional facial imaging, Genetics in Medicine (2020). Journal information: Genetics in Medicine Benedikt Hallgrimsson et al, Automated syndrome diagnosis by three-dimensional facial imaging,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41436-020-0845-y China's financial institutions extended the repayment of principal and interest on loans of 1.3 trillion yuan (about US$183 billion) for small businesses from January 25 to May 15, the country's top banking regulator said Wednesday. Banks have also provided relending funds of 1.9 trillion yuan to micro-, small- and medium-sized companies hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a statement on the website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. In a bid to help small businesses, China has adopted a slew of measures to reduce financing costs, such as letting them delay repayment of principal and interest as well as encouraging lenders to increase credit lines. In the next step, lenders across the country will allow small businesses to further delay repayment of principal and interest and provide them more comprehensive and targeted financial services, the statement said. 'Zangezur corridor' will unite Turkic world, says Azerbaijan presidential office official Armenia FM highlights need for full resumption of Karabakh peace talks Singer Robbie Williams to sell three of Banksy's works Armenia ex-defense minister: In our time it was shame to immediately turn to CSTO in case of Azerbaijan provocations UN General Assembly head calls for peace during Beijing Olympics Armenia Tourism Committee has new chairperson Lavrov: Priority today is to start Azerbaijan-Armenia border delimitation, demarcation process UK considering sending hundreds of additional troops to Ukraine's neighbors American cult actor and rock musician Meat Loaf dies aged 75 Warships of Russia, Iran and China work out counteraction to maritime piracy Armenia first deputy minister of justice dismissed Roma congratulate Mkhitaryan Israeli defense minister tests positive for COVID-19 Karabakh conflict resumption likelihood is moderate, its impact on US interests is low, report says Liverpool set new record Antonio Guterres thinks Russia will not invade Ukraine Azerbaijan ambassador to Russia hastens to sweeten the sediment of statement by US embassy in Baku Virgil Abloh's latest collection for Louis Vuitton presented in Paris (VIDEO) IS fighters attack army barracks in mountainous area north of Baghdad, killing 11 soldiers Sputnik V more effective against Omicron strain than Pfizer Mourinho says he has no intention to move to Everton Thomas de Waal: Will Armenia and Turkey be able to normalize relations after 3rd attempt? Armenia Security Council secretary, visiting EU delegation discuss situation on border with Azerbaijan Foreign ministers of Israel and Turkey have talk for 1st time in 13 years Fly Arna shareholders appoint companys Board of Directors 628 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan turns 33 CSTO chief: Necessary to work on Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation, demarcation FBI search congressman's home in connection with Azerbaijan probe Pamela Anderson splitting with bodyguard husband of one year Newspaper: Armenia PM again goes way of black and white Newspaper: Scenario devised after war to be implemented in Artsakh EU Special Representative for South Caucasus arrives in Armenia Copa del Rey: Barca are out Coppa Italia: Roma reach quarterfinals, Mkhitaryan plays 100th match and makes assist EFL Cup: Liverpool make it to the final Africa Cup of Nations: Mali, Gambia, Tunisia advance to playoffs Copa del Rey: Real reach quarterfinals Armenian Noah hosts representatives of Spanish Celta Quake hits Armenia: 28 km northwest of Jermuk Crete island lighthouse illuminated with colors of Armenian tricolor Aurora Humanitarian Initiative to allocate $500,000 to projects in Artsakh Sajid Javid: Britain must learn to live with COVID-19, it could be with us forever Erdogan suggests Putin and Zelensky meet face to face EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus meets Aliyev Mariam Mkrtchyan becomes chess champion of Armenia US imposes sanctions on Ukrainians related to 'Russian harmful foreign activities' Sabah: Ankara refuses to hold next Armenian-Turkish meeting in a third country US general discusses regional security and bilateral cooperation in Armenia Secret graves of alleged protesters discovered in Almaty Armenian side members to Armenian-American Intergovernmental Commission confirmed Juventus ready to sell De Ligt for 65 million euros WHO advises countries to lift or ease international travel restrictions Bed scene with Lady Gaga and Salma Hayek was cut from House of Gucci US sanctions against Vladimir Putin, Ruben Vardanian and members of the Russian government Armenian Foreign Ministry discusses Mirzoyan's participation in Turkey forum Thailand to resume non-quarantine travel scheme from February 1 Mr. Martirosyan, how do you assess Winte Olimpic, in the context of global pandemic, when a few countries have announced that they will participate in the Beijing Winter Olympic Instagram introduces paid subscription feature NEWS.am daily digest: 20.01.22 Europe considers new strategy to combat COVID-19 How to get rid of sugar addiction? Al Nassr want to buy Aubameyang Norwegian prosecutors refuse release Anders Breivik, 2011 mass murderer Netflix shows first shots from new season of Bridgertons Erdogan urges Turks to sell foreign currency for liras Azerbaijan not yet returned about 300 sheep of Armenia villager Media: Israeli President thinks about visiting Turkey Dollar quite stable in Armenia Trade turnover between Ukraine and Armenia increases by 24% Armenia legislature speaker meets with of International Republican Institute president, and director for Eurasia Kremlin does not exclude new call between Putin and Biden EU Special Representative for South Caucasus to soon visit Armenia, Azerbaijan State Duma discusses work of biolaboratories near Russia's borders US lawmakers to parliament speaker: Armenian POWs must be returned to their homeland immediately Security Council chief: Armenia expects OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to visit region Armenia government does not approve plan to considerably raise minimum wage Manchester United to buy Aston Villa midfielder Turkish FM: Armenian representatives invited to diplomatic forum in Antalya Twitter suspends Mexican billionaire's account over offensive behavior Armenian PM says Omicron strain is slowly spreading Technical supplier of VAR system in Armenia to be Hawk eye company Azerbaijan says it supports launching border delimitation process with Armenia with no conditions Zakharova speaks on Aliyev's visit to Kyiv Zakharova does not comment on Azerbaijan president's threats against France presidential candidate for her Artsakh visit Memory problems even after mild COVID-19 experience Cavusoglu: Steps to increase mutual trust will be discussed at next meeting with Armenia John Malkovich not allowed hotel because of invalid COVID-19 certificate US gives go-ahead to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send missiles and other American-made weapons to Ukraine Zakharova: Russia, as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, supports continuation of work in this format Cyber attack on Red Cross: data of over 515,000 people compromised Pashinyan: UK has been strong partner of newly independent Armenia Israel hopes UN will unanimously condemn Holocaust denial Armenia, Ukraine depositories sign memorandum of cooperation Azerbaijan advises Armenia to correctly assess the new geopolitical realities and draw conclusions Australia, UK to fight back against cyberattacks from China, Russia and Iran Protesting residents of Armenias Parakar community march to territorial administration ministry Armenia government approves protocol on implementation of readmission agreement with Lithuania Iran suspends gas supplies to Turkey MFA: Armenia has no preconditions for border delimitation WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps effort to use a military response to nationwide protests led to an extraordinary rupture with both his current and former secretaries of defense Wednesday, with one rejecting use of active-duty troops against protesters and the other accusing Trump of ordering the military to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens. The statement by former Defense Secretary James N. Mattis was without precedent, and the effects on Trump are likely to be far-reaching. Mattis, who resigned as defense secretary in late 2018, denounced Trump for his actions on Monday, in which the president walked through Lafayette Park near the White House to pose in front of a church after protesters had been driven from the park by police and military units, firing tear gas. As a young Marine, Mattis wrote, he swore an oath to defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside, he wrote in the statement, published by The Atlantic magazine. He later described him as a threat to the Constitution. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us, Mattis writes. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort." Mattis words came just hours after current Defense Secretary Mark Esper told a Pentagon news conference that he opposed using active-duty troops against protesters, saying it should be done only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now, Esper said. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act, which Trump had threatened to use to send troops into cities where state and local officials have not quelled unrest. White House officials emphasized Tuesday that Trump still may call on active-duty troops to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., and other cities if the protests continue. Espers comments could also leave him on shaky ground with Trump, who often forces out officials who disagree with him publicly. Trump and other top White House officials were not happy with Espers comments, a senior Trump aide said, saying they added to the frustration with him. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany offered a notably lukewarm response Wednesday when asked if Trump still has confidence in Esper. As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, she said, noting that should things change the press would be the first to know. She also said the president has the sole authority to invoke the Insurrection Act and that the move is still being considered. Until Wednesday, Esper had seemed closely in sync with Trump. When he joined the presidents Monday call with governors, he urged them to dominate the battlespace, using a military term that many governors said was unsuited to a law enforcement task. Espers move prompted quick and harsh criticism from many former Defense Department officials and retired senior officers who said that the Pentagon chief was straying into politics. Such a move might also draw the military more deeply into a controversial domestic law enforcement role. He and Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, later joined Trump on a walk through Lafayette Park that evening to a church near the White House after police and Guard soldiers used pepper spray and other forceful tactics to push back what appeared to be nonviolent protesters. But a senior defense official said Esper found himself in a no-win situation after trying to navigate between the need to publicly support Trump and to lead a department that prefers to keep clear of domestic involvement and politics. Are there officers who were uncomfortable with the prospect that their soldiers would be ordered onto the streets with orders to crack down on the Americans protesting racial injustice? Very much so, said a senior military commander, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. Did some express their views up the chain that sending in troops was a bad idea. Yes. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a retired Army officer and a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank that favors limited use of the armed forces, said, Law enforcement and the National Guard receive training for domestic crowd-control operations and are experienced in the local conditions necessary to keep protesters safe while preventing the proliferation of violence. Active duty troops, however, are trained primarily to kill the enemy in war zones. Esper also faced criticism from retired senior military officers and former Defense Department officials, some of whom said he had stepped over the proper line for a defense secretary in his earlier backing of Trump advocacy of a military response. You may not have been able to stop President Trump from directing this appalling use of force, but you could have chosen to oppose it. Instead you visibly supported it, James N. Miller, a former senior Pentagon official wrote to Esper Tuesday in a letter resigning from a Defense Department advisory board. I must now ask: if last nights blatant violations do not cross the line for you, what will? Esper also faces quiet but mounting opposition from retired senior officers, who say they are uncomfortable with the more prominent role the U.S. military is playing in tamping down protests. I remain confident in the professionalism of our men and women in uniform, retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush wrote this week in The Atlantic. But I am less confident in the soundness of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief. So far only National Guard troops have been deployed against protesters in cities and states across the country, which is permitted under federal law as long as they are under state control. Trump quickly turned to the military after riots erupted in Minnesota and many other states after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes, resulting in his death. In a call between Trump and governors on Monday, Esper urged states to dominate the battlespace to put down protests. Among other steps, Esper also ordered approximately 1,600 active-duty troops near Washington, so they would be in place in case Trump invoked the Insurrection Act. The fallout from those moves led Esper and Pentagon aides to backtrack as criticism of his role mounted in recent days. In an interview with NBC News on Tuesday night, Esper said he was given no notice before Trump led him and other senior administration officials to the church near Lafayette Park for a widely criticized photo opportunity. Esper told reporters he believed they were going to observe the vandalized public bathroom in Lafayette Square. I did know that, following the presidents remarks on Monday evening, that many of us were going to join President Trump and review the damage in Lafayette Park, and at St. Johns Episcopal Church, Esper said Wednesday. What I was not aware of was exactly where we were going, when we arrived at the church, and what the plans were once we got there. Esper said he also regretted using the term battlespace this week to describe areas gripped by protests. In retrospect, I would use different wording so as not to distract from the more important matters at hand or allow some to suggest that we are militarizing the issue, he said. Esper strongly criticized the actions of Minneapolis police, in whose custody George Floyd died after an officer held his knee to Floyds neck for several minutes. Esper called the act murder and a horrible crime. David S. Cloud of the Los Angeles Times wrote this story. 2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. MASSY, France, June 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- iObeya, the leader in Digital Visual Management, has announced the successful release of a new version of its software. Highlighted by the current social context and the need for business continuity in large organizations, iObeya helps organizations to uphold their Lean and Agile events and rituals in a remote work environment to increase efficiency and thrive. Already leading in the four pillars of Visual Management: Lean Enterprise, Industry 4.0, Agile@Scale and Digital Workplace, this new version of iObeya reinforces its advantages in industrial performance management and Agility at Scale for remote or co-located teams. iObeya is helping to build the factory of the future with its QCD module, designed to improve operational excellence systems by digitizing SQCDP-type performance management. A key feature of this new version is the consolidation of performance indicators. Thanks to an intuitive configuration, indicators are automatically and instantaneously aggregated at all levels of the Operational Excellence System to accelerate problem analysis and escalation. Operations management becomes simpler, more accurate and faster through automated KPI reporting, allowing the entire production chain to be more responsive, and resulting in significant increases in quality and productivity. iObeya also provides a Visual Management framework dedicated to Scaled Agile, fully integrating with Jira and optimized to support the deployment of SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). Key new features of this new version, such as bi-directional synchronization and visualization of dependencies between JIRA tasks, allow co-located or remote teams to focus better and achieve better outcomes from their Agile rituals such as daily scrums, PI Plannings or Retrospectives. As an accelerator of the digital, strategic and cultural transformations of large companies, iObeya continues to position itself as the pioneer and leader of Digital Visual Management, focused on the performance of large organizations and their new ways of working. About iObeyaiObeya Visual Management solution, recently certified ISO 27001 [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iobeya-aims-for-exc...] for Information Security Management, offers Lean and Agile companies the most life-like and immersive user experience possible for a seamless transition from paper to Digital Visual Management. To learn more, visit our website (www.iobeya.com [https://bit.ly/3cMyCzF]), follow iObeya on Twitter @iObeya [https://twitter.com/iObeya] and Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/company/iobeya/]. Logo -- https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1078455/iObeya_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1078455/iObeya_Logo.jpg] Press Inquiries:Libby Noal press@iobeya.com[mailto:press@iobeya.com] CONTACT: +33 (0)1 60-13-77-30 / for US +1 (646) 568 - 5289 Web site: https://www.iobeya.com// Connecticut protests remained peaceful Wednesday, as activists took to the streets in Danbury, briefly shutting both side of Interstate 84, and protesters met with officers on the steps of the New Haven Police Department where only days before tensions boiled over. In Danbury, demonstrators followed a planned march from the library to the city police department, where Mayor Mark Boughton and Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour addressed the protesters. Another group of protesters made their way onto I-84, where State Police shut down both lanes of travel. In New Haven, a throng of activists carrying signs that read Black Lives Matter and say their names marched to the steps of the New Haven Police Department while singing We Shall Overcome. Chief Otoniel Reyes knelt with protesters and spoke with them in an open forum where on Sunday demonstrators had been met with riot shields and pepper spray when a group tried to rush inside. Among those hit was Brad MacDowall, a member of Hamdens town council, who pushed back Wednesday against Reyes defense of the tactic earlier in the week, calling it garbage. The protests in Connecticut cities came as authorities in Minneapolis upgraded the charges against Derek Chauvin, the white police officer filmed pressing his knee into the back of Floyds neck for more than eight minutes before his death. Authorities are now charging Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department on May 26, with second-degree murder, and three other officers who stood by have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. The Memorial Day video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck sparked protests across the U.S. that are now in their second week, including violent clashes between demonstrators and police in several major cities. But despite instances of police using pepper spray in Bridgeport on Saturday and in New Haven on Sunday in both cases, after protesters tried to enter a police station Connecticut municipalities have been spared the violent clashes seen in New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., among other places. After protesters shut down a section of I-84 between exits 5 and 4 Wednesday, Danbury police sent their armored truck to the scene after reports of motorists being assaulted, Ridenhour said. The team inside never left the vehicle, he said. A video posted to Facebook showed a woman standing among the protesters arguing with a driver on the highway out of frame, before taking a photo of the vehicle with her phone and walking away. State police said a crowd of around 500 people closed the highway for about one hour before the people were dispersed without any arrests, property damage or injuries. In New Haven, police offered up to $5,000 in reward money Tuesday after two police substations on Winchester Avenue and Howard Avenue were hit with Molotov cocktails Monday morning. More demonstrations are planned as the week unfolds. A New Canaan rally planned for Wednesday was postponed due to weather concerns, and will now be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, starting at Saxe Middle School. In Bethel, state Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan and First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker plan to hold a candlelight vigil on the towns green beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday. In Derby, organizers plan to hold a unity rally on the green beginning at 7 p.m. Friday. Meanwhile, Bridgeports city council introduced a resolution Wednesday, seeking to ban knee and choke holds by police officers, as West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi and the Guilford and Hamden police departments issued statements condemning Floyds death. We understand that we can and must do better. With the assistance from the communities we represent, we must pledge to continue to train and educate ourselves to be the best that we can be, Hamden police Capt. Ronald Smith said in a statement. This endeavor will be a continuous work in progress. Pakistan for the first time conducted over 20,000 tests in the past 24 hours Health officials in protective gear take a sample from a man at a screening and testing facility for COVID-19 in Peshawar, Pakistan. (AP) Islamabad: Pakistan reported a record single-day spike in coronavirus-related deaths with 82 new fatalities and 4,688 cases that it says resulted from increased testing in the past 24 hours. Pakistans outbreak has grown steadily since the countrys first case in February. Since then, 1,770 people have died and 85,264 have tested positive. As many as 901 patients were listed in critical condition at hospitals Thursday. The country has barely 3,000 intensive care beds serving a population of 220 million. Pakistan for the first time conducted over 20,000 tests in the past 24 hours. It has done more than 615,000 tests after increasing its testing capacity from only two labs in February. The spike comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan eased lockdown restrictions over experts recommendations to maintain them to prevent the spread of the virus. Authorities have blamed people not adhering to social distancing regulations for the growing outbreak. The journey of New Zealands high quality nutritious food from farmer to fork is what drives Agcarms horticultural scholarship winner, Alexandra Tomkins in her goal to be a leader in food production. The Massey University student is in her third year of a Bachelor of AgriCommerce degree and will put her winnings towards her student loan, which she says is fairly daunting. Growing up in New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand before finishing her school studies in New Zealand, Alexandra says that, as New Zealanders, we dont realise how good our produce is that high quality is the norm. Alexandra intends to share New Zealands story and encourage the food industry to be more consumer-centric and sustainable. Im passionate about the New Zealand primary industries; putting our high quality and nutritious products on the world stage. She would like to be a leader in New Zealands food production industry, encouraging the industry to be even more consumer driven, producing high quality products sustainably, and sharing the New Zealand story. Im particularly interested in supply chain management and logistics; getting a product from the farm gate to final consumers around the world. Her interest in horticulture was ignited when living in Asia for six of her schooling years. Seeing NZ quality horticultural products in supermarkets, particularly kiwifruit, sparked my interest in the NZ primary industries and horticulture, she says. Once she returned to New Zealand, living in the Bay of Plenty for the last two years of high school, she was exposed to the large scale of the kiwifruit industry. She witnessed first-hand the drive of growers to place quality horticultural products in household fruit bowls all over the globe. She also became aware of the ability of technology and data management to shape the future of horticulture and increase production efficiency. Horticulture has huge growth potential and many opportunities, but this comes with challenges - seasonal labour shortages, increasing demand for land, water restrictions, increasing policy standards, plastic packaging, climate change, and a growing urban-rural divide. Overcoming these challenges is no small task which will require constant collaboration, she says. At 20, Alexandra already has several accolades behind her. In January, she went to Thailand as part of a Prime Ministers Scholarship for Asia AgriBusiness study trip and, last year, participated in the inaugural industry funded International Horticulture Immersion Programme (IHIP) study trip to Europe and Korea. This, she says, exposed her to the sophistication of international horticulture from advanced growing technologies, cutting edge plant breeding, and the huge scale of horticulture. Visiting the Zespri Europe head office and the Antwerp port distribution centre for ENZA apples, I was exposed to the offshore supply chain of NZ apples and kiwifruit. An excursion with Zespri Korea around Seoul allowed her to see the whole supply chain from re-pack, retail, marketing, and consumer insight. The IHIP trip gave me a new perspective on global horticulture and NZs position as leading fruit producers. Alexandra was selected as a Massey Business School Future Leaders scholar to develop her leadership skills. She is the President of the Massey Horticulture Society and last year won the academic section of the inaugural Massey Rural Student of the Year. Most recently, the eager student was selected as an emerging leader contributor for the KPMG 2020 Food & Fibre Agenda roundtable discussion. Agcarm chief executive Mark Ross says that the association is proud to support such a dedicated, enthusiastic, bright and bubbly person, and believes that she will do well as a leader in the industry. Its rewarding to see such enthusiasm for horticulture and we wish Alexandra every success in her chosen path, he says. A coalition of Black and racialized activists are calling on the citys leadership to defund the Hamilton Police Service for what they say is state sanctioned anti-Black racism that continues to be a threat in the community. It was one of several demands made by the local organizers through a stream of videos on Twitter, broadcasted live from institutions across Hamilton on Tuesday including city hall, police headquarters and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board office. The Hamilton organizers borrowed the Twitter account of Black Lives Matter Toronto, which boasts more than 28,000 followers, to amplify their message. In addition to defunding the police, the group is calling on the end of ticketing and surveilling homeless and disabled people, the halt of weapons purchases for police and a freeze on all hiring of constables. Theyre asking that the funds spent on policing budgeted at roughly $172 million for 2020 be redirected to initiatives such as food security, housing and anti-racism strategies. The calls come in light of recent events in the U.S. and Canada, such as the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on him for nearly nine minutes straight in Minneapolis, and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who died after falling from her Toronto highrise balcony in the presence of police officers. Her death is currently under investigation by the provinces Special Investigations Unit, while Floyds death has been a rallying point for widespread protests across the U.S. We are here because police continue to murder Black and Indigenous people. We are here because state sanctioned anti-Blackness continues to be a threat, stated an online letter that lists the demands. Because Black and Indigenous people are not safe in cities, including the city of Hamilton. Speaking on Wednesday, co-organizer Gachi Issa said the demands are a continuation of abolition work of racialized folks. Co-organizer Ruby Hye said the group hopes to see collective decision-making, more connected communities and the stopping of violence if any or all are met. Its (about) creating a safer environment for us, said Issa. In a statement to The Hamilton Spectator, spokesperson Jackie Penman said the Hamilton Police Service remains committed to growing with, and learning from, all of our communities. We know we are not perfect and there is much work to do. We appreciate the issues raised by Black Lives Matter and look forward to engaging in an open and transparent dialogue, said Penman. In a statement Wednesday, Mayor Fred Eisenberger said he will continue to reflect on what I, as an individual, can do to work better together with our Black-led community organizations. Eisenberger, chair of the police services board, added that he is continuing conversations on how we can continue to serve and protect all members of our city equitably and respectfully. Ameil Joseph, a member of African-Caribbean Faculty Association of McMaster University, said the community must become better listeners, given the demands issued Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, the coalitions letter had more than 900 online signatures, according to Issa. We are here today to simply say that words are not enough, we demand action, said one of the organizers during the livestream. At the end of the day, everyone is putting out statements and everyone is giving their piece, but no one is putting concrete actions behind those words. Removal of in-school officers The group has also called on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to remove school resource officers constables assigned to work at high schools and to fund a public review of police violence that occurred in their schools. They also called for HWDSB to collect and release data that documents the disciplinary action against students by race and gender, and implement a community-run alternative to disciplinary action based on the principles of restorative justice. Its (about) creating a safer environment for us, said Issa. In a statement to The Hamilton Spectator, HWDSB board Alex Johnstone said the community brought forward many areas that will better serve Black students and families. So much of this work has already started in our Equity Action Plan and includes the development of an anti-Black racism procedure. An update on that plan is expected later this month, she added. We are committed to looking within our organization and seeking the advice of community partners to bring about change. We can always do more, said Johnstone. [June 04, 2020] Bishop Fox and Illumio Demonstrate the Efficacy of Micro-segmentation PHOENIX, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bishop Fox, the largest private professional services firm focused on offensive security testing, today released the results of a research project with Illumio , the leader in segmentation for workload security, that examined the effectiveness of different levels of micro-segmentation in limiting lateral movement and impeding the ability for attackers to navigate a network and find targeted assets. Bishop Fox performed a succession of attack simulations on four different network environments, each with an increasingly more restrictive micro-segmentation policy. Their findings demonstrate that implementing a micro-segmentation policy can increase the difficulty for an attacker to reach their target anywhere from 300% to 950%. Leveraging the MITRE ATT&CK framework , Illumio and Bishop Fox designed a testing environment and assessment methodology that would quantify the benefits of implementing micro-segmentation, which follows a least privilege or whitelisting approach to defining policy on workloads. The project also sought to create a repeatable model that could help any organization evaluate the benefits of micro-segmentation capabilities and the impact it has in defense of individual environments and variables. So many companies are led to believe that a perimeter breach will always result in data loss, said MJ Keith, principal at Bishop Fox. Customers are filled with a fatalistic view that once an attacker has a foothold, progression to a critical compromise is inevitable and only the largest organizations and budgets with an array of technologies have any chance. And ost attackers count on and prey on this, targeting the lowest hanging fruit, and expending the least amount of effort necessary to achieve their goals, which also means that any friction or barriers in their way can vastly reduce the scope or impact of compromise, or may move them on to the next target. This test proves that a little effort in this case even a simple micro-segmentation security control can go a long way, and instead of becoming a better victim, you become a harder target. Starting with a control scenario without any segmentation and increasingly applying a more granular micro-segmentation policy for each new round, the Bishop Fox red team was tasked with locating target assets, each time with no prior knowledge of the test environment, and with the entire environment destroyed and rebuilt for each test. The results were not only definitive, but the gains for each use case and workload also were dramatic. The three use cases tested, included: Environmental Separation , or separation based on environment, such as production, testing, development. , or separation based on environment, such as production, testing, development. Application Ringfencing , or separation based on specific applications, such as payments processing or Human Resources Management. , or separation based on specific applications, such as payments processing or Human Resources Management. Tier Segmentation, the tightest policy based on workloads associated with a specific application tier such as Web, Database, etc. With increases in fast and destructive attacks like ransomware, the ability to blunt the spread of any attack could not be more urgent, said Raghu Nandakumara, Illumio Field CTO. The capabilities of the Bishop Fox team are top notch, and their tenacity in finding weaknesses is why we chose to partner on this project. It should be noted that impressive defensive gains were achieved without further adaptation of the micro-segmentation policies once an attack had begun and, thus, were a true measure of the effectiveness of this specific control. For additional details on the project, the Bishop Fox blog can be found here and you can download the full report here . About Bishop Fox Bishop Fox is the largest private professional services firm focused on offensive security testing. Since 2005, the firm has provided security consulting services to the world's leading organizations working with over 25% of the Fortune 100 to help secure their products, applications, networks, and cloud resources with penetration testing and security assessments. In February 2019, Bishop Fox closed $25 million in Series A funding from ForgePoint Capital, which will allow the company to continue to grow its research capabilities and develop next generation offensive security technologies. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ and has offices in Atlanta, GA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY; and Barcelona, Spain. Media Contact: Jennifer Torode CHEN PR for Bishop Fox [email protected] 781.672.3119 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 05:22:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member wearing face mask works at Roma Termini Train Station in Rome, Italy, June 3. Italy's active infections of coronavirus fell below 40,000 for the first time since March 20 on Tuesday, just a day before the lifting of movement restrictions between Italian regions, figures of the Civil Protection Department showed. Also starting on Wednesday, Italy will open its borders without restriction to travelers from the other 25 Schengen countries, including the countries with high infection rates. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting) ROME, June 3 (Xinhua) -- People in Italy will be allowed to move freely within the country from Wednesday and the travel restrictions were also eased the same day with travelers from European Union (EU) and Schengen countries, as well as the United Kingdom, Andorra and Monaco being allowed to visit the country without subjecting to quarantine. "A month from May 4, when we reopened our manufacturing and construction sectors, we can say the numbers are encouraging," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a nationally televised press conference on Wednesday evening. "The trend of new cases is constantly decreasing in all our regions," said the prime minister. "This shows the strategy we adopted is and has been the right one." "As of today, European tourists can also travel to Italy," he added. "They can visit our country without subjecting to quarantine." He added the government is hard at work to ensure Italy is once again "the safe and coveted destination of the tourists of Europe and the whole world." "The acute phase of the health emergency is behind us, but now we face the economic and social emergency," Conte said. "This crisis must also be an opportunity to design the country we want -- to innovate from the ground up, to overcome structural problems we've been dragging for years," Conte said. He said "we have a historic opportunity" because the EU is planning a multi-billion-euro Recovery Fund and Italy will likely receive a lot of this money as one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe. "We must know how to spend this money well," Conte said as he outlined his "Recovery Plan" for Italy, which he said "rests on several pillars." He listed modernization, digitalization, innovation, tax and justice reform, cutting red tape, transitioning to sustainable energy, and building a high-speed train network linking the south of Italy to the rest of the country as key elements of the plan. Meanwhile Health Minister Roberto Speranza sounded a note of warning to his fellow citizens. "We must proceed with caution and continue to follow the rules we have learned ... because they are the key in the battle against COVID-19," Speranza said in reference to social distancing in a statement released on Wednesday, as the last remaining restrictions on personal freedoms were lifted. "The virus is still very dangerous," Speranza warned. Italy reported 71 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's toll to 33,601, out of total infection cases of 233,836, according to fresh figures on Wednesday. Nationwide, the number of active infections dropped by 596 to 39,297 cases, according to the Civil Protection Department. Of those who tested positive for the new coronavirus, 353 are in intensive care, 55 fewer compared to Tuesday, and 5,742 are hospitalized with symptoms, a decrease of 174 patients compared to Tuesday. The remaining 33,202 people, or about 84 percent of those who tested positive, are isolated at home with no symptoms or only mild symptoms. Recoveries rose by 846 compared to Tuesday, bringing the nationwide total to 160,938. The overall number of COVID-19 active infections, fatalities and recoveries has risen to 233,836 cases over the past 24 hours, an increase of 321 cases from 233,515 recorded on Tuesday. The overall fatalities include 167 doctors, according to the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCeO), which is keeping a running tally of MDs who died fighting the virus. As the pandemic slowed down visibly in recent weeks, Italy further eased the 10-week lockdown on May 18. Shops, restaurants, bars, barbershops, beauty salons, museums, and beachfront operators were all allowed to reopen, provided that they respect rules for social distancing and disinfect facilities. Also on Wednesday, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, home to masterpieces by Botticelli, Caravaggio, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and many more exquisite Renaissance artists, reopened its doors to visitors. The museum occupying the first and second floors of a palace built in the late 1500s and designed by Giorgio Vasari is a magnet for tourists worldwide. Enditem Justin Howell, the 20-year-old who was shot by the Austin Police Department during protests against police brutality on Sunday, is a San Antonio high school graduate, according to the Texas A&M student newspaper. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley discussed the shooting of "less-lethal" ammunition in a briefing on Monday. He said the victim is in critical condition after it "appears" he was struck in the head. Manley said the person standing beside Howell, who allegedly threw a water bottle and backpack at officers, was the target, but Howell was struck instead. AUTOPSY RESULTS: County autopsy claims George Floyd had coronavirus Brad Ayala, 16, was also critically injured the day before Howell when he was struck by police in the head by a beanbag round, according to the Austin American Statesman. The chief said an investigation is ongoing and offered prayers for the family. Howell's older brother, Joshua Howell, is the opinion editor of The Battalion, the student newspaper at Texas A&M University. He wrote a column this week, identifying his younger brother and rebuking Manley's response. "Its also notable in his briefing how little effort Manley puts into taking responsibility for what happened," Joshua Howell writes. "No, reader, I havent omitted the part of Manleys statement where he seems contrite. There was no apology. Instead, he sat at his desk for three full minutes, gave us the details above and at no point apologized to my brother, my family or the five brave protesters who carried Justin to police headquarters under fire." The Battalion later published an article saying Justin Howell is a graduate of Communication Arts High School in San Antonio. Northside Independent School District was not immediately available to confirm. Texas State University, where Justin Howell now attends college, identified him on Wednesday as a student. University President Denise Trauth said finding the words to share about Justin Howell's critical injuries were "difficult." BREES BLOWBACK: Drew Brees says he 'completely missed the mark' in flag comments "What was already a heartbreaking situation has hit painfully close to home," her statement reads. "Black Lives Matter," she said "It is not debatable at Texas State. Justin Howell's life matters. Black lives matter in our classrooms, on our campuses, and in the streets during tumultuous protests. They matter every moment of every day, no exceptions, no debate." Joshua Howell says his family does not want the police department's prayers. He said his younger brother has a fractured skull and brain damage. A video, showing Justin Howell's limp body being carried to officers for help while still being shot at with beanbags, is trending nationally on Twitter with the hashtag #HisNameIsJustinHowell. A GoFundMe campaign that was set up for his family. They have almost reached their goal of $45,000 goal in less than 24 hours. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye The Berejiklian government has rushed to defeat a private member's bill to derail the controversial Narrabri gas project as anti-coal seam gas groups were preparing to target National party seats. In a rare move, the Coalition suspended the day's parliamentary agenda on Thursday to debate a coal seam gas moratorium bill in a bid to fast-track its demise in the Legislative Assembly. It comes after the bill, put forward by independent MP Justin Field, passed the NSW upper house on Wednesday night with the support of Labor and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party. Santos's Narrabri project could supply up to half of NSW's gas needs. Credit:Dean Sewell The bill, which the government voted down in the lower house, sought to impose an immediate moratorium on the prospecting or mining of coal seam gas in NSW and classifies certain areas as permanent "no go zones". The red cross emblem came into existence more than 150 years ago when the Geneva Conventions adopted it to protect medical personnel assisting the wounded on the battlefield. Soon after, the emblem was also adopted to identify the humanitarian services of Red Cross societies around the world. Today, it is one of the most recognized symbols in the world for a very important reason. During armed conflict, the red cross emblem means dont shoot, that this person, vehicle, building or equipment is not part of the fight but is providing impartial assistance. The emblem provides protection for military medical units, transportation of the wounded, and for the Red Cross's humanitarian aid. The global Red Cross and Red Crescent Movementincluding the American Red Crossutilizes the emblem to signify our promise of voluntary, neutral and impartial assistance to all people in need, regardless of race, religion or citizenship status. Countries around the world protect the red cross emblem and limit its use to official Red Cross organizations and programs, as well as the medical services of their armed forces. In the United States, only the American Red Cross and the medical corps of the Armed Forces are permitted by law to use the red cross emblem. Some U.S. companies were granted an exception that were already using the emblem before 1906. Use of the red cross emblem by anyone else is not only prohibited, but also unlawful in the United States and around the world. Respecting the emblem protects humanitarians Every day, Red Cross personnel work in regions experiencing disaster, health emergency and armed conflict. Their ability to safely carry out a humanitarian mission and provide help depends on the recognition of the meaning of the red cross emblem. This is as important in the United States as it is around the world. The red cross emblem must remain universally recognized and respected throughout the world as a trusted symbol of protection, neutrality and humanitarian aid in the face of armed conflict and disaster. Red Cross workers put themselves at risk to help those suffering from disasters like hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, famine, disease and armed conflict around the world. They carry no weapons. Their only shield is the red cross emblem. The emblem is a symbol of protection that international law gives to the wounded and sick, and those caring for them, in armed conflict. They convey to those fighting that they must not attack anyone or anything that displays these emblems. When the emblem is misused, it puts humanitarian workers and medical personnel at risk. These teams depend on community trustboth during peacetime and during war. The emblems symbolism protects humanitarians and gives them access to places that may otherwise be inaccessible. The American Red Cross is proud to wear the red cross emblem to respond to more than 60,000 disasters around the United States every year and to deliver aid around the globe. The red crescent and red crystal Though the red cross is meant to be a symbol of neutrality, some countries feel that it has religious, political or cultural connotations. To resolve perception issues, the Geneva Conventions have been amended to include the red crescent, the red crystal, and the red lion with sun. The latter is no longer in use. Today, there are 192 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the globe. Together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), they serve humanity in times of greatest need. Teams wear the emblems to signify that help is on the way. Ama Pomaah Boateng 04.06.2020 LISTEN Government's plan to make 2020 the year of roads remains on course in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaben, Ama Pomaah Boateng, has said. She made the disclosure on Monday at a sod-cutting ceremony at Kubease in the Ashanti Region for the construction of a 23.8-kilometre (km) road network from Juaben to Kubease on the Kumasi-Accra highway. The road project would be undertaken by the Attachy Construction Limited, and it is expected to bring relief to residents of the communities along the road. It is among a number of roads earmarked for construction, including the 2.5-km road from Kubease to Bobri forest, 8.6-km road from Kubease to Odorfe and 0.3-km Kubease town roads with drainage system. The MP said the roads, when completed, would improve economic activities, reduce vehicle operating costs due to mainly less fuel consumption and enhance security of the constituents. According to her, investment in road transportation helps to connect people, drive commerce and maintain competitiveness, adding that transport carries an important social and economic load, which includes improved quality of life. Poor road network holds back economic activities and teachers even refuse to accept postings to communities without access to good roads. This is why we have to commend the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by President Akufo-Addo for giving the constituency its fair share of the 'year of roads' project, Madam Pomaah indicated. She entreated the residents of the area, particularly the youth, to cooperate with the contractor in order to complete the project on time. The Chief of Apeanyase, Nana Panin Kwafo II, praised the MP for her instrumental role in the award of contract of the various road projects in the constituency. Besides, he thanked the government for making Apeanyase a beneficiary of its flagship road infrastructural project Year of Roads. He appealed to the youth in the communities to support the contractor to execute the project on time, noting that the benefits of the road, when completed, would be enormous. The chief appealed to the government to always remember the constituency in the sharing of the national cake. ---Daily Guide German prosecutors say they have identified a key suspect in the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann and they believe the missing British girl is dead. McCann, who was just a few days shy of turning four at the time, went missing while on vacation with her family in southern Portugal. The public prosecutors office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder. From this you can see that we assume that the girl is dead, Braunschweig state prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told news organizations Wednesday. The suspect has been described as a 43-year-old child sex offender currently serving a jail term in Germany for matters unrelated to the McCann case. The man has been named in some media reports quoting sources in Portugal but his identity has not been released by German authorities. He is said to have lived in the area where the family was vacationing between 1995 and 2007 and robbed hotels and holiday rentals as well as traded in drugs. McCann disappeared from her bedroom in a rented apartment May 3, 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve while her parents were dining with friends a nearby restaurant. Portuguese police believed an intruder broke into the apartment where McCann, along with her siblings twin infants, were sleeping and that she was abducted. The parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were initially treated as suspects but later cleared of any involvement in their daughters disappearance. Their plight, which included an appeal to then Pope Benedict XVI for help, and search for their daughter captured global headlines for years and has been the subject of several books as law enforcement authorities in several European countries searched for suspects. The German authorities are offering an reward for further information in the case. The suspected under investigation was on an early list of suspects, but a lack of evidence prevented further investigation at the time, authorities have said. The Coronavirus or COVID-19 crisis continues toseverely impact communitiesacross the nation. Aviva Life Insurance, (JV between Dabur Invest Corp and Aviva International Holdings Limited),Indias most trusted private life insurance company 2 years running, commits tohelping the Indian Red Cross Society,(IRCS),witha range of protective equipments and relief packages to mitigate the Covid-19 crisis. Through thisinitiative, Aviva India will be reaching out and assisting affected people to combat this disease across 15 states in India that are badly affected by COVID-19 outbreak. The support to the India Red Cross Society (IRCS) forms part of the 10m pounds committed by the Aviva Group and the Aviva Foundation* so that the global Red Cross movement can ensure those made most vulnerable by the coronavirus outbreak can get the right support at the right time. In line with this, IRCS is helping Aviva Life Insurance, India to donate various pandemic relief packages to the most affected during this crisis. The relief packages include N-95 masks,gloves, surgical masks, thermal guns, hygiene kits,community kitchen and dry rationsforthe affected communities. The initiative focuses on migrant laborers, tribals, single mothers, senior citizens, persons with disability, children, people living in hard to reach areas, as well as Health Workers, Paramedics, Blood Bank Staff and Red Cross Volunteers. Trevor Bull, MD & CEO, Aviva India said, Aviva as a partner in our community stands in solidarity with the nation during these turbulent times, and we are delighted to join hands with theIndian Red Cross and do our bit forSociety by providing vital help to the people who need it the most. We, at Aviva, strongly believe that right now we must focus on looking after one another and working together to fight this pandemic. We are putting in our best efforts to support our employees and communities around us, so that together we shall all overcome these difficult times soon. R K Jain, Secretary General, Indian Red Cross Society said, We are grateful to Aviva India for their support towards the larger humanitarian and sustainable goals. Through this partnership, we have the opportunity to address the needs of the less privileged and less fortunate sections of the society as well. At Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), we are aiming to create a safe ecosystem and help those who are impacted by Covid-19. IRCS and Aviva together believe that we can help several communities and may the best force be with us to fight and overcome this pandemic. Migration is a major concern in and around major cities in India,and the restrictions on movement to return totheir native homes, due to the lockdown, has further escalated the problem of food, medication, hygiene and shelter. IRCS volunteers are addressing their specific needs and are working to provide food parcels, cooked food and dry rations and hygiene kits to the most vulnerable households and migrant laborers in the temporary shelters. When the nation is facing unprecedented challenges, Aviva India is enabling ICRS to serve, support and protect Health Workers, Paramedics and Red Cross Volunteers, who are working tirelessly to help those in need during these times. *The Aviva Foundation is administered by Charities Trust under UK charity registration number 327489. 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 Jennifer Mailander and Marci McCarthy are very accomplished business leaders and experts in information security and data privacy. They bring subject matter expertise, hands-on market experience, and a genuine passion for protecting what matters most to our already outstanding team. Spirion, a pioneer in building solutions that enable companies around the globe to take the critical first step towards data protection, today announced the appointments of Marci McCarthy, CEO and President of information security executive networking firm T.E.N., and Jennifer Mailander, Deputy General Counsel at Fannie Mae, to the companys Board of Directors, effective immediately. Both are very accomplished business leaders and experts in information security and data privacy. Marci and Jennifer bring subject matter expertise, hands-on market experience, and a genuine passion for protecting what matters most to our already outstanding team, said Kevin Coppins, Spirion President and CEO. Marci McCarthy brings more than 20 years of business management and entrepreneurial experience to Spirions board of directors. In 2010 she founded T.E.N.s flagship program, the Information Security Executive of the Year (ISE) Program, which is lauded by the IT industry as the premier recognition and networking program for security professionals in the U.S. and Canada. McCarthy currently serves on multiple security association boards including the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC) as Inaugural Advisory Council Chair, the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) Board of Directors, the TechBridge Board of Directors, and the University of Alabamas Culverhouse Cyber Executive Board of Advisors. Previously, she served on the Atlanta Girls' School Board of Trustees (2016 to 2019) and was ranked #3 by IFSEC Globals Security and Fire Influencers for 2018. McCarthy holds a BS in Marketing from Babson College. Im excited to join the board of Spirion, a company committed to elevating the important role that women and minorities play in technology and cybersecurity. Information security is one of the fastest-growing professions, and I hope to further Spirions mission of protecting the data privacy of individuals as the critical first step in mitigating risk for enterprises around the world, said McCarthy. Jennifer Mailander is a data protection and technology attorney advising senior and executive management on strategy, business, and legal matters with extensive experience in data rights, cybersecurity, privacy and compliance. Before joining Fannie Mae in 2018, Mailander was Associate General Counsel of Privacy at ComScore and Associate General Counsel and Director of Compliance & Privacy at Corporation Service Company. She currently serves as Chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Women in the House (WITH) network and Co-Chair of the DC Chapter of The Quorum Initiative. Mailander holds a BA in English and Political Science from Miami University and a JD from the University of Dayton School of Law. There have been more data privacy regulations passed in the last 12 months than in the past two decades and the importance of protecting the data privacy of employees, customers, and communities has never been greater. Spirion is uniquely positioned to help organizations large and small seamlessly comply with the laws and regulations built to protect the personal data privacy of individuals across the globe. I am thrilled to join the Spirion board and to be part of their exciting journey at this point in their development, said Mailander. Jennifer and Marci join founders Todd Feinman and David Goldman along with CISO for VF Corporation, Ken Athanasiou, as well as Alan Peyrat and John Kish, both from The Riverside Company on Spirions board of directors. About Spirion Spirion (http://www.spirion.com) is a pioneer in designing the critical first step of data protection through its data discovery, persistent classification, and real-time remediation software and services. Since 2006, thousands of organizations across all industries worldwide have reduced their sensitive data footprint and proactively minimized the risks, costs, and reputational damage of successful cyberattacks and regulatory violations. The award-winning company was recently ranked by CIOReview magazine as one of the 20 Most Promising Compliance Technology Solution Providers of 2019, and received top honors for International Data Protection Solution, Postsecondary Enterprise Solution, and Governance, Risk & Compliance Solution in the 18th Annual American Business Awards. Twitter: @Spirion # # # Spirion is a registered trademark of Spirion Software. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Binghamton, N.Y. More than $100,000 has been raised to help rebuild a Southern Tier playground that was destroyed by a fire. The Our Space Park, an accessible playground at Recreation Park in Binghamton, was burned early Monday morning. WNBF reports the equipment at the $750,000 playground, which opened four years ago to provide inclusive play for children of all abilities, was considered to be a near-total loss. The Community Foundation for South Central New York said Tuesday that more than $50,000 was raised in 24 hours through CFSCNYs official Our Space Park fund. An additional $42,000 has been collected in donations on GoFundMe for a total of more than $100,000 in three days, according to NewsChannel 9. According to WNBF, Binghamton Mayor Richard David said city and state investigators determined the fire was intentionally set. Police are still seeking suspects who will face arson charges. The fire was reported Monday around 12:45 a.m., hours after more than 1,000 people peacefully gathered at Recreation Park on Sunday to protest police brutality and the death of George Floyd, who died on Memorial Day when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck. Officials have not said if they believe the playground fire was connected to protesters. FULL VIDEO: Fire now out at Rec Park in Binghamton but earlier in the day, this was the place were at least 1000 people gathered to protest peacefully #blacklivesmatter #alllivesmatter #georgefloyd pic.twitter.com/fgprSKfzfh Paul Mueller (@PaulWBNG) June 1, 2020 At Recreation Park in Binghamton, where most of the accessible playground was burned down overnight. pic.twitter.com/V9iGM35fka Maggie Gilroy (@MaggieGilroy) June 1, 2020 WATCH: A @nyspolice investigator uses specially-trained dog at scene of an arson fire that wrecked an accessible playground at Binghamton's Recreation Park. Story: https://t.co/Mj97kv37fL pic.twitter.com/GeEeOpnoqS Bob Joseph (@BinghamtonNow) June 1, 2020 This has been a difficult period for Hong Kong, and I really fear that this will be the last year we can mark June 4 in any way here, said Crystal Chan, a 22-year-old student who also said she was moved to attend for the first time. Chants of Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong rang out around her. The message the students were trying to send in 1989 is the same as ours that is, the desire of freedom. Peterborough County council has denied a request from Peterborough Police to share the funds the county received from the provincial government to help with costs from the legalization or marijuana. In 2019, the county received $125,123 from the Ontario Cannabis Legalization Implementation Funds. Each individual township also received individual funding. The money was provided to help compensate municipal costs relating to cannabis legalization, including costs faced by police, public health, or the courts. According to a report from Peterborough Police, the force is now required to do officer training, additional RIDE checks and more, at an anticipated additional cost of $500,000. However, most of the county is served by Peterborough County OPP, with the exceptions of Cavan Monaghan Township and the Lakefield ward of Selwyn Township. During county councils virtual meeting on Wednesday morning, Jim Martin, mayor of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, told council members they should consider consulting with the OPP. North Kawartha Township Deputy Mayor Jim Whelan said he agreed with Martin. If were going to do anything with this money as far as our township is concerned, its going to go to the police service boards up our way or the OPP, Whelan said. We have no connection with the Peterborough Police. So if the vote is that Cavan and Selwyns share go to the Peterborough Police, Im fine with that, but not the North Kawartha share. Cavan Monaghan Deputy Mayor Matthew Graham said the funds were directed to the county to address costs that were incurred by the county. And policing is not that cost, he said. Cavan Monaghan Mayor Scott McFadden said he believes the money shouldnt be given to the city police nor the OPP. If theres any responsibility when it comes to policing, it falls in the lower tier municipalities which also received funding. So I dont agree with sending any moneys to the police, either the city or if an OPP request comes forward, because quite frankly policing is not a county matter, he said. Selwyn Deputy Mayor Sherry Senis said she doesnt believe the province gave the county the money to give it back to the police. I think it was given to us for specific reasons and if we arent sure right now what we should be doing with that money, I think we should put it into an account and hold onto it and use it when its needed, she said. Several council members agreed that the money should be put aside until theres a better plan in place for its use. Policing is one of the costs that you may incur, but there are other costs, said Selwyn Mayor Andy Mitchell. Funded by the Government of Canada/Finance par le Gouvernement du Canada. Leading Australian biotechs say the demand for coronavirus tests will stay strong into 2021 as the public looks to rule out viruses amid the relaxation of lockdown restrictions. The coronavirus pandemic has been a mixed blessing for pathology operators with increased demand to process COVID-19 tests offsetting a decline in other diagnostic services because of community lockdowns. For example, in April healthcare operator Healius told investors that despite a surge in virus testing, pathology revenues not related to COVID-19 were down as much as 30 per cent. "My personal view is that demand will stay strong for six to nine months," chief executive of ASX-listed diagnostics business Genetic Signatures John Melki said. "Traditionally it was, you have a cold, you soldier on. That mindset has changed and it's changed probably for a generation or two." Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz says the enormous beer and wine bar in Melbournes CBD for which she granted a late-night drinking laws exemption will be important on both economic and cultural grounds. In April Ms Kairouz granted a liquor-laws exemption to bar owner and operator the OBrien Group, for a venue that will serve up to 957 patrons until 3am. The Job Warehouse on Bourke Street on Wednesday. Credit:Luis Ascui If approved by the states liquor commission, the sprawling bar and live music venue would be built in a derelict old haberdashery known as the Job Warehouse at 56 Bourke Street, near Parliament House. "If you were to go down there now, I dont think you could argue with me that the site needs some urgent attention and that it does have some economic and cultural significance to the state," Ms Kairouz said on Thursday. It may have been an American dream to send the first privately funded rocket into orbit this week. But I can reveal that the spacex mission, which saw two astronauts blast off on Saturday and safely dock at the International Space Station less than a day later, has thoroughly British roots. The Flight Director at NASA in charge of the mission Zebulon Scoville is in fact the grandson of the late, great broadcaster Alistair Cooke. Cooke left Blackpool, where he grew up in humble circumstances, to find fame and, ultimately, fortune in the USA, from where he delivered Letter From America, his weekly radio report for the BBC, for 58 years. I can reveal that the SpaceX mission, which saw two astronauts blast off on Saturday and safely dock at the International Space Station less than a day later, has thoroughly British roots A SpaceX Falcon 9, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Dragon crew capsule, lifts off from Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center The Flight Director at NASA in charge of the mission Zebulon Scoville is in fact the grandson of the late, great broadcaster Alistair Cooke (pictured) But the family appetite for venturing across new frontiers clearly remains undimmed. Scoville, 45, known in the family and to colleagues as Zeb, tells me that his grandfather born just five years after the Wright brothers made the first aeroplane flight was 'fascinated by the space age' and revered his close friend, astronaut John Glenn, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit the earth. 'He had enormous respect and admiration for the men and women who committed themselves to the rigour and challenge of human space exploration,' says Scoville, explaining that 'Poppa', as he knew his grandfather, 'saw the future of spaceflight as the meeting point of human ingenuity, science fiction, and fantastic voyages'. Scoville's career intensified his grandfather's excitement, particularly after he completed training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 'He was certain I would someday end up on Pluto back in the glory days when it enjoyed planet status,' remembers Scoville. He treasures a book by bestselling science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, given to him by his grandfather who inscribed it to 'the only carbon-based biped in the family who will have any idea what it's all about'. His dreams of leading his family into space are as fervent as ever boosted by NASA's partnership with SpaceX. 'It opens up access to human spaceflight,' says Scoville, mentioning the impending Artemis Program missions to the Moon 'and, eventually, Mars'. His grandfather's faith in the space age never wavered. Scoville visited him shortly before he died in 2004, aged 95. 'Poppa had an absolute confidence that spaceflight would evolve to the point where the unimaginable would be common place. He would have seen the NASA and SpaceX mission as an example of the human potential fulfilled. Go boldly!' Yours for a mere 3.75m - rooms with a royal woo The plush country home where Prince Charles wooed Lady Diana Spencer and conducted his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles is on sale for 3.75 million. Bolehyde Manor was previously home to the now Duchess of Cornwall while she was married to her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. Prince Charles was said to be a frequent visitor during, and even before, the deterioration of his marriage to Lady Diana. But it was also a favoured destination when he was initially wooing her some years earlier. The sprawling, eight-bedroom property, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, is now being sold by its current owners, the Earl and Countess of Cairns who bought the estate for 600,000 in 1986. Margaret Thatcher would have been much more effective than Boris Johnson against Covid-19, says her former private secretary Caroline Slocock. 'She would have been thinking ahead more, and been more across the detail, challenging scientists and her ministers, and coordinating everything,' she says. 'She was a scientist, and would have mastered the science, not let the experts master her.' Ouch. Society jeweller Theo Fennell, whose clients include Naomi Campbell, Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, reveals lockdown has opened new horizons. 'Having time has given me the chance to write the book that I always promised myself, featuring key ink illustrations that relate to my inspiration for various pieces,' he says. 'I have managed to tidy countless drawers and bookcases, and realised I don't have green fingers.' Elspeth Howe, who was believed to be behind her husband Sir Geoffrey's bitter speech that fatally wounded Mrs Thatcher's premiership, has decided to leave the Lords at 88. She is the living embodiment of Lionel Richie's song Three Times A Lady because she became Lady Howe when her husband was knighted, doubled it when he became Lord Howe, and hit the trio when she was made a 'people's peer' in her own right. Sly and the family art Hollywood star and artist Sylvester Stallone has claimed he is 'a much better painter than actor'. Now his daughter Sophia, 23, is trying to follow in his footsteps. The model, whose mother is Jennifer Flavin, shared a picture of herself standing next to the colourful canvas she created. 'Felt like painting so I borrowed dad's art supplies,' she said. The Rocky star, whose works sell for up to 400,000, commented: 'That is absolutely fantastic. You've got talent, young lady!' The model, whose mother is Jennifer Flavin, shared a picture of herself standing next to the colourful canvas she created Wedding hitch for Natalia Supermodel Natalia Vodianova has postponed her wedding to the son of billionaire luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault. The 38-year-old Vogue cover star got engaged to businessman Antoine, 42, in the New Year, and they hoped to tie the knot this summer. Supermodel Natalia Vodianova has postponed her wedding to the son of billionaire luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault The 38-year-old Vogue cover star got engaged to businessman Antoine, 42, in the New Year, and they hoped to tie the knot this summer 'We had planned to get married with our friends and have a nice party in June. But we prefer to wait rather than have a masked ball,' confirms Antoine (pictured with Natalia), referring to the ubiquitous anti-virus face masks. No doubt their wedding which is now due to take place next year will be one to remember with no expense spared. Antoine's father Bernard, the boss of the world's largest luxury-goods company, LVMH Moet Hennessy, has an estimated 84 billion fortune making him the world's third richest person after Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Microsoft's Bill Gates. Now Alice's hair is deep in the red, too The Duchess of Cambridge's favourite bohemian designer, Alice Temperley, is in the red in more ways than one. Just months after winning fresh investment for her company, the 44-year-old has undergone a striking makeover. Sharing a picture online of her new crimson locks, the natural brunette recalls what her son Fox, 12, said as he dyed it: 'Just a little bit, mummy, it's not very strong . . . stay still!' Alice, lockeddown in Somerset with Fox and boyfriend Marcus, declares: 'Never seen hair as bright.' 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. Group of Seven finance ministers on Wednesday said a debt relief initiative for the world's poorest countries could be extended beyond the end of the year to help deal with economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. In a lengthy joint statement, the G7 finance ministers urged all official creditors to join the initiative, called for strengthened reporting of public debt data, and said all creditors - public and private - should make responsible lending decisions in line with debt sustainability guidelines. In an apparent reference to practices reportedly used by China, a major creditor for low-income countries, the ministers of the world's most advanced economies also said creditors should fully disclose terms of public debt and limit use of confidentiality clauses, including for state-owned enterprises. The statement followed a videoconference meeting of the ministers amid warnings that low-income and emerging market economies will need more than the International Monetary Fund's initial estimate of $2.5 trillion to weather the crisis. A debt relief initiative offered by the Group of 20 major economies, which includes China, and the Paris Club of official creditors could provide about $12 billion in extra liquidity through the end of the year. But it has drawn applications from only half of 73 eligible countries so far, and private sector participation has been halting. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told the Washington Post in an online interview G7 officials had agreed to "work relentlessly" to ensure that all eligible countries could benefit from the debt relief plan. Last month, Georgieva had told Reuters some countries were reluctant to seek debt relief under the G20 plan, out of concern it could harm their credit ratings. On Wednesday, she said "a small universe" of emerging market countries may need to restructure their debt in the future, given the impact of the economic crisis and a sharp drop in revenues in commodity exporting countries. World Bank President David Malpass last week warned that "much more" debt relief would be needed, urging all commercial creditors to "participate on comparable terms and not exploit the debt relief of others." In their statement, the G7 ministers highlighted the importance of private sector financing for sustainable development. They also urged quick progress on creating a database for private-sector loans to low-income countries. The ministerial meeting took place days after U.S. President Donald Trump called the G7 an "outdated" body and said he would invite Russia, Australia, India and South Korea to take part in a postponed leaders' summit in September. Canada, France, Germany, the European Union and Britain have rejected Trump's suggestion to re-admit Russia, which was expelled after its 2014 annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. Others such as Japan have not weighed in. Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: NLS alumni arrange chartered flight to ferry 180 migrant workers to Raipur Also read: Coronavirus live updates: Defence Secy tests positive; India reports 9,304 new cases in a day CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Health minister Dr C Vijayabaskar launched a special campaign, "wear mask, save life", on Twitter on Wednesday, as the state witnessed its largest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases at 1,286. This has taken the total coronavirus cases tally in the state to 25,872. The health department confirmed 11 more deaths to take the death toll to 208, with the fatality graph for the first time inching upwards. "TN Govt is taking all measures to ensure safety from #COVID19 pandemic, at the same time implementing #unlock1 to revive the economy & the livelihood of its people. With Citizen partnership it is easier to overcome this crisis. Request your compliance to the measures of the govt.," tweeted Dr Vijayabaskar, reflecting the grim mood in the state health department. The Health Minister's tweet came amid others on Twitter questioning whether things were going wrong again, after the initial two large cluster of COVID-19 positive cases -- Tablighi Jamaat meet and the Koyembedu wholesale market. But this time, as the Health Minister said that the problem stems from a large number of incoming persons from other states and abroad coming into Tamil Nadu by various means and testing positive. The incoming passengers who tested positive today added up to 42 -- including two who returned from UAE and 13 from Dubai. Among domestic passengers coming by road/trains, 16 persons were from Maharashtra, five from Delhi, three from Gujarat. The total number of samples tested today was also a record 14,101 for a single day. However, the fresh cases in greater Chennai alone beat all previous single-day records to touch 1,012 cases on a single day, which the public health officials attribute to much higher levels of testing in the municipal corporation limits. This was followed by Chengalpattu district throwing up 61 positive cases on a single day, Thiruvallur - 58, Kancheepuram -19, Thoothukudi -17 and Tiruvannamalai -16 positive cases. Among the 11 fatalities confirmed today, the age-group of coronavirus patients ranged from a 47-year-old male from Chennai, who died at Kilpauk medical college hospital due to respiratory failure after testing positive for COVID-19, a 48-year-old male from Chengalpattu with hypertension problem, to an 80-year-old patient from Chennai who died in a private hospital with added medical complications like TB and acute coronary syndrome, says the death report. "Samsung has never done as much in the past" to assuage critics of the conglomerates, said Kyungmook Lee, a business professor at Seoul National University. "As the largest chaebol in South Korea, the way they contributed to the nation during the COVID-19 crisis and apologised over past wrongdoings is helping soften public sentiment and improve the image of both the company and its heir." That's important because suspicion of the judiciary in Korea runs deep. Over the past decade, at least half a dozen high-profile industrial magnates have been sentenced to prison for corruption, only to have those jail terms mitigated or suspended by the courts -- including Lee's father. Chaebol paranoia Even President Moon Jae-in, who swept into power on promises to clean up endemic corporate malfeasance, grappled with public outrage after a judge in Lee's first trial unexpectedly freed him after just a year in prison. In suspending Lee's sentence, the judge concluded the billionaire couldn't resist requests from a sitting president and that the greater responsibility lay with public officials. Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2017, has denied taking any money for herself. Paranoia about chaebols' influence continues to dog the second phase of Lee's hearings, which commenced late last year after the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision to suspend the mogul's sentence and ordered a retrial. Lee's hearing has been delayed for months as prosecutors argue that one of the appeals court judges overseeing the current case is biased and inclined to go lightly on Lee. The justice in question has shown a flair for the dramatic by, among other things, lecturing the executive at length in October on how he can better run Samsung, advising him to take inspiration from Israeli businesses. The appeals court judge has so far kept out of the fray. "In South Korea, the public opinion often influences trials and sways verdicts," said Heo Pil-seok, chief executive officer at Midas International Asset Management. "While Samsung's facing several critical situations, it's trying to make a plea for clemency to the public," he said, referring to not just its COVID-19 efforts but also Lee's apology. Samsung and Lee's approach to the sudden flare-up of the novel coronavirus was in many ways no different than his peers'. Noted philanthropists Bill Gates and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma donated millions or offered technical assistance. Others like Amazon's Jeff Bezos, faced with public criticism that their companies are placing workers in jeopardy, focused their efforts on protecting the workforce. And tech corporations joined manufacturers around the globe in trying to plug a shortfall in ventilators and masks. South Korea's largest corporation and its de facto leader have been key players in one of Asia's most successful coronavirus containment campaigns. Credit:AP Samsung representatives emphasised that the company's main goal was to combat the disease, save lives and protect employees, and dismissed any suggestion they were connected to the hearing. In addition to dispatching personnel, the company also converted a training facility near Daegu into a treatment centre, helped expedite business entries into China, even handed out free smartphones to quarantined patients. 'Joining the global fight' "Samsung Electronics is joining the global fight against COVID-19 to safeguard the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners and local communities," it said in a statement. "The smart factory program and other global relief initiatives by Samsung Electronics have nothing to do with the ongoing legal proceedings over the case of Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Our efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus have always been to help our employees and their families that have been impacted by this pandemic as we are all in this together." Samsung plays an unusually crucial role in Korea's economy and national ethos. Its transformation from economic minnow to technology export powerhouse owes much to its family-run conglomerates. Known as chaebol -- which means "wealth clique" -- these pillars of the nation's "miracle economy" encompass household names like LG, Hyundai and SK. They've supported government initiatives for decades, spearheading a modernisation effort that's created world leaders in shipping, steel, and now technology and electronics. Largest of them all is Samsung. The 82-year-old conglomerate is both a symbol of the Asian country's technological and diplomatic rise as well as a touchstone for what many think is wrong with the economy today -- the overwhelming dominance of a handful of dynasties who call the shots in everything from cars to phones. The [...] relief initiatives by Samsung Electronics have nothing to do with the ongoing legal proceedings over the case of Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Company statement "Samsung's striving to overhaul its image to win a positive trial ruling," said Chae Yibai, a former opposition lawmaker and a long-time corporate governance activist, referring to the months-long virus campaign. "The entire process is like a play, with a judge taking on the role of director and the compliance committee acting as a sub-director. The leading man is Lee." In the current drama, Lee's star is on the rise. His approval ratings in independent surveys have climbed since the conglomerate, heeding the government's call, swung into action in March. The top keywords in domestic internet searches covering Lee from January to April were "virus" or "management," according to surveyor Global Bigdata Research, pushing out trial-related terms among the top 30. He's even won over some of the smaller businesses that've traditionally played second fiddle to the chaebols. Local mask manufacturer E&W said its output increased by about half after it adopted Samsung's solutions in its facility setup and distribution. Samsung also dispatched about 10 experts to each of four test-kit makers to instruct their engineers on how to ramp up volumes while resolving bottlenecks through automation. "Keeping a sound ecosystem of SMEs is essential to Samsung as well as for the long-term benefits of all economic players," said Junha Park, head of Samsung's smart factory operation team. 'Credibility is very important' Loading Lee's approval rating in surveys conducted by the Global Bigdata have risen in 2020 since the outbreak. They fell to 9.77 per cent in the two days after his public apology, down from an average of 16.37 per cent over the 30 days prior. But negative views also plummeted to 20.6 per cent from 44.2 per cent, while those on the fence shot up to 72.8 per cent from 39.4 per cent. That latter point is key. "Credibility is very important," said Daniel Yoo, head of global investment at Yuanta Securities Korea. "Clearly the corporate image, about Samsung and South Korea, has been improving." The most immediate challenge for Samsung is empowering and keeping its de facto leader free during an era of heightened uncertainty. Regardless of the personal outcome of that trial, the longer-term perceptions of chaebols may hinge on Lee's promise to corporatise Samsung. Your browser does not support the audio element. Opting to grow asparagus for its economic potential and health benefits to consumers, a Vietnamese man has turned his Mekong Delta-based plantation into a money printer with the produce exported to Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc Island. International markets are his next targets. Luong Trung Nghias plantation is situated in Binh Thuy Commune, Chau Phu District, Kien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The commune is the perfect ground for growing asparagus due to its appropriate soil type, water sources, and weather conditions. Binh Thuy is home to one farmers co-op and six individual asparagus plantation owners, according to Truong Minh Quyen, chairman of the communes Farmers Society. To expand our asparagus-growing area, it takes competition on prices and consumption among lots of companies," Quyen said. "This will encourage farmers to go clean on their plantations, making sure their produce is healthy for consumers." Aware of the prior successes at certain locations within the commune, Nghia believed asparagus was the right vegetable to invest in. First steps Nghia came back to his countryside hometown in Kien Giang, leaving behind his tertiary education in business administration and a stable job at a solar energy factory in Ho Chi Minh City. He leased a three-square-kilometer piece of land and took advantage of the available seedlings from the previous owner to grow his first crop, officially becoming a farmer. At 28 years old, Nghia started his business idea with a mere VND140 million (US$6,000) as initial funding. He picked the Atlas asparagus variety for his plantation and drafted out a clear production scheme. Mobile-controlled drip irrigation was installed, with temperature, humidity, and light sensors in place as well as proper piping. As a health-conscious farmer, Nghia chose microbial organic fertilizers for his plantation. He said that an asparagus crop includes six months for growing, three months for harvesting, and three months for revitalizing the plants. His asparagus plantation, together with several others he invests in, yields 35-40 kilograms of products daily, sometimes reaching 60-70 kilograms. To help local farmers, he agrees to buy their asparagus for VND45,000 ($1.94) per kilogram, even providing financial support for farmers who lack funding. Nghia earns an annual net profit of VND70-72 million ($3,000-3,100). However, things were not always a bed of roses for this young man. In his first endeavor, Nghia targeted Long Xuyen City in neighboring An Giang Province as his potential market, but this miscalculation caused him big losses. He had to donate a large proportion of his produce to nearby pagodas. I thought that the asparagus would sell like hot cakes as it was such a high-quality product, but the merchants in Long Xuyen offered rock-bottom prices, he said. Though saddened by the experience, the young man understood that kickstarting a business was a challenge. Instead of staying down in the dumps, he rethought his strategy. After consulting his friends who had experience in market research, he zeroed in on Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc Island. These two markets are potential thanks to their high living standards," he said. "Ho Chi Minh is obviously so bustling. "Phu Quoc Island welcomes large influxes of tourists, so the quality of life is on the rise as well." Nghia acknowledged his carelessness in market research for the first attempt, saying he had learnt his lesson. I have my own strength. To stay ahead in the competition, it is either the price or the value added. Therefore I have to keep the quality of my products up, while enhancing customer service and promotions to outlets, he added. A worker harvests asparagus from a plantation owned by 28-year-old Luong Trung Nghia in Kien Giang Province, located in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Photo: Dieu Qui / Tuoi Tre The expansion With his initial failures behind his back, now Nghia enjoys certain success. His familys income has been boosted and local farmers in his hometown have more earning potential. He has also inspired many young people in his hometown. The two markets that he has chosen have a large consumption rate of asparagus, with demands outweighing supplies at times. Nghia has his sights on contracting hospital kitchens and exporting to Cambodia. Medically, asparagus helps to prevent cancer and cardiovascular diseases, aids in respiratory treatment, and enhances immunity. So hospital kitchens are a prospective target, but Im having problems with paperwork and connections, he said. For the time being, he will focus on his marketing strategies. Within three years, he hopes to establish a company and ship his products to Cambodia. To increase supplies in Binh Thuy Commune, he is experimenting with the American Grande asparagus variety on his newly acquired land plot. I hope it will work. Its hard to say if this new variety is going to be popular. Its kind of rolling the dice, really, he joked. He asserted that a young man has to jump into action, saying that it is the only way to get to know his own capability and whether or not he will succeed. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! DES MOINES -- After a heated and contentious debate that included commentary on legislative impacts on minorities and the recent protests over a Minnesota man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, Iowa lawmakers on Wednesday approved a modest expansion of the states medical cannabis program. The proposal that passed the Iowa Senate is weaker than a proposed expansion approved in 2019 by the same body. That proposal, however, was vetoed by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The new proposal matches one that was approved by the Iowa House and has Reynolds blessing. It puts a much more strict limitation on the potency of the medical cannabis product that patients in the program can obtain. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said the new proposal not only failed to improve the states current medical cannabis program, which he described as one of the least effective in the nation, it actually made it weaker. Here we are, five years after passing our original law and tonight youre going to make it even worse. Wow. No small task, colleagues, Bolkcom said. Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, argued that while it is not his preferred version, the new proposal does make modest improvements to the current program. I would rather this be a stronger bill, but this is something that has been negotiated, Zaun said. Its not perfect. It is a step forward. The proposal, House File 2589 https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=hf2589, caps the potency of the medical cannabis product that patients can obtain at 4.5 grams over 90 days. The Senate previously passed a proposal for a limit of 25 grams over 90 days. Reynolds vetoed that and relied on the recommendation of the state medical cannabis board, which recommended the 4.5-gram limit. That board is comprised of physicians and other experts who are appointed by the governor. I figured this year wed come back and wed tell the governor, No, youre wrong, Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, said. We shouldnt be amending (the previous Senate proposal), we should be ramming this down the throat of the governor and saying this is what Iowans are demanding on this. The newly negotiated proposal also adds severe intractable autism and PTSD to the list of conditions for which patients can obtain medical cannabis. Theres always issues that can make (a bill) better or resolve differently, said Sen. Tom Greene, R-Burlington, who is a pharmacist. This is an issue where we need to take that forward. With its approval by a 32-17 vote, the bill heads to the governor. The debate also got heated when Bolkcom railed against a provision that allows businesses to deny unemployment insurance to former workers who are found to have marijuana in their system. Bolkcom suggested the provision could have a disparate impact on low-income and minority communities, and said it is another example of the kinds of policies that have contributed to the anger manifesting in this weeks protests throughout Iowa and the country. Republicans took offense to Bolkcoms argument, saying they felt he was suggesting it was their intent for the legislation to adversely impact minorities. The back-and-forth led to multiple occasions in which Senate President Charles Schneider, R-West Des Moines, brought together bickering lawmakers in an attempt to maintain cooler heads. What happened in Minneapolis disgusts me, Zaun said. I hope that guy (the officer charged in George Floyds death) rots in hell. And it happens way too often. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Helpline cases triple as seafarers seek help during COVID-19 pandemic International 24-hour helpline SeafarerHelp, operated by the International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), has experienced a surge in demand as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affects seafarers worldwide. In April 2020 alone, ISWAN's SeafarerHelp handled over 600 new cases more than triple the number in the same month last year. Many of these cases involve seafarers experiencing issues as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. In fact, up to 1 May 2020, the helpline has recorded over 470 COVID-19-related cases affecting more than 7,000 seafarers. So far, the most common COVID-19-related problem reported by seafarers to SeafarerHelp is difficulty with repatriation. Crews around the world have been left stranded, unable to disembark from their vessels due to port restrictions or unable to make their home once ashore due to lockdown measures. In cases such as these, SeafarerHelp's helpline officers work with a network of organisations including ship owners, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), government agencies, welfare bodies, and ISWAN's own regional teams in the Philippines, India and Nigeria, who are in close contact with their national maritime authorities, to arrange the help the seafarers need. However, many of SeafarerHelp's cases are dealt with in-house. The helplines officers are trained in counselling skills, emotional support and suicide risk assessment and have been supporting seafarers contacting the helpline with stress and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Over 100 cases so far involve seafarers seeking financial assistance, and the SeafarerHelp team has referred those eligible to the ISWAN Hardship Fund and Seafarers Emergency Fund. A similar number of cases were requests for information on topics such as visas, joining ships or port restrictions, and SeafarerHelp provides a first port of call for those unsure where to go. SeafarerHelp Deputy Team Manager Yasmine Zhao said: 'Our helplines are coping well during the COVID-19 crisis, despite the fact that we ourselves are under lockdown and everybody is working from home. 'Due to the spreading of the coronavirus outbreak, we have seen a rapid increase in the number of calls coming into our helplines. The number of calls more than tripled in April 2020 if you compare with the number of contacts we received in the same period last year. To be able to deal with the high volume of calls, we have added extra shifts and extra staff on top of our normal shift pattern. Our team is working extremely hard to assist seafarers and their families worldwide.' Ekaterina, one of the SeafarerHelp officers working on the helpline, said: 'Every call is different. Sometimes seafarers are happy to get news and current updates; sometimes they need a lot of emotional support. We ask questions and listen to what a seafarer needs. We are happy to follow the lead of the call and stay in touch with seafarers until they feel better or until their problem is resolved.' ISWAN's SeafarerHelp is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the helpline team speaks a number of different languages. Seafarers and their families can contact the helpline via a range of channels including telephone, e-mail, WhatsApp and Live Chat, and speak confidentially to a trained helpline officer. More information about SeafarerHelp and contact details can be found at www.seafarerhelp.org. Scott Morrison has revealed what he really thinks of US President Donald Trump - saying he finds him 'easy to get along with'. The prime minister praised his relationship with Mr Trump during an interview on Thursday night, amid criticism of his handling of the Black Lives Matter protests. He also weighed in on the president's controversial appearance at a boarded up St John's Church where he was seen holding up the Bible amid protests against police brutality. It was later labelled a 'PR stunt' by critics. 'He's always been straight up with me, I can tell you that,' Mr Morrison told host Karl Stefanovic on A Current Affair. 'Through his presidency, the United States has been a good friend of Australia. 'The work we do together in our defence relationship is incredibly important for Australia's interest and he's shown a keen interest in that.' When probed on his opinion of the 'Bible stunt', Mr Morrison, who is an evangelical Christian supporter, said he would not judge another person's faith. 'I don't judge other people's faith and I don't invite them to judge mine,' he said. 'I think faith is personal and I have always held that as a principle. I leave others to express their faith and how they conduct themselves, that is up to them. 'Our job as leaders is to represent our countries and pursue relationships that are good for our people, our national interests and whatever opinions people might have or whatever leaders around the world. 'It is my job to ensure we can have as best as possible relationships and protect our interests.' Scott Morrison (pictured, left) said President Donald Trump (right) is a 'straight talker' and 'easy to get on with' during an interview with A Current Affair Stefanovic even slid in a question on Mr Trump's hair to which the prime minister quipped: 'Well he's got more of it than I do'. 'He is a straight talker and is easy to get on with.' Mr Morrison's comments come in the wake of abuse hurled at Mr Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and current protests following the death of unarmed African American George Floyd. Mr Trump was criticised for his photo opportunity earlier this week at St John's Church which was burnt down the previous night during protests. Donald Trump (pictured on June 1) has been criticised for his photo opportunity at St John's Episcopal Church while protests unfold around him following the death of George Floyd The president walked to the church surrounded by Secret Service agents in full protective gear where he was photographed. He then returned to the safety of the White House while the riots continued to unfold around him. Protest organiser Michael Sampson II said the president's behaviour was 'scary'. 'It's been a very visceral reaction,' he told the ABC. 'There was already an anger and a tension in air, which is why you've seen all these protests popping up all around the country. 'The fact he would order tear gas and riot police on peaceful protesters just for a walk to a church to take a picture, that's a very scary thing for us.' (fixes typo in headline) LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - Britain expects the United States to continue its tradition of protecting media freedoms, foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Thursday when asked about protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. While the demonstrations have been largely peaceful, police in some cities have used force against journalists and protesters, and protesters have clashed with police. Asked during an interview on Sky News whether he condemned police violence in the United States, Raab said: "Anyone that saw the footage of the treatment of George Floyd would have been moved and distressed as I was, and I think seeing the protests and the violence is very distressing. "I want to see America come together ... you mention media freedoms and journalistic freedoms, of course the U.S. has a fine tradition of protecting all of those things and yes we do expect that to continue." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) The Circuit Court in Tamale in the Northern Region Thursday, sentenced Sulemana Danaah to 10 years in prison for defiling a two-year-old girl at Kumbungu in the Northern Region. According to Chief inspector Victor Kwafo who is the prosecutor of the case, the minor together with her colleagues were playing at the Suniya Primary School in Kumbungu on June 1, 2020, where the suspect; a driver's mate, went and lured her inside one of the classrooms with GHS 2 and defiled her. The suspect was put before His Honour William Appiah Twumasi where he pleaded guilty to the offence of defilement. He was convicted after the charge was read by the prosecutor. Sulemana Danaah is said to have been given the 10-year jail sentence to serve as a deterrent to others. Circumstances leading to his arrest The Police in Kumbungu in the Northern Region yesterday June 3, 2020, held Sulemana Danaah, a 25-year, for indecent assault of the two-year-old girl. According to the family of the victim, the suspect lured the victim with GHS2 and assaulted her sexually. The family of the victim was allegedly reluctant in getting the case through but the Savanna Signatures, a gender advocacy group operating in Northern and parts of Volta Region took interest in the case after hearing of it. Officials of the group visited the police at Kumbungu at the time and pursued the medical procedure for the family. Sources at the Kumbungu police station say sexual offences among young girls tops all other cases in the Kumbungu District but obstructions by family and religious leaders hinder the justice process. ---citinewsroom DENVER, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With an ever-increasing array of InsurTech choices, many independent agencies report they are struggling to select the solutions that will truly enable their growth, now and in the future. Today, Vertafore released new data that shows agencies who invest in four key pillars of modernization, supported by the company's InsurTech offerings, can see up to three times the revenue and profitability growth year-over-year compared to industry averages. To help more of North America's approximately 36,500 independent agencies achieve this result, Vertafore announced its Modernizing the Agency initiative to empower agencies to: Offer a client digital experience that puts policy data and simple transaction capabilities in the palm of customers' hands in the mobile app experience they've come to expect. Implement robust agency management solutions that enable efficiency and visibility to drive profitable growth and empower employees. Access market connectivity solutions that simplify the insurance lifecycle and get agents and the end-insured the information they need to make policy decisions immediately. Leverage data and insights for enhanced customer intelligence, informed risk advisory and automated workflows. Vertafore plans to unveil its Modernizing the Agency strategy, as well as a series of related product and feature announcements, during the virtual kickoff event for the Summer of Accelerate, powered by NetVU, June 9 11. "Vertafore has long been a champion of the independent agent. Now, we're pushing ahead to deliver a comprehensive vision for agency modernization that streamlines and simplifies the insurance lifecycle for agencies and the end-insured," said Vertafore CEO Amy Zupon. "By investing in new features, capabilities and education around the four most essential pillars of modernizationthe client digital experience, agency management, market connectivity and data and analyticswe aim to help more agencies achieve sustained business growth." Award-winning products that deliver proven value Agency modernization has become a mandate for independent brokers as direct-to-consumer providers, customer expectations and talent recruitment challenges converge to drive pressure to innovate. In response, Vertafore continues to deliver award-winning, best-of-breed solutions that are transforming both agency operations and the industry itself. For example, InsurLinkVertafore's new self-service, end-insured facing mobile app and web portaljust earned a 2020 Stevie Award for Best Insurance Solution. By eliminating barriers to launching a mobile app strategy, InsurLink levels the playing field for small independent agencies, allowing them to offer the same sleek digital solution as the big carriers at a fraction of the time and cost. Since its launch in March, an average of 14 agencies per day have signed up for InsurLink. The solution has already been shown to improve agency customer retention by up to 5%, reducing client churn and allowing agents to spend more time providing client risk advisory and consultation services with less time spent on mundane, transactional tasks. Summer of Accelerate provides roadmap for growth To help agencies build their modernization strategy, get the most out of their existing Vertafore products, and engage with experts and peers, Vertafore and the Network of Vertafore Users (NetVU) have transformed their annual user conference, Accelerate, powered by NetVU, into the Summer of Accelerate to provide three full months of free, virtual content. During Vertafore's virtual kickoff event, attendees will get a sneak peek at Vertafore's latest innovations. With online events covering workflow automation, new seamless commercial submission solutions, ratings and carrier connectivity, and how to better leverage data and analytics, the event offers something for everyone. A foundation for success Agency modernization requires more than just buying software; it includes adopting streamlined workflows and tapping into insights to make faster, smarter business decisions. To deliver on this strategy, Vertafore is launching more new product features than ever, releasing 50% more features than just a year ago. With more than 1,000 new features on the docket for 2020, the company is on track to outperform its own industry benchmark once again. "As our industry adjusts to a post-pandemic model, it's clear SaaS technologies are essential for empowering agents to continue serving clients even when they can't be in the office," Zupon said. "As agencies plan ahead for what the 'new normal' might look like, having a modern, digital-first approach will be essential. That's why our Summer of Accelerate is so important right now, to give agencies the strategies and tools they need to meet their customers' expectations today and down the road." To learn more about agency modernization and the Summer of Accelerate, visit https://summerofaccelerate.com/. About Vertafore For 50 years, Vertafore, the leader in modern insurance technology, has built and supported superior Insurtech solutions to connect every point of the distribution channel. Vertafore's agency management, ratings, regulation, compliance, data and analytics, and connectivity products streamline workflows, improve efficiency and drive productivity for more North American insurance professionals than any other provider including more than 20,000 agencies, over 1,000 carriers and 23 state governments. Through a continual focus on operational excellence, development of innovative solutions, and alignment with key industry partners, Vertafore is leading the way for customers of all sizes by delivering results that make a difference. For more information about Vertafore, visit www.vertafore.com. 2020 Vertafore and the Vertafore logo are registered trademarks of Vertafore. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACT: Liz Reilly SSPR [email protected] SOURCE Vertafore Related Links http://www.vertafore.com Geopolitical tensions amid a global pandemic led Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to keep a key military pact with the United States intact for now, Manilas top diplomat and other government officials said Wednesday. The Philippines was looking to reinvigorate bilateral ties with its oldest ally by holding off for at least another six months from exiting its 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the U.S., Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said. The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with geopolitics, have led to heightened superpower tensions, Locsin told a news conference without naming China, the Asian power contending with the Philippines and other nations over territorial claims in the South China Sea. A world leader must be quick in mind and fast on his feet for the safety of our nation and the peace of the world, Locsin said, two days after Manila notified Washington that it was suspending its decision to terminate the pact. We look forward to continuing our strong military partnership with the United States even as we continue to reach out to our regional allies in building a common defense toward enduring stability and peace and continuing economic progress and prosperity in our part in the world, he added as he read from a prepared statement. The VFA has allowed large-scale joint military drills with U.S. forces that, defense analysts said, were vital to Manila as it faces a challenge from Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Apart from the Philippines and China, the potentially mineral-rich waterway is claimed in whole or in part by Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan. Because of security issues ... in that part of the world (South China Sea), both our governments have seen it would be prudent for us to simply suspend any implementation of the termination, Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippine ambassador to the U.S., told ABS-CBN, a Philippine news network. Meanwhile, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana discussed ongoing security efforts regarding the South China Sea. Even without the suspension of the abrogation of the VFA, the U.S. continues to patrol the South China Sea because according to them, thats international waters and they can go there anytime they want, Lorenza said, adding, Were dealing with Chinese in our own way. In times of crises and global uncertainty, it is our belief that nations are only made stronger if we work together and focus our efforts on tracking the various challenges that confront us all, Lorenzana said in a statement. The defense chief said he was informed by Duterte of the planned turnaround on the VFA in May, and that he was told the country needed cooperation from other countries to fight the pandemic. In February, the Philippine government notified the U.S. that it planned to drop the 21-year-old bilateral military pact. The move was supposed to be finalized in August. The president thought its untimely to end the VFA at this time, Lorenzana said, adding Manila expected increased assistance from U.S. in the next six months. A hedging strategy The head of the Philippine Society for Intelligence and Security Studies, a local think-tank, described the governments turnaround on the VFA as strategic. It is a temporary suspension to allow American troops to conduct military activities in the Philippines in light of the pandemic and recent developments in the South China Sea, security analyst Rommel Banlaoi told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Duterte is playing with two major powers. It is a hedging strategy, to get the best of both worlds, he said. U.S. officials welcomed the decision, announced Tuesday. Our longstanding alliance has benefited both countries, and we look forward to continued close security and defense cooperation with the Philippines, the U.S. Embassy in Manila said in a statement posted on its website shortly after the announcement. The Philippines health department, meanwhile, recorded 751 new COVID-19 cases and eight deaths on Wednesday, bringing the totals to 19,748 and 974. Globally, more than 6.4 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 381,000 have died as of Wednesday, according to data compiled by disease experts at U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. The training takes place at all times of the day at the Crimean firing ranges for military training The Black Sea Fleet of Russia holds tank drills in annexed Crimea. The Russian army is working off the defensive and offensive actions as Russias Defense Ministry reported. The crews of BTR-82 and T-72BZ perform fire activity from authorized armament at targets replicating armored vehicles, artillery and anti-tank manning details of the conditional enemy, the message said. The training takes place at all times of the day at the Crimean firing ranges for military training. The Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories of Ukraine reported about at least 30 military drills held by Russias Defense Ministry in Crimea in April. As we reported, Hetman Sagaidachnyi, the Ukrainian Navy flagship and frigate, conducted regular combat drills in the Black Sea. During the exercise, it observed another violation of the international maritime law by Russian ships. Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014. Crimea is announced to be temporarily occupied territory. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially announced February 20, 2014, to be the year of the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. In October 2015, then-President Petro Poroshenko signed the proper law. The international organization recognized the occupation and annexation of Crimea as illegal and condemned the actions of Russia. The West imposed a number of sanctions against Russia. Russia denies the occupation of the peninsula and calls it the restoration of the historical justice. For some vendors, the Friendswood Farmers Market serves as a stepping stone to grander aspirations. For others, its their livelihood. For customers, the monthly market is a cant-miss appointment. But whether it involves buying or selling, the co-founders of the Friendswood Farmers Market are eager to say that Saturdays event at 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Stevenson Park is a welcome sight. Were so excited at least 75 percent of our vendors will be there, said Benette Rowley, president and co-founder of the market. We never know what will happen, but it wouldnt surprise me if we have 40 to 42 vendors. Were a rain-or-shine market unless theres just a horrible storm. The market originated in 2013 and began operating, with permission from the city of Friendswood, in 2014 at Stevenson Park. Jim Foreman, vice president and co-founder of the market, said trying to manage each vendors business during the novel coronavirus pandemic has been challenging. The hard part about running a farmers market is that we dont compete for customers, we compete for vendors, he said. In the duration of everything that has been going on, weve been trying to creatively keep our vendors in business while also respecting the social distancing. In May, we did a drive-through-only farmers market with some success. The city has said its OK for us to go back to business with our farmers market at Stevenson Park with some precautions. Rowley said Saturdays market is almost a return to normalcy. More Information Friendswood Farmers Market When: 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, June 6 Where: Stevenson Park, Friendswood Admission: Free Website:www.friendswoodmarket.com See More Collapse March was the last time we had a normal market, and in April, the city said no to us, Rowley said. Sales goals exceeded The May market was at Centennial Park where we did a curbside market. Despite state- and city-imposed guidelines, vendors managed to flourish. All of the vendors Ive spoken to have exceeded every sales goal theyve had, Rowley said. Theyre really encouraged and excited about this Saturday. And I think people just really want to get out and attend a farmers market. We had an incredible March market, and obviously were hoping for the same thing this Saturday. Foreman said the market will feature three purchasing options. Some vendors are participating in only the curbside pickup where they will drop off their product with us on Saturday morning and we will hand it over to customers, he said. We minimize contact by doing that, and all payments are handled electronically for the curbside pickup. Some vendors are participating in both the curbside and open market, and some are participating just in the in-person event. I talked to one of our vendors and he does 48 markets, Foreman said. During the past month, only 13 continue to operate, but now all 48 of those are back in business this weekend. Foreman said the market is a great representation of free enterprise. Whether it starts as a side business or a home business, its very important to the vendors, he said. It could be something to make a little extra money, but then we have people who graduate to opening grocery stores, brick-and-mortars, or they sell their business. We have vendors in every stage. We have one vendor who were real excited about who is going to be on Shark Tank next season. We recently lost a vendor because she opened a restaurant. Thats just the life cycle of the farmers market vendor, which is why were constantly looking for new ones. We love the success stories, but that also means theyll move on. Rowley said two features of the market which are normally a staple wont be there for Saturdays event. We usually have a food truck and live music, she said. One of the things I had to agree with the city is that we do not have those for this market. The city wants a flow of customers instead of people hanging around, but Im hoping the food truck and music will resume in August. Normally, the Friendswood Farmers Market doesnt have a July market, but that may change this year. Were definitely excited about this weekend, and well be happy when we get the food trucks and live music back, Rowley said. We have one food truck per market and we usually feature a different one every month to try to give everyone business. And when theres live music, the sales increase. We will have music this Saturday, it just wont be live. tdunnam@hcnonline.com Corps' satellite communication system exceeding performance expectations US Marine Corps News 3 Jun 2020 | Matt Gonzales Marine Corps Systems Command MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- Marine Corps Systems Command is updating its tactical satellite system that provides increased communication on the battlefield. Based on field user evaluations, the upgraded technology is performing beyond expectations. The Mobile User Objective System is a next-generation, narrowband satellite communication capability that enables Marines to connect to SATCOM networks. It encompasses updated firmware to the AN/PRC-117G radio system and one of three antenna kits that help users simultaneously access these networks. Initially fielded in March 2019, the system enables mobile or stationary Marines to leverage cellular technology to increase access to voice and data communication. It also improves overall reliability in urban environments. "MUOS gives us a 3G capability using satellite constellations," said Lt. Col. Jeff Decker, MCSC's Ground Radios product manager. "It is similar to a cell phone capability in the sky that covers the entire globe." The 3G networks used with MUOS remain far superior to the Marine Corps' legacy SATCOM channels, said Decker. He noted that the Ground Radios program office continues to monitor the latest technologies and looks toward working with other services for future incremental improvements to the capability. "We're looking to support the warfighter with a lethal and sustainable capability, which is the command's focus," said Decker. "The more robust and resilient the capability, the more we can start adding on back-end systems to help Marines. MUOS is changing the way we look at a tactical satellite architecture." The importance of evaluations From March to May 2020, MCSC conducted various field user evaluations with I Marine Expeditionary Force at Twentynine Palms, California, to assess an updated version of MUOS that increases network stability while executing missions. During the testing, Marines participated in fire support simulation exercises where they employed MUOS for coordinated air strikes and mortar support. They also used the technology during scenario-based exercises that involved rehearsing command and control operations. "We tested the system through user evaluation exercises to understand not only what the capability can do on paper, but how we can use it to increase lethality and provide redundancy across the [Fleet Marine Forces]," said Decker. The testing enabled users to grow familiar with the system, ask questions and provide feedback. It allowed MCSC to learn more about MUOS, including the system's strengths and limitations. Leveraging Marine feedback, the program office can make additional updates to MUOS as needed. "We try to figure out anything that could be a possible issue for the warfighter," said Decker. "This helps to validate the concept of operations, and it allows us to provide lessons learned to other MEFs." Eddie Young, project officer of Multiband Radio II Family of Systems at MCSC, said the testing helped the Ground Radios Team assess MUOS in combat-operational environments, which will better prepare them to employ the system during real missions. "We wanted to bring in these units and make sure the system is working as it should," said Young. "We want to ensure the warfighter's needs are met." 'Exciting' assessment results Both Decker and Young said the feedback on the updated MUOS from Marines has been overwhelmingly positive, and that the system has exceeded performance expectations. Decker noted how Marines commended the new waveform for its lack of performance gaps, its adaptability and the absence of any technical difficulties while testing. "Marines showed no frustration while trying to execute point-to-point calls while employing MUOS in an operational environment," said Decker. "The system is doing what we expect it to do, and that is exciting." Sgt. Mason J. Roy, video chief for Communication Strategy and Operations at I MEF, participated in the communication exercises. He raved about the benefits of the exercises in training Marines for future missions that involve MUOS employment. "I believe the exercises went really well," said Roy. "The idea that we can send a video or photo from the field to a command post [using MUOS] shows we can rapidly inform commanders with visual information so that commands could potentially adjust battlespaces to promote mission accomplishment and protect our troops." The program office will begin fielding the updated version of MUOS this summer. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Instead, it requires companies to sign a declaration of conformity, generally to say the mask meets a certain standard, like the American N95. "Thats crazy," says Danny Vadasz, chief executive of the Health Issues Centre lobby group. "The onus is on the manufacturer. There is no independent testing." In a statement, the TGA said its rules were "risk-based" and required manufacturers to "self-certify" their products met regulatory requirements. There were "harsh penalties if they are proven not to meet them," a spokesman said. Glenn Street, a regulatory consultant from Regional Health Care Group, said: "[Masks] are entered onto the ARTG by self-declaration. There is no physical intervention by a TGA assessor." His company distributes medical equipment to healthcare networks. He confirmed he had been given non-approved masks to distribute by hospitals. "When we did our due diligence, we found them wanting with regards to correct certification." Acting federal Health Department secretary Caroline Edwards told the Senate inquiry into the governments COVID-19 response last week that face masks sold to consumers were treated differently to those intended "for a therapeutic purpose" in a healthcare setting. Former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Professor Allan Fels said manufacturers and vendors of substandard face masks could be prosecuted under consumer law, but the fact the TGA had allowed them to be listed on the ARTG could impede the success of any such case. "Irrespective of whether they have ARTG acceptance, the basic consumer law still applies that is, there must not be any deceptive or misleading conduct," Professor Fels said. "If a firm claims, explicitly or by implication, that they are supplying a safe product when it is not safe, they are caught by the deceptive and misleading conduct provisions of the consumer law." However, he said, "the water is already muddied if a product has already been in some way implicitly endorsed by the regulator". Professor Fels said the ACCC was unlikely to pursue the matter, as it would be regarded as the TGAs jurisdiction, but that a consumer could instigate proceedings. He said there was a history of matters ending up at the ACCC that should be the domain of other regulators. "Certain things are not properly handled by regulators, and actually end up coming to the final backstop, the ACCC, which has got that general misleading and deceptive conduct power," Professor Fels said. "There are quite a few instances where you think 'what the hell is the primary regulator doing', but clearly they're doing nothing and the ACCC comes in with its misleading and deceptive conduct law." Some 774 new masks have been registered with the TGA since March 22. The TGA admits there has been a surge in new registrations since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and says there are concerns some may not meet legal requirements or perform properly. In recent days it has advised companies that do not meet regulatory requirements to cancel their ARTG listing. So far, 58 have. Further complicating the picture, on March 22 the TGA exempted certain face masks sold to the Health Department from requiring evidence they meet mask standards. Some mask experts say that decision has essentially opened the floodgates for fake masks to enter Australia. "The TGA are fast-tracking and allowing masks to be sold in Australia, but they are not doing the checks. So a lot of companies that are trying to sell respirators in Australia are trying to use the line 'its TGA approved' and that does not mean anything," said Andrew Orfanos, president of the Australian Society of Occupational Hygienists. The TGA denies this, and says only masks supplied directly to the national medical stockpile were able to circumvent regulatory requirements. "There has been no change to the regulations or the process for including masks that meet the definition of a medical device in the ARTG," a spokesman said. LNG Ltd. Developers of Magnolia LNG sold the proposed Louisiana project to a new buyer after a second consecutive deal to sell the planned liquefied natural gas export terminal fell apart. Australian liquefied natural gas company LNG Limited said it sold the proposed project to a buyer identified as Magnolia LNG Holdings LLC in a $2 million deal that closed on May 26. Five Bangladeshi and international organizations that defend the freedom to inform have written to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asking her to take concrete action to guarantee journalistic freedom in the face of an alarming surge in physical and judicial attacks on reporters and cartoonists in connection with the Covid-19 crisis. via Reporters Without Borders Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Government of the Peopleas Republic of Bangladesh Prime Ministeras Office Old Sangsad Bhaban Tejgaon Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh Dhaka, London and Paris 3 June 2020 Dear Prime Minister, aThe government firmly believes in freedom of press." Those are your words. You uttered them on 19 November 2018, when funding was awarded to an organization that protects journalists in difficulty. You added: aNo one can say we ever gagged anyones voice; we never did that, and we dont do that either.a It is nonetheless undeniable that the facts totally contradict these claims. Since this statement, your country has fallen five places in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Bangladesh is ranked 151st out of 180 countries in the 2020 Index. And, given the disturbing number of press freedom violations in recent weeks, we fear that your country could fall even further next year. During the month of May alone, at least 16 journalists and bloggers were charged under the 2018 Digital Security Act. They include the cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, who was arrested on 6 May by the Rapid Action Battalion, your countryas counter-terrorism agency. His only act of aterrorisma was to have published a series of cartoons of politicians entitled aLife in the Time of Corona.a He is still detained and is facing a possible life sentence. Most of the other journalists being prosecuted under this law simply reported information that annoyed local politicians. Since the start of the lockdown in your country, at least 13 journalists have also been the targets of violence, which in some cases caused serious injuries. This was the case with Shah Sultan Ahmed, a journalist who was badly beaten on 1 April by about 25 individuals armed with steel rods. The attack was all the more shocking for having been ordered by a local politician in retaliation for a report about the misappropriation of the contents of emergency food packages that your government had sent to help combat the effects of the pandemic. According to RSFas tally, six other journalists have been subjected to outburst of similar violence for investigating cases of corruption among district officials responsible for distributing humanitarian supplies. During the current ainfodemic of misinformation,a as the United Nations has called it, Bangladeshi journalists are working at the frontline to provide your countryas citizens with reliable and independently-reported information. It is intolerable that they are being subjected to violence and harassment in this manner. Your government has a duty to guarantee journalistic freedom and to ensure that reporters can do their job without fear of either physical or judicial reprisals. We, five Bangladeshi and international organizations that defend press freedom, therefore urge you and your government to: Make sure physical attacks against reporters do not go unpunished by ensuring that the attorney general orders the investigations that are needed for the perpetrators and instigators to be arrested and tried for their actions. Request the dropping of abusive prosecutions of journalists, bloggers and cartoonists under the Digital Security Act. Reform your press freedom legislation so that it complies with the undertakings your government has given to international bodies including the UN Human Rights Council on 14 May 2018. To this end, you should amend the Digital Security Act and draft a law on protecting journalists. We stand ready to begin a dialogue with you on achieving these goals. Sincerely, Terry Anderson Executive Director Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) Christophe Deloire Secretary-General Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Dr. Syeda Aireen Jaman Chairwoman Forum for Freedom of Expression, Bangladesh (FExB) Zahirul Islam Khan Chairman Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) Patrick Lamassoure (Kak) President Cartooning For Peace (CFP) My first thought, when I heard about all of the shortages of (personal protective equipment) because of the coronavirus, was, How can I take my dormant digital resources and put them to use?'" said Solin, who has designed a plastic face shield, which in recent weeks has been manufactured and distributed to more than 8,000 essential workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities across Illinois. The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has resolved to acclaim President Akufo-Addo as its presidential candidate for the 2020 general elections. A statement issued by the General Secretary of the party, John Boadu on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, said, the party has resolved to acclaim the sole candidate who had filed his nomination to contest in the presidential primaries, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the party's 2020 presidential candidate. According to the NPP, a date for the acclamation will be announced in the coming days. The date for the acclamation of the presidential candidate and his running mate will soon be communicated to the general public. Equally, the party will soon issue guidelines for the conduct of the parliamentary primaries, the statement added. Meanwhile, the party has also settled on June 20, 2020, to conduct its parliamentary primaries in constituencies where it has sitting Members of Parliament. The NPP has scheduled June 20, 2020, to hold its Parliamentary Primaries in the 168 Constituencies where the Party has sitting MPs to elect its Parliamentary Candidates for the 2020 General Elections. These critical decisions were taken by the party at a National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Council meetings jointly held on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, the statement further noted. President Akufo-Addo filed his nomination to contest in the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential elections on February 20, 2020. The President has also maintained Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate for the 2020 general elections. Below is the full statement from the party The NPP has scheduled June 20, 2020, to hold its Parliamentary Primaries in the 168 Constituencies where the Party has sitting MPs to elect its Parliamentary Candidates for the 2020 General Elections. The Party has also resolved to acclaim the sole candidate who had filed his nomination to contest in the Presidential Primaries, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Party's 2020 Presidential Candidate. These critical decisions were taken by the party at a National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Council meetings jointly held on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra. The date for the acclamation of the Presidential Candidate and his Running Mate will soon be communicated to the general public. Equally, the Party will soon issue guidelines for the conduct of the Parliamentary Primaries. Thank you. John Boadu General Secretary ---citinewsroom ANSONIA It began with a call for justice and equality near the Martin Luther King Jr. bust at City Hall Thursday morning and ended with a peaceful, late afternoon march to the local police station. At least 100 people with differing skin tones assembled, brought together by what Deacon Dave Gatison of the Macedonia Baptist Church described as the live, public lynching of an unarmed, handcuffed black man. Although George Floyds life ended under a police officers knee some 1,269 miles away in Minnesota, area politicians, clergy and residents demanded that it would not be in vain. On the steps of City Hall, I want to make one thing perfectly clear, Mayor David Cassetti told the crowd of masked people standing on Main Street. We stand with you ... in outrage ... in protest ... in rejecting hate and inequality. Cassetti pointed to the MLK bust installed a year ago and urged people to carry on his mission to fight hate with love. While King was gassed, clubbed, jailed without cause, insulted and harassed by federal agents, Cassetti reminded the crowd the minister never issued a threat, raised a fist in anger, or tossed a bomb or fired a gun. Hate can not drive out hate, only love can do that, Cassetti said, quoting King. As morning turned into afternoon Thursday, about 125 people marched with police for the nearly mile and a half from City Hall to the police station. Along the way they chanted No Justice, No Peace; Hands Up, Dont Shoot and I Cant Breath. Many carried signs, like Lynne Schwarzenberg whose sign contained the names of several people who died in recent years at the hands of police. But, Michelle Sanders of Shelton told the crowd gathered outside the departments Elm Sreet headquarters, All cops didnt kill George Floyd. A lot of police help police the police, she said, and then commended the Ansonia officers for marching with them. Her words meant something to Chief Andrew Cota III. Im proud of my department. Im proud that this community recognizes we will work with them, he said. To see a diverse group of people speaking from their heart about things that truly bother them is important. I respect them. As the group march up Platt Street, Keisha Martin-Velez watched with her 7-year-old daughter, Morgan Hughes. They recently moved to Ansonia from Stamford. She said she used the march as a teaching event for her daughter. Its important she knows the trial and tribulations in addition to the happy-go-lucky times she will experience growing up as a minority woman, Martin-Velez said. She needs to understand that enough is enough and we need to all come together and be unified. Thursdays events were just the beginning. Another rally is planned by the New Beginnings Church of God at 7 p.m. Friday on the Derby Green and theres another Sunday at 11 a.m. at Ansonias Nolan Field. The Thursday march was organized by Raymond Williams-McCoy, an Ansonia resident who graduated in 2019 from New Havens High School in the Community, and Andrew Bosworth, an Ansonia High school junior. A fellow student, Maliqa Mosley-Williams, told the crowd about her fears of being racially profiled or hearing a family member was killed because of suspicions of wrongdoing. The Ansonia High senior urged everyone to continue to make their voices heard. Silence only serves the oppressor, Mosley-Williams said. To be silent is to be complicit. Greg Johnson, who heads the Valley NAACP, is rarely silent when it comes to bias and racial wrongdoing. Im a product of racism. Racism molded my life. It drove me to become the man I am today, he said. Were supposed to be equal ... but were not being treated equal. Were not being treated justly. As a matter of fact were being treated less than and it has to be stopped. He urged those gathered to take this tragedy and create strategy. Enough is enough, he said. CHICAGO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the midst of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, Cure SMA is pleased to announce its new funding for the Pediatric Neuromuscular Clinical Research Network (PNCRN). In 2020, Cure SMA will provide $1.2 million to this Network of highly skilled clinical trial investigators, clinical evaluators, clinical coordinators, statisticians, and data management personnel. In recent years, there have been many important medical breakthroughs, offering new and effective SMA treatment options. The PNCRN has been involved in the seminal clinical trials that have led to the FDA approvals of anti-sense oligonucleotides, gene transfer strategies, and other breakthrough treatments that have changed forever the natural course of the disease. Their work continues to develop and refine more sensitive outcome measures, conduct ongoing clinical trials, accelerate newborn screening programs, and identify promising new treatment approaches. "In these unprecedented times, we see the investment in the PNCRN as critical in our mission to advance treatment and care," says Kenneth Hobby, President, Cure SMA, the leading national organization dedicated to finding effective treatments, care protocols and, ultimately, a cure for SMA. "We are eager to build on the past accomplishments of the Network, made possible by the generous and continuous sponsorship from the SMA Foundation." Originally funded by the SMA Foundation in 2004, the PNCRN established a team of SMA clinical trial experts that have integrated clinical research, education, and care to achieve the best possible clinical trial outcomes. Cure SMA has collaborated with the SMA Foundation as co-sponsor of the PNCRN since 2018. "The SMA Foundation has built and supported this Network for the past 15 years to establish a group of multidisciplinary SMA expert centers that support clinical trials," said Loren A. Eng, President, SMA Foundation. "Through the PNCRN, the Foundation has supported key clinical research studies, such as the SMA Natural History Study and the development of key SMA outcome measures that currently are accepted and used globally. The Natural History of SMA in the modern era was clearly defined by the Network and has been used as a key benchmark to assess safety and effectiveness of potential therapies, and ultimately to obtain recent treatment approvals." "Since the advent of effective SMA treatments, the recognition and description of new SMA phenotypes in treated patients and the durability of the approved treatments have emerged as critical issues, making the continuing work to understand the disease mechanisms and phenotype-genotype correlations that much more important," says Darryl De Vivo, M.D., Director of the PNCRN and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City. "Cure SMA's leadership in SMA research, and its new support of the PNCRN, will allow us to sustain this ground-breaking collaboration in SMA research and clinical care, especially as we expand the number of effective treatments for SMA and pursue the ultimate vision of a cure." Six sites comprise the PNCRN for SMA, including Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY; Nemours Children's Health System, Orlando FL; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; and the data coordinating center at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. These clinical research and treatment sites have also now been integrated into the established Cure SMA Care Center Network, which will lead to real-world evidence that increases access to approved treatments and improves care for individuals and families with SMA. About SMA Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that robs an individual of their ability to walk, swallow, andin the most severe caseseven breathe. SMA is the leading genetic cause of death for infants. Symptoms can surface within the first 6 months of life (Type 1, the most severe and common), during the toddler years (Types 2 and 3), or in adulthood (Type 4, the least common form). SMA affects 1 in 11,000 births in the United States each year, and approximately 1 in 50 Americans is a genetic carrier. The good news is that there are now truly effective FDA-approved treatments for SMA that make it possible for individuals with SMA to achieve developmental milestones and live full and productive lives. About Cure SMA Cure SMA is dedicated to the treatment and cure of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Since 1984, Cure SMA has grown to be the largest network of individuals, families, clinicians, and research scientists working together to advance SMA research, support affected individuals/caregivers, and educate public and professional communities about SMA. The organization has directed and invested in comprehensive research that has shaped the scientific community's understanding of SMA, led to breakthroughs in treatment and care, and provided individuals and families the support they need today. For more information, visit www.cureSMA.org. About SMA Foundation Founded in 2003, the SMA Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the development of treatments for SMA through targeted funding of clinical research and novel drug development efforts. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded ~$150 million for SMA research. In addition, the Foundation is committed to raising awareness and generating support for increased research efforts in SMA among the leaders of industry and government. When the SMA Foundation was founded, there were no treatments for SMA available. Today there are two approved treatments and several more in clinical and preclinical development. For more information, visit the SMA Foundation website at http://www.smafoundation.org. Photo(s): https://www.prlog.org/12824916 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE Cure SMA Related Links http://www.cureSMA.org There was no police presence during the Solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter rally on the Dickinson College campus Wednesday evening. There was no rioting, no looting. There wasnt much in the way of shouting, either. But there was anger. And there was disgust that, 244 years after its founding, innocent black men and women still must be justifiably nervous when they are pulled over by the police in the United States of America. I am heartbroken again, English teacher Dorene Wilbur told the mostly white crowd of several hundred who flocked to the Carlisle school despite the near-90 degree heat. The events of the past week have shaken me to the core. And yes, I have been angry; angry and afraid. I am afraid for my black children, those in my home, in my school and in my community, she said. The event at which Wilbur spoke was sponsored by Cumberland Valley Rising and was the latest of hundreds of demonstrations across the country following the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police. Some of those other protests, especially in major cities, have turned violent. The Carlisle rally opted for compassion and reason instead. The stated aim was to forge a lasting interracial alliance to reform a justice system that many, perhaps most in attendance believe has gone horribly and in some cases fatally awry. That means Americans, nor just black Americans, but white ones and those of all other races, must unite and act, said Wilbur, who is African American. At some point, she said, we must move beyond packaged quotes that they can slap on their social media pages so it looks like they care, she said. Do what makes you uncomfortableChange starts in the home, in the heart and in the mind. Create a culture of inclusion...Do the right thing. Speak up. Ask questions. Listen, she added. We must all share the same goal. And that is equality, justice and reform. Sophia Akujobi, Wilburs daughter and a high school freshman, followed her mom to the podium. Im tired of being scared, she said. We should be angry. Not just black people. Everyone. Change is not impossible. We just need to take the first step together to make change a reality, Sophia said. Carlisle Mayor Tim Scott called on state and federal leaders to do something of substance to stop police brutality and reform the criminal justice system as a whole. That includes strict standards governing police use of force, he said. I tend to be a hopeful person, Scott said. Remember, weve been through this before. Now we have the chance to get it right and finally live up to being the nation of our great ideals. The most physically uncomfortable segment of the rally came when Christina Hagood, a high school chemistry teacher, asked the participants to lie face-down on the ground with their hands behind their backs. They dropped to the soft grass and held that position for more than 8 minutes, as long as a Minneapolis cop knelt on Floyds neck on the hot pavement of a street. Stephanie Jirard, a criminal justice professor at Shippensburg University, railed not just against police brutality but against the death penalty as well. We are the police. We have given the government the authority to kill us in the name of justice. All lives matter, but it is a fact of the criminal justice system that black lives matter less, Jirard said. She said all Americans, regardless of race, have a moral duty to speak up and intervene if thy encounter acts of racial injustice. You have to be that tattletale. Youve got to be that snitch. You have to speak up, Jirard said. Ellie Park, another English teacher, said she and other whites must employ their hue as a lever to help their black fellow citizens make direly needed changes. We must be sure we include people of color in every sphere we occupy, she said. If there is only one black kid at your childs birthday party, youre doing it wrong. Use your whiteness, Park said. GRAND RAPIDS, MI The Grand Rapids Association of Pastors spoke out against racial injustice and police brutality during a press conference Thursday, June 4. Pastors from at least 10 different denominations gathered at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church to share concerns surrounding systemic racism in the country and what can be done to strengthen race relations in the community. Early morning traffic in the northbound lanes of Interstate 93 in Boston, MA on May 19, 2020. Gov. Baker announced phase one of reopening on May 18, including allowing manufacturing and construction to being. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released major guidelines on how U.S. offices should function as people return to work during the coronavirus pandemic including advice that reverses years of public policy guidance on how people should commute to the office. Instead of taking public transportation or carpooling, the CDC suggests people drive to work by themselves if feasible and advises corporations to provide incentives for employees to drive by themselves. The new guidelines raised concerns over what could be unbearable traffic congestion and a surge in carbon emissions if people turn to cars in order to avoid exposure to the virus. "Promoting private vehicle use as public health strategy is like prescribing sugar to reduce tooth decay," said University of British Columbia urban planning and public health professor Lawrence Frank. The challenges will grow more acute if residents abandon cities for less densely populated suburbs, a trend that may be getting underway. Real estate service provider UrbanDigs recently analyzed new sales contracts divided by new listings to gauge relative demand, and found it was down in Manhattan but higher in Westchester County in New York, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Bergen and Monmouth counties in New Jersey. "The level of vehicle dependence created by urban sprawl is a primary cause of [carbon] emissions and climate change, which has arguably even larger threats to life," he said. "Air pollution from car dependent development and commuting is a primary source of diabetes and heart disease." Although it's unclear what commuting will look like as more people return to offices, there are already signs that people are turning to driving cars instead of using mass transit. Data published by Apple Maps shows a nationwide surge in direction requests for people driving in cars over the last several months, while direction requests via mass transit have remained consistently low since plummeting at the start of the outbreak. During April and May in New York City, search demand for monthly parking in the city almost doubled on the parking app SpotHero. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning a major change to its organizational setup in Delhi to reinvigorate the cadre following the state unit leadership change on Tuesday. Adesh Kumar Gupta, who will take charge on Friday after replacing actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari as the Delhi BJP chief on Tuesday, said it is important to strengthen the cadre, especially in slums and unauthorized colonies. We will put in place a new team soon. It will be a mix of new and old people. Our aim is to reach out to all the sections, especially those living in slums and unauthorized colonies. These are the areas where we need to strengthen our cadre, said Gupta. The BJP managed to win just eight of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly elections this year as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept to power for a second term. BJP leaders say Gupta is an old hand and aware of the key issues. Delhi BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju said it is always helpful to have someone who knows the party cadre well. He [Gupta] has risen through the ranks and has worked at every level. He knows the problem areas and will be able to fix those in no time. This is important to strengthen the cadre and start work for the next election. Gupta on Wednesday hit out at the Delhi government over the alleged discrepancy in the data on its mobile application on the availability of beds in hospitals. He said the AAP government has been misleading the people. First, it was about the death figures due to Covid-19 and now it is about details of available beds in hospitals. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the mobile application stating that 100% beds are available in seven hospitals. A few hours later, there was information mismatch on the mobile application and hospital data, said Gupta. A Delhi government spokesperson conceded teething troubles in the app but described it as an important tool. The spokesperson said the data on bed availability is provided by the hospitals and assured that if patients were denied admission despite beds being available, strict action would be taken against them. Vallejo Police shot and killed a 22-year-old man shortly after midnight Tuesday during the suspected looting of a Walgreens, Chief Shawny Williams told reporters and protesters in a public press conference Wednesday afternoon. The man, identified as Sean Monterrosa of San Francisco, was with a group of people police say targeted the Walgreens pharmacy. Officers arriving at the scene reported seeing 10-12 people getting into two vehicles. The first, a silver truck, drove off; the second, a black sedan hit an unmarked police SUV, setting off the airbag and injuring the officer inside. Simultaneously, Williams said, one officer reported he observed a man in black clothing who appeared to be armed standing in front of the store. An officer can be heard over police radio saying "wearing all black, looks like they're armed possibly armed," and 22 second later, "shots fired." The chief said Monterossa appeared to be running toward the black sedan, but "suddenly stopped, taking a kneeling position, and placing his hands above his waist, revealing what appeared to be a handgun." Williams said police pursued the truck to Rodeo where at least one person was arrested, but never located the black sedan or its occupants. The officer, an 18-year veteran of the force, then fired from inside his vehicle five times, breaking the police car's windshield in the process. One shot hit the Monterrosa, fatally wounding him. Investigators later discovered that he did not have a gun, but rather, "a long, 15-inch hammer tucked into the pocket of his sweatshirt." Involved officers have since been placed on administrative leave and the Solano County District Attorneys Office is investigating the event, while the Vallejo Police Department will be conducting its own internal affairs professional standards investigation. Police departments have 45 days to release body cam footage after a shooting, but Williams noted, "I believe in rapid transparency, so well get the video up as soon as we can." "It's always a tragedy any time an officer has to use force," Williams stated to reporters. "My condolences to his family. It is a difficult thing to happen. I am here and we are here to put out information so we are open and transparent. Since I have been here in Vallejo, we've made many changes in terms of de-escalation policy, in terms of body cam policy, and in terms of how we analyze use of force." Williams also said the National Guard had been called into Vallejo on Tuesday "because of Monday night." "Monday was a horrible night, something weve never seen in 27 years," he said. "It was a coordinated attack, it was an orchestrated, organized assault on our city." Williams said there were advertisements on social media, telling people to "come to Vallejo and commit looting and crime." The resulting events prompted the call to the National Guard. "Our officers are exhausted but resilient," he said, "but we needed additional resources to safeguard many of businesses that were frankly severely damaged Monday." Protests related to the killing of George Floyd are ongoing across the Bay Area this week, with many cities and counties currently enacting curfews. Most protests have been peaceful, but in some parts of the Bay Area, there have been reports of individuals looting and vandalizing buildings. The news conference ended abruptly as members of the community shouted questions at the chief, who attempted to answer some but then left the dais. Vallejo's curfew is 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., and is in effect until further notice. Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira Mr. Ellis was physically restrained as he continued to be combative, the Tacoma Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday. Detective Troyer said he did not know all the details of the restraint the officers used they were not wearing body cameras but said he did not believe they used a chokehold or a knee on Mr. Elliss neck. They rolled him on his side after he called out, I cant breathe. The main reason why he was restrained was so he wouldnt hurt himself or them, Detective Troyer said. As soon as he said he couldnt breathe, they requested medical aid. Detective Troyer said the call for aid came four minutes after the officers encountered Mr. Ellis. Mr. Ellis was still breathing when medical personnel arrived, Detective Troyer said. He was removed from handcuffs while personnel worked on him for about 40 minutes, Detective Troyer said. He was then pronounced dead. Family members said Mr. Ellis was the father of an 11-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter. He was a talented musician at his church. Ms. Carter-Mixon said Mr. Ellis was like a father figure to her boys, coaching them on things like how handle themselves to keep safe in a world of racial injustices. Syria: ISIS attacks oil well, asks for kickbacks In area controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JUNE 4 - ISIS militants on Thursday attacked one of the main oil installations in eastern Syria in a region controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). It said ISIS cells in the region of Dayr az Zor stormed the Azraq oil well, which is part of the Tanak oil field on the eastern shore of the Euphrates. Sources said the militants threatened workers at the facility and drivers transporting oil cargo at a local level, forcing them to pay ISIS kickbacks on oil traffic.(ANSAmed). Floyd's death sparks global outrage From:Xinhua | 2020-06-03 15:58 Video PlayerClose BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Outrage over the death of unarmed African American George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis has been growing across the United States, and now, beyond. Floyd, 46, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he stopped breathing. In a video footage, the victim was heard saying "I can't breathe" while three other police officers stood by. The incident has triggered massive protests against racial discrimination and police abuse across the country, prompting U.S. mayors and governors to impose curfews in more than 40 cities, while thousands of people have been arrested so far. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for restraint from the authorities in responding to demonstrators, said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, adding that Guterres hopes to see peaceful protests in the United States over the death of Floyd. The tragedy has also set off protests outside the United States. In neighboring Canada, protesters took to the streets in Montreal to denounce racial profiling and police brutality. In Greece, hundreds of members of the youth wing of the Greek Communist party KKE protested peacefully on Monday outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens and the U.S. Consulate in the northern city of Thessaloniki. Raising banners of "I can't breathe," protesters outside the U.S. embassy chanted slogans such as "No to a system giving birth to crises, wars, and racism." "We join Greek people's voice with the voices of all people across the world against the barbarity ... We join our voice with the U.S. people who are giving a struggle these days for their rights, to be able to breathe," KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas said earlier. In Britain, thousands of people gathered in London and Manchester to protest over the death of Floyd, despite an official ban of mass gatherings. Chanting "no justice, no peace," the protesters gathered in London's landmark Trafalgar Square shortly after 1 p.m. before marching through Westminster to Downing Street. From the French capital city of Paris to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, and from the Dutch city of The Hague to the Australian city of Sydney, demonstrators have rallied to voice support and demand improvement in race relations. The killing of Floyd has sparked diplomatic concern around the world. Josep Borrell, the European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief, reportedly described the incident as an "abuse of power." "We here in Europe, like the people of the U.S., we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd and I think that also societies must remain vigilant against the excess of use of force," Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was quoted by the Guardian as saying. "This is an abuse of power and this has to be denounced as we combat (it) in the States and everywhere. We support the right to peaceful protest and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind and, for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions," said Borrell. Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the anti-discrimination protests in the United States are "understandable and more than legitimate." Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat called on authorities in the United States to intensify their efforts to "ensure the total elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race or ethnic origin." "I strongly condemn the murder of George Floyd that occurred in the United States of America at the hands of law enforcement officers, and wishes to extend my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones," he said in a statement. "The AU Commission firmly reaffirms and reiterates its rejection of the continuing discriminatory practices against Black citizens of the United States of America," he added. Ghana's President Nana Akuffo-Addo condemned the killing on his official Facebook account, saying that "Black People, the world over, are shocked and distraught by the killing of an unarmed man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in the United States of America. It carried with it an all too painful familiarity, and an ugly reminder." "We stand with our kith and kin in America in these difficult times, and we hope that the unfortunate, tragic death of George Floyd will inspire a lasting change in how America confronts head on the problems of hate and racism," said Akuffo-Addo. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. One thing people agree on about the theater producer John McCormack: he stopped at nothing to create opportunities for young actors. Also older actors. And young playwrights. And established playwrights who needed a recharge. And Latino playwrights, directors and actors. When 80 or so mostly theater people came together on Zoom to memorialize Mr. McCormack last month, nearly everyone told the same story: he lifted my career. Beyond that, his life was something of a mystery, even to relatives how he managed financially, his personal world. Everyone told the same story, said Chris Messina, who in the mid-1990s knocked on the door of the Naked Angels theater company, where Mr. McCormack was artistic director, and announced himself as one of the best actors in New York that you never heard of, and so is my girlfriend. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 19:34 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc35480 1 National shooting-incident,poso,central-sulawesi,Arsul-Sani,PPP Free Two civilians were shot to death by unknown assailants in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi on Tuesday. National Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ahmad Ramadhan confirmed the incident on Wednesday, but stopped short of disclosing further details. Its true that two Poso residents were shot and killed in Pesisir Utara on Tuesday, Ahmad said as reported by tribunnews.com. Personnel from the joint police and Indonesian Military (TNI) Operation Tinombala along with the Central Sulawesi and Poso Police have been examining the forest where the incident took place, he added. As reported by tribunnews.com, the shooting occurred within an area covered by the Tinombala police-military operation in the region. The two victims have been identified as Syarifuddin, 37, and Firman, 18, both of whom were residents of Poso Pesisir Utara district. Syarifuddin sustained a gunshot wound to his chest and was already dead when the locals found him, whereas Firman died from a similar injury to his neck while he was being taken to a nearby village. United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker Arsul Sani has urged the National Police to investigate the shooting of the two Poso residents. I want those in charge of the National Police to give their attention to [the murder] of these two Poso residents, the politician said in a statement on Thursday. He went on to say that the investigation should also involve the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to ensure that the proceedings remain impartial to reveal the real perpetrators, whether or not they were security personnel. [] If the victims were wrongly murdered and they were not involved with an act of terrorism or other crime, the police owe [their families] a public apology and financial compensation, Arsul said. (rfa) Maison Privee pioneers implementation of mandatory COVID-19 testing for staff and suppliers to ensure guest safety and confidence DUBAI, UAE, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As countries are slowly re-opening and returning to a 'new normal', Dubai-based hospitality firm Maison Privee is the first to implement a mandatory COVID-19 test program for all employees and suppliers. All guest facing staff and contractors working with the firm will be required to undergo testing using the COVID-19 IgM Rapid Testing Kit. "The health and safety of guests is our number one priority. That's why we are rolling out a screening program to ensure that staff who interact with guests are regularly tested for COVID-19," said Rami Shamaa, Co-Founder and Managing Director. "We will also extend this mandatory testing to contractors who carry out cleaning or maintenance work in any Maison Privee properties," Mr Shamaa continued. The Hecin COVID-19 IgM Antibody Rapid Test Kit is an immunochromatographic assay for rapid, qualitative detection of COVID-19 IgM Antibody in human whole blood, serum, plasma and fingertip blood sample. The test is to be used as an aid in the diagnosis of coronavirus infection disease (COVID-19), which is caused by 2019-nCoV. It will be used alongside other precautionary measures including temperature checks, use of PPE and social distancing to protect staff and guests. "Having a suite of measures, including rapid COVID-19 diagnostics, to ensure the health and safety of employees and staff is a regional first and we are very proud that Maison Privee is taking the lead on this in our industry," said Paul Mallee, Co-Founder and Managing Director. These policies come as a welcome initiative representing the first use of such tests in Dubai's hospitality industry. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), testing is the best way to monitor and manage the pandemic until an effective coronavirus vaccine becomes available. Other measures implemented by the company include a requirement for certification of all cleaning contractors by Dubai Municipality's Health & Safety Department. "All surfaces are thoroughly disinfected including all touch-points, such as light switches, remotes, door handles and kitchen utensils. It's very important that our guests feel safe staying with us, knowing that we're doing everything possible to reduce their risk of infection," says Mr Mallee. About Maison Privee Maison Privee is a rapidly growing short term property rental company, based in Dubai. Founded in 2017 by Rami Shamaa and Paul Mallee, Maison Privee is a hospitality company providing vacation and corporate rentals in Dubai that combine the service and convenience of a premium hotel with the privacy and comfort of home. In April 2018, Maison Privee closed a Series A funding round at USD $4,000,000 and are now rapidly expanding their portfolio of properties. Maison Privee hand pick luxury properties in the best locations and support them with extensive services to ensure that guests have the best possible experience with every stay. Maison Privee is licensed by Dubai Department of Tourism Commerce & Marketing (DTCM) to register and manage properties. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176729/Maison_Privee.jpg themaisonprivee.com The Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service has cautioned the public to be wary of persons who purchase items with high currency dominations because they might be fake. The caution follows an arrest of 16 persons in the region on May 24 and May 29, 2020, suspected to be dealing in fake Ghanaian currency. The suspects who were all females, between the ages of 17 and 40 years, were arrested at separate locations after reports were made against them and their activities. A statement issued by the Public Relations Department of the Service in the Region and signed by Godwin Ahianyo, Assistant Superintendent of Police and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said an amount of GH24,000.00, made up of 100 and 200 Cedis denominations in fake currencies were retrieved from the suspects. It said the currencies were currently in Police custody and were being kept as exhibits. Explaining how the perpetuators carried out their activities, the statement said, such persons usually acquired the bigger denomination of fake cedis notes such as GH100.00 and GH200.00 denomination to engage in various business transactions in the Region. It said the perpetuators then use the fake cedi notes to purchase items from unsuspecting traders at shopping centers such as supermarkets and other markets places which do not have currency detectors. They move from one shop to the other and present the fake GH200.00 or GH100.00 note to purchase items whose values are negligible and take a change. They also take this fake currencies to unsuspecting mobile money vendors and make deposit into their mobile money wallet, the statement added. It advised the general public to be cautious about those who present high denominations to purchase items in small quantity, most especially of those who intend to make payments in haste with such bigger denominations. The statement urged Mobile money vendors to ensure that examine the currency they receive before confirming the transfer. Operators of shopping marts and supermarkets are to acquire currency detector where necessary, adding that to safeguard the security of businesses, victims of such crimes are advised to report promptly to the police to initiate investigations into any dubious transaction. The statement said the Police Command has since taken measures to investigate the sources of the fake currencies, as well as create awareness among the general public. The antics of the criminals are dynamic and it is when they are reported that the Police can strategize to nib the activities of this syndicate in the bud, it 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 T he furore over a 14-day quarantine for UK arrivals grew today as a Cabinet minister admitted it may be partially ditched as other European countries were closing their doors to millions of British summer holidaymakers. The controversial quarantine measure is due to come into force next Monday but Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis signalled that it could be swiftly scaled back in the face of widespread opposition from Tory and other MPs. He said it could be fine-tuned as ministers struggled to explain why it was being imposed now and not when the epidemic first hit Britain around three months ago, with the infection sweeping in particularly from Spain and Italy. Another leading scientist also questioned whether it was a useful measure given that Britain appears to have a far higher infection level than many other countries, as well as one of the worst Covid-19 death tolls at nearly 50,000, according to official figures. Home Secretary Priti Patel unveiled the Government's travel quarantine rules yesterday / PA The restriction makes it far less attractive to travel abroad for a summer holiday given that families would have to self-isolate for 14 days on their return. But even if the measure was watered down, possibly through the use of test-and-trace, several European countries were already making it clear that Britons were not currently welcome, given the high levels of coronavirus here, or that they will face restrictions which would spoil many holidays. Greek tourism minister Harry Theoharis said summer holidays in his country would not be for the masses of British tourists as for most of them there would be a minimum isolation period of seven days. Holland opened its borders to a swathe of European countries from June 15 but Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: We do not want British people and Swedes here at the moment. If they do come, they will have to go into quarantine for two weeks. Spains tourism minister Maria Reyes Maroto has stressed UK coronavirus figures still have to improve before her country could receive British tourists . Germany plans to lift a travel ban for EU member states and the UK from 15 June but only if coronavirus infection levels in those countries allow it to do so. Portugal is welcoming British tourists and France is expected to lift a tit-for-tat quarantine for UK visitors imposed after the British Government announced its 14-day self-isolation rule. Several European countries imposed stricter lockdowns than Britain and appear to have got on top of suppressing Covid-19 quicker, with one report suggesting the UK had more deaths confirmed yesterday, 359, than the rest of the EU. The Government is understood to be in talks with Spain, Greece, Portugal, France and other holiday destination countries about air bridges with the UK which would allow millions of British sun-seekers to fly this summer. Mr Lewis said alternatives to quarantine were being worked on and the policy would be reviewed in three weeks time. Transport Secretary Grant Shappss team is looking at work we can do with countries around the world to look at how we can increase travel when it is deemed safe to do so, including arrangements potentially such as international travel corridors, whether we even remove self-isolation measures and safely open up routes to and from countries with low-transmission rates, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. Latest figures suggest there are around 8,000 new cases of coronavirus a day, though the Cabinet minister said the lockdown meant community transmission had been falling quickly. Even if a [transmission] rate in a certain country is lower than ours, any single person who comes into the country who is potentially carrying the virus makes a marginal impact, he added. The reality is that we want to stay ahead of this. The Transport Secretary is working across government to look at how we fine-tune this as we go forward. However, he admitted that the UKs coronavirus rules currently mean that a family here could not go on holiday in Britain, because of the ban on staying overnight, but a family from Spain could, although they would have to self-isolate for 14 days from Monday. Seasonal hotels will in Greece reopen on June 15, ahead of international flights resuming in July / AFP via Getty Images Professor Robert Dingwall, a member of a sub-group of the government advisory group Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), became the latest expert to cast doubt over the effectiveness of a blanket quarantine arrangement for visitors to the UK. We would really need to get the level in this country significantly further down before quarantine started to become a useful measure, he said. I think even then we would have to see something that is targeted on countries with a significantly higher level of community transmission than ourselves and there arent too many of those around, Im afraid. Loading.... Greek tourism minister Mr Theoharis said that Britons flying in from most UK airports would be tested on their arrival. If negative, they would have to self-isolate for a week at their villa, apartment or hotel. A positive result could lead to supervised quarantine for up to 14 days. Britain said on Thursday a confidential legal issue was holding up the extradition of businessman Vijay Mallya to India but that it is seeking to deal with the matter as quickly as possible. Mallya, wanted in India to face charges of financial irregularities, lost his appeal against the 2018 order to extradite him in the UK high court in April. Last month, the high court also refused Mallya permission to appeal in the UK Supreme Court. Amid a string of reports in the Indian media that Mallyas extradition was imminent, a spokesperson for the British high commission said there was still a legal issue of a confidential nature that needs to be resolved before the businessman could be sent back to India. Vijay Mallya last month lost his appeal against extradition, and was refused leave to appeal further to the UK Supreme Court, the spokesperson said. However, there is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mr Mallyas extradition can be arranged. Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved. The issue is confidential and we cannot go into any detail, the spokesperson added. The spokesperson declined to estimate how long this issue will take to resolve, and said: We are seeking to deal with this as quickly as possible. Mallya, 64, is wanted in India to face charges of financial offences involving Rs 9,000 crore borrowed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines from several Indian banks. Senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot had issued the ruling for Mallyas extradition to India in December 2018 in response to a request from the Indian government, which has accused him of knowingly misrepresenting the profitability of his companies when he sought bank loans in 2009. UK home secretary Priti Patel is expected to make a final decision on his extradition. The UK high court, in its ruling in April, had upheld the senior district judges verdict. When the UK high court refused Mallya permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court on May 14 on the ground that his case didnt involve a point of law of general public importance, the long-drawn extradition process was believed to have entered the last stage. Mallya, who was arrested in London in April 2017, had the option of approaching the European Court of Human Rights on the ground his human rights would be at risk if extradited. The UK remains subject to the jurisdiction of the European court until the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. The Latest on the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck: Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A crowd gather in Pioneer Square in downtown Portland by dusk on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 as protests continued for a sixth night in Portland, demonstrating against the death of George Floyd. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.(Sean Meagher/The Oregonian via AP) The Latest on the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck: TOP OF THE HOUR: Thousands march again near White House to protest death of George Floyd. Fifty ATMs vandalized in Philadelphia. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city has taken a step forward in restoring order. Minneapolis police officer to face charge of second-degree murder, other officers to be charged for first time. ___ WASHINGTON Thousands of protesters are marching in the nations capital, unswayed by the additional charges lodged against Minneapolis police officers in connection with the death of George Floyd. They passed block after block of storefronts covered in plywood and side streets blocked by police, soldiers and federal agents. As they marched, protesters chanted, "Whose streets? Our streets." and "No justice, no peace." People ferried supplies of water and free snacks to demonstrators, who included people with young kids in strollers but were mostly young adults. Some tried to engage troops blocking the streets around the White House, calling out to them and telling them to quit their jobs. The troops stayed silent.. ___ PARIS, Texas A member of a Texas city council has resigned under fire over a social media response he made to a protest of George Floyds death in Minneapolis police custody. CLARIFIES THAT LOCATION IS THE U.S. EMBASSY BRANCH OFFICE TEL AVIV: Protesters hold signs and shout slogans during a protest to decry the killing of George Floyd in front of the U.S. Embassy Branch Office, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) Paris City Council member Benny Plata submitted his resignation at a special meeting Tuesday. Mayor Steve Clifford called the meeting to censure Plata after the council member messaged a protester, "Why dont you leave America if its so bad," The Paris News reported. Plata said he really cares about the city and was responding to one person berating America. Paris is a city of about 25,000 residents about 90 miles (145 kilometres) northeast of Dallas. ___ PHILADELPHIA Explosions have hit 50 cash machines in and near Philadelphia since the weekend in a co-ordinated effort to steal them or take the money inside, authorities said Wednesday. A 25-year-old whos accused of selling homemade dynamite on the streets with instructions on how to use it on ATMs has been arrested, though authorities arent yet sure whether the man is connected to the co-ordinated effort, the state attorney general said. One theft resulted in the death of a 24-year-old man hours after he tried to break into an ATM early Tuesday, authorities said. More than a thousand people demonstrated peacefully for several hours on Tuesday night in Philadelphia to protest the killing of George Floyd. Cash machines in other cities also have been stolen from or damaged since civil unrest struck the nation after Floyd died on Memorial Day. ___ BATON ROUGE, La. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday thanked the people of his state for holding peaceful demonstrations in the aftermath of George Floyds death, avoiding the violence and property damage seen in other parts of the country. Edwards said "almost without exception, every single person whos shown up to protest and demonstrated has done so in a way that is an appropriate expression of their concerns about this." The Democratic governor said he doesnt expect to use the Louisiana National Guard to assist local and state police in their response to the future Floyd protests. ___ FILE - In this June 2, 2020, file photo, demonstrators march to protest the death of George Floyd in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) BLACKDUCK, Minn. The mayor of a small northern Minnesota town has resigned after a Facebook post appearing to support running over protesters. The Star Tribune reports Blackduck, Minnesota, Mayor Rudy Patch resigned Monday and deleted his post. Patch had shared a meme showing an apparently bloody Jeep with the caption, "I dont know what you mean by protesters on the freeway. I came through no problem." Patch said in his resignation letter he was making a misguided attempt to show how dangerous protesting on a highway could be. He wrote it was never his intention to support running over protesters. A tanker truck drove into a large crowd of marchers protesting the death of George Floyd near downtown Minneapolis on Sunday night. Nobody was seriously injured and the driver was not charged. ___ WASHINGTON -- Thousands of protesters in the nations capital knelt and sang "Amazing Grace" on Wednesday, the sixth night of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. "We are not going anywhere," the protesters chanted. As the protesters sang and chanted, law enforcement officers in riot gear stood watching over the crowd, which stretched down 16th Street near the White House. The crowd knelt silently as the time neared for a virtual town hall by former President Barack Obama to discuss Floyds death, policing and the protests that have engulfed the country. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser imposed an 11 p.m. curfew after a peaceful night of protests. The curfew then had been 7 p.m. ___ RICHMOND, Va. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmonds prominent Monument Avenue, a senior administration official told The Associated Press. The governor will direct the statue to be moved off its pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak before the governors announcement. Dominique Bryant, 23, wearing the Black and Proud T-shirt, joins demonstrators as they protest the death of George Floyd, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) The announcement is expected Thursday and comes amid turmoil worldwide over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyds neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving. Floyds death has sparked outrage over issues of racism and police brutality and prompted a new wave of Confederate memorial removals. The Lee statue is one of five Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. It's been the target of vandalism during protests in recent days over Floyds death. ___ NEW YORK New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city has taken a "step forward" in restoring order with the help of an early curfew. There was much less widespread plundering of stores Tuesday night amid a huge police presence. The citywide curfew continues from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. this week, imposed to prevent the nighttime chaos and destruction that followed peaceful protests for several days in a row. De Blasio condemned police for roughing up journalists covering the protests, including two from The Associated Press. Police say they arrested about 280 people on protest-related charges Tuesday, compared with 700 the previous night. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was critical of the prior police response, says the city was "much better" and officers were better equipped to keep the peace. ___ ATLANTA Former President Jimmy Carter called Wednesday for Americans in positions of power and influence to fight racial injustice, saying "silence can be as deadly as violence." The 95-year-old former president issued a statement through the Atlanta-based Carter Center to address the angry and sometimes violent protests that have roiled the nation in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He said his decades working to improve human rights worldwide have taught him that people of influence cant remain silent. Carter made no direct mention of President Donald Trumps handling of the protests and the racial unrest that has fueled them. But he said: "We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this." Carter noted he had declared "the time for racial discrimination is over" during his 1971 inauguration speech as Georgias governor, and bemoaned that hes repeating those words almost 50 years later. ___ FILE - This Tuesday, June 27, 2017 file photo shows the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that stands in the middle of a traffic circle on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond's prominent Monument Avenue. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) OMAHA, Neb. A Nebraska prosecutor who declined to bring felony charges against a white business owner for fatally shooting an unarmed black man during recent civil unrest in downtown Omaha has decided to call for a grand jury review of the case. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said in a news conference Wednesday that hell petition the court to call a grand jury to determine whether bar owner Jake Gardner should face felony charges in the Saturday night shooting death of 22-year-old James Scurlock. Kleine said he would also turn the case over to a special prosecutor. On Monday, Kleine announced he would not charge Gardner with a felony in the case after reviewing video of and witness statements regarding the altercation, saying he believed Gardner acted in self-defence. Kleine said his call for a grand jury was made in the interest of transparency after meeting with community leaders. ___ LOS ANGELES Los Angeles County has ordered another overnight curfew, but it will be four hours shorter. The curfew will begin at 9 p.m. Wednesday and end at 5 a.m. Thursday. Previous curfews ran from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. A county statement says officials are assessing public safety needs on a daily basis. A few municipalities in the sprawling county continue to have stricter curfews. Huge demonstrations in Los Angeles on Tuesday were peaceful, and subsequent arrests were only for curfew violations. ___ DETROIT Another 127 people were arrested Tuesday night during protests in Detroit, Police Chief James Craig said Wednesday. Most of the arrests were for violating the citys curfew. At least one person was charged with misdemeanour resisting police or disturbing the peace. Of those arrested, Craig said 80 live outside the city and six show addresses in Maryland, California, Washington D.C., and New York. Dozens of people have been arrested over five days of demonstrations, with police reporting that the majority of those charged were from outside the city. Craig says many protesters have "another agenda, and its not to celebrate the life of Mr. Floyd." A demonstrator watches as a U.S. Secret Service police office works on a fence blocking Lafayette Park as protests in the death of George Floyd continue, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ___ LAS VEGAS -- A union president says a Las Vegas police officer gravely wounded when shot during a protest against George Floyds death successfully underwent surgery to remove a bullet from his neck. The 29-year-old officer was shot Monday night as police tried to disperse protesters outside a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Protesters dispersed Tuesday night without major reported problems after a demonstration that lasted nearly five hours. ___ MINNEAPOLIS Prosecutors have charged a Minneapolis police officer with unintentional second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd and for the first time levelled charges against three other officers who were at the scene. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired May 26 and initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The new murder charge alleges that Chauvin caused Floyds death without intent while committing third-degree assault. Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday charged the other officers with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. The officers were also fired but werent initially charged. All counts carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. ___ DETROIT Leaders of Detroits automakers and other business executives are pledging to stand with the black community and support peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd and police treatment of African Americans. The group includes the heads of General Motors, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler North America, Quicken Loans and Ilitch Holdings. The statement Wednesday from the group follows demonstrations and unrest around the U.S. since Floyds May 25 death. The group also said it "condemns the acts of injustice" in the Feb. 23 fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery by a white father and son in Glynn County, Georgia, and the March 13 shooting death of Breonna Taylor by police in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment. ___ STOCKHOLM Thousands of people in the Nordic countries have gathered in support of protesters in the U.S. over the death of George Floyd. With signs reading "I cant breathe" or "Make racism bad again" more than a thousand Swedes met despite bans on gatherings of over 50 people due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Stockholm protest was mostly peaceful, but police have confirmed the use of pepper spray and one arrest, and that reports of isolated confrontations continue. In Finlands capital Helsinki, around 3,000 people attended a protest that dispersed an hour later as the number of participants exceeded the 500 maximum currently allowed under Finlands coronavirus gathering restrictions. ___ WASHINGTON Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser says her administration is preparing for a potential legal challenge to President Donald Trumps authority over security operations in the District of Columbia. Trump directed what he characterized as a full-scale federal response on Monday night to quell protests over the death of George Floyd. That included forces from a variety of federal agencies and the entire 1,700-strong contingent of the DC National Guard. Military helicopters repeatedly buzzed low over protesters, kicking up clouds of debris, and guardsmen armed with long guns were stationed throughout the city. Bowser said Wednesday that she had had consulted with Washington Attorney General Karl Racine on the issue, adding that her administration had only requested about 100 unarmed guardsmen. ___ LIBERTY, Mo. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of "fanning the flames" of violence amid days of unrest across the nation after the death of George Floyd. Although protests Tuesday night in St. Louis County were calm, Pages comments came after four St. Louis police officers were shot and a retired city police captain was killed during violence Monday night and early Tuesday, Page said at a news conference "the president has fanned the flames, treating this unrest as if it were a reality show." He said criminals have "hijacked" peaceful protests that rightly denounce decades of law enforcement mistreatment of minorities. St. Louis police said more than 70 businesses in the city were ransacked or broken into, including a pawn shop where former police Capt. David Dorn was fatally shot during a break-in. 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. On Wednesday, Trump posted a message on Twitter praising Dorn, who served 38 years on the force. ___ ST. PAUL, Minn. Members of the Minnesota People of Color and Indigenous Caucus along with Democratic leaders of the Minnesota House are calling for policing reform during the upcoming special legislative session. The proposals by state lawmakers include bolstering the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions independence in police killing investigations, citizen oversight of law enforcement, and removing a state ban on local residency requirements by officers. Caucus members are calling for immediate access to legislative funding to help rebuild Minneapolis and St. Paul communities damaged by riots following the death of George Floyd. The caucus also called for the arrests of all officers involved in Floyds death. The Minnesota Legislature is expected to convene for a special session by June 12 to extend the emergency declared by Gov. Tim Walz in mid-March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. By Krisztina Than and Krisztina Fenyo ESZTERGOM, Hungary/STUROVO, Slovakia (Reuters) - For Laszlo Petrik, an ethnic Hungarian living on the Slovak side of the River Danube, the treaty after World War One which led to Europe's maps being re-drawn stirs up strong feelings. Many Hungarians view the Treaty of Trianon - signed on June 4, 1920 - as a national trauma because it took away two-thirds of the country's territory and left millions of ethnic Hungarians living in what are now Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Austria and Ukraine. "This is the greatest injustice ever and one that no one has remedied," Petrik said, standing in Sturovo near the bridge that connects the town with Esztergom in Hungary. The bridge, which was blown up in 1944 by German troops, was rebuilt in 2001. "Half of my relatives are over there (in Hungary) and even though we have the European Union there is still this division." Today, ethnic Hungarians cross the bridge to shop and work in Hungary and Hungarians like to pop over to Slovakia. A nationwide survey conducted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in May showed 85% of Hungarians believe Trianon was the greatest tragedy in Hungary's history. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a nationalists who has been in power for a decade, in 2010 declared the June 4 anniversary a "day of national unity" as part of his efforts to restore a battered sense of national pride. He has won popularity at home by offering ethnic Hungarians citizenship and a right to vote in elections. Orban has never suggested re-uniting lost territories with Hungary, and relations with neighbours are mostly amiable. However, tensions resurface, most recently with Ukraine over a language law that curbed minorities' access to education in their mother tongues. Parliament on Thursday debated a resolution that calls on parliaments of Central European states to enshrine the right to national identity as a constitutional right. Story continues Speaker Laszlo Kover said the struggle of ethnic Hungarians for this right was a "European affair as all European nations will face a similar struggle for identity in the coming period." Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic, addressing ethnic Hungarians on Tuesday, said that even though history had redrawn the borders it was time to look ahead. "On the 100th anniversary of the Trianon Treaty I offer my hand to act together in order to resolve our common issues," he as saying by Korkep.sk, a Hungarian-language news site in Slovakia. (Additional reporting by Balazs Kaufmann and Anita Komuves; Editing by Angus MacSwan) A spokesman for Madeleine McCann's parents has said the pair believe the identification of a German man suspected of her murder is "the most significant development in 13 years" in the case of their daughter's disappearance. Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Clarence Mitchell said Kate and Gerry McCann had never given up hope that their daughter was still alive after she vanished during a family holiday in the Algarve, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. Mr Mitchell added the couple were "realistic" and "simply want to know what happened" to their child. "They want whoever is responsible for her disappearance to be brought to justice," he said. "They do remain hopeful that she could still be found alive. They've never given up on that hope, nor will they until they are presented with any incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. "But they say despite all that, whatever the outcome of this particular line of enquiry might be, they need to know and they need to find peace." German prosecutors believe Madeleine McCann is dead Mr Mitchell's comments came as German public prosecutors announced they believe Madeleine, who disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday, is dead and police are treating her disappearance as a murder investigation. Police said the suspect, named Christian B, may have kidnapped Madeleine after breaking into her familys holiday apartment. London's Metropolitan Police and counterparts in Germany and Portugal have appealed for information about the man and his movements as they seek to finally solve the 13-year mystery. Scotland Yard has emphasised that there is still no definitive proof of what happened to Madeleine or whether she is dead or alive, however. The suspect, 43, is described as white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft tall with a slim build at the time she vanished on May 3 2007. He is currently serving a prison sentence. Madeleine McCann: A timeline of key dates and developments Hans Christian Wolters, from the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said: "We are assuming that the girl is dead. "With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence." Mr Wolters said the suspect was regularly living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 and had jobs in the area, including in catering, but also committed burglaries in hotel complexes and apartments, and dealt drugs. Mr Mitchell meanwhile said both the German and British police believe there are people out there who know what happened to Madeleine. He added that police are stressing that anybody who has information about the jailed suspect should feel safe to come forward. Israeli warplanes reportedly hit targets in Syria: Syrian air defenses responded to an Israeli attack near a central town that caused explosions and a large fire in the area, state-run media said. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the strike occurred near the town of Masyaf in the Hama countryside. There was no word on casualties. It is the latest suspected Israeli attack in Syria in the past few weeks. (Support Free Thought) - Minneapolis, MN After a massive uprising in Minneapolis, Minnesota that subsequently spread to nearly every state in the country, significant change appears to be on the horizon. Several city council members in Minneapolis are reportedly in talks to disband the Minneapolis Police Department. This would be a revolutionary move to affect positive change and allow the city to start over with a police force designed around public safety instead of predation and extortion. Several of us on the council are working on finding out, what it would take to disband the MPD, says Steve Fletcher, a member of the 13-person assembly that serves as the legislative branch of Minneapolis government, according to Alpha News Minnesota. The talks over disbanding the police department come just days after one of the most chaotic weeks in American history that left many parts of Minneapolis and other cities burned to the ground and heavily damaged. All of the chaos stemmed from a single flash point when officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on the neck of George Floyd and kept it there until he died. It took several days for Chauvin to be arrested. In fact, as the riots raged on, instead of arresting him, dozens of cops protected him in his home. Damn Instead of arresting Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd, 200 cops are being paid by tax dollars to protect him and his house. Yes, innocent until proven guilty, but he should already be charged and arrested, yet he was not. This is why people burn shit. https://t.co/qtgzQWiW7M Matt Agorist (@MattAgorist) May 28, 2020 Whats more, none of the other officers who either helped hold Floyd down or failed to stop a murder in progress have been arrested. It was only announced on Wednesday that they are facing charges. This shows just how corrupt and complacent the department has become. It became clear by day two that people were marching for much more than that the response to George Floyds death needed to be much more than any prosecution could offer. What people in the streets have won is a permanent, generational change to the mainstream view of policing, Fletcher said of the uprisings success. The talks could last for some time as the council hasnt figured out exactly what disbanding the police department would look like yet. Fletcher did mention that its replacement would be community-oriented, however. I dont know yet, though several of us on the council are working on finding out, what it would take to disband the MPD and start fresh with a community-oriented, non-violent public safety and outreach capacity, Fletcher wrote. Fletcher blames the president of the Minneapolis police union for the violence as well, saying, I dont want to focus too much on Bob Kroll because hes a symptom of a much deeper problem in the Minneapolis Police Department, but its worth saying that hes a malignant presence in our city and should resign. Fletcher went on to point out the massive problem of law enforcements only tool violence. As TFTP has noted repeatedly, when your only tool is a hammer, everything starts to look like nails. After watching MPD officers escalate and provoke anger all week, he asserts that if theyd only been allowed to use more violence, they could have put a stop to demonstrations. This is nonsense. MPD officers chose him as their leader, he said. While the move to disband the police department wont come immediately, other steps have already taken place which have shut the police department off from citizens to protect them. As the Star Tribune reports, the Minneapolis Public School board voted unanimously Tuesday to terminate the MPDs contract to provide school resource officers. The district will cease further negotiations with the department and Superintendent Ed Graff must come up with a new plan for school safety by the boards Aug. 18 meeting. I value people and education and life, school board chairwoman Kim Ellison said in an interview. Now Im convinced, based on the actions of the Minneapolis Police Department, that we dont have the same values. I firmly believe that it is completely unnatural to have police in schools, school board member Kimberly Caprini said during the meeting. And she is right. As frequent readers of TFTP know, school cops are constantly in the news for beating, maiming, and kidnapping school children over petty issues that could be handled with detention or nothing at all. Also, if you think disbanding the police department would send the city into chaos, think again. TFTP has reported on numerous cases which show the opposite is true, illustrating that most policing carried out in the United States is done so for the purpose of revenue collection and not to fight crime. Drug offenses, parking violations, and traffic citations are not so much crimes, as they are streams of revenue for the city. They are also the reason for the majority of police harassment within particular communities. Imagine a police force that acted more like firefighters or EMTs. Firefighters dont have to go door to door looking for fires, in order to be effective. EMTs, just like firefighters wait for a call before reacting and their services are often proven invaluable contrary to that of police work. Perhaps this recent chaos can be used to channel this notion to the forefront and completely revamp the idea of policing in the land of the free. We can only hope that this comes sooner than later. To see how you can help to make it come sooner, click here. The North-South Interconnector for electricity supply on the island of Ireland could be built by 2024, it's been claimed. Jo Aston, managing director of the System Operator for NI (Soni), which runs the electricity grid, said it hoped to win planning permission from Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon by the end of the summer. Procurement would then need to take place before consent was sought from landowners between Co Armagh and Co Meath, where the power lines will begin and end. The project has run into opposition from some landowners, and while planning permission was granted by civil servants in 2018, that decision was then overturned. The electricity network is owned by NIE Networks, but is operated by Soni, which matches supply from generators to demand from consumers. Updating Stormont's economy committee, Ms Aston explained that both jurisdictions on the island were part of a shared market for electricity, which will continue in the event of a no-deal Brexit. She said the interconnector was needed for future stability of supply. Alan Campbell, Soni's head of grid infrastructure, said getting the go-ahead would kick-start the process of procurement and securing landowner agreement for access to the land before construction would start. And he was "hopeful of a positive planning decision this summer". "We would look at construction starting 12 months after planning permission, so then we'd look at a period of three summers, so that would feed into 2024/25, where we'd be hopeful of energisation of the project." But Ms Aston said she could not say whether Ms Mallon was in favour of the project. "We can't speak to ministerial support as the minister has to make a decision on information put in front of her by her department officials and colleagues," she said, and could even be put to a vote in the Assembly. The chant could be heard clearly in the crowd of hundreds at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge: De Blasio resign! De Blasio resign! The Black Lives Matter protesters in Chinatown Tuesday night were not the only ones to share the sentiment lately. Hawk Newsome, president of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, called for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios resignation in an interview on NY1 Tuesday morning, saying that the mayor has failed black New York time and time again. Mehdi Hasan, a columnist at the leftist outlet The Intercept, wrote that de Blasio needs to resign. And its not just the left. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a close ally of President Donald Trump, said that either de Blasio should resign or that Gov. Andrew Cuomo should remove him from office. A petition demanding de Blasios resignation, started by Republican Staten Island Assembly candidate Marko Kepi, had nearly 1,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning. Another petition that called for de Blasios impeachment in 2014 because he is anti-police and a socialist has resurfaced and has more than 80,000 signatures. It seems everyone can find something to be angry about when it comes to de Blasio. The protestors like Newsome have excoriated the mayor for the NYPDs heavy-handed response to the largely peaceful protests and marches that mourn the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and call for an end to police brutality, especially against black people and Latinos. The mayor earned his strongest criticism for his initial defense of the NYPD officers who drove their SUV forward into a crowd of protestors blocking them even though it appeared that the cars could have backed up. On the other side, conservatives like Giuliani attacked de Blasio for not doing more to stop the widespread destruction of property that has occurred on recent nights, sometimes following on heels of Black Lives Matter protests. Thats what got Gov. Andrew Cuomo musing at his Tuesday press conference about how he could remove the mayor technically the governor could remove a mayor, but youd have to file charges, and then theres an acting mayor, he said . To be clear, it was all hypothetical and Cuomo has a habit of pointing out what his theoretical powers would be even when not intending to use them so dramatically. But even if it wasnt quite a threat, it did come with a scathing critique of de Blasios government. Im not happy with last night, Cuomo said. Police did not do their job last night. Theres no reason to think de Blasio is going to resign. He has devoted too much of his life to politics to just give up now, and while he may not seem to particularly enjoy the job, his presidential run proved that he isnt lacking in personal ambition. And de Blasio has brushed off earlier calls for his resignation. First, upon the murders of Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, NYPD officers who were killed in an ambush in 2014. Later, after he was campaigning for president in Iowa when much of Manhattan faced a summer blackout. Those earlier movements never got much further than the New York Post editorial page, and while this recent round of calls for resignation includes New Yorkers across the political spectrum, the mayor doesnt seem bothered. It doesnt appear that any of it affects him, said John DeSio, a political consultant with Risa Heller Communications. The farthest left and the farthest right and everybody in between has some reason to say hes a shitty mayor and he needs to go. And its like it rolls right off his back. While many politicians and allies of the mayor have shared harsh criticism of de Blasio, nobody seems to be asking for his resignation. Even New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who would potentially have the most to gain from de Blasios resignation, since he would temporarily take over as mayor, didnt go as far as to tell him to step down. All I want is leadership, Williams told City & State Tuesday night, when asked about the mayors job. So if youre going to step up, great. If youre not, then we need new leaders. Of course, the situation could change quickly particularly if somebody dies as a result of either the protests or looting in New York City. But for now, de Blasio is safe in his job until the end of his final term on December 31, 2021. But the same cant be said about his future after leaving office, as de Blasios legacy could be the New York of the last week protestors marching against the kind of policing he promised to end, while looters shatter windows and clash with cops in the street. To this day, youre hard pressed to find a mention of the mayoralty of David Dinkins without an immediate reference to the 1991 Crown Heights Riots. The circumstances were different, but some of the story was the same then as it is today. Dinkins, like de Blasio, was accused of calling off the police and letting people riot. De Blasio was working in City Hall at the time, taking calls from New Yorkers who were fearful and furious about the violence. But in the three decades since, it doesnt seem like de Blasio learned how to respond. Now the second half of his second term is filled with a complete and total disregard and lack of understanding of the anger and anguish of the residents of his own city, said Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, and host of the FAQ NYC podcast. A former aide to the mayor, who asked for anonymity to speak freely, thought that the mayors response has been abysmal, but that these days of protests after the death of George Floyd would only be one part of de Blasios complicated legacy. I dont think this one response will be the defining moment of his legacy the way it is for Dinkins, the aide said. But many of the people in de Blasios orbit have started thinking of their own legacy. Some of the mayors once-close allies have started to openly criticize him first during his initial, slow response to the coronavirus pandemic in New York, and now for his response to the protests. More than 200 current and former staffers have written a letter denouncing his record on police accountability and demanding new reforms.. Under City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the citys legislative body had been increasingly defining itself in opposition to de Blasio. But even that has escalated in recent weeks, with Johnson vowing to criminalize chokeholds by passing a bill that could earn the first veto of de Blasios mayoralty. This is the time to remove yourself from alliances with the mayor, and, and not necessarily be penalized by New Yorkers for doing so, Greer said. So I think that, you know, we'll see a lot more intra-party dissension over the next few months. The aides and Council members are all planning ahead for a life under a new mayor starting in January 2022, and so has de Blasio. Its a poorly kept secret that the mayor is interested in seeing his wife Chirlane McCray as the next Brooklyn borough president, but the past week may have ruined any chance for that. De Blasio and McCray have always presented themselves as a political package deal, and the mayors sinking stock will hurt his wife. You can't run on our record, when Bill andI were helping New Yorkers when you have so many New Yorkers who were disappointed and disgusted with the way Bill de Blasio has handled so many crises across the city, Greer said of McCrays potential argument to voters. And, of course, nobody knows exactly what de Blasio plans to do next after leaving office in 2022 other than move back to Brooklyn. His own presidential exit plan failed, and any hopes of joining a Bernie Sanders presidential administration have disappeared too. Whats he going to do? Theres no job waiting for him, DeSio told City & State. Theres no organization that would be like You know who we should put in charge of this? Bill de Blasio, because he did so much for us when he was mayor. In 2017, Dinkins told The New York Times that in the newspapers pre-written obituary for him, Theyll say, David Dinkins, first black mayor of the City of New York, and the next sentence will be about Crown Heights. But Dinkins life after Gracie Mansion has been, by all accounts, positive. He became a professor at Columbias School of International and Public Affairs (from which de Blasio received a masters degree). He hosted a weekly talk show on the radio, and wrote a memoir. De Blasio could do worse than to have the same fate. With reporting by Rebecca Lewis Black women have the highest prevalence of low birthweight babies compared to other racial and ethnic groups, but black immigrants typically have much better outcomes than their U.S.-born counterparts. Yet, little has been known about whether this "healthy immigrant" effect persists across generations. According to a new study published by Princeton University researchers, the substantial "birthweight advantage" experienced by the foreign-born black population is lost within a single generation. In contrast, a modest advantage among foreign-born Hispanics persists across generations. The authors suspect discrimination and inequality in the U.S. may be a contributing factor to this decline. Experiences of interpersonal discrimination, both before and during pregnancy, are likely to trigger physiological stress responses that negatively affect birth outcomes, they said. The study, published in Epidemiology, has important public health implications given that low birthweight is a significant predictor of a broad range of health and socioeconomic outcomes throughout one's life. The findings also underscore the potential role of discrimination in producing racial and intergenerational disparities in birth outcomes. The research was conducted by Noreen Goldman, the Hughes-Rogers Professor of Demography and Public Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and first author Theresa Andrasfay, who received her Ph.D. from Princeton's Program in Population Studies. Motivated by an earlier study of a small number of black immigrants in Illinois in the 1950-1970s, the researchers felt that conclusions regarding intergenerational changes in birthweight warranted a larger sample based on recent data in a popular immigrant destination state. The authors analyzed administrative records from 1971 to 2015 in Florida, which receives a large number of black immigrants from the Caribbean. They linked several hundred thousand birth records of daughters to those of their mothers. This allowed them to compare birthweights of daughters born to foreign-born and U.S.-born mothers with the birthweights of their granddaughters. The study provides estimates of these intergenerational changes in birthweight for white, Hispanic, and black women. The results point to what the researchers call a large foreign-born advantage among blacks: 7.8% of daughters born to foreign-born black women are low birthweight (under 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds) compared to 11.8% among U.S.-born black women. But, whereas foreign-born Hispanic women maintain a birthweight advantage in the next generation, black women see this advantage essentially eliminated with the birth of their granddaughters. These granddaughters are more than 50% more likely than their mothers to be low birthweight. In contrast, the increase in low birthweight prevalence between daughters and granddaughters of U.S.-born black women is only about 10%, which is more in line with national increases in low birthweight over the same time period. Andrasfay and Goldman were surprised by the rapidity with which the foreign-born advantage among black women was lost. After only one generation spent in the U.S., the prevalence of low birthweight is almost as high among the granddaughters of foreign-born black women as among the granddaughters of U.S.-born black women (12.2% vs. 13.1%) and is considerably higher for both groups of black infants than for white and Hispanic babies. The authors identified an equally striking finding with regard to differences in low birthweight by level of schooling. Contrary to the pattern found among all other racial and ethnic groups, foreign-born black women are about as likely to have a low birthweight daughter if they have low or high levels of schooling. However, in the next generation, the prevalence of low birthweight declines as maternal education increases. This likely reflects a difference in the context in which mothers received their education. In the U.S., mothers with less than high school education are disadvantaged in multiple ways, but women who obtained this same level of schooling before immigrating to the U.S. were likely relatively advantaged in their origin countries." Theresa Andrasfay, First Author The authors controlled for socioeconomic and health-related risk factors, including characteristics of women's neighborhoods that varied among racial, ethnic, and nativity groups, but these factors did not account for their findings. They concluded that the high frequency of low birthweight babies among blacks, and the increase from daughters to granddaughters among black immigrants, were likely both due to exposure to discrimination and inequality. "Unfortunately," said Goldman, "high quality measures of discrimination are notoriously difficult to obtain." The researchers note several limitations of the study. The study is based on birth records from only one state, Florida, and in order to observe multiple generations within the same family, the study was restricted to families in which both daughters and granddaughters were born in Florida. Though the main analysis used only female births, there is evidence that the findings extend to male births. Nevertheless, their study has important implications. "Though black immigrants currently make up a small share of the population, their numbers are growing," said Andrasfay. "This growth emphasizes the importance of understanding how their health evolves with time in the U.S. to better understand future disparities." "Foreign-born blacks may experience less prejudice than their U.S.-born peers because they have spent part of their lives in majority black countries where discrimination may be less severe than in the U.S.," said Goldman. "In contrast, their children spend their entire lives in a more racialized social environment than found in the Caribbean, which could explain the worsening of birth outcomes between generations." "This study also underscores the need for more research," said Goldman, "both to develop better measures of interpersonal discrimination and to identify epigenetic mechanisms that link social stressors to birth outcomes among black women." The paper, "Intergenerational change in birthweight: effects of foreign-born status and race/ethnicity," was published online in Epidemiology on June 1 and will be featured in the September print edition. The government is considering a proposal to relax quarantine rules by making people undergo home quarantine, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Wednesday. Institutional quarantine in hotels or government-owned buildings will soon be replaced by home quarantine. The guidelines for home quarantine are being drafted, Dr Sudhakar told reporters in DCs office hall. He said the government will also take a final decision on making institutional quarantine mandatory for people arriving from Maharashtra which has a heavy viral load. Those returning from foreign countries will have to undergo home quarantine if their throat swabs test negative or seven-day institutional quarantine if their samples test positive for Covid-19. The government is aware that home quarantine was found to be effective in other countries. The government will also consider suggestions on supplying essentials to those in home quarantine, he said. Covid-19 laboratories have been made mandatory for all medical colleges. Sudhakar warned medical colleges of stalling their admissions if they fail to initiate Covid tests. Initially, there were only two laboratories to test throat swabs in the state. Today, there are 64 laboratories across the state. He said the government is geared up to face all challenges. As protecting the health of children aged below 10 years is very important, lifting of the ban on opening of schools will be in the final stages, he said. Earlier, the minister, while addressing heads of medical colleges, officials and elected representatives in DC hall said the government faces the twin challenge of saving the lives of people and preventing disruptions in normal life. Due to initial precautionary steps, Covid-19 is under control in Karnataka. So far, 3,31,688 samples have been tested and 3,500 samples among them had tested positive for Covid-19. Only 1.8 to 2% of infected people had died due to Covid-19, he added. Sudhakar said that over 98% Covid positive cases reported in the state were Maharashtra imports. According to the directions of the Supreme Court, migrants are being allowed to return to their homes. The number of migrants from abroad and other states will increase, and thus, the government is issuing fresh quarantine guidelines for villages and cities. A task force committee is also being set up in rural and urban areas, said the minister. Dakshina Kannada District In-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary and other MLAs urged the medical education minister to conduct Covid tests on all those entering the state from Maharashtra. Chhattisgarh recorded a total of 86 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday which is the biggest spike in a single day in the state ever since the first case was detected on March 18. The state health department released a Covid-19 bulletin on Thursday morning claiming that 52 new Covid-19 cases were detected on Wednesday late night and that the total tally of Covid-19 cases has jumped to 680 in the state. The new cases included a government doctor posted in Janjgir Champa district of the state, the bulletin stated. The health officials further said that out of these new cases, 20 were reported from Janjgir-Champa district, 12 from Mahasamund, six from Jashpur, four from Baloda Bazar, three from Balod, two each case from Durg, Rajnandgaon and Raipur districts while one case came from Raigarh. Also read: Over 1 lakh patients beat the deadly contagion: Covid-19 state tally Many of these cases are of migrant labourers who have returned to the state in last few days while some cases were of students who came from Delhi, said a senior health officer. As per the bulletin, a total of 19 patients were discharged from different Covid-19 hospitals and medical college hospitals of the state. Till now, Chhattisgarh has reported 2 deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, a 55-year-old woman hailing from Durg district tested positive for Covid-19 after her death at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam speaks during a briefing at the Hong Kong SAR office during her visit in Beijing on June 3, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Hong Kong Leader Meets with Top Beijing Officials to Discuss Security Law Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam reiterated her support for the Chinese regimes national security law after meeting with top Chinese Communist Party officials on June 3, amid growing criticism of Beijings tightening grip on the Chinese-ruled city. Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), adopted a draft resolution on May 28, drawing global rebuke at Beijing for failing to uphold its promise to preserve Hong Kongs autonomy and freedoms upon its transfer of sovereignty from British to Chinese rule in 1997. In the coming months, the NPCs standing committee will be drafting details of the security law, after which it will be added to Hong Kongs mini-constitution, the Basic Law, without any local legislative scrutiny. Lam led a group of her administrations top officials to the capital Beijing including Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng and Secretary of Security John Lee. According to Hong Kong media, they met with Han Zheng, Chinese vice premier and the regimes top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs; Zhao Kezhi, Chinas Minister of Public Security; and Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Beijings highest agency for managing Hong Kong affairs. Beijing The meeting took place at Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing. The two sides held discussions on the national security law for about three hours on Wednesday afternoon. Lam then held a press conference in Beijing, but she declined to provide full details about what was discussed. Vice Prime Minister Han Zheng said that the central government is determined to carry out the legislative work this time, Lam said. She went on to blame advocacy of independence and violence verging on terrorist activities in Hong Kong as the reason behind Chinas determination to push forward the law. According to Lam, Han stressed that the law would only target a small minority of people who commit acts that endanger national security. She did not elaborate on what these acts might be. Pro-democracy activists have expressed fears that the law would enable Beijing to crack down on dissent. Last year, mass protests erupted in June to protest against the now fully-scrapped extradition bill. Since then, the movement has evolved into demands for greater democracy in the city, including universal suffrage. Many are worried the law would target protesters. Following the CCPs adoption of the security law, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on May 29 that it will reassess ties with Hong Kong and revoke the citys preferential trade treatment under U.S. law. Lam also said at the presser that Beijing would be inviting representatives from various sectors in Hong Kong to get their views on the law, according to local media. She added that Andrew Leung, president of Hong Kongs legislature, known as the Legislative Council (LegCo), would be consulted. When asked by a reporter if she told Chinese officials there was local and international opposition to the security law, Lam did not answer the question directly, but said that Beijing knows about views in Hong Kong and elsewhere in this information age. LegCo Elections Meanwhile, Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kongs sole representative to the 174-seat NPC standing committee, suggested in a recent opinion article published in the local pro-Beijing magazine Bauhinia, that people cannot run for a seat in LegCo if they oppose the national security law. The LegCo elections are scheduled for Sept. 6, when all 70 seats are up for a vote. 35 seats are directly voted in by constituents in geographical areas, while the other 35 are elected by special interest groups. Tam wrote that people who want to take part in serving the city, either as lawmakers or candidates, should not oppose the national security legislationThose who oppose it will be in violation of the [Hong Kongs mini constitution] Basic Law, and they should be disqualified. Local pro-democracy lawmakers were outraged by Tams remarks. Lam Cheuk-ting, a Democratic Party lawmaker, speaking on the sidelines of a LegCo session on June 3, said that Tams remarks brazenly violated a local law, which penalizes anyone who seeks to compel a LegCo member to declare himself in favor of a certain matter. Lam also questioned whether Tam was seeking to have all pro-democracy candidates disqualified for the next LegCo elections. The elections are considered another referendum on the pro-Beijing Hong Kong government headed by Lam, after pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide victory in the citys district council elections in November last year. Experts have speculated that Lam may cancel or postpone the elections, fearing another loss for the pro-Beijing camp, which would be an embarrassment for Beijing; it would mean a vote of no-confidence against Beijings policies toward Hong Kong. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to the American Enterprise Institute on May 29, said that if Lam decided not to hold the legislative elections, it would mean the final nail in the coffin for the citys freedoms. The pro-democracy camp is hoping that they can secure at least half of the LegCos 70 seats. Three lawmakers of the pro-democracy Civic Party also criticized Tams remarks on June 3. Alvin Yeung said that Tam was trying to scare current lawmakers and Hongkongers and silence any opposition to the national security law. Kwok Ka-ki demanded that the Hong Kong government issue a response to Tams statement; otherwise, it would mean that the NPC standing committee has the power to manage Hong Kong affairs. Reuters contributed to this report. By Express News Service BELAGAVI: After throwing a party to his friends to celebrate completing his quarantine period on his return from Mumbai, a 35-year-old resident of Belagavi district has shockingly tested positive for COVID-19. He has been taken away to a COVID-designated hospital in Belagavi, while all his friends and contacts are being traced to be placed under quarantine. Assuming that he was free of Covid19 after his release from the quarantine facility at Bidarewadi, Hukkeri taluk, the resident gathered all his friends and celebrated his release at home. Sources said that he was quarantined for just seven days after the government cut the quarantine period from 14 days to seven recently. He was released before his COVID test results arrived, but at the time of his discharge, he was asymptomatic. A large number of people are being released from quarantine centers even before their Covid19 test results are announced. A person is allowed to go home if he completes the quarantine period and is asymptomatic. At least 13-14 of his friends, who attended the party, are being traced by the Yamakanmardi police and herded into the quarantine facility. Additional Superintendent of Police Amarnath Reddy rushed to the village soon after it came to light that the positive patient had mingled with many in the village and had partied with his friends. The officer has directed his officials to trace all the people who came in contact with him in the village. Those who supplied food and liquor for the party hosted by him too are worried as they are likely to be quarantined. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Elvira Rumkabu (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua Thu, June 4, 2020 The death of George Floyd, an African-American who was brutally murdered by a policeman in an American city, is not an isolated incident but a sign of deeply entrenched and normalized outright racism. Structural and institutionalized societies and systems that project whiteness as superior and dominant, while portraying blackness as the exact opposite, continue to build a racial boundary that resonates throughout the world. The video of Floyds daylight murder, which went viral globally, shows the white officer kneeling on Floyds neck, ignoring his pleas that he could not breathe. 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 Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Aveva, a global leader in engineering and industrial software, has announced that it will be hosting the first of a series of three virtual global events, under the umbrella of Aveva World Digital, on June 16 and 17, 2020. Attendees are invited to participate from the comfort of their desks, and experience the latest strategies for digital transformation, delivered straight to their device of choice. Supported by strategic partner Schneider Electric, the first Aveva World Digital event is designed to provide expert advice and real-world examples to help organisations adopt the right solutions to master the ever-changing business environment and facilitate resilience and growth. Themed around Digital Resilience for Turbulent Times, the inaugural Aveva World Digital event is aimed at industrial professionals interested in innovative solutions that can build resilience and lay the foundation for digital transformation, now and in the future. These will include CXOs, department heads, directors and managers interested in digital transformation from across industrial sectors. The event will be captioned in seven languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Over the two-days, an impressive line-up of keynote sessions will take place all providing insights for digital transformational strategies to help organisations thrive in the post COVID-19 era. Speakers will include Aveva CEO, Craig Hayman, Jean Pascal Tricoire, CEO Schneider Electric, Rachel Botsman, Author, Said Business School, University of Oxford, Matteo Centu, Head of Industry 4.0, ENEL and Saad Bashir, CTO, City of Seattle. The fully packed agenda will also include a panel session entitled Optimising Your Agility in Disruption, on-demand content breakout sessions, and an Aveva World Digital Expo featuring on-demand product demos. The world is changing beyond recognition and at a phenomenal pace. Consequently, organisations that operate with a globally remote workforce, supply chains and operating models are adapting in the face of growing daily disruption, and rapidly implementing new plans, commented Craig Hayman, Aveva CEO. Consumer demand is inevitably shifting more toward the necessities for life, and the manufacturing industry is having to reposition to meet these ever-changing needs. Today, more than ever, digital technology experience and insight is relevant as companies collectively help global organisations pinpoint the massive opportunities for growth into new areas and increasing demand from new audiences. -- Tradearabia News Service How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous! Every Thursday night, the crew responds to a bonus question in chat form. Dear How to Do It, I have been trying to do my own research, but I am running into a dead end and would like some input. I am a 43-year-old straight woman in a relationship with a fabulous man. My problem, not that I am even sure that it is a problem, isnt necessarily with my relationshipits with my orgasms. They are Earth-shattering. Mind-bending. A worm hole into another dimension, time-space-warping kind of thing. Typically, it is easy for me to have an orgasm with external help (with which my partner happily assists), though sometimes I may have one spontaneously during intercourse. My orgasms involve all of my muscles locking up throughout my entire body. I stop breathing for long periods of time. I am lucky if I dont hurt something in the process. If my partner moves a muscle or finger, it triggers another, and I am left gasping for air. Ive had migraines created spontaneously before (which I have spoken to my doctor about), pulled muscles, and lost track of time. What I think is moments he tells me is several minutes and apparently multiple orgasms. I cant stand, can barely speak, and do little thinking until I am able to come to rights. The more worked up I am prior, the more likely I am to have random bodily tremors afterwards as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is this weirdness normal? My partner finds it equal parts awesome and hilarious. He says he has to pay attention so I dont suddenly flex so hard I take a digit (or worse!) off of him! It embarrasses the hell out of me that I am loud, gasping, practically having a seizure, and he might be sweating and having a good time, but he is otherwise pretty quiet. I never really thought about it before, but over the years I have accumulated some feedback from partners that apparently, I am an oddball. Am I thinking too hard about this? Fireworks Rich: I ran this by Dr. Tami Rowen, a previous source of mine. Shes an OB-GYN and an assistant professor and director of the sexual health program at the University of California, San Francisco. I just wanted to see if this raised any red flagsin a brief note, she said that while our writer describes is unusual in its extremity, orgasms involve muscle contractions so there are all kinds of manifestations of them. Nonetheless, I worry about the lack of breathing our writer is experiencing. Advertisement Advertisement Stoya: I wonder if shes unintentionally holding her breath, and whether it might help to actively focus on breathing through the moment. She may have to practice: Something like getting as close as she can before breathing stops, pausing to calm down, going up to the edge again. Or even asking her partner to help with this process. Advertisement Rich: Habituation makes sense. She doesnt seem too concerned about what this might mean for her health, and maybe its nothing, but I would talk to a doctor regardless just to make sure this isnt another issue manifesting. She says practically having a seizure, so might be good to make sure its not an actual seizure. Advertisement Advertisement Stoya: For sure. She should ask her primary care physician. It may be possible to email or call or do a virtual appointment rather than visit the office. Advertisement Rich: Run some tests. Make sure this is all in good fun. Stoya: And she should be detailed. No getting embarrassed and leaving two-thirds of the problem out. Write it out like she has here if need be. Rich: You told me you experienced something along these lines. Did you feel like talking about it here? Stoya: Ive had uncontrollable convulsions during orgasm, headaches with light sensitivity and halo after orgasm, had orgasms that triggered one after another, and had pain after orgasm. Breathing helps me immensely. But I dont know that thats necessarily the answer for our writer. I had a habit of holding my breath as I ramped up to climax. Pain after orgasm seems to be an entirely different issue related to sensitivity just before my period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rich: Ahhh I, predictably, have no experience with anything like this unless you count my dozens of viewings of Showgirls (Im talking about the pool scene). Stoya: I dont remember this scene. Please elaborate. Rich: Oh, its just a wild unleashing of orgasmic desire by the contortion innovator Elizabeth Berkley as she rides Kyle MacLachlans character in a pool. Her waves of desire manifest on the waters surface. It is unbridled in a way few movie scenes are. I will watch it with a new perspective. And on that note, I understand our writers self-consciousness, but I would encourage her to embrace the responseits really such a pure expression of pleasure. As her partner, Id be more thrilled than anything Advertisement Stoya: Agreed. Responsive partners are a joy to give pleasure to. Advertisement Rich: Makes you feel like youve really accomplished something. Stoya: I do want to add that she can probably decline to orgasm in most situations if she doesnt feel like dealing with the intensity that day. Prioritizing female pleasure is truly wonderful, but women dont need to orgasm every time any more than men do. More How to Do It I love my husband. Weve been together for 14 years. The issue is before we were together, I had an avid sex life. He has never really cared about sex. We havent had any in five years (he has a bad back and no sex drive). Ive tried talking to him; weve tried therapy. No changes. Last year, I started sleeping with someone else. Its amazing. Husband has no clue. My issue is that I dont feel guilty. I dont want to leave my husband, but I refuse to live without sex. Am I a bad person? I sleep with this guy about once a week, and to be honest, Im much happier now and a better wife because I no longer am resentful. Supreme Court of India The economic aspect is not higher than health of the people, the Supreme Court told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the interest waiver case. The central bank had in an affidavit said lenders will lose around Rs 2 lakh crore if interest is waived during the loan moratorium, which has been extended till August 31. "RBI trying to sensationalize the issue by leaking to the media," the Supreme Court said, as quoted by CNBC-TV18. Permitting a moratorium, but offering no relief through interest, is more detrimental, the apex court told the banking regulator. The moratorium was initially granted on loans whose instalments are due between March 1 and May 31, which was later extended till the end of August. The moratorium is intended to provide borrowers some relief during the COVID-19 outbreak. 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 Supreme Court noted that the Finance Ministry is assessing the issue of interest waivers. The top court will next hear the matter on June 12. Tuxedo-clad Mayor Frank L. Rizzo with nightstick arriving to the scene of a disturbance in a low-income housing project in 1969. Read more Ordinarily, it would have sounded like an apocryphal story a police commissioner showing up at a crime scene in a tuxedo. But a news photographer captured the moment when Frank Rizzo arrived at what was described as a racial incident at 25th Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia, on a June night in 1969, a nightstick tucked into his cummerbund. It was an image that perfectly summed up Rizzo, and the tone he set for the Philadelphia Police Department. His supporters saw a flamboyant leader who wouldnt tolerate crime. His detractors saw a man who was eager to use brute force to snuff out any hint of unrest, especially in the black community, and who encouraged his thousands of officers to do the same, without having to worry about facing scrutiny about whether theyd gone too far. For years, Philadelphia wrestled with the question of which of these was the real Frank Rizzo. A careful look at his legacy, however, shows that federal officials, civil rights attorneys, community residents, and politicians all voiced consistently similar concern in the 1960s and 1970s that Rizzo had allowed the Police Department to operate with little accountability, leading to an environment where police shot civilians at a rate of one per week between 1970 and 1978. Rizzos defenders might argue that these are old ghosts being resurrected to justify Mayor Jim Kenneys decision to remove a bronze statue of Rizzo from the steps in front of the Municipal Services Building, where it has been a favorite target of protesters for the last two decades. But Rizzos influence left an imprint on the Philadelphia Police Department that it continues to reckon with even now, nearly 30 years after he died while seeking a third mayoral term. Problematic officers may be fired or even arrested, but they all too often can count on being reinstated through arbitration. Others rely on a culture of secrecy to keep their misdeeds buried, while cops who report misbehavior can face retaliation. You cant pick and choose when you decide to follow the rules, said Michael Churchill, who serves of counsel for the Public Interest Law Center, and helped compile a landmark report on Philadelphia police shootings in 1979. [Rizzo] thought it was important for his image that the force understood he wasnt going to control them. David Kairys, a professor emeritus at Temple University Law School who legally clashed with Rizzo over police misconduct in the 1960s, said the impact was severe on the citys reputation. We became more famous for police misconduct than we were for cheesesteaks, Kairys said. READ MORE: The Rizzo statue disappeared overnight. Philadelphia is still unpacking its legacy. The Cisco Kid Born in 1920 to Italian immigrants, Frank Rizzo grew up the oldest of four boys in a two-story rowhome in South Philadelphia. His father was a city police officer, a disciplinarian in the Italian tradition. He dropped out of high school and followed his fathers lead to the Philadelphia Police Department. At 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, he was an imposing guy, one who didnt get lost in the shadows. He was a cops cop, a rough-and-tumble street fighter who talked the talk. Break their heads is right. They try to break yours, you break theirs first, he once said. He was sort of a George Patton type, a law-and-order man flashy, aggressive, with a sharp tongue. He became known as The Cisco Kid, after a popular television cowboy, for his raids on strip clubs and after-hour spots. Everyone thought it fit. All Frank Rizzo has done all his life is protect people from criminals at great personal risk and discomfort, Rizzo once said, slipping into the third person. He rose through the ranks, to deputy commissioner in 1963, and police commissioner in 1967. Rizzo summed up his philosophy in blunt terms. The way to treat criminals is spacco il capo, he said as top cop, using the Italian for break their heads. He boasted that he had the toughest cops in the world, and that his Police Department was strong enough to invade Cuba. Kenneth Salaam, known as Freedom Smitty, who quit high school at 16 and became active in the civil rights movement in Philadelphia, remembers Rizzo well. On May 1, 1965, Salaam was one of about 25 protesters outside Girard College, which at the time was a boarding school that only admitted poor, orphaned white boys. Salaam and the others, under the leadership of Cecil B. Moore, president of the NAACP Philadelphia chapter, marched for equality outside the 40-acre campus with 10-foot walls. Rizzo, as deputy police commissioner in charge of uniformed cops, was on the scene. Hundreds of cops were there, toe to toe, stopping protesters from jumping the wall. The second week, Rizzo ordered the cops to get on their motorcycles and run into us and run us over, said Salaam, now 71. A lot of people were hit. People were injured, he recalled. One time, when protesters lay in the street to stop traffic, Rizzo told cops to beat them with fists, nightsticks, whatever. "We never knew when they were going to rush us. People were bleeding. On another occasion, Salaam and the others stayed overnight, lying on the sidewalk in sleeping bags. Rizzo ordered the cops who sat nearby in Jeeps to keep their engines running. The area was flooded with carbon monoxide," Salaam recalled. "People got sick. In 1967, when Rizzo was police commissioner, Salaam was one of a handful of protesters who handcuffed himself outside the post office at 30th and Market Streets to fight for equal-hiring practices. The cops came and cuffed them with their arms between their legs so they had to hop to the police wagon. You couldnt walk like a person, he said. When they stumbled out of the wagon, the white officers had formed two lines on either side of a ramp, cursing them with a racial slur and saying, "You want freedom? Come through then, he said. Then they beat us. They were hitting us so hard. It was like running the gauntlet. The nightsticks were long and wooden, but inside there was a bar of steel. Some were worn out and the steel was exposed. When the steel hit the ground, you could see sparks. I thought, Theyre trying to kill us, he said. That same year, 3,000 high school students staged a protest over educational issues and some clashed with police. Two protesters said they heard Rizzo say, Get their black asses! Rizzo denied saying it. In 1970, after a series of shootings of police, one fatal, Rizzo ordered a raid on Philadelphias Black Panthers headquarters, in which six suspects were handcuffed, placed against a wall, and stripped naked. The shocking scene was documented by news photographers. Theyre a little angry. They were humiliated. We took their pants off them, to search them, Rizzo said in a scene from director Robert Mugges 1978 documentary, Amateur Night at City Hall: The Story of Frank L. Rizzo. In 1971, when Rizzo decided to run for mayor, the black community viewed him warily, but his supporters embraced him for being the toughest cop in America. State Sen. Anthony Williams father, Hardy Williams, ran unsuccessfully against Rizzo in the Democratic mayoral primary that year. The senator recalls being warned, as a teenager, to avoid doing anything that might cause him to be taken into police custody. They could pick you up and then rough you up, he said. Frankly, a lot of what happened, didnt happen in the public eye. Rizzo became the first police commissioner elected mayor of a U.S. city. Popular in much of the city, even adored by some, he easily won reelection in 1975. Deadly force, unchecked For every disturbing anecdote that emerged about the violence police directed toward minorities during Rizzos time as commissioner and then mayor, he had an easy rebuttal: Cops were just doing what was needed to maintain law and order. But independent observers told a different story. In 1979, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against the entire Philadelphia Police Department for a barrage of disturbing practices, including shooting nonviolent suspects, beating people while they were handcuffed, and using a purposely fragmented system for internal investigations that ensured civilian complaints didnt go far. Rizzo derided the complaint as complete hogwash. Federal officials threatened to withhold funding from the department unless it made extensive reforms. A judge later tossed the lawsuit. But a study completed that same year by Churchill and the Public Interest Law Center found more problems: In 1978, Philadelphia police had shot 17 unarmed people, killing eight. In one confrontation, an officer shot and killed a man who was naked, armed only with a tree limb. Churchill found the city lacked detailed records for many police shootings. The department was basically into what you might call looking tough. It was an important part of their image, he said. There were more disciplinary actions against people for not having their shoes polished than for substantial misconduct. In September 1978, police shot 19-year-old Cornell Warren in the back, killing him as he fled with his hands handcuffed behind him. Police were escorting him into the Roundhouse after a traffic violation. Two officers were charged; one was acquitted at trial, and the other had his case thrown out. That same year, Rizzo unsuccessfully fought for a charter change to permit him to run for a third term. At the time, he complained that his opponents had urged African Americans to vote black. Im asking white people and blacks who think like me to vote like Frank Rizzo, he said. I say vote white. Fits and starts Efforts to push the police force beyond the problems that festered during the Rizzo years moved in fits and starts. Ed Rendell was elected district attorney in 1977 with a platform that included a pledge to have a unit of investigators who focused solely on police misconduct. It was a difficult undertaking, Rendell said. Rizzo set up a culture that the police could do no wrong. If someone was a bad guy, you could beat him up. [Officers] believed, when Frank Rizzo was mayor, that they had a free pass. Churchill noted that the department adopted reforms under Commissioner Morton Solomon an appointee of Mayor Bill Green in the early 1980s that led to a dramatic drop in police shootings. That progress was upended in 1985, when the city, under then-Mayor Wilson Goode, dropped a bomb on a house occupied by members of the radical group MOVE, sparking a blaze that devoured an entire neighborhood. Eleven people, including five children, died inside the MOVE building. Rizzo would later point out that no civilians were killed when his department had clashed with MOVE in Powelton in 1978. A police officer was shot to death in that confrontation. Rizzo was still lingering on the political stage, running unsuccessful mayoral campaigns in 1983 as a Democrat, and in 1987 as a Republican. An attempt to rebrand himself as the new Rizzo failed. We can understand why some people supported him then, and maybe still do today, said Mugge, the director. But unfortunately, its impossible not to face up to the racism that underlies it. Rizzo staged another mayoral run in 1991, and emerged victorious in the Republican primary election. But this attempted comeback ended when he died of a heart attack, at age 70, in his campaign office. His funeral was one of the largest in the citys history. A symbol, a lightning rod In the aftermath of his death, Rizzos supporters raised money for a statue to commemorate his outsize influence on the city. It was an effort that, in hindsight, is now regarded by some as unnecessary. Rendell, for one, said no mayor should be commemorated with a statue himself included. But Rizzos statue was planted across from City Hall in 1999. READ MORE: How Mayor Jim Kenney abruptly ended years of delays to remove the Frank Rizzo statue The city continued to confront episodes of police corruption and misbehavior. Activists, politicians and city residents came to regard his statue as a symbol of racism, division and the darkest times in American history. In recent days, protesters sickened by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, defaced it with paint, set it on fire, and wrapped ropes around it in an attempt to topple it to the ground. Kenney vowed to remove it in about a month. Instead, at about 2 a.m. Wednesday, while the city was still cloaked in darkness, a crane lifted the wobbling 10-foot bronze statue as workers shook it from its stand. It was loaded into the back of a truck and hauled away to be placed in storage. After decades of debating Rizzos legacy, there was nothing else to be said. Srinagar, June 4 : One civilian was injured as terrorists opened fire on a police party at Yaripora in the Kulgam district of South Kashmir on Thursday, officials said. Terrorists opened fire at the police party after their vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint and fled the spot leaving behind a Santro car. The injured civilian has been rushed to the hospital. Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the attackers. Additional forces have been deployed. Xiaomi finally launched the Mi Box 4K, the companys 4K Android TV box in India last month. This was launched as Mi Box S in the US back in 2018. This Android TV box turns any normal TV with an HDMI port into a smart TV and also comes with a remote. The specifications look good on paper for the price. Let us dive into the review to find out if this is the best value for money Android TV box out there. Box Contents Mi Box 4K Remote (Doesnt come with AAA batteries) 2-pin power adapter (5.2v-2.1A) HDMI Cable User guide Design and Build The Mi Box 4K is a tiny little box with rounded corners and weighs just 147 grams since it is made of plastic. It has a Mi logo on the top. On the bottom there is a Mi Box branding along with Mi logo. There is serial number and BIS logo. You can also see grips on the four corners so that the plastic back doesnt get scratched. There is a small groove running around, extending to the back. On the front there is a LED indicator that glows in white and red colors. It is hardly visible when it is off. All the important ports such as audio out, HDMI, USB 2.0 and power port are present on the back. The remote resembles that one that comes with Mi TVs with power button, Google Assistant button, nav pad, Netflix and Prime Video shortcut buttons and volume buttons (1 to 15). There is also back button and home button. Only thing that differentiates between the Mi TV remote and the Mi Box remote is the app menu launcher button instead of Mi button in the Mi TVs that lets you go to Xiaomis own Patchwall interface, which the Mi Box lacks. There is a microphone on the top of the remote that picks up voice commands clearly. There is Bluetooth logo and Mi branding on the back of the remote. The Mi Box doesnt have an infrared sensor, so the remote operation is only through Bluetooth. It takes only a few seconds to pair the remote to the Box when you set up for the first time. Since it is over Bluetooth, you dont need to point the remote to the TV. Software and apps Even though the Mi Box S was launched running Android 8.1 couple of years back, it offered Android 9 update for the box in April, and the Mi Box 4K in India got the Android 9 update when we booted up the device. It also has built-in Chromecast for casting content from other devices easily. It has Android security patch for March, 2020. The company has not confirmed if will offer upcoming major Android TV updates. Mi TVs get frequent updates to add new features, but this runs stock Android TV without any Mi TV features like Patchwall, so it is hard to expect updates. The UI looks similar to any other Android TV that runs Android 9 with options to arrange apps on the home screen. Clicking the apps shows all the apps installed. It also shows a couple of app recommendations, but there are no other ads. It supports Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, ZEE5, and YouTube out of the box and lets you download more apps and games from the Google Play Store. Performance The Mi Box 4K is powered by Amologic S905L Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A53 28nm processor clocked up to 1.5GHz per core and Mali 450 GPU. Navigation with the remote is smooth without any lags. It supports a lot of audio and video codecs and can play 4K video at up to 60fps. H.265 HEVC up to 4K x 2K at 60fps, H.264 up to 4K x 2K at 30fps, VC-1 1080p at 60fps well as MPEG 1/2/4 1080p at 60fps and Real 7/8/9 up to 1080p. It natively supports RM, MOV, VOB, AVI, MKV, TS, Mp4 and 3D video formats, MP3, APE and FLAC audio formats with DOLBY and DTS and JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIF. You can adjust the resolution from the display settings manually depending on the TV. There is also option to switch from SDR to HDR that boosts the overall quality, especially when watching videos. And there is also option to switch from HDR to SDR. Since it has Widevine L1 certification, it can play up to 4K content on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming apps. Even though the DRM Info app says that HDR is not support, HDR content worked without any issues on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, if the TV connected supports HDR. We were able to play 4K HDR content from a hard disk without any issues. Local 4K HDR videos through external HDD worked without any issues, but there is no indication if its playing in HDR or not. You can also install VLC player from the Play Store if you like to tweak video settings. Connectivity It has Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4GHz/5GHz) and Bluetooth 4.2 (AIDA64 shows it has Bluetooth 4.1). There is 2.0b port (HDCP 2.2) and USB 2.0 and audio out. It comes with 8GB of internal storage, out of which about 5.4GB is free. You can also connect external hard disks using the USB port. In 5GHz Wi-Fi it clocked 90Mbps download speed in an 100Mbps Jio Fiber connection. In other app, in the same 5GHz Wi-Fi it clocked about 94Mbps download speed and 10Mbps upload (Speed is 10:1 for Jio Fiber) in 100Mbps connection. There is no issue when the router is nearby, but the speed goes below 50Mbps when the router is far away, especially in 5GHz when it is 8 to 10 feet far way. Conclusion So should get the Mi Box 4K? If you already have an old 1080p or 4K TV which is not a smart TV or a custom smart TV that doesnt run the any of the latest streaming apps, this is definitely good pick since it offers the same Android TV experience that comes built in with the latest Android TVs. The Bluetooth remote with voice support comes in handy. Competition The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is a good competition, but it is selling in the country for Rs. 5,999, which is slightly costly. Xiaomi recently teased the Mi TV stick with a remote, but there are no details yet about the launch yet. Availability Priced at Rs. 3499, it is available from Flipkart, mi.com, Mi Home and Mi Studio. A British volunteer has revealed what its like to work Calais' migrant camps during the coronavirus crisis, explaining that the pandemic is worsening what is 'terrible on a normal basis'. When the coronavirus lockdown hit, most charities fled Camp de la Lande, but 18-year-old Tia is one of few volunteers left on the ground and has spoken to BBC Radio 4's File on 4 about the conditions in the camps. She explained how aid workers are having to 'battle hard' to maintain social distancing standards and called hygiene conditions in the camp 'extremely bad' Tia revealed: 'We've turned our attention to food because they're getting very little of it. We aren't getting any material donations at the moment.' A British volunteer has revealed what its like to work Calais' migrant camps (pictured) during the coronavirus crisis She explained that aid workers are having to 'battle hard' to maintain social distancing standards and called hygiene conditions in the camp 'extremely bad' 'I wish people in the UK knew more about what is going on in Calais.' 'The virus is highlighting what is terrible on a normal basis', said Tia, 'No one should be living in these conditions, virus or no virus. 'We're having to battle hard to maintain social distancing and hygiene in the camps. 'The conditions are extremely bad and there is no social distancing possible in the camps, the tents are very very close together, they have to queue together to get food...' When the coronavirus lockdown hit, most charities fled Camp de la Lande , but 18-year-old Tia (pictured) is one of few volunteers left on the ground The volunteer explained how she and her fellow aid workers have focused on bringing food into the camps because the migrants are getting 'very little' Tia explained that she feels 'no one should be living in these conditions' with or without the coronavirus pandemic She added: 'It's just not possible to maintain any standards of hygiene, because they don't have access to showers, to toilets, or at least not enough for the number that are here.' Tia has been a volunteer in Calais since leaving Sixth Form last June, and is currently staying in a B&B close to the camp alone, away from her family. 'The first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the camps. When it hits, it should spread like wildfire.' She went on: 'The pandemic has really changed the way we work. It's made the days longer and it's made everything harder.' The volunteer went on to explain that the government's response to helping migrants through the crisis has been 'slow' At the time of filming, paperwork to substantiate the essential nature of your travel was necessary to leave your home and in turn go to the shop or pharmacy. Tia claimed that some local residents fear the migrants for being a 'source of the virus' and local shop keepers have been turning them away because they were unable to print out adequate paperwork. She told: 'In France you need to have paperwork to go outside now that paper you have to print, you can now have it on your phone but that means you still need to have a phone. Many people don't have phones and obviously nobody can print. The volunteer claimed migrants were being turned away from French stores to buy food with 'the excuse' they don't have correct paperwork 'Many refugees aren't allowed into the shops to buy themselves food or buy themselves anything at all, using the excuse they don't have the correct paperwork'. The volunteer went on to say that the government's response had been 'slow' and included sending refugees to centres to self-isolate. She said: 'The refugees are being seen as a source of the virus and locals are worried if they come into towns they will spread it.' She explained that some have been 'adequate', while others have been converted gymnasiums where over 50 people are being made to share one shower and toilet. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 18:51:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUANSHYA, Zambia, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A senior Zambian government official says Chinese work culture should be inculcated in Zambian youths for enhanced national development, encouraging youths of the two countries to have more exchanges. Emmanuel Mulenga, Minister of Youth, Sport and Child Development said Thursday that the Chinese hard-working culture should be indoctrinated in Zambian youths to have a strong generation for strengthened development. "We (are) looking forward to having youths mentored with Chinese work culture," he said in an interview. Mulenga said the ministry is focused to have Zambian youths go for online exchange programs during this period when the world is faced with the challenges of COVID-19. According to the minister, Zambia will continue to work with China in various youth development programs for continued national youth education projects. Nathan Mulenga, a student in Luanshya in Zambia's Copperbelt Province, said the government is trying, by all means, to educate the youths through various programs in conjunction with other countries such as China. He called on Chinese youth groups to consider partnering with Zambian youths groups for education exchange programs in various fields such as technology. China is a good model for Africa in terms of furthering national development that is beneficial starting with the youths, he said. Mulenga is hopeful that the Chinese youths will have more technology exchange programs with their Zambian counterparts. Enditem New Delhi, June 4 : Economic turbulence, along with financial constraints, has pulled curtains on one of India's iconic bicycle brands with Atlas Cycles being forced to shut manufacturing operations due to paucity of funds. The alarm bells had gone off on Tuesday only when the company informed exchanges that its Sahibabad unit in UP is not in a position to resume manufacturing operations due to financial constraints. Consequently, all employees at the Sahibabad unit were laid-off with immediate effect from Wednesday "till adequate arrangement of funds is made". According to Atlas Cycles (Haryana) regulatory filing: "... Post lifting of lockdown with effect from 01.06.2020, Sahibabad Unit of the Company is not in a position to resume manufacturing operations due to financial constraints." The company - Atlas Cycle Industries - had a modest beginning at Sonepat. This small beginning was transformed into a 25 acre factory complex in a record period of 12 months in 1951. In the very first year of operation, 12,000 Atlas Cycles rolled out of the plant. Video may contain images and/or language that are offensive. Viewer discretion is advised. The latest: Protests continue in major cities like Houston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York City, St. Paul, Orlando. Protests have been largely peaceful. Louisville entered its seventh day of protests. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam will announce plans to remove the controversial Robert E. Lee Monument from Richmonds historic Monument Avenue during a press event in Richmond Thursday, a source told CNN. controversial Robert E. Lee Monument from Richmonds historic Monument Avenue during a press event in Richmond Thursday, a source told CNN. Many cities across the U.S. have enacted curfews, such as in Los Angeles where the curfew is the harshest since the riots in 1992, and New York City has announced its strictest curfew since 1943. SEATTLE Leaders in Seattle seeking to address concerns raised by protesters have abruptly ended a city-wide curfew in place for days amid massive demonstrations against the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota. Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday evening on Twitter that she was ending the curfew, which had been scheduled to last until Saturday, after she and Police Chief Carmen Best met with community members. Chief Best believes we can balance public safety and ensure peaceful protests can continue without a curfew, Durkan said. For those peacefully demonstrating tonight, please know you can continue to demonstrate. We want you to continue making your voice heard. Thousands of protesters remained in the citys Capitol Hill neighborhood well after the abolished 9 p.m. curfew Wednesday. Demonstrators carried Black Lives Matter signs, called for cutting the police departments budget and shifting the money to social programs, and chanted for officers to remove their riot gear. Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib tweeted that he was pleased Seattle had listened and reversed course. Preemptive curfews were only making things worse. Other cities should do likewise, he posted. WASHINGTON Demonstrators marched to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday night, protesting the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and demanding that laws be changed to prevent more like it. Along their route from near the White House, there were troops in fatigues and officers from federal agencies keeping watch on the crowd. Barricades were put up around the Capitol, and the Capitol Police stood guard behind them. We came here because they make laws here and we want the laws to change, said Mohammed Wagdy, 26, of nearby Prince Georges County. As an 11 p.m. curfew in Washington neared, community activists urged the demonstrators to head home. Some did, but others said they were returning to the White House. Minneapolis A full autopsy of George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police, was released Wednesday and provides several clinical details, including that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19. The 20-page report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office came with the familys permission and after the coroners office released summary findings Monday that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers, and classified his May 25 death as a homicide. The report by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker spelled out clinical details, including that Floyd tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3 but appeared asymptomatic. The report also noted Floyds lungs appeared healthy but he had some narrowing of arteries in the heart. The countys earlier summary report listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under other significant conditions but not under cause of death. The full reports footnotes noted that signs of fentanyl toxicity can include severe respiratory depression and seizures. -------------------- All of the former Minneapolis Police officers charged in connection with the death of George Floyd are now in custody. Thomas Lane and Tou Thao both were processed into the Hennepin County jail around 5 p.m. local time Wednesday, according to jail records. Former officer J. Alexander Kueng turned himself in earlier in the afternoon, his attorney Thomas Plunkett told CNN. Derek Chauvin whose knee was on Floyds neck and is accused of second-degree murder has been in custody since last week. All four are being held on $1 million bail Protests were largely peaceful and the nation's streets were calmer than they have been in days since the killing of George Floyd set off demonstrations that at times brought violence and destruction along with pleas to stop police brutality and injustice against African Americans. RICHMOND, Va. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam will announce plans to remove the controversial Robert E. Lee Monument from Richmonds historic Monument Avenue during a press event in Richmond tomorrow, a source told CNN. Lee was a confederate soldier in the American Civil War. CNN reported on Monday that police had deployed tear gas against peaceful protesters near the monument. Police warned protesters that they were placing themselves and others in grave jeopardy by attempting to pull down statues on Monument Avenue. They are extremely heavy and would crush anyone standing too close. Please be aware of the danger. Stand down! the Richmond Police Department (RPD) tweeted. The other three former police officers involved in the encounter that led to the death of George Floyd have now been charged, according to Minnesota court records. J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao are all facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Court records showed that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has now been charged with second-degree murder. Chauvin was seen on video pressing his knee into George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Amid the call for higher public spending to spur growth, the CII on Thursday sounded a note of caution saying that the government should guard against increasing fiscal deficit that may prompt rating downgrade resulting in other consequences for the economy. Earlier this week, Moody's Investors Service downgraded India's sovereign rating to 'Baa3' from 'Baa2', saying there will be challenges in implementation of policies to mitigate risks of a sustained period of low growth and deteriorating fiscal position. In its agenda document 2020-21, the CII also refrained from making an estimate on economic growth this fiscal year given the uncertainty of the situation against the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic. There is currently a consensus amongst economists that the Indian economy will witness a contraction in 2020-21, the question is how deeply negative the growth is likely to be, the chamber said. The Reserve Bank of India also expects GDP growth to remain negative in the current financial year. Amid projections of sharp contraction in global economy, many agencies have downgraded India''s growth forecast for the fiscal, indicating a steady moderation in their growth expectation culminating in widespread expectation of deep contraction. Observing that government spending has been supporting the economy over the last few years, the CII said for substantive economic recovery to kick in, government spending would be crucial. "However, with an increasing fiscal deficit and mounting government debt, the economy runs the risk of rating downgrades which has consequences. Moody''s has recently downgraded India''s rating from Baa2 to Baa3, the lowest in investment grade, with a negative outlook on worries over growth and fiscal risks. "Any further downgrades will make India susceptible to flight of capital and leave its currency vulnerable," the industry body said in the agenda document. It said the coronavirus-induced lockdowns, wherein economic activity came to a virtual standstill, will deepen the slowdown sharply. "The Indian economy is expected to contract this year, an outcome that we have experienced only five times in the last 70 years," the Confederation of Indian Industry said. With the Indian economy entering the Unlock Phase 1.0, economic activity is expected to pick up. However, it is difficult to say what will be the shape of the recovery, the chamber said while highlighting that the need of the hour is for government and industry to work together to return to a sustainable growth path. "It is fair to assume that in the current year, considering that we have had long lockdowns in April and May which is a disproportionate shock coming out of COVID, that for the current year, the estimates on the negative side may have veracity," said new CII President Uday Kotak, a veteran banker. The chamber further said the country is witnessing reverse migration with migrant workers going back to their hometowns. "...we should take this as an opportunity to create more geographically distributed model of development and programmes like the Backward District Development Programme need to be expanded," it said. Getting growth back is essential to protect and generate jobs and livelihoods, it added. Lakhs of migrant workers moved back to their home states, mainly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, as the lockdown which started on March 25 halted economic activities in the country. The CII has outlined a 10 Point Roadmap to revive growth and navigate the challenges of loss of lives and livelihoods posed by the global pandemic COVID-19 that has forced countries across the world to reset their growth paths. Addressing his first conference as CII president, Kotak said the reform process which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put in place will unleash growth opportunities. According to him, India''s current account deficit for 2020-21 is likely to be zero. He further said the country is in a good macroeconomic situation but will run a higher fiscal deficit due to government spending. However, he observed that the government needs to spend more, while also exhorting the industry to boost private investments and get its "animal spirits" back. Kotak said most economists are estimating that the combined fiscal deficit is probably already around 11.5 per cent of the GDP. Therefore, compared to the original budget estimates, whether it is in terms of lower revenues, or whether it is fiscal stimulus, the government has already spent Rs 10 lakh crore more at 5 per cent of GDP. From here, it has to figure out what are the priorities, where it wants to spend and have a rifle approach to getting it right, he said. On a question related to the current global context in respect of China, Kotak said there are two elephants fighting, in an apparent reference to the present relations between the US and China. "We have got to do what is right for our country and our people and based on the economics of where we stand. Therefore, if there is unfair dumping based on non-transparent pricing, I think India will have to respond. But otherwise, we should be open to engaging with China which is a solid global power today and we must leverage that opportunity for trade," he said. Photograph: David Ryder/Getty Images The death of an African American father of two who called out I cant breathe while handcuffed in police custody in March in Washington state has been ruled a homicide, according to a medical examiners report released Wednesday. Manuel Ellis, 33, died of respiratory arrest on 3 March in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle, due to hypoxia and physical restraint, said Rich OBrien, an investigator for the Pierce county medical examiners office. Other factors that may have contributed to his death included methamphetamine intoxication and heart disease. Related: Vallejo police kill unarmed 22-year-old, who was on his knees with his hands up The report was released in the middle of nationwide protests against police brutality and racism, which erupted after 46-year-old George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis on 25 May. All four of the former officers at the scene of his death were charged after video was released showing one of them kneeling on Floyds neck, despite Floyds cries of I cant breathe. Manny was taken from me, he was murdered, Marcia Carter, Manuel Elliss mother, said during a press conference in Tacoma on Thursday. She told the small crowd that she spoke to her son about an hour before his death. He told her that he had just come from church and was feeling really good. She said the last words he said to her were: Remember I love you. My heart hurt, she said. I cried for two months and 10 days, every day, all day. The Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal referenced Elliss death in a tweet Thursday in which she highlighted the need for accountability and justice for him and for so, so many more Black Americans in states across this country who should still be alive today. There must be accountability and there must be justice. For Manuel Ellis in Washington For George Floyd in Minnesota For Breonna Taylor in Kentucky For so, so many more Black Americans in states across this country who should still be alive today. https://t.co/ieLyMVomkJ Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) June 4, 2020 On Wednesday morning, the four officers involved in the arrest were placed on administrative leave while the Pierce county sheriffs department conducts an independent investigation of Elliss death. Story continues The Washington governor, Jay Inslee, said that discovering the full circumstances surrounding Elliss death is a top priority for him. We will be pushing to make sure there is a full and complete investigation, he added. Tacoma police officers had stopped at an intersection at about 11.30pm when they noticed Ellis hitting car windows and trying to open a car door, Ed Troyer, the Pierce county sheriffs spokesman, told the Guardian. He came up to their police car, asking for help and saying there were warrants out for his arrest. When one of the officers got out of the car, Troyer said Ellis grabbed him by his vest and threw him to the ground. The second officer then came out of the car and wrestled him into handcuffs. He was lying on the ground when he started saying he couldnt breathe. Troyer said officers did not put him in a chokehold or put their knee on his neck. He said they also did not use batons or Tasers, although he was not able to provide any additional details about how Ellis was restrained. When Ellis said he couldnt breathe, they rolled him on to his side and called the local fire department and medical units. By the time they arrived a few minutes later, Ellis was still breathing. He died about 40 minutes later, Troyer said. Officials said he looked to be experiencing excited delirium, a condition that can come with attempted violence, unexpected strength and very high body temperature. Troyer said the investigation by the sheriffs department is expected to be presented to the prosecutors office by early next week. Cellphone video footage that appeared to show the arrest and beating of Ellis in March was posted on Twitter on Thursday by the Tacoma Action Collective, a local social justice community group. When asked how the footage was captured, the group said it was shot by a witness whose name would be released later. The Tacoma mayor, Victoria Woodards, called Elliss death tragic during a press conference Wednesday. She said more information on his death could come as early as Thursday. In the face of longstanding racism and recent national events, we are devastated to have the death of Manuel Ellis become a part of this national conversation, she said. We dont know a lot, but what we do know and what we have heard is deeply troubling to us, she later added. Ellis was a musician and the father to an 18-month-old daughter and 11-year-old son, according to a GoFundMe account created five days ago by Monet Carter-mixon, Elliss sister, and Black Lives Matter Seattle King county. As of Thursday, the page had raised about $43,000. We are proud of the man Manuel became, like so many Black men in our community, his greatest achievements were grounded in his ability to transform trauma and personal struggles into victories, the fundraiser says. Elliss father died of stomach cancer when he was still a baby, according to the fundraiser. He ended up having a challenging childhood, which led to struggles with addiction and mental health needs, undiagnosed for many years. But at the time of his death, he was truly loving fatherhood and helping his sister raise her children, the fundraiser explained. A woman from New Jersey has been charged with murder when she beat her wife with a wine chiller. Policed have arrested 48-year-old Mayra Gavilanez-Alectus after her transfer from Texas. Reports say she fled from Texas after killing her 32-year-old wife, Rebecca Gavilanez-Alectus in May. According to MSN, authorities processed Mayra at the Brick Township Police Department. Local police officers later placed her in the Ocean County Jail. Unconventional murder weapon Law enforcement officers discovered the victim's body on May 18 after responding to a report about an "unresponsive female." Police found Rebecca in their bedroom where respondents announced that she died due to blunt force trauma from a wine chiller. Rebecca's death comes a week after Mayra posted on Facebook how grateful she was for having her wife in her life and that she loves her. An acquaintance of Rebecca told police officers that she had plans to end her relationship with Mayra the night before her death, wrote court documents that NJ Advance Media obtained. Rebecca and her friend both worked at a Toms River assisted living facility. The friend told authorities that Rebecca removed the ring and had no plans to wear it again. She also noted that Rebecca had wanted to date a man, as reported by NJ.com. An Ocean County Prosecutor spokesman, Bradley Billhimer, said his office believes the couple were legally married, but they had no information when and where. Family members told police that the two had joint bank accounts. Also Read: Naked Intruder Who Broke Inside a Girl's Bedroom Shot Dead By Doctor Father Billhimer also expressed his gratitude to the federal law enforcement partners that helped them with the case as well as those in Houston. He added that it was extremely gratifying when local authorities work together to bring a dangerous criminal like Mayra into custody and out of reach from any potential victim. Sudden disappearance Members of both families of the couple tried to contact the two when Rebecca did not show up to work on May 17. One of Mayra's relatives, along with her boyfriend, went to visit the couple's residence where they found Rebecca's dead body covered with a sheet in their bedroom. Police described a cylindrical container which was a wine chiller that they found inside the room is believed to be the weapon that Mayra used in murdering her partner. Authorities found a fingerprint that matched Mayra on the wine chiller. Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Mayra in Houston with the help of the US Marshals Service and the local police department in Houston. A coworker revealed that Rebecca shared her fears for her life a few days before the crime after she told her wife of her plans to end their marriage, said authorities. The two have been in Ecuador before they moved to the Brick townhouse, as shared by family members. Police shared that the couple had verbal disagreements while they resided in Ecuador. The coworker also shared that Mayra offered Rebecca $3,000 to stay with her and not break off the relationship. Mayra, along with the charge for murder, will also be facing charges for weapons offences. Related Article: Derek Chauvin's Wife Files for Divorce: Petitions to Change Her Last Name, Acquire Properties @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A longtime friend of George Floyds who was in the passenger seat of Floyds car during his fatal encounter with a Minneapolis police officer said on Wednesday night that Floyd tried to defuse the tensions with police and in no way resisted arrest. He was, from the beginning, trying in his humblest form to show he was not resisting in no form or way, said the friend, Maurice Lester Hall, who was tracked down on Monday in Houston, arrested on outstanding warrants and interviewed by Minnesota state investigators. I could hear him pleading, Please, officer, whats all this for? Mr Hall said in an interview on Wednesday night with the Times. Mr Hall recounted the last moments with Floyd on Memorial Day, 25 May, after they had spent part of the day together. He was just crying out at that time for anyone to help because he was dying, Mr Hall said. Im going to always remember seeing the fear in Floyds face because hes such a king. Thats what sticks with me, seeing a grown man cry, before seeing a grown man die. Mr Hall is a key witness in the states investigation into the four officers who apprehended Floyd, including Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes, even after he became unresponsive. But Mr Hall who had outstanding warrants for his arrest on felony possession of a firearm, felony domestic assault and felony drug possession provided a false name to officers at the scene of Floyds arrest, according to a Minnesota official. Mr Hall left Minneapolis and hitchhiked to Houston two days later, after visiting a memorial at the site of the police encounter. When the whole world was finding out that they murdered George Floyd, he said, I went and said a prayer where I witnessed him take his last breath, and I left. Mr Hall said he had left dinner with his family late on Monday evening when their car was surrounded by at least a dozen law enforcement officers. After his arrest, he was questioned for hours by a Minnesota state investigator about Floyds death not about his warrants. Mr Hall was then transferred to the Harris County Jail in Houston, and Tuesday, he returned to his home in the city, after his lawyers fought for his release. When Halls family found us, he had been isolated in jail for 10 hours after being interrogated until 3 am, said Ashlee C McFarlane, a partner at Gerger Khalil Hennessy & McFarlane, who is representing Mr Hall. This is not how you treat a key witness, especially one that had just seen his friend murdered by police. Even with outstanding warrants, this should have been done another way. There have been protests in the US and countries around the world since the death of George Floyd (Getty) I knew what was happening, that they were coming. It was inevitable, Mr Hall said in the interview with the Times. Im a key witness to the cops murdering George Floyd, and they want to know my side. Whatever Ive been through, its all over with now. Its not about me. Mr Hall and Floyd, both Houston natives, had connected in Minneapolis through a pastor and had been in touch every day since 2016. Mr Hall said that he considered Floyd a confidant and a mentor, like many in the community, and that he went back to Houston because the only ties I had in Minnesota that had me Houston-rooted was George. Agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is building the states case against Chauvin and the three other officers involved in the Floyd case, attempted to contact Hall numerous times to no avail, said Bruce Gordon, a spokesman for the bureau. Mr Hall said that he was distraught and working through his trauma with his family and was not taking phone calls in the days immediately after. The bureau asked law enforcement agents in Texas to arrest Mr Hall because it believed he was not cooperating with its investigation. Mr Hall and Ms McFarlane, his lawyer, said that he cooperated fully with the Minnesota officials interview. Recommended A multilayered view of the George Floyd protests They got a testimony, and thats what they were after, Mr Hall added. They came and saw, and left me to fighting for my freedom. Passengers in the car with Floyd, a man and a woman, had remained unidentified until Mr Hall spoke with the Times on Wednesday. Mr Hall said that he did not know the womans name. Minnesota officials said on Wednesday that the state had upgraded the charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder from third-degree murder and manslaughter. They also charged the other three officers who took part in the fatal arrest Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao with aiding and abetting murder. All four officers were fired the day after Floyd died and video of his death went viral online. I walk with Floyd, Mr Hall said. I know that Im going to be his voice. New York Times Transport manufacturer Alstom and energy infrastructure firm Snam are to collaborate on the development of hydrogen trains in Italy, the latest example of work being undertaken to integrate the technology into mass-transit systems. In an announcement Thursday the firms said that the agreement between them, which is set to last five years, would see French company Alstom "manufacture and maintain newly built or converted hydrogen trains." Snam, which is headquartered in San Donato Milanese, Italy, will focus on the development of infrastructure related to refueling, transport and production. "We believe in hydrogen," Michele Viale, who is managing director of Alstom Italy and Switzerland, said in a statement. "This is the reason why we have signed a partnership with Snam," Viale added. "Coradia iLint, the first hydrogen powered train, is already in passenger service between the towns of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervorde and Buxtehudehe in Germany." The Coradia iLint referenced by Viale entered into service in 2018, uses a hydrogen fuel-cell and, according to Alstom, emits just "steam and condensed water." While some trains are powered using electricity, others still rely on diesel to carry out their journeys, a less than ideal situation when many governments are looking to boost air quality and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, for example, has previously stated that "Around 29% of Britain's fleet currently run only on diesel fuel." It's within this context that hydrogen fuel-cells could have a role to play going forward. The iLint is part of a small but growing cohort of hydrogen-powered transportation methods. The U.K. capital of London is home to a small number of hydrogen buses, for example, while major car firms Toyota and Honda have both dipped into the hydrogen fuel cell market. And, as concerns about air pollution and the harm it does to both people and the planet grow, zero and low-emission forms of transport look set to play a key role in how we move about. This shift is not restricted to roads, either. On water, an all-electric ferry called the e-Ferry Ellen, which is still in operation, undertook its first voyage last August in waters between Soby and Fynshav in the south of Denmark. Only last week an electric airplane described as the "world's largest all electric commercial aircraft" completed its maiden flight when it took off from an airport in Moses Lake, Washington. The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan used a 750-horsepower all-electric motor developed by a Redmond-headquartered company called magniX. Work to convert the aircraft was undertaken by magniX and another firm called AeroTEC. A suspicious device found in a toilet block near a Gold Coast shopping centre was an item "made to look like an explosive device", according to police. The item was identified about 11.30am on Thursday near Australia Fair Shopping Centre in Southport and forced the evacuation of the centre's food court for safety reasons. Australia Fair Shopping Centre in Southport. Credit:Google Maps Police also asked pedestrians and traffic to avoid the Gold Coast Highway northbound in the vicinity of Marine Parade, while they waiting for bomb squad officers to arrive from Brisbane. A police spokesman at the scene said the item was found by a male member of the public and was "bigger than a fist" in size, but had no smell or timing device attached. London doesnt have the power to push the corrupt little junta in Beijing into being halfway decent to the people of Hong Kong, but Boris Johnson has a bold solution for almost half of those people: Come to the United Kingdom. Hong Kong is a former British territory, and about 3 million of its 7.5 million residents hold or are eligible for a limited kind of British passport (the British national overseas passport issued to those born in Hong Kong before the territory was relinquished to China in 1997) that entitles them to travel to the United Kingdom but not to permanently reside or work there. As Beijing prepares to implement in Hong Kong a robust version of the totalitarianism it practices everywhere else in China in contravention of its agreement with the British requiring the Chinese government to honor Hong Kongs liberty and democracy Johnson says that his government, bound by our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, will allow all of those 3 million Hong Kongers the option of coming to the United Kingdom with the British version of a green card (renewable legal residency and permission to work) and a path to full citizenship for those who desire it. This is an almost heroic proposal. It is also a smart one. The United Kingdom is an astonishingly inventive and productive nation, and it punches above its weight both economically and, especially, culturally. But Hong Kong has long practiced a kind of supercharged version of British economic liberalism, and its people are even more productive than the British, with a GDP per capita about 15 percent higher than the United Kingdoms. You dont have a rich, smart, productive country without rich, smart, productive people, and Johnson is proposing to roll out the red carpet for 3 million of them. Because of Brexit, Johnson often is numbered among the recently ascendant right-wing populists, but while his European counterparts (and, unhappily, many of his American counterparts) rail against immigration and immigrants, Johnsons government would welcome a new group of immigrants who would by themselves equal about 4.5 percent of the current U.K. population. Story continues During the Cold War, defectors from the Eastern bloc were symbols of the fundamental difference between the free world and the unfree world, and people of good will cheered when some daring person successfully made it over the Berlin Wall. But the men and women fleeing the brutality of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany could do so only because there was a West Berlin for them to run to. Boris Johnson proposes that the United Kingdom play that role for the people of Hong Kong who are being oppressed by a government that in too many ways practices an updated version of socialism as it actually existed only a few decades ago, as opposed to the socialism of 10,000 dorm-room philosophers. Beijing is infuriated. The Chinese government accuses the United Kingdom of interfering in Chinas internal affairs. But Beijing is bound by the SinoBritish Joint Declaration regarding the liberty of Hong Kong, so the U.K. is not crashing the party. Johnsons government does not have the force to change Beijings internal affairs, but it does have the power to make 3 million Hong Kong residents external affairs. Washington does, too. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) the Senate majority leader, already has suggested that the United States implement something like what Johnsons government is doing. Our nation has a rich heritage of standing as a beacon of light and freedom, from refugees of war to those escaping the Iron Curtain, McConnell said. We should exercise it again for the people of Hong Kong. Some of our neo-Malthusian friends will insist that there is no room in the United States for these immigrants, that we are all full up, that there arent enough jobs to go around as it is. But consider this: In the 1940s, Hong Kong was one of the poorest places in the world, hungry, depopulated, and war-ravaged. With very little in the way of natural resources, and starting without a great deal of modern infrastructure, Hong Kong grew to become the wealthiest city in the world. If Hong Kong were an independent country (and why not? It works for Singapore), it would be one of the worlds wealthiest, a little ahead of the United States and just a step behind Switzerland. The people of Hong Kong did that with very little other than liberty, the rule of law, and a reasonably good location as a port. Why shouldnt those people thrive in the United States, with its abundant blessings? They can expect to thrive in the United Kingdom. The loss of liberty in Hong Kong is a jolting, unwelcome reminder that history does not move in one direction only, toward progress and human flourishing. Perhaps the city cannot be saved, for now. But the British proposal is both an act of practical aid and a splendid gesture. For the moment, it may be that the best that can be done is for the free world to declare that the people of Hong Kong live where freedom lives. Welcome home. More from National Review When University of North Georgia (UNG) alumnae Melissa Silva first enrolled at the university, she focused on academics and her work as a paraprofessional at South Hall Middle School. The Gainesville, Georgia, resident didn't think she had time to apply for a scholarship. Then Dr. Alexander Wisnoski, assistant professor of history, inspired Silva to apply for a nationally competitive scholarship. "My professor said we needed to do undergraduate research or study abroad. He said we need to do something that makes us standout from the rest," she said. "That is when it hit me that I needed to try." Silva tried and succeeded twice. First, she received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to spend summer 2019 in Spain. The Gilman program offers scholarships of up to $5,000 to outstanding U.S. undergraduate Pell grant recipients to participate in credit-bearing study abroad programs and career-oriented internships in countries around the world. Second, Silva received a highly prestigious and competitive scholarship to become an English Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The national fellowship program enables graduates to pursue academic endeavors overseas. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and residents of more than 160 foreign countries. "Fulbright is such a great opportunity to experience a different culture," said Silva, who in August 2019 earned a bachelor's degree in modern languages with a concentration in Spanish language and literature. "I love that it opened up doors to jobs that I never thought possible." For the 2019-20 academic year, Silva taught students in the Kyrgyz Republic in Asia. Upon her return to the United States, she had a teaching job ready for her thanks to her participation in UNG's College of Education (COE) Realizing Inspiring Successful Educators (RISE) program. The RISE program is a partnership between the COE and Hall County Schools that stipulates the school district funds the tuition of its heritage Spanish-speaking graduates who enroll in UNG's teacher education program. UNG then supplements any additional needs such as calculators, books and other supplies. Students also work as paraprofessionals with English learners in Hall County elementary schools. Upon graduation, they will receive a job offer from Hall County Schools. Silva was the first undergraduate student to complete the RISE program in August 2019. She was offered a job at a Hall County middle school. Silva said teaching has always been her dream, especially since it runs in the family. "My mom was a kindergarten teaching assistant in Mexico, and my cousin is a middle school teacher," she said. "I remember going into his class when I was little and watching him with awe, and I thought, 'This is what I want to do.'" Now she has taught at home and abroad. EastEnders has been snubbed at the BAFTA Television Awards 2020, after the nominees for the event were revealed on Thursday. The show failed to be shortlisted in the Soap & Continued Drama category, as Holby City, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and Casualty took the top spots. EastEnders, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, won the award for best soap at the BAFTA Television Awards last year. Shocker: EastEnders was SNUBBED for Best Soap at the BAFTA Television Awards 2020 as the nominees were announced on Thursday, despite winning the prize last year Another soap that was not nominated by for a BAFTA was Hollyoaks, which is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary later this year. As well as receive a nod in the Soap & Continued Drama category, Coronation Street was also shortlisted in the awards show's Must-See Moment, which is voted for by the public. The heartbreaking scene that features Sinead Osborne's tragic death following her battle with cervical cancer has been nominated. It is set to go up against other iconic scenes like the conclusion to last year's Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, in which Ruth Jones' character Nessa proposed to James Corden's alter-ego Smithy. In the running: Corrie is set to go head-to-head against Emmerdale, Holby City and Casualty, and Sinead Osborne's heartbreaking death (pictured) is also nominated for Must See Moment Line Of Duty's shock killing of undercover police officer John Corbett, played by Stephen Graham, is up for the award, while the scene where Arya Stark kills the Night King in the final season of Game Of Thrones also got a nod. Michael Griffiths' post-Casa Amor recoupling on last summer's edition of the ITV2 reality show Love Island has also been shortlisted, and is the only reality show to have been selected in the category. Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag completes the shortlist, for the scene where her titular character visits the hot priest in his church, which ends up being a catalyst in their relationship. Shortlisted: It is set to go up against other iconic scenes like the conclusion to last year's Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, which saw Nessa propose to Smithy What a moment: Line Of Duty's shock killing of undercover police officer John Corbett, played by Stephen Graham, is also up for the award, which is voted on by fans Some soap fans were frustrated by the announcement, as they took to Twitter to express their annoyance over EastEnders' snub. One fan wrote: 'No disrespect to other soaps but #EastEnders should of been at the top of the Bafta list it's easily the best soap around can't believe they've been robbed again it's the NTA all over again [sic]' Another added: 'EastEnders is the best soap around and I don't care what BAFTA have to say' Upset: Some soap fans were frustrated by the announcement, as they took to Twitter to express their annoyance over EastEnders' snub The awards show will be held in a closed studio on July 31, and in accordance with government guidelines amid the coronavirus crisis the ceremony will be socially distanced with nominees accepting their prizes virtually. Broadcast live on BBC One from the studio, actor Richard Ayoade is set to host the show whilst following social distancing rules. Last year's awards show saw Phoebe and Jodie Comer win for Killing Eve, while Benedict Cumberbatch earned the prize for Leading Actor for his work in the Sky miniseries Patrick Melrose. New format: Last week, BAFTA announced the 2020 Television Awards will be held in a closed studio (pictured Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jodie Comer who won for Killing Eve in 2019) A young man has been accused of creating and distributing child abuse material as part of a nationwide paedophile ring. Justin Kenneth Radford, 29, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police in February after he allegedly filmed himself sexually abusing children. The Central Coast man is facing a number if charges including inciting a child to perform a sexual act, possessing or controlling child abuse material and bestiality. Justin Kenneth Radford, 29, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police in February after he allegedly filmed himself sexually abusing children Radford is currently remanded in custody. No formal bail application has been made. He is expected to be hit with a number of new charges at a later date, the Daily Telegraph reported. The matter was adjourned to June 9. He was arrested following a tip-off from the United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. When the AFP raided his home they seized a number of electronic devices. Those devices led police to at least three other alleged members of the paedophile ring who Radford had allegedly been communicating with via an instant messaging apps. Grant Harden, 30, has also been charged child sex abuse offences. The Central Coast man is facing a number if charges including inciting a child to perform a sexual act, possessing or controlling child abuse material and bestiality He allegedly sexually abused three other boys and engaged in sexual acts with two dogs. He faces 14 years to life in jail if found guilty of the offences. Richard Martin Spry, 48, is facing one count of possessing child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service. The married man was granted bail but has been banned from using social media. The matter will be mentioned in Penrith Local Court on July 10. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio State University announced the basic framework for returning students to campus, including reduced density in housing and initial contact tracing for some groups. Ohio State was one of the first to shut down campus for the coronavirus pandemic this spring. President Michael Drake announced the expected return at a board of trustees meeting Wednesday. Ohio State has more than 60,000 students. How students will return to campus this fall as coronavirus case numbers continue to climb is a national conversation -- universities are operating without the knowledge of how the virus will spread over the summer and if numbers will spike as the state reopens. Classes will be offered in-person for the fall, but will likely be a blend of in-person instruction and online content. Details are still being worked out, but some key points of the plan were shared online: -- The academic calendar is adjusted, with classes beginning Aug. 25 and running through Dec. 4. The last day of in-person instruction is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving; after break, students will complete the semester remotely. -- Students will be called back in a phased plan. Student-athletes will be able resume practice and competition, but specifics will need to be worked out. That plan will be subject to public health officials and decisions made by the Big Ten Conference and NCAA. -- The university plans to conduct an initial voluntary contact tracing program for students, faculty and employees. The initial program will be available for those returning early in the plan, including health professionals, researchers, student-athletes, marching band members and other students in the performing arts. How the program goes would guide decisions for the fall. -- Housing density would be reduced, though specifics were not shared in the online story. The university will also provide isolation and quarantine housing for on-campus residents. -- The university will release a safety playbook to describe social distancing requirements and suggested procedures for on-campus life. Read the full release here. Selma Blair took to Instagram on Wednesday evening to open up about the 'grief and concern' she has felt over the tragic killing of George Floyd that took place on May 25. The 47-year-old Storytelling actress and her son Arthur, eight, held a memorial at their Los Angeles home, where they 'stood outside for 8 minutes 46 seconds to just think of what George Floyd means for each of us from where we are.' The time is significant due to the fact that it is the same amount of time Derek Chauvin - the officer charged with Floyd's murder - callously kneeled down on Floyd's neck until he died. In her lengthy statement, Blair vowed to 'stand up' for African-Americans and that she intends to do 'everything [she] can to be an active ally in the fight against systemic racism.' Opening up: Selma Blair took to Instagram on Wednesday evening to open up about the 'grief and concern' she has felt over the tragic killing of George Floyd on May 25 After holding their memorial, Selma and Arthur had 'a conversation again today about race and fear and sometimes insurmountable financial challenges. Of black lives.' '[Arthur and I] finally looked at each other after this memorial of 8minutes and 46seconds , and he said you wouldnt live if that happened to me.' 'And he is mostly right. But I would stand up for people like him for the rest of my life. Would devote my life to nurturing a better future. That is what I want for the now and the future of our lives . Black lives.' Selma shares Arthur with her fashion designer ex boyfriend Jason Bleick, 50. In memoriam: The 47-year-old Storytelling actress and her son Arthur, eight, held a memorial at their Los Angeles home, where they 'stood outside for 8 minutes 46 seconds to just think of what George Floyd means for each of us from where we are'; Selma and Arthur pictured on Instagram in April When I looked on the internet, I saw what we had been hoping for at least... some justice... the 4 cops have been charged #justiceforgeorgefloyd,' concluded Selma. Protests have erupted across the nation following the senseless killing of George Floyd, 46, who lost his life at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. In the horrifying video footage of Floyd's death, he is seen saying that he can not breathe as officer Derek Chauvin, 44, kneeled on his neck. Ally: In her lengthy statement, Blair vowed to 'stand up' for African-Americans and that she intends to do 'everything [she] can to be an active ally in the fight against systemic racism'; Selma pictured in 2017 RIP: Protests have erupted across the nation following the senseless killing of George Floyd, 46, who lost his life at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25; Floyd pictured on Rihanna's Instagram on May 29 Eventually he went silent and limp, and he was later declared dead. The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Chauvin, was taken into custody on May 29 and charged with third-degree murder, officials said. On Wednesday, Chauvin's charges were upgraded to second-degree murder. Charged: Officer Derek Chauvin's third-degree murder charged was upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday: protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 Three more officers, Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, were arrested and charged with 'aiding and abetting murder,' according to the New York Times. Blair is all too familiar with loss being that the actress just lost her mother Molly Cooke on May 24. 'My first person. My deepest heart still beats with what you gave me. I worship you , Mom. Molly Cooke died yesterday. In her home. She was formidable, funny, quick , striking and generous. She often gave the shirt off her back, a trait I have adopted. Gifts of herself,' wrote the Legally Blonde actress of her mother on Twitter. In the new letter, one of the activist groups demands was the use of alternatives to arrest, particularly related to non-violent protest-related charges. The letter came with an attachment listing the groups prior recommendation that the consent decree require cops generally to get a supervisors sign-off before arresting anyone on charges of obstructing, assaulting or resisting an officer, disorderly conduct or a host of other offenses. The activists recommended that the city rely less on arrests and more on routing people to other social programs, such as mental health services. Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has urged opposers of the Electoral Commission's decision to compile a new voters' register to cease resorting to the court of public opinion. Kwamena Duncan condemned the act where political actors make inflammatory comments and play on the emotions of Ghanaians, all in an attempt to whip up resentment against the EC, stating emphatically that Ghana is a civilized country which respects rule of law. The Central Regional Minister made this comment on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' on Wednesday when contributing to discussions regarding the statements of IPRAN leader Bernard Mornah. Beating War drums? Bernard Mornah, commenting on the EC's decision, allegedly stated that well beat and kill each other should the Commission fail to address their agitations on the registration exercise. He has been invited by the Criminal Investigation Department along with Major Osahene Boakye Gyan (rtd) who also made similar comments. "If They Want It, They Will Get It!" Last month, Major Osahene Boakye Gyan (rtd), speaking on Neat FM's ''Ghana Montie'' show, echoed NDC's accusations that the EC is in collusion with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to rig the elections for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, hence the Commission's decision to use only the Ghana card and passport for the new voters' registration exercise. The former military capo sounded a note of caution by pointing out that most electoral disputes in Africa have resulted in civil wars and Ghana is not immune to it, and further warned that "should the EC continue to toe the line of their paymasters, it will certainly spell doom for this country." " . . it is political motivation that led to the dismissal of Madam Jean Mensah as the EC Chairperson by the current administration. They want to beef up the numbers so they can win simply because they don't have confidence in their winning numbers, otherwise they won't tamper with it...But more importantly...post-independence Africa, all crises and civil wars have been on the back of disputed electoral results. What they are doing now, they are driving us into a civil war and if they want it, they will get it," he screamed. 'Treasonable' Remarks Some have labeled the statements by these politicians as ''treasonable''. The Regional Minister warned politicians to refrain from making comments that seek to incite people to violence. ''We're not in the jungle for you to say you disagree with an arrangement in the jungle; so, you'll kill or spear people. We're not in the jungle. It is a civilized society governed by rules and laws,'' he pointed out. To him, once the electoral management body is clothed with the authority to act in the best interest of Ghanaians, it should be allowed to execute its mandate constitutionally. ''Let no one say he or she has extra constitutional means other than the Electoral Commission. When President Mahama said four years ago that the Electoral Commission is independent, he was right...so why are they now butting heads over the Commission's actions?...allow the EC' to work within the confines of the constitution,'' he stated. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video United States government agencies and cloud technology providers are heading toward a reset in how they cooperate on cybersecurity challenges. The expected growth of cloud use will create a more complex federal security landscape, according to a recent report from Thales Group. Federal agencies actually have moved ahead of businesses in cloud adoption, with 54 percent of agency data already embedded in the cloud, the report notes. Furthermore, cloud technology is central to a broader digital transformation goal in the federal government, recently highlighted by ramping up remote workplace sites in response to the COVID-19 virus. Data security requirements will only continue to be more stringent as more and more data and services are migrated to the cloud, said Brent Hansen, federal chief technology officer at Thales. This year registers the first year where more federal data is stored in the cloud versus on premises. This is a huge turning point and the trajectory will only continue to favor cloud, he told the E-Commerce Times. Even without the impetus of COVID-19, agencies were on a path for expanded cloud utilization. In its most recent assessment, marketing consultant Deltek forecasted that federal demand for vendor-furnished cloud computing goods and services would grow from US$5.3 billion in fiscal 2019 to $9.1 billion in 2024, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 9.6 percent. Security will become even more formidable as federal cloud deployments increasingly involve multi-layered functionality. Additionally, agencies still have a lot of catching up to do to secure existing cloud resources. Managing security for basic cloud configurations is complicated. Agencies and cloud service providers (CSPs) now split cloud security accountability across a range of eight operating factors but at differing levels, the Thales report notes. For example, for Software as a Service, agencies are responsible for securing two operational factors, while vendors cover the remaining six. For Platforms as a Service, the shared responsibility ratio was three factors for the agency and five for the CSP. For Information as a Service, security was split evenly with four factors each. In the future, the engagement of multiple vendors for as a Service components, combined with the broader use of cloud, will only increase security complexity. Agencies Show Concern but Implementation Is Uneven In general, federal agencies are properly concerned about cloud security. However, attitudes appear contradictory, and some efforts are misdirected regarding the nature of threats, current security confidence levels, and relations with cloud providers. For example, agencies reported that an estimated 51 percent of the data they store in the cloud is sensitive. Only 63 percent of that data is protected by encryption, and just 52 percent is protected by tokenization. These protection levels rank low, according to Thales. The 2020 Thales Data Threat Report Federal Government Edition, released in April, focuses on survey data from more than 100 federal agency respondents. Thales sponsored the report, with survey and related analysis developed by IDC. Among the significant findings: Agencies are seemingly most concerned about issues owned by their cloud providers, like security breaches at the provider and privacy service level agreements. Although valid, the real possibility of these issues happening are quite low. Federal IT managers appear less worried about issues over which they have direct control, and which represent greater potential vulnerabilities, such as encryption key management. This mismatch between threats that respondents perceive, and where they should actually focus their concern, implies that respondents have not fully considered data security in a cloud-first world. Each type of cloud environment requires a shift in security responsibility, involving the factors related to as-a-service deployments. As a result, agencies, should shift their cloud security focus and concern to the portion of the shared responsibility model where the organization can influence the security of its data. Cloud Providers and Agencies Must Adapt to Change This changing landscape will test relations between agencies and providers. As security becomes more challenging, agencies are likely to put tougher protection requirements into their service level agreements with vendors. FedRamp, the governments program for setting cloud security standards and compliance, will be upgraded as well. Security expectations will only continue to get tighter, Hansen said. The task of getting FedRamp certification is an extensive process and, once certified, opens up your platforms and products with federal security in mind. Tension between CSPs and their government and commercial customers is a common occurrence, observed Katie Lewin, federal director of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). Some of that friction is rooted in an understanding of shared responsibility, she told the E-Commerce Times. We have gone from a high degree of caution by federal agencies in using cloud technology to an attitude by some that they are only responsible for the SaaS and can forget about the other layers of the stack that are cloud-based. CSA, which represents a broad range of cloud stakeholders, participated in peer review of the report. Upgrading security standards for vendors doesnt mean that agencies can or should avoid their own role in shared responsibility. The demarcation between vendors and customers for cloud security will remain. CSPs need to ensure that their customers are educated on how shared security responsibility works. They cannot assume that many of their federal customers understand how these fluid boundaries work, Lewin said. Microsoft last fall restated its position in a white paper, Shared Responsibility for Cloud Computing, by Frank Simorjay and Eric Tierling. Many organizations that consider public cloud computing mistakenly assume that after moving to the cloud their role in securing their data shifts most security and compliance responsibilities to the CSP, the authors noted. Cloud vendors may provide services to help protect data, but customers must also understand their role in protecting the security and privacy of their data. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Neither agencies nor CSPs can afford to be rigid in relations with each other. Cloud security will require a more creative and flexible approach in the future. As more and more cloud providers are offering their services, there must be a baseline of federal security acceptance and guidelines, Thales Hansen said. Agencies not only can assess security issues themselves, but also can benefit from utilizing FedRamp, which will continue to evolve, he pointed out. More and more services and providers will find new, innovative ways to offer cloud services. Federal Cloud Growth Will Remain Strong Agencies have been working to include security service levels in their vendor agreements, CSAs Lewin noted. Since there is a common definition of the controls included in the FedRAMP program, agencies have a better understanding of where they should spell out requirements for CSPs. Some enterprise-level cloud services may have standard SLA clauses for certain levels of security already baked into their contacts, she said. Increased security will not necessarily inhibit cloud adoption, Lewin suggested. In general, cloud technology is inherently more secure than on premises but agencies need to get a handle on how they should address security. Federal cloud adoption will remain strong, Hansen said. The cloud makes almost everything faster and easier to implement, he added, including security tools such as encryption. I have yet to hear that costs of these native encryption offerings and services are a roadblock, said Hansen. I believe that these efficiencies and ease of use will only continue to drive cloud adoption. One key for vendors and agencies to consider in the future is that cloud technology is evolving. Data protection on premises does not directly equate with protection in the cloud, Hansen noted, and thus security policies must morph and adapt for cloud offerings to ensure mandates are met and mission-critical data is secured. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 president John McNesby said cops will boycott Di Bruno Bros. after the stores owners revoked free lunches it was offering to officers. On Monday, the Di Bruno Bros. on Chestnut Street offered free lunches to police officers. But after employees complained about the policy and threatened to strike, the owners revoked it and removed a storefront sign promoting the complimentary meal. In a letter to Di Bruno Bros. employees and customers signed by owners Bill Mignucci Jr., Emilio Mignucci, and Billy Mignucci, the store apologized for the insensitive policy and said it stands in solidarity with peace demonstrators protesting against police brutality. We recognize that our ability to rely on the assistance of the police to protect our store in times of unrest is a privilege that many in our city and country have not been afforded, the letter said. The owners said they have made donations to four charities: Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, Black Lives Matter, The Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACPs Legal Defense and Education Fund. They also pledged to shift money in their annual charitable budget to groups fighting against racial injustices, inequality, and equal opportunity. Growth does not come in an instant, so we will sustain long-term efforts, the owners wrote. Protesters in the Brazilian state of Manaus call for President Jair Bolsonaro to leave office over his handling of the coronavirus crisis - BRUNO KELLY/REUTERS Brazil and Mexico suffered a record rise in daily coronavirus deaths amid fears Latin America is reopening too soon. On Wednesday, Mexico reported a daily death toll that exceeded 1,000 for the first time since the outbreak began, while Brazil announced 1,349 deaths for the day, a record for the country. Both nations now rank in the top ten countries that have suffered the highest number of fatalities, but there is grave concern that, unlike their European counterparts, Latin nations have yet to reach the peak of the epidemic. Countries in Europe are beginning to emerge from their lockdowns, with borders reopening and people returning to work. But in South America, new hotspots are emerging and hospitals are threatened to be overwhelmed. Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, has vehemently opposed any form of lockdown, despite polls showing that more than 60% of Brazilians support stricter lockdown measures. This has resulted in battles with local authorities, who have defied presidential orders and locked down some states individually. Large parts of Bahia state were placed under curfew on Wednesday. In Mexico, local authorities have been reluctant to heed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors calls for a return to economic normality. 300 municipalities were given the green light to lift stay-at-home orders and resume economic activity in late May, but there are fears that the virus is spreading undetected due to Mexicos poor testing capacity. Official figures show that just 0.4 tests were carried out per 1,000 people. The desire to resume economic activity appears to have trumped health concerns. In Mexico, 12m people were made unemployed in April alone. Elsewhere in South America, the Chilean government announced a further three week extension to the shutdown of the capital Santiago after another record day of coronavirus deaths. In Peru, the journalists union announced that 20 reporters have died covering the pandemic, largely due to a lack of protective equipment. The medical sector is also suffering a supply shortage, with a lack of oxygen tanks the most acute issue. "We haven't found oxygen yet," Lady Savalla told Agence France-Presse in the capital Lima. "I'm worried about my mom more than anything else, because she's going to need a lot of oxygen and the hospital doesn't have enough." Tommaso After the longest spring on record, it's finally June, and while there has been a lot of talk about reopening movie theaters next month, global cases of coronavirus are on the rise. Thankfully, technology continues to provide us ways to watch films from home, where the popcorn isn't as good but the seating is way more comfy.The films listed are from studios other than the Big Six - Paramount, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Columbia/Sony and Disney. Check out the posts from the past few weeks for more movies that may have already come to VOD: May 29th May 22nd , and May 15th : Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman: Sarah Gubbins: Josephine Decker: Drama, Thriller: A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.: Based on the novel by Susan Scarf Merrell Virtual cinemas and VOD: Kim Ju-hyuk, Lee Yoo-Young, Kwon Hae-hyo, Yoo Joon-Sang: Hong Sang-Soo: Comedy, Drama: Painter Young-soo hears secondhand that his girlfriend, Min-jung, has recently had (many) drinks with an unknown man. This leads to a quarrel that seems to end their relationship. The next day, Young-soo sets out in search of Min-jung, while sheor a woman who looks exactly like her and may or may not be her twinhas a series of encounters with strange men, some of whom claim to have met her before . . .: Its in Korean, and is based on Luis Bunuels: Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman, Benedict Hardie, Tom Budge: Mirrah Foulkes: Comedy, Crime, Drama: In the anarchic town of Seaside, nowhere near the sea, puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judys superior puppeteering, but Punchs driving ambition and penchant for whisky lead to an inevitable tragedy that Judy must avenge.: Nominated for nine AACTA awards in 2019, winning two - one for Best Lead Actor, and one for Best Original Music Score.: VOD: Annapurna Sriram, David Alicandri, Bryan Amato, Harald Beran: Priscilla Kavanaugh, Jason Mendez, Andrew Wonder: Andrew Wonder: Drama, Thriller: A homeless woman living in the tunnels below New York City survives on her own terms in the days leading up to a blizzard.: This is the directors first feature length narrative film.: VOD: Juliette Lewis, Stephen McHattie, Henry Rollins, Tomas Lemarquis: Tony Burgess, Patrick Whistler: Bruce McDonald: Comedy, Crime, Fantasy: On the night of the strangest wedding in cinema history, a grotesque gang boss hires a stone cold killer to bring him the finger of a fading, drug-addicted jazz legend.: Stephen McHattie plays two roles.: VOD: Cheryl Horner: Documentary: Follow the high school's students and families who became fierce leaders of a national movement for gun reform following the shooting of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.: Director Cheryl Horner directed several episodes of the MTV series: Damon Gameau: Documentary: Practical solutions to environmental concerns are addressed with the hope that the filmmaker's daughter, 21 years old in the year 2040, will face a hopeful future.: Director Damon Gameau may be better known as an Australian actor.: Cristina Chiriac, Willem Dafoe, Anna Ferrara, Stella Mastrantonio: Abel Ferrara: Drama: The story of an American artist living in Rome with his young European wife Nikki and their 3-year-old daughter, Dee Dee.: Director Ferrara directed 2014s, which also starred Willem Dafoe and was finally released last year.NT Live: Tom Hiddleston, Mark Gatiss, Hadley Fraser, Jacqueline Boatswain: William Shakespeare: Tim Van Someren: Drama, History, War: Caius Martius Coriolanus is a war hero, banished from his home, seeking to come back.: This National Theatre Live adaptation ofwas originally filmed in 2014. National Theatres YT page , available for one week only.(1997): Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Meagan Good, Lynn Whitfield: Kasi Lemmons: Drama: After a daughter witnesses her father having an affair, she begins a chain reaction that could tear her family apart.: The film won Best First Feature at the 1998 Independent Spirit Awards.: HBOMaxSource 1 Property/casualty insurers and their CEOs are pledging to help their communities and employees find a meaningful way forward after the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis that sparked ongoing national protests against racism and police brutality. The past week has been filled with significant emotion. We are saddened, angry and concerned by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and we send our deepest condolences to his family for their loss, Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker wrote in a June 1 blog posting on the companys website. Were alarmed about the destruction in our communities. We are struggling to make sense of everything and determine what we can do to be a force for good and effect change. Walker said he spent a good deal of time reflecting on current events, and he noted that Nationwide has made strides cultivating a diverse and inclusive work environment. But, he said, the company must continue to make progress both within and outside of its walls. He added he and his leadership team are also taking time to sit down and listen to associates about their thoughts right now on how to move forward. Inherent Bias, Systemic Racism Now more than ever, we need to listen. And not just listen to hear, but listen to understand, Walker said. In the coming days, I encourage each of us to step outside of our comfort zones, seek to understand, engage in productive conversations and hold ourselves accountable for being part of the solution. We must forever stamp out racism and discrimination. Jack Salzwedel, chair and CEO of American Family Insurance, posted a lengthy LinkedIn essay on June 2 about what happened, pointing out that Floyds death in Minneapolis is the latest example of a broken society, fueled by a variety of factors but all connected by inherent bias and systemic racism. We should pay attention to these events, care about whats happeningand we should be angryall of us, he wrote. Salzwedel said society must take action on multiple levels and in new ways. It also requires people of privilegewhite peopleto stand up for and stand with our communities like we never have before, he said. Im privileged. I have a voice. I want to use it for good. Senseless Deaths Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg emailed the global insurers U.S. employees on June 2 with an expression of shared anger about Floyds death and many other recent incidents like it. Like you, I have watched the tragic events unfolding across our country the past week with mixed feelings of frustration and anger. The senseless deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and the terrible confrontation involving Christian Cooper in New York Citys Central Park, are examples of bigotry, racism and sheer ignorance against black Americans that remain endemic in our institutions and are tolerated or even considered acceptable in parts of our society, Greenberg wrote. He added that Americans are supposed to know what we stand for and that along those lines, tolerating bigotry and racism is unacceptable. We have an obligation to find our voice and raise it when we see social injustice, he said. We all have to make a difference by standing with those who are being prejudiced. We need to participate in honest dialogue that bridges understanding and arrives at shared actions and responsibilities. Fighting for Racial and Economic Justice Tom Troy, CEO of AAA Insurer CSAA Insurance Group, said in a LinkedIn posting that the company stands with its black employees and said his company would pursue a number of new initiatives. He also said that riots in the wake of Floyds killing affected him personally. I am deeply troubled by these events. It is difficult to see these tragedies and not feel personally impacted in ways large and small, he said. While watching events unfold Saturday evening, the broadcast showed the police station burning in the city where I was born. It brought back memories of riots following the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King. I could vividly remember where I was that night, watching TV with the same sense of helplessness and disbelief. And what comes to mind is that in all these years, we havent made enough progress. Its simply not enough. Troy said that CSAA would donate $10,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative to support its work for racial and economic justice, challenging mass incarceration and protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable in American society. He also pledged to match employee donations to the organization. He also said CSAA would provide resources to its employees to help support and empower them to take action, and also support them during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected black, Latino and Native American communities. Those efforts include virtual conversations to discuss the emotional impact of recent events and ways to cope with stress and anxiety, group meditation, and fitness classes to support mental and physical well-being, and also support for employees to use the companys Employee Assistance Program for confidential emotional support. Teaming With Other Industries Kathleen Savio, CEO of Zurich North America, and Alan Schnitzer from the Travelers Companies Inc. are among nearly 200 other business leaders from multiple industries who signed a letter from the Partnership for New York City that pledges to help combat racial injustice and inequity and its impact on society. The letter notes disparities in society for communities of color made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and lays bare by the violent death of Floyd and others like him. With those things in mind, the letter restates commitments to diversity and inclusion among boards and executive leadership, plus a broader push to improve society. As members of the Partnership for New York City, we are supporting programs to ensure that the citys public school students gain the skills and career opportunities required to achieve economic equality and helping racially diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses survive and rehire workers as quickly as possible, the groups leader states. At the same time, the letter points out that no amount of philanthropy can make up for the divisions in American society that the pandemic has exposed and deepened. New York has prided itself on being the worlds most open and inclusive city, attracting top talent from everywhere to build lives, careers and businesses here, the group letter points out. But these opportunities have not been equally accessible to young people of color who have grown up and attended school in our poorest neighborhoods. In our post-pandemic city, that must change, and we are committed to help make that happen. Influence Change, Join Twitter Conversation State Farm made a more general statement on its website, condemning Floyds death and others before his, with a promise to enable change. These times are a stark reminder that our society still suffers from far too many cases of distrust, hatred and racism. This is not the world we should accept as a society, State Farm said. We must push ourselves to influence change and create compassion. State Farm has long been committed to helping build safer, stronger communities. We embrace the responsibility to work with others to make the world around us better. Utica National Insurance Group joined the discussion with a short but powerful statement, also posted on its website, that ends with a Twitter hashtag. Racism, prejudice and injustice toward people of color is unacceptable, and has no place in our society, Utica National said. It is upon all of us to support one another and create a society where everyone is truly equal. Together, we can #BeTheChange. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gov. Mike DeWine said he talked by phone to Kristina M. Johnson, who Ohio State University trustees chose as the schools 16th president, stressing how important the land-grant school is to the state. DeWine said their telephone conversation on Tuesday lasted about 15 or 20 minutes. He described Johnson as very impressive. I think she brings a unique perspective to the job, DeWine said in an interview Wednesday. Her background is interesting: an electrical engineer, academic research. Shes got great credentials. DeWine told Johnson that he looked forward to working with her, and I thought Ohio State has such a depth of talent in so many different areas that we wanted to work even closer than in the past. Most recently, OSU officials have advised DeWine on the coronavirus pandemic, and have provided the state modeling attempting to project the diseases curve in the state. I also mentioned to her how important Ohio State has been in regard to some of the medical personnel in regard to COVID-19, he said. "They have given us a lot of information. Johnson, in remarks after being named board president, seemed amiable to working with the state. In my conversation with Gov. Mike DeWine yesterday, he asked us to continue to help the state address and solve some of the critical problems in our Ohio communities that range from opioid addiction to water quality to the general health and welfare of citizens of Ohio, she said. Solving practical problems is one of the reasons Ohio State was created. Johnson comes as Ohio State is experiencing challenges associated with the outbreak, including a projected $300 million revenue loss to the school and Wexner Medical Center, and cuts and funding increases that will be made to shore up the gap. Johnson will also take the helm of the school after students and faculty have been off campus for months during the pandemic. State Sen. Stephanie Kunze, a Columbus-area Republican who chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee, said in her discussions with OSU President Michael Drake -- who announced in November hes stepping down at the end of the academic year -- that school officials are trying to prioritize safety with education quality. While some classes can easily be taught online, others -- such as organic chemistry laboratory courses -- are more difficult in a virtual setting, she said. I think youll see a series of different plans: If this happens, then well do this," Kunze said. "If this happens, then well do that. Kunze said that the school is trying to be flexible, despite its six campuses and 68,000 students. From her academic and public and private sector experience, she sounds really well-rounded," Kunze said. That will probably lend itself as being a strength for her, as she starts a new position in an uncertain world with COVID. Contributing: Emily Bamford Other coverage: Ohio State trustees confirm SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson as next president Ohio State President Michael Drake projects $300 million revenue loss due to COVID-19 pandemic New Ohio State University President Kristina Johnson brings athletics background and Buckeye football roots Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The German Development Bank Wednesday released to the Tunisian government a loan of about 100 million Euros, with soft conditions, to support programmes for reforms in the banking and financial sector The death of George Floyd at the hands of police and the protests that followed have sparked demands for a congressional response. The U.S. House plans to consider legislation such as requiring bias training, tracking the use of deadly force, and banning racial profiling. There is a growing consensus that we have to do something and not just say something, said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist. There is a lot of legitimate anger out there that is aimed at the leadership of this country to get us to do something. We have a duty to listen to them. Malinowski said the Democratic-controlled House would begin considering a response this month. The House isnt scheduled to return to Washington to vote until the end of June but is working remotely. Already, the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing June 10 on police brutality and racial profiling The Congressional Black Caucus is taking the lead on drafting legislation in the House. U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., are doing the same in the Senate. A member of the caucus, Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist., said there would be a package of bills and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she will advance what the group proposed. I dont think it will be simply one bill, but a package of bills to address the horrific issue of police brutality in our country, Payne said. In addition, these events have helped to resurrect several bills that had been lying dormant until now. That legislation includes a bill banning chokeholds and named for Eric Garner, a black man who died in police custody in Staten Island after being put in a chokehold and saying, I cant breathe, and a measure requiring diversity training for law enforcement officers and for an independent prosecutor whenever a police officer uses force that injures or kills a suspect. One of goals of the original civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s was to get Congress to pass legislation to end discrimination, said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist. There has to be a legislative response from Congress, Pallone said. Historically during the civil rights movement, there was always the idea that we needed legislative action. Pallone held a conference call Wednesday with two community civil rights leaders who also talked about the need for congressional action. I absolutely believe in my heart that legislation is the only way we can move our country, our society, to another level of respect, said the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Saunders, chair of the Piscataway Civil Rights Advisory Commission. I agree, said Reggie Johnson, president of the NAACPs Metuchen-Edison Branch. African Americans have always depended on government to provide us with protection. This is a necessity." And U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., on Wednesday joined the call for action in Congress. The American people are demanding real action and Congress must deliver, Menendez said. .We must answer the call for community policing and criminal justice reforms that include providing federal funding to expand local police training, developing a national standard for excessive force and creating a national registry for police misconduct. And Congress must address systemic economic, social and environmental injustices once and for all. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. LAGOS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Policing in the United States is defined along racial lines, Nigerian columnist Morak Babajide-Alabi said Sunday. Babajide-Alabi made the remarks in an article titled "'I can't breathe' is a plea for life," published by Nigerian newspaper Vanguard. African American George Floyd, 46, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he stopped breathing. In a video posted online, the victim is heard saying "I can't breathe," while three other police officers stand close by. The article said the landscape of policing in the United States is littered with pieces of evidence of how white police officers treat black people with iron fists. As the incident has triggered massive protests against racial discrimination across the United States, the article asked "For how much longer can a black man walk the streets without fear of a police bullet in his back? Or when will the heartfelt cry of 'I can't breathe' be a thing of the past?" "Things are not looking good in race relations right now in the U.S.," the article concluded. "Racism seems to have become a familiar issue in a country where nationalism has taken a wrong turn." Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, in a dialogue with industrialist Rajiv Bajaj on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, criticised the Central government for its handling of the disease and said that there was no lockdown even during the world war. It is quite surreal. I do not think anyone imagined that the world would be locked down in this way. I do not think even during the world war, the world was locked down. Even then, things were open. It is a unique and devastating sort of phenomenon, Gandhi said. The economy slowed down before COVID-19. Unemployment was becoming a serious problem before this virus. Now COVID-19 pushed it over the edge, he said. Responding to the Congress leader, Bajaj criticised the Central government for imposing the draconian lockdown and claimed that it was only in India that people were not allowed to move outdoors. The way India has been locked down is a draconian lockdown. I am not hearing about this kind of lockdown from anywhere else. All my friends and family from across the world have always been free to step out, Bajaj said. Also Read: PM Modi in first virtual bilateral summit with Australia PM Scott Morrison: Our strategic partnership will be more important during Covid-19 period Also Read: India witnesses highest single-day spike of 9,304 cases, total cases reach 2,16,919 and death toll at 6,075 On tacking the hardships of economy, Bajaj was of the view that India can tackle it by adopting specialisation as a strategy. Agreeing with the industrialists opinion, the Gandhi scion said, It (lockdown) was also imposed suddenly. The bitter-sweet thing you said is shocking to me. See, rich people can deal with it as they have a home, a comfortable atmosphere, but it is completely devastating for the poor people and migrants. A lot of people said that they have lost confidence and I think this is a very sad thing, and dangerous for the country, the Congress leader added. Rajiv Bajaj further targeted the Centre and said, Dont understand how despite being an Asian country, we ought not to look East, we looked at Italy, France, Spain, the UK and the US. Not right benchmarks in any sense be it in terms of inherent immunity, temperature, demography etc. Instead of looking to the west or to the east, why didnt we say that we are actually a confident country, lets look at ourselves and lets come out with an Indian solution. Why was that not the natural impulse? Gandhi said. Taking the conversation ahead Rahul Gandhi told Bajaj that he spoke to some of the experts and specialist regarding the ongoing problem and said, Right in the early days of the lockdown, what one of them told me and which stuck in my mind, he said, look the moment you apply a full lockdown, you are changing the nature of the disease. You are making this non-fatal disease to fatal disease in the minds of the people. Once youve done that, then to reverse that, that is going to take a significant amount of time and it is going to take a lot of effort. He also said that dont view the lockdown as an on-off switch. It is not going to be an on-off switch. Once you have moved into a lockdown, switching it off again is not going to be easy. It is going to be extremely complicated. I liked your point about, we look West and not East. Why do you think we look west, he said. Rahul Gandhi has been holding a series of dialogues on the status of Indias economy and the impact of coronavirus lockdown. On April 30, he first held a conversation with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. He later held a conversation with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee who was of the view that the country should come out with a large enough stimulus package to revive demand. A few days ago he also spoke to globally renowned public health experts Professor Ashish Jha of Harvard Global Health Institute and Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke. Also Read: PM Modi praises cabinets decision to create one India, one agriculture market, says it will have positive impact on rural India For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Researchers at Columbia University in New York City say they have developed a new coronavirus test that will be able to deliver results in just 30 minutes. It will be significantly faster than tests available at other US hospitals and medical clinics, which take between two to seven days to confirm results. What's more, the team says its tests don't require any costly, large lab equipment, such as cartridges, on which to run the samples. All clinicians need are two vials and a heat block. making the new test faster, cheaper and easier than other common diagnostics on the market. Columbia University's new coronavirus test (pictured) is just one step compared to the common two steps needed for other tests and runs at one temperature in comparison with the constant changing of temperature needed for other tests Using a simple-color code, red means negative and yellow means positive (above). Researchers say this test is faster, cheaper and easier than other diagnostics on the market Currently, the tests most commonly used to check for an active coronavirus infection are known as nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). First, lab technicians figure out the sequence of RNA they want to identify and make probes that will attach to the acids, called the 'extraction' step. Second, several repeated chemical reactions are performed to make numerous copies of the RNA to try and find the virus's genes, known as 'amplification.' The Columbia researchers say that the two-step process of extraction and amplification is more costly due to the equipment needed and highly-trained staff required to read the results. 'As a result, samples must either be transported to a centralized high-complexity laboratory or processed at the point-of-care using systems that rely on specialized, proprietary instruments and consumables,' they wrote in a paper published on the pre-print site medRxiv.org. '[This limits] the capacity to scale testing for widespread use both in the US and globally.' The team argues that there is a need for a single-step test that does not require extracting RNA first and can be performed promptly without costly equipment or reagents. Researchers set about creating a test using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a single-tube technique to amplify DNA. Current tests use PCR technology, in which a series of alternating temperatures are needed for the test to identify the virus. But LAMP tests use technology in which one constant temperature is used. 'The entire LAMP amplification reaction is performed at a single temperature, and thus requires only a heat block or water bath,' the authors wrote. To examine how accurate its new test was, the Columbia team selected 20 samples stored in a solution known as viral transport media. Each specimen was placed in a tube, mixed using a pipette, and then some of the solution was placed in a different tube. Both tubes were placed in a 145F (63C) dry bath and kept warm for 30 minutes, after which they were placed on ice for one minute to pause the reaction. If the tubes were yellow, it meant the result was positive for coronavirus and, if it was red, it meant the result was negative. Results showed the test had a sensitivity rate of 85 percent and specificity rate of 100 percent. That means the test had a few false negatives and no false positives. In their paper, the authors went after Abbott Laboratories' ID NOW test, the rapid coronavirus test being used to diagnose people at the White House. Researchers claim the Columbia test is more accurate and doesn't use nearly as much equipment. 'In contrast to the Abbott ID Now, our approach does not require specialized equipment and cartridges and hence may be more readily scaled and used globally without the need to manufacture and ship the specific hardware and can use reagents available from multiple manufacturers located internationally,' they wrote. It comes less than a month after a team from New York University found that the ID NOW test missed one-third of coronavirus samples stored in vials compared to another commonly used testing kit What's more, among samples that were taken using a dry nasal swab, the test from the Illinois-based company missed 48 percent of positive results. At the time, the company denied there any problems with its test. 'Abbott recently released interim results showing ID NOW test performance of 94.7% positive agreement (sensitivity) and 98.6% negative agreement (specificity) compared to lab-based PCR reference tests,' Abbott told DailyMail.com in a statement. 'ID NOW is the most widely available molecular point-of-care platform in the U.S. and provides reliable results for COVID-19 in under 13 minutes, helping to reduce the spread of infection in society by detecting more positive cases where people show up for care.' UPPER DARBY Police Superintendent Tim Bernhardt joined Mayor Barbarann Keffer and Upper Darby School District officials at the high school Wednesday to discuss what Superintendent Dr. Daniel McGarry called the extremely unsettled legacy of race relations in America during a joint press conference. Its important that we show solidarity as a community, said McGarry. We all have a role to play in this. Obviously the township has a different role than the school district with schools letting out, but were not going to stop just because schools are letting out. Were in this together we support Tim Bernhardt, we support the mayor, we are in here to support this community. School Board President Edward Brown said the senseless death of George Floyd in Minneapolis May 25 at the hands of police officers affected him as a black man, as a father and as a proud American. Brown added that the callous, egregious disregard for human life captured on video was shocking to the soul and made him realize that he is powerless to protect his children against the myriad potential harms that exist for them simply due to the color of their skin. I cant protect my children from being black, he said. Thats what they are and will always be What keeps me up at night is that I cant protect them while they are living life by walking in the park, or barbequing with friends, or crossing the street, or even sitting in their own home. These are all mundane, everyday tasks and joys of life that should not put them in harms way. We must be better. We must be better. Brown said the change needed across the country can start one person at a time by treating each other with respect, dignity and grace, by truly embracing equality, and recognizing that all people are essentially the same, with the same drives toward happiness, love and trying to do the right thing. I dont know how far your journey is or how many adjustments you have to make, but lets start today, said Brown. Lets start today so that there are no more George Floyd incidents. Let it be the last outrageous, senseless death that takes a piece away from our collective humanity. Now is the time to listen, said Bernhardt. Were not here to talk at people. Its for us to listen, to come up with a plan and to move forward with all the students and the residents in Upper Darby Township, with the mayor and her staff and the school district. We promise you that we are going to listen and we are going to move this forward. Today is a new day and we are going to work on overcoming the challenges that this country is facing right now. The conference came just days after looters swarmed out of Philadelphia into the 69th Street corridor, smashing windows and grabbing merchandise from numerous stores. Bernhardt said Wednesday that the National Guard, which had been in place there since Monday night, was still assisting police with pedestrian and vehicular traffic Wednesday, and that stores there remain closed as the owners evaluate the damage. He also addressed a growing number of videos and images that appear to depict police officers across the country using excessive force against protesters who have gathered peacefully to condemn the very tactics being used against them. Bernhardt said he would not comment on how other departments are dealing with demonstrators, but said his approach has been to work with protesters rather than instigate. On Sunday, when Upper Darby had the incident at 69th street, the last thing I wanted to do or my staff was going to do was to entice or to make it worse, he said. The incident for us was terrible, there was a lot of destruction, but there were no attacks against police. They did not turn against us and I think our approach is the reason why. We were forcing the crowd to move on and giving those that wanted to protest the opportunity to protest. There were no attacks on us, there were no fires. The looting did occur which is outrageous, it was chaos, it was unacceptable but the approach we had was to not make it worse. McGarry proposed convening a community committee to problem solve and develop strategies to bring people together once social distancing restrictions are lifted so all voices feel they have a seat at the table. Fear and divisiveness will not do that, he added, only action rooted in real, social systemic change will unite the community and ease the minds of children who may feel that there are system in place that are intentionally structured to keep them from reaching their goals. There is a hope for change, McGarry said. It is in the parents, neighbors and our friends who must work together to confront the ingrained prejudice and injustice in our society if real change is going to take place. Its going to take all of us, as youve heard today, every single one of us have to come together to do this. Our children are watching us, listening to us, to see our actions and reactions to everything that is happening here in Upper Darby and around the country, said Keffer. They see how we are handling the uncertainties of the pandemic, compounded with the reality that not much has seemed to change in terms of race relations. Keffer said children saw the reactions to professional athletes taking a knee to protest police violence against the African America community, and how a knee was used to take the life of George Floyd. They see these things and know that something is very wrong, she said. Our children see what we post and share on social media, how we talk about what is happening. It is up to us to provide leadership with the tone of our conversations and posts, and that is only the beginning. Keffer also urged the community not to confuse peaceful protests that were seen over the weekend and Monday evening in Upper Darby with the kind of looting and vandalism that took place on 69th Street Sunday night. We have the opportunity to shape a future that addresses the longstanding systemic inequities that plague our nation, said Keffer. Lets not squander it. Lets focus on the hard work we must undertake to focus on creating a community based on compassion, mutual respect and equity. New York police said an officer was shot and another knifed in the borough of Brooklyn shortly before midnight on Wednesday, but it was unclear if the attack was related to mass protests over the death of an unarmed black man. The names and conditions of the officers were not released, but media said the injuries were not life-threatening. Both were injured near Church and Flatbush avenues in Brooklyn when a suspect walked up to an officer and attacked. The New York Post said the suspect was also shot. A police spokesman told Reuters the officers were taken to Kings County Hospital. One arrest was made at the scene. The incident comes amid the mass protests and some rioting in New York over the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in the custody of white police officers. Media said a third officer suffered a hand injury and the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, was headed to the hospital. May 25th, 2020 was a Black and bloody Monday. The cold homicide of George Floyd, an Afro-American in Minnesota, USA sparked riots, spoliation, and vandalism in America, and triggered solidarity protests in other nations. This unfitted acts of violent protest were based on racism, this time not a war between Whites and Blacks, but rather the World against Racist. As racism is notable with America and Europe, does this endemic systemic rivalry absent in the Africanized context? The concept of racism has merely been understood as an act of discrimination between Whites and Blacks, but the concept goes beyond that. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General asserts that we may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. This means that race means more than skin color. Inputting this argument in its proper perspective, the definition of the term racism according to the Oxford dictionary is a prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that ones own race is superior. By extension, race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical and social characteristics. While the masses raise their voices against America for its failure to keep its sacred promise of ensuring shared fundamental human rights for all its citizens, far-reaching racism exists aside from the white and black racism. In Ghana, a predominantly black society, the pervasive nature of racism is evident in every sphere of our national life: at the tribal level, religious level, skin-color racism, economic racism, and gendered-racism. In this article, I will raise fundamental issues of racism in Ghana which has become a normalcy in our daily endeavors. In Ghana, severe racism faced by most people is the tribal racism. Tribal nomenclatures have become a typical issue in the Ghanaian context where people belonging to certain tribes are identified as superior to other tribes or ethnic groups. In our daily endeavors, the comments made against how people belonging to certain tribes pronounce certain words is a common feature of a racist society. The funny comments made of the names of people belonging to certain ethnic groups are typical of the racial climate in Ghana. In Ghana, there exist automatic negative connotations for people who belong to the Ewe tribe, Northern, Krobo, Fanti, Ashanti, Ga, and others. The attribution of people from certain ethnic groups or regions as Royals and others as Subjects is a typical feature of racism in Ghana. How many families are welcoming of their members marrying from other tribes? How many times havent the delicacies of people of other tribes been subjects of mockery? These people belonging to these odd tribes are citizens of Ghana, yet the freedoms and rights enjoyed by these people are limited due to these negative attitudes of their fellow countrymen. In a society where ethnic and tribal discrimination exist in various approaches, is the Floydic-situation any different from what we do in Ghana? Certainly NOT, and neither can members of these odd tribes and ethnic groups breathe in their own country. Again, religious affiliation discrimination is also common in our Ghanaian context. The philosophy that Ghana is a religiously tolerant nation is a well-known nationalized deception that we hold dearly. The various religious sects proselytize about brotherliness and sisterliness yet their understanding of Do not yoke with unbelievers is an internalized wisdom that reflects in our communication approaches on a daily basis. The three major religions in Ghana are Christianity, Islam, and the African Traditional Religion(s). How many times have not practitioners of the African Traditional Religion been identified as reprobate people? In Ghana, every religious sect has a negative perception of rivalry believers. These perceptions motivate us to treat each other with disdain. This is a common feature of a racial society. In a nation where the religious customs and traditions of people are accepted only in theory but never in practice, such a nation can never be a religiously tolerant nation as in the case of Ghana. Akuaku (2008) revealed that the relationship that exists between Christians and Muslims is not without negative perception for each other. While Muslims perceive Christians as people with superiority complex who look down on other minor religions, Christians also perceive Islam as a religion of violence and Muslims in general as a group that is oriented towards conflict violence. The banalest religious racial attitude is intra-religious racism. This is the form where adherents of the same faith but with different conventions to the faith antagonize each other unjustifiably. In Ghana, the treatment given to adherents of Jehovah's Witnesses, Musama Disco Christo Church, and the likes are different from the other Orthodox and Pentecostal churches. Similarly in the Islamic faith, the different approaches to the worship amongst the Sunni Islam, Ahmadiyya, Sufi, and others have records of frictional relationships. If the concept of religious racism is about individuals heightening the superiority of their faith whiles belittling the faith of others, then Ghana cannot be said to be a non-racial country. The racism that is based on skin-color of people is very common even in our Ghanaian context. One thing most people are more forgetful of is that Ghana is a Black African country, just as the Star in our flag depicts. However, the inferiority complex that has become almost an epidemic in the country has made most people lose their sense of national pride. A common tag any typical black Ghanaian is faced with is the nickname Blackie which is a form of mockery of their God-given pigmentation. In other places, fair-colored Ghanaians are also termed Molato babies, Disappointed Europeans and sometimes the ancestry of those fair-colored people are attacked as being prostitutes who slept with the early European settlers in Ghana. With all of these tags and name-calling, how do we seek to create a friendly society for our fellow country people? The most disappointing scene in Ghana is the commercialization of racism. It is either that advertisements that run on our media space contain scenes of a depressed black family and a happy white family. When cosmetic companies want to create an inferiority complex in the minds of the Black woman, they use fair colored ladies in their product advertisements. This occurs on a daily basis on our various media platforms. As this is seen as normalcy how do we look forward to remedying the ills of racism when it is putting monies in the pockets of advertisers and media agencies? We cant just breathe with this endemic systemic racial discrepancies even in our black soil. Racism is also about discrimination based on economic status. In a middle-income country like Ghana, people find the need to establish a system of discrimination between the average rich and the extremely poor. In a racial America and Europe, the average Afro-American or black person finds it extremely difficult to rise from the button to the top wherever they find themselves. Positions mostly occupied with not much stress in acquiring by these Blacks are the normal janitor and conservatory work, security personnel, house-helps, amongst others. This is not to say that such works are necessarily evil, but the issue is how well are we receptive to such people even In Ghana? In our public and private institutions, even as individuals how do we treat these average working class? Even if their work is not respected must it affect their personal integrity? In a society where better human relations exist between people of certain economic classes, how will those of the depressed class breathe? The level of togetherness that greets the world today as we fight against racism as witnessed of George Floyds incident must be greatly applauded, but this must not end here even after the justice we seek is attained. The world must come together once again to fight against the gendered-racism that has been a bane on our individual stereotypical conscience in Ghana. The customs and traditions as practised in Ghana since ages have been one that greatly suppresses women, and elevates men. This custom has become self-imposed whereby most women have internalized this unhealthy social construct as part of their epistemic being. A woman is more likely to settle for a junior position today even when they most qualify for the topmost position. The reason is that in a predominantly male-dominated society as in Ghana, it is socially established that men are not to take instructions from women because according to some sacred believes Women are to be submissive, where submission in this context means slavery. In such a society, rape and other sexual abuses against women are more prevalent. The woman race has been suffocated by these toxic social norms and until this unhealthy social conscientization is deconstructed for the establishment of mutual respect of all human race, man and woman, the justice we seek against racism in America will be a far cry as our own gendered racism in Ghana lies prostrate before our eyes. The Floydic-situation is any event or occasion where a group of people living in a society is suppressed as a result of the classifications of people into different segments and treatments are given to them based on their class. The Floydic-situation is the one that people from different race: tribe, religious believes, skin pigmentation, economic status, gender-orientation, and social standing has an impact on their access to their inalienable rights and freedoms. I cant breathe means more than a simple sentence which explains a difficulty in inhaling air, but more I cant breathe means my rights and freedoms are being curtailed; I feel suppressed and depressed; the situation where unhealthy social norms and the attitudes of individuals act as a barricade towards the freedom of others. In a healthy society, people should be able to breathe and to achieve these people need to do away with negative stereotypical attitudes. Suppressive social norms need to be replaced with a more developmental one, and the commercialization of unhealthy racial comparisons need to be checked in Ghanaian media. As Ibram X. Kendi posits denial is the heartbeat of racism and as we deny people their personal freedoms in our everyday lives in Ghana, we become racist. No matter how big or small a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people. Therefore if we will be strong together, we need to respect ourselves and respect others in order to create an enabling environment for our personal advancement and collective growth as a nation. God Bless Our Homeland! Author: Michael Ofori On June 2, 2020, at 10:54 AM (GMT +8), Elon Musk announced to the Twitterverse of his departure from Twitter. The tweet only had one phrase in it. It reads out as "Off Twitter for a while". Elon Musk's Twitter followers expressed varied emotions. Some Twitter users thought of Elon Musk as a coward for signing off from Twitter during one of America's most vulnerable times, considering the George Floyd incident. Politicians such as Jon Cooper told Elon Musk through Twitter to go f*** himself and that he sold his soul. Others were quite supportive of Elon Musk's decision. People have expressed that the world needs to go offline from social media once in a while and also have greatly acknowledged Elon Musk's response to the #JusticeForGeorge movement. The reason for Elon Musk's departure from Twitter may not be so simple despite all the controversies that arose from Musk's tweet. Tesla pressure? Sources say that Tesla shareholders have wanted Elon Musk to go offline from Twitter since last year. Some Tesla shareholders have filed a case against Elon Musk to prohibit him from utilizing his public Twitter account. They claim to have done this because Elon Musk uses Twitter as an online platform to broadcast information on Tesla's activities. Vice-Chancellor Joseph Slights III, the judge in charge of the Tesla case, stated that the Tesla shareholders have only provided inadequate reasons for this issue. The court will not be proceeding with the lawsuit against Elon Musk. The case against Elon Musk has been put on hold since its court filing last year. This is because other affairs against Elon Musk were in motion. Federal security fraud issues were unresolved at the time so the court decided to focus on that. Moreover, the Securities and Exchange Commission (or the SEC) filed a motion against Elon Musk last year. This is because Elon Musk released a tweet about Tesla's goal for the vehicle production department for the year 2019. The tweet was released on February 20, 2019. Read Also: How to Become Elon Musk and Get a Performance Based Payout of $700M from Tesla Elon Musk Twitter Elon Musk tweeted that, back in 2011, Tesla has not made any cars. In 2019, however, he stated that Tesla would be producing 500,000 vehicles for the whole year of 2019. The SEC filed a case against Elon Musk because the tweet triggered a violation in a 2018 Tesla settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement came into an agreement with Tesla to facilitate Elon Musk's tweets. This is because any public exposure of the activities of Tesla can alter Tesla stocks. Another incident in which the settlement between the SEC and Tesla was used for is when the SEC took legal action against Elon Musk regarding his tweet about him handling the finances of Tesla. The tweet held false allegations and was apprehended by the SEC. This motion by the SEC was settled in April 2019. Elon Musk was required to request ahead of time if he were to tweet about the financial status of Tesla. Read Also: Tesla Model 3 Now Reigns as the Top-Selling Car in California After Beating the Honda Civic Wexford County Council has used drones to monitor lockdown compliance in private dwellings, holiday homes, and 68 caravan parks without carrying out a privacy assessment which has 'stunned' a local data protection consultant. The local authority had been carrying out the surveillance since at least early April, according to documents released under freedom of information legislation, with any allegedly pertinent information to be passed onto gardai. However, no Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA a prerequisite under the EUs General Data Protection Regulation for any project involving potential privacy implications) was carried out, while the county council appeared to be at a loss as to what legal basis it had for carrying out the surveillance. The issue is the latest example of drone technology being used by Irelands local authorities with seemingly dubious legal pretexts, while an official complaint has now been made to the Data Protection Commission over the lack of a DPIA for the Wexford project. In late April it emerged that Wexford County Council had redeployed its fleet of six UAV drones to monitor compliance with the movement restrictions put in place by the Taoiseach on March 27. However, internal emails suggest that council officials were non-specific at best as to how their patrols had been GDPR compliant, with discussions as to how to conduct a DPIA carried out long after surveillance began. Local authorities serve no law enforcement function here. Wexford County Council said it would not be in a position to answer queries regarding the surveillance until next week as a number of staff who have been dealing with this issue are currently on leave. On April 27, after reports of the surveillance programme emerged in national media, a county council official wrote to his colleague to discuss what legal basis could be given for the project, saying as a council the only basis that I believe we could possibly rely on for using drones in this manner would be the following.... He then cited a section of the 2018 Data Protection Act which details restrictions on the rights of data subjects for important objectives of general public interest. However that section, numbered 60 (7) (a), has been dismissed by data protection experts as not a lawful basis for processing data. Meanwhile, a communication from a senior scientist to the authority on the same date said he was anticipating some public disquiet on what we are doing with the drones. I have been aware of GDPR etc from the very beginning and this has been run strictly in accordance with its requirements, he added, without adding specifics. Privacy solicitor, Rossa McMahon, said: It is surprising and disappointing that local authorities are continuing to experiment with highly invasive surveillance technology which, in reality, they have no need or legal basis for using, even when the Data Protection Commission is still investigating the use of CCTV and surveillance by county councils in Ireland. It goes without saying that county councils are not policing authorities and have no role in enforcing the Covid-19 regulations. Meanwhile, data protection consultant and Wexford resident Daragh OBrien has filed a complaint to the DPC specifically in respect of the failure of the county council to conduct a DPIA. I am stunned that a local authority has not done a DPIA for the deployment of what amounts to a mass surveillance technology. It is not sufficient for their staff to be aware of GDPR as one of the officials states in the correspondence released to me, they have to put it into practice, he said. At a council meeting on Apr 15, an official referred to his perceived public approval of the drone surveillance after he had noted 1,700 likes on Twitter. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) is detained by U.S. Capitol Police while supporting voting rights protesters at the Capitol Thursday. (Bloomberg News) The Democrat was arrested with several others, including faith leaders and youth who have been hunger striking for our democracy, his spokesman said. William Huang William will enable us to provide an even higher standard of client service and support to our institutional clients and consultants. Fred Alger & Company, LLC (Alger), a $30 billion growth equity investment manager, is pleased to announce that William Huang has joined the firms Institutional Sales & Service team as Vice President. Mr. Huang will focus on servicing and supporting Algers institutional clients and consultants. Mr. Huang, who has seven years of experience, was most recently a member of the Institutional Client Group at Guggenheim Investments, where he contributed to the firms business development and relationship management efforts in the Americas. Prior to Guggenheim Investments, he was a product management analyst for the Fundamental Equity franchise at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, responsible for the investment marketing and communications of U.S. Growth, International, and Emerging Markets strategies. William earned his B.B.A. from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, where he graduated with distinction. We are in an exciting period of growth for Alger, with strong sales and AUM growth across our institutional, intermediary and offshore businesses, said Jim Tambone, executive vice president and chief distribution officer at Alger. William will enable us to provide an even higher standard of client service and support to our institutional clients and consultants. About Alger Founded in 1964, Alger is widely recognized as a pioneer of growth-style investment management. Headquartered in New York City with affiliate offices in Boston and London, Alger provides U.S. and non-U.S. institutional investors and financial advisors access to a suite of growth equity separate accounts, mutual funds, and privately offered investment vehicles. The firms investment philosophy, discovering companies undergoing Positive Dynamic Change, has been in place for over 50 years. Weatherbie Capital, LLC, a Boston-based investment adviser specializing in small and mid-cap growth equity investing is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alger. For more information, please visit http://www.alger.com. Risk Disclosures: Investing in the stock market involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Growth stocks may be more volatile than other stocks as the prices of growth stocks tend to be higher in relation to their companies earnings and may be more sensitive to market, political, and economic developments. A U.S. Navy veteran held in Iran for the past two years has been freed. Michael White, 48, was detained in July 2018 after traveling to Iran to see a woman he had met online and fell in love with. White was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March 2019, in part for insulting Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In March 2020 White was hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms and was furloughed along with other prisoners after the pathogen swept through Iranian jails. Whites release to the U.S. is part of a prisoner swap the details of which will be released on Thursday, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely in American custody and on his way home, Whites mother Joanne said in a statement. I am incredibly grateful to the Administration, especially the team at the State Department for their work on Michaelas case. The Navy veteran was on a Swiss government plane to Zurich as of Thursday morning, and from there he will be flown to the U.S. with the Trump administrations special envoy to Iran Brian Hook. Switzerland maintains an embassy in Tehran and often acts as a go-between for negotiations between Iran and the U.S. There are currently at least three other American citizens held in Iran. More from National Review (TNS) A push to promote absentee voting as a safer alternative during the coronavirus pandemic is not expected to produce widespread fraud, according to election experts, despite President Donald Trumps recent attacks on mail-in voting in Michigan and other states.Concerns about the potential for COVID-19 to spread through polling places in the August and November elections motivated Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to mail every registered voter an application to obtain an absentee ballot. The president quickly condemned the decision in a series of statements linking no-reason absentee voting to partisan election interference, claims that are considered misleading and possibly harmful by election clerks and researchers in Michigan.Testifying before Congres Wednesday, Benson said there is little evidence of election fraud in Michigan, but in the rare times it does occur, we catch it and we prosecute it.Benson, a Democrat, said she anticipates more politicalized attempts to confuse voters about the process of absentee voting and cause residents to doubt the sanctity of our elections and question the accuracy of the results. The secretary of state said attempts to misinform Michigan voters about their right to vote by mail are antithetical to our democracy.I dont claim to know the intent behind (Trumps) efforts or remarks, but what I do know is their impact, which will be, and has been, to confuse voters and our electorate, Benson said.Daniel Manville, director of the Civil Rights Clinic at Michigan State University, said incidents of voter fraud are rare. Election laws are more often broken by mistake instead of attempts to swing races, he said, and have virtually no impact on the outcome of national elections.There are few reports of voter fraud in Michigan during the past decade, according to state data, and incidents of election law violations rarely result in arrests or convictions.State data shows 279 election law offenses were reported from 2008 to 2018, and 24 arrests were made. There was only one arrest made for election law violations in 2018, the last gubernatorial election, and one arrest in 2016, the last presidential election. The states data does not include details on the violations.Manville said claims that no-reason absentee voting opens the door to fraud are unfounded.They have no proof, they have nothing, he said.Vincent Hutchings, professor of political science at the University of Michigan, said there's no evidence that mail-in voting has the potential to result in increased fraud.Voter fraud, in general, is relatively rare in the United States, whether were talking about via mail or other sources, he said. There are isolated incidents here or there, but they are infinitesimal in their magnitude. That is what study after study after study has shown.The point of mail-in voting is to make the electoral process easier during a global pandemic, Hutchings said.This year marks the first presidential elections to implement changes to the Michigan Constitution adopted through a ballot initiative supported by 67 percent of voters. The 2018 ballot initiative allows all citizens to vote by mail for any reason up to 40 days before the election and constitutionalized existing law providing military members and overseas voters an absentee ballot at least 45 days before an election.Absentee ballots accounted for 99 percent of votes cast in May elections held during the height of Michigans COVID-19 response. There were zero reports of fraud, Benson said.Benson said she expects a record number of absentee ballots cast in the August primary and November general election.Our current record is 1 million, about 30 percent of voters, voting by mail in a presidential election, Benson said. That was in 2016. We anticipate that will at least double if not triple in November and were preparing for that.Trump has claimed, without providing evidence, that no-reason absentee voting is susceptible to widespread fraud and threatened to pull federal funding from Michigan. The president launched his criticism on the eve of his visit to Ypsilanti in May and pushed the issue the next day after a listening session with black leaders in Michigan.Who knows whos signing it? Who knows that it ever gets to your house? Who knows if they dont pirate? he said. Obviously theres going to be fraud. Were not babies. Theres tremendous fraud.Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, a Michigan native, said a national vote-by-mail system would open the door to a new set of problems such as potential election fraud and ballot harvesting. Ballot harvesting, the process of collecting and turning in absentee ballots by political operatives, is already illegal in Michigan.McDaniel struck a softer stance on clerks sending absentee ballot request forms to registered voters, which is what happened in Michigan. Trump and McDaniel have voted by mail in the past.Personally, I dont really have an issue with absentee ballot request forms being sent out to voters as much as ballots being sent directly to voters, McDaniel said during a call with reporters on May 18. I think the request form is one mechanism of ensuring that that owner is who they are, as long as you keep those signature verification laws in place.Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck said his office experienced a bump in inquiries about election security after Trumps recent remarks. Roebucks office, which serves a county Trump won by 30 percentage points, experienced a similar effect in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.Roebuck said objections to mail-in voting are often rooted in the idea that applications mailed to the wrong address can be filled out by anyone. Thats not true, he said.Absentee ballot applications require a signature that is matched against the signature in a persons voter file. You would need to know a persons name, date of birth and be able to accurately forge their signature to commit fraud, Roebuck said.Though voters may see an application addressed to someone who used to live at their residence or someone who is now deceased, Roebuck said it would be extremely difficult to cast a vote on their behalf.If your ill intent is to manipulate the system and change a vote, what is the risk versus the reward of that one vote? Roebuck said. Youre risking a five-year felony to do that ... Im not one of these people that say voter fraud doesnt exist, because the reality is people do bad things sometimes. Its why we have these protections in place."Ironically, Roebuck said mailing absentee ballot applications is a helpful tool in cleaning up outdated voter rolls.One of the primary ways that we identify someone who is no longer on the voter rolls is that weve been notified by the post office that there may be a change of address, he said.Michigan Republicans point to one notable case of election fraud involving absentee ballots as evidence of Democrats tampering in elections.Southfield City Clerk Sherikia Hawkins was charged with six felonies for alleged election fraud last year in connection with the 2018 election. Hawkins allegedly altered 193 absentee ballots to resolve discrepancies between absentee ballots logged into the Qualified Voter File and absentee ballots run through the tabulator on election day.Benson said the incident did not alter the election results, and all votes were ultimately counted. Hawkins is awaiting trial.The White House released a fact sheet outlining several notable cases of voter fraud compiled by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The reports most recent Michigan case involved Brandon Hall, a conservative activist and Trump campaign volunteer, who was convicted of 10 counts of ballot petition fraud in the 2012 election.Only two of the Michigan cases highlighted by the White House involved the fraudulent use of absentee ballots. Four Hamtramck men were each convicted on one felony for unlawful possession of an absentee ballot related to the citys 2013 August primary election. The men worked together to deliver absentee ballots from people who arent related to them.A Benton Harbor man was convicted of five felonies related to election fraud in 2007. He was found guilty of possessing absentee ballots that didnt belong to him and paying patrons at a soup kitchen $5 to cast an absentee ballot in a 2005 local recall election.In response to the recent surge in concerned residents, the Ottawa County Clerks Office created a special section of its website dedicated to informing voters about election security. Roebuck said he also anticipates political actors to spread misinformation ahead of the 2020 election.Benson last week announced her participation in VoteSafe, a voting rights organization co-chaired by Michigans former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The Michigan arm of the national group is led by Benson and former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Battle Creek.VoteSafe advocates that all states ensure voters have access to mail-in ballots and safe in-person voting sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.During testimony before a House subcommittee last month, Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons accused Benson of pursuing an activist agenda by mailing out absentee ballot applications.My agenda is to make sure every voter knows their right to vote by mail that was enshrined by voters in our state constitution in 2018, Benson told reporters last week in response. That is my job as the chief election officer of the state of Michigan. Darren McMullen has lashed out at a Delta Goodrem fan who commented 'all lives matter' on one of her Instagram posts. On Wednesday, Delta, 35, posted a black square on her page, signifying solidarity with the protests currently happening across the U.S. But one fan couldn't seem to grasp the concept of the Black Lives Matter movement, prompting Darren, 38, to respond. Hitting back: Darren McMullen has lashed out at Delta Goodrem fan who commented 'all lives matter' on one of The Voice star's Instagram posts 'Don't agree with the signs "Black Lives Matter" should be "All Lives Matter",' the fan commented on Delta's post. After noticing the comment, the frustrated Voice host tried to explain why Black Lives Matter was an important cause. 'That makes as much sense as saying I don't agree with dog rescue because cats need to be rescued too. Or "Save the Children" is a terrible charity because adults need saving as well,' he began. Getting schooled: One fan couldn't seem to grasp the concept of the Black Lives Matter movement, prompting Darren to respond 'Nobody is insinuating all lives don't matter when they use that hashtag. But that's not what needs our attention right now. Do you not understand that?' He continued: 'You have to listen to the people affected by something and trust they no [sic] better about what they need than you. 'Just because you have no experience with something doesn't mean others don't. This isn't a conspiracy. 'Don't agree with the signs "Black Lives Matter" should be "All Lives Matter",' commented the fan on Delta's post. Pictured, a protester in Los Angeles on June 3 'Our black brothers and sisters are saying this is a problem and we have to trust them and believe it is.' But the fan refused to back down, and commented: 'How can you have black brothers and sisters... your [sic] white.' His remark infuriated Darren even more, and the TV presenter refused to engage with the fan any further. 'Our black brothers and sisters are saying this is a problem and we have to trust them and believe it is,' Darren responded 'That's your takeaway from what I just said? Probably not going to justify that with an answer,' he responded. Delta is yet to weigh in on the discussion, but many of her fans responded in support of Darren and his comments. Anti-police brutality demonstrations have erupted in more than 400 cities in all 50 states in the 10 days since George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man, died in custody in Minneapolis after being forcefully restrained by a white officer for eight minutes. The protests have so far resulted in more than 9,000 arrests and major cities, including New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have enforced curfews. Derek Chauvin, the officer who restrained Floyd, has been charged with second-degree murder, and the three other officers on the the scene have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:09:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People hang lanterns to celebrate the Poson Full Moon Poya Day, an important religious day for most Buddhists, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 4, 2020. Security was heightened across Sri Lanka on Thursday as a two-day nationwide curfew got underway to prevent people from gathering and leaving their homes ahead of a religious holiday on Friday amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities said. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua) COLOMBO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Security was heightened across Sri Lanka on Thursday as a two-day nationwide curfew got underway to prevent people from gathering and leaving their homes ahead of a religious holiday on Friday amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities said. The curfew which came into effect from 4 am on Thursday morning will be lifted on June 6 at 4 am, a statement from the President's Media Division said. From June 6 onward, curfew will be imposed from 10 pm to 4 am in all districts daily, to prevent people from leaving their homes at night. According to the police, the two-day nationwide curfew was imposed ahead of the Poson Full Moon Day, an important religious day for the majority Buddhists, which will be commemorated in Sri Lanka on Friday. Every year, thousands of devotees gather in Anuradhapura, in north-central Sri Lanka to offer their prayers in a Buddhist temple located there, but this year the government has urged people not to leave their homes as the number of COVID-19 patients rose to above 1,700 in the country. Police and triforce personnel were deployed across the country to nab those violating the curfew but the government said employees from the private sector could travel to work, showing a letter from the employer. According to Sri Lanka's Health Ministry, 1,749 patients have been detected with the COVID-19 virus to date out of which 839 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Eleven deaths have also been reported. Enditem Calling the allegation ridiculous, Luis R. Agostini, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson, said, CPD does not condone any type of violence. There is no truth to the rumors that the department is coordinating with gang members, who terrorize their neighborhoods daily, in an effort to somehow safeguard communities. Gang members need to put their guns down. We do not and will never tolerate attacks against anyone. The raft of myths and misstatements that triggered visceral reactions throughout Idaho illustrates how long-standing grievances have fused with the vast reach of social media during protests that have swept through the country in big cities and rural towns after the killing of a black man in the custody of Minneapolis police last week. Though many of the protests have been peaceful pleas to redress racial injustice, scenes of burning buildings and trashed businesses often not at the hands of the demonstrators have fueled the perception of a country under siege. Police in Scottsdale, Ariz., charged YouTuber Jake Paul on Thursday with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly connected with the looting of a mall that occurred Saturday night amid a wave of protests across the nation calling for justice in the death of George Floyd. Both charges are misdemeanors. We "received hundreds of tips and videos identifying [Paul] as a participant in the riot," the Scottsdale Police Department told The Washington Post in a statement. "Our investigation has revealed that Paul was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by the police. Paul also unlawfully entered and remained inside of the mall when it was closed." Paul did not respond to The Post's request for comment. He has been "issued a summons to appear in court in a month," Sgt. Ben Hoster told The Post. A series of videos showing the 23-year-old YouTube star at the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall began circulating on the internet after his videographer Andrew Blue posted them as an Instagram story (which means they disappeared after 24 hours). They showed Paul, wearing a mask and wandering around the mall as looters smashed store windows and, in one instance, broke the windows of a car on display. It is unclear if Paul participated in the looting or vandalism. In one video, Paul said he took part in protests earlier and was tear-gassed by police officers, whom he called "idiots." The video immediately sparked controversy, a constant companion of Paul's, as social media users accused him of taking advantage of the protests to gain attention, with one user calling him the "EPITOME OF WHITE MALE PRIVILEGE" who is "CREATING CHAOS JUST FOR CONTENT." Paul sent out a statement the day after the videos surfaced in which he denied any charges of looting or vandalism and said, "I do not condone violence, looting or breaking the law; however, I understand the anger and frustration that led to the destruction we witnessed and while it's not the answer, it's important that people see it and collectively figure out how to move forward in a healthy way." On Wednesday, he posted a YouTube video titled "The looting situation explained. (deleting soon)," which has racked up more than 1 million views. "People were mad at me because they assumed that me and my friends were looting, vandalizing and breaking down store fronts," he said, denying it. Throughout the video he decried the death of George Floyd and "police brutality" and claimed he was only in the mall to document the looting. "I wanted to use my platform and film what was going on and what is going on in our country as we speak," he said, adding, "I've always tried to use my platform to raise awareness for things that I believe in. It personally upsets me when people have the power to make a difference, and they don't." "This situation, to me, felt no different than when I went down to help with the hurricanes in Houston to when I went to Parkland, Fla., to be ground-floor with the students there after they had a horrific school shooting," he said at one point. These videos certainly have one thing in common: They all place Paul at the center of a controversy that serves to bolster his follower count. As The Post recently reported, "When Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area in 2017, he and his crew drove to the city to 'save thousands of lives.' . . . The resulting trip was something of a disaster, as he invited his fans to gather in a Walmart parking lot to help him fill two U-Haul trucks - without consulting the store. More than a thousand fans showed up. "A year later, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people, Paul visited the town and came up with a five-point plan to end school shootings." Wednesday's video - in which he said "I'm an easy target. I know I am. It sucks." - didn't go over well on social media. "I have never hated Jake Paul as much as I do today," tweeted Daniel Keem, a fellow YouTuber who posts as Keemstar. "He owed everyone an apology for his actions & instead he make excuses & virtue signaling to cover up his bs. If he is innocent as he claims then release alll the raw footage to prove it. [sic] You can't, you won't, cus you lie!" A memorial service was held for George Floyd in Minneapolis Thursday, ten days after he was killed while in police custody. All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the fatal arrest have been charged. Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes, faces second-degree murder charges. The three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Thursdays memorial at North Central University is the first of several; services will also be held in North Carolina and Texas. Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy in front of attendees which included the Floyd family, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III and more. George Floyds hearse arrives at North Central University for the first of several memorial services. In the upper right, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Sgt. Dave OConnor kneel as the hearse drives by. Floyds memorial service was streamed on television and online. Reverend Al Sharpton arrives at George Floyds memorial service. Sharpton and other mourners wore face masks given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The NAN logo stands for the National Action Network the civil rights organization Sharpton founded in 1991. Read original story George Floyd Remembered at Minneapolis Memorial Service (Photos) At TheWrap Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya is unlikely to be sent to India from London anytime soon due to a legal issue which is yet to be resolved. According to a statement by British High Commission spokesperson, "there is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mr Mallya's extradition can be arranged. Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved." Without giving details of the reason behind delay, the spokesperson further added, "The issue is confidential and we cannot go into any detail. We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve. We are seeking to deal with this as quickly as possible." Senior government sources have told India Today TV that India is yet to receive any official communication from the authorities in the United Kingdom (UK). The deadline for the UK Home Office Secretary to sign extradition documents expires on June 11, 2020, as per the Extradition Act. Sources also said that the delay in extradition of Mallya can be if the businessman has legal pending cases against him in the courts of the UK or if he has sought asylum. There is also strong speculation that the self-proclaimed 'King of Good Times' may have already applied for political asylum. But sources say neither the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) nor the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received any communication from the UK Home Office. The Indian High Commission in the UK hasn't received any concrete information either, India Today TV has learned. Experts say that since Vijay Mallya has exhausted all legal options to avoid extradition, he's left with two options: he either gets asylum or approaches the European Human Rights Court. The third condition of delay in his extradition may be due to cases against him in courts of the UK. If Mallya gets asylum on political grounds, he can stay in the UK for as long as he wants - as long as the treaty between India and Britain doesn't change, or unless he flouts any conditions. Meanwhile, Mallya has been based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Renault India gives 15% hike, promotions to boost morale of staff Also read: Rs 2 lakh crore blow to banks if interest during loan moratorium waived, RBI cautions SC https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/banks/coronavirus-crisis-rbi-cautions-sc-banks-covid-19-loan-moratorium-interest-emi/story/405873.html NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), the world's largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, announced today it will host a Health for Humanity investor webcast at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on June 18, 2020. The webcast will highlight Johnson & Johnson's 2019 Health for Humanity Report, which documents how Johnson & Johnson is enabling sustainable progress toward the Company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments. In addition to key 2019 milestones, the webcast and annual update will include a review of the Company's Health for Humanity 2020 Goals and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals commitment areas, as well as relevant updates related to its COVID-19 efforts. As a global healthcare leader, Johnson & Johnson remains committed to mobilizing its deep scientific expertise, extensive partnerships and scalable manufacturing capabilities to address the critical needs of families, communities, healthcare professionals and employees around the world. Investors and other interested parties can join this year's Health for Humanity Investor Webcast at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on June 18, 2020 by visiting Johnson & Johnson's website, www.investor.jnj.com. To submit a question ahead of the webcast, please send your question to [email protected]. A replay will be available at www.investor.jnj.com. About the Johnson & Johnson Health for Humanity Report Our Johnson & Johnson Health for Humanity Report provides an annual update on performance and progress in ESG areas relevant to our business. The Report details how we are delivering on our commitments in key focus areas of better health for all, responsible business practices and safeguarding the environmental health. The 2019 Health for Humanity Report will be released on June 10, 2020. As part of the Report, the Company is reporting for the first time against the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards for all three business segments. The Report will be available online at http://healthforhumanityreport.jnj.com/ with a 2019 Report Summary also available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese (traditional and simplified), and Japanese. About Johnson & Johnson At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That's why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world's largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews. SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Related Links http://www.jnj.com If Luon Sovath wears monk robes from now on, related authorities take legal actions, read the announcement, which defrocked the monk effective Wednesday. The Monk Council claimed to have investigated the video recordings, but did not provide any evidence or forensic analysis with the statement to show the voice in the recordings belonged to Luon Sovath or if he had acted in violation of religious norms. VOA Khmer attempted to reach Luon Sovath on the phone and his social media accounts on Thursday, but the activist monk did not respond to requests for comment. There are four videos circulating on Facebook, and seem to originate from one account, called Srey Da Chi-Kraeng that was created on May 30. The videos, according to the accompanying text on Facebook, are recordings with four women a mother and three daughters. The video recordings are of an unidentified person, or persons, sitting in a dimly-lit room and having Facebook audio conversation, ranging seven to 10 minutes each. The video is shot so that only the persons hand holding the smartphone can be seen. The Facebook account involved in the alleged call has a male voice and uses the image of Luon Sovath and his name in Khmer script. The conversations are flirtatious in nature and include discussions about giving each other massages. VOA Khmer could identify two Facebook accounts and one page used by Luon Sovath in the past. One of the accounts, which seems to belong to the venerable monk was created in 2017, it has the same display picture as that seen in the videotaped Facebook calls. However, VOA Khmer found another Facebook account, called Luon Sovath, using the same display picture and was created on May 29, a day before the Srey Da Chi-Kraeng account was created. The Monk Council in Siem Reap could not be reached on Thursday to provide details of their investigation into the recordings. Bor Bet, a monk and member of Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, received a call from Luon Sovath last week, with the activist monk alleging that people wanted to mistreat me. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:06:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's Foreign Ministry has voiced support for China's efforts to maintain law and order in Hong Kong, stressing that "maintenance of peace, law and order is a primary responsibility of a nation." In response to media queries over Nepal's position on the decision of China's National People's Congress on Establishing and Improving the Legal System and Enforcement Mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to Safeguard National Security, official spokesperson of Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudyal issued a statement Wednesday, stressing that Hong Kong affairs are internal affairs of China. "Nepal believes in non-interference in the internal affairs of any country and supports China's efforts to maintain law and order in Hong Kong," reads the statement. Enditem 1 of 59 Buy this photo Hundreds of demonstrators run out onto I84 to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Hundreds of demonstrators run out onto I84 to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Demonstrators hold up traffic in both directions on I84 to rotest police brutality in ffront of the police station in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the Demonstrators hold up traffic in both directions on I84 to rotest police brutality in ffront of the police station in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A demonstrator chants "Hands up, don't shoot" to protest police brutality in front of the police station in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after A demonstrator chants "Hands up, don't shoot" to protest police brutality in front of the police station in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy this photo Hundreds of people take a knee to protest police brutality in ffront of the police station in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of Hundreds of people take a knee to protest police brutality in ffront of the police station in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A Danbury Police Department Bearcat makes its way along I84 after hundreds of demonstrators block the highway to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of A Danbury Police Department Bearcat makes its way along I84 after hundreds of demonstrators block the highway to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Hundreds of demonstrators stage at Danbury City Hall to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd Hundreds of demonstrators stage at Danbury City Hall to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media People listen to youth speakers in front of the New Haven Police Department during a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives People listen to youth speakers in front of the New Haven Police Department during a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media Yale New Haven Hospital medical workers listen to protest organizer Dr. Amanda Calhoun speaks at the White Coats for Black Lives demonstration in front of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven on June 5, Yale New Haven Hospital medical workers listen to protest organizer Dr. Amanda Calhoun speaks at the White Coats for Black Lives demonstration in front of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media Members of the Citywide Youth Coalition lead a march protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized with Black Lives Matter New Haven starting on the New Haven Green and going to the New Members of the Citywide Youth Coalition lead a march protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized with Black Lives Matter New Haven starting on the New Haven Green and going to the New Haven Police Department on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media Protest organizer Dr. Amanda Calhoun speaks at the White Coats for Black Lives demonstration in front of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media Protest organizers, Dr. Amanda Calhoun (center) and Dr. Molly Markowitz (right), take a knee with other hospital personel during a moment of silence at the White Coats for Black Lives demonstration in front of Protest organizers, Dr. Amanda Calhoun (center) and Dr. Molly Markowitz (right), take a knee with other hospital personel during a moment of silence at the White Coats for Black Lives demonstration in front of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media People gather on the New Haven Green for a march protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media A man and a child watch a march protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven head down State Street toward the New Haven A man and a child watch a march protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven head down State Street toward the New Haven Police Department on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media People march down State Street in a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media People listen to youth speakers in front of the New Haven Police Department during a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives People listen to youth speakers in front of the New Haven Police Department during a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters take turns dancing to African drumming at the end of a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven in Protesters take turns dancing to African drumming at the end of a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd organized by the Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven in front of the New Haven Police Department on June 5, 2020. Arnold Gold, Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors lie face down with hands behind their backs in the middle of the Post Road during an organized Black Lives Matter police brutality protest in Fairfield, Conn. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters shout "I Can't Breathe" as they march on June 3, 2020 from Stamford, Connecticut's Scalzi Park to Columbus Park pausing for prayer then continuing on to the Stamford Police Station holding a peaceful Protesters shout "I Can't Breathe" as they march on June 3, 2020 from Stamford, Connecticut's Scalzi Park to Columbus Park pausing for prayer then continuing on to the Stamford Police Station holding a peaceful protest calling for justice in the senseless death of George Floyd. Over a thousand protesters took part in the event. Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters peacefully walk to Columbus Park in Stamford on Wednesday, asking for prayer and justice for George Floyd in the wake of his death. Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media / Hundreds of demonstrators stage at Danbury City Hall to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd Hundreds of demonstrators stage at Danbury City Hall to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes, left, takes a knee to the ground with Wilbur Cross junior Jabez Cubiz, 18, in front of the New Haven Police Department after the chief met with protesters on June 3, 2020. Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Hundreds of people take a knee to protest police brutality in ffront of the police station in Danbury. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors lie face down in the middle of the Post Road during an organized Black Lives Matter police brutality protest in Fairfield, Conn. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors chant slogans while marching down the Post Road during an organized Black Lives Matter police brutality protest in Fairfield, Conn. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media A unity march proceeds up Dixwell Avenue in Hamden on June 2, 2020 in the aftermath of the George Floyd death at the hands of Minneapolis Police. Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy this photo A crowd of near two hundred gather along route 7 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church to protest police brutality and speak during an event at the church Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Wilton, Conn. A march down A crowd of near two hundred gather along route 7 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church to protest police brutality and speak during an event at the church Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Wilton, Conn. A march down the center of route 7 took place after the vigil at OLF in Wilton. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters take a knee in the middle of Interstate 84 to protest police brutality in Danbury on Wednesday. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy this photo A crowd of near two hundred gather along route 7 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church to protest police brutality and speak during an event at the church Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Wilton, Conn. A march down A crowd of near two hundred gather along route 7 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church to protest police brutality and speak during an event at the church Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Wilton, Conn. A march down the center of route 7 took place after the vigil at OLF in Wilton. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media A group of protesters re-enact the death of George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered A group of protesters re-enact the death of George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered peacefully in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality, chanting their names and asking what the Greenwich Police Department is doing to avoid profiling, racism, and brutality within its system. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Hundreds of demonstrators run out onto I84 to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Hundreds of demonstrators run out onto I84 to protest police brutality in Danbury, Conn., on Wednesday June 3, 2020. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters shout and hold signs during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered peacefully in honor of Protesters shout and hold signs during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered peacefully in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality, chanting their names and asking what the Greenwich Police Department is doing to avoid profiling, racism, and brutality within its system. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors march up and down the Post Road chanting slogans in a Black Lives Matter protest in Westport on June 1. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Photos from the Black Lives Matter protest at the Norwalk Police Station in South Norwalk, Conn. Sunday, May 31, 2020. About 300 people marched on I-95 to the Stamford Police Station in honor of George Floyd Photos from the Black Lives Matter protest at the Norwalk Police Station in South Norwalk, Conn. Sunday, May 31, 2020. About 300 people marched on I-95 to the Stamford Police Station in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters hold signs and march during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered peacefully in honor of Protesters hold signs and march during the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered peacefully in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality, chanting their names and asking what the Greenwich Police Department is doing to avoid profiling, racism, and brutality within its system. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Greenwich Police officers take a knee with protesters at the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered Greenwich Police officers take a knee with protesters at the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protesters gathered peacefully in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality, chanting their names and asking what the Greenwich Police Department is doing to avoid profiling, racism, and brutality within its system. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors march up and down the Post Road chanting slogans in a Black Lives Matter protest in Westport, Conn. on Monday, June 1, 2020. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters march down the Post Road chanting slogans in a Black Lives Matter protest in Westport on Monday, June 1. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Bridgeport and then over to the East Side. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Photos from the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protestors gathered peacefully in honor of George Floyd and all other Photos from the Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Public Safety Complex in Greenwich, Conn. Monday, June 1, 2020. More than 50 protestors gathered peacefully in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality, chanting their names and asking what the Greenwich Police Department is doing to avoid profiling, racism, and brutality within its system. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters demonstrating against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters demonstrating against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, marched in New Haven Sunday from Broadway to the Green, past Church and blocking the I-95 and I-91 highways near the merge in New Haven in both directions, the Oak Street Connector and then on to New Haven Police Headquarters. There were no police confrontations as of 7:45 P.M. Peter Hvizdak, Hearst Connecticut Media Over 100 protesters including Rachel Christman and Megan Hart gather to protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd Saturday, at city hall in Stratford. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Protesters lied the side of Huntington Green on Sunday. The people were joining in what has become a country-wide protest of Minneapolis man George Floyd's death while in police custody last week. Contributed Photo Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Bridgeport and then over to the East Side. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Over 100 protesters including Daniella Russell gather to protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd at Stratford city hall on Saturday.. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Bridgeport and then over to the East Side. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Stamford Police Chief Tim Shaw, second from left, takes a knee with #JusticeForBrunch Black Lives Matter protest organizers outside the Stamford Police Department in Stamford on Sunday. About 500 people marched Stamford Police Chief Tim Shaw, second from left, takes a knee with #JusticeForBrunch Black Lives Matter protest organizers outside the Stamford Police Department in Stamford on Sunday. About 500 people marched from Harbor Point to the Stamford Police Station in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters demonstrating against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters demonstrating against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, marched in New Haven Sunday from Broadway to the Green, past Church and blocking the I-95 and I-91 highways near the merge in New Haven in both directions, the Oak Street Connector and then on to New Haven Police Headquarters. There were no police confrontations as of 7:45 P.M. Peter Hvizdak, Hearst Connecticut Media Over 100 protesters gather to protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd Saturday, May 30, 2020, at city hall in Stratford, Conn. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors assembled outside of Stamford police headquarters on Sunday. / Patrick Sikes / For Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis S'unday, marched in New New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis S'unday, marched in New Haven Sunday from Broadway to the Green, past Church and blocking the I-95 Highway in New Haven in both directions and then on to New Haven Police Headquarters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As of 5:30 P.M. their were no police confrontations. Peter Hvizdak, Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors make their way along East Washington Ave in Bridgeport, where over 100 people gathered at police headquarters for a march downtown. Below, protesters at Stratford city hall. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, marched in New New Haven, Connecticut - Sunday, May 31, 2020: Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, marched in New Haven Sunday and to the highway blocking the I-95 and I-91 highways in both directions near the merge in New Haven. As of 5:30 P.M. their were no police confrontations. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media A man holds up an "I can't breathe" sign during the Black Lives Matter protest at the Norwalk Police Station in South Norwalk, Conn. Sunday, May 31, 2020. About 300 people marched on I-95 to the Stamford Police A man holds up an "I can't breathe" sign during the Black Lives Matter protest at the Norwalk Police Station in South Norwalk, Conn. Sunday, May 31, 2020. About 300 people marched on I-95 to the Stamford Police Station in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Protestors at the #JusticeForBrunch Black Lives Matter protest in Stamford. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media A protestor shouts during the Black Lives Matter protest at the Norwalk Police Station in South Norwalk, Conn. Sunday, May 31, 2020. About 300 people marched on I-95 to the Stamford Police Station in honor of A protestor shouts during the Black Lives Matter protest at the Norwalk Police Station in South Norwalk, Conn. Sunday, May 31, 2020. About 300 people marched on I-95 to the Stamford Police Station in honor of George Floyd and all other victims of police brutality. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Over 100 protesters gather to protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd Saturday, May 30, 2020, at city hall in Stratford, Conn. Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Hundreds of protestors make their way on foot around Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday May 30, 2020. Over 100 people started protesting at Bridgeport Police headquarters before heading to McLevy Green in downtown Bridgeport and then over to the East Side. The protest was one of dozens all over the country after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, marched in New Haven Sunday and to the highway blocking the I-95 Approximately 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Sunday, marched in New Haven Sunday and to the highway blocking the I-95 and I-91 highways in both directions near the merge in New Haven. As of 5:30 P.M. their were no police confrontations. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media 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. Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body For eons, humankind has gazed skyward with wonderment and curiosity, pondering the possibilities of exploring the heavens. That innate desire continued on Saturday, May 30, when NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made a historic flight that has reinvigorated the realm of space travel. Strapped into their Dragon capsule and powered by a Falcon 9 rocket, the astronautsknown as Crew Dragontook off from the Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, chasing history. Hurley and Behnken broke through the earths atmosphere into orbit, hitting speeds of 17,500 miles per hour in the SpaceX operation known as Demo-2. On Sunday, May 31, they successfully docked with the International Space Station and will remain there as part of the Expedition 63 crew for an undetermined span that could range from five weeks to four months. For one of Auburns six astronauts and a pair of professors with ties to NASA, the launch was epic not only because of its historical significance as an advancement of the U.S. space program, but also because of its role as a possible precursor for a return trip to the moon, as well as a boon for the future of science education. I was really excited to see a launch from Kennedy Space Center, said former NASA astronaut and 1977 Auburn mechanical engineering alumna Jan Davis, who logged more than 28 days in space. The launch pad SpaceX used is actually the same location from where I used to launch, and SpaceX built a totally new launch pad. Its interesting to see the evolution and all the different things happening at Kennedy Space Center. Its kind of a new day, and its gratifying to see the evolution of the space program. It marked the first time humans had ever flown aboard a SpaceX vehiclewhich had successfully delivered multiple cargo payloads to spaceand the mission was the first to carry astronauts to space from an American launch site since the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011. SpaceX is the first commercially owned and operated American crew spacecraft, and once the mission is complete, the launch vehicle will be certified for operational use for regular human space transport. Crew Dragons mission is exploratory and will be used to collect data about how the spacecraft handled the launch, orbit and return to earth as a foundation for future missions. SpaceX executivesled by its founder, billionaire Elon Muskhope it signifies the dawn of a new age of space exploration and travel, and those who know the space program best are optimistic about this collaboration. The government is building the Space Launch System that will take people back to the moon, and I think we should always have that government initial development of the very difficult, expensive and risky things, said Davis, who was part of the 1987 NASA Group and worked for NASA before becoming an astronaut. Spacecraft have been developed by private companies before, with considerable oversight by NASA and the government, but not to the extent of a rocket that will carry people. International cooperation and the involvement of commercial companies is essential to expanding our space program and our capabilities of going into space. For Auburn Associate Professor of History Monique Laney, the successful launch shows great progress in the post-Space Shuttle development of the countrys space programs, especially in eliminating a growing dependence on Russia in recent years to transport astronauts to space. Its fantastic news that we were able to do that again after nine years, said Laney, who teaches courses on space exploration. Its terrific that were no longer having to rely on another country for access to space. On one hand, international collaboration is very important for space exploration and will be moving forward, but at the same time, being so reliant on a country you might have tensions with is probably not that great. Laney has received two fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and two sponsored by NASA and won the 2015 Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award from the American Astronautical Society, as well as the 2016 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She said Saturdays launch was the culmination of decades of private sector involvement in the countrys space program. This is not new that we have private industry involved in space exploration, said Laney, who also has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant for her research. It goes back to the 60s, actually. Under President Reagan, it really ramped up more, and each successive president all put more things in place in order to make this happen. Laney said the SpaceX mission is an important historical highlight for the private sector, which has helped propel and carry cargo payloads to space for decades. The launch is part of a plan for a future expansion of space exploration, with Boeing planning on its own launch next year and joining SpaceX with its own plans of producing a rocket capable of returning American astronauts to the moon and eventually, Mars. It makes it much more likely that we will go back to the moon, but I dont know what it says further than that, said Laney, who earned a doctorate in American Studies from the University of Kansas in 2009. It shows that we can, if we do it right, rely on private industry. If we can create these public-private relationships, thats probably the best way forward. You get the best of both sides. The world will keep a watchful eye on the SpaceX crews return trip to earth later this summer. Davisa veteran of space flights STS-47, STS-60 and STS-85 in 1992, 1994 and 1997, respectivelysaid she is confident Hurley and Behnken will be successful in that endeavor as well. I feel confident theyve done the testing and test flights they need to do to complete the mission safely, said Davis, a member of both the Alabama Aviation and Alabama Engineering Halls of Fame. SpaceX has flown the Dragon quite a bit for cargo, so those systems have been tested. The challenge will beas it usually is for a capsule like thatmaking sure the ablation system works and there are no gaps that allow heat to break through, and since theyre landing in water, you want to make sure theyre not out there in the water too terribly long. Space is difficult, and you just never know. You have to be vigilant and make sure all the systems work throughout the mission. Octavia Tripp, an associate professor of curriculum and teaching in Auburns College of Education, spent seven years traveling the country to teach space exploration as an aerospace education specialist for NASA's Aerospace Education Services Program in the 1990s. A grade-school science teacher in Georgia in the 1980s, Tripp expects Saturdays launch to spark a renewed interest in science, technology and math, or STEM, for children across the nation. I think SpaceX is going to ignite curiosity in children and make them want to do STEM-related activities, said Tripp, whose main focus is on elementary education. Kids are excited about space, and I think this is going to be exciting for them and will push them in the realm of STEM. Were going to find them asking questions and wanting to know more. Tripp said the historic mission likely could inspire children to become future astronauts. I think its going to provide us our next generation of explorers, said Tripp, who served as program coordinator for NASAs Urban and Rural Community Enrichment Program for grades K-8 from 1999-2002. With them being able to see a rocket take off and know there are people in the capsule above it, theyre going to have questions because children are naturally curious. Children have a natural curiosity, and you have to be prepared to help them cultivate that. For many, exploring space satisfies a visceral need to reach beyond the horizon and fulfill an unending quest for knowledge and understanding. Its natural for us to want to explore into the unknown, Davis said. Im an explorer, and for me, going into space was the ultimate challenge physically and mentally, a way to use science and do things for our country by combining all of the things that I loved. Whether its in space, under water or exploring the earth, I think we learn a lot about ourselves and what else is out there by doing that. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 Indonesia is set to receive payment from Norway for successes in reducing deforestation and carbon emissions. The Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry announced late last month the country was set to receive a US$56 million grant from Norway as the first payment under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) cooperation scheme. The grant is to be handed over in June, coinciding with the commemoration of a decade of climate funding cooperation, in which Indonesia expects to receive a total of $1 billion for protecting its tropical forests. 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 On June 4, 1942, just six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway began during World War II. The battle lasted through June 7. In the end seven ships sunk and 3,364 men died. According to history.com, "Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan's planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position." Military historian John Keegan called the Battle of Midway "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." The Patriot reported on June 5, 1942, Japanese planes attacked tiny Midway Island and its tough Marine Corps garrison again today, while far to the north Dutch Harbor, which was raised by enemy bombers yesterday, reported that all was quiet. The Navy made public only a bare announcement that the enemy planes struck at the stubbornly held mid-Pacific atoll of Midway at 9 a.m. local time (2:30 p.m. E., W., T.). Details of fighting were lacking. On Saturday, June 6, the paper reported, A great air and naval battle, possibly with the possession of Midway Island at stake, presumably was in progress today off the low-lying outpost northwest of Hawaii, following an attempt in force by the Japanese yesterday to raid the strongly-fortified base. The enemy ran into a hot reception, said a communique by Admiral Chester N. Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, and suffered direct hits on at least one battleship, an airplane carrier and possibly other warships. In addition, the defense forces took a heavy toll of attacking warplanes. Midways defenders continued the attacks on the enemy, Admiral Nimitz said, leading to comment by naval experts in Washington that the ensuing engagement may have been one of the greatest battles of the war in the Pacific so far. FILE - In this June 1942 file photo, the USS Yorktown lists heavily to port after being struck by Japanese bombers and torpedo planes in the Battle of Midway during World War II as a destroyer stands by at right to assist as a salvage crew on the flight deck tries to right the stricken aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS On June 8, The Patriot reported that the Japanese struggled desperately to escape total destruction by victorious United States forces reported inflicting growing losses on the enemy in the fourth day of a running battle. At least thirteen to fifteen of the Japanese vessels, including aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and transports, already had been sunk or damaged in the colossal engagement west of Midway Island. But indications were that the enemys losses were climbing to even greater proportions as American warships and planes relentlessly pressed mopping up action. The pursuing United States forces, whose losses were insignificant compared to those of the foe, were believed fully exploiting their advantage to deal smashing new blows at the surviving units of the retreating Japanese formations. The triumphant American naval and air units, having already decided the issue by crushing a Japanese drive for Midway, were believed to be still blasting doggedly On June 11, The Patriot reported that the battle was over. The battle of Midway moved so rapidly that the final returns still are not scored. It ended, for the time being at least, Saturday night when pursuing American forces lost the Japanese fleet remnants in the darkness. Until the final accounting the score, as reported by Admiral Nimitz, stands at two and perhaps three Japanese aircraft carriers sunk, with all of their planes; one destroyer sunk and three battleships and eight to eleven other ships damaged, three of them transports and the other warships. Nimitz reported the loss of one American destroyer, damage to one United States aircraft carrier and the loss of an undisclosed number of planes. (The Japanese have admitted the loss of one aircraft carrier, damage to another carrier and a cruiser, and 35 planes missing. In turn, they asserted they had sunk two 19,000-ton American aircraft carriers, one transport and shot down 135 United States planes.) 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. "Dates for the visit of Prime Minister of Australia to India this year had been finalised, but the visit could not take place. It was also agreed to hold a 'Virtual Summit'. This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a "Bilateral Virtual Summit", this signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement."The focus would be on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations during discussions between the two Prime Ministers, who have already met on four occasions on the sidelines of multilateral meetings," sources said."The virtual summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship in the context of their growing ties. It will also be an opportunity to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of MoUs and announcements are being discussed by the officials," they added.Modi and Morrison have met four times during the last one and a half years -- on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore in November 2018, on the sidelines of G20 in Osaka in June 2019, on the margins of G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019 and on the margins of East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019."India and Australia have very warm and friendly relations. The two nations have much in common, underpinned by shared values of pluralistic, Westminster-style democracies, Commonwealth traditions, the long-standing people-to-people ties and sporting links. Our economies have many complementarities with the potential to enhance bilateral trade and investment," sources said.The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was strengthened in 2014 - with the visit of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India in September 2014, and the visit of PM Modi to Australia in November 2014.Framework for Security Cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of PM Modi to Australia laid the foundation for intensified foreign, defence and security policy exchanges between the two countries. Since then, regular meetings of the institutional dialogues have been taking place, MEA said.High-level interactions have also continued. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, visited India in April 2017; the Governor-General of Australia visited India in March 2018 to attend the founding Summit of the International Solar Alliance and Rashtrapatiji made a historic visit to Australia in November 2018, MEA said.Due to a better understanding of India's strength and future role, Australia, in its White Paper on Foreign Policy-2017, recognised India as the "pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries" and a "front-rank partner of Australia".During the last five years, bilateral relations between both countries have strengthened and expanded tremendously. Framework for security cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of Modi to Australia laid an action plan on foreign, defence and security policy exchanges and coordination, sources noted."Several new initiatives and bilateral/trilateral mechanisms such as Foreign Secretaries and Defence Secretaries 2+2 Dialogue, India-Australia-Indonesia Trilateral Dialogue, India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue have been established since then. These new platforms have provided greater momentum to strengthen our strategic cooperation," they added.Moreover, economic engagement has been growing. In 2018-19, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion. Australia's cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas India's total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion, MEA added.Australia has been supportive of India's position on cross-border terrorism and on asking Pakistan to take meaningful action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. Australia also co-sponsored UNSC resolution to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist, sources said."Australia values India's diversity and inclusiveness and has held the view that recent developments with regard to Jammu and Kashmir are India's internal matters," they added.There is a 700,000 strong Indian diaspora in Australia. There are about 1,06,000 students studying in Australia. Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 1,560 Indian nationals and five OCI cardholders were evacuated from Australia in seven flights in the second phase of the initiative in May this year.The Virtual Summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship, in the context of growing ties between India and Australia, and to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, MEA said. (ANI) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, June 5 2020 Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has expressed disapproval over a decision by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to hand over a case of alleged bribery involving a Jakarta State University (UNJ) staff member to the police. The ICW, which has long been monitoring the education sector for corruption, said the KPK should investigate the possibility of either bribery and extortion or illegal levies in the UNJ case. The antigraft group said it believed the KPK could have investigated the case further. 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 Over the last several weeks, healthcare workers have been drawing attention to an unusual symptom of the novel coronavirus: the loss of taste and smell. Now, many recovered patients say that, months later, neither of those senses have returned, or they're very muted. They tell The Wall Street Journal they can't smell perfume and that some of their favorite foods, such as pizza, now taste like 'cardboard.' Doctors say that some survivors will eventually regain taste and smell but, for others, that day may never come. Months after recovering from coronavirus, several patients say neither sense has returned or, if returned, it's muted. Matt Newey, 23 (left and right), from Centerville, Utah, said he couldn't smell his grandmother's perfume or the smoke from his sister burning pancakes Dan Lerg, 62, from Michigan, said he's lost joy in eating and that, to him, pizza tastes like cardboard. Pictured: Dan (left) with his wife, Debbie Matt Newey, 23, from Centerville, Utah, fell ill with a mild form of coronavirus in March, but soon recovered. And although his cough went away, his inability to taste and smell lingered. He told The Journal that while cleaning out his late grandmother's home in late April, he went to smell a bottle of her perfume - but none of the notes reached his nose. 'I loved her so much. I wanted to remember what she smelled like one last time,' Newey told the newspaper. 'It felt like I was losing that memory. It hurt.' The illness has also changed Newey's relationship with food, because he can only feel textures but not taste. 'I've gone a day-and-a-half without eating anything because my stomach isn't communicating anymore,' he said. The Journal reports that, on some occassions, it can take Newey up to two hours to finish breakfast or lunch. Last month, Newey said he couldn't smell the odor of his sister burning pancakes - a realization that he wouldn't be able to smell smoke if his home were on fire. But he's not the only one. Dan Lerg, 62, from Michigan, also told The Journal he hasn't enjoyed eating since recovering from coronavirus in March and losing his sense of taste. 'The other day [my wife and I] ordered the most awesome pizza ever and she goes: "Isn't this awesome?"' she said. 'And I say,: "I don't know. It tastes like cardboard to me."' In March, the American Academy of Otolaryngology called for the CDC to add anosmia - the inability to smell - to its list of potential signs of coronavirus. At the time, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a possible link between the two, but evidence was preliminary. 'A loss of smell or a loss of taste is something that we're looking into,' Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19 - the disease caused by the virus - told reporters during media call on March 23. 'We are reaching out to a number of countries and looking at the cases that have already been reported to see if this is a common feature. We don't have the answer to that yet.' What's more, a study jointly conducted by Italy and the UK and published last month, found that 64 percent of coronavirus patients reported an 'altered sense of smell or taste.' Dr James Denneny, executive vice president and CEO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology says that, when businesses begin to reopen, anyone with this symptom should be tested or go into self-quarantine. 'In a significant percentage of people, it's a symptom that can be used when others aren't there,' he told WGME. 'If you have a sudden change in taste or smell, it is shown...that this may be the initial marker, so you would not want to be spreading it.' In the US, there are more than 1.8 million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 107,000 deaths. Ukraine to stop levying war tax on income on government bonds 14:20, 04.06.20 2342 The relevant amendments were introduced in the Tax Code. Petrochemical plants outside of Houston may easily flood during a bad storm and will become extremely vulnerable to flooding over the next decade, an analysis by Jupiter Intelligence, a California firm that calculates risks of climate change for companies. Three facilities in Pasadena, Texas Dixie Chemicals Bayport Plant, Carpenter Chemicals Roger Powell Plant and Athlon Bayport Plant were analyzed with Jupiters model to determine the extent of flooding from 100- year and 500-year storms. About 40 percent of the plants would be inundated with water during a 100-year flood, according to the model, which incorporates data by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers that risk increases to 80 percent by 2030. A 500-year storm, such as Hurricane Harvey, would completely swamp the plants. In a statement, Halliburton, which owns the Athlon Bayport plant, said that the company is fully prepared for storms and floods. We have extensive hurricane plans that our Health, Safety, and Environmental team refreshes yearsly as we gain knowledge of flooding and potential flooding along the Gulf Coast, said Erin Fuchs, a spokesperson for Halliburton. We have not experienced any issues with recent flooding events, including Hurricane Harvey, at the Athlon Bayport Plant. The other two companies included in the analysis did not respond to requests for comment. Jupiter Intelligence CEO Rich Sorkin said its not just these plants at risk. The three included in the analysis, he said, are representative the climate risk profiles of most of the plants located along the Gulf. As for plants that have lower levels of risk, Sorkin said thats mostly a matter of chance. Luck is a big factor, Sorkin said. For a lot of these facilities, the land has been in use for 30, 50 or even 100 years. (Flooding risks) were not considerations at the time. The lack of preparedness to deal with increasing flooding risks is a problem all along the Houston Ship Channel where chemical companies operate, Sorkin said. Meanwhile, the severity of flooding is expected to only get worse of the next decade as climate change spurs more powerful storms and rising sea levels; the probability of plants experiencing a 500-year flood increases four to five times by 2030, according to Jupiters model. On HoustonChronicle.com: Climate change puts Houstons electricity network at risk In the report, Jupiter notes that the very functionality of the properties could be threatened in the coming decades if designs are not upgraded to prepare for climate change and could result in millions of dollars in equipment damages. Flooded facilities also pose a risk to the public if damage causes the plants to release chemicals into the environment, through emissions or spills. During Hurricane Harvey, more than 100 toxic releases of chemicals occurred, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of government data. An activist climate shareholder group, As You Sow, recently filed proposals with major energy companies requesting reports on the public health and financial risks of building chemical plants along the Gulf Coast as climate risks increase. Phillips 66 shareholders supported the proposal, while shareholders at Exxon and Chevron rejected it. erin.douglas@chron.com Twitter.com/erinmdouglas23 The African Development Bank, AfDB, Wednesday approved a 180 million loan to finance Tunisias efforts to fight covid-19 and address economic and social impacts of the respiratory disease. The Abidjan-based bank in a statement said the credit aims at enabling Tunisia to bolster its response to the disease and alleviate the socio-economic impacts on vulnerable populations, women and youth in particular. Tunisia posted early this week 1,070 infections including 48 deaths caused by the disease. Authorities to curb the spread of the pandemic in March closed its borders and imposed a lockdown that stopped the activity of nearly all businesses. The measure which has begun to be loosen has dealt a blow to the economy with the central bank predicting a 4.3 per cent drop in the economic growth. The Tunisian government said it needs $157 million in addition to external sources to roll out anti-covid-19 national policy. Prior to the AfDB, the World Bank, early last month announced $35 million destined to support the health ministry in its fight against the novel covid-19 and finance the purchase of medical equipment. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, last month loaned Tunisia 18.3 million earmarked for the fight against the COVID-19 health crisis. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has approved a $745m loan. The European Union also granted 250 million while Italy pledged 50 million and France donated 80 million. Prince Charles has spoken movingly about missing his grandchildren during lockdown as he said he is 'terribly sad' he hasn't been able to see his family in person in months. The Prince of Wales, 71, opened up about the difficulties of lockdown from his Aberdeenshire home of Birkhall in a new interview with Sky News for their series After The Pandemic: Our New World, which aired tonight. The heir to the throne revealed how much he wants to give family members a hug, and mentioned missing Prince Philip, 98, as well as his grandchildren, Prince William's children Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, five, Prince Louis, two and Prince Harry's son Archie, one. Asked how he had found it being 'disconnected' from his family, he explained: 'Well it's terribly sad, let alone one's friends. Prince Charles, 71, has opened up about missing his family during lockdown and admitted FaceTiming 'isn't the same' because 'you really want to give people a hug' 'But fortunately at least you can speak to them on telephones and occasionally do this sort of thing. But it isn't the same, is it? You really want to give people a hug.' 'I do totally understand so many people's frustrations, difficulties, grief and anguish.' He and the Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 99 next week, have been 500 miles apart during the crisis, with the prince at Birkhall in Scotland and his father with the Queen at Windsor Castle. Prince William and his children are currently living in Norfolk, while Prince Harry and his son Archie, one, have spent lockdown in Los Angeles. Prince Charles admitted he was missing his grandchildren during the coronavirus lockdown. Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, are currently isolating at Anmer Hall in Norfolk In an unusually personal interview to launch his post-pandemic green initiative, the prince discussed how difficult the lockdown has been for all families. 'I haven't seen my father for a long time,' he said. 'He's going to be 99 next week, so yes... or my grandchildren or anything. 'I've been doing the Facetime, which is all very well but...' He said he hopes families can be reunited soon. 'I do hope so,' he added. 'I'm just trying to do my best to find and help and encourage ways to enable people to go on doing that, but in a way that doesn't wreck everything at the same time around us.' Meanwhile Prince Harry, 35, Meghan Markle, 38, and their son Archie, one, have been isolating in Los Angeles during the pandemic He said the last two months had been 'an unbelievably testing and challenging time', adding: 'I know that so many people have had the agony of losing their loved ones and the bewilderment and anxiety that surrounds everything. 'We've seen at the same time people being quite remarkable and wonderful people in the National Health Service and all the other key workers who kept everything going.' The royal also touched on his own experience with COVID-19 during the crisis, telling royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills: 'I was lucky in my case and got away with it quite lightly. But I've had it, and I can so understand what other people have gone through.' Prince Charles added: 'I feel particularly for those who have lost their loved ones and have been unable to be with them at the time. That to me is the most ghastly thing.' Prince Charles also revealed he hasn't seen his father Prince Philip in 'a long time' during the interview He added: 'But in order to prevent this happening to so many more people, I'm so determined to find a way out of this.' Prince Charles was diagnosed as having Covid-19 following a test on the NHS in Aberdeenshire in March of this year. Fortunately, he only suffered what were described as 'mild' symptoms and carried on working throughout. Royal sources said the prince was in 'good health' throughout his illness and his self-isolation lasted seven days 'in accordance with government and medical guidelines'. Prince Charles said it was 'terribly sad' to only be able to see family members over FaceTime (pictured, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at Anmer Hall in March) Despite the mild nature of his brush with the virus, Prince Charles revealed that it has helped him empathise with others throughout the pandemic. Prince Charles went on to explain that the crisis could offer a moment of opportunity for the environment. He explained: 'People have begun to realise that we have to put nature back at the centre of everything we do and put it at the centre of our economy. 'Before this nature has just been pushed to the peripheries, we've exploited and dug up and cut down everything as if there was no tomorrow, as if it doesn't matter.' The royal also opened up about his brush with the disease in an interview with Rhiannon Mills, which aired tonight on Sky Prince Charles, who has spent lockdown at his Aberdeenshire home of Birkhall with Camilla, 72, said he felt 'ghastly' for those who couldn't be with loved-ones as they died from the disease The Prince of Wales went on to say that without learning from this pandemic, there may be more to come from in the future, commenting: 'The more we erode the natural world, the more we destroy biodiversity, the more we expose ourselves to this kind of danger. 'We've had these other disasters with SARS and EBOLA and goodness knows what else, all of these things are related to the loss of biodiversity. 'So, we have to find a way this time to put nature back at the centre. It comes as the Prince of Wales launched the Great Reset Project as he urged businesses to seize the 'golden opportunity' of the coronavirus pandemic to rebuild in a sustainable and green way 'We should have been treating the planet as if it was a patient long ago. No self-respecting doctor would ever have let the situation, if the planet is a patient, reach this stage before making an intervention. 'It's only catastrophes which concentrate the mind, which means, that for once, there might be some real impetus to tackle all these things that have been pushed to one side because everyone said, 'oh it's irrelevant'. But these are crucial things.' Speaking about his experience with the disease, he said it had reinforced his belief in the causes he champions, saying: 'It makes me even more determined to push and shout and prod.' The royal has encouraged industries to relaunch in a sustainable way and 'reset' in a voiceover for a short film which accompanied the launch of the project It comes as the Prince of Wales urged businesses to seize the 'golden opportunity' of the coronavirus pandemic to rebuild in a sustainable and green way as he launched The Great Reset Project. Prince Charles unveiled the initiative yesterday, which is designed to ensure businesses 'build back better' as they begin to recover from the crisis. The prince, who has been championing environmental causes for decades, stressed the need not to miss the chance for a green recovery and a more sustainable future, urging people to 'think big and act now'. The Senate committee on public accounts, on Wednesday, queried the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over an alleged missing $3.3 billion (approx. N1.2 trillion). The amount was said to be unaccounted for from the $21.3 billion remitted to the apex bank by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as foreign tax in 2015. The query was sent by the office of the auditor-general of the federation to the Senate committee. The auditor-general wrote in the query that while the FIRS recorded $21.3 billion as the amount collected as foreign tax in 2015 from the CBN, the apex bank on the other hand recorded it as $18 billion. But the representative of the bank, its deputy governor (Corporate Affairs), Edward Adamu, explained that the differences in the figures were due to the changes in exchange rate. The $3.3 billion is neither missing nor unremitted, but the difference is due to variations of exchange rate during time, he explained. But the committee disputed this. The chairman of the committee, Mathew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo), mandated the bank to reappear before the panel next Monday with documents detailing the said variations in exchange rate. After the session, Mr Urhoghide explained to reporters that: While the record of FIRS showed $21.3 billion, the records of the apex bank showed $18 billion. He added that: When CBN was asked about why the differences in the amount, the apex bank hinged its argument on exchange rate, upon which officials of the bank are directed to come up with supporting documents if they have. There were 13 queries raised concerning CBN. Today, they have explained some while some are yet to be sufficiently explained, particularly the $3.3 billion difference it has from the $21.3 billion foreign taxes remitted by FIRS. Meanwhile, officials of the Nigerian Army, the Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been summoned by the committee to appear before it next Tuesday over alleged unaudited accounts for several years. Scientists have made a breakthrough in the fight against superbugs after developing a antibiotic that can kill bacteria before it develops resistance. Researchers at Princeton University in the US tested a compound, called SCH-79797, against 25 of the most dangerous antibiotic resistant bugs. It included a 'super strain' of gonorrhoea that is considered one of the top five urgent threats to public health because it shrugs off every known antibiotic. The compound successfully killed all the superbugs by piercing the outer armour of the bacteria to break the DNA of the bacteria to stop it in its tracks. Scientists say the 'exciting work' may revolutionise the hunt for a new antibiotic, and say the new compound works like a 'poison arrow'. There have been no new classes of antibiotics to treat gram-negative bacteria - the toughest kind - in 30 years, because the medicine has to be strong enough to kill the bacteria without being toxic to humans. Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally. But the process has been accelerated by doctors unnecessarily doling it out for decades. Once harmless bacteria have now become superbugs which kill an estimated 700,000 people every year worldwide. Scientists have made a breakthrough in the fight against superbugs after developing a antibiotic that can kill bacteria before it develops resistance. The compound, called SCH-79797, successfully killed all the superbugs by piercing the outer armour of the bacteria to break the DNA of the bacteria to stop it in its tracks Bacterial infections are caused by two types of bacteria - Gram-positive, which includes resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus faecali, and Gram-negative, which includes Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Acinetobacter baumannii. The key difference is that Gram-negative bacteria are armoured with an outer layer that shrugs off most antibiotics - which is a huge concern. Only six new classes of antibiotics have been approved in the past 20 years, none of which are active against Gram-negative bacteria. A team of Princeton researchers reported in the journal Cell that they have found a compound that could offer a solution. 'This is the first antibiotic that can target Gram-positives and Gram-negatives without resistance,' said Zemer Gitai, professor of biology and senior author on the paper. 'From a "Why it's useful" perspective, that's the crux.' WHAT IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE? Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned if nothing is done the world is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era. It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate solutions to the growing crisis. Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are given out unnecessarily. Former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism. Figures estimate that superbugs will kill 10 million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs. Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria across the world. Concerns have repeatedly been raised that medicine will be taken back to the 'dark ages' if antibiotics are rendered ineffective in the coming years. In addition to existing drugs becoming less effective, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years. In September, the WHO warned antibiotics are 'running out' as a report found a 'serious lack' of new drugs in the development pipeline. Without antibiotics, C-sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements will become incredibly 'risky', it was said at the time. Advertisement KC Huang, a professor of bioengineering and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, who was not involved in this research, said it could revolutionise antibiotic development. He said: 'The thing that can't be overstated is that antibiotic research has stalled over a period of many decades. 'It's rare to find a scientific field which is so well studied and yet so in need of a jolt of new energy. 'This compound is already so useful by itself, but also, people can start designing new compounds that are inspired by this. That's what has made this work so exciting. 'From a societal point of view, it's fantastic to have new hope for the future.' Dr James Martin led the latest research into SCH-79797, called SCH for short, having spent most of his career working on the compound. For 25 days Dr Martin exposed drug resistant bacteria to the compound in the laboratory over and over again, to prove it was in fact killing it. The team tried it against bacterial species including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is on the top five list of urgent threats published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Gonnorrhoea is an STI - the third most common in Britain - typically treated with ceftriaxone and azithromycin. A report from Public Health England in January 2019 revealed resistance to these three drugs continues to grow, limiting the options available to treat the disease. The researchers got a sample of the most resistant strain of N. gonorrhoeae from the vaults of the World Health Organization - a strain that is resistant to every known antibiotic. 'Our guy still killed this strain,' Professor Gitai said. 'We're pretty excited about that. 'But what we're most excited about as scientists is something we've discovered about how this antibiotic works.' Typical antibiotics research involves finding a molecule that can kill bacteria and breeding multiple generations. The bacteria evolves resistance to it, and scientists use this to re-engineer the molecule to fine-tune it. This wasn't needed for SCH because it already worked in the first place. Professor Gitai explained that they re-named the compound 'Irresistin', after the word irresistible. The scientists have spent years trying to work out exactly how the compound works, having seen its potent effects in the lab. It works with two different mechanisms. It simultaneously punctures the outer layer of the bacteria and then kills the DNA inside. SCH shreds folate, a fundamental building block of RNA and DNA that is vital to both bacteria and mammals. SCH worked against a 'super strain' of gonorrhoea called Neisseria gonorrhoeae (pictured) 'There's a whole class of targets that people have largely neglected because they thought, "Oh, I can't target that, because then I would just kill the human as well"', Professor Gitai said. WHAT IS SUPER GONORRHOEA? When gonorrhoea is resistant to one of two antibiotics recommended to treat it, it is known as super gonorrhoea. All types of gonorrhoea historically called the clap - are caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It is quick to develop and strains mutate every few years to become resistant to drugs. Doctors have frequently changed their recommended treatments to keep up with the changing nature of the bug. It stopped responding to penicillin in the 1980s. Symptoms of gonorrhoea include discharge, bleeding or pain when urinating. But around one in two women and one in 10 men will not experience any signs, which is why the infection is so easily spread. Women who do not get treatment can develop pelvic inflammatory disease an infection of the womb and ovaries which can cause infertility. In pregnancy, it can cause miscarriage, premature birth or lead to babies developing problems with their vision. Patients with super gonorrhoea can be given some other treatments which might work but can have unpleasant side effects. Health experts warn it is only a matter of time before the bug mutates to resist these remaining antibiotics too. They recommend using condoms and regular testing to prevent spread of the disease. Advertisement The researchers did find their original SCH compounds killed human cells and bacterial cells at roughly similar levels. It wouldn't be able to be used in a medicine because it runs the risk of killing the patient before it killed the infection. However, a derivative called Irresistin-16 fixed that. It is nearly 1,000 times more potent against bacteria than human cells, making it a promising antibiotic. As a final confirmation, the researchers demonstrated that they could use Irresistin-16 to cure mice infected with N. gonorrhoeae. Professor Gitai said: 'Gonorrhoea poses a huge problem with respect to multidrug resistance. We've run out of drugs for gonorrhoea. 'The standard strains that are circulating on college campuses are super drug resistant. What used to be the last line of defence, the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency drug for Neisseria, is now the front-line standard of care, and there really is no break-glass backup anymore. That's why this one is a particularly important and exciting one that we could cure.' The researchers hope their findings will lead to new antibiotics that can fight against a global health crisis, in which no new medicines have been discovered in decades and antibiotic resistant drugs have risen in prevalence. The World Health Organization describe antibiotic resistance as one of the biggest threats to global health. Specialists estimate around 70 per cent of bacteria that can cause infection are already resistant to at least one antibiotic that is commonly used to treat them. Bacteria are more likely they to become ineffective for treating more serious conditions if antibiotics are used incorrectly or too much. The overuse of antibiotics in recent years means they're becoming less effective and has led to the emergence of 'superbugs'. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates 30,000 people in Europe die from superbugs every year. Figures estimate that, by 2050, 10million people globally will die per year because of infections which have evolved to be untreatable. Exfiltrating Data to Removable Drives A Chinese threat actor has developed new capabilities to target air-gapped systems in an attempt to exfiltrate sensitive data for espionage, according to a newly published research by Kaspersky yesterday.The APT, known as Cycldek, Goblin Panda, or Conimes, employs an extensive toolset for lateral movement and information stealing in victim networks, including previously unreported custom tools, tactics, and procedures in attacks against government agencies in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos."One of the newly revealed tools is namedand has been found to rely on USB media in order to exfiltrate victim data," Kaspersky said. "This may suggest Cycldek is trying to reach air-gapped networks in victim environments or relies on physical presence for the same purpose."First observed by CrowdStrike in 2013, Cycldek has a long history of singling out defense, energy, and government sectors in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, using decoy documents that exploit known vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2012-0158, CVE-2017-11882, CVE-2018-0802) in Microsoft Office to drop a malware called NewCore RAT.Kaspersky's analysis of NewCore revealed two different variants (named BlueCore and RedCore) centered around two clusters of activity, with similarities in both code and infrastructure, but also contain features that are exclusive to RedCore namely a keylogger and an RDP logger that captures details about users connected to a system via RDP."Each cluster of activity had a different geographical focus," the researchers said. "The operators behind the BlueCore cluster invested most of their efforts on Vietnamese targets with several outliers in Laos and Thailand, while the operators of the RedCore cluster started out with a focus on Vietnam and diverted to Laos by the end of 2018."Both BlueCore and RedCore implants, in turn, downloaded a variety of additional tools to facilitate lateral movement (HDoor) and extract information (JsonCookies and ChromePass) from compromised systems.Chief among them is a malware called USBCulprit that's capable of scanning a number of paths, collecting documents with specific extensions (*.pdf;*.doc;*.wps;*docx;*ppt;*.xls;*.xlsx;*.pptx;*.rtf), and exporting them to a connected USB drive.What's more, the malware is programmed to copy itself selectively to certain removable drives so it can move laterally to other air-gapped systems each time an infected USB drive is inserted into another machine.A telemetry analysis by Kaspersky found that the first instance of the binary dates all the way back to 2014, with the latest samples recorded at the end of last year.The initial infection mechanism relies on leveraging malicious binaries that mimic legitimate antivirus components to load USBCulprit in what's called DLL search order hijacking before it proceeds to collect the relevant information, save it in the form of an encrypted RAR archive, and exfiltrate the data to a connected removable device."The characteristics of the malware can give rise to several assumptions about its purpose and use cases, one of which is to reach and obtain data from air-gapped machines," the researchers said. "This would explain the lack of any network communication in the malware and the use of only removable media as a means of transferring inbound and outbound data."Ultimately, the similarities and differences between the two pieces of malware are indicative of the fact that the actors behind the clusters are sharing code and infrastructure, while operating as two different offshoots under a single larger entity."Cycldek is an example of an actor that has broader capability than publicly perceived," Kaspersky concluded. "While most known descriptions of its activity give the impression of a marginal group with sub-par capabilities, the range of tools and timespan of operations show that the group has an extensive foothold inside the networks of high-profile targets in Southeast Asia." Sorry! This content is not available in your region On completion, it will serve as an alternate runway facility for fighter jets in case of any emergency. SRINAGAR: Amid growing tensions along the borders with Pakistan and the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops on the Ladakh frontier, Indian Air Force (IAF) has begun building an emergency airstrip parallel to a stretch of Srinagar-Jammu highway in southern Anantnag district. The sources said that it would be a 3-kilometer long runway adjacent to the National Highway (NH-44) in Anantnags Bijbehara area which is being laid on war footing. On completion, it will serve as an alternate runway facility for fighter jets in case of any emergency, the sources said. The sources said that since virtual lockdown continues to be in force in the Valley since March 19 to stem the spread of COVID-19, the concerned authorities have following a request from the IAF issued special passes to construction workers and trucks for carrying the required material to the site of the proposed airstrip. No IAF official was available for comment. George Floyd, the African-American, who died in police custody last month, had tested positive for the coronavirus in April, according to the medical examiners report. A report in The New York Times (NYT) cited the full autopsy released by the Hennepin County medical examiner and said that the 46-year-old had tested positive for the coronavirus on April 3. The countys top medical examiner Andrew Baker said that the Minnesota Department of Health had swabbed Floyds nose after his death and he had tested positive for the virus, the NYT report said. The positive result at the time of his death was likely a lasting positive result from his previous infection, it said. The report added that there is no indication that the virus played any role in his death. Protests across New York and the US intensified as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets demanding an end to police brutality after Floyd was killed when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes while he lay handcuffed and pinned to the ground gasping for breath on May 25. Please, I cant breathe, were Floyds last words and have become a clarion call for the protesters demanding action against police brutality. Former New York City medical examiner Michael Baden, who was among two doctors who conducted a private autopsy for Floyds family last week, said county officials did not tell him that Floyd had tested positive for Covid-19. The funeral director wasnt told, and we werent told, and now a lot of people are running around trying to get tested, Baden said. If you do the autopsy and its positive for the coronavirus, its usual to tell everyone who is going to be in touch with the body. There would have been more care, he said. Baden has said that the four police officers who arrested Floyd should also get tested for Covid-19 as should some of the witnesses. Im not angry, he said in the NYT report. But there would have been more care. Baden added in the NYT report that the full autopsy includes information he did not have access to, such as the toxicology results showing. Floyd had fentanyl in his system. Baden said that when he conducted the autopsy report, a part of the heart was not provided the part that showed coronary artery disease. Forensics expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Lawrence Kobilinsky said he was struck by the difference between the countys official autopsy and the results of Badens private autopsy. Kobilinsky said defense lawyers could make a point of the amount of fentanyl in Floyds body. The NYT report said while the amount required to be lethal varies from person to person, fentanyl can stop a persons heart and breathing. It seems to me, its high enough where a defense attorney would argue that this kind of predisposes him to heart failure, when you are on a drug like this, Kobilinsky said. Baden has acknowledged that the amount of fentanyl in Floyds body was considerable, which would be particularly important if he had never used the drug before. He has enough that could be a cause of death if he had never had immunity or tolerance to the drug, Baden said in the NYT report adding that restraint is what caused the death. According to the Johns Hopkins University data, there are more than 1.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the US with over 107,000 deaths. LexisNexis Risk Solutions received the Judge's Choice Award from top payments industry news source ATLANTA, June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LexisNexis Risk Solutions is honored to announce that it received the Judge's Choice award for the Best Anti-Fraud Solution (Established) category as part of the Card Not Present 2020 CNP Awards program. Card Not Present is an independent outlet dedicated to providing original news and information for and about companies operating in the card-not-present space. A panel of five card-not-present and payments industry expert judges presented awards in 13 categories and ultimately recognized LexisNexis Risk Solutions for its industry-leading anti-fraud capabilities within its LexisNexis ThreatMetrix solution. To win this award a company must be the provider of a solution with more than three years in the market that "best identifies and prevents fraudulent activity through fraud case management, rules engines or big data analysis while enabling merchants to accept as many transactions as possible." LexisNexis ThreatMetrix is an enterprise solution for global digital identity intelligence and authentication powered by insights from billions of transactions, embedded machine learning and an orchestration and decision platform. LexisNexis Risk Solutions recently added an additional layer of defense to LexisNexis ThreatMetrix with LexisNexis Behavioral Biometrics. Behavioral Biometrics integrates the way a user interacts with their device with information relating to the trustworthiness, integrity and authenticity of that device in order to improve the detection of high-risk scenarios. "Our digital fraud solutions were designed to help customers manage fraud risks in a continually evolving environment," said Kimberly Sutherland, vice president, fraud and identity strategy, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "Our solutions provide a comprehensive view of physical, digital, device and behavioral intelligence for a complete view of an identity. We are thrilled that Card Not Present recognized our efforts to innovate and create impactful solutions for our customers." LexisNexis Risk Solutions recently co-hosted a webinar with Card Not Present as part of Card Not Present's Virtual Summit Series. The series includes presenters from LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Emailage, a global email intelligence leader acquired by LexisNexis Risk Solutions in March 2020. The discussion focused on effective fraud prevention during the current global crisis. Access a rebroadcast of the webinar here. About LexisNexis Risk Solutions LexisNexis Risk Solutions harnesses the power of data and advanced analytics to provide insights that help businesses and governmental entities reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the globe. We provide data and technology solutions for a wide range of industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare and government. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers across industries. For more information, please visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com and www.relx.com. Media Contact: Marcy Theobald 678.694.6681 Marcy.Theobald@lexisnexisrisk.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/494562/LexisNexis_Risk_Solutions_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.lexisnexis.com SOURCE LexisNexis Risk Solutions Photo: Google Maps Homicide investigators have been called to the Upper Fraser Canyon. RCMP were called to Boston Bar at 4:15 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a person lying on the side of the Trans Canada Highway. Upon attendance, officers located a victim suffering life-threatening injuries who succumbed to their injuries on scene. Investigators have cordoned off the area. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is working in partnership with Hope RCMP. No additional information is being released. Former defense secretary Jim Mattis excoriated President Donald Trump on Wednesday, accusing the nation's chief executive of deliberately trying to divide Americans, taking exception to his threats of military force on American streets, and praising those demanding justice following the police killing of George Floyd. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us," Mattis wrote in a statement published by the Atlantic. "We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," he continued. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children." The message marked a significant shift for Mattis, a retired Marine general who said he felt it was his duty to stay out of politics after resigning as Pentagon chief in 2018. He has broadly been criticized for it. But recent unrest in the country, and Trump's response to it, changed the dynamics. Mattis wrote that he has watched events this week "angry and appalled," and said protesters are right to demand equal justice under the law. "It is a wholesome and unifying demand - one that all of us should be able to get behind," he wrote. "We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values - our values as people and our values as a nation." While Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and use active-duty troops to quell unrest, Mattis said the military should only be used at home on "very rare occasions" when requested by state governors. Mattis also took exception to events outside the White House on Monday night, when peaceful protesters were cleared from the area with nonlethal weapons by a force that included Secret Service, Park Police and National Guardsmen. That allowed Trump to walk to nearby St. John's Episcopal Church while flanked by a group that included Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution," Mattis wrote. "Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens - much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside." While Mattis does not mention Esper by name, he also rejects the defense secretary's characterization this week of American cities as a "battlespace" that the military can help "dominate." "Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict - a false conflict - between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part." Molecular formulae of phosphors and polymer matrices. The molecular formulae of TPEDB, PVA with different alcoholysis degree (PVA50, PVA67, PVA100), and controlled polymers (PDDA, PSS, and PVDF). Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz6107 Polymer-based room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials can be efficiently developed by covalently embedding phosphors into the polymer matrix. The process is still, however, highly challenging on a large-scale due to inefficient binding engineering and time-consuming covalent reactions. In a new report on Science Advances, Rui Tian, and a team of research scientists at the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering in China, proposed a scalable preparation approach for RTP materials. They used the B-O click reaction between boronic acid-modified phosphors and the polyhydroxy polymer matrix. The molecular dynamics simulations showed effective immobilization of phosphors to result in suppressed nonradiative transitions and activated RTP emission. The team completed these B-O click reactions within 20 seconds in ambient environments and the strategy introduced facile click chemistry to simplify the construction of polymer-based RTP polymeric materials. The successful outcomes of this study will allow large-scale production of RTP materials industrially. Polymer-based room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have received increased attention in the past few decades in the field of flexible organic electronics due to multiple advantages including good flexibility, stretchability and low cost. Researchers have also observed great advances in polymer-based RTP materials synthesis in the past. Two main categories of the materials synthesis include non-doped polymer materials with phosphor in the backbone of the polymer itself and a second category of phosphors embedded in a polymer matrix to form doped RTP polymers. The doped materials could construct efficient RTP polymeric materials as a result of the polymer matrix that suppressed non-radiative transitions of phosphors to activate RTP generation. Existing doped RTP materials are implemented via noncovalent interactions (i.e. electrostatic interactions or van der Waals forces) between phosphors and polymer matrices, although such interactions formed nondirectional weak links that resulted in phase separation. Covalent crosslinking might overcome such deficiencies by forming strong C-O-C interactions. Engineering room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials with click chemistry Schematic representation for the polymer-based room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP). Facile and large-scale approach of RTP through BO click reaction between phosphors with boronic acid and polymer with hydroxyl groups. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz6107 In this work, Tian et al. introduced a flexible and catalyst-free click reaction to synthesize covalently linked phosphor-polymer RTP materials. They constructed the efficient material through strong B-O covalent bonds between tetraphenylethylene-diboronic acid (abbreviated TPEDB) molecule and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix in 20 seconds under ambient environmental conditions. Based on the energetically favorable click reaction, the research team modulated the number of B-O covalent bonds via click tailoring to contribute to strong RTP intensity and a long life-time of up to 768.6 milliseconds to form the TPEDB-PVA polymeric material. Then using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, Tian et al. credited the properties of efficient phosphorescence to suppressed molecular rotation and restricted non-radiative transition of TPEDB. The strategy provides a large-scale platform to manufacture and industrialize efficient polymer-based RTP materials for practical applications. The fluorescence and pH results showed a covalent B-O click reaction, followed by the formation of a flexible RTP polymeric material. The team studied the morphology of the resulting polymer with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). They obtained a uniform and continuous surface for the material with a thickness of 27 m and conducted elemental analyses with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to map and detect a homogenous dispersion of boron, oxygen and carbon elements, as expected. The results showed a good combination between phosphors and the polymer matrices to form the TPEDB-PVA polymer. Characterizing the material architecture and regulating the covalent bonds Luminescent behaviors of TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials. (A) Fluorescent excitation (black), emission (blue), and RTP emission (green) spectra of TPEDB-PVA polymeric material. (B) Photographs of TPEDB-PVA polymeric material under 365-nm ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and at different time intervals after removal of UV irradiation. Photo credit: Rui Tian (first author), Beijing University of Chemical Technology. (C) RTP intensities of TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials with different contents of TPEDB. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz6107 Tian et al. recorded the luminescent spectra of the TPEDB-PVA materials to obtain fluorescent and green spectra for persistent lifetimes of 4.5 nanoseconds and 768.6 milliseconds, respectively. To study the origin of room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) of the materials, the team drop-casted TPEDB, PVA and TPEDB-X% PVA on quartz glass. The pristine TPEDB material showed weak RTP emission and the addition of PVA to the mix promoted RTP performances to indicate the role of PVA as a matrix to activate the phosphorescence of TPEDB. The scientists achieved the strongest RTP intensity for polymeric materials when the PVA reached 60 mg and determined the optimum content of TPEDB to be 0.08 mg in the combined TPEDB-PVA polymer. Further experiments investigated the superiority of the covalent bonds to show the necessity of both hydroxyl groups and boronic acid groups in the setup to form a stable covalent link for efficient RTP materials. Since covalent cross-linkage between TPEDB and PVA were important for phosphorescence, the team applied different degrees of alcoholysis (or hydrolysis) to regulate covalent bonds and verify the speculation. They noted increasing phosphorescence and fluorescent performances with increasing alcoholysis degree of PVA. The team conducted X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and verified the interactions between the two constituents (TPEDB and PVA) under varied degrees of alcoholysis, followed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements to observe the expected characteristic peak corresponding to the B-O bond in the polymers. The increased quantity of hydroxyl groups in PVA provided linking groups for both covalent and hydrogen bonds to form in the system, creating a favorable environment to confine the phosphors and activate their phosphorescence. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the polymeric materials LEFT: Luminescent performances of TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials with varied alcoholysis degree of PVA. (A) Fluorescent emission, (B) phosphorescent emission spectra, and (C) RTP lifetime of TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials (TPEDB of 0.08 mg) with alcoholysis degree of PVA ranged from 87%, 92%, to 98%, and the inset shows the radiative curve of TPEDB-PVA72 polymeric material (black) and the instrumental reference (blue). RIGHT: Structural studies for TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials. (A) XRD patterns and (B) FTIR spectra for TPEDB-PVA polymeric material (TPEDB of 0.08 mg) with alcoholysis degree of PVA ranging from 72%, 87%, 92%, to 98%. a.u., arbitrary units. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz6107 To understand the B-O click reaction, the origin of phosphorescence and its enhancement through covalent localization of phosphor, the scientists performed density functional theory calculations. They computed the Gibbs free energy change of the click reaction (TPEDB + PVA -> TPEDB-PVA + H 2 O) to be -1.017 eV, which indicated the energetic favorability of the reaction with an ultrafast reaction rate. They calculated the energy levels of the ground state, first singlet excited state and first triplet excited state for TPEDB and PVA, and the results showed the origin of phosphorescence from TPEDB, while PVA formed a non-emissive polymer matrix to stabilize the molecules. Tian et al. also performed AIMD (ab initio molecular dynamics) simulations to manipulate the structure, composition and orientation of TPEDB-polymer materials and understand their impact on phosphorescence. Applications of TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials The team then studied potential applications of the TPEDB-PVA polymer materials, their solubility and stability. The polymers dissolved completely in two minutes at 60 degrees C due to constituent hydroxyl groups after the B-O click reaction, while the fluorescence of dissolved materials weakened. They studied the photostability of the materials under UV irradiation due to the protection offered by the PVA matrix to the TPEDB. Based on the solution-processing ability and decent photostability, the team credited the polymer to be a potential candidate to construct optoelectronic polymer materials. They prepared scalable polymeric materials in petri dishes in the lab with varying radii and conducted data-encryption on the polymers by encoding numbers, which appeared as intense cyan fluorescence after UV excitation. They achieved an encryption method on the TPEDB-PVA polymer after varied degrees of alcoholysis and manipulated its composition to create an anti-counterfeiting security link. As proof-of-concept they patterned the numbers "1 2 3" on the PVA substrate to observe them under UV irradiation, creating a powerful anti-counterfeiting and digital encoding tool via a facile click reaction. Practicality of TPEDB-PVA RTP polymeric materials. (A) Solubility in water (the inset shows the photos captured under UV irradiation) [photo credit: Rui Tian (first author), Beijing University of Chemical Technology], (B) photostability under UV irradiation, (C) photographs of scalable preparation of TPEDB-PVA polymeric materials (radii of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 cm) [photo credit: Qi Xu (co-author), Beijing University of Chemical Technology], (D) lifetime-dependent data encryption, and (E) digital coding written by TPEDB ink on PVA under and after UV irradiation. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz6107 In this way, Rui Tian and colleagues presented an efficient polymer-based RTP material using a one-step B-O click chemistry strategy. They regulated the RTP performance by the number of B-O covalent bonds. The simple, highly efficient and scalable preparation technique will open new possibilities for innovative engineering methods to construct polymeric RTP materials. The successfully developed RTP material construct will have many applications in data security and as light-emitting devices with potential to expand the strategy across diverse RTP materials. Explore further New supramolecular copolymers driven by self-sorting of molecules 2020 Science X Network Chandan Devnath, Assistant Director of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) -14, told IANS that these four were part of a big racket that smuggles Bangladesh workers to Middle East and Europe via Kolkata and Mumbai. On May 28, accomplices of a Libyan labour contractor opened fire on 38 Bangladeshi and some African workers after they had killed him. Twenty-six Bangladeshis and four African migrant workers were killed on the spot and two later succumbed to wounds in a hospital. The workers alleged that the Libyan contractor was fleecing and torturing them until they could take it no more. Two victims, Mohammad Ali and Mahbub, had been sent by the trafficker Khabiruddin and Helaluddin Hilu, both of whom were arrested by RAB. Another victim Rajon Khandaker was sent by trafficker Shahid Miah, who was apprehended by RAB. Injured migrant Janu Mia was sent by the traffickers Khabiruddin and Helaluddin , RAB official Devnath added. RAB-3 has also arrested Kamal Uddin alias Haji Kamal (55), a ringleader of human trafficking. He was arrested by a team of RAB-3 from Shahjadpur in the capital's Gulshan area early on Monday. Kamal allegedly had trafficked many of the 26 Bangladeshi nationals killed in Libya on May 28, said senior police Super Abdul Jabbar member of RAB-3 . RAB official Jabbar told IANS: "Kamal supplied tiles for buildings but was connected to a big labour group. He would promise to send the labourers to Libya, then Europe. And then smuggled them abroad after taking money. In this way, he has sent at least 400 people to Libya." After his arrest, RAB seized a number of passports from Kamal reportedly used for human trafficking in the last nearly 10 years. Bangladesh has strongly protested the massacre in the Libyan town of Mizda, 180 km south of Tripoli, on May 28. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had demanded justice and compensation for families of those killed, appealing to both Libya and international agencies to deliver. Bangladesh is one of three nations which continues to retain a mission in the civil war-ravaged Libya. Labour exports and remittances by these labourers from abroad account for Bangladesh's second largest source of foreign exchange earnings after ready-made garments. Which is why Bangladesh authorities discourage illegal labour exports and crack down on them, because the illegals don't use banking channels but are compelled to use 'hawala' and 'hundi', resulting in loss of remittance income for the development-driven Hasina Sheikh government. --IANS sumi/ksk/ Zoe Kravtiz had been filming The Batman in London in March when she went into self-quarantine with her husband Karl Glusman amid the COVID-19 outbreak. But that hasn't stopped the actress from having her voice be heard in the wake of the killing of African-American George Floyd in the US at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer as three other officers looked on. With protests popping up in many of the big cities across the US over the last nine days, Kravitz was among the thousands of people who took to the streets of London to protest his death and police brutality. Rallying call: Zoe Kravitz joined the thousands of people who took to the streets in London, England to protest the death of African-American George Floyd and police brutality The Big Little Lies star, 31, shared a photo on Instagram of herself holding up a sign as she stood among the peaceful demonstrators. That sign read: 'Dear America, I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do, Black Lives Matter,' which was a quote from the late James Baldwin, an American-American novelist, poet and activist. 'GO HEAD LONDON. #blacklivesmatter,' Kravitz wrote in the caption. Lockdown: The actress was filming The Batman, with co-star Robert Pattinson, in London when production was shutdown March 14 due to the coronavirus outbreak Proud papa: Her father, rocker Lenny Kravitz, wasted little time taking to the comments section and wrote,'Thats my girl!' Wearing a large hat, dark sunglasses and a black face covering, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Kravitz looked nearly unrecognizable in the photo. But, in keeping with her Bohemian-like fashion sense, she also donned a black leather jacket, baggy black pants and a white-patterned shirt as she proudly held the sign over her head. Her father, rocker Lenny Kravitz, wasted little time taking to the comments section and wrote,'Thats my girl!' Family matters: Kravtiz's mother, Lisa Bonet, and her father have both been vocal when it comes to standing up for human rights Derek Chauvin, who was seen in videos pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, was charged on Wednesday with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder. He was previously charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers -- Thomas K. Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng -- at the scene of the killing were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Taking a stand: Protestors marched into Hyde Park in London on Wednesday in protest of the killing of George Floyd in the US and police brutality Kravitz is still awaiting word on when production and filming of The Batman, which she will play Catwoman, will pickup again. The superhero franchise re-boot, starring Robert Pattinson as Batman, has also had its premiere date pushed back from June 25, 2021 to October 1, 2021. After months in the UK, the actress told Vanity Fair that she deeply misses her father and mother, actress Lisa Bonet, who have both been self-isolating in the US. 'First I will go hug all of my family and friends,' she said when asked what she will do when the pandemic is over. 'Then I will go to Emilios Ballato and eat a scary amount of pasta.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 13:06:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A demonstrator protests over the death of George Floyd near the White House in Washington D.C., the United States on June 2, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) - Derek Chauvin, who court documents said knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, now faces an upgraded charge of second-degree murder. - The charge against each of the three other cops is a felony with maximum penalty of 10 years of life behind bars and/or a 20,000-dollar fine. WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday upgraded the charge against a former Minneapolis officer who pressed his knee on George Floyd's neck, and also charged three other former officers involved in the incident with aiding and abetting murder. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced at a news conference that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police Department officer, who court documents said knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, was charged with second-degree murder. Chauvin has been fired and arrested. The announcement enhanced the charge against him from the third-degree murder and manslaughter he was previously accused of. "I believe the evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge of second-degree murder," Ellison said. People take part in a protest over the death of George Floyd in Aurora, an outer suburb of Chicago, the United States, on May 31, 2020. (Photo by Ethan Chivari/Xinhua) Additionally, the attorney general announced that arrest warrants were issued for three other officers who, also fired by the department, were involved in the brutal killing on May 25 of the 46-year-old black man. Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, who helped Chauvin constrain Floyd, and Tou Thau, who stood by without stopping his colleagues, were charged with aiding and abetting murder, Ellison said. "I strongly believe that these developments are in the interests of justice for George Floyd, his family, our community and our state," the attorney general said. The four former officers arrested Floyd after a nearby shop owner called police, saying a man had used a counterfeit 20-dollar bill to purchase cigarettes. Chauvin kept his knee down on Floyd's neck for two minutes and 53 seconds even after Floyd lost consciousness, according to a document released by prosecutors on Friday. The higher charge facing Chauvin, which alleges that he murdered Floyd "without intent" but "while committing ... a felony offense," comes with a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. The charge against each of the three other cops is a felony with maximum penalty of 10 years of life behind bars and/or a 20,000-dollar fine. Police stand guard as demonstrators take part in a protest in Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, the United States, June 1, 2020. (Photo by Chris Dilts/Xinhua) Informing reporters that he is the lead prosecutor of the case, Ellison acknowledged that although the prosecution team believe in the appropriateness of the charges they filed, "what I do not believe is that one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and loss that so many people feel." He added that "constructing justice and fairness in our society" would be a "slow and difficult work" ahead, urging leaders in government and all citizens "to begin rewriting the rules for a just society now." In response to the just-announced charges, Benjamin Crump, the attorney for George Floyd's family, said it is not a time for celebration since an arrest is not a conviction, adding that the family wanted Chauvin to be charged with first-degree murder. "You know, we don't want partial justice. We want whole justice." Crump said. "The family has always wanted first-degree murder. They wanted him charged to the full extent of the law," he added, referring to Chauvin. Further condemning racial injustice in the United States, the lawyer said "there are two justice systems in America. One for black America and one for white America, when there should be equal justice for the United States of America." One of the ex-officers, J. Alexander Kueng, is set to appear in court Thursday afternoon, according to court records. Demonstrators take part in a protest in Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, the United States, June 1, 2020. (Photo by Chris Dilts/Xinhua) Asked about the timetable of the prosecution process, Ellison said "we're probably a number of months before this case will be in front of a jury." Also following the announcement of the charges, former President Barack Obama, in a live-streamed town hall meeting with local and national leaders of the police reform movement, urged "every mayor in this country to review your use of force policies with members of your community and commit to report on planned reforms." Referring to the death of Floyd and the ensuing nationwide unrest over police brutality and racial discrimination, Obama -- himself an African American -- said, "As tragic as these past few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they've been, they've also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends." Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak is predicting a shortage in the oil market next month, Ifax reported on Thursday. Novak said that the global oil markets could see a shortfall between three and five million barrels per day in July, depending on the outcome of the OPEC meeting that could be held yet this week. The meeting that will help shape the future of the oil market over the next few months is proving difficult, however, even though it would appear that Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached an agreement in principle to extend the current level of cuts through the end of July. The cuts are currently set to ease starting in July. But negotiations among the cartel members are complex, with Iraq, Angola, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan overproducinga bone of contention with more fastidious members such as Saudi Arabia. OPEC+s compliance reached 89% in May. OPECs second largest producer, Iraq, reached only 42% compliance, based off of preliminary data. While Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend the cuts at least for another month, they are not interested in doing so unless Iraq and the other overproducers bring their production in line with the given quotas. OPEC+ quotas call for total cuts of 9.7 million bpd. Oil demand, however, is still off by 21 million bpd as of May, according to Novak. But thats up from 25-28 million bpd off in April. Novak added that the filling up of oil storage has slowed, and that thanks to the current production cuts and the improving demand figures so far, the market should achieve balance in June, before slipping into a deficit in July. Based on Mays production, OPEC has another 1 million barrels to cut to get into full compliance with the current deal. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A new super-teaser clip for Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is showing the bombshell moment where it is claimed that Denise Richards and Brandi Glanville had an alleged affair. In the video posted Wednesday, Brandi, 47, is seen for the first time making the shock claim to Kyle Richards, Dorit Kemsley, Teddi Mellencamp, Lisa Rina and Erika Jayne as they all enjoy dinner together on their trip in Rome, while Denise, 48, is noticeably absent. DailyMail.com exclusively revealed in January that Denise stormed off the show after a nasty showdown with her cast members who confronted her over having a months-long affair with Brandi. 'They need to cut that': Denise Richards has a MELTDOWN over THOSE Brandi Glanville affair rumors in explosive RHOBH super tease, released on Wednesday The latest clip posted by PEOPLE shows Brandi broke the news, as she is heard claiming: 'I f***k her, woke up the next morning [and] she said, "Aaron can never know this. He'll kill me."' Later, the housewives confront Denise about the alleged affair on a different occasion, and the actress gets teary as she responds in disbelief, saying: 'What the f***k?' 'That is not true!' Denise adds defiantly, while Dorit, 43, later says, 'I believe Denise.' Denial: Denise has claimed nothing happened between her and Brandi Glanville Causing trouble: Brandi Glanville tells the girls she had a sexual encounter with Denise Furious: A tear-eyed Denise is seen angrily denying claims that she slept with Denise The Wild Things star has been married to husband Aaron Phypers since 2018, and her reps have previously denied the alleged affair. Drama ensues in the clip, as Denise then goes missing after the allegation is made with Dorit saying: 'I hope to God she's okay. My heart is racing. I'm really, really scared.' Garcelle then calls Lisa the 'bad guy in all of this' as Denise pleads with the camera crew to not air what has just happened. Girls trip: The RHOBH had been looking forward to their trip to Rome before things turned sour In disbelief: The girls try to wrap their heads around what has just been revealed to the, Before the storm: Denise and Garcelle enjoy some wine in Rome Recipe for disaster: The girls had been drinking before the drama exploded When Denise resurfaces in the clip, she threatens: 'Bravo has a choice. If they ever want me to be on the show ... they need to cut that.' The clip ends with Denise sitting down with Lisa, who says: I think it's a lesson learned.' 'Oh I learned a lesson,' Denise replies. Stopping filming: Denise says Bravo has to cut the allegation from the show at one stage Walking off: The moment Denise threatens to leave the show Truly shocking: Kyle reacts to the news of Brandi and Denise Culprit: At one point, Lisa Rina is described as the 'bad guy' in the situation Enough! Denise was visibly upset while on the show Jill Fritzo, the representative for Denise, previously told DailyMail.com: 'The story isn't true.' Denise, who was married to actor Charlie Sheen from 2002 to 2006, began dating Aaron Phypers in December 2017 and they quickly got married in September 2018. A feud possibly boiled over onto social media with Brandi sending out a series of furious tweets, seemingly aimed at Denise. On December 29 last year, she tweeted, 'I just got 'Denised''', before adding, 'Seriously b***h???? You wanna play. 1-blackmail is illegal, 2-I have no skeletons in my closet (they're all on the internet), 3-slut shaming is soooooo last year.' Lesson learned: The clip ends with Denise having a chat to Lisa about the drama Google Pulls Popular Indian App That Claimed to Remove Chinese Software Google has removed a popular Indian mobile application from its Play Store that allowed users to detect and uninstall Chinese-owned apps from their phones, a spokesman said on June 3. The Android app, Remove China Apps, developed by India-based OneTouch AppLabs, had surged in popularity in the country in recent weeks, receiving some 5 million downloads from late May to June 1, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower, Tech Crunch reported. It became Indias top trending free app on Googles Play Store over the weekend, rising in popularity amid calls for a boycott of Chinese mobile apps in the country during a Himalayan border dispute between the two nations. The app enabled users with Android smartphones to detect the country of origin of software, and provided suggestions on how to remove Chinese-owned apps, such as ByteDances TikTokwhich has attracted heightened scrutiny due to surveillance and censorship concernsand Alibabas UC Browse. Once users removed those apps, a message saying You are awesome, no China app found, popped up. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the software violated Googles policies prohibiting apps that mislead users into removing or disabling third-party apps or modifying device settings or features. I am consciously going to stop using everything that is Chinese. As they are a part of most of the things we use, it will take time but I know, one day Ill be Chinese free. You should try it too Arshad Warsi (@ArshadWarsi) May 30, 2020 On its website, OneTouch AppLabs acknowledged that Google had removed its mobile application from the Play Store, but did not elaborate. Thank you all for your support in past 2 weeks. You Are Awesome, the company wrote on its website, providing tips for how people can independently source the origin of software without its Remove China Apps. TIP: Its easy to find the origin of any app by searching on Google by typing origin country. Stay Tuned!! Stay Safe!! In a disclaimer, the company said the application was developed for educational purposes and that the company does not promote or force people to uninstall any of the application(s). The Epoch Times has contacted OneTouch AppLabs and Google for comment. TikTok logos are seen on smartphones in front of a displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration taken on Nov. 27, 2019. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters) Many Indians and a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling party have used the hash tag #BoycottChineseProducts on social media, calling for deletion of popular Chinese apps. It comes as thousands of Indian and Chinese troops have faced each other for weeks at three or four locations in the western Himalayas after Beijings forces intruded into Indian territory, according to Indian security officials and local media. China denies it breached the Line of Actual Control, as the 2,167-mile de facto border is known, and says there is stability in the area near the Galwan River and Pangong Tso lake in the remote snow deserts of Indias Ladakh region. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a senior congressional leader reprimanded China for bullying behavior toward India during a military standoff on their disputed border. In comments released by the State Department, Pompeo told the American Enterprise Institute think tank that Chinas moving of troops to the line of control echoed similarly heavy-handed behavior over the CCP virus, South China Sea, and Hong Kong. These are the kinds of actions that authoritarian regimes take, he said. Reuters contributed to this report. MyBroadband has launched new marketing funnel campaigns which combine sponsored articles with Facebook adverts to ensure companies can reach their target audience across both MyBroadband and Facebook. The campaigns are simple to create and execute, and have delivered excellent results for clients. Codehesion, South Africas leading smartphone app developer, was one of the first companies to take the new campaign and it consisted of the following elements: Codehesion articles : Codehesion published multiple sponsored articles on MyBroadband, targeting companies which wanted to build a new smartphone app. : Codehesion published multiple sponsored articles on MyBroadband, targeting companies which wanted to build a new smartphone app. Custom Facebook audience : All the readers who read at least one of Codehesions articles were placed in a custom Facebook audience group, using MyBroadbands Facebook Pixel. : All the readers who read at least one of Codehesions articles were placed in a custom Facebook audience group, using MyBroadbands Facebook Pixel. Facebook advert: This custom audience was then served Codehesion Facebook adverts when on Facebook, which clicked through to Codehesions Contact page. One of the Codehesion articles and their Facebook advert are shown below. Codehesion article Codehesion Facebook advert Why it works Facebook is the most popular social network in the world, and is the most popular social network among business and ICT professionals. This means that when a user has finished reading a Codehesion article on MyBroadband, there is a very high likelihood they will then visit Facebook. When they visit Facebook, they will then be shown the Codehesion advert, reinforcing the brand and the message. Additionally, the reader can be shown the Facebook advert for up to 180 days after reading an article. The Codehesion campaign delivered excellent results in its first week alone. From 21-29 May 2020, Facebook adverts were served to users who had read Codehesion articles published in the previous weeks. Standard Twitter and LinkedIn campaigns were also run for Codehesion targeting MyBroadband readers to provide a base for comparison. The number of users who visited the Codehesion website Contact page are shown below: Facebook advert 341 users Instagram advert (part of the Facebook campaign) 50 users LinkedIn advert 26 users Twitter advert 9 users To find out more about MyBroadbands new marketing funnel campaigns, contact Cara Muller on [email protected] Canadas biggest asparagus grower has lost his crop. Scotlynn Group in Vittoria said despite an overwhelming response from locals who came forward to replace over 200 migrant workers sidelined by a COVID-19 outbreak, nearly 450 acres of asparagus will not be harvested this year. Thats 12 per cent of all the asparagus grown in Ontario. We werent able to salvage the crop with the locals, said Scotlynn president and CEO Scott Biddle. We tried. We went out fighting. The loss will be felt across the country, as Scotlynn is the exclusive supplier of asparagus to several major grocery chains. Its just unfortunate that we wont be able to provide some of our customers with that product, Biddle said. Theyll have to source from Peru or Mexico. Bernie Solymar, executive director of the Asparagus Farmers of Ontario, hopes those customers will look a little closer to home. I would sincerely hope that the retailers he supplied would go to other Ontario sources and that would be their first choice, Solymar said. I would think their customers would expect that as well. Despite some smaller growers abandoning their acreage due to labour shortages, Solymar said there is still plenty of Ontario asparagus available after the recent heat wave revived the frostbitten crop and sparked a mad scramble to harvest. We ended up getting a huge flush of asparagus. We went from an empty pipeline to a full pipeline in five days. Crews were out there working overtime, he said. But without the usual number of migrant workers in the fields, Solymar added, there were hundreds of acres being mowed down. With his workforce in quarantine, Biddle offered Norfolk residents $25 per hour to pick asparagus in prearranged groups of five. People responded in droves, with some offering to forgo the inflated salary and work for free to salvage the nutritious spring crop. Its humbling, for sure, Biddle said. It was unbelievable, the amount of people who came out to show support and gave us a hand. But on the first day of this makeshift harvest, it quickly became clear the plan wasnt going to work. Not being trained on the machines used by migrant workers, the new farmhands walked the fields and tried harvesting by hand. We brought them in and went through it, Biddle said. We got in by 7 a.m. but by 9 a.m. we called it off. Compounding the problem, some of the fields had gone too long without being worked and could not be saved. Biddle said the fields will be mowed over and harvested next year when the perennial plant returns. To Solymar, the short-lived experiment illustrated how specialized the farm labour performed by migrant workers is. Its strenuous work, he said. If nothing else, his attempt showed Canadians why migrant workers are essential to food production in Canada. Solymar said reports of the outbreak prompted some worried residents to ask if Ontario asparagus is safe to eat. Theres no proof that produce carried COVID, Solymar said. Fresh produce is not a risk. Seven of Scotlynns 216 migrant workers are in hospital. The remainder are in self-isolation in hotels or on the farm, where groceries are being brought in. Biddle said workers continue to receive their full pay. The farm is closed to visitors, and the offices, bunkhouses, company vehicles and equipment have been professionally cleaned and disinfected. We want to reassure everyone that it is our desire to return everyone to work as soon as it is safe to do so, Biddle said. Advertisement De Blasio on Thursday defended the actions of the NYPD and said officers largely showed 'restraint' on Wednesday night Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday stood by the NYPD for its tough crackdown on anyone who broke curfew on Wednesday night and said the majority of officers 'showed restraint' after a violent night of clashes that saw 180 people being arrested, officers being shot and one cop being stabbed in the neck. Police officers took their toughest stance yet against people breaking the 8pm curfew on Wednesday night and appeared to make no distinction between peaceful protesters and others, rounding up crowds of people and in some cases, turning violent. They fielded off attacks themselves including in Brooklyn, where three cops were shot in the hands by a man who stabbed an officer then snatched his gun and fired it at them. De Blasio said on Thursday that the incidents of cops being attacked were 'horrible' and that the majority of officers behave appropriately, as do protesters, but that the heightened 'crisis' of the moment meant that people must adhere to the curfew to allow police to hone in on 'insidious' actors who are using protesters as 'shields' and a cover to be out at night. He said while there were incidents of excessive force, the police department did its job and warned people to listen to cops or face arrest. Many on Wednesday night - like the nights before - flouted the curfew to continue protesting in outrage over the killing of George Floyd by four Minneapolis cops on May 25. They complained at being treated violently by overzealous NYPD cops and shared videos on social media including one in which a cyclist was dragged from his bike and beaten by three officers after trying to ride away from them. De Blasio on Thursday said: 'I want to emphasize: if officers say it's time, people need to listen to that. It's not an unfair action to say in the context of crisis, there is a point where enough is enough. It takes some respect on all sides. 'If officers say now is the point we need you to go home, it's time to go home. I respect the strategy that is in place. We have to keep the peace, we have to keep order. Scroll down for video NYPD strictly enforced the citywide curfew on Wednesday, even arresting peaceful protesters who remained on the streets after 8pm Peaceful protests continued across the city on Wednesday night, but an early curfew, drenching rain and refined police tactics appeared to have stopped some of the destruction of previous nights Despite a calmer night of protests, at least 90 people were arrested and taken away in paddy wagons after ignoring the city curfew Critics said the night of calm came at a price as police arrested dozens of orderly people for violating the curfew Many took to social media to condemn police officers' heavy handed tactics on peaceful protesters on Wednesday 'We go to even another level of restraint and say some stay out there so long as they continue to respect everyone, do not attack police officers, we give them some extra leeway but there's still limits. Three NYPD cops beat a cyclist with their batons after dragging him from his bike A cyclist was dragged from his bike and beaten by several NYPD cops on Wednesday night during an evening of clashes between officers, peaceful protesters and looters that saw more than 180 arrests, two police shootings and one cop being stabbed. The video was taken at 50th Street and Third Avenue last night after the 8pm curfew went into effect. It was shared on Twitter afterwards and has since circulated widely amid growing outrage over the NYPD's enforcement of the curfew. It shows the cyclist - who has not been identified - trying to get away from a cop by crossing the road. The cop, wearing a helmet and carrying a nightstick, followed him and repeatedly struck his bike. The other officers then caught up to the pair, dragged the cyclist from his bike, and carried on hitting him. The footage was taken by someone in a car who said they were being held up by the cops and not allowed to drive home at the time. All three officers struck the cyclist with their nightsticks as he fell to the ground. It's unclear what he'd allegedly done beyond being outside past 8pm and its unclear if he is an essential worker - they are exempt from the curfew Advertisement 'I want to be really clear. The Manhattan Bridge the other night - if it continues it can only lead to something bad. 'In a very imperfect world, that is a clear indication. If you stay out, OK, but do not even think about doing anything violent and there's a point at which enough is enough and it's time to go home,' he said. It was the calmest night in the city this week and there were scarce incidents of looting but there is mounting criticism of the NYPD's tough crackdown. Some say they are being stopped from getting on subways before the curfew, giving the police department an excuse to arrest them once it hits 8pm. Others - who are essential workers like media, food delivery, medical workers or people seeking medical attention - say they are being stopped, rounded up and in some cases, beaten just for being outside. Chief Monahan said while most people dispersed after arrests began, police were forced to take action on those who refused, moving in on crowds just before the heavy rain began. 'When we have these big crowds, especially in this area, especially where we've had the looting, no more tolerance. They have to be off the street,' he said on Wednesday. 'An 8 o'clock curfew, we gave them until 9 o'clock, and there was no indication that they were going to leave these streets.' City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended a rally in downtown Brooklyn, expressed outrage that peaceful demonstrations were broken up after cops began physically pushing protesters out. 'I can't believe what I just witnessed & experienced,' Williams wrote on Twitter, calling the use of force on nonviolent protesters 'disgusting.' He also shared a video taken outside Brooklyn Borough Hall where he was heard questioning cops' heavy-handed tactics on participants of a peaceful demonstration. 'There's no looting, there's no fires, why are we pushing everyone?' he says. Footage shared by journalist Zach Williams showed further police clashes with protesters in Brooklyn as they tried to clear out the area. Cops were seen urging crowds of people to move out, at times stopping to make an arrest or to use their baton to push protesters along. When one demonstrator asked an officer why he was being taken into custody, an Associated Press reporter heard the officer reply: 'Curfew violator. You didn't hear the news?' At least one NYPD officer was injured when a scuffle broke out between police and protesters marching to Cadman Plaza after dark. Shortly after the curfew took effect, Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke to WBLS radio saying the restriction has had a 'calming impact' on the city and is allowing it to get 'back to a better place.' 'I've asked protesters to go home at the time of the curfew but if they keep going peacefully about the streets of the city that's going to be respected,' he said. Protesters also appeared to react more calmly to police attempts to break up crowds, a contrast to the early days of the protests One man is seen on the ground as police detain and arrest him for violating curfew NEW YORK: Protesters raise their hands as police prepare to make dozens of arrests during demonstrations in Manhattan The NYPD began moving in on crowds about one hour after curfew and just as heavy rain poured down About 90 people were arrested on Wednesday, despite an early curfew and rainy weather curbing much of the previous nights' violence Police were seen chasing after protesters in the rain as demonstrations continued in Manhattan over the killing of George Floyd City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended a rally in downtown Brooklyn, shared a video of cops using batons to clear out peaceful protesters Police Commissioner Demot Shea also later told CNN police officers were 'trying to have a softer touch as possible, hear people, see people.' 'We continue to reinforce that we respect the rights of people to peacefully assemble,' he said. BROOKLYN MAN IS SHOT AFTER STABBING COP AND STEALING HIS GUN The 20-year-old Brooklyn man who stabbed a police officer in the neck and then stole his handgun before he was shot eight times by nearby cops is an immigrant from the Balkan region who is being investigated for ties to terrorism. Two other police officers were shot in the hand during the incident late on Wednesday, though it is unclear if they were shot by the suspect with the gun he stole from the ambushed cop or if they were hit by gunfire from responding officers. The suspect has been identified as Dzenan Camovic. The FBI announced on Thursday that it is taking part in the investigation. The New York Police Department on Thursday released an image of a knife that investigators claim was used to stab a police officer in Brooklyn late on Wednesday night The incident took place late Wednesday near the intersection of Church Street and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, where officers were patrolling the area to prevent looting. According to police, one officer was ambushed by a man who walked up behind him and stabbed him in the neck. The man then took the policemans handgun. Officers who were on duty nearby rushed to the scene and found the suspect with the gun. A total of 22 shots were fired, according to authorities. Two police officers were shot in the hand, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. All three officers are recovering from non-life threatening injuries at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. Camovic, was shot eight times by officers who responded to the scene. He is listed in critical condition. Now authorities are looking into whether Camovic may have ties to terrorism Advertisement However, social media videos appeared to contradict both Shea and de Blasio's message, as cops aggressively pushed out crowds of peaceful protesters. About 60 people were arrested near Central Park out of a large band of protesters who had marched from near the mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion. Despite the arrests, as the evening deepened, there were few reports of the mayhem that had occurred on several days of demonstrations, when protesters burned police vehicles and showered officers with debris. Gone also were the roving bands of people who smashed their way into scores of stores and stole merchandise Sunday and Monday nights. Chief Monahan said there had been no reports of looting as of 9.30pm. Protesters also appeared to react more calmly to police attempts to break up crowds, a contrast to the early days of the protests where attempts to break up crowds were sometimes met with thrown objects. It comes as hundreds took to the streets to peacefully protest again, this time gathering outside Mayor Bill de Blasio's residence Gracie Mansion. Demonstrators marched towards the Upper East Side before arriving at the mayoral residence in Carl Schurz Park, where they sat on the ground and observed 30 minutes of silence in honor of George Floyd. As protesters marched in, NYPD officers lined the streets and cut off entry to most parts of the park near the mayor's home, forcing many to squeeze onto East End Ave and E 86th street instead, Gothamist reported. Videos shared on social media showed crowds sitting or kneeling in silence with only the sound of birds chirping and helicopters circling above filling the air. At the end of the half hour, protesters broke out in cheers and chants. As curfew came into effect at 8pm, hundreds exited the area and continued marching southbound, as police trailed behind. It is unknown if Mayor de Blasio was at the residence at the time however, as 8pm approached, he took to Twitter to tell residents on the streets to go home. 'Last night had its challenges, but we saw real progress from Monday and our city was safer for it. Help us keep it up. It's 8 PM and a citywide curfew is in effect. It's time to head home,' he said. It comes after thousands of people ignored the city's newly-imposed curfew on Tuesday night which had been moved forward from 11pm the night before in a bid to help curb violence and looting that have wreaked havoc on the streets since Friday. In a no-nonsense crackdown, NYPD officers arrested 280 people across the city, although it is unclear if it was for violating the curfew or for other offenses, like looting or violence. Thousands gathered outside of Gracie Mansion in the Upper East Side for a silent vigil honoring George Floyd The silent protest was planned for 7pm on Wednesday evening, just one hour before the city curfew went into effect Thousands marched up the streets of New York City before sitting on the ground or taking a knee (CNN) Former Lesotho first lady Maesaiah Thabane has been re-arrested for the killing of her husband's ex-wife, police said Wednesday. Thabane will remain in custody until June 16, after her bail was revoked on allegations that due process was not followed during her first court appearance in February when she was charged with murder, police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli told CNN. Molibeli said the former first lady is back behind bars on a technicality because the prosecution was not allowed to make arguments opposing her bail during the hearing. The bail amount of 1,000 maloti ($58) was also paid long after she was released and not upon her release in February, the commissioner said. CNN has made repeated attempts to reach Maesaiah Thabane's lawyer but has yet to hear back. Neither she nor her husband, former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, have spoken publicly about the allegations. Molibeli said following her re-arrest, she would appear again in court where due process would be followed. He did not say when that would happen. "She is in jail as we speak," Molibeli said. Maesaiah Thabane was charged with ordering the killing of Lipolelo Thabane, who was shot dead near her home in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, in June 2017. The former first lady fled the country in January despite a police warrant for her arrest, but she turned herself in to police in February after spending weeks in South Africa. Police questioned Thomas Thabane about the case and pushed to charge him, but his lawyers said he could not be prosecuted, citing constitutional immunity. He has not been charged in the case. The murder case has rattled the tiny southern African nation, and it led to Thabane's sudden retirement in May after months of pressure from his political party to resign over his alleged involvement, according to the police. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Former Lesotho first lady re-arrested for killing of husband's ex-wife." Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:38:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Most hotels in Thailand's Phuket will fully open for Thai visitors as fewer foreign guests are expected to arrive amid the COVID-19 outbreak, said a leading hotelier on Thursday. The hotels in beachfront and seaside areas of the tourist island in southern Thailand will be fully serviceable for Thais by the middle of this month with anti-pandemic measures in place, according to Kongsak Khuphongsakorn, president of the Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter. Phuket has eased up lockdown measures and allowed road travel in and out of the island, and most hotels have prepared to serve guests, particularly the Thais, who are largely expected to arrive between June and September, Kongsak said. He said many hotels in Phuket will offer a steep cut in room rates for Thai guests in response to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which plans to promote domestic tourism nationwide. The TAT has set the Safety and Health Administration Criteria for all hotels and tourist facilities to strictly follow to stem the pandemic. Phuket has welcomed some 14 million visitors yearly, among whom about five millions are Thais. Foreign visitors are not expected to visit Phuket or Thailand for several months due to the pandemic, as visitors from the high-risk areas will be subject to a 14-day self quarantine once arriving in Thailand. Enditem When restaurants around New Jersey begin to reopen for outdoor dining in 11 days, theyll look vastly different than they did before the coronavirus pandemic nearly shut down the state, according to guidance released by Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday. Among the biggest changes bars and eateries must implement: tables six feet from each other, a limit of eight customers to a table and signs posted that say patrons with a fever or symptoms of the coronavirus shouldnt enter. Smoking will also be prohibited in areas where people are drinking and eating. The state will also allow any establishment with a liquor license to apply for a one-time, special permit to serve alcohol outside. Local authorities will decide whether eateries and bars that dont already have outdoor space can get creative and use parking lots, sidewalks, streets, and other areas for seating. Officials reported 112 new COVID-19 related deaths and 652 cases Wednesday to push the states cumulative totals to 11,880 and 162,068. Tens of thousands have recovered, though a precise figure is not known. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, 2,550 were hospitalized with the virus or a suspected case at 70 of New Jerseys 71 hospitals. Data provided by the state showed 406 are on ventilators, down from 459 a day earlier; 537 patients are receiving critical care, a drop from 612 the previous day. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Heres a roundup of coronavirus news: Rutgers to slash hundreds of jobs in pandemic budget crunch, unions say: Rutgers University could lay off about 500 hundred dining, maintenance, custodial and public safety workers, according to a coalition of unions at the state university. The university has also given no assurances that about 620 other dining hall workers who typically get furloughed in the summer will have jobs this fall, the unions said. Rutgers, like other colleges, is facing a substantial revenue loss from the coronavirus pandemic and previously warned it could lose more than $150 million in revenue this spring. Feds have sent out $267 billion of stimulus payments. If you didnt get one, heres what you should do.: The Internal Revenue Service has sent out nearly $267 billion worth of stimulus payments over the past two months, the agency said. The payments were part of the CARES Act, legislation that was passed in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. In the past two months, more than 159 million Americans have received the payments, called Economic Impact Payments, the IRS said. For first time since early April, a New Jersey county reports no new cases of the coronavirus: For the first time since April 5, no new positive coronavirus cases were reported in Cape May County Wednesday. The county also said that as the number of testing locations has increased, and that the rate of positive test has decreased to 2.5% for the week of May 17 to May 23. During that time, the county had 65 positive results from the 2,174 tests conducted. Gov. Murphy to N.J. protesters: I think you should get tested for coronavirus: Murphy on Wednesday said he believes its a wise thing for the thousands of New Jersey residents protesting police brutality in the wake of George Floyds death to get tested for the coronavirus. If youre in close proximity, I think you should get tested, Murphy said at his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton. The notion for a super-spreader is very much the case in a very close congregation of people. We want to make sure folks are being responsible. The governors remarks come after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka implored the thousands of people who peacefully protested Saturday in the states most populous city to get tested for COVID-19. Are you ready for socially distant school? How 1 N.J. district is planning to reopen: As New Jersey school districts await state guidance on how to reopen this fall, a Morris County district has developed one of the most detailed proposals to emerge from a local district to date. Mount Olives four distinct scenarios ranging from all students returning with limited social distancing rules to all buildings remaining closed and again using remote learning illustrate both the lasting impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on schools and the widespread uncertainty officials face in trying to proceed. Mount Olives plan, which the superintendent will present Monday to the school board, draws heavily from steps taken by schools that already reopened in other counties. In the absence of state guidance Murphy says that should come by mid-June school officials also relied on CDC guidelines and recommendations from education departments in other states, including Maryland and Illinois. Worldwide cases: More than 386,000 of the 6.5 million infected have died as of 7 a.m. Thursday, according to the the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.81 million have recovered. U.S. cases: Of the 1.85 million to test positive, more than 107,000 have died, the center said Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson, Adam Clark, Chris Franklin and Alex Napoliello contributed to this report. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Is all the protest handing votes to Trump? CNNs Fareed Zakaria put that scary thought to African-American reporter for the New York Times, Nikole Hannah-Jones. As he did, you sensed anxious liberals up and down the U.S. coasts urging him on. Hannah-Jones said Blacks were out of patience. Nothing theyve done has changed things basically, so why not let it all rip? Zakaria pushed the point. Hannah-Jones said she wasnt going to deal with it. Shes a reporter, not a strategist. But somebody has to. If you care about a situation, you need to act so that, whatever you choose to do, it doesnt make things worse, as Trumps re-election surely would. The clincher to their argument is that this is how Nixon won in 1968. It was a fear-fuelled reaction to urban riots. Nixon capitalized and the U.S. right hasnt looked back even with new Democrats like Clinton or Obama in office. But theres an answer to this timid recoil from righteous action: you pull together enough people to defeat Trump without rejecting the beautiful rage in the streets. How? By expanding the appeal to include even more whites. Many are on board already. But theres a pivotal group who gave Trump his 2016 victory: abandoned Midwest industrial workers. (Remember: Trump didnt win the vote in 2016; he won the electoral college.) What would bring them in? Address their desperation: health care first in a pandemics midst. Raise the minimum wage and ratchet back the trade deals, as Trump claims but only claims to have done. Its all there in Bernie Sanders platform. Nothing is stopping Biden from embracing this agenda; hes spent a lifetime training as a pliable mediocrity. Aside, that is, from corporate funding hes addicted to; abandoning it would take guts. But theres a prize to be had. I also dont believe riots gave Nixon his victory. I speak as someone who spent the 1960s in the U.S. Nixon loved playing the card but it only worked for those already with him. He was a multiple political loser with a repulsive personality who no one actually liked. Nixon didnt win the election; the Democrats lost it. By 1968 the country had turned (to the extent a country can do that) against the Vietnam War. President Lyndon Johnson didnt believe in it but wouldnt end it for fear of looking unmanly. He quit instead. Had the party nominated a war opponent (Bobby Kennedy before he died, Eugene McCarthy) theyd probably have won. Instead they selected Johnsons poodle and veep, Hubert Humphrey. The gestapoesque suppression of opposition at their Chicago convention was disgusting and Nixonian! The partys popular base turned sullen or hostile, as many did with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and could do with Biden; 20 per cent of Sanders supporters say they wont back him. He can turn that around, but we shall see. This feels like an epochal U.S. moment: as when Johnson realized the U.S. had turned against his war. Trump wants domination of the streets. I dont hear that as a call to militarize; to me it rhymes more with supremacy, as in white. Against it is the primal image of that knee on George Floyds neck. Its like the original criminal act, the first murder ever committed like Cain killing Abel, though worse since Cain just struck Abel, he didnt bear down interminably. None of this couldve happened without the power to last, from slavery till now, on the part of people like the Floyds, who know and follow their history: even his 6-year-old daughter, who said her daddy changed the world. Its a mighty force: knowing your capacity to endure wont change your own life but may change the lives of others down the line, because you didnt let the chain of dignity and resistance be broken, which would the only irreparable defeat. Canadian poet Milton Acorn wrote, for the funeral of union leader Kent Rowley the justice warrior Ive been personally closest to: Arent we/ who must move for him from now on Or not/ In which case something isnt done/ Burning a hole in time for all times/ Also history?/ It takes a long time/ Without a moment not needing effort. Somebody say amen. But the fear, even among allies, is that a lack of diverse viewpoints in Mr. Bidens brain trust could come with a long-term cost: a misinterpretation that boiling anger at Mr. Trump among black and Latino voters equates to excitement for Mr. Biden; insufficient outreach to minority groups; and perhaps most worrisome of all the possibility that Mr. Bidens team would take for granted that his strength with black voters in the primaries would repeat itself in November, a complaint lodged against Hillary Clinton four years ago. It matters who is doing the shaping of the campaign, said LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. She was one of a dozen black female leaders invited to a recent private call with Mr. Biden, during which she said representation came up. We cant keep going and asking black folks to show up and make sure the boogeyman doesnt get you. If you think the fear of Trump is going to be enough to move black votes, that is going to be a critical error. Mr. Trump has regularly been accused of racism, including his recent threats to quell the unrest with vicious dogs and calling the protesters thugs. He has a long history of taking positions that demonized and denigrated minorities, including his false attacks on the Central Park Five, his birther lie against former President Barack Obama and his fear-mongering about the migrant caravan in 2018. As for viewpoints he seeks, Mr. Trump has virtually no African-Americans or other people of color among his most trusted advisers, who include his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; his chief of staff, Mark Meadows; Hope Hicks, a longtime aide; and Dan Scavino, a deputy chief of staff for communications. In the photo op the president staged this week at a church across from the White House, the aides pictured beside him were all white. And Mr. Trump won only 8 percent of the black vote in 2016. But for Mr. Biden, demonstrating differences with the president is not enough to drive minority voters to the polls, or a substitute for delivering an inspiring message to people of color, some activists argue. Black voters are a critical constituency for Mr. Biden and could make the difference in a razor-thin election. His recent off-key remark that black voters torn between him and Mr. Trump aint black only heightened the sense of urgency. The presidents re-election machine leapt to amplify the comment, the latest effort seeking to dissuade African-Americans from voting for Mr. Biden, or from voting at all. New Delhi: Amid outrage over the tragic demise of a pregnant elephant in Kerala's Palakkad, the district police on Thursday (June 4) constituted a special investigation team under a DSP-rank officer to probe the matter. Zee News has also launched a massive campaign to bring killers of the elephant, named as Vinakayi, to book urging its viewers to support it by tweeting #JusticeForVinayaki. Zee News Editor-in-chief Sudhir Choudhary also raised the matter in his highly popular show DNA. With the support of Kerala's Janam TV, the Zee News team reached Kerala's Palakkad district and collected some fresh video footage of the incident. Earlier in the day, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came out with a statement that three suspects are under the scanner of the teams probing the death of the pregnant elephant. Vijayan assured that all concerns raised will not go in vain and justice will prevail and the culprits will be brought to book. The 15-year-old elephant was reportedly fed a pineapple filled with firecrackers which exploded in the animal's mouth and later it succumbed to her injuries while standing in Velliyar River. After a massive outrage from across the country, the Kerala Police officials and the state Forest Department's Crime Investigation Team visited the spot and collected evidence. According to the update submitted by Palakkad police, the probe is mainly focused on the Mannarkkad area where the cultivation of crops is being done by the people. The postmortem report of the animal has revealed that the wounds were there for two weeks. The report said the explosion fractured the bones of the elephant and caused a lot of damage to the mouth and she was not able to take food for days, adding that the elephant died of choking due to water getting filled in her lungs. Many tried to rescue the injured mammoth her but all in vain. The investigating team said that they still trying to find out the real cause of the tragic incident, but the preliminary report points to the use of explosive-filled pineapple as traps to kill wild animals. The focus of the probe is private plantations near the Silent Valley buffer zone and the police is investigating the source of the explosive material. Expressing shock over the incident, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said that it is not in Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill animals and that the government would not leave any stone unturned to bring the culprit to book. He also tweeted, "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill (sic)." BJP MP and former union minister Maneka Gandhi also expressed dismay over the inaction of the state government and stated that Malappuram is known for "its intense criminal activity" specially "with regard to animals." Notably, both the leaders made the mistake of misidentifying the location to be in Mallapuram while the elephant was found dead in Palakkad district. The Kerala CM, however, alleged that there was an "organised campaign" at the national level against Kerala and Malappuram district. People defied coronavirus ban to attend the vigil, marked by worries over Chinas new national security legislation. Flames from candles illuminated the streets and parks of Hong Kong as tens of thousands of people defied coronavirus restrictions on gatherings to commemorate Chinas Tiananmen Square massacre. The annual vigil carried new significance on Thursday as Hong Kong people remembered not only the hundreds, and possibly thousands, killed when Chinese soldiers cracked down on pro-democracy in Beijing on June 4, 1989, but also looked ahead to a new national security law that China plans to impose and critics say will threaten Hong Kongs civil liberties. Despite coronavirus pandemic restrictions prohibiting gatherings of more than eight people, Hong Kong police did not move to stop the main vigil in Victoria Park. Several thousand people, many clad in black, joined the rally after breaking through barriers that sealed off the area. They held signs and chanted slogans like liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time and fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. Tear gas was fired and several arrest made in the district of Mong Kok during scuffles after demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks. Pockets of protesters also fanned out throughout several shopping districts. Worries over national security law Last month, Chinas parliament, following nearly a year of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, moved to bypass the territorys legislature to impose a national security law aimed at stifling dissent, terrorism and separatism. Critics say the law would destroy the civil liberties Hong Kong residents enjoy under the one country, two systems agreement put in place when the United Kingdom handed the territory back to China in 1997. The agreement is set to end in 2047. People gathered for the Tiananmen Square crackdown vigil in Victoria Park, despite permission for the event being officially denied [Vincent Yu/AP Photo] Reporting from Victoria Park on Thursday, Al Jazeeras Sarah Clarke said there was a pervasive sense of worry from vigil organisers and pro-democracy supporters that the new legislation could spell the end for such gatherings. China is going to introduce those laws, and potentially target political dissidents or those people who speak out against the mainland, she said. The vigil took place just hours after Hong Kongs pro-Beijing legislature passed a bill outlawing any disrespect of Chinas national anthem, with a jail term of as long as three years. Powerful symbol Despite what critics have described as threats to Hong Kongs autonomy, the vigil on Thursday was a very powerful symbol that the spirit of the territorys people remained intact, Anthony Dapiran, a lawyer and author, told Al Jazeera. Tonight has been a remarkable symbol that the Hong Kong people are still very passionate about democracy in their city, full of a fighting spirit, and I think were going to see them continue coming out to protest in support of their beliefs, he said. In Victoria Park, Yip, a 73-year-old man who only gave his family name, told AFP news agency: Ive come here for the vigil for 30 years in memory of the victims of the June 4 crackdown, but this year it is more significant to me. He added: Because Hong Kong is experiencing the same kind of repression from the same regime, just like what happened in Beijing. Despite the coronavirus restrictions, 70-year-old housewife Kitty told Reuters News Agency she was not deterred. We are just remembering those who died on June 4, the students who were killed. What have we done wrong? For 30 years we have come here peacefully and reasonably, once its over its sayonara (goodbye), she said. Purposefully forgotten In a statement to mark the anniversary, the White House urged China to respect human rights and fulfill its commitments on Hong Kong. The American people stand together with all Chinese citizens in their pursuit of fundamental rights, including the right to accountable and representative governance and freedom of speech, assembly, and religious belief, the statement said. The US and Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, have urged China to atone for the crackdown, for which China has never provided a full account. Mass hunger strike, Tiananmen Square 1989. Photo is by a friend who wants to share it anonymously. I first tweeted it last year. Now, on eve of 31st anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre, it's even more important to remember those days of peaceful protest, and those ideals. pic.twitter.com/J6nEFg12OB Ma Jian (@majian53) June 3, 2020 Chinas foreign ministry said the calls for an apology were complete nonsense. The great achievements since the founding of new China over the past 70 or so years fully demonstrates that the developmental path China has chosen is completely correct, spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. In mainland China, authorities do not allow any open discussion about the incident and censors remove any mention of it from the internet. In rare comments last year, Chinas Defence Minister Wei Fenghe said the 1989 protests were political turmoil that the central government needed to quell, which was the correct policy. Due to this, China has enjoyed stability, and if you visit China you can understand that part of history, he said. Meanwhile, amid days of protests in the US over police violence against Black citizens, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday tweeted a photo of him meeting prominent Tiananmen survivors. In Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen referenced the islands own struggle to come to terms with the abuses that took place during decades of martial law. Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year. - Senator Tito Sotto took to social media to express his frustration over the criticisms against one of the bills he authored Senate Bill 1083, also known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 - Sotto slammed those who do not want the bill to be passed, calling them epal who know nothing about the bill - The senator also made aggressive remarks about netizens who have proclaimed activism is not terrorism to oppose the bill - The new anti-terror bill has been opposed by many Filipinos and netizens on social media due to the supposed possibility of the bill being used to silence and imprison critics of the government PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Senator Vicente Tito Sotto III took to social media to express his frustration over the criticisms against one of the bills he authored Senate Bill 1083, also known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. KAMI learned that Sotto slammed those who do not want the bill to be passed, calling them epal who know nothing about the bill. Daming nakiki- Epal, Mali naman ang Alam, Sotto tweeted. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback He also made aggressive remarks about netizens who have proclaimed activism is not terrorism to oppose the bill. Activism daw is not terrorism. Eh sino bang gago may sabi na terrorism yun? he posted. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! The new anti-terror bill has been opposed by many Filipinos and netizens on social media due to the supposed possibility of the bill being used to silence and imprison critics of the government. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 extends the number of days suspected terrorists can be detained without a warrant from three days under the current law to up to 14 days, which can be extended for another 10 days. The bill also removed the provision under the Human Security Act that a person wrongfully accused of terrorism must be paid half a million pesos in damages for each day he or she is detained. Any person who shall threaten to commit any act of terrorism, propose any terroristic acts or incite others to commit terrorism will be imprisoned for 12 years, under the new bill. It also allows the authorities to conduct a 60-day surveillance on suspected terrorists and force telcos to divulge their calls and messages. 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! Source: KAMI.com.gh By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - After long refusing to explicitly criticize a sitting president, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused President Donald Trump on Wednesday of trying to divide America and roundly denounced a militarization of the U.S. response to civil unrest. Protests have erupted around the United States since the death on May 25 of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try," Mattis, who resigned as Trump's defense secretary in 2018, wrote in a statement https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640 published by The Atlantic. "Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort." He drew a comparison to the U.S. war against Nazi Germany, saying U.S. troops were reminded before the Normandy invasion: 'The Nazi slogan for destroying us was 'Divide and Conquer.'" Mattis, a retired Marine general who denies political ambitions, also took a swipe at current U.S. military leadership for participating in a Monday photo-op led by Trump after law enforcement -- including National Guard -- cleared away peaceful protesters. He criticized use of the word "battlespace" by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to describe protest sites in the United States. "We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace,'" Mattis wrote. Trump's threats to deploy active duty troops -- even in states that oppose their use -- has stirred alarm within the U.S. military and in Congress, where a top Republican warned it could make troops "political pawns." "Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict a false conflict between the military and civilian society," Mattis wrote. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Social media platforms Facebook and Instagram unblocked the #Sikh (hashtag Sikh) on Thursday after nearly three months. Facebook admitted that the hashtag was mistakenly blocked on March 7 following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by its teams. The Sikh community had approced Facebook with a request to unblock it. An official statement released by Instagram Communication on their Twitter handle (@Instagramcomms) said, We have unblocked the hashtag #sikh on Instagram and are working to unblock #sikh on Facebook. Were investigating why this happened. We will follow up here later today with more information. It further said that #sikh is now unblocked on Facebook too. Thanks for your patience today. We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams, read the third tweet. The company said that this is an incredibly important, painful time for the Sikh community. We designed hashtags to allow people to come together and share with one another. Its never our intention to silence the voices of this community, we are taking the necessary steps so this doesnt happen again. On Wednesday, the issue surfaced on the social media platforms after the users, including Sikh organisation based in the western countries, started postings on their Facebook accounts about blocking of hashtag #Sikh. Some users found out about the blocked hashtag when they tried post about Operation Blue Star on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in the year 1984. They started questioning the company and then then Facebook and Instagram carried out its investigation into the matter. Canada-based author Rupi Kaur also raised the issue tweeted, The hypocrisy of @facebooks approach to free speech: zuckerberg says fbs principles prohibit him from blocking trump as he incites violence & hate. meanwhile as sikhs raise their voice to mark the injustices of 1984: sikh hashtags are blocked. @instagramcomms do better. To Kaur tweet, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram replied, Not sure how the #sikh hashtag ended up blocked. Its now unblocked on Instagram, we are working to unblock it on Facebook, and were investigating why this happened. #Sikh is now unblocked on Facebook. Ravinder Singh alias Ravi Singh, founder and CEO of Khalsa Aid, tweeted, Its absolutely crazy that @Facebook has banned the #Sikh hashtag !!!! Is mr #Zuckerberg now banning people who are #Sikh ?!?? This must be THE STUPIDEST ban ever!!! ASK DR. JEANETTE, SUCCESS ON THE WAY: The Pre-Emminence and Exaltation of Self-Will Part 1 It has taken a great deal of thought to come up with a dignified title during this time. Yes, I like many others would like to explode from imploded inner feelings. But, no; Im contained and restrained in my thoughts and actions, my temper, my emotions, facial expressions, body language and more. So, lets first look at the woman (Amy Cooper) in Central park who thought she was RIGHT to call the police on an African American man bird watching in the park where visible signs are posted about leashing animals. Maybe she didnt think she had a dog (Henry). Maybe she thought her animal was exempt from rules. She obviously thought SHE was exempt from rules and thought it more necessary to call the police on this man (Christian Cooper). Same last names, but unrelated. [Thats interesting in itself.] Im just being humorous. Heres the thing. She obviously thought that she was privileged empowered to call the police when she was not obeying the rules. With the long term history of [White women] getting Black men into life threatening situations through false accusations, how dumb can you get? Or should I say, how bold, boisterous and self-empowered can you get. Self-will didnt allow her to stop, look around and think, Oh! Its me. Im the offender. Im the one breaking the rules! Oh, my, I called the police in error. Id better hide they may arrest me for being out of control, arrogant, self-willed and generally out of place. More than 30 million viewed this video. Im just talking out loud. It seems she wanted the police to arrive, handcuff this avid bird watcher, haul him off to jail and thinking theres a reward in this for my bad behavior. Oh! my. Amy Cooper lost her good job at Franklin Templeton, never imagining all this would occur as a result of her bloated ego. Well, thats understandable. Mr. Christian Cooper, 57, Harvard graduate, prominent birder, board member of New York City Audubon Society, one more victim of being Black in America. Now, lets go on to the latest murder of the African American man, George Floyd. Brief research showed he was held down, knelt with knee on Mr. Floyds neck for more than seven minutes was Derrick Chauvin as Mr. Floyd complained he could not breathe. Its awful. Its reported that Derek Chauvin, had his knee on Mr. Floyds neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds in total, and 2 minutes, 53 seconds after Floyd was unresponsive, the criminal complaint (you can read onlinesays (Google.com). There were four officers, Chauvin and three others. Mr. Floyd was unarmed. Chauvin has been charged with murder. The problem (the way I see it) is that police need sensitivity training as a part of police training. The problem has gone on too long; falsely accusing people (especially African Americans, male and female, Latinos too!) There are too many angry self-absorbed police officers, who are also unthoughtful, insensitive and think they can just get away with whatever. Please dont get me wrong. I love police officers. What would we do without them (the good ones) but we dont love the obnoxious behavior of officers like Chauvin and too many others. How is it they keep getting off?? Whos behind this? Whos allowing these things to keep happening repeatedly?? Too many have no fear of discipline. We can see why, too. Just like that woman in the park. She had no thought that she was doing wrong. No conscience toward African Americans and other human beings! Conscience seared with a hot iron. Where are the boundariesthe standards. Oh! Im just upset. At least, Mr. Cooper lived to tell about it and we see it on camera! Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!!! ADVERTISEMENT Ask Dr. Jeanette Parkertm Ask Dr. Jeanettetm www.AskDrJeanetteParker.com; Articles copyright Inquiring Minds Want To Know Jeanette Parker Founder-Superintendent:Todays Fresh Start Charter School www.todaysfreshstart.org [email protected] This article, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg and the fight for social media's soul -- and survival, originally appeared on CNET.com. To understand the difference between Mark Zuckerberg's and Jack Dorsey's management styles, let's start with a story about a goat. About 10 years ago, Facebook's founder invited Twitter's chief to his Silicon Valley home for dinner and served a goat he'd just killed. Zuckerberg had hunted the animal as part of a famous New Year's challenge in which he vowed to only eat meat he'd personally slaughtered. When the goat came out, the meat was cold, Dorsey told Rolling Stone last year. "I just ate my salad," said Dorsey, a finicky eater who practices intermittent fasting. The home-cooked meal wasn't just a bizarre interaction between two of Big Tech's most powerful moguls. It's an example, granted an extreme one, of a simple fact: Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg do things differently. Those differences, in turn, play out on their freewheeling social networks, which are now at the center of a growing political controversy over misinformation, free speech and content moderation in a world where most people get their news online first. At the center of that controversy is President Donald Trump, an avid Twitter user who's griped about social media for years even as he's used the platforms to reach his base. His anger hit a new ceiling this week when he signed an executive order taking aim at Facebook and Twitter. The order sets the stage for discussion to come about whether social media platforms should keep their protected status as distributors of content -- rather than publishers of content -- under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. In the few days after Trump announced (via tweets, of course) his plan to challenge the social media giants, the responses from Dorsey and Zuckerberg couldn't be more different. Twitter has gone all-in, calling out Trump, flagging his tweets for misleading information about mail-in ballots and for "glorifying violence." Facebook, meanwhile, has left Trump's posts on the social network alone, and is seen as trying to mollify the president. We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet from @realdonaldtrump. https://t.co/6RHX56G2zt Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020 Through it all, Zuckerberg and Dorsey have taken potshots at each other's companies, shattering a decorum normally practiced by Silicon Valley's elite. On Wednesday, Zuckberberg went on Fox News -- familiar turf for Trump -- to proclaim that Facebook shouldn't be an "arbiter of truth," name-checking Twitter as he did. Without mentioning Facebook directly, Dorsey fired back hours later in a series of tweets. "We'll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally," he wrote. "This does not make us an 'arbiter of truth.'" "The companies are clearly taking two very different approaches," said Jen King, a director at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. Dorsey may feel more comfortable pushing back because Twitter -- though it does attract attention -- hasn't been under the same intense microscope as Facebook and Zuckerberg, she said. "To the extent that these companies are reflections of their founders and leaders, Twitter just hasn't had the same questions around ethics that Facebook has." A deep divide For years the president has complained, without evidence, that Silicon Valley has it out for conservatives. On Thursday, Trump's rage toward Twitter, which he uses every day to reach his 80 million followers, boiled over as he signed an executive order that threatens to crack down on social media companies. "We're here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers it has faced in American history," Trump said in the Oval Office when signing the order. The catalyst came earlier in the week, when Twitter for the first time applied labels to two of Trump's tweets. The company flagged one post, which shared inaccurate details about mail-in ballots, for containing "potentially misleading information." Two days later Twitter flagged another tweet, in which the president, seeming to reference comments that helped spark Miami race riots in the 1960s, warned protesters in Minneapolis that looters would be shot. Twitter said the tweet violated its community standards against "glorifying violence." Getty Images Trump posted the same message, which suggested the military would take control of the situation, on Facebook. The post has been liked more than 240,000 times and shared 64,000 times. Facebook, which didn't remove the post, didn't respond to a request for comment. But Zuckerberg explained the decision on Friday afternoon, reportedly after employees began questioning management's inaction on internal message boards. "All this points to a very high risk of a violent escalation and civil unrest in November," one employee reportedly wrote. "If we fail the test case here, history will not judge us kindly." "I've been struggling with how to respond to the President's tweets and posts all day," Zuckerberg wrote, explaining his decision. He said Facebook interpreted Trump's reference to the National Guard "as a warning about state action," and decided the post should stay up. "Personally, I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric," Zuckerberg added. "But I'm responsible for reacting not just in my personal capacity but as the leader of an institution committed to free expression. I know many people are upset that we've left the President's posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies." Trump's executive order asks for government agencies including the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission to reinterpret the CDA law that shields tech platforms from liability for content posted by users. Many lawyers, activists and academics say Trump's order isn't workable, with some calling it political theater and note it will likely face legal challenges. Both the FTC and the FCC are independent agencies, so it'll be up to them whether to take action. But that doesn't make it meaningless. Trump's active promotion of the order may drive Dorsey, Zuckerberg and other social media executives to dig their heels in on their already diverging approaches to moderating content. Twitter and Facebook have differed sharply in policy decisions in the past. Last year, Dorsey said Twitter would ban political ads, with a handful of exceptions. Twitter, for example, allows ads with messages about issues pertaining to the environment or economy, but they can't push specific legislation or political solutions. Getty Images Facebook is more open to political marketing. The social network doesn't send ads from politicians to fact-checkers but includes them in a public database. It also limits the amount of political ads people see on the social network. Amid criticism, Zuckerberg defended the decision last year during a speech at Georgetown University, saying the company stands for "voice and free expression." As Twitter and Facebook again deviate in their approaches to speech on their platforms, civil rights groups are applauding Twitter. But they say Dorsey could go even further. "Now that Twitter is emboldened, sees the public is behind them, and has committed to doing its part to flag disinformation and threats of violence from the president, it must also take a stand against other hateful activity on its platform," said Henry Fernandez, co-founder of Change the Terms, a coalition of advocacy groups focused on "reducing hate online." 'The whole world was watching' Zuckerberg, 36, and Dorsey, 43, are alike in many ways. Both dropped out of prestigious colleges to move to Silicon Valley. The two are making more media appearances as their companies come under fire, but neither is particularly comfortable in the glare of a television studio. They've both pledged to give away big chunks of their multibillion-dollar fortunes. But as Silicon Valley founders go, they're polar opposites. Zuckerberg has often cited Bill Gates as a major influence. Both are Harvard University dropouts. Both are cerebral, Zuckerberg so much so he's been derided as robotic. Like Gates, Zuckerberg is becoming well-known for his philanthropy. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization he and wife Priscilla Chan founded in 2015, focuses on education and medicine, the same playbook used by the 20-year-old Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Getty Images By contrast, Dorsey's story more closely resembles that of Gates' tech nemesis: Steve Jobs. Apple's cofounder was famously ousted from the company he started, only to return in 1996 to save it from the brink of collapse. Dorsey, too, was forced out of Twitter for years before reclaiming the top job in 2015. Like Jobs, who was often seen as a new age hippie, Dorsey is known for his quirks. The New York Times once called him "Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley," citing his role as a wellness guru for the tech world, his penchant for meditation retreats, ice baths and intermittent fasting. And he's noted for often delegating policy decisions, "watching the debate from the sidelines so he would not dominate with his own views," the NYT noted. Dorsey is also CEO of the mobile payments technology company he founded, Square. Dorsey also has a history with activism. In 2014, he participated in the Ferguson, Missouri, protests after the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man shot dead by a white police officer. Dorsey, who grew up in nearby St. Louis, said at the time it was "stunning" to see people using the service to organize and protest. "That was so important to people on the ground," Dorsey said. "It felt like the whole world was watching." Turns out, it is. Representative image For the first time since the nation-wide lockdown was announced in March, the government has allowed foreign businessmen, healthcare professionals and engineers to visit India but they will have to obtain fresh visas. In an order, the Home Ministry said the foreign nationals, holding a valid long-term multiple-entry business visa, would also have to get their travel documents re-validated from the Indian missions. "The Government of India has considered the matter regarding relaxation of the visa and travel restrictions for certain categories of foreign nationals who need to come to India." "It has been decided to permit the following categories of foreign nationals to come to India," a home ministry statement said on June 3. Those who are allowed to visit India are: foreign businessmen coming to India on a business visa (other than on B-3 visa for sports) in non-scheduled commercial and chartered flights. Foreign healthcare professionals, health researchers, engineers and technicians who wish to come for technical work at Indian health sector facilities, including laboratories and factories. This is subject to a letter of invitation from a recognised and registered healthcare facility, registered pharmaceutical company or accredited university in India. Foreign engineering, managerial, design or other specialists who wish to travel to India on behalf of foreign business entities located in India. This includes all manufacturing units, design units, software and IT units as well as financial sector companies (banking and non-banking financial sector firms). Foreign technical specialists and engineers who want to visit India for installation, repair and maintenance of foreign-origin machinery and equipment facilities in India, on the invitation of a registered Indian business entity. These could be for equipment installation, or is under warranty, or for after sales servicing or repair on commercial terms. "The above categories of foreign nationals would have to obtain a fresh business visa or employment visa, as applicable, from the Indian missions and posts abroad," the statement said. Also, foreign nationals holding a valid long-term multiple-entry business visa (other than B-3 visa for sports) issued by the Indian missions abroad would have to get the business visa re-validated from the Indian mission concerned. Such foreign nationals would not be permitted to travel to India on the strength of any electronic visa obtained earlier, the statement said. The government on May 7 launched a special operation under the name of Vande Bharat Mission for the evacuation of stranded Indians in foreign nations through air and sea. Subsequently, it allowed Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders who wish to come to India on account of family emergencies. This was for the first time that foreign nationals are allowed to visit India. The nationwide lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. It was first extended till May 3 and then again till May 17. The lockdown was further extended till May 31 and now in containment zones till June 30. A Nigerian doctor Obinna Aniagboso, has said legalising abortion would help reduce unwanted pregnancies and risks associated with unsa... A Nigerian doctor Obinna Aniagboso, has said legalising abortion would help reduce unwanted pregnancies and risks associated with unsafe abortions. Aniagboso, an Obstetrics and Gynaecology expert at the Chukwuemeka Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Amaku said legalising abortion would drastically reduce mortality, morbidity and infertility amongst women. According to him, while awareness about family planning is about 80 per cent, its acceptance among the people is still as low as 20 per cent. The gynaecologist blamed the poor embrace of contraceptives, which he said was the most effective planning method, on religious belief systems, ignorance and fear of side effects. He said that withdrawal method and other natural methods used by many people often failed and were contributing immensely to unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortion and population surge. The use of contraceptives is very unpopular; only a few educated women do family planning, and funnily, lots of husbands advise their wives against it. We advocate the use of contraceptive as the most reliable method of spacing families and avoiding unplanned pregnancies. Some couples use withdrawal and natural methods that involve avoiding intercourse during the wifes fertile period, but these methods are prone to mistakes, he said. Aniagboso told NAN that the issue of unwanted pregnancies had increased the demand for abortion by the sexually active female population. According to him, stringent abortion law in Nigeria has denied these people expert services and left them at the mercy of quacks with its attendant dangers that include post-abortion sepsis, which could eventually cause infertility. The medical practitioner said that in spite of the legal limitation and societal disapproval for abortion in Nigeria, people still sought and accessed the services. He, therefore, advocated that the practice (abortion) be liberalised to help meet the prevailing social health challenges in the country. BRADY ANDERSON, Chariho, Wrestling, Sophomore; Anderson finished first in the 152-pound weight class at the Griswold Midseason Invitational tournament. Anderson went 3-0 in the tournament, pinning all of his opponents in the first period. Anderson is 10-4. LYDIA LASKEY, Stonington, Gymnastics, Senior; Laskey finished first in all four events in meets against NFA and Westerly. Laskey had an all-around score of 33.75 against NFA and 34.60 against Westerly. RILEY PELOQUIN, Westerly, Girls Basketball, Sophomore; Peloquin scored 22 points and had 19 rebounds in two games. Peloquin is averaging 7.6 points and 7.5 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs. DEONDRE BRANSFORD, Wheeler, Boys Basketball, Sophomore; Bransford scored 25 points and had 28 rebounds in a pair of Wheeler victories. Bransford is averaging 10.6 points and 12.1 rebounds per contest for the Lions. Vote View Results Anusha Ravi By Express News Service BENGALURU: While Chief Minister BS Yediyurappas own party MLAs seem to be cooking up a rebellion against him, his government seems to be receiving wishes for long life from an unlikely entity the Congress. Despite their differences, the Congress leaders seem to be united in their stance that the longer Yediyurappa stays in power, the better for them in the next assembly election. The Congress leaders whether those in KPCC president D K Shivakumar camp or those in CLP chief Siddaramaiahs camp opine that its best not to disrupt the Yediyurappa government. Shivakumar has just taken charge as KPCC chief and needs at least two years to cement himself among workers and leaders. If elections are held shortly, they may not be favourable to him, said a Congress party office-bearer from Shivakumars camp. Shivakumars ardent supporters in the party believe that any disruption in government now may stall his plans of emerging as the Chief Minister candidate. In the Siddaramaiah camp, the mood is that of wait and watch. Many disgruntled BJP MLAs have approached me to speak about their woes. There is indeed dissidence in the BJP and this will continue. If the government falls on its own, then we are not responsible, Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday. Sources from his inner circle, however, said that the bigger reason dissuading Siddaramaiah from taking advantage of the rebellion is his lack of trust in those BJP MLAs said to be approaching him. Moreover, with uncertainty looming over how much power Shivakumar would wield among workers and leaders, Siddaramaiah is said to be weighing in the support he will get from cadres. Even as Congress insiders insist that they dont see benefits in disrupting the Yediyurappa government, BJP leaders are wary of frequent meetings between its dissenting MLAs and leaders of the Congress. The government is running smoothly whether it is Covid-19 management, migrant management or economic activities, said Lehar Singh Siroya, BJP MLC. It would be better for Siddaramaiah if he paid attention to his party MLAs rather than entertain BJP legislators, he said. Treatment of the common disease psoriasis, usually focuses on treating the skin. However, psoriasis patients often have other physical diseases that can bring on depression, anxiety, and suicide. A new study from Umea University, Sweden, shows that these other somatic diseases have even more impact on patients' mental health than their skin symptoms, highlighting the importance of holistic patient care. Psoriasis is a lifelong disease. The body produces skin cells too quickly which build up on the skin's surface in the form of inflamed red, painful, itchy scales. Many people with psoriasis have other physical diseases such as being overweight, diabetes and heart diseases. "What we didn't know before is how psoriasis skin symptoms and other somatic diseases associated with psoriasis impact mental health," says Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf, Dermatologist and Professor at Umea University. Previous research found that people with psoriasis suffer more often from somatic and mental diseases compared to individuals without psoriasis. A new study confirmed this. The study also investigated how psoriasis skin symptoms and associated somatic diseases impacted mental health, considering anxiety, depression and suicide together. The study found that skin symptoms have an important impact on mental health, but that other somatic diseases associated with psoriasis can cause even more harm to mental health. We found that skin symptoms increased the risk of mental illness by a third, while other physical illnesses doubled the risk among psoriasis patients." Kirk Geale, PhD Candidate, Umea University The results in the study shows a 32 percent increase risk of mental illness caused by skin symptoms and a 109 percent increased risk at other somatic illnesses. This information is important as the total burden of mental health burden for people with psoriasis, and what contributes to it, was not well established. The study's findings encourage people with psoriasis to talk with their doctors more about symptoms beyond the skin, both physical and mental. It also encourages doctors to proactively discuss these issues with their patients. "I would be delighted if our study could support the trend towards a more holistic view on psoriasis care. At the doctor's office, lifestyle factors should be discussed in the awareness that individual responsiblity may be limited by available personal and community resources. Such an approach may improve the complete triad of psoriasis - skin symptoms, somatic and mental health alike," concludes Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf. The study was conducted during 2017 - 2019. Nationwide data from about 100000 individuals with psoriasis but without earlier mental diseases in Sweden were compared to a control group without psoriasis. The study is published in JAMA Dermatology. CARGOTEC CORPORATION, PRESS RELEASE, 4 JUNE 2020 AT 1 PM (EET) Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has concluded an agreement to supply Klabin, Brazil's largest producer and exporter of packaging paper, with three Kalmar Zero Emission rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs). The order, which also includes Kalmar SmartPort solutions, was booked in Cargotec's 2020 Q2 order intake with delivery scheduled for Q2 2021. Klabin is Brazil's largest paper manufacturer and exporter and the country's leading producer of papers and paperboard for packaging, industrial bags and corrugated board packaging. The company also manufactures hardwood, softwood and fluff pulp. One crane will serve the rail yard and two will operate in the container terminal yard at Klabin's new integrated pulp and paper production facility currently under construction in Ortigueira City, in the South Region of Brazil. The RTGs will be equipped with the Kalmar SmartFleet remote monitoring solution to allow Klabin to manage, troubleshoot and analyse the status, productivity and maintenance needs of the equipment. They will also include Kalmar SmartRail, an automated gantry steering solution that improves safety and operator performance by allowing the operator to concentrate fully on picking and placing containers. The Kalmar Zero Emission RTG features a 100-percent electric power system that produces no emissions or engine noise at source, and completely eliminates the need for hydraulic oil. Its simplified design means it requires significantly less maintenance than a diesel-powered RTG. Sergio Morales, Logistic Project Coordinator, Klabin: "We are constantly working on solutions that improve our operational efficiency with responsibility and sustainability. The new terminal yard will be a completely new operation for us, so we are pleased to have the support of Kalmar in this project since they are a world leader in eco-efficient container handling solutions and services. The zero-emission cranes will bring a minimum operational cost and play a vital role in our effort to create a sustainable logistics process." Alexandre Esse, Manager, Sales, Ports & Terminals, Americas, Kalmar: "We are proud to be able to provide Klabin with a unique zero-emission solution to help connect their new production facility with the distribution port at Paranagua. With the help of our RTG technology, the customer can develop a safe, cost-efficient and sustainable logistics process to support their business goals." Further information for the press: Alexandre Esse, Manager, Sales, Ports & Terminals, Americas, Kalmar, tel +55 13 99210 0227 Maija Eklof, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Kalmar, tel. +358 20 777 4096, maija.eklof@kalmarglobal.com Kalmar offers the widest range of cargo handling solutions and services to ports, terminals, distribution centres and to heavy industry. Kalmar is the industry forerunner in terminal automation and in energy efficient container handling, with one in four container movements around the globe being handled by a Kalmar solution. Through its extensive product portfolio, global service network and ability to enable a seamless integration of different terminal processes, Kalmar improves the efficiency of every move.www.kalmarglobal.comKalmar is part of Cargotec. Cargotec's Attachment 9:15 p.m. |Nearly 15 minutes after the 9 p.m. curfew, a couple of police officers approached the chanting crowd to advise them that it was past curfew. The crowd issued a few last chants and some prepared to leave. Those staying are starting a hashtag BLM after dark. 8:40 p.m. | As the sun started to set behind the building lining Travis Park, friends Jaylon Dukes and Paul Lozano III, both 22, reflected on why they think these protests, and not protests for other black men and women, will lead to lasting institutional changes. Because we dont plan to stop protesting until changes are made, said Lozano, an accounting student at the University of Texas, San Antonio. Other times there are protests and then the protests just stop. Agreed Dukes, Were not going to stop until we force the changes that need to be made. 7:50 p.m. | A Black History Education even is planned for 8:30 p.m. at Travis Park. Shamar Mims, 22, a student at Texas State University, will lead the session, he announced on the megaphone at police headquarters. Then some are going to exercise civil disobedience, as he put it, by staying past 9 p.m. curfew. 7:15 p.m. | Under the watchful eye of lines of police cruisers parked about half a block away, the protest came to an official end a little after 7 p.m., with leaders pleading with the crowd to leave peacefully and give trash to people with plastic bags. Many held back, however, chatting in small groups, taking photos, drinking water and munching on snacks. 6:20 p.m. | Back at Police headquarters, theres a brief pause as people pass around snacks. Energy energy energy! They call out as people grab Cheetos, crackers and granola bars from large zip-locbags. When the speakers resumed the megaphone, they brought attention to Justin Howell, the 20-year-old who was shot by Austin PD and is in critical condition. Howell graduated From San Antonios Communication Arts High School in 2018. They held a moment of silence for him. 6:10 p.m. | After ralling at the courthouse for over an hour, the protesters marched back to SAPD headquarters. One protester wearing a large, orange Tyrannosaurus rex costume held a sign reading Dinosaurs for black lives. Several people held signs with one arm and umbrellas in the other to hide from the blazing sun. Many brought their dogs, others brought skateboards and skated to the police headquarters. Along side of the march back, a few people handed out water bottles to disperse to the sweaty, masked crowd. Silvia Foster-Frau 5:55: p.m. | There are hundreds of people at the courthouse and more continue to trickle in. The event is more organized tonight, with scheduled speakers rallying behind a list of demands from Uniting America Through Wisdom. After Mayor Ron Nirenberg spoke to a group, some protesters turned angry, screaming that the mayor was the problem. Protesters began to clash, yelling at each other over whether the group should give city leaders a chance to make changes. 5:30 p.m. | Mayor Ron Nirenberg gave an impassioned speech to protesters, asking that they forgive mistakes and, "Hold me accountable for it. Because Im the mayor of this goddamn city, and were going to make changes together. 5:10 p.m. | Mayor Ron Nirenberg arrived and spoke with Pharoah Clark, leader of the group Uniting America Through Wisdom. When their conversation ended, Nirenberg had Pharoahs list of demands in one hand, and was shaking his hand in the other. They plan to have a formal meeting soon. 4:50 p.m. | Friends Brea Melton, 18, and Jazmyn Taylor, 19, say they attended a protest over the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012. And while they were much younger then, they say the protests that have occupied downtown San Antonio this week feel different. With Trayvon, no one saw what happened, so they gave up, said Martin, a pre-med student at Texas Tech University. With George Floyd, you have it on video, eight minutes of a police officer with his knee on Floyds neck in broad daylight. Taylor Pettaway 4:10 p.m. | So many were taking advantage of the ad hoc voter registration area set up toward the back of the protest area that the volunteers ran out of pens, and people had to wait for someone to finishing filling out their registration form before they could start on theirs. One first-ever registered voter, Isaiah Adams, 23, said he was never educated in the importance of voting in school. But now Ive educated myself and I see how vital it is to the future and to making this city the type of city we want to live in, said Adams, a writer. So Im definitely going to vote in November. 4:00 p.m. | Protesters with Uniting America Through Wisdom plan to start their march to the courthouse around 4:30 p.m., where more speakers and a reading of their demands are expected. From the courthouse, they will head back to Public Safety Headquarters. 3:40 p.m. | Lorenzo Menchaca returned to San Antonio from Portland, Oregon, two days early from a camping trip specifically to participate in Thursdays protest. I wanted to be here because I dont understand why people continue to teach their children to be racist and homophobic, said Manchaca, 20, a business finance student at Northwest Lakeview College. As one of the organizers addressed the crowd, Menchacs, who said he identifies as half Hispanic and half white, said he was encouraged by the diversity of the crowd. Hes white, he said, indicating the speaker. One hundred years ago you would never have seen a white person involved in this kind of protest. 3:30 p.m. | Protest organizers say the next step in the change they want is getting police and city officials to sit down and listen to reform ideas, not only within the law enforcement agencies, but reform in state law and policy as well. But the thing about it is, these officers and the officials and whoever's in charge can say that they're with us say that they support us and say all of those things, but if they're not actually acting on those things, then, you know, it's not really a change, said Lexi Quaiyyim, 24, one of the organizers of the Black Lives Matter protests in San Antonio. The aspiring model has been one of the key voices in the San Antonio movement since protests began last Saturday. 3:10 p.m. | Standing in the shade of police headquarters building, Vanessa Salas discussed what the protestors hope to accomplish on this, the sixth day of public action. We need to make fundamental changes in the police department operations, said Salas, a nail technician who runs her own salon. A big thing we want to see is the defunding of the police department. The police budget is $479 million and thats ridiculous because theyre constantly bullying people of color and not protecting the community. 3 p.m. | Though not as a large previous protests, a few dozen people gathered at San Antonio Public Safety Headquarters Thursday afternoon to remember George Floyd and to advocate for law enforcement reforms. India is to allow farmers to sell produce directly to bulk buyers. (PTI Photo) New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared an ordinance to amend the 60-year old Essential Commodities Act which would enable farmers to sell their produce at better prices and to larger spectrum of buyers, apart from the purview of mandis. The amendment deregulated essential food items like onions, potatoes, cereals and pulses. Under it stock limit will also be imposed under exceptional circumstances like national calamities. Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said that the decision would help raise farmers' income. The amendment will also help create a legal framework to provide price assurance to farmers. It is in line with the NDA government's move to double farmers' income by 2022. This proposal was part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package, which was announced by the Prime Minister last month, to combat the ill effects caused to the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cabinet also approved The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 to ensure barrier free trade in agriculture produce. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 to empower farmers to engage with processors, aggregators, wholesalers, large retailers and exporters, was also approved by the Cabinet. The proposed amendment to the Essential Commodities Act will allay fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference, Mr Tomar said. The agriculture minister further informed that The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 will promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce outside the physical premises of markets notified under State Agricultural Produce Marketing legislations. This is a historic-step in unlocking the vastly regulated agricultural markets in the country, he said. Mr Tomar further said that the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 will empower farmers for engaging with processors, aggregators, large retailers, and exporters on their own terms. New moderate income housing program could be on the way to Long Beach SAN FRANCISCO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn, a leading global digital skills training provider, today announced its partnership with Deviare, a South Africa-based digital and IT solutions platform. Through this collaboration, Simplilearn will offer digital skilling programs in the field of Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud programming, and Full-stack Development for learners and corporations in the African market. As an authorized partner, Deviare will take Simplilearn's best-in-class digital training programs to the entire region, enabling learners to gain from the company's high-touch learning platform. The partnership is expected to benefit over 10,000 learners who are now on the Deviare platform in the current financial year. These technical skilling programs are accredited by Media, Information, and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) of South Africa. Simplilearn already has a strong presence in the US, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and the United Kingdom. With this relationship, the company is expanding its footprint in the African continent too. This association with Deviare reiterates Simplilearn's commitment to preparing a global workforce for the changing digital economy. It adds to the company's other international partnerships with leading higher education institutions and online platforms to extend its global coverage. Speaking on Simplilearn's venture into the African market, Krishna Kumar, CEO & Founder of Simplilearn, said, "Upskilling and reskilling of the workforce has become a global agenda along with other global subjects like climate change. The rapid evolution of technology and its integration into business operations has created new roles and opportunities. Organizations need to invest in skilling their workforce for these new roles to prepare for an increasingly digital future. Through this partnership with Deviare, we hope to enable and catalyze the digital transformation journey of businesses from different sectors across Africa. This goal also aligns with the South African government's mission of skilling thousands of professionals in the IT sector to prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution." South Africa and the rest of the continent is on the brink of transformation ushered by Industry 4.0. According to a global report, this digital transformation will create 133 million new jobs across the globe with vast new opportunities for fulfilling people's potentials. Mr. Lubabalo Dyantyi, Co-founder and executive director, Deviare highlighted, "The debate on reskilling and upskilling is a global agenda. Governments and businesses are coming together to address the issues of building a relevant skilled workforce. Our collaboration with Simplilearn, a globally trusted online digital skilling company, is coming at the right time. With this association, we aim to play a big role in helping businesses across Africa navigate their digital transformation journeys." As part of a recent program initiated by the IT Ministry of South Africa, Simplilearn and Deviare together supported the skilling of over 500 IT professionals. The success of this program has given a strong foundation for further upskilling programs throughout South Africa. Sharing his thoughts on this collaboration Mr. Dyantyi also stated, "Last year, the South African Government debuted a large-scale multi-year project to train young people in data sciences, cloud architecture, and related skills as part of the country's drive towards equipping itself with the skills needed to meet the Fourth Industrial Revolution head-on. We have produced around 180 data scientists, 200 cloud practitioners in both AWS and Azure, 159 data engineers, 40 learners who are now proficient in machine learning on Tensorflow, and 140 cybersecurity practitioners." With this strategic collaboration with Simplilearn, Deviare started working with Microsoft South Africa to deliver skills in Cloud Computing. Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Siyabonga Madyibi, Executive Director for Corporate and Legal Affairs, Microsoft South Africa says, "The vast majority of businesses in South Africa and across the globe are adopting cloud for at least some of their applications and workloads, and we recognize that the demand for skilled professionals in this field is skyrocketing. Cloud computing offers a wide range of options for skilled people and is becoming a sought-after capability, with Microsoft Azure skills topping the list. With this in mind, we have worked with Deviare to train more than 700 young people in cloud computing, with a focus on Azure. In addition, we have worked together to build digital mobile labs that enable remote access to training for those who previously were excluded due to geographic limitations." Simplilearn derives more than 50% of its revenues from its international operations. Having maintained its leadership position in the space of digital skilling for learners, corporates and enterprises; today, Simplilearn has helped more than one million professionals across 150 countries to upskill and prepare for the digital future. About Simplilearn Simplilearn enables professionals and enterprises to succeed in the fast-changing digital economy. The company provides outcome-based online training across digital technologies and applications such as Big Data, Machine Learning, AI, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Digital Marketing, and other emerging technologies. Based in San Francisco and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn has helped more than one million professionals and 1,000 companies across 150 countries get trained, acquire certifications, and reach their business and career goals. The company's Blended Learning curriculum combines self-paced online learning, instructor-led live virtual classrooms, hands-on projects, student collaboration, and 24/7 global teaching assistance. For more information, visit Simplilearn.com. About Deviare Pty.Ltd. Deviare is an African Technology firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its core capability is the use of its enterprise digital platform for workforce skills transformation and technology services. We combine tested methodologies with technology platforms to help organizations navigate their own unique digital transformation journey. Deviare helps organizations build capability and capacity for digital transformation through targeted advisory services, digital skills training, and technology solutions. For more information on Deviare, please visit http://www.deviare.co.za/digital-transformation-training/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/535442/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 01:39:26|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. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) "The Executive Group received this recommendation and endorsed continuation of all arms of the Solidarity Trial, including hydroxychloroquine." GENEVA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday announced that based on the latest data review, the clinical trial of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine on COVID-19 patients will continue. Speaking at a virtual press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that experts have been reviewing the data and recommended that "there are no reasons to modify the trial protocol." "The Executive Group received this recommendation and endorsed continuation of all arms of the Solidarity Trial, including hydroxychloroquine," he said. A teacher gives hand sanitizer to students returning for classes at Seryun Elementary School in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2020. (Photo by Lee Sang-ho/Xinhua) The Solidarity Trial is a WHO-sponsored plan to evaluate the safety and efficacy of four drugs and drug combinations against COVID-19, which include hydroxychloroquine. On May 25, the WHO decided to pause the trial of hydroxychloroquine amid concerns over its safety. "The Data Safety and Monitoring Committee will continue to closely monitor the safety of all therapeutics being tested in the Solidarity Trial," Tedros said. The announcement comes after a year-long siege by forces of eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar. Forces fighting for Libyas internationally recognised government said they regained full control over Tripoli after being besieged for more than a year by militias loyal to an eastern-based renegade commander. The Government of National Accord (GNA) military operations room said in a statement on Thursday its forces captured all areas surrounding the Tripoli city administrative area. Our heroic forces have full control of Greater Tripoli right up to the city limits, said Mohammed Gnounou, a GNA military spokesman. A military source with the eastern forces, whose base is in the eastern city of Benghazi, told Reuters news agency they were pulling back from all of Tripolis suburbs. No official comment was available from LNA forces. The withdrawal represents a stinging reversal for eastern commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), which launched an offensive on Tripoli last year pledging to unite Libya after years of chaos. The military gains come after a series of battlefield victories against Haftars forces in recent weeks. GNA troops on Wednesday seized Tripolis international airport. It has been closed since 2014 and was held by the LNA since last year when Haftar launched his assault on the capital. By taking control of this international airport, GNA forces were able to go beyond and push Haftars forces back beyond the administrative borders of the capital, said Al Jazeeras correspondent Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from the abandoned facility. Since 2014, Libya has been split between rival factions based in Tripoli and in the east, in a sometimes chaotic war that has drawn in outside powers and a flood of foreign arms and mercenaries. Haftars LNA, backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, has been unable to make significant progress since early on in its assault on the capital. It still controls eastern and southern Libya, including most of the countrys oil facilities and the city of Sirte, at the centre of Libyas Mediterranean coastline. Turkey-GNA meeting The GNA has had Haftars forces on the run with the help of Turkish airpower that has turned the tide in the conflict. Libyas internationally recognised leader will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on Thursday as the allies seek to lock in recent gains on the battlefield near Tripoli ahead of a new round of talks on a potential ceasefire. Turkey began providing military support to Fayez al-Sarrajs GNA in November after signing a military cooperation pact alongside a maritime demarcation deal, which gives Ankara exploration rights in the Mediterranean that Greece and others reject. GNA fighters recaptured Tripolis airport from Haftars militias in Tripoli on Wednesday [Hazem Turkia/Anadolu] The Turkish Presidency said Erdogan and al-Sarraj were to meet in Ankara at 11:00 GMT. On Monday, the United Nations said both sides had agreed to resume ceasefire talks, warning that weapons and fighters flying into Libya in defiance of an arms embargo threatened a major new escalation. A senior Turkish official said the airport seizure was critical ahead of potential peace talks, and that Turkey would reject any proposal to divide Libya between warring factions. Everyone wants to sit at the table without losing territory, but the territory you hold strengthens your positions at the table, the official said, adding that Erdogan and al-Sarraj would discuss both strategy and the situation on the ground. Anas El-Gomati, founder of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute, said the GNA faces new challenges now that it has repelled Haftars forces. The GNA is in a better position to begin negotiations, El-Gomati said. But it is also in a much more precarious position because many of its combatants believe in pursuing Haftar to the east of Libya, to his stronghold in the town of al-Rajma there are many more believe in negotiations so there is going to be a real split within the GNAs forces. Flurry of diplomacy Al-Sarrajs visit to Ankara comes after a flurry of diplomacy on Wednesday as leaders from both sides travelled abroad for meetings hosted by the foreign powers embroiled in the conflict. Al-Sarrajs deputy and foreign minister travelled to Moscow, while Haftar was in Egypt to meet defence officials. Ankara, which has sent equipment and military personnel to help the GNA, has slammed Haftars supporters for backing a putschist and says al-Sarrajs recent advantage is an opportunity for political talks. Libya has been without central government authority since 2011, with towns and cities controlled by factions fighting for rival governments in the east and west since 2014. Establishing a lasting presence in Libya would give Turkey another foothold in the eastern Mediterranean, where it has been at odds with neighbouring states over offshore hydrocarbon drilling. Greece and Cyprus called last years maritime deal with Tripoli illegal, an accusation Ankara has denied. It would also grant it a strategic position near Egypt, with which ties have been strained for years. The whole world recognises that Turkey changed the balance on the ground, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. We have interests here [and] in the Mediterranean. Russia Eyes Military Expansion in Northeast Syria By Sirwan Kajjo June 03, 2020 Russian troops in Syria are looking to expand their military presence in the northeastern part of the war-ravaged country, local sources said. A Russian military convoy arrived last week in a village near Syria's border with Turkey and Iraq, where Russian officers reportedly met with local residents and discussed the possibility of building a military base in the vicinity. A local reporter told VOA that the village Qasir Dib is located near the Kurdish-majority town of Malikiyah in Syria's north-easternmost region. "I spoke with people who were present at the meeting," said Nishan Mohammad, a freelance reporter based in northeast Syria. "They confirmed that the Russians had expressed a desire to build a military base in the village." Increased presence In recent months, Russia, a staunch backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, has increased its foothold the country's northeast, which is largely controlled by local Kurdish forces. After Turkish military and its allied Syrian militias launched an offensive against the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in October 2019, Russian troops stepped into the region, following a partial U.S. troop withdrawal from the border area between Syria and Turkey. The SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters, says the U.S. drawdown and the subsequent Turkish invasion have created a vacuum in parts of the region, which has been filled by Russian forces and its allied Syrian government troops. "The Russians have been roaming almost freely in our region," a senior SDF official told VOA on the condition of anonymity. "Their ultimate goal is to push the Americans out of northeast Syria." The U.S. currently has about 700 troops, mostly stationed in eastern Syria. U.S. officials say their mission is to continue the war against the remnants of the Islamic State (IS) terror group and prevent the Syrian regime forces from accessing oil fields in the region. Tensions and de-confliction The presence of both U.S. and Russian forces in northeast Syria has caused tensions at times. In several recent incidents, U.S. and Russian military convoys came toe to toe, with tensions de-escalating after consultations between both sides. But local news outlets last week published a video, in which U.S. and Russian troops were seen together, describing it as a joint patrol mission. U.S. military officials, however, refuted such claims. "There was no joint patrol between us and Russia," Col. Myles Caggins, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, told VOA in a video interview last week. "We do not coordinate our missions in northeast Syria. What people saw in video and some nice photos was de-confliction," he added. With the beginning of the U.S.-led campaign against IS and the official Russian involvement in Syria's civil war in 2015, both powers established a de-confliction protocol for their respective missions to avoid collision in the air and on the ground in Syria. "Each day there are conversations between leaders here in the coalition and Russian leaders in Syria, where we share and exchange information on where our patrols will go," Caggins said, adding that there have been encounters between the two sides at times. "Those encounters are normally resolved in a professional manner. And what we've seen in recent days was the United States escorting a Russian patrol out of an area that was not de-conflicted in eastern Syria," he told VOA. The American official added that U.S.-led coalition "doesn't seek to have any escalations" with the Russians. "We certainly call on the Russians to not do anything to have an escalation or interfere with the SDF mission to defeat Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. Influence on SDF Nicholas Heras, a Syria expert at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, says Russia wants to increase the footprint of its operations in northeast Syria to build greater influence on Kurdish SDF forces. "Russia is in the process of turning the Qamishli airport into its major base in eastern Syria, but a forward operating presence in Malikiyah would allow the Russians to put additional pressure on American lines of supply and reinforcement into and out of Syria from Iraqi Kurdistan," he told VOA. Heras said "the SDF is in the American camp for now, but in the event of a U.S. pullout from Syria, the SDF will need another benefactor to protect it against Turkey." "An enlarged Russian presence along the length of the Syrian-Turkish border could keep Turkey out of additional areas of northeast Syria, shielding the SDF," he added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Incidents between police and unarmed community members over the past several years, including the police shootings of Michael Brown (2014, Ferguson, Missouri), 12-year old Tamir Rice (2014, Cleveland, Ohio), and the sleeping Breonna Taylor (March 2020, Louisville, Kentucky), have fostered a generalized discontent with the police force in the United States. This public loss of faith has been heightened by the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by a police officer who pressed his knee to Floyds neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed face-down in the street. These victims of police violence all had one thing in common: they were Black, calling attention to racial bias in the police force. Here, we review some research on police and stereotyping, police aggression, and recommendations from psychological science for policing in the United States. Police and Stereotyping Chief among these concerns is whether and to what extent police engage in racial profilingtargeting persons of a certain race because of assumptions about their racial or ethnic group rather than because of their actual behavior. Researchers Rebecca C. Hetey and APS Fellow Jennifer L. Eberhardt (2018) have already reported that there is plenty of evidence for racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, where Blacks are much more likely to be punished than Whites. These racial disparities might also play a role in police behavior and the resulting deaths of Black persons. Heather M. Kleider-Offutt, Alesha D. Bond, and Shanna E. A. Hegerty (Georgia State University) reviewed a series of studies suggesting that negative biases associating Black men with criminality are even more pronounced for men with certain facial features (2017) that are more Afrocentric (e.g., darker skin, a wide nose, full lips). This bias appears to occur because these men are readily categorized as stereotypically Black and representative of the category Black male, which also associates them with the criminal-Black-male stereotype. This type of stereotyping may lead to negative judgments and result in violent behaviors toward stereotyped members of the category. Such a bias could have important consequences for decision making by police officers and other authorities interacting with racial minorities even for those who are actively trying to avoid it. Keith Payne (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and colleagues APS Fellow Keith Payne (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) wrote in Current Directions in Psychological Science about how racial stereotypes can lead people to claim to see a weapon where there is none (2006). This weapon bias appears to affect the decisions made in the proverbial split second. Payne reviewed controlled laboratory studies in which participants made visual discriminations between guns and harmless hand tools right after a human face flashed: a Black face on some trials, a White face on others. Participants were instructed to ignore the faces and respond only to the objects. When they made the decision at their own pace, race did not affect their accuracy, although they were faster in accurately identifying a gun after seeing a Black face. When participants had only a few seconds to make their decision, they falsely claimed to see a gun more often when the face was Black than when it was White. Such a bias could have important consequences for decision making by police officers and other authorities interacting with racial minorities, and this bias might occur even for those who are actively trying to avoid it, wrote Payne. So, how to address and reduce this bias? Payne cited studies indicating that police officers with the most firearms training tend to show the least race bias, and that practice identifying weapons may also reduce weapon bias in police officers. Other Causes of Police Aggressiveness In a 2019 article in Psychological Science, Reinoud Kaldewaij (Radboud University Nijmegen) and colleagues suggested that police officers might have difficulty controlling emotional responses partly due to the effect of high levels of testosterone on the brain circuits that control emotion. While in an MRI scanner, Dutch police recruits completed a task in which they had to approach or avoid angry and happy faces by moving a joystick. Researchers also collected saliva samples to measure testosterone levels, and participants self-reported their levels of aggression. A high aggressivitytestosterone combination may decrease the efficiency of emotional control. Reinoud Kaldewaij (Radboud University Nijmegen) and colleagues For the trials that required emotional control, brain blood flow, indicating activation, was stronger in the neural control circuits for participants with higher levels of aggression, but lower for those with high aggression and higher testosterone levels in their saliva. Hence, aggressive individuals who are mentally healthy seem able to use a brain circuit to regulate their emotions, but this regulation might fail under challenging situations known to increase testosterone. These findings might explain why police officers, though selected for their high emotional control, may show poor control (e.g., using excessive violence) in certain situations. This research does not serve as an excuse for excessive violent behavior, but it can have implications for selecting and training first responders. Possible Paths to Improve Police-Community Relations Payne (2006) cited research showing that consciously planning to link racial categories to specific counterstereotypic thoughts (e.g., when I see a Black face, I will think safe) might reduce automatic racial biases. Other studies also suggest that training police officers might be a key factor in eliminating their racial biases. In 2005 article in Psychological Science, E. Ashby Plant and B. Michelle Peruche (Florida State University) found that, after extensive training with a gun-identification task in which the race of the suspect was unrelated to the presence of a weapon, officers were able to eliminate their bias toward shooting unarmed Black verses White suspects. The sense of police legitimacy will be higher when people perceive that the police make fair decisions and treat people fairly. Tom R. Tyler (Yale University) and colleagues In addition to addressing racial bias in the police force, officers also need to improve police-community relations, which may increase police legitimacy and even reduce crime, suggested APS Fellow Tom R. Tyler (Yale University), Phillip Atiba Goff (John Jay College of Criminal Justice), and APS William James McKeen Cattell Fellow Robert J. MacCoun (Stanford University) in their 2015 article in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Giving community members a voice in designing policies, allowing individuals to explain themselves in interactions with officers, and being neutral and transparent about rules and decisions would all support a positive and proactive social-psychology-based model of policing, the researchers concluded. As our business continues to grow, we want to make sure we understand every customers needs so we can provide them with the right solutions. Green Circle Life, provider of SmartFHR, an innovative all-in-one communication and engagement app and web based service that aggregates employee-facing human resources (HR), wellness, and healthcare services into a single sign-on, interactive dashboard, announced that it has welcomed two sales executives to its team Vasily Campbell and Sylvia Rosario. Dinesh Sheth, CEO and founder of Green Circle Life, said, As our business continues to grow, we want to make sure we understand every customers needs so we can provide them with the right solutions. Every organization has a unique workforce which faces different challenges, and Vasily and Sylvia bring extensive business knowledge that will enable us to better communicate the power of our SmartFHR solution to address any requirements. Campbell joins the company in Texas as an enterprise account executive. In his role, Campbell identifies and maintains business relationships with enterprise accounts. He has deep knowledge in B2B sales across several industries in both startups and Fortune 500 companies, including Liberty Mutual and ADP. Before joining Green Circle Life, he was the Senior Director of Acquisitions at TowerPoint Capital. Campbell received his Master of Business Administration with a Marketing concentration from National University. Campbell said, Green Circle Life has already established success and provided a personal touch to all businesses that are interested in improving their benefits and services usage. Having a national and international business background will enable me to dynamically manage our growth and continue to expand the sales reach. Rosario joins the company in New Jersey as an enterprise account executive. She brings more than eight years of experience in B2B and enterprise sales to the team, and her expertise lies in strategic prospecting, relationship management, business communication, and needs and data analysis. Prior to joining Green Circle Life, Rosario worked in enterprise software sales. She received her bachelors degree in Business Administration. It is important to constantly align with clients and speak directly to them about their needs, Rosario said. My goal is to ensure our clients receive the value-added proposition they are looking for and make recommendations on the best way to move forward and be successful in their business goals. For all sales inquiries please contact info@greencirclelife.com. About Green Circle Life Green Circle Life offers the patented web and SmartFHR app-based platform for employers to engage employees and their families to live happier, healthier and more productive lives. This company-branded app helps attract and retain talent by providing employees access to all their benefits and services, condition management programs, wellness programs and live coaching. This translates into a more engaged workforce, better healthcare outcomes, lower healthcare costs and improved profitability through a culture of holistic wellbeing. The Green Circle Life service is designed for a multi-generational workforce and is HIPAA and EEOC compliant. The platform is private labeled and fully integrated with internal and external systems. It is configurable and can expand as company needs evolve over time. For more information, visit http://www.greencirclelife.com and follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn. Australia has strengthened ties with India as relations with its largest trading partner China continue to sour. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi signed off a new agreement in a virtual summit on Thursday. It aims to boost economic trade between the two countries, build closer partnerships around science and technology and strengthen defence cooperation. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership comes as Chinese forces become more aggressive in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as slapping huge tariffs on Australian imports. Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi (right) signed off on a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a virtual summit on Thursday The agreement comes as Chinese forces become more aggressive in the Indo-Pacific region (pictured, Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers wearing face masks on May 25) With Australia and India both seeking to push back against China's encroaching presence, Mr Morrison said 'trusted partners' must work together. 'It is time for our relationship to go broader and deeper,' he said on Thursday. 'In a time like this we want to deal very much with friends and trusted partners. 'And this is a partnership which has stood the test, time and again, and is during the course of this current crisis. 'We share a vision for open, free, rules-based, multilateral systems in our region. 'Whether that is in the health area or it is in trade or other places. We engage in those as confident but sovereign nations.' While Australia has faced a backlash from Beijing over calls for an independent international inquiry into the origins of coronavirus and the actions of the Chinese Communist Party, its relations with India have also eroded dramatically. The two countries share the world's longest land border, with China also being one of India's biggest trading partner. But in the past few months month tensions over disputed territory in the Himalayan Sikkim region once again flared up resulting in a mass buildup of troops in the mountainous area. In May, China announced a 80.5 per cent levy on barley exports, after weeks of threatening to boycott Australian industries. Australia sends between half and two-thirds of all its barley to China, making the tariff decision a massive blow to the $600 million a year industry. India is Australia's eighth-largest trading partner and fifth-largest export market, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) speaks to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2020 Virtual Leaders Summit Two-way goods and services trade between India and Australia totalled $30.3 billion in the 2019 financial year, with coal and education Australia's main export drivers. But under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Prime Minister Modi expects those figures will increase even further. He described the agreement as a 'new model of India-Australia partnership and a new model of conducting business'. 'We had an outstanding discussion, covering the entire expanse of our relationship,' Mr Modi said. 'With Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Australia, we aspire to achieve yet new heights in our collaboration.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pictured) is seen on a conference screen during the 2020 Virtual Leaders Summit between Australia and India A Chinese soldier (left) and an Indian soldier stand guard (right) are photographed together at a Chinese checkpoint at the disputed border region in the Himalayan Sikkim Valley in 2008 One of the big winners from the deal is expected to be Australian barley farmers who are looking to expand into new markets after one of their biggest buyers China slapped an 80 percent tariff on their product. Other areas of focus will include the internet and maritime security. 'Australia and India are working together to promote an open, safe and secure internet, and to ensure critical tech does not pose risks to security and prosperity,' Australian Foreigh Minister Marise Payne said. '(We) have also marked a major step forward in our security and defence relationship. 'Today we signed a wide-ranging maritime declaration committing our nations to supporting the rules-based order at sea in the Indo-Pacific region.' What does the Bible tell us about healing? Do some Christians still have this gift, and can it be learned? Can we use the spiritual gift of healing to get rid of sickness like COVID-19? How can we tell if a churchs or an individuals attitude to healing has deviated from the truth? Spiritual Gift of Healing Defined Spiritual healing is not a talent or magic power. Everyone who has the Spirit (i.e. all believers) is given a gift designated by and directed by God such as healing, teaching, or wisdom. The outcome is also determined by God. God may immediately heal [...], thats best-case scenario perhaps for the person in the prayer. Christ healed many people, of course, but, before He ascended into heaven, He also gave His Spirit as a helper. In Acts 3, Peter and John met a man lame from birth (Acts 3:4). They told him in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk (Acts 3:6). He walked. Peter and John exercised the gift of healing by the authority of Jesus through His Spirit. Pressure to Heal Some Christians quote James 5:13-15 when they say that we can all learn to heal; that any Christian, through prayer and faith, can heal physical or mental illness. He says, the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up (James 5:16). This verse is often misused to support false teaching that God always wants to heal every malady, which leads to feelings of guilt and disillusionment [...] when God actually chooses not to heal. The implication is that the suffering Christian just didnt quite believe enough or is hiding some sort of sin. These misunderstandings about faith healing have destroyed some believers. James encourages believers to try every method of healing God has laid before them but healing always comes from God at His discretion. He offers an invitation to dive deeply into faith with honesty and submission, trusting that whatever the outcome, Gods plans are perfect. Healing the Spirit Pain frequently initiates or refreshes our devotion to and reliance upon Christ. Sometimes pain leads to repentance. Jesus did not come to heal us of COVID-19 or cancer but of sin, which will drag us away from God eternally. David Platt said of the paralytic in Matthew 8: More important than even his physical paralysis was his spiritual malice. Jesus asked, which is easier, to say Your sins are forgiven, or to say Rise and walk? (Matthew 8:5-6). The crowd wanted Christs healing power but not the healer. They did not realize that they were all sick and in need of a Savior for their sin. Jesus used this opportunity to make an audacious point about who He is and why He came: To bring about better healing. He also demonstrated the mercy and love which continue to attract so many people to Him today, and which Christians seek to emulate. When Jesus disciples employed the gift of spiritual healing in His name, they followed His example. In Matthew 25, Jesus reveals that those who truly know him serve others in very real ways, which can include offering food and water or healing sickness. Meeting the basic physical needs of people often ministers more than words and ultimately gives you a kind of integrity that can lead to a deeper conversation. Sometimes, relieving immediate suffering is a gateway to gospel discussion to the ultimate healing. Spirit as Healer What the faith healers want to suggest is that healing is contained in a person rather than seeing healing as coming from the hand of God. At the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, students learn how to heal the sick as well as cast out demons. Students are taught to spread this particular form of mercy in the name of Christ. Is there a problem with this? Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness (Matthew 10:1). Paul healed many people on the Island of Malta in Acts 27. Are we not also given these same gifts? Christ assigned the gift of healing to His apostles, and the gifts of teaching, healing, prophecy, etc. are still assigned to Gods people by His perfect will. By the indwelling Spirit, some Christians are able to heal real physical suffering in Christs name (and only by His name, not for our own glory). Yet, God does not create healers per se; people with powers over sickness in their own right. He grants the gift according to His perfect will. Spiritual gifts work together to glorify God and to spread gospel testimony. Not one, single gift is preeminent over another but is of use to and through the body of Christ of which each one of you is a part (1 Corinthians 12:27). The bible teaches that its not appointed everybody to have these [gifts] all the time. In other words, ones gifting might change as the Lord deems fit. A diploma in a frame does not qualify a person to be a healer the way a degree qualifies someone to become a teacher. No school of supernatural ministry can manipulate this process. Suggesting that a student could avail himself of a gift, which has not been given him could be compared with going into mom and dads closet prior to Christmas to play with toys not yet wrapped and presented. They cease to be gifts, for one thing; but also, this kind of behavior removes the giver from the equation. If it suits God to present one with the gift of healing, then he or she will receive it, but not as a mark of special worthiness. Gifts, by definition, are never earned. Better Healing Sickness is not our punishment for sin; eternal damnation would be our punishment if not for Christ. God promises that repentant believers will inherit His eternal Kingdom through the saving blood of Jesus Christ. If God had punished us by means of disease and disability, then our problems would be over when we died. We would earn our place in Heaven based on how much or how well we suffered. Christ would not have needed to shed His blood. Nor did He come to save us from physical sickness. When the disciples returned from successfully exorcising demons and healing the sick, Jesus said do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). While the Spirit might move a person to lay hands on an individual with COVID-19 and to see that person healed, the purpose is always Gods glory and the salvation of a persons soul for eternity. Our ultimate need [is] not healing from God, but holiness before God. The certainty of our faith may not be for the precise thing we think is best, but our certainty of faith should rest on the goodness of our Father, who always does whats best for his children. While we think the best thing is for COVID-19 to miraculously disappear, we dont honor God by assuming we know whats best in any given situation. We must trust that Gods way is the best way; that the why of suffering will become clear or, if not clear, then moot when we enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In the meantime, Paul encourages us to glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope, which does not put us to shame. After all, Gods love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:3-5). Spiritual Healing Cults A healing cult places major, or even exclusive, emphasis on the treatment or prevention by non-medical means of physical or spiritual ailments, which are often seen as manifestations of evil. Such a cult might be centered around a place, a shrine, or a person. Healers sometimes operate within a cultural niche alongside established religions. Cult leaders are emotionally manipulative and might be physically, financially, or sexually abusive. They take Scripture out of context. During a pandemic, when people are afraid, cults like these grow. A leader increases in power and possibly in wealth. Christians must always test the claims of church leaders against the truth of Scripture with the help of the Spirit, with truthfulness but sensitivity towards those caught up in such cults. Church elders employ Scriptural knowledge and spiritual discernment to ensure a pastor continues to preach the gospel without adding or taking anything away from biblical truth. Suffering and Healing Sometimes the Father teaches us more and draws us closer when we walk the dark mile of suffering. Maybe a malady will remain. Yet, this sickness can become a gift of healing indirectly. Modeling honest faith in the midst of suffering often leads others into a healing relationship with the Father. Supernatural endurance through sickness or disability will sometimes inspire non-believers to wonder if there is something better than a pain-free existence. As always, God leads these people to Himself, but even those without the gift of spiritual healing can be used to reconcile friends and family to the Great Healer. Use this free PDF to heal spiritual and physical wounds: Hope for Healing - Prayer and Scripture Guide iStock/Getty Images Plus/Chinnapong Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Find out more about her here. 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 June 3, 2020 Transcript Secretary of Defense Esper Addresses Reporters Regarding Civil Unrest Secretary Of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK T. ESPER: Well, good morning, everyone. Over the past couple days there's been a fair share of reporting, some good, some bad, about what is transpiring -- transpiring in our great nation and the role of the Department of Defense and its leaders. I want to take a few minutes to address these issues in person to make clear the facts and offer my views. First, let me say up front, the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman is a horrible crime. The officers on the scene that day should be held accountable for his murder. It is a tragedy that we have seen repeat itself too many times. With great sympathy, I want to extend the deepest of condolences to the family and friends of George Floyd from me and the department. Racism is real in America, and we must all do our very best to recognize it, to confront it, and to eradicate it. I've always been proud to be a member of an institution the United States military that embraces diversity and inclusion and prohibits hate and discrimination in all forms. More often than not, we have led on these issues. And while we still have much to do on this front, leaders across DOD and the services take this responsibility seriously, and we are determined to make a difference. Every member of this department has sworn an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I've taken this oath many times, beginning at the age of 18, when I entered West Point. The rights that are embedded in this great document begin with the First Amendment, which guarantees the five freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly and the right to petition the government. The United States military is sworn to defend these and all other rights, and we encourage Americans at all times to exercise them peacefully. It is these rights and freedoms that make our country so special, and it is these rights and freedoms that American service members are willing to fight and die for. At times, however, the United States military is asked, in support of governors and law enforcement, to help maintain law and order so that other Americans can exercise their rights, free from violence against themselves or their property. That is what thousands of Guardsmen are doing today in cities across America. It is not something we seek to do, but it is our duty and we do it with the utmost skill and professionalism. I was reminded of that Monday as I visited our National Guardsmen who were on duty, Monday night, protecting our most hallowed grounds and monuments. I am very proud of the men and women of the National Guard who are out on the streets today performing this important task, and, in many ways, at the risk of their own welfare. I've always believed and continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations, in support of local law enforcement. I say this not only as secretary of defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard. The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act. Last night, a story came out based on a background interview I did earlier in the day. It focused on the events last Monday evening in Lafayette Park, and I found it to be inaccurate in parts. So I want to state very clearly, for all to hear, my account of what happened that Monday afternoon. I did know that, following the president's remarks on Monday evening, that many of us were going to join President Trump and review the damage in Lafayette Park, and at St. John's Episcopal Church. What I was not aware of was exactly where we were going, when we arrived at the church, and what the plans were once we got there. It was also my aim -- and General Milley's -- to meet with and thank the members of the National Guard who were on duty that evening in the park. It is something the president likes to do as well. The path we took to and from the church didn't afford us that opportunity, but I was able to spend a considerable amount of time with our Guardsmen later that evening, as I moved around the city to many of the locations at which they were posted. I also want to address a few other matters that have been raised about that evening. First, National Guard forces did not fire rubber bullets or tear gas into the crowd, as reported. Second, Guardsmen were instructed to wear helmets and personal protective equipment for their own protection, not to serve as some form of intimidation. Third, military leaders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were wearing field uniforms because that is the appropriate uniform when working in a command center and meeting with troops in the streets. Fourth, it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that we determined it was a National Guard helicopter that hovered low over a city block in D.C. Within an hour or so of learning of this, I directed the secretary of the Army to conduct an inquiry to determine what happened and why, and to report back to me. Now, you all have been very generous with your time, so let me wrap up by stating again how very proud I am of our men and women in uniform. The National Guard, over the short span of several months, has gone from tackling natural disasters such as floods, to combating the coronavirus across the country, to now dealing with civil unrest in support of law enforcement on the streets of America, all while many of their fellow Guardsmen are deployed abroad, defending against America's real adversaries. Most importantly, I want to assure all of you and all Americans that the Department of Defense, the Armed Services, our uniformed leaders, our civilian leaders and I take seriously our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to safeguard those very rights contained in that -- that document we cherish so dearly. This is a tough time for our great country these days, but we will get through it. My hope is that instead of the violence in the streets, we will see peaceful demonstrations that honor George Floyd, that press for accountability for his murder, that move us to reflect about racism in America and that serve as a call to action for us to come together and to address this problem once and for all. This is the America your military represents. This is the America we aspire to be, and this is the America that we are committed to defending with our lives. Thank you. STAFF: We'll go to the phones. Bob Burns? Q: Yeah, thank you, Mr. Secretary. Taking you back to your comments about Monday evening, when you left the White House with the president and others, I think if I heard you correctly, you said you did know that you were going to be going to the St. John's church, but you didn't know what would happen when you got there. And you've since been criticized by many for essentially participating at a presidential photo-op. So my question is, do you regret having participated? SEC. ESPER: Well, I -- I did know that we were going to the church. I was not aware of a photo-op was happening. Of course, the president drags a large press pool along with him. And look, I did everything I can to try to stay apolitical and to try -- trying to stay out of situations that may appear political, and sometimes I'm successful with doing that, and -- and sometimes I'm not as successful. But my aim is to keep the department out of politics, to stay apolitical, and that's what I continue to try and do, as well as my leaders here in the department. STAFF: All right. We'll go to Phil Stewart. Q: Yeah, hi. Mr. Secretary, could you address, there's been a lot of criticism of your use of the word "battlespace" when you describe areas inside the United States where people are protesting. Could you -- would you like to take that phrase back? And when you talk about keeping the military apolitical, how do you see, you know, the department navigating this when the response to protests has become a partisan issue? Thanks. SEC. ESPER: Well, I'll take your second question first, Phil. That is the challenge, right? It's -- it's a -- there -- there's a political tone to this. We are in a political season. An election approaches, and this is always a challenge for every Department of Defense in every election year. And so this is something we're going to continue to deal with as we creep closer and closer to election season. I've been speaking about the importance of staying out of politics by remaining apolitical to my leadership since -- since I took office. I reinforced it when I came in, when we started the -- the new year, and I've talked about it several times since then. But this will be the ongoing challenge. With regard to your first question, as -- as you rightly said, earlier this week I was quoted as saying the -- the best way -- way to get street violence under control was by dominating the battlespace, and probably all of you who cover the Pentagon hear us use this phrase often. It's something we use day in and day out. There are other phrases that we use day in, day out that you'll understand, that most people don't understand. It is part of our military lexicon that I grew up with, and it's what we -- we routinely use to describe a bounded area of operations. It's not a phrase focused on people, and certainly not on our fellow Americans, as some have suggested. It is a phrase I used over the weekend when speaking with Minnesota Governor Walz. He and I spoke a couple times on Friday and Saturday as I spoke to him about DOD's support to what was happening there. Keep in mind, it was only a -- a -- a few short days ago, where Minneapolis was the epicenter and all eyes were focused on -- on Minnesota. But Governor Walz is also a former member of the National Guard, and I was complimenting him on the call with the governors about what he had done. It was his successful use of the Guard in sufficient numbers that really wrested control of the streets from the looters and others breaking the law, and that's -- so I was giving him credit for that. And he was doing so so the peaceful demonstrations could be held, so that peaceful demonstrators could share their frustration and their anger. That's what I was encouraging other governors to consider. In retrospect, I would use different wording so as not to distract from the more important matters at hand or allow some to suggest that we are militarizing the issue. STAFF: All right, Luis Martinez. Q: Hi, sir. Thank you much for a very -- for doing this briefing. Some of the people that criticized you for the term of battlespace were some of America's most respected former generals, and they said that that was just inappropriate language. And if I could move on to what you knew about the situation at Lafayette Square, were you aware that the park police were going to use such strong measures in pushing back the -- the protesters there? And did you express any concern that that may not be exactly what needed to happen to make that photo-op possible? SEC. ESPER: Thanks for the question, Luis. I -- I was not aware of law enforcement's plans for the park. I was not briefed on them, nor should I expect to be. But they -- they had taken what actions I -- I assume they felt was necessary, given what they faced. But I was not briefed on the plans and was -- was not aware of what they were doing. STAFF: All right, Dan Lamothe. Q: Hi, yes, Mr. Secretary, thanks for your time. I realize you're trying to keep the department out of politics, but it took you a week to -- to say anything along the lines of what you did at the top of this call and -- and your strong -- strong comments this morning about George Floyd. In -- in light of the more than 200,000 black service members in uniform and the pain across the country, why did it take so long? Thanks. SEC. ESPER: Thanks -- thanks, Dan. It's a fair question. I think you may have written about this, and as you rightly said, I've worked very hard to keep the department out of politics, which is very hard these days as we move closer and closer to an election. You know, remaining apolitical means that there are times to speak up and times not to. And as I said in my earlier remarks, what happened to George Floyd happens way too often in this country. And most times, we don't speak about these matters as a department. But as events have unfolded over the past few days, it became very clear that this is becoming a very combustible national issue. And what I wanted to do -- I had made the determination, as events escalated in the last 72 hours, that the moment had reached a point where it warranted a clear message to the department about our approach. And so, given the dynamics, I wanted to lead by crafting my own statement for the department first -- which I did yesterday, and you all should have seen it and got it, it went out, this piece of paper -- my message to the force, which set, I thought was the proper tone for service members and DOD civilians and all, and giving my leaders the space to also craft similar messages, expressing our outrage at what happened, expressing our commitment to the Constitution, expressing our commitment as an institution to -- to end racism and hatred in all its forms, and just a general expression with regard to what the department is about. So that -- that's the timeline, Dan, if you will, and that's why it did, and I do that with great counsel from the -- my advisors. STAFF: We'll go -- one more from the phones. Q: The chiefs, several of the chiefs were interested in speaking up sooner. Sometimes when you say nothing, that says something unto itself. In retrospect, would you have done so more quickly? SEC. ESPER: Well, we did -- we -- you know, General Milley, we talked to the chiefs. There was -- most of the chiefs wanted to take the lead from me, and -- and so what I told them is I was -- through the chairman, I was going to take -- I was going to send the initial message out, again to set the tone, to express my views and then I'd give them the space to share their views as well, to do so. And, again, this is -- we are a week into this, or so. And when you look at what's escalated, it's been a matter of 72 hours, maybe 96 or so. So -- and we've been consumed with a lot of things between now and then. But I do think it's important to speak up and to speak out and to share what we view, again, as an institution, the racism that exists in America and how we view it as an institution. Again, I think we've led on these issues over the history of the United States military, and we'll continue to do so, certainly while I'm at the helm. STAFF: All right, one more from the phone. Tom Bowman? If not Tom, then Nick Schifrin? Q: Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for doing this. If I could take you back to the other night. I know you're saying that you didn't know exactly what the plans were. But with all due respect, those plans were designed by the commander in chief and also by Bill Barr -- of course the fellow cabinet secretary, and someone who is in the command center with you. So how could you not know about those plans and what does it say about those plans, to both clear the park and go to the church and do what the president did? And number two, I know you're conducting an inquiry on the use of the helicopter. You may not want to say this, but do you believe it was inappropriate to use a medevac helicopter to intimidate protesters? Thank you. SEC. ESPER: On the first thing, Nick, again, I think there's some speculation with regard to what you -- what you stated. I'd encourage you to speak to the Department of Justice as, again, it was a law enforcement action. I had not yet arrived at the command post, I was en route to the command post when I was asked to return to the White House to update the president. I got back to the White House, and within a short period of time, we were -- the president went out to give his remarks. So there was no space in between there, there was no opportunity to get a briefing and again, nor would I expect to get a briefing on what the law enforcement community was planning to do with regard to the clearing a park. Again, that was not a military decision, it was not a military action. The National Guard was there in support of the -- in support of law enforcement. With regard to your second question, I would just say this much. I'm not going to comment because I've asked that an inquiry be made. I want to make sure I understand why -- what happened, who was involved, what orders were they given or not given, was there a safety issue involved, right? With an aircraft hovering that low. So there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. I spoke to Secretary McCarthy last night about it, he is digging into it and we will get the facts, and we'll go back from there. STAFF: All right. In the room, Tara? Q: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. So you served in the D.C. National Guard -- SEC. ESPER: I did, that's right. Q: -- to follow on Nick's question, were you surprised that a medical helicopter from the D.C. National Guard was used to intimidate people who were peacefully assembling? And then secondly, as this goes on, you've asked the secretary of the Army to look into this, who tasked the helicopter -- SEC. ESPER: Right. Q: Was the helicopter under the authority of the Department of Justice? Is that why there's this kind of murkiness about how the helicopter was tasked, how a medical helicopter was used in an aggressive form? SEC. ESPER: Yeah, so those are some of the details we have to tease out in terms of, you know, who directed it, what was request, was it at the request of law enforcement. You made a statement that it was to intimidate protesters. I got a report back that they were asked by law enforcement to look at a checkpoint, a National Guard checkpoint to see if there were protesters around. So there's conflicting reports. I don't want to add to that. I think we need to let the Army conduct its inquiry, and then get back and see what the facts actually are. Q: But when you looked at the video, if you didn't see it live -- SEC. ESPER: I -- look, I think when you're landing that low in a city, it's -- it looks unsafe to me, right? But I need to find out -- I need to learn more about what's going on. It would not be unsafe if they were a medevac bird picking up somebody who was seriously injured or something like that, right? It would be a different circumstance. So we have to find out all the facts, take it all in, and let the Army do its work and then come back with -- with what they discovered. Let's -- Q: But to your understanding, it was not a medevac mission? SEC. ESPER: I -- that's -- right, my understanding, it wasn't. I need to -- I'm sorry, but I need to actually head to the White House. So I just want to wrap up by saying something to the -- directly to the men and women of the Department of Defense. And let me say this. As I said in my message to the department yesterday, I appreciate your professionalism and dedication to defending the Constitution for all Americans. Moreover, I am amazed by the countless remarkable accomplishments of the Department of Defense in today's trying times. From repatriating and sheltering Americans who were evacuated from a foreign land, to delivering food and medical supplies to communities in need, and to protecting our cities and communities, in every challenge and across every mission, the U.S. military has remained ready, capable, and willing to serve. As I reminded you in February, I ask that you remember at all times our commitment as a department and as public servants, to stay apolitical in these turbulent days. For well over two centuries, the United States military has earned the respect of the American people by being there to protect and serve all Americans. Through your steadfast dedication to the mission and our core values, and your enduring support to your fellow Americans, we will safeguard the hard-earned trust and confidence of the public as our nation's most respected institution. Thank you. https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2206685/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address AMHERST Normalcy is not on the horizon come the fall when students would be returning to class, the school department said during Wednesdays Amherst-Pelham Regional School District meeting. And what that will actually look like is yet to be determined, although options were presented as possibilities, or what the superintendent called concepts that the community will be discussing in coming weeks. Superintendent Michael Morris and Amherst School Committee Chair Allison McDonald said during the June 3 remote meeting that this is the beginning of many conversations to occur on what public education for grades pre-K to 12 will look like in the district. We have a challenging road ahead of us, McDonald said. We will see significant engagement in the weeks and months ahead with parents and caregivers and the community. Morris attempted to present a 28-page planning document for the fall, but the livestreaming became so choppy, and what he said at times was inaudible, so he rebooted. The planning document he presented says research conducted to date indicates online learning is not a genuine substitute for the person to person interaction during classroom instruction, and the younger the children, the more pronounced the problem, he said. There are life long implications to a students ability to become educated, Morris said. He said public health imperatives will continue to drive what the district eventually comes up with. We have to be very conservative -- and not move faster than is safe, to return back to what used to be normal. We will not have all students in school at the same time, from a public health perspective, Morris said. He said the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidance may come by mid June. We are waiting for DESE guidance, Morris said. Keeping students six feet apart will be required come fall, no matter what, school board member Peter Demling said. Morris said that could mean, on average about 15 students maximum per classroom. I am not recommending anything tonight, he said, and referred to various ideas, at this point only as concepts, to reflect on, to foster discussion. I want to give public opportunity to weigh in on any potential plan for the fall that the Amherst-Pelham district puts on the table, he said. Returning to normal models of schooling I dont believe to be feasible, the superintendent said. There is a lot of norms we will have to work on. Massachusetts public schools have been closed to students since Gov. Baker declared a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, distance learning using the Internet and computers has replaced in-school learning. Morris said issues related to child care, and parents trying to work, with no clarity on what the fall would look like, for now, remains a conundrum. Simone Ceruti APCO Worldwide has brought on Simone Ceruti as senior director, based in its Milan office. Ceruti joins APCO from BOLDT, a global strategic counseling company based in Brussels, where he was a partner. He has also held senior corporate roles at Danone and Zambon in Brussels and Milan, focused on external stakeholder relationships and advocacy across multiple sectors. In 2018, Ceruti launched Digital Together, a think tank that represents the voice of digitally-active citizens in the EU. Simones international and compelling track record in navigating complex business challenges for leading multinational companies, especially in the consumer goods and technology industry, will help further reinforce our position in the market, said APCO managing director, Italy, Paolo Compostella. Molly Snyder Shipt, a grocery delivery service owned by Target, has hired Molly Snyder as its first chief communications officer. Snyder was with Target from 2011 to 2016, serving in several senior communications positions. She comes to Shipt from U.S. Bank, where she was senior vice president, public affairs & communications. Before that Snyder was vice president, communications at hospital and health care company Optum. At Shipt, she has responsibility for external and internal communications for the company, including media relations, executive communications and internal communications across the enterprise. Martin Gawne North Square Investments has named Martin Gawne head of marketing. Gawne comes to North Square from Ariel Investments, where he was vice president and director of external communications. He has also held senior marketing and communications positions with Adams Street Partners, Aviva Investors Americas, and William Blair & Company. "Martin will be responsible for all aspects of marketing North Square and our investment products, including strategic marketing plans, product marketing, digital assets, thought leadership, executive and corporate communications, brand management and team development," said North Square head of distribution Phil Callahan. A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident to be tested for the CCP virus on a street in Mudanjiang, China, on June 3, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese City Concealing Recent Virus Infections and Deaths, Residents Say Chinese authorities have not announced new updates about the CCP virus outbreak in Harbin city, northeastern China since an upsurge in April. Local patients recently told The Epoch Times that they knew at least five people who have passed away from COVID-19, the disease caused by the viruswhich have not been announced by authorities. At one hospital, 30 patients havent yet fully recovered and are being isolated at the facility, one interviewee said. They themselves were also under treatment. But authorities claimed the last COVID-19 patient was discharged on May 16 from the hospital where he was being treated. We are very anxious, but the doctors said they have no solutions. They didnt give us any medicine, and are hoping our bodies recover by ourselves, Zhang Ling, a Harbin patient who was diagnosed on April 12 said in a recent interview. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, first broke out in central Chinas Wuhan city in late 2019, and soon spread across China and the world. Since early April, after a brief period in which most regions of China reported little to no new infections, second wave outbreaks have occurred in several Chinese provinces, including Heilongjiang, where Harbin is the capital. Li Ping, Zhang Ling, Zhou Yang, and Mrs. Wang spoke about their experience becoming infected after visiting the Harbin No. 2 Hospital from April 2 to April 6. They were healthy when they went to the hospital, but they contracted the virus while in the facility taking care of their spouses who were being treated there for non-virus related diseases. According to Harbin authorities, all patients who were infected at the No. 2 Hospital had contracted the virus from a 87-year-old COVID-19 patient surnamed Chen who was staying on the 17th floor. The four interviewees spouses were also on the 17th floor. Three were also diagnosed with COVID-19, and two died. Li Ping and Husband Li Ping and her husband, both in their late 50s, had stayed at home all winter in order to avoid contracting the virus. My husband had taken medicines at home for months, she told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 28. On March 29, Lis husband felt very sick and was sent to the No. 2 Hospital by ambulance. The doctor told Li that her husband may have roughly a month left to live. At the time, authorities had not reported any new infections for over a month. Li and her husband thus did not feel concerned. On April 6, Lis husband suddenly lost consciousness and died on April 8. Staff did not tell Li and her husband of the risks of being infected with CCP virus until April 16. Li had returned home on April 8, and arranged her husbands funeral on April 10. Two days later, Li went to the hospital again to pick up their belongings. But she noticed that all the doctors and nurses on the 17th floor were different from the ones who treated her husband. On April 14, Li started to have a fever. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 16, after her lungs were damaged by the virus. Her sister and daughter-in-law were also later diagnosed. Li said they contracted the virus from her. Li has since been discharged from the hospital and being isolated at a hotel when she received the interview by phone. She believes her husband died of COVID-19, though the hospital never tested him, because he died before the doctors estimate. Zhang and Wang Zhang Lings husband had a tumor. On April 9, the doctor said her husband recovered very well and could be discharged in two days. However, the husband started to develop a fever on the evening of April 10. All nurses and their directors were gathering in the office. Nobody took care of patients. A male nurse told me that they would leave the hospital the next morning, Zhang said. On the morning of April 11, all doctors and nurses were changed up. The newly arrived medical staff all wore protective suits. The previous ones didnt wear them, she said. On April 12, all patients on the 17th floor were moved to other floors. Zhang and her husband then took nucleic acid tests. They were both positive. Zhang also spoke about the case of Mr. Wang, who stayed in the same hospital room as her husband. Wang, his wife, my husband, and I were diagnosed with COVID-19 and [later transferred to and] isolated at the Harbin Infection Hospital Mr. Wang died of the virus on April 29. Mrs. Wang is being isolated at the hospital until now. She is very sad, Zhang said. Zhang said her husband became very sick after becoming infected with the virus. She, her husband, and Mrs. Wang are all currently at the Harbin Infection Hospital. Zhang said that 30 COVID-19 patients are currently being treated there, with 20 of them testing negative in nucleic acid tests, but positive in antibody tests. The other 10 tested positive in both nucleic acid tests and antibody tests. The Epoch Times could not independently verify the information. Zhou Zhou Yangs wife has been receiving treatment at Harbin No. 2 Hospital for dementia since March 28. On April 10, Zhou saw that all medical staff were in a state of panic in the evening, but he had no idea what had happened. On the evening of April 11, they performed nucleic acid tests on my wife and me as well as other patients in the same hospital room and those who accompanied them, Zhou said. My wife and another dementia patient Gao were diagnosed on April 12. I was diagnosed several days later. Zhou and his wife have since been transferred to the Harbin Infection Hospital. Underreporting When contacted by The Epoch Times, the reception desk of the Harbin No. 2 hospital said it was not taking in patients and had been under lockdown. I dont know when our hospital will reopen. Its a decision that will be made by upper level leaders. The Epoch Times previously obtained a series of internal government documents showing that medical staff at the hospital had been infected. The documents also showed that Harbin authorities were underreporting the number of infections. Zhang said 30 patients were being treated at the Harbin Infection Hospital by the end of May, but Heilongjiang authorities announced zero new patients in the province on May 17 and every day since. Heilongjiang also announced its latest COVID-19 death was on Feb. 27. Since then, the death toll in the province has stayed the same, at 13 people. But Li Pings husband and Mr. Wang, as well as a relative of 87-year-old Chen, and two other patients told The Epoch Times that their loved ones died of the CCP virus in April and May. Iraqs armed forces began a major operation called "Heroes of Iraq - Victory of Sovereignty" to clear remnants of the Islamic State in the northern province of Kirkuk at dawn Tuesday. The operation comes ahead of key talks with the United States later this month. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited the operation in its early hours and social media was later flooded with photos of him walking alongside the forces and members of a local family. He then discussed the operation during a regularly scheduled cabinet meeting in the capital. Kadhimi was sworn in on May 6 after several months of a government void. Attacks and intimidation continue in the southern areas of Kirkuk province against locals and the various forces deployed there, as well as in neighboring Diyala and Salahuddin. However, the strategic location and disputed status of Kirkuk render it of particular importance. The operation aims to clear both the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad but back under Baghdad control since late 2017, and Salahuddin. Weapons caches, hideouts, IEDs and other supplies were found and at least two terrorists were killed during the operation on Tuesday, according to a statement by the Iraqi Security Media Cell. US-led international coalition spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III noted in a voice message to Al-Monitor Wednesday that the Iraqi security forces are focusing significant energy on defeating the remnants of IS south of Kirkuk and along the Hamrin-Makhmour mountains, Nineveh plains and some areas in Anbar. The coalition continues to support with high level advising, he continued. There were military officers who participated in the planning process. We shared intelligence and, in the first day of the operation we conducted three airstrikes in support of the Iraqi security forces on the ground. This area has had a presence of [IS] holdouts because of the terrain. The terrain, the topography is difficult to access. There are mountain and cave complexes and because the people of Iraq reject IS, he said, the international terrorist organization has been forced into mountains and desert areas, where they are traveling on motorbikes into villages to commit crimes to raise money or to commit acts of terror or attacks on security forces. Caggins stressed that the Heroes of Iraq campaign is going to happen in multiple stages throughout 2020 and brings together multiple Defense and Interior Ministry forces as well as both Sunni and Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Bringing together the Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry and PMU in a manner vaguely reminiscent though on a much lower scale as was seen during the war against IS between 2014 and 2017, the operation may also be intended to boost morale, provide a show of strength and foster a sense of unity. In a press conference posted on YouTube late in the day on Tuesday, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul detailed the operation. The "Victory of Sovereignty" name may be a rebuttal of the oft-heard accusations that Iraq is under undue influence or the control of the United States or Iran. Since previous Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi declared victory against IS on Dec. 9, 2017, Iraq has struggled to deal with reconstruction efforts and returning internally displaced citizens to their home regions, non-state actors, economic woes, regional tensions and IS remnants. Both the United States and Iran have provided support in various ways and maintain geopolitical interest in the country. Protests over unemployment and lack of public services in Iraqs oil capital of Basra in 2018 were followed by massive demonstrations across the central and southern parts of the country starting in October 2019 that brought down the government months later. The protests were still limping on and occasionally flaring up in some squares across the country as of early June, even after the new government was sworn in. Many protesters claim that Iran-backed armed groups were behind the deaths of many of the hundreds who lost their lives. Chants and placards held aloft during the early months railed against both US and Iranian influence, with we want a homeland a popular rallying call. Meanwhile, IS sleeper cells have long taken advantage of security gaps between KRG and central government territories as well as persisting grievances among some parts of the population. The last IS-held town to be retaken in Iraq was Rawa in western Anbar in 2017, but Hawija and nearby villages in Kirkuk province had been left until after the months-long battle to regain Mosul. This reporter accompanied the PMU Liwa Ali al-Akbar during the October 2017 operation to clear Hawija. The battle was unexpectedly easy compared to the tough fights for the various districts of Mosul and other areas of the country during which she had also accompanied Iraqi forces. Many claimed at that time that the IS fighters who had withstood such a long siege simply vanished, while others posited they had shaved their beards and fled to the KRG or to the nearby Hamrin mountains, which acts as a separating line between the western part of the Kirkuk region and northeastern Salahuddin. The Hamrin mountain chain stretches from this point to near the Iranian border in Diyala province which has for months seen the highest number of attacks and has long been what some Iraqi Kurds consider what they would like as the border of a future independent state. Several weapons caches were found and two soldiers were injured by IS shooting from tunnels during a December 2017 operation into the Hamrin mountains this reporter accompanied local forces on a few weeks after the national declaration of victory against the international terrorist organization. The Heroes of Victory operation that began on Tuesday is also referred to as "Heroes of Victory Two," as it was preceded by another one with the same name that started on Feb. 12 and focused on Iraqs westernmost region of Anbar to the Syrian border. The current one aims to clear an area that may continue to be problematic until several thorny issues are worked out between the KRG and Baghdad. Nevertheless, it serves to show Iraqs continued commitment to fighting IS amid a multitude of challenges facing the new government. Children in the north are missing out on an education as Labour-run councils refuse to allow schools to reopen, a stark new poll has revealed. A survey of primary headteachers has found that just a third of them followed the Prime Minister's plan and managed to bring back Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 students back to class on Monday. This dropped to as low as 12 per cent in the north-east of England and eight per cent in the north-west, where a large number of Labour-run councils refused to let their schools open. The survey of 10,000-plus schools was carried out by the National Education Union, which found 44 per cent of schools did not open more widely on June 1. The poll found large regional differences on the number of schools reopening to pupils in reception, Year 1 and Year 6. Overall, 44 per cent of primary schools did not admit more children on June 1 - but in north-west England, only 8 per cent of schools opened to all priority year groups on Monday, according to the survey. Primary schools started to get up and running in England this week, with reception, years one and years six the first to return. Pictured, Stoneriase School near Carlisle This comes after a UK charity chief told MPs that disruption in schools could still be ongoing in November, not end in September as some parents assume. David Laws, a former Lib Dem MP and Coalition minister now running education charity EPI, told the Commons education committee: 'There's a temptation to think we are in a kind of home learning now and hopefully all back in September. Sadly we may end up with considerable disruption to school in September, October and November.' He then warned of 'a situation where there may be some home learning for a lot of pupils for a very long time'. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: 'It is clear from our latest survey, marking the start of lockdown easing, that many schools intend to delay wider opening. It was always reckless of Boris Johnson to set an arbitrary date and expect schools to fall in line'. Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield said yesterday the most disadvantaged young people faced 'immense' damage to their prospects, as they have less support at home and were missing out on crucial contact with teachers. She also highlighted the risk that sunny weather and shops reopening as curbs are eased could distract children from doing work. The dire message came as Ms Longfield gave evidence to the Commons education committee. Primary schools started to get up and running in England this week, with reception, years one and years six the first to return. However, the picture has been patchy across the country with unions raising safety concerns and some parents refusing to send offspring back. According to the National Education Union survey, more than two in five primary schools in England did not open their doors to more children. Ms Longfield told MPs yesterday of doubts that the most vulnerable pupils would ever resume their schooling properly. Children's Commissioner for England Anne Longfield told MPs the most disadvantaged young people faced 'immense' damage to their prospects 'The shops will be open soon and kids could have spent two and a half months browsing Primark, but not been in school, so the other things that will actually be distractions will become more and more,' she said. 'Those who are disadvantaged, who maybe have negative experiences of school, will have more time away from it. 'Some head teachers have said to me they stay up worrying about whether those children will ever come back because the leap that will need to get them back into school will be so vast.' Highlighting the long-term damage of the lockdown, Ms Longfield said unless attendance levels rise eight million children will have been out of school for six months by September. 'The scale of other children that will not be reaching their potential because of this time out of education is also immense,' she said. 'If we stick to the numbers of classes that are going back right now that could be eight million children that have been out of school for six months by September.' A former Governor of the old Ondo State, Bamidele Olumilua, has died at the age of 80. Mr Olumilua is also the father of Ekiti State Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Muyiwa Olumilua. Muyiwa, while confirming his fathers death, in Ado Ekiti, said that the former governor died in the early hours of Thursday. I can confirm to you that it is true that Baba died today (Thursday) around 3 a.m. We thank God that he lived a good and worthy life and we are proud of his personality and achievements while alive, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Olumilua had been battling some illnesses, associated with old age, before his eventual death. He served as state governor from January 1992 to November 1993 under the platform of the Social Democratic Party, during which another late Governor, Olusegun Agagu was his deputy. His tenure as Governor was, however, truncated along with others nationwide, when the Sani Abacha-led military administration came into power. Mr Olumilua, who hailed from Ikere Ekiti, was appointed the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), by Governor Kayode Fayemi, during his first tenure in Office. (NAN) Mr. Metelo said that wind farms of this size would likely generate electricity at a cost of around 200 per megawatt-hour, a wholesale power measure, over their lives, which may extend to 25 years. He estimated that with far greater scale and even larger turbines expected on the market in the future costs could come down to the 50 range, which is competitive with turbines attached to the bottom. Mr. Stiesdal, a former chief technology officer of Siemens Gamesa, the largest maker of offshore turbines, said that builders had slashed costs by building the huge machines in factories in components that could then be assembled by crane at dockside or at sea. Floating platforms will need the same kind of industrial process, he said. Ultimately, you get to a point where you realize that the only way forward is factory-made equipment, he said. It is not hard to imagine that a time will come for these projects. Developers are already building conventional offshore wind farms with 50 times the generating capacity of this floating pilot. Orsted, a Danish company that has become the largest offshore developer, is building a series of wind farms in the North Sea off northeast England with generating capacity comparable to nuclear power stations. Eventually, it will make sense to move farther out and deeper, said Mr. Nielsen, a designer of the Equinor floater who is now director of the Bergen Offshore Wind Center at the University of Bergen in Norway. Stronger and more consistent wind is available further at sea. Having more spots to choose from should also provide more leeway to reduce potential conflict between fishing interests and the wind projects. If the wind industry is going to expand, he said, they really have to move into deeper water. Solar to Cyber: Electricity Grid Security Gains Traction The EMP risk to America's electricity grid Americas electricity grid needs inoculating. Alongside a novel coronavirus pandemic, a solar superflare is one of six black swan scenarios that analysts believe could change the course of civilization. The occurrence of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from such a superflareof which there is a 12 percent chance per decadeisnt the only threat to Americas grid. Some experts warn that the threat of an EMP from a nuclear bomb, detonated high above the earth for maximum effect, might be small but remains all too possible. Then there is the growing threat of cyber sabotage. Theres even a physical threat: Firing high-powered rifles at the right nine out of the 2,000 high-voltage transformers, according to a leaked classified document, could crash the whole grid. But the EMP experts are less worried than they have been for the last 20 yearsbecause they believe something is finally being done. They also say that all these threats to the grid (which, according to worst-case analyses, could see 90 percent of Americans dead in a year) have a single $4 billion cure. A Sea Change President Donald Trump last month issued an executive order aimed at weeding out foreign influence in the electricity grid. A year earlier, in March 2019, Trump had issued another wide-ranging executive order that picked up on recommendations from the Congressional EMP Commission that had been stuck in Washington bureaucratic mud for over 15 yearsan order echoed in later legislation passed by Congress. The grid is incredibly vulnerable right now to both man-made and natural hazards, Tommy Waller of Secure the Grid told The Epoch Times via email. Just drive by any electric substation and look for yourself what you can see. If you can see it, you can shoot itand small arms fire has already been used as a sabotage method against grid infrastructure. Transformers and power transmission lines are seen in a power distribution yard in Des Plaines, Ill., on Aug. 18, 2003. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images) He says that the utility companies have done a good job adapting to past experiences for terrestrial weatherlike hurricanes. But he says they have barely begun to protect the grid against a much more serious natural hazard: solar weather. Waller, who is vice president for special projects at the Center for Security Policy and an Epoch Times contributor, says he thinks that the pandemic has woken people up to just how vulnerable they are. I, personally, have had a number of people who previously scoffed at personal and family preparedness come back to me and ask questions about what they could do to be more prepared in case the next disaster involved the one that I work full time to prevent: a long term blackout, he said. Tom Spoehr, a defense analyst at the Heritage Foundation, who co-wrote a report on the EMP threat (both nuclear and natural) in 2018, thinks it is timely to raise the issue of grid security. Just like the coronavirus pandemic, an EMP is a very low probability but high consequence event that people are reluctant to pay much attention to or put money into until it happens, he said. If an EMP were to go off, and if it were to take down the power grid, it would essentially take the United States back 200 years. Just so much of society is dependent on the power grid. Even the water supply depends on electric pumps. It isnt like you just call the power company, they get up on a ladder and fix it, Spoehr said. Its irrevocably blown. And then it requires months or years to fixand thats assuming you have the spares. After fading with the end of the Cold War, the EMP threat was pushed up the national security agenda again in the last couple of decades as concerns rose about rogue nuclear states and the increasing reliance on electronics. But without any thought leaders to champion it, it got lost in the political weeds, Spoehr says. Driving the analysis of the EMP threat has been the Congressional EMP Commission, which ran from 2001 to 2017. The commission had several members who had gained their expertise while conducting Department of Defense research during the Cold Warwhen most data on the threat was gathered. The EMP Commission chief of staff was Peter Pry. He told The Epoch Times that Trumps two executive orders represent a sea change in the way we think about national security. It also signifies a decisive victory for those of us who have been warning for 20 years that the electric power grid and the other civilian critical infrastructures are just as important to our national security as our B-52 bombers, our ICBMs, or our aircraft carriers, Pry said. We cannot fight wars without this [electricity grid]and our adversaries know it. The Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Iranians, all of them have written military textbooks that describe how they can achieve a revolution in military affairs and might not even have to fight the U.S. Navy, Army, or Air Force, by taking out our electric grid in an attack. Its our Achilles heel. And we finally have a president and administration that, at least on paper, is saying the right things. Trumps most recent executive order, according to Waller, most significantly declares a national emergency regarding the threat to the United States bulk-power system. This declaration validates and reinforces the warnings issued by security experts for more than a decade that our nations electric grid is our most critical infrastructure and must be treated as a national security asset and protected accordingly, he said. The order also sends a direct message to both the utility industry and its regulators that the executive branch of government is fully aware that the current cybersecurity standards supposedly protecting the grid are fraught with loopholes that keep us vulnerable. The Knock-on Effect The key to cyber sabotage is gaining control of the small computerized motors that control the grid, known as SCADAS. Once you understand that the electric grid is crucial to our national security, it makes no more sense to be buying SCADAS from China than it does to let China build our fighter aircraft or aircraft carriers or missiles, Pry said. We dont trust Huawei to be installing 5G systems in the United States because we know of the grave cyber threat that poses to us in the future. Cyber and physical sabotage, solar superflares, and nuclear weapons might all work differently in how they initially cause problems, but ultimately they all threaten the entire grid because they can trigger a cascading effect. The massive electronic pulse of a nuclear device or solar flare could dump vast electromagnetic energy into the system, swamping sections and causing knock-on failures. Physical failures, attacks, or perhaps cyberattacks wouldnt inject more energy but could force existing power to be rerouted. Theres already a lot of energy sloshing around in the grid, Pry said. When [something] knocks down those power lines, the energy has to go somewhere. And what happens is, it backs up and whats called a system-generated overvoltage happens. This happened during Hurricane Sandy. You can actually look it up and see videos of transformers exploding. Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire at a power plant on 13th Street in New York on July 20, 2002. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) It is the cascading effect that makes the grid so vulnerable. Pry cites a Wall Street Journal article that reported a classified study. They found that if you took out nine key transformers out of the 2,000 in the United States, you could collapse the whole national electric grid, he said. Why is that? Its because if you had high-powered rifles or rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and you took out those nine transformers, that power has to go somewhere. High-Voltage Transformers: Aqueducts of the Modern Age The ensuing grid failure is not something that can easily be reversed, because the extra-high-voltage transformers will have been destroyed. This high-voltage transformer is to our electronics civilization what aqueducts and roads were to the Roman civilization of classical antiquity, Pry said. They couldnt survive as a civilization without aqueducts. We cant survive as an electronic civilization without those transformers. America doesnt make the required house-sized transformers anymore. They also cant be bought off the shelf or easily swapped around. They are bespoke items created for each location that take up to 18 months to build. There are now three countries that make transformers: Germany, South Korea, and China. (There are around 200 Chinese-made transformers on the U.S. grid, according to Waller). Pry says that even though Germany and South Korea are allies, theres still no guarantee the United States could obtain transformers in a crisis, given that a solar superflare would create huge supply pressuresjust as seen with the global PPE (personal protective equipment) supply during the pandemic. The solution is to protect the transformers. Just as surge protection devices brace our laptops and TVs against fluctuations, they also can protect the power grid itself. The precedent has already been set by the military, which protects nuclear retaliatory and strategic retaliatory capabilities as well as command and control systems and early warning systems. So we know we how to do it by using Faraday cages and blocking devices and surge arresters, he said. Basically, if we did that, we wouldnt have to worry about EMP anymore. There arent that many existential threats that you can actually take off the board. You can actually eliminate them. The currently agreed standard to protect the grid from geomagnetic disturbances (or EMPs from solar flares) is 10 times too low, according to the EMP Commission, which recommended an 85 volts per kilometer standard. The current standard took five years to decide and still has not been fully implemented, Waller says. The first practical action to securing the grid is to get the owners and operators of the electric infrastructure to commit to an all-hazards protection strategy, where the most critical and hardest to replace assets get protection first and the industry is afforded ample financial support to execute this rapidlyboth through government grants and through adequate cost recovery, he said. $2.38 a Month There are a range of different solutions. Waller says the price tag to secure the grid depends on many factors. One factor is that it is always more expensive to bolt-on protection, rather than to bake it in from the beginning, he said. So a commitment to creating new grid infrastructure that is all-hazards protected could go a long way toward reducing the overall costs. The gold-standard solution, proposed by the Foundation for Resilient Societies, hardens the grid to the same level as military protection and would cost around $20 billion to $30 billion. According to Waller, the foundations recommendations would increase the average Americans monthly electric bill by 2 to 3 percent, or roughly $2.38 to $3.21 per month. A different solution recommended by the EMP Commission in 2008 would come in at around $3 billion to $4 billion in todays money, Pry says. I think this is still the best plan. It doesnt harden everything, but it hardens all 2,000 EHV transformers, hardens all the generators, hardens all the major control systems, he said. For around $200 million, Pry says, there is a more basic solution that protects the 500 most crucial extra-high voltage transformers and their control systems. Worries About Bureaucracy After Trumps executive order last year, Congress included in the National Defense Authorization Act various legislative demands around EMP threat preparedness. While Waller and Pry welcome the new direction, they are still cautious that the process could get caught on bureaucratic and lobbying gears. Waller says, Part of the problem is that the electric power industry, through the North American Electric Reliability Corporation sets its own standards, works with powerful lobbying organizations such as the Edison Electric Institute to lobby on its behalf to keep these protection standards sufficiently low, and the well-funded Electric Power Research Institute. Spoehr says that with the grid split across thousands of electric companies across the states, there is little economic impetus to push companies to provide protection for customers beyond hurricane protection. Theres really been no government effort to direct our companies to do anything in light of this threat of EMP, he said. Some power companies like Duke in the Carolinas have taken it on, just because they just wanted to do it, they wanted to make their electric grid more resilient. But by and large, the companies have seen it as a defense issue that should be handled by the federal government. Pry notes that the report demanded by Trumps 2019 executive order has yet to materialize, despite overshooting its deadline, and worries that the bureaucrats may be dragging their heels. Hes dealing with the resistant bureaucracy that has never supported any of this, Pry said. Every single major person in the Department of Energy, in the Department of Homeland Security, who is charged with implementing President Trumps EMP executive order is an Obama administration hold-over. While there have been reports in the last decade or so that have downplayed the threat, Pry has dismissed them as junk science. A report for the Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Commission under Obama in 2014 that made much more light of the threat was lambasted by the EMP Commission as factually erroneous and analytically unsound. The commission called for the report to effectively be labeled with a fact-check warning. Spoehr says that there are some very passionate researchers in the security community who have long warned about the issue, although he says a smaller proportion disagree. Typically, I find the people that downplay the threat, if you skip to the end of the article, you usually find they have no scientific credentials: They have a degree in international relations or something, he said. One of the difficulties in assessing the EMP threat is that the bulk of the knowledge comes from the nuclear testing periodwhich is why many experts remain those schooled in the Department of Defense during the Cold War. Even though these nuclear tests happened 50 years ago, most of them are still classified, Spoehr said. The Department of Defense, for whatever reason, is still unwilling by and large to declassify most of the information about their nuclear weapons tests. A characteristic mushroom-shaped cloud begins to form after the first H-bomb explosion at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific on Nov. 6, 1952. (Three Lions/Getty Images) The effects of nuclear weapons are well-characterized, but not well-publicized. One of the best-known examples was a test of a nuclear weapon in the Pacific over Johnston Atol thousands of miles from Hawaii. It knocked out the lights, streetlights in Hawaii, he said. This was old technologies in the 1960s: incandescent bulbs and things like that. Credible Threat Spoehr says that the threat of a nuclear EMP missile from North Korea is credible. Two years ago, Kim Jong Un in North Korea successfully tested an ICBM that went super high. Most of the experts believe that it has the range to get to the edge of the Midwest of the United States, he said. So hes got a missile that can get here. And we also know he has nuclear weapons. But the question remains as to whether he has the technology to mount a heavy nuclear weapon onto a missile, Spoehr says. It would be foolhardy, reckless, to say that he does not because he keeps surprising people with his advancements. Two years ago, North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. You dont have to do anything to the nuclear weapon to make it an EMP weapon, Spoehr said. There are ways to enhance that, but its really a function of at what altitude the nuclear weapon is detonated. North Korean state news said at the time of the H-bomb test that it was a multi-functional thermonuclear nuke with great destructive power which can be detonated even at high altitudes for a superpowerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack according to strategic goals. According to the EMP Commission report, a nuclear EMP weapon could be delivered by satellite, by a wide variety of long- and short-range missiles, including cruise and anti-ship missiles, by a jet doing a zoom-climb, or even by a high-altitude balloon. Some modes of attack could be executed relatively anonymously, thereby impairing deterrence, notes the report (pdf). Of course, such a nuclear attack may never happen, Pry said. However, the threat from a solar superflare is a matter of when, not if, with NASA estimating the likelihood of such an event to be 10 to 12 percent in every decade. A solar flare (R) erupting from giant sunspot 649. The powerful explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space, but it was directed toward Earth on Aug. 19, 2004. (HO/AFP via Getty Images) The electromagnetic waves created by solar flares have such a long wavelength that they cannot find their way directly into electronic devices. However, the miles and miles of straight-running power lines in the electrical grid system act as an enormous antennapulling in the energy just as the railroad wires did during the Railroad Superstorm 100 years ago that burned down Central New England Railroad station. This article has been updated to include China in the list of three countries that make high voltage transformers. The original version incorrectly stated there were only two: Germany and South Korea. SAN FRANCISCO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scality, a leader in software solutions for global data orchestration and distributed file and object storage today reported how the Scality RING brings unique efficiencies in today's modern healthcare and genomic data centers. Over 40 global hospitals, hospital systems and genomics research institutions in the US, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Israel, Japan and South America have implemented the Scality RING. These customers trust Scality with their mission-critical diagnostic imaging data managed by leading PACS and VNA solutions, as well as key genomics data for use in development of new biopharmaceuticals. Many of these customers have experienced the ease of initial deployment and the scaling of RING with seamless capacity expansions to petabytes of storage. IT leaders in these healthcare institutions share significant data growth challenges for radiological imaging, genomic sequencing, and other healthcare related services and applications. To modernize and address these challenges, IT leaders are now deploying scale-out software defined storage for on-premises private and hybrid cloud environments. Respondents reported that scale-out storage deployments are 52% faster than traditional storage, require 46% less staff time managing the storage platform, and result in a 28% lower TCO (saving $270,000 per petabyte over 3 years). Expand these savings over 5 years and these IT leaders are saving millions of dollars in resource and capital expenditures with software defined storage solutions. The full IDC White Paper, commissioned by Scality, is available for download. "The growing nature of data in the age of Covid-19 puts more pressure on the healthcare and genomics industries to modernize with cost-effective solutions," said Amita Potnis, IDC Research Director. "Our survey suggests that IT leaders who are required to build on-prem private or hybrid clouds, can rest a little easier with a cost-effective software defined, scale-out object storage solution like Scality offers." IT leaders at healthcare services and genomics research organizations, report their experience with Scality RING object storage. "The main operational benefit for us of Scality is the reduction of time required to operate, the time to deploy, and maintain the storage." "Scality does not require a lot of management effort, unlike a SAN. Scality has allowed us to consolidate our storage arrays, which reduced the heterogeneous systems to manage a unified backup system." "Scality...had the best ratio of cost per TB." To learn more read our blog or register to join our Healthcare & Genomics conversation with special guest Amita Potnis and Scality, host Paul Speciale on Tuesday, June 17th 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Read More Blog: The explosion of healthcare data: How providers are managing growth without breaking the bank Download the white paper: The business value of Scality RING scale-out storage for healthcare organizations Infographic: Scale-out storage cost savings SOLVED TechTalk with IDC Research Director Amita Potnis About Scality Scality builds the most powerful storage tools to make data easy to protect, search and manage anytime, on any cloud. We give customers the freedom and control necessary to be competitive in a data driven economy. Recognized as a leader in distributed file and object storage by Gartner and IDC, we help you to be ready for the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. Let us show you how. Follow us @scality and LinkedIn . Visit www.scality.com or subscribe to our company blog SOLVED . Contact: Kristen Wiltse A3 Communications 978-927-1747 [email protected] SOURCE Scality Related Links http://www.scality.com Fitness influencer Hannah Bronfman has opened up about the first time she was called the N-word, revealing that her best friend called her the racial slur when she was just 12 years old. The 32-year-old New Yorker told her story on Tuesday, recalling how 'shocked, horrified and betrayed' she felt to see the word - which was written in her friend's notebook - but said she was 'prepared' for it in some ways, because of conversations she'd had with her mother about how some people might view the color of her skin. 'The first time I was called the N word was when I was 12 by my best friend,' Hannah wrote, while sharing two images of herself as a child. Candid: Fitness influencer Hannah Bronfman opened up about her earliest experiences with racism in a detailed Instagram post Speaking out: The 32-year-old New Yorker shared some childhood images, while recalling the first time she was called the N-word at the age of 12 Honesty: Hannah explained that she felt 'shocked and betrayed' to see that her best friend had used the racial slur, but that she was 'prepared' after discussing racism with her mother 'She had written it in her notebook and I borrowed it for a class and saw she had used a page for a "dear diary" post. I was shocked, horrified and betrayed but I was prepared. 'I was prepared because my mom told me from a young age that I would have to be careful, that my skin color was beautiful but that not everyone would respect it.' The Instagram star continued that her mother, Sherry Bronfman, had to navigate a 'fine line' when it came to educating her children about racism, explaining that while she wanted them to be aware of it, she also wanted to avoid forcing them to 'grow up too fast'. 'She had to prepare us though because she knew from experience the inevitable would happen - I just didn't know it would happen at 12 yrs old with my best friend,' Hannah, who is the granddaughter of late billionaire and philanthropist Edgar Bronfman, whose family founded Canadian beverage company Seagram, continued. Hannah shared her post on Blackout Tuesday - during which people were urged to avoid posting personal content and instead post a black square to their feed, while also spreading information and resources for the Black Lives Matter movement. Difficult: The Instagram star said that her mother, Sherry Bronfman (pictured with Hannah and her siblings) had to navigate a fine line when it came to educating her children about racism Honesty: Hannah, pictured with her dad, former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr, said her mom wanted to prepare her children without forcing them to grow up too soon She called out 'white people who are shocked by their entire timelines being full of conversations about race', noting that, for 'black girls and boys in a racist society', it is something that occupies their minds every single day - and has done since they 'became aware of their own race'. 'So Im thinking this week a lot about the last time It wasnt,' Hannah, whose father is former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr, wrote. 'I cant stop thinking this week about the young girl in ballet that didnt look like the prima ballerinas, or the young woman in high school striving to fit in with the other, mostly white girls. And it will be with me every day for the rest of my life, and my future childrens lives.' Hannah added that she is 'so proud because us black girls are magic and we are beautiful and we know it', but said she hopes that the rest of society comes to that same realization 'quickly' so that young black men and women don't have to experience the same racism that she did as a child, and has done ever since. 'So the young black girls that get to look at all the strong black women protesting and starting business and being First Ladies mean that things will be different for her than they were for me and than they have been forever,' she said. Moving forward: She shared her hope that young black men and women don't have to face the same racism that she endured as a child - and has continued to face ever since Change: 'My story is beautiful but it may have been different if my friends parents had the conversations were having today,' Hannah, pictured with husband Brendan Fallis, said 'So that their moms have different conversations with them than mine had with me. Hannah concluded her post by pointing out how different things might have been for her had her childhood best friend's parents encouraged their daughter to be open-minded and anti-racist. 'My story is beautiful but it may have been different if my best friends parents had sat her down and had the conversations were having today,' she said. Hannah's eloquent and candid post was met with praise from her social media followers, with many thanking the influencer for being so open and honest about her experiences. Scandal star Kerry Washington led the supportive comments, writing: 'Love you so much,' while fitness trainer Tracy Anderson added: 'Love you. Thank you for sharing this! Beautifully written and you sure are beautiful!' NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the market-leading online community for the global communications sector, has welcomed Fiona Graham as its new editorial director. Graham will be responsible for helping direct and shape Light Reading's global editorial coverage of the technologies, people and finance powering the next-generation communications market. Graham, based in London, is an award-winning multimedia journalist, editor and content strategist, with nearly 20 years of experience. She comes to Light Reading from Vodafone, where she was editor-in-chief of Vodafone Group's new global digital newsroom, Gigalife. Prior to working at Vodafone, Graham worked for BBC News, The Telegraph and WorldRemit. "Fiona's editorial management experience and her storytelling skills will help us evolve how we cover the communications industry for Light Reading's global, connected audience," said Phil Harvey, Light Reading's editor-in-chief, who spoke for several more minutes before unmuting himself on the staff video conference call. "She's a welcome addition to our already exceptional team." For additional information on Light Reading and its editorial staff, visit: https://www.lightreading.com/about-us About Light Reading Light Reading is an independent B2B digital media platform providing daily news analysis and insight for the global communications networking and services industry. Our broad readership and solid reputation make us the leading resource for telecom, mobile and cable network operators, cloud services players and all the companies that develop and supply them with technology, applications and professional services. Light Reading has over 500,000 qualified registered users, our websites attract over 1.3 million monthly page views and our newsletters are sent out to 220,000 opt-in subscribers. Our brand is also active across all social media channels, with over 100,000 members and followers. The Light Reading Group incorporates dedicated research division Heavy Reading; more than 15 successful annual industry events, including the Big 5G Event; several targeted online communities, including The 5G Exchange, Connecting Africa and Broadband World News, that dig even deeper into key areas of the global communications industry; and its sister industry news site Telecoms.com. Contact: Amy Averbook Marketing Consultant Light Reading averbook@lightreading.com SOURCE: Light Reading Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592632/Fiona-Graham-Joins-Light-Reading-as-Editorial-Director U.S. President Donald Trump's use of a Bible and church as props in a photo-op failed to convert Canadian church leaders to his cause. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. U.S. President Donald Trump's use of a Bible and church as props in a photo-op failed to convert Canadian church leaders to his cause. On Monday, riot police forcibly cleared peaceful protestors, upset over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, from in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, adjacent to the White House, so Trump and his entourage could pose for photos. Elton da Silva, executive director of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, headquartered in Winnipeg, said, "The Bible is very clear on how to judge a good leader. It is certainly not by photo-ops or vain words. Instead, the Bible instructs us to judge people by the fruit in their lives." As a Christian, he went on to say, "I oppose the misuse of the word of God as a prop for political gain. Today I choose not to focus on one man's actions but to weep and pray for the state of the world, and particularly the need for reconciliation and peace in our country and the U.S." John Stackhouse, a professor of religious studies at New Brunswicks Crandall University, who once taught at the University of Manitoba, said there was nothing subtle about Trumps appearance in front of the historic church in Washington, D.C. "These two appearances were clearly nothing other than propaganda meant to signal to his Christian bases that he was still their champion," said Stackhouse, who regularly speaks on behalf of evangelicals in Canada. "He didnt say anything substantial, he didnt do anything other than pose, and he didnt engage any clergy or fellow worshippers. It was nakedly symbolic." The key thing for Canadian evangelicals to take away from that experience, he stated, is to "assure our fellow Canadians that we are generally not Trumpists, that we are in fact ranged right across the Canadian political spectrum, that we hate racism, that we are in fact multiethnic ourselves, that we can be counted on to be progressive, positive neighbours." Regarding racism generally, "wed better be practising what we preach," Stackhouse said, adding this is about more than personal spirituality, ethics and salvation. It is also "about systemic and structural evils in Canadian life. We must then seriously oppose these evils in our practices, politics, businesses, professions, purchases, families, volunteering and our charitable giving," Churches in Canada "should be shining examples of mutual respect, even affection, among people across all the lines that improperly divide us," he said. For Jason Zinko, bishop of the Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, "most of president Trumps actions and policies are contrary to the Christian message and directly contradict the beliefs, values, and actions of the Christian church. His use of the Bible and church as backdrops to appeal to a specific voter base is shameful and reprehensible." As well, the presidents promises of violence and retaliation against protestors "can only lead to escalation of the situation," he said, adding "they are designed to distract from the legitimate calls for systemic change that are much needed in both the U.S." Doug Klassen, executive director of Mennonite Church Canada, which is headquartered in Winnipeg, said churches in his denomination are being called to "boldly stand against racism that rips apart the social fabric of both of our countries. As a church, we speak for a God who made all persons in the image of the creators likeness." All churches in the denomination are being asked to join Mennonite churches in the U.S. in prayer on Sunday to "lament the injustice and violence suffered by people of colour in the U.S." Peter Noteboom, general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, said "it is hard to see what the president did as an expression of faith, in keeping with the message of the Bible, or in keeping with its message of a just and peaceful society." Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. He went on to say that "racism is also alive and well in Canadian society and churches. We need to recognize and address it and live more into Jesus message of peace with justice." The Anglican Church of Canada, the United Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada issued a statement saying "the murder of George Floyd have given all of us a stark reminder of the ongoing sin of racism in our communities." The letter, signed by the leaders of the three denominations, including Winnipegger Susan Johnson, national bishop of the ELCIC, acknowledges "the pain, frustrations and anger of our black communities, and recognize that systemic anti-black racism is prevalent in our context in Canada as well." The Diocese of Ruperts Land is planning an online vigil on June 6 at 7 p.m. For information, email janebartermoulaison@me.com faith@freepress.mb.ca With 340 more people testing coronavirus positive in the last 24 hours, the number of Covid-19 patients in Pune district of Maharashtra grew to 8,474, a health official said on Wednesday. The death toll in the district reached 378 as 11 more people died due to the infection. It is the highest single-day Covid-19 death toll so far in the district, the official said. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage Of the 340 cases, 288 were found in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits. The number of patients there is now 7,145. However, 229 patients were discharged from the hospitals, he said. Thirty of the new cases were found in neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad township, where the Covid-19 count now stands at 587. The number of positive cases in rural, civil hospital and Pune Cantonment Board area also rose to 742, the official said. Using a unique combination of nanoscale imaging and chemical analysis, an international team of researchers has revealed a key step in the molecular mechanism behind the water splitting reaction of photosynthesis, a finding that could help inform the design of renewable energy technology. "Life depends on the oxygen that plants and algae split from water; how they do it is still a mystery, but scientists, including our team, are slowly peeling away the layers to get to the answer," said Vittal K. Yachandra, co-lead author of a new study published in PNAS and a chemist senior scientist at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). "If we can understand this step of natural photosynthesis, it would enable us to use those design principles for building artificial photosynthetic systems that produce clean and renewable energy from sunlight and water." With an instrument that the team designed and fabricated, they analyzed photosynthetic proteins using both X-ray crystallography and X-ray emission spectroscopy. This dual approach, which the team pioneered and have been refining for the past 10 years, generates chemical and protein structure information from the same sample at the same time. The imaging was performed with the X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the LCLS at SLAC National Laboratory, and at SACLA in Japan. "With this technique, we get the overall picture of how the entire protein structure dynamically changes and we see the chemical intricacies occurring at the reaction site," said co-lead author Junko Yano, a chemist senior scientist in Berkeley Lab's Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division. "The X-ray free electron laser produces extremely bright, short bursts of X-rays that allow us to not only analyze a protein at room temperature, which is how these reactions occur in nature, but also capture various moments over the reaction time scale." Traditional crystallography methods often require the sample proteins to be frozen; consequently, they can only generate snapshots of static proteins. This limitation makes it difficult for scientists to get a handle on how proteins actually behave in living organisms, because the molecules morph between different physical states during chemical reactions. "The water-splitting reaction in photosynthesis is a cyclical process that needs four photons and cycles between four stable 'states,'" said Yano. "Previously, we could only take pictures of these four states. But by taking multiple snapshots in time, we now can visualize how one state goes to the other." "We saw, really nicely, how the structure changes step-by-step as it transforms from one state to the next state," said Jan F. Kern, MBIB chemist and co-author. "It is pretty exciting, because we can see the 'cause and effect' and the role that each moving atom plays in this transition." Nicholas K. Sauter, co-author and MBIB computational senior scientist, added: "Essentially, we're trying to take a 'movie' of a chemical reaction. We made a lot of progress to get to this point, in terms of our technology and our computational analyses. The work of our co-author Paul Adams and others in MBIB was critical to interpreting the XFEL and X-ray data. But we still have to get the other frames to see how the reaction is completed and the enzyme is ready for the next cycle." The Berkeley Lab researchers hope to continue the project once the many research sites that the entire international team relies upon -- located in the U.S., Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea -- are operating normally following the COVID-19 pandemic. Kern concluded by noting that the technological milestone presented in this paper benefited greatly from the diverse expertise of the authors from SLAC, Uppsala and Umea Universities in Sweden, Humboldt University in Germany, and from the capabilities of five DOE Office of Science user facilities: the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource and LCLS at Stanford University, and the Advanced Light Source, Energy Sciences Network, and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Berkeley Lab. Other Berkeley Lab scientists who contributed to this work include: Ruchira Chatterjee, Louise Lassalle, Kyle D. Sutherlin, Iris D. Young, Sheraz Gul, In-Sik Kim, Philipp S. Simon, Isabel Bogacz, Cindy C. Pham, Nicholas Saichek, Trent Northen, Asmit Bhowmick, Robert Bolotovsky, Derek Mendez, Nigel W. Moriarty, James M. Holton, Aaron S. Brewster, and David Skinner. This research was supported primarily by the DOE Office of Science and grants from the National Institutes of Health. The Spanish have been very diplomatic and rather nice. They have also attempted to duck the question and not rub salt into the wound but it is clear that at the moment (early June) Spain doesnt really want British tourism. Obviously it does for a variety of reasons but Britain has still not come to grips with the coronavirus and the death toll has now passed the 50,000 mark. Once the situation is brought under control, the British will undoubtedly be welcomed with open arms. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, when asked about British tourism recently, tried to duck the question and said that the thoughts of the Spanish people were with the British in this very difficult time. Britain went into lockdown later than Spain and while most other European countries appear to be pulling clear of the virus Britain is still struggling. I dont think the British government has behaved appropriately either....it has been a queston of mixed messages from the start. Now, the so-called safe air corridors could help the British come to their favourite holiday destination and I suspect that the Spanish and British governments are doing their best so that British citizens can enjoy a safe holiday in Spain. In the case of the Balearics there will be some tourism this month, probably German and Scandinavian but the British wont come until July. Britain and Spain maintain a closeand healthy relationship but at the moment this relationship is at a safe distance. Former ambassador to the United States Dennis Richardson says the riots raging across America have been made worse by President Donald Trump's divisive leadership, the growth in armed militias on the right and left, the biggest economic downturn since the 1930s and the coronavirus. Mr Richardson, Australia's most experienced public servant when he stepped down as the secretary of the Department of Defence in 2017, said "one of the big differences between now and the past is that today we have a president who appears to relish and thrive on division". Former ambassador to the US Dennis Richardson says the US riots have been inflamed by President Donald Trump's "divisive" leadership. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The former senior diplomat and spy boss said Prime Minister Scott Morrison was right to ask the Australian embassy in Washington to investigate a police attack on a Channel 7 television crew, but there was little Australia could do to calm the situation. Mr Trump has been criticised by politicians from both major parties in the US after law enforcement officers aggressively cleared protesters away from a Washington park to make way for him to have a photo opportunity at St John's Church. WASHINGTON Fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick told Congress in a private interview Wednesday that before he was ousted, he had informed at least three top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he was reviewing Pompeo's and his wife's use of government resources, two lawmakers told NBC News. The revelation potentially undercuts Pompeo's claim to have been unaware that Linick was looking into that issue when he asked President Donald Trump to fire Linick. Pompeo has said Linick's firing couldn't have been retaliation because he had "no sense of what investigations were taking place inside the inspector general's office." Image: Steve Linick (Jonathan Ernst / Reuters file) But Linick told congressional committees investigating his ouster that months earlier, he had told Undersecretary of State Brian Bulatao, Executive Secretary Lisa Kenna and Deputy Secretary Stephen Biegun about what Linick described as a "review of use of resources by Pompeo and his wife," according to one of the lawmakers who participated in the interview. Linick also told Congress that before he was fired, he had also submitted a formal document request for records related to Pompeo's and his wife's use of resources. Document requests are a standard element of an investigation by an inspector general, a federal agency's independent watchdog. Linick, who was questioned in a daylong virtual interview by three House and Senate committees, told Congress that he didn't have specific knowledge of whether those aides had relayed the information to Pompeo, the lawmakers said. But the three officials whom Linick said he did inform about the review represent Pompeo's innermost circle at the State Department, where they work with him in the famed executive suite known as the 7th Floor. Bulatao has been a close friend of Pompeo's since they attended the U.S. Military Academy together more than 30 years ago, and he was made the CIA's chief operating officer when Pompeo ran the spy agency. Story continues The document request, which undoubtedly would have involved records from the secretary's office, is another reason it's implausible Pompeo never heard about the review, said the lawmakers who took part in the interview. "No reasonable person would believe Pompeo's statement," one of them said. The State Department and the Office of the Inspector General didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Before he was fired, NBC News first reported, Linick had been looking at whether Pompeo made a State Department staffer walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning and make dinner reservations for Pompeo and his wife, among other personal errands. Linick was also looking into allegations about leadership problems at the State Department's Office of the Chief of Protocol. The office was responsible for overseeing a series of lavish dinners hosted by Pompeo and revealed by NBC News that are also now the subject of a congressional inquiry. Both lawmakers said Linick's comments are likely to prompt one or more congressional committees to subpoena Bulatao and other top State Department officials as they investigate whether Pompeo had Linick fired in retaliation for investigations Linick was pursuing involving the secretary. "There's more information we need," one of the lawmakers said. "If we are unable to obtain it voluntarily, it should be subpoenaed." The three committees the House and Senate foreign policy committees and the House Oversight Committee have already requested that Bulatao, Kenna and several other top Pompeo aides voluntarily answer questions from Congress. So far, none has agreed. "We're grateful for Mr. Linick's decades of service to our country and for having the courage to come forward and discuss his sudden and unjustified firing," the chairs of the House committees and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics In a joint written statement after the interview, they said Linick had testified that Bulatao, the longtime Pompeo friend and adviser, had tried to "bully" the inspector general repeatedly including telling Linick that it was inappropriate to pursue a separate investigation into a Saudi arms deal. Linick rejected the administration's explanations for why he was terminated, according to the committees' joint statement, stating: "I have not heard any valid reason that would justify my removal." Linick also told Congress that public explanations by Pompeo and others were "either misplaced or unfounded," the committees said, quoting Linick's comments during the interview. Pompeo has repeatedly declined to provide any specific reason he asked Trump to fire Linick in mid-May, other than to say Linick wasn't performing well and was undermining the State Department's objectives. "There are claims that this was for a retaliation for some investigation that the inspector general's office here was engaged in," Pompeo said last month. "It's patently false. I have no sense of what investigations were taking place inside the inspector general's office. It's all crazy stuff." Pompeo said the only exception was a Linick investigation that he became aware of earlier in the year when he answered written questions from the inspector general. Pompeo didn't elaborate and said he didn't know what had happened with that inquiry. NBC News and other news organizations have reported that Pompeo answered written questions from Linick about a Saudi arms deal that Linick was investigating after Pompeo declined the inspector general's request to interview him. The House Foreign Affairs Committee requested that investigation after Pompeo and the Trump administration circumvented Congress by declaring an emergency to enable an arms sale to the Saudis that lawmakers of both parties opposed. The lawmakers who participated in the session Wednesday said Linick was cautious in the interview, refusing to disclose specifics about allegations his office had been investigating and declining to speculate on or answer questions he felt went beyond the facts he was in a position to know. Newcastle has yet to offer refunds to fans for matches that will now be played behind closed doors. (AFP/Lindsey PARNABY) A host of Premier League clubs have already committed to refunding season ticket holders on a pro-rata basis for games in the 2019/20 season that will now be played behind closed doors. Newcastle could soon be under new ownership with a Saudi-led 300 million (US$376 million) takeover awaiting the approval of the Premier League. However, the NUST said that was no excuse for current owner Mike Ashley to withhold refunds. "We understand the club finds itself in a complex situation in light of the prospective sale of the club by the incumbent owner," the NUST said in a letter to Newcastle's managing director Lee Charnley. "That does not give you a legitimate right to a dereliction of duty to your supporters." The letter calls for pro-rata refunds on season tickets, full refunds for single match tickets for home and away fixtures played behind closed doors and a stop to payments for 2020/21 season tickets until that campaign gets underway. Ashley's 13-year reign as owner of the Magpies has been beset by high-profile clashes with supporters. The retail tycoon has overseen two relegations from the Premier League amid criticism for a lack of investment on the pitch. Last week, Newcastle announced a 35 million profit for the 2018/19 season. Photo credit: Karwai Tang - Getty Images From Red Online The Duchess of Sussex has addressed the graduating class of her former high school via Zoom from her home in Los Angeles, with her speech calling out what is happening in the US as 'absolutely devastating'. Apologising to the students of Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles for not 'getting the world to a place where you deserve it to be', she encouraged them to 'become the leaders we so deeply crave.' In the heartfelt video message Meghan reveals she was 'nervous' about speaking out over the issue, but added: 'The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing'. She went on to tell students: 'I wasnt sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. 'And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyds life mattered and Breonna Taylors life mattered and Philando Castiles life mattered and Tamir Rices life mattered and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know.' Photo credit: Sky News She also shared the wise words of one of her sophomore teachers who, as Meghan was heading out to volunteer, told the now-duchess: 'always remember to put others needs above your own fears'. 'That has stuck with me throughout my entire life and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before,' she explained. 'So the first thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present.' Meghan also went on to share a memory from her childhood, when riots were taking place in LA. 'I was 11 or 12 years old and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by senseless act of racism. I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings. Story continues 'I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. I remember pulling up the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories dont go away.' She added that students should have an understanding of that 'as a history lesson, not as a reality'. Meghan also implored the students to be 'part of a movement' of hope, adding that she can remember how people 'came together' during those times: 'Were seeing that right now, from the sheriff in Michigan or the police chief in Virginia. Were seeing people stand in solidarity, we are seeing communities come together and to uplift. And you are going to be part of this movement.' She ended her video message with words of encouragement and pride. 'Youre going to use your voice in a stronger way than you have ever been able to because most of you are 18 - or youre turning 18 - so youre going to vote. 'Youre going to have empathy for those who dont see the world through the same lens that you do. Because, with as diverse, vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings are at Immaculate Heart, I know you know that Black lives matter. 'I am so proud to call each of you a fellow alumni and please know that I'm cheering you on all along the way. I am wishing you a huge congratulations on today, the start of all the impact you are going to make on the world as the leaders we so deeply crave.' Subscribe to Red now to get the magazine delivered to your door. Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. You Might Also Like Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 04:26:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People sit within physical distancing circles painted on the grass at Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto, Canada, on June 4, 2020. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic remains serious in Canada. (Xinhua/Zou Zheng) OTTAWA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic remains serious in Canada. The rise in infections has slowed across all age groups and in most regions of the country, but Trudeau said the situation remains serious in some regions where large numbers of new cases are still being reported, as well as in places like long-term care homes. "I want to be very clear. We're not out of the woods. The pandemic is still threatening the health and safety of Canadians," Trudeau said at a press conference on Thursday. "While we start loosening some restrictions, we also have to strengthen other measure... And as people head back to work, it's even more important that we keep a two-meter distance from others, wash our hands, and wear a mask when physical distancing is not always possible," Trudeau added. Meanwhile, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam warned that Canada could see "explosive growth" in new COVID-19 cases if reopening is not done with caution. According to new short-term federal modeling released by Health Canada on Thursday, as of June 15, the country could see between 97,990 and 107,454 cases, and between 7,700 and 9,400 deaths. "These models all tell us that if we relax too much, or too soon, the epidemic will most likely rebound with explosive growth as a distinct possibility," Tam said. As of Thursday afternoon, according to CTV News, Canada reported 93,700 cases of COVID-19, with 7,636 deaths and 51,685 recoveries. There are big regional disparities in the way the pandemic is affecting Canada, Tam said. Ontario and Quebec have accounted for more than 90 percent of national COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days. There has been no community transmission in Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, and no cases have been reported to date in Nunavut, the only Canadian jurisdiction that has remained COVID-free so far. The numbers showed COVID-19 is still disproportionately hitting Canadians in long-term care and seniors' homes. While outbreaks in these facilities represent 18 percent of all cases, residents of long-term facilities and nursing homes represent 82 percent of Canada's COVID-19-related deaths, she said. Hospitals, correctional facilities, meat and poultry plants, work camps and shelters represent the other most important outbreak settings, Tam said. Canada's largest outbreak occurred at the Cargill meat-processing plant in Alberta with 1,560 cases among workers, household and community members, she added. Strict public health measures in these settings are an absolutely vital aspect of controlling outbreaks, Tam said. "I think the collective amount of global information but also in Canada shows in closed crowded places, close contacts lead to what we might call these bigger or larger clusters or sometimes what we call super-spreading events," the health officer added. DETROIT, MI -- Less than two weeks after she accused the governor and a democratic organization of violations of free speech and defamation, Rep. Karen Whitsett D-Detroit has dropped a lawsuit involving the accusations. Whitsetts lawyers filed a notice in federal court Wednesday dismissing the matter but neither Whitsett or her lawyers gave a reason for the dismissal. Attempts to reach Whitsett for comment were unsuccessful. Whitsett filed the lawsuit on May 21 against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Organization claiming they sought to deprive her of her right to engage in protected speech. Those claims resulted from a censure from the group following public statements made by Whitsett thanking President Donald Trump for his suggestion of using the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat her coronavirus case. Trump repeatedly touted the drug as a possible treatment against COVID-19 despite no concrete medical evidence that it effectively treats the virus. Whitsett says the drug saved her life after she contracted COVID-19 in March and doctors used it in her treatments. Whitsett suffers from Lyme disease and was aware hydroxychloroquine can be used to treat that disease. However, she says she was unaware of the possible use against COVID-19 until Trump mentioned it during a speech on TV. On April 14, Whitsett met with Trump at The White House and thanked him for the suggestion while also telling him her condition went from 0 to 100 after she began taking the drug. Following that meeting, the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Organization eventually censured Whitsett saying her comments provided false information to the community. Her individual circumstance does not apply to everyone," said Chris McClain, a precinct delegate for the organization. She misrepresented a lot of the priorities and needs here of the community when she went to go meet with the president. The censure meant the group banned Whitsett from being part of the organizations efforts and barred any support from the group for her reelection campaign, McClain said. Whitsett also said Whitmer texted her to express disappointment just days after Whitsett met with Trump. "Youre entitled to your opinion, Im just disappointed youd take your theories public without seeking to get answers first. Take care, Whitmer is accused of saying via text. A spokesperson for Whitmer declined comment, saying the governor doesnt speak about pending litigation. Whitsett was a guest of President Trumps during his visit to the Rawsonville Ford plant last month. In light of the issues with the party, Trump has publicly encouraged Whitsett to join the Republican Party. The now-defunct lawsuit sought an unspecified amount of money for damages, reimbursement for all court fees, lawyers fees and other costs related to the case and any further relief the court deems appropriate. 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 Wednesday, June 3: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Hairstylists demand apology from Whitmer for suggesting people Google how to cut hair https://www.aish.com/ci/s/A-Jew-of-Colors-Advice-on-Combating-Racism.html Growing up as a black Orthodox Jew in Chicago, Lev Perlow witnessed racism first-hand. Lev Baruch Perlow is a 1st Sergeant in the Israeli army and with his slightly Ethiopian-tinged Hebrew and English, he might seem like a typical Ethiopian-Israeli working to defend the Jewish state. Yet Levs background and his Ashkenazi sounding name indicate that his background is anything but ordinary. He was adopted at the age of ten in 2005 into an American Jewish family and spent much of his childhood in an affluent suburb of Chicago, attending a mix of public schools and Jewish schools, immersed in his familys tight-knit Orthodox Jewish community. Lev, as well as his siblings who were also adopted from Ethiopia, had Orthodox conversions to Judaism. In a recent Aish.com exclusive interview, Lev discussed growing up in a largely white American area, the racism he experienced, and what he wants people to know right now about racism and how to combat it. I remember pretty well living in an orphanage in Ethiopia as a young child," he recalls. Hed watched movies about New York and thought of America as a magical place. When it was time to actually leave Ethiopia and move to the United States to join a new family, he was apprehensive. Everybody saw me as another person not something to stare at. "When I got to America I was speechless, Lev says. It was a dream come true. Back in Ethiopia my house was the size of a room. Suddenly, he had a beautiful house and every comfort he could imagine. More importantly, he now had two loving parents and a warm Jewish environment to welcome him. His second Shabbat in America, Lev went to synagogue with his parents. From the very moment I got to shul, the second week after I got adopted, I felt very welcome. The fact that he was from Ethiopia didnt elicit negative stares or remarks. Everybody saw me as another person not something to stare at. That warmth and acceptance gave Lev a strong feeling of security and a sense of being home, but he soon realized that in many ways to have black skin in America is to face a constant drumbeat of racism, prejudice and hostility, invisible to many people who are not Black. The first time Lev felt slighted because of his skin color was in a shopping mall where hed arranged to meet a friend. Lev arrived early and waited. He was dressed well, Lev remembers, like most of the other shoppers in the mall. That didnt seem to matter to a woman who walked towards him. She looked at me and stopped, he recalls. Somehow a young boy in a bustling public space, simply because he was black, seemed like a threat. She took her purse off her shoulder and switched it to the other side so that it wouldnt be close to Lev as she walked past him. It wasn't the last time hed be negatively judged because of the color of his skin. But Lev stresses that his experience has been very different from most African Americans. "African Americans have a whole history in America in Ethiopia, theres no similar history of slavery or racism. You dont really feel it until you come to America. Yet once he was in America, Lev was struck at how many people seemed hung up on the color of his skin. One of his first months in American school, a social worker entered his class. Lev was the only black child in the class one of only a small handful in the school and she asked him to come out of the room with her to talk. Black History Month was coming up, she explained, and she wanted to know Levs thoughts about it. I kind of felt offended, he remembers thinking. Why do you have to specifically make a month to represent Blacks? What about the other eleven months of the year? And why was she taking him, a ten-year-old, out of class and asking him and only him to think about it? Just think of black people as normal. Were not more special than another person were the same as you. The moment we start putting all these precautions around Black people, trying to tiptoe around in order not to hurt their feelings, Lev cautions, we risk creating a gulf between people, and emphasizing differences in color instead of bringing people together. Asked what white people can do to overcome racism, Lev is emphatic: Think of them as normal. This is something hes noticed many well-meaning whites fail at, as they try to bend over backwards to be extra nice or to show how unprejudiced they are. At the end of the day were people. Were not more special than another person were the same as you. We have the same rights, the same everything just a different skin color. Instead, hes noticed that some peoples determination not to offend can make them even more likely to emphasize differences and to be inadvertently racist. He remembers one time in class his teacher was reading excerpts from a book about slavery. It was from a white point of view, Lev recalls. The teacher was reading the book and said the N word. I see her saying the word from the book and looking at me. The teacher paused, possibly embarrassed, and in that moment the entire classroom of children all turned their heads too and stared at Lev. Suddenly, the racism in the book seemed horribly present in the classroom. The moment that you put these side looks and pauses after saying the N word, you give it power Little by little, you separate people from each other." What started off as Lev's teacher's embarrassment over saying the N word in his presence grew to feel like an acknowledgement that this vile slur somehow applied to him. The N word continued to bedevil Lev as he got older. Some children seemed to be determined to make racist remarks about Lev. The liberal use of the N word in some rap songs gave them the perfect cover to say this odious insult with seeming impunity, under cover of merely singing some popular songs. As a teenager, kids including some in his Jewish school would sing rap songs containing that offensive slur around him. Each time theyd come to the N word in the lyrics, theyd pause and look at Lev. Sometimes they would yell out the N word louder than the other words. Lev would pretend not to hear, but the pain was horrible. He wanted to fight his tormentors but his parents worked with him, convincing him not to. They advised him to be patient and to talk with people who slighted him. They taught me patience; patience is what helped me get through it." The use of the N word really ticks me off, he says. Theres such a horrible history associated with it; once Lev learned more about it he was even more pained by its use. Even now that he lives in Israel, he hears the N word in rap music, and tries to educate people not to repeat it. Israelis used to say it around me until I explained the history I said this is a word thats not used as a good thing. Many of the people currently posting on social media in the United States, saying that they want to help eliminate racism might do well to heed this warning: the N word, even if its ostensibly used in an artistic way, is a hateful word that should never be used. At other times, kids made jokes about Levs skin color and Ethiopian origins. Even when they felt they were simply being funny, their insensitive remarks often made Lev feel out of place. This type of racism was particularly pervasive in the Jewish community, Lev observed. In school I was one of the fastest kids, one of the strongest kids, so they would use that to joke around, Lev recalls. Oh, he can run fast because he's Black or African those jokes. Another common stereotype Lev disliked was that he liked rap music they want that stereotype (of rappers) to be every Black person, he observes. Making these broad assumptions strips away Black peoples individualities, implying that all Black people are somehow alike simply because of the color of their skin. At times, the humor was more obviously barbed. There was a time in high school when Lev came to school wearing a black shirt. Hey Lev, put on a shirt! several students teased him. The teacher didnt say anything. After high school, Lev immigrated to Israel. His mother is Israeli, and hed grown up loving Israel as the Jewish homeland. I made aliyah because of the Jewish people and because of my parents he explains. My parents gave me everything I could have wanted and dreamed of in America and more. Moving to Israel is a thank you. He also wanted to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces to defend his country. Tragically Lev has encountered racism in Israel as well. Hes noticed that Israeli Jews from Ethiopian families sometimes embrace African American culture, recognizing a community similarly beset by racism. He advises his Ethiopian friends in Israel to embrace their own rich Jewish culture instead. You have a different culture, youre raised differently, he explains still, the common sympathy can be strong as Ethiopian Jews watch the American Black experience from afar and recognize much of the own racism and police brutality that Ethiopian Jews face in Israel too. In both the United States and in Israel, Lev has found racism to be pervasive. In both the United States and in Israel, Lev has found racism to be pervasive. Its every day, its every second this type of light racism (of jokes and minor slights). It floats in the air. People try to wave it away, but as long as you have it racism will stay. Lev has started speaking up, pointing out small instances of racism and racist assumptions when he sees them hes found that he has to say something every day. Levs parents and siblings still live in suburban Chicago and hes been following the news avidly, reading about protests against the murder of George Floyd and the riots and looting that have spread across the country. He understands the frustration of Black Americans whove been subject to violence and racism and oppression that many white people simply cant conceive of. He mourns the violence, which he doesnt support, and feels he understands the peaceful protests as many thousands of African Americans have stood up and said enough. When he watched the video footage of George Floyds arrest and murder, Lev says it reminded him of his military training and seemed to be a classic case of what not to do when apprehending someone. Floyds death came just a few months after the February 23 shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old man who was murdered while out jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. That murder reminded Lev of terror attacks hed witnessed against Israeli soldiers years earlier. Still living at home in Chicago, Lev remembers seeing footage on the news of an Arab terrorist ramming his car into a crowd of Israeli soldiers. After watching that horrific attack Lev told his mother that he was going to move to Israel and enlist to help protect the Jewish state. That kind of hatred behind the murder of Arbery is disgusting and horrific. I had the same feeling that I had when I saw a car hit Israeli soldiers: another person killing someone because of the color of their skin. Today, with so many Americans and others around the world asking what they can do to help stamp out racism, Lev has some advice we all need to hear. Be kind. Be sensitive. Dont joke about other peoples differences or try to taunt them. Look at others as fully realized people, not simply as walking embodiments of the color of their skin. It's pretty simple: treat a black person like you treat yourself, like you treat any other person. Rajesh Asnani By Express News Service JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday gave his consent for the controversial suicide case of SHO Vishnudutta Vishnoi to be investigated by the CBI. The Opposition has been taking swipes against the Congress government over the suicide. Vishnoi, who was the Rajgarh police station in-charge in Churu district, was found hanging from the ceiling in his quarters on May 23. After Vishnoi groups from Rajasthan and Haryana met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot last Monday and demanded a CBI enquiry, the CM had in principle agreed to hand over the case for a probe by an independent agency. However, with no specific orders being issued by the government so far, Vishnoi groups had threatened a public agitation on this case where Congress MLA and former Olympian Krishna Poonia is alleged to have created undue pressure which pushed the SHO to commit suicide. However, the Vishnoi Mahasabha Patron and Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, irked by the delay in any fresh directive from the Rajasthan government, issued an open threat of agitation on Twitter. In his tweet on Thursday morning, Bishnoi made it clear that his patience over the Vishnudutt case was now running out, Its extremely unfortunate that despite the CM agreeing with our demand for a CBI enquiry, orders have not been issued till now. If Ashok Gehlot ji does not issue orders for a CBI enquiry by 5 pm today, we will be forced to begin a public agitation. A delegation of the Vishnoi community, headed by Kuldeep Bishnoi which included Rajasthan Forest Minister Sukhram Vishnoi and 8 MLAs from Rajasthan and Haryana, had met Gehlot in Jaipur on Monday to press for a CBI inquiry into the suicide of inspector Vishnudutt Vishnoi last month. Besides his in-principle agreement, Gehlot had assured them that the government would examine the matter and make a decision soon. But with no fresh directions being issued, the Vishnoi community was upset. Finally, on Thursday evening, the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Rajiv Swaroop said, "CM has approved the file to investigate the SHO suicide case from CBI. The decision on the letter of inquiry has been taken. Under CM's instructions, the Home Department will write a letter to the Central Government. Now it has to be seen whether the Central Investigation Agency considers the Suicide Case suitable for investigation or not. Earlier, the CBI had rejected several recommendations made by the state government." Assembly Deputy Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA, Rajendra Rathore, has tweeted that had the state government accepted the demand for a CBI inquiry earlier, then the possibility of tampering with all the documents related to this case would have been reduced. He wrote," I am confident that after the CBI investigation, Vishnudatta and his family will be able to get justice as soon as possible. The culprits will get the harshest punishment". From the very start, BJP and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) leaders have alleged that the SHO was being pressurised by the local Congress MLA Krishna Poonia. The mystery over the SHO suicide finds a clear mention in the daily register of the Rajgarh police station. In an entry made over a month before his suicide, SHO Vishnoi had recorded that he had caught some culprits involved in the illegal sale of liquor but the local MLA had telephoned to lobby for the release of those involved in the racket. A case of murder in the area which happened a day before the SHOs suicide is also included in the Roznamcha or the register of the Thana. In an interaction with the media, Churu SP, Tejaswini Gautam had confirmed that Vishnudutt had mentioned the issue of the pressure he was facing in the Roznamcha records. Despite the escalating row, Olympian-turned-Congress MLA Krishna Poonia has denied all charges. She has accused the BJP of playing politics and had asked CM Gehlot to hold an impartial enquiry and find out exactly who was behind the pressure that SHO Vishnoi felt. The 45- year-old police officer Vishnoi, considered one of the best SHOs in Rajasthan by DG Police Bhupendra Singh, was popular in his department and among the people for his work and honesty. The Gehlot government had initially handed over the case to the CID-CB Branch of the Rajasthan Police. Sources in the Police department say that the probe by the CID-CB team is at an advanced stage and the Gehlot government is likely to attach the report of that team when it hands over the case to the CBI. JEFFERSON CITY Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday the state of Missouri wont foot the bill for the states deployment of some of its National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., amid protests there. Their deployment comes on the seventh day of protests in the nations capital, and on a day District of Columbia Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, lifted the citys curfew as protests the night before resulted in zero police injuries and no arrests, The Washington Post reported. More than 300 Missouri National Guard troops were being deployed to Washington on Thursday at the D.C. National Guards request, Missouri National Guard Brig. Gen. Levon E. Cumpton said at a Thursday news conference. Its no expense out of our general revenue for them to go to Washington, D.C., said Parson, a Republican. It will be funded by the federal level. The D.C. National Guard is the only National Guard unit out of 54 states and territories that reports solely to the president of the United States, according to its website. Cumpton said the 300 troops in Washington were in addition to more than 1,000 troops deployed across Missouri amid protests, and the more than 1,000 troops supporting the states response to the COVID-19 outbreak. He said the request from the D.C. National Guard was mutual aid, paid for by the requesting agency and is a common practice across our National Guard. Guardsmen from other states including Utah, New Jersey, Indiana, South Carolina and Tennessee either were on the ground Tuesday or were on their way. The Maryland and Ohio governors also were sending troops. Some states declined, such as Delaware, Illinois, Virginia and New York, which are led by Democratic governors. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jack Suntrup 573-556-6184 @JackSuntrup on Twitter jsuntrup@post-dispatch.com 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. Gov. Tom Wolf is announcing a series of reforms in the wake of protests and calls for racial justice across Pennsylvania. The Wolf administration released the reforms as the governor held a press conference Thursday afternoon to outline his plans. Today, I am taking steps to address concerns about community relations with law enforcement as well as strengthen accountability of our agencies, Wolf said in a statement. This effort will commence immediately. The reforms calls for reviewing use of force training standards for police at all levels, the Wolf administration said. Hes also creating an advisory commission to investigate allegations of misconduct involving police under the governors jurisdiction. And hes proposing more mental health support for police. In addition, Wolf is creating a panel to examine racial and ethnic disparities at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Wolf noted that he has worked with lawmakers on criminal justice reform efforts in recent years and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have supported those efforts. Hes banking on similar support for these reforms. He also pledged to address issues of a lack of equality facing people of color. The governor said, "we need to address the looming, systemic failings that have created this situation. The Wolf administration said many of the reforms are based on the 21st Century Policing Task Force, created in 2015 under President Barack Obama after the death of a black teen in Ferguson, Mo. The governors meetings with local leaders in Harrisburg and Philadelphia have informed the proposals, the Wolf administration said in the release. In a news release, the Wolf administration said the governor was proposing several initiatives. Reviewing training and education of police All training academies for law enforcement must review current use of force training standards for law enforcement and form a workgroup to develop model training standards to ensure that all officers receive the best instruction in their interactions with the public. Departments should be striving to obtain state and or national accreditation. Accreditation is a key component in assisting departments in evaluation and improvement of their standards and practices. Citizen advisory boards The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency would offer technical assistance to communities to create local citizen advisory boards. Wolf said hed like to see these across the state, even in small communities. Creating a Deputy Inspector General within the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General (OSIG). This position will be focused on deterring, detecting, preventing, and eradicating fraud, waste, misconduct, and abuse amongst law enforcement agencies under the Governors jurisdiction. Creation of a Pennsylvania State Law Enforcement Advisory Commission. This panel would review allegations of misconduct by law enforcement personnel under the governors jurisdiction. Creation of a racial and ethnic disparities subcommittee This panel would be formed under the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Enhancing officer safety and wellness The governor wants to strengthen mental health initiatives and offer support for officers to deal with trauma. The administration wants to reduce the stigma for getting help. Supporting legislative reforms The governor will work with lawmakers on legislation in several areas. He aims to work on bills that would improve access to police videos; create an oversight board for officer training and continuing education; appointing a special prosecutor in deadly assault cases; interdepartmental law enforcement hiring reform; and PTSD evaluation for police officers. Protests have emerged across Pennsylvania - and around the nation - as outrage has grown over the death of Floyd in police custody. Floyd was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. He died after an officer was captured on video kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes. The Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. More from PennLive Hundreds march in Harrisburg rally; shouting interrupts speeches from governor, mayor, police commissioner Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf joins Wednesdays rally, march against injustice, gun violence in Harrisburg Carlisle rally speakers urge racial unity, solid action in wake of George Floyds death ABC News(LONDON) -- BY: CARSON BLACKWELDER Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, delivered a powerful speech to the 2020 graduates of Immaculate Heart High School, her alma mater, urging them to "lead with love," "lead with compassion" and to "use your voice." Her video, shared Wednesday evening for the class of 2020's virtual graduation, begins by her telling the all-girls school she was "really nervous" to address the "absolutely devastating" times we're living in until coming to an important realization. "I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing," the 38-year-old said. Meghan continued by stating that "George Floyd's life mattered" as did -- and do -- the lives of "so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know." Floyd, a black man, died on May 25 at the age of 46 when a white police officer pressed on Floyd's neck with his knee for nearly nine minutes. In the days after Floyd's death, protests have spawned across the country -- and across the globe -- calling for change. She then recalled experiencing the LA riots during her youth, an event she noted was "also triggered by a senseless act of racism" in the beating of Rodney King at the hands of police. While detailing the horrors of this time, Meghan added that "those memories don't go away." "So the first thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry," the former "Suits" actress said, acknowledging that young people are having "a different version of that same type of experience" now. "I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present." "That's something that you should have an understanding of, but an understanding of as a history lesson, not as your reality," Meghan, who grew up in LA, added. "So I am sorry that, in a way, we have not gotten the world to the place that you deserve it to be." The duchess said there is one positive comparison in looking back at the LA riots and what's going on today. The bright side, in her eyes, is seeing "how people came together." Meghan ended her message by admitting she knows this isn't the graduation ceremony these students "envisioned" or "imagined." "Now you get to be part of rebuilding," she said, telling the graduates we will "rebuild and rebuild and rebuild ... because when the foundation is broken, so are we." Meghan signed off with just a few more words of inspiration and encouragement for their bright futures. "You are equipped, you are ready, we need you and you are prepared," Meghan concluded. "Please know that I am cheering you on all along the way, I am exceptionally proud of you and I'm wishing you a huge congratulations on today, the start of all the impact you're going to make in the world as the leaders that we all so deeply crave. Congratulations, ladies, and thank you in advance." Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado Brazil is reopening despite recording its highest coronavirus daily death tolls in two consecutive days this week. The country recorded 1,262 deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday and 1,349 on Wednesday. More than 32,000 people have died and 530,000 have been infected by COVID-19 so far. But on Tuesday, stores, beaches, and other venues in major cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo were allowed to resume business. President Jair Bolsonaro has refused to take the virus seriously, saying on Tuesday he was "sorry for all the dead, but that's everyone's destiny." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Brazil is easing restrictions despite logging record numbers of daily coronavirus fatalities, with President Jair Bolsonaro saying death is "everyone's destiny." On Wednesday, Brazil recorded the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus in a single day. The 1,349 new fatalities beat the previous record of 1,262 deaths, which was set the day before, according to data from the country's health ministry. The country's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases also surpassed 500,000 this week. Only the US has more. Striking images published late last month showed row upon row of mass graves, laying bare the state of the country's crisis. Gravediggers bury the coffin of a person who died from COVID-19 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 22, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli Yet on Tuesday, a number of non-essential businesses and venues in the major cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro opened their doors for the first time in months. They include beaches, churches, car showrooms, and furniture stores, according to CNN. On Monday, Marcelo Crivella, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, said that "if all parameters are followed wearing masks and avoiding crowds we will return to normal life, to the new normal, in August." Paulo Lotufo, an epidemiologist at the University of Sao Paulo, told The Guardian: "What is happening is an absurdity. The outlook is awful." Story continues Regardless Bolsonaro, who in March called the virus a "little flu," said on Tuesday: "We are sorry for all the dead, but that's everyone's destiny." A health worker shows a COVID-19 test at the Roli Madeira riverside community on Marajo Island, in Brazil's Para state, on June 1, 2020. TARSO SARRAF/AFP via Getty Images In May, two health ministers left their posts in the space of a month after clashing with Bolsonaro over the use of the hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment. Whether the malaria drug helps combat COVID-19 remains unknown. The ministers' old jobs remain unfilled. A couple at the newly reopened Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on June 2, 2020. MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images The governor of northeastern Maranhao state, Flavio Dino, blamed the country's high death toll on the president. "I have no doubt that Bolsonaro is in great measure responsible for this terrible rate that is going to continue growing for several months," he said, according to The Guardian. Latin America is currently the world's latest hotspot for the virus. Read the original article on Business Insider Vaginal Lactobacillus bacterial strains largely perform better than strains currently used in probiotics for vaginal health, according to a study published June 4 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Jo-Ann Passmore of the University of Cape Town, and colleagues. The findings suggest that a vaginal health probiotic that includes top-performing vaginal Lactobacillus strains may improve treatment options for bacterial vaginosis. Lactobacillus species in the lower reproductive tract of healthy women lower vaginal pH and protect against sexually transmitted infections. But women commonly suffer from bacterial vaginosis -- a disruption in the optimal Lactobacillus-dominated genital microbiota - resulting in higher vaginal pH as well as vaginal discharge and inflammation. Bacterial vaginosis is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Although antibiotics are the standard of care for bacterial vaginosis, most cases recur within six months. Probiotics that include Lactobacilli have been explored to improve the durability of treatment, but the majority of products do not contain species commonly found in the vagina. There is an urgent need for the development of additional well-designed probiotics for vaginal health. In the new study, Passmore and colleagues compared 57 vaginal Lactobacillus strains from young African women to strains from commercial probiotic products for vaginal health. They analyzed their growth at varying pH values, ability to lower pH and produce antimicrobial products, pathogen inhibition, and susceptibility to antibiotics. Several vaginal strains exhibited better probiotic profiles than commercial strains, suggesting that they would be beneficial in the development of probiotic treatments for bacterial vaginosis. Moreover, whole-genome sequencing of the five best-performing vaginal strains revealed that they would likely be safe and not pose a risk of antimicrobial resistance. According to the authors, a wider range of well-characterized Lactobacillus-containing probiotics may improve treatment outcomes for bacterial vaginosis, and lower the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and sexually transmitted infections. "Few probiotics aimed at promoting vaginal health contain Lactobacillus spp. that commonly colonize the lower genital tracts of African women," the authors add. "The discovery and use of novel vaginal probiotic strains in such women may improve the durability of bacterial vaginosis treatments and towards this end Happel et al. (2020) evaluated a multitude of vaginal Lactobacillus strains and identified some that should be tested as vaginal probiotics in clinical trials in Africa." ### Research Article Funding: JSP is supported by EDCTP Strategic Primer SP.2011.41304.038; Poliomyelitis Research Foundation Award 15/23; SA National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa / France Science and Technology Research collaboration Protea grant FSTR180523333842. AUH is supported by University of Cape Town Post-graduate publication incentive funding; Poliomyelitis Research Foundation Award; SA National Research Foundation (NRF). NW is supported by South African Medical Research Council Division of Research Capacity Development under National Medical Students Research Training Programme. The authors confirm that the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Citation: Happel A-U, Kullin B, Gamieldien H, Wentzel N, Zauchenberger CZ, Jaspan HB, et al. (2020) Exploring potential of vaginal Lactobacillus isolates from South African women for enhancing treatment for bacterial vaginosis. PLoS Pathog 16(6): e1008559. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008559 Author Affiliations: National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Cape Town, South Africa South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa University Montpellier, Montpellier, France University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1008559 A California city council unanimously voted this week to ask the state's attorney general to step in and investigate the police-involved shooting death of Steven Taylor. Taylor, 33, was seen on video being repeatedly hit with stun guns by two San Leandro police officers and fatally shot by one inside a Walmart on April 18. The incident was captured on cellphone videos and the unidentified officers' body cameras. About 30 seconds after the first officer reported to the store, Taylor was shot dead as several frantic shoppers were nearby. PHOTO: Steve Taylor, 33, was shot and killed by a San Leandro police officer on April 18 during a mental health crisis, the family's attorney said. (Courtesy The Taylor Family) S. Lee Merritt, who represents Taylor's family, previously told ABC News that Taylor was experiencing a "mental health crisis" while wielding a bat inside the store when a store's worker called 911. Taylor's grandmother said he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, since he was a preteen. MORE: Family of man killed by police in Walmart angered by lack of notification, calls for investigation The officers involved were placed on administrative leave -- standard protocol in any officer-involved shooting, police said The San Leandro Police Department and Alameda County District Attorney are conducting separate investigations, but city council member Corina Lopez has been advocating for an independent investigation for more than a month. PHOTO: Steve Taylor, 33, was shot and killed by a San Leandro police officer on April 18 during a mental health crisis, the family's attorney said. (Courtesy The Taylor Family) "I think it is important that there is transparency and that people feel confident that the process of the investigation has integrity. My aim is to have public trust and I believe an independent investigation can accomplish this," Lopez, who also serves on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, told ABC News on Wednesday evening. The San Leandro City Council had a closed door session on Monday where Lopez's motion -- to send a letter to the state's Attorney General Xavier Becerra requesting them to do an independent investigation into the police department's use of deadly force against Taylor -- was put on the table. Story continues MORE: Police Shootings Council member Victor Aguilar Jr. said he "quickly" seconded the motion and the rest of the council agreed to send the letter. "I want the public to know that we hear them, and that for some, having the district attorney investigate is not a direction they want this to go," said Aguilar in a statement to ABC News on Thursday. "I am very happy that this vote was unanimous and there is a lot of leadership in this city behind this," said Lopez. It's unclear if the letter was written or sent to Becerra's office as of Wednesday. However, if Becerra agrees to take on the case, the investigation will happen parallel to the other law enforcement agencies' probes. PHOTO: Steve Taylor, 33, was shot and killed by a San Leandro police officer on April 18 during a mental health crisis, the family's attorney said. (Courtesy The Taylor Family ) "Our investigation is ongoing in this matter," said Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Teresa Drenick in an email to ABC News on Wednesday. A spokesman with the San Leandro Police Department confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that their investigation is still ongoing, but they have already started taking steps to change with "refresher courses on mental health training." Lopez says she hopes that if all the investigations return with the same conclusions it will show the Taylor family and the community-at-large that their local representatives are being responsive and are honoring them. "This was a tragedy for the community ... very difficult and painful," said Lopez. City council votes to ask California's attorney general to investigate police-involved shooting at Walmart originally appeared on abcnews.go.com I dont understand how people dont understand. Im a very empathetic human being, and I see the struggle all the time with people of color and the things that they have to go through, because I have a wide net of people that I know, and I see it all the time and its not fair. I know as a female its hard for me to go to a gas station by myself. I can only imagine what that would be like for a person of color. The people we elect need to stand up and finally take notice. Its really disturbing to see that we are so set back right now. Ben and Jen Schrempf brought their children, Bri 9, and Maddie, 11. Were here to listen to the black community," Ben Schrempf said. "What happened is obviously unfortunate and unacceptable and its been happening for way too long and my wife, being a teacher in Rock Island, a lot of her kids are minorities and their friends are African American as well and the idea that it could be any one of them going through the same thing brings us to tears. So we want to see change, and we know that the police in the Quad-Cities do a good job, but we still want to see change around the country and go from there. The bill is expected to be introduced on Thursday, June 4. A bipartisan group of senators is planning to introduce legislation that would expand U.S. sanctions against Gazprom PJSC's Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany by taking aim at insurance companies that work with Russian vessels on completion of the project. A draft of the measure obtained by Bloomberg spells out that previously enacted sanctions apply to all pipe-laying activities and insurance. It expands sanctions to companies that provide "underwriting services or insurance or reinsurance" for vessels working on the pipeline as well as those that provide "services or facilities for technology upgrades or installation of welding equipment for, or retrofitting or tethering" of vessels. The bill, which is expected to be introduced Thursday, would extend sanctions to anyone who provides port facilities to pipe-laying vessels and tethering services. Bloomberg says Senator Ted Cruz, one of the lead sponsors of the legislation, said the pipeline poses "a critical threat to America's national security and must not be completed." Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to circumvent the sanctions passed by Congress last year, Cruz said in a statement. The bill will state that anyone involved in the project in any capacity will "face crippling and immediate American sanctions," Cruz said. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, said the pipeline "threatens Ukraine, Europe's energy independence and gives Russia an opening to exploit our allies" and that "Congress must once again take decisive action and stand in this pipeline's path." Shaheen and Cruz last year secured sanctions against the pipeline as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. After President Donald Trump signed the NDAA into law, AllSeas Group SA stopped work on the pipeline, bringing the project to a halt just weeks before the expected completion. Gazprom, the owner of the pipeline and the gas that's supposed to flow through it, has now moved two Russian vessels into the area to continue work. Read alsoU.S. mulling new sanctions against Nord Stream 2 The U.S. is seeking to block completion of the project over longstanding concern that additional flows of Russian gas would increase the Kremlin's political leverage over European Union countries. Washington has repeatedly urged Europe to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas instead. The Russian government said last year that sanctions would not derail the Nord Stream 2 project. The two vessels targeted by the sanctions -- the Akademik Cherskiy and Fortuna -- each have some of the tools needed to complete the pipeline but would have to be tethered together to carry out the work, according to a person familiar with the matter. The legislation also includes measures to prevent sanctions evasions by moving the ships from company to company. As UNIAN reported earlier, the German Federal Network Agency on May 15 refused to exempt Nord Stream 2 from the EU Gas Directive rules. The reason for the refusal is that the project had not been implemented by May 23, which was a condition for its exemption from the restrictive rules. UNIAN memo. The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction and operation of two gas pipeline branches with a total throughput capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. It should connect Russia's Ust-Lug and Germany's Greifswald. This new pipeline bypassing Ukraine is to be built next to the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was expected to be completed before the end of 2019. The pipeline will be 1,220 km long. The project is being implemented by Russia's Gazprom in alliance with European companies ENGIE, OMV, Shell, Uniper, and Wintershall. Ukraine stands against the construction of Nord Stream 2 as it will most likely lose its status of a gas transit country, while its potential revenue losses are estimated at US$3 billion annually. The project is also highly criticized by the U.S., Poland, and the Baltic States. On December 20, U.S. President Donald Trump enacted the U.S. defense budget for 2020, which provides, inter alia, sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines. After that, the Swiss company Allseas suspended participation in the construction of Nord Stream 2. On December 30, it became known that the company had withdrawn from participation in the project, its ships had already left the Baltic Sea. On January 11, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could complete the construction of Nord Stream 2 independently, and the pipeline would start operating, most likely, in the first quarter of 2021. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Kuala Lumpur Thu, June 4, 2020 10:31 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc04885 2 People beauty-pageant,Malaysia,#BlackLivesMatter,Samantha-Katie-James,backlash Free A Malaysian beauty queen has apologized after her comments that black people should "relax" in response to raging US protests against police racism sparked an online outcry, including condemnation from "Crazy Rich Asians" actor Henry Golding. The US has been rocked for the past week by once-in-a-generation demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, by a white police officer in Minnesota. But Samantha Katie James, who represented Malaysia in the 2017 Miss Universe pageant in the US, posted on Instagram this week: "To the black people, relax, take it as a challenge, makes you stronger. "You chose to be born as a 'colored' person in America for a reason. To learn a certain lesson." Social media lit up with anger following the remarks, with the Malaysian-born English actor Golding also condemning her comments in his Instagram stories. More than 80,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the 25-year-old to be stripped of her Miss Universe Malaysia crown, which she won in 2017, before competing internationally. "She misused her platform and social media presence to voice out her blatantly racist and ignorant remarks," read the petition. The organizers of the Miss Universe Malaysia contest also slammed the comments as "inappropriate, offensive, unacceptable and hurtful". As anger mounted late Tuesday, James posted an apology. "I do hear you, I'm sorry, I know you're hurting. I'm not in your shoes to fully understand this," she said. Read also: 'Blackout Tuesday' posts draw support, skepticism in music industry Responding to her comment that black people "chose to be black", she added: "Throughout my journey I have learned that we are more than just this temporary physical body, like an avatar, merely a tiny speck of dust in this vast infinite universe, we tend to overlook that from time to time. "In our process towards evolution as a human being, on earth. We chose our body, our family, our place of birth, our name and our lessons from the path we take tailor made for us." Protests against systemic racism and police brutality have raged across the US since Floyd's death, with many descending into mayhem as night falls. Defence minister Rajnath Singhs belated admission Tuesday that troops of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army were present in sizable numbers at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, though he did not go into specific numbers, or the extent of the reported intrusion into Indian territory early last month, is a welcome step by the government which has been fairly opaque on the situation at the border. For the past month, Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in tense confrontations at several points in eastern Ladakh, including the northern bank of Pangong Tso lake and the Galwan river, as well as near Naku La in northern Sikkim (where soldiers of the two sides even engaged in scuffles), but the matter is yet to be resolved. Several rounds of local-level talks were conducted by the two armies colonels, brigadiers and finally two major-generals on Tuesday, but remained inconclusive. Indias ambassador in Beijing also talked to the Chinese foreign ministry, again to no avail. Now, as the defence minister announced, senior commanders of the two armies, of lieutenant-general rank, will make a fresh effort Saturday to resolve the impasse, with the Indian side led by the head of Leh-based 14 Corps. We can only hope that they are able to find a way to end the standoff. The immediate provocation for the latest Chinese aggressiveness appears to be Indias intensified efforts to build a network of feeder roads and bridges on its side of the LAC to ramp up infrastructure that could, among other things, speed up the movement of troops. This has possibly made China see red, particularly when it seems on the backfoot globally, with several Western and other governments targeting it for failing to check the coronavirus spread from its soil. Beijing spent decades ramping up infrastructure on its side of the LAC, such as metalled roads in Tibet going right up to the Indian border, so when New Delhi began efforts to catch up in both Ladakh and the Northeast (where a tunnel is planned under the Brahmaputra), China felt it should respond. But even if the present confrontation is defused after Saturdays meeting of the generals, the root cause of the friction between the two sides still remain. The key point is that while the LAC is the de facto India-China border, and has been largely peaceful for the last 50 years (unlike the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, which often flares up on a daily basis), the Indian and Chinese armies have different perceptions of what the Line of Actual Control actually is. The two armies have their own maps defining the border, which in effect means there are really two LACs, which dont match. The McMahon Line, which defined the border between British India and then independent Tibet, was never accepted by the Peoples Republic (born in October 1949, two years after India became free), which annexed Tibet a few years later. India and China have spent decades trying to agree on a map they can both agree on, but Beijing seems in no hurry as it probably feels an unsettled border will keep India in check. Till this is resolved, the LAC will keep flaring up. A Nigerian trader, accused of impersonating three Ministers of State to defraud some people of more than GH10,000.00, is battling to execute her bail. Vivian Sajida Imran, who appeared before an Accra Circuit on Wednesday Court, from custody, consequently had her case adjourned to June 17. The Court, presided over by Mr. Emmanuel Essandoh, had earlier granted Vivian bail in the sum of GH12,000.00 with two sureties, one of whom should not be earning less than GH1,500.00 a month. Vivian and her husband, Prince Joel, now at large, impersonated Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Henry Quartey, Deputy Minister, National Security. Vivian has, however, pleaded not guilty to eight counts of falsely pretending to be a public officer and defrauding by false pretence. The couple are said to have used the names of the Ministers of state to defraud two victims of more than GH10,000.00 under the pretext of securing them jobs. They told the victims that they could secure jobs for them at the COC0BOD, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the Ghana Gas Company Limited. They allegedly collected GH6,000.00 from one Seth Samuel Tetteh to provide him with a job at TOR; and five others of different sums of monies for job opportunities at COCOBOD and Ghana Gas Company Limited. When the case was first called, called Detective Sergeant Frederick Sarpong told the Court that the complainant was an operative of the National Security. Detective Sergeant Sarpong said in April, Vivian and Joel used the names of the Ministers to create multiple Facebook accounts and pretended to be ministers. Vivian and Joel in their online chats and phone calls with the victims informed them that they could secure jobs for them with those three companies. Sgt Sarpong said Vivian and Joel further requested the victims to pay various amount of monies to their mobile money accounts for application forms and interviews. "The monies amounting to GH10,277.00 were paid to MTN mobile numbers 0242774965 and 0551047196 and later transferred into Vivian's mobile money number 0248024471, he said. The Prosecution said: "The honourable ministers who later had a wind of activities of the accused persons informed the National Security so Vivian and Joel were tracked to their house at Ashaiman Jericho, where she was arrested but Joel managed to escape. The prosecution said a search conducted in the room of the couple revealed six mobile phones, including the handsets with the three mobile money numbers used to receive the monies from their victims. He said: "An order of the court was sought and a forensic examination was carried out on the retained mobile phones. One of the retained mobile phone was found to contain MTN SIM number 0248024471 registered in the name of Vivian." According to the Prosecution, the same number was found to be the final destination where the money obtained from the victims were transferred to and later withdrawn. Prosecution said in Vivian's investigative cautioned statement she admitted being the owner of that number. The Prosecution said when the victims were later contacted and they narrated their ordeal to the security agents. The Prosecution said intensive efforts were underway to track Joel. 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 PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi said on Wednesday it would review available information and run consultations before deciding whether to enroll patients again for its COVID-19-related hydroxychloroquine trials. The French drugmaker said on May 29 it had stopped recruiting new COVID-19 subjects for two clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine until concerns about safety are cleared up following a decision by the World Health Organization to pause a large trial. The WHO said earlier in the day the trial would resume. "We will review available information and run consultations in the coming days to reassess our position," a spokesman with Sanofi said. (Reporting by Matthias Blamont; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten) You have encountered a possible error on our website. You may have entered an incorrect URL or may be using a URL that has recently changed. Alternatively it may be the case that you seek material which has been archived. On the 9th March 2011, the Government of Ireland changed. All posts published on MerrionStreet.ie prior to 9th of March 2011 have been archived at the following address: Archive.MerrionStreet.ie You have several options: We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you encounter any further difficulties using this site please let us know. Email the Editor. In this Monday, May 25, 2020 photo a person walks past a storm drain with discarded gloves and other trash in Philadelphia. Between mid-March, when the city's stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a recent briefing on Philadelphia's coronavirus response with an unusual request for residents: Be careful what you flush. Between mid-March, when the city's stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Kenney said. "Please do not flush any of these items down the toilet," the mayor said. Officials in other U.S. cities and rural communitiesand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyhave issued similar pleas as wastewater plant operators report a surge of stopped-up pipes and damage to equipment. The problem has sharpened the longstanding clash over whether wipes are suitable for flushing. While drain clogs aren't new, most of the more than 15 cities contacted by The Associated Press said they've become a more costly and time consuming headache during the pandemic. Home-bound Americans are seeking alternatives to bathroom tissue because of occasional shortages, while stepping up efforts to sanitize their dwellings and themselves. "When everyone rushed out to get toilet paper and there was none ... people were using whatever they could," said Pamela Mooring, spokeswoman for DC Water, the system in the nation's capital. This Friday, May 22, 2020 photo shows a discarded glove on a storm drain in Philadelphia. Between mid-March, when the city's stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said. (AP Photo/Jonathan Poet) Sanitary sewer overflows jumped 33% between February and March in Houston because of clogs from rags, tissues, paper towels and wipes, said public works department spokeswoman Erin Jones. In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, crews are cleaning sewage pumping stations a couple of times a week that previously needed it once a month, said John Strickland, manager of the treatment facility. At Beale Air Force Base in Northern California, a squadron that usually deals with airfield maintenance and weaponry disposal has been yanking wipes from the base's plumbing. "Our airmen are working 16-plus hours to unclog the pipe systems and that takes them out of the mission and puts a strain on the rest of the team," Master Sgt. Destrey Robbins said in an article on the Beale website. By flushing the wrong things, people are taxing infrastructure that's already deteriorating, said Darren Olson, vice chairman of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Committee for America's Infrastructure. "Your latex glove may not be the thing that causes a clog, but you are adding to the burden." Hundreds of areas, like a portion of Philadelphia, have combined sewage and stormwater systems so sanitation officials say that means discarded masks and gloves that litter sidewalks and parking lots can also reach and help gum up treatment plants. This Monday, May 25, 2020 photo shows a discarded glove on a storm drain in Philadelphia. Between mid-March, when the city's stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Olson said masks and gloves thrown in the street can travel through storm drains in separate systems to lakes and other waterways. George Leonard, Ocean Conservancy's chief scientist, said he's concerned discarded personal protective equipment could wash out to sea and eventually add to "the plastics burden that the ocean is already suffering from." Costs of clearing, cleaning and restarting equipment are mounting for utilities. To reduce the likelihood of clogs, WSSC Watera wastewater utility that serves nearly 1.8 million customers in Prince George's and Montgomery counties in Marylandinstalled about 27 debris grinding pumps over the last decade at a cost of $1.5 million. "At one wastewater pumping station alone, one that does not have grinder pumps, we have seen an increase of 37,000 pounds of wipes during JanuaryMarch 2020 compared with the same time period in 2019," said utility spokeswoman Lyn Riggins. Michigan's Macomb County spent $50,000 in 2018 removing a "fatberg" of debris, oils and grease that was 100 feet long and 11 feet wide, said Candice Miller, public works commissioner. The suburban Detroit community also spent millions to install screens that snag thousands of pounds of wipes weekly. In this May 28, 2020, file photo Lyn Riggins, WSSC Water spokesperson, holds up a wipe that was collected along with other debris at a pumping station in Washington. Sewer systems are battling the "wipe monster" from all the wipes and other debris since pandemic that are clogging up pumping stations. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Municipal officials say the solution's simple: Put nothing in toilets but human waste and toilet paper. "Don't be fooled by wipes packaging claims that these products are flushable," DC Water said in a March advisory. "They are not." The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, which represents hundreds of companies including major wipes producers, agrees most wet wipes are unsuitable for toilet disposal and says they're labeled as such. But one type is designed to perform the same functions as toilet paper and merits the "flushable" label, said Dave Rousse, president of the industry group. These cellulose wipes begin breaking down immediately and dissolve within hours, Rouse said. "These wipes are incapable of causing the kinds of problems that wastewater operators are accusing them of," he said. In this May 28, 2020, file photo Lyn Riggins, WSSC Water spokesperson, holds up a wipe that was collected along with other debris at a pumping station in Washington. Sewer systems are battling the "wipe monster" from all the wipes and other debris since pandemic that are clogging up pumping stations. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) This Monday, May 25, 2020 photo shows a discarded glove on a storm drain in Philadelphia. Between mid-March, when the city's stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Critics contend "flushable" wipes don't biodegrade as manufacturers claim. In Macomb County outside Detroit, maintenance workers are removing two tons of wipes per week from one pump station, and officials say some clearly are the "flushable" variety. This month, the county sued wipe manufacturers, alleging voluntary flushability standards are based on testing that doesn't reflect actual conditions in a sewer system. In March, Washington became the first state to adopt requirements for the size, placement and visibility of "Do Not Flush" warnings on wipes that manufacturers and local officials agree should not go down toilets. Similar legislation is under consideration in California. Meanwhile, many cities are using public education campaigns to make their case against flushing pandemic debris. The message may be getting through, says El Paso, Texas water utility spokesman Carlos Briano. Before the media blitz, emergency maintenance teams were dispatched about seven times a day to clear pipes. Now, it's once a day. "It's slowed, but it's still not pre-pandemic," Briano said. 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Benapol is COVID-19 free; exim activities may resume: Bangladeshi trade to Mamata India pti-PTI Kolkata, June 04: Bangladeshi Exim trade, seeking to resume Indian exports via Patrapole in West Bengal, has attempted to convey a message to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that Benapole, the corresponding place across the border, is a green zone and does not pose any threat of coronavirus infection, an official said. Trade between the two neighbours via Petrapole land port has been in deadlock over various issues including quarantine norms after India imposed the nationwide lockdown from March 25. Since then, only around 15 trucks from Petrapole unloaded goods on the no man's land, instead of going till Benapole across the border, on April 30 and May 1. Vijay Mallya may not be extradietd to India soon, another legal hurdle in way | Oneindia News Lockdown 5: Shrines to reopen Monday, pvt offices to work with 100% staff from June 8, says Mamata However, that too was stopped as the people of Petrapole and the local panchayat run by the Trinamool Congress were opposed to it claiming that Benapole was affected by Covid-19 and resumption of export activities could lead to spread of the contagion in this side of the border. The Benapole Customs Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association on Wednesday has written a letter to the Calcutta Customs House Agents Association and requested it to convey to the chief minister, who also heads the Trinamool Congress, that Benapole is coronavirus-free and is a green zone, officials told PTI. They said the Benapole trade body firmly believes that with the chief minister's intervention, exim activities can return to normalcy. Calcutta Customs House Agents Association secretary Mannu Choudhary, confirmed receipt of the letter and said they will convey the message to Banerjee shortly. The letter also said that exporters of the neighbouring country seek to resume imports from India, and Bangladeshi trade ecosystem is ready to accept goods. The Bangladeshi customs clearing agents, the key service providers for importers and exporters, attempted to assure the people of Petrapole that drivers and labourers moving to Benapole for unloading will not pose any threat of virus infection when they return. The lion's share of trade with Bangladesh takes place via Petrapole and Benapole. Currently, over 2,200 trucks are waiting in Petrapole for unloading their cargo in the neighbouring country. Both Indian and Bangladeshi trade said that transloading on the no mans land is not a feasible option as there is not enough space to carry out the activity. The Indian Exim trade body has also drawn the attention of the Wwst Bengal chief minister for her intervention on the mater. COVID-19: Amid rising coronavirus cases, no new schemes for a year, says Finance Ministry Meanwhile, the Malda District administration has offered the option of creating a pool of drivers in Mahadipur land port, who would work in batches to deliver consignments across the border and stay in an isolation centre after returning. This could be a workable solution for Petrapole too, unless the state government relaxes the quarantine norms for anyone crossing international borders, the Indian trade said. According to rules, truckers have to go on a 14-day quarantine once they return from another country. STEPANAKERT, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan on June 4 sent a condolence letter to the family of prominent writer and publicist Maxim Hovhannisyan in connection with his death, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The letter runs as follows: I have learnt with deep sorrow about the death of prominent writer, publicist, journalist, intellectual and citizen Maxim Hovhannisyan. Maxim Hovhannisyan made a tangible contribution to the responsible mission of organizing the Artsakh movement. He expressed the emotions and aspirations of the Artsakh Armenians in a difficult and fatal period for us. On behalf of the people, authorities of Artsakh and myself personally I express my condolences and support to all the relatives and friends of the deceased, to the thousands of fans of his prolific pen. The memory of the great intellectual will remain bright in the hearts of those who knew him. Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal in May, 2007 A former Northern Ireland detective who has played a central role in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann said the latest developments in the case bring him such hope he believes an end could be in sight for her heartbroken family. London and German police have identified an unnamed suspect who was in the Praia da Luz resort on the Algarve coast at the time the three-year-old vanished on May 3 2007. "This is a substantial and very significant lead," Jim Gamble told ITV's This Morning. Read More Mr Gamble was the senior child protection officer in the UK's first investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine. The Bangor man is one of the UK's most experienced and outspoken experts on the safeguarding of children online. He now runs the Belfast-based INEQE Group which continues to spearhead the battle to make the online world safer for children. Police are treating the disappearance of Madeleine as murder. He said the developments on Wednesday evening had given him more hope than in the last 13 years of a breakthrough. After his 2010 review into the case it was "critical" the expertise of the Metropolitan Police was brought on board, he said. This is about what happened to Madeleine McCann and hopefully we are at the end of this journey. Jim Gamble He said the evidence, from what police have released so far was circumstantial but appeared on the face of it to be strong. "So you will look at a person's opportunity to commit a crime, the preparation they may have committed in their subsequent conduct," he continued. Expand Close The 1993 Jaguar (PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The 1993 Jaguar (PA) "You have an individual that - we are told - has committed similar offences, the age range of his previous offences are quite wide. "We know he was in proximity of the crime and this circumstantial evidence is further strengthened by the phone call, cell site analysis that puts his phone in a particular place at a particular time and in immediate proximity to the timeline of the offence. Expand Close Expert: Jim Gamble / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Expert: Jim Gamble "Then you look at more circumstantial evidence, in other words the subsequent conduct of an individual. "The day after we are told that a number plate of a car is changed. So all of that when you bring it together makes him a very, very significant person of interest." Read More The former head of RUC Special Branch was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2008. He described as "useful" the Met sharing information. "But not over sharing," he stressed. "This jigsaw is coming together there are some pieces missing and if the public are now prompted, if there is someone who has held something back suddenly realises how important the little piece of information they have is and comes forward they might bring those last pieces together." He added: "It is important the Met don't share too much to put words in people's mouths because the evidence has to be sufficiently independent in order to be put before a court." Read More German police said the suspect has numerous convictions for child abuse and drugs and is currently in jail. He made money burgling holiday makers apartments. They believe he may have taken Madeleine while breaking into the McCann's accommodation. He came to their attention after discussing the case in an internet chat room. Two properties, near where the McCann's were staying have become central to the investigation. Mr Gamble continued: "The truth is the beginning of this investigation was bungled - that's not criticism of the police. It is that these cases are very rare and there are very few police services with the capabilities and capacities to deal effectively with them." Expand Close Kate and Gerry McCann in 2012 holding an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl (John Stillwell/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kate and Gerry McCann in 2012 holding an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl (John Stillwell/PA) He said evidence was not collated together and mobile phone analysis may not have been examined. Some leads he claimed may have slipped through the net. "One of the recommendations we made was for the Met Police - I think the finest detectives in the world - had to be involved. "And what we saw once they did was the painstaking approach to go through what was a chaotic collection of information and generate 600 lines of enquiry and narrow each one down. "What we are seeing here is the outcome from long hard hours put in from detectives. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. Gerry and Kate McCann "This is like a jigsaw puzzle. You empty a box on the table, some bits might fall on the carpet others can't be put in place until you have the context around them. "And credit to the Home Office because they have continued to fund this investigation .. there have been lots pushing for funding to stop and that can not happen when they are still lines of enquiry. "This is about what happened to Madeleine McCann and hopefully we are at the end of this journey." Gerry and Kate McCann have said they will never give up hope of finding their daughter alive in their quest to uncover the truth. In a statement they said: All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. Ever since her disappearance, Madeleines parents have consistently vowed to keep searching for their daughter. Clarence Mitchell, who was a spokesman for the McCann family, said there would be mixed emotions for the McCanns given the seemingly endless turns the case has taken over the past 13 years without little substance. He also slammed those online social media trolls who have brought "misery" to the family. This feel more significant," he said, "they will not say more other than the short statement as they want the focus to be on the investigation. "They just want to know what happened, they need, as they say, peace. And if this leads to that, they that can be the only positive aspect to all this. "One always wants to know what happened a love one... it is hard to talk about hope and optimism given this man has an awful record. "They [the trolls] need to have a long hard look at themselves." LGBTTQ* community members join Black Lives Matter protesters as they block an intersection laying on the street with their hands behind their backs in West Hollywood, Calif. on Wednesday, over the death of George Floyd. On June 3 JSC Olainfarm organized its Investor Conference Online Webinar. During the webinar the Chairman of Management Board Jeroen Weites and Investor Relations Advisor Janis Dubrovskis analyzed the financial results of first quarter of 2020 and informed about other recent activities within the company. The recorded webinar is available online: https://bit.ly/3duZILX , and the presentation, demonstrated during the webinar, is available in the attachment. Methodology for alternative performance indicators is disclosed in Annual report for 2019 (page 21) Olainfarm thanks all participants, who joined the webinar, and encourages everybody to follow company's announcements to get information on the next webinar! JSC Olainfarm is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Latvia with more than 45 years of experience in production of medication and chemical and pharmaceutical products. A basic principle of company's operations is to produce reliable and effective top-quality products for Latvia and the rest of the world. Products made by the Group are being exported to more than 50 countries and territories of the world, including the Baltics, Russia, other CIS, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. Additional information: Janis Dubrovskis Investor Relations Advisor of JSC Olainfarm Phone: +371 29178878 Attachment A South African court ruled on Tuesday that the COVID-19 lockdown regulations in the country are "unconstitutional" and "invalid." "Some of the regulations promulgated by the government simply did not meet the rationality test in preventing the spread of COVID-19," the North Gauteng High Court said in its ruling. The court gave the government 14 days to amend and republish the regulations to avoid infringing on people's rights. The court decision followed an application by the Liberty Fighters Network, which asked the court to declare the national state of disaster, established under the Disaster Management Act, "unconstitutional and unlawful." South Africa imposed the lockdown on March 27, to curb the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was lowered from level five to level four on May 1, and again eased to level three on June 1. Critics said some of the lockdown regulations such as the ban on alcohol and tobacco products, the shutdown of business and strict restrictions on people's movement "violate the rights of almost every citizen in the country." In response to the ruling, the government said in a statement it will study the judgement. "Cabinet will make a further statement once it has fully studied the judgement," the statement said. 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 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. Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. New Zealand owned and locally made brands are the big winners in this years New World Beer & Cider Awards. With teams ranging from a husband and wife duo brewing on their Taupo farm to those working from state of the art facilities in the craft beer capital of Wellington these are just some of the quintessential New Zealand breweries recognised in the 2020 New World Top 30 announced this week. Chair of Judges, beer writer and author Michael Donaldson says the winning list exemplifies what the local brewing industry has to offer and the countrys beer and cider lovers have plenty to get excited about. These awards are open to entries from all over the world, but New Zealand brewers proved their might once again. Almost all of the Top 30 winners are New Zealand made and owned, being crafted in all corners of the country by some of our best brewing talents. Of the Top 30, 29 are made in New Zealand, with the Swinkels Family Brewers from The Netherlands contributing the only true import with their 0% alcohol beer the first non-alcohol beer to make the podium in the awards history. All of the Top 30 beers and ciders are now available nationwide through New World supermarkets, providing a well-timed boost for the winning businesses and a great opportunity for shoppers to support local. The winners list brings together the countrys best from our oldest and most-celebrated brands, to the new brewers worth taking notice of, says Michael. Sunshine Brewing from sunny Gisborne has been a much-loved craft beer powerhouse for more than 30 years, and we are delighted to see them in the Top 30 with two fantastic modern beers. Similarly, Zeelandt Brewery one of Hawkes Bays first modern craft breweries, wowed the judges with their Black Monk dark lager, while Renaissance Brewing made a comeback with a win for their flagship Elemental Porter. Newer breweries to the Top 30 included Brave Brewing now a local Hawkes Bay favourite, and Lakeman Brewing run by a husband and wife team who brew with bore water from their idyllic farm overlooking Lake Taupo. We were also pleased to have Kaikouras Emporium Brewing back again this year. Their win last year was a welcome relief when the business was hit by the Kaikoura earthquakes, and it will be a similar story this year for a small team that contributes to its local economy through its brewing, hospitality and tourism offerings. Wellington showed why it is the undisputed craft beer capital of New Zealand, with Garage Project, Parrotdog and Panhead, as well their fellow Brewtown businesses Kereru and Boneface, all making the Top 30 with everything from a funky sour to a big barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Auckland delivered too of course, with breweries based in the big smoke and beyond featuring in the top-30 including Epic, with two pale ales, Bach Brewing and Behemoth, Sawmill from Matakana, 8-Wired from Warkworth, and Northlands own McLeods based in Waipu, who also had two beers in the top-30. Other well-known names in craft beer such as Good George, Sprig & Fern and Three Boys also made the Top 30 as returning winners. The cider crowns also went to repeat winners Good George from the Waikato, Zeffer from the Hawkes Bay, and Peckhams a family-owned business that farms cider apples in Nelson. Rounding out the Top 30 were two light options - Heineken Light, brewed in Auckland, and the awards first ever 0% alcohol winner, Bavaria 0.0% Wit which stunned the judges with its excellence in retaining traditional Witbier flavours without the alcohol. An independent judging panel, comprising of 25 experts from across the industry, and eight associate judges-in-training, put their palates to the test over two days of intense judging in Wellington in early March. Each entry was judged blind and assessed on its merits using a collaborative approach based on technical excellence, balance and, most importantly, drinkability. A full list of the Top 30 winning beers and ciders, as well as the 70 Highly Commended brews, can be found on the New World website at newworld.co.nz/Top30 JB Pritzker speaks during a round table discussion with high school students at a creative workspace for women: (Getty Images) Illinois governor JB Pritzker has criticised President Donald Trumps response to the George Floyd protests, calling it a miserable failure. Mr Pritzker, a Democrat, called in to CNNs OutFront, hosted by Erin Burnett, to criticise the president for saying that he is your president of law and order on Monday. Mr Trump made the remarks after he ordered police to disperse a group of protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, when he left the White House yesterday to visit a nearby church for a photo opportunity. The Illinois governor told Ms Burnett: The fact is that the president has created an incendiary moment here, with his handling of the protests. He wants to change the subject from his failure over coronavirus, a miserable failure. And now seeing a moment when theres unrest because of the injustice that was done to George Floyd that he now wants to create another topic and something where he can be the law and order president. Hes been a miserable failure, the governor added. Protests began last week, when Mr Floyd died after then Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck while detaining him. Mr Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The protests, which are being held in opposition to police brutality against Black Americans, following Mr Floyds death, initially started in Minneapolis last week, but spread to Chicago and New York, among other cities in the US over the weekend. Police have clashed with protesters all over the US, and on Monday, Mr Trump said that he would bring in the military to stop protests if he feels that he needs to. We are ending the riots and lawlessness that has spread across our country. We will end it now, he said. If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them. Mr Pritzker confronted the president about his response to the protests, during a video call on Monday, the audio of which was obtained by CNN. Story continues During the phone call, Mr Pritzker said that rhetoric coming out of the White House is making it worse, people are experiencing real pain, and added: Weve got to have national leadership calling for calm and legitimate concern for protesters. Mr Trump replied to the governor and said: I dont like your rhetoric that much either, and added You could have done much better on coronavirus. Speaking to Ms Burnett after the call, the governor said that the presidents rhetoric during the protests has been bad for the US, and added that he does not think Mr Trump understands the job of president. Its clear that he doesnt listen to anyone that tells him the truth. I did tell him the truth. You know, this rhetoric, this inflammatory rhetoric is bad for the country, he said. You know, when we had the riots in Ferguson, President Obama started to bring the temperature down. He talked about calling for calm. When, you know, when Martin Luther King was killed, Robert Kennedy stood up and talked about seeking justice, you know, and bringing the tension down within the country. Mr Pritzker added: This President doesnt understand any of that. He probably hasnt read any of that, knows no history, and doesnt understand the job of the president to truly speak to the values of the nation. The Independent has asked the White House for comment. Read more Police and veterans are horrified by Trumps response to protests - The Consular-General in South Africa has said that Nigerians wishing to be evacuated back home will have to pay $840 (GHc 4,851) - According to a notice by the mission house, interested people must send an email on time and not later than Thursday, June 4 - Their coronavirus which must be self-funded has to be done five days before the date of their flight from South Africa Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in In a notice obtained by Nigerian Tribune, Nigerians living in South Africa who want to come home despite the restriction on air travel will have to pay a sum of $840 (GHc 4,851) to board a chartered flight. According to the newspaper, the latest development was made known by the Consulate General of Nigeria in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, June 3. It should be noted that the date for possible evacuation from the foreign country has not been made known. However, interested Nigerians are expected to send in confirmation mail to the embassy latest on Thursday, June 4, 2020. A copy of the notice by the Consular-General. Photo source: Nigerian Tribune Source: UGC Economy is $840, Business class is $1,350. Child fare is the same as adult fare. Infants under two years of age fly free. Prevailing parallel market USD/NGN rate will be used, the notice by the High Commission said. The notice also asked Nigerians to register on time as a condition to be considered for the flight. Also, they would have to pay for the Covid-19 test in South Africa before they leave. The test would also have to be done five days before the slated date for the evacuation process. Should any of the prospective evacuees tests positive, they would not be airlifted. Before boarding the flight, those considered will have to have one surgical face mask and hand sanitizer that have to use during flight, at meal time, and arrival. The success story of Rocky Dawuni | #Yencomgh Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh 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. There had to come a time in Australia's development when its academia, steeped in the British scholastic tradition, would have to confront the reality of history and literature on their own doorstep. Manning Clark was a pioneer of academic specialisation in Australian history and Gerald "Gerry" Wilkes did the same for Australian literature, becoming Australia's first Professor of Australian Literature at Sydney University in 1962. Where the ordinary Australian, asked to give an account of Australian literature, would have likely trotted out Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, Wilkes brought to attention the works of Henry Handel, the pen name used by Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Joseph Furphy, Patrick White, Judith Wright and R.D. Fitzgerald. Gerry Wilkes brought recognition of Australian literature to a wider audience. Later appointed Challis Professor of English Literature (1966), Wilkes enjoyed a 30-year career in the post, writing prolifically on British and Australian literature and contributing to an international understanding of the Australian idiom. Gerald Alfred Wilkes was born on September 27, 1927, son of a poultry farmer, Thomas Wilkes, and Annie, both immigrants from England. He grew up Greenacre in Sydney's south-west and attended Canterbury Boys' High, where he won an exhibition for tertiary study. He enrolled at Sydney University to study Arts, with the ambition of becoming a secondary school teacher. Graduating with Honours in the BA and in the MA that followed, he won the University Medal and found a place in the university's English Department. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 23:09:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Stewardesses make preparations on flight ZH9127 of Shenzhen Airlines at the Baoan International Airport in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, April 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Liang Xu) BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation regulator on Thursday adjusted policies for international passenger flights, allowing more foreign carriers to resume flights to China on a once-a-week basis starting from June 8. Foreign airlines that have been unable to operate flights to China over the past few months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic can choose a qualified Chinese city for entry starting Monday, according to an online statement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Airlines can file their pre-flight plans with the CAAC for the period to Oct. 24, 2020, the statement said. To contain the risks of imported COVID-19 cases, China reduced the number of international passenger flights in March, allowing each operating foreign airline to operate only one inbound route with no more than one flight per week. Starting Monday, the CAAC will also introduce a reward and suspension mechanism, with detailed policies for the carriers to increase or suspend flights. If all inbound passengers of an airline test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase the number of flights to two per week. If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airline's flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10, according to the statement. The adjustment to resume some international passenger flights aims to balance epidemic control and economic and social development. It also further meets the urgent needs of Chinese students studying abroad and overseas Chinese wanting to return home, according to the CAAC. An airplane carrying parcels from the cross-border e-commerce to Russia is seen at the Changsha Huanghua International Airport in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) After the adjustment, the number of international passenger flights would be increased to no more than 64 per week, with an estimated 33,000 people entering the country from airports every week, the CAAC said. The CAAC also said China may "modestly increase" flights from some qualified countries under the conditions of controllable risks and adequate receiving capacities. The qualified countries include those having so far exported few COVID-19 cases to China while maintaining close economic and trade ties with China, as well as those meeting the remote prevention and control requirements to effectively reduce the risk of imported cases. Countries with a large number of overseas Chinese nationals who have a strong demand for returning, as well as countries that have established "fast tracks" with China to meet work and production resumption needs, are also qualified under the conditions, according to the CAAC. Video PlayerClose Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 6, 2019. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen] BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China stands ready to work with Germany and the European Union (EU) to strengthen strategic cooperation, uphold multilateralism, tackle global challenges, and jointly add certainty to the current world of uncertainty. In a telephone conversation in the night with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Xi noted that it was the third time since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak that he and Merkel had spoken over the phone, which reflects the deep political mutual trust and close strategic communication between the two sides. The Chinese side appreciates the German government's objective and rational stand as well as its respect for science on the pandemic issue, Xi said. He added that China is ready to work with Germany to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO), promote international cooperation within such frameworks as the United Nations and the Group of 20, help African countries fight the coronavirus disease, and contribute to safeguarding global public health security. Stressing the need to coordinate epidemic control and economic and social development, Xi said the general trend of the Chinese economy towards stable long-term growth with a sound momentum remains unchanged. China, he added, will stay committed to further opening up to and expanding cooperation with the rest of the world, and continue to create a favorable environment for German enterprises to increase investment in China. The recently launched China-Germany "fast track" arrangement will help enterprises in both countries to speed up business resumption, and maintain the stability of international industrial and supply chains, he said. The Chinese president said he is confident that China-Germany cooperation will play its due role in helping pull the world out of the economic recession at an early date. With China and Germany maintaining a stable and sound cooperative relationship, China stands ready to continue dialogue and exchanges with Germany, Xi said. Noting that Germany is to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) for the second half of this year, he added that China appreciates Germany's willingness to actively promote the development of China-EU ties. As a series of significant events of China-Germany and China-EU political exchanges are now under discussion, China is willing to keep close communication and coordination with Germany and the EU to ensure the success of these events and lift China-Germany and China-EU relations to higher levels, he added. For her part, Merkel said that Germany attaches importance to the economic and social development plan made in China's "two sessions," and stands ready to work with China to promote work and production resumption without compromising outbreak control and continuously deepen bilateral economic cooperation. Germany highly appreciates the announcement made by Xi that China's COVID-19 vaccine will be made a global public good, she said, adding that under current circumstances, to enhance international solidarity and multilateralism is crucial to the global fight against the pandemic. The chancellor said Germany is willing to strengthen exchanges with China and continue to support the WHO playing its important role, so as to promote international public health security cooperation. Germany, she added, hopes to maintain dialogue with China and boost cooperation as regards a broad range of fields and issues, and also stands ready to keep close communication with China to materialize the important events on the Germany-China and EU-China agenda and push for higher-level development of Germany-China and EU-China ties. (Source: Xinhua) City where coronavirus was first detected late last year, began tests in May amid fears of second post-lockdown wave. The central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected late last year, says it has tested nearly 10 million residents in an unprecedented 19-day campaign to check an entire city. The effort identified just 300 positive cases, none of whom had symptoms. None of the 1,174 people identified as close contacts of those patients was found to have the disease either, suggesting they were not spreading it easily to others. That is a potentially encouraging development because of widespread concern that infected people without symptoms could be silent spreaders of the disease. It not only makes the people of Wuhan feel at ease, it also increases peoples confidence in all of China, Feng Zijian, vice director of Chinas Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state broadcaster CCTV. There is no definitive answer yet on the level of risk posed by asymptomatic cases, with anecdotal evidence and studies to date producing conflicting answers. Batch testing Wuhan, which was sealed off for months, was by far the hardest-hit city in China, accounting for more than 80 percent of the countrys deaths, according to government figures. Wuhan decided to test everyone in the city for coronavirus after a cluster of cases emerged in a residential compound raising concerns about a second wave [Li Ke/EPA] A city official announced on Tuesday that the city had completed 9.9 million tests from May 14 to June 1. If those tested previously are included, nearly everyone over the age of five in the city of 11 million people has been tested, said Li Lanjuan, a member of a National Health Commission expert team. The city of Wuhan is safe, she said at a news conference with city officials. The 900 million yuan ($125 million) city-wide testing campaign began after a small cluster of cases was found in a residential compound, sparking concern about a possible second wave of infections as Wuhan emerged from its two-and-a-half-month lockdown. The rapid testing of so many people was made possible in part through batch testing, in which samples from up to five people are mixed together, Xinhua reported. If the result is positive, then the people are individually tested. National resources were also mobilised to help, said Wang Weihua, deputy director of the Wuhan Health Commission, according to Xinhua. Together, these efforts raised Wuhans daily testing capacity from 300,000 to more than one million, she was quoted as saying. The coronavirus pandemic is an event that is likely to change the world forever, Barrick Gold President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said last month. We know the pandemic has changed the world a lot since the start of the year, and we dont know how this will all play out, but it looks clear that we are living through a time in history that will have lasting impacts. In the world of mining here in the Nevada, the impacts have been much less than they have been for lots of other industries and people in the world. Many countries temporarily shut down their mining industry to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, but in the United States mining has been classified an essential industry and has been allowed to continue operations. On March 19, as part of the countrys coronavirus guidance, the Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency issued an Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce advisory list. Under the Critical Manufacturing category, the list includes Workers necessary for mining and production of critical minerals, materials and associated essential supply chains, and workers engaged in the manufacture and maintenance of equipment and other infrastructure necessary for mining production and distribution. Commenting on the inclusion of mining on the list, National Mining Association CEO and President Rich Nolan said, Mining underpins every aspect of our economy, providing the metals, minerals and coal that are essential to nearly every sector identified as critical infrastructure under DHS CISA National Infrastructure Protection Plan. It was gratifying to see DHS reiterate the importance of our industry during this crisis. Many other countries took a different approach. With at least 32 countries passing lockdown orders which affect mines, in early April over 1,600 mines around the world had temporarily suspended their activities, according to a report from GlobalData. On April 7, Kirill Kirilenko, precious metals analyst at CRU Group, told Investing News Network his firm was estimating that about 10 to 15 percent of gold mines globally were offline. All those mine closures have affected a lot of people. When South Africa shut down its mining industry to contain the coronavirus, more than 450,000 workers were sent home in 24 hours, Feliz Nijini wrote for Bloomberg News on April 12. Getting them back will take much longer for the nations gold and platinum miners. Through the month of April some lockdowns ended and more governments classified mining as an essential service, so many mines reopened. By the end of April a little more than 700 mines were still shut down due to coronavirus concerns. In Mexico, the mines were shut down in early April, and the shutdown was later extended to May 30. However, on May 13, the government of Mexico announced that by May 18, industries like mining, construction, and car and truck manufacturing would be allowed to resume. Some in the country disagreed with the decision, but the AP reported Mexico was under pressure from U.S. officials to reopen auto assembly plants, which led to the accelerated reopening. Here in Nevada, most mines have stayed open, but there have been a wide range of changes to their operations as they work to keep their workers safe and as they deal with changes to the worlds economy and to supply chains. In his interview in this issue of the Mining Quarterly, Tyre Gray, the new president of the Nevada Mining Association, said mine production in Nevada in May was about 65 to 70 percent of what it would be during normal times. But the truth is we are grateful to have 65 to 70 percent of something versus 100 percent of nothing, Gray said. McEwen Minings Gold Bar mine near Eureka, which poured its first gold in February 2019, and Nevada Coppers Pumpkin Hollow project near Yerington, which began production in December 2019, are two mines which announced they were scaling back operations due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. On March 26, McEwen Mining reported that in order to protect the health of our workforce, their families, and the nearby communities from the spread of COVID-19, both the Black Fox and Gold Bar mines (the Black Fox Mine is at Timmins, Canada) will scale down operations beginning today for a period of 14 days. Certain production and exploration activities will continue at Gold Bar in areas where social distancing can be observed, including ore crushing, irrigation of the heap leach pad, and operation of the process plant. On April 14 McEwen Mining announced that Gold Bars downstream activities such as heap leaching and process plant operation are continuing. Operations at Gold Bar continued to be scaled back in May. On April 6, Nevada Copper announced that it has become necessary to temporarily suspend copper production at the Pumpkin Hollow project as a result of the restrictions imposed by government-mandated measures and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. General concern regarding the risks to the health of the companys workforce, contractors and suppliers, the consequences of the working restrictions now in effect, and disruptions to the Companys supply chains, have made it necessary for the company to suspend copper production, Nevada Copper said. The shutdown was expected to last at least six weeks, but the company did say it was initiating an accelerated mine development plan at its Pumpkin Hollow underground project. In general, the larger mining companies, which are likely to have more resources and more control over supply chains, have fared better than smaller operations. Exploration is also facing a lot of uncertainty during the pandemics troubled economic times. With junior explorers unlikely to see much support over the next several months, this sector will be the hardest hit, Kevin Murphy wrote for S&P Global Market Intelligence on April 28. We now expect global exploration budgets to fall 29% in 2020 to a total of $6.9 billion. Coal mining, which was already going through rough times, has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Since the coronavirus hit the U.S., coal mines across the country have begun shutting down, laying off workers and slowing production, Reid Frazier wrote for NPR on April 23. Bankruptcies loom everywhere in the industry. Just about everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong for the coal industry, Matthew Preston, a coal analyst at the firm Wood Mackenzie, told Frazier. In contrast to the coal mining industry, and many other industries in the United States and the world, Nevadas mining industry is doing quite well. Combatting COVID Some mines in other parts of the world have seen a lot of coronavirus cases. On April 27, a Reuters story said the Peruvian copper mine Antamina, owned by global miners BHP and Glencore, had reported 210 positive cases of coronavirus. The mines in Nevada have a lot going for them as they deal with preventing the spread of COVID-19. The mining companies have always put a big emphasis on safety. The international mining companies which have been around for years have experience in dealing with epidemics. And the mine sites are generally quite spread out, with many people working individually in big equipment. One part of the mining operations that have required some logistical changes is busing the miners to and from work. Companies had to reduce the number of miners on each bus in order to help maintain social distancing and have found additional means to transport employees. Nevada Gold Mines, the joint venture of Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining, has instituted a wide range of steps to protect miners, office workers, and the communities surrounding the mines. In May the company reported there had been a total of seven confirmed COVID-19 cases at its operations. Nevada Gold Mines has more than 7,000 employees. Newmont Mining stated in early May there had been no COVID-19 cases at mines it operates across the globe. The company has had to close mines where countries required shutdowns during the pandemic. Kinross Gold Corp., which operates the Bald Mountain and Round Mountain mines in Nevada, reported its mines were not materially impacted by the pandemic but could be challenged over time given the global impacts of a prolonged crisis. Coeur Mining Inc., which operates the Rochester gold and silver mine in Pershing County, reported its mines in Nevada and two others in the U.S. continued to operate, but mining had been temporarily suspended at a mine in Mexico. Hecla Mining Co. reported four out of its five mines, including in Nevada, were operating, and a mine in Quebec that was shut down due to the pandemic reopened in mid-April. Our rapid and early response to COVID-19 protected our workers, operations and the communities in which we operate, said Hecla President and Chief Operating Officer Phillips S. Baker Jr. Hycroft Mining Corp. stated on its website that it takes the health and well-being of its employees, contractors and the community in which we operate very seriously, and it was modifying business practices to reduce possible exposure to the workforce. The Hycroft Mine is near Winnemucca. Scorpio Gold Corp. announced in early April voluntary wage and salary reductions throughout the company during the pandemic and until the company receives major financing to build a process facility at its Mineral Ridge Mine in Nevada. Other impacts Looking at the impacts of the coronavirus from a different angle, gold producers ran into a snag getting their gold to refineries in the first weeks of the pandemic, but Reuters reported on May 6 that two of the worlds biggest gold refiners, Valcambi and Argo-Heraeusm, were restoring most operations in Switzerland. Bloomberg reported the collapse of commercial air travel also affected transport of gold to the refining plants, and Newmont President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer told Bloomberg the company was finding alternative paths to get that dore to refineries around the world. The pandemic impacted mining companies in a brighter way, too. Gold prices rose as they often do in a time of crisis, and oil prices sank, and these market fluctuations boosted free cash flow for the companies. Newmonts chief financial officer, Nancy Buese, said that with gold prices currently around $1,700 per ounce, favorable oil prices and foreign exchange rates, these tailwinds will more than offset short-term disruptions as we manage through these challenging times. Kinross provided a slide in its May 6 earnings report that shows the company budgeted for 2020 a gold price of $1,200, and the spot gold price on May 5 was $1,704 per ounce. The company budgeted for an oil price of $65 per barrel, and the spot price for oil on May 5 was $25 per barrel. Supporting the community With the coronavirus shutting down so much or our nations economy, lots of people are faced with financial hardships and uncertainty about the future. The mining companies in Montana are stepping up to help out. Nevada Gold Mines committed $1.5 million to the governors coronavirus task force, $275,000 to Elko, Battle Mountain and Winnemucca for food services, and $100,000 to a food bank in southern Nevada. NGM also decided to issue $150 in Chamber Checks to each of its 7,068 employees to help boost the economy. Both Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold have each donated about $20 million worldwide to communities where they operate. Kinross donated $5.3 million to host governments and communities in response to the pandemic. Kinross Bald Mountain announced it was providing $59,200 for community food programs directed toward children and senior citizens during the crisis. Kinross Round Mountain provided $100,000 to the Southwest Central Regional Economic Development Authority to develop a revolving loan fund for small businesses in Esmeralda County, northern Nye County and southern Lander County. Elko Mining Group also contributed $100,000 to the development authority and another $150,000 to various organizations, as well as 2,500 gallons of hand sanitizer made at a whiskey distillery in Kentucky for use in Nevada. Nevada Prison Industries in Carson City rebottled the sanitizer for distribution. Coeur Mining Inc. donated money to the State of Nevada COVID Response, Relief and Recovery Task Force and initiated a community-led gift card initiative to support local businesses and residents. Coeur also provided N95 masks to local emergency response personnel. Also, Coeur donated a structure in Lovelock for drive-through COVID-19 testing. Lithium Nevada partnered with Frontier Community Action Agency to provide food to Humboldt County residents in need. Each month, the agency has been recruiting volunteers from local businesses to help package and distribute commodities, according to Maria Anderson, community relations manager for Lithium Nevada. The company, which is developing the Thacker Pass lithium project in northern Humboldt County, committed to providing $250 per week to the agency and the Winnemucca Food Bank. The Nevada Mining Association has had a fund matching campaign for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. More on the mining industry and the pandemic appears in articles throughout this Mining Quarterly. CastleCourt is one of five Debenhams outlets in Northern Ireland Debenhams is to reopen its Belfast, Newry and Craigavon stores on Monday as coronavirus restrictions are eased. Its two other sites in Ballymena and Londonderry will be opening shortly after. But the retailer, which recently entered administration, said it will only reopen a total of 120 stores UK-wide after a series of closures, having entered the lockdown with 142 stores. It will then reopen 50 stores in England on June 15, with the remaining stores following later in the week. Read More Debenhams said preparations for the reopenings are "well under way", with strict social distancing and hygiene procedures being implemented across all stores. Meanwhile, its stores in Scotland and Wales will reopen once Government restrictions are eased, it said. Steven Cook, managing director at Debenhams, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming customers back to our stores in the coming weeks. "From the installation of Perspex screens at till points to the roll-out of social distancing procedures and PPE, we have been working hard to ensure our colleagues and customers can work and shop with confidence. "Our reopening plans follow the successful conclusion of lease negotiations on 120 stores, meaning that the vast majority of our stores will be reopening." Last month, Debenhams said it will cut hundreds of head office jobs as it looks to drive a turnaround in profitability. Debenhams was already struggling before the lockdown and fell into administration on April 9 in a protective measure against creditors demanding their money. Since the coronavirus pandemic shut all non-food retailers, the department store has announced the permanent closure of at least 12 stores, with thousands of job losses. Stores reopening in Northern Ireland on June 8: Belfast Newry Rushmere - Stores reopening in England on June 15: Barrow Bath Bedford Blackburn Blackpool Bournemouth Bristol Bromley Bury Bury St Edmunds Cambridge Chelmsford Chester Chesterfield Colchester Hanley Harrogate Harrow Hastings Hemel Hempstead Hereford Ilford Ipswich Leeds Lichfield Lincoln Liverpool Luton Mansfield Meadowhall Northampton Norwich Oxford Portsmouth Redditch Scarborough Scunthorpe Sheffield Staines Stevenage Stockport Taunton Torquay Wakefield Westwood Cross Weymouth Winchester Worcester Worthing York Monks Cross Allentown, PA (18103) Today Partly to mostly sunny, brisk, and very cold. Below zero wind chills in the morning. . Tonight Partly cloudy and very cold. Near or below zero wind chills again late at night towards sunrise. At least 127 journalists have died of COVID-19 between March 1, and May 31, this year, around the world, according to a count by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC). In a press release issued Tuesday, the Geneva-based NGO said that among the 127 deaths, around two-thirds were on duty. "Media workers have an important role to play in the fight against the new virus, they have to inform about the spread of the disease. A number of them died for lack of adequate protective measures when doing their job," said PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen. The PEC said that its count was based on the use of numerous sources: national associations of journalists, local media and PEC correspondents around the world. According to the count, Peru is the country with the highest number of victims (15). Brazil and Mexico come second and third, with both 13 victims. There are 12 deaths of journalists in the United States, five in both Russia and Britain. By region, Latin America was the most affected continent, with at least 62 journalists killed by the virus, compared with Europe's 23 victims, Asia's 17, North America's 13 and Africa's 12. Founded in June 2004 by an international group of journalists, the PEC is a non-governmental organization with special consultative United Nations status, whose aim is to strengthen the legal protection and safety of journalists in conflict zones, areas of civil unrest, or on dangerous missions. 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 Jair Bolsonaro threatened Friday to pull Brazil from the WHO over "ideological bias," as his counterpart Donald Trump said the US economy was recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and Europe sought to reopen its borders. Adding fuel to the political fire raging around the pandemic, its origins and the best way to respond, Bolsonaro criticized the World Health Organization for suspending clinical trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 -- a decision it reversed this week -- and threatened to follow in Trump's footsteps by quitting. "I'm telling you right now, the United States left the WHO, and we're studying that, in the future. Either the WHO works without ideological bias, or we leave, too," the far-right leader told journalists. Sometimes called a "Tropical Trump," Bolsonaro has followed a similar script to the US president in his handling of the pandemic, downplaying its severity, attacking state authorities' stay-at-home measures and touting the purported effects of hydroxychloroquine and a related anti-malarial drug, chloroquine, against COVID-19. The WHO had suspended trials of hydroxychloroquine after major studies raised concerns about its safety and effectiveness against the new coronavirus -- irking Trump, a fan who even took the drug himself as a preventive measure. On Thursday, most of the authors of the studies that appeared in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine retracted their work, saying they could no longer vouch for their data because the firm that supplied it refused to be audited. However, adding to the swirling scientific and political debate, a new study from Oxford University said Friday that hydroxychloroquine showed "no beneficial effect" in treating COVID-19. In another potentially confusing reversal, the WHO changed its advice on face masks, saying that "in light of evolving evidence" they should be worn in places where the virus is widespread and physical distancing is difficult. - US 'largely through' - The new coronavirus has now killed more than 394,000 people and infected 6.7 million since it emerged in China late last year, the world's worst health crisis in more than a century. In the US -- the hardest-hit country, with 109,000 dead and nearly 1.9 million infections -- Trump said the economy was bouncing back after being pummeled by lockdown measures. "We had the greatest economy in the history of the world. And that strength let us get through this horrible pandemic, largely through, I think we're doing really well," he told reporters. Trump, who is facing a tough campaign for re-election in November, reiterated his calls to further ease stay-at-home measures, after surprisingly upbeat employment numbers showed the country gained 2.5 million jobs in May. In a sign of the slow return to normal in the US, Universal Orlando became the first of the giant theme parks in sunny Florida to reopen -- albeit with temperature controls at the entrance and mandatory face masks. - EU to reopen borders - In Europe, badly-hit countries slowly continued on a path toward a post-pandemic normal, seeking to revive key tourist sectors in time for the summer season without triggering a second wave of infections. The EU said it could reopen borders to travelers from outside the region in early July, after some countries within the bloc reopened to European visitors. In France, a top expert meanwhile said dramatic drops in daily deaths and new cases since their March peaks meant the worst was over. "We can reasonably say the virus is currently under control," said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, the head of the government's scientific advisory council. - Shifting epicenter - But bleak numbers streamed in from Latin America, the latest epicenter. Brazil's death toll rose to more than 35,000, the third-highest in the world, after the United States and Britain. Tolls are also rising sharply in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. And in Chile, deaths have risen by more than 50 percent in the past week, despite a three-week lockdown of the capital, Santiago. burs-jhb/mtp Salih Mothana came home so quietly after he surveyed the damage to his small grocery store in Chicago that his family had no idea their business had been destroyed. Looters had raided the family store after a night of peaceful protests against police brutality ended with pockets of destruction last weekend. I understand why it happened, and its OK, Mothana, a Yemeni immigrant, said in Arabic as his daughter translated. Its not like I have to blame someone for this. I understand why this happened. If it sends out the message, it doesnt matter to us. Mothana, who has run Express Food Market on the South Side of Chicago for over 20 years, is one of scores of small-business owners across the country who are now trying to pick up the pieces after social justice protests over the killing of George Floyd. The damage inside Salih Mothana's Express Food Market in Chicago on June 1, 2020. (Courtesy Salih Mothana) Some of the peaceful protests ended in violence, with groups of looters breaking into retail chains and small businesses, leaving local stores such as Mothanas with hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Yet in a surprising twist that underscores how the killing of George Floyd has united people in the struggle for racial equality, many owners have expressed solidarity with the protesters, even while their stores have been robbed and their livelihoods left in shambles. Small businesses shouldnt have to pay for the anger that is being caused right now, said Anthony Galindo, who co-owns a phone repair business in Los Angeles called Broken We Can Fix It that was burglarized over the weekend. We all support the cause and the protest. Were just collateral damage from the rioting. Full coverage of George Floyd's death and protests around the country Galindos business had already been suffering under the coronavirus, he told NBC News. Sales dropped to zero as California rolled out stay-at-home orders to curb infections. The store had only been open on reduced hours for a few days before it was burglarized. The business is only covered for damage to customer phones, not damage to the business, he said. Its raising $35,000 to cover the cost of stolen inventory and damage. Story continues I want my kids to see their daddy go back to work, he said. I hope everything ends peacefully and I pray this all ends as quickly as possible. An empty display at Broken We Can Fix It, a phone repair shop in Los Angeles. (Courtesy Anthony Galindo) From 50 to 60 percent of small businesses have insurance that would cover damages as a result of a burglary, according to Loretta Worters, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. Businesses are not required to have insurance to cover property damage, but, If you are renting your building, your landlord may require you to have some coverage to protect them from liability, or if you have a mortgage on that building then the mortgage lender would require you to have it, she said. Business insurance is similar to auto or health insurance where a business owner can buy coverage plans specific to their needs or business, she said. An average claim for a restaurant would be different than that for a dry cleaner, for instance. Some businesses buy general property insurance, which generally includes damages caused by riots, loss of income in the event a business is too damaged to operate, or even what is called "civil authority," where a business owner is unable to reach their store because of damage in the area, said Worters. Its unclear what losses small businesses have reported from the protests. For context, the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles resulted in $775 million in damage, or $1.42 billion today, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The Watts Riots in Los Angeles in 1965 resulted in $44 million in damages, or $357 million in current dollar value. Tracy Singleton, who runs an organic restaurant in Minneapolis called Birchwood Cafe, has been handing over all donations to cover the damage to her business to local groups supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The cafe was destroyed, with broken glass everywhere, Singleton said. She is covered for part of the cost of the damages through business insurance, she told NBC News. Were having this uprising of people who have been ignored and not listened to and not heard for too long, she said. I did feel violated, but what do you do? You clean up the glass and open the door and try to keep serving the community. Birchwood Cafe, which has been open for about 25 years, had already been pummeled by the coronavirus. Singleton laid off 54 people in March and brought back some part-time workers after the business received a Paycheck Protection Program loan through the government. There is no insurance for loss of sales because of justice uprisings because people are afraid to drive and come to our neighborhood, she said. Im not giving up. But I dont know what Im waiting for. Maybe some magic unicorn with a big bag of money on its back. However, not all business owners sympathize with the protests that left businesses damaged. I will not stand and cower in the face of evil and destruction, and no one should, said Ruth Domber, who had to close her optical retail boutique, 10/10 Optics, in Manhattan, after a night of looting earlier this week by "thugs going around and destroying local businesses." Domber has since reopened after staff and supporters came to fix the damage to her store. Mothana, though, said he has lost his entire source of family income. Any savings he had he uses toward new inventory. He estimates the store has about $400,000 in damages and the insurance only covers about half. In my time here [in the United States], I have learned what my values are, he said. I try to understand as much as I can and Im very empathetic with the protesters and believe that should be the focus. No one expected this to happen, said Asalh Ghasim, Mothanas daughter. We just have to move on because life just goes on. Marking a new stage in the fight against COVID-19, Butte-Silver Bow health officials are preparing to make community-wide testing available for all residents, not just those with symptoms or risk factors. The county hasnt had any new cases since March and has tested hundreds of individuals since then, said county Health Director Karen Sullivan. Sullivan said residents have had access to testing through the Southwest Montana Community Health Center, and it will continue to partner with the county on that front. Previously, residents were required to show symptoms of the illness, which include a fever, dry cough and chills. As soon as next week, residents will have access to testing even if they do not have any coronavirus symptoms. We have a mobile clinic at the health department, and what we want to do is get testing out to the community, Sullivan said. Montana and surrounding states have begun to loosen restrictions as the number of COVID cases has declined. But to prevent a second wave, Sullivan said health officials need to ensure any new infections in the community are detected promptly. Sentinel testing, in which members of the community are tested randomly, could help with this, Sullivan said. Sentinel testing provides us with a snapshot in time of who is infected in our population, Sullivan said. We know the virus was in Montana and the virus is still out there. We want to get a real good look at whether there is a cluster of the virus or asymptomatic carriers out there, so we can get ahead of it and prevent further transmission. The county and center are asking the state to send Butte-Silver Bow at least 500 test kits a week, which would be self-administered at mobile testing sites. Last month, the state entered into a contract with Quest Diagnostics to increase testing capacity. Most importantly, the test would be very easy its a simple swab of both nostrils that people can do on their own, Sullivan said. The samples would be sent to the state and flown to Quest Diagnostics labs in other states. Getting results could take seven to 10 days, but Sullivan said the state is working hard to shorten the turnaround time. Sullivan said as more businesses reopen and more people go outside, the timing of having sentinel testing available in the community couldn't be better. She said the goal is to establish a mobile health clinic and deploy it to high traffic areas, such as the Civic Center, businesses along Harrison Avenue and the Montana Tech campus. We havent confirmed with anyone to be in these public places, but these are sites were targeting to provide sentinel testing, Sullivan said. Efforts also are under way for contract tracing identifying and notifying people who have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for the new coronavirus. The health department has established a 12-person team of contact tracers and plans to add more with support of federal and state funding. If a positive case pops up, health officials can isolate and treat them and find out others they might have infected. They can isolate them, too, and keep much of the infection out of the general population. As the county begins to expand testing and perform contact tracing, health officials will continue to adhere to viral containment plans through the summer. The cancellation of mass gatherings is still effective through Labor Day, Sullivan said. Our planning has to do with the underlying assumption that were going to have a second wave in the fall, so were preparing that. For events beyond Labor Day, well take it day by day. But I want our town to eventually reopen, and my job is to try to keep people safe and healthy. As for the July 3 fireworks show, Sullivan said the county is working with Town Pump, which sponsors the event. She said if the county has no surge of cases by mid-June, the show can go forward. But she remains wary. Dave Palmer, Butte-Silver Bows chief executive, said on April 28 that the annual fireworks show would be canceled because health officials believe it would invite large gatherings that could spread COVID-19. But he reversed course a few days later, saying it would still be possible if COVID cases stayed down through mid-June. A decision doesnt have to be made until June 15 and Sullivan is still concerned, saying it still would invite large gatherings. Palmer struck a more optimistic tone. We have to have that decision by the 15th but the way it is looking right now Id say that they (the fireworks show) will be able to go on in unless we become like Bighorn County where we get a big outbreak and our numbers shoot way, Palmer said. As of Tuesday, the state listed 523 total virus cases and 17 deaths, compared to 479 total cases and 17 deaths at the same time last week. Big Horn County jumped to 31 total cases and Yellowstone County to 100 as of Tuesday. Big Horn case counts were in the single digits prior to Friday. But were keeping our numbers down, Palmer said. We have no active cases and have no new cases and we havent for quite some time If we can keep those numbers in check through the 15th we will be able to go forward with it. Sullivan said Butte residents have been terrific with complying with the states stay-at-home directive during the pandemic and wants people to remain cautious and continue physical distancing. I just want to thank the community of Butte-Silver Bow for being compliant with the reopening. I cant thank them enough, she 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. In late March, Marcell's girlfriend took him to the emergency room at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, about 11 miles south of Detroit. "I had [acute] paranoia and depression off the roof," said Marcell, 46, who asked to be identified only by his first name because he wanted to maintain confidentiality about some aspects of his illness. Marcell's depression was so profound, he said, he didn't want to move and was considering suicide. "Things were getting overwhelming and really rough. I wanted to end it," he said. Marcell, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder seven years ago, had been this route before but never during a pandemic. The Detroit area was a coronavirus hot spot, slamming hospitals, attracting concerns from federal public health officials and recording more than 1,000 deaths in Wayne County as of May 28. Michigan ranks fourth among states for deaths from COVID-19. The crisis enveloping the hospitals had a ripple effect on mental health programs and facilities. The emergency room was trying to get non-COVID patients out as soon as possible because the risk of infection in the hospital was high, said Jaime White, director of clinical development and crisis services for Hegira Health, a nonprofit group offering mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. But the options were limited. Still, the number of people waiting for beds at Detroit's crisis centers swelled. Twenty-three people in crisis had to instead be cared for in a hospital. This situation was hardly unique. Although mental health services continued largely uninterrupted in areas with low levels of the coronavirus, behavioral health care workers in areas hit hard by COVID-19 were overburdened. Mobile crisis teams, residential programs and call centers, especially in pandemic hot spots, had to reduce or close services. Some programs were plagued by shortages of staff and protective supplies for workers. At the same time, people battling mental health disorders became more stressed and anxious. "For people with preexisting mental health conditions, their routines and ability to access support is super important. Whenever additional barriers are placed on them, it could be challenging and can contribute to an increase in symptoms," said White. After eight hours in the emergency room, Marcell was transferred to COPE, a community outreach program for psychiatric emergencies for Wayne County Medicaid patients. "We try to get patients like him into the lowest care possible with the least restrictive environment," White said. "The quicker we could get him out, the better." Marcell was stabilized at COPE over the next three days, but his behavioral health care team couldn't get him a bed in one of two local residential crisis centers operated by Hegira. Social distancing orders had reduced the beds from 20 to 14, so Marcell was discharged home with a series of scheduled services and assigned a service provider to check on him. However, Marcell's symptoms - suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, auditory hallucinations, poor impulse control and judgment - persisted. He was not able to meet face-to-face with his scheduled psychiatrist due to the pandemic and lack of telehealth access. So, he returned to COPE three days later. This time, the staff was able to find him a bed immediately at a Hegira residential treatment program, Boulevard Crisis Residential in Detroit. Residents typically stay for six to eight days. Once they are stabilized, they are referred elsewhere for more treatment, if needed. Marcell ended up staying for more than 30 days. "He got caught in the pandemic here along with a few other people," said Sherron Powers, program manager. "It was a huge problem. There was nowhere for him to go." Marcell couldn't live with his girlfriend anymore. Homeless shelters were closed and substance abuse programs had no available beds. "The big problem here is that all crisis services are connected to each other. If any part of that system is disrupted you can't divert a patient properly," said Travis Atkinson, a behavioral consultant with TBD Solutions, which collaborated on a survey of providers with the American Association of Suicidology, the Crisis Residential Association and the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors. White said the crisis took a big toll on her operations. She stopped her mobile crisis team on March 14 because, she said, "we wanted to make sure that we were keeping our staff safe and our community safe." Her staff assessed hospital patients, including Marcell, by telephone with the help of a social worker from the emergency room. People like Marcell have struggled during the coronavirus crisis and continue to face hurdles because emergency preparedness measures didn't provide enough training, funds or thought about the acute mental health issues that could develop during a pandemic and its aftermath, said experts. "The system isn't set up to accommodate that kind of demand," said Dr. Brian Hepburn, a psychiatrist and executive director of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. "In Detroit and other hard-hit states, if you didn't have enough protective equipment you can't expect people to take a risk. People going to work can't be thinking 'I'm going to die,'" said Hepburn. For Marcell, "it was bad timing to have a mental health crisis," said White, the director at Hegira. At one time Marcell, an African American man with a huge grin and a carefully trimmed goatee and mustache, had a family and a "pretty good job," White said. Then "it got rough." Marcell made some bad decisions and choices. He lost his job and got divorced. Then he began self-medicating with cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. By the time he reached the residential center in Detroit on April 1, he was at a low point. "Schizoaffective disorder comes out more when you're kicked out of the house and it increases depression," said Powers, the program manager who along with White was authorized by Marcell to talk about his care. Marcell didn't always take his medications and his use of illicit drugs magnified his hallucinations, she said. While in the crisis center voluntarily, Marcell restarted his prescription medications and went to group and individual therapy. "It is a really good program," he said while at the center in early May. "It's been one of the best 30 days." Hepburn said the best mental health programs are flexible, which allows them more opportunities to respond to problems such as the pandemic. Not all programs would have been able to authorize such a long stay in residential care. Marcell was finally discharged on May 8 to a substance abuse addiction program. "I felt good about having him do better and better. He had improved self-esteem to get the help he needed to get back to his regular life," Powers said. But Marcell left the addiction program after only four days. "The [recovery] process is so individualized and, oftentimes, we only see them at one point in their journey. But, recovering from mental health and substance use disorders is possible. It can just be a winding and difficult path for some," said White. Seeking help If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. Below are other resources for those needing help: National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Disaster Distress Helpline: 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746. Fuck Jeff Lowe. The animals who live at that zoo deserve a better life, not to be shuffled to another zoo where they can be abused further. Reply Thread Link People think its because she was greedy or because he was abusive. I tend to personally believe he was murdered by someone else as he was very obviously involved financially in drugs. Edited at 2020-06-04 12:53 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link IA, I don't think she killed him. Maybe she did but I don't think so. Reply Parent Thread Link having her husband eaten by people Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Who writes "upon my disappearance"? Nobody assumes they will disappear, just that they will die. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link No she didn't feed him to her cats. She put him in the swamp. Gators. Reply Parent Thread Link I think he wanted to disappear with his money because of some shady stuff (drugs, arms deals, who knows) and she found out and killed him, maybe accidentally. She was obviously involved in his death or at the very least aware of it because no one forges a will if they think that person might turn up. Reply Parent Thread Link Finally, a commercial break. Reply Thread Link Just when I thought the Tiger King saga had ended...sigh Reply Thread Link Those poor animals. Jeff Lowe is shady as hell and they should take the animals away and give them proper homes. Carole is also full of shit too, neither of them should be allowed to own animals. Reply Thread Link She definitely changed those POA forms for sure. Reply Thread Link White privilege is getting away with murder Reply Thread Link I wish she got the animals too. Team Carole and Im glad people have largely moved on from the misogyny-fueled attacks against her to focus on real issues now. Reply Thread Link I dont think the animals will be that much happier with her, but at this point, this is probably the best shot they have. At least theyll probably have fresh meat. I do think she got rid of her husband and forged his will, but I also think a lot of the attacks on her, especially by joe and company were compounded by misogyny. Reply Thread Link idg why they're bringing up the will? from what i remember (from the docu) her husband was declared missing not dead (until several yrs later) and what she had was a power of attorney which allowed her to do whatever the fuck she wanted with his money, if anything i think he took her out of his will lol Reply Thread Link Yeah but his assistant was pretty steadfast in saying she had forms locked under her desk stating the assistant was the POA for both Carole and Don, then like a day or two after Don disappeared Carole had some guy break into the office, took the POA forms then suddenly shows up with Dons form giving Carole POA. So...IDK seemed shady so I think she definitely forged that. Reply Parent Thread Link oh yeah she's for sure shady and i don't doubt she forged the poa but the post is talking about a will which is why i'm ??? bc i remember he left her nothing Reply Parent Thread Link I laughed so loud when I heard this. Amazing! Im happy for her and happy to see a nasty piece of shit like Joe Exotic get shit on again. Reply Thread Link jeff lowe and all the other men on that show except for saff were creepy af including carole's weirdo husband. Reply Thread Link I actually liked the weirdo husband more than anyone except the trans man who was attacked. Reply Parent Thread Link i dont think saff is trans, he just prefers he/him pronouns Reply Parent Thread Expand Link They all suck, and I wish I hadn't watched the documentary. About halfway through I realized it was going nowhere. Reply Thread Link I only saw two epiodes of Tiger King but this woman and that pompous man they called Doc were the characters that I disliked the most. Maybe it would change if I continued watching but I just thought Carole Baskin was so condescending, desingenous and acted like everyone should worship her. It was instant dislike. Reply Thread Link not a single person in this entire documentary is a well adjusted individual Reply Thread Link pretty much Reply Parent Thread Link Tipster @evleaks unveiled leaked renders for Samsung's Galaxy Buds+ BTS edition. The purple TWS earphones are, alongside the Samsung Galaxy S20 BTS edition, targeted squarely at fans of the Korean K-pop group. 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 New renders have just leaked for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Buds+ BTS edition. The bright purple TWS earphones are really just a color variant for Samsung's existing Galaxy Buds+ that are evidently a cross-branding effort with Korean K-pop band BTS. The leaked renders showcase the BTS edition's purple color scheme and appear to complement the upcoming purple BTS variant of the Samsung Galaxy S20, which is expected to launch in July. Price-wise, the Galaxy Buds+ compete with Apple's AirPods, not the higher-end AirPods Pro. While you miss out on active noise cancellation, the AKG-tuned Galaxy Buds+ sound great and the silicone tips mean a more secure fit. Why is Samsung launching a BTS edition of its Buds+ TWS earphones? At the end of the day, Samsung is a South Korean company with a massive user base in that country. BTS is one of the most popular K-pop bands and the special BTS edition of both the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Buds+ are likely to attract fans. Buy Samsung Galaxy Buds+ now on Amazon [June 04, 2020] Nivesh.com Helps Financial Advisors Thrive During COVID-19 Adoption of digital platform for advisors grows during lock-down Nivesh.com among Top 100 global most innovative tech companies Assets Under Management (AUM) grew 3x in last one year NEW DELHI, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Announcement of nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 was like a doomsday announcement for mutual funds financial advisors. Sensex dropped 30% within days necessitating portfolio reallocations on one hand and meeting demands of redemptions and fresh purchase on another. Financial advisors were also struggling to execute transactions as all mutual funds and RTAs (CAMS and Karvy) announced shut down of their branches. On the other hand, Abhimanyu Nehra, a Noida-based advisor, was able to continuously engage with his clients, give proper direction and execute on portfolio decisions seamlessly. This was possible due to his association with Nivesh.com, a digital-first investment platform for financial advisors. Nivesh.com, a startup empowering financial advisors with digital tools, has been recently recognized for its inclusion in WEALTHTECH100 for 2020, a list of top 100 most innovative tech companies globally for solving a significant industry problem. Nehra is not alone. He joins scores of advisors on Nivesh.com platform who have been able to successfully navigate the lockdown period with the ability to keep communicating with their clients, provide guidance, initiate new investments, and even increase their customer base - all from the comfort of their living rooms. In fact, the doomsday scenario turned into a boon as customers had more time to listen to financial advisors and were happy to spend time in looking at new investment opportunities. Interestingly, the lockdown has prompted financial advisors to review their modus operandi --- there is a clear and distinct shift from an offline ecosystem to a purely digital one. And the simplest way to do this is by adopting a contemporary tchnology-driven platform like Nivesh that covers the end-to-end needs to the advisor. This manifested in a 40% increase in interest and adoption of the Nivesh platform and manifold increase in transactions during the lockdown period. The power of the high-touch high-digital experience is seen in the fact that Nivesh already has customers across 600 cities and advisor partners in over 100 cities. Nivesh has advisor partners in remote corners of country like Sundargarh, Orissa and Tinsukia, Assam. Many advisors have merged their existing business with Nivesh to provide a fully digital experience to their customers. Nivesh believes that traditional models have reached out to only top 3-4% of the population resulting in the current situation of extremely low penetration. Lack of access to the financial products like mutual funds is the root cause of the problem. India's Mutual Fund to GDP ratio at about 10% is amongst the lowest in the world. Commenting on the development, Anurag Garg, Founder and CEO, Nivesh.com said, "Our selection in WEALTHTECH100 is a validation of our approach of using Tech to solve the problem of financial inclusion in India. Retail investors have been struggling with the problem of access to safe financial products to park their savings. India is witnessing a structural shift from traditional avenues like bank deposits. We are glad to be part of this transformation. We see COVID-19 as a demonetization moment for the IFA business. This will only accelerate the transformation and help generate employment for countless small businessmen while allowing participation of the retail investors in the financial mainstream in much larger numbers." After successfully establishing its mutual funds business, Nivesh is now looking at adding Life and Health Insurance in this financial year. More products will be added in future. The idea is to enable advisors to cover the entire financial needs of a client and generate further sources of income for themselves. Nivesh.com is an India centric solution intended to fundamentally transform lives of millions. Most of its target customers know the importance of savings but struggle in terms of maximizing returns on their savings. About Nivesh.com Nivesh.com is a digital-first investment platform, run by Noida-based Providential Advisory Services Private Ltd. It was founded in 2016 by industry veterans Anurag Garg, CFA, and Sridhar Srinivasan (alum of IIT & IIM). Prior to starting Nivesh.com, Garg had co-founded mutualfundsindia.com, which was acquired by rating agency ICRA, the Indian subsidiary of Moodys, while Srinivasan helmed the India unit of investment research platform Visible Alpha. Nivesh.com has been supported by marquee VC and angel investors like Next Billion Fund managed by Windrose Capital, Rajan Anandan (MD - Sequoia Capital), Vivek Khare (Ex Corp Development at Naukri.com), Rahul Gupta (CEO - RT Global Infosolutions), Basab Pradhan (Chairman, NIIT Technologies and ex Global Head of Sales at Infosys), Sandeep Shroff (Founder & CEO - MyStartUpCFO). The platform enables financial advisors to go digital and provide right investment solutions to their customers. The platform automates entire workflow of an IFA - product suggestion, transaction, portfolio reports, brokerage reconciliation, and content marketing. As a result, IFAs have more time to focus on growing their business. Current product portfolio includes Mutual Funds, Corporate FDs, P2P Lending and PMS. It is proposed to add Life and Health Insurance in current financial year. For more information, visit https://www.nivesh.com. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176710/Nivesh_com_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Amid all the negative news that we hear almost everyday -- of locust attack, people dying of coronavirus and cyclones causing havoc -- there are some moments and incidents happening that remind us you shouldn't give up and that life isn't as cruel as we think it is. YouTube/MojoStory Remember 70-year-old Leelavati Kedarnath Dubey whose story journalist Barkha Dutt had reported on her YouTube venture Mojo? Beaten by her son and abandoned, she was waiting at a railway station in Mumbai for a train to Delhi. She said her son threw her out of the house. She wanted to go to Delhi where her other son lives, but she knew he wouldn't accept her too. She was willing to beg to survive for the rest of her life in Delhi, after her sons thought she was "paagal". "Kya karu main?" she asked and confessed she had no money. YouTube/MojoStory People requested Sonu Sood to help her, and he assured help too. Today will be a special day for her https://t.co/qKExYavsB5 sonu sood (@SonuSood) May 31, 2020 Now, Leelavati is beaming with happiness. Twitter Restoring our faith in humanity, a family in Delhi has adopted her. Kiran Verma, who is a social-entrepreneur living in Delhi, says, "I am blessed with another grandmother". I am really humbled to see the kindness of @SanjayAzadSln ji. He was not a politician today, he was a son to her providing the best possible support.@BDUTT my salute to your journalism through which, I am blessed with another Grandmother. Thank you everyone. https://t.co/WEUkgWHHXf Kiran Verma (@VermaKiran) June 1, 2020 Leelavati Dadi underwent a COVID-19 test too. The results however are awaited. If you want to contact her and talk to her, he has shared his number as well. I am really humbled to see the kindness of @SanjayAzadSln ji. He was not a politician today, he was a son to her providing the best possible support.@BDUTT my salute to your journalism through which, I am blessed with another Grandmother. Thank you everyone. https://t.co/WEUkgWHHXf Kiran Verma (@VermaKiran) June 1, 2020 So guys here is the update on #Leelavati Dadi. She has been tested for #COVID19 and we are waiting to get the report. But to make her safe we won't bring her out for three four days. She is doing great and very happy with us. Anyone can Whatsapp me at 9810670347 and talk to her pic.twitter.com/AQcpS2q8Jm Kiran Verma (@VermaKiran) June 1, 2020 2020 isn't so bad, after all. New Delhi, June 4 : On issues related to inter-state movement in Delhi NCR, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the endeavour should be to have a common policy, common portal and one pass for inter-state travel in the region. A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.R. Shah gave one week's time to the Centre to resolve the issues faced by the common man. The bench also asked the Centre to convene a meeting of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana, to evolve a common policy along with a procedure of movement of the commuters' crossing over in the Delhi NCR region. Justice Kaul emphasized that for the NCR region, there should be a consistent policy. The bench noted that no counsel has appeared for the Delhi government though it was served on the matter. "One policy, one path and one portal required", said the bench. Emphasizing on developing a consensus among the officials concerned in the Delhi NCR region, the bench said all state officials shall endeavour to find out a common program and portal for inter-state movement. "Let the needful be done within a week", said the court. On May 26, the Supreme Court had asked Centre's response on a plea highlighting restrictions, due to sealing of borders, on movement for permissible activities in the national capital region (NCR) due to COVID-19 pandemic. The apex court took up the matter through video conferencing and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to take instructions from the authorities concerned. The bench asked the petitioner's counsel to serve the copy on the Solicitor General, who could get response from the Centre and the Delhi government. The top court will hear the matter next week. Advocates representing Haryana and Uttar Pradesh informed the bench that they have already filed response on the matter. The counsel representing Uttar Pradesh cited rising Covid-19 cases in Delhi and Noida and insisted that authorities are taking necessary precautions. The plea argued that residents of NCR who have family members or loved ones residing on either side of the inter-state border within the NCR are facing harassment in crossing over to the other side, especially in medical emergencies, access to hospitals/healthcare professionals and essential needs. The plea alleged that sealing of borders within NCR, violated the new guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). On May 15, the top court sought response from Centre, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. The plea urged the top court to pass a direction declaring these restrictions by the district administrations of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh as unconstitutional. The plea cited the April 29 order of district administrations in Haryana, applicable to Gurugram and Sonepat. The plea also highlighted the May 3 public statement by the district administrations of Uttar Pradesh on Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad. Nearly four years after reality star Kim Kardashian was tied up at gunpoint in Paris and robbed of a small fortune in gems, a trial for 12 suspects appeared a step closer Thursday after prosecutors asked for the case to go to court. On a visit to the French capital for Fashion Week in October 2016, five men stormed Kardashian's rented luxury residence, held her at gunpoint, gagged her and tied her up in a bathroom. One of them "asked me with a strong French accent where my ring was. It was on the bedside table. (But) I replied that I didn't know and then he pulled out a gun and I showed him the ring," the wife of rapper Kanye West told police at the time. The near-20-carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond ring was worth about $4 million (3.6 million euros). Kardashian said the men, at least one of whom was wearing a jacket with police insignia, tied her up with plastic cables and adhesive tape "and they carried me to my bathroom" where they placed her in the bathtub. The gang also took a box containing two Cartier diamond bracelets, a diamond-studded necklace, a yellow gold Rolex watch and a diamond-encrusted cross. In the biggest robbery of an individual in France in two decades, the men made off with a combined haul worth about nine million euros. One of the alleged robbers, Yunis Abbas, fleeing the scene on a bicycle, dropped a diamond-encrusted cross worth 30,000 euros which was found by a passer-by hours later. It remains the only piece to be recovered from the heist. - 'Old Omar' and 'Shredded Nose' - Twelve suspects in the case are at liberty but under state supervision. Late Wednesday, a judicial source told AFP prosecutors have asked for a trial to be held in the case, with charges of armed robbery, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy against the five men accused of executing the heist. They include alleged mastermind, Aomar Ait Khedache, known as "Old Omar", arrested after his DNA was found at the scene of the crime, allowing police to track down his alleged accomplices, one by one. Charges against the rest include helping plan the heist, illegal possession of weapons and providing information on the target. The son of "Old Omar" stands accused of having driven the robbers' car, while suspect Marceau Baum-Gartner -- nicknamed "Shredded Nose" -- is suspected of having acted as the middle man. He allegedly made eight trips in two months to jewellery capital Antwerp, Belgium, after the robbery. Investigating magistrates must now decide whether the case can go to trial. If yes, it is unlikely to open before 2021. Many of the accused are in their 60s and 70s and well-known to the police, with several convictions among them for crimes including robbery and drug trafficking. Khedache has admitted his involvement in the Kardashian heist, and told investigators he had struggled to find a buyer for her ring, as it was "too recognisable" . He said he gave the jewel, a gift from her husband which Kardashian had flaunted on Instagram, to a third party, whom he would not identify. Khedache told investigators the other jewellery was dismantled and the gold melted down into bars. "There must have been 800 or so grams, worth 25,000 or 28,000 euros," he said in testimony revealed by Le Monde newspaper in 2017. TRENTON Police and elected officials in Mercer County have widely condemned the actions of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis cop charged with murdering black man George Floyd. Chauvin restrained Floyd on the ground and pressed his knee into the victims neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during the evening of May 25, killing him, according to the criminal complaint. The disgraced ex-cop has been charged with second-degree murder and related offenses, while three other former Minneapolis cops on Wednesday finally have been charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the incident. It is impossible to deny that racism exists, Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said Wednesday in a letter to the community. While we are not proud of this fact, we feel it is our responsibility as a government, as a society and as human beings to do all we can to be part of the change. We are outraged by what has happened, not only in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Ferguson, North Charleston and Atlanta, but in communities all over the United States when people are brutalized, murdered, shot and otherwise treated unfairly. In law enforcement, the taking of another persons life should ALWAYS be a last resort and never something any of us should be desensitized to. Fried said the Robbinsville Police force is properly trained in the area of de-escalation tactics, which discourages the use of force unless absolutely necessary. I am proud of the RTPD and have the utmost confidence in them, the longtime Robbinsville mayor said. We have spent years working on community policing, and as a result Robbinsville has one of the safest and most diverse communities in the region. Chief Brian Caloiaro of the Lawrence Township Police Department blasted Chauvin and the other Minneapolis cops involved in the deadly restraint-turned-homicide. As a law enforcement professional with over 26 years of experience, Caloiaro said this week in a community letter, I can in no way justify the actions of this officer and quite frankly I am saddened by the fact that his fellow officers stood by and allowed it to happen. The officers actions were excessive to say the least and violated every code of ethics engrained in our profession. By contrast, The men and women of the Lawrence Township Police Department are dedicated to working hand in hand with the diverse community that we serve, Caloiaro added. We believe in and are committed to developing partnerships with our community to improve quality of life within Lawrence Township. Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora called for fired Minneapolis cops Derek Chauvin, 44; Thomas Lane, 37; Tou Thao, 34; and J. Alexander Kueng, 26, to be indicted for their actions. Gusciora delivered the statement on May 29, two days before looters and rioters trashed downtown Trenton in the wake of Floyds death. Gusciora allowed hundreds of demonstrators to protest in Trenton over the weekend despite the COVID-19 public health emergency and Gov. Phil Murphys social distancing guidelines. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced new charges in the slaying of Floyd on Wednesday. Chauvin was arrested on May 28 and remains in custody. Kueng, Lane and Thao were arrested Wednesday and also remain in custody, authorities said. Like other officials in Mercer County, Chief Nicholas Sutter of the Princeton Police Department expressed deep dismay over the tragic events in Minnesota that led to the loss of Mr. Floyds life at the hands of police officers. Our officers are strongly aware of how this event will erode the trust of our citizens in police officers throughout our country, Sutter said in his community message. This is particularly hurtful to me as I know how hard our officers in Princeton have worked to build trust in our community. In our department, Sutter added, we have worked incredibly hard at recruiting the highest caliber officers that possess a strong moral fabric. We have built a diverse department that reflects the community we serve. The entire Princeton Police Department will be equipped with body-worn cameras by the end of this summer, according to Sutter, who said the department will work each day to prove ourselves as individuals and as an organization and never take the authority or trust that has been given to us for granted. Georgia state representative and state Senate candidate Colton Moore said Speaker David Ralston had abused the power of the office. He said Speaker Ralston should be investigated by the House Ethics Committee according to 97 percent of respondents on a public survey. It was alleged that Speaker Ralston, who is an attorney, had continually delayed cases, including one in which a 14-year-old girl claims she was raped by a traveling evangelist. Protesters lie on the ground in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday in support of the cause of U.S. protests over the death of George Floyd and to urge their own governments to address racism and police violence. (Rick Rycroft / Associated Press) The video is stomach-churning: a half-dozen uniformed officers holding a black man face down for several minutes as he gulps for air and screams, again and again, I cant breathe. He falls unconscious and is pronounced dead a short time later. The man in the clip is not George Floyd, who gasped those words as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck in a fatal arrest last week, but an Aboriginal Australian inmate, David Dungay, who died in a similar incident at a Sydney prison in December 2015. As Floyds death ignites fiery protests in U.S. cities, it has also refocused attention on cases like Dungays and become a rallying cry around the world for activists battling racism, police brutality and inequalities in criminal justice in their own countries. Rallies this week in solidarity with American protesters and in pursuit of justice at home have sprung up in such countries as France, Turkey and New Zealand. In multiethnic, liberal democracies that share many of the same ideals and flaws as the U.S., the demonstrations have served as a reminder that oppression looks much the same no matter where you are. We dont need to look to America to see the consequences of systematic discrimination. Its right here at home, said Nerita Waight, co-chair of a legal aid group for Aboriginal Australians. What the U.S. protests do help with is to show that this is not just a problem in one country it reaches across oceans and continents. In Australia, roughly 800,000 Aboriginal people descendants of those who inhabited the continent before European colonizers arrived in the 18th century liken their socioeconomic status to that of blacks in America. In some ways it is even worse: Though they represent only 3% of the population, they account for nearly 30% of the adults in prison. More than 430 Aboriginal Australians have died in official custody since 1991. No officers have been convicted in the deaths. At a rally this week that drew hundreds in Sydney, where social distancing measures because of COVID-19 have recently been eased, demonstrators chanted, Black lives matter, and Justice today, for David Dungay. More protests are planned for several cities across the country on Saturday. Story continues Dungay, a 26-year-old diabetic, was eating a packet of cookies against orders when five prison guards dragged him from his cell, handcuffed him and forced him to lie face down while a nurse injected him with a powerful sedative. As he pleaded for breath, one officer responded: If you can talk, you can breathe. He died three weeks before he was due for parole. For all these Australians saying Im glad I dont live in America. David Dungay was a 26 year old Indigenous Man who was killed in police custody while being restrained despite saying he could not breathe 12 times. #BlackLivesMatter #IndigenousLivesMatter #ICantBreathe pic.twitter.com/pK4ZyFn7eo alaa ~ BLM (@_alaae) May 30, 2020 Dungays family demanded the officers be held accountable, but last year, an official inquiry blamed their conduct on systemic deficiencies in training and declined to discipline them. Keiran Stewart-Assheton, a 28-year-old Aboriginal activist who helped organize Tuesdays demonstration in Sydney, Australia's largest city, said members of the community have regularly spoken out against custodial deaths and police brutality. But many of the deaths quickly fade from public consciousness, in part because they occur far from major cities, he said. Over the weekend, he saw Australians posting videos of the U.S. protests with hashtags such as black lives matter seemingly oblivious to race issues at home. Its a bit disheartening that its taken something happening overseas to get people to start looking at their own community, he said. Protests have also gripped Paris and London both capitals where police have been accused of excessive force in recent deaths of young black men. Thousands rallied Wednesday in central London's Hyde Park, chanting, "No justice, no peace." Many of the protesters wore masks to guard against the coronavirus. In Paris, where authorities had banned protests because of the risk of COVID-19, an estimated 20,000 people turned out Tuesday for a demonstration that began peacefully but ended with objects being hurled at police, who responded by firing tear gas. The protest was called by Assa Traore, whose brother Adama, a 24-year-old black Frenchman with roots in Mali, died at a police station in 2016 after officers pinned him down with their body weight during an arrest. Last week, a medical examiner cleared the officers of wrongdoing and said Traores death was linked to preexisting health conditions a finding his family has disputed. His case has become a tinderbox in France, where immigrants from former African colonies and their descendants have long been marginalized, living in rough neighborhoods on the edges of Paris and other major cities, viewed by many whites as criminals and a threat to French identity. Blacks in France say they are disproportionately targeted by police. Just last week, in an outer district of Paris, a bystander recorded a police officer who had his knee on a black man during an arrest. The officer had certainly seen the viral video that [showed the killing] of George Floyd, but nothing stops them, one man tweeted. Les faits se sont deroule aujourdhui sur paris Fougeres 20 ieme lagent nhesite pas a employe la meme methode qui a tue #georgefloyd#,alors quil est menotte donc neutralise... Lagent a certainement vu la video devenu virale qui a tue George Floyd mais rien ne les arrete ... pic.twitter.com/MCqCh0OKzm abde (@abde49) May 28, 2020 Didier Lallement, the Paris police chief, insisted this week that his force is not violent, nor racist, and said the accusations caused pain to his officers. Addressing the crowd at Tuesdays protest, Assa Traore said events in the U.S. were an echo of what is happening in France. Today we are not just talking about the fight of the Traore family, she said. It is the fight for everyone. When we fight for George Floyd, we fight for Adama Traore. In Israel, protests flared in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after police shot and killed Iyad Halak, a 32-year-old autistic Palestinian man in East Jerusalem who was suspected to be a terrorist because he was wearing gloves, according to the official investigation. The death last weekend prompted an apology from Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, but epitomized what Palestinian and liberal Israeli activists have long described as ruthless behavior by Israeli security forces toward Palestinians. Some compared the shooting to Floyd's death. In the U.S., you have a struggle fighting structures of supremacy, domination and oppression that clearly marginalize certain communities but also disproportionately lead to their deaths, said Salem Barahmeh, director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy. Its discrimination and a form of supremacy predicated on your race and ethnicity rather than anything else. Those structures of supremacy and oppression are similar to the ones were dealing with here. In many of the countries, activists pointed to another parallel with the U.S.: a lack of political will to confront the problem. Successive governments in Australia have failed to implement most of the recommendations of a landmark 1991 report aimed at reducing the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody, including ending punitive bail laws, rolling back mandatory sentencing and decriminalizing minor offenses such as public drunkenness. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought to distance Australia from the sort of police brutality seen in the U.S., calling the video of Floyd's death "upsetting and terrible." I just think to myself how wonderful a country is Australia, Morrison said. Times staff writer Nabih Bulos in Beirut contributed to this report. Attorney General William Barr denied ordering federal law enforcement officers to use force against peaceful protesters as a White House aide expressed weariness that those objecting to George Floyd's death might return to the area outside the executive compound and "finish the job." The Trump administration struck a noticeably more defensive tone on Thursday with those officials' comments and by erecting more tall black fencing around most of the 18 acres of the White House grounds. That came after a night of peaceful protests during which Washington, DC, government and police officials said they arrested none of the 5,000 or so people who packed the District's streets to object to the killing of Mr Floyd, a black man, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis last week. As Mr Floyd's family was preparing to lay him to rest later Thursday, the attorney general was asked about his decisions on Monday to order officers and National Guard troops from three agencies that do not fall under his purview to use force to move protesters back one block further away from the White House. "My interest was to carry out the law enforcement functions of the federal government and to protect federal facilities and federal personnel," he told reporters. "And also to address the rioting that was interfering with the government's function." That marked the first time any Trump administration official has contended that the protests are making it difficult to run the government. "That is what we were doing. I think the president is the head of the executive branch ... and should be able to walk ... across the street," Mr Barr said. Democratic lawmakers and the party's presumptive presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, have said Mr Trump's walk to St John's Episcopal Church where he held up a Bible but said little, was a political photo-op. Like other White House and administration officials, Mr Barr disputed those notions. "I don't necessarily view that as a political act," he said, adding a notable qualifier. He added the senior-most voice yet to the administration's denials the chaotic scene on H Street NW was related to the walk Mr Trump took less than an hour later. "There was no correlation between our tactical plan of moving the perimeter out by one block and the president's going over to the church," he said. "The president asked members of his Cabinet to go over with him. ... I think it was appropriate for us to go over." That comment puts the attorney general at odds with Defence Secretary Mark Esper, who claims he was unaware Mr Trump's stroll would exclusive feature the Bible-waving church visit. Mr Barr and Mr Esper were the lone two Cabinet members other than White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who accompanied the president outside the White House gate. That came after Hogan Gidley, principal deputy White House press secretary, insisted Mr Esper is not in hot water with the president over two moves he made on Wednesday. The first came when he broke with Mr Trump by saying he opposes any enactment of a federal law allowing a chief executive to deploy active-duty military forces in some times of unrest. The second was preparing to send home around 1,600 Army forces that Mr Trump had ordered moved outside of Washington, DC, and placed on standby following violent demonstrations here over the weekend. "We've had this conversation with you all many times. And I know there was a lot of back-and-forth on these issues. But the President and the secretary of defense met yesterday," he said. "And as you know, when the president loses confidence, if he loses confidence, you'll know that." But Mr Gidley also suggested the new tall fencing is being constructed around the White House because of fears the protesters might overrun armed officers and soldiers from at least eight federal law enforcement and military agencies, as well as officers from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, Capitol Police and others. "Let's not lose sight of what happened here," he said. "It's almost as though sometimes the media is telling us, 'Shame on you, Donald Trump, shame on you, the administration, for not allowing protesters rioters and looters to come back and finish the job they started." By ANI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a Mumbai-based practicing lawyer to deposit Rs 25 lakh in the Apex Court registry to ensure that those migrants from Mumbai can travel to their respective states, including Uttar Pradesh, during the COVID-19 crisis. A bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, and also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M R Shah allowed the petition filed by Mumbai-based lawyer Sagheer Ahmed Khan. He submitted to the Apex Court and pleaded for donating Rs 25 lakh as train fare to enable the Mumbai migrant workers, to go back to their home towns in Uttar Pradesh. The Apex Court fixed the matter for further hearing till June 12. Khan, in his writ petition, sought a direction from the Apex Court to the Union of India (UOI) and other concerned authorities to ensure that the migrant workers in Mumbai, particularly those hailing from Sant Kabir Nagar, Uttar Pradesh are safely transported home in a humane manner. ALSO READ: With lawyers' help, migrants fly home smiling from Bengaluru to Chhattisgarh The lawyer stated that the concerned authorities and the government should ensure that these migrant labourers continuous and unfortunate suffering in their various attempts to reach home (which has in certain cases even cost them their lives) be put to an end. The petitioner sought a direction that the respondents, including the UOI, should appoint designated officers in each district, sub-divisional and tehsil level to facilitate the evacuation of migrant workers. He further sought a direction that such officer appointed at the district, sub-divisional and tehsil level ought to undertake all formalities on behalf of migrant workers, including the booking of tickets as the migrant workers are illiterate and have no means to make such booking. Khan further sought that a direction be made to the officer appointed at the district, sub-divisional and tehsil level to ensure the safe transportation of all migrant workers from his district in a humane manner. The petitioner also sought a direction from the Apex Court that the Respondents, UOI and others, should widely publicize all such steps so that the information is disseminated to the lowest strata of the society, including the migrant workers. U.S. politicians who play the political game of imposing sanctions to assert dominance likely feel greatly disappointed, as their threat to revoke the preferential trade treatment for Chinas Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and impose sanctions against the region would backfire on U.S. companies in Hong Kong. We will take action to revoke Hong Kongs preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the rest of China, U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference on May 30, following a vote of Chinas top legislature on its draft decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for Hong Kong to safeguard national security. The U.S. would also impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials directly or indirectly involved in eroding Hong Kongs autonomy, Trump said. However, the threatened sanctions will not change Chinas resolve to safeguard national security in Hong Kong, and will instead become a double-edged sword that endangers American companies operating in Hong Kong. Revoking Hong Kongs preferential treatment as a separate customs would indeed have an impact on Hong Kongs trade and economy, but the U.S itself would not go unscathed. As the annual value of Hong Kong exports to the U.S. is only around $500 million, which accounts less than 0.1 percent of the regions total annual value of exports, it is clear Hong Kong doesnt mainly rely on the U.S. for foreign trade. In contrast, Hong Kong has been the greatest economy for the U.S. to earn a trade surplus in goods. The U.S. makes $30 billion in Hong Kong annually. With roughly 85,000 American citizens living in Hong Kong, over 1,300 American companies, including almost all the major financial companies of the U.S., operate in Hong Kong. The region has offered these U.S. companies the same preferential policies as that enjoyed by local companies on accessing the Chinese mainland market under the CEPA (the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement). If the U.S. were to impose sanctions against Hong Kong, it had better ask how these U.S. companies feel about the move. Hong Kong is the third largest export market of alcoholic beverages for the U.S., the fourth largest export market of the countrys beef, and the seventh largest export destination of American agricultural products. If the U.S. were to unilaterally change trade policies for Hong Kong, exports of U.S. companies would be the first to suffer the consequence. As the worlds harbor of freedom, Hong Kong will not see its development trend determined by the U.S. Experts have pointed out, as long as the position of the Asian-Pacific region in the world and the regions importance in global economic development continues to rise, and as long as China still plays important roles in the world, any sanctions from the U.S. would only have a temporary influence on Hong Kong. Recently, Chinese Internet technology company NetEase and e-commerce giant JD.com have been approved to launch a secondary listing in Hong Kong, while news on a secondary listing of Chinas leading search engine operator Baidu and largest online travel agency Ctrip in Hong Kong is also spreading. Talents and capitals around the world are still racing to ride on the crest of success in Hong Kong. A move by the U.S. to abandon the region would mean that it will soon be replaced by capitals, enterprises, and talents of the Chinese mainland and other countries in the world. The biggest risk that causes foreign people and companies to leave Hong Kong is not from the national security laws in Hong Kong, but the violence and social unrest in the city, said a foreign entrepreneur who has lived in Hong Kong for many years. The national security laws to be introduced in Hong Kong will never influence Hong Kongs role as a major international financial center, but will only create a more stable and predictable environment for the operation and development of enterprises of various countries in Hong Kong. A father in Egypt forced his three unconscious daughters to undergo female genital mutilation after lying to them that a doctor was there to give them a coronavirus vaccine. The girls, who were all minors, were injected with a drug that put them to sleep before the doctor performed the surgery. Egyptian authorities said they will prosecute the medic for undertaking the procedure and the father for assisting in the alleged crime. FGM is illegal in Egypt and when the girls, whose parents are divorced, told their mother what had happened she reported it to the authorities. Egypt banned FGM in 2008 and made it a felony in 2016. There are no health benefits of the surgery, which intentionally alters or injures female genital organs. (A file photo above shows a homemade tool from a nail used for FGM) 'The public prosecution has ordered the referral of a doctor and the father of three girls to an urgent criminal trial,' an official statement said. Egypt banned FGM in 2008 and made it a felony in 2016. There are no health benefits of the surgery, which intentionally alters or injures female genital organs. Doctors who perform the procedure face a jail sentence for up to seven years and anyone requesting it be carried out faces up to three years in jail. But no one has been successfully prosecuted under the 2016 law and women's rights groups in Egypt say the ban has not been well enforced. Much of society remains permissive of FGM, which is widely practised by both Christians and Muslims. A 2016 survey by the U.N. Children's Fund showed an astonishing 87 per cent of Egyptian women and girls aged between 15-49 had undergone FGM. Women's rights campaigners said the mother's decision to report the crime highlighted an increasing awareness of the damage caused by FGM, and welcomed what they said was decisive action by the authorities. Egyptian doctors give medical advice to women and girls about FGM during an awareness campaign in Giza, on the outskirts of the capital Cairo, in February 2020 'It is encouraging that authorities have started to take action against female genital mutilation and that girls and mothers have become more aware of the dangers of the procedure,' said Entessar el-Saeed, head of the Cairo Center for Development and Law. The head of Egypt's National Council for Women Maya Morsi also welcomed the swift prosecution, tweeting that there should be no tolerance for the practice. World leaders have pledged to eradicate FGM by 2030, but campaigners say the ancient ritual remains deeply entrenched in many places. The surgery is underpinned by the desire to control female sexuality, but is often justified for cultural or religious reasons in conservative societies. It can cause long-lasting mental and physical health problems including chronic infections, menstrual problems, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth complications. Photo By Samuel Corum/Getty Images WASHINGTON After military troops were moved from New York to the nation's Capitol area this week, Democrats have accused President Donald Trump of trying to quell peaceful protests, while the president's administration has countered that New York Democrats were to blame for an insufficient law enforcement response that allowed rioting and looting. Trump has emphasized a tough-talking law and order message as the protests have unfolded for more than a week in dozens of cities around the country, including Washington, D.C., in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police. Peaceful protesters have raised their voices against the injustices of racism and discriminatory policing, but many of the protests have been hijacked by violent participants. Looting also has been widespread. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who this week called the New York Police Department's inability to stop looting in that city "disgraceful," on Wednesday said the president would be wrong to invoke the Insurrection Act or deploy active military personnel "for political purposes" to help police stop riots and looting. "Now, you have his secretary of defense (Mark Esper) saying they shouldnt be used," Cuomo said. "How can the secretary of defense say that and then do it, well, thats another question." Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Esper said: "The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now." But on Tuesday, a battalion of military police stationed at Fort Drum in New York arrived at military bases in the Washington, D.C., area, a U.S. Department of Defense official said. In addition to the 91st Military Police Battalion, troops from Fort Bragg in North Carolina were also directed to head to the D.C. area. A total of 1,600 active-duty troops were recently moved, said Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. "The Department of Defense moved multiple active duty Army units into the National Capitol Region as a prudent planning measure in response to ongoing support to civil authorities operations," Hoffman said. None of the Army troops have been used to augment law enforcement efforts to deal with the protests. The Department of Defense originally planned to allow some of the troops to start to withdraw on Wednesday, after calm demonstrations prevailed in Washington for two nights, but then Esper reversed his decision, the Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press in an interview. It appears the troops will remain for a time to help with any problems, if needed. "Combat units should not be used to quell the First Amendment rights of Americans," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. "Rather than listen or acknowledge the legitimate pain of protesters and the black community, President Trump has sought to divide us further, eagerly inflaming tensions and sowing anger, fear, and threatening to use violence against peaceful protesters. Its deeply troubling and shameful that the president would take valuable military time and resources from New York in an attempt to defend his political interests. Gillibrand and other senators wrote to Esper Wednesday to express "grave concern" that the administration might use the Insurrection Act to allow the president to deploy military personnel domestically. Tedra Cobb, a Democrat running for a House seat in the 21st District, where Fort Drum is located, said of the military police battalion's deployment: "I don't think they or any members of our military should be policing the streets of American cities." U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, did not comment on the movement of military personnel stationed in her district. She said Tuesday, "I support our National Guards service to our country by maintaining safety and security in our communities during protests. President Trumps call for law and order in our nation during this turbulent time is an important message that America needed to hear." Earlier this week, Trump called on governors and mayors to handle unruly protests with a strong law enforcement presence as the looters and rioters have continued to destroy businesses and landmarks. If governors throughout the country do not deploy the National Guard or police in sufficient numbers to dominate the streets, Trump said the U.S. military would step in to quickly solve the problem for them. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's response to the protests "weak-kneed." She said the response directed by Trump in Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday was better. New York acted in a way that was inappropriate. They didnt deploy the National Guard. They set an 11 p.m. curfew," McEnany said. "There was looting all across New York City." Cuomo had agreed with that perspective, this week saying the NYPD had failed to do its job and communities in New York City that had taken years to build up were torn apart by "opportunists" who took advantage of the police being focused on protesters. Cuomo also said this week he was ready to deploy 13,000 New York National Guard troops to cities to help police, including New York City. Cuomo drew a distinction between U.S. military troops and National Guard troops. "National Guard are different than active military personnel, for political purposes," Cuomo said, adding that National Guard troops have been used to help battle COVID-19 and in the past for storm emergencies. "If they were deployed for New York City, thats not a political purpose, thats to help the police function in New York City. ... I said yesterday that there was a terrible night of looting, I was prepared to send the National Guard if the city needed them." But the looting in New York City and upstate New York cities subsided on Tuesday, when public officials reported that ongoing protests remained largely peaceful. That had not been the case in days prior, when widespread looting and property destruction were rampant, and police officers across the nation were run over by vehicles and shot, including a St. Louis police officer who died after being shot. A day after criticizing the New York Police Department for its failure to stop the looting, Cuomo on Wednesday said they had done a better job Tuesday night and clarified that his earlier criticism was directed at the management, not the rank-and-file officers. "I believe its the best police department in the country and we know the police officers can handle these situations because they have," Cuomo said. In Washington, the D.C. National Guard and other federal authorities, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency and other officers, joined local police in responding to protests in downtown Washington and near the White House in recent days. CBP officers and agents stationed at the northern border ports of entry and airports have also joined local authorities in New York in addressing demonstrations, Mike Niezgoda, public affairs officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The Drug Enforcement Agency was empowered by the U.S. Department of Justice Sunday to make arrests for non-drug related federal crimes and "conduct covert surveillance" as the agency assists with the federal response to the protests, Buzzfeed News reported. DEA spokespeople declined to say whether the agency would also be conducting this work in other states. Supplier News 4 June 2020 Fornova, the leading hospitality and travel intelligence software provider, has launched the next-generation Competitive Intelligence solution to help its customers gain a competitive advantage during the post-COVID-19 recovery. The London-headquartered technology firm has combined its patented data technology with more than a decade's experience of working with global hotel majors, the main online travel agencies (OTAs), and the world's most recognized retail brands to develop FornovaCI. The solution provides an alternative to traditional rate shoppers by giving clients unrivaled insights into competitor rates, online visibility, and guest reviews. Dori Stein, Fornova's CEO, said: "Competition is going to be fierce in the race to place heads in beds as lockdown restrictions begin to ease. Competitive data insights are going to be crucial to differentiate between those hotels who come back stronger than before and those who don't come back at all." "FornovaCI is an opportunity for hotels to upgrade to enterprise-grade rate shopping; a complete solution that gives them the complete picture of how they measure against their competitive set, with pricing just being the start. To really gain the edge and optimize their rate strategy, hotels need to understand where that price is shown on search results, be able to compare rates in all key geographical markets, and benchmark reviews." A FornovaCI innovation is the CI score, which enables hoteliers to evaluate the competitiveness for an individual hotel, a cluster or even the whole chain in one simple index (1-100). The score provides a quick way to evaluate current performance (rate, visibility, reviews, etc), investigate progress over time, and benchmark the hotel to its piers (based on hierarchy, geography, etc). Fornova's patented technology can emulate users from 72 different markets (Points of Sale), and scan and compare all those rates simultaneously. Consequently, FornovaCI is the first competitive intelligence platform to allow hoteliers to dynamically change the geographic location (POS) from which potential guests are accessing the Internet when comparing their rates to their comp set; with hotels and OTAs listing different rates across various countries, this means FornovaCI users can evaluate their properties' competitiveness against the appropriate competitor rates every time. Accurately assessing competitiveness per segment or per region enables the running of geo-targeted promotions; this kind of hyper-targeted marketing is predicted to be a crucial competitive advantage in the post-COVID-19 'new normal'. Another unique feature of FornovaCI is its ability to understand the lowest rates that competitors have anywhere in the market because Fornova's technology allows it to be the only one to track third party rates (e.g. unpackaged from wholesalers), loyalty rates, as well as device-specific promotions (e.g. mobile app rates). FornovaCI will also integrate with Fornova's other intelligence tools including its distribution intelligence (FornovaDI) and business intelligence technology (FornovaBI) to enable hotels to optimize performance across their operations. About Fornova Fornova is a market leader in Big Data for the travel and hospitality industries. In order to help hotels turn data into profit, it tracks more than 100,000 brand.com sites and OTA websites and has the most comprehensive data set in the world spanning 72 points of sale including the most challenging regions such as China, Latin America, and Africa. Founded in 2010, Fornova has grown its team to 200 members, with offices in London, Amsterdam, New York, Israel, Belarus, Ukraine and India. For more information visit: www.fornova.com/competitive-intelligence https://www.aish.com/ci/s/Outrage-over-Floyds-Murder-Doesnt-Justify-Intersectional-Myths.html Jews share the pain of those who protest racism. But extremists who link this crime to Israel's efforts to defend itself against Palestinian terror are spreading a big lie. The outrageous murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, by local police is a crime that cannot be tolerated or excused. Efforts by extremist agitators to hijack peaceful demonstrations and turn them into violent riots should also be condemned and not falsely rationalized as a form of legitimate protest or part of a necessary path to progress. Sensible people know both those things can be equally true, and that concerns about the anarchy in the streets of major cities shouldn't diminish our anger about Floyd's death or any other crime that appears rooted in racism. This perilous moment in American history should have created a consensus about the need to address both injustice and nihilist violence that ought to transcend partisanship. That is why Jewish organizations and religious groups have joined with people of faith throughout the denominational spectrum to express their dismay about what happened to Floyd, as well as their desire to combat prejudice. Some of those looking to exploit tragedy are attacking Jews. But not everyone is prepared to observe the political ceasefire most Americans would prefer to observe in the wake of these traumas. And, as always, some of those looking to exploit tragedy are attacking Jews. That was made clear when a synagogue and Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized in Los Angeles with pro-Palestinian propaganda. In and of itself, that would be terrible, but those buildings were just a few out of the innumerable places around the country that suffered the same indignity or worse. The context for that incident and the spate of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate that has flourished in recent days on the Internet is not random anger that could have been directed at any target, no matter how removed it might be from the incident that set off this crisis. Such incitement is the direct product of an intersectional movement that has continued to attempt to link crimes committed on American streets against African-Americans with the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. And just like other forms of prejudice for which there should be no tolerance, the effort to blame Israel or Jews for what rogue American cops might do needs to be clearly labeled as a form of hate speech. The effort to manufacture a connection between slayings of African-Americans with Israel isn't new. The notion that the struggle for civil rights in the United States is connected to the Palestinian war on Israel has become a staple of the BDS movement. It is rooted in intersectionality, an idea that has gained popularity in certain sectors of academia. It asserts an affinity between the struggles of people of color or indigenous populations against imperialist and racist hierarchies. So if you think all Jews in Israel are the moral equivalent of white European settlers in Africa, the notion that blacks who oppose systemic racism in America are fighting the same good fight as Palestinians resisting Zionism makes sense. That is what is behind the cartoon that has circulated on social media showing an Israeli soldier sitting on the neck of an oppressed Arab next to the image of rogue Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin suffocating a dying George Floyd under the caption "black lives matter." The same disingenuous analogy was behind the tweet by a group calling itself the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, which attempted to claim that US police departments are sending personnel to Israel to be trained to attack unarmed blacks. This false meme further argued that Israel is helping to "militarize" American law enforcement. The Black Lives Matter movement has made these arguments before, but the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace group has particularly embraced this canard. JVP's "Deadly Exchange" program fits into its efforts to promote boycotts of Israel. Asserting that Jewish groups that have facilitated trips to Israel by American first responders and police are somehow responsible for killings of unarmed blacks by US cops is not only untrue, it's a classic example of an anti-Semitic blood libel since it seeks to blame Jews for gruesome crimes for which they bear no responsibility. The training Americans get in Israel has little to do with the attacks that JVP and other BDS groups claim to oppose. It actually focuses on the antithesis of stereotypical police brutality by seeking to promote community engagement and nonviolent policing that would make confrontations less likely. Intersectionality is hate masquerading as advocacy for the oppressed. The willingness to buy into the big lie about Israelis teaching Americans to kill minorities is based in ignorance of the true nature of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror groups. Contrary to the intersectional myth, Jews are not colonial oppressors in Israel. Jews are not only indigenous to the country that is their ancient homeland. A majority of Israelis also fall into the category that left-wing ideologues would term "people of color" since their families came to the country from homes in Arab and Muslim lands from which they fled or were expelled after 1948. The mission of the Israel Defense Forces is not racial oppression. It's to defend the people of Israel against foes, which have not given them a day of peace in the 72-year history of the country. Its record in protecting civilian lives, including Palestinians who are used as human shields by terrorists, is unmatched. Stripped of its mendacious rhetoric, intersectionalism is a thinly disguised form of anti-Semitism. So it comes as little surprise that anti-Israel groups are breathing new life into these falsehoods whose purpose is fueling hate against Jews, rather than seeking justice for George Floyd and African-Americans. We can embrace a crusade against racism and police misconduct without endorsing the notion that all police are equally guilty of such crimes, or that the American nation is irredeemably guilty of intolerance. Similarly, it is vital that all decent people should reject the attempts to smear Israel and its American friends by associating them with incidents like the Floyd murder. Though some wrongly associate it with anti-fascism, intersectionality is hate masquerading as advocacy for the oppressed. Reprinted with permission from JNS.org Superintendent of Schools Bryan Luizzi expects the New Canaan High School plans for a graduation parade to remain in place after Gov. Ned Lamont approved in-person graduation ceremonies beginning July 6. Schools will be allowed to hold outdoor ceremonies with a limit of 150 people, if they follow certain health and safety restrictions, according to the governor. Luizzi has described plans for a four-mile parade through town for graduates on June 15, in lieu of a traditional graduation. The parade route will be flanked with banners for each of the graduates, which will have the students yearbook picture on it. The four-mile route will start at the high school, turn onto Farm Road, left on South Avenue toward town, right on Cherry Street and then back toward the high school on Main Street, right on Farm Road and through Saxe Middle School and left to Waveny Park. The teachers will be waiting for the graduates and their families in Waveny Park to congratulate them as they drive through. The high school administration has been meeting with students, teachers, and parents for several weeks to develop our plans. I am confident that they have developed meaningful and memorable opportunities and experiences for our seniors, and that they will know how much we respect and honor them and their outstanding accomplishments as graduates of New Canaan High School, Luizzi said. Luizzi explained why he did not opt to have a traditional commencement ceremony as sanctioned by the Governor. I believe the governor's guidance is a maximum of 150 people outdoors for an event. We have 301 seniors, staff, and families who participate in graduation, so this executive order does not change our planning, Luizzi said Wednesday June 3, soon after Lamont had announced his changes. Lamont would permit larger schools to conduct graduation ceremonies in shifts to accommodate all seniors, as long as each shift is limited to 150 people. Board of Education Chairman Katrina Parkhill agreed with Luizzi. The new guidelines are for graduations for groups of 150 or less so this does not change our planning for now. We are still holding July 31 and will develop plans in accordance with any new guidelines released before then, she said, referring to a celebration, but not traditional commencement in the plans for then. Lamont supported parade graduations saying they can be the most memorable graduations in the world, after he announced the relaxed restrictions on traditional commencements on June 3, can be held. Lamonts change appears to have a positive impact on smaller schools, but for us we are excited to put our planning into place in the weeks ahead with our seniors and families, the superintendent said. At the virtual school board meeting Monday, Luizzi had expressed frustration over the various changes in the state orders. It is difficult, because you have to make decisions in time for people to plan and every decision you make is a commitment, because people make their next decision based on your decision and if you have to change those decisions because of shifting ground, it can start to erode the trust, Luizzi said. Chandigarh [India], June 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): today hosted global Indian author, columnist Chetan Bhagat, the focus of his online interface was "Keeping your spirits high - Coming out as a winner in challenging times". Sharing his vast treasure of knowledge in a session which had a wide array of people joining in for the session and questions came from Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab on various issues ranging from how to keep your spirits up while battling COVID, future of Education during and post COVID period, contribution of today's youth in focusing on economy. "My special message to students is don't count the days, and stop guessing "kab khulega, kya hoga". When everything will reopen and what next will happen, just have balance and be strong minded, indulge in creative writing and thinking, do something different as things will be back to normal in some time," said Chetan Bhagat, while answering a question on how to keep up the spirit during COVID times. Substantiating the same he shared his experience of being in Hong Kong in 2003 as an investment banker when another serious epidemic SARS hit the country and left citizenry in a complete state of despair and hopelessness but with the time this phase got over and all those who nurtured a positive outlook wrote new success stories post SARS. Replying to Dr Madhu Chitkara's question; that how has the youth taken this whole crisis, has there been a change in their direction, he said, that the students and youth have been largely spending more time on screen, i.e. mobiles TV laptop etc, he advised that they should do that but also spend more time on creative thinking and doing different things. He suggested two hours of a screen time a day, apart from education online is still reasonable. To Dr Niyati Chitkara's question that what will be the future of education in post corona era his answer was that he can foresee a hybrid system of education gaining currency with more increased focus on online modules along with campus education as it's equally important for students to pick up the key learning's which only campus can provide. In his deeply insightful dive into various questions he also emphasized the importance of acquiring marketing skills in addition to scoring high grades in studies, future of VR (Virtual Reality) and many other key issues craving attention. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) (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.) Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) backed the primary challenger to fellow Democrat Eliot Engel, after Engel was caught on hot mic saying he only wanted to speak at a George Floyd rally because of the upcoming election. A day before Engels gaffe, progressive groups united to support the candidacy of Jamaal Bowman, a former middle school teacher from the Bronx. Engels district covers portions of the Bronx, as does Ocasio-Cortezs. This moment requires renewed and revitalized leadership across the country AND at the ballot box, Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter Wednesday night. Not only is Jamaal a profound community leader, but I believe hed make a fantastic colleague in the United States House of Representatives. Engel, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is completing his sixteenth term in Congress and has raised about $1.6 million through March of this year. However, the lawmaker faced criticism for not returning to his district for months during the coronavirus pandemic. The Bronx and Westchester have been among hardest-hit areas of New York State. At a George Floyd rally on Tuesday, Engel asked Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. to allow him to address the crowd. Theres just too many folks here who are scheduled to speak, Diaz said. If I didnt have a primary I wouldnt care, Engel replied. Shaking his head, Diaz told Engel Dont to this to me. Were not going to do this. More from National Review Deputy chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, confirmed that there was one new cluster of the virus in a direct provision centre Children are expected to be allowed some screen-free fun in summer camps and playgrounds from next week as public health experts meet today to decide on the next phase of exiting the lockdown. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan would not be drawn on the specific recommendations to be made today. However, he said his expert team will look at a range of measures to ease the burden of lockdown restrictions on children and their parents. The GAA Cul camps are expected to be held but all activities will have to be carried out with strict safeguards. Agenda "Government is going to consider and accept them before they become part of any easing of restrictions," Dr Holohan said. He confirmed the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), who meet today, will have the easing of measures affecting children on its agenda, as well as matters such as the resumption of some form of visiting at nursing homes. There is nothing in the figures at this point to indicate that Nphet will not be able to recommend that phase two of the exit from lockdown roadmap goes ahead. He was speaking as a further three people died from the virus which, while tragic, signalled that the death toll is falling along with new cases of the virus. There have now been 1,659 Covid-19 related deaths in the Republic. The number of new diagnoses also remained low at 47 cases. Around four in 10 people who are diagnosed with the virus do not know where they were infected, while well over half are close contacts of another person who has tested positive. Figures also show that a number of counties saw no new people diagnosed with the disease between May 21 and 28. They include counties Kerry, Sligo, Wexford, Donegal and Meath. Although the diagnosis of new cases is unpredictable, infectious disease consultant in Beaumont Hospital Dr Sam McConkey has pointed out that it is too early for people to travel from counties like Dublin and Cork, where cases of the virus are highest, to counties which have fewer infections. The latest figures from the Department of Health show that of the 25,064 cases confirmed as of midnight last Monday, over 3,298 cases - the equivalent of 13pc - have been hospitalised. Of these, 409 cases have been admitted to intensive care units. The number of confirmed cases among healthcare workers has breached 8,000, accounting for nearly 32pc of people who caught the infection. Dublin has the highest number of cases at 12,093, making up 48pc, followed by Cork with 1,517 cases, accounting for 6pc, and Kildare with 1,419 cases. There has been no increase in clusters of the virus in residential care facilities including nursing homes. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said there has been one new cluster in a direct provision centre in the week up to midnight on Saturday night. A further 123 cases of the virus were diagnosed among workers in meat plants. Among the Roma community there has been a rise of eight cases in the past week. Meanwhile, a majority of people now believe that others are ignoring the two-metre physical distancing rule, according to a new poll. The poll, commissioned by the Department of Health, shows just 40pc of people think others are obeying the safe distancing gap - a drop of 11pc in the last two weeks. Battle The poll shows a reduction in fear among the population about the coronavirus - down to 5.4 out of a scale one to 10 compared to 5.6 a week earlier. More people also believe the worst is over - up to 55pc from 49pc the previous week. Fewer people also believe the country will be hit by a second wave of the virus - dropping to 59pc from 63pc in a week. The results show the battle ahead to maintain a level of focus among a significant proportion of the population as restrictions ease over the summer. Dr Glynn said that 91pc of people who caught the virus in the Republic have recovered. "This is positive news and confirms the expectation that most people who get Covid-19 will recover," he said. "However, it remains the case that this is an unpredictable virus," he added. Washington: Internet giant Google would give USD 37 million to fight racism, CEO Sunder Pichai has announced, in the wake of the nationwide protest in the US against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd. In an email to his employees on Wednesday, the Indian-American CEO of Google and Alphabet, also urged them to stand together in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honour the "memories of Black lives lost." Pichai, 47, said the company would be giving USD 12 million in funding to organisations working to address racial inequities and USD 25 million in Ad Grants to help organisations fighting racial injustice provide critical information. "Our first grants of USD 1 million each will go to our long-term partners at the Center for Policing Equity and the Equal Justice Initiative. And we'll be providing technical support through our Google.org Fellows program. This builds on the USD 32 million we have donated to racial justice over the past five years," Pichai said. "Our Black community is hurting, and many of us are searching for ways to stand up for what we believe, and reach out to people we love to show solidarity. "Yesterday, I met with a group of our Black leaders to talk about where we go from here and how we can contribute as Google. We discussed many ideas, and we are working through where to put our energy and resources in the weeks and months ahead," the 47-year-old CEO said in the email. The US is in the midst of the biggest civic unrest in the country's history following the death of 46-year-old Floyd when a white police officer pinned him down and kneeled on his neck as he gasped for breath. The incident has triggered nationwide protests in the country. In some cases, peaceful protests turned violent resulting in large scale looting, damage to properties and monuments, and vehicles being set ablaze. Thousands of people have been arrested. Curfew was imposed in several cities, including New York and Washington D C, as most protests turned violent during the night. Pichai said that the length of the moment of silence represents "the amount of time George Floyd suffered before he was killed. It's meant to serve as a visceral reminder of the injustice inflicted on Mr. Floyd and so many others. "We acknowledge that racism and violence may look different in different parts of the world, so please use this as a moment to reflect on those who have been lost in your own country or community at a time that works for you," he said. In the email, Pichai also shared the result of the company's internal giving campaign held last week. "I'm pleased to share that you all have contributed an additional USD 2.5 million in donations that we're matching. This represents the largest Googler giving campaign in our company's history, with both the largest amount raised by employees and the broadest participation," he said. He said that the events of the past few weeks reflect deep structural challenges. "We'll work closely with our Black community to develop initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions- and we'll keep you updated. As part of this effort, we welcome your ideas on how to use our products and technology to improve access and opportunity," he said. Pichai's announcement comes days after top India-American CEOs, including himself and Microsoft's Satya Nadella, expressed solidarity with the African-American community following Floyd's death. "Today on US Google & YouTube homepages we share our support for racial equality in solidarity with the Black community and in memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery & others who don't have a voice," Pichai wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "For those feeling grief, anger, sadness & fear, you are not alone," Pichai said, sharing a screenshot of the Google search home page which said: "We stand in support of racial equality, and all those who search for it." N Sathiya Moorthy By After facing weeks of global attack as the originator of the Covid-19 pandemic, China is now hitting the headlines with its recent adventurism along the borders. It may be the countrys way of ascertaining Indias military preparedness and check if New Delhi was ready to make good the claims of some ruling party politicians that India would take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and also to remind us that it could then be a three-nation, two-sector/theatre war. There is the common Kashmir sector, where Chinese and Pakistani territorial interests cojoin in the form of Aksai Chin. It is a part of PoK that Islamabad handed over to Beijing, long ago. The CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) as a part of Beijings BRI passes through PoK. The truth of it does not matter, but if India were to take back all of PoK, it would have to take on China, too, over Aksai Chin. Showing India its place: For this reason, China seems convinced that India cannot have border negotiations with either of its historic adversaries without providing a chair for the other to join in on a later date. China is even more perturbed about the possibility of Indias position on a future Dalai Lama, whom Beijing wants to appoint and control. Beijing is not convinced about Indias decades-old voluntary acceptance of Tibet as an integral part of China. It does not even seem to have considered the incumbents delineation of temporal and political powers after his time, that too in the context of New Delhis contextualised reiterations that India has offered political asylum only to the present, 14th Dalai Lama. China seems to want a comprehensive negotiated settlement on all disputes with India, including Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh and more so the future Dalai Lama. In doing so, China also wants to keep Pakistan holding its handsand is seen as doing so. Border disputes are bilateral in the two cases, and not trilateral as China deems. Likewise, India may be an interested party on the Dalai Lama question, but it cannot be a negotiating party. Either China takes India at its past behaviour or confuses itself on the future possibilities. Exposing allies: It is anybodys guess how Beijing feels about playing facilitator between India and Pakistan, when it has now declined another of US President Donald Trumps brainwaves, of playing negotiator between India and China. Indias response to Trump is not as vehement as it was when the US president claimed to have offered his services to play negotiator between India and Pakistan. India has made the point when it denied Trumps claims of speaking to Modi on China now. Three years after Doklam in 2017, China also seems to want to expose once again how Indias Quad allies are concerned only about the shared waters of the Indo-Pacific and not its land borders where alone China stands a chance, if at all. Post-pandemic, neither economies can afford war. But if China thought that the 21st century India and Indians would flinch, Balakot was an appetiser. Yet, on Doklam, Japan was the only Quad member-nation to side with India, but after a studied silence. Now, on the Sikkim/Ladakh row, the US is the only Western ally to identify with India. But mid-level US State Department official Alice Wellss criticism of China lacked the Trump-era punch, that too when the US is otherwise engaged in a multi-pronged diplomatic and political war with China. Wellss reference to Chinas other predatory (maritime border) rows took even the limited punch away. Trump has since followed up on his officials criticism of China with his offer of mediation. By definition, an intended mediator should present himself as non-partisan. It means that as with Pakistan earlier, the strategic interests of the US viz India are limited to military supplies. For the US, it also means outsourcing American geo-strategic concerns in the Indo-Pacific to the other three Quad members. During the Cold War, the US-NATO alliance protected Western Europe by tying down the Soviet Union to the Continent for most parts. Barrel of the gun: Straight and simple, China wants to dominate the world scene as the sole non-American, non-West voice. More importantly, it does not want India on the high table. It takes, and will continue to take such border swipes at India, also reminding New Delhi of the one-off Indian disaster in the 1962 wara war that India joined and yet did not join. Yet, China seems to want to take the US route of reassured friendship with neighbours before taking the superpower route. But it appears to be following the disastrous Soviet model by jack-booting friends in Eastern Europe and mishandling Western Europe, until the collapse in 1991. Xi Jinpings China still seems to be believing in Mao Zedongs maxim that political power flows out of the barrel of a gun. It also follows the Cold War American way of enlisting smaller nations through economic aidbut on preposterous terms. India does not require Chinese aid. It is not frightened by the show of the Chinese gun. N Sathiya Moorthy Distinguished Fellow and Head-Chennai Initiative, Observer Research Foundation (Email ID: sathiyam54@nsathiyamoorthy.com) Philippines fishermen join nationwide protest against anti-terror bill by Madelaine Miraflor June 04,2020 | Source: Manila Bulletin A group of Filipino fishermen has expressed opposition to the Anti-Terrorist Act amid fears that the proposed legislation could also result to the plundering of the nations marine resources. In a statement, fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) said the proposed law, also known as anti-terror bill, would serve as a protection to entities plundering marine resources and could result to displacement of small fisherfolk families from their communities. The Senate version of the proposed Anti-Terrorist Act already hurdled third and final reading in the House of Representatives. Some groups fear that the law could result to abuse of power among politicians. The Commission on Human Rights, for instance, said the anti-terror bill is highly intrusive and that it could lead to state abuse. Criminalizing the dissenters in the midst of a direct foreign aggression and plunder of our marine environment is a safeguard for the aggressors and plunderers from the peoples resistance, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson Fernando Hicap said. Would an opposition to destructive land reclamation projects and Chinese aggression of West Philippine Sea be considered as acts of terrorism? Mounting peoples resistance and protests await this repressive measure of the Duterte government, he added. On Wednesday, members of PAMALAKAYA marched along with other progressive groups in a lightning rally to protest the railroading of the anti-terror bill, which the fishers group said would heighten political repression and vilification of democratic organizations championing rights and welfare of the marginalized sectors. PAMALAKAYA will also join various progressive organizations in an indignation protest against anti-terrorism bill today to be held at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City. According to the group, the anti-terror bill contravenes the basic principles of the constitution that recognize the peoples rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and to organize. PAMALAKAYA has vowed to not bow down in its fight against the anti-terror bill. 2016 mb.com.ph | Philippine News. All rights reserved Theme(s): Others. Victoria and NSW are the only states to completely remove restrictions Jetstar has launched flights for as low as $35 as holidaymakers prepare for coronavirus travel restrictions to ease. Qantas and Jetstar have announced the return of domestic flights to reboot the nation's multi-billion dollar aviation industry after planes were grounded due to the global pandemic. While interstate travel is still restricted in some Australian states and territories, the budget carrier added 300 domestic for holidaymakers - most of which begin in July. Flights from Sydney to Ballina, the closest airport to Byron Bay, are being sold for $35. With travel and holidays encouraged across New South Wales since restrictions eased on June 1, it could prove the perfect local getaway. Flights from Sydney to Ballina, the closest airport to Byron Bay (pictured), are being sold for $35 during the month of July Bargain-hunters in Queensland can fly from Brisbane to the picturesque Whitsundays (pictured) for $39 or to Cairns for $69 Bargain-hunters in Queensland can fly from Brisbane to the picturesque Whitsunday islands for $39 or to Cairns for $69. As both are in Queensland, no restrictions would apply. Controversially, Queensland still has its state borders closed. Connecting flights from Brisbane to Townsville, Mackay and Horn Island have also been added to the list - with prices starting at $39. JETSTAR SALE: WHERE CAN I FLY? Sydney to Byron Bay: $35 Melbourne to Newcastle: $39 Brisbane to Whitsundays: $39 Brisbane to Mackay: $39 Sydney to Melbourne: $55 Byron Bay to Melbourne: $69 Brisbane to Cairns: $69 Brisbane to Townsville: $79 Source: Jetstar (all one-way) Advertisement Victoria and New South Wales are the only states to remove border restrictions completely, without an enforced two-week quarantine period. Flights from Melbourne to Sydney are also available from June 30 to July 31 for $55 one-way. Holidaymakers in Melbourne can also visit Byron Bay for $69. International travel is not likely to restart for many months, with Australians instead hoping for a domestic trip. By the end of July, the airlines hope to return to 40 per cent of their pre-coronavirus flight frequency. There are currently five Qantas flights per week between the two capital cities but by the end of July there will be 47. Other routes set to start up again include Brisbane to Townsville, Moree to Sydney and Melbourne to Newcastle. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: 'We know there is a lot of pent up demand for air travel and we are already seeing a big increase in customers booking and planning flights in the weeks and months ahead.' If the demand for flights continues, the nation's flagship carrier will increase services during the school holidays. Bargain-hunters in Queensland can fly from Brisbane to Townsville (pictured) for $79 Connecting flights from Brisbane to Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Emerald, Weipa and Horn Island (pictured) have also been added to the list - with prices starting at $3 'These additional flights are an important first step to help get more people out into communities that rely on tourism and bring a much-needed boost to local businesses.' He added that a number of changes would be made to flights, such as the inclusion of face masks and sanitising wipes. All customers will be able to change the date of their flight once without paying a fee but bookings need to be made before June 30. If a flight is cancelled, passengers will be put on the next available flight at no additional cost. Qantas and Jetstar have announced the return of domestic flights to reboot the nation's multi-billion dollar aviation industry after planes were grounded due to the global pandemic Ukraine and the EU discussed pressing issues of bilateral cooperation in agriculture and rural development, cross-border and regional cooperation sectors. The Economy Ministrys press service reported this following a meeting of Cluster 5 of the Subcommittee on Economic and Other Sector Cooperation of the Association Committee between Ukraine and the EU. "The parties reviewed the status of implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, as well as the latest developments in the field of agricultural policy of Ukraine, including land reform, farm support, rural entrepreneurship, organic production, rural tourism, and bringing Ukrainian legislation in agriculture to EU standards," the report says. In addition, the Ukrainian side told its European colleagues about the progress in implementing the State Regional Development Strategy until 2020, the development of the State Regional Development Strategy for 2021-2027, the functioning of the State Regional Development Fund, as well as the smart specialization approach in Ukraine. Following the meeting, the parties agreed to continue cooperation in agriculture and rural development; update the agriculture dialogue between Ukraine and the EU, and the common fisheries policy; continue cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, the Black Sea and other cross-border and territorial programs. ish Full-blown politics has erupted on the issue of migrants, a majority belonging to states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The politics is palpable in states which will ace polls before the next general elections in 2024. Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha will go to polls in 2022, West Bengal with 42 Lok Sabha seats is going to polls in 2021 and Bihar with 40 Lok Sabha seats will see polls in October this year. For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here The BJP and the Congress were found racing against each other over the issue, in Uttar Pradesh. While Yogi Adityanath government set up a migrant commission and mulled seeking permissions from other states that need labour, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi announced running of special buses to ferry migrants. An apparently irked Mayawati, whose vote base constitutes of Dalits forming a major chunk of the migrant population, accused both the parties of engaging in politics. She said that the BSP was born to take up the issue of the deprived and the Dalits caused by the policies of the Congress, which are now being carried forward by the BJP. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to address the problems of joblessness and poverty in the eastern states. He said the agony, pain and ordeal of the underprivileged labourers and workers cannot be expressed in words and indicated that plans are on the anvil for the holistic development of eastern India. According to the 2011 census, India has 45.36 crore internal migrants, most moving in search of jobs from the Hindi heartland and eastern states. Most migrants go back to their state of origin to cast votes. Realising this, in last West Bengal assembly polls, political parties had arranged special trains from cities like Delhi to bring them back to vote. Verbal attacks by ministers like Amit Shah and Piyush Goyal on Mamata Banerjee over not showing interest in running Shramik Special trains also fit into the pattern. Bihar has also seen a big fight on migrant issues. The voters from Eastern UP and adjoining Bihar have played a key role in forming governments in Delhi. Not surprisingly AAP was quick to announce it would pay the train fare of migrants going back to Bihar, which irked JDU leadership that sprang into damage control mode. Mumbai: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Wednesday announced that it has achieved successful closure of Rights Issue of Rs 53,124.20 crore. It was subscribed approximately 1.59 times adding up to an overall commitment of Rs 84,000 crore. The public portion of the rights issue was subscribed 1.22 times. "The Rights Issue Committee of the Board of Directors of the company will meet on June 10 to approve the basis of allotment of equity shares. The rights shares are expected to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) on June 12," RIL said in a release. Commenting on the closure of Rights Issue, Mukesh Ambani, CMD of RIL said, "The success of RIL's Rights Issue, seen in the context of the prolonged nationwide lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is also a vote of confidence, by both domestic investors, foreign investors and small retail shareholders, in the intrinsic strength of the Indian economy." "I have no doubt that the Indian economy will bounce back to follow a high-growth trajectory in the time to come, and make India leading digital nation in the world," he added. The release said this is the first instance of Rights Entitlement (RE) being traded in demat form on the stock exchanges since SEBI introduced this platform and it was a resounding success. It said a unique feature of RIL's Rights Issue was that "despite its record-setting magnitude, it was completed entirely on a digital platform, defying the formidable constraints imposed by the COVID-induced lockdown". "And this too was a new record in the history of Indian and global capital markets. None of the stakeholders across 800 Indian cities and many financial centres abroad -- regulators, bankers, financial institutions, retail investors and others -- had to step out of their offices or homes, and yet everything related to the rights Issue was conducted smoothly and with utmost efficiency. This shows not only the power of the emerging digital age, but also the potential of India to be a pioneer and an innovator in this age," the release said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 18:12:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Various British banks and companies operating in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have voiced support for the national security legislation for Hong Kong. HSBC reiterated in a statement on Wednesday its respect and support for laws that help restore social stability and recover economic development of Hong Kong under the principle of "one country, two systems". Citing a recent survey by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) and a statement by the Hong Kong Association of Banks, HSBC said the national security legislation is expected to strengthen investors' confidence in Hong Kong. "HSBC also maintains that a stable environment is the key to Hong Kong's long-term economic recovery as an international financial center," said the statement. HSBC Chief Executive Peter Wong has signed a petition in Hong Kong in support of the legislation, it said. Standard Chartered said in a statement that the bank believes the national security legislation can help maintain the long-term economic and social stability of Hong Kong. In an advertisement published on Wednesday in local newspapers, trading company Jardine Matheson said it believes that establishing a legal framework for safeguarding national security is very important as it can ensure continued investment in Hong Kong, promote employment and guarantee people's livelihood. The group said it "has roots in Hong Kong and will continue to invest here." Enditem Digital Management LLC (DMI), a Maryland-based IT professional services contractor that has done business with NASA and a number of other federal agencies, appears to have been hit with a ransomware attack. According to ZDNet, which first broke the story, a ransomware group known as the DopplePaymer gang claims to have breached DMI's network and leaked a range of files related to their contract work with NASA -- including HR documents, project plans and other sensitive personal information. In response to questions, NASA spokesperson Sean Potter told FCW the agency was following up on the matter with legal authorities and said it hasnt done any business with DMI since at least last year. NASA is aware of the report and coordinated appropriately with law enforcement and NASAs procurement office, Potter wrote. As of April 2019, the company identified in the report is no longer performing any contractual services for NASA. "We recently became aware of a data security incident that affected our corporate systems," a DMI spokesperson said. "When we discovered the issue, we immediately took all systems offline, engaged third-party security experts to aid our investigation, and worked to safely restore systems in a manner that protected the security of information on our systems. We are continuing to investigate the incident and we are working to enhance the security of our systems to help prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future." A spokesperson for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, which has oversight over NASA, told FCW the committee is looking into the matter. A search of federal procurement records could not find any active contracts with NASA, but DMI was awarded a $177 million bid in 2012 to provide IT support services NASAs headquarters. That contract expired in 2018 and the recompete was awarded to Venesco & Saitech Joint Venture LLC. DMI also has a robust contracting presence with a number of other federal agencies. According to figures from USASpending.gov, federal agencies obligated $118.2 million in contract spend or other direct funding to the company in fiscal year 2019, and $49 million for the current fiscal year through the end of May. The data also indicates DMIs three largest customers are the Departments of State, Health and Human Services and Defense. The companys largest active contract appears to be with the State Department, which awarded an eight-year, $336.7 million pact to DMI in 2012 for help desk and desktop support services as part of the agencys Vanguard strategy to consolidate and streamline IT acquisitions. The recompete of that contract is in source selection and DMIs award is slated to expire Aug. 31. A number of questions remain about the scope of the breach, such as how much of DMIs IT infrastructure has been encrypted, how old the leaked data is and how much money the group is demanding in ransom. Its also not clear whether data and systems related to work with other federal agencies were affected by the incident. FCW called and left messages for several DMI branches seeking comment that have not been returned and has reached out to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for more information. Kimberly Goody, a senior manager for threat analysis at Mandiant Threat Intelligence, told FCW the DopplePaymer (or DOPPPELPAYMER) ransomware is often installed after organizations are infected with other strains of malware, like Dridex or Qakbot. That suggests the group may have existing profit-sharing business relationships with other affiliate hacking groups to widen their reach and compromise a broader range of targets. The group created a website in February called "Dopple Leaks" that is designed to "to shame victims who refuse to pay ransom demands and publish files that were stolen from their systems." "Conducting both data theft and encryption allows actors like this to maximize their profits by applying additional pressure and in some cases charging multiple extortion fees one for the non-release of data and another for the decrypting files," Goody said. Ransomware has become a growing focus for federal policymakers in recent years, even as most successful attacks tend to hit private businesses or state and local governments. In February, CISA Director Chris Krebs said his agency has begun proactively engaging with federal agencies, state and local governments, critical infrastructure and industry to prepare them for what to do if their data is encrypted and held ransom by criminals or state-aligned hacking groups. That announcement came the same month CISA warned the public that ransomware actors had hit a natural gas compression facility, first compromising that facility's IT network before pivoting to its Operational Technology environment and encrypting data on both networks. Washington Technology Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers contributed reporting to this article. Astronomers capture a pulsar 'powering up' The research, led by PhD candidate Adelle Goodwin from the Monash School of Physics and Astronomy will be featured at an upcoming American Astronomical Society meeting this week before it is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Adelle leads a team of international researchers, including her supervisor, Monash University Associate Professor Duncan Galloway, and Dr David Russell from New York University Abu Dhabi. The scientists observed an 'accreting' neutron star as it entered an outburst phase in an international collaborative effort involving five groups of researchers, seven telescopes (five on the ground, two in space), and 15 collaborators. It is the first time such an event has been observed in this detail - in multiple frequencies, including high-sensitivity measurements in both optical and X-ray. The physics behind this 'switching on' process has eluded physicists for decades, partly because there are very few comprehensive observations of the phenomenon. The researchers caught one of these accreting neutron star systems in the act of entering outburst, revealing that it took 12 days for material to swirl inwards and collide with the neutron star, substantially longer than the two- to three-days most theories suggest. "These observations allow us to study the structure of the accretion disk, and determine how quickly and easily material can move inwards to the neutron star," Adelle said. "Using multiple telescopes that are sensitive to light in different energies we were able to trace that the initial activity happened near the companion star, in the outer edges of the accretion disk, and it took 12 days for the disk to be brought into the hot state and for material to spiral inward to the neutron star, and X-rays to be produced," she said. In an 'accreting' neutron star system, a pulsar (a dense remnant of an old star) strips material away from a nearby star, forming an accretion disk of material spiralling in towards the pulsar, where it releases extraordinary amounts of energy - about the total energy output of the sun in 10 years, over the period of a few short weeks. The pulsar observed is SAX J1808.4?3658 which rotates at a rapid 400 times per second and is located 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Saggitarius. "This work enables us to shed some light on the physics of accreting neutron star systems, and to understand how these explosive outbursts are triggered in the first place, which has puzzled astronomers for a long time," said New York University Abu Dhabi researcher, Dr David Russell, one of the study's co-authors. Accretion disks are usually made of hydrogen, but this particular object has a disk that is made up of 50% helium, more helium than most disks. The scientists think that this excess helium may be slowing down the heating of the disk because helium 'burns' at a higher temperature, causing the 'powering up' to take 12 days. The telescopes involved include two space observatories: the Neils Gehrels Swift X-ray Observatory, and the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer on the International Space Station; as well as the ground based Las Cumbres Observatory network of telescopes, and the South African Large Telescope. ### This story has been published on: 2020-06-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Flash The "Stand Together to Overcome Difficulties" China-Africa Media Webinar on Combating COVID-19 was held on June 3, hosted by China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and jointly organized by CIPG Training Center and China Internet Information Center (China.org.cn). Twelve press officials and senior media workers from the nine countries of China, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda shared experiences under the theme of "strengthen China-Africa cooperation and pool the media's anti-epidemic efforts worldwide." All those participating agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought both challenges and opportunities. In the future, Chinese and African media will seek closer cooperation and develop a robust friendship between the two peoples. Fang Zhenghui, vice president of CIPG, pointed out that the management of major public health emergencies requires joint efforts from the international community in communication, cooperation and information sharing. This imposes greater demands on international communication for all countries. Media workers need to clarify their mission and responsibilities in the global fight against COVID-19 and thus enhance China-Africa communication and cooperation. They should serve as "watchtowers" for society, so as to share higher-value information more efficiently; as "stabilizers" for the public, so as to unite the people in fighting the disease; and as "bridges" between the peoples of China and Africa, so as to promote the joint building of a shared future for the two sides. Abdul Karim Naatogmah, manager in charge of communication and media relations at the Ghanaian National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), pointed out that the COVID-19 outbreak has created a global health crisis which has deeply impacted the world's economy, and the African continent in particular. During the pandemic, the media should fulfill its responsibilities to release important news, disseminate public health information, supervise and track epidemic control measures, correct epidemic-related information, and build a media-cooperation platform to jointly fight COVID-19. Slesor Ebane Kome , divisional delegate of communication for Meme Division of the Cameroonian Ministry of Communication, said that her previous exchanges and study in China had deepened her understanding of the status of Chinese media development and its trends. She suggested that the Chinese and Cameroonian media should increase the sharing of information and cooperate more extensively through international platforms and people-to-people exchanges. Together, the two sides will contribute to fighting COVID-19 and building a community of shared future. She believes that only when the international community unites will mankind finally overcome the pandemic. Li Jianguo, associate editor-in-chief of Beijing Review, spoke about stories and reports of the two people's fight against COVID-19 published in ChinaAfrica monthly magazine, and expounded on the positive role of Chinese media in epidemic control. He believes that faced by the epidemic, media outlets should prioritize humanistic values and care in their reports, tell stories of unity and cooperation between China and Africa, and boost the confidence of all countries in overcoming the pandemic. Worku Belachew, a journalist at The Ethiopian Herald, explained that since the COVID-19 outbreak, China has determinedly enacted control measures and carried out international cooperation, demonstrating its responsible attitude towards the health of its own people, Africa and the rest of the world. Africa will learn from China in this regard. He hopes that in the future, Chinese and African media will maintain a long-term partnership, jointly overcome the pandemic and address global issues. Jared Ombui Migiro, digital manager of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made people more aware that the world is a community with shared future. Facing this common crisis, the international community needs to unite and work together more than ever before. He expounded on the significance of Chinese-African media cooperation through his exchanges with fellow media workers in China. He also proposed that in order to strengthen global efforts in epidemic control, it is necessary to better play the role of mainstream media in China and Africa, establish a positive relationship through exchanges and interaction, and therefore build a beautiful homeland for mankind. Li Yang, director of the Editorial Office of the Opinion Department of China Daily, said that during the global fight against COVID-19, some Western media reports have lacked authenticity on China and Africa's anti-epidemic efforts. Mainstream media in China and Africa should unite to resist these erroneous remarks and claims, publish factual news and reports with fairness, and make more concrete efforts to boost confidence and save lives. He also suggested that the African people establish Chinese-language websites to help Chinese people gain first-hand information directly from African countries. Samuel Freeman Worzie, the national public relations officer of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), said that in the face of this global health crisis, people are experiencing something termed as "an international conspiracy" against the African continent by the West. However, he thanked African countries and their bilateral partners who have chosen to remain kind and resilient in mustering a collective response in the fight against the disease, in spite of this conspiracy. Victor Jafar dos Reis, an announcer at Radio Mozambique, introduced Mozambique's progress in the fight against COVID-19 and the support provided by the international community. He said that all countries should strengthen international anti-epidemic cooperation with a scientific attitude, so as to jointly overcome the pandemic. Luo Jun, deputy director of the English Desk of the International News Department at Xinhua News Agency, took the Agency's reports on Africa's epidemic situation as an example to illustrate the similarities between China and African countries. For instance, China and Africa's voices have not been completely heard on the international stage, some even being deliberately misinterpreted by the West; and some "ill-disposed" have distorted global issues to interfere with the official and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation. She also expressed her hope that the media would strengthen communication and cooperation, help the media's voice be heard, and jointly build a community with shared future for China and Africa. Raphael Bamidele Oni, editor-in-chief of Diplomats Extra Magazine, proposed suggestions for strengthening cooperation between Chinese and African media by analyzing the challenges posed to them by COVID-19. He said that the majority of media outlets in Nigeria are owned by private individuals and that the lockdown has affected a lot of private organizations. Media workers are facing the risks of lower wages and even layoffs, which may hinder timely and effective information sharing. In this regard, they should redouble their efforts in proposing media reforms and innovations, establishing media contact circles, and building a regular platform for Chinese and African media, so as to achieve closer communication between media workers. David Mukholi, managing editor of editorial at Vision Group, analyzed the changes brought about by COVID-19 to the production and publishing of media works. He said that during the pandemic, as network media develops rapidly, press workers are adapting to the new trends and coping with the challenges brought about by the upgrading of media. He also called on Chinese and Ugandan media to jointly overcome the pandemic for a better future by illustrating the news and reports of Vision Group's newspaper on Ugandan people's anti-epidemic efforts in Guangzhou, China. Wang Xiaohui, editor-in-chief of China.org.cn, summarized by saying that as media professionals, all speakers had expounded both personal views and working practices, detailed the current situation of anti-epidemic reporting in China and Africa, and discussed the role that the media should play there in epidemic control. The webinar's participants reached a consensus that China and Africa should strengthen cooperation to meet the current challenges and build a community of shared future for the two peoples. These practices will demonstrate the sense of mission and responsibility of media workers on both sides. He also hoped that in the future, all those working in the media can uphold the concept of "building a community of shared future for mankind," fulfill their responsibilities, and carry out more fruitful cooperation in international communication. During the webinar, the participants conducted in-depth exchanges and reached a broad consensus on the topics of "Anti-epidemic experience sharing on media reporting in China and Africa," "The media's roles and responsibilities in major public emergencies," and how to "Strengthen anti-epidemic exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa, and jointly build a community of shared future." The webinar was co-organized by Beijing Review, Beijing Bosheng International Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd. and Beijing Xufang International Digital Culture Media Co., Ltd. All the African participants had attended a foreign aid training seminar hosted by CIPG Training Center. Scientists around the world are racing to develop and test a coronavirus vaccine and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it must be available to everyone Governments around the world on Thursday pledged $8.8 billion for global vaccines alliance Gavi to help immunisation programmes disrupted by coronavirus, prompting calls for global cooperation to ensure a potential COVID-19 vaccine is available to all. The online meeting beat a target to raise $7.4 billion to provide vaccines at a much reduced cost to 300 million children worldwide over the next five years. More than 50 countries took part as well as individuals such as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation pledged $1.6 billion. Gavi also launched a new initiative to purchase potential COVID-19 vaccines, scale-up production and support delivery to developing nations, which raised $567 million in seed money. "Together, we rise to fulfil the greatest shared endeavour of our lifetimesthe triumph of humanity over disease," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit. "Today we make the choice to unite, to forge a path of global cooperation." Scientists around the world are racing to develop and test a coronavirus vaccine and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it must be available to everyone. "A vaccine must be seen as a global public gooda people's vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for," he said in a video message. US billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates stumped up $1.6 billion for the vaccine drive There needs to be "global solidarity to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access". The pandemic has exposed new ruptures in international cooperation, notably with US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO). But Gavi chief executive Seth Berkley insisted there must be a "global perspective". "At the end of the day, if you have large outbreaks of COIVD anywhere in the world, it threatens the world," he said. Doesn't discriminate The United States pledged $1.16 billion to Gavi's fundraising drive, and Trump sent a recorded message to the conference. "As the coronavirus has shown, there are no borders. It doesn't discriminate," he said. "It's mean, it's nasty. But we can all take care of it together... we will work hard. We will work strong." The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 6.5 million and killed over 385,000 people since emerging in China last December, according to an AFP tally of official sources. Graphic on the number and types of vaccines in development in the fight against the global pandemic If a vaccine is developed, Microsoft founder Gates said Gavi hoped to be able to buy it for the poorest countries. He said pharmaceutical companies had been working together to try to secure the required production capacity. "It's been amazing, the pharmaceutical companies stepping up to say 'yes, even if our vaccine is not the best, we will make our factories available'," he told BBC radio. Immunisations disrupted Stay-at-home orders have been imposed across the world to stem the spread of coronavirus, causing huge economic disruption and the suspension of routine immunisation programmes for preventable diseases such as measles and polio. The WHO, UN children's agency UNICEF and Gavi warned last month that vaccine services were disrupted in nearly 70 countries, affecting some 80 million children under the age of one. Polio eradication drives were suspended in dozens of countries, while measles vaccination campaigns were also put on hold in 27 countries, UNICEF said. Recent modelling from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated that for every coronavirus death prevented by halting vaccination campaigns in Africa, up to 140 people could die from vaccine-preventable diseases. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted the Global Vaccine Summit online raising pledges of $8.8 billion Since it was formed in 2000, Gavi says it has helped to immunise more than 760 million children. But Berkley warned: "These historic advances in global health are now at risk of unravelling as COVID-19 causes unprecedented disruption to vaccine programmes worldwide." Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde told the meeting that her nation had seen "how the life of a helpless child is transformed to a better future through immunisations". She added: "As much as a coordinated and cooperative global response is needed to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, we should not lose sight of the fact that the vaccine's success is strongly linked to maintaining routine immunisation. "Which means the need to maintain the supply chain and the immunisation infrastructure as well." Explore further Global vaccine group urges virus solidarity ahead of summit 2020 AFP (Newser) Hollywood celebrities, musicians, and politicians gathered in front of the golden casket of George Floyd at a fiery memorial Thursday for the man whose death at the hands of police sparked global protests. The servicethe first in a series of memorials set for three cities over six daysunfolded at a sanctuary at North Central University in Minneapolis as a judge a few blocks away set bail at $750,000 each for the three fired police officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Floyd's death, per the AP. George Floyds story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is you kept your knee on our neck, the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a fierce eulogy. Its time for us to stand up in Georges name and say, Get your knee off our necks! story continues below The service drew the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and members of Congress. Among the celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, and Marsai Martin. All these people came to see my brother, Philones Floyd told the crowd at the memorial. Thats amazing to me that he touched so many peoples hearts because he touched our hearts. Those gathered stood in silence for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, the amount of time Floyd was on the ground under the control of police. The casket was flanked by white and purple flowers, and a vibrant image was projected above the pulpit of a mural of Floyd painted at the street corner where he was seized by police on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. The message on the mural: I can breathe now. (Read more George Floyd stories.) A top secret probe involving police forces in three countries helped investigators zone in on Christian Brueckner. The 43-year-olds bar room revelation that he had information about what had happened to Madeleine McCann threw a spotlight on him and then made him the significant target for detectives. Brueckner had a string of convictions for sex crimes against children, burglary and drugs. In total his charge sheet listed 17 offences which began as a teenager. His life of crime had triggered the interest of police in the Algarve years before. This is Christian Brueckner, 43, the new key suspect in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCan Brueckner is in jail in Germany for the rape of an American tourist 18 months before Maddie (pictured above) vanished The news today has given hope to her parents Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured in 2017), who have never given up hope in the search for their daughter Kate and Gerry McCann pose with a computer generated image of how their missing daughter Madeleine might look now, during a news conference in 2012 But the drifter, who travelled frequently between Germany and Portugal, somehow evaded becoming the prime suspect until after the 10th anniversary of Maddies disappearance. A TV report marking the decade since she vanished came onto the bars TV and his statement stayed with his friend who at the time was curious but not yet thinking of informing police. But later when Brueckner showed him a video of him raping an older woman, the friend decided to talk to the police. Another friend said he had seen a video of Brueckner attacking the woman and that he had pulled off his mask to reveal his face. Police in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz had an open file of a 72-year-old American was brutally raped and robbed in her home. The rapist had remained free. The connection was made. But his claims about his connection to the disappearance of Maddie put a three country police operation into full swing. The German suspect had lived in a warehouse outside Praia da Luz for several years but moved into a campervan just before Maddie vanished The suspect, who is in prison in Germany for rape, has been linked to an early 1980s camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which is seen here on the Algarve in 2007. Police believe it may have been used in the crime but they have not found the DNA evidence needed to charge him He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and the surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007 including just days before Maddie's disappearance. It has been seized by police. Officers from Britain, Germany and Portugal linked their investigations and interviewed informants and those who might have come across the German without revealing the nature of the investigation. This was likely to have been the method to ensure word did not spread that the 43-year-old Brueckner was suspected in the kidnapping and probable murder of Maddie. Officers did not want potential informants to be put off or be indentified in the media before their probe had reached a satisfactory conclusion. Police kept their suspicions to themselves even when he was gaoled for seven years for rape. Police had found a body hair on the victim which was proved to have come from Brueckner's body. Almost 12 years after his horrific attack on the pensioner, his DNA had led him to jail. But officers believed there was one more crime he had to answer for; the taking of Maddie. The suspect is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla - meaning 'old school' - during his time in Portugal The house is situated between the resort of Praia da Luz and the larger town of Lagos four miles away Six months after Brueckner being put behind bars, however, police appear to have seen their investigation in need of a re-boot and thus the joint press conference appealing for information by Scotland Yard and Germanys Federal police. They have identified two vehicles used by Brueckner and spoken to the British owner of a house in Praia da Luz about the suspects background. Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for Brunswick prosecutor's office, addressing the media in Braunschweig yesterday Significantly, they did not tell the house owner why they were keen to know every piece of information about him. But they are thought to still need more evidence to shore up their case against Brueckner. Detectives also decided not to reveal Brueckners identity when they talked last night of their break-through and that a major suspect had emerged. But they hope that by showing some of their cards, the people they believe know about Brueckners involvement and how he allegedly took her from her family will come forward. Sadly, the German police said they hoped somebody would also come forward and reveal the place where the body was left. It was the first time any officer over the 13 years had publicly declared the child as dead. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 23:31:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Finland is going to formally launch a nationwide mobile app to trace the spread of COVID-19 in August this year, announced the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Thursday. The application would alert the person that he or she has been close to an infected person, but health authorities would not be automatically informed. Paivi Salo, an official of the ministry, said at a press conference on Thursday that the app holders themselves will be able to choose whether to contact health authorities if they get a notification of exposure. The app will not store the locations of the contagious encounters. Downloading the app, using it and dropping it will all be voluntary. Salo noted that the strong privacy protections of the application could not be broken even with police powers based on other laws, adding that the enhancement of privacy protections had been made upon feedback received from earlier plans. The app has been developed by Finnish technology companies. Using Bluetooth technology, the app anonymously records encounters between its voluntary users to not only make the identification of infection chains faster and more accurate, but also help to manage the workload of healthcare staff and offer citizens a concrete way to contribute to the fight against COVID-19. The app has now been tested in the Hospital District of Vaasa, in western Finland. Salo also said that the app will not reduce traditional tracking work. On the contrary, it increases the workload of trackers. The responsibility for tracing work lies with the municipalities. Taneli Puumalainen, head of the infectious diseases unit at Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said at the press conference that the situation of COVID-19 in Finland is "good", due to government-imposed restrictions and improved hygienic practices. Currently, eight of Finland's 20 hospital districts have not recorded a single new confirmed case for one week. Other districts have reported a few individual cases. Enditem Until Kumawuman is liberated from intentional oppression directed at cowing the people to impoverish them and their locality, I shall never have a wink of sleep. I see myself as one of the vessels of God being used alongside many others, to fight the suppression of Kumawuman citizens by some so-called powerful traditional overlord intended to exploit, if not rob, the locality of its farmlands and wealth. It will sadden anyone who really cares about the people of Kumawuman to see how Kumawu, let alone, the other smaller towns and villages, is suffering lack of jobs for the youth and the disfiguring of the township through massive erosion culminating in some houses standing many feet above their bared ground foundation. Poor traditional leadership can directly be blamed for the eyesore state of many towns and villages in Kumawuman, especially Kumawu, the seat of the paramount chief and the headquarters of the Kumawu Sekyere District. For how long are we going to sit down doing nothing while some people without right, but pretend to have, descend on Kumawuman, impose a royal of their choice with whom they can easily siphon off the wealth of the locality, on Kumawuman people as their paramount chief? Our forefathers fought at the expense of their lives to acquire us the lands and resources which some latter-day greedy traditional overlords, intend to usurp for their myopic and selfish interests while the locality lays in ruins with the people devastated by poverty and lack of jobs for themselves and their offspring. No, God will never accept that Kumawuman is possessed by an outside traditional overlord with false claim of authority over the area hence appointing vessels of whom Rockson Adofo, the proud son of Kumawu/Asiampa is one, to resist such oppressors. I am calling on Kumawuman citizens the world over to identify themselves with the liberation war being waged against the injustices, usurpation and intimidations being meted out to the inhabitants of Kumawuman. We should not sit down watching and doing nothing while an Asantehene asserts that he has the right over Kumawuman, therefore he can do as he wants when he wants, in Kumawuman. No, he has not that power and I can put my head on the block to dare him to provide his source of power or proof as may be enshrined in conventions acceptable to the membership of Asanteman Council, once the Asante Confederacy. I pray that any Kumawuman citizen who may not be interested in the affairs of Kumawuman should please not engage in any activities that may strengthen the hands of the usurpers to weaken those of us fighting for justice, freedom and peace for Kumawuman. If you don't care, some discerning Ghanaians do! Kumawuman sub-chiefs who by their selfish and greedy quests have surrendered their knowledge of Kumawuman history to support those come to steal from Kumawuman, must rethink their behaviour for "all that glitters is not gold". Let us pursue an agenda that is in the best collective interests of Kumawuman and her citizens. Let us support the truth and fight our corner. God willing, we shall prevail to bring smiles back on the face of now dejected Kumawuman citizens. Rockson Adofo Thursday, 04 June 2020 NEW YORK Demonstrators gathered in Washington Square Park late Wednesday afternoon to march in protest of the death of George Floyd. Five days after thousands of demonstrators marched on Foley Square in anger over Floyd's death May 25 at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Wednesday's demonstration was less organized even as charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin were upgraded to second-degree murder and three other former officers were charged in Floyd's death. Organizers' plans gave way to improvisation as they headed north toward Midtown Manhattan. For one hour, Jhyair Fields was the march's lead scout. The moment protesters left the park and walked into the middle of Fifth Avenue, Fields sped to the front on a silver kick scooter. He weaved between the bikes, cars and pedestrians ahead of the march, waving at them to stop or get out of the way. Youre stuck now. Im sorry, Fields said to the driver of a silver BMW, whose car became engulfed by the crowd. This is gonna be a bit. Jhyair Fields rides a scooter on W 14th Street in front of marchers protesting the death of George Floyd on June 3. Fields was the lead scout for the protest march in New York City before police arrested him after he rode between two bicycle cops who, along with others, were attempting to block the path of the protesters. Looking backward, Fields locked eyes with Chris Muckle, the protest's lead organizer. From these glances, he took his instructions, which he passed along in a voice that was high and loud. Yo yo yo! Slow down! shouted Fields, 23, from the Bronx. Weve got to keep together! Fields stopped his scooter at 14th Street. The marchers, nearly 1,000 in all, stopped on his order. No one knew which way to turn. Fields raised his right hand barely above his head. He pointed west, toward the Hudson River. A thousand people turned left. Im going to shut down the West Side Highway, said Fields, 23. If we show that we can shut down the highway, maybe the police will know were not playing around. Maybe they wont kill us so much. Mayor looks for answers: Video shows police destroying medical station at North Carolina protest Waze cant help you here All week in New York, the protests have been like this. Every march has moments of careful planning followed by long stretches of organic eruption. The organizers often have a desired destination in mind Trump Tower, perhaps, or the mayors residence at Gracie Mansion. Story continues Then the vagaries of traffic and police presence kick in, and scouts such as Fields make judgment calls about where to go next. The ancient craft of wayfinding rendered simple by apps such as Waze or unnecessary by apps such as Uber and Lyft suddenly becomes crucial. Why would we go to Union Square? Theres too many cops up there, Fields said to some junior scouts on bicycles. Lets go to the river! In the crowd and away from it, divergent needs drove protesters in different directions. As Wednesdays march turned uptown, dozens of protesters peeled off. They tucked their signs under their armpits, slowed to a stroll and started looking for food, water and bathrooms. Lets pull over, guys, Jennifer Lee, 34, said to three friends near 42nd Street. I think theres a pizza place up here. Others found directions from inside the crowd. Velli Sirri took the day off work from a recording studio in Brooklyn to meet his friend at the protest near Chelsea Market. By the time Sirri caught a ride to Chelsea, the march was nowhere in sight. Sirri called his friend in the march, who said the protest had moved a mile uptown. After power walking 2 miles, Sirri united with his friendin Times Square. Ive protested in New York before, but Ive never seen anything this, said Sirri, 27, who wore a mauve sweatshirt that dripped with sweat. Im dressed all wrong. If I had known how long these people were gonna walk, I would have won a T-shirt. Mourners gather at George Floyd memorial service: Remembering a 'gentle giant man' An arrest removes the rudder Fields got halfway to the river. Then he got arrested. Kicking away from the marchers, he zoomed west on 14th Street. Ahead of him, police officers dismounted from their bicycles and ran to form a phalanx. They were getting into position as Fields rolled up. He aimed for a gap between two bicycles. A scrum of officers pounced. They slammed Fields against a construction fence, which toppled under their weight. In seconds, Fields was jerked upright, his wrists ziptied behind his waist. Im peaceful! Fields screamed. I could have hit you, but I didnt. I tried to avoid you! Jhyair Fields is arrested on W 14th Street on June 3. Fields was guided into a white police van. With no one at the helm, the march split in two. Half the protesters stayed to protest Fields arrest. The other half marched away. They walked so quickly that in places, the protest grew thin. Muckle worried the gaps might provide opportunities for police to drive a wedge, surround a group of protesters and arrest them. At Bryant Park, Muckle attempted to restore order. He asked all the marchers to kneel. My lead scout got arrested! And now were moving too fast! Muckle, 30, from Brooklyn, shouted to the crowd at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. We need everybody to stick together. And I need a volunteer to be my new lead scout. Lele Saueri stepped forward. I will do it, said Saueri, 40. Lele Saueri rides a bike in front of marchers protesting the death of George Floyd on June 3. Saueri took the place of lead scout Jhyair Fields, who was arrested after he rode between two bicycle cops. Muckle clapped him on the shoulder. The power was conferred. Saueri aimed his red Schwinn bicycle uptown and pedaled to the lead. The crowd surged ahead, but within a block, Saueri's orange bike helmet was lost. At 45th Street, Muckle tried again. That was a test, and you guys failed! Muckle yelled to the marchers. Come on, you guys. We have to be more organized than the cops! The cops have no idea what theyre doing! Fox News is two blocks ahead. Trump Tower is one block over, Saueri said. We should hit one of them. Were going over to Trump Tower. They made it to neither. The electronic news scroll that wraps around the headquarters of Fox News was switched off, and the marchers did not seem to notice the building was there. They reached 56th Street, where Trump Tower looms one block to the east. No one took command, and no marchers turned. Instead, they continued toward Central Park. The streets around Trump Tower were closed with steel barricades. Behind the barricades stood dozens of police in riot gear. Its true, Saueri said. We are a little disorganized now. Christopher Maag is a columnist for NorthJersey.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Chris_Maag Polls: Americans disapprove of Trump response to George Floyd death and protests Are public pensions doomed because of the coronavirus pandemic? State, local budgets feel pain This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: George Floyd protest NYC: Arrest renders march rudderless in Manhattan The mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby has demanded people stop using her sons image to fuel arguments against the Black Lives Matter protests. Private Rigby, of the Royal Fusiliers, was just 25 when he was murdered outside his barracks in Woolwich, London, by two Islamic extremists seven years ago. In a post on the Lee Rigby Foundation Facebook page, Lyn Rigby said her family were hurt by the way the father-of-ones image and details of his murder were being used in a divisive way. She added: Lee proudly served his country to protect the rights and freedoms of all members of this great melting pot of a nation. Seeing his image used to cause hate of any kind, especially for those exercising their freedoms in protest against this issue, hurts. We find these posts extremely heartbreaking and distressing, and in complete opposition to what Lee stood for. Extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale are both serving life sentences for the murder of Rigby on 22 May 2013. Over the past few days, some social media posts from people opposed to the Black Lives Matter protests have compared his death and the reaction to it with that of George Floyd in the US. 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Show all 8 1 /8 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral rigby-pa.jpg PA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-2.jpg EPA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-6.jpg PA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-8.jpg PA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-5.jpg PA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-4.jpg PA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-3.jpg EPA 'My daddy my hero': Young son in tribute to murdered Woolwich soldier Lee Rigby during funeral Lee-Rigby-funeral-10.jpg PA Ms Rigby wrote: We ask you all to please stop using his image and memory in such posts as he was a lover of all of humanity. Every race, gender, creed, sexuality and colour. So seeing such use of his name harms not only his family but his legacy and memory. Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes in Minneapolis on 25 May, sparking protests throughout the US and, more recently, the UK. Ms Rigby added: Our thoughts and support goes out to George Floyds friends and family at this tragic time. Additional reporting by PA On June 4, 2020, the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite provided a visible image of the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Nisarga in central India. Credit: NASA Worldview Tropical Cyclone Nisarga made landfall in west central India on June 4, and the next day NASA's Terra satellite provided a look at the remnants of the storm. On June 4 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final warning on Tropical cyclone Nisarga. At that time, Nisarga was located near latitude 19.1 degrees north and longitude 73.7 degrees east, about 48 nautical miles east of Mumbai, India. Nisarga was moving to the north-northeast and still maintained maximum sustained winds 65 knots (75 mph/120 kph). As Nisarga tracked inland to the east of Mumbai the storm weakened from hurricane force to a depression, and finally into a remnant low-pressure area. On June 4, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite provided a visible image of Nisarga's remnant clouds, now located over central India. At 1130 IST (2 a.m. EDT), India's Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) noted that the remnants of Nisarga was located over south Madhya Pradesh state and adjoining Vidarbha state near latitude 21.8 degrees north and longitude 77.6 degrees east, about 87 miles (140 km) north-northeast of Akola (Maharashtra) and 99 miles (160 km) south-southeast of Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). RSMC noted, "Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places very likely over east Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy falls at isolated places very likely over Vidarbha and west Madhya Pradesh during next 24 hours." RSMC forecasters said the remnants are likely to move northeastward and weaken into a low-pressure area by the evening hours. NASA's Terra satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research. Tropical cyclones/hurricanes 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. Explore further NASA infrared data shows Tropical Cyclone Nisarga strengthened before landfall Partnership Creates Premier Advanced Manufacturing Company Serving the Health and Wellness Markets Lead Products Include Hand Sanitizer Lines and Cutting-Edge CBD Products Including Sleep Tinctures, An Extensive Topical Cosmetic Line and a New State of the Art After Sun Skin Care Lotion All Stock Merger Creates Significant Shareholder Value by Adding High Purity Business to Future Farm Vancouver, British Columbia, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Future Farm Technologies Inc. (Future Farm) (CSE: FFT) (OTCQB: FFRMF) and High Purity Natural Products, LLC (High Purity) are pleased to announce that on May 27, 2020 the parties signed a Letter of Intent to merge. The companies will sign a definitive Merger Agreement and subsequently close in the immediate future. Tom Barrette, President and COO of Future Farm, who led the Future Farm effort to put the merger together, comments, Mike Matton and his team are among the most respected in the industry. We are especially excited by their brilliantly executed reaction to customer demand for hand sanitizer products, leading to product sales in that category of approximately $440,000 from mid-March to mid-April with associated direct costs of $330,000. Future Farm has already been providing strategic and financial resources to support the rapid growth of High Puritys business. That business includes both High Puritys established operations as a leader in advanced contract manufacturing of health and wellness products featuring CBD and its recent expansion into the hand sanitizer product lines that retailers and other business customers are demanding in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future Farms support to date has included US$125,000 in working capital loans, introductions to large, creditworthy customers, facilitating key parts of the High Purity hand sanitizer supply chain and identifying and closing new sources of nondilutive growth capital. The merger of the two companies immediately implements a major step in Future Farms core strategy: becoming a leading supplier of pharma-grade health and wellness products, including those which feature hemp-derived CBD. High Purity is a leading Massachusetts-based advanced white label and contract manufacturer of cutting-edge nutraceutical and cosmetic products using organic and natural plant extracts, including hemp-derived CBD. High Purity has been a leading manufacturer of these products utilizing hemp and pure CBD extracts since the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture started its hemp program in 2018. From its inception, High Purity has diligently expanded its customer base and now sells its high-quality products to a broad array of customers, including leading consumer brands and prominent retailers nationwide. Story continues Merging with Future Farm will provide High Purity with access to incredible talent, as well as access to capital markets, says Mike Matton, High Puritys founder and CEO. Combining Future Farms expertise with High Puritys rapidly growing business creates a powerhouse team. We are excited to combine High Purity and Future Farm, says Bill Gildea, Future Farms CEO. Merging with High Purity will accelerate our growth to a cash flow positive, scalable business with multiple revenue streams. This transaction allows us to capture a share of the market for CBD products which Cowen Inc. estimates will be $18 billion by 2025. Pursuant to the terms of the Letter of Intent, Future Farm will acquire 100% of the outstanding membership units of High Purity by means of a reverse triangular merger in which a subsidiary of Future Farm will be merged into High Purity (the Transaction). As a result of the Transaction, High Purity will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Future Farm. All outstanding membership units of High Purity would be exchanged for newly issued common shares of Future Farm at the closing of the Transaction. The consideration to be provided by Future Farm to the holders of High Puritys outstanding membership units in the Transaction would be 15 million common shares of Future Farm. The Transaction is not expected to constitute a fundamental change or reverse-takeover for the Company, nor is it expected to result in a change of control of the Company, within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. For further information about Future Farm Technologies Inc., contact Investor Relations at investor@FutureFarmTech.com or via telephone at (888) 387-3761 x710. For further information about High Purity Natural Products, LLC, contact Michael Matton at info@highpuritynaturalproducts.com or by telephone at (617) 686-0843. On behalf of the Board, Future Farm Technologies Inc. William Gildea, CEO & Chairman About Future Farm Technologies Inc. Future Farm Technologies is a Canadian public company that is poised to be a leading supplier of pharma-grade health and wellness products, including those made from hemp, to meet the burgeoning demand in the U.S. and global markets. Future Farms seasoned management team brings a deep understanding of operations and agriculture with the financial and regulatory expertise needed to become an industry leader in the rapidly growing market for health and wellness products made from hemp and other plants. 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. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. There is no guarantee that the Company will be successful in its efforts to further develop its existing hemp operations, or that the Company will be able to raise sufficient capital to execute on its intended business plan and objectives. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. Investor Relations 888-387-3761 x710 investor@futurefarmtech.com WASHINGTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 800 contractors and manufacturers called on Congress Wednesday to address the massive job losses in the energy efficiency sector by strengthening a federal tax incentive encouraging consumers to make efficiency improvements to their homes. "The shutdown of the economy for the last three months has been devastating for businesses that make energy efficiency upgrades in existing homes," said Jim Reilly, president of Reilly Insulation in Willow Grove, Pa. "We know a generous tax credit will get homeowners investing in efficiency improvements again and put our industry back to work." Reilly's company was one of hundreds that signed a letter calling on Congress to move quickly to address the downturn in the sector by expanding the incentive. Energy efficiency lost a staggering 413,500 jobs in March and April, according to a recent analysis. The losses are on pace to top 600,000 jobs by the end of the month. Most of the losses are at small businesses, with nearly 80 percent of energy efficiency companies employing 20 people or fewer. The letter reflects support from a broad range of industries across the country. "The energy efficiency sector has been hard-hit by this shutdown, and this tax incentive is one of the most effective things Congress can do to get things back on track," said Dale Benander, Safety Manager of ABS Southeast in Worcester, Mass. "We know that there is a real need to improve the efficiency of homes throughout America, and expanding this incentive pays all sorts of returns lower utility bills, benefits to the environment, and now putting people back to work." The homeowner efficiency incentive provides a tax credit for installing insulation, replacing windows, or upgrading heating and cooling equipment. The tax credit, which is slated to expire at the end of the year, allows homeowners a tax credit of 10 percent of the cost of qualifying efficiency investments, up to $500. For example, a homeowner spending $1,500 on a qualifying water heater would be eligible for a $150 credit, or a homeowner spending $5,000 or more on a qualifying air conditioner would be eligible for the maximum $500 credit. Contractors and manufacturers say the credit is outdated and no longer provides enough incentive to stimulate significant activity or strongly influence consumers' purchasing decisions. Under the proposal called for in the letter, the incentive would rise for two years to 30 percent of the cost of qualifying investments, up to $2,400, to kickstart activity once it is safe for workers to re-enter homes. The efficiency performance requirements needed to receive the incentive which are outdated and haven't kept pace with technology would also be modernized to ensure that only truly efficient products qualify. "Historically, in challenging economic times, federal energy tax credits have helped increase the demand for energy efficient products which has resulted in meaningful benefits for both the companies and workers that manufacture those products and the consumers who purchase them," said Mark Mikkelson, director of Corporate Regulatory Affairs for Andersen Corporation, a leading window and door manufacturer. Ben Evans, vice president of public affairs at the Alliance to Save Energy, said Congress should include the expanded incentive as part of a COVID recovery package as soon as possible. "This is a tax break that goes directly to consumers and has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity," Evans said. "It will also reduce Americans' energy bills at a time when many really need it. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. It's exactly the kind of policy we need to get the economy out of the hole that it's in." Read more about the proposal here. About the Alliance to Save Energy Founded in 1977, the Alliance to Save Energy is a nonprofit, bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders working to expand the economy while using less energy. Our mission is to promote energy productivity worldwide including through energy efficiency to achieve a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security, affordability and reliability. SOURCE Alliance to Save Energy A US Black Lives Matter activist has said the protests in the US over the death of George Floyd feel like a "moment of change". LA-based Joseph Williams told Newstalk Breakfast this morning that people need to continue to protest despite charges being brought against the officers involved in the incident. US prosecutors yesterday said Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was sacked following the death of George Floyd, will now face more serious murder charges. Three other former officers - all of whom were also fired following Mr Floyd's death - have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Mr Williams said the US is currently facing a "reckoning" with an issue that has existed long before he was born. He said: We know that before the Black Lives Matter movement there were other movements for justice for black folks in the United States and all of those movements failed to achieve real equality for black people. The most striking way we see that is through the continued sanctioned violence and police murder of black people.. A protester confronts a line of police in riot gear near midnight last night in Kansas City. Pic: AP/Charlie Riedel) He suggested that the callousness of George Floyds death has galvanised people, but that it "absolutely wasn't" an isolated incident. He observed: Here in LA, in Atlanta, in Louisville, in Minneapolis, in New York were uprising for George Floyd, but were also uprising for all of our stolen relatives, who had their lives stolen from them by police, and for all the other injustices that our community continues to face. It absolutely feels like the world is watching in some ways - and not just that the world is watching, but that our people are uprising in a huge way. Mr Williams said the current moment is partially a consequence of the organising that has been done in the past seven years, and that it feels like a "moment of change". He said that while developments such as the officers being charged are huge, activists can't 'let that be the end' of their efforts to secure permanent change. The Supreme Court of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are caught in a tussle over interest payment during the six-month loan moratorium period. On the directions of the RBI, most banks have offered a moratorium to term-loan borrowers but continue to charge interest during the period. The countrys top court has reportedly taken a view that permitting the moratorium without giving relief through interest is detrimental to borrowers. On the other hand, the central bank has told the court that the moratorium is only a deferral of payments and not a loan waiver. The RBI estimates that banks will lose about Rs 2.01 lakh crore if the interest is waived and it would impact the core stability of the banking system. The Rs 2.01 lakh crore figure, or one percent of GDP, is arrived at assuming that the moratorium is granted to about 65 percent of the total term loans. 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 According to a CNBC TV18 report, the top court also slammed the RBI, saying the central bank was trying to sensationalise the matter by leaking the developments to media. Lets take a look at the context first. The moratorium was announced by the banking regulator as a one-time measure as part of a larger COVID-19 relief package. The scheme aims to provide relief to the borrowers who cannot pay instalments on account of a possible loss of income due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The moratorium (or deferral of EMIs) was initially announced for three months (March 1 to May 31) but it was extended to August 31 when the lockdown, too, was prolonged. What is the problem if banks are asked to waive interest during this period? Interest payments on deposits and loans are the basic principles on which the banking system operates. Banks pay interest to depositors against the money parked with them in savings or fixed deposits (FDs) and charge interest from borrowers. In other words, banks use the interest earned on loans to pay the depositors. If banks are asked to stop taking interest on the money they lend, it will disturb this balance. If the apex court insists that banks cannot charge interest on loans, it will impact the ability of the lenders to pay interest to the depositors as well. Interest payment on bank deposits is crucial for a large section of the population who park their money in banks, considering FDs as safer instruments. Bank deposits are the preferred option for a large section of investors, especially senior citizens and the retired, who rely on monthly interest payments to meet their expenses. In the recent past, there has been a rise in demand for bank deposits on account of the high volatility in other financial instruments and general uncertainty in financial markets. People have faith in banks as the guardians of public money. Why should these depositors be punished for no fault of theirs? There are a few other issues worth considering. Not all moratorium applicants are financially stressed. According to bankers, many borrowers have applied for the moratorium to save capital. Several others have decided not to avail the facility and continue with repayments. What is the rationale of waiving interest across all loans in this context? The RBIs decision to allow deferral of EMIs should be seen as putting off of payments in a crisis period and not as a loan waiver. Banks and the RBI have been transparent about the extra interest payment burden on those opting for the moratorium. Hence, the RBIs argument that the banking systems health is at risk if it directs banks to waive interest for the six-month moratorium period is very valid. If the RBI is forced to issue a diktat to banks to waive the interest amount, the temporary moratorium exercise will turn into a full-fledged loan waiver. That isnt the idea here. The Supreme Court should pay heed to the RBIs concerns and would do well leaving the matter to the banking regulator. LOS ANGELES, June 04, 2020, a full service investment banking firm, today announced a new leadership appointment designed to drive the franchise's ambitious growth initiatives in the US and abroad. Tim Sullivan, currently Managing Director and Head of Global Credit, has been named President of Imperial Capital, LLC. Tim will be charged with leading the investment bank's sales & trading business through its next phase of expansion. "Since Tim Sullivan joined us in September of 2019, we have significantly expanded our sales and trading force adding over 25 key professionals to our business", said Jason Reese, Executive Committee Member of Imperial Capital Group. "Having a forward thinking leader like Tim, with a proven fixed income sales & trading background, as President of Imperial Capital, LLC is invaluable to the growth of our franchise in the US and Europe." Mr. Sullivan has nearly 25 years of industry experience, and joined Imperial Capital after spending seven years at Jefferies Group LLC, most recently as a Managing Director and Head of High Yield Sales & Trading. Prior to that, he was with UBS, where he was a Managing Director in Credit Trading. Previously, Tim spent nearly six years at Credit Suisse and, prior to that, ten years at Merrill Lynch. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Cornell University. "I am very excited to assume this appointment as President of Imperial Capital," commented Mr. Sullivan. "I look forward to continuing our mission to grow our sales & trading business while providing our clients with Imperial Capital's exceptional services." Imperial Capital operates a comprehensive global sales & trading platform providing clients specific and unique insights across the entire capital structure of issuers in North America, Europe, and in Emerging Markets. Driven by a focus on sophisticated, proprietary research, Imperial Capital's global team of capital structure professionals deliver access to ideas, execution and liquidity in investment grade corporate bonds, high yield and distressed securities, leveraged loans, hybrid bank capital securities, post-reorganization equities, listed and unlisted equities, non-financial hybrid securities, trade claims, esoteric private placements, and emerging markets debt. About Imperial Capital, LLC Imperial Capital, LLC is a full-service investment bank offering a uniquely integrated platform of comprehensive services to institutional investors and middle market companies. We offer sophisticated sales and trading services to institutional investors and a wide range of investment banking advisory, capital markets and restructuring services to middle market corporate clients. Paired with our proprietary research and sales & trading desk analysis, we provide investment analysis across an issuer's capital structure, including bank loans, debt securities, the hybrid/bank capital marketplace. For more information regarding Imperial Capital, please contact: Mark Martis +1 310 246 3674 mmartis@imperialcapital.com About Imperial Capital (International), LLP Imperial Capital International, founded in 2011, is an affiliate of Imperial Capital, LLC with an office in central London. Complementing Imperial Capital's existing corporate credit sales and trading franchise, Imperial Capital International expanded the Imperial Capital franchise into the EEA. The company focuses on the entire credit spectrum and takes a full capital structure research approach to supplement sales and trading services to its European institutional clients. For more information regarding Imperial Capital New York Police Officers work a scene on Church Avenue, in the Brooklyn borough of New York on June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) 2 Police Officers Shot, One Stabbed in Violent Confrontation in Brooklyn Two police officers were shot and another was stabbed in Brooklyn on June 3 during a violent confrontation with a knife-wielding suspect in the evening, the New York Police Department said. In a press conference on Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said he had visited Kings County Hospital to see the victims and they are expected to make a full recovery. Shea said the incident took place at around 11:45 p.m, nearly four hours after an 8 p.m. curfew went into effect intended to quell unrest following protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea during a press conference at City Hall in New York City on Jan. 3, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images) The commissioner said two police officers were assigned in the 70th precinct to an anti-looting post to stop people from breaking into stores. Video surveillance footage shows a male casually walk up to the officers at the intersection of Church Avenue near Flatbush Avenue before taking out a knife and stabbing one officer in the neck, narrowly missing an artery. At roughly the same time, a block or two away, a uniformed sergeant and police officer, hearing shots fired that appeared to come from that initial scene, responded, Shea said. When the sergeant and police officer arrived at the scene, they found the suspect with a gun in his hand, which is believed to have belonged to one of the officers. According to the New York Post, the officer and the suspect then struggled for the weapon, which went off, striking one officer in the hand and another in the arm. The sergeant fired at the suspect, who was placed in police custody and rushed to Kings County Hospital in serious condition. Shea said 22 shell casings had been recovered from the chaotic scene by members of the service as well as a knife, and police are currently investigating the matter, noting that the attack appeared to be unprovoked. I cannot thank enough the staff at this hospital for what you do, not just today but every day taking care of our officers, he added. Mayor Bill de Blasio was on his way to the hospital to check on the officers, according to the Post. Wednesdays attack comes shortly after a police sergeant from the 44th precinct was struck by a hit-and-run driver overnight in the Bronx earlier this week. Shea said he is still in critical care but recovering slowly. Protests in New York over the death of George Floyd descended into chaos on Monday just hours after Gov. Andrew Cuomo and de Blasio declared a citywide curfew starting from 11 p.m until 5 a.m. Tuesday, which has since been extended to last the week. While groups of peaceful protesters have continued to march on the streets within the curfew time restrictions, thousands more have defied it, with protesters often turning on police, according to Shea, who told CBS on Monday that a number of officers have been subject to violent attacks. Weve had officers trying to be burned alive in cars, weve had officers trying to be blocked in with road blocks and surrounded and then attacked and pulled out of cars while theyre in them, Shea said. Thousands of youth and workers across the country have continued, despite brutal police violence and hastily imposed curfews, to demand justice for George Floyd and all victims of police violence. The demonstrations have continued in every state and internationally with protests slated to last the rest of the week and into the weekend. In an attempt to placate, and eventually suffocate, this growing multiracial movement of workers and youth against state violence, Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday afternoon new charges against the four officers responsible for the murder of Floyd. Three more Minneapolis police officers charged in death of George Floyd. From left, Tomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao (photos: Hennepin Country Sherriff) Derek Chauvin, who suffocated George Floyd for nearly nine minutes, was charged with second-degree murder in addition to his previous charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. Ellison also announced charges for the other three officers, J. Alexander Kueng 26, Thomas Lane, 37, and Tuo Thao, 34. All three were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony, and with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. The charges carry with them a possible maximum prison sentence of 40 years. Civil right attorney Benjamin Crump, representing the Floyd family, reiterated their demand that Chauvin be charged with first-degree murder. A massive memorial is planned for George Floyd today in Minneapolis in which thousands are expected to pay their respects. They will do so while the majority of the state remains under curfew and occupation with over 7,000 guardsmen deployed, mostly in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Minnesotas Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who less than a week ago denounced thousands of protesters as anarchists and white supremacists run by drug cartels whose one goal was destruction, welcomed the new charges as a meaningful step toward justice for George Floyd. Walz continued, blaming Floyds murder on the disease of systemic racism, which is on each of us to solve together, and we have hard work ahead. In a similar vein, President Barack Obama, in a short virtual town hall appearance, stated, now is the time for real police department reform ... now is the time for real criminal justice reform. Why his own eight years in office, during which 8,000 people were killed by police, were not the time for reform Obama failed to discuss. In Washington D.C., thousands of soldiers, police and troopers continue to be deployed around monuments and buildings and at intersections throughout the city. In chilling images that will define the Trump administration, hundreds of soldiers, clad head to toe in body armor, remain positioned behind steel barricades occupying the Lincoln Memorial. The murder of George Floyd New York City In New York City, an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew is in effect through Sunday. So far, more than 2,000 protesters have been arrested over the past six days, including some 900 Monday and Tuesday nights. Prior to the enforcement of the curfew last night, New York police have blocked off subway stations, including Columbus Circle, preventing protesters from returning home. On Wednesday, protests and marches were held at Washington Square Park and outside Gracie Mansion in Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, Staten Island, the Bronx, Queensbridge Park and Elmhurst, Queens, Bedford and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, and in New Rochelle. Thousands of protesters began walking uptown from Washington Square Park at around 4 p.m. and are still on the move at the time of writing. In Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a black man was shot multiple times and killed by police after he had allegedly shot another man. According to police, the man was found hiding behind a tree with a pistol, which he held in the air, but never fired or pointed at the police. Police state that after he refused to drop the weapon, multiple shots were fired, killing him. Boston A diverse crowd of thousands of people rallied on Boston Common Wednesday afternoon in a peaceful protest organized mainly on social media. National Guard members carrying assault rifles and Boston police bearing large sticks and riot gear stood nearby, but there was no confrontation. In the working-class city of Brockton, south of Boston, the situation remained calm Wednesday after protests the previous day in which protesters clashed with police following a peaceful protest. After a rally of several hundred people, some protesters had marched to the Brockton police station where some in the crowd pelted police with rocks, fireworks and frozen water bottles. Police used tear gas to break up the protest and National Guard troops were called in. Protesters moved on to a Dunkin Donuts shop, where some broke windows and attempted to burn it down, according to police. Officers mobilized police dogs in an attempt to terrorize the protesters. A curfew put in place at the beginning of the pandemic, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., is still in place in Brockton. Columbia, South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina today had its fifth consecutive day of protests, which has been peaceful and somewhat smaller than in previous days. Thousands have taken part in the past week, gathering at the State House, marching through the streets, defying curfews and clashing with police. Three police cars were set on fire in the initial days of the protests. Thirty businesses in the downtown area were damaged. With the banner headline May 31 that 15 law enforcement officers were injured during the violent protests in Columbia, the local daily newspaper, The State, seemed to imply widespread anti-police violence. But its article went on to explain that while three officers were reportedly assaulted and two received cuts on the face from broken glass, police said the other injuries were all related to heat exhaustion. Also on May 31, protesters marching toward police headquarters in Columbia were repelled by tear gas fired on them by a wall of police in riot gear, including members of the Department of Corrections Special Response Team. Protesters were also fired on with tear gas and rubber bullets at the State House. By the end of the night, an armored SWAT vehicle could be seen driving down Gervais Street, followed by a phalanx of police in riot gear. It was reported yesterday, June 2, that during Donald Trumps call with governors, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster asserted without evidence that some of the agitators were being paid and even receiving bonuses in the event they were arrested. The State reported, A spokesman for McMaster said the governor was referring to anecdotal evidence he has received in private conversations but would not get into the details of those conversations, including what specific evidence he heard or who he was talking to. Florida Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, dutifully following Trumps demands to dominate the streets, has mobilized 700 National Guard and 1,300 highway patrol troopers to support law enforcement and aid police in intimidating workers and youth. DeSantis has declared that Florida has zero tolerance for violence, rioting and looting. He described George Floyds murder as appalling and called for those officers to be brought to justice. On Wednesday, several groups were marching through downtown Orlando, starting at City Hall and mostly moving around Orlando Police Department headquarters; more than 2,000 people were counted at 5:20 p.m. Atlanta Protests in Atlanta are continuing for the sixth day in defiance of a 9 p.m. curfew imposed since Saturday night. Police have shown zero tolerance towards these protesters and over the past five days, arresting at least 400 persons including journalists and legal professionals on specious charges including defying the curfew. Cleveland On Wednesday morning, the city of Cleveland lifted its curfew, allowing residents to travel in the citys Downtown and Market District. Cleveland had put both areas under lockdown since Sunday in order to suppress protests that emerged on Saturday in opposition to police brutality. The city administration has also declared that it will continue to impose an 8 p.m. thru 6 a.m. curfew until Friday morning. On Tuesday, a crowd of roughly 150 protesters converged outside the First District police station in the neighborhood of West Park. A number of officers filmed the demonstration from the rooftop and a few National Guard soldiers stood outside the station. A separate protest that occurred the same day marched from the First District station to the Downtown area, monitored by police on bicycles. While there were no arrests from the protests on Tuesday, the citys chief of police, Calvin D. Williams, declared that he was working with federal and local law enforcement agencies to identify and investigate individuals that broke the law at protests over the weekend. He has also reasserted claims that the police had arrested a number of people from out of state at the protests over the weekend, despite everyone that was processed at the Cuyahoga County jail at that time having an Ohio address. Albuquerque In the states largest city, Albuquerque, hundreds of protesters have gathered at several sites to hold car rallies, marches and gatherings. Protesters marched June 1 from the Nob Hill neighborhood to the University of New Mexico chanting Help, I cant breathe! and Hands up, dont shoot! under the watch of well-armed police. On June 2, protesters marched from UNM downtown to gather at the Albuquerque Police Department headquarters. San Diego A 59-year-old grandmother, Leslie Furcron, who was protesting outside of the La Mesa police headquarters, last Saturday was shot between the eyes by police with a bean bag projectile. Furcron survived and was placed into a medically induced coma at a local hospital where she is now in stable condition. The shooting was captured on video and has gone viral. According to the family and their attorney, she may lose an eye. A GoFundMe.Com page has been set up by the family to pay for medical costs expected to reach $1 million. The La Mesa Police Department held a press conference on Wednesday where they refused to identify the officer involved in the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation. Seattle, Washington WSWS reporter Julio Patron spoke with an Air Traffic Controller in Seattle who wished to remain anonymous on the ongoing protests within the city and throughout the country. Speaking about the character of the protests and Trumps use of the military, Bob stated, Theyve been gearing up for this for years with the militarization of the police, the expansion of executive powers, the stacking of the courts. Were living in a future high school history book chapter. Bob noted the deliberate targeting of journalists: Ive seen at least three cases of reporters being shot or gassed. This is insane. Our president has said he wants to send the Army in, in clear violation of the law, but then laws havent stopped the fascists ever. The laws arent for them, apparently. I really hope that this crisis does push us towards real socialist change. Im afraid that the crisis will be resolved or dominated before the necessary critical mass is achieved. But all we can do is reach out and work hard. The actions of struggle being undertaken now are actually heartening. It gives me hope that this protest has spread as far as it has. A friend of mine in China said that US news dominates their international coverage right now. New Delhi, June 4 : Global wearable brand Fitbit on Thursday announced that it has developed a high-quality, low-cost and easy-to-use emergency ventilator called Fitbit Flow to meet global needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ventilator has obtained an Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). 'Fitbit Flow' builds on standard resuscitator bags, like those used by paramedics, with sophisticated instruments, sensors, and alarms that work together to support automated compressions and patient monitoring, the company said in a statement. The device is designed to be intuitive and simple to use, potentially helping to reduce the strain on specialised staff who are typically needed to operate a commercial ventilator. To develop and test 'Fitbit Flow', the company worked with emergency medicine clinicians caring for Covid-19 patients at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Hospital in the US. "We saw an opportunity to rally our expertise in advanced sensor development, manufacturing, and our global supply chain to address the critical and ongoing need for ventilators and help make a difference in the global fight against this virus," James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit, said in a statement. Other similar emergency ventilators vary in the combination of features they offer, but according to the Fitbit, it believes that none delivers all of the attributes of its device at the same lower price range. According to the company, the goal is to supply these devices to health care systems around the world that do not have a sufficient number of traditional commercial ventilators. 'Fitbit Flow' is designed to be used only when a traditional commercial ventilator is not available. "Fitbit Flow is a great example of the incredible innovation that emerges when academia and industry employ problem-based innovation to respond quickly to an important need," said David Sheridan, Assistant Professor at OHSU. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Glenn Chapman (Agence France-Presse) San Francisco, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 08:40 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbf5e9b 2 World Snapchat,Donald-Trump,social-network,social-networking-app,racial-issues,racial-tension,racial-violence,George-Floyd,black-lives-matter Free Snapchat on Wednesday became the latest social network moving to curb the reach of US President Donald Trump, claiming the president has been inciting "racial violence." The youth-focused social network said it would no longer promote Trump on its Discover platform for recommended content. "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover," a statement from Snapchat said. The move came days after Twitter took an unprecedented stand by hiding a Trump post it said promoted violence, heating up the White House war with Silicon Valley and social media. Snapchat parent Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel over the weekend sent a lengthy memo to employees condemning what he saw as a legacy of racial injustice and violence in the US. Snapchat will not promote accounts in the US that are linked to people who incite racial violence on or off the messaging platform, according Spiegel. "Every minute we are silent in the face of evil and wrongdoing we are acting in support of evildoers," Spiegel wrote as companies responded to the outrage over the police killing of a black man in Minnesota. "I am heartbroken and enraged by the treatment of black people and people of color in America." The Discover feature at Snapchat is a curated platform on which the California-based company gets to decide what it recommends to users. No longer recommended Trump's account remains on the platform, it will just no longer be recommended viewing, according to Snapchat. "We will make it clear with our actions that there is no gray area when it comes to racism, violence, and injustice -- and we will not promote it, nor those who support it, on our platform," Spiegel said in the memo. Snapchat is particularly popular with young internet users, claiming that about half of the US "Generation Z" population tapping into news through its Discover feature. "There are plenty of debates to be had about the future of our country and the world," Spiegel said. "But there is simply no room for debate in our country about the value of human life and the importance of a constant struggle for freedom, equality, and justice." Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale denounced the move, saying that "Snapchat is trying to rig the 2020 election, illegally using their corporate funding to promote Joe Biden and suppress President Trump." Parscale said in a statement: "Snapchat hates that so many of their users watch the president's content and so they are actively engaging in voter suppression... If you're a conservative, they do not want to hear from you, they do not want you to vote. They view you as a deplorable and they do not want you to exist on their platform." Facebook looks away The move by Twitter last week prompted an angry response by Trump, who within days signed an executive order calling for heightened government oversight of social platforms. Trump accuses the platforms of "censorship" and limiting "free speech," but his critics say the president has distorted the interpretation of those terms and is himself seeking to regulate online content. In contrast to Twitter and Snapchat, Facebook has defended his decision not to interfere with posts by Trump. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterated his position in a call with employees this week, according to reports, despite criticism of the Facebook policy by civil rights activists. The coronavirus pandemic has put an abrupt stop to traditional US political means of courting young voters -- forcing presidential candidates to turn to Snapchat instead. The photo-sending app that boasts 229 million users -- better known for filters that turn your face into a puppy or a vampire -- is a new battlefield for opponents Trump and Biden, both of whom are in their 70s. Last month, Ken Farnaso, the Trump campaign deputy press secretary, told AFP that Snapchat was an important element of the re-election effort and that the Republican was ahead of Biden on the platform. "It's clear that we're wiping the floor with Biden's campaign," Farnaso said of the Snapchat effort. Within 72 hours this week, Alisa Bowens-Mercado said she was tagged in more social media posts than ever and her Instagram following tripled. She has to keep her phone on the charger at all times because all the messages and calls she's receiving are draining her battery. Bowens-Mercado owns Rhythm Brewing Co. in New Haven; she is the first Black brewery owner in the state and was named one of the best breweries in the country by Travel Noir. Calls to action to support Black-owned businesses have been popping up on social media feeds since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Minnesota man whose alleged killer, police officer Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers face charges related to Floyd's death. The calls to action only increased with #blackouttuesday, an international movement that swept social media earlier this week. Bowens-Mercado said she is "humbled" by the support she is seeing. As of June 4, the hashtag #blackownedbusiness had over three million posts. Sites like New York Magazine, Oprah Magazine and many others have posted lists of Black-owned businesses around the country. In Connecticut, CT Eats Out has rounded up Black-owned restaurants in the state and an Instagram page called Collective Resistance CT has begun compiling a list of Black-owned businesses in general in Connecticut. Scroll to bottom find these and other resources supporting the Black business community in Connecticut. It's a call to action that Henry Young, President of the National Black MBA Association, Greater Hartford Chapter, said could have a great effect on the Black community. "At the surface it's about justice and police treatment," he said in regard to protests after the death of George Floyd. "But we know that throughout history, Black communities and communities of color are worse off." Young cited that the coronavirus pandemic hit Black communities harder both economically and health-wise. 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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 Associated Press videojournalist Robert Bumsted reminds a police officer that the press are considered essential workers" and are allowed to be on the streets despite a curfew, in New York City on June 2, 2020.(Wong Maye-E/AP Photo) Journalists Demand Police Protect Reporters at George Floyd Protests Journalists are urging state and law enforcement officials to prevent attacks on the press, following reports of reporters being shot at, pepper-sprayed, manhandled, and arrested while covering the George Floyd protests. Reporter groups and individual journalists are taking action to demand that police officers stop targeting members of the press, who are credentialed and identifiable, and to hold officers accountable for any alleged misconduct. One reporter, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, has taken his fight to a federal court by filing a class-action lawsuit alleging that the extraordinary escalation of unlawful force deliberately targeting reporters by police officers violates the U.S. Constitution. It violates the sacrosanct right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press that form the linchpin of a free society. It constitutes a pattern of unreasonable force and unlawful seizures under the Fourth Amendment. And it deprives liberty without a modicum of due process protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, the lawsuit states. In the past several days, dozens of journalists reported that they were assaulted, targeted by rubber bullets, have seen their equipment damaged, and been pepper-sprayed even after they have identified themselves as members of the press to the officers. In one instance, a reporter from VICE News who was covering the protests in Minneapolis, said he was forced onto the ground and pepper-sprayed in the face even though he repeatedly said press. In addition, he held up his hands and press ID. Similarly, on May 29, a CNN reporter, a producer, and camera crew were arrested live on air while covering the protest in Minnesota. According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a nonprofit project, there were more than 279 complaints of press freedom incidents between May 26 and June 3, including over 45 arrests and 149 assaults by police. Among the assaults are 42 physical attacks by police, 40 incidents involving tear gas, and 69 reports of the use of rubber bullets or projectiles. The Australian government on June 2 called for an investigation into the apparent assault of an Australian news crew who were covering the protests near the White House a day earlier. The U.S. Park Police said it placed two officers on administrative leave and that the attack was being investigated. In reaction to the CNN crew arrests, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz apologized to the network, saying that there was absolutely no reason that something like this should happen. We have got to ensure that there is a safe spot for journalism to tell this story, Walz said during a news conference. A reporters group, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, sent a letter to officials in Minnesota on June 2 to call on Minnesota officials and law enforcement to take concrete steps to end the series of police arrests and attacks on reporters. The letter was co-signed by 115 media and press freedom organizations. Law enforcement officers do not have legal immunity when they violate clearly established rights under the First Amendment, the committee wrote in its letter (pdf). While we understand the challenges that officers face in policing during times of civil protestchallenges that journalists face as well in covering these incidentsthe bedrock American ideal of a free press demands that we protect First Amendments rights even more zealously in moments of crisis. A police officer shouts at Associated Press videojournalist Robert Bumsted, in New York City on June 2, 2020. (Wong Maye-E/AP Photo) The committee also urged the officials to take steps aimed at protecting reporters and ensuring the police officers dont indiscriminately target journalists who are covering the protests. Meanwhile, members of law enforcement have also reported many cases of assaults and attacks during the widespread protests. A federal law enforcement officer identified as Patrick Underwood was killed at a courthouse in Oakland, California, while a protest occurred outside the building. Meanwhile, a Las Vegas police officer is in a critical condition after being shot in the head on June 1 during a protest. A 20-year-old suspect was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder. Even as the state education department has warned schools against putting pressure on parents for delayed payment of fees, several schools in the city are now using coercive means to push parents into paying. Barely three days after the education department released a list of nodal officers to address complaints from parents, officers said they have been flooded with calls from parents. I get nearly 10-20 calls each day from parents of different schools saying the school is pressuring them. We are taking note of all the complaints and will start sending notices to the schools from Monday, said Bhaskarrao Babar, assistant director, Mumbai region. On Thursday, parents of Oxford International School in Kandivli (East) said some of them were removed from the schools online learning group citing non-payment of dues. We regret to inform you that students who have not paid the dues will not be a part of the online teaching group, read a message sent to the parents by the school management. We have complained to the education department on behalf of the parents. It is really unfair that the school is treating children in this manner in a crisis situation, said Chetan Pednekar, vice-president, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarti Sena. When HT contacted Avinash Jadhav, trustee of the school, he said, We were not aware of the fact that such a message had gone to the parents. I have asked the school principal to get it fixed. Parents wont have to worry as their children would be added back. Another school in Andheri asked teachers to call parents to remind them about fee payment. Some of us have not been able to clear dues owing to the current situation. Every day, we get calls from teachers asking us to deposit the money. This is no less than torture, said another parent. According to a Government Resolution released in the first week of May, schools cannot hike fees for the academic year 2020-21 and have to allow parents to pay fees in instalments. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Info Edge (India), that runs popular portals such as Naukri.com and Jeevansathi.com has said it expects the different segment in its core operating businesses to experience different levels of stress due to the COVID-19 disruption. The company, which is yet to report its fourth-quarter results, released a document on the exchanges detailing the potential impact of COVID-19 across its businesses in Q4FY20 and the actual collections for the month of April 2020. "The B2B markets are more indexed to the global and domestic economy, and particularly the job market and the property markets. B2C market for businesses such as Jeevansathi are expected to be relatively less impacted," the company said in the release. Info Edge expects its standalone Q4FY20 revenue to grow by 10.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 322.8 crore as compared to Rs 292.7 crore in the same quarter last year. - Job portal Naukri down 54 percent YoY- Real estate portal 99acres down 86 percent YoY - Matrimonial portal Jeevansaathi up 11 percent YoY Collection for Naukri, the company's major revenue contributor, fell 54 percent YoY or Rs 26 crore in April. For Q4FY20, Pre-COVID - 19 growth was 13 percent. The lockdown had slowed down the growth to 0 percent leading to a shortfall of collection of Rs 40-44 crore. Collection for the companys real estate business 99acres grew at around 13 percent in Q4 until mid-March. But thereafter, declined by Rs 18 crore. On a YoY basis, the company lost Rs 9 crore in April 2020. The companys matrimonial portal Jeevansaathi saw a nominal impact on collections, as it grew around Rs 4 crore in Q4FY20 and Rs 1 crore in April 2020. For Q4, COVID-19 and related lockdown slowed down the growth slightly for Q4 to end at over 20 percent YoY. The recruitment and real estate businesses contribute over 85 percent to the total revenues. The company now expects the operating EBITDA in Q4FY20 to be 28 percent as compared to 31.1 percent in the same quarter last year. Ludwig-Maximilian-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers have discovered a hitherto unknown molecular function of a specific microRNA that preserves integrity of the endothelium and reduces the risk of atherosclerosis. Short RNA molecules known as microRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in the regulation of gene expression. Anomalies in miRNAs expression and function have been implicated in pathological processes, such as the development of chronic diseases like atherosclerosis. The regulatory functions of miRNAs usually take place in the cytoplasm, where they interact with target RNA transcripts to inhibit their translation into protein or promote their decay. However, Professor Christian Weber's group in the Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention (IPEK) at the LMU Medical Center has now described an exceptionally different mode of action. By investigating a miRNA named miR-126-5p, Weber's team demonstrates that this molecule can unexpectedly be transferred into the cell nucleus and, by simply interacting with it, suppresses the activity of an enzyme, named caspase-3, which is responsible for killing the cell by programmed cell death. In this way, the molecule protects vascular integrity and reduces the extent of atherosclerotic lesions. Atherosclerosis is often referred to as "hardening of the arteries" and underlies the development of cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases which represent the main cause of death worldwide. The condition occurs almost exclusively at bifurcations of the arterial tree, where turbulence of blood flow promotes damage to the endothelial cells that line the vessels, favoring the recruitment of inflammatory cells and the eventual development of atherosclerotic plaques. Endothelial cells express particularly high concentrations of miR-126-5p to protect them from damage. The new study set out to uncover the molecular mechanisms that mediate this function. The results demonstrate that the protective effect is initiated by the high shear stress imposed on the endothelial cells by the laminal flow of blood over their surfaces. "High shear stress triggers a multi-step process in the endothelial cells, which results in the formation of a molecular complex between miR-126-5p and an RNA-binding protein. The complex is then transported into the cell nucleus," says Donato Santovito, postdoc in Weber's group and lead author of the new paper. Once inside the nucleus, miR-126-5p is released from the complex and binds to an enzyme called caspase-3, thus inhibiting its activity. Caspase-3 itself is a crucial mediator of programmed cell death (apoptosis). Multiple factors known to increase the risk of atherosclerosis - such as turbulence in the blood flow, high level of cholesterol or glucose - promote apoptosis in endothelial cells. Hence, by inhibiting the enzyme caspase-3, nuclear miR-126-5p protects endothelial cells from induced cell death. In doing so, it also reduces the endothelium's susceptibility to damage at sites of high shear stress, which indeed are typically protected from development of atherosclerosis. And by maintaining the integrity of the endothelial surface, the miRNA also makes an important contribution to the function of the vasculature as a whole. "This hitherto unknown function of miR-126-5p represents a new principle of biological regulation that serves to complement previously well described mechanisms," Weber adds. Together with an interdisiciplinary network of international collaborators and within the framework of the Transregio-SFB TR267, the team plans to investigate whether other miRNAs can also act in a similar way. In addition, further insights into the mechanisms that modulate the action of this signaling pathway might well open up new options for the treatment of vascular diseases. ### Lucknow, June 4 : Uttar Pradesh is all set to challenge the Chinese monopoly in Gauri-Ganesh idol supply this Diwali. On instructions from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, 'Mati Kala Board will take the lead in this endeavour. State-level online and manual workshops will be organized with the help of renowned sculptors and terracotta experts bringing clay to life. The online workshop, which will be held this month, includes experts from the Indian Institute of Craft and Design (IICD, Jaipur), Mahatma Gandhi Rural Industrialization Institute (MGRII, Wardha), National Institute of Fashion and Technology (NIFT, Rae Bareli) and UP Industries of Design (UPID) and other professionals known for quality and competitive pricing. Their expertise will be of immense help in making Gauri-Ganesh statues. The online workshops will be held either in the offices of industries' general managers of all divisions or elsewhere. Large television screens will be installed at the workshops and sculptors will be present there, but following social distancing. The experts in sculpture will help solve problems, providing the necessary skills and inputs for making idols. For example, NIFT experts will brief them on safe packaging of finished products. MGRII's Vivek Masani will explain the process of firing of gas furnaces. Fine arts and sculpture experts KK Srivastava and Amarpal will share their two decades of experience. A state-level manual workshop will be organised at Gorakhpur in August. Gorakhpur is the venue because people of Aurangabad's Bhathat town and adjoining villages have mastered the art of terracotta work. Many people of these villages have also been honoured for their skills at the state and national level. It is due to their skills that Gorakhpur qualifies for the 'One District One Product' (ODOP) distinction in terracotta. Learning from the skills and expertise of the people of Gorakhpur, others from the state will also hone their skills. Improvement in quality will improve the demand for their product. People will also get employment at the local level. The chief minister has reiterated that more people will be provided employment by the 'Mati Kala Board'. The department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has also prepared an action plan from training to employment. People will be provided three types of short-term training to improve the quality of their products. It will have 75 sessions of three-day training, 10 sessions of seven-day training and 15 sessions of 15-day training. The department aims at providing employment to 10,500 people under various schemes of the 'Mati Kala Board' in the current financial year. Principal secretary MSMEs Navneet Sehgal said, "It is the chief minister's intention to promote Swadeshi. On Diwali, almost every family buys Gauri-Ganesh idols for worship. Most of these sculptures come from China. To break China's monopoly, our sculptors can make similar or better quality idols at competitive prices which is the purpose of the workshop." MILFORD Kira Cassandra, an organizer for the Solidarity Protest for Black Lives Matter and George Floyd, has felt firsthand the grief that goes with losing someone to a gunshot. I knew Jayson Negron, who was shot and killed in Bridgeport in 2017, said Cassandra, a 2019 Jonathan Law graduate and Milford native. I began to work with Black Lives Matter after that happened. Then when Mubarak Soulemane, who was also my best friend, was killed by police I began organizing so I could get the message out there. The rally here is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. June 8 at the gazebo on the Green. Sarah Bromley, Alice Garlock and Cassandra, the organizers, are counting on social media to spread the word for the event; they have announced that masks will be required. We do have a lot of Facebook groups we share to, and then people will share it with their neighbors, so it is in a way word of mouth, Cassandra said. I met a few activists through Facebook, and Sarah and Alice reached out to me after George Floyds death. This protest is all about solidarity, and since Milford is my hometown, I decided to take point, she said. Milford Police Chief Keith L. Mello said of the Solidarity protest, We welcome that here in Milford. We respect and welcome the publics right to protest and to be heard. I think what is important is that people have the right to express their views. Our job is to make sure that they can do that and that they can do that safely, Mello said. We expect that any protest here in Milford would be peaceful and show respect for other peoples property and for the safety of the public. Milford Mayor Ben Blake said, Our Green is a public Green. The only time a facility-use permit is triggered is if someone wanted exclusive use of the Green (such as the Art Festival). For that you would need a permit from the Recreation Department. Blake also noted the state directive from Gov. Ned Lamonts emergency order is that you must keep a social distance of six feet apart from anyone else. If you cant keep that social distance you must wear a face covering - a cloth covering or a mask. At this point, for outdoor social gatherings or recreational gatherings there should be no more that 25 people. Cassandra is the head organizer for Justice for Mubarek and works with Connecticut Youth Climate. Because of her interest in science, she went to Fairchild Wheeler in Bridgeport and then Jonathan Law High School, where she helped create the Environmental Club. I will speak, Alice will be speaking, and we have reached out to Black Lives Matter in New Haven. Hopefully they can come speak as well, Cassandra said. Some people on social media are saying Milford shouldnt have a protest because it doesnt make sense. But we are all one and should stand together to battle injustice. Jayson Negron, 15, was killed by a police officer May 9, 2017, in Bridgeport. A lawsuit filed on Negrons behalf by his family on March 25 alleges the Police Department fosters an environment of grossly negligent, reckless, and deliberately indifferent conduct among its officers. Mubarak Soulemane, 19, was shot and killed Jan. 15, 2020, by a state trooper in West Haven following a chase from Norwalk. The Soulemane family filed a lawsuit against the state, the state police, the city of West Haven and the West Haven Police Department. Mello said George Floyds death while being restrained by police in Minneapolis cast a stain over the law enforcement profession, in a statement released to the Milford Mirror May 29. Mello, who also serves as president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and chairman of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council called the incident beyond disturbing, in a statement. Mello said the behavior of the officers involved reflect failures in police tactics, judgment and training. Of equal concern is the lack of intervention by other officers on the scene, Mello said. We are reminded that we are leaders in our communities, especially during a time of crisis. Our oath and our ethics require us to act whenever we are witnessing an unjust act, even by another police officer. william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @blox354 Even as the United States sees its second week of protests since the killing of George Floyd, an image of all 50 states participating in the protests is bringing cheer on social media. On Wednesday, CNN broadcast a news report in which it showed that all 50 states had participated in the protests since the killing of Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Not just 50 states but several other countries also took part in the 'Black Lives Matter' protests. The news broke a day after police forcibly removed protesters from outside the White House on Tuesday using tear gas so that President Donald Trump could go to the nearby church for a photo-op. But despite retaliation, protesters found joy when Derek Chauvin, jailed Friday on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, was newly charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday. The added charge, defined under Minnesota law as unintentionally causing another persons death in the commission of a felony offense, can carry a sentence of up to 40 years, 15 years longer than the maximum sentence for third-degree murder. Jubilant protesters took to social media to celebrate the victory and the fact that all states in the US supported the cause of anti-racism. One user wrote, "You can't get all 50 states to agree on ANYTHING, but all 50 states are protesting racism. Never seen that in my entire life, so there is HOPE." When was the last time you seen ALL 50 states do ANYTHING together??? https://t.co/pudOC5dIy4 ~BOUNCING CREATURE~ (@JuulTronics) June 2, 2020 IT TOOK ALL 50 STATES, THE AMISH, KPOP STANS, 13 OTHER COUNTRIES, WITCHES, ANONYMOUS, THE LGBT COMMUNITY, CELEBRITIES, STAN TWITTER, PEOPLE OF COLOR, WHITE ALLIES & BATMAN TO GET 2ND DEGREE MURDER AND THE THREE COPS ARRESTED AND WE HAD THE PRESIDENT & MILITARY AGAINST US, MY GOD BLM (@rauhling_bizzle) June 3, 2020 All 50 states plus 18 countries participated in #BlackLivesMatter protests as of today making it the largest civil rights movement in world history wow Rob Mackintosh (@GianoGionni) June 3, 2020 When all 50 states are protesting the same issue, the government should realize they are the problem JcClappzs SZN (@jcriccoo) June 3, 2020 You can't get all 50 states to agree on ANYTHING, but all 50 states are protesting racism.Never seen that in my entire life, so there is HOPE. BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) June 3, 2020 It isnt just all 50 states. The whole world is protesting the murder of George Floyd and numerous others before him. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/65ZET5Y87Z LiA (@LibsInAmerica) June 3, 2020 George Floyd's death sparked deep-seated anger among Americans regarding police killings and systemic racism. Despite curfews and thousands of arrests from across US, protesters have continued to occupy streets to demand an end to racism in the police force. The US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster, has apologised for desecration of Mahatma Gandhis statue in the United States. The statue was vandalised with graffiti and spray paint outside the Indian embassy in Washington. So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd & the awful violence & vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover & be better, Juster said on Twitter. So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd & the awful violence & vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover & be better. Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) June 4, 2020 The incident is reported to have taken place on the intervening night of June 2 and 3. The officials of the Indian embassy informed the State Department and registered a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies. On Wednesday, a team of officials from Metropolitan Police visited the site and started conducting inquiries. Watch: Mahatma Gandhi statue vandalised in Washington DC, US apologises Vandalism of the statue of the apostle of peace comes during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Several of these protests have turned violent which many times has resulted in damage of some of the most prestigious and sacred American monuments. Also read: Gandhis statue vandalised in US, Indian embassy registers complaint In Washington DC, protesters this week burnt a church and damaged some of the prime properties and historic places like the national monument and Lincoln Memorial. One of the few statues of a foreign leader on a federal land in Washington DC, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was dedicated by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the presence of the then US president Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000, during his state visit to the US. In October 1998, the US Congress had authorised the government of India to establish and maintain a memorial to honour Mahatma Gandhi on Federal land in the District of Columbia. According to the Indian Embassy website, the sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi is cast in bronze as a statue and has a height of 8 feet 8 inches. Los Angeles, June 4 : Actress Lili Reinhart, who is popular as Betty Cooper in the show "Riverdale", has come out as a "proud bisexual" woman. Reinhart took to Instagram Stories while promoting the West Hollywood LGBTQ+ for Black Lives Matter protest, and wrote: "Although I've never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman. And I will be joining this protest today. Come join." The 23-year-old actress's announcement comes after reports of her split with her "Riverdale" co-star Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead Jones in the show. Last week, according to reports, the couple called it quits on their three-year romantic bliss. However, both actors have not officially confirmed the news. Sprouse was detained for peacefully protesting in California. He took to social media on June 1 to confirm reports he was arrested by police for "standing in solidarity" with activists near Santa Monica Pier. "Riverdale" is based on the characters of Archie comics. Apart from Reinhart and Sprouse, it also features KJ Apa as Archie Andrews and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text In George Orwell's frightening novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, thoughtcrimes Are a person's thoughts that contradict or generally do not agree with the approved ideology. The ability to assess a person's thoughts and mete out punishment for thoughts and not actions obviously poses, in most instances, an impossible task. In 1998, a black man, James Byrd, was beaten by white men and then dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas. This event was used extensively in emotionally charged television ads in the year 2000 presidential campaign by the Democrats to allege that George W. Bush was a racist because he was governor at the time and did not support hate (thought) crime legislation. In true Texas fashion, the two main actors in this murder were quickly tried and executed for their actions. Since they were executed, the rationale, thoughts, or reasoning for their murdering Mr. Byrd were inconsequential, as is appropriate. They were executed for what they did, not what they thought. There would be no point in executing them twice, once for murder and again for a hate (thought) crime. Dead is dead. It is juvenile to believe that all people are good, that they will act morally or legally. There are bad people who will do bad things and situations where even good people can end up involved in a bad outcome. Bad people are not confined to any race, color, creed, or job title. There are bad people who are doctors, politicians, airplane pilots, mechanics, housewives, black, white, Hispanic, ad infinitum. In the most recent example, George Floyd died following his arrest by the Minneapolis police. It would be difficult to find any reasonable person who is not outraged at the lack of humanity demonstrated by the policeman who knelt on Floyd's neck for an extended period of time, even though Mr. Floyd was already in custody and handcuffed. That police officer's actions, not thoughts, are unacceptable and should be punished as appropriate through our legal system. Emotional reporting by the media and allegations by many others serve to divide us by claiming that our entire country (apparently except those making the claim) is racist. George Floyd was arrested by the Minneapolis police and died (apparently) as a result of that arrest because he was black. Trayvon Martin was shot while fighting with the country's first white Hispanic because he was black. Eric Garner died following his arrest by the New York police because he was black. Michael Brown was killed by a policeman in St. Louis as a part of an altercation with that police officer because Brown was black. Ahmaud Arbery was followed and killed by a father and son while fighting over a gun because he was black. No other rationale or situational consideration allowed, simply because he was black. Assigning racial motivation to any of these instances is assessing thoughtcrime. Nobody can determine any of the involved person's motives that may have contributed or did contribute to these persons' deaths. It is only the actions that can be known and punishable. This can't always end with "you got one of ours, we get one of yours," regardless of the facts. Actions and not thoughts need to be the measuring stick for our social compact to work. There is no legitimate rationale for thoughtcrime and punishment. This is not 1984. The notion that Mr. Floyd was purposefully killed by the policeman because he is colored must not translate into illegal actions, looting the local stores, building fires, assaulting people, and destroying property. To allege that the illegal looting and rioting actions are appropriate is the worst form of racism, alleging that because of their color, these people are incapable of controlling their behavior. The actions of rioting and looting must be aggressively shut down to maintain an orderly society. Anarchy cannot be an appropriate answer. Regardless of the mainstream media instigators and Democrat agitators who wish to use these occasional tragic events to their political advantage, the vast majority of Americans are not racist. The history of America includes hundreds of thousands of dead white people in the Civil War, decades of white-led civil rights struggles, altering the foundation of America's constitution and laws facilitated by white people, billions and probably trillions of white people's dollars poured into non-white communities. Based on these facts, if we are as racist as the race-hustlers would like us to believe, we are not very good at our moral depravity. In America, we established in our founding documents and celebrate inalienable rights for all men, endowed by our creator, not arbitrarily assigned rights based on race. We inhabitants of America don't wake up thinking about how to stick it to other Americans based on color. It is our hope that all citizens would be Americans, non-hyphenated citizens. Our preferred organization is the National Association for the Advancement of American People (NAAAP). We encourage all American citizens to join our group and become active members. The group benefits are the best in the world, and we celebrate and embrace our open-to-all citizens' organization and exceptional nature. A third man has appeared before the Special Criminal Court charged with involvement in the attempted murder of Christy Keane by the Limerick-based McCarthy-Dundon crime gang. Noel Price (42) of Kileely Road, Kileely, Limerick City today appeared before the three-judge non-jury court where he was charged with, having knowledge of the existence of the McCarthy Dundon criminal organisation, he assisted in making available a vehicle to that criminal organisation with the intention of facilitating the attempted murder of Mr Christy Keane or being reckless as to same. The offence is alleged to have occurred between June 27 and June 29 2015. Nine days after George Floyd's death, protesters are still out on the streets of major cities across America. The 46 year old was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while Floyd lay handcuffed and pinned to the ground gasping for breath on May 25. Floyd, an African-American, had tested positive for the coronavirus in April, according to the medical examiner's report. A Minnesota court has upgraded the charges against former Minneapolis police offcer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee into Floyd's neck, to second-degree murder. Three other officers present during the incident have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Former United States president Barack Obama held a livestream event in which he urged young Americans to 'stay hopeful' and take action. 'Just remember, this country was founded on protest,' Obama said. General James Mattis slammed US President Donald J Trump, whose administration he once served as secretary of defense, as 'the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people.' 'We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,' General Mattis said. A protester is detained by New York police officers during a protest against George Floyd's death in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Demonstrations on Wednesday stayed largely calm, with fewer arrests and violent confrontations than the previous week. There were clashes in New York between protesters and police, but authorities say the city was quieter than before, with no reported instances of looting. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters A demonstrator holds a sign during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brooklyn, New York City. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters Law enforcement officers hold a man during a protest against the death of George Floyd in New York. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters Demonstrators are detained by the police during the protest. Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters People raise their fists during the protest in Brooklyn. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters Protesters in Portland, Oregon. The Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called on police and public officials to stop using 'indiscriminate weapons against protesters' such as tear gas and stun grenades. The ACLU also called on the police to adopt practices that do not heighten the risk of contracting coronavirus which has had a disproportionate impact on people of colour. Photograph: Terray Sylvester/Reuters A light projection reading 'Stop killer cops' is seen on a building during a protest near the White House in Washington, DC. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar speaks at the scene of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters A demonstrator holds a placard depicting George Floyd at a protest in Los Angeles. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/Reuters A memorial at the site where George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images A protester holds a 'Black Lives Matter' sign in front of National Guard troops posted outside the district attorney's office in Los Angeles. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Demonstrators sing Lean On Me near the White House. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images -- With inputs from ANI Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 4,013 Indians stranded abroad owing to the suspension of air services owing to coronavirus have been brought back to Maharashtra on 30 flights since May 7, a statement released by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday has revealed. All the passengers have been kept under institutional quarantine developed by the state government for 14 days. Of the 4,013 evacuees, 1,309 are from Mumbai and have been quarantined at various hotels. The 1,691 passengers from the other parts of Maharashtra have been sent back to their districts. The state has also quarantined 1,013 passengers from other states at institutional facilities. Those who are not from Maharashtra and are yet to get entry passes to their respective states have also been quarantined, said the chief minister. In the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, Air India has planned to operate 38 more flights until June 30, and hence, we are expecting more people to come to Mumbai in the coming days. In addition, charter flights have also been arranged to bring back Indian nationals. From Doha City (Qatar) alone, three charter flights have been scheduled for the next seven days to bring home the stranded nationals, Thackeray said. The stranded Indians have been evacuated from Britain, Singapore, Philippines, United States, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kuwait, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Oman, South Africa, Indonesia, Netherlands, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tanzania, Spain and Ireland. The government should not prioritise economics over health, the Supreme Court said on Thursday. The observation came a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) filed an affidavit saying it was against a forced waiver of interest during the six-month moratorium period as it would affect the financial health of banks and jeopardise the interests of depositors. The court observed that such a stand was detrimental, and sought a response from the finance ministry and the RBI. While on one end you are granting moratorium, on the other nothing (no relief) on ... Washington: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to strengthen US armed forces by increasing military spending by tens of billions of dollars, and said he would ask his generals for a plan to defeat and destroy the ISIS within 30 days of taking office. In a major foreign policy speech in Pennsylvania, Trump said he will ask the US Congress to fully eliminate defence sequester and will submit a new budget to rebuild the military as soon as he assumes office. Trump outlined proposals for an active army of around 540,000 troops, an air force of at least 1,200 fighter aircraft, a 36-battalion marine corps and a navy of 350 surface ships and submarines. Trump also announced that he will seek to develop a state-of-the-art-missile defence system; will modernise naval cruisers to provide Ballistic Missile Defence capabilities and will enforce all classification rules. Describing the motto of his foreign policy "Peace Through Strength", Trump said he wants to achieve a stable, peaceful world with less conflict and more common ground. "I am proposing a new foreign policy focused on advancing America's core national interests, promoting regional stability, and producing an easing of tensions in the world. This will require rethinking the failed policies of the past," he said. "We can make new friends, rebuild old alliances, and bring new allies into the fold. I am proud to have the support of warfighting generals, active duty military, and the top experts who know both how to win and how to avoid the endless wars ? we are caught in now. Just on Wednesday, 88 top Generals and Admirals endorsed my campaign," said the GOP nominee. Arguing that in a Trump Administration, US actions in the Middle East will be tempered by realism, he said the current strategy of toppling regimes, with no plan for what to do the day after, only produces power vacuums that are filled by terrorists. "We should work with any country that shares our goal of destroying ISIS and defeating radical Islamic terrorism, and form new friendships and partnerships based on this mission. We now have an Administration, and a former Secretary of State, who refuse to say radical Islamic terrorism," he said. "Immediately after taking office, I will ask my generals to present to me a plan within 30 days to defeat and destroy ISIS. This will require military warfare, but also cyber warfare, financial warfare, and ideological warfare as I laid out in my speech on defeating Radical Islamic terrorism several weeks ago," he said. "Instead of an apology tour, I will proudly promote our system of government and our way of life as the best in the world, just like we did in our campaign against communism during the Cold War. We will show the whole world how proud we are to be American," Trump said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beauty clinics in NSW officially re-opened on Monday, after being shut for two months due to coronavirus lockdown rules. And desperate celebrities were among the first in line to get their regular top-ups of Botox and fillers. Leading the pack was Roxy Jacenko, 39, who documented her visit to Real Housewives Of Sydney star Matty Samei's medispa in Double Bay on Monday. 'First of June couldn't have come any quicker!' Roxy Jacenko, 39, (pictured) is one of many celebrities rushing to top up their Botox and fillers as clinics reopen following two months of coronavirus lockdown 'First of June couldnt have come any quicker,' the cosmetic enhancement-loving publicist wrote on Instagram Stories as she sat in the clinic's waiting room. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about her appointment, Roxy enthused: 'I was knocking down the door of Medispa by Matty on Monday! Had a little bit of filler in my lips.' The mother-of-two also spoke The Kyle And Jackie O Show on Thursday about her visit to the clinic, joking that she looked almost unrecognisable during lockdown as all her treatments had worn off. Back in the chair! Roxy documented her visit to Real Housewives Of Sydney star Matty Samei's medispa in Double Bay on Monday Plumped: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about her appointment, Roxy enthused: 'I was knocking down the door of Medispa by Matty on Monday! Had a little bit of filler in my lips' 'Thank god we were in isolation, no one would have recognised me!' she laughed. Meanwhile, Married At First Sight star Natasha Spencer, 26, recently told Daily Mail Australia that she was concerned that her 'Botox has worn off' during self-isolation. 'I miss my facials and Botox the most. I do catch myself scowling a lot now the Botox has worn off,' the Sydney-based influencer said last month. 'I miss my facials and Botox the most': Married At First Sight star Natasha Spencer, 26, (pictured) recently told Daily Mail Australia that she was concerned that her 'Botox has worn off' during self-isolation However, Natasha had noticed 'how much better' her face is looking without constant dermal filler in her cheeks and said she was embracing a more natural look. In April, Sydney socialite Christa Billich, 75, told The Sydney Morning Herald that she was going to miss her regular cosmetic top-ups during lockdown. The Real Housewives Of Sydney guest-star, who had a facelift in January, added: 'Of course we're all going to miss our treatments, but this virus is far more important than our vanity right now,' she said. 'Surgery is great if it helps boost your confidence and self-esteem but I am sticking to my skin-care regime until it's safe to be in public places,' Christa added. In this time of turmoil, civil unrest, economic uncertainty, COVID-19 and the relentless images we see on media outlets, we must take a step back. I am not a scholar, but I am a woman living in the United States of America. I offer the following comments as a citizen of the United States and a credit union advocate. My title is President/CEO of the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC). It took me a long time to decide to accept the position from Executive Director to President/CEO. The reason it took so long (2 years) is because with that specific title comes great responsibility. Everyone has an expectation of what the organization should be doing. Our board of directors, our members, our partners and the community approach the organization from different perspectives. Our mission statement is: To increase diversity within the credit union community through advocacy and professional development. That is pretty focused, seems simple but it isnt. There are many layers to advocacy and certainly for professional development. AACUC does not try to be all things to all people, however, we do strive to be good stewards, good corporate citizens and provide a safe space for people of color to express themselves. In addition, we provide a safe place for people of a lighter hue to also have a safe space to ask hard questions about cultural things that they do not understand. AACUC is an example of how our nation could learn to be interactive with all races. When you attend an AACUC event you interact with people from many different backgrounds. Interns, young professionals (under 40), seasoned professionals (41 65), elder professionals (66+), many different ethnicities and cultures people who work in trade organizations, credit union vendors, credit union executives, board members and staff all coming together having a shared non-violent experience. We are an inclusive organization. We dont just say it we demonstrate it. It is my belief that while there are atrocities that have continued for well over 400 years, that if people were to get to know one another see their fellow man/woman as a person, talk about their challenges, struggles, successes, that kind of interaction would break down barriers. I have a personal motto, I am the possibility of people serving other people passionately. There is no other industry that serves people as passionately as the Credit Union Industry. I am convinced more now than ever that the credit union industry can lead the nation in eliminating racial discrimination. Credit union people do not have all the answers, but as practitioners of financial institutions we have a commodity that everyone needs. Our Cooperative Principles, Credit Union Motto (Not for Profit, not for charity, but for service) and the Credit Union Philosophy of People helping people, provide the agreed upon tenants to help us eradicate racism. Commitment to Change here is the opportunity for people in the credit union movement to stand together, united against racism. We must be intentional in our thoughts and our deeds. Simple kindness goes a long way in healing. Lets be kind to one another, lets create groups to address the social ills that plague our society, lets be committed to doing what we can, when we can, because we can. - Harris family sextuplets of Birmingham, Alabama have graduated from high school - The two girls, Kaylynne and Kiera, and four boys, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran and Kyle graduated from the Center Point High School in the United States - Social media user, Ferlando Parker Sr., recently celebrated the latest accomplishment of the sextuplets online Harris family sextuplets of Birmingham, Alabama, have graduated from the Center Point High School in the United States. The incredible story of the first known surviving set of African-American sextuplets is regaining attention following their recent accomplishment. READ ALSO: Wife of man who dumped me 5 years ago is my employee - Woman gloats READ ALSO: Hoteli ya kifahari ya Fairmont yabatilisha uamuzi wa kuwafuta kazi wafanyakazi wake The Birmingham family of sextuplets became a national sensation after their parents welcomed them into the world on July 8, 2002. In April 2007, they even appeared on The Oprah Show. Diamond and Chris Harris welcomed their babies, two girls, Kaylynne and Kiera, and four boys, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran and Kyle after they used fertility drugs to get pregnant. READ ALSO: 9 stunning photos of TV anchor Abubakar Abdullahi showing striking resemblance to Hussein Mohamed Dailymail.co.uk reports that in 2001, the couple really wanted to get pregnant and start a family together. Diamond's first child from a previous relationship, Dewayne, was five, and the couple from Alabama had been married over two years, but they were struggling to conceive. READ ALSO: Details emerge of how Aden Duale wept, begged Uhuru to save his majority leader job Diamond, a nurse, was prescribed fertility drugs by her doctor, who told them not to get their hopes up. Before long, she was pregnant, and the doctor excitedly told them it was twins. However, a sonogram showed them they were actually having five children. On July 8, 2002, the couple had welcomed the first-ever surviving set of African American sextuplets. In 2015, the girls, Kaylynne and Kiera, and the four boys, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran and Kyle marked their 13th birthday. READ ALSO: Magufuli urges Tanzanians to exploit customers from countries that have imposed lockdown: "Watwangeni kabisa" Tuko.co.ke sighted the latest photo of the teenagers after social media user, Ferlando Parker Sr. shared it online. According to him, the genius sextuplets are proud graduates and have their futures planned out. He noted that Kobe and Kalynne will be attending Alabama State while Kaleb and Kieran will be attending Alabama A&M. Kiera will head to Lawson State and Kyle will be studying life skills at a Center Point High School. 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 son has breasts and he is ashamed of himself - Lilian Alango | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Advertisement Up to 5.6million people in England could have already had the coronavirus, according to results of a government-run surveillance scheme. Blood samples taken from almost 8,000 people suggest up to 10 per cent of the country have antibodies specific to Covid-19, showing they have had the disease in the past. Public Health England's best estimate is that 8.5 per cent of people in England have already had the coronavirus - 4.76million people. But this, it admitted, could be as high as 10 per cent (5.6m) or as low as 6.9 per cent (3.864m). Regional variations show that the rate of infection has been considerably higher in London, with 15.6 per cent of the city's population already affected. And it has been lowest in the South West, where only 2.6 per cent of people are thought to have had the virus. The national prevalence of antibodies suggests that, with around 43,000 deaths from a population of 56million people, the true death rate of Covid-19 is 0.9 per cent - nine times deadlier than the flu. This suggests it kills one in every 111 people who catch the disease will die with it. The death rate was again lower in London, where it appeared to be 0.57 per cent. PHE's data was based on blood tests taken from 7,694 people across England in May, of which around 654 tested positive. It chimes with other estimates which suggest similar numbers. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) put the national level of past infection at 6.78 per cent - around 4.5million people in the UK - while Health Secretary Matt Hancock had previously announced early PHE results suggesting it was only five per cent nationwide. Data from Public Health England showed that London has the largest proportion of its population already infected with the coronavirus, while the fewest people were infected in the South West of England The death rate calculations are based on a total 43,353 deaths in England, which is composed of the 42,210 recorded by May 22 by the Office for National Statistics, plus a further 1,143 announced by NHS England since then. Government data records mean non-hospital deaths specifically for England cannot yet be counted between May 22 and June 4. And the estimate for London's death rate follows the same formula - the ONS announced 8,034 by May 22 and 78 have died in hospitals since then: a total 8,112. Scientists say that the reason for a lower death rate in London is that the city has a younger average age than other regions. Covid-19 is known to be worse for elderly people, who are more likely to die if they catch the virus. It has killed one in every 57 over-90s in the country already. Professor Keith Neal, an epidemiologist at the University of Nottingham, said: 'I would consider the average of Londoners to be younger than outside. 'If people in London were seven years younger then there would be a 50 per cent lower death rate just from this measure alone. Also land is expensive in London so probably fewer care homes than outside per head of population.' London's rate may also be lower because it has had far more infections, meaning more will have been among healthier people in the community. In areas with fewer coronavirus cases, there is a chance a greater proportion of the cases were caught in hospitals or care homes by people who were more likely to die - this would artificially increase the death rate. Antibody testing is a method of sampling people's blood to look for antibodies, which are made by the body so it can remember how to fight off certain diseases. Only someone who has already had Covid-19 will have antibodies in the blood. EVERY RECOVERED COVID-19 PATIENTS DEVELOPS ANTIBODIES - BUT THEY MAY NOT BLOCK THE INFECTION AGAIN Most people who recover from the novel coronavirus generate at least some antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, the first round of results from a new study suggest. While many antibodies grab hold of the virus, only a few counteract the pathogen and prevent it from entering our cells. Researchers from Rockefeller University in New York City looked at 149 recovered patients and determined that the majority had a weak antibody response. However, they found that every patient's immune system seemed to be capable of generating the types of antibodies that neutralize the virus, just not particularly enough of them. 'This suggests just about everybody can do this, which is very good news for vaccines,' Dr Michel C Nussenzweig, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at Rockefeller, said in a statement. 'It means if you were able to create a vaccine that elicits these particular antibodies, then the vaccine is likely to be effective and work for a lot of people.' For the study, published on pre-peer review site bioRxiv.org, the team looked at 149 people who donated plasma at The Rockefeller Hospital in New York City over the course of five weeks. Convalescent plasma is the liquid portion of blood is taken from a recovered coronavirus patient, which contains antibodies and immune B-cells. Participants had symptoms of the virus for about 12 days while infected, and their first symptoms occurred about 39 days before they donated plasma. Researchers then mixed the plasma with a pseudo coronavirus and measured if or how well the virus would infect human cells in a petri dish. Most samples did not do very well at neutralizing the virus. In fact, the neutralizing effect was undetectable in 33 per cent of donors. The investigators say this may be because their immune systems cleared the infection before antibodies could be produced. They found that the effect was very high among one percent of patients, so-called 'elite donors.' The team identified 40 antibodies that neutralized the virus, and focused on three that did so even at low levels. These antibodies bound to at least three sites on the spike protein found on the surface of the coronavirus that it uses to enter our cells. Researchers now plan to clone these antibodies in hopes it will help patients with severe or life-threatening cases of the virus. 'We now know what an effective antibody looks like and we have found similar ones in more than one person,' Robbiani said. Advertisement By running blood samples through a machine which contains a part of the virus, scientists can monitor whether the blood reacts in a way that shows it knows how to fight the virus - this indicates they have had the illness in the past and recovered. PHE's data gives regional breakdowns of the levels of antibodies it has found in blood samples so far. The numbers are still based on relatively small samples so must be treated with caution. These were the approximate regional proportions of people who have had the virus already: England 8.5 per cent London: 15.6 per cent North West: 10 per cent East of England: 8 per cent North East: 6.1 per cent Midlands: 5 per cent South East: 4 per cent South West: 2.6 per cent Data from the antibody tests should be taken with a pinch of salt because the tests can produce large margins of error, even if they are highly specific, and studies have suggested that some people produce barely-detectable levels of antibodies. PHE's figures show that men are more likely to have had the virus than women - 9.4 per cent of men tested positive for antibodies compared with 7.6 per cent of women. And they were also more likely to be found in younger people. People aged between 17 and 29 were most likely to have had the disease anywhere in England, with an estimated infection rate of 10.2 per cent. The lowest rate of past infection was in the oldest age group included in the data - the 60 to 69-year-olds, of whom 6.3 per cent had antibodies. Prevalence became gradually higher as the age groups got younger, with a rate of 7.8 per cent among people in their 50s, 7.9 per cent in people in their 40 and 9.3 per cent in people in their 30s. Officials said that the effect of lockdown meant the antibody data did not appear to have changed much. Only massively bigger sample sizes might changes this. The report said: 'Adjusted prevalence estimates vary across the country and over time. 'Given that antibody response takes at least two weeks to become detectable, those displaying a positive result in week 18 [April 27 to May 3] are likely to have become infected before mid-April. 'The plateauing observed between weeks 18-21 demonstrates the impact of lock down measures on new infections.' Today's report comes after the Office for National Statistics estimated last week that around seven per cent of the country had had the virus already. That data, which had not been published before, was based on 885 blood tests to look for signs of coronavirus-specific antibodies in members of the public. The tests were analysed by researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester from people who have provided blood samples since April 26. Their finding that 6.78 per cent of the sample had the antibodies suggest the same rate of infection has been experienced across England, at least. It is reasonable to scale that to the entire of the UK, suggesting around 4.5million people have been infected. On how this could affect the death rate of the virus in Britain, Cambridge University statistician Professor David Spiegelhalter said: 'As a back-of-envelope calculation, the latest ONS survey suggests around 6.8 per cent of 56million people in England have been infected, which is around four million, and there's been around 40,000 deaths in England linked to COVID. 'So this suggests that infection has carried around a 1 per cent average mortality rate. Which is impressively close to the much-disputed estimate of 0.9 per cent made by the Imperial College team back in March.' Britain announces 176 more coronavirus deaths as daily data shows Covid-19 is still killing more people in the UK than in the rest of the EU combined Britain today announced 176 more coronavirus deaths, taking the total number of victims to 39,904 - as separate shock data suggests the UK's outbreak is still killing more people each day than the rest of the EU countries combined. The UK's death toll is now on the brink of passing the 40,000 mark, but the epidemic has slowed dramatically in the past few weeks. For comparison, last Thursday there were 377 Covid deaths, and 338 the week before that. However, Britain is not out of the woods yet as analysis of yesterday's figures suggest it is still being hit harder than the rest of the 27 countries in the bloc put together. UK health bosses announced 359 more coronavirus victims on Wednesday, compared to just 345 deaths recorded in the EU, including 81 in France, 74 in Sweden and 71 in Italy. It's unclear how many Covid victims there were today in the EU. Separate backdated data has also suggested the real number of deaths in Britain has already tipped 50,000, which would cement the UK's status as being Europe's worst-hit nation. Today's fatalities were revealed by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who also announced that face coverings would be compulsory on public transport in England. Mr Shapps encouraged the public to make their own face covering or use a scarf, but said surgical masks should be reserved for healthcare workers. In other coronavirus developments in Britain today: The Prime Minister is considering plans for hair salons and barber shops to reopen later this month, with staff wearing dentist-style masks and gloves to prevent the spread of coronavirus; Furious MPs demanded the Commons sits virtually again after Business Secretary Alok Sharma sniffled, sweated and snorted through a statement before self-isolating for Covid-19; Boris Johnson's pledge to process all coronavirus tests within 24 hours by the end of June will not include postal kits or potentially those sent to care homes - a third of the total, it was revealed; Police launched their first investigation into coronavirus deaths at a care home after it was ordered to close when 15 residents died from Covid-19 following an intake of NHS hospital patients; The former chief of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove claimed that the coronavirus escaped from a lab in China by accident, pointing to a report that claimed the virus was 'different' to any type of SARS ever studied. Britain's outbreak has slowed dramatically in the past few weeks. Yesterday health bosses announced 359 more victims - down almost 13 per cent on the 412 deaths recorded last Wednesday. But analysis of data shows only 345 deaths were recorded in the 27 EU countries yesterday, including 81 in France, 74 in Sweden and 71 in Italy UK RECORDED MORE COVID-19 DEATHS YESTERDAY THAN THE REST OF THE EU COMBINED Britain yesterday recorded more Covid-19 deaths than the rest of the EU combined, according to an analysis of official figures. Department of Health chiefs announced 359 fatalities on Wednesday, slightly higher than the 345 recorded in the 27 members of the bloc, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Separate figures suggest the true death toll among the 27 nations was even lower - coming in at 331. Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland 1 17 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 81 25 0 2 1 Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden 71 0 0 0 0 10 23 11 8 0 0 1 74 Advertisement Of the new deaths recorded in Britain today, NHS England saw 115 in hospital patients who tested positive - the youngest a 26-year-old. Scotland posted nine Covid-19 deaths in all settings, followed by eight in Wales and one in Northern Ireland. The remaining deaths occurred in care homes in England in the wider community. It comes as it was today revealed that police have launched a probe into a care home which was ordered to close after 15 residents died following a major outbreak of coronavirus. Temple Court in Kettering, Northamptonshire, was forced to shut its doors following the Covid-19-related deaths of patients who were sent there after being discharged from hospital. The home is now being investigated by Northamptonshire Police and council bosses amid allegations of abuse and neglect. Officers are speaking to relatives of the 15 residents following claims they were sent there without being tested after being released from two separate hospitals. In other developments, furious MPs demanded the Commons sits 'virtually' again today after a senior minister 'sniffled, sweated and snorted' through a statement - before self-isolating for coronavirus. In extraordinary scenes in the chamber last night, Business Secretary Alok Sharma ignored the government's own guidance as he struggled on despite repeatedly wiping his brow and blowing his nose. The episode sparked concerns that dozens of politicians have been at risk of infection and will now have to go into quarantine - potentially including Cabinet ministers and top officials. It also heaped pressure on Boris Johnson to reverse the controversial decision to scrap electronic voting and Zoom debates, after 'farcical' scenes this week that saw hundreds of MPs 'conga' through Westminster in a mile-long socially distanced queue to take part in divisions. Figures today also revealed only a quarter of business that have temporarily closed during the coronavirus crisis plan to reopen their doors within the next month, dampening efforts to kickstart the economy. Just nine per cent of businesses told the Office for National Statistics (ONS) they would be ready to open within a fortnight, with a further 16 per cent saying they could be ready within four weeks. Almost half of those polled in May - before the announcement to reopen British businesses - said they did not know when they might open, piling pressure on the Government's economic plans. Boris Johnson last month gave the go-ahead for non-essential retail to restart on June 15, as he attempted to bring the coronavirus-battered UK High Street back to life. A poll also revealed children in the north are missing out on an education as Labour-run councils refuse to allow schools to reopen. A survey of primary headteachers has found just a third of them followed the Prime Minister's plan and managed to bring back Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 students back to class on Monday. This dropped to as low as 12 per cent in the north-east of England and eight per cent in the north-west, where a large number of Labour-run councils refused to let their schools open. The survey of 10,000-plus schools was carried out by the National Education Union, which found 44 per cent of schools did not open more widely on June 1. Bill Gates today warned anti-vaxxers could wreck attempts to develop a Covid-19 vaccine if they refuse to take it and reduce the level of herd immunity. Over 80 per cent of people may need to have the jab for it to work properly - but the philanthropist said he feared anti-vaccine 'craziness' might put people off getting it. The billionaire founder of Microsoft, who now donates hundreds of millions of dollars to global health causes, said the prospect was 'worrying'. Vaccines can only be successful at stamping out a virus if so many people get them that a vast majority of the population is immune and the disease can no longer spread. Mr Gates's comments come as vaccine trials on humans are in full swing in the UK and the University of Oxford has announced it will test its candidate in Brazil now. (Bloomberg) -- Google pulled an application from its Play Store that helps users delete Chinese games and other software from their Android smartphones, citing violations of its policies. The controversial software, Remove China Apps, had drawn millions of downloads in India as tensions between the two countries surged. The program was developed by little-known OneTouch AppLabs, based in Jaipur. China and India have been gathering thousands of troops at a disputed border in a remote area of the Himalayas. The two countries have had a long history of territorial clashes dating back decades. Remove China Apps was designed to be as straightforward as its name. After a smartphone user downloads the software, it helps identify the country of origin for apps installed on the phone, highlighting Chinese ones and suggesting steps for removal. OneTouch AppLabs did not immediately respond to questions. Its website now has a message that thanks customers for their support and confirms Googles decision to remove the app. The app creators then provided this workaround: TIP: Its easy to find the origin of any app by searching on google by typing origin country Stay Tuned !! Stay Safe!! The action came not long after Alphabet Inc.s Google removed from the Play Store an app called Mitron, which is a popular alternative to TikTok, backed by Chinas ByteDance Ltd. Google cited the violation of a policy on repetitive content for the removal. When violations of these policies are identified, we have an established process of working with developers to help them find remedies, a Google spokesman said in a statement regarding Mitron. (Updates with comments from spokesman on Mitron in the last paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found no evidence of hypothetical first-generation stars called Population III stars as far back as when the Universe was just 500 million years old. The very first stars born after the Big Bang were probably very massive, with masses between 60 and 300 times that of the Sun, and short lived, typically 2 million years. Unlike the stars of today, these Population III stars would have been solely made out of the few primordial elements (hydrogen, helium and lithium) first forged in the seething crucible of the Big Bang. ESA astronomer Rachana Bhatawdekar and colleagues set out to study these objects in the early Universe from about 500 million to 1 billion years after the Big Bang. They used data from the Hubble Frontier Fields program to study a galaxy cluster called MACS J0416.1-2403 and its parallel field. They also used additional data from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope and ESOs Very Large Telescope. We found no evidence of these first-generation Population III stars in this cosmic time interval, Dr. Bhatawdekar said. The Hubble Frontier Fields program produced the deepest observations ever made of galaxy clusters and the galaxies located behind them which were magnified by the gravitational lensing effect. The masses of foreground galaxy clusters are large enough to bend and magnify the light from the more distant objects behind them. This allows Hubble to use these cosmic magnifying glasses to study objects that are beyond its nominal operational capabilities. Dr. Bhatawdekar and colleagues developed a new technique that removes the light from the bright foreground galaxies that constitute these gravitational lenses. This allowed them to discover galaxies with lower masses than ever previously observed with Hubble, at a distance corresponding to when the Universe was less than a billion years old. At this point in cosmic time, the lack of evidence for Population III stars and the identification of many low-mass galaxies support the suggestion that these galaxies are the most likely candidates for the reionization of the Universe. This period of reionization in the early Universe is when the neutral intergalactic medium was ionized by the first stars and galaxies. These results have profound astrophysical consequences as they show that galaxies must have formed much earlier than we thought, Dr. Bhatawdekar said. This also strongly supports the idea that low-mass/faint galaxies in the early Universe are responsible for reionization. The astronomers presented their results this week at the 236th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). _____ R. Bhatawdekar & C. Conselice. 2020. Studying the high redshift Universe combining HST, JWST and the power of gravitational lensing. AAS 236, abstract # 307.03 Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, India and Pakistan are battling another crisis which is the worst locust attack the countries have faced in nearly three decades. According to Pakistan media reports, Imran Khan's government has endorsed a plan to help tackle the country's locust plague by encouraging people to catch the voracious pests and sell them as chicken feed. 'Out-of-the-box proposal' A report in Dawn newspaper said PM Imran Khan while chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet on Tuesday, endorsed an "out-of-the-box proposal" for dealing with the locust threat in the country under which people would be given financial incentives for catching locusts and encouraged to sell these insects to poultry farmers who could use them as poultry feed at a rate of Rs15 per kilogram. Pakistan is facing its worst locust infestation in a generation as marauding swarms have caused widespread damage in the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia. The United Nations has warned that fresh swarms are on their way from Iran or East Africa. Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz told Dawn that Khan wanted to turn the crisis into an opportunity, therefore, he approved a plan of catching and selling locusts. The report also states that Khan was apprised that recently the plan of catching and selling locusts for Rs 15 per kg was implemented in Okara. According to PTV, locust swarms have attacked 31 districts in Baluchistan, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four in Punjab and seven in Sindh. READ | 'Pakistan remains an epicentre of global terrorism': India on explosive UN report Meanwhile, Imran Khan has also asked Ministers Fakhar Imam, Hammad Azhar and Khusro Bakhtiar as to how the people would be given financial incentives for catching locusts. Poultry feed is normally made from mashed soya beans, but locusts provide a far higher level of protein. READ | Buddhist carvings in PoK's Gilgit-Baltistan vandalised, Pakistan flag, slogans painted In India, the Central government has devised a plan to use drones and specialised imported machines against locusts which have started damaging crops in some states, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday. READ | Pakistani terrorist Ismail who fabricated 2019 Pulwama attack IED killed by forces He said the government is hopeful of completely repulsing attacks by locusts by September-end. "A plan is put in place to use drones to fight off locusts which are damaging crops in some parts of the country," Tomar said, adding that pesticides will be sprayed using drones. "The Central and state governments have saved crops spread over an area of 57,000 hectares in the country from locusts," he added. READ | Here are the 5 problems Pakistan should focus on instead of India (With PTI inputs) Ex-penitentiary officer gets 5 years for selling mobile phones to inmates RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 16:56 04/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 4 (RAPSI) A court in the Kaluga Region has sentenced a former chief of a penal colony to 5 years in jail for selling 10 mobile phones to prisoners, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports. The defendant has been found guilty of taking bribes and abuse of power. In addition to the prison term he has been also banned to hold public authority posts for 3 years. According to case papers, in 2017, he gave his cell phone to a convict. Later, for the monetary reward in the amount of 45,000 rubles ($650) the penitentiary officer gave prisoners another 9 mobile phones. New Delhi, June 4 : Facebook and Instagram have unblocked #sikh after the platforms "mistakenly" kept the hashtag blocked for about three months. The hashtag was blocked on March 7, apparently after their teams "inaccurately" reviewed a report. "Thanks for your patience today. We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams," the Twitter handle of Instagram's PR team said on Wednesday. "This is an incredibly important, painful time for the Sikh community. We designed hashtags to allow people to come together and share with one another. It's never our intention to silence the voices of this community, we are taking the necessary steps so this doesn't happen again," it added. Instagram said it only became aware on Wednesday about the blocked hashtag. "We became aware that these hashtags were blocked today following feedback we received from the community, and quickly moved to unblock them. Our processes fell down here, and we're sorry," it said. Twitter users, however, demanded more explanations as to why the hashtag was blocked. "A full explanation please, once you have investigated. Also look into one of the other related hashtags such as #Sikhism those appear to be restricted. We won't be censored. #Sikh The fact that this happened in the first place says a lot about Facebook and Instagram," said one user. "There NEEDS to be a follow up to this tweet. It is incredibly important that there is an EXPLANATION to this," demanded another user. According to a report in Engadget, it is the second time this week Instagram has acknowledged mistakenly preventing users from tagging a specific hashtag. Earlier in the week, some users reported that they could not post or interact with the #blacklivesmatter hashtag. The company said it was able to address the issue, and "reduce" the number of users who could not message using the hashtag, said the report. The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the central government to convene a meeting between the officials from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to end the chaos over Delhi borders. The apex court has ordered the government to arrive at a consensus with regard to allowing interstate transport between Delhi and the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The decision regarding the same has to be taken within a week, the top court said. This came after a petitioner named Rohit Bhalla, a Gurugram resident, challenged the sealing of borders with Delhi by the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments. Bhalla described the move as unconstitutional and said it affected the right to travel under Article 19. He pointed out that it caused great confusion and difficulties for people who want to visit Delhi for urgent needs including meeting ailing relatives. This comes a day after the Gurugram police on Wednesday removed barricades at 11 border crossing points to the national capital and said commuters can now travel between the two cities without any restrictions. The Gurugram police checked movement passes until 9.30 am on Wednesday, which led to congestion for nearly 20 minutes before they received orders to remove the barricades. Those who did not have movement passes were stopped from entering Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced the sealing of the national capitals borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for a week. Delhi borders to be sealed for the next one week. Essential services are exempted. We will take a decision again in one week to open borders after suggestions from citizens, said the chief minister. Kejriwal also called for public suggestion on the matter and gave out a number and an email address for people to send in their suggestions by June 5. Delhiites can send suggestions on opening of borders to WhatsApp number 8800007722, delhicm.suggestions@gmail.com by Friday 5 pm, he said. The Kyle and Jackie O Show hosted a 'Tough Chat' segment on Thursday in which the hosts tackled the issues of racism and inequality. In a particularly confronting moment, KIIS FM's Block Party host Rodney Overby called Kyle Sandilands 'racist' as he spoke about the Black Lives Matter movement. Rodney told Kyle, 48, and his co-anchor Jackie 'O' Henderson, 45, that they didn't understand 'what it takes to be black' and also explained the concept of white privilege. Important issues: The Kyle and Jackie O Show hosted a 'Tough Chat' segment on Thursday in which the hosts tackled the issues of racism and white privilege. In a confronting moment, KIIS FM's Block Party host Rodney Overby (pictured) described Kyle Sandilands as 'racist' Discussing the Black Lives Matter protests in America and the subsequent spotlight on racism in this country, Rodney said that Australia was 'on par' with the U.S. in terms of prejudice against people of colour. 'There's racism here but it's really subtle, people aren't seeing it,' he said. 'Now Kyle, you're racist...' At that moment, Kyle responded: 'Am I?' 'Yeah, you're racist. You say some real racist s**t,' Rodney said, to which Kyle responded defensively: 'What do I say?' Learning moment: Rodney told Kyle (right) and his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson (left) that they didn't understand 'what it takes to be black' and also explained the concept of white privilege 'Because you don't understand being black,' Rodney said. In response, Kyle acknowledged that he did not understand 'because I'm white'. 'You're white, that's exactly right, my friend. You're one of my best buds but people just don't understand what it takes to be black,' Rodney continued. 'And people need to be shown that. And you guys need to tell people where to get that information. How to get that information.' Rodney and Brigette Obradovic, UTS's Indigenous Leadership and Engagement Vice-Chancellor, went on to explain that people need to educate themselves and those around them about racism in Australia. 'You make a good point there because since this [the death of George Floyd] has happened, there is a lot more information out there on social media that even for me has been an eye-opener,' Jackie admitted. Lessons: Discussing the Black Lives Matter protests in America and the subsequent spotlight on racism in this country, Rodney said Australia was 'on par' with the U.S. in terms of prejudice against people of colour. Pictured: Rodney at the Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney on Tuesday She continued: 'When we talk about white privilege, for instance, I always thought that white privilege was someone who was white and born into a privileged life but that is not what white privilege is at all.' 'What is white privilege? What do we need to know?' Kyle asked. 'For example, going to the grocery store, I would get dressed. And the reason I would get dressed "appropriately" is because if I didn't, I knew I would be followed [by security] once I get into the store,' Brigette said. 'Not just tracksuits and a hoodie like the rest of us?' Kyle asked. Community leaders: Rodney and Brigette Obradovic, UTS's Indigenous Leadership and Engagement Vice-Chancellor, went on to explain that people need to educate themselves and those around them about racism in Australia 'No, because if you go to the store looking like that, it would draw attention,' Brigette replied. 'Not only that, when you show up to go check out, what happens is, if you pay for your purchase with a credit card, they'll ask you for additional ID. Like, what the hell? You didn't ask the person in front of me for additional ID.' 'I'm assuming it's "more of a risk" that you're trying to commit fraud, is that what they're saying?' Kyle asked. 'Just because the colour of your skin,' Brigette responded. Prejudice: Brigette Obradovic (pictured) told Kyle and Jackie O Show that racism means she has to carefully consider the clothes she wears before leaving the house The situation Brigette described was reminiscent of why George Floyd was being arrested before his death last Monday. Floyd, 46, died after being arrested by four Minneapolis police officers for allegedly using a fake $20 bill. He was brought to the ground by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for eight minutes. Footage of the incident was spread online, sparking a wave of protests across the U.S. and worldwide. Floyd, who was unarmed and handcuffed, repeatedly said he couldn't breathe. An autopsy later ruled he died of asphyxia. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, and the three other officers on the the scene have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. QUEENSBURY Enrollment at SUNY Adirondack has dipped 8% for this summer compared to last year, a sign that some students may be looking for a break following a stressful spring semester, according to the colleges administration. Around 500 students are taking classes during the colleges first two summer sessions, a decrease of about 100 from last year, said Kristine Duffy, the colleges president. The college began offering two sessions on May 18, which will run for six and 10 weeks, respectively. A third session will begin after July 4. Its been a stressful time for people and its possible that some students just needed a break, Duffy said of the decrease. She added its possible enrollment could still tick up as the third session draws near. SUNY Adirondack officials expect budget declines due to pandemic SUNY Adirondack's first attempt at a budget during the pandemic anticipates sharp drops in revenue. The college was forced to shift to remote online learning at the end of March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision to reopen SUNY campuses to in-person classes for the fall semester has yet to be made. Still, the college has seen a slight increase in the number of students taking a full-time course load the equivalent of 12 or more credits compared to last summer, which Duffy attributed to students getting a jump on the fall semester or making up for a lighter schedule in the spring. Enrollment has been steadily decreasing at SUNY Adirondack over the last decade, according to SUNY data. Its a trend seen at all 30 community colleges belonging to the sprawling public university system, which has 64 campuses in total. In fall 2009, there were 4,136 students enrolled at the school. That number dropped to 3,420 in 2019, a decrease of 17%, according to data. A number of factors have contributed to the decrease, Duffy said. Among them are fewer high school graduates in the region, the result of shifting demographics and a declining population. Communities across upstate, including Warren and Washington counties, have been losing population for the last decade. Approximately 1,763 and 2,012 have left Warren and Washington counties in the last decade, respectively, according to census estimates. An official census count is currently underway and will be calculated later this year. The age demographic has certainly shifted to an older population, Duffy said. The high school graduation numbers have been declining and, of course, the small schools are getting smaller. Typically, enrollment at community colleges is linked to the economy, Duffy said. When the economy is doing well, enrollment tends to dip because people choose to enter the workforce. But when the economy is doing poorly much like it is now enrollment numbers creep up. But COVID-19 may serve to disrupt that relationship. Of course, weve never been in a recession because of a pandemic, so its going to be a little trickier to predict what will happen, Duffy said. Students across the country have taken issue with remote learning, with some going as far as filing class-action lawsuits seeking a refund in tuition dollars and alleging they have been deprived of the educational experience they paid for. A pair of students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute filed a similar suit last month, and lawsuits are being considered involving students from Sage Colleges and Skidmore Colleges, according to the Times Union. Its unclear if students will forgo classes in the fall if campuses are unable to reopen for in-person classes, but Duffy said online classes have gotten a bad reputation and pointed to fewer students withdrawing in the spring semester this year than last year. Only 14% of students withdrew from classes in the spring this year compared to 17% in 2019, she said. Still, the college wont have a true sense of how the pandemic will impact this falls enrollment numbers until a decision is made to hold in-person classes or complete the semester online, Duffy said. I think once those plans are released, that will give us a better indicator of students decision. I think right now students are delaying decisions not only with us, but with higher education in general, she said. Love 1 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. Inmates of the Ho Central Prisons has appealed to the Government to provide the Prisons with isolation centers in the wake of COVID-19. They also appealed for minor offenders to be freed to make room for social and physical distancing in the cells. The prisoners made the appeal when Mr Prosper Pi-Bansah, Ho Municipal Chief Executive donated assorted personal protective equipment, including an infrared thermometer gun, alcohol-based hand sanitizers, liquid soaps, and packs of tissue paper to the Prisons. The inmates commended the MCE for the gesture and government for efforts at containing the pandemic and said it was time attention was given to "us too." They said despite social distancing being a major protocol in preventing the spread of the virus, they continued to "sleep in groups of 70/80 in a cell with no isolation center for inmates who are very sick." The prisoners said though people the world over were adapting to a new normal, it was business as usual for the inmates with "overcrowding everywhere. Overcrowding in cells, pavilion, everywhere..." They also lamented on the sanitation situation in the Prisons and called for support. The Ghana News Agency observed that the pavilion in the male prisons was jam-packed with only about five inmates wearing nose masks. A few of them were also spotted eating together and others singing and shouting in close proximity. Last month, the Prisons allegedly threatened to shut its gates to new inmates due to overcrowding. The MCE urged inmates who had nose masks to wear them regularly to stop the spread of the disease, stressing, "nose masks are now the new pattern of dressing for our safety." Mr Andrews Dzokoto, Deputy Director of Prisons, Volta Regional Commander of Prisons commended the MCE and the Assembly for the support. He said the Ho Central Prisons, designed for 150 inmates had 423 prisoners with some sleeping under the beds of others. Mr Dzokoto said the major challenge was overcrowding and that all inmates had nose masks and were regularly encouraged to wear them. The MCE made similar donations to the Police, Immigration, and military in Ho. He observed that some security officers were not observing the safety protocols, especially the wearing of nose masks, and said, it was affecting enforcement. Mr Pi-Bansah said the Assembly was, therefore, forming a multi-taskforce to ensure all safety protocols were observed strictly to curb the spread of the virus. Ho, Volta Regional capital as of May 31, 2020, had 23 COVID-19 positive cases out of 84 in the Region. The Region is said to have also recorded two COVID-19 deaths and 35 recoveries at the end of May. 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 Chinese Dissident Xu Zhiyong to Be Honored by PEN America NEW YORKXu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese activist and legal scholar detained by the Chinese communist regime since earlier this year, is being honored by PEN America. The literary and human rights organization announced on June 4 that Xu is this years winner of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, which recognizes those imprisoned for free expression and previously has been given to dissidents everywhere from Cuba to Turkey. Xus award comes on the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, when Chinese soldiers shot and killed thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators, according to most estimates. The true death count is still not known due to the regimes suppression of information on the subject. The 47-year-old Xu has strongly criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his handling of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak. Xu had been in hiding since last December, but continued to attack Xi on social media, accusing him of covering up information about the CCP virus and calling him unfit for his job. Police officer walks past placards of detained rights activists taped on the fence of the Chinese liaison office, in protest against Beijings detention of prominent anti-corruption activist Xu Zhiyong, in Hong Kong, China, on Feb. 19, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) You didnt authorise the truth to be released, and the outbreak turned into a national disaster, Xu wrote in February, shortly before he was detained. I dont think youre an evil man, youre just not wise. According to friends, Xu faces charges for inciting subversion of state power. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel cited a confluence of factors in giving the award to Xu, from highlighting Chinas record of human rights violations as the countrys influence grows worldwide to the dangers of official secrecy on public health. The suppression of information and the punishment of those who tried to blow the whistle has unquestionably contributed to the uncontrollable spread of the coronavirus, she said. We really see the catastrophic consequences of muzzling those who try to tell the truth. Xu has a long history of taking on the regime and was jailed in 2014 for gathering a crowd to disturb public order, a charge stemming from his leadership of the reformist New Citizens Movement. In 2009, he was arrested on charges of tax evasion but released a month later. PEN will highlight Xus life and work at its annual gala, scheduled for Dec. 8 in Manhattan after being postponed from May because of the CCP virus. Other honorees will include the musician and author Patti Smith and Hearst executive president Frank A. Bennack Jr. By Hillel Italie Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. Trade between Ukraine and Germany grew by 3.1% in 2019 year-on-year, to $9.3 billion, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Ihor Petrashko has said. He said this at a meeting with German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture reported. "Germany is our reliable partner, which in 2019 took first place among Ukraine's trade partners from Europe. In particular, last year's trade between Ukraine and Germany increased by 3.1% and amounted to $9.3 billion," Petrashko said. According to the report, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the state of and prospects for trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, the implementation of joint projects and the exchange of experience in economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the minister, food security is a priority for all countries in the current conditions. Ukraine, as a guarantor of global food security, makes every effort to fulfill its international obligations and supplies agricultural products to foreign markets. The participants in the meeting discussed the intensification of bilateral cooperation in the field of economic development, agriculture, food security, energy efficiency, improvement of the business climate, infrastructure, etc. The Ukrainian side spoke about steps on anti-crisis initiatives aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses, access to cheap and long-term financing for Ukrainian businesses, the localization of government orders, i.e. providing benefits to those who produce goods in Ukraine, as well as support for export potential. op With their method of detecting gene mutations which cause hearing impairments, Dr Tran Thi Thanh Huyen and her co-workers are representing Vietnam at the final round of the ASEAN-US Science Prize. Huyen, director of the Medical Genetics Division at Vinmec's Stem Cell Research and Genetic Technology Institute, belonging to Vingroup, and her colleagues have been conducting research for years to find a way to detect genetic mutations causing hearing losses in infants and children. Dr Tran Thi Thanh Huyen Huyen decided to work out on this after witnessing the story of a neighbor who is extremely unfortunate who has two children. The eldest son has cerebral palsy due to asphyxia at birth, while the second child carries the gene code that causes hearing loss in childhood. Scientists found that three children suffer from hearing loss for every 1,000 newborns. The figure is even higher than the proportion of children born with a cleft palate. More seriously, it is difficult to discover the hearing loss as parents often mistake deaf children for obedient children. Scientists found that three children suffer from hearing loss for every 1,000 newborns. The figure is even higher than the proportion of children born with a cleft palate. More seriously, it is difficult to discover the hearing loss as parents often mistake deaf children for obedient children. Scientists have found about 120 genes related to hearing loss. The children bearing the mutated gene can suffer from deafness at birth, or after several years. In many cases, children suddenly cannot hear after using certain drugs, such as antibiotics. At present, the detection of deaf deformities in newborns is still largely based on physical tests. Gene tests have been conducted in a few places with biological products available in the market. However, the gene mutations related to hearing loss are different depending on races and regions, so it is impossible to use the European or Chinese test kits for Vietnamese. Vinmec says that research by Huyen and her co-workers can create a test kit for early detection of congenital deafness in children in Vietnam, and identify appropriate interventions to help children hear, speak and lead a normal life. Huyen spent 16 years on studying and researching overseas. Before returning to Vietnam, Huyen was a postgraduate at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. Huyen said she admires academic research, but prefers carrying out research that will be applied in real life, especially in healthcare. After meeting physicians and understanding the conditions in Vietnam, I wanted to do something practical and useful. This is what I learned from my teacher, Prof Nguyen Thanh Liem, she said. Kham Pha Vietnamese scientist finds 'super material' in waste products Aerogel, the super material, opens great opportunities for humans to solve problems, from waste treatment and environmental protection to the production of new materials. Photograph: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images Donald Trumps first defence secretary, James Mattis, has delivered a blistering condemnation of the president, accusing him of abusing executive authority in his response to the recent wave of anti-racism protests that have convulsed cities across the US, and calling for him for to be held accountable. Mattiss broadside breaks a near silence from the ex-marine general since he resigned in December 2018. He expressed outrage at the militarisation of the administrations response to mass protests over the police killing of George Floyd. I have watched this weeks unfolding events, angry and appalled, he said. His statement, published by the Atlantic magazine, came on a day of confusion and discord in the Trump administration over the role of the military. Mattiss successor as defence secretary, Mark Esper, had contradicted Trump over the presidents threatened invocation of the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy active duty troops on US streets. Related: Pentagon chief opposes Trump threat to deploy military at protests Esper had ordered elite airborne troops, flown to the Washington outskirts on Monday, back to their bases on Wednesday, but then reversed that order hours later after a visit to the White House. The defence secretary had also sought to distance himself from a presidential publicity stunt on Monday, in which Trump had protesters cleared from Lafayette Park, a public area in front of the White House, so that he could be photographed outside a church that had been partially burned the previous day. In his statement on Wednesday evening, Mattis said: Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. The former defence secretary added: We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Park. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our constitution. Story continues Mattis recalled the distinction between US forces and the Nazis fighting on the Normandy beaches in 1944. The Nazi slogan was Divide and conquer while the American response was In union there is strength. Mattiss dramatic and long-awaited intervention comes at a time when Trump appeared to be at a crossroads in his response to the protests. The White House signaled its displeasure with Espers rejection of the Insurrection Act and his efforts to distance himself from Trumps actions. The presidents spokeswoman, asked whether Trump still had confidence in Esper, would only say, that he remained the defence secretary as of right now. On the same day, a radical Republican senator, Tom Cotton, widely believed to have aspirations to replace Esper, was egging on the president to send troops into US cities. This week, rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s, said Cotton, who has also urged military conflict with Iran, in a New York Times commentary. One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers, Cotton wrote. Any attempt to use active-duty troops, as opposed to the national guard which has already been widely deployed, threatens to split the US military, which is one of the countrys most diverse institutions. Mattis reflected what is reported to be a widely held view in the armed services, in arguing the protesters were standing up for the constitutional principle of equality under the law, and should be universally supported. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers, he said. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values. When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the constitution, Mattis wrote. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. Militarising our response, as we witnessed in Washington DC, sets up a conflict a false conflict between the military and civilian society, he added. Mattiss statement comes a day after a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen, expressed his own renunciation of the handling of the protests, reflecting deep unease among many serving officers. Mullen said he was sickened by the photo op at the church. Too many foreign and domestic policy choices have become militarised; too many military missions have become politicised, Mullen wrote, also in the Atlantic. This is not the time for stunts. This is the time for leadership. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE For the second time in two weeks, Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan has sat with his hands cuffed in the back of a patrol car after he was arrested Thursday afternoon. However, this time Lujan faces two felony charges harboring or aiding a felon and threatening a witness which are fourth- and third-degree felonies, respectively. A warrant for Lujans arrest was signed by Los Alamos Magistrate Court Judge Pat Casados earlier in the morning, based on a criminal complaint filed by Adriana Munoz, special investigator for the 9th Judicial District Court. The charges stem from a 2017 incident in which Lujan is accused of helping former Espanola city councilor Phillip Chacon escape from the Espanola Police Department, according to an affidavit filed in Rio Arriba Magistrate Court. On March 14, 2017, Chacon became involved in a high-speed chase with Espanola police officers, from whom he escaped. An arrest warrant was soon issued for Chacon. Former RASO deputy Cody Lattin told investigators he heard the chase over the radio and soon informed Lujan about it face to face. Lujan then received a phone call from Chacon, after which Lujan and Lattin drove to Chacons home. Officer Lattin saw Sheriff Lujan instruct Phillip to gather some belongings, the affidavit states. Officer Lattin last saw Sheriff Lujan leave in his patrol unit with Phillip Chacon. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb, who Attorney General Hector Balderas assigned to prosecute Lujan, said knowingly helping someone escape police capture is a crime. Lattin told investigators Lujan told him not to tell anyone about Chacon and that he feared Lujan would fire him if he did. Reeb said this is also a crime. The affidavit includes other witnesses. Deputy Ernest Vigil said he drove to Chacons house to drop off a restraining order and saw Lujan near the front door. Dispatcher Alejandro de la Rosa stated Lujan had called him demanding to know all information about the chase involving Chacon and told de la Rosa not to say anything. A letter from Lujan to Espanola City Councilor Peggy Sue Martinez acknowledges he had called de la Rosa and later confronted him because he thought the dispatcher had leaked information about Chacon. In March, Lujan arrived out of uniform to a standoff between officers and Chacon, who was a suspect in a stabbing case, where he attempted to tell officers to leave. Espanola Police Chief Roger Jimenez alleged Lujan did this to allow Chacon to escape. In a previous criminal complaint, Jimenez also mentioned the incident at the center of Thursdays arrest. There were previous allegations that Sheriff Lujan had aided Mr. Chacon in a previous incident, fleeing the state in an attempt to escape capture, he stated. Espanola police arrested Lujan May 21 for failing to comply with a warrant for his iPhone, which Jimenez said was used to contact Chacon during the March incident. Lujan was released from Los Alamos County Detention Center Thursday and will be arraigned Monday morning. China strongly protests to UK over foreign secretary's Hong Kong remarks Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 10:25 AM China has filed stern representations with the United Kingdom over remarks by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab accusing Beijing of violating the autonomy of Hong Kong with the passage of a national security law in the global financial hub. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that London had no jurisdiction in or supervision over Hong Kong. Raab on Tuesday called on China to withdraw what he referred to as an "authoritarian" national security law for Hong Kong, claiming that it risked ruining one of the jewels of Asia's economy as well as China's own reputation. "There is time for China to reconsider, there is a moment for China to step back from the brink and respect Hong Kong's autonomy and respect China's own international obligations," Raab said. "The sad reality is that if China continues down this track, it will be strangling what has long been the jewel in the economic crown," added the British top diplomat when asked about the future of the Hong Kong dollar peg. Hong Kong's legislature debated and passed the Beijing-proposed law last Wednesday, potentially criminalizing sedition, secession, and subversion. The bill also requires that China's national anthem be taught in schools and sung by organizations, and imposes jail terms or fines against those who disrespect it. Despite Western criticism, however, Beijing insists that the new law does not pose a threat to Hong Kong's autonomy and the interests of foreign investors, noting that it is merely meant to prevent terrorism and foreign interference there, which were evident in violent, Western-backed protest rallies and riots there against the government last year. Raab further claimed on Tuesday that the security law was in breach of the "one country, two systems" principle enshrined in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and was also in violation of Article 23 of China's own basic law. The British diplomat went on to threaten that if Beijing kept the security law in place, London would form an alliance of countries to resist China, whose 14-trillion-dollar economy overshadows every Western economy except the US, which has a 21.4-trillion-dollar economy. UK 'to change immigration rules if China keeps security law' Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that his country was ready to revise its immigration rules for the people of Hong Kong if China decided to keep the national security legislation in the city. "Since the handover in 1997, the key has been the precious concept of 'one country, two systems,' enshrined in Hong Kong's Basic Law and underpinned by the Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China", Johnson wrote in an op-ed article published in the South China Morning Post. The British prime minister claimed that Beijing's decision with the national security law would "curtail its freedoms and dramatically erode its autonomy." Under the proposed change, holders of British National Overseas (BNO) passports from Hong Kong would be allowed to enter the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and granted further immigration rights, "including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship," according to Johnson. Nearly 350,000 of the people in Hong Kong currently hold such passports and another 2.5 million would be eligible to apply for them, he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Director Basu Chatterjees cinema celebrated the extraordinary in the ordinary. His heroines were not about bouffant crowns or bitsy blouses. Rather they were real women whom you bumped into at bus-stops, in the office canteen or in trains. His hero was the regular guy bogged down by budgets, bills and the challenge of hitching a bride. Right from Piya Ka Ghar, Rajnigandha, Choti Si Baat, Chitchor, Swami, Baton Baton Mein, Khatta Meeta and Shaukeen, Basudas films through the 70s and 80s were about everyday concerns, treated with humour. I belonged to a middle class family. Thats the life I know. Thats why there was nothing larger-than-life about my films, says the director who was called the balcony class filmmaker. The educated classes or the balcony classes would come to see my family entertainers. There was no vulgarity, he agrees. His common man sensibilities were compared to that of the late filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Theres nothing wrong in being compared to Hrishida. I respect him. He was a valuable filmmaker. I found myself making his kind of films, though not consciously. One advantage that Hrishida had was he often remade his Bengali hits in Hindi whereas I used to pick subjects from literature. He adds, My filmmaking has been inspired by the Film Society Forum where I saw German, Italian and French films. I was also influenced by Bicycle Thief (an Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica) and Billy Wilder films (socio-romantic comedies). As for himself being an inspiration to many, he says, I remember Raj Kumar Hirani, when still a student at the FTII, telling me, your work is an eye-opener for us. He wouldnt mind if his films were to be remade. Basuda doesnt believe in writing his memoirs either. Jhooth bolna padega (Ill have to lie)! he says wryly. Nor is he wary of being lost in oblivion. Thats a part of every artistes life. But I stay away from dark themes and depression. Thats why my films are mostly shot in daylight. Four members of La Manada, a group of Spanish friends who were convicted in a 2016 gang rape case that made global headlines, have been found guilty of sexual abuse against another woman. In December 2018, an appeals court upheld a nine-year prison conviction against five men, who had been found guilty of sexually abusing an 18-year-old woman at the 2016 Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona. The case became known as La Manada (the Wolf Pack) after the WhatsApp group that the men used to chat and boast about their sexual exploits. The original court decision triggered nationwide protests after judges found the men guilty of the lesser charge of abuse but not of rape. On Thursday four members of the gang were sentenced to additional prison time for sexually abusing a young woman who was lying unconscious inside a vehicle as the group drove from Torrecampo to Pozoblanco, in the Andalusian province of Cordoba, in the early hours of May 1, 2016. It means carte blanche for gang abuse and agression Patricia Catalina, Clara Campoamor Association The defendants were also found guilty of violating the victims privacy after they recorded the abuse and shared it on two WhatsApp chat groups. Three of the men Alfonso Jesus Cabezuelo, Jesus Escudero and Antonio Manuel Guerrero have been given an extra year and four months in prison, while Jose Angel Prenda, who told the court he was solely responsible for recording the abuse and sharing it, got three years. Cabezuelo, a member of the military, has also been ordered to pay the victim 12 a day for two months for causing her minor injuries after she refused to perform oral sex on him and he struck her. The woman will also receive 13,150 in damages. In his ruling, Judge Luis Santos took into account the personal circumstances of the accused, who following these events carried out an even more serious unlawful act in Pamplona, whose public notoriety was very significant. For this reason, the defendants have been handed more than the minimum prison term of one year. But womens groups found the conviction too light. It means carte blanche for gang abuse and aggression, said Patricia Catalina, of the Clara Campoamor Association, which was a party to the criminal proceedings as the private prosecution. The members of La Manada are already serving 15-year prison terms for the gang rape in Pamplona Agustin Martinez, the defendants lawyer, said they will appeal unless his clients oppose it. The members of La Manada are already serving 15-year prison terms for the gang rape in Pamplona, which took place two months after the Cordoba abuse. The decision on Thursday was based on two recordings lasting 30 seconds and 45 seconds, in which Cabezuelo, Escudero, Guerrero and Prenda are seen touching the womans breasts. In the footage, Cabezuelo also kisses her on the mouth. Prenda recorded the moment with his cellphone from the front passenger seat. The videos were obtained two months later, when they turned up during the police investigation into the Pamplona rape case. The defense tried to get the judge to reject the footage as evidence in the new case, arguing that it had been obtained without specific authorization to do so and in violation of his clients privacy. But the judge rejected these claims. The ruling states that the events took place in the early hours of May 1, 2016, when the victim got into a car with the four men after meeting them at the local fiestas in Torrecampo. After getting in the car, at an unspecified time and without known reason [...] she fell into a state of unconsciousness. As the driver made his way to Pozoblanco, where he and the victim both lived, the men began to feel her breasts and to kiss her. After arriving in town, the young woman woke up and agreed to let Cabezuelo take her home. But when she refused to perform the aforementioned sex act, he hit her and insulted her. Two months later, she received a call from a police officer investigating the Pamplona case, and was informed about the videos and their contents. At that point, the woman filed a complaint against the members of La Manada. English version by Susana Urra. AFT Pharmaceuticals (NZX.AFT; ASX.AFP) today announces it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Austrias Ever Valinject (Ever) for the commercialisation of Maxigesic IV, the intravenous form of its patented analgesic, in a significant portion of Western Europe: Germany, Austria, Italy and France. It also announces steady market share gains and sales growth across a broad range of its Australasian over-the-counter (OTC) medicines as consumers seek protection against Covid-19 infection. MAXIGESIC IV DISTRIBUTION The agreement with Ever builds on AFTs existing partnership over other Maxigesic dose forms. It will see Ever drive the launch of Maxigesic IV in Germany, Italy, France and Austria where the total analgesic market is worth US$585m1, US$545m1, US$587m1 and US$125m1 respectively. Market data forecasts from an independent market research company, DelveInsight predicted that by 2028 Maxigesic IV could make up just under 16% of the US$553m postoperative analgesic market in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK, indicating an estimated sales volume of just under US$90m for the top 5 markets in Europe.2 AFT Managing Director, Dr Hartley Atkinson says: Ever Valinject is a strong, dynamic partner and its sales teams are highly experienced at selling in the hospital sector including specialty and added value injectable products. Ever has an excellent understanding and track record in these markets. With a combined population of over 219 million3 (2019), we believe that these markets represent great potential for Maxigesic IV. We expect first sales of Maxigesic IV in Germany and Austria in late 2020, following the registration of the Maxigesic IV in 18 European countries in May 2020. Further regulatory filings will be required to finalise registrations in Italy and France prior to being able to launch in these additional countries. Maxigesic IV has been registered in the following EU nations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. COVID-19 RELATED MEDICINES Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic AFT has seen an uptick in sales and market share in a variety of its OTC product categories, ranging from traditional cold and flu medicines through to eyecare products. The increases were particularly strong ahead of, and during, the Covid-19 lockdowns. They have since moderated as the lockdown restrictions eased but still leave AFTs portfolio of medicines in a stronger position than they were at the same time last year. Dr Atkinson said: Our Australasian OTC medicine portfolio represents a core strength of the company. It is an attractive and growing business in its own right, but it also provides a launch pad for AFT to commercialise its extensive intellectual property around the world. We are very pleased with the sales progress and we are delighted to be able to supply products that deliver real health benefits to customers during these difficult times. Maxigesic extends market share in Australia In Australia Maxigesic has increased its market share in its category to now reach an 11.1 percentage point lead on a quarterly basis over its nearest competitor7. The increase comes amid strong demand for the medicine in response to Covid-19 fears due to the recognition the medicine can offer effective relief to cold and flu symptoms. Eyecare sales driven by an increase in screentime More time spent in front of screens during the Covid-19 lockdown has seen an unexpected increase in sales of eyecare products. Sales of AFTs lubricating eyecare products, including Hylo-Forte, Hylo-Fresh, NovaTears and Optisoothe , increased by 151% in April 2020 compared to the same month a year ago. This increase whilst not expected to remain at this level is consistent with AFTs growth in market share and broader market growth in the category. Hand Sanitiser launch successful AFT introduced its Crystawash Hand Sanitiser in Australia and New Zealand in late May as an extension to its Crystaderm skin antiseptic range - Crystaderm cream (the top selling antiseptic cream in New Zealand), Crystawash saline wound wash, Crystasoothe for sunburn and burns. Sales at the AFT list price in the first three days of launch for the new Crystawash Hand Sanitiser, available in purse packs of 50ml and 500ml pump packs, reached a pleasing NZ$436,000. Liposomal Vitamin C: AFT reaches #1 in New Zealand pharmacies. Sales of AFTs liposomal Vitamin C have continued to break new records. The new generation formulation uses patented liposomal technology that delivers 80% greater absorption than standard Vitamin C5. IQVIA data for sales to New Zealand pharmacies for the first quarter of the calendar 2020 year showed that Vitamin C Liposachets reached the #1 selling product [number of sachets sold] in the liposomal vitamin C category6. AFT is working on expanding the liposomal vitamin category by launching a number of line extensions that will help build immunity during the winter months, including a childrens version of Vitamin C Liposachets; a blackcurrant flavoured version of Vitamin C Liposachets; and Vitamin D Liposachets. Source: AFT Pharmaceuticals (NZX.AFT; ASX.AFP) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. 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. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ArborGen Holdings Limited (NZX: ARB) Updates Market on FY22 Guidance My Food Bag Group Limited (NZX: MFB) Q3 FY22 Trading Update ikeGPS Group Limited (NZX: IKE) signs $0.9m deal with tier-1 electric utility Tower Limited (NZX: TWR) Update on Tonga Volcanic Eruption and Tsunami Event 21st January 2022 Morning Report Trade Window Holdings Limited (NZX: TWL) TradeWindow and Mastercard teams up Genesis Energy Limited (NZX: GNE) FY22 Q2 Performance Report Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Seeka announces dividend of 13 cents per share 20th January 2022 Morning Report Z Energy Limited (NZX: ZEL) Q3FY33 Operating Data Some 300 days after popular Pidgin journalist Samuel Wazizi was arrested by police in Buea and held incommunicado, his alleged torture and death was announced in the Cameroonian media on Wednesday. Wazizis death was announced on Equinoxe television in the economic capital Douala, after reporting that it had received confirmation from a top military aide in Yaounde, the administrative capital. He was arrested by police and later taken back to the military barracks. Since he was transferred, we havent had any contact with him, says Elvis Tsembom Ndi, a secretary of the regional Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ). Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, who went by the name Wazizi, was a popular news presenter at CMTV in Buea, the capital of the anglophone South West region. He had an amazing programme over the radio called Hala ya matter in Pidgin; his programme was kind of satirical as he brought out the ills and gave out local news, says Feka Parchibell, the head of an NGO called Hope for Vulnerables and Orphans (HOVO) in Kambe, based in the anglophone North West region. So many people listened to it to laugh and at the same time get some salient information on the happenings in the community, Parchibell told RFI. Peaceful protests in the English-speaking North West and South West regions of Cameroon began in 2016. Anglophones demonstrated against the perceived marginalization by the majority French-speaking central government, however, protests erupted into violence after the government responded with a military crackdown. Separatists then armed themselves in a crisis where innocent civilians in the two regions have been caught in the crossfire. He tried to help his community Wazizi was working in Buea, one of the restive regions in Cameroon. After his arrest, we got reports that he had links with separatist fighters, but we werent able to confirm this, says journalist Ndi. Parchibell met Wazizi in 2018 when he came to a HOVO press conference about the lack of education for Anglophone children in the region. Her organisation primarily helps women and girls. Wazizi interviewed her about the work HOVO does and found out that she regularly went to the bush to help people fleeing the violence. Story continues He told her that the bush in Muea, where he was from, had Internally Displaced People (IDPs) that no humanitarians had ever visited or tried to help. He was very hard-working and he owned one of the bush areas that served as a home to the IDPs, she says. They had planned to go to the bush around Muea right before he was arrested. He gave no indication that he thought he was being pursued by the military, she said. Truth is, with this crisis, no one is actually safe because when you praise the military or the Amba boys, the other party feels you are against them, she added, referring to the armed Ambazonian separatists. He, just like any Cameroonian, talked about the crisis. He wanted the crisis to come to an end, and that's our prayers, says Parchibell. Although the announcement was made via the media, no official statement has been made about Wazizis death. RFI contacted both the communications minister and the military press secretary for confirmation, but as of time of publication, has not received any reply. No corpse has been produceda grey area according to the international media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). We believe he is still alive, says Ndi, a CAMASEJ secretary. The regional journalist's group had consistently pressed for information to find out where he was being detained. Wazizi literally disappeared into the system, says Ndi. We were shocked that he was arrested, he had no access to lawyers, to family membersthis is against the criminal procedure code, he says. Additionally, although he was picked up by police, he, a civilian, was handed over to the military, another inconsistency in the case. There was no justification for holding him in an army barracks and no excuse for his death, says Arnaud Froger, the head of Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The murky circumstances surrounding this case must be clarified. The broadcaster failed to appear at a hearing at Fako High Court in the South West Region on 28 May, prompting his lawyers to fear he was already dead. Rumours that he had been transferred to the notorious Kondengui prison in Yaounde have not been confirmed. According to comments by lawyer Christopher Ndong to VOA, Wazizi died in a military hospital of wounds inflicted upon him by security forces. Wazizi, one of many detained journalists Press organisations are also closely following the cases of Pidgin blogger and activist Mancho Bibixy, Tsi Conrad, and Thomas Awah Junior. Awah previously worked for for Equinoxe TV, was tried and sentenced along with two other journalists, Tsi Conrad and Mancho Bibixy, on charges relatied to the Anglophone crisis. A Yaounde chapter member of CAMASEJ, Frank Akam*, had been visiting Bibixy, Conrad and Awah on a regular basis until a riot broke out in Kondengui prison last July. Awah has been in and out of the hospital and is not well, he told RFI. Bibixy, as of six months ago, was mentally very strong, vocal and continues to reject the charges against him, says Akam. Wawa Jackson, a former radio journalist with Abakwa FM, was arrested 18 months ago in the North West region for comments he made on his local news Facebook page, Wawanews. For Wazizis case, CAMASEJ has been discussing how to bring about an independent investigation, and the media body has contacted the ministry of defense for an official meeting, says Ndi. Wazizis forced disappearance leaves a great void in Anglophone Cameroon's media, and in his community. He was a jovial young man who wanted everyone around to be happy, says Parchibell. He loved his Muea community and was inspiring to many youths. *Name changed for security reasons Allen, president of the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, contrasted the routing of the protesters in Lafayette Park with remarks by Floyds brother, Terrence Floyd, who denounced looting that he said tarnishes his brothers memory. Writing in Foreign Policy, Allen urged people to make their votes in November for the future of Americas democracy. It will have to come from the bottom up. For at the White House, there is no one home, he wrote. Days ago, Esper had ordered about 1,300 Army personnel to military bases outside the nations capital as Trump weighed whether to invoke the Insurrection Act and send active-duty troops into the city, where the scene of large protests that devolved into violence and looting over the weekend. But after a night of calm enforced by a large deployment of National Guard troops and heavily armed federal law enforcement agents, defense officials said the troops would begin returning to their home base. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that the decision was reversed after Esper's visit to the White House. The White House didn't respond to request for comment on whether Trump ordered the change. Ghanas current electrification rate is about 85 percent, a bit far off the target, with no improvement in sight, the Executive Director of the Institute of Energy Security has said. According to Paa Kwasi Anamua Sakyi (Nana Amoasi VII), after 31 years after the establishment of a 30-year National Electrification Scheme (NES), there still exists a substantial deficit in electricity access in Ghana. The 30-year National Electrification Scheme (NES) was instituted in 1989 to achieve universal access to reliable electricity supply by 2020. The baseline at the time the policy was rolled out, showed a national electricity access of about 25 percent, with only 5 percent rural penetration. In a write-up on the need for Ghana to deploy renewables to achieve universal electricity access by 2025, Mr Anamua Sakyi said: It is evidently clear that with the current growth rate, it is practically impossible to achieve universal access by end 2020. And the admission of this fact is what has led to the government of Ghana revising its target, and seeking to develop new strategies to push the boundaries to achieve the goal of universal access by year 2025. Thirty-one years after the policy was instituted, there still exists a substantial deficit in electricity access in Ghana. The current electrification rate is about 85 percent, a bit far off the target, with no improvement in sight. Data from the Energy Commission of Ghana also showed that at the end of 2000, electricity access rate stood at 45 percent, suggesting an annual growth rate of approximately 2 percent. By the end of 2010, the country had achieved an access rate of 67 percent; indicating an annual growth rate of 2.2 percent. Also, the annual growth rate between the next six years that followed (2010 and 2016) as recorded by the Energy Commission, was 2.7 percent. The trajectory, Mr Anamua Sakyi said, shows an incremental annual growth in electricity access. However, over the last three years (between 2016 and 2019) the annual electricity access growth rate has seen substantial decline from 2.7 percent to a paltry 0.6 percent. As of the end of 2019, the country had obtained a national electricity access rate of 85 percent. If the country had maintained just the annual rate of roughly 2.7 percent, electricity access rate would have been somewhere around 92 percent today; comparable to other countries outside the sub-Saharan African and Asian band. Source: class fm 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 facelifted Toyota Fortuner has been unveiled in Thailand and will come to India later this year. Its a mid-life update For Toyota s super successful SUV and is now available in standard guise as well as the Legender guise, the latter of which places a higher emphasis on Toyotas new age SUV language. The interiors remain unchanged but now with an updated instrument cluster and Apple CarPlay compatibility for the infotainment system. Standard features include climate control, leather upholstery, power drivers seat, cruise control and steering mounted audio controls. This mid-life update sees the Fortuner get a new face with a sharper headlamp design and a prominent bumper. On the side, there new designs for the alloy wheels while at the rear there a new design for the all LED tail lamps. In the Legender trim, you get a sportier face (as compared to the standard car), full LED headlamps, diamond cut alloy wheels and silver inserts in the LED tail lamps. The Thai market gets this updated Fortuner (in both trims) with a 2.4-litre diesel and a 2.8-litre diesel. The former produces 148bhp/343Nm while the latter is good for 174bhp/420Nm. Both are offered with a six-speed manual or a six-speed AT and also get AWD on specific trims. In addition The Indian market is expected to get the 2.4-litre diesel and a 2.7-litre petrol producing 154bhp/245Nm. Here too, both engines get a six-speed manual or a six-speed AT with the diesel getting the AWD option. Here in India, the Fortuner is Toyotas rival for the likes of the Ford Endeavour , Honda CRV and the Mahindra Rexton G4. It is expected to come India later this year with slightly revised prices and will be produced at Toyotas factory in Bidadi outside Bengaluru. Toyota Fortuner 31.38 Lakh Onwards Toyota | Fortuner | Toyota Fortuner The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) has awarded a consortium of IDEMIA and Sopra Steria a framework contract for the delivery of a new shared biometric matching system (sBMS). By 2022, the sBMS will be one of the largest biometric systems in the world, integrating a database of over 400 million third-country nationals with their fingerprints and facial images. Based on European biometrics technology, this new system will first serve the identification needs of the new European Entry/Exit System, thus being the cornerstone of the protection of European borders. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005529/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) The contract was awarded following a competitive call for tender (LISA/2019/RP/05 EES BMS and sBMS) by eu-LISA. Its duration is four years, with an option for an extension of up to six years. The Schengen area, a travel zone where 26 European countries have abolished their internal borders, is key to facilitate the free and unrestricted movement of people. The use of the latest biometric technologies makes it possible to ensure the protection of the external borders in the long term. This shared Biometric Matching System, aiming at fighting against irregular immigration and trans-border crime, will become one of the worlds largest biometric systems when it integrates all the existing and upcoming biometric databases of the European Union. As a contribution to the Smart Borders initiative and the interoperability framework, the sBMS will not only serve the future Entry/Exit System (EES), but also multiple other systems already in use in the EU, including the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS), Eurodac (European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database) and the future ECRIS-TCN (European Criminal Records Information System for Third Country Nationals). The companies forming the consortium already support the European Union in the management of other mission-critical large-scale IT systems including VIS, SIS and Eurodac for more than fifteen years. They have experience of working with the national and local administrations of EU Member States and private sector partners to manage the movement of people across air, land and sea borders. We thank eu-LISA for their renewed trust. As a contributor to the Smart Borders Initiative from the first discussions with the European Commission, IDEMIA is looking forward to shaping the outcome of this major project, based on our comprehensive understanding of the current European systems. Alongside our partners, we will bring best-in-class biometric technology and our full commitment to contribute to one of the most challenging large-scale biometric databases of the world in terms of accuracy and response time for a safer Europe. Philippe Barreau, Executive Vice President of IDEMIA in charge of Public Security & Identity. As European leader in digital transformation and Homeland Security, Sopra Steria is proud to extend its long-standing partnership with eu-LISA contributing to the implementation of an essential and central piece not only for the future Entry/Exit System but also for the other Core Business Systems. I am convinced that this consortium brings the best solution and service offer to accompany eu-LISA in the achievement of its challenges and to deliver the future shared biometric system with high value for its users. Laurent Giovachini, Deputy CEO from Sopra Steria. About IDEMIA IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space. Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets our identity whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors. With 15,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries. For more information, visit www.idemia.com / Follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter. About Sopra Steria Sopra Steria, a European leader in consulting, digital services and software development, helps its clients drive their digital transformation to obtain tangible and sustainable benefits. It provides end-to-end solutions to make large companies and organizations more competitive by combining in-depth knowledge of a wide range of business sectors and innovative technologies with a fully collaborative approach. Sopra Steria places people at the heart of everything it does and is committed to making the most of digital technology to build a positive future for its clients. With 46,000 employees in 25 countries, the Group generated revenue of 4.4 billion in 2019. The world is how we shape it. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005529/en/ You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close If youve tried to buy a nice Windows laptop in the past few years, theres a good chance youve agonized over display resolutions. Buy a laptop with a 4K display, and youll get a picture so sharp that individual pixels become indiscernible, but both battery life and performance will suffer as a result. Get a 1080p laptop instead, and youll get more battery life at the expense of that glorious picture. There is, of course, a middle ground in the form of 1440p (25601440) displays, also known as QHD. You just wouldnt know it from todays selection of laptops. Even though 1440p hits the sweet spot between a crisp picture and long battery life, most laptops instead make you choose between extremes. We asked some PC makers why, and the answers were illuminating. In short, 4K TV marketing has blinded laptop shoppers to the benefits of 1440p displays, so display manufacturers and laptop makers seldom bother to produce them. There is, however, some hope that this might change over the next few years, especially as PC screens come in different shapes and sizes that look less like your TV. 4K laptops: Mostly for marketing Tom Butler, Lenovos executive director of commercial portfolio and product management, said the prevalence of 1080p laptops (also known as Full HD or FHD) is easy to explain. Panels with 19201080 resolution are inexpensive, look decent on smaller screens, and are battery-efficient. IT departments also appreciate 1080p because it generally works with any application, with no scaling issues. That makes it a safe bet for the commercial laptop market. FHD, thats the easy one, Butler said in an interview. That has become the industry sweet spot. But as laptop makers have moved into higher resolutions, theyve gravitated toward 38402160, or 4K resolution, skipping over anything in between. Thats largely because of the hype that TV manufacturers have created around 4K. The TV industry has really trained consumers to look for 4K, Butler said. The problem is that 4K displays affect laptops in a way that users dont experience with 4K TVs. TVs arent bound by battery life, Butler pointed out. Compared to 1080p, 4K panels have four times as many pixels. Lighting them up requires much more powerful backlighting. The laptops processor also has to work harder to render images with all those extra pixels. The results are clear: In review after review, weve found that 4K displays create a serious drag on battery life. Lenovos ThinkPad X1 Carbon 7th Gen, for instance, lasted just 6 hours and 9 minutes in our battery rundown test with a 4K display. The previous version of the X1 Carbon, with a 1080p display, lasted 8 hours and 48 minutes in the same test. In terms of advertised battery life, Lenovos Yoga C940 14 promises 15 hours with a 1080p display, and just 10 hours with 4K. (In real-world use, you can expect battery life to be roughly cut in half.) PCWorld has also found that Intels integrated graphics can struggle with 4K displays, making otherwise nice laptops like the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 exhibit jumpy scrolling and choppy animations. Discrete graphics cards do a better job, but they put an even bigger strain on battery life. Most laptop graphics cards cant really handle 4K gaming anyway. Despite those deficiencies, display manufacturers have focused more on 4K than other middle-ground resolutions, such as 1440p. While 1440p panels are still less expensive to produce than 4K ones, the cost difference isnt so great that PC makers are willing to sacrifice 4Ks marketing benefits. Youre basically jumping into a premium tier panel, and then once youre there, youre like, hey, for a little bit more of a jump, Im at a 4K, which is sort of a market-recognized resolution, Butler said. Thats not to say 4K is worthless in laptops. Stefan Peana, the CTO for display engineering at Dell Technologies, pointed out that most content exists in 1080p or 4K, so for content creators, the latter resolution might make sense. Interestingly, QHD was actually quite popular in laptops many years ago until television became big on 4K, Peana said via email. We see a trend in content creators preferring to work on 4K panels and most consumers finding 1080p sufficient for their daily content consumption needs. Still, its reasonable to wonder how many creative types are working on 4K content using a device like Dells XPS 13, a thin-and-light laptop with a 13-inch screen and integrated graphics. For those kinds of machines, might it make sense to offer a crisper display resolution without 4Ks trade-offs? Peana allowed for the possibility. While demand for QHD displays is relatively low, there is a niche group of consumers were seeing with interest in QHD laptop panels because of better power consumption and lower pricing as compared to 4K laptops, Peana said. This mid-ground between high-resolution quality and battery life may make QHD an appealing option to those customers who do not require best-in-class displays. Changes on the horizon Lenovos Tom Butler is more willing to bet that laptop displays will hit a sweet spot between 1080p and 4K. In the coming years, he foresees a shift away from laptops with the same widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios used by televisions. Taller aspect ratios such as 16:10 or 3:2 give users more space for editing documents and browsing the web. Most of us are not just sitting there consuming content all day, Butler said. Were actually working. Were creating, or were editing, or reviewing, so the extra real estate is welcomed. That push, in turn, may open the door to resolutions other than 4K. Once laptops break out of the widescreen paradigm, Butler said, you wont have this gravitational pull to perhaps over-indexing on the resolution. Were already seeing some laptops do this. Microsoft, for instance, has rejected 4K in its Surface lineup, whose displays all use 3:2 aspect ratios. The 12.3-inch Surface Pro 7 has a resolution of 27361824, while its 13.5-inch Surface Book 3 has a resolution of 30002000. Meanwhile, Apples MacBooks use a 16:10 aspect ratio, and the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro both have resolutions of 25601600, hovering between 1080p and 4K. Other PC makers may still face challenges stepping back from 4K. As Butler noted, coming up with savvy marketing terms that customers will remember, akin to Apples Retina Display branding, isnt easy. I think part of the challenge is, Lenovo can come out with a brand name, HP can come out with something different, Dell can come out with something different, he said. Still, hes optimistic that within within one to three years, sub-4K resolutions will become more popular. Despite what PC makers might say about the benefits of 4K, the truth is that theyre not happy with just mimicking the shape and resolution of televisions. Theyre starting to push manufacturers to produce panels in more shapes and sizes. The PC manufacturers kind of went kicking and screaming from 16:10 to 16:9, Butler said. So we like the fact that the apertures reopening. President Trump's inflammatory Twitter posts and recent executive order that could transform social media as we know it have created a maelstrom and ramped up tensions during an already explosive time in U.S. history. The President is an avid Twitter user, a relatively new phenomenon in politics and one that has enabled him to circumvent traditional media outlets -- and the vetting and scrutiny they would potentially expose his statements to. Consequently, he has largely been given free reign to post whatever he likes on social media until recently. Last week, Twitter crossed into uncharted territory when it appended a warning to Trump's tweet regarding the protests and looting following the police murder of George Floyd. Trump referred to the protesters as "THUGS," a term that is arguably racially loaded. He then tweeted the now infamous statement "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Twitter acted swiftly, appending a warning to his original tweet indicating it had violated the company's rules against glorifying violence. The platform had also appended a fact-check to an earlier Trump tweet hinting that voting by mail in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic would lead to widespread fraud. Within days, Trump had signed an executive order calling on federal regulators to amend a portion of the law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That law protects social media companies from being held liable for the content posted by users on their platforms, while also giving them the power to remove content deemed abusive or offensive. The law has enabled everything from hate speech to terrorist ramblings to propaganda designed to influence elections to thrive on social media platforms. Trump's executive order would essentially force those platforms to take a more active role in monitoring and removing content -- a move that could potentially silence loud and inflammatory voices like Trump's. The Center for Democracy and Technology filed a lawsuit against the President this week, alleging his executive order threatens to "curtail and chill constitutionally protected speech" during the presidential election. The group, which is supported by Facebook, Google and Twitter, is the first to challenge Trump's order. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been dealing with his own set of protests after refusing to take action on posts like Trump's, which some claim could be linked to inciting and promoting violence. Zuckerberg has repeatedly claimed it is not Facebook's responsibility to police political speech. That stance led hundreds of Facebook employees to stage a virtual walkout this week, taking the day off to support George Floyd protesters. Those participating added an automated response to emails indicating they were in disagreement with Facebook's positions on Trump's inflammatory posts. Apparently Facebook's position does not apply to state-backed media outlets, as the company today announced it would add labels to the Facebook pages of Chinese and Russian state-controlled media outlets. The company will now append labels to Sputnik, Xinhua News, People's Daily and other media outlets indicating they are run by the state. Independently run government-funded publishers, like the BBC, will not be included in the labeling. Facebook also plans to label all ads on their platform from state-controlled media organizations, as well as non-paid posts viewed in the U.S. from the outlets' Facebook pages. The company plans to stop state-controlled media organizations from Russia, China and elsewhere from buying ads in the U.S. later this summer, in advance of the November election. The inconsistent approach to domestic and international "state-sponsored communications" is sure to stir even more controversy during one of the most tumultuous times in recent U.S. history. Trump's executive order raises broad questions about the role and scope of social media in general, as well as social media corporations' powers to limit, label and censor some information at will. Changes to the Communications Decency Act, or a successful challenge to Trump's executive order, will have far-reaching ramifications surrounding the sharing of information and the role of social as well as traditional media. That the issue is being raised during a presidential political cycle, a global pandemic and a nation in turmoil over the unjust murder of a black man at the hands of white police officers is sure to have historical consequences. Edited by Maurice Nagle Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China stands ready to work with Germany and the European Union (EU) to strengthen strategic cooperation, uphold multilateralism, tackle global challenges, and jointly add certainty to the current world of uncertainty. In a telephone conversation in the night with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Xi noted that it was the third time since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak that he and Merkel had spoken over the phone, which reflects the deep political mutual trust and close strategic communication between the two sides. The Chinese side appreciates the German government's objective and rational stand as well as its respect for science on the pandemic issue, Xi said. He added that China is ready to work with Germany to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO), promote international cooperation within such frameworks as the United Nations and the Group of 20, help African countries fight the coronavirus disease, and contribute to safeguarding global public health security. Stressing the need to coordinate epidemic control and economic and social development, Xi said the general trend of the Chinese economy towards stable long-term growth with a sound momentum remains unchanged. China, he added, will stay committed to further opening up to and expanding cooperation with the rest of the world, and continue to create a favorable environment for German enterprises to increase investment in China. The recently launched China-Germany "fast track" arrangement will help enterprises in both countries to speed up business resumption, and maintain the stability of international industrial and supply chains, he said. The Chinese president said he is confident that China-Germany cooperation will play its due role in helping pull the world out of the economic recession at an early date. With China and Germany maintaining a stable and sound cooperative relationship, China stands ready to continue dialogue and exchanges with Germany, Xi said. Noting that Germany is to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) for the second half of this year, he added that China appreciates Germany's willingness to actively promote the development of China-EU ties. As a series of significant events of China-Germany and China-EU political exchanges are now under discussion, China is willing to keep close communication and coordination with Germany and the EU to ensure the success of these events and lift China-Germany and China-EU relations to higher levels, he added. For her part, Merkel said that Germany attaches importance to the economic and social development plan made in China's "two sessions," and stands ready to work with China to promote work and production resumption without compromising outbreak control and continuously deepen bilateral economic cooperation. Germany highly appreciates the announcement made by Xi that China's COVID-19 vaccine will be made a global public good, she said, adding that under current circumstances, to enhance international solidarity and multilateralism is crucial to the global fight against the pandemic. The chancellor said Germany is willing to strengthen exchanges with China and continue to support the WHO playing its important role, so as to promote international public health security cooperation. Germany, she added, hopes to maintain dialogue with China and boost cooperation as regards a broad range of fields and issues, and also stands ready to keep close communication with China to materialize the important events on the Germany-China and EU-China agenda and push for higher-level development of Germany-China and EU-China ties. HSBC has publicly supported the controversial new national security law which China is imposing on Hong Kong putting it at loggerheads with the UK Government. The bank, which is based in the UK but makes most of its money in Asia, signalled its support for China in a post on social media platform Wechat. It said that Peter Wong, the chief executive of HSBC's Asia business, had signed a petition in support of the law. HSBC, which is based in the UK but makes most of its money in Asia, signalled its support for China in a post on social media platform Wechat The post added: 'We reiterate that we respect and support laws and regulations that will enable Hong Kong to recover and rebuild the economy and, at the same time, maintain the principle of 'one country two systems'.' That principle has existed in Hong Kong since the territory was returned to Chinese sovereignty from British control in 1997. It allows Hong Kong to run its own government and legal and financial system, while ultimately remaining part of China. But the communist superpower now wants to impose new legislation on Hong Kong, which pro-democracy campaigners see as an unwelcome encroachment on independence. HSBC has been under pressure to confirm its support for the new law and its stance is contrary to the Government, which has offered almost 3m Hong Kong citizens the right to live and work in the UK. Joshua Wong, a prominent Hong Kong campaigner who has been arrested multiple times has urged the UK government to impose sanctions on China to force it to withdraw the legislation. Climbing into the saddle, he adjusts the scarf protecting his head from the sun and, with a tap on the camel's back, the caravan sets off. Thierry Tillet is again off to explore the vast Saharan desert, at the head of a nine-camel convoy with three other riders. At 68, the Frenchman is one of the last European explorers since the end of the 19th century to dedicate much of his life -- 47 years -- to crisscrossing the Sahara. This expedition, which began before the coronavirus epidemic, starts and ends at two desert jewels in central Mauritania. From Tichitt, the convoy is headed east to Oualata, 300 kilometres (185 miles) away, travelling in single file over a sandy, rocky landscape. For the first time, Tillet -- or Ghabidine, as a Tuareg friend renamed him -- is taking journalists along "so that this knowledge reaches the general public". Perched on the back of his swaying camel, Tillet wears an old, holey T-shirt and worn sandals. With his tousled, white hair and stubbled chin, it's easy to forget he's an authority in his field. For many years he was a member of the anthropology laboratory at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He was also professor of prehistoric archaeology at Grenoble University and taught in Chad, Niger and Mali. Throughout, he would go back and forth to the Sahara. He has documented Neolithic civilisations, overseen the inventory of Malian archaeological sites and discovered a dinosaur skeleton in the Tenere desert in Niger. "Sometimes, small fragments of discovered tools contain more information than a dinosaur, even if it's less spectacular," Tillet says. - In all its diversity - Exploring the history of the world's largest expanse of arid land is a hugely diverse venture. It can range from the forgotten religious centres of Sufi brotherhoods in northern Mali, to the sandstone plateaus in northeastern Chad and prehistoric Saharan settlements in Niger. But trading his camel for the comfort of an air-conditioned vehicle as his mode of transport isn't an option for Tillet. "You're going at the speed of the camel, and that allows me to observe and spot a number of things on the ground," he says. "In a car I wouldn't be able to do that, it moves too quickly." Each trip brings something new, be it publications in scientific works, "a few stones brought back for research" or photos of objects from the Neolithic era, the last period of the Stone Age. Currently it's an 11th-century caravan depot lost in the Mauritanian dunes, the Ma'den Ijafen, that begs to be found. "It was Theodore (Monod, the late French explorer) who discovered it in 1956," Tillet says. "He asked me to go back there." For three years now, he has been searching and, on this expedition, wants to ask around among nomadic shepherds. - The revealing winds - Tillet does not consider himself an adventurer or a daredevil. "Exploration carries with it a fantasy. I'm not trying to discover the unknown, but to discover what exists!" he says. "That is true scientific exploration." In this part of the Sahara, prehistoric artefacts are everywhere, constantly revealed by an omnipresent wind, but indistinguishable to the untrained eye. "In a continental climate, it's often necessary to dig... Here, it's all on the surface." Without warning, he pulls the reins to stop, on spotting something interesting. If he doesn't know what it is, he takes notes and -- in his only recourse to 21st-century technology -- satellite coordinates using a GPS. Once home in southwestern France's Perigord region, he will transfer them onto a map, tirelessly completing what he calls his "spider's web". The hundreds of GPS points are not only a scientific record but suggest the route of his next expedition. - Searching for a bull - Tillet, the son of Parisian bakers, said his love of Africa and archaeology began after hearing stories as a child. But it was his first university professor who ignited the desire to go and see it for himself, encouraging him to focus on the Sahara. On his first trip -- in Algeria -- it rained a lot. "For someone wanting to study the Sahara, it was a bad start!" he says, laughing. Tillet's wife occasionally used to accompany him on his explorations. But this time, his companions are Ahmadou, Sheih and Ahmed, whom he has known for many years. Looks, gestures and common phrases in mixed mother tongues make up for any language barriers. The days are punctuated by the same rituals: a sunrise departure, stops to drink green tea and finding a place where they can make supper before sleeping under the stars as the camels graze. After two days, the caravan stops at Akreijit, an archaeological site discovered in 1934 by Monod and partly restored by a French team at the end of the last century. The foundations of the old buildings are visible again. European tourists disembark from their 4x4s in a cloud of dust and briskly visit the old town, just last year removed from the "red zones? where the French foreign ministry advises against travel. Tillet looks for a drawing of a bull on a rock, located during a previous visit. "It is two metres (6.5 feet) long,? he says. ?My GPS point tells me it's in 22 metres." He scans and searches, passing repeatedly through the ruins, but finds nothing. - 'At great risk' - Concerned about kidnappings, the French authorities are not always happy about the caravan's off-the-radar trips. "These people are as worrying as they are fascinating, so we have to keep an eye out," a French diplomat in the sub-region later told AFP. Three-quarters of the caravan's route are in areas that travellers are officially advised by the French government to avoid. ?Objectively, he sometimes puts himself at great risk,? acknowledged Pierre Touya, president of the Association of Saharans which groups archaeologists, geographers and other enthusiasts. Still, "he remains rational, does very good research and is supported by local knowledge," he said. On-the-ground information from locals is key to Tillet's preparations before leaving. By email and phone, he finds out about nomadic tribes' movements or where there are wells for the animals to drink. For decades, the region has been buffeted by inter-communal clashes, separatist insurgencies and conflicts between religious groups -- and Tillet has often found himself on the front row. In the 1990s, he met Iyad Ag Ghaly, then a rebel leader and now head of one of the main jihadist coalitions. He also met French ethnologist Francoise Claustre in Chad before she was kidnapped in 1974 by Hissene Habre's rebels. And he has shared mechoui, a meal of slow-roasted lamb, with former Malian president and fellow archaeologist Alpha Oumar Konare. "As long as I don't bump into the bastards, it's all right," he smiles, talking about the jihadists, who are an escalating threat in the Sahel region. In 2009, he was forced to hide in the northern Malian town of Kidal. Alerted to the presence of "likely unfriendly" groups at a time when Tuareg independence rebellions and jihadist groups were emerging, he left at 4:00 am in a pick-up truck, his head down and face hidden. That same year, he and his camel team were woken in the night by the blinding light of a surveillance drone in the desert of Mali's Taoudenit region. The jihadist expansion in the Sahel-Saharan strip has reduced exploration possibilities. But, according to a source close to the authorities, interviewed in Mauritania?s capital, Nouakchott, a security grid set up a decade ago to counter the emerging jihadist influence is "once again allowing scientists and tourists to come". - 'So much to document' - It's day four and, after a cold night, he groans from the pain of an old foot injury as he climbs into the saddle. But, neither the discomfort nor deteriorating regional security will stop him. This desert is "the place where I feel the best, where you can't go wrong", he says. When he reaches Oualata near the Mali border after what will have been a two-week journey, Tillet plans to relax and drink tea with an old acquaintance. Even if he didn't find the elusive caravan depot this time, he's happy with the information gleaned. Previously the projects were funded by his former employer, the CNRS, but since retiring in 2012, he pays the several thousand euros needed for the trip himself. Monod got off his camel for the last time aged 93 and Tillet, a member of the French Society of Explorers, hopes to go on for a long while yet. "There's still so much to document," he says. For next year he is planning his longest route so far, at more than 1,000 km, back in the Sahara, with its many silences but, as he says, "where it's never boring". French archaeologist Thierry Tillet has spent nearly 50 years exploring the Sahara On-the-ground information from locals is key to Tillet's preparations before leaving on an expedition Travelling at a camel's pace provides a greater chance of spotting artefacts in the sand, Tillet says For three years, Tillet has been searching for signs of an 11th-century caravan depot, the Ma'den Ijafen, lost in the Mauritanian dunes If he finds something interesting and doesn't know what it is, he takes notes and GPS satellite coordinates which he then transfers onto a map once he's back in France The caravan travelled from the former desert jewel of Tichitt to Oualata,300 kilometres (185 miles) away Concerned about kidnappings, the French authorities are not always happy about the caravan's off-the-radar trips Next year Tillet is planning a more than 1,000-km route in the Sahara, his longest yet CARLINVILLE A preliminary report on a Sunday plane crash that killed four men is expected soon. Macoupin County Coroner Brad Targhetta said four men were pronounced dead in the crash, including pilot Joshua Sheers, 35, of Lansing, Michigan; Daniel Shedd, 37, of St. Charles, Missouri; Daniel Schlosser, 39, of Mount Morris, Michigan; and John. S. Camilleri, 39, of Grand Island, New York. The coroners office had not released a cause of death as of Wednesday afternoon. No one on the ground was hurt in the crash. National Transportation Safety Board Public Affairs Officer Peter Knudson said a preliminary report on the crash is expected to be released later this week or early next week. It will lay out all known facts of the crash but will not determine a cause, Knudson said. A full report is expected to take between 12 and 24 months, Knudson said. The four men were fraternity brothers and engineering graduates of Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The men were flying on a small plane that crashed about 3:50 p.m. Sunday into farmland near Wonderland Ranch Drive, about 2.5 miles south of Carlinville. The victims were pronounced dead at 4:27 p.m. Sunday. The Piper Cherokee PA 28-235 fixed wing, single-engine aircraft took off from Creve Coeur Airport in Creve Coeur, Missouri, at 3:20 p.m. Sunday The crash is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and Macoupin County Sheriffs Department. The sheriffs department, fire departments from Carlinville and Girard and Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service responded to the crash site. Khalil Mcleod stands atop a pillar outside Irvine City Hall during a protest Wednesday. (Ben Brazil / Times Community News) Peaceful protests continue to spread across the region, drawing a diverse array of people to some places that are not used to political demonstrations. Moneka Broughton attended a Wednesday night rally in Irvine and said protests like this never would have happened in the city when she was in school in the mid-2000s. I havent seen anything like this in my 32 years, Broughton said of the national movement spurred by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Several dozen protesters gathered on the steps of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles late Thursday morning. They held signs that read, Civil rights are colorblind and Dont shoot! while a small band of musicians played soulful music. Passing buses honked in support. Among those gathered was Michael Gonzales, a 24-year-old delivery driver who had finally managed to make it to a protest on his day off. Wearing a shirt with the words Destroy white supremacy, Gonzales said he'd spent the week posting information on social media about the locations and times of protests so that others could attend even though he could not. Before coming to L.A. from Covina, he texted a friend who'd expressed some doubt about the Floyd protests. The friend said he felt excluded by the focus on the lives of black people. I said, This is their fight right now, Gonzales said. Its their fight, but its for everybody. Police brutality happens to Latinos, Asians too, but right now, its about black lives. Around 9 a.m., a crowd of several dozen protesters gathered outside the North Hollywood police station. Provvidenza Catalano, 29, stood by a banner inscribed with the words, End white silence. She said it was important for her to acknowledge her privilege as a white person. Over the last week, shes reached out to friends and others to encourage them to engage in the Floyd protests. I see my liberation entwined with black peoples liberation, she said. In downtown Los Angeles, more than 100 protesters raised a fist into the air and knelt on the grass of Grand Park for eight minutes and 46 seconds the amount of time Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyds neck. Story continues Once they rose, they bowed their heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to gather peacefully in solidarity for change, an organizer said to the crowd. I pray for everyone thats here that they are covered in peace, that they are covered in activism for witnessing injustice. The previous night, while standing in front of hundreds of protesters at the foot of the Irvine Civic Center, Cessa Heard-Johnson raised the bullhorn to her lips and urged the crowd to play a role in the national movement to reform the countrys justice system. Dont look for somebody to do something," she said. "You do something. One by one, black community members took turns sharing their stories, each revealing pain, trauma and injustice. The crowd cheered in unison, chanted and cried together. Many were in awe that a protest like this could happen in conservative Irvine. Less than 2% of the citys population is black, and the citys sheltered nature is commonly referred to as the Irvine bubble. The rally was organized by three teenagers: Ava Hojreh, 19; Ida Nariman, 18; and Alizah Gomez, 18. The women used an Instagram account, @ocforblacklives , to spread the word. They said the purpose of the peaceful sit-in was to educate communities that didn't often have to reckon with injustice. We wanted to have a productive and educational event, Hojreh said. Prominent Indigenous academic Marcia Langton says as an Aboriginal woman aged over 50, her elevated risk of becoming sick with COVID-19 is "a risk I'm willing to take" to make a stand against the treatment of First Nations people at this weekend's protests. Professor Langton told the ABC on Friday afternoon she had been "shocked and dismayed" by the video footage of African American man George Floyd dying after being held down by a police officer's knee, describing the death as "state-sponsored murder". Marcia Langton. Credit:Arsineh Houspian But she rejected Prime Minister Scott Morrison's statement on Friday that Australia "is not like other places", saying the nation's high rate of incarceration of Indigenous people was "a shocking indictment". Professor Langton said that while the police officers involved in George Floyd's death had been charged, "there have never been any charges in Australia laid against police officers who have been responsible for Aboriginal deaths in custody". She said while the Black Lives Matter protests posed a risk of coronavirus outbreaks, the government's "completely inadequate" response to the 1991 report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody meant that the demonstrations were needed. While 56 Aboriginal Australians had tested positive to COVID-19 so far, with no deaths, "hundreds of Aboriginal people have died in custody," she said. "We have had 432 deaths that we know of and still counting because not all the data before 2008 is available from deaths in custody ... I will remind the Prime Minister that the last Minister for Indigenous Affairs refused to put reducing the Aboriginal incarceration rates as a national priority." She cited the case of the Aboriginal teen allegedly assaulted by a policeman in Sydney's Surry Hills on Monday, after which the constable was placed on restricted duties. "A NSW Police officer slammed a 16-year-old to the ground and caused him injury," Professor Langton said. "He had to go to the hospital and we're told that we're not normal. We're told not to protest. So, when is an Australian leader, a politician, an elected representative going to commit to us that there will be no more deaths in custody and that they will take measures to prevent deaths in custody? When is that going to happen?" She said while she understood the concern of medical authorities that the coronavirus could spread quickly through mass gatherings, the protests could go ahead with precautions. "Anybody who is sick or at risk should not go to the demonstrations. Everybody should wear a mask," Professor Langton said. "Everybody should social distance, 1.5 metres and take sanitiser for hands and follow all the rules scrupulously. We might have to take up many blocks if we're 1.5 metres apart." Herself being in a high-risk group, she said: "I'll wear a mask. I'll follow the public hygiene rules." Gerry and Kate McCann hold an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl Photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire Madeleine McCann's parents have said the identification of a new prime suspect in her disappearance is "the most significant development in 13 years." Police said a 43-year-old German who is in jail in his homeland for child sexual offences was now suspected of involvement in the little girl's disappearance. Read More The man, whom they did not name, was in Praia da Luz on the day of Madeleine's disappearance and received a telephone call in the area an hour before the girl vanished. Officers said he had lived in Portugal between 1995 and 2007 and released images of two vehicles belonging to the man who is now their main suspect. A representative for Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said this morning that the development is "very significant." Spokesman Clarence Mitchell told Sky News today: "From everything police are saying and doing, this would appear to be the most significant lead that they are trying to close down in the 13 years since Madeleine disappeared." Mr Mitchell also told BBC radio: "They've never given up hope that she may still be found alive but they are realistic. Expand Close Missing: Madeleine McCann. Photo: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Missing: Madeleine McCann. Photo: Reuters "Whatever the outcome of this particular line of investigation maybe, they do need to know what happened to their daughter to find peace and to bring whoever is responsible to justice." Senior police officers described the line of inquiry as "significant" as they appealed for information over the whereabouts of the German at the time Madeleine went missing aged just three in May 2007. Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann said it was the biggest development in the case since their daughter went missing and the first time that two separate forces - in Britain and in Germany - had publicly identified a suspect. In an earlier statement yetserday, the girl's parents, both doctors, said: "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know, as we need to find peace." They said they welcomed a renewed call made jointly by British, German and Portuguese police to find Madeleine and trace the movements of the suspect. Expand Close Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 that has been linked to the suspect. PA WIRE / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 that has been linked to the suspect. PA WIRE In a coordinated appeal for information, broadcast on German television, authorities there said the man was suspected of Madeleine's murder. He was described as a "multiple" child sex offender serving a lengthy jail term. During his time in the Algarve, he did odd jobs but is also thought to be implicated in hotel and holiday home burglaries and drug dealing. The suspect first came to the attention of the Metropolitan Police's Operation Grange unit after an appeal was made marking the 10th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance in 2017. The Met asked for help from their German counterparts, the Bundeskriminalamt, six months later in November 2017. It is unclear why it has taken almost three years for officers to go public. In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "Met detectives working with German authorities have identified a man currently imprisoned in Germany as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance." Expand Close Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed. PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed. PA Wire Police insisted the case remained a "missing persons" inquiry but the public identification of the suspect suggests they believe she was abducted. Detectives tracing the suspect's mobile phone calls at the time have established the German national was in Praia da Luz an hour before Madeleine went missing. He received a call on his mobile phone that lasted half an hour from 7.32pm to 8.02pm. Madeleine went missing at some time after 9pm. The suspect, who was 30 at the time, was then living in a distinctive VW T3 Westfalia camper van with a white upper body and yellow skirting. Police described the man as an "itinerant" who had lived on and off in the area from 1995 until 2007. Officers refused to be drawn on whether the van with a Portuguese number plate might have been used in Madeleine's abduction. Police forces are also seeking information on a second car, owned by the suspect, which he kept in the Algarve. The car, a 1993 Jaguar saloon with German number plates, was registered in his name, but the registration changed to somebody else on May 4 2007, the day after Madeleine vanished. Police said: "To re-register the car in Germany you don't have to have the car in the country or region. We believe the car was still in Portugal and would like information if you saw it." The Metropolitan Police also took the highly unusual step last night of releasing the Portuguese mobile phone number the suspect was using at the time and the number of the person who called him. Police are trying to discover who called the man. "Investigators believe the person who made this call is a highly significant witness and are appealing for them to get in touch," said the Met. Scotland Yard also published photographs of both the VW camper van and the Jaguar XJR 6, both now in possession of German police. It is understood that police in the UK and Germany have interviewed the suspect in jail but that he has declined to help with their inquiries. It is also understood forensic testing has been carried out on both vehicles. Scotland Yard said the man was "white and in 2007 is believed to have had short blond hair, possibly fair. @He was about 6ft... with a slim build. He is 43 years old, but in 2007 may have looked between 25 to early 30s. "He is connected to the area of Praia da Luz and spent some short spells in Germany. This individual, who we will not identify, is currently in prison in Germany for an unrelated matter." It is understood British officers stopped short of naming him to avoid breaching German privacy laws. Christian Hoppe, of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office, told the media the suspect has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls." He said that police were not ruling out a sexual motive and that the suspect may have broken into the apartment and spontaneously committed the kidnapping. Discharged cases from coronavirus infection in Lagos rose to 928 on Wednesday as 20 additional patients were discharged from the states isolation centres. Giving the update on its Twitter handle on Wednesday, the Lagos Ministry of Health disclosed that the patients tested negative to the infection and were reunited with the society. 20 COVID-19 Lagos patients; 6 females & 14 males, all Nigerians have been discharged from our Isolation facilities to reunite with the society. The patients; 11 from Gbagada, 8 from Eti-Osa (LandMark) and 1 from Agidingbi Isolation Centres were discharged having fully recovered & tested negative to COVID-19. This brings to 928, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases successfully managed and discharged in Lagos now, the ministry wrote. Lagos also recorded 163 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total cases to 5,440. A total of 67 deaths have been recorded from the infection in the state. Total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria hit 11,166 on Wednesday after 348 new cases were confirmed. While 3,329 patients have recovered from the infection so far, 315 deaths have been recorded. Residents are urged to continue practising physical distancing, frequent washing of hands and use of face masks in public places. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yo-jong, has threatened to scrap a military agreement with Seoul if South Korea takes no action against the floating of propaganda leaflets across the border. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper quoted Kim Yo-jong as saying that, if necessary, North Korea is willing to tear down the formerly jointly-run Kaesong industrial complex, or a cross-border liaison office there, and rip up the military agreement signed by the two Korean leaders a couple of years ago. Norfolk-based pastor creates refuge in Malawi Norfolk-based pastor creates refuge in Malawi Anne Simpson, a Pentecostal pastor living in Thrigby on the Norfolk Broads, had a vision two years ago for creating a refuge for women and children in Malawi. She is now seeing it turn into a reality. Anne, who is currently based at East Gate Ministries in east Norfolk, has been visiting Africa for the past 10 years. During those years she has seen first-hand the poverty and struggles that the people in Africa face on a daily basis. One of the greatest needs that Anne began to see was in Malawi, where there was a need for a safe place for women and their children who had been abused or abandoned. Many women have experienced domestic violence in a country where it is still common in the rural villages for men to have more than one wife. At the end of 2018 the Lord laid on her heart to buy land in Chitipa, in the dusty north of Malawi, with a vision to build a women's refuge. Kingdom City Refuge would be a beacon of hope for the most vulnerable in African society. It would be a place to train women escaping from domestic violence, or those who have been abandoned by their husbands and family. Slowly, with the help of generous donations, a building is slowly rising. Anne also found a house to rent that would begin housing the women on a temporary basis until the refuge is completed. At the moment 10 young ladies are being accommodated and there are plans to house many more as finances allow. The need in Malawi is so great and the land is big enough for great expansion. There is also a vision for a Bible school and mission house as well as a wedding dress business. Anne says: "The vision is not only to give the women a safe place to stay but also to train them with life skills for starting small businesses to sustain them in the future. Anne began appealing for sewing machines so the ladies could begin learning tailoring and have a small business of making or altering clothes. In June 2019 a container was sent to Malawi with sewing machines and other essential items for the refuge. The people in Chitipa were delighted with the sewing machines and the women have begun learning to sew. The ability to earn a living significantly reduces the risk of women being abused in the future. Anyone who would like to donate a sewing machine can get in touch with the project. Anne has also become aware of the frequent abuse of children, and one such incident highlights this. "A 4-year-old boy was severely burnt by his stepfather, says Anne, who placed his hands directly on a charcoal fire as a punishment for taking food that was being saved for the familys lunch. The boy was hungry because he was not given any breakfast. Such incidents of abuse are very common in some areas of Malawi. The refuge wants to be able to offer assistance to such children and their mothers. There is a need to pay for medical bills following injury and taking people to a place of safety. There is also a need to raise public awareness of some of these things that are taking place and for proper parenting skills to be taught, especially in the rural villages. People need counselling and prayer ministry. Please pray for this project and consider how you might be able to get involved." Donations towards the refuge can be made payable to "Overseas Missions" and sent to Mill Cottages, Mill Road, Thrigby, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR29 3DY As restrictions lift Anne will also be available to come and speak about the project in your church or ministry. Anyone interested can contact her by email on worldarise700@gmail.com. Pictured above are Anne Simpson and the women's refuge in Malawi President of Ukraine faces a fine of 17,000 hryvnias (635 dollars) for visiting a cafe in Khmelnytskyi President of Ukraine faces a fine of 17,000 hryvnias (635 dollars) for visiting a cafe in Khmelnytskyi Office of the President of Ukraine The Ministry of Internal Affairs promises to investigate the issue of violation of quarantine restrictions by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. This was announced by Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko on the air of 112 Ukraine TV channel. Yesterday, on June 3, the President and his delegation arrived on an official visit to Khmelnytskyi, where they took a walk through the central part of the city and tasted coffee in a local coffee shop, which, according to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, had to be quarantined. As a result, the President faces a fine of 17,000 hryvnias (635 dollars). Herashchenko noted that it was not the first time when the police had to fine Zelensky. "When Volodymyr Zelensky showed his ballot in April 2019, he was fined for violation of the confidentiality of voting. Therefore, the competent police bodies will examine this issue," Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister added. As we reported earlier, the Mayor of Cherkasy Anatoliy Bondarenko has decided to sue President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the statement of Bondarenko's lawyer, the mayor of Cherkasy intends to collect UAH 1 (0.04 dollars) from the head of state. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced the revised dates for the civil service examination 2020 on Friday, 5 June on its official website after the commission held a review meeting where the prevailing COVID-19 situation was assessed. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced the revised dates for the civil service examination 2020 on Friday, 5 June on its official website after the commission held a review meeting where the prevailing COVID-19 situation was assessed. Candidates can log on to the official wesbite upsc.gov.in to check the revised schedule online. In a circular, UPSC had said, "With a view to giving some clarity to candidates of various examinations and interviews, which have been deferred over the last two months, the Commission will issue a revised schedule of examinations in its next meeting to be held on 5 June, 2020." The commission said that the details of the new calendar of examinations will be published on the UPSC website after the Commissions meeting. A report by The Indian Express said that the examination was earlier scheduled for 31 May but was postponed due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. The UPSC has said that it will provide at least 30 days notice between the announcement of the new schedule and exam dates so that candidates can be fully prepared for the test. The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages (i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination and (ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts. Every year, as many as 10 lakh candidates register for the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) examination. This year, UPSC has postponed a number of examinations including UPSC Civil Services Exam, UPSC NDA Exam, UPSC CMS exam due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also deferred the personality tests for Civil Services Examination 2019. Mourning and Mayhem: California Reacts to the Brutal Killing of George Floyd Protestors and pastors across California as well as angered citizens and politicians including Gov. Gavin Newsom have all responded to the violent death of an unarmed Black man in Minnesota. George Floyd, 46, died in police custody after a White officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for nearly eight minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. The cellphone video of the brutal killing has been shared tens of millions of times around the world. In it, Floyd can be heard pleading for help and letting the officers know that he was suffocating. ADVERTISEMENT I cant breathe, Floyd cries out to the cops. He also called out for his mama. The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) issued a statement after Floyds death. There were other officers who could have helped him but did not, read the CLBC statement. They instead preferred to stand by and watch as their colleague killed an unarmed man. There were bystanders who wanted to help him but could not because of the uniforms, guns and badges that stood in the way Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), the chair of the CLBC, also took to Twitter to express her grief, horror and support for the victims family. George Floyd should be alive today, Weber tweeted. The members of CLBC, she told her followers, stand with his family, the people of Minneapolis, and those speaking out in the name of justice. ADVERTISEMENT Floyd was killed almost a year to the date that the California state Assembly passed AB 392 in May 2019. The bill Weber introduced and championed raised the bar for police officers to justify using lethal force in California. It took effect on Jan 1 this year. Across the country, days of fiery protest escalated into violent rioting in every major American city and in some smaller towns, too. Here in California, the demonstrations have led to the death of a Black law enforcement professional, mass looting, arson, vandalism and billions of dollars in property loss. The protests got so violent and destructive in Los Angeles that Gov. Newsom has declared a state of emergency in all of Los Angeles County after the city requested emergency aid for the state to activate and deploy the California National Guard. Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), who attended a march in the L.A., tweeted, There are no amount of hashtags or social media posts to remember the effects of the internalized trauma from experiencing repeated police brutality in America. I stand firm in the fight to decriminalize Blackness. In Oakland on Saturday, a gunman opened fire in front of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal building, killing a 53-year-old African American Federal Protective Services Officer who lived in Pinole on the north East Bay. Another officer, who is currently hospitalized, was also shot. We are further saddened and outraged by this callous act of gun violence. This crime is under investigation, wrote U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA-13). But we should never conflate the actions of murderers with the motives of protestors demanding justice. On Thursday, Gov. Newsom said he understood the raw emotion that sparked the protests. Over the last few days, we have seen millions of people lift their voices in anger, rightfully outraged at how systemic racism is allowed to persist, Newsom said. Every single day, people of color are disadvantaged and discriminated against. Black and Latino men in particular face mortal danger all across this country simply because of their race. Every person who has raised their voice should be heard. The governor also condemned the violence that has sidelined the protests. In California and across the country, there are indications that violent actors may be attempting to use these protests for their own agendas, the governor said. We are closely monitoring organizing by violent extremist organizations. To those who seek to exploit Californians pain to sow chaos and destruction, you are not welcome. Last week, the Rev. Shane Harris, President of the Peoples Alliance of Justice, attended a rally supporting Floyds family in Minneapolis. Harris, who is an activist based in San Diego, joined the Rev. Al Sharpton and other activists and faith leaders from across the country. A Black man went to death row before he could ever get to court over an alleged nonviolent offense, Harris said. The County DAs response to whether hes filing charges shows us he must have selective justice in his mind. Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Minority Leader in the California Senate, says she empathizes with the outrage but called the riots unacceptable. Today our state and country woke up with a mixture of emotions, said Grove. We feel sadness and grief for George Floyds family, and we feel anger and frustration with those who would use a tragic event to vandalize, loot, and destroy communities. In a solemn ceremony on Sunday afternoon, San Francisco Mayor London Breed took a knee with local leaders in the Mission district in the city. She called for justice and asked the protest organizers to remain true to the spirit of non-violence that underpins their activism. Your words mean nothing if your actions are something else, Breed advised. Stop turning Black Lives Matter into a joke, because its not. Its born out of pain, its born out of disrespect and racism. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the panels hearing in Washington on Dec. 12, 2018. (Jennifer Zeng/The Epoch Times) Grassley Puts Hold on 2 Trump Nominees Until He Gets Reasons for IG Firings Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a member of the Senates GOP leadership, said Thursday that he is postponing two of President Donald Trumps nominees until he gets answers on several Inspector General firings. Grassley, who is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote on Twitter that its not the first time he has raised alarms when administrations flout IG protection law(s). He also raised concerns about President Barack Obamas firing of then-inspector general Gerald Walpin in 2009. He wants a reason for the ouster of the inspectors general, which is required by law. Trump tapped Christopher Miller to become director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and he also tapped Marshall Billingslea to become undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the intelligence communitys inspector general, and Steve Linick, who served as the State Departments inspector general. Congress has made it clear that should the president find reason to fire an inspector general, there ought to be a good reason for it, Grassley said in a statement. The White Houses response failed to address this requirement Without sufficient explanation, the American people will be left speculating whether political or self-interests are to blame. President Donald Trump walks with Attorney General William Barr (L), Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper (C), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley (R), and others from the White House to visit St. Johns Church after it was burned by rioters the night before in Washington on June 1, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Trump previously said that Atkinson was partially to blame for the House impeachment inquiry by revealing the existence of a whistleblower complaint about his dealings with Ukraine. And Linick told lawmakers on Wednesday that he was removed after seeking to interview Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Grassleys statement said, Grassley will not consider the nomination of Christopher C. Miller to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center until the White House explains why Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson was terminated. Grassley also will not consider the nomination of Marshall Billingslea to be the undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department until sufficient reasons are provided for the termination of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. In May, White House Counsel Pat Cipollione told Grassley that the president acted within his constitutional and statutory authority when the two officials were fired, The Hill reported. Trump also demoted Glenn Fine from his role as acting inspector general at the Pentagon, effectively removing him as head of a special board to oversee auditing of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus economic relief package. Fine resigned last week. And Trump moved to replace acting inspectors general at the departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In a conference call, Trump told state governors they were weak, while his Secretary of Defence spoke of the need to dominate the battlespace. Overnight the Pentagon flew 1600 soldiers from the Armys 82nd Airborne Division, 10th Mountain Division, and 1st Infantry Division to staging points in Washington DC while masked and uniformed national guardsmen took up positions on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This week US President Donald Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act to federalise the national guard and deploy it to shut down the protests and widespread lawlessness that has broken out across at least 23 states since George Floyd was killed while under police arrest in Minneapolis. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, a police sergeant approaching a house said cover me to an accompanying marine corporal and was surprised when the marine ordered his section to lay down sustained covering fire. As US history has shown, large-scale domestic military deployments are a blunt instrument: better at sandbagging flood levies than deftly managing lawful protesters and unlawful looters. In war, urban military operations are exceedingly difficult. At home, during times of peace, they can be appallingly tragic. In 1967 a national guardsman deployed to help Detroit police maintain law and order feared a sniper was active locally and fired a heavy-calibre machine gun through an apartment window, killing a four-year-old girl and seriously injuring her aunt. Loading Time and time again, Trump has resorted to the military to serve his policy and political ends. Hes drafted generals to serve as his senior political staff, diverted military funds to build the wall on the Mexican border, pardoned soldiers convicted of or accused of war crimes, sent cruise missiles into Syria, assassinated Iranian military leaders in the driveway of the Baghdad International Airport, and rallied in front of troops on military bases. On each occasion the military has largely delivered helping surround Trump with the potent symbols of national power, projecting American strength, and showing the President as a man of action. But now the President has over-reached and the military is unlikely to save him from this national crisis. For a start, the legality of widespread military deployments is contested. Some experts argue the President cannot impinge on state sovereignty by federalising the national guard against the wishes of state governors. Already the governors of Minnesota, New York and Illinois have rejected the idea that the White House could order military deployments in their cities. The Insurrection Act and other laws do give the President some authority to use the military to enforce federal laws, but only in cases where state authorities have been shown to be unable or unwilling to do so. Not since the civil rights fights of the 1960s has the US federal government deployed the military to enforce federal laws against the wishes of state governors. Some military leaders have outright rejected the need for the military. Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chief of the joint staff, writes this week: I am not convinced that the conditions on our streets, as bad as they are, have risen to the level that justifies a heavy reliance on military troops. We must endeavour to see American cities and towns as our homes and our neighbourhoods. They are not 'battle spaces' to be dominated, and must never become so. BBC has recently launched a voice assistant for testing on Windows computers. The catch? It recognizes British accent, even regional ones. This is because its synthesized digital voice is based on that of a British voice actor with a northern England accent. The team behind Beeb worked hard to ensure it can understand other regional accents. The voice assistant uses Microsoft technology and is now in the beta phase to test it for a period to check if all its features are working properly before reaching the market shelves. Users will be asked what accent they have, so their voices can be used to train Beeb. However, the BBC was quick to say that they will not keep any recordings, only the transcripts of a few seconds after users say "OK, Beeb" that wakes up the assistant. The media company announced last year that it was working on a voice assistant called "Beeb." It aims to help customers to be able to use the voice assistant technology regardless of their accent. The other assistants currently available in the market are still having difficulty understanding accents, particularly in the United Kingdom, where people of various accents live across the relatively small geographic size. Will Beeb work with my smart speaker? Like other voice assistants, Beeb can be used on various smart speakers. Users need to ask "Play Radio 1" (or any specific show), and it will work right away through its BBC Sounds App. However, how to make it work would depend on the speaker that will be used. Below are instructions on how to use BBC Sounds on Google Home, Apple HomePod, and Sonos while BBC is still working on supporting other devices. Google Home For Google Home, users may listen to all BBC radio stations live by saying, "OK Google, play [radio station]." They may also choose to listen on-demand to most BBC podcasts from the BBC Sounds app. Users must first connect the speaker to the same WiFi network as the Chromecast device and play something on the BBC Sounds app. Once the device detects Chromecast, look for the Chromecast icon or the Available Devices option at the bottom of the playback page and tap on it. Then, choose the device where the audio will be played through. Allow a few seconds for it to connect, then any program or station can now be played through the Chromecast device. Apple HomePod Use Homepod to listen to all of BBC's live and on-demand content using AirPlay on iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch through the BBC Sounds app. Users may also check the Apple Support website to get detailed instructions on how to use AirPlay. To use AirPlay, make sure the devices meet requirements. Users may stream audio to multiple speakers with AirPlay 2. They need to add a compatible speaker or smart TV to the Home app and assign them to a room. To use Beeb on AirPlay audio using an iOS device, open the app, tap Airplay, then tap a speaker or multiple speakers. Sonos Listen to BBC content through select Sonos devices using the AirPlay from the BBC Sounds app on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, make sure they are connected to the Sonos speaker. Once connected, start playing the live stream, podcast, or on-demand program, then on the playback screen, tap the AirPlay icon and select the Sonos speaker or speakers where the audio will be played. Want to try Beeb? According to Engadget, The early version of Beeb is now available for the UK-based members of Microsoft's Windows Insider program. Those who are interested in participating may download the app from the Microsoft Store. Microsoft plays an important role in the development of the voice assistant as BBC uses its Azure AI services to build the technology for this software. Interestingly, users will be able to get live and on-demand radio, podcasts, music mixes, news, and even weather updates using the first version. Well, to test the voice assistant, users may also ask Beeb for a joke, and they will get something from BBC comedy writers. If they ask Beeb for a QI fact, then host Sandi Toksvig would be there to reply. Insiders may choose from the following wake command to start using the service after saying, "OK, Beeb." "Update me" (for news update) "Tell me a joke" "Play Radio 1" (or a specific show) "Tell me a fact" (for trivia from QI or Quite Interesting) "Do you like Killing Eve?" "Will you be my boyfriend?" (or other curveball questions) Meanwhile, The Telegraph has shared a video on how Beeb sounds like. BBC's ambitious vision for Beeb Aside from accessing BBC radio, music, podcasts, news, weather services, and getting responses to some queries based on BBC programs, BBC promises to add news features in the "coming weeks and months." The media company also has an "ambitious vision" for its voice assistant, but Beeb certainly has a long way to go. "Ultimately we envision that Beeb will be available across a wide range of devices, including smart speakers, mobiles, televisions, and many others," said a BBC representative. The representative also said that while not everything will work perfectly from day one on this first version, he is optimistic that "the future Beeb assistant will be able to do a lot more." Microsoft's Windows Insider program members who use the May 2020 Windows 10 operating system update can simply install Beeb from the Windows Store if they are already using a BBC account for BBC's streaming services, iPlayer, and Sounds. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. President Trump wondered at a news conference if he should use insulin even though he doesn't have diabetes. That would be a bad idea. (Associated Press) Imagine if President Trump expressed surprise about how devastating cancer can be for millions of patients and their families. Imagine if he went on to muse, almost playfully, that perhaps he should give chemotherapy a try. Now you understand the mixture of stunned astonishment and dismay I felt, as a person with Type 1 diabetes, after Trump said the other day that maybe he should inject himself with insulin. "I dont use insulin. Should I be? Huh?" he said at a White House event to announce a $35 cap on co-pays by Medicare beneficiaries for the lifesaving hormone. "I never thought about it," Trump continued. "But I know a lot of people are very badly affected, right? Unbelievable." Here was the president of the United States belittling the chronic condition that 1.6 million Americans with Type 1 diabetes wrestle with on a daily basis ("I never thought about it"). Here he was expressing disbelief that people have to inject themselves with insulin multiple times daily to stay alive, as if this hasn't been the case since the treatment was discovered by a trio of Canadian researchers in the 1920s. Trump was so amazed by the severity of diabetes that he scribbled a note to himself prior to the news conference. "You know, if you dont take insulin, I just wrote this down, go blind, stroke, amputation, kidney failure and other things," he said. A reporter asked: "Is there any reason why someone who does not have diabetes would take insulin? Is there any sort of medical reason for that?" Trump, at a loss for an answer, turned to the officials and drug industry executives joining him at the news conference. "Anybody like to discuss that?" he asked. "Do you want to discuss it?" Surgeon General Jerome Adams gamely explained that 7 million Americans with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes use insulin because, unlike people without diabetes, their bodies either don't produce or don't effectively process the hormone. Story continues Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. Type 2, which is much more widespread, is frequently associated with the global obesity epidemic. "People such as you and I, we make our own insulin," Adams informed Trump much as one would address a small child. "So, yes, we do utilize insulin, but we make it ourselves." And the president, according to a White House transcript, replied, "Ah." It's already well established that Trump understands very little about healthcare. He's suggested that people inject themselves with household cleansers to protect against COVID-19. He said he was taking an anti-malaria drug that public health officials in the United States and worldwide said was not an effective coronavirus remedy and could be very dangerous. So it shouldn't have surprised anyone, myself included, when Trump revealed he doesn't know much about insulin or diabetes, the country's seventh-leading cause of death. Perhaps even worse, he misled the American people when he announced "a breakthrough agreement to dramatically slash the out-of-pocket cost of insulin." To be sure, capping insulin co-pays at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare is a good thing considering that insulin prices have tripled since 2002. But this protects fewer than half of all Americans who require insulin. For those of us who rely on private insurance rather than Medicare, insulin will continue to carry a list price of nearly $300 a vial, which in many cases is less than a month's supply. Healthcare advocates say drug companies will simply increase the cost of insulin for non-Medicare patients to make up for any shortfall from the government insurance program. Trump also is late to the party. Some states and insurers already have announced insulin price caps, and Eli Lilly, one of the three leading insulin makers, said recently it was unilaterally capping patients' co-pays at $35 a month. "This move is another political stunt from a president worried about his poll numbers with seniors as his broken campaign promises keep stacking up," said Margarida Jorge, national campaign director for the advocacy group Lower Drug Prices Now. "Instead of tweaks and one-off proposals for political gain, we need to overhaul the system that gives drug corporations monopoly control over prices, and instead put in place fair rules that ensure access and affordability for everyone," she said. As I've written, the United States is one of the few developed countries that doesn't regulate drug prices. Pharmaceutical companies can charge as much as they want. If Trump was serious about reducing drug prices in this country the highest in the world he would introduce measures similar to those of our economic peers, which allow drugmakers to earn reasonable profits but prevent them from gouging the sick. He also inadvertently has demonstrated the value of "Medicare for all" as a way to lower drug prices and cover everyone. The government-run insurance program has 60 million beneficiaries. Yet, thanks to steadfast Republican opposition, it is forbidden by law from negotiating drug prices with manufacturers. If Trump could get insulin makers to lower patient costs with just the suggestion that Medicare was being overcharged, imagine what could be accomplished if the program was given freedom to aggressively bargain on patients' behalf for all prescription meds. That's how other developed countries with single-payer insurance systems do it. They use their market strength to cut the best possible deals for citizens. Trump's approach is based instead on hyperbole and dishonesty. He said that Obamacare is to blame for high drug prices, which it isn't, and that drugmakers were forced to act after he "opened up competition like theyve never seen before," which he hasn't. "The prices, you will see very soon, theyre going to come tumbling down," Trump vowed despite all evidence to the contrary. "I hope the seniors are going to remember it," he said. His one true priority. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) on Thursday told reporters she could have difficulty backing President Trump in the November elections. Murkowski made the admission after praising former defense secretary James Mattiss criticism of Trumps performance. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership, Mattis told the Atlantic on Wednesday. Murkowski said Mattiss remarks were necessary and long overdue. I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns we might hold internally, Murkowski said. When asked whether she still supported Trump, the senator replied, I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time. Questions about who Im going to vote for, or not going to vote for, I think are distracting at the moment, she added. Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah), a frequent Trump critic, also praised Mattiss comments without explicitly endorsing them. [Mattis] expressed his opinion and it was very powerful and it was a stunning letter, Romney told the Huffington Post. Hes an American patriot with extraordinary service and sacrifice and great judgement. Murkowskis statements come at the same time that Joe Biden has seen a continuing rise in support. A Monmouth poll released on Wednesday recorded 52 percent support for Biden in the general election nationwide compared with 41 percent support for Trump. Bidens 11-point lead is up from the 3-point lead he held in the same poll in March, when the former vice president had all but defeated Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in the Democratic primary race. The same poll also found that while roughly half of U.S. voters said they have confidence in Bidens ability to handle race relations in the country, about 40 percent said the same of Trump. The poll was conducted during the massive demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, an African-American man killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. Story continues However, half of voters also said race relations wouldnt be a factor at all in deciding their vote in November, the survey found. More from National Review LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Staging their own protest, some Louisville police officers walked out on the mayor to express their frustration amid demonstrations in the Kentucky city over police interactions with blacks. Video showed dozens of officers quietly filing out as Mayor Greg Fischer arrived at a roll call Wednesday. The walkout was an unplanned response to Fischers appearance, said Ryan Nichols, the local Fraternal Order of Police president. Nichols was not present at the walkout. They feel completely unsupported and disrespected by this administration, Nichols told the Courier Journal. They feel whatever he was going to say would have been nothing more than lip service, and he does not care about them at all. Fischer responded with a conciliatory statement recognizing officers for working long hours while suffering insults and assaults in dealing with protests. Some officers have been shot at during the unrest, showing the extraordinary difficulty they face, the mayor said Thursday. They are frustrated, and some of them expressed that frustration today, Fischer said in his statement about the walkout. I absolutely respect that. That doesnt change my appreciation of the work they are doing, as Ive expressed time and again. They have a very difficult job. The Democratic mayor has said he views police as guardians of the community, not warriors. The walkout came amid a tumultuous stretch for Louisville police since the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman shot in her home by police detectives in March. Police have faced waves of demonstrations challenging their law enforcement tactics in the past week. Protesters are demanding justice for Taylor and George Floyd, a black man who died after an encounter with police in Minneapolis. Amid the unrest in Louisville, some people brought Molotov cocktails and bricks to demonstrations, police have said. An armoured police vehicle was shot but no officers were hurt, interim police Chief Robert Schroeder said Wednesday. Police found incendiary liquids and devices in a downtown park where protesters gathered, police Lt. Col. Josh Judah said Thursday. Police have used tear gas and fired pepper balls to clear demonstrators. The unrest turned deadly when a black man, David McAtee, was shot to death early Monday during an encounter with police and National Guard soldiers trying to clear a crowd from a parking lot to enforce a curfew. Witnesses said the crowd was not protesting. Video released by police appears to show McAtee opening fire as officers approached his business, the interim police chief said. McAtees family said he was protecting his restaurant after officers began pelting people with pepper balls. Video of the confrontation appears to show a beverage can being shot off a table near the door of the restaurant moments before McAtee returned fire. On Wednesday, Fischer announced plans to hire an outside group to perform a top-to-bottom review of the citys police department. Louisvilles police chief was fired after it came to light that officers involved in McAtees shooting failed to activate their body cameras. On Thursday, the mayor lifted the citys dusk-to-dawn curfew, saying protests were largely peaceful the past couple of nights. But the mayor warned that criminal elements were hijacking the protests, dishonouring the memories of Taylor and Floyd. Overnight, once demonstrators dispersed, officers have come under gunfire several times when protecting businesses in the city, Judah said. Authorities made 176 protest-related arrests in the city as of Thursday morning, Judah said. While urging peace in the city, the mayor called for mutual understanding between protesters and police, saying: I just ask everybody to put yourself in each others shoes. Fischer also has faced pressure from protesters calling for the firing of the officers involved in the raid leading to Taylors death. He said he cant legally fire police officers, pointing to state law and the collective bargaining agreement with the police union, which lays out a process to fire officers. If an officer is fired outside of that process, the officer can appeal, will appeal, to get their job back immediately, with back pay and even damages and have a platform then to sue the city for wrongful termination, he said recently. Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot eight times by narcotics detectives who knocked down her front door while attempting to enforce a search warrant. No drugs were found in the home. Elsewhere, two men accused of trying to disrupt a peaceful protest this week in Murray, Kentucky, were arrested by local police - one for allegedly pulling up to the crowd in a car and pointing a gun at protesters, the other for allegedly pepper-spraying protesters, media outlets reported. Ukraine is ready for reasonable compromises on the settlement of the conflict in Donbas but will not agree to any special status according to the Russian scenario, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said. He wrote this on his Facebook page, while commenting on the results of his visit to Berlin for talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. "We will not enter into a direct dialogue with occupation administrations. We will not accept the Kremlin-invented federalization. We will not make concessions in the border issue, the withdrawal of Russian troops, and the disbandment of occupation administrations," Kuleba said. He said that from year to year Ukraine demonstrates its readiness to make reasonable compromises on the peculiarities of local self-government after the return of temporarily occupied territories to Ukraine. "But we will never agree to any special status according to the Russian scenario, with the right to veto nationwide decisions and other requirements that undermine our sovereignty," he said. Kuleba also called an important achievement the return to the agenda of the issue of the temporarily occupied Crimea and Ukrainian political prisoners held in Crimea and Russia. op Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain Thu, June 4, 2020 08:50 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbf6399 2 World Spain,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,state-of-emergency,COVID-19-quarantine,pandemic,coronavirus-restrictions Free Spanish lawmakers voted Wednesday to extend the state of emergency a final time through to June 21 as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged an embittered opposition not to succumb to the "poison of hate". It is the sixth time the measure has been renewed, meaning the restrictions will remain in force, although they have been significantly eased since the start of the lockdown in mid-March. The emergency has let the government impose significant limitations on freedom of movement, keeping Spain's nearly 47 million population largely at home in a bid to fight the epidemic which has claimed over 27,000 lives. Although Sanchez's left-wing coalition only holds a minority in the 350-seat chamber, the extension passed after he reached agreement with several smaller parties. The vote went through with 177 for, 155 against and 18 abstentions. Even though the pandemic is well under control in Spain, where only around 60 people have died over the past week, the government insists it is a fundamental measure as the country moves through the final phases of the rollback which is due to be completed by late June. By that point, Sanchez is hoping that normal freedom of movement will be fully restored and Spain will open its borders to international visitors from July 1. But the government's management of the crisis has come under fierce attack from the right, which has accused Sanchez of abusing the state of emergency to suppress individual liberties. "We undertook one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe and the West," Sanchez told lawmakers. "It has been terribly hard but tremendously effective," he said. But his right-wing opponents quickly hit back, accusing him of incompetence. "You have been incapable of saving lives and have not defended the economy, affecting thousands of people," said Pablo Casado, head of the right-wing Popular Party. And far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal accused Sanchez of "criminal negligence" that had caused the deaths of "tens of thousands of Spaniards". But the prime minister warned them about stirring hatred. "The poison of hatred is the most harmful," he said, pointing to the massive unrest sweeping the United States following the killing of an unarmed African-American when a white policeman knelt on his neck. "We can see it in the United States and we don't want to see it here." Cristobal weakened to a tropical depression on Thursday while over land in southern Mexico. But Cristobal is not done just yet. The third named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to emerge back into the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow, then head north and straight for the U.S. while gaining at least some of its strength back. Landfall in the U.S., likely Louisiana, will come late Sunday or early Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. However, Cristobal is expected to be a large storm with much of its worst weather well east of where the center comes onshore. Given the expected environmental conditions, the strongest winds, highest storm surge, and heaviest rains could be well removed from the center of circulation, the hurricane center said late Thursday. Therefore, it is important that users do not focus on the exact forecast path of the center of the cyclone. #Cristobal Reminder: @NHC_Atlantic forecast cone only indicates where the center of a storm is expected to move. Flooding, wind & other impacts can extend FAR outside the cone. The cone only displays info about track uncertainty; no info about impacts to your community pic.twitter.com/wMvSM3YJBa NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) June 5, 2020 Forecasters said tropical storm and storm surge watches could be issued for part of the U.S. Gulf Coast as soon as Friday. There is a risk of tropical storm force winds this weekend from Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle and a risk of dangerous storm surge from Louisiana to the Florida Big Bend," the hurricane center said Thursday afternoon. These hazards, along with heavy rainfall, will arrive well in advance of and extend well east of Cristobals center. Cristobal is expected to be a tropical storm when it comes ashore. The hurricane center noted that the environment over the Gulf didnt appear to be favorable for much strengthening, with wind shear and dry air expected to be deterrents. The hurricane center urged those on the northern Gulf coast to keep a close eye on the storm for the next few days. Forecasters said Cristobals wind field is expected to grow larger as it nears the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the worst conditions may occur at a large distance from the center. Cristobal is forecast to remain over land through tonight, all the while dumping heavy rain on parts of Mexico and Central America. Areas there could get up to 25 inches of rain before Cristobal moves away starting late Friday. Heavy rains and flooding continue over portions of southeastern Mexico and Central America from #Cristobal. The national meteorological service of Mexico (@conagua_mx) reports that 26.26" (667 mm) of rain has fallen at Ocotepec, Chiapas, over the past 5 days (May 30-June 3). pic.twitter.com/cYm2Fk9DTk National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) June 4, 2020 As of 10 p.m. CDT Thursday, Tropical Depression Cristobal was located about 145 miles south of Campeche in Mexico and was moving east at 3 mph. Cristobals winds have dropped to 35 mph. Tropical storm winds begin at 39 mph. The government of Mexico has dropped the tropical storm warning along its Gulf Coast. That also means the hurricane center will issue advisories every six hours instead of every three hours. Cristobal is forecast to turn northeast overnight and then more northward on Friday and Saturday. The center of the storm is expected to move back over the Gulf on Friday or Friday night and track northward, approaching the Louisiana coast on Sunday into Sunday night. The National Weather Service in Mobile continues to watch Cristobal closely and said the storm will bring a high risk of rip currents to Alabamas shores today through the weekend. Forecasters said coastal flooding is also increasingly likely, as is heavy rain rolling in off the Gulf in rain bands this weekend. Cristobals wind field is expected to expand as it reaches the northern Gulf Coast, and some wind impacts will also be possible this weekend, especially near the coast, the weather service said. Forecasters noted that there is still low confidences on that part of the forecast and it depends on Cristobals eventual track and intensity. The weather service stressed that effects from the storm could be felt far from where the center comes onshore. Black and brown Americans make up a disproportionate number of essential workers who have stayed on the job through lockdowns, and thus are at higher risk of contracting the disease. And when they do fall ill, they are more likely to receive worse care than white Americans do. Thats true even when controlling for socioeconomic factors such as income and education. And, of course, they are more likely to suffer from the underlying health conditions that can make this coronavirus deadly. Flash A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday urged Britain to stop meddling in affairs of Hong Kong which is a special administrative region of China. Britain should recognize and respect the fact that Hong Kong has returned to China, and should not use the Sino-British Joint Declaration as an excuse to make irresponsible remarks, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing. Zhao made the comments in response to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's remarks that the "authoritarian" national security legislation in Hong Kong was in breach of the "one country, two systems" and "this is a moment for China to step back from the brink" and respect Hong Kong's autonomy and its own international obligations. Britain's historical link with Hong Kong arises from the period of invasion, colonialism and unequal treaties. Authoritarian is "precisely the word to describe its colonial rule in Hong Kong," Zhao said, adding that it is after the return of Hong Kong that the residents came to enjoy unprecedented rights and freedoms. "To quote its own words, we urge the UK to 'step back', reject the Cold-War mindset and the colonial mentality, recognize and respect the fact that Hong Kong has already returned to China as a special administrative region," he said. The National People's Congress's decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security is part of China's internal affairs that allows no external interference, Zhao said. National security is the very foundation for the existence and development of all countries, and the core and fundamental element of national sovereignty, he added. The Sino-British Joint Declaration is all about China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong. The basic policies regarding Hong Kong declared by China in the Joint Declaration are China's statement of policies, not commitment to Britain or an international obligation as some claim, he said. As China resumed exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the Chinese government administers the SAR in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Meanwhile, all rights and obligations of the British side under the Joint Declaration were completed. "You cannot find a single word or article in the Joint Declaration that confers on the UK any Hong Kong-related responsibility after the handover," Zhao said. "The UK has no sovereignty, no jurisdiction and no right to supervise Hong Kong. As such, on no ground can it cite the Joint Declaration to arbitrarily comment on Hong Kong affairs or interfere in China's domestic affairs," he said. The national security legislation for Hong Kong is an essential step to safeguard national sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and the foundation of "one country, two systems." Only when national security is ensured can "one country, two systems" and Hong Kong's stability and prosperity be guaranteed. Zhao said this legislation only targets a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardize national security and has no impact whatsoever on Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents or the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong. "What threatens Hong Kong's stability and prosperity is precisely some external forces colluding with local anti-China rioters in conducting activities in the SAR that jeopardize China's national security," he said. He said China deplores and opposes the unwarranted comments and accusations by the British side, and has lodged stern representations with Britain. "It should abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's domestic affairs," Zhao said. "Otherwise, there will be consequences." The coronavirus pandemic has seriously altered the way we go about our day-to-day lives and pregnant women have really felt the limitations COVID-19 has brought with it. Mum groups, ante-natal classes and midwife appointments are now widely conducted over the phone or video chat, given that pregnant women are on the governments moderate risk list. Its a huge change and one that nobody could plan for, but a sense of virtual community amongst pregnant women has risen in lieu of coffee dates and mum-to-be classes. Lauren Popes new Yahoo UK video series The Baby Bump with Lauren Pope, as well as her Facebook and Instagram groups for mums and pregnant women, The Mum Space, is doing exactly that: creating a community for pregnant women during this strange time. Former The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Pope, 37, is expecting her first child. (Supplied) Read more: Ashley Graham breastfeeds son in glamorous magazine shoot The former The Only Way is Essex star, who is currently 32 weeks pregnant, admitted to Yahoo UK that the lockdown took a bit of adjusting to as a pregnant woman. There was no solid information, so we all just felt a little bit anxious. Lockdown happened a week or so after I announced I was pregnant, she says. My direct messages went crazy from other women, even just asking if I was staying in each day. Then it just sunk in all the things I was going to be missing out on. Women havent been able to have baby showers, their families havent seen them with a bump. My family havent seen me with a bump. Pope acknowledges that her family not being able to see her with a bump isnt a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but its the little everyday reminders that life isnt quite normal which can be hard in times when hormones are already heightened. Read more: Mum of 22 says shes done with having children After receiving messages from women all over the UK, Pope - along with her friend Bambi Haines - set up Facebook and Instagram groups so that women who felt alone during the pandemic could ask each other questions. Story continues As well as being community driven, the video series brings new pregnancy professionals on each week. This gives mums and mums-to-be the chance to ask a whole host of questions that they havent been able to ask in group environments due to the lockdown. The group has helped me so much, Pope explains. Weve also missed out on meeting other mums physically, in groups. I had a question about the whopping cough vaccination so I decided to put it on the group. Within about five minutes Id had about 60 replies from people telling me why they did or didnt decide to get the vaccination. Read more: Elon Musk and Grimes change babys name For first-time mums, like Pope, this time may be even more poignant and not just for the mums. Its really sad that weve had to miss out on some of those moments, the former TOWIE star admits, speaking about her partner being unable to attend her scan. Growing up you have all these ideas in your head about how its going to be when you have a baby and all the things you get to do. Despite the things that pregnant women have had to miss out on, like many of us, Pope has found some solitude in the slower way of life. Im actually quite enjoying lockdown now. Once I got myself into a routine, Ive got so used to it and I quite like it. Its not ideal that Ive had to pick a pram without even trying it out, but youve just got to crack on with it and deal with it. None of us can do anything about it. Just try to make the best of the situation. In normal life we probably wouldnt have the chance to just chill out and look after ourselves this much. Wed be running around, jumping on tubes, going to work. Its almost like weve been given a bit of a break before the baby comes. Lauren Pope, who starred in TOWIE until 2019, at the National Television Awards 2019. (Getty Images) Its this refreshing approach with has seen Popes The Mum Space social media accounts rise rapidly during lockdown. Read more: Carrie Symonds makes first post-pregnancy appearance The Yahoo UK video series aims to give answers to the vast amount of questions new mums and pregnant women have by tackling common themes from giving birth in lockdown to self-care throughout pregnancy. Many of the themes come from hot topics of discussion which Pope admits ranges from everything what people are packing in their hospital bags to whether or not theyre getting certain vaccines. The chats pick out experts based on the questions that people have been asking to give mums and mums-to-be a chance to get answers to any burning questions. To the Times: The Holy Quran states, We prescribed for the children of Israel that whosoever killed a person unless it be for killing another person or for creating disorder in the land it shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind(5:33). It is clear from this verse how egregious the murder of even one soul is in Islam. The horrific actions that continuously take place towards African Americans in our country need to stop. What happened to George Floyd and countless people before him is inexcusable and unjust and there needs to be change. Islam condemns all acts of violence and awareness must be brought to the people who are in authority, as well as those who are willfully unaware of these injustices that have been entrenched in the fabric of our society for centuries. For change to happen we all need to peacefully speak up, share our views, and support our brothers and sisters in the struggle for justice and equality. We can do this by meeting government officials, writing to local papers, spreading the word on social media, and treating everyone equally in our daily lives. Black lives do matter. Now more than ever Americans must realize that we all need to stand together in solidarity, as one people, and fix our society. Our prayers are with the individuals and families who have been affected by these senseless killings and are regularly facing discrimination and we stand by all those wanting change and proper treatment of African Americans in the USA. As Ahmadi Muslims we live by our motto, Love for all Hatred for None. Natasha Khokhar, Womens Auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Philadelphia Chapter Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said in the past that he had a "duty of silence" to the administration following his service. On Wednesday, it appeared that duty came to an end. In scathing terms, Mattis charged Wednesday that President Donald Trump has failed in his duties to the Constitution and the American people with a faltering response to nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Read Next: Esper Reverses Plans to Send Active-Duty Troops Home Mattis denounced what he called the "militarization" of Washington, D.C., and the use of force to drive protesters away from the White House in what he said was the culmination of a Trump presidency aimed at setting Americans against one another. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people--does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us," Mattis said in an article for The Atlantic magazine. "We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," the retired Marine general and former head of U.S. Central Command said. The only recourse for the nation was to "unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society," Mattis said. Mattis had served Trump as defense secretary since shortly after the inauguration, and mostly kept his disagreements with the mercurial president under wraps. But he resigned in December 2018 over Trump's surprise announcement that U.S. troops would withdraw from Syria, and his constant belittlement of allies. Since stepping down, he had avoided direct criticism of Trump. But in Wednesday's statement, Mattis was unsparing. "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution," he said. "The words 'Equal Justice Under Law' are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding," he continued. The demand is "one that all of us should be able to get behind," Mattis said. "We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers ... The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values -- our values as people and our values as a nation." It was those values that Trump had mocked or ignored throughout his term in office, Mattis said, leaving the American people to find a path forward for themselves. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children," Mattis said. Trump's choice of Mattis as defense secretary came as something of a surprise, as did Mattis' quick acceptance of the nomination, but there were initial signs that their relationship would be challenged. In introducing Mattis at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate in December 2015, Trump called him "Mad Dog," a nickname Mattis detests. In his first meeting with Pentagon reporters, Mattis insisted that they call him "Jim." After Mattis resigned, Trump appeared to have settled on Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, as a successor, but Shanahan withdrew after details began to emerge over a messy domestic issue. Trump then picked Mark Esper, who was serving as Army secretary, to be the next civilian leader of the Pentagon. Confirmed by the Senate in July 2019, Esper now also seems to be on thin ice with Trump. On Monday, Trump berated the nation's governors for what he saw as their "weak" response to the protests and said he was prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act to send active-duty troops into their states. On Wednesday, Esper said he was against using the Insurrection Act right now and called for healing wounds and ending racism in the nation and within the ranks of the military. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: White House Sidesteps Questions on Whether SecDef Will Keep Job Governor Bill Lees administration Thursday outlined new spending plans for state government that reflect significant revenue reductions due to the economic impact of COVID-19. Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Butch Eley presented state lawmakers with the revised budget plans for the current fiscal year, as well as FY 2020-21, which begins July 1, and a framework for the following fiscal year, 2021-22. We will balance our budget each year while providing important services to our citizens, Comm. Eley said. Were adjusting to the immediate impact of the pandemic on state revenues of up to $1.5 billion through the end of the next fiscal year, planning for the worst and hoping for the best. Tennessee has a history of being one of the best managed states in the nation, and we intend to work with the Legislature to continue that tradition, maintaining low taxes and preserving reserves while achieving efficiencies in operations and continuing to serve our citizens. In March, the administration and the General Assembly agreed on $397 million in recurring reductions at the onset of COVID-19, and the administration is proposing an additional $284 million in reductions for FY 20-21, bringing the total to $681 million in reductions. Hiring and expenditure freezes have also been in place since March. The state will close the current fiscal year on June 30 with unbudgeted non-tax revenues, agency savings and reserves. In FY 20-21, the state will utilize reserves to lessen the impact of immediate spending reductions, allowing for thoughtful review of business practices for greater efficiencies and creative delivery of vital services as well as the development of strategic plans to reduce the employee workforce over the next two years. The states multi-year spending plan provides full funding for: - The Basic Education Program (BEP) for K-12 public schools; - Contributions to the state employee pension fund; - State payments for employee health insurance; and - Debt service requirements. Multi-year reductions will be achieved, in part, through: - Up to 12 percent reductions through greater efficiencies in all departments; - Reduction in new capital projects and funding for capital maintenance; - Authorizing bonds for existing capital projects previously funded with cash; and - An employee buy-out initiative to reduce the state workforce over the next two years. The state has reserve funds totaling $4 billion, including the Rainy Day Fund, which will reach $1.2 billion after an additional deposit of $325 million at the end of the fiscal year on June 30. New Delhi : A 34-year-old man on Thursday died after he was hit by a train at the busy Rajiv Chowk Metro Station in central Delhi. The incident was reported about 8:40 AM at the station located in posh Connaught Place area. The victim, identified as Amit Talwar (34), was standing at the edge of a platform at the station when the train bound for Jahangirpuri hit him following which he fell on the tracks. "He died on the spot," a senior official said. He was rushed to the hospital at the Lady Hardinge Medical College nearby where doctors declared him "brought dead". Talwar was a resident of Saket area in south Delhi and police has registered a case in this connection. Officials said metro services were disrupted for a few minutes. For about a week since her father succumbed to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), 27-year-old Delhi resident Shipra Ujjainwala has made dozens of phone calls to helplines, approached multiple private testing centres, and approached at least one government hospital to be tested for the coronavirus infection. Ujjainwala has no symptoms but she needs a negative certificate to get back to work and address the misgivings of her neighbours and relatives who have avoided the family for weeks. I was refused as I didnt have prescription from a doctor for I had no symptoms. The fact that I had a Covid death in my family and that my organisation demands a Covid-free certificate was not enough to agree them to test me. Nobody wants to see us because of our Covid positive case history how am I supposed to get a prescription, she said. Her experience captures the convoluted protocols that make it difficult for even at-risk people to be able to get a Covid-19 test, complicating efforts to determine the size of the outbreak. Till Tuesday, Ujjainwala would have qualified for a test but the rule has now been changed to allow only symptomatic close contacts of a confirmed patient. The number of Covid-19 tests carried per million people in India is a little over 3,100, a number that experts have said is inadequate to determine the true extent of the problem in the country, even as the total infections rose by another nationally. Our [Indias] condition may be worse than Italy, but we dont know since we arent testing enough. We dont acknowledge our real status in terms of disease spread because it seems our focus is largely on proving we are doing better than other countries in managing the disease. We have tested about 3.9 million people from a population of 1.3 billion, which is roughly about 0.3% of the population. How can you plan how to control a pandemic for the rest of the 99.7% of the population by merely looking at the results in 0.3% of the population? said Dr T Jacob John, former virology head, Christian Medical College, Vellore John. The problem is not merely that the rules are restrictive but that they are also changing rapidly. There is perpetual confusion over who to test, as the government keeps changing guidelines. It feels like harassment and it appears they want private labs to stop testing by making it difficult for us to operate, said the owner of a private laboratory owner, asking not to be named. Representatives of the Indian Council of Medical Research the apex body that sets the standards for such protocols across the country (though they can be tweaked by states) said the changes are due to evolving demands. ICMR has been time to time revising guidelines as per what the situation demands. The protocols have been clearly laid out that states should follow. Some states are perhaps going by their own rules by making additions or to ICMR protocol that is probably creating problems, said Dr Rajnikant Srivastava, spokesperson, ICMR. Manufacturers of test kits say they are prepared to meet higher demands. We are currently producing 2 lakh tests a day; there is absolutely no shortage of kits. I can say for sure that in some time India is going to be a competitive market globally, said Hasmukh Rawal, managing director, Mylab Discovery Solutions, Pune-based manufacturers of RT-PCR diagnostic kits. Current bottlenecks, however, could be in the labs. There is no shortage of kits and equipment but there is only a particular number of tests that a laboratory can do, which is the testing capacity of a lab. You cannot go beyond that, no matter how many extra kits you have. It is not possible to test the entire 1.3 billion population, said Dr Srivastava. Testing will also need to be timed in order to avoid false negatives. Dr RR Gangakhedkar, head, epidemiology division, ICMR, said, We cannot open up testing for asymptomatic people because a negative RT-PCR test does not rule out infection in the early stages of infection, and in people with low viral load, the chance of RT-PCR returning a false negative is there. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rhythma Kaul Rhythma Kaul works as an assistant editor at Hindustan Times. She covers health and related topics, including ministry of health and family welfare, government of India. ...view detail English German Transaction provides up to CHF 20.0 million in near-term liquidity Financing provides funding runway to advance DMD-franchise with Puldysa and vamorolone Pratteln, Switzerland, June 4, 2020 Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces that it has entered into a commitment letter for a financing facility providing for the issuance of senior secured exchangeable notes to an investment fund managed by Highbridge Capital Management, LLC, an existing investor in the Company. The financing instrument would make available up to CHF 20.0 million in near-term liquidity to Santhera and is expected to provide a runway to advance value-enhancing development and pre-commercialization activities for the neuromuscular compounds Puldysa and vamorolone. This financing will immediately improve Santheras liquidity and allow us to pursue our operational plans past important inflection points, commented Dario Eklund, Chief Executive Officer of Santhera. In combination with our existing cash and cash equivalents, we believe this financing will provide the Company with sufficient funding to complete regulatory work for Puldysa, including the CHMP review, and with the achievement of Company milestones, advance the pipeline into early 2021. Under the financing instrument, the Santhera may borrow up to an aggregate amount of CHF 20.0 million through the issuance of senior secured exchangeable notes. The Company expects to draw down the first tranche of borrowing in the amount of CHF 7.5 million in late June 2020, with additional tranches being available upon the achievement of certain milestones. In connection with this agreement, Santhera has also agreed to issue 300,000 shares of the Company, as consideration for the commitment and utilization of the financing, with 75,000 of such shares being issued upon signing of the commitment. The notes have a maximum term of 18 months and will pay a fixed interest, which Santhera can pay in cash at a rate of 12% per annum or in kind at a rate of 13% per annum. Subject to certain restrictions, Highbridge may elect to exchange notes for Company shares. Also, Santhera has an option to redeem the notes in shares under certain circumstances. We are pleased to be able to provide this facility and thereby further increase our investment in Santhera, commented Jonathan Segal, Highbridge Capital Management. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Santheras management team and board. The parties have entered into a commitment letter. Funding is subject to certain conditions, covenants and documentation. About Santhera Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines for rare neuromuscular and pulmonary diseases with high unmet medical need. Santhera is building a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) product portfolio to treat patients irrespective of causative mutations, disease stage or age. A marketing authorization application for Puldysa (idebenone) is currently under review by the European Medicines Agency. Santhera has an option to license vamorolone, a first-in-class anti-inflammatory drug candidate with novel mode of action, currently investigated in a pivotal study in patients with DMD to replace standard corticosteroids. The clinical stage pipeline also includes lonodelestat (POL6014) to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) and other neutrophilic pulmonary diseases, as well as omigapil and an exploratory gene therapy approach targeting congenital muscular dystrophies. Santhera out-licensed ex-North American rights to its first approved product, Raxone (idebenone), for the treatment of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) to Chiesi Group. For further information, please visit www.santhera.com . Raxone and Puldysa are trademarks of Santhera Pharmaceuticals. For further information please contact: public-relations@santhera.com or Eva Kalias, Head External Communications Phone: +41 79 875 27 80 eva.kalias@santhera.com Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. # # # Attachment We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 15:34 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc263e3 1 World COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-abroad,Tablighi-Jamaat,India Free More than 300 Indonesian members of Tablighi Jamaat, a worldwide Islamic missionary movement, have returned to Indonesia while hundreds of others are still stranded overseas as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foreign Ministry has said. They were spread across 13 countries with a total of 1,165 people, 361 of whom have returned to Indonesia, said the ministry's director for citizen protection Judha Nugraha in a statement on Wednesday. Judha did not provide further details about where the returning Tablighi Jamaat came from. However, according to the ministry's data as of May 27, many of those who have returned home came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait and Thailand. Meanwhile, hundreds of Indonesian members of Tablighi Jamaat are still stranded in India as many face legal proceedings relating to several violations that they allegedly committed during the lockdown period in the South Asian country. Earlier reports said that they were accused of being negligent causing the spread of COVID-19, violating the Epidemic Disease Act, having immigration issues and refusing to comply with the instructions of local authorities. Citing reports from the Indian police to local courts, Judha said 334 Indonesian citizens had been reported for violations by the Indian authorities and were undergoing legal proceedings. At least 151 Indonesians are still in custody, he said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that 31 had been released. Judha said the government had provided legal assistance to ensure the Indonesians were treated with justice according to their rights. The stranded Indonesians in India will be brought home as soon as they complete their legal proceedings and their quarantine period, as well as having obtained an exit permit from the Indian government. They will conduct self-repatriation while being facilitated by the Indonesian government, Judha said. (asp) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) President Rodrigo Duterte is set to deliver a speech on Friday morning, to give an update on how the government has responded to COVID-19 crisis. The President was supposed to deliver his weekly address on Thursday evening, but Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said it was instead moved to 8 a.m. on June 5. The address will come just as Duterte told the Department of Health that it only has until June 9 to give cash benefits to virus-hit health workers. Roque, in an online briefing on Thursday, said Duterte gave the order in response to a revelation during a Senate hearing that no infected healthcare worker so far has received the compensation as promised in the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act. Apart from issues concerning COVID-19, the President is also expected to discuss matters concerning the Anti-Terrorism Bill, which the House of Representatives passed on third reading on Wednesday. Duterte submitted his 10th report on COVID-19 efforts to the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Monday, highlighting what has been done so far. The U.S. will designate four Chinese state media outlets as foreign embassies in addition to five such outlets that have already been placed under restrictions, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The State Department could announce the designation as early as Thursday. China Central Television (CCTV) and China News Service are expected to be among the outlets listed by the department. The designation would apply certain restrictions to those outlets operations on U.S. soil, mandating they register employees and property with the State Department. The Trump administration in February placed the same restrictions on five other Chinese state media organizations including the Xinhua News Agency and the China Global Television Network. In March, the administration ordered those five outlets to reduce personnel stationed in the U.S. by 40 percent, after China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters. China subsequently moved to revoke press credentials for additional reporters from the Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. On May 18, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned China against interfering with the work of American journalists in then-semi-autonomous Hong Kong. It has recently come to my attention that the Chinese government has threatened to interfere with the work of American journalists in Hong Kong. These journalists are members of a free press, not propaganda cadres, and their valuable reporting informs Chinese citizens and the world, Pompeo said in a statement at the time. However, China has since moved to apply new laws to the territory that Hong Kong pro-democracy legislators have warned will end the territorys autonomy and relative freedom. Pompeo told Congress last week that the city of Hong Kong is effectively no longer autonomous, and President Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. would revoke Hong Kongs special trading status. More from National Review Tel Aviv, June 4 : The Israeli parliament or Knesset on Thursday suspended most of its activities for the day after a lawmaker tested positive for coronavirus. Staff at the Knesset have been asked not to come into work unless it is essential, while committee meetings have been postponed, reports the BBC. The infected lawmaker, Sami Abou Shahadeh, entered self-isolation two days ago after his driver tested positive. But he told public broadcaster Kan that he had met thousands of people over the past two weeks. "I went to comfort mourners and also to family events and demonstrations," he said, according to the Times of Israel. "I was on committees, in the (Knesset) plenary and even the cafeteria." Abou Shahadeh has urged people who have been in close contact with him to self-isolate and get tested. "The virus is still among us and a return to so-called routine helps the virus spread with greater magnitude and speed," he tweeted. Photographs circulated by Kan showed him not wearing a face mask at a mourning tent set up by the family of Iyad Halaq, an autistic Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli police on May 30. As of Thursday, Israel accounted for 17,377 COVID-19 cases, with 291 deaths. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora rushed to a city hospital Wednesday morning when he learned that children had been injured or wounded in a shooting on Wood Street off North Montgomery Street. There, he found one of the victims mother, who said, I just sent the kids out to play. The reports were true. Two children were injured, one by gunshots, when a gunman opened fire and sent children scrambling off a nearby playground. Two male adults were also wounded in the gunfire, just before 9:30 a.m. This is a heartbreaker, Gusciora said, hours after he jointed a bevy of local politicians and faith leaders, who called for more cooperation in mitigating what the mayor said was intra neighborhood violence, and the symptomatic way some people settle scores: by opening fire. The mayor said any such shooting is uncalled for, but to endanger a playground where children should feel safe, In this regard, the city has failed them. We have to do much more work, he acknowledged. No arrests or charges were reported by police. Trenton Police Director Sheilah Coley discusses a shooting that injured two children Wed. June 3, 2020. At left is Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora.(Photo by Brian McCarthy) The shooting wounded a 12-year-old girl, who was shot in the stomach, and a 7-year-old girl who suffered a head wound when she fell while running, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said. The younger girl has since been released from the hospital. Two men, ages 36 and 30, were also wounded, and expected to survive, Onofri said. This senseless violence has to stop, Onofri said. The prosecutor said its his hope that such a tragedy would lead to real change. We hope that this will bring the community together and galvanize it to bring an end to the violence. Onofri said his detectives and Trenton police are pursuing leads, and said the incident has no apparent connections to the rioting in the city this past Sunday, a few blocks away. This appears to be a personal dispute, Onofri said. Gusciora also said Wednesday he was rolling back the citys curfew to 7 p.m. He first put it in place in early April, when three people were killed on one night in separate shootings. Since then, Trenton has suffered major bursts of violence, including five murders in seven days last month, two since last weekend, and Sundays unrest - which followed a peaceful protest of the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. This afternoon at City Hall, there was a press conference in response to the heinous shooting that injured four... Posted by Jerell Blakeley on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. KEY HIGHLIGHTS HP partners with Redington 3D to 3D-print parts for 10,000 ventilators for AgVa Healthcare HP 3D printing technology reduces manufacturing time from 4-5 months to 24 days HP has partnered with Redington 3D in India, to produce 120,000 ventilator parts for AgVa Healthcare. As part of this initiative, 12 categories of parts have been 3D-printed to manufacture 10,000 ventilators. The parts include inhale and exhale connectors, valve holders, oxygen nozzles and solenoid mounts, among others. Due to the complex design of these parts, 3D printing helped bring down manufacturing time of ventilators from four to five months to just 24 days. These ventilators are being deployed across India for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. AgVa Healthcare's ventilator is an ICU ventilator with volume, pressure and flow control, and the entire system can be controlled by a capacitive multi-touch interface without the need of compressed medical air. It is extremely portable and can be used in ICU transport or homecare. "In these unprecedented and difficult times, HP remains committed to serve the community and those impacted by the ongoing health emergency. The successful execution of the AgVa Healthcare project is a testament of the capabilities of HP's 3D printing technology and how it can remove the limitations of designing by producing complex products in short time," says Rajat Mehta, Country Manager, 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing, HP India Market. "At Redington, our commitment was to supply over 1.20 lakhs parts to AgVa Healthcare in their endeavour to manufacture 10,000 Ventilators in 30 days & help the country tackle the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. By deploying two of our HP Jet Fusion Production 3D Printers, we could manage our production schedule with ease and help the country in its preparedness to fight this pandemic situation. As a team, we feel proud to be part of this mission & leverage our Digital Manufacturing capabilities, at the time when it needed the most," says Ramesh K.S, Vice President, Redington India Limited. HP's global network of manufacturing partners is working to ensure that the 3D printed parts are available in any region around the world. To date, more than 2.3 million parts have been produced by HP and partners and customers around the world. Even this partnership is part of HP's global commitment in the battle against COVID-19. As part of this initiative, HP claims to have ramped up its 3D printing team and global digital manufacturing partner network to design, validate and produce essential parts for medical responders and hospitals. By Brendan O'Brien MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Alfonzo Williams waved his massive forearms and urged onlookers to clear the way for the procession of clergy members marching toward the site in his Minneapolis neighborhood where a white police officer knelt on George Floyd's neck until he died. Williams ushered local faith leaders to a spot where they preached and prayed with hundreds of grievers. Just feet away, Floyd, a black man, had spent the last nine minutes of his life face down on the pavement with the officer's knee jammed into his neck By Brendan O'Brien MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Alfonzo Williams waved his massive forearms and urged onlookers to clear the way for the procession of clergy members marching toward the site in his Minneapolis neighborhood where a white police officer knelt on George Floyd's neck until he died. Williams ushered local faith leaders to a spot where they preached and prayed with hundreds of grievers. Just feet away, Floyd, a black man, had spent the last nine minutes of his life face down on the pavement with the officer's knee jammed into his neck. Williams, a 43-year-old ex-felon and former gang member, believes divine intervention brought him and other members of the local black community to this moment and will guide their response to the tragedy that put the neighborhood in the global spotlight. "By the grace of God I'm here and alive," said Williams, who has been shot six times during his life. "I know God has a plan and this is part of it. We can't sit around no more. If we want to have hope for the next generation, we got to act." Williams is a member of the Worldwide Outreach for Christ, a nearby church where he works security and helps organize events for the small congregation. Before the deadly incident, he served as eyes and ears of this once-ordinary urban neighborhood. Now he is part host, part traffic cop at the sprawling makeshift memorial for Floyd, the latest casualty of police violence to become a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement. "I fallen into my role. It's crazy. I can't sit down," he said, resting his sore hip in his truck after working the crowd, helping set up grills and move cases of bottled water. Williams grew up in the neighborhood. He was a gang member who served time in federal prison for wire fraud and identify theft for stealing $1.8 million. Since leaving prison 10 years ago, "I haven't looked back," said Williams, who now owns a demolition and landscaping company. "I learned in prison that it was not for me. You got to make choices, the right decisions." Since Floyd's death, Williams has been at the scene every day to help organize and provide emotional support to grievers. "I'm using my life experience to deal with the emotional stress and everything that is out here," said Williams, his eyes welling with tears. "I don't want to do this, but my soul wants me to." (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Minneapolis; Editing by David Gregorio) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The rise of violence against reporters, many of them my friends and co-workers during this tumultuous time in the US, is not only alarming but for me surprising. Until now we understood that when we worked on the front line of these dangerous events, wearing the word "press" or a media pass on a cord around our neck usually provided at least some protection from the swinging batons or the rubber bullets. Nine reporter Tim Arvier runs from police tear gas amid protests in Minneapolis over the police killing of George Floyd. Credit:Angus Mordant The very reason I was issued with a media pass as it stated on the form when I applied for it is that when the heat is on I can "cross police and/or fire lines in the course of your news gathering". Until now, the police did not allow us to cross that line just to make us the target of their anger. But that is what has happened so many times in America during the past 10 days. Churches and evangelical leaders are supporting the Black Lives Matter movement which was further sparked by the recent murder of George Floyd in police custody. The Black Lives Matter movement was formed in 2013 in response police brutality and murders committed to the African American community. The movement spread when used as a hashtag following the police shooting of an unarmed, black high school student, Trayvon Martin in 2012. Hillson Church global senior pastor and founder, Brian Houston supported BLM in a statement, "Hillsong Church is opposed to racism, and we believe black lives matter." One of the Hillsong Church pastors in the United Kingdom drew criticism online for a video of him saying he didn't think his comments about something in another country would help anyone. Brian Houston expressed his disappointment and apologized for such behavior from one of his pastors. Houston affirmed his support for the African American community in a statement, "The needless and tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the much deeper systemic issues towards African American people that his death has highlighted must lead to radical and permanent change. Racism must stop, and my prayer is that this moment in history will be a moment of lasting equality, transformation, and change." Another church that showed support towards the BLM movement and the protests was from the Life Center Church in Milwaukee. The pastor Micaiah Young preached about nonviolence and shared, "We're crying out, saying we're not going to take it anymore, but we're peacefully using what we have to make an impact." Christian leaders in Nebraska also shared their support in a statement, "Black lives matter." Even the Christian rapper, Lecrae, joined the protest in Atlanta and held up a sign that read, "Justice is a right, not a privilege!" Lecrae shared his thoughts on protesting in a statement, "Paul protested in Acts 16. Persecuted believers protest. Churches protest. There's a right way to do it." Jerry became a machinist at San Antonio's former Kelly Air Force Base (now Kelly Field) at 16, before heading off to serve in World War II, a chapter in his life he would never discuss. He worked on small engines and motors and, later, started a small engine-repair business, focusing on lawn mowers and equipment. He designed the home Pope's parents lived in for more than 50 years, which sat on six acres, nestled in a forest of more than 100 trees that Jerry planted himself. He told her he'd never leave that house and would have to be taken out feet first." Pope became a nurse who dedicated much of her career to public health: researching stress on caregivers, advocating for fluoridation in drinking water, implementing substance abuse programs. She also got licensed as a hypnotherapist. She lived in Houston, moved to Arkansas southern Ozark Mountains for four years, then returned to San Antonio, in 2015, to help look after her parents as they declined. Her mom, who died two years ago, had dementia; Jerry had the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Three years ago, they moved into Brookdale Nacogdoches, a memory care home he loves and that's reported no cases of the coronavirus. Taking away her dad's car proved harder than moving him. Throughout his life, when Jerry needed to clear his head, he'd go for a drive. So Pope made a deal with him. She'd pick him up at 2 in the afternoon every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to take him for a drive. They'd weave through downtown streets, past his old haunts. He'd show her where the Woolworth's once stood and point out the Alamo. They'd order four chopped-beef sandwiches at his favorite barbecue joint. He made sure she noticed every American flag they passed. Then she'd wind through the back roads of the park where he went on long-ago dates with her mother. They'd pull over to admire baby ducks, goslings and egrets, and people-watch, making up stories about those they'd see. Now they rely on virtual video chats. His little girl engages him with old family photos, including pictures from favorite camping trips and current images of his favorite destinations. This is their new routine, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2 p.m. on the dot. This article grew out of our effort to collect stories of people with loved ones in nursing homes. Share your story. Montana Brown has revealed she is dating a new man under lockdown conditions, six months after her split from her model boyfriend Elliott Reeder. The Love Island star, 24, said she is planning to meet up with her potential date for a walk as she chatted to pal Joanna Chimonides on FUBAR Radio on Thursday. Montana, who split from Elliott in January after two years together, said: 'We have a light at the end of the tunnel okay. Moving on: Montana Brown has revealed she is dating a new man under lockdown conditions, six months after her split from her model boyfriend Elliott Reeder (pictured last week) 'This guy, we're going to go on a walk, and he was like, "I'm gonna come pick you up". He lives like quite far from me and where we're going is not near me either. 'He's like, "no I'm gonna pick you up. I'm gonna swing by, pick you up. Do you have any allergies? Because I'm gonna grab some food on the way for our walk". 'I was like," would you like to marry me?!" And Montana said she doesn't want a high profile romance as she is 'craving normality'. It's all over: Montana split from Elliott in January after two years together (pictured in February last year) Girl talk: The Love Island star, 24, said she is planning to meet up with her potential date for a walk as she chatted to pal Joanna Chimonides (pictured) on FUBAR Radio on Thursday The television personality revealed: 'He's not famous which is actually ideal for me because I'm craving normality. 'I just want someone who only wants me and not a million other girls I just want to find a doctor in Sheffield that no one knows, who lives with his grandma or something, got a farm maybe, and that's me sorted.' When asked about the attention she's received since being on the show three years ago, Montana explained: 'You do get boys talking to you but they're just so odd. 'This boy right, I was like, "oh you know, he's attractive, I'll match him on whatever". So I match with him "do you have snap?" 'No I don't have snap!' I don't want your What?! I was like, "are you taking the p**s"?!' Elliott and Montana dated for two years and went Instagram official back in February 2018, just eight weeks into their relationship. All over: Elliott and Montana dated for two years and went Instagram official back in February 2018, just eight weeks into their relationship Montana previously spoke about her jealous streak over the amount of attention Elliott gets. She said: 'There are people in the limelight who follow him and like his pictures who don't even know him. It's not very nice when people want to go for your man.' Talk turned to the cancellation of Love Island this summer due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and how future series could differ: 'I'm going to really miss it. I'm honestly kind of a bit gutted. I think they need to send me and Jo back on because neither of us have found love,' she said. Agreeing with Montana, Joanna added: 'I think they should get all previous Love Islanders who haven't yet got a partner, us two, and they should put us on it and see how we get on. 'I'm up for it. If I did that again, I reckon I would maybe embrace it a bit more and be like, "this could be my husband".' Former loves: Montana previously spoke about her jealous streak over the amount of attention Elliott gets Montana then noted: 'I think I was more in it for the experience last time. Now I want one [husband] now! Where's the rock on my finger?!' Discussion turned to the tragedy of George Floyd's recent death in Minneapolis, with Montana sharing her own opinion as a woman of colour: 'Obviously it's absolutely awful what's been happening and I'm so glad that it's kind of created so much traction, but it's kind of keeping that pressure on is always something that's a struggle. 'Instagram, the media and the press, it's all very much in the moment and people kind of forget. 'I think it's important that people actually learn about their friends who are of colour or are black and I think it's really important that people actually make an effort to try and understand the hardships and the prejudice that they go through.' For travel lovers weary of sheltering in place, the news that popular destinations such as Iceland and Greece and parts of the Caribbean will be reopening to international tourists is encouraging. But before you book any trips, you'll have to examine the policies of each country carefully and answer some important questions. Because Iceland is one of the first countries to announce it will reopen to American travelers (no later than June 15) we'll look at these issues from the perspective of traveling there. - The state of the pandemic in the destination Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State University, says one of the important indicators of whether a destination is truly ready to reopen is the number of daily new novel coronavirus cases. "Before considering a visit (anywhere), look at the statistics from that country," he says. "Make sure the daily new cases for the most recent two weeks are extremely low or close to zero." Iceland has reported a low number of cases - 1,806 total, with just four new cases over the past two weeks. Chi also recommends that travelers assess the quality of the health care facilities and the capability of the destination to treat visitors. A look at the country's coronavirus recovery and fatality rates might help you determine whether you'll find good care there. In Iceland, the recovery rate is higher than 99 percent. Be mindful of how the pandemic has affected daily life in your destination. Ryan Connolly, co-founder of bespoke travel operator Hidden Iceland, says that "even at the absolute peak of the pandemic, you could still go into shops" while abiding by the distancing guidelines. Visitors can expect tour companies to be operating, and restaurants, gyms, bars, swimming pools and nightclubs to be open with some precautions in place, though some hotels may be operating at reduced capacity. If you plan to travel internationally this summer, it's wise to inquire with your travel provider about which activities and accommodations are available before you decide on a destination. - Border control and space Consider how visitors to the country will be screened, and how many people you may be mingling with. Visitors to Iceland, for example, will have three options on arrival: a coronavirus test (children are exempt from testing), quarantine at their own cost for 14 days, or proof of a test taken before boarding their flight to Iceland. Because it's an island nation, Iceland should be able to monitor visitors effectively; according to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, there will essentially be one main point of entry for international travelers: Reykjavik-Keflavik Airport. Iceland is also a good place for physical distancing and outdoor recreation; it's the least densely populated country in Europe and its main attractions have always been its fire and ice offerings. "People come to Iceland for nature - not theme parks, cinemas or other places where you're confined," says Connolly. According to Chi, "Safety (with regard to the coronavirus) will vary by destination, but as a general rule, you should avoid crowds, especially indoors. If you're doing outdoor activities where there are very few people, that's pretty safe." - Getting there Your intended destination may have the coronavirus under control, but if a flight is required to reach it, Chi says, "the biggest risk is getting there." Factors that make air travel to Iceland or anywhere else risky include possible exposure in the airport, prolonged time spent in the enclosed space of a plane, lack of physical distance from other passengers and using the restroom. If you'll be flying, examine airline policies on passenger spacing (no, they're not all leaving the middle seat empty), mask requirements and disinfection procedures. - Entry requirements and costs Each destination will determine its own entry requirements, and those are subject to change, so look for updates. Be aware that, even within a country, requirements may vary. For example, anyone arriving in Hawaii - including Americans from other states - must quarantine for 14 days. As noted above, visitors to Iceland will have to quarantine or take a coronavirus test if they haven't already. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs says the Icelandic government will cover the cost of the tests for the first two weeks. Visitors arriving after that will bear the cost, which will likely be less than $225 dollars per test, according to government sources. Consider a country's capacity for testing. Iceland's government facilities can test and process results for 500 international arrivals per day. Although Iceland received about 6,500 visitors per day in June 2019, this month there will be only a few flights arriving daily from abroad as the country gradually welcomes international visitors. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs says plans are in place to significantly increase testing capacity. Chi says travelers should understand that coronavirus tests are not 100 percent accurate - false-negative results are possible, particularly within the first couple of days after infection - and the type of test given on arrival may differ by country. He notes that antibody tests are less accurate than PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and may be less useful, because having antibodies doesn't necessarily exempt a person from future infection. But there is not yet an ideal option. The risk of inaccurate results, Chi says, is one of the reasons Taiwan, another island destination with a low number of coronavirus cases, has not determined when it will reopen to international visitors. "One measure they're contemplating is a highly sensitive test (to be used) at the airport," he says. "So far, they haven't found one." In countries that seek to restart tourism without requiring a lengthy quarantine, Chi believes the most likely approach for now will be a PCR test upon arrival, quarantine until results are received, and permission to carry on with your travels if the results are negative. In Iceland, a PCR test will be used, and you're expected to go to your accommodations and follow distancing and hand-washing guidelines until the results are received. If the test comes back positive, you - and anyone you've been within six feet of for 15 minutes or more - will be notified and required to self-quarantine. - Your health Chi recommends that people with chronic or respiratory conditions postpone travel for now, and he suggests that even those without existing conditions might want to wait a few weeks to see how things play out. "You don't want to be the guinea pig," he says. By the second half of August, Chi believes the travel industry will have had time to test and improve coronavirus-related safety measures. If you're American, you'll also need to consider that the current State Department Global Level 4 Health Advisory may affect your travel health insurance; check with your carrier to see whether it will cover you during the pandemic. If you are not comfortable traveling yet, Connolly says, Iceland will be waiting to welcome you when you're ready. "We've got glacier hikes, midnight sun, and whales in the summer and ice caves and Northern Lights in winter. Both are an amazing time." Children are expected to be allowed to have some screen-free fun in summer camps and playgrounds from next week as public health experts meet today to decide on the next phase of exiting the lockdown. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan would not be drawn on the specific recommendations to be made today, but he said his expert team will look at a range of measures to ease the burden of lockdown restrictions on young children and their parents. The GAA Cul Camps are expected to be able to take place this summer, but all activities will have to be carried out with strict safeguards. Dr Holohan said: "Government is going to consider and accept them before they become part of any easing of restrictions." Read More He confirmed the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), which meets today, will have the easing of measures affecting children on its agenda as well as matters such as the resumption of some form of visiting at nursing homes. There is nothing in the figures at this point to indicate that Nphet will not be able to recommend that phase two of the lockdown exit goes ahead. Dr Holohan was speaking as a further three people died from the virus, signalling relief that the death toll is falling along with new cases of the virus. Expand Close Dr Tony Holohan. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Tony Holohan. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin There have now been 1,659 Covid-19 related deaths in the Republic. The number of new diagnoses also remained low at 47 cases. Around four in 10 people who are diagnosed with the virus do not know where they were infected, while well over half are close contacts of another person who has tested positive. Figures also show that a number of counties saw no new people diagnosed with the disease between May 21 and 28. The includes Kerry, Sligo, Wexford, Donegal and Meath. Although the diagnosis of new cases is unpredictable, infectious disease consultant in Beaumont Hospital Dr Sam McConkey has pointed out that it is too early for people to travel from counties like Dublin and Cork, where cases of the virus are highest, to counties which have fewer infections. The latest figures from the department show that of the 25,064 cases confirmed as of midnight last Monday, 3,298 cases - the equivalent of 13pc - have been hospitalised. Of these, 409 cases have been admitted to intensive care units. The number of confirmed cases among healthcare workers has breached 8,000, accounting for nearly 32pc of people who have caught the infection. Dublin has the highest number of cases at 12,093, making up 48pc, followed by Cork with 1,517 cases, accounting for 6pc, and Kildare with 1,419 cases (5.6pc). Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said there has been one new cluster in a direct provision centre in the week up to midnight on Saturday night. Meanwhile, a majority of people believe that others are ignoring the two-metre physical distancing rule, according to a survey commissioned by the Department of Health. Just 40pc of people think others are obeying the safe distancing gap - a drop of 11pc in the last two weeks. Star Wars actor John Boyega delivered a passionate speech in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in London. Boyega has been vocal on social media about the death of George Floyd, which has spurred mass protests across the US. Im speaking to you from my heart, Boyega said into a megaphone. Look, I dont know if Im going to have a career after this, but f**k that. Black lives have always mattered, Boyega told protestors at Londons Hyde Park. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I aint waitingWe are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence. "Look I dont know if Im going to have a career after this but, f**k that." John Boyega. pic.twitter.com/KPFDUUFGlM The Nikki Diaries (@thenikkidiaries) June 3, 2020 Several members of the film and television industries spoke up in support of Boyega, and assured him that he neednt worry about his career. Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker director JJ Abrams wrote on Twitter, You KNOW that as long as Im allowed to keep working, Ill always be begging to work with you. Deep respect and love, my friend. Also read: Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas donate to social justice organisations amid Black Lives Matter protests The official Star Wars account also stood up for the actor, who played Finn in three Star Wars films. We stand with and support you, @JohnBoyega, Star Wars tweeted on behalf of LucasFilm. His co-star in the franchise, Mark Hamill, wrote, Never been more proud of you, John. @JohnBoyega, dad. Boyegas Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson wrote, Love this man. You KNOW that as long as Im allowed to keep working, Ill always be begging to work with you. Deep respect and love, my friend. https://t.co/DcMEwEmzh9 JJ Abrams (@jjabrams) June 4, 2020 I would crawl through a barrel of broken glass to have John Boyega even so much as *glance* at one of my scripts. https://t.co/0bcLeldaEg Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) June 3, 2020 Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker wrote, I would crawl through a barrel of broken glass to have John Boyega even so much as *glance* at one of my scripts. Oscar-winning director of Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele, wrote, We got you, John. Follow @htshowbiz for more . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Irelands health minister has reiterated that a joint order for Chinese PPE was never made with the Stormont executive. Simon Harriss comments come amid calls north of the border for Stormonts Department of Finance to release emails that might shed further light on the episode at the end of March. Northern Irelands Finance Minister Conor Murphy has faced criticism for claiming a joint order for personal protective equipment had been made with Irish Government. Mr Murphy later explained that it had fallen through when supply lines were bought over by others. He said the order was not completed because bigger international players, such as the US and India, had muscled in on the prospective deal with a Chinese supplier. On April 3, the Department of Health in Dublin said it had not proved possible to place a joint order with Northern Ireland. Labour Party leader Alan Kelly asked Mr Harris for further details about the episode in the Dail on Thursday. Expand Close Alan Kelly asked for clarity on the claims in the Dail (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alan Kelly asked for clarity on the claims in the Dail (Niall Carson/PA) I am certainly not aware of any joint order, the minister replied. Mr Harris said he endorsed the position of the HSE that no joint order had been made. There is no joint order between the Republic of Ireland Government and the Government of Northern Ireland, he added, before praising the working relationship between the health authorities on both sides of the border. There is an memorandum of understanding MOU (between the governments) but there has not been a joint order, to the best of my knowledge. I am happy to clarify that for the Deputy (Mr Kelly). Earlier, this week a DUP MLA asked the Department of Finance to release undisclosed emails related to the episode. DUP MLA Paul Frew, a member of Stormonts Finance Committee, said while some information had been handed over to the committee there are no emails for either March 30 or 31. This is now beyond a joke ! Its a dangerous farce ! Finance Minister, Permanent Secretary & sadly the @dptfinance losing credibility by the hour. We need full transparency & disclosure as requested by the @NIAFinance committee and @dt_ni This is now a massive confidence issue ! https://t.co/G8TCutIMa4 Paul Frew (@paulfrewDUP) June 4, 2020 Responding to Mr Harriss comments in the Dail, Mr Frew tweeted on Thursday evening: This is now beyond a joke. Its a dangerous farce. He said the minister and his department were losing credibility by the hour. Mr Frew said there was a need for full transparency and disclosure. This is now a massive confidence issue, he added. The Department of Finance has said it will continue to work with the Finance committee over its requests. STOCKHOLM and AMSTERDAM, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Enea, a global supplier of innovative software components for telecommunications and cybersecurity, and Videns IT Services, a network independent service provider delivering fully managed SD-WAN and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) services, today announced that they have entered into a partnership enabling Videns to deliver second-generation SD-WAN solutions and services to customers worldwide. The services will be based on Enea NFV Access, a virtualization platform for universal Customer Premise Equipment (uCPE). Ferran van den Berg, Director Sales and Business Development at Videns: "We see our partnership with Enea as strategically important. With Enea NFV Access we are able to deliver our services and solutions on a standardized platform called Videns Intelligent Edge. This approach offers significant benefits to Videns and our enterprise customers." Benefits include a more efficient service delivery process since the hardware is fully separated and uniform across all network services. Furthermore, Enea NFV Access is open and supports virtually any network environment and SD-WAN or SASE workload. This means that vendor lock-in situations will be avoided, and that customized solutions can always be offered. The new partnership strengthens Videns IT Services' value proposition to its customers by using a single appliance to run multiple services such as SD-WAN, Firewall, Application Monitoring, and even services such as local Active Directory controller, file or print servers or VoIP gateways. This allows international organizations to extend corporate IT to their branch offices in the most efficient and flexible way. Before entering into the agreement with Enea, Videns tested several uCPE virtualization solutions. Ferran van den Berg: "We choose Enea's virtualization platform because it provides the best fit with our needs. Enea NFV Access is tailor-made for uCPE environments and user friendly, which is an important factor for us as network specialists. And last but not least, we were very impressed with the proactive support we received from Enea during the evaluation process." Adrian Leufven, Senior Vice President the OS Business Unit at Enea: "Videns IT Service is a great example of a new kind of innovative service provider with focus on flexible and agile networking services, exactly in line with enterprise needs for digital transformation. By working with Enea, Videns IT Services can provide a second-generation SD-WAN platform with unrivaled flexibility to match the high pace of innovation and change in enterprise networking." More info: Enea NFV Access: https://www.enea.com/products/nfv-virtualization-platforms/enea-nfv-access/ Videns IT Services: https://www.videns-it.com/solutions/ Media Contacts: Enea Erik Larsson SVP Marketing & Communication Phone: +33-1-70-81-19-00 Email: erik.larsson@enea.com VidensJoost van der Struijk Managing Director Sales & Marketing Phone: +31-(0)30-767-1067 Email: j.vanderstruijk@videns-it.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/enea-ab/r/videns-it-services-and-enea-partner-to-deliver-second-generation-sd-wan-solutions-and-services,c3127400 The following files are available for download: In order to comply with health and safety guidelines set forth by the state, Hershey Symphony Orchestra and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center have agreed to cancel this years Independence Day concert on July 3. The health and well-being of our community members, orchestra members, and Hershey Medical Center patients and staff is our number one priority, said Paul Metzger, executive director of the Hershey Symphony, in a press release sent out Wednesday night. We look forward to celebrating together next summer when we presume it will be safe to be together again in large groups. The annual free concert held on the front lawn of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center features patriotic and popular music performed by the Hershey Symphony Orchestra. The event typically attracts thousands of people and has grown into one of the biggest community musical events in central Pennsylvania, the release said. Hershey Symphony Orchestra was established as a chamber ensemble in 1969 by a group of Hershey Medical Center physicians and staff. Hassan Siddiqui and his wife employed Zohra Bibi at their home to care for their son of the same age. A Pakistani couple have been arrested for allegedly murdering their seven-year-old maid after she was blamed for letting a pet bird escape, police said, the latest case of violence against child domestic workers in the country. Hassan Siddiqui and his wife employed Zohra Bibi at their home in a middle-class suburb of Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, to care for their son of the same age. The poor girl was subjected to torture by Siddiqui and his wife who accused her of freeing one of the four pet Macao parrots, investigating officer Mukhtar Ahmad told AFP news agency on Thursday. Siddiqui kicked her in the lower abdomen which proved fatal. Some 8.5 million people including many children are employed as domestic workers in Pakistan, according to the International Labour Organization. Theoretically, it is illegal to employ anyone below the age of 15, but it remains a common practice. Bibi was taken to hospital by the couple on Sunday, but she died the following day. The incident was reported to the police by staff at the hospital. The young girls body was handed over to her parents, who live in Muzaffargarh, near the city of Multan, more than 500km (300 miles) away from where she was working. 200529062729494 Shireen Mazari, federal human rights minister, confirmed the arrests in a tweet and said the ministry was in touch with police. Violence and physical torture against children will not be tolerated and all those involved in such incidents will be dealt with, city police chief Muhammad Ahsan Younus added. Domestic workers frequently face exploitation, violence and sexual abuse, with Pakistans patriarchal and rigid social-class structure leaving them without a voice. Children are particularly vulnerable, and Bibis case is the latest in a growing number of incidents involving minors. In December 2018, the rising number of abuse cases led the provincial legislature in Punjab to set regulations for the employment of domestic workers, which theoretically grants them rights such as sick leave and holidays. Government and businesses must brace themselves for the (next) New Normal and turn challenges into an opportunity if they are to emerge as winners in a post-coronavirus (Covid-19) world, according to a new report. Companies in the Middle East and globally will operate in a radically different environment defined by lower revenue, changing competitive landscape, new business models, and rising economic protectionism, said the white paper published by management consulting firms Advisory Group and Consul-T. According to Beyond Covid-19: Adapting to a New Economic and Business Reality white paper, market disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a never before seen boom of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as a surge in restructuring programs on both governmental and corporate level. These disruptions will create a unique opportunity for companies today to gain market share in a VUCA World (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) and transform into agile, resilient, and robust organizations. Buoyed by historically high growth rates and solid demographic and political structures, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are well positioned to adjust to this new economic environment and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper outlines a multi-pronged approach encompassing eight main areas to help governments and organizations lead the way to and navigate robust fully the next economic and socials shifts. Companies and governments with high level of digitalization have a big advantage over organizations that lag behind in technology adoption Fully integrated industrial complexes will feel lower impact from the crisis compared to single service or product providers Greater emphasis needs to be placed on stakeholder value, even if this is on cost of margins Developing Special Economic Zones (SEZ) can help to attract global key players and create synergies in the business community Industries such as travel and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), as well as leisure among others, are facing long-term implications on their profitability, while other sectors including retail, e-commerce, the medical sector and IT services will only be confronted with managing short-term losses and a liquidity shortage, the paper adds. Boris van Thiel, Owner & CEO, Consul-T, said: In these unprecedented times across the world today, government and business leaders must establish strategies for a robust governance and business model, manage uncertainty and risk, and ensure long term business continuity. Market challenges (VUCA World) create disruptions but also an opportunity for companies to emerge stronger from the crisis, build resilience for the future and transform their business. Only those who act today and apply the lessons learnt to their operations will emerge as winners in a post-pandemic world. Marcus Meissner, Senior Partner, Advisory Group, added: The economic repercussions from the coronavirus pandemic will completely disrupt the status quo, forcing businesses to swiftly adapt and transform or risk being left behind. We are already support several our customers in to transform into The New Normal World. Whether you need financial or M&A advice, or support with your supply chain operations, with a team of highly experienced professionals and an extensive network of partners, we provide a range of integrated services to help you safeguard your business and meet your challenges, whatever they may be. TradeArabia News Service What can be done about Washington County's high SUIDs rate? Washington County has the highest rate of sudden, unexpected infant deaths in the state for 2015-2019. What can be done to prevent it? The parents of Madeleine McCann have reacted to the news that a new suspect has been identified in the disappearance of their daughter by vowing to never give up hope of finding her alive. As their 13-year long quest to uncover the truth of how she went missing took a new turn, Kate and Gerry McCann said: All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. "We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace." Ever since her disappearance, Madeleine's parents have campaigned to find their daughter, appearing in television interviews and posting updates on social media. Just last month they said they were buoyed up by the happy news that a Chinese family was reunited with their missing son after 32 years. Kate and Gerry McCann - John Stillwell/PA As they wished that family all the best, the McCanns recalled the day that their "perfect nuclear family" was hit by "horror". On May 3 2007, the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, left their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while they had dinner with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. Mr McCann found nothing amiss when he checked on the youngsters just after 9pm, but when his wife returned at about 10pm she discovered three-year-old Madeleine was missing. Driven by an "almost feral reaction" they carried out a desperate search and raised the alarm, but from that night their lives would never be the same again. Kate and Gerry McCann - DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP The couple are both from close-knit working-class Catholic families and have found solace through their relatives and their faith in the years since Madeleine's disappearance. Mr McCann is from Glasgow and his wife from Liverpool, but they met while working as junior doctors at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow. Mrs McCann stopped working as a GP after her daughter went missing to focus on campaign work and her two other children, twins Amelie and Sean, aged just two when Madeleine disappeared. Story continues She poured her energies into charity work, including as an ambassador for the Missing People charity, before returning to work in another area of medicine. Mr McCann is a professor of cardiac imaging at the University of Leicester and a consultant cardiologist who has been open about his mental health struggles since the night Madeleine went missing. Over the years the McCann family have launched numerous public appeals, won high-profile backers, seen millions of pounds in public money spent on investigations, all to no avail. In 2017, the McCanns said they had managed to adjust to a "new normality" of being a family-of-four, with their focus on giving the twins "a very normal, happy and fulfilling life". Madeline - REAL MADRID TV / HANDOUT, Speaking to the BBC on the 10-year anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, Mrs McCann said: "We had some excellent advice early on. We have been as open with them as we can. We have told them about things and that people are writing things that are simply just untrue and they need to be aware of that." Madeleine's parents admitted they have been shocked by hurtful online abuse, saying they had seen "the worst and the best of human nature" since the campaign to find their daughter thrust them into the spotlight. They have also endured a long-running libel battle against Goncalo Amaral, the Portuguese detective who led the initial inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance, who alleged in a book that the girl had died in the holiday flat. In 2017, Mrs McCann blasted the "misinformation, half-truths and downright lies" that had circulated around her daughter's case, but her husband has insisted that overall they had "been overwhelmingly seeing the better side of human nature" and received "fantastic support". Over the years, the McCanns have built a bond with the Portuguese town where they last saw their daughter. The couple were regular visitors to the church of Our Lady of Light in Praia da Luz after Madeleine's disappearance. In 2017, it was revealed that villagers in Praia da Luz have prayed for Madeleine every Sunday since. In a letter written that year, Mrs McCann thanked local friends and supporters "for being strong enough and brave enough to keep Madeleine and our family in your prayers and in your hearts". She added: "Your love and compassion has given us fortitude over the years and sustained our hope in immeasurable amounts." As sad and difficult anniversaries come and go, Madeleine's parents refuse to give up hope. In 2017, Mrs McCann said she continued to buy birthday and Christmas presents for Madeleine. Last Christmas, a message on the official Find Madeleine Facebook page, said "nothing has changed". As they faced their 13th Christmas without their daughter, the McCanns added: "We love her, we miss her, we hope as always. "The search for Madeleine goes on with unwavering commitment." Black Lives Matter protests due to take place in both Cork and Dublin in the coming days have been called off due to fears that organisers may face prosecution. This follows news that gardai are investigating the organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest in Dublin which saw thousands take to the streets on Bank Holiday Monday. The Black Lives Matter protests seen across the US were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a black man, who died in Minneapolis while in police custody after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The four officers who arrested Mr Floyd are now facing charges. Organised on social media, the size of the crowds who attended the Dublin event substantially exceeded the expectations of organisers, a garda spokesman said. Holding events is currently prohibited during the lockdown under the Covid-19 restrictions. An Garda Siochana is investigating this matter and the advices of the Director of Public Prosecutions will be sought in respect of any further actions to be taken, the spokesman added. Separate protests to highlight police brutality and racial inequalities, here and in the US, due to take place in Cork today and in Dublin on Monday have since been canceled due to the threat of prosecution. Protest is not non-essential, a Facebook page for the Cork Black Lives Matter event planned for today said. The racist murder of George Floyd and the reality of racism in Ireland are urgent issues which we are completely justified in protesting against." Huge numbers have gathered in the US and around the world to say that Black Lives Matter and that will continue. A separate Black Lives Matter protest is still due to take place in Cork on Monday June 8. In Limerick, another solidarity Black Lives Matter protest is set to take place tomorrow . A spokesman for An Garda Siochana said it appeals to all citizens to comply with the public health regulations. The Covid-19 temporary public health restrictions, which give gardai their enforcement powers, remain in effect until June 8, he added. Meanwhile, a petition to introduce the teaching of black history in Irish primary and secondary schools has so far gained more than 6,100 signatures. Doing so would help to fight racism, the petition states. "As a nation, we can start to deal with this problem now and not wait until there is a public show of shame as seen in America, the global symbol of democracy," said the petition. NIA conducts search at Jharkhand in connection with naxal funding case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in connection with the terror funding case relating to the CPI (Maoists) in Jharkhand. The searches were conducted in the office premises of M/S Ram Kripal Singh Construction Private Limited Company at Ranchi in Jharkhand. The case was originally registered at the Dumri Police Station in District Giridh in 2018. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News NIA files chargesheet in KLF-Narco Terror case The case was registered following the arrest of Manoj Kumar. Rs 6 lakh in cash was also seized from him and it was alleged that he had collected the money from contractors based on the instructions of absconding accused Krishna Da. Investigations revealed that Kumar was employed at the construction company and was acting as a conduit between the firm and the Maoists in the Giridh area. The probe established that he was going to make a payment of Rs 6 lakh to the naxals. It was well known that the levy amount collected by the CPI (Maoist) is being used for the purchase of arms and ammunition, explosives, recruitment of new cadres to expand the influence of CPI(Maoist) and further committing disruptive activities which threaten the security, sovereignty and integrity of India, the NIA said. From the ground, it's impossible to tell that the plateau underfoot is something extraordinary. But from the sky, with laser eyes, and beneath the surface, with radiocarbon dating, it's clear that it is the largest and oldest Mayan monument ever discovered. Located in Tabasco, Mexico, near the northwestern border of Guatemala, the newly discovered site of Aguada Fenix lurked beneath the surface, hidden by its size and low profile until 2017. The monument measures nearly 4,600 feet long, ranges from 30 to 50 feet high and includes nine wide causeways. The monument was discovered by an international team led by University of Arizona professors in the School of Anthropology Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, with support from the university's Agnese Nelms Haury program and under the authorization of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. They used lidar -- or light detection and ranging -- technology, which uses laser-emitting equipment from an airplane. Laser beams penetrate the tree canopy, and their reflections off the ground's surface reveal the three-dimensional forms of archaeological features. The team then excavated the site and radiocarbon-dated 69 samples of charcoal to determine that it was constructed sometime between 1,000 to 800 B.C. Until now, the Maya site of Ceibal, built in 950 B.C., was the oldest confirmed ceremonial center. This oldest monumental building at Aguada Fenix turned out to be the largest known in the entire Maya history, far exceeding pyramids and palaces of later periods. The team's findings are published today in the journal Nature. "Using low-resolution lidar collected by the Mexican government, we noticed this huge platform. Then we did high-resolution lidar and confirmed the presence of a big building," Inomata said. "This area is developed -- it's not the jungle; people live there -- but this site was not known because it is so flat and huge. It just looks like a natural landscape. But with lidar, it pops up as a very well-planned shape." The discovery marks a time of major change in Mesoamerica and has several implications, Inomata said. advertisement First, archaeologists traditionally thought Maya civilization developed gradually. Until now, it was thought that small Maya villages began to appear between 1000 and 350 B.C., what's known as the Middle Preclassic period, along with the use of pottery and some maize cultivation. Second, the site looks similar to the older Olmec civilization center of San Lorenzo to the west in the Mexican state of Veracruz, but the lack of stone sculptures related to rulers and elites, such as colossal heads and thrones, suggests less social inequality than San Lorenzo and highlights the importance of communal work in the earliest days of the Maya. "There has always been debate over whether Olmec civilization led to the development of the Maya civilization or if the Maya developed independently," Inomata said. "So, our study focuses on a key area between the two." The period in which Aguada Fenix was constructed marked a gap in power -- after the decline of San Lorenzo and before the rise of another Olmec center, La Venta. During this time, there was an exchange of new ideas, such as construction and architectural styles, among various regions of southern Mesoamerica. The extensive plateau and the large causeways suggest the monument was built for use by many people, Inomata said. "During later periods, there were powerful rulers and administrative systems in which the people were ordered to do the work. But this site is much earlier, and we don't see the evidence of the presence of powerful elites. We think that it's more the result of communal work," he said. advertisement The fact that monumental buildings existed earlier than thought and when Maya society had less social inequality makes archaeologists rethink the construction process. "It's not just hierarchical social organization with the elite that makes monuments like this possible," Inomata said. "This kind of understanding gives us important implications about human capability, and the potential of human groups. You may not necessarily need a well-organized government to carry out these kinds of huge projects. People can work together to achieve amazing results." Inomata and his team will continue to work at Aguada Fenix and do a broader lidar analysis of the area. They want to gather information about surrounding sites to understand how they interacted with the Olmec and the Maya. They also wants to focus on the residential areas around Aguada Fenix. "We have substantial information about ceremonial construction," Inomata said, "but we want to see how people lived during this period and what kind of changes in lifestyle were happening around this time." Former deputy premier Jackie Trad has emerged after a month in political hibernation to defend historic abortion reforms passed in 2018. Ms Trad, the architect behind the laws that removed the procedure from the criminal code, resigned from cabinet last month and moved to the backbench. Jackie Trad has vowed to protect abortion laws passed in 2018. Credit:Dan Peled/AAP Brisbane Times this week revealed that the LNP plans to review the laws if it wins government at the October state election. An LNP spokesman said if elected the party would "review gestation limits, counselling arrangements and protections against abortion coercion". London, June 4 : British-Swedish multinational biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Thursday announced it has reached a licensing agreement with Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) to supply one billion doses of University of Oxford's potential Covid-19 vaccine, AZD1222, for low-and-middle-income countries, with a commitment to provide 400 million before the end of 2020. In addition, it reached a $750 million agreement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Vaccine Alliance called Gavi to support the manufacturing, procurement and distribution of 300 million doses of AZD1222 vaccine, with delivery starting by the end of the year. "We are working tirelessly to honour our commitment to ensure broad and equitable access to Oxford's vaccine across the globe and at no profit. Today marks an important step in helping us supply hundreds of millions of people around the world, including to those in countries with the lowest means," said Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca. Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, SII, said that the Serum Institute of India is delighted to partner with AstraZeneca in bringing this vaccine to India as well as low-and-middle-income countries. "Over the past 50 years, SII has built significant capability in vaccine manufacturing and supply globally. We will work closely with AstraZeneca to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine in these countries," he said. Together, the agreements mark the latest commitments to enable global access to the vaccine, including to low-and-middle-income countries, beyond the company's recent partnerships with the UK and US. The Cambridge-based company is building a number of supply chains in parallel across the world to support global access at no profit during the pandemic and has so far secured manufacturing capacity for two billion doses of the potential vaccine, it said in a statement. AstraZeneca recently agreed to supply 400 million doses to the US and UK after reaching a licence agreement with Oxford University for its potential vaccine. Oxford University recently announced the start of a Phase II/III trial of AZD1222 in about 10,000 adult volunteers. Other late-stage trials are due to begin in a number of countries. AstraZeneca recognises that the vaccine may not work but is committed to progressing the clinical programme with speed and scaling up manufacturing at risk. The agreement with CEPI and Gavi also represents the first advanced market commitment through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global mechanism co-chaired by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer, CEPI, said: "AstraZeneca is admirably committed to equitable global access for this vaccine, and this partnership demonstrates how the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility will bring the private, public and third sectors together to make COVID-19 vaccines available to those who need them most, for the benefit of all." Additionally, AstraZeneca has quickly moved into testing of new and existing medicines to treat the infection, including CALAVI, ACCORD and DARE-19 trials underway for patients with Covid-19. "We encourage other vaccine manufacturers to work with us towards the shared global goal of finding solutions for this unprecedented pandemic," said Dr Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer, Gavi. Over 100 vaccines are currently in the race to end the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected over 6.5 million people globally. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) An Accra Circuit Court on Thursday sentenced 10 persons, including a journalist, to a fine of GH12,000.00 each for not complying with the COVID-19 restriction orders. In default they would each serve a four-year-jail term. The convicts were arrested for demonstrating near the private residence of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on May 5. They are Yahaya Alhassan, journalist, Bassarou Moaro, car washing assistant, Alhassan Arafat, drivers mate, Abdul Gafa, head porter, Emmanuel Anim, construction labourer, Mohammed Nazif, trader, Issaka Mutakiru, drivers mate, Zakari Salisu, head porter, and Abdulai Yahaya, and Mohammed Amin, both unemployed. They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit crime, failure to notify police of event contrary to Section 1(1) of the Public Order Act, and failure to comply with the restrictions imposed on public gathering contrary to the Imposition of the Restrictions Act. Police Inspector Samuel Ahiabor told the Court, presided over by Mrs Susana Eduful, that the Accra Regional Police Command received information on May 4, 2020 that some people were planning to demonstrate near the private residence of President Akufo-Addo the next day. He said on May 5, the police were on standby to avert any possible breach of the Law. At about 1030 hours a group of 50 converged at the Frankies Hotel, Nima with placards. Some of the inscriptions were: Osafo Marfo does not respect Bawumia, Why our Northern sister and Betrayal of the people, Deny Hajia Tina, deny the entire Zongos. Inspector Ahiabor said when the demonstration was on-going, the police managed to arrest only the 10 and the rest bolted in breach of the Public Order Act and failure to comply with the restrictions imposed on public gathering. After investigations they were charged and put before the Court. 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, June 4) The Filipino community in Hong Kong is now clear of COVID-19, the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong said on Thursday. Consul General Raly Tejada said all OFWs who contracted the coronavirus disease have recovered and have been released from the hospital. It's not clear how many Filipino workers tested positive, but in May, 16 OFWs were reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus. Tejada reminded Filipino workers in Hong Kong to maintain minimum health standards, such as physical distancing, to prevent the spread of the disease in the community. As of June 3, 5,259 COVID-19 cases were recorded among Filipinos abroad 2,205 have been discharged. Over 350 Filipinos overseas have died due to the coronavirus disease. State and local health department staff can use or adapt these ready-made materials to educate their community about case investigation and contact tracing for COVID-19. This toolkit contains key messages, sample talking points, public service announcements, social media posts, graphics, questions and answers, and links to additional resources. For additional details on case investigation and contact tracing to inform your communication strategy, read the Interim Guidance on Developing a COVID-19 Case Investigation & Contact Tracing Plan: Overview. This toolkit will be updated regularly. Check back for updates. Summary of Recent Changes Updates as of November 5, 2021 Updated language to align with guidance. View Previous Updates Key Messages Case investigation and contact tracing slow the spread of COVID-19 by Letting people diagnosed with COVID-19 (cases) know they should isolate to avoid exposing others and assist with notifying their close contacts so they (contacts) can get tested and quarantine. Letting people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 (contacts) know that they should monitor their health for signs and symptoms of COVID-19, and get tested and quarantine. Providing resources to people diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19 about isolation, testing, quarantine, and vaccination. During contact tracing, health department staff will not ask you for: Money Social Security number Bank account information Salary information Credit card numbers The bottom line: Choosing to help your health department slow the spread of COVID-19 protects you, your family, and your community. Hospitality Sales & Marketing International Middle East (HSMAI) is preparing for the future with training and events ready to further the skills of its hospitality professionals across the Middle East. HSMAI Middle East has prepared a comprehensive plan to focus on the future, with panel discussions, training workshops, surveys, and interviews on thought provoking topics. We recognise that life must go on and whilst we are holding [email protected] with a focus on recovery, we also want to emphasise past trends that will return as an important part of our industry, said Mona Faraj, managing director of HSMAI Middle East Saudi Arabia (KSA) will lead the first succession of events, holding its first event as a newly formed chapter, an e-panel on June 8 discussing Domestic travel in KSA. Topics of discussion will provide an informative overview of domestic travel and how to stimulate demand, from where, motivators and much more. Industry leaders from KSA will participate in the panel. The Q&A session will allow participants to gain invaluable knowledge and feedback specific to their working environment. This information sharing session will be the first of its kind in KSA and we are also welcoming all industry executives and partners free of charge to celebrate this, said Moustafa Manoon, Regional Director of Revenue Management Middle East & Africa, Accor. The Demystifying Series will also continue, with marketing and revenue being held earlier in the year; generally held as a one-day workshop, will now be online and divided into four 90-minute sessions. Distribution will be more important now than ever, as consumers have been forced to move online, with this trend anticipated to remain strong. Demystifying Distribution will kick off the four-session series on June 29 and is suitable for both General Managers and Marketing Managers who should understand distribution in todays world. A trend that is steadily growing is the Chinese traveller, with annual growth in the double digits across areas of the Middle East pre Covid-19. This trend is anticipated to recover, and what better time to start planning to attract this active market. 'How to tap into the China Market' will start with the foundations and continue with digital platforms, ending with advance digital and marketing essence. This series of three sessions will start from July 22. We have received a strong response to date from industry colleagues globally for [email protected] , with over 500 registrations for the Middle East sessions alone, said Faraj. [email protected] , a full day experience taking place on June 17 will include live sessions from the Middle East, Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and is designed to fuel industry recovery and revitalization efforts. The exclusive toolkit offers an opportunity to engage with teams, as well as regional live expert sessions designed for hotel professionals to reset, refocus and reenergise. - TradeArabia News Service The National Universities Commission (NUC) has updated the list of approved post-graduate awarding institutions in Nigeria. The commission said it observed that some Nigerian universities are running unapproved post-graduate programmes, leading to the award of Masters and PhD degrees. The commission has also observed some parastatals and institutes awarding these same post-graduate degrees, either on their own or through unapproved affiliation with Nigerian and foreign universities, it said. According to the commission, such practices are not only unethical, but also antithetical to time -tested quality assurance best practices. The commission hereby notifies the general public that only the following universities have the approval to offer post-graduate programmes at the Masters and PhD levels in Nigeria. A bulletin from the office of the Executive Secretary dated March 23 contains the list of federal, state and private universities currently allowed to issue such certificates to students in Nigeria. The bulletin was released a few days after the government ordered the closure of all schools in Nigeria due to the coronavirus outbreak. As of 2018, Nigeria had 162 universities: 41 are federal, 47 are state-owned while 74 are privately owned institutions. Out of the 41 federal universities across the country, 26 are approved by the commission for post-graduate programmes, 25 state universities were approved for post-graduate programmes out of the 47 state-owned universities in the country while 18 universities out of 74 private universities were approved for post-graduate studies. But in the March 2020 bulletin which was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, more universities have been granted approval by the commission for post-graduate programmes. Currently, Nigeria has 170 universities, 43 are federal, 48 are state-owned while 79 are privately owned. Out of the 43 federal universities, 32 are approved by the commission for postgraduate programmes. They are 1. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi 2. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 3. Bayero University, Kano 4. Federal University of Technology, Akure 5. Federal University of Technology, Minna 6. Federal University of Technology, Owerri 7. Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike 8. Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola 9. National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos 10. Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna 11. Nnamdi Azikwe University, Akwa Advertisements 12. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife 13. University of Abuja, Gwagwalada 14. University of Agriculture, Abeokuta 15. University of Agriculture, Makurdi 16. University of Benin, Benin City 17. University of Calabar, Calabar 18. University of Ibadan, Ibadan 19. University of Ilorin, Ilorin 20. University of Jos, Jos 21. University of Lagos, Akoko 22. University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri 23. University of Nigeria, Nsukka 24. University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt 25. University of Uyo, Uyo 26. Usmanu Dan Fodio University, Sokoto 27. Federal University, Lafia 28. Federal University, Ndufu-alike 29. Federal University, Dutse 30. Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurum 31. Federal University, Oye- Ekiti 32. Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna Similarly, 31 state universities were approved by the commission for post-graduate programmes out of the 48 state-owned universities in the country. The approved universities are : 1. Abia State University, Uturu 2. Adamawa State University, Mubi 3. Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko 4. Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma 5. Anambra University, Uli 6. Benue State University, Makurdi 7. Cross River University of Technology, Calabar 8. Delta State University, Abraka 9. Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki 10. Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti 11. Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu 12. Imo State University, Owerri 13. Kogi State University, Anyigba 14. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso 15. Lagos State University, Ojo 16. Nasarawa State University, Keffi 17. Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island 18. Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye 19. Rivers State University of Science and Technology 20. Umar Musa YarAdua University, Katsina 21. Gombe State University, Gombe 22. Ibrahim Babangida University, Lapai 23. Kano State University of Science and Technology 24. Kebbi State University of Science and Technology 25. Kwara State University, Malete 26. Kaduna State University, Kaduna 27. Bauchi State University, Gadau 28. Yobe State University, Damaturu 29. Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni 30.Tai Solarin University of Education 31.Osun State University, Osogbo Meanwhile, only 31 universities out of 79 private universities were approved for post-graduate studies. The 31 institutions are: 1. African University of Science and Technology, Abuja 2. American University of Nigeria, Yola 3. Babcock University, Ilishan Remo 4. Benson Idahosa University, Benin City 5. Bowen University, Iwo 6. Covenant University, Ota 7. Igbiniedo University, Okada 8. Pan-African University, Lekki 9. Redeemers University, Mowe, Ogun State 10. Caleb University, Lagos 11. Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji 12. Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja 13. Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State 14. Lead City University, Ibadan (MSc. Only) 15. University of Mkar, Mkar (MSc. Only) 16. Madona University, Okija 17. Al-hikmah University, Ilorin (MSc. Only) 18. Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu-Nike , Enugu state. 19. Adeleke University,Ede 20. Veritas University, Abuja 21. Achievers University,Owo 22. Al-Qalam University, Katsina 23.Baze University, Abuja 24. Bells Universityof Technology, Ota 25. Crawford University, Igbesa 26. Crescent University, Abeokuta 27. Fountain University, Osogbo 28. Landmark University, Omu-Aran 29. Novena University, Ogume 30. Salem University, Lokoja. 31. Bingham University, Karu Employers of labour, educational institutions and other stakeholders are to note that only certificates issued by these universities for their approved programmes are valid for employment, further studies and other purposes, the commission said. Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES, the NUC Director of Information and Public Relations, Ibrahim Yakasai, said all the legal universities in Nigeria can actually do post-graduate courses only after meeting certain criteria and conditions of the commission. According to him, the commission must verify that the institutions have adequate resources which include physical and human resources. All universities can graduate to post-graduate but the universities with approval are those that are matured, (who) applied and have met the requirements and theyve been allowed to do post-graduate. So, we published the names of the universities who have met the conditions, he said. BMASS still compulsory Before a particular programme or school can be approved or accredited according to the NUC, the university must have fulfilled all the requirement in the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS). BMAS is a document that contains all the minimum requirements before a particular programme or school can be approved or accredited by NUC. The primary objectives of the commission are to ensure the orderly development of university education in Nigeria, to maintain high standards and ensure adequate funding for them. The main difference from Monday is that agents can now inspect properties, with a view to putting them on the market or valuing them, and can also show viewers around commercial and residential properties, and sites. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images There are sighs of relief as estate agents prepare for the return to a more normal market from next Monday. Most agents will be reopening their offices, although with "skeleton staffing" in some cases. The phased "return to work" follows the publication of a set of protocols, laudably agreed between the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers and the Property Services Regulatory Authority. Those protocols provide practical rules by which the business can manage the transition, but, sadly, in what is a "people business", their success depends on keeping people apart. The main difference from Monday is that agents can now inspect properties, with a view to putting them on the market or valuing them, and can also show viewers around commercial and residential properties, and sites. There was an interested reaction to my suggestion last week that firms should be planning the "digitisation" of all of their service lines, and in tandem with these protocols, I believe that it is possible to do just that. That said, implementing these new rules is going to slow down the normal course of business, add bureaucracy and cost, and will be more difficult to implement in the residential sector than in commercial. But they are a good, workable way forward. The protocols revolve around reducing human interaction at every stage of the process. For example, viewers must make appointments in advance, and not at the office. If they come to the office, perspex screens should be considered at reception. The agent should "pre-qualify" viewers by sending them, ideally a video of the property, and as much information as possible, in order to filter the most seriously interested parties, and reduce the time spent answering questions on the viewing. The agent must confirm if the enquirer has travelled from abroad or has had symptoms of Covid-19 in the previous 14 days. If so, the agent cannot provide the service. Naturally, social distancing measures must be maintained, and a maximum of two people can inspect at the one time. Where possible, viewings should take place outside normal business hours, to reduce interaction with people in buildings. Touchpoints in buildings must be identified and cleaned and records maintained. Whilst all of these measures are workable for commercial properties, they will be more difficult to implement in the residential market, where we are well used to having 20 people or more in a showhouse at one time, and longer queues for apartments to let. Another tricky area will be inspecting buildings under construction. With contractors already under pressure, they won't want people wandering around sites. Some agents have made arrangements for viewings on sites to take place in the evenings. The big loss in all of this is the "human element". The best agents are those that excel at dealing with a range of people, and that's a big part of what clients are paying for. A fundamental part of any negotiator's skill is reading people and it's very hard do that by email. The default communication method for those under 30 is email, and firms should insist that their staff make phone calls, where meetings aren't yet possible. The crucial part of the business that revolves around "people", ie negotiating, winning business, developing relationships with clients, teamworking and mentoring, is under threat. Let's hope it's not too long before we can get back to that. In this Dec. 9, 2019 file photo, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet speaks at the COP25 Climate summit in Madrid, Spain. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet voiced alarm Wednesday that curbs on freedom of expression had increased in 12 Asia-Pacific countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with dictatorships and democracies alike stifling public debate in the name of fighting fake news. Arrests for expressing discontent or allegedly spreading false information through the press and social media, have been reported in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, the High Commissioners office said. In many countries, laws on alleged fake news raise human rights concerns and have been used in other contexts to deter legitimate speech, especially public debate (and) criticism of government policy, it said. In remarks published Wednesday Bachelet said: While Governments may have a legitimate interest in controlling the spread of misinformation in a volatile and sensitive context, this must be proportionate and protect freedom of expression." In these times of great uncertainty, medical professionals, journalists, human rights defenders and the general public must be allowed to express opinions on vitally important topics of public interest, such as the provision of health care and the handling of the health and socio-economic crisis, and the distribution of relief items, Bachelet added. The office noted that in Vietnam, over 600 Facebook users were summoned by police for questioning over their online posts about COVID-19 since the start of the epidemic there. In most cases, the Facebook users were handed administrative sanctions, and ordered to delete their posts, but at least two received criminal sentences for posting what the government called fake news about COVID-19. The sentences have included up to nine months of detention and fines exceeding U.S. $1,000. The OHCHR said the increased restrictions during the pandemic added to long-standing concerns about the degree of Vietnamese media restrictions and sentencing in cases involving freedom of expression, both online and offline. This crisis should not be used to restrict dissent or the free flow of information and debate. A diversity of viewpoints will foster greater understanding of the challenges we face and help us better overcome them, said the high commissioner. It will also help countries to have a vibrant debate on the root causes and good practices needed to overcome the longer-term socio-economic and other impacts. This debate is crucial for countries to build back better after the crisis, Bachelet said. Liberal Publishing house wins Prix Voltaire The UN warning came the same day that Vietnams Liberal Publishing House (LPH), its only independent publisher, was awarded the 2020 Prix Voltaire by the Switzerland-based International Publisher Association (IPA). The prize honors a person or organization adjudged to have made a significant contribution to the defense and promotion of freedom to publish in the world, according to the IPA. In operation since February 2019, the dissident founders of the Ho Chi Minh city-based Liberal Publishing House challenge government control of publication, delivering the non-fiction works of fellow dissident writers to locals in. Its publications are considered illegal copying and distribution by the government, which has banned the publisher for anti-state activity. Penalties can include imprisonment for up to 20 years. As such the publisher must operate underground. LPH was one of four nominees from the Asian region for the award, which included prize money of U.S. $10,400. I and the LPHs other members were very happy when we were chosen for this prize, especially in the current circumstance, as there has been so much chaos occurring both in our country and all over the world, Pham Doan Trang, spokeswoman for the LPH, told RFAs Vietnamese Service Wednesday. She acknowledged that the award would put the publisher in danger, implying that the increased notoriety might cause the government to intensify its crackdown against underground publishing. The point of our publishing operation is not only to enhance knowledge for the people, but also to be part of the fight for human and citizen rights in reading and writing, without censorship, she added. LPH has published about 25,000 copies of 30 books with titles like Politics for the Common People, Handbook for the Care of Prisoners, and others. Last month Amnesty International reported that since early October 2019, police have harassed, and intimidated dozens of people in what appears to be a targeted campaign that had 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. 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. Dissent is not tolerated in Vietnam, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers, bloggers, and activists calling for greater freedoms in the one-party communist state. Estimates of the number of prisoners of conscience now held in Vietnams jails vary widely. New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that authorities held 138 political prisoners as of October 2019, while Defend the Defenders has suggested that at least 240 are in detention, with 36 convicted last year alone. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) must reach an agreement at the soonest possible time. In a phone call on Thursday, Shoukry told Wang that Egypt accepted the resumption of the talks on the mega-dam with Ethiopia and Sudan and had reiterated its complete rejection of any unilateral actions by Addis Ababa without an agreement that can achieve the interests of all three countries according to the norms of international law. The two officials also discussed current cooperation between Egypt and China on fighting the coronavirus. They also discussed the latest global and regional developments. During the call, Shoukry delivered President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis greetings to his Chinese counterpart, and his praise for the noticeable progress in bilateral relations. Wang praised the role the Egypt plays regionally and internationally. Search Keywords: Short link: We, instead, demonstrate that Chinese people remember Tiananmen and other democracy movements and commemorate them, especially on anniversaries, with yet more forms of protests, despite the governments extraordinary efforts to erase or rewrite the historical record. Our latest research on what we call focal moments shows not only that demands for democratic reform have persisted and resurged in mainland China throughout seven decades of Communist rule, but also that demonstrations, flash movements or pockets of resistance echo and reference previous ones and inspire the next. Since today the C.C.P. is quick to repress any explicit demands for democracy or individual rights, open calls of that kind hardly occur. Nonetheless, there is a clear lineage between all these surges of contestation, and it is apparent from the calendar of protests and the partys calendar of repression as well as the language used on protest days. In addition to the Tiananmen Square movement, four other major occasions have informed this schedule. And our statistical work reveals that there are 30 percent more protests on the anniversaries marking those moments than on other days of the year, and that protest spikes (defined as an increase of one standard deviation over the average) are 50 percent more common on those days. In the late 1970s, Deng launched a program of economic liberalization, including the so-called four modernizations in agriculture, industry, defense and science and technology. Hoping for political reform as well, in 1978 citizens throughout the country began putting up pro-democracy posters in public places, including in one spot in central Beijing that came to be known as Democracy Wall. File Photo #Sikh was blocked by Facebook yesterday, sparking outrage among Sikhs around the world. Within hours, posts were posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter protesting the ban. Instagram later lifted the ban, saying it was looking into the reasons behind the ban and would fix it on Facebook. Facebook and Instagram both are owned by Mark Zuckerberg. The imposition of these restrictions these days raises many more questions in the minds of Sikhs. Advertisement PhotoThe first week of June is remembered as 'Ghallughara June 1984' when the Indian Army carried out a Sikh genocide by attacking the central Sikh shrine, Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. Most Sikhs blame the Indian government agencies for this. Rupi Kaur, who has made a name for herself in writing English poetry, tweeted that the ban was hypocrisy on Facebook's freedom of speech. He wrote, "Zuckerberg says Facebook's doctrine forbids him from banning Trump's posts that incite violence and spread hatred; but when Sikhs speak out against the 1984 atrocities, the Sikh hashtag is blocked.Adam Maussry, head of Instagram, responded to Rupi Kaur's tweet by saying, "I don't know what's going on here, but we are investigating and will find out soon. Advertisement PhotoThanks for alerting me. He replied, I don't know how the Sikh hashtag #Sikh was blocked. Now that it has been unblocked from Instagram, we are working to unblock it from Facebook and are investigating how it all happened. Blocking the Sikh hashtag #Sikh, people are commenting that it is an attack on a religious and national identity and is tantamount to socially defaming an identity. Many described it as genocidal. Arix Bioscience plc Results of Annual General Meeting LONDON, 4 June 2020: Arix Bioscience plc ("Arix", LSE: ARIX), a global venture capital company focused on investing and building breakthrough biotech companies, announces that its Annual General Meeting (the "Meeting") was held today, Thursday, 4 June 2020, at 14.00 BST. At the Meeting, the ordinary and special resolutions set out in the Notice of the Annual General Meeting dated 4 May 2020 (the "Notice of AGM"), were proposed and passed by way of a poll. Full details of the poll results are set out below. No RESOLUTION VOTES FOR % VOTES AGAINST % TOTAL VOTES % of ISC VOTED VOTES WITHHELD 01 To receive the Directors' report and the accounts for the Company for the year ended 31 December 2019 39,702,307 100.00% 1,111 0.00% 39,703,418 29.29 0 02 To approve the Directors' Remuneration Report for the year ended 31 December 2019 28,565,229 71.98% 11,118,962 28.02% 39,684,191 29.28 19,227 03 To re-elect Professor Trevor Jones as a Director 39,701,337 100.00% 1,757 0.00% 39,703,094 29.29 324 04 To re-elect Giles Kerr as a Director 39,701,633 100.00% 1,111 0.00% 39,702,744 29.29 674 05 To re-elect Mark Breuer as a Director 39,702,744 100.00% 0 0.00% 39,702,744 29.29 674 06 To elect Naseem Amin as a Director 38,002,697 95.72% 1,700,047 4.28% 39,702,744 29.29 674 07 To re-appoint PwC LLP as auditors of the Company 39,693,236 100.00% 1,303 0.00% 39,694,539 29.28 8,879 08 To authorise the Audit & Risk Committee of the Company to fix the remuneration of the auditors 39,694,848 100.00% 970 0.00% 39,695,818 29.28 7,600 09 To authorise the Directors to allot shares 37,991,949 95.69% 1,709,598 4.31% 39,701,547 29.29 1,871 10 To authorise the Directors to disapply statutory pre-emption rights in respect of 5% of the Company's issued share capital* 37,087,210 93.42% 2,613,385 6.58% 39,700,595 29.29 2,823 11 To authorise the Directors to disapply statutory pre-emption rights in respect of an additional 5% of the Company's issued share capital* 37,085,231 93.42% 2,613,385 6.58% 39,698,616 29.29 4,802 12 To authorise the Company to buy back shares* 39,693,090 99.98% 7,878 0.02% 39,700,968 29.29 2,450 13 To authorise the Directors to call a general meeting other than an annual general meeting on not less than 14 clear days' notice* 39,694,818 99.98% 7,079 0.02% 39,701,897 29.29 1,521 * Special resolution In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2, copies of resolutions passed at the Meeting concerning items other than ordinary business will shortly be available for inspection on the National Storage Mechanism, which can be accessed at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. The full text of the resolutions considered at the AGM are contained in the Notice of AGM, published on 12 May 2020, which is available on Arix investor relations website at: https://arixbioscience.com/investor-relations/events-presentations. ENDS Enquiries For more information on Arix, please contact: Arix Bioscience plc Charlotte Parry, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0)20 7290 1072 charlotte@arixbioscience.com Optimum Strategic Communications Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur, Shabnam Bashir T: +44 (0) 203 922 0891 optimum.arix@optimumcomms.com About Arix Bioscience plc Arix Bioscience plc is a global venture capital company focused on investing in and building breakthrough biotech companies around cutting edge advances in life sciences. We collaborate with exceptional entrepreneurs and provide the capital, expertise and global networks to help accelerate their ideas into important new treatments for patients. As a listed company, we are able to bring this exciting growth phase of our industry to a broader range of investors. www.arixbioscience.com Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Thursday that she agreed with former Defense Secretary James Mattis' criticism of President Trump, calling it "true and honest and necessary and overdue." Why it matters: Murkowski, who has signaled her discomfort with the president in the past, also said that she's "struggling" with her support for him in November a rare full-on rebuke of Trump from a Senate Republican. Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, condemned Trump for making a "mockery of our Constitution," saying he was "appalled" at the president's response to mass protests against police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd's killing. Murkowski has long been viewed as one of the most likely Republicans to break with Trump on policy issues, but she ultimately voted to move along his impeachment trial earlier this year without hearing from additional witnesses. What she's saying: "[W]hen I saw Gen. Mattis' comments yesterday, I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up." "Now more than ever, where we live, where we shelter and where we seek sanctuary is an integral part of each of our lives. With The History of Home we wanted to deconstruct the concept of home to expose the surprising origins of the structures and rituals that surround us every day," said Rob Burk, Head of Content for CuriosityStream. "We travelled the globe to provide intimate access to some of the most spectacular homes of all time, from famous structures like Highclere Castle -- home to the series Downton Abbey -- to Kirkjubargarur, also known as King's Farm, one of the oldest still-inhabited wooden houses in the world. The History of Home represents CuriosityStream's unique approach to history; engaging, relevant and always entertaining." "I love our human capacity for building clever spots in which to cook our meat and make sweet love to our spouses," said Nick Offerman, actor, master woodworker and narrator of The History of Home. "This series is such a beautifully embroidered paean to the varied results of that particular talent, so I was over the moon when they asked me to collaborate with their gorgeous work." The History of Home examines how the fundamental elements of daily life, such as the need for shelter, comfort, and sustenance, transformed our lives and made our houses homes. World-renowned architects, designers, craftsmen and historians share extraordinary insights on every "story" of the house; from the hallways to the kitchen, then upstairs to the bedrooms and bathrooms. Filmed in 10 countries across 4 continents, the series features 35 stunning locations and many more eye-popping homes. Each hour-long episode is shot with cutting-edge 4K camera technology including the Sony Venice; Sony's state-of-the-art, full-frame cinema camera providing gorgeous visuals that invite viewers into each unique abode. EPISODE 1 - "The Foundations of Home" From humble mud bricks, to an Italian mountain with the world's most prized marble, we start with the foundations of home. Explore the cave dwellings of our earliest ancestors and the wooden homes of Vikings, all the way to the soaring skyscrapers of modern metropolises. Some of the incredible locations on the itinerary include: a sleek, earthen eco-retreat built of lava; an ambitious archeological effort in France to build a medieval castle from scratch; Hampton Court Palace to explore the history behind King Henry VIII's brick pleasure palace; Pasadena, California, where movie buffs will recognize an iconic American Craftsman home; and San Francisco, where we meet award-winning designer Yves Behar who is designing homes of the future. EPISODE 2 - "The First Story of Home" Step inside the home to discover the fascinating origins of how our favorite rooms evolved. Feast in the original hall of fame at the world's largest Viking Hall. Then, journey to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and its incredible kitchen where the beloved french fry may have been invented. You will need to be on your best behavior to sit with the lords and ladies dining with us at Highclere Castle (from Downton Abbey). And finally, explore the luxurious living rooms of Hearst Castle and meet interior designer to the stars Brigette Romanek. EPISODE 3 - "The Second Story of Home" Go upstairs to the most intimate rooms of the house -- the study, the bathroom, and the bedroom. Working from home takes on new meaning in history's greatest studies as we pull back the curtains on the rooms that made Mark Twain, Thomas Edison and Virginia Woolf. Next, dive into the dirty details behind the most private room in the house; the bathroom. After, we explore the boudoirs of French kings and queens at a castle 500 years older than Versailles and take a look inside the high-tech bedroom designs of the future. Finally, we will look to the horizon to see what the future of home on earth, and even on Mars, might look like. The History of Home is the second installment in CuriosityStream's "The History of" anthology following its popular The History of Food series. The History of Home is produced for CuriosityStream by Roller Coaster Road Productions with Sarah V. Burns and Alex Sherratt as executive producers and showrunners. Rob Burk is executive producer for CuriosityStream. About CuriosityStream Launched by media visionary John Hendricks, CuriosityStream is one of the world's leading independent factual media companies. Our documentary series and features cover every topic from space exploration to adventure to the secret life of pets, empowering viewers of all ages to fuel their passions and explore new ones. With thousands of titles, many in Ultra HD 4K, including exclusive originals, CuriosityStream features stunning visuals and unrivaled storytelling to demystify science, nature, history, technology, society, and lifestyle. CuriosityStream reaches over 13 million subscribers and is available worldwide to watch on TV, desktop, mobile and tablets. Find us on Roku, Apple TV Channels and Apple TV, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV and Sprint and Google Chromecast, iOS and Android, as well as Amazon Prime Video Channels, YouTube TV, Sling TV, DISH, Comcast Xfinity on Demand, Cox Communications, Altice USA, Suddenlink, T-Mobile, Sony, LG, Samsung and VIZIO smart TVs, Liberty Global, Airtel, MultiChoice, StarHub, Com Hem, Totalplay, Millicom, Okko, and other global distribution partners and platforms. For more information, visit CuriosityStream.com. MEDIA CONTACTS: Brian Eley [email protected] 347.967.9080 (C) Vanessa Gillon [email protected] 202-441-6475 (C) SOURCE CuriosityStream, LLC Related Links curiositystream.com TORONTO, June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Akumin Inc. (TSX: AKU.U) (TSX: AKU) (" Akumin " or the " Corporation ") announced today its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 (" Q1 Fiscal 2020 ") and an amendment to its existing credit agreement effective June 2, 2020. Summary Consolidated Financial Results (in thousands, except for per share amounts) 3-month period ended Mar. 31, 2020 3-month period ended Mar. 31, 2019 RVUs 1,525 1,066 Revenue 71,262 47,551 EBITDA (1) 20,311 12,044 Adjusted EBITDA (1) 14,968 9,251 EPS Diluted 0.02 0.03 Adjusted EPS Diluted (1) 0.03 0.05 (1) See "Non-IFRS Measures" below. Commenting on the Q1 Fiscal 2020 financial results, Riadh Zine, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, said, "During the quarter ending March 31, 2020 we generated revenue of $71.3 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $15.0 million. "Akumin's volume in Q1 Fiscal 2020 was approximately 1,525,000 RVUs, compared to approximately 1,066,000 RVUs in Q1 Fiscal 2019, an increase of 43%. On an organic volume basis, RVUs decreased by 1% compared to the same prior period, however excluding March which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, RVUs increased by 7%," Mr. Zine continued. The Corporation reports the volume of procedures performed in its diagnostic imaging centers based on relative-value units, or RVUs, instead of the number of procedures. RVUs are a standardized measure of value used in the U.S. Medicare reimbursement formula for physician services which provides weighting to distinguish the complexity of different procedures. "As states and local authorities have begun to lift social distancing requirements and other restraints affecting our referral network," added Mr. Zine, "we have seen some volume return in those markets. Compared to the first week of March 2020, our daily average volume is recovering from a low point of an approximate 55% decline in mid-April 2020 to an estimated 25% decline by late-May 2020. This rebound demonstrates the resiliency of the Akumin platform providing an essential healthcare service. Although we expect the reduction in volume caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to impact our Q2 revenue, such revenue reduction should be partly offset by our cost containment initiatives. "In addition, we finished the quarter with $16.6 million cash-on-hand and we have not needed to draw on our revolving credit facility for working capital purposes since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Our amended credit facility will add greater flexibility and liquidity." Credit Agreement Amendment Pursuant to the amendment to its senior secured credit facility, Akumin's revolving credit facility has been increased from $50 million to $69 million. Any draw on the revolving credit facility above a principal amount of $50 million will require consent of lenders holding two-thirds of the outstanding principal of Term Loan B facility and lenders holding two-thirds of the outstanding principal of the other senior credit facilities. As at the time of the amendment, the Corporation had approximately $28.4 million drawn on its revolving credit facility. In addition, the amendment will, among other things, adjust Akumin's leverage and fixed charge ratios for the next four quarters providing the Corporation with greater flexibility in its financial ratio covenants. While no prepayment is required, if a prepayment is made on the Term Loan B facility, an additional payment equal to 2% of the amount prepaid will need to be paid at the time of prepayment within the next 12 months and equal to 1% of the amount prepaid within the subsequent 12 months. First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results Call Akumin would like to invite interested parties to the Corporation's First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results Call, to be held on June 4, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To access the conference call, dial toll-free in Canada or the U.S. 888-231-8191 or, for international callers, 647-427-7450. A related presentation will be available for download on Akumin's website (www.akumin.com) and at https://akum.in/AkuminFirstQuarter2020Results. Participants are asked to connect at least 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the call to ensure participation. The webcast archive will be available for 90 days. A replay of the conference call will also be available until Thursday, June 11, 2020 by calling 416-849-0833 or toll-free 1-855-859-2056, using passcode number 9891317. Unless otherwise indicated, all amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars. Certain metrics, including those expressed on an adjusted or comparable basis, are non-IFRS measures. See "Non-IFRS Measures" and "Selected Consolidated Financial Information" of this press release for further details. The Corporation's consolidated financial statements for Q1 Fiscal 2020 and related management's discussion and analysis are available under Akumin's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). About Akumin Akumin is a leading provider of freestanding, fixed-site outpatient diagnostic imaging services in the United States with a network of owned and/or operated imaging centers located in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas and Georgia. By combining our clinical expertise with the latest advances in technology and information systems, our centers provide physicians with imaging capabilities to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders and may reduce unnecessary invasive procedures, minimizing the cost and amount of care for patients. Our imaging procedures include MRI, CT, positron emission tomography (PET), ultrasound, diagnostic radiology (X-ray), mammography, and other interventional procedures. Non-IFRS Measures This press release refers to certain non-IFRS measures. These non-IFRS measures are not recognized measures under the International Financial Reporting Standards (" IFRS ") and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these non-IFRS measures are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management's perspective. Accordingly, these non-IFRS measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. We use non-IFRS financial measures, including "EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA Margin", "Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to shareholders of Akumin" and "Adjusted EPS Diluted". These non-IFRS measures are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. We also believe that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers. Our management uses non-IFRS measures to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts, and to determine components of management compensation. Definitions and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to the relevant reported measures can be found in our Management's Discussion and Analysis dated June 3, 2020 available at www.sedar.com. We define such non-IFRS measures as follows: " EBITDA " means net income (loss) attributable to shareholders of the Corporation before interest expense (net), income tax expense (recovery) and depreciation and amortization. " Adjusted EBITDA " means EBITDA, as further adjusted for stock-based compensation, impairment of property and equipment, provisions for certain credit losses, settlement costs, provisions, acquisition-related and public offering costs, gains (losses) in the period, one-time adjustments and IFRS 16 impact on leases. " Adjusted EBITDA Margin " means Adjusted EBITDA divided by the revenue in the period. " Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to shareholders of Akumin " means Adjusted EBITDA less depreciation and amortization and interest expense (excluding IFRS 16 impact on depreciation and interest expense), taxed at Akumin's estimated effective tax rate, which is a blend of U.S. federal and state statutory tax rates for Akumin for the period. Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking information. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "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", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Akumin as of the date of this press release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the factors described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2020, which is available at www.sedar.com. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Akumin; however, these factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Akumin expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Selected Consolidated Financial Information (in thousands) Three-month period ended Mar 31, 2020 Three-month period ended Mar 31, 2019 Service fees net of allowances and discounts 70,637 46,955 Other revenue 625 596 Revenue 71,262 47,551 Employee compensation 24,818 17,803 Reading fees 10,924 6,987 Rent and utilities 2,713 1,892 Third party services and professional fees 6,291 3,553 Administrative 3,884 2,711 Medical supplies and other expenses 2,557 1,467 Depreciation and amortization 8,504 6,130 Stock-based compensation 593 1,018 Interest expense 9,825 3,469 Settlement costs (recoveries) 356 (1,217) Acquisition related costs 219 786 Financial instruments revaluation and other (gains) losses (2,019) 57 Income before income taxes 2,597 2,895 Income tax provision 445 276 Non-controlling interests 615 450 Net income attributable to shareholders of Akumin 1,537 2,169 Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands) Three-month period ended Mar 31, 2020 Three-month period ended Mar 31, 2019 Revenue 71,262 47,551 Less: Employee compensation 24,818 17,803 Reading fees 10,924 6,987 Rent and utilities 2,713 1,892 Third party services and professional fees 6,291 3,553 Administrative 3,884 2,711 Medical supplies and other expenses 2,557 1,467 IFRS 16 impact on leases 4,492 3,437 Sub-total 55,679 37,850 Non-controlling interests 615 450 Adjusted EBITDA 14,968 9,251 Adjusted EBITDA Margin 21% 19% Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures (in thousands) Three-month period ended Mar 31, 2020 Three-month period ended Mar 31, 2019 Net income attributable to shareholders of Akumin 1,537 2,169 Income tax provision 445 276 Depreciation and amortization 8,504 6,130 Interest expense 9,825 3,469 EBITDA 20,311 12,044 Adjustments: Stock-based compensation 593 1,018 Settlement costs (recoveries) 356 (1,217) Acquisition-related costs 219 786 Financial instruments revaluation and other (gains) losses (2,019) 57 IFRS 16 impact on rent (4,492) (3,437) Adjusted EBITDA 14,968 9,251 Revenue 71,262 47,551 Adjusted EBITDA Margin 21% 19% Adjusted EBITDA 14,968 9,251 Less: Depreciation and amortization 8,504 6,130 Interest expense 9,825 3,469 Add: IFRS 16 impact on depreciation and interest expense 5,931 4,591 Sub-total 2,570 4,243 Effective tax rate (1) 24.1% 24.3% Tax effect 620 1,029 Adjusted net income attributable to shareholders of Akumin 1,950 3,214 (1) Effective tax rate is the U.S. federal and state blended statutory tax rate estimated for Akumin for the period. SOURCE Akumin Inc. Related Links www.akumin.com June 4 (Reuters) - One New York police officer was shot shortly before midnight Wednesday and another officer was slashed in Brooklyn, police said, but it was unclear if the attack was related to ongoing protests. The names and conditions of the officers was not released. Both officers were injured near Church and Flatbush avenues in Brooklyn and were taken to Kings County Hospital, police said. One arrest was made at the scene. The incident comes amid the mass protests and some rioting in New York over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in custody of white police officers. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Kim Coghil) ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone (NYSE: WOW), a leading broadband services provider, today announced the appointment of John S. Rego as chief financial officer and Shannon Campain as chief commercial officer. Rego and Campain assume their roles as the company continues to grow and strengthen its broadband product and services offerings, while delivering award-winning service to its customers. "As WOW! continues its transformation to a best in class Internet provider, we are thrilled to add such strong expertise to WOW!'s leadership team," said Teresa Elder, CEO of WOW!. "John and Shannon each bring tremendous experience that will be invaluable as we continue to improve efficiencies, remove costs from the business and provide services for our customers for the future. These exceptional leaders will be critical in building upon what already works, while establishing a new path forward." John S. Rego to serve as Chief Financial Officer Rego is an experienced public company CFO who joins WOW! with 36 years of finance, accounting and operational experience. He has a track-record of driving growth and shareholder value. He was most recently CFO for Telaria, Inc. (sold to the Rubicon Project), and prior to that was CFO for Virgin Galactic. He also served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer for Vonage Holdings Corp. for nearly eight years as they substantially grew their customer base. As chief financial officer at WOW!, Rego will lead the financial, accounting and investor relations teams and guide the company's operational efficiency. Rego assumes his role at WOW! on June 29. "I am thrilled to be a part of WOW's evolution from a me-too-cable-company to a better broadband provider," said John S. Rego, CFO of WOW!. "The company is committed to the success of its broadband network and providing innovative solutions to help customers access information the way they want - a couple of the unique aspects of WOW! that attracted me to the position." Shannon Campain named Chief Commercial Officer Campain joins WOW! on June 15 and brings more than 25 years of media and telecommunications experience to her role as chief commercial officer. Prior to this role, she led marketing, sales and digital strategy as a consultant for Fox Corporation and held a similar position at Discovery Communications where she led the brand's MotorTrend OTT offering. She was previously senior vice president and general manager for consumer markets at CenturyLink and spent 16 years at DirectTV/AT&T in various marketing roles with increasing responsibility. Campain was a significant contributor to DirecTV's industry leadership in customer growth and retention during those years. "This is an exciting time to be joining a company with an affinity for innovation and growth," said Shannon Campain, CCO of WOW!. "I look forward to driving strategy for the company and leading the direction for WOW!'s product offerings that give customers the best experience possible." Campain takes over for Nancy McGee who led the development and execution of marketing strategies for the company. McGee is retiring as chief marketing and sales officer following two years at WOW! and more than 25 years in the industry. "Nancy has built a best-in-class sales and marketing team and was instrumental in setting the company on a path to growth. She has been the strategic architect of our broadband-centric approach, has strengthened our marketing position and has grown our product and services portfolio during her tenure," said Teresa Elder, CEO of WOW!. "She leaves an esteemed legacy behind not only at WOW! but in the industry." About WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone WOW! is one of the nation's leading broadband providers, with an efficient, high-performing network that passes three million residential, business and wholesale consumers. WOW! provides services in 19 markets, primarily in the Midwest and Southeast, including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. With an expansive portfolio of advanced services, including high-speed Internet services, cable TV, phone, business data, voice, and cloud services, the company is dedicated to providing outstanding service at affordable prices. WOW! also serves as a leader in exceptional human resources practices, having been recognized by the National Association for Business Resources for six years as a Best & Brightest Company to Work For, winning the award for the last two consecutive years. Visit wowway.com for more information. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements discuss our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and we caution you not to place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," "project," "continue," or the negative of these words, or other similar words or terms. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available in the future or if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expected because of various risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including the wide range of competition we face in our business; competitors that are larger and possess more resources; the economic uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential effect on customer demand or ability to pay as well as potential effects on our ability to procure necessary supplies to support our network; dependence upon a business services strategy; conditions in the economy, including potentially uncertain economic conditions; our ability to secure new businesses as customers; demand for our bundled broadband communications services may be lower than we expect; our ability to respond to rapid technological change; increases in programming and retransmission costs; a decline in advertising revenues; the effects of regulatory changes in our business; our substantial level of indebtedness; certain covenants in our debt documents; programming exclusivity in favor of our competitors; inability to obtain necessary hardware, software and operational support; strain on business and resources from future acquisitions, or the inability to identify suitable acquisitions; the occurrence of natural disasters, including hurricanes, in one or more of our geographic markets and other factors that are described from time to time in our filings with the SEC. All forwardlooking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. SOURCE WideOpenWest, Inc. Related Links https://www.wowway.com/ Fifty gravediggers were trained up by Derry's council in preparation for the coronavirus pandemic, it has been revealed. In the run-up to the pandemic, there were stark warnings about the potential death toll, with the Health Minister Robin Swann at one stage claiming that up to 15,000 people could die. Such warnings prompted health and public agencies to make extensive plans to cope with the forecast number of fatalities. Locally, it has now emerged that Derry City and Strabane District Council had trained up 50 gravediggers. The figure emerged this week at a meeting of the council's Governance and Strategic Planning committee. Speaking at the meeting, Independent councillor Paul Gallagher paid tribute to how the local authority's leadership team had dealt with the pandemic. He highlighted the decision to cancel the St Patrick's Day parades in Derry and Strabane as being important in reducing the number of deaths locally. He said it was a 'risky' decision by the council, but one that had been proven to be the right decision. Cllr Gallagher said there was 'a lot of uncertainty and a lot of fear' in the run-up to the pandemic affecting people locally. We trained 50 gravediggers. In other places, they needed 50 gravediggers. Thankfully we didn't, he said. Cllr Gallagher praised council chief executive John Kelpie for leading the council's response in cancelling the St Patrick's Day celebrations. People can talk about individuals but I think councillors and council officers fell in behind that leadership and when we analysis it and when we analysis the impact it has made on the NHS across the district and the many lives it has saved then I think that needs to be recorded, he said. We can talk about the good stories, but when we weigh it up and the decisions that were made early on that were risky and people didn't agree with and people didn't like and we are now in June and we see that those were the right decisions. The story has been updated after reports that the claim by Adhir Saiyadh was false. Adhir Saiyadh, a Gujarat-based engineer and radio enthusiast, claimed that he ended up connecting with Crew Dragon astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on SpaceX's maiden spaceflight while explaining how to connect to the International Space Station to a student. However, turns out, Saiyadh may have simply made up a tale. Popular Mechanics quoted NASA as saying, "it may be technically impossible for the Crew Dragon to communicate through ham radio." "We did check with SpaceX to confirm that they were not aware of any communication with the astronauts via ham radio, and the crew did not report having received communication," Popular Mechanics quoted a spokesperson from NASA. According to a report by ANI, Saiyadh was trying to reach the ISS when he got a response from Crew Dragon. Gujarat: Adhir Saiyadh, a ham radio enthusiast from Ahmedabad, got a response from SpaceX Crew Dragon's astronauts while trying to connect with International Space Station; says,"I was on video call with a student explaining how to connect to ISS, it was then that I got response" pic.twitter.com/QdqnP7u4wq ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2020 A report by Ahmedabad Mirror reveals that Saiyadh got connected to the astronauts when they were holding an interactive session on NASA TV viewers. He told reporters that he was on the phone with a friend who asked if it was possible to connect to the ISS. Saiyadh knew that the capsule would be passing over India at that time and decided to try his luck. Saiyadh told ANI that this made him feel like he was also a part of history and the response felt personal because it was Hurley whom he connected with. Elon Musks SpaceX created history last weekend by flying its first-ever human spaceflight mission. Present on-board were NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who flew in the Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX Crew Dragon is also the first time in 11 years that astronauts have been launched into space in an American rocket from American soil. June 3, 2020 News By David Vergun , DOD News Defense.gov DOD Official: National Guard Is First Choice in Response to Civil Unrest Governors in 28 states have called on the National Guard to support first responders in the wake of civil unrest and protests across the nation following the death of George Floyd. A Defense Department official said yesterday that the country relies on Guard troops to support civil authorities because they can be deputized to serve in a law enforcement role, if needed, while active duty service members cannot. But, the official noted, DOD is consulting with governors to determine if and where active duty troops might be needed to supplement the Guard's efforts. Department officials held a press briefing to discuss the potential use of National Guard and active duty personnel in support of state and local authorities. District of Columbia National Guardsmen have been deployed to help the district's law enforcement agencies protect buildings, federal installations and monuments and ensure peace, order and safety, the official said. The D.C. National Guard and Guard troops from outside the city who come to help are being led by Army Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the D.C. National Guard commander, the official said. Since the district doesn't have a governor, Walker reports directly to Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy. However, the official noted, the response to civil unrest in the nation's capital was overwhelmingly from law enforcement, not National Guardsmen. More than 100,000 guardsmen are engaged across the country and in overseas missions, the official said. In the U.S., more than 67,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen are supporting operations in every single state, three territories, and the District of Columbia, the official said, noting that this represents the largest domestic response since Hurricane Katrina. "More than 42,000 are still actively doing COVID operations," the official said. "All of those mission sets remain the same, and ... another over 18,000 now in 29 states and the district are assisting law enforcement authorities." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A Peterborough student has won $10,000 for the Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region agency after her essay was one of three Grade 6 runners-up in a national Habitat for Humanity Canada writing contest for children. The Meaning of Home writing contest asks students in Grade 4, 5 and 6 to share what home means to them and drew more than 10,200 entries this year including 743 from the Peterborough area alone. Peterborough student Siena Hopkins-Prest was one of three Grade 6 runners-up in the national contest for her entry What Does Home Mean to Me. The funds will go toward Habitat Peterboroughs planned 41-unit affordable condominium building being built at 33 Leahys Lane in the northeast end of Peterborough. Each student entry also earned a $10 donation. Because there were 743 local entries, an additional $7,430 will be donated to the Leahys Lane project from the contest. Construction of the condo building is set to begin in September and will provide homes for families, singles, couples and seniors. We were inspired to see that 743 students from our region entered the contest this year, Christina Skuce, director of philanthropy and communications with Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region, stated in a news release. This represents the highest number of entries we have received in a single year from our Region and when compared to other Habitats across Canada, the third highest in all of Canada, in terms of total submissions received. This resulted in an additional $7,430 in donations to go toward the Leahys Lane development. The contest raised more than $280,000 nationally for the Habitat for Humanity cause. Three grand prize winners, one from each grade, won a $30,000 grant toward a local Habitat for Humanity build. Nine runners won a $10,000 grant toward their local Habitat. Genworth Canada provided funding for the project. Here is the complete text of the essay by Siena Hopkins-Prest: What does home mean to me? Home to me is a place where I can relax, laugh, cry and be myself. At home I dont need to act like someone or something Im not. Home is a place where I can be myself and feel good about it. And most importantly feel safe. When I know Im home, I hear my cats meowing, my dog barking and my guinea pigs squeaking. I can feel the warmth of my moms loving arms around me, hugging me so tightly I can barely breath, and the laugh of my dad making a funny face at me because I struggle to breath. Home is a place for families to reunite or get to know the other person as best as they possibly can. Home is a place where you create amazing and special memories that will stick by you your entire life. Its a place where you can capture a special moment and celebrate it, and spend as much time as you can get with your loved ones. Home means a lot to me and its where I spend most of my life. Home is where you get to see people grow up to be amazing human beings, and also say goodbye to the ones who were as much as you can ask for in your life. Then celebrate the amazing life and special moments youve had with these amazing people. Home isnt just a place where you live, its a place where you start new journeys and lives. This is what home means to me. The mayor of Washington on Thursday called for the withdrawal from the U.S. capital of military units sent from outside the city as demonstrators gathered for a seventh day of protests against police brutality and racism. 'We want troops from out of state out of Washington D.C.,' Mayor Muriel Bowser told a news conference. The U.S. capital has seen a week of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck. The incident triggered countrywide demonstrations against police brutality and racism. Shops and offices in the city center and nearby areas were hit by nighttime vandalism and looting after peaceful protests last weekend, prompting a curfew. City under guard: Federal sites and monuments have been swamped by National Guard members - and the D.C. mayor now wants all but those from the capital withdrawn Out of city: An Indiana National Guard Unit was on patrol in central Washington D.C. on Wednesday night More on their way: The furthest the units have come from is Utah, where they were seen loading up a KC-135 with equipment before flying to the capital Loading up: Tennessee National Guard troops prepared to board a plane in Smyrna Thursday after their governor deployed them to D.C. at the request of the federal government WHERE GUARD UNITS IN D.C. ARE FROM Florida - Republican governor Indiana - Republican governor Maryland - Republican governor Missouri - Republican governor Mississippi - Republican governor New Jersey - Democratic governor Ohio - Republican governor South Carolina - Republican governor Tennessee - Republican governor Utah - Republican governor Advertisement The demonstrations mostly have been peaceful since, although officers from federal agencies and thousands of National Guard troops from other states have been deployed or are on their way to the city. Some 1,600 active duty forces sent from North Carolina and New York were on standby in the area but those from the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., were ordered back to base Thursday. Bowser said she had authorized the deployment of D.C. National Guard units as part of her response to the coronavirus pandemic, but did not request other military units. The city's police chief, Peter Newsham, asked 'federal partners' to help with traffic, she said. 'There are other federal assets we did not request that we understand are under the direction' of U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Her government, she said, was 'very concerned' by large numbers of troops deployed on Wednesday beyond Lafayette Park, opposite the White House, and worked with federal authorities to withdraw them. Washington D.C. is run ultimately by the federal government so the mayor does not have a say over the deployments. Bowser, a Democrat, has fiercely criticized Republican President Donald Trump for his response to the protests. Newsham said 427 people had been arrested between Sunday and Tuesday, but Wednesday saw no arrests. The increased presence of U.S. military and federal law enforcement, including unidentified officers, in Washington is 'alarming,' U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday, calling on President Donald Trump to disclose the agencies operating in the city amid protests over racial injustice. 'We are concerned about the increased militarization and lack of clarity that may increase chaos,' Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump. 'Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital.' Some governors had rejected Trump's request to send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., for a massive militarized show of force in the nation's capital after several days of unrest over the death of George Floyd. At least three states - New York, Virginia and Delaware - had rejected the request as of Tuesday, with at least one governor citing Trump's rhetoric about using troops to 'dominate' protesters as a reason why. All of those states are led by Democrats. The Trump administration had asked multiple states to send troops to Washington at the same time as the president derided many governors as 'weak' for not using the National Guard more aggressively in their own states. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam rejected a personal appeal from Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Monday to send thousands of the state's National Guard members to Washington D.C., the governor's office said. Northam said he was concerned that the Trump administration would misuse the troops to escalate tensions. 'I am not going to send our men and women in uniform a very proud National Guard to Washington for a photo op,' Northam said, referencing an incident Monday when police used tear gas to clear peaceful demonstrators from a park near the White House so Trump could walk to a nearby church and pose with a Bible. The White House denies it was tear gas; the gas used is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as tear gas. Delaware Gov. John Carney's office said the state did not send troops because Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser did not request 'additional assistance,' a reason Northam also cited. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he was unaware of any request to send New York's Guard to Washington but said he wouldn't have granted such a request because they are needed at home. Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, said 200 New York National Guard troops were requested and the decision to deny the request was made at an agency level that did not directly involve Cuomo. Trump has been particularly critical of how officials have handled looting and violence in New York City. 'NYC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD. The lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart,' Trump tweeted Tuesday. Other governors have been more receptive. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his state's troops were sent 'explicitly to protect federal buildings and federal monuments.' Murphy is the only Democratic governor who has sent troops so far. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan sent 116 members of the National Guard to be stationed on the National Mall. Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said they will be used in support of the D.C. National Guard and the U.S. Capitol Police and 'are not there in any law enforcement capacity.' Tennessee said it is sending 1,000 troops that should be on the ground no later than Saturday. Utah is sending approximately 200 National Guard troops. And about 445 Guardsmen left South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon bound for Washington, where the duration of their deployment was undetermined. 'When the South Carolina National Guard is activated, we are prepared to respond as long as needed,' Capt. Jessica Donnelly told The Associated Press. As protests against police brutality roil the nation in the wake of George Floyd's death, high unemployment among African Americans is likely fueling another undercurrent of frustration. On Friday, the unemployment rate surprisingly fell to 13.3% in May from April's record of 14.7%, the Labor Department said, which was the highest since the Great Depression. While unemployment among white workers fell to 12.4%, unemployment for black workers rose to 16.8%, the highest in more than a decade and particularly crippling because they often have a more fragile safety net to rely on. The numbers show that black people, along with women and young people, continue to bear the brunt of the economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. "The pandemic and related job losses have been especially devastating for black households,'' the Economic Policy Institute said in a recent report. "They have historically suffered from higher unemployment rates, lower wages, lower incomes, and much less savings to fall back on, as well as significantly higher poverty rates than their white counterparts.'' Can these stores survive? Can these 13 retailers hang on during COVID-19? Signs of hope: 5 reasons you shouldn't freak out about 20.5M job losses The spike in unemployment reversed what had been historic declines. African Americans had a record low unemployment rate of 5.4% in August. A pedestrian walks by The Framing Gallery, closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Grosse Pointe, Mich., May 7, 2020. It certainly is the case that we were finally seeing the recovery from the Great Recession hit more and more people,'' says Elise Gould, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute. "Historically disadvantaged groups were finally beginning to see lower unemployment rates.'' Low income and young struggle amid coronavirus: Low-income and younger workers bear brunt of coronavirus-related layoffs, study finds COVID-19 and race: Coronavirus layoffs disproportionately hurt black and Latino workers: 'Its almost like doomsday is coming' Story continues Still, Gould said, "significant racial gaps remained.'' And while unemployment rates reached record lows last year, the job gains were often concentrated at the lower end of the pay scale, making it more difficult for black and Latino workers to accumulate the savings or benefits that could help them weather the current economic storm. "These workers were ... in pretty (bad) jobs before this crisis and couldn't build up wealth to build a financial cushion,'' says Kate Bahn, director of labor market policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. "So its really a layering on top of what is the hugest, fastest decline in the economy we've seen since the Great Depression.'' While stronger unemployment benefits could be particularly helpful to lower wage workers, multiple measures will be necessary to survive a crisis that is crippling much of the nation, Gould says. "It's clear that the hurt is being felt across the country, so Congress needs to continue providing relief to workers across the board,'' Gould says, adding that aid to local and state governments is also critical. "All those things are essential to getting us through this period and to the other side.'' Follow Charisse Jones on Twitter @charissejones This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Black unemployment 2020: Joblessness compounds anguish over brutality The Duchess of Angus, a novel by Margaret Brown Kilik, was discovered by family members after her death in 2001. It is believed she finished writing the novel sometime between 1955 and 1960, when she was living with her husband and children in New Jersey. The setting of the novel is 1940s, wartime San Antonio. While it is a work of fiction, it mirrors details of the authors life. This appropriation of autobiographical details persists in the book in ways large and significant or subtle and mundane, according to Jenny Davidson, the authors step-granddaughter, who wrote the introduction to the novel after having inherited the manuscript after the death of her step-grandfather. The Duchess of Angus is a coming-of-age novel told from the point of view of Jane Davis. In 1943, in the midst of World War II, San Antonio is full of GIs presumably looking for no-commitment flings. Jane Davis has just returned from college with a degree in English. She works at Joskes, a department store a setting many San Antonians can likely recall with some degree of nostalgia. Jane works alongside Wade, a charismatic and enigmatic friend who accompanies her at work by day and who joins her in socializing, the dating scene and nonsensical escapades at night. More Information 'The Duchess of Angus' By Margaret Brown Kilik Trinity University Press 272 pages, $19.95 See More Collapse History buffs will enjoy the mention of San Antonio place names throughout the work. Though the Angus Hotel on South Alamo, the epicenter of Janes world, is fictitious, other actual downtown spots emerge, including the Greyhound bus depot, Losoya and Commerce streets and various haunts that occupied Jane and Wade. On ExpressNews.com: Trinity University Press publishes found manuscript Jane takes a bus ride to Fort Sam Houston. She and Wade make a date with a GI to meet at Alamo Plaza. She would like to go to the Mission San Francisco de la Espada and thinks better of her plan while standing in front of the Menger Hotel, where she experiences an absurd feeling of shyness and regret over her unhatched plan to woo the man. The war goes on at full throttle on other shores, but the world is changing right here in San Antonio for Jane, who is hungry to figure out her place in the world now that she has moved back home. She also wants to be noticed by men while also facing a level of abuse and violence for that need to be accepted or loved. The pre-feminism moment of this novel, however, intersects in interesting ways with more timeless landscapes, underscoring the ways in which the horrors of the #metoo movement have always existed and went unacknowledged and unchecked for so long. This novel also brings to full light the ways in which Mexican Americans have long been relegated to a second-class status in what has always been their own land. The depictions of Mexican Americans in The Duchess of Angus, unfortunately, extend to repugnant stereotypes entrenched in the 1940s and 1950s, when the city was segregated and unimaginable injustices went on just as a matter of course. The novel reminds us that San Antonio has a long and terrible history of inequity and racism. Jane makes note of the poor treatment of these residents of San Antonio during this time. She herself uses the racial stereotypes used to describe Mexicans and their sad gaiety. One woman selling cascarones is described as monstrous. Another is described only as bucktoothed, a flat, one-dimensional metonymy. While the book includes an essay by Laura Hernandez-Ehrisman titled Beyond Adobe Walls to contextualize these uncomfortable threads, the novel is a work on its own with its unreliable narrator noting her interactions with the Mexican American residents of the city while also extending the stereotypes. This novel could perpetuate them if we were to lose sight of the fact it is a work of fiction. But fiction tells truths. The Duchess of Angus depicts not just the history of a city in earlier era, but indeed reminds us of the painful fact that these attitudes persist. As a work of historical fiction, it seems to be ahead of its time in depicting a story of coming of age that might not have found a ready reading audience for another decade or two after Kilik penned it. Kilik wrote this from the vantage point of a particular time in our history when the country was already poised on precipices of change regarding gender and race. Perhaps all these decades later, the point is not so much that she wrote a timeless work or that things change from streetcars to bars and other San Antonio haunts. Perhaps the point is that we simply havent managed to change in significant ways. Yvette Benavides is professor of creative writing at Our Lady of the Lake University and the author, with David Martin Davies, of San Antonio 365. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Texas bars can now operate at 50 percent of their maximum occupancy as part of his Phase 3 guidelines for reopening of the states economy. Effective immediately, restaurants may seat up to 10 guests per table instead of six. The distance between tables can be reduced to four feet from six feet as long as partitions separate parties. Beginning on June 12, restaurants will be allowed to expand to from 50 to 75 percent occupancy. On CHRON.COM: New Galleria restaurant temporarily closed after employee tests positive for COVID-19 Both restaurants and bars are now allowed to offer valet services and video games/ interactive amusements. We understand from the medical experts that social distancing has to remain in place for the foreseeable future to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but we also know many restaurants and bars cannot expand capacity beyond 50 percent or make a profit under the current protocols, a representative for the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA), an advocate the states hospitality and foodservice industry, said via email. The restaurant industry has been left devastated amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. This week's restaurant news: 5 things you need to know on the Houston dining scene The TRA said that Texas restaurants lost a projected $4.2 billion in lost sales and nearly 700,000 jobs through the end of April, while the shutdown of the states 5,500 bars affected 75,000 jobs, with a loss of $630 million in revenue to the industry and $42 million in liquor taxes for the state. Gov. Abbotts Phase 3 announcement came the same day that two Houston restaurants temporarily closed due to COVID-19. Musafeer, a newly opened restaurant in the Galleria, said it is temporarily closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. FM Kitchen & Bar at 1112 Shepherd is also temporarily closed. According to a post on its Instagram account, one of the restaurants employees has been quarantined with COVID-19-like symptoms. Also on Wednesday, Texas saw the largest single-day increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. Statewide, cases increased by 2.75 percent for a total of 67,527 cases, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis. An additional 35 new deaths were reported, bringing the state's death count to 1,718. The Houston region's count increased by 2.7 percent to 17,978 cases total. Two additional deaths were reported; the region's death count is at 359. INDIANAPOLIS - A longtime central Indiana prosecutor was on Thursday appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate the fatal shooting of a black man by an Indianapolis police officer. The appointment of Rosemary Khoury, a deputy prosecutor for Madison County, to probe the May 6 death of 21-year-old Dreasjon Sean Reed came one day after Reeds mother and family attorneys called for the federal government to intervene and investigate his death. They said they dont trust the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and believe it is trying to conceal information. Khourys appointment comes at a time of nationwide protests over the treatment of black people by police following the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee to Floyds neck while he pleaded for air. Khoury, 51, said she is up for the challenge of investigating Reeds death. She must determine whether or not the African American officer who shot Reed will be charged. Wherever the evidence takes me, Im going to be completely open-minded and fair, Khoury, who is black, told The Associated Press by phone. Ill just follow the evidence wherever the evidence takes me, she said. She said she doesnt know how long it will take to make a charging decision. Khoury became a deputy prosecutor in 2009, and handled the prosecution of major felony cases, including murders, for years. Her current assignment is as the sole prosecutor for all city and town courts in Madison County, whose county seat is Anderson, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) northeast of Indianapolis. Two days after Reeds killing, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears asked a court to appoint a special prosecutor to probe the shooting. Mears said Police Chief Randal Taylors role as a material witness in the case constitutes a conflict of interest for the prosecutors office. Police have said they began pursuing Reed after officers, including Taylor, saw someone driving recklessly on Interstate 65. Supervisors ordered an end to that pursuit because the vehicle was going nearly 90 mph (145 kph), police said. But an officer later spotted the car on a city street and chased Reed on foot. Assistant Chief Chris Bailey said Reed exchanged gunfire with the officer. Bailey said a gun found near Reed appeared to have been fired at least twice. Days of protests followed Reeds killing, which came hours before Indianapolis police officers fatally shot another black man, McHale Rose, 19, and an officer fatally struck a pregnant white woman with his car. Swaray Conteh, one of the Reed familys attorneys, said in a statement Thursday that officials had not informed them of Khourys appointment. Its unfortunate that we had to find out about the appointment of Special Prosecutor Khoury on TV. We will look into it and respond in due course, he said. During a news conference Wednesday, Conteh and another family attorney insisted that Reed didnt exchange gunfire with the officer who shot him. They pleaded for more witnesses to come forward and demanded the release of Reeds autopsy report. Conteh said the slow progress of the investigation and the familys distrust of the police prompted them to seek federal involvement so a thorough, transparent investigation could be conducted. We want the federal government to intervene immediately. I think well be satisfied if the FBI or the Justice Department gets involved, Contey said after the news conference. Glee actor Lea Michele issued an apology after being accused of traumatic on-set behaviour, but her co-star isnt satisfied. Earlier this week, Samantha Marie Ware claimed that the actor made her life a living hell due to traumatic microaggressions while filming the show. Ware made the allegation in a reply to Micheles post about the death of George Floyd while in custody of police officers in Minneapolis, and the anti-racism protests taking place around the world. Other stars including Alex Newell then came forward with their own claims of Micheles bad behaviour as the actor was dropped by meal-kit business HelloFreshs ad campaign. After releasing a statement on Instagram, in which she failed to apologise, she later said via People: Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologise for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused. We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings, she added. Ware, though, was confused by Micheles use of the word perceived, tweeting: Perceived? Purcieved? Purse? Open your purse?????????????? [sic] She then posted a link to a GoFundMe page for James Spurlock, who was killed during a George Floyd protest in Nebraska. Broadway star Gerard Canonico, who has also accused Michele of mean behaviour, wrote: I tried for years to be nice to you to no avail. Maybe actually apologise instead of placing the blame on how others perceive you. I woke up feeling sore. Id spent the day before tense, mourning the loss of people I dont even know. Its hard seeing images of people who look like you, your family and friends being dehumanized and brutalized over and over again. There is a psychic cost to witnessing this kind of trauma repeatedly. Even when I try to avoid this content, it infiltrates my social media timelines, the news I read and casual conversations. Especially during quarantine. It can feel like the walls of my apartment are closing in. The phone, my laptop and TV arent safe; they send constant reminders that we, the elusive Black we, are something less than human. My non-Black friends are silent on the issues that keep me up at night. I struggle to reconcile our love with the empathy or support that never comes. I cyclically Google Image search a Martin Luther King Jr. quote, In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. No comfort is found there. My days are spent on Zoom calls, willing myself to focus mind clouded with faces that look a lot like mine, I cant breathes and the soundtrack of gunshots. Im exhausted. Regardless of geographic or socioeconomic differences, all the Black faces for reasons that escape me resonate. My heart breaks with every Justice For hashtag and for the mothers on news crying for their children. The insidious casual racism we experience is one thing, its an old faithful. You learn to build thick skin from being followed around in stores, your longtime neighbour always looking frightened when she sees you or friends saying, my parents wont let me date a Black guy, but dont worry, they love you Orelie, as though this is a compliment. But the images, the constant stream of images of blood soaked T-shirts, Black bodies covered in orange tarps or knees on necks that look strangely similar to that uncle you havent seen in a while, are grief strickening. But unlike typical bereavement, no flowers or food platters will come. There is no outpouring of texts and hugs showing support. And many times when I do try to express my complicated grief, Im met with misunderstanding or thinly veiled racism sighting black on black crime or property damage with a passion and righteous indignation that is never reserved for the victims of anti-Black violence at the centre of these discussions. Again, Im exhausted. Convincing people of your humanity is a full-time job. One I never applied for and cannot seem to quit. Ive been making it a point to check on the Black people in my life to see how they are holding up. I find Im never alone, there is a palpable collective trauma and fatigue. But we press on, shedding tears and angry words for perfect strangers who look a lot like whats reflected in the mirror. He claimed to be the marketing director for Italian fashion house Versace when he allegedly approached customers in Bunnings car parks across Sydney offering genuine leather jackets at heavily discounted prices. The man introduced himself as Raffaele Marseglia and his offer seemed too good to be true: high-end leather jackets on sale after they were leftover from a fashion show and couldn't be returned overseas due to a high tax imposed on the luxury goods. He allegedly sold them from the back of a rented white Audi and one Sydney man bought seven of them for $1000. But police say the jackets are "worthless". Made of sheepskin and PVC the items are valued at somewhere closer to $50. A Tampa television reporter was broadcasting live from protests last weekend when two young men in Hawaiian shirts moved in front of the camera and began chanting the name of an obscure white nationalist slogan, drowning out protesters shouting "No Justice, No Peace!" The incident was one of a growing number in which far-right extremists who once organized mainly online have been inserting themselves into the real-world protests roiling much of the nation, sowing confusion about the nature of the protests and seeking attention for their causes. They've appeared, sometimes carrying assault rifles, at protests in Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia and dozens of other cities, often wearing Hawaiian shirts a seemingly goofy uniform that, within the ranks of their movement signals adherence to a violent, divisive, anti-government ideology. This increasingly visible spillover from radical online forums has alarmed researchers, who for months have tracked surging support for groups advocating armed rebellion as their conversations have spread from fringe platforms such as 4chan and Gab to mainstream forums on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter and YouTube. The largest groups have hundreds of thousands of followers. These groups have displayed a flexible ideology, espousing gun rights in Richmond in January, opposition to government public health restrictions in several state capitals in March and April and, over the past week, resistance to police brutality against African Americans, though the goal in some cases may be mainly to distract attention from those causes, according to recent research. Some far-right groups have purposefully sown confusion by impersonating left-wing activists, adding chaos to already turbulent days of protests in which local officials have blamed unnamed outsiders and left-wing groups for the mayhem. Late Monday, Twitter announced that it had suspended an account for a purported radical left-wing group, @ANTIFA_US. Those behind the recently created account, which had been suspended after tweeting calls for violence during the protests, had ties to a white nationalist group, Twitter said. The company also suspended another fake Antifa account, after a far-right group claimed it had created it to infiltrate the movement. READ MORE: Live coverage of what's happening Thursday, June 4 Researchers have struggled since these movements emerged online last year to determine whether they represent a gonzo, self-consciously ironic exaggeration of long-standing far-right ideologies perhaps confined to mere online bravado or something more dangerous. Their appearance at recent protests, often with weapons, have convinced those who study radical online groups that there is growing potential for real-world violence, as well as a knack for using events to spread incendiary ideas. "There's a violent spear tip of people who take this way beyond a joke," said Joel Finkelstein, director of the Network Contagion Research Institute, which tracks the spread of online hate and published a report on the far-right groups on Tuesday. "There's a ready made audience for the violent actors to get out of hand." Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Sunday tweeted an Associated Press photo showing two white men atop an overturned police car in Salt Lake City, both holding what appear to be assault rifles. Spray painted on the side of the car is "4 George," an apparent reference to George Floyd, the unarmed African American whose killing at the hands of Minneapolis police last month sparked the recent unrest. One of the men standing on the vehicle in the photograph was wearing what appeared to be hunting garb. The other was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, as was a third man filming the activity. "Look at this photo, and using simple common sense ask yourself are these "protestors" in Salt Lake City: A. Outraged by racial injustice in America; or B. Domestic extremists taking advantage of protest to further their own unrelated agenda," Rubio tweeted. His point fits with a range of recent research on far-right extremist movements, including Tuesday's Network Contagion report, "COVID-19, Conspiracy and Contagious Sedition," which detailed the rising prominence of such groups. It concluded that a constellation emerging in what the report called "the Milita-Sphere" are coalescing around gun rights, anti-government messages and threats of violent action, often infused with the false claims of conspiracy theorists such as QAnon. The report found evidence of rising militarism among followers of QAnon, which once spoke cryptically of shadowy forces within the federal government. Now many adherents describe themselves as part of a "Qarmy," a term whose use doubled on Twitter in 10 days recently, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute. The researchers also found an explosion in the use of military badges and revolutionary flags online and in real-world protests. Joan Donovan, Director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy, said Boogaloo group members had shown particular ability to insert themselves into events started by others, a tactic called "stream sniping." Common in the world of internet gaming, it refers to interrupting someone else's live stream to bring attention to yourself and to provoke authorities to appear on the scene. "Extremists across the ideological spectrum exploit poor governance and state fragility. We know this from the history of terrorism around the world," said Jessica Stern, an expert on terrorism and a research professor at Boston University's Pardee School of Global Studies. "We can expect, based on recent U.S. history, that hard-left groups, hard-right groups and international actors will try to exploit this tragically chaotic moment." Anticipating a civil war Adherents of one particularly radical fringe group, which goes by Boogaloo Bois and several similar names, openly anticipate a civil war. The term Boogaloo comes from a 1984 break dancing movie, "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo," considered all but indistinguishable from the original, much as adherents claim a coming civil war will serve as a repeat of the one that occurred in the 1860s. The Boogaloo were the first to don Hawaiian shirts as symbols of their extremist ideas. As social media companies cracked down on their posts for violating various policies, the supporters adopted new names and images to avoid detection, such as "Big Igloo," "Boojahadeen" and "Big Luau." The latter gave rise to wearing the distinctively patterned shirts. Researchers are uncertain what role these groups have in the violence that has exploded across dozens of U.S. cities in recent nights, but they cite worrying signs. These include the seizure by Denver police last week of guns and ammunition from a man who said he was inspired by the Boogaloo but kept the weapons for sport shooting. "It's getting a bit more real. In that mix there are always people who are taking it very real and very seriously," said Devin Burghart, president at the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a group that tracks far-right movements. His group has tracked the presence of far-right militias and Boogaloo-related groups at 40 protests related to the Floyd killing across the United States. The Tech Transparency Project, an advocacy group critical of the tech companies, has reported that Boogaloo groups are especially active on Facebook, where at least 125 operate. More than half of those groups have been created since January, Reddit shut down several Boogaloo-related communities in February and another set in May, said company spokesman Anna Soellner, for inciting or glorifying violence. But the Boogaloo and their messages remain easy to find on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and the messaging platform Telegram. On Telegram, a platform with limited moderation efforts, several accounts that were posting using the #DCBlackout hashtag had previously used derogatory language to describe African Americans and Jews, according to Eric Feinberg, vice president of content moderation at Coalition for a Safer Web. Since the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a march organized by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in which a counterprotester was killed, Facebook has banned groups dedicated to hate and white supremacy. Facebook spokeswoman Sarah Pollack said that the company had already removed many of the accounts in the reports cited by The Washington Post, and had updated its policies as well. "We already removed accounts referenced in both reports and last month we updated our policies to prohibit the use of these terms when accompanied by statements and images depicting armed violence. We are removing posts that violate our policies and preventing pages and groups from being recommended on Facebook," she said. Twitter's hateful-conduct policy bans direct attacks or promoting violence on the basis of race, ethnicity and other protected categories, and bans accounts whose primary purpose is to cause such harm, the company says. Twitter spokesman Brandon Borrman said that the company views the term "boogaloo" as a form of free expression, and would not remove accounts on their use of the term alone. However, the company had suspended many accounts associated with the term because those accounts had broken other rules, such as spam or trying to get around a previous suspension. Whos to blame for violence? The protests, which began peacefully last week but have taken violent turns in recent days, have attracted a wide range of people motivated by their outrage at yet another police-involved killing of an unarmed black man. But state and local officials have complained that outsiders with more nefarious motivations are infiltrating the protests and driving at least some of the violence. President Donald Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr have blamed far-left extremists for this escalating violence, but the far right also has spread disinformation online and encouraged followers to take violent action against both protesters and the police, according to experts and posts on Telegram, which is popular with some extremist groups that organize and spread messages privately. Far-right groups also are using social media to exacerbate tensions between law enforcement and protesters, urging their members to hurl molotov cocktails and fire weapons as protesters gather to encourage a police counterattack. One Telegram group, Eco-Fascist Central, with about 2,500 subscribers, on Sunday called on members who encountered rioters to either attack them or "keep your mouth shut and start handing out pamphlets on how to make napalm, molotov cocktails, [and] slam bangs." Rita Katz, a terrorism analyst and the cofounder of SITE Intelligence Group, said the far left has bad actors but that the far right is more cohesive and stages attacks on people as opposed to the far left's targeting of buildings. Among those seeking to exploit the recent protests are neo-Nazi groups, which Katz said are "using these tumultuous times to incite terrorist attacks and recruit. Recent days have included discussions on how many synagogues they can attack while most police, firefighters, and paramedics are being tied up in rioting cities." The tactics of the far-right extremists are the latest attempt to accelerate violence between police and protesters an idea embraced by those who call themselves accelerationists. Their goal is a race war that would lead eventually to the dissembling of the government through violent struggle, according to Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League. Extremists of all kinds never miss an opportunity, he said. GREENWICH Families collecting lunches at Greenwich schools this week got a bonus treat: Girl Scouts offering free books for kids of all ages. Girl Scout Troop 50681 from North Mianus School took the term Book Drive to another level by driving books to the stops along the school bus routes to the lunch drop-off sites. The project began when the 13 fifth-grade Girl Scouts were looking for a way to help in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Girl Scouts decided that with the libraries closed, and school ending soon, many children will not have access to books this summer. So the troop decided to take action. The girls began by gathering books from their own homes, then expanded the collection to neighboring houses by leaving notes in mailboxes and posts on their parents social media pages. The girls also placed collection boxes in front of the Town of Greenwich Board of Education building to allow for even more donations. After a short time, the Girl Scouts simple book drive turned into a library of 4,000 books. To ensure everyones safety, the girls wiped down every book with sanitizer and then cataloged the books by reading ability from early learning to adult. The 4,000 donated books were distributed for free via the Greenwich Public School breakfast/lunch pickup program. Girl Scout Troop 50681 followed a different school bus route each day this week and set up book bins for browsing behind the bus at every stop. The fifth-grade Girl Scouts wore masks, observed social distancing rules and offered hand sanitizer to book browsers. Parents and kids were able to take as many books as they wanted thanks to the generous donations we received. Parents were so grateful to be able to get free books for their children, especially now since the public libraries in town are closed. Parents took books for infants all the way up to adult books for themselves. The girls liked recommending books to families and seeing them excited to go home and read, Girl Scout troop co-leader Jenn Donat said. Troop 50681 plans to use this community project toward their Bronze Award, the highest award for Girl Scout Juniors in fourth and fifth grade. To learn more about Girl Scouts, visit www.gsofct.org/join. To learn more about Girl Scouts in town, www.greenwichgirlscouts.com. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The National Bureau of Investigation has filed charges of murder, perjury, and planting of evidence against the policeman who fatally shot a former soldier at a quarantine checkpoint. Police Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo is facing charges for shooting Winston Ragos, a retired soldier who supposedly violated the community quarantine protocols. The cop said he thought Ragos was pulling out a gun from his bag after a shouting match near the checkpoint at Barangay Pasong Putik in Quezon City in April. NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin confirmed to CNN Philippines that they have filed a case against Florendo at the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office. Four other police trainees involved in the incident were charged, a move that was welcomed by the Philippine Army. "May this development be the first step in our quest of justice for Ragos and his family. Through this, we hope that we can at least honor his sacrifices to the nation he served, and raise awareness on the mental health issues our soldiers face," the Army said in a statement. Ragos' mother said her 34-year-old son had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and had been dealing with some mental health issues. Philippine National Police Chief General Archie Gamboa earlier defended Florendo, saying the police officer exercised a "judgment call" at the scene, as he assumed that Ragos tried to draw his firearm to fight back. But witnesses said the victim was not carrying a firearm, only identification cards and his quarantine pass. Police said they recovered a .38 caliber pistol from Ragos' bag. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 14:53 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc21dfb 1 Entertainment Stand-By-Me,True-Colors-Festival,festival,disabled Free To promote positivity and raise awareness about discrimination faced by people with disabilities during these turbulent times, the True Colors Festival has created an online music video with appearances from multiple artists with disabilities. Initiated by the Tokyo-based non-profit organization Nippon Foundation, the project takes the form of a four-minute music video, in which 46 artists with disabilities from 15 countries or areas perform an updated rendition of Ben E.Kings "Stand By Me". The music video showcases acapella, rap, jazz, classical, ballet and breakdance -- reflecting the diverse musicians involved in the project. Among the contributing artists includes rapper Signmark from Finland, who was the first deaf artist in the world to be signed to a major record label; Sparsh Shah, a 17-year-old performance art wunderkind from America; and Yusuke Anazawa, a blind virtuoso jazz violinist from Japan. The performance itself is translated into sign language by Amber Galloway Gallego, who specializes in interpreting concerts and music festivals into sign language. Read also: Kyriakon School: Guiding special needs students toward acceptance The project aims to raise awareness about people with disabilities and also amplify the voices of artists with disabilities across different nations. As societies everywhere envision life post-COVID-19, the global community of people with disabilities must be factored in, right from the reset. We can build a world in which everyones needs are catered to and no one is left behind," said the foundation's executive director Ichiro Kabasawa in a statement. According to the United Nations, 15 percent of the worlds population, or more than 1 billion people, have some form of disability. (cal/kes) PUNE: The city fire brigade received over 92 calls related to incidences of trees falling on roads due to rainfall and gusty winds, between 7am and 11.30am on Thursday. Most of the calls were from Kothrud, Yerawada, Dhanori, Wadgaonsheri and other areas. Prashant Ranpise, chief, Pune fire brigade, said that calls related to crashing down of hoardings were also reported. We noted down the complaints and fourteen of our vehicles were deployed for carrying out removal of trees, cutting branches and facilitating vehicular movement. Our team has been working round the clock to help residents, he said. Ranpise said that more than 100 personnel of fire department were on ground helping police and other government agencies in carrying out weather related works. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city will experience cloudy conditions with cloudy skies in the next few days. The fire brigade department has stationed a special crack team to address tree-fall incidents as city gears up for the monsoon season. WASHINGTON Texas is among the most politically polarized states in the U.S., and its congressional leaders are more partisan than those of any other populous state in the nation, according to a recent ranking. Several Texas lawmakers were rated among the most partisan in the nation, including U.S. Reps. Chip Roy, a Central Texas Republican who rated as the third-most partisan member of Congress, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, whose record in the Senate is less partisan than those of just five other senators since 1993. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Researchers who participated in the study and Texas political experts agree that the skewed ratings reflect a generation of noncompetitive elections in the state both for Democrats and Republicans. With most legislative districts drawn to be overwhelmingly Democratic or Republican, modern Texas politicians have had to worry only about appeasing voters in primary elections. Candidates have been electorally rewarded for going off the deep end, and ignoring the policy priorities of moderate general election voters most voters for almost 20 years, said Harold Cook, a Texas political analyst who worked for years as a Democratic consultant. The ratings also speak to how divided the nation is in the era of President Donald Trump, said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist. While he said the Texas delegation has generally pulled together with a Team Texas approach on major issues such as hurricane relief, theres generally just very, very little incentive to work together. The direction (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi is leading the House is very different than the direction the White House wants to go, and there just are not a lot of incentives for crossing party lines to get things done, he said. Manuel Balce Ceneta, STF / Associated Press TOO TIGHT TO TELL: Trump, Biden in virtual tie in Texas in new poll Nonetheless, the margins of victory have become tighter up and down the ballot since 2016, with as many as nine competitive congressional races expected this year, more than the state has seen in some time. The rankings are based on support for bipartisan legislation in Congress, and the Texas delegation ranks 47th in the nation, ahead of only Rhode Island, Oklahoma and Alaska, according to researchers at Georgetown University and the nonprofit Lugar Center founded by former Republican U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana. The ratings reflect how frequently members co-sponsor bills introduced by those in the opposite party and how frequently members of the other party back their bills. Bill sponsorship, the groups argue, is a very carefully considered declarations of where a legislator stands on an issue, whereas votes are often contextual and can influenced by circumstances. Members are given a rating, with negative scores a sign of partisanship. The Texas delegation was mostly in the negative, with only 11 of the 36 members of the House scoring above zero, as did U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. BEHAVING LIKE BIGOTS: Ted Cruz lashes out at Antifa protesters At the top of the list for bipartisanship in Texas is U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican whose district stretches from Houston to Austin, one that Democrats hope to flip in November. Evan Vucci, STF / Associated Press Whatever theyre going to say about me, the record is clear: I do work across the other side of the aisle, McCaul said. McCaul counted among his bipartisan victories legislation creating a federal cybersecurity agency, as well as bills targeting childhood cancer and human trafficking. The thing about Congress is so much of this is relationship-driven, and if youre just up here to scorch the earth and throw your bombs out, youre not really going to be effective, McCaul said. You might get on TV late at night, but thats not really my goal up here. Others in districts expected to be battlegrounds also landed bipartisan scores, including U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, a freshman Houston Democrat who flipped a longtime Republican seat in 2018 that the GOP is hoping to take back this year, and Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican in a district targeted by Democrats. On the other end of the spectrum, Roy recently scored a massive bipartisan win when the House passed a bill he co-sponsored to fix a popular paycheck protection program that did not help many small businesses. He said recently that he wants to see more of that type of work done in the House. If we want Congress to work again, we need to work, Roy said. We work best by letting the legislative process unfold. If you offer an idea and it gets voted down, well, move on. ben.wermund@chron.com Is Obama the thing that wouldn't go away? Looks like it, because he's popped out of the woodwork again, this time to blame President Trump, racism, "a long history," and "structural problems" for the Antifa riots and lootings gripping the nation's blue cities. He's out to "make America live up to its highest ideals." The crazed riots, see, aren't the work of one bad cop with the public employee union that protected him 18 times earlier, who's now going to jail; they're America's fault. When a shop window gets trashed, it's not the doing of a looting thug looking for a Rolex; it's America's fault, because America is a racist place. He's trying to pretend to be president again for old time's sake or more accurately, to never let a crisis go to waste. Wasn't he the president on whose watch the Baltimore and Ferguson riots broke out and expanded? In his latest speech, he spoke of being Mr. Racial Healer on account of the "commission" when he was president. Commissions, see, are what get the job done; just let the experts speak, and do everything they say. As if the coronavirus crisis taught us the value of experts and science. Instapundit has an observation: Screenshot, Instapundit. Not only is it obnoxious to see this bounder forget he's no longer president, but it's also problematic because of his divisiveness on race relations, despite his claims to the contrary. He's also fundamentally misreading the situation. He's using this crisis to blame America first for the riots as a matter of rampant racism in society, instead of the rioters and looters, whom he condemns not once. As Instapundit points out, maybe that's related to the fact that Obama's former staffers have been bailing out looters, releasing them to commit more But more to the point, he's claiming that America is a racist place, and there's a segment of the public that agrees with the cop who killed George Floyd. There isn't. That merely supports the looters' narrative and gives them permission to go looting. It also exonerates the Hollywood chi chi crowd and the press, which have been egging the criminals on. For Obama, that's what political gain looks like. He is doing what he always does with this disgraceful appearance attempting to amass political gain by declaring himself Mr. Healer, accusing half the country of racism. That's never letting a crisis go to waste. It's a bad look in times like these. Image credit: YouTube screen shot. India on Thursday joined the UKs vaccine mission during the Global Vaccine Summit 2020, which helped secure $7.4 billion in funding to support global vaccine supply and immunisation. The virtual event saw representatives of more than 50 countries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other heads of state and government, business leaders, UN agencies and civil society pledging their support to Gavi, the vaccine alliance, in its commitment to help save up to eight million lives over the next five years. India committed $15 million to Gavi over the next five years at Thursdays summit. According to Gavi, India is the only country that has moved from being a recipient to a donor. India is also now its largest manufacturer, accounting for more than 60% of Gavi vaccines. The acting UK high commissioner, Jan Thompson, said: I was pleased to see such a strong endorsement from Prime Minister Modi at todays summit, and to hear his message about the importance of global solidarity. As he said, Indias capacity to produce vaccines at low cost and research expertise will play a very important role. The UK is Gavis leading donor and already playing a major role in the international response to Coronavirus. Im delighted to see the continuing and excellent UK-India collaboration as a force for good against Covid-19 from vaccine development to keeping essential medical supply routes open. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the summit will be the moment when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against disease. Gavis efforts, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, help stop the spread of infectious diseases and resurgence of other epidemics. If a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine is developed, it will also have a role in its delivery around the world. Global access will ensure a collective international recovery, said a statement from the UK high commission. Gavi has immunised more than 760 million children in the poorest countries, saving more than 13 million lives. It holds a pledging conference every five years to raise funds for its next strategic period, and Thursdays summit secured funding for 2021-25. The UK has supported Gavi since its inception in 2000 and is its largest donor, with a pledge of 1.65 billion for the next five years. The Global Vaccine Summit 2020 built on the UKs recent role as co-lead for the Global Coronavirus Response Initiative on May 4, which raised 7.4 billion euros (about 6.64 billion) for vaccines, tests and treatment to tackle the Coronavirus. UK-India collaboration for a possible coronavirus vaccine includes a consortium comprising Serum Institute, Gates Foundation, MIT and Spy Biotech, a UK-based biotech company, which is trying to develop a vaccine using the new spy-tag vaccine development technology. Oxford Nanopore is also working with some of Indias leading scientific institutions to focus on rapid analysis of Coronavirus samples, while a long-term Merck and Wellcome Trust venture on vaccine research, policy and manufacturing will be based in Delhi. Just days after two Pakistani officials of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi were caught for espionage and asked by India to leave the country after being declared persona non grata, the vehicle of Indias Charge d Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was chased in the Pakistani Capital Islamabad by a motorcycle-borne person suspected to belong to Pakistans notorious spy-agency ISI, Indian Government sources confirmed late on Thursday evening. Watch video here #WATCH Islamabad: Vehicle of India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was chased by a Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) member. ISI has stationed multiple persons in cars and bikes outside his residence to harass and intimidate him. pic.twitter.com/TVchxF8Exz ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020 India is expected to lodge a protest soon with Pakistan through diplomatic channels. Government sources said New Delhi is taking up the matter with Islamabad of harassment of Indian diplomats in Islamabad. Mr. Ahluwalia is the top Indian diplomat currently posted in Islamabad. Government sources said, The matter of harrassment of Indian personnel and obstruction in discharge of their normal functioning is being taken up through established diplomatic channels. Rejecting the claims of Pakistan that two of its High Commission (HC) officials in Delhi had not carried out any espionage, Indian Government sources had earlier this week said the two Pakistani officials had been caught red-handed but had not been subjected to any torture as alleged by Pakistan. Sources had said Pakistan appeared to be making the false allegation that its two officials had been tortured in order to create grounds for torture of Indian embassy officials in Islamabad. India had on Sunday summoned the Pakistani CdA in Delhi and had issued a demarche in which a strong protest was lodged with regard to the activities of these (two) officials of the High Commission of Pakistan against Indias national security. New Delhi had asked the two concerned Pakistan HC officials to leave the country within a day and had declared them persona non grata. Pakistan had denied the allegations. Speculation continues to be rife that Islamabad may soon take retaliatory action to expel Indian diplomats. New Delhi appears to be bracing for retaliation. Authorities monitoring the 14-day quarantine scheme for travellers arriving here have admitted they are not yet ready to enforce the new rules - four days before they are to come into effect. From next Monday the scheme will require anyone who enters Northern Ireland from outside the UK and Republic - both visitors and holidaymakers returning home - to self-isolate for a fortnight. The PSNI and the Department of Health have revealed discussions are still under way into how the scheme will be enforced. While travellers who flout the rule in Britain face a fine of 1,000, the penalty figure has yet to be set here. The Department of Health and its counterpart in the Republic are still working out how information about cross-border travellers from outside the Common Travel Area will be shared. Read More The admissions come as serious concerns have been raised about the new rule's impact on the tourism industry and economy. Expand Close Consequences: Graham Keddie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Consequences: Graham Keddie Graham Keddie, managing director of Belfast International Airport, has warned the 14-day self-isolation requirement will have "very severe economic and social consequences". DUP MP Sammy Wilson branded the quarantine rules nonsensical, saying they were "totally pointless, unenforceable". The effectiveness of the measure has also been questioned as travellers to the UK can avoid self-isolating by taking advantage of a loophole dubbed the 'Dublin dodge', which involves travelling to the Irish capital first and then straight on to the UK. Read More In addition, overseas visitors arriving in Dublin but heading across the border do not have to reveal where they are staying here, meaning they are unlikely to face checks that they are abiding by the rules. Home Secretary Priti Patel has brushed off criticism that the quarantine will "kill off" the travel industry, insisting that requiring arrivals to UK to self-isolate is "essential" to save lives. The scheme was also defended by Tourism NI chief John McGrillen, who insisted the impact on local tourism would be "relatively insignificant" when questioned at Wednesday's Stormont Covid-19 briefing. "All the research we have done would suggest that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland intend to stay at home this summer," he said. "The numbers of people who have any intention of travelling overseas over the next six months is extremely low. "From our perspective we see that as a good thing as it gives us an opportunity to convince those people if they are staying at home to take a holiday at home." Mr McGrillen added: "The stark reality is that air connectivity, the means by which people from overseas would normally get here, has been completely disrupted across the globe. "Our expectations of people coming from beyond the UK in the next three to six months is very limited. "Our sense would be that the impact on tourism is relatively insignificant. "I think the impact would be much greater on the broader business community than it would be on tourism." This was acknowledged by Economy Minister Diane Dodds, who told the Stormont briefing she understood the difficulties facing companies both within the tourism industry and outside it. "Northern Ireland's manufacturing companies make and produce goods but they go out across the world and sell those goods," she explained. She said she hoped it will be lifted as soon as possible. "Our national Government have indicated that they want to have a 14-day quarantine period in line with governments in the Republic of Ireland and across other parts of Europe," Mrs Dodds added. "For us in Northern Ireland, we'll be looking at those regulations and seeing how they should be implemented. "I think we should also remember that we would hope that they would be temporary, but remember that the Executive has given the commitment that they will not be held in place one day longer than they need to be." Party colleague Mr Wilson, however, blasted the scheme, insisting it was futile and damaging to our economy. "It's totally pointless, unenforceable and damaging," the East Antrim MP said. "It's pointless first of all because it's unenforceable; once people come in who's going to enforce whether they quarantine or not? "Are you going to give police the instructions to call every day for 14 days to find out whether they're staying in? "As soon as the police leave, are people going to go out again? "There's no point in introducing rules which only bring the law into disrepute." The PSNI said: "In line with the UK national approach, there is a proposed role for policing in the enforcement of the 14-day self-isolation restrictions. The exact nature of this role remains under discussion with the relevant departments and the police service." In a statement the Department of Health said: "Health authorities here and in the Republic are working to finalise arrangements regarding information sharing. "It will be an offence to breach the self-isolation requirements, regardless of how you have travelled to Northern Ireland." Iran's Army Claims 'Enemies' Misrepresented Commander's Remarks On IRGC Radio Farda June 03, 2020 Iran's regular Army on Tuesday claimed that "envious and hostile enemies" misrepresented the remarks of its Coordinating Deputy in an interview to damage the unity of the Army and the Revolutionary Guard. The statement released by the Army on June 2 claimed that the official government news agency IRNA on May 31 had published only 13 minutes of the 90-minute long video of Real Admiral Habibollah Sayyari's interview but the "enemies used it selectively and interpreted and analyzed it in a hypocritical and antagonistic manner". The video of the interview titled "Untold Stories of the Army by Rear Admiral Sayyari" was removed from IRNA's website a few hours after its publication. Referring to the reporting of foreign-based Persian language media, the Army statement also condemned "the hypocritical and begrudging act of hostile anti-revolutionary media" and declared that "the unity and harmony of the Iranian armed forces, particularly the Army and the Revolutionary Guard, is fundamental and unbreakable". In the controversial interview, Rear Admiral Sayyari bitterly expressed his dissatisfaction with the was the army is ignored by the state-run media while implicitly lambasting the powerful Revolutionary Guard for meddling in the country's political and economic affairs. The Revolutionary Guard has not directly reacted to the allegations made by Sayyari or commented on the issue. However, a report by Defa Press on Tuesday which included a Revolutionary Guard statement on the occasion of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death anniversary, alluded to the recent controversy. Defa (Defense) Press is a government-funded news agency dedicated to the news and propaganda related to the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic. Interpreting the Guard's statement in which the Army was not mentioned whatsoever, Defa Press claimed that it recommended "vigilance against the efforts of the enemy to create discord between the Army and the Revolutionary Guard". Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-s-army-claims- enemies-misrepresented-commander-s -remarks-on-irgc/30650619.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 DALLAS, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of the recent killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, global spiritual leader and elder statesman Bishop T.D. Jakes is calling for a national conversation on policing and race to be immediately followed by an action plan for police reform. In a pointed opinion piece published on FoxNews.com, Jakes says now is the time to put in place a response with buy-in from community leaders, clergy, police unions, the U.S. Justice Department and elected officials. The plan must address longstanding issues like the implementation of de-escalation training and the lack of standardized hiring practices for the nation's 18,000 police departments. It must also include tough measures such as cutting or eliminating funding for recalcitrant police departments. "The ongoing demonstrations around the nation offer a glimpse into what the future looks like if nothing is done," Jakes writes. "Doing nothing will destroy our society," adds Jakes, pastor of the 30,000-member The Potter's House located in Dallas. "Mutual antipathy between police and the black community further exacerbates racial tensions in the country at large. It generates outrage not only domestically but also internationally, making a mockery of our professed commitment to stated ideals of liberty and justice. Further, it gives comfort to our enemies abroad who are eagerly awaiting opportunities to exploit our nation's biggest Achilles heel: racial strife." Jakes says Christians have a moral imperative to take action instead of doing nothing. He quotes the words from the prophet Isaiah: "Learn to do good: seek justice, correct oppression." About The Potter's House Located in Dallas, The Potter's House is a 30,000-member nondenominational, multicultural church and humanitarian organization led by Bishop T.D. Jakes, twice featured on the cover of Time magazine as America's Best Preacher and as one of the nation's 25 Most Influential Evangelicals. The Potter's House has five locations: The Potter's House of Dallas, The Potter's House of Fort Worth, The Potter's House of North Dallas, The Potter's House of Denver and The Potter's House OneLA. The Potter's House broadcast weekly services and stream exclusive online content. To access the free stream platforms, visit TDJakes.org/stream. SOURCE The Potter's House Related Links https://www.thepottershouse.org [June 04, 2020] Sezzle and The Center for Generational Kinetics Release Groundbreaking Study on Gen Z, Millennials and their Relationship with Money, Credit, and Payments MINNEAPOLIS and AUSTIN, Texas, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sezzle Inc. (ASX:SZL) (Sezzle) // Sezzle, the leading North American, purpose-driven, payments platform, together with the Center for Generational Kinetics , a global leader in generational research, announced the results of a landmark nation-wide survey of young consumers, providing new insights into how younger generations of consumers think about personal finances, credit products, and payments. The results, which were released to leading eCommerce merchants, retailers and select media in an invitation-only webinar, highlighted a number of trends that provide a roadmap for the future of the retail sector as it begins to reposition itself in the wake of COVID-19. The national survey, conducted by The Center for Generational Kinetics, is the first of its kind. The study focused on understanding Gen Z and Millennial consumer attitudes towards the booming "Buy Now, Pay Later" trend, which has taken off since being introduced to the U.S. a little more than four years ago. More than 1,200 adults between the ages of 18 and 64 were surveyed by CGK between February 27, 2020 and March 2, 2020. "A product of growing up after the Great Recession, Gen Z is wary of credit and worries about their finances more than any other generation. For retailers, it is critically important to understand how these unique attitudes shape young consumers' attitudes," commented CGK President and renowned generational expert, Jason Dorsey, whose firm partnered with Sezzle on the study. "The data couldn't be more clear: Millennials and Gen Z consumers want options when it comes to how they pay. By 2023, I predict 95% of all direct-to-consumer retailers will be offering some form of installment-based payment solution for both online and in-store checkout," Mr. Dorsey predicts. "We built Sezzle to give Millennial and Gen Z consumers an alternative budgeting tool that allows them to pay for purchases over time without all the pitfalls of traditional credit products," said Sezzle CEO and co-founder, Charlie Youakim. "This CGK research really reinforces why our product fits the evolving payment needs of younger generations of shoppers." Installment-based payment programs have long been a staple of the retail sector in countries all around the world from Brazil to Australia to the UK and continental Europe. Based on the CGK study, over 90% of Gen Z and 95% of Millennial consumers are aware of installment payment options. However, largely due to the long-standing predominance of credit cards in North America, alternative payments are just now beginning to take off in the US and Canada as younger consumers find themselves sidelined by the traditional credit market. The survey conducted in partnership with CGK is the first comprehensive and publicly-releasedstudy to delve into the rapidly accelerating installments-based payments sector. The results of this seminal study provide a range of insights into how each generation of consumers approaches personal finances, credit, and payments. Several other key insights support the consumer viewpoint that installment payments should be on the forefront of every retailer's mind. Sezzle and CGK uncovered the following consumer stats relating to installment payments: Consumers are using digital payment services (75%) more than traditional banking apps (67%); 81% of consumers indicate that they would at least sometimes use installment payments if they were available with 63% of Millennials either loving or viewing installment payments as a helpful option; Over half (53%) of consumers are likely to use installment payments if it is available at their favorite store; If installment payments were offered, 60% of consumers would try a new store or website and 65% of consumers would shop more often; Installment payments with no fees or interest is the most ideal feature for consumers Consumers are far more likely to use an installment payment solution if it helps build their credit. Chris Dolan, VP of Partnerships at Sezzle, who will lead the webinar along with Mr. Dorsey notes, "We had already seen the positive impact that installment payments have had on converting shoppers into buyers. This study went beyond the transactional data to bring to light some of the additional benefits retailers gain from offering installments to their customers in terms of trust, satisfaction, and loyalty." Key Links The Future of Payments, a landmark nation-wide study which sheds light on Gen Z and Millennial consumer behaviors and sentiments towards spending, credit, and payments. Members of the media and other interested parties can sign up for the Sezzle and CGK webinar here . . Sezzle will be releasing additional data and insights from its on-going research initiatives to its merchant partners, some of which will be shared with select media. Additional information related to Sezzle's and CGK's joint "Future of Payments" study can be accessed here. Follow Sezzle on LinkedIn for the latest data and market insights from the company. For more of Sezzle's proprietary research, visit the Sezzle Research Center. for the latest data and market insights from the company. For more of Sezzle's proprietary research, visit the Sezzle Research Center. Merchants and retailers interested in learning more about Sezzle can learn more here . . Consumers interested in signing up to use the Sezzle platform can learn more here . About Sezzle Inc. Sezzle is a rapidly growing fintech company on a mission to financially empower the next generation. The New York Observer has described Sezzle as a "merchant and consumer favorite." Sezzle's payment platform increases the ability for more than 1.3 million active users across the U.S. and Canada to gain access to financial freedom by offering interest-free installment plans at online stores and select in-store locations. Sezzle's transparent, inclusive, and seamless payment option allows consumers to take control over the spending, be more responsible, and gain access to financial freedom. When consumers apply, approval is instant, and their credit scores are not negatively impacted. Sezzle empowers consumers by increasing their purchasing power which benefits retailers and brand partners by driving sales and expanding basket sizes for the more than 14,000 retail and eCommerce partners that offer Sezzle at checkout in the U.S. and Canada. For more information visit sezzle.com. Sezzle's CDIs are issued in reliance on the exemption from registration contained in Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) for offers of securities which are made outside the US. Accordingly, the CDIs, have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the laws of any state or other jurisdiction in the US. As a result of relying on the Regulation S exemption, the CDIs are 'restricted securities' under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. This means that you are unable to sell the CDIs into the US or to a US person who is not a QIB for the foreseeable future except in very limited circumstances until after the end of the restricted period, unless the re-sale of the CDIs is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption is available. To enforce the above transfer restrictions, all CDIs issued bear a FOR Financial Product designation on the ASX. This designation restricts any CDIs from being sold on ASX to US persons excluding QIBs. However, you are still able to freely transfer your CDIs on ASX to any person other than a US person who is not a QIB. In addition, hedging transactions with regards to the CDIs may only be conducted in accordance with the Securities Act. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sezzle-and-the-center-for-generational-kinetics-release-groundbreaking-study-on-gen-z-millennials-and-their-relationship-with-money-credit-and-payments-301070467.html SOURCE Sezzle CGK [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that virtually all businesses in Texas can now operate at 50 percent of their maximum occupancy, another major step as he eases restrictions enacted to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. The people of Texas continue to prove that we can safely and responsibly open our state for business while containing COVID-19 and keeping our state safe, the Republican governor said, while encouraging the continued use of face masks and other safety practices in public. The announcement came as the state sees record numbers of new daily cases of COVID-19. On Wednesday, the seven-day average for new daily cases hit 1,466, up from 1,280 in mid-May, a Houston Chronicle data analysis shows. David J. Phillip, STF / Associated Press IN-DEPTH: Rising cases, inadequate tracing put Texas at risk during reopening Abbott said nearly half of all new cases are isolated at jails and prisons, meatpacking plants and nursing homes, environments where he says outbreaks can be contained as the reopening progresses. The state has moved to increase testing at many of those locations, though testing as a whole remains stagnant, well below the governor's goal of 30,000 tests per day. The state has averaged about 23,000 tests per day for the past three weeks. Hospitalizations, another key measure, were down on Wednesday but have been rising steadily in the past week. They were still well below statewide capacity. The state reported 23 COVID-19 deaths per day over the past week, down from nearly 40 in mid-May. Abbott has said he would watch deaths and hospitalizations closely as he reopens the Texas economy. Still, public health officials have said the state is at best plateauing, with new cases neither falling nor surging. And they have worried that the Memorial Day holiday and protests over police brutality, which have drawn tens of thousands to the street in major Texas cities, may also hasten the spread of the disease. Eric Gay, STF / Associated Press NOT LIVING IN THE SAME REALITY: Why COVID data settles zero arguments Major cities including Houston, San Antonio and Austin have all extended stay-at-home orders and mandated masks in public, though the restrictions arent enforceable because emergency orders from Abbott supersede them. The governor did not mention the positivity rate the rate of people testing positive for COVID-19 as he has in recent briefings, often highlighting its decline. The seven-day average of the rate rose in the past week, up Wednesday to nearly 7 percent, its highest point since early May. Rep. Chris Turner, the chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said the trends show a troubling lack of progress. Unfortunately, COVID-19 numbers are moving in the wrong direction right now and we need to tap the brakes, not step on the gas, he said in a statement. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert at Baylor College, warned last month that the state is moving too quickly. I understand the importance of opening up the economy, he told the Chronicle. The worry I have is that we havent put in place a public health system the testing, the contact tracing thats commensurate to sustain the economy. Alex Scott / Bloomberg The state had planned to bring on 4,000 contact tracers, who track down those exposed to COVID-19, by the end of May. Health officials did not immediately provide updated numbers Wednesday; they last said in mid-May that more than 2,000 tracers were in place. In a TV interview Wednesday, Abbot acknowledged the recent spikes but attributed them to targeted testing at meatpacking plants and prisons. We need to understand that COVID-19 has not suddenly left the state of Texas or the United States, he said. We need to continue these self-distancing practices as we wait the arrival of medications that will treat people who test positive for COVID-19. Abbott said a full statewide reopening could happen over the summer if the trends he tracks remain low. The governor has been responding to hot spots with surge response teams that include public health officials and members of the National Guard. The Division of Emergency Management said teams have been active in more than 100 counties. A new poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University found that just under half of Texans agree with his phased reopenings so far, with 38 percent saying he has moved too quickly and 12 percent saying he hasnt moved fast enough. That same poll of 1,100 Texans who identify as registered voters found that Abbotts approval rating stands at 56 percent, unchanged since September. jeremy.blackman@chron.com jeremy.wallace@chron.com U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) delivers remarks during a weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 28, 2020. Democrats plan to introduce a police reform bill Monday during a nationwide uproar over police brutality and racism in the justice system. The legislation, drafted by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, will aim to address excessive use of force, qualified immunity and racial profiling, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday. Qualified immunity makes it harder for victims of violence and their families to sue police. Protesters across the country have called for reform after a string of police-involved killings of black men and women. The deaths, in particular the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, have led to increased furor over entrenched racism in the United States. The legislation would mark the first federal effort to overhaul policing spurred by perhaps the biggest nationwide reckoning over racism in decades. Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she hopes the U.S. has reached an "inflection point" on improving the justice system. With theaters closed around the country, some companies are making their productions available online. Below, you'll find our weekly update of productions, videos, and other theater-related streaming content from across the US and elsewhere. Some streams are free, while others may charge a fee or request a donation. Either way, you're sure to find something to scratch your theater itch. Theaters may be dark, but the shows go on. This Weekend * Classic Stage Company will stream this week's virtual Classic Conversations event on Thursday, June 4 at 6pm with Assassins cast member Bianca Horn (The Color Purple, The Play That Goes Wrong), who will portray activist Emma Goldman in the production. To watch, click here. Bianca Horn (photo courtesy of Classic Stage Company) * National Theatre at Home is streaming the 2013 Donmar Warehouse production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, starring Tom Hiddleston, beginning Thursday, June 4 at 2pm ET. The production, which you can watch below, will stream for free for a week. Donations are encouraged. Watch below: * Tony-winning dancer Scott Wise will launch the new Wise Conversations talk show series beginning on Saturday, June 6 at 4pm ET. The series will benefit Fineline Theatre Arts, the studio in New Milford, Connecticut, that Wise owns with wife Elizabeth Parkinson. Guests will include Jason Alexander (June 6), Martin Short, Jeremy Jordan, and more. Future conversations will take place on Saturdays at 4pm and Wednesdays at 7pm. Recommended donation is $10 for students and $20 for adults. For more information, visit Fineline's Facebook page. * Broadway's Julie Halston will host the new cocktail hour livestream Virtual Halston, taking place on Fridays at 5pm ET beginning May 29. Upcoming guests include Lilli Cooper (May 29), Charles Busch (June 5), Linda Lavin (June 12), Santino Fontana (June 19), and Judy Gold (June 26), with more to be announced. Donations are encouraged, with proceeds going to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. To watch, click here. * Texas-based ZACH Theatre will present a free stream of Anna Deavere Smith's Notes From the Field, filmed live at the venue in 2019. The play stars Michelle Alexander, Zell Miller III, Carla Nickerson, and Kriston Woodreaux, and explores racial injustice in America through the lens of the school-to-prison pipeline. The stream is free through Sunday, June 14, at midnight. * The Cherry Orchard Festival presents Boston's Arlekin Players Theatre with State vs. Natasha Banina, a newly conceived live Zoom interactive theater art experiment. Performances will take place on Sunday evenings: June 14, 21, and 28 at 8pm live on Zoom. For information or to reserve a Zoom spot, visit www.CherryOrchardFestival.org. All performances are free and Zoom registration is required. Suggested donations will support COVID-19 emergency relief effort for the Actors Fund. Upcoming * The New York Times will present Offstage: Opening Night, an event celebrating the Broadway season that was (and wasn't), Thursday, June 11, at 7pm EST. Across the expansive live program, the stage's biggest stars gather virtually to perform and discuss songs, scenes, and stories that defined a year like no other. For more information, click here. * Jimmy Award finalist J.R. Heckman is producing a virtual benefit concert for Josh Groban's Find Your Light Foundation, which supports underserved music and arts education programs across the country. The concert will stream on Friday, June 12 at 7pm ET and will feature Cleveland theatrical talent and Broadway professionals such as Michael McElroy, Telly Leung, and Crystal Monee Hall. To watch, click here. * On Friday, June 12 at 3pm, the Sheen Center will host "Poetry in America - Live featuring 'Finishing The Hat' by Stephen Sondheim," a live steamed discussion with musical performances from Sunday in the Park With George, with Melissa Errico, Tedd Firth, and Adam Gopnik, hosted PBS's "Poetry in America" host Elisa New. To watch, click here. * Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will present a virtual 5K event during the weekend of June 13-14. Participants can "run, walk, hike, bike, leap or jete to reach 5K, as long as they move to make a difference. There is no fee to register, and each participant has a suggested minimum fundraising goal of $250." Anyone venturing outside is encouraged to follow local health and safety directives. Register here. * Usdan, Summer Camp for the Arts will host a virtual fundraiser on Wednesday, June 17 at 6pm ET, honoring alum Seth Rudetsky and Long Island theater Ruthie Pincus of Stage the Change. The event is free, but donations are encouraged, with proceeds used to repair the camp's Lemberg Theater building. To reserve a spot, click here. * MCC Theater will present a virtual edition of its beloved Miscast event on Saturday, June 20 at 8pm ET. During the show, Broadway's hottest stars will take the online stage and perform songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast. Participants are still to be announced. * NY Classical Theatre will present a free virtual zoom reading of William Shakespeare's King Lear on Thursday, June 25 at 8pm, as a fundraiser for an intended full production later this year. For details or to register for the event, click here. Streaming Channels * Spike Lee directs a filmed version Antoinette Nwandu's provocative play Pass Over, which tells the story of two young black men (Jon Michael Hill and Julian Parker) dreaming of escape from a racist world. A startling and disturbing riff on Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Pass Over now streams on Prime Video. Read our critic's review here. Antoinette Nwandu's Pass Over streams on Prime Video. ( Amazon Studios) * In Dominique Morisseau's play Pipeline, a public school teacher (Karen Pittman) must face the trauma of her son (Namir Smallwood) as a young black man when an incident threatens to get him expelled from a prep school. Pipeline streams on BroadwayHD. Read our critic's review here. * Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee Anna Deavere Smith wrote and stars in Notes From the Field, her solo play in which she probes the lives of students, parents, and teachers caught in the school-to-prison pipeline. The show streams on HBO. * Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan, and Eugene Lee reprise their Broadway roles in American Son, the story of an interracial couple anxiously awaiting word of their son's whereabouts while dealing with a racist cop in a police station. Tony winner Kenny Leon directs. American Son streams on Netflix. Available for a Limited Time * Philadelphia's Wilma Theatre has released an archival recording of James Ijames's Kill Move Paradise as a fundraiser for Black Lives Matter Philly. The 2018 production will be available until Sunday, June 21, with a donation of any size allowing you access to the streaming link. The play is inspired by the ever-growing list of slain unarmed Black people, telling the stories of four Black men who are stuck in a cosmic waiting room in the afterlife. Avery Hannon, Anthony Martinez-Briggs, Brandon J. Pierce, and Lindsay Smiling star in Blanka Zizka's production. * PBS will offer a stream of Anna Deavere Smith's drama Twilight: Los Angeles through August 7. Filmed by Marc Levin in 2001, Smith stars in a solo show that explores the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. To watch, click here. * Tickets for a streaming version of the musical comedy Menopause The Musical are available through June 21. To join the virtual sisterhood, click here. Menopause The Musical is streaming through May 24. (courtesy of Menopause The Musical) * Geffen Playhouse has extended The Present, its world-premiere live, virtual, and interactive theatrical experience written and performed by master illusionist, storyteller, and Geffen alum Helder Guimaraes. The show will now run May 7-October 10. A mystery package will be sent to you inside a USPS Priority Mail box before the show, so you must purchase tickets at least seven days in advance. To purchase tickets, click here. * The world premiere of The Gifts You Gave to the Dark, written by Darren Murphy specifically for digital media in reaction to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, premiered on Wednesday, May 27 at 6pm ET and will remain online through October 2020. For more information, click here. * The Actors Fund and People magazine is streaming the 2015 benefit concert of Bombshell, the musical within the short-lived television drama Smash. Watch it here: Always Available * Geraldine Inoa's Scraps chronicles how the family and friends of a black teenager shot by a white police officer struggle to cope in the aftermath. The Matrix Theatre Company has made its production available here. * The global family of Rent paid tribute to the frontline heroes of New York City. Watch their rendition of "No Day But Today" here: * Theater producer and playwright David Lan has a conversation with longtime artistic collaborator Stephen Daldry celebrating Lan's new memoir, As If By Chance: Journeys, Theatres, Lives. The conversation, a part of BAM's ongoing series of digital programs Love from BAM, can be seen here. * More than 70 cast members from various international productions of Maury Yeston and Peter Stone's musical Titanic have gathered to record a socially distant version of the ballad "We'll Meet Tomorrow." Watch it below: * Derek Klena performs a contemporary take on "Younger Than Springtime" from South Pacific in the R&H Goes Live! series. Check out that video and the whole series here. * The Broadway Sings series launches daily performances on its Instagram IGTV account, featuring new arrangements of iconic pop songs. * Idina Menzel and Ben Platt perform "A Whole New World" from Disney's Aladdin as part of "The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II." Watch the video below: * Last week, in honor of Florence Nightingale's birthday and the conclusion of Nurses week, and in celebration of our nation's healthcare workers and 2020 Year of the Nurse, the Resilient Project released their "Resilient" video. * Wicked celebrates first responders on the front lines of the public health crisis with a video featuring stars Lindsay Pearce (Elphaba) and Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda) singing the anthem "For Good." * Brandon Victor Dixon performed a powerful ballad inspired by the Netherlands Carillon, the bell tower at Arlington Cemetery, on May 23 for '''Fleet Week Follies''. Will Swenson and Audra McDonald introduced him. Watch his performance here: * Composer Charles Strouse, the last surviving writer of the musical Annie, has tried to help bolster optimism by recording a video of himself performing the show's beloved anthem, "Tomorrow." * From their homes in Ireland, the UK, the United States, Canada, Spain, Australia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as those dancers who have swapped their dancing shoes for scrubs, the Riverdance cast have come together while being apart to say thank you to all frontline and essential workers, as well as the people at home who continue to do their part in the fight against COVID-19. * Six fans from across the globe joined the cast for a special performance in isolation. * Abrons Arts Center has made all of its performance documentation public on its Vimeo page, alongside contact and donation information for the artists whose work you are viewing. * Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill) talked to TheaterMania's Senior Features Reporter David Gordon. Watch the video interview below: * TriviaMania co-host and Broadway star Ellyn Marie Marsh has teamed up with Patrick Hinds for a brand-new true-crime podcast Obsessed With: Disappeared, which will recap episodes of Investigation Discovery Channel's hit series "Disappeared" in a comedic and witty tone, with perpetrators always the butt of the joke. It will be available May 27. Postponed * Red Bull Theater's stream of The Revenger's Tragedy in a new version by Jesse Berger was scheduled to be broadcast on Monday, June 1 at 7:30pm. * The New 42 Virtual Gala 2020 was scheduled to be broadcast on June 1 at 5:30pm ET to raise critical funds for the performing arts engagement and education programs of New 42 and its signature projects, New 42 Studios and New Victory Theater, which recently launched New Victory Arts Breaks, a series of digital performing arts curriculum for families and teachers to adapt to kids learning spaces at home. Tony winners Laura Benanti and Celia Keenan-Bolger were set host. * The Public Theater's stream of We Are One Public was scheduled to be broadcast on June 1. The evening was to be hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, with appearances and performances by Antonio Banderas, Anne Hathaway, Sting, Claire Danes, Glenn Close, Oscar Isaac, Sandra Oh, Audra McDonald, Danielle Brooks, Elvis Costello, Danai Gurira, and more. A man who grabbed a TV presenter during a live broadcast at the Black Lives Matter protests in Hyde Park and jabbed at her stomach with a screwdriver is facing jail today. Soofuu Yakr, 26, suddenly took hold of Sophie Walsh as she was reporting on yesterdays demonstrations for Australias Channel Nine News, shouting Allahu Akbar as she screamed for help. Ms Walshs cameraman rushed to her rescue and chased Yakr with bystanders, eventually leading to his arrest by police when he was caught with cannabis and the screwdriver. Westminster magistrates court heard the TV reporter feared she was about to be killed in a terror attack during the incident, but escaped without serious injury. Yakr appeared at court in custody this morning, pleading guilty to assault, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis. Prosecutor Matt Barrowcliffe said Ms Walsh was in Park Lane at 9.45am and in the midst of a live broadcast on the Black Lives Matters demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd when she was targeted. The defendant approached Ms Walsh and grabbed her, he made stabbing motions towards her stomach with a screwdriver in his hand while shouting Allahu Akbar," he said. Ms Walsh didnt see exactly what was in his hand, she was terrified it was a knife and because of what the defendant was saying he might be a terrorist. John Boyega breaks down amid powerful speech at Black Lives Matter protest Ms Walsh, 34, was heard on camera saying after the incident: Sorry, I just had someone come up and try and... yeah. A man just came up and grabbed me. Cameraman Jason Conduit had armed himself with a pole as he chased after Yakr, and was able to pin the attacker down until police arrived. George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' 1 /16 George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' AFP via Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA Getty Images Film star John Boyega was among the leaders of the demonstration in Hyde Park yesterday, giving a passionate speech and urging protestors to remain peaceful as they marched on Whitehall. Magistrate Nicholas Tarry told Yakr: Your actions were extremely threatening, which put the reporter in fear of her safety and possibly in fear of her life. An offensive weapon was brandished, religious comments were made. This whole offence is too serious for the magistrates sentencing powers to be sufficient so we are sending this to the crown court. Yakr, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody until a sentencing hearing at Southwark crown court next month. No one should confuse riots with protests if they have genuine concern with the aspirationsand grievancesof African-Americans. Yet, the political leadership in MinnesotaMinneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walzexhibited confusion and indecision following the May 26 death of George Floyd. Their failure to act extended over a four day period. After four days of chaos, large swaths of Minneapolis lay in ruins resulting from rioting , looting and arson. Before the Minnesota National Guard deployment on May 30, over 170 stores had been destroyed. A $30 million affordable-housing project was burned , malls looted and rioters took over the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct building setting it ablaze. Shockingly, the police retreat from their own headquarters came under orders from Mayor Freyturning it over to the mob. Frey was the source of the stand-down order that allowed his own city to burn, while he kept repeating that the destruction was just brick and mortar. As in Baltimore, following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray , there was a failure to distinguish the difference between protest with purpose and lawlessness. That mistake has been repeated now in other cities across the United States, including New York City. History instructs. The 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles were caused by a failure of public officials to timely call out the California National Guard. The result was a devastating loss of life and property. A stop of an African-American motorist for reckless driving led to looting, massive property damage, the death of 34 individuals, with 1,032 injured over six days. Then-Lt. Governor Glenn Anderson will always be remembered as the man who fiddled while Watts burned. Anderson was acting governor at the time because Governor Pat Brown was on vacation. Andersons five hour delay in sending the National Guard into Watts led to an uproar against him. Anderson was defeated overwhelmingly in his 1966 re-election bid by Republican Robert Finch. The McCone Commission, which investigated the riots, singled Anderson out for hesitating when he should have acted. The Watts riots were central to Ronald Reagans campaign for governor against Brown in 1966. Reagan won in a landslide. During the tumultuous 1960s, Wallace Johnson, Berkeleys mayor (1963-1971), was an advocate for restrained but resolute action in cases of riot. Mayor Johnson dealt regularly with both demonstrations and civil unrest in Berkeley beginning in 1964. Johnsons biggest challenge was the Peoples Park riot in May, 1969. At issue was a University of California owned block of land converted by street people into an impromptu park without university permissionby seizing the land. With unruly crowds growing, Johnson took action to augment the badly outnumbered Berkeley Police. Calling in Mutual Aid from neighboring communities, 500 police officers from nine different departments were detailed to Berkeley. After a state of extreme emergency declaration from then-Governor Ronald Reagan, the California National Guard was also deployed at Johnsons request. While Berkeley Police officers were well-trained, experienced in crowd control and known for their restraint under provocation, other participating departments and National Guardsmen had less training and experience. On Bloody Thursday (May 15) street fighting broke out. With rocks, bricks and metal rods raining down from rooftops, an Alameda County deputy Sheriff using a shotgun with birdshot unintentionally blinded one man and wounded another who eventually died. That created a new issuethe martyrdom of James Rector. A second tragedy was the incredible flight of an Army helicopter spraying acrid tear gas as if crop dusting over the UC Campus. This Campus-dusting aroused thousands more to action. An authorized protest march through Berkeley city streets drew 30,000 participants on May 30. The march was peacefulconducted under the protective, watchful eye of Berkeley Police. On June 2, Governor Reagan withdrew the National Guard, declaring the state of extreme emergency over. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Former Visa and Coinbase Executive To Lead Worldwide Compliance Amidst Rapid Company Growth and Expansion HONG KONG, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Crypto.com announced today the appointment of Antonio Alvarez as Chief Compliance Officer. Antonio will be responsible for leading worldwide regulatory compliance across Crypto.com's entire product ecosystem. Antonio joins the team with over a decade of experience leading compliance programs at various finance companies. Prior to joining Crypto.com, Antonio led a successful Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program that was deployed across European and Asian markets at Coinbase. Antonio also served as senior business leader at Visa and has held senior roles at a number of other payments companies including Western Union. Earlier in his career, Antonio served in several different roles during a 13-year tenure at American Express, where he was responsible for leading the business transformation and compliance governance programs across multiple business lines and geographies. Antonio Alvarez, Chief Compliance Officer at Crypto.com, said: "I've long admired Crypto.com for its foundational commitment to security, compliance and risk management as a prerequisite to building a trusted, globally recognized brand in financial services. I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to contribute to Crypto.com's vision of driving cryptocurrency adoption by further strengthening and scaling the Company's compliance functions to support the rapid growth of the business and it's objective to become fully regulated in all key jurisdictions around the world." Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said: "I'm excited to welcome Antonio to our leadership team. Antonio brings to the table his unique experience covering both traditional financial services and cryptocurrency - a clear match to Crypto.com's vision of effectively and compliantly bridging the two worlds. Antonio's mandate is to rapidly scale our compliance and regulatory functions, as we expand globally with local presence and licensing effort in all key markets." About Crypto.com Crypto.com was founded in 2016 on a simple belief: it's a basic human right for everyone to control their money, data and identity. With over 2 million users on its platform today, Crypto.com provides a powerful alternative to traditional financial services, turning its vision of "cryptocurrency in every wallet" into reality, one customer at a time. Crypto.com is built on a solid foundation of security, privacy and compliance and is the first cryptocurrency company in the world to have ISO/IEC 27001:2013, CCSS Level 3, ISO/IEC 27701:2019 and PCI:DSS 3.2.1, Level 1 compliance. Crypto.com is headquartered in Hong Kong with a 350+ strong team. Find out more by visiting https://crypto.com . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176742/Crypto_CCO_Antonio_Alvarez.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/888271/Crypto_Logo.jpg Just in case you didn't know, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, writing at the turn of the 20th century well before Abel Meeropol wrote the wrenching song "Strange Fruit," which Billie Holiday made famous penned "The Haunted Oak." It's about a tree that bears no more leaves since it was "the curse of a guiltless man" to be lynched on it. Civil rights activist and poet James Weldon Johnson wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing" with hopeful spirit in 1899, the song that would become the hymn of the NAACP: Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun. Let us march on 'til victory is won. Just in case you don't know, W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote "The Souls of Black Folk" in 1903, observed, "The power of the ballot we need in sheer defense, else what shall save us from a second slavery?" Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen wrote about a childhood encounter on a bus ride in Baltimore. Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger, And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, 'N.' That was written in the 1920s. Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," is notable because it is both feminist in theme and written by an African-American woman. When I was teaching at a private boys' school, one of the moms complained to me that her son couldn't read it "because of the strange way the people talked." Just in case you don't know, novelist Richard Wright, author of "Native Son" and "Black Boy," wrote that "our America is frightened of fact, of history, of processes, of necessity. It hugs the easy way of damning those whom it cannot understand, of excluding those who look different, and it salves its conscience with a self-draped cloak of righteousness." Wright permanently left the United States in the 1940s to live in far more diversity-embracing Paris. James Baldwin writes with mind-boggling equanimity in his 1948 story "Going to Meet the Man." It's told from the point of view of a white sheriff troubled by the songs of the black people he had arrested that day. Sleepless and bedeviled, he thinks back to attending a lynching as a child, hoisted upon his father's shoulders as if at a sporting event. Just in case you didn't know, Lorraine Hansberry was the first African American to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, in 1959 for her play "A Raisin in the Sun." She observed, "For above all, in behalf of an ailing world which sorely needs our defiance, may we, as Negroes or women, never accept the notion of 'our place.'" Poet Gwendolyn Brooks speaks for all the mothers of slain black children in her strong, spare poem "The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till": Emmett's mother is a pretty-faced thing; the tint of pulled taffy. She sits in a red room, drinking black coffee. She kisses her killed boy. And she is sorry. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. She wrote this after his murder in 1955. And what has happened since 1955? How many more murders? How much more incrementally rising and never falling racism? How many works of literature and theater and music and art aimed to make for positive change? How many speeches, marches, assassinations? Poet Langston Hughes asked the question in his 1951 poem "Harlem": What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? ... Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Jo Page is a writer and Lutheran minister. Her email is jopage34@yahoo.com. Her website is at https://www.jograepage.com. Last December's election, the exit from the EU on January 31 and the colossal damage being done to the UK and continental economies by Covid-19 have done little to take the edge off the Brexit divide. The manner in which the discredited management of Nissan chooses to use its Sunderland plant as a political pawn is disconcerting. It inflicts terrible uncertainty on those whose livelihoods are dependent on the car maker, and places Brexit centre stage. The Bank of England's reiteration of the need for the banking system to be prepared for No Deal shows an additional concern Global motor manufacturing is in deep trouble as a result of overcapacity and the battle to conquer green technology. Throwing Nissan a bone, as Theresa May's government attempted, is not the UK's best way of combating the Japanese car maker's threat. Instead, the Government should ramp up R&D spend and support for green tech for cars, including fuel cells and e-drive systems pioneered by Melrose-GKN. Boris Johnson owes an electoral debt of gratitude to the North East. But motors are not the only area of tension with the EU. The Bank of England's reiteration of the need for the banking system to be prepared for No Deal shows an additional concern. In his previous role as chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Bank's Governor, Andrew Bailey, was deeply involved in making sure that the City was prepared and could survive No Deal. The coronavirus has required special measures. Rainy day capital has been committed to pandemic lending and new audit rules mean banks quantify risk exposures more speedily, as was seen with first-quarter provisions. It is impossible for any UK government to brush aside the need for more certainty on financial services financial sector exports to the continent are worth 26billion a year. Britain could get by with a simple 'equivalence' financial regime over the short-haul, which would require aping EU rule making. But a binding joint approach with Brussels would be the gold standard if certainty is the goal. Hopefully, it won't come down to a trade-off between fishing and finance. The other No Deal worry for the UK is the current desolate state of the global trade enforcer, the World Trade Organisation. Its director-general, Roberto Azevedo, resigned last month amid chaos over enforcement of trade rules, aggravated by American distrust. Even for enthusiastic Brexiteers, the prospect of reverting to the rules of a dysfunctional organisation makes No Deal look far more daunting. Defensive play One hesitates to draw attention to the lesser known jewels of UK's defence and aerospace for fears of stoking the interest of private equity or Chinese predators. Chemring Group shows that there is life for Britain's high-tech sectors in the age of pandemic. The shares shot up by more than a quarter after it reported a 46 per cent lift in revenues, a 24 per cent jump in profits and a 95 per cent-filled order book. Strength in sensors and countermeasures used on US defence equipment for the US Navy and on Husky military vehicles, which help detect improvised explosive devices, means Chemring is in the frontline in protecting the West. The biggest threat could be a cut in defence budgets as governments pay for Covid-19. All the more reason for the UK to ramp up support for the Tempest fighter project. Woodford detritus The suspension, never to come back, of Neil Woodford's Equity Income fund on June 3 last year is by no means the end of the story. The Financial Ombudsman Service is investigating 107 complaints against the fund, advisers and platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown (HL), which favoured Woodford's empire. The outcome of a Financial Conduct Authority probe into the Woodford collapse also is awaited. RGL Management and class action legal specialists Wallace are launching a separate action against HL, alleging its house funds sold down Woodford holdings while promoting them on its Wealth 50 best buy list. For their clients, they are seeking compensation caused by the liquidation of the Woodford flagship fund and loss of alternative savings opportunities. Remarkably, a year later HL is still to unveil its much previewed plans for reforms of the best buy list and more rigorous investment decisions. To do so might look like an admission of culpability. Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday called for legislation to force federal law enforcement officers to identify what department they represent. The calls come after federal law enforcement officers clashed with demonstrators outside the White House, but wore no identifying insignia on their uniforms. While Army and National Guard personnel are required to wear uniforms with insignia, federal police do not operate under the same requirements. Unacceptable for uniformed federal officers policing constitutionally-protected assemblies to refuse to identify themselves to people who pay their salaries, Representative Don Breyer (D., Va.) wrote on Twitter. Denying accountability to the public they serve ensures abuses. Im working on legislation to stop this. More to come. Senator Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said later on Wednesday that he was also working on such legislation. It is not clear if Murphys and Breyers efforts were connected. We cannot tolerate an American secret police. I will be introducing legislation to require uniformed federal officers performing any domestic security duties to clearly identify what military branch or agency they represent, Murphy wrote on Twitter. Demonstrators have over the past week been protesting the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. On Monday evening police used pepper balls and smoke cannisters to clear demonstrators from Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., as President Trump made his way to St. Johns Episcopal Church where he was photographed with a bible in hand. More from National Review Bangladesh, India and Myanmar: Jailing fishers wont save the fish of the Bay of Bengal by Mohammad Arju June 04,2020 | Source: China Dialogue Ocean Bangladesh, India and Myanmar have agreed their borders in the Bay of Bengal, but neither fish nor fishers are bound by the lines on the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) map. The fish do not know. In the hope of a better catch, fishers cross boundaries, knowingly or not. As more boats chase fewer fish, clashes are common. Fishers based in Coxs Bazar and Patuakhali harbours in Bangladesh say they used to fish alongside vessels from other countries in the deep sea. Now, as it is becoming harder to find fish, foreign fishers are unwelcome competitors. Authorities have seized vessels from Sri Lanka and arrested fishers off the shores of Bangladesh. Sometimes the conflicts are dealt with more directly. The sinking of smaller vessels sometimes goes unreported, said several trawler skippers from Chittagong on condition of anonymity. Conservationists and fisheries managers warn that if countries cannot transform conflict into collaboration it is not just the safety of the fishers at stake: the dwindling number of fish in the Bay of Bengal could disappear. With eight countries bordering the bay, around 200 million people live along its coasts. Most of them depend on the fish for their food and livelihood, and a majority of the fishers are below the poverty line. But the fisheries of the bay have been under pressure for decades and are now severely depleted. Hundreds of large vessels are overfishing at an unsustainable rate and local fishers say authorities often turn a blind eye. No cooperation The failure of the Bay of Bengal countries to cooperate over fisheries and wildlife risks undermining many conservation measures taken on the national level, experts say. There have been attempts to foster cooperation. India has the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). While, the Global Environment Facility and UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) set up a process to promote sustainable fishing among the eight countries, but not much has changed on the water. Tensions and arrests at sea Bangladeshi fishers view their governments annual 65-day fishing ban as unjust, because they say fleets from neighbouring countries fish in Bangladeshs waters during the ban. Officials say it is to protect spawning fish and rejuvenate fish stocks. Mahatub Khan Badhon, a lecturer of zoology at the University of Dhaka, said: The perception of uneven enforcement of the marine fishing ban affects the compliance of fishers and encourages fishers to delegitimise any such management measures. Badhon believes that ramping up enforcement is not the answer. Arresting and putting foreign fishers in jail, whether by Bangladesh, India or Myanmar, only increases human suffering. There is no evidence from past decades that it helps conservation or reduces conflicts over fishing. Overfishing continues While a large number of artisanal or small-scale fishers are locked up in foreign jails for months, overfishing continues in the bay. As Nur Islam Majhi from Chittagong put it: There are always others who will cross boundaries with a hope that there are more fish in the sea. As a skipper of an artisanal gillnetter, he has two decades of fishing experience and numerous encounters with boats from other countries just south of Mongla port. Last year, the Bangladesh coast guard arrested over 500 Indian fishers and seized 32 boats off the coast in Patuakhali more than 125 km inside the Bangladesh EEZ. This was during the 65-day ban on marine fishing, which kept Bangladeshi fishers stuck on land. The Indian fishers were sent back but not all are so lucky. Statistics from the Bangladesh coast guard show that in recent years more than a thousand Indian fishers have been held and spent months in jail before release. It is difficult to find the numbers of Bangladeshi fishers jailed in other countries. When Bangladeshi fishers are arrested in Myanmar, it can take years before they return home. Ignoring international law By jailing fishers countries are not following norms set down by international law, experts say. Yugraj Singh Yadava, director of intergovernmental organisation the Bay of Bengal Programme, says that the international law of the sea clearly directs countries not to jail or deliver other corporal punishment to foreign fishers arrested in EEZs. Headquartered in Chennai, the body is pushing for closer regional cooperation over sustainable fisheries among the Bay of Bengal countries. Article 73 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) says: arrested vessels and their crews shall be promptly released upon the posting of a reasonable bond or other security. The law and subsequent international agreements also have provisions for bilateral agreements, information sharing and other sorts of collaboration to avoid the suffering of fishers and protect fish that travel across national maritime boundaries. Yadava said: International laws provide enough guidance to States to deal with the issue. However, none of the countries in the region are doing so. Mohammed Latifur Rahman, director of Bangladeshs marine fisheries office, agrees. There is no effective collaboration among countries except a few opportunities for dialogues, he said. He hoped that India, which has the longest coastline along the Bay of Bengal, could help neighbours conduct collaborative explorations and studies on joint fish stocks. We need processes and mechanisms for data sharing and a functional platform to cooperate in marine fisheries management, he said. Back in 2012, a study commissioned by the UN FAOs Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem project made several recommendations to deal with the arrest and repatriations of fishers, including joint patrols. The Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project is the only internationally funded initiative to facilitate transboundary collaboration for marine fisheries and environmental issues. But more than a decade after its launch, very few of the recommendations have been accepted by the respective governments. In the long run, countries will need bilateral or multilateral agreements for the repatriation of fishers. The roles of employers, vessel owners, and governments need to be clarified. Countries also need to regularly inform artisanal fishers of the issues involved. Fish dont do borders Many fish populations regularly move between EEZs of two or more countries to feed or spawn. Yadava explained that a few fish species like the Indian mackerel and the threadfin bream are distributed along the entire bay. Some other species like Hilsa and the Bombay duck are primarily found in specific areas. Smaller pelagic fish, such as anchovies, herring and Hilsa, migrate through the coastal waters of two or more countries. Some small open ocean fish, like the rainbow sardine, are found along the coastlines of all Bay of Bengal countries. Without harmonised policy by all the countries in the region, conservation by one country alone may have limited benefits. Even bottom-dwelling species such as lobsters, sea cucumbers and reef fish disperse across boundaries during larval stages. For example, lobsters may travel thousands of kilometres from their place of birth to the site of an adult settlement. Harvesting activities of one country significantly affect the harvesting opportunities of other countries sharing the [same] resource, Yadava said. No studies have been conducted yet to identify fish stocks straddling across multiple EEZs, said Mohammad Sharif Uddin, principal scientific officer of Bangladeshs Marine Fisheries Survey Management Unit. During the last joint working group meeting with India there was no progress on fisheries. Threatened marine animals There may be some hope of this changing. Six Bay of Bengal countries have now joined the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement. The most recent entrant was Thailand, which ratified the agreement in 2017. Myanmar and Malaysia have still not joined yet. The agreement is about implementing UNCLOS provisions relating to the conservation and management of straddling and migratory fish stocks. A significant challenge of managing fisheries is reducing bycatch and conserving highly threatened marine species. Badhon explained that species of sharks, rays and sawfish migrate across large swathes of sea. Migratory species such as whale sharks, hammerhead sharks and sea turtles often get caught in fishing gear along with commercially important fish. Steps taken by one country to protect migratory species wont have the desired results unless other countries in the region follow suit, Yadava explained. Some of the countries protect these animals, but the scale of operation is not uniform. Without harmonised policy by all the countries in the region, conservation by one country alone may have limited benefits, Yadava said. For example, the dugong inhabits the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar, another transboundary area shared by India and Sri Lanka. The two countries are yet to agree on suitable strategies to protect this iconic species from threats from fishing operations. Yadava added that active collaboration and joint management is essential if the fisheries of the Bay of Bengal are to be sustained. The countries are in principle not opposed, but as they drag their feet both the fish and fishers in the Bay of Bengal continue to suffer. The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye, has redirected a motion by Mr Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku Central, to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee to challenge the Electoral Commission (ECs) decision to accept only the Ghana Card and Passport for the voter registration. The EC has presented the Public Election (Amendment) Regulation, 2020 (C.I. 126) to Parliament to amend C.I 91 to change the current identification requirements, passed in 2016. The Bawku Central MP, who is the Member of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, had appeared before the Committee earlier on Wednesday, but brought the matter again to the plenary, for which the Speaker declined to admit. The Notice of Motion filed by Mr Ayariga was seeking Parliament to reject the Public Election (Registration of Voters) (Amendments) Regulations 2020 (C.I. 126) pursuant to Article 11 (7)(c) of the Constitution. Aside the Ghana Card or passport being acceptable documents for registering onto the voters register, persons who have already been captured on the new voters register can guarantee for others to register. The Speaker of Parliament, in a memo, asked the appellant to rather appear before the Subsidiary Legislation Committee on the matter and, thus, rejected his application to move the motion on the floor. Subsequently, there was no motion nor a vote put by the Speaker for Members present to respond aye or no. The Instrument is seeking the House to endorse the ECs decision to register new voters based on a new set of rules for the compilation of a new register for the December 2020 polls. The new C.I., if passed, would allow for the use of the Ghana Card to register but make holders of the current Voters ID unqualified for registration. The Speaker sent me a memo in effect declining to admit the motion, urging that I should go before the Subsidiary Legislation Committee and present my arguments to them so that they will capture it in their report, Mr Ayariga later told journalists. The report will be debated in the Chamber on the floor and at that point, I will also have an opportunity to argue my case, once my arguments are captured in the report. Citing constitutional provisions, Mr Ayariga insisted that the Birth Certificate and old Voters ID card should be included as valid documents for the registration. 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 Zacks Oil and Gas Integrated International industry covers companies that are primarily involved in upstream, midstream and downstream businesses. These companies have upstream businesses in the United States (including prolific shale plays and deepwater Gulf of Mexico), Asia, South America, Africa, Australia and Europe. The midstream operations of integrated energy companies entail transporting oil, natural gas liquids and refined petroleum products. Under downstream businesses, the firms buy raw crude to produce refined petroleum products. The companies downstream activities also involve chemical businesses that manufacture raw material used for making plastics. Lets take a look at the industrys three major themes: The price of West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude has improved more than 37% in the past month, encouraging upstream energy companies operating in shale plays to reverse production cuts. Oil prices are likely to improve further since the global demand picture is improving with easing lockdowns measures that were taken to contain the spread of coronavirus. Notably, the news that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed in principle to extend the existing collective production cut through July is also backing the oil price recovery. Improving crude prices will thus boost integrated energy players cashflow from upstream operations. With strong presence in natural gas production, gathering and transportation businesses, the integrated companies are also well positioned to capitalize on the mounting demand for clean energy. Importantly, the companies generate stable fee-based revenues from their pipeline and terminal assets since those midstream infrastructures are being used by shippers to transport and store the produced oil and gas volumes for long term. The ebbing of coronavirus infections and the easing of lockdown restrictions across nations are driving worldwide fuel demand. This has brightened prospects for downstream business of integrated energy players. In other words, the integrated firms will generate improved cashflows from refining operations since demand for end products like gasoline and jet fuels is on the rise. Story continues Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Bright Prospects The Zacks Oil and Gas Integrated International industry is part of the broader Zacks Oil - Energy sector. It carries a Zacks Industry Rank #87, which places it at the top 34% of more than 250 Zacks industries. The groups Zacks Industry Rank,, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates encouraging near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. The industrys position in the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries is a result of positive earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. Before we present a few international integrated energy stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, lets take a look at the industrys recent stock market performance and current valuation. Industry Lags S&P 500 & Sector The Zacks Oil and Gas Integrated International industry has lagged both the Zacks S&P 500 composite and the Zacks Oil - Energy sector over the past year. The industry has declined 34.2% over this period against the S&P 500s rise of 12.1% and the broader sectors decline of 31.5%. One-Year Price Performance Industrys Current Valuation Since oil and gas companies are debt-laden, it makes sense to value them based on the EV/EBITDA (Enterprise Value/ Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization) ratio. This is because the valuation metric takes not just equity into account but also the level of debt. On the basis of the trailing 12-month enterprise value-to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, the industry is currently trading at 4.07X, lower than the S&P 500s 11.40X. It is also below the sectors trailing-12-month EV/EBITDA of 4.12X. Over the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 9.88X, as low as 2.85X, with a median of 6.04X. Trailing 12-Month Enterprise Value-to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) Ratio Bottom Line We expect the return of oil drillers to shale plays since commodity prices will recover further with a brightening demand and supply picture. Overall, the upstream, midstream and downstream business scenarios are quite favorable for integrated energy players with operations across the world. With improving profit levels, the companies will be able to strengthen their balance sheets and other financials, which have been weakened by the coronavirus pandemic. Here, we present one stock with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and another one with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) that are well positioned to gain. There are three other stocks with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) that investors may choose to hold on to. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Public Joint Stock Company Gazprom Neft (GZPFY): Based in St. Petersburg, Russia, Gazprom is a leading integrated energy firm. Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #1 stocks 2020 earnings per share has been revised upward. Price and Consensus: GZPFY Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM): This Irving, TX-based firm is among the largest publicly-traded energy players in the world. The #2 Ranked company is expected to see earnings growth of 12.5% in the next five years compared with the industrys 3.3%. Price and Consensus: XOM Chevron Corporation (CVX): Headquartered in San Ramon, CA, Chevron is one of the largest publicly-traded oil and gas companies in the world, based on proved reserves. The #3 Ranked company is expected to see earnings growth of 5% in the next five years compared with the industrys 3.3%. Price and Consensus: CVX BP plc (BP): The British integrated energy firm has a positive average earnings surprise of 8.4% for the trailing four quarters. The Zacks #3 Ranked company has witnessed positive estimate revisions for its 2020 bottom line in the past 30 days. Price and Consensus: BP Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A): Royal Dutch Shell is one of the primary oil supermajors. The Zacks #3 Ranked stock is likely to see earnings growth of 5% in the next five years compared with the industrys 3.3%. Price and Consensus: RDS.A These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report Gazprom Neft OAO (GZPFY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): There is no doubt that the MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) are today the precursors of India's economic growth. They are major contributors to the tax base of India. The government has run several developmental avenues for the empowerment and expansion of the MSME sector. It is beyond any doubt that the key for startup founders to access all such avenues is to obtain the Udyog Aadhaar MSME Registration in India. "I see merit in startups especially early stage and growth stage to avail the benefit of MSME registration. We welcome and support the government's initiative to make liquidity available to all businesses and this will help the economy to bounce back sooner," said Atul Nishar, President of TiE Mumbai. "With the Atmanirbhar package, MSME registration for startups is a necessity as there are good benefits which early stage companies can avail of besides the loan package which is still getting rolled out. MSME SAMADHAAN is one such benefit where a startup will get payments in a maximum of 45 days," said Sanjay Mehta, Founder & Partner 100X.VC and Board Member of TiE Mumbai. "Financial assistance through MSME incubators is also a key attraction. At 100X.VC we are asking all our startup portfolio companies get the MSME registrations," said Sanjay Mehta. Startups have long been facing a problem of delayed realisation of their bills and receivables, particularly from large corporate buyers and government organisations. Especially in the times of COVID-19 when the need for cash flow for startups is at the highest level, being MSME registered makes good sense for Startups given its numerous benefits. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006, MSME SAMADHAAN made provisions to mitigate the problem of delayed payment, whereby any buyer who fails to make payment to MSMEs, as per agreed terms or a maximum of 45 days, would be liable to pay monthly compounded interest at three times the bank rate notified by RBI. Any individual or Micro and Small Industries (MSEs) startup that has innovative ideas at near commercialisation stage can approach the incubators approved under the scheme. Under the scheme, various institutions like Engineering Colleges, Management Institutions, Research labs, etc. that have in-house incubation facilities and faculty for providing handholding support to new ideas or entrepreneurs can apply in the prescribed application form. The main objective of the scheme is to promote and support untapped creativity of individuals and to promote adoption of latest technologies in manufacturing as well as knowledge based innovative MSMEs. Benefits of the MSME registration Financial assistance up to 15 lakhs for developing and nurturing an idea. Financial assistance of up to 1.00 crore as grants in aid for the seed capital support to HIs/BIs for converting deserving ideas into startups MSME registration helps in getting government tenders Under bank loan, 15 per cent import subsidy on fully automatic machinery Becomes easy to get licenses, approvals and registrations, irrespective of field of business Compensation of ISO certificate expenditure Registered MSMEs gets tariff subsidies and tax and capital subsidies Gets exemption under Direct Tax Laws Other initiatives by TiE Mumbai In this unprecedented scenario, TiE Mumbai continues to assist startups and has organized several webinars with investors, legal assists, Industry leaders and mentors to help entrepreneurs with much needed guidance to tide over the current situation. Tech in new retail - Post-COVID-19 - While the retail industry is getting ready to face new challenges to revive the in post-COVID-19 phase, there seems to be consensus on certain new trends. Online, whether it is Commerce, Education or Collaboration certainly seems to have gained traction. In retail, contactless commerce, in-store digital experiences, integrated commerce across new channels, in-store social distancing, contactless payments etc. are emerging as new business requirements for post outbreak customers. Having an online presence will not be a choice anymore but hygiene. The webinar deliberated on the technology imperatives and opportunities from the COVID situation. Is Your Business Ready to Face the Corona Challenge? - This was a mentoring session for startups in the areas of revenue and income optimization, partnerships and alliances, investment and financing, operations and people issues and cash flow and financial management. Webinar on Raising Funding in Difficult Times - This session focused on the importance of maintaining a nibble footed, solid low-cost business model to tide over the current situation. With a crunch of liquidity and poor consumer sentiments, investors will now look for niche business models to invest in. Content is the New Gold - This Ask Me Anything session provided insights for startups on content creation, brand building, customer engagement and acquisition through content, product or services review & opinions system and consumer analytics and retention in the social media world. Understanding the Challenges of Deploying AI in Retail - AI's impact in retail is being felt across a range of functions and use cases ranging from auto-replenishment and preventing stock-outs, to automated self-checkouts to computer vision-based category analytics. This webinar explored the emerging use cases where AI is seeing deployment benefits, how retailers are evaluating between build versus buy decisions while sourcing and how retailers are navigating complex issues around user adoption, data quality, and data literacy. Ask Me Anything with Sasha Mirchandani - This session focused on how to survive the COVID situation and understanding the cash position of the company. He stressed on active communication with all stakeholders, the need to hire opportunistically, explore what will drive growth, innovative concepts of work and also dealt with challenges of managing employees or teams. TiE Mumbai supported The Economic Times Sales Strategy Summit - It is a virtual summit featuring live appearances and workshops by some of the greatest minds in sales and marketing. The focus of the summit was to learn how to over deliver at every stage to generate thrilled buyers. The summit also looked at key topics such as buyer journey, productive and effective sales technology, diversity and inclusion in sales force and aligning the sales and marketing functions. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shashank Moddhia, chief executive of The Renal Project, a startup that runs a chain of dialysis centres in the suburbs of Mumbai and Pune, is working overtime to get a micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) registration for his business since the government announced a special package for small businesses impacted by the covid-19 outbreak. We need to ensure we have access to funds. We have applied for the MSME registration so that we can avail collateral-free loans at a time when it is even more critical for us to obtain expensive medical equipment to keep the centres running, said Moddhia. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage As financial distress of businesses across sectors continues to rise, many startups such as Moddhias are lining up to register as MSMEs as traditional sources of funding dry up. The government has introduced various schemes to address the financial crisis faced by MSMEs, by giving them access to credit amid a squeeze on liquidity. With the Atmanirbhar package, MSME registration for many startups has almost become a necessity which apart from providing easier access to liquidity also allows benefits from measures such as MSME incubators, said Sanjay Mehta, founder and partner 100X.VC, an early stage VC and board member, TiE Mumbai, which has started programmes to guide startups to register as MSMEs. There are stringent rules in place for businesses to qualify as MSMEs, which include revenue and investment parameters. Industry experts said that while registering as MSMEs may not be a lasting solution for most startups, it will nonetheless help them tide over the current crisis. Startups cannot be classified as MSMEs lifelong, but it would be in the interest of companies to register, keeping in mind the status can change over time, said Anil Joshi, managing partner, Unicorn India Ventures, another early-stage technology-focused VC. The government has also approved the creation of a 50,000-crore fund of funds to help select high-growth MSMEs with a good track record, and help them list on the exchanges. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said recently that most startups will be eligible for additional liquidity and funding under the credit support schemes for MSMEs under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released maps and databases today of coronavirus cases in nursing homes across the country that allow users to search by facility. Its the first data set available for nursing homes in Alabama. Users can look for nursing homes to find out the number of cases and deaths among residents and staff. About 87 percent of Alabama facilities submitted the required data. Officials from CMS said nursing homes that fail to report coronavirus cases will be fined $1,000, with fines escalating to $1,500 every week. Click here to find an Alabama nursing home The database shows 112 facilities with at least one resident or worker infected by COVID-19. A total of 1,000 residents and 730 workers in Alabama nursing homes have tested positive for COVID-19. Many of those have died. A total of 335 nursing home residents and 16 workers died from COVID-19. According to the Alabama Nursing Home Association, facilities in the state havent been hit as hard as many others. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Alabama nursing homes report fewer cases of COVID-19 per 1,000 residents and fewer deaths from COVID-19 per 1,000 residents than the national average," said Brandon Farmer, president of the Alabama Nursing Home Association. The numbers probably represent an undercount of total nursing home residents affected by the virus. CMS only required facilities to report cases diagnosed in May. Some facilities also reported older cases of coronavirus, but not all. According to the agency, Ashland Place Health and Rehabilitation has the largest number of cases in the state, with 80 residents who tested positive for COVID-19 and 16 workers. Other large outbreaks have occurred at Arbor Springs Health and Rehab center in Opelika and South Haven Health and Rehabilitation in Hoover. Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the data show facilities that receive low ratings on inspections have higher rates of coronavirus infection. Facilities with a poor compliance history or poor survey history were more likely to have large outbreaks, Verma said. Organizations including the AARP of Alabama have been demanding more transparency from state health officials about coronavirus cases in nursing homes. Facilities must report all cases to the Alabama Department of Public Health, which has not released that information to the public. Health departments in most states have been providing data about specific facilities affected by the virus. The release of this data is a first step in the right direction, but the data is incomplete, said Jamie Harding, a spokesman for AARP of Alabama. AARP of Alabama continues to urge the state to release the infection and testing data by facility on a daily basis. Based on reports from families, some nursing homes are testing patients and staff, while others are just doing temperature checks. So infections of this highly contagious virus are likely going undetected in too many instances. That puts patients, staff, and surrounding communities at risk. Consistent transparency and real-time data remain critical to protecting all of those at risk, and in ensuring that long-term care facilities are getting the testing and equipment resources required to assist them through this difficult and dangerous pandemic. According to the Alabama Nursing Home Association, facilities have provided more information than required by law. Alabama nursing homes have been transparent from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic," Farmer said. Our members have reported cases to their local county health department and the Alabama Department of Public Health from the start. In May, we began reporting cases to the CDC. Facilities also inform residents and their family representatives and employees of cases in their buildings. We are following the guidelines set forth by the multiple state and federal agencies that regulate our sector. No other business or health care provider reports COVID-19 cases to more government entities and people than nursing homes. Activists chant slogans during a gathering to mourn those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong on Thursday. Read more HONG KONG Thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of China's crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijings Tiananmen Square. With democracy snuffed out in the mainland, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned the annual vigil that remembers victims of the 1989 crackdown. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the citys rights and liberties. Earlier Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect Chinas national anthem. Pro-democracy lawmakers disrupted proceeding twice to try to prevent the vote. Despite the police ban, crowds poured into Victoria Park to light candles and observe a minute of silence at 8:09 p.m. (1209 GMT, 8:09 a.m. EDT). Many chanted Democracy nowand Stand for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. While police played recordings warning people not to participate in the unauthorized gathering, they did little to stop people from entering the park. Authorities had cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic in barricading the sprawling park, but activists saw the outbreak as a convenient excuse. "If we dont come out today, we dont even know if we can still come out next year, said participant Serena Cheung. Police said they made arrests in the city's Mongkok district, where large crowds also rallied. When several protesters tried to block a road, officers rushed to detain them, using pepper spray and raising a blue flag to warn them to disperse or they would use force on the unauthorized gathering. On Twitter, they urged people not to gather in groups because of the coronavirus. After the vigil ended in Victoria Park, groups of protesters dressed in black carried flags that said, Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times as well as Hong Kong Independence. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on Tiananmen Square the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered the governments standard defense of the 1989 crackdown. The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s, Zhao Lijian said. The great achievements that we have achieved ... have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to Chinas national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people. On Thursday, the square where thousands of students had gathered in 1989 was quiet and largely empty. Police and armored vehicles stood guard on the vast space. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints, where they had to show IDs to be allowed through as part of nationwide mass surveillance to prevent any commemoration of the event. As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups. We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really dont want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park, said Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the governments most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago," he told The Associated Press in Taiwan, where he lives. "But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government ... doing the same in Hong Kong. China did not intervene directly in last year's protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government. Thousands were arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by now-abandoned legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The cancellation of the vigil came amid a tightening of Beijings grip over Hong Kong. China's ceremonial legislature last month ratified a decision to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the citys legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents. The approval of the national anthem bill, viewed as an infringement on freedom of expression, followed the recent arrest of 15 veteran activists on charges of organizing and taking part in last year's demonstrations. The moves are seen as part of a steady erosion of rights that Hong Kong was guaranteed when it was handed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997. The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law, Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. About 15 members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China, the group that organizes the annual vigil, gathered at Victoria Park at 6:30 p.m. (1030 GMT, 6:30 a.m. EDT). They wore black shirts with the Chinese characters for truth emblazoned on the front. The activists lit candles and urged the public to do the same later to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan then led the group of about 15 members in a candlelit procession around the perimeter of the park, shouting slogans including, Stand with Hong Kong. We have been doing this for 30 years, we have the right to do this, this is a peaceful procession, he said, stating that it would be absurd if this behavior is criminalized. The group later removed one of the barricades surrounding the park, and entered. Eventually, thousands followed. Lee said that the danger in the national security law is that Beijing will define what is a crime. "If we commemorate June 4th, condemn the massacre, (call for the) end of one-party rule, will this be labeled as subversion? We dont know, he said. Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were held elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted criticism of China and Hong Kong for banning the vigil earlier this week before meeting with a group of Tiananmen Square survivors at the State Department. Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, We urge the U.S. to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs in any form. - Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed. SPRINGFIELD The Greater Springfield chapter of the NAACP and a grassroots group have criticized Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood for a last minute cancellation of participating in a digital Town Hall discussion regarding police accountability. The meeting is still planned Thursday, and follows the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer pressing his neck. The death has spurred protests across the nation including Springfield and Holyoke, calling for an end of racism and police brutality. The meeting is hosted by the NAACP of Greater Springfield and the Pioneer Valley Project of Springfield. Bishop Talbert W. Swan, II, local president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the digital meeting was an important opportunity for Sarno and Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood, to engage the community regarding concerns with police brutality, misconduct, and relations with the public. While the nation is focused on the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing civil unrest across the nation, we understand that, with 14 current and former Springfield police officers under criminal indictment for brutalizing Black men and attempting to cover up their crimes, Swan said in a letter addressed to Sarno. Springfield is in no way exempt from the type of corruption that has sparked anger, outrage, and unrest in other cities and towns across America. Tomorrow nights town hall will take place, with or without the mayor and police commissioner, Swan said. The meeting is at 7 p.m., on Zoom, and Facebook. Sarno, through a spokesman, said a last-minute conflict occurred, but that he plans a future round-table discussion involving all stakeholders. The Pioneer Valley Project, a grassroots group criticized Sarnos and Clapproods planned absence. Tara Parrish, director of Pioneer Project, said the decision by Sarno is yet another example of why this Thursdays meeting is necessary. Our mayor and our police commissioner have repeatedly condemned the acts of the Minneapolis police officers which led to George Floyds death," Parrish said. They have prayed with people of faith on the steps of city hall this week calling for hope and healing. They have also both repeatedly stood by their decision to bring back five suspended police officers who are facing criminal charges for covering up the assault of four men of color by off-duty Springfield police officers. Sarno, through a spokesman, said a last-minute change in his ever-busy schedule triggered the decision not to participate Tuesday. A Police Department spokesman was not immediately available to comment on Clapproods absence, but it was believed also due to conflict in her schedule, Baker said. Baker added: Mayor Sarno unfortunately had to cancel the virtual meeting with the NAACP due to a last minute change in his ever-busy schedule as the city continues to address the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic and review the cities and states reopening plans, mayor spokesman Bill Baker said. Baker stated that Sarno is planning to host another roundtable discussion, as he has done so in the past, which will be inclusive to numerous community stakeholders, faith based leaders and community groups including the NAACP, Baker said. The statement from the mayors office added: "Mayor Sarno, Police Commissioner Clapprood and his entire administration are committed to engaging our community to continue the open dialog and discussion about the relationship between the Springfield Police and Communities of Color. During these very successful roundtable meetings, the participants share collective perspectives on how to address the issues in our Springfield. Many questions were asked and were followed up with either additional meetings or calls to answer those questions and continue the conversation and maintaining the many bridges that have been built over the last 10 years by our community, the Springfield Police, and Mayor Sarno." Parrish added the following statement: "Our mayor has also repeatedly refused to enact an ordinance passed by city council to establish a civilian Police Commission which would provide external oversight of the police department. This means our police department is currently allowed to police itself, even as taxpayers have been forced to pay millions in legal settlements to victims of police misconduct. Our mayor and police commissioner cant have it both ways. If they are both genuinely committed to building trust between the community and the police, then its time to make real reforms in the Springfield Police Department. This community will no longer tolerate smoke and mirrors and slick sound bites. - An American lady, Melissa, helped a Nigerian boy named Anejado Paul to become a medical doctor - Melissa picked the boy up from the street and treated him of his ulcer with contributions from others 19 years ago - After Paul passed his medical exams and became a medical doctor, the American lady came out and appreciated everyone who gave to his success Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in When you help an individual, you are also bettering the lives of a community of people who could be connected to them. A Nigerian boy, Anejado Paul was picked off the street by a good Samaritan from the US, Melissa, 19 years ago. The story did not end there. Paul went ahead to succeed and became a medical doctor. The American lady spoke about how her family met Paul in a village in central Nigeria. She also recalled how her heart broke for the kind of condition he was living in, NigerianVoice reports. READ ALSO: Autopsy reveals George Floyd had COVID-19, but it wasn't a factor in his death Our family first met Anejodo Paul in a small remote village in central Nigeria about 18 and a half years ago. I remember my heartbreaking when I saw this kid under a tree swatting flies away from the raw and open tissue on his leg that had been caused by a flesh-eating bacteria, she said. A collage of Melissa and Paul. Photo source: LinkedIn/Journeyman Travels Source: UGC With other people's financial help, he was treated at SDA hospital in Ile-Ife of his ulcer and other diseases. Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Martin Folsom, an 18-year old high school senior student from Florida, is graduating as valedictorian of his class despite the challenges of being homeless over the years. A report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Blacknews.com indicates that Folsom graduated from A. Philip Randolph Career Academies in Jacksonville. It is also reported that apart from just excelling in academics, Folsom was also very charismatic as he served as the president of the class from his freshman to senior year and was the pillar his mates leaned on for advice and more despite his homelessness. Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Yenkasa: Would You Queue For the Voters' Register? | #Yencomgh Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Iran To Spend $1 Billion From Reserves To Prop Up Its Ailing Automakers Radio Farda June 03, 2020 Iran has decided to channel one billion dollars from its national reserves to prop up its ailing automakers amid a deep economic crisis gripping the country since 2018. Iran's National Development Fund (NDF) is a foreign currency reserve meant to insure the economic well-being and progress of future generations. But the Islamic Republic has been forced to withdraw from the fund in recent years to finance certain needs, as its oil exports have dried up under U.S. sanctions, depriving the country of foreign currency income. Iran's auto industry, essentially government-owned, has been mired in inefficiency and corruption and was also hit badly by U.S. sanctions in the past two years. The sector heavily relied on close cooperation with foreign automakers who supplied parts to vehicles modeled mainly on French cars. But Iran's foreign trade partners pulled out once the United States imposed banking sanctions. The head of NDF Morteza Shahidzadeh announced on June 2 that diverting one billion dollars to the auto industry is meant to boost domestic production. Apparently, this means financing domestic auto parts manufacturing to compensate for lack of imports. Iran's automakers had incurred more than $3 billion in losses until 2019; with around $2 billion dollars of this since the imposition of U.S. sanctions. This is despite the fact that foreign car imports are restricted and highly taxed. There have been major corruption cases surrounding Iran's auto industry, involving senior managers and members of parliament. Last week judicial officials jailed a lawmaker to serve a 61-month prison sentence for involvement in price fixing schemes in the car market. Government control over the auto industry relieves executives of any accountability to shareholders and restrictions on foreign imports leaves these companies without any meaningful competition. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-to-spend- 1-billion-from-reserves-to-prop-up-its- ailing-automakers/30650293.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 National Democratic Congress parliamentary aspirant for Ayawaso West Wuogon, John Dumelo has announced that he would undertake a fumigation exercise in the constituency. It is part of the actors efforts to fight the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Ghanas first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Friday, 13 March 2020. The number has since shot up to 8,297 with 2,986 recoveries and 38 deaths. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Sunday, 31 May 2020 eased some restrictions to allow services in churches and mosques but with only 100 congregants for an hour. Mr Dumelo, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, 3 June 2020 stated: We will be fumigating all mosques and some selected churches in the Ayawaso West constituency from the 4th of June. #idey4u #ayawasowestrising #nowwecan The exercise will form part of preparations toward the reopening of churches and mosques. Read the full list of guidelines below: Mosques Thermometer guns must be provided for checking the temperature of members at entry points. There should be notices communicating No facemask No entry policy. There should be the provisions of handwashing facilities with running water and soap and FDA-approved alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Provision of waste management facilities with bins, bin liners, and single-use tissue. Provision of adequate toilet facilities for use as members. Regularly cleaning of frequently used communal places, toilet use surfaces and frequently used surfaces such as doorknobs or handles preferably every one to two hours depending on the rate of utilisation Designate a waiting room or area where a person who becomes sick at the premises or at an event can be isolated from others while making preparations from evacuation. Regular cleaning of places where churches use for service at least once every month. For example, fumigation and disinfection must be carried out by recognised entities. Professional cleaners with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment and cleaning items to clean the facilities regularly and handle waste appropriately. Provide adequate ventilation by opening windows to allow for the maximum circulation of fresh air. If possible, avoid confined air-condition rooms. Display approved promotion materials on COVID-19 at vantage points to remind members to keep to social distancing protocol Wearing of mask Regular handwashing, coughing, and sneezing etiquettes. Ensure a no-handshake, no-hugging, and no-spitting policy at all times. Follow established evacuation procedures to enable evacuation of a participant, if a participant becomes sick during the event and has to be evacuated. Mosques are to form COVID-19 a Task Force comprising of members who are preferably health workers. They must be trained in health preventive measures, infection prevention, and control and evacuation procedures like the Ghana Health Service. Unwell persons are not allowed to attend the Mosque. Elderly persons and people of any age with underlying medical conditions, heart diseases, diabetes, fever disease are advised to stay away from prayers. Sharing personal items such as watches, jewellery, a purse, a phone should be discouraged. If any individual is confirmed positive for COVID-19, all contacts must be traced and screened. Mosques are to ensure each worshipper uses their own mat or disinfected mat. Ablution should be performed at home before heading to the Mosque. Worshipers are to use easily removable footwear such as slippers. Allow people to come out of the Mosque to collect slippers one after the other instead of crowding at the entrance. Bowls for offering are to be placed at the entrance of the Mosques. Microphones are to be sanitised immediately after use. Mosques are to spend at least five minutes of worship time on COVID-19 sensitisation. Guidelines for Churches Churches are to ensure a No-handshake, No-hugging and No-Spitting policy at all time. No crowded dancing and waving of handkerchiefs during church services. Microphones are to be sanitised immediately after each use. All persons who speak or sing in churches must wear facemask during service. Churches are to discourage singing in groups and instead use pre-recorded songs. Pre-packaged communion bread and wine should be picked up by members at the point of entry. Place offering bowls at the entrance and exit points for members to give offerings and tithes when entering or on their way out of church premises. Encourage cash transfers via mobile money or mobile banking as forms of giving offerings. In observance of social-distancing protocols, laying-on of hands should not be allowed. Source: class fm 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 Sadie Robertson offers message of hope: We have a God who's in control of everything Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christian speaker and reality TV star Sadie Robertson shared encouragement for her fellow Americans having to cope with so much uncertainty. "We're going through something that's really scary. Something that's out of our control. Something that is causing us loss and sadness," she said of the coronavirus pandemic in a message recorded in April for Fox Nation's "Messages of Hope." Her message was published this week following the unrest that arose after the death of George Floyd, who died in the custody of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day. "But the beauty in this, if there is beauty in this, is that we are all going through it together. There's something really beautiful about knowing that even though we don't have control that we have a God who is a good father, who is in control of everything," she said. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com "It says in Psalms 46, He's an ever-present help in times of trouble. So we got to fix our eyes on Him. It says in Hebrews that even Jesus, when he was enduring the agony of the cross, He fixed his eyes on Heaven for the hope that He has. "Sometimes we're in the midst of something so bad, we have to fix our hope on something in the future, something better. And what better than an eternal home in Heaven? Away from all fear. Away from all pain. Away from our sickness and tragedy. With a good, good father. That's our hope." The "Duck Dynasty" daughter who is a popular traveling minister shared her message of hope with 60,000 people at her last major appearance, Passion 2020 in January. The Louisiana native also used her voice on Blackout Tuesday to speak out against racial injustice. You are heard, you are seen, you are worthy, you are valuable, you are loved, you are beautiful and I am deeply sorry that you have not experienced that from everyone around you. You were made in the image of God on purpose and for a purpose just as I believe we all were, Robertson wrote on her Instagram page. She added, I see that you are tired. I see that you have suffered and as the body of Christ that means we should all be with you in suffering. I am sorry that not all are and that we will never fully be able to understand, but I hope it is seen that many are standing. I hope it is known that many are praying. If one member suffers, all suffer together" The newly married author of Live Original ended her post, declaring, We all need God - the creator OF ALL, love Himself, justice, and peace so I encourage us all to pray. The Electoral Commission (EC) has described the pilot voter registration exercise held in the Central Region as successful and commended the various stakeholders for their cooperation. Mr Alex Sakyi Manu, the Deputy Regional Director of the EC, told the Ghana News Agency that apart from the initial technical challenges encountered, especially with the printer, the machine worked perfectly from the start to the end of the exercise. Initially there was no communication between the printer and the laptop making it difficult for the printer to print the ID cards. This took us about two hours to settle. Apart from that we did not have any problem and the process went on smoothly, he said. He said the EC was able to register more than 150 eligible voters at the end of the two-day exercise, with majority coming on the second day. It did not take more than 10 minutes per person to go through the registration process, he said, and that it was fast and smooth. Mr Manu said the pilot registration exercise was important to ensure the overall success of the main exercise and that all the minor problems encountered would be resolved ahead of the actual registration. Explaining the modalities for the voter registration exercise, he cautioned the public to desist from serving as guarantors for strangers as it was an electoral offense, which could attract prosecution and jail term. One could guarantee for not more than 10 people and the National Identification Card and the Passport were the required documents, Mr Manu said. On measures put in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the EC was abiding by all the preventive and strict protocols outlined by the Government. The GNA observed that there were markings on the ground to ensure social distancing while wearing of nose masks, washing and sanitizing of hands were enforced. Mr Manu said representatives of the various political parties in the Region were present to observe the exercise. The Region will have a total of 2,907 registration centres for the main exercise, scheduled for the end of the Month. Mr Takyi Mensah, the Central Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), reiterated the need for a credible voter register and called for maximum support for the EC. He described the pilot registration as successful and encouraged Ghanaians to go out in their numbers to register when the exercise starts. Mr Ebenezer Egyir, the Secretary to the Central Regional Election Directorate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), complained about the initial technical challenges as well as the time it took for a person to go through the process. ---GNA In this article KO A view outside Bellevue hospital during the coronavirus pandemic on May 1, 2020 in New York City. Noam Galai | Getty Images As hospitals, physician practices and dental offices have reopened for non-emergency care over the last month, it seems a good bet that health-care workers furloughed during March and April will be among those most likely to be recalled by their employers, but the May jobs numbers on Friday may not show much of a snap-back. "We expect the education and health services industries to recover quicker than will the overall labor market this year," analysts at Moody's Investors Services wrote in research note Wednesday, adding "next year, these industries will likely add about 370,000 jobs, or 11% of total private-sector jobs created." While private employers added 166,000 education jobs last month, according to payroll processing firm ADP's May employment report, it was a different story in health care. The private sector shed another 333,000 health care jobs in May, bringing losses over the last three-months to more than 2.4 million. Dental jobs could see May bounce Dentistry saw the biggest employment losses in the health care sector care in April, shedding more than 500,000 jobs, but preliminary data from the American Dental Association show the dental sector could see a healthy bounce back in the May jobs report. By last week, 90% of dental practices had reopened, up from 65% in mid-May. More than three out of four practices report paying their staff fully, with patient volumes at about 52% of pre-Covid levels by the end of the month. "All of my predictions are turning out to be overly bearish. I'd expected a slower recovery and slower rebound in patient volume, and slower bounce back in hiring," said Marko Vujicic ADA chief economist and vice president. Slower recovery The vast majority of physician practices had reopened by the end of last month, as states lifted the moratorium on non-emergency care, but doctors continue to feel the financial strain of the pandemic shutdown. Some 95% of practices have resumed seeing patients in the office, but about half of primary care doctors surveyed by the Larry A. Green Center last week said that the volume of visits remained down more than 50% from pre-Covid levels. Nearly 28% of mostly small practices surveyed had skipped or deferred clinician salaries by month's end, while more than 35% of practices had laid off or furloughed staff. Just over one-in-five said that bills for telehealth visits had been denied. The full results of the survey will be published Friday. "I think it's going to be a hard and slow recovery those who close due to lack of payment may not be able to return. I think what we are seeing is a permanent shrinking of the primary care platform," said Rebecca Etz, associate professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University and co-director of the Larry A Green Center. The situation is not much better for physician practices that fall under a hospital system. "The 60% employed by hospitals and health systems are likely to be vulnerable to prolonged hiring freezes," said Etz, noting that 11% of physician practices reported that they had rescinded job offers to incoming medical residents. Hospitals slow to rehire In April, the hospital sector cut nearly 135,000 jobs, as patient volumes and medical care revenues plunged during the national Covid shelter-in-place order, and health care facilities across the country postponed virtually all non-emergency procedures. Over the last month, health systems have seen a rebound in demand for rescheduling postponed elective surgical procedures, but overall volumes have remained well below pre-March levels. Through mid-May in-patient volumes were down about 20%, but emergency department visits were still down 40% from late February, according to research from health care division of financial payments firm TransUnion. Hospitals around the country have ramped up advertising and community outreach to assure people it's safe to come back to their facilities, but they continue to see patients putting off care. At the same time, new social distancing and coronavirus disinfecting procedures will also hamper their ability to handle patient volumes at pre-Covid levels. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Dubai police has fined more than 100 people visiting its newly-reopened public beaches in recent days for failing to adhere to coronavirus safety rules, as excitement over eased lockdown measures led residents to pour into waterfront areas in droves. Those not wearing masks while on the beach and not adhering to the country's social distancing requirements of 2 meters were fined on the spot, police said. "People were not adhering to precautionary measures and during the first three days of reopening beaches, around 100 fines were issued against offenders," Lt. Col. Ahmad Al Marzouqi, from the Dubai Police beaches security section, told local media. "But when we started implementing fines, people began to adhere to rules." And the fines are hefty. The laws outlined by the UAE in May put a penalty of 3,000 dirhams ($817) for anyone not wearing a mask in public or failing to maintain social distancing. Groups of more than five people are forbidden. Public beaches in Dubai reopened on May 30, after more than two months of closure. The reopening followed several weeks of gradual lockdown easing which followed a three-week period in April of some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world, during which residents could not leave their homes without applying for a police permit. Now, nearly every public venue including gyms, movie theaters, leisure attractions, malls and restaurants has reopened, though at limited capacity and bound by strict safety and sanitation requirements. Tweet1 Beaches over the weekend were packed, with patchwork compliance to safety measures, despite ubiquitous signs and notices reminding people of the ongoing safety regulations. "It's like people forgot Covid existed," one Dubai resident said. "The roads are just like they were before lockdown," a taxi driver told CNBC, while stuck in thick traffic leaving the beach area around sunset on Saturday. The UAE has registered more than 36,300 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 270 deaths and more than 19,000 recoveries. Still, as long as people abide by the rules and the fines appear to have helped that the fact that so many people are willing to venture out of their homes may be a promising sign for economic activity, which have plunged during the lockdown in Dubai, as in the rest of the world. Enforcement of the rules has intensified, with increased patrols, the use of drones on the beaches to catch offenders, and visits by Dubai Municipality inspectors. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing agencies to look for ways to speed up building of highways and other major projects by scaling back environmental reviews. Read more WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing agencies to look for ways to speed up building of highways and other major projects by scaling back environmental reviews, invoking special powers he has under the coronavirus emergency. Separately Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency formally proposed overhauling how the agency evaluates new rules on air pollutants, a move critics say will make it tougher to enact limits on dangerous and climate-changing emissions in the future. The actions are the latest efforts from the Trump administration to emphasize the economy and jobs over the environment and public health. The executive order would direct federal agencies to pursue emergency workarounds from bedrock environmental laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, to hasten completion of various infrastructure projects, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press. Trump, who has consistently sought to cut environmental reviews, said in the order that the economic lockdown and accompanying massive unemployment required the action. Unnecessary delays in timely agency actions will deny our citizens opportunities for jobs and economic security and will hinder our economic recovery from the national emergency, keeping millions of Americans out of work," it states. Trump has been issuing executive orders on a near-weekly basis during his fourth year in office. Thursday's order will mark his 25th of the year as he uses the pandemic to justify efforts to do away with government regulations that are designed to protect the environment and public health but are viewed by critics as costly and unnecessary. The president has consistently portrayed the permitting process as hindering infrastructure projects in the U.S. He issued an executive order in August 2017 that was designed to speed infrastructure projects. But a report prepared for the Treasury Department in 2016 looked at 40 major proposed transportation and water projects whose completion had slowed or was in jeopardy and found that a lack of funds is by far the most common challenge to completing these projects. Meanwhile, finding the additional dollars to fund new roads and bridges has proved elusive as lawmakers and the president fail to agree on the extremely difficult choices that are necessary to raise more money for transportation projects without adding to the already soaring national debt. In anticipation of Trump's executive order, environmental groups said sidestepping environmental review requirements would hurt many of the same communities already suffering the most from the pandemic. Americans are crying out for leadership to confront racist violence and stop the spread of a deadly pandemic. This administration is not only ignoring those cries but piling on the burden. We will not let this stand," said Gina McCarthy of the Natural Resources Defense Council. By using the coronavirus pandemic to justify fast-tracking potentially wasteful, dangerous or destructive infrastructure programs, the president has proven once again his utter contempt for our laws, for the health of our communities and for the future of our children," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. The separate EPA proposal - now going up for the legally required public comment period before any adoption - would require cost-benefit analyses for every major new regulation under the Clean Air Act. It would also tighten consideration, in weighing any new pollutant limits, of broader benefits to clean air that would come from regulating the primary targeted pollutant. The Trump administration already has used that tighter standard to undermine an Obama-era act that cut emissions of not only mercury but other health threats from coal-fired power plants. Industries supported Thursday's EPA proposal. The overhaul would provide consistency and greater transparency in considering air pollution rules in the future, said Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president of the American Petroleum Institute trade group. Environmental groups contend the Trump administration is gaming costs and benefit calculations in its loosening of environmental and public health protections, considering them differently in different cases as needed to justify emissions rollbacks for power plants, vehicles and other pollution sources. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told reporters any differences were only because the Trump administration was still putting its version of the rules in place. At the end of our second term, you can look back and judge us, how well we did with our regulations, from how we did, Wheeler said. Cutting regulations has been a hallmark of Trump's presidency and conservative groups and lawmakers have been encouraging him to keep it up. Time is money, so eliminating delays that hold up or kill projects will have the same impact as increasing funding, and it will let workers get back on the job improving our infrastructure," said Rep. Sam Graves, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. (Newser) One of America's top chicken industry CEOs could be caged for up to 10 years as part of a federal antitrust investigation. Pilgrim's Pride CEO Jayson Penn was indicted Wednesday along with former company vice president Roger Austin for alleged price-fixing, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mikell Fries, president of Claxton Poultry Farms, and vice president Scott Brady were also indicted. Prosecutors say the men, part of a "network of suppliers and co-conspirators," conspired to fix prices and rig bids on the "broiler chickens" that were sold to grocery stores and restaurants between 2012 and 2017, reports CNN. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. story continues below "Particularly in times of global crisis, the division remains committed to prosecuting crimes intended to raise the prices Americans pay for food," Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, said in a statement. "Executives who cheat American consumers, restaurateurs, and grocers, and compromise the integrity of our food supply will be held responsible for their actions." Shares in Pilgrim's Pride fell 16% after the indictment and other chicken producers, including Tyson, also saw major drops. Penn is the highest-profile exec to be indicted by the antitrust division since former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, who died in a car crash the day after he was indicted in 2016, Bloomberg reports. (Read more chicken stories.) "This acquisition strengthens our microbiology core with added testing services and proficiency in fungal, bacterial, and asbestos testing." Pace Analytical Services, LLC, the largest American-owned laboratory network providing environmental and life sciences analytical information and services, today announced that it has acquired Aerobiology Laboratory Associates, Inc., the leading environmental microbiology testing laboratory with eight lab locations nationwide. Aerobiology is an accredited environmental lab with a strong focus on quality. This acquisition strengthens our microbiology core with added testing services and proficiency in fungal, bacterial, and asbestos testing, notes Eric Roman, CEO of Pace Analytical. We were extremely impressed with the leadership and laboratory operations of Aerobiology and their natural alignment to our commitment to quality and customer focus. The services gained through this acquisition will provide value to Pace clients and allow us to meet an expanded list of environmental testing and analysis needs. As a result of the transaction, Pace Analytical will add the following certified and accredited laboratory services: Indoor Air Quality: A depth of bacterial and fungal air testing and analysis. Water Quality: Testing and analysis of waterborne pathogens including Legionella, Pseudomonas, Mycobacterium, Acinetobacter, HPC, E. coli, and others. Asbestos: Bulk material testing and analysis of all six forms of asbestos. USP 797 (United States Pharmacopeia, chapter 797): Surface area testing and analysis for healthcare institutions, pharmacies, and related facilities to ensure the sterilization of drugs used in compounding sterile preparations. Aerobiology brings eight new laboratories and two service centers to the Pace Analytical national lab network. From these labs, the company will extend many of its current environmental testing and analytical services. Pace will also incorporate services exclusive to Aerobiology into some of its existing lab locations. This is exciting for me and for Aerobiology on many levels. We will be able to bring more passionate microbiologists onto the Aerobiology team and provide them with opportunities for growth. I am also looking forward to meeting and servicing new customers across our collective lab services, while collaborating with Pace scientists to bring on new tests and additional technologies, comments Suzanne Blevins, Technical Director and Founder of Aerobiology. Now, as a Pace Analytical Laboratory, we will have the added infrastructure and resources to expand our lab services, reach new customers, and invest in new technologies. Aerobiology will continue to operate under its existing brand as a division of Pace Analytical Environmental Services. Blevins and her team will remain to lead the Division which will operate as Aerobiology, A Pace Analytical Laboratory. About Aerobiology Laboratory Associates Aerobiology Laboratory Associates, Inc. has provided microbial indoor air quality services for over twenty years. Since its inception, the company has grown, adding lab locations and services while gaining industry recognition through key certification and accreditation bodies including the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory Accreditation Program (EMLAP), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ELITE Program, and the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP). In addition, the company was one of the first laboratories to be accredited for environmental microbiology by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). More at Aerobiology.net. About Pace Analytical Pace Analytical Services, LLC makes the world a safer, healthier place. For decades, we have been the trusted source for quality environmental and life sciences lab testing and analysis and the resource for scientific lab staffing, regulatory, and equipment services. Our work is done in partnership with our clients by providing the science and the data they need to make critical decisions that benefit us all. Pace delivers science better to businesses, industries, consulting firms, government agencies, and more through the largest, American-owned and nationally certified laboratory network. More at PACELABS.com Damn @ all cop toys being pulled. Good. Reply Thread Link exactly! parents need to stop raising children to believe cops are supheroes Reply Parent Thread Link Agreed, and I always found it weird there were occupational toys at all...if I had kids, they're getting dinosaurs and shit lol. Reply Parent Thread Link its insane how much cop propoganda happens when youre a kid. in elementary school, as part of DARE we all had twice yearly visits by a police officer who would always downplay his job and act goofy. its horrifying to look back on. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link It's mixed in with the list of cop things so it's not getting as many headlines, but they also requested retailers pull sets with the White House (also the "donut shop opening" set lmao) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link they're pulling advertising for cop toys - not not selling them anymore. important distinction! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I read that as Lea Michele at first and was like, where she get 4 million from Reply Thread Link 4 million... expired hellofresh coupon codes Reply Parent Thread Link Stooppppp Reply Parent Thread Link Not from her HelloFresh deal, that's for damn sure! Reply Parent Thread Link Now this is something more than just empty gestures and passive platitudes. Reply Thread Link That's fucking crazy. That'll at least cut down on the cop worship bullshit that goes on. Reply Thread Link Wow @ them actually pulling cop toys. That's a pretty definitive statement, way more than just 'we want peace for everyone' or whatever. People are going to lose their minds and ~boycott over this, no doubt. Reply Thread Link and pulling all cop toys? That's how you fucking do it! 4m to BLMpulling all cop toys? That's how you fucking do it! Reply Thread Link Honestly THIS is what I call a real show of support. Hopefully Lego + Ben & Jerry's response lead to a bigger trend of curbing copaganda in every industry, starting with Hollywood which is by far the industry which spread the most and the farthest this shit Reply Thread Link What did B&J do was there a post Reply Parent Thread Link The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy. https://t.co/YppGJKHkyN pic.twitter.com/YABzgQMf69 Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) June 2, 2020 No post but here you go: Reply Parent Thread Expand Link They released a really great statement the other day: https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy Reply Parent Thread Expand Link :O!!! Wow thats action! Reply Thread Link And I was the blind mofo that thought it was 64 because the grey $ on a black background. Reply Thread Link It's water purifier. People should report this tweet, maybe they'll slap that new "hey this tweet is false" sticker on it! https://t.co/t6jvqDFnvF West Midlands Nice (@joemacare) June 3, 2020 Lots of people are waking up towards copaganda and no longer believe all the lies police spit out just to try and save face. Also I'm LIVING at how all the bluelivesmatter hashtags are being drowned by Kpop fancams (as well as all the white supremacist hashtags) + people trolling all the cops/PD twitter accounts on Twitter saying #AllJobsMatter (and racists being upset their rhetoric is being used against them lol) or calling out all the vicious lies these accounts spread like this one:Lots of people are waking up towards copaganda and no longer believe all the lies police spit out just to try and save face. Reply Thread Link Police departments shouldn't have social media accounts imo (but then they'd probably still just make secret accounts to find shit, so...) Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. One of my local ones posted such a fake photo of looting gear they took away from people that wouldnt leave a store Ive only been watching them tho to see what the curfews are (if any) since idk where else to look out for them Reply Parent Thread Link We also recovered this gun from the scene pic.twitter.com/m0VldQYPk6 Mikal Pichot (@BattleBrass) June 3, 2020 At approximately 8:08 p.m., on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in the area near 6th and McKinley, an individual threw a hand grenade at uniformed police officers. Thankfully it did not detonate. If anyone has any information regarding this incident they are asked to call MPD... pic.twitter.com/3JpoAbrewQ Dli O'Doir (@dli_odoir) June 3, 2020 I'm still not over these replies Reply Parent Thread Expand Link a a molotov cocktail in a plasctic bottle? Reply Parent Thread Link officers are wearing mourning bands to honor the officers who have died from COVID-19, and that they may have fallen from the top of the badge to cover their badge numbers. lmao okay Edited at 2020-06-04 03:22 pm (UTC) my faaaavorite copaganda of all time is the explanation from a PD as to why many badge #s are covered by a black bandlmao okay Reply Parent Thread Link i'm liking that kpop fans are doing that but i'm hating they are getting praise and that's getting to their head, especially considering how anti-black some kpop fans are being, from all fandoms. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link LMAO! WHEW! Daaaaamn Legookay! Reply Thread Link damn Reply Thread Link Yeees that's some action right there! I remember babysitting kids one day who had Lego cops and I was like Not on My Watch Reply Thread Link FRO announces launching of ATM equity offering Frontline Ltd. (Frontline or the Company) yesterday announced the Company entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement dated June 3, 2020, with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (Morgan Stanley) for the offer and sale of up to $100.0 million of common shares of Frontline. In accordance with the terms of the Equity Distribution Agreement, the Company may offer and sell its common shares at any time and from time to time through Morgan Stanley as its sales agent. Sales of the common shares, if any, will be made by means of ordinary brokers transactions on NYSE or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to the prevailing market prices, or at negotiated prices. The net proceeds of this offering will be used to opportunistically fund growth opportunities and for general corporate purposes. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. The offering is being made by means of a prospectus and related prospectus supplement. A prospectus supplement related to the offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to the offering may be obtained from the offices of Morgan Stanley at 180 Varick Street, Second Floor, New York, New York 10014, Attention: Prospectus Department. [June 04, 2020] LP Building Solutions Donates 7 Acres of Land to P.A.T.H. Tehama County to Provide Shelter for Those in Need LP Building Solutions (LP), a leader in high-performance building products, today announced the donation of a 7.96 acre parcel of land located at 400 Reeds Avenue in Red Bluff, California to The Poor and the Homeless (P.A.T.H.) Tehama County Coalition, a local nonprofit on a mission to prevent and alleviate homelessness in the area. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005140/en/ From left to right: P.A.T.H. Executive Director Jennifer Ragsdale, P.A.T.H. President E.C. Ross, P.A.T.H. Board Member and Past President Allene Dering and LP Red Bluff Plant Manager Shannon Bear meet on the donated property at 400 Reeds Avenue in Red Bluff, California, home to the upcoming homeless shelter (Photo: Business Wire) "Those of us at P.A.T.H. are ecstatic over the fantastic generosity of LP Building Solutions in their donation of property to PATH, allowing us to finally build a permanent homeless shelter for our community," said P.A.T.H. Pesident E.C. Ross. "For over 20 years, we've relied on the generosity of local churches to house our transient shelter as it moved from one location to the next every few months. We would not have been successful without their support and will be forever grateful to those churches. Now, with our own property, we can build a dedicated shelter to support those in need for years and years to come." In 2017, a Housing and Homeless Stakeholders Collaborative was established in Tehama County to address the growing problem of homelessness in the community. The taskforce prepared and presented a 10-year plan to end homelessness that was adopted by the Tehama County Board of Supervisors, and the cities of Red Bluff, Corning (News - Alert) and Tehama. Development of a Navigation Center was identified as one of the first steps to give individuals an opportunity to begin the journey to self-sufficiency. Recognizing the limited number of undeveloped parcels with the proper zoning, LP was pleased to step forward to donate the much-needed land, which will be used for a multi-phase project to include the Navigation Center, temporary housing, and common areas for job skills development and recreation. The facilities will serve the disadvantaged citizens of the community, including veterans, seniors, families and youth now living unsheltered in the county. Much more than a homeless shelter, the site will provide services to help participants to re-enter productive society, including on-site medical care, substance abuse treatment, mental health assessments, application assistance for social service benefits, job training and job application assistance, pet care and pet obedience training, veterinary services, permanent housing case management, literacy skills, and more. "As a leading building solutions company, we work every day to build better products that build better homes that help to build lasting communities," said LP Red Bluff Plant Manager Shannon Bear. "Providing shelter is at the very heart of our company and a mission we've worked to fulfill for the last half century. We are committed to building a better world and this land donation is such a shining example of that. We are humbled and grateful to be even a small part of P.A.T.H.'s tremendous work in the community." LP Red Bluff began production in 1990 as the company's first engineered wood products plant. Today, the mill employs over 60 local residents who manufacture up to 80 million feet of LP SolidStart Engineered I-Joists a year. About LP Building Solutions As a proven leader in high performance building solutions, LP Building Solutions manufactures uniquely engineered, innovative building products that meet the demands and needs of the building industry. Its extensive product portfolio includes durable and dependable exterior siding and trim systems, engineered wood framing and structural panels for single-family homes, multifamily projects, repair and remodel markets, light commercial facilities and outdoor buildings. LP also provides industry-leading service and warranties to help customers build smarter, better and faster. Founded in 1973, LP is a global company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and traded on the New York Stock exchange under LPX. For more information, visit LPCorp.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005140/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Emily with the letter she sent to Boris Johnson A schoolgirl from Co Tyrone is overjoyed after receiving a letter from the Prime Minister, thanking her for her get well soon message after he was struck down by Covid-19. Emily Crozier (9) from Seskinore, who is the daughter of Joe and Gladys, had written to Boris Johnson and sent him a drawing without her parents' knowledge. Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital in April after contracting coronavirus and upon hearing the news, Emily wrote: "Thank you Boris Johnson for helping us through this difficult time." After addressing the letter to 10 Downing Street, the McClintock Primary School pupil waited and waited for a response. Her mother explained that the response from Downing Street arrived last week. "It was unreal," said Mrs Crozier. "We didn't know Emily had sent the letter way back when Boris Johnson was in hospital. She did it off her own bat. "She told us after she posted it and she was waiting every day on a letter but nothing came. "Then this letter came and we saw her name on it but we set it to one side and forgot that it arrived. "My son said to Emily, 'there's that letter, you never opened it' and that's what it was. "There was such excitement. After she posted it we asked her where she sent it and she said, '10 Downing Street'. "She was jumping for joy when she opened the letter and she couldn't believe that the Prime Minister would send her back a letter." The kind-hearted P5 pupil felt she had to send a message to the Prime Minister because he was "trying to help" as the UK dealt with the pandemic. "The coronavirus is headline news and with the children not at school, that annoyed her deeply," Mrs Crozier added. "I suppose seeing Boris on TV and telling us what to do encouraged her. "She had drawn this picture and then she heard he was sick so she decided to send the picture to him because he was sick." In Mr Johnson's reply to Emily, he said: "Thank you so much for the wonderful message and good wishes you sent me when I was unwell. "The letters and cards I received really cheered me up. As you may have heard, I'm back in 10 Downing Street now and feeling much better. "Thank you also to you and your family for all you are doing to keep yourselves and others safe." Actor Nawazuddin Siddiquis 21-year-old niece filed a sexual harassment case against his younger brother, at Jamia Nagar police station in Delhi on Monday after which she left for Budhana, UP to be with her in-laws. Since Siddiquis family also resides there, she shares being worried about everyones safety. She tells us, Ive lived my whole life in trauma and distress. Even after marriage, these people have been torturing me, my husband and in-laws and would file cases against us. Read: Nawazuddin Siddiquis niece accuses his brother of sexual harassment, reveals his response he is your uncle, cant do this: report She shares that soon after she filed the FIR, Nawazuddin called her for the first time in the last five years. Nawaz bade papa called on Tuesday night and said youre like my daughter, you know how much I love you. Unhone yeh bhi bola ki unko yeh sab pata nahi tha and that hes there for any help I need. He has never spoken to me in all these years. The entire family had boycotted me after I got married, and theyve been filing one case after another and threatening my in-laws in Budhana, reveals the mother of a five-month-old daughter, who lives in Delhi with her husband. When contacted, Nawazuddin said, Thank you for your concern, but on this, no comment. Alleging that now Siddiqui family has threatened her to withdraw the complaint, she claims, A family relative was told to inform us that well be in trouble if we dont take the case back. Thats why Im worried. Recounting the horror that she faced during childhood, she narrates, My father didnt allow me to study beyond class 8. My uncle used to touch me inappropriately. I was 13 then, when he tried to sexually exploit me. I told my father (Almas Siddiqui), bade papa and everyone about it, but no one supported me. It clearly indicates the motive and the person behind publicising this fake things in media. Truth will be uncovered soonest. @CPDelhi #NawazuddinSiddiqui Shamas Nawab Siddiqui (@ShamasSiddiqui) June 3, 2020 It was when she recently saw her badi mummy Aaliya (Siddiquie) speak up against husband Nawazuddin and his family and filed for divorce, she got the courage to come out with her ordeal. Who knew about this offence & kept quiet, time will tell. Lets see who is finally punished for CRIME & for NON-REPORTING & Who will be "LET-GO". Image & Reputation of NONE is more important then life & safety of a child. SAD. The child had to stand for herself without support. AaliyaSiddiqui2020 (@ASiddiqui2020) June 2, 2020 When we contacted Aaliya, she was shocked and said, That family is filled with people who believe in causing harm to women. Ive faced immense torture in their hands. I just hope truth comes out and we get justice. His other brother, director Shamas Nawab Siddiqui tweeted, How can someone misguide the law and file the same case with different statement at @DelhiPolice , when there was no name of @Nawazuddin_S in the earlier statement given 2 years back to Court & the case is in #UttrakhandHighCourt as well. When asked about Shamas tweet, the 21-year-old adds, After my marriage, my father, filed a case against my husband alleging that he kidnapped me when I was not even 18 and married me, which was a lie. I was 18 when we got married. So, we replied to the allegation with a case when I recorded my statement. Dont know why is he talking about that now. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By Charles AbdulAlim Chear Some of the biggest cases of extrajudicial killing of Black men involve a convenience store. Michael Brown was arrested at a liquor store before being killed by police in Ferguson. Alton Sterling was selling CDs outside of a convenience store where he was killed. Travyon Martin was returning from a 7-11 when he was killed by George Zimmerman Skittles bought from the store became symbolic of Trayvons innocence. And now, George Floyd was killed by police in front of Cup Food, a convenience store in Minneapolis. The list of killings, unfortunately, can go on. Some say Cup Food bears some responsibility for Floyds killing since an employee was the one who called police. Others have commended the response by Cup Food, which permitted a mural be painted of Floyd on a wall outside of the store. What should we expect from small businesses when an injustice happens like the killing of George Floyd? Convenience stores in urban neighborhoods are typically run by Asian, Middle Eastern and Hispanic immigrant families. There is usually a good relationship with customers, many of whom are Black and non-immigrants. Occasionally, there is conflict and in the worst cases, killings of a store worker or customer. Depending on who was killed, concerns about anti-Black racism may arise. Seldom, however, do we get the full story from store owners. While the owner of Cup Food spoke out against the killing of George Floyd, many store owners stay silent when something like this happens. As a result, suspicions arise that owners are uncooperative and may be hiding something. I personally know about this. A decade ago, an armed robber was killed by a police officer in my aunts corner store in Philadelphia. Both the robber and police officer were Black. My aunt is Cambodian. A community group asked her to publicly talk about what had happened, but she declined. As a result, a boycott led by the community group ensued. I asked her why she declined. She said it was because of trauma and fear of saying the wrong thing. She also did not understand what speaking out would achieve. As a refugee and survivor of domestic violence, being anonymous became a survival tool for my aunt. In the United States, remaining anonymous can have the opposite effect. A beloved restaurant, Gandhi Mahal, was burned down during protests in Minneapolis. When the owner, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was asked about it, he spoke not on behalf of his wellbeing but the need for justice for George Floyd. His compelling response, as a result, has led to an outpouring of support from people around the country. Some are comparing the current protests to the Los Angeles Riots. When the Los Angeles Riots occurred, it was framed partly as a Black-Asian conflict. Fast forward to today: surveillance footage that shows George Floyd did not resist arrest came from Dragon Wok, a restaurant owned by a Black and Asian couple. This hints at positive changes in race relations since the Los Angeles Riots, although more is clearly needed to unify communities against injustice. The history of businesses in urban neighborhoods, especially convenience stores, has not always been good. But the responses by the owners of Cup Food, Gandhi Mahal, and Dragon Wok are certainly ones we can learn from. Rather than staying silent, they spoke out and chose to engage with communities. However, if a business owner does not speak out, it does not necessarily mean that they do not care about injustice. During the extrajudicial killing of Black men, convenience stores and other small businesses have been part of the narrative; either where it happened, or the backdrop of protests and riots which is what we are witnessing today. Some small business owners have a double anger: wanting justice for George Floyd, and against the destruction of their businesses by people exploiting an otherwise righteous protest. Small business owners have always been an integral part of urban communities and capable of being part of the solution. It is now, however, that many are learning how to speak out against injustice. Charles AbdulAlim Chear is a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University studying children and families working in immigrant small businesses. 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. Even though lockdown restrictions are being lifted in India and businesses are gradually opening up, the growing number of COVID-19 cases are making people wary and it will take some more time for people to return to retail in a big way. This has given online shopping an even bigger boost, and brands are now looking to offer more immersive technologies to up consumers shopping experience. For this, brands are seeing increasingly veering towards AR & VR Technologies. To highlight Bringing Brands To Life With AR & VR Technologies, Advertising Club Bangalore is organising a panel discussion on Friday, June 5, 2020, between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Joining the discussions will be: Adhvith Dhuddu, CEO, AliveNow Ashwin Jaishankar, Co- Founder, AutoVRse Vivek Jain, CEO, FlippAR At the helm of the discussions will be Aneesh Koorapathy, CEO, VRNACULARS & Tripvana, along with co-host Tina Mansukhani Garg, Founder & CEO, Pink Lemonade. The discussions will cover a wide range of areas, including Definition of XR- 360 video, AR, VR, WebVR/AR and why brands should adopt them for their marketing and communications strategy, the key drivers/ inhibitors of this adoption, the integration of AR in Snapchat, Instagram and other digital platforms, and much more. Giving a peek into whats in store for brands and marketers, Aneesh Koorapathy said, Unlike all previous technological disruptions, VR/AR allows us to consume information in 3D, thus enabling us to immerse ourselves in any environment. Take Jurassic Park as an example. The printing press allowed us to read about it, the radio allowed us to hear its sounds, the television allowed us to see it, but VR/AR enabled you to be there! During a worldwide pandemic, this is every marketers dream. Customers can now truly visualise, explore, and experience what your brand has to offer, anytime, anywhere. Next generation consumers will not know of a world without VR/AR, much as the current generation does not know of a world without a touch screen or the Internet. Tina Mansukhani Garg added here, There are tons of areas today where AR and VR technologies can help a brand bring alive the experience for the consumer. From training to property walkthroughs to garment personalisation and haircut selections, every experience can come alive by designing the brand touchpoint using the right technology. We have specially curated this webinar for many brands to understand what it takes and how technology can be leveraged today. This is especially relevant today, in a world where marketers are looking to connect with consumers online or launch their products and experiences virtually. Register now and join in the discussions on Friday, June 5, 2020, between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Embraer SA ERJ incurred first-quarter 2020 adjusted loss of 57 cents per American Depository share (ADS), narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 67 cents but wider than the year-ago quarter loss of 34 cents. The year-over-year deterioration can be attributed to decline in operating income along with higher foreign exchange losses owing to the substantial appreciation of the U.S. dollar versus the Brazilian real. Including one-time items, the company incurred a GAAP loss of $1.59 per share compared with loss of 23 cents in the year-ago quarter. Revenues Embraers first-quarter revenues came in at $633.8 million, down 23% year over year. The decline was due to lower revenues in each of the companys segments, except for the Executive Jets segment. EmbraerEmpresa Brasileira de Aeronautica Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise EmbraerEmpresa Brasileira de Aeronautica Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise EmbraerEmpresa Brasileira de Aeronautica price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | EmbraerEmpresa Brasileira de Aeronautica Quote Order and Delivery Embraer delivered 14 jets in the reported quarter, down 36.4% year over year. The company delivered five commercial and nine executive (five light and four large) jets compared with 11 commercial and 11 executive (eight light and three large) jets in the year-ago quarter. Backlog at the end of the quarter was $15.9 billion compared with $16.8 billion in the prior quarter. Operational Highlight In the first quarter, the companys cost of sales and services totaled $449.8 million, down from $649.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Consequently, Embraers gross profit grew 12.3% to $184 million. It posted quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $64.9 million compared with $30.9 million in the year-earlier quarter. Financial Update As of Mar 31, 2020, the companys cash and cash equivalents amounted to $2,394.4 million compared with $2,307.7 million as of Dec 31, 2019. Embraer had net debt of $1,332 million as of Mar 31, 2020, up from $612.4 million as of Dec 31, 2019. Story continues Adjusted net cash used in operating activities was $593.3 million at the end of first-quarter 2020 compared with $557.5 million at first-quarter 2019 end. The companys adjusted free cash outflow at the end of the first quarter was $676.5 million compared with free cash outflow of $665.3 million at the end of 2019s first quarter. The downside was on account of lower net income in the current period and additional investment in working capital. Guidance Due to the uncertainty related to the impact of the spread of COVID-19, Embraer has kept its 2020 guidance suspended for the time being. Zacks Rank Embraer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Other Q1 Defense Releases Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT, a Zacks Rank #3 company, reported first-quarter 2020 earnings of $6.08 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.76 by 5.5%. The bottom line also improved 1.5% from the year-ago quarters $5.99. General Dynamics Corporation GD, a Zacks Rank #3 company, reported first-quarter 2020 earnings from continuing operations of $2.43 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.46 by 1.2%. Moreover, earnings declined 5.1% from $2.56 in the year-ago quarter. L3Harris Technologies LHX, another Zacks Rank #3 company, posted first-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.80 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.61 by 7.3%. The bottom line also increased 20.7% from the year-ago quarters $2.32. 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 >> 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 General Dynamics Corporation (GD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report EmbraerEmpresa Brasileira de Aeronautica (ERJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report L3Harris Technologies Inc (LHX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The core issue though is Vietnam's ability to prepare for such lucrative investments to come into the country by offering the best possible working conditions. JOURNALIST: - Sir, how do you assess the shift in the world production supply chain today, and the US and some other countries advocating withdrawal of investment capital from China? Asso. Prof. TRAN DINH THIEN: - How to deal with China is USAs most important issue today. The US is seriously building and creating a new production supply chain to escape the monopoly of the current Chinese supply chain. China has over the years risen very fast and is seeking to dominate the world economy and also have maximum control over technology. This is the result of more than 40 years of external resources pouring into China, of which the most important resource is the participation of multinational economic groups. If the Covid-19 pandemic had not disrupted the supply chain built by China, it is unclear how long the flow of foreign investment into China would have continued. The United States and many European countries are establishing economic fronts to deal with China, that are focused on pulling capital out of China. For example, new emerging supply markets such as India and the "Diamond Quartet" have emerged, forcing China to change its economic structure. Currently, even though China is fighting off pressure from the US, it is still not strong enough to compete fiercely with the US for top position. - Sir, what opportunities does this shift bring to Vietnam? - Although Vietnam may be a country that is still low in the production supply chain, we are working hard to become an important link. This is very significant, as Vietnam is willing to innovate to meet the needs of integration, and have more trusted partners. Vietnam is now becoming more attractive to foreign investors, and even though Vietnam's institutional reforms need some changes, the country offers stability along with commitment. These are plus points for Vietnam as the investment environment is becoming more and more attractive and competitive. Because we consider private economy to be an important motivation, Vietnam has been able to maintain good growth. Along with this policy, the State has created more development opportunities, and helped structure the economy better. Therefore, many opportunities now exist if we take advantage of it. - In order to catch this wave of FDI investments effectively and turn it into motivation for growth, according to you, what specific policies does Vietnam need at this time? - Great opportunity also comes with great risk. These are small, low-tech enterprises that are willing to relocate from China into Vietnam, while larger corporations are very few in number. Recently when the industrial zone began to develop, the industrial real estate began to heat up. I am more worried about this issue, as the Vietnamese market is not yet fully prepared to welcome the new wave of FDIs. The warming of the industrial real estate market may be due to speculation and fragmentation of FDI enterprises, and when big corporations actually come in, they may be short of land. This is a matter of caution. I get the impression that we are not being realistic. When the new wave of FDI enters Vietnam, our capacity to receive investments has not improved yet, which will lead to serious consequences that will negatively affect the economy. The key now is to improve the capacity of the Vietnamese market and this is something to be discussed more deeply, instead of just looking at the wave of movement and see it as an opportunity. The scale of our economy is USD 300 bn, so which part of the new production supply chain will we participate in? That is the question worth thinking. When I visited the Samsung factories in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh, I realized that we were relying heavily on outsourcing, more cheap labor, mostly manual labor and low-level labor. When the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, it was the time when many multinational economic groups realized this huge gap in the production chain. That is the risk when an epidemic occurs, and factories with hundreds and thousands of workers are left vulnerable to its impact and damage. Therefore, the production line in modern technology will bring automotive replacement of manual labor, which is inevitable. - Sir, there are many opinions that FDI enterprises in logistics, retail, consumption, and technology will invest strongly in Vietnam after transferring capital from China. What is your opinion? - I think that we should create conditions for foreign enterprises in the above sectors to invest in Vietnam. In fact, in these fields, Vietnamese enterprises can do well and also compete firmly. Here, I want to emphasize factors of production level and technology content, because this is the key factor to compete and decide who wins or loses among businesses. - Thank you very much. Ngoc Quang-Hoang Son (Interviewers) Jacques Morisset - Lead economist World Bank in Vietnam Since the end of April, the government has eased social distancing with the reopening of schools as well as many shops and restaurants. This gradual return to normality is well captured by the recent trends in Google mobility indicators, which rose by 13 per cent between mid-April and the second week of May.. This sentiment explains why the economy is expected to rebound in the second part of 2020 according to the latest World Bank and International Monetary Fund projections. Bear in mind that the economy was hurt, but it is not dead. GDP was still expanding at a respectable rate of 3.82 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, and the external sector Vietnams main engine of growth continued to be vibrant. Exports were up by 5 per cent during the first four months of the year, while foreign investors were still knocking on the door with over $12 billion of foreign direct investment registered between January and April. The domestic sector was affected, principally during the three weeks of the most intense lockdown in April, but it demonstrated signs of resilience. A good indicator is that the level of electricity consumption only declined by 4 per cent in April (compared to the same month in the previous year), which is much lower than the 2030 per cent downfall reported by China and EU countries during their lockdowns. Of course, some businesses and people have been severely hit, notably in the tourism and passenger transport sectors. Yet, overall, the Vietnamese economy has been extremely resilient during these unusual rough times. But Vietnam has been smart, too. Like in most countries, the authorities here have used a package of monetary and fiscal policies to help the most affected people and businesses. Yet, the quality of the Vietnamese governments COVID-19 response has been a combination of foresight and pragmatism. There are three concrete illustrative examples. The first is fiscal management. The government was ready to face COVID-19, as it had accumulated significant cash-flow reserves, thanks to its prudent fiscal management before the crisis. In addition, in line with its own standard fiscal rule, the country has set aside 5 per cent of its 2020 budget as contingency funds to be used in case of catastrophe. As a result, the government was able to respond immediately to the crisis both at the central and local levels, without additional domestic and external borrowing. Second is trade and logistics. The slowdown in global trade, which is projected in the range of 15 per cent30 per cent by the World Trade Organization in 2020, has been a main area of concern for Vietnam. As it is one of the most open economies in the world, the authorities have reacted quickly to reduce logistical costs facing exporters and gave instructions to cut red tape, reduce fees, and streamline procedures in customs and in main transport hubs. Third and finally is the digital response. While Vietnam has been known for its dynamic export sector, its digital development has been lagging. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the authorities have now embarked on a series of reforms, including the intensive use of digital tools to fight the pandemic. The government is now considering the introduction of digital money through a new e-payment system to reach the two-thirds of the population who still lack access to bank accounts. In the face of adversity, Vietnam has been able to tap a long tradition of preparing for the worst while staying flexible to adopt crucial reforms and transition toward the new normal. This combination of foresight and pragmatism has been applied in the COVID-19 crisis with considerable success. Lets hope that its experience can help other countries that have been much less well-prepared for the crisis. Many outdoor areas throughout the region have reopened after being closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. But just because your favorite outdoor area is open doesnt mean you should expect business as usual when you arrive or that you should travel there at all. On this weeks episode of the Peak Northwest podcast, we discuss how to plan safe, responsible day trips during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Some highlights: Jamie walks through his process for planning trips right now. We discuss travel guidance from the state and land management agencies. Jamie shares what he learned during a recent reporting trip to the Oregon coast. We talk about some prized outdoor spaces that have reopened and other spots that remain closed. Listen to the full episode. Check our regularly updated list of what outdoor spaces have reopened and what areas are still closed. Read Jamies story about whether people need to wear a face mask while hiking and check out his report from Cannon Beach. Have a question for us about how to navigate the outdoors in the COVID-19 age? Message us on Instagram, leave a voicemail on our podcast hotline, 503-221-4345, or send a voice memo to podcasts@oregonian.com. We hope to answer some of your questions on future episodes. You can subscribe to Peak Northwest on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. -- Jim Ryan and Jamie Hale Over a 15-year stretch, LanzaTech has developed technologies that can turn carbon emissions into ethanol that can be used for chemicals and fuel. Today, the company announced the spin-out of LanzaJet, alongside its corporate partners Mitsui, Suncor and All Nippon Airways, to bring sustainable aviation fuel to the commercial market. The new company has launched with commitments from the Japanese trading and investment company, Mitsui & Co. and Canadian oil and gas producer Suncor Energy to invest $85 million to back the first pilot and development-scale facilities that LanzaJet will be constructing. The first tranche of money, a $25 million commitment from Suncor and Mitsui, will be used to build a demonstration plant that will produce 10 million gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel starting from sustainable ethanol sources. For LanzaTech chief executive Jennifer Holmgren, the launch of LanzaJet is the next step in the process of bringing to market her company's technology, which promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change by creating a more circular carbon economy. LanzaTech bills itself as a leader in gas fermentation, a process that takes industrial gases and makes sustainable fuels and chemicals from industrial off-gases; syngas generated from any biomass resources like municipal solid waste, organic industrial waste, agricultural waste; and reformed biogas. Through synthetic biology and industrial processing, the company says it can make more than 100 different chemicals. With the LanzaJet spin-off, the focus is squarely on sustainable jet fuels. "We finished the investment side and the off-take agreements and thats all committed," said Holmgren. "Now were working on getting the feedstock We're making sure that we can source low-carbon intensity ethanol." Those suppliers of second-generation cellulosic ethanol need to meet the right carbon footprint criteria, and LanzaJet is working with the relevant renewable energy standards organization to make sure that the ethanol it's using has the right pedigree. Story continues A history of innovation in second generation biofuels Of course, some of that feedstock could come from LanzaTech itself. The Chicago-based company has been developing processes to capture emissions from power plants and other sources and convert those emissions into ethanol by injecting them into microbe-filled vats. The microbes convert the gas into ethanol, which can then be used as fuel or feedstock for chemical manufacturing. Once LanzaJet identifies its feedstock supplier, the company expects to begin working on building the demonstration facility, which should be completed by 2022, when production will begin on the first line. In addition to its corporate partners, LanzaJet received a $14 million grant from the Department of Energy to work on the development of cellulosic ethanol manufacturing processes and the development of a biorefinery at the company's site in Soperton, Ga. Indeed, the whole story of LanzaTech's 15-year journey is woven with public-private partnerships that were conducted alongside government research agencies. The conversion technology at the heart of LanzaJet's process was the result of years of collaborative research between LanzaTech and the U.S. Energy Departments Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). It was the PNNL that developed the catalytic process to upgrade ethanol to alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK) that LanzaTech took from the laboratory to pilot scale. Vintage illustration of couples walking inside chemistry beakers in front of a chemical processing plant, 1952. Screen print. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images) Investors with benefits For Suncor and ANA, the development of sustainable alternatives is a strategic necessity. The International Air Transport Association has committed to cut emissions in half by 2050 compared to 2005 levels and to achieve carbon-neutral growth by the end of this year. While national lockdowns imposed earlier this year to combat the spread of COVID-19 reduced travel and dramatically cut into the emissions causing global climate change, the aviation industry will have to shift its sources of fuel consumption and invest heavily in carbon offsets if it wants to achieve its stated goals. ANA is thrilled to work alongside LanzaTech, Mitsui and Suncor on this new venture, said Akihiko Miura, executive vice president of ANA, in a statement. We believe that this partnership is a great step forward for carbon-neutral growth initiatives. ANA is happy to share in this innovative endeavor and to be a part of a carbon-free future in the aviation industry. For its part, Suncor, a Canadian oil and gas company with significant operations in that country's controversial oil sands region, looks at LanzaTech's LanzaJet technology as another way to diversify beyond the traditional oil and gas business. The company has already begun installing charging stations for electric vehicles across its network of filling stations that span the breadth of Canada. With LanzaJet's fuel, the company can add sustainable jet fuels to its services for customers at airports in Calgary, Denver, Colo., Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto. Its diversification comes at a time when even Suncor's chief executive is acknowledging the transition to a different energy mix. "While Canadian oil and gas will remain a significant part of the global energy mix for some time, we have to take advantage of new opportunities that offer attractive growth prospects," Suncor CEO Mark Little wrote in an opinion article for Canada's Corporate Knights magazine, Reuters reported. "The temporary economic lockdown triggered by the 2020 pandemic is giving us a glimpse into a not-too-distant future where the transformation of our energy system could disrupt demand on a similar scale." The company's work with LanzaTech can also help move it toward the commitments it has made to hit emissions reductions targets associated with the Paris Accord's two degrees Celsius goals. "Were taking a view towards how do we think the energy transition is going to progress," said Suncor's vice president of strategy and corporate development, Andrea Ducore. For the company, bio-based, low-carbon fuels is one solution, Ducore said. "As the owner of Petro-Canada gas stations across Canada, we're asking ourselves what do our customers want today and what do they want 10 years from now." Photo: Getty Images/ipopba/iStock Taking flight Leading the charge as LanzaJet rockets into the sustainable aviation fuel industry is Jimmy Samartzis, a former United Airlines executive and current board member at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. With experience in both technology and aviation -- including a stint with the International Air Transport Association -- Samartzis is well-positioned to make the new company's pitch to potential consumers. Samartzis and Holmgren, LanzaTech's founder, initially met when she was working at Universal Oil Products (now a subsidiary of Honeywell). Eventually the two collaborated when LanzaTech began marketing its sustainable jet fuel to companies in the industry for pilot flights nearly a decade ago. "When we did all of that, he was one of the people at United that was involved in sustainable aviation fuel," Holmgren recalled. As LanzaTech searched for an executive who could take the reins at its new jet fuel initiative, Samartzis was one of the first calls that the young company made, Holmgren said. The launch of LanzaJet marks an historic milestone in the clean energy transition that is underway globally. Ive been part of many renewable energy and sustainability firsts over the last decade, and this one is the most exciting, said Samartzis, in a statement. The commercialization of LanzaJet -- built on the shoulders of LanzaTech, Suncor, Mitsui, ANA and with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy -- gives our world, and aviation in particular, an important solution in shaping a cleaner future. While Holmgren thinks LanzaTech could be one of the main suppliers for the feedstock that LanzaJet needs to operate, she said the goal in spinning out the company was to ensure that there was broad-based demand for ethanol coming from multiple potential vendors. One of the reasons we created LanzaJet and decoupled them from LanzaTech was because it will incentivize others to produce the right low-carbon ethanol feedstock," said Holmgren. "If you want a low-carbon future it cannot be about LanzaTech and LanzaJet. We thought lifting that limitation was the right thing to do." Eventually, those fuel sources could include things like ethanol from direct air capture of carbon dioxide and other emissions that cause climate change. "LanzaJet as an entity can drive that to incentivize producers to drive to the lowest carbon intensity ethanol to provide feedstock for aviation fuels," said Holmgren. File Photo There is great news about hydroxychloroquine. The World Health Organization has called for the resumption of the coronavirus trial of hydroxychloroquine. The WHO tweeted about it on Wednesday. The WHO recently issued a directive to member states that hydroxychloroquine could be dangerous in treating the corona virus. Therefore, stop its trial. Advertisement WHOWHO tweeted, Based on available mortality figures, committee members recommend that there is no reason to amend the testing protocol. Therefore, the hydroxychloroquine trial may be resumed. The organization said the working group would closely monitor it. Recently, the WHO issued a directive to members that hydroxychloroquine may be dangerous in the treatment of corona virus. So, stop it but Indian scientists have not only discovered this drug but also told the doctors of the country that this drug can be avoided in the treatment of corona virus. CoronavirusThe latest research from the Indian Council of Medical Research has shown that taking hydroxychloroquine reduces the risk of coronavirus infection. Advertisement Subsequently, India launched a front against the WHO in the fight against the corona virus epidemic. Research and treatment will do what is necessary in the interest of the country. At the same time, it has made it clear to Indian scientists that they do not need the WHO's advice. CoronavirusAccording to a Union Health Ministry official, many Western scientists and pharmaceutical companies are always trying to bring down India's cheapest medicine. Corona virus can be treated with hydroxychloroquine, which is designed to prevent malaria. If this cheap drug is used to protect against the corona virus, Western pharmaceutical companies could lose crores of rupees. That is why their lobby wanted to put pressure on the WHO to stop all trials of hydroxychloroquine. A LEGAL challenge by US drug company Perrigo aimed at quashing a 1.64bn tax assessment raised on it by the Revenue Commissioners will formally open before the High Court today after a day's postponement due to social distancing rules. The case, which will now be heard via video-link, involves a "unique and complex" claim by Perrigo that it had a legitimate expectation that Revenue would not raise such an assessment as a result of words and conduct of Revenue over some time, the court was told yesterday. Revenue maintains Perrigo owes the 1.64bn because of its purchase of Irish pharma group Elan in 2013 and the sale by Elan eight months previously of its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri to Biogen, its partner in the drug's development. Paul Sreenan SC, for Perrigo, said yesterday that he will be referring in his opening of the case to a chronology of events that relate to dealings with Revenue over a number of years. His side will refer to corporation tax returns, assurances of tax compliance, how claims were addressed by Revenue and other matters resulting in his client having the legitimate expectation contended for, counsel outlined. He said he would be referring to law concerning legitimate expectation, unfairness, abuse of power and constitutional rights, and would apply that law to the facts of this case. Mr Justice Denis McDonald said that he wanted counsel, during the opening, to identify those parts of Perrigo's statement of grounds which set out the representations being relied on to support the claim of legitimate expectation. Mr Sreenan said this was in many ways "a unique and complex" case in relation to legitimate expectation and that claim was being made, not just on the basis of representations but on the conduct of Revenue over time and implied representations. The case was essentially that, by words and conduct, Revenue accepted the applicant was engaged in a trade that involved the disposition of intellectual property, he added. Paul O'Higgins SC, for Revenue, said he was anxious the Revenue affidavits would be comprehensively set out to the court during Mr Sreenan's opening. Arriving in court yesterday, Judge McDonald noted that there were 17 people were in attendance, exceeding the courtroom's capacity, which had been set at 15 following the coronavirus outbreak. At his request, the sides were asked to take further instructions on whether the case should be heard remotely.# If everything had gone to plan, Georgia Love and Lee Elliott would be jetting off to Italy for their dream destination wedding right about now. But the Bachelorette couple were forced to postpone their nuptials after the COVID-19 pandemic made international travel impossible. Georgia, 31, told WHO magazine on Thursday that thinking about their cancelled plans still makes her want to cry. What could have been: If everything had gone to plan, Georgia Love (pictured) and Lee Elliott would be jetting off to Italy for their dream destination wedding right about now 'We were meant to be heading over in eight days' time to visit the venue and meet all the vendors and book everything in. If I think about it too much, I might cry,' Georgia said. 'I was going to be in Sicily. We feel so lucky we hadn't locked something in and sent out or invitations though and had everyone book their flights. We just had to change our plans.' The journalist explained she felt 'so sad' for other couples who had to cancel their weddings - and counts herself lucky she and Lee had only been in the early stages of planning the ceremony when the pandemic hit. Heartbroken: Unfortunately, the Bachelorette couple were forced to cancel their nuptials after the COVID-19 pandemic made international travel impossible. Pictured: Georgia and Lee 'For us, it was our dream, but it was only that, it wasn't reality yet. If the worse thing that happens to us, touch wood, in this pandemic is that we have to cancel our plans to marry in Italy, then how bloody lucky are we?' Georgia said. The reality TV lovebirds had wanted a destination wedding because travelling was so important to them and a 'huge part' of their relationship. 'We want to do something smaller and travel is really important to both of us, so we really wanted to have a destination wedding,' she told Now To Love in February. Going strong: The reality TV lovebirds had wanted a destination wedding because travelling was so important to them and a 'huge part' of their relationship. Pictured on March 11 But she felt it would be unfair on her loved ones, who may be struggling financially, to ask them to pay to travel to Italy after the pandemic is over. Georgia and Lee, 38, met on The Bachelorette back in 2016. The couple announced their engagement in September 2019, writing on Instagram: 'If you're not busy for the next 50 or 60 years... #YES.' 1. Its time for us to stand up in Georges name and say get your knee off our necks. The Rev. Al Sharpton led an emotional memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis. The event followed more than a week of upheaval around the U.S. ignited by a video of a white police officer pressing his knee on Mr. Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes. In death, George Floyd has become a symbol of police brutality. But family members remembered him as Perry, a big giant who had a gift for making friends and making people feel welcome. A judge set bail at $750,000 for three officers charged with aiding Mr. Floyds murder. Late Wednesday, the Minneapolis Police Department released personnel records that detailed the officers lives before and during their time on the force. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has extended his congratulations to Kazakhstanis on the occasion of the Day of State Symbols, Kazinform reports. Tokayev tweeted that he extends his Day of State Symbols congratulations to the people of Kazakhstan. In his tweet the President remarked that the emblem, flag and anthem are the symbols of the higher values of our Independence peace, unity, reconciliation, and progress. The Head of State expressed confidence that Kazakhstan will achieve new victories on the path of building a strong, reputable state protecting the interest of the nation. A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the suspended director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission, Ishaq Kawu, to defend his alleged involvement in a N2.5 billion fraud. Mr Kawu alongside the late chairman of Pinnacle Communications Limited, Lucky Omoluwa, and the chief operating officer of the same company, Dipo Onifade, were jointly charged before Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo-Giwa, by the anti-corruption agency, ICPC. The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission accuses them of using (his) position to confer a corrupt advantage to a tune of N2.5 billion, a seed grant released to NBC by the federal government for the digital switch-over project. According to the commission, the offences are in contravention of Section 26 (1) (c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and are punishable under Section 19 of the same law. Mr Kawu, through his counsel, A. U. Mustapha, had submitted before the court in February 2020 that he had no case to answer, praying the court to absolve him of the charge brought against him by ICPC. He was subsequently arraigned on May 2 and granted N100 million bail after pleading not guilty to all the charges. READ ALSO: Justice Ogunbanjo-Giwa had also fixed the ruling on the no-case submission by Mr Kawu on March 26, but for the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to closure of courts. At a resumed hearing on Thursday, according to a statement by the ICPC, the court said that the commission had established a prima facie against Mr Kawu, Onifade and Pinnacle Communications Limited and ruled that they had a case to answer. However, Mr Omoluwa was struck out from the charge after his counsel, Alex Iziyon, told the court of his death from heart failure, in February this year. The trial judge, before adjourning the matter to July 1,2, and 3, also granted the prayers of ICPC to amend the charge by removing the name of Mr Omoluwa. While the widespread protests occurring in many American cities this week are unprecedented in recent decades, the tragedy of George Floyds death in police custody is, unfortunately, not uncommon. This heartbreaking catalyst for reforming the way police interact with minority men should also spotlight how in custody deaths are investigated by police and prosecutors. The way police cases involving excessive force, deadly or otherwise, are investigated has often been dependent on the capacity and willingness of police investigators to investigate their own. Having another law enforcement agency review an incident may provide greater objectivity, but the process has troubled our nations conscience for decades. That is why, as the district attorney of the third most populous county in America, I fought for more prosecutors for the Civil Rights Division. They independently investigate all shootings by police, allegations of excessive force and in-custody deaths. So far this year, Harris County has seen 20 officer-involved shootings and four alleged excessive force cases. In each and every shooting, our specialized prosecutors independently review all the evidence, research all potential criminal charges and defenses, and present the cases to citizen-comprised grand juries to determine if charges are warranted. Whether or not a case is filed directly by prosecutors, such as the recent murder charge against former Houston police officer Gerald Goines, all felonies must ultimately be reviewed by grand juries of randomly selected citizens. With the welcome reform of grand jury selection, our civil rights prosecutors, since January 2017, have secured indictments against 29 jailers and/or police officers for offenses including assault, tampering with government documents, official oppression and murder. We believe this number reflects our communitys intolerance for abuse and a 180-degree departure from years past. We remain mindful of the frustration of the families of those killed and the masses who want justice for police brutality victims. Like all things in criminal justice, this requires a balanced, reasonable, lawful, evidence-based approach to each case. The framework of our democracy requires due process for all, including accused officers. As prosecutors, our mission is to see that justice is done. The publics trust in our system depends on it. My heart is with George Floyds family and loved ones, as Houston mourns his terrible loss. His memory should fuel efforts to improve our system and ensure fairness and justice for all. Ogg is the Harris County district attorney. Moving footage shows a nine-year-old girl giving a powerful speech about unity at a Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus, Ohio. Aubrey Johnson, from Lancaster, Ohio, was very emotional as she was given a megaphone to speak. She was surrounded by chanting protesters who encouraged her message of peace and solidarity. Aubrey Johnson, nine, from Lancaster, Ohio, is emotional as she holds a megaphone to speak out at a Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus At the beginning of the clip, Aubrey is struggling to begin her speech as she is overcome with emotion. Fellow protesters pat her on the back to soothe her and one protester says: 'It's okay Aubrey, do it. Don't stop, you got this.' At the protest on May 31, Aubrey said: 'My name is Aubrey Johnson and I am nine years old and if I get it, you should get it. It is very wrong to kill black people.' She added: 'Black lives should matter as much as white lives. It is so wrong.' Her mother Misty Johnson, who posted the clip on Facebook, said: 'Im so incredibly proud of my daughter! 'She decided by herself to let her voice be heard today in front of thousands of people in downtown Columbus for the BLM protest! 'More youth need to get involved! Such a proud mama right now.' At the protest on May 31, Aubrey said 'if I get it, you should get it'. She is supported by fellow protesters when she becomes emotional Aubrey's older sister Brooklyn also attended the protest. She told 10tv.com: 'It's just sad how we have to do this to just let them have freedom.' Aubrey told 10tv.com: 'Also when I was up there doing the speech I forgot to say it but I was going to say not all lives matter until black lives matter.' Misty, who is a photographer, said that it's important for her to bring her children to experience this because their generation is our future. She said she's proud of her daughters for speaking up and she feels comfortable bringing her daughters to the protest because they're peaceful. The federal government has appointed Regina Ogali, a professor, as the acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), a university official said. Mrs Ogali takes over from Ndowa Lale after five years as the institutions vice chancellor, according to a statement by UNIPORTs Deputy Director (Information), Williams Wodi, on Thursday. Mr Wodi said Mrs Ogali would oversee the affairs of the university pending the appointment of a substantive vice chancellor. He said: By a letter from the Federal Ministry of Education dated May 29, Prof. Regina Ogali, a Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) will oversee the affairs of UNIPORT. Ogali will oversee the affairs of the university while the incumbent vice chancellor, Prof. Ndowa Lale, proceeds on his leave starting June 12. READ ALSO: The university spokesman said that Mr Lale was appointed vice chancellor of the university on July 2015 for a single five-year tenure A letter signed on behalf of Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Sonny Echono announced Ogalis appointment. The minister wished Lale well in his future endeavours following his successful tenure in office as the 8th vice chancellor of UNIPORT, Wodi said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federal government dissolved the Governing Council of the university on May 27. (NAN) By far, the most popular wine in the United States is chardonnay. Yet the variety faced some skepticism among the small but select sample of readers who took part in our recent Wine School examination of Oregon chardonnays. Perhaps this should not have been surprising. Though it has been Americas white wine of choice for decades, chardonnay has always been polarizing. Witness the small but vocal Anything But Chardonnay group that took root in the early 1990s, rebelling against the oaky, buttery, flamboyant California style that had asserted its dominance among American white wines. The goal among the A.B.C. crowd was not simply to promote other good white wines like riesling, which had largely been ignored as the populace rushed to embrace chardonnay. It was also to take a stand against the stylistic choices made by so many California wineries back then. Leading global smart device brand, OPPO partnered with renowned actor Eddie Redmayne, rock climber Alex Honnold and technology reviewer Marques Brownlee to inspire people to continue pushing their boundaries and strive for better. Conveying the spirit to explore more possibilities, OPPOs latest Finder Campaign salutes these explorers who have pushed themselves to achieve new heights in their respective fields. With the aim to inspire and empower people with explorer stories to find their own X factor, like the explorers did, OPPOs Finder Campaign is a unique campaign that urges people take a step further to explore the ultimate with their capabilities. From the beginning, exploration has been embedded in OPPOs DNA and the Find series signifies the spirit of exploration. Committed to offering a true premium smartphone experience to its consumers, OPPO will launch its much-awaited premium flagship series Find X2 series in India on 17th May 2020. OPPOs Find X2 has enabled the Explorers to constantly create new possibilities for themselves and strive to achieve more. Earlier this year, OPPO also announced the British actor, Eddie Redmayne, as its global brand ambassador. Eddies deep devotion to the performing art and courage to explore more echoes with OPPOs relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of innovation. In his video talking about the Find X2, Eddie says, Every time we play someone else, we find out something new about ourselves. Every time we use the Find X2, we find more. Watch the video here. For Alex Honnold, the famous American Rock climber, the use of OPPO Find X2, is based on an infatuation with self-improvement. The Find X2 is there for Alex as a climbing companion, for all his endeavours in reaching new heights. OPPO Find series is the symbol of OPPOs exploration spiritand each product embodies OPPO's thinking of the future.Featuring the best in class display with 120 Hz refresh rate for ultimate viewing experience, an advanced image technology and ultimate charging technology with SuperVOOC 2.0, OPPOs latest flagship Find X2 series strives to bring out the best DONNIE THE FIXER I was sitting around and Im just wondering why we got the coronavirus and none of these mayors or governors were prepared for it. So then Donald Trump stepped in and the problem was corrected. Now, we got the riots and protests all over the country run by Democratic mayors and again Trump fixed that problem. Wondering why he has to fix everything. I thought we elected these mayors to take care of this stuff. DRIVE-IN MEMORIES This is to Old Timer on Oxford Road: Just reading about how he mentioned the Family Drive-In in Clifton Heights. I have a lot of fun memories there. My husband and I had our first date there. We are now married 54 years. Another great drive-in used to be on MacDade Boulevard. The trees behind our house were small. We used to be able to look at our dining room window and watch the screen. No sounds, of course, but the pictures were good. BEHIND THE MASK Hey Trump 2020: Come on. Lets be honest here. We all know the real reason Trump refuses to wear a face mask is because he knows it will ruin that plastered-on bronzed face paint he always wears. THE SWAMP RAT RIDLEY, PAY REBATES! How could Ridley even think about raising taxes now? I was actually thinking they should give us a rebate since the schools have been closed for three months. No heating, water and electricity used! OUR COURSE A SENIOR CITIZEN NO GO JOE Joe Biden came out from captivity to promote himself. Hes trying to defend the protesters after his nasty and stupid statement weeks ago. Hes looking for votes. Well, too bad. He doesnt mean what hes saying. Hes a joke sad, but true. Nothing good would come from Biden as president. Hes not up to the job and he knows it. DONT LOOK NOW About that murdering cop, I hope it gets first-degree murder and gets what he deserves. But all these governors and mayors that let all these thousands of people marched during this virus, youre guilty if anybody that dies now. If the virus picks up and hundreds of people are dying, its on your head. You should have sopped that the first day. BAD PRIORITIES The mayor of Philadelphia seems more interested in the looters and the protesters and the safety of the people and the police. How about all these looters and people throwing rocks and things at the police? Your mayor seems more interested in getting rid of the Rizzo statue. He was a hero of the city the police department and the people loved him. You wouldnt have had this trouble if he was in charge. Either way, he knew how to handle everything. SAY GOOD NIGHT, TOM I call on Gov. Wolf to resign immediately. Its his incompetence thats cost countless lives. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost because of his incompetence, and all the looting and rioting in the streets happened because of his incompetence. He should immediately resign and apologize to the people of Pennsylvania. MAD BALLOT BLOCKS I too was surprised at the polls. I was surprised when I went in and they could not explain to you what to do. So I said no, Im not voting. You took away my right to vote. Im disappointed to say the least. SUSIE THIS MUST END How dare Comcast change their programs. Were are paying them as $200 a month for Showtime and other stations and Starz. They werent put on for five hours. Something else was put on that should be put on channels 3, 6 or 10. Were paying extra money every month. Thats why we have cable, so we can have Showtime and Starz and HBO to watch. This is not fair. I dont understand whats going on here. Its just like the taxes being raised and the kids aint even in school in Ridley Township. Somethings not fair. What the heck are we paying for? When are the people finally going to put their foot down and say what the heck is going on here? When? FED UP Cronkite News PHOENIX Navajo leaders on Wednesday canceled this years Fourth of July celebrations in Window Rock as the tribe continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. President Jonathan Nez announced the cancellation Wednesday during a Facebook Live town hall in which he also lifted the 57-hour weekend curfew unless we see numbers increase once again for coronavirus cases. In addition, the reopening of businesses has been pushed from June 8 to July 5, which will give the tribe more time to clean buildings, get employees tested and get stocked up on personal protection equipment, according to a new executive order from Nez. The total number of positive #COVID19 cases for the Navajo Nation has reached 5,661. More than 2,000 people have recovered from the #Coronavirus on the largest reservation in the United States. #Arizona #NewMexico #Utah @NNPrezNez @NNVP_Lizer https://t.co/Rc9dbGRM70 indianz.com (@indianz) June 4, 2020 The 57-hour curfew has been implemented on the reservation every weekend since April 10. However, Arizonas statewide curfew, enacted Sunday in response to the protests over the death of George Floyd, remains in effect from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily until Monday. The vast Navajo reservation has been particularly hard hit by COVID-19. To date, Navajo health officials report 5,533 positive cases of COVID-19 and 252 confirmed deaths. As of Wednesday, June 3, the Arizona Department of Health Services has reported 22,223 cases of COVID-19 and 981 deaths in the state. It said 345,044 tests have been completed as of June 3 in public and private labs in Arizona, and 5.8% of tests have come back positive for the virus. Less than 5% of Arizonans have been tested to date. Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News and is published via a Creative Commons license . Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University Join the Conversation TV presenter Faustina 'Fuzzy' Agolley has accused her former Video Hits co-star Axle Whitehead of snubbing the Black Lives Matter movement in a tense exchange on Instagram. Axle, 39, recently posted a yellow tile on his Instagram page and included the hashtag #AsianLivesMatter. His post came after social media users uploaded a black tile on Instagram to show solidarity with African Americans protesting police brutality in the United States. Bad blood: TV presenter Faustina 'Fuzzy' Agolley has accused her former Video Hits co-star Axle Whitehead of snubbing the Black Lives Matter movement in a tense exchange on Instagram. Pictured at the 2006 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards in Sydney Fuzzy, 36, who is half Ghanaian and half Chinese, called Axle out for his post, branding it insensitive. Axle has since deleted his post from Instagram, but Fuzzy shared a series of screenshots from a direct message conversation they'd had on Instagram Stories on Wednesday. Daily Mail Australia cannot republish some of the screenshots for legal reasons. Faux pas? Axle recently posted a yellow tile on his Instagram page and included the hashtag #AsianLivesMatter. His post came after social media users uploaded a black tile on Instagram to show solidarity with African Americans protesting police brutality in the United States In their conversation, Axle claimed his post was 'a joke', before explaining 'an Asian person was killed in the riots today'. 'This is the dumbest f**king reply,' Fuzzy responded in part. Axle then supposedly blocked Fuzzy on Instagram after she'd called him out for his inflammatory post. Taking offence: Fuzzy, who is half Ghanaian and half Chinese, called Axle out for his post, branding it insensitive She also alleged he'd posted 'a false stat from Twitter about white men [being] killed by U.S. police more than any other race'. She added: 'No mention of black deaths. No mention of mass incarceration of BLACK PEOPLE. 'And if we're going to get local, cause let's be real, Axle is a white Australian who lives in Australia, no mention of how his race is pretty f**king sweet here.' Strong message: Fuzzy ended her scathing posts with a message to her former colleague, telling him not to speak to her until he has educated himself on racial inequality Fuzzy ended her scathing posts with a message to her former colleague, telling him not to speak to her until he has educated himself on racial inequality. 'Axle been down with you for a while but thank you for showing me who you are,' she commented. 'And if you ever wanna communicate, take a couple of years to get through the reading list circulating about Black lives and Asian lives before ever getting in contact again.' Making light of the situation: In their conversation, Axle claimed his post was 'a joke', before explaining 'an Asian person was killed in the riots today' Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, Axle said he could not 'support a violent hypocritical movement' and insisted that 'all lives matter. Period.' 'My sympathy goes to George Floyd and his family but to say Black Lives Matter as people loot and burn minority-owned businesses is absurd,' he added. Meanwhile, Fuzzy told The Daily Telegraph she was disappointed with Axle's stance on the issue. Angry: Fuzzy told The Daily Telegraph she was disappointed with Axle's stance on the issue 'He took a deliberate choice not to get behind black lives and take a shot at Asians. I called him in and he didnt care about what he did, he only cared about being called on it,' she said. Protests have been widespread across the United States after African American man George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Before his death, he had been forcefully restrained by a white police officer who has since been charged with second-degree murder. Daily Mail Australia has contacted both Axle and Fuzzy for comment. President Trump walks past a wall covered with graffiti en route from the White House to a photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church on June 1. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) Seldom in his 3 years in the Oval Office has President Trump appeared so alienated from so many as he has this week. His decision to invoke a military response to nationwide protests against police brutality symbolized by the move Monday to gas mostly peaceful protesters in a park across from the White House to clear the way for a staged photo outside a church appears to have been a fateful miscalculation. The incident has created a deep rift between the White House and the Pentagon, and drew an extraordinary rebuke from Trump's former secretary of Defense, James N. Mattis. In an essay, the widely admired retired four-star Marine Corps general accused the president of making a mockery of our Constitution. Images of a widening perimeter of fences and concrete barriers that the administration has erected in a several-block area around the White House, as federal agents and troops patrol key intersections, have only deepened the sense of Trump as an isolated, beleaguered figure. Demonstrators hold a U.S. flag upside down June 2, 2020, at the fence that now surrounds Lafayette Park, north of the White House. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) On Thursday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was "struggling" with whether she could support Trump in the November election. Mattis' comments, she said, were "true, honest, necessary and overdue. "I felt like perhaps we're getting to the point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up," Murkowski said. Publicly, her colleagues have not gone that far. Republican senators Thursday mostly tried to deflect questions about Mattis or express sympathy with Trump. "It's just difficult for him. You're in that bubble and particularly this president" who has battled against what he sees as a hostile bureaucracy since taking office, said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). "Who do you trust?" Some defended Trump. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina went on Fox News to chide Mattis for agreeing with the "liberal media" and "buying into a narrative that I think is quite frankly unfair." Story continues But Republican strategists with wide contacts in the party say the events of the last few days have had a dramatic impact on Trump's prospects. "It feels like a pivot point. It feels like an inflection point," said Michael Steel, who was a top aide to then-House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and veteran of three GOP presidential campaigns. "The stunt at the church, combined with Mattis there are going to be a thousand more twists and turns between now and Nov. 3," he said. But "there's a good chance that when the history of this campaign is written, this week will be seen as a benchmark. Mattis is a pretty big canary in the coal mine." Ed Rogers, a top White House aide to former President George H.W. Bush, said the week's events "speak to a sense of presidential dysfunction." Trump "has a bad relationship with Congress, a bad relationship with most governors, a bad relationship with most business organizations. And now his own military is having to pause, gasp and say, 'Say what?'" he said. "What does dysfunction look like?" Trump's growing isolation has elected leaders both at home and overseas shunning him. He had hoped to convene the leaders of the other major industrial democracies for a Camp David summit this month to highlight his message that the U.S. was returning to normal after the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. German Chancellor Angela Merkel scuttled those plans Saturday, announcing she would not attend. She cited the continued pandemic for her decision, which came the day after Trump said the U.S. would pull out of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for international public health. On Friday, Trump plans to visit Maine, where advisors hope he can eke out a single electoral vote in November because of a state law that divides Maine's electors by congressional district. The states Republican senator, Susan Collins, facing a tough reelection and trying to convey an image of independence, has let it be known that she plans to be elsewhere. The state's governor, a Democrat, on a conference call this week with other governors asked Trump not to come. In public polls, as well as in surveys conducted by his own campaign, Trump trails his presumed Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, in the major battleground states. Polls released Thursday by Fox News found Trump down 4 percentage points in Arizona and an eye-popping 9 points in Wisconsin, both states he won in 2016. And those surveys took place before this week's protests and Trump's reaction had fully unfolded. Stronger evidence of potential trouble for Trump comes from the campaign's spending decisions so far, which largely defend turf that he won handily in 2016. America First Action, the super PAC allied with Trump's campaign, announced Thursday that it would begin advertising in several media markets that he dominated in the last campaign, including Grand Rapids, Mich., and Erie and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Nationwide, Trump trails Biden by 8 percentage points in the average of polls maintained by the Real Clear Politics website. That's twice the size of Hillary Clinton's margin at this stage in 2016. If Trump loses, there will be certain signposts along the way. There will be Charlottesville, his comments in Helsinki, and the Lysol moment. And Monday night," said David Axelrod, former campaign and White House advisor to President Obama. "He just completely misread the moment and behaved in a way that was so antithetical to norms and reason that it will create a lasting memory, he said. Theres still 140 days left or something, and so who knows what events will intervene between now" and election day, Axelrod added. But, "as we sit here today on June 4 the picture is pretty dark for Republicans and Trump, and the only caveat is its June 4. Democrats, having seen their expectations turned upside down on election day in 2016, are now preternaturally superstitious about Trumps ability to stage a comeback. Even so, party strategists believe they could not only win back the White House, but also control of the Senate this fall. Trump is "just appealing to his base," said former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "He's got a lot of ground to make up." An increasing number of Republican strategists fear that is true. Trump allies argue that if the economy rebounds in the fall and the coronavirus does not stage a major comeback, the president will benefit from a brighter public mood. Others, however, point to signs such as Biden's surging ability to raise money online as early warnings that the Democratic ticket will be tougher than Trump and his allies had counted on. The problem Trump faces grows out of the central choice he made at the outset of his administration to govern as the leader of his tribe, not the full nation. Unlike other presidents who won narrow victories, he has made few efforts to broaden his backing, and those only fitfully. The administration has assessed almost all decisions with an eye toward how they will be received by Trump's base. The rest of the public has responded accordingly: Unlike all his predecessors since the start of modern polling, Trump has not had a day in office in which even half the American public approved of his work, according to hundreds of public and private polls. "The head of state function requires the ability to empathize with all aspects of American life, with all walks of American life, all groups in American life," said Timothy Naftali, the historian and former head of the Nixon Library. "The leader is supposed to remind people about why we are together, what it is about the American experiment that, for all its flaws, is worth preserving. He won't, and I have to conclude he can't at this point. You have a black hole at the center of American leadership at the moment, and that's a catastrophe in the making." Still more crises may lie ahead for Trump this month. Any day, for example, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on his effort to repeal protections for so-called Dreamers, immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as young children. A loss would represent a major rebuke. A win might be more problematic. It would leave Trump with the choice of moving ahead to deport hundreds of thousands of young people in the face of what would almost surely be massive resistance, or pulling back and disappointing a key part of his political base, which favors immigration restriction. With Trump reeling from multiple crises and already reaching for military force as a tool to regain a sense of control, scholars worry about what may come next. Trump's photo op with a Bible in front of St. John's church after the gassing of protesters Monday "encapsulated a lot of the things authoritarians do to get to power and stay in power," said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University historian who studies authoritarianism. Now, she said, Mattis' speaking out represents the "elite defection" that often occurs when an authoritarian leader appears to be faltering. "They probably know it's just going to get worse," she said. "That's where the inflection point comes." Times staff writers Noah Bierman, Jennifer Haberkorn, Janet Hook, Chris Megerian and Eli Stokols contributed to this report. Rabih Abdulrahman (pictured), 36, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Central Local Court last week An unlicensed driver had a potentially fatal amount of ice in his system when he ran down and killed a young boy as he walked to school, a court has heard. Rabih Abdulrahman, 36, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Central Local Court last week over the death of a 12-year-old boy. Abdulrahman had been speeding through the school-zone when his white Toyota Corolla struck the boy as he crossed at a green walk signal at Hurstville, in Sydney's south-west, in September last year. As onlookers tried desperately to save the young boys life, Abdulrahman lit a cigarette and began deleting messages on his phone, court documents state. 'He did not assist or offer to assist as the witnesses were providing first aid.' According to court documents, the level of methylamphetamine in his blood was 'well within the reported toxic to potentially fatal range', the Daily Telegraph reported. When police arrived at the scene of the crash, Abdulrahman was 'uncooperative and agitated'. Officers later found a syringe in his car. He told police he had taken three days earlier. He also said he takes morphine every day for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 'Ive got f***ing PTSD. I need my medication,' he said. He told police he had taken three days earlier. He also said he takes morphine every day for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Abdulrahman was unlicensed and had been serving a community sentence since last October when he allegedly ran a red light and hit the 12-year-old boy at Hurstville, in Sydney's south Abdulrahman initially lied to police, telling them: 'I got hit by a car, it's not my fault.' While being interviewed at a police station he said: 'go look for the car that hit me! I didn't mean to kill anyone, give me f***ing bail'. Abdulrahman will face Downing Centre District Court on Friday facing additional charges. Abdulrahman previously served jail time for being an accessory to manslaughter after a drug deal went wrong. Documents showed that in May 2005, Abdulrahman had been at a unit at Bexley, near Hurstville, when a man was shot dead during a dispute over a drug deal. Police arrested and charged the shooter, before later intercepting phone calls where Abdulrahman told his mother he knew the identity of the gunman. The young boy, 12, (pictured) - who can not be named for legal reasons - was rushed to hospital but died soon after Abdulrahman (pictured following his arrest) had a toxic amount of ice in his system at the time of the crash Agreed facts state that in the days after the shooting, Abdulrahman also helped 'to hinder (in the shooter's) apprehension, trial and punishment'. Abdulrahman initially denied being at the unit, but eventually entered a guilty plea. He was sentenced to a minimum two years imprisonment which was allowed to be served as weekend detention. Since being released from jail, Abdulrahman was then convicted of assaulting a policeman, driving under the influence of drugs , carrying a weapon in a public place and resisting arrest. He was serving a corrections order in the community but was banned from driving. He should not have been driving when the boy was hit. The House of Representatives has invited the National Security Adviser, all the security Chiefs, Director, Department of State Security and Inspector General of Police to brief the House on the state of insecurity in the country. This was sequel to a motion by Sada Soli (APC-Katsina), which was unanimously adopted at plenary on Thursday. Moving the motion earlier, Mr Soli said there was need for the security experts to brief the House on efforts being made to ensure safety of lives and properties of citizens. He said there was need to know the way forward to bring an end to the killings, kidnapping and armed banditry at the next seating. Mr Soli said in recent time, the security situation in some parts of the country has degenerated. The lawmaker said cases of kidnapping, killings and armed banditry have become a daily occurrence across the country, especially in Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina. He said the presidential directives had not helped to drastically reduce cases of kidnaping, killings and banditry in the country. He said, This is due to lack of sustained tempo in the intervention, these criminals have continued to regroup in different camps in the government reserve forests and surrounding villages across the country. The magnitude of the attacks on various communities have reached an alarming rate as these criminals have continued to perpetuate their criminal acts unabated. If this criminality is not urgently addressed, there will be an imminent present danger to our food security in the country. Any deferment by the security agencies to abridge the continuous horror and inhumanity will result in an enormous loss of lives, destruction of properties and immobilise the Socio-Economic and Educational activities of various communities, he said. Mr Soli said the country is battling to contain the dangerous community infection rate of COVID-19. He added that with the persistent attacks by criminals on farming communities across the country, especially in the North-West and North Central, may result in serious food shortage. He said about 500 Primary Schools and 2000 communities were completely destroyed across the country as a result of these incessant kidnappings, killings and armed banditry attacks. He said the criminals are armed to the teeth with weapons supplied by gun-runners living in cosmopolitan cities across the country. Gudaji Kazaure (APC-Jigawa) said banditry had caused more havoc in the country than COVID-19. He said if the government could give such attention to COVID-19, why have we not seen the same attention directed to banditry. The lawmaker said the bandits come out in their hundreds and operate for hours without any intervention from security personnel. READ ALSO: He said if this is allowed to continue, there would be food shortages and people might resort to self-help which would lead to a total breakdown flaw and order. Mr Kazaure said it was embarrassing for a sitting governor to be negotiating with bandits because security agencies had failed in their duties. He said the primary function of government is the protection of lives and properties and government must raise up to its responsibilities. Victor Mela (APC-Gombe) threatened to resign from the House if nothing would be done to address the security situation within the next two months. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, said Mr Mela was very important and the house would not want to lose him. Advertisements He said the leadership of the House would continue to engage all security agencies on a monthly basis on the progress being made until normalcy is restored. (NAN) Anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans is taking a 'break' from Instagram after a string of controversial posts. The 47-year-old celebrity chef announced on Thursday he won't be posting anything after his controversial 60 Minutes interview airs on Sunday. 'Sending love to you all. I am going to be taking a break on this platform for a while as we have some exiting new projects that need my full and undivided attention,' he explained. Good riddance: Anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans is taking a 'break' from Instagram after a string of controversial posts 'I will be posting the full 60 Minutes interview we recorded on Sunday night for you too,' he added. 'In the meantime, we have hundreds and hundreds of recipes on these pages if you scroll down.' He included an illustration by renowned Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig, which depicted a man being turned away from 'The Great Important Conversation'. Taking a break: The 47-year-old celebrity chef announced on Thursday he won't be posting anything after his controversial 60 Minutes interview airs on Sunday Pete has faced condemnation for his recent Instagram posts, but despite the backlash, he has stood by his controversial opinions. On Tuesday, he drew criticism from his fans when he shared a video of President Donald Trump saying he would use force to 'take back the streets' in the wake of America's race riots and protests. He captioned the video with a red love heart emoji, despite Trump facing widespread condemnation for his handling of the protests. 'I will be posting the full 60 Minutes interview we recorded on Sunday night for you too,' he told his followers 'I have no respect left for you Pete! How can you agree with him when black people don't have the same rights?' one person commented. 'How can anyone support Trump! He's clearly incompetent in COVID-19, contributed to such division in the States and gives tax breaks to the very rich while the poor get poorer,' another wrote. The outspoken chef has used his page to share posts in support of Trump in the past. Dangerous views: Pete has faced condemnation for his recent Instagram posts, but despite the backlash, he has stood by his controversial opinions In a separate Instagram post on Tuesday, Pete thanked his supporters and said he intends to use his platform to 'challenge' people. 'Thank you to everyone for sharing your comments. I will be sharing with you a lot more recipes, information, and news stories that may challenge your long held beliefs or perhaps reinforce them, wherever you are in your journey,' he wrote. The former My Kitchen Rules judge has raised eyebrows recently with his controversial and unfounded opinions about the coronavirus pandemic. Backlash: On Tuesday, he drew criticism from his fans when he shared a video of President Donald Trump saying he would use force to 'take back the streets' in the wake of America's race riots and protests Conversation starter: In a separate Instagram post on Tuesday, Pete thanked his supporters and said he intends to use his platform to 'challenge' people In April, he was fined $25,200 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for promoting a 'healing lamp' he claimed could help treat COVID-19. He has also voiced his opinions on a potential coronavirus vaccine - saying people shouldn't have to get it - and has argued that aged care workers and visitors should not be forced to get the flu shot. On Wednesday, he shared a meme stating that the riots across the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd are part of a media conspiracy staged by 'the elite' to distract citizens from the coronavirus pandemic. Pete was released from his contract with Channel Seven in early May and will no longer appear as a judge on MKR after nine years in the role. Advertisement There were no arrests made or damage caused in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night, Police Chief Newsham confirmed, as the sixth day of protests in the nation's capital remained peaceful. The night was marked with a heavy military presence as thousands of National Guard soldiers lined the streets and guarded national monuments to prevent further violence after tense clashes earlier in the week. Soldiers continued to stand their ground throughout the night and into Thursday morning outside the White House and the Lincoln Memorial but there were no altercations reported between protesters and law enforcement as the sun rose and curfew lifted at 6am. The streets around the White House remained quiet early on Thursday morning apart from stragglers from the protests who were seen confronting soldiers as the sun rose. The quieter scenes came as three generals condemned Trump for calling on the military to join the the National Guard in combatting the protests. A man confronts a soldier outside the White House at sunrise on Thursday morning. Many of the protesters left around 3am after a night marked with a heavy military presence that cut off demonstrators' access to Lafayette Square Members of the DC National Guard gear-up after a short rest from standing guard at the Lincoln Memorial Thursday. The city remained quit early on Thursday morning after a week of tense clashes but military continued to stand guard outside the city's most famous landmarks. The seventh day of protests begins Thursday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial A soldier keeps watch at the Lincoln Memorial as thousands of peaceful demonstrators were met with a huge military presence Wednesday following a week of tenses clashes in the capital Workers appeared Thursday morning after sunrise in Washington D.C. to clean graffiti after the sixth night of protests in the city that saw a heavy presence from law enforcement Hundreds of demonstrators stayed as close to the White House as they could get as the 11pm curfew approached and continued to chant until the early hours of Thursday morning Army General Mark Milley, former Defense Secretary James Mattis and retired Marine Corp four-star General John Allen all criticized the president publicly for the move. The generals won out on Thursday afternoon when soldiers with the 82nd Airborne division of the Army were ordered out of Washington, D.C. and back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina Thousands of protesters continued to turn out Wednesday despite the heavy military presence and a curfew for 11pm. The crowds thinned out as night fell but hundreds remained. The protests had a lighter feel to previous nights, however, as the crowds looked to deter those causing trouble. As the curfew approached, protesters took a knee and continued to chant until around 3am Thursday morning. There were no major incidents between protesters and law enforcement in much quieter scenes than had played out on Sunday and Monday night. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has now lifted the curfew for Thursday night, according to WUSA. Military police and law enforcement officers who are currently lining the streets came from a variety of federal agencies but the increased presence of U.S. military and federal law enforcement as caused concern for some. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called in 'alarming' and called on President Donald Trump to disclose the agencies operating in the city. It followed the news that agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration may have been granted the ability by Barr to 'conduct covert surveillance' and make arrests. 'We are concerned about the increased militarization and lack of clarity that may increase chaos,' Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump. 'Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital.' Her calls were echoed by Mayor Bowser who on Thursday called for the withdrawal from the U.S. capital of military units sent from outside the city. 'We want troops from out of state out of Washington D.C.,' she told a news conference. Bowser said she had authorized the deployment of D.C. National Guard units as part of her response to the coronavirus pandemic, but did not request other military units. The city's police chief, Peter Newsham, asked 'federal partners' to help with traffic, she said. 'There are other federal assets we did not request that we understand are under the direction' of U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Scores of heavily-armed federal officers in tactical gear have been on the district's streets for days, after demonstrators set fires, broke store windows and stole items from the shelves and left police officers injured. The Trump administration has made an effort to show a use of force in Washington. Mayor Bowser said the administration had floated the idea of taking over the Metropolitan Police Department, a proposal she strongly rejected. She threatened to take legal action if the federal government attempted to do so. It came as Attorney General Bill Barr held a press conference to address the concerns. Throughout the conference Barr focused on the violence in earlier protests as justification for the deployment of federal agents and his authorization of the use of non-lethal force against crowds in front of the White House on Monday. 'Our free society depends on the rule of law, that ordinary citizens can go about their lives without being subject to arbitrary violence and fear,' Barr said. 'When the rule of law breaks down, the promise of America does also.' Barr added that they had evidence of 'foreign actors' taking part in the violence. 'We have evidence that Antifa and other similar extremist groups as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity. We are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides,' he claimed. Members of the D.C. National Guard gear-up after a short rest from standing guard at the Lincoln Memorial Thursday on what will be the seventh day of protests in DC over the death of George Floyd. Demonstrations remained peaceful Wednesday A man yells at soldiers at sunrise outside the White House on Thursday morning. The protests in D.C. remained peaceful throughout Wednesday and Wednesday night Members of the DC National Guard remained on guard outside the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday after keeping watch through the night despite an easing of tensions between demonstrators and law enforcement The streets close to the White House remained quiet of protesters on Thursday morning as workers came to clean from the aftermath of the protests the night before For the first time Wednesday, protesters could not approach Lafayette Square, the two-block long stretch in front of the White House. The park was the place where agents used pepper spray and other chemical agents, along with rubber bullets and police on horseback to clear the streets around the White House on Monday so Trump could walk to St. John's Church for a photo-op. Military vehicles had laid out roadblocks in a one-block perimeter in all directions around the park and new fencing has now been put in place. Mayor Bowser also criticized the new fencing and voiced concerns that some of the changes made may not be temporary. 'I'm one of those people who grew up in Washington D.C. and has been very accustomed to being able to have access to all of our federal facilities,' she said in a press conference Thursday. 'I'm also concerned that some of the hardening that they're doing may be not just temporary. 'Keep in mind that's the People's House. It's a sad commentary that the house and its inhabitants have to be walled off.' On Wednesday night, the new barriers caused protesters to spread out to different locations, including Trump's downtown hotel. Others gathered at the Capitol where in charge of protecting Congress took a knee as protesters shouted slogans, similar to other scenes that have played out across the nation. A senior Defense official said at least 2,200 Guard members were on D.C. streets Wednesday, according to NBC. President's Trump's decision to call on the military to join the National Guard in response to the protests was criticized by three U.S. generals, however. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff put himself at odds with Donald Trump Thursday in a memo telling troops to 'defend the Constitution' and saying the National Guard was not under federal control - as retired generals including Jim Mattis denounced the president's handling of the George Floyd protests. Army General Mark Milley said in a letter to top military leaders that armed forces will continue to protect Americans' right to 'freedom of speech and peaceful assembly,' as the president has called in troops to defend Washington, D.C. 'We all committed our lives to the idea that is America,' Milley hand-wrote in as an addition to the bottom of the letter. 'We will stay true to that and the American people.' Utah National Guard soldiers stand on a police line as demonstrators gathered to protest the death of George Floyd in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night Democratic Senators pause for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on Capitol Hill in Washington It followed a slew of backlash from other military leaders. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis issued his first ever open criticism of his former boss in an opinion piece published in The Atlantic on Wednesday. 'Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,' Mattis said in a rare quip against the president. Retired Marine Corp four-star General John Allen also lashed out at Trump in an op-ed Wednesday claiming his actions in the midst of violent nationwide riots over the death of George Floyd are 'shameful.' The generals' criticism won out on Thursday afternoon when it was announced that hundreds of combat soldiers with the 82nd Airborne were ordered to leave D.C. that night. The troops spent a week at bases near the city on standby as peaceful protests turned violent in the nations capital with instances of looting, arson and destruction but they were never called into D.C. to respond to the civil unrest. While the capital is under federal control, the removal of hundreds of combat troops was a highly-visible sign that Trump had been forced into retreat on his threat to deploy soldiers under his control in protest-hit cities. Protests were set to continue Thursday starting with a Black Lives Matter-led die-in at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Demonstrators will lie on the ground for over eight minutes, the amount of time Floyd was pinned by Chauvin, NBC reports. The new fence blocking off the White House a block further down than usual also remains in place and had been reinforced despite a much quieter morning. Workers also came out as day broke to clean the streets from the aftermath with more protesters expected to return for a seventh day of demonstrations. On Capitol Hill in an act of solidarity, Democratic Senators on Thursday paused and knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time that Floyd was shown being restrained with a knee on his neck by white cop Derek Chavin. The four officers involved have now been charged. The country's ninth night of protests over the death of George Floyd came to a relatively peaceful end on Wednesday as crowds in several cities dispersed without aggressive intervention from police enforcing curfews. The device, which looks like a thick, rubbery Band-Aid and attaches to the neck with adhesive, collects around-the-clock data on coughs, temperature and breathing, said John Rogers, the biomedical engineering professor leading the project in partnership with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where patients have been participating in a trial that started two and a half weeks ago. So far, scientists have collected about 3,000 hours of data from roughly two dozen COVID-19 patients. A somber Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday announced that Connecticuts death toll in the coronavirus pandemic has topped 4,000. I remember a few months ago when the surgeon general came to our state and thought it might be like a bad flu season, which, say, is 150 fatalities, Lamont said during his daily news briefing from the state Capitol. The good news, I guess, if there is anything thats good news, again, our positivity rate is low. Thats 148 tested positive out of 5,000 tests. Thats less than 3 percent. Its been less than five percent for a week, so I think you see were making progress there. Eighteen new fatalities brought the statewide total to 4,007. A net decline of 33 hospitalizations brings the total patients to 373, which is lower than the March 29 hospitalizations, and about 75 percent off the peak of 1,972 patients on April 22. The first fatality occurred on March 17. On Wednesday, 17 deaths brought the total to 3,989. In nursing homes and assisted living centers combined, the total number of deaths as of Wednesday was 2,879, or 71 percent of the overall state total, the same percentage as one week earlier. Nursing home and assisted living deaths continued to decline, with 154 in the week ending Wednesday down from 229 the prior week and 293 the week before that. Deaths outside of nursing homes totaled 27 in the week ending Wednesday, following weeks with a total of 111 and 68. There are now 43,239 people who have tested positive for COVID-19. That includes 8,517 cases in nursing homes and 1,041 in assisted living. Lamont continued to ask that people who feel sick, or in higher-risk groups, including people who live in congregate housing and the states cities, take advantage of the free testing available. Lamont said he is worried that people get casual and forget social distancing guidelines, including six-foot distances and the wearing of masks in public. Were having to urge people to get tested, he said. I see the flareup in Charlotte, I see the flare-ups in Phoenix, Arizona. I see whats going on around the country, along with South Korea. Israel just had to close down their schools, which is why were being so careful as we reopen. Columnist Dan Haar contributed to this story. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (formerly Torino Power Solutions Inc.) (CSE: TPS) (the "Company" or "Torino Power") is pleased to announce that its reverse take-over (the "RTO") by KABN Systems North America Inc. ("KABN North America") has been completed. The RTO was approved by shareholders of the Company on March 31, 2020 and is a "fundamental change" for the Company within the meaning of applicable policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. In connection with the RTO, effective June 3, 2020 the Company changed its name to KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. and consolidated its shares on a 10 for 1 basis (the "Consolidation"). The RTO was structured as an amalgamation of KABN North America and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company whereby the shareholders of KABN North America received post-Consolidation common shares of the Company in exchange for their common shares of KABN North America ("KABN Shares"). In accordance with the terms of the RTO, the Company issued a total of 59,777,942 post-Consolidation common shares to the shareholders of KABN North America in exchange for all of the outstanding KABN Shares based on a share exchange ratio of one post-Consolidation common share of the Company for each KABN Share. As part of the RTO, the Company assumed the obligation to issue common shares on the exercise of 13,799,968 warrants of KABN North America, 4,350,000 KABN North America options, and under certain other agreements and instruments. Further details can be found in the Company's listing statement that will be available on SEDAR. The Company also announces that on June 1, 2020, KABN North America completed its second tranche of its private placement financing of units of KABN North America (the "Units") in connection with the RTO for additional gross proceeds of approximately $1,231,600. Each Unit was priced at $0.15 CDN and consisted of (a) one common share in the share capital of KABN North America and (b) one-half (1/2) KABN North America common share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant having an exercise price of $0.20 for a period of 18 months from the date of issue. Aggregate gross proceeds of $2.2 million were raised by KABN North America in connection with the RTO. Story continues Exchanges of Shares Registered shareholders of the Company will receive a letter of transmittal from the Company's transfer agent, Odyssey Trust Company, describing the process by which shareholders may obtain new certificates or DRS Advices representing their post-Consolidation common shares. Shares held in uncertificated form by shareholders through brokerage accounts will be converted through each shareholder's brokerage account, and shareholders are not required to take any action to surrender for exchange common shares held in this way. Until surrendered, each certificate or DRS Advice representing common shares prior to the Consolidation will be deemed for all purposes to represent the number of whole common shares to which the holder thereof is entitled as a result of the Consolidation. Notwithstanding the letter of transmittal for KABN North America shareholders referred to in the management information circular of the Company dated February 24, 2020, the Company has determined to distribute the post-Consolidation common shares to be issued in the RTO by way of a direct "push-out" from the Company's transfer agent. Outstanding Shares Following the closing of the RTO, the Company has, assuming no rounding as a result of the Consolidation, a total of 65,750,240 common shares issued and outstanding, and has reserved for issuance 19,579,367 common shares issuable pursuant to warrants, incentive stock options and other agreements and instruments. Further details can be found in the Company's listing statement that will be available on SEDAR. An aggregate of 27,425,000 common shares and 662,500 warrants held by Principals of the Company are, to the extent required under National Policy 46-201, subject to escrow and such shares will be released from escrow as follows: ten percent (10%) of the escrowed shares will be released from escrow on the date of listing and an additional fifteen percent (15%) will be released every 6 months thereafter. The Resulting Issuer The Company is now operating through KABN North America, a Canadian FinTech company that specializes in continuous online Identity Verification, Identity Management and Monetization and is currently in development to launch a digital banking and financial services platform. It is developing a financial services platform in North America (the "KABN NA Platform") that consists of: KABN ID : a reusable, Always On , compliant, biometrically-based, identity verification and validation platform that forms the engine of the KABN Network. LIQUID AVATAR: a digital image-based "wallet and keyring" platform that allows users to manage their digital identity. KABN's Visa Card : an approved prepaid Visa card that includes a Mobile Banking Wallet that supports both digital and traditional currencies. KABN KASH: a robust loyalty and engagement platform with cashback and card-linked programs. KABN North America is the exclusive licensee in Canada and the United States of America of the intellectual property (the "Licensed IP") that is comprised in the KABN ID, KABN Card and KABN KASH programs. KABN North America's key shareholders are KABN (Gibraltar) Limited and Crypto KABN Holdings Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which are the licensors of the Licensed IP. Liquid Avatar is a KABN (Gibraltar) Limited program and the terms of its use will be included as a new product under the current exclusive license with KABN North America. Management and Board of the Resulting Issuer As a result of the completion of the RTO the persons below are now directors and executive officers of the Resulting Issuer: Benjamin Kessler - Director, Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kessler has over 20 years of account management, business development, marketing and partnership experience in the financial services sector. Mr. Kessler is currently Chief Executive Officer and a director of KABN North America, as well as Chief Executive Officer of KABN (Gibraltar) Limited. Most recently, Mr. Kessler served as Managing Director, Payments Solution Group - Banc of California from January 2016 to 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Kessler served as Vice President, Global Account Management at Earthport North America TLC from 2013 to 2015. Mr. Kessler has also served as Vice President, Emerging Verticals at Mastercard Worldwide from 2006 to 2011. Mr. Kessler has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University and a Master of Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of Management. David Lucatch - Director, President Mr. Lucatch has more than 30 years inventing technology and business solutions in the international marketing arena and over 20 years of that developing and taking to market internet and mobile based platforms. Mr. Lucatch has held senior management posts and directorships at both private and public media and technology firms and is currently President and a director of KABN North America. Mr. Lucatch has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in commerce and economics from the University of Toronto. Bryan Loree - Chief Financial Officer Mr. Loree is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Loree holds a Certified Management Accountant designation, a Financial Management Diploma from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and a BA from Simon Fraser University. Mr. Loree has held various senior accounting roles for public and private companies in various industries including, renewable energy, exploration, and construction. Michael Konikoff - Chief Revenue Officer Mr. Konikoff has over 25 years of marketing, loyalty and partnerships experience. Prior to his position with KABN as Chief Revenue Officer, Mr. Konikoff held such positions as Head of Marketing for the Toronto Parking Authority, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Engage People and Senior Vice President at Fairlane Group. Lynn Cumiskey - Chief Compliance Officer Ms. Cumiskey is Chief Compliance Officer for both KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. and KABN (Gibraltar) Limited. Ms. Cumiskey has an extensive background working in the technology arena with securities and corporate counsel, auditors, regulators and investment brokers and dealers, having previously held positions in both public and private firms (Canada / US / Europe) over a 20+ year career, most recently as a Vice President of Corporate Operations for an Artificial Intelligence based language translation company. Houssam (Sam) Kawtharani - Director Mr. Kawtharani is a director of KABN North America and the co-founder of Corl Financial Technologies Inc., a fintech that offers data-driven growth capital to startups. Prior to co-founding Corl Financial Technologies Inc. Mr. Kawtharani was the Head of Product at IOU Financial Inc., a publicly-listed online lender (TSX:IOU), where he supported the company in originating over $500 million in loans across the United States of America and Canada through continuous product development and innovation Mr. Kawtharani is also the founder and director of Sam Kay Consultancy Inc. o/a FinBlox Labs, a fintech and blockchain advisory services firm for startups, enterprises and financial institutions. Mr. Kawtharani is also currently an advisor at KABN, AuBit International, EzyStayz Holiday Rentals Pty Ltd., OmniPsarx PBC and Trusted Inc. Holdings Limited. Mr. Kawtharani has a Bachelor of Science in computer science and business administration from the American University of Beirut and a Masters in Engineering from Concordia University. J. Patrick Mesina - Director Mr. Mesina is currently a director of the Company, KABN North America and Cortland Credit Group Inc., as well as a director and audit committee member of TSX Venture Exchange-listed Brockton Ventures Inc. Mr. Mesina presently works as a director with a Canadian based institutional investment firm, Cortland Credit Group Inc. Mr. Mesina had served as Vice President with a Toronto based institutional investment firm AIP Private Capital Inc. from March 2012 to September 2017. Since September 2017 he has been a consultant for several companies, including Vive Crop Protection Inc. and Northern Lights Partners Inc. Mr. Mesina has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from the University of Toronto. Ravinder Mlait - Director Mr. Mlait has served as director of the Company since February 2015 and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since December 2015. From December 2013 to present, Mr. Mlait has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cannabix Technologies Inc., an early stage technology company listed on the CSE. Mr. Mlait has served as director and officer of Brockton Ventures Inc., a capital pool company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange since February 22, 2018. From June 2010 to present, Mr. Mlait has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Rockland Minerals Corp., a mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Mr. Mlait obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (Economics) from Simon Fraser University in 1999 and obtained his Masters of Business Administration from Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia in 2010. Re-Commencement of Trading Trading in the Company's shares was halted until all the requirements of the CSE have been met and the resumption of trading is approved by the CSE. The Company has delivered materials to the CSE. The Company expects that its common shares will resume trading on a post-Consolidation basis on the CSE under the symbol "KABN" on or before June 10, 2020. For further information, please contact: Benjamin Kessler Chief Executive Officer 647-725-7742 Ext. 700 ir@kabnsystemsna.com The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities under the KABN Financing 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. Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the 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 may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, information concerning the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are 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 information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with extensive government regulation. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. Not for distribution to United States 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/57306 Armenia has confirmed 697 COVID-19 new cases, bringing the total number to 11,221, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during an online broadcast on his Facebook page. "Yesterday, we recorded 697 new cases. This means that we have come close to the situation when our medical facilities are not able to accept new patients," he said. According to the PM, 6 patients died yesterday from COVID 19, and another 9 coronavirus-positive peoples deaths occurred for other reasons. Pashinyan said that the healthcare system is already struggling to cope with the situation and outlined the main problems. In his words, the insidiousness of the disease lies in the fact that about 75% of infected people tolerate it without symptoms and exacerbations, but among the remaining 25% there are people who need serious and intensive treatment. "If, for example, there are thousands of patients, our health care system is able to serve these 25%, but when the total number of infected people exceeds 10,000, everything becomes very complicated. We have reached the point where our health care system is already struggling to cope," ARKA cited the prime minister as saying. The main danger, he said, is asymptomatic patients. We know for sure that in the country now there are from 20 to 30 thousand asymptomatic infected people who do not know about their disease, but spread it. Such people are everywhere, so you need to treat everyone around as potentially infected and follow all the necessary protection rules," Pashinyan said. He recalled that from today, wearing masks outside becomes mandatory also outdoor. "I was convinced that the most effective method is the instrument of public control," Pashinyan said, recalling his statement yesterday about forming a team of anti-epidemiological public control. Pashinyan called on fellow citizens to join the general anti-epidemiological movement in order to curb the spread of infection. "Firstly, we must strictly comply with the anti-epidemiological measures, secondly, we must demand the same from others and thirdly, we must publish cases of violation of these rules in social networks. A monitoring group has already been created in the Police that will monitor signals from social networks," stressed the prime minister. In his words, special attention should be paid to crowded places - banks, post offices and government departments. Pashinyan also said that the commandants office has several scenarios, one of which will be implemented. The state of emergency, introduced in Armenia on March 16, 2020 and extended to May 14, is again extended until 17:00 on June 13 inclusive. According to the latest official report released Thursday morning, there are 11,221 confirmed COVID-19 infection cases, 176 deaths and 3,468 recovered patients in Armenia. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and her Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi / Korea Times file By Kang Seung-woo Fractious relations between Korea and Japan are likely to turn hostile as Seoul has taken countermeasures against Tokyo's export restrictions and refusal to comply with Korean court rulings regarding certain companies' use of Korean forced laborers, raising speculations that the Japanese government could respond with economic retaliation. According to the legal representatives for four Korean plaintiffs Wednesday, the Pohang branch of Daegu District Court in North Gyeongsang Province, Monday, made public a notification of the court's ruling made last year on seizing the Korean assets of Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. which benefitted from the use forced labor during WWII. The delivery of public notice will go into effect Aug. 4. In October 2018, the Supreme Court ordered the Japanese firm to pay 100 million won ($82,000) in compensation to four Koreans for their forced labor, but it refused to comply with the ruling and the plaintiffs requested an asset seizure, which was approved by the court in Pohang. Alongside the legal procedure, the Korean government, frustrated by the Japanese government's refusal to lift its trade curbs against the country, has decided to reopen a complaint filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Last July, the Shinzo Abe administration abruptly imposed export restrictions on Korea in an apparent retaliation for the forced labor rulings. In response, the Moon Jae-in government threatened to take the issue to the WTO and scrap a bilateral military intelligence-sharing agreement although both plans have been temporarily suspended after months of pressure from the U.S. government. Amid the intensifying diplomatic feud between the neighbors, the foreign ministers of both sides held a 40-minute phone conversation to bridge their differences over the issues, Wednesday, during which they did find that the two sides still remained far apart. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha expressed regret to her Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi over Japan's failure lift the export curbs, urging him to swiftly remove the restrictions. Motegi countered, saying that Korea's WTO decision would not be helpful to resolving the nations' differences. He also warned Kang that the assets should not be liquidated as this would lead to a serious situation. Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said, Thursday, the government would respond to the issue with every option on the table. Japan claims that the issue of compensation was settled in the 1965 state-to-state pact on normalizing diplomatic relations. According to Japanese media outlets, the Japanese government is reviewing its retaliatory measures in the event of the court-ordered liquidation of Japanese firms' assets such as seizing and liquidating assets of Korean companies there or imposing tariffs on Korean imports. Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said during a visit to Sanford on Wednesday afternoon that the state government is "pulling out all the stops" to help local people whose homes and businesses were destroyed and damaged by the flooding of the Tittabawassee River due to the breach of the Edenville Dam on May 19. Gilchrist spent about 45 minutes walking around the streets of Sanford with several local officials, viewing the devastation of the flood. He had visited Gladwin, also hard hit by the flood, earlier in the day. "We've been involved and engaged on a bipartisan basis to be sure the people of the state of Michigan have what we need to be able to get through this. We're pulling out all the stops here," Gilchrist said. Gilchrist's visit came a week after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer came to Sanford to see the effects of the flood. Gilchrist was joined by Sanford Village President Dolores Porte, Midland County Commissioners Jeanette Snyder and Mark Bone, Meridian Public Schools Superintendent Craig Carmoney and United Way of Midland County Executive Director Holly Miller, among others. "What I'm seeing here is unlike anything I've ever seen in our state," the lieutenant governor said. "Here at (Ellis Party) Store, we're seeing what five feet of mud and sludge can do to a 35-year-old business, an anchor in the community. And my understanding is that (this devastation) has been the case for all but a handful of businesses in the community. So we're looking at how to provide support." Porte said she was glad to see Gilchrist come to see the devastation in person. "(His visit) means we have the attention of people who can help," Porte said. "We rural people are kind of spread out. We need ... (them) to put boots on the ground and come (see) for themselves (what has happened)." Porte said a number of displaced Sanford residents are now living in campers or trailers until they can find a permanent place to live. "I'd love to see a national Habitat for Humanity group come in here (to help residents build houses)," she said. Snyder, who lives on Sanford Lake in Edenville and represents the Village of Sanford among other parts of Midland County, was also grateful for Gilchrist's presence. "I'm very thankful. We have good support from our state," Snyder said. "I see us all coming together, and I'm thankful (for that)." Gilchrist spoke with the owner of Ellis Party Store, as well as a volunteer working inside the heavily flooded J & D Plumbing and Heating, and with Mike Scott, a volunteer leading a large group of Samaritan's Purse volunteers clad in orange T-shirts who were working to clean up a flooded home. "Our message (as a state government) is that we're here. We want to come and understand and see for ourselves (what has happened to this community)," Gilchrist said. "We want to connect with people and business owners and families." He said that fixing infrastructure is also foremost on his mind in light of the failure of both the Edenville and Sanford dams during the flood, which also damaged or destroyed many roads and bridges. "We've got to make sure we can fix this infrastructure. The infrastructure that failed this community is something that we know needs to be invested in. This is just another indication of why we need to make these kinds of investments as a state." Gilchrist was asked if the Whitmer administration would reconsider its decision to assign the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to investigate the failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams. State Sen. Jim Stamas, State Rep. Annette Glenn, and Sarah Schulz, Glenn's Democratic challenger in the upcoming fall election who are all from Midland, which was also hard-hit by the flood have all called for a non-state agency to be assigned to the investigation instead of EGLE, which is being sued itself over the failure of the dams. "We know EGLE has the expertise in state government," Gilchrist replied, echoing an answer that Whitmer had given last week to the same question. "We need to have people who know what they're looking at and know what they're looking for, to be able to investigate this, and certainly we think they're going to be able to find what we need to understand so there can be accountability for the (dam) owners. "But I think if others have made other calls (for an independent investigator), we'll see how that plays out. But in the meantime, EGLE's getting to work on behalf of the people of this community and we're going to get to the bottom of this," Gilchrist concluded. The lieutenant governor is hopeful that federal money will be made available to help rebuild homes, businesses and infrastructure. "I wanted to be here to let people know that we we are on the job and we're doing everything we can to advocate and make sure the federal government is responsive to people on every level whether it's the governor's conversations with the president, my interactions with the vice-president or our interaction with FEMA. And I will say that FEMA Region 5 has been responsive to Michigan and I would expect that to continue," Gilchrist said. "We need every resource here to help the people of the state of Michigan," he added. "Just like people are stepping up (to help), government needs to step up as well." Horrifying footage shows the moment a driver plowed through a large crowd of peaceful George Floyd protesters in California, injuring three people. In the footage, hundreds of people are seen marching in Newport Beach as they protest the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Within a matter of moments, a white Mini Cooper is seen driving through the crowd as dozens frantically try and get to safety. Horrifying footage shows the moment a driver plowed through a large crowd of peaceful George Floyd protesters in California, injuring three people In the footage, hundreds of people are seen marching in Newport Beach as they protest the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. The car is seen driving through the crowd Several people are heard screaming at the driver who reportedly injured at least three protesters. None of them were seriously injured. One man is seen trying to run after the vehicle following the incident Several people are heard screaming at the driver who reportedly injured at least three protesters, according to CBS. None of them were seriously injured. A short time later, the man, who was identified as Newport Beach resident Don Wallace, was detained by Newport Beach police. Video of the arrest shows Wallace, who is in his 50s, handcuffed while sitting on the sidewalk surrounded by police. His Mini Cooper appeared to be damaged, likely from some of the protesters who chased him down and hurled objects at his vehicle. Wallace reportedly told his friend that he was being attacked by Antifa, short for anti-fascists, which prompted him to speed up, according to anchor, Elex Michaelson. 'Eyewitnesses we spoke with on the ground say there's no evidence of that,' Michaelson tweeted. A short time later, the man, who was identified as Newport Beach resident Don Wallace, was detained by Newport Beach police. Video of the arrest shows Wallace, who is in his 50s, handcuffed while sitting on the sidewalk (upper right) surrounded by police Wallace reportedly told his friend that he was being attacked by Antifa, short for anti-fascists, which prompted him to speed up Antifa is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations. Brandon Yamawaki, who witnessed the incident, told Fox 11: 'The rage on his face, he was determined to kill somebody. He went right through me.' Yamawaki said he was forced to through his bike 'in between me and the car before it hit me'. 'I looked to the right and he kept spinning down and there were three children right in the way,' Yamawaki added. According to Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill, Wallace was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Two Congress lawmakers in Gujarat have resigned ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from the state. Congress MLAs Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi on Wednesday and handed over their resignations. Trivedi told the reporters on Thursday that he has accepted their resignations. He said that the MLAs have resigned voluntarily. Patel represented Karjan seat of Vadodara, while Chaudhary had won from Kaprada seat of Valsad. Earlier on Wednesday, three Congress MLAs had met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, triggering speculations of defection, reported news agency PTI. PTI identified these MLAs as Kirit Patel, Lalit Vasoya and Lalit Kagathara. These lawmakers, however, refuted the rumours and claimed that they went to make a representation about various issues related to coronavirus and lockdown. The Rajya Sabha election for four seats in Gujarat has been scheduled on June 19. It was supposed to be held on March 26. However, it was eventually postponed for an indefinite period in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and subsequent imposition of nation-wide lockdown. While the Congress has fielded two candidates, BJP has fielded three, making it difficult for the Congress to win the second seat. In March, five Congress legislators had tendered their resignations days after the elections were announced. This had further reduced the Congresss chances of retaining both the seats. In the 182-member Assembly, BJP has 103 MLAs and the opposition Congress 68. Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu Constituency in the Northern Region, Hon A.B.A Fuseini, is confident President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo will not be given a second term. In an interview on Neat FM's Me Man Nti programme, he said Ghanaians are not impressed with what the ruling government has done so far and that in December, they will be shown the exit. "Ghanaians are already fed up with him and they will soon uproot him like cassava; nothing can bail him out," he opined. Bernard Mornah's invite Bernard Mornah, the National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) was on Tuesday invited to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana police service. The invitation follows some pronouncements he allegedly made against the Electoral Commission (EC) which some have described as treasonable. Reacting to this, the MP for Sagnarigu who joined other members of the NDC to show solidarity when the PNC chairman was invited, described the case as a 'useless' one. He said there was nothing wrong with utterances made by Mr Mornah and that he is in full support. "I fully support everything Bernard Mornah said . . . Bernard Mornah stands for a symbol of the revival of our democracy. Akufo-Addo is toying with our democracy . . . so I support what he said 100 percent. It's a useless case; they can't establish anything against him," the NDC MP stated. 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 If you've felt that 2020 has felt just like an episode of the dark Netflix series Black Mirror, you're not alone. A fake Black Mirror ad has been circulating in Madrid, claiming that season six of the show is happening right now - in real life. The ad (which Netflix has no involvement with) reads: "Black Mirror 6th Season. Live Now, everywhere". Bernard Wilson has written a childrens book about Mary Elmes, the Cork woman who helped to save hundreds of youngsters from Second World War concentration camps. Rowena Walsh reports It took Bernard Wilson seven years to unravel the mystery of Irelands answer to Oskar Schindler the Cork woman Mary Elmes. But helping to discover the extraordinary tale of this forgotten heroine has opened up an intriguing new chapter in his life. Marys story has led the former computer lecturer on a journey and is now known to many as the Quaker historian. It has also now prompted him to write his debut childrens book at the age of 87. Miss Mary is about the remarkable life of Mary Elmes from her birth in Cork in 1908 to her work in refugee and prisoner-of-war camps and how she helped to save hundreds of children from the Nazis. Although the subject matter is dark, he has achieved the remarkable feat of making the beautifully illustrated book accessible for those aged eight and older. A single email changed the course of his life. It was from Ronald Friend, an American professor, who wanted to learn more about Mary Elmes, the woman who had rescued him as a child from a Nazi camp in the French Pyrenees. Bernard and his wife, who live in Canterbury in Britain, had had a holiday home close to Perpignan for 20 years when he stumbled upon a book by Rosemary Bailey titled Love and War in the Pyrenees. Through it, he discovered that there had been camps throughout the area during the Second World War. After reading a blog by Bernard on these camps, Ronald contacted him. Together, they researched Marys story using the archives, including those of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker institution. Bernard was able to find out about Marys family through some of his French colleagues. Her children, Caroline and Patrick, knew of her work helping those in need during the Spanish civil war. But they were astounded to discover how she had helped save the lives of so many children in the Second World War. Mary Elmes -center- and Alice Resch photographed with another man, fellow heroes who helped rescue Jewish children from occupied France. Photo by: afsc.org It was a very moving experience for all of us to have this wonderful story gradually emerging, says Bernard. His original mission was to get the evidence Ronald needed to send to Jerusalem to get Mary, who died in 2002, declared Righteous Among the Nations. This is an honour bestowed by Israel on non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. They succeeded in 2013. Mary is the only Irish person to receive the award. Intrigued by her story, Bernard wanted to learn more about Marys life. He cooperated with Irish author Clodagh Finn who wrote a critically acclaimed biography of Mary Elmes, A Time to Risk All. SPANISH REFUGEES Mary was born in Ballintemple, Co Cork, and studied French and Spanish at Trinity College Dublin. She won a scholarship to the London School of Economics and later volunteered to help refugees during the Spanish civil war. Although neither a Quaker nor a medical professional, she ran the American Quakers hospital in Alicante. She came home to Cork after that conflict, but then she heard about the half-million Spanish people who crossed the Pyrenees and were trapped on the beaches of France surrounded by sea on one side and barbed wire on the other. This prompted her to go to Perpignan, where, again working with the Quakers, she helped the Spanish refugees in the camps where they were interned. Mary Elmes in the 1940s. As the Second World War broke out, she became involved with refugees of all nationalities. The Vichy regime had opened a camp at Rivesaltes, close to Perpignan, where Jews were being held prisoner. By 1942, Mary knew these prisoners were in grave danger of being deported to their death. She put her own life at risk to help children and adults escape. She smuggled children out in the boot of her car and succeeded in getting a number of adults off the convoys going to the Nazi death camps. Although she was imprisoned for six months by the Gestapo, she would later shrug this off with characteristic modesty, saying well, we all suffered some inconveniences in those days, didnt we? when the war was over, she married Frenchman Robert Danjou and they settled in Perpignan. She never spoke of her part in the conflict, even turning down the French governments highest honour, the Legion dHonneur. CHILDREN'S STORY In Miss Mary, Bernard tells the story of people and particularly children that Mary Elmes helped. The first chapter is about a letter a young girl named Francine wrote to Mary to thank her for the food that she was bringing to their school. Bernard hopes children can learn an openness of mind and a love for people from Marys story. Mary in her flat in Perpignan Miss Mary has been praised by childrens author Sarah Webb who describes it as inspiring and important What makes this book stand out is the use of real childrens voices from letters and interviews to tell the tale. For Bernard, who was born in 1933, the stories of those Mary helped have real resonance. It could easily have been me if Id been Spanish or Jewish. It wasnt just a matter of ancient history, it all happened in my lifetime. He has drawn parallels between Marys work and the current crisis surrounding refugees, and he hopes that our experience of the Covid-19 pandemic will change attitudes. A great grandfather, Bernard says that he has found lockdown hard, missing his family. When youre 87, you know you havent got long to go. You cant even afford a few months lost because you dont know. But he takes solace in his passion for history. He is already planning a second book about Mary, this time aimed at teenagers. I know people my age who say that theyve got nothing to do since they retired. Im so lucky, Ive got so much to do. Miss Mary, by Bernard Wilson, illustrated by Julia Castano, Gill Books, 8.99 Two Nine journalists have been attacked in London clashes. Europe correspondent Ben Avery was ambushed by crowds while on-air, reporting on protests happening in London on Thursday morning. While speaking to Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon on Today just after 5.30am, Avery and his camera operator Cade Thompson were grabbed by angry crowds and forced to flee. #BREAKING: Nine News Europe Correspondent @benavery9 has had to abandon his coverage as protesters clash with police in London. #9News pic.twitter.com/xL3x7ACdvj 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) June 3, 2020 He later said, It felt like there was a police officer for every single protester there at that stage but it didnt make much difference. They were just so angry and they were so after us at that stage that even one of police said to me there is not much they could do. Yesterday another of Nines Europe correspondents, Sophie Walsh, was attacked by a man making motions to stab her during her live cross to 9News Adelaides Brenton Ragless . The man approached her and yelled the words Allah Akbar. Walsh screamed out as he grabbed her. Nine's Europe Correspondent Sophie Walsh has been assaulted live on air while covering upcoming protests from London. @sophie_walsh9 #9News pic.twitter.com/C7Oin84kiy 9News Perth (@9NewsPerth) June 3, 2020 The man was then chased and detained by Nines camera operator, Jason Conduit, and other bystanders at the scene until police arrived. It is unclear whether the man was armed with a screwdriver, however he has since been arrested for threats to kill and possession an offensive weapon. Walsh was shaken by the incident, but is unharmed. Earlier this week Sunrises Amelia Brace and her cameraman Tim Myers were assaulted by riot police during a live cross from outside the White House in Washington, D.C. Source: Nine News Footage of heavily-armed riot cops in Washington DC attacking two Australian journalists on live television has provoked shock and anger, providing a graphic expression of the state violence being deployed against mass demonstrations in the US over the police murder of George Floyd. The incident took place on Tuesday morning, Australian time, as US police repeatedly charged a peaceful protest near the White House in Washington. The police riot was directly orchestrated by the Trump administration. It coincided with Trumps declaration that he would illegally deploy the military against protesters, in what amounted to a coup detat against the American Constitution. The demonstration was being cleared so that Trump could walk the streets with hundreds of security personnel, before posing menacingly outside St Johns Church with a bible in hand. Myers being punched by a US police officer (Screenshot, Twitter) The two media workers, Channel 7s US correspondent Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers, were doing a live cross to the Sunrise breakfast program, which is frequently viewed by half a million people or more around Australia. Brace, clearly out of breath, explained that they had already been forced to run a block away from charging police. When the cross began, the cops were again lining up along the street with batons and shields raised. Within seconds, they charged the protesters, who began fleeing. Brace and Myers were sheltering just off the footpath. As the police stampeded forward, an officer turned to the crouching reporters, battering Myers with a shield before punching him in the face. Brace screamed that they were media. The two were allowed to retreat, but as they did, another officer smashed his baton against Braces back. The Sunrise anchors were visibly shocked that their colleagues had been attacked on live TV. After they regrouped, Brace stated: You heard us there yell that we were media, but they dont care. They are being indiscriminate... They do not care who theyre targeting at the moment. She later revealed that herself and Myers had been hit with rubber bullets earlier in the day. In addition to the mass live audience, the Sunrise segment has been viewed by over eight million people on Twitter. The incident was one of series over the past week in which US police have attacked journalists and media workers, as part of a deliberate onslaught against First Amendment protections of press freedom. On Saturday, the WSWS noted some of the assaults that had occurred over the previous days: MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting live in Minneapolis. In Louisville, a local TV reporter and her cameraman were targeted and shot with pepper balls during protests Friday. A freelance photojournalist in Minneapolis was permanently blinded in her left eye after being shot by the police with a rubber bullet. The response from the Australian political and media establishment has been decidedly muted. Had Brace and Myers been assaulted by police in a country such as China or Iran, the official reaction would have been very different. Calls would likely have been raised for a high-level government apology; demands would be issued for retaliatory action against diplomats; sanctions would be threatened and the media would be full of stories about an authoritarian regime attacking our values of press freedom and democracy. Because the US is the Australian ruling elites most significant military ally, and the guarantor of its own predatory operations in the Pacific, nothing of the sort has taken place. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has closely identified himself with Trump, quietly asked the Australian Embassy in the US to investigate the circumstances around the footage, as though there is any doubt about what occurred. Morrison, whose government has refused to condemn the state violence deployed by the US administration, had a private phone conversation with Trump shortly after his unprecedented attack on the US Constitution. The contents of the discussion are not known, including whether Morrison explicitly endorsed Trumps effective coup. Ensuring that nothing obstructs the US-Australian military alliance, however, was undoubtedly among the topics covered. It appears that Morrison did not even mention the attack on the Australian journalists, with media reports improbably suggesting that, unlike millions of Australians, he was unaware of it at the time. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the Australian government, with the full support of the Labor opposition, has intensified its role as a US attack-dog in its protracted diplomatic, economic and military campaign against China that threatens war in the Asia-Pacific. Morrison and government ministers have echoed US condemnations of the World Health Organisation and spearheaded calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. At the same time the Trump administration was peddling extreme right-wing conspiracy theories that the pandemic was the result of a Chinese plot. US ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse Jr. released a statement on Wednesday, as footage of the assault on the journalists continued to widely circulate online. Issued on behalf of a government overseeing a nationwide police rampage against peaceful protesters, reporters and even random bystanders, it proclaimed democracy and press freedom as right[s] Australians and Americans hold dear, while vaguely stating that we take mistreatment of journalists seriously. Culverhouse had the gall to quote similar weasel-words, delivered by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on 2019s World Press Freedom day. Pompeo, viewed internationally as a thug and a bully, had only recently orchestrated the illegal expulsion of Julian Assange from Ecuadors London embassy and the issuing of 17 US Espionage Act charges against the publisher. Pompeo has played a leading role in the attempt to destroy Assange over WikiLeaks exposure of US war crimes, and is directly responsible for the attempt to extradite him from Britain to the US and lock him up forever in a CIA prison. The hypocrisy from the Australian political establishment is no less blatant. Federal Labor opposition leader Anthony Albanese branded the attack on the Channel 7 journalists as unacceptable, declaring that in a democratic society, the role of the media is critical. His party, however, began Australias collaboration in the US-led vendetta against Assange, despite the fact that he is an Australian journalist and publisher. The campaign against the WikiLeaks founder has formed the spearhead of a broader assault on press freedom. The government last year oversaw federal police raids on the Sydney headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the home of News Corp political editor Annika Smethurst. The unprecedented police operations, accompanied by threats of criminal prosecution, were over stories exposing Australian war crimes in Afghanistan and plans for expanded domestic spying. Labor had previously joined with the Liberal-National government in 2018, passing draconian foreign interference laws, making it a criminal offence for journalists to even receive classified information and extending jail terms for whistleblowers. The assault on democratic rights, paralleling events in the US and internationally, is in preparation for the repression of social and political struggles by the working class. The Australian establishment has reacted with nervousness to the upheavals in the US. Morrison has declared that there is no need to import the mass protest movement against police violence and Albanese has called for unity and an end to division. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of workers and young people have indicated they will take part in protests this weekend in solidarity with the US demonstrations, and opposing state attacks on Australian Aborigines. New York Times employees on Wednesday posted en masse on social media saying that the editorial board's decision to run an op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) calling to "Send In the Troops," put black Times' staff members in danger. What he's saying: Cotton wrote that the U.S. military should be sent to cities across the country to address protests following the death of George Floyd, saying, "One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers." President Trump has backed Cotton's proposal to send in troops "if local law enforcement is overwhelmed." The state of play: The Times' staff social media posts appeared to be a coordinated effort, publishing simultaneously and including variations of the line: "running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger" alongside a photo of Cotton's headline. Reporters from other publications have joined in posting criticisms of the Times' editorial board's decision. A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. Our thought bubble via Axios' Sara Fischer: The New York Times faces unique criticism when it publishes some op-eds authored by right-wing or right-of-center opinion columnists, with examples including Bret Stephens. Meghan Markle has paid a moving tribute to George Floyd, the unarmed black man whose death in police custody sparked nationwide protests, as she reflected on her own memories of racism when growing up in Los Angeles. The wife of Prince Harry admitted she had been nervous to break her silence on the demonstrations sweeping the United States, but said in a video message she "realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing." "George Floyd's life mattered," said Markle, whose mother is black, before listing the names of other African Americans killed by police, and expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Floyd's death on May 25 in Minneapolis -- a policeman knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes -- has touched off the most serious civil unrest in America since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. Los Angeles, where Markle now lives with the prince and their son Archie after quitting the British royal family, has been a focus of the marches, with 10,000 protesters flooding the streets of downtown on Wednesday alone. In the video, Markle described the scenes in Los Angeles as "devastating." The 38-year-old also recalled deadly rioting that broke out in the city in 1992 after four white policemen were acquitted of charges of brutality after "a senseless act of racism" -- the beating of black motorist Rodney King. The unrest spread nationwide and left 59 people dead. "I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings," said Markle. Though not referred to in her video, the specter of racism also followed Markle upon moving to the United Kingdom, where she had a fraught relationship with the nation's press -- some of which was accused by the couple's supporters of prejudiced reporting. One Daily Mail headline from 2016 -- before the couple married -- wrote: "Harry's girl is (almost) straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed -- so will he be dropping by for tea?" A BBC radio presenter was fired in May of last year for posting a tweet that showed an image of the couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes, following the birth of their son, Archie. The caption read, "Royal Baby leaves hospital." - 'Needs of others' - In her message played at a "virtual graduation" late Wednesday for the Los Angeles high school she attended, Markle also named black victims such as Breonna Taylor, a medical worker shot in her apartment in March in Kentucky. The short life of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy shot while playing with a toy gun in 2014 in Ohio, also "mattered," Markle said, "and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know." Markle recalled a teacher at Immaculate Heart High School who left a lasting impression on her, telling her to "always remember to put others' needs above your own fears." "I've thought about it more in the last week than ever before," she said. Markle and Harry have spoken of their desire to "to do something of meaning, to do something that matters," in California, where they plan to launch a wide-ranging non-profit organization named Archewell. In April, they handed out meals to chronically ill people in Los Angeles during the coronavirus lockdown. The couple announced they were pulling back from their British royal roles in January and officially resigned in April. They first moved to Canada before settling in California. Meghan Markle, pictured here in October 2019 during a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, has expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement A Spanish government source said on Thursday that a plan to reopen the countrys land borders on June 22 is still being studied and will be discussed with France and Portugal, Reuters reports. Portugals Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said he was surprised by the unilateral announcement of the land border reopening by Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto earlier. Reversing Marotos remarks, her ministry said in a statement that border controls could be extended beyond June 21 and international tourism would reopen on July 1. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for further clarification. Kate Middletons mother, Carole Middleton, has more influence on the royal family than previously thought. Royal watchers have always known that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, is very close to her mother, and one royal expert argues that Carole also has a tight-knit relationship with her husband, Prince William. The two have grown so close over the years that Carole has been described as a Diana-type mother to William, much to the chagrin of his father, Prince Charles. Michael and Carole Middleton | Chris Jackson/Getty Images Kate Middletons mom develops a bond with Prince William Even when William and Kate were dating, he was reportedly drawn to her family because they were the closest to normal he had ever known. The Middletons had no ties to aristocracy and gave William an escape from life under the royal spotlight. According to Express, royal expert Phil Dampier pointed out that Caroles background as a successful businesswoman also attracted William. Unlike those born into wealth, Carole built her million-dollar company, Party Pieces, from the ground up and was viewed as a very strong woman. Carole is a very strong woman who comes from quite a humble background and the fact that she has worked herself up with a successful business has given her a backbone of steel, Dampier shared. RELATED: Kate Middletons Body Language Proves Her Relationship With Queen Elizabeth Is Not As Tense As It Once Was Carole has reportedly made millions of dollars with her company. The business was so successful, that even her husband quit his career to help her out, and Kate worked for her mom right before she tied the knot with William. Kate has been a member of the royal family for nearly a decade and she still turns to her mother for advice. As Dampier pointed out, Carole is a constant source of comfort for Kate, and she also spends plenty of time with her daughters three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Carole Middleton is a Diana-type mom Kate has become a great mom in her own right, but Caroles influence over her has not waned over the past few years. And with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle out of the picture, William and Kate are feeling more pressure than ever to step up their game. An inside source claims that Carole is a stabilizing and supportive force for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, especially when it comes to watching their children. Carole is very much a power behind the throne and her influence is immense, the source explained. Kate Middleton, with her parents, Carole and Michael | POOL/Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images The source added that Carole has quickly become a maternal figure for William, who tragically lost his mom, Princess Diana, when he was just a teenager. Not only have the Middletons become like a second family to William, but Carole is a Diana-type mom to the future King of the United Kingdom. Over the years, Carole has spent a good deal of time at the couples country estate, Anmer Hall, while they frequently pay her visits at Berkshire. The insider noted that William has been leaning more heavily on Kates family following his brothers exit, a move that has not gone over well with Charles. Prince Charles and Carole Middleton butt heads Back in 2017, a friend of the royals revealed that Charles does not get to spend as much time as he would like with his grandchildren. The source claims that Charles blames this on the Middletons, who seem to get free rein with William and Kates children. He certainly feels William spends more time with the Middletons than he does with his own family, the source dished. In an interview in 2018, Carole admitted that she is a very hands-on grandmother. She also stated that her family is her top priority in life and that she always makes time for her grandchildren. RELATED: Kate Middletons Friends Claim She Keeps Her Head Down and Speaks Like the Queen As She Prepares For Prince William to Take the Throne Charles has also gained a reputation for valuing family time, but his duties to the crown come above all else. This is something William alluded to during an interview for the 2019 documentary, Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70. When hes there, hes brilliant [but] we need him there as much as possible, William stated. Prince Charles has not addressed the rumors surrounding Carole Middleton and his grandchildren, but he has reportedly broached the topic with other members of the royal family in previous years. (Newser) Chicago woman Mia Wright says police officers smashed a car's windows and pulled her out of the vehicle at a mall Sundaybut the most terrifying part was when an officer, despite days of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, restrained her by kneeling on her neck. Her cousin, 39-year-old funeral parlor manager Tnika Tate, tells the Chicago Tribune that they parked at the Brickyard Mall, intending to buy birthday supplies, before realizing it was closed due to looting. Tate says before they could exit, officers surrounded the vehicle, smashed windows, and dragged out some of the occupants. "She never resisted," Tate says of Wright. "It could have been something deadly." The other occupants were a friend, Wright's mother, and another relative. story continues below "I felt like an animal," Wright, 25, tells CBS Chicago. "They pulled me by my hair, dragged me out the vehicle, had my face down on the concrete. The officer had his knee in my neck. I just felt like an animal. I felt like I wasnt nothing, like I was not even a human being at that moment." She was charged with disorderly conduct and held at a police station overnight after being taken to a clinic to remove glass from her eye. Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she has seen video of the incident and, as with other allegations of police misconduct, it has been referred to investigators. Legal analyst Gil Soffer tells ABC7 that under Chicago police guidelines, kneeling on a suspect's neck is classified as deadly force, "and can only be used when there is imminent risk of great bodily harm or death." (Read more Chicago stories.) CHIBOUGAMAU, QC / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Delta Resources Limited ("Delta" or the "Company") (DLTA:TSXV) is pleased to announce that field work has started at its Delta-2 property in Chibougamau, Quebec. The objective of the field work is to field-proof Delta's new geological interpretation while following-up on new geophysical targets which stem from 220 square kilometres of new, high-resolution VTEM and drone-magnetic surveys in the property area. Drilling these anomalies is planned shortly after the field work is completed. A field crew of 10, including geologists and prospectors will be locating and proofing a minimum of 25 new conductors with excellent potential for volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") mineralization similar to the Lemoine Mine which is located 1.5 kilometre north of the property. Between 1975 and 1983, the extraordinarily rich Lemoine Mine produced 757,585 tonnes of ore grading 9.52% Zn, 4.18% Cu, 4.56 g/t Au and 82.26 g/t Ag. In addition, the exploration crew will also be field-testing new syn-plutonic structures with potential for magmatic-hydrothermal gold mineralization. Michel Chapdelaine, Vice-President Exploration at Delta commented as follows: "We're extremely excited to get going with our field work at Delta-2. We've assembled an excellent field crew and feel very optimistic that results will soon follow." The Delta-2 project is located 35 kilometres southeast of the town of Chibougamau and covers over 146 square kilometres. In the southern portion of the project, there is excellent potential for magmatic-hydrothermal gold mineralization, associated with several early structures related to the emplacement of the La Dauversiere pluton. These early structures are known to control five (5) gold occurrences, including the R-14 Gold Prospect. In the northern portion of the property, the Company believes there is a high potential for gold-rich VMS deposits, sitting on the same horizon that hosted the old Lemoine Mine. Readers are invited to visit the following link for detailed information on the survey results and interpretation: http://youtu.be/BUWwd5zYvb8. The same video is also available in the "Investors/President's Message" section at www.deltaresources.ca. About Delta Resources Limited Delta Resources Limited is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on growing shareholder value through the acquisition of high-potential gold and base-metal projects in Canada, exploring these projects with state-of-the-art methods, and potentially developing these projects into mines. On October 3rd, 2019, Delta announced the acquisition of the Eureka Gold Discovery in the Thunder Bay area (Delta-1) and on October 16th, 2019, the acquisition of the Delta-2 Property which hosts the R-14 Gold Prospect in the Chibougamau Mining District of Quebec. Delta also owns a 100% interest in the Bellechasse-Timmins gold deposit in southeastern Quebec, Canada which contains a 43-101 gold resource of 171,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.83 g/t gold in the indicated category and an additional 95,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.36 g/t gold in the inferred category (SGS Canada Inc., Bellechasse-Timmins Property Resource Estimate, Southeastern Quebec, August 1, 2012). The Company's focus is currently to build a strong portfolio of mineral exploration properties with a high potential for economic discoveries in Canada. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED. Andre C. Tessier President, CEO and Director www.deltaresources.ca We seek safe harbor. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein. For Further Information: Delta Resources Limited Andre C. Tessier, CEO and President Tel: 613-328-1581 atessier@deltaresources.ca or Frank Candido, Chairman Tel: 514-969-5530 fcandido@deltaresources.ca Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information Some statements contained in this news release are "forward looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds of the non-brokered private placement and payment of the debt settlements. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual facts to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event. SOURCE: Delta Resources Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592739/Delta-Resources-Starts-Field-Work-at-Its-Delta-2-Property-Chibougamau-Quebec GREENWICH A 46-year-old man from New York was arrested in connection with a theft from Saks Fifth Avenue on the Avenue this past winter, police said. Maurice White, 46, of North Columbus Avenue, Mount Vernon, was extradited from the Westchester County, N.Y., jail Monday to face charges that he ran off with numerous handbags from Saks on Greenwich Avenue on Jan. 15, according to police. White was booked on charges of larceny, conspiracy and organized retail theft. / GPD An investigation led to the serving of the arrest warrant this week, police said. White is known to Greenwich police and authorities elsewhere in the region: He was charged in connection with the theft of six fur jackets from Saks Fifth Avenue in November 2015, police said. According to police documents, White went over to a line of jackets, grabbed them and took off in that earlier incident. Bail was set at $100,000 on the recent arrest. Greenwich police did not specify why White was in the Westchester County lockup when he was picked up on the local charges. White was caught pulling a similar hit-and-run larceny at a store on Long Island just days after the theft in Greenwich, according to authorities. Pricey handbags are often targeted by thieves and sold online, according to law enforcement experts. Police have coined the term e-fencing for the resale of stolen goods on various websites. rmarchant@greenwichtime.com New Delhi/Islamabad, June 4 : Pakistans spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been harassing and intimidating India's top diplomat in Islamabad ever since two officials of Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi were deported for indulging in espionage activities. Sources said the ISI has deployed several spies in cars and bikes outside the residence of India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia. However, since Sunday, when two Pakistani High Commission officials were caught spying in New Delhi, ISI spies have been chasing Ahluwalia's vehicle. A video clip circulating on social media showed a biker following the diplomat's vehicle. The government in New Delhi is yet to respond to the news of its envoy's harassment. On Sunday, law enforcement agencies caught red-handed two Pakistani officials, Abid Hussain and Mohammad Tahir, spying on the Indian Army. The duo used to meet Indian defence personnel as "businessmen" to get information for decoy news reporters. Both were declared persona non grata and have been expelled from India. SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Jadestone Energy Inc. (AIM:JSE) ("Jadestone" or the "Company"), an independent oil and gas production company focused on the Asia Pacific region, announces that is has been granted relief from certain Canadian disclosure obligations effective immediately. Relief granted consistent with a designated foreign issuer The Company's principal regulator in Canada, the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC"), has granted Jadestone relief from certain Canadian disclosure requirements, generally consistent with the relief granted to a designated foreign issuer ("DFI"), as defined in National Instrument 71-102 Continuous Disclosure and Other Exemptions Relating to Foreign Issuers. The BCSC's order granting this relief is available at: https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/Securities_Law/Exemption_Orders/. While the Company remains a British Columbia incorporated corporation, and will continue as a reporting issuer in the Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, henceforth the Company will provide disclosure in Canada generally consistent with the disclosures required of a DFI. Jadestone's management sought this relief as part of its ongoing transition from Canadian driven disclosures and practices towards those expected of companies admitted to trading on AIM, as a reflection of the Company's sole listing now being AIM, and its shareholder base which is predominantly comprised of UK and European institutional investors. The Company anticipates material savings in both administrative costs and management time as a result of this relief. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company's disclosures, as required by the AIM Rules for Companies, and UK legislation applicable to the Company, are unaffected by this decision and remain in place. Semi-annual reporting A key consequence of the BCSC decision is that the Company will no longer be required to report quarterly financial information, and will instead now report financial results on a semi-annual basis, in line with market practice in the UK, and as required by the AIM Rules for Companies. The next financial information to be reported will be the Company's half yearly report, in respect of the six months to June 30, 2020, which will be published no later than September 30, 2020. This will be followed by its audited financial statements for the year to December 31, 2020, published no later than June 30, 2021; in each case, in accordance with the AIM Rules for Companies. Cessation of quarterly reporting will help to deliver more comparable financial information that might otherwise be impacted by, among other things, differences in timing of crude oil liftings quarter-to-quarter, as well as the irregular pattern of workovers at Stag. It also encourages a focus on enhancing value and sustainable growth over the longer term, rather than a short term cycle of quarterly reporting. Reserves reporting and certain other remaining Canadian requirements The Company is still required to report its proved and probable reserves on an annual basis in accordance with National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook. This is a standard acceptable under the AIM Rules for Companies. All of Jadestone's public disclosures regarding its oil and gas activities need to comply with these standards. The Company also remains subject to certain other Canadian disclosure requirements including, among other requirements, the securities legislation requirements relating to business combinations and related party transactions in MI 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions and the disclosure requirements under Canada's Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act. Disclosures made pursuant to the AIM Rules for Companies and legislation in the UK applicable to the Company, will also be filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority via SEDAR, in place of Canadian-mandated disclosures. UK corporate governance code The Company continues to follow Canadian corporate governance practices and principles, and explains to both shareholders and to broader stakeholders, those instances where those practices and principles diverge from UK norms. The Company is currently assessing UK corporate governance codes, and will select an appropriate code to adopt on or before December 31, 2020. - Ends - Enquiries Jadestone Energy Inc. +65 6324 0359 (Singapore) Paul Blakeley, President and CEO +1 403 975 6752 (Canada) Dan Young, CFO +44 7392 940 495 (UK) Robin Martin, Investor Relations Manager ir@jadestone-energy.com Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad, Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 (UK) Callum Stewart Simon Mensley Ashton Clanfield BMO Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7236 1010 (UK) Thomas Rider Jeremy Low Thomas Hughes Camarco (Public Relations Advisor) +44 (0) 203 757 4980 (UK) Georgia Edmonds jadestone@camarco.co.uk Billy Clegg James Crothers About Jadestone Energy Inc. Jadestone Energy Inc. is an independent oil and gas company focused on the Asia Pacific region. It has a balanced, low risk, full cycle portfolio of development, production and exploration assets in Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The Company has a 100% operated working interest in the Stag oilfield and the Montara project, both offshore Australia. Both the Stag and Montara assets include oil producing fields, with further development and exploration potential. The Company has a 100% operated working interest in two gas development blocks in Southwest Vietnam and is partnered with Total in the Philippines where it holds a 25% working interest in the SC56 exploration block. In addition, the Company has executed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire an operated 69% interest in the Maari Project, shallow water offshore New Zealand, and anticipates completing the transaction in H2 2020, upon receipt of customary approvals. Led by an experienced management team with a track record of delivery, who were core to the successful growth of Talisman's business in Asia, the Company is pursuing an acquisition strategy focused on growth and creating value through identifying, acquiring, developing and operating assets in the Asia Pacific region. Jadestone Energy Inc. is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. The Company is headquartered in Singapore. For further information on Jadestone please visit www.jadestone-energy.com. Cautionary statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements and information (collectively "forward-looking statements"), within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation, as well as other applicable international securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are forward-looking and not historical facts. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by statements that express, or involve discussions as to expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "is targeting", "estimated", "intend", "plan", "guidance", "objective", "projection", "aim", "goals", "target", "schedules", and "outlook"). In particular, forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements regarding the timing for the Company to adopt a UK corporate governance code and the savings resulting from the BCSC decision. Because actual results or outcomes could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements, investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes will not occur. Some of these risks, uncertainties and other factors are similar to those faced by other oil and gas companies and some are unique to Jadestone. The forward-looking information contained in this news release speaks only as of the date hereof. The Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update the information, except as may be required pursuant to applicable laws. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Jadestone Energy Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592719/Jadestone-Energy-Inc-Announces-Relief-from-Canadian-Reporting-Requirements The "Russia Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics (Databook) Market Size and Forecast (2015-2024) Covid-19 Update Q2 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report details the impact of economic slowdown along with change in business and consumer sentiment due to disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak on the gift card industry in Russia. Historically, the gift card market in Russia has recorded a steady growth with a CAGR of 16.4% during 2015-2019. However, the gift card market in Russia is expected to be impacted across retail and corporate segments due to disruption caused by Covid-19 outbreak. Though growth of the gift card industry will be impacted due to the pandemic, there are certain segments such as self-use which will gain significant market share. Adoption of e-Gift cards is also expected to increase significantly over the next 4-6 quarters. There are interesting trends emerging across various segments, which are expected to fundamentally reshape the gift card industry dynamics. Despite near-term challenges, the medium to long term growth story of gift cards in Russia remains strong. The gift card industry in Russia will continue to grow over the forecast period and is expected to record a CAGR of 11.8% during 2020-2024. The gift card market in the country will increase from US$ 5605.5 million in 2019 to reach US$ 8384.0 million by 2024. The key factors influencing the trend of gift card adoption include, increase in gifting culture, the rise of e-commerce and crypto gift cards for the underbanked population. The Russian e-commerce industry accounted for 4.5% of the retail revenue in 2019, and the share of e-commerce is expected to double in the next three years. With the growth in e-commerce and high mobile (66.3%) and internet (75% penetration, the number of e-gift cards being used is likely to increase in the near future. Another emerging trend that will contribute to the growth of the gift card market, is the ability to buy bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies through gift cards. With the country having a large percentage of the population unbanked, trading cryptocurrencies with gift cards is a much better and easier way. In July 2019, Bitrefill a platform to buy gift cards using bitcoins, as part of its expansion plans introduced 100 new gift cards for consumers to trade their bitcoins into gift cards. Some of the gift cards available on Bitrefill include Yandex money, Pandora jewelry, Wallet 1, Mail.ru and Xsolla. This report provides a detailed data centric analysis of the gift cards and corporate incentive cards market along with consumer behaviour and retail spend dynamics in Russia. With over 200 KPIs at country level, this report provides comprehensive understanding of gift and incentive card market dynamics. The report includes raw data along with structured dashboards, charts, and tables in an interactive Excel format. Below is a summary of country level trend analyses covered across gift card segments: Provides detailed view of overall spend on gifts, broken down by retail and consumer segments. Provides in-depth analysis of opportunities in both open loop and closed loop prepaid gift card categories. Assesses consumer behaviour by type of consumer, gifting occasion, digital gift card and market share by retail sectors. Details six essential KPIs: number of cards in circulation, load value, unused value, average purchase value, average value per transaction, and value of transactions. Provides detailed market dynamics of corporate incentive cards, broadly segmented in three categories consumer incentive card, employee incentive card, and sales/partner incentive card. Provides market size and forecast for digital gift cards, broken down by retail and corporate buyers. It also includes gift card spend by occasion and digital gift card adoption by company size. Provides market estimates and forecasts to assess opportunities in open loop and closed loop gift and incentive card segments across consumer segments. Identifies key KPIs related to gift card dynamics including spend by age, gender, and income level. Breaks down retail spend across retail sectors to provide detailed insights on consumer behaviour and changing dynamics of gift card spend. Provides market share of closed loop gift cards by key retailers in Russia. Provides market share by distribution channel online vs offline sales and 1st party vs 3rd party sales. Companies Mentioned Magnit OAO X5 Retail Group NV Auchan Group SA Dixy Group OAO Lenta OOO M Video OAO DNS Group Sportmaster Group Inditex, Industria de Diseo Textil SA Ulmart ZAO Globus Holding GmbH Co For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7c2szb 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005252/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 June Adele Friedenberg was born in Brooklyn on Dec. 17, 1924. Her father was a civil engineer, her mother a housewife. She graduated in 1945 from the University of Michigan, where she also received a masters degree in philosophy in 1947. She did further study in philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York. The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged California, but its physical and economic devastation has fallen heaviest on low-income workers and communities of color, according to a new poll. In more than a third of California households, one or more members have lost their job, a number that rises to 49% among Latinos. Just over half the states households have someone who has had their hours trimmed or their pay cut. Its 60% for African American families and 66% for Latinos. And for Californias poorest, those with a family income of $40,000 or less, 47% have seen job losses and 63% cutbacks in hours, according to the poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. Its a public health crisis with uneven and unequal effects, said Mark Baldassare, the institutes president and director of the poll. Its an economic crisis like Ive never seen before. Those same low-income workers and communities of color are also the most worried about the physical effects of the virus, which has killed more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and sickened 1.8 million. John Blanchard While 58% of California adults are at least somewhat concerned they will have to be hospitalized because of the coronavirus, that rises to 63% among African Americans, 64% of Asian Americans, 68% of Latinos and 65% of those with household incomes below $40,000. Only 48% of white Californians have the same concerns. Californians are split almost equally over whether the danger of the coronavirus is behind us (46%) or whether the worst is yet to come (48%). But 69% of African Americans, 53% of Asian Americans and Latinos and 55% of the poorest Californians take that more pessimistic view. Theyre scared, Baldassare said. Many have seen their jobs go away, and the most vulnerable are the groups that are most vulnerable economically. That very public concern about what the coronavirus could bring shows up when people are asked if they are more worried the state will lift stay-at-home orders, business and activity closures and social distancing too quickly or too slowly. Californians overwhelmingly support a go-slow approach, 58% to 38%. The question breaks along political lines, with 82% of Democrats fearing the state will try to return to normal too quickly and 70% of Republicans concerned the state won't move fast enough. Californians also are in no hurry to change the coronavirus rules that are out there. Forty-six percent think the current restrictions are fine, compared with 25% who want more and 28% who want fewer. Those numbers run against the drumbeat of calls for rapidly reopening the state, including impassioned pleas from businesses hit hard by the mandatory closures and demonstrators in Sacramento and across the state who argue that now theres little to be concerned about. But thats not a majority opinion, even among those who have taken the heaviest economic hit, Baldassare said. Everyone wants the country to come back, but theyre worried that were not ready for it yet, he said. The findings suggest the priority is dealing with a life-or-death public health crisis. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has tried to balance the competing concerns of the states residents during the pandemic, has seen his support rise dramatically in the past few months. His approval rating is now at 65%, up from 53% in the institutes February poll and the highest of his term as governor. Among likely voters, 69% approve of Newsoms handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and 57% of likely voters think hes doing a good job with the economy. The coronavirus pandemic has had little effect on the way Californians view President Trump, Baldassare said, with the naysayers and supporters unmoved and the presidents 35% approval rating virtually unchanged from polls in February. Its Gavin Newsom whos viewed as someone who is out there doing something positive, Baldassare said. Newsom has at least 55% support in every region of the state, blue, red or purple. In the Central Valley, where the poll found likely voters split, 47% to 47%, between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential election, the governors approval rating soared to 64%. Baldassare said the governor also should get much of the credit for what might be the most surprising finding in the poll. Despite the damage the coronavirus crisis has done to the state and the worries about the troubles yet to come, 58% of adults believe things in California are generally going in the right direction, up from 50% in a January poll. By contrast, 70% of adults say the nation is heading into bad financial times over the next year. The right direction/wrong direction question is not about the economy as much as its about political direction, Baldassare said. Compared to where (Californians) see the country going ... they have confidence in the leadership. The poll is based on a telephone survey of 1,706 adults, including 1,048 likely voters, taken May 17-26. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the entire sample and 4.6 points for likely voters. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth New Delhi, June 4 : The novel Coronavirus has altered the lives of billions of humans in unprecedented ways, but what shone through is the resilience of nature. Air pollution levels down, animal communities freer to roam the planet, and clearer streams of water -- restricted human activity has achieved what only years of organised environmental effort could have corrected. Human activity has altered virtually every corner of our planet, from land to ocean. And as we continue to relentlessly encroach on nature and degrade ecosystems, we endanger human health. In fact, seventy-five per cent of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, that is viruses originating from the transfer from animals, whether domesticated or wild, to humans, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme has said in a statement. Environmentalists call for stronger nature conservation post-COVID Wildlife biologist Latika Nath says that humans have for centuries been taking over habitats that were homes for fauna both on the land and in the oceans. She stated: "We encroach habitat, destroy natural vegetation, block water channels and fill water bodies. And we tap ground water and over use it, fill concrete on land and cause its natural water absorption capacity to reduce, we cut through forest swathes by building roads, power lines and railways, we build dams, and we pollute the darkness by creating cities which waste and emit more light than we need. Our plastic fills our world, and even enters organisms, the noxious gases from using petro-chemicals for transport and energy and manufacturing in so many industries pollutes air, water and land." "So yes, humans are at war with nature - they want to subdue, use and discard instead of being clever enough to use resources sustainably," she told IANSlife. It, then, becomes clear that human life and the environment are connected in intricate ways. While the pandemic has led to severe economic and humantarian costs, the positive enviromental spill-out of the changes in human behaviour, must be sustained now. According to environmental activist Arun Krisnamurthy, known for restoring scores of lakes across India, the biggest environmental gain out of this lockdown has to be that of air quality improving in most parts of India. "What seemed like a permanent layer of gloom and dust has finally lifted," he told IANSlife. Adding, well-known wildlife photographer and explorer Kalyan Varma told IANSlife: "The lockdown has really shown us a glimpse of the world where we can have less impact. We have the cleanest air in a decade and wildlife in many places has come out to urban areas. Proves that if we reduce our footprint, the environment can bounce back very quickly." "We must use the opportunity to have sustainable ways of industry as things slowly start to open up. Covid-19 has reset our fast paced life and we must use this learning to have stronger environment protection and regulations to have a future where we can conserve," the naturalist who's been part of India crew for many Sony BBC Earth wildlife shows, said. As per Krisnamurthy, to sustain this most of us should reconsider usage of crude fuelled vehicles and look at healthier options. "We should push for policy changes for cleaner energy and move away from coal. We should take a firm stand against the burning of non degradable waste and more. The lockdown has most definitely given nature more space and time with limited human intervention. Having said that, our generation of non-degradable waste at household level or the generation of sewage from households has not reduced. This continues to pollute the planet. "The industrial contamination of earth has reduced not the domestic. The air quality and water quality at certain areas has improved and I sincerely hope we all will work towards maintaining and improving the same. The environmental cost is being felt with regards to the medical waste that is being generated, which we have to find more sustainable solutions for." With climate change, global warming, and feeling the effects of plastic pollution, the Covid lockdown has given us a time to introspect and think. We need to change our habits and learn that we are as mortal as the rest of nature's organisms. We need to change our lifestyles and learn to live more in sync and harmony with the Earth. Our children need to inherit an earth that is cleaner, greener and safer for them, concludes Nath. (Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in) Second, the police and prosecutors are typically partners who work hand in glove. That relationship and reliance can become very challenging once you decide to prosecute an officer. In the Freddie Gray case, warrants were not executed and the most pertinent questions were not asked of witnesses by the police. Officers were witnesses in the case but somehow were assigned to work on the investigation, a clear conflict of interest. Evidence was given to the defense and not the prosecution. Thats why each prosecutors office must have the ability to independently investigate and prosecute the police. No occupation should investigate their own and unfortunately after three years of lobbying to change the laws, the investigators in my office still dont have police powers. Many prosecutors recognize that when they take on a case, there is always a risk of losing. Nothing is certain, but when it comes to police brutality the pressure to win is enormous. As a famous fictional Baltimorean once said, You come at the king, you best not miss. Proof beyond reasonable doubt becomes proof beyond all doubt. And while typically the public view officers as enforcers not violators of the law, in a community where police corruption is rampant and the distrust of police is prevalent, police officers often bypass the community they serve and elect to be tried in front of a judge, who more often than not is far more deferential to them. Lastly, police brutality cases rely on officers as witnesses and they often retreat behind the blue wall of silence lest they be accused of snitching. Beyond any trial, there must be internal processes in place for officers who break the law. Too often, police chiefs cannot fire problematic officers because of contract rules or because an administrative review board is stacked with officers instead of civilians. Despite these challenges, my office has convicted 21 police officers since the death of Freddie Gray. But there are also times when a prosecutor investigates alleged crimes and decides not to bring charges. In these cases, prosecutors must be transparent about why, so that the public understands the rationale. In Baltimore, every declination to charge a police-involved shooting or in-custody death is posted online with detailed arguments for the media and public to digest. People may not agree with our decision, but at least they can understand it. Prosecutors have a role in preventing brutality and addressing it when it happens. We must be willing to use our discretion to prevent needless interactions between police and the community, and we must be willing to take on those in authority when they violate their oath. This is a moment for innovative ideas, reform, and ultimately courage. Prosecutors, and the public, must seize this opportunity. The Bombay high court on Thursday suggested that electric vehicles should be used for supplying LPG cylinders to ecologically sensitive Matheran. The courts observation came while hearing a plea on transportation of essential commodities to the hill station. The petition has been filed by former NCP MLA Suresh Lad. Lad informed the bench of justice A K Menon that as per the previous order of the high court, the railways had started services to transport essential commodities to the hill station. The NCP leaders lawyer Gaurav Parkar further said that the local civic administration had not hired Bharat IV compliant vehicles which had also been directed by the court. Parkar then added that the problem of the residents did not end as the railways has refused to transport LPG cylinders along with other essential commodities to Matheran saying it is against their safety norms. Parkar further submitted that before the lockdown, the cylinders were brought to the hill station on horseback but it was not an ideal situation now given the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act and the fact that the horses are old, tired and in very bad health. Advocate T J Pandian for central railway and advocate D P Singh for the Union of India confirmed that LPG cylinders or any inflammable material cannot be carried on railway wagons as there is an explicit bar against carriage of gas and inflammable materials. After hearing the submissions, the court directed that the monitoring committee looking after the issue should consider the problem and come up with a solution. However, additional government pleader Manish Pabale for the state informed the court that the chairperson of the committee had retired and other members were busy with cyclone Nisarg related activities it would not be possible for it to meet before 15 days. The court accepted the same and directed the petitioners to apply before the committee when they convened. Before adjourning the matter, the court observed, In the meanwhile, it will not be out of place to mention that the viability of using electrically powered vehicle for movement of LPG should not be overlooked. The monitoring committee shall, therefore, consider the feasibility of such means including by considering a cost analysis study in the interests of the residents which the state is bound to protect. Reuters British doctors are trialling a formulation of anti-inflammatory ibuprofen to see if it reduces respiratory failure in patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19. The trial involves a particular formulation of ibuprofen, which researchers said had been shown to be more effective than standard ibuprofen for treating severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a complication of COVID-19. The formulation is already licensed for use in Britain for other conditions. "If successful, the global public health value of this trial result would be immense given the low cost and availability of this medicine," said Matthew Hotopf, Director of NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. The trial, known as "LIBERATE", will be a randomised study, with the recruitment of up to 230 patients expected over the coming months. It is being run by Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, King's College London (KCL) and pharmaceutical organisation the SEEK Group. In March, France's health minister said people should not use anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen if they have symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. However, U.S., British and European Union drug regulators as well as Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Nurofen, have all said there is no evidence that ibuprofen makes COVID-19 worse. Mitul Mehta, director of KCL's Centre for Innovative Therapeutics, said that possible well-known gastric side effects from ibuprofen meant that paracetamol was better to relieve But he added there was no evidence to back up the French claims that ibuprofen worsens COVID-19 symptoms, saying the formulation being used in the trial should lessen the possible side effects. "There's no way these early reports would've been talking about this different formulation," Mehta told Reuters. "The trial is the right forum in which to test the side effects and to test the efficacy." 250,000 budget to complete both of the fuselage moulds for their deHavilland Mosquito project, along with money for construction of the fuselage itself. They have added more in the interim, and The Peoples Mosquito has just announced the latest update in their fundraising campaign, dubbed Operation Jericho, and what these funds have already initiated. They began this campaign just seven weeks ago, and have raised more than 30% of thebudget to complete both of the fuselage moulds for their deHavilland Mosquito project, along with money for construction of the fuselage itself. They have added more in the interim, and Retrotec are making real progress with the construction of the moulds as well. We thought our readers would enjoy reading their update and consider contributing themselves OPERATION JERICHO 2020 FATHERS DAY TARGET Last week we asked you to hit 75K by the end of the May Bank Holiday, and the super Mossie fans you are you did it! Total funds raised by 25th May was: 75,000! We are now over 30% of the final goal. The Directors, Volunteers and all associated with the project wish to say a great big : THANK YOU!!! This is a tremendous achievement especially in light of todays extraordinary times. We are putting your donations to good use and please see the progress in the next article, below. There is still much progress to be made and our next target is 100,000 Fathers Day Sunday, 21st June So why not look for a special gift by purchasing one of our reward packages. There are options to suit every pocket, from 25 through to 5000. Please click HERE to visit the campaign website. DONATIONS = PROGRESS In previous updates, we shared the arrival of a new batch of Jelutong wood. Well, thanks to the success of your donations Retrotec has now had to order more! In addition to this, we are eagerly awaiting the first delivery of airworthy grade Sitka Spruce. We will of course keep sharing more images of progress every week to fully update you. To illustrate the progress of the mould manufacturing please see the image above taken in November 2019. Now compare this to the latest image taken this week below. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday urged allies to make up a shortfall in funding to defeat the Islamic State movement despite a budget crunch after the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. The United States and Italy led a meeting of 31 nations on fighting the extremists, held virtually due to precautions to stop the virus. A US raid last year killed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shortly after President Donald Trump declared the group that once ruled vast swathes of Syria and Iraq had been defeated on the battlefield. "That said, our fight against ISIS continues, and will for the foreseeable future. We cannot rest," Pompeo told the conference. "We must continue to root out ISIS cells and networks and provide stabilization assistance to liberated areas in Iraq and Syria," he said. "It's true that the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on all of our budgets, but we urge your nations to pledge toward our goal of more than $700 million for 2020," he said. The funding drive by the coalition, which seeks to bring stability to Iraq and Syria, has raised only $200 million this year as of May 26, a State Department spokesperson said. The United States has pledged $50 million for northeastern Syria as well as $100 million in support for Iraq, whose new prime minister, Mustafa Kadhemi, has been welcomed by Washington. The Islamic State group at its height carried out grisly mass executions and enslaved non-Muslims as it inspired attacks around the West. Even as the extremists' presence has dwindled in its former stronghold, alarm has grown over the Islamic State group's influence in West Africa and Afghanistan. The United States blamed the Islamic State group for a horrific attack last month at a maternity hospital in Kabul, saying the militants wanted to scuttle a nascent peace process between the Taliban and the Kabul government. First Connected Worker Solution for the Nuclear Industry CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company and Guardhat today announced that they will deliver the first connected worker solution to the nuclear energy industry. Leveraging Westinghouse's nuclear industry expertise and Guardhat's technology, the WEConnect system will help utilities initiate or accelerate their digitalization strategies. "Westinghouse and Guardhat are an impressive combination of industry expertise and technology," said David Howell, president, Westinghouse Americas Operating Plant Services Business Unit. "Together we are capable of providing groundbreaking human-centric digital solutions for our customers when they need it most, throughout the entire life cycle of nuclear assets." Westinghouse will globally offer the WEConnect system, a mobile connected worker solution that can be utilized across an entire site or plant population. The WEConnect system provides utility customers with the ability to limit the amount of required personnel on-site, while giving those who are on-location real-time access to remote experts and resources for optimizing the performance of the onsite crews. Flexible packages can either build or leverage an existing digital ecosystem to offer enhanced features that help to improve workforce safety and optimize asset management strategies. The system can also be connected to other digital devices, enterprise applications and platforms, enabling efficient workforce and job management. "We are pleased to join forces with Westinghouse to deliver 'smart' technology to the nuclear industry," said Indranil RoyChoudhury, Guardhat's executive vice president of Growth. "Our comprehensive safety monitoring and data analysis system offers enhanced features and benefits that can help plants improve safety while remaining cost-competitive." Westinghouse has piloted Guardhat's connected worker technology at several utilities during their scheduled refueling outages. Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa., U.S. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. For more information, please visit www.westinghousenuclear.com. Detroit-based Guardhat is a leading industrial IoT technology company specialized in developing wearables, infrastructure and software platforms to provide a safer and more productive work environment for frontline industrial workers in heavy manufacturing industries. Founded in October 2014 by industry veterans and former steel & mining CEO Saikat Dey, Guardhat's mission is to modernize safety and enhance last mile connectivity in the industrial workplace. By combining a cutting-edge, wearable technology with advanced proprietary software, Guardhat is able to proactively monitor a user's location, health and work environment. For more information, visit: www.guardhat.com. Contact: Sarah Cassella Director, External Communications Email: cassels@westinghouse.com Phone: +1 (412) 374-4744 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/888167/WESTINGHOUSE_ELECTRIC_Logo.jpg Chinese and Iranian government hackers have targeted the Gmail accounts of staffers working on the presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, respectively, Google announced Thursday. There were no signs that the accounts were compromised, a Google threat analyst said in a tweet Thursday, and law enforcement was notified. The disclosure is a fresh reminder that nation states are actively seeking to gain access to presidential campaigns - a practice that has taken place in every presidential election dating back more than a decade. They may do so in search of insights into the thinking of the next American leader, or as the Russians did in 2016, to obtain material that might be disclosed publicly or used to interfere in the election. "We are aware of reports from Google that a foreign actor has made unsuccessful attempts to access the personal email accounts of campaign staff," the Biden campaign said in a statement. "We have known from the beginning of our campaign that we would be subject to such attacks and we are prepared for them." Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, was not targeted, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. "The Trump campaign has been briefed that foreign actors unsuccessfully attempted to breach the technology of our staff," a campaign official said. "We are vigilant about cybersecurity and do not discuss any of our precautions." The hackers used a common technique called "phishing," in which emails containing hidden malware and that appear to be coming from a trusted source are sent to unsuspecting targets. Opening a link in the email can trigger the malware, enabling the hacker to gain access to the target's credentials. Google's disclosure comes as the U.S. government has begun to brief the presidential campaigns and national parties on election threats from foreign adversaries. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is leading the effort, and National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina is leading the briefings. The briefings are coordinated with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence community's election threats executive, Shelby Pierson, as part of the government's effort to secure the 2020 election, ODNI officials said. The briefings include pointers on how better to secure systems and email. "Officials from the RNC have recently participated in briefings where we have been informed that foreign actors have made unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the technology of our staff members," Republican National Committee spokesman Mike Reed said. Russia is seeking to interfere in this year's election, U.S. officials have said. Earlier this year, officials told Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that Moscow was attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest, The Washington Post reported. Sanders suspended his campaign in April. Russia also has been attempting to wage a covert social media campaign to stoke divisions in the United States, as it did in 2016, FBI Director Christopher Wray has said. The Pentagon's Cyber Command disrupted Russian trolls' ability to operate on social media during the midterm elections. Some analysts say the greater threat is the prospect of hacking, dumping and altering information that can embarrass or disparage a candidate or damage a campaign. The hacking and leaking of Democratic emails in 2016 led to the resignations of party officials and disrupted the party convention. "Since 2016 the fear is that the adversary could leak data and add forgeries to the leak," said Thomas Rid, who wrote a book on disinformation and is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. "So the concern is not just losing information. The concern is the adversary could weaponize the information." Google threat analyst Shane Huntley said on Twitter that the hacker groups involved are APT31, which is linked to the Chinese government, and APT35, which is linked to the Iranian government. Traditionally these groups have been most interested in gleaning intelligence from campaigns, said John Hultquist, director of intelligence for the cyber firm FireEye. "The reason is the campaigns are incubators for policy," he said. "The people who employ these hackers want a sneak peek at those future policies." In 2008, Chinese government hackers compromised the computer networks of presidential campaigns for then-Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and John McCain of Arizona. In 2012, foreign and domestic hackers tried to gain access to the campaign networks of Obama and Mitt Romney. Iran has a history of weaponizing information, Rid said. And after seeing the political divisions Russia exploited in 2016 through hacking and social media operations, it might be tempted to try something similar, he said. Disclosure of foreign attempts to hack campaigns or interfere in elections is good policy, experts say, and the U.S. government announced a new policy of disclosure in 2018. "The lesson from 2016 is to be more forthcoming publicly about these types of threats," said Matthew Olsen, a former general counsel of the National Security Agency. "Ultimately, you've got to put that information out so people are informed." The country added 39 more cases of the new coronavirus, including 33 local infections, raising the total caseload to 11,629. - S. Korea reports 39 more cases of new coronavirus, total now at 11,629 - No additional virus death, death toll now at 273 - 2 more people released after full recovery from coronavirus, total cured patients at 10,499 New virus cases in greater Seoul continued to rise Thursday amid a steady increase in cases linked to religious gatherings, putting health authorities on high alert over further spread in the densely populated metropolitan area amid concerns over asymptomatic "silent" virus spreaders. The country added 39 more cases of the new coronavirus, including 33 local infections, raising the total caseload to 11,629, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). All of the newly identified domestic transmissions were reported in Seoul and adjacent areas. A day earlier, the country reported 49 COVID-19 cases, snapping four consecutive days of fewer than 40 new infections. Church-linked transmissions in Seoul and surrounding areas have been a new source of concern for health authorities, along with cases from clubgoers in the nightlife district of Itaewon and an e-commerce giant's warehouse. As of Thursday, the number of cases tied to 30 small churches in Incheon, west of Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital city reached 63, up 10 from a day earlier, according to the KCDC. The number of infections from clubgoers in Itaewon reached 272, and 119 cases were linked to the distribution center run by Coupang as of Wednesday. Health authorities are particularly concerned about a steady rise in "hidden, silent" virus spreaders in the metropolitan area, as those who come into contact with such people are at risk of contracting COVID-19 unwittingly from asymptomatic virus carriers. The KCDC estimates around 25-35 percent of patients here tested positive for the coronavirus despite showing no related symptoms. A large number of the patients linked to church gatherings have shown mild or no symptoms. Some 70 percent of the patients reported from one of the churches in Incheon showed no signs of the virus as well, according to the KCDC. A spate of cluster infections has forced health authorities to enhance quarantine measures in the metropolitan area, home to half of the country's 50 million population, which will be in place until June 14. South Korea may consider going back to strict social distancing if the country's virus curve does not sharply flatten by the deadline. In sync with eased social distancing that began in early May, South Korea rolled out the third phase of its plan to reopen schools, with first-year high school students, second-year middle school students and other selected elementary school students returning to their classrooms. Schools will continue taking precautionary measures, including staggered lunches, adjusting student attendance, reduced class time, and a mix of online and offline classes. But some schools, most of them located in the metropolitan area, were forced to delay their reopening as concerns linger. On Wednesday, some 830 kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools remained shut down, accounting for 4 percent of the country's 29,000 schools. The country no new death, keeping the death toll at 273. The accumulated number of imported cases reached 1,275, up six from a day earlier. The total number of people released from quarantine after full recoveries stood at 10,499, moving up 32 from the previous day. Around 90 percent of local COVID-19 patients have been cured. (Yonhap) He also admitted to spitting on a police officer after he was taken into custody David Weir was jailed for ten-and-a-half years at Luton crown court on Thursday A thug who squirted petrol over a homeless man and then set him on fire in a sickening New Year's Day attack was jailed for ten-and-a-half years on Thursday. David Weir, 53, used an empty Fairy Liquid bottle to cover Thomas Smith, 30, with petrol before setting him ablaze outside a McDonald's in Luton town centre on January 1. Luton crown court was told on Thursday that within seconds Mr Smith was engulfed in a ball of fire around his head and body. Pedestrians out shopping on New Year's Day rushed to Mr Smith's aid as he rolled around on the pavement and frantically tore off his clothes to prevent serious burns. David Weir, 53, who squirted Thomas Smith, 30, with petrol and set him on fire, has been jailed for ten-and-a-half-years at Luton crown court The court heard Mr Smith was convinced his bushy beard had saved him from suffering serious facial injuries. Weir, of Park Street in Luton, carried out the attack on the homeless man in revenge after an argument the day before, when Mr Smith had 'floored' him and a friend in Luton. Weir had been drinking heavily when he attacked Mr Smith the next afternoon, knowing he would be in his usual spot in George Street. Weir appeared at Luton crown court on Thursday in custody to plead guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent. He also admitted a charge of assaulting an emergency worker by spitting at a police officer from after he had been arrested and taken into custody. Pedestrians in Luton town centre rushed to Mr Smith's aid as he rolled around on the pavement and frantically tore off his clothes to prevent serious burns after being set alight (pictured) Prosecutor Matthew Kirk said Mr Smith, who before the attack had been slumped on the pavement outside McDonald's, found himself engulfed in a 'ball of flames' and experiencing 'unreal' pain. Judge Mark Bishop was told Weir had remained present at the scene throughout, pacing around until police arrived and arrested him. The prosecutor said the flames had been most 'significant' around Mr Smith's head and were the last to be extinguished. He rushed by ambulance to Luton and Dunstable Hospital, where it was found he had suffered burns to his face, fingers and and wrists. The victim was only in hospital for three days and didn't require surgery. In a statement given to the police shortly afterwards, Mr Smith said: 'I have no idea why the attacker would do this to me. The level of violence and aggression was so extreme I am sure he intended to kill me.' After being taken into custody for the attack Weir, who was heavily intoxicated, spat on the body of PC Matthew Bright at Luton Police Station. Judge Bishop sentenced Weir to an extended sentence of 15-and-a-half years. Weir used an empty Fairy Liquid bottle to cover Mr Smith with petrol (pictured) before setting him ablaze outside a McDonald's in Luton on New Year's Day Judge Bishop told Weir: 'The public must be protected from you. By your actions you have shown yourself to be caleable of callous, premeditated ruthlessness.' He said the custodial element of sentence was ten-and-a-half years, of which Weir would have to serve a minimum of seven years behind bars, and he will remain on licence until 2035. Detective Constable Gary Hatton who investigated the attack said: 'Weir deliberately left home that day with a bottle full of accelerant, and used it to seriously endanger the life of another man. 'We are truly grateful for the intervention of those passers-by who, without fear for their own safety, put out the flames and saved the victim from further harm, then confronted Weir and remained at the scene until he was arrested. 'Violence of this nature will never be tolerated, either on our streets or towards emergency workers. Weir can now expect a custodial sentence where we hope he can take time to consider his behaviour.' China hawk Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) wrote an open letter to American companies with business ties to China on Thursday, calling on them to publicly denounce the Chinese Communist Partys recent national security law that overrides Hong Kongs independence. As Hong Kongers protested on the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Hawley warned that the fate of Hong Kong hangs in the balance, saying that the new law which was passed unilaterally by Chinas National Peoples Congress last month will mean the death of democracy in Hong Kong. Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress that the new law meant Hong Kong is effectively no longer autonomous. Hawley called on U.S. firms to use their market power to speak out against the new legislation, and suggested they could withdraw from the Chinese market if the security law goes through. The CCP may not care about freedom, democracy, or any of the other things for which we, as Americans, have long stood and fought. But it does care about you, Hawley explained. The CCP knows that its economic fortunes are still tied to your companies participation in its markets. If it knows that you may retract that participation in response to the Hong Kong crackdown, then it may yet restrain itself. And some vestige of freedom some glimmer of hope might yet live on in that city. This is the power you hold. The Missouri Republican, who has been outspoken about Hong Kong and visited the island amid pro-democracy protests last year, called on companies to live up to their obligation to put principle ahead of profit. You are an American company first and foremost. And you have a responsibility to your nation and indeed, to all free nations of the world to speak up for what is right, Hawley wrote. You have an obligation to put principle ahead of profit and to ensure that your actions do not enable the destruction of others freedoms. Nowhere is this truer than in Hong Kong, the frontline of the fight against CCP imperialism. Story continues Hawleys letter comes after U.K.-based bank HSBC backed the CCPs new security measures, saying the company respects and supports any laws that stabilize the social order in Hong Kong. More from National Review Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 16:32 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc2b33c 1 Business Airlines,aviation-industry,recovery,COVID-19,Garuda-Indonesia,University-of-Indonesia Free The nation's airlines will have to brace for a lengthy recovery period of more than a year, as public perception of air travel has turned negative amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warn. A University of Indonesia (UI) study shows that the Indonesian public is currently avoiding all air travel except for urgent matters, and that people are generally associating air travel with their fear of contracting COVID-19. UI Innovation and Science Techno Park (DISTP) director Ahmad Gamal said that consumer perception of air travel now ranged from neutral to negative, compared to positive before the pandemic, and could thus exacerbate the impacts of COVID-19 on the commercial aviation industry. We can see that air travel, which was originally seen as a quick, practical and prestigious mode of transportation, has become closely associated with the spread of COVID-19, Ahmad said on Tuesday during a virtual discussion with the Transportation Ministry. The pandemic has severely affected the global aviation industry, with many countries imposing travel bans. In Indonesia, the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) that has been implemented in certain regions to contain the virus' transmission has battered demand for air travel and forced airlines to ground their fleets. Ahmad said the researchers of the DISTP study projected a U-shaped recovery curve for the aviation industry and more than a year for the industry to return to the pre-pandemic level. In contrast, a V-shaped curve would indicate rapid recovery. We think the most realistic recovery model is a prolonged U-shape, [with] recovery efforts still needed in 2021. It takes time for the industry to regain customer trust and confidence to fly [again], he said. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows that passengers on domestic flights fell 81.7 percent month-to-month (mtm) to 840,000 passengers in April. Meanwhile, international air passengers plunged 95.3 percent mtm to 26,000 passengers, while foreign tourist arrivals fell 66 percent mtm to 160,000 arrivals in April. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimates that by the end of this year, scheduled international passenger traffic could decline by a maximum 71 percent of seating capacity and by 1.5 billion passengers globally as a result of the pandemic. The ICAO also estimates a maximum US$314 billion in potential revenue loss this year among the world's airlines. Ahmad added that the airline industry would need strong government support to recover. The industrys recovery depends on financial support from the government, financial institutions and investors, including tax incentives and bridging funds, he said. The government plans to give a working capital guarantee of Rp 8.5 trillion (US$601.6 million) to flag carrier Garuda Indonesia as the airline struggles to manage loss and debt during the pandemic. Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said that the findings of the DISTP study aligned with the projections of its analysts. According to our analysts' consensus, it will take two to three years for the industry to return to the pre-pandemic level, he said during Tuesday's discussion. Irfan said that the rigorous health requirements for all air passengers had deterred people from air travel. Under the governments COVID-19 health protocols, individuals must present several documents to be eligible to fly, including their identity card, a letter of health declaring them "coronavirus-free" and an official letter of duty assignment (surat tugas). [People are] thinking twice before deciding to fly, because the PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test required of all flight passengers is expensive, Irfan said. Additionally, the government has applied a 50 percent cap on total fleet capacity to maintain social distancing between onboard passengers, which has also battered the airline industry. As we may not fill our airplanes to capacity, we will also need to raise ticket prices, Irfan said. A downpour at Tongor-Dzemeni in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region has ravaged 30 houses and displaced 70 people. The rainstorm, which lasted more than an hour, also destroyed a church building, and flooded shops and houses, leaving the inhabitants stranded. Mr John Abotsi, the Assemblyman for Tongor-Dzemeni West Electoral Area, told the Ghana News Agency that the flood also swept away some goods from the shops. He said the displaced people, some with minor injuries, were lodging with relatives and friends. Mr Thomas Avuworda, the Assemblyman for Tongor-Dzemeni East Electoral Area, described the storm as devastating and feared more houses could be damaged if it continued to hit the community. He urged people living in dilapidated buildings to move to safer places to avoid loss of lives. He appealed to the National Disaster Management Organisation to provide some relief items to affected persons and entreated the people to avoid throwing garbage into drains. GNA CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Artax Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on transforming autoimmune disease treatment, today announces the completion of an extension to its Series B financing led by Columbus Venture Partners. AX-158 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule, immunomodulating agent in development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. AX-158 employs a novel mechanism of action that selectively modulates, or adjusts, T cell responses that play a critical role in immune system function. Proceeds from the financing will be used to support activities for a planned Q4 2020 filing of a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) with the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for AX-158. "We are pleased to welcome Columbus Venture Partners as a new investor," said Joseph Lobacki, Chief Executive Officer of Artax Biopharma. "The support of Columbus Venture Partners is a testament to the transformative potential of our science, which has the potential to address autoimmune disease without causing immunosuppression." Javier Garcia, Founder and Partner with Columbus Venture Partners, stated, "Columbus Venture Partners is pleased to have led the extension to this round of financing. We believe Artax's highly experienced leadership team is well positioned to deliver on a truly innovative therapeutic program." About Immunomodulation A healthy immune system eliminates harmful foreign pathogens, while being tolerant of self-tissues and organs. When the immune system malfunctions, cells (T Cells) attack self-tissues and organs, causing autoimmune disease. Current autoimmune disease therapies suppress the immune system, helping to minimize these self-attacks, but also raise susceptibility to harmful foreign pathogens. Immunomodulation, the process in which the immune system reduces self-attacks while properly reacting to fight foreign pathogens, holds great potential for autoimmune disease therapies. About Artax-158 AX-158 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule, preclinical immunomodulating agent in development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. AX-158 employs a novel mechanism of action that selectively modulates, or adjusts, T cell responses that play a critical role in immune system function. By selectively inhibiting Nck, a protein, AX-158 selectively modulates self-directed T Cell activation which is a cause of autoimmune disease. Importantly, data suggests that AX-158 is not immunosuppressive and does not impact the immune system's ability to mount a strong response to foreign pathogens and infections. Further, AX-158's ability to modulate T cell responses allows the possibility to broadly target several autoimmune diseases, therefore potentially transforming autoimmune disease treatment. About Artax Biopharma Artax Biopharma is a biotechnology company transforming autoimmune disease treatment. Artax is a life science industry leader in autoimmune disease immunomodulation science, developing an innovative small molecule approach to treat autoimmune disease that modulates the immune system to both treat autoimmune disease and allow the body to fight foreign pathogens. The company is examining a first-in-class oral immunomodulating agent as a new way to treat multiple autoimmune diseases without causing the immune suppression commonly associated with currently available autoimmune disease therapies. For more information, please visit www.artaxbiopharma.com. SOURCE Artax Biopharma Related Links http://www.artaxbiopharma.com US technology companies appear to be seeking a foothold in Indias telecom sector through acquisitions of minority stakes that could potentially shore up the fortunes of both. This comes at a time when Indias online retail industry is seen at an inflection point due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has sharply boosted adoption of digital services. Analysts say the discussions and buzz around partnerships between technology and telecom companies could mark a strategic shift, especially in the e-commerce sector. According to a Morgan Stanley report released earlier this week, Indias e-commerce population could grow sharply post covid-19 and online penetration in grocery shopping could finally reach an inflection point, along with a surge in segments such as gaming, educational and health tech, as well as cloud services. We believe we could see the emergence of a few large tech companies (Super Apps or category leaders) in the next 5-10 years. These developments are notably important for some of the global tech companies that are invested in India, according to the report. On Thursday, Reuters reported that Jeff Bezos e-commerce giant Amazon.com is in early-stage talks to buy a roughly 5% stake worth at least $2 billion in Bharti Airtel Ltd, a move that could give Indias third-largest telecom company a financial boost in this hyper-competitive market. If the Amazon-Bharti Airtel deal happens, it may help Amazon leverage Airtels subscriber base to cross-sell its services. Organically, it may take Amazon years to reach such a chunky (user) base, but in any form of partnership, it could be sooner, said Rajiv Sharma, head of research at SBICAP Securities. Bharti Airtel would also gain from a potential alliance with Amazon, whose subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS), leads the global cloud services market, according to analysts. Airtel could also benefit from Amazons purchase-level insight due to its e-commerce services. From an India perspective, ...between Facebook MarketPlace, Google Shopping and the Amazon marketplace, the latter has the maximum purchase-level insight, said S. Swaminathan, chief executive and co-founder of Hansa Cequity, a digital marketing and analytics firm. The news about a potential Amazon-Airtel alliance comes on the back of Facebook picking a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms Ltd for $5.7 billion. Indias largest mobile operator Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd is a wholly owned unit of Jio Platforms, which in turn is owned by Reliance Industries Ltd. Multiple private equity deals including KKR, General Atlantic, Vista Equity Partners and Silver Lake, followed the Facebook deal, which resulted in RIL securing an investment upwards of $10 billion. Last week, it was reported that another technology behemoth, Alphabet Inc.s Google, is in talks with Vodafone Idea Ltd for a potential stake purchase. However, Vodafone Idea on Thursday said currently there is no proposal as reported by the media that is being considered at the board. For telecom companies, the benefits from such deals is obvious. They garner funds to grow their war chest in a capital-intensive sector that has seen cutthroat competition since Reliance Jios entry in September 2016. This would be especially important for Vodafone Idea, which has been struggling with its cash reserves. Syracuse, N.Y. Former councilwoman Bea Gonzalez, whose connections with the City of Syracuse span decades, will retire from Syracuse University in July after 36 years. She has been at the school since 1984 and was currently serving as the schools vice president for community engagement. The school announced Gonzalezs retirement with an online story dedicated to her career at the school. Gonzalezs ties to Syracuse run deep, both on campus and in the city. She became the first person of Latino or Latina descent to be elected to the Syracuse Common Council in 2001. She has also served on the Syracuse City School Districts school board and ran for mayor in 2009. She arrived in Syracuse for the first time when she was 3 years old and she split her youth between Syracuse and Puerto Rico. She benefited from Head Start and Upward Bound programs before graduating from Corcoran High School and SUNY-Binghamton. I was a product of all of the War on Poverty programs, she told Syracuse University. Her parents modeled her early civic involvement, helping found the Spanish Action League. Her father was also an early member of Syracuse United Neighbors. She returned to work at Syracuse University in 1984 as an academic counselor. In addition to her current position, she spent time as the dean of the schools University College and as a special assistant to the chancellor. According to Syracuse University, one of Gonzalezs focuses in her current position was attacking the perception that gaining access to the university is difficult for those living in the city. As her career has wound down, shes been busy working to set up campus visits for eighth-graders living in the city. I kept hearing that our kids dont know that Syracuse University is real for them even though we have programs such as Say Yes to Education, Gonzalez said in a university release. This is aimed at putting the option in their minds." The school also praised her Building Local strategy, which advocated for buying and hiring local, an effort that included hiring 82 locals at a job fair last July. Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1639 One of the 14 land guards picked up by the Police for allegedly terrorising residents of Pantang collapsed when an Accra Circuit Court remanded him into lawful custody. Illa Ismael was, however, resuscitated and provided water to drink. Ismael was, thereafter, handcuffed and escorted by armed Police men into a waiting Police van. Ishmael and the 13 others are being held on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime, prohibition of activities of Lands guards and two counts of assault. Ishmael has additionally been charged with possession of arms and ammunitions and use of narcotic drugs. The 13 include: Bashiru Abdul Latif, Christian Atsu, Ali Sulemana, Augustine Agornyo, Samuel Baah and James Okyere. The rest are Foster Nii Odoi, Mohammed Abubakari, Masawudu Sowala, Gafari Gyima, Yusif Assilfi Aminu Musa and Emmanuel Yarbi. All the accused persons have pleaded not guilty to the charges. After a team of seven lawyers had argued for bail, 13 of them were granted bail in the sum of GHC100, 000 with four sureties each. One of the sureties is to be justified. The Court, presided over by Mrs. Ellen Ofei Ayeh, accepted the defence counsels suggestion that if they were unable to secure their justifications, the accused persons would post GHC100, 000 as security deposit. The matter has been adjourned to June 17. Prosecuting Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr. Alex Odonkor, narrated that the complainant Jonas Adu, was an employee of Jeleel Estate Developing Company, Accra. The Prosecution said all the accused persons were land guards terrorising people on their land sites. Chief Superintendent Odonkor said on May 30, this year, the complainant and his colleagues were working on their legally acquired companys land at Pantang when Ishmael on board an unregistered Toyota vehicle, led the other accused persons also on board another Toyota Hilux with registration number WR 1642-15, and an unregistered Toyota Sienna to the site. The Prosecution said the accused person attacked and assaulted Kwaku Prah, Laryea Issaka, Jelilu Spam, Fosu Emmanuel, Bright Frimpong, Yaw Boakye, Eric Asante, Samuel Kuma, Enoch Obeng and Joseph Okyere on the land without any cause. Chief Supt. Odonkor said in the process the Police received a distress call and proceeded to the scene. The Prosecution said the attackers on seeing the Police rushed into the cars and escaped but they were apprehended by the youth who blocked the road. He said a search in Ishmaels vehicle revealed 12 ammunitions of AK47 rifle, two pistols ammunitions, a knife and dried leaves suspected to be cannabis. Additionally, two knives and three wraps of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis were found in the Toyota Hilux, while in the Toyota Sienna vehicle, a knife and a wrap of cannabis were retrieved. Prosecution said the accused persons claimed they were contracted by GN Bank and Sarah Ama Forkuo Samampa Company to guard the land for them. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A sign alerting customers to a closed Walgreens store is seen Wednesday in Vallejo, Calif. A person was shot by police when people began breaking into stores late Monday. (Ben Margo / Associated Press) When a Vallejo police officer shot a looting suspect to death shortly after midnight Tuesday, the city was engulfed in chaos. Sean Monterrosa, 22, who lived in South San Francisco, was killed outside a Walgreens store where officers were responding to reports of looting in Vallejo, a racially diverse city of 121,000 northeast of San Francisco in Solano County Brittany Jackson, a spokeswoman for Vallejo police, described the turmoil on Monday night and Tuesday morning as "horrible." Calls were coming in about looting around the city, she said Thursday, and the department had intelligence that the looters were coordinating the "attack" on social media. John Burris, a civil rights lawyer representing Monterrosa's family, agreed that Vallejo was being "ravaged" that night. On Thursday, Vallejo police continued to refuse to reveal the name of the officer who shot Monterrosa after allegedly mistaking a hammer in the man's pocket for a gun. The department did not report that Monterrosa had died until more than 24 hours after the shooting, and a state assemblyman has called for an independent investigation. Jackson said the officer was on paid administrative leave and would be identified eventually. She said she did not know why the name had not yet been released. The officer has been identified only as an 18-year veteran of the department. The city was calm on Thursday. Some people in the parking lot of the Walgreens where the shooting occurred said they had been unaware of it. Police said they first responded to a call about the Walgreens store at 10:17 p.m. Monday. It was after a second call about the store at 12:15 a.m. that Monterrosa died. The first officers on the scene were in a police cruiser. They said they saw about a dozen suspected looters jump into a silver pickup and a black sedan in the parking lot. The truck sped away. Before fleeing, the driver of the sedan rammed into the cruiser, causing the airbag to deploy and injuring an officer, police said. Story continues Two other uniformed officers in an unmarked car pulled in and saw Monterrosa, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt, first run toward the sedan and then drop to his knee. Police said the officer who shot Monterrosa saw his hands moving toward his waist near what appeared to be the butt of a handgun. The officer fired five shots through the windshield of the unmarked car at Monterrosa, who died later at a hospital. He had no gun; tucked into the pocket of his sweatshirt was a 15-inch hammer, police said. Suspects in the silver truck that fled the scene were later apprehended. The black sedan was not found. Burris disputed that Monterrosa posed a threat. He had been left behind when the two vehicles sped away, Burris said, adding, "He immediately dropped to his knees, and it looks like he was in the process of putting up his hands." Police may have perceived a threat, but Monterrosa "didn't do anything with the hammer," Burris said. "He didn't reach for it. He didn't pull it out. ... Our view is they never gave the boy a chance. He was trying to surrender." "Its a pretty outrageous shooting," Burris said. "The officer's life was not in danger." Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams said at a news conference Wednesday that some elite officers are trained to shoot through windshields, a practice permitted under department policy. Burris, who plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the Vallejo police, said Monterrosa's family was distraught and "horrified." When Burris called them to discuss the case, "the mother cried and cried and cried," he said. The family has set up a GoFundMe page. Monterrosa was the middle child of three children born to immigrants from Argentina. His father worked as a physician in Argentina and now works in a factory, Burris said. His mother, who was a dancer in Argentina, is now a child-care worker. His older sister, 24, graduated from college, and his younger sister, 20, is still in college, Burris said. Monterrosa had been working as a cement mason, Burris said. "He was very good with his hands, a fix-it kind of guy," he said. "When he was 13 or 14, he had a hot dog stand, helping the family make money." Burris said he could not find any evidence that Monterrosa was convicted of any crime, though one of his sisters said he was once arrested for a marijuana offense. Vallejo police said Monterrosa had a police record that included shoplifting, petty theft, illegal weapons violations, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an inhabited dwelling, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, possession of narcotics for sale and attempted murder. Burris has sued Vallejo and other cities several times over police shootings. "That department is out of control," he said. Williams said the Police Department did not purposefully delay reporting the man's killing out of fear of violent protests. Monday had just been a "horrific night" for the department, he said, calling it an "orchestrated, organized assault on our city." Asked several times at the news conference whether the officer had used excessive force, Williams declined to answer, saying the district attorney "will make the ultimate finding if the force was legal." The shooting is being investigated by both the Vallejo Police Department and the Solano County district attorney. The National Guard was deployed Tuesday in Vallejo. A protest on Wednesday was peaceful. Assemblyman Tim Grayson (D-Concord) was upset that Vallejo waited so long to report that Monterrosa had died. "Regardless of circumstances, it is absolutely unacceptable that the public was forced to wait for over 24 hours to learn of the conditions of those involved in the shooting," Grayson said. He called for an independent investigation in the shooting by the California attorney general or a federal agency. "The family of Sean Monterrosa and our community in Vallejo deserve to have clear information about the events that occurred and the response from the Vallejo Police Department," Grayson said. The chair of the COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission has been flying his MP mates around the country on his private jet at taxpayer expense. Former mining boss Nev Power is being paid $294,079.50 by taxpayers to advise Scott Morrison how to get the economy back on track after coronavirus. The money covers his daily expenses including food, accommodation and travel on his Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 jet, which is worth an estimated $8million. The chair of the COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission has been flying his MP mates around the country on his Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 jet (pictured) at taxpayer expense Former mining boss Nev Power (pictured) is being paid $294,079.50 by taxpayers to advise Scott Morrison how to get the economy back on track after coronavirus In a senate inquiry today, Mr Power - who flies the jet himself - admitted giving his mates a lift. Pictured: The interior of a similar model of plane to Mr Power's The register of interests shows he gave Attorney General Christian Porter a lift from Canberra to Perth on 9 April and then took him back to Canberra on 3 May. Liberal MP Ben Morton tagged along for the trip to Perth before Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was welcomed aboard for the journey to Canberra. In a senate inquiry today, Mr Power - who is a qualified pilot and flies the jet himself - admitted giving his mates a lift. 'Yes that's correct, I was going back [to Perth] for Easter and I offered them a lift,' he said. Labor Senator Kristina Keneally criticised the taxpayer-funded luxury flights. 'It's a bit rich when there are single mums, casual workers, tradies and teachers who are missing out on JobKeeper,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Power, who earned millions as the CEO of Fortescue Metals Group until 2018, was handpicked for the COVID Commission job by the Prime Minister and is expected to hold the role for six months. His publicly available flight history shows his jet, which he leases out, has taken around 20 trips since his appointment as Chair, including to Canberra, Ravensthorpe, Mount Isa, Perth, Busselton, Essendon, Merimbula, Adelaide and Albany. The register of interests shows Mr Power gave Attorney General Christian Porter (left) a lift from Canberra to Perth on 9 April and then took him back to Canberra on 3 May. Liberal MP Ben Morton tagged along for the trip to Perth before Finance Minister Mathias Cormann (right) was welcomed aboard for the journey to Canberra Stephanie Foster, of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, told a senate inquiry that it is not the government's business to decide how he travels. 'We base our costs around commercial flights. How Mr Power then travels and how he uses the funding is not our concern,' she said. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet said in a statement: 'In developing and executing Mr Power's contract, the PM&C estimated travel to and from Canberra valued at approximately $6,000 per return trip each week, $350 per night for accommodation and incidentals such as food and taxis, and additional extra expenses set to be incurred from other travel once internal border restrictions ease'. The taxpayer is also paying the $73,000 salary of Mr Power's executive assistant. Senator Cormann said Mr Power's jet was the only way for him to travel that day because all direct commercial options were cancelled. He told Daily Mail Australia: 'Given Nev Power was travelling by plane himself between Perth and Canberra anyway, I would have thought it made a lot of sense all round for us to accept his offer of a lift at no additional expense to the Commonwealth. 'The travel on his plane was of course appropriately declared.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Porter and Mr Morton for comment. India and Australia on Thursday elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed seven agreements during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison New Delhi: India and Australia on Thursday elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed seven agreements including a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support during an online summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation. India has already signed similar agreements with the US, France and Singapore. In sync with the comprehensive strategic partnership, the two sides also upgraded their two-plus-two dialogue featuring their foreign and defence secretaries to the ministerial level. Besides the MLSA, the other pacts signed will provide for bilateral cooperation in areas of cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology, mining and minerals, military technology, vocational education and water resources management. In the talks, the two sides also deliberated on a host of key issues including dealing with growing threat of terrorism, maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, reform in the World Trade Organisation and ways to deal with the coronavirus crisis. Reflecting importance they attached to the Indo-Pacific, the two countries also unveiled a declaration titled 'Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific', outlining their commitment to promoting peace, security, stability, and prosperity in the region. According to a joint statement issued after the Modi-Morrison talks, both sides discussed the issue of taxation of offshore income of Indian firms through the use of the India-Australia Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and sought early resolution of the issue. It said both sides also decided to re-engage on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) while suitably considering earlier bilateral discussions where a mutually agreed way forward can be found. The two countries recognised that terrorism remains a threat to peace and stability in the region and strongly condemned the menace in all its forms and manifestations, stressing that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. The joint statement said both sides support a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism, including by countering violent extremism, preventing radicalisation, disrupting financial support to terrorists and facilitating prosecution of those involved in acts of terror. They also called for early adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). In his opening remarks, Modi pitched for a coordinated and collaborative approach to come out of the adverse economic and social impact of the epidemic that has infected around 65 lakh people and killed 3.88 lakh globally. He said a process of comprehensive reforms covering almost all areas has been initiated in India as his government viewed the coronavirus crisis as an "opportunity". Referring to the virtual summit, Modi termed it "a new model of India-Australia partnership, a new model of conducting business". It was the first time that Modi held a "bilateral" virtual summit with a foreign leader. He described his talks with Morrison as "an outstanding discussion", covering the entire expanse of ties between the two strategic partners. "Our government has decided to view this crisis as an opportunity. In India, a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all areas. It will soon see results at the ground level," Modi said. He also conveyed his appreciation to Morrison for taking care of the Indian community in Australia, especially the students during the "difficult time". In his remarks, Morrison complemented Modi for his "constructive and very positive" role including at the G-20 role in pushing for a concerted global approach in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Modi said he believed that it is the "perfect time and perfect opportunity" to further strengthen the relationship between India and Australia. "We have immense possibilities to make our friendship stronger," Modi said, adding: "How our relations become a 'factor of stability' for our region and for the world, how we work together for global good, all these aspects need to be considered." He said India was committed to expand its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace, noting that it is important not only for the two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world. "The role of our comprehensive strategic partnership will be more important in this period of global epidemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to get out of the economic and social side effects of this epidemic," he said. The joint statement said to provide oversight of the comprehensive strategic partnership and to deepen economic and strategic cooperation, India and Australia affirm their desire to increase the frequency of prime ministerial contact through reciprocal bilateral visits and annual meetings in the margins of international events. Over three-quarters (76%) of Irish employees believe their employer has a responsibility to provide well-being support to employees during the coronavirus pandemic, yet less than half (45%) of employers currently provide such supports. The Hays Ireland Well-being Matters: What Workers Want Report 2020, which surveyed 1,700 people across Ireland, examines the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on employee well-being and explores how employers can take steps to support their workforce. The research found Irish employees want to see their employers show leadership and reassurance during this time of unprecedented change and uncertainty. However, two in five (40%) employees feel that their employers response to the coronavirus pandemic has been okay to poor. The research suggests that although over two fifths (41%) of employers say the communication aspect of their organisation has had the most change since the coronavirus pandemic, communications is the main area employees (50%) believe their employers should improve in. This is followed by improvements in strategy and planning (16%) and remote staff management (14%). According to the research, almost 40% of employees rate their current work-life balance as average or poor, with a lack of social interaction being the greatest challenge to their overall well-being (31%). At a time when an unprecedented number of Irish employees are working remotely, employers must work harder than ever before to maintain workplace morale and foster a positive team spirit. Over half of employees (59%) say job security has become more important since the coronavirus restrictions, with almost half also stating that work-life balance (49%), mental health support (49%), the work support network (48%), and physical health support (46%) has become more important as well. Hays research suggests that the most prominent supports offered by employers promoting employee well-being include professional training, social activities, online doctors, and exercise initiatives. The most in-demand well-being supports listed by employees include a greater focus on communications (41%), professional training (21%), and support services such as online doctors or counselling services (18%). Over one-third of employees (36%) say they want to prioritise their health and well-being in the future. Other key findings from the What Workers Want report include: Employers One third of employers are still recruiting staff to fill permanent, temporary, contract and interim positions during the coronavirus pandemic. 62% of employers feel their organisation is quite prepared for a phased return to the workplace at the end of the coronavirus restrictions, but almost one fifth of employers (17%) state their organisation is unprepared. Almost one third (30%) of employers think the greatest challenge when transitioning back to workplaces will be establishing remote working agreements with their employees. Flexible working policy is the top long-term change (49%) to workplaces that will come as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, with employers looking to retain new communication/collaboration tools (28%) and change the overall communications approach to the business (21%). Employees Over one quarter (27%) of employees have experienced a decrease in salary since the coronavirus restrictions, with 4% of employees receiving a raise in their salary. The majority of employees (68%) have experienced no change to their salary since the coronavirus restrictions. Almost one third (30%) of employees are not confident in their ability to progress their career in the short term, with this figure decreasing to 6% when thinking long term. Approximately eight out of ten employees (84%) check in with the colleagues on their team every couple of days, if not every day. Almost one quarter (24%) of employees feel relationships with colleagues have become more distant since the coronavirus restrictions. Commenting on the report, Maureen Lynch, Director of Hays Ireland, said: "As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it is estimated that 320,000 employees are currently working remotely across Ireland, which represents approximately 14% of the working adult population in the country. "The coronavirus has changed the way we work and how employees perceive the workplace. This presents challenges and opportunities for employers, who must now adapt to new ways of working and better understand their employees motivations. "On 10 August, we will see the final phase of the re-opening of the Irish economy and more specifically, the re-opening of office buildings across the country. "Were seeing some employers already making changes. Less than a fortnight ago, Twitter committed to making its current remote-working practises available to staff on a permanent basis. "This move is a recognition of the positives that have emerged from this new mode of working, including improved employee wellbeing and, for the employer, new ways of achieving optimum productivity." S Vijay Kumar By In mid-March, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit India with its full force, Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel was in Parliament answering questions on stolen antiquities raised in the Rajya Sabha by Trinamools Sukhendu Sekhar Roy. Many other members representing other states joined the debate and posed valid queries on how, despite the multitude of media reports about rampant thefts in temple sites, the ministry has been sticking to its two-digit official theft number. The inputs were obviously prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the culture ministry and it showed not much change had happened in the way officialdom looks at heritage crimes in India. By refusing to acknowledge the enormity of the problem of blatant looting of Indias cultural treasures, the jaundiced system had succeeded once more in hiding the obvious in red tape. This series of monthly articles will focus on each aspect of this cultural drain and suggest solutions. We take the ASI and aligned archaeologists in this first column. Firstly, the ASI is only the custodian of a small percentage of heritage sites in India and their functioning has been the subject of a very critical report by the CAG in 2013, which has still not been answered fully in Parliament. The culture ministry and in essence the government is responsible for all of Indias heritage and not just the declared heritage sites. As such, the crime/theft statistics have to come from law enforcement and not the ASI. Our state police records did have separate counts of heritage crimes right from the 1920s upto the 1970s, as can be seen from the CBIs report to UNESCO in the mid-70s. Further, many cases have been closed claiming that the idols are non-traceable. But we have proved that even idols stolen in the 1960s can be successfully restituted. Hence, a pan-India exercise to tabulate all recorded FIRs for cultural property theft, irrespective of whether the cases are open or closed, is the need of the hour. Secondly, we tackle the question of ethics within the archaeological community. Do archaeologists have an ethical obligation to report looting? was the title of a recent policy brief by Dr Blythe Alison Bowman Balestrieri of the Antiquities Coalitiona diverse group of experts in the global fight against cultural racketeering. Some of the key takeaways from the document are crucial for defining policy in India. Chola Jain Teertankara bronze that was smuggled out of India and recently seized Looting, illegal digging and theft in whatever form causes irreparable damage to the archaeological landscape, and the knowledge archaeologists hoped to glean from those sites about the human past has also been compromised, if not lost entirely In short, looting destroys context and reduces an archaeologically significant find to a showpiece curio. The policy brief draws insight from a global survey on why many field archaeologists say they do not report looting in archaeological sites when they encounter it, and argues that the duty to report should be a central tenet of a field archaeologists professional ethics. Some of the startling results that actually supported our long-held claim was the result of the survey in which nearly 15,000 archaeologists took part: Not only did 80% state they had experienced first-hand encounters with looting, they also noted that these were not isolated encountersi.e. looting is frequent, iterative and widespread. What did they do when faced with such looting? The survey says nearly 15% of archaeologists documented it internally, 25% took no action, while 62% did notify external agencies including archaeological authorities or law enforcement. What are the possible reasons for non-reporting or inaction? Some archaeologists say economic conditions cause poor locals to turn to looting and add that they are the victims of the global market, exploited by the desires of dealers and collectors who are the real villains, a simple problem of supply and demand. But the need argument can be applied to any form of theft. And should archaeologists even be viewing these in this manner, especially in the Indian context where there are specific laws that make such illicit digging and looting illegal? Further, smuggling networks even employ their own people to loot the sculptures. The actual diggers are paid literally peanuts compared to what the middlemen and dealers make even before the artefact is smuggled out and prices multiplied 100 times over in the eventual markets in Europe and America. Original image of Chola Teertankara icon matched with image of same bronze at an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London A case in point is a recent seizure of a Chola Jain Teertankara bronze. (in picture). It was smuggled out by Sanjeevi Ashokan and Deendayal and eventually reached international smuggler Subhash Kapoor in New York. In early 2004, a farmer who found the buried bronze along with a few ceremonial vessels (sadly lost now) had sold it for its weight to a scrap merchant (Rs 5,000). Within a year in February 2005, the bronze had been sold by Kapoor for $70,000 to a collector in New York City. The non-reporting of stolen artefacts has long been a stumbling block in many of our unsuccessful restitution attempts. Lets take a look at how the inaction by archaeologists contributes to the continuing destruction of heritage sites. As the policy brief points out, it creates the perception that looting is not as rampant as activists like us say it is. Collectors and dealers make use of it and try to influence policy to downplay the role of looting in the global antiquities trade, leading to a weak regulatory mechanism and poor policing strength. This is exactly the problem that the culture minister sadly faced when answering questions in Rajya Sabha. The problem will not go away till the ministry addresses the root cause and comes up with a code of ethics and code of conduct for field archaeologistsbe it the ASI, state archaeology departments or various academic institutions that contribute to some entry-level excavation works. The code of conduct should include reporting any incidence of theft and looting not only in museums, but also in site museums and excavation sites. Further, ASI employees should declare any conflict of interest (immediate and extended family), especially with regard to licenses for art dealerships. S Vijay Kumar Co-Founder, India Pride Project and Author of The Idol Thief (The India Pride Projects #BringOurGodsHome initiative has helped bring many stolen idols back to our country. Email ID: vj.episteme@gmail.com) Priyanka Chopra Jonas is weighing in on social justice and the Black Lives Matter movement on social media, like a number of other celebrities. But before she moved to the U.S. and married Nick Jonas, Chopra was a famous Bollywood star in India. Now, after reading her post, many are calling the actress out for hypocrisy because of her endorsement of skin-whitening products. Priyanka Chopra | ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images Priyanka Chopra Jonas shares a lengthy post about George Floyd on Instagram On May 25, George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed in police custody. For over eight minutes, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyds neck, resulting in his death. The incident was caught on video and inspired numerous protests in cities all around the world. In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Chopra posted a black and white quote of Floyds last words, I cant breathe. And in the caption, she wrote a lengthy message about the need for justice. There is so much work to be done and it needs to start [sic] at an individual level on a global scale, Chopra wrote in the caption. We all have a responsibility to educate ourselves and end this hate. End this race war here in the US, and around the world. Wherever you live, whatever your circumstances, NO ONE deserves to die, especially at the hands of another because of their skin color. RELATED: Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas Are Celebrating Their First Holi Together and Fans Cant Get Enough The actress is slammed for her past endorsement of skin creams After reading her Instagram post, many felt Chopra was being a hypocrite. For starters, some called the actress out for her endorsements of skin-lightening creams. Where was this solidarity when you fed into the south Asian anti-blackness by literally shilling for a fairness cream? one Instagram user commented under Chopras post. Your solidarities are tailored to your audiences and serve only one party- you. #BlackLivesMatter #blacklifematters Meanwhile Priyanka Chopra in India doing add on fairness cream wht a joke pic.twitter.com/ItXkAf1DaU rahul (@rahul59660762) June 3, 2020 What hypocrisy, dude? another instagram user wrote. You never stood against the fairness creams in your country to begin with and suddenly you think asking people to text Floyd to a number will undo it all? No. Not that easy. Chopras parents both served in the Indian Army, and shes previously stated that she feels a kinship to the military. But some are pointing out that Chopras support for the Indian Army and Mumbai police contradicts her support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Responding to her post, some claimed shes been silent about social injustices in her home country. You speak out against police brutality against black communities, which everyone should, one Instagram user commented. But on the other hand, you have consistently supported the Indian army when they have consistently harmed minorities particularly in Kashmir. Priyanka Chopra regrets using skin lightening creams In a 2017 interview with Vogue India, Chopra talked about the culture of fairness in India and revealed that she was critical of her own skin tone as a young teen. Before 15, I had a lot of self-esteem issues, the actress said. I was very conscious of the color of my skin. Chopra appeared in ads for Garnier and Ponds skin-lightening or whiteness creams as a young actress in India. But after seeing them, she said she instantly regretted the decision. When I was an actor, around my early twenties, I did a commercial for a skin-lightening cream, said Chopra. I was playing that girl with insecurities, and when I saw it, I was like, Oh sh*t. What did I do? I started talking about being proud of the way I looked, I actually like my skin tone. And in late 2019, when Indian students were protesting discrimination by the countrys controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, Chopra condemned violence by the Indian police. In a thriving democracy, to raise ones voice peacefully and be met with violence is wrong, Chopra tweeted in December 2019. Every voice counts. And each voice will work towards changing India. Many are calling out Chopra for hypocrisy. But after weighing her past interviews and posts, it looks like she has evolved as a social activist, and has taken consistent more steps in promoting justice in the last few years. 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. English Danish Company announcement NO.15/2020 When DFDS resumes sailings on the Oslo-Copenhagen ferry route from 25 June, a new ferry route between Frederikshavn and Oslo will open at the same time. Both routes will be operated by the two ferries sailing between Copenhagen and Oslo. However, it will not be possible for passengers to travel between Copenhagen and Frederikshavn only, so it will be two separate routes. The target group for the new route is first and foremost passengers travelling with their own car for transport purposes. On-board facilities and experiences will be adapted to this target group. The route between Copenhagen and Oslo will also focus more on transporting passengers when it resumes service. On board, the emphasis will be on ensuring that there is sufficient space for each passenger to comply with recommendations for social distancing. We look forward to welcoming passengers travelling between Denmark and Norway for holidays in summer houses and hotels or other purposes. The new route will also contribute to tourism and trade in and around Frederikshavn and Oslo. We also look forward to welcoming freight customers on the route, says Torben Carlsen, CEO of DFDS. Contact Torben Carlsen, CEO, +45 33 42 32 01 Karina Deacon, CFO, +45 33 42 33 42 Sren Brndholt Nielsen, IR, +45 33 42 33 59 Gert Jakobsen, Communications, +45 33 42 32 97 This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Attachment 'A New Era in Diabetes Care' is an initiative bringing together a group of eight diabetes, nephrology and primary care experts from across Europe, to discuss key challenges and opportunities to improve the care of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its associated renal/cardiovascular disease complications The resulting report highlights several specific Calls to Action that primary and secondary care physicians can implement in everyday clinical practice to help address these challenges, some of which are especially relevant within the context of COVID-19 As part of the initiative, Mundipharma conducted a European general public awareness survey which found that less than a third of respondents considered chronic kidney disease to be a serious complication of type 2 diabetes STRICTLY FOR EUROPEAN MEDICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL TRADE MEDIA ONLY A new expert-led report has today been launched to help outline key challenges and inequalities in the care of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its associated renal and cardiovascular complications, and highlight some Calls to Action to try and address these gaps for the 53 million Europeans living with T2DM.1 A New Era in Diabetes Care is a non-promotional disease awareness initiative that brings together a European Multidisciplinary Steering Committee of diabetes, nephrology and primary care experts, funded by Mundipharma International Limited. The report, authored by the Steering Committee, explores five main areas within the management of T2DM, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD): Healthcare professional and patient education on CKD and its signs Effective testing and interpretation of markers (clinical indicators) of CKD Greater understanding of the clinical management model amongst HCPs Use of shared decision-making to create an appropriate care plan for people with T2DM Regular monitoring and review of key performance indicators (KPIs) treatment outcomes "The complications of type 2 diabetes, such as chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, are a huge burden on patients and healthcare systems and with the increasing prevalence of the disease, the situation is expected to get worse. These two complications are directly linked, so by treating and slowing progression of chronic kidney disease, clinicians may also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in these patients," commentedProfessor David Wheeler, Chair of the A New Era in Diabetes Care SteeringCommittee, and Professor of Kidney Medicine at University College London, Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. "This report highlights how critical it is for physicians to screen early for chronic kidney disease, treat appropriately, and regularly review treatment outcomes in their patients, to prevent the development of serious complications." The Steering Committee also discussed the management of T2DM and its complications through the lens of COVID-19, and agreed that annual screening for CKD should continue to take place while also protecting people with T2DM, by following the relevant shielding guidelines and using telemedicine where appropriate. Approximately 59 million people in Europe currently live with diabetes, which is set to rise to 67 million by 2045.1 If left untreated, patients are at greater risk of developing serious health complications, such as renal disease and cardiovascular disease, which are the two most common causes of death for T2DM patients.2,3 It is estimated that more than 40% of people with T2DM will develop CKD,4 and nearly a third will develop CVD.2 As part of the A New Era in Diabetes Care initiative, Mundipharma conducted a general public survey of 9,143 adults in eight countries across Europe, which uncovered several gaps in the awareness of T2DM and its links with other systemic complications such as CKD and CVD.5 Nearly half of survey respondents (42%, n=3,840) were unaware there are two main types of diabetes (type I and type 2) and almost all (94%, n=8,594) were unaware that nine out of 10 people with diabetes have T2DM. When asked what they thought were the most serious complications of T2DM, only a third (32%, n=2,926) of respondents chose CKD, and less than half (46%, n=4,206) chose CVD, despite these being two of the main causes of death in this patient population.2,3 Participants were also unsure when it came to the symptoms of CKD, with just 7% (n=640) correctly recognising that in the early stages of CKD, there are usually no symptoms, making it vital to conduct routine screening to diagnose it before it has progressed. In regard to treating CKD, almost half of respondents (43%, n=3,931) were unaware that although incurable, the worsening of the disease can be controlled by appropriate treatment and by managing blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The impact of CKD was also underestimated with only 29% (n=2,651) of people thinking it can have a major impact on someone's mental health and less than half (47%, n=4,297) believing it to have a major impact on quality of life. "The findings of this expert-led report, in addition to the recent survey results, emphasise that in both healthcare settings and amongst the general public, the kidneys are not top of the agenda when it comes to type 2 diabetes mellitus. This report aims to provide primary and secondary healthcare professionals with a structured care plan for patient-focused prevention, monitoring and treatment of chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes," saidDr Vinicius Gomes de Lima, European Medical Affairs Lead, Mundipharma. The report can be downloaded here: https://www.dcvd.org/tl_files/download/Bilder/A%20New%20Era%20in%20Diabetes%20Care%20Report.pdf -END- Notes to the editors: About the A New Era in Diabetes Care initiative In February 2020, a group of eight European primary and secondary care healthcare professionals (HCPs) with expertise in diabetes and nephrology formed the 'A New Era in Diabetes Care' Steering Committee, with the mission to: Highlight the challenges and inequalities across European countries in the prevention, monitoring and treatment of T2DM and its associated complications, with a focus on CKD and CVD Outline what can be done to improve the quality of care and outcomes for people living with T2DM and its complications. The Chair of the Steering Committee is Professor David Wheeler, Professor of Kidney Medicine at University College London and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust, London. Other members include: Professor Antonio Ceriello, Head of Diabetes Department at IRCCS MultiMedica, Milan Dr Francesc Xavier Cos, Director of Sant Marti Primary Health Centres, Barcelona and Chairman of Primary Care Diabetes Europe Professor Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine, Leicester Diabetes Centre Dr Jose Luis Gorriz, Head of Nephrology, Hospital Clinico Universitario de Valencia and Associate Lecturer of Medicine, Universidad de Valencia Professor June James, Consultant Nurse in Diabetes, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Associate Professor Dr Esteban Jodar, Head of Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospitales Universitarios Quironsalud Madrid de Pozuelo, Professor of Endocrinology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid Professor Ronan Roussel, Head of Endocrinology-Diabetology-Nutrition, Bichat Hospital, AP-HP Paris The 'A New Era in Diabetes Care' initiative has been made possible by financial support from Mundipharma International Limited, who has provided logistical support, as well as honoraria for the Steering Committee. Mundipharma International Limited has had no input into the content of the report but have checked for factual accuracy. Final editorial control of the report remains with the Steering Committee. About the Mundipharma network Mundipharma is a global network of privately-owned independent associated companies whose purpose is To Move Medicine Forward. With a high performing and learning organisation that strives for innovation and commercial excellence through partnerships, we have successfully transformed and diversified our European portfolio of medicines to create value for patients, healthcare professionals, payers and wider healthcare systems across important therapeutic areas such as Diabetes, Oncology, Biosimilars, Anti-Infectives and Respiratory. References: 1 IDF Diabetes Atlas Ninth Edition 2019. Available at: https://www.diabetesatlas.org/upload/resources/material/20200302_133351_IDFATLAS9e-final-web.pdf Last accessed May 2020 2 Einarson T, Acs A, Ludwig C. et al. Prevalence of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes: a systematic literature review of scientific evidence from across the world in 2007-2017. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2018 Jun 8;17(1):83. 3 Tuttle K, Bakris G, Bilous R. et al. Diabetic kidney disease: a report from an ADA Consensus Conference. Diabetes Care. 2014; 37(10):2864-83. 4 Alicic R, Rooney M, Tuttle K. Diabetic Kidney Disease: Challenges, Progress, and Possibilities. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2017; 12(12):2032-45. 5 Mundipharma International Limited General Public Diabetes Awareness Survey. Carried out by Research Without Barriers from 15-27 April 2020. Data on file. Job code: MINT/DIAB-20009 Date of preparation: June 2020 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005732/en/ Contacts: Cendrine Banerjee-Quetel Asset Communications Associate, Mundipharma International Ltd Email: Cendrine.Banerjee-Quetel.external@mundipharma.com Tel: +44 (0) 1223 393 009 Abbie Bell Account Director, Havas SO E-mail: HavasSO-Mundipharma@havasso.com Tel: +44 7375 660 515 He is one of the most iconic faces in daytime television with almost four decades in the broadcast industry under his belt. And Eamonn Holmes was feeling nostalgic on Wednesday as he shared incredible throwback snaps of him as a 21-year-old television news anchor. The star, now 60, looked handsome as he sported thick black tresses and a navy suit to present Good Evening Ulster in his native Ireland. Throwback: Eamonn Holmes was feeling nostalgic on Wednesday as he shared incredible throwback snaps of him as a 21-year-old television news anchor He captioned the snap: '21 year old news anchor with a lot of hair. Thank you to the viewer who sent me this. 'UTV [Ulster TV] didn't store any live programming so the only things that exist r on viewer's VHS tapes.'(sic). The This Morning host's fans were quick to compliment the snap, with one writing: 'You've always been gorgeous Eamonn, followed you for years you lovely man.' Another wrote: 'So handsome & professional!!! ' while a third added: 'You haven't aged a day sir.' Then and now: The star, now 60, looked handsome as he sported thick black tresses and a navy suit to present Good Evening Ulster in his native Ireland (pictured R in 2020) Eamonn joined Ulster Television in 1979 and became a host and reporter for the station's Farming Ulster programme. In 1982, he took over Good Evening Ulster from Gloria Hunniford. He departed in 1986 to join the BBC. He co-hosted GMTV from 1993-2015 and was also the host of Sky News Sunrise from 2005-2016. The star also presents This Morning with wife Ruth Langsford on Fridays and during school holidays. The snap comes after the pair were unable to hide their frustration during This Morning last month as the show was plagued with technical blunders. Throwback: Eamonn said he was 'laughing out loud' at a second distinguished snap of himself sent by UTV Given many of the show's stars were speaking from their homes via live link, the presenting duo became increasingly annoyed as numerous interviews lost their picture or sound. The drama started during an interview with Martin Clunes, which lost connection multiple times, with the blunders continuing during a phone-in with The Speakmans, and a cooking segment with Alison Hammond. During Eamonn and Ruth's interview with Martin, the pair were forced to fill for several minutes when the live feed cut out. The duo were speaking to the Doc Martin star outside his home in Dorset, with the frame freezing several times during the chat. Eventually Eamonn and Ruth made it through the rest of the interview, though it wasn't short of blunders. Later in the show yet more issues came during a phone-in with Eva and Nick Speakman, as they spoke to viewers who were struggling with obsessive behaviour during the coronavirus lockdown. Oh dear! The snap comes after Eamonn and wife Ruth Langsford were unable to hide their frustration during This Morning last month as the show was plagued with technical blunders The live link continued to freeze, with Eamonn and Ruth berating the poor connection given the pleasant weather across the country. And things took another chaotic turn during a cooking segment with Alison Hammond, which saw her demonstrate an array of dishes that could be made in a microwave. As she began to show how she'd made bacon using the appliance, Alison's connection once again began to freeze. Clearly incredulous as the woes, Eamonn bemoaned to Ruth 'We're having a day of it!' with his wife agreeing: 'We're having a day of it aren't we?' Luckily Alison's technical woes were brief, and she eventually completed the cooking segment, which included demonstrating how to create a cake in a mug, and cooking pasta in the microwave. INX Media case: SC dismisses CBI's challenge to Chidambaram's bail India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, June 04: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed CBI's review petition challenging senior Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram's bail in INX Media case. The apex court had on October 22 last year granted bail to Chidambaram in the case saying he was neither a "flight risk" nor was there a possibility of "his abscondence from the trial". ED files chargesheet against Chidambaram, son Karti in INX Media case Vijay Mallya may not be extradietd to India soon, another legal hurdle in way | Oneindia News A bench headed by Justice R Banumathi rejected the review petition filed by the CBI saying the last year verdict does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration. "Application for oral hearing the review petition in open court is rejected. We have perused the review petition and the connected papers carefully and are convinced that the order, of which review has been sought, does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration," the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, said. "The review petition is, accordingly, dismissed," the bench said in its June 2 order which was uploaded on the apex court website today (Thursday). Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21 last year in the corruption case which was registered on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during his tenure as finance minister. Chidambaram has denied all the allegations levelled against him in the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also lodged a separate money laundering case related to INX Media case in which the charge sheet was filed against Chidambaram and his son Karti, a Lok Sabha MP, on Tuesday. In its October last year order, the apex court had brushed aside the CBI's allegation that Chidambaram had tried to influence two material witnesses in the case, saying that no details were available as to "when, where and how those witnesses were approached". The apex court had set aside the Delhi High Court's September 30 last year verdict denying regular bail to Chidamabaram. The CBI had registered its case on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister. Recently published in Nature Communications, the study advances in the evolution of resistance to different tumor inhibitors with a view to developing more effective therapies in the future The international study "Resistance to targeted therapies as a multifactorial, gradual adaptation to inhibitor specific selective pressures", recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, has taken a further step in the development of new therapeutic strategies to treat lung cancer. This study, the result of more than three years of research, was conducted at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa (Florida, USA) and makes progress toward the evolution of resistance to different tumor inhibitors. Scientist Robert Vander Velde is the main author of it. "Although the use of specific inhibitors targeted against a tumor often induces good clinical results at initial stages, certain cell populations might not be completely eliminated, acquiring resistance to treatments and developing relapse as tumor recurs", explains Diego Lozano, researcher of the Supercomputing and Bioinnovation Center (SCBI) of the University of Malaga (UMA) and one of the authors of this study. Resistance to tumor inhibitors Using an in vitro model of isolated ALK positive cells of a specific type of lung cancer, namely, non-small or non-microcytic cell lung cancer, researchers explored the evolution of resistance to different clinical ALK inhibitors. "We demonstrated that the acquisition of resistance to tumor inhibitors not only arises from the pre-existence of cell subpopulations in mutations that enable tumors to survive drugs, or due to emergence of point mutations that confer such resistance, but from a gradual and predictable adaptation to the selective pressures of the different ALK inhibitors, at the genetic and epigenetic level", says the researcher of the UMA. Opportunity for more effective therapies Lozano explains that during the evolution of drug resistance, intermediate cell populations present collateral sensitivity to other inhibitors, thus providing a temporarily opportunity to apply effective therapies. "The findings of this study could be transferred to other similar scenarios, where tumors also acquire therapy resistance", clarifies Lozano, who guarantees that by understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and trajectories of drug resistance in tumor cells, evolutionary-informed therapies could be designed. ### Particularly, the contribution of this scientist of the Genomic Unit of the UMA took place for four months at the end of 2017, when Lozano joined the team led by the highly respected Dr. Marusyk in Tampa thanks to an IMP grant, developed by IMFAHE in collaboration with the UMA, through the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Transfer, and Andalucia TECH. Bibliography: Vander Velde R, Yoon N, Marusyk V, et al. Resistance to targeted therapies as a multifactorial, gradual adaptation to inhibitor specific selective pressures. Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):2393. Published 2020 May 14. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16212-w Kasargode, June 4 : A Kerala hospital near here has much to celebrate about this World Environment Day. Its policy of 'one baby-one sapling' has given life to thousands of trees besides giving babies the hope for a clean environment. The Matria Hospital for Women and Children has recorded the birth of 15,000 babies since August 2010 when it started operations. Along with each baby, the hospital has given a sapling to the parents of each child as a goodwill gesture for the save environment initiative. This was the brainchild of Doctor V. K.Kutty, the owner of the hospital. When the hospital was being built, a good number of trees were cut down and that was not liked by his mother Kadeeja Nediyil. She asked her son to plant more trees in compensation, but her son went a step further and decided to hand over one mango sapling to every woman who gave birth in their hospital. A mango sapling is handed to the family, when the new mother gets discharged after the baby is born. "A good environment is a must for good health. That's why we have taken up this initiative. We want a child to grow up in a healthy and clean environment. Planting saplings is not enough. People have to take care of it until it becomes a tree," said Doctor Mohamed Kasim, Executive Director, and the son of Kutty. Six years ago, the family of Faizal Abdulla, a native of Kanhangad in Kasargod district welcomed Zeina Tanash, born at the hospital, by planting a mango sapling at their home. The sapling has now grown into a tree. Zeina is so excited to see the first mangoes and she posted a picture of the first mango on the tree, which according to the hospital authorities has been plucked and she has kept it for ripening. Sugesh Devu, consultant gynaecologist at the hospital, said they are happy to be part of happiness in somebody's life. "They are taking home not one but two 'babies'. They are enthusiastic about the idea of having a little plant growing alongside their babies," said Devu. In the past one decade among those who have gone back with their babies and mango saplings are popular film personalities Asif Ali, Sayanora, Anjali Menon and Harish Kanaran. Had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospital would have by now announced a get together of all the 'babies' in August, as it celebrates its first decade. Now they are waiting for the situation to improve so that they can bring all the 'babies' together. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Highlights Redmi 9 live images have leaked online A new image shows the Redmi 9 in two new colours The Redmi 9 is expected to be launched later this month Speculation has been rife that Redmi 9 series for budget buyers could be launched by the end of this month. And now, we have more proof to back such claims. The phone which has been tipped to launch initially in Vietnam, China, and India, has now seen its live images leak online, ahead of its speculated June 25 launch. While we still await any sort of confirmation from the brand, the fact that the live images of the device have leaked online is by far the biggest hint that the device will indeed be becoming reality. The leaked images of the device come shortly after the phone's key specs were also leaked to users across social media platforms. As far as the leaks are concerned, there could be as many as three new phones that we get to see as part of the list -- Redmi 9A, Redmi 9C, and Redmi 9. However, for now, it is the Redmi 9 whose live shot have appeared on SlashLeaks to reveal its two color variants. The Redmi 9, as shown in the leaked image, is shown to arrive with quad cameras. Shown from the back, the Redmi 9 leaked image also hints that the phone could be equipped with a polycarbonate back. The leaked image doesn't reveal much else about the device, but does show the phone in two different colours --teal and violet. However, media reports suggest the phone could be made available in other colours also. Redmi 9: Expected specifications As far as the specifications go, the Redmi 9 has is tipped to bring a 6.5-inch LCD display with a punch-hole and support for up to Full HD+ resolution. Underneath the display, the phone is said to be powered by the Helio G80 octa-core processor paired with up to 4 GB of RAM. For cameras, rumours suggest the Redmi 9 could get a 13-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 5-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad-camera system at the back, while the front would see an 8-megapixel camera for selfies. The phone is also tipped to feature a fingerprint reader is available on the side of the phone. The phone could be powered by a 5,000mAh battery and an 18W fast charger. While there is no confirmation, the Redmi 9 is tipped to arrive in as many as two variants, with the entry one bringing 3GB RAM + 32GB storage while the higher-end one getting 4GB RAM + 64GB storage. Information on the price is also awaited. Although, if the June 25 India launch is true then we won't have to wait too long for it. WASHINGTON: State-backed hackers from China have targeted staffers working on the US presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden, a senior Google security official said on Thursday. The same official said that Iranian hackers had recently targeted email accounts belonging to Republican President Donald Trump`s campaign staff. The announcement, made on Twitter by the head of Google`s Threat Analysis Group, Shane Huntley, is the latest indication of the digital spying routinely aimed at top politicians. Huntley said there was "no sign of compromise" of either campaign. Iranian attempts to break into Trump campaign officials` emails have been documented before. Last year, Microsoft Corp announced that a group often nicknamed Charming Kitten had tried to break into email accounts belonging to an unnamed U.S. presidential campaign, which sources identified as Trump`s. Earlier this year, the threat intelligence company Area 1 Security said Russian hackers had targeted companies tied to a Ukrainian gas firm where Biden`s son once served on the board. Google declined to offer details beyond Huntley`s tweets, but the unusually public attribution is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at political campaigns. "We sent the targeted users our standard government-backed attack warning and we referred this information to federal law enforcement," a Google representative said. Hacking to interfere in elections has become a concern for governments, especially since U.S intelligence agencies concluded that Russia ran a hacking and propaganda operation to disrupt the American democratic process in 2016 to help then-candidate Trump become president. Among the targets was digital infrastructure used by 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton`s campaign. Moscow has denied any meddling. Attempts by foreign adversaries to break into presidential campaigns are commonplace but the unusually public attribution offered by Google is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at candidates. The Trump and Biden campaigns did not immediately return messages. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to messages. Charming Kitten, the group identified by Google as being responsible for the targeting of the Trump campaign, has also recently hit the headlines over other exploits, including the targeting of the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc. UPMC and its coronavirus vaccine arent among the top five candidates named by the Trump administration this week. But that wont thwart UPMCs efforts to develop a vaccine. Moreover, UPMC is collaborating with one of the five companies, Merck, that made the cut, according to Dr. Donald Yealy. The five companies named this week will get federal financial help toward a vaccine, which the Trump administration hopes to deliver in record time by the end of the year. Yealy said UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh are working on three different potential coronavirus vaccines. One of them, he said, is based on a measles vaccine and would be manufactured in conjunction with Merck. Yealy also said work continues on a potential UPMC vaccine announced two months ago that would use a new delivery method. Rather than a regular needle, the vaccine would be given by way of a Band-Aid-like patch containing hundreds of dissolvable needles. Yealy said developing that delivery method has its own value aside from use in a coronavirus vaccine. He said UPMC is in discussions with federal officials over terms of a clinical trial involving the patch. Trump administration officials told The New York Times two of the candidates selected by the White House could enter Phase III large-scale human trials in July. Around 30,000 people would participate in each trial. The Trump administration effort to develop a vaccine is called Operation Warp Speed. The record for developing a vaccine is four years, and it often takes a decade, according to The New York Times. 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. Environmental groups have warned that severe damage done by a coal mine to creeks south of Sydney will likely be replicated if the company is allowed to expand. Redbank Creek, which flows into the Nepean River, was undermined by the Tahmoor Colliery, leaving parts of the stream bank buckled and broken. A visit by the Herald on Wednesday also found pools of stagnant water. Western Sydney University student Callum Fleming takes samples from a heavily polluted pool on Redbank Creek near the Tahmoor Colliery. Credit:Nick Moir "It's high in the periodic table, including nickel, zinc, barium, strontium, lithium. Zinc and nickel are known toxins," said Ian Wright, a senior lecturer at Western Sydney University, during the visit. "It's also got very low oxygen content." The cracking and diversion of water are caused by the extraction of coal from below, with nearby Myrtle Creek similarly damaged, Dr Wright said. "The hard part is this analysis and data is new and the first of its kind," he told GQ. "And the police say, 'If you restrict our ability to use these types of force, you make us less safe.' That actually isn't true. In cities where there are more restrictive force policies, the police are actually safer, and communities are actually safer. The police will also say things about crime being rampant if they can't use force. That's not true either." One of those concerns is that we legitimated Cottons point of view by publishing it in The Times. Thats a category of concern weve worried about often, particularly in cases when weve published pieces by terrorists with blood on their hands or authoritarian leaders with dissidents in jail. Its never an easy call, and this is never a criticism to be ignored or dismissed lightly. But, in this case, I worry wed be misleading our readers if we concluded that by ignoring Cottons argument we would diminish it. Cotton, a Republican and a combat veteran, serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. He has a direct line to the White House, and hes a likely presidential candidate in the future. What he thinks may very well become government policy, which means it demands interrogation. Another criticism, though, is precisely that because Cotton is a senator he doesnt lack means to make his views known and in fact he already has, over Twitter. Thats true. But I think having to stand up an argument in an essay is very different than making a point in a tweet. And while Cotton could have made this argument at length in another venue, Times readers might not have been introduced to it and been able to challenge it. But that response, again, only leads to a further criticism: That Times Opinion should have left it to the Times newsroom to write a news story about Cottons views. A news reporter, summarizing Cottons position, could add important context and juxtapose his views with those of others rebutting him. That points to a general hazard for Times Opinion journalism, particularly in the digital era. While we aspire to convene debate, each piece goes out onto the internet as its own unit of argument, rather than contextualized within the running back-and-forth we are curating in aggregate. We try to overcome this problem by, for example, highlighting links among arguments that clash. We did this yesterday with Cottons piece by linking it to Stevensons and to the editorial. Weve also added more detail to author identifications in hopes of providing further context for their views. Ive started writing this newsletter in another effort to provide such context. But when it comes to supplying context, none of that is as effective as a reporters ability to dispassionately present a range of voices, combined with other reporting, within a single article. It is a deep challenge were working on but havent solved. It is, of course, fundamental to the value of our work that we let each individual voice stand on its own. But particularly in this period of fear for the countrys future particularly at this moment, when so many feel so vulnerable a reader encountering an atomized argument they profoundly disagree with can feel betrayed and appalled. Last oil tanker in Iranian flotilla reaches Venezuela The oil tanker Clavel, the last of a five-tanker Iranian flotilla, has made it to Venezuelas shores to deliver much-needed gasoline. The final delivery comes just three days after the previous cargo arrived. The fifth oil tanker entered Venezuela'ss waters on Sunday, carrying the last shipment of the more than 1.5 million barrels of fuel sent to Venezuela by Iran. Both nations are facing tough US sanctions, with Washington willing to stop the Iranian lifeline that was meant to alleviate fuel shortages in the Latin American country. Earlier this week, Venezuelas military escorted four other ships--the Fortune, the Forest, the Faxon and the Petunia--through its exclusive economic zone to their destination. The Faxon was the fourth to arrive at Puerto la Cruz on the countrys eastern coast on Friday. Despite Venezuela having vast oil reserves, its refining capacity has been limited, and its energy crisis has only worsened amid sweeping US sanctions. The restrictions dealt a painful blow to the republics oil sector, which accounts for most of its budget revenues. New Delhi: Investigation into the rioting incident in Northeast Delhi's Bhagirathi Vihar has revealed that a WhatsApp group with 125 members was formed on the intervening night of February 25 and 26, a day before four bodies were fished out of Bhagirathi Vihar and Johripur drains. The Delhi Police crime branch is now all set to file chargesheet in the case on Thursday. It is going to be the sixth chargesheet in the rioting case this week. "During the investigation, it was found that during peak rioting, a WhatsApp group was created on the intervening night of Feb 25 and 26. This group had 125 members," the police mentioned in its chargesheet. According to officers, on February 23, as the situation turned tensed in the area after clashes over CAA, two brothers Amir Ali (31) and Hashim (19) went to their maternal home for safety. After two days, their father Babu Khan, a tailor, asked them to return as the situation had apparently become normal. Both Amir and Hashim reached Gokalpuri area at about 9.30 PM on a motorcycle and asked their brother Sheruddin to come out in the lane, as they were terrified. But they never reached their home. On February 28, when the family reached Gokalpuri police station, they learnt that Amir and Hashim were killed and their bodies and burnt motorcycle thrown into the Bhagirathi Vihar drain by rioters. According to police, two active members of the group were arrested and their mobile phone was scanned. "A WhatsApp group was created on February 25 as well. During the course of investigation, it has been found that while some members of these groups were only sending and receiving chats, a few others were involved in active rioting," sources said. On the basis of eyewitness accounts and technical evidences, police arrested nine people for murdering Hashim, while eleven arrested for killing Amir. All the accused are presently in judicial custody. Their several bail applications have been rejected. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 15:59:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Peerzada Arshad Hamid NEW DELHI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian government Thursday said it would probe the death of a pregnant elephant which had been fed pineapple filled with firecrackers in the southern state of Kerala. The wild elephant strayed into a village near Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad where it ate a pineapple filled with firecrackers. The pineapple exploded in its mouth, injuring her badly. The injured elephant walked in pain for days and ultimately succumbed inside a river on May 27. "Central (federal) Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill," Prakash Javadekar, Indian environment, forest and climate change minister, said in a brief statement Thursday. The minister mentioned that although the death took place in Mallapuram, the elephant actually was killed in Palakkad district of Kerala. Forest officials said the wild animal may have eaten the fruit some 20 days ago and starved since then. The elephant was found dead in a river and her death was highlighted by a forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who put the pictures of the carcass on social media. "When we saw her she was standing in the river, with her head dipped in the water. She had a sixth sense that she was going to die. She took the Jalasamadhi in the river in a standing position," wrote Krishnan. "She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village." Celebrities, activists and thousands of social media users have demanded action and expressed sorrow at the elephant's death. Known Indian industrialist Ratan Tata termed the killing of a pregnant elephant a "meditated murder", and sought justice for the animal. "I am grieved and shocked to know that a group of people caused the death of an innocent, passive, pregnant elephant by feeding the elephant with a pineapple filled with firecrackers," Ratan Tata in a brief statement said. "Such criminal acts against innocent animals are no different than acts of meditated murder against other humans. Justice needs to prevail." The local government of Kerala has already said a wildlife crime investigation team will probe into the brutal killing of the animal. The news of the most tragic death of a friendly pregnant elephant in Kerala due to eating crackers-laden fruit didnt even sink in and here we come across another piece of news that truly makes us wonder: do we even deserve to live on this planet? Dont all lives matter? Another abhorrent news has come to fore that a second elephant death has emerged from the state. According to the news reports, a young female elephant died in April in a similar monstrous manner in the forests in Kollam district. Elephant 2 (Twitter) As per the report published in NDTV, a post-mortem shows this elephant suffered severe jaw fractures that "could have been through something it consumed," but it is not confirmed yet. However, forest officials are awaiting a chemical analysis report on the same. Meanwhile, a senior forest official told the news outlet, "We suspect it to be crackers. Could there be anything worse? When will we learn to co-exist peacefully? The voiceless young elephant was found by forest officials near a stream in the Pathanapuram forests. "She was very weak and we could not tranquilise her. We did try to give her some medication but she moved away a few kilometers. The next day, she had collapsed," a senior forest official told the news outlet. Elephant People on social media are shocked and enraged because of these inhuman acts that have put the whole of mankind to shame. The pregnant wild elephant from Silent Valley died after eating a pineapple filled with firecrackers given by the locals. As the fruit exploded in her mouth, the pregnant elephant walked for days in searing pain before she went into a river and died standing on May 3. The heartbreaking incident surfaced after Mohan Krishnan, a forest officer, posted an emotional note in Malayalam on his Facebook page. "When we saw her she was standing in the river, with her head dipped in the water. She had a sixth sense that she was going to die. She took the Jalasamadhi in the river in a standing position," Krishnan wrote. He was tasked with bringing the elephant back to the shore. Elephant Commenting on this, recently Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said strict action would be taken against those responsible for the elephant's death. "The forest department is probing the case and the culprits will be brought to book," he said. Even BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi reacted to this and tagged Malappuram district to be infamous for such animal cruelties and said, It's murder. Malappuram is famous for such incidents. It's India's most violent district. For instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300 to 400 birds & dogs die at one time. It's murder,Malappuram is famous for such incidents, it's India's most violent district.For instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300-400 birds & dogs die at one time: Maneka Gandhi,BJP MP&animal rights activist on elephant's death after being fed cracker-stuffed pineapple pic.twitter.com/OtLHsuiuAq ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2020 Photos shared on social media showed the elephant standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in water, perhaps for some relief from the unbearable pain. She died in that position. Elephant People are trending #RIPHumanity on Twitter and check out there reactions here: #RIPHumanity Kerala is proof that literacy doesn't guarantee any sense, A state with 93% literacy and 0% humanity.....@CMOKerala#RIPHumanity pic.twitter.com/rn8DK88UlA Bhagvan Singh Gurjar (@bsgurjar91) June 3, 2020 Thank God give us corona we really deserve dis....#RIPHumanity pic.twitter.com/IBG4SpUBaN Bhairav Jain (@Bhairav78072752) June 3, 2020 #RIPHumanity She believed humans but humans killed our own humanity.. pic.twitter.com/p2SWGa6pkj Md Saquib Abid (@SaquibAbid) June 3, 2020 I do not think I will ever forget this incident in my life Those culprits should be hanged. #RIPHumanity pic.twitter.com/oShZeY6yIk Himanshu mathur (@mathur396) June 3, 2020 Humans will always cross the line This is Zoosadism-killing of Innocent Animals for personal amusement. #RIPHumanity pic.twitter.com/H4REzSkNV3 AMIT AGARWAL (@babrisher) June 3, 2020 Even celebrities took to social media to express shock over the inhuman incident. Appalled to hear about what happened in Kerala. Lets treat our animals with love and bring an end to these cowardly acts, Virat Kohli wrote. Appalled to hear about what happened in Kerala. Let's treat our animals with love and bring an end to these cowardly acts. pic.twitter.com/3oIVZASpag Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) June 3, 2020 So sad to know this https://t.co/nlfcNTqw5w Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) June 3, 2020 She was a harmless, pregnant Elephant. That makes the people who did what they did, monsters and I hope so hard that they pay a price. We keep failing nature over and over again. Remind me how were the more evolved species? Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) June 3, 2020 Feeding a pregnant elephant with a pineapple filled with crackers. Only a monster can do this. Strict action should be taken against the culprits. Umesh Yaadav (@y_umesh) June 3, 2020 The locals generally use pineapples or similar fruits with country-made crackers to protect their fields against wild boars. "I have directed the forest officials to arrest the culprit. We will punish him for ''hunting'' the elephant," Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Surendrakumar told PTI. Italy reopened to travellers from Europe on Wednesday, three months after the country went into coronavirus lockdown, with all hopes pinned on reviving the key tourism industry as the summer season begins. Gondolas were ready to punt along Venice's canals, lovers will be able to act out "Romeo and Juliet" on Verona's famed balcony, and gladiator fans can pose for selfies at Rome's Colosseum. But there were fears many foreign tourists would be put off coming to a country still shaking off a vicious pandemic. "We hoped to see some movement from today, but have no foreign tourists booked in for this week or next," said Alessandra Conti, a receptionist at the Albergo del Senato hotel which overlooks the Pantheon in Rome. "We've got a few reservations from mid-June... (but) are still getting lots of cancellations for this summer". - 'Smouldering' virus - Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus and has officially reported more than 33,500 deaths -- the third highest toll in the world. It imposed an economically crippling lockdown in early March and has since seen its infection numbers drop off dramatically. With the country facing its deepest recession since World War II, it needs foreign tourists to return, and quickly. But it is still reporting hundreds of new cases a day, particularly in the northern Lombardy region, and experts warn the government may be moving too quickly in permitting travel between regions and abroad. Infectious diseases expert Massimo Galli said it would have been better to wait until July to reopen the borders. The virus "smoulders under the ashes, and when it finds the ideal conditions, it explodes. Even more so if we lower our guard," he said Wednesday. - 'Like a leper' - International flights into Milan, Rome and Naples increased, with a few also coming into smaller, regional airports. There were concerns that those who usually come in by car, train or ferry from neighbouring countries would go elsewhere on their holidays. Switzerland has warned its citizens that if they go to Italy they will be subject to "health measures" on their return. The country will open its borders with Germany, France and Austria on June 15, but not with Italy. Austria is lifting restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary -- but again, not Italy, described last week by Vienna's health minister as "still a hotspot". Other countries, such as Belgium and Britain, are still advising against, or forbidding, all non-essential travel abroad. In response to perceived anti-Italian sentiment, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has warned countries not to treat Italy "like a leper". He said Saturday he would be travelling to Germany, Slovenia and Greece to persuade them Italy is safe for foreign tourists, and was set to meet his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian later Wednesday in Rome. Arrivals in Italy from Europe will not be required to self-isolate unless they have recently travelled from another continent. At the border between the town of Ventimiglia in Italy and Menton in France, more people were trying to enter France from Italy than the other way round early Wednesday, and controls on the French side were very strict. - 'Scared' - Italy's lockdown has had a particularly devastating effect on the tourism sector, which amounts to some 13 percent of GDP. Only 40 of Rome's 1,200 hotels have reopened, the Corriere della Sera newspaper said, and just a dozen in Milan. Restaurants, cafes and beach establishments have slowly reopened over the past two weeks -- although the government has said it reserves the right to impose localised lockdowns if it sees contagion numbers rise. "Who's going to come? No one from South America, China or the US. And the Europeans will be scared," Mimmo Burgio, 62, owner of a cafe near Rome's Colosseum, told AFP. "We're pinning all our hopes on Italian tourists, but... I'm afraid they'll go to the seaside instead," he said. A historic 'little ship' that took part in the daring evacuation of Allied troops at Dunkirk has been returned to Devon for major restoration. The Jane Hannah MacDonald III helped in the rescue of more than 300,000 soldiers from the beaches of northern France in 1940. The lifeboat was briefly sunk during Operation Dynamo but was refloated due to buoyancy boxes in its hull. After its voyage to northern France in the Second World War the vessel had several owners and was most recently was stored in Migennes, France. Three Devon men have bought her for 7,500 and hope to refurbish her and have her back in the water. The Jane Hannah MacDonald III helped in the rescue of more than 300,000 soldiers from the beaches of northern France in 1940. Pictured: Two of the new boat owners Rob Braddick (left) and Simon Morris The lifeboat (pictured in May 1910) was briefly sunk during Operation Dynamo but was refloated due to buoyancy boxes in its hull After its voyage to northern France in the Second World War the vessel had several owners and was most recently was stored in Migennes, France (pictured) Operation Dynamo and the 'little ships' TheDunkirk evacuation, dubbed Operation Dynamo, saw 338,000 troops rescuedfrom the beaches of northern France between May 27 and June 4, 1940. Itcame after the speed of the German advance through the Netherlands,Belgium, Luxembourg and France left nearly half a million British andFrench troops trapped there. The rescue was led by the Royal Navy, which drafted in ships and boats of every size. Dunkirk is remembered for the safe evacuation of the Allied troops but things could have been very different. British and French soldiers hadfailed to halt the German advance and retreated to the port in NorthernFrance, separated from the rest of the French army. Thetroops, who had fled without much of their heavy equipment, could havebeen been slaughtered, but the German troops were ordered to wait. The decision gave a vital window of opportunity for British soldiers to be rescued across the Channel. There would not have been enoughcapacity if only military ships had been used and the large craft wouldalso have struggled to get close to the beach in shallow water. The solution was to use private yachts and pleasure boats when the call for an emergency evacuation was given on May 26 1940. Aten-day evacuation, named Operation Dynamo, brought around 338,000British and French troops back to England between May 27 and June 4,1940. The Royal Navy sent 220 light warships and 650 other vessels under a hail of bombs and artillery fire. Survivors described bodies floating in the water around them. Advertisement One of them, holiday park owner Rob Braddick, told the BBC: 'If we can get it refurbished and put back into Appledore or Bideford, that would be great. 'Knowing it was one of the Little Ships of Dunkirk was such an interesting story - a real bonus. The boat has had some history.' The lifeboat cost 931 to build at the Thames Iron Works in Blackwall in 1909 and first set sail on August 31, 1910. She was given to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution by a wealthy London-based socialite of the same name. She was stationed in Appledore, Devon, from September 1910 to November 1922 - where she was launched 22 times and saved 23 lives - then moved to Eastbourne. The vessel was requisitioned for the Dunkirk rescue mission in May 1940, which saw 850 little ships save more than 300,000 Allied troops saved from German forces on the French coast. The Jane Hannah MacDonald III took on so many soldiers that water seeped up through her valves, the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships said. At one point she sunk, but was refloated thanks to bouyancy boxes that were built into her hull. After the war in 1948, the vessel was sold into commercial fishing and has passed through the hands of a number of owners before being stored in Migennes. Lifeboat enthusiast John Vistuer got it from expat Simon Evans in August 2014 and tasked Mr Braddick and Simon and James Morris to get her back to Britain and restore her. The information technology specialist from Reading was drawn to the vessel after reading about the courage of former RNLI men who sailed it during stormy weather. He told DevonLive: 'It's a boat which is 110 years old and still exists, which is amazing enough in itself. 'It comes from the days when people rowed boats to rescues when you think they did that from Appledore, rowing out and over the bar in a force nine gale, that is really something.' He added: 'She saved 23 lives between 1910 and 1922. How many people are descended from those whose lives she saved? It's incredible.' The lifeboat cost 931 to build at the Thames Iron Works in Blackwall in 1909 and first set sail on August 31, 1910 (pictured) The little ship is being transported by lorry from its storage plot in Migennes, France, to Devon She was given to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution by a wealthy London-based socialite of the same name. Pictured: The vessel during its launch on August 31, 1910 Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Did Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin intend to kill George Floyd? The video evidence is overwhelming. Chauvin definitely seemed intent on ending the life of this black man. A lawyer for the family of George Floyd summed it up this way: "We think that he had intent....almost nine minutes he kept his knee in a man's neck that was begging and pleading for breath," he said. Lawyer Benjamin Crump went on to say, "The fact that officer Chauvin kept his knee on his neck for almost three minutes after he was unconscious. We don't understand how that was not first-degree murder. We don't understand how all these officers haven't been arrested." Here is the way a Nebraska statute explains premeditation: "No particular length of time for premeditation is required, provided that the intent to kill is formed before the act is committed and not simultaneously with the act that caused the death. The time required to establish premeditation may be of the shortest possible duration and may be so short that it is instantaneous, and the design or purpose to kill may be formed upon premeditation and deliberation at any moment before the homicide is committed." Derek Chauvin clearly acted with premeditation. He was smart enough to realize that he was killing the man who was handcuffed and facedown on the pavement. "All premeditation and deliberation require is the time it takes to form the intent, ponder the crime, and then act. Defendants can premeditate and deliberate in a matter of minutes, as long as the thought process occurs before the act." These officers treated George Floyd with less dignity than most people treat animals. What caused these officers to have such hatred for this black man? And what led them to think that their hatred and prejudice justified the taking of this man's life? We have learned that Derek Chauvin and George Floyd "worked together at a Minneapolis club as recently as last year." Who knows? Perhaps Chauvin's hatred for Floyd had been simmering for some time. And then when he saw an opportunity to snuff out this black man's life, he took it. The owner of that club said that Chauvin "had a real short fuse," adding that he often pulled out mace and pepper spray even though it seemed unwarranted. In other words, Chauvin would commit as much abuse as he thought he could get away with at the time. And once he had George Floyd on the ground in handcuffs, Chauvin's explosive anger combined with his premeditated decision resulted in 7 to 9 minutes of torture, and ultimately death. After years of alleged mace and pepper spray abuse, Chauvin now unleashed his hatred and anger with the ultimate form of abuse. And every minute that went by testifies to the deliberate intent of this killer who should not have been allowed to wear the uniform and detain George Floyd. It comes as no surprise that Chauvin had 17 complaints against him before he was charged with murder for George Floyd's death. This loose cannon was a tinderbox waiting and wanting to explode. Chauvin should never have placed his knee on George Floyd's neck for even a few seconds, let alone 7 to 9 minutes. It was premeditated murder, plain and simple. It was evil to the core, and many people would say it deserves the death penalty, or at least life in prison without the possibility of parole. After all, punishment is a matter of justice, and the punishment should fit the crime. Chauvin violated his duty as a police officer and he violated the rights of George Floyd. Derek Chauvin acted as the judge, jury and executioner of George Floyd. This black man did not deserve to die. And each one involved in his murder should pay a very high price for their vicious crime. Unless racism is stamped out of man's heart, he is capable of doing almost anything, including murder. Thomas Sowell said, "Racism does not have a good track record. It has been tried out for a long time, and you would think by now we would want to put an end to it instead of putting it under new management." Several years ago I wrote an article titled, "Christ's Supremacy Conquers White Supremacy," where I stated: "Man by nature tends to take pride in the color of his skin. And this dangerous mindset even leads some people to assume that their race is supreme. A beautiful alternative to such arrogance is to receive Christ's love and forgiveness into your heart. Disciples of Jesus soon discover that Christ's supremacy conquers white supremacy, not to mention every other form of prejudice." Scripture makes it clear: "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness" (1 John 1:9). How dark does a person's soul have to be in order to carry out the murder of George Floyd that we have watched on these horrifying videos? Derek Chauvin was not interested in merely detaining George Floyd. He seemed thirsty for blood and for this man's life. And so he went for the jugular, minute after minute after minute. And just to make sure that George Floyd would not be able to testify against him, Chauvin remained on his neck for several more minutes after Floyd was already unconscious. In his racist rage, Chauvin failed to account for one thing: The video evidence. It exposes his hated and murder for all to see. And it reveals the premeditated nature of this horrendous crime. T he wait to get your roots done could soon be over, according to reports. Boris Johnson is said to be considering plans to reopen hair salons and barber shops later this month, ahead of the previously suggested 'earliest' July 4 date, according to The Telegraph. Salons have been closed since the lockdown was imposed on March 23, though in recent weeks many have begun waitlists for clients to sign up for slots in anticipation of the reopening. The government is reportedly considering proposals for hairdressers to reopen as early as June 15, when non-essential shops are also due to resume business, in a move to help restart the UK economy faster. The Department for Business (BEIS) is meanwhile understood to have started drawing up social distancing measures for salons, the publication reports, which resembles those issued to dentists (expected to reopen on June 8). The social distancing measures would see stylists wearing dentist-style PPE kit such as face masks perspex visors and gloves. A source told the paper: "Hairdressers were supposed to be the next thing. Boris has talked about unleashing the great British haircut again. It would be treated under similar rules to dentists." Loading.... Hairdressers have been campaigning for an earlier opening for some time, a petition launched by Shai Greenberg, owner of London hair salon Gielly Green, has received over 10,000 signatures, which allowed him to take it to the UK government in a formal letter yesterday in which he asks that salons re-open with non-essential retail on 15 June. TORONTO, June 4, 2020 - There's a common belief that musicians are born with a natural ability to play music, while most of us have to work twice as hard to hear the difference between musical notes. Now, new research from neuroscientists at York University suggests the capacity to hear the highs and lows, also known as the major and minor notes in music, may come before you take a single lesson; you may actually be born with it. The study, published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, examined the capacity of six-month-old infants to discriminate between a major and a minor musical tone sequence with a unique method that uses eye movements and a visual stimulus. Previous research with adults has shown that approximately 30 per cent of adults can discriminate this difference but 70 per cent cannot, irrespective of musical training. Researchers found that six-month-old infants show exactly the same breakdown as adults: approximately 30 per cent of them could discriminate the difference and 70 per cent could not. "At six months, it's highly unlikely that any of these infants have had any formal training in music," says Scott Adler, associate professor, Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health and member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) Program at the Centre for Vision Research. "Yes, parents play music for children. All children in western civilization hear music, but they don't get that specific training in music. This breakdown, therefore, is due to some inborn mechanism." Adler's team at York collaborated on the study with Professor Charles Chubb, of the University of California at Irvine, whose earlier research with adults and adolescents found there are two populations of individuals: some who can discriminate between the major and minor tones and most who cannot discriminate. In adults, the capacity to discriminate between major and minor was shown not to be due to their level of musical training or their level of music exposure. The new study extends the existence of those different populations down to infants, suggesting that the source of this difference might be genetic - a capacity that we are born with. This capacity would have implications for developing appreciation of the emotional content of music, because it's the major and minor notes that give music their emotion. In the study, researchers conducted trials with 30 six-month-old infants in which they heard a tone-scramble, a series of notes whose quality (major vs. minor) signalled the location (right vs. left) where a subsequent picture (target) would appear. The babies were tasked with determining which side to look when they heard a major or a minor sound. Once they heard a series of notes, a picture would either appear on the right or the left depending on whether it was a major or minor tone scramble. In a second experiment, tone-scrambles did not reliably predict the location of subsequent pictures. "What we measured over time was how the infants learned the association between which tone they heard and where the picture is going to show up. If they can tell the difference in the tone, over time, when they hear the major notes for example, they'll make an eye movement to the location for the picture even before the picture appears because they can predict this. This is what we are measuring," says Adler. The researchers found that for 33 per cent or one-third of infants, these anticipatory eye movements predicted the picture location with near perfect accuracy; for the other 67 per cent, they were unrelated to the picture location. These results may also have implications for language development, which relies on some of the same mechanisms and auditory content as music, says Adler. "There is a connection between music, music processing and mathematical abilities, as well as language, so whether these things connect up to those abilities is an unknown. However, when people talk to babies they change the intonation of their voice and the pitch of their voice so they're changing from major to minor. That is actually an important component for babies to learn language. If you don't have the capacity it might affect that ability in learning language." ### York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world's most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university - our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. York U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. Media Contact: Anjum Nayyar, York University Media Relations (437)242 1547, anayyar@yorku.ca A total of 107,123 Indians stranded across the world have been brought back to the country so far in the first two phases of Vande Bharat Mission, Indias largest repatriation operation. State-run Air India has so far operated 103 flights in the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission, which began on May 17 and will continue till June 13, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said on Thursday. Phase II of Vande Bharat has progressed wellThe Indian Navy has also made sorties to bring back returnees from Sri Lanka and the Maldives, he said. Around 38,000 Indians are expected to be repatriated during the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission on 337 international flights from 31 countries, including 54 from the US, 24 from Canada, and 11 flights from Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Seychelles and Mauritius. The third phase will cover more sectors and create additional hubs in remote regions. Since the operation started on May 7, a total of 454 flights, including those by foreign carriers, have brought back the stranded Indians. The 107,123 Indians repatriated so far included 17,485 migrant workers, 11,511 students and 8,633 professionals. More than 32,000 Indians have returned through land border immigration checkpoints from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. A total of 348,565 Indians have so far registered with missions abroad to be repatriated on compelling grounds, Srivastava said. After the Union home ministry issued fresh guidelines on May 24, the process of non-scheduled commercial flights has been streamlined and this resulted in further facilitation of Indians returning by chartered flights and air ambulances. There is a significant increase in the number of returnees via land borders too with the finalisation of guidelines in this regard, he said. SRINAGAR: A civilian was injured after a group of unidentified terrorists attacked a police party at the Yaripora market in Kulgam area of South Kashmir on Thursday. The civilian was hit with a bullet in his chest which left him seriously injured. The terrorists came in a vehicle and targeted the police party in the Yripora market area. Sharing more information, Vijay Kumar, IG, J&K Police (Kashmir Range) said, the terrorist opened fire on the police vehicle in Yaripora market which was retaliated by forces. In the cross-firing, one civilian sustained injuries. Health officials at the local hospital said that the injured civilian has been identified as Imitiyaz Ahmed who sustained a bullet wound in his chest. He is said to be in a critical condition. The injured civilian had been shifted to the GMC Anantnag for treatment. IG Vijay Kumar confirmed that the firing incident happened at Yaripora in Kulgam. Terrorists who were in a vehicle fired upon a police party in the market area. No policeman was injured in the firing. However, one civilian got injured in the incident, he said adding that an anti-sabotage team has been called as terrorists left behind the car and managed to escape from the spot. The team will inspect the car for more evidence. Meanwhile, an alert has been sounded in Yaripora area of Kulgam and all entry and exit points have been sealed. A massive Cordon and Search Operation has also been launched in the area no nab the attackers. KYODO NEWS - Jun 4, 2020 - 13:40 | All, Japan The suspect accused of carrying out a deadly arson attack last July on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio bought six knives in his hometown a few weeks before the attack, investigative sources said Thursday. Shinji Aoba, 42, who was arrested last week after being judged to have recovered sufficiently from life-threatening burns, bought the knives at a store in Saitama, near Tokyo, and took them to the studio in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward where he allegedly lit the fire that killed 36 people and injured 33 others, the sources said. Aoba was quoted as saying, "I was thinking of attacking (the studio) with knives at first," according to the sources. He arrived in Kyoto on July 15 last year, three days before the attack, and purchased 40 liters of gasoline immediately before setting fire to the studio, police said. The suspect also told investigators, "I was going to use the knives to attack if anyone tried to stop me (from lighting the fuel)." Related coverage: Kyoto studio arson suspect thought there were only 2 victims in fire Victims' families still in pain after Kyoto anime studio arson Man arrested over deadly arson attack on Kyoto Animation after recovery The police said they will look into why Aoba decided to use gasoline rather than the knives as initially planned. He has admitted to lighting the deadly fire. The knives were found near the studio shortly after the arson attack. Aoba, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and arson among other crimes, remains largely bedridden due to his injuries. Immediately after being detained near the scene, Aoba told police he carried out the attack because the company "stole a novel" from him, a claim Kyoto Animation has denied. The number of victims makes it one of Japan's largest-ever murder cases. Layoffs will accompany a 10 percent state-mandated budget cut at the University of Texas at San Antonio, school President, Taylor Eighmy said Wednesday in a letter to employees. I promise we will approach this process with a deep compassion for all individuals involved, and with a commitment to help those affected with transition and support services, Eighmy wrote. The letter confirmed the scale of budget reductions hed already asked university departments to prepare for. Faculty groups have urged him to reconsider the size of the cuts imposed on academic colleges, warning in stark terms about damage to students and UTSAs longheld ambition to acquire so-called Tier One research status. Asking academic units to cut their budget by 9 percent will result in gutting the academic programs and jeopardizing the pursuit of strategic priorities such as student success and research productivity, the Faculty Senate predicted in a Monday memo to Eighmy and UTSA Provost Kimberly Espy. Eighmys letter Wednesday referenced the high number of colleges and universities nationwide that find themselves in similar budget predicaments as the coronavirus pandemics economic fallout slashes state resources. Texas has seen plummeting sales tax and oil revenue and the states appropriation to UTSA will be reduced by 5 percent for the current fiscal year, which ends in August, and 5 percent the following year. Most of the cuts will be absorbed in the next fiscal years budget, which still is being prepared, Eighmy said. A 10 percent revenue cut for UTSA amounts to about $37 million. The university predicted the 10 percent decrease earlier this spring as the virus spread and the economy shut down. Academic colleges were told to cut budgets by 9 percent and all other divisions were told to cut 10 percent. Those cuts are proceeding as planned, Eighmy said Wednesday. On ExpressNews.com: UTSA, expecting coronavirus-induced funding downturn, plans for 10 percent revenue drop Eighmy said limited job losses would be made through layoffs and eliminating positions. Final decisions on the number of layoffs have not yet been made, university spokesman Joe Izbrand said. Each academic college, vice presidential division and vice provost last week shared their preliminary budgets for next fiscal year with university leaders. Their final budget plans are due Friday. The University Leadership Council will discuss those recommendations, and senior leaders will make final decisions mid-month, Eighmy said. The universitys budget is due next month to the Board of Regents, which must vote on it. In a memo last month to university leaders, another faculty group, the universitys Department Chairs Council, said a 9 percent cut would eliminate many classes listed in the fall schedule and drive out key non-tenure-track faculty. The council asked for a 5 percent limit on cuts to academic colleges and departments. As a group we are committed to ensuring that student success and research excellence are maintained as the core principles underlying our budgetary decisions, the council said. We are very concerned that those two core principles will be seriously undermined by a 9 percent cut to academic programs. Council Chairwoman Johnelle Sparks, who heads the universitys demography department, declined to comment on the panels concerns. Faculty Senate President Chad Mahood, an associate professor in the department of communication, did not return a Wednesday afternoon message seeking comment. The council asked that the universitys Strategic Investment Fund restore some academic cuts, that the university charge fewer overhead costs to academic budgets and that top academic administrators contracts and pay be reduced by one month. The Faculty Senate asked Eighmy and Espy to prioritize courses that generate net revenue and boost university performance metrics, such as degrees awarded. UTSAs response to current financial demands should be designed to avoid the closure of academic programs, the Senates memo argued, adding, The instructional budgets of potentially at-risk academic programs should receive highest priority. In his letter, Eighmy praised deans, vice provosts and vice presidents efforts in proposing reductions. They have taken great pains to prioritize our students academic progress and engage their constituencies in the development of their plans, he said. Careful consideration was also given to minimizing personnel impact and reducing administrative costs. Izbrand said the budget process took research excellence and graduate education as a core principle, and the Tier One goal has not changed. Since research is primarily funded by external sources, including federal grants and philanthropy, we are confident that UTSA will maintain its trajectory to national research recognition, he said via email. Alia Malik covers several school districts and the University of Texas at San Antonio. To read more from Alia, become a subscriber. amalik@express-news.net | Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN PITTSBURGH, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ebb Therapeutics (Ebb) has announced that world-renowned sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus will serve as a Sleep Advisor to the brand. In this role, Dr. Breus - whose expertise in sleep medicine has earned him the moniker of "The Sleep Doctor" throughout the industry - will provide useful techniques and education to consumers who are seeking natural and effective solutions for better sleep. In 2019, Ebb launched a wearable device to target a racing mind: the root cause of sleeplessness. The first and only solution that uses precise cooling to reduce metabolic activity in the frontal cortex of the brain (where racing thoughts occur), the device features a fluid-filled headband that cools the forehead, calming the mind and allowing the body to fall asleep naturally. "We are thrilled to have Dr. Breus as an extension of the Ebb Therapeutics team," said Dr. Eric Nofzinger, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Ebb. "We continue to see the need for education around the condition of sleeplessness, especially in the U.S. where 1:2 people suffer from it. Partnering with industry experts like Dr. Breus is critical for innovation and opportunity in this space." An advocate for Ebb's cooling technology, Dr. Breus will complement the brand in guiding users toward better sleep practices, whether they suffer from long-term sleep issues or experience occasional sleeplessness caused by life changes or overwhelming experiences, for example, the current Coronavirus pandemic. "I am excited about joining forces with Ebb, a company whose mission and technology I believe in," said Dr. Breus. "The scientifically-engineered technology is truly a breakthrough in the fight against sleeplessness. Wearing Ebb each night, along with healthy sleep habits, should help your body adjust to a new healthy sleep/wake rhythm. My goal is to help people live healthier, more productive lives through better sleep, and I am confident that together we can improve the lives of many." For more information, contact: Carey Laing Ebb Therapeutics / Carey Laing PR [email protected] About Dr. Michael Breus Dr. Breus is known among industry experts as "The Sleep Doctor". He is a Clinical Psychologist and both a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Much like Dr. Nofzinger, he is committed to finding a safe and drug-free solution for sleeplessness for people who struggle with "turning off". For more information, visit TheSleepDoctor.com. About Ebb Therapeutics Ebb Therapeutics is a privately-held, Pittsburgh-based company founded in 2008 by Eric Nofzinger, M.D. The company's technology is inspired by Dr. Nofzinger's ground-breaking brain-imaging studies on patients with sleeplessness while working as a Professor of Psychiatry and simultaneously serving as Director of the Sleep Neuroimaging Research Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. With more than a century of collective experience in the sleep space, Ebb is on a mission to tangibly improve sleep, by harnessing the unprecedented and scientific power of cooling. Ebb is funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health as well as by private equity and venture capital firms KKR, Arboretum Ventures, Versant Ventures, and Partner Ventures. For more information, visit EbbSleep.com. About Ebb PrecisionCool Technology Ebb is a wearable, sleep device that targets a racing mind to relieve sleeplessness. Ebb is the first and only solution that uses precise cooling to reduce metabolic activity in the frontal cortex of the brain. A scientifically-engineered, fluid-filled headband softly wraps around the head and cools the forehead to the optimal temperature range, calming the mind and allowing the body to fall asleep naturally. Available at EbbSleep.com, Walmart.com, Amazon.com and BedBathandBeyond.com. SOURCE Ebb Therapeutics Inc. Related Links http://www.ebbsleep.com New Delhi, June 4 : The US Ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, on Thursday apologized for the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Washington DC. The statue was vandalised by unidentified rioters during the ongoing violent protests against the custodial killing of an African-American citizen, George Floyd, in Minneapolis on May 25. Reports said the statue of India's founding father Gandhi, who is globally known as an apostle of peace, was defaced with graffiti and spray paint outside the Indian embassy in Washington. The US envoy to India in New Delhi apologized for the vandalization of the statue. "So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd & the awful violence & vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover & be better," Juster tweeted. [June 04, 2020] MEDIA ADVISORY: Berkshire Bank to Host Virtual Townhall Series on "Reimagining America: The Future of the Black and Latinx Economy" with U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Joaquin Castro and Thought Leaders on June 4 and June 5 Berkshire Bank, together with Reevx Labs, will host a two-part townhall series, entitled "Reimagining America," on Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5. Both events bring together leading policy makers, economic experts and community bank executives to discuss the economic impact of COVID-19 on African American and Hispanic communities, and how we can work together to rebuild a stronger, more inclusive economy that ensures everyone thrives. Berkshire Bank's goal in hosting this townhall series is to start a dialogue about how we can work together to rebuild a stronger, more inclusive economy, and how supporting this initiative on a community level can motivate change on a national level. Malia Lazu, Executive Vice President and Chief Culture and Experience Officer at Berkshire Bank, commented, "In light of the continued racial injustices that have convulsed our country over the past few weeks, there is no better time to address the inequity faced by black and brown communities on a daily basis, which has been further exacerbated in the midst of this global pandemic. "Economic and criminal injustices arise from common roots. Banks - and in particular community banks - have an opportunity to be part of the solution, directing capital and resources back into these communities. At Berkshire we are eager to listen to these leaders and experts. Working together we can be facilitators for much needed change. We welcome everyone to attend what we expect to be an insightful and powerful discussion." What Reimagining America: The Future of The Black Economy Reimagining America: The Future of Latinx Economy When Thursday, June 4, 2020 4:00 pm ET Friday, June 5, 2020 4:00 pm ET Who Ayanna Pressley, Member of Congress (MA 7 th Congressional District) Congressional District) Joy Reid, Host of AM Joy on MSNBC Derrick Johnson, President & CEO of NAACP Courtland Cox (News - Alert), Former Director of US Small Business Administration Malia Lazu, EVP & Chief Culture and Experience Officer at Berkshire Bank Joaquin Castro, Member of Congress (San Antonio), Chair and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Alicia Menendez, Anchor, MSNBC Live Cristina Jimenez, Executive Director and Co-Founder of United We Dream Nathalie Molina Nino, Entrepreneur and Builder Capitalist Malia Lazu, EVP & Chief Culture and Experience Officer at Berkshire Bank Where Register here Livestream available here Register here Livestream available here ATTENDANCE AND INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES The presentation will be on the record. For additional questions or interview requests, please contact [email protected]. ABOUT BERKSHIRE BANK Berkshire Bank is transforming into a 21st?century community bank with $13.2 billion in assets. We are pursuing purpose driven performance based on our Be FIRST corporate responsibility culture.?? Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire Bank provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, wealth management, investment and insurance services through 130 branch offices in New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including Commerce Bank, a division of Berkshire Bank. Berkshire Bank was awarded the Top Corporate Steward Citizen award by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation in 2019.?Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE: BHLB) is the parent of Berkshire Bank. To learn more, visit?www.berkshirebank.com, call 800- 773-5601 or follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and, LinkedIn (News - Alert). Life is Exciting. Let us help. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005018/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Alok Sharma, cabinet minister in charge of Business in the Boris Johnson government who went into self-isolation on Wednesday evening, tested negative for coronavirus, he announced on Thursday evening. Agra-born Sharma, 52, was visibly uneasy and sweating as he read out a statement to MPs in the House of Commons. He later went home to self-isolate and had a test for the virus, amidst growing concerns about parliaments functioning during the pandemic. Sharma tweeted: Huge thanks to everyone for their really kind messages over the last 24 hours and my grateful thanks also to the parliamentary authorities and Speaker for their support yesterday. Just had results in and my test for #COVID19 was negative. While delivering the second reading of the corporate governance and insolvency bill, Sharma, who is also COP26 president, was seen repeatedly wiping his face with a handkerchief, while the shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, passed him a glass of water. His situation may have been caused by a bout of hay fever, Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said on Thursday morning. Sharmas condition brought into focus the new arrangements in the House of Commons, by which MPs who were in self-isolation were no longer allowed to participate or vote remotely but had to be present in person. It led to long queues around the Westminster complex on Tuesday during a vote. Besides Johnson, who was hospitalised in a serious condition after contracting virus in April, health secretary Matt Hancock and defence secretary Ben Wallace have also been affected, among others. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A dozen invitations rounds took place across the country this month and more than two thousand candidates were invited to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. May was a busy month for PNPs A dozen invitations rounds took place across the country this month and more than two thousand candidates were invited to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. May was a busy month for PNPs A dozen invitations rounds took place across the country this month and more than two thousand candidates were invited to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. May was a busy month for PNPs A dozen invitations rounds took place across the country this month and more than two thousand candidates were invited to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. Alexandra Miekus Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Canadas provincial nominee programs (PNPs) have been active over the past few weeks, with invitation rounds taking place in most Canadian provinces. Combined, the provinces have issued more than 2000 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination for permanent residence since the start of May. Many of these invitations were issued through so-called enhanced nomination streams that allow provinces to nominate candidates in the federal Express Entry system, which manages the pool of candidates for three of Canadas main economic immigration categories the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class. Express Entry candidates who receive a provincial nomination are awarded an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score and are effectively moved to the front of the line for an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. Find out if you are eligible for any of Canadas immigration programs Alberta The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) invited 191 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for permanent residence on May 13. Candidates only needed a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 300 in order to receive a Notification of Interest (NOI) from Alberta. As coronavirus continues to pose an imminent public health risk and to have an impact on immigration applications, Alberta only considers provincial candidates if they already live and work in the province. However, the province does offer some flexibility to PNP candidates who cannot submit all documents due to service disruptions caused by the pandemic. British Columbia British Columbia has issued 632 new invitations to apply for a provincial nomination in draws that took place between May 7 and 26. Two draws were conducted under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)s Tech Pilot, which assists the provinces technology sector in its efforts to recruit talent through weekly draws. The 225 candidates selected last month through tech draw were from Skilled Worker and International Graduate subcategories and needed a minimum provincial score of 80. The other two draws issued invitations to skilled, entry-level and semi-skilled workers as well as international graduates through its Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC streams. The minimum scores required for those candidates were between 81 and 110. Manitoba The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) held an Expression of Interest draws on May 7 and another one on May 21. A total of 222 invitations were issued to candidates in the Skilled Workers in Manitoba, Skilled Workers Overseas and International Education streams. The province has issued 2,030 Letters of Advice to Apply (LLAs) to immigration candidates in these categories so far this year and held 90 draws since the program began in April 2014. Nova Scotia Nova Scotia held a Provincial Nominee Program draw on May 22 and invited registered nurses to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence through its Labour Market Priorities Stream. The invited candidates needed to have a profile in the federal Express Entry pool and at least three years of work experience as a registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse, which is NOC 3012 in Canadas National Occupational Classification index. Nova Scotia did not release the number of invitations that were issued in the draw. Ontario The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has also been active in May, issuing a total of 703 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination. The OINP issued the invitations to candidates who had work experience in six tech sector occupations through its Express Entry-aligned immigration pathway on May 13. The invited Express Entry candidates had Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores between 421 and 451. This CRS requirement is the lowest in the programs history, from its first draw held in July 2019. Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island held a Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP) draw on May 15 and invited 15 candidates working in essential service industries. The province also released details of two previous draws held on March 23 and April 27. For all three draws the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP) only invited candidates from the Express Entry and Labour Impact categories who were working in an essential service such as healthcare or trucking. Only 29 candidates received invitations in the three latest draws. Typically, the PEI PNP draws result in over 100 invitations across the provinces three streams. Saskatchewan Saskatchewan issued invitations to 252 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for permanent residence on May 28. The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) invited candidates from the International Skilled Worker category through two subcategories: Express Entry, and Occupations In-Demand. This is the first Express Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw out of Saskatchewan since Canada closed its borders to non-essential travel. The previous draw on March 26 was only for Occupations In-Demand candidates. In the latest invitation round, Saskatchewan issued 127 invitations to candidates who had profiles in the federal Express Entry pool. June June is shaping up to be another busy month for PNPs, with some notable developments expected from various provinces. In recent days, both B.C. and Ontario have already held PNP draws. Find out if you are eligible for any of Canadas immigration programs 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved May 14 was the worst day in more than nine months of detention for Honduran immigrant Miriam and her 15-year-old daughter. At 9:30 a.m. that morning, immigration officials brought Miriam to a room full of other mothers and told her to sign a paper, she said. It was in English, and they didnt explain what it was. An official marked an X in red ink next to where she needed to sign. Frightened, and wary without her lawyer, Miriam didnt sign. Lawyers told her later that if she had, her daughter might have been taken from her. It felt like the world fell on top of me, Miriam said from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. She asked that her last name not be published, saying she feared retaliation. That was the hardest, when they tried to separate my daughter from me. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer Parents at the countrys three immigrant family detention centers received the same form that day and were given what immigration lawyers call a binary choice: to remain detained indefinitely with their children, or allow their children to be released into the governments or a sponsors custody, in which case the parents would remain detained. The choice was especially fraught because the novel coronavirus has been sweeping through detention facilities. In the end, none of the 350 parents detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement family detention centers agreed to be separated from their children. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases Theres still an injunction in place obligating the administration to not separate families at the border, but the binary choice is a way around those legal obligations, said Sarah Pierce, policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. The Dilley facility holding Miriam and her daughter is about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio and has more than 80 immigrant families. The other two family detention centers in the U.S. are in Karnes County about 50 miles southeast of San Antonio and Leesport, Pa. Eric Gay /AP The facilities can hold a total of 3,000 people around eight times more than the current population. None of the three is licensed by the state to care for children. ICE presented the form to families after U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of California ordered the federal government in late April to quickly release migrant children from its custody to protect them from the coronavirus. In court filings, lawyers said children have been detained an average of five months at ICEs family facilities well beyond 20 days, the generally accepted maximum time to hold children in detention settings under the Flores settlement. Gee oversees the 1997 Flores agreement, which established a set of protections for migrant children, including limits on how long they can be held in custody. But Flores offers no such protections for the parents of migrant children. To resolve this issue, ICE has typically released families together. But that was at its discretion. Since family separation has been a political third rail for this administration, theyve released the whole family, Pierce said. Now were seeing ICE play with that very highly politicized issue. In a statement, ICE said it had not changed its policy and that the form it presented to parents was to determine childrens eligibility for release under the court order. Despite misrepresentations, this form is nothing more than an internal worksheet used to document answers to questions regarding parole, the statement said. It is the policy of the administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with the law and available resources. Proyecto Dilley, a local nonprofit that offers pro bono legal aid, surveyed 44 of the detained mothers in Dilley, and 35 said they were presented with the binary choice. Others said they were given no information at all. Lawyers at the other two family detention facilities said they heard the same from their clients. Its not right, Miriam said. They say theyre supposedly freeing the children, but then us, what? And how could I guarantee my daughter was going to reach a family member? How would I know? On ExpressNews.com: Protesters say detained families presented with impossible choice The Trump administration has drastically changed immigration policy during the pandemic with the aim of minimizing the number of foreigners in the U.S. Invoking a public disaster code, the U.S. borders have been shut off to asylum-seekers. Only trade and commercial travel are allowed. Green card holders outside of the U.S. have been blocked, with some exceptions. And unaccompanied migrant children are being deported in unusually high numbers, many of them with parents living in northern Mexico cities and awaiting U.S.-based court hearings as part of the administrations Remain in Mexico policy. Once deported, the children could be sent over 1,000 miles away from where their parents are being held. Meanwhile, the administration is appealing Gees order that blocked the government from ending the Flores agreement last year. The administration has raised every single possible attack that they can think of to eliminate access to asylum, said Shay Fluharty, an immigration attorney for Proyecto Dilley who represents Miriam and her daughter. Theyre basically saying Were not willing to release the parents, so instead were going to lock kids away for an indefinite period of time. Were going to let them celebrate Christmas, New Years, birthdays, walking and talking for the first time in jail. The 2018 separation crisis ICE has long had the legal power to release children from family detention centers while continuing to detain their parents. Legal permission was even tucked into an order U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw issued during the 2018 family separation case Ms. L v. ICE. We assumed the administration would jump on that right away, but they didnt, probably because there was such an uproar (over family separation) at the time, Pierce said. Questions have also swirled around the legality of the move. A 2018 Congressional Research Service report said it is not clear that DHS could constitutionally create family separation by continuing to detain, in civil immigration detention, alien parents whose children were released under the Flores settlement. Later in 2018, the administration reportedly began considering implementing binary choice to deter the increasing number of families coming across the U.S.-Mexico border. A Department of Homeland Security fact sheet from around the same time called its own practice of releasing united families a get out of jail free card that encourages groups of illegal aliens to pose as families. But nothing came of such talks. That year, hundreds of parents who were separated from their children at the border were deported while their children remained in the U.S. In other cases, some children were sent to foster families and were difficult to trace once the government began court-ordered family reunification. Now, two years later and in the midst of the pandemic, the possibility of a repeat of 2018 lingers among lawyers and migrants, fearful of what could happen with the children. ICE took advantage of this binary choice option, Pierce said. I dont think anyone expected them to go there during a pandemic. Gee, the federal judge, recently said ICEs presentation of the form for childrens parole caused confusion and unnecessary emotional upheaval. She advised lawyers on both sides to work together and come up with a plan for informing parents of their childrens rights under the Flores settlement. What that means is making sure parents know that children have a right to be released and potentially the development of an ongoing process of family separation, Fluharty said. Without protections in place for the parents of the migrant children, a day like May 14 could happen again. This will happen again, probably very soon, Fluharty said, unless the government decides to stop putting forth a policy of indefinite detention and family separation. Coronavirus fears Miriams 15-year-old daughter, Julieth, suffers from migraines, asthma, chronic gastritis and tachycardia, a rapid heart-rate disorder. My body hurts all over, all the time, said Julieth, who did not wish to give her full name for fear of affecting her asylum case. As the coronavirus rips through detention facilities, Julieths conditions put her at risk of becoming seriously ill from the disease. Im so scared because you dont know if it will get you, because its a sickness where theres people who have it and they dont know they have it, Miriam said. And us at this center, what can we do if we have it? We could die without even knowing. Fearful of separating from their children, families are also aware of the perils of detention. Though no coronavirus cases have been reported at family detention centers, the virus is spreading rapidly through ICE facilities, much like it is in prisons and jails. ICE has reported a consistent 50 percent positive rate in testing among detainees a figure far above community rates. There have been about 1,600 cases of coronavirus among detained immigrants in the country, with one-third of those cases in Texas. There are about 800 detainees with coronavirus who are still in ICE custody. Two immigrants have died from it while detained. On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus cases mount in South Texas immigration detention center The Dilley facility is less than 20 miles from an adult ICE detention center in Pearsall. The facilities share workers, and sick migrants at both facilities sometimes attend the same hospital. At Pearsalls South Texas Detention Complex, 32 detainees have tested positive for the virus. Lawyers fear that it could enter the Dilley facility from Pearsall. According to ICE court filings, there are about 185 detained children at its facilities. In Dilley, there are children with heart murmurs, a child with epilepsy and a 1-year-old with respiratory problems, Fluharty said. We have every reason to believe if theres a COVID outbreak, people will die, Fluharty said. Theres a tremendous sense of urgency, and the government just doesnt care. Miriam said releasing her daughter without her is not an option. No one knows the medical care her daughter needs like she does. No one knows better than her the signs of when shes having a cardiac episode or how to comfort her when her intestines are burning from gastritis. Wherever my daughter is, Miriam said, whether in detention or separated from her, the danger is the same. Were always together May 14 was the worst day in detention for Julieth, too. Ive never wanted to separate from my mother, and that only signing a paper would separate you we didnt know if Id be sent with a relative or to another center, and my mom didnt know if theyd deport her or keep her here, Julieth said. Julieth and her mother fled Honduras capital last July after gang-related attacks, rape and death threats. They arrived at the border Aug. 26. They let Julieths brother, now 19, cross first. He made it to North Carolina, where he lives now. But the mother and daughter were put in family detention and have been there ever since. Its been really hard, really sad. For all the time of being in this center, for the injustices, Miriam said. Through the perils of traveling from Honduras to the U.S., of crossing the border illegally and of nine months of confinement, Miriam and Julieth have stuck together. We tell each other what were thinking, we cry together a lot, we discuss the situation thats going on here, Julieth said. We have happy moments, sad moments. Were always together, we tell each other everything. Miriam is determined to win their asylum case so Julieth can complete her goals, she said. The girl wants to be an American doctor and a lawyer one day. I want to help immigrant children because I am one of those children, Julieth said. I want to make sure they dont suffer the way I have suffered here. Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. To read more from Silvia, become a subscriber. sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF Global Tinplate Packaging market is projected to grow at a CAGR of XX% to reach USD XX million by 2025 and it was valued USD XX million in 2017. Tinplate is a thin steel sheet coated by tin. It has an extremely beautiful metallic luster as well as excellent properties in corrosion resistance, solderability, and weldability. Tinplate is used for making all types of containers such as food cans, beverage cans, 18-liter cans, and artistic cans.Its applications are not limited to containers; recently, tinplate has also been used for making electrical machinery parts and many other products. Tinplate is an eco-friendly packaging material offering 100 percent recyclability, any number of times, and without quality loss Request For Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3316 Market Dynamics: The tinplate packaging market is primarily driven by increasing urbanization, rise in packaged food sales, increasing demand for aerosol products, rising demand for metal packaging in alcohol industry, and increasing consumption of canned vegetables and foods. Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry is propelling the growth of the tinplate packaging market. The drivers of the tinplate packaging market include increasing beverage and food market improved standard of living. These drivers are focused at reinforcing the growth of metal packaging market in the future. However, the market needs to handle critical challenges such as environmental issues related to steel manufacturing and flexible packaging. Market Players: The Tinplate Packaging market is dominated by a few global players, and comprises several regional players. Some of the key players operating in the Tinplate Packaging are ArcelorMittal, NSSMC, U.S. Steel, JFE, ThyssenKrupp, POSCO, TCILTATA Steel, Tonyi, Massilly, Berlin Metal, Toyo Kohan, Titan Steel, Baosteel, Tianjin Jiyu Steel, Sino East, Guangnan, WISCO, Hebei Iron and Steeland other. Market Segmentation: Tinplate Packaging market is segmented based on Product, Applicationand region. On the basis of product the market is classified into primary, secondary and other grade tinplate. Tinplate Packaging by region segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. North America accounted for a maximum share of the global market owing to high consumption of tinplate packaging in the U.S. Growing concerns regarding the use and consumption of sustainable packaging materials is expected to drive the demand for market growth. Market segmented on the basis of application: Packaging Electronics Engineering Construction Other Market segmented on the basis of product: Prime Grade Tinplate Secondary Grade Tinplate Others Get Complete TOC with Tables and Figures at : https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/requesttoc/3316 Market segmented based on region: North America US Canada Mexico Europe UK Germany France Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan India Australia Rest of Asia-Pacific Latin America Brazil Rest of Latin America Middle East and Africa (MEA) South Africa Saudi Arabia Rest of MEA Make an Inquiry before Buying@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3316/Single With more office employees returning to work, employers are finding it difficult to ensure that everyone stays two meters from each other. Follow these five tips to make social distancing easy. Create divisions between employees Were not talking about plastic partitions or other physical dividers. No, you need to create social divisions. There are many ways to achieve this, from accidentally leaving an Excel sheet of everyones salary in the copy room to giving the worst performers perks like parking spaces and new iPhones. The resentment and jealousy will be so strong that no one will want to get close to each other. Stagger lunch breaks One of the biggest threats to maintaining social distancing is lunchtime, when employees will be tempted to gather in groups, take off their masks, and eat together. A good way to avoid this is to stagger lunch breaks so that no one goes to lunch at the same time. If you work in a large office, this means youll need to start the first lunch break at around 8:30 a.m. Create a new shift system You can drastically reduce the number of people in the office if you break the usual workday into three rotating shifts that run 24 hours a day. If such a schedule is good enough for factory workers and emergency personnel, its good enough for office workers, who lets face it have it too easy. Maybe having them pull four 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shifts in a row will get them to finally stop complaining about the coffee and air conditioning. Utilize ceiling space Even before the pandemic, many offices suffered from a lack of sufficient floor space, and management resorted to practices like hot desking. But while floor space is in short supply, most offices have hundreds of square meters of unused ceiling space to which you can attach desks so that employees can maintain those vital two meters of distance while working upside down. Not only will they be more efficient thanks to increased blood flow to their brains, theyll feel like theyre stuck on a fun, malfunctioning amusement park ride all day long. Think inside the box So youve got dozens of employees strapped to the ceiling and working upside down but you still dont have enough space to maintain social distancing? Most companies have restrooms with three or four toilets, of which only one is in use at any given time. Why not turn the unused toilet stalls into work spaces, private offices for those who need privacy to concentrate? Bonus: theyll be able to relieve themselves at their new desks. Read more at wurst.lu Photo credit:iStock / J.P. Gomez Sometimes silence can speak louder than words. For a few moments on Tuesday 21 to be exact Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had none of his own words to offer when asked about President Donald Trump's response to the protests and widespread unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd. During a press conference outside the prime minister's residence in Ottawa, a reporter asked Trudeau about Trump's threat to send the military into local communities to corral demonstrators and the decision to forcefully clear protestors from outside the White House on Monday night so Trump and his aides could walk to the nearby St. John's church. "You've been reluctant to comment about the words and actions of the U.S. president. ... I'd like to ask you what you think about that. And, if you don't want to comment, what message do you think you're sending?" the reporter said. The Canadian leader, 48, stood silent for 21 seconds, seeming to need that time to find the right words to respond. Footage of the exchange quickly went viral on social media, where it was seen hundreds of thousands of times. "We all watch in horror and consternation what's going on in the United States," Trudeau began after his pause. "It is a time to pull people together, but it is a time to listen." RELATED: Statue of Ex-Philadelphia Mayor Removed as Current Mayor Says it Represents 'Bigotry' & 'Hatred' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left) and President Donald Trump in 2017 Floyd, 46, was unarmed and died after being arrested in Minneapolis on May 25. Video from the encounter shows officer Derek Chauvin kneeling with his knee on Floyd's neck, holding him down for more than eight minutes, while Floyd says he can't breathe. Protests in response to Floyd's killing in police custody have taken place in all 50 states and spread to other countries like France, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, England, Kenya and Japan. Story continues Some of the demonstrations have descended into turmoil, with looting and violence, and major U.S. cities have instituted curfews. At his news conference on Tuesday, Trudeau pointed out that identical racial injustices exist in Canada as well. "It is a time to learn what injustices continue despite progress over years and decades," he said. "But it is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we, too, have our challenges that black Canadians and racialized Canadians face discrimination as a lived reality every single day." Trudeau continued: "There is systemic discrimination in Canada, which means our systems treat Canadians of color, Canadians who are racialized differently than they do others." RELATED: Ferguson Elects First Black Mayor 6 Years After Police Killing of Michael Brown Sparked Protests Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu Agency via Getty Canadian protesters hold up signs in Vancouver following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty U.S. Park Police push back protestors near the White House on Monday. Canada has seen its own demonstrations in recent days, in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and elsewhere. "It's something many of us don't see, but it's something that is a lived reality for racialized Canadians. We need to see that not just as a government and take action but we need to see that as Canadians," Trudeau said Tuesday. "We need to be allies in the fight against discrimination. We need to listen, we need to learn, and we need to work hard to figure out how we can be part of the solution on fixing things." To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations: Campaign Zero which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies. ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities. National Cares Mentoring Movement provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond. Timothy Klausutis, an innocent American who was despicably victimized on social media this month by Donald Trump, has written an extraordinary letter to the CEO of Twitter. This excerpt will bring you up to speed: Nearly 19 years ago, my wife, who had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head on her desk at work. She was found dead the next morning President Trump on (May 12) tweeted to his 80 million followers, alluding to the repeatedly debunked falsehood that my wife was murdered by her boss, former U.S. Rep Joseph Scarborough the president of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him the memory of my dead wife and perverted it for perceived political gain. Trump, as part of his ongoing war against the MSNBC host, has baselessy tweeted twice that Scarborough is a criminal on the loose. Yes, its just another day at the office for the pandemic president, dragging an innocent family through the mud is his way of making America great again. This dilemma isnt new two years ago, there was a hue and cry over his all-caps tweet threatening Iran with nuclear annihilation. Last fall, Sen. Kamala Harris said Trump should be thrown off Twitter for trying to intimidate witnesses in the impeachment probe. But soiling an innocent dead womans memory, and reigniting her familys grief, would seem to (finally) be a bridge too far. Timothy Klausitus, in his letter to Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, merely requested that Trumps tweets about his family be deleted. He didnt demand that Twitter kick Trump off the platform but other critics certainly have. Eric Boehlert, a media and political commentator, wrote the other day: Trump should be banned. Period. Dumping Trump from Twitter would rob Trump of a critical communications platform. It would also go a long way to restoring some dignity to our public dialogue. That seems (at first glance) like a great feel-good solution. Twitter, in its broad terms of service, threatens to cancel the accounts of anyone who threatens other people. Klausitus points out, in his letter to Dorsey, that an ordinary user like me would be banished from the platform for concocting a murder charge and traumatizing an innocent family. But Twitter indulges Trumps serial smears and lies because, according to the terms of service, presidents are basically allowed to say whatever they want. Heres the policy: Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial tweets would hide important information people should be able to see. A leaders tweets, by definition, have a clear public interest value. Hang on Does lying about Lori Klausitus death, and causing her husband renewed pain and suffering, have public interest value? Does spreading a conspiracy theory about Scarborough qualify as important information? Perhaps that buttresses the case for throwing Trump off Twitter. This is not a freedom of speech issue, Boehlert says, because Twitter is a privately held, and private companies are well within their rights to deny service to customers who chronically fail to follow the rules of conduct. I wish I could agree. But, philosophically, I tend to believe that the more information we have as citizens, the better off we are. My other concern about an outright ban is purely pragmatic. If Dorsey were to boot Trump from the platform, the aggrieved demagogue would exploit it to the max and confirm the MAGA cults worst paranoia about a Big Tech censorship conspiracy. Trump would merely amp the issue on other social media platforms and use it to gin up his base for the November election. Perhaps the best solution, admittedly unsatisfying, is for Twitter to establish standards by which it can police the most detestable Trump tweets. Granted, the company would require an army of fact-checkers, but surely, at minimum, there must be a way to flag the tweets that victimize innocent bystanders like the Klausitus family. As Timothy said in his letter to Dorsey, I would also ask that you consider Loris niece and two nephews who will eventually come across this filth in the future. They have never met their Aunt and it pains me to think they would ever have to learn about her this way. My wife deserves better. As do we. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist, writes at DickPolman.net. He can be reached at dickpolman7@gmail.com. The restaurants and roadside eateries, which were shut for over 75 days are set to open on Monday. During the lockdown, of over 10,000 eateries, only a few hundreds were open, offering parcel or takeaway service. The 10-week long closure of business has already dealt a death blow to many of them, and Bengalurus most ubiquitous darshinis or fast food joints are the worst hit. Bengaluru offers a variety of culinary options to its people. From iconic Udupi hotels serving local items like Idli, vada, dosa to new entrants like Afghani restaurants can be found all over Indias Tech capital. According to hotel industry experts, at least 50% of the eateries and restaurants may not reopen immediately, while some may shut permanently. The mass exodus of migrant labourers from Bengaluru has created a huge shortage of workers forcing many hoteliers to shut shops for an indefinite period. Most darshinis, roadside eateries and restaurants employ migrants from North, East and Northeast. There are also a sizable number of workers from different parts of Karnataka. In the last one month, half of them have gone back home. They may not return immediately. Even if they return in the next 3-4 months, food industry will die by then. Cleaning, cooking and serving are done by them and the 10-week lockdown has wiped off next two years profit for the most. Now, we dont have enough staff to resume operations, said Vishwanath Adiga of Adiga family, which owns several eateries in the city. The darshinis employ a minimum of five to 10 employees and the bigger restaurants employ up to 100. Except a few legacy brands, rest are left with almost no or only a bare minimum staff. The lockdown has destroyed the time tested, highly successful business model. Most of these survive on daily business and cash flow. In the last 10 weeks, most of them have exhausted all their savings and cash reserves to pay salaries, bills and rent. Many dont have money to reopen the business. Rentals are exorbitant. If the building owners waive off the rent, many may survive. Otherwise, it is impossible for us to continue operations under the present circumstances. We have to pay electricity, water bills and property taxes, said another restauranteur. The restrictions imposed on businesses to fight the coronavirus is also affecting the food industry. Some feel that most operate on thin margins. The volume of business makes their venture feasible. If the volume comes down due to physical distancing rules, the business becomes totally unviable, they say. In the last 10 weeks, peoples eating habits have also changed. Economy is down. Even if we operate at full capacity, there is no guarantee that we will have business. The App-based takeaway business does not help the most, said another restaurant owner. Many of Bengalurus pubs are also facing the same problem. We dont have staff. Our operational costs are high. The night curfew starts at 9pm, every day. Our business starts only after 9 oclock at night. There are restrictions on dancing, partying etc. How will we survive? Future looks bleak, said Prashanth, who runs a famous pub. The Work from Home system has severely affected the caterers who supply food to IT and other companies. Our business may die completely. We dont think people will come back to offices soon, said a caterer. Bengalurus famous food lanes in VV Puram, Chikpet and Commercial Street area are also worried about resumption of business. The eating joints in these areas do brisk business only in the night and are always crowded. The post-lockdown restrictions might make their business unviable and impossible to comply with. Lets see what happens after June 8. We will get an idea in a month. Hopefully, we will survive, though the indications are ominous, said an eatery owner. If the lockdown and restrictions force some iconic eateries to shut permanently, it will be a death blow to an intangible, cultural heritage of Bengaluru. ANU student Kai Clark, 21, who was arrested and detained in Hong Kong for more than 30 hours. (AAP Image/Supplied by Kai Clark) ANU Students 33 Hours in Hong Kong Detention An Australian student says he was made to sit on a plastic chair for 20 hours after being detained by Hong Kong police, as Beijing approved strict new national security laws for the semi-autonomous city. Kai Clark, an Asian studies major at the Australian National University, was arrested for unlawful assembly in Hong Kong on May 28 and taken to Aberdeen police station. The 21-year-old says throughout his 33-hour detention, he didnt sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. I cant say whether it was their intention but I was certainly sleep-deprived, Clark told AAP on Wednesday. The student said he got into an argument with police early on after they said it would be too inconvenient to allow him access to his lawyer during a custody search. The Australian citizen and Hong Kong permanent resident was searched and told to get changed into a grey tracksuit before being taken into a waiting room. I was told we would be assigned beds, but actually it was a conference room where I would spend (the) next 20 hours sitting on a plastic chair, Clark wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. The fourth-year ANU student said he was forced to wait hours before seeing his lawyer, who had been waiting at the police station. Clark was subsequently interviewed by an officer from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau before being eventually released unconditionally late on May 29. He was told he was still under investigation and could be rearrested and charged should sufficient evidence become available to prosecute him. Antony Dapiran, an Australian writer and lawyer based in Hong Kong, last week said police can lawfully hold an arrested person for 48 hours before charging them or releasing them, either on bail or unconditionally. Clarks 33-hour detention was both legal and not particularly unusual in the context of mass arrests, the author told AAP. In light of the ongoing protests the police have been using arrest as a means of intimidation and crowd control. By Gus McCubbing Once again, our nation has been called to reckon with police brutality against black people in this country and the systemic failures that cause and allow this misconduct to perpetuate, the letter states. Many members of the public have no trust in the police, with tensions visible in the streets across this nation. Urgent action is necessary at all levels of government to remedy the injustice of police misconduct. 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. NORTHAMPTON A city man who allegedly choked his ex-girlfriend and held her against her will for hours on Sunday night denied the charges during his arraignment Monday. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported Kevin J. McDonald, 47, was ordered held without bail following a dangerousness hearing via teleconference in Northampton District Court. The Gazette, citing court documents, reported police were summoned to Hampshire Heights, 241 Jackson St., at about 10 p.m. Sunday for a report of a woman choked by her ex-boyfriend. The woman told police she had been held against her will by McDonald and that he choked her when their encounter first began at Hampshire Heights hours before. At one point, according to the court documents, McDonald tied the womans arm with a belt and took her to an apartment at Walter Salvo House, 81 Conz St. He then reportedly removed the belt and took her inside where, during an argument, he struck her in the face with an open hand. The victim was able to escape from him there. McDonald was arrested and charged with kidnapping, strangulation or suffocation (subsequent offense) and assault and battery on a family/household member (subsequent offense). Judge Maureen Walsh ordered McDonald to return to court July 10. Tkachenko's nomination was backed by the Servant of the People faction at a meeting on June 1. Ukrainian lawmakers have voted for the appointment of Member of Parliament from the Servant of the People parliamentary faction Oleksandr Tkachenko as the country's new Culture and Information Policy Minister. Some 263 MPs voted for the decision. Read alsoUkraine's parliament appoints Stefanishyna as Deputy PM for Euro-Atlantic integration As UNIAN reported earlier, the Servant of the People faction on June 1 supported Tkachenko's nomination for the ministerial post. On June 3, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had submitted new nominations to Cabinet posts for approval by parliament. The Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy recommended that lawmakers vote for Tkachenko's appointment. Michigan law enforcement officers would have to undergo ongoing training on implicit bias and violence de-escalation and participate in mental health screening under legislation passed unanimously in the state Senate Thursday. The legislation, Senate Bill 945, would add those elements to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards certification requirements for incoming recruits. An amendment to the bill also added requirements for current law enforcement to receive continuing education annually. The training requirement would go into effect starting in 2022. The unanimous approval of a Democrat-backed bill from the Republican-majority Senate comes after days of protests against police brutality around the country sparked by the death of George Floyd, who was killed when a police officer kneeled on his neck. Bill sponsor Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said the measure should be considered a small step forward in addressing police brutality. "Training for police officers is one crucial way the Legislature can improve policing, specifically for those Black and Brown Americans who are disproportionately targeted, he said. During a committee hearing on the legislation earlier Thursday, Irwin said the bill was not a direct response to Floyds death, but rather something that was written in response to countless other incidents of police brutality all over the country. Sen. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, said the legislation would help law enforcement agencies better meet the expectations of their communities. Continued instances of police brutality in America prove that more should be done to train and prepare law enforcement agencies on how to peaceably de-escalate situations and improve community relations, especially in communities of color, he said. Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, said on the Senate floor the nation is at an important moment in history, and said changing the narrative of what goes through an officers mind in tense situations could potentially avert a violent outcome. Some Michigan police departments already require some form of de-escalation, cultural competency, or implicit bias training, but the Senate bill would mandate that training statewide. Some law enforcement groups opposed the bill as introduced in testimony to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Thursday morning. Bob Stevenson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, told lawmakers they believed the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, not the legislature, should be entrusted with developing training curriculum. He also expressed concern that officer training programs are currently underfunded. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced support of the policy change Wednesday as part of her overall proposals to address police brutality. She also urged police agencies to require their officers to intervene when they observe an excessive use of force by another officer. The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor were a result of hundreds of years of inequity and institutional racism against Black Americans, Whitmer said in a statement. Here in Michigan, we are taking action and working together to address the inequities Black Michiganders face every day." Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II added in the statement, We recognize the shortcomings of the systems in place todaysystems that have left Black, Latino, and other communities of color feeling underserved, even threatened by law enforcement...We are not done, and we strongly encourage cities and counties to adopt and enact local measures that build trust, accountability, and a comprehensive, non-discriminatory experience of safety for everyone in our state. The Senate legislation now heads to the House for further consideration. Related coverage: Gov. Whitmer announces plans for police reform as protests continue Michigan Gov. Whitmer calls on public officials to bring down the heat, urges peaceful protest 'Enough is enough: Hundreds march in Saginaw to demand justice for George Floyd Michigan sheriffs condemn ex-Minneapolis cop in George Floyds killing Kalamazoo protesters urge police to join them, are tear-gassed after curfew Young woman incited riot on her own Facebook Live video, police say Saginaw-area police to have online conversation with community in wake of George Floyd protests Curfews set in three Michigan cities as police brutality protests continue Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:30:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's ministry of agriculture on Thursday said the country is bracing itself for a slump in global vanilla prices by focusing on quality. Aggrey Bagiire, minister of state for agriculture told reporters here that the surplus in the global market is attributed to the increase in supply from Madagascar, which was previously hit by a cyclone. Madagascar is the world's largest producer of vanilla. "There is now a clear downward trend in global prices as a result of increasing supply from Madagascar and other vanilla producing countries," he said. "This trend means that our farmers and exporters may receive much lower prices for their vanilla in the coming seasons," the minister added, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic may also further lower the price. He said in order to harness the best opportunities of such a global vanilla market situation, farmers and exporters need to focus on quality. "We in Uganda, must of necessity, identify and emphasize strategies that guarantee high quality of vanilla that we put on the market in order to ensure a sustainable and better price for farmers." The minister said farmers must harvest their vanilla when it is fully mature -- that is nine months after pollination. He noted that traders and processors need to adhere to the professional vanilla handling and processing standards to attain the highest possible vanillin content that the market requires. Bagiire warned that anyone found flaunting the regulations would face prosecution. Uganda accounts for about five percent of the global production. Enditem The state government needs to recommence subsidising flat-rate flights to Exmouth and Broome to prevent airlines price gouging West Australians who want to holiday in regional towns, the state opposition says. Shadow Tourism Minister Alyssa Hayden called for the initiative to be rebooted in light of coronavirus restrictions banning interstate and international travel. Peak season for tourism in WA's North West is from April to September. She said the freedom to again travel across the state again could lead to increased regional airfares. "The state government back in 2018 and 2019 helped to underwrite flights to Broome and Exmouth, but they've put that program on hold for 2020 obviously due to COVID-19 and they haven't prepared for it to be up and running to coincide with regions reopening," she said. Houthis: Saudi-led aggressors begging under guise of 'donor' conference Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 6:41 AM Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah popular defensive movement has denounced the recent so-called donor conference that was organized under the guise of collecting aid for the war-torn country as "an attempt for begging" by countries in the Saudi-led military coalition. Saudi Arabia co-hosted the virtual United Nations' fundraising summit on Tuesday. The conference was reportedly attended by more than 100 countries. The kingdom and its allies have been waging a war on Yemen since March 2015 to return Riyadh's favorite officials to power there. The war, which also has the support of the United States, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the Arab world's already poorest nation into the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The participants in the "relief" summit included some of the states, including the United Kingdom, that having been selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and members of the coalition it leads. The event reportedly fetched $1.35 billion in aid pledges, falling short of the UN's declared target of 2.4 billion. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the Houthi fighters, who have been defending the nation in the face of the invasion, took to Twitter, saying the invaders were already "politically and morally bankrupt" due to the military offensive and the simultaneous siege they have been enforcing on Yemen. However, "the relief conference demonstrated that they have now resorted to begging under the guise of supporting Yemen," he added. By attending the event, the participants were toeing the Saudi line, the official said, advising those countries against heeding "the propaganda of criminals." Any genuine effort aimed at helping Yemen should instead be directed towards bringing about an end to the military aggression and the lifting of the siege, he proposed. Abdul-Salam had also addressed the prospect of the conference in another tweet on Monday, saying organizing the donor conference at a time when the invasion was ongoing amounted to an attempt by the aggressors to "beautify" their "ugly faces." Also reacting to the same event, Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement, "Saudi Arabia keeps trying to whitewash its coalition's role in the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, but cohosting the funding event won't fool anyone." In addition to the heavy human losses Yemen has suffered because of the Saudi-led war, the country's infrastructure has been largely devastated by the war. The population has also been dealing with acute malnutrition and diseases as well as shortage of water and sanitation. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has recently added to the long list of challenges the war-stricken nation needs to tackle. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KITCHENER A plan is being put together for Forest Heights long-term care home in Kitchener to reduce any further spread of COVID-19 following the provinces order that St. Marys General Hospital temporarily manage the outbreak. St. Marys president Lee Fairclough said the hospital is working with the home and owner Revera on a plan which will be submitted to the province on Friday. Its a very collaborative approach, said Fairclough, who was on site at Forest Heights. The Ministry of Long-Term Care appointed St. Marys to temporarily manage the COVID-19 outbreak at Forest Heights on Tuesday, saying the home has been unable to contain the spread of the virus despite weeks of hospital support. The outbreak at the privately run home is the most significant and long-lasting in Waterloo Region. A total of 175 residents and 69 staff have tested positive, and 51 people have died since the outbreak was declared April 1. Forest Heights has been getting support from the three local hospitals, Region of Waterloo Public Health and other health system partners since late April to control the significant outbreak. Those efforts included transferring 54 residents to hospital, the majority having tested positive for COVID-19, to lighten the load on staff and allow for more separation of residents in the older home with ward-style rooms and shared bathrooms. The province decided more help was needed to get a handle on the situation and asked St. Marys to step in a role Fairclough said they were prepared to take on. Its not new for us to work in a collaborative way with this home, she said, adding that in general the hospital has been taking a supportive approach to the regions long-term care homes. Now they can bring in a team from St. Marys as well as St. Josephs Health System, a system the Kitchener hospital is a member of and the provinces largest provider of long-term care. It also just allows for a fresh set of eyes, Fairclough said. Theyll be focused on how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among both residents and staff to stabilize the home, and safely return the residents who had been transferred to hospital. The new oversight will also bring some relief to the homes staff, who Fairclough thanked for their hard work through the difficult situation. Theyve been a very dedicated team and theyve been working very hard through this, she said, also thanking the public for all their support of Forest Heights staff. Fairclough said there will be ongoing communication with residents and their families about the plan and during the change in management. We want to be sure that theyre well informed about whats happening, she said. The province will be keeping tabs on the situation at Forest Heights, and may extend the 90 days of the mandatory management order for longer if necessary. Fairclough stressed that St. Marys will be working with the team at Forest Heights, and the continuity of care will be paramount. Care for the residents is the most important priority, she said. None of that has changed with this decision. Unifor applauded the governments decision to appoint St. Marys to temporarily manage Forest Heights. The union represents more than 250 members at the home. The continued severity of the COVID-19 outbreak at Forest Heights clearly illustrates the mismanagement, and are a result of a lack of health and safety protocols and an effective pandemic plan to protect residents and workers, Unifor national president Jerry Dias said in a news release. He hopes the decision sends a clear message to the management at Forest Heights and all other long-term care homes that they need to get their act together and put residents and workers first. Clark Brooke signed the word fast in American Sign Language while shaping his lips to indicate very fast. Then he put on a cloth face mask and made the same sign. Now youre losing that facial expression, the mouth emphasis, he said in ASL through an interpreter. The face provides the tones and emphasis for ASL. You cannot remove it and just sign. With health orders increasingly tightening the rules around wearing face masks in public, deaf and hard of hearing people confront a new accessibility challenge. Masks that cover the nose and mouth make lip reading impossible and hide some of the facial expressions and mouth movements, called morphemes, that ASL uses to convey emphasis, tone, affect and grammar. Its weird when other deaf adults have masks on, said Robin Horwitz, managing partner at Interpreter Now, an Oakland company that provides sign language interpreters nationwide, speaking in ASL through an interpreter. There are certain signs that look alike but can represent two different words its like, Did you say this, or that? Photos by Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Masks also hide expressions that help people understand whats going on when in public. As deaf people we rely on visual communications from people who dont sign, said Amy Salter, senior operations manager for San Franciscos Mozzeria, a Mission District pizzeria owned and operated by deaf people, speaking in ASL through an interpreter. On an errand to Home Depot, her first outing once masks became required, the visual communication was gone; I felt lost, she said. Being able to see mouth movements and facial expressions are helpful cues to basic communications in various situations such as at the food store, bank, or other parts of daily life, Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, said in an email. The ubiquitous use of masks may be necessary for safety reasons, but it does hinder communications for 48 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States, Rosenblum said. Brooke, the superintendent of California School for the Deaf in Fremont, a state school for about 450 deaf students, said he worries about the impact on his students if teachers and staff and possibly students as well are required to wear face masks when school resumes. There are kids out there who will have their language and self-esteem impacted, he said. Information will get lost if faces are covered. Hard of hearing people who rely on lip reading say the new reality is disorienting. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle After one day of everybody wearing face masks, it hit me like a ton of bricks: I cannot understand what people are saying, said John Bauters, an Emeryville city councilman who has read lips since childhood because his hearing is limited. Face masks have not only taken away my ability to read lips, they are taking away my ability to understand what I can hear, and combined, Im losing lots of context and content in conversations. While hes investigated masks with clear inserts over the mouth, the problem is, its not me that needs to wear it, Bauters said. And you cant ask someone to take their mask off; thats unacceptable. Another pre-coronavirus workaround, typing messages on his cell phone, also seems wrong these days. Youll come off as an aggressive social distancing violator by walking over with a phone with a note on it, he said. At Mozzeria, which is still operating for takeout during the shutdown, deaf to deaf workers can still understand each other despite their face masks, said Amanda Mosher, a supervisor, speaking in ASL through an interpreter. We do make facial expressions with our eyes, she said. Communicating with customers, most of whom are hearing, is harder. Its a challenge because we cant lip read due to the masks, she said. Its frustrating for everyone. The restaurant gives customers pens and paper to communicate, and disinfects the pens after each use. For Salter, who is working from home, video calls with her masked colleagues at the Mozzeria restaurant are hard. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Im just looking at them while on Zoom and Im like Say that again, she said in ASL through an interpreter. People in the restaurant every day have adapted to communicating (while wearing masks), but I am not there so I struggle. There are some workarounds, such as masks with clear inserts over the mouth, masks that are entirely transparent, or clear plastic full-face shields, but those are expensive and in limited use. Horwitz and Jewel Jauregui, the other managing partner at Interpreter Now, had 120 of the insert masks made for some of their interpreters at a pricey $25 each. The interpreters now largely work remotely over video but still sometimes must work in person. Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images Jauregui modeled one that she cobbled together by cutting a hole in the mouth area of an existing cloth mask and attaching a plastic part. I am not quitting my day job to sell these on Etsy, she joked. But now you can see my mouth movements; I can maintain a conversation that way safely. Still, she said, the mask was uncomfortable and makes breathing more difficult when its on tightly since the plastic is not as porous as cloth. Applying shaving cream or toothpaste to the plastic helps with fogging. The National Association of the Deaf encourages the use of clear masks and face shields to ease communication for deaf and hard of hearing people, Rosenblum said. It is developing policies for the pandemic to convey to lawmakers. But he said, Clear masks often are not clear enough for full comprehension even for expert lip readers (although they are) helpful to provide visual cues. For complex discussions, such as during medical and mental health visits, legal consultations, educational settings, court appearances, and work meetings ... qualified professional sign language interpreters or professionally rendered captioning services should be provided, he said. The expression of our language is like doing a 3-D movie in your head whereas English is linear, word by word, and it doesnt give any visual enactment without adjectives being applied, said Brooke, the superintendent at California School for the Deaf. With ASL, you can add adjectives by using nonmanual signs. Imagine young children learning the native language from an adult who is fluent in ASL trying to decode what is being said. Masks can be an interference. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday praised Russian-Turkish cooperation in Syria for having "solid results", Anadolu agency reports. Zakharova spoke at a video conference in Moscow and responded to criticism by US State Department official Matthew Palmer who expressed concern about Turkey's willingness to strengthen and expand cooperation with Russia. "Solid results of our multi-faceted cooperation with Turkey were made possible by building ties on a mutually beneficial and, most importantly, mutually respectful basis without dictates and edification," said Zakharova. Washington seems to have forgotten the meaning of the words "mutual respect," she said, and advised it to take an example from Russian-Turkish relations and use it as a role model. US threats against Turkey's for its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system is an attitude that shows the flaw in understanding of allies, she said. And the situation in Syria remains relatively calm with a cease-fire in the Idlib de-escalation zone generally observed, and joint Russian-Turkish patrols continue, she said. The U.S. Air Force is planning to buy at least eight hypersonic missiles which can travel at five times the speed of sound. The weapons, which were first pictured being carried by a B-52 bomber during USAF tests in June 2019, are expected to cost at least $1.1billion. The prototype missiles, which are officially named AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapons, or ARRWs, could be available to use on the battlefield in 2022. President Donald Trump boasted of the US military's hypersonic missile programme in January, saying there were 'many' under construction. The US Air Force is planning to buy at least eight hypersonic missiles which can travel at five times the speed of sound The weapons, which were first pictured being carried by a B-52 bomber during USAF tests in June 2019, are expected to cost at least $1.1billion The news of the planned purchases was reported by The Drive after the Government Accountability Office - a Congressional watchdog - included details of them in its annual review of major US military programs. The missiles will become the US military's first hypersonic weapons. The combination of speed, maneuverability and altitude of hypersonic missiles can make them difficult to track and intercept. They travel at more than five times the speed of sound or about 3,853 miles per hour. Some will travel as fast as 15,000 miles per hour, according to US and other Western weapons researchers, which is about 25 times as fast as modern passenger jets. President Donald Trump boasted of the US military's hypersonic missile programme in January, saying there were 'many' under construction. Pictured: Mock-ups of the missiles released by Lockheed Martin There are two primary categories of hypersonic weapons: Hypersonic glide vehicles that are launched from a rocket before gliding to a target and hypersonic cruise missiles that are powered by high-speed, air-breathing engines after acquiring their target. However, the ARRW project is reportedly a year behind schedule and has seen its total cost increase by almost 40 per cent. The two types of hypersonic weapons: Hypersonic glide vehicles A hypersonic glide vehicle is boosted aloft on a rocket to heights of between 25 miles to 62 miles above the earth before detaching to glide along the upper atmosphere towards its target. It is released at a height and speed that would allow it to glide unpowered to the target. Control surfaces on the glide vehicle mean it can steer an unpredictable course and maneuver sharply as it approaches impact. These glide vehicles follow a much flatter and lower trajectory than the high, arching path of a ballistic missile. Hypersonic cruise missiles These missiles are powered by high-speed, air-breathing engines after acquiring their target. While they have internal engines, unlike regular cruise missiles, they travel far faster and higher. Advertisement Development began in 2018, with the design contract being awarded to Lockheed Martin. In June 2019, a B-52 bomber was pictured carrying a test version of the missile. The plane is set to be the main launching platform for the missiles. 'Program officials stated that they plan to deliver eight hypersonic missiles: four to conduct flight tests and four spares,' GAO's report explained. 'Specifically, [the] ARRW [program] plans to develop an operational prototype with solid-fuel booster, ordnance package, and specialized equipment to enable it to be carried on the B-52H.' 'According to program officials, the program will build knowledge through the flight and operational testing of prototype units, as well as potentially provide an operational capability from the deployment of any remaining spare test units,' the review added. Speaking of the hypersonic missile programme during a national address in January, President Trump said: 'Our missiles are big, powerful, accurate, lethal, and fast. 'Under construction are many hypersonic missiles. 'The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. 'We do not want to use it. American strength, both military and economic, is the best deterrent.' Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons don't follow a ballistic trajectory and can maneuver en route to their destination. The US, as well as China and Russia, have so far focused research and development on both categories of hypersonic weapons - both of which could carry conventional or nuclear payloads. A hypersonic glide vehicle is boosted aloft on a rocket to heights of between 25 miles to 62 miles above the earth before detaching to glide along the upper atmosphere towards its target. It is released at a height and speed that would allow it to glide unpowered to the target. Control surfaces on the glide vehicle mean it can steer an unpredictable course and maneuver sharply as it approaches impact. The missiles will become the US military's first hypersonic weapons. The combination of speed, maneuverability and altitude of hypersonic missiles can make them difficult to track and intercept They travel at more than five times the speed of sound or about 3,853 miles per hour Hypersonic cruise missiles, meanwhile, have internal engines. But unlike regular cruise missiles, they travel far faster and higher. The US has been developing hypersonic weapons since the early 2000s, according to a Congressional Research Service report published in July last year. The Pentagon has also previously said the US has been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said last August that he believes 'it's probably a matter of a couple of years' before the US has one. At the time, he called it a priority as the military works to develop new long-range fire capabilities. The Pentagon's budget request for all hypersonic-related research throughout 2020 was a whopping $2.6 billion, according to the research report. A protester who faced off with cops at a George Floyd rally says one officer threatened to spray tear gas at his two-year-old son. Dontae Parks, 29, was carrying his little boy atop his shoulders at the demonstration in Long Beach, California on Sunday when the policeman allegedly made the threat. 'I was shocked, it did very much upset me,' Parks told The Sun on Wednesday. 'I said, "Okay, I would like to see you do that"'. Parks says he believes that the officer would not have threatened to spray tear gas at his son if they were white. 'It would have been a whole different scenario and that's one of the reasons I was there [at the protest]' he stated. Parks was captured in a dramatic photo which showed a different officer pointing a rubber bullet gun at his face while his young son watched on. Dontae Parks, 29, was carrying his little boy atop his shoulders at the demonstration in Long Beach, California on Sunday when he was threatened by police officers Parks' young son was dressed in a Batman costume and brandishing a Black Lives Matter sign The image was broadcast right around the world, with Parks now telling The Sun about the terrifying moment he was in the firing line. 'The officer in the photo - he should not be a cop at all,' he defiantly declared. 'I feel they let anybody be a cop these days... I could tell just by looking at him he's ready to shoot at any time.' Parks has faced some criticism for bringing his two-year-old son to the rally, where officers did shoot other protesters with rubber bullets. But the insists that he was simply being a dutiful dad. 'I'm a great father and I take care of my son and I'm raising him to be great,' he told The Sun. 'I'm a great father and I take care of my son and I'm raising him to be great,' Dontae told The Sun Parks has faced some criticism for bringing his two-year-old son (pictured) to the rally, where officers did shoot other protesters with rubber bullets Thousands of demonstrators poured into Downtown Long Beach. They came up against heavily armed police officers Fireworks hurled by demonstrators explode next to police officers during the demonstration 'A lot of people might think I put my son in danger by being there, but I know I wouldn't let anything happen to him, and when it started to get really dangerous, we went home.' Thousands of people marched through Long Beach as part of the rally on Sunday to protest policing practices following the death of black man George Floyd. While most demonstrators were peaceful, the city was also hit hard by looters. Parks disavowed those actions during his interview with The Sun. 'It was a peaceful protest and, yes, there were looters down the street that were doing God who knows what. 'There was a lot of looting going on but not everyone was there to cause a ruckus, you have stupid people doing that but we were there to stand up for the people.' Park conceded there was widespread looting in Long Beach on Sunday, but said it was separate from the peaceful protests Looters run from a jewelry store in Long Beach on Sunday The advance of renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) has incentivized scientists to look into various ways to solve the problem with efficient energy storage, which is the key to wider adoption of green energy technologies. Most research focuses on batterieshow to make lithium-ion batteries safer and more efficient or how other, cheaper elements, can be used in batteries. Most previous research has focused on the chemical storage and the electrochemical reactions in batteries. Now researchers at Australias Queensland University of Technology (QUT) are proposing a design based on the mechanical properties of nanostructures containing diamonds that could potentially be used in mechanical energy storage devices, including batteries, biomedical sensing systems, wearables, and small robotics and electronics. The mechanical functions of a diamond nanothread (DNT) bundle have the potential to store and release energy when stretched or twisted. These diamond nanothread bundles consist of one-dimensional carbon threads. Similar to a compressed coil or childrens wind-up toy, energy can be released as the twisted bundle unravels, Dr. Haifei Zhan from the QUT Centre for Materials Science said in a statement. Zhan and his colleagues have found that the diamond bundles have high energy densitythat is how much energy a system contains compared to its mass. The team have successfully modeled the mechanical energy storage and release capabilities of a DNT bundle and published their research paper in Nature Communications. The model is just a first step in the teams research into the potential of mechanical energy storage as compared to electrochemical energy storage. The scientists now plan to design an experimental nanoscale mechanical energy system as proof of concept and will spend the next two-three years building the system that will control the twisting and stretching of the nanothread bundle. Related: Can Yemens Oil Industry Make A Comeback? Despite the fact that research into diamond nanothreads is in very early stages, initial experiments show promising results. Compared to lithium-ion batteries, the diamond nanothread bundle has up to three times the energy density, according to the QUT scientists. Energy dense materials are very important to many applications, which is why we are always looking for lightweight materials that still perform well, said Dr. Zhan. High energy density and low weight of materials used could be a major breakthrough in solving the issue of how to pack high energy potential into a lightweight energy storage system. Because of its low weight, the diamond nanothread could find applications in aerospace electronics. Because of the mechanicalnot electrochemicalnature of its energy storage potential, the diamond bundles could be used for implanted biomedical sensing systems monitoring heart and brain functions, the researchers at the QUT say. And, for batteries, the mechanical nature of the energy would be safer than the electrochemical reactions in lithium-ion batteries. Unlike chemical storage such as lithium-ion batteries, which use electrochemical reactions to store and release energy, a mechanical energy system itself would carry much lower risk by comparison, Dr. Zhan said. Mechanical energy storage systems are one of the many recent research projects and innovations in energy storage. Heat, gravity, or geothermal energy could be used to store and release energy, scientists and companies have set to prove. While lithium-ion batteries are currently the most popular and widely used energy storage solution, the future may lie in nanostructures using mechanical rather than chemical energy forces. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the U.S. Department of Energy, the constantly falling costs of available renewable technologies have spurred great interest in energy storage and various solutions to improve energy storage systems. Theres a misunderstanding. Storage is often looked upon as electrochemical storage or battery storage, says Adarsh Nagarajan, the group manager for Power System Design and Planning at NREL, who works on integrating renewables onto the grid. Storage is beyond batteries. Its beyond electrochemical. Its much broader. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more Twitter has erased an account that claimed to be affiliated with the militant left-wing antifa movement but actually was operated by a white nationalist group. The group, Identity Evropa, began tweeting Sunday night, calling for violent action in the suburbs of cities where demonstrators were protesting the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 in Minneapolis, NBC News reported Monday. Floyd died after a white police officer pressed his knee to Floyds neck for almost nine minutes while he was handcuffed face down on the ground. President Donald Trump has claimed, with little evidence, that antifa was behind some of the violence and property destruction that has occurred in cities where protests have been held. Twitter scotched the account because it violated the companys manipulation and spam policy, which bans coordinated activity that attempts to artificially influence conversations through the use of multiple accounts, fake accounts, automation and/or scripting. Twitters latest action wasnt the first time it has taken down accounts displaying hateful conduct and linked to the white nationalist group, NBC noted. Twitter removed two hashtags from its trending topics section because they were part of coordinated attempts to disrupt the public conversation around the protests. Twitter did not respond to our request for comment for this story. Inauthentic Behavior Twitter has come under fire recently for some of its enforcement actions, most notably those against the president. Although taking on the White House was a first for Twitter, its move against the bogus white nationalist accounts has precedents. Were talking about inauthentic behavior, said Alex Engler, a fellow at Brookings, a nonprofit public policy organization in Washington, D.C. That has been prohibited on these platforms for some time, he told TechNewsWorld. Thats not unique to Twitter. Facebook has also taken down inauthentic behavior. It was not the substance of the account posts that prompted Twitter to act, suggested Vincent Raynauld, assistant professor in the department of communication studies at Emerson College in Boston. When it comes to the white nationalist account, its not whats published on the account. Its about transparency the identity portrayed, he told TechNewsWorld. There is clear obstruction of who is behind the account. Twitter Is No Town Square Twitter does muzzle some of its users content from time to time, however. Twitter threatens the ability of users to post content all of the time, thanks to content moderation policies, said Mathew Feeney, director of the project on emerging technologies at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank. Those policies include restrictions on bots, and bans on all kinds of legal content, such as images of graphic violence and pornography. Twitters understandable use of content moderation policies has no impact on the users legal right to free speech, even if it results in content being removed, Feeney told TechNewsWorld. First Amendment rights dont extend to platforms like Twitter and Facebook, noted Karen North, director of the Annenberg Program on Online Communities at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The First Amendment protects our right to free speech in the town square and the steps of city hall, but not in someones living room or private business, North told TechNewsWorld. In a private business like Twitter, the rules are the rules of Twitter, not the First Amendment she continued. Just as restaurants, a club or a business could have a code of conduct or dress code, the social media platforms are private businesses, and when we join them, we agree to their code of conduct, North explained. Its not illegal to say things that glorify violence in the town square, but it is against the rules of Twitter, she said. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Platform or Publisher? Some critics of Twitter maintain that its aggressive enforcement of its terms of use makes it more of a publisher than a platform, and as such it should be subject to the same rules. That distinction isnt legally meaningful, Catos Feeney said. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which is the law at the core of the social media content moderation debate, does not make a distinction between publishers and platforms,' he pointed out. Twitter can be held liable for publishing content such as fact checks or a post on Twitters blog but not for the vast majority of content posted by users, Feeney maintained. Even traditional publishers enjoy Section 230 protections, as in The New York Times comment section, he said. What social media platforms are doing now is no different from what theyve been doing for years, Brookings Engler added. Theyre enforcing standards against certain kinds of content that are a problem, he observed. A call to violence isnt a new standard, Engler continued. The difference is that Twitter is holding Trump accountable in the same way. Thats whats novel. Avoiding the Presidents Wrath Both Facebook and Twitter have made attempts to deal with misinformation, but theyre going about it in different ways, Feeney said. Most recently, Facebook has been on the receiving end of criticism for declining to engage in the kind of fact-checking of the president seen on Twitter, he noted. However, Facebook has been aggressive in removing content associated with anti-COVID lockdowns. Twitter is willing to hold politicians to its rules, Engler said, while Facebook isnt inclined to do so. Twitter is trying to grapple with the question of when does speech cross the line and become dangerous. Facebook hasnt engaged with that line when it comes to officials, he said. Facebook appears to be unwilling to enforce what their community standards say for public officials, he continued. That benefits Trump in a way thats politically suspect. It helps Facebook avoid Trumps wrath and anger with Trumps political base. The verdict is still out on the business impact of Twitters aggressive rules enforcement. I cant see the removal of a fake account having a lasting negative impact on Twitters business, Feeney said. However, there is a risk that if Twitter engages in more content moderation of the presidents tweets whether thats removal or fact-checking that it will lose users who flee the service in protest or in search of an alternative. The fact that people are so concerned about Twitters behavior illustrates the powerful impact the platform is having on political discourse in the United States at the moment, observed Emerson Colleges Raynauld. Donald Trump can completely change the discourse in one tweet, he said. These platforms can really shape the conversation, while traditional media is behind the platforms in shaping the conversation. A male teacher at a school in Vietnam has asked for forgiveness and handed in his resignation after admitting to sexually abusing several of his male students. According to a source, N.H.N., a biology teacher at Phuoc Minh Middle School in southern Tay Ninh Province, on Wednesday submitted a self-report confessing to sexually abusing four of his students, as well as his resignation letter, to the school board. I made a serious mistake. Please forgive me although I will not be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life, N. wrote in his report. According to the report, N. said he joined a social media network for LGBT people via a mobile app two years ago. As N. found out that one of his male students was also on the platform, he asked to see the boy privately in a school laboratory. The teacher then asked the student to help him adjust his pants zip, citing a hand pain. He also admitted to having sex with the boy. N. repeated the same tactic with three other schoolboys in grades eight and nine. The teacher admitted to making one of the male students watch a pornographic movie. Statements from four of his victims have been collected by the school. N. said in his self-report that he had realized his mistake before the students reported the issue, adding that he has been focusing on teaching since the second semester of the 2019-20 school year to make up for what he had done. He claimed to have stopped using the LGBT social network. Please forgive me. Please look at me as a normal person and dont despise me. Please be forgiving to me. [Your forgiveness] is the cure for my life, he said. N. has been suspended since Wednesday, the education bureau in Duong Minh Chau District, where the school is located, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. The case is now being handled by the districts police, who took testimonies from the students involved under the supervision of their parents and lawyers for further clarification. Molesting a person under 16 years of age is punishable by up to seven years in prison, while raping a person under 16 is eligible for up to 20 years behind bars if the perpetrator is responsible for the victims care, education, or treatment, according to Vietnams Penal Code. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! It happens way too often, and people are so pissed off about it this time that they're not worried about crowding into city streets and city parks, in ways that are clearly risky. Its not enough just to yell at their screens, or to stand in their yards, or talk to their friends, or go to community centers and rallies and marches. They're mad enough to do all of those things during a pandemic. These demonstrations are different. These go beyond the desire to escape social distancing lockdowns, the defiance of government restrictions, the necessity to get back to work and other temporary symptoms of the coronavirus. These demonstrations dont have anything to do with the pandemic; they are about persistent systemic dangers so great that people will assemble and march shoulder to shoulder in spite of the direct threat it presents to their health. These are not people who think the coronavirus is merely some kind of overblown, new-fangled flu, and that masks are signs of oozing socialism. These aren't the people who wanted to shop and get their hair cut and eat a bowl of chips from a communal bowl at a table of eight people. They weren't the ones at the water park or the mall, who decided to disregard the disease for fun or pleasure. Kosovar Lawmakers End Months Of Turmoil, Approve New Government With Hoti As PM By RFE/RL's Balkan Service June 03, 2020 Lawmakers in Kosovo have approved a new government led by Avdullah Hoti, ending months of political turmoil. The June 3 vote saw 61 deputies endorse the new administration, while 24 were against and one lawmaker abstained. Former Prime Minister Albin Kurti's leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party, which had called for early general elections, did not vote. The government will be led by Hoti's center-right LDK party. Hoti, a 44-year-old economics professor, was approved as the new prime minister by lawmakers. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-parliament-approves- new-governement-hoti-pm/30650516.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 Signage is seen at an Amazon facility in Bethpage on Long Island in New York (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it leased 12 Boeing 767-300 converted cargo aircraft from Air Transport Services Group Inc , bringing its total fleet to more than 80, as it pushes for faster delivery to meet a surge in online orders. One of the new aircraft joined the online retailer's operations in May while the remaining 11 will be delivered in 2021, the company said in a statement. Amazon is also opening regional hubs to support its growing air network. This summer it will open new regional air hubs at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida. Amazon is building a delivery network to service its own business and potentially rival those of major carriers such as FedEx Corp , United Parcel Service Inc and Deutsche Post DHL . FedEx has the largest air cargo fleet of the big three delivery companies, with more than 650 aircraft. (Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Richard Chang) California workers had filed 5,093 COVID-19 workers compensation claims as of Tuesday, according to the state Department of Industrial Relations, a pace that might lead to a lower impact on costs than projected by actuaries. The potential cost of the novel coronavirus on the California workers compensation system looms large because Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 6 issued an executive order that eases the path toward benefits for workers who contract the disease. Newsom created a presumption that any coronavirus infection claimed by employees who did not work at home is a compensable occupational disease, but only if the claimant submits a positive test or diagnosis within 14 days. At least 13 other states have similarly expanded workers comp coverage for first responders or medical workers through legislation and executive orders. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear included essential workers to his order. In California which has the nations biggest work comp system the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau examined Newsoms order to estimate how much it might cost. The bureau provided a mid-range estimate of 31,100 COVID-19 claims during 2020, at a cost of $1.2 billion an amount equal to 7% of the prior years total costs. The 5,093 COVID-19 first report of injury submissions so far make up 3 percent of the total 166,527 workers compensation claims filed from Jan. 1 to June 2, according to figures provided by the Department of Industrial Relations in response to a request by the Claims Journal. Of course, the cost of those claims will not be known until those claims are resolved and all benefits paid. To reach WCIRBs projected total, at least 2,592 claims must be filed in each of the 12 months. In the first five months of the year, that number was met only in April. The WCIRB estimated that COVID-19 claims will cost an average of $29,100 each. But the 82 percent of cases that require no hospitalization were projected to cost an average of just $2,100. In contrast, the 3 percent of cases that require critical care were projected to cost $191,100 each. The DWC data shows California workers filed 15 claims in January, 65 in February, 2,251 in March, 2,677 in April and 85 in May. Alex Swedlow, president of the California Workers Compensation, said the May numbers are likely a preliminary count; more claims may be added for the month later. Swedlow said he found it interesting that 1,076 claims were denied. He said when CWCI examined a sample of about 1,100 claims filed in February, March and April, researchers found that about 35 percent had been denied. The DWC numbers include claim counts through early June and show a lower denial rate of 21 percent. It is still a demonstrably higher denial rate than the general population of reported claims, Swedlow said. COVID-19 is much more complicated to investigate due to the lack of testing and the wait for test results. Swedlow said CWCIs research shows that reasons for denying a COVID claim were consistent with the governors executive order. The institutes study states that seven out of 10 workers whose claims were denied tested negative for the virus, with the balance of the denials made after it was found that the employee had not been exposed at work, or for other reasons including the lack of a diagnosis, lack of symptoms, or that the employee had been working at home or had refused to take a COVID-19 test. Swedlow said each of those reasons are consistent with the executive order. Any increase in costs caused by COVID-19 claims will likely be offset by a corresponding reduction in the California claims rate overall. The WCIRB in another analysis released last month noted that 4.3 million unemployment claims were filed in the state during the first 10 weeks of the pandemic 20 percent of the states workforce. Typically, fewer claims are filed during economic downturns. WCIRB projected a 14 percent decline in claim frequency. But the bureau said lower frequency may be offset by an increase in post-post-termination claims by laid off workers who say they suffered cumulative injuries. According to the report, since 2012, about 25 post-termination claims are filed for each 1,000 jobs lost. It is possible and perhaps likely that growth in these types of claims will more than offset the impact of the economic slowdown on claim frequency, the WCIRB report says. Jill Dulich, executive director of the California Self Insurers Association, said workers compensation claims by employees who contracted COVID-19 seems to have had a minimal impact on most members of the organization, but not all. The majority of the board members have had very few COVID claims filed, she said. One member has had a higher number and advised that while most of the claims are minimal with no lost pay due to C19 sick pay, there are a handful of claims that are going to be very costly for them given the expenses of ICU, nurse case managers and rehab. About the photo: Kreation Organic manager Frank DAndrea, left, measures a required six-feet distance between tables as his staff gets ready for customers to sit outdoors in Los Angeles, Friday, May 29, 2020. Populous Los Angeles County won approval Friday to reopen restaurants and hair-cutting businesses to customers. At the same time, remote Lassen County, the first California jurisdiction to backpedal on a reopening plan, reversed itself again and decided to allow in-person dining and shopping in stores after determining it mitigated its first small outbreak of coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) The U.S. threatens Russia with new sanctions over the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was designed to deprive Ukraine of gas transit revenues. UNIAN figured out whether Washington could defeat Moscow in the latest episode of gas war. Despite the global threat the coronavirus pandemic economic issues are going nowhere from the international agenda. Now, one of the topics discussed globally is Russia's moves to try to complete its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which is designed to deprive Ukraine of the gas transit country status, as well as billions of dollars in revenues. The reason for putting this issue on top agenda was the statement by the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell. In anticipation of the end of his cadence in Berlin, he said that new sanctions against Nord Stream 2 were just around the corner and that they could be passed by the American Congress very quickly. The new sanctions package enjoys bipartisan support, according to Grenell, who spoke with Handelsblatt. Also, he called on the German federal government to rethink its policy on Russia and "stop feeding the beast", while failing to provide sufficient financial support to NATO. They intend to adopt sanctions to prevent the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project. The main reason is Russia's use of gas as a tool of political pressure, which casts doubt on the principles of the European Union. Only Germany keeps supporting the project. If the pipeline is put into operation, the country will become the largest gas hub in Europe. Therefore, Berlin considered the statement by the U.S. ambassador inappropriate. "The time when the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on countries around the world is not suitable to escalate the spiral and threaten further extraterritorial sanctions, which are contrary to international law," said Peter Altmeier, spokesperson for the German economy and energy. This is not the first dispute between Germany and the United States. Berlin was outraged by U.S. sanctions against the project, introduced in December, which forced companies involved to cease construction immediately. The Swiss Allseas almost immediately brought their pipe layer out of the Baltic Sea. So the construction of the Nord Stream 2 was suspended. But Russia said that all problems would be resolved. To complete the construction by the end of 2020, the Akademik Chersky ship was "modernized". In early May, she anchored outside the German port of Mukran. By the way, the history of this ship is quite amusing. History says that the new U.S. sanctions are a reality, and most importantly, this time, they are a direct threat to Gazprom. So, realizing that restrictive measures will affect their assets, while the Akademik Chersky is one of them, the vessel was in 2016 transferred to the ownership of the Samara Thermal Energy Property Fund. That is, the vessel, presumably, has nothing to do with Gazprom. And if it's the case, sanctions shouldn't be a problem. But problems didn't end there. The snag with the completion of Nord Stream 2 led to the fact that the German Federal Network Agency (Bnetza) rejected the application of the Nord Stream 2 AG operator to provide Nord Stream 2 with exceptions to the EU Gas Directive. It was approved last year and in fact is an amendment to the Gas Directive, according to which gas pipelines from third countries must also comply with the Third Energy Package. That is, a single company cannot be both gas supplier and owner of a gas pipeline, while independent suppliers must have access to the pipe. This means that up to 50% of its capacity should be reserved for them. In the case of Nord Stream 2, this means that the project will operate at half capacity at 27.5 billion cubic meters per year. The Directive, at the request of Germany, indicated that exceptions could be granted, but only if the pipeline was built before May 23, 2019. Actually, the date was precisely the deadline for the commissioning of Nord Stream 2. But U.S. sanctions did their job, and the pipe didn't fit into Germany-lobbied mitigation scheme. Russia immediately announced that, despite various "barriers", Nord Stream 2 will have been commissioned before the end of 2020, while Gazprom will find ways to circumvent restrictive measures. For example, they could transfer gas delivery points to European customers to where the Baltic gas pipeline enters German territorial waters and, in fact, crosses the EU border, or to the NS2 entry point in Russia. Seeing all the "cunning" schemes on the part of Russia, the United States moved to threaten Russians with new sanctions. But will they be able to destroy the Nord Stream 2? U.S. vs Russia President of the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", Mykhailo Honchar, believes that sanctions will be introduced. They have already been designated, and the corresponding bill has been developed. And they cover the companies that will risk joining the completion of the NS2 project. "Of course, American sanctions are always targeted. They would primarily affect the management and owners of companies that would cooperate with Gazprom. Thus, they would lose the opportunity to do business with the United States, cooperate with American companies, the ability to cross into the United States, etc. Although, on the one hand, it may seem that sanctions are insufficient. For example, Gazprom, when they re-registered its only pipe-laying vessel Akademik Chersky to Samara Thermal Energy Property Fund , were probably thinking precisely this way. Indeed, U.S. the new owner wasn't supposed to care about the U.S. sanctions: they don't cooperate with the U.S. and nor do they do business around the world. The situation with the Swiss Allseas looked different. The U.S. sanctions package introduced in December forced the company to withdraw from the project their pipe layer Solitaire. But if the Russians believe that with such a trick they leveled the risk of falling under new sanctions, then this isn't the case," said Honchar. In his opinion, now the ideal situation would be where the Akademik Chersky ship is seized, say, to pay off the claim of a Polish state company which won Stockholm arbitration vs Gazprom in the amount of $1.5 billion, while Russia refuses to pay. Also, the new bill says that the cheat maneuver with the ship will not help the Russians, since sanctions will target not only the entity that currently owns certain assets, technologies and equipment that can be used for laying Nord Stream 2, but also those who have handed the said assets over to that entity. In other words, the Akademik Chersky vessel, which had previously been on Gazprom's balance sheet before being handed to the Samara Fund, which itself will be subject to sanctions, will lead to Gazprom also falling under those sanctions. "But for Gazprom, this would equal a death sentence. Previously, the Americans spared the company. Now they won't. Gazprom has a certain relationship with the U.S. financial system. So for them, this would be a sort of collapse," said Honchar. But even if Russia completes the construction of Nord Stream 2, then the expert says no one will be willing to use it; otherwise, the risk remains of being targeted by U.S. sanctions after receiving gas from this pipeline. There's another important factor that could destroy Nord Stream 2. "The Danish regulator has not yet given its final consent to pipe-laying works. Therefore, the fact that the Russians are now sailing back and forth around the German island of Rugen doesn't mean that they have restarted their work. The fact is that there's no certainty on the Danish side that the Akademik Chersky, along with the Fortuna barge, will be able to do their job without hitting the risk zones hosting loads of chemical munitions sunk around Bornholm Island after World War 2. I don't rule out the possibility that, if Russia ignores this very serious element and sneakily pursues with construction, NATO will quickly restore order. European experts have repeatedly stated that, it would seem, there's a certain map that shows the exact location of chemical munitions dumping sites. However, in the process of further research, it turned out that the sites aren't indicated properly. Moreover, batches of highly hazardous munitions have been carried by underwater currents downstream toward the coast of Sweden. Gazprom assures that it has talked with almost every fish swimming at the sea bottom, but the risk is still very high," says Honchar. The expert believes that it actually doesn't matter in which way Nord Stream 2 will be stopped. For Ukraine, the main thing is that it never starts operating. Even if Gazprom completes it by 99.9%, falling short of just 1 kilometer worth of pipes, the project won't work. Head of the Center for Energy Research, Oleksandr Kharchenko, it is too early to talk about which U.S. sanctions will actually be introduced. Today this information remains beyond a public plane. Nevertheless, just as the first batch of sanctions was clearly formulated and hit right on target, this will also be the case with the second package. There is no reason to expect that the United States will fail in its endeavor. Read alsoNord Stream 2 poses major threat to environment in Baltic Sea over WW2-era chemical munitions experts "Theoretically, Gazprom has the opportunity to try to complete the construction of Nord Stream 2. But so far nothing's been done as they only sail their ships back and forth. Gazprom is now as the risk group. For the company, sanctions would be an extremely unpleasant story. Frankly speaking, it would be a heavy blow for them. In general, for Russia, things are developing in a very wrong way now. Therefore, I doubt that Gazprom will launch the Akademik Chersky. Another issue for Gazprom is the Danish construction permit. Fortunately for us, they don't have the opportunity to have their vessels operating within the framework of an already issued permit, although it might be amended. Now the Russians are actively negotiating, with no results so far. American and Ukrainian diplomats are very pro-active in working with the Danes, trying to provide them with all kinds of support since there is pressure coming on the part of the Germans, as well as the Russians. Therefore, there are many multidirectional factors, as well as the understanding that the current U.S. sanctions have already complicated the situation a lot, while a new package of measures is being prepared that will make the completion of the pipeline impossible as such. Sanctions are introduced precisely so that the project isn't implemented. And the fact that Russia is convinced of the opposite is its very problem. The threat of construction failure is more than real. I believe that the new sanctions will not allow completing the Nord Stream 2," summed up Kharchenko. U.S. sanctions targeting Nord Stream 2, based on the statement of the American diplomat, could be approved "very quickly." I wish this will be the case because time doesn't wait. Nana Chornaya Romina was only 14 years old when she was reportedly beheaded by her father in a horrific case of a so-called "honor" killing that has shocked Iran. Reza Ashrafi, her dad, reportedly failed to convince Romina's mother to force their daughter to commit suicide, so he decapitated her with a sickle as she slept at the family home. The police had detained Romina and her boyfriend two days earlier after a five-day hunt and sent her back to her family, even though she expressed fears for her life in citing her father's bad temperament. Reza Ashrafi confessed to the gruesome killing of his daughter while still holding the bloody tool, Iranian media reported. The May 21 death of Romina in the northern Gilan Province put a spotlight on the all-too-common practice in Iran of "honor" killings, which are both underreported and often hushed up by officials. Under current Islamic laws in Iran, Romina's father faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years if convicted. He is exempt from the "retribution" law -- meaning the death penalty -- since according to the Islamic Penal Code he was Romina's guardian. Iranian media have reported that, before beheading his daughter, Ashrafi consulted a lawyer to find out what punishment he would face. Nationwide Outrage Romina's aunt said in an interview that Ashrafi, 37, claimed that through his act he had proven he's an honorable man. She added that Ashrafi -- who is in detention -- had been pressured by his brothers to kill Romina. Twenty-nine-year old Bahman Khavari -- Romina's boyfriend -- was also reportedly detained last week on charges of kidnapping. The shocking murder in the town of Hovigh led to nationwide outrage, but is just the latest case of such killings in Iran, which activists blame on patriarchal culture and traditions, discrimination, as well as laws that fail to protect women against violence and allow girls as young as 13 to be married. "Women are [seen] as the property of men," Paris-based sociologist and author Chahla Chafiq said in a recent interview with the BBC. There are no official statistics kept in Iran about honor killings, but according to academic articles and university-thesis estimates cited by the daily Ebtekar, every year between 375 and 450 such killings occur in Iran, in which mostly women are killed by their male relatives -- including their husbands, fathers, and brothers -- in the name of preserving the family's "honor." Women have been killed for losing their virginity, bearing a child outside of marriage, infidelity, requesting a divorce, or even over unfounded rumors of being engaged in activity that would taint their family's status. A police official said in 2014 that about 20 percent of all murders in Iran had been honor killings. Tribal Traditions A study published last year about the practice in the southern Khuzestan Province said that many of these killings go either unreported or theyre being reported as "disappearance, suicide, or suspicious deaths." According to the study, honor killings are more prevalent in provinces with tribal traditions, including in Sistan-Baluchistan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, and Ilam. The Iranian media has reported on a number of such cases in recent years but none of them have grabbed as much attention as Rominas, which made national headlines and prompted a call by President Hassan Rohani for the speedy adoption of legislation to more harshly prosecute honor killings. Some of the more notorious cases in Iran in recent years include a woman identified as "Z" who was beaten to death by her brother while her uncle watched. The brother repeatedly banged his sister's head against a wall until she died. The woman had been reportedly harassed by a neighbor and her family worried its "honor" had been damaged. Another young woman was shot dead with a hunting gun by her father on a street in Khoy, in the West Azerbaijan Province, due to rumors she had dishonored the family. 'How Many More?' The media also reported on the horrific death of a young woman named Golbahar in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari. Golbahar was reportedly set on fire by male relatives for bearing the child of a young neighbor. Her child was reportedly poisoned to death by the men. Journalist and womens rights activist Jila Baniyaghoob, who covered Golbahar's case, wrote that to escape prosecution the family claimed Golbahar had committed self-immolation and that her child had starved to death. "How many Golbahars and Rominas have been killed in their paternal houses and how many more will be killed?" Baniyaghoob tweeted after Rominas killing. Shahindokht Molavderi, former Iranian vice president of womens affairs whos been outspoken on womens rights, suggested that without the passing of relevant legislation and the raising of awareness, the cycle of violence against women is likely to continue. "Romina is neither the first nor will she be the last victim of honor killings," Molaverdi said on Twitter. "As long as the law, judicial procedure, and the culture that dominates local and global communities does not offer enough deterrence, they will serve this crime against humanity," she said while posting Rominas funeral ceremony invitation, on which the teenager was described as "the dear daughter" of Reza Ashrafi. Filmmaker Kianush Ayari -- whose movie Paternal House about an honor killing in Iran that reverberates through three generations but was banned last year over scenes deemed too violent -- reacted to Rominas killing by calling for his film to finally be screened "for the sake of the people." "If there hadnt been an irrelevant opposition and they had allowed [my film] to be screened widely, maybe [Romina]s father would have seen it and [it would have made him] think," Ayari said. The Tehran chief prosecutor banned Ayari's film after claiming it promoted "violence against women" and questions "pure Iranian-Islamic traditions" while offering a "false image" of the Iranian family. The former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said he supports extending the United Nations (UN) arms embargo on Iran, which is set to expire in October this year. In April, the US circulated a draft UN resolution that would indefinitely extend the embargo. Speaking at a Henry Jackson Society virtual event on Friday, Mr Hunt said he supported extending the embargo. I think the real point is that nobody can afford to allow Iran to go back to buying arms Jeremy Hunt Mr Hunt was hosting the webinar focused on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, with guest speaker Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran and senior adviser to the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. I wholeheartedly agree we have to find a way of extending the arms embargo, he said. I think there is a twinge of irony in the US wanting to extend an embargo on a deal that it itself has withdrawn from, and used the mechanisms of the JCPOA to do that. But I think the real point is that nobody can afford to allow Iran to go back to buying arms, Im sure youll get full support from the UK on that, and I hope you get it internationally. Because the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) effectively controls the Iranian regime, I don't have any doubts at all that they are sponsoring terrorism all over the region Jeremy Hunt A UN Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers envisages an end to the embargo five years after the deal. President Donald Trump pulled America out of the deal in 2018 and imposed harsher sanctions on Iran. Mr Hunt was asked whether the UK Government would follow the footsteps of the US in designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, as a terrorist organisation. Mr Hunt replied: Because the IRGC effectively controls the Iranian regime, I dont have any doubts at all that they are sponsoring terrorism all over the region and thats what we have to stop. And I think the diplomatic calculation is if you designate that organisation are you sending a signal to the Iranian regime that you want regime change, and therefore ultimately making an agreement less likely going forward? Its a very finely balanced judgment and I couldnt predict whether that judgment on the UK side might change or not under my successor. In April, the UK Foreign Office condemned reports that Iran carried out a satellite launch in violation of international sanctions, amid rising tensions in the Gulf. Pressure is also mounting on Iran to grant clemency to British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was handed a prison sentence after being accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, which she has denied. Police in riot gear stand in formation during protests in Louisville, Ky., on May 29, 2020. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) Dozens of Louisville Officers Walk Out on Mayor Amid Protests Dozens of officers in Louisville, Kentucky, appeared to walk out on the mayor on Wednesday as he tried to address them, according to video footage of the incident. Fraternal Order of Police President Ryan Nichols, who was not in attendance, confirmed the walkout. He said that police are frustrated with Mayor Greg Fischer, a Democrat, while they have been responding to protests, riots, and looting since last week. They feel completely unsupported and disrespected by this administration, Nichols said, according to the Courier-Journal, which obtained the video of the walkout. They feel whatever he was going to say would have been nothing more than lip service, and he does not care about them at all. The video footage showed Fischer trying to address the police department as officers and detectives walked out of the room. Nichols said Fischers response has been directed and focused against police. Police in riot gear stand in formation during protests in Louisville, Ky., on May 29, 2020. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) General view of a CVS store that was heavily damaged by rioters during a protest the night before in Louisville, Ky., on May 30, 2020. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) The protests in Louisville are part of a broader, nationwide demonstration following the death of George Floyd, a man who died in police custody last week. Former officer Derek Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder. There have been tensions between the mayors office and the police department after an unarmed black woman was shot and killed outside her apartment on March 13. Demonstrators gather to protest the killing of Breonna Taylor, a black woman fatally shot by police in her home in March, in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020. (@mckinley_moore via AP) In addressing the walkout, Fischer told The Hill in a statement that officers are putting in long hours and suffering insults and assaults from people they are working to protect. They are frustrated, and some of them expressed that frustration today, Fischer said. I absolutely respect that. That doesnt change my appreciation of the work they are doing, as Ive expressed time and again. He added that I hope our residents will embrace our police officers as guardiansI know thats how the vast, vast majority view their role. Memorials will also be held on Saturday in Hoke County, North Carolina, where Floyds sister lives, as well as in Houston on Monday, near where Floyd lived, reports said. And a funeral for Floyd is planned for Tuesday with private services at an undisclosed location. The Minneapolis police officer who used his knee to pin down George Floyds neck before his death was the most experienced of the four officers involved in the arrest, with a record that included medals for bravery and 17 complaints against him, including one for pulling a woman out of her car during a speeding stop. New details about Derek Chauvin and the other now-fired officers emerged Wednesday after prosecutors upgraded Chauvins charge to second-degree murder and charged the others with aiding and abetting in a case that has convulsed the nation with protests over race and police brutality. BLACK LIVES MATTER: Students' Justice for Floyd protest moves to bigger park in Katy Heavily redacted personnel files show that Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the force, was initially trained as a cook and served in the Army as a military police officer. Eleven-year veteran and native Hmong speaker Tou Thao began as a community service officer and was the subject of six complaints. The other two officers were relative newcomers to the department, including Thomas Lane, a former juvenile detention guard who did volunteer work with Somali refugees, and J. Alexander Kueng, who got his start in law enforcement by patrolling his college campus and a department store. The files were notable for what they didnt include. Only one of the 17 complaints against Chauvin was detailed, none of the six against Thao were mentioned and there was no further detail about a 2017 excessive force lawsuit against Thao. Records show that the 44-year-old Chauvin initially studied cooking before taking courses in law enforcement and doing two stints in the Army as a military police officer in the late 1990s, serving at Fort Benning, Georgia, and in Germany. Chauvin became a Minneapolis police officer in 2001 and the lone reprimand in his file involved a 2007 incident when he was accused of pulling a woman out of her car after stopping her for going 10 mph (16 kph) over the speed limit. Investigators found it was not necessary for Chauvin to remove the woman from the car and noted that his squad car video was turned off during the stop. But Chauvin was also singled out for bravery. Files show he won two medals of valor, one in 2006 for being part of a group of officers who opened fire on a stabbing suspect who pointed a shotgun at them, and another in 2008 for a domestic violence incident in which Chauvin broke down a bathroom door and shot a suspect in the stomach. JUSTICE FOR FLOYD: Protesters allege unfair treatment as HPD says 200 arrested at march He also won medals of commendation in 2008 after he and his partner tackled a fleeing suspect who had a pistol in his hand, and in 2009 for single-handedly apprehending a group of gang members while working as an off-duty security guard at the El Nuevo Rodeo, a Minneapolis nightclub. Since his arrest, the former owner of the club, Maya Santamaria, said Chauvin and Floyd both worked there as security guards at various times but that she wasnt sure if they had known one another. She said Chauvin was unnecessarily aggressive on nights when the club had a black clientele, quelling fights by dousing the crowd with pepper spray and calling in several police squad cars as backup, a tactic she called overkill. Chauvins wife, Kellie, a Laotian immigrant who became the first Hmong winner of the Mrs. Minnesota pageant, filed for divorce shortly after his arrest last week. Before news of the upgraded charges, a lawyer for Chauvin said he was not making any statements. Kuengs lawyer said his client turned himself in. Lane's lawyer said he hadnt seen the complaint or talked to his client. Thaos lawyer didn't return calls. Cellphone video of Floyd's May 25 arrest showed Chauvin placing his left knee on Floyds neck with Lane holding Floyds legs and Kueng holding his back while Thao stood between the officers and onlookers, according to charging documents. Thats when Floyd repeatedly cried out I cant breathe, Mama and please. At one point, he said Im about to die. Nevertheless, Chauvin, Lane and Kueng didnt move, according to the documents. Moments later, Lane asked: should we roll him on his side? Chauvin replied: No, staying put where we got him. Lane said he was worried Floyd would experience excited delirium, a condition that can cause agitation, aggressiveness or sudden death, according to the complaint. Thats why we have him on his stomach, Chauvin replied. Despite his concerns, Lane didnt do anything to help Floyd or to reduce the force being used on him, the complaint said. Neither he, Kueng nor Chauvin moved. Lane joined the police early last year as a 35-year-old cadet much older than most rookies and became a full-fledged officer last December. He had no complaints in his file during his short time on the force. On employment forms, the University of Minnesota graduate said he had done volunteer work tutoring Somali youth and as a mentor helping at-risk elementary school students with reading and homework. Kueng, at 26 the youngest of the four officers, was also a recent recruit to the police force. He completed his years probation just three months before the Floyd arrest. His personnel file, which notes that he speaks, reads and writes Russian, did not include any commendations or disciplinary actions during his short time on the force. Kueng was a 2018 graduate of the University of Minnesota, where he worked part-time as part of the campus security force. He also worked nearly three years as a theft-prevention officer at Macys. Thao, 34, joined the police force part-time in 2008 while attending community college. Before that, he worked as a security guard, a supermarket stocker and trainer at McDonalds. City records show six complaints were filed against Thao, but there was no mention of that in the records released Wednesday. There also was no mention of a 2017 federal lawsuit accusing him and another officer of excessive force. According to the lawsuit, Lamar Ferguson claimed that in 2014, Thao and his partner stopped him and beat him up while he was on his way to his girlfriends house. The lawsuit was settled for $25,000. ___ Condon and Sisak reported from New York, Richmond from Madison, Wisconsin. AP writers Amy Forliti in Minneapolis and Scott Bauer in Madison and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report. Nouakchott (AFP) - The Sahara: boundless dunes shimmering in the relentless heat, nomadic tribes following paths as old and inscrutable as time itself, fierce-eyed warriors on camel-back, clad in indigo... These images of the great desert are familiar around the world, but in France they have a special allure. France, say historians, has a deeply romantic notion of the western Sahara, forged in colonial times and tinged by the literature that emerged from it. The honeyed perspective endures today but has been eclipsed by pragmatism as France pursues its military commitment to the Sahel. "The French vision of the Sahara comes from camel-mounted French troops" of a century ago, suggests Thierry Tillet, a French archaeologist who has been exploring the Sahara for half a century. This specialised corps of France's Army of Africa battled nomads for decades before emerging victorious in the mid-1930s. From their adventures emerged a canon of literature about derring-do in the desert and the Tuareg, its hardy people. Sahara novels flowed from the pens of Joseph Peyre, whose brother was in the camel corps, Pierre Benoit and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who later gained worldwide acclaim as the author of "The Little Prince," Tillet said. Newspapers and magazines helped cement the romance, said Pierre Touya, of the Association of Saharans, a 64-year-old organisation in Paris whose membership of more than 800 includes archaeologists, geographers and other specialists. - 'Untrustworthy or noble' - But colonial-era writings about the Tuareg -- the main inhabitants of the Sahara -- also bred stereotypes, said Adib Bencherif, an Algerian researcher at the University of Florida. Tuaregs, he said, were typically depicted as one of two things -- "rebellious and untrustworthy" or "noble and free." A century or so later, the frontier notion of the Sahara still colours French involvement in the region. Story continues French blood and treasure have been committed to fighting a jihadist revolt in the Sahel that erupted after Libya's descent into civil war following the death of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. Its Barkhane force of 5,100 troops are supporting four poor former colonies -- Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad -- battling an insurgency that threatens to expand southwards, towards the Gulf of Guinea. Colonial-era perceptions of the nomad fighter still prevail among French soldiers, a Barkhane officer acknowledged, pointing to the "desert warrior" image of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, a general who is a close French ally. Among rebel groups, "certain leaders have played on this colonial fantasy with French soldiers, and still do," a senior Malian rebel said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Look at Mano Dayak," the source said, referring to a leader of a Tuareg revolt in Niger in the 1990s. "He was a rebel and yet at the same time organised the Paris-Dakar" motor rally. - Enigma of Kidal - The intertwined French-Tuareg relationship may well have a connection with the "special" status of Kidal, a northern Malian town that has been turned into a de-facto fiefdom by Tuareg rebels, said Mohamed Fall Ould Bah, a Mauritanian anthropologist at the Centre for Study and Research on West Sahara. Kidal is a stronghold of the Ifogha, a clan within the Tuareg community which became predominant locally under French colonial rule. The French officer who spoke to AFP confirmed that the Ifogha retained a special relationship with the French, particularly the intelligence service. In 2013, France launched Operation Serval to roll back jihadists in northern Mali. Its troops entered Kidal with the help of an armed rebel Tuareg group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), rather than with the Malian army. France's then defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said there was a "functional relationship" with the MNLA, who he said was "coordinating" with the French. Critics of France's military presence often brandish the events of 2013 and Kidal's status as proof of double-talk in France's declared attachment to Malian sovereignty. Another French officer in the Sahel played this down: "There have been links between the MNLA and France, there is a colonial past, that's true -- but not everything is based on this, far from it." Yvan Guichaoua, a researcher at Britain's University of Kent, said the French military "need operational knowledge" from local populations. They drew on "simplistic anthropology rooted in colonial literature" to search for a source -- a notion that today still "provides the background for certain decisions," he said. Even so, said Guichaoua, "operational pragmatism" is more important. "The military are willing to change alliance if this means greater effectiveness." This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. Last Tuesday, President Donald Trump went to war with Twitter because the company appended a fact-checking link to two of his tweets. There was no account timeout, no takedown of tweets, no suspensionsonly a link to a fact check of Trumps false claims about Californias mail-in ballots. Nevertheless, the little blue annotation triggered an outcry of anti-conservative bias from the president, his advisers, and prominent supporters, and the outrage machine went into overdrive. The president declared that it was time for him to take on social media in the interest of FAIRNESS. On Friday, he signed an executive order declaring that platforms would be required to demonstrate good faith in moderation decisions, under some definition of the term to be established by the Federal Communications Commission, if they wanted to keep their legal protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. (CDA Section 230 states that platforms are not liable for the content that third-party users post to their platforms, with some carefully enumerated exceptions. The law, as author Sen. Ron Wyden has explained it, gives platforms a sword and a shielda sword that allows them to moderate and a shield that protects them from liability.) The order additionally reopened a complaint form for users to submit alleged moderation-bias grievances and put state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission in charge of assessing whether user complaints indicated that platforms were guilty of unfair practices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reframing of a fact check as evidence of anti-conservative bias is deeply problematic, because right now we need to see more correcting of misinformation, not less. This has become abundantly clear in the context of COVID-19. In May, for example, a video called Plandemic went wildly viral among certain communities on Facebook. The video was a 25-minute daisy chain of misinformation and outlandish allegations. Some of the claims were standard government-conspiracy fare, but it also alleged that oceans were full of healing microbes, and it gave specific advice to avoid masks. That viral spread of that video, which my team at Stanford studied extensively, showed how broadly sensational misinformation can spread: Plandemic got an early foothold in anti-vaccine and natural health groups, rapidly hopped to thousands of QAnon and MAGA communities as well as dozens of left-leaning groups, and then continued on to be shared by ordinary people in hundreds of local chat and random individual interest groups. By the time the platforms took it down, it had millions of views, shares, and engagements. The takedown itself spawned a secondary wave of reposts of the video and anger over censorship. Advertisement Advertisement Trumps allegations that fact-checking is censorship have it backward. This weekend, again, the urgent need for reliable information was on display: As protests over the death of George Floyd exploded in dozens of American cities, people around the world turned to their screens to try to understand what was happening. Unfortunately, yet again, the need for information on one critically important topic afforded an opportunity for scammers, trolls, clout-chasers, and ideologues to push everything from selectively edited videos to outright rumors. Here, too, the most sensational claims went wildly viral, attracting the attention and shaping the perception of millions; our own research found spammers in Pakistan and Vietnam pushing out fake Live videos of policing incidents that had happened years prior, amassing millions of views in hashtags such as #JusticeForFloyd. Two days after the weekends protests, the news cycle was full of attempts by journalists to fact-check the most sensational: antifa accounts that were found to belong to a white nationalist group. Photographs of fires and damage from unrelated events. We also saw (false) suggestions that the U.S. National Guard had a child militia and misidentification of individuals accused of being involved in various types of agitation or misbehavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The presidents war with Twitter, however, attempts to recast fact-checking as evidence of tech platform bias or to frame it as censorship. This is politicking, and its dangerous. Tech platforms curate the information we see; particularly in times of unfolding crises, they dont always do a very good job of it. Content is ranked according to what a curation algorithm deems importanta combination of factors, often involving some degree of personalization, that considers what topics are getting the highest engagement across communities we belong to, what sources we read, and what we are most likely to be personally interested in, or click on. We increasingly occupy bespoke realities, tailored to our interests, as determined by algorithms that key off of our prior clicks. What we see is often whatever is getting the most likes. And since sensationalism and outrage drive clicks and views, wild claims regularly trend, particularly during a crisis. One notable example was the trending hashtag #DCBlackout, started by an account with three followers, which claimed that Washington was experiencing deliberate government-initiated wireless outages to prevent activists from coordinating. Twitter suspended hundreds of spammy accounts involved and continues to investigate. Advertisement Advertisement This type of viral, sensational misinformation can be deeply harmful. Recognizing this, since 2017, most platforms have developed fact-checking partnerships and other moderation tools to manage it. Moderation options take one of three forms: Platforms can remove content, deleting it from the platform; they can down-rank it, to reduce its distribution; or, they can annotate it with a fact-check presented in close proximity to the original information (such as via a link or an overlay). Trumps allegations that fact-checking is censorship have it backward: Using a pop-up or interstitial to alert the public that certain content has been disputed is the option that allows bad information to stay up. It preserves free expression. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, the president and his surrogates are relying on convoluted rhetorical arguments to claim that tech platform efforts to surface more reliable content are evidence of anti-conservative bias. The fact-checkers (which include news organizations) are biased, the claim goes; appending a link to a fact check is editorializing, and editorializing is censorship. Sen. Ted Cruz went so far as to claim that appending a fact check to a presidential tweet was an affront to the First Amendment. Advertisement This is not unexpected. Allegations of anti-conservative bias have popped up for years whenever a presidential supporter has an account taken down, a tweet deleted, or a sense that Google results ranked them unfairly. One moderation technique to minimize spam and mild harassment based on behavior, known colloquially as shadow banning (in which an account is down-ranked in the feed or their tweets are not returned in search results), has been recast as a plot by Big Tech leftists to silence conservative accounts because of their ideological content. These accusations continue to recur despite the fact that no investigation or auditnot even a high-profile effort run by a prominent conservative leaderhas found quantitative evidence to support the claim that social network algorithms are deliberately ideologically biased. In fact, investigations have suggested the opposite: Conservative sites and influencers perform remarkably well in recommendation algorithms. Advertisement Advertisement Given that each platform is handling tens of millions of moderation reports in a given month, they do make mistakes. As a result of some of these high profile mistakes or policy gaps, members of nearly every single political and ideological group across the spectrum have at one point claimed that platforms are stifling their beliefs out of deliberate ideological bias. But among the subgroup of Americans who believe that alternative facts are facts, the claim that fact-checking is anti-conservative censorship is being used to drive political donations and sign-ups to campaign email lists. For nearly two years, Trump supporters have repeatedly heard that tech companies are working to silence themand many now appear to believe it. Advertisement Advertisement My colleagues and my study of the Plandemic video, and the waves of additional attention that resulted from its takedown, have strengthened our conviction that the platforms should be doing more fact checks, not fewer. Takedowns of videos viewed millions of times are ineffective; worse, they risk enabling content creators to recast themselves as victims of censorship, taking public focus away from the correction and instead turning the moderation action into a debate about censorship. Informing the public when information thats being shared widely is flawed or misleadingand doing it in the same place where the information appears, via annotations such as the one that Twitter placed on the presidents tweetscreates an opportunity to challenge the bad information while avoiding any appearance of censorship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The topics that are subject to content moderation policies are fairly narrowly scoped; currently, theyre largely limited to misleading information about the coronavirus and other health misinformation, and voting. In fact, just a few hours prior to those fact-checked California voting claims, Trump had insinuated that MSNBCs Joe Scarborough had murdered someone. The supposed victim was a staffer in his office who died of natural causes. Her widower has asked that Twitter take down the tweet, but the post remains live, without even the tyranny of a fact-checking annotation. The presidents executive order is largely political theater designed to intimidate the companies; he simply doesnt want to be limited in any way heading into the election, and picking a fight with Big Tech will appeal to his base. However, while legal experts agree that the specifics are largely unenforceable and lawsuits have already been filedthe shot across the bow may chill moderation policies to some degree; it may make platforms pause on taking action if a prominent supporter of the president has violated a policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The First Amendment does not confer a right to not be fact-checked. The idea that powerful politicians should be exempt from a fact check is backward. It is precisely the powerful who need oversight. Its time we see platforms offer their users reliable, fact-checking more often, not less. Users can still decide whether to read the information or ignore the link. We can debate the composition of the fact-checking bodies, how the information is presented, what the user experience looks like, how the checks are split between human and algorithmic reviewers. But despite the presidents best effort to reframe this conversation, there is one thing that we should not dignify as a topic of debate: Fact-checking is not censorship. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Scientists have discovered the most massive and oldest-known Mayan structure using an aerial remote-sensing method in southern Mexico. Located at a site called Aguada Fenix, the ancient and colossal structure is an elevated rectangular platform that was built between 1000 and 800 BC in the state of Tabasco. The structure did not resemble the soaring Maya pyramids found in Tikal, Guatemala and Palenque, Mexico. The recently discovered structure was also built using clay and earth instead of stone. The Aguada Fenix Pyramid According to experts, the structure most likely served as a site where the Mayan population held mass rituals. Takeshi Inomata, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona, claims the plaza could have been the site of processions attended by people living in the surrounding areas. The attendees, who may have celebrated special occasions tied to the calendrical cycles, deposited symbolic objects in the center of the platform. The pyramid, which measured 400 meters wide, 1,400 long, and 10 to 15 meters high, exceeded the Great Pyramid of Giza built 1,500 years earlier. The newly uncovered site did not have any sculptures of high-status individuals. The lack of statues suggests the Mayan culture at the early stage was communal and would later develop into a hierarchical society led by royalty. Using the LIDAR, or the Light Detection and Ranging technique, the scientists were able to generate a three-dimensional map about the shape of the site. The radar detected nine broad causeways as well as a series of reservoirs connected to the platform. Guatemala Pyramids In 2018, the same technique was also used to discover more than 60,000 Mayan structures in Guatemala in one of the largest survey of a region. The ancient structures had been hidden under the Guatemalan jungles for centuries. Using the LIDAR technique, the researchers were able to digitally remove the tree canopy from ariel images to reveal the ruins. The researchers found farms, houses, defensive walls, terraces, fortresses, and over 60 miles of causeways and roads that connected large cities to the civilization's lowlands. The ancient Maya civilization connected the Guatemala structure to sites in southern Mexico and Belize. The archaeologist believed the central lowlands were made up of small city-states ruled by warring elites. The structures, together with the agricultural terrain, may have been home to up to eleven million Maya people in northern Guatemala from 650 to 800 A.D. At its peak, the civilization may have covered an area that was twice the size of medieval England. The find was hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough in Mayan archaeology. It also suggested the region supported an advanced civilization that resembled the sophisticated cultures of ancient Greece or China. The result may have even debunked a theory that suggested the Mayan cities were scattered and sparsely populated. Want to read more? A craft worker was unfairly dismissed by his public sector employer after he fled to safety to Spain from a crime gang here. Prior to moving to Spain to protect the youngest member of his family from the crime gang, the man sold the family home to pay off the gang. The man told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in late 2018 serious financial difficulties arose between older members of his family and the crime gang. The man stated that he was credibly informed that unless he repaid the monies owed to the gang either he or the members of his family would be shot. Armed members of the gang visited his home and guns were produced. Idle threats were not being made and the man went on sick leave in February 2019. After the man fled to Spain in March 2019, the man offered to send sick certs from Spain, but the employer refused to accept these. His employer pointed out to him that as an employee of the public body he was expected to reside within a reasonable distance of his work and Spain was clearly not this. He stated that various phone calls and emails were exchanged with his employer which culminated in a dismissal letter on July 5th 2019 informing him that he was to be dismissed on August 16th 2019. An internal appeal was held on July 31st at which the dismissal decision was upheld on the grounds of gross misconduct arising from unauthorised absence. The man told the WRC that he could not have gone to seek the assistance of the Gardai nor seek their assistance in giving supportive evidence when trying to save his job as to do so would have resulted, in the fatal shooting of one of his sons. The man was also very concerned about information leaking from his employer to undesirable quarters. He stated that the makers of the threats against him had been very clear as to the negative consequences for him and or his sons of involving the Gardai. The man stopped attending work on February 18th 2019 and he didnt tell his employer why he had relocated to Spain. The employer stated that it was only on the stopping of his weekly wages in April that the man contacted the employer and the details provided were patchy. The employer stated that the man had removed himself from Ireland for a considerable period, had offered few explanations and his breaches of the sick absence/attendance policies amounted to gross misconduct. WRC Adjudication Officer, Michael McEntee has found that the man was unfairly dismissed. Mr McEntee found that a final dismissal was a disproportionate response taking into account the oral evidence from the complainant regarding his exceptional personal situation and the accommodating record of the employer in previous similar cases. Mr McEntee found that the procedures followed having regard to natural justice were not as they should have been. He added: However, it has to be noted that the employees own low levels of co-operation were not helpful to his case. Mr McEntee commented: This case was unusual and is sadly reflective of major illegal drug/criminal difficulties in certain parts of Dublin city and surrounding towns. He added: The regular news reports of criminal related murders are evidence enough. From the oral evidence the complainant clearly believed his family were in mortal danger. Mr McEntee stated: On oral questioning as to why he had not sought the support of the Gardai he was also clear that the criminal elements involved would have reacted immediately with fatal consequences for his family members. Mr McEntee stated: Put simply a man does not sell his family home to repay a criminal debt incurred by his sons unless he genuinely believes that non payment will have fatal consequences. Mr McEntee stated: It was clear as well that his personal situation that had led to his absence in Spain was still unresolved. He expressed great concerns for the younger members of his family and keeping them out of Dublin. Mr McEntee has ordered that the man re-engage with his employer to see if a return to work can be managed from his new address outside Dublin. Mr McEntee stated if this is not possible, the worker is to be deemed re-engaged on September 1st next but immediately, possibly as a special case supported by this Adjudication Decision, made redundant, or an early retiree, whichever is appropriate. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Macarthur Minerals Limited (ASX: MIO) (TSX-V: MMS) (the Company or Macarthur) Joint Venture Partner, Fe Limited (FEL) has announced the completion of the sale of its Evanston royalty interest over a portion of the wider Koolyanobbing iron ore mine in the Southern Yilgarn region of Western Australia. TRR Services Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trident Resources PLC (LSX: TRR), has purchased the royalty for $7 million. FEL has received the first payment of $3.5 million with a further instalment of $3m payable in 12 months. FEL now has cash in the bank of $5.2 million and fully funded to commence exploration work at the Hillside Copper and Gold Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. FEL is currently finalising plans to conduct a Fixed Loop Electromagnetic Survey (FLEM) ground survey at the Hillside project. The survey will cover a section of the previously identified gossan line as well as a series of individual FELM surveys over previously identified high priority SkyTEM electromagnetic targets across the wider project area. Results are expected to better indicate any massive sulphide mineralisation which may exist to assist targeting the next drilling campaign which is expected to occur later this year. A copy of FELs full news release is available here . Cameron McCall, President and Executive Chairman of Macarthur Minerals commented: We are excited by the news that Fe Limited is adding $7 million to its bank balance and will be fully funded for further exploration activities on Macarthurs Pilbara tenements encompassing the Hillside, Panorama, and Strelley projects. All results so far have been very encouraging. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mr Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman For more information please contact: Joe Phillips CEO & Director +61 7 3221 1796 communications@macarthurminerals.com Investor Cubed Neil Simon, CEO 647-258-3310 info@investor3.ca Earn-in with Macarthur Macarthur Lithium Pty Ltd (MLi), a wholly owned subsidiary of Macarthur entered into an exclusive option agreement (Option Agreement) with FEL as announced on May 14, 2019, to earn up to 75% in its Pilbara lithium and gold projects in respect of eight tenements in the Pilbara. About Fe Limited FE Limited (ASX: FEL) is a listed mineral exploration Company that holds or has rights or interests in various projects and tenements prospective for battery metals, copper, iron ore, gold and base metals located in Australia. The Company is focused on the exploration of battery metal projects. In March 2019, FEL entered into an agreement to acquire the Pippingarra Lithium Project and the Marble Bar Lithium Project from Mercury Resources Group Pty Ltd. These areas complement the tenement portfolio of Macarthur Minerals, establishing an 1,242 square kilometer exploration footprint in the important Lithium and Gold region of Western Australia. Company profile Macarthur is an iron ore development, gold and lithium exploration company that is focused on bringing to production its Western Australia iron ore projects. The Lake Giles Iron Project mineral resources include the Ularring hematite resource (approved for development) comprising Indicated resources of 54.5 million tonnes at 47.2% Fe and Inferred resources of 26 million tonnes at 45.4% Fe; and the Moonshine magnetite resource of 710 million tonnes (Inferred). Macarthur has prominent (~721 square kilometer tenement area) gold, lithium and copper exploration interests in Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition, Macarthur has lithium brine Claims in the emerging Railroad Valley region in Nevada, USA. This news release is not for distribution to united states services or for dissemination in the United States Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including but limited to statements regarding: the proposed strategy regarding core mining, road and rail inputs at the Project; anticipated increases in annual production at the Project; anticipated decreases in Project costs; the possible reclassification of current inferred mineral resources on the Project as indicated mineral resources in the future; expected completion of the FS on the Project containing a new reserve calculation and a new economic assessment; the granting of a license for the Menzies rail siding; the status of the MRRT; and plans to secure mining approvals under the Mining Act, are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the reliability of information prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron or magnetite demand or substitution by other metals or materials; the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron magnetite; the general level of global economic activity; future changes in strategy regarding core mining, road and rail inputs with respect to the Project; final Project costs varying from those determined from the EOI program; failure to successfully negotiate a BOO arrangement for the Project; failure to complete the FS; failure of the FS to reflect currently anticipated increases annual production and decreases in expected costs at the Project; the results of infill drilling being insufficient to reclassify current inferred mineral resources on the Project as indicated mineral resources; failure to receive a license for the Menzies rail siding; failure to repeal the MRRT; and failure to obtain mining approvals under the Mining Act. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. June 3, 2020 Release Message to the Department - Support to Civil Authorities Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper released a message to the Department of Defense regarding its continued support to civil authorities, June 2. In the memo, Esper said, the United States military has been the greatest force for good in our Nation's history. While we often see the impact of our efforts overseas, every President has at times deployed military forces for domestic missions as well. In the last few months, for example, America's men and women in uniform - Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard - have worked day and night across our communities to confront the COVID-19 crisis. This historic mission was just the most recent example of our longstanding support to civilian authorities - from pandemics to hurricanes, and from wildfires to providing security after 9/11 . Throughout these response efforts, I have been incredibly proud of our Service members and their hard work to assist our fellow Americans. This past week, our support to civil authority mission - that had been focused on COVID-19 - changed. Our National Guard are now also being called upon across the country to help protect our communities, businesses, monuments, and places of worship. Department of Defense personnel have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. I myself have taken it many times in my military and civilian careers, and believe strongly in it. As part of that oath, we commit to protecting the American people's right to freedom of speech and to peaceful assembly. I, like you, am steadfast in my belief that Americans who are frustrated, angry, and seeking to be heard must be ensured that opportunity. And like you, I am committed to upholding the rule of law and protecting life and liberty, so that the violent actions of a few do not undermine the rights and freedoms of law-abiding citizens. I appreciate your professionalism and dedication to defending the Constitution for all Americans. Moreover, I am amazed by the countless remarkable accomplishments of the Department of Defense in today's trying times - from repatriating and sheltering Americans who were evacuated from a foreign land, to delivering food and medical supplies to communities in need, and to protecting our cities and communities. In every challenge, and across every mission, the U.S. military has remained ready, capable, and willing to serve. As I reminded you in February, I ask that you remember at all times our commitment as a Department and as public servants to stay apolitical in these turbulent days. For well over two centuries, the U.S. military has earned the respect of the American people by being there to protect and serve all Americans. Through your steadfast dedication to the mission and our core. The memo can be found here. https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2206224/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spain's health minister, Salvador Illa, says that there will not be travel between Spanish regions during Phase 3. The transport minister, Jose Luis Abalos, said on Monday that this could be the case, but Illa is insisting that there will only be travel between provinces within regions. Once the "new normal" begins (June 22 for most of the country), then there can be travel between regions. Illa explained that regional "governance" under Phase 3 will enable governments to decide if they allow movement between provinces. It will also be up to regional governments to decide when they proceed to the new normal and to permit travel to other regions. "It will be up to regional presidents to adopt the move to the new normal." He stressed the importance of strict adherence to hygiene and protection recommendations and suggested that the obligatory wearing of masks will remain in force when the new normal is reached, as will be the necessity to maintain social distancing. The government, he added, is looking at the "most appropriate legal measure" in doing everything necessary to avoid infections once the new normal starts. By PTI WASHINGTON: Google CEO Sunder Pichai has pledged USD 37 million to fight racism in the wake of a nationwide protest in the US against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd. In an email to his employees on Wednesday, the Indian-American CEO of Google and Alphabet Pichai said the company would be giving USD 12 million in funding to organizations working to address racial inequities and USD 25 million in Ad Grants to help organizations fighting racial injustice provide critical information. "Our first grants of USD 1 million each will go to our long-term partners at the Center for Policing Equity and the Equal Justice Initiative. And we''ll be providing technical support through our Google.org Fellows program. This builds on the USD 32 million we have donated to racial justice over the past five years," Pichai said. "Our Black community is hurting, and many of us are searching for ways to stand up for what we believe, and reach out to people we love to show solidarity." "Yesterday, I met with a group of our Black leaders to talk about where we go from here and how we can contribute as Google. We discussed many ideas, and we are working through where to put our energy and resources in the weeks and months ahead," the 47-year-old CEO said in the email. The US is in the midst of the biggest civic unrest in the country's history following the death of 46-year-old Floyd when a white police officer pinned him down and kneeled on his neck as he gasped for breath. The incident has triggered nationwide protests in the country. In some cases, peaceful protests turned violent resulting in large scale looting, damage to properties and monuments, and vehicles being set ablaze. Thousands of people have been arrested. Curfew was imposed in several cities, including New York and Washington D C, as most protests turned violent during the night. Pichai also urged the employees to stand together in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honour the "memories of Black lives lost." "The length of the moment of silence represents the amount of time George Floyd suffered before he was killed. It''s meant to serve as a visceral reminder of the injustice inflicted on Mr. Floyd and so many others. "We acknowledge that racism and violence may look different in different parts of the world, so please use this as a moment to reflect on those who have been lost in your own country or community at a time that works for you," he said. In the email, Pichai also shared the result of the company''s internal giving campaign held last week. "I''m pleased to share that you all have contributed an additional USD 2.5 million in donations that we''re matching. This represents the largest Googler giving campaign in our company''s history, with both the largest amount raised by employees and the broadest participation," he said. He said that the events of the past few weeks reflect deep structural challenges. "We''ll work closely with our Black community to develop initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions and we''ll keep you updated. As part of this effort, we welcome your ideas on how to use our products and technology to improve access and opportunity," he said. Pichai''s announcement comes days after top India-American CEOs, including himself and Microsoft''s Satya Nadella, expressed solidarity with the African-American community following Floyd''s death. "Today on US Google & YouTube homepages we share our support for racial equality in solidarity with the Black community and in memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery & others who don''t have a voice," Pichai wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "For those feeling grief, anger, sadness & fear, you are not alone," Pichai said, sharing a screenshot of the Google search home page which said: "We stand in support of racial equality, and all those who search for it." Regulatory News: SpineGuard (Paris:ALSGD) (FR0011464452 ALSGD), an innovative company that deploys its DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) sensing technology to secure and streamline the placement of bone implants, announced today the filing of its "510K" regulatory dossier with the FDA, seeking the authorization to commercialize its DSG Connect platform in the USA. Already being utilized experimentally in a new strategic high value platform to guide surgical robots, SpineGuard will now apply this platform to its entire range of products. The commercialization in the United States will commence as soon as the file is validated, which usually takes 3 to 9 months. As a reminder, DSG Connect is a tablet based software interface that adds visual interpretation to the auditory feedback for optimal exploitation of the signal during pedicle screw placement. It also allows for data recording of bone impedance values as evidence of optimal screw placement within the pedicle and for bone quality studies. Stephane Bette, co-founder and Deputy CEO of SpineGuard, said: "SpineGuard generates a large portion of its revenue in the United States, the first market worldwide in our sector that strongly rewards innovation. Therefore, it is our priority to quickly clear there the innovations that we launch. We are very proud, during the COVID period, to have assembled this regulatory file which is substantial because for the first time in the history of the company it entails radio frequency transmission, as well as a software application on a visual terminal. On the heels of the recent CE mark, as spine surgeries progressively resume in Europe, we will soon perform the first surgery in France with DSG Connect, and we look forward to doing the same in the USA. DSG Connect is a major step in the development of the company and the deployment of the DSG technology, not only because of the commercial potential but also due to the strategic value of this new platform. DSG Connect is also an essential component of the application for surgical robots aiming at enhancing their safety and autonomy. We are progressing this application rapidly for which we are in discussions with potential strategic partners." About SpineGuard Founded in 2009 in France and the USA by Pierre Jerome and Stephane Bette, SpineGuard is an innovative company deploying its proprietary radiation-free real time sensing technology DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) to secure and streamline the placement of implants in the skeleton. SpineGuard designs, develops and markets medical devices that have been used in over 75,000 surgical procedures worldwide. Fifteen studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals have demonstrated the multiple benefits DSG offers to patients, surgeons, surgical staff and hospitals. Building on these solid fundamentals and several strategic partnerships, SpineGuard has expanded its technology platform in a disruptive innovation: the smart pedicle screw launched late 2017 and is broadening the scope of applications in dental implantology and surgical robotics. DSG was co-invented by Maurice Bourlion, Ph.D., Ciaran Bolger, M.D., Ph.D., and Alain Vanquaethem, Biomedical Engineer. For further information, visit www.spineguard.com Disclaimer The SpineGuard securities may not be offered or sold in the United States as they have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any United States state securities laws, and SpineGuard does not intend to make a public offer of its securities in the United States. This is an announcement and not a prospectus, and the information contained herein does and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or exemption from registration. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005499/en/ Contacts: SpineGuard Pierre Jerome President Directeur General Tel.: 01 45 18 45 19 p.jerome@spineguard.com Manuel Lanfossi Directeur Financier m.lanfossi@spineguard.com Europe NewCap Investor Relations Financial Communication Mathilde Bohin Pierre Laurent Tel.: 01 44 71 94 94 spineguard@newcap.eu A lot of celebrities are receiving immense backlash for their remarks surrounding the murder of George Floyd and the protests and have ensued as a result. The latest is Love & Hip Hop star, rapper, and radio host Trina, who has been usurped in controversy. ATLANTA, GA JULY 11: Rapper Trina attends Tune Chats Honoring Trina on July 11, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.(Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage) Love & Hip Hop stars Trina and Trick Daddy host a radio show in Miami Trina and Trick Daddy currently hosts a show on Miamis 99 JAMZ. Their show replaced the syndicated The Ricky Smiley Morning Show on the station. The news was first made official in December 2019 after initially leaking in June 2019. Trick and Trina are legends in hip-hop culture, and a staple in Miami. Im excited to kick off the new decade with these two superstars taking their raw talent to the radio, said the stations Director of Operations, Jill Strada, in an earlier press release. Im excited to kick off the new decade with these two superstars taking their raw talent to the radio. At the time, Trina said We cant wait to take over mornings on the radio station we grew up listening to. RELATED: Love & Hip Hop: Shekinah Jo Anderson Gets Dragged for Crying About Lenox Mall During Protest Trina uses inflammatory language to refer to protesters On the Tuesday edition of the show, the duo discussed the protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. While Trick Daddy seemed to do his best to stop Trina from continuing to go down that road, she seemed unphased. Trina seemed to equate murders at the hands of police to common murders, which Trick Daddy tried to explain to her was not the same. They need to make the curfew at 6 pm to 6 am, thats how I feel, she said. The curfew for Miami-Dade county is currently in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Keep everybody off the streets, these animals off the streets acting like they escaped from a zoo. Lock them up at 5 p.m., so the streets can be nice and clean. RELATED: Love & Hip Hop: Erica Dixon Called out by Fans Over Instagram Video of Her Daughters As far as businesses being impacted by the uprising, Trina said that it doesnt matter is they have insurance. I dont approve of it, period. I dont approve of it, period cause you dont want nobody burning down Sundays. Lets be very clear. And you have insurance and you dont want that. She continued in part, We cant bring back nobodys lives that have been taken away whether it was from the police or at the hands of another civilian. We cannot bring them back. I cant bring back my little brother life. His life was taken at the hands of a man, a black man. I cant bring his life back, so what are you saying? Yall always sweep that under the rug and then yall wanna make something else. She received fierce criticism on social media The backlash against Trina was immediate and swift, with many condemning her remarks and canceling her. One person tweeted, That s**t Trina said was vile. Like it wasnt even insensitive or ill informed. It was flat out evil. When 99 JAMZ said that Trina would address the backlash Thusrsday morning. Fans made it clear that they didnt want to hear it. She already addressed them today. We want better representation on air, shes ignorant and tone deaf, tweeted someone. Nope because Trick tried to save her multiple times and she was like no I said what I said. Fire her. Bye, said someone else. A Navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years has been released and is on his way home aboard a Swiss government aircraft, US officials said Thursday. The US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, flew to Zurich with a doctor to meet freed detainee Michael White and will accompany White back to the United States, the officials said. An Iranian scientist held in the US over a federal trade secrets case was released and deported earlier this week, which was seen by some observers as the start of a prisoner exchange between the two countries. More follows BOSTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mendix , a Siemens business and the global leader in enterprise low-code, today announced that a leading manufacturer of electronics and medical equipment is leveraging the Mendix low-code platform to extend its core systems and internal business processes with innovative, next-gen applications. By organizing its IT services into bi-modal teams, the manufacturer is able to integrate emerging technologies requested by business managers, and customer-facing mobile experiences (Mode 2), while also supporting ongoing, mission-critical legacy systems that operate across sixty countries (Mode 1). A key enabler of the "Mode 2" innovation teams' success is their adoption of the Mendix low-code platform to deliver four IT initiatives: a mobile competency center, an innovation lab, a rapid application development process, and an offshore development office. These solutions, all built on the low-code platform, will enable the organization to achieve revenue growth, cost savings, and maintain its competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market. The concept of bimodal development has been popularized by Gartner. According to this concept, Mode 1 encapsules traditional IT that is responsible for service continuity, efficiency, and cost optimization. Mode 2 or agile IT, on the other hand, stands for innovation, flexibility, and faster time-to-market. The Mode 2 team was tasked with leading the charge to build applications that further the manufacturer's business goals; differentiate its product offerings in the marketplace; and improve customer engagement. The team needed an application development platform that enabled a high degree of business collaboration, fast turnaround, and frequent updates. They also required an open platform that enabled interoperability with core and legacy systems. Mendix was the only solution that met every criteria for rapid digital execution with appropriate IT oversight and governance. The goal was to leverage low-code to its full capabilities with a three-pronged approach. First, existing core platforms were to be optimized with new capabilities, such as mobile support. In a second step, emerging technologies such as chatbots were to be explored to identify new opportunities. And lastly, transformational technologies such as Machine Learning or Augmented Reality are to be used for new and innovative solutions that do not yet exist. The applications were devised and developed on the Mendix low-code platform. Low-code is a visual development approach to application development that enables developers of varied experience levels to create applications for web and mobile, using drag-and-drop components and model-driven logic through a graphic user interface. Achieving complete lifecycle support for global operations Initially, the manufacturer's IT organization was organized to fulfill traditional goals of ensuring stable, available legacy systems. However, relying solely on legacy systems in a highly competitive market was considered risky. Low-code, with its inherent openness to extend their IT stack, enabled the manufacturer to build rich and intuitive applications that utilize native device features for an enriched customer experience across multiple devices. Since the Mode 2 team has been established, over 20 applications have been built to improve customer engagement and product development. Each of those applications was completed within four to eight weeks of development time a vast improvement over the development time required by traditional development methods. These applications include: An application that allows the manufacturer to directly interact with equipment users and has improved the customer experience for over 2,000 physicians and healthcare professionals. A digital platform for seamless request, approval and tracking of premium freight service requests for the company's global supply chain. The app helps coordinate delivery dates for spare parts and therefore minimizes downtime of crucial medical machines and improves the scheduling of examination appointments. A digital solution that gives a real-time overview of factory lines. This app was built once and deployed in factories across three continents, saving time on the development of separate applications for each factory. The app can be easily adapted for use in each of the manufacturer's factories, despite every factory depending on different data sets. "Low-code technology has become the cornerstone of innovation because it enables IT professionals to collaborate," said Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix. "By bridging the needs and concerns of both business experts and IT professionals, the Mendix platform fosters deep collaboration. Our platform was built to address the underlying business challenge of deploying skilled makers who can create solutions. A holistic, low-code platform that enables digital execution at scale quickly reveals how enterprises can drive tangible value from technology." For more information about Mendix and to see other innovations that customers are making with Mendix, please visit https://www.mendix.com/customer-stories/ . Note to Editors and Reporters: Enterprise low-code provides an entirely new, faster and more collaborative way to build software for the enterprise. This new way to build software is poised for hyper growth due to the software crisis . Mendix pioneered the technology and is now the market and technology leader in low-code and no-code application development for the enterprise. A large company's software projects are frequently confidential for competitive reasons, so in an effort to let the world's media know the kind of robust, mission-critical enterprise apps that are now being made with Mendix, we are issuing this press release without specifically identifying the customer. Many enterprises are much more willing to talk one-on-one with the media about why they've moved to low-code with Mendix. If you'd like to interview the Mendix Maker discussed in this press release, please let us know asap and we'll work hard to convince them to speak with you. Connect with Mendix Follow @Mendix on Twitter Connect with Mendix on LinkedIn About Mendix Mendix, a Siemens business and the global leader in enterprise low-code, is fundamentally reinventing the way applications are built in the digital enterprise. With the Mendix platform, enterprises can 'Make with More,' by broadening an enterprise's development capability to conquer the software development bottleneck; 'Make it Smart,' by making apps with rich native experiences that are intelligent, proactive, and contextual; and 'Make at Scale,' to modernize core systems and build large app portfolios to keep pace with business growth. The Mendix platform is built to promote intense collaboration between business and IT teams and dramatically accelerate application development cycles, while maintaining the highest standards of security, quality, and governance in short, to help enterprises confidently leap into their digital futures. Mendix's 'Go Make It' platform has been adopted by more than 4,000 leading companies around the world. Press Inquiries Katherine Schroeter Account Manager, SHIFT Communications [email protected] (617) 779-1868 Dan Berkowitz Senior Director, Global Communications [email protected] (415) 518-7870 SOURCE Mendix The Trump administration is expected to set limits on a popular program that allows international students to work in the U.S. after graduation while remaining on their student visas. The restrictions on the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program are designed to help American graduates seeking jobs during the pandemic-fueled economic downturn; however, the move is likely to further hurt the economy, according to new University of California San Diego research on immigrant rights. In a new research paper, economists find that immigrant rights enhance the lives and livelihoods of native-born workers in many ways. Drawing from a sweeping collection of studies on the U.S. labor market over the past century, the paper is the first of its kind to look at how legal protections for immigrants affect domestic workers of immigrant-receiving countries in terms of generating income, innovation, reducing crime and increasing tax revenues. One in eight persons living in the United States was born in a different country. Therefore understanding the impact of migrant worker rights on receiving economies is crucial to immigration policymaking, especially with the White Houses immigration policies growing more exclusionary during the COVID-19 pandemic. "This time the political restrictions seem to be on high-skill foreign-born, like students, OPTs and those with H1B visas, said Gaurav Khanna, co-author and assistant professor of economics at the UC San Diegos School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS). Many high-skill workers have lost their jobs, which means many will have to leave the country soon. When the U.S. crisis abates, there may be a scarcity of high-skill professionals, which could stall a robust recovery. Legal protections for immigrants aid entrepreneurship and innovation About 45 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants. These companies amass more than $6 trillion in revenue per year and include tech-giants like Google-Alphabet, Microsoft, Tesla and Apple. With one in four of computer scientists born in a different country, the U.S. immigrant workforce comprises of many of Silicon Valleys top entrepreneurs, current CEOs or company founders. As entrepreneurs know, starting a business requires a lot of money up front while the return on investment may take years, but the benefits to the local populations prove to be very positive from the start. With the economy contracting at unprecedented levels, the White Houses decision to impose more visa restrictions is expected make economic recovery more difficult because the less confidence immigrants have in their status, the less likely they are to seed innovation and create businesses. Providing legal permanence and stability to immigrants may help incentivize long-term local investments like businesses which lead to an increase in jobs and a larger tax base, Khanna and co-author Anna Brown, a graduate of GPSs Master of Public Policy program write. H1-B under fire, despite its well-documented economic benefits Most technology workers enter the U.S. on H-1B visas, which are temporary work visas that are valid for three years and renewable up to another three years. At the end of the six-year period, these highly-skilled workers must either leave the country or apply for a costly green card that has a long waitlist, particularly for citizens of India and China. Extending the H-1B limit or making the green card process easier would provide immigrants with a longer legal work status in the U.S. and allow employers to retain high-skill talent, which could have downstream effects on other industries that use software, like banking, manufacturing and other sectors, the authors write. Since the H-1B visa was in introduced in 1990, it has yielded many economic benefits. For example, U.S.-born workers gained $431 million in 2010 as a result of the H-1B, according to previous research from Khanna. Moreover, another study of his revealed that hiring H-1B workers was strongly associated with firms introducing newer products. However, new restrictions to the H-1B, the same type of visa the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, used to begin working in the U.S., could be released soon as the White House recently indicated it is reevaluating the program. This could yield another roadblock for the legalization of immigrants with entrepreneurial ambition. "Unless immigrants are certain they will be allowed to remain within a country, they may not invest in developing a business in that country, Khanna and Brown write. This highlights a problem faced by many migrants who have ambitions to start businesses but will not because they know they may not be able to stay in the country for long. More protections for immigrants increases the likelihoods of jobs going to native born-workers, over immigrants In addition to analyzing how immigrant rights aid entrepreneurship, Khanna and Brown also looked at how these policies impact the competition between native-born and immigrant workers. Immigrant worker rights protect migrant workers from employer exploitation; an indirect benefit of these laws is that they even the playing field between immigrants and non-immigrants. Migrant workers, who are not legally protected, face much lower wages compared with their native counterparts, according to Khanna. This is detrimental to U.S. born workers, who are less likely to be hired. Ensuring migrant workers have substantial rights inadvertently helps U.S. born workers as well. The study points to exclusionary immigration policies over the course of U.S. history, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations policies targeted at farmworkers, all of which were driven by fear of low-skill laborers from other countries depressing wages of native-born workers in the U.S. However, economist all over the world have been unable to find evidence that proves these theories. Rather, in each of these cases throughout U.S. history, employers adjusted to the missing workers in ways other than substantially bidding up wages, such as by shifting to production technologies that use less labor. Often, such policies have been motivated by resentment against foreign workers; however, this fear may be based on false perceptions and lack of evidence, the authors of the paper, which appeared in the UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs, write. This resentment may also be driven by racial prejudices and xenophobia. Rights for immigrants also lower crimes in receiving countries Even as the discussion on the impact of immigration has predominantly focused on wages and employment, the current U.S. President has strongly alluded to a link between immigrants and crime, propelling growing discourse on the subject. Between 2001 and 2017, Gallup polls consistently reflected that roughly half (45 percent to 58 percent) of American respondents believe immigrants make the crime situation worse. These assumptions are false. The authors cite ample research that sheds light on incarceration rates being lower for immigrants, and far lower for newly arrived immigrants, revealing the baseline for criminal activity among immigrants is lower than native-born workers. In addition, the authors point to previous studies that revealed a correlation between immigrant rights with decreased crime over the course of four decades (1970 to 2010). This is because the less protection and work opportunities immigrants have, the more likely they are to turn to criminal activity, as an act of desperation, said Khanna. Criminal behavior is widely understood to be a result of necessity and when given legal employment opportunities at livable wages, crime is reduced. For example, after the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of was implemented in 1986, which gave legal status to three million immigrants in the U.S., it led to a marked decrease in crime up to 5 percent. Legal protections lower the fiscal burden and reduce deficits Contrary to popular belief, undocumented migrant workers pay taxes, mostly income taxes, which are estimated to at $11.7 billion. Yet the number would be higher (by $2.2 billion) if undocumented migrants were granted legal status, an important consideration as the national deficit mounts in the wake of COVID-19. Additional ways more protections for migrants would help domestic populous could be lower health care costs. Undocumented migrants may not be eligible for insurance, adding to healthcare costs in times of emergency. We find that the fiscal burden can be greatly reduced if immigrants are given working status and allowed to contribute to the tax base, the authors wrote. In conclusion, we find there are several areas where strengthening migrant worker rights benefits native-born workers, outweighing any costs borne by them. To read the full paper, go to the UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs website. Miami, June 4 : A 'funeral procession' of more than 300 cars travelled through South Florida to mourn the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody The protest, which was organized by the Created Out of Love church, began on Wednesday in Hallandale Beach and ended in the city of Miramar, 32 km north of Miami, reports Efe news. Following the symbolic hearse that led the convoy, hundreds of vehicles parked in front of the Miramar police station with the names of African-American people who have died at the hands of authorities written on the cars. Among those names were Emmett Till, Sandra Bland, Dane Scott, Clifford Glover, Breonna Taylor, and hundreds of others. Priest Johanne Wilson said that they had more than 200 names of people who died at the hands of racism and that is something they must change. She also added that the car symbolized the death of racism and it will become more than just a symbol. It will be reality for everyone . The rally was attended by Miramar Police chief Dexter Williams and city mayor Wayne Messam, among others, who asserted that what happened to Floyd was "unacceptable". The organizers reiterated to all those present that the protests must "take practical steps" and asked them to vote to "change the systemic racism that is embedded into this country". They also encouraged them to participate in the census, which takes place once every 10 years in the US, to ensure that each community receives its money. Pastor Terrance Wilson added that if people wanted to see change in their community, they have to be counted in the census because it's not only that voting matters, but being counted as a US citizen is important as well. Miami also witnessed peaceful anti-racism protests for the fifth consecutive day. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis thanked the actions of peaceful protesters who "engaged in lawful first amendment activity" in recent days. However, as in other states of the country, many of these protests ended in altercations and looting, such as those in Tampa and Orlando, where 90 and 28 arrests took place on Wednesday respectively. "The gatherings that have been occurring statewide there have been respectful gatherings of large crowds with isolated instances of individuals who take the opportunity to exploit these events usually at night to engage in unlawful activities," said DeSantis. The mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer, announced that he will implement a much more restricted curfew that will begin at 8 pm. The protests in Florida are not as big as those in other regions of the country, such as Washington D.C., where President Donald Trump summoned the National Guard. DeSantis announced that he will send a total of 500 Florida National Guard troops. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 17:47:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GUIYANG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Guizhou, a Chinese province known for its landscape resorts and ethnic culture, will offer vouchers worth 15 million yuan (about 2.11 million U.S. dollars) to boost consumption in the cultural and tourism industry which was severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the provincial department of culture and tourism said on Thursday. The first batch of e-vouchers, worth 5 million yuan, will be available on China's largest online travel agency, Trip.com, on Friday. It will cover more than 7,000 hotels and homestays, the department said. The coupons will be issued from Friday until the end of the year in a bid to boost the local cultural and tourism market. Guizhou Province is in southwestern China and boasts rich tourist resources such as China's largest waterfall Huangguoshu, the UNESCO world heritage site Mount Fanjingshan and a karst forest in Maolan. Many Chinese cities, including Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province and Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province, have launched coupons to encourage residents to dine out and shop in an effort to boost consumption which was severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. Enditem New Delhi, June 4 : The Supreme Court on Thursday asked a Mumbai-based advocate to deposit Rs 25 lakh, which he offered for ferrying migrant workers from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with its registry. A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.R. Shah asked advocate Sagheer Ahmed Khan to deposit the money with the registry within a week under the name of the secretary general. During the hearing, Khan contended that his concern for the migrant workers is genuine, and he is willing to deposit Rs 25 lakh, which could be used for making arrangements for their travel to their native places in Uttar Pradesh. He added that this amount can be used as train fare from Mumbai to Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. The petitioner had expressed his apprehension in depositing the amount with the PM-CARES Fund or the state government's relief fund. He had moved the apex court seeking a direction to use the amount specifically for the travel of the migrant workers from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh. The court has listed the matter for further hearing on June 12. Khan had moved the plea through advocate-on-record Ejaz Maqbool. The petitioner said that he is well conversant with the plight of the migrants who are left to fend for themselves amid this national crisis. He sought direction from the apex court to ensure immediate and safe evacuation of migrant workers to their hometowns, free from any technicality and under its supervision. Khan, who is a native of Sant Kabir Nagar, contended in the plea that he first tried to help the migrants by approaching the Centre and the Maharashtra government. He moved the apex court only after the authorities concerned failed to address the plight of the migrants. "The petitioner is approaching this court seeking to exercise its jurisdiction vested in it under Article 32 of the Constitution to save the lives of the migrants who are caught between the inactions of the respondents (Centre and state government)," read the plea. The petitioner argued that he moved the top court, as the migrant workers in Mumbai, who have no source of livelihood due to the lockdown, were constrained to leave Mumbai and were forced to travel to their hometowns in inhuman conditions. "While some migrant workers are undertaking the journey on foot, the others are resorting to truck journeys where at least 100-120 persons are traveling in one truck. It is submitted that while some migrant workers are dying of exhaustion and starvation, others are suffocating while undertaking this tedious journey," the plea read. THE Central Bank has entered a 193,000 deal with a Dutch company to monitor social media platforms as part of its security threat intelligence operation. Last year, the Central Bank agreed to pay Dutch company Comparex 193,590 over a three-year period if the bank proceeds with the full extent of the contract. "The purpose of this engagement was to procure a social media monitoring platform to interrogate social media and online platforms generally as part of security threat intelligence," a spokeswoman for the Central Bank said. "The software will be used to identify potential threats and hostile sentiment to the Central Bank in order for its security teams to better protect it," she added. "Comparex is a software reseller that is a member of a procurement framework operated by the European Procurement Co-ordination Office (EPCO) on behalf of participating central banks," the spokeswoman said. "The term of the contract for the procured product is for an initial 12 months, with an option to extend for a period or periods of up to 12 months to a maximum of 24 months (ie three years in total). "The cost of 193,590 represents the cost for the entire contract period should the Central Bank wish to utilise the full-term not the per-annum cost," the spokeswoman added. Latest figures show that the largest payout for security IT services made by the Central Bank was to Dublin-based Bianconi Research, trading as RITS. Last year the company received 248,000 for 'information security professional services'. One of the three contracts that were secured by RITS related to a payment of 68,000 for a 48-day period of work. The Central Bank last year also paid out 100,000 to Derry-based Metacompliance Ltd for 'information security phishing simulator'. More than 240 children have been killed, 56 have gone missing, about 500 children have been wounded and injured in the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a result of military aggression of the Russian Federation since 2014. "The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed on June 4. This date was set by the UN in 1983, but every year up to now it continues to be filled with growing bitterness and sadness, pain, and children's tears. In the present-day world, more than 230 million children live in conflict-affected areas. In 2014, Ukraine joined this list owing to Russian armed aggression in Donbas. Since the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, more than 240 children have been killed, another 56 have gone missing, and from 167 to more than 500 children, according to various sources, have been wounded and injured," press service of the Command of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook. As noted, from 10 to 15 thousand children live in the so-called "grey zone". According to NGOs, the number of displaced children from Crimea and Donbas has exceeded 170,000 persons, and more than 2,000 orphans have left in the occupied territories. The press service stresses that the growth of these horrible statistics has not stopped even after the end of the active phase of the armed confrontation as children are injured due to careless handling and accidents with explosives. "According to UNICEF, ten children have been victims of shelling in eastern Ukraine since the beginning of 2020. In the first week of May alone, six cases were reported. This is twice as much as in the same period last year," the press service said. According to the report of the UNICEF Office in Ukraine released in October 2019, more than 200,000 children live in a 20-kilometer zone on both sides of the contact line which is heavily contaminated with mines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Since 2014, at least 38 children have been killed and at least 128 children have been injured by mines, ammunition, and other ERW. ol When you don't have all the right ingredients to hand, there's nothing wrong with experimenting, but one man's attempt at carbonara using tinned spaghetti was left foodies horrified. In a post shared to popular Facebook Group Rate My Plate, user Steven S posted a picture of a cut up tinned spaghetti, topped with a slice of American-style burger cheese and chopped hot dog sausage. Commenters were horrified, by the concoction and branded it the 'worst thing they've ever seen', while the dish also provoked a furious rant from celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo on today's episode of This Morning. The Italian-born chef told the show: 'That is food for dogs, if you want my opinion on the dish.' In a post shared to popular Facebook Group Rate My Plate , user Steven S posted a picture of a cut up tinned spaghetti, topped with a slice of American-style burger cheese and chopped hot dog sausage. Gino D'Acampo, 43, was reacting to a Facebook user's attempt at making a 'carborna' which foodies branded the 'worst thing they've ever seen'. He is pictured in Northern Italy in December The bizarre concoction quickly went viral receiving nearly 8,000 comments of people sharing their disgust, after it was shared to Facebook. 'In what world is that carbonara??? Italians everywhere are weeping over this monstrosity,' one user wrote 'Now that, my friend, is one of the worse things I have seen on this page. I wonder what you had to drink with it - a nice glass of vinegar? That's a bit like wine isn't it?' another added. Knowing his passion for Italian cooking, Phillip Schofield revealed he sent a picture of the carbornara to Gino 'to wind him up a bit'. Knowing his passion for Italian cooking, Phillip Schofield revealed he sent a picture of the carbornara to Gino 'to wind him up a bit'. Holly and Phil are pictured laughing at the rant And it clearly worked, with Gino launching an hilarious rant against the dish. In a voice note played out on air, Gino, who is in lockdown at his home in Sardinia with his family says: 'This is what is wrong with this country, I've been showing how to make carbonara for over 20 years, especially on This Morning, and yet people still call it a carbonara because it's got a little bit...' Taking a breath to get his thoughts together, he continued: 'Pasta that is in a tin! Who eats pasta that's in a tin? That is food for dogs, so if you want my opinion on the dish..' This Morning also showed a 2010 clip from the show, when Holly insulting Gino by comparing an authentic Italian dish he was cooking to a 'British carbonara'. Still fuming, Gino paused again to before continuing: 'Let me calm down, because it's very early in the morning here and I haven't had a coffee yet. That dish is suitable for doggies. 'Holly, Phillip, I love you but never send me that, don't do that, just don't, mwah mwah mwah, I love you.' 'I think he quite liked it' Holly joked. 'Get off the fence Gino!' added Phil, unable to hold back laughter. This Morning also showed a 2010 clip from the show, when Holly insulting Gino by comparing an authentic Italian dish he was cooking to a 'British carbonara'. In a clip which has since earned viral fame Gino responds: 'If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike,' he said, making Holly and Phillip collapse in laughter. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday said he would welcome any president to the state besides former President Barack Obama. The unprompted comment came during a coronavirus news conference in which the Republican governor took a phone call from President Donald Trump and sought to highlight his relationship with the commander-in-chief ahead of the coming primary election. We should absolutely welcome all but, you know, maybe not Barack Obama, he said, smiling. His office later walked back the remarks in a statement, saying they were in jest and in regard to the effect that the Obama Administrations War on Coal had on the West Virginia economy from 2008-2016. I want to love everybody, and by that, I mean everybody, including President Obama, Justice said in the statement. But, at the end of the day, what happened to West Virginia during his time in the Oval Office will take us decades and decades to recover from, if ever. Video: West Virginia governor on reopening state His comment drew criticism almost immediately on social media, with many pointing out that Obama was the first and only African-American president. They also came as days of protests over police brutality on African Americans have gripped cities across the nation, renewing attention on racism in the U.S. Earlier this year, Justice, a billionaire coal and agricultural businessman without previous political experience, faced scrutiny after calling a mostly black high school girls basketball team a bunch of thugs. He later said that anyone that would accuse me of making a racial slur is totally absurd." First of all, I would tell them that Im really sorry if Ive done anything that has offended them. But secondly, I would just say this, Barack Obama used that term, he told local ABC affiliate WCHS-TV in an interview days later. Justice was elected in 2016 as a Democrat, but announced he was switching parties at a Trump rally less than a year after taking office. He is facing Republican opposition in a primary election next week. At some point somebody has to give a damn, Bullock said. Most children are taught to run to the cops when they are in trouble, she said. African American kids go the opposite way, and that is an issue," she said. "Its indicative of the issue. Any child should be able to run to a cop and say, I have a problem. In Rock Islands 1st Ward, she said, When our kids are going somewhere, we tell them to call when they get there. Its not the community in which we live that frightens us; were scared of the police, and thats not how its supposed to be. We were taught to love everybody and you respect everybody, but thats not whats happening, and its not fair, she said. Julien, who is Senior Pastor at Living Water Christian Center, told the elected representatives present that all eyes are on them. Texas, a Republican presidential stronghold for decades, could be in play as Donald Trump and Joe Biden face off to decide who will be commander in chief come late January. A new Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday gives the president a razor-thin lead in the Lone Star State, 44 per cent to 43 per cent. That puts the former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee well within the survey's 2.9 per cent margin of error, and appears to indicate the usually predictable red state is no sure thing this time for Mr Trump and Republicans. Jimmy Carter was the last Democrat to carry the state. He did so in 1976, defeating then-President Gerald Ford. Mr Trump easily won Texas in 2016, knocking off former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 52.2 per cent to 43.2 per cent. Like in a handful of battleground states he won last time, the poll suggests a sizeable amount of Texans who voted for the president four years ago are at least entertaining the idea of supporting Mr Biden this time. "Too tight to tell in Texas," said Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac pollster. "As the country confronts chaos and Covid-19, perhaps one of the most important states of all is a toss-up." Mr Biden leads Mr Trump nationally by 7.8 percentage points, according to a RealClearPolitics average of several polls. He also leads in seven of 10 expected battleground states, though some of those leads are extremely small and well within each survey's margin of error. A new Monmouth University survey gives the former VP an 11-point lead nationally, with more of those surveyed saying Mr Biden would do a better job handling race relations amid ongoing protests sometimes featuring looting after the death of a black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis. "The race continues to be largely a referendum on the incumbent. The initial reaction to ongoing racial unrest in the country suggests that most voters feel Trump is not handling the situation all that well," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. In a potential good sign in Texas for the incumbent, more voters in Texas believe he would do a better job managing the US economy, 54 per cent to 40 per cent. But on another of the election's most important issues, health care, Mr Biden gets the nod from Texans, 49 per cent to 43 per cent. Both issues are listed by women voters as their top priorities for the election. Suburban women have been fleeing from the coalition Mr Trump cobbled together last time. "The president cannot keep doing things that drive women white educated suburban moms, especially and win this election," one GOP strategist said this week. "Older voters care about health care, so do those moms. "He has time to salvage this, but he has to get white women and seniors back. The only alternative would be to expand [his base]," the strategist said. "And he has made absolutely no attempts to do that his entire presidency. He's not going to start six months before the election." Its going to make a huge difference, Tracy-MacAulay said. Right now we have kids in trailers We are already at capacity at our middle school there is no room. Teachers are on carts, teachers are in mobile classrooms, we are just completely out of space. For many women, being pregnant during an outbreak of a serious virus that health experts know little about feels utterly unprecedented. For me, the dilemma feels like deja vu. After six years of infertility, I became pregnant with our long-awaited first child while living in Honduras during the Zika virus epidemic in 2015. Health officials had linked the virus to a birth defect called microcephaly and were advising expectant moms to be on alert and, if possible, avoid traveling to the very area where I lived. As committed as we were to the mission God had called us to in Honduras, we made the difficult decision to temporarily leave during my third trimester so I could give birth back in the States. Im now pregnant with our third child, and God has once again led us to uproot our lives from Honduras in the midst of a major health crisis. If I didnt learn my lesson then, God is continuing to teach us what it means to surrender and obey. The coronavirus doesnt pose as severe a risk to pregnant women as Zika did, and so far, studies have found that mothers with the virus dont pass it on in utero or through breast milk. But while we have such limited data about the new disease, theres plenty for expectant mothers to worry about. Researchers are still studying whether the changes in hospital protocols have resulted in more complications in labor and delivery. Like many pregnant moms, I thought about what would happen if my husband werent allowed in the hospital with me and I had to face another traumatic c-section alone. But before that I had to worry about if hed even make it out of Honduras to be in the US in the first place. Giving birth during a pandemic is not what any of us imagined. Could this really be Gods timing? Even beyond my two pregnancies during major outbreaks, dealing with lifes unexpected and often unwanted changes of plans has become a constant challenge. But by Gods grace, its also been a constant reminder to depend on him. Comfort over courage We moved to Honduras ten years ago, a week after our wedding day. My husband was fluent in Spanish and had lived there for nine months already, but it was all new to me. At the time, I considered the move a sign of my courage. Right after college, I had left for China to teach English. I prided myself on being adventurous and looking for new experiences. But in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, it wasnt long before the isolation hit. My husband was working long hours to get his toy-manufacturing company off the ground, and I had no community to turn to. In her book Rising Strong, Brene Brown states, We can choose courage or comfort but we cant have both at the same time. It became clear that I much prefer comfort over courage. Worse, I relied on the relationships and conveniences I was used to in the States rather than finding my comfort in God. My faith was not as solid as Id thought. Things only got more difficult as we struggled through infertility while our friends and family continued to have children. The discomfort of international living, the unending pressures of starting a new business, and the heartache of infertility all began to take a toll on our marriage. Rather than looking for a way through, I kept looking back at the life I had left behind, where I had a job and community and routine that I was used to and loved. Now, in this new lifea much slower life without the bustle of social, professional, and ministry activities, I began to finally recognize the restlessness of my soul, and I did not want to deal with the pain that it was revealing. After living through a season of political unrest, which led to violent strikes, and natural disasters, including deadly fires and water shortages, the Zika outbreak hit our country not long after I became pregnant. Though I was thrilled with our long-awaited miracle, I was apprehensive about living in a developing country with a now-dangerous virus. I was reminded that though my greatest hopes were coming to reality, it didnt mean I had any control. Article continues below Letting go Little did I know that my pregnancy during Zika, and my last-minute, third-trimester decision to return to the US, would not be our biggest hurdle while welcoming a child into the world. A couple of years later, our second son was born in Honduras asphyxiated. He was hospitalized for the first two weeks of his life and continues to require intensive therapy for his developmental delays. We have been walking through a season of emptiness these past two years. My husband is no longer with the company that originally brought us to Honduras. We had a second miscarriage, and most recently, my dad passed away. In the early years, I would have left Tegucigalpa in a heartbeat to return to my comforts and conveniences. But now, I see how my struggles and weaknesses have connected me to a place I felt so disconnected from. Our children, and the experience of almost losing our second child, drew us closer to our community, to one another, and to God. I finally realized I couldnt hold it all together, so once I let go of my control and owned my vulnerability, I saw what was available to metrue friendships, community, and support. God was with me, and he revealed that through the people who came alongside me during these challenges. Before the coronavirus pandemic skyrocketed, before discovering we were unexpectedly welcoming another baby, we were in a difficult place. We knew we had to move back to the US because of our second sons medical needs. With no job lined up, no place to live, no church or community, the global uncertainty posed by the coronavirus just adds to the pressure. As I reflect on the past ten years and the lessons Ive learned, the Scriptures Ive studied and taught, Ive realized that I often come back to the question What do I need to change or do? The lens through which I even read Scripture is What can I do to be better? As I write this article and reflect over the lessons Ive learned of get up and walk or that I need to fully surrender and obey are still about me, what I need to do, rather than about the God who has proved himself sovereign over all. Alicia Britt Chole writes in her book Anonymous, Abundance may make us feel more productive, but perhaps emptiness has greater power to strengthen our souls. My journey over the past decade, including the very current challenge with COVID-19, is my brokenness. I am weak. I am frail and I am not in control. Second Corinthians 12:10 reminds me, Since I know it is all for Christs good, I am quite happy about the thorn, and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strongthe less I have, the more I depend on him (LB). In my life, Ive shied away from admitting my weaknesses, and much more from celebrating my difficulties. I've often tried to ignore or avoid dealing with them while trying to hide them from others, and yet, as Chole states, in our emptiness we have greater power to strengthen our souls. Its amid this emptiness, this brokenness, of realizing my marriage is in trouble, our financial stability is gone, our jobs uncertain, our health not guaranteed, our pregnancies not perfectly timed, that we must go to God. We have nothing on our own. Once I can admit that I am weak and depend on Jesus, I can begin to rejoice in all thingseven another pandemic pregnancy. Cindy Haughey is a writer, speaker, and world traveler. She is a graduate of Taylor University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. A mother of two boys, she is due with her third child this summer. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Community activists, borough leaders and local youth came together on the steps of Borough Hall in St. George Thursday afternoon to call for unity and an end to racism. The gathering, led by Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore), started at about 3 p.m. and the group dispersed at around 4:30 p.m. Fall was joined by Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), NYPD Borough Commander Chief Kenneth Corey, religious figures, youth leaders and more. Today we have joined together in our roles as lawmakers, clergies of different faiths, community leaders, and residents of this community," said Fall. "Ultimately, we stand here together as human beings. The group of more than 100 people gathered in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Derek Chauvin, the officer involved in the incident -- who is shown in video kneeling on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes -- has since been fired, and charged with murder in Floyds killing. Floyds death sparked more than a week of protests around the nation. The NYPD and the law enforcement community at large are united in denouncing the unjustifiable and inexcusable actions of the now-former Minneapolis police officers, Corey announced during the rally. We recognize that the anger of the protestors goes far beyond this one incident, and we are deeply committed to working together to bring about positive change. During the rally, the NYPD was widely commended for their actions. The system, rather than every individual cop, is what needs to be changed, many of the leaders said. The speakers focused on the issue of police reform. Echoing many voices around the state, there was a call to repeal Civil Rights Law 50-a in New York state, which protects police personnel records from the public. Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have called for reform of 50-a. Rose also called for the passage of laws aimed at curbing the use of chokeholds by police. The mayor has vocally opposed this for years, telling us that chokeholds are already prohibited by NYPD, she said. This has not been the case or the reality. Rose referred to bills that have been drafted that would increase the consequences faced by officers that dont adhere to the rules. This is a beginning, to create a system of accountability that we all deserve, she said. Im not okay knowing that it has taken this long to move forward. Overall, the group at the rally expressed their anger and exhaustion from the battle against racism. We need a clear, concise plan of action, said Vernon Dyverse Wooten of Fatherhood Matters. Ive been here before - on these steps, before, for another situation just like this. I dont want to be back. Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (27) Reaching the one-month mark of Gov. Greg Abbotts plan for reopening the state should be a time for careful evaluation, not irrational exuberance. It is not the occasion for throwing packed pool parties, jettisoning social-distancing guidelines or trying to snatch the Republican National Convention from North Carolina. Its not even a time to show up without a mask to a crowded march for justice. Disregarding the medical and scientific advice that has gotten us this far in the battle against the new coronavirus pandemic only threatens to throw us back into more shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. So, lets take a deep breath preferably into a mask if you are out in public and review where things stand. Abbotts order allowed retail stores, dine-in restaurants, movie theaters, and malls to reopen May 1 at 25 percent of their listed occupancy while also following recommended social-distancing guidelines. He later allowed hair salons, pools and gyms to resume business under similar restraints on May 18. He added bars on May 22 while permitting restaurants to expand to their dining to 50 percent capacity. Abbott has pointed to the fact that Texas continues to have one of the lowest per capita rates of confirmed cases and of coronavirus-related deaths in the nation while touting his plan to contain deadly waves of infections in nursing homes, meat-packing plants, jails and prisons with surge response teams, made up of health workers, emergency response workers and the National Guard. President Donald Trump and others, including Abbott himself, have praised the states process as a model for getting the economy back up and running. It should be noted that the state has so far met only one of the four benchmarks the governors medical adviser set for continued reopening. The state says it has reached the benchmark for health care capacity to treat COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. Its just over 80 percent of the goal for an average of 30,000 tests per day and is halfway to hiring 4,000 contact tracers to follow up with people who might have been exposed to the virus. Texas is not yet close to meeting the requirement of 14 consecutive days of decline in newly diagnosed cases. After stringing together a seven-day stretch of falling cases from May 20 to May 27, the numbers started going up again through the end of the month. Abbott has said that a rise in reported cases should be expected with increased testing, but it is his plan that set the 14-day standard and we are at least two weeks away from meeting it. That doesnt mean the plan is failing but it also doesnt indicate unqualified success. And it certainly doesnt warrant early celebrations or rushing into the next phase. The governor should stick to his pledge to proceed carefully with decisions guided by data and doctors. That includes tapping the brakes when and where the numbers point to a resurgence of the virus. It also means that Texans must keep up our guard on social-distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing. As boring as it sounds, those personal actions remain the best tools for sustaining the reopening and recovery efforts. Thats not what we saw over the Memorial Day weekend as some residents decided to clump together in large groups including a crowded pool party at a Midtown club and the city of Houston received 250 social-distancing complaints. There also has been foolish talk of trying to grab this summers Republican National Convention from North Carolina. The apparent price is a guarantee to suspend social-distancing rules to accommodate a 10,000-person gathering without knowing what the state of the pandemic will be in late August. Any city would love the economic boost from convention crowds, but a six-day mosh pit in a crowded arena is not a good prescription for public health. There will be a time for a balloon drop, but for now, we all need to stick with the plan. Jim Mattis has broken his silence. The retired Marine four-star general has refrained from criticizing President Donald Trump since writing a blistering letter of resignation in protest in December 2018, as he quit his post as secretary of defense. But Wednesday evening, Mattis unleashed a broadside worth the wait. Expressing support for those protesting the murder of George Floyd and many other black Americans at the hands of police officers as tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values, Mattis wrote that he never dreamed that American troops, who have taken the oath to defend the Constitution, would ever be ordered to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizensmuch less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. This was a clear and scathing reference to Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who stood alongside Trump at a photo-op outside St. Johns Church on Monday, wearing blatantly inappropriate battle dress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mattis added, We must reject any thinking our cities as a battlespace that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate, an equally clear and scathing reference to the current secretary of defense, Mark Esper, who has described tactical planning for putting down protesters in precisely this language. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. Gen. James Mattis Mattis further stated that militarizing a response to protests sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Instead, he went on, we need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law. Advertisement Then he took aim at Trump. Donald Trump, he wrote, is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children. Advertisement He continued: We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. Only by adopting a new pathwhich means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding idealswill we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad. Advertisement Advertisement Mattis statement, which he emailed just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday to several journalists, including me, comes in the wake of a steady stream of memos and articles by active and retired generals and admirals, expressing disagreement with Trumps policies on the protestersbut his is far harsher, and more critical of Trumps entire tenure, than any statement made to date. Advertisement Advertisement It also marks a new step for Mattis, one that he has been reluctant to take. Late last year, he wrote a memoir that, to the surprise of many, barely mentioned Trump. In promoting the book, he was often prodded by interviewers to say something, but he demurred, citing the military ethos of respecting civilian authority. Some, including his fellow retired officers, complained that he was trying to have it both waysthat if the principles were so important, he shouldnt have criticized Trumps policies when he resigned. In an interview with the Atlantics editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, he said that his silence would not be eternaland Wednesday, he decided to make good on that promise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other retired four-star officers who have criticized Trump in recent days include Adm. Mike Mullen and Gen. Martin Dempsey, former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and NSA; Gen. Tony Thomas, former head of Special Operations Command; and, several months ago, Adm. William McRaven, the special ops commander who planned the raid on Osama bin Laden. A few active-duty leaders have also issued memos, though not in public and more oblique in tone, including Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff; Kaleth Wright, chief master sergeant of the Air Force, the top enlisted man; and Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, superintendent of the Air Force Academy. But Mattis, who was often called the grown-up in the room when he was secretary of defense, has a particularly avid following among the rank and file, and on Capitol Hill. A statement like this is likely to make a dent in Trumps support in Washington, the conservative media, and possibly the armed forces. Advertisement Earlier on Wednesday, Esper, who had also appeared at Trumps photo-op at St. Johns Church, announced that he opposed using active-duty troops against protestersa surprising rebuke to Trump, who has threatened to do just that. Soon after, the AP reported that Esper had ordered troops who had been called into the D.C. areafor possible mobilization against protesters and lootersto return to their home bases. However, a few hours later, Army officers reported that Esper had reversed that order. It is unknown at this hour whether Esper is riding a sudden wave of principleor whether hes back in Trumps pocket. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the nation has never seen what is amounting to a movement of military officers, some of them well known, challenging the commander in chief. It is rocky territory. All officers have it pounded into their heads, from the time theyre cadets, that they should stay out of politics and obey lawful orders of civilian authority. But, as Mullen wrote in an article for the Atlantic, I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trumps leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. It is hard to imagine that other officers arent asking themselves whether a line has been crossed in their conscience as well. Mattis has made the most dramatic break, but it is probably not the last. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. Christians being denied food aid during COVID-19 pandemic Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As the world goes through food security and financial crises due to the coronavirus pandemic, disadvantaged Christian communities in Asia, especially in Vietnam and Pakistan, are being hit the hardest as government and aid agencies discriminate against them due to their faith, according to reports. In the communist country of Vietnam in Southeast Asia, the government is denying food aid to more than 100 Christians, including children and the elderly, according to Open Doors, a ministry to persecuted Christians worldwide. You are Christians and your God shall take care of your family! authorities told 18 Christian families, comprising 107 people, in north Vietnam. The government is not responsible for your families! A local partner of Open Doors, which was not identified due to security reasons, said, They strive to put food on their tables, and they consume their rice little by little every day. When they learned that the governments support was coming to their district, they were so happy only to find out that they were not on the list because they are Christians. Christians often face ostracism, threats, torture and prison sentences in Vietnam, whose atheist government doesnt tolerate any faith or ideology other than communism. Vietnams communist regime, which requires its officials to use a secret 600-page manual to repress religion, fears Christianity, which involves building a community of believers and promotes respect for human dignity. The government views citizens freedom to form associations as a threat to its power, according to the International Federation for Human Rights. Vietnam ranks as the 21st worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. Estimates indicate that approximately 80 percent of the countrys Christians belong to the countrys ethnic minorities, like the Hmong, and face social exclusion, discrimination and attacks. Ethnic minority Christian children are discriminated against in schools; their medical needs also are often neglected. Some are not even allowed to attend school at all, according to Open Doors. In Pakistan, Muslim charities are excluding Christians from their distribution of food aid and emergency, according to Vatican News, which cited the international Catholic charity and foundation Aid to the Church in Need. ACN International Executive President Thomas Heine-Geldern said that many Christians earn the lowest wages, working as daily-wage laborers, domestic servants, cleaners, or kitchen staff. All these areas of employment are precisely the ones that have been most impacted by the economic shutdown, he said after being briefed by Cecil Shane Chaudhry, executive director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops Conference. Many Christian employees have been dismissed without notice by families for whom they have worked for years, Heine-Geldern added. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also took note of discrimination in aid distribution in Pakistan. As COVID19 continues to spread, vulnerable communities within Pakistan are fighting hunger and to keep their families safe and healthy. Food aid must not be denied because of ones faith, Anurima Bhargava, a USCIRF commissioner said. Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List ranks Pakistan as the fifth worst nation in the world in persecuting Christians. Although there have been no major bombing attacks against church buildings in the 2020 World Watch List reporting period, dozens of smaller everyday attacks against churches and cemeteries occur, the ministry says. Christians are often targeted both by Pakistans blasphemy laws meant to protect Islamic sensitivities and by hardliners who carry out violence and have killed scores of believers in the past several years. By Musheera Ashraf, TwoCircles.net Malegaon: Highlighting the crisis faced by healthcare workers in Malegaon to fight rising COVID-19 deaths, Feroz Dilawar, a member of taskforce created to combat COVID-19, said that, due to lack of staff our volunteers carried the dead bodies of corona patients on shoulders and then drove them to the graveyard. Support TwoCircles Feroz has been part of Taskforce for COVID-19 from day one. It was Dr Saeed Farani who came up with the idea of the Task Force to help the people of Malegaon as the situation was getting worse, he said. According to the latest information shared by the Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra has recorded 59,546 cases of Coronavirus, in which 18,616 people have been cured and discharged so far and 1982 people have died. The administration claimed that they have been planning to gear up with the situation but as per taskforce members, there has been no such implementation on the ground. The task force consists of students and all other common people from different areas. We made team leaders for better management, Feroz told TwoCircles.net. Feroz said that the stigma attached to coronavirus is making doctors wary of going near the patients. The doctors fear to go near the patients. They throw the medicine towards the patient, he said, adding, When doctors are in such fear, how can we expect proper cleanliness and sanitation. The sweepers also fear going inside wards. While the states population density is about 465 per square km. Malegaon has a population density of 19000 per square kilometre. Sixty percent of Malegaons population lives in slums, where social distancing cannot be successful. Another task force member Mubasshir Mushtaq said that, it was to effectively deal with the situation in collaboration with the local administration and to create awareness among the people that the Task Force came into existence. Mushtaq said that the situation was such that the doctors and patients didnt have drinking water. Jeevan Hospital in Malegaon which was being used as a warehouse earlier was turned into a dedicated COVID hospital. The hospital, however, had no central oxygen line. The volunteers from the Task Force went inside the COVID ward and repaired the cylinders, Mushtaq said. Feroz said that the Taskforce came into being on 11 April 2020. Many people who initially joined the Taskforce left because the situation was scary as they would witness 5-6 people dying every day in front of them, he said. Feroz said that it was the responsibility of the administration to provide facilities but they failed miserably. The administration even failed to provide us with sanitizers. They kept on saying that they will but they didnt, Feroz adds. Feroz said that the motive of the doctors and the task force was to work for the welfare of common people. We could provide them with care and help which the administration was failing to provide them, he said, adding that, in Malegaon, people were dying of fear rather than the virus. The staff is not willing to work under such critical conditions. We proposed to the commissioner that we will have a register of all patients and we will have a helpline number that will help the patients inside the hospitals to connect to us regarding the problems they faced, he said, adding, but the administration failed to support the task force in providing better facilities which however could have reduced the panic among people. While the planning and meetings go on as per schedule, the officers and government are not working on the ground to the extent they should, laments Feroz. Police also didnt cooperate with us. We didnt get the kind of support we should have got from the government and administration, he said. Feroz said that the reason for this management is the lack of coordination between the administration and healthcare workers. Dr. Bertram S. Brown, a psychiatrist who figured prominently in federal efforts to re-envision public programs to deal with mental health and intellectual disabilities in the 1960s and 70s, died on May 14 in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. He was 89. The cause was cardiovascular disease, his daughter Wendy Brown-Blau said. A Brooklyn native who was trained as a classical pianist even as he envisioned a career in medicine, Dr. Brown joined the National Institute of Mental Health in 1960 and directed the agency from 1970 to 1977. In a government career that spanned five presidential administrations, he helped expand drug abuse treatment programs and worked with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to provide psychiatric services to inmates. Dr. Brown was a foe of radical psychosurgery on patients who were confined involuntarily. In the mid-1960s, as head of the Institutes Community Mental Health Facilities Branch, he was hailed by mental health reformers for administering federal support for deinstitutionalization the discharging of patients from mind-numbing custodial care in warehouselike state-run hospitals to treatment in more humane group homes in their own communities. Australia will pledge A$300 million ($207 million) to provide vaccines to children in the Indo-Pacific region at a Global Vaccine Summit on Thursday, its foreign minister said on the eve of the virtual meeting. Immunisation saves lives, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said in a statement. The COVID-19 pandemic has served as yet another reminder that investing in vaccine access is critical to regional health security. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will make the pledge at the virtual summit hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to raise funds for the GAVI vaccine alliance, a public-private global health partnership. GAVI is backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, and arranges bulk buys to reduce vaccine costs for poor countries. The summit aims to raise at least $7.4 billion for GAVI to immunise 300 million children in the worlds poorest countries by 2025 against diseases such as polio, diphtheria and measles. Australias funding commitment will help to ensure that GAVI maintains a strong focus in the Indo-Pacific region, Payne said. GAVI will spend $800 million over five years providing access to vaccines for 140 million children in the Indo-Pacific. Under the program, 4 million children in Indonesia will access pneumococcal vaccines at a quarter of the commercial cost, and 400,000 children in Papua New Guinea will access vaccines under the program, Payne said. GAVI will provide $200 million to continue immunisation programs where possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will later organise catch-up immunisation campaigns. Alex Hawke, Australias Minister for International Development and the Pacific, said more than 1.5 million children in the Pacific and Timor-Leste had previously been vaccinated under the program. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Protesters in Paris. Photo: Julien Benjamin Guillaume Mattia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images For over a week, protesters railing against the American culture of police brutality have filled the streets of U.S. cities from the thousands demonstrating in Minneapolis, home to George Floyd, and Louisville, home to Breonna Taylor, to the hundreds, or in some cases, dozens, in rural towns across the country. In the past few days though, protests against state-sanctioned violence have gone global. The names of black Americans who have died at the hands of police or white vigilantes have been invoked in Europe, Africa, South America, and Australia, where protesters are standing in solidarity with those in the U.S. and raising issues about police brutality in their own countries. Here are some of the places protests have cropped up: Australia Demonstrators in Perth and Sydney have protested this week and plan to continue into the weekend, when Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne will also hold rallies. These events are about more than solidarity with the U.S. though. Organizers are also fighting against disproportionate police violence against indigenous peoples. Brazil Protesters emboldened by demonstrations in the U.S. rallied against their own countrys issues in Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba this week. Both protests against police violence were met with police violence, which should come as little surprise. In 2019, police in Rio set a record by killing 1,810 people an average of 5 per day. Greece The U.S. Embassy in Athens was the site of an intense fight between demonstrators and police Wednesday. On one side, demonstrators held Black Lives Matter banners and threw molotov cocktails. On the other, police in riot gear shot tear gas. Protesters in Athens. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images France Last week, as protests against Floyds killing spread across the U.S., French medical officials cleared three police officers in the killing of Adama Traore, whose 2016 death in police custody sparked protests at the time. On Tuesday, those protests returned, with thousands of Parisians demanding justice for both Traore and Floyd. The crowd of 20,000 gathered in defiance of the police who banned the protest due to coronavirus concerns. Ireland The turnout at a protest Monday organized by Black Lives Matter Dublin surprised both police and organizers, with so many descending on the U.S. Embassy that social distancing became impossible. In response, police have launched an investigation of organizers, who have canceled plans for a follow-up protest. MASSIVE turnout to Dublins #BlackLivesMatter protest. Biggest demonstration Ive seen in the capital in years pic.twitter.com/qPae7GhaEb Sorcha Pollak (@SorchaPollak) June 1, 2020 Kenya The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi saw a few dozen protesters Tuesday calling for the embassy to do more to support demonstrators in the U.S. You are complicit, the protesters said in a statement. They also criticized law enforcement in their own country for extrajudicial killings and use of unnecessary force when enforcing COVID-19 rules. Scene this morning @ US Embassy Nairobi. Show of global solidarity w/ brothers sisters family&friends in USA which evolved into a protest against police brutality in the U.S. & Kenya. It was peaceful as you see protesters "taking a knee." pic.twitter.com/yeIJ375E5H Meredith Beal (@MeredithCBeal) June 2, 2020 The Netherlands Thousands came together in Dam Square in solidarity with U.S. protesters this week, but they also had a cause of their own. France 24 reports that some of the organizers aim to stop the Dutch Christmas tradition of Black Pete one of Santas helpers who is dressed in blackface. New Zealand Roughly 2,000 protesters marched to the U.S. Embassy in Auckland to protest racism and police brutality on Monday. One local outlet reported that the crowd included Samoan and Tongan flags, as many Pacific Islanders marched in solidarity. The Black Lives Matter movement really resonates with us in New Zealand as Pasifika people because we connect with their struggle, lawyer and union organizer Lisa Meto Fox told NZME. Our histories are different but the fundamental experience of systemic racism is the same. So incredibly proud to see thousands of Pasifika youth turn out today (in Auckland New Zealand) to show solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter. We heard your call and we see your struggle! pic.twitter.com/Y4M2uH13V0 Lisa Meto Fox (@lisametofox) June 1, 2020 South Africa Protesters outside of parliament in Johannesburg Wednesday yelled names and slogans that would sound familiar to anyone whos attended a protest in the U.S. But they also demonstrated on behalf of Collins Khosa, a 40-year-old who was beaten to death by soldiers enforcing quarantine measures. Sweden A public square in the heart of Stockholm swelled with protesters Wednesday, leading officials to revoke a permit because the crowd grew too large. Eventually, according to demonstrators, police broke out tear gas to disperse the group. Protesters in Stockholm. Photo: Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images Turkey Around 50 bold protesters in Turkey, where people can be imprisoned just for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, demonstrated against police brutality in the U.S. and their own country this week. According to VOA News, clashes between police and protesters began minutes after the protests. United Kingdom Protests in the U.K. have taken place in Liverpool, Manchester, and London, where thousands gathered Wednesday in Hyde Park chanting slogans such as I cant breathe. Actor John Boyega was among the protesters. At one point he spoke to the crowd through a megaphone. Black lives have always mattered, he said. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I aint waiting. I aint waiting. Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I aint waiting, @johnboyega just told #BlackLivesMatter protesters in Londons Hyde Park pic.twitter.com/P49cbwIp6P Haley Ott (@haleyjoelleott) June 3, 2020 Due to COVID-19 one of the worst affected are freelancers working outdoors in the creative field of photography, event management, tour operating, etc. Its been more than a year wherein the regular source of income for them has freeze. Mumbai-based Vishal Desai, 30, worked as a freelance cinematographer who took up video shooting assignments for movies and advertisement commercials. All the assignments got cancelled indefinitely as the country went into lockdown from March 25. Even a compensation of Rs 3 lakh from his previous assignments has been stuck. Last two months were rough. These days, I am largely reliant upon my savings and struggling to pay recurring utility bills, he lamented over a phone call. He is not hopeful of resuming his assignments until the end of this year. Vishals case is not unique. In a global survey of 1,000 freelancers published in May 2020, Payoneer a cross-border payment platform connecting freelancers and companies found that 32 percent of freelancers experienced a decrease in demand for their services during the pandemic. The report further stated that, at present, in India 75 per cent of the freelancers are millennial and Generation Z category i.e. under 30 years of age. So, the young freelancing population of India is going to face a severe impact on their financials and monthly cash-flows. Here are some steps that you need to take for your financial well-being against the uncertainties lying ahead caused by the global pandemic. Look for alternate sources of income opportunities Try and be flexible. You have a talent, you have skills, but is there any other way that you can showcase them? Look for alternate income opportunities in your area of expertise. Ahmedabad-based Manoj Bindra, 34, organised tours on a freelance basis for corporates and families. Organising tours amid the lockdown is out of the question. Besides, many of his clients are struggling to survive, and so, organising trips even after the lockdown lifts is almost ruled out. But Manoj quickly realised that if he cannot take people out to new destinations, he could bring those destinations to his drawing rooms. He started hosting interactive webinars over Zoom on stuff like how to prepare for Himalayan treks, do-it-yourself mountaineering adventures within a budget, and so on. He started charging a small fee and adventure enthusiasts were only too happy to log on. His webinars got an overwhelming response, his days got busier and his income kick-started. Well, perhaps not as much as he used to earn before, but good enough to get by, said Manoj. He now plans to continue hosting webinars after the lockdown lifts and life gets back to normal. Saurav Basu, Head of Wealth Management at Tata Capital says, This is the time to diversify the source of income and make your portfolio attractive to earn lucrative assignments when the economy recovers. Each project/assignment should help sharpen your skills and add value to your work. Assess your old clients; search for new You may have been working with a set of clients for many years, but that could change, going forward. A pandemic such as this one forces companies to change their business models. Those that are frugal and cost-conscious are likely to survive and new business models emerge. For instance, freelance writers who earlier used to write for print publications may well need to adapt to digital content providers, since news is largely consumed online- and largely on your mobile phones- these days. In short; youve got to keep looking. Nearly 70 per cent of Vishals income comes from his assignments in the hospitality and tourism industry, two of the worst-hit sectors by COVID-19 pandemic. Rohit Kulkarni, Vice President at Payoneer India says, Focus your energy on sectors that are steady and lucrative going forward. Zero in on clients in a particular sector that have been less affected by the economic downturn. Over the last month, Vishal evaluated the scope for new advertising assignments in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors for six to nine months. He now uses free time to build a network with prospective clients in these sectors using social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Kulkarni advises, Be creative and learn new skills for prospective clients in your ideal time. Set competitive price and offer value-added service If you are new to the freelancing circuit, a bit of competitive pricing helps. And a bit more adaptable as well. For instance, digital publications track the queries that get asked on search engines and customise content around that. In addition to the sort of writing that you specialise in, such customisation may also be required. But experts like Rituparna Chakraborty, EVP and Co-Founder, TeamLease Services say that seasoned freelancers giving online service actually score big during crisis situation despite pressure on costs in many businesses. As for their fees they offer higher predictability and quality and hence may remain unaffected amidst the chaos, said Rituparna Chakraborty, EVP and Co-Founder, TeamLease Services. New freelancers, however, must invest some time in building credibility and track record on deliveries and timeliness, she added. If that gets repetitively established through multiple assignments you have the ability to price according to your skills. Be frugal in expenses and maintain budget We cannot emphasise on this enough. Build an emergency corpus, if you dont have one already. An emergency corpus is meant to take care of your contingencies, your non-discretionary expenses, when you are out of a job or unemployed. Cut down on your expenses, Avoid taking any loans. Its important to maintain a stringent record of all essential expenses. Be disciplined with your budget and ensure that every penny spent is for a genuine reason, Basu said. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) induced 6-month moratorium for borrowers has come as a relief to Vishal who is busy paying his equated monthly instalment (EMI) for car loan of Rs 10 lakh. Use the moratorium if you are facing a cash crunch, but continue paying your EMIs if you can. Mrin Agarwal, financial educator and founder of Finsafe India says, To get back to repayment, be on a stringent budget and cut down unnecessary expenses. Also, any surplus funds from freelancing assignments should be used to pay off the loans. Check your existing portfolio to see if you can generate cash by selling dud insurance policies or investments. Buy term and health covers An independent health cover is a must. Salaried employees at least have the benefit of office-provided health insurance benefits, but freelancers dont get any such benefits. Have a health cover not just for you, but for your entire family. Abhishek Bondia, the co-founder and principal officer of SecureNow says, The amount of health cover for the family should be equal to one year of annual income. For a term plan, taking ten times the annual income from freelancing is recommended. Apart from health insurance, a critical illness insurance plan is also vital. Moneycontrol take In all this money management, do not lose your love for your work. Remember why you took to freelancing? Maybe you found a 9-to-5 job routine boring or perhaps, though it to be a deterrent to your freedom and creativity. Searching for new assignments is always time-consuming and it will always be a pain to run after your payments. The COVID-19 pandemic is bound to put your resilience to test, but it also gives you a chance to adapt to newer ways to showcase your skills and better than that, upgrade your skills. Be canny. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 5) The House of Representatives on Thursday approved on final reading the bill that mandates polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing among vulnerable members of the society. 240 congressmen voted to pass House Bill No. 6865, while only one objected it. There were no abstentions. The bill, entitled as the Crushing COVID-19 Act, seeks to contain and control the spread of COVID-19 by mandating pooled baseline PCR testing to the vulnerable sector as a way to slow down the virus infections and fatalities in the country. In an interview with CNN Philippines last June 2, the bills principal author Iloilo first district Rep. and former Health Secretary Janette Garin said the proposal promotes cost-efficiency and can accelerate the testing and isolation protocols of the country. "We still swab the vulnerable asymptomatics, pool their samples into 10, test them as one, and the results will actually be less kits being utilized, maximizing government resources, early test results, and most importantly, early isolation," said Garin. As defined in the proposed measure, pooled baseline PCR testing is the individual collection of nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal swabs from vulnerable asymptomatic persons which are subsequently grouped into 10 or five samples mixed from which mixture an aliquot is taken and tested using baseline PCR testing. Listed in the bill as mandated persons to undergo the pooled baseline PCR testing are patients or healthcare workers with severe or critical and mild symptoms for COVID-19 and those who have no symptoms but with relevant travel history or contact. Patients or healthcare workers, deemed to be high-risk due to their exposure, may be tested individually. Also included in the list that will undergo PCR testing under the bill are personnel manning temporary treatment and quarantine facilities, quarantine control points, National and Regional Local Risk Reduction and Management Teams, and Barangay Health Emergency Response Team. Persons with co-morbidities and other health risks and those entering the Philippine territory coming from other countries, workers who are holders of quarantine passes who do most of errands for the their families during quarantine, and patients required by their physicians to submit to testing should also undergo baseline PCR testing. Other identified groups that need to undergo baseline PCR testing are sales personnel in public markets, groceries and supermarkets, food handlers, factory workers, construction workers, security guards, public utility vehicles drivers, bank and transfer fund facilities personnel, laundry shop workers, house helpers, caregivers, pregnant women, embalmers, wellness and salon workers, uniformed personnel, media personnel, barangay health workers, and family members whose household has a dweller who went abroad from December 2019 until present. Under the bill, COVID-19 testing centers should allocate a percentage of their daily testing capacity to the members of vulnerable sector as identified above. The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. must cover the full cost of testing, including the cost of services of the pathologist, laboratory specialist and other staff. The measure also mandates the protocols and algorithm for the testing should be done in consultation and coordination with the Philippine Society of Pathologists and the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists. The Crushing COVID-19 bill needs to have its counterpart version in the Senate for it to reach the Presidents table and be signed it into a law. Yesterday, COVID-19 Response Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said asymptomatic patients may now be included in testing as the countrys testing capacity increased to 41,900. The country now has 52 licensed testing laboratories, 33 of which are government-owned, while 19 are from the private sector, he added. However, the Department of Health previously said that it is not cost-efficient to test asymptomatic cases due to the governments limited resources in COVID-19 testing efforts. To date, the country now has confirmed 20,382 COVID-19 cases along with 984 deaths and 4,248 recoveries. At the same time, 8 other spirits products from Shede Spirits were granted two-star or one-star Superior Taste Awards. This is the "grand slam" in the sector of Chinese spirits tasting, as well as a new ITI record, as this was the first time that a Chinese spirits brand won the three-star Superior Taste Award. "Nature is the best distiller and time is the best bartender." Inspired by this idea, Shede's spirits boast an exceptional aged flavor and have become the symbol of high-end Chinese spirits. Chinese spirits enjoy a long history yet are rarely seen in the West. The official recognition Shede Spirits, a Chinese brand, received will surely bring more Chinese spirits to the world stage. SOURCE Shede Spirits By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 22 times, Trend reports on June 4 referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Rev. Dr. Frederick Murph Passes, Homegoing Service Set The Los Angeles faith community bid farewell to the Rev. Dr. Frederick Ormonde Murph on June 2. A dedicated minister who served in California for decades, he was well known in the Los Angeles-area as the pastor of Brookins Community AME Church from 1996 to 2008. Dr. Murph passed from a non-COVID related illness at the age of 67. A celebration of his life is scheduled for Thursday, June 18, at Greater Bethel Cathedral, 4831 S. Gramercy Place in Los Angeles. A viewing will take place from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and the service will start at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrances and expressions of love be forwarded to the Rev. Dr. Frederick O. Murph Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 14217, Irvine, CA 92623-9998 ADVERTISEMENT Most recently, Dr. Murph served as pastor of New Vision Ministries, a fellowship that he founded in 2010. He was also the author of The Power of Spiritual Thought, which was published in 2009. During his tenure at Brookins, Dr. Murph led the congregation in renovating the main church building, installing a state-of-the-art sound system in the main sanctuary and rehabilitating three church-owned properties. He also founded the Vernon R. Byrd Child Development Center and established an after-school mentoring program. In addition, he was a community activist who collaborated with local, state and national politicians to develop outreach and educational programs to benefit South L.A. residents. Also under Dr. Murphs leadership, Brookins organized the inaugural City of Los Angeles African American Heritage Month Worship Service in 2005 during the administration of then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. For the next three years, he collaborated with the city to host the kick-off service, which featured participation by elected officials, civic leaders and noted individuals such as former President William Bill Clinton in 2008. From 1986 to 1996, he served as pastor of First AME Church in Oakland, California where he oversaw the renovation of the edifice following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Prior to First AME, he was the pastor of St. Stephen AME Church in Essex, Maryland. Dr. Murph received his Bachelors degree from American University in Washington, DC, his Master of Divinity degree from Howard University School of Divinity, and his doctorate degree from Liberia University. He continued to supplement his knowledge by completing several post-graduate courses in theology at various colleges in Southern California. His parents, Bishop Henry and Supervisor Geraldine Murph; and his brother, Henry Murph, Jr, preceded him in death. Cherishing his memory are his sister, Jackie Taylor-Hadjis; brother, Ronald Weston Murph; niece, Jenelle Murph Davis; nephew, Romalis Taylor III; and many other relatives and friends. At the airport Rostock-Laage there are new Airbus aircraft of the type A320, which have been produced for the Chinese market but cannot be delivered at present due to the corona crisis. Nine aircraft are already on the runway, 15 are to be delivered. Regular flight operations at the airport have been suspended. China's aviation authority said Thursday that it would allow foreign airlines to increase flights between the country and other regions from June 8. The online statement came about 12 hours after President Donald Trump's administration issued an order to suspend Chinese passenger airlines from flying to the U.S. beginning June 16, with the option to take effect earlier. The Civil Aviation Administration of China did not directly refer to the U.S. actions in its statement. The new Chinese policy would allow all foreign airlines to choose from a list of approved cities to operate one international passenger flight a week. If a flight's passengers test negative for the virus for three consecutive weeks, the airline will be able to add one additional fight per week, the aviation authority said. If five or more passengers test positive for the virus, the airline must suspend the flight for a week, according to the statement. United and Delta have been eager to resume flights to China, which they suspended earlier this year after demand plunged because of the coronavirus. Flights to China that operate just once a week pose challenges because of the associated costs, such as accommodating crews, two U.S. airline officials told CNBC. A Delta spokeswoman said the carrier was reviewing the order, declining further comment. United did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Department of Transportation didn't immediately comment. China's aviation authority did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment about the U.S. order. But in a notice on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China named 37 port cities in the country that foreign airlines can fly to and from. They included major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu. According to the latest surveys by Russian Levada-center, the rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin has dropped to a new low over the past four years. Only 25% of Russians expressed confidence in their leader. This seems to be a serious signal. Should Putin really worry about his career? After all, the main question is whether those 75% of the Russians who harbor no trust in their president's policies are ready to rally on Red Square. But will they force the Kremlin's master to step down? Probably, not. The main tool of Putins rating increase has always been propaganda None of mass protests held in Moscow and other Russian cities that we saw earlier have resulted in any serious changes in the political scheme of Russia's political elite. Putin was still winning popular votes. Moreover, every time when the Russian president's rating fell, stories appeared in media space about either the Russian military success in some regional hot spots or a worldwide conspiracy broiling against the Russians. Thus, the main tool of Putin's rating boost has always been propaganda, which has long proved its effectiveness both within the Russian Federation and beyond. "Television war" does not need reality; it creates it. Moreover, in some cases, it surpasses reality, becoming more real than the reality itself. And propaganda works easy enough: it chooses the necessary facts, deprives them of the real context, and gives them the context needed for a "customer." Separately, it should be mentioned, the information campaign on enhancing the role and importance of the Russian president, as a rule, targets the international arena. Indeed, the "empire" lives by "conquering" new territories. In turn, this conquering does not always happen with the help of troops. Sometimes it is enough to apply the information impact. The Kremlin's ideology, especially at the macro level, is the "Russian world" as the base of the post-imperial country program. To implement this "idea" successfully, it is necessary to have a strong regime that will be able to bring this "project" to life. Unfortunately, in Ukraine, information flows often affect us. Therefore, we immediately suggest Vladimir Putin's rating drop means imminent overthrow of his regime or live a dream of seeing him step down under pressure of guilty conscience. But, actually, none of this has anything to do with reality. Putin is not planning to go anywhere; he is striving for absolute power As is known, through passing changes in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Kremlin's master is set to stay in power for life. Moreover, this sparked no mass protests whatsoever. So the "low ratings" that have been published are also unlikely to take people to the streets demanding resignation of the Russian president. We should remember that living a life of illusions is a costly endeavor as it distracts our people frrom our own country's problems. Taras Semeniuk, KyivStratPro The former head of Ferrari in Australasia has been accused of trying to talk a subordinate into having an abortion after learning she had become pregnant during their office relationship. Herbert Appleroth, who was ousted as the boss of the luxury carmaker last November and is an heir to the Aeroplane Jelly fortune, launched a case for unlawful dismissal in the Federal Court against his former employer, seeking nearly $1 million in lost salary plus performance shares. Former Ferrari Australia CEO Herbert Appleroth. Credit:Eamon Gallagher He quickly abandoned the case and sought an order making the court file confidential, fearing embarrassment to himself and his family. But court documents released to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age late on Thursday reveal how the consensual office relationship, which ran from 2016 to 2017 and bore Mr Appleroth a son in 2018, quickly soured when the woman who cannot be named for legal reasons became pregnant. The government has earlier formed a committee to fix the rates for those hospitals that had been approved for providing treatment to patients under the insurance scheme. According to an announcement made by State Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, the package rate for Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, and who are receiving treatment in general wards has been fixed at Rs 5,000 per day ... 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 head of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, said on Thursday that his forces were "determined" to take over the entire country from his rival, military commander Khalifa Haftar. "Our fight continues and we are determined to defeat the enemy, impose state control on the whole of the homeland and destroy all those who jeopardise the construction of a civil, democratic and modern state," Sarraj said in Ankara after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his main supporter. Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) claimed Thursday it was back in full control of the capital and its suburbs after more than a year of fighting off an offensive by Libya's National Army (LNA) commander Haftar. The oil-rich country has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. Libya has since split between the rival administrations in the east and the west. Haftar is supported by neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as well as Russia. Turkey began providing military support to Government of National Accord (GNA) lead by al Serraj, in November after signing a military cooperation pact alongside a maritime demarcation deal, which gives Ankara exploration rights in the Mediterranean that Greece and others reject. GNA forces, boosted by Turkish drones and air defences, have made a string of gains from Haftar's forces in recent months. The United Nations has urged outside powers to respect a deal reached at a January conference in Berlin, ending foreign meddling and upholding a much-violated arms embargo. While a January truce brokered by Turkey and Russia has been repeatedly violated, the UN said talks on a ceasefire resumed Wednesday, welcoming it as a "positive" first step. In Ankara, Sarraj said: "We will always stay loyal to the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifices of our heroes, hence our decision not to sit at the table with the war criminal (Haftar) because he has never been a partner in the political process." He also urged countries backing Haftar to stop doing so. "Your bet has failed and we will sue you after you have tasted defeat at the doors of Tripoli. Leave us alone." * This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: Nirupama Viswanathan By Express News Service CHENNAI: When 63-year-old Mani* tested positive last Sunday, he had to grapple in the dark for almost four hours. Alone. Not knowing when he would be shifted to a hospital. Around 3.30 pm, civic body staff arrived and shifted almost everyone out of that apartment where Mani lived, including his family, but left him behind. Left without food or information about his admission, Mani, a diabetic, stepped out of his home to find something to eat. Seeing a COVID-19 positive patient roaming the street shocked his neighbours. The test result came on Sunday morning, says Manis son Shankar*. By 3.30 pm, the staff arrived and moved us out to a quarantine facility at the Guru Nanak College in Velachery. My father, who has kidney ailments and diabetes, was left alone at home. It was 7.30 pm and Mani had no idea if he would be taken to a hospital or given any food. I could feel the blood sugar levels dipping, he says, explaining why he had to step out of his home. When the family found out that Mani had ventured out of home in search of food, they alerted a local activist who, in turn, called up a senior corporation official. The official immediately made arrangements for Mani to be taken to the Omandurar hospital. They never went back to check on him, fumes Shankar. Statistics have shown that 73 per cent of people who died in India of COVID-19 had co-morbid conditions diabetes, hypertension, renal or cardiac ailments like Mani did. Luckily for Mani, his condition is now stable. I got yelled I returned home after I got yelled at by my neighbours, says Mani, speaking to Express from the hospital. Later, my elder brother who lives nearby sent me food. I didnt know if they were coming back for me. It had been 3-4 hours since my family had left. It was also getting dark. I thought, maybe, they would return only the next day. We were told that he will be taken to the hospital soon after we left. But, we called him hours later found out that he was still at home, says Shankar. On Tuesday morning, even the hospital staff asked my dad if he wants to go home and quarantine himself there. He told them it was not possible as he was all alone. Then they let him stay. A senior Corporation official said he would look into the issue. Another official of the South region said that the man was taken to the hospital by around 8 pm, four hours after the family was taken for quarantine. I got a call from the said activist and we immediately arranged for food and also for the man to be transported to the hospital, the official said. (* Names changed) A West Virginia woman and her husband allegedly faked her disappearance by pretending she plummeted from a cliff so that she could avoid jail time. On Sunday, Rodney Wheeler, 48, reported that his wife Julie Wheeler, 43, had fallen from an overlook at New River Gorge while they were out hiking together in Grandview State Park. Authorities immediately launched a large-scale search for the missing mom-of-two. , with a National Guard helicopter deployed to scour the area and a diving crew dispatched to search waters in the gorge. Investigators also brought in sniffer dogs, while abseilers were seen scaling the side of the cliff from which Julie purportedly plummeted. But on Tuesday, Julie was discovered hiding in a closet at her home in Beaver by state police who had called around to pick up items pertaining to their search. Authorities now believe Julie and Rodney concocted her 'disappearance' so that she would avoid upcoming jail time which she is due to serve. Back in February, Julie plead guilty to healthcare fraud and was due to be sentenced on June 17. She is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for that offense. Julie Wheeler (left) and her husband, Rodney (right), allegedly faked her disappearance by pretending she plummeted off a cliff so that she could avoid jail time. The pair were arrested and charged on Wednesday Authorities immediately launched a large-scale search for the missing mom-of-two in Grandview State Park An abseiler was seen scaling the side of the cliff from which Julie purportedly plummeted On Sunday, Rodney and his 17-year-old son allegedly planted several of Julie's items near the cliff to make it look like she had fallen over the edge. Rodney reportedly told police Julie had toppled from the cliff while trying to search for a missing earring. He took to Facebook on Monday, writing: 'The accident at Grandview yesterday involved my wife. They haven't found her yet, but I am holding out hope that she will be found and she is OK. I am heartbroken and lost right now, but I have to have faith. Please give us time to work through this, and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.' Rescue crews scoured the area on both Sunday and Monday before suspending the search shortly before she was found cowering in the cupboard at home. Search crews in a National Guard helicopter are seen scouring the area where Julie 'disappeared'. All the while, she was actually hiding in a closet at her home Rodney told police Julie had toppled from the cliff while trying to search for a missing earring. He searched a post asking people to 'pray' that she would be found. In reality, Julie was holed up inside her home Police believed Rodney and his 17-year-old son planted items around the cliff in Grandview State Park to make it appear as if Julie had fallen Last year, Julie was charged with 'submitting fraudulent applications to the Veteran's Administration while serving as caretaker for an individual with Spina Bifida', according to The Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Investigators asserted that Julie had dishonestly told that VA that she had provided care for the unidentified individual every day for 18 months. She reportedly received a daily rate of $736 for providing that care. After pleading guilty in February, Julie was released pending her sentencing. In addition to the prospect of a decade behind bars, Julie has been ordered to pay restitution of up to $469,000. Julie Wheeler was pictured being taken into custody on Tuesday. She now faces new charges on top of a potential 10-year jail sentence for healthcare fraud Her 'disappearance' would have meant she would have avoided that hefty sum, her $250,000 fine and any jail time. Now, however, she and her husband are behind bars because of their bogus 'missing person' scheme. The couple have been charged with fraudulent schemes, conspiracy, willful disruption of a governmental process and obstructing an officer, among other offences. They are both being held on a $100,000 bond. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 09:31 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbffcdb 4 News Sabang,COVID-19,aceh,coronavirus,tourist-destination,#COVID19,#coronavirus Free The administration of Sabang city in Aceh has allowed water transportation and tourist destinations to start operations again, subject to several requirements. Bahru Fikri, the administrations general affairs and public relations head, said the decision was based on a circular issued by Sabangs deputy mayor on the regulation of transportation and tourist activities related to the citys COVID-19 mitigation. Bahru added that the citys residents should undergo a medical check-up at the port before traveling from Sabang. Those who live outside Sabang are required to bring health letters from hospitals, community health centers (Puskesmas) or other health authorities. People from outside of Aceh with a travel history to regions where local transmission occurred have to bring COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results attesting to their negative status. Read also: Documents to prepare before flying during travel restrictions Additionally, civil servants, Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel and National Police officers working in Sabang should bring work identification letters (surat identitas bekerja) from their institutions. The same policy applies to private-sector workers and employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and region-owned enterprises who work in Sabang. Round trip fast boats and RoRo [roll-on-roll-off] ferries operate once daily and limit the number of passengers on board to 50 percent of the maximum capacity, Bahru told kompas.com. We also enforce health protocols. Tourist destinations in Sabang have taken preventive measures, such as requiring people to wear face masks, providing public handwashing facilities and temperature guns. The same preventive measures are applied at Sabang hotels, along with daily disinfection. (wir/wng) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, June 5 2020 Indonesia has rejected China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea, following in the footsteps of its Southeast Asian neighbors, which have lodged similar concerns with the United Nations. In a letter sent to the UN secretary-general last week, Indonesia reiterated its long-standing position that it was not party to any territorial disputes in the South China Sea, while maintaining that Chinas historic claim to the sea clearly lacks international legal basis". Indonesia is the only nonclaimant state in Southeast Asia that sent such a letter of protest, although its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Natuna Sea is located adjacent to the highly disputed waters. 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 Banks chart plan to increase perpetual bond issues From:ChinaDaily | 2020-06-04 09:40 A growing number of Chinese banks, especially small and medium-sized commercial lenders, are issuing perpetual bonds to replenish capital as part of concerted efforts to increase lending to small businesses amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. A perpetual bond is a bond without a maturity date. The instruments are nonredeemable, but offer steady returns. During the first five months of this year, 14 banks issued perpetual bonds worth 282.9 billion yuan ($39.7 billion). Among them, 10 small and medium-sized commercial lenders, including Zhejiang Tailong Commercial Bank Co Ltd, Bank of Jiangsu Co Ltd and Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Co Ltd, issued 47.9 billion yuan of perpetual bonds, accounting for 17 percent of the total issuance volume, according to Wind, a financial data provider in China. Both the number of banks that issued perpetual bonds and the issuance volume increased significantly on a yearly basis. During the same period in 2019, Bank of China Ltd, a large State-owned commercial lender, and China Minsheng Banking Corp, a national joint-stock commercial lender, issued perpetual bonds of 40 billion yuan each. The coupon rates of five-year perpetual bonds issued by small and medium-sized banks ranged from 3.8 percent to 5.8 percent in the first five months of this year, while large State-owned commercial lenders issued such bonds at coupon rates as low as 3.4 percent. China will further promote the deepening of reforms for small and medium-sized banks and help accelerate capital replenishment and raising funds through multiple channels, the office of the financial stability and development committee under the State Council said on May 27. The scope of perpetual bond issuers has been expanding continuously. MYbank, a privately owned online-only bank, received approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission's Zhejiang office to issue up to 5 billion yuan of perpetual bonds, the office announced on May 20. It became the first private bank that has got the green light to issue perpetual bonds. Such bonds will provide banks with a source of long-term funds and support continuous expansion of their banking business. As some perpetual bonds can be recorded as equity instruments in accounting books, issuing this type of bonds will lower the leverage of small and medium-sized banks, said Wang Gang, research fellow with the Research Institute of Finance under the Development Research Center of the State Council, in an article published in China Finance on Monday. Compared with preferred shares, perpetual bonds have a lower cost of funds and a shorter issuance approval cycle. They are also better than tier-2 capital bonds, which have limited capabilities in improving the capital quality and optimizing the capital structure of small and medium-sized banks. Therefore, perpetual bonds are the best channel for unlisted small and medium-sized banks to replenish tier-1 capital, the primary funding source of banks, Wang said. To help small and medium-sized banks replenish capital through multiple channels and optimize their capital structure, China's top banking and insurance regulator said on May 27 it would relax rules for insurance funds to invest in banks' capital replenishment bonds. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission canceled requirements regarding issuer banks' assets and credit ratings, in addition to removing requirements that insurance funds only invest in tier-2 capital bonds with AAA credit ratings, and in perpetual bonds rated at least AA+. DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Long Steel Market by Process (Basic Oxygen Furnace, Electric Arc Furnace), Product Type (Rebar, Merchant Bar, Wire Rod, Rail) End-Use Industry (Construction, Infrastructure, Others), and Region (NA, Europe, APAC, MEA, SA) - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. In terms of value, the long steel market size is estimated to be USD 527.0 billion in 2020 and projected to reach USD 636.7billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2020 to 2025. Increasing construction and infrastructure activities, industrialization, and rising population levels are the major factors responsible for the growth of the long steel market. However, the recent outbreak of Covid-19 is expected to have a severe impact on the long steel market. Based on the process, the long steel market has been classified into basic oxygen furnace and electric arc furnace. The basic oxygen furnace segment is projected to account for the largest share of the market during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to its advantages. BOF is adopted by large players in the long steel market. Rebar is the dominant product type which is expected to drive the market. Based on product type, the long steel market has been classified into rebar, merchant bar, wire rod, rail, and others. Among these, the rebar is projected to account for the largest share of the market during the forecast period. Rebar is mainly used as a reinforcement in steel to increase its tensile strength. The infrastructure industry is the major consumer of the long steel market. Based on end-use industry, the market has been classified into construction, infrastructure, and others. Other industries include automotive, hardware manufacturing, and machinery. Among these, the infrastructure segment accounted for the largest share in the long steel market in 2019 and is also expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Growing infrastructure activities, coupled with increasing investments, is expected to drive the growth of the market. Investment in infrastructure includes highways, bridges, reservoirs, utilities, schools, airports, and stadiums. Asia Pacific is estimated to account for a major share of the market in 2020 and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Based on the region, the long steel market is segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America. Among these, Asia Pacific is estimated to account for the largest share of the long steel market in 2020 and is also expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth can be attributed to the presence of various global steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Tata Steel, and POSCO Steel in the region. These companies have production bases majorly in China and India, due to the availability of domestic labour and raw materials at low-cost. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Attractive Opportunities in Long Steel Market 4.2 Long Steel Market, by End-Use Industry 4.3 Long Steel Market, by Region 4.4 Long Steel Market, by Process & Country 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 Drivers 5.1.1.1 Rapid Rate of Urbanization 5.1.1.2 Increasing Investment in Infrastructural Activities 5.1.2 Restraints 5.1.2.1 Covid-19 Outbreak and Susceptibility of the Construction Industry 5.1.2.2 Volatile Prices of Raw Materials 5.1.3 Opportunities 5.1.3.1 Emergence of Value-Added Rebar Products 5.1.3.2 Increasing Capacity Utilization and Capacity Extension 5.1.4 Challenges 5.1.4.1 Global Situation of Overcapacity 5.1.5 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.1.5.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5.1.5.2 Threat of New Entrants 5.1.5.3 Threat of Substitutes 5.1.5.4 The Threat of Substitutes 5.1.5.5 Bargaining Power of Buyers 5.1.5.6 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 5.2 Macroeconomic Indicators (Covid-19) 5.2.1 Covid-19 5.2.2 Covid-19 Impact on Steel Industry 5.2.3 Conclusion 6 Long Steel Market, by Process 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Basic Oxygen Furnace 6.2.1 Bof is a Preferred Process Due to Its High Production Capabilities 6.3 Electric Arc Furnace 6.3.1 Government Mandates to Improve the Recyclability of Steel Scrap Drive the Demand for Eaf Process 7 Long Steel Market, by Product Type 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Rebar 7.2.1 Increasing Construction and Infrastructure Activities is One of the Major Driver Responsible for the Growth of the Rebar Segment 7.3 Wire Rod 7.3.1 Various Application Areas Across End-Use Industries is Expected to Drive the Wire Rod Segment 7.4 Merchant Bar 7.4.1 Use of Merchant Bars Improves the Overall Physical & Mechanical Properties and Dimensional Tolerances in Structures 7.5 Rail 7.5.1 Government Standards of Manufacturing Rail Steel Are Expected to Drive This Segment 7.6 Others 7.6.1 Wide Application Areas of Light and Heavy Sections Are Expected to Drive the Demand for Other Products 8 Long Steel Market, by End-Use Industry 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Infrastructure 8.2.1 Increasing Investments in Infrastructural Developments Expected to Fuel the Growth of the Infrastructure Segment 8.3 Construction 8.3.1 Rapid Urbanization is the Major Factor Responsible for the Growth of the Construction Segment 8.4 Others 8.4.1 Changing Demand Dynamics in the Automotive Industry and Rising Population Are Expected to Drive Other End-Use Industries 9 Regional Analysis 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Asia Pacific 9.2.1 China 9.2.1.1 Recent Outbreak of Covid-19 in China to Reduce the Demand for Long Steel in 2020 with Gradual Recovery Expected Post-2021 9.2.2 India 9.2.2.1 Growth in Construction Activities, Infrastructural Investments Are Expected to Drive Long Steel Market in India 9.2.3 Japan 9.2.3.1 Presence of Major Players and Increasing Investments Are Expected to Drive the Market for Long Steel in Japan 9.2.4 South Korea 9.2.4.1 High Construction Output and Economic Growth, Are Driving the Market for Long Steel in South Korea 9.2.5 Vietnam 9.2.5.1 Increasing Population and Government Policies Are Favoring the Growth of Long Steel Market in Vietnam 9.2.6 Rest of Asia Pacific 9.2.6.1 Increasing Investment and Industrialization Expected to Drive the Long Steel Market in Rest of Asia Pacific 9.3 Europe 9.3.1 Turkey 9.3.1.1 Large Manufacturing Capacity of Eaf Mills Coupled with Increasing Investments in the Construction Industry is Expected to Drive the Market 9.3.2 Russia 9.3.2.1 Long Steel Market in Russia is Driven by Government Initiatives and Growing Construction Industry 9.3.3 Germany 9.3.3.1 Increased Spending on Infrastructure Drive the Long Steel Market in Germany 9.3.4 Italy 9.3.4.1 Severity of Covid-19 Pandemic in Italy Hampered Economic Growth and is Expected T to Affect the Demand for Long Steel 9.3.5 Poland 9.3.5.1 Growth of the Construction Industry Expected to Fuel the Market in Poland 9.3.6 France 9.3.6.1 Government Initiatives Drive the Market for Long Steel France 9.3.7 UK 9.3.7.1 Infrastructural Development Activities, Coupled with Increasing Construction of Private Buildings Expected to Drive the Long Steel Market in the Uk 9.3.8 Rest of Europe 9.3.8.1 Booming Construction Industry Projected to Boost the Long Steel Market in Rest of Europe 9.4 North America 9.4.1 US 9.4.1.1 Growth in Non-Residential Construction Activities Projected to Create Demand for Long Steel in the Us 9.4.2 Mexico 9.4.2.1 Growth of Infrastructural Developments is Expected to Fuel the Long Steel Market in Mexico 9.4.3 Canada 9.4.3.1 Increasing Investments and Infrastructural Developments Are Expected to Drive the Market for Long Steel in Canada 9.5 Middle East & Africa 9.5.1 UAE 9.5.1.1 Investments from Government and the Increase in Construction Activities Expected to Drive the Demand for Long Steel in the Uae 9.5.2 Saudi Arabia 9.5.2.1 Ongoing Fiscal Policies Coupled with Flourishing Industrial Sector is Expected to Drive the Demand for Long Steel in Saudi Arabia 9.5.3 Iran 9.5.3.1 Increasing Investments and Favorable Government Policies Are Expected to Drive the Market in Iran 9.5.4 Egypt 9.5.4.1 Import Duty on Steel Products Will Foster Domestic Production of Long Steel in Egypt 9.5.5 Rest of Middle East & Africa 9.5.5.1 Increasing Population, Rising Income, Industrialization, and Urbanization Are Expected to Fuel the Market in Rest of Mea 9.6 South America 9.6.1 Brazil 9.6.1.1 Government Focus on Infrastructure Spending and Growth in Construction Activities Expected to Drive Long Steel Market in Brazil 9.6.2 Argentina 9.6.2.1 Foreign Investment in Construction and Infrastructure to Drive the Long Steel Market in Argentina 9.6.3 Rest of South America 9.6.3.1 Increasing Investments for Infrastructural Developments Expected to Drive Long Steel Market in Rest of South America 10 Competitive Landscape 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Competitive Leadership Mapping (Overall Market) 10.2.1 Visionary Leaders 10.2.2 Innovators 10.2.3 Dynamic Differentiators 10.2.4 Emerging Companies 10.3 Ranking of Key Market Players in the Long Steel Market 11 Company Profiles 11.1 Arcelormittal 11.2 Gerdau Sa 11.3 Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation 11.4 Posco 11.5 Nucor Corporation 11.6 China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited 11.7 Commercial Metals Company 11.8 Mechel Pao 11.9 Steel Dynamics, Inc. 11.10 Novolipetsk Steel (Nlmk) 11.11 Outokumpu Oyj 11.12 Acerinox S.A. 11.13 Tata Steel 11.14 Daido Steel 11.15 Shagang Group 11.16 Ansteel Group Corporation Limited 11.17 JFE Steel Corporation 11.18 Evraz Plc 11.19 HBIS Group 11.20 Hyundai Steel 11.21 Steel Authority of India Limited 11.22 Metinvest Holding Llc 11.23 Severstal Jsc 11.24 Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation 11.25 JSW Steel For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/v88le8 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DENVER - A customer turned to Jael Marquez when she couldn't find an item on the shelves of the Save A Lot, but Marquez knew it was in stock back in the warehouse, so he went and got it. It was weeks ago, sometime around the day he turned 17. He remembers it because it was the one time this spring when a customer looked him in the eyes and said "Thank you." "I appreciate you still working," the African American woman in her 50s said through a mask after taking the box. "Because there's a lot of risk." Marquez was stunned at this commonplace courtesy that had become so rare in these distanced times. Few people spoke. Few people acknowledged him. Few people came close enough to say anything: "I really appreciated that. It feels good to know you're appreciated." The woman couldn't have known that Marquez wasn't at the discount grocery in the low-income Montbello neighborhood by choice. It wasn't a risk he felt comfortable taking. It was a risk he had to take. He was there by necessity. In a world without covid-19, Marquez would be a junior walking the halls of Denver's Vista Academy, a small public school on the city's outskirts. Instead, he is one of thousands of teens across the country working the forgotten front lines of the pandemic - in grocery and big-box stores - keeping essential links in the nation's food supply intact while eschewing almost everything about being a teenager. Marquez has been his family's chief breadwinner, supporting his household while his parents quarantined in a basement with the familiar symptoms of a coronavirus infection. The virus has sickened nearly 27,000 people in Colorado and killed 1,474 as of Tuesday, so the concern in his household was very real. His parents unable to work, Marquez was the only hope of being able to pay the bills. Virtual school went out the window. Marquez became a 40-hour-a-week worker. He's not sure school will ever be a part of his future now. "I think I just want to start my own thing and start getting experience so once I'm 20, I can start my own company," Marquez said. Across town, in a King Soopers grocery store in Commerce City, another Latino teen confronted a similar, but perhaps more immediately urgent, dilemma. Alex Abreo, a senior at Bruce Randolph School, had seen his hours increase from 20 to 30 per week to 40 when the pandemic arrived in Colorado. People had rushed to groceries to stock up, and several of his co-workers came down with symptoms. When Abreo put on his mask, apron and gloves one day for another shift in the meat department, he looked down at a sealed plastic bag of beef fresh off a refrigerated supply truck and noticed two words that had once carried no weight but suddenly now alarmed him: Greeley, Colorado. Scrolling down his Facebook news feed that week he had stumbled on a news story that described the JBS meat processing plant in Greeley, an hour north of Denver, as potentially the biggest outbreak in the state. Could the virus ravaging the nearby plant be transmitted via this beef brisket? "Every time we get a bag of meat, it says 'Greeley' on it," Abreo said. "I was upset about that. I didn't know what to think." Abreo went back to work. His father had been helping him with payments on his new car - a 2017 Lincoln MKZ - until his hours at a sawmill were reduced and he lost the opportunity to earn overtime. His father's new level of pay barely covered just the basics: mortgage, groceries, electricity, water. Abreo, who needs internet access to complete his virtual school assignments, now chips in to keep the WiFi on. "If I didn't have this job, I don't know what I would do," Abreo said. - - - Denver Public Schools had more than 93,000 students enrolled in 2018, and 65 percent of them were eligible for free and reduced lunch, a widely accepted measure of poverty. At schools like Bruce Randolph and Vista Academy, those numbers are higher. More than 70 percent of Vista Academy's students and more than 90 percent of Bruce Randolph students receive free or reduced meals, classifying the latter as a "high-poverty school," according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Nationally, Hispanic and Latino students are the most likely to attend a high-poverty school (45 percent), followed closely by African Americans (44 percent) and Native Americans (38 percent). Just 8 percent of white children attend high-poverty schools, according to the center. "We have a number of students in this city and across this country who are asking, 'How relevant is this education, that you say I need, to where I am and to my future?' " said Eric Rowe, principal at PREP Academy in Denver, a 25-year educator and veteran of schools in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., St. Louis and Kenya. "In education, we're talking to them about college and career prep, and many of them are wondering where the next meal is coming from, or where they're going to sleep that night or that week." Rowe said the coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated these issues, especially among working-class families that have had to go out to jobs and thus have exposed themselves to its spread - or have fallen ill - and then have to rely on their children for support. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, right? Well, this virus is a Mike Tyson uppercut," Rowe said. "It's emphasized the impact of food deserts. It's emphasized the digital divide. And it's highlighting the idea that we are not serving all children well in our education system." The pandemic has forced a portion of America's teenagers into full-time roles in essential businesses like food services, where required training is minimal and pay is comparatively low. On a weekday in April, Marquez was stocking produce aisle shelves with avocados and lettuce bundles, wearing blue gloves - torn in spots - and a medical mask. His hours increased when people stopped showing up to work. "We have four people in the produce department and one is sick, so I'm picking up more morning shifts," Marquez said. "I don't really know where they are. Haven't heard from them in a month." Gabe Disbrow, chief operating officer at Leevers Supermarkets, a group of 18 stores that includes the Montbello Save A Lot, said the chain has sent home about 15 employees after they exhibited covid-19 symptoms. "Testing capabilities seemed like they were nonexistent early on," Disbrow said. "Anyone who had flu-like symptoms, managers would send them home and ask them to self-quarantine or direct them to their medical providers." Disbrow said grocery positions are "a great high school job for a lot of people, a great entry level job" and noted that teens have been a great "support to our company." The weirdest thing, Marquez said, is that he believes people aren't taking the virus seriously. The signs in Spanish and English posted on the sliding front doors suggest wearing masks while shopping, but the store doesn't require it. "Some people come in without even a mask," Marquez said. "And those people are the ones that also don't stay six feet away when you really should be doing that." He does a lot of moving out of the way and waiting for people to make produce selections before he continues stocking fruits and vegetables. The son of Mexican immigrants, Marquez said his parents have yet to tell him how they crossed the border before he was born, and he has never asked. "They probably, like, had it rough," Marquez said. "So they just never told me." Before the virus, Marquez's father worked for a door manufacturer and his mother worked in a bakery. First, his father experienced symptoms: Fever and weakness. He sequestered himself in the basement and his wife brought meals and care. Then Marquez's mother fell ill. So it was up to Marquez and two older brothers to deliver food to the underground sick bay. Marquez's work became more crucial, that weekly paycheck a lifeline. His parents declined to be interviewed. At 3:30 p.m., he goes home to a household of five. Cousins have helped him with virtual homework when he was too tired or busy to do the reading himself. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "I wasn't really ever a school person, but I was trying to do that just to finish off the year," Marquez said. - - - Abreo worked his longest weeks in March, pulling in $440 after taxes for 40 hours of work at $12 an hour. He said he didn't choose the uptick in hours, but he couldn't turn down the opportunity either. "They know I don't have school," Abreo said of his managers. "So they could schedule me at all times throughout the day and I would just have to get caught up on virtual school on my own time. They started hiring temporary workers, so I know if I were to say, like, 'No, I can't do it,' they would have more people on the clock just like that because a lot of people are looking for work." His employer did not respond to requests for comment. Abreo had a few ideas about what to do after graduation. He gained admission to Metropolitan State University, but he would need help to pay for it. Without the money, he thought about possibly going to trade school instead, perhaps to become a barber. His plans quickly fell to the wayside because of the virus and his expanding role at the grocery store. Abreo had typically worked in customer-facing roles for the chain: cash registers and grocery cart retrieval, 30 hours a week after school and on weekends. Then the virus arrived, and the chain restructured workflow to meet new demands. Abreo's manager sent him to oversee the meat department's inventory. For a period in March and April, as demand spiked, Abreo saw cuts of meat come through the department he didn't realize the chain carried. "For a while they had to order things that they never ordered before just to fill the shelves," Abreo said. "Just like random meat, like, you know, like people don't really want chicken leg quarters. They want the breasts. We had all sorts of things that people don't normally buy." Abreo became drained quickly, and he found himself struggling to keep up with his virtual schoolwork. He saw some of his friends completing assignments in the mornings and having the rest of the day to themselves while he worked days and barely caught up with homework at night. When the federal stimulus check arrived, Abreo felt more secure focusing again on his studies. He asked his managers if he could finish his schoolwork and work spot duty at the store when needed. They obliged. "I decided to prioritize finishing the rest of the school year," Abreo said. "I couldn't let myself just basically give up. All of my teachers were messaging me constantly to get me on my work and asking if they could do anything to help. I just felt like I needed to finish things off right at Bruce, even if it's not a normal year." Abreo's parents also declined to be interviewed. Marquez, staring at the specter of another school year, started considering his options in late April. He went to Google: "GED practice test." On the second try, he scored a 70 on the math portion and a 68 on the reading, "but you need like a 90 or something to pass," Marquez said. "School just kind of feels pointless at this point," he said. His father went back to work two weeks ago, having been tested for the virus and receiving a negative result. His mother, though, has not been brought back to the bakery. Marquez doesn't have a bank account yet - he has been handing off his checks to his father, who rations the money - but Marquez likes working. The results are tangible, the gratification immediate. He says he will try to get his GED online, then work in groceries or construction to save enough money to start a company in "either plumbing or electricity or something like that" by the time he's 20, leaning on the experience of uncles who work in either field. He said he was going through the motions of high school before the pandemic interrupted his education, interrupted everything. "I didn't realize how bad it was all going to be, how much would change," he said. "I realized when my dad had to stop working. That's when I knew it was serious serious." By PTI LONDON: Speaking directly from the heart, actor John Boyega gave an impassioned speech at a protest against the custodial killing of George Floyd in the US. The "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" star on Wednesday joined thousands of protestors gathered at Hyde Park for the Black Live Matter protest. "I'm speaking to you from my heart. Look, I don't know if I'm going to have a career after this, but f**k that," Boyega said. "Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain't waiting," he added. Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in an encounter caught on video. The officer, Derek Chauvin has been charged with murder and manslaughter. In his speech, Boyega said Floyd was not the first victim of police brutality as he named a number of people who lost their lives in such attacks. "We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence," he said. Fighting back tears, Boyega went on to say, "Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process. We don't know what George Floyd could have achieved, we don't know what Sandra Bland could have achieved, but today we're going to make sure that won't be an alien thought to our young ones." "I need you to understand how painful this shit is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isn't the case anymore, that was never the case anymore," he added. At the same time, the actor urged his fellow protestors to remain calm and refrain from being violent so as to not "mess up". "It is very, very important that we keep control of this moment. That we make this as peaceful and as organized as possible. Because they want us to mess up, they want us to be disorganized, but not today," Boyega said. The actor's speech has gone viral on social media, earning him praise from all quarters, including Lucasfilm that produces his "Star Wars" movies. In a brief statement, posted on the company's website, the production house said it "stands with John Boyega" and his message. "The evil that is racism must stop. We will commit to being part of the change that is long overdue in the world. John Boyega, you are our hero," the Disney-owned company added. HBS Select Case Study Collection offers a curated selection of more than 2,000 Harvard Business School case studies, selected by editors from Harvard Business Publishing, that guide students through the current workplace and prepare them for a successful career. EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is announcing the release of Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) Resources for Business Studies, which includes the new Harvard Business Publishing Student Success Package. The resources provide unique content to support business students to prepare them for the business world and success in their future careers. Additional resources from HBP may be bundled with the HBP Student Success Package to create a complete suite of resources for business students. 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EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries, Inc., a family owned company since 1944. ### For more information, please contact: Kathleen McEvoy Vice President of Communications (800) 653-2726 ext. 2594 kmcevoy@ebsco.com - Former Lesotho first lady Maesaiah Thabane was re-arrested on charges of murder of her husband's ex-wife - She had been charged with ordering the killing of Lipolelo Thabane, who was shot dead near her home in June 2017 - Thabane will remain in custody until June 16, 2020 - Her bail was revoked on allegations that due process was not followed during her first court appearance when she was charged with murder Former Lesotho first lady Maesaiah Thabane has been re-arrested for the killing of her husband's ex-wife. This was after her bail was revoked on allegations that due process was not followed during her first court appearance in February 2020, when she was charged with murder. READ ALSO: We cannot turn a blind eye to racism: Pope Francis weighs in on George Floyd's death The murder case has rattled the tiny southern African nation and led to Thabane's sudden retirement in May 2020. Photo: CNN. Source: UGC READ ALSO: George Floyd: Barack Obama asks protesters to make people in power uncomfortable Thabane, as reported by CNN, will remain in custody until June 16, 2020, according to police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli. "She is in jail as we speak," Molibeli was quoted. The police commissioner said the former first lady is back behind bars on a technicality because the prosecution was not allowed to make arguments opposing her bail during the hearing. READ ALSO: Kieni MP Kanini Kega on the spot for locking tenants' houses over unpaid rent Lipolelo Thabane was shot dead two days before her estranged husband's inauguration for a second term as prime minister in 2017. Photo: CNN. Source: UGC The bail amount of 1,000 maloti (KSh 6, 270) was also paid long after she was released and not upon her release in February 2020, the commissioner said. Neither she nor her husband, former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, have spoken publicly about the allegations. Molibeli said following her re-arrest, she would appear again in court where the due process would be followed. READ ALSO: Alive and well: Bishop Margaret back to doing home chores days after being declared COVID-19 free Maesaiah Thabane, the former first lady of Lesotho accused of ordering the killing of her husband's ex-wife. Photo: CNN. Source: UGC He, however, did not say when that would happen. Thabane was charged with ordering the killing of Lipolelo Thabane, who was shot dead near her home in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, in June 2017. The former first lady fled the country in January 2020, despite a police warrant for her arrest, but she turned herself in to police in February 2020, after spending weeks in South Africa. READ ALSO: George Floyd: 3 other ex-cops involved in black man's killing to be charged with abetting murder The former first lady fled the country in January 2020, despite a police warrant for her arrest, but she turned herself in to police in February 2020. Photo: CNN. Source: UGC Police questioned the former prime minister about the case and pushed to charge him, but his lawyers said he could not be prosecuted. The lawyer cited constitutional immunity. He has not been charged in the case. The murder case has rattled the tiny southern African nation, and led to Thabane's sudden retirement in May 2020, after months of pressure from his political party to resign. 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 WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper broke with President Trump on Wednesday and said that active-duty military troops should not be sent to control the wave of protests in American cities, at least for now. His words were at odds with his commander in chief, who on Monday threatened to do exactly that. Mr. Espers comments reflected the turmoil within the military over Mr. Trump, who in seeking to put American troops on the streets alarmed top Pentagon officials fearful that the military would be seen as participating in a move toward martial law. Speaking at a news conference at the Pentagon, the defense secretary said that the deployment of active-duty troops in a domestic law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. The president was angered by Mr. Espers remarks, and excoriated him later at the White House, an administration official said. Asked on Wednesday whether Mr. Trump still had confidence in Mr. Esper, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said that as of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, but that should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) director general, Qu Dongyu, has appealed to donors for $100 million to urgently aid desperate farmers, herders, fishers and their families in Yemen. The FAO official announced this in his address during a virtual High-Level Pledging Event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Tuesday . The meeting was convened by the United Nations in partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The FAO said Yemen is currently confronting the worlds largest humanitarian crisis due to five years of conflict, economic decline and institutional collapse which has left 24 million people (about 80 per cent of its population ) in urgent need of humanitarian aid and protection. Crisis In March 2015, violence escalated in Yemen. Today, more than 200 humanitarian organisations work together to render assistance to more than 13 million people across the country every month. Millions of people lack access to adequate food, water and sanitation. To compound issues, COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in 10 of the countrys 22 governorates. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Yemen was on the verge of catastrophe, Mr Dongyu said. Global challenge The 2019 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) published March, shows that over 135 million people in 55 countries and territories are faced with acute food insecurity, and this requires urgent action, The report showed that about 108 million people in 48 countries in 2016, 124 million people in 51 countries in 2017 and 113 million people in 53 countries in 2018, suffered acute food insecurity. Of the 135 million in 2019, Africa accounts for 73 million, half of whom are in 36 countries of Africas 55 countries. Northern Nigeria alone accounts for 5 million, the report said. War-torn Yemen, Africas fourth most populous country DR Congo, and Afghanistan topped the reports list, each respectively having 15.9, 15.6 and 11.3 million people faced with food crises or worse. Earlier, the FAO had said it is seeking for $350 million to scale up hunger-fighting and livelihoods-boosting activities in food crisis contexts where COVID-19s impact could be devastating. The agency said its new request of $350 million is about three times more than in late March as COVID-19s staggering socio-economic impacts become more evident. It said the pandemics full-scale and long-term impact on food security is yet to be revealed. The FAO said, currently, evidence shows that in countries already hit by acute hunger, people are increasingly struggling to have access to food as incomes fall and food prices rise. In his own remarks, the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, called for an end to the conflict in Yemen. Scourge Millions of people are unable to meet their basic needs, the FAO chief said, Farmers, fishers and herders have been hit hard by the conflict and the resulting economic decline. In 2019, the FAO said they provided humanitarian assistance to 3 million people in Yemen and more than 3.6 million animals were protected through animal health campaigns. The official said FAO plans to distribute emergency livelihood-assistance such as seeds, tools, coolboxes, life jackets and cash to about 6 million people, so as to enable farmers and fishers to keep producing and continue livestock rearing. Vaccinations and treatment for livestock, surveillance and control of plant pests, including desert locust, would benefit 4.2 million people, he added. Advertisements With the growing number of coronavirus cases, it becomes the responsibility of one and all to take care of themselves and their surroundings. However, what would a mother do if she is asked to stay in quarantine away from her toddler? Something similar happened to a mother, who has recently narrated her story to the Humans of Bombay. In a heart-wrenching story, the lady has opened up about the journey of being away from her daughter after she tested COVID-19 positive. Talking to the website, the mother revealed, "When the doctor told me I had COVID, my first question was, 'What about my daughter?' Thankfully, my 17-month-old baby was safe." Since she had mild symptoms, the patient was advised to quarantine at home. While the easy part was to stay back home, the difficult part was staying away from the baby for 2-4 weeks. It has already been seven days for the duo to stay apart from each other, but the little one makes sure to see her mom every day. The story reads, "Everyday she comes to the bedroom window, keeps her little finger on the glass and waits for me to keep mine. In that moment, every part of me aches to be with her, but I know I can't". The toddler may not understand the consequences of the situation, but she keeps reminding the parents to sanitize their hands or wear their mask. However, the most difficult part is at night, when the cute munchkin wants her mothers cuddle to sleep with. The mother reveals that it deeply hurts her but she has no other option. The emotional post has left the netizens completely heartbroken, yet hopeful of the things turning right soon. A user wrote, "Heart touching script... As a mom, it's really tough to be like that... Get well soon". Another one mentioned, "I am crying right now! If these tough times have taught us anything it is never take anything for granted..." Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took advantage on Wednesday of a debate in the Congress of Deputies to call for support from other parties with the objective of facilitating the transformation of the economy to another, more sustainable model, in a bid to deal with the destruction caused by the coronavirus crisis. The Socialist Party (PSOE) leader, who heads a coalition government with junior partner Unidas Podemos, was speaking in Spains lower house of parliament today at a vote to extend the state of alarm for a sixth and final time. The emergency powers have been in place since March 14, with the aim of halting the spread of the coronavirus. After an at times bitter debate, Sanchez won the vote to keep the state of alarm in place until June 21, with 177 votes in favor. The abstention of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and the support of the Basque Nationalist Party and Ciudadanos (Citizens) was key to the legislation passing. Sanchez called on groups such as the PP and far-right Vox not to use the Spanish flag as a symbol against Spaniards Sanchez announced to lawmakers during the session that the Cabinet will next week approve a Royal Decree that will unite all of the measures and health regulations that will be in place as Spain exits the crisis, and that will be implemented jointly with the countrys regional governments until a vaccine against the Covid-19 disease is available. As the coronavirus crisis has progressed, criticism of the government by the opposition at these debates which have been held every two weeks during the state of alarm has grown increasingly fierce. Today Sanchez called on groups such as the conservative Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox not to use the Spanish flag as a symbol against Spaniards. But his appeals did nothing to placate PP chief Pablo Casado, who once again delivered a relentless attack on the prime minister, citing all of the controversies and scandals that have affected the PSOE administration since Pedro Sanchez took power in 2018 thanks to a motion of no confidence he won against then-PP Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. We have overcome the worst of the pandemic, stated Sanchez at the outset of the debate, and repeated some of the arguments he had voiced during previous sessions, such as how no country in the world was prepared for this kind of health emergency. He justified the decisions his government had taken during the worst of the epidemic in Spain, when as many as 950 Covid-19 fatalities were reported in a single day, and during the current moment, with the Spanish Health Ministry having reported no new deaths for two days running. Sanchez offered several summaries of the governments actions during this global catastrophe by way of justification, to get ahead of arguments that were likely to be used by the opposition, and in a bid to smooth the path ahead during the final stages of deescalation in terms of political tensions. Sanchez also called for more political unity in Spain to pressure the European Union for the completion of a Marshall Plan The prime minister described the last stage of the governments plans as a graudal, cautious and intelligent deescalation, calling for prudence and caution. He also stated that, given the evidence and the data showing that the state of alarm had been effective, and that its implementation had at first been supported by all of the parties in Congress, he was surprised that some groups were no longer voting in favor of its extension. Sanchez also called for more political unity in Spain to pressure the European Union for the completion of a Marshall Plan that is set to mobilize up to 140 billion of grants and loans for Spain, and announced that the government was preparing a recovery plan of unprecedented magnitude. He also referred to the so-called war of flags that has broken out during the crisis between some parties and sections of the population, with the Spanish flag often being considered as a symbol of the far right during recent demonstrations. The flag, Sanchez stated, is a fabric that symbolizes a nation woven by 47 million threads," in reference to the population of Spain, "one that represents everyone, with the will to live together, create a project for a common country, and that no one has the right to use against others. He went on to say that Spain is an extraordinary country, the best in the world, where there arent good Spaniards and bad Spaniards, and that dialogue between all must be reformed, preserved and modernized. The poison of hate is the most damaging, he said. Let us say no to the poison of hate, no to verbal and physical violence, no to insults and provocations. Our parents did not sacrifice themselves for this, he concluded. The prime minister admitted that the government had made mistakes during the coronavirus crisis, but also expressed his pride in the governments actions, such as the recent introduction of a minimum guaranteed income scheme, and support of feminist marches. Ill say it loud and clear, long live 8-M, he said, in reference to the date of Womens Day, March 8. Casado called Sanchez a a lame duck with the worst and darkest record in Spains democratic period PP chief Pablo Casado began his response by pointing out that two years had passed since Sanchez won his vote of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy. He then proceeded to read a prepared speech during which he disqualified everything that the PSOE government had done, arguing that it had encouraged division and polarization in the country, and that Sanchez was speaking about poison when handing out hemlock. He also condemned the governments agreements with pro-independence parties such as the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and EH Bildu which, he said, wanted to break up and destroy Spain. Casado called Sanchez a a lame duck with the worst and darkest record in Spains democratic period, blaming him for hiding the true number of Covid-19 deaths in Spain, for putting thousands of women at risk for not having canceled this years Womens Day marches (which took place just a day before schools began to close across Spain due to the coronavirus outbreak), and for the purges of Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who last week sacked a Civil Guard colonel. Casado pointed to Sanchez as responsible for the coronavirus crisis, and warned that when it is over, the PP would call for an investigation commission in Congress regarding the management of the pandemic, so that the actions of the most radical prime minister in the history of Spain would not stay hidden. The leader of far-right Vox, Santiago Abascal, also rejected Sanchezs calls for unity, and once again focused his attacks on Unidas Podemos leader and Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias. Shouting Long live 8-M is the same as shouting long live disease and death! Abascal stated. He warned Iglesias that he would be held to account before the courts and before Spaniards, and reproached him for leaving the chamber while Abascal was speaking. Take advantage of it, you will have time to see [these speeches] from a TV screen when you are in jail, he said. After more than six hours, very little time had actually been dedicated to the subject of the debate, which was the extension of the state of alarm. Instead opposition politicians had mostly focused on criticizing the web of alliances that Sanchez had required to get the legislation through, with references to Hitler, Mussolini, Napoleon and Nicolas Maduro all part of the discourse. With additional reporting by Natalia Junquera. English version by Simon Hunter. SWAT officers in riot gear advance on protesters in Alamo Plaza and stand in formation. A plastic bottle is hurled from the crowd and bounces off an officers chest. A man urges calm in his compatriots. Were not here for violence! he yells at the crowd. Were here for peace! Moments later, an officer shoves a man, and shots ring out a fusillade of pepper balls and wooden and rubber projectiles even as the crowd flees in the opposite direction. The confrontation, captured in two videos around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, was the nadir of another rowdy night downtown, where largely peaceful protests by day gave way to vandalism and provocation after dark. People broke windows, spray-painted buildings and aimed laser pointers at officers eyes, police said. Police Chief William McManus on Wednesday largely defended how police have dispersed unruly crowds here since the protests began on Saturday. Unlike some other major American cities, San Antonio has largely avoided ugly scenes of officers using excessive force on residents who are out protesting that very behavior. The Tuesday night incident is under review, he said. I do know the crowd was agitated, McManus said. I dont know if the emergence of SWAT antagonized them further or not. It is under investigation. He added, Through Saturday night into Sunday morning, except for the incident or two that were looking at last night, Id say we did everything by the book, pretty much picture perfect. I believe weve used a tremendous amount of restraint, and my only concerns are the issue or two that were looking at, to see if what we did incited the crowd. As protests against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody show no signs of abating across the country, experts warned that the use of force by police even with so-called less-than-lethal weapons could worsen tensions and spur more violence and chaos. Geoffrey Alpert, a longtime expert on police use-of-force and criminology professor at the University of South Carolina, said it was unreasonable to use force on anyone who is not a threat or resisting. I think what a lot of police dont understand is, if you ratchet up your use of force, youre going to ratchet up the crowd, said Alpert, who helped SAPD reform its vehicle pursuit policy in 2013. Its just going to be an upward spiral that doesnt end well. Wooden or rubber projectiles should be used only on those who are a serious threat or resisting in such a way that a high level of force is necessary to overcome that resistance, Alpert continued. Life is more important than property, and I think police need to understand thats how we got into this mess. Last week in Minneapolis, a freelance photographer was permanently blinded in one eye after being shot by what she thinks was a rubber bullet. On Sunday in Austin, police critically injured a 20-year-old black protester when an officer shot him with less-than-lethal ammunition, fracturing his skull and causing brain damage, his brother wrote in an op-ed for the student newspaper, The Battalion. They're called non-lethal weapons, but in fact they are not benign and they can absolutely be lethal, said Dr. Ranit Mishori, the senior medical adviser for Physicians for Human Rights. They're not perhaps as deadly as regular live ammunition, but if they are fired at a very close range, for example, they could be as deadly as a regular bullet. The recent use of crowd control weapons against unarmed protesters is unacceptable and its completely excessive, she said. Although there are some rare cases in which rubber bullets and other projectiles are warranted, its a human rights violation when police fire on unarmed civilians who are peacefully protesting, she said. They should be weapons of last resort when all of the other de-escalation tactics fail or when there is really an imminent threat, Mishori said. But not when somebody is unarmed and throwing a bottle of water, standing in front of a heavily armed and protected law enforcement officer. Even chemical agents such as tear gas and pepper spray can cause serious harm, particularly to the elderly, children or anyone with chronic lung conditions, she said. Although tear gas is commonly deployed by police departments across the nation to control crowds of U.S. citizens, it's barred in international warfare. And, in the midst of a global pandemic, its use poses an even greater concern: COVID-19 can be spread by people coughing, sneezing or wiping their eyes how people commonly react after getting teargassed. Mayor Ron Nirenberg met with McManus and City Manager Erik Walsh on Wednesday morning to discuss crowd dispersal policies and safe crowd management, he said. The mayor urged McManus to communicate the rules of engagement to protesters so they will understand what actions lead police to use force. I do not want to see anyone injured, Nirenberg said. McManus later released a statement: As soon as projectiles are thrown, we begin measures to disperse crowds. Typically, police will issue several warnings, but very fluid situations do not always allow for that. Police will use tear gas, pepper balls and rubber and wood projectiles. In an interview, McManus said, Its very difficult to talk to an angry crowd. They really dont want to take a deep breath and have a rational conversation. The de-escalation comes in when you have a line of police officers and theyre just standing their ground, separating protesters from certain properties, they stand there without a word, taking a lot of abuse, standing there neutral. Thats the de-escalation, he said. Once the crowd becomes aggressive to a point where (police) become threatened, then the crowd is ordered to disperse. Jayden P., an 18-year-old who asked not to use his last name for fear of retaliation from police, said a SWAT officer shoved him during the incident Tuesday night before firing projectiles toward the crowd. Jayden said the first several hours of Tuesdays march began peacefully. Over the course of the evening, he chatted with officers about whether there was a curfew in place. At one point, the marchers made an agreement with police to stay on the sidewalk instead of traveling through a road, he said. SAPD (patrol) was very cooperative the whole night, Jayden said. SWAT was the one who incited the violence. Around 10:30 p.m., Jayden and the other marchers had made their way to Alamo Plaza to face off against a line of police. Protesters demonstrated in front of them, some raising their hands in the air. Others kneeled. A video captured several SWAT officers moving through the crowd, until one suddenly lunges toward the protesters where Jayden said he was standing. He pushes one guy in the front of me in the face, and then he hits me in the face, Jayden said. Im just like, what just happened? A few seconds later, shots rang out. The officers fired wooden bullets and tear gas into the crowd, he said. Police gave them no warning. We start running and theyre chasing us, shooting us from behind, Jayden said. Even with non-lethal weapons, we were defenseless. Police spokesman Jesse Salame said officers are trained to fire projectiles downward so that they skip on the ground and hit the lower extremities. They did exactly what they were designed to do, they impacted the leg, Salame said. We just wanted to get them out of there and move them along. Thats part of policy theyre not firing directly at peoples backs. Michael Smith, chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said police have used less-than-lethal weapons for decades to control or disperse crowds, particularly when police are threatened or property is damaged. Smith, a former law enforcement officer, said police are trained to never fire them at the head and neck to avoid causing serious injuries or death. But less-than-lethal munition isnt as accurate as bullets, which means that during chaotic protests, the risk of striking someones face or head can go up, he said. People are often running, ducking and sometimes may fall, putting their head and neck in the line of fire. While they're fairly accurate, it's not like shooting a real bullet, he said. They're not that accurate. They do move around and they drop, so you can get unintended strikes to places that you didn't aim at simply because the bullets are not that accurate. Four days earlier, Jayden had watched even larger crowds protest across downtown San Antonio, a night that ended with storefronts shattered and graffiti plastered across businesses. Bottles and bricks were hurled at police officers. But nothing of that extent happened Tuesday, he said. On Saturday, I did kind of understand the use of force when it gets to a certain point, you have to, he said. But last night was just uncalled for. Staff writers Emilie Eaton and Josh Fechter contributed to this report. Marina Starleaf Riker is an investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Marina, become a subscriber. marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf But as the pandemic has spread from one ICE facility to the next, the agency has repeatedly played down the risk. In response to Barahonas habeas petition and many others like it, ICE has said fears of infection were purely speculative and conjectural, that detainees would be no safer outside than they were inside. When it has been forced to release detainees, the agency has often claimed that there are dangerous criminals among the newly freed. ICE lawyers cited a past arrest on charges of drinking and driving in response to Barahonas habeas petition. After Barahona was pulled over in the D.U.I. stop last fall, the local judge gave him a bond and said he could return home and to his job at a stucco company, but ICE picked him up at the county jail before he could leave. Barahona is undocumented, even though he has lived in Atlanta since he was a teenager, when he followed his mother, who is now a permanent resident, and is married to an American woman, who began the process of petitioning for his green card before he was detained. When he asked for release, an ICE officer wrote, He has not established that he is not a danger to the community. But the agencys reluctance to release detainees seems to stem less from any public threats posed by the people it detains than from an existential sort of anxiety about its own future. In response to one federal lawsuit filed on March 26 in California on behalf of two detained men, ICE lawyers wrote, The disruptive effect of ordering petitioners released on this slim, hypothetical basis would long survive the Covid-19 pandemic, and the precedent would serve to release many aliens eligible for removal back into the general public. For most of American history, though, immigration laws were enforced without sending hundreds of thousands of people each year to pens to wait out their cases for weeks or months or years. Before the 1980s, when the Reagan administration opened thousands of immigration-detention beds to send a hard message to Haitian and Cuban asylees, immigration detention was used primarily for brief, several-day periods to process entrants and effectuate removals. Over the past decades, detention has grown into a sprawling empire of hundreds of facilities scattered across the country. John Sandweg served during the Obama administration as the D.H.S.s acting general counsel and as ICEs interim director. To immigrant-rights advocates, Sandweg, who is now in private practice, was a target of aggressive campaigns to fight Obama-era detention policies. While he was at ICE, the agency detained what were then historically high numbers of people. But during his seven months as the organizations director, Sandweg says now, he began to question the need for mass detention. For him it became morally intolerable when, during his tenure, a detained woman committed suicide in a detention center, and he learned that the agency could have allowed her to wait out her legal case from home. She had a history of mental illness, Sandweg told me. She should have never been detained. Now, during the pandemic, Sandweg has been calling on the agency, in op-eds and in statements with human rights groups, to release a majority of detainees. Why would we continue to put people in crowded facilities where they can be exposed to a virus like this, where they are under tremendous strain, and they are separated from their family? Sandweg asked. If ICE now has some deep-seated fear that a pandemic like this could demonstrate there are alternative ways of enforcing immigration laws, that is an absolutely terrible reason not to take common-sense steps to reduce the threat to detainees and everyone who works in these facilities. At about the very moment on April 9 that a detained woman in the Irwin County Detention Center was secreting a note in the newly cleaned laundry bag bound for Barahonas unit, David Paulk, the Irwin warden who had run the facility for nearly two years, was filing an affidavit to the court in response to Barahonas habeas petition. The declaration disclosed that a detained man a 55-year-old Colombian recently brought to the facility, I later learned had tested positive for Covid-19. A contracted transportation guard had the virus, too. Only three of the 699 people the facility held at the time had been tested, according to court testimony. Paulk didnt report how many staff members had been checked for the virus. Tuface Idibia has cursed out all religious leaders using the F word on them. He asked them to stop embarrassing God and know Good is Good and Bad is Bad. He also went ahead to mock Nigerians who still give to pastors. See his tweets below.. He too vex! Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates On Monday, June 8 most of Spain will enter Phase Three, the final one in the de-escalation of State of Alarm before stepping into our New Normal by the end of this month. From next Monday we will be allowed to travel to other regions within Spain. Were especially looking forward to this because a few days before lockdown was imposed Alan returned from the UK with goods that were requested by a British couple in a neighbouring region. The long shopping list included tins of peas and beans 110 of them, all of which have remained in the van for nearly three months. Motorbikes in Spain have to pass an NCT (called ITV here) every two years so, last week we brought ours into the newly reopened centres. Before the 22 test we took the bikes to be washed. The wet engine caused my 30-year-old Suzuki GS to backfire so loudly that I assumed I had killed my second motorbike in less than a year. And the bangs had the petrol station staff dashing outside, presumably thinking that someone had been shot. But the bikes dried off and the quick test was passed so we headed for the coast for my first pleasure ride (its always been just a mode of transport for me). We had a stunning 40-minute sunny trip around the Cardo mountain range but I miss the stability and comfort of my exploded X-Max so much that my road bike is now up for sale and Ive started shopping around for a replacement large scooter. I find it amusing when my Irish friends say how lucky I am that I can now visit a cafe. How short our memories are. For two months I viewed with much joy and some envy Facebook posts from Ireland and other countries with photos of them out for a walk in the local woods or a run in socially distant groups kilometres from their homes. They chatted about driving into town to go shopping, which I hadnt done since mid-March. But because were now able to eat out in our region (outdoors only and up to 50% capacity) my situation is suddenly to be envied. Try not leaving the house or seeing another human, apart from my partner, for over two months. And for the next two weeks, I could only walk within a kilometre of home. I live in a country where the number of people dying hovered above 800 a day by the end of March. It was terrifying when it reached 950 on April 2. But I know that perception of our plight is all relative and that we are all in the luckiest few percent in the world. Since the beginning of April the United States all too frequently has daily death rates of well over 2,000. I asked my American friends if they were satisfied with their governments handling of the pandemic. My sister-in-law in Boston replied: Its hard to even know where to begin on this question. Abysmal! Absolutely not. Totally incompetent. Trump must go, Jo Anne in New York answered. And Mark doesnt mince his words either: Our president and his party are the worst in the history of the United States. There was no leader, and those who pretended to lead mostly lied for their own needs. Nothing they even tried to do was for the benefit of the people; it was all about their power, money and self-interest. The only thing to do is to vote those in the White House and the presidents party out of office. Hopefully the world will forgive this failure in leadership of the US and once we get rid of the Republican Party, the world accepts the US back into its fold. This contrasts with Scott in New Zealand, who says: Its a difficult situation; the government reacted very quickly based on what happened in the northern hemisphere and predictions they made for NZ, which was that we were heading for same situation as Italy. His mother, Sue, tells me: Im happy with the government, except that I dont think we were given all of the information and I felt like we were living in a police state. Last month one minister did his own thing and didnt obey the rules; he went for bike-ride and took his family to the beach 11km away. I think that the government could have closed our borders earlier and they didnt act quickly enough, but when they did react it worked out for all concerned. And Liam in Ireland says: I think that the government did its best but passed the decision-making to experts and academics. Politicians have dithered in putting a new government in place, playing party values as if there was no crisis. My distrust of the government and health experts has grown. And I resent the house arrest ageism of lockdown cocoonery. STILL IN THIS TOGETHER Every persons situation and how they cope emotionally, financially and health-wise, is as unique as the individual. As we all emerge out of lockdown at the various regional rates I just hope we remember that we do so with different challenges and comfort zones. Some families, for example, need to continue isolating for months, if not years to come, in order to protect their elderly parents, or their newborn or as yet unborn baby; others cannot afford or do not trust their healthcare system. We must respect where each fellow citizen is at because we are all in this together for life. Protesters hold signs outside the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Detained US Protester Tells Police Hes COVID-19 Positive, Wasnt Wearing Mask A Pennsylvania man who was arrested June 1 during a protest over the death of George Floyd has said he was infected with COVID-19, according to officials. Julio Torres, 22, of East Lampeter Township, who was arrested Monday night for allegedly hurling objects at law enforcement officers, told officials during his arraignment that he had contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus. The 22-year-old, who is charged with aggravated assault, rioting, and resisting arrest, attended a 250-person protest in front of a police station in Lancaster on Monday evening, despite needing to be in self-quarantine, Lancaster Online reported. He participated in the demonstration without social distancing, or wearing a face mask. During the arraignment, it was discovered that [Torres] tested positive, was told to self-quarantine, and chose to attend or participate in the protest without proper social distancing, without a proper facemask and has placed other people at riskboth the public who were peacefully participating in the protest and law enforcement, Lancaster County President Judge David Ashworth said, according to the news outlet. I am very concerned that the public and law enforcement has been placed at risk, Ashworth added. Authorities have not yet confirmed Torress positive diagnosis. If its all made up on his part, then it is. All we can do is act on his word. He has told a number of officials now that he is positive, Ashworth said. According to court documents, Torres threw objects which could cause bodily harm at police officers during the demonstration. He also allegedly headbutted one police officer and kicked another officer in the head. These actions taken by Torres were done with the intent to prevent or coerce official action and then with the intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, the papers state. As of Tuesday, Torres was being held at Lancaster County Prison as he was unable to post 10 percent of his $25,000 bail, court records show. A spokesperson for the facility told Lancaster Online that all incoming inmates at the prison are quarantined. Lancaster Mayor Danene Sorace told the news outlet that she was very concerned that the demonstrations over the death of 46-year-old George Floyd could lead to a surge in cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus. While it has been shown that young people seem less susceptible to severe symptoms, I worry about others they come into close contact with, especially their families, she said. Wear a mask. Self-isolate. Get tested if you have symptoms. American Airlines will boost July flights 74% from its current schedule as U.S. travelers freed from shelter-in-place orders rush back more quickly than expected. The move spurred a rally across the industry. The busiest days next month will have about 4,000 flights, up from 2,300 in June, said Vasu Raja, American's senior vice president of network strategy. That's equivalent to 40% of capacity a year earlier, compared with 30% in June, the airline said Thursday. American's expanded schedule builds on recent indications from rivals that customers are starting to make their way back onto planes after fleeing in April because of the coronavirus pandemic. While traffic is still weak by historical standards, the airline's trends suggest that the worst has passed. Load factor, or the average share of seats filled per plane, climbed to 55% last week from 15% in April. "People are hungry, eager to get back into the economy," Raja said in an interview. "We feel a real confidence to fly a much bigger July." The announcement caused airline stocks to reverse losses, with American jumping 6.4% to $12.61 in premarket trading in New York. The carrier had tumbled 59% this year through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 slipped 3.3%. Next month, American will bring back some of the 450 jets it parked during the worst of the collapse in flying. It hasn't determined which aircraft will be put back in service. American acknowledged the limits to the improving outlook. The rebound is still weak on lucrative routes to overseas destinations, with the company planning to fly less than 20% of last year's international schedule compared with 55% of domestic capacity. Also, American delayed the planned resumption of additional foreign routes by at least a month. Even with the encouraging signs at home, the domestic recovery is "tenuous," Raja said. And the Fort Worth, Texas-based company is still retiring more than 100 aircraft, including three separate fleet types. But based on current trends, the nadir appears to be in the rear-view mirror. The number of daily passengers has grown to 110,330 from 32,154 in the first three weeks of May and "is inching north all the time," Raja said. By comparison, the airline carried about 600,000 passengers daily pre-Covid 19. The recent gains range from business to leisure trips, Raja said. Corporations are relaxing travel restrictions in states such as Texas and Florida that have eased quarantine requirements. Vacationers are booking flights to amusement parks in Florida, beaches along the Gulf Coast and mountain destinations in Montana, Utah and Colorado. American resumed service to six international cities Wednesday, but will delay until August or later other flights from the U.S. to Europe and Latin America. The airline's full July schedule will be available for purchase starting June 7. United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. also are resuming some overseas flights, but lucrative international business traffic is expected to be the slowest area to rebound. Confusion over which countries have lifted travel restrictions and whether tourist attractions, hotels or other industries are open has contributed to the slower global recovery, Raja said. American also will begin reopening its loyalty club lounges in phases starting June 22, after making improvements to encourage social distancing and reduce the possible spread of covid-19. The measures include plexiglass shields at desks and foot-operated door openers. >>> Bringing Vietnamese fruits to the world market >>> Bac Giang enjoys early harvest of thieu lychee Representatives of the department and the Peoples Committee of northern Bac Giang province the largest lychee producer nationwide welcomed the guests. Responsible for addressing technical barriers to open the door for fresh Vietnamese lychee to be exported to Japan, the department sent a document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the same day informing it about shipments of the fruit. It has worked with the plant quarantine agency at Japans Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) since 2017 to pilot a number of disinfection measures, which will be used as a basis for technical discussions and negotiations on import conditions. MAFF agreed with MARD regarding conditions for lychee shipments on December 15, 2019. South Africas governing party said it is launching a Black Friday campaign in response to the heinous murder of George Floyd and institutionalised racism in the United States. Twitter has removed President Donald Trumps campaign tribute video to George Floyd on its platform, citing a copyright complaint. Rights group the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the Trump administration, claiming officials violated the civil rights of protesters. Mayor of Washington, DC, called for the withdrawal from the city of military units sent from other states to deal with protesters. Los Angeles County Sheriffs office has said it will no longer enforce a curfew put in place to quell protests. Latest updates: Friday, June 5 This blog has been closed out for the day. Please go here for the latest on the protests against police brutality in the US. 15:35 GMT Minnesota weights changes to officer-involved deaths Minnesotas county attorneys want to give the state attorney general the authority to handle all cases of police-involved deaths. The Minnesota County Attorneys Association voted Thursday in transferring that power during an emergency meeting, which included Attorney General Keith Ellison. Ellison is leading the states case against the four police officers involved in George Floyds death instead of the Hennepin County Attorneys Office. State lawmakers would need to pass legislation during this months special session to give the attorney general the ongoing authority. If this is the path the Legislature and governor choose to take, my office will accept the responsibility, Ellison said. But it must come with resources sufficient to do the job thoroughly and to do justice in the way Minnesotans have a right to expect. 14:38 GMT Calls to clarify unidentified law enforcement in DC continue Activists and politicians called on Trump to idenfifiy which law enforcement agencies were deployed across DC in response to protests against police brutality. Law enforcement facing down demonstrators were seen without identification, including badges or names, across the protests. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter on Thursday asking Trump to clarify which agencies were present at the protests. I am writing to request a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating in the city. Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital, she wrote. 12:45 GMT UK embassy raises US protests with Trump administration Britains embassy in Washington, DC has raised the issue of continuing protests in the US with the Trump administration, including the treatment of British journalists by police, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. Our embassy in the US has raised the issue of the protests with the US administration including on behalf of British journalists who were subject to police action, the spokesman told reporters. 10:50 GMT South Africa launches Black Friday in response to heinous murder South Africas governing party said it is launching a Black Friday campaign in response to the heinous murder of George Floyd and institutionalised racism in the US, at home, in China and wherever it rears its ugly head. A statement by the African National Congress said President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday evening will address the launch of the campaign that calls on people to wear black on Fridays in solidarity. The campaign is also meant to highlight deaths by citizens at the hands of security forces in South Africa, which remains one of the worlds most unequal countries a quarter-century after the end of the racist system of apartheid. The demon of racism remains a blight on the soul of our nation, the ANC statement said. 08:40 GMT Players send video message to NFL about racial inequality Patrick Mahomes, Saquon Barkley and Michael Thomas are among more than a dozen National Football League stars who united to send a passionate video message to the NFL about racial inequality. The 70-second video was released on social media platforms on Thursday night and includes Odell Beckham Jr, Deshaun Watson, Ezekiel Elliott, Jamal Adams, Stephon Gilmore and DeAndre Hopkins, among others. Thomas, the New Orleans Saints wide receiver who has led the league in receptions the past two seasons, opens the video with the statement: Its been 10 days since George Floyd was brutally murdered. The players then take turns asking, What if I was George Floyd? The players then name several of the Black men and women who have recently been killed, including Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Eric Garner. 07:05 GMT Australia: NSW files suit to stop Black Lives Matter protest Australias most populous state, New South Wales, has lodged a legal application to stop a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney, state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday. Thousands of people have pledged to attend a protest organised in Sydney on Saturday following the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man. The organisers had secured permission for the protest as they originally planned to have fewer than 500 people. But Berejiklian said when it became clear that thousands planned to attend, the legal application was made to the states Supreme Court. 06:35 GMT Twitter pulls down Trump video tribute to Floyd over copyright Twitter has disabled President Trumps campaign tribute video to Floyd on its platform, citing a copyright complaint. The clip, which is a collation of photos and videos of protest marches and instances of violence in the aftermath of Floyds death, has Trump speaking in the background. We respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorised representatives, a Twitter representative said. The 03:45-minute video uploaded on Trumps YouTube channel was tweeted by his campaign on June 3. The clip, which is still on YouTube, had garnered more than 60,000 views and 13,000 likes. 05:34 GMT South Korea activists demand justice Dozens of protesters gathered in the South Korean capital of Seoul to condemn police brutality in the US and demand justice for Floyds death. Announcing a joint statement in front of the downtown US Embassy, members of human rights groups and other participants also called for South Koreas government to make a statement against the racial discrimination and state violence of its ally. South Korean protesters at an anti-racism rally near the US embassy in Seoul on June 5, 2020 [Jung Yeon-je / AFP] They said South Korea should also address its own problems with racial discrimination and urged the government to push for an anti-discrimination law, which had been resisted by conservatives and church groups for years, to improve the lives of migrant workers, undocumented foreigners and other minorities. As the US civil society empowered and stood in solidarity with Korean pro-democracy activists in the past, we will now stand in solidarity with citizens in the United States, said activist Lee Sang-hyun, referring to South Koreans bloody struggles against military dictatorships that ruled the country until the late 1980s. In remembering George Floyd, we also wish to eliminate discrimination in South Koreas society, Lee said, reading out a statement. Protesters held a banner that read Justice for Floyd and some brought flowers in his honour [Jung Yeon-je / AFP] 05:15 GMT Australians urged to stay away from Black Lives Matter protest Scott Morrison, the prime minister of Australia, urged people not to attend Black Lives Matter protests that are expected to take place in major cities this weekend citing concern over the possible spread of the coronavirus at the gatherings. Organisers expect thousands of people to attend rallies in Sydney, Melbourne and other cities that aim to focus attention on Australias poor record on police treatment of Indigenous people. The protests have split opinion, with some state police and legislators approving the action despite the health risks. Morrison said people should find other ways to express their anger. The health advice is very clear, its not a good idea to go, Morrison told reporters in Canberra. Lets find a better way and another way to express these sentiments lets exercise our liberties responsibly. Read more here. 05:06 GMT Man who charged New York protesters with knife claw arrested A man seen on video charging protesters in New York while wearing a glove with four long, serrated-edged blades surrendered to authorities, the Queens district attorney said. People were peacefully gathering on the overpass above the Cross Island Parkway when Frank Cavalluzzi, 54, jumped out of a vehicle on Tuesday afternoon, shouting I will kill you, and chasing protesters while wearing the knife-claw glove, a press release from the office of District Attorney Melinda Katz said. He then got back into his vehicle and drove on a pavement, nearly running over the demonstrators, the release said. Cavalluzzi turned himself in on Thursday morning and was arraigned on charges of second-degree attempted murder, multiple degrees of attempted assault, reckless endangerment and other offences. In a burst of anger and rage, this defendant allegedly sought to kill protesters who were peacefully assembled and exercising their right to free speech, Katz said, adding that it was amazing no one was injured. 02:45 GMT Two police officers suspended for pushing a protester in New York Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood has ordered the immediate suspension of the two officers involved in a video showing them pushing a man after a protest in Niagara Square. Local media reported that the man in the video was taken to the hospital. Warning: Graphic video GRAPHIC: Buffalo police shove a peaceful elderly man to the ground, he hits his head, goes unconscious and starts bleeding out. The police do nothing to help. These officers must be fired and charged. pic.twitter.com/PE6I3Cq3IO Julian Castro (@JulianCastro) June 5, 2020 01:30 GMT New York Times says senators op-ed did not meet standards The New York Times said a controversial op-ed it published by Republican Senator Tom Cotton an op-ed that advocated the use of federal troops to quell demonstrations did not meet its standards. The Times reported that it had reviewed how Cottons Send in the Troops editorial came to be published online and in the paper. This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards, a Times spokeswoman said in a statement. The decision came after a day of protests by Times staffers who believed the editorial was insensitive amid nationwide protests after last weeks death of George Floyd. 00:40 GMT 8:46: A number that became a potent symbol of police brutality All protest movements have slogans. George Floyds has a number: 8:46. Eight minutes, 46 seconds thats the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned to the ground under a white Minneapolis police officers knee before he died last week. In the days since, outraged protesters, politicians and mourners have seized on the detail as a quiet way to honour Floyd. Even as prosecutors have said little about how they arrived at the precise number, it has fast grown into a potent symbol of the suffering Floyd and many other Black men have experienced at the hands of police. Demonstrators lie face down depicting George Floyd during his detention by police during a protest against police brutality in Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts [Steven Senne/AP Photo] Demonstrators this week laid down on streets staging die-ins for precisely eight minutes, 46 seconds. In Washington, Democratic senators gathered in the US Capitols Emancipation Hall, some standing, some kneeling on the marbled floor for the nearly nine minutes of silence. Mourners at a memorial service for Floyd in Minneapolis stood in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, as they were asked by the Reverend Al Sharpton to think about what George was going through, laying there for those eight minutes, begging for his life. Read more here. 00:20 GMT Downtown Detroit to be lit purple Starting Thursday night, the buildings of downtown Detroit, Michigan, will be lit purple in honour of George Floyd and all those whose lives were tragically cut short by injustice, violence and police brutality, the citys municipality announced in a press release. The effort will go through June 9, the day of Floyds funeral in Houston. Detroiters will also hold a silent vigil in front of their homes on Sunday night. The idea to light the city and host a citywide vigil came to me in recognition of the deep pain and brokenness we are all feeling, especially our black community, in light of George Floyds murder, councilmember Raquel Castaneda Lopez said. Too many black and brown lives have been lost to violence and police brutality, perpetuating the trauma these communities have experienced for generations, she said. Thursday, June 4 23:35 GMT Floyd-inspired protests erupt in Mexico Anger built in Mexico over its own police brutality case: a young man allegedly beaten to death after officers detained him for not wearing a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic. The #GeorgeFloyd protests have inspired people in Mexico to call out murders at the hands of the police. Last month in Jalisco, police detained Giovanni Lopez because he wasnt wearing a face mask. They beat him. He died in police custody. People now demand #JusticiaParaGiovanni pic.twitter.com/wE0b3d3LSO (@Andalalucha) June 4, 2020 An online campaign to bring Giovanni Lopezs killers to justice has drawn support from celebrities like filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and actress Salma Hayek. The hashtag #JusticeForGiovanni was gaining traction on Thursday. Authorities in the western state of Jalisco have said that Lopez was detained May 4 in a town near the city of Guadalajara for a misdemeanor equivalent to disturbing the peace or resisting arrest. COPS MURDERED GIOVANNI Giovanni Lopez, 30yo day laborer arrested for not wearing a mask, criminalised by cops and brutally beaten to death bc he belongs to the Mexican racialized underclass. ACAB EVERYWHERE https://t.co/ifIhGkqFhm #JusticiaParaGiovanni#JusticeForGiovanni pic.twitter.com/Qv617s5gWB Sergio Beltran-Garcia (@ssbeltran) June 4, 2020 A video of his detention shows municipal police wrestling him into a patrol truck as residents argued with officers about excessive use of force and rules requiring face masks, a measure designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Hours later, Lopez was taken from his cell for medical treatment and died. 23:00 GMT Rights groups sue Trump over clearing of peaceful protesters The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the administration of US President Donald Trump, alleging that officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before Trump walked to a nearby church to take a photo. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, comes as Attorney General William Barr defended the decision to forcefully remove the peaceful protesters, saying it was necessary to protect officers and federal property. Police on horseback dispersing protesters demonstrating against the death of George Floyd near the White House on June 1, 2020 [Roberto Schmidt/AFP] The suit argues that Trump, Barr and other officials unlawfully conspired to violate the protesters rights when clearing Lafayette Park on Monday. Law enforcement officers aggressively forced the protesters back, firing smoke bombs and pepper balls into the crowd to disperse them from the park. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the group Black Lives Matter DC and individual protesters who were present. It is filed by the ACLU of DC, Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the law firm of Arnold & Porter. 22:50 GMT Man who aimed bow and arrow at protesters arrested A US man captured on video aiming a bow and arrow at protesters in Salt Lake City, Utah over the weekend was charged with assault and weapon possession. Brandon McCormick was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, as well as aggravated assault and threatening or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel. He was reportedly pushed to the ground on Saturday after pointing the bow and arrow at people protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. People then flipped over his car and set it on fire. 22:00 GMT National Guard faces tremendous challenge in DC: Tennessee governor Tennessee National Guard troops face a tremendous challenge as they head to the nations capital at the request of President Donald Trump to help quell protests, Governor Bill Lee told troops. Youve been called upon to protect the rights, the freedoms, and the privileges that Americans have to peacefully protest to exercise their First Amendment rights in a way that they feel safe, and therefore, they can be heard, Lee said before the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment boarded a C-17 military transport plane headed to Washington, DC. But youve also been called up to protect the lives and the property against those who hijack peaceful protests and turn them into violent riots. Balancing that protection is a tremendous challenge, the Republican continued. Tennessee is one of several states to send National Guard troops to Washington. Roughly 1,000 Tennessee troops are expected to be in Washington no later than Saturday. However, at least three states with Democratic governors New York, Virginia and Delaware have so far rejected the request. The Trump administration asked multiple states to send troops to Washington at the same time as the president recently criticised many governors as weak for not using the National Guard more aggressively in their own states. 20:15 GMT Wisconsin governor defends decision to deploy National Guard Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers defended his decision to deploy the Wisconsin National Guard to help police control protests over George Floyds death. Evers told reporters during a conference call that he deployed the Guard to protect property in Madison, including the state Capitol building, and utilities in Milwaukee. If the troops actively intervened, they did so at the direction of local authorities, he said. Evers said Thursday the protests are a watershed opportunity to fix systemic racism. He encouraged people to demonstrate lawfully. First Amendment rights are not to be trampled in this state or any other state, Evers said. Those who decide to do damage are damaging the First Amendment and theyre damaging the opportunity for thousands of people across Wisconsin to exercise that First Amendment right. 19:53 GMT An eight-minute silence held as memorial ends In Minneapolis, Minnesota, where George Floyd died, Reverand Al Sharpton cut into a session of religious music to start an eight-minute silence to honour Floyd, who was held down by Chauvins knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Sharpton called actress Tiffany Haddish and Gwen Carr, Eric Garners mother, to stand next to him during the silence. Garner died in 2014 after a police officer put him in a chokehold. In his last moments, he could be heard saying: I cant breathe. Haddish was joined in attendance by other celebrities including actors, musicians, activists and politicians. Kevin Hart, Ludacris, TI, Tyrese Gibson, Master P, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar were all at the memorial service. Read more here. 19:23 GMT Get your knee off our neck Al Sharpton Reverend Al Sharpton gave the eulogy at Floyds memorial in Minneapolis. He said it wasnt a normal funeral and Floyd didnt die of natural causes. He died of a common American criminal justice malfunction, Sharpton said. There has not been the corrective behaviour that has taught this country that if you commit a crime, it does not matter whether you wear blue jeans or a blue uniform, you must pay for the crime you had committed., he continued. Sharpton said he eulogised Eric Garner, another Black man who was killed by police officers and whose final words were I cant breathe. What happened to men like Floyd and Garner happens every day in the US, through institutional racism, Sharpton said. We were smarter than the underfunded schools you put us in, but you had your knee on our neck. We had creative skills, we could do whatever anybody else could do, but we couldnt get your knee off our neck. Calling for change, Sharpton said its time to stand up in Georges name and say get your knee off our necks. 19:11 GMT What we saw was torture Benjamin Crump, the lawyer for Floyds family, started his address to the Minneapolis memorial service with a quote from Dr Martin Luther King Jr: He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. Crump, who yesterday celebrated the elevation of charges against former police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyds neck along with charges for the three other cops involved said that what people saw in the video of Floyds death was torture. Crump called on people to protest the injustice committed against Floyd and against other members of the African-American community. We cannot cooperate with evil, he said. We cannot cooperate with injustice. We cannot cooperate with torture. Because George Floyd deserved better than that. 18:58 GMT There will be justice: Philonise Floyd Philonise Floyd, Georges brother, told mourners at his memorial that George was like a general and that people wanted to follow him. Philonise described his brother as a man who made people feel like the president. He said people wanted to greet him and wanted to have fun with him. Philonise ended his remarks by saying everybody want justice, we want justice for George. Hes going to get it. 18:00 GMT Hundreds to attend Minneapolis memorial Hundreds are expected to attend on Thursday the first of several planned memorials for George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota last month. The Minneapolis event will kick off a week of services to honour Floyd, whose death on May 25, captured on video, set off protests across the United States, and worldwide. Read more. 17:45 GMT DC mayor says out-of-state troops should leave US capital The mayor of Washington, DC, on Thursday called for the withdrawal from the US capital of military units sent from other states to deal with protests against police brutality and racism. We want troops from out of state out of Washington DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser told a news conference. 17:00 GMT Protesters should highly consider getting COVID-19 tests Protesters particularly in cities that have struggled to control the novel coronavirus should highly consider getting tested for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, a top US health official said on Thursday. Those individuals that have partaken in these peaceful protests or have been out protesting, and particularly if theyre in metropolitan areas that really havent controlled the outbreak we really want those individuals to highly consider being evaluated and get tested, Robert Redfield, director for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a US House of Representatives committee. Thousands of peaceful demonstrators holding banners gather in front of the White House to protest the death of George Floyd [Yasin Ozturk/Anadoulu] Redfield also said the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to be a close colleague in public health efforts. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US will end its relationship with the WHO over the bodys handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 17:00 GMT Republican senator struggling over whether to back Trump in election US Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, said on Thursday that she is struggling over whether she can support President Donald Trumps re-election bid, saying criticism of Trumps response to nationwide protests by former Defense Secretary James Mattis rang true. Asked if she supported Trump, a fellow Republican who faces the nations voters again in November, she said, I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time. He is our duly elected president. I will continue to work with him but I think right now as we are all struggling to find ways to express the words that need to be expressed appropriately, Murkowski added. 16:48 GMT LA County Sheriffs office will no long enforce curfew The Los Angeles County Sheriffs office said on Twitter that it will no longer enforce a curfew put in place to quell protests. Based upon current situational awareness and the recent pattern of peaceful actions by protesters, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (@LASDHQ) will no longer enforce a curfew, Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted. Other jurisdictions are free to make their own decisions. Other jurisdictions are free to make their own decisions. ____________________________________________________________________ Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the protests in the US over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath in Louisville, Kentucky, Creede Newton in Washington, DC, and Lucien Formichella in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here are a few things to catch up on: George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, died on May 25 after a white officer used his knee to pin Floyds neck to the ground for nearly nine minutes. Floyd can be heard on a bystander video repeatedly pleading with officers, saying: I cant breathe. He eventually lies motionless with the officers knee still on his neck. You can read about the deadly incident here. The four officers involved in the incident were fired, and all have been charged. Protests some violent have since erupted nationwide as demonstrators rally for justice for Floyd and all unarmed Black people killed by police. See the updates from Tuesdays protests here. Westpac chairman John McFarlane has vowed the bank will lift its game on risk management after two major investigations blamed technology failures, misjudgments and poor systems for the money-laundering compliance crisis that could cost the bank almost $1 billion. The banking giant on Thursday released the findings of an internal probe into the mass breaches and a separate inquiry into the board's accountability, following a 2019 bombshell lawsuit from the financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC. Westpac CEO Peter King said the bank's mistakes were "faults of omission" rather than intent. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr McFarlane sought to draw a line under the episode, one of the most dramatic crises in Westpac's history, which has left has it facing a massive fine that the bank believes could top $900 million. From my standpoint, theres no question that this was a serious failure by the company and there are consequences from that, Mr McFarlane said in an interview. The key thing is to accept it and ensure it doesnt happen again. Brittany N. Mars, an Ada County, Idaho, woman who fudged the time of accident in documents to her auto insurer, was sentenced this week for insurance fraud. Mars in February pleaded guilty to insurance fraud. Mars was involved in an auto accident in 2017. An ensuing investigation by the Department of Insurance reportedly showed Mars did not have auto insurance at the time of the accident, but instead purchased a policy shortly after the accident and provided a false accident time to her auto insurer in hopes the damage to the vehicle would be covered. Fourth District Court Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Mars to three years of probation, two days in jail and five days of Sheriff Labor Detail. Hippler ordered Mars to pay $340 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Insurance, a $500 fine, court costs and fees. The Office of the Attorney Generals Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case. Topics Auto Fraud Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (28) Bright Pattern is helping one of the largest US banks support small business clients navigate this challenging time with the launch of its Paycheck Protection Program SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Pattern, a leading provider of AI-powered cloud contact center software , announced today that it was chosen by a major financial services institution to support the transition from traditional brick-and-mortar call centers to a virtual contact center with a remote workforce. This US-based financial service institution has always put the safety of its customers and employees first and was swift to adjust to the changing needs of customers and employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They selected Bright Pattern Contact Center as its cloud-based communication platform in order to provide employees safe, work-from-home technology that seamlessly connects agents to clients across traditional and digital communication channels like voice, chat, email, text messaging, bots, and more. The financial institution needed to implement a virtual call center in days in order to maintain exceptional support and provide loan application guidance to clients. In just days the financial institution deployed Bright Pattern Call Center, onboarded thousands of virtual concurrent agents across the country, and is handling nearly 100,000 calls per day in order to process hundreds of thousands of loan applications. Bright Pattern was also selected because of its ability to scale at a moment's notice. The company expects to add additional virtual agents to the platform over the next few weeks. Bright Pattern has the highest ROI and fastest deployment time of all cloud contact center vendors. This great speed and the advanced virtual call center capabilities of the platform were instrumental to the launch of the Paycheck Protection Program. The Bright Pattern cloud-based call center solution meets the challenges of a remote call center and enables companies to connect with customers from anywhere in the world across all time zones. Agents can be located at numerous remote locations and be managed as one central pool of agents. This provides the efficiency of a centrally based contact center even if agents are geographically dispersed or at home locations. With Bright Pattern's omnichannel virtual call center software , a virtual call center agent can see the entire customer journey across all communication channels remotely, thereby providing an easy and personalized virtual customer experience. Bright Pattern is uniquely positioned to deliver remote capabilities with its ease of deployment, omnichannel conversations, omnichannel quality management, internal messaging for enhanced communications, and AI in a single platform. Bright Pattern is also providing COVID-19 support to the call center industry with cloud solutions to supplement operations with remote workforce capabilities. "The cloud contact center solution supplements contact center operations so that organizations can remain productive and deliver a seamless customer experience without compromising the safety of its workforce," said Michael McCloskey, CEO of Bright Pattern. "The COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives and companies around the world, and the call center industry is no exception. Bright Pattern is happy to be working with many leading companies around the globe who are working to support employees and customers through this unprecedented time." For more information on how Bright Pattern is supporting the call center industry during the pandemic, view the latest COVID-19 press release . Bright Pattern Cloud Contact Center Features: Business Continuity - Keep your business going no matter what interruptions local offices or business settings face. Bright Pattern has a robust system designed to ensure uninterrupted continuity in the case of a local disaster or facility interruption. - Keep your business going no matter what interruptions local offices or business settings face. Bright Pattern has a robust system designed to ensure uninterrupted continuity in the case of a local disaster or facility interruption. Scalability - Bright Pattern cloud call center software allows you to easily supplement your existing workforce with additional remote agents in minimal time. - Bright Pattern cloud call center software allows you to easily supplement your existing workforce with additional remote agents in minimal time. Deploy in Days - Bright Pattern was rated No. 1 by G2 Crowd for quickest time to deploy out of all CCaaS vendors in the industry with the highest ROI and ROI payback time. Bright Pattern Contact Center can be deployed in days instead of the weeks it takes most CCaaS vendors. - Bright Pattern was rated No. 1 by G2 Crowd for quickest time to deploy out of all CCaaS vendors in the industry with the highest ROI and ROI payback time. Bright Pattern Contact Center can be deployed in days instead of the weeks it takes most CCaaS vendors. Geographic Flexibility - Allow agents to access the exact same information that they would typically access in their offices from anywhere with a stable Internet connection. - Allow agents to access the exact same information that they would typically access in their offices from anywhere with a stable Internet connection. Maintain Voice Quality Across Geographies - Bright Pattern's Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) functionality routes callers to the optimal agent. If you are experiencing a spike in calls as a result of the pandemic or need to deploy a remote workforce, Bright Pattern is prepared to deliver consultations and cloud services to existing and new customers. Please contact us at marketing@brightpattern.com , call 925-548-0532, or request a demo . Additional Information Learn more about Bright Pattern Call Center for Financial Institutions View information on Bright Pattern Virtual Call Center for a Remote Workforce Learn more about Bright Pattern Omnichannel Cloud Contact Center See Bright Pattern Awards and Recognition About Bright Pattern Bright Pattern provides the simplest and most powerful AI-powered contact center for innovative midsize and enterprise companies. With the purpose of making customer service brighter, easier, and faster than ever before, Bright Pattern offers the only true omnichannel cloud platform with embedded AI that can be deployed quickly and nimbly by business users-without costly professional services. Bright Pattern allows companies to offer an effortless, personal, and seamless customer experience across channels like voice , text, chat , email , video , messengers , and bots . Bright Pattern also allows companies to measure and act on every interaction on every channel via embedded AI omnichannel quality management capability. The company was founded by a team of industry veterans who pioneered the leading contact center solutions and today are delivering architecture for the future with an advanced cloud-first approach. Bright Pattern's cloud contact center solution is used globally in over 26 countries and 12 languages. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/634980/Bright_Pattern___Logo.jpg As Oregons most populous county inches toward reopening June 12, it remains unclear whether Multnomah County will join large jurisdictions up and down the West Coast by requiring facial coverings in public areas. Theyre generally required in Californias Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Alameda and Sacramento counties and in Washingtons King County. Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran pressed Wednesday for Oregons most populous county to reduce the spread of coronavirus by following in their footsteps. Meieran, an emergency room doctor, said a decision by the Board of Commissioners should be thoughtful and include feedback from people at risk of facing discrimination when wearing facial coverings. You can mandate it in an intentional and thoughtful and appropriate way, she said, adding: I think that we should be requiring this. Whether the other four members of the board agree is an open question. Commissioner Lori Stegmann pushed back on the concept, saying she had read that some people who are black have expressed concerns about racism and personal safety if they wear facial coverings. Stegmann said shed like to hear directly from community members. Thats exactly the kind of conversation that needs to happen, Meieran responded. But no formal proposal followed. County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury said during the online board briefing that county health officials are looking into the issue of face coverings and will provide guidance to elected leaders soon. Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday also indirectly weighed in on facial coverings, which are believed to help limit the release of respiratory droplets. Brown, who is poised to let much of Oregon enter a Phase 2 of reopening this week, said individual counties or cities should make the call on whether facial coverings are required. Multnomah County leaders expect to submit a reopening application to Brown by Friday and are tentatively eyeing a reopening date one week after. Multnomah County is the only jurisdiction in Oregon that hasnt yet entered Phase 1. Its unclear whether the Portland City Council may consider requiring facial coverings within the city if the county doesnt act. A spokeswoman for Mayor Ted Wheeler didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz, a retired psychiatric nurse, said she backs a county requirement for wearing face coverings. Portland officials are working on a public campaign to encourage facial coverings in the meantime. I support Dr. Meieran in her call for mandatory masks, Fritz said in a text message. The county is the public health authority with the right to make the call, she said, adding that the city could only encourage it. Meanwhile, county officials highlighted progress toward meeting perquisites to reopen. They acknowledged having only about half of the 122 contact tracers needed but said hiring is in process and will eventually hit 133. While many jobs will be filled by existing employees or community groups, the county recently posted openings for 20 to 30 positions and received more than 1,600 applicants, said Kim Toevs, the countys communicable disease director. Im sure that we will have extensive skills and resources from the community to draw on, she said. The county is also launching coronavirus testing through its health department in an effort to reach people of color. The first location, at 600 N.E. Eighth St. in Gresham, will collect tests from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, beginning next week. Officials hope to test 80 people a day. The sites prioritize symptomatic people who are without health insurance, who are residents of color, or who do not have a regular health care provider, Kate Willson, a county spokeswoman, said in a statement. The county asks people who can access testing through their own health care provider do so. A second location, in the mid-county area, perhaps around 122nd Avenue, will open later. Having a local site that people are able to access is going to be really important, said Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson, noting that the Gresham location is miles away from many residents. Multnomah County leads all of Oregon in total identified or presumed coronavirus infections, with 1,194 of the states 4,399 total representing more than a quarter. For each of the five weeks since late April, people of color have accounted for more than twice as many infections as whites across Multnomah County. People of color have accounted for twice as many coronavirus infections as whites in the past five weeks in Multnomah County. The neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue have recorded the most infections in the county, state data show. County officials also expressed concern about the potential for coronavirus spread during the nightly protests of George Floyds death in Minneapolis that have drawn thousands to downtown Portland. Dr. Jennifer Vines, the county health officer, said such gatherings are exactly what weve been trying to avoid to prevent transmission of the communicable virus. Vines said it would likely be next week at the earliest before any infections linked to the demonstrations would be identified. Itll be a while until we have a more complete understanding, she said. County officials reiterated that they will ask the governor to grant their application but could still choose to delay reopening beyond June 12, if they see other warning signs before then. -- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. HP announced another milestone in enabling the frontline workers and communities to respond to the challenges of COVID-19 through 3D printing. HP has partnered with Redington 3D in India, to successfully produce 120,000 ventilator parts for AgVa Healthcare. As part of this initiative, 12 categories of parts have been 3D printed, to manufacture 10,000 ventilators. These ventilators are being deployed across India for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The parts include inhale and exhale connectors, valve holders, oxygen nozzles and solenoid mounts among others. Since these components have complex designs and fine tolerances, it would have taken 4-5 months to manufacture these quantities using the conventional process. With HP 3D printing technology, these parts were printed in just 24 days. AgVa Healthcares ventilator is an ICU ventilator with Volume, Pressure & Flow Control. The entire system can be controlled by a capacitive multi-touch interface without the need of compressed medical air. It is extremely portable and can be used in ICU transport or homecare. This partnership is part of HPs global commitment in the battle against COVID-19. To date, HP and partners have produced more than 2.3 million 3D printed parts. As part of this initiative, HP has ramped up its 3D printing team and global Digital Manufacturing Partner Network to design, validate and produce essential parts for medical responders and hospitals. Rajat Mehta, Country Manager, 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing, HP India Market, said, In these unprecedented and difficult times, HP remains committed to serve the community and those impacted by the ongoing health emergency. The successful execution of the AgVa Healthcare project is a testament of the capabilities of HPs 3D printing technology and how it can remove the limitations of designing by producing complex products in short time. Ramesh K.S, Vice President, Redington India limited., said, At Redington, our commitment was to supply over 1.20 Lakhs parts to AgVa Healthcare in their endeavour to manufacture 10,000 Ventilators in 30 days & help the country tackle the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. By deploying two of our HP Jet Fusion Production 3D Printers, we could manage our production schedule with ease and help the country in its preparedness to fight this pandemic situation. As a team, we feel proud to be part of this mission & leverage our Digital Manufacturing capabilities, at the time when it needed the most. 3D Printing Parts to Help Contain COVID-19 HPs global network of manufacturing partners is working to ensure that the 3D printed parts are available in any region around the world. To date, more than 2.3 million parts have been produced by HP and our partners and customers around the world. Some of the first applications being validated and produced include: Hands-Free Door Opener: Door handles are among the most germ-infested objects in houses, hospitals, factories, and elderly homes. This adapter allows for easy and more sanitary opening with an elbow. Mask Adjuster: Many hospital staff are required to wear masks for long periods. This clasp is designed to improve comfort and alleviate associated ear pain. Face Shields: Face shields are one of the highest-need personal protection items. Brackets to hold the shield and comfortably fit the wearer are a critical component. Field Ventilator: 3D printed parts for a mechanical bag valve mask (BVM) that is designed for use as short-term emergency ventilation of COVID-19 patients. This simplified design enables a robust and less-complex device, facilitating its rapid production and assembly. FFP3 Face Masks: Effective protective gear is needed for medical providers to treat the volume of expected COVID-19 patients. HP is validating several hospital-grade face masks and expects them to be available shortly. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lifted its ban on international transit flights yesterday, allowing its two major carriers to soon resume more of these voyages as they struggle financially. The suspension referred to passenger flights stopping in the country to change planes and refuel, Reuters reported. The Dubai-based airline Emirates announced today that it would resume flights from Pakistan to onward destinations transiting through Dubai on June 8 due to the lifting of restrictions. The carrier also said it would be adding flights to additional North American, European and Asian destinations on June 15, according to a press release. Emirates previously announced it would resume flights to several North American, European and Australian destinations from Dubai on May 21. A search on the airlines website today revealed direct flights from Dubai available to some of the aforementioned locations. Etihad Airways said it would start flights linking European, Australian and Asian destinations through its hub in Abu Dhabi on June 10 because of the suspension being lifted, according to a press release today. The airline was already offering direct flights to a limited number of destinations in Europe and Asia, as well as connections between Australia and the United Kingdom via Abu Dhabi, according to the release and Etihads destination guidelines. The UAE is a major transit hub, and both Etihad Airways and Emirates have experienced significant losses from the downturn in global travel resulting from the coronavirus. Emirates reportedly fired some pilots and cabin crew last week. Etihad Airways also faces possible legal consequences if it does not restructure its debt. By Kim Bo-eun Kim Heung-chong, an expert on the European region and free trade agreements (FTAs), has been appointed to lead the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) in the changing global environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He was appointed to the position at a board meeting of the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences under the Prime Minister's Secretariat, May 29. Kim was a senior research fellow at KIEP's Europe team prior to being appointed. He is an expert on the European Union (EU) and other European regions, as well as in international trading including FTAs. Kim has served as key advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on FTAs between Korea and the EU. He was vice chairman of the Korea International Economic Association, the European Union Studies Association of Korea and the Korea Association of Trade and Industry Studies. Kim was an adjunct professor at Ewha Womans University's Graduate School of International Studies and Sogang University's Graduate School of Management of Technology. He was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Kim obtained a bachelor's, a master's and a doctorate degree in economics from Seoul National University. KIEP was founded in 1989, to provide insight into the global economy and offer policy suggestions and strategies. Egypt decided late on Wednesday to cancel a seven-day mandatory quarantine period for Egyptians arriving from abroad that was meant to limit the spread of the croronavirus, sources told Al-Ahram Arabic. The period was initially set at 14 days before authorities shortened it over two weeks ago to one week. Instead of being quarantined at hotels, university dorms, or student hostels upon arriving, returnees will be required to self-quarantine at home for two weeks as a precaution against the virus. Upon arrival, returning nationals will undergo a coronavirus rapid test at the airport, and those who show symptoms of the illness will be transferred to isolation hospitals, while those who dont would be allowed to spend their quarantine at home. Cairo International Airport started implementing the decision on Wednesday night when it received three flights repatriating 450 citizens from Lebanon, a source at the airport told Al-Ahram. None of the passengers showed any symptoms of the virus and they were allowed to leave the airport to their homes where they will be required to self-quarantine. According to Al-Ahram, the airport in the Red Sea city of Marsa Allam was late in applying the decision, sending passengers who arrived Wednesday night to designated quarantine hotels. The airport had received Wednesday two flights from Saudi Arabia and a flight from Kuwait with a total of around 500 passengers. Returnees were expected to be discharged from quarantine and returned to Cairo within hours as none of them showed symptoms when tested at the airport, airport sources said in the early hours of Thursday. The government had covered the quarantine costs of those staying at university hostels. However, those who decided to spend their quarantine period at designated hotels in the city of Marsa Alam had to pay for their stay. Egypt is mainly keeping its airspace open to cargo and domestic flights during the general flight suspension, which has been in place since March. Egypt is still operating flights to repatriate its citizens from abroad. Earlier this week, Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar Enaba said the government was considering resuming international flights, expecting the halt to be lifted within weeks. The date is yet to be announced. Egypt reported Wednesday 1,079 new coronavirus cases and 36 deaths, with the number of new cases continuing to drop for a third straight day. The countrys total now stands at 28,615 cases and 1,088 deaths. Search Keywords: Short link: Kazimir Malevich - "Self-portrait" (1910) Open source A biographical film about Kazimir Malevich, the author of one of the most famous paintings in world history - "Black Square", will be shot in Ukraine. The film will be directed by Daria Onyshchenko ("Eastalgia", "The Forgotten"), the script was written by Daryna and Anna Palenchuk. The project got into the script laboratory of the famous European program MIDPOINT, where the filmmakers will have the opportunity to consult with professionals from Netflix and HBO. At the heart of the biopic is the story of the confrontation between the abstractionist Kazimir Malevich and the famous constructivist Vladimir Tatlin. Eccentric and extraordinary personalities, attractive and charismatic men, these artists were fighting for the recognition of their work through the course of their lives. But more successful Malevich became, more closely the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) monitored him. The film will include secrets of the great artist's life, the history of his childhood in Ukraine, his emergence as an artist under the influence of Ukrainian folk art, the creation of Suprematism as a new trend in art, depicting Holodomor tragedy, persecution of avant-garde artists by the Soviet regime and constant belief in an idea of free art. "It is interesting that Malevich and Tatlin are still considered Russian artists, although they both spent their childhoods in Ukraine, spoke Ukrainian, both sang Ukrainian songs. Tatlin also played the bandura. And Malevich repeatedly stressed that his emergence as an artist was influenced by Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian history, director Daria Onyschenko said. Experts-art critics, historians from Ukraine and abroad were involved in the production. The main consultant of the project is Tetiana Filevska, known for her documentary about the life and work of Kazimir Malevich, as well as the author of books about Malevich's life in Ukraine. Its release is scheduled for 2021. As we reported earlier, this year's edition of the Odesa international film festival will take place in the online mode due to the pandemic of coronavirus. June 3, 2020 Release DOD Names Seven Installations as Sites for Second Round of 5G Technology Testing, Experimentation The Department of Defense has named seven U.S. military installations as the latest sites where it will conduct fifth-generation (5G) communications technology experimentation and testing. They are Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Joint Base San Antonio, Texas; the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California; Fort Hood, Texas; Camp Pendleton, California; and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. This second round, referred to as Tranche 2, brings the total number of installations selected to host 5G testing to 12. This tranche builds on DOD's previously-announced 5G communications technology prototyping and experimentation and is part of a 5G development roadmap guided by the Department of Defense 5G Strategy. 5G technology is vital to maintaining America's military and economic advantages. 5G is the fifth-generation of cellular network technology. It is the advent of ubiquitous connectivity the connectivity of everything and everyone everywhere - through wireless communications. DOD's efforts focus on large-scale experimentation and prototyping of dual-use (military and commercial) 5G technology that will provide high speeds, quicker response times and the ability to handle many more wireless devices than current wireless technology. Last year, the department announced the selection of the Tranche 1 bases: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Naval Base San Diego, California; and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia as the first U.S. military installations to host testing and experimentation for 5G technology. In May of 2020, DOD announced Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada had also been selected. The bases were selected for their ability to provide streamlined access to site spectrum bands, mature fiber and wireless infrastructure, access to key facilities, support for new or improved infrastructure requirements and the ability to conduct controlled experimentation with dynamic spectrum sharing. DOD recognizes industry will play a key role in the development of leap-ahead 5G technology for both military and civilian uses. In the coming weeks, the department will issue requests for prototype proposals from industry partners. The new round of opportunities will focus on the following areas: Ship-wide/Pier Connectivity at Naval Station Norfolk Enhancing Aircraft Mission Readiness at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Augmented Reality Support of Maintenance and Training at Joint Base San Antonio Wireless Connectivity for Forward Operating Bases (FOB) and Tactical Operations Centers (TOC) at the NTC at Fort Irwin and Fort Hood, Texas Wireless Connectivity for FOBs and TOCs at Camp Pendleton DOD 5G Core Security Experimentation Network at Joint Base San Antonio and multiple remote locations Bi-directional Spectrum Sharing DOD / Commercial at Tinker AFB https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2206761/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address When Jamar Roberts, the resident choreographer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, got a call from Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum inviting him to contribute a video, he had been sheltering for a few weeks in a friends basement outside New York, not dancing or feeling at all inspired to dance. They were going to pay, he recalled in a phone interview, and at that point I didnt know yet if Ailey was going to keep paying me, so I said OK. Since the museum closed, Works & Process, a long-running performance series, has been commissioning its alumni to make videos no longer than five minutes. Each Sunday and Monday, another instalment is posted on YouTube. The playlist now includes more than a dozen, with dozens more on the way. The list of contributors is distinguished, and many of the entries are charming, but Roberts work stands out. Short as it is, his video, Cooped, released last week, is one of the most powerful artistic responses yet to the COVID-19 crisis. And as that crisis changes shape, as the anxiety over disease and confinement is compounded by violence and protest, the resonance of the work only expands. It begins with Robertss bare torso and head, seeming to hang upside down in a dark, tight space: a basement, a cell. As it continues, the framing shifts but stays close, focusing on his gleaming body as it bends in ways both beautiful and uncomfortable. Arching his head back or staring at the camera, he shakes. I knew right away that I wasnt going to stand in front of the camera and dance for five minutes, he said. I was completely out of shape. Thinking he might make something about his frustration at being stuck indoors, he started playing in the basement playing with the ceiling and the floor and the light, filming himself on his iPad and editing the results. It was fun, tinkering with the editing software, he said. Then things got heated. He learned about how COVID-19 has been disproportionately affecting Blacks, who have been hospitalized and dying at a much higher rate than whites. I wasnt surprised, he said. You hear about the disparities that Black people suffer all day long these days. I wasnt going to make the dance about it. But then, as he looked at what he was making, watching 30 seconds of it over and over for hours, he said he realized, This is deeper than I intended. Following the feeling, he pushed the video further into a kind of fever dream. The piece told me what it wanted to be. He thought about how quarantine is not foreign to communities of colour. He thought about segregation and redlining. He remembered how his grandfather, dying of cancer but wary of white authorities, avoided going to the hospital. This feeling of what its like to be sick and suffering but not have resources that all came out in a way I didnt anticipate, he said. For the completed video, Roberts added a score by his friend David Watson, composed of bagpipes and the drumming of renowned Australian percussionist Tony Buck. The bagpipes sound like a drone, he said, sort of mundane, like Here we go again with the terrors of Black experience in America, but then they sound like a siren, really showing the state of emergency were in. Commonly, when a choreographer tries to express a state of emergency though dance, the results are obvious, didactic or maudlin. An ability to avoid those traps seems to be part of Roberts gift. In Ode, his work for the Ailey company last year, he managed to evoke the pain of gun violence, harrowingly but delicately, without making a public service announcement. Im very concerned with beauty, he said. With these situations that are hard to speak about, I always try to make a point that theres something beautiful that sits side by side with it. Working in video offered him different possibilities for expression. Im always trying to show the nuance, the blink of an eye or the turning of a hand, the change in body language in the second when you get really hard information, he said. Making this film allowed me to invest in those tiny moments that are harder to make register onstage. They do register in the film, concentrating and channelling the fears stirred up by the COVID-19 crisis but also tapping into currents of history deeper and wider than the immediate subject. Art like that can seem prescient. Although Roberts created the piece before the killing of George Floyd in police custody and before the video of the incident sparked an uprising, Cooped with its images of a bent Black body and its siren tone of emergency now seems to speak to those events, too. Works & Process acknowledged this resonance on Monday when, instead of putting up a new entry, it reposted Roberts work. When Jamar turned it in, we were completely taken away by its power, Duke Dang, the organizations general manager, said. Weve been releasing the videos pretty much in the order they were submitted, but considering how relevant his piece has become, putting it up again seemed the right thing to do at this moment. Roberts also sees the relevance. In his artists statement, he wrote about the effects of COVID-19 on Black people as a crisis within a crisis. Now, in recognition of the events of last week, he has added a paragraph about the Black body as a source of controversy across hundreds of years. Using his own Black body, he writes, was a way to make visible the psyche of a marginalized people and their resilience and their beauty. Its been an issue for a very long time, he said, so it will always have relevance. I added to my artists statement, because I wanted to speak specifically about the body. Seeing the destruction of the physical body gets people going. Thats why I wanted my body up close to the viewer, so that you can feel it and really understand what Im talking about. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:04:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Nepal confirmed 334 new COVID-19 cases and the 10th death on Thursday, taking the total number of infected in the country to 2,634. "With the addition of 334 cases today, there are now 2,450 male and 184 female COVID-19 patients across the country now," said Bikash Devkota, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population in a daily press briefing. The country has recently been reporting three-digit daily addition to the COVID-19 cases. Most of the cases were those staying in quarantine after entering Nepal from different Nepal-India border points. A total of 2,335 infected people were kept in isolation and receiving medical treatment across the country, according to the Health Ministry. The Nepali government has prepared a COVID-19 health sector emergency response plan in which the government could announce public health emergency after the cases crossed 2,000 mark. "In the view of rising cases and deaths from the virus, the ministry has decided to submit the proposal to the council of ministers for its approval," Devkota said. A total of 84,134 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and 125,564 rapid diagnostic test (RDT) tests have been carried out as of Thursday. Meanwhile, 290 patients have recovered. Enditem New Delhi, June 5 : Hours after an elderly man died of Covid with his family alleging that the Lok Nayak Hospital denied entry to the patient, the dedicated Covid hospital termed the claims "incorrect and false". In a statement, the hospital's Medical Director expressed condolences to the family of late Lakhjeet Singh, who succumbed to Covid-19 on Thursday morning. "A grieving family member of the deceased has shared a version of events on social media regarding the unfortunate passing way of her father. It is being implied that the death occurred due to the hospital authority's refusal of admission. While we fully stand by the family in this difficult time, it is important to place the facts on record," the hospital said. It said the first tweet regarding the alleged refusal to admit the patient was posted at 8.05 a.m. (that hospital was refusing admission and they were standing outside the hospital) and subsequently at 9.08 a.m., the news of the patient's passing away was shared. "Upon investigating the incident, it was found that the Lok Nayak Hospital auto-generated electronic casualty record had registered the patient in question as 'Brought Dead' at 7.37 a.m. The hospital staff on duty has confirmed that the patient was brought into the hospital between 7.10 and 7.30 a.m. The hospital wishes to clarify that the patient was not refused admission and was examined by doctors upon being brought in," it said. Further, the hospital said its staff are working non-stop for the last several months and are making every effort possible to ensure not a single life is lost. "When incorrect and false claims are made about the hospital staff and widely publicised on the internet, it severely demoralises them and hurts their morale." The Lok Nayak Hospital said it is committed to serving the people and making every attempt to save lives. "We appeal to the public to show consideration towards the hospital staff in these extraordinary circumstances," the statement added. In a series of tweets, Amarpreet, daughter of Lakhjeet Singh, alleged that her father, was Covid-positive and he needed to be shifted to the hospital. "My dad is having high fever. We need to shift him to (the) hospital. I am standing outside LNJP (Lok Nayak Hospital) Delhi and they are not taking him in. He is having corona, high fever and breathing problem. He won't survive without help. Pls help," she tweeted at 8.21 a.m. on Thursday. St 9.08 a.m. she said her father is no more. "The government failed us," she wrote. The hospital, when contacted, said the patient was brought dead in casualty. In the 'Casualty Card' of the 68-year-old man, created at 7.37 a.m., it was mentioned that the patient was home-quarantined from Ganga Ram Hospital. It also said his sample was taken on May 31 and the report came positive on June 1 at the Ganga Ram Hospital."The patient was brought in casualty in an unconscious state... Patient was declared brought dead," the card said. It also said the ECG of the patient was "flat line" and the "pupil dilated". The card further said the "body to be packed and sent to mortuary". The hospital also shared the Death Certificate of the patient, which says he passed away on June 4 at 7.37 a.m. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Governments around the world on Thursday pledged $8.8 billion for global vaccines alliance Gavi to help immunisation programmes stalled by the coronavirus outbreak and support the development and distribution of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The online meeting beat a funding target of $7.4 million for Gavi to provide vaccines at a reduced cost to 300 million children worldwide over the next five years, the group said. More than 50 countries took part as well as individuals such as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation pledged $1.6 billion. "Together, we rise to fulfil the greatest shared endeavour of our lifetimes -- the triumph of humanity over disease," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit. "Today we make the choice to unite, to forge a path of global cooperation." Gavi and partners also launched a new financing drive to purchase potential COVID-19 vaccines, scale-up production and support delivery to developing nations. Scientists around the world are racing to develop and test a vaccine for coronavirus and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it must be available to everyone. "A vaccine must be seen as a global public good -- a people's vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for," he said in a video message. There needed to be "global solidarity to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access". The pandemic has exposed new ruptures in international cooperation, notably with US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO). But Johnson said helping developing countries would benefit everyone. "This support for routine immunisations will shore up poorer countries' healthcare systems to deal with coronavirus -- and so help to stop the global spread," he told reporters on Wednesday. "This virus has shown how connected we are. We're fighting an invisible enemy. And no one is safe frankly until we are all safe." The United States pledged $1.16 billion, and Trump sent a recorded message to the conference, telling delegates: "As the coronavirus has shown, there are no borders. It doesn't discriminate. "It's mean, it's nasty. But we can all take care of it together... we will work hard. We will work strong." Microsoft founder Gates earlier said pharmaceutical companies had been working together to try to secure the required production capacity. "It's been amazing, the pharmaceutical companies stepping up to say 'yes, even if our vaccine is not the best, we will make our factories available'," he told BBC radio. The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 6.5 million and killed over 385,000 people since emerging in China last December, according to an AFP tally of official sources. Stay-at-home orders were imposed across the world, causing huge economic disruption and the suspension of many routine immunisation services. The WHO, UN children's agency UNICEF and Gavi warned last month that vaccine services were disrupted in nearly 70 countries, affecting some 80 million children under the age of one. Polio eradication drives were suspended in dozens of countries, while measles vaccination campaigns were also put on hold in 27 countries, UNICEF said. Updated at 5:13 p.m. ET on 2020-06-04 The United Nations, in a report released Thursday, criticized the Philippines for doing little to punish police linked to anti-narcotics killings, saying a heavy-handed focus on countering national security threats and illegal drugs had resulted in serious human rights violations. The U.N. Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in Geneva issued the 26-page report on the day that hundreds of people marched in Manila to protest against the nations newly adopted anti-terror bill, which is awaiting President Rodrigo Dutertes signature to become law. Philippine human rights activists and critics have warned that the government could use the legislation to curtail basic freedoms and stifle criticism of it, particularly Dutertes controversial drug war. There has been near impunity for killings committed as part of the administrations four-year-old crackdown on narcotics, in which more than 8,600 people have been slain, with only one conviction for the killing of a drug suspect in a police operation since mid-2016, according to OHCHR. Investigators from the office examined policy documents by the government relating to the Duterte administrations anti-drug campaign, and discovered a troubling lack of due process protections, U.N. officials said in a news release that accompanied the report. It noted the use of dehumanizing terminology such as the negation or neutralization of drug suspects. Such ill-defined and ominous language, coupled with repeated verbal encouragement by the highest level of state officials to use lethal force may have emboldened police to treat the circular as permission to kill, the report said. Mandated by a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution, the report cited witnesses, family members, journalists and lawyers who expressed fears over their safety and a sense of powerlessness in their quest for justice. This resulted in a situation where the practical obstacles to accessing justice within the country are almost insurmountable. While there have been important human rights gains in recent years, particularly in economic and social rights, the underpinning focus on national security threats real and inflated has led to serious human rights violations, reinforced by harmful rhetoric from high-level officials, the report said. The council is expected to receive the report at its next session opening on June 22. It is vital the governments responses be grounded in human-rights approaches and guided by meaningful dialogue. Accountability and full transparency for alleged violations are essential for building public trust, Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement released with the report. Unfortunately, the report has documented deep-seated impunity for serious human rights violations, and victims have been deprived of justice for the killings of their loved ones. Their testimonies are heartbreaking, she added. A day earlier, Bachelet named the Philippines as part of a list of Asian countries that had tightened censorship as well as conducted arbitrary arrests and detentions of people for criticizing their governments response to the coronavirus pandemic, or for sharing information or views about it. Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam were the other countries on that list. While Governments may have a legitimate interest in controlling the spread of misinformation in a volatile and sensitive context, this must be proportionate and protect freedom of expression, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement issued on Wednesday. This crisis should not be used to restrict dissent or the free flow of information and debate. A diversity of viewpoints will foster greater understanding of the challenges we face and help us better overcome them, Bachelet added. In the Philippines, presidential spokesman Harry Roque challenged the report by the U.N. Human Rights Council. We remain a nation that takes pride in protecting our peoples rights and freedoms, among which is the freedom of expression, he said in a statement posted by the state-run Philippine News Agency. He also took issue with the reports claim that police acted with impunity. Law enforcers operate on strict protocols and transgressors of the law are made accountable, he said in a statement. Human Rights Watch said the U.N. report offered convincing proof of the catastrophic situation in the country. It affirms what many rights defenders inside and outside of the Philippines have publicly said over the past three years about the anti-drug campaigns wholesale violations of due process and rule of law, and police actions to routinely manufacture evidence and rig reports, said Phil Robertson, the watchdogs deputy Asia director. With President Duterte continuing to urge the killing drug users, so-called leftists and even violators of COVID-19 quarantine or curfew orders, there is little likelihood that national mechanisms will hold anyone responsible for the carnage of the drug war that has killed thousands of Filipinos, he said. Anti-terror bill Meanwhile Duterte, who was visiting his hometown of Davao City on Thursday, was expected to sign the anti-terror bill into law soon, his aides said. The Philippine House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday after the Senate passed its own version in February. The legislation amends the countrys Human Security Act to give it more teeth against fighting terrorism, officials said. It authorizes officers to carry out warrantless arrests and hold suspects for up to two weeks, as well as impose life imprisonment for any involvement in terroristic activities. Rights groups and opposition leaders have expressed fears that Duterte could use the law to crack down on legitimate dissent in the guise of going after terrorists. It is no longer surprising that Duterte certified as urgent the anti-terror bill instead of tackling hunger and public fears caused by the pandemic first, opposition leader Sen. Leila de Lima said. The Duterte critic has been imprisoned since 2017 on what rights groups said were trumped up charges that she was involved in the drug trade. The fight against terrorism should not lead us to grant the government the power to abuse our human rights and civil liberties, she said in a statement from detention. Cristina Palabay, head of the rights group Karapatan, branded the bills passage as a blatant travesty. Dutertes lapdogs in congress have basically rejected and blocked individual amendments during the hearings and they are hell bent in making sure that this monstrous and repressive piece of legislation is passed and served to Duterte on a silver platter, Palabay said. Aie Balagtas See in Manila contributed to this report. Om travelled to Bangalore from Assam in search of a job in February. During the journey, Om met Rahul Sharma, who had also moved to Bangalore for work. After listening to Oms predicament, Rahul helped him in his time of need. Om Bahadur Chetry, 28, was found lying on the street on 10 May, seriously injured. His friends say that he tried to commit suicide by jumping off the 3rd floor of a building. . . . Om travelled to Bangalore from Assam in search of a job in February. During the journey, Om met Rahul Sharma, who had also moved to Bangalore for work. After listening to Oms predicament, Rahul helped him in his time of need. . . . He arranged for Om to work as a security guard. However, just a month after, as the lockdown hit the country, Om was fired. . . . He lost his job, and his shelter, which was the security guards' room. Oms friends say that since, Om has been in depression. . . . After the tragic incident, Rahul has been taking care of his friend, who is now hospitalised. Rahul has been asked to pay the hospital bill, which has now crossed Rs 5 Lakhs. . . . Om, his 2 brothers and parents back in Assam, dont have much to live on and struggle to make ends meet. "If they eat in the morning, they have to think twice before eating at night, says Rahul. . . . Not knowing how else to arrange for money, Rahul posted a few posts on Facebook and raised some money to help Om out. But the bills continue to pile up for Rahul as his friend battles for life. . . . Video Reported by Niki, Shot by Sreemith, Edited by Sreemith and Akshay. . . . #bangalore #bengaluru #assam #depression #lockdown #covid #india New office demand will require companies to focus on design and decentralisation as they prepare for re-entry As organisations prepare to return to the office amid an easing of lockdown restrictions across Asia Pacific, many are considering how their corporate real estate portfolios should look in the next normal. According to a survey by JLL, more than 80% of its clients have started to explore alternatives to keep their business operational or carry out certain modifications to their offices. office demand Image credit: JLL Office demands know-hows in complex re-entry journeys The real estate firms latest Guide for Workplace Design Considerations outlines some short- to long-term priorities, including space planning solutions, tech-enabled experiences and operational functions that help corporates navigate the complex re-entry journey. The guide also highlights how companies can re-assess their office footprint with decentralization scenarios or re-designs that can protect their businesses and people in the long run. Office re-entry will be a gradual and multi-phased journey that is likely to evolve as economies open up again, says Martin Hinge, Executive Managing Director, Project & Development Services, JLL Asia Pacific. As people head back to the office, our clients number one priority is to ensure that theyre welcoming people back to a safe and healthy environment. This office demand includes setting up private, enclosed workstations, fitting social and break-out spaces with labels or physical dividers, or even installing thermal imaging technology in the building lobby and reception areas. Darren Wee, Executive Director, Head of Projects & Development Services, JLL Singapore says, In Singapore, we are starting to see more demand for office redesign in an agile yet safe manner, to achieve a balance between space optimization and occupant wellbeing at a manageable cost, as companies prepare for re-entry following the gradual easing of circuit breaker restrictions. Story continues In the short-term, organisations will need to find ways to deliver quick adaptations to the workplace, ensuring safety and comfort for employees. However, in the long term, business leaders will face decisions about their workspace usage against a backdrop where social distancing may be required for a protracted period, says Gonzalo Portellano, Head of Portfolio Design, JLL Asia Pacific. Over the long term, organisations with office demand may have to decide how to plan and optimise their office footprint in a cost-effective manner, according to the guide. It points out that decentralized working hubs may soon be on rise, as these enable remote working from different locations, reducing commute times and increasing convenience for employees. Portellano adds: Companies may start shifting their offices from prime locations into smaller, more versatile hubs distributed across the city. These tech-enabled hubs can be located in areas supported by good infrastructure, public transport connectivity and that offer lower rents. Looking ahead, we anticipate that organisations will take a bold step in office transformation, be it with decentralization or spacing designs. The evolution of the office will no longer be about how people occupy spaces but how people use and interact with spaces. We foresee higher adoption of proptech solutions in Singapores workplaces to provide data and analytical insights on how employees are interacting with the office environment to better support their workspace planning and employee engagement strategies, adds Wee. Another recent JLL Research says office demand and usage will evolve according to corporates changing needs in the COVID-19 world. According to JLLs data, leasing activity softened with global volumes 22% lower than in Q1 2019 as deals were cancelled or delayed. Asia Pacific leasing activity, however, was down only 9% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2020 and up 14% year-on-year. This has yet to filter through to vacancy rates in Asia Pacific, which were flat compared to a quarter earlier at 10.9%. For Singapore, the vacancy rate of Grade A office space in the central business district crept up marginally to 5.0% in 1Q20, from 4.1% in 4Q19 while the average monthly gross effective rents contracted 0.1% quarter-on-quarter to SGD 10.80 per sq ft, from $10.81 per sq/mth in 4Q19, says Tay Huey Ying, Head of Research & Consultancy, JLL Singapore. The current situation poses disruption and challenges for the office sector. The way people view and use corporate real estate will change. However, we can expect the office to remain at the heart of employers occupational strategies in Asia Pacific over the medium-to-long-term, says Anthony Couse, CEO, JLL Asia Pacific. As companies prioritise the health and safety of their employees and implement social distancing to re-enter workplaces, changes to office demand and usage will be inevitable, according to the report published by JLL. CEOs are re-examining strategies and may consider recalibrating the amount of space dedicated to traditional office space upon lease expiry, or even before. However, despite current headwinds, the global real estate consultant believes the office is here to stay. In fact, in some cases the pandemic may lead to an expansion of office space, as companies try to increase physical distancing among their employees. Current office configurations may be modified, increasing the need for additional space. In doing so, occupiers may consider tapping into flexible space from third-party operators, alongside continued remote working for some employees. Not all remote working is created equal Despite a seemingly successful work-from-home experiment globally, offices will continue to be sought after in this region. Although the pandemic has shifted perceptions around the effectiveness of remote working, it has not presented a sustainable or optimal long-term solution for all corporates. Huey Ying shared, In Singapore, while work from home has been feasible for many during the circuit breaker period, it is telling that more than a third of the close to 200 respondents in a recent survey we conducted with Singapore-based corporate clients indicated their preference to work from the office post-COVID19. The lack of a conducive work-from-home environment could be a key contributory factor. Shared homes, which is prevalent in Singapore, makes it difficult for many to have dedicated and conducive home workplaces. According to the Department of Statistic Singapore, the average resident household size stood at 3.16 persons and we estimate that more than 80% of Singapore resident households are living in homes with three or fewer bedrooms in 2019. While remote working has been credited with providing employees with more flexibility and work-life balance, offices still play a central role in creating a space for employees to collaborate, interact and unite around shared values, boost staff morale and enhance productivity. Mr Couse adds: Todays corporates operate in an increasingly fast-moving environment where innovation is key to retaining a competitive edge and sustaining company performance. Successful companies pride themselves on having collaborative spaces that drive excellence and innovation. The post Office demand to face new normal in future amid Covid-19 appeared first on iCompareLoan Resources. Eight regional independent TDs met with the leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party today to discuss government formation. They said they are happy to engage further and that a stable government needs to be formed quickly. As national protests touched off by the death of George Floyd entered their 10th day Thursday, Connecticut organizers have announced plans for more upcoming demonstrations. In New Canaan, demonstrators sang The National Anthem and Stand By Me after gathering at Saxe Middle School late Thursday afternoon. Five other communities had gatherings planned for Thursday, as well as in the state capitol. The planned protests follow several large marches in Connecticut on Wednesday over the death of Floyd, an African-American man who died in custody after a Minneapolis police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes. Mourners gathered in Minneapolis Thursday for a memorial service for Floyd led by the Rev. Al Sharpton. It was one of three events planned. George Floyds story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is you kept your knee on our neck, Sharpton saying during his eulogy. Its time for us to stand up in Georges name and say, Get your knee off our necks! On the same day, an investigator in Georgia said a white man accused of fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery, a black jogger, had called him a racist slur in the moments following the Feb. 23 shooting, multiple outlets reported. The news came amid a week of demonstrations in Connecticut, where protesters held marches Wednesday in Stamford and Danbury, including shutting down a section of I-84 for about an hour. More protests are planned this week and next. In Trumbull, organizers plan to hold a vigil Saturday at the Town Hall gazebo starting at 11 a.m. In Milford, town native Kira Cassandra organized a solidarity protest for Black Lives Matter and Floyd on Monday. Cassandra, who said she knew Jayson Negron and was friends with Mubarak Soulemame, both teens shot and killed by police, planned the protest to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the gazebo on the city green. This protest is all about solidarity, and since Milford is my hometown, I decided to take point, Cassandra said. [June 04, 2020] IDnow Launches Free Regulatory Information Service "KYC Insider" MUNICH, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IDnow (www.idnow.io), a leading provider of Identity Verification-as-a-Service solutions and regulatory expert presents KYC Insider (www.kycinsider.com), a free information service on regulatory changes around Know-Your-Customer and Digital Identities in Europe. The lead author is Rayissa Armata, a long-standing expert in the field of regulation. The digital platform 'KYC Insider' provides interested readers with background information and current updates on the latest changes by the regulatory authorities via newsletter. Through her daily interaction with regulators and governments and her close contact with IDnow's clients, author Rayissa Armata has her finger on the pulse of the sector and knows the needs and background of all parties. "The regulatory landscape in Europe is highly dynamic. There is a variety of regulated industries and differences in each country - a complex sector. At IDnow, we work with companies in a wide range of sectors and have gained a wealth of experience over the years. I would now like to share this knowledge and provide interested parties with up-to-date and exclusive information via our new platform KYC Insider," says Rayissa Armata, Head of Regulatory Affairs at IDnow. "Cooperation with regulatory authorities such as BaFin in Germany (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) has been essential since the company was founded. When we had the first idea for a video identification service in 2012, it was not yet approved by the authorities. We have now been working closely with the relevant bodies for many years to make our current product portfolio possible," adds Armin Baur, CTO and co-founder of IDnow. IDnow has recently been selected by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to participate in a new working group on electronic signatures and infrastructures (ESI). As a member of the Special Task Force 588, IDnow is part of an exclusive group of specialists who started work in April 2020 to fill existing gaps in identity verification standards. The objective of the Task Force is to develop new standards and guidelines for electronic signatures and related trust services. About IDnow With their Identity-Verification-as-a-Service (IVaaS) platform, IDnow is committed to making the networked world a safer place. The forgery-proof identity verification offered by IDnow is used in all industries in which companies process customer interactions online that require a maximum level of security. IDnow technology uses artificial intelligence to ensure that an identification document has all security features in order to reliably detect forged documents. It can potentially verify the identities of more than 7 billion customers from 193 different countries in real time. IDnow covers a wide range of applications in regulated industries in Europe and for entirely new digital business models around the world as well. Through the platform, the identity flow can be adapted on a case-by-case basis to suit regional, legislative and economic requirements. IDnow is supported by the venture capital investors BayBG, Seventure Partner, G+D Ventures, Corsair Capital and Jet A as well as a consortium of renowned business angels. With more than 250 customers, their clientele includes leading international companies in various industries such as Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, eventim, Raisin (Weltsparen), Sixt, solarisBank, Telefonica Deutschland, UBS, Western Union and wirecard in addition to FinTechs such as Fidor, N26, smava and wefox. About Rayissa Armata Rayissa Manning Armata, a native from the San Francisco Bay Area and Head of Regulatory Affairs at IDnow, has more than 15 years of experience leading business and regulatory initiatives in the United States, EMEA and the United Nations. Rayissa Armata's passion is the bridge between business and government. She has represented companies up to Fortune 125, and generated significant revenue growth for her clients and employers. In addition to her work with FinTechs, she has led projects in the fields of telecommunications, defense, aviation and international real estate investments. Her recent employers and clients include Boeing, Lufthansa Airlines, Polimeks Holding and the United Nations. Rayissa began her career at the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva and holds a Master of Science in Science Technology Policy from the University of Sussex (SPRU program) in Brighton, England. In her role with identity verification provider IDnow, Rayissa needs to stay up-to-date on the latest regulatory changes and upcoming issues. With KYC Insider, Rayissa shares this knowledge with anyone interested in the complex world of regulation. Press contact: Christina Schwinning [email protected] +49 89 41324 6054 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/idnow-launches-free-regulatory-information-service-kyc-insider-301070115.html SOURCE IDnow GmbH [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Over the past week, protests against police brutality have been held in dozens of cities across the U.S. While most saw large and peaceful assemblies, somesuch as Los Angeles, D.C., New York City, and Minneapolisincluded looting, arson, and other property destruction from a small number of participants. For many businesses, this vandalism follows months of reduced income due to the coronavirus shutdownfurther increasing concerns about rising premiums. To get a better sense for how businesses are dealing with insurance claims at the moment, I spoke to Janet Ruiz, director of strategic communication for the Insurance Information Institute. Our conversation below has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. Advertisement Slate: What sorts of insurance claims have you been seeing over the past week? Janet Ruiz: Businesses have been looted and burned and had glass broken. This is a covered loss under most business insurance policies. For small businesses, its usually a package, and it will include any improvements theyve made to their space. If they own the building, then it would include coverage to repair or rebuild the building if its a total loss. Most business owners, if they have employees, are also getting help with workers compensation if an employee got hurt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How would you compare this to other major events, like hurricanes? Its a little different because its happening all over the country. Usually weather-related catastrophes are in a smaller geographic location. But the number of claims from businesses is manageable. Insurance companies are prepared to handle catastrophe claims. Thats why they reserve money to be able to pay claims. Theyll be fully staffed and ready. Advertisement Advertisement Whats covered under most insurance claims? If youre a business owner, all the physical damage to the building up to your policy limit would be covered. All your contents up to your policy limit will be covered. That would also include a tenant thats responsible for their inside improvements. If its a restaurant, they have all of the kitchens, the tables. It its retail, they bring in a lot of fixtures, etc. Theres other coverages that people may have or may not. Theyll have to check their policy. Theres business-interruption coverage that some businesses add on. It helps companies that incur extra expenses to continue operations while the premises are being repaired. It also helps businesses that are forced to suspend operations or limit their hours of operation, replacing the income they would have generated in a typical time frame. Advertisement Advertisement Does the recent wave of coronavirus-related claims complicate matters? It doesnt. It just means they do need to put in a new claim, because this is a different loss. The coronavirus didnt generate coverage for most businesses because viruses are excluded. Coverage is usually for physical damage to property. There wasnt physical damage due to coronavirus. [For business-interruption claims] it really depends on how long the business was closed during the coronavirus as to how it would affect the average income. If it was a few weeks, its just going to get averaged into whatever time period that a company looks at to project what the income would have been during the time period that they were going to be closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If businesses file a claim because of the protests, would premiums rise? It doesnt affect [the premiums] in the near future. Generally, catastrophes get looked at more in the long-term average. [The California Department of Insurance] looks at a 20-year history when they look at catastrophe. The rates dont go up immediatelyonly if you were having riots every year. Im usually talking more about wildfires or hurricanes. In California over the last five years, weve had some large wildfires. Those five years are going to be averaging into that 20-year history, so you could see rates increase. Advertisement Advertisement The other thing is that rates might not necessarily increase due to the rioting and civil disorder; it could be just due to the higher cost of building in the area. But people always try to attach it to a recent disaster. Its not something that happens right away, and it really depends on a lot more factors. I dont think this one event will increase the premiums. Im not predicting whether they would go up or not, but it wouldnt be dependent on riots or commotion. Advertisement Will extra costs be passed on to consumers and result in higher sticker prices? I dont see that as necessarily happening. If premiums go up, they would have to go up quite a bit to make businesses raise their whole cost. They generally dont transfer that onto their customers. Theyre looking at their whole cost to do business, not just their insurance premium. One of the most common things weve seen with businesses during these protests is broken windows. Could you walk me through what a business would have do to get that fixed and covered by insurance? The important thing is to get it cleaned up and boarded up. They should keep receipts and take pictures of all the damage and get that turned in to their insurance company. Then they have to check their insurance limits. Some have the building owner responsible for glass. Some have the tenant responsible for glass. Most people do include glass as a coverage on their business policy, especially if they have storefronts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What about if a business is burned down? If your business is burned down, get photos right away. Youre going to have to start working on your inventory as welland thats for any of the folks who had looting. Most importantly, get the claim started, find out what your insurance company is going to ask for. They usually ask you to provide a proof-of-loss statement and a signed, sworn proof of loss containing the information requested to investigate the claim. This is usually done within 60 days after the reporting of the claim. What you have been hearing from businesses across the country at this moment? What are they most concerned about? Some are concerned, and I always hear this after any catastrophe, whether it be weather-related or a riot. They are concerned that rates will go up because of the incident. I always have to assure folks thats not how it works. You buy insurance to get coverage, and thats going to be more than one incident and the state of the economy in your area, as well as the cost to do business. They are concerned about whether they have coverage or not, because they dont always know things like the fact that riot and civil commotion are a covered loss. A further 150 artists in Northern Ireland will benefit from an emergency fund, it has been revealed. The announcement by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland is in addition to the 88 award offers made in May. The Arts Council and Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey unveiled details for the 500,000 Artists Emergency Programme in April. The scheme was set up to support artists and performers whose income has been badly hit by the pandemic. Within two weeks, over 300 applications were received, totalling almost 1.4m, and the scheme was temporarily closed because of the high demand. Now an additional 50,000 Arts Council National Lottery funding has been made available and 25,000 from the Department for Communities. This brings the total amount now awarded through the scheme to 575,000. Those offered funding include writers, composers, theatre practitioners, community artists and visual artists. Each will receive grants of up to 3,000. Roisin McDonough, Arts Council chief executive, said: "Today's announcement will be welcome news for 150 more artists who will now be able start developing new work thanks to the Artists Emergency Programme. "Fifty-eight of these awards are going to artists who have never received Arts Council support before and we are very excited about some of the fantastic projects which they have planned for the coming months." She added: "Like many other sectors of society, our creative community has been badly hit by the pandemic but it is our hope that as a result of the Artists Emergency Programme communities across Northern Ireland will once again be able to come together to celebrate the uplifting power of the arts." WHIPPANY, N.J., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal-Bay LLC, the Lawsuit Settlement Funding Company, has received word that a tentative settlement has been reached regarding a portion of some of the numerous Roundup lawsuits filed across the United States. According to Legal-Bay's sources close to the litigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity, settlement amounts pertain specifically to plaintiffs who've contracted non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from their exposure to the Bayer Monsanto product. Financial terms are still not known, however plaintiffs will fall into tiers of damages which will determine ultimate dollar amounts. Bayer AG is located in Germany but settlements do not involve European residents. Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay, commented, "As reported last month, we are happy that this litigation is now officially in resolution status. I believe the plaintiffs' lawyers and Bayer did an amazing job resolving some of these claims considering all factors happening in the country today. Although final confirmation has not come, we believe this is a huge step in the next phase of process for sufferers." Bayer Monsanto was getting pressure as jury verdicts went against them. With 80,000 claims filed, Bayer is now offering to embark on a global settlement structure to contain exposure and put this chapter of the company to bed. Calls to Bayer Monsanto for comment about confirmation of settlement were not returned, and company still denies liability. Legal-Bay will be accepting new pre-settlement applications for Roundup cases, as well as for current clients. If you require an immediate cash advance from your anticipated Roundup settlement, please visit the company's website HERE or call 877.571.0405 where agents are standing by 24 hours a day. Legal Bay reviews have shown that they are a great lawsuit funding company to work with. Funding for lawsuits, commonly referred to by plaintiffs as lawsuit loans or a lawsuit loan, are always risk-free. You only repay if you win your case. The non-recourse cash advance is not a pre settlement loan, loans for settlement, or pre-settlement loans as commonly referred to. Contact: Chris Janish, CEO Email: [email protected] Ph.: 877.571.0405 SOURCE Legal-Bay, LLC TOKYO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The jury panel at Interop Tokyo 2020 has given the Huawei Atlas 900 AI cluster the Best of Show Award in recognition of its powerful AI computing and superior heat dissipation. Huawei Atlas 900 is the only AI product of 2020 to receive the Best of Show Award. The exceptional performance of Atlas 900 is a catalyst for global AI research and drives AI application across industries. The Best of Show Award is the highest honor of the Interop conference. Only products which meet the high standards of quality demanded by the Japanese IT market are considered. Tony Xu, President of Huawei Ascend Computing, said, "The Huawei Atlas AI computing solution provides powerful computing and ultimate energy efficiency for all AI scenarios across devices, the edge, and the cloud. The Atlas 900 AI cluster provides data centers with powerful computing, high linearity, and the best energy efficiency to accelerate data-intensive research, such as astronomical exploration, weather prediction, oil exploration, and gene sequencing. Research breakthroughs translate into practical benefits for people worldwide." Atlas 900 is the fastest AI training cluster in the world. It delivers a total computing power of 256 to 1024 petaFLOPS at half precision (FP16), equivalent to the computing power of 500,000 personal computers. Atlas 900 shattered the world record on the ResNet-50 benchmark test for model training by completing training in 59.8 seconds. Atlas 900 is the only product capable of completing the training in under a minute. Atlas 900 has broad applications in scientific research and business innovation for faster training of AI models with images and videos. Atlas 900 integrates three interfaces for high-speed interconnection: Huawei Cache Coherence System (HCCS), PCIe 4.0, and 100G Ethernet. The Atlas 900 AI cluster leverages the Huawei CloudEngine data center switches to work on a 100 TB/s full-mesh, non-blocking dedicated network for parameter synchronization. The network slashes parameter synchronization latency by 10 to 70 percent to streamline AI model training. Heat dissipation is a critical issue for an AI training cluster with such high computing power. That is why the Atlas 900 AI cluster adopts a groundbreaking system for heat dissipation. It leads industry innovation with a full liquid cooling solution and a rack-scale enclosed adiabatic design. This design delivers tremendous heat dissipation even for single racks with power consumption of up to 50 kW. It achieves a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of below 1.1 for data centers, almost reaching the ideal PUE of 1.0. Atlas 900 improves over air-cooled 8-kW racks by reducing equipment room space by 79%. Its innovative liquid cooling system provides energy-intensive, high-density, and low-PUE deployment to drastically reduce customer TCO. Huawei is fostering cooperation to build the Ascend computing industry with open hardware, open source software, and partner enablement. Huawei provides full-stack AI computing infrastructure and application solutions to power industries with AI and create pervasive intelligence. --Ends-- About Huawei Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains - telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services - we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei's end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes. At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 194,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company wholly owned by its employees. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on: http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei http://www.twitter.com/Huawei http://www.facebook.com/Huawei http://www.youtube.com/Huawei Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176654/Huawei.jpg As thousands protest, their message is getting across. Comparing views at this moment to decades of CBS News polling, today we see more people both white and black saying racial discrimination affects both treatment by police and chances of getting ahead. And a declining number see progress in getting rid of it. Where Americans had once shown increasing optimism about ending discrimination against blacks, those sentiments have turned downward lately, back toward levels we saw in the 1990s. image001-13.jpg Over the years, this poll has asked Americans if there's been real progress against discrimination since the passage of landmark civil rights reforms in the 1960s. The view that yes, there has been, was generally if slowly on the upswing from the early 1990s through 2014. It declined some in July 2015 and has now dropped further. Blacks are less likely now than in the past to say there has been real progress in ending discrimination. In 2015, when asked shortly after the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, 56% said a lot of progress had been made. But today, that view has dropped to 38%, the most negative this sentiment has been since the 1990s. image003-11.jpg Eight in 10 Americans feel discrimination against African-Americans exists today, including half who say there is a lot of discrimination. image004-11.jpg For years, many black Americans have steadily felt whites are at an advantage. But Americans overall have said that black and whites had equal chances of getting ahead in society. Today that's changed. Now 52% believe whites have a better chance, up 13 points from 2015, and the highest number in CBS News polling going back to 1997. The number who still see both whites and blacks having an equal chance of getting ahead has dropped 9 points. image005-9.jpg Half (50%) of whites think white people have a better chance of getting ahead, up from 35% five years ago. Most white college graduates believe whites have a better chance of getting ahead than blacks, while a slim majority of those without a college degree think blacks and whites have an equal chance to get ahead. Story continues Getting ahead image006-10.jpg We've seen more movement among Democrats than Republicans. There's been an increase in the number of Democrats who think whites have a better chance of getting ahead and see more discrimination generally. Most Republicans continue to say whites and blacks have an equal chance to get ahead, as they did five years ago. Among whites, it is largely Democrats who now see whites as having an advantage in society, while most white Republicans continue to say both races have equal chances of getting ahead. The state of race relations Most Americans say race relations in the U.S. are bad, including majorities of both blacks and whites, and by more than two to one, more say relations are getting worse than better. Views of the state of race relations are more negative than they were a year ago, and are similar to what they were in the spring of 2015 when there was unrest in Baltimore after Freddie Gray, a black man, died in police custody. image007-9.jpg image008-9.jpg Republicans hold more positive views on the state of race relations. Treatment by police Meanwhile, more now feel there is racial discrimination by police. A majority 57% now think police are more likely to use deadly force against a black person than a white person, up from 43% in 2016. Here, too, much of this change comes from a shift in opinion among whites. More than half of whites (52%) now see racial discrimination against blacks in how police use force, compared to just a third (36%) four years ago. image009-8.jpg A large majority of blacks (83%) holds this view. And eight in 10 of those who feel there is a lot of discrimination against blacks feel police are more likely to use deadly force against blacks than whites. There is universal agreement across demographic groups and political ideology that the force used by Minneapolis police in the detainment of George Floyd was not justified. Like most Democrats and independents, a majority of Republicans do not think the force used by Minneapolis against George Floyd was justified. Overall, when asked how police in their own community make them feel, black Americans are more likely than white Americans to say the police make them feel anxious. image010-8.jpg Direction of the country and the American Dream Americans continue to show some doubt about the "American Dream," and black Americans are particularly skeptical. Just one in four Americans today describe the American Dream as "alive and well." Another four in 10 think it is "alive, but not what it used to be," while three in 10 say it is "dead or dying." These results are similar to what was recorded five years ago. Blacks are more pessimistic than whites: nearly half of black Americans say the American Dream is dead or dying. image011-3.jpg Furthermore, just one in 10 Americans who think there has been little progress in getting rid of racial discrimination feel the American Dream is alive and well, and nearly half say it is dead or dying. Overall, 67% of Americans think the country is off on the wrong track, up 8 percentage points from a year ago. This is true of white Americans, and even more true of blacks. image012-4.jpg Americans tend to think their own opportunities to succeed have been better than those of their parents. This tends to be true of both white and black Americans. image013-2.jpg But there is more pessimism about the future. Forty-seven percent of Americans think the future of the next generation of Americans will be worse than life today, while just 28% think it will be better. Here again, black and white Americans feel similarly. image014.jpg There are large partisan differences on all these long-term trend measures. Republicans tend to be more optimistic than Democrats or independents: 47% of Republicans think the American Dream is alive and well, (compared to 8% of Democrats and 24% of independents), and while six in 10 Republicans think their opportunities in life will be better than their parents' generation, just 40% of Democrats agree. But these percentages have shifted over time depending on which party holds the White House. During the Obama presidency, Democrats were more positive than Republicans on all of these measures. The President and race relations President Trump's overall approval rating stands at 40% and disapproval is 54% both within the historically narrow range in which they vary; neither his lowest nor highest numbers. As always, given high marks from Republicans and faring worse among others. Even fewer approve of his handling of race relations specifically, at 33%. Here again, his own party bolsters the numbers, with 72% of Republicans approving. African-Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the president's overall job performance and his handling of race relations. The public has similarly negative views on the president's response to the situation in Minneapolis: 31% are satisfied with it, while 55% dissatisfied with it. image015.jpg This poll was conducted by telephone May 29 - June 2, 2020 among a random sample of 1,309 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cellphones. The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers. The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. Toplines 1.9 million more Americans apply for unemployment benefits 3 charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death appear in court via video Fauci "cautiously optimistic" about progress on coronavirus vaccine Advertisement Meghan Markle today broke her silence on the murder of George Floyd, declaring that 'black lives matter' and revealed that she had not spoken about his death before because she had been 'nervous'. The Duchess of Sussex gave an address to graduating pupils at her old school, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, where she also named other African Americans who were killed in the US by police in recent years. The 38-year-old former actress, who attended the school from the age of 11 to 18, said: 'George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered'. The other three people Meghan mentions were killed by US police over the past six years. Meghan also referred to Los Angeles as the family's 'home town' after moving there with husband Prince Harry, and their son Archie. On speaking out about Mr Floyd, she said: 'I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing'. Meghan made the six-minute virtual speech yesterday before the video was released to black women's lifestyle magazine Essence, which published it on its website today saying 'courtesy of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex'. It comes as demonstrations continue to build around the world after Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after white police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on his neck in Minneapolis on May 25 for nine minutes. Meghan Markle has given a video address to her old school in Los Angeles in which she talked about George Floyd's murder Demonstrations protest over the death of George Floyd, in Los Angeles yesterday - where Harry and Meghan now live During the video, Meghan also said there were many others killed by police who would never have been named. She said: 'As we've all seen over the last week what is happening in our country and in our state and in our home town of LA has been absolutely devastating'. The Duchess also said how the students are 'going to have empathy for those who don't see the world through the same lens that you do', adding: With as diverse, vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter.' 'I know you know that black lives matter': What Meghan told the students for graduation speech On Black Lives Matter: 'With as diverse, vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter' On the 1992 Los Angeles riots: 'I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings' On waiting to speak out: 'I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn't or that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing' On African Americans killed by police: 'George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered, and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know. Stephon Clark, his life mattered' On what her teacher once told her: 'One of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, 'always remember to put other's needs above your own fears'. And that has stuck with me throughout my entire life' On people coming together: 'We are seeing people stand in solidarity, we are seeing communities come together and to uplift. And you are going to be part of this movement. Advertisement The former Suits star told students that she had been about to start secondary school when the Los Angeles riots began in the spring of 1992 after the brutal beating of Rodney King. She said: 'I was 11 or 12 years old when I was just about to start Immaculate Heart Middle School in the fall, and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by senseless act of racism. 'And I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting. 'And I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up at the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don't go away.' Meghan also referred to some advice she was given by a teacher aged 15, saying: 'I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, 'always remember to put other's needs above your own fears'. 'And that has stuck with me throughout my entire life and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before.' Meghan was referring to her former theology teacher, Maria Pollia, who has previously described her as a 'remarkable student' who was 'very enthusiastic about the material, but always took it a step further'. Meghan also spoke to the students about their futures, saying: 'You know that you're going to rebuild, rebuild and rebuilt until it is rebuilt. 'Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice.' She added that the students would 'use your voice in a stronger way than you have ever been able to because most of you are 18 or you're going to turn 18 so you're going to vote'. Meghan also told them: 'You are equipped, you are ready, we need you and you are prepared. I am so proud to call each of you a fellow alumni, and I'm so eager to see what you're going to do. 'Please know that I am cheering you on all along the way, I am exceptionally proud of you, and I'm wishing you a huge congratulations on today, the start of all the impact you're going to make in the world as leaders that we all so deeply crave. Congratulations ladies, and thank you in advance.' Meghan said she remembered the Los Angeles riots of 1992 (above) which happened when she was growing up in the city The Duchess of Sussex is pictured as a young girl with her father Thomas Markle. She was aged 10 at the time of the LA riots An old clip of Meghan filmed as part of the 'I Won't Stand For...' campaign for non-profit organisation Erase the Hate, has come to light following the recent protests. In the video, Meghan shared her hope that society will become more 'open-minded' Her speech left some Immaculate Heart students in tears, with one on Twitter with the user name 'blm gia' saying: 'Meghan Markle talking about George Floyd and BLM in my virtual graduation. I'm crying.' How the 1992 LA riots left 59 dead after police were filmed beating up black motorist Rodney King From April 30 to May 1, 1992, a series of devastating riots erupted in Los Angeles, with a toll of at least 59 dead and more than 2,300 injured. The violence was set off by the acquittal of four white police officers who were filmed beating up a black motorist called Rodney King in March 1991. A fire burns out of control at the corner of 67th Street and West Boulevard in South Central Los Angeles on April 20, 1992 Thousands of people flooded the streets looting, committing arson, robbing and attacking people at random. Helicopters captured many of the attacks and broadcast them on live television. Violence also broke out in Atlanta, California, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and San Jose. Advertisement The Duchess has opened up in the past about how racism has affected her own family. Meghan has previously described the experiences of both her mother and grandfather, and her own journey as a biracial woman. The former Suits star became the first mixed-race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal, in 2018. But Meghan and the Duke of Sussex quit as senior working royals in March to pursue personal and financial freedom in the US, after telling of their struggles dealing with their royal life and the intense media interest. The American ex-actress recounted, before marrying into the Windsor family, how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for 'coloureds' and eat the chicken in the car park. 'That story still haunts me,' she wrote. 'It reminds me of how young our country is. How far we've come and how far we still have to come.' Meghan, whose father Thomas Markle is Caucasian and mother Doria Ragland is African-American, wrote of her background: 'While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. 'To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.' In a piece for Elle Magazine in 2015, she said she witnessed her mother being called 'the n word' by another driver in Los Angeles and described the heartache it caused. 'My skin rushed with heat as I looked to my mom. Her eyes welling with hateful tears, I could only breathe out a whisper of words, so hushed they were barely audible: 'It's OK, Mommy',' she wrote. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pictured in Cape Town last September during their royal tour of South Africa Meghan is pictured as a teenager with her father Thomas. She attended Immaculate Heart School from the age of 11 to 18 Meghan also described how her great-great-great-grandfather went on to create his own identity when freed from slavery. What Meghan has said in the past about racism On how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for 'coloureds' and eat the chicken in the car park: 'That story still haunts me. It reminds me of how young our country is. How far we've come and how far we still have to come.' On her background: 'While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.' On when her mother was called a n***** by another driver in Los Angeles: 'My skin rushed with heat as I looked to my mom. Her eyes welling with hateful tears, I could only breathe out a whisper of words, so hushed they were barely audible: 'It's OK, Mommy'. On how her great-great-great-grandfather went on to create his own identity when freed from slavery: 'Because in 1865 (which is so shatteringly recent), when slavery was abolished in the United States, former slaves had to choose a name. A surname, to be exact. Perhaps the closest thing to connecting me to my ever-complex family tree, my longing to know where I come from and the commonality that links me to my bloodline, is the choice that my great-great-great grandfather made to start anew. He chose the last name Wisdom.' On how her father once created a Barbie family for her for Christmas: 'A black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each colour. My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family.' During the couple's tour of South Africa: 'On one personal note, may I just say that while I'm here with my husband, as a member of the royal family, I want you to know from me I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour and as your sister.' Advertisement 'Because in 1865 (which is so shatteringly recent), when slavery was abolished in the United States, former slaves had to choose a name. A surname, to be exact,' she wrote. 'Perhaps the closest thing to connecting me to my ever-complex family tree, my longing to know where I come from and the commonality that links me to my bloodline, is the choice that my great-great-great grandfather made to start anew. 'He chose the last name Wisdom.' As a child, her father, from whom she is now estranged, created a Barbie family for Christmas when they were only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls. She wrote on her lifestyle blog how her new collection had 'a black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each colour. My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family.' When her fledgling relationship with Harry hit the headlines in 2016, the royal press team hit out at the 'wave of abuse and harassment' Meghan had faced from the media. Kensington Palace issued a strongly worded statement on Harry's behalf, publicly supporting Meghan and attacking 'the racial undertones of comment pieces' and the 'outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments'. When the couple married in a glittering ceremony in May 2018, commentators described their relationship as love transcending race in the most traditional institution in Britain. For an opinion piece in the Metro, video journalist Funmi Olutoye described the significance of the romance. 'Never in a million years did I think someone in the royal family would be romantically involved with someone whose skin is a darker hue than theirs,' she said. 'It speaks volumes about how society is changing, albeit slowly. But it's definitely changing.' Friends of Meghan's later denounced her critics as racists, after Harry and Meghan were scrutinised for taking four private jet journeys in 11 days, despite their environmental campaigning. Maria Pollia (right) was Meghan's theology teacher at Immaculate Heart High School. She is pictured above in May 2018 with the school's theology chair Christine Knudsen. Meghan said in her video message: 'One of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, 'always remember to put other's needs above your own fears'' Immaculate Heart High School (file picture) is a private Roman Catholic school in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles Canadian stylist Jessica Mulroney wrote on Instagram in the summer of 2019: 'When someone faces unfair criticism, you call it out. From Breonna Taylor to Philando Castile, the black Americans shot by police who Meghan mentioned in her speech The Duchess of Sussex made reference to four other black people killed by US police in recent years. Here is what happened to them: BREONNA TAYLOR Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old black woman who was killed in her home in the Kentucky city of Louisville in March. The emergency medical technician was shot eight times by drugs detectives who knocked down her front door while attempting to enforce a search warrant. Police said the officers announced themselves and returned gunfire when Miss Taylor's boyfriend fired at them, but the family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. No drugs were found in the home. PHILANDO CASTILE Philando Castile was a 32-year-old black motorist who was shot dead by a police officer after being stopped while driving in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. The officer, Jeronimo Yanez, was acquitted of manslaughter over the incident in July 2016 which was live-streamed on Facebook by the victim's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds. Mr Yanez, who was fired from the police force, claimed he feared for his life and Mr Castile did not follow orders. TAMIR RICE Tamir Rice was a 12-year-old black boy who was killed by police officer Timothy Loehmann as he played with a pellet gun. The boy had been playing in a park in Cleveland, Ohio, in November 2014 when the officer pulled up, jumped out and fired his weapon twice. The City of Cleveland agreed to pay his family 4million in April 2016 but with no admissions of any wrongdoing. STEPHON CLARK Stephon Clark was shot by police in Sacramento, California, after clutching a mobile phone that officers said they mistook for a weapon. The 22-year-old black man was shot at least seven times on the grounds of his grandmother's property in March 2018. But the district attorney found that the officers involved, who had been investigating nearby break-ins, did not commit a crime. Advertisement 'When that person is your friend and your family, you call those critics what they truly are. Shame on you, you racist bullies.' During the couple's tour of South Africa, Meghan delivered a rousing speech to teenage township girls, speaking publicly for the first time since becoming a member of the royal family about being a 'woman of colour'. She said to cheers from the crowd: 'On one personal note, may I just say that while I'm here with my husband, as a member of the royal family, I want you to know from me I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour and as your sister.' Meghan and Harry had been maintaining a low profile on social media during the Black Lives Matter protests - and stayed offline during Black Out Tuesday this week on their Sussex Royal Instagram page. The royal couple have stayed silent on social media over the past two months, with their last Instagram post on March 30. But their general quiet had been questioned, with one Twitter user commenting yesterday: 'Meghan Markle has stayed annoyingly quiet during all of this... and it is really bugging me.' Another named Guisou said: 'Wondering why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are quiet about the racism occurring in the US?' Vivian Maria added: 'Where is Meghan Markle? She seems awfully quiet these days.' Sol wrote in response to a resurfaced campaign video from 2012 of Meghan opening up about her experiences of racism: 'Where is she now? I don't see her speaking about what's happening now.' And an Instagram user questioned: 'Are there any recent pics and appearances? I think the sussexroyal account account is dormant right now. Do Harry and Meghan have a new account somewhere?' However, the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which is overseen by the Queen, Harry and Meghan, shared on Instagram and Twitter a Martin Luther King Jr quote, saying 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' Meghan, who had not yet met Harry when she taped the video, shared her hope that society will become more 'open-minded' and learn to see the beauty in a 'mixed world'. It comes as an old clip of Meghan, now 38, filmed as part of the 'I Won't Stand For...' campaign for non-profit organisation Erase the Hate, has came to light againt following the recent protests. Immaculate Heart High School is a private Roman Catholic school in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, where Meghan studied from the age of 11 to 18. The Duchess was voted as the school president - the equivalent of a head girl in Britain - and was also made homecoming queen. More recently, pupils at the school gathered at 3am on May 19, 2018 to watch the royal wedding. Her father Thomas has previously said he 'happily' paid the fees for her to attend a school which has close showbusiness links. Markle is not Catholic, and was baptised into the Anglican faith just before her wedding to Prince Harry, but was welcomed at the school. Its graduates include Mary Tyler Moore, Tyra Banks and Walt Disney's daughter Diane. Many of the Duchess of Sussex' former classmates and teachers have fond memories of Meghan. One friend has previously revealed how she has always been fond of penning personal notes going back to her school days. George Floyd (left), a 46-year-old black man, died last week after white police officer Derek Chauvin (right) put his knee on his neck in Minneapolis on May 25 for nine minutes People block the road during a Black Lives Matter protest rally at Whitehall in London yesterday in memory of George Floyd Michelle Fanara said that 20 years ago Meghan wrote her a note of encouragement that she tucked inside her yearbook. 'To have someone reach out and say, 'Hey, if you ever need someone,' that is pretty special,' Ms Fanara told Inside Edition. Meghan wrote the note when the shy student struggled to cope with the death of a beloved great aunt. Meghan's speech 'very powerful' despite royal exit, says expert The Duchess of Sussex's impassioned black lives matter speech has been hailed as incredibly powerful, but could have been even more so if she had been a working royal, a royal commentator has said. Penny Junor said the address Meghan gave to her old high school about the death of George Floyd in the US was 'very moving, very touching'. The royal writer added that Meghan, who no longer uses her HRH style, still remains part of the monarchy as a family member, despite stepping down from royal duties. 'I think it's very powerful. It makes me sorry that she's not speaking as a working member of the royal family,' the royal writer said. 'But it doesn't matter, because she still is a member of the royal family.' Meghan and the Duke of Sussex quit as senior working royals in March, a move dubbed Megxit, after their plans for a dual role earning their own money and supporting the Queen were deemed unworkable. Ms Junor added that Meghan speech's carried so much weight because she was mixed race and royal. 'That's why it's so powerful. It's a combination of who she is and what she is.' Asked whether Meghan would have had the freedom to deliver the same address as a senior royal, Ms Junor replied: 'I think she would ... I think these are sort of exceptional times and exceptional circumstances.' She added: 'I do think she could have done it if she'd been here and it would have been perhaps even more powerful.' Much has changed for Harry and Meghan since they said their vows in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19 2018, in front of the royal family, celebrity guests and a worldwide television audience of millions. Ms Junor added: 'She is who she is. Harry is who he is. They happen to be living in America, but they do still have a voice. 'The more they use it for good like that, then I think the better.' Advertisement 'I wanted to retreat into my own shell and Meghan was like, 'No you can't do that. You're here. You're here for a reason.' She kept pulling me out of my shell.' Christine Knudsen, who taught one of Meghan's senior classes, previously told ABC's 20/20: 'She had a lot of inner strength. She was spunky. She was feisty. 'She loved to sing. She loved to act, but she also had that depth, which kind of moved into all of her other subjects. And that was what came through in the end.' One teacher even went to Windsor to witness the wedding - former drama teacher Gigi Perreau, who Meghan spotted on her carriage ride through the streets and waved to excitedly. Ms Perreau, a former film actor who is now 78, helped train Meghan as an actress long before she landed her role in popular legal drama series Suits. 'You see someone nice to the other kids, who gets good grades, doesn't say anything bad about anybody,' she told The Telegraph when asked about Meghan. 'She was dedicated. I knew she would be something special.' Meghan went on to Northwestern University in Illinois and rose to fame in 2010 as the sassy Rachel Zane in Suits. However, she left the show and her acting career to concentrate on her charity projects and to marry Prince Harry. The former actress, the first mixed race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal, has been outspoken on racism in society. The Sussexes have also previously spoken of their struggles with royal life and intense media interest. They are preparing to launch their new charitable organisation Archewell - named after their son. It will replace their now-defunct Sussex Royal brand, but plans to launch the venture have been delayed while the world battles coronavirus. Even though Harry stepped down from royal duties on March 31, he is still technically a member of the Royal Family - and is therefore expected to remain strictly neutral on political matters and avoid airing his views in public. However he risked a diplomatic row in March after accusing Donald Trump of having 'blood on his hands' during a hoax phone call with Russian pranksters. And Meghan's father Thomas Markle revealed last June that Harry told him he was 'open to the experiment' of Brexit after they had a conversation about it. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands cut a stylish figure in a chic white pantsuit as she made a surprise visit to a supermarket to meet key workers today. The mother-of-three, 49, donned the cream ensemble with a set of large, gold earrings as she headed to a supermarket in Nijmegen. Maxima spoke with cashiers and store clerks at the bread section of the shop who told her of their experience of the pandemic. Queen Maxima appeared relaxed as she listen to staff's stories and asked bout the coronavirus measures that had been put in place during the crisis. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, 49, donned a very stylish white ensemble as she headed to a supermarket in Nijmegen where she met key workers The monarch had kept her impromptu visit a surprise from the store's employees, who continued working throughout the pandemic Maxima donned a cream pantsuit for the visit, pairing the smart trousers with a silk white pussybow blouse. She paired the ensemble with a long cream woolen shawl, tan accessories, wearing a comfortable pair of espadrilles, and a tan clutch bag. Her blonde locks were impeccably styled and bounced on her shoulders as she spoke to the keyworkers with animation. The employees, who had little PPE in the supermarket when the health crisis emerged in the Netherlands, admitted some clients had been aggressive and frustrated by the guidelines. Maxima, dressed in a stylish white pantsuit, headed to the supermarket's bread aisle to meet with employees The Dutch monarch was curious to see how the coronavirus pandemic had impacted vital services in the country Showcasing her usual good humour, Maxima shared a laugh during her surprise meeting with the supermarket staff Sympathetic Maxima wished them luck, before heading to another appointment in the same district. She went on to visit the cleaning service Dar, where she talked with some of its employees about the crisis. Standing in a parking lot, she listened as two garbage collectors talked to her about the challenges that the pandemic had brought up on their daily jobs. Maxima's diary is slowly returning to normal after staying in isolation with her husband King Prince Willem-Alexander, 53, and their three daughters at the height of the pandemic. Queen Maxima appeared in high spirits as she spoke with staff who worked in different areas of the supermarket, while observing social distancing guidelines The monarch listened to the stories of the staff, who admitted some clients could be aggressive towards them Maxima had paired her stylish pantsuits with a shawl of the same colour and tan accessories such as this clutch bag Last night, the queen to her first night out in months. and was all smiles as she joined her husband for a night at the theatre. Mother-of-three Maxima and Willem-Alexander appeared in high spirits as they arrived for the first performance at the National Theater in The Hague since it's re-opening after 11-weeks of lockdown. The couple, who have three daughters Catharina-Amalia, 16, Alexia, 14, and Ariane, 112, saw two special performances from a series of shows that can be visited by thirty people at a time. Queen Maxima cut a stylish figure in a loose black gown embroidered with colorful stitching paired with a matching robe and scarf. Staff and Queen Maxima followed social distancing guidelines and stood several metres away from each other After visiting the supermarket, Queen Maxima met with staff from a waste collection company, who explained how their work had been impacted by the crisis The royal wore her hair loose around her shoulders and teamed her look with casual jewelry and a bright red manicure. On Monday, The Netherlands re-opened certain cultural institutions following a downward trend in their COVID-19 figures death figures for over a month. Restaurants, cafes, theaters, concert halls, museums and cinemas returned with strict 1.5-meter social distancing measures observed after two and a half months' in coronavirus lockdown. Reservations are required for all activities and two people who are not from the same household can sit together at one table in restaurants and cafes. It comes after Queen Maxima of the Netherlands joined her husband King Willem-Alaxander, 53, to attend the first theatre performance following the coronavirus lockdown in the Hague yesterday Representative Steve King, the closest thing to an open fascist in the US Congress, was defeated in the Republican primary in the Fourth Congressional District of Iowa, likely ending his 18-year congressional tenure. He lost to state senator Randy Feenstra by a margin of 46 percent to 36 percent, with three other candidates drawing votes. Feenstra will face Democrat J.D. Scholten in the November election in a district that has elected Republicans for most of its history. It is heavily rural, covering the northwestern quarter of Iowa, with Sioux City the only sizeable urban area. Scholten came within three percentage points of defeating King in 2018, and the House Republican leadership feared losing the seat altogether if King were the nominee again. King fell out of favor with the Republican leadership in Congress after a series of racist public remarks, many of them directed against immigrants. He once claimed that undocumented immigrants had calves the size of cantaloupes because they were carrying heavy loads of marijuana and other drugs into the country. He expressed support for an openly white supremacist candidate for the mayoralty of Toronto, Faith Goldy, and traveled to Europe to hobnob with neo-fascists in Italy and neo-Nazis in Germany, although this earned him merely a verbal reprimand from then-House Speaker John Boehner. The last straw came in a 2018 interview with the New York Times, in which King complained that terms like white nationalism and white supremacy were receiving unwarranted criticism. The House passed a formal resolution of censure against King but did not expel him from his seat. The Republican leadership then stripped King of committee assignments and allowed him to do nothing more than cast votes on legislation. It was the public flamboyance of Kings racism that was the problem for the Republican leadership. Such expressions in private are commonplace in right-wing circles, and the Trump White House is a hotbed of such language, directed at both immigrants and racial minorities, but usually behind closed doors. Feenstras campaign did not actually denounce Kings racism, only the consequent loss of influence in the House because of the congressmans unrestrained public statements. Feenstra embraced the same right-wing political agenda as King, including anti-abortion, gun rights and opposition to gay marriage, as well as all-out support for President Trump. House Republicans made no secret of their desire to be rid of King, and Feenstra enjoyed a nearly three-to-one advantage in fundraising over an incumbent congressman, as well as endorsements from the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee. Donald Trump had a close relationship to King even before his 2016 presidential campaign. They shared a viciously anti-immigrant stance, and both supported the building of a wall on the US-Mexico border. While King supported Senator Ted Cruz in the 2016 primaries, he became a frequent visitor to the Trump White House and a fervent advocate of Trumps policies. His reward was a cold shoulder this year and a Trump tweet celebrating Feenstras victory. In the Senate contest in Iowa, real estate millionaire Theresa Greenfield won the Democratic primary to run against incumbent Republican Senator Joni Ernst. Greenfield took 46 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field, with runner-up Mike Franken, a retired Navy admiral, trailing with 26 percent. Greenfield was the choice of the national party establishment, which poured in millions of dollars to back her campaign. Iowa was only one of eight states and the District of Columbia that held primary elections on June 2. In all of them, the majority of votes were cast by mail ballot, and because of delays in processing and counting the mail ballots, many of the closer contests for Republican and Democratic nominations were still undecided 24 hours after the polls closed. Even longer delays can be expected in any general election conducted in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. In a widely publicized primary contest in New Mexico, attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez, an advocate for Hispanic and Native American groups, defeated former CIA agent Valerie Plame for the Democratic nomination in the Third Congressional District. The safe Democratic seat is being vacated by Representative Ben Ray Lujan, who is heavily favored to win the US Senate seat held by retiring Senator Tom Udall. Plame came to public attention when her role as an agent was leaked by the Bush White House in retaliation for public criticism of the war in Iraq by her late husband, former diplomat Joe Wilson. Seven states and the District of Columbia held presidential primaries, and former Vice President Joe Biden won each of the contests, with the other candidates still on the ballot having quit the race and endorsed him. Biden now has roughly 1,900 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, just short of the 1,991 officially required for the nomination. With countries under lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, one positive which seems to have come out of this whole situation is that our environment has become better. When you look outside your balcony, you see more birds on the trees and in the morning wake up to their chirping. Pollution levels have reduced and the air has become cleaner too. It is only if we keep on taking care of the environment around us - that in turn shall benefit us. World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5, so that people are reminded that we should not take nature for granted. It is an event that takes place all over the world and is organised by the United Nations, who celebrated it for the first time in 1972 by the UN General assembly, during the first day of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Also read| World Environment Day: PM Narendra Modi urges people to preserve planets rich biodiversity For 2020, the theme for World Environment Day is Celebrate Biodiversity and shall be hosted in Colombia, in partnership with Germany. This is a very relevant theme because human beings cannot survive in isolation as biodiversity is important for the survival of everyone. Here are some quotes on the environment which you should read and can share with family and friends: If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end not produce food, either. Joseph Wood Krutch Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. Aldo Leopold People blame their environment. There is only one person to blame and only one themselves. Robert Collier Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you. John Muir What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another Mahatma Gandhi Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 10:32:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin has extended his support for China's national security legislation for Hong Kong, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar said earlier this week. In a recent teleconference with Chinese Ambassador Chen Hai, U Kyaw Tin said that Myanmar has strictly adhered to the one-China principle and consistently supported the "one country, two systems" principle, holding that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China, according to a statement released by the embassy on Monday. A sovereign state has the right to take necessary preventive measures such as proper legislation to safeguard its sovereignty, peace, stability and security, the minister said. U Kyaw Tin expressed his confidence that under the "one country, two systems" principle, the people of Hong Kong will continue to enjoy peace, stability and prosperity. Chinese lawmakers voted overwhelmingly at the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, last week to approve the decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security. Enditem There have been several attempts to move Montana to mail-ballot elections. Kary sponsored the last attempt in 2013 after being approached by Montanas county elections administrators who have long wanted mail ballots, which local governments can already use for school board and county elections. Over the years, one time it was a Democrat who brought it, (and it) gets shot down by the Republicans. Next time a Republican brings it, (and it) gets shot down by the Democrats. I was probably the fifth one to bring a bill and it was shot down by our own party, Kary said. The record shows that it wasnt just the Republicans who shot down Karys bill. There were groups representing Native Americans who opposed it because on reservations not everyone has a mailbox. AARP testified mail voting would be too complicated for some seniors. And, Tea Party conservatives said they were concerned about voter fraud. Elections officials came out strongly in support of mail ballots. Linda McCulloch, Montanas Democratic secretary of state at the time, said the mail ballot elections would be more affordable. All the indicators look very good to allow Ireland to move to the next phase of lockdown exit, the health minister has said. Simon Harris expressed confidence that the Government would be in a position to approve phase two of the road map to recovery when it meets on Friday to formally consider advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). Mr Harris said along with the steps outlined for phase two in the road map document, he also anticipated some further relaxations in regard to children and older people. If approved, phase two would be triggered on Monday. The minister was commenting after a late night Cabinet meeting in Dublin Castle on Thursday. I think its fair to say all the indicators look very good, Mr Harris said of the prospect of phase two being approved. Tomorrow the Government will formally consider the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team, and formally make a decision on whether to proceed, but all the signs are looking good in that regard. Expand Close Minister for Health Simon Harris speaking to the media after the cabinet meeting at Dublin Castle (Leon Farrell/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister for Health Simon Harris speaking to the media after the cabinet meeting at Dublin Castle (Leon Farrell/PA) Phase two would see some workplaces and small retail outlets reopen; the distance restriction on exercise extended from 5km to 20km; and people allowed to visit the homes of those cocooning, as long as PPE and social distancing are used. Up to four people would also be allowed visit other households, while sports teams could resume non-contact training in small groups. Earlier on Thursday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government had made some proposals to the NPHET on potentially fast-tracking some measures. Mr Varadkar said ministers were suggesting moving steps originally planned for later phases in the plan to earlier phases. His comments in the Dail raise the prospect of some additional relaxations being permitted on Monday than those originally set out. That could pave the way for some larger retailers to open. On Thursday night, Mr Harris said the road map was always meant to be a living document that could be changed depending on the state of the virus in the country. Both the Taoiseach and I have always said it is preferable to have a slow and steady plan that you can speed up if its safe to do so, rather than a plan that looks fast on paper, but has to be slowed down, he said. And I think were seeing the benefit of having that slow and steady plan. Mr Harris said he did not envisage a change to the current two-metre social-distancing guidance. He did indicate that the stay at home message may change to stay local in phase two. Expand Close Dr Tony Holohan said NPHET was aware of the calls for some measures to be sped up (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Tony Holohan said NPHET was aware of the calls for some measures to be sped up (Brian Lawless/PA) At the daily NPHET media briefing on Thursday, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said the road map was not a rigid constitution and rather a broad framework. He said he was aware of the calls from various sectors of the economy and wider society to speed up the plan. I am aware obviously of those calls in various different sectors and we understand them, he said. Our assessments of all these things are based on public health considerations. Id like to think on an ongoing basis that were open to the possibility that where evidence and experience in other countries suggests we should make changes that we would make those changes. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) The coronavirus death toll in Ireland rose to 1,664 on Thursday, after a further five deaths were announced. There were 38 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, taking the total since the outbreak began to 25,142. On Thursday, Mr Harris told the Dail the reproduction rate of the virus the number of people an infected person infects had risen slightly to between 0.4 to 0.7. This is a key metric and we need to keep the reproduction number below one, he said. While we may have seen a slight increase in the R number, it still remains below one and we are still as a country suppressing the growth of the virus. Meanwhile, Dr Holohan expressed concern at the number of house parties that were happening during lockdown. House parties are being organised with abandon, it seems to me, as though we werent in the midst of a pandemic, he said. So thats a continuing cause for concern irrespective almost of the phase that were in. Earlier, Mr Varadkar said the Government hoped to bring some measures currently in phase four up to phase three and some steps in phase three up to phase two. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has accused the Government of settling into a quite rigid approach to deciding on changes and steps in the road map. He also said that some people in communities are breaking restrictions. There is simply no doubt that compliance is fraying and the biggest problem with this is that it is highly divisive, he told the Dail. When it comes to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment: It will be extended for months, not weeks Nobody who was working full time before Covid will see their PUP cut If you were working part-time, weekly payments will still be more than you were earning before the Pandemic pic.twitter.com/CQck1qtLaL Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) June 4, 2020 In other developments on Thursday, Mr Varadkar said the pandemic unemployment payment will be extended for months, not weeks. The 350-euro weekly payment was introduced in March and was due to expire in June. The payment will be extended, but the amount paid to part-time workers will be cut. The Taoiseach said he hoped non-essential air travel can resume between Ireland and other countries, but it would be weeks away. Mr Varadkar said: I hope that as the world returns to a new normality, we will see international air travel resume between air bridges with countries that have suppressed the virus to the similar extent as us. With air bridges we can lift travel requirements if people are flying to or from another country where the virus has been successfully suppressed. This however is some weeks away and it is far too soon for anyone to book their holiday, but summer is not yet lost. Dr Holohan said NPHETs position remained that people should still not be planning holidays. The CMO also said there were no plans to make facemasks on public transport in Ireland compulsory, following the move to do so in England. An ugly incident of police brutality has yet again brought the topic of race to the center of public discussion, peddled by the leftist media. Violent riots accompanied by looting, arson, and destruction of property in dozens of American cities were presented my media and leftist politicians as legitimate protests and expression of the black community's pain because America is racist. Leftist observers call it a "hybrid civil war" instigated by Trump-supporters: "When they say 'Make America Great Again' they mean Make America White Again." "Brown and black people have been protesting for centuries. It's white people who are responsible for what happens next." Somehow, it's the white people who should be accountable for everything bad that happens, which fully corresponds with "identity politics" promoted by the left. Constant oppression of "people of color" by their evil white counterparts indeed has been at the heart of the leftist discourse for decades. Leftists talk about "systematic" and "institutional" racism that exists in America. When asked for examples, the answer from the apologists is usually "Google it." It may seem odd that Google is headed by Sundar Pichai, an Indian-American businessman who began his career as a materials engineer and made it to the top of the one of the world's wealthiest and most influential I.T. corporations. Some "institutional racism"! Then there is a respectable organization, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (a part of the Smithsonian Institution), that gets the lion's share of its funding from the federal budget. On its site, it propagates an "anti-racism" laced with racism toward white people. The chapter of its agenda called "Whiteness" emphasizes that "since white people in America hold most of the political, institutional, and economic power, they receive advantages that nonwhite groups do not." The museum opened its permanent home in September 2016 in Washington, D.C. with a ceremony led, ironically, by the America's first black president, Barack Obama. Nothing illustrates "systematic racism" better than the black president of the country opening a museum of black history and culture. Successful businessmen and corporate executives, athletes whose net worth surpass the budgets of small countries, media personalities, celebrities of all sorts, politicians at all levels of the local and federal governments and legislatures represented by non-white people, and well funded "black studies" departments in the most prominent and prestigious colleges and universities suggest that America is not such a terrible place and has made some palpable progress in terms of racial equality. To many, it even looked as though Dr Martin Luther King's dream of his children living in a nation where they would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character came true, but no. Near the point of victory, everything seemed to sour. Just as things appeared better than ever before, the leftist rhetoric began to suggest that things had never been worse. The more progress was made in the righteous fight to right the most appalling historic wrongs, the more leftists seemed to suffer from "St. George in retirement" syndrome, as late Australian political philosopher described it in his brilliant book Liberal Mind: after slaying the horrible dragon, the brave warrior finds himself stalking the land, looking for still more glorious battles. He needs his dragons since he's useless without them. Eventually, after tiring himself out in pursuit of ever smaller dragons, he may even be found swinging his sword at thin air, imagining that it contain dragons. As another great mind of our times, Brit Douglas Murray, notes in his book The Madness of Crowds, "[o]ur public life is now dense with people desperate to man the barricades long after the revolution is over, either because they mistake the barricades for home or because they have no other home to go to." This is just as close to the truth as it can be. The home of the people who believe they are warriors was meticulously kept a ruin by those who they believed were at the forefront of the fight and those who kept fostering a victim mentality among the "oppressed" ones. Today, they even refuse to acknowledge that their sword swings against themselves. You can't stop the devastation until you acknowledge who's causing it. It's not the "white supremacist" who pursues white ethno-nationalism, the remaining sewers of true racism for which the American public has nothing but disgust and condemnation. It is extremely significant that the death of George Floyd was pictured as unjust and barbaric accident by conservative media just as it was by the liberal ones. Not a single commentator or journalist said it was right, and all unequivocally supported criminal charges against Derek Chauvin. So who's to blame for a chaos? There was a joke popular in post-Soviet republics that suffered from the "color revolutions" that in most cases cost those countries their sovereignty and were orchestrated by the globalist establishment of the U.S. and supported by European allies. It goes like this: "Why is the 'color revolution' impossible in the U.S.? Because there is no American embassy that would support it." The central actors of such "revolutions" were not the embassies, but certain organizations that were willing to employ violence against authorities. In the U.S., such organization is represented by Antifa, which evidently organized riots throughout the affected cities. Ideologically, these people represent far-left ideas based on Trotskyism, which posits that communism (a perfect form of society) should be established globally by continuous revolution using anarchy and syndicalism. Socially, this group consists of lumpen proletarians, to use Marxist terms. Those are criminals, vagrants, and the unemployed regardless of their skin color who have "nothing to lose but their chains," which makes them especially dangerous. As we know from world history, economically deprived people serve as a social basis of fascism and undemocratic regimes in general. A mob donning black, wearing masks, wielding bats, and throwing Molotov cocktails and urine bottles while chanting, "No USA at all!" and now looting and burning all around itself is a good snapshot of what Antifa is and what it stands for. Substantially, such a social group is mainly represented in the major cities that have been run by Democrats, who claim to "champion minority rights." All in all, those "minorities," and especially economically depressed ones, are their core and most explosive electoral base. That base's dramatic shrinkage, caused by Trump's successful economic policies, was nothing but a threat for Democratic ambitions, which require keeping the base loyal in return for welfare and continuous victory over the racist dragon. For now, blue America reaps what it sows. Democrats and their media give Antifa cover to destroy neighborhoods that support Democrats even though it's unclear how it is connected to anti-racism. Frankenstein's monster got out of hand, and his irrational, violent behavior rips the mask off his masters. Veronika Kyrylenko, Ph.D. @KyrylenkoN on Twitter. New Delhi, June 4 : A fire broke out inside a monastery near Akash Cinema at Delhi's Azadpur commercial complex on Thursday. However, there is no report of any casualty, fire officials said. "A call was received at 11:07 a.m. regarding a fire at the Shanti Bhawan. Ten fire tenders were rushed to the spot," a fire official told IANS. The blaze was brought under control by 12:10 p.m. There was no casualty reported, officials said. Shanti Bhawan is a two-storey building whose first and second floors caught fire. "Cooling operations are under way, though the cause of the fire is yet to been ascertained," the officials said. With the onset of summer, the numbers of fire incidents in the national have increased. On Wednesday, as many as 200 shanties were gutted in a massive fire that broke out in slum areas of south-east Delhi's Tughlakabad This was the second major fire at Tughlakabad in a short span. Earlier, a fire had erupted due to a cylinder burst and gutted more than 1,500 shanties. Earlier on Monday, A minor fire broke out on the fourth floor of Nirman Bhawan in the central district of the national capital. Similarly, a fire broke out at the Covid-dedicated Cygnus Orthocare Hospital and eight people were evacuated. With the current global pandemic limiting real estate activities in many corners of the globe, its safe to say that the housing market is a little more unpredictable than usual. Even still, few could have predicted that 2020 would provide the rare chance to purchase an entire 62-acre Swedish village. Over the weekend, Residence Christies International Real Estate began taking auction bids on the Swedish hamlet of Satra Brunn, a sprawling village built around an underground spring alleged to have curative properties. All 70 of its buildings, including historical residential spaces and more modern amenities, were available for a minimum bid of 70 million Swedish kronajust under $7.3 million USD. Lest you think Satra Brunn is some New Age planned community that went belly-up, its history as a wellness space dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. In search of medicinal spring water, doctor Samuel Skragge purchased the land in 1700, at which point construction on some of its first buildings began. According to the New York Times, Uppsala University operated Satra Brunn as a holistic research treatment center from 1747 until 1999. A number of buildings were erected using locally sourced timber over the years, including the Nybygget (new building), which was Swedens largest hotel upon its completion in 1792. Though it wasnt the only Swedish health village built in the 18th century, journalist Mats Wikman, one of the 15 Swedes who purchased the space in 2002 to safeguard its legacy, tells the Times that Satra Brunn is by far the most faithfully preserved example. But as the core ownership group has aged, the time has come to pass the torch to a new owner of what Wikman says should be regarded as a world heritage site. While Wikman estimates that about 45 or so of the timber structures could function as residential homes with some proper kitchen conversions and a little additional winter insulation, any buyer of the space would also take complete control of Satra Brunns commercial space. That includes a bottling plant capable of producing 2 million bottles of mineral water annually, a revenue-generating village preschool, and the villages ability to function as an events space thanks to a conference center, gym/spa, and other modern additions. The listing notes that the property collective generates between 30 and 34 million Swedish krona annually in business income annually, based on 2019 numbers. Not a bad investment if youre committed to the spaces preservation and upkeep. Story continues Fittingly, the listing attracted significant international interest from corporate bidders across Europe, Asia, and North America who are interested in preserving the spaces current commercial usage. Jonas Martinsson, partner at Residence Christies International Real Estate in Stockholm, told AD that the listing attracted more than 50 prospective clients, driving the bidding up to $7.5 million so far. While the period for submitting bids was slated to end on May 31, Martinsson notes that Christies is in the process of finalizing its timeline, with the ongoing pandemic possibly pushing back any official closing until August. Even if 2020 is an uncertain time for tourism, its clear from the bidding interest that Satra Brunn was just too good to pass up. This is something different because there are so many old houses. The history of the architecture and the history of wellness together with the spaces new developmentsits just one of a kind, says Martinsson. You just dont find many places like this. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest Senator Lindsey Graham on Thursday said he thinks former Defense Secretary James Mattis was missing something when he criticized President Trump in the wake of the protests sweeping the nation over the death of George Floyd. To General Mattis, I think youre missing something here, my friend, Graham said during an Fox News interview. Youre missing the fact that the liberal media has taken every event in the last three and a half years and laid it at the presidents feet. Im not saying hes blameless, but I am saying that youre buying into a narrative that I think is quite frankly unfair, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman continued, adding that Mattis does not understand that there is an effort to destroy Trumps presidency. Mattis excoriated his former boss in a withering statement on Wednesday, calling Trump the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people. Instead, he tries to divide us, Mattis wrote. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. The retired Marine Corps general resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 over his disagreement with the president regarding withdrawing American forces from Syria and Afghanistan, a campaign promise of Trumps. Mattis has remained largely silent on his views of the administration since then. However, in the wake of protests and riots rocking the country over the death of George Floyd, Mattis has spoken out against Trumps threat to call in the military to handle the situation if necessary. Floyd, a black man, died in police custody after being pinned down by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin until after he passed out. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a battlespace that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate,' Mattis wrote, urging Americans not to be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. Story continues Trump responded to his former defense secretary on Twitter, calling Mattis the worlds most overrated General, and said he felt great about firing him. His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations, Trump wrote. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom brought home the bacon. I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone! More from National Review This year TV was even more important than usual during the holy month due to the lockdown but, just as in previous years, social media played the most prominent role in assessing and endorsing programmes. Debates centred as much on the content of shows as the appearance of the stars whose sometimes inappropriately extravagant style against a backdrop of austerity Reham Haggag as an advertising executive wearing the latest Dior, Gucci, Armani and Chanel in Mohamed Alis When We Were Younger, also starring Mahmoud Hemeida and Khaled Al-Nabawi was the subject of criticism. According to fellow actress Salwa Mohamed Alis Facebook, in one scene Haggags Dior purse made it impossible to concentrate on the acting: It even took half the frame. But in the story of five American University in Cairo graduates who start working for their professor Selim Mansour, whose illegal activities come to the fore when a murder takes place, Haggag argued the bag and especially its colour played a crucial role in the scene. This was hardly convincing. One Facebook viewer wrote, I work at an advertising agency just like the characters of When We Were Younger, but I have never seen a colleague or client dressed like that. The same criticism was levelled at Nelly Karim, who plays the lead, Sokkar, in Kamla Abu Zikris comic Multifaceted, starring Asser Yassin, Ola Roshdi, and Donia Maher. A professional swindler who joins forces with Omar (Yassin) and several others for bigger and bigger heists, Sokkar wears expensive clothes and accessories. This prompted Karim to appear in a $5,085 Gucci jacket. As a wealthy woman being plotted against by her family, Ahd, in Sameh Abdel-Azizs The Betrayal of Ahd starring Hala Shiha, Abeer Sabri and Bayoumi Fouad long-time star Yousra too appeared in a Dolce & Gabbana dress, at one point also wearing an expensive wedding dress designed by top fashion designer Hani Al-Beheiri. Perhaps Dina Al-Sherbinys appearance in Tamer Ashri and Ahmed Shafiks Forgetfulness Game starring Ahmed Dawoud and Injy Al-Moqaddem was the most controversial of the lot, however. Playing Rukaya who on waking up from a four-month coma that started when her husband was murdered remembers nothing of the past six years of her life she appears with some 13 designer purses ranging in price from $1,570 to $5,500. Another subject of social media criticism and parody was a four-minute advertisement for Madinaty, one of the compounds established by the Talaat Mustafa Group, headed by the Egyptian businessman Hisham Talaat Mustafa. Directed by Mark Chalhoub and costing LE300,000 (according to company statements), it shows drone images of the compound and interviews with overjoyed residents who, though supposedly middle-class, make offensively classist and discriminatory statements denigrating fellow citizens: Everyone here looks the same; On my return from London Madinaty was the only place I could live in; Im happy to be here for a year without stepping outside... Playing two lead roles in Yasser Fahmys The End Egypts first science fiction series, also starring Amr Abdel-Gelil, Sahar Al-Sayegh, Ahmed Wafik, Nahed Al-Sebaai and Mohamed Lotfi actor Youssef Al-Sherif, who has been known to counsel prayer rather than watching TV during Ramadan, courted controversy by reportedly refusing to engage in any tactile contact with female actresses, so that even when the character is injured his girlfriend does not touch him. Through a fake Twitter account in the name of actress Sahar Al-Sayegh, the rumour spread to the effect that Al-Sherif, who plays an engineer engaged in solving the worlds energy problem and his robotic doppelganger, made it a condition of his contract with the director that there should be no physical contact between him and any female actress. Another moral issue concerned Cottonils underwear advertisement featuring Jordanian actress Mais Hamdan lustfully viewing her handsome neighbour through binoculars which having been accused of violating personal dignity, Egyptian culture and social customs and traditions ended up being cut, with two scenes removed following the Consumer Protection Agency threatening to take action against company head Bassel Samakia. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 June, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: After the brutal killing of 18-year-old Tessa Majors last year, police say that one of the three teenagers involved in the murder had pleaded guilty to killing the teenage girl in December 2019. The teenage suspect told police six months ago that he was involved in the mugging and eventually killing the Barnard College student. Majors was walking through the Morningside Park on the evening of December 11 when the three suspects confronted her in the park. A sad turn of events According to The New York Times, Major struggled against the three teenagers who later stabbed her, which resulted in her death. She was able to climb up a set of concrete steps before collapsing on 116th Street, found outside the park. Officials said that one suspect placed Majors in a headlock when another stabbed her at least four times when she resisted the robbery. One stab hit her heart as she was heard yelling for help, saying she was being robbed. The teenager's death, which happened in a time of record-low crime rate, reminded people of 30 years ago when the crime rate was at an all-time high, branding parks as dangerous locations. Prosecutors had initially charged the suspect with second-degree felony murder as a juvenile. In his first appearance in court, when he was still 13 years old during his not guilty plea, he bit his bottom lip, indicating his apparent nervousness during the event in Family Court in late December. Also Read: Nigerian Student Died Found Naked in a Pool of Blood Inside Church The other two suspects involved with the crime are in custody and are waiting for their trial schedules for charges of murder. Authorities have added that the unnamed suspect in custody did not have a significant role in the crime and that he was not the one who stabbed Majors, as reported by USA Today. The other two suspects, Rashaun Weaver and Luchiano Lewis, who are both 14 years old, had already been charged with second-degree murder and armed robbery amid the investigations surrounding Majors. Taking responsibility The Legal Aid Society, which represents the teen who pleaded guilty, said that Majors' death was a tragic event. "It caused incalculable pain to her loved ones and affected our entire city," they added. The society also said that the plea for the first-degree robbery was in-line with their client's minimal role in the crime. They added that the teenager did not touch Majors or any of her property and that no evidence has supported the claim that he was linked with the murder. The statement by the society also wrote that the suspect will likely live his entire life with the consequences of the event and that the plea deal will help him and his family in moving forward with their lives. They also noted that his willingness to cooperate and taking responsibility was a significant leap that will allow him to achieve a successful future. As part of the plea deal, Judge Carol Goldstein had agreed to drop the charges against the suspect with his cooperation in the investigation. Related Article: Naked Intruder Who Broke Inside a Girl's Bedroom Shot Dead By Doctor Father @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume has expressed disappointment over the way northern Almajiris are being t... Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume has expressed disappointment over the way northern Almajiris are being treated, saying they posed no threat to the society. Disclosing that he was a product of Almajiri the lawmaker who has been in the National Assembly since 1999 as House member and now a Senator noted that the Almajiri system is part of the culture of Northern Nigeria that cannot be jettisoned. He said the culture has been misunderstood, a situation he posited, made governors treat Almajiris with disdain. Explaining that the Almajiri system is the art of learning Islamic education, he insisted that there was nothing wrong, but faulted governors for shying away from their responsibilities as leaders. The lawmaker insisted that The Almajiri system is one of the areas I am emotionally worried about because I can describe myself as a product of Almajiri, if this is what you call Almajiri. Almajiri is part of our system, it doesnt mean these are social miscreants or social nuisances. They are part of the tradition of the North whereby children are sent to learn Islamic doctrines. For example, I grew up with Almajiri too where Malam comes from Kano, Sokoto, Maiduguri and settle in villages like my own and Almajiris are given to them by their parents in order to get Islamic knowledge. If you look at it the Almajiri system is about Islamic knowledge and we joined them too. It is just a form of Education. What the governors did, to me, is not the appropriate response. It is better to face the challenge rather than run away from it. That is my take on it and if you look at it, the Almajiri system is only known in the north, and even in the north, its not so much in the Central, except in the North West and Northeast. The north-west, Northeast, we were under one region and we are all Nigerians which the Constitution is very clear on that, he said. Ndume urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to get palliative to the Almajiris rather than keeping those items for those who may not necessarily need them. According to him, President Buhari has good intentions for the Almajiris in Nigeria and would be happy to see that they are catered for. This is the area I feel concerned about and the President is looking for people like that. For the government to say, take your own and drop it somewhere and another person takes his own and drop it somewhere, I think its not the way to go, Ndume noted. Chinas Covid-19 outbreak may be easing, but the country is still taking a conservative approach to international air travel to prevent a second wave of infections coming into its borders from abroad. The country enacted a draconian policy in late March limiting all domestic airlines to one international flight per week to any other country. Similarly, it said that any foreign carrier could only operate one flight into China each week. It extended that policy on May 20, and hasnt indicated when the policy might end. The policy also froze the number of flights that any airline could operate into China at no more than the level of service they were offering as of March 12. But since many foreign carriers had canceled all their flights to China at that point, they were barred from resuming such flights something many protested as they say they want to come back. After weeks of pressuring China on the issue, the U.S. took decisive action on Wednesday by launching a reciprocal ban on all Chinese airlines from flying passenger flights to the U.S. effective June 16. Just hours later, Chinas aviation regulator announced it would allow foreign airlines that were previously locked out by the earlier policy to resume limited flights to China. The following is the second in a series, and shows planned flights to the Asia-Pacific region by major Chinese airlines based on their June plans. In most or all cases, each route is limited to a single flight per week. Caixin published a similar graphic detailing flights to North America and Europe on Wednesday. Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) Under the Chicago and Montreal Conventions, Iran is obliged to decipher black boxes immediately or, if it is technically impossible, to transfer them to other countries for decryption without imposing any conditions Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin Radio Svoboda Ukraine insists that Iran fulfills its main obligations related to the Boeing-737 crash, including the transfer of black boxes of the downed plane and the recognition of responsibility for the deaths. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin on the air of Ukraine 24 TV channel. "The position of the Ukrainian side remains unchanged. It is based on three priority things: ensuring the rule of international law, we insist that the Iranian side takes international responsibility for this tragedy; establishing justice, we must know the real causes of the catastrophe; bringing those who are guilty to justice," Yenin said. He predicts two results of the investigation. In the first case, it may become clear that the plane was shot down as a result of human error, in the second - other causes of the crash may be established, and Ukraine also wants to know about them. In addition, under the Chicago and Montreal Conventions, Iran is obliged to decipher black boxes immediately or, if it is technically impossible, to transfer them to other countries for decryption without imposing any conditions. As we reported earlier, information spread by the media about the intentions of Iran to pass the black box of the Ukrainian Boeing, downed in January 2020, for decryption in France does not correspond to the reality. Calls on the province to freeze commercial evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic gathered momentum on Thursday, with Mayor John Tory lending support to the idea. I saw Premier Ford saying hes ready to play hardball on this. Well Im on his team, said Tory at a press conference held to announce a new city initiative to help the local restaurant industry. I think the time for hardball has come. Tory was responding to concerns over the number of landlords who have taken advantage of the federal Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program, which allows landlords to apply for government funds to cover half of rent payments for small businesses, up to $50,000 a month. Under the program, tenants pay 25 per cent of their rent and landlords forfeit the remaining 25 per cent. The program has not been widely taken up by landlords, at a time when small businesses are struggling to pay rent as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown that began in mid-March. A survey released on Thursday by Coun. Paula Fletchers office found that 61 per cent of businesses who qualify say their landlord has not applied for the rent assistance program. The survey also found that as many as 78 per cent of business owners contacted in Toronto, Ottawa and Guelph do not think they will make enough money to cover rent in July. Thats up from 50 per cent who said they couldnt make all of rent in April; 63 per cent in May and 72 per cent in June who said they would not make all of Junes rent. In all, 427 small businesses and 92 landlords took part in the survey, which was coordinated by the Broadview-Danforth Business Improvement Area (BIA) and the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA). The problem is widespread and includes businesses on Main Street in small towns and cities across Ontario, said Marty Williams, executive director of the Downtown Guelph BIA and vice-president of the Ontario BIA Association, speaking at a virtual press conference held by Fletcher (Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth). We are as frustrated with this federal program as anybody in big cities, he said, although he cautioned against demonizing landlords, some of whom are also small businesses. A significant problem is that the application process is exceedingly complex, said Mark Kaluski, chair of the Ottawa Coalition of BIAs, who is himself a landlord and has applied for the program. He said it needs to be streamlined, or staff added to help applicants through process. He also urged against dealing harshly with landlords. The biggest concern is, we dont know how long this is going to last, said Kaluski. To be fair to landlords, we dont know if this is a three-month problem or if this program needs to be extended for another year. Peter Tabuns, NDP MPP for Toronto-Danforth, called on the premier to act immediately. Frankly if the premier was willing to do it, I think he would have all-party support immediately. I think he could pass it this weekend if he announced this afternoon that he was going to do it. The new city initiative announced Thursday by Tory, called CafeTO, will make it easier for restaurants and bar owners to open and expand patios onto sidewalks, curb lanes and parklets, to provide more space for social distancing and to generate more summer revenue for businesses that have been hard hit by the lockdown. The patio application and permitting process will be expedited, and the city will look at whether some of the related fees should be waived in order to help struggling businesses. The Ontario government is agreeing to help quickly address any liquor licensing issues, Tory said, adding that city officials will address community concerns over patio noise or encroachment on public space. with files from David Rider Francine Kopun is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @KopunF Read more about: Many industries have effectively disappeared during lockdown, leaving freelancers with no way of making money. (Levi Stute/Unsplash) One in five highly-skilled freelancers expect to have to close their business because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according new research. The study by the University of Edinburgh Business School, which surveyed over 1,400 highly-skilled freelancers found three quarters (74%) had lost income, with an average income fall of 76%. As a result, over two-thirds (69%) said they now have cashflow problems. The overwhelming majority (91%) said they could not access the governments self-employment income support scheme (SEISS), mostly for 73% because they work through a limited company. READ MORE: Coronavirus two-thirds of UK freelance professionals face income squeeze Because of this, one in five said they will probably have to close their business. This will undoubtedly result in people burning through their savings, having to sell their homes and struggling to feed their families, said Chloe Jepps, head of research at IPSE. Unsurprisingly, average stress levels in this group have increased by 80% because of the Coronavirus crisis. One freelancer saw their income fall from 4,000 a month to nothing overnight. I have fallen through every single crack in this supposed raft of financial support measures, they said. Despite paying taxes in this country for over 12 years, I am not eligible for any safety net from government. There is nothing I can do to work and pay my bills. Another lost 50,000 ($62,654) of work when the TV industry disappeared and was not eligible for SEISS. Despite being a high earner tax contributor for 20 years, when I needed help, I was excluded from the SEISS, they complained. READ MORE: Key government schemes available for businesses and self-employed They added: I have now decided to sell my house and work no more than three months a year. I will never again earn more than 50,000 as I have been disincentivised by the government. Another admitted to being frightened about their future. Im secretly in tears most days. I feel like a failure. Why cant I get help? Over 25 years Ive given hundreds of thousands of pounds to the exchequer, they said. Story continues The research was led by Prof Francis Greene and Dr Alessandro Rosiello at the University of Edinburgh, in assocation with the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). It was aimed at assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK to freelance workers. Greene said: COVID-19 has brought in great economic consequences for the UK and freelance workers have been particularly hit by the pandemic. Not only have they seen work opportunities dry up as the country went into lockdown, but they have also suffered from a lack of financial support from government to ensure their survival. Our research clearly highlights these points and sheds some light into the dire situation this valuable working force is in at the moment, which is much worse that we had originally anticipated. READ MORE: Coronavirus: self-employed UK workers face 'income crisis' Jepps added: This group has not just been forgotten, but actually abandoned by the government. SEISS offers generous help to many self-employed people, but it is clear from this that there are gaping cracks in it through which thousands are falling particularly limited companies and the newly self-employed. The government must urgently think again about these groups and get them the support they so badly need. In the epoch of COVID-19, many have willingly abdicated personal sovereignty and liberty to the State. Many more, however, have led the continuing renaissance of constitutional nationalism that was ushered in with the election of Donald Trump. It's high time to apply nationalism to the issue that will most singularly determine whether we nationalists keep our republic: immigration. The United States is overpopulated (or, if you prefer, has enough people here), and it's time to seal the borders until further notice. No, I'm not talking just The Wall at our southern border or our temporary groundings of flights or refugees and asylum-seekers no more new bodies who are coming to live in the U.S. indefinitely until further notice. To truly put America first, we need a moratorium on legal immigration for the next five to ten years. Our national system imports one foreign national every minute of every day, 24/7, totaling 459,000 new arrivals in Fiscal Year 2019 (572,000 more obtained lawful permanent residency green cards in F.Y. 2019). Because of COVID-19, our unemployment rate is nearly 15 percent the highest in almost nine decades, since the Great Depression. Our jobless population totals over 21 million Americans. Please spare me the narrative that at least some of the tens of millions out of work couldn't, with some training, fill at least some of the jobs of the 190,098 H-1B visa lottery recipients in FY 2019. Even if you disagree with a full pause, shouldn't we at least somewhat reduce the number of recipients, to make it even slightly easier for unemployed Americans and recent college graduates to work at the companies addicted to foreign labor (I'm looking at you, Democrat-run Big Tech)? The balance of imported immigrants receive J-1 Visas (foreign exchange visitors) and H-2B visas for non-agricultural, blue-collar jobs. There are also currently 13 million green cardholders nationwide. Trump may restrict immigration visas for the next few months, but more (meaning longer) is needed. The 2018 Trump v. Hawaii U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed a president's broad constitutional powers to limit or altogether cease legal immigration. Trump would be on strong legal footing if a moratorium were challenged in the courts. The Bodies Politic Need convincing beyond the economic benefits? How about a moratorium for public health? Unwittingly or not, The New York Times' recent report, entitled "The Coronavirus Is Deadliest Where Democrats Live," concurs with me. It's been grotesquely fascinating to watch all these Democrats who pack themselves like sardines into these cities and suburbs, to politically outnumber everyone else lament when there aren't enough coronavirus testing kits, masks, or ventilators. When Democrats are enjoying the benefits of outnumbering everyone else (registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 7 to 1 in New York City, for example), they're pigs in mire, and they remind us that "there are more of us than you." But the Democrats' overcrowded chickens came home to roost. What cities have coped the worst with COVID-19? Overpopulated, Democrat-majority cities: Detroit, New Orleans, and New York, among a few others. Fifteen percent of the world's population lives in a 90-mile radius around the island of Manhattan making it the densest collection of bodies on the planet. And while New York State's overall population has been declining for years (higher taxes and redistribution of wealth!), New York City's five boroughs have been increasing since 2000; 26,000 live in each square mile, and in Manhattan, 66,000 per square mile. In San Francisco, the second most densely populated city in the U.S., 6,000 live in each square mile. Even if officials in these cities had responded flawlessly to the pandemic, there were too many bodies to avoid chaos. Pray tell, where do those hundreds of thousands of new immigrants annually move to? Cheese farms in Wisconsin? Coal mines in Pennsylvania or Ohio? No; they live in America's big cities (more on this shortly). Though there was no precedent for the COVID-19 outbreak, the high death counts in overwhelmingly Democrat-populated cities underscored that too many bodies living in too-small municipal spaces presents public health crises waiting to happen. Political Self-Obsolesce A long-term pressing of the immigration pause button would elicit scorn from the Democrats and the GOP, which is precisely why it's the winning play. The ceasing of a bodies influx into America is anathema to Democrats because large quantities of bodies are the primary reason they have monopolized control of most of America's largest cities; the primary reason they always win the political youth war; and the primary reason why their influence never seems to wane, even when they lose electorally. As I write in my upcoming first book, 10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat: How to Make America Grown-Up Again, bodies are what enable the Democrats and the DMIC (Democrat Media Industrial Complex) to never stray from their mantra of "vote blue no matter who." They move in a singular direction, unified toward a singular goal to protect and elect Democrats, no exceptions. Conversely, it's anathema to globalist and open-borders Republicans whose fetish is Third Worldproduced goods on the year 1381 minimum wage pay. Furthermore, Republicans are utterly petrified to come within a parsec of what I'm proposing, for fear of the "xenophobic" branding by the editorial boards of The Washington Post and The New York Times. Bipartisanship is overrated, and it usually means that both sides have been wrong rather than one side. America has been the most generous nation in world history. The time, though, has come for altruism to defer to science and the American workforce of small business and manufacturing. Both of our major political parties are afraid to reform our immigration quagmire because with reform will be the revelation of how many illegal aliens live here. Our federal government has little to no knowledge of how many illegals are here. Are there "only" 11 million illegal aliens in the U.S.? Doubtful; it's been 11 million, since, well, forever, and it's likely double to triple that figure. It is neither my nor your responsibility to render ourselves politically obsolete. Where do you think the vast majority of legal immigrants live? In small towns inhabited by AR-15-carrying Jeffersonian and Adamsian constitutionalists whose book club members are currently reading The Federalist Papers? Of course not; they predominantly live in cities that would vote for an Attila the Hun/Genghis Khan presidential ticket if it had a "D" attached to it. Even though permanent legal residents cannot (legally) vote, they do influence (in the Democrats' favor) Congressional apportionment and federal funding grabs. And let's be candid: when legal immigrants become naturalized citizens, they are far likelier to vote Democrat than for another party. For those who believe that a crisis justifies the abridgment of, and infringement upon, our guaranteed constitutional rights: the Framers penned the Constitution in response to a crisis a war against a foreign power, which didn't recognize our independence until seven years after we declared it. The Founders would want us to be even more zealous in the application of these rights during a crisis. We nationalists know dangerous freedom must always reign supreme over peaceful slavery; our Founders keenly understood that a tyranny of the majority would eventually euthanize the republic. Rich Logis is host of The Rich Logis Show, at TheRichLogisShow.com, and author of the upcoming book 10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat: How to Make America Grown-up Again. He can be found on Twitter at @RichLogis. A former police officer in Bergen County is suing the borough he worked for, claiming his superiors conspired to arrest and get rid of him after he complained of racism within the department. Michael Johnson, who was terminated from the Elmwood Park Police Department, claims in court papers the police chief and three captains violated his right to free speech by leveling false claims of assault against him. Johnson was suspended two years ago after he reported use of the N word by department employees and said people of color were being referred to as monkeys, according to a NorthJersey.com report. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Johnson accuses Chief Michael Foligno and the captains suspended him without pay and later arrested him on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and retaliation on a public official. Johnson was served bogus criminal charges following an alleged incident that occurred on June 5, 2018 and suspended without pay pending removal, states the suit, filed Monday in Superior Court of Bergen County. The lawsuit does not say who was assaulted or provide details of the alleged incident. In addition to his duties as police chief, Foligno serves as the borough administrator in Elmwood Park. In an email to NJ Advance Media, Foligno called Johnson a bad cop, and said the lawsuit is frivolous (and) replete with false statements (and contains) defamatory hyperbole. The borough of Elmwood Park Police Department holds its officers accountable for their misconduct, Foligno said. Michael Johnson was held accountable and terminated for police misconduct. Johnson, who is a councilman in Haledon in Passaic County, was removed from the Elmwood Park Police Department in December 2019, according to the suit. He now works as a police officer in Paterson, according to public records. Prior to his arrest, Plaintiff Michael Johnson had been outspoken regarding wrongdoing taking place within the Elmwood Park Police Department, states the complaint. Johnson claims he was the target of eight internal affairs complaints six initiated by the police chief and two involving complaints by disgruntled private citizens who Officer Johnson pulled over during his regular police duties. The lawsuit claims Foligno and a lieutenant told Johnson that if he transferred to a different police department, all of his (administrative) charges would disappear. But when Johnson tried to transfer to the Bergen County Sheriffs Office, the agency declined to hire him. That decision came after an interaction between the sheriffs office, Foligno and other superiors in Elmwood Park, the lawsuit claims. A short time later, a criminal complaint was filed and Johnson was arrested and charged with assault and retaliation, the lawsuit states. In addition to the criminal charges, Johnson was served with three notices of disciplinary action, all of which sought his termination, the suit states. Foligno countered on Thursday that Johnson was not charged or suspended because he raised allegations of the derogatory use of a racial slur. He was charged and suspended on June 5, 2018. He raised his allegations two days later on June 7, 2018, Foligno said. That is a vital fact that cannot be misrepresented. Foligno said citizens complaints were made against Johnson in March and July 2017, which was about a year before he was suspended and charged. Johnsons six-count lawsuit states police superiors and borough administrators violated the former officers rights under New Jerseys constitution and that the borough failed to adequately train, supervise and hire the police chief and three captains. Foligno said Johnson has an administrative disciplinary appeal pending with the states Civil Service Commission and that Elmwood Park officials plan to demonstrate that Michael Johnson was a police officer who was rightfully terminated." Editors note: This story was updated to include comments from Chief Foligno that clarify the timeline between when Johnson was suspended and charged and when complaints were made. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. COLUMBUS, Ohio An Ohio lawmaker who plays a key role in setting state tax policy said shes interested in revisiting a recently passed state law that allows cities to continue collecting income taxes from suburban commuters who are now working from home. State Sen. Kristina Roegner, a Hudson Republican who chairs the Senates tax-policy committee, said the issue hasnt come up in the legislature since the tax-withholding provision initially was passed as part of a larger coronavirus response law. Changing tax withholdings for urban cores with large commuter populations also would lead to a significant tax shift, and could causes big cities to lose significant revenue to surrounding suburbs, she said. But, she said, If people truly are not going into the cities at all and they havent been there for months, and theyre going to continue to telework from home, perhaps they should be paying taxes where they are working. Under the new law, work done at home as a result of Gov. Mike DeWines coronavirus emergency declaration, signed in March, for legal purposes is considered work done "at the employee's principal place of work. That means employers in Cleveland, for example, have kept withholding income taxes as if their Cleveland office is open, even for those working their homes outside Cleveland. The provision states it shall remain in place as long as DeWines emergency declaration is in place, plus 30 days. The change was sought by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, so businesses wouldnt have to change their tax withholdings while dealing with other aspects of the crisis. Cities, lawyers and taxpayers have varying interpretations of the provision, with some predicting legal challenges from taxpayers who feel they're entitled to refunds for paying taxes for months to cities where they haven't been working. The provision requires by default that taxes continue to be withheld for the city where an employer does business. But Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine, said that doesnt mean individual workers cant now ask their employers to change their tax withholding to reflect they work from home. For some people, this could mean they would pay less in taxes, depending on tax rates and tax laws in their home and workplace communities. The goal of the language was to allow employers to not have to undergo massive human resources work while also making changes to keep their employees safe during the pandemic, Tierney said. But the way the [Ohio Department of Taxation] is interpreting it is, were not punishing employees who want to make sure the withholding reflects the city where theyre working from home, if thats what they want to do as a personal choice for tax purposes. As for re-visiting the law, Tierney said: We continue to evaluate changes to the tax code that may be appropriate as conditions in the state change. Maurice Thompson, a conservative legal activist in Ohio, previously has said taxpayers who are working from their homes outside the cities that are collecting the income taxes could be entitled to refunds. Hes previously said he was considering pursuing legal actions to push the issue, but said this week hes been busy challenging other aspects of the states coronavirus regulations, and hasnt had time to pursue it. Rob Zimmerman, a Cleveland-area attorney who specializes in public policy, said he believes the law says Ohioans must continue to pay taxes to the cities where they work, even if theyre working from home. It seems to me that would be a pretty heavy lift to challenge this on statutory or constitutional basis, but that doesnt mean an enterprising attorney couldnt come up with something, he said. But from a policy standpoint, he said lawmakers will have to confront the issue after the emergency order eventually lifts. I would guess a lot more people and a lot more employers are going to want to stay at home, and thats going to really force the issue here, said Zimmerman, whos also a Shaker Heights city councilman. Read recent coverage from cleveland.com: Lawsuits possible over Ohios coronavirus change that lets cities collect income taxes from homebound workers Ohioans working at home due to coronavirus crisis still paying income taxes as if theyre in the office Ohio legislature passes coronavirus relief bill extending primary voting until April 28, waiving school testing requirements George Floyd Tested Positive for COVID-19: Autopsy A full autopsy report released June 3 for George Floyd, who died last week in police custody in Minneapolis after an officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, shows that the 46-year-old had previously tested positive for the CCP virus. The full report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner shows that Floyd tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus, on April 3. He was reported as being asymptomatic. Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Bakers 20-page report, which was released with the permission of Floyds family, also found that while Floyds lungs appeared healthy, his heart had some narrowing arteries. The news comes after the Hennepin Medical Examiner in Minneapolis released its final public report on the cause of death for Floyd on Monday, which classified his manner of death on May 25 as a homicide. It also noted that the father-of-two had recently used methamphetamine, was under the influence of fentanyl, and had heart issues at the time of his death. These were not listed under cause of death. The examiners office stated (pdf) that Floyd suffered cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression, adding that he experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s). The full reports footnotes noted that signs of fentanyl toxicity can include severe respiratory depression and seizures. A widely circulated video showed Floyd lying face-down on the pavement and handcuffed, as an officer was seen kneeling on the mans neck for nearly 9 minutes. Meanwhile, the footage showed Floyd telling officers that he couldnt breathe before his body went motionless. According to a Minneapolis Fire Department report (pdf), Floyd was unresponsive and pulseless when he was being transported into an ambulance by paramedics from the site of his arrest to the hospital. The police officer who was seen kneeling on the mans neck, Derek Chauvin, on Tuesday had his charges upgraded from third-degree murder, to second-degree murder charges. Under Minnesota law, second-degree murder is defined as when a person causes the death of another person with intent without premeditation. The three other police officers involved in the arrest have since been fired, and have been charged with aiding and abetting his murder, the Minnesota Attorney Generals Office revealed Tuesday. This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriffs Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows Derek Chauvin, from left, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder of George Floyd. Kueng, Lane and Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin. (Hennepin County Sheriffs Office via AP) The preliminary autopsy findings by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, which showed that Floyd did not die due to strangulation or traumatic oxygen deprivation, was decried by Floyd family attorney, Ben Crump. According to Floyds family, the results of a second independent autopsy they commissioned said that sustained pressure on the right side of Floyds carotid artery impeded blood flow to the brain, and weight on his back impeded his ability to breathe. The independent autopsy was carried out by famed forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who was hired by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epsteins brother to observe Epsteins autopsy following his death in a jail cell last year. Jack Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report. City leaders in San Leandro plan to ask the state attorney generals office to conduct an investigation into the death of a black man fatally shot by police in April. Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter said officials formally decided to make the request Monday during a City Council meeting after considering the idea for two to three weeks. Police shot and killed 33-year-old Steven Taylor on April 18 inside a Walmart after he allegedly threatened two officers with a bat. The officers deployed their Tasers and one officer fired a single gunshot. Video of the incident spread on social media and drew numerous accusations of excessive force. We are listening to the community, Cutter said. The community is saying they want an independent investigation. City Manager Jeff Kay said the council directed him to write the letter to the office of Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and he expects it will be sent out by the end of the week. There have been calls for an additional independent investigation of the shooting, Kay said. The city and the City Council are comfortable doing so. The attorney generals office said in a statement that it was aware of the matter but had not yet received the formal request. If the office opens a probe, it will mark the fourth investigation into the death on top of an ongoing administrative investigation, a criminal investigation by San Leandro police and the Alameda County district attorneys offices independent investigation. Cutter said she and other city officials decided it was important to listen to the people in the community who did not consider the prosecutors investigation to be independent. I need to listen, and I need to learn and make sure that we are progressing and moving forward together, Cutter said. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Nancy OMalley said local prosecutors have no objection to a review by the attorney generals office. The officer who fired his gun remains on administrative leave while the other has returned to work, Cutter said. Neither has been identified. Police Chief Jeff Tudor told The Chronicle his department sent the findings of one probe to prosecutors, who would conduct their own independent investigation. An administrative investigation remains active, he said, but he supported an additional inspection from the state attorney generals office. We welcome all investigations into this matter, Tudor said. An autopsy performed by the Alameda County coroners bureau found Taylors preliminary cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to his chest. In a video posted on Twitter after the incident, Tudor pledged that the Police Department would be as transparent as possible. 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. An attorney representing Taylors family disputed the departments statement that a stun gun did not minimize the threat Taylor posed. At some point in this exchange, the officers behavior became criminal namely when the suspect was disarmed, said S. Lee Merritt, a Philadelphia-based civil-rights attorney. Councilman Victor Aguilar Jr., who seconded the motion to request a probe by state prosecutors, said he hopes the attorney generals office investigates the shooting of Taylor and determines and provides a statement on whether criminal charges should or should not be brought against the officers involved. I want the public to know that we hear them, and that for some, having the District Attorney investigate is not a direction they want this to go, Aguilar said in a statement. I am deeply saddened by the event that transpired. My condolences go out to the Taylor family. City officials on Thursday made a series of pledges in a letter to the community, including plans to form a community advisory committee and engage in difficult but necessary conversations about equity, race, privilege and injustice. The killing of George Floyd is just the latest reminder of the systemic racism that plagues our society, officials wrote in the letter. It is also painfully clear that San Leandro is not immune or isolated from nationwide issues. We recognize that the officer-involved shooting of Steven Taylor brings the issue home. Our hearts are with the Taylor family and all those who have been impacted. Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @serrano_alej Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 13:00:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HARBIN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Heihe Customs in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has supervised the importation of 1.58 billion cubic meters of natural gas via the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline over the past six months. The cross-border gas pipeline has a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China. On Dec. 2, 2019, a 1,067-km section of the northern part of the pipeline was officially put into operation, marking the start of a new era in bilateral energy cooperation. Entering China via the border city of Heihe and running through nine provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, the pipeline has also been connected with existing natural gas networks in China to allow the Russian natural gas supply to reach China's northeast, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta region. The pipeline is scheduled to provide China with 5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in 2020 and the amount is expected to increase to 38 billion cubic meters annually from 2024, under a 30-year contract worth 400 billion U.S. dollars signed between the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Russian gas giant Gazprom in May 2014. Enditem After all, China is the biggest beneficiary of globalization. It has systematically used Western-led multilateral institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, to advance its interests and influence. Though still fighting for greater control of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, it has determinedly captured the leadership of four key United Nations agencies that set international rules and standards. (It almost claimed a fifth, the World Intellectual Property Organization, this year.) No surprise then that China is now the second-largest financial contributor to the United Nations: It has steadily been building up its influence in international institutions for years. Far from opening up a new battleground, Chinas plan is to fight on familiar territory. Its message to the world is simple: China is ready to pick up the slack, as the United States retreats from its global responsibilities. For a world exhausted and impoverished by the pandemic, its a seductive proposition. Anybody who takes the reins will be good enough; few will ponder its significance for the global order. Development and stability, not Chinas ambitions to lead, are the priorities for most countries. Theres good reason for the gamble. The pandemic may have exposed shortcomings of Chinas system, but it also uncovered many deficiencies of the West. The United States and Europe, each burdened by political difficulties and social challenges, are struggling to contain a virus for which they were unprepared. The global institutions they created and nurtured after World War II are directionless. The rest of the world has been left to fend for itself as best it can. China stumbled at the start of the pandemic, true. But the West appears to be losing the moral high ground. By the time the United States chooses its next president, after what is sure to be a divisive campaign played out against a backdrop of domestic disorder, China hopes to have regained the confidence of the world. It will then firmly have the advantage. You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 16:18 There has been a whirlwind of incidents this year resulting in the deaths of African Americans, culminating in an expression of frustration, outrage and protest. This all too common recurring scenario has ignited an explosion of emotions being witnessed in major cities across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. George Floyd is the latest inductee into the Black death fraternity at the hands of unjust police brutality. Floyds life was snatched away as a white police officer placed his knee on Floyds neck for at least eight minutes, while Floyd, handcuffed and prostrate on the ground, was gasping for air and pleading for his life with, I cant breathe. This was a modern-day lynching in broad daylight with the officer bearing that similar smug posture from previous eras, over a purchase with a suspected counterfeit $20 bill. This wrongful and uncalled for act has rightfully sparked continuing protests. My wife and I participated in Faith in Indianas civil protest in downtown Indianapolis on May 31. It was a peaceful public demonstration with people of color and our White brothers and sisters all sharing the sentiment of protests exclaiming no justice, no peace. The bent-up frustration and fury over these repeated incidents, along with futile cries for racial justice only being met with insufficient answers and inadequate policy changes and systemic institutional reform, have become exasperating. All of this, while living through an equally lethal pandemic especially to African Americans, have come to a head. Peaceful protests are supported; violent and unlawful activity of anarchy agitators are not condoned. Whats understandable is that good-intentioned people are simply tired and fed up with these types of incidents occurring, resulting without justice. Enraged emotion encased in the soul, as a pressurized heated interior of a volcano, has only one outlet eruption. An agonizing constancy of prolonged injustice eventually leads to an increased and unending civil unrest and uproar. Law enforcement and judicial systems are a civil necessity, and should be recipients of high societal respect. But this degree of respect is earned though community trust built upon reciprocal respect and fairness. The swift firing of Floyds assailant and his accomplices was an enormous distinctive from many prior cases of a similar nature. That, along with the assailants arrest and charges of murder and manslaughter, were steps indicating earnest. The preliminary official autopsy report unfortunately reads as a portent toward the assailants absolution, ruling out asphyxia or strangulation as the cause of death. An independent autopsy report finds Floyds death was caused by asphyxia. In this seemingly clear-cut case, hopefully history is not a predictor of its outcome. Let not justice be perverted; may justice prevail. In the midst of the destructive aftermath of Floyds death, we must not lose sight that the incitement of the decry and protests across this country was the lynching. The fuel igniting the flames of fury is the intemperate and insensitive leader of the Make America Great Again nation. That is an America of chaos. The America desired, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King JR. and borne by his torch bearer Robert F. Kennedy, is an America of community. Whats desired is an America where mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85:10 KJV). Rev. Johnson A. Beaven III is pastor of Citadel of Faith Church of God in Christ. Contact him via email at jabeaven@gmail.com or Twitter at @jbeaven. Homage, the Singapore-based startup that matches families and caregivers, has launched a new service that provides home medical visits, telehealth consultations and medication delivery. Called Homage Health, the service was already being developed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but co-founder and CEO Gillian Tee told TechCrunch that its launch was accelerated because many of the companys caregiving recipients are elderly or have long-term health conditions, and are at higher risk for the disease. Backed by investors, including HealthXCapital, Alternate Ventures and KDV Capital, Homage launched in 2016 with a caregiving program that focuses on people who need long-term assisted living and rehabilitation care. This integrates with Homage Health because the platform's caregivers, including nurses, are able to provide in-person support for online consultations with doctors and can help follow up on recommended healthcare regimens. Before launching Homage Health, the startup worked with healthcare organizations to deliver mobile medical services, including doctor house calls, for its clients, and telehealth consultations as part of its COVID-19 response. Even before the pandemic, however, there was demand because many clients need regular health screenings. "Particularly with COVID-19, as an essential service, we felt a higher impetus to ensure our care recipients can continue to gain access to in-home and caregiving services," she said. "A key example would be where our care recipients can receive speech therapy through teleconsultations," she added. "For specific hallmark assessment sessions where a therapy care plan is defined, or where subsequent delivery is adjusted due to progressional improvements made, in-person sessions can be conducted, leading to best health, accessibility and cost outcomes." Image Credits: Homage (opens in a new window) Having caregivers, medical sessions and prescriptions records on one platform also makes long-term healthcare management easier. For example, Homage can provide baseline medical assessment reports for medical and care providers. Homage prescreens doctors before adding them to the platform. All of them are registered with the Singapore Medical Council, have a minimum of five years practicing medicine and receive medical teleconsultation training. The service can be used to diagnose common conditions, like a cold or allergies, or when prescriptions need to be refilled. It also can provide the follow-up consultations needed by people recovering from strokes or with chronic conditions like Parkinsons disease and hypertension. Homage Health will expand to include more rehabilitation and therapy categories. Basic teleconsultations have a flat fee of SGD $20, excluding prescriptions and delivery fees. Mobile medical services, which start at SGD $180, include at-home blood tests, home visits by doctors and minor surgery, like wound care and drainage. In January this year I returned home from Papua New Guinea where I had been serving on the medical ship the YWAM PNG since July last year. As I have shared in my previous columns the time that I spent in this ministry was life changing. The experiences that I had during my time on board were amazing. The people that I had the pleasure of working with came from all around the world and brought the whole operation to life. The shipboard environment gave me the opportunity to dwell on things of the Lord and develop my faith and spiritual understanding. Since returning home I have had time to reflect on my experiences. I have thought a lot about both how the time onboard affected me and how it affected the people that I went to serve. From this time of reflection I have had a few realizations that I would like to share. Serving the servers I knew that going to serve on the YWAM PNG for six months would have an effect on my life and I obviously hoped that it would have an effect on the people of PNG. I had been on board the ship for about a month however, when I realised that I was not only there to serve the people of PNG but also the people of the YWAM PNG. As the head of the ships deck department I was responsible for organising a team of around 10 people at any given time. They came from many backgrounds and stayed onboard for anywhere from one to six months. Most of the people joining the deck department had little to no experience in the shipping industry prior to joining. The individuals serving in the deck department looked to me for guidance and leadership. I was blessed to be able to share my knowledge and experience of shipboard operations with them. As a result I built good working relationships with these individuals. These relationships then gave me a position of influence from which to share my faith. For the extent of my time onboard the Lord blessed me in my work, creating what was for me an unexpected opportunity of service within this mission field. Long term commitment The volunteers joining the YWAM PNG come onboard for a range of different time periods. Many join for a single, two week outreach, whilst others stay for several months at a time. The demands of life on the ship mean that year round service on board is difficult and only a few people call the ship home. Whilst everybody who comes onboard plays a crucial role in the success of the ships outreach, it is a handful of people who have dedicated their lives to the management and operation of the vessel that make the whole operation possible. These people are based in Townsville and have been involved with the ship since its purchase in 2014. They work tirelessly behind the scenes and without them this mission would not exist. I have realized that for any mission like this to be successful it needs people dedicated long term. Seeing this groups commitment to Gods work and how it has impacted this ships ministry, has driven me to look towards long term mission involvement for my future. Continued accountability Whilst working on the YWAM PNG I felt that there was a constant push from the management team for the ship to be effective in its ministry. You would think that a drive to be effective would be an obvious part of any mission organisation. I think however that it is easy and all too common for mission organisations to fall into the trap of being ineffective in their field of ministry. An operation that runs smoothly and efficiently with a prevalent presence in a field, may still fail to have a positive impact on the people that it is there to serve. When an organisation dedicates resources (finance, volunteers or assets) towards a ministry they have a responsibility to ensure that the ministry is effective. I believe that over its time of running ships YWAM Townsville has done a tremendous job of ensuring its operations remain accountable for the resources they occupy. Their drive to succeed and be successful in their mission field has comes from a love for the people of PNG. They desire to see a change through what they are doing and are not satisfied with just showing up. A servant heart Finally I have realized that there is one thing that stands out above all else in achieving an effective mission outreach. That is to have a servant heart. Whatever an individuals job is within a mission organisation they will always do more good if they are there to serve others in love. These few realizations that I have had from this time of reflection will be a guide to me in the future. I think that the Lord will use these ideas of mine to put me in the mission field that is right for me. I also hope that this may be some fuel for thought to others that are looking at being involved in missions work. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing agencies to look for ways to speed up building of highways and other major projects by scaling back environmental reviews, invoking special powers he has under the coronavirus emergency. Separately Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency formally proposed overhauling how the agency evaluates new rules on air pollutants, a move critics say will make it tougher to enact limits on dangerous and climate-changing emissions in the future. The actions are the latest efforts from the Trump administration to emphasize reduced regulatory burdens on businesses over the environment and public health. The executive order would direct federal agencies to pursue emergency workarounds from bedrock environmental laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, to hasten completion of various infrastructure projects.. Trump, who has consistently sought to cut environmental reviews, said in the order that the economic lockdown and accompanying massive unemployment required the action. Unnecessary delays in timely agency actions will deny our citizens opportunities for jobs and economic security and will hinder our economic recovery from the national emergency, keeping millions of Americans out of work, it states. Trump has been issuing executive orders on a near-weekly basis during his fourth year in office. Thursdays order will mark his 25th of the year as he uses the pandemic to justify efforts to do away with government regulations that are designed to protect the environment and public health but are viewed by critics as costly and unnecessary. The president has consistently portrayed the permitting process as hindering infrastructure projects in the U.S. He issued an executive order in August 2017 that was designed to speed infrastructure projects. But a report prepared for the Treasury Department in 2016 looked at 40 major proposed transportation and water projects whose completion had slowed or was in jeopardy and found that a lack of funds is by far the most common challenge to completing these projects. Meanwhile, finding the additional dollars to fund new roads and bridges has proved elusive as lawmakers and the president fail to agree on the extremely difficult choices that are necessary to raise more money for transportation projects without adding to the already soaring national debt. In anticipation of Trumps executive order, environmental groups said sidestepping environmental review requirements would hurt many of the same communities already suffering the most from the pandemic. Americans are crying out for leadership to confront racist violence and stop the spread of a deadly pandemic. This administration is not only ignoring those cries but piling on the burden. We will not let this stand, said Gina McCarthy of the Natural Resources Defence Council. By using the coronavirus pandemic to justify fast-tracking potentially wasteful, dangerous or destructive infrastructure programs, the president has proven once again his utter contempt for our laws, for the health of our communities and for the future of our children, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. The separate EPA proposal - now going up for the legally required public comment period before any adoption - would require cost-benefit analyses for every major new regulation under the Clean Air Act. It would also tighten consideration, in weighing any new pollutant limits, of broader benefits to clean air that would come from regulating the primary targeted pollutant. The Trump administration already has used that tighter standard to undermine an Obama-era act that cut emissions of not only mercury but other health threats from coal-fired power plants. Industries supported Thursdays EPA proposal. The overhaul would provide consistency and greater transparency in considering air pollution rules in the future, said Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice-president of the American Petroleum Institute trade group. Environmental groups contend the Trump administration is gaming costs and benefit calculations in its loosening of environmental and public health protections, considering them differently in different cases as needed to justify emissions rollbacks for power plants, vehicles and other pollution sources. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told reporters any differences were only because the Trump administration was still putting its version of the rules in place. At the end of our second term, you can look back and judge us, how well we did with our regulations, from how we did, Wheeler said. Cutting regulations has been a hallmark of Trumps presidency and conservative groups and lawmakers have been encouraging him to keep it up. Time is money, so eliminating delays that hold up or kill projects will have the same impact as increasing funding, and it will let workers get back on the job improving our infrastructure, said Rep. Sam Graves, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. ___ Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Police responding to the scene of a confrontation between store owners and apparent looters in Los Angeles handcuffed those who appeared to be defending the store, according to video footage of the incident captured by a local Fox station. Police continued to handcuff the store's defenders even after a local reporter repeatedly said that the suspected looters were getting away. Footage from local Fox station KTTV, which aired live on television, showed several community members and apparent employees of a liquor store some holding guns arguing with apparent looters on the sidewalk in Van Nuys. Reporter Christina Gonzalez, who was on the scene, described seeing looters trying to break into a nearby gold store. Several community members and small business owners shouted at the looters, telling them to leave the area. As police cars drove by, Gonzalez and some community members tried to flag them down. (2/3) EXCLUSIVE: A group of alleged looters square-off against business owners in Van Nuys as police converge onto the scene. The tense moments were captured live in front of our FOX 11 news camera. https://t.co/KEbNy7SnKw pic.twitter.com/ruAjXGSeev FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) June 2, 2020 Several police officers eventually approached the scene. But even though Gonzalez told the police the assembled crowd was "trying to stop the guys trying to loot," some officers ignored her and instead pointed guns at the group. The Fox camera captured police officers chasing someone down the block, but then showed other officers arguing with Gonzalez and her crew and asking them for IDs. Gonzalez repeatedly tried to direct the cops toward the alleged looters. "Sir, they're the store owners, they're protecting from the looters," she said. "They're protecting the store! The looters went that way!" The footage showed police officers handcuffing several people in front of the liquor store, as Gonzalez continued to tell them they had the wrong people. Story continues "These people were protecting the store," she said. "I don't care about them," an officer responded, pressing her for details about the suspected looters. "You're putting them in handcuffs," Gonzalez said. "What happened is, these people work at the liquor store, they're protecting their business." One of the people at the store was later identified as Monet. Gonzalez returned later that night and spoke to her about her involvement in the incident. Monet, who is black, said she knew the liquor store owner for 30 years so when she saw people who appeared to be looting it, she said, she wanted to help. "I was flagging down the police with the owner, asking, 'Can you guys help?'" Monet told Gonzalez. "I was handcuffed, thrown up against a wall with my husband and brother-in-law, and I'm like, 'What the h***?'" Monet, who said she has lived in the neighborhood for 37 years, said she and other community members who were handcuffed were later released. "I get it. I understand [the officers] are tired. They're worn-out too. We've been worn out. I'm 55, we're tired too. The same injustice you did to us years ago, and my father and forefathers, you guys are doing to our young black men and our young black women, including Latinos," Monet told Gonzalez. The LAPD did not respond to CBS News' request for comment. Many of the demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death have been peaceful, but some have turned violent, and looting has become more common as protests continue to swell in cities across the country. Over 400 arrests were made Sunday night on charges including looting, violation of curfew, burglary, and assault, police told CBS Los Angeles. CBS News Special Report: Protests over George Floyd's death enter 6th night Analyzing Trump's calls for military mobilization to confront nationwide protests NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter arrested at protests In an explosive leaked email seen by the Daily Mail, Mr Cruz (above) claims Left-winger Mr McCluskey, the leader of Unite, is wasting members subscriptions on an anti-BA campaign which trashes the brand The boss of British Airways has accused Len McCluskeys Unite union of snubbing more than 165 invitations to meetings about the airlines job cuts. Chief executive Alex Cruz is at loggerheads with the union over BAs plans to axe thousands of workers. He has told his 42,000 staff that his aim is to save as many jobs as possible. But he said his efforts are being stonewalled by the unions, who have rebuffed numerous requests to meet. In an explosive leaked email seen by the Daily Mail, Mr Cruz also claims Left-winger Mr McCluskey, the leader of Unite, is wasting members subscriptions on an anti-BA campaign which trashes the brand. Mr Cruz told staff: We have sent them proposals in good faith, but have heard nothing. If you are represented by GMB or Unite, I encourage you to consider the position they are taking and ask them to come and talk with us. BA announced plans in April to cut up to 12,000 jobs and change terms and conditions for 30,000 staff. Mr Cruz is understood to believe he could reduce the redundancies to 8,000 or 9,000 with union co-operation. However, cuts on a large scale are inevitable because the business, which is owned by Anglo-Spanish giant IAG, is losing around 175million a week. With the vast majority of its planes grounded since the virus struck, BA has been running at just five per cent of its normal levels during April and May. Passenger numbers are not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels until 2023 or 2024. Mr Cruz is convinced staff numbers need to be slashed to head off the short-term cash crisis and because BA will in future be a smaller operation. The company has taken on 300million of loans through the Bank of Englands scheme to support large businesses through the pandemic. However, it is up against overseas rivals which have been bailed out to a much larger extent by their governments. BA does not have an absolute right to exist. There are major competitors poised and ready to take our business, Mr Cruz wrote. 'So it is really concerning to me that GMB and Unite refuse point blank to join any discussions about mitigating proposed redundancies. Mr Cruz said he hopes Mr McCluskey (above) and his team will start attending [meetings with the airline] rather than spending members money on a PR campaign to undermine the British Airways brand Mr Cruz added the company is already working constructively with pilots union Balpa which is understood to have seen confidential details of BAs financial state. Balpa officials are said to have had an oh s**t moment when they realised the extent of the firms difficulties. In his email, Mr Cruz added: We are not in dispute with the unions. We need their ideas and we need them to represent you. That is what unions do when jobs are under threat. They dont just walk away. Unite has launched a campaign called BA Betrayal. It claims the airline is exploiting the Covid-19 crisis and is motivated by corporate greed. The union has projected anti-BA slogans at night-time on landmarks across the country including The Angel of the North, Marble Arch and Harrods in London and the Scottish Parliament. Mr Cruz said he hopes Mr McCluskey and his team will start attending [meetings with the airline] rather than spending members money on a PR campaign to undermine the British Airways brand. Mr McCluskey claims he wants to open discussions. With the vast majority of its planes grounded since the virus struck, BA has been running at just five per cent of its normal levels during April and May However, he has refused unless the company agrees to withdraw a Section 188 notice - part of a legally required process to start the countdown to the proposed redundancies. BA argues it cannot afford to stop the clock because it is losing huge sums every week. Mr McCluskey said: BA is using the worst health crisis in a century as an opportunity to fire and rehire its workforce. The workers that survive will be brought back on vastly inferior contracts. No other company has behaved in this way. I have said repeatedly that my door is open and we are ready to have a sensible discussion at anytime. This is a company with a lot of cash, strong assets and sustainable debt. NEW DELHI: Indian fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya can be extradited to India in the coming days "anytime" as all the "legal process" has been completed, top sources in the government said on Wednesday. India has been in touch with the British government over extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya after he exhausted legal options against New Delhi's request to the UK to extradite him. "The government of India is in touch with the UK regarding the next steps in his extradition process," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. Mallya lost his appeals in the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. The UK top court's decision marked a major setback to the 64-year-old businessman as it came weeks after he lost his High Court appeal in April against an extradition order to India. Mallya has been based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017. The High Court verdict in April upheld the 2018 ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December 2018 that the former Kingfisher Airlines boss had a "case to answer" in the Indian courts. Representative Image Rajeev Bhattacharyya Things could be heating up in Assam, with COVID-19 seeming to have prevented the people from hitting the streets. The issue this time around is not illegal immigrants but the governments approval of coal mining in a proposed reserve forest in Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve along the states border with Arunachal Pradesh. The Assam Environmental NGO Forum, consisting of 20 groups, has demanded a complete ban on coal mining as the reserve has already suffered substantial damage. After an outburst on the episode from different sections of people, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal tweeted that Minister of Environment and Forest Parimal Suklabaidya had been instructed to visit the region for taking stock of the condition, and that the government was committed to protect the environment. The assurance has hardly helped lessen fears, which have been compounded with new evidence emerging on the state governments dreadful role in the incident. With the assembly polls only 10 months away and its list of successes not many, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Assam government would not want to link its name with the mining in the reserve forest. Consider these developments: After the controversy erupted, the government decided to initiate departmental proceedings against 12 Divisional Forest Officers (DFO) for their complicity in the illicit mining of coal in the forest. Certainly, the government has to be seen to be taking some action, but rumour is that there are many politicians and highly-placed officials involved in these activities. 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 evidence comes from an internal report compiled by the state department of environment and forest in July, which was based on field visits by two senior officials. The report categorically underscored the involvement of other agencies/depts in the racket. No action was taken on this report, which has now been put on the backburner. So why has the government ignored this report? Coal has been mined legally and illegally in the Dehing-Patkai forest region for some time now. The current controversy stems from the mining that Coal India Ltd has carried out since 2003 without permission in a proposed reserved forest called Saleki within the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. This is in gross violation of the Assam Forest Regulation Act 1891, and Forest (Conservation) Act 1980. The governments reply to an RTI query from environment activist Rohit Choudhury revealed that 39 percent of forest land in the proposed reserve forest has already been mined. Such rampant destruction of the forest could not have happened without the knowledge of the state government, including the previous Congress regimes. News reports quoting official documents suggest that the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister recommended the proposal to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change for diversion of 98.59 hectares of land in Saleki for open cast mining. Based on the recommendation, the National Board of Wildlife also gave the green signal for open cast mining at Saleki early in April, during the lockdown. Incidentally, all the illicit syndicates in Assam came to a halt after the lockdown was announced on March 24. The seizure of a coal truck by the police at Kokrajhar along Assams border with West Bengal three weeks ago signalled the revival of illegal coal mining. Certainly, the truck could not have travelled undetected all the way from eastern Assam without the approval of highly placed officials and even politicians. This apart, local TV news channels have been highlighting the names of politicians and officials involved in the racket. On December 6, DY365, an Assamese satellite news channel, even named an official close to Sonowal, and alleged that large sums of money was pocketed through this scam. The government is yet to come out with a clarification challenging the news reports. Likewise, in September, the ministry of environment forest and climate change requested the Assam government to provide information as to why the details of the violations by Coal India Ltd, as sought by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), was not provided for six years. The Sonowal government is yet to answer. The central and state government, both led by the BJP, must not only realise the ecological fragility of the region but also swiftly act to stop any further degradation. If the perpetrators of this crime against nature are brought to book it will help the Sonowal government, which will soon face the test of the people. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, schools across the United States have been soul-searching over their complicity in enabling systemic, police-inflicted violence. Just this week, after years of local activism, the Minneapolis Public Schools board voted to terminate its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department, ending its in-school installation of police officers known as school resource officers, or SROs. This is welcome news to critics of the school-to-prison pipeline, for the mere presence of SROs can change the course of a teenagers life. One study in Connecticut, for instance, found that black and especially Latinx students were far more likely to be arrested and funneled into the criminal justice systemas opposed to simply being disciplined in schoolwhen there was an SRO. Other reports have documented excessive uses of physical force by SROs. These officers have also become symbols of safety in school shootings, and some have faced off against gunmen and saved lives. Students of color nevertheless have continued to feel uniquely unsafe under their watch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The discontent over SRO programs has intensified in recent years, but challenges to these programs have been lodged since they started spreading in the 1960s. Like opponents today, the earliest dissenters hated the idea of shifting school responsibilities to police. But their main gripe was that police officers might be free to interrogate students in ways that exceeded procedural due process norms. The new wave of opposition recognizes that reforming procedures in SRO programs may not be enough, that the mere installation of officers already dooms students of color from the start. Minneapolis was among the first cities to bring police officers into schools nearly six decades ago. The school boards decision to remove them now reflects how dramatically the terms of debate have shifted. Advertisement The first major police-in-school programs cropped up in Atlanta, Georgia, and Flint, Michigan, near the middle of the 20th century. Soon after, in 1962, a school district in Tucson, Arizona, drew on Flints model to implement its own program, becoming one of the nations most widely publicized SRO experiments. Within three years, the Minneapolis suburb of Edina had also begun assigning police to schools. After Congress passed the Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965, Minneapolis and Tucson became the first two American cities to receive federal funding for SRO programs under the act. Tucson received more than $60,000 per year, and Minneapolis received more than $70,000 per year (roughly half a million dollars each in todays dollars). Advertisement Advertisement Called a living symbol of law and order by some at the time, the presence of police in schools represented a larger, national tide of clarion calls to solder steel fangs onto Americas criminal justice system. Politicians like Minneapolis Mayor Charles Stenvig ran for office on law and order platforms, with Stenvig even promising to take the handcuffs off the police. In the next decade, proposals to install police in schools would emerge in other cities like Philadelphia, and in 1978 one reporter counted more than 60 cities in the nation that had adopted SRO programs. Advertisement Advertisement But these programs sparked fiery dissent from the beginning. Some people argued that it should be up to families, social workers, teachers, and counselorsnot police officersto sort out problems at school. Others despised the expansion of police into schools in general, suggesting that it borders on empire building. The major legal objection, however, was that police officers might have unlimited discretion in interrogating students who couldnt have been expected to know the meaning of due process. Students, some critics worried, might be coerced into self-incrimination and service as informants on their friends and families. Advertisement Advertisement At the heart of the fight was the American Civil Liberties Union. Knowing that the federal grant to Minneapolis program was still pending, the director of the ACLUs Washington office asked the U.S. Department of Justice to require that under no circumstances would the policeman in the school be able to interrogate any juvenile without the presence of his parent. He sent a copy of a letter to Lynn Castner, the executive director of the Minnesota ACLU, expressing concerns mostly about student interrogations. The next year, ACLU attorneys in Arizona filed a lawsuit arguing that Tucsons SRO program was an unconstitutional violation of privacy. The year after that, the Flint ACLU concluded that the Flint program undermine[s] respect for civil liberties and compromise[s] the integrity of education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ACLUs early criticism of SROs looked radically different from the kinds of criticism driving policy decisions today. Namely, it avoided drawing attention to policings racial dimensions. In doing so, it tried to balance its zealous pushback with the law and order mantra that was becoming vogue. In a 1967 op-ed clarifying the Arizona chapters position, the local executive director affirmed that the police have a vital role to play in the preservation of law and order. He pointed out that the ACLU had even praised police in the state for their professional behavior during the racial disturbances in Phoenix. Advertisement Police dont listen to us, lamented one black teenager in Minneapolis. Theyre always trying to pin something on us. But the unique challenges that policing imposed on people of color werent lost on other Americans. Police dont listen to us, lamented one black teenager in Minneapolis. Theyre always trying to pin something on us. Two officers had beaten up his brother on his front porch, so not even a gentle SRO would change his mind. Hes a nice guy. He tries to be different, the boy explained about one officer, but to me he cant. No matter how you put it, hes still a cop. Wilbur Johnson, a black man, explained it best in 1966 when he pointed out that SRO programs added another dimension to an already hostile world for young minority children. Police, to the Negro child, represent a threat, he described, because these children were taught at an early age that a policeman is sort of Jekyll and Hydea wearer of the hood at night and wearer of a tin badge by day. Advertisement Advertisement Without a sustained acknowledgment of this reality by other opponents of SROs, criticism based on potential erosions of civil liberties soon crumbled. The deliberate ceding of ground to law and order advocates meant that evidence of alleged SRO program success would be fatal: If there were more order in the end, and if even critics of SROs liked order, then how could SROs be a problem? This counterargument won parents over in Minneapolis. In 1968, the citys police chief attributed noticeable decreases in some predelinquent behavior to the citys SRO program, and the school board expanded the program to 10 more schools. SRO programs spread in the next decades as part of a larger pattern of police expansion in Americas War on Poverty, War on Drugs, and War on Crime. An allocation of federal funding for school resource officers in the 1990s superpowered the infrastructure of SRO programs, and by 2003 the percentage of schools that had stationed police officers had skyrocketed to more than 30 percent. The cumulative effect of policies throughout these years, as scholars have documented, was the dramatic expansion of mass incarceration and the disproportionate jailing of black people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Minneapolis Public Schools recent decision is a recognition that, even if SROs manage to bring more law and order to schools, they are not worth the harm to black and brown children. This makes for a more powerful argument than the original one; it isnt merely SRO programs tactics causing damage, but also the punitive pipeline and culture intrinsic to the SRO concept. The reframing represents a reprioritization of values that guards against the pressure that early critics had felt, a pressure to placate both law and order advocates and police-wary Americans. The inescapable reverberation of black death now more clearly demands something beyond skin-deep compromise, even in the face of assertions of program success. Yet for all the departures from the past, a reminder from an epoch ago still pulses at the heart of this vision: To countless children of color, the world is already more hostile. It is suffocating and relentless. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Europes airlines arent all made equal. German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG will receive a 9 billion-euro ($10 billion) bailout and it was obliged to offer only limited concessions to Brussels in return. Meanwhile, low-cost Hungarian rival Wizz Air Holdings Plc has benefited from only limited state support. Goliath gets the goodies, and David the gruel. But anyone paying attention to these two companies earnings presentations this week will have concluded that Wizz is much better placed to profit as Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted. It sounded pretty upbeat about demand and wants to expand its network, as the lumbering debt-laden Lufthansa prepares to shrink. Wizz is one of the few airlines whose shares have risen over the past year. Lufthansas core network airlines derive about half of their revenues from business travel, which wont recover quickly lots of companies have banned employees from flying. At Wizz, only 7% of customers fly for business and two-thirds are traveling to visit friends and family or work overseas. Those trips didnt happen while countries were in lockdown, and people are itching to see their loved ones again. Wizz is fortunate that its core central and eastern European markets suffered less severe coronavirus outbreaks than places like the U.K., Spain and Italy. It also has a relatively young customer base: The average Wizz passenger is a sprightly 36 years old. Three-quarters of Lufthansas passengers are over 40. While airlines say mask wearing and other hygiene measures will make flying safe for everyone, the young might be willing to risk boarding a plane sooner theyre less likely to get the worst Covid-19 infections and die. (Millennials arent just keen to fly, theyre investing their cash in airlines too.) Happily for Airbus SE, the aircraft manufacturer, Wizz still plans to take delivery of the planes it has ordered and it claims airports are begging it to add routes. It aims to operate about 60% of its planned flights over the busy summer quarter and as much as 80% during the autumn and winter. Story continues As with Irelands Ryanair Holdings Plc, Wizzs low costs should help it offer cheap fares to stimulate demand, and it hopes to attract customers with new bases in Milan and Abu Dhabi. Having been quick to cut about a fifth of its staff, Wizz is now consuming less than 100 million euros of cash a month. By contrast, Lufthansa expects to have restored only about 40% of capacity by the autumn. Demand should recover by 2023, but even then it expects 100 of its 760-strong fleet will be surplus. The heavy restructuring required to restore profitability mostly lies ahead still. In the meantime, the German group is burning through about 800 million euros a month of cash, excluding a 2.5 billion-euro ticket refund liability. Without a bailout, Lufthansa would be sunk and it must now devote all of its energies to paying down debt. Naturally, this bifurcation of Europes airlines hasnt gone unnoticed by investors. Wizzs stock has rallied more than 80% from a March low and its higher than it was a year ago. Lufthansas shares are deeply negative over the same period. While a big bailout is nice, a handout doesnt guarantee you a competitive business model. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. The family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby have spoken out over social media posts they said have been used 'in a divisive way to fuel arguments against the Black Lives Matter protests'. In a personal message Lee's mother, Lyn Rigby, said the family have been 'hurt' by the posts, which they said were 'in complete opposition to what Lee stood for'. They said he served his country to protect the 'rights and freedoms' of all. Lynn Rigby, left, mother of murdered British soldier Lee Rigby, right, has asked people opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement to stop using images of her son to promote their 'divisive' message Mrs Rigby said her son served the country 'to protect the rights and freedoms of all members of this great melting pot of a nation' Mrs Rigby, pictured centre outside the Old Bailey during the trial of her son's two killers said seeing such posts using his name and image are 'extremely heartbreaking' and opposed to everything that her son stood for Father-of-one Lee, from Langley, Middleton, Greater Manchester served as a soldier in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The 25-year-old was brutally murdered by two men in a terrorist attack in Woolwich, London on May 22, 2013, just 200 yards away from his Army barracks. His parents, Lyn and Ian, founded the Lee Rigby Foundation in his name to support bereaved military families, veterans and serving personnel. In a message on the foundation's Facebook page, Mrs Rigby said Lee's image had also been used in posts - which she described as 'extremely heartbreaking and distressing'. The family also said their thoughts and support to the friends and family of George Floyd. Mr Floyd died after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis, America, on May 25, sparking days of protest in the US. The Rigby family post said: 'A message from Lyn Rigby on behalf of the Lee Rigby Foundation. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were both convicted at the Old Bailey of Lee Rigby's brutal murder 'As a Foundation and a family, we are aware of a number of posts using images of Lee and his murder in a divisive way to fuel arguments against the Black Lives Matter protests. 'Lee proudly served his country to protect the rights and freedoms of all members of this great melting pot of a nation. Who was Lee Rigby Fusilier Rigby was stabbed to death at the age of 25 in an attack while off duty near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south London, on May 22, 2013. His murderers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were sentenced to life imprisonment. The Manchester-born soldier joined the army as a teenager in 2006 and served in Cyprus and Helmand province in Afghanistan. He later served in Germany before being moved to London where he was based in Woolwich Barracks where he was murdered. His family has complained several times about Far Right organisations trying to use his murder as part of their propaganda. Advertisement 'Seeing his image used to cause hate of any kind especially for those exercising their freedoms in protest against this hurts. 'We find these posts extremely heartbreaking and distressing, and in complete opposition to what Lee stood for.' Mrs Rigby called for the posts referencing her son and using his image to stop. 'We ask you all to please stop using his image and memory in such posts as he was a lover of all of humanity. 'Every race, gender, creed, sexuality and colour. 'So seeing such use of his name harms not only his family but his legacy and memory. 'Our thoughts and support goes out to George Floyd's friends and family at this tragic time. 'We wish you all love and peace at this time.' Demonstrations over Mr Floyd's death have taken place in areas including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Columbia, South Carolina and Houston. Some have included clashes between police and protesters, including the use of tear gas and rubber bullets by officers. Pockets of protesters clashed with police after thousands of people flooded into central London for a Black Lives Matter demonstration in response to the death of George Floyd. The Metropolitan Police said 13 people were arrested during the protests in Hyde Park and outside Downing Street, which ran into the early hours of this morning. Authorities in the US said today four police officers were facing charges in relation to Mr Floyd's death. US state prosecutors have upgraded the charges against the main office involved to second degree murder. EDMONTONThe Alberta Opposition is calling on the government to hold virtual public hearings on a plan to remove dozens of parks and recreation sites from the provincial system. NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt says the United Conservative government should hold off on making any changes until those hearings are complete. These parks are a treasure to Albertans, he said at an online news conference. They form an important part of our natural heritage and they exist for the public good. But, most importantly, they belong to all Albertans and should exist for everyone to enjoy. Environment Minister Jason Nixon said in an email Thursday that the NDP is trying to score cheap political points. Alberta parks are not for sale, he said. All Crown land associated with these areas will remain protected and accessible to Albertans. Nixon has previously said the government plans to fully or partially close 20 provincial parks and hand off another 164 to third-party managers. Sites for which no manager can be found will lose park status and revert to general Crown land, which can be sold. Thats about 16,000 hectares small compared with the provinces total park system, but one-third the number of sites the province manages. Budget documents suggest the move would save about $5 million. The plan has raised major concerns, with one online petition getting more than 52,000 signatures. Schmidt was joined at his online news conference by Gabriella Peter and Wendy Urquhart, two Albertans who are concerned about the governments plans for the parks system. I love Alberta parks, Peter said. Something I really love about our parks is that there is something there for everyone. She said she worries about how the plan will affect both recreation and conservation. I am very concerned about the lack of public consultation on this issue, because this is something that affects so many Albertans as well as our natural landscapes and wildlife. Peter said the closure or removal of parks will not only affect the parks on the list, but it will make the remaining parks in the province busier. Urquhart, whos from Lethbridge, said its already tough to get a camping reservation at provincial parks this summer with Albertans staying closer to home due to COVID-19 and restrictions related to the pandemic limiting campgrounds at half capacity. Add to that 20 closures of parks, either fully or partially, and then another 164 which will be sold off to third parties this just simply doesnt make sense right now for Albertans, she said. Read more about: Pakistan on Thursday said it has "reacted with restraint" to avoid escalation of tensions with India in the wake of expulsion of its two officials by New Delhi on charges of spying. India on Sunday declared two officials of the Pakistan High Commission as 'persona non grata' on charges of espionage and ordered them to leave the country within 24 hours. The two officials, Abid Hussain and Muhammad Tahir, were caught by Delhi Police while they were obtaining sensitive documents relating to India's security installations from an Indian national in exchange of money, official sources in New Delhi said. At the weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said, "Pakistan has no desire to escalate the situation, we have reacted with restraint. However, violations of diplomatic norms and India's continued belligerent attitude is a threat to regional peace and security." Farooqui reiterated that the charges against the two Pakistani officials were "false" and "unsubstantiated". "Pakistan has strongly rejected the baseless Indian allegations and condemned Indian tactics which are in clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as well as norms of diplomatic conduct," she said. The punitive action against the two Pakistani officials came in the midst of frayed ties between the two countries over reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir by India. Pakistan had downgraded diplomatic ties by expelling the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad following India's decision to withdraw special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two union territories in August last year. Accusing India of unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC), Farooqui said, Pakistan "remains ready to defend itself against any misadventure or aggressive action". To a question about Sino-Indian tension, she said Pakistan is closely monitoring the situation along the China-India border areas. "We hope that the issue will be resolved in line with agreed understandings and established mechanisms to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas," she said. Farooqui said at Pakistan's request, under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a decision was made at a ministerial-level meeting of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Iran to revive communication between the regional countries through FAO's Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in South-West Asia (SWAC) on March 11. In response, each country, through SWAC, agreed to constitute a Technical and Operational Coordination (ToC) Team to exchange information; enhance coordination at the border areas; and increase synchronisation to combat desert locust outbreak in the region, she said. Farooqui said Pakistan has been participating in SWAC meetings on a weekly basis which are fruitful in exchanging information in the bordering areas of Pakistan and India. "We believe that the respective Technical Teams have been coordinating appropriately through FAO," she said, adding that Pakistan remains committed to cooperating with all SWAC member states, including India, in combating desert locust outbreak. Pennington County Commissioner Gary Drewes will re-introduce a wheel tax proposal to the board Thursday that would provide funds to replace 88 bridges over the next 25 years. The Board of Commissioners moved its regularly scheduled meeting in light of Tuesdays primary election, which saw Travis Lasseter elected as the Republican candidate for the commission with 58% of the vote. He'll face Democratic candidate Karen McGregor in the Nov. 3 general election. Drewes will propose the tax, which was initially introduced by the commission in 2015 following the South Dakota Legislatures approval of the Bridge Improvement Grant program. The program allows counties that have a wheel tax to apply for funds to improve county highways and bridges. There is $15 million available annually for grants $7 million from license plate fees and non-commercial vehicle fees that all vehicle owners pay and $8 million from an increase in the state's gas tax. We as taxpayers, we pay into that fund, but we dont have any way to get money back out of it (without the tax), Drewes said. If the proposal is approved, vehicle owners would pay $2 per wheel regardless of the vehicle's weight with a maximum payment of $24 annually. It would generate about $1.3 million annually for Pennington County, which is one of eight counties in the state that has not opted-in into the Bridge Improvement Grant program by approving a wheel tax. Lawrence, Meade, Butte, Custer, Ziebach, Jackson and Haakon counties all have at least a $2 wheel tax in place, according to the Department of Revenue. According to SDDOT, 206 projects in counties and 29 in communities have received a total of $56.4 million from the BIG program since 2016. The wheel tax the county commission approved in 2015 called for $3-$5 per wheel with the amount depending on the weight of the vehicle. If approved, it wouldve generated about $2.3 million. However, the tax was rejected by voters in a referendum in January 2016. Drewes said hes reintroducing the tax now because of immediate funding needs out of the countys 128 bridges about 44 are 50 years old and 44 are between 45-50 years old. Bridges typically have a lifespan of 50-70 years. In 2015, the Journal reported that typical bridge replacements cost $400,000 to $450,000. To replace all 88 bridges, the county would need more than $35 million. According to the countys 2020 budget, Public Works has a total of $14,593,551. The current amount of funding that the Highway Department receives for maintaining roads and bridges is not sufficient for maintaining what we currently have but also taking care of those needed replacements, Drewes said. Drewes said there are a couple alternatives to deal with the aging bridges property taxes get raised or bridges get closed. Critics will say theyre being held hostage, maybe it is, but the Legislature establishes the rules and we have to live by the rules that are there, Drewes said. The critical thing to think about is we know we need to generate more dollars. The wheel tax allows it to spread across all vehicle owners so its not just property owners. It gets spread and doesnt put all the burden on property tax payers. Drewes will also ask the board to declare it an emergency, which could make the proposal effective following the second reading, which will be June 16 if approved Thursday. The Board of Commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday in the commission chambers in the County Administration Building. Correction: Travis Lasseter was elected as the Republican candidate for the Pennington County Board of Commissioners seat, he did not win the race. Lasseter will face Democratic candidate Karen McGregor in November. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 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. Two children from Missouri, ages 6 and 7, died on May 29 after the car that the 7-year-old boy was driving crashed through a field and immediately caught on fire. Stolen vehicle According to Sgt. Andy Bell, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol, the two brothers left the house of their grandparents and their car to drive around the city. The two boys drove through a nearby field and through a county road in the east of Kansas City over the speed limit. The car of their grandparents was a 2007 Buick LaCrosse. Bell said that the case is unique but very devastating. The state patrol wrote in the report that the car struck a guardrail and it also struck a guy-wire. The 7-year-old boy lost control of the car and it overturned before it hit a tree. The car then landed on its roof and it caught fire before the boys had the chance to escape. The two boys were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, and their names have not been released by the police. The report, however, showed that the crash happened at around 4:20 p.m. Bell said that they believe that the speed that the children were going contributed to the car flipping and hitting the tree. The car ran off at East Blue Mills Road, according to the report. Also Read: Stepmom Who Tortured, Starved Little Girl Attempts to Fool Court to be Freed From Jail The Jackson County Sheriff's Department and the Highway Patrol are investigating. Bell said that the sheriff's office is now looking at how the two children were able to get a hold of their grandparent's car. Similar incidents In 2019, four children between ages 10 and 14 stole a family car and packed it with fishing rods and other picnic items. They then went on a 600-mile road trip on the Australian coast, according to police. One of the four children left a note for their parents before they left for the road trip. The parents called the police and they found the car parked along a highway in New South Wales. The four children took turns driving during the 930 kilometer trip from Rockhampton in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales. The Nissan Patrol car belonged to one of the parents of the four children. The children were taken into custody and faced charges. Inspector Darren Williams stated that the journey was pretty far for children to drive. The police used a cell phone signal to track the car, and when they found the car, the children refused to open the car door. The whole escapade of the children lasted for 10 hours before they were found. Authorities encourage parents to make sure that their car keys are placed in areas that children can't reach or can't find. Leaving the car keys lying around the house could tempt them to take the cars for a drive, which is very dangerous. It is also important to teach children that vehicles are not toys and that driving them around without guidance could lead to accidents. Related Article: Naked Intruder Who Broke Inside a Girl's Bedroom Shot Dead By Doctor Father @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. MOSCOW -- A Siberian court ruling placing in a psychiatric clinic a Siberian shaman who gained notoriety for claiming to want to remove President Vladimir Putin from power has been challenged by several Russian lawmakers. Aleksandr Gabyshev was forcibly placed in a psychiatric clinic against his will after 20 officers from a special police unit of Russia's National Guard stormed into his home in Yakutsk, the capital of the Siberian region of Yakutsk, on May 12 and detained him. Gabyshev's lawyers said on May 26 that they filed a complaint with the European Court for Human Rights challenging their client's being confined to a psychiatric clinic against his will and without a court ruling, which they said was illegal. He was briefly released on May 29, a day after his lawyer, Olga Timofeyeva, filed a complaint with the Yakutsk city court questioning the legality of his forced placement in the clinic. But a court in Yakutsk subsequently ruled on June 2 that Gabyshev must be confined to a psychiatric clinic. Fedot Tumusov, a lawmaker from the A Just Russia party and deputy head of the State Duma's Health Protection Committee, told the Kommersant daily on June 4 that the medical report on which the court based its ruling to confine Gabyshev to a psychiatric clinic "sparked doubts about their legality." Tumusov said he had urged Prosecutor-General Igor Krasnov to intervene in the case. "Residents of Yakutia are disturbed by the court's decision," said Tumusov, who, like Gabyshev, is a native of Yakutia himself. Also, on June 4, another lawmaker, Boris Mendelevich of the ruling United Russia party, asked Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to assess the legitimacy of the court's decision. Mendelevich, who is a professional psychologist, compared Gabyshev's forced confinement to the Soviet-era practice of using psychiatric clinics as detention centers for dissidents. Viktor Gubarev, the leader of the Yakut branch of the Communist Party, said that "medical experts who found Gabyshev mentally ill should answer more questions than Gabyshev himself." Earlier this week, Sardana Avksentyeva, the mayor of Yakutsk, publicly called Gabyshev's detainment "a selective punitive action." Amnesty International said Gabyshev "has been made an enemy of the state solely for voicing his dislike of Putin." "By co-opting first the police and now the psychiatric system to do their bidding, the Russian authorities have revealed the astonishing lengths they will go to repress critics," the London-based, human rights watchdog said. In early May, Gabyshev posted a video on YouTube that showed him performing a traditional Yakut shaman's dance while chanting, "Very soon you all will break free." Gabyshev first made headlines last year when he called Putin "evil" and announced that a march to Moscow to drive the Russian president out of the Kremlin. Gabyshev set off for Moscow in March last year and walked more than 2,000 kilometers, speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way. As his notoriety rose, videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views. In July, when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita, he gathered a 700-strong rally under the slogan "Russia without Putin!" At the time, Gabyshev said, "God told me that Putin is not human but a demon, and has ordered me to drive him out." His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia in September. He was transferred to Yakutia, where he was confined to a psychiatric clinic. He was released in October, after independent experts hired by his lawyers challenged the local psychiatrists' diagnosis of mental instability, concluding that Gabyshev is sane, does not need treatment in a psychiatric clinic, and is not a danger to society. In December, Gabyshev and two supporters attempted to resume the march toward Moscow, ignoring Yakutia's sub-zero temperatures. But they were stopped again by police and forced to return. Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, the mystics were harshly repressed. But in isolated parts of Siberia, they are now regaining prominence. Senator Requests DOJ Findings of FBIs Handling of Larry Nassar Case Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is pressing the Department of Justice to release their findings of how the FBI handled the Larry Nassar Case when they were first tipped off about the misconduct through USA Gymnastics (USAG). The Texas Senator sent a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Tuesday to get a report about the probe, pointing to the fact that it had been two years since the FBI took up the investigation. According to news reports, at least 40 professional athletes were abused by Nassar in the time between the USA Gymnastics made its report to the FBI and when he was publicly named as a perpetrator. An investigation into the FBIs delays was first reported in September 2018, but nearly two years later, the report has yet to be released, the letter states. The Republican lawmaker said the victims have a legal right to this information, as stated under The Crime Victims Rights laws. All victims deserve dignity and to have crimes committed against them properly and fairly investigated. I am deeply concerned about evidence of the FBIs lack of urgency, even as they were uncovering clear information that a predator continued to harm the athletes in his care, Cornyn continued. Under the pretense of providing medical treatment, former USAG national team doctor Larry Nassar was named in hundreds of lawsuits filed by athletes who said that Nassar sexually abused them. Since the scandal was first reported by The Indianapolis Star in September 2016, hundreds of young women, including former USAG national team members came forward to give testimony about the abuse they suffered. Nassar, was accused of sexual abuse by more than 350 women. He ran a clinic and gymnastics club at Michigan State University (MSU) where he was a faculty member. The scandal had earlier led to resignations of top officials at MSU, including the schools former president. The university agreed in May, 2019, to pay $425 million to 332 of Nassars victims and to set aside another $75 million for any future plaintiffs. Nassar was sentenced in two different trials to 300 years in prison for having abused young female gymnasts. Prosecutors said he abused more than 265 people, many through his practice at MSU. MSU had faced public criticisms over how they handled the Nassar case. While athletes had complained about Nassar since the 1990s, the school didnt open an investigation until 2014. The Office for Civil Rights investigation found MSU failed to adequately respond to the sexual misconduct reports against Nassar and his former boss, William Strampel. The office said the school also failed to take appropriate interim measures to protect its students while complaints against Nassar and Strampel were pending. What they suffered is unbearable. It can never happen again. Victims allegations must be investigated quickly, their voices must be listened to. The release of this report is the first necessary step in determining how to move forward. I again reiterate the need for its speedy release, concluded the Senator. Reuters contributed to this report. [June 03, 2020] Intermap Enters Settlement Agreement on Vertex Notes with Pender Funds; Announces Contract with NOAA, State of California Data Subscription, and Q1 Results Agreement executed to settle all Vertex Notes for US$1m in cash First quarter revenue doubles year over year The State of California accesses Intermap's NEXTMap One through data-as-service subscription Intermap selected to support NOAA to protect the nation's coasts DENVER, June 3, 2020 /CNW/ - Intermap Technologies ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions, today announced an Amended Settlement Agreement, covering all the outstanding Vertex Notes, has been executed with Pender Funds. Under the terms of the Settlement, all of the outstanding Notes totalling US$33.9 million shall be settled for US$1 million in cash. Upon the delivery of a US$1m cash payment, Vertex/Pender shall release liens, extinguish the Notes, and the parties shall provide for a general release from all claims associated with the Vertex financings. In addition, the Company announced preliminary, unaudited results for the first quarter of 2020 and an update on its data services business. Intermap also announced today it was selected by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a member of the Dewberry team for the agency's Shoreline Mapping Services contract. The five-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a ceiling of $40 million and will enable Intermap to provide SAR and IFSAR services for NOAA's National Geodetic Survey initiative to protect the nation's coasts. Dewberry is one of four prime contractors and completed 30 task orders during the previous shoreline mapping services contract for NOAA. Intermap is the sole SAR and IFSAR provider on the Dewberry team and has supported the team for over 10 years on other programs such as U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Mapping Initiative (AMI) and 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). Further, the State of California signed a subscription for Intermap's NEXTMap One terrain data-as-a-service, becoming Intermap's first government customer subscriber. The State of California can now access the world's most complete and highest-accuracy, contiguous global 1m dataset. Intermap leverages its patented IRIS platform to generate and update high-resolution datasets around the world which support world-class digital infrastructure. By subscribing to the Company's unique data-as-a-service program, California is able to access 1m resolution surface and terrain models for all state users and use cases, as needed. To purchase the data outright for future use, at the level of accuracy and acuity required to solve modern data challenges, would be prohibitively expensive. In contrast, Intermap's subscription model ensures that the state's entire strategic data infrastructure is affordably maintained and always current, complete and available where it's needed. In commercial markets, Intermap signed an initial contract with Jeppesen, a leading provider of airspace solutions, to support their digital infrastructure with orthorectification of satellite imagery as-a-service, covering 200 airports. Leveraging the NEXTMap One global terrain data and Intermap's cost-effective as-a-service model for delivery directly into their workflow, Jeppesen receives unparalleled Ortho accuracies suitable for commercial air safety, produced in near real-time, and delivered at a fraction of the cost typically offered by commercial satellite and other vendors. "Intermap's data-as-a-service business provisions products to support real-time, actionable decision-making, for expert and non-expert users alike, at the edge, where and when reliable data is most needed, with continually updated data delivered seamlessly and directly into client workflows," commented Patrick A. Blott, Chairman and CEO of Intermap Technologies. "Intermap's debt restructuring and repositioning for growth reflect continued success targeting the Company's traditional terrain data markets with innovative new products and services, including: InsitePro for Insurance; NEXTView for Aviation; NEXTMap One for Government; and dual-use services such as IRIS multi-source data fusion, triple-canopy FOPEN for cloud-belt collection, and GPS restricted or denied Data and Ortho provisioning in austere environments. We are pleased with the progress in development of the upcoming NEXTWave applications suite, which will support the Defense, Finance, Railway and Telco sectors. These new products and services leverage and complement Intermap's traditional special mission collection and digital infrastructure offerings, and provide customers with greater value for less cost, while generating predictable, recurring-revenue from both our government and commercial clients." Consolidated revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 totaled $1.6 million, compared with $0.8 million for the same period in 2019. Approximately 69% of consolidated revenue was generated outside the United States, compared with 53% for 2019. Acquisition services revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 totaled $0.8 million, compared with $Nil million for the same period in 2019. The increase is due to the nature and timing of government contracting. Value-added data revenue remained steady at $0.2 million for both quarters ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. Software and solutions revenue also remained flat at $0.6 million for both quarters ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. The Company recognized a 11% increase in subscription-based revenue, which was offset by the intentional cancellation of customers using our products in competing markets. The following table sets forth selected financial information for the periods indicated. U.S. $ millions, except per share data March 31, 2020 March 31, 2019 Revenue: Acquisition services $ 0.8 $ - Value-added data 0.2 0.2 Software and solutions 0.6 0.6 Total revenue $ 1.6 $ 0.8 Operating loss $ (1.0) $ (2.2) Financing costs $ (0.8) $ (0.7) Net loss $ (1.8) $ (2.9) EPS basic and diluted $ (0.10) $ (0.17) Adjusted EBITDA $ (0.6) $ (1.8) Assets: Cash, trade receivables, unbilled revenue $ 1.9 $ 3.1 Total assets $ 7.3 $ 8.6 Liabilities: Long-term liabilities (including lease obligations) $ 0.2 $ 30.1 Total liabilities $ 38.1 $ 36.0 The Company's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis will be filed on SEDAR at: www.sedar.com. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 was negative $0.6 million, compared with negative $1.8 million for the same period in 2019. The improvement in adjusted EBITDA is primarily attributable to the increase in revenue. Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized performance measure under IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. The term EBITDA consists of net income (loss) and excludes interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is included as a supplemental disclosure because management believes that such measurement provides a better assessment of the Company's operations on a continuing basis by eliminating certain non-cash charges and charges that are nonrecurring. The most directly comparable measure to adjusted EBITDA calculated in accordance with IFRS is net loss. A reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA is provided in the table below. Three months ended March 31, U.S. $ millions 2020 2019 Net loss $ (1.8) $ (2.9) Financing costs 0.8 0.7 Depreciation of property and equipment 0.3 0.3 Depreciation of right of use assets 0.1 0.1 Adjusted EBITDA $ (0.6) $ (1.8) Intermap Reader Advisory Certain information provided in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast", "will be", "will consider", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although Intermap believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Intermap's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to, among other things, cash available to fund operations, availability of capital, revenue fluctuations, nature of government contracts, economic conditions, loss of key customers, retention and availability of executive talent, competing technologies, common share price volatility, loss of proprietary information, software functionality, internet and system infrastructure functionality, information technology security, breakdown of strategic alliances, and international and political considerations, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed Intermap's Annual Information Form and other securities filings. While the Company makes these forward-looking statements in good faith, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that the Company will derive therefrom. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Intermap or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities law. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) is not a recognized performance measure under IFRS. The term EBITDA consists of net income (loss) and excludes interest (financing costs), taxes, and depreciation. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes share-based compensation, restructuring costs and related non-recurring payments supporting the corporate restructuring, and other non-operating gains or losses. Adjusted EBITDA is included as a supplemental disclosure because Management believes that such measurement provides a better assessment of the Company's operations on a continuing basis by eliminating certain non-cash charges or gains that are nonrecurring. The most directly comparable measure to Adjusted EBITDA calculated in accordance with IFRS is net income (loss). About Intermap Technologies Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap (TSX: IMP) (ITMSF: BB) is a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions. The Company's proprietary NEXTMap database and value-added geospatial data management, processing, analytics, fusion and orthorectification software and solutions are utilized across a range of industries that rely on accurate, high-resolution elevation data, including aviation, engineering, environmental planning, government markets, hydrology, insurance, land management, law enforcement and patrol, oil and gas, renewable energy, telecommunications, transportation and utilities. Intermap's commercial applications include location-based intelligence, risk assessment, geographic information systems, global positioning systems and 3D visualization. For more information, please visit www.intermap.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intermap-enters-settlement-agreement-on-vertex-notes-with-pender-funds-announces-contract-with-noaa-state-of-california-data-subscription-and-q1-results-301070479.html SOURCE Intermap Technologies Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A federal judge is barring election officials in North Dakota from automatically rejecting mail-in ballots with questionable voter signatures during the June election, which is being conducted entirely by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte in his Wednesday ruling said North Dakota law requiring a match between a signature on an absentee ballot and the voters signature on his or her ballot application is likely facially unconstitutional because it provides no notice to a voter whose ballot is rejected due to a questioned signature. The judge gave the state and plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the law until noon Friday to come up with procedures under which county auditors can provide notice to voters in the June election whose signatures are questioned, and give those voters a chance to verify their ballots. Grand Forks resident Maria Fallon Romo, who has multiple sclerosis, and the groups Self Advocacy Solutions ND and the League of Women Voters of North Dakota sued in May. They argued that the states signature-matching process for absentee ballots was error-prone, and that voters who had their ballots rejected by election officials were never informed that their vote didnt count. The groups said the process disproportionately affects certain voters, including those with disabilities or people who are not native English speakers. They asked Welte to put safeguards in place for the June election, and ultimately to declare North Dakotas signature-matching law unconstitutional. Attorneys for the state reject the allegations and have asked Welte to dismiss the lawsuit. Welte did not rule on whether North Dakotas law is constitutional -- that decision will come later. But he noted in his decision impacting the June primary that election officials receive no training in handwriting analysis, and that processes used by vote canvassing boards to verify signatures vary from county to county. The judge also noted that if a ballot is rejected due to a questionable signature, the voter is irreversibly disenfranchised for that election. Attorneys for Secretary of State Al Jaeger argued that the law has been in place for 40 years, and that it protects the integrity of elections, prevents voter fraud, and ensures that absentee or mail-in ballots are completed by the same voter who applied for a ballot. The state said not many voters are impacted -- only 334 out of 95,562 absentee or mail-in ballots were rejected in the November 2018 election for signature mismatches. Fifty-one of those were in Burleigh County, which had the most, according to Welte's ruling. State attorneys also noted that the law has a provision under which a person who struggles with handwriting can use X as a signature, in the company of a witness. Welte rejected that argument, saying in essence, the Secretary expects voters to read the minds of election officials before deciding to affix a signature on an absentee ballot. Welte said some sort of procedure for allowing a voter with a questioned signature to verify his or her ballot ensures compliance with the bare-minimum requirements of procedural due process. Jaeger did not immediately comment on the ruling, telling the Tribune that his office had become aware of it only late Wednesday and was reviewing it Thursday. The advocacy groups who sued and the Campaign Legal Center, which is helping them, issued statements applauding Weltes decision. "The state's signature match policy disproportionately impacted the disability community, which can struggle to produce consistent signatures," said AJ Marx, president of Self Advocacy Solutions ND. Mark Gaber, director of trial litigation at Campaign Legal Center, said it is a win for voters who spoke out and said they should not be subjected to a handwriting test. League of Women Voters of North Dakota President Jan Lynch called the ruling a common-sense decision to protect voters constitutional rights. Reliable mail voting is essential during the ongoing pandemic, especially for individuals at higher risk of severe illness, she said. With the assurance of a notification and remedy method, North Dakota voters can now cast their ballots with confidence. Reach Blake Nicholson at 701-250-8266 or blake.nicholson@bismarcktribune.com. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As 2020 spiraled into uncertainty with the spread of the coronavirus, colleges and private businesses alike were forced to recalibrate, shifting classes and work online due to the global health emergency. For some students, that meant the cancellation of internships as businesses looked to stave off precipitous losses in a perilous economy marked by soaring unemployment and social distancing efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. "Around March and April, students were really wondering whether their already accepted internships would even take place," says Tanja Hinterstoisser, director of career education and employer relations at Champlain College in Vermont. "And the reality was that there were employers that had retracted their internship offers, and students themselves had to actually pull back on certain commitments that they made because of the travel restrictions." But amid the coronavirus chaos, online internships have emerged as options for eager college students. How Online Internships Work What to expect from an online internship varies by company needs, experts say. But ultimately students should expect to be assigned work to be completed by a certain deadline under the supervision of someone at the company. While this all sounds fairly traditional, the online component means interns will likely have greater flexibility. "I would say that the biggest difference between an online internship and a face-to-face one is that deadlines become a bit more flexible and the time you work on things can be almost whenever," Omar Lopez, a rising sophomore at Hamilton College in New York who has a virtual internship with WhiteCliff Wealth Management, wrote in an email. Instead of logging a 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. workday, for example, Lopez says he can start his day early and end it by noon. The greater flexibility allows him to take on more responsibilities at his internship or work on his own projects. Story continues [Read: How to Get an Internship in College.] On the employer side, Sam Zietz, CEO of financial technology firm GRUBBRR, sees a strong upside to online internships. Flexibility matters, not just in the workday but in attracting talent -- especially outside of major tech hubs. "It's hard to pick up and move to the other side of the country for a summer," Zietz says. "It allows us access to some of the best talent across the country as opposed to the best talent that's willing to come down to South Florida." Zietz says he's hired 30 students for virtual internships this summer in roles such as writing code and marketing. Though online internships have opened a wider talent pool for Zietz, there are still some aspects lost without the face-to-face environment. In years past, interns have taken part in team-building exercises that the company is now trying to replicate online. Interns also miss out on the chance to connect with co-workers around the water cooler. "What's kind of lost is some of the magic that happens," Zietz says. Heather Wixson, associate director of career development at Hamilton College, says elements such as face-to-face communication are lost online. "Some students are just starting to develop the confidence in presenting themselves in a work environment, and virtually, they may not have to do that to the same degree," she wrote in an email. But there are other positives that make up for this, experts say, including experience in an increasingly connected world of work. As professional settings likely evolve post-pandemic, interns will have remote work experience to draw on. How to Find an Online Internship As pandemic panic set in and colleges began to close, three students at Brown University in Rhode Island launched a site called Internfromhome.com with the mission of helping their peers find internships amid the COVID-19 chaos. "We want to help create as many meaningful opportunities for students as we possibly can," says Chuck Isgar, a rising senior at Brown who co-founded the site along with Megan Kasselberg and David Lu, who both graduated in late May. Kasselberg hopes the site can democratize access to internships. "We felt like there are a lot of opportunities that were available to us, going to Brown and going to school in the northeast between New York and Boston, that weren't available to everyone," she says. "Remote internships are available to everyone; it doesn't matter where you live." The founders of Internfromhome.com say they've heard from hundreds of companies, all of which they vet for quality before posting a position. Internship postings range from positions in engineering to education and beyond. [Read: Consider Internship Opportunities During a College Search.] Some colleges are also stepping up to ensure that students have access to internships. Hamilton, for example, has expanded funding to allow students to take on unpaid or low-paying internships. And Champlain has launched a virtual gap year program that offers both internships and college credit. Hinterstoisser says Champlain is working with local employers to offer virtual internships, which may be condensed into short group projects. "We want 100% of our students to complete these experiential learning opportunities." Students seeking internships should also check with their college's career center for open opportunities, experts say. Additionally, job boards for specific fields, network contacts and LinkedIn can also be valuable resources. The Value of an Online Internship Experience Students may lose out on some valuable team-building and brainstorming aspects by participating in an online internship. They may miss some fun perks too, like the go-kart racing and escape rooms GRUBBRR offered past interns. But there is still significant value in an online internship. Much like a degree from an accredited online university vs. a brick-and-mortar experience, employers shouldn't look down on a virtual internship in favor of face-to-face work. "Ultimately, the goal is for students to develop skills that are resume-building," Hinterstoisser says. Whether those skills are developed in person or online shouldn't matter, experts say. [Read: Co-op vs. Internship: Know the Differences.] Zietz says students are worried about having a gap on their resume. "This is a tough year for kids graduating to find jobs. I think given where the economy will be next year it's going to be a very competitive, very tough market. You want to have as many things in your favor as possible and obviously real-life experiences are at the top of that." Real-life experiences extend to virtual internships where students engage in important work. Ultimately, Zietz says, internships -- whether in-person or online -- are what students make of them. Kasselberg sees this time as a proving moment when the value of interns is appropriately recognized. Forget the stereotype of interns running errands for corporate bosses; in a remote environment, students will be judged on output alone. "I would say that the pros so outweigh the cons, in terms of diversity, inclusion and accessibility and in terms of being taken seriously as a student in terms of the actual work that you're doing," Kasselberg says. "If you're interning, virtually, you quite literally cannot run and grab someone's dry cleaning or get coffee for the office." Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of Best Colleges. More From US News & World Report Russian authorities have arrested the head of one of the units of a thermal power plant in Siberia after 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled from the facility above the Arctic Circle, seeping into the soil, two rivers, and a lake downstream. The Krasnoyarsk Krai regional court on June 4 ordered Vyacheslav Starostin, head of the plant's workshop, into pretrial detention until July 31. He was charged with violating environmental regulations and negligence. President Vladimir Putin has ordered a state of emergency to deal with the consequences of the spill, which occurred near the industrial city of Norilsk on May 29. The plant is owned by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, the world's leading nickel and palladium producer, which said the leak was caused when pillars supporting a storage tank sank due to the thawing of permafrost soil. Greenpeace Russia said the accident was the "first accident of such a scale in the Arctic." Photos showed crimson waters in the Daldykan and Ambarnaya rivers, which feed the Lake Pyasino. A spokesman for Russia's Rosrybolovstvo state fishing agency, Dmitry Klokov, told Kommersant daily that diesel fuel entered the lake after drifting ice overnight broke the booms that had been installed on the rivers to contain the leakage. It will take at least 10 years for the local environment to recover, according to Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Ecology, Yelena Panova. "The situation is very complicated, because we are talking about the Arctic...We need to remove [the fuel] but there are no roads, no reservoirs. We can't burn [the fuel] because it might produce toxic substances," Panova said. Russian energy giant Gazprom Neft announced its teams had joined the operation to clean up the spill. Norilsk, an isolated city of 180,000 people built around Norilsk Nickel, is constructed on permafrost and its infrastructure is threatened by melting ice caused by climate change. "This year, we had an abnormally early summer...Considering the fact that hundreds of buildings were built on permafrost, we must think about security now, said Maksim Mironov, the head of Norilsk's Development Agency. We must realize that global warming is real and that the permafrost is different than it used to be," Mironov added. With reporting by Interfax, RIA Novosti, TASS, AFP, and Kommersant Aegis School of Data Science has announced the 3rd edition of Data Science Congress (DSC) will be a virtual event on 6th and 7th June 2020. The event is supported by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) as chamber partner along with mUni Campus as powered partner and also DSC supports Safe n Happy Periods which is creating awareness on shamefree and painfree menstruation time. Data Science Congress 2020 is a confluence of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Analytics, Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Cognitive, and Cyber Security. Data Science Congress was initiated in 2017 with a vision of bringing India at the center stage of the world forum for AI, Data Science, Cyber Security research, education, and skill development as India is having the largest pool of talents exposed to math and coding skills which are essential for these exponential technologies. In Data Science Congress 2020, the world authorities, leading researchers, AI experts, Data Scientists will be speaking and over 10,000 educators, engineers, CXOs, CTO, CEOs, students are likely to join the event. Honble Minister Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India will be inaugurating the event. The speakers and contributors enlightening the topics are the creme de la creme of the data industry: Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE Dr. Vint Cerf, Father of Internet Dr Juergen Schmidhuber, Father of Modern Artificial Intelligence Justice BN Srikrishna, Chief Architect of India;s 1st data protection bill Dr. Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer (CTO) Microsoft India Rama Akkiraju, Master Inventor and IBM Fellow Dr. Dina Zielinski will showcase how we can store digital data in DNA Mathangi Sri, Data Science Leader; Top 10 Data Scientists in India; 20 Patents For more speakers list visit datasciencecongress.com. FoneArena is one of media partners for the event. Honble Minister Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India said: New technologies like AI, Robotics, Machine Learning, and Data Analytics have tremendous potential waiting to be tapped. These could be the key components towards building economy that brings quantum jump. These are the building blocks of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Dr Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Dean, Aegis School of Data Science said: Considering the current unprecedented situation around the world, Data Science Congress this year will be a virtual event and so the pivot was to get the best of the content. With the current assembly of speakers which are prime, pre-eminent and celebrated in their respective spheres, we are confident that this virtual event will be a treat to all the data admirers. Come join us on 6th and 7th June 2020 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) Manning agencies can now coordinate with laboratories on their own to test overseas Filipino workers for coronavirus infection. This is under the new rule discussed by Vince Dizon, Deputy Chief Implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19 in an online media briefing on Thursday. "Ang protocol natin ay medyo nagbago ng kaunti lalo na para sa mga OFWs natin na mayroong mga kumpanya o tinatawag nating manning agencies," Dizon said. [Translation: Our protocol is slightly changed especially for OFWs under manning agencies.] "Ang mga manning agencies ay maaari nang kumontrata ng kanilang sariling laboratoryo para sa testing," he added. [Translation: Manning agencies can now strike an agreement with laboratories on their own for the testing.] The announcement comes in the wake of the temporary suspension of swab testing of OFWs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Overseas Workers Welfare Administrator Hans Cacdac confirmed on Thursday that the testing was stopped this week due to lack of swab kits. Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire on Wednesday said the Philippine Coast Guard already received additional specimen collection kits, and that the testing of OFWs arriving at NAIA will continue. The collected specimen are delivered to licensed COVID-19 testing laboratories, which Dizon said now totals 52. Thirty-three are government testing facilities while 19 are private laboratories. OFWs are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in government-accredited facilities, but thousands of them were stuck for more than 14 days in Metro Manila due to delays in the release of their test results and certification. President Rodrigo Duterte earlier gave an ultimatum for the immediate release of coronavirus-free OFWs from quarantine facilities. More than 25,000 have been sent home as of Tuesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said. The government aims to further expand coronavirus testing in other regions so OFWs can undergo quarantine and be swabbed in their hometowns. Meanwhile, Cacdac clarified that the people who were seen sleeping at NAIA were not OFWs but "locally stranded individuals" who had plans of going abroad. Cacdac said their recruitment agencies should be held accountable for abandoning them. Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport sprang back to life Wednesday as Italy opened regional and international borders in the final phase of easing its long coronavirus lockdown, but it was still an open question how other nations would accept Italian visitors. Families and loved ones separated by the global pandemic could finally reunite but normalcy was a long way off. Italy is the first European country to fully open its international borders, dropping the 14-day quarantine requirement for visitors. But most European nations see Italy's move -- which aims to boost its collapsed yet critical tourism industry -- as premature. Many of them are moving to open only on June 15 -- and some even much later than that. Who gets to go where in Europe this summer is shaping up to be determined by where you live, what passport you carry and how hard hit your region has been during the pandemic. At Rome's international airport, Andrea Monti embraced his girlfriend, Katherina Scherf, in an emotional reunion as she arrived from Duesseldorf, Germany. "We haven't seen each other since before the pandemic," Monti said. Still, the airport remained lightly used even though Italy's national holiday on Tuesday normally kicks off the summer domestic tourism season. It was scheduled to handle several thousand passengers on Wednesday, compared to 110,000 passengers on the same day last year. Italy also resumed high-speed train service between regions for the first time since the lockdown in early March, checking departing passengers' temperatures as they accessed the tracks. The Anti-Riot Act, the other law that Mr. Barr has threatened to use, is perhaps less blunt but more insidious. It was cynically appended to the Fair Housing Act of 1968, a measure designed in part to improve the economic circumstances of black urban communities, after a wave of riots in those same communities. It was proposed on the Senate floor by the avowed segregationist Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina, just days after the Kerner Commission, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, issued a report on the causes of the 1967 riots, warning: Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white separate and unequal. Senator Thurmond and others criticized the report for blaming everyone but the rioters. Instead of addressing poverty and institutional racism, which the commission had identified as the underlying causes of the riots, this new version of the Anti-Riot Act aimed to stop riots before they started. The law targeted outside agitators who were teaching, preaching and urging nonviolent civil disobedience. It was no secret that it was aimed at the communists of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and potentially even the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself. In a 1968 letter to The New York Review of Books, a group including Noam Chomsky, Susan Sontag, Benjamin Spock and Norman Mailer argued that the effect of this anti-riot act is to subvert the First Amendment guarantee of free assembly by equating organized political protest with organized violence. Potentially, they continued, this law is the foundation for a police state in America. They were correct then, and they are correct now. The Anti-Riot Act is vast and sweeps within its reach significant amounts of protected First Amendment speech and assembly. The history of prosecutions under the law include the Chicago Eight protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (whose convictions were all overturned on appeal) and antiwar protesters at the Republican National Convention in 1972 (all acquitted at trial). John Lennon was under investigation (never charged) for possible violations of the Anti-Riot Act because of his association with a group known as the Election Year Strategy Information Center. The law was also used to try to force members of the Black Panther Party and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to testify before federal grand juries. It has re-emerged in recent years, though under a constitutional shadow. The most recent revival of the law, in 2018, involved federal prosecutions of the Rise Above Movement, a self-identified white nationalist group, after a confrontation with civil rights demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017. Still missing: William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother's home five years ago 2014 September 12 - Dressed in a Spider-Man outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the garden while visiting members of his foster family on the NSW north coast. September 21 - Police stop searching for the missing boy after scouring surrounding bushland and neighbouring houses. 2015 January 20 - Police search the home and business of washing machine repairman Bill Spedding, who had been due to carry out repairs at the house at the time the three-year-old went missing. Detectives take items for testing including a mattress, computer and vehicles. They drain his septic tank. January 23 - The washing machine repairman publicly denies any involvement in William's disappearance and says he and his wife are on the verge of a breakdown due to the public attention. February 19 - Homicide detectives take over the case and say it's likely William was abducted. March 2 - Police fruitlessly search an area of bushland near Bonny Hills for three days after a tip-off. April 17 - William's foster parents speak publicly for the first time in an emotional video released through police which does not identify them. April 17 - Police say the boy may have been a victim of a paedophile ring. September 6 - The Nine Network's 60 Minutes reveal two suspicious cars were parked on the street the morning William went missing. September 12 - 'Where's William' week is launched one year after he disappeared. 2016 September 12 - A $1million reward is offered for information leading to William's return. 2017 August 24 - William's foster child status is revealed after a landmark court ruling. 2018 June 12 - NSW Police announce the start of a four-week forensic search of bushland conducted by Strike Force Rosann. June 14 - William's grandmother scolds police who have failed to find the young boy after four years, and claims their latest search is 'just for show'. June 26 - The forensic search continues on what would have been William's seventh birthday. June 27 - Strike Force Rosann announces it will move the search to an 800sqm block of bushland just 4km from where William was last seen alive. June 5 - The latest search ends with Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin saying the case could soon go to a coroner. August - Investigation leader Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin and a sergeant get into a disagreement during a briefing. September 13 - Police reveal they found a burned out car wreck belonging to a former person of interest. December 19 - Coroners say William could still be alive and the inquest will determine if he died or not. 2019 February - DCI Jubelin is removed from the investigation amid a misconduct probe. March 25 - The inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance begins, with William's biological and foster parents appearing over the course of a week. The inquest's first batch of hearings focused on William's family situation and the events leading up to his disappearance. Both his foster and biological parents were quizzed, as were neighbours who helped in the search. It was disclosed that William's biological parents absconded with him for six weeks in 2012, following a children's court order. William's biological father slammed authorities for letting them down. 'Authorities f***ed up ... The minister had a duty of care to keep William safe until he was 18. That was not the case at all.' May: DCI Jubelin quits the Police Force. June: Four charges of breaching the Surveillance Devices Act are laid against DCI Jubelin. He denies any wrongdoing whatsover August: The second tranche of inquest hearings began on Wednesday August 7 Inquest hears Bill Spedding, a NSW mid-north coast repairman and one-time person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, met his wife for coffee about 9.30am in Laurieton, a 15-minute drive from Kendall, on the day William went missing. They then attended a school assembly across the road to see a child in their care receive an award. The inquest heard how a man who claims he saw William Tyrrell unrestrained in the back of a speeding car on the day the child went missing was waiting for police to interview him to tell them what he saw. He told the inquest he contacted police but did not hear back about an interview. It took it took almost 1000 days before he was able to reveal what he saw to police. The coroner orders an urgent probe into the final image that was taken on the day William vanished as metadata suggests the picture may have been taken 118 minutes earlier than originally thought. The image has a 'created time' of 7.39am and a 'corrected time' of 9.37am, a new document from the 2000-page evidence brief. The coronial inquest has been delayed for another eight months with the next round of hearings happening in March 2020. November 11: The deputy state coroner releases footage of William Tyrrell and family at Heatherbrae McDonalds, on September 11, 2014 Feb - March 2020: Gary Jubelin defends four charges of illegally recording person of interest Paul Savage in court hearing February 21: Daily Mail Australia reveals Frank Abbott was arrested in custody for the purposes of a police interview about William's disappearance March 2020: The coronial inquest into William's disappearance resumes but stops with two days to go due to the coronavirus outbreak April 6, 2020: Magistrate Ross Hudson delivers his verdict in Gary Jubelin case April 8, 2020: Jubelin is convicted of all four charges and fined $10,000. Ex-cop says he will appeal June 22, 2020: Police and SES launch new search for William Tyrrell near Herons Creek, where Abbott once lived June 26, 2021: Police acknowledge William Tyrrell's 10th birthday November 15, 2021: Detectives return to Kendall after receiving new information and admit they are searching for a body. His foster parents are reported to be persons of interest in the case December 15, 2021: Police reveal a bone fragment of unknown origin has been found in the search ahead, and are planning to wrap up the search by the end of the week Medios AG / Key word(s): Capital Increase Medios AG resolves on capital increase against cash contributions of up to almost 10% of the share capital Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS RELEASE IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER COUNTRIES WHERE SUCH DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION MIGHT BE UNLAWFUL Medios AG resolves on capital increase against cash contributions of up to almost 10% of the share capital Berlin, 3 June 2020 - Today, the Management Board of Medios AG (the 'Company') has resolved, with the consent of the Supervisory Board, to increase the share capital against cash contributions, making partial use of the Authorized Capital 2018 and 2019. Accordingly, the Company's share capital of currently 14,628,590.00 is expected to increase by up to almost 10% by issuing up to 1,456,401 new no-par value bearer shares ('New Shares'). The statutory subscription rights of the shareholders are excluded. The New Shares carry the same rights as the existing shares with the ISIN DE000A1MMCC8 and will be admitted to trading on the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, without a prospectus, with simultaneous admission to the sub-segment of the regulated market with additional post-admission obligations (Prime Standard). The New Shares are to be offered for purchase exclusively to institutional investors in an international private placement by means of an accelerated bookbuilding process. The placement price and the exact number of New Shares to be issued will be determined by the Management Board with the approval of the Supervisory Board after completion of the placement procedure. The first trading day of the New Shares is expected to be June 5, 2020. Delivery of the New Shares is envisaged for Monday, 8 June 2020. Notifying person: Matthias Gartner, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Medios AG Contact Medios AG, Heidestrae 9, 10557 Berlin, Germany Phone: +49 30 232 5668 00; Fax: +49 30 232 5668 01 E-mail: ir@medios.ag; www.medios.ag Information and Explanation of the Issuer to this News: The private placement will commence immediately following the publication of this announcement. The order book is expected to close on 4 June 2020 prior to the start of trading, although the Company reserves the right to close the order book at any time earlier. The expected net proceeds from the offering will be used to further expand Medios' leading position as provider of specialty pharma solutions through both organic and external growth opportunities. The additional funds allow the Company to tap attractive growth potential in additional indications, to further expand its existing partner network, and to substantially increase its production capacity for patient-specific medication. The Company continuously monitors the market to capitalize on external growth opportunities and intends to play an active role in the ongoing market consolidation process in order to accelerate its proven growth strategy. Following the successful placement of all New Shares, the free float of Medios AG will increase from currently around 62% to up to around 66% of the share capital, which will help to further improve the liquidity of the stock and additionally support the admission to the SDAX. The company has agreed to a lock-up period of 90 days subject to customary market exceptions. Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG is acting as Sole Global Coordinator and Sole Bookrunner for the private placement. ------------------- About Medios AG Medios AG is one of the leading Specialty Pharma companies in Germany. As a specialist for the provision of Specialty Pharma drugs to patients, GMP-certified provider of patient-specific therapies and innovative analytical methods, Medios covers substantial elements of the supply chain in this field and follows the highest international quality standards. Usually, Specialty Pharma drugs are high-priced medicines for rare and/or chronic diseases. Patient-specific therapies are, for example, infusions that are compiled and produced on the basis of individual diseases and parameters like body weight and surface. In the field of drug safety, NIR spectroscopic analysis methods (NIR: Near infrared) are used to distinguish marketable finished drugs from drug counterfeits. It is Medios' aim to provide integrated solutions along the value chain to partners and clients, thereby ensuring an optimal pharmaceutical care for patients. Medios AG is Germany's first publicly listed Specialty Pharma company. The shares (ISIN: DE000A1MMCC8, DE000A288821) are listed in the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard). Contact Medios AG Claudia Nickolaus Head of Investor-/ Public Relations Heidestrae 9 10557 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 30 232566832 Fax: +49 30 232566801 E-mail: c.nickolaus@medios.ag www.medios.ag Kirchhoff Consult AG Nikolaus Hammerschmidt Borselstrae 20 22765 Hamburg Germany Phone: +49 40 60918618 Fax: +49 40 60918660 E-mail: nikolaus.hammerschmidt@kirchhoff.de www.kirchhoff.de Disclaimer This notification is a mandatory notification according to Art. 17 MAR. Medios AG is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. As always, the assessments contained herein are subject to the reservations stated below. Reservation on future statements/no obligation to update This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to various risk factors and uncertainties, including changes in business, economic and competitive conditions, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. Medios AG assumes no responsibility whatsoever to update the forward-looking statements contained in this release. Note This release may not be distributed or published in the United States of America (including its territories and possessions), Canada, Japan or Australia or any other countries where such publication may be unlawful. The distribution of this publication may be subject to legal restrictions in some countries and anyone in possession of this document or the information referred to herein should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a violation of capital market laws of such countries. This announcement is neither an offer nor a solicitation to subscribe to or purchase securities of Medios AG in the United States of America, Germany or any other country. No public offer has been or will be made or prospectus published in connection with this transaction. Neither this publication nor its contents may be used as the basis for an offer in any country. The aforementioned securities may not be sold or offered for sale in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act'). The securities of Medios AG are not and will not be registered under the Securities Act. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation regarding the placement of the securities described in this announcement. Investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the offer for the person concerned. In the United Kingdom, this publication is directed only at (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the 'Order'), as amended, or (ii) persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, partnerships, etc.) (such persons together being referred to as 'Relevant Persons'). No persons other than Relevant Persons may refer to or rely on this publication. Any investment or investment opportunity referred to in this publication is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. The offer referred to herein, which is made in Member States of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (each a 'Relevant Member State') is only addressed to 'qualified investors' within the meaning of Article 2 (e) of the Prospectus Regulation ('Qualified Investors'). For these purposes, the term 'Prospectus Regulation' means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC, and also includes the delegated regulations in this regard. No measures have been taken that would permit the offer of the securities, their acquisition or the distribution of this publication in countries where this is not permitted. Anyone who comes into possession of this publication must inform themselves about any restrictions and observe them. Miscellaneous This publication is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities. This announcement may not be distributed or published in the United States of America (including its territories and possessions), Canada, Japan or Australia or any other countries in which such publication may be unlawful. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell the securities described in this announcement. 03-Jun-2020 CET/CEST The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has today closed the Company's non-brokered private placement, previously announced on May 20, 2020 (the "Offering"). Pursuant to the fully subscribed Offering, the Company has issued 10,003,333 units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.06 per Unit, for aggregate gross proceeds of $600,200. The closing is subject to final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one full warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.12 per Warrant for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. The Warrants are subject to acceleration provisions when the volume weighted average trading price is greater than $0.25 for 10 consecutive trading days. In connection with the closing of the Offering, Aston Bay has paid aggregate cash finder's fees of $30,396 to five arm's length finders, representing 6% of the proceeds raised from subscriptions by certain placees introduced by the finders. The Company has issued to the finders share purchase warrants (the "Finder's Warrants") entitling the purchase of an aggregate 506,600 common shares, on the same terms as the Warrants. All shares acquired by the placees under the Offering, and shares which may be acquired upon the exercise of the Warrants and the Finder's Warrants, are subject to a hold period until October 5, 2020, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities legislation. Warrants and Finder's Warrants issued in the Offering are exercisable at $0.12 to purchase one common share of the Company until June 4, 2022. Proceeds of this Offering will be used for exploration activities at the Company's Virginia gold properties and for general corporate purposes. About Aston Bay Holdings Aston Bay is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for gold and base metal deposits in Virginia, USA, and Nunavut, Canada. The Company is led by CEO Thomas Ullrich with exploration in Virginia directed by the Company's advisor, Don Taylor, the 2018 Thayer Lindsley Award winner for his discovery of the Taylor Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit in Arizona. The Company has acquired the exclusive rights to an integrated dataset over certain prospective private lands and has signed agreements with timber and land companies which grants the company the option to lease the mineral rights to 11,065 acres of land located in central Virginia. These lands are located within a gold-copper-lead-zinc mineralized belt prospective for Carolina slate belt gold deposits and Virginia gold-pyrite belt deposits, as well as sedimentary VMS, exhalative (SEDEX) and Broken Hill (BHT) type base metal deposits. Don Taylor, who led the predecessor company to Blue Ridge and assembled the dataset, has joined the Company's Advisory Board and will be directing the Company's exploration activities for the Blue Ridge Project. The Company is actively exploring the Buckingham Gold Project in Virginia and is in advanced stages of negotiation on other lands in the area. The Company is also 100% owner of the Aston Bay Property located on western Somerset Island, Nunavut, which neighbours Teck's profitable, past-producing Polaris (Pb-Zn) Mine just 200km to the north. The Aston Bay Property hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit with drill-confirmed presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization. The Company's public disclosure documents are available on www.sedar.com. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements made in this press release, including those regarding the closing and the use of proceeds of the private placement, management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may constitute "forward-looking statement", which can be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such verbs as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "plan", and words of similar import, including variations thereof and negative forms. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect, as of the date of this press release, Aston Bay's expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release that are not supported by historical fact are forward-looking statements, meaning they involve risk, uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities legislation. We seek safe harbour. 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 news release. THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: (416) 456-3516 Sofia Harquail, IR and Corporate Development sofia.harquail@astonbayholdings.com (647) 821-1337 SOURCE: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592751/Aston-Bay-Holdings-Closes-Fully-Subscribed-Non-Brokered-Private-Placement The following information, provided by the Montgomery County Police Department, shows selected offenses reported to police. Crime reports may be based on preliminary information that is subject to change as a result of further investigation. ATLANTA, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperion Mortgage announces the addition of Carol Lynn Upshaw, who joins as a Senior Mortgage Loan Originator, and Debra Arnold, who joins as a Loan Officer Assistant/Senior Processor. Carol Lynn Upshaw - Hyperion Mortgage, LLC Debra Arnold - Hyperion Mortgage, LLC "Carol Lynn has 25 years' experience in the mortgage industry and has been a Georgia Association of Mortgage Brokers (GAMB) 'Top Gun' for 14 consecutive years," says Charles B. (Charlie) Crawford, Jr., one of the founders and a board member of Hyperion Mortgage. "We're excited to add her expertise and industry leadership to our seasoned team and know firsthand how helpful she'll be to customers, as several of us have worked with her previously." Hyperion Mortgage offers conventional, jumbo, FHA, VA, construction-to-permanent, home renovation, home equity (HELOC) loans, portfolio mortgages and more. "I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to serve clients old and new in what you might call the 'old-fashioned way,' with tailored, high-touch service, along with the latest products and technology," Upshaw says. "I love the interaction with people and finding the mortgage solution that best suits their wants and needs." Upshaw has a strong referral base and is an expert helping self-employed borrowers and newly divorced individuals. Initially, Hyperion Mortgage's focus will be in and from the Atlanta market. It is co-located with Hyperion Bank Atlanta, in Piedmont Center in the Buckhead area, Atlanta's financial district. "Debra has a solid knowledge base and 35-plus years' experience in banking and finance, making her a great fit for our team of seasoned professionals," Upshaw says. "Too, she's naturally personable and comfortable with customers and their individual needs, which makes her adept at the high-touch service we're proud to provide." Hyperion Mortgage, a unique joint venture between Hyperion Bank and First Community Mortgage, is designed to offer the highest localized level of service aligned to complement the existing best-in-class service provided by Hyperion Bank, with a breadth of loan products and competitive pricing. "I look forward to working with an experienced pro like Carol Lynn and getting to know her many repeat customers as well as new ones," Arnold says. Hyperion Mortgage, LLC promises comprehensive lending options, tailored personal service and local decision making. It also believes in educating customers to help borrowers achieve their financial goals, whether purchasing a home or refinancing. Available by appointment in the office, online or through the Hyperion Mortgage App 24/7. Download the app from the app store to complete a loan application, upload documents, or see the current status of your loan. 3525 Piedmont Rd, Suite 6-305, Atlanta 30305/Piedmont Center, Building 6. Hyperion Mortgage, LLC, NMLS #1949389/GA License #70666. 678-909-7575 or [email protected]. Equal Housing Lender. Offer of credit is subject to approval. While based in Buckhead, Upshaw (NMLS #120888) serves customers across the Metro Atlanta area and beyond, including Florida and Alabama. She can be reached at 404-392-6578 and [email protected]. Arnold (NMLS # 618432) can be reached at 470-898-6305 and [email protected]. Media inquiries: B. Andrew (Drew) Plant [email protected] 678-637-5532 SOURCE Hyperion Mortgage, LLC For his first trip away from the office, Israel's new Minister of Communication Yoaz Hendel decided to visit the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, near Beersheba in the south of Israel. He told Al-Monitor that this was not by chance. What he wanted to show the public and himself was that one of the main goals of his tenure would be to provide rapid internet service to every person in the country, regardless of what community they belong to or where they live. This includes the Bedouin. Infrastructure in general and internet services in particular are especially poor in the Bedouin communities of the Negev and in Israels Arab sector overall. A study by professor Amit Schechter of the Department of Communications at Ben Gurion University found that just 34% of homes in Bedouin towns and villages are connected to the internet, compared to 70% of Israeli society in general. In the town of Tel Sheva, which Hendel visited, the number of homes connected to the internet comes to just 10%. Israels education system switched to distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic, with Zoom being the app of choice. Disparities in communication capacities between the Jewish and Arab societies were especially apparent at this time. Al-Monitor has already written about the problem facing some 100,000 elementary- to high school-age Bedouin students and another 2,000 university Bedouin students, who were effectively cut off from their studies because of inadequate communications infrastructures. These include above-ground infrastructures, fiber optics and communication cables, as well as cellular communications. A report by Asma Genaim of the Israel Internet Association found that 90% of Arab citizens access the internet through their cell phones. With most of the population currently under lockdown, internet usage has intensified, straining the already weak infrastructures servicing Arab settlements. The various ministries dealing with this problem acted slowly in responding to this need. While the Ministry of Education increased the volume of digital instructional materials available in Arabic, it could find no immediate solution to the problem facing students in the Negev. The most interesting response came from the pre-Hendel Ministry of Communications, which said that a solution to the infrastructure problem cannot be implemented in the near future. Hendel sees things a little differently. He believes that it is his job to push forward with two major communications revolutions: one involving fiber optics, and the other involving new-generation G5 antennas. My approach is that anyone living within the borders of the state, from Eilat, the Negev and the settlements surrounding Gaza, to the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, must be brought under this infrastructure umbrella, with an emphasis on the periphery. When it comes to the Arab sector in general and the Bedouin sector in particular, this relates to the issue of governance and the connection these populations have with the state. Hendel went on to mention a June 2 incident between IDF troops and a group of Bedouin, who were suspected of stealing military equipment. The incident was filmed and broadcast widely, leading to sharp criticism of what was described as the inability to govern the Negevs Wild West. Hendel said: As more and more advanced technologies are introduced into the region, there will be a greater sense of common interests between the local population and the state. Instituting good governance and the rule of Israeli law are part of what will bring progress and stability to these settlements. The local Bedouin leadership realizes that their young people want and need the internet so that they can succeed. I want every young Bedouin to get the same things that any other young person in the country receives, including the conditions necessary to advance in their studies and connect via high-quality technologies. This is all part of the fabric of rights and duties that each and every citizen has in their relationship with the state." According to Hendel, close to 200,000 Arab students, including Bedouin students in the Negev, could not connect to the distance-learning programs for a variety of reasons. What this meant is that they missed the last few months of school entirely. In practical terms, Hendels approach would obligate major infrastructure companies to expedite the placement of new communication lines to the periphery, with an emphasis on fiber optic cables, especially for the Bedouin communities of the Negev. A similar approach will be taken with cell phone companies, on which such a significant part of Bedouin society relies. They will be serviced with a network of new-generation G5 antennas, which will begin operating in the region. On the other hand, Hendel has no plans to connect unrecognized Bedouin villages (villages built without permits) to permanent infrastructures. These communities are the subject of deep debate in Israel, since most of them sit on state lands and most petitions to the courts about their status have been rejected. Efforts to find permanent solutions to the problem have failed over the years, while these villages (there are now 37 of them) continue to grow. Figures released by Sikkuy, the Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality, which promotes equality between Jews and Arabs, show that at least 100,000 of the 250,000 Bedouin in the Negev live in these unrecognized villages. Of these, about 40,000 are of school age. The human rights nongovernmental organization Adalah petitioned the Supreme Court to connect these communities. They failed. Instead, the court accepted the governments claims that the state is not obligated to connect the settlements until their final status is determined. Justice George Kara ruled that all residents of the Bedouin community scattered across the Negev are given the possibility and choice of relocating to permanent villages. They are not a population standing before an empty trough, as this case attempted to show. Hendel said that given the complexity of the issue, a technological solution should be found for any situation. He seems to be hinting at cell phone infrastructures, which are supposed to cover the entire country, without taking the borders or status of any specific localities into consideration. At the same time, he adds that one of his objectives is to encourage and support people who observe the law and who want to integrate into the country by accepting its governance. Lets help those who want to feel like the rest of us, who keep the law. I will not install advanced technological infrastructures for people who built illegally in unrecognized villages. Chaos should not be encouraged. That is not our objective, he said. The communications revolutions that Hendel is talking about, including the installation of fiber optic cables and advanced cellular lines, were delayed considerably over the last few years due to criticism of how the ministry was being run. Indirectly, the problem also involved one of the indictments facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It claims that he promoted regulations that were favorable to the communications giant Bezek. Hendel promises that any impasses and delays will now be lifted, and communications companies will expedite the installation of new infrastructures with the backing of his ministry. The real test will be whether he is able to get this done. Supplier News 4 June 2020 NEW YORK, New York - ALICE, the hospitality industry's leading operations technology company, has launched an eBook titled "Post COVID-19 Hotel Operations: How Technology Helps Deliver Contactless Hospitality with a Lean Staff." More than 2,500 hotels around the world have chosen ALICE to streamline operations and communication with a single platform. There are many clear and useful guidelines that have been written about post COVID-19 hotel operations, and while there seems to be a fair consensus on what to do, what's missing for hotel managers is the "how." That is why this eBook has been created. "Hoteliers need actionable guidance, a robust, agile connective platform, and a long-term technology partner," says Alex Shashou, ALICE's President and Co-Founder. "For many years, we have been building a broad, inclusive, operations platform because we see hotels as extraordinarily diverse. ALICE's built-in flexibility results in a platform ideal for post-COVID-19 response." To download a copy of the book and start learning about technology's role in facilitating contactless hospitality and lean staff operations, visit ALICE's website https://www.aliceplatform.com/ebook-post-covid-19-hotel-operations. What destination did you fantasize about to pass the time during the long weeks of lockdown? According to an analysis of Instagram posts with the "TakeMeBack" hashtag, travelers in quarantine spent a lot of time dreaming of destinations across the globe, most notably in Egypt, but also in Indonesia, Greece, the United States and France. With borders closed and planes grounded, fans of getting away from it all had no other choice but to leaf through old photo albums to fantasize about traveling. On Instagram, many users of the social network posted snaps of their most fondly remembered vacations. An online lender in the United States, SavingSpot, has crunched the numbers for 208,362 posts with the hashtag "TakeMeBack" to see which destinations around the world were the most sorely missed by people during lockdown. Without a shadow of a doubt, mythology and mystery figured large in the minds of armchair travelers lost in a revery of faraway lands. Embarked on trips down memory lane, the first destination for many was the Egyptian pyramids, and in particular the iconic Giza pyramid complex, which accounted for twice as many "TakeMeBack" hashtags as its nearest rival, the Indonesian island of Bali. Another paradisiacal island was also ranked third on the list, the picturesque Aegean destination of Santorini. Next stop Florida in the United States, where the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, which is also the world's most visited attraction of its kind, inspired many a nostalgic moment. Last but not least of the top five, the French capital's iconic Eiffel Tower was the focus for romantics who like to say, "We'll always have Paris". France has also been lauded as a global destination of choice in another recent survey reported by the Daily Mail, which ranked Paris as the world's second most memorable city after New York and ahead of London. The most critical COVID-19 patient in Vietnam is nodding, smiling and evening shaking hands with healthcare workers. browser not support iframe. The British pilot named by newspapers in the UK as Stephen Cameron, has been in a coma for more than two months. Although he is free of coronavirus, he suffered severe lung complications and doctors thought he may need a transplant. But now he is on the mend, and staff at HCM Citys Cho Ray Hospital announced on Wednesday morning his condition is improving and he was able to communicate with medics. Identified as Patient 91 in Vietnam, he tested positive for COVID-19 on March 18 and was on a life support machine for 57 days. On May 20, he was given all-clear after testing negative for the SARS-CoV-2 seven times. He was then transferred from HCM Citys Hospital for Tropical Diseases to Cho Ray Hospital for further treatment. Tran Thanh Linh, deputy head of the emergency department at Cho Ray Hospital, said the patient has not needed dialysis for a week as his kidneys were almost functioning normal. His liver had also worked relatively normally, Linh said. Until now, he is still infected with Burkholderia cenocepacia, a type of opportunistic bacteria but the quantity of bacteria has been reduced, which proves that changed antibiotics work for him, he said. He said an X-ray image of his lungs on May 25 revealed tissue or fluid blocking blood vessels in both lungs but the one taken on Tuesday showed that more than half of the left lung has recovered and the right lungs respiratory function had also improved. Linh said that on Tuesday afternoon, doctors tried reducing intervention of EMCO on the patient but he would still need EMCO for the next few days. Muscle strength in his arms has improved from 1/5 to 3/5 while his muscles in his feet improved from 1/5 to 2/5. His cough reflexes have become better. Respiratory functions improved and oxygen concentration in blood is stable now. Earlier, the patient had suffered from the cytokine storm syndrome, which happened when his immune system overreacted to the novel coronavirus attacking the body, releasing too many cytokines, damaging his organs. According to the health ministry, the British Consulate in HCM City has recently requested to visit the patient over the next few days. His medical bills, which have already topped VN5 billion (US$215,000), have so far been covered by the Vietnamese hospitals. The British representative in Vietnam said that the patients only known relative in the UK is working with his insurer, asking them to make reimbursements as well as extend his insurance. Vietnam treats all Vietnamese confirmed coronavirus patients for free, but foreign patients treated here will have to pay the hospital bills. Until Wednesday morning, the number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam stayed at 328 including 30 active cases and 298 recoveries. VNS The students asked for freedom and democracy, an end to corruption, a fair and equitable dialogue between the people and the government. Their repression violated the Constitution and founding principal of the People's Republic. The regime must respond for what has happened, and the victims must be compensated. Beijing (AsiaNews) - "If the government had conscientiously listened to the opinions of the people, instead of ending the student movement in such a cruel and barbaric manner, the process of civilizing the Chinese society would have accelerated its pace to integrate with the civilized society of the world, and the corruption in Chinese officialdom would not have been so rampant." 31 years after the events in Tiananmen, when thousands of students and citizens were massacred for asking for freedom and democracy in the country, the victims' mothers and relatives ask the government to make public the information on what happened. For them, the perpetrators of the massacre must be held responsible under the law for their actions. Yesterday, under the gaze of some forty policemen, some of them went to the Wan'an cemetery in Beijing to honor the memory of the fallen. Below is the full text of their open letter. This year, 2020, is the 31st anniversary of the June Fourth massacre that took place in Beijing, China, in 1989. We will not forget the tragedy. That year, in peacetime, the Chinese government mobilized our nations military forcea force flaunted as "people's soldiers"and deployed tanks and armored vehicles on Chang'an Avenue. On their way to Tiananmen Square, the troops opened fire randomly, ignoring crowds that lined the streets. They fired even at the students at Liubukou in Xidan who had retreated from Tiananmen Square. The troops first sprayed poisonous gas containing nerve-numbing agents to render people unconscious and then moved the tanks to crush the crowds, in bloody scenes of unparalleled brutality and inhumanity. In a movement that had begun in April, around the time of the death of Hu Yaobang, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, to the bloody crackdown on June 4, the students were always peaceful and rational in their petition for dialogue with the government. Outside the capital, students in many provinces and cities across the country also came forward to express their solidarity with the students in Beijing. This was the most magnificent and unprecedented student movement in modern Chinese history. The students raised these demands: End to corruption and bureaucratic turpitude, democracy and freedom, official asset transparency, the right to speak freely, and a fair and equitable dialogue between the people and the government. The demands found great resonance throughout the society. Looking back, from 1979 to 1989, in the ten years of Reform and Opening-up policies that transformed the national economy from a planned economy to a market economy, the real beneficiaries of the reform were the extreme few who held power in their hands. This social injustice had caused dissatisfaction among the people. As a result, citizens from all walks of life participated in the marches, raised questions about people's livelihood, demanded citizens right to know, and made suggestions about people's livelihood. They proposed speeding up political reform, allowing freedom of the press and, grasping the true meaning of government, returning governance to the people. This was a moment of great awakening that brought forth questions and thoughts among the people about the social problems that had accumulated in the ten-year ravage of the Cultural Revolution. It was unbelievable that the government completely ignored the voices and opinions of the people: it avoided the core substance and dwelled only on the trivial by only addressing the governance issue. It demanded the students withdraw from Tiananmen Square unconditionally. The government's demand was rejected by the students because they worried that, following their unconditional withdrawal, the government would come after them to settle scores. And the citizens of Beijing bore witness to the entire course of the 1989 student movement and the June Fourth massacre. Our children and loved ones were killed in the June Fourth massacre. For 31 years, every family of the victims has lived in the mid of this suffering and lifes arduousness. We, as citizens of this country and relatives of the victims, have every reason to question the Chinese ruling party and the Chinese government. The government bears unavoidable responsibility for the harm done to all the citizens through the bloody tragedy that year. Legally, you owe the people accountability, and morally, you owe the people an apology. The specific reasons are as follows: Reason One. The Communist Party of China established a new China in 1949, overthrowing the old system and establishing a new system. Article 5 of the Founding Program (the Common Program of the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference) stipulates that the people of the People s Republic of China have the rights to freedom of thought, speech, publication, assembly, association, communication, person, residence, migration, religious belief, and demonstrations. Article 35 of the Constitution of the People s Republic of China also clearly provides the same: Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, publication, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration. If the Chinese ruling Party and the Chinese government have not forgotten their original aspiration, they should abide by and implement the Founding Program and Constitution established in the early days of the founding of the country. However, in its highly centralized rule, the CPC has long forgotten the sacred rights conferred to citizens by the Constitution. We believe that the student movement of that year did not exceed the scope permitted by the law. If the government had conscientiously listened to the opinions of the people, instead of ending the student movement in such a cruel and barbaric manner, the process of civilizing the Chinese society would have accelerated its pace to integrate with the civilized society of the world, and the corruption in Chinese officialdom would not have been so rampant. Reason Two. The politics of "the Elders" was most vividly manifested in their decision on the June Fourth tragedy. The government's functional departments were in chaos. The government of a civilized society resolves social contradictions in accordance with the law, and resolving social contradictions is the daily responsibility of a government. However, what we saw was the total disregard of the law by those who were enthroned as the older generation of proletariat revolutionaries, who ignored the lives of the people and the existence of government functions. Even though those old revolutionaries had already stepped down and yielded their power, they were allowed to wield the power of life and death of the people at will, and brand citizens as "counter-revolutionary rioters" and elements "endangering state power" at will, according to the needs of the ruling class. Reason Three. We have to ask the Chinese ruling party and the Chinese government: Which civilized Chinese law expressly confers the government the right to use state military force to kill, at will, students and civilians in peaceful demonstrations? The Constitution provides that state military power is exercised by authorization by the National Peoples Congress. At that time, the students repeatedly called for a special meeting of the Standing Committee of the Peoples Congress to vote on the use of the army to carry out the crackdown. The government ignored the students appeals. We want to know exactly where and when the counterrevolutionary riots occurred? Where is the evidence? Who commanded the riots? What is the truth? Reason Four. To measure the robustness of a civil society, the level of peoples happiness index, the level of civilization, and the freedom of speech are among the most important and necessary conditions. A large nation that allows only one voice from the authorities and not the diverse voices of the people, and that is blind to the people's well-intentioned criticism and supervision of the government's inadequacies will only produce this result: the unlimited expansion of the authority of those wielding hefty power, who lord over the people from the top and unchecked by the law, with the so-called equality before the law serving as decoration for them. Over the past 31 years, we have repeatedly called for a legal resolution to a political problem, through fair and equitable dialogues with the government in accordance with the law. The government has remained silent on the June Fourth massacre, without demonstrating the slightest trace of remorse. With the passage of time, 60 people among our group of victims families have passed away. Time can erase our lives, but our group s resolve in the pursuit of fairness and justice will not alter. We continue to adhere to our three demands: truth, compensation, and accountabilityin order to obtain justice from the government for all the victims of the June Fourth tragedy. The dignity of every single life may not be stripped away and trampled on arbitrarily by power. They are our loved ones and your compatriots. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:51:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Navy veteran Michael White, who had been detained in Iran for almost two years, was released by Iran and on his way back to the United States, according to a statement issued by his family on Thursday. "For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC (Islamic Revolution Guards Corps) and I have been living in a nightmare. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home," Michael White's mother said in the statement. U.S. President Donald Trump later confirmed White's release, saying the Navy veteran had left Iranian airspace aboard a Swiss plane. He also expressed his gratitude to the assistance of Switzerland, which represents U.S. interest in Iran. The release of White came a day after Sirous Asgari, an Iranian scientist detained by the U.S. government, had returned to Iran. U.S. officials insisted that it was not a prisoner exchange and two cases were not linked. Iranian officials, however, had suggested last month that once the Asgari was back in Iran, they would "look favorably at permitting Mr. White to go home," according to a piece by The New York Times. White reportedly has been detained in Iran since July 2018, and Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrest in January 2019. Relations between the United States and Iran have become increasingly hostile since the Trump administration's unilateral exit from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. Washington has been mounting pressure on Tehran through a series of sanctions. Iran has maintained a tough stance and scaled back its nuclear commitments in response. Enditem Every year we face severe droughts, threatening wildfires, submergent coastlines and extreme climate changes. All of these stem from the high fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission. We need to take quick economical steps in order to contain any greater damage to our planet and reverse the harm done slowly. Environment activists have been advocating these issues and asking governments to take strict steps for the last three decades. Many of us know Greta Thurberg, a Swedish activist, who refused to attend school till people did not realize that we are heading towards an existential crisis due to climate change. She rose to international recognition last year with her marches, strikes and speeches. On World Environment Day 2020, let us look at some of the other leading activists. India Logan-Riley The young activist from New Zealand has been working for the indigenous people to retain the rights of their land. The ecosystems made by indigenous people must be protected against industries and other invasions. She has taken her message to the UN. Ridhima Pandey Hailing from Haridwar, Ridhima was deeply unsettled with the Uttarakhand floods of 2013. The 11-year-old started advocating against the countrys growing climate disasters. She was among the 16 young activists who filed a lawsuit in the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child. Nina Gualinga Nina has been working as a conservationist for almost her entire life. At 18, she had represented indigenous youth in a human rights court to win a case against the Ecuadorian government on oil drilling. She has been bringing attention to protect the nature and communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Jerome Foster II Jerome has been working relentlessly as a climate activist, National Geographic Explorer, Smithsonian Ambassador, Founder and Editor in Chief of The Climate Reporter, and an author. He organizes climate strikes in his home country United States. David Wicker The young activist from Turin, Italy, has been working to make governments take up climate related issues as top priority. He also seeks to see people in power take steps to abide by the regulations set up by treaties and international agreements. Amid the rising coronavirus COVID-19 cases in national capital, the Delhi government on Wednesday (June 3) passed an order making it mandatory for all asymptomatic paasengers arriving in Delhi to home quarantine themselves for seven days. It is to be noted that in its earlier advisory Delhi government had asked the travellers to remain in home quarantine for 14 days. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi hasinstructed all district magistrates to ensure that the new order is implemented properly. The order signed by Delhi Chief secretary and chairman of executive committee of Delhi Disaster Management Authority(DDMA) Vijay Dev said that airport, railway and transport departments has been asked to submit passenger manifests to the office of the principal secretary of revenue department on daily basis. "All asymptomatic passengers who enter/deboard in NCT of Delhi shall home quarantine themselves for 7 days (in place of 14 days of self monitoring of health...)," said the order. The principal secretary (Revenue) will forward the passenger manifests to the concerned district magistrates in order to ensure that travellers in their areas remain in home quarantine for seven days. It is to be noted that few days ago the Karnataka government had also reduced the mandatory 14 days of quarantine period to seven days for asymptomatic travellers from all states except Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government has decided to extend the 14-day quarantine period to 21 days for those returning from 75 worst coronavirus-hit cities of the country including Delhi, Noida, Agra, Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi, Chennai and Hyderabad. It begins with shortness of breath. And for approximately one-third of patients, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, ends in death. For those who survive, their lives are often turned upside-down. Michigan Medicine researchers have been investigating the downstream effects of ARDS for years. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, their work has relevance for hundreds of thousands of new patients. The way COVID-19 kills patients is by depriving them from oxygen. But only a third or fewer of COVID-19 patients who develop respiratory failure die. Most survive, and we need research that helps them not just survive but really heal." Theodore (Jack) Iwashyna, M.D., professor of critical care medicine A team led by Iwashyna wanted to look more closely at how being hospitalized for ARDS affected people months after they were discharged. They interviewed dozens of patients from around the nation. "As we knew from past research, people had new disabilities ranging from general fatigue and weakness to where they couldn't remember things," says Katrina Hauschildt of the U-M department of sociology and first author on the study. "A lot of people had emotional difficulties coming to terms with just how sick they had been--a kind of PTSD from being in the ICU." "What I didn't expect," says Iwashyna, "was the lasting chaos into which surviving respiratory failure threw some of our patients and their families. Patients described problems coming not just from medical bills--although there were plenty of those--but also from losing their jobs and losing their insurance." Given the magnitude of recession hitting at the same time as patients are trying to recover from COVID-19, Iwashyna and Hauschildt are worried this could be devastating for many families. One 55-year old man described having to give up his small business because he could not work after getting out of the intensive care unit (ICU). "I had to sell my business. I'm on disability now...I owned a fire prevention company...We used to clean the kitchen exhaust systems in restaurants throughout the state. Degreased the restaurants, like their exhaust hoods in the kitchen and on the roof...Yeah, I sold everything." The team found that many respiratory failure patients experience what is known as financial toxicity, defined as the financial burdens and related distress of medical care. In turn, this financial toxicity led to additional negative effects on their physical and emotional recovery. With hospitalization for ARDS often resulting in weeks of high intensity care, patients end up with medical bills ranging from tens of thousands to, in some cases, millions of dollars, and the proportion covered by insurance varied substantially. One 49-year old male survivor of ARDS told the study team "I barely make it, or my bills are pending like electricity, things and other stuff." Said another 55-year old woman "I had to pay my rent, my food and medicines and all that so I was a little bit short ... They were kind of difficult to pay after the hospital ... Because I had to get more medicines and all that." The team reported several consequences of hospitalization including emotional distress related to insurance issues and unpaid bills, reduced physical well-being due to the inability to receive follow-up care due to cost, an increased reliance on family and friends to help cover expenses and other material hardships. Said one patient: "In the next couple of months, I may end up being homeless because of the financial aspect of it." While these cases may seem extreme, they were not rare. And many patients described having to make hard choices about whether they could afford rehabilitation--and stopping early when their coverage ran out, even though they were not yet recovered. A 51-year old man told the study team "[Physical therapy] was very short, a couple weeks maybe; then it was over, and I just laid around basically. My insurance did not cover any more, so they had to cut me." Another patient, a 61-year-old woman, described not having the equipment when she tried to go home: "I could pick one item that I wanted," of the hospital bed, wheelchair, and walker she needed, "because the insurance would only pay for one item." Hauschildt says the study outlines the need for doctors to be more aware of the financial toxicity faced by survivors of ARDS, including those recovering from COVID-19. "One of the biggest things any doctor involved in follow up care can do is anticipate that patients might have real financial burdens and know what resources are available so they can help," she adds. However, she notes, what's available is really up to policy makers. For example, the study found that patients who were already on public insurance before their illness reported less of an out-of-pocket financial impact. "Communities that put a safety net in place for ARDS and COVID-19 survivors will ultimately have better healing and recovery. People who heal are able to return to work and care for others and their communities; people who don't aren't." This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as part of the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Network. The patients who participated in these interviews gave their consent for their words to be quoted, and were all about nine months after having had moderate to severe ARDS. Galleria Mall hosts COVID testing site Testing is one of the commonwealths most important tools in the fight against COVID-19, Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter said. Cheney officials believe development interest is returning, but worry about EWU students CHENEY While a lot of uncertainty remains surrounding impacts from the coronavirus pandemic, city civic and business leaders are optimistic it remains posed to continue the growth it saw before the outbreak shutdown businesses and economies. Even with the possibility of double-digit reductions in revenue, Cheney City Administrator Mark Schuller officials told almost 100 participants of a West Plains Chamber of Commerce zoom call on development last Wednesday that projects put off due to restrictions imposed to combat the virus are back on track with others in the wings are receivi... Noida, June 4 : IT major HCL Technologies on Thursday said it will bring its software offerings, starting with HCL Commerce, to Google Cloud. The announcement marks the expansion of partnerships between the two companies. HCL Commerce is a leading, Coud-native platform used by businesses across multiple industries and around the world to drive more than $100 billion in annual client revenues. "The collaboration between Google Cloud and HCL Commerce is helping customers rapidly execute their digital transformation strategy that is rooted in the new normal," Darren Oberst, Corporate Vice President and Head of HCL Software, said in a statement. "With the support of our global implementation partner ecosystem, we can now deliver a proven, comprehensive commerce solution across all industries, handling the challenges of today and in the future," he added. Bringing HCL Commerce to Google Cloud will enable businesses to maintain their investments in HCL's commerce platform while also taking advantage of the global reach, security, and elasticity of Google Cloud, the two companies said. In addition, businesses across industries will be able to develop positive, data-driven customer experiences online by leveraging Google Cloud's capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and analytics. "It is more important than ever for firms spanning all industries to deliver strong, customer-centric eCommerce experiences," said Kevin Ichhpurani, Corporate Vice President, Global Ecosystem at Google Cloud. "We're proud that Google Cloud infrastructure will power HCL Commerce, helping businesses leverage the elasticity and reliability of Google Cloud and ultimately delivering positive eCommerce experiences for customers around the world." This latest announcement from HCL and Google Cloud expands on a deep partnership between the two companies to help organisations digitally transform. In 2019, HCL and Google Cloud announced the launch of HCL's Google Cloud Business Unit to accelerate enterprise Cloud adoption worldwide. To support customers, HCL has established three dedicated Google Cloud Native Labs in New York, London and the New Delhi area. Washington: Several hundred active-duty troops from the 82nd Airborne Division who were sent to the Washington DC area to potentially respond to civil unrest are expected to start heading back to their home base in North Carolina, a US official said on Thursday. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the decision was made earlier in the day and they would be returning to Fort Bragg soon. The 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division. Credit:AP While the troops were in the National Capital Region, they were not deployed to Washington DC and were on standby in case they were needed. One day after Defence Secretary Mark Esper shot down Trump's idea of using active-duty troops to quell protests across the United States, a retired four-star General John Allen joined the chorus of former military leaders criticising the President. * Misgivings build as clock ticks on territorial move * Netanyahu hails U.S. leader's pro-Israel credentials By Dan Williams JERUSALEM, June 4 (Reuters) - Israel's intention to annex parts of the occupied West Bank is being challenged by Jewish settlers who might have been expected to cheer the plan promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under a U.S. peace blueprint. A month before the proposed expansion of Israeli jurisdiction is due to be discussed by Netanyahu's new unity government, some settler leaders have resorted to rhetoric likely to embarrass him at the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump and his top Middle East adviser Jared Kushner "are not friends of Israel", David Elhayani, head of the umbrella Yesha settler council, told the liberal Haaretz newspaper. For settler leaders like Elhayani, the peace plan Trump published in January - which includes Israel keeping most of its settlements in the West Bank - has a dangerous flip side. Their worry - not echoed by all settlers - is that it could pave the way for the U.S. vision of Palestinian statehood in 70% of the West Bank, areas that would envelop some 15 settlements. Palestinians reject the proposal as a blueprint for an unviable state. Even within Israel and Netanyahu's coalition, support for annexation is lukewarm. Accusing Elhayani of ingratitude, Netanyahu publicly commended Trump's "unsurpassed friendship" towards Israel. A U.S. official briefed on Israel ties played down the flare-up. Elhayani's criticism of Trump marks a rare break between settlers and Evangelical Christians, an important constituency for the president in November's U.S. election. Most world powers deem the settlements illegal. Influential U.S. pastor John Hagee wrote in the Israel Hayom daily on Sunday that the "time is now" to fulfil the "masterful" plan's promise of annexed biblical lands. Elhayani suggested the proposal was designed to gain Trump votes, an idea rejected by a U.S. official. "We try not to do things because they are popular or not. We do them because they're right," said the official. (Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Timothy Heritage) The complex dynamics of laser processes have been investigated by combining high speed hard X-ray radiography, acoustic and optical sensors and deep learning. This approach leads to a new paradigm for a closed-loop quality control system in Industry 4.0. Laser welding and additive manufacturing processes are key technologies for many industries such as automotive, aerospace, naval and heavy machinery production, medicine and micromechanics. Unfortunately, the potential of this technology is not fully exploited, particularly in applications requiring a guarantee of high quality and a workpiece free of defects. The reason is the non-linear nature of light-matter interactions, which complicates the reproducibility of the process in mass production. The complex dynamics of the process, especially in the keyhole welding regime, and its instabilities cause various defects at the joint. One of the most dangerous and difficult to detect is porosity, since it is a hidden threat for the mechanical properties of the workpiece. Hence, an adequate, robust and low-cost quality monitoring system is of a great desire [1]. Recently, an innovative approach for in situ and real-time monitoring of laser welding [2] and additive manufacturing [3] was proposed [2]. Its novelty was to combine state-of-the-art acoustic and optical sensors with machine learning (ML) techniques to analyse the signals. On the one hand, the sensors were chosen because they required low-cost hardware as well as their existing widespread use in various industrial applications. On the other hand, the exploited ML techniques allowed unique features for different workpiece qualities to be retrieved, which could subsequently be used for in situ monitoring. Despite the promising results, these studies relied on post-mortem material analysis via the cross-sectioning of the samples. This approach had major drawbacks, it is destructive, very time consuming and introduces further uncertainties in the results, for example, a small defect (pore) could be missed during the sample preparation and subsequent analysis. Furthermore, the complex dynamics of the light-matter interaction remained completely unknown. Figure 1. a) Sketch of the experimental setup for in situ X-ray radiography of the laser welds. The bar below defines the key nodes of the setup and their mutual positions; b) Picture of the welding experimental station. To overcome these difficulties and to obtain a fundamental understanding of the momentary events during the laser process in real-time, high-speed hard X-ray radiography held promise as an ideal solution. Consequently, a unique experiment combining a welding laser and various sensors was setup at beamline ID19 to perform in situ experiments (See Figure 1). An example of the observed dynamics during a laser pulse of 5 ms is shown in Figure 2 where the categories conduction, stable keyhole, unstable keyhole and solidification are defined. A temporal convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained to distinguish the recorded signals for each category. Figure 3 summarises the classification results. Figure 2. (a) X-ray images of the process zone (image width is 1 mm) and (b) the corresponding back reflection and acoustic emission (AE) signal during a typical experiment at 250 W during a laser pulse of 10 ms. The width of the X-ray image is 1 mm. The times on the X-ray images correspond to the time stamp of the signals. The main categories are also indicated with different colours in the signal images (b). Figure 3. Classification accuracy for the (optical) back reflection, acoustic emission (italic), combined sensors (bold), respectively using a temporal convolutional neural network (CNN). Four major findings resulted from this work, which can be summarised as: The possibility to apply machine learning for classification of the momentary events (categories: conduction welding, stable keyhole, unstable keyhole, blowout, and pore formation) during laser processing has been demonstrated. Evidence of this is shown in Figure 3 where the classification accuracies ranged from 73 to 99% depending on the sensors and category using a state-of-the-art temporal deep convolutional neural networks (CNN). It is also revealed that the acoustic sensor (italic in Figure 3) has a high classification accuracy as compared to the (optical) back reflection (normal in Figure 3). This is probably due to the higher acquisition rate of the optical system. By combining data from both sensors (back reflection and acoustic sensors; in bold in Figure 3), the classifications accuracy rose significantly from a minimum value of 73% to 88% for the category pore formation. This is important information for industrial applications. It revealed that the most appropriate solution for industrial in situ and real-time quality monitoring is to combine various sensors. However, the combination of the sensors does not always increase the classification accuracy. The approach is capable of distinguishing between instances of stable keyhole and unstable keyhole with very high confidence (compare red cells in Figure 3). Since the latter regime is prone to defects, the capability to detect the stable unstable keyhole transition is of high interest. This information is of utmost importance for the AM machine builders since it is a pre-requisite for the development of a closed-loop control able to avoid or minimise defects by modifying the process parameters before a defect is created. Finally, the category pore formation (blue cell) could be detected with an 88% level confidence. With a temporal resolution classification time down to 2 ms for each, it is possible to determine with precision the location of a defect. This information gives the opportunity to repair the defect and so avoid the rebuttal of a produced workpiece. High classification accuracy has been achieved with low-cost and easy to implement sensors into an existing industrial environment. The classification results can even be improved further by increasing the size of the dataset, optimising the location of the sensors as well as further optimisation of the machine learning algorithm. Principal publication and authors Supervised deep learning for real-time quality monitoring of laser welding with X-ray radiographic guidance, Shevchik S.A. (a), Le-Quang T. (a), Meylan B. (a), Vakili-Farahani F. (b), Olbinado M.P. (c), Rack A. (c), Masinelli G. (a), Leinenbach C. (a), Wasmer K. (a), Scientific Reports 10, 3389 (2020); doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60294-x. (a) Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing (LAMP), Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), Thun (Switzerland) (b) Coherent Switzerland, Belp (Switzerland) (c) ESRF References [1] Stavridis J., et al.. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 94,1825-1847 (2018). [2] Shevchik S.A., et al., IEEE Access 7, 93108-93122 (2019). [3] Shevchik S.A., et al., Additive Manufacturing 21, 598-604 (2018). The drugs seized in a joint operation between the NCA and PSNI Justice Minister Naomi Long has praised an investigation that resulted in the biggest ever drug seizure by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in Northern Ireland. A joint operation with the PSNI recovered around 600kg of herbal cannabis in Templepatrick with an estimated street value of 10m to 12m. Three men were arrested when a lorry carrying the drugs, which were concealed under vegetables, was intercepted in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The suspects, aged 62, 37 and 32, from counties Tyrone, Londonderry and Armagh, remained in custody last night on suspicion of conspiring to import drugs. A spokesperson for the NCA later confirmed the lorry had arrived in Northern Ireland on a ferry to Larne. Two premises were also searched in Co Londonderry and in Co Tyrone. Ms Long said the operation sent a clear message to those "intent on destroying communities". "Drugs bring nothing but misery and those who line their pockets off the back of that misery simply do not care about the destruction and harm they are causing to young and vulnerable people within their own communities," she added. Expand Close The drugs seized in a joint operation between the NCA and PSNI / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The drugs seized in a joint operation between the NCA and PSNI Ms Long said the seizure also represented "a huge disruption" to profiteering gangs. "The NCA-led investigation into drug supply is continuing and I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard and so diligently to achieve this result," she explained. "That investigation goes on and by working together in this way we will continue to pursue those involved in drug dealing and bring them before the courts." Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers said: "At least one organised crime gang has been dealt a major blow and sustained a significant financial hit and that is good news. "The role of the NCA should be noted and applauded because they have the organisational capacity to operate UK-wide. "Clearly their input into this operation has been crucial, tracking the lorry as it travelled through Great Britain and onward to Larne. "This shows the kind of results that can be achieved with law enforcement agencies sharing information and intelligence and it bodes well for the future." Expand Close NCA Belfast branch commander David Cunningham / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp NCA Belfast branch commander David Cunningham NCA Belfast branch commander David Cunningham called it "an incredibly significant seizure". "A seizure of this size will have a huge impact on the organised crime groups involved in its importation, depriving them of commodity and, most importantly, profit," he said. "We are determined to do all we can with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle drug supply routes, not only here in Northern Ireland but across the UK. The crime groups involved bring violence and exploitation to our streets. "Our investigation into this seizure continues and I'd like to thank our colleagues at PSNI for their support." Detective Chief Inspector Brian Foster, from the PSNI's Organised Crime Unit, said: "This successful operation demonstrates the significant benefits of joint working with law enforcement partners. We will continue to work closely with NCA to disrupt the nefarious activities of organised crime groups operating in Northern Ireland." Anyone with information about to drugs should contact the PSNI on 101 or to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. A huge spike in sexually transmitted infections has been reported in one of Australia's most popular backpacking destinations. Data from Queensland Health showed that the rate of gonorrhea more than doubled on the Sunshine Coast in the past 12 months, to 157 reported infections. The five year average for this period of time was 67 cases. The latest figures also reflect increasing numbers of women are testing positive for the STI. Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service public health physician Dr Mandy Seel told the Gympie Times gonorrhea can become a serious problem if it's left undiagnosed. There's been a major spike in reports of a sexually transmitted infections in one of Australia's most popular backpacking destinations (stock image) 'Gonorrhoea is considered an important infection because it can cause significant long-term problems if not treated,' Dr Seel said. 'These include chronic pelvic or abdominal pain and infertility. In addition, gonorrhoea is generally easy to treat with antibiotics and prevented with condom use.' She said the increase in infection rates could come down to a number of factors including more people being tested. But it could also be a result of increased transmission as a result of higher rates of unsafe sex or increases to partner changes, particularly as the infection is asymptomatic. The increase rate of infection could be a result of higher rates of unsafe sex or increases to partner changes, particularly as the infection is asymptomatic (stock image) Dr Seel said it appears as though it's becoming more of an issue for women. 'Gonorrhoea rates were historically higher in men, but the recent trend is towards heterosexual transmission, with increasing numbers of women being shown to be positive for the disease,' she said. Queensland Health has been trying to increase testing rates among residents through its sexual health campaign 'Stop the Rise of STIS' which launched in 2019. Authorities say the STI rates across the state are high and increasing each year, with those aged 15 to 29 the most likely to contract an infection. The campaign launch included the distribution of new resources for health professionals around gonorrhea testing across Queensland. Queensland Health offers free STI Testing thorough the website 13Health Webtest. Authorities say the STI rates across the state are high and increasing each year, with those aged 15 to 29 the most likely to contract an infection (stock image) For many years, Nordic noir was the dominant force in foreign-language television. Hits such as The Bridge and Borgen wooed British audiences with their melancholic landscapes, taut dialogue and impressive knitwear. But this small-screen pre-eminence has been replaced by offerings from a country that could not be further removed from the introversion and cautious pacing of Nordic TV. Israel is in some ways the anti-Scandinavia. The weather is hot, the people outspoken, the history bloody and disputed. Chaos in Arabic, Fauda chronicles a bloody game of cat and mouse between Israeli counter-intelligence soldier Doron (Lior Raz) and a Hamas terrorist The Panther (Hisham Suliman). Credit:Netflix Yet as a source of must-see television, the country has emerged as an international force to be reckoned with. And it has done so while avoiding becoming locked into a particular genre. Nordic TV can often seem to consist of different flavours of the same fatalistic murder mystery format. In Israel, by contrast, diversity is the watchword. From action to comedy via human-interest drama, anything goes. There are gripping thrillers such as mistaken-identity slow-burner False Flag and West Bank-set Netflix hit Fauda, which has just returned to the streaming service for a hugely anticipated third season. But Israel is also serving up escapist romcoms such as the brilliantly whimsical Beauty and the Baker, which has proved a surprise sensation on Amazon Prime. (The US adaptation, The Baker and the Beauty, airs on Stan. Nine is the owner of Stan and this masthead.) Canada opposes Chinas efforts to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong. Or, to put it in the diplomatese that Ottawa favours, it is deeply concerned by Beijings plans. While the details of the proposed law have yet to be revealed, it is expected to take aim at those who want Hong Kong to become more autonomous from China. Residents of the territory already enjoy more civil liberties than those in the rest of China. Many Hongkongers want that situation to remain. For Canada to support the would-be democrats of Hong Kong seems a no-brainer. Even Donald Trump has weighed in on the side of the angels here, warning that the U.S. might withdraw the special economic privileges it has granted Hong Kong if Beijing goes ahead with its plans. Canada has said it might do the same. But nothing is simple in the world of foreign affairs. And while it is fashionable to criticize China these days, its worth remembering that when it comes to Hong Kong, Beijings arguments are far from crazy. First, Hong Kong is an integral part of China and has been so since Britain handed over the former colony in 1997. Under the one country two systems formula agreed to by the parties, Britain gave up any claim to sovereignty over the territory while Beijing agreed to maintain, for 50 years, the form of swashbuckling capitalism that had allowed Hong Kong to prosper. This included, among other things, a coherent justice system based on English common law. Today, critics focus on the two systems element of the formula. But in 1997, the one country element was equally important. Hong Kong was to be part of China. Period. Second, Hong Kong has never been democratic. It was not a democracy under the British. It was not democratic after the handover. The chief executive, currently Carrie Lam, is effectively chosen by Beijing. While half of the legislative council is directly elected, the other half is chosen by business and professional groups. Talks leading to the 1997 handover suggested that the territory would move toward democracy. But they included no mechanism to get there. At the time, these vague references to democracy were seen as a way for Britain to save face without committing either side to anything substantive. Third, under the terms of the 1997 handover, Chinese laws would not apply to the territory unless the Hong Kong government specifically listed them as doing so. This included national security laws. But at the same time, the agreement required Hong Kong to enact its own national security law. This law would prohibit treason, sedition and attempts to subvert the central government in Beijing, including the promotion of secession. Hong Kongs government attempted to enact such a security law in 2003 but withdrew the bill because it was so unpopular. This raises the question: Is Beijing flouting the handover agreement by introducing a national security bill? Or is Hong Kong flouting the agreement by not introducing such a bill? Fourth, in the end the people usually lose. In 1997, the United Kingdom deemed millions of Her Majestys loyal subjects in Hong Kong ineligible for British citizenship. Instead, they were issued British National (Overseas) passports that allowed them to visit the U.K. but not live there. This was designed to forestall a mass exodus of Hongkongers fleeing communism. This time, the U.K. is contemplating a plan that would make it marginally easier for 2.9 million potential BNO passport holders in Hong Kong to become British citizens. But there are no guarantees. By contrast, the roughly 300,000 Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong have the right to return home if things there get too dicey. Up to now, the government in Beijing has shown an unusual degree of forbearance toward the often violent antiregime street protests in Hong Kong. Dont expect that to last. China is, after all, one country. New Delhi, June 4 : The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will plant 22 lakh saplings to augment the country's green canopy on the occasion of World Environment Day on Friday. The CRPF personnel at all its units will take part in the drive amid the rising clamour for ecological protection and preservation. The force has decided to add various green initiatives to its profile, according to CRPF DIG M. Dhinakaran. "The force has ensured that all its campuses remain plastic free, especially the single-use plastic," he said. The CRPF has initiated vermi-composting at 40 of its group centres, set up sewage treatment plants in many of its formations and is focusing on use of solar energy. Many of its residential complexes and offices have been harnessing solar energy to supplement their daily energy requirement in addition to in-campus street lighting. The CRPF has also been making several initiative, like water harvesting, to conserve water. In fact, the 195 Bn deployed at Dantewada in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh earned the accolade when it was declared as the 'Waterheroes' for January 2020 under the Centre's Jal Shakti Abhiyan. The unit has been helping the water-stressed people of this naxal-affected and one of the most backward regions of the country through simple interventions, like rainwater harvesting, water conservation and use of potable water. As part of its environmental initiative, the CRPF has green lighted procurement of its new fleet of vehicles with ecologically compliant Bharat Stage VI. The green concerns are also well echoed in the eco-friendly architectural model of its upcoming headquarters at Lodhi Road, here. The structure will factor in several green features, like solar energy, energy efficient architecture, eco-friendly construction materials and water conservation. Amid the growing outrage over the shocking death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala, the state forest department said on Thursday (June 4) that it has launched a manhunt to arrest those responsible for the death of the 15-year-old wild elephant. The incident is of Palakkad district where the elephant had entered into a village in search of food, but the villagers fed her a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers. The elephant suffered serious injuries on its tongue and mouth as the crackers exploded and it died after spending three days in pain and agony. Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that a preliminary investigation has been launched into the incident which took place in Mannarkad Forest division in Palakkad district and the police has been asked to take strict action against those responsible for the act. An FIR has also been lodged against unidentified people in connection with this matter. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has also sought a report from the state government in this matter. "Environment Ministry has taken a serious note of the death of an elephant in Kerala. Has sought complete report on the incident. Stern action will be taken against the culprit(s)," Prakash Javadekar said in New Delhi on Wednesday. BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the Kerala government over the shocking incident. She told ANI, "It's murder, Malappuram is famous for such incidents, it's India's most violent district, for instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300-400 birds and dogs die at one time." The former union minister also questioned the silence of Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi for remaining silent in this matter. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, also expressed shock over the incident and took to social media to express his grief. The veteran industrialist tweeted, "I am grieved and shocked to know that a group of people caused the death of an innocent, passive, pregnant elephant by feeding the elephant with a pineapple filled with firecrackers." The details of the incident were first shared by Forest officer Mohan Krishnan on his Facebook page. The Forest officer, who was moved by the pain of the innocent animal, wrote in Malayalam about the incident on Facebook. He also shared pictures of the elephant in the searing pain. As per details provided by the forest officer, the pregnant wild elephant came out of the forest, meandering into a nearby village in search of food. As she walked on the streets, locals gave her the cracker-laden pineapple to eat and the fruit exploded in her mouth thus killing her. Forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant, wrote on Facebook in Malayalam, "She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child, she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months." Krishnan also shared photos of the elephant, who later walked up to the Velliyar River and stood there. Photos showed her standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in water. The forest officer said she did this to keep away flies and other insects from sitting on her wounds. Wolters Kluwer's Finance, Risk Reporting (FRR) business is holding a series of webinars dedicated to investigating the impact of COVID-19 and how banks can adapt and adopt a long-term strategic approach to risk management. The first webinar, "The New Normal Navigating and reassessing your long-term strategic approach to Risk Management in light of COVID-19," takes place on June 10 and will be hosted by Francis Lacan, Director of Risk Products at Wolters Kluwer FRR. During the event Lacan will explore how firms can adapt their strategic planning to manage the fallout from the pandemic, covering credit, market and liquidity risk as well as stress testing. Other topics up for discussion include asset market effects and bank stress disclosures and how to determine the severity of macroeconomic stress scenarios. The second webinar, "The New Normal Managing Risk in an Age of Uncertainty," takes place on July 1. Jeroen Van Doorsselaere, Director of Value Proposition at Wolters Kluwer FRR, will examine the implications of emerging risks, their impacts and how to deal with them. Topics covered will include planning for the next pandemic or major climate event on the horizon and risk optimization in times of uncertainty. Van Doorsselaere will also explore prudential risk and financial risk measures across finance, risk, and regulatory requirements. Wolters Kluwer FRR, which is part of the company's Governance, Risk Compliance (GRC) division, is a global market leader in the provision of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions. It supports regulated financial institutions in meeting their obligations to external regulators and their own board of directors. Wolters Kluwer FRR receives frequent independent recognition of its excellence and innovation, celebrating a record year for award wins in 2019. Risk magazine awarded the company its coveted Regulatory Reporting System of The Year Award for the second year running and Waters Technology has named the company the Best Market Risk Solution Provider in its annual Technology Rankings. Wolters Kluwer FRR is also the #1 provider in both Regulatory Reporting and Liquidity Risk according to the RiskTech100, as compiled by Chartis Research. Wolters Kluwer's GRC division is leveraging its product innovation and domain expertise in other ways to help the financial services industry respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its Compliance Solutions business, for example, offers Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus to support stimulus loan applications and loan forgiveness processes under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or CARES Act. Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions, meanwhile, has also recently established a technology solution specifically designed to help U.S. lenders navigate Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, and associated compliance and risk mitigation requirements, resulting from the CARES Act. The Business Entity Search for CARES Act solution conducts bulk/batch corporate identity searches to verify the business status of potential borrowers. 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/20200604005080/en/ Contacts: Media Contact Paul Lyon Director of Global Corporate Communications, Banking Regulatory Compliance Governance, Risk Compliance Wolters Kluwer Office +44 20 3197 6586 Paul.Lyon@wolterskluwer.com Undark By Lynne Peeples Nadia began coughing on 27 March. The four-year-old Malayan tigers keepers at the Bronx Zoo in New York City also noticed she wasnt finishing her daily allotment of raw meat. Concerned, they called in Paul Calle, the zoos head veterinarian. The team immobilized and anaesthetized Nadia, so she could be put through a series of X-rays, ultrasounds, and routine blood work to look for known causes of respiratory disease in cats. Since New York City is the epicentre for COVID in the US, said Calle, we wanted to make sure we checked her for that, too. On 5 April, the zoo reported that Nadia had been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Over the course of the next week, three other tigers and three lions at the zoo also began showing similar symptoms. The sick cats were later tested, along with another 8-year-old male Amur tiger named Alden, who hadnt been showing any symptoms. Every test came back positive, according to a statement released by the zoo on 22 April. All eight cats are now recovering well, and only an occasional cough is heard, Calle said. Officials think that an asymptomatic zoo worker carrying the virus probably infected the animals. People and animals and the environment are all closely linked and influence what happens to each other, said Calle. This is far from the first time, and certainly wont be the last, that an infectious disease has bounced between humans and other animals. Evidence suggests that COVID-19 likely originated in a bat, possibly jumped to a pangolin which looks like a scaly anteater and then infected a human, maybe at a live animal market in Wuhan, China. Globally, an estimated 75 percent of newly appearing infectious diseases are zoonotic like this, meaning they can pass from non-human animals to people. Infectious-disease experts warn that nature harbours more than a million undiscovered viruses. The animals we keep as pets can be part of the transmission process, too. Exotic pet rodents were implicated as the likely source of an outbreak of monkeypox in the Midwest in 2003. Pigs, obviously, spawned the 2009 swine flu pandemic. And, last month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture confirmed that two pet cats in New York had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. A pug in North Carolina named Winston was also added to the list in late April. Recognition of the link between humans and other animals for COVID-19 is driving the push to ban Chinas live animal markets, which pose a high risk for contagion. And animal health expertise could help prevent outbreaks in other ways, some scientists say. For example, greater animal surveillance could detect new diseases earlier and stop them from being passed to humans. And techniques for controlling outbreaks in livestock, such as randomized surveillance strategies, could also improve efforts to limit the spread of disease in human populations. Yet despite being recognized as useful, the field of animal health has long been siloed away from human medicine. Veterinarians, as well as wildlife biologists, livestock farmers, and zookeepers, remain a largely untapped resource for combatting diseases that threaten people. There is still a very traditional divide among disciplines, said Jon Epstein, a wildlife veterinarian and disease ecologist for the EcoHealth Alliance in New York. We havent removed these barriers yet. Thats not to say that experts havent been trying. But progress in getting authorities to see the connectedness of human and animal health has been slow and in some instances in recent decades, has even gone backwards. Its time that we stopped using humans as sentinels of animal diseases, said Joe Annelli, the executive vice president of the National Association of Federal Veterinarians and formerly with the USDA. Instead, he said, we should be aiming to identify diseases in other animals as early as possible, when theres still a chance of preventing them from spreading to humans. Nearly 20 years ago, the Bronx Zoo was in the spotlight as another contagion crept among the citys people and non-human animals. It was the summer of 1999, and a strange disease that caused weakness and confusion had begun popping up among dozens of New Yorkers. Meanwhile, dead crows had started landing on the zoos grounds. Then came casualties among captive species: Chilean flamingos, laughing gulls, a snowy owl, and a bald eagle named Clementine. Clementine was the zoos mascot. She looked perfectly fine and then, boom, she dropped dead, said Tracey McNamara, then the chief veterinary pathologist at the zoo. Her necropsy of Clementine standard procedure for any death at an accredited zoo in the US showed the worst brain inflammation in a bird that McNamara had ever seen. Worried that her surgical mask wasnt enough protection against whatever had killed the eagle, McNamara went home that night and wrote her will. She also went on with her detective work, taking advantage of what she called built-in sentinels of disease naturally found at a zoo. The CDC, at the time, suspected a brain disease called Saint Louis encephalitis. But McNamara knew that this disease doesnt typically harm birds. Inflammation in bird brains, she noted, instead suggested one of three usual suspects in the US. The first was eastern equine encephalitis. Emus are known to be particularly sensitive to this virus, yet the zoos emu flock showed no signs of sickness. That left the other two possibilities: virulent Newcastle disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza. Both of these affect chickens, and the petting zoo was full of healthy birds. Thats when I knew I was dealing with something unknown to veterinary medicine, said McNamara, now a professor of pathology at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. Also Read: Blue Acceleration Human's dash for ocean resources mirrors what we've done to the land. While the CDC initially dismissed McNamaras suggestion that the same disease might be impacting both people and birds, the agency eventually came around. Tests weeks later revealed that New York was home to the first cases of West Nile virus ever reported in the Western hemisphere. And, as the US General Accounting Office would report in September 2000, the animal infections preceded the first human cases by at least one or two months. The West Nile events illustrate the value of communication between public and animal health communities, the GAO wrote. As this mosquito-borne disease swept from New York across the US, none of the traditional means of surveillance tests of mosquito pools or chicken flocks proved to be predictive of human risks. So McNamara pushed for the launch of a nationwide surveillance network across zoos, suggesting it could bolster the CDCs power to prevent outbreaks. The agency was convinced. The zoo network went live and, between 2001 and 2006, nearly 180 zoos and other wildlife institutions submitted samples. We hoped that this was the beginning of sustainable zoonotic disease surveillance in urban centres, said McNamara. Every major city has a zoo. Every zoo has a spectrum of the animal kingdom, some of which are guaranteed to be susceptible to whatever new virus pops up. But efforts to secure continued funding let alone money to expand the program beyond the West Nile virus were all denied. Donald Noah, a veterinary epidemiologist at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, was working with the US Department of Homeland Security when McNamaras team reached out to his agency for financial support. He lamented not being able to convince senior leadership to oblige. Hopefully, given the situation now, there is a change in awareness and more realization of the importance, Noah said. Pets, wildlife, livestock, and zoo animals can all serve as early warning signs of an emergent threat to humans. When wildlife biologists notice squirrels lying around dead, for example, it could be an indication of the plague. Whether it is plague or hantavirus or rabies or now COVID-19 viruses may be circulating for an unknown period of time in an animal reservoir species and then all of a sudden became apparent in humans, said Noah. Spotting signs of disease in bats or an intermediary animal, such as pangolins, may have warned officials of the threat of COVID-19 before it went pandemic, noted Victoria Brookes, a zoonotic disease expert at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Australia. Were always looking at the timeliness, said Brookes, who is helping to launch a disease detective training program for animal workers across Southeast Asia and Oceania that will support the development of local surveillance systems to detect diseases before they spawn an outbreak. Annelli underscored the need for such surveillance: We put all this money and work into identifying the first person to have a particular disease, but weve spent nothing on identifying that disease in the animal population and working to eliminate it before it continues to infect people, he said. But if a sick animal is not of economic value, then testing for and reporting any illness remains especially difficult. There is still no federal agency that has jurisdiction over surveillance of zoo animals, or dogs and cats, added McNamara. We have a gigantic species gap in our biosurveillance efforts in the US For instance, towards the end of 2016, at an animal shelter in East Harlem about 6 miles from the Bronx Zoo, an orange-and-white cat named Mimi developed a respiratory infection, became very sick, and had to be euthanized. Cats in multiple other crowded New York shelters started falling ill over the following weeks. An attending veterinarian got sick as well. The culprit turned out to be a strain of bird flu, H7N2, never before seen in cats. By the time a private foundation stepped in to cover the costs of testing and quarantining the potentially affected animals, about 1,000 felines had already been adopted out to families throughout the greater metropolitan area. Sandra Newbury, director of the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, worked with the shelters to contain the virus. Thanks to the private donor, they were able to offer free testing and medical care for the adopted cats, eventually isolating hundreds that had been infected. We were really aggressive in our efforts to not let it spread, Newbury said. She believes identifying such a large number of infected animals and quarantining them allowed the authorities to eradicate the virus. According to Newbury, no positive tests have been reported since March 2017. We were really very lucky. This couldve turned into a new virus of cats, said Newbury, noting the contrast with whats playing out today. A virus spreads more easily when you dont know that its there. Thats what were seeing now with COVID-19 in humans. Theres not enough testing. While it would be impossible to identify every possible disease in non-human animals, noted Annelli, far more could be done to test for diseases known to occasionally spill over to humans, such as Ebola. He also believes we should be regularly sampling animals at live markets for influenza and coronaviruses, and testing wildlife in natural areas where they might closely overlap with domestic animals and people such as deforested lands to see how diseases evolve over time. The commingling of species provides an optimal environment for viruses to mutate to the point that they could infect people. When multiple species are mixed together that are not usually next to each other, then you can get all kinds of things popping up, said Annelli. The 2003 monkeypox outbreak is another case in point: Gambian rats caught in Africa were shipped to the US and ended up being housed next to prairie dogs, a species they had never been in close contact with in the wild. Once infected, prairie dogs can fairly easily transmit the virus to people. And evidence suggests they did. Experts underscore the importance of finding not only the species that spread viruses in the first place but also which animals may maintain them in the future. Even if control measures manage to curb COVID-19 in human populations, for example, might the virus simply hide out in domestic cats, local bats, or another non-human species, ready to re-emerge later? Thats an open question that needs to be examined, said Epstein. A Chinese study published in March identified several species that SARS-CoV-2 might be able to infect, including cats, cows, pigeons, and pangolins. Another study underway in Germany is exposing different animals to the virus in hopes of deciphering whether it could infect as well as replicate within certain species and so potentially sustain itself there. Early findings reported in April suggest that fruit bats and ferrets are susceptible, while pigs and chickens are not. But just because an animal can be infected doesnt necessarily mean it can spread the disease to others. Thankfully, the flu that affected the shelter cats turned out to be fairly mild and minimally transmissible to humans. If this virus had been as dangerous and as virulent as the pandemic flu of 1918, then the battle would have already been lost, said McNamara. We dodged a bullet, she added. But theres no guarantee well be as lucky the next time. In 2007, the bluetongue virus a disease spread by midge bites began to sweep through herds of sheep and cattle across Europe. Johanne Ellis-Iversen was serving as the veterinary adviser for the U.K.s Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs towards the end of the outbreak and as it was officially declared over in 2011. The U.K. has seen a number of major outbreaks of disease in food animals in recent decades, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (aka mad cow disease) and foot-and-mouth disease. As a result, said Ellis-Iversen, it has a very structured and effective response for fighting epidemics among livestock. In agricultural animal health, outbreaks of exotic disease in well-regulated countries rarely get big because we identify and control them right away, said Ellis-Iversen, now a senior adviser and veterinary epidemiologist at the National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark. She is also the co-author of a paper published in late March that describes how veterinary surveillance methods could be adapted to randomly survey human populations for COVID-19. When dealing with infection among livestock, before a decision is made to lift control measures or reopen exports, its standard procedure to test animals at random to estimate the disease spread. Ellis-Iversens team did just that to prove the country was free of bluetongue. We want to know what is happening in a population, not just the herds identified as ill, she said. In the case of COVID-19, some countries and US states have begun lifting social distancing and containment measures. Their typical plan: Keep an eye out for the re-emergence of infections and then re-enact control measures as necessary. But Ellis-Iversen cautions that if you only pick up infections by testing individuals admitted to hospital or by measuring deaths, then you miss a lot of valuable information conducting monitoring so far down the line means anything done in response will have a delayed impact. If officials see that hospital cases are creeping towards a threshold, then it would be another week or two before they can actually reduce the number going into the hospital, she said. Were wondering why public health isnt looking more to using the experience from animal health, added Ellis-Iversen. Representative surveys of the population like those used for livestock could inform policymaking, including outbreak control and exit strategies, she said. While randomized surveys are not a replacement for other public health tools, such as identifying people who are ill and tracing who they might have infected, Ellis-Iversen believes they could provide some extremely useful data for deciding on control measures. Recognizing that some countries have limited testing capacity, she also notes that samples need not be large to provide valuable information. You dont need to test 10,000 people, said Ellis-Iversen. We just need to consider how we select the people we test. Also Read: How natural habitat destruction can fuel zoonotic diseases like COVID-19. Germany is using just such a technique for human populations right now, in the hope that the data will inform what restrictions can be loosened without a resurgence of infections. Ellis-Iversen suggests that while randomized surveys are used occasionally in public health, they tend to be conducted more for studies rather than as ongoing surveillance for decision making. It will be interesting to see the results, said Ellis-Iversen. If they show something unexpected, I am sure it will be food for thought around the world. Days before Nadia, the Bronx Zoo tiger, was diagnosed with COVID-19, the Wildlife Conservation Society issued a statement urging the closure of live animal markets. The international organization, which happens to be based at the Bronx Zoo, is among several environmental groups, politicians, and celebrities now advocating for a ban. Live animal markets were also implicated in the 2003 SARS outbreak. These emerging infectious diseases from animals are usually resulting from wildlife consumption and distribution on a commercial scale, said Calle, the Bronx Zoo veterinarian. Its not a lone person hunting to feed their family. Its markets and global supply chains, and encroachment on natural areas, that are the risk factors. Calle was also a veterinarian at the zoo during the West Nile virus outbreak. Hes seen a lot of growth over the last 20 years in terms of looking beyond human medicine to support public health. There was not the same level of integration and coordination then that there is now, he said. About a decade ago, awareness of the interconnectedness of humans, other animals, and the environment began to ramp up even reaching Hollywood. At the end of the 2011 film Contagion (which has enjoyed renewed popularity recently thanks to the pandemic), a flashback details the origins of the fictitious virus MEV-1, modelled after the real-life Nipah virus: A bulldozer clears a patch of trees and a displaced disease-carrying bat drops a chunk of banana into a pig farm. Viewers then watch a pig gobble up the fruit before being slaughtered and handled by a chef, who does not wash his hands before greeting Gwyneth Paltrow. Also Read: Bats are not the enemy in the fight against the novel Coronavirus. Around the same time as the movies release, a movement called One Health also emerged. In 2010, the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Organization for Animal Health created a One Health collaboration they termed Tripartite; the CDC established its One Health Office in 2009. Casey Barton Behravesh, director of the CDC office, highlights the collaboration between the city, state, and federal officials in diagnosing Nadia as evidence of progress. Theres definitely more to be done, she said. Historically, limited resources have been available for needed One Health activities. Other health experts, too, argue that current efforts dont go far enough. You can create One Health offices, but achieving any real coordination or integration is tough, said Epstein. Each agency has its mandate, and its hard to pay to attention to everything else. Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of One Health at the City University of Hong Kong, added that the concept should also go further to include the social sciences. If you want to control diseases, its the human behavior that you have to change or influence, he said. Simply closing down live animal markets could backfire, for example. As long as there is still a demand, theyll find a way of trading this stuff and then you wont even know how to find it, added Pfeiffer. Behavioral and cultural practices were at the core of Predict, a project the US Agency for International Development launched in 2009. Working with partners in dozens of countries, the project aimed to bolster the worlds ability to identify viruses with pandemic potential. That effort included investigating the human behaviors and practices, as well as ecological and biological factors, that drive the emergence, transmission and spread of diseases. Funding for the project ended in September 2019, just before COVID-19 emerged. Its not just at urban food markets where diseases spill over from animals into humans, said Epstein. Hunting or agricultural areas are among other hotspots, especially as humans increasingly encroach on wildlife habitats. We need to be able to continue this kind of surveillance work recognize where a spillover is likely to happen, then work with communities and governments to reduce that risk, he added, referring to the efforts launched via Predict. The US and global community has to commit to investing in a much bigger way. A lack of investment is what has gotten us to where we are now with COVID-19. Some politicians seem to be getting the message. One Health-related legislation is currently pending in Congress. The Advancing Emergency Preparedness Through One Health Act seeks to improve public health preparedness by requiring federal agencies to develop a One Health approach. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is a co-sponsor of the Senate bill. She also spearheaded, alongside Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), a bipartisan resolution for a National One Health Awareness Month, which passed the Senate in December, and is now calling for the creation of a new interagency government entity, the Center for Combating Infectious Disease, to oversee all aspects of preventing, detecting, monitoring, and responding to major outbreaks such as coronavirus, she told Undark in an email. As the planets climate continues to warm and humans and wild animals migrate in ways that bring them into greater contact, the potential for new pandemics that spread from animals to humans will also increase, added Feinstein. COVID-19, she noted, has highlighted the interactions of animals and people and the consequences of not monitoring those interactions closely. This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article. Undark is a digital magazine that reports on science and how it affects society. All opinions expressed are the publication's own. The protests and violence roiling Americas cities speak to a tragically missed opportunity of the nations response to the pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 of us, providing a grim backdrop for the strife. Apart from the need for apartness, and in contrast to the racism rending us all over again, the contagion could hardly be a more potentially uniting crisis. Unlike too much of our law enforcement, the pandemic is by definition indiscriminate, affecting all 50 states and every populated continent. Bill Gates has aptly described it as a world war in which we all are or at least should be on the same side. The coronavirus cares not whether one lives in a coastal metropolis or heartland town; drinks kombucha or Coors; voted for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or (God forbid) Jill Stein. All it wants is a warm trachea. This is both the horror of our time and the hope. Were all in danger, but were all in or we would be with a modicum of leadership. Its a test of our leaders but also a gift to any with a right to call themselves such a thing. Few considered Santa Clara County health officer Dr. Sara Cody as a leader or considered her much at all until she, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and other Bay Area officials imposed the mainlands first shelter-in-place order, taking the lead on a national crisis from decidedly local perches. Most sentient public servants who find themselves confronting a crisis, whether its a snowstorm or a war, realize that managing it competently is the obvious policy and political choice. Those who do are rewarded not just with reelection but also with a degree of approbation unavailable to those cursed with governing in good times. Think an ailing FDR on his way to an unprecedented fourth term (a now unconstitutional feat with which our current president is disconcertingly obsessed). Think Reagan shouting across the wall at Gorbachev. Think George W. Bush standing on the rubble of the World Trade Center with a bullhorn, his approval rating hurtling toward 90% at a moment so fraught that a figure as repugnant as Rudy Giuliani could briefly become Americas mayor just for doing a halfway decent job. All these polarizing figures reaped immense political benefits from the national will to unify against an existential threat while at the same time doing the nation the favor of attempting to lead it in some direction. Sure, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and environs had a head start in this instance. The home of a tech industry preoccupied with stamping out every form of interpersonal contact as well as a live-and-let-die approach to housing and homelessness, the Bay Area has more resting social distance than any place Ive ever been and Ive been to New Jersey. And yet even here, distancing has been difficult. Teenagers congregate in parks and parking lots, supermarket shoppers absentmindedly queue up in pre-pandemic proximity, and enough joggers crowded onto the Embarcadero at one point to draw a scolding from CNN even though the Bay Area was taking the task seriously sooner than almost any other place in the country. Indignation may be the knee-jerk and, given the life-and-death stakes, appropriate response to those flouting distancing orders. But the resistance to isolation, willful and otherwise, speaks to our natural inclination to congregate, especially amid calamity. Hence the efforts to cast separation as a collective project, invoking our sense of solidarity in keeping our distance from each other for each other. Hence the post-Minneapolis protests that have cast all that aside at great risk. But what if division is utterly intrinsic to ones politics? What if our putative leader never had anything else to offer? What if our halfheartedly elected president built his entire public career from TV-firing has-beens and never-weres to demanding the first African American presidents papers to calling Mexicans rapists and drug dealers on pitting people against each other? President Trump vainly tried to answer the pandemic with that strategy, his only strategy, despite its inherently unifying nature, uselessly blaming foreigners, Democrats and other contrived categories. That is how we got the China virus and blue-state bailouts. Its how we got #FireFauci and presidential prescriptions for chloroquine and Clorox. Its how we got Gavin Newsom, Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer and countless other state and local officials acting as our provisional presidents. Its how we got when the looting starts, the shooting starts. And its how we got the deadliest plague on the planet. Josh Gohlke is a San Francisco Chronicle deputy opinion editor. Other officers helped restrain Floyd and prevented witnesses from intervening. The incident has sparked outrage around the world and prompted thousands of protestors for the most part peaceful, but some violent to demonstrate in Richmond for five straight days. On Monday, Richmond police came into criticism for hitting peaceful demonstrators at the Lee Monument with tear gas without warning. More than 230 arrests have been made but most for the misdemeanor crime of violating the citys curfew, which is no longer in effect. McEachin said one of the first things that struck her was that none of the witnesses, black or white, to Floyds death, intervened. They obeyed the police authority. These people did that, they obeyed the law and all that happened as a result of that, was that they were forced to be a witness to a murder, said McEachin. Woody said the murder brought to light what had been going on. The people are just sick and tired of it. ... Enough is enough. Working homicides and everything else, but Ive never seen a thing so blatant and [the police] didnt really care who saw it or what was going on. They should be put under the jail, said Woody. For travel lovers weary of sheltering in place, the news that popular destinations such as Iceland and Greece and parts of the Caribbean will be reopening to international tourists is encouraging. But before you book any trips, youll have to examine the policies of each country carefully and answer some important questions. Iceland is one of the first countries preparing to reopen to American travelers, as soon as European Union/Schengen area travel restrictions -- which were extended from June 15 to July 1 -- are lifted. So, well look at these issues from the perspective of traveling there. Subscriber content preview TUKWILA The Green River Construction yard, at 14300 Interurban Ave. S., sold for $2.9 million, according to King County records. The sellers were the owners of that business, who assembled about two acres over recent decades. . . . Potentially harmful man-made chemicals used in firefighting foam and consumer products have contaminated groundwater and even private wells near military, industrial and disposal sites across the country-; including Joe Foss Field and Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. Currently, scientists must take water and soil samples from the sites to the lab and use expensive instruments to detect the presence of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, said South Dakota State University chemistry and biochemistry professor Brian Logue. "There currently is not a good way to take that technology to the field." Logue and research scientist Randy Jackson of Seacoast Science, Inc. are developing a portable device to detect the presence of PFAS in water, sediment, and soil through a two-year, $300,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation and Research grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. This is part of the agency's efforts to help states and communities identify and address PFAS contamination and thereby protect the nation's drinking water. PFAS is a family of more than 3,000 chemicals used to make water- and stain-resistant fabrics, carpets, and clothing as well as nonstick cookware. They are in paints, cleaning products, some food packaging, and firefighting agents. Some are also present in coatings for electronic components and solar panels as well as in medical devices. The researchers are expanding the technology they developed for a portable cyanide detection device. That project was part of Jackson's doctoral work, which he completed under Logue's tutelage. PFAS contamination PFAS has been called "forever chemicals" because they are very stable-; they persist both in the environment and in the human body. For most organic compounds, there are bacteria or oxidative or hydrologic chemical reactions that degrade them into less toxic compounds.However, PFAS is very difficult to degrade, so they stick around for a long time unless you actively try to degrade them." Brian Logue, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, South Dakota State University "They are engineered to break down slowly with a half-life in water of more than 92 years," Jackson said. "Their high water solubility makes them especially dangerous they can enter and be transported by groundwater into the drinking water supply." Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City is one of the EPA's Superfund cleanup sites, due to PFAS contamination from the foam used to extinguish aircraft fires. In 2017, the U.S. Air Force reported that PFAS groundwater contamination had spread beyond the base into local private drinking water wells. Last June, the City of Sioux Falls filed suit in U.S. District Court against a number of chemical companies, including 3M and DuPont, because PFAS has contaminated surface and groundwater, soil, and sediment in the portion of Joe Foss Field leased to the South Dakota Air National Guard. Human exposure can occur through contaminated water, soil, and air. In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors human exposure to environmental chemicals, found 98% of Americans have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood. The substances also accumulate in the liver and kidneys. Scientists have just begun studying their impact on human health; however, changes in liver, thyroid, and pancreas function and hormone levels occur in animals exposed to high levels of PFAS, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Developing a PFAS detector In Phase I, which was completed last year, the researchers showed they can measure/detect PFAS in water. "We came up with the idea to degrade PFAS to smaller components that are not as difficult to analyze, then isolate them and detect them fluorometrically like we detect cyanide in our lab," Logue explained. However, he noted, though the concept is similar, "all the details are quite a bit different." Degrading the PFAS into smaller components is relatively easy, but selectively isolating these components from the matrix is challenging, he explained. Furthermore, the researchers had to synthesize chemicals that would react, or fluoresce, in the presence of the smaller components. "We found a good fluorometric agent in Phase I, did some degradations, and got some good results," Logue said. Two doctoral students are also working on the project. During Phase II, the researchers will put the proof of concept into practice. "Now it is time to take the core technology and create a sensor to do this analysis," he added. This will involve optimizing the process, determining exactly which chemistry to use and the time required to detect PFAS. "We've focused so far on water, which is the easiest matrix," Logue said. "Once the sensor works well with water, there are ways to prepare soil samples to use that same technology." Based on the near-real-time analysis, the scientists will then know whether the site warrants further assessment. In addition, Logue sees the possibility of further applications for the sensor because industries use similar compounds. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may finally give in-principle approval to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares six months after it approached the regulator but with riders, sources told Moneycontrol. The Sebi may ask the countrys biggest exchange to declare all the cases it is facing along with their status in the draft red herring prospectus, the preliminary document that a company submits in preparation for an IPO, sources said. "The exchange will need to furnish all details of co-locations cases, including Escrow account where co-locations income is parked. Then it is for investors to decide whether they want to invest or not," a source said. The sources spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity. The Sebi and NSE did not respond to Moneycontrols mails seeking comments. The market regulator had in 2016 ordered NSE to conduct a forensic audit of its systems following complaints of preferential treatment enjoyed by some brokers. A whistleblower had alleged that some brokers between 2011 and 2014 had placed their servers at the same location as NSEs algorithmic trading servers. They enjoyed an unfair advantage as they could gain faster access to the trading system. In a trade where fortunes are made and undone in a matter of seconds, it led to a huge uproar. A Sebi probe found that NSE systems could be manipulated and barred the exchange from capital markets for six months, starting April 2019. The exchange was also asked to deposit revenue from its co-location service in an Escrow account. The money in the account is expected to have swelled to at least Rs 2,500 crore. In January this year, NSE Managing Director Vikram Limaye told media that the exchange would go to the regulator again for an IPO and hoped to be listed in the third quarter of this calendar year. The NSE had in December 2016 filed a draft red herring prospectus but Sebi put the application on hold following the co-locations case probe. The Sebi had also asked NSE had to pay around Rs 625 crore along with 12 percent interest per annum in the case. It also clawed back the salaries of some senior officers of the exchange. A Central Bureau of Investigation and an income tax department probe in the case is still on. "Basically, the NSE IPO is an offer of sale for existing clients, most of which are financial institutions. So, if they declare risk factor in their DRHP, then the regulator should not have a major problem, another source said. The Sebi took an issue with NSE challenging some of its order in the Securities and Appellate Tribunal but it was a common regulatory practice for listed entities, a source said. Though the exchange is not listed but is a first-level regulator as companies making disclosures to it, another source said. The Life Insurance Corporation is the biggest stakeholder in the NSE with a 12.51 percent stake. State Bank of India has a 3.63 percent stake, SBI Capital Market Limited 4.33 percent, General Insurance Corporation of India 1.64 percent, New India Assurance Company 1.42 percent and the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited has a 4.44 percent stake in the exchange. The NSE may get listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange or the Metropolitan Stock Exchange, a source said. The Mumbai-based exchange has more than 95 percent market share in the derivatives segment and almost 90 percent in the cash segment. The Bombay Stock Exchange and the Multi Commodity Exchange are already listed on the bourses. Recently, the National Commodity Derivative Exchange, a subsidiary of the NSE, got the Sebi go-ahead for an IPO. The NSE holds a 15 percent stake in NCDEX. SHENZHEN, China, June 4 (Reuters) - Shenzhen has drafted China's first personal bankruptcy laws as the southern city tackles broader economic troubles stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, paving the way for others to follow suit. The rules are intended to give "honest and unfortunate" debtors the chance to escape the mire of debt and make a comeback, the city government said in an official post on Wednesday. Despite corporate bankruptcy laws nationwide since 2007, individuals are still held personally liable for business debts, making their recovery particularly difficult, according to draft rules posted on a Shenzhen government website on Tuesday. The draft rules, open for public comment until June 18, allow Shenzhen residents who cannot pay their debts to apply for personal bankruptcy if they have paid social insurance in the city for at least three years. Once approved, applicants will spend at least three years in a supervised "probation" period before all or part of their debts are wiped clean. During this time their expenditure will be supervised, the draft rules said. A Reuters analysis showed 76 entities filed for bankruptcy with the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in May, up 85% from a year earlier. Individual businesses made up more than a third of Shenzhen's 3.3 million registered commercial entities, with many involved in e-commerce or freelance work, official figures show. "After the epidemic, it's unclear just how many business owners will be forced on to the country's defaulter list if they fail," said Yin Yanrong, a partner in the Guangdong Baocheng law firm. Creditors owed more than 500,000 yuan ($70,228.66) will also be able to apply to the court for bankruptcy liquidation of the debtor. Several lawyers told Reuters they expect other regions to roll out similar trials. The move also aims to rid the economy of risks such as credit-fuelled personal consumption and bubbles like that in Shenzhen's red-hot real-estate market. "Shenzhen, as a leading pilot area, usually gives priority to new policies," said Chen Xiaorui, a lawyer with the Guangdong Nuoming law firm. ($1=7.1196 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen and Yawen Chen in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. The New York State Thruway Authority cash toll collection system was to resume along the Thruways ticketed-system 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, replacing emergency toll procedures in place since March 22. Drivers will receive a toll ticket upon entry and be able to pay their tolls with cash at a staffed lane when exiting the Thruway. Drivers with E-ZPass will continue to experience no contact travel and payment at all tolling locations. During these unprecedented times, we thank all of our toll collection staff and customers who have seamlessly adjusted to the ever-changing conditions that COVID-19 has presented, Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew J. Driscoll said in a press release. As we move forward, we will be taking every step possible to protect our workforce and drivers while continuing a high level of service our customers have come to expect, Driscoll added. As the collection of cash tolls resumes, enhanced safety measures will be in place at all toll plazas for the protection of toll collectors and motorists. The installation of plexiglass will separate collectors and motorists to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Toll collection staff will continue to wear face coverings and sanitize workstations periodically throughout their shifts. Cash customers may experience delays at toll plazas as regions across the state begin the new phases of the reopening process. The Thruway Authority urged motorists to sign up for E-ZPass, the only non-contact method to pay tolls. Construction, meanwhile continues on the system-wide transition to cashless tolling by the end of 2020 when cash payment will no longer be accepted. Motorists can sign up for E-ZPass online. Non-E-ZPass customers who traveled the Thruways ticketed-system between March 22 and 8:59 p.m. May 31 will receive one toll bill with all accumulated tolls and no additional fees. Toll bills will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle at the address on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Customers can pay with a credit card through the Thruway Authoritys website or by mail. E-ZPass customers and the Thruways seven cashless tolling fixed-price barriers were unaffected by the Emergency Toll Procedures. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires") announces that, further to its press releases dated April 29, 2020 and May 27, 2020, where the Company announced the delay of filing its December 31, 2019 audited annual financial statements, the accompanying management's discussion and analysis, as well as the associated CEO and CFO certifications (collectively, the "Required Disclosure") solely due to COVID-19 based delays, the Company is announcing that filing of the interim financial statements, the accompanying management's discussion and analysis, and related CEO and CFO certifications for the interim period ended March 31, 2020 (the "Interim Filings") due June 1, 2020, will be postponed pursuant to COVID-19 filing extensions permitted by OSC Instrument 51-502 until filing of the Required Disclosure has been completed. The Company is continuing to work diligently to file the Interim Filings by July 14, 2020. The Required Disclosure is still expected to be filed by mid June. Other than as disclosed herein or under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, the Company confirms that there have been no material business developments since November 29, 2019, being the filing date of its last interim financial statements. The Company's management and other insiders are subject to an insider trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in section 9 of National Policy 11-207. About American Aires Inc. American Aires is an Ontario based technology company that is focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative technology solutions to allow consumers to safely engage with electronic products of the 21st century. The Company is currently engaged in the business of production, distribution and sales of products intended to protect persons from the harmful effects of electromagnetic emissions, which is produced from electronic devices such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, tablets and electric cars to name a few. The Company has developed a technology that restructures and transforms electromagnetic field haze into a more biologically-compatible form to reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation. The Company's current principal products are the Shield Pro, Aires Defender Pro and Aires Guardian. For more information please visit www.airestech.com, or contact: Dimitry Serov, President & Chief Executive Officer Email: dimitry@airestech.com Phone: (905) 482-4667 Investor Relations: Samina Deen, Head of Partnerships Email: samina@airestech.com Phone: (416) 320-1634 wifi@airestech.com Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57276 Toronto is among the 10 most expensive housing markets in the world. Between 2016 and 2019, the GTA added more than 325,000 jobs and only 102,000 new homes only two per cent of which are considered affordable. For many, the prospect of living comfortably in the citys downtown has become a pipe dream, especially for students who find themselves increasingly unable to afford the cost of living that accompanies life within city limits. The Star asked four urban planning students to offer their solutions to Torontos housing crisis. One common theme connected their visions housing must be seen as a human right accessible to all, and not as a commodity for developers to maximize profits. Keisha St. Louis-McBurnie Degree: Master of science in planning School: University of Toronto As a kid growing up in co-operative housing in Cabbagetown, I always assumed I was living in a normal apartment building. I didnt know what co-operative housing meant or how it was any different than any other type of housing. When I grew older and became more interested in urban planning, I realized that, partly, this was because of the democratic decision-making structure and investments put into the housing where I lived. To improve housing in Toronto, governments need to provide housing affordability in perpetuity and invest more in the quality of life for residents. At the co-op where I grew up, our housing had summer day camps, field trips for Easter, Halloween parties and annual Pride parties. These kinds of housing models were developed and financed throughout the 1970s to 1990s, and show how innovative a model like this is for building mixed-income communities. We can look to models like the one used in the city of Amsterdam for inspiration, where the city requires a high percentage of low-income and moderate-income housing to be included in every new development. Not only does this make the city more affordable, but it helps to remove the stigma often associated with affordable housing its just a normal way of life that the government helps facilitate. It underscores the reality that housing is a human right. Jackie Brown Degree: Master of environmental science, urban planning School: York University The financialization of real estate and housing poses a big problem in Toronto. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, real estate investment trusts have increasingly pursued residential and commercial property to yield financial returns to their investors, rather than focus on providing adequate living conditions for their tenants. Thats why were seeing renovictions, rent hikes and other tactics designed to maximize profit, and thats why the people who play a fundamental role in our society essential workers, including taxi drivers, grocery store workers and other service providers are being pushed outside the downtown core. Theres no one strategy that will solve the affordability crisis nothings a silver bullet. A multipronged approach is the only way to address this. By adopting models like community land trusts, where non-profit organizations acquire and preserve land for community benefit, we can help bring down the high costs of housing. Land trusts remove property from the speculative market in perpetuity, so it can stay affordable. The recent collaboration between housing groups, the City of Toronto and developers in the Bloor-Dufferin neighbourhood could be an interesting model to adopt moving forward, as the developers have agreed to contribute several million dollars to an affordable-housing land trust. Partnerships like these can be used to secure permanent affordable housing as part of new development projects. Jamilla Mohamud Degree: Master of environmental science, urban planning School: York University To understand whats going on today, we need to look at Torontos affordability crisis with a broader lens and understand the history of urban planning and housing in Canada. Right now, were seeing the negative impacts of decades worth of defunding and divestment from federal and provincial governments throughout the 1980s and 1990s. If we think about Canadas colonial history, including ongoing practices of settler colonialism, and how its planning resulted in racialized segregation, we can understand why there are two sides to Toronto one thats highly concentrated with low-income and racialized communities living in affordable housing complexes, and the other thats full of well-off people living in higher-income neighbourhoods, most of whom arent impacted by the housing crisis we so often talk about. This is why all three levels of government need to step in. We cant have livable affordable housing without governments that are willing to help. A lot of our public housing stock is in bad condition. Years of defunding and divestment have led to an endless backlog of repair and maintenance needs. If we want to create better affordable housing in Toronto, we need to make significant investments in repairing and maintaining those buildings. We also have to build affordable housing in different areas of the city. Toronto is filled with concentrations of poverty, where low-income residents are kept in secluded parts of the city. The city can create mixed-income neighbourhoods that include lower-income housing with new development projects at greater depths of affordability. People who work in lower-paying jobs downtown shouldnt have to commute from Etobicoke or Scarborough because they cant afford rent downtown. Julian Iacobelli Degree: Master of environmental science, urban planning School: York University The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how different life can be in Toronto depending on where you live. The virus spreads through clusters of low-income neighbourhoods while higher-income residents in secluded neighbourhoods mostly avoid it. Our governments create policies that suit those who can profit from housing. Weve seen inclusionary zoning rolled back, and regulations around rent control removed. Now, younger people who cant afford the downtown are forced into the suburbs, creating longer commute times and offering fewer amenities. Ultimately, housing in Toronto is seen as a commodity when, in reality, we should see it as a human right. We can look to cities not too different from our own, like New York City, for new approaches to changing the way we think about housing. Its community land trusts, for instance, are community-owned, community-operated and take land off the speculative market. They function as non-profits: all rent goes into maintenance, repairs and similar necessities that benefit the tenants. Though theyre largely community-run, we still need the city and all levels of government to fund initiatives like community land trusts. The government is particularly helpful for land acquisition costs and with reducing property taxes on these places. Of course, New York City has no shortage of housing problems, but the models it has adopted are ones we should adopt, too. And ideally, we should expand these projects significantly. Jacob Lorinc is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @jacoblorinc Syrian air defences thwarted an unidentified missile attack on a city in northwestern Hama province, state media said on Thursday. The news flash on state television said the missiles hit the outskirts of Misyaf city. Israel has in the last two months stepped up its strikes on suspected Iranian targets inside Syria. Search Keywords: Short link: 04.06.2020 LISTEN Andrea Maliza, 35, could not believe his eyes when he gazed at his half-hectare maize field. Just a few weeks earlier, the father of two had reason to believe the healthy, young plants would result in a decent harvest. Most Malawians, 80 per cent of the population, are subsistence farmers, depending on agriculture for survival. After harvesting, many farmers sell a portion of their produce to buy necessities for their families. I was downcast to see all the leaves with patches and I knew that something was seriously wrong, said Mr. Maliza, who lives in Ligojo village in the southern district of Mulanje. Inside the leaves were some worms similar to those that we have seen in previous years. Because of armyworms I will not earn what I need to feed my family, and will also not have money to support my children with school fees and stationery, added Mr. Maliza. This was not the first time Mr. Maliza and hundreds of thousands of farmers in Malawi have experienced an invasion of armyworms. However, according to farmers and agricultural experts, this growing season has been one of the worst. Nobody was sure how to deal with the worms. Some people were physically crushing them and applying fluids from bitter crops. Personally, I didnt do anything at all and just left them thinking they will go away when more rains come. He adds he is yet to receive advice from agricultural authorities. Lingering threat In 2017, Malawi declared 20 of its 28 districts as disaster areas due to the aggressive pest that feeds on cereal crops like maize, a staple in many countries. That January, armyworms were reported in several countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, including Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. By April, most SADC countries were affected. African countries are not alone in battling the pest. Last year, armyworms showed up in 10 Asian countries, including Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand. According to the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) armyworms are native to the Americas. According to Malawian agriculture expert Tamani Nkhono-Mvula, the problem has been particularly severe this year, affecting about 150,000 hectares of maize. Just over 1,675,00 hectares of land are used for maize production in the country. In terms of harvest losses, I am sure much will be known as we do the second and third round crops estimates. However, in other households the loss has been up to 100% of the crop, where the only remedy is replanting, Mr. Nkhono-Mvula told Africa Renewal in an interview. Mr. Nkhono-Mvula says that more needs to be done to understand how best to deal with armyworms, given their foreign origin. We need to invest quite a lot in research. We probably need to come up with resistant crop varieties and other biological means of controlling the pest, as heavy use of chemicals may have negative effects on the environment, he added. Multifaceted approach FAO has been working closely with the Malawi government to strengthen regular and real-time monitoring of the armyworm, recently rolling out a mobile application dubbed Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System. Together with the European Union, FAO is also working in districts on sustainable armyworm management methods, and conducting nationwide training sessions for trainers who, in turn, train frontline extension workers. A number of farmer practices, such as physical crushing of armyworm egg masses and the use of botanical pesticides like Neem leaves and the tuberous shrub locally known as Mphanjovu (Neorautanenia mitis), have been found to be consistently better at reducing infestation levels and damage than some of the synthetic pesticides, said FAO Malawis George Phiri. Mr. Phiri touted this as a positive development, offering affordable solutions which farmers can access easily, encouraging cultivation of plants useful to communities and the reduced use of synthetic pesticides, some of which are highly hazardous and pose major risks to human health and the environment. Malawi recently hosted a delegation from Botswana, courtesy of support of the government of Japan, to learn from Malawian farmers of this successful story, he said. The Malawi government says that agricultural workers have been briefed on the importance of an integrated approach to pest management, and is distributing some pesticides to agricultural authorities and districts in armyworm-affected areas. As government, we promote both indigenous and modern technologies to do away with the armyworms. We urge farmers to liaise with extension workers or agriculture officers for advice on promotion of indigenous ways of controlling and managing the armyworms. This is to avoid killing the crop in the process or rendering it to be hazardous to the environment or humans, said Priscilla Mateyu, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. Mobile vans have been deployed to affected areas for sensitization on control of the outbreaks. Efforts have also been made for the mobile van to sensitize farmers in areas where there are no outbreaks, to alert them, said Ms. Mateyu. With just a few weeks left before harvest, Mr. Maliza is still not sure how much produce he will be able to salvage. Before the invasion, he harvested 10 to 20 bags of maize per year. Looking at the size and quality of the cobs, I doubt if I am going to get even half of that, he said. For more information on COVID-19, visit www.un.org/coronavirus Africa Renewal The House of Representatives on Thursday voted against a motion seeking castration as a punishment for rapists. In a motion moved by James Faleke, he recommended that persons found guilty of rape should be castrated. The House adopted the motion condemning sexual violence, but rejected his prayer on castration for rapists. The prayer generated controversies, which lasted for about two hours. House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila then asked to know what would happen to an older female who raped a younger male, before subjecting the prayer to a voice vote. The nays had it. Yet, the lawmakers called for stiffer penalties against persons found guilty of rape, as did the Senate on Tuesday. Contributors to the motion cited weak institutions, poor enforcement, poverty and unacceptable social practices as some of the reasons sexual violence against women is on the rise. In honour of victims of sexual violence in Nigeria, the House resolved that members should be dressed in black on the next legislative day, next Tuesday. The discussion around rape and sexual assaults came to the front burner over the week after reports of the murder of some women in Nigeria after being raped. The police in Jigawa State on Sunday said it arrested 11 men who allegedly raped a 12-year-old. On Monday, Nigerians expressed outrage over the rape and murder of a 23-year-old female 100-level Microbiology student of the University of Benin, Vera Omozuwa, inside a church in Edo State where she reportedly went to study on May 13. She died 18 days later at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, the police said. While some reported she was raped, the police said they were waiting to be guided by her autopsy report. Earlier this week also, a student of Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) at the Federal College of Animal Health and Production, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was attacked, raped, and stabbed to death at Akinyele Kara Market along Old Oyo Road, Ibadan by unknown assailants. The two Michigan Republicans leading the legislatures probe into the states handling of the COVID-19 pandemic want to hear directly from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Rep. Matt Hall, R-Marshall, and Sen. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, who chair the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, sent a letter to Whitmer this week asking her to participate in an upcoming hearing. Referencing Whitmers recent testimony before a Congressional subcommittee, Hall and Nesbitt asked Whitmer to answer questions for people who live a little closer to home. With your participation, we can decipher these decisions in a more in-depth fashion than with a departmental head or through a daily news briefing, while upholding state government as accountable and transparent to the people it represents, the letter reads. The committee has previously heard from the states Unemployement Insurance Agency and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and has focused heavily on delays many people who became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic are facing. The officials from those departments were unable to answer many of our questions and when I asked who would have those answers, they told me the governors office would," Hall said in a statement. "Governor Whitmer can provide additional answers and clarity to the decisions she has made, while upholding state government as transparent and accountable to the people it represents. Hall and Nesbitt are asking the governor to appear before the committee by July 8. Whitmer spokesperson Tiffany Brown said the administration will review the request. 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. Read more on MLive: Michigan hospitals still treating 1,000 coronavirus patients Hospital visitations in Michigan can resume immediately after Whitmer rescinds trio of executive orders Thursday, June 4: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan From hair salons to gyms, experts rank 36 activities by coronavirus risk level Galveston police officers shot a gun-toting man who was wearing a ballistic vest and firing at random Wednesday night. The 56-year-old was in the 1300 block of Bay Meadows Drive around 9:50 p.m. when witnesses spotted him firing the weapon, according to Galveston police. Three officers pulled their guns and ordered the man to drop his weapon, but he allegedly refused, police said. GEORGE FLOYD: Autopsy shows former Houston resident killed by Minneapolis police had coronavirus The three officers then opened fire, striking the man. He was taken to a nearby hospital in a serious condition, police said. Two of the officers have two years experience, while the third has been on the force less than a year. All three were placed on administrative leave as authorities investigate. 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 It's an eerie visual in the River Oaks Shopping District - Cartier, Dior, Harry Winston, Brunello Cucinelli and Steak 48 are shown in the photos below with boarded-up windows amid nationwide protests over George Floyd. The windows were still boarded up Wednesday morning following Tuesday's peaceful protests in downtown Houston. The demonstrations did not travel to River Oaks. The Houston Police Department reported on June 3 that about 200 people were arrested during the June 2 protests for refusing to clear streets. Some people were seen throwing rocks and bottles at officers, HPD reported. See the photos below: [June 04, 2020] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation of Carnival Corporation (CCL) on Behalf of Investors Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Carnival Corporation ("Carnival" or the "Company") (NYSE: CCL) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. On April 16, 2020, when the Company still had at sea two of its cruise ships, Bloomberg (News - Alert) Businessweek published an article titled "Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going." The article stated that Carnival may have failed to effectively protect its passengers from COVID-19 on a series of cruise voyages, and indeed continued to operate new cruise departures despite its knowledge that the threat posed by COVID-19 had materialized on its ships and was likely to proliferate further. On this news, the Company's share price fell $0.53 per share, or over 4%, to close at $11.85 per share on April 16, 2020. /p> The Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Cruise Ships Set Sail Knowing the Deadly Risk to Passengers and Crew." The article detailed how cruise ships, particularly Carnival ships, facilitated the spread of COVID-19, and provided new facts on early warning signs Carnival and its affiliated cruise lines possessed and the Company's disclosure failures. Further, the article also noted that The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure had requested documents from Carnival related "to Covid-19 or other infectious disease outbreaks aboard cruise ships" and that testimony from a different investigation in Australia exposed that Carnival and its affiliated cruise lines may have misled shore officials by concealing those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms before docking. On this news, the Company's share price fell $1.97 per share, or over 12%, to close at $13.93 per share, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased Carnival securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005184/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HOD HASHARON, Israel, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Valens, the leader in high-speed in-vehicle connectivity, today announced the VA7000 family of automotive chipsets, which will deliver ultra-high-speed connectivity with the most resilient physical layer (PHY) for error-free links and high EMI immunity. The VA7000 chipsets will be the first in the industry to implement the MIPI A-PHY SM standard for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems (ADS). MIPI A-PHY, now in its final approval phase, specifies in-vehicle high-speed data transmission over lightweight wiring harnesses for up to 15 meters, with adaptive noise cancellation and retransmission mechanisms to guarantee superior EMC/EMI performance. The MIPI Alliance is a leading standards development organization for interface specifications; its ubiquitous CSI-2 & MIPI DSI-2SM camera and display interfaces are widely implemented for sensor connectivity. The VA7000 family has been designed to support the current and future gears of MIPI A-PHY from 2Gbpps to 16Gbps as defined in version 1.0, and with a roadmap to 48Gbps and beyond as expected in future versions. The first chipsets in the family include: The VA7031 Serializer designed to support remote long-reach connectivity of CSI-2-based image sensors, radars, LiDARs, with link speeds of up to 8Gbps designed to support remote long-reach connectivity of CSI-2-based image sensors, radars, LiDARs, with link speeds of up to 8Gbps The VA7042 Deserializer, featuring two independent receiver links, with speeds of up to 8Gbps each, with an additional local CSI-2 local input port to support more complex topologies when necessary featuring two independent receiver links, with speeds of up to 8Gbps each, with an additional local CSI-2 local input port to support more complex topologies when necessary The VA7044 Deserializer, featuring four independent receiver links, with speeds of up to 8Gbps each, with an additional local CSI-2 local input port The VA7000 family is a hardware-based solution optimized for asymmetric links with no software stack. It guarantees a high-performing, simplified architecture, leading to a reduction in wire harness complexity and lower total system costs. It also enables the convergence of additional protocols (I2C, GPIOs, clock and frame sync), while guaranteeing near-zero latency to support time-sensitive, high-throughput traffic for advanced computer processing. "The VA7000 family is the first to implement the MIPI A-PHY specification, confirming Valens' commitment to driving industry standards with innovative connectivity solutions," said Daniel Adler, Vice President, Automotive Business Unit, at Valens. "MIPI A-PHY delivers an interoperable ecosystem, bringing considerable benefits to both OEMs and Tier-1s, such as reducing complexity and lowering total system costs, without compromising performance." "The development of a standard-compliant chipset to support the need for resilient, higher bandwidth in-vehicle connectivity is a major advancement in the automotive field," said Ian Riches, Vice President for the Global Automotive Practice, Strategy Analytics. "Valens' ability to deliver such speeds over long-reach wiring harness can considerably simplify in-vehicle architecture, while ensuring superior performance and safety." For more information about the VA7000 family of chipsets, contact us. MIPI will be hosting a webinar, "MIPI A-PHY: The Cornerstone of a MIPI Automotive System Solution," co-presented by Edo Cohen, director of strategic innovation at Valens and MIPI A-PHY Subgroup vice lead. The webinar will take place on June 30 at 8 am PDT, and on July 1 at 15:00 JST. To learn more and to register visit: https://bit.ly/3dswxcK. About Valens Valens Automotive, a division of Valens, was established in 2015 with the singular goal of delivering the world's most advanced audio/video chipset technology to the automotive industry. Valens Automotive chipset technology enables resilient ultra-high-speed in-vehicle connectivity to support the needs of the connected and autonomous car. Valens' patented HDBaseT technology is used by the world's largest audio/video component manufacturers, enabling the highest quality of connectivity over the simplest wiring infrastructure. Valens is a private company headquartered in Israel. For more information: https://www.valens.com/automotive-solutions, or follow @ValensAuto. About MIPI Alliance MIPI Alliance (MIPI) develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries. There is at least one MIPI specification in every smartphone manufactured today. Founded in 2003, the organization has over 325 member companies worldwide and 14 active working groups delivering specifications within the mobile ecosystem. Members of the organization include handset manufacturers, device OEMs, software providers, semiconductor companies, application processor developers, IP tool providers, automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and test and test equipment companies, as well as camera, tablet and laptop manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.mipi.org. MIPI is a registered trademark owned by MIPI Alliance. MIPI A-PHYSM, MIPI CSI-2SM and MIPI DSI-2SM are service marks of MIPI Alliance. Contact: Sandra Welfeld Communications, Valens [email protected] +972-52-4007283 SOURCE Valens Related Links https://www.valens.com/ Chinas insects and other invertebrates are spoilt for choice with the countrys array of deserts, rainforests, mountains and tropical coastlines. The winning photographs of the Wild China Biodiversity Photography Contest hosted by Wild China Film present the countrys sweeping lands and rare plants from unexpected perspectives. Here is a pick of the crop Jan 21, 2022 06:20 PM Derek Chauvin, the fired police officer charged in a Minneapolis man's death that sparked protests around the world, spent eight years as a military policeman in the Army Reserve, according to his official service record. The 44-year-old was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder, along with previously filed charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the May 25 death of George Floyd, according to a release from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. The incident in which Chauvin and three other police officers detained Floyd has sparked protests in many U.S. cities. Floyd, 46, died after Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed and laying on the pavement. Chauvin enlisted in the Army Reserve in February 1996 and left in February 2004, about three years after he joined the Minneapolis Police Department, according to his military service record and a redacted copy of his police personnel file. He attained the rank of specialist in February 1998 and left the service at the same rank. His military awards included the Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal with M device, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and Driver and Mechanic Badge with Driver-W Bar. On his police application to become a community service officer in 2001, Chauvin said he spent seven months at a training center formerly known as the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany, and five months with the 795th Military Police Battalion at former Army base Fort McClellan, Ala. Chauvin was being held Thursday in the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights in Sillwater with a bail set at $500,000. Boris Johnson has been warned the lives of security guards, cleaners and catering staff are unnecessarily being put at risk by the reopening of parliament and social distancing measures being flouted. In a letter to No 10, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) representing more than 800 staff on the parliamentary estate urged the prime minister to act rapidly to ensure the safety of the workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The union added it would wholeheartedly support any action taken by those it represents, as the PCSs parliamentary branch told Commons authorities it could ballot in favour of strike action if their requirements for a safe working environment are not met. It comes amid anger at the governments decision to end the so-called hybrid parliament that was introduced during the height of the pandemic received and has resulted in scenes of MPs queueing across the Palace of Westminster in order to vote on Tuesday. The following day, business secretary Alok Sharma also began self-isolating after appearing visibly ill during a debate in the Commons chamber and is currently awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test. How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Show all 6 1 /6 How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Milan, Italy REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities North Jakarta, Indonesia REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Jakarta, Indonesia REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Venice, Italy REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities New Delhi, India REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Islamabad, Pakistan REUTERS In their letter to Mr Johnson, the PCS union said the virtual parliament model, which is currently being used by the House of Lords, had worked well but social distancing and observing pathways and signage broke down during a round of votes on Tuesday. It adds: Staff believe they (and MPs) are now at increased risk of contracting Covid-19 and this, in turn, is impacting on the mental wellbeing of our members working on the estate. Many people can work from home, but those working as security guards, cleaners, catering staff, do not have the ability to do this. These dedicated workers are on the frontline in Parliament and across government departments, putting their lives at risk. We believe Parliament has reopened too soon and the lives of PCS members, and those of our sister unions, are being put at risk unnecessarily. We would therefore be grateful for your urgent intervention in this matter; the safety of our members and all those working on and attending the parliamentary estate is paramount. General secretary Mark Serwotka said the PCS union would support its members wholeheartedly if they decide to take action and the blame will squarely lie with Jacob Rees-Mogg. Buisness secretary Alok Sharma in the Commons on Wednesday (AFP/Getty) The decision to scrap the hybrid parliament has been a disaster and could potentially spark an outbreak of Covid-19 which MPs will inevitably take back to their constituents, he added. Our members warned Jacob Rees-Mogg about the impracticality of reopening parliament, where social distancing is impossible. But the government would rather put lives of staff and MPs in danger in direct contradiction of their own advice to the public. During business questions in the Commons on Thursday, Mr Rees-Mogg was also accused of making dismissive comments about the cleaners working in the parliamentary estate. Responding to suggestions he had put cleaning staff at risk with the re-opening of parliament, he said: The cleaning staff were coming in anyway and it is worth remembering that the cleaning staff were coming into this House when we werent, and I think the idea that others should work when we dont have to is one that I find unimpressive. Raising a point of order on the issue moments later, SNP MP Alison Thewliss said: The Commons leader made reference to cleaners having to be in this building anyway. And I feel that the way he did that was incredibly dismissive of the work that those people do for us in this building. A House of Commons spokesperson said: Our priority is to ensure that those on the estate are safe while parliamentary business is facilitated. "We are taking every step possible to limit the number of staff who have to physically return to the building and are meeting regularly with representative of the trade unions for staff in the House of Commons and PDS. We are taking all practical measures to anticipate numbers of people travelling to the estate and have identified and implemented a range of procedures to maintain social distancing. "We have recently installed clear signage across the estate and have reviewed areas where people may congregate to ensure everyone observes social distancing guidelines. "We are working to ensure that we continue to meet the Governments guidance on becoming a COVID-19 secure workplace. DECATUR The Macon County Board on Wednesday approved a scaled-back version of a plan to increase raises for four officeholders in the future. The board voted 11-7 to adjust salaries of the auditor, circuit clerk, coroner and recorder by 1% in the 2021-2022 term and 2% in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 salary years. Under state law, officeholder salaries have to be reviewed and voted on 180 days before an election. The four seats are on the November ballot. The board last month voted 12-6 against 2-3% raises over the same period. They rejected another proposal to hold salaries flat. Board member Laura Zimmerman, D-Decatur, who voted in favor of the salary increases in May, on Wednesday said raises for those seats had not been awarded since 2015 while other positions such as the treasurer and county clerk have. The resolution came as the county is considering furloughing staff to make up for lost sales tax revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic and an $800,000 deficit carried over from the previous fiscal year. Board Chairman Kevin Greenfield said the current salaries, which are around $83,000 for each of the four positions, was a fair amount in addition to a $6,500 stipend awarded by the state. I am disappointed in the outcome of tonights meeting, Greenfield said. It is not that I dont feel the officeholders are deserving of raises but I dont feel comfortable with this move (while) having employee furloughs still on the table. I just dont know what our financial future will be like with everything happening. Employee furloughs were first discussed during an April meeting, but board members have not implemented furloughs. The most recent proposal outlined 10-day periods without pay for county employees who are not funded through grants. Local governments across the state are bracing for the financial effects of the pandemic, which has caused a major decrease in proceeds from sales, motor fuel and income taxes. According to a board document, the county could see a $1.5 to $2 million deficit. The furloughs would have to be taken by Nov. 30. A board document says the furloughs would save more than $500,000 for the general fund and more than $100,000 in non-general fund/non-grant payroll expenses. The furloughs would also impact the Macon County Sheriffs Office. Sheriff Tony Brown previously told the Herald & Review that public safety would not suffer and the health and safety would continue to be a top priority. Greenfield said he is unsure when the furloughs would be discussed again, but staff is considering holding a Finance Committee meeting next week. The board participated in Wednesdays meeting via Podbean, a podcast application. PHOTOS: Protest in downtown Decatur after the death of George Floyd Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (217) 421-7985. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro Photograph: Amanda Perobelli/Reuters Brazil has overtaken Italy as the country with the third-highest Covid-19 death toll after a daily record of 1,473 fatalities took its total tally to more than 34,000. The figure was published by Brazils health ministry on Thursday night and means only the United States and the United Kingdom have registered more deaths because of the pandemic. The official number of infections rose to nearly 615,000, second only to the US. In an online broadcast shortly before the numbers were released, Brazils president Jair Bolsonaro made almost no mention of the victims but continued to publicly attack efforts to slow the advance of coronavirus with quarantine measures and social distancing. We cant go on like this. Nobody can take it anymore, Bolsonaro said of the shutdown efforts being implemented by state governors and mayors across Brazil. The collateral impact will be far greater than those people who unfortunately lost their lives because of these last three months here, Bolsonaro said. The numbers which came after Mexico reported a record daily tally of more than 1,000 deaths on Wednesday reinforced fears that Latin Americas two biggest economies, and other countries in the region, were facing a bleak few months. Mexicos death toll now stands at nearly 12,000 with the number of infections rising above 100,000 on Wednesday. Chile is also grappling with a growing crisis, this week extending a quarantine of the capital, Santiago, as the countrys total number of fatalities rose to nearly 1,300. Despite the worsening situation, many parts of the region are moving towards reopening, against the advice of most medical experts. Related: Fears Latin America reopening too fast as Brazils Covid-19 deaths surge Miguel Lago, the director of Brazils Institute for Health Policy Studies, said reopening was a mistake that was likely to cause an explosion of infections and pile further pressure on hospitals that were already struggling to cope with the pandemic. Story continues I am very worried We are going to witness hospitals collapsing in almost every state, Lago warned. I think the worst is still to come. Coronavirus cases have now been detected in more than 70% of Brazilian cities, with the south-eastern states of Rio and Sao Paulo particularly badly hit. Lago said Brazils far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, bore particular responsibility for the dire situation: both for the incompetence of his governments response and for the political self-interest he believed had driven Bolsonaro to deliberately undermine social distancing in order to protect the economy and his chances of re-election in 2022. He doesnt care about the lives of the Brazilians who will die because of his absolutely irresponsible behaviour, said Lago. Lago described the rightwing populists reaction as even more lacking than those of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, the leaders of the two countries with the highest Covid-19 death tolls. Jose Manoel Ferreira Goncalves, a civil society activist who recently denounced Bolsonaro at the United Nations for alleged crimes against humanity, said the presidents shameful response had condemned Brazil to carnage. We are adrift, said Goncalves, a member of the group Engineers For Democracy. Related: Putin, Johnson, Bolsonaro and Trump: men too macho for masks On Thursday Mexicos president, the leftwing populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, urged his 129 million citizens not to allow the rising numbers of deaths and infections to condemn them to psychosis, apprehension or fear. I think our strategy has been the right one, he reportedly told reporters in the southern state of Chiapas which he is visiting after restarting his travels this week as part of what he calls Mexicos new normal. We were lucky enough the pandemic didnt arrive here first, which gave us time to get ready. Lopez Obrador attacked media reports about Mexicos record day of recorded deaths the worlds second highest on Wednesday, after Brazil as alarmist and irresponsible. Chile also suffered its worst day of confirmed deaths on Wednesday, with 87 reported fatalities. Despite their ideological differences, Bolsonaro and Lopez Obrador, who swept to power in 2018 amid a wave of anti-establishment voter rage, have both positioned themselves as champions of the poor, determined to get their countries back to work in order to protect jobs and livelihoods. But their countries look set to suffer some of the worlds highest Covid-19 death tolls, with Mexicos coronavirus tsar, Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, this week admitting another 20,000 lives could be lost. We are still a long way from the end of this epidemic, he told the El Universal newspaper. Emmerdale's Liam Fox has insisted the show is taking 'loads of measures' to ensure the cast and crew adhere to social distancing guidelines after returning to filming. The ITV series is the first soap to resume production after the coronavirus pandemic forced numerous shows to shut down. Speaking on Thursday's edition of Good Morning Britain, Liam, 50, who plays Dan Spencer, admitted that Covid-19 will change the storylines of many of the soap's characters. Safety: Emmerdale's Liam Fox has insisted the show is taking 'loads of measures' to ensure the cast and crew adhere to social distancing guidelines after returning to filming He said: 'Theres loads of measures. Theyre doing a lot to make it a safe environment. From what I know from the people who are back already, it sounds safe. Im going to stay home, go to work, come home, and thatll be it.' While Liam has not returned to set yet, he expects that Covid-19 could impact Dan's storyline along with that of several other characters. He said: '[Dan] is going to come back. He's been in London for his physiotherapy and then we'll see. 'We will see how it pans out but it is going to depend on the virus which will effect the storyline so much. Back in action: The ITV series is the first soap to resume production after the coronavirus pandemic forced numerous shows to shut down 'There will be plans but it could change dramatically, as far as i know the storyline will go on for a few months.' Liam has been self-isolating with his wife Jo, with the couple going straight into quarantine when they came home from their honeymoon in Cuba. The actor, who has been on Emmerdale since 2011, has kept in touch with his co-stars with virtual gatherings. He said: 'It was my 50th on Monday and Jo sorted out a Zoom call with a few of them with work while we were having cocktails, I can't remember a lot of those conversations. Liam also admitted he feels bad for other actors who do not have the steady work that you get as a castmember of a soap. Changes: Liam, who plays Dan Spencer, admitted on Good Morning Britain that Covid-19 will change the storylines of many of the soap's characters He said: 'The people I feel sorry for are the actors who are not in soaps. There's a lot of people, they don't know where they're going. We have a job to go back to.' Speaking about his honeymoon in Cuba and outbreak, Liam said: 'They were right on top of it. You go into restaurants and there was santiser on the door. 'It became quite apparent something bigger was going down when we went back to the UK.' The TV star and his other half have been keeping themselves entertained in lockdown by creating humorous TikTok videos. He said: 'Its been great. No real rows or anything. Ive known her for 27 years and were both as stupid as each other, doing TikToks, doing lots of madness.' He said: 'Theres loads of measures. Theyre doing a lot to make it a safe environment. From what I know from the people who are back already, it sounds safe' Emmerdale became the first soap to resume filming in late May when the crew recorded six new episodes with a paired back team at their studio in Leeds. The rural outdoor set for Emmerdale has been dramatically revamped so that actors can be filmed from above now that social distanced filming has begun. It was revealed by a fan that scaffolding platforms have been put up around houses in the village where the show is filmed so that cameramen could shoot the cast from up high. The soap has begun a phased return in order to minimise risk of infection at the studio, with Nicola Wheeler and Eden Taylor Draper also among the first to return. New safety measures have been put in place at ITV studios including medical screening, safe-distance queuing and ambulances on set amid the coronavirus pandemic. Liam said: '[Dan] is going to come back. He's been in London for his physiotherapy and then we'll see. 'I suppose it'll depend on the virus which will effect storylines' The area around the studio appeared to be well-signposted and notices advised the cast and crew to keep a safe distance as well as informing them about medical screenings. The channel's Health and Safety team and medical advisers have been working closely with the government to consult on social distancing guidelines to ensure the team are working in accordance with return-to-production protocols. This means that filming units are staying together while working in designated studios, and the crew are using their own equipment which has been sanitised in advance while office staff continue to work from home. ITV also revealed that they would not have any shoots on location, while scripts have been adapted to include fewer scenes and a small number of actors so that the cameras don't need to be moved on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Coronation Street bosses recently confirmed the show would begin filming against next week. Contact: The actor, who has been on Emmerdale since 2011, has kept in touch with his co-stars with virtual gatherings Cast will return to set on Tuesday June 9 to produce new episodes, with a plan to make enough shows to continue airing three episodes a week to ensure the soap remains on-screen in July. ITV bosses also confirmed that older cast members will be kept at home during the first few weeks of filming, with star Andy Whyment revealing on Monday that kissing scenes will be banned in accordance with new social distancing measures. Coronation Street bosses confirmed that the soap's production team began a health and safety induction to familiarise themselves with the new protocols that are now in place throughout the studios and on the Coronation Street set. The new safety measures are in accordance with the recently issued TV production guidelines which will be observed whilst filming the top ITV soap. Return: Emmerdale became the first soap to resume filming in late May when the crew recorded six new episodes with a paired back team at their studio in Leeds Meanwhile, EastEnders could reportedly be off the air until September. The cast and crew at set to return at the end of the month to resume filming, but producers are apparently planning to build up a 'block' of episodes before it returns. The much-loved soap will be off the air for between six to eight weeks while they record a backlog of episodes, sources told the Mirror. A show insider told the publication: 'Under the current plans we have enough episodes to take us through until June 16 but after that there will not be new episodes for a few months. Back in action: Coronation Street bosses recently confirmed the show would begin filming against next week 'We normally work 6-8 weeks ahead of what viewers see on screen, in terms of a block of storylines, and we would look to do the same thing again when we restart work. 'Filming with the new rules and regulations will take longer and so we could be back on screen at the end of August but that is being optimistic and it may take longer than that, which would mean the soap returning in September.' The source confirmed that there is no exact return date set yet. This comes after it was reported the soap is set to go off air in two weeks as the cast have still not returned to work after the soap halted production in March. The COVID-19 pandemic is still extremely active in many parts of the world, having caused millions of cases in just five months. Several subgroups are at high risk of severe or even fatal disease. Now, a new study published in June 2020 on the preprint online server medRxiv* reports on the increased risk of COVID-19 in Down Syndrome (DS) and certain characteristic features that are found in this population segment. Down syndrome describes trisomy 21, a condition in which the individual has three copies of the 21st chromosome instead of two. It is present at birth, and there are about 250,000 affected individuals in the world at present. The impact of COVID-19 on DS individuals is unknown. However, they are known to have a higher risk of respiratory tract infections, including and especially caused by influenza and respiratory syncytial viruses. The current study aims at identifying the risk of this infection in people what have DS. In this retrospective study, the researchers examined the medical records of over 4,600 people admitted to Mount Sinai hospitals with COVID-19 from March 1 to April 24, 2020. All patients had their diagnosis confirmed by RT-PCR. In this retrospective study, DS patients were identified from their electronic medical records. For each such individual, six random controls were chosen with matching age, race, and sex characteristics. The researchers also retrieved demographic information, vital signs, laboratory readings, and outcome data from the records. Judging from the 2.6 million patient inflow to this hospital system over the last five years, with about 1,100 DS patients, the expected number of COVID-19 patients with DS was 2. However, when the age composition of patients with DS is accounted for, the number of expected DS is nearer 1. Estimated COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the Mount Sinai Health System in DS and non-DS patients. The current study showed that 6 DS patients were admitted with COVID-19, which is far above the expected number. This corresponds to a 9-fold increase in the percentage of hospitalized COVID-19 DS patients compared to that in the general population in the age group 30-64 years. The median age of DS patients with COVID-19 who were in hospital was 54 years, which is more than 12 years younger than other COVID-19 patients at the same hospital. This suggests that DS patients are at an increased risk of hospitalization with COVID-19 from about ten years earlier than the general population. Next, the investigators examined the DS-COVID-19 hospitalized patients in comparison with a larger (fivefold) control group matched for sex, race, and age with each patient. The control group had other existing conditions such as hypertension in about 13%, diabetes in about 10%, and obesity in 7%. This was quite different in the DS group, which had hypothyroidism in about 67%, type 2 diabetes in about 50%, epilepsy in 50%, and dementia in 33%. This was in keeping with the high frequency of these conditions (except for type 2 diabetes) in people with DS. The incidence of type I diabetes in DS is 3-4 times higher than in the general population. Diabetes is a known risk factor for severe COVID-19. Hypothyroidism in this subgroup is well controlled and is therefore unlikely to be a reason for COVID-19 disease. Neurological disease also boosts the odds of dying from COVID-19, according to one study, though the mechanisms are unknown. The researchers summarized these findings, Based on our data and previous findings, we conclude that patients with DS are not only more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, but also that their comorbid conditions, including diabetes, in particular, are important drivers. The study also looked at the levels of various inflammatory molecules and indicators such as the temperature, the C-reactive protein (CRP), ESR, and IL-8. The researchers failed to find significant differences between patients and controls in these, nor in the cell counts. There was a higher variance of IL-1b and IL-6, meaning that some DS patients have a hyperinflammatory response. This needs to be confirmed by further studies. Finally, DS patients with severe COVID-19 had higher odds of developing complications of the disease, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute kidney injury, and neurological symptoms. Sepsis was particularly common, with 4/6 DS COVID-19 patients developing sepsis compared to only 6/30 controls. DS children who develop sepsis have a gloomier prognosis compared to other children with DS. This is, therefore, a condition that requires meticulous care, prevention of COVID-19, and early management. DS patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are at a higher risk of mechanical ventilation and requiring ICU admission, but the difference was not significant. DS patients had a more extended hospital stay with a median of 17 days compared to non-DS controls at 8 days. A third of DS patients died vs. 7% of controls. This suggests that DS individuals with COVID-19 were at high risk of infection at an earlier age, though at this age, they are still above the 85th percentile for this population. Old age is a known risk factor for COVID-19. DS individuals were significantly more likely to develop complications and to stay almost twice as long in hospital compared to non-DS controls. They were also at a much higher risk of dying from the infection. Diabetes is probably the most prominent risk factor for poor prognosis in DS patients. Other immune factors that could play a role in DS-associated susceptibility to COVID-19 have not been well-studied so far. However, it is clear that sepsis is a widespread complication in the DS-COVID-19 cohort. This is important since these patients are more likely to die of sepsis than other septic patients. The study warns, Particular attention should be paid to both the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in individuals with DS, as they are at higher risk of hospitalization induced complications during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. *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. Los Angeles Police Department commander Cory Palka stands among several destroyed police cars as one explodes while on fire during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Los Angeles, Calif. on May 30, 2020. (Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo) Los Angeles Slashing Police Budget by $100 to $150 Million Up to $150 million will be cut from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) budget and directed to other programs, officials said. L.A. Police Commission President Eileen Decker told reporters Wednesday that $100 million to $150 million will be cut from the LAPD budget. Decker said the cut, along with other measures, are just the first steps in what is a continuing journey for greater accountability, increased transparency, and the strengthening of our public trust. The planned cuts are part of a larger $250 million cut to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettis proposed budget. The other measures include working to accurately portray the history of the police department in training of police cadets. Garcetti said at a press conference the money cut from the police and elsewhere would be invested in jobs, in education and healing. Efforts will be made, he said, towards reinvesting in black communities and communities of color. Protesters stand on top of a burned vehicle during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Los Angeles, Calif. on May 30, 2020. (Christian Monterrosa/AP Photo) Saying he supported the new or upgraded charges pressed against former Minneapolis police officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd, the Democrat added: It is time to move our rhetoric towards action to end racism in our society. Prejudice can never be part of police work, he charged later. L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez, also a Democrat, announced a motion to cut funding to the LAPD as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of Floyd. This is just one small step. We cannot talk about change, we have to be about change, she added. The motion says the citys administrative officer and chief legislative analyst, with help from the mayor, should work to identify at least $100 to $150 million in cuts from the LAPDs budget. The money should be redirected back into disadvantages [sic] communities and communities of color, the motion stated. The LAPD has some 9,000 officers patrolling the second largest-city in the United States. According to the department, thats one officer for for every 433 residents, giving Los Angeles one of the lowest ratios of police officers to residents of any major city in the country. LAPD officials said in a statement that demands for law enforcement reform from protesters are being heard as it announced the department is establishing an aggressive reform agenda, which continues the evolution of our commitment to 21st Century policing. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department run to formation during a march over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes, in front of the Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 1, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Along with a commitment to work with city officials to identify the funding cuts, the department said its publishing a new policy that requires officers to intervene when another officer uses excessive force and requires officers to immediately report misconduct. Officials are also pushing for a change to the City Charter regarding the discipline of officers and supporting the establishment of an independent prosecutor who would prosecute police officers accused of misconduct. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said at a virtual meeting Monday of rioters causing destruction in the wake of Floyds death: His death is on their hands, as much as it is on those officers. Moore apologized, saying the next day that he misspoke. While I did immediately correct myself, I recognize that my initial words were terribly offensive. Looting is wrong, but it is not the equivalent of murder and I did not mean to equate the two, he said. Garcetti has ignored calls to oust Moore, saying he supports him. RAF jets in Lithuania intercept Russian aircraft Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets deployed to Lithuania have conducted their first intercept of Russian aircraft as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission. 3 June 2020 The Typhoons launched on 2 June 2020 to intercept a Russian intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft operating over the Baltic Sea. Around 150 personnel, who together form 135 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW), are in Lithuania to fly over Baltic skies to deter any threats to NATO Allies' airspace monitoring and investigating any aircraft flying near Lithuanian airspace with transponders switched off or without a flight plan. A Typhoon pilot from 6 Squadron, attached to 135 Expeditionary Air Wing, was on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duty when the scramble was called. He said: The scramble was called to intercept a Russian IL-20 COOT ISR aircraft. The initial scramble was a real shot of adrenaline, but once airborne it was important to remain calm and professional and make the intercept as expeditious as possible to ensure we maintained both the safety and integrity of NATO airspace. This is what all of our training is designed to prepare us for however, at the end of the day it's just my job. This intercept is part of the routine NATO Air Policing mission that has been conducted to police the skies since 2004. The current RAF mission began on 1 May 2020 when 135 EAW took over the enhanced Air Policing role working alongside the Spanish Air Force detachment at Siauliai Air Base. Wing Commander Stu Gwinnutt, 135 EAW Commander stated: It is great to see all of the training come together in a timely response and a successful QRA mission for NATO Baltic Air Policing. The RAF contribution to NATO deployments supports efforts to reassure our Allies and demonstrates the UK's wider commitment to the security of the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A few days after defending a police officer's decision to punch the gas on his SUV, bulldozing it directly into a crowd of peaceful protesters, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had a comforting melody stuck in his head. "I'm reminded of the song 'Imagine' by John Lennon," de Blasio said Wednesday, according to journalist Jack Mirkinson. "I think everyone who hears that song in its fullness thinks about, 'What about a world where people got along differently? What about a world where we didn't live with a lot of the restrictions that we live with now?' But we're not there yet. ... The peaceful protest is the essence of how we make progress, the reforms made within the NYPD are progress, deep progress. But for folks who say, 'Defund the police,' I would say that this is not the way forward." Like so many politicians, de Blasio is a horrible listener. In its fullness, "Imagine" calls for the end of property, the end of borders between countries, the end of organized religion, the end of capitalism. And while the mayor might be a dreamer, he's not the only one. People love to mishear "Imagine" as a ditty about how our righteous beliefs excuse us from taking necessary action. The song has become a lullaby for the privileged: To achieve a more just and peaceful tomorrow, change doesn't actually have to be worked for, or fought for, or even made - just envisioned. These song-jacking tactics go back years and years. Ronald Reagan famously tried to use Bruce Springsteen's antiwar hit "Born in the U.S.A." to soundtrack his 1984 re-election bid. Beethoven wrote his "Ode to Joy" as a tribute to human equality, but Hitler made a habit of listening to it on his birthday. The meaning of music always belongs to the listener, and that includes the most powerful among us. We all had a big laugh at something similar in the earliest days of the current pandemic, back when "Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot asked her Hollywood pals to each sing a line from "Imagine" for a viral video that generated the ridicule it deserved. First, it was funny. The actors hadn't agreed on a key, so their rendition sounded like a campfire singalong in hell. Then, it was infuriating. Society is collapsing and we're supposed to admire these beautiful millionaires for singing sweet-and-sour nothings from the safety of their gated communities? "Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can." OK, you first. It's pretty much impossible to imagine anyone bumping "Imagine" in America's streets tonight. These protesters aren't just imagining a better world inside their heads. They're out in public, putting their bodies in harm's way, demanding justice for black Americans and an end to racist police brutality. In certain swatches of protest footage, we've heard rap music blasting in the background - Chief Keef's "Faneto," Lil Boosie's "Set It Off" - explosive songs that became protest anthems the moment they were used as such. In 2020, "Imagine" has no such use. For most, it's not a song about forfeiting possessions, or rejecting the authority of churches and states. It's a song for staying home, for turning off CNN when the footage of police beatings becomes too sickening to watch, for closing your eyes and hoping that everything will be fine when you wake up in the morning. For white America, it's easy if you try. A white woman in Florida decided to call police on a solo white protester in an suburban neighborhood because she didn't want the 'wrong people' to come to the neighborhood. Shane Meyers was holding a 'Black Lives F***ing Matter' sign on the side of the road in Wellington - a city where roughly 12 per cent of the population is black. In a Wednesday video he shared to TikTok, rapper AngieonMars can be heard cheering for Meyers peaceful protest for black lives, following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Shane Meyers was holding a 'Black Lives F***ing Matter' sign on the side of the road in Wellington, Florida - a city where roughly 12 per cent of the population is black But in the next clip, Meyers is stopped by a two officers who have been called to the scene by an older white woman. Meyers already voices his discomfort about two officers needing to be on the scene, but the officer tells him: 'The only reason there is two is because of our safety, we don't know what's going on.' 'She is the one who approached me,' Meyers tells the officers. 'I was standing here on the side.' The woman asks for Meyers not to put out the sign because 'it is going to bring up the wrong people.' But in the next clip, he is stopped by a two officers who have been called to the scene by an older white woman The woman asks for Meyers not to put out the sign because 'it is going to bring up the wrong people.' 'I don't want to be driving and have bullets shot at me because they are upset because you started it,' she adds 'I don't want to be driving and have bullets shot at me because they are upset because you started it,' she adds. But the responding police officer sides with Meyers, even though he doesn't seem the most thrilled about it. 'Unfortunately, he is able to stand here with the sign and whatever he wants to say on it,' the cop says. The woman shares with the cop and Meyers that she is just upset because she doesn't want to get 'caught if they start rioting' because of the sign. The woman shares with the cop and Meyers that she is just upset because she doesn't want to get 'caught if they start rioting' because of the sign 'Unfortunately, he is able to stand here with the sign and whatever he wants to say on it,' the cop says 'I'm also upset because black and brown lives are at risk every single day in this country,' Meyers quickly retorts. But the officer and the woman both start giving him the 'AllLivesMatter' variation of everyone being at risk, to which Meyers thanks them for 'bothsidesing' him. 'And we need to appreciate everything they do,' the woman declares. Meyers then reads loudly from his sign, which upsets the woman. She derides him for having the profanity on the sign because 'kids are reading that.' 'I'm sorry you're a snowflake,' Meyers says as the clips comes to a close, showing the woman even more upset. The video has been heavily circulated across various social media platforms since it was initially posted. On TikTok it has been viewed more than 400,000 times. Pennsylvania made both the list of states with the most threatened farmland and the list of states with the most proactive policies for farmland protection in a new report by the American Farmland Trust. The Keystone State ranks No. 12 of the 12 states with threatened farmland, following Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee, Georgia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Delaware and Florida. In the rankings of farmland protection, Pennsylvania is No. 4 of 12. The other most proactive states regarding farmland are New Jersey, No.1; Delaware, No. 2; Maryland, No. 3; Vermont, No. 5; California, No. 6; Connecticut, No. 7; Rhode Island, No. 8; Oregon, No. 9; Washington, No. 10; Massachusetts, No. 11; and Hawaii, No. 12. The reports Agricultural Land Protection Scorecard is the first-ever state-by-state analysis of policies that respond to the development threats to farmland and ranchland, showing that every state can do more to protect their irreplaceable agricultural resources. Out of a possible 600 points on the scorecard, New Jersey scored highest at 345, Pennsylvania scored 279 and Arizona scored the lowest at 18. Factoring into the scorecard rankings are Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement programs, land use planning, property tax relief, agricultural districts, farm link programs to connect agricultural lands with prospective farmers and leasing of state land for agricultural uses. The report also ranked states by acres converted to urban and highly developed land use from 2000-16 Texas No. 1 at 692,000 acres, Pennsylvania No. 11 at 103,000 acres and percentage of agricultural land converted to UHD in that same period New Jersey No. 1 at 3.9 percent, Pennsylvania No. 12 at 1.1 percent, Wyoming No. 50 at .04 percent. The AFT noted that between 2001 and 2016 alone, 11 million acres of the nations agricultural land were lost or fragmented, equal to all the land in the U.S used to produce fruits, vegetables and nuts in 2017. About 4.4 million of those acres were Nationally Significant, the countrys best land for food and crop production. The U.S. holds the worlds greatest concentration of fertile soil suited for growing food and other crops, but only 39 percent the agricultural land in the lower 48 states is Nationally Significant land, which can reliably produce abundant yields for many decades to come, if farmed sustainably. Since 2000, a combination of economic conditions, changing consumer preferences, planning practices and public policies have slowed urbanization, but agricultural land is still being converted to urban and highly developed land uses nationwide. In addition, AFTs Farms Under Threat research captured a new class of land use: low-density residential, which occurs where the average housing density is above the level where agriculture is typically viable. It includes large-lot subdivisions, open agricultural land that is adjacent to or surrounded by existing development and areas where individual houses or housing clusters are spread out along rural roads. Low-density residential land use threatens working farms and ranches by fragmenting the landscape and disrupting agricultural economies. In just 15 years, nearly 7 million acres of farmland and ranchland were converted to LDR land use. Texas saw the most agricultural acreage converted to LDR, with 681,000 acres lost, followed by North Carolina, 572,000 acres, and Tennessee, 511,000 acres. Pennsylvania ranked No. 8, with 244,000 acres lost. AFT noted, We all recognize urban sprawl, but low-density residential land use has flown below the radar, even though it is just as much of a threat to farmland, now and in the future. Indeed, the report shows that LDR paves the way for further urbanization. Agricultural land in LDR areas was 23 times more likely to be converted to UHD than other agricultural land. In other words, once land has been converted to low-density residential land use, new development rapidly occurs on the remaining farmland and ranchland in the area. LDR land use compromises opportunities for farming and ranching, making it difficult for farmers to get into their fields or travel between fields. New residents not used to living next to agricultural operations often complain about farm equipment on roads or odors related to farming. Retailers such as grain and equipment dealers, on which farmers rely, are often pushed out. Farmers can be tempted to sell out for financial reasons, or because farming just becomes too hard in the circumstances. And lastlybut importantlyas older farmers near retirement they sell their properties, too often to non-farmers. This means that new and beginning farmers have a hard time finding land, threatening the very future of agriculture. More often than not, the land prices in these areas have been driven up by the encroaching development making it impossible for new farmers to afford to buy a farm. The report found that every state in the nation has taken some action to protect agricultural land, but all states must do more. Combined, states have permanently protected more than 3 million acres, secured more than 40 million acres with restrictive covenants and zoning, and reduced the tax burden on more than 475 million acres helping them remain viable for agriculture. American Farmland Trust is a national organization taking a holistic approach to agriculture by focusing on the land, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. Since its founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families. 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. To the editor: In a typical flu season about 50,000 people die in the U.S. Using science and the lack of data on COVID-19, the initial US death projection due to the virus was modeled at 2.2 million by August. Trying to avoid a potentially huge death toll, the federal and most state governments took aggressive and unprecedented actions of shutting down many businesses and schools. We now see the actual U.S. deaths due to the virus (and mostly due to all the co-morbidity conditions) will likely be about 100,000. In terms of death risk, the virus appears to be about twice as bad as the flu. Did the lockdown and social distancing reduce virus deaths? Of course. By how many? Nobody really knows, however, the death projections came way down before the lockdowns really started, so that tells us how bad the government data and university models initially were and still are. I like true data and science to help me make decisions about my life. I dont ever like government making any decisions for me, especially when they are incapable of assessing all of my risks. I also detest government trying to usurp power that belongs to its citizens, and that is exactly what many state governors, mostly Democrats, have done and are still doing. As responsible adults we need to balance all the risks in our lives. Preventing virus deaths need not require the government abusing its power and inflicting poverty on millions of people. Gov. Kristy Noem, of South Dakota, told her citizens about the dangers of the virus and how to mitigate it as best as possible while respecting the freedom of all her citizens. They proved to be responsible. If you can make responsible decisions for yourself and your neighbors, please vote for conservatives. If you trust government politicians to make the best decisions for you, please dont vote. DAVE TOMASZEWSKI Midland Michael Adeshina Busola Dakolo has given an update on the rape case she filed against the senior pastor of Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly (COZA), Biodun Fatoyinbo, exactly one year ago. The wife of popular Nigerian artiste, Timi Dakolo, took to her Instagram page on Thursday, June 4, 2020, to announce that her victory is near. According to Busola, the flamboyant Abuja pastor clearly has a case to answer. She stated that the case filed against Fatoyinbo has been handed over to the Ministry of Justice for onward prosecution. Busola, however, accused the Ministry of Justice of trying to bury the rape case. She said the Ministry has been keeping mute ever since the case was transferred to their quarters. Please read Busolas words below; It is now officially one year after since I came out and told the most important story of my life up until this point. That when I was a teenager, Biodun Fatoyinbo violently raped me. It wasnt just me. In the media, on social platforms and in private, women have been sharing stories of how this man either destroyed their lives or tried to. A lot has happened in that time: and my heart is glad that consciousness continues to be raised about the great evil that sexual abuse is, and how widespread it is, and how much women are at risk, and why we need to ensure justice for those who find the strength to speak out. Awareness is victory. But we are pushing to another even great victory: Justice. When the courts last year decided to rule in favor of the man who assaulted me, people were crestfallen. I understood. What they didnt know however is that before we even began, we had been prepared for a long haul battle that may take years because the Nigerian legal system isnt wired to help sexual abuse victims get justice. Today, I have a major update. The police have concluded its investigation. And handed over its report to the Ministry of Justice in Abuja for onward prosecution of Biodun Fatoyinbo. He clearly has a case to answer. But there has been silence from the ministry. Silence. A loud silence! We have written a letter but for over a month we have no response. Instead, my lawyers and my family have heard about all manner of manipulation and foul play being attempted to stop the ministry from beginning prosecution immediately. Or even to get the police report manipulated. My name is Busola Dakolo, a survivor of one of the most horrific acts -rape. My voice will not be shut down. My case will not be silenced. I am thankful to those in and out of the police, the ministry and the corridors of power who have called in solidarity and to reassure me that they are monitoring the ministry of justice and that this pressure to bury the case will not succeed. I am updating the Nigerian public because you all made my story matter. You joined me to say enough is enough. With you, this has been an easier process. #wearetired #notinmychurch #justice. Related Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called George Floyd's killing 'brutal' and criticized President Donald Trump for posing for photos while holding a Bible. Rouhani in a televised speech today said Floyd 'was killed in the most brutal way.' 'We express sympathy toward the American people who are on the streets while harshly condemning the crime,' he said, referring to Floyd's death after a white police officer was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyd's neck. President Hassan Rouhani in a televised speech today that George Floyd 'was killed in the most brutal way' (pictured: last month in the parliament in Tehran) Rouhani also made reference to the clearing of peaceful protesters from a park outside the White House with chemical agents and flash bang grenades so that Trump could walk to a church for a photo opportunity. 'It is a shame that the president stands with a Bible when he plans to act against his people,' Rouhani said. Iran's head of state, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was also withering in his condemnation of Floyd's death. Donald Trump holds up a Bible during a photo opportunity in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in the midst of ongoing protests over racial inequality in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, outside the White House in Washington 'Today you see the chaotic state of America, what is seen today in American cities and states is the emergence of a reality that has always been hidden that has now been exposed today,' the Ayatollah said. 'Putting a foot on a black man's neck and pressuring him to die is not something that has just been created, it is American nature and it is something that is done with many countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and so on.' Khamenei said that the slogan, 'I can't breathe,' the words Floyd gasped before he died, was the slogan of all nations where America has intervened. He added: 'The Americans were disgraced by their own behavior by God's grace.' Earlier this week Iranian TV broadcast images of a candlelit memorial for Floyd which had been set up in the city of Mashhad Iranian officials regularly take advantage of protests in the U.S. to criticize the administration, even though Iran itself in November put down nationwide demonstrations by killing hundreds, arresting thousands and disrupting internet access. State television has repeatedly aired images of the U.S. unrest. Earlier this week Iranian TV broadcast images of a candlelit memorial for Floyd which had been set up in the city of Mashhad. The society notes that it cannot adopt a tariff based on the parallel market rate as it will be deemed illegal. It also realises that the official rate, as it is currently pegged, will lead to absurd outcomes which will result in the impoverishment of members. In order to achieve a somewhat middle of the road approach, it has adopted a tariff premised on the 2011 USD$ tariff converted at the official exchange rate plus a rationalisation percentage. Further in order to counter the effects of the unrealistic exchange rate the society adopted a wider interpretation of the premium charges as well as widening the premium bands, he said. An expert in fabricating IEDs, he was also involved in the terror attack at Lethpora, Pulwama which claimed over forty CRPF personnel Security forces jawans stand guard during an encounter with the militants in the Kangan area of Pulwama district of south Kashmir. PTI photo Srinagar: As security forces have pushed offensive actions more vigorously against separatist militants in Jammu and Kashmir, a senior commander of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) was along with two associates killed during a gunfight in southern Pulwama district on Wednesday. An Army jawan was injured in the clash, a report said. The J&K police and Army officials said that slain JeM commander Abdur Rehman Alvi alias Fouji Bhai alias Fouji Baba was an Afghan war veteran as he is reported to have fought alongside the Taliban before turning to Kashmir a few years ago. He was also known as an expert in fabricating improvised explosives devices and reportedly involved in the February 14, 2019 terror attack at Lethpora, Pulwama in which more than forty CRPF personnel were killed. The officials said that fighting broke out in Pulwamas Kangan area early Wednesday after the J&Ks polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) together with the Armys 55 Rashtriya Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)s 182 and 183 Battalions launched a cordon-and-search operation to flush out militants dead or alive. Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said, The joint operation was launched in the early hours today on specific intelligence input. Soon contact was established with terrorists hiding in the village. He added that announcements were made through public address system asking the holed up militants to surrender but they responded by opening fire on the security forces, triggering the fire fight. A J&K police spokesman said that Alvi was active in Kashmir Valley since 2017. The investigations reveal he was an IED expert and the mastermind of recent failed car bomb attack in Pulwama, he said. The security forces combating a three-decade-old insurgency in J&K had on May 28 claimed that they foiled a militant plan for an act of terror in Pulwama similar to the one carried out in the same district on February 14 last year by timely detection of a Santro car laden with 40-45 kilograms of explosives that was being driven through the district. The IED planted in the car was subsequently detonated by the bomb disposal squad. A report from Pulwama said that Wednesdays fighting in Kangans Astan Mohalla left several residential houses damaged. Soon after the guns began roaring, the authorities snapped internet service in entire district as a precautionary measure. The police claimed that Alvi was a close confidante of JeM chief Moulana Masood Azhar and a photograph circulated through social media some time back is testimony of that. In the photograph Alvi is seen flanking Azhar at a function held somewhere in Pakistan. The police said that the identities of the two other slain militants are yet to be ascertained. While addressing a hurriedly called press conference here, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said that investigations have also revealed that Alvi, a resident of Multan in Pakistani Punjab, was a relative of the JeM chief. He termed his killing as a big success of the security forces in their fight against militants, 75 of whom, as per his claim, have been killed, so far, this year. The slain included top commanders of the JeM, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, he said. The IGP said that the two other militants appeared to be local Kashmiris. We have called some people to identity the slain and if they turn out to be locals, their parents will be allowed to participate in the burial in (far off) Baramulla district, he said. He added that two more IED experts of the JeM still at large are known within the militant ranks by their codenames Waleed Bhai and Lamboo Bhai, both foreigners. Replying to questions, the IGP said that the police have learnt that the JeM chief in Kashmir Abdullah Rashid Gazi is operating from the woods of Pulwamas Khrew area. Im sure he too will be neutralized once he comes down. But we can even catch him where he is hiding currently. It is because of our source base that we have identified the Jaish chief otherwise the outfit doesnt disclose the name of its head, he said. The security forces had in a similar operation on Tuesday killed two suspected militants in Saimoh village of Tral area in Pulwama. Earlier, the Army had claimed killing thirteen infiltrating militants in a series of clashes at different locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in J&Ks Poonch and Rajouri districts. However, independent sources confirmed the killing of only three suspected militants in Rajouris Noushera sector on Monday. By Zhou Minxi, Hu Yu, Yang Xueming Every major country in the world has national security laws of varying severity, some more sophisticated than others. The United States, for example, has at least 20 legislations related to national security, more than any other country in peacetime. A look back at how these laws came into being reveals a longstanding preoccupation with national security that never has to justify itself. Anti-terrorism law: Give me liberty or give me security National security laws in the U.S. cover a lot of grounds. The more recent ones have been largely centered around counter-terrorism. Weeks after the 2001 September 11 attacks, the U.S. Congress voted almost unanimously in favor of the notorious USA Patriot Act, vastly expanding the government's surveillance capacity. The result was unchecked government power to snoop into citizens' private records and communications, carry out secret searches without warrant, and silence anyone who might otherwise challenge the government's actions in court. All it took was a broad assertion that someone is related to an ongoing terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation. Since then, racial-profiling targeting people of Middle Eastern descent has become prevalent in Western countries. But many of the act's provisions have nothing to do with terrorism. Critics of the law were alarmed by its lack of judicial oversight and argued that it suppressed anti-war voices and targeted whistleblowers. Susan Lindauer, a former CIA asset covering Iraq and Libya, was falsely accused in 2003 of acting as an agent for Saddam Hussein's Iraq. A prominent opponent of the Bush administration's war in the Middle East, Lindauer became the second non-Arab American indicted under the Patriot Act. The jaw-dropping extent of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)'s massive surveillance programs, enabled by the Patriot Act, was brought to light in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who faces treason charges in the U.S. and has been seeking asylum in Russia since. The U.S. is not known for being lenient with those guilty of treason, defined in the U.S. Constitution as levying war against the country or giving aid or comfort to its enemies. The crime carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and even death. Also in 2013, former U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning, who released classified documents in 2010 about U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, including videos of a deadly airstrike, was convicted on several charges of espionage and theft and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Amid growing backlash, the Patriot Act was modified and reintroduced as the USA Freedom Act by the Obama administration in 2015. Economic rivalry in the name of national security Under the Trump administration, the scope of U.S. national security strategy has been increasingly stretched to dictate over commercial activities. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 was specially designed to restrict China's investment in sensitive industries in the name of protecting "economic and national security interests." Citing the Foreign Investment and National Security Act, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions of U.S. companies at a time when the U.S. toughened its economic stance on China. In 2018, Ant Financial, an affiliate of China's Alibaba Group, failed to acquire financial service MoneyGram for 1.2 billion U.S. dollars for the same reason. Financial services are not traditionally associated with national security and don't fall in the jurisdiction of CFIUS. But under the Foreign Investment and National Security Act and the following amendments, which expanded CFIUS jurisdiction to review foreign investments outside its original scope, the committee can block any deal in the name of national security. In January, Chinese tech giant Huawei, a main target of anti-China hawks, was pressured by the U.S. government with a laundry list of new charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a law traditionally used to take down sprawling criminal syndicates that operated under multiple layers of secrecy. At the height of the trade war, multiple private technology companies, including the Chinese owners of popular social media app TikTok and dating app Grindr, faced investigation or ban from U.S. authorities citing national security risk. For some perspective on this, also labeled "national security threats" by Trump's White House were cars imported from Japan, Europe, and Canada because of its steel exports. UK security laws and the extradition of Assange In the United Kingdom, national security laws are scattered in various legislations of the past two centuries, covering all its territories. Like 9/11 attacks, the 2005 London bombings prompted the hurried upgrade of the UK's national security laws such as Terrorism Act 2000 to address new threats from international terrorism. In April 2019, WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, putting an end to his nearly seven-year political asylum. Assange made international headlines in 2010 when WikiLeaks published the leaked documents in the Manning case. Now in custody, the 48-year-old faces 18 criminal counts from U.S., including to conspire to hack government computers and violate an espionage law, and could spend decades in prison if convicted. A London court began hearings earlier this year to decide whether Assange should be extradited to the United States. The hearing will not decide if Assange is guilty of any wrongdoing, but whether the extradition request meets the requirements set out under a 2003 UK-U.S. treaty, which critics say is stacked in favor of the United States. The current extradition treaty has been criticized for allowing the UK to extradite a person to U.S. solely on the basis of an allegation and an arrest warrant, without any evidence being produced, despite the fact that "probable cause" is required for extradition the other way. It doesn't take much digging to see that the so-called free world is no stranger to even the most controversial national security laws. Should the occasion arise to prioritize its vital interests, a nation championing freedom is not above pushing individual liberties and universal values to the back of the line. At least, this has been the case especially for those who see existential threats to their cherished freedom everywhere. - Ghana has signed a $560 million contract with regard to the construction of railway lines - The lines would run from Western Railway Line (Standard Gauge Line) between Takoradi Harbour and the Huni Valley - This is the first time a railway project has been executed on such a scale in Ghana Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in YEN.com.gh has learned that Ghana has signed a $560 million deal with Amandi Holdings Limited for the construction of sections of the Western Railway Line (Standard Gauge Line) between Takoradi Harbour and the Huni Valley. Information available shows that the signing ceremony took place on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. Present were Joe Ghartey, the Minister of Railway Development, Richard Diegong Dombo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) and Nadav Simhoni, Managing Director of Amandi Holdings Limited. READ ALSO: Komenda Sugar Factory: Strategic investor selected by Cabinet to invest $28 million Per a report by Ghana News Agency, the signing of the agreement would be followed by Cabinets approval for it to be taken to Parliament. The project is on record as the biggest single railway contract ever in the history of Ghana and would take 42 months to complete from the date of commencement, which is October 2020. The 102km single-track railway line would come with stations along the tracks, an initial workshop facility at a location to be specified by the Employer, and an initial complement of rolling stock. Ghartey explained that the indicative scope of works of the project includes the construction, provision, testing and commissioning of other works; such as the construction of approximately eight kilometres of standard gauge railway tracks connecting the existing dual gauge tracks in Takoradi to the Takoradi Port for easy and efficient access for cargo handling. In other news, YEN.com.gh has learned that Cabinet has approved a Ghanaian company in the agribusiness sector, Park Agrotech Limited, as a strategic investor for the Komenda Sugar Factory. This was announced by Alan Kyeremanteng, the Minister for Trade and Industry, in Parliament, on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. The minister informed Parliament that Agrotech is likely to team up with STM Projects Limited, an Indian company with extensive experience in the management and operation of sugar mills and plantations in India and other parts of the world. READ ALSO: Oil prices surge pas $40 for the first time in 3 months after 30% fall Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Newly-built Tema Motorway Interchange opened to traffic | #Yencomgh Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook or Instagram now! Source: YEN.com.gh When protesters gathered in Washington for a peaceful demonstration Monday, they were met with a highly militarized response. Police, in a move that sparked national outrage, cleared out protesters from Lafayette Square with tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and clubs to enable President Donald Trumps photo-op at St. Johns Church. But some of the most alarming military imagery came later in the evening, after hours of peaceful marching, when two helicopters appeared in the sky directly above the protesters. Advertisement In one case, witnessed by two Slate reporters, an Army helicopter swung into view above peaceful marchers in the Chinatown district. Slowly the helicopter began to descend toward building level, and before those on the ground could register what was happening, powerful gusts kicked up, pelting the protesters with dirt and debris. Broken glass scattered in the air around storefronts, while protesters ran to find cover, shielding their eyes. The sound of the rotor drowned out everything else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the helicopter peeled away, some stragglers returned to find the crowd had been dispersed. At least one tree branch had snapped, barely missing a protester. After a minute of quiet, the helicopter returned, sending the same protesters running again. Advertisement Advertisement What were the helicopters doing there? Police often use helicopters to track suspects movement, but this was clearly different: Even if there had been criminal activityand there was notthe hundreds of protesters were not exactly hard to locate. According to the New York Times, the pilots were instead employing a tactic known as a show of force and often conducted by low flying jets in combat zones to scare away insurgents. And it may have been deeply dangerousthe D.C. National Guard said Tuesday that it would investigate the previous nights low-flying maneuvers. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that he had ordered the Army to look into who had ordered the maneuver and whether there was a safety issue involved with an aircraft hovering that low. The Times reported that the order was personally directed by the highest echelons of the District of Columbia National Guard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Esper went on to say that hovering so low in a city would be permissible only if the helicopter was picking up a wounded service membersomething it was not doing. He also said he had heard a report that the helicopters had been asked by law enforcement to look at a National Guard checkpoint to see if there were protesters around, but he didnt know yet if the report was true. A former Marine Corps pilot and expert at the Center for a New American Security told the Washington Post that there would be no justification for flying so low for surveillance purposes. If military helicopters were subject to Federal Aviation Administration rules, this tactic would have been illegal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its hard to imagine that it could have been anything other than an intimidation technique. If it was, this would appear to be an unprecedented display against U.S. civilians. Helicopters have long been essential in warfare: for reconnaissance, medical and troop transportation, and airstrikes. In Vietnam, helicopters were commonly used to drop tear gas and leaflets into the jungle. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the British military deployed helicopters to hover over Catholic neighborhoods and sweep for members of the IRA, who were otherwise able to avoid traditional roadblocks and patrols. The helicopters were described as ubiquitous, and their effect was to constantly remind residents of Northern Irelands occupation. More recently, the rotor washthose gusts from the bladeshas sometimes been used to send a warning to civilians and combatants in populous areas. Writing for the War Zone, military analyst and retired Navy pilot Chris Harmer said he was first trained to use a helicopter as a show of force to break up crowds after 9/11. He wrote that while he never used the tactic, he knew of other pilots who were sent to disperse crowds in Iraq and Afghanistan in case insurgents planned on hiding in them. The pilots who carried out this work, Harmer said, hated it. He added: Using a helicopter to sandblast civilians is not what anyone thought they were signing up for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One former Army helicopter pilot told Slate that helicopters do not hover for a show of force in conflict zones because of the potential exposure. But he also said that the maneuver is not a formal tactic, and the general ideato intimidate and remind potential enemies of your armed presence in the area by flying unusually lowcould be applicable in this context. Theres a reason cases like these end up being investigated. Flying low to the ground kicks up debris, which poses a risk to pedestrians and propertyand the helicopter itself. According to Harmer, its almost certain in an urban area that some debris would make it into the engine. In an absolute worst-case scenario, the engine or systems could fail, and with so little space left to descend, the helicopter would be unable to find a safe landing spot and struggle to avoid crashing. These problems are magnified in a protest setting, where the crowds would make it difficult for pedestrians to flee. In Chinatown on Monday, where the crowds had been funneled between two blocks of three- and four-story buildings, there was little room to spread. Advertisement The danger to the protesters may have been the more urgent problem, but the symbolism of the display seemed to others almost as significant. Of the two helicopters that were reported flying low over protests in D.C., one appeared to be a Black Hawk helicopter, designed for combat. Another was identified as a Lakota medical evacuation helicopter sporting a large red cross. A former Air Force attorney told the Post that misuse of the red cross symbol is prohibited by the Geneva Convention, and Esper on Wednesday promised to look into the use of a medical evacuation helicopter as part of the D.C. operation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peaceful protests appear to be a new arena for these tactics, but its not the first time helicopters have emphasized how grotesquely militarized policing has become. During the coronavirus pandemic this year, for example, heavily armed police dropped onto a Brazilian beach where lounging locals had defied the states lockdown order. The helicopters hovered just yards above them, according to media reports, spitting out a vortex of sand that assaulted the beachgoers as they ran. In the U.S., in 2018, a police helicopter dipped intimidatingly low at a Penn State tailgate in an effort to disperse a large-scale party that was getting out of hand. The helicopter had descended to shout directions from a loudspeaker, according to local media, and when it dropped low enough to send tents and grills flying, it pulled back up. Nigerian actor and philanthropist, Williams Uchemba, on Thursday, sent a message to his fans after recovering from an illness that lasted for two weeks. The actor who doubles as an online comedian also thanked God for his recovery. Narrating how it all happened on his official Instagram page, the actor said he became too busy at the detriment of his own health. He shared how hes always been busy during night hours running an online program at Harvard University. Sharing before and after photos of his illness, the comedian appreciated his friends and fans who reached out to him. Revealing that hes fully recovered, Williams expressed gratitude to God, especially for not testing positive for COVID-19. Read his full story below; I guess the body breaks down when/if we forget to stop and take care of our health. The past few weeks have reminded me of how we take good health for granted. Since my return to Nigeria from the US, Ive been unable to sleep at night, and in the morning, I head out for my daily activities, neglecting my sleep. Few weeks ago was the height of the stress cos Ive been taking an online program at Harvard University which runs through the night. In the morning I head out for outreach to feed people on the street so last two weeks my body parked up and I had to be taken to the hospital. They ran all the tests and No it wasnt COVID 19 ? thankfully. I was under immense stress. Thanks to each and every one of you that noticed my absence on social media and left tons of messages. I feel a lot better now. All thanks and Glory be to God Almighty. What have I missed? Related (Photo : Photo by Dimitar Donovski on Unsplash) 'How to NOT Cheat?': Nearly 100 Students Caught Cheating on Online Exam, Now Face Punishment (Photo : Photo by Windows on Unsplash ) 'How to NOT Cheat?': Nearly 100 Students Caught Cheating on Online Exam, Now Face Punishment Have you ever been caught cheating on exams in school? In South Korea, a group of medical students was also caught cheating--in their online exams. And now they're facing severe punishment for their actions. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, students are among those who have been most affected, their schoolyears indefinitely halted, their schedules changed, graduations were canceled. What's worse is the sudden change of environment when it comes to studying. Now, everyone's online. And apparently, not everything goes according to plan by using the internet. BUSTED! Nearly 100 South Korean students face punishment after online cheating scandal ABC News reported that 91 South Korean students in Medicine school--50 in their first year and 41 in the second year--were recently caught cheating on their online exam in a class since March. It turns out that the answers and questions from the online exam were being shared on messenger and other virtual platforms. For the professor to not know about the pattern, some students deliberately put wrong answers on the sheet. The students that weren't part of the cheating incident were the ones that pointed out the cheating tactics to professors. In order to know who was part of the scheme, the school decided to cross-check the answers of each student and asked them to come forward before being identifying them in public. "Some of us did expect this to happen because no one is out here to monitor us when taking tests or attending classes," Mary Cho, a senior at the university, told ABC News. "We doubted the level of transparency of online midterm exams earlier before this incident was officially reported." Students face disciplinary measures The Inha University-- wherein the students were studying-- formed a disciplinary committee to address the cheating incident. "In the case of exams, it is a matter of autonomy in relation to the university," an official with the Korean Council for University Education told ABC News. "If there are recommendations or guidelines related to cheating on online exams announced from the Ministry of Education, we can provide guidance, but it is not an issue that the council can address separately." Forbes reported that cheating on online exams has become more prevalent than ever. Many apps can be used by students to help them cheat without being caught. That is what the faculties and schools should focus on. "Faculty and staff should not make the egregious mistake of believing an honor code, signed statement of integrity, verbal acceptance of syllabi expectations, or other tacitly communicated acceptance is alone enough to sway academic dishonesty in online courses," said a study conducted by the National College Testing Association. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Neural network software is used to simulate, research, develop, and apply artificial neural networks, software concepts adapted from biological neural networks, and in some cases, a wider array of adaptive systems such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.Global Neural Network Software Market is expected to grow in the forecasted period, in 2017 market size of the Neural Network Softwarewas XX million and in 2027 is expected to reach at XX million with growing CAGR of XX%. Request For Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3314 Market Dynamics: The Neural Network Software market is significantly concentrated due to the presence of few key vendors and several prominent vendors operating competitively. Neural network software market is currently driven by growth in demand for predictive solutions, increasing adoption of big data analytics and various technological advancements. Predictive solutions are witnessing traction, with an increasing demand from end-use industries such as BFSI, health care, energy & utilities, and media. Exponential increase in the volume of data, increasing digitization, stringent regulations, and financial losses due to the rise in fraudulent practices are some fundamental factors responsible for rising demand for predictive solutions. Key Players: The Neural Network Software market consists global and regional players including Alyuda Research, LLC., Intel Corporation, SAP SE, Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Google Inc., QUALCOMM Incorporated, Afiniti, and Neural Technologies Limitedand other. Market Segmentation: Neural Network Software market is segmented based on Software Type, Industry verticaland geography. On the the basis of software type, the market has been divided into analytical software, data mining and archiving, optimization software and visualization software. Neural Network Software Module by region segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. In 2017, North America held highest revenue share of global neural network software market with the U.S contributing the maximum revenue and it is expected that the region will show significant growth over the forecast period. In Europe, highest revenue contributing countries includes the U.K., France and Germany. The high adoption rate across the countries namely China, India and Japan in the region is expected to drive the Get Complete TOC with Tables and Figures at : https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/requesttoc/3314 Market segmented on the basis of industry vertical: BFSI Government & Utilities Healthcare Oil & Gas Manufacturing Telecom and IT Retail & E-commerce Others Market segmented on the basis of software type: Data Mining and Archiving Analytical Software Optimization Software Visualization Software Market segmented based on region: North America US Canada Mexico Europe UK Germany France Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan India Australia Rest of Asia-Pacific Latin America Brazil Rest of Latin America Middle East and Africa (MEA) South Africa Saudi Arabia Rest of MEA Make an Inquiry before Buying@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3314/Single Why Americas revolution wont be televised The so far purely emotional insurrection lacks political structure and a credible leader to articulate grievances By Pepe Escobar June 03, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The Revolution Wont Be Televised because this is not a revolution. At least not yet. Burning and/or looting Target or Macys is a minor diversion. No one is aiming at the Pentagon (or even the shops at the Pentagon Mall). The FBI. The NY Federal Reserve. The Treasury Department. The CIA in Langley. Wall Street houses. The real looters the ruling class are comfortably surveying the show on their massive 4K Bravias, sipping single malt. This is a class war much more than a race war and should be approached as such. Yet it was hijacked from the start to unfold as a mere color revolution. US corporate media dropped their breathless Planet Lockdown coverage like a ton of pre-arranged? bricks to breathlessly cover en masse the new American revolution. Social distancing is not exactly conducive to a revolutionary spirit. Theres no question the US is mired in a convoluted civil war in progress, as serious as what happened after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King in Memphis in April 1968. Yet massive cognitive dissonance is the norm across the full strategy of tension spectrum. Powerful factions pull no punches to control the narrative. No one is able to fully identify all the shadowplay intricacies and inconsistencies. Hardcore agendas mingle: an attempt at color revolution/regime change (blowback is a bitch) interacts with the Boogaloo Bois arguably tactical allies of Black Lives Matter while white supremacist accelerationists attempt to provoke a race war. To quote the Temptations: its a ball of confusion. Antifa is criminalized but the Boogaloo Bois get a pass (here is how Antifas main conceptualizer defends his ideas). Yet another tribal war, yet another now domestic color revolution under the sign of divide and rule, pitting Antifa anti-fascists vs. fascist white supremacists. Meanwhile, the policy infrastructure necessary for enacting martial law has evolved as a bipartisan project. We are in the middle of the proverbial, total fog of war. Those defending the US Army crushing insurrectionists in the streets advocate at the same time a swift ending to the American empire. Amidst so much sound and fury signifying perplexity and paralysis, we may be reaching a supreme moment of historical irony, where US homeland (in)security is being boomerang-hit not only by one of the key artifacts of its own Deep State making a color revolution but by combined elements of a perfect blowback trifecta: Operation Phoenix; Operation Jakarta; and Operation Gladio. But the targets this time wont be millions across the Global South. They will be American citizens. Empire come home Quite a few progressives contend this is a spontaneous mass uprising against police repression and system oppression and that would necessarily lead to a revolution, like the February 1917 revolution in Russia sprouting out of the scarcity of bread in Petrograd. So the protests against endemic police brutality would be a prelude to a Levitate the Pentagon remix with the interregnum soon entailing a possible face-off with the US military in the streets. But we got a problem. The insurrection, so far purely emotional, has yielded no political structure and no credible leader to articulate myriad, complex grievances. As it stands, it amounts to an inchoate insurrection, under the sign of impoverishment and perpetual debt. Adding to the perplexity, Americans are now confronted with what it feels like to be in Vietnam, El Salvador, the Pakistani tribal areas or Sadr City in Baghdad. Iraq came to Washington DC in full regalia, with Pentagon Blackhawks doing show of force passes over protestors, the tried and tested dispersal technique applied in countless counter-insurgency ops across the Global South. And then, the Elvis moment: General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, patrolling the streets of DC. The Raytheon lobbyist now heading the Pentagon, Mark Esper, called it dominating the battlespace. Well, after they got their butts kicked in Afghanistan and Iraq, and indirectly in Syria, full spectrum dominance must dominate somewhere. So why not back home? Troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, the 10th Mountain Division and the 1st Infantry Division who lost wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and, yes, Somalia have been deployed to Andrews Airbase near Washington. Super-hawk Tom Cotton even called, in a tweet, for the 82nd Airborne to do whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters and looters. These are certainly more amenable targets than the Russian, Chinese and Iranian militaries. Milleys performance reminds me of John McCain walking around in Baghdad in 2007, macho man-style, no helmet, to prove everything was OK. Of course: he had a small army weaponized to the teeth watching his back. And complementing the racism angle, its never enough to remember that both a white president and a black president signed off on drone attacks on wedding parties in the Pakistani tribal areas. Esper spelled it out: an occupying army may soon be dominating the battlespace in the nations capital, and possibly elsewhere. What next? A Coalition Provisional Authority? Compared to similar ops across the Global South, this will not only prevent regime change but also produce the desired effect for the ruling oligarchy: a neo-fascist turning of the screws. Proving once again that when you dont have a Martin Luther King or a Malcolm X to fight the power, then power crushes you whatever you do. Inverted Totalitarianism The late, great political theorist Sheldon Wolin had already nailed it in a book first published in 2008: this is all about Inverted Totalitarianism. Wolin showed how the cruder forms of control from militarized police to wholesale surveillance, as well as police serving as judge, jury and executioner, now a reality for the underclass will become a reality for all of us should we begin to resist the continued funneling of power and wealth upward. We are tolerated as citizens only as long as we participate in the illusion of a participatory democracy. The moment we rebel and refuse to take part in the illusion, the face of inverted totalitarianism will look like the face of past systems of totalitarianism, he wrote. Sinclair Lewis (who did not say that, when fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving the cross) actually wrote, in It Cant Happen Here (1935), that American fascists would be those who disowned the word fascism and preached enslavement to capitalism under the style of constitutional and traditional native American liberty. So American fascism, when it happens, will walk and talk American. George Floyd was the spark. In a Freudian twist, the return of the repressed came out swinging, laying bare multiple wounds: how the US political economy shattered the working classes; failed miserably on Covid-19; failed to provide affordable healthcare; profits a plutocracy; and thrives on a racialized labor market, a militarized police, multi-trillion-dollar imperial wars and serial bailouts of the too big to fail. Instinctively at least, although in an inchoate manner, millions of Americans clearly see how, since Reaganism, the whole game is about an oligarchy/plutocracy weaponizing white supremacism for political power goals, with the extra bonus of a steady, massive, upwards transfer of wealth. Slightly before the first, peaceful Minneapolis protests, I argued that the realpolitik perspectives post-lockdown were grim, privileging both restored neoliberalism already in effect and hybrid neofascism. President Trumps by now iconic Bible photo op in front of St Johns church including a citizen tear-gassing preview took it to a whole new level. Trump wanted to send a carefully choreographed signal to his evangelical base. Mission accomplished. But arguably the most important (invisible) signal was the fourth man in one of the photos. Giorgio Agamben has already proved beyond reasonable doubt that the state of siege is now totally normalized in the West. Attorney General William Barr now is aiming to institutionalize it in the US: hes the man with the leeway to go all out for a permanent state of emergency, a Patriot Act on steroids, complete with show of force Blackhawk support. Pepe Escobar is correspondent-at-large at Asia Times. His latest book is 2030. Follow him on Facebook.- Post your comment here CHICAGO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Netherlands data center market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 4% during the period 20192025. This market research report includes data-driven and deep market insights on the impact of COVID-19 across geographies, segments, and vendor landscape. Leverage Arizton's market analysis to take real-time strategic business decisions and enhance your product portfolios. Key Highlights Offered in the Report: Connectivity, ease of doing business, favorable climatic condition, and availability of renewable energy makes the Netherlands a leading destination for data center development in Europe . Over 20 new data center development and expansion activities identified in Netherlands market in 2019. Around $3 billion investment in revenue opportunities for construction contractors, physical security products, and DCIM/BMS monitoring solutions during 2019-2025. Multiple M&A activities in 2019 continue to strengthen the colocation market in the Netherlands . In 2019, the Netherland contribute to around 18% share of the market investment in Europe , following Germany in the market. Key Offerings: Market Size & Forecast by Investment | 20192025 Market Size & Forecast by Colocation Revenue | 20192025 Impact of COVID-19 on Data Center Market Retail & Wholesale Data Center Colocation Pricing in Netherlands List of Data Center Investments in Netherlands Market Dynamics Leading trends, growth drivers, restraints, and investment opportunities Market Segmentation A detailed analysis by IT infrastructure, electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, general construction, and tier standard Key Market Participants List of 12 IT infrastructure providers, 12 construction service providers, 15 support infrastructure providers, and 14 data center investors Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/netherlands-data-center-market-investment-analysis Netherlands Data Center Market Segmentation High investments in data centers will be a strong driver for server infrastructure adoption in the market. The Dutch market has observed decline in demand for on-premise servers. In 2019, only around 40% of the servers in Netherlands were hosted on-premise, which is likely to be less than 5% or it will be deployed for edge computing purposes. were hosted on-premise, which is likely to be less than 5% or it will be deployed for edge computing purposes. Data center operators use more than 500 KW capacity UPS systems in N+1 or 2N configuration. NTT communication (Nexcenter) data center in Netherlands also supports 2(N+1) UPS systems. Moreover, Equinix in its data center facility adopted 2N redundant UPS systems. also supports 2(N+1) UPS systems. Moreover, Equinix in its data center facility adopted 2N redundant UPS systems. The data center market in Netherlands experiences free cooling of 8,000 hours per year. Data center operators adopt hybrid cooling systems that provides free cooling solutions for data centers facilities. Free cooling solutions help in reducing operating cost by upto 70% and enable operators to run their systems at PUE of less than 1.3. Market Segmentation by IT Infrastructure Servers Storage Systems Network Infrastructure Market Segmentation by Electrical Infrastructure UPS Systems Generators Transfer, Switches & Switchgears Rack PDUs Other Electrical Infrastructure Market Segmentation by Mechanical Infrastructure Cooling Systems Rack Cabinets Other Mechanical Infrastructure Market Segmentation by General Construction Building Development Installation & Commissioning Services Building Design Physical Security Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Market Segmentation by Tier Standard Tier I & Tier II Tier III Tier IV Market Segmentation by Geography Amsterdam Other Countries Netherlands Data Center Market Dynamics In 2019, the Netherlands market is largest consumer of SaaS service, with penetration of over 85%, IaaS and PaaS are expected to grow at over 15% YOY in the market. Oracle opened a cloud region in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2019. Microsoft and Google already have presence and expanding with construction of additional data center. AWS is likely to open a cloud region in the country to gain market share during 2021-2025. Microsoft Azure market share in Netherlands is over 20%, where other cloud service providers AWS and Google operate with a share of around 10% in 2019. Local cloud providers also contribute significantly towards the market growth for both IaaS and SaaS providers. Colocation of data center by these providers will be a boost to the market growth along with entry for global SaaS providers in creating a physical presence inside the country. Key Drivers and Trends fueling Market Growth: Amsterdam Second Largest Colocation Market in Europe Suitable Destination for Data Center Development & Operations AI, IoT, & 5G Demand will Proliferate Data Center Deployment Government Incentives for Digitalization Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/netherlands-data-center-market-investment-analysis Key Market Participants IT Infrastructure Providers Arista Atos Broadcom Cisco Dell Technologies Hewlett Packard Enterprise Huawei IBM Lenovo Mitac NetApp Wiwynn Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors Arup BNTHMCRWL Deerns Dornan Hurley Palmer Flatt Kirby Engineering and Construction Linesight Mace Mercury Red Engineering Royla Haskonining DHV Winthrop Support Infrastructure Providers ABB Caterpillar Climaveneta Cummins Eaton Kinolt (Euro-Diesel) Kohler SDMO Legrand MTU Onsite Energy Riello UPS Rittal Schneider Electric Socomec STULZ Vertiv Data Center Investor Alticom Bytesnet CyrusOne Data Place DATACENTER.COM Digital Realty Equinix Google Interxion Iron Mountain Microsoft NEP NTT Global Data Centers WorldStream Explore our data center knowledge base profile to know more about the industry. Read some of the top-selling reports: About Arizton: Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services. We offer comprehensive market research reports on industries such as consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, and life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals and materials, IT and media, logistics and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts. Arizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports. Mail: [email protected] Call: +1-312-235-2040 SOURCE Arizton Advisory & Intelligence Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, says states would no longer be refunded for construction or repair works carried ... Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, says states would no longer be refunded for construction or repair works carried out on federal roads. Addressing state house correspondents after the third virtual meeting of the federal executive council (FEC), Mohammed said reconstruction works done on federal roads would be supervised by the ministry of works and housing. There is a caveat henceforth if any state takes on federal government road, it will not be paid, they will not get any refund, he told journalists on Wednesday. Even if you want to pay from your own pocket, you will still need the permission of the federal government and it will be supervised by the federal ministry of works and housing. Mohammed explained that the council approved a refund of N148 billion spent on federal roads by Rivers, Cross River, Ondo, Bayelsa and Osun states. The minister said the approval of the refund followed a memo presented by Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works and housing. You will recall that in 2016, 36 states of the federation sent a very huge bill to the federal government, asking for compensation for money that they have expended on federal roads, he explained. This prompted Mr President to set up a committee to go and verify the claims of these 36 states, whether indeed these projects were actually constructed, were they completed, in line with the federal government standards. At the end of that exercise by an inter-ministerial committee, chaired by the minister of works and housing, but also had ministers of education, transportation, finance, minister of state for works, DG BPP and permanent secretary cabinet office as members. At the end of that exercise, the committee recommended that the federal government should refund N550,364,297.31 billion to 31 of the 36 states, after they were convinced that, yes indeed, the projects were completed and they were federal government roads. The claims of five other states Cross River, Rivers, Ondo, Bayelsa and Osun failed on the grounds that they did not do proper documentation and the committee felt they needed proper documentation. So, the committee went back with new terms of reference to ensure that the claims of the five states were in order, that is why the BPP is on the committee. So, at the end of the exercise, the committee now reported that the five states Cross River with 20 roads and one bridge will get a refund of N18,394,737,608.85, Ondo with six roads to get a refund of N7,822,147,577.08, and Osun with two roads and one bridge to get a refund of N2,468,938,876.78. Others are Bayelsa with five roads and one bridge is to get a refund of N38,040,564,783.40 and Rivers with three roads and three flyovers bridges is to get a refund of N78,953,067,518.29. The minister said the committees confirmed the roads and the bridges, that not only were they completed, they were in substantial-good form, adding that some of the bridges and roads were built about 10 years ago. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday accused the BJP of giving a "communal colour" to the killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala and said the saffron party leaders were deliberately spreading "false information" on the issue. The 15-year-old elephant is suspected to have consumed a pineapple filled with powerful firecrackers which exploded in the animal's mouth and it died in the Velliyar River about a week later. The opposition party said while the incident took place in Palakkad, BJP leaders and right-wing trolls were relating it to the neighbouring Malappuram district. Three suspects are under the scanner of teams probing the gory death of the pregnant wild elephant in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, as he alleged some people, including Union ministers, were using the incident to tarnish the image of the state. Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal demanded that the BJP must tender an unqualified and unconditional public apology for giving a communal colour to the "most unfortunate incident". The tragic and inhumane death of the pregnant elephant caused by biting a pineapple stuffed with explosives or fire crackers in Palakkad district in Kerala is a most cruel incident, he said in a statement. It invited condemnation and criticism across the world, Venugopal said, adding that any kind of mindless and unreasonable violence against wildlife was totally unacceptable and unjustifiable. "However, senior BJP leaders like Maneka Gandhi and Cabinet Ministers like Prakash Javadekar are deliberately spreading false information on this unfortunate tragedy," he said. Although the incident took place in Palakkad district, the ministers and right-wing trolls are relating the incident to the neighbouring Malappuram district, Venugopal said. "They are deliberately spreading communally motivated false information on the district. Furthermore, without any connection whatsoever, they even dragged the name of Rahul Gandhi in this diabolic incident," he alleged. Venugopal claimed that the "propaganda" has proven once again that the BJP would stoop to any level to twist facts for its narrow divisive political purposes. "They are shedding crocodile tears over the incident and this divisive propaganda has exposed the BJP's hypocrisy totally," he said. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said the climate in the country has become so bitter that even in the tragic death of an elephant, some were trying to misrepresent facts to twist it into an issue of one community versus another. ALSO READ | Pineapple filled with firecrackers killed pregnant wild elephant Union Environment Minister Javadekar earlier said that it was not in Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill. Tweeting about the incident that has taken social media by storm, Javadekar said the government would not leave any stone unturned to bring the culprit to book. "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill (sic)," he said in a tweet. BJP MP and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi tweeted that Malappuram was known for "its intense criminal activity", specially "with regard to animals". "In spite of having clarified that the incident took place in Palakkad and not in Malappuram as being propagated, people including central ministers are still not willing to correct the mistake. It now looks like they are doing it deliberately. This is not acceptable and any efforts to spread hatred using this incident will not be tolerated," Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. Company provides shareholder update CHICO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / AmeraMex International, Inc. (OTCQB:AMMX), a provider of heavy equipment for logistics companies, infrastructure construction and forestry conservation, announced that it has received an order for $125,000. The order was for and ASV Track Loader with a mulching head. The equipment will be used for clearing underbrush in Northern California and will ship before the end of June. SEC Reporting The company filed its 10K for the year ended December 31, 2019, in line with SEC guidelines. The 10Q for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020, will be filed June 29, 2020, also within SEC guidelines related to COVID-19 delays. Government Funding The Company has received $228,442 under the SBA Paycheck Protection Program. The Company has been approved for up to $2 million by the SBA for a Disaster Assistance Loan and has received a $10,000 advance. The monies are expected to be available to the Company by mid-June 2020. Loan terms have yet to be provided. Sales and Marketing The sales potential remains positive and the company is in constant contact with customers and potential customers. The sales team is experiencing a delay in the decision-making process but remains positive. The Company and a Dubai-based partner are responding to international RFPs and recently responded to an RFP for water purification systems serving over a million people. The RFP is for $320 million and four other companies are responding. About AmeraMex International AmeraMex International sells, leases and rents heavy equipment to companies within multiple industries including construction, logistics, mining, and lumber. AmeraMex, with a US and international customer base, has over 30 years of experience in heavy equipment sales and service. Follow AmeraMex on Twitter @ammx_intl and visit the AmeraMex website, www.AMMX.net or www.hamreequipment.com for additional corporate information, online heavy equipment inventory/ pricing and videos. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Investor and Media Relations McCloud Communications, LLC Marty Tullio, Managing Member Office: 949.632.1900 or Marty@McCloudCommunications.com SOURCE: AmeraMex International, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592695/AmeraMex-International-Receives-an-Order-for-125000 Twenty-six Oregon counties will soon move into a second phase of reopening, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Thursday, marking the latest step to restoring a semblance of daily life and allowing more Oregonians to return to work amid the pandemic. The list of counties allowed to ease restrictions Friday, Saturday or Monday stretches across the state, from rural eastern Oregon to southern Oregon and even into parts of the southern Willamette Valley. The looser rules mean restaurants and bars can stay open later, bowling alleys and movie theaters can reopen, and churches can welcome in more people. But three counties that sought approval -- Deschutes, Jefferson and Umatilla -- were not immediately approved to reopen but could be as soon as tonight. Seven others, largely in the Portland and Salem areas, have not yet applied. Any reopening comes with risk," Brown said in a statement. "Thats just a fact of life right now. We need to reduce the risk that comes with reopening. So, fellow Oregonians, you have further opportunity to show that you are looking out for your friends, family and neighbors. Counties approved to move into Phase 2 Friday are: Benton, Curry, Douglas, Grant, Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Linn, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Wasco and Wheeler. Counties approved for Saturday are: Baker, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Crook, Gilliam, Harney, Josephine, Malheur, Sherman and Yamhill. Tillamook County will move into the second phase Monday. Browns approval Thursday comes even as the Oregon Health Authority is under scrutiny about its transparency for calculating whether counties have met the reopening criteria set by state public health officials. The state created an online dashboard to monitor county progress on six metrics but has refused to release the underlying data so those calculations can be replicated. The lack of transparency makes it impossible to independently corroborate whether counties are meeting the goals outlined by the Oregon Health Authority. But state officials have said they look at those metrics holistically, and even some counties that didnt meet each indicator Thursday, according to the states dashboard, nonetheless earned Browns approval. State health officials said they now hope to make underlying data available to the public next week. Phase 2 further eases restrictions initially implemented by Brown in March to slow the spread of coronavirus. Most Oregon counties were approved to enter Phase 1 on May 15 and had to wait 21 days, without seeing signs of trouble, before being allowed to move into Phase 2. The looser Phase 2 rules allow indoor gatherings generally limited to 50 people and outdoor gatherings to 100 people. Churches and other civic organizations can welcome up to 250 people, depending on occupancy size, sanitation protocols and the ability to keep people apart. Major changes include allowing restaurants and bars to stay open until midnight and increase capacity with outdoor seating. Bowling alleys, swimming pools and movie theaters can also operate with appropriate safety measures. Office employees are still encouraged to work from home if possible. Public health officials expect Oregon counties approved for the second phase will remain there for months. Brown allowed Lane and Wasco counties to move into Phase 2 even though they did not meet all of the states listed criteria. Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and epidemiologist, said Lane Countys increase in cases was among only 10 total infections, and half of the recent infections could be traced back to a source. Given the countys relatively large population and small case count, Sidelinger said, officials felt confident in the ability to stay on top of the virus. Wasco County also saw an increase in cases and did not identify the source of infections frequently enough to meet state standards. But Sidelinger said recent cases rose from 0 to six and officials arent overly concerned about community spread in the rural area. Although Brown did not initially approve Deschutes, Jefferson and Umatilla counties, each could soon receive the greenlight, Sidelinger said. Deschutes did not trace enough infections to a known source, Jefferson saw an increase in infections and the rate of positive tests, and Umatilla could not identify the source of enough infections and reported a higher rate of positive tests. But Sidelinger said state health officials spoke with county officials and received satisfactory explanations Thursday. Sidelinger said he anticipated likely recommending to Brown that each be allowed to move into Phase 2. Meanwhile, two other counties eligible to enter a second phase -- Hood River and Lincoln -- have yet to apply. But Sidelinger said he also anticipated each would likely be recommended for approval if they "didnt have any red flags. Clackamas and Washington counties near Portland, and Marion and Polk counties in the Salem area, are not yet eligible to move into Phase 2 because not enough time has elapsed. Each county also failed to meet at least one indicator in the states latest dashboard. Sidelinger said officials would take a closer look at eligibility when they seek approval in coming weeks. Multnomah County, meanwhile, is eyeing a June 12 reopening into Phase 1. Asked about the likelihood that Brown would approve reopening the states most populous county, Sidelinger said: Im not good at gambling, so Im not going to give you odds." But given a rise in cases, and other indicators, Sidelinger noted that both the state and county are looking at moving forward cautiously. Oregon through Thursday has recorded 4,350 coronavirus infections out of more than 139,000 people tested, giving it one of the lowest infection rates in the country. Oregon has recorded 159 deaths, also one of the lowest rates nationwide. The number of daily infections reported by the health authority has been on the upswing over the past two weeks, however. That includes the 76 reported Thursday, with 30 of those among Multnomah County residents. Sidelinger said he cant point to any new cases directly tied to Memorial Day activities but noted that the timeline for new cases across Oregon now coincides with infections that could have been spread during the holiday weekend. Despite Oregons comparatively low infections and deaths nationally, state officials have been cautious in their reopening efforts -- sometimes drawing ire from business owners and others. One in five Oregonians has lost jobs amid the pandemic, and the states unemployment system has become overwhelmed. Brown credited Oregonians adherence to her March stay-at-home orders for reducing transmission and putting the state in a safe place to now increase reopening efforts. Today, most of us live in communities where people are venturing out a bit," she said in the statement. "We do so cautiously, looking out for friends, family and neighbors. I want to say thank you to each and every Oregonian who has made tremendous sacrifices to protect the health and safety of our communities. -- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. [June 04, 2020] The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz Announces Investigation on Behalf of Carnival Corporation Investors (CCL) The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz announces an investigation on behalf of Carnival Corporation ("Carnival" or the "Company") (NYSE: CCL) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. On April 16, 2020, when the Company still had at sea two of its cruise ships, Bloomberg (News - Alert) Businessweek published an article titled "Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going." The article stated that Carnival may have failed to effectively protect its passengers from COVID-19 on a seies of cruise voyages, and indeed continued to operate new cruise departures despite its knowledge that the threat posed by COVID-19 had materialized on its ships and was likely to proliferate further. On this news, the Company's share price fell $0.53 per share, or over 4%, to close at $11.85 per share on April 16, 2020. Then, on May 1, 2020, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Cruise Ships Set Sail Knowing the Deadly Risk to Passengers and Crew." The article detailed how cruise ships, particularly Carnival ships, facilitated the spread of COVID-19, and provided new facts on early warning signs Carnival and its affiliated cruise lines possessed and the Company's disclosure failures. Further, the article also noted that The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure had requested documents from Carnival related "to Covid-19 or other infectious disease outbreaks aboard cruise ships" and that testimony from a different investigation in Australia exposed that Carnival and its affiliated cruise lines may have misled shore officials by concealing those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms before docking. On this news, the Company's share price fell $1.97 per share, or over 12%, to close at $13.93 per share, thereby injuring investors. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/FRC_LAW. If you purchased Carnival securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Frank R. Cruz, of The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-914-5007, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.frankcruzlaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005349/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A massive fuel spill in Siberia prompted Russia to declare a state of emergency in the region as the mining company involved said the catastrophe may have been caused by climate change. Scientists have warned for years that thawing of once permanently frozen ground covering more than half of Russia is threatening the stability of buildings and pipelines. Greenpeace said last weeks accident was the largest ever in the Arctic region, and likened it to the Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska in 1989. The cause of the spill, in which 20,000 tons of diesel leaked from a reservoir owned by MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, hasnt been determined but the company has suggested it could be the result of damage from melting permafrost. The rate of warming in the Arctic is twice as fast as the rest of the world. The cause is yet to be determined and is likely a combination of both climate change and infrastructure-related factors, said Dmitry Streletskiy, a professor at George Washington University. The fuel spill in Norilsk is polluting land and rivers that drain into a lake linked to the Kara Sea. The lake that links to the Kara Sea has already been affected, Kommersant newspaper reported, citing a spokesman at the Federal Agency for Fishing. As a precautionary measure, Nornickel is pumping fuel from another nearby reservoir where slight cracks were discovered after the company began an investigation of the accident, said Nornickel First Vice President Sergey Dyachenko. The spill came at a reservoir that was last checked in 2018 in line with regulations, according to Nornickels press service. Given the issues linked to permafrost, the checks of such reservoirs should be done more often, said Vladimir Chuprov, project director at Greenpeace in Russia. The area wont be able to recover from the accident soon as it is already not possible to fully collect the fuel after such time. The company called in a specialist clean-up team from Murmansk, which is pumping out the fuel. The team has so far collected 338 tons of diesel fuel and removed 1,450 cubic meters of soil, Nornickels press service said. Putin Criticism President Vladimir Putin approved a state of emergency Wednesday, about five days after the spill. Emergency Situation Minister Yevgeny Zinichev flew to the area today, after talks with Putin and representatives of Nornickel. He said the state of emergency will allow federal resources to be deployed. Putin criticized the handling of the accident after Krasnoyarsk Governor Alexander Uss said he only learned about the scale of the incident from social media two days after it occurred. Nornickel said the authorities were informed about the accident immediately. Its a potentially sensitive issue for Putin, who has been largely indifferent to climate change in the past. The president only decided to ratify the 2015 Paris climate accord this year, after previously challenging the widely held assertion that global warming is due almost exclusively to human activity. Nornickels shares fell 8.7% in Moscow trading. United Co. Rusal, which owns 28% of Nornickel, has called for an unscheduled board meeting to discuss the spill. Vladimir Potanin, Nornickels biggest shareholder and chief executive officer, has yet to make a statement. Photograph: A view of tundra, lakes and rivers amid smoke and pipes from the Norilsk Metallurgical Plant on the Taimyr Peninsula in northern Siberia. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Climate Change Energy Oil Gas Its no secret that Victoria Fuller and Chris Soules from The Bachelor are quarantining together. However, the couple did not tell fans yet that they are officially dating. An Instagram comment from Fuller on June 2, 2020, might have just changed that. Victoria Fuller on The Bachelor | Kelsey McNeal/ABC via Getty Images Are Victoria Fuller and Chris Soules quarantining together? Fuller and Soules were the subjects of rumors in early April when the spoiler king, Reality Steve, suggested that the two were quarantined together. One of the more random Bachelor couples that I cant say I ever wouldve guessed, wrote Reality Steve on April 15, 2020. I dont know how long this has been going on or how serious it is, but I can confirm that Victoria Fuller is currently together in Iowa for the week with Chris Soules. Discuss. Fans believe that the rumor was confirmed when both Fuller and Soules shared a picture on their Instagram story of the sunrise over the same field. A source also revealed that the duo connected on Instagram. RELATED: Bachelor Fans React to the Dumpster Fire That Is Victoria Fuller and Chris Soules Dating Is It a Match Made in Prison? Chris slid into Victorias DMs, a source tells Us exclusively. He apparently DMs a lot of people. Victoria Fuller replied with a sassy remark on Instagram that she has a bf On June 2, 2020, Fuller posted a black square on Instagram to support the movement, Black Lives Matter. She also explained in another post that she is educating herself on the racism that exists in the United States. So happy to see your true colors, one Instagram user commented on Fullers Blackout Tuesday post. Unfollowing, glad to do so. Remain single with that personality! However, Fuller quickly replied with, I have a bf. RELATED: The Bachelor: Shiann Defends Victoria F. For White Lives Matter Scandal Shes One of Those Pure People Fans did not miss the interaction. They feel the comeback is an accurate indication that Fuller is dating Soules. How do fans feel about Victoria Fuller and Chris Soules dating? Although many commented that the two are an unlikely pair, most fans are here for the relationship. Ok, one Redditor wrote. This method of announcing she and Chris Soules are officially dating is one of the best things to come out of this nightmare of a year. I love her no f*cks given energy. Another fan added that the couple is so unexpected that its hard to hate on. Ive always loved her even when it was unpopular to love her, another Reddit user added. Love me an underdog little messy person with a good heart whos trying to learn. Some fans even added that they like this relationship better than Peter Weber and Kelley Flanagans. D esigner Charli Cohen planned her first fashion collection at the age of 13 when she sailed with her parents to New Zealand. With this early training in confinement and isolation, getting through the Covid-19 lockdown isnt too difficult. The longest period we would be at sea was about a month. There are a lot of similarities: things are very similar in how you create structure in your day and how you can self-entertain, she explains. But obviously its more limiting when youre in the middle of the Pacific Ocean than it is here in LA where I can go to Whole Foods and grab some dinner you have to catch dinner in the middle of the Pacific. Cohen launched her eponymous brand after graduating from a fashion degree at Kingston University seven years ago. Though her clothes are centred in the physical realm, her brand very much utilises digital to expand the stories around the products such as growing an online community via the mental health-focused platform and podcast Shades of Blue, to the responsibly produced technical textiles that make up the collection. A recent collaboration with Reebook saw Cohen design two sneakers featuring barcodes which lead to unique online content from the two brands. Its this blend of the physical and digital which saw Cohen move from London to LA in February to take part in the Snap Yellow accelerator programme. The parent company of the social network Snapchat launched the programme in 2018 as a way to invest and grow companies at the intersection between creativity and tech. Weve always had a creative approach to building our product, says Mike Su, head of the Yellow programme. And we felt there were a lot of amazing programmes aimed at pure tech companies, there werent as many for folks at the intersection. Yellow takes place each year over 15 weeks between February and April and sees between nine and 10 early-stage start-up founders move to LA to work at the companys Santa Monica-based HQ. Snap invests $150,000 in each company, along with workshops and mentorship from the companys executives and partners. From using Snapchats Discover platform to the apps e-commerce features, as well as SnapKit and Lens studio to make augmented reality filters, the founders learn the tools they need to grow their companies. Its important to focus on the tech but its just as important to build discipline around brand-building and storytelling so we bring together experts from all these areas to round out the group, explains Su. Cohen's products feature bar codes which offer up digital content to the wearer / Charli Cohen The 2020 Yellow programme was a little different to previous years in that the founders had four weeks in Santa Monica before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the US. That didnt stop Sus team however, as it ensured all the programming would remain the same for the founders regardless of their location. Cohen moved in with two other founders Hardworkers, a LinkedIn-type community for blue-collar workers, and Veam, which allows teens to Airdrop memes to one another to start a conversation but said the first IRL weeks were important for bonding. Its a very motivating and inspiring environment to be in. By being in the Snap offices we had amazing access to such experienced and knowledgeable people in the same building which was very cool, she explains. One benefit of the quarantine was the types of external mentors and speakers that could take the time to chat to the founders via Zoom, who might not have been able to attend physically, such as entrepreneur Mark Cuban who held mini Shark Tank-style interviews with the founders. Su says the pandemic has helped to test the resolve of the start-ups, which will make them stronger in the long term. Having to adapt to this situation and being able to figure out your mission in light of a global pandemic .. these are things the companies have had to wrestle through. For the founders in this class, I think theyre battle-tested and Ive been inspired to see their resolve and adapt their business. Indeed, digital and community have been two major topics during the past few months. Many fashion brands have struggled to pandemic-proof their supply chains, whereas, for Charli Cohen which manufactures limited quantities of each style in different locations around the globe as part of its sustainability mission, the brand has been able to continue operating. We do our own warehousing and distribution so were quite fortunate because it means that one of the team can go and sort that out while remaining quarantined and self-isolating, Cohen explains. The brand has carried out Zoom-themed photo shoots in the lockdown / Charli Cohen Its also a time when more fashion brands have to embrace digital. The next iteration of London Fashion Week is due to take off in a few weeks, and it will be completely digital for the first time. This whole Covid situation has been quite a leveller for the industry and been a way for smaller, more agile brands to stand out and innovate during this time. Its just pushing everybody to be more creative. Taking fashion week digital makes a lot more sense: you have more reach, its much easier to make it a consumer event as well as an industry event. The barriers to entry are lower too, which benefits smaller brands like Cohens. Its a huge cost to put on a physical show, a huge crunch period to get everything ready for it. The return on investment gets worse every season, she says. Expect to see a lot more tech woven into the future of Charli Cohen. The brand is going to be working with leading games developers over the next few months to bring their intellectual property into physical products with augmented reality elements, along with in-game products. In addition, there are plans for a virtual reality fashion show in July focused on some of the mental health conversations from Shades of Blue. Snap has propelled AR to the public consciousness so it makes sense Cohen would utilise this type of tech following her time with the company. Theres so much potential - the importance for us is being able to have a story and a world around the product. With AR you can literally put it into the product, she explains. So if theres a graphic on a garment, you can scan it and see the world come to life in the garment, through your phone. Or see how a garment is made and learn about the supply chain and that process. Understandably, its been tricky to balance running her brand back in London and the programme with LA, no small feat given the eight-hour time difference, and Cohen says shes been busier in lockdown. The brands Instagram account has been running a live festival called Quaranstream featuring emerging artists who perform a live set and chat to their followers, including UK artist Britney Long and Nadya from Pussy Riot. Another start-up from Yellow, a webcomic named Tubby Nugget, carried out live drawing requests via Instagram Live. You do what youve got to do I think. I felt like this is something I should be doing so I made space for it. The brand's Instagram has been running online festivals in lockdown / Charli Cohen Though the Yellow programme has since finished, complete with a showcase that saw the founders pitch to 100+ investors via an online stream, thanks to Snaps equity investment, Su says the relationship goes on. We want to continue supporting these companies throughout their lifetime. To have that equity stake, it aligns us well to building towards their fortune and forces us to take a more holistic view on how they grow as a company. For start-ups thinking about applying to Yellow next year, Su says theyre ready for whatever happens. The good news is weve figured out how to run a programme remotely so were prepared for that. But its still early to say. We have to think like start-ups: be nimble, read the circumstances and adjust accordingly. Cohens advice? Product is important but so is your passion. Everybody is really passionate about the problem theyre solving and I think that is really fundamental to how the selections are made. RTHK: Obama calls for review on use of force by police In his first live remarks on the unrest gripping dozens of US cities, former US President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged every American mayor to review and reform their police department's use-of-force policies in consultation with their communities. The country's first black president also struck a note of optimism, even as he acknowledged the despair and anger powering the protests since the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody nine days ago. "In some ways, as tragic as these last few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they've been, they've also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends," Obama said via livestream from his Washington, DC, home. "And they offer an opportunity for us to all work together to tackle them, to take them on, to change America and make it live up to its highest ideals." He also directly addressed young Americans of colour, telling them, "I want you to know that you matter, I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter." Obama's speech offered a distinct contrast in tone to the way his successor, President Donald Trump, has responded to the protests, some of which have devolved into violence. Trump has threatened to deploy the US military to quell demonstrations and told governors to get "tougher." Obama did not mention Trump on Wednesday, though he has criticised the president's actions more frequently in recent weeks. Wednesday's address was part of a discussion hosted by My Brother's Keeper, a program Obama founded in 2014 in the wake of the police shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to address deep-seated racial inequities. The panel included former Attorney General Eric Holder and other black leaders. Obama, who saw a similar outpouring of grief and frustration while in office after a spate of police killings of unarmed black men, rejected the notion that one must choose between "voting versus protests" or "politics and participation versus civil disobedience." "This is not an either-or," he said. "This is a both-and." (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2020-06-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. India and Australia on Thursday elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and upgraded their 2+2 foreign affairs and defence dialogue to the ministerial level during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Scott Morrison. The two sides also unveiled a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo- Pacific and signed seven agreements focused on crucial areas such as defence and rare earth minerals. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) will facilitate reciprocal access to military logistics facilities, allow more complex joint military exercise and improve interoperability between the armed forces of the two sides. Also read| Our ties are deep with shared values: PM Modi during virtual summit with Australian PM India is committed to expanding its relations with Australia at a wider and faster pace. This is important not only for our two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world, Modi said in his opening televised remarks in Hindi. Morrision said the comprehensive strategic partnership forged by the two sides will take them to a whole new level of relationship and it will continue to build the trust because we want commercial and trading relationships that are built on trust. Referring to the joint declaration on a shared vision for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, he added, We share an ocean and we share responsibilities for that ocean as well its health, well-being [and] security and the relationship were forming around those issues in our maritime domain is the platform for so many other things between our countries. Among the other important agreements signed by the two sides during the virtual bilateral summit the first such meeting for Modi were a framework arrangement on cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology cooperation, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in mining and processing of critical and strategic minerals, an implementing arrangement on cooperation in defence science and technology to the existing MoU on defence cooperation. Even before the Covid-19 crisis, the two sides had been exploring the possibility of cooperation in the mining and processing of rare earth metals such as lithium, neodymium and dysprosium, of which Australia has the worlds sixth largest reserves. India, which imports more than 90% of the rare earth metals it needs from China, has been looking to diversify sources. In 2016, the imports from China were worth $3.4 million. Watch| Perfect time to extend ties: PM Modi & Australian PM hold virtual summit The two sides also signed three MoUs on cooperation in public administration and governance reforms, cooperation in vocational education and training and water resources management. The virtual summit was arranged after Morrison was forced to put off a planned visit to India twice first in January because of the devastating bushfires in Australia and then in May because of the Covid-19 crisis. Modi reiterated his invitation to Morrison to visit India when the situation normalises. Morrison, who has met Modi four times in the recent past, joked about how he had missed out on the famous Modi hug. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON FILE PHOTO: A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles sign at the U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler is piloting a project in its historic Italian home of Turin to allow its hybrid plug-in cars to automatically switch to electric-only mode when entering congested city centers. The project, which aims to maximize the environmental benefits of hybrid cars, comes as Fiat Chrysler (FCA) rolls out its first alternative-engine models, trying to make up ground on rivals which already offer a range of full electric and hybrid vehicles in Europe. The project, named 'Turin Geofencing Lab' and involving the city authorities and public transport agency GTT, is based on a prototype system with fully integrated on-board sensors allowing a car to recognize when it is entering a restricted traffic zone, FCA said on Wednesday. The sensors will then automatically turn off the combustion engine and switch to electric mode. This would allow hybrid cars to enjoy dispensations for electric vehicles in the city center, including dedicated parking spaces. The system has been initially tested on the new Jeep Renegade 4xe hybrid plug-in model. The tests could be extended to the group's other hybrid models from next year. The COVID-19 crisis has not significantly delayed FCA's plans to launch its first full-electric and hybrid models. An electric version of the Fiat 500 small car and plug-in hybrid versions of Jeep's Renegade and Compass models are due to hit the market this summer. A similar project was launched last year by German carmaker BMW and Rotterdam, with a smart-phone reminder to switch-off combustion engines when passing a virtual boundary into the Dutch city's "electric-only zone". But that did not entail such a direct link between the vehicle and the city's access platform and gates to restricted traffic zones, as in Turin's case. Roberto Di Stefano, FCA's Head of EMEA e-Mobility, said that once the Turin project was completed, it would be gradually offered to other cities, in Italy and abroad. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir) Moody's Investors Services said on Wednesday that the quality of retail and SME loans would deteriorate. These loans account for 44 per cent of the total loans. The global credit ratings agency also said that more than 80 per cent of rated non-financial companies have negative outlook. This comes days after the global credit ratings agency downgraded India's sovereign ratings to Baa3 from Baa2. Moody's has also downgraded long-term issuer rights of eight companies including ONGC, Infosys, TCS, OIL. The agency said that the risks to the financial system are rising. It pointed out that some sectors were under strain even before the coronavirus pandemic began. Both assets and liabilities for NBFIs would come under strain in the near term, it said, accounting for 10-15 per cent of bank loans. Also read: Moody's cuts India's sovereign rating to Baa3, maintains negative outlook In the auto value chain, private sector banks are the most exposed. In power sector exposure is about 8-10 per cent of bank loans, the agency stated. Moody's also pointed towards lower growth, weaker fiscal conditions and rising financial sector stress that would pose challenges to policymaking institutions. "Our rating action signals downward pressure on the ratings and standalone assessments of most rated banks," it said. It added that more than 80 per cent of rated non-financial companies have negative outlooks or are under review for downgrade. "Two-thirds of the rated infrastructure portfolio has a negative bias," it said. Also read: Moody's downgrades TCS, Infosys; affirms RIL's rating with negative outlook Moody's stated that the debt burden remains high and deficits have fallen short of FRBM targets. The agency recently downgraded India's foreign currency and local currency long term issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2 and maintained a negative outlook on India. It then downgraded the long-term issuer ratings of eight non-financial companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), Oil India Limited (OIL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Petronet LNG Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) and Infosys Limited. It maintained a negative outlook on these companies. Also read: Moody's downgrades ratings of ONGC, HPCL, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum The company's goal is to provide financial relief to those who require CBD products for medical issues DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Hemp Me is pleased to announce it is providing customers with an unprecedented price drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to provide them with financial relief. Dr. Hemp Me is an online retailer of CBD oils and CBD products. The company is fully regulated by the Cannabis Trade Association, ranking as only one of two companies in Ireland with tested, trusted, and proven CBD products. For Dr. Hemp Me, nothing is more important than breathing new life into the emerging CBD marketplace, and ensuring the quality of its products remain top tier both in terms of potency and delivery. In the company's recent news, Dr. Hemp Me is announcing it is slashing prices of its renowned CBD products during the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented move was determined to help provide financial relief to users who require CBD for medicinal purposes, and who may have been laid off or working with reduced hours. "We've noticed a stark rise in CBD sales due to Coronavirus, which allows us to cut costs and look after our customers in these tough times," says founder of Dr. Hemp Me, Brian Cusack. "We understand many customers are now out of work and take CBD for serious medical issues. We want to be able to help them afford CBD during this time." In addition to dropping their prices on CBD products, Dr. Hemp Me is also announcing the exciting launch of its brand-new UK website. This website is designed specifically for CBD consumers in the UK who are looking for regulated products from a trusted distributor. "We are very excited about the launch of our UK site," states Cusack. "Over the years, we have received many emails from consumers who wish to purchase our products in the UK. We want them to know we've listened, and they are welcome to start placing orders today." For more information about Dr. Hemp Me, please visit www.drhempme.com. Contact Information: Brian Cusack brian@drhempme.com www.drhempme.com U.S. Capitol police officers talk with demonstrators as they protest the death of George Floyd on Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington. Read more WASHINGTON Congressional Democrats, powered by the Congressional Black Caucus, are preparing a sweeping package of police reforms as pressure builds on the federal government to respond to the death of George Floyd and others in law enforcement interactions. With the urgency of mass protests outside their doors, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working furiously to draft what could become one of the most ambitious efforts in years to oversee the way law enforcement works. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, both former presidential candidates, are expected to announce a package in coming days, with a House bill coming soon. READ MORE: Live coverage of what's happening Thursday, June 4 Both the Senate and House efforts are expected to include changes to police accountability laws, such as revising immunity provisions and creating a database of police use-of-force incidents. Revamped training requirements are planned, too, among them a ban on the use of choke holds. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has endorsed such a ban. We have a moral moment in our country, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the CBC, said on a conference call Wednesday. The political stakes of any police reform effort are high, amplified in an election year by President Donald Trumps law and order stance, including his threats to call in the U.S. military to clamp down on protesters. With mass unrest now entering a second week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to shift the national tone Wednesday by walking and talking with protesters outside the Capitol. The House is expected to vote by month's end. With Democrats in the majority, the bills will almost certainly pass the House. But the outcome in the Senate is less certain. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the chamber would take a look at the issues, but he has not endorsed any particular legislation. On Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer pointedly called on McConnell to commit to considering the bills this summer. Will our Republican colleagues ever join us in this effort? Schumer asked from the Senate floor, after Democrats held a 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence for Floyd and others at the Capitols Emancipation Hall. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, tweeted earlier that his panel will conduct a hearing to shine a bright light on the problems associated with Mr. Floyds death, with the goal of finding a better way forward for our nation. But much like efforts to stem gun violence after mass shootings, the political momentum for changes to policing procedures could ebb as the protests and images of those who have died fade from public view. For example, a long-sought federal anti-lynching bill has languished in Congress. Words of kindness and grace are essential to America, but theyre not enough right now, Booker said during a Senate floor speech this week. Its on us in this body to do something to change the law. Lawmakers are looking at proposing other measures. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is considering an upcoming defense bill provision that would ban the transfer of military equipment, including armor and tanks, to police and sheriffs departments. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., is proposing a national commission on the status of young black men and boys, and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., has legislation to establish a national truth and reconciliation commission on black Americans. This is just one thing we can do, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is introducing a bill in the Senate similar to one in the House that seeks to make choke-hold suffocation a federal crime. This is a moment that demands leadership, it demands a reckoning. It's not clear whether law enforcement will back the changes. Many of the efforts will likely be supported by other minority lawmakers. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus, convened the call Wednesday with the leaders of the Black, Hispanic and Native American caucuses. We stand together, she said. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., is among several members of the black caucus who will be attending memorial or funeral services for Floyd on Thursday in Minnesota and Texas. She acknowledged the opposition the bills will likely face, but called on fellow lawmakers to consider the option of doing nothing. Its very hard to watch that video and go back in your corner, Lawrence said. Etawah : , June 4 (IANS) A 20-year-old girl surrendered before police after killing her elder brother who had allegedly tried to molest her. The incident took place in Kotwali police circle in Etawah district in the early hours of Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Deepak Rajput, a resident of Sati Mohalla. According to reports, Deepak, who was pursuing a computer course at a local institute, attempted to molest his younger sister who resisted the attempt and then attacked him with a sickle and pestle. The parents had gone to their maternal grand-parents' place in Bela town at the time of incident. The alleged victim then went to the police station and informed them about the incident. Circle Officer (City) Vaibhav Pandey said: "The accused girl later reached Kotwali police station and confessed before the police about the crime. She guided the police to her house in Sati Mohalla, where they found her brother lying in a pool of blood with grievous wounds. He was rushed to Sefai Medical College where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival." "A case under relevant sections including 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC has been registered at Kotwali police station and the accused has been arrested," he said. Surprisingly, the parents have denied their daughter's allegations of molestation against the son. The circle officer said, "We are cross-checking the call details of the victim and the accused. She will be produced before court and sent to jail on Thursday." At least 12 people were detained as police and protesters clashed during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens, per an AP reporter in the Greek capital. The big picture: Protesters threw firebombs toward police who responded with tear gas during a march toward the embassy on Wednesday evening, Reuters reports. Some 4,000 Greeks took part in the protest, which was largely peaceful until the end, according to Neos Kosmos. It's one of several anti-racism protests to be held in countries including the U.K., France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that also showed support for U.S. demonstrators. Go deeper: In photos: People around the world show support for George Floyd 4th June 2020, Intersociety, Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria: Updated Summary: The number of Igbo Communities, Villages and other Locations occupied by the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen has now risen to no fewer than 400, from 350 reported in our research report of 27th May 2020. In our latest updates, total of 368 Igbo communities have been identified and 32 dark figures added; bringing the total to not less than 400. With our latest updates, Enugu State still top the list with 92, Anambra 87, Imo 64, Abia 47, Ebonyi 41, Igbo Delta 22 and Igbo Rivers 15. While Enugu State has addition of 20 communities, Anambra has 17, Imo 3, Abia 4, Ebonyi 5, Delta Igbo 1 and Igbo Rivers nil. The list may end up hitting 450 communities; meaning that the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and their imported jihadist allies will have, in the end, occupied over two States and-a-half in Igbo Land. Presently, there are 189 autonomous communities in Anambra State, 187 in Enugu and about 122 in Ebonyi, totaling 498 autonomous communities. Lifeless and Mutilated Bodies of Innocent Christian Children Slaughtered by the Jihadists Nine Christians Hacked To Death In Southern Kaduna The Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen have again struck in Southern Kaduna where they slaughtered nine defenseless Christians and injured scores of others. The latest jihadist attacks have brought to no fewer than 116 Christians including women and children hacked to death since the beginning of Jan 2020. The yesterdays dastardly act took place in Tudun Doka located along Kaduna-Kachia Road in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State; at about 5.45am in the morning of 3rd June 2020. At the end of the jihadist attacks, the following nine defenseless Christians were slaughtered: Kefas Yusuf, 30-year-old and father of three children, Richard Yusuf, 25-year-old, Fidelis Wada, 40-year-old and father of four children, Kachia Simon, 30-year-old and father of three children, Rose Soja, 39-year-old and mother of three children, Genesis Soja, 11-year-old, Rahap Soja, 9-year-old, Victoria Gyata, 50-year-old and mother of five children and Lovette Akayi, 10-year-old. Some photos of the slain victims are attached. Mutilated and Lifeless Body of Mother of Children Slaughtered by the Jihadists. We strongly condemn the latest butchery in Southern Kaduna, an area surrounded by military and police formations, yet no signs of state security presence during such attacks. We also brought the butchery to the fore to further expose the patterns and trends including jihadist intents of the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen following their massive movement and occupation of forests, bushes, farmlands and river-lines of several parts of Igbo Land. The Southern Kaduna butchery also exposed how heavily compromised the countrys security agencies and their leaderships are; to the extent that they decline intervention when defenseless citizens of Christian faith are under fatal attacks by the Jihadists but intervene with uttermost speed when cows are reported to have been attacked or gone missing. Lifeless and Mutilated Bodies of Innocent Christian Children Slaughtered by the Jihadists Defining Jihadist Invasion & Occupation For purpose of this research study, it is necessary to again refresh the minds of the attentive and the un-attentive public with a working definition of invasion and occupation of Igbo communities by the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and their imported allies including the Shuwa Arabs. By invasion and occupation, they mean any Igbo Community or Village or Location jointly invaded by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and their Shuwa Arab brothers or singly invaded by the former for purpose or with intent to occupy same permanently or temporarily; or being raided constantly or subjected to periodic or constant attacks by the Jihadists from within or nearby community, village or location. It is also malicious occupation when a group of violent or armed citizens with track records of bloodshed and religious radicalism forcefully and illegitimately enter and occupy permanently or temporarily a farmland or bush or forest or river-line belonging not to them; and done outside the consent of their indigenous owners. These include threatening the community or its leaders with fears and violence or maliciously inducing them with money or material things so as to secure or gain unauthorized or forceful access. If Mmiata-Anam Community in Anambra West LGA of Anambra State, for instance, was attacked last year and six killed and the Jihadists temporarily relocated to neighboring areas, in legal and criminological research, the Community is inclusive in the list of those under Jihadist Herdsmen occupation; likewise another facing periodic or constant raiding and destruction of its farmlands or bushes or lives from a Jihadist Fulani camp in a nearby community, or Village, or Location. Such attacks or violence include unauthorized entering of any Igbo community, or village, or location by the accused; destruction of farmlands and agricultural produce or economic trees and crops belonging to such community, or village, or location. Attacks by the occupying force are also involved when such community is threatened or about to be threatened with violence; forcing same to live in fear or feel unsecure. Attacks against such community further involve crime against persons such as loss of lives and sexual violence including rape and forced pregnancies and marriages; or use of same to propagate radical Islamism including forceful or induced conversion to Islam or raising new Muslim population through same. Crimes against properties also constitute Jihadist Herdsmen attacks. These include armed robbery, abduction for ransom, seizure and occupation of lands and other forms of property violence. Ozubulu Community: A Case Of Ogirisi & Mkpodu Trees : A famous hinterland Igbo adage says: oke na olu dialu okenye bu ikpolu nwata kpoje ya n ukwu ogirisi ebe oga efe mmuo, mana ya bu nwata hapu ya jebe n ukwu mkpodu, imalu n ndi mmuo agba goru okenye ahu aka ebe. That is to say that Ozubulu Community in Ekwusigo LGA of Anambra State, which claimed to have searched and combed in one day of their bushes and forests and found no Fulani Herdsmen in the end; was very hasty and tactless. In other words, finding no Fulani Herdsmen in Ozubulu as at the time of the said search is not enough proof to conclude that the Community is not among those under the occupation or threats by the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen. In Mmiata-Anam (Anambra West LGA), they invaded, killed six and retreated. At times, they would invade, destroy farmlands and farm crops and retreat to nearby camp such as in Aguleri. The Ozubulu Community should have appreciated their inclusion in the list of our research work and seen same as a wakeup call to be extremely vigilant as many other Igbo communities left excluded have been on our neck, pleading for inclusion. Factually speaking, Ozubulu Community must have done a hasty and half-hazard job; with sketchy intents. For clarity, the Community shares Odekpe/Oba/Atani/Ozubulu Forest Swamps with Atani, Odekpe and Oba Communities. The Forest Swamps also join the three Local Government Areas of Ogbaru, Idemmili South and Ekwusigo; with larger part of same located in Ogbaru. In our research work, it was found that the Forest Swamps play host to main Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen camp from where they wreck havocs on the farmlands, river-lines, bushes and forests of the named communities including Ozubulu and Oba. The Jihadist Herdsmen settlement in the area was also aided by the location of the Nigerian Naval Base in Ogbaru. The earlier information about Enugwu-Ozubulu as one of their hideouts was supplied to Intersociety by a university don who hails from the Community. Another typical example can be found in Nimo Community, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State where Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen permanently occupy two bushes/forests located at Agu-Owa (between Nimo and Nneni) and Abba Village in the Community, from where they wreck havocs in surrounding communities of Nneni, Enugwu-Ukwu, Eziowelle, Adazi-Enu, Adazi-Ani, Abacha, Abagana, etc. In our research work, those Communities mentioned must be factored in as among those under Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen occupation and threats. Addition Of 50 Igbo Communities In Our List Enugu State: Nara-Unataeze in Nkanu East LGA, its seven affected villages are: Amaofia, Amagu, Umuiba, Umuokparangene, Umueze, Umunze and Umuawaragu; Akpawfu Community in Nkanu East LGA, its three affected villages are Agu-udene, Ndibinagu and Obodo-Avuru; and Agba-Umana Community in Ezeagu LGA. Others are Ugwuagba, Osusu, Ndaburu and Amanyi forests in Mbu and Agu-udene Village in same Mbu Community and forests of Ikem (Ikem Agamede Forest), Umuero and Ihamufu Communities and a boundary Forest between Ugwuogo and Nike; all in Isi-Uzo LGA. The Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen are also in the forests of Ogbodu-Aba, Imilike Agu, Agu Ezimo, Obollo Eke, Obollo Etiti, Agu Orba and Eha Ndiagu Communities in Udenu LGA. The rest are Ugboka, Nkerefi, Nburunbu and Amagunze (Onicha-Agu and Umunevo Villages) Communities all in Nkanu East LGA. Anambra State: They are in Umuomaku Community in Orumba South and Nawgu in Dunukofia Local Government Area. They are also in Umuoji, Ogidi (Umuoji/Ogidi boundary forest) and Agu-Nkpor Communities in Idemmili North LGA and Ojoto in Idemmili South LGA. In Nimo Community, Njikoka LGA, they have permanently settled at two locations of Abba Village and Agu-Owa Village (Nimo/Nneni boundary), from where they wreck havocs in surrounding Communities of Enugwu-Ukwu, Eziowelle, Abacha, Adazi-Enu, Adazi-Ani, Abagana, etc. Communities of Ideani, Uke, Abatete and Nnobi, etc are also affected by the movement and violent activities of the Jihadist Herdsmen and their cows in the area. It is also suspected that they have moved in and occupied the Umunze/Ezira/Umuchu boundary Forest. Abia State: They are in Lekwesi Community in Umunneochi LGA, Okobo Plantation in Arochukwu, Arochukwu LGA and Achara-Umuihe in Umuihe Community and Umueke Village in Owerrenta Community; all in Isiala-Ngwa LGA of Abia State. Confirming the Jihadist Herdsmen occupation of Alayi Community in Bende Local Government Area, a native of the Community has this to tell Intersociety: in view of the ongoing reports about Igbo communities and villages occupied by the Jihadist Herdsmen, for the avoidance of the doubt, the leaders of our Village-the Amaokwelu Village og Alayi were recently invited by the Nigeria Police at Uzuakoli, claiming the missing of five cows belonging to the occupying Fulani Herdsmen. They took us to an uncompleted building where they said the five cows disappeared and as it stands now, we do not know what the Police and the occupying Herdsmen have in mind, please come to our rescue. Imo State: They are seriously suspected to be occupying Omuma, Akata and Amiri Communities in Oru East LGA through the Akwu Forest that joins the three communities. In Ebonyi State, they are in Ohofia-Agba and Obeagu Communities in Isielu LGA and Isu, Oshiri and Ukawu Communities in Onicha Local Government Area. In Delta State (Igbo Delta), they have not only moved in and occupied Ashama Community in Aniocha South LGA of Delta State, a concerned native of the Community also has this to tell Intersociety few days ago: Thank you for your effort. Please always mention Ashama as one of the communities occupied by these (jihadist) hoodlums. We have reported to the Local Government Chairman (of Aniocha South) and the Police. They (Jihadists) were invited and mandated to leave our farmlands but up till now, they have remained adamant. It is a very big problem to us. Our people are scared of going to their farms. Signed: For: Intl Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Emeka Umeagbalasi Criminologist & Graduate of Security Studies Master of Science, Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution Board Chair Amaka Damaris Onuoha, Esq., LLB, BL Head of Campaign & Publicity Chinwe Umeche, Esq., LLB, BL Head, Democracy & Good Governance Ndidiamaka Bernard, Esq., LLB, BL, LLM (Cyber Law) Head, Intl Justice & Human Rights Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq., LLB, BL Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Comrade Samuel Kamanyaoku (HND) Head, Field Data Collection & Documentation Contacts: WhatsApp/Mobile: +2348174090052 Email: [email protected] Website: www.intersociety-ng.org The civil unrest that drove the world following the proclaimed death of George Floyd after Officer Derek Chauvin knelt for almost nine minutes on his neck has ignited violent outbursts and looting. But Apple AAPL, which has witnessed its stores in several locations including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Portland, and Washington, DC burglarized and broken, is not letting go of their stolen devices easily. According to CNN, stolen iPhones from Apple stores during the protests in the US over the death of African-American George Floyd are receiving clear messages from Apple that they are being tracked. Apple is currently disabling iPhones that were looted from its retail stores, making the devices inoperable. Earlier this week, screenshots of the warning message from Apple started to pop up on social media sites such as Reddit and Twitter amidst the global protests which followed after George Floyd's death. In a report by Fox Business, Apple stores across the United States, which started to reopen after being closed for months due to the global pandemic, have reported theft and vandalism during the recent protests over Floyd's death in several locations. Other retailers including Amazon's Whole Food, Target, and Walmart have also shut stores or lessen their operating hours due to the widespread demonstrations. Curfews have been enforced in several cities, which include Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC to discourage the looting and destruction that has broken out amidst the several protest demonstrations On a post on Twitter, Apple sent a message asking the user to return the device to Apple Walnut Street referencing Apple's Philadelphia location. And messaged that the device is currently being tracked, has been disabled, and that local authorities will be alarmed. According to a report, a message on the device popped up alerting the user to return the iPhone to the store and that it is disabled. There is still no official statement on whether the company is also doing the same thing with the stolen Apple laptops, watches, and tablets. It is unclear whether Apple or law enforcement has intentions with the collected data of each device. Read also: Black Out Tuesday: Social Media Goes Dark to Call for Action and Solidarity After George Floyd's Death Apple (AAPL) refused to give comments on security matters Notwithstanding, the action is not particular to the occurring protests. It's been long reported that the company has installed hidden software with special purposes on disabling and tracking the location of stolen iPhones on Apple retailer stores. The existence of this special software has now been proven. The software does not apply to purchased iPhones. On Sunday, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, sent a memo to Apple's employees calling George Floyd's killing senseless and noted that it is not the time for standing on the sidelines. Cook committed to donating to human rights groups, which includes the Equal Justice Initiative. On a statement by Cook, he said that their colleagues in the Black community are seen. He also added that the black people and their lives matter and they are being valued by Apple. Apple managed to restore about 256 of its retail stores out of more than 500 globally, as the company aims to safely resume its operations. Related article: Retired Policeman Killed During Looting in Pawnshop @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Egypt's cabinet dismissed on Thursday news reports about hiking prices of basic commodities due to a shortage in the supply of goods at markets. In a statement issued Thursday, the cabinet media center said it contacted the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade over the matter and received assurances that the nation's strategic stock of basic goods is sufficient for six months. All prices of essential goods are stable, it said, citing the government's tightened surveillance and monitoring grip on markets as well as constant inspection campaigns to ensure that price controls are in place. The government has succeeded to ensure securing the countrys strategic reserves of basic commodities for more than three month in the wake of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, according to the statement. The government's media center called on all media outlets to refrain from promulgating inaccurate news. Search Keywords: Short link: Canada's border agency says there's "growing evidence" that organized crime groups are trying to corrupt its officers, leading to a growing number of cases of drug and firearm smuggling. The warning was included in a set of documents prepared for Public Safety Minister Bill Blair when he took over the job late last year. The documents were obtained by CBC News through an access to information request. Under the heading "increasing threat complexity," the CBSA warns of "growing evidence of transnational criminal organizations seeking to exploit CBSA systems, processes and personnel and employing increasingly sophisticated concealment methods." The phrase "CBSA systems" refers to agency computer systems conducting data processing, record-keeping, communications, telecommunications, account inventory and account management, along with CBSA's websites and electronic applications. The briefing binder goes on to warn of a growing number of cross-border incidents involving "smuggling, counterfeit goods, human trafficking, money laundering and proceeds of crime ... resulting in greater potential for Canadians to be exposed to harmful contraband" such as illegal firearms and drugs. The CBSA wouldn't say which crime organizations were the subject of its warning to the minister, or how many personnel are suspected of being involved. It did say members of crime groups have been linked to incidents of seized goods, passenger interdictions, inadmissible persons and contraband smuggling, along with other violations of the Customs Act, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and various Criminal Code sections. "To maintain their integrity, the CBSA and its federal and law enforcement partners do not disclose specific details on intelligence or other investigations," said spokesperson Rebecca Purdy in an email to CBC News. "However, we can tell you that there are numerous internal controls, policies and procedures in place to ensure the integrity of our operations and our systems. For example, CBSA systems security is supported by a devoted internal team, Shared Services Canada, as well as the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security." Story continues AG flagged issues back in 2017 While it sounds like a plotline ripped from a Martin Scorsese movie, Canadian custom agents have been implicated in official corruption in the past. Antonio Nicaso, a Mafia expert who teaches courses on organized crime at Queen's University, said Canadian ports and airports have a long history of corruption. "They are able to corrupt people who work at the airport to avoid the scrutiny. People working at any level at the airport, people with assignments like cleaning, stuff like that, vendors," he said. "There's always a system." Chris Young/Canadian Press Operation Coliseum, a multi-year police probe targeting organized crime in Montreal, exposed how the infamous and powerful Rizzuto family had lured people working in customs and the airline industry into its cocaine smuggling world. "They were practically able to corrupt a couple of agents and so they were able to pass through customs without an inspection," Nicaso said. "You can't say the agency is corrupt, of course. It's just a few people corrupted, but that happened in the past ... there are bad apples everywhere." A 2017 Auditor General's report found that while the Canada Border Services Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada both developed controls to curb corruption, "neither organization adequately monitored the controls to ensure they were working as intended." "This left the organizations and their officials vulnerable to corruption," the report continued. "For example, neither organization used available information proactively to detect staff activities that could indicate potential corruption." CBSA's recent warning to the minister shows the risk hasn't gone away. Documents obtained by CBC News through a different access to information request outlined a long list of allegations filed against Canada Border Services Agency officers since the start of 2018 including a handful of allegations of criminal association. The files are heavily redacted and it's not clear whether the allegations were ever verified. Canada employs about 6,500 border officers at land crossings, airports, marine terminals, rail ports and postal facilities, tasked with keeping illicit goods and dangerous people from entering the country. A worshipper wears gloves to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as mosques reopened across Saudi Arabia (Amr Nabil/AP) A Yemeni sanitation worker, wearing protective gear, sprays disinfectant in a neighbourhood in the northern Hajjah province during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by ESSA AHMED/AFP via Getty Images) A private security guard stands beside a banner with at entrance gate of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFL) in Secunderabad. (Photo by NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images) An employee at reception desk protected by plexiglass mesasures the temperature of hotel staff at the lobby of the Athens Palace hotel, on the first day of the opening of hotels in Greece (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) Members of the Irish Defence forces at a Covid-19 testing facility at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire A person wearing a facemask on the Ha'penny bridge during the Covid 19 pandemic in Dublin's City Centre. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins Members of the Irish Defence Forces at a Covid-19 testing facility at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA) Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and across the world on the Independent.ie live blog. 19.32 04/06/2020 Lockdown restrictions for children and nursing home residents to ease from next week - Harris Expand Close Minister for health Simon Harris (Oireachtas TV) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister for health Simon Harris (Oireachtas TV) Lockdown restrictions for children and nursing home residents will be eased from next week despite an increase in the 'R' figure - known as the rate of infection, Health Minister Simon Harris said today It is expected next weeks phase two of the roadmap to reopen the country will see the go ahead for summer camps, playgrounds, classes for special needs children and guidelines to allow visits to nursing homes and other residential centres. However, he told the Dail today that since the first phase of roadmap which started nearly three weeks ago the R figure has slightly increased. Read More No gigs, no dates, no fun: Young people are facing a summer of discontent Expand Close Rachel Farrell was looking forward to nights out and partying, but instead has to resort to learning Beyonce dances on TikTok like Electric Picnic / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rachel Farrell was looking forward to nights out and partying, but instead has to resort to learning Beyonce dances on TikTok like Electric Picnic Journalist Rachel Farrell was looking forward to sunny months filled with beer, boys and boogie nights. Instead she's stuck in her parents' box room, going nowhere Read More Move to one-metre social distancing, with staycations from June 29 - Ireland's Tourism Recovery Taskforce The Government is being urged to consider a move to one-metre social distancing and to allow people travel beyond 20km of their homes from June 29 to save Ireland's tourism industry. A delayed reopening of schools, allowing bars and pubs to welcome customers from July 20 and removing the two-week self-isolation period for visitors from "safe" destinations are also being suggested. The issues are highlighted in an eight-point list submitted to Government today by Ireland's new Tourism Recovery Taskforce (TRT), which has been charged with preparing a Recovery Plan for an industry devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More 17.48 04/06/2020 Five further deaths and 38 new cases announced The coronavirus death toll in Ireland has risen to 1,664 after five further deaths were recorded. 38 new cases have also been confirmed. In total, there have been 25,142 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, as of midnight, Tuesday 2 June (25,104 cases), reveals: 57pc are female and 43pc are male the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years 3,311 cases (13pc) have been hospitalised Of those hospitalised, 410 cases have been admitted to ICU 8,025 cases are associated with healthcare workers Dublin has the highest number of cases at 12,109 (48pc of all cases) followed by Cork with 1,521 cases (6pc) and then Kildare with 1,419 cases (6pc). Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 39pc, close contact accounts for 59pc, travel abroad accounts for 2pc. 16.38 04/06/2020 Ireland increases funding to global vaccine alliance by 20pc to 18m Expand Close Leo Varadkar after a media briefing on coronavirus outside Government Buildings (Photocall Ireland/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leo Varadkar after a media briefing on coronavirus outside Government Buildings (Photocall Ireland/PA) Reports Gabija Gataveckaite Taoiseach Leo Varadkar urged for a coronavirus vaccine to be affordable "as well as effective". Speaking at UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's virtual vaccine summit this afternoon, he said that a vaccine will also need to be distributed "fairly". A vaccine for Covid-19 will need to be affordable as well as effective, because if we are to be safe, everyone will need to be safe. So a Covid 19 vaccine will need to be distributed equitably, fairly and globally," he said. "Nobody can be left behind, or we will all be at risk." The virtual vaccine summit was hosted by the UK government, where world leaders pledged their support for Gavi, the vaccine alliance. Ireland is increasing its funding contribution to Gavi by 20pc to 18 million over the five years 2021-25, to help in the global effort to develop a Covid 19 vaccine and to support vaccination programmes worldwide. The summit aims to raise at least $7.4 billion USD to support Gavis work to immunise the worlds poorest children, and to ensure that everyone has access to a vaccine for Covid-19. Over the period 2021-25, Gavi aims to immunise an additional 300 million children. 16.07 04/06/2020 Children will be washing their hands on the way into school when the academic year starts - taoiseach Katherine Donnelly, Education Editor Children will be washing their hands on the way into school when they return in late August/September, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said today. The reopening of schools will also bring a ban on congregation at entrances and a reconfiguration of classrooms, he said. A roadmap on the return of schools will be published next Friday, but Mr Varadkar and Education Minister Joe McHugh touched on the issue, in the Dail today. Mr McHugh said he wanted to see the maximum return to school possible in late August and September consistent with the need to do this in a safe way. The Minister said he was confident that the current social distancing rules would be changed before schools reopen. Mr McHugh said he was very close attention to the experience of countries which have re-opened schools, and to emerging scientific evidence and was engaging with his counterparts in the North, the UK and across Europe on the issue He said the range of issues being considered in the context of school re-opening included, enhanced cleaning and the importance of good hand hygiene and good respiratory practices. He said this would require training for staff and communication with families promote these hygiene and infection prevention and control measures; The Minister said there would also be a focus on promoting childrens wellbeing. 15.56 04/06/2020 Lifting lockdown: All major retail outlets to be permitted to open from next Monday Expand Close A woman wearing a face mask walks along a high street in Walthamstow, east London (Victoria Jones/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman wearing a face mask walks along a high street in Walthamstow, east London (Victoria Jones/PA) Ikea, Penneys, and H&M are among the stores expected to reopen next week, reports Political Editor Philip Ryan Read More 15.22 04/06/2020 'He is a miracle' - family's joy as dad returns home after spending 32 days on ventilator during coronavirus fight Expand Close (L-R) Colm Lawlor, Eamonn Lawlor, Donal Lawlor and Aileen Lawlor outside of their home in Irishtown / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Colm Lawlor, Eamonn Lawlor, Donal Lawlor and Aileen Lawlor outside of their home in Irishtown Donal Lawlor has finally returned home after a battle with coronavirus that saw him spend 32 days on a ventilator, reports Fiona Dillon. Read More 40pc of workers think their employer's response to pandemic has been 'okay' to 'poor', according to new research Gabija Gataveckaite Two in five workers feel that their employer's response to the pandemic has been "okay" to "poor", according to new research. Recruitment agency Hays Ireland Wellbeing Matters: What Workers Want Report 2020 also shows that communication is the main area that employers should report in, with 50pc reporting this to be the case, and 59pc saying that job security has become more important since the lockdown was imposed. The survey was carried out between April 23 and May 4 and received 1,700 responses from both professionals and employers. Over three-quarters of Irish employees believe their employer has a responsibility to provide wellbeing support to employees during the coronavirus pandemic and 45pc of employers currently provide such supports, according to new research published by Hays Ireland. Almost 40pc of employees rated the current quality of their work-life balance as average or poor, with 31 pc saying that a lack of social interaction being the greatest challenge to their overall wellbeing. Online doctors and counselling has also emerged as being one of the most in-demand wellbeing supports listed by employees, with 18pc reporting this to be the case. 36pc also said that they want to prioritise their health and wellbeing in the future. Commenting on the report, Maureen Lynch, Director of Hays Ireland, said that the pandemic has "changed" the way we work. The coronavirus has changed the way we work and how employees perceive the workplace. This presents challenges and opportunities for employers, who must now adapt to new ways of working and better understand their employees motivations," she said. 'Breaking even will be the new profit margin' when restaurants reopen, warns leading chef Expand Close Concerns: Chef Richy Virahsawmy says that restaurants are going to need help, ranging from a lower VAT rate to an extension of employment subsidy schemes / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Concerns: Chef Richy Virahsawmy says that restaurants are going to need help, ranging from a lower VAT rate to an extension of employment subsidy schemes A leading chef has warned that the reopening of the Irish hospitality sector after the pandemic lockdown will be virtually impossible with a two-metre social distancing rule, reports Ralph Riegel. Read More 13.40 4/06/2020 Call for Government to publish plan to reopen healthcare service Cate McCurry Labour leader Alan Kelly has called for the Government to publish a plan to reopen non-Covid-19 healthcare services. He said there is growing concern over the impact on peoples health as many vital services remain closed to patients. Health experts have said there is a risk of a jump in secondary deaths if some life-saving services are not reopened. Speaking outside Leinster House, Mr Kelly said he wants the Government to publish a clear plan to reopen the healthcare service. The plan is late. It was promised on two different occasions but we still havent got it and this is a significant worry because of non-Covid preventable deaths and the whole issue of service provision for people is a real concern to us, he said. Read More 12:40 4/06/2020 Emirates to resume flights from Dublin to Dubai from June 15 Pol O Conghaile Passengers can fly from Dublin with Emirates from June 15, the airline says. Following the UAE's decision to lift restrictions on transit passengers services, the airline now plans to expand its schedule to include flights between Dubai and 16 cities from that date. The cities are Dublin, Bahrain, Manchester, Zurich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, New York JFK, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong, Perth and Brisbane. The Dublin service will run twice weekly on a Boeing 777-300ER. Read More 10:30 4/06/2020 Business group warns conservative lifting of lockdown will prolong downturn Aine McMahon, PA Business and employers group Ibec has warned that the Governments conservative approach to lifting Covid-19 restrictions will prolong the economic downturn. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) meets on Thursday to discuss the road map for reopening the country. The Governments five-stage approach to easing the lockdown will keep many of the restrictions in place until August 10. From Monday, small retail outlets can reopen with a small number of staff provided the retailer can control the number of customers that enter the store. People who can work safely while maintaining a two-metre distance from others will be able to return to work. Ibec said in its latest quarterly update that the Government was reopening the economy at a slower pace than in other countries and this would result in a higher rate of unemployment and a larger budget deficit by the end of the year. Read More 08:20 4/06/2020 'We should have done more,' admits Swedish health chief Richard Orange Sweden's state epidemiologist has said the country should have imposed greater restrictions to bring its coronavirus epidemic under control - the first time he has expressed doubts about his decision not to impose a lockdown. In an interview with Sweden's state radio broadcaster SR, Anders Tegnell said that, given Sweden's stubbornly high death rate, he no longer believed that he and the Public Health Agency had got the balance right. "If we were hit by the same disease, knowing exactly what we know today, I think we would end up doing something between what Sweden has done and what the rest of the world has done," he said yesterday. "I think there's room for improvement in what we've done in Sweden, absolutely." Read More 07:15 4/06/2020 WHO resumes trial of anti-malaria drug 'to get definitive answer on whether it works on Covid' The World Health Organisation (WHO) will resume its trial of hydroxychloroquine for potential use against the coronavirus, its chief said yesterday, after those running the study briefly stopped giving it to new patients over concerns. The UN agency last month paused the part of its large study of treatments against Covid-19 in which newly enrolled patients were getting the anti-malarial drug to treat Covid-19 due to fears it increased death rates and irregular heartbeats. The study continued with other medicines. But the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said its experts had advised the continuation of all trials including hydroxychloroquine, whose highest-profile backer for use against Covid-19 is US President Donald Trump. "The executive group will communicate with the principal investigators in the trial about resuming the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial," Dr Tedros told an online media briefing, referring to WHO's initiative to hold clinical tests of potential Covid-19 treatments on some 3,500 patients in 35 countries. Read More 07:10 4/06/2020 Italy reopens its borders to tourists 'in message to the world' Nick Squires Italy yesterday reopened its borders to European tourists after a three-month lockdown in which 33,500 people lost their lives to coronavirus. Italy became the first European country to fully take the step and visitors from the UK and the EU will not have to go into 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Italy. A ban on travelling between Italy's 20 regions was also lifted - since March such journeys were prohibited unless they were for urgent work or health reasons. It meant families could be reunited after three months of separation. "We did it, with the sacrifice of everyone," said Francesco Boccia, Italy's minister for regional affairs. Read More 07:00 4/06/2020 Pandemic payment to be cut by 40pc for part-time workers Philip Ryan The pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) for part-time workers will be slashed as part of the Government's plan to reduce the massive welfare bill caused by the coronavirus. The 350-per-week payment will be cut to 203 in line with the jobseeker's allowance paid to the unemployed. Meanwhile, the payment for full-time workers will be phased out over time under plans being brought to Cabinet this week by Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty. The pandemic payment is due to expire next Monday, but the Government has signalled it will be extending the emergency scheme to assist those who lost their jobs due to Covid-19 restrictions. CONTROVERSIAL TDs Michael Lowry and Verona Murphy have said they are open to supporting a coalition government following a meeting with the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens. Mr Lowry, Ms Murphy and six other TDs from the Rural Independent Group held a productive meeting with the leaders of the three parties attempting to form a coalition for over an hour in Government Buildings on Wednesday. Leo Varadkar, Micheal Martin and Eamon Ryan told the group they hoped to finalise a programme for government early next week and would present it to them. They told the TDs it was up to them as to what extent they wanted to support a future coalition, saying they could strike a deal as a group or individually. The groups other members are Cathal Berry, Sean Canney, Peter Fitzpatrick, Noel Grealish, Denis Naughten, and Matt Shanahan. Expand Close Michael Lowry TD / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michael Lowry TD We said we wanted to be positive in relation to the government formation and a programme for government and we know the necessity of doing it, Mr Lowry said afterwards. Those in the meeting observed a good rapport between the three leaders. The mood was positive, said one participant. Mr Lowry is a former Fine Gael cabinet minister who left the party in acrimonious circumstances in the 90s. He was found guilty of tax offences in 2018. Ms Murphy fell out with Fine Gael over comments about migrants when she ran unsuccessfully for the party in the Wexford by-election last year. Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Murphy, who was elected as an Independent TD in February, said there were no issues between herself and Mr Varadkar at the meeting. The Taoiseach was heavily critical of Ms Murphy last year, saying it was a mistake for Fine Gael to pick her as a candidate and that he was glad she was not elected. But Ms Murphy said: The body language was very good, nobody has a problem with anybody. I got the impression that they would all like us to support it, but they are under no illusions, we need to see the programme for government. I think its clear well support it from the outside, well have to engage further, and it will depend on the outcome produced [from the talks]. Read More One Independent TD who was in the meeting said he believed it was an open-ended offer from the party leaders which could mean some TDs joining the next coalition. Its our decision how deep a relationship we want to have with them, rather than theirs, they said. However, another TD claimed: Whatever support the government is going to get is going to be from the outside. I dont think there are any ministries up for offer. In a statement Mr Naughten, the groups convener, said: The Regional Independent TDs made it clear they are available to engage further with the three parties to bring about a stable Government and an economic programme that will secure a strong future for our country, its regions and rural Ireland. Flash New COVID-19 infections in Germany remained under last week's average as the number of confirmed cases increased by 342 within one day to 182,370, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Wednesday. Over the course of last week, an average of 457 daily cases had been recorded by the RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention. According to the RKI, the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in Germany increased by 29 to 8,551 by Tuesday. The case fatality rate in Germany was unchanged at 4.7 percent. The number of people currently infected with COVID-19 in Germany continued to fall to around 15,000 by Tuesday as the estimated number of people who had already recovered increased by around 800 within one day to 167,300, the RKI noted. The 4-day average reproduction rate (R-number) of COVID-19 in Germany once again fell below one and decreased to 0.89, according to the RKI daily situation report for Tuesday. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the RKI had stressed numerous times that the R-number had to be below one in order to ease restrictions in Germany. An R-number below one indicates that one infected person is passing on the disease to less than one person on average. Since new daily COVID-19 infections in Germany have fallen well below peak values, the RKI has been stressing that the R-number in Germany was "sensitive to short-term changes" as caused by a local cluster infection after family celebrations in the district of Goettingen. On Tuesday, the city of Goettingen announced that 80 people so far tested positive for COVID-19. The city was planning to test an additional 700 contact persons and all schools in the city area would be closed as a preventive measure until the end of the week. Latest News Westpac makes first fixed rate move of 2022 New year, same rate action as major lenders continue rate hikes Inside the property market explosion in regional Australia Regional broker explains just how crazy the property market has been in one NSW town PLAN Australia has welcomed Better Choice Home Loans to its lender panel in order to broaden the solutions available to its 1,600 plus broker network. Better Choice executive director Allan Savins is delighted over the new partnership. Better Choice can offer PLANs broker network a diverse range of real solutions catering for prime, specialist, expat, non-resident and commercial loans, he said. In these challenging times, as Australians deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Better Choice shopfront of products provides a real opportunity for PLAN brokers to support their customers, whether it be through a refinance or purchase opportunity or helping consumers who have experienced financial difficulties caused by the economic downturn." This year, Better Choice was recognised by the ALA as 'Best Non-Bank Lender following being named MFAAs Best Mortgage Manager in 2019. Anja Pannek, CEO of PLAN Australia, is also excited by the announcement. Ensuring our members have the ability to offer their customers a range of lending solutions to suit their needs is more important than ever in todays climate, she said. Better Choices diverse offering makes them a fantastic addition to our lender panel. HONG KONG (AP) As China tightens its control over Hong Kong, activists in the city defied a police ban and broke through barricades Thursday evening to mark the 31st anniversary of the crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijings Tiananmen Square. With democracy all but snuffed out in mainland China, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown. Police cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak and barricaded sprawling Victoria Park to prevent people from gathering there. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the city's rights and liberties. We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really dont want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park, said Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the governments most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago," Wu'er told the AP in Taiwan, where he lives. "But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government ... doing the same in Hong Kong. China did not intervene directly in last year's protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government. It then announced last month at the annual meeting of its ceremonial legislature that it would impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the city's legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents. Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where thousands of students had gathered in 1989, was quiet and largely empty on Thursday. Police and armored vehicles stood guard on the vast space. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints where they must show IDs to be allowed through as part of mass surveillance nationwide to prevent any commemoration of the event. As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered the government's standard defense of the 1989 crackdown. The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s," Zhao Lijian said. The great achievements that we have achieved ... have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to Chinas national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people. Despite the ban on the candlelight vigil, Hong Kong was bracing for possible pop-up protests of the type that raged around the city last year and often led to violent confrontations between police and demonstrators. Thousands have been arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by proposed legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China that organizes the annual vigil called on people to light candles at 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) and planned to livestream the commemorations on its website. Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and several other members of the Hong Kong Alliance gathered at Victoria Park at 6:30 p.m. (1030 GMT, 6:30 a.m. EDT), dressed in black shirts with the Chinese characters for truth emblazoned on the front. They lit candles and urged the public to do the same later on to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. Lee then led the group of about 15 members in a candlelit procession around the park, shouting slogans including, Stand with Hong Kong. We have been doing this for 30 years, we have the right to do this, this is a peaceful procession, he said, stating that it would be absurd if this behavior is criminalized. The group later removed one of the barricades surrounding the park, and entered it to continue their procession. On Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect Chinas national anthem. The pro-democracy opposition, which sees the law as an infringement of freedom of expression, boycotted the vote. The Hong Kong government tried to please or show loyalty to Beijing and ban our gathering even before the national security law comes in. But we are determined, Lee said at a kiosk set up by the group to distribute flyers in the busy Causeway Bay shopping district near the park. The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law, Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were planned elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted criticism of China and Hong Kong for banning the vigil earlier this week before meeting with a group of Tiananmen Square survivors at the State Department. Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, We urge the U.S. to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs in any form. China has released the last of those arrested for directly taking part in the Tiananmen demonstrations, but others who seek to commemorate them have been rearrested for continuing their activism. They include Huang Qi, founder of the website 64 Tianwang that sought to expose official wrongdoing. Reportedly in failing health, he is serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted of leaking state secrets abroad. - Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed. [Race affects our lives in countless ways. To read more provocative stories on race from The Times, sign up for our Race/Related newsletter here.] The images of seething unrest are stark: violent clashes between protesters and police officers clad in riot gear; police cars on fire; storefronts defaced, looted; sidewalks littered with shards of glass and the remnants of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. In protests against police brutality across the country, scenes of chaos and disruption have unfolded nightly for more than a week, since George Floyd, a black man, died after being handcuffed and pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis. AKG, which is now a Samsung brand has announced new professional studio headphones- K361-BT, K371-BT, and Lyra microphone in India. This comes after the launch of AKG Y100, Y500, N200 and N700NC M2 wireless earphones and headphones in India last year. The AKG K361-BT and K371-BT feature an over-ear, closed-back design with oval earpads. These pack a 50mm diamond coated driver unit and pure oxygen-free copper voice coils for utmost acoustic precision. The K361-BT has a frequency response of 15 Hz to 28 kHz and the K371-BT has a frequency response of 5 Hz to 40 kHz. The K361-BT has a foldable 3-position articulated hinge while the K371-BT has a foldable 8-position articulated hinge. Both connect to your device through Bluetooth 5.0 or you can choose to plug in a cable for wired listening. Lastly, the K361-BT promises 28 hours of battery life on a single charge and the K371-BT promises 40 hours of battery life on a single charge. Apart from this, the company has also launched its new Lyra microphone. It is a 4K Ultra-HD Multi-Mode USB Condenser microphone and delivers 24-bit/192kHz audio. It has zero-latency monitoring through 3.5 mm jack and features 4 capture modes Front, Front and Back, Tight stereo, and Wide-stereo. Lastly, it supports stand-mounted or desktop use. Pricing and Availability The AKG K361-BT is priced at Rs. 9499, K371-BT is priced at Rs. 10,499 and the Lyra microphone is available at an introductory price of Rs. 9,499. All the 3 products are available to buy from Amazon.in. Britain Offers Hong Kongers Path to Citizenship By VOA News June 03, 2020 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday said he would offer millions of Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship if China imposes a national security law that opponents fear will erode political freedom in the territory. "Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life which China pledged to uphold is under threat," Johnson wrote in op-eds published in the South China Morning Post and the Times of London. China's parliament approved a proposal last week allowing mainland security and intelligence agents to be stationed in Hong Kong for the first time, which analysts say could facilitate an ability to suppress opposition. The proposal was approved in response to recent waves of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. "If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honor our obligations and provide an alternative," Johnson wrote. Johnson reiterated Britain's vow to grant British National Overseas passport-holders in Hong Kong a possible route to citizenship, allowing them to settle in the United Kingdom. Johnson estimated there are about 350,000 holders of BNO passports in Hong Kong and another 2.5 million who are eligible for them. The BNO passport is basically a travel document that lacks citizenship rights. Britain issued them to Hong Kong residents before it handed it over to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of colonization. Hong Kong residents were supposedly guaranteed a high level of autonomy and political freedom when Britain handed over the city. The prime minister's promise comes as several countries, including Australia, Canada and the U.S., are facing international pressure to make residential accommodations for Hong Kong residents seeking refuge from repression in the former British colony. Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong requested that Britain go beyond offering Hong Kongers a path to British citizenship. "I call upon the UK government to impose necessary sanctions and restrictive measures," Wong said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian defended China's approval of the proposal, maintaining national security issues are internal matters and that Britain's association with Hong Kong stemmed from "aggressive colonization and unequal treaties." "The UK's irresponsible remarks and accusations ...have grossly interfered in China's internal affairs including Hong Kong affairs," Zhao said. "We advise the UK side to step back from the brink." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address British police must respond to real and growing concerns about racism within their own ranks, a watchdog has said, as protests continued across the UK in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the US. The director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates deaths in custody in England and Wales, and allegations of police brutality and corruption, urged officers to listen to the black community. Michael Lockwood also highlighted issues in British policing that were disproportionately affecting ethnic minorities, including the use of Tasers, stop-and-search powers and, in recent weeks, fines for breaching the coronavirus lockdown. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across the UK to protest over Mr Floyds death and wider racism as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. After a peaceful rally in Hyde Park on Wednesday, where Star Wars actor John Boyega was among those to speak, a small number of demonstrators clashed with police outside Downing Street. Footage showed objects including signs and a traffic cone being thrown at police, hours after some Metropolitan Police officers were seen taking a knee in a show of solidarity. An Australian television reporter was filmed abandoning his live broadcast to flee as he was verbally abused and chased. Writing in The Independent, Mr Lockwood said it was incumbent on the wider police service to listen and respond to the concerns being raised. Right now, communities in the UK are expressing real and growing concerns about disproportionality, he added. Only two weeks ago we highlighted increasing community concerns about the use of Taser. We are also hearing concerns about stop and search and, most recently, fines issued during lockdown being disproportionate to black people. There must be more research to understand issues of disproportionality, as well as assurance and scrutiny around tactics like use of force and stop and search. Australian TV crew attacked by protesters live on air in London In the year to March 2019, 16 per cent of police use-of-force incidents in England and Wales were against black people, who only make up 3.3 per cent of the population. Black people were also involved in 25 per cent of police firearms incidents and a fifth of less lethal weapons incidents, including Tasers. According to analysis of official statistics by the Inquest charity, there have been 1,741 deaths in police custody, or following contact with officers, in England and Wales since 1990. Of those who died, 14 per cent were black and minority ethnic, which is proportionate to the population as at the 2011 census. However, Bame people die disproportionately as a result of use of force or restraint by the police, raising serious questions of institutional racism as a contributory factor in their deaths, a report by Inquest said. Mr Floyd died after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on 25 May, sparking days of protest in the US that escalated into riots and looting in some cities. The US president, Donald Trump, has pressed state governors to take a more forceful approach against protesters, prompting outspoken political resistance, including from his former defence secretary James Mattis. Boris Johnson said he was sickened to see what happened to Mr Floyd, while British police leaders issued a joint statement saying they stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified. Black Lives Matter: London protests Show all 25 1 /25 Black Lives Matter: London protests Black Lives Matter: London protests Actor John Boyega speaks in Hyde Park at a Black Lives Matter protest. Demonstrations broke out across the US and world after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer Rex Black Lives Matter: London protests Getty Black Lives Matter: London protests Getty Black Lives Matter: London protests Reuters Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests Rex Black Lives Matter: London protests AFP via Getty Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests AFP via Getty Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests EPA Black Lives Matter: London protests AP Black Lives Matter: London protests AFP via Getty Images Black Lives Matter: London protests Getty Images Black Lives Matter: London protests PA Mr Lockwood said that Britain has a strong and very different system of police accountability to that in the US, which does not have an equivalent national body that independently investigates deaths caused by officers. It is not a perfect system and there is still much room for improvement, but it is a system based on independent scrutiny, accountability and learning, he added. When someone is seriously injured or there is a death following police contact, the IOPC will investigate. It is of critical importance that we analyse the circumstances of each and identify if there are lessons to be learnt in the hope we can prevent future deaths from occurring. The IOPC, formerly the Independent Police Complaints Commission, was set up following the inquiry into the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence and the way it was investigated. In 1999, the Macpherson report concluded that institutional racism existed both in the Metropolitan Police and in other police services and other institutions countrywide. Mr Lockwood said progress had been made on British policing practice, policies and training but that there was more to do. Our commitment remains to work with those who share a common desire for systemic and cultural change so we do not repeat mistakes from the past, he added. In a joint statement, British policing leaders previously vowed to tackle bias, racism or discrimination wherever we find it. Protesters in Trafalgar Square last weekend (Reuters) Leaders of the National Police Chiefs Council, the College of Policing and the Police Superintendents Association said they were horrified by Mr Floyds death and called for justice. The relationship between the police and the public in the UK is strong but there is always more to do, they added. Officers and staff are working to strengthen those relationships and address concerns. The College of Policing, which is the professional body for forces in England and Wales, has given training to US police in the past. There are mounting calls for the British government to stop sales of UK-made teargas, rubber bullets and riot shields to American police amid alleged brutality against protesters. Minneapolis was set to hold an emotionally charged memorial service for Mr Floyd on Thursday, after protests dwindled elsewhere following charges against four police officers implicated in the killing. Further services for Mr Floyd are to stretch across six days and three US states, with a funeral planned for Tuesday. It certainly is not the news South Carolinians want to read: The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be more active than usual. NOAAs Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, is calling for 13 to 19 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes one that is Category 3 or higher (115-plus-mph winds) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The forecast is above the 30-year (1981-2010) average of 13 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. With two named storms coming ahead of the official June 1 start of hurricane season, there is cause for extra concern and preparation. Compounding the major problems that hurricanes present in 2020 is the coronavirus pandemic. "As Americans focus their attention on a safe and healthy reopening of our country, it remains critically important that we also remember to make the necessary preparations for the upcoming hurricane season," Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster has proclaimed May 31 through June 6 South Carolina Hurricane Preparedness Week. Residents, businesses and communities in South Carolina are urged to begin preparations for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Advanced preparation and planning safeguards lives, protects property and lessens the devastating impacts of tropical storms and hurricanes. This year, residents are being advised to include COVID-19 safety precautions in every aspect of their hurricane plan. It will be crucial for everyone to take COVID-19 into consideration when updating their personal emergency plans. Residents first priority should be to protect themselves from a potential hurricane if an evacuation is issued for their communities, South Carolina Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson said. Thats why this year, for hurricane season 2020, we want everyone to remember these four words: time, space, people, place while getting ready for any hurricane that may head toward South Carolina. Time: Give yourself time to prepare for a hurricane. Have a plan before you go out to get supplies so you spend less time interacting with others who may be infected. Do not wait until the last minute. Space: Make safe and social distancing a part of every aspect of your hurricane planning. Whether its stocking up on hurricane supplies or deciding where you will go if you need to evacuate. Do everything you can to stay at least 6 feet away from people you do not live with. People: Make sure all the people in your family know what to do to stay healthy. Remember, the more people your family interacts with, the greater your chances of contracting and possibly transmitting COVID-19. Place: Know where you will go once the evacuation order is issued for your area. Staying in a hotel or with family or friends far inland are the best options to protect yourself from COVID-19 and the storm. To help you prepare, the 20th annual South Carolina Hurricane Guide is available for download at scemd.org. SCEMD and partner agencies have updated the guide for the 2020 hurricane season. Printed editions of the guide will be in all Walgreens stores statewide, at coastal Department of Motor Vehicles offices, and in The Times and Democrat and other newspapers on June 7. Let's hold out hope that the hurricane season will not turn out to be as rough as projected, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Amid so many other concerns in these times, being prepared is the best thing for you and your state of mind. Project Connected Home over IP Intends to Simplify Development for Device Manufacturers and Increase Compatibility for Consumers HERZLIYA, Israel, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Essence Group, a leading provider of IoT solutions for security, connected home and healthcare, has joined Zigbee Alliance as a member in the "Project Connected Home over IP" initiative. In doing so, the company will contribute to developing and promoting the adoption of a new, royalty-free connectivity standard to increase compatibility among smart home products, with security as a fundamental design tenet. The goal of the Connected Home over IP project is to simplify development for manufacturers and increase compatibility for consumers. The project is built around a shared belief that smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use. By building upon Internet Protocol (IP), the project aims to enable communication across smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services and to define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. The industry working group will take an open-source approach for the development and implementation of a new, unified connectivity protocol. The project intends to use contributions from market-tested smart home technologies from various member companies. The decision to leverage these technologies is expected to accelerate the development of the protocol and deliver benefits to manufacturers and consumers faster. "Essence is excited to join in and contribute to the standard by bringing its vast 25 years of experience and knowhow in developing and manufacturing radio IoT devices for the security, connected home and health care markets, currently producing over 10 million such devices per year," said Dr. Haim Amir, CEO of Essence Group. "As a global Software & IoT provider with a history of developing disruptive technologies Essence has always believed in the holistic vision of 'better life made possible' while building solutions at scale that emphasize security and, privacy together with an intuitive user experience." Participating in the Connected Home over IP Project is important in strengthening and accelerating a global standard. Through it, Essence will demonstrate new abilities across different segments over the next decade. "Industry players are working alongside each other through the Alliance to shape the future of the IoT using open, global standards," said Chris LaPre, Solutions Architect, Zigbee Alliance. "Our members together drive meaningful connections throughout the smart home, and we welcome new additions like Essence Group to our roster of IoT visionaries." About Essence Group Essence is a global provider of IoT connected-living and cybersecurity solutions for communication, security and healthcare service providers. Leveraging 25 years of experience and innovation with a global presence and more than 50 million devices deployed worldwide. Essence has strong strategic relationship with Verisure, the leading European provider of professionally monitored security systems and has a vast deployment in senior monitoring products in the US. Essence specializes in the IoT segment driven by deep R&D and systems integration including embedded Cyber security. About the Zigbee Alliance The Zigbee Alliance is the foundation and future of the Internet of Things. Established in 2002, our wide-ranging global membership collaborates to create and evolve universal open standards for the products transforming the way we live, work, and play. With our members' deep and diverse expertise, robust certification programs, and a full suite of open IoT solutions - including the recently announced Project Connected Home over IP - we are leading the movement toward a more intuitive, imaginative, and useful world. The Zigbee Alliance board of directors is comprised of executives from Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, IKEA, The Kroger Co., LEEDARSON, Legrand, Lutron Electronics, MMB Networks, NXP Semiconductors, Resideo, Schneider Electric, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Silicon Labs, SmartThings, Somfy, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Wulian. www.zigbeealliance.org www.connectedhomeip.com A French Senate commission of inquiry into last September's major fire at a chemical factory in Rouen has denounced unacceptable blind spots" in France's decades-old industrial risk prevention policy, blasting the government's handling of the crisis. Eight months after the blaze tore through the Lubrizol lubricants plant, forcing the closure of schools and nurseries in 13 Normandy municipalities, the committee charged with evaluating the management of the environmental, health and economic consequences found failure on multiple levels. Its report, published Thursday, cited late and incomplete health monitoring, weak sanctions and communication that was more concerned with reassuring the public than informing them. Chaired by centrist senator Herve Maurey and supervised by Christine Bonfanti-Dossat, of the right-wing Les Republicains party, and Nicole Bonnefoy, of the Socialist Party, the commission said the state had shown itself to be "incapable of informing the public in a clear, prescriptive and educational manner. It noted the reduced number of sanctions faced by polluters over the years, while also urging the government to review its crisis management procedures especially in terms of communication. In the aftermath of the blaze, authorities received more than 130 complaints from residents suffering breathing problems and farmers who were forced to stop work because of the pollution. The origin of the fire, which broke out on 26 September sending a plume of black smoke into the air that stretched 22 kilometres, has yet to be established. Some 9,500 tonnes of chemicals burned on the Lubrizol site and neighbouring warehouses. The factory which has been operating since 1954 gained notoriety in 2013 when a foul smell emanating from its premises sparked a national health crisis. The nauseating gas mercaptan had formed in a tank at the plant, causing a stink that spread all the way across the Channel to England. An investigation found the mercaptan leak was caused by human error. Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, has called for everybody to attach utmost importance to the impending voters registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC). I am urging all qualified persons in the region to exercise their constitutional rights, freedom and liberties, to go and register as the Commission prepares to compile a new voters register, he said. Qualified Ghanaians who failed to get involved in the exercise, to be issued with new voters identity (ID) cards, would have no one but themselves to blame. Citizens of 18 years and above, and of sound mind, qualify to get their names on the voters roll. They are required to show proof of citizenship by either a Ghanaian passport or Ghana card, or as proof of identification, have two guarantors who have already registered as voters so they can register. Mr. Osei-Mensah, addressing a press conference in Kumasi, underlined the need for a non-partisan approach to the exercise and warned any troublemakers to have a change of heart. The Regional Security Council (REGSEC) was going to provide adequate protection for all. The compilation of new voters register, he said, was not anything new, saying, this was done in 1996, 2004 and 2012. The EC has carried out a two-day pilot voter registration exercise to test run the kits, it would be using to compile the new voters roll, to identify any hidden flaws and get these fixed ahead of time. Registration of voters is expected to start before the end of this month June. 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 Ahmedabad: Nearly two months after seven Dalit youths were flogged allegedly by self-styled cow vigilantes at Una in Gujarat, police has filed a charge sheet against 34 persons, including four police personnel who were arrested on Wednesday on charges of dereliction of duty and failure to stop the crime which triggered a massive unrest. The CID also filed a separate charge sheet against three minors in the case before Juvenile Justice Board at Junagadh. The charge sheet against 34 accused, including the police personnel, was filed before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Una taluka in Gir-Somnath district, A U Jujaru. The police personnel, attached to Una police station, are identified as Inspector Nirmalsinh Jhala, Sub-Inspector Narendra Pandey, Head Constable Kanji Chudasama and woman Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Kanchanben Parmar. Except Pandey, the rest are already under suspension. All of them were arrested in Una just before filing of charge sheet. According to CID, the police personnel misused their position by not acting against the perpetrators. It is alleged that though four Dalits were thrashed for almost 4 to 5 hours by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes, these police personnel did nothing to stop the crime. They also allegedly connived with the perpetrators and forged some FIR related documents to help them. Some of the key accused, arrested in the initial stage of investigation, include Pramodgiri Goswami, Ramesh Jadav, Balwant Goswami, Rakesh Joshi and Nagji Vaniya. The 34 accused have been charged under various sections of IPC including 307 (attempt to murder), 397 (robbery), 365 (kidnapping), 355 (assault to dishonor a person), 342 (wrongful confinement), 147 (rioting), 324 (causing hurt by weapon) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) among others. They were also charged under various sections of Prevention of Atrocities Act, besides under sections 66A and 66B of the Information and Technology Act for allegedly making and circulating the clip of the incident. The CID filed a separate charge sheet against three minors, arrested during the probe, in Juvenile Justice Board at Junagadh. In total, we have arrested 43 persons, including these policemen who have failed to do their duty and forged some documents to help other accused involved in thrashing dalits. Out of the 43, we have today filed charge sheet against 34 accused in the Una court. The probe is still on, said Inspector General of CID-Crime, S S Trivedi. On July 11, seven Dalits of Mota Samadhiyala village of Una taluka were thrashed allegedly by cow vigilantes when they were skinning a dead cow. Later, four of these Dalit youths were taken to Una town, where they were tied up with a vehicle and allegedly assaulted. The matter came to light after a video of flogging, allegedly made by the vigilantes, went viral on social media platforms. As the issue created huge uproar, then Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel handed over the probe to CID-Crime on July 18 and announced that the charge sheet will be submitted within 60 days. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. H ealthcare workers across the world are strapping themselves into personal protective equipment (PPE) every day in order to keep themselves, and their patients, safe from Covid-19. Unfortunately, all that equipment puts layers between a doctor or nurse and their patient. Patients cant see a smile or a friendly face in their worst moments, and it removes that personal connection between clinicians and patients. Camera maker Fujifilm has been searching for a way to help with this and came up with one potential solution: instant cameras. The company has donated its Instax instant cameras to 31 intensive care units across the UK which allow doctors and nurses to take a photo of themselves and attach it to the front of their hospital gowns so their patients can see the person behind the mask. Speaking about the initiative, CEO of the Patients Association Rachel Power, said: PPE is vitally important for both keeping patients and doctors safe and reassuring patients about their safety at a worrying time. But theres no doubt that masks can be a barrier between doctors and patients, or even transform a comforting presence into a disconcerting one. Having photos of the doctor without their mask is a simple but imaginative idea that should provide a lot of reassurance to patients who will be able to see the face behind the mask. Its not just the NHS which is benefiting from the donation, but also 50 hospitals across eight countries in the UK. So far, 120 cameras and 7,500 prints have been sent to hospitals in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and France. A clinician at Florence Nightingale Hastanesi hospital in Turkey with an instant picture of themselves to show their patients who is treating them (Fujifilm ) / Fujifilm Fujifilm UKs general manager Neil Harris said: Donating instax cameras and film is just a small way in which Fujifilm is able to help but to both NHS staff and patients, weve been told that by being able to easily show the friendly face behind the PPE, it can help bring comfort and understanding in the most difficult of situations. If youre a healthcare worker and want to receive a special Instax kit, Fujifilm says to contact this email address: comms_uk@fujifilm.com. Fujifilm isnt the only tech company donating gadgets to help coronavirus patients in NHS hospitals. In April, Samsung donated 2,000 smartphones for NHS staff to use in Nightingale hospitals. The Galaxy XCover 4s phones are designed to be used while wearing globes, with the idea that staff can help patients video chat or call their family and friends who were unable to visit. Facebook also donated 2,050 of its Portal video-calling devices for the same reason. Hospitals and care homes in Essex, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Surrey all benefited from the donations. At the time, Samsungs chief executive of Samsung UK and Ireland Francis Chun said: Everyone of us is deeply indebted to the NHS and frontline supporters. However small the comfort may be, we hope that technology can alleviate some of the anguish this is causing on those most impacted. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday cancelled his visit to frontier areas bordering China in Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts that was scheduled for Saturday (June 6). The decision to cancel the visit comes against the backdrop of the continuing standoff between China and India in Ladakh. The CMs office in Shimla did not ascribe any reasons for the change in the chief ministers schedule. Thakur was scheduled to visit Sumdo, strategic post in Lahaul-Spiti. Sumdo lies between Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts and has a large military base. The CM was to inspect developmental activities and welfare work in the border areas. VIGIL STEPPED UP ALONG CHINESE BORDER The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Indian Army have stepped up vigil along the international border with China in Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts after Chinese choppers violated the Indian air space twice in April and then in the first week of May. Chinese choppers were spotted twice in Sumdo. Himachal Pradesh shares 260 kilometers of porous border with China. The border areas are manned by the ITBP and Indian Army. The Chinese army has constantly been strengthening its infrastructure along the international border in Himachal Pradesh though the region remained peaceful during the 1962 aggression. After the boundary standoff between India and China in Ladakh and the eastern sector in Sikkim, armies from both countries have stepped up activity along the international border in Himachal Pradesh. CROSS-BORDER TRADE SUSPENDED This year, the annual cross-border trade between the two countries was put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the standoff between the troops. Trade between the two countries usually starts in June and ends in November. No trader has registered themselves for bilateral trade through the Shipki La that had reopened in 1993 after it was shut due to the Indo-China war in 1962. Shipki La is a mountain pass that connects Kinnaur district to the China controlled Tibetan Autonomous Region. Its through this pass that Sutlej river enters India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Human Resources Specialist, Nairobi, Kenya Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme Country: Kenya City: Nairobi, Kenya Office: UNDP Kenya Grade: P-3 Closing date: Monday, 15 June 2020 Job ID: 30947 Practice Area - Job Family: Management - HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Vacancy End Date: (Midnight New York, USA) 15/06/2020 Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya Education & Work Experience: I-Masters Level Degree - 5 year(s) experience Languages: English Grade: P3 Vacancy Type: FTA International Posting Type: External Bureau: Arab States Contract Duration: 1 Year with possibility for extension Human Resources Specialist Background The UNDP Somalia Country Office carries out an important role in supporting Somalia to achieve its aspirations of peace, inclusive governance, lay the foundations for economic growth, and promote gender equity. The UNDP Country Programme focuses on inclusive political processes, rule of law, institutional strengthening, economic recovery, resilience, and gender equity. Each UNDP focus area aligns to the countrys National Development Plan (NDP) in providing support that spurs transformative change and lasting peace. UNDP Somalia has been improving its business processes, and increasing its presence and operations in Somalia, which will allow the CO to be more efficient, flexible and responsive to the country/government priorities. In addition, the increased presence in the area offices and new Federal Member States contributes to enhancing and building national staff capacities. Building office operational capacity then becomes imperative considering that more operations have been increasingly carried out inside Somalia. Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Deputy Resident RepresentativeOperations, the HR Specialist is responsible for providing advice to Senior Management on implementation of HR strategies, ensure effective delivery of HR services and manage the HR Unit. S/he assesses client needs, interprets and applies HR strategies and policies, rules and regulations, establishes internal procedures and provides solutions to a wide spectrum of complex HR issues. The HR Specialist promotes a collaborative, client-oriented approach and contributes to the maintenance of high staff morale. The HR Specialist supervises and leads the members of the HR Unit team. S/he works in close collaboration with operations, programme and projects teams as well as UNDP headquarters units to analyze strategic business needs, formulate HR strategies and implement corporate HR programmes to attract, develop, motivate and retain the most suitable talent at the CO. Duties and Responsibilities 1. Ensures implementation of HR strategies and policies, focusing on achievement of the following results: Implementation of HR strategy in the CO; effective implementation of the internal controls; proper design and functioning of the HR management system; Full compliance of HR activities with UN rules and regulations, UNDP policies, procedures and strategies. Interpretation of HR policies and regulations and advice to senior managers on their applications, taking into account their particular needs; Continuous analysis of corporate HR strategy and policies, assessing the impact of changes and making recommendations on their implementation in the CO. Continuous research of the matters related to conditions of service, salaries, allowances and other HR policy matters. Elaboration and introduction of measurement indicators, monitoring and reporting on achievement of results; Advice to Senior Management on HR new practices and their implementation (succession planning, career development and transition), strategic recruitment, advice on contract modalities, learning plan and performance evaluation). Recommend solutions to highly complex and exceptional cases; CO HR business processes mapping and elaboration/establishment of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in HR management, control of the workflows in the HR Unit; Leads the advocacy for the implementation, monitoring and compliance of the HR policies including gender and harassment, career development and knowledge management. Full compliance and completion by CO s/m of the Harassment course; Development of procedures and practices that contribute to enhanced and improved HR management. 2. Ensures effective human resources management focusing on achievement of the following results: Management of transparent and competitive recruitment and selection processes including updated job descriptions, proper job classification, vacancy announcement, screening of candidates, organization and chairing of interview panels, making recommendations on recruitment. Oversight and advisory support of recruitment under UNDP projects. Development and maintenance of data base of job applications; Advise on entitlements and career prospects; Advice to office management on staff member competencies. Advice on staff member career development and training needs through the PMD; Advice to project managers on transparent and competitive process for project recruitment, adequate TOR describing terms of payment based on results, standard matrix of recruitment processes and request for contracts. Continuous monitoring of the entire UNDP project recruitment process; Full compliance of the guidelines of the Compliance Review Panel; Advice to the CO management in contracts guidelines pertaining to staffing compliance. Monitoring and tracking of all transactions related to positions, recruitment, HR data, benefits, earnings/deductions, retroactivity, recoveries, adjustments and separations through Atlas; Performs HR Manager Functions in Atlas. Leads corporate surveys as the Salary Survey, Global Staff Survey and other request from HQs and the CO Resident Representative; Management of the International staff entitlements and position funding delegated to the HR Unit. Close communication with local Government institutions to solve international staff-related issues; Close communication with HQs focal points pertaining to the correct administration of s/m entitlements and benefits; Validation of cost-recovery charges in Atlas for HR services provided by UNDP to other Agencies. 3. Ensures proper staff performance management and career development focusing on achievement of the following results: Elaboration and implementation of the protocol for performance appraisal process, facilitation of the process, elaboration of performance evaluation indicators in consultation with the Senior Management; Implementation of effective systems for the performance evaluation, including training to supervisor for an effective use of the tool leading to career development. Advice on work plan, monitoring and performance team evaluation; Effective learning management including establishment of the CO Learning Committee and Whole Office Learning plan and individual learning plans in collaboration with the Senior Management; Tags advisory services career development communities of practice economic growth financial management human resources human resources management knowledge management knowledge sharing local government local government institutions monitoring and reporting office management organizational development performance appraisal performance management project manager public administration rule of law senior manager Provision of effective counseling to staff on career advancement, development needs, learning possibilities. 4. Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the CO focusing on achievement of the following results: Design and implementation of training for operations/ programme staff on HR issues; Synthesis of lessons learned and best practices in HR; Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice. Competencies Core Innovation Ability to make new and useful ideas work Leadership Ability to persuade others to follow People Management Ability to improve performance and satisfaction Communication Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform Delivery Ability to get things done while exercising good judgement Technical/Functional Human Resources Management Knowledge of HR management issues and principles and the ability to apply them to strategic and/or practical situations Employee engagement Ability to motivate and inspire internal resources Organizational development Knowledge of organizational development concepts, issues and principles and the ability to apply them to strategic and/or practical situations Team building Ability to work effectively with diverse groups of professionals towards common goals Communication Ability to effectively communicate intensions and requirements to internal and external stakeholders Required Skills and Experience Education: Masters Degree or equivalent in HR, Business Administration, Management, Public Administration, Law or related field. UNDP HR Certification programme would be desirable but not a requirement Experience: 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing HR advisory services and/or managing staff and operational systems. International Experience in post conflict settings Knowledge of UN Staff Regulations and Rules and Personnel Directives Knowledge of UNDP HR Policies & Procedures, rules and regulations Knowledge of ATLAS HR Modules, internal financial management and control framework(s) is required. Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and experience in handling of web-based management systems. Language Requirements: Fluency in written and spoken English required. Disclaimer Important applicant information All posts in the GS categories are subject to local recruitment. Applicant information about UNDP rosters Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements. Workforce diversity UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence. Scam warning The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web. About 100 protesters gathered outside of the Riviera June 3 to pay homage to the life of George Floyd. The demonstration was attended by a mix of people with different ethnicities, from different locations and with different viewpoints. During the demonstration, Walworth County Sherriff Kurt Picknell and Lake Geneva Police Chief Michael Rasmussen both kneeled with protesters in silence for nine minutes to honor the life of Floyd, who died in police custody. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is observed on video kneeling on Floyds neck, has been charged with second-degree murder. The gathering was organized by a newly founded group of Lake Geneva residents called the Order Squad, who formed with the goal of honoring Floyd and ensuring local protests are held without violence or looting. Unlike many protest groups calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism, the Order Squad has taken a focus on speaking out against looting and violence that has occurred in cities throughout the country while still honoring Floyds life. Order Squad organizer Mark Zukowski said the group is against violent protests, not the police. Its totally focused on protecting the community from people throwing bottles and doing all that stuff, he said. It has nothing to do with putting focus on people against the people. The Order Squad referred to a gathering as a call for peace, instead of a protest. Following the moment of silence, the crowd chanted Floyds name and Picknell took the bullhorn to thank the protesters for attending and to speak out against officer Chauvins actions. We are just as appalled by what we saw in Minneapolis as you, he said. Thats our profession and we take that very personally. We have very good officers in this area and many around the world. Camal Hibler, a black Lake Geneva resident, also denounced the death of Floyd and said the officers involved deserve to be charged, but that violent protests should also be condemned. You want to just tear down everything someone has built from scratch because youre mad, he said. Multiple members of the crowd protested Hiblers comment saying there was no violence going on at the Lake Geneva protest. While the early portion of the demonstration focused on deterring looting and violence, as organizers allowed protesters the chance to speak, the focus was shifted toward the treatment of minorities in the United States. Terron Taylor, a black Chicago resident, shared his negative experiences with the police, saying he has been unfairly accused by law enforcement before because of his race and was once beaten by an officer unnecessarily. At the demonstration Taylor said while he was glad people were out protesting, he questioned how many times there have been rallies without any real change coming of them. Taylor said he has experienced systemic racism his entire life and that he has had enough. In two weeks I might be the next hashtag, getting pulled over for no reason because I look suspicious, because I might have been in an area I shouldnt have been in, he said. This is my life and to have it cut down for doing nothing, I just cant stand for it anymore. In between speeches from protesters the crowd would occasionally break into a chant frequently used in Black Lives Matter marches; No justice, no peace, no racist police. Kristen Raitio attended the demonstration carrying an anti-police sign and also said she was there to protest police brutality, not the destruction of property. They said they were doing this because of the violence in protests, but Im not here because of the violence, Im here because of whats on my sign, she said. Several religious leaders from the Geneva Lake area spoke at the demonstration including Pastor Don Johnson, the spiritual development director with the Lake Geneva YMCA. Johnson led the group in prayer where he said while it is a sad day for the nation for a man to be killed in such a way, acting in rage and anger is not the solution. We need you to heal this land Father, we need you to heal America, we need you to heal our broken-hearted, he said. Following organized speeches, Picknell spoke with protesters, making himself available for conversations about police operations, conduct and training. At the end of the demonstration, Zukowski said while many different opinions were expressed, he was ultimately proud of the call to peace. Im proud of everyone here because the point of our group was to have a peaceful protest, not one punch was thrown, no fires and no bricks, he said. 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. BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 2.30 am ET Thursday, the Federal Statistical Office releases Swiss consumer prices for May. Consumer prices are forecast to fall 1.3 percent on year, after easing 1.1 percent in April. Ahead of the data, the franc traded mixed against its major rivals. While it held steady against the greenback, it rose against the rest of major rivals. The franc was worth 113.41 against the yen, 1.0779 against the euro, 1.2060 against the pound and 0.9618 against the greenback as of 2:25 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. The NFU has told EU judges that the European Commissions 2013 neonicotinoids restrictions was 'not lawful' and has had a 'real impact' on British farmers. The union attended an appeal by chemical manufacturing giant Bayer on the judgement of the EU General Court from May 2018. The Court dismissed the challenges and upheld the lawfulness of the European Commissions action on restricting neonicotinoids in 2013. A moratorium on three kinds of neonicotinoids was placed seven years ago, forbidding their use in flowering crops that appeal to honey bees. The restrictions were imposed after a previous report by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that they posed a 'high acute risk' to pollinators. However, the ban has meant British growers can no longer control cabbage stem flea beetle populations, which are decimating the oilseed rape across the country. NFU chief legal adviser, Nina Winter said the appeal was about the way the Commission brought in the restrictions in the first place, which were then 'rubber stamped' by the EU General Court. Our intervention focuses on errors we believe were made by the General Court," Ms Winters, who is part of the NFU's Legal Assistance Scheme, said. "It allowed the Commission to bring in the restrictions without a proper cost benefit analysis the Commission didnt assess either the impacts on bees or on farmers when it brought in the restrictions and the Court didnt hold the Commission to the requirements of the legislation which sets out how approvals are to be reviewed. "That worries us as farmers both in respect of other plant protection products but also more widely, Ms Winter said. What issues were raised by the NFU in the appeal? The standard of review set by the Court was 'wrong in law -and too low' The Commission should have assessed the actives using a risk assessment set out by the legislation The regulatory uncertainty created by the judgement in respect of products with existing approvals would 'stifle' innovation in the crop protection sector That - contrary to the judgement - the Commissions discretion was 'not unlimited' and the precautionary principle does not allow the Commission to set legal procedure aside The precautionary principle cannot be a 'universal incantation' to block innovation The Commission should have undertaken a 'proper risk assessment' and the Court should not endorse the Commission acting only on hypothetical risks the fear of risk was 'not enough - there should be a proper scientific assessment'. The NFU acted as an intervener in the case in support of Bayers appeal at the EU Court of Justice on Wednesday (3 June). Goliath Expands Channel to Offer Customers Technology to Anticipate, Troubleshoot, and Document End-User Performance Issues "Goliaths real-time experience metrics combined with historical reports ensure agencies can be more self-sufficient and eliminate the need to hire a full-time, certified troubleshooting expert. Goliath Offers End-user Experience Monitoring and Troubleshooting Software, with Embedded Intelligence and Automation Goliath Technologies, a leader in end-user experience monitoring and troubleshooting software, announced today a new partnership with Virtual Network Cyber Systems, Inc. (VNC Systems) to anticipate, troubleshoot, and document its customers end-user experiences regardless of where workloads, applications, or users are located. As an IT technology and service provider, VNC Systems mission is to help agencies within the federal government expand their digital footprint by implementing and architecting plans for broader cloud adoption, application rationalization, and overall workforce training. One of the challenges VNC Systems President, Julius Crawford, sees throughout many agencies is the lack of resources to successfully execute and support these new initiatives especially as they relate to ongoing support for Citrix or VMware Horizon environments. This is why he sought out a purpose-built technology that would intelligently monitor potential events, conditions, and failure points across hybrid infrastructures to alert IT teams when performance issues occurred, provide detailed metrics to troubleshoot issues quickly, and resolve with permanent fix solutions. There are not enough Citrix or VMware experts out there to support the number of implementations, said Crawford. In order to best support our clients, we needed to find a technology that was simple and intuitive enough that it would enable a Windows administrator to do basic block and tackling to support the end-user experience within a Citrix or VMware Horizon environment. Goliaths real-time experience metrics combined with historical reports bridged this gap, ensuring agencies could be more self-sufficient and eliminate the need to hire a full-time, certified troubleshooting expert. VNC Systems needs a solution to support an ongoing trend they are seeing where agencies are having greater focus and investment around measuring both end-user productivity as well as their overall experience. With many employees working from home due to COVID-19, agencies are looking for better ways to identify and track inactivity. Goliaths End-User Productivity Report tracks how much time within a session a worker is active or inactive. Of equal importance is having visibility into the overall end-user experience, shared Crawford. As our clients move workloads to the cloud, they want to understand if the end-user experience is being impacted and has performance improved or declined. The insights Goliath provides enables VNC to easily communicate the value of IT services to government agency stakeholders, directly correlating how investments into the infrastructure and end-user experience result in cost savings and higher productivity from their workers. We at Goliath are excited to partner with VNC Systems and offer end-user experience monitoring and troubleshooting software that has embedded intelligence and automation to their customers, replacing the need of deep Citrix expertise, says Karen Armor, SVP of Worldwide Sales for Goliath Technologies. Part of my commitment in joining Goliath was to focus strategically on our channel expansion. VNC Systems represents another step in this direction as collectively we help those in the federal government manage, monitor, and report on the end-user experience regardless of where IT workloads or users are located. About Virtual Network Cyber Systems Virtual Network Cyber Systems, Inc. (VNC Systems) is a certified Veteran-Owned (VOSB) business that focuses on empowering the digital workspace delivering Cloud Solutions and Cybersecurity. Our unique ability to economically build the foundation to achieve enterprise architecture and infrastructure maturity requires managing customers needs to implement new systems and business processes without disrupting daily operations. About Goliath Technologies Goliath Technologies offers end-user experience monitoring and troubleshooting software, with embedded intelligence and automation, that enables IT pros to anticipate, troubleshoot, and document performance issues regardless of where workloads, applications, or users are located. By doing so, Goliath helps IT break out of reactive mode, and into proactive mode. Customers include Universal Health Services, NorthBay Healthcare, Penn National Insurance, Bank of America, American Airlines, Tech Mahindra, Pacific Life, Xerox, HCL, and others. Learn more about how we empower proactive IT at goliathtechnologies.com. A new mobile virtual network called Reddi, capitalizing on the infrastructure of state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), was rolled out by operator Mobicast in Hanoi on Wednesday afternoon. Reddi is the seventh active mobile network and the second virtual one in the country. Speaking at the launch ceremony, VNPT deputy general director Huynh Quang Liem said the cooperation between Mobicast JSC and VNPT took place in the context of mobile virtual network operators (MVNO)s emerging presence in Asia. An MVNO does not own network infrastructure but rather purchases telecommunications services from traditional mobile network operators (MNO) and resells network services after repackaging at lower prices. The Mobicast-VNPT deal is expected to help each side take advantage of their own strengths in order to create the best values and optimize user benefits, he added. For its part, a representative of Reddi said that the network operator will make the best use of VNPTs existing infrastructure and catch up with future trends in the telecommunications and technology industries. Reddi targets young and modern customers, emphasizing users free, personalized experience, the representative said. At Wednesdays event, Reddis CEO also announced the companys roadmap to launching other packages and integration of digital products and services. Vietnams first MVNO the Indochina Telecom Company (ITelecom) debuted in April last year. The pioneering MVNO entered into an agreement with Vinaphone, a mobile subsidiary of VNPT, giving it access to the companys network infrastructure to offer its own services. Five other veteran mobile network operators in Vietnam are Vinaphone, MobiFone, Viettel, Vietnamobile, and G-tel. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Nomura Group Study found that in 2019, out of the fifty-six companies which shifted their production out of China, only three of these invested in India; while 26 went to Vietnam, 11 to Taiwan, and 08 to Thailand. In April 2020, Nikkei noted that out of the 1,000 firms which were planning to leave China and invest in Asian countries, only 300 of them were seriously thinking of investing in India. At a time when companies across sectors are either leaving or mulling to exit China, India must invest in policy and administration, infrastructure, legal system and implementation to make the most of the exodus, a research paper suggests. Titled 'FDI Value Proposition Framework: Six interventions to attract MNCs to India', the paper looks at why companies are opting for destinations like Vietnam and Taiwan when leaving China, and what could India do about it. Prashant Salwan, professor of strategy and international business, as well as chairman of executive education at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore, is the lead researcher and main author the paper. It has been co-authored by Yorum Wind, professor of management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and reviewed by Amlendu Dubey, faculty member at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. "As companies started leaving China, Indian policy makers were quite upbeat that they would come to India. But sadly, that wasnt the scenario. "Nomura Group Study found that in 2019, out of the fifty-six companies which shifted their production out of China, only three of these invested in India; while 26 went to Vietnam, 11 to Taiwan, and 08 to Thailand. "In April 2020, Nikkei noted that out of the 1,000 firms which were planning to leave China and invest in Asian countries, only 300 of them were seriously thinking of investing in India," the paper states. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) helps in creation of jobs, economic boost by getting foreign exchange, exports of products, and gives access to best technologies which are very critical for a developing country. What's more, Indian cost of production is half of China, but still China has more FDI than India. Vietnam market is 1/4th the size of India, but still around 46 per cent of companies leaving China went to Vietnam and only 5 per cent came to India, the paper points out. Further, manufacturing FDI in India is quite low at 0.6 per cent of GDP as compared to Indonesia (manufacturing FDI is one per cent of its GDP. "These examples show that market size or labor cost are not the only variables to decide on global location decisions. "There are other factors and combinations of these factors which firms take into consideration before taking any decision," the paper further states. For attracting FDI as a nation, one needs to look into the decision-making steps a firm deliberates while deciding FDI in a host country. According to Salwan, country policy makers need to link the understanding of firms requirements in creating Customer Value Proposition (CVP) to the competitive advantage a country has. A country should help a firm develop unique value proposition and simultaneously help reducing cost of producing the latter as well. After due analysis of numerous FDI frameworks and the four factors which are used by a firms in deciding location choices or FDI investment to create and capture value, namely firm fit, location characteristics, government incentives and competitive effects; which help a firm decide on its location decision and further discussion with 31 MNCs, the research team came up with the Value Proposition Model of FDI. With six pillars and 20 sub-factors segmented in pull and push factors, the research paper looks at how the Indian government needs to take a "structured approach in attracting FDI". The six pillars include government policy & administration, infrastructure, economy, business ecosystem, legal system & implementation, and location advantages. The paper has gone on to create a FDI value proposition index based on these six pillars which shows that while India may have advantage over destinations like Vietnam and Taiwan in terms of infrastructure and economy, the latter score over India in government policy & administration, legal system & implementation as well as location advantages. "India has taken positive steps like allocating huge chunk of land and policy changes regarding land acquisition. "But Indian government need to take a structured approach in attracting FDI India needs to work on government policy and administration , infrastructure and legal systems and implementation on a war footing. "Developing policy and facilitating strategies using these six pillars will help India attract FDI to a ratio of 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of its GDP," the paper further states. Thanks to its "low-risk" Covid-19 status, travelers from Vietnam will be quarantined only five days instead of 14 on entering Taiwan. Chuang Jen-hsiang, spokesman for Taiwans Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), on Monday said the Taiwanese government is planning to apply different restrictions for travelers based on their countries of departure. Those from "extremely low-risk" countries, such as Palau or New Zealand, can self-monitor their health, while travelers from "low-risk" countries like Vietnam or Brunei would be subjected to a five-day quarantine, Chuang said, as cited by Taiwan News. Risk labels per country would be regularly adjusted as the pandemic continues to pan out, Chung said, adding the CECC is seeking bilateral agreements with other countries to introduce similar travel restrictions for citizens from both sides, Taiwan's United Daily News revealed. Taiwan has banned foreign nationals from entering since March 19, except for certain cases. All entrants have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival. Last Friday, 343 Vietnamese citizens, including 243 pregnant women, left Taiwan on the first repatriation flight organized for Vietnamese in Taiwan since Vietnam suspended international flights on March 25. First test results for all passengers have returned negative. As of Tuesday, Vietnam has confirmed 328 infections in total with no deaths so far. The country also recorded no community transmission for over a month and a half. Meanwhile, Taiwan has recorded 443 Covid-19 cases and seven fatalities. Japan similarly is planning to allow travelers from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam entry starting this summer, several Japanese national newspapers reported. Reduced Covid-19 infections in the aforementioned four countries, as well as growing calls from businesses to resume traffic, all factor in the decision. In a phone call with Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on Monday, Japans Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said he wanted to soon hold discussions with Vietnam on resuming travel between both countries. Vietnam has not allowed entry for foreign nationals since March 22 except those carrying diplomatic and official passports and business managers, experts and high-skilled workers. All are quarantined for 14 days. Brazil and Mexico reported record daily coronavirus death tolls as governments in South America battled to fortify defences against the pandemic with fresh lockdown orders and curfews. The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that at least 100,000 infections were officially reported worldwide for each of the last five days, adding the Americas bore much of the brunt. Mexico on Wednesday announced more than 1,000 deaths in a day for the first time, while Brazil reported a record 1,349 daily deaths. The clinical trial for a vaccine conducted by experts at the University of Oxford will soon recruit 2,000 volunteers in Brazil The university said that on Tuesday, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency approved the inclusion of Brazil in the clinical trials. Scientists are resuming Covid-19 trials of the now world-famous drug hydroxychloroquine, as confusion continues to reign about the anti-malarial hailed by US President Donald Trump as a potential game-changer in fighting the pandemic. It follows widespread criticism of the quality of data in a study in The Lancet which found high risks associated with the treatment. Covid-19 continued to take a toll on US jobs, with another 1.9 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits, taking the number of those rendered jobless by the pandemic to cross 42 million. Layoffs have slowed down from the peak of 6.6 million in April, as all the 50 states have reopened. Release part of an agreement involving an Iranian-American doctor prosecuted by the US Justice Department. A United States Navy veteran jailed in Iran for nearly two years has been released and started making his way home, with the first leg on a Swiss government aircraft, US officials said on Thursday. The nightmare is over, his mother said. The US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, flew to Zurich with a doctor to meet freed detainee Michael White and will accompany him to the US on board an American plane, the officials said. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed the release in a tweet on Thursday. Pleased that Dr. Majid Taheri and Mr. White will soon be joining their families, Zarif tweeted. Whites release was part of an agreement involving an Iranian-American doctor prosecuted by the US Justice Department and followed months of quiet negotiations over prisoners. The two countries are at bitter odds over US penalties imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal and over the killing by American forces of a top Iranian general in Iraq at the beginning of this year. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely in American custody and on his way home, Whites mother, Joanne White, said in a statement. She thanked the State Department and Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and onetime New Mexico governor, for raising her sons case with the Iranians. White, of Imperial Beach, California, was arrested by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with. He was convicted of insulting Irans supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison. Despite widespread speculation, Whites release was not related to the deportation to Iran this week of Iranian scientist Sirios Asghari, the officials said. Whites release was predicated on another prisoner deal, the details of which were to be released later on Thursday. The government is set to open British markets to food produced to lower US welfare standards as part of its planned trade deal with Donald Trump. Downing Street on Thursday refused to stand by an earlier pledge to keep so-called chlorinated chicken off UK shelves, in the first sign of the government folding under pressure from American trade negotiators. Ministers are reportedly considering letting in products like chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef into British supermarkets, but applying tariffs to them to protect UK-based farmers from competition. The move would represent a significant loosening of the current situation, where complying with high European welfare and sanitary standards for food is often a requirement. But under the so-called dual tariff system being looked at, American agribusiness would be allowed to sell goods in the UK even if they were not complying with the same production standards as British farmers as long as they pay a tariff. Some ministers, such as right-winger Liz Truss, want to go further, the Daily Telegraph reports and gradually reduce these tariffs to zero over 10 years, giving farmers time to adjust to the new normal. But it is understood that the dual-tariff system is now being favoured by ministers, a move the National Farmers Union described as a step forward compared to the more radical proposals. A government source told the newspaper that a dual-tariff approach would give UK producers a competitive advantage over the US. Back in 2017 Michael Gove said there would be no such products allowed into British supermarkets, and as recently as January Theresa Villiers, the environment secretary, told farmers: We will not be importing chlorinated chicken. But since the opening of preliminary talks, ministers have significantly softened their line as the importance of the issue for US negotiations has become more clear. At the end of January, Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said the issue was important to US interests. We need to be open and honest about competitiveness. We need to make sure we dont use food safety as a ruse to try and protect a particular industry, he said. Speaking in February this year, the new environment secretary George Eustice would say only that the UK had no plans to change a ban but would not make further commitments on the issue. Other ministers have claimed that chlorinated chicken is not a problem and that they would go as far as eating it. An inquiry by MPs into a possible trade deal was told by experts that the US has almost no regulations when it comes to sanitation and food and that allowing competition from US foods would make it almost impossible for the UK to ever have good new welfare laws. NGOs pointed to the chlorine washing of chicken by US farmers as an alternative to keeping facilities clean, the use of growth hormone in animal feed, and the use of 82 different pesticides that are banned in the EU and UK. The 20 best food scenes in film Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best food scenes in film The 20 best food scenes in film Lady & the Tramp Who would have guessed one of the most romantic scenes in cinema would involve two dogs eating scraps in an alleyway? And, yet, the iconic spaghetti kiss from Disneys 1955 animated film has been oft imitated but never surpassed, as the two pups indulge in an Italian delicacy, all soundtracked to Sonny Burke and Peggy Lees Bella Notte. And, as Tramp proves, theres no greater act of chivalry than offering your date the last meatball Moviestore/Rex The 20 best food scenes in film Babette's Feast Gabriel Axels Oscar-winning 1987 Danish film is a visual treat for any self-confessed gourmand. The story sees two pious Protestant sisters offer refuge to a French woman fleeing the political tumult in Paris after the collapse of the Second Empire in 1871. They agree to hire her as a housekeeper, discovering later that shes the former chef of one of Pariss best restaurants. When she wins the lottery, she uses the funds to whip a meal to remember for her kindly hosts. The 20 best food scenes in film Hook All the very best chefs know that a dash of pure imagination is key to creating a true culinary wonder. Its a lesson well-taught in Steven Spielbergs 1991 classic, Hook, as a grown-up Peter Pan (Robin Williams) looks on in disbelief as the Lost Boys tuck into what appears to be nothing at all. Its only when he truly believes that he can see the brightly colour feast laid out before him. And what childish feast would be complete without an old fashioned food fight? Sony The 20 best food scenes in film Breakfast at Tiffany's Sure, the 1961 films title may be a little misleading. Its protagonist, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn), in reality only has breakfast outside of Tiffanys, popping out of a cab in the early morning light to peer into the jewelry shop window, all while enjoying a pastry and some coffee in a paper. The moment has still remained the peak of glamour, decades later, so who cares if its all a little white lie? Keystone Features/Getty Images The 20 best food scenes in film The Godfather Its a classic scene that proves to be surprisingly instructional. Francis Ford Coppolas 1972 film has a full-blown recipe tucked within its elegant drama, as Vito Corleones close associate, Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano), offers his version of the perfect pasta sauce. As he explains: You start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; you make sure it doesn't stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs. And a little bit of wine, and a little bit of sugarthat's my trick." Rex Features The 20 best food scenes in film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Although the 1971 musical is, as a whole, a sugary delight, its hardest to resist the temptation of Willy Wonkas Fizzy Lifting Drinks, a soda described as so bubbly that it lifts anyone who drinks it right off the ground. Its no wonder that it was the one stop on the tour that ended up tempting the pure-hearted Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) and his grandfather (Jack Albertson). Now, the real question is: does it come in different flavours? Getty The 20 best food scenes in film Eat Pray Love For anyone who considers pizza to be the true love of their life, Ryan Murphys 2010 romcom is a perfect cinematic match. Its hard not to relate to the moment Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) bites into a piece of authentic Italian pizza, during the Naples stop on her global adventure of self-discovery, and declares: Im in love. Im in a relationship with my pizza. Rex Features The 20 best food scenes in film Beauty & the Beast Although we might not fully be convinced that the grey stuff is delicious, the dinner and show approach to Lumiere (Jerry Orbach)s hospitality is something we could certainly get used to. In Disneys 1991 animation, Belle (Paige O'Hara) is presented with a whole cavalcade of sumptuous dishes: including beef ragout, cheese souffle, pie and pudding "en flambe". And theres a sage piece of advice to go with it all, too: If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest! Indeed. Disney The 20 best food scenes in film Steel Magnolias While theres been a growing fad of ambitious, unusually themed cakes you need only look at the success of the TLC reality series Cake Boss there are few cinematic cakes that quite stick in the memory like Jackson (Dylan McDermott)s armadillo-shaped groom cake from 1989 comedy-drama Steel Magnolias, a spin on the tradition from the American South of having another cake separate to the main wedding cake. And did we mention that its red velvet on the inside? REX FEATURES The 20 best food scenes in film Marie Antoinette When it came to director Sofia Coppola conjuring the ultimate image of decadence for her 2006 biopic on the French queen, there was no more perfect treat than Ladurees famous macarons. Delicate and pastel-toned, the meringue-based confection has long been the speciality of the French bakery, first established in 1862. A new flavour was even created in honour of the film, with the Marie Antoinette offering a combination of rose and anise flavours. Columbia Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film The Hundred Foot Journey Food is often regarded as one of the best ways to understand a culture, and The Hundred-Foot Journey is wonderful for showing the efforts the talented, self-taught novice Hassan (Manish Dayal) goes to in order to comprehend that. During a picnic he reveals he has mastered the five mother sauces of French cuisine, and the delicate tasting process that follows demonstrates just how important food is to France. The 20 best food scenes in film Goodfellas In prison, dinner was always a big thing. So much so that the Wise Guys ate better than most people on the outside. Beyond the Sea plays in the background as the gangsters prepare their meal: Garlic sliced so thin with a razor blade that it would liquefy in the pan with just a little oil, meatballs in a tomato sauce thats a little too oniony, steak cooked medium rare, iced lobsters, prosciutto, salami, cheese, red wine and good Scotch. Maybe crime does pay after all. The 20 best food scenes in film Chocolat There are few pleasures in life more fulfilling than that of cooking for others. In Chocolat based on the book by Joanne Harris a slow-motion scene where dinner party guests tuck into the feast created by expert chocolatier Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) is full of warmth and laughter. AP The 20 best food scenes in film Pulp Fiction In a world where people seem more than happy to fork out 15 for some mushy avocado on toast, $5 for a milkshake doesnt seem too unreasonable. Vincent Vega (John Travolta) takes his boss wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out to Jack Rabbit Slims for a burger, where she decides she wants the $5 dollar shake. You dont put bourbon in it or nothing? a bewildered Vincent asks the waiter. When it arrives, Mia takes a long sip: Yummy. I gotta know what a $5 shake tastes like, Vincent says. He takes a sip. Then another. Goddamn, thats a pretty f***ing good milkshake. Miramax/YouTube The 20 best food scenes in film Julie & Julia Nora Ephrons feature film based on the intertwining stories of chef Julia Child and Julie Powell, the blogger who rose to fame after documenting her pledge to cook all 524 recipes in Childs cookbook, is all about the joy one can find in food. It is some of the earlier scenes that capture this best, like when Julia (Meryl Streep) and her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) arrive in Paris and stop at a French restaurant, where Julia is served a sizzling platter of sole. It looked so mouth-watering in the final edit that Ephron wanted to call up Martin Scorcese and say, youve never shot a fish like that before. Rex The 20 best food scenes in film Ratatouille Fearsome critic Anton Ego takes a bite of ratatouille and is transported back to his childhood, where it was a favourite comfort food, in the best scene from Pixars wonderful animated film. The detail is superb, from the process of Remy the rat preparing the dish to the moment Egos pen falls to the ground as he remembers the power of a favourite meal in evoking memories we thought were lost. YouTube screengrab / Jeugos para ninos / Disney Pixar The 20 best food scenes in film Spinal Tap I dont want this, I want large bread but I can rise above it, Im a professional. The miniature bread catastrophe is a beautiful parody on every self-absorbed rock star to have kicked off over something as ludicrous as the food theyre served backstage. Guitarist Nigel Tufnell sits next to a tray of sandwiches looking baffled as his manager walks over. "Look," he says, picking up a sandwich. "This, this miniature bread. It's like... I've been working with this now for about half an hour. I can't figure it out. Let's say I want a bite, right, you've got this..." "Why do you keep folding it?" Ian asks. Nigel looks down at the broken bits of bread, then tries again: "This. I don't want this." He throws the sandwich to the ground, disgusted. "I want large bread!" Embassy Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film The Help After all the trauma she has been through at the hands of her abusive husband and a racist ex-employer Minny (Octavia Spencer) arrives at her employer Celia Foote to find a beautiful dinner cooked for her as a thank you for everything she has done for Celia and her husband. You see the care that has gone into it as Celia lays everything out on the table, from a mile high meringue to the fried chicken Minny taught her how to make. That table of food gave Minny the strength she needed, the narration explains. She took her babies out from under Leroy and never went back. AP Photo/Disney DreamWorks II, Dale Robinette The 20 best food scenes in film Five Easy Pieces Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson) just wants some toast to go with his omelette, but the waitress is stubbornly sticking to the diners no substitutions rule. Ill make it as easy for you as I can, goes the famous order. Id like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast. No mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce and hold the chicken. Columbia Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film Big Night It was a scene that helped propel a revolution in American dining. Il Timpano, a dish inspired by the notoriously tricky-to-make Italian meal, is the star of a moment in Big Night where chef brothers Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci) prepares it as the centrepiece for a feast attended by their rival, Pascal. Goddamit, I should kill you, he screams, throwing his fork down after tasting Il Timpano. This is so f***ing good, I should kill you. The National Farmers Union told the same inquiry that UK producers are happy producing to the high standards they currently produce to and would like to continue to do that. The organisation says trade agreements shouldnt allow the import of food that would be illegal to produce in the UK and that it wants an independent commission set up to review trade agreements. Asked whether the promise to keep chlorinated chicken off UK plates remained, the prime ministers official spokesperson would only say: The position is that the UK will decide how we set and maintain our own standards and regulations and we have been clear that we will not compromise on our high standards of food safety and animal welfare. The UKs food regulators will continue to provide independent advice to ensure that all food imports comply with those high safety standards. A government spokesperson said: The UK is renowned for its high environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards. We have been clear that in all of our trade negotiations including with the US in our first round of negotiations that we will not undermine our high domestic environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards by ensuring in any agreement British farmers are always able to compete. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the labour wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), will organise a nationwide protest on June 10 against the central governments plan of privatisation in various sectors. On Thursday, the BMS, which had earlier pushed the Narendra Modi-led government to prevent states from pushing changes in the labour laws, criticised the move to commercialise the coal sector; corporatisation of the defence ordnance factories board and railways; strategic sale of public sector units (PSUs), merger and privatisation of banks and insurance sector; and to attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the country. A nationwide protest under the banner Save Public Sector, Save India will be organised in the form of a day-long dharna, protest meetings, and campaign etc; at the unit level, said Vrijesh Upadhyay, general secretary, BMS. In May, while announcing the governments fourth tranche of initiatives towards achieving Atmanirbhar Bharat in a bid to tide over the growing economic crisis triggered by the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced structural reforms in eight sectors of the economy coal, minerals, defence production, aviation, power distribution in union territories, space and atomic energy. The BMS, which has been critical of the governments decision to privatise the national carrier Air India and other PSUs said, It is being observed from past few decisions of the government that it is trying to push and impose its unjust decisions on the workers of the country. The BMS is committed to fighting until it stops the government from taking the anti-public sector and anti-worker decisions. The BMS has taken an adversarial position against the governments decision. The government is justifying the dire need of money to run its machinery. However, it has no moral right or authority to sell national assets created by its predecessors, it added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The UK's controversial quarantine measures could be watered down or even scrapped for some routes by the end of this month if the travel industry can devise a safe alternative, the Home Secretary indicated. Priti Patel urged aviation companies and other travel organisations to come up with 'innovative solutions' which would allow quarantine-free travel. It opened up at least a slim prospect of foreign holidays re-starting as early as June 29 before the school summer break begins. The UK's controversial quarantine travel measures could be watered down or even scrapped for some routes by the end of this month if the travel industry can devise a safe alternative, Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured at the daily coronavirus conference on May 22) indicated Miss Patel told a video meeting with travel industry bosses: 'We're here today because we all share one aim: to keep people safe and get Britain moving again. I want to hear from you all about how we can do just that, and how we can innovate for a brighter future.' NEW BANK HOLIDAY BOOST Plans for an extra bank holiday in October to help the British tourist industry received a boost yesterday. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the idea by Visit Britain was 'excellent' and was told it could raise 500 million for the economy. He told the Commons the Government aimed to get UK tourism back in action for summer. 'We have set this very ambitious target to try and get the sector back by July 4, so long as it is safe to do so,' he said. Mr Dowden, who said he preferred staycations, was told by Tory ex-minister Tim Loughton that seaside town workers were 'being laid off at the fastest rates of any areas of the UK'. Urged to lobby for a VAT cut to 5 per cent on tourism, the Culture Secretary said: 'I'm working closely with my colleague the Chancellor and we will be looking at further measures. 'And of course, once the sector is ready to go I'll be at the forefront of championing the campaign for British tourism.' Advertisement She praised their 'dynamism' and insisted the Government wanted to find solutions 'together'. Travel firms have condemned the quarantine plans as a death-knell for the sector. It is understood that virus testing on both outbound and inbound journeys could form one alternative to quarantine if the industry can find a way to implement and fund it. Plans for 'travel corridors' will also be developed in the coming weeks, sources said. British Airways' owners IAG sparked a row by declining to attend Thursday's meeting. IAG did not give a reason for not attending and declined to comment further. But on Wednesday BA was criticised in the Commons for threatening redundancies after taking huge sums in furlough payments from the taxpayer. A Whitehall source said: 'It's a shame that BA don't want to directly make their case clearly they aren't serious about working with the Government to get Britain moving again.' Representatives of 24 aviation, maritime and rail organisations and companies attended the conference call, including Virgin Atlantic, Eurostar and the operators of Heathrow. The compulsory 14-day quarantine period comes into force on Monday and must be reviewed every three weeks. This means the aviation industry must have any alternative programme in place by June 29 if the measures are to be varied at the very first opportunity. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said at the daily Downing Street briefing that it was impossible to predict when foreign and domestic tourism could be allowed to re-start. 'I can't answer when people will be able to travel for tourism that depends on the path of the virus,' he said. Facebook is adding labels to state-controlled media, including Russian, Chinese and Iranian outlets, the tech giant announced Thursday. The social media company announced the plan several months ago as one way to help protect elections and increase transparency on the site; today, that plan is being put into practice for pages representing news outlets that "combine the influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state," the company said in a blog post. Publishers included in the initial set include, but arent limited to: Press TV, Tasnim News Agency, Algerie Presse Service, Journal ech-chaab, Russia Today, Sputnik, RIA Novosti, CCTV, Xinhua News, Peoples Daily, 2M.ma, Al Aoula (Morocco), Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, La Presse (Tunisia), DPRK Today, TV 5 Thailand, Philippine News Agency and People's Television Network, a Facebook spokesperson told FOX Business. The labels will begin to appear on Facebook's Ad Library Page view, Pages, and the Page Transparency section. The labels will also appear on ads starting later this summer and on posts in the News Feed section for U.S. users starting next week, the company said. In an example of what labels will look like, Facebook provided a sample image of a made-up outlet called "Late Breaking News Now," which has a label beneath its name that reads, "Russian state-controlled media" on a sample Facebook post. If a user were to click on "About This Page" to find out more about the outlet, a pop-up description would read, "Late Breaking News is now partially or wholly under the editorial control of a state." If a user were to click on the "Page Transparency" section of a state-run outlet, a label would read, "This publisher is now partially or wholly under the editorial control of a state. This is determined by a range of factors, including but not limited to funding, structure and journalistic standards." Story continues Facebook added that it consulted 65 global experts "specializing in media, governance, and human rights and development" to determine which outlets can accurately be considered state-run. "We know that governments continue to use funding mechanisms to control media, but this alone doesnt tell the full story," Facebook said in the blog post. "Thats why our definition of state-controlled media extends beyond just assessing financial control or ownership and includes an assessment of editorial control exerted by a government." Determining factors include the outlet's mission statement, ownership and management, disclosure of ownership, editorial guidelines, information about the newsroom leadership and staff, sources of funding and revenue as well as governance and accountability mechanisms. Companies have the opportunity to have a label removed by submitting an appeal if they agree to make specific changes Facebook requires. Related Articles by Paul Wang In seven churches there will be liturgical celebrations for the Tiananmen massacres, organized by the Justice and Peace Commission. The auxiliary bishop Msgr. Joseph Ha will preside over Mass at Holy Cross church. Everyone is invited to light a candle at 8 o'clock tonight. The police force wants to clear Victoria Park where democratic activists will gather in groups of eight in accordance with the restrictions imposed by the anti-pandemic rules. Last night, a candlelight Tiananmen memorial vigil in front of Lai Chi Kok prison, where many of those arrested in recent months have been detained. Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Masses in memory of the killed, candles commemorating the massacre across the territory, demonstration in groups of eight - as required by the anti-pandemic restrictions - are some of the gestures that the population of Hong Kong has devised to remember the deaths of Tiananmen Square 31 years after the tragic event. On the night between June 3 and 4, the Chinese army tanks and soldiers cleared the square, occupied by a few thousand young demonstrators, shooting them dead or crushing them under the wheels of the tanks. Young people, students and workers had been sitting in the square for months asking for democracy and an end to corruption. According to independent organizations, 200 to 2,000 young people were killed that night. The Chinese government have never published a death toll. Moreover it has shrouded the massacre with silence: anyone in China dares to remember that event even in the distant past, is slammed with censorship and prison. In at least seven churches in the area there will be liturgical celebrations in memory of the massacred (Holy Cross Church, St Bonaventure Church, St Francis of Assisi Church, Holy Redeemer Church, Saints Cosmas and Damian Church, St Benedict Church, St Andrew's Church). The masses are prepared by the diocesan justice and peace commission. Yesterday evening, the auxiliary bishop of the diocese, Msgr. Joseph Ha held a meditation in memory of Tiananmen, broadcast on Facebook. Tonight he will preside over Mass at Holy Cross church. The whole population is invited at 8 pm tonight to light a candle wherever they are. There are groups that have planned to light candles in some public places in the city. All commemoration events will be streamed and already in these days there are documentaries, suggestions, tools to remember Tiananmen, from observing a minute of silence, to listening to songs that enhance freedom. All these gestures are also the way in which we try to escape the ban on holding the candlelight vigil that has been celebrated in Victoria Park for 30 years, gathering up to 180 thousand participants. Officially, the ban on holding the vigil has been due to "health" reasons, any gathering with more than 8 people being prohibited. But for the organizers of the vigil - the Alliance in support of China's patriotic and democratic movements - it is clear that this is an excuse to try to erase the memory of the massacre, in accordance with Beijing's wishes. Especially since last week the Chinese parliament voted for a law to be imposed on the population of Hong Kong which in the name of security will be able to suppress civil liberties. At least 3 thousand riot police officers have been hired to stop attempts at demonstrations. They have the task of driving people out of Victoria Park who, despite being gathered in groups of eight, will be considered by the police as a single group, which violates the law. Organizers and lawyers accuse the police of repressively interpreting the law and say they are ready to pay the expected fine. Violating social distancing results in a fine of 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 230 euros) per participant and 25,000 dollars (about 2878 euros) and six months in prison for the organizers. The demand for democracy that arose from Chinese youth 31 years ago is keenly felt in continuity with the demonstrations for democracy that have been taking place in the territory for a year, after the government's attempt to pass an extradition law. Last night, a group of activists celebrated a candlelit commemoration of Tiananmen in front of Lai Chi Kok prison, where many of those arrested in recent months have been detained (photo 1). Apple's homepage has been changed to highlight a message from Tim Cook about racism. The website which is usually covered in marketing for Apple's own products now directs visitors to a "message from Tim" titled "Speaking up on racism". After noting the pain of black communities across the US, the message commits Apple to a range of changes intended to help advance the aims of the protests against racial injustice and police brutality. "Right now, there is a pain deeply etched in the soul of our nation and in the hearts of millions," the open letter begins. "To stand together, we must stand up for one another, and recognize the fear, hurt, and outrage rightly provoked by the senseless killing of George Floyd and a much longer history of racism." It goes on to admit that the company must do more to fight against racism and other problems across the country. "We commit to continuing our work to bring critical resources and technology to underserved school systems," the message reads. "We commit to continuing to fight the forces of environmental injustice like climate change which disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of colour. "We commit to looking inward and pushing progress forward on inclusion and diversity, so that every great idea can be heard. And were donating to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative, which challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration." The letter is signed by Mr Cook and can be read in full on Apple's website. George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Show all 30 1 /30 George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Police spray mace at protestors to break up a gathering near the Minneapolis Police third precinct after a white police officer was caught on a bystander's video pressing his knee into the neck of African-American man George Floyd, who later died at a hospital, in Minneapolis Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester holds a sign with an image of George Floyd AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters demonstrate against the death of George Floyd AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester throws a piece of wood on a fire in the street just north of the 3rd Police Precinct Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets People in other US cities also protested the murder, like Los Angeles AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A police officer lobs a canister to break up crowds Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester is treated after inhaling tear gas Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Two police officers stand on the roof of the Third Police Precinct during a face off with a group of protesters Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters outside a Minneapolis police precinct two days after George Floyd died EPA George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters run from tear gas Reuters George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Demonstrators gather to protest in Los Angeles AP George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Police remove barricades set by protesters AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A fire burns inside of an Auto Zone store near the Third Police Precinct Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Flowers, signs and balloons are left near a makeshift memorial to George Floyd near the spot where he died AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A policeman faces a protester holding a placard in downtown Los Angeles AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A couple poses with a sign in Los Angeles AFP via Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 27: A man is tended to after sustaining an injury from a projectile shot by police outside the 3rd Police Precinct building on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired after a video taken by a bystander was posted on social media showing Floyd's neck being pinned to the ground by an officer as he repeatedly said, "I cant breathe". Floyd was later pronounced dead while in police custody after being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Stephen Maturen Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets A protester reacts after inhaling tear gas Getty George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Getty Images George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters use shopping carts as a barricade Getty Images George Floyd death: Minneapolis protests erupt in the streets Protesters clash with the police as they demonstrate against the death of George Floyd AFP via Getty Images It follows an internal message, sent as a memo to employees, which included much of the same wording but explicitly reached out to black staff at the company. "For all of our colleagues hurting right now, please know that you are not alone, and that we have resources to support you," that memo read. North Korea on Wednesday excoriated the U.S. in the midst of George Floyd demonstrations, comparing the country to a setting sun with China rising. Demonstrators enraged by the extreme racists throng even to the White House, read a statement in North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun, translated in the New York Times. This is the reality in the U.S. today. American liberalism and democracy put the cap of leftist on the demonstrators and threaten to unleash even dogs for suppression. The statement slammed U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who on Sunday told Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures that the Chinese Communist Party is intent upon the destruction of Western ideas, Western democracies, Western values. Pompeo, who has been deeply engrossed in espionage and plot-breeding against other countries, has become too ignorant to discern where the sun rises and where it sets, the statement read. The U.S. has kept sanctions against North Korea in place as negotiations over ending the countrys nuclear program have stalled. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department charged 28 North Koreans and five Chinese citizens with laundering $2.5 billion through North Koreas state-owned bank, funds which were ultimately put toward the nuclear program. North Korea on Thursday also criticized defectors to the South who have been sending anti-regime propaganda across the border by balloon. North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns sister, Kim Yo-Jong, threatened to end a ceasefire agreement between the two nations that provides for a joint liaison office at the border. What matters is that those human scum hardly worth their value as human beings had the temerity of faulting our supreme leadership, Kim Yo-Jong said. We are no longer slaves of North Korea, we are citizens of a free South Korea with an obligation to speak the truth, Park Sang-hak, a defector who leads activist group Fighters for Free North Korea, told the Times. More from National Review As prepared for delivery Mr. President, Members of the Executive Board, Excellencies, colleagues and friends, Welcome to the annual session of the Executive Board in 2020. It is hard to take in just how much has changed in the space of a few months. Since we met in our February board meeting, COVID-19 has exposed the full extent of human vulnerability for the first time in a generation, and human development - the combined measure of the worlds education, health, and living standards - is on course to decline for the first time since the measurement began in 1990. Looking back, 2018 and 2019 - the first two years of UNDPs Strategic Plan -- seem like years from a much simpler era. But, just like the decade they ended, they were years of turbulence. City by city, people came onto the streets to protest rising inequality, stretched social services, a deficit of trust and a damaged climate. That was the baseline for a Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which began in January. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the consequences of building societies on the backs of people who have less. And other development emergencies have not pressed pause, as we saw last month as Cyclone Amphan pummeled India and Bangladesh and locusts continued their destruction in East Africa and parts of the Middle East and South Asia. With up to 60 million more people facing extreme poverty in 2020, governments and societies face a series of immediate and complex choices as they work to save lives and set a course for the future. All the more reason, Excellencies, for #NextGenUNDP to be at countries side and at our best, hand-in-hand with the rest of the United Nations family. This is the context in which we meet today in our increasingly familiar virtual setting to review progress at the mid-point of UNDPs Strategic Plan 2018-2021. Through the Mid-Term Review, UNDP demonstrated its effectiveness in helping countries to reduce poverty and inequality in the most turbulent of times. As we look beyond recovery from COVID-19, to plot a path to the future together, now is the time to redouble that support, with the SDGs as our common compass. Let us first look back at results achieved. Mid-term review of the Strategic Plan Two years ago, with this Strategic Plan, we set out an ambitious agenda together: to make UNDP reform-ready and future-focused, in the context of what Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed called the biggest transformation of the UN Development System in history. At the halfway point development progress is on track, and the transformation agenda -- though by no means complete -- is well underway. Poverty For example, in the last two years, 48 million people gained access to basic services with UNDPs support. We continued to champion the use of multidimensional poverty indices, helping 30 governments to build their own. Our 2019 Human Development Report drew attention to a new generation of inequalities -- from the digital divide to access to higher education -- and how to tackle them, going beyond income, beyond averages and beyond today. Governance Our collaboration with the government of Bangladesh on digitalized public services saved $8 billion, 2 billion otherwise wasted workdays and 1 billion office visits. UNDP supported stronger human rights and rule of law systems in over 70 countries and worked to prevent violent extremism in 34 countries. Resilience Nine of our ten largest country programmes are in crisis or fragile contexts, where UNDP promotes closer collaboration between humanitarian, development, and peace actors. Our Funding Facility for Stabilization in Iraq has helped 8.5 million Iraqis, half of them women, since 2015. Our $400m partnership with the World Bank in Yemen, linking emergency response and resilience-building, created over 10.7 million workdays of emergency employment, and helped to stabilize the local economy. I saw the value of UNDPs integrated approach in fragile contexts when I visited Sudan in January. Supporting inclusive governance and reviving the Sudanese economy are key to sustaining peace, achieving the transition to civilian democratic rule, and creating better prospects for all. Environment UNDP helped countries to access $1 billion in vertical funds. Implementing the nature-climate portfolio developed by UNDP in 2019, for example, would see 275 million tons of CO2 emissions avoided -- the equivalent to taking 59 million cars off the road for a year. Our new, integrated offer for Small Island Developing States covers the blue economy, digital transformation, and climate action, with a focus on finance throughout. The Pacific Islands Oceanic Fisheries Management initiative shows the potential of blue economies: with UNDPs support, all four tuna species are now being fished sustainably, while tuna fisheries contribution to Pacific GDP has increased by two-thirds and jobs in the sector have almost doubled. Energy With UNDP support, 1.4 million households headed by women, and 1.2 million in rural areas, gained access to clean and affordable energy: a springboard to resilience and poverty alleviation. Through the UNDP-Global Fund partnership, 652 health facilities in eight countries are running on solar energy. UNDP leveraged funding to aid countries green energy transitions, including $50 million of private financing for energy efficiency and biodiversity in Kazakhstan and, with the UN Capital Development Fund, issued a $10 million guarantee to attract commercial investment in solar power in the Gambia one of 100 countries with whom we partner on sustainable energy. Gender Over 23 million women gained access to services and 48 per cent of new voters registered with UNDP support were women. We worked with 80 countries to tackle gender-based violence, including through the UN-European Union Spotlight partnership. 750 companies in 16 countries are now certified with UNDPs Gender Equality Seal. With UNDP support, 74 countries integrated gender into environmental and climate policies, plans and frameworks, and 97 countries strengthened womens leadership and decision-making in natural resource management. Despite the progress, UNDP faces persistent challenges. UNDP needs to invigorate efforts to enhance womens leadership in crisis prevention and recovery and intensify efforts to promote womens agency, upending patriarchal social norms, strengthening inclusive institutions, and ensuring a digital transformation that works for everyone. These challenges mirror global trends and findings from the 2019 HDR, which shows that enhanced capabilities are more challenging to achieve. Our commitment to gender equality is more important than ever in the context of COVID-19. Integrated solutions to tackle complexity As the Mid-Term Review of the Strategic Plan substantiates, the full value of the results achieved across our signature solutions is unlocked by responding to what governments increasingly want from us: integration not sectoral solutions, but whole-of-society solutions to complexity, at scale. And integration simply works better: performance analysis shows that applying multiple signature solutions to 30-60 per cent of outputs improves overall programme results. The Climate Promise That is why, for example, UNDP launched our ambitious Climate Promise in 2019, testing our abilities to develop and deliver integrated programming across our poverty, governance, resilience, environment, gender, and energy portfolios, at speed and scale. By February 2020, we surpassed our target of supporting the climate ambition of 100 countries. Today, the roll-out of the Climate Promise continues in 110 countries with UNDPs strategic partners on climate action on board, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF, IRENA, World Bank, UN Habitat, the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, in close collaboration with the NDC Partnership. #NextGenUNDP The Climate Promise illustrates three fundamental features of the #NextGenUNDP that emerged over the first two years of this Strategic Plan: first, our commitment to helping countries tackle complexity; second, our ambition to advance sustainable development at scale, and third, our certainty that as the UN, we are stronger working together ---- just as the United Nations development system reforms intend. From collaborating with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to strengthen resilience in the Lake Chad Basin, to our ongoing work with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Development System (UNDS) agencies to strengthen health systems, our programming with other UN entities is important and increasing, and fundamental to how #NextGenUNDP works. #NextGenUNDP is not just a slogan and it did not emerge overnight. It was brought to life by a series of deliberate, intensive re-engineering efforts within UNDP and with our partners to push the boundaries in how we think, deliver, invest, and manage. Today, as the UN works to help countries prepare, respond, and recover in the face of COVID-19, our investments are proving their worth. Here are some highlights of the steps we took and their impact. More effective and efficient We started by eliminating the organizations deficit in 2017 and balancing the books three years in a row. We streamlined 150 business processes and invested in further business model improvements. We reined in costs and increased productivity, spending 91 cents in every US dollar on programmes, up from 88 cents from 2014-2017, representing approximately $240 million in additional resources for development in 2018-2019. We strengthened UNDPs investment in a talented, diverse, and results-focused workforce with the People for 2030 Strategy, including through our award-winning collaboration with UN Volunteers to recruit people with disabilities. UNDPs top and deputy leadership positions across 140 countries and territories are now gender-balanced and geographically diverse. Gender parity among staff was maintained, but gender parity in middle management and the representation of staff from programme countries at D1 level and above still need improvement. UNDP has done well on the UN System-Wide Action Plan (SWAP) 2.0, where we met or exceeded 88 per cent of performance indicators in 2019, and we ranked as a High Scorer in the 2020 Global Health 50/50 Gender and Health Index. We have done much to improve our working culture, including through concrete actions to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment. And we continue to make UNDP greener and cleaner: our Greening Moonshot has raised our targets on greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce them by 25 per cent by 2025 and 50 per cent by 2030. With UNDPs full field-level leadership now in place, we will strive for greater productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness in the coming two years of the Plan. We are very conscious of the potential effects of COVID-19 on our ability to do so. This is something we are monitoring carefully and mitigating where we can. Enhanced services to our UN partners UNDP remains the largest single UN entity contributor to the Resident Coordinator (RC) system, as well as the operational backbone of the UNDS, providing payroll, travel and procurement services to entities across the UN, with our RC system services rated at 4.2 out of 5 stars. At the same time, UNDP hosts crucial functions for the UNs work around the world, including the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, which managed $1.25 billion on behalf of the UNDS in 2019, and UN Volunteers, which has a 200,000 strong talent pool in over 100 professional categories. UNV deployed 8,202 professionals in 2019, 17 per cent more than in 2018, and has 700 volunteers in the field right now working on the COVID-19 response. UNDP hosts the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, which played a critical role in bringing countries together for BAPA+40 in Argentina in 2019, and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), through which three million unbanked and underbanked people benefited from access to digital and other financial services. You will hear more on this at the September board meeting where UNCDF will present their mid-term strategic framework review and annual report. I encourage you to support the critical work of these UN entities. More innovative and enterprising UNDPs Accelerator Labs Network was established across 78 countries in just 12 months and awarded the Apolitical 2019 Global Public Service Teams of the Year award for evidence-based policy. Expansion of the network is already underway. Twenty-four per cent of those who joined the Lab Network are moving back to their home country to take up their role an indication that UNDP is attracting world-class talent back to developing countries. UNDP established the SDG Finance Sector Hub to bring coherence and scale to our work on financing for the SDGs, including with our UN partners and the European Union to advance Integrated National Financing Frameworks, underway in 19 countries; with our private sector partners like Samsung, Mars and Microsoft, and a broad array of investors through SDG Impact; and with the OECD and a number of Member States on Tax Inspectors without Borders. Our Digital Strategy is testing new programmes in the field while enhancing organizational digital literacy, with 20 per cent of staff trained so far. UNDP won the FutureEdge 50 award for our cybersecurity platform and, last month, we launched a new Information Technology Strategy to accompany and accelerate UNDPs digital transformation. Partner confidence related in financing In our 2020 partnerships survey of over 3,100 partners, 80 per cent considered UNDP a valuable partner. Steady financial contributions to UNDP in 2018-2019 reinforce partner confidence. In total, UNDP managed $14.9 billion in available resources, including $1.25 billion in core contributions. UNDP received $1.82 billion in government cost-sharing contributions (GCS), the largest share of which was for our governance work with programme countries. GCS, alongside government contributions to local office costs (GLOC) demonstrate Member States support to UNDP programmes and offices, as do other non-core contributions. For example, 2019 saw a 54 per cent increase in investment in UNDPs thematic funding windows, a 27 per cent increase in engagement with UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund pooled funds, and a 14 per cent increase in multi-year pledges to regular or core resources compared to 2018. Grants and loan support from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) increased to $676 million, up 50 per cent on the previous biennium. At the same time, 2019 saw a 2 per cent drop in the use of core resources to run UNDP -- freeing an additional $19.5 million of core resources for development programming as a result. Core resources deliver better results In response to demand, UNDP is moving from a project- to a portfolio-based approach, designed to deliver whole-of-society solutions. This is not easy in an organization that is largely project-funded. A fundamental part of the Secretary Generals Funding Compact, core resources underpin UNDPs innovation and responsiveness, operational capacity and flexibility, and our networks and global presence. Evidence from the Mid-Term Review highlights their catalytic impact across the 2030 Agenda. UNDP teams with a higher proportion of core funding, for example, demonstrated stronger gender results. And yet, our core resources are spread thinly. This may become more of a challenge in the next planning cycle as the number of middle-income countries is slated to increase. If core resources levels stay the same, core allocations across all middle-income countries will be limited. I thank partners for their core and non-core contributions to UNDP, therefore donor and programme countries alike -- and I sincerely hope we can count on your continued commitment to ensure robust and flexible core resources for the rest of this Plan, and as we prepare for the next one. This is a critical part of UNDPs next generation transformation, which is by no means complete. The #NextGenUNDP transformation is not complete We have come a long way since 2018. But some areas have fallen short of milestones or are still experiments underway, as set out in detail in the Mid-Term Review. Our focus in the next two years, therefore, will include: - strengthening UNDPs capacity to learn: the 2018 poverty evaluation for Least Developed Countries revealed weaknesses in UNDPs approach and a need to rethink our tools and programme design. Determined to learn from this and from the 2019 Human Development Report on inequalities we are working hard to strengthen our impact on multidimensional poverty and reorient our approach to social protection, which is more critical now than ever. - leveraging expertise more effectively: the extraordinary expertise and experience throughout UNDP is not always properly connected. The Global Policy Network is taking time to get fully up and running and is not yet sufficiently networked with the Accelerator Labs, Country Offices, and country support platforms to share experiences, scale success, and achieve large-scale impact. - enhancing integrated support: Signature Solutions are designed to have multidimensional impact but there are still gaps. Clean energy is not always well-integrated into broader interventions, for example. Performance analysis insights are highlighting which combinations of signature solutions work best to maximize outcome-level results. And while we have established 60 country support platforms, not all are yet true integration engines; they need further development. - managing audit and risk: transparency and accountability for results and impact continue to be top UNDP priorities, as reflected in our ranking as one of the most transparent aid organizations in the world, according to the Aid Transparency Index. The UN Board of Auditors gave UNDP its 14th unqualified (clean) audit opinion and the Office of Audit and Investigations rated us partially satisfactory with some improvements needed on governance, risk management and controls. Acting on and learning from this rating remain essential, and steps are underway to do so. The Strategic Plan made UNDP reform ready. It set the stage for new Country Programme Documents and reimagined roles for our Resident Representatives. 73 per cent of our partners are satisfied that UNDP supports Resident Coordinators to strategically position the UN at country level, a percentage we will work to increase every day together with the Resident Coordinator system. Because our teamwork will be tested as we chart a course for the next two years of this Strategic Plan, and beyond. A litmus test of UN reform The COVID-19 pandemic is a litmus test for the commitment we have made to deliver better, quicker, and more effective support to programme countries. Our ability to help countries to prepare, respond and recover today, including as the UNs designated technical lead on socio-economic recovery, is aided by the #NextGenUNDP investments made over the first two years of our Strategic Plan implementation, and by the ongoing support of our partners and our Executive Board. Collaboration with our partners across the UN system is an indispensable element of our response. UNDP is working with the Resident Coordinators Office (RCO), UN Volunteers and UN Women to help informal economy workers and small businesses in Argentina, and partnering with the UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries and WHO in Turkey under the Technology Access Platform. We are working with WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, the RCO, private sector partners and the European Space Agency to establish a Big Data platform in Moldova for close-to-real-time analysis, and with World Bank in Cote dIvoire to regularly monitor household vulnerability one of 70 countries where UNDP is leading or co-leading impact assessments with UN Country Teams and IFIs. Based on COVID-19 response analysis from the field, ingredients for UNDS success include strong national ownership, one UN voice, and joint initiatives and pooled funding mechanisms that can be quickly activated and scaled. Obstacles include the need for a speedy response juxtaposed against the complexity of the crisis across the humanitarian, peace and development nexus, and funding structures that can incentivize competition instead of collaboration. Building back better from COVID-19 must deliver dividends for those who -- before the virus ever spread -- were already out of school, out of work, offline and off the grid. Conflict-hit regions, where the social contract is already damaged, cannot be left dependent on short-term aid in the worlds peripheral vision. This is a critical moment, therefore, to address the humanitarian-development divide upon which international aid systems have evolved, so that longer-term sustainable development is not crowded out financially by the equally critical humanitarian emergency. Tipping points: choices that will shape the future The pandemic and the response to it are a systemic shock akin to experiencing the 80-year climate crisis in an 18-month health emergency. But this sharp blow could unblock the space for decision-makers to act in ways that were not on the policy, legal, or regulatory tables before. The coming months are critical, therefore, as the choices governments make today could usher in the tipping points that transform our societies and our planet for the better. A forward-looking response to COVID-19 could end an era where one third of all food produced is wasted while 1 in 10 people goes hungry, where 10 times more is spent on fossil fuel subsidies alone than on all investments in renewable energy. The next phase of our prepare, respond, and recover offer, therefore, is designed to help decision-makers make choices and manage complexity in the midst of uncertainty. It is focused on four main areas, identified based on demand from our partners on the ground: governance and agency, social protection, green economy, and digital disruption. Governance and agency building a new social contract This area of work is more important than ever for UNDP as governments come under unprecedented pressure to navigate crisis and uncertainty, deliver digitalized services, enable access to information and social protection, and function in transparent, accountable and effective ways that advance social cohesion while upholding human rights and the rule of law, particularly in fragile contexts where justice and security concerns may be more acute. UNDP will support our partners in making choices that deliver inclusive services while laying the foundations for the future -- a new social contract fully reflective of peoples agency that builds trust in institutions and closes the gap between people and the state. This will include supporting governments to develop inclusive economic recovery strategies, invest in priority markets, and strengthen engagement with the private sector. This support is already underway. In Uzbekistan, for example, as pressure on medical supplies mounts, UNDP is helping the government to assess the health sector for corruption risks, and to manage risks identified. In Vietnam, UNDP is supporting the Governments capacity to communicate with ethnic minorities and people with disabilities on the spread of COVID-19. In Sudan, UNDP is supporting central authorities to keep the doors open to deliver services, manage aid, and maintain the momentum of peaceful transition. Social protection uprooting inequalities A worldwide shift is underway in concepts of health, social protection, systems of care, and well-being. Telling people to wash their hands means nothing if they do not have access to water. Working from home is meaningless without shelter or a job, or if the supply chains through which farmers and informal rural workers earn their living are shattered. Jobs, social protection, including universal health coverage, and access to other basic services will be central to uprooting the inequalities that permeated societies before COVID-19, and that are starkly visible today. The drive for gender equality is leading a wave of change that must be supported to address the discrimination and bias that emanate from entrenched social norms, including around re-distribution of unpaid care work, leadership, and the digital sphere. For governments to invest in these areas, they need fiscal space to do so. UNDP echoes the call of the Secretary General for a debt standstill for all vulnerable countries. We are exploring how this could translate into a Temporary Basic Income, and whether Universal Basic Income could form part of a renewed social contract. As set out in the 2019 Human Development Report, we recognize the need for a capabilities revolution to define the future of work, led by youth and based on continuous skills attainment and digital leapfrogging. Public-private solidarity and partnerships will be critical to create strategies for informal sector workers and a new generation of resilient, green jobs that support youth-led entrepreneurship. UNDP is working closely with the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF, and other partners in this respect. Green economy for once and for all Like climate change, the pandemic offers proof -- if proof were still needed -- that all life on Earth is connected. Scientists warned for years that unrestricted deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, and zoonoses would unleash an uncontrollable pandemic. This is the moment, therefore, to restore balance between people and planet, designing and de-risking nature-based solutions as part of a new social safety net for the world, encouraging sustainable public-private partnerships such as in nature-based ecotourism and green transport systems, transforming agriculture from a carbon contributor to a carbon sink, and ensuring integrated thinking and action with the health sector to tackle air pollution, which kills seven million people each year. Taking health and education benefits into account, the savings accrued by decarbonizing the global economy by 2050 would be eight times the cost, according to IRENA research. Cumulative global GDP would grow by USD 98 trillion above business-as-usual between now and 2050 and renewable energy jobs would quadruple to 42 million. Through an integrated response, publicly-financed fossil fuel subsidies, which cost societies $5.3 trillion or 6.3% of global GDP, could be redirected to support essential public services and social protection. Since the international climate change agreement was signed in Paris in 2015, 33 major global banks have collectively invested $1.9 trillion into fossil fuels. These are investments in an energy future that has already passed its sell-by date. Periods of low prices of oil, like now, are the best time to introduce reforms that re-price energy. Today, therefore, as governments determine how to invest tax-payers money, they have a choice to make: stimulate fossil fuel industries and other remnants of the way things were short-term band-aids that will reinforce the collision course with nature or invest in the future: in a more resilient recovery in balance with the planet and powered by renewable energy that sets us on the right path in tackling the climate crisis. This work is underway. For example, UNDP and South Africa are exploring how to build on the countrys Working for Water public works programme, which already hires 30,000 workers per year, to expand green job creation, while through Malawis Innovation Challenge Fund we are focusing economic recovery in nature-based tourism. With FAO, we are working to translate countries Nationally Determined Contributions and adaptation plans into agriculture and land use climate solutions, including to boost green and resilient recovery from the pandemic, while Antigua and Barbuda, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria have already requested UNDPs support on the political economy of fossil fuel subsidy reform. Digital disruption and innovation for speed and scale With schools closed and stark divides in access to online learning, UNDP estimates that 86 percent of children in primary education are now effectively out-of-school in countries with low human development - compared to just 20 percent in countries with very high human development. This is the largest reversal in education on record, taking us back to the 1980s -- a time before the Sustainable Development Goals or the Millennium Development Goals. Closing the internet access gap in low- and middle-income countries is estimated to cost US $100 billion about 1 per cent of the worlds extraordinary COVID-19 fiscal programmes to date. This step alone would halve the human development regression the pandemic could trigger by getting children back to education albeit remotely. And it is eminently affordable. This is just an illustration of what investing in digitalization could achieve right now. As our partners in UNICEF, ILO, ITU, WHO, UNCDF and beyond know, the surge in tele-schooling, tele-working, tele-medicine, and digital payments during the COVID-19 crisis are just the tip of the iceberg in digital transformation. As an institution, UNDP is in a much better position to respond to the pandemic today than we would have been 12 months ago, as a result of investments in our innovation architecture and our new Digital Strategy, which helped to keep our dedicated teams across the world operational and our doors open during these past months. Over 40 governments have requested UNDPs support in keeping their public services going since the pandemic began, and from the Maldives to Brazil to Sudan, we are already making this possible. We are also helping to keep money moving through digital finance, which will be explored in more detail in the upcoming report of the Secretary-Generals Task Force on Digital Financing of the SDGs. In Uganda, for example, informal traders are being connected with their suppliers online to maintain their supply chains. Building on our digital financing collaboration, UNDP and UNCDF are working in collaboration with the World Bank, International Organization on Migration and Member States to improve the flow of remittances, so that migrants and their families can continue to cover basic needs and services such as food, housing, education, and health care during the pandemic. Excellencies, Different societies faced different starting points to the COVID-19 crisis. For some, the health crisis preceded the socio-economic shock; for others, it was the reverse, with punishing rural- and informal-sector job and income losses as the point of departure. For countries in or recovering from conflict, crisis may stem from evaporated momentum for peace or dwindling international attention, snowballing from there. Whatever a countrys starting point, as UNDPs Strategic Plan sets out, UNDP will help our partners to make choices and build national response plans in the midst of uncertainty, engaging the expertise of public and private partners, and aligning public and private investments, including through Integrated National Financing Frameworks, where we are already working with over 50 countries. In this second phase of our COVID-19 response, our work will focus on these four integrated areas, looking beyond recovery to lay the foundations for a fair and just transition to the future. These areas may evolve as countries needs evolve and as we together adapt to and learn from the impacts of the pandemic. UNDP will redouble its efforts to deliver development results at speed and scale in this new context, including by raising the ambition level of nearly all our 2021 development results targets. Our COVID-19 response will be a gravitational feature of the rest of this Strategic Plan period and it, alongside climate change, will be key in defining the context for the next. I would like to offer my appreciation to each of the Member States and partners who engaged so closely with us in the Mid-Term Review of our Strategic Plan and who have supported our progress together to date. Your insight has been invaluable, and your continued engagement, ownership and guidance will be fundamental as we move ahead. As Amartya Sen said, while we cannot live without history, we need not live within it either. The Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s impacted economies worldwide and resulted in political and social changes that defined the remainder of the 20th Century including by setting economies and ecology on a collision course. Recovering from COVID-19 must take a different path. Out of tragedy, we as multilateral actors have a chance to turn the greatest reversal of human development in our lifetimes into a historic leap forward to a sustainable, inclusive, peaceful, and resilient future, with the SDGs as our compass. This is the path UNDP is committed to, and we look to your support and encouragement on this journey. Thank you for your continued support. A university is investigating a 'deeply disturbing and highly insensitive' photo that appears to mock the death of George Floyd. An image that has been circulating on social media in recent days appears to show two people re-enacting the fatal arrest of the 46-year-old in the US. One male holding a can of drink can be seen kneeling on the neck of another person in the picture, which bears the caption '#justiceforgeorgefloyd'. The University of Kent is investigating an image, pictured left, which appears to show two people re-enacting the arrest of George Floyd, pictured right Mr Floyd died after white officer Derek Chauvin held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on May 25, sparking days of protest in the US. A 15,000-strong crowd yesterday descended on London's Hyde Park for a Black Lives Matter demonstration, with many holding signs with messages referencing the death. Off the back of that, similar events have occurred today in other areas of the UK, including Bristol, Birmingham and Portsmouth. In a joint statement today, the University of Kent and Kent Union said: 'We are investigating, alongside Kent Union, this deeply disturbing and highly insensitive image. 'The University of Kent does not tolerate racism in any form and is taking this matter very seriously.' Student union president Sasha Langeveldt condemned the image, saying: 'As the first black woman to be elected as Students' Union president, it is my duty to ensure the university is a fair and equal place, or at least challenge it whenever necessary. 'It has been brought to my attention that there is an extremely distressing photo (making fun out of George Floyd's death) circulating around social media.' Thousands of people yesterday descended on London's Hyde Park for a Black Lives Matter demonstration, with many holding signs with messages referencing the death A protester holds a sign reading 'I can't breathe' - words uttered by George Floyd before his death A woman had 'I can't breathe' painted on her face during yesterday's demonstration in the capital Laughing British teenagers sparked outrage by mocking the killing of George Floyd by police in a sick Snapchat photo She reassured students of the union's zero tolerance policy towards racism and said she was following up the matter with the university. It comes just days after three British teenagers who recreated a photo of the incident were arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime. Three British teenagers who mocked the murder of George Floyd in a Snapchat video have now been arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime. The trio, all from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, were forced to shut down their social media profiles after it quickly spread and reportedly started receiving death threats. A Northumbria Police statement earlier this week said: 'We can confirm we are investigating after an image was shared on social media which showed two men imitating the recent death of US citizen George Floyd. 'An investigation was launched and on Sunday officers arrested two males aged 19 and another male aged 18 on suspicion of sending communications causing anxiety and distress. 'They have since been released on bail. We understand that this social media post has caused significant upset and we want to reassure the public it is being investigated robustly and is being treated as a hate crime.' Three Terrorists Killed, One Indian Military Person Injured in Ongoing Encounter in Pulwama, Kashmir Sputnik News 06:15 GMT 03.06.2020 New Delhi (Sputnik): Last week, the Indian intelligence agency alerted security personnel about an increase in infiltration attempts in Kashmir from the Pakistani side. Since April of this year, Indian security forces have killed over 50 militants in the Kashmir Valley. In an intense encounter on Wednesday morning, Indian security forces killed at least three militants allegedly from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) group in the Astan Mohalla Kangan area of South Kashmir's Pulwama district. Police said that they have recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the site of the firefight. The police along with the Indian Army and Central Reserve Police Force launched a cordon and search operation in Astan Mohalla in the early morning hours. However, during the intense firefight, one Indian serviceman was injured. On Tuesday, two militants were killed in the Tral area of Pulwama, while the Indian Army experienced major success on Monday when they eliminated 13 militants in the Mendhar and Rajauri sector along the Line of Control. These suspected terrorists were said to be trying to sneak across the border. In 2020, Indian forces have so far eliminated over 100 suspected terrorists including Hizb-ul-chief Riyaz Naikoo. Last week, India's top military officer Lt Gen BS Raju claimed that all suspected terrorist camps and around 15 launch pads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK) "are full". The official had claimed that there may be an increase in infiltration attempts from across the border this summer to "replenish the diminishing terrorist cadres in Jammu and Kashmir". Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address RICHMOND In a rebuke of Confederate glorification, Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday called for the swift removal of a bronze statue depicting Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmonds Monument Avenue, a response to recent local and nationwide protests over systemic racism and police brutality. When its the biggest thing around, it sends a clear message: This is what we value the most. Thats just not true anymore, Northam said during a news conference in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. In Virginia, we no longer preach a false version of history, one that pretends the Civil War was about states rights, and not the evil of slavery. No one believes that any longer. Northams decision followed an announcement by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who said Wednesday that city leaders would seek to remove four other Confederate statues from Monument Avenue. Those depict Gens. J.E.B. Stuart and Thomas Stonewall Jackson; Confederate naval commander Matthew Fontaine Maury; and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Its time. Its time to put an end to the Lost Cause and fully embrace the righteous calls. Its time to replace the racist symbols of oppression and inequality with symbols that summon the best in all of us, Stoney said at Thursdays news conference, flanked by other state leaders, black activists and even a descendant of Lee. The decisions were announced on the seventh day of protests in Richmond, some peaceful and others violent, fueled by the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis . In Richmond and around the country, protesters have called for reforms to the criminal justice system and for an end to excessive use of force by police, particularly toward black men. Those demands brought protesters to the foot of Richmonds Confederate monuments, which were heavily tagged with profanity toward police, Floyds name and calls for racial justice. Nearby, protesters set fire to the headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which bore similar graffiti across its front walls. The displays reignited a debate over Confederate iconography one that has been longstanding in Virginia and reached a boiling point with the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Rev. Robert W. Lee IV, a descendant of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee, spoke from the steps of the monument in support of its removal Thursday. He called the monument an idol of white supremacy. There are members in my family who are shaking in their boots. Im sure my ancestor Robert E. Lee is rolling in his grave, and I say, let him roll, Lee said to a crowd of about 200 people, which included at least two people in opposition of the removal. Elsewhere, state Senate GOP leaders, led by Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, opposed the decision. Attempts to eradicate instead of contextualizing history invariably fail. ... [Northams] decision is more likely to further divide, not unite, Virginians, the caucus said in a statement. Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, who is not part of the GOP caucus, said the decision to remove the Lee statue is an attempt at revising history and erasing the history of the white people. Chase started a petition to oppose the removal on the website of her campaign for governor. The House GOP caucus did not issue a statement on the matter. On Wednesday, Minority Leader Todd Gilbert said the removal decision was made to change the subject from the tear gassing of peaceful protesters by Richmond police on Monday and from Northams failure to denounce looters. Rev. Lee, Gen. Lees descendant, is a pastor at Unifour Church in Newton, North Carolina. He was among a group that flanked Northam and Stoney at Thursdays formal announcement, which also included: Robert Johns, a descendant of Barbara Johns, who protested school segregation; Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who is African American; and a student from Charlottesville, Zyahna Bryant. In 2016, at age 15, Bryant started a petition to remove Charlottesvilles Lee statue. On Thursday, Bryant didnt talk about the monuments removal, instead, she called for the dismantling of systemic and interpersonal racism. I want to be clear: There will be no healing or reconciliation until we have equity, until we have fully dismantled the systems that oppress black and brown people. She urged the public to have tough conversations about racism, even if it causes controversy or inconvenience. Similarly, Fairfax praised the statues removal, calling it a down payment on the promise to the people of Virginia and all over America. He likened racial inequity in the state to monuments to the Confederacy. He said those Confederate monuments include substandard schools, health care, housing and the criminal justice system, which he said disproportionately yield worse outcomes for black people in Virginia. Pressed by a reporter on concrete plans to address police brutality, Northam said the way forward will include diversifying the police force, increasing positive relations between civilians and police and improving police training on deescalation. Northam did not directly point to legislation or executive policy changes. Removal of the Lee monument, which is the only one on Monument Avenue controlled by the state, has weighed on Northam since the start of his administration. The rest of the statues on Monument Avenue were controlled by the legislature, which in the spring shifted power to localities. In the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville in 2017, during his campaign for governor, Northam said Confederate statues should be taken down and moved into museums. Northam had so far declined to make a decision on the statue, but this past spring, he signed legislation allowing localities to decide the fate of Confederate memorials controlled by their localities. That bill will allow Richmond to move on the four statues on Monument Avenue, and would allow the city of Charlottesville to similarly remove the Lee statue in its downtown. As for Richmonds Lee statue, the bronze portion will be removed and stored in a warehouse while the administration makes a decision about its ultimate fate, with public input. The fate of the stone pedestal it sits on, and the graffiti that now covers it, is the subject of ongoing discussions, Northam said. The administration did not share a timeline for when the bronze statue of Lee would be removed. A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of General Services, which will oversee the task, said the work will require careful planning due to the size, scale and location. DGS is taking steps to carry out this order as soon as possible, spokeswoman Dena Potter said. The 14-foot bronze statue was first unveiled in Richmond on May 29, 1890, 25 years after the end of the Civil War. The statue has become a part of both the state and federal registers of historical landmarks. Rita Davis, the Northam administrations legal counsel, said the registers are both voluntary, allowing the owner, in this case the state, to remove or dispose of the landmark as they please. Davis said Virginia law also explicitly allows the governor to move any state-controlled piece of art, which includes monuments. Davis said she has consulted the leader of the states historic registry, but has not communicated with federal officials. Still, the decision could prompt legal challenges. The Monument Avenue Preservation Group, a network of supporters of the avenues statues, said Thursday that the governors illegal action is being actively researched. Asked if the administration was aware of any legal challenges, and if it was prepared to defend its decision, Davis said: No, and absolutely. PHOTOS: Monuments and Markers throughout Virginia A Salesforce Marriage Kentucky Problem (TNS) A little-known North Texas company that recently won the states nod to coordinate contact tracing for coronavirus patients has hired 605 people for the job, but is offering few details of how it will help Texas achieve its ambitious goals.In his first interview since his Frisco-based MTX Group Inc. won the $295 million, 27-month state contract, company founder and chief executive Das Nobel said it is off to a good start and he has confidence it'll be a success.Within the first three days of this project, we have had success because this is the type of solution that we bring, Nobel said. We are extremely great at what we do."But neither he nor the state agency that hired MTX Group on Friday would reveal the subcontractors involved in the project. Nobel also wouldnt say how much the tracers are being paid, calling it proprietary information.Questions are being raised about previous work the firm did in Kentucky.And lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, continue to say theyre dismayed by the agencys hastily awarded contract.We should have been in the loop and we should have known. We should have been able to ask questions, Patrick told supporters during a tele-town hall Thursday.A spokesman for the Department of State Health Services, however, said the agency is happy with the companys performance so far, which also involved launching a virtual call center.Contact tracing is a major piece of Gov. Greg Abbotts strategy to contain COVID-19 as businesses begin to reopen. The goal is to track down Texans who may have been exposed to the virus and urge them to self-quarantine to help stop the spread. But the state doesnt know if its meeting its own target.On Friday, Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen could not say whether every positive case in Texas is being traced by state, local, university, nonprofit or MTX employees. Department commissioner John Hellerstedt said on May 18 the state was not able to keep up.Some 290 of the tracers hired by MTX are already working and the rest will complete training Friday, Van Deusen said.The companys contact tracing workforce is based entirely in Texas and MTX is heavily recruiting university students, Nobel said.But the only hiring partner he named is NPower, a national nonprofit that provides tuition-free technology training for military veterans and their spouses. It has a state branch in Frisco, where Nobel and his wife Nipa moved 15 months ago, from New York state. Nipa is on the group's Texas advisory board.Russ Medina, executive director of NPower Texas, though, said in an email that his agency has not yet hired any contact tracers for the Texas effort. We met MTX in May 2019, Medina said of the Nobels. They liked the NPower Texas mission and volunteered to help us. MTX has generously contributed to NPower. Medina did not offer specifics, other than to say MTX has participated generously in two recent fundraisers and via North Texas Cares, a COVID-19 effort led by United Way and area foundations.MTX recognizes this skillset and indicated they will use this talent pipeline of veterans and military spouses, Medina said of NPower. This process is early.On Tuesday, MTX Groups Frisco offices were the site of a protest organized by Texans Against Contact Tracing. Event organizer Grant Bynum said that the group worries the Abbott administrations partially privatized approach has potential for unfettered and unregulated sharing of information with multiple state agencies and local counties.MTX Groups early accomplishments include ramping up a Salesforce-based system for outbound telephone calls, Van Deusen said.It has been able to marry up the calling software with the Texas Health Trace system, he noted. That system was built for the state in the past two months by British-based Deloitte, also using a Salesforce IT platform, Van Deusen said. It provides a way for contact tracers to document their findings.MTX Group also developed a learning management system for newly hired tracers, which includes training on IT systems and a federal health information privacy law. Through Texas Health Trace, the state will collect data from all 4,000 tracers being deployed in Texas by public and private entities, Van Deusen said. MTX Group will provide scheduling, he said, for the 1,450 tracers now on board in the centralized state effort -- those hired by MTX, two state agencies and Texas A&M University.Asked if the state is pleased with MTX Groups initial work, Van Deusen replied, We are satisfied. Theyve been working really quickly. They got the calling solutions stood up in a matter of days, over a weekend. They have been to this point very good partners. Really no concerns about the work theyve done.Earlier this month, MTX Group won the contract over 10 other bidders, including major corporations such as IBM, Accenture and AT&T, prompting an outcry by some lawmakers that MTX lacked experience to handle so big a job.Nobel declined to discuss in detail cost overruns that have plagued a project that MTX Group was hired by the state of Kentucky to perform last summer.In late January, MTX Group proposed that the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control pay it $2.9 million, a 123 percent increase over its original bid, according to records obtained by. The project involved using SalesForce software for many aspects of the agencys licensing and regulatory process.Asked about the Kentucky project, Nobel replied, Any consulting organization will tell you that you don't necessarily always get the estimate exactly where it needs to be.However, he insisted that his company has a great track record.MTX to date has zero failed projects, Nobel said. In the past several years, we have delivered over 400-plus projects for the state [or] local agencies.MTX Group is rapidly growing, and still learning, he said.As we continue to work through our projects, we always go through post mortem process as needed, right? he said. And continue to learn how do we get better at estimating. But do know that we always focus on doing the right thing.Nobel said the company has more than 270 employees and a significant portion are based in the U.S. We maintain a good balance in the way we build our team here and globally.Several top-level MTX executives have left the company within the past year, including two chief revenue officers and two chief operating officers, according to their LinkedIn profiles.Nobel said the company has 1 percent attrition in the organization and declined to discuss the departure of several top-level employees. It is not uncommon for people to come in and move around the organization. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Iran announced 3,574 new coronavirus infections Thursday, the most in one day since the pandemic started, as authorities increase health warnings following a resurgence in recorded cases. After hitting a near two-month low in early May, novel coronavirus infections have been on a rising trajectory in the Islamic republic, which is battling the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the disease. Thursday was the fourth straight day that the daily caseload had topped 3,000. The previous high was 3,186, recorded on March 30, at the height of the initial outbreak. The health ministry has been taking no chances and has stepped up a public health campaign in recent days. "Not respecting social distancing and public and personal hygiene rules, along with undertaking unnecessary travel, can have irreparable consequences," warned an announcement running on repeat on the state television information channel. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said Thursday that 59 people had died of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking Iran's overall official toll to 8,071. Despite the uptick in new infections, the official number of daily deaths has remained below 100 in recent weeks. A total of 164,270 people have tested positive for the virus since the first cases were announced in February. There has been some scepticism at home and abroad about Iran's official figures, with concerns the real toll could be much higher. 'Completely careless' Officials have appeared to suggest that the surge in new cases could be the result of wider testing rather than a second wave of infection. Jahanpour said Thursday that Iran had now conducted more than a million tests. The state TV channel has also been broadcasting an animated info-graphic, accompanied by dramatic music, saying that Iran was faring much better than other countries in the pandemic. Although it has registered the most deaths from the virus in the Middle East, official figures put its toll far behind several other countries in Europe and beyond. The Islamic republic's archfoe, the United States, which has reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran's economy, has reported the highest total number of cases and deaths worldwide from the disease. President Hassan Rouhani has praised the Iranian government's performance in dealing with coronavirus as a source of "great pride", saying late last month that Iran was "among the countries that have succeeded". But Health Minister Saeed Namaki, who is a doctor by profession, and other officials are using more tempered language. On Tuesday, the minister lamented that people were ignoring social distancing rules. "The fact that people have become completely careless regarding this disease" was of great concern, the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying. 'Not taking threat seriously' "Certain people and certain officials do not take (the threat of) coronavirus seriously", state TV cites Namaki as saying in its rolling health messages. Since April, authorities have progressively lifted restrictions imposed to curb the outbreak. Iraj Harirchi, a deputy health minister who tested positive for the virus in late February, has "strongly" recommended the use of masks and urged Iranians to limit unnecessary travel. According to state television, he expressed concern that the population seemed less convinced than before about the need to stay home and respect social distancing. Meanwhile, life in Tehran, a city of some 10 million people, has almost returned to normal, with traffic jams and crowded streets, buses and metros, though wearing a mask is compulsory on public transport. But nine of the country's 31 provinces are still under a "health alert", Jahanpour said Wednesday, while the southwestern province of Khuzestan remains classified as a "red zone"the highest level of risk in the country. People "either have total confidence in us or think the coronavirus has gone. The latter is not true at all," Namaki said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP As the global space economy undergoes a massive disruption, and space becomes increasingly entrepreneurial, India is faced with an important choice. Last Saturday, as SpaceX, prepared to attempt the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission for the second time, over ten million people tuned in to watch #LaunchAmerica. For the first time in almost nine years, America was about to launch American astronauts to space in an American made rocket, from American soil. It was a proud moment for the USA, and they made a big show of it, like always. Among the many millions of viewers that tuned in, a group of Indian space entrepreneurs who had been actively following the developments celebrated the remarkable endeavour of human spaceflight. A new era in Human Spaceflight For many many space enthusiasts around the world, the success of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission was inspiring and unprecedented in various ways. In 2011, after the space shuttle was retired, the NASA Commercial Crew Program began. At this time, the USA was wholly-dependent on Russian Soyuz rockets to hail rides for astronauts to and from the ISS. The aim of this program was to privately develop within America space transportation systems that would take astronauts to and bring them back from space safely, from American soil. Boeing, with its CST-100 Starliner capsule, and SpaceX with the Crew Dragon capsule, competed till the final leg of the program to achieve this milestone. Both were competing under multi-billion dollar development contracts with NASA. SpaceX won this race, with the success of their Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission last Saturday. The rocket booster was recovered with potential for reuse, like any other Falcon 9 booster. The astronauts, wearing cool new stylish spacesuits, were transported to the launchpad aboard Tesla Model Xs with their futuristic looking falcon-wing doors. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is the first-ever with a large touchscreen-based interface and control panel, instead of a myriad of dials, buttons, switches, etc. The capsule also carried with the two human astronauts, Tremor a sparkly apatosaurus toy that was seen floating around the capsule acting as a zero-gravity (orbital insertion) indicator for viewers around the world. No knobs, buttons or flight sequence written on paper, #CrewDragon and the astronauts have touch screens that are seamless and efficient to use. Their gloves are also specially designed to let the astronauts touch the screen effortlessly. pic.twitter.com/ONrq8Njhet Tech2 (@tech2eets) May 30, 2020 With all of that, it was also for the first time ever that astronauts have gone to space in a capsule and rocket completely developed, manufactured, owned and operated by a private company. With this milestone, human spaceflight has, for the first time in history, the means and potential to become a completely private affair. Individuals can now literally buy a ticket to space, although SpaceX is yet to announce any such sales. The mission brought spaceflight to the 21st century, and it did this in style. This mission and other efforts by SpaceX have made a large impact on the public perception of space and spaceflight. They have single-handedly inspired a whole generation of space explorers, scientists, and rocket enthusiasts not just in America but across the globe. In doing so, they have also created completely new opportunities of doing business in space such as the first commercial, privately developed, non-academic Indian satellite (ExseedSat-1) launched by the Falcon 9 in December 2018, albeit not on an Indian rocket. The world's only civilian-first space program The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was set up on the daring and unprecedented vision of Vikram Sarabhai To be second to none in the implementation and application of space technology for the benefit of society. ISRO emerged to be a world-leading space program and the only one which did not evolve from military needs or national pride, but purely from the intent to benefit society. This vision that served us well for the last 5 decades, now grows old and outdated in the 21st century. Developments like the Demo-2 mission and others have slowly created the critical mass around the discourse of encouraging and growing private participation in the Indian space economy. India has mulled over opening up the sector to private participation many times and has a messy history of ISRO both embracing and denying private participation in different instances. There have been discussions in various industry forums about the privatisation of the PSLV for almost 15 years now, and even so, ISRO continues to operate the rocket on its own, with private players only acting as contracted manufacturers for components and subcomponents. Another instance of ISRO trying to embrace the private industry, but faltering was the Devas-Antrix Debacle. But as the global space economy undergoes a massive disruption, and space becomes highly entrepreneurial, India is faced with a choice to either stand on the sidelines and watch as we lose our position and eminence in space technology on the global front, or to make changes and adapt to this dynamic and exciting future of human spaceflight. I think these disruptive changes in the global space landscape have culminated in another attempt by the Indian government to seed a world-leading space industry in the country through major structural reforms. That said, mere announcements won't do. India is in dire need of a law and policy framework that enables Indian space startups and encourages their excellence. Just minor changes such as providing access to ISRO facilities while a crucial step in the right direction will not go a long way in creating the ecosystem we have potential for. Various issues plague Indian rocket and satellite manufacturers that need addressing GST, liability, insurance, orbital slotting, frequency allocation, launch permissions, among others. While the more downstream companies that want to dream up products and services requiring satellite data and the use of Indian space infrastructure (think NAVIC) need a more transparent and equitable data acquisition and use policy. These issues and more have limited the Indian space ecosystem from really flourishing. There have been many proposals to highlight possible reforms, from the space activities bill to setting up a separate regulator and enforcer the likes of TRAI and TDSAT for the telecom industry. I personally believe setting up a single-window licensing system that provides all clearances and licenses needed to build, launch and operate space hardware combined with a data policy that allows for satellite data to be traded in the market freely like any other commodity, would go a long way. We also need to ensure that the clearances are not discretionary and can be acquired by any company that wishes to do so. A specific, limited and exhaustive set of exceptions may be listed based on criteria such as national security, OST compliance and more. As we see the world change rapidly and spaceflight becomes accessible to private individuals and not just nation-states, this change needs to be ushered in. But we should be fast, lest it becomes too late. Reimagining the Indian space enterprise The private Indian space enterprise should also see the writing on the wall. As much as the Demo-2 mission signalled an exciting new era of human spaceflight, it was also an American dream fulfilled Americas attempt to protect and grow its strategic interests in space. While the commercial crew program began almost a decade ago, the culmination of it comes on the heels of the Artemis accords, and a presidential executive order paving the way for the USA to mine and use resources from the Moon for scientific or commercial purposes. Today, the USA has the policy, the laws, the entrepreneurs and the capabilities to make claims and do what it pleases where space resources are concerned. While other nations like China and Russia are strong competitors, India has a unique advantage. She is poised to be the one, truly capable, civilian-driven space program that can take human values to space and not just military might. As India prepares to completely reimagine its space enterprise in this new era, the private Indian space enterprise needs to envision the kinds of technologies that will grow this industry in the decades to come. Can we ensure India's interests and eminence in space are protected? Can we ensure that Indian presence in space will not be undermined due and a large technology and capabilities gap with other countries? Can we ensure that the next time an Indian space startup is at the cusp of breakthrough innovation, they dont depend on another country be subject to their whims and fancies in the form of tariffs, embargos and bans? Can we ensure that India has safe, affordable, reliable and on-demand access to space, and possibly the Moon or Mars? Our entrepreneurs could stand to be a lot more ambitious and audacious. Our policymakers could stand to be more progressive. We need to set the bar higher, being the country that gave the world it's only civilian first space program. Now, let us build on top of it a thriving space entrepreneurship ecosystem possibly even the best in the world. The author is an ex-ISRO, space industry enthusiast, and founder of Rocketeers, India's only manufacturer for commercial model and amateur rocketry systems. Jessica Lal murder case convict Manu Sharma, who was serving a life sentence was released from Tihar Jail on Monday, on grounds of good behaviour. Bollywood actress Vidya Balan, who played the role of Sabrina Lal, Jessica's sister in 2011 film, No One Killed Jessica, has reacted to the verdict. Personally speaking, I dont think any amount of time for him or for people like him in jail is enough. So that will always play in my mind. Yes, maybe he has turned a new leaf. I hope he has. I hope he is a reformed person, said Vidya, speaking to The Quint. No One Killed Jessica was a fast-paced thriller was inspired from by the case of Jessica Lal. On April 30, 1999, a 34-year-old model was working at the Tamarind Court restaurant in south Delhi's Mehrauli when she was shot dead by Manu Sharma for refusing to serve him alcohol. Sharma was the son of former Haryana Congress leader, Venod Sharma. Lal was subsequently rushed to the Apollo hospital in Delhi but was pronounced dead upon arrival. The Lal murder case resulted in nationwide outrage, especially after Sharma was initially acquitted in 2006 by a trial court. However, the Delhi High Court then took up his case and he was convicted on murder charges. Sharma was handed a life imprisonment sentence. No One Killed Jessica encircles the story of two women and their relentless pursuit of justice. In the film, Rani Mukherji plays an investigative television journalist while Vidya plays Jessica's sister who ran from pillar to post in order to put the culprits behind the bars. Follow @News18Movies for more ALBANY When it comes to the Capital Region's tourism industry, there hasn't been much good news lately. The coronavirus pandemic struck right when the weather began warming, vanquishing two out of every three jobs in the region's tourism and leisure sectors about 27,500 in total. People in other sectors who have lost jobs may be slow to start spending on vacations again. For businesses in those sectors, this summer is just a matter of staying alive. "We're hoping that our summer season will get to sustain our businesses," said Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau. "That's key, because we're a family of family businesses." This week, Lake George was due to host the Americade motorcycle rally, an event that usually draws tens of thousands of bikers to the small resort town in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. Now, that event will be delayed to July and drastically different, Mintzer said and that's only if a safety plan is approved. Making things worse, Mintzer said, was the U.S. Department of State's decision in March to suspend routine visa processing in response to the pandemic. Each year, the town hosted about 1,000 exchange students who are recipients of the J-1 visa program, which allowed those approved to participate in work-and-study exchange programs. Each of those students would have otherwise rented a place and spent money in town, Mintzer said. But Mintzer said things are starting to improve. New York state on Wednesday allowed outdoor dining as part of the second phase of the state's economic reopening plan. Lake George's famed steamboats are also allowed to operate, albeit in a limited capacity, and there are still tons of outdoor activities that visitors can participate in, Mintzer said. Guests are beginning to book rooms again but on short notice, making it difficult for hotels to anticipate staffing requirements. Lake George has seen a huge increase in bookings in its short-term rentals, which Mintzer attributes to people who are now required to work remotely and crave a change of scenery. "We want our businesses to open safely," Mintzer said, "but we want to make sure our residents know that our business community is not just inviting people here without thinking about the health of the community." A recent report from data firm STR Inc., paints a dire picture of the hotel industry, both in the Capital Region and across the country. According to the report, room occupancy in the local market was down 64 percent this April compared to the previous year. The average daily rate for a room in a Capital Region hotel was $88.74, down 20.8 percent over the previous year, translating to a revenue of $18.82 per room per night for the hotel, down about 71.5 percent from last year. In normal times, tourism was a $2 billion industry in the Capital Region, according to Discover Albany. In Albany County alone, that accounted for $970 million in tourism spending, more than 4,300 daily visitors and 15,700 jobs in 2017. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "Whether or not the numbers (this summer) come anywhere close to what we have seen prior, that's without question not going to happen," said Jill Delaney, Discover Albany's president and CEO. The county's hotel industry took a major hit, Delaney said, "but we didn't shut down." People have already started booking rooms for weekend getaways, Delaney said, and hotels have started hiring back workers. But they're still not sure how many employees they should bring back. "There's a concern across the country that you dont know how many people you need to bring back until the visitors start coming back," Delaney said. "It's a balancing act." Michael.Williams@timesunion.com An Indian-American businessman, who opened the doors of his home in Washington to over 70 people demonstrating against the custodial killing of George Floyd, has emerged as a hero after he helped some strangers, fed them and made sure they were safe in his house, according to US media reports. The death of 46-year-old African-American Floyd last week in Minneapolis has led to one of the biggest civic unrest in the history of America. Rahul Dubey, who has been living in Washington DC for the last 17 years, accommodated the large number of people in his house with some adjusting on the couch, some finding space in the rooms, while some were gratified to get rest even on the ledges of the bathtub. "There's about 75 people in my house. Some have got couch space. There's a family, a mother and daughter here, that I gave my son's room to so they get some peace and quiet. Yeah, even the ledges of the bathtub, and no one's bitching. They're happy-no, they're not happy. They're safe. They''re cheering. "They're backing each other," Mr Dubey, 44, told Esquire magazine in an interview on Tuesday. The day after the Monday's protests, Mr Dubey, the owner of the Alvarez Dubey Trading Co., appeared in major news media outlets and was hailed as a saviour as those who took shelter in his house started tweeting about it. "Rahul saved lives last night," one Black Lives Matter activist wrote on Twitter. "He ended this with an inspirational speech about not giving up and keeping up the peaceful fight. What a guy. Thank you Rahul." "I'm at a house in DC after being pepper sprayed and knocked down by the police. There are about 100 of us in a house surrounded by cops. All the neighbours on this street opened their doors and are tending to protestors. The cops corralled us on this street and sprayed us down," Allison Lane, one of the protestors, tweeted. In an interview to ABC News affiliate WJLA, Mr Dubey said that it was about 8:30 p.m. that he was sitting outside and saw police set up a brigade on 15 St. and Swann St. that turned into a holding area. People started sitting on his porch and asked if they could charge their phone and use his bathroom, he told the news channel. The protestors left his home after the curfew ended 6 am Tuesday. "I don't think there was even a choice in what I did, to be honest. The crowd just came racing through like a tornado. ... We had to keep the door open and just kept grabbing people and pulling them in. It's the same that you would if it's a storm, and you would have let anyone into your home, I know that," he told NBC News. He said that when the police line had finally passed his house, that's when the people stopped pouring in and "I was able to shut the door and lock it. People were pouring milk on their faces, and water was being flung around. I went downstairs to get water for people. People were coughing," he told Esquire. Also read: US ambassador to India apologises for desecration of Gandhi statue in Washington DC The Otumfou Charity Foundation based in Ashanti Region has presented a number of books to Junior High School(JHS) pupils at Kenyasi No.1 in the Asutifi North District, Ahafo Region to support and boost education at the first cycle level. The books which comprise literature dubbed " The Cockcrow " and Oxford Dictionary of Current English were distributed to about 750 pupils coming from 11 basic schools were three are private and eight been public during a short parade at the Nana Osei Kofi Abiri Park with the attendance of Chiefs, District Education Executives, Executives of the Foundation, District Information Staff, Headmasters, Teachers, Parents, Pupils among others. Addressing the media after the brief parade where COVID-19 safety protocols were keenly observed, the Project Manager for Otumfou Charity Foundation, Godwin Agyeman Donkor said, the Foundation and the Paramount Chief of Kenyasi No.1 had intensive discussion and it was agreed that the said exercise will propel the pupils to excel academically especially at their Basic Education Certificate Examination(BECE). According to Godwin Agyeman Donkor, the Foundation initiated and owned by Asantehene, Otumfou Osei Tutu II which has gained root and known globally aims of improving the lives of Ghanaians irrespective of where one finds himself so assisting pupils in the region to have the best of education to brighten their future is with its aims and objectives. He explained, the Foundation selected " The Cockcrow " book for the pupils because it has short stories, drama and poems which plays vital role in English Language been one of the core subjects at their level. He further said, most parents in the rural areas are unable to afford as compare to those in the cities so for the Foundation to move towards such direction is on point. The President and Leader of Kenyasi No.1 Traditional Council, Nana Osei Kofi Abiri, who presented the books to the pupils thanked Asantehene for supporting education in Ahafo and Ghana as a whole. According to Nana Osei Kofi Abiri, for him(Otumfou) to initiate such Foundation to solicit funds to improve the standards of education clearly shows education is key to development. He mentioned that already the Foundation has supplied 20 sets of computers to schools in his community to boost pupils knowledge when it comes to Information Communication Technology(ICT) which is also key in this modern era. " Take advantage of the several interventions the Foundation is offering to better your studies, " Nana Osei Kofi Abiri told the beneficiaries. The District Education Director, Augustine Amoako Asare, revealed that for the pupils to show-up in their numbers despite them enjoying holidays obviously tells that they are more concern and passionate about their studies especially the English Language. Augustine Amoako Asare advised parents to encourage their wards to keep ready because for pupils to excel academically reading can not be taken for granted. He stated the government and other individuals like Otumfou Osei Tutu II are doing all they can to help pupils and students in the country to excel so the beneficiaries in his community must capitalized on the initiatives to have better future. Some beneficiaries who could not hide their excitement commended the Asantehene and Kenyasi No.1 Chief for putting good educational plans for them. They perfectly agreed that now the ball is in their court to make hay as the sun is shining. The oxford dictionaries were presented to only JHS 2 pupils. The National Weather Service at State College has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for much of central Pennsylvania. The fast-moving storms are capable of producing winds up to 60 to 70 mph and nickel-sized hail, forecasters predict. Hail damage to vehicles is expected, as well as considerable tree damage. Meteorologists warn that wind damage is also likely to damage mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings. The following locations are under a warning until 5:15 p.m.: southwestern Northumberland County, northern Dauphin County, northeastern Juniata County, northeastern Perry County. A warning was also issued until 5:30, which include the following locations: northwestern Adams County, east-central Franklin County, and southwestern Cumberland County. Peter Marks was a natural fit for a new White House project tasked with developing a coronavirus vaccine. The cancer specialist spent nearly a decade at the Food and Drug Administration, most recently overseeing the office that approves vaccines and gene therapies. But Marks quit last month just days after joining President Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed, a venture partnering government with private companies in the vaccine race. He returned to his old FDA job full time after a clash with White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx about how the government was prioritizing potential vaccines during a tense meeting of the White House coronavirus task force, according to three people familiar with the event. Marks quickly realized he'd be more useful running the FDA office with ultimate authority over vaccine decisions than being part of a political team, two of those people and a current health official said. A memo to FDA staff said Marks was returning because the White House had assembled enough other experts to do the job. "That was nonsense," said the current administration official, who is familiar with Marks' thinking. "He actually quit in disgust." Marks's abrupt switch was the latest sign of the FDA's struggle to fend off outside political pressure, particularly from the White House, amid the desperate search for a coronavirus cure. The agency rushed to greenlight the unproven coronavirus treatment hydroxychloroquine for wide use after President Donald Trump touted the drug. At the behest of the White House, FDA officials met with wealthy Trump donor Larry Ellison almost daily to discuss a hydroxychloroquine tracking project. The White House also has pushed the agency to authorize other treatments, like the Japanese flu drug Avigan, despite limited evidence the drug could treat Covid-19 and concerns it causes birth defects. The unprecedented effort by the White House to intercede at an agency that's supposed to make independent judgments based on medical science is raising alarms among health experts inside and outside the administration. POLITICO spoke with six current or former senior HHS officials and three other people familiar with the White House coronavirus response. Several expressed concerns that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, confirmed to his role just a month before the coronavirus reached the U.S., has not been a strong enough voice for an agency charged with regulating drugs and vaccines. Some acknowledged friction between FDA officials and White House and coronavirus task force members. Story continues Those factors could complicate crucial choices the FDA will make in coming months about which drugs or shots reach the public. The first coronavirus vaccines are hurtling into late-stage clinical trials, aiming for emergency use by year's end, and efficacy results on drugs are flooding in. And the delicate balancing act by Hahn, Marks and other agency leaders caught between medical science and pressure from the White House has already hampered the FDA's efforts to help increase the country's testing capacity, the current and former health officials said. In a statement, Hahn denied that political pressure had influenced his agency's coronavirus response. "The FDA has remained an unwavering, science-based voice helping to guide the all-of-government response," he said to POLITICO. "I have never felt any pressure to make decisions, other than the urgency of the situation around COVID-19." But others say some of the agencys highest-profile decisions regarding the pandemic, such as its stumbles on testing, are difficult to understand. "It's hard from the outside to figure out why some of the things that are happening are happening," said Alberto Gutierrez, FDA's former diagnostic chief and a partner with the health consultancy NDA Partners. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn listens as President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus during a press briefing. The hydroxychloroquine scramble The pressure started early on and it involved one of the president's wealthiest backers. During the first weeks of the pandemic, when the FDA was struggling to approve coronavirus tests, agency officials got an unusual request. The White House wanted them to talk to Oracle CEO and top Trump donor Larry Ellison about an application the company was building to track hydroxychloroquine use outside of clinical trials, which it wanted to donate to the government. The request came as the president began championing the unproven coronavirus treatment on the press briefing stage. Agency leaders scrambled to meet with the wealthy Trump ally and his team, in what turned into near-daily talks, according to three HHS officials. The FDA's top drug regulator, Janet Woodcock, eventually raised strong concerns about the Oracle proposal, saying it would promote off-label prescriptions of hydroxychloroquine without proof the drug was safe or effective for coronavirus patients. But the damage had already been done. The Oracle meeting had sucked in multiple senior staff, siphoning resources away from other potential therapies or rising issues for FDA, two current senior health officials said. Oracle donated its application to the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA's parent agency, on April 20. But the FDA the HHS branch charged with tracking drug safety and efficacy does not have access to it. Three current health officials told POLITICO they are not sure which government employees, if any, are using the Oracle database. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the matter. Oracle executive vice president Kenneth Glueck said that while Ellison's talk with Trump led the White House to instruct health officials to work with the tech company, the project morphed into an application to track the use of all Covid-19 therapies, not just hydroxychloroquine. Patients must opt in to share their data, which doctors can theoretically use to make better prescribing decisions. But its not clear how useful the Oracle approach is. There are already multiple FDA databases that track drug safety, and regulators and doctors typically look to clinical trial data for information about a drugs effectiveness. An HHS spokesperson said that the department focused for the first month on "data collection and data security" and will begin analysis of the Oracle database when there is enough information to add value. The project now includes information from more than 30,000 people who have taken hydroxychloroquine or other drugs, the spokesperson said. The FDA has had to walk back some of the quick decisions it has made under pressure from the White House. Though career FDA staff advocated clinical trials for hydroxychloroquine that could take months to produce results, the agency authorized it for widespread use on March 30. Then it issued a warning on April 24 specifying that the drug should only be used under close medical supervision because of potentially fatal side effects. The FDA also allowed more than 150 faulty antibody tests to be distributed without independently verifying their efficacy, and then told companies they'd need to have the products reviewed or pull them from the market after it became clear many didn't work. Baptism by fire When Hahn, a cancer doctor by training, took office in December, the hottest issue facing the FDA was e-cigarettes. But within weeks, the coronavirus reached the United States, thrusting him into a starring role in the governments pandemic response despite his lack of prior experience in public health, infectious diseases or government. The FDA began working around the clock to evaluate potential coronavirus tests, treatments and vaccines, even as the president promoted unproven drugs from the White House podium and promised a shot within the year. Some of the current and former officials who spoke to POLITICO said they were troubled that Hahn hasn't pushed back more forcefully on outside influences. His relative inexperience has exacerbated worries within the agency about whether it can remain independent of White House pressure to fast-track experimental coronavirus vaccines or quell lingering questions about the reliability of antibody testing, said three current and former health officials. "I don't know where his voice is in this," a former HHS official said. So far, Hahn has not put his foot down on any issue," said a current official. "Maybe some of that is the politicization, maybe some of that is that he did not have his opportunity to get sea legs at the agency before Covid began. But this is a do or die moment for the agency now." HHS secretary Alex Azar backed up his FDA chief. "Dr. Hahn has been a strong and effective leader of the Food and Drug Administration from his first day on the job and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic," Azar said. "The agency has been instrumental in making PPE, therapeutics, diagnostics, and eventually vaccines available for the American public as quickly as possible." Surgeon General Jerome Adams also praised Hahn's handling of the pandemic. "I think he was really pressured by the epidemic itself to try and decrease regulatory barriers," Adams said. "Hes really done a good job of always saying 'Were doing this in an emergency situation and were also going to make sure were following the data, so we can quickly react to and respond to any problems.'" The FDA chief's reticence was clear at the April 28 meeting of the White House coronavirus task force where Birx laid into Marks about the nations vaccine strategy, according to the three people familiar with the event. Birx pressed Marks for clearer answers on which vaccines the government was working on or funding, and why it was not funding or studying others, said a fourth official familiar with the meeting. But the FDA's vaccine chief does not make those calls. Other scientists, including the chief of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, dictate key funding decisions; BARDA's former chief Rick Bright had been ousted just days before the tense task force meeting a move Bright alleged was due to his resistance to hydroxychloroquine. Neither Azar nor Hahn spoke up for Marks in the meeting, according to the three sources, who along with two others in that meeting said that Birx and Marks have since patched up the misunderstanding. The fourth official, and a fifth in the room, characterized the Birx and Marks exchange as brief. But the tense atmosphere and silence from both Hahn and Azar struck several attendees and people briefed afterward. Birx referred questions on the matter to a task force spokesperson who declined to comment. Asked about his departure from Warp Speed and the task force, Marks released a statement through the FDA press office. "I believe that the American public will be best served by my return full time to FDA, where I can continue to work collaboratively, with industry, government partners and other researchers and provide regulatory advice to expedite the development and availability of vaccines to combat COVID-19," he said. Marks's decision to leave Warp Speed came just a week after President Trump named Moncef Slaoui the former head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline and until recently, a member of Moderna Therapeutics' board of directors to lead the program. Hahn, Marks and other FDA leaders will soon need to make critical decisions about the coronavirus response, like authorizing the first vaccine. Moderna is readying its government-backed vaccine candidate for phase II safety trials and a swift move into final phase III studies of safety and efficacy, aiming for approval this year. And several other companies are hot on its heels. "You just know that they are just under enormous pressure. But look what happened to Rick [Bright]. Look what happens to anyone else who has resisted pressure," said one former health official. The current and former government health officials POLITICO spoke to saw Marks' decision to leave Operation Warp Speed as crucial to shield FDA decisions on coronavirus vaccines from political pressure. Although President Trump has repeatedly promised that a vaccine will be available by the end of the year, it is Marks who will be the ultimate arbiter. In his current job, he will oversee FDA review and any eventual approvals of vaccines. "If a one-year timeframe is to be made possible, Dr. Marks' intellect and credibility will be needed to guide the FDA approval of a safe and effective vaccine that will be given to hundreds of millions of people who are not ill," said Steven Grossman, president of health policy and consulting firm HPS Group. Marks' move was welcomed by another current senior HHS official. "It has been very clear to me that he is needed" back at the FDA, the person said. "And getting the regulatory piece right is going to be a critical part of getting to a viable vaccine." A former prime minister and two ex-cabinet ministers were among the chorus of government and opposition MPs who rounded on UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in the Commons after she ruled out any exemptions for countries with less severe coronavirus outbreaks until July. Patel said from Monday, passengers arriving into Britain would have to fill in an electronic form detailing where they would self-quarantine for the required 14 days. It means from Monday, a round trip between Australia and the United Kingdom will involve one month spent in quarantine. Britain's belated crackdown was announced as Italy - once the epicentre of the pandemic outside China - reopened its borders to all visitors on Wednesday, while France, Spain and Germany all flagged the likely opening of their borders within a fortnight. Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel. Credit:AP Border Force officials will check the form has been completed and anyone who refuses can be fined 100 ($181). Public Health England officials will randomly contact travellers to check they are complying and can call the police if they suspect the rules are being disobeyed. When Kristina Bookall left her home in Jamaica to attend Dalhousie, she was unaware that several years before her a relative had made a similar voyage. I later found out that my aunt, who moved to Canada, studied nursing at Dal, she says. Kristina, who recently graduated from the Masters of Architecture program, says her Dal experience has helped prepare her for jumping into the field right away. "Dal architecture keeps it realistic, she says. "It also allows you to be a significant contributor to the field just after graduating. A coastal experience Kristina spent a summer in Cape Breton as a part of the Coastal Studio team, a research project at Dal that embeds students in different coastal communities around rural Nova Scotia with a focus on the development of innovative design and construction techniques that marry new technologies with traditional methods and materials. That was by far one of the best experiences, she says. Not only did she find the landscapes "absolutely stunning," she says she also got the chance to get to know her classmates better as they all lived together over the summer. For Kristina, architecture is an amalgamation of her artistic interests. I do a lot of artistic design, and illustration and architecture bring all those interests into one thing, she says. Before coming to Dal, she worked as a graphic designer for the British Broadcasting Commission. I studied production-design for film and television in the United Kingdom and went on to work for the BBC, she says. Kristina has contributed to several TV commercials and miniseries, like Dancing on the Edge, Family Tree, and Hunted. Adjusting and adapting Despite having studied and worked in the UK, Kristina still had to adjust to her new life in Canada. I had to get used to Canadian culture and the Canadian architecture student culture, which is another animal itself. Also, I was implanted into an existing class, which was tricky to navigate because being the new kid is never fun." She says she also started out her program as "a minority in every sense of the word," but that there's been a lot of more diversity developing in that area over the past few years. Kristina says she also worked to overcome challenges that came with holding down a job while studying. "Working while in school was another struggle. Architecture school is intense and requires a lot of work, and the quality has to be to a certain standard to maintain good grades, she says. Now that she's done her degree, Kristina says she plans to spend some more time gaining experience in Canada before eventually returning home. "My immediate plan for the future is to get through quarantine and further my architecture experience here in Canada and when the weather gets too cold, fly back to Jamaica. Washington, June 4 : African-American man George Floyd, whose death in police custody has triggered nationwide protests in the US, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on April 3 before he died on May 25, according to a full autopsy report. However, the 20-page report by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office released on Wednesday, noted that the infection was not among the factors that caused the 46-year-old's death, reports Efe news. Floyd was "known to be positive for 2019-nCoV RNA on 4/3/2020" and the "autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent PCR positivity from the previous infection", the report added. "PCR positivity for 2019-nCoV RNA can persist for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease," which explains why the disease was detected during the autopsy, according to the report. Chief examiner, Andrew Baker, has found that Floyd had several injuries, including "cutaneous blunt force injuries" on his forehead, face, and upper lip. He also had "mucosal injuries" inside his lips, "blunt force injuries" on his shoulders, hands, elbows, and legs. The examination also found "patterned contusions of the wrists", caused by restraints due to handcuffs. It said Floyd suffered from some underlying conditions like "arteriosclerotic heart disease", "hypertensive heart disease" and an "incidental" tumour on his left pelvic. Two autopsies have found that Floyd's death was a homicide. However, they differed on the question of the cause of death. Hennepin's medical examiner ruled that the death was caused due to "cardiopulmonary arrest" when Floyd was restrained by several police officials on May 25. An independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd's family found that he died due to "asphyxiation from sustained pressure". According to the forensic exam, "neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain" was found to be the cause of death, Floyd family attorney Benjamin Crump, who specializes in civil rights cases, told reporters on Monday. That autopsy was conducted by forensic pathologists Michael Baden and Allecia Wilson. They said in their report that "weight on the back, handcuffs, and positioning were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Floyd's diaphragm to function". Passersby made videos of the incident with their mobile phones that show a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling with his full body weight on Floyd's neck after he had been handcuffed and placed facedown on the pavement. During the first several minutes, Floyd complained that he could not breathe and pleaded for help. He then lost consciousness, although Chauvin remained kneeling on his neck for several minutes. On Wednesday, the attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, said the charge against Chauvin has been upgraded to second-degree murder from the charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter leveled against him on May 29. Meanwhile, three other police officials who were present during Floyd's arrest, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Insurers may have to refund premiums or suspend monthly payments to make sure the price matches the service they provide Insurers must ensure customers are getting value for money throughout the pandemic, the City watchdog has ordered. And they may even have to refund premiums or suspend monthly payments to make sure the price matches the service they provide, says the Financial Conduct Authoritys (FCA) new guidance. It has ordered policy reviews where, due to the lockdown, customers were not able to get some of the benefits they had paid for. This would include policies which offered boiler repair, for example, where an engineer cannot attend due to restrictions. The FCA guidance also forces insurers to cut the price of policies where risks have lessened. This could include motor insurance and public liability for businesses such bars which were unable to open. Insurers have six months to decide whether they need to change the way benefits are delivered, refund some premiums or suspend monthly payments. Admiral has already reimbursed motor insurance customers, returning 110million. The cast of Cabaret Under the Balconies rehearsed over Zoom for seven days and, after the relaxing of lockdown in France in May, met in Chalon-sur-Saone for one week of in-person rehearsals with strict rules. Breban booked cast members with no health conditions. Daily temperature checks and frequent use of sanitizing gel were mandated, and everyone was offered a coronavirus test. By far the most onerous directive for the performers was to maintain a distance from one another of roughly one meter at all times. They worked playfully around the situation during Cabaret Under the Balconies, throwing in jokes about the virus and slapstick warnings when performers threatened to get too close. We were confident that we were within labor regulations, with an audience that was already confined and highly protected, Royer said. But not everyone agreed. Some regional funding bodies were fearful of the risks when the Espace des Arts turned to them for financial help: Chalon-sur-Saone was in a red or high-risk zone, according to a government map, until this week when the advice was revised. While the Chalon-sur-Saone metropolitan area offered practical support from the start, the Espace des Arts ended up funding the initial production costs of 35,000 euros, about $39,000, out of its regular budget. On the day, there was a generosity of spirit to the entire performance, which served its purpose better than anything Ive seen in a theater during this curtailed season. The last time I went to the theater, two and a half months ago, Isabelle Huppert headlined Ivo van Hoves staging of The Glass Menagerie. For all the star appeal of that night at the Theatre de lOdeon, Cabaret Under the Balconies was the more memorable event a sincere attempt to go back to basics, in the right place, at the right time. It was also a reminder that some potential audiences remain largely forgotten. After the show, Jeanne Poulachon, a 91-year-old resident, said she had never been to the theater. You dont always have that kind of opportunity. At least I didnt, she said. She was struck by the performers artistic range, she added. You have to know your craft to do that. I will remember this day it was splendid. LITCHFIELD Resident Harmony Tanguay is thinking about whats next. Following a recent successful demonstration they organized to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Tanguay and a group of friends are hoping their town will look at its own role in society and the way it treats others. Part of Tanguays focus is on initiating change in Litchfield, which has a mostly white population, to talk about racism and how to understand it and learn from it. Im a mom and an activist, and this is super-heartening, but I am taking this a day at a time, Tanguay said. I started a Facebook group, and it has 150 people in it already, because people want to be involved. Protests and demonstrations showing support for the black community continue around Connecticut and the nation. The demonstrations are focused on the death of George Floyd while being restrained by Minneapolis police. His death has led to the numerous protests around the U.S. One police officer is facing murder charges and several others have been arrested. Tanguay said shes a little overwhelmed by the response to the recent event, to which about 300 people turned out. I have tons of people reaching out to me, and I dont even know whats next, she said. Im in talks with (First Selectwoman Denise Raap) to hold a community conversation, and pick out some leaders to lead that conversation, Tanguay said. We had this great turnout, and people are contacting us, but I hope the people who are so passionate about protesting are going to show up for other things, to make systemic, concrete change in our town. Thats where I want people to do the work. The friends who organized the demonstration were deeply disturbed by Floyds death, Tanguay said. (The demonstration) came to be when my friend Keira Hartnett texted me and Barbara Ellis, another Litchfield mom, and said, We need to do something. We threw it together in less than 24 hours, and the outpouring was unbelievable, she said. We would have been happy if 10 people showed up, and there were so many more. Voices heard Locally, in addition to driving calls for change within the community, participation in these events is reviving memories of past demonstrations on the Litchfield Green. The event drew 300 people to the Litchfield Green Sunday, with participants dressed in black and wearing safety masks and standing on West Street from the Route 63 intersection down to Meadow Street, holding signs. Tanguay attended a protest in Waterbury that morning. (It) was quite different than ours, as you can imagine, she said. When I got back, I parked at the bottom of the Green, and I just saw people literally coming out of the woodwork, dressed in black, carrying signs. Audrey Blondin and her husband, Dr. Matthew Blondin, joined the event, foregoing their own 45th wedding anniversary celebration to be part of history, she said. We got there a little after 3 p.m., and the entire Green was filled, she said. Its the most people Ive ever seen on the Green at one time. Residents Dorothea and Mario DiCecco, who created a group called Imagine Peace, have held protests on the Green in the past, including over the Iraq War. We went every Sunday, she said. There were always a lot of people that kept coming and coming, every Sunday. Sometimes it would just be three or four people. It was very wonderful to meet people, but it was hard to keep people interested. But we were an anti-war group. We didnt stop for a long time. DiCecco has watched the reaction to Floyds death unfold with concern and interest. What our presidents doing its no way to settle anything, she said. He is now trying to get troops in to quiet down our country. That wont work. Im so moved by whats happening now, she said. Not just in the U.S., but in England, Germany, France. ... In England, theyre saying, Weve got to talk about colonialism, and recognize what happened to build these countries up. I feel like these are things that really have to change. People have suffered for so long. We talk about what a great country we are, and a lot of it is wonderful, but its only for certain people, she said. Maybe some good will come of this. I feel optimistic for the first time in a long time. Blondin has participated in several marches in Washington, DC, including the 2017 March for Women and a Black Lives Matter March in 2016. She also protested the war in Vietnam on the New Haven Green in the 1970s. Sunday was a peaceful assembly of like-minded citizens, all there for the same reason, expressing their thoughts and beliefs and showing their support, she said. What was really interesting was the age of the people who were there. There were young parents with their small children in strollers, and there were seniors, and everything in between. It was just great. Tanguay and her group arent planning any more demonstrations at the moment, because other towns are holding their own. Were letting people make the rounds, she said. PHILIPSBURG:--- HNLMS Karel Doorman is set to depart from the Caribbean for its homeport in the Netherlands on 15 June. The navy ship has been in the region from 24 April, providing support to the local civil authorities in the fight against COVID-19. This support has now come to an end as the coronavirus outbreak on the islands is sufficiently under control. HNLMS Karel Doorman arrived in Sint Maarten on 24 April to support the local authorities in the fight against coronavirus, as part of Operation Carib Support. At the time there were concerns about a large-scale outbreak of the virus on the islands. Having the navy ship in the area provided the Dutch Caribbean with access to versatile and immediately deployable capabilities to assist in the corona crisis, as soon as the situation so required. The actual contribution of the navy ship and its units took the form of support in terms of transport, maritime border control, and public order measures. Now that the spread of COVID-19 on the islands is under control, there is no longer a need for the ships presence in the region. HNLMS Karel Doorman is scheduled to arrive back in its home port on 26 June. The Netherlands Ministry of Defence continues to support the civil authorities in the region with the units stationed in the Caribbean. This support includes medical support, transport of food supplies and maritime border control. The new season of Bachelor in Paradise is set to air 'very soon'. And no doubt fans are in for an exciting series, as a newly-released trailer for the show teases a surprise engagement. In the clip, a mystery couple can be heard declaring their love for each other as the man puts a diamond ring on a woman's finger. Spoiler alert! A newly-released trailer for Bachelor in Paradise teases a surprise engagement. Pictured: Abbie Chatfield As he professes his love, he says: 'It's the feeling I've never felt with someone before.' The woman appears equally as smitten, telling him: 'I'm falling in love with you more and more every single day.' However, he appears to put the ring on her index finger, not her ring finger. So in love! In the clip, a mystery couple can be heard declaring their love for each other as the man puts a diamond ring on a woman's finger The new season of Bachelor in Paradise is set to star the likes of Abbie Chatfield, Brittany Hockley, Ciarran Stott, Jessica Brody, Timm Hanly and Jamie Doran. Abbie, who was Matt Agnew's runner-up on The Bachelor last year, looks set to dominate the show in the first week if the teaser is anything to go by. She strikes up a romance with cheeky Ciarran, who appeared on Angie Kent's season of The Bachelorette, but things don't appear to go to plan. Putting a ring on it! At the start of the teaser, a woman also places a ring on a man's finger Red hot! The new season of Bachelor in Paradise stars the likes of Abbie Chatfield (pictured), Brittany Hockley, Ciarran Stott, Jessica Brody, Timm Hanly and Jamie Doran 'I came here for Ciarran, he's hot and such a naughty boy. He's mine and I'm going to get him,' Abbie says as she arrives at the villa. The ad then cuts to Ciarran saying he wants to find someone he can 'fall in love with'. He is seen stripping naked as he enters the villa, proceeding to walk directly to Abbie while covering his modesty with a bunch of red grapes. Will they hit it off? Abbie strikes up a romance with cheeky Ciarran Stott (pictured), who appeared on Angie Kent's season of The Bachelorette, but things don't appear to go to plan But it appears that any romance between the pair is short-lived, as Ciarran later storms off from the group during a dinner party while Abbie looks frustrated. Ciarran is then seen kissing Jessica Brody in another clip. The show is said to wrap with three couples returning to Australia together. An airdate has yet to be confirmed. BOSTON and SAN DIEGO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Redi2 Technologies, the premier provider of hosted fee billing and revenue management solutions to the global financial services industry, and Shareholders Service Group (SSG), which provides brokerage and custodial support services for independent Registered Investment Advisors, have announced that advisors working with SSG now have access to Redi2's BillFin advanced fee billing solution. "We are excited to have completed our recent integration with SSG," said Redi2 CEO Seth Johnson. "Now, advisors who have business with SSG have access to our BillFin solution." The BillFin solution, which is currently used by more than 500 advisory firms, provides multiple benefits, including: Flexible billing setup Flexible billing templates Simple, intuitive user experience Reminders and alerts Prorated billing Embedded reporting and analytics Fee splitting module "Advisors require solutions that help them in various aspects of their business that include efficiency, compliance, economics, while delivering an excellent client experience," said SSG President Dan Skiles. "BillFin assists in these areas with helping advisors ensure that their billing practices can withstand regulatory scrutiny, in addition to enhancing their efficiency with the push of a button." ABOUT SHAREHOLDERS SERVICE GROUP Shareholders Service Group (SSG) provides custodial services exclusively for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs). SSG is dedicated to helping RIAs succeed in working with their clients by providing the best overall platform of investment solutions, service and technology. SSG was the highest-rated custodial platform in the 2020 T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey. Employees of SSG have an average of over 19 years of experience in serving the needs of independent RIAs. This experience allows SSG to deliver the "SSG Same-Day Promise" which means that service requests received by noon receive same-day attention. The company was founded in 2002 and currently serves approximately 1,600 independent RIAs. Learn more at: ssginstitutional.com ABOUT REDI2 Headquartered in Boston, Redi2 Technologies offers purpose-built. comprehensive, hosted revenue management platforms to the global financial services industry, serving wealth and investment management firms with aggregated assets under management of more than $9.4 trillion. Since its founding, Redi2 has leveraged technology to automate client reporting, fee billing and invoicing for wealth and investment managers. Redi2 is a Software as a Service (SaaS) pioneer and a market leader in vendor-hosted fee billing for firms of all sizes. For more information, visit www.redi2.com. Contact: Leslie Swid Impact Communications, Inc. (913) 649-5009 [email protected] Related Images redi2s-billfin-now-available-on.png Redi2's BillFin Now Available on the SSG Platform SOURCE Redi2 Technologies Related Links http://www.redi2.com/ The risk of wildfires across moorland and grassland remains 'exceptionally high' as firefighters tackle large blazes across the UK. The warning comes after a spate of wildfires, including one on Bamford Moor in Derbyshires Peak District on Saturday 30 May. The fire, which is believed to have been started by a barbecue, was tackled by gamekeepers using their own specialist firefighting equipment until fire services arrived. Firefighters have also recently battled gorse fires across Cornwall with blazes in Mullion, Penzance, St Ives and Launceston. It also follows a series of fires in Scotland recently, including those at Glenfeshie in the Highlands, Strathpeffer in Rossshire and in Stirlingshire near Bannockburn. Tim Baynes, moorland director at Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), said that private investment in equipment by estates which provides wildfire fighting service is estimated to be in the tens of millions of pounds. Each year we are witnessing more and more wildfires occurring on moorland and grassland and this period of exceptionally hot weather in the UK has heightened the risk once again," he said. These fires often occur by innocuous means such as discarded cigarettes and disposable barbecues and we need to ensure the correct precautions are taken by those accessing hills and moors. "Sadly, those managing rural land have found more careless behaviour occurring since lockdown rather than less." Wildfires are not only a safety risk for the public, but are also devastating for wildlife, particularly for ground nesting birds, insects and mammals, Mr Baynes said. "We would urge the public to take care and leave items such as barbecues at home." Wildfires in the UK are becoming more frequent. 2018 and 2019 together saw more damage caused by wildfires than the entirety of the previous decade, with nearly 50,000ha destroyed in over 200 wildfires. Philipp - Nimiq Co-Founder Making crypto usable and safe for everyone is at the heart of what we want to achieve with Nimiq. Buying crypto can be an overwhelming and troublesome process. Trusting in-transparent and insufficiently regulated crypto-exchange, registered in a faraway jurisdiction, is often the only option. Surrendering personal data in the process is not only a privacy issue, it is a substantial usability barrier too. Now, Nimiq, the ease-of-use cryptocurrency, and TEN31, the fintech arm of German WEG Bank AG, are excited to present a technological breakthrough: Nimiq OASIS (Open Asset Swap Interaction Scheme), a protocol that makes off-chain assets behave as if they were tokens on a blockchain. When implemented by a bank, crypto-assets like NIM or BTC can be swapped for e.g. Euro almost instantly, at very low fees and without the need to provide personal information, not even an email address. How? Simply by sending a bank transfer. Nimiq developed the technology, which leverages the concept of HTLC empowered Atomic Swaps, in close collaboration with TEN31 Bank (Nimiq is a shareholder in TEN31 Bank, read more here). An informational website about the OASIS technology was released recently. The site targets crypto-businesses and projects interested in integrating OASIS. However, Nimiq and TEN31 are already a step ahead. --- CLOSED-BETA: BUY BTC BY BANK TRANSFER A working demo of the technology is ready for testing. We invite journalists to apply for the closed beta of what is likely the fastest, easiest and safest way to acquire cryptocurrency to date. The fee for Nimiq OASIS API calls is as low as 1%, potentially making it the most affordable option too. All revenue created by OASIS will be used to buy NIM. The beta participants will be among the first to use a not yet fully disclosed market making service, dubbed fastspot, that allows them to simply select a cryptocurrency, a quantity they wish to acquire (max. 100 for now) and a crypto address, that they will receive the crypto into. They are then presented with an IBAN address and the appropriate amount of Euro to send. Beta participants require access to a SEPA instant capable European bank account. Nimiq and TEN31 offer interview opportunities and exclusive insights and material. Contact press(at)nimiq(dot)com for more information and to apply for the closed-beta. --- Philipp - Nimiq Co-Founder "Making crypto usable and safe for everyone is at the heart of what we want to achieve with Nimiq. From the very beginning, we identified the in-and-out of crypto as a crucial barrier for mass adoption. With Nimiq OASIS, we hope to overcome this barrier once and for all. I am personally grateful for the passion and dedication TEN31 has committed to making OASIS happen. It really is about coming together and creating solutions. Crypto and established banking can learn and benefit a lot from each other." Matthias - TEN31 Bank CEO "OASIS is no less than a revolution in the way crypto assets can be traded between two peers. This invention was conceived when I was invited to a brainstorming session with the core development team of Nimiq in late 2018. Now, some 18 months of hard work have produced a tangible result. I am very excited about the multiple applications in which this protocol can be employed." --- About Nimiq Nimiq is a unique, decentralized payment system. The NIM token is its medium of exchange and store of value. As a browser-first blockchain, users can directly connect to the blockchain with nothing more than visiting a website. This installation-free, it just works characteristic is combined with a dedication to ease of use and simplicity. NIM is a cryptocurrency for the masses and not just the technologically savvy. Contact Nimiq Max Burger maxburger@nimiq.com +49 (0) 152 049 209 23 https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxvburger/ --- About WEG Bank AG/TEN 31 Bank "Always one step ahead." With this mission, the German WEG Bank AG initially dedicated itself to the housing industry and secured a role as a leading institute for WEGs and property managers. With the founding of the product "TEN31", the institute remains true to its innovative spirit and established a second product line: banking services in innovative payment transactions. TEN31 focuses in particular on the everyday usability of digital currencies with the aim of providing true added value for all parties involved. TEN31 is the bridge between conventional banking and the blockchain world. Contact TEN31 Bank Matthias von Hauff info@weg-bank.de info@ten31.com +49 (0) 89 809 1346 0 Disclaimer: This press release is made solely with the intent of informing members of the press and interested participants on the functionality and progress achieved by Nimiq. It is not intended to be construed as investment advise nor as a claim of perceived value for the NIM token. WASHINGTON -- Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are often accompanied by amyloid proteins in the brain that have become clumped or misfolded. A newly developed technique that measures the orientation of single molecules is enabling optical microscopy to be used, for the first time, to reveal nanoscale details about the structures of these problematic proteins. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis describe their new approach in Optica, The Optical Society's journal for high impact research. "Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are leading causes of death all over the world," said Tianben Ding, co-first author of the new paper. "We hope our single-molecule orientation imaging approach can provide new insights into amyloid structure and possibly contribute to the future development of effective therapeutics against these diseases." Biological and chemical processes in the brain are driven by complicated movements and interactions between molecules. Although most amyloid proteins may be non-toxic, the misfolding of even a few could eventually kill many neurons. "We need imaging technologies that can watch these molecular movements in living systems to understand the fundamental biological mechanisms of disease," explained Matthew D. Lew, leader of the research team. "Amyloid and prion-type diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes are our first targets for this technology, but we see it being applied in many other areas too." Selecting the best microscope Lew's lab has developed several single-molecule super-resolution microscopy methods that measure the orientation and location of fluorescent molecules attached to single proteins. The orientation information is obtained by measuring not only the location of fluorescence in the sample but also characteristics of that light, such as polarization, which are typically ignored in most other microscopy approaches. In their Optica article, the researchers described a performance metric they designed to characterize how sensitively various microscopes can measure orientations of fluorescent molecules. Using the new performance indicator, the researchers found that a microscope that splits fluorescence light into two polarization channels (x and y) provides superior and practical orientation measurements. "The metric we developed calculates the performance of a particular microscope design 1,000 times faster than before," said Tingting Wu, co-first author of the work. "By measuring the orientations of single molecules bound to amyloid aggregates, the selected microscope enabled us to map differences in amyloid structure organization that cannot be detected by standard localization microscopes." Since there is no artificial link between the fluorescent probes and amyloid surfaces, the probes' binding orientation to the amyloid surfaces conveys information about how the amyloid protein itself is organized. The researchers quantified how the orientations of fluorescent molecules varied each time one attached to an amyloid protein. Differences in these binding behaviors can be attributed to structure differences between amyloid aggregates. Because the method provides single-molecule information, the researchers could observe nanoscale differences between amyloid structures without averaging out details of local features. Opportunities for long-term studies "We plan to extend the method to monitor nanoscale changes within and between amyloid structures as they organize over hours to days," said Ding. "Long-term studies of amyloid aggregates may reveal new correlations between how amyloid proteins are organized and how quickly they grow or spontaneously dissolve." The researchers note that the set-up they used for orientation-localization microscopy consisted of commercially available parts that are accessible to anyone performing single-molecule super-resolution microscopy. Their analysis code is available at https://github.com/Lew-Lab/RoSE-O. "In optical microscopy and imaging, scientists and engineers have been pushing the boundaries of imaging to be faster, probe deeper and have higher resolution," said Lew. "Our work shows that one can shed light on fundamental processes in biology by, instead, focusing on molecular orientation, which can reveal details about the inner workings of biology that cannot be visualized by traditional microscopy." ### Paper: T. Ding, T. Wu, H. Mazidi, O. Zhang, M. Lew, "Single-molecule orientation localization microscopy for resolving structural heterogeneities between amyloid fibrils," Optica 7, 6, 602 (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.388157 About Optica Optica is an open-access, journal dedicated to the rapid dissemination of high-impact peer-reviewed research across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics. Published monthly by The Optical Society (OSA), Optica provides a forum for pioneering research to be swiftly accessed by the international community, whether that research is theoretical or experimental, fundamental or applied. Optica maintains a distinguished editorial board of more than 60 associate editors from around the world and is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Prem Kumar, Northwestern University, USA. For more information, visit Optica. About The Optical Society Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org. Media Contacts: Aaron Cohen (301) 633-6773 aaroncohenpr@gmail.com mediarelations@osa.org Words from comedian Chris Rock have circulated on social media over the past week or so. Theyre lifted from a routine he recorded for a 2018 Netflix special, Tamborine. I know being a cop is hard, he says. I know that (its) dangerous. I know it is, OK? But some jobs cant have bad apples. Some jobs, everybody gotta be good. Like pilots. Ya know, American Airlines cant be like, 'Most of our pilots like to land. We just got a few bad apples that like to crash into mountains. Please bear with us.' " Saturday night, one of our news photographers, Dennis Nett, was shoved to the ground by a Syracuse police officer in riot gear. Nett, with a press ID hanging on a lanyard around his neck and cameras slung over each shoulder, was covering the protests outside the Public Safety Building on South State Street. Hundreds had gathered to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in Minneapolis. Nett was photographing police as they moved toward a group of protesters, some of whom had begun breaking windows at police headquarters and the nearby criminal courts building. A brief video recorded by Nett shows at least three police officers moving past him harmlessly. Then, a fourth officer starts gesturing toward Nett. He yells something and then bolts toward him and shoves him hard. You can see it all in the video above. Nett suffered cuts and bruises to his right elbow and hip from the fall. Two camera lenses were damaged. City officials have not publicly identified the officer. We dont know what he was thinking or why he acted as he did toward our photographer. We have been told the city is reviewing the assault. Sadly, Nett isnt alone. Violence against reporters, photographers and videographers have been recorded at protests across the country. Some were attacked by protesters, most by police. Thats to say nothing of what protesters have experienced at the hands of police when the camera isnt rolling. We understand that not all police officers are bad apples, incapable of restraining themselves during tense engagements. We understand that in the heat of a moment, reckless aggression can overwhelm even seasoned police veterans. Cops everywhere are under a lot of pressure, perhaps the most pressure theyve experienced in their careers. But still. Discretion is a critical skill for a police officer. Good ones need to make instant decisions about when to escalate a situation or back off. On Saturday, at least three officers rushed past Nett without viewing him as a threat. What are we to make of the fourth, the one who bolted out of formation and shoves the photographer? What does one cops actions say about the training culture for all city police? Is the attack on Nett an isolated instance or is this something that occurs more frequently in the community when no cameras are around? Yes, this attack appears to be one officer acting out in a heated situation, failing to apply the necessary degree of discretion. And yes, his actions shouldnt cast a shadow over the entire force. We all know this, right? But imagine being pulled over by a city patrol car one night. Imagine watching your rearview mirror as an officer approaches. Your gut tells you that most cops are good at their job, that theyre well-trained and trustworthy. And yet, how can you be sure? How can you be sure that this one officer walking toward you isnt the one bad apple everyone says shouldnt cast a cloud over them all? We await details from Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and city police Chief Kenton Buckner to learn more about the police officer who shoved our photographer to the ground. We expect, also, to hear about what actions the city of Syracuse will take to reassure the community that its police force can be trusted to perform properly in the line of duty and that officers who lack good judgment in critical situations are held accountable. Loading About Syracuse.com editorials Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement. Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte, Jason Murray and Marie Morelli. To respond to this editorial: Submit a comment through the Google form above, or submit a letter or commentary to letters@syracuse.com. Read our submission guidelines. If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion leader, at mmorelli@syracuse.com Miami police have launched a murder investigation after an unborn child died when its was mother was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting. Both the pregnant woman, 27, and her boyfriend, 23, survived the shooting but the baby died though doctors tried to save it with an early caesarean section. On Thursday night, the seriously injured couple rolled up to the Hialeah Hospital in a bullet-ridden BMW. Police said that a car pulled up beside the BMW belonging to the two victims, who have not yet been named, and opened fire on the passenger side. Pictured: The BMW that arrived at Hialeah Hospital last Thursday carrying a pregnant woman with a gunshot wound to the head. Her boyfriend had wounds to his torso and jaw The boyfriend was hit in the jaw and torso while the pregnant woman sustained a gunshot wound to the head. A coroner's report decided the baby's cause of death was from complications during the c-section surgery, the child being three months premature, and the gunshot wound to its mother. The baby's death has been ruled as homicide, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office. After they showed up with the injuries at Hialeah Hospital, they were transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospitals Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition but are now listed as stable. Police said that a car pulled up beside the BMW belonging to the two victims in Miami and opened fire on the passenger side 'Gun violence continued to affect our communities, and this time it has struck a pregnant woman,' Miami-Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta told the Miami Herald. 'We urge the community to come forward and provide any information that can assist investigators in identifying the person responsibile for the crime.' The district administration confirmed 24 new Covid-19 cases, including five children, on Thursday. Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga said the new cases included the two-year-old daughter of the doctor couple from Khanna, who had tested positive two days ago, and their four other contacts. These include two males, aged 44 and 68, and two females, aged 66 and 17, all from Khanna. The doctors, who work at Mohandai Oswal Hospital in Ludhiana, are suspected to have caught the infection while treating ex-serviceman Ujagar Singh, 86, who died of Covid-19 on June 1. As many as six contacts of a Chhawani Mohalla man, Pritpal Singh, 51, who died at DMCH on May 29, were also found infected on Thursday. Among them is a 29-year-old man from Meharban village, who works at the shop of Pritpals relative in Gandhi Nagar. Five other contacts of Pritpal reported positive on Thursday. These include four males, aged 52, 40, 21 and 13, and a 43-year-woman, all residents of Chhawani Mohalla. With this, 15 contacts of Pritpal have contracted the infection so far. Besides, four contacts of a 27-year-old man from Baupur village in Khanna, who returned from Manesar near Delhi on May 20, also tested positive. They comprise a 57-year-old woman, a 24-year-old man, and two boys, aged 14 and five. OTHER CASES A 34-year-old Delhi man, who was tested at the Sahnewal Airport, a man and a woman, aged 52 and 43, from Madhopuri, a 38-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman and a four-year-girl from Model Town, and a 35-year-old man from Islam Ganj were also found infected. Apart from them, two patients, a 44-year-old man admitted at SPS Hospital near Sherpur Chowk and a 73-year-old woman admitted at DMCH, were also confirmed positive. The district now has a total of 226 Covid-19 cases, of which 154 patients have been discharged, a recovery rate of 68.14%. As many as nine patients have succumbed to the virus, a fatality rate of 3.9%. This leaves 63 active cases. Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: The West Bengal government on Thursday announced further relaxations in the night curfew restrictions. The restricted timings from 7 pm to 7 am have been extended to 9 pm to 5 am, reports said. Auto refresh feeds Necessary contact tracing is being carried out to identify people the defence secretary may have recently come in contact with. Kumar is the first top bureaucrat to test positive for the infectious disease. "He tested positive but continues to work and look into files from home quarantine," said another official said. Defence secretary Ajay Kumar has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is under home quarantine, two officials familiar with the development confirmed on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity. Kumar got himself tested for the virus after developing mild fever and was found to be infected, said one of the officials. It found 11.8% of subjects given hydroxychloroquine developed symptoms compatible with COVID-19, compared with 14.3%who got a placebo. That difference was not statistically significant, meaning the drug was no better than placebo. In the first major study comparing hydroxychloroquine to a placebo to gauge its effect against the new coronavirus, University of Minnesota researchers tested 821 people who had recently been exposed to the virus or lived in a high-risk household. Hydroxychloroquine - the malaria drug promoted by US President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 was ineffective in preventing infection in people exposed to the coronavirus, according to a widely anticipated clinical trial released on Wednesday. India registered a total of 2,07,615 confirmed coronavirus cases with the toll rising to 5,815. An increase of 8,909 COVID19 cases was seen between Tuesday and Wednesday. Of the total 2,376 COVID-19 cases in Punjab, there are 300 active cases as of Wednesday, said chief minister Amarinder Singh. As many as 34 people tested positive for COVID-19 while, 12 patients made recovery from the disease yesterday, said the chief minister. A day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that borders of Delhi will be sealed for another week, the National Capital registered a spike in COVID-19 cases. The total number of cases in Delhi is now at 23,646. In the teaser of the conversation released on various social media accounts of the party, the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto can be seen talking about the effect of the lockdown on the economy. Rahul Gandhi's dialogue with industrialist Rajiv Bajaj on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis will be aired on Thursday, the latest in the series of interactions the former Congress chief is having with experts from various fields on the impact of the pandemic. As of Thursday, Mizoram has registered a total 17 coronavirus cases in the state, including 16 active cases, said the Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Mizoram. "It is pertinent to mention that most of these students are dependent on their family's income for their educational expenses and therefore it is an additional burden for them to pay the rents for these months of lockdown. It is respectfully submitted that a vast majority of the population of our country is employed in the informal sector; several of their incomes are unstable during this time," the plea said. The plea filed by Students' Federation of India (SFI) said that during the lockdown, many students were compelled to return to their homes due to pandemic. SFI said the students are now getting calls from their landlords to pay the rents. A plea seeking intervention in a case relating to suo motu cognisance of problems faced by migrant labourers stranded in different parts of the country after the COVID-19 lockdown has been filed in the Supreme Court. COVID-19 patients having symptoms suggestive of either ENT or respiratory symptoms, should be seen in separate screening clinic and not in ENT OPD, the health ministry issued the guideline. While, 6,075 lives were claimed by the viral infection so far. In the past 24 hours, India registered 9,304 fresh coronavirus cases and 260 deaths. The total number of COVID-19 cases across the nation was now at 2,16,919 including 1,06,737 active cases, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. Of the total 2,16,919 COVID-19 cases across the nation as many as 1,04,107 patients were cured of the viral disease, said the health ministry on Thursday. This took India's COVID-19 recovery rate to 47.99 percent. Of the total 42,42,718 COVID-19 samples tested so far, 1,39,485 samples have been tested in the past 24 hours, according to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Two more people who recently arrived in Meghalaya from other states have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the state's overall count to 33, chief minister Conrad K Sangma said. India has been in a draconian lockdown since coronavirus outbreak, said industrialist Rajiv Bajaj on Thursday during interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on economic impact during pandemic. India has received the worst of both worlds. The porous lockdown in India has been unable to prevent people from COVID-19 but at the same time has left the economy decimated, said Rajiv Bajaj while speaking to Congress' Rahul Gandhi on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. "Living with the coronavirus is the new narrative of the government, but people will take a lot of time for people to accept it. We looked at coronavirus the way we did because this affected the rich and powerful. But many thousands die of diarrhea every year, no one says anything about it," said Rajiv Bajaj on Thursday on COVID-19 outbreak. India has been unable to reduce the COVID-19 growth rate while, the quasi hard lockdown has flattened the wrong curve. The GDP curve has been flattened, said Rajiv Bajaj while speaking to Congress' Rahul Gandhi on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. With 22 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Nagaland, the state registered an overall count of 80 cases so far. State health minister S Pangnyu Phom informed on Thursday that all 22 had recently returned from Chennai. Of the total, there are 1053 active cases in the state. After 90 more individuals tested COVID-19 positive in Odisha, a total of 2,478 confirmed coronavirus cases were registered in the state on Thursday, according to Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Odisha. "Weekend shutdown has been imposed by Government on all Saturdays and Sundays during the month of June, 2020 in the Districts of Ganjam, Puri, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Balangir with relaxation for only emergency and public services," an official release by Information & Public Relations Department, Odisha said. All schools, colleges, educational institutions, training institutions/coaching centres shall remain shut till 31 July in the view of the coronavirus outbreak. The Odisha government has imposed 'weekend shutdown' in the month of June in the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Nayagarh, Khorda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Balangir with relaxation only for emergency and public services. Besides, the death toll also went up to 145 as four more people, including a 75-year-old man, succumbed to the viral infection in different hospitals here in the last two days, the official said. Till Wednesday, 3,597 cases were reported in Indore, which is one of the worst affected by the deadly disease in the country. As many as 36 new cases came to light in the last 24 hours, raising the district's tally to 3,633. The number of COVID-19 cases in Indore rose to 3,633 after 36 more people tested positive for the disease in the Madhya Pradesh district in last 24 hours, a health department official said on Thursday. Rajasthan reports 68 new COVID-19 positive cases till 10:30 AM on Thursday, taking the total number of cases 9,720. The number of active cases stand at 2692, according to the sate health department. The company also does not see any "specific challenge in terms of its capital or financial resources" or any "significant deviation in profitability", Nestle India said in a regulatory filing. FMCG major Nestle India on Thursday said the impact of coronavirus pandemic on its business operations has not been "materially adverse" so far and the company will continue to evaluate the consequences of the health crisis and subsequent lockdown as the situation evolves. The central bank had in an affidavit said lenders will lose around Rs 2 lakh crore if interest is waived during the loan moratorium, which has been extended till 31 August. "RBI trying to sensationalize the issue by leaking to the media," the Supreme Court said, as quoted by CNBC-TV18. The economic aspect is not higher than health of the people, the Supreme Court told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the interest waiver case. The Supreme Court directs Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana to evolve a common policy for the movement of commuters, reports ANI. After three more COVID-19 patients succumbed to the viral disease the toll in the state climbed to 71. Andhra Pradesh registered a total of 3,377 COVID-19 cases on Thursday after 98 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, said the state's COVID-19 nodal officer. The labs will not be allowed to test samples anymore, with effect from Thursday. Health officials in Delhi launch an inquiry against eight labs for collecting COVID-19 samples against the Indian Council of Medical Researchs (ICMR) protocol, ANI reported. This is the states biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh. While, the toll stands at two. With 86 more individuals testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, the state's total number of confirmed cases climbed to 680 on Thursday, reported PTI. "Colleges will reopen in August with first-year commencing from September. Universities will take rest of the decisions," the eductaion minister said. Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal said schools in the state will reopen in a phased manner in July with 50 percent strength. He further said that the government will organise demo classes to prepare for the reopening. ICMR wrote to the WHO citing differences in dosage standards between Indian and international trials. CSIR DG Shekhar Mande said WHO's decision to stall the trails of malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine was taken in haste and the global body should have analysed the data before making the decision. The Centre told the apex court that the payment of wages to workers during this lockdown period is a matter between employers and employees. It further said that it would not interfere. In contrast, the Centre had earlier directed payment of full wages during the lockdown. The Supreme Court, while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification on payment of wages, observed that some negotiations have to happen between employers and workers to iron out what has to be done for the salary for these 54 days. The Centre, in the affidavit said, the notification on 29 March was not a permanent measure, and it has already been withdrawn. "It is further emphasised and reiterated that the said directions (29 March order) were issued by Union of India as a temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship of the employees and workers specially contractual and casual during the lockdown period", said the Centre. The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that its 29 March notification on full payment of wages to workers by their employers during the lockdown was not unconstitutional, instead it was a measure taken to prevent perpetration of financial crisis within the lower strata of the society, labourers and salaried employees. The order was passed by the Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah. The apex court also reserved its order on the validity of the MHA notification for 12 June, reported Bar and Bench . The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that no coercive action can be taken against employers for violation of Ministry of Home Affairs' 29 March order compelling payment of wages to employees amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The Supreme Court on Thursday directed a Mumbai-based lawyer to deposit Rs 25 lakh with the apex court registry, which he has offered for the travel of migrant workers from Mumbai to their native places in Uttar Pradesh. A migrant worker who returned to Uttar Pradesh from Gujarat died of the novel coronavirus at a health facility in the states Banda district, reported PTI. Haryana's COVID-19 nodal officer, Dr Dhruva Chaudhary and and his daughter, who is also a doctor, test positive for the novel coronavirus in Rohtak district, reported PTI. Uttarakhand reported 60 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking the total number of cases to 1,145, said the Directorate of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Uttarakhand. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday accused the Centre-run Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital of delaying coronavirus test reports. "70 percent of people are dying within 24 hours of reaching the hospital as their test reports come in 5-7 days. This is absolutely wrong, reports should come within 24 hours," said Jain. Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan was discharged from hospital after recovering from the coronavirus infection, PTI reported. He had tested positive for the infection last month. However, media reports claimed that the number of foreign nationals who have been blacklisted for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities could be much higher at around 2,200. The MHA blacklisted around 1,000 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members on Thursday and banned their entry into India for 10 years, news agency PTI quoted officials as saying. 40 new COVID-19 cases reported in Goa today, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 166 including 109 active cases and 57 recovered: State Health Department "Preferably separate entry and exits for guests, staff and goods/supplies shall be organized. Maintaining physical distancing of a minimum of 6 feet, when queuing up for entry and inside the hotel as far as feasible. Details of the guest (travel history, medical condition etc.) along with ID and self-declaration form must be provided by the guest at the reception," the Union health ministry said. Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday claimed the number of COVID-19 cases in West Bengal is rising due to poor facilities at quarantine centres; says situation is so bad that if a normal person is quarantined at a centre, he or she is bound to get infected 127 new COVID-19 cases reported in the state, taking the total number of cases in the state to 3147: Telangana Health Department "The MLA from Patel Nagar constituency has self-quarantined himself. According to sources, Anand underwent COVID-19 test yesterday and tested positive for virus today," India Today reported. The Delhi government said that 1,359 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, total number of cases is now 25,004. The toll stands at 650. There are 14,456 active cases. 94 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Bihar on Thursday, taking the total to 4,420. "Three deaths were also recorded, taking the overall death toll in the state to 28," News18 reported. Delhi government on Thursday issued list of private hospitals having bed strength of 50 beds or more, which were allotted land at concessional rates by land owning agencies and are under obligation to provide 10 percent IPD and 25 percent OPD free of charge to EWS category,to reserve beds for EWS patients with coronavirus. Punjab government has written to the Centre for trains to bring back workers who left due to coronavirus crisis as increasing number of industrial units are resuming operations, the state industries minister Sunder Sham Arora said. "The Rail Bhavan reported two more coronavirus cases, taking the tally of those infected at the railway headquarters to 11," News18 reported. Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: The West Bengal government on Thursday announced further relaxations in the night curfew restrictions. The restricted timings from 7 pm to 7 am have been extended to 9 pm to 5 am, reports said. The MHA blacklisted around 1,000 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members on Thursday and banned their entry into India for 10 years, news agency PTI quoted officials as saying. However, media reports claimed that the number of foreign nationals who have been blacklisted for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities could be much higher at around 2,200. Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan was discharged from hospital after recovering from the coronavirus infection, PTI reported. He had tested positive for the infection last month. Over 2,500 Maharashtra Police personnel have tested positive for the novel coronavirus so far while 30 have died of the viral infection, PTI reported on Thursday. The Supreme Court on Thursday directed a Mumbai-based lawyer to deposit Rs 25 lakh with the apex court registry, which he has offered for the travel of migrant workers from Mumbai to their native places in Uttar Pradesh. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah directed that lawyer Sagheer Ahmed Khan deposit the amount. The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that no coercive action can be taken against employers for violation of Ministry of Home Affairs' 29 March order compelling payment of wages to employees amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The apex court also reserved its order on the validity of the MHA notification for 12 June, reported Bar and Bench. The order was passed by the Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah. The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that its 29 March notification on full payment of wages to workers by their employers during the lockdown was not unconstitutional, instead it was a measure taken to prevent perpetration of financial crisis within the lower strata of the society, labourers and salaried employees. The Centre, in the affidavit said, the notification on 29 March was not a permanent measure, and it has already been withdrawn. "It is further emphasised and reiterated that the said directions (29 March order) were issued by Union of India as a temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship of the employees and workers specially contractual and casual during the lockdown period", said the Centre. Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal said schools in the state will reopen in a phased manner in July with 50 percent strength. He further said that the government will organise demo classes to prepare for the reopening. "Colleges will reopen in August with first-year commencing from September. Universities will take rest of the decisions," the eductaion minister said. The Supreme Court directs Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana to evolve a common policy for the movement of commuters, reports ANI. The Odisha government has imposed 'weekend shutdown' in the month of June in the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Nayagarh, Khorda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Balangir with relaxation only for emergency and public services. All schools, colleges, educational institutions, training institutions/coaching centres shall remain shut till 31 July in the view of the coronavirus outbreak. "Weekend shutdown has been imposed by Government on all Saturdays and Sundays during the month of June, 2020 in the Districts of Ganjam, Puri, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Balangir with relaxation for only emergency and public services," an official release by Information & Public Relations Department, Odisha said. In the past 24 hours, India registered 9,304 fresh coronavirus cases and 260 deaths. The total number of COVID-19 cases across the nation was now at 2,16,919 including 1,06,737 active cases, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. While, 6,075 lives were claimed by the viral infection so far. India has been unable to reduce the COVID-19 growth rate while, the quasi hard lockdown has flattened the wrong curve. The GDP curve has been flattened, said Rajiv Bajaj while speaking to Congress' Rahul Gandhi on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. India has received the worst of both worlds. The porous lockdown in India has been unable to prevent people from COVID-19 but at the same time has left the economy decimated, said Rajiv Bajaj while speaking to Congress' Rahul Gandhi on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. In the past 24 hours, India registered 9,304 fresh coronavirus cases and 260 deaths. The total number of COVID-19 cases across the nation was now at 2,16,919 including 1,06,737 active cases, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. While, 6,075 lives were claimed by the viral infection so far. A plea seeking intervention in a case relating to suo motu cognisance of problems faced by migrant labourers stranded in different parts of the country after the COVID-19 lockdown has been filed in the Supreme Court. The plea filed by Students' Federation of India (SFI) said that during the lockdown, many students were compelled to return to their homes due to pandemic. SFI said the students are now getting calls from their landlords to pay the rents. "It is pertinent to mention that most of these students are dependent on their family's income for their educational expenses and therefore it is an additional burden for them to pay the rents for these months of lockdown. It is respectfully submitted that a vast majority of the population of our country is employed in the informal sector; several of their incomes are unstable during this time," the plea said. Rahul Gandhi's dialogue with industrialist Rajiv Bajaj on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis will be aired on Thursday, the latest in the series of interactions the former Congress chief is having with experts from various fields on the impact of the pandemic. In the teaser of the conversation released on various social media accounts of the party, the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto can be seen talking about the effect of the lockdown on the economy. Defence secretary Ajay Kumar has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is under home quarantine, two officials familiar with the development confirmed on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity. Kumar got himself tested for the virus after developing mild fever and was found to be infected, said one of the officials. "He tested positive but continues to work and look into files from home quarantine," said another official said. India registered a record jump of 8,909 novel coronavirus cases, pushing the total number of such infections to 2,07,615 on Wednesday, while the toll rose to 5,815 with 217 more deaths, according to the Union health ministry. States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi, which have a high case load, continued to report more infections, while new cases also emerged in several eastern and north-eastern states including Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Sikkim. The health ministry said it has boosted the COVID-19 testing capacity to around 1.4 lakh per day. 8,909 new cases, 217 deaths reported in 24 hours In its morning update, the health ministry said that the country had reported 8,909 new patients and 217 fatalities in the 24 hours since 8 am on Tuesday. With this the total number of cases in the country climbed to 2,07,615 and the toll rose to 5,815. As many as 1,00,302 people have recovered, while one has migrated and the number of active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now 1,01,497, said the ministry.Around 48.31 percent of the patients have recovered so far, a ministry official said. As many as 7,123 cases ae being reassigned to states, it said. Of the 217 more deaths since Tuesday morning, 103 were in Maharashtra, 33 in Delhi, 29 in Gujarat, 13 in Tamil Nadu and 10 in West Bengal, Six more people died from the pathogen in Madhya Pradesh, followed by five each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and four in Telangana, There were two deaths each in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, and one each in Kerala, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. Of the total 5,815 fatalities, Maharashtra accounts for 2,465 deaths followed by 1,092 in Gujarat and 556 in Delhi. In Madhya Pradesh, 364 people have died so far, followed by 335 in West Bengal, 222 in Uttar Pradesh and 203 in Rajasthan. Tamil Nadu has registered 197 deaths so far, while there have been 92 fatalities in Telangana and 64 in Andhra Pradesh. Fifty-two people have succumbed to the infection in Karnataka, followed by 46 in Punjab, 33 in Jammu and Kashmir, and 24 in Bihar. Haryana has registered 23 fatalities, while the toll in Kerala is 11. There have been seven deaths each in Odisha and Uttarakhand. Five COVID-19 fatalities each have been reported from Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jharkhand, while four have died in Assam. A person each has died due to the pandemic in Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh and Ladakh, according to the data. More than 70 percent of the deaths are due to comorbidities,said the ministry. The health ministry also said that the number of COVID-19 tests across the country has crossed the 40 lakh-mark, while the daily testing capacity has been ramped up to 1.4 lakh through 480 government and 208 private laboratories. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu report most new cases Many states reported an increase in both infections and deaths arising from it through the day and a PTI tally based on figures releases by state and UT governments put the aggregate number of cases in India till 9.30 pm at 2,09,163. According to the news agency, 5, 996 have been reported in the country so far while a total of 1,03,460 persons have recovered from the disease. India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. The infection which first emerged in China in December last year has now affected 62,87,771 people across the world and has claimed 3,79,941 lives, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 tracker. Of the total number of cases reported in India till date, nearly 1 lakh new cases having emerged in a span of 15 days. The first COVID-19 case in India was detected on 30 January. COVID-19 fatalities in worst-affected Maharashtra spiked by 122 on Wednesday, the highest in a single day, including 49 from worst-hit Mumbai, taking the death toll to 2,587, the state health department said. The number of cases shot up by 2,560 to 74,860, it said. "Of the 122 deaths, 60 fatalities were reported from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including 49 from Mumbai alone," the statement said. Mumbai now accounts for 43,492 COVID-19 cases of the total 74,860 cases in the state with 1,417 deaths. A total of 996 patients were discharged from hospitals in the day, taking the tally of the recovered cases to 32,329 so far, a statement said. The spread of the virus also continued in Tamil Nadu, with the state reporting more than a thousand cases , including an all-time single-day high in the capital city, for the fourth straight day on Wednesday, taking the total infection count to 25,872. The state also reported 11 more COVID-19 deaths, taking the toll to 208. Of the 1,286 new positive cases, which is also a new single-day high for the state, as many as 15 were returnees from abroad and 27 from other states, while Chennai accounted for 1,012 of the fresh infections, its highest in a day so far, a health department bulletin said. In Goa, as many as 40 people from a COVID-19 containment zone in Goa tested positive for the disease on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said while attributing the "local transmission" to one family. The family members consulted a private medical practitioner after developing COVID-19 symptoms, instead of going to a testing centre, he said. Kerala reported its highest single-day spike of 86 cases, taking its tally to 1,494. Those having tested positive included a doctor and four health workers. More than 1.6 lakh people are under observation in the state. Among the new cases, 53 people had come from abroad and 19 from other states, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters after a COVID-19 evaluation meeting. In the north, Himachal Pradesh's remote Kinnaur district reported its first two cases after a couple tested positive after returning from Delhi. Barring Lahaul-Spiti, now 11 of the 12 districts in the state have COVID-19 cases. Uttarakhand also saw 23 more people testing positive, taking its tally to 1,066. According to the state government bulletin, the people who tested positive had travelled to Delhi, Aligarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad. As the number of infections among those returning from other states has continued to rise, the state government has extended the quarantine period to 21 days for those returning from the country's 75 worst-hit cities. According to an order issued by Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, people returning from the 75 highly infected cities will be quarantined at an institutional facility for a week. Thereafter, they will be home quarantined for 14 days. In Nagaland, nine more people tested positive and all of them had returned to the state last month in a migrant special train. In Sikkim, a man who returned from Delhi recently tested positive, becoming the second case of COVID-19 in the hill state. Megalaya and Mizoram also saw new cases among those having returned from other states. Assam recorded 111 new cases, while Odisha reported 143 more cases. Karnataka recorded 367 new cases and 168 new cases emerged in Madhya Pradesh. Gujarat's tally of confirmed cases rose by 485 to reach 18,117, while its death toll increased by 30 to 1,122. AIIMS Nurses' Union continues protest for third day In the National Capital, a five-member committee has been constituted by the Delhi government to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and look into overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19. In the meantime, a protest by the AIIMS Nurses' Union over their working conditions entered the third day. The premier medical institution in the National Capital has seen at least 329 staff members having tested positive for COVID-19 so far, of which 47 are nursing staff. In a letter to AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, the nurses body has put forward a number of demands including implementation of a uniform four-hour shift with personal protective equipment in COVID-19 areas of the hospital, a uniform rotation policy between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 areas, and establishment of proper donning and doffing area. With inputs from PTI Click here to read the full article. Steven C. Smiths first book, 1991s A Heart at Fires Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann, preceded and arguably helped precipitate a huge uptick of interest in that once neglected, now practically deified film composer. Almost three decades later, hes published his second biography, Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywoods Most Influential Composer. Smith, a scoring historian and Emmy-nominated TV producer, wouldnt mind prompting a similar surge of consideration for the career of Steiner, whose filmography of nearly 300 films included King Kong, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Searchers. Variety spoke with Smith about his long-aborning second book. VARIETY: Is there a good case to be made that Steiners music for King Kong in 1933 is the most important film score of all time? SMITH: I think theres no greater way to turn someone off something than to say its the greatest or most important. But I will say that on a historic level, King Kong is the most influential music score of all time. Because it completely established the grammar of film music in a way that composers ever since, to the present day, still look at and say, Oh, thats how you score a film. A lot of people think King Kong is the first film score ever written. Its not Steiner himself had been writing for film for about a year at that point but its the first motion picture classic that has a great score. More from Variety Hes the one who first put it all together at the dawn of the talkies, this idea of how to write orchestral music under and around dialogue something that producers and directors really were very suspicious of in the first years of sound film. They didnt want music in dramatic films. It was okay if it was a musical. And Steiner is the guy who figured out not just how to write music around dialogue, but how to write themes for characters and shape them subtly throughout a film exactly what John Williams does in a Star Wars film, or the composers for a Marvel film do today. There are so many devices that he uses, whether its the way he writes a love theme for Ann that becomes a theme of absolute terror for her as the film goes on, or the way that Kongs theme starts off being about the horror and power of a monster and, by the end, has become an elegy for a fallen antihero. Story continues And Steiner is the one who made film music a medium that did not just simply repeat what we already see but revealed what characters are thinking, which remains one of the most powerful things that film music can do. Even if the character whose thinking is revealed through the music is a giant monkey. If you watch Kong and pay attention to the music, youll notice that it initially makes us feel the grandeur and force of Kong, but it also gradually takes us inside his mind and shows his feelings for Ann call them love, call them whatever. Its the music that really makes that character transition, so that by the time that Kong is captured and taken to New York, he starts to become a figure of pathos, if still a frightening one, especially when he escapes and wreaks havoc. When he falls, the finale is one of the greatest pieces of dramatic music written for film. I had seen Kong dozens of times, but it wasnt till I wrote the book that I realized every little phrase of music in the last two minutes of the film is all based on different little thematic pieces of score he wrote. Hes basically recapping the whole movie for us in this very sad, touching way and pulling it all together. Does Steiner get his due today? One of the reasons I wanted to write this book was to show the person who created a whole industry, but who many people have forgotten. [But] Steven Spielbergs nickname for John Williams is apparently Max, as an affectionate little nod. And what is the name of Spielbergs first son? Max. Im not saying he named him after Max Steiner, but its safe to say Spielberg is very appreciative of his place in film music. Danny Elfman has said part of the reason he became a film composer was because of Steiner and King Kong. Jerry Goldsmith said, also referring to King Kong, Im doing what Im doing because of it. When Star Wars was being put together, among the composers on the temp track before Williams was hired was Steiner; George Lucas has said he wanted a Korngold/Steiner kind of a score. So is Steiner relevant? Well, is Star Wars relevant? You have a story in the book about how disrespected he was the one time he tried to conduct a concert of his film music, which went disastrously. During his life, film music was held in total contempt by the symphony world. The one time he was invited to conduct, the members of the New York Philharmonic treated him horribly. Max claimed that the lead cellist wouldnt even take his instrument out of the case during rehearsal. He never tried to conduct a concert again. Now, many symphony orchestras have survived because they play film music, because they either show a film like Casablanca with the score played live or they play an evening of film music in suites, and much of it is still Steiners. Max didnt really believe in an afterlife, but I would love to think that somehow he knows his music is heard in these places now. He was ahead of his time in wanting to pull that off, even if his music wasnt destined to make it to concert halls until long after his death. Are there other ways in which he was ahead of the curve, on some really practical level? Since this is Variety, we should say that Max Steiner is one of the reasons that todays film composers receive the residuals they do. When Max got into film music, ASCAP was not collecting any money for scores, unless it was a song published as sheet music or a record was sold, which was not very often in those days. And Max fought a 27-year battle with ASCAP, and with others, saying that film music is music and film composers should be rewarded for what they do. He united the industry, really and he did it with many other people; Im not saying he did it single-handedly. But Max, really starting in 1933, led the battle that is really ultimately the reason why when composers work is shown on television, when its streamed, when a single music cue or a whole soundtrack is downloaded onto our phones why composers get those royalties. So for that alone, we should remember the name Max Steiner. His scores are known for being extremely accessible thats clearly one reason he got so much work but you bring out the subtlety and brilliance of how he could repeat or transmute themes over the course of a score, in a way that youd virtually have to be a genius to catch while the film is actually unfolding. And during his lifetime, very few people ever heard his scores twice, to be able to study them in that way. His music is extremely sophisticated, and also its the kind of music that you dont have to know is sophisticated to just enjoy it. Even Max himself A friend of mine, John Morgan, would point out to Max, Its so interesting how you took Errol Flynns theme and then made Olivia de Havillands theme is a variation on that, and then this third theme is sort of a combination of those. And Max would say, You know, I never thought of that. Someone wrote an entire book on the score of Now, Voyager, which won Steiner one of his three Oscars, about how all this music subtly intersects and tells us things we wouldnt know otherwise, and its all absolutely valid. And I suspect that Max didnt think about two-thirds of that. He was very intuitive, and yet beneath that intuition there was incredible subtlety and sophistication, and it was all just pouring out of him. One of the things he was very conscious about, though, you say in the book, was writing around the tonality of actors voices. He was so concerned that the music not fight the dialogue or sound effects or whatever needed to be heard along with it, that he would determine, say, where Bette Daviss voice was if it was a musical note, where it would be on a musical scale and he would write his music in a key that was above or below her voice. So for someone with a low voice like Orson Welles, whom he scored once, he wrote a little above Welles very low baritone. And in the score for Jezebel, which is a film that won Bette Davis a best actress Oscar, he writes in his notes to the orchestrator hell be handing his score to exactly what the musical pitch of Davis voice is, and how hes writing above and below it. He did that for his whole career. And I think thats astonishing, how detail-oriented he could be in a situation where there was phenomenal pressure on him to write an enormous amount of music in a very short time with very little sleep. Your previous biography subject, Herrmann, was clearly a classic sort of tortured artist, right there on the surface. But Steiner joked about his angst. Not just personally, but he literally wrote constant gags into the margins of all his scores, much of which you reproduce. And you also reproduce jokes he told in an unpublished memoir he worked on. This all adds up to Music by Max Steiner being a book with a lot of laughs in it more so than A Heart at Fires Center, which doesnt have a lot of personal levity from its subject. But did the fact that Steiner could be personally convivial and lovable, on top of being endlessly prolific, work against his genius being taken as seriously as it should, compared to Herrmanns? Its worth remembering that Max came from Vienna. As a child he knew Johann Strauss Jr., who wrote The Blue Danube and these effervescent, romantic, light-as-air but beautiful waltzes. That world at the turn of the century was this amazing time of Strauss music and Gustav Klimt paintings and Freud beginning to develop his theories there was both a seriousness and a lightness to Vienna at the time. And I think thats part of what gave Max that wonderful quality of playfulness and a love of life. He wasnt the handsomest man. He was rather short. He could be wisecracking, and there was always a cigar in his mouth, so you could really picture a kind of Hollywood stereotype. But he was deeply romantic. I mean, think of the music to Casablanca thats really Maxs soul. And so one of the things that makes Steiner so fascinating is that he was a funny guy. He was very intense about his music, but he wanted to have fun. Bernard Herrmann, although he had a very wry sense of humor, was a rather tortured man who was in a lot of pain for much of his life. Max was a fun-loving, very well-liked workaholic who was a great artist as well. Knowing that Steiner worked on up to 300 films, that he loved alcohol, cigars and playing cards, that he got married a lot [four times] and told a lot of bad jokes, you might think, Oh, right, a studio guy Hollywood hack. He probably farmed out the work to a lot of people. He was about the money. But he cared deeply. He was an intuitive man who was brilliant in his craft, and kind of like Michael Curtiz, he didnt advertise it. For decades, Curtiz [the director of Casablanca] was kind of written off because he worked on so many different types of films, and now we see him as someone who directed many of the greatest films and did have a voice. Its much the same with Steiner. But he was like Herrmann in that he was a very sensitive person, in the good and bad senses of the word. And by that, I mean very empathic to characters and stories, but also very easily hurt and quick to be injured in his own feelings, which many artists are. I think all of that added to why he could be so empathic with Rick Blaine in Casablanca or Scarlett OHara. Although hes sometimes remembered for his jauntier or brassier scores or action pictures, you make the point he might have excelled most at womens pictures, like Now, Voyager. Bette Davis once said, He was my composer. She understood what he brought to her films. Now, she probably also said some sharp words about him from time to time, like she did everyone. But Im fascinated by how this very masculine, wise-cracking as you say, sometimes in private with the guys kind of loose, dirty-joke-telling guy could be so in touch with that very feminine quality of that interior quality of the characters in his films. He loved beauty, and when he saw Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca or Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind, he was very affected by them not just on a level of seeing a beautiful woman, but he really fell in love with those characters, and then he stepped back to be them. So as a man, he was very drawn in. He could be Humphrey Bogart, if you will, and feel that intoxicating romance, but then he could also channel and this is something he certainly never talked about this incredible feminine side and write the voice of Bette Davis in Dark Victory in which shes dying, or Now, Voyager, when she is this repressed woman emerging, and write music that is completely from her soul. Do you have a Steiner score you think is most underrated? A great score he wrote for a film thats really forgotten now is Johnny Belinda. That was one of his favorites. Its a beautiful score for a film that is both very dark and very hopeful. It has very modern music in that it has very dark music that sounds like the kind of scratchy, harsh violin sound that a Jerry Goldsmith mightve done later in the 60s or 70s, for an excruciating rape sequence. But it also has this beautiful theme of childlike lyricism for this woman who cant speak and who cant hear. I think when Max was at his best was when he would be given a story about someone with great vulnerability and desperately seeking love and being in pain. He loved writing for those kinds of films, much more than he liked writing an action movie. The movies he dreaded doing were movies that were wall-to-wall action because in those days, when composers had to physically write every single note with their hands, he would say, only half-kidding, I will be blind by the end of this film. And indeed he lost most of his eyesight over his lifetime. But I think what unites his best scores is his empathy for human longing and and desire and romance. Mildred Pierce is a great score. Howard Hawks hired Max specifically for The Big Sleep, and I think thats a sign that he didnt want it to be a movie that was a mystery, so much. He wanted to play up this kind of almost screwball romance and certainly the romantic intensity between Bogart and Bacall, who were having an affair during the filming of that movieHawks, who had worked with Max once before, knew that Steiner would really bring out the sexiness of the movie. The book goes into his family psychology a great deal, suggesting that he became a workaholic in part because he wanted to make good on what was lost after his very successful father fell from grace. And then that workaholism causes him to ignore a wife he seemed to at least theoretically want to remain close to, and their young son, with tragic results. Part of his story is how he wanted to redeem the legacy of his father and grandfather back in Vienna. Gone With the Wind is a story ultimately about a character who is trying to restore a lost family dynasty. Take away the dated aspects the frankly offensive aspects of the film with the Civil War and its racial depictions put all that aside and you can see how Max saw the film, which is not a movie about the Civil War, but about someone trying to regain a family and ironically losing great love that is close to that person at the same time. That was true of Scarlett OHara, and it turned out to be true of Maxs life as well. He reclaimed that family name, but at considerable personal cost. There is tragedy to go around toward the end of the book, personally. But one of the things that may come as a relief to the reader is that, unlike so many figures from the golden age of Hollywood, his is not a story of a quick rise followed by a long, protracted fall into irrelevance. Thirty years or so into his film career, he produces one of his great scores in The Searchers, and then has a fluke pop blockbuster with Theme from A Summer Place. Thats a gift to a biographer. This is a man who worked with George Gershwin and Jerome Kern, who worked on all these shows that had classic American standards in them; Max was often the conductor conducting the theater orchestra of those great Broadway shows of the 20s. Then he becomes the musical director of the Astaire/Rogers series for the first three years, so hes the man conducting Cheek to Cheek and all the great songs from Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, The Gay Divorcee, etc. So Max knew all of the great songwriters, and he desperately wanted to have hit songs like an Irving Berlin and a Gershwin. And although certainly Max is one of the great melodists of the 20th century I mean, if youve seen Gone With the Wind once, you could probably think of the theme he didnt write popular songs the way a Gershwin did. He kept trying and trying, and some of them deserved a better fate, but they just didnt catch on with people. He had all but given up when he was hired to score A Summer Place, which was considered kind of trashy, even though it was a big Warner Brothers movie with stars and a big budget. It was about teenagers wanting to have sex and their horny parents, things that as the production code was starting to fall were outraging older moviegoers and titillating younger moviegoers. Max, being always aware of the music of his time and listening to the kind of Fats Domino/Blueberry Hill triplet that we think of as rock n roll in the 50s as a friend of his said, as soon as Max had that rhythm, he couldnt help but write a kind of nice melody over it. He had stopped trying to write a hit song. Well, that was the one that became a hit record. In one of the great kind of underdog stories or ironies of musical history, a 71-year-old composer from Vienna, born in 1888, had the No. 1 instrumental bestseller of the early rock era. It won record of the year at the Grammys over Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles. You can certainly debate that choice, but you cant debate the fact that people loved this song. And it made Max so much money just as he was winning his battle over over royalties in film music. He was set financially at the age of 71 after being broke almost all of his life, after owing the equivalent of well over half a million dollars or more to the government. His accidental pop hit is one of the great how to succeed without really trying stories. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Nearly two million people have signed petitions calling for action over the death of a pregnant elephant who reportedly ate a pineapple filled with firecrackers in India. Campaign site Change.org says more than 1,200 petitions sprang up in less than a day expressing outrage over the elephant's death in the southern state of Kerala. The incident has captured attention around the world, with people from the US, UK, France and Australia starting petitions on the issue. The elephant had ventured into a village near Kerala's Silent Valley Forest in search of food. It is not known when or where she became injured, but she was found standing in the Velliyar River by forest officers on 27 May. Despite efforts to help her, she died while still standing in the water. A spokesperson from Kerala Forest Department previously told Sky News that farmers place food filled with the explosive devices on the edges of their fields to keep wild boars away. He said the elephant had been "unfortunate" and "unlucky". An investigation has been launched and "several suspects" are being questioned over the incident. :: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker In a tweet on Thursday, the department said it will "leave no stone unturned to ensure max punishment to the offenders". It also clarified the incident had taken place in Palakkad district, not in Malappuram district as had been reported by some media. One petition, started by a campaigner in Oman, called for there to be longer prison sentences for wildlife crime. Another petition by Meera Kant demanded that criminal charges be brought against those responsible, and it has been signed by more than 371,965 people. Nida Hasan, country director of Change.org in India, said surges in petitions happen when there are issues that "shock people and tug at their collective conscience". Wildlife charity World Animal Protection said it had written to India's environment minister, Prakash Javadekar, and the chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, to call for action. Story continues Katheryn Wise, wildlife campaign manager, said: "This incredibly cruel act is heart breaking and incomprehensible, causing suffering and a painful death to this pregnant elephant. "We must urgently change the way we view animals - elephants are sentient beings with strong social bonds who have been shown to grieve the loss of family members." But others have urged caution, saying the explosives would not have intentionally been fed to the elephant. Indian film star and TV host Adil Ibrahim posted a video to Instagram, where he said it was "unfortunate" the news was being used to "tarnish the image of Kerala". "Let's be patient to know about the truth. #MyKeralaIsNotThatCruel," he said. "I feel so bad for the poor mother elephant and her unborn baby, it would be unfortunate if any animal had to go through having food with a cracker inside. "We should try to implement better ways for farmers to protect their crops from animal attack than these inhumane pineapple tactics maybe. "But blaming my state and people for this and twisting the news? No... not acceptable." The death toll due to cyclone Nisarga, which hit the district on Wednesday, climbed to three with the death of Narayan Nawale (38), a resident of Khed, who succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, according to Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar. The government has announced financial aid of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who lost their life. His mother, Manjabai Nawale (68), had died on Wednesday after a wall and a portion of the roof of their house caved in due to heavy rainfall in the area. Narayan was also injured in the accident. The Nawales belong to Vahagaon village in Khed tehsil. Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram said that at least 1,464 houses have been damaged due to heavy rains and gusty winds. Besides the Nawales, Prakash Mokar (52) of Mokarwadi in Haveli tehsil, died after sustaining critical injuries while holding onto the tin roof of his house. We have started conducting a punchnama of houses and farms damaged due to the cyclone. The punchnama will be finished within two days, said Ram. According to Ram, griculture-related damage is mostly from Maval and Mulshi talukas of the district. According to Mhaisekar, besides three deaths, at least 1,350 kuccha (temporary) houses and 114 pucca (permanent) houses have been partially damaged due to cyclone-related incidents. The loss to property has been high in Pune district compared to Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur in the Pune division, said Mhaisekar. There are reports of damage to 89 huts, 31 schools and 57 anganwadis from Pune district, he added. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its assessment stated that conditions are likely to become favourable for further advancement of the southwest monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, southwest including east central Bay of Bengal; entire Southeast Bay of Bengal and some parts of west central Bay of Bengal during the next two-three days. IMD director Anupam Kashyapi said, The impact of the cyclone has weakened, but remnants of its fury can still be felt. Some rainfall and other associated climatic events will take place as the cyclone is still receding. Haiti - FLASH : Increase in 9 departments, already 50 deaths The Ministry of Public Health informs that 133 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Haiti (the day before : 281), for a total of 2,640 cases throughout the national territory (40.6% of women and 59.4% of men) since the first case (March 19, 2020 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html ). 2 new deaths have been recorded in Artibonite, bringing the total to 50 deaths across the country. The number of active cases (less death and recovery) is now 2,566 cases (+ 5.38%) + 131 cases in 24 hours (the day before: +278) Number of suspected cases investigated since the first case : 5,562 cases (+ 5.54%) +292 (the day before: +26) All details in our daily report of from 11:00 am See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30936-haiti-covid-19-daily-report-june-3-2020.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30930-haiti-flash-more-than-2-500-cases-increase-in-8-departments.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html S/ HaitiLibre Strategic Review of WA Assets to Maximise Value Brisbane, June 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Emerging lithium miner Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( FRA:DML ) ( OTCMKTS:DMNXF ) announced today plans to focus its Western Australian exploration efforts on projects within the world-class Pilgangoora lithium district, home to Earn-In partner Altura Mining Limited's successful mining operation and other major spodumene deposits.The strategic review follows last year's Earn-In agreement with Altura Mining aimed at maximising the value of Sayona's Australian exploration portfolio. Under the agreement (refer ASX announcement 8 August 2019), Altura agreed to spend A$1.5 million on exploration across the project portfolio over three years to earn a 51% interest, with Sayona retaining the remaining project interest.Altura has progressed the Earn-In assets, commencing a field mapping and sampling program in the northern Mallina (E47/2983), Deep Well (E47/3829), Tabba Tabba (E45/2364) and Red Rock (E45/4716) tenements. The proximity of these tenements to Altura's existing mining and processing infrastructure is expected to significantly enhance the development potential of any discoveries.With a focus on maximising the value of its Australian assets, Sayona will retain the 10 most prospective Pilbara lithium tenements, spanning 971 sq km and in close proximity to Altura's Pilgangoora mine. Other regional projects include the East Kimberley and Murchison areas, comprising four tenements covering 170 sq km, with the total WA portfolio to consist of 14 tenements covering 1,141 sq km.Despite the relinquishment of some tenements, key terms of the Earn-In Agreement with Altura remain unchanged.Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch, said the refocus would allow management time and Company resources to be focused on projects considered offering the fastest pathway to shareholder returns."We are delighted by the results of this strategic review, which has revealed the highest potential value projects in our WA exploration portfolio. Working closely with our Earn-In partner, Altura Mining, we are determined to unlock value from these assets for the benefit of both parties," Mr Lynch said."Importantly, this allows management to focus on our expansion strategy in Quebec, where we have a near-term opportunity to advance towards production, delivering value for all stakeholders."Altura's Managing Director, James Brown commented: "We have been pleased by the developments made with Sayona in advancing the value of these exploration assets and look forward to getting back in the field. The tenements of interest are in relatively close proximity to the established Altura lithium mine, which means any exploration success will benefit our long-term operations."Five Pilbara leases are being relinquished, including the Moolyella project (E45/4727, E45/4721 and E45/4700), Cooglegong (E45/4738) and Carlindie (E45/4775). Other regional WA tenements are being reviewed to determine the best strategy to maximise their potential value, including leases around the recent De Grey Hemi gold discovery. The Sayona-Altura Earn-In leases include the Mt Dove lease, E47/3950, which is located 12km to the south-west of the Hemi mineralisation.To view the retained Earn-In Pilbara tenements, please visit:About Sayona Mining Ltd Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) is an Australian, ASX-listed (SYA) company focused on sourcing and developing the raw materials required to construct lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing new and green technology sectors. The Company has lithium projects in Quebec, Canada and in Western Australia. Please visit us as at www.sayonamining.com.au Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright's sprawling new home will feature a huge swimming pool, bar and make-up room, floor plans have revealed. Posted on Epping Council website and being designed by Essex-based company MP Architects, the stunning plans show the couple's incredible vision, which also features a playroom for any future kids. The duo, both aged 33, bought the home for 1.3million in October and it was revealed in January that they plan to demolish the four bedroom Essex farmhouse to create the sensationally lavish new house with 'classical design'. Wow! Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright's sprawling new home will feature a huge swimming pool, bar and make-up room, floor plans have revealed Earlier this year, they submitted plans to knock down their home and replace with a sprawling Georgian-style mansion - details of which can be seen online. While the couple had no objections from neighbours, they withdrew requests for 'demolition of an existing stable building' to build a 'one-bedroom annexe'. Images of the ground floor show the home is set to give a nod to both their love of work and play, with a gym and bar placed either side of the huge kitchen. The hub of the home is certainly the kitchen, which runs the entire length of the back of the house and includes a living area and island. Happy days! The duo, both aged 33, bought the home for 1.3million in October and it was revealed in January that they plan to demolish the four bedroom Essex farmhouse to create the sensationally lavish new house with 'classical design' (pictured in March last year) Stunning: Images of the ground floor show the home is set to give a nod to both their love of work and play, with a gym and bar placed either side of the huge kitchen Huge: The first floor meanwhile shows an equally impressive plan, with a balcony extending from the master bedroom, which includes a dressing room and make-up room The first floor meanwhile shows an equally impressive plan, with a balcony extending from the master bedroom, which includes a dressing room and make-up room. Every bedroom features an en suite while cupboards are littered through the floor. The first floor features three bedrooms. Second floor plans show two more bedrooms and further en suites. Set on sprawling grounds, the rear of the house boasts a swimming pool plan while the vast drive is set to accommodate a plethora of cars. Sprawling: Second floor plans show two more bedrooms and further en suites Exciting times! Set on sprawling grounds, the rear of the house boasts a swimming pool plan while the vast drive is set to accommodate a plethora of cars Their planning agent previously said: 'This new house has been carefully designed so that it is similar in area and volume to what is currently on the site. 'The new house will sit further back on the site and will create a much more functional family dwelling for our clients. 'The existing house has been extended several times and is not functional, therefore a new house would be a better use of the site.' Lavish: Their planning agent previously said: 'This new house has been carefully designed so that it is similar in area and volume to what is currently on the site. Happy days! On starting a family after moving into their dream home, Mark previously said: 'We say we're going to try [for a baby] every year but something comes up with work' On starting a family after moving into their dream home, Mark previously said: 'We say we're going to try [for a baby] every year but something comes up with work... 'So it'll be Michelle filming in South Africa and then I got the job in Los Angeles so we think, right, we'll try next year. It'll be around December or January, we'll talk about it and we'll go from there. 'With kids, I used to want three or four. But now, I'm 31, we're not having kids any time before 32. I think we could have two or three. Twins would be great because you're getting two out of the way at once! Minister of Trade and Industry Niveen Gamee issued Thursday a decree banning the import of white and raw sugar for a period of three months, a statement by the ministry said. The decree excludes sugar that is imported as supply for pharmaceuticals production, provided the supplies obtain the approval of the health ministry. The ministry added that importing raw sugar will be allowed only with the approval of the ministries of supply, trade and industry regarding import quantities. The decree will come into force as of its publication in the official gazette, according to the statement. Gamee said that the decree was issued in coordination with the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade with the aim of protecting the national industry against fluctuations in global sugar prices, especially raw sugar prices, that declined by 30 percent as a result of the downturn in global oil prices. The action came in light of the Covid-19 outbreak crisis and its implications that harmed Egypts national industry significantly, while giving space for the national sugar industry to recover from the decrease in the global prices," Gamee said. Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi said that the past period witnessed a surge in sugar imports that caused overstocking. He revealed that Egypts total sugar consumption reaches up to 3.2 million tons annually, including 2.4 million tons produced domestically, saying that new projects that will commence production soon will allow Egypt sugar self-sufficiency. Egypts imports of sugars and sugar confectionery recorded $402.6 million during 2019, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. On 9 April, the supply ministry affirmed the availability of all basic commodities and supplies in the domestic market, saying that strategic reserves at the ministry are sufficient for at least three months, especially in essential commodities. Search Keywords: Short link: She's been in a relationship with former Bachelor Matty Johnson since 2017. And Laura Byrne, 33, admits that at times their sex life can be 'lacking'. Speaking on her Podcast Life Uncut this week, the mother-of-one said: 'Sex does become something that you need to prioritise in your relationship.' 'It can feel like a bit of a chore': The Bachelor's Laura Byrne, 33, (right) admitted this week that her sex life with fiance Matty Johnson, 33, (left) at times can be 'lacking' 'And I I know I make jokes about the fact that sometimes it's lacking in mine, but considering we have a one-year-old kid, we're doing alright,' Laura continued, adding: 'I exaggerate the problem.' Her co-host, Bachelor 2018 finalist Brittany Hockley, interjected with a laugh: 'Yeah, you did it last year!' Laura went on to explain the kinds of excuses many people use as a reason not to have sex with their long-term partner. No more excuses! Speaking on her Podcast Life Uncut this week, the mother-of-one (pictured) said: 'Sex does become something that you need to prioritise in your relationship' 'If you're tired, if you've got too much work on, easier just to snuggle on the couch, it becomes something that can feel like a bit of a chore,' she said, adding: 'Until you're doing it and then you're like, 'Oh, that's right I like this'.' The jewellery designer insisted that those who aren't happy with the amount of sex they are having in their relationship should take steps to fix the problem. 'Maybe people are going to hate me for saying this, but there is a part of this that comes into being a little bit lazy and not prioritising sex as a really important part of the relationship,' she insisted. 'Sometimes you have to schedule it': The jewellery designer insisted that those who aren't happy with the amount of sex they are having within their relationship should take steps to fix the problem 'Sometimes you have to schedule it, sometimes you have to put it into the diary,' Laura added. Laura and Matty welcomed their first child, a daughter named Marlie-Mae in June 2019. In January this year, Laura told podcast listeners that her New Year's resolution was to 'have more sex' with Matty, as new parenthood had taken a toll on their sex life. Family: Laura and Matty fell in love on the 2017 season of the Bachelor and became engaged while on vacation in Fiji in April 2019, two months before they welcomed their daughter Marlie-Mae 'I'm getting back on that bandwagon,' Laura said. 'The less of it you have, the less of it you need,' she said. Laura begrudgingly added: 'As much as we absolutely love each, there are aspects of our relationship that have been massively put on the back-burner. I just want to reshuffle my life and put our relationship back up the pile.' The pair became engaged while on vacation in Fiji in April 2019, two months before they welcomed their daughter. Anel Bueno, a local legislator from western Colima state, was abducted on April 29 by an armed group. The body of a legislator from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors party was found in an unmarked grave more than a month after she was kidnapped. Anel Bueno, a local legislator from western Colima state, was abducted on April 29 by an armed group while taking part in a sanitisation project against the coronavirus. During a morning news conference in Campeche, along Mexicos Gulf coast, the president said one suspect was in custody. The Colima state prosecutors office said in a statement on Wednesday Buenos body was found in a grave with those of three men. The bodies were found on Monday, but her remains were not identified until Tuesday. Colima Governor Jose Ignacio Peralta said those responsible would be found, and the state security chief had resigned. The announcement came a day after Peralta confirmed seven bodies found inside a vehicle in the port of Manzanillo were missing state police officers from neighbouring Jalisco state. We still dont know the causes, just that there is someone in custody and there is already a statement about who was responsible, Lopez Obrador said. Local press quoted Buenos mother as saying the family waited more than two weeks to speak publicly on the recommendation of the attorney generals office. Colima has faced a high level of violence because of organised crime in recent years, giving it the highest murder rate in Mexico. Politicians have been targeted before. In 2017 Ixtlahuacans mayor, Crispin Gutierrez, was killed. Last July, the mayor of the port of Manzanillo was attacked with gunfire but escaped unharmed. Despite the lockdown imposed in Mexico over two and a half months ago to help curb the coronavirus pandemic, killings around the country have continued at an alarming pace. With 3,000 murders, March was the most violent month since Lopez Obrador came to power in December 2018. April the first entire month in which the lockdown was in place fared little better with 2,950 murders. Crossing through Russia, Fiji, Antarctica, two seas and three oceans, the 180th Meridian is a geometric wonder and a persistent problem in geography and technology. Its interwoven with problems of projection, interpretation, and interface. Its the reason theres a line through Russia on some maps. You might have already grappled with the nasty 180th and want to know the full story. Anyway, lets begin. Basics & Assumptions Geographic positions are often stored as numbers: longitude and latitude, represented as degrees spanning from -180 to 180 longitude and -90 to 90 degrees latitude. On a typical world map, -180 longitude is the line at the far left of the map, left of the Americas, and 180 longitude is at the far right, right of Russia, China, and Australia. In this article, I will put longitude first. On top of a map, you have data: geometric shapes including points, lines, and polygons. Points are identified just by a longitude, latitude pair. Lines are a list of longitude, latitude positions. Polygons are also lists of longitude, latitude positions in loops. Amongst the many things youll want to put on a map are trips, like flight paths, that can circumnavigate the globe and cross the 180th meridian. Some software treats longitude values outside of the range of -180 to 180 - like longitude=300 as invalid. The Problem How do you represent a line that cross the 180th meridian? How do you represent a polygon that overlaps with the 180th meridian? One step deeper. Lets say you have a line with two coordinates: Longitude -0.12119, Latitude 51.51727 Longitude -1.92913, Latitude 52.47556 Intuitively, these places are close to each other. The first is London, the second is Birmingham. If you were asked to draw a line between the two, itd probably look like this: The direction from the first point to the second is North and East. If you want to find a place between these two, youd average the numbers: (-0.12119 + -1.92913) / 2 = -1.02516 Longitude (51.51727 + 52.47556) / 2 = 51.996415 Latitude Thats somewhere else in England, roughly between the two places, not of note, its probably quaint but its irrelevant. A conclusion to draw: when places are close to each other and far from the 180th meridian, the line between them seems obvious and everything is easy. Lets try an example close to the 180th Meridian. Not to scale or accurately drawn. So inaccurately, in fact, that MacAuley should be north of Auckland. But it was fun to watercolor. Longitude 174.76398, Latitude -36.85496 (Auckland, New Zealand) Longitude -178.43054, Latitude -30.23261 (Macauley Island, also a part of New Zealand) If you were to draw a line between these two places, you have two options: go all the way across, or jump across the 180th meridian. If you were to find a point between them using a simple average, (174.76398 + -178.43054) / 2 = -1.83328 Longitude (-36.85496 + -30.23261) / 2 = -33.543785 Latitude Thats in northern Algeria, half a world away from either place. As humans, going the long way doesnt seem right: the shortest path is common sense. Thats the assumption that wed use in real life: if my friend was traveling from Baltimore to Washington, DC, Id assume they would drive 45 miles down the highway, instead of flying around the world. The problem with intuitive guessing with angles, a parable Someone shows you a coin in their hand, head side up. They turn around, flip the coin, and show you the coin again, head side up again. How many times did it flip? You have no earthly way of knowing. The angle of the coin in the persons hand isnt an absolute number that keeps getting higher the more times it flips. No, every time the coin goes around 360 degrees, its in the same place again. Similarly, when you perfectly execute a 720 double kick-flip on your skateboard or more likely in a video game, you end up where you started off: the skateboard is facing forward. If your friends missed your accomplishment, everythings the same. Back to the issue at hand: how do we represent features that cross the 180th meridian? Attempting intuition You could try to write software that guesses whether -179 and 179 are trying to hop to each other: essentially simulating human judgment. Some software tries to do this, and occasionally itll meet peoples expectations. Apple, in fact, has this behavior in parts of MapKit. But it has real downsides: identifying hops across the 180th is tricky and opinionated. And once you create some magic behavior that automatically connects lines that wouldnt be connected usually, it becomes harder to represent the case where someone does, for some unfathomable but very possible reason, want to represent a flight path the long way from New Zealand to another island in New Zealand. Using longitudes above and below 180 and -180** This has been my personally preferred approach for years. For example, if you want to travel east from Auckland to Macauley Island, instead of going from 174.76398 to -178.43054 longitude, you would travel from 174.76398 to 181.56946: two numbers that are nicely, mathematically, close to each other. To do this, you add or subtract 360 degrees from one of the numbers until its close to the other number on the number line. Theres a downside, and its not just that 200+ longitude values look weird. Many of the programs and libraries that work with geographic data will happily show 180th-meridian-crossing geometries represented this way, but some reject values outside of the -180, -90, 180, 90 box, either clipping and hiding them or failing entirely to avoid undefined behavior. Splitting lines and polygons that cross the 180th into two This is the approach that you might have seen on OpenStreetMap from earlier - the reason why Russia has that unsightly line on OpenStreetMap running right through it. The gist is: given a geometry that passes through the 180th meridian, slice and cut it until you have multiple geometries that dont cross the meridian. In GeoJSON and many other formats, you can use multipart geometries like MultiLineString and MultiPolygon to split up geometries without duplicating information about the features they describe. This, in fact, is the GeoJSON spec recommended solution: In representing Features that cross the antimeridian, interoperability is improved by modifying their geometry. Any geometry that crosses the antimeridian SHOULD be represented by cutting it in two such that neither parts representation crosses the antimeridian. - GeoJSON Spec, 3.1.9 Unlike the other solutions, this one is both free of magic or intuition, and also safe: theres no chance that this encoding will be rejected or misinterpreted by other software. So its easy to interpret correctly, and safe. But there are two relevant downsides: The crease problem. Cartographic software usually draws MultiLineString and MultiPolygon features exactly the same as layered LineStrings and MultiPolygons. So if you have to split your lines and those lines have beginning & ending marks, or you split a polygon and it has a border, there might be a border in the final rendering. Splitting lines isnt obvious. Well, it can seem obvious: to find the midpoint in degrees, you can offset one coordinate by increments of 360 until its close on the number line to the other, find the angle between the two, and then the distance from the eastern-side point to the 180th meridian will be the bottom or top of a right-angle triangle, and you do the high-school trig to get there. Remember SOHCAHTOA. But is the midpoint in longitude, latitude correct? In many cases, it isnt. If you were displaying your map in the Equirectangular projection, it would look right, but few people use that projection. Its nice in that its directly related to longitude & latitude, but fails in most other cartographic aspects. If youre displaying your map in the Web Mercator projection (you probably are) and splitting a line at its midpoint by using longitude and latitude, youre going to get a curved line, unless the latitude of the position on one side is exactly the same as the latitude on the other. With short lines, the curviness wont be very noticeable, but with longer ones it will be. Conclusions The GeoJSON Spec-recommended technique is probably the best way to go. It puts more responsibility in the hands of data producers and avoids any possibility of invalid data. But its not inherently easy to implement - if youre dynamically adding a line to a web map through Leaflets GeoJSON layer type, calculating the split point through the 180th meridian is tricky. A library will likely crop up that contains that complexity. Regardless of the specs recommendation, its likely that the 180th will pose a challenge for mapmakers into the future, regardless of specific technology choices. Longitude and latitude as a means of storing information is a deeply-set assumption for most geography, and the translation of places on a rotating 3D globe into numbers and pictures will always be imperfect and fraught. Post-conclusions Careful readers may glean an idea from the coin flip example: I said that you cant tell how many times a coin has flipped, since its angle is an absolute number, not a number relative to the old position. Most geospatial formats store coordinates in absolute form: each coordinate is recorded in full, so it is encoded as, for instance, -72, 24 , whether that occurs as a point or as one of the positions in a line. There is another way: delta encoding, or relative encoding. With delta encoding, instead of storing each coordinate with absolute numbers, you store the absolute position of the first position in, say, a line, and then store deltas - changes - from that position. For instance, if a line started at -72, 24, instead of storing: -72, 24 to -73, 22 to -77, 20 Youd store -72, 24, and then move by -1, -2, and then move by -4, -2 This somewhat dodges the -180 problem, since a line that crosses the 180th meridian could be encoded as: -179, 24, and then move by -2, 0 (and this ends up at 179, 24 ) That is, youre storing a line as a series of vectors, rather than a series of absolute positions. Since the vectors have direction, you know if youre going a short hop across the 180th, or the long way. Which would be great, except that there are some disadvantages to delta encoding: You cant read or modify an arbitrary coordinate in a line or polygon, since its relative to all of the coordinates before it, and all the coordinates after it will be affected This encoding is clever but unpopular: youll need to convert to and from encodings often, so lowest-common-denominator characteristics win out, every time. There are instances of delta encoding - Mapbox Vector Tiles and TopoJSON both use the technique - MVT is a presentational format and TopoJSON mainly uses it as an efficiency win, rather than an actual functional difference. FAQ Isnt that called the International Date Line ? Not quite. The International Date Line has a lot of overlap with the 180th Meridian, but its not a straight line. It squiggles so that Russia and Fiji are entirely on one side and other island formations arent divided by the line. ? Not quite. The International Date Line has a lot of overlap with the 180th Meridian, but its not a straight line. It squiggles so that Russia and Fiji are entirely on one side and other island formations arent divided by the line. Why is the 180th meridian where it is ? Well, the focus has always been on the Prime Meridian, which moved around until it finally centered on Greenwich when Sir Airy modestly chose his town to be the center of the world. ? Well, the focus has always been on the Prime Meridian, which moved around until it finally centered on Greenwich when Sir Airy modestly chose his town to be the center of the world. What about local datums? (For the uninitiated, there are ways other than longitude and latitude to represent places on Earth - basically mini systems of measurement that could measure feet from some reference point in a town, rather than degrees over the whole world). Okay, so, yes! There are datums that straddle the 180th, and thus let you cleanly save things that cross it. But local datums are, as the name specifies, local: they cant usually be applied to the whole world in any kind of meaningful way, so they arent terribly popular in the world of new software which is usually global-first. Joe Biden cannot afford, even if he wanted to, an independent approach to US policy towards Israel. I do not take too kindly to people telling me that I am an anti-Semite. Though the Democratic Partys presumptive nominee for president, Joe Biden, did not say that to my face, he might just as well have. On May 19, Biden conducted an online fundraiser cohosted by the former Obama ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, and pro-Israel academic, Deborah Lipstadt. According to The New York Times, Biden told donors 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, Biden said. But too often that criticism from the left morphs into anti-Semitism. As a Jew who is on the political left, critical of Israeli apartheid, and a supporter of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), I am clearly what he considers an anti-Semite. Bidens generalisation is not only false, it is offensive. No one tells me that these views are anti-Semitic. Not a fellow Jew. Not a non-Jew. Especially not a presidential candidate who is kissing the behinds of pro-Israel donors in order to rake in big campaign bucks. Biden followed with comments that were not so much offensive as disingenuous, and showed a total divorce from current Israeli political reality. He said he was disappointed in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for having moved so, so far to the right and called for Israel to stop the threat of annexation of occupied West Bank territories. Itll choke off any hope of peace, Biden said. Netanyahu did not move to the right. He has been a fascist all his political life. As for the threat of annexation it is not a threat, it is a promise inscribed in the current governing coalition agreement. Israel will annex the Jordan Valley. The question is what will Biden do about it. And the answer is clear nothing. Aside from the usual nostrums and bromides. Just a few weeks earlier, Biden had said that he opposed United States President Donald Trumps short-sighted and frivolous decision to move the US mission in Israel to Jerusalem, but now that its done, I would not move the embassy back to Tel Aviv. Biden in effect has endorsed one of the most incendiary decisions of Trumps presidency, moving the US embassy to the divided city of Jerusalem: endorsing Israeli sovereignty, including over East Jerusalem, which is supposedly reserved for a Palestinian capital. This Democratic presidential hopeful, who served as vice president in an administration that refused to do any of these things, has swallowed the poison pill and declared it delicious. Bidens white paper addressed to Jewish voters, The Jewish Community: a Record and a Plan of Friendship, Support, and Action offers more disheartening content. While he promises to resume aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), he conditions it on the PA halting its welfare payments to the surviving family of shahids who died at the hands of Israel. As PA President Mahmoud Abbas has refused such demands in the past, this would mean that Biden would effectively continue Trumps cutoff of all support to the Palestinians. In earlier statements, Bidens senior adviser Tony Blinken had explained that his candidate would not condition US aid to Israel on Israels adherence to international law. He [Biden] would not tie military assistance to Israel to any political decisions that it makes. Period. Full stop. He said it; hes committed to it. Blinken also emphasised that, if elected president, Biden will push back against the BDS movement as well as efforts to denounce Israel for its violations of international law at the United Nations. Will we stand up forcefully against it and try to prevent it, defuse it and defeat it? Absolutely, he said. Bidens senior adviser then added for good measure this even more insulting condescension towards the Palestinian people and its leadership: In the category of Never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity, I think a reminder to Palestinians that they can and should do better and deserve better and that requires leadership: leadership to make clear the reality of the Jewish state; leadership to make clear the need to end incitement and violence; leadership to bring people along for the prospect of negotiating. If I had a nickel for every pro-Israel politician who offered uninvited advice to Palestinians saying they deserved better and would do so much better if they only accepted the reality of things, I would be a rich man. In essence, such a statement demands they should accept the decimation of every aspiration they might have and every right to justice. Biden cannot afford a progressive Palestine-Israel policy In a conventional Democratic presidential campaign, more than 50 percent of cash contributions originate from Jewish pocketbooks. Unlike the grassroots campaign of Bernie Sanders, which relied on millions of small donations, Bidens is the most conventional of such campaigns and desperately needs the support of pro-Israel CEOs and hedge fund managers capable of giving millions. The upshot is that Biden cannot afford, even if he wanted to, an independent approach to US policy towards Israel. He must do what the Israel lobby and its donors dictate. His presidency would follow the same tack. The linchpin of Bidens Israel-Palestine policy is a two-state solution. It is a dead letter. Some may not see the danger in pinning an entire foreign policy on a faded delusion. But there is a steep price. When you base such policy on the belief in something that does not and cannot exist, you render yourself irrelevant to the region. You offer no solution. You offer houses built of sand. This means that the region will continue to shake with unrest like a powder keg about to explode. And Biden will have nothing relevant to offer. He will be worse than Obama, who himself was a failure in the region. He will be slightly better than Trump. But that is not saying much. It is like the doctor telling you he has good news and bad news. The good news: you do not have inoperable cancer. The bad news: you have multiple sclerosis. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Have you picked the Best Actress for TV? If not, check the list below for your eyes to spark and hearts beat fast. 56th Baeksang Arts Awards is on its way to reveal the brightest star for her TV performance! This week, the Best Actress award will highlight the stellar performances of the nominated actresses from 2019 to 2020. Let's get to know them once more. Gong Hyo Jin as Dong Baek in "When the Camellia Blooms" She is a single mother who owns a bar-resto named Camellia. She grew as an orphan and fell in love with a police officer who protects her from showing his sincere love. The show gained popularity for its unique plot and script. Gong Hyo Jin won her first Best Actress Baeksang Arts award in her drama series "The Greatest Love" in 2012. This is her second performance nomination for the category. "When the Camellia Blooms" also gained nominations in different categories this year: 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Categories: Best Drama Best Director for TV Best Screenplay Best Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Actress Best New Actor Best Supporting Actress Kim Hye Soo as Jung Geum Ja in "Hyena" She is a smart and determined elite lawyer. She will do anything to win a court case for her wealthy clients in whatever forms it will lead her. This is Kim Hye Soo's third time to be nominated for the Best Actress award for TV. She won Best Actress for TV (1996) and Best Actress for a film (2005 and 2019) in Baeksang Arts Award. "Hyena" gained nominations in different categories this year: 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Categories: Best Drama Best Actor Best Script Best Supporting Actor Best Actress Kim Hee Ae as Ji Sun Woo in "The World of the Married" Ji Sun Woo is a successful family doctor who has a perfect marriage with a husband who struggles to reach success in his career. Everything fell apart when she discovered that her friends and family knew about his husband's affair, but no one told her. She is determined to avenge the pain and fight for her son's future. Kim Hee Ae received Best Actress awards for TV under Baeksang Awards last 1993, 2003, and 2013. This is her fourth time to be nominated in the same category. "The World of the Married" gained nominations in different categories this year: 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Categories: Best Director for TV Best Supporting Actor Best Actress Best New Actress Son Ye Jin as Yoon Se Ri in "Crash Landing On You" She went paragliding and landed by accident in North Korea. Due to border restrictions, she is in danger, but with the help of a soldier, she made it back to South Korea. The two, however, fell in love through their journey, and her quest to have a lasting relationship with the captain moved viewers. This is Son Ye Jin's second nomination for Best Actress on TV. She won her first award in 2007 and received two Best Actress awards in the film category last 2009 and 2017 in the same award-giving body. "Crash Landing On You" gained nominations in different categories this year: 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Categories: Best Drama Best Director Best Actor Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Screenplay IU as Jang Man Weol in "Hotel del Luna" She is the CEO of an old hotel that caters to dead people before departing from the living realm. A mistake of the past leads her to work and stay in the hotel for the longest time. IU also sang the ending OST of the said drama series. "Hotel del Luna" nomination for this year: 56th Baeksang Arts Awards "Best Actress." In case you missed it, here are the actors competing for the "Best Actor" award for TV on this year's Baeksang Arts Awards. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL June 4, 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: Diamondback Energy FANG, Cimarex Energy XEC, Pioneer Natural Resources PXD, EOG Resources EOG and Parsley Energy PE. Here are highlights from Wednesdays Analyst Blog: 4 Key Factors That Could Kill the Upside Momentum for Oil Oil prices are finally on the mend, having rocketed more than 88% in May. On Tuesday, the commodity logged its highest settlement since early March. Oil futures fell to an all-time low in April and even went negative for a while, as the coronavirus pandemic destroyed demand amid ramped up production. Crudes phenomenal run was fueled by the OPEC+ production cuts, rising demand, a pullback in U.S. shale output and continuation of the Phase 1 trade deal with China. With prices at their highest level in three months, traders and investors are wondering whether the rally can be sustained. Let's look at some factors that could lead to a near-term sell-off in oil. The first is the tensions between the United States and China. Investors are growing increasingly wary about the impact of renewed flare-ups between the United States and China over the latters plan to impose new security legislation on Hong Kong. The deteriorating relations between the worlds two largest energy consumers cast a pall over the nascent oil recovery. For the record, China is the world's largest crude importer and is second-biggest oil consumer behind the United States. While it was confirmed that President Trump would continue with the Phase 1 trade agreement with Beijing, a protracted dispute between the worlds two top economic superpowers could spook the oil market again. The second reason is uncertainty surrounding Russias stance in extending the OPEC+ production cuts. Story continues There has been conflicting information about whether Moscow will go ahead with the groups oil supply management policy. 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. Per the plan, the initial reduction would last for two months. Beginning July, the production cap would be relaxed to 8 million barrels per day through the remainder of this year. OPEC cartels biggest producer and exporter Saudi Arabia, who pledged an additional 1 million barrels per day in cuts over and above its agreed-upon quota, is not in favor of easing curbs until the end of 2020. However, Riyadh is yet to get confirmation from Russia on extending the record cuts beyond July. Last time, a feud between the two caused the historic collapse in crude prices. The third is the potential increase in shale output. Recent U.S. government data has been supportive in terms of U.S. producers scaling back operations. Weekly figures show output has dropped to 11.4 million barrels per day, since reaching 13.1 million in the second week of March. In particular, volumes from United States number one basin Permian - is set to fall by 87,000 bbl/d month over month to 4.3 MMbbl/d in June the second month of decline, as the likes of Diamondback Energy, Cimarex Energy, Pioneer Natural Resources and others invest a lot less money into the unconventional play in 2020. However, crudes rise from the bottom could encourage the shale patch to ramp up or resume drilling activities. In fact, the sharp gains in the price have already prompted EOG Resources and Parsley Energy carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) - to plan for potential revival of production. This will offset the output curbs elsewhere and weigh on the outlook for prices. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. And finally, the specter of unsupportive U.S. government data. Last week, the federal governments EIA report revealed that domestic supplies of crude posted a surprise climb. For the week ending May 22, oil inventories rose by 7.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.2 million barrels decrease. A big jump in imports from Saudi Arabia accounted for the surprise stockpile increase with the world's biggest oil consumer. This put total domestic stocks at 534.4 million barrels 12.2% above the year-ago figure and 13% over the five-year average. Another crude build would indicate that the historic supply cut pact is not enough for the market to rebalance, pushing prices back. Conclusion Oil prices have staged a remarkable comeback after falling into a deep abyss in April. But there is more than one instance over the past few years that the commoditys run up have been short lived due to one or the other reason mentioned above. Therefore, investors must exercise caution while buying oil company shares amid crude's latest rally. 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 Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD) : Free Stock Analysis Report EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Parsley Energy, Inc. (PE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Gaia Metals Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV:GMC)(OTCQB:RGDCF)(FSE:R9G) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an arm's-length, non-binding, letter of intent (the "LOI") with DG Resource Management Ltd ("DGRM"), whereby the Company may acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Freeman Creek Property (the "Property"). The Property consists of 76 claims covering approximately 599 hectares (1,481 acres) and is located on BLM lands, outside of US Forest Service Lands and other protective areas, within the state of Idaho, USA. The Freeman Creek Property is located approximately 15 km northwest of Salmon, Idaho, and is accessible via paved highway and a network of gravel roads and trails. The Property hosts two major advanced targets; the Gold Dyke Prospect located to the west, which is an interpreted high-sulphidation epithermal gold system related to a porphyry intrusive, and the historical Carmen Creek Mine Prospect, located approximately 3 km to the northeast (see Figures 1 and 2 below). Gold Dyke Prospect Gold and silver mineralization at the Gold Dyke Prospect is hosted by Precambrian Lemhi Group sediments and has seen early development and sporadic exploration from about 1910 to 1986. The base and precious metal mineralization is associated with a gossan at surface and has been traced over 1500 feet (457 m) along strike and 600 feet (183 m) vertical. Historical exploration, circa 1910, included the completion of several open cut trenches and adits into the known mineralization. Sampling from these trenches returned 6.86 g/t Au and 199 g/t Ag over 7.0 m, 5.49 g/t Au and 130 g/t Ag over 5.8 m, and 19.9 g/t Au, 65 g/t Ag, and 1.05% Cu over 3.7 m. In addition, a grab sample collected from one of the open cuts assayed 60.0 g/t Au and 1,440 g/t Ag. During the 1970's and 1980's exploration included a limited number of drill holes along two north-south orientated fences, spaced less than 200 m apart. The mineralization remains open to the east of drill holes RDH 8 and RDH 10, both reverse circulation drill holes respectively, which are the eastern most holes completed to date at the Gold Dyke Prospect. A summary of historical drill results follows: Hole #1 (1970's): 0.46 g/t Au, 7.1 g/t Ag, and 0.10% Cu over 13.7 m RDH 8 (1980's): 1.5 g/t Au and 12.1 g/t Ag over 44.2 m RDH 10 (1980's): 1.7 g/t Au and 17.1 g/t Ag over 21.3 m Subsequent to the drill testing in the 1980s, Cominco and BHP explored the Property in the 1990s for large-scale copper potential; however, records of this exploration have not been located. Carmen Creek Mine Prospect The Freeman Creek Property also hosts the past-producing Carmen Creek Mine, located approximately 3 km to the northeast of the Gold Dyke Prospect. A small mill was installed at the site in 1910 to process gold ore from the mine, initially discovered in 1904; however, few records exist detailing the Carmen Creek Mine's development, production, or head grade. Historical samples from surface outcrop and mine workings assayed 14.15 g/t Au, 63 g/t Ag, and 1.2% Cu, and 1.8 g/t Au, 43 g/t Ag, and 1% Cu, respectively The style of mineralization at Carmen Creek is described as "a gold and copper bearing exhalate zone, a few tens of meters thick". At the mine, the "gold and copper are concentrated in lenses of massive quartz and magnetite". Adrian Lamoureux, President, CEO, and Director of Gaia Metals Corp. comments, "The opportunity to acquire a 100% interest in a significant gold asset such as Freeman Creek at a time when precious metals are seeing near unparalleled interest, provides the Company an opportunity to advance and expand upon known mineralization through the drill bit. The historical work at Freeman Creek appears to have only scratched the surface of this project's potential. Coupled with a relatively simple and straight forward permitting process, we are excited to aggressively pursue this opportunity". The nature and style of mineralization observed at Freeman Creek is characteristic of high sulfidation epithermal gold deposits and related porphyry copper-gold systems. Some notable examples of this deposit type include Yanacocha, Peru, and Pierina, Peru. Management cautions that past results or discoveries of interpreted analogous deposits (i.e. Yanacocha and Pierina) may not necessarily be indicative to the presence of mineralization on the Freeman Creek Property. Immediate exploration plans for the Property include ground mapping and soil sampling, and potential ground geophysics, to be followed by a drill program anticipated to take place during summer months (permitting has been initiated). The objective of the work will be to verify and expand upon historical results. Transaction Outlined by LOI Under the terms of the LOI, the Company may acquire a 100% interest in the Property by paying a total of $90,000, issuing an aggregate 4,000,000 common shares (the "Consideration Shares") and 2,000,000 common share purchase warrants, exercisable at $0.10 and expiring three years from issuance (the "Consideration Warrants") as follows: $10,000 upon signing of an option agreement (the "Option Agreement"); $40,000, 2,000,000 Consideration Shares and 1,000,000 Consideration Warrants upon receipt of TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") approval of the Option Agreement; and $40,000, 2,000,000 Consideration Shares and 1,000,000 Consideration Warrants on the one-year anniversary of Exchange approval of the Option Agreement. In the event that a gold equivalent resource of more than 1 million ounces is outlined within a NI 43-101 Resource Estimate on the Property, the Company shall pay $1,000,000, payable in shares or cash or a combination of both, at the Company's discretion. In the case of a share issuance, the shares shall be issued at a price using the average market price of the previous 30 trading days preceding the share issuance. DGRM shall retain a 2.5% net smelter return royalty ("NSR") on the Property, of which the Company shall have the right to purchase half (1.25%) for $1,500,000. Figure 1: Location of the Freeman Creek Property Figure 2: Summary of historical work at the Gold Dyke Prospect NI 43-101 Disclosure Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Company and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release. About Gaia Metals Corp. Gaia Metals Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects containing base and precious metals, including platinum group elements, and lithium. The Company's primary assets are the wholly owned Corvette Property, and the FCI Property (held under Option from O3 Mining Inc., a recent spin-out from Osisko Mining Inc., for a 75% interest) located in the James Bay Region of Quebec. The properties are contiguous and host significant gold-silver-copper-PGE-lithium potential highlighted by the Golden Gap Prospect with grab samples of 3.1 to 108.9 g/t Au from outcrop and 10.5 g/t Au over 7 m in drill hole, the Elsass and Lorraine prospects with 8.15% Cu, 1.33 g/t Au, and 171 g/t Ag in outcrop, and the CV1 Pegmatite Prospect with 2.28% Li2O over 6 m in channel. In addition, the Company holds the Pontax Lithium-Gold Property, QC; the Golden Silica Property, BC; and the Hidden Lake Lithium Property, NWT, where the Company maintains a 40% interest, as well as several other assets in Canada. For further information, please contact Adrian Lamoureux, President & CEO at Tel: 778-945-2950, E-mail: adrian@gaiametalscorp.com or visit www.gaiametalscorp.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors, "ADRIAN LAMOUREUX" Adrian Lamoureux, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward Looking Statements: Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. SOURCE: Gaia Metals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592597/Gaia-Metals-Corp-Acquires-the-Freeman-Creek-Gold-Property-with-Historical-Drill-Intercept-of-15-gt-Au-and-121-gt-Ag-over-442-m-Idaho-USA On May 3, 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve region in the South of Portugal, three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared. Now, 13 years later, a lead suspect has been identified: a 43-year old German male who authorities have not yet named. The announcement is a step towards unraveling what remains one of Britain's most famous unsolved crimes. Prosecutors believe she is dead and German authorities are treating her disappearance as a murder investigation. The girls parents, Kate and Gerry have called the news the biggest lead in the case in 13 years a spokesperson for the couple, Clarence Mitchell, told Sky News. "[Madeleine's parents] are realistic, they simply want to know what happened to their daughter he added. The abduction spurred a massive manhunt around Europe. Some notable names, including J.K.Rowling, contributed to a multi-million pound reward, while soccer star David Beckham publicly appealed to the public for information about her kidnapping. Yet the amount of money spent on the investigation, which until now had produced no lead suspect, had become a topic of debate in the U.K. press. The most recent investigation by Metropolitan Police in London which began in 2011 cost nearly $14 million, BBC reported. PHOTO: This photo provided by the German Federal Police, Bundeskriminalamt, BKA, on June 3, 2020, shows a camper van vehicle. (Bundeskriminalamt via AP, FILE) (MORE: Qualified immunity for police getting fresh look by Supreme Court after George Floyd death) The suspect is currently serving a long sentence in a German prison for sexually abusing children. During a press conference in Braunschweig, Germany, on Wednesday, the region where the suspect last held residence before moving to Portugal, authorities said he was a sexual predator who had already been convicted of crimes against little girls and had been sentenced to prison several times on related counts. Between 1995 and 2007 the suspect had been living in the Algarve, at times out of a camper van from the 1980s. Authorities determined he had been living in a house near the Praia da Luz resort from which Madeleine disappeared one evening while her parents were at a nearby tapas bar with friends. At the time, local police concluded it was a kidnapping: a stranger had broken into the apartment while Madeleine, known as Maddie was sleeping, along with her twin sisters. Story continues While living in Portugal, the suspect pursued several odd jobs in the Lagos area, including in the catering trade. There are also indications that he may have made his living by committing crimes such as burglary theft in hotel complexes and holiday apartments, as well as drug trafficking. The Braunschweig Federal Prosecutors Office wrote in a statement. PHOTO:Madeleine McCann is seen here in an undated file photo. (AP, FILE) (MORE: Feds charge 3 self-identified 'boogaloo' adherents plotting violence at Black Lives Matter protest) Now, authorities are turning to the public for help to crack the case and have offered a $25,000 reward (20,000) for information leading to a conviction. "As part of the investigation carried out by Germany's criminal police, Britain's Metropolitan Police and Portugal's Policia Judiciaria at the request of the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, we are now asking the public for help. A call for witnesses was published yesterday on the internet site of the German criminal police" said Braunschweig State Prosecutor, Hans Christian Wolters in Tuesdays press conference. Police are requesting information about two cell phone numbers, one of which belonged to a person whom police believe is a highly significant witness. They have released photos of two vehicles the suspect could have used during the time of the disappearance. The first is a 1993 British Jaguar with German license plates and the second is a Westfalia campervan from the early 1980s which the suspect used in and around the area of Praia da Luz. We believe he was living in this van for days, possibly weeks, and may have been using it on 3 May 2007. German prisoner identified as main suspect in 2007 disappearance of 3-year-old during a family vacation originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The oil leaked from a fuel tank in Siberia. An angry Putin asks: Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?" The spill drifted about 12 kilometres contaminating a 350 sq km area. For experts, it might take five to ten years to clean up at a cost of US.5 billion. Moscow (AsiaNews) Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency yesterday after 20,000 metric tonnes of highly toxic diesel oil leaked into a river in the Arctic Circle on 29 May from a fuel tank at a power plant in the Siberian city of Norilsk. It took two days before local authorities noticed the spill, which infuriated Putin. In a televised press conference, Russias strongman slammed the top brass of the company that owns the plant, Norilsk Nickel, the world's leading nickel and palladium producer. Why did government agencies only find out about this, two days after the fact?" he asked the subsidiary's chief, Sergei Lipin. "Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?" The president ordered an investigation into the spill. A manager at the power plant has already been detained in connection with the accident. Meanwhile, the government has sent additional personnel to assist with the clean-up operations. The leaked oil drifted some 12 kilometres from the accident site contaminating a 350 sq km area. According to press reports, this is the second worst accident of its kind in the country, the first in the Arctic, one of the regions of the world most affected by global warming. According to Geophysical Research Letters, the average temperature above the Arctic Circle is already two degrees higher than that of the pre-industrial era. At this rate, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free and open to shipping by 2050. For environmental groups, this incident is comparable to the Exxon Valdez disaster, when an oil tanker sank off the coast of Alaska in 1989, spilling 37,000 metric tonnes of oil into the sea. Quoted by the BBC, Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of Russia's environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said that the clean-up could cost 100 billion rubles (US.5 billion) and take between five and 10 years. Our Divisions Copyright 2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. Some complaints have recently surfaced about the difficulty to find some medications, including vitamins C, D, and zinc, in pharmacies The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) said on Thursday there is no protective protocol for coronavirus, adding that overdosing on medications and vitamins without prescriptions has grave side effects. "There are currently no medications that have proven efficient for the prevention against or treatment of coronavirus and the authority does not recommend self-medication with any drugs, including antibiotics, whether to protect against or treat Covid-19," the EDA stressed in a statement on Thursday. The EDA's call came one day after Egypt's health minister Hala Zayed appealed to all nationals to not stockpile medicines, especially immunity drugs, to guarantee they are available for all patients. Zayed also urged pharmaceutical companies' representatives to multiply production, particularly of immunity drugs, to meet citizens' needs. Some complaints have recently surfaced about the difficulty to find some medications, including vitamins C, D, and zinc in pharmacies, after some social media users -- including doctors and pharmacists -- highlighted their significance as assistant factors to help the immune system fight coronvirus. The drug authority reiterated the health ministrys appeal to not hoard immunity medicines, nutritional supplements and vitamins, particularly those included in the Egyptian treatment protocol for the fast-growing disease. "This may cause a shortage in these drugs and inflict harm on patients," the drug authority warned. The authority appealed to physicians and pharmacists to not publicise any recommendations or prescriptions on the respiratory illness via social media, warning them against causing complications and side effects for citizens. The EDA's red-flag is not the first of its kind as the Egyptian medical syndicate in March called on its members to not prescribe any drugs for any patient through social media without conducting the medical examination. Posting treatment for COVID-19 patients on social media could lead to undesirable consequences and cause shortage of some important drugs for other diseases as well, the syndicate emphasised. The drug authority said that getting too much vitamin D could lead to general weakness, kidney problems, vomiting and nausea, in addition to causing arrhythmia when taken with the Digoxin drug. According to the EDA, having excessive amounts of zinc in the body could lead to influenza-like symptoms, changes in normal smell and taste sense, vomiting and nausea, in addition to lowering blood sugar levels. The same happens when it comes to overdosing on vitamin C, the EDA said, adding that it causes headaches, insomnia, diarrhea, and other symptoms. It also has a negative effect on children's health during pregnancy and lactation, and could increase the risk of death from heart diseases for diabetics. Egypt's COVID-19 treatment protocol for mild patients includes vitamin c and zinc along with other drugs and antibiotics, according to a document published by the health ministry earlier this week. The government launched an app, Sehet Masr (Health of Egypt"), through which the health ministry has urged Egyptians to increase the amount of vegetables and fruits containing vitamin C and A to ameliorate the immune system. Egypt has recorded a total of 28,615 coronavirus infections and 1,088 deaths until Wednesday. Search Keywords: Short link: Joe Biden (left) and Donald Trump Ron Adar | Echoes Wire | Barcroft Media via Getty Images; Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images With the 2020 election now less than five months away, polls show former Vice President Joe Biden pulling further ahead of President Donald Trump, even as the apparent Democratic nominee's campaign remains hampered by the coronavirus. While Biden has outpaced Trump in most national polls since launching his White House bid in April 2019, the former vice president's lead has widened significantly since last month, according to polling averages from RealClearPolitics. RCP's average currently gives Biden a 7.8 percentage point lead over Trump a significant jump from the 5.3-point edge Biden held in early May. On June 4, 2016, the RCP polling average showed then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump by 1.5 points. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Some individual polls show an even wider gap between Biden and the incumbent. A Monmouth University poll of 742 registered voters released Wednesday found that Biden led Trump by 11 points, with 52% of voters supporting Biden and 41% backing Trump. Biden scored a 10-point lead over Trump in another poll of 835 registered voters from ABC News and The Washington Post on Sunday. And a CNBC/Change Research poll this week found Biden has a 48%-41% advantage over Trump among national likely voters. The previous version of that survey gave Biden just a 3-point lead over Trump. "Everyone knows public polling is notoriously wrong about President Trump," said Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign's communications director, in a statement to CNBC. "Our internal data consistently shows the President running strong against a defined Joe Biden in all of our key states," Murtaugh said. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Trump is trailing Biden even in private campaign polls, citing people briefed on recent polling results. According to RCP, Biden also holds leads, albeit narrower ones, in key swing states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which Trump flipped in 2016. Biden also recently surged to the lead in betting markets. The polls from Monmouth and others surveyed respondents after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died during an arrest after a white police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes. The arrest, which was captured on video, set off a nationwide protest movement against police brutality and systemic racism. Monmouth University polling director Patrick Murray suggested the reaction to Floyd's death was a factor in Trump's decline in the polls against Biden. "The race continues to be largely a referendum on the incumbent. The initial reaction to ongoing racial unrest in the country suggests that most voters feel Trump is not handling the situation all that well," Murray said in a press release. Biden's rise in the polls comes even as the candidate himself has steered clear of in-person campaign events amid the coronavirus crisis. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hamia Sophia Fatima (The Jakarta Post) Vermont Thu, June 4, 2020 18:26 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc30892 3 Opinion Racism,Papua,racism-in-indonesia,black-lives-matter,George-Floyd,protest Free There are often mean jokes made about Papuans. One day, someone told me, Youre beautiful, like a Papuan! and then laughed hysterically. What he implied was that Papuan people are not beautiful. It is common for someone to equate beauty with having light skin and a pointed nose, like Europeans. What has shaped such a mindset? Was it the years of colonialism in our past? Has it been instilled in us that Caucasian features are superior because of the hundreds of years that they forced us to crane our heads up toward them, belittled and ashamed? Sadly, this is a mindset ingrained into many people in Indonesia, perhaps even throughout Asia. Is it not true that saying to someone, Oh, youve gotten whiter! is a compliment in this country? And isnt saying, Oh, youve gotten darker! offensive to us? The well-intentioned commenter of your darkening skin color would then recommend you some whitening products, or to stay out of the sun. Besides existing in the way we speak to each other, colorism is interweaved into the fabric of our society. It exists in the beauty products, all advertised to lighten your complexion. It exists in the way we powder kids until their brown face becomes gray. It exists in the fact that so many of the faces on television, such as actors and news anchors, are light-skinned. With the recent death of George Floyd and the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, now, more than ever, is a time to reevaluate Indonesias own racism and colorism. It would be a shame if we were to be abhorred by the situation in the United States, but remain blind to what happens in our country. In August 2019, for example, a dormitory of Papuan university students in Surabaya was sieged by police, who thought that they had ripped the Indonesian flag. Yet, the police did not investigate further and lacked proof of the students guilt. When the police sieged the dorm, they insulted the students with racist comments and attacked them with tear gas. Is it not disappointing that the police, who should know the law better than any average person, were the ones who performed vigilantism? This event led to a riot that caused at least 33 deaths and the displacement of at least 8,000 indigenous Papuans and other Indonesians, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch. Since then, more police have been deployed to Papua. Yet, this case is only one of many in a history of abuses toward Papuans, including the killings of Papuans in Enarotali in 2015 and in Wamena in 2012. Violence is often met with violence, just like what is happening in the US. Perhaps we need to think from a different point of view, that violence stems from fear. The Papuans rioted because they feared discrimination for what should be their rights: a just legal system and equal treatment to that of other Indonesians. Then, what caused police violence against the students? Was it also fear? If so, then fear from what? Was it fear of a large group of people based on misconstrued stereotypes? If so, then this fear will only perpetuate a cycle, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because when we behave toward someone as if they are harsh, then that person will indeed act harshly to us due to our mistreatment of them. Papua is also underdeveloped, particularly in education and health facilities. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the percentage of libraries to schools is less than 40 percent in Papua, whereas in other provinces it is over 50 percent. Furthermore, school participation was the lowest among all provinces in 2017, at 80.69 percent. Papua also had the highest rate of poverty in Indonesia in 2018, at 27.43 percent, compared to Jakartas 3.55 percent. We might feel that these problems, and the issue of ensuring development nationwide, are just those of the government. This kind of thinking is partly due to the privilege of being born non-Papuan. The plight of Papua is only the manifestation of its harsh history and its mistreatment by others, not because Papuans are backward, as many think. In that case, the grievances of Papuans should concern us all, since their history is also our history the common result of the divide and conquer rule of the colonizers. Thus, while the US social and political situation is important, one must remember the institutional and personal forms of racism in ones own country. Perhaps a call to reform of the security sector is needed to prevent future abuses, and for justice for the ones who have died in the struggle against impunity and injustice. Without the guarantee of safety from those who are meant to maintain peace that is, the police and military violence will likely continue. Mostly, it is important to reflect on how racism and colorism occur in our daily lives, and take steps to having relevant conversations and learning how to dismantle those views. All races and colors are beautiful. All traditions are valuable. Lets remember our unity in our diversity. Our Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. *** Middlebury College, Vermont, United States, majoring in anthropology Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. A Spanish porn star is being investigated for manslaughter after a man died from inhaling toad venom vapour in his house. Nacho Vidal, 46, was named as a suspect after fashion photographer Jose Luis Abad died from inhaling fumes from a Colorado River toad near Valencia in July 2019. Vidal, who has starred in more than 600 adult films, was arrested on Thursday after Mr Abad died at his home in the Valencian town of Enguera. Mr Abad is believed to have been engaging in a mystic ritual when he inhaled vapour from the psychedelic toad. Spanish porn star Nacho Vidal, 46, is being investigated for manslaughter after fashion photographer Jose Luis Abad died at his home in Enguera, Valencia, in July 2019 after inhaling vapour from a Colorado River toad The Spanish Civil Guard said: 'Officers began the investigation after the death of a person during a mystical ritual involving the inhalation of vapours from the venom of the bufo alvarius toad. 'At the conclusion of an 11-month investigation, we have been able to establish that an offence of involuntary manslaughter and a public health offence had occurred, allegedly committed by those who organised and presided over the ritual.' The toad, a rare species native to the Sonoran Desert from northern Mexico to California and Arizona, secretes venom containing a very powerful natural psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT. Its effects have been compared to ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic concoction from the Amazon consumed as part of a shamanic ritual. The Colorado River Toad is a rare species native to the Sonoran Desert from northern Mexico to California and Arizona, which secretes venom containing a very powerful natural psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT Vidals lawyer, Daniel Salvador, denied the porn star had acted as a shaman in the ritual. He told Spanish news agency EFE: 'Nacho is very upset by the death of this person, but he considers himself to be innocent. 'With all due respect to the dead man and his family, Nacho maintains that the consumption [of the venom] was completely voluntary.' Nacho Vidal, whose real name is Ignacio Jorda Gonzalez, posted a YouTube video in 2016 describing the healing effects of using the toad's venom. He was arrested with another man and a woman, aged between 37 and 50, all of Spanish nationality. CANBERRA, Australia - Canberra Airport opened a register for travellers interested in flying from the Australian capital to New Zealand on July 1 in a proposed resumption of international travel. The proposal to restart flights connecting the two capitals was under discussion between the two governments as well as Qantas and Air New Zealand, Canberra Airport Managing Director Stephen Byron said Thursday. Under the proposal, the flights between Canberra and Wellington would not require quarantine of passengers. Canberra Airport opened its register of interest for the first flight on July 1 and 140 names were added within the first hour. Theres very strong demand for these flights which supports the commercial proposition, but it also underlines the social importance of starting these flights as soon as the health authorities deem it safe to do so, Byron told The Associated Press. We do think that the time is right now for government to set a date and for the parties to work together to deliver the service on that date, Byron added. Return flights would leave Wellington and Canberra on the first morning that flights were allowed, he said. We have to be safe, there no doubt, but the number of infections on both sides is very low. It is crucial that this is just a trial ... and weve chosen the two most COVID-safe cities in the world, almost, Bryon said. New Zealand is on the verge of eradicating the virus after it notched a 13th straight day with no reported new infections. Only a single person in the nation of 5 million people is known to still have the virus, and that person is not hospitalized. However, it remains likely that the country will import new cases once it reopens its borders, and officials say their aim remains to stamp out new infections as they arise. In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region: INDIAS TOLL RISING: Indias tally of COVID-19 fatalities has crossed the 6,000-mark after registering 260 deaths in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 9,304 new cases of the coronavirus in another biggest single-day spike, raising the total infections to 216,919 with 6,075 deaths. The Health Ministry said it was ramping up testing across the country with 4 million people tested so far. India has faced a spike in infections in recent weeks, mostly in cities. The coastal state of Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected with 74,860 cases and 2,587 deaths. India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the pandemic. 39 CASES IN SOUTH KOREA: South Korea confirmed 39 additional cases of the coronavirus, all but three in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area as authorities are struggling to contain a resurgence of COVID-19. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the newly reported cases raised the countrys total to 11,629 with 273 deaths. The agency says 10,499 of them have recovered while 857 remain in treatment. South Korea faces a spike in new infections in recent weeks, mostly in the Seoul area where about half of the countrys 51 million people reside. Those cases have been linked to nightlife establishments, church gatherings and a large e-commerce warehouse. Authorities have subsequently shut thousands of nightclubs and other venues. CURFEW IN SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka imposed a two-day curfew across the country on Thursday and Friday, in an apparent move to restrict public movement during a key Buddhist holiday and a long weekend. Sri Lankas majority Buddhists celebrate Poson Poya on Friday, which marks the introduction of Buddhism in the 3rd century B.C. The curfew came nearly two weeks after the government relaxed the 2-month lockdown. There are 1,749 confirmed cases in Sri Lanka, including 839 who have recovered, and 11 deaths. AUSTRALIA OFFERS GRANTS FOR NEW HOMES: Australias government has thrown the residential building sector a lifeline from a pandemic downturn by offering 25,000 Australian dollar ($17,323) grants to people who want to build new homes or substantially renovate existing dwellings. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday the grants were expected to cost AU$680 million ($471 million) by the end of the year. The grants would support those families and those Australians whose dream it was to build their home or to do that big renovation -- a dream that they thought might have been crushed by the coronavirus, Morrison told reporters. The government announced Wednesday that the Australian economy had entered its first recession since 1991. ___ Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak A seven-year-old boy who wanted to pray for police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, became a viral sensation after a photo of him praying with an officer was shared on June 1. Trey Elliott wanted to pray for the Tulsa Police Department as they worked at the recent demonstrations across the city. According to Fox 23, Treys mother, Brittany, and her husband, Billy, had been talking with their son about the protests in Tulsa and the protests around the country when he had the idea. Footage by Brittany taken on June 3 shows Trey praying with more officers, who visited their home especially to pray with the child. Credit: Brittany Elliott via Storyful Fitbit says it has also worked with Oregon Health & Science University emergency medicine clinicians at OHSU Hospital so Fitbit Flow is able to meet the needs of practitioners. Fitbit is doing more than making smartwatches and fitness bands this year. To help those affected by Covid-19, the firm has made a ventilator. This high-quality, low-cost, easy-to-use ventilator called Fitbit Flow is certified by Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as well. This new product is said to be inspired by the MIT E-Vent Design Toolbox and based on specifications for Rapidly Manufactured Ventilation Systems. Fitbit says it has also worked with Oregon Health & Science University emergency medicine clinicians at OHSU Hospital so Fitbit Flow is able to meet the needs of practitioners. COVID-19 has challenged all of us to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity, and use everything at our disposal to more rapidly develop products that support patients and the health care systems caring for them, said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. We saw an opportunity to rally our expertise in advanced sensor development, manufacturing, and our global supply chain to address the critical and ongoing need for ventilators and help make a difference in the global fight against this virus. Also read: Fitbit announces large-scale study to identify atrial fibrillation Fitbit Flow has standard resuscitator bags, similar to those that are used by paramedics, along with other sophisticated instruments, sensors and alarms. These work together to support automated compressions and patient monitoring. Fitbit aims to supply medical devices to health care systems worldwide in the coming days and weeks. It is also in talks with state and federal agencies to understand current domestic needs for emergency ventilators and plans to work with U.S. and global aid organizations as well. As protests continue in Charleston and across the nation over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and larger issues of police brutality and systemic racism, a movement to remove the Calhoun Monument from Marion Square is gaining steam. Several protesters have cited Charleston's role in slavery, and the prominent display of many Confederate-related monuments, as an obstacle to the city moving toward racial justice. Over the past few days of turmoil, some states have pledged to take down monuments, such as the Virginia governor's decision to remove the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond. Many Confederate monuments have been vandalized across the country during the protests, including in Charleston, though such vandalism is not new. An online petition against the Calhoun Monument in Marion Square was started over the weekend and had accumulated more than 6,400 signatures by 2 p.m. Thursday. The petition, addressed to Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and City Council, asks that the monument be removed to a museum and that Calhoun Street be renamed. This week, Tecklenburg tasked two city councilmen with forming a Diversity and Reconciliation Commission that will analyze the city's efforts to combat racial disparities in the past two years since Charleston formally apologized for the city's role in slavery. That commission will also look at the city's monuments, a spokesman said Thursday. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was vice president under presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He advocated for slavery as a "positive good" and died in 1850. "We are not proud of Charlestons role in slavery. We do not feel that a statue of Calhoun, an adamant pro-slaver, represents the beliefs and ideology of Charleston today," the letter in the petition states. "We have felt this way for some time, and the current national climate has inspired us to take action." The letter also requests a new monument in its place that could honor the men and women who suffered from slavery. "The American history of slavery begins in Charleston. Are we ashamed of this history? Deeply," the letter says. "But are we ashamed to be Charlestonians today? No. We are proud. Because we are confident that we have come a long way since then and will only continue to grow together." Last year in May, more than 100 people gathered in Marion Square to call for the monument's removal. It was part of a national movement to bring down such monuments. At a protest on Wednesday, Kassie Campbell, an activist who has lived in Charleston for about five years, carried a cardboard sign saying "Remove racist statues yesterday" on one side. She wishes the Calhoun Monument had been removed long ago, especially in light of the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME, and hopes city officials will discuss doing so now. As the protesters made their way into Marion Square on Wednesday, several joined her in decrying the statue. In 2017, the city's Commission on History debated adding a new plaque for the monument. Tecklenburg had called for the city to revise several historical markers to add a more accurate view of Confederate-related history. He also charged the city to add new African American monuments. The plaque's language underwent several revisions. Initially, the proposed language would have begun, This statue to John C. Calhoun (1782 - 1850) is a relic of the crime against humanity, the folly of some political leaders and the plague of racism. It remains standing today as a grave reminder that many South Carolinians once viewed Calhoun as worthy of memorialization even though his political career was defined by his support of race-based slavery. Historic preservation, to which Charleston is dedicated, includes this monument as a lesson to future generations. After revisions, the finalized language put forward began by describing Calhoun's role in state and federal government, while his commitment to slavery was mentioned in the last three paragraphs. The plaque was never added to the monument, as City Council voted to defer the issue. The states Heritage Act is an obstacle to efforts by local governments to remove such monuments. A city of Charleston spokesman said the Diversity and Reconciliation Commission will examine whether the act applies to the Calhoun Monument and others in the city. The law was part of a compromise that removed the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse dome in 2000, and it forbids any other public removal of other flags or memorials from the Confederacy without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. After the Confederate flag was removed from Statehouse grounds in 2015, House Speaker Jay Lucas swore that he wouldn't entertain any more debates regarding Heritage Act issues during his tenure. Sara Coello contributed to this report. Wesson Attends Black Lives Matter Protest to Help De-Escalate LAPD Response On Tuesday, Los Angeles Council President Herb Wesson went to the scene of a Black Lives Matter Los Angeles protest in front of Getty House, the residence of the mayor of Los Angeles. Protestors were calling on Mayor Eric Garcetti to reallocate major portions of the proposed $1.86 billion LAPD budget to other departmentsspecifically housing and mental health resources. Thousands of protestors showed up in front of Garcettis official residence to protest peacefully. Wesson decided to come to the scene after seeing video of hundreds of police officers surrounding the protestors. I just didnt want to see another situation where someone was harmed or killed by the police. Weve had enough. I wanted to use whatever influence I have to make sure the police knew that the protest was peaceful and to not hurt the protestors. Wessons actions mirror those of the late Mervyn M. Dymally, who, when the LAPD staged a raid on the L.A. Black Panther headquarters at 41st Street and Central Avenue in South Los Angeles on Dec. 9, 1969, stepped up and stepped in to help. When the raid morphed into a firefight between the Black Panthers and the LAPDs newly conceived Special Weapons And Tactics team (SWAT), Dymally went to the site of the shootout with a contingent of supporters in hopes of de-escalating the violence. His presence as an elected state senator almost certainly prevented the loss of life in a gunfight that saw some 5,000 rounds expelled. ADVERTISEMENT Turkey vows more support to secure gains in Libya conflict Turkish President Erdogan meets with Libya's internationally recognised PM al-Serraj in Ankara By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Thursday to ramp up Turkey's support for its ally in Libya to lock in recent military gains, and promised joint exploration for oil at sea following talks in Ankara ahead of a potential ceasefire push. Fayez al Serraj, leader of Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), met Erdogan for talks hours after his forces - backed by Turkey - said they regained full control of the capital Tripoli. Turkey threw its support behind the GNA in November after signing a military cooperation pact alongside a maritime demarcation deal, which gives Ankara exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean that Greece and others reject. Turkey's intervention in the conflict has pushed back Khalifa Haftar's eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) - backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt - which had been attacking the GNA in Tripoli since April 2019. The GNA's latest advance could hasten steps toward a potential truce, underlining Turkey's growing influence in the resource-rich region where Erdogan has few close allies. Turkey's support for the GNA "will increasingly continue," Erdogan said alongside Serraj, adding that Hafter and his backers "will be judged by history." A solution can only come under United Nations' auspices, he said. "We aim to expand our cooperation including exploration and drilling operations to take advantage of natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean," including Libyan territory, Erdogan added. NEGOTIATIONS On Monday, the United Nations said both sides had agreed to resume ceasefire talks and warned that weapons and fighters being flown into Libya threatened a new escalation. Several peacemaking efforts in Libya have collapsed or stalled since clashes began in 2014. Serraj's visit to Turkey came after weeks of GNA gains that upended the conflict and drove Haftar from his foothold in the northwest. A senior Turkish official said the advances were critical ahead of any truce talks. Story continues "The territory you hold strengthens your positions at the table," the official said. Erdogan said Haftar had "no representative capacity" to negotiate what should be a "legitimate and fair" solution. In a flurry of diplomacy, Serraj's deputy was in Moscow and Haftar was in Egypt this week. A second Turkish official said Ankara expected Haftar's backers to contribute to political talks. An increased presence in Libya would give Turkey strategic positioning near Egypt, with which ties are strained. It would also serve as another foothold in the Mediterranean, where Turkey has been at odds with several neighbouring states. Greece and Cyprus called last year's maritime deal with Serraj illegal, an accusation Ankara denied. Turkey's plans for what Erdogan called "new cooperation on maritime agreements" with the GNA could stoke those frictions. The Turkish leader also said Haftar's "putschist" forces will no longer be allowed to illegally sell Libya's oil. Athens says Ankara's maritime deal infringes on Crete's continental shelf. Turkey - which has also been criticised by Israel and the European Union - says the deal abides by international law and rejects the notion islands can have such shelves. Turkey has said it could begin exploration and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean under the GNA deal within three or four months. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Daren Butler in Istanbul; Editing by Giles Elgood, Timothy Heritage and Andrew Cawthorne) The mayor of Delta says he is outraged over the Delta Hospice Society's efforts to transform into a staunch Christian organization so that it would not be required to allow medical assistance in dying (MAid) on its premises.. George Harvie is also worried that the controversy is undermining the important end-of-life services the society is supposed to provide to the greater community. "This is a special interest group that is denying the rights of all Delta citizens," said Harvie. "I want them to do the right thing and get out." Heated controversy has surrounded the community hospice since December of last year when a new board of directors voted to stop offering MAiD. In response, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the province was withdrawing $1.5 million in hospice funding effective February 2021. On June 15, Delta Hospice Society (DHS) is holding an extraordinary general meeting for members to vote on a revised constitution which describes the society's function as "a Christian community that furthers biblical principles governed by the Triune God." In a letter asking for an urgent meeting with Dix, Harvie, MLAs Ian Paton and Ravi Kahlon and MP Carla Qualtrough say they have heard from hundreds of constituents who have had memberships in the DHS revoked or denied. The letter also mentions the "growing anxiety" in the community over a speech DHS chair Angelina Ireland delivered entitled Forcing a Hospice to Kill at a Christian-right convention in Independence, Ohio, in March. In the speech, Ireland introduces herself as "pro-life, pro-God and pro-gun," and refers to the Delta Hospice Society before her time on the board as the "Delta Auschwitz Society." Ben Nelms/CBC Ireland said the letter from the politicians was nothing more than attempt by the four to "cover their butts." "They've done nothing to protect palliative care in the this province and that is why we're in the position," she said. "We just want to bring awareness to the fact that palliative care in this country is eroding, it's being destroyed and we have made a stand in defence of that." Story continues Ireland said the claim that society memberships had been revoked was false. She said some applications were turned down is because the society "recently" decided to cap membership at 1,500. Delta resident Brian McKenna had his membership application denied and wrote a letter that was published in the Delta Optimist under the title: Delta Hospice hits new low by trying to impose religion on the dying. McKenna says not only is the society stacking the deck for the upcoming vote, he believes the end game of the board is a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "It seems painfully obvious what's going to happen," said McKenna. "They'll try and pretend that this is a religious organization, impose a religious creed on it and then claim religious protection under the charter to try to thwart what Minister Dix is attempting to do." McKenna, a retired military veteran, says although he believes the actions of Ireland and the board are "abhorrent," they deserve credit for being organized. "I'll give them credit. They have a plan and the people opposing them don't," he said. The Delta Hospice Society operates the 10-bed Irene Thomas Centre and an adjacent supportive care facility on land leased from Fraser Health. It also owns the Delta Hospice Society Charity Shoppe in Tsawwassen. Ireland said as a private society, the DHS will fight any attempt by the government to take over operation of its facilities and programs when provincial funding runs out. Harvie says the board's actions are damaging the operation and good reputation of a beloved community facility. "What does it say to all of Delta, the people who over the years fought hard to ensure that we had a hospice for continuous care," he said. "It's a wonderful facility ... and they have absolutely ruined it." The oil markets have been enjoying a period of sustained rally, thanks to a stream of positive factors including somewhat successful compliance to agreed production cuts, a partial rebound in oil demand as well as growing optimism about a possible extension to the OPEC+ cuts. Brent prices briefly touched $40/barrel on Monday, a level they last touched several months ago with WTI looking to also breach the psychological level if OPEC+ signs off on extensions when it reconvenes on June 10. The same, however, can hardly be said about the natural gas situation. Natural gas prices are still flirting with decade-lows courtesy of a stubborn supply overhang thanks to a deluge from shale fields and weak demand due to unfavorable weather. In fact, the supply glut has become so bad that even a leading producer turning off the taps has done little to boost prices. Natural gas prices have barely barged after Russias national oil producer (NOC), Gazprom PJSC, cut off shipments through a key link via Belarus and Poland. Dutch TTF Gas Futures (Euros per Megawatt-hour) Source: Intercontinental Exchange Last week, Russia completely turned off flows from the 2,607-mile-long Yamal-Europe pipeline that runs across Belarus, Poland, and Germany with a capacity of 33 bln cubic meters of gas per year, yet the markets hardly took notice with prices remaining severely depressed. With the expiration of a long-time transit deal now looming, Gazprom will have to book capacity to use the key pipeline, meaning there will be more days when there will be zero flow from the said pipeline. But dont expect anything much to come from it. Related: Saudi Arabia And Russia Agree To Extend Production Cuts That Gazprom, one of Europes lowest-cost producers, is also being forced to hold back supplies is a clear indication of how dire the natural gas situation has become. Prices at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, a virtual trading point for natural gas in the Netherlands and Europes biggest traded market, plunged to ~$40 per 1,000 cubic meters in May. Thats considerably lower than the $47 on average per 1,000 cubic meters that Gazprom forks over as transit costs for the pipeline. Gazproms cuts are temporary, with the company likely to ramp up exports once it snags other long-term, low-cost transit deals. Still, the giant producer has reported that its natural gas exports in the current year are likely to drop to 167 billion cubic meters from last years near-record of 199 billion cubic meters. Gazproms already grim situation is not being helped by the loss of a key customer either. U.S. LNG Cancellations During the first quarter, Turkeys natural gas imports from Gazprom tumbled 72%, with experts blaming a political tussle between Ankara and the Kremlin in Syria and Libya for the growing bad blood. The U.S. has emerged as the winner, with the countrys LNG exports to Turkey tripling to nearly a million tons--or 48 billion cubic feet of natural gas-- over the timeframe. Unfortunately, fierce competition from Russia is likely to throw a monkey wrench on Americas plans to become Europes leading supplier of natural gas. U.S. LNG exporters have been recording a swelling tide of order cancellations from European buyers thanks to higher LNG prices on Henry Hub compared to prices at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility. About 75% of U.S. natural gas production comes from its shale industry, a sector thats currently facing an uncertain future thanks to crippling levels of debt and persistently low energy prices. Related: Bahrain To Speed Up Development Of Huge 80 Billion Barrel Oil Reserves The U.S. has been trying hard to gain more access to the EU market but has come up against a tough customer in Russia, a country that enjoys close proximity and better integration with European markets. Over the past few years, Russia has been consolidating its position as the EUs energy top dog by expanding its network of gas pipelines in a bid to boost its exports to the region. This has not gone down well with the Trump administration, which has, at the same time, been heavily promoting its Freedom Gas. Indeed, one such project, the Nord Stream 2, has come under intense fire with Trump in December threatening to sanction any firm that lends a helping hand in its construction. Natural gas producers lack a strong organization like OPEC that can enforce production cuts with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) being much less vocal than its oil counterpart. However, there are signs that countries are beginning to independently cut supply with Norway, another top gas exporting nation, lowering its flows by 11% during the first quarter. Meanwhile, U.S. LNG exports declined to 5.6 billion cubic feet per day in the final week of May after averaging 6.7 Bcf per day during the first three weeks, marking the lowest level of LNG feed gas deliveries in eight months, despite the commissioning of an additional 2.0 Bcf/d baseload of new liquefaction capacity over this period. Natural gas producers appear to have dodged the oil price war that sunk the oil market-- but also helped to restore some sanity. However, they need to do a lot more than they are currently doing, otherwise, they risk remaining in a world of pain much longer than some can stay solvent. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: By Express News Service HYDERABAD: With app-based transport and delivery workers (Uber, Zomato and so on) being mandated to download Arogya Setu app for working, voices are being raised against how the data is going to be handled by private companies. Hyderabad-based Indian Federation of App-Based Transport (IFAT), which represents lakhs of app-based workers, said Aarogya Setu app records the location of the individual, allowing the company to monitor a particular individual or group of individuals they consider to be disruptive to their operations. Shaik Salauddin, the national general secretary of the association said, They can track people who are meeting frequently and take punitive measures against them as and when they feel threatened by their actions. They also claimed that the companies will have access to health data and can take action as per requirement. This would ensure that the companies dont have to shell out any aid or insurance, in case the worker contracts the virus while working for them, IFAT added. Salauddin also stressed the need for a data protection law and the absence of which exacerbates the situation with the possibility of companies using the data they have peered from the employees order to intimidate or exploit them. WARE A local barber is organizing a march near Town Hall on Sunday in response to the May 25 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Rallys and vigils have been held nationwide since Floyds killing. The event will take place Sunday at 1 p.m. on the sidewalk adjacent to Veterans Memorial Park, which is across the street from Ware Town Hall on 126 Main St. Selectmen have convened a special meeting on Friday at 4 p.m. to discuss the planned vigil and rally. Tyson Delrosario, who has been a licensed barber for 11 years and cuts hair at Sharpest Edge Barbershop on Pulaski St., told The Republican he is organizing the community event to promote social change. Its all about peace, love and unity; violence is not the answer, Delrosario said. There is a lot of negativity, a lot of divide time for leaders to rise up (to create) a better mind set. Town Manager Stuart Beckley, in a report to selectmen on Tuesday, wrote that Delrosario is working with him and the police chief on the event, where masks and social distancing would be in place. He asked if selectmen had concerns or conditions. In an email on Thursday, Beckley said, Im not sure if the board will meet (on Friday), but in case they need to talk details with the chiefs, it is scheduled. Mr. Delrosario owes us a plan of the event. Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has released a list of upcoming demonstrations they are aware of through this coming Saturday. The Sunday event in Ware was not on this list. A variety of rallies and vigils continue to be planned throughout the Commonwealth this week, by both individuals, and organized groups. The purpose of these events is to speak out against racism, with the urgency sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25," MEMA stated. "Over the course of the last few days some of these events across the Commonwealth, and nationally, have turned violent with significant private and public damage, as well as serious injury. While there are no specified threats of violence expected for the events planned in the Commonwealth preparedness efforts are still prudent and necessary. Russias Rosneft has set up a new trading arm to replace the one that Washington sanctioned earlier this year for the companys work with the Venezuelan government, unnamed sources in the know have told Reuters. The U.S. administration slapped sanctions on the Russian state oil giant in February as part of its maximum pressure campaign against the Maduro government. Today we sanctioned Russian-owned oil firm Rosneft Trading S.A., cutting off Maduros main lifeline to evade our sanctions on the Venezuelan oil sector. Those who prop up the corrupt regime and enable its repression of the Venezuelan people will be held accountable, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a February tweet. Following the announcement, Rosneft cancelled several VLCC cargoes carrying a total 5.7 million barrels of Venezuelan crude to be delivered to Asian buyers. The company also transferred its Venezuelan assets to a newly set-up Russian state-owned company dubbed Roszarubezhneft. Moscow paid for the Venezuelan assets in Rosneft stock. Rosneft had five oil production joint ventures in Venezuela as well as interests in oilfield services businesses, and commercial and trading ventures, the company said at the time. Now, Rosneft confirmed the establishment of the new Swiss-based trading entity. Energopole SA is a 100% subsidiary of Rosneft. The company is involved in commercial dealings in the interest of Rosneft and has no connection to Rosneft Trading SA. It is registered in Switzerland and operates in accordance with applicable law, the company told Reuters. Meanwhile, Washington tightened the noose further: this week the Department of Treasury said it would sanction maritime companies doing business with the Maduro government. The illegitimate Maduro regime has enlisted the help of maritime companies and their vessels to continue the exploitation of Venezuelas natural resources for the regimes profit, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, adding that the US will continue to target anyone to supports Maduros regime and contributes to the suffering of the Venezuelan people. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kumar Rajagopalan Unlock 1.0, the first phase of the government's opening up of the lockdown, can be seen as a mature recognition of the role of retail in Indias social and economic health. It has set the tone to gradually open up retail and begin a much-needed revival of the economy. With non-essential retail sales witnessing a frightening drop from 50 percent in March to 80 percent in May the lockdown had played havoc with the sector. Despite being the nations lifeline, essential retail was down by 40 percent in April. That retail did not find coverage under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaans MSME sector schemes added to the sectors gloom. Contributing to around 40 percent of Indias consumption, 10 percent of the national GDP and employing 46 million people, retail is an engine of the economy that urgently needs to be brought back to life. Although it wont be business-as-usual, it will help business continuity with safety considerations that define the new normal. However, Unlock 1.0 seems to have missed this point. The Ministry of Home Affairs directive has allowed states to open retail stores according to their discretion, and issue independent guidelines. Consequently, there is no consensus on standard operating procedures for any part of the reopening process. Permissions to open stores; time restrictions on store operations; the movement of staff and delivery vehicles; product pricing restrictions; the number of staff and customers allowed in a store; or odd/even store restrictions everything is now up to the states to decide. 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 There is no consensus even on something as basic as what is to be considered a store In Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Assam, large standalone stores are considered malls. In addition, every state has its own guidelines that govern what stores should do and shouldnt do and when and how they should open. For instance, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu prohibit stores from operating air-conditioners inside stores. Opening up of malls and other retail categories was a much-needed step and we are glad that the Centre has realised this. However, states are adding their own filters. As many as 10 states have not allowed malls to open, whereas even the Centre has realised that malls provide a controlled and safe environment to shop in especially during monsoon. Malls provide large-scale employment and are a source of substantial revenue to the exchequer through GST. Uniform approach needed Unlock 1.0 is a great step. But it needs to be accompanied by comprehensive and common guidelines relevant to stores across the country. Firstly, such a uniform approach to reopening will give states precision in implementing the Ministry of Home Affairs directive in an orderly manner. Secondly, it will benefit customers, by setting common expectations and responsibilities on how they must conduct themselves while shopping, anywhere in the country. Thirdly, it will catalyse the simultaneous reopening of the retail sector across the country and the sectors many dependents. This includes a complex pan-India value chain comprising millions of workers, whose unemployment may throw their families on the path to poverty. A retail roll-out that is not nationally cohesive also risks the futures of millions of vendors and suppliers. Further down the value chain are micro-sellers, karigars, artisans, and farmers. The absence of standardised guidelines may also complexify how they sell their inventories to markets across the country. Most have been reeling from fixed costs eating into their savings, combined with the credit they had already taken before the lockdown commenced. For many, Unlock 1.0 is their last chance to not only repay crippling debt, but also at survival. There is also the cross-sectoral impact to consider. Retail generates Rs15,000 crore of revenue every day, and there is no sector that it does not touch, directly or indirectly. Consequently, standardising how retail opens across the country will be critical not only to its success, but also the many industries ancillary to it. In contrast, a weak return to retail could put new indirect pressures on companies big and small across the economy. Given this emphatic policy push, the retail industry can play the role of an economy-wide catalyst. Retail not only keeps the wheels of manufacturing moving but also keeps the economy moving by encouraging spending and inflow of fresh liquidity. The retail rebound will not only restart consumption but also bring in strong investor and customer confidence that can spill into other industries. In sum, retail must move like a well-oiled machine. Without regulatory homogeneity, it cannot serve the consumers, the tens of millions of people depending on it for livelihood, or the nations economic growth. Kumar Rajagopalan is CEO of Retailers Association of India. Beneath the magnificent domes of the California Academy of Sciences, the parrots and macaws are strutting around like they own the place. And why not? The academy closed its doors to the public almost three months ago. Claude the albino alligator seems to appreciate the quiet. The fish remain indifferent. But well before May 27, when the beloved institution announced it was laying off or furloughing some 40% of its staff, the academys biologists were already in a bit of a slump. The 30-person animal-care team had split into two groups with a goal of maintaining and protecting their wards and one another. Workloads increased; human-interaction decreased. Times felt rough, says biologist Piper Dwight, who decided to offer her colleagues a little pick-me-up. Her solution? Lunchtime yoga six feet apart, of course in front of the academys colony of African penguins. It was a two-birds-with-one-pose sort of thing, she says: The staff would get a healthful, anxiety-reducing break, and the penguins would get their people TV back. If man is a social animal, as Aristotle famously said, so are African penguins, especially in comparison with other aquatic creatures. Back when the academy allowed visitors, the penguins enjoyed observing the humans observing them. Sometimes the penguins tracked children from the other side of the glass wall. (Hows that for social distancing?) Dwight brought yoga to her colleagues with the intention of keeping them (her peers, not the penguins) mindful and focused at work. The positive feedback the yogis received from the penguin colony was just a bonus. The birds six adult penguin pairs and a fledgling named Stanlee seemed to enjoy it. They became more active, jumping into and out of the water more, and watched the staff curiously. At the first yoga session, led by academy curator Vikki McCloskey on March 20, Stanlee seemed to be participating in the yoga herself by swimming around and watching intently through the glass as the biologists shifted from cat pose to downward dog to penguin asana. (Just kidding: There is no penguin asana.) Since Stanlee is a juvenile (she made her debut in January 2019) and has not pair-bonded with another penguin, she is more attached to the animal-care staff than the average penguin. She considers them her people, according to McCloskey. Any species that live in social groups are dramatically impacted by a change in their daily interactions and environment, and reasonably so, says Vint Virga, a veterinary practitioner whose book, The Soul of All Living Creatures, delves into the inner lives of animals. And in a constructed environment like an aquarium, nonhuman animals can develop strong bonds with their human caretakers, Virga says. Animals without a mate, like Stanlee, will get especially close to the caretakers feeding them; the penguins get herring and capelin fish twice a day. While we can't get inside a penguins mind and ask them, I have no doubt that they recognize that the humans are a different species and yet they readily accept humans as extensions of their social group, says Virga, who commends the academy staff for engaging the penguins and adding dimension to their lives. Penguins can feel all sorts of humanlike emotions such as depression, pain, pleasure and joy, he adds. Protecting and conserving the African penguin is one of the academys missions, says Brenda Melton, the Steinhart Aquariums executive director. The birds, which are native to the islands along Africas southwestern coast, are endangered because of overfishing, avian malaria and oil spills. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The academys penguin colony is never a drama-free zone, says Melton: Theres always something going on. There are scuffles over territory, and scraps that establish pecking order. Attention-loving, clingy and hierarchical who knew penguins were so much like humans? Penguins molt once a year, shedding their coats and replacing them with new feathers. During the two week-process, penguins are no longer waterproof. Since Stanlee is molting right now, she is currently sitting out yoga. This is Stanlees first tuxedo molt when her features grow in, shell no longer look like a baby, says McCloskey. For the humans at the academy, the changes in the past months have been more difficult than Stanlees: layoffs, illness, isolation. So the staff tries to do a yoga session at least once a week, whether its 15 minutes of simple meditation or a longer, full-body stretching exercise. Caring for animals requires agility and strength, especially with only half the staff able to work each day. Things continue to change so rapidly, its nice for us to have that as a constant, McCloskey says. While the caretakers have done yoga in the Coral Reef exhibit, where thousands of fish live, and before an audience of birds and insects in the Living roof, none of the other animals seem to be as appreciative as the penguins. And the rainforest? That would be more of a hot yoga class, McCloskey says. Im not sure if anyones up for that yet. Ananya Panchal is an intern at the Culture Desk. Email: ananya.panchal@sfchronicle.com Madeleine McCann is thought to be dead and a suspect has been investigated on suspicion of murder, German authorities say. (PA Images) German authorities investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are working on the basis that she is dead. The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder, Hans Christian Wolters, Braunschweig state prosecutor, said. From this you can see that we assume that the girl is dead. The press conference was held after details about the new suspect were revealed this week. He is serving time in prison for a sex crime. The prosecutor said the suspect is a repeat sex offender who lived regularly in the Algarve where Madeleine disappeared on holiday between 1995 and 2007, the year she went missing. You can read the prosecutors statement below. The suspect is also thought to have spent a few years at a house between Lagos and Praia Da Luz, the resort the McCanns stayed at, among other places. The accused, who was not named, is said to have committed break-ins at hotels, holiday homes and was involved in drug trafficking. The German state of Braunschweig is involved because the man last lived there. Kate and Gerry McCann, pictured in 2014, have searched 13 years for information on their daughter. (PA) He has appealed for witnesses to get in touch with the German Federal Criminal Police Office online. A 10,000 reward (8,935) has been posted. The McCanns have said the lead could be very significant. Madeleine disappeared in May 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve, Portugal, with parents Kate and Gerry McCann and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie. Her parents were eating with friends nearby when she went missing. It happened shortly before her fourth birthday. The man is said to be white, with short blonde hair and about six feet tall, and had a slim build when Madeleine went missing. Christian Hoppe, from Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office, told the countrys ZDF television channel the 43-year-old is serving time for a sex crime. Hoppe said the suspect may have broken into the apartment at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz before spontaneously kidnapping her. Story continues The ground floor apartment in Praia Da Luz from where Madeleine McCann went missing. (PA) He is known to have been around the area during that time, having worked odd jobs in the area, and a half-hour phone call was made to his Portuguese mobile about an hour before Madeleine is thought to have disappeared. He was linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van. The Metropolitan Police said he drove it in the Praia da Luz area not long before Madeleine vanished. The day after she went missing, he re-registered the car in Germany under another persons name but the vehicle is thought to have still been in Portugal. That van, and a 1993 Jaguar XJR6, which he was also linked to and was seen in the area in 2006 and 2007, have been seized by German police. They said that other people may have concrete knowledge of her disappearance. Prosecutors statement On 03/05/2007, then 3-year-old Madeleine (Maddie) Beth McCann disappeared without a trace from a hotel complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal. In this connection, on behalf of Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, the Bundeskriminalamt is conducting investigative proceedings for suspected murder against a 43-year-old German national currently in detention in a different matter. The suspect lived more or less permanently in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007. For several years, he lived in a house between Lagos and Praia da Luz, among other places. He had several occasional jobs, among other things in the gastronomy business, in the Lagos area in this time period. In addition, there is information suggesting that he also earned his living by committing criminal offences, such as burglaries of hotel complexes and holiday flats as well as trafficking in narcotic drugs. Furthermore, the suspect was sentenced on numerous occasions to prison terms for sexual abuse of children in the past. This fact is probably not known to most of the contact persons. The investigating authorities know of several vehicles used by him, his points of contact and a Portuguese mobile phone number. The Bundeskriminalamt and Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office ask for your assistance in further clarifying the circumstances of the offence. Following comments regarding the George Floyd protests on The Bill Simmons Podcast that many viewed as tone-deaf and misguided, The Ringers Ryen Russillo began the latest edition of his show by apologizing for his remarks, saying he did a bad job, the discussion on the matter with Bill Simmons was a miss on my part, and my tone sucked. I should not have been the voice that you heard from, said Russillo, on the podcast released Wednesday. You needed somebody with a better perspective, a different life perspective on everything this country just went through in the past week. I was not that person and that was a mistake. The mistake you can make when you do the podcast at least with Bill and I, because weve been doing it a while, weve known each other a long time we can become very casual, just two guys talking, forgetting that all of these people are listening to you and I cant make the assumption that Of course they know that Im more upset about George Floyd than I am about people stealing from stores. But thats not the way it came off and was a terrible assumption for me to make because I come off in the podcast as if I dont get it at all. Ryen Russillo responds to the backlash over his comments on George Floyd protests: pic.twitter.com/hymm8gx9Ov The Podcass (@thepodcass) June 3, 2020 Simmons apologized at the beginning of his next podcast, acknowledging that he and Russillo misread the moment and shouldve invited someone who could offer the different perspective that was required. (Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson was the guest on the follow-up show.) As Russillo mentioned, he seemed to express more anger over the looting that occurred during protests than the killing which triggered the civil outrage while also feeding into conspiracy theories about pallets of bricks left near protest sites (which have been dispelled) and criticizing unions. The Dallas brick thing, that didnt make any sense. pic.twitter.com/dLAIG9qzSk The Podcass (@thepodcass) June 3, 2020 Some of the people who may have had an open mind about this are looking at not the protesters but the looters, Russillo said, who look like everybody black, white, male, female, you name it just breaking into sneaker shops, where its no longer about George Floyd, its about rare Jordans. Russillo didnt address his comments about The Ringers staff diversity that prompted a strong response from the Ringer Union and individual writers at the company, but those could perhaps be grouped under the umbrella of a miss on my part. Simmons didnt go into that either. (And, frankly, Russillo may have been sucking up to his boss despite his insistence to the contrary.) As Russillo said, having a popular outlet can sometimes make you lose perspective on the importance of your opinions. You get comfortable and assume the person youre talking to knows what you mean, which also extends to the audience. Simmons and Russillo probably shouldve checked themselves, but got caught up in the moment and a need to address a matter that made anything else seem trivial by comparison. However, both of them acknowledged their flawed perspective and apologized for not realizing the larger scope of their conversation. Kerri-Anne Kennerley has lashed out at the 'disgraceful' decision to allow protesters to flout social distancing rules for Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne. Thousands of demonstrators have been given the green light to break COVID-19 restrictions in the city's CBD on Saturday to show solidarity with the movement and demand an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody. Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed police don't believe it is feasible to arrest or fine people for breaking coronavirus rules at the event. By the end of May, police had issued 5,957 fines to Victorians who failed to observe coronavirus rules. The $1,652 infringement notices generated more than $9 million. Kennerley said it was 'unbelievable' the rally was allowed to go ahead while a limit was still being placed on attendees at funerals and weddings due to the pandemic. 'I find this unbelievable because other Australians are now being discriminated against,' the outspoken TV personality said on Studio 10 on Thursday morning. Thousands of demonstrators are expected to break COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne's CBD on Saturday to show solidarity with the movement and demand an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody. Pictured: Protesters demonstrate at Martin Place in Sydney during a ''Black Lives Matter'' rally on Tuesday 'If you can't go to a funeral and farewell a loved one, a friend. It is disgraceful. 'You can't go to someone's wedding. You can't support the economy but people are allowed to walk down the street not observing social distancing.' Saturday's protests, which will be held in major cities across the country, come after more than 3,000 demonstrators gathered in Sydney on Tuesday evening to rally against indigenous deaths in custody in the wake of the alleged murder of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department on Monday May 25 after an officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes while making an arrest. His death has led to rallies across the U.S and the world and sparked a global social media movement condemning violence against black people at the hands of police. Kennerley said the Victorian government's decision to allow thousands march the streets of Melbourne on Saturday made a mockery of the coronavirus restrictions still in place. 'I think it's outrageous. It's all about political correctness and I find it very discriminatory against other Australians,' she said. 'We have not been allowed for months and months to see our loved ones, farewelling them, watching their marriage. 'What's good over here is not good over there. Why?' Kerri-Anne Kennerley says 'other Australians' are being discriminated against because police will allow protesters to flout social distancing rules for Black Lives Matter protests Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed protesters won't be fined or arrested for breaking social distancing on Saturday at a Black Lives Matter protest Kennerley then compared the gatherings with social distancing restrictions on playing sport. 'If you couldn't go and play sport why are you allowed en masse to walk through the streets?' she said. 'Two weeks ago you couldn't do a sporting activity by yourself and all of a sudden 10,000 people are okay to walk down the street. 'It should be exactly the same. It's either safe or it's not.' More than 14,000 people have said online they will attend Melbourne's event. Protest organisers have urged people to wear face masks and bring hand sanitiser. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said he would rather the protest didn't occur at this time, when the spread of COVID-19 remains a threat. But he stressed the force supports people's right to protest. He urged Victorians to follow the Chief Health Officer's directions on social distancing to prevent the event becoming a coronavirus 'tipping point'. Mr Cornelius said the force was committed to working with the Victorian Aboriginal community. 'I understand from my engagement with local Aboriginal community members that there is a sense of frustration that it takes a death of a black American to highlight the experience of the Aboriginal community here in Australia,' he said. 'The events in America certainly do give us an opportunity to reflect on our own community.' Saturday's protests, which will be held in major cities across the country, come after more than 3,000 demonstrators gathered in Sydney on Tuesday evening (pictured) to rally against indigenous deaths in custody in the wake of the alleged murder of George Floyd Kennerley said it was 'unbelievable' the rally was allowed to go ahead while a limit was still being placed on attendees at funerals and weddings due to the pandemic 'No pride in Australia's genocide': Protesters march in Sydney on Tuesday Police are also on high alert for counter-protests being held in the city, and the potential for protesters to turn on officers. Premier Daniel Andrews encouraged people to stay away from the rally, despite conceding that police would not fine people for breaking social distancing. 'They're not there just for enforcement purposes, they're not there to raise revenue. They're there to keep people safe,' he said on Thursday. 'I'm not going to the protest. I would suggest to other people they shouldn't go to the protest either. 'I understand the depth of feeling on this issue, but I might make the point this way: enough people have been hurt. 'Let's not do anything on the weekend that compromises safety, let's not do anything on the weekend that potentially spreads the virus.' The series of protests in Australia and around the world come after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in police custody in the U.S. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos is also urging people not protest at the weekend. She noted the vulnerability of Aboriginal people, particularly those aged older than 50. 'Black lives do matter. We know that Aboriginal people are more susceptible to becoming severely ill if they contract coronavirus, and I urge them to heed the advice of the chief health officer to follow all of the health advice, and that is to stay home,' she said. Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said it was 'astonishing' the premier was allowing police not to fine protesters, given the restrictions had prevented some people from attending the funerals of loved ones. 'The rulebook is out the window on Saturday because Daniel Andrews will not show consistency on this matter,' he told reporters. 'How can anyone think this is fair?' Upper house Liberal MP David Davis said Western Australia had been on top of the Spanish flu in 1919 before a peace rally celebrating the end of World War One sparked a spike in cases and deaths. 'Having large, mass rallies is a very dangerous matter at this point in time,' he said. The Ministry of Environment banned the import of civets, left, and bats, which are believed to carry high risks of spreading cross-species disease infections to humans in February. Korea Times file By Ko Dong-hwan The importing of non-indigenous, wild animals to Korea will now face stricter border-entry screening and tighter monitoring after the government approved measures Wednesday to prevent animals with a high potential for cross-species infection being brought into the country. The animals were previously managed predominantly with regard to ecological preservation, with oversight on the prevention of infectious diseases. Another key reason for the decision was the growing number of commercial venues such as zoos and wild animal cafes introducing exotic wild animals to the public. As of 2019, there were 90 private zoos and 80 cafes or venues nationwide that exhibited such animals. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, which hosted the meeting at the Government Complex in Seoul, wrote the regulations with six ministries and state agencies, including the ministries of environment; agriculture, food and rural affairs; and oceans and fisheries; and the Korea Customs Service. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 60 percent of novel infectious diseases affecting humans in the 20th century were cross-species infections 72 percent from wild animals. Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2015, which killed 38 people and forced 16,693 into quarantine in Korea, and COVID-19 are both believed to have been transmitted initially from bats. The new regulations, which referenced the quarantine guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health and those of the United States, Australia and the European Union, will not just screen the animals at the border but also track and monitor them in the country. Until now, non-indigenous animals that were monitored were those approved for import about 37 percent of the total of 530,000. But now the scrutiny extends to those "freely" brought in. The quarantine process at the border, which had been limited to mammals and birds, will now include amphibians and reptiles, which accounted for 96 percent of the non-indigenous wild animals being allowed into the country in 2018. The new regulations will also set health and disease management standards for commercial venues that handle the animals, and add the possibility of them carrying infectious diseases as a new category to the non-indigenous animal risk management index. Sixteen civets and 127 bats have been brought into Korea two species that are known to be the most common spreaders of animal-to-human infectious diseases. The environment ministry banned their importation from February after the COVID-19 pandemic intensified locally. Wanzer, 46, sees all the new people waiting for food and she wonders: These people are a little bit going through what I went through growing up, not having a mother, not having a father, being in foster care. I feel so bad for everybody thats not used to it. It might shake me a little, this disease, but Ive been having to worry about things my whole life. This is how it feels. Advertisement The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Mustapha Magu, was, on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, inducted into the President Muhammadu Buhari Integrity Hall of Fame in recognition of his record of integrity, transparency and honesty in his duties. The induction was done by Arewa House (Centre for Documentation and Research), Ahmadu Bello University, at the Corporate Headquarters of the EFCC, Abuja. Director of the Centre, Dr. Shuaibu Shehu Aliyu, while justifying the choice of Magu for the honour, said that the EFCCs boss has demonstrated courage, consistence and integrity in the discharge of his duties. He also stressed that, many corrupt Nigerians, that were considered untouchable in the past, had been brought to book. We are impressed by the courage and integrity of Magu and the record-breaking results that the EFCC has garnered since he assumed his role in 2015, he said. Advertisement Continuing, Aliyu explained that, Arewa House is all about honesty, integrity, transparency and reputation which the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello exemplified. He decried the havocs which corrupt practices have been causing the nation. In his response, Magu appreciated the Arewa House for the honour bestowed on him, saying that he felt humbled to be linked with the Integrity Hall of fame of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is quite humbling to be found worthy of an induction into the Integrity Hall of Fame of our great President. President Muhamadu Buhari, no doubt, has established great reputation globally as an ardent and committed anti-corruption fighter. His appointment as First-ever African Union Anti-Corruption Fighter bears great credence to his commitment to the fight against corruption. I, therefore, consider it great honour to be inducted into such integrity realm by the Arewa House, he said. While dedicating the award to officers and men of the Commission, Magu promised that the EFCC would not relent in the pursuit of its core values. Very recently, the EFCC made loud statements of its commitment to integrity by the action of its Sokoto Zonal Head, who declined a bribe offer of N100million. He could do this because of the core values of the EFCC that emphasise professionalism, courage and integrity. We will continue to ply this route and also sanction any officer that veers off the cherished values of the Commission. He charged Nigerians to show more commitment to the anti-corruption fight, stressing that the fight is everybodys fight. As I always emphasise, this task is a public task. The public ownership of the fight against corruption will greatly build consciousness in every Nigerian that we can only make greater progress if we fight the menace together In his remarks, Secretary to the Commission, Ola Olukoyede called on civil societies and other institutions to emulate the Arewa House by joining and supporting the EFCC in the fight against corruption so as to overpower the voices of those seeking to vitiate the efforts of the Commission. Syracuse, N.Y. Sue Langley has not seen her 53-year-old disabled son for nearly three months. Jimmy Sullivan, who has been disabled since birth and cannot walk or talk, lives at Bishop Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Syracuse. Langley used to visit him every day until March 13 when the state banned visitors at all New York nursing homes to keep out the coronavirus. Langley talks by phone regularly with nursing home staffers to find out how her son is doing. But not being able to visit him has been horrible, she said. As New York relaxes many restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, no one knows when nursing homes will reopen their doors to visitors. When asked, state Health Department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said in an email the prohibition on visits should continue to be followed until further notice." Nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to the virus. As of June 1, the state had reported 5,867 Covid-19 deaths at New York nursing homes, 99 of them in Central New York. The toll is probably much higher than that because the state does not count the number of nursing home residents who die in hospitals. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently said nursing homes should be among the last to reopen in the community to ensure safety of the residents. That agency said visitors should not be allowed until: There have been no new Covid-19 cases in the nursing home for 28 days: The nursing home is not short-staffed; The nursing home has adequate supplies of personal protective equipment; The home has adequate access to Covid-19 testing. While both federal and state governments regulate nursing homes, its up to state officials to decide when to permit nursing home visitors. Massachusetts this week began allowing scheduled, outdoor visits at nursing homes. Richard Mollot of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, Manhattan-based group that advocates for nursing home residents, said lifting the visitation ban in New York is long overdue. Its important to let visitors in because families are the only ones there on a regular basis to monitor care, Mollot said. A lot of family members also provide care because nursing homes often dont have enough staff. The visitation ban allows nursing homes to make exceptions and allow visitors when a resident is dying. The state also requires nursing homes to allow residents to connect with loved ones through video calls. A national group that advocates for nursing home residents says the federal guidelines make it unlikely that nursing homes will reopen any time soon. The Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care said in a statement many nursing home residents have been isolated in their rooms, unable to interact with anyone other than the few staff who come in to provide care, and with little to no meaningful activities. Maintaining a strict ban on visitors will cause further emotional harm from which many will never recover, the group said. The head of a group representing New York nursing home owners said reopening facilities here to visitors is a top priority, but theres no timetable yet on when that may happen. Its been an extremely difficult and trying time for our residents and their loves ones, said Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association. Hanse said his group is discussing the issue with state officials. The state recently mandated New York nursing homes test workers twice a week. Hanse said the states nursing homes expect to complete testing of all residents by Sunday. He believes the decision to allow visitors should be made on a facility by facility basis. A one-size-fits-all approach is not in the best interest of residents, families and staff. Hanse predicts the nursing home visitation process will be a lot different when it resumes. Visitors may have to be tested for Covid-19, have their temperatures taken and wear face masks and gloves, he said. Visits will either take place in resident rooms, a large open room where there is enough space for social distancing or even outdoors during the warm weather. In the meantime, Langley drops off gifts, clothes and other items at Bishop that nursing home staff deliver to her son. When the visitation ban is lifted, Langley said she will go and hug him and tell him how wonderful he is. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Cuomos office explains why Destiny USA cant reopen yet New Cuomo order allows outdoor, low-risk recreational activities and businesses From hair salons to gyms, experts rank 36 activities by coronavirus risk level Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com 'Zangezur corridor' will unite Turkic world, says Azerbaijan presidential office official Armenia FM highlights need for full resumption of Karabakh peace talks Armenia ex-defense minister: In our time it was shame to immediately turn to CSTO in case of Azerbaijan provocations UN General Assembly head calls for peace during Beijing Olympics Armenia Tourism Committee has new chairperson Lavrov: Priority today is to start Azerbaijan-Armenia border delimitation, demarcation process UK considering sending hundreds of additional troops to Ukraine's neighbors Warships of Russia, Iran and China work out counteraction to maritime piracy Armenia first deputy minister of justice dismissed Israeli defense minister tests positive for COVID-19 Karabakh conflict resumption likelihood is moderate, its impact on US interests is low, report says Antonio Guterres thinks Russia will not invade Ukraine Azerbaijan ambassador to Russia hastens to sweeten the sediment of statement by US embassy in Baku IS fighters attack army barracks in mountainous area north of Baghdad, killing 11 soldiers Thomas de Waal: Will Armenia and Turkey be able to normalize relations after 3rd attempt? Armenia Security Council secretary, visiting EU delegation discuss situation on border with Azerbaijan Foreign ministers of Israel and Turkey have talk for 1st time in 13 years Fly Arna shareholders appoint companys Board of Directors 628 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia CSTO chief: Necessary to work on Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation, demarcation FBI search congressman's home in connection with Azerbaijan probe Newspaper: Armenia PM again goes way of black and white Newspaper: Scenario devised after war to be implemented in Artsakh EU Special Representative for South Caucasus arrives in Armenia Quake hits Armenia: 28 km northwest of Jermuk Crete island lighthouse illuminated with colors of Armenian tricolor Aurora Humanitarian Initiative to allocate $500,000 to projects in Artsakh Sajid Javid: Britain must learn to live with COVID-19, it could be with us forever Erdogan suggests Putin and Zelensky meet face to face EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus meets Aliyev US imposes sanctions on Ukrainians related to 'Russian harmful foreign activities' Sabah: Ankara refuses to hold next Armenian-Turkish meeting in a third country US general discusses regional security and bilateral cooperation in Armenia Secret graves of alleged protesters discovered in Almaty Armenian side members to Armenian-American Intergovernmental Commission confirmed WHO advises countries to lift or ease international travel restrictions US sanctions against Vladimir Putin, Ruben Vardanian and members of the Russian government Armenian Foreign Ministry discusses Mirzoyan's participation in Turkey forum Thailand to resume non-quarantine travel scheme from February 1 Instagram introduces paid subscription feature NEWS.am daily digest: 20.01.22 Europe considers new strategy to combat COVID-19 Norwegian prosecutors refuse release Anders Breivik, 2011 mass murderer Erdogan urges Turks to sell foreign currency for liras Azerbaijan not yet returned about 300 sheep of Armenia villager Media: Israeli President thinks about visiting Turkey Dollar quite stable in Armenia Trade turnover between Ukraine and Armenia increases by 24% Armenia legislature speaker meets with of International Republican Institute president, and director for Eurasia Kremlin does not exclude new call between Putin and Biden EU Special Representative for South Caucasus to soon visit Armenia, Azerbaijan State Duma discusses work of biolaboratories near Russia's borders US lawmakers to parliament speaker: Armenian POWs must be returned to their homeland immediately Security Council chief: Armenia expects OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to visit region Armenia government does not approve plan to considerably raise minimum wage Turkish FM: Armenian representatives invited to diplomatic forum in Antalya Twitter suspends Mexican billionaire's account over offensive behavior Armenian PM says Omicron strain is slowly spreading Azerbaijan says it supports launching border delimitation process with Armenia with no conditions Zakharova speaks on Aliyev's visit to Kyiv Zakharova does not comment on Azerbaijan president's threats against France presidential candidate for her Artsakh visit Cavusoglu: Steps to increase mutual trust will be discussed at next meeting with Armenia US gives go-ahead to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send missiles and other American-made weapons to Ukraine Zakharova: Russia, as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, supports continuation of work in this format Cyber attack on Red Cross: data of over 515,000 people compromised Pashinyan: UK has been strong partner of newly independent Armenia Israel hopes UN will unanimously condemn Holocaust denial Armenia, Ukraine depositories sign memorandum of cooperation Azerbaijan advises Armenia to correctly assess the new geopolitical realities and draw conclusions Australia, UK to fight back against cyberattacks from China, Russia and Iran Protesting residents of Armenias Parakar community march to territorial administration ministry Armenia government approves protocol on implementation of readmission agreement with Lithuania Iran suspends gas supplies to Turkey MFA: Armenia has no preconditions for border delimitation 621 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Paris to have place named after Hrant Dink Armenias Parakar enlarged community residents protesting outside government building Turkey opposition party MPs petition for parliamentary inquiry into Hrant Dink assassination France, Germany, Italy and Spain call on Israel to halt construction in East Jerusalem Armenia parliament speaker in US, meets with Nancy Pelosi Iranian MFA: Relations between Iran and Russia have moved into a new diverse, intensified direction Biden says invasion of Ukraine will be disaster for Russia Newspaper: Armenia PM Pashinyan plans to hold Presidents office Newspaper: Opposition Armenia bloc, led by ex-President Kocharyan, starting new processes Taliban PM calls on Muslim countries to be first to formally recognize their government 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 FM on mirror withdrawal of troops: Not a single Armenian village will be left without proper protection Macron: EU countries must work together on agreement for stability and security PM Pashinyan assumes accountability for Armenia special representative for negotiations with Turkey 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 Assams Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) suffered Rs 32,617 crore losses during the first two phases of the lockdown to control spread of Covid-19, says the report of a high powered panel formed by the state government to recommend measures to revive the economy. The seven-member committee for revitalization of Assam economy headed by retired IAS officer Subhash Chandra Das had submitted its recommendations to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday. While the details of the report has not been made public, HT has managed to take a look at its contents, which suggests focus on key areas like agriculture and economy to help mitigate the losses suffered because of the lockdown. According to the report, the primary sector, which includes agriculture, forestry, mining etc. suffered losses worth Rs 8,175 crore and the secondary sector that includes manufacturing, construction, electricity etc. lost Rs 7,546 crore. The tertiary sector that includes service like hotels, restaurants, real estate, transport etc. suffered the biggest hit losing Rs 14,787 crore. The state also lost Rs 1,659 in taxes during the 40 days of the first two lockdown phases that started on March 24 and continued till May 3. The advanced estimates of GSDP for Assam for the year 2019-2020 is Rs 3,45,957 crore or an average GSDP of Rs 947 crore daily. The report said that the loss due to lockdown was about 9.5% of the present GSDP. The report also estimates that between 15.7 lakh and 27.1 lakh people could become unemployed in Assam. The rate of unemployment could increase from the present 8% to up to 27% because of the lockdown as well as estimated return of six lakh to 10 lakh workers from other states in the country. Due to return migration of workers back to the state, Assam is expected to lose around Rs 3,600 crore annually in the form of remittances, the report said. Due to unemployment, the poverty ratio in the state could jump from 32% (2011-2012 figure) to as high nearly 51% if theres a 15% fall in income. This could have number of social implications, the report said. It warned that unemployment and poverty could lead to a rise in thefts and robberies and if hardships escalate it could lead to bigger security issues with spurt in incidents of trafficking of children and women, prostitution and child labour. The estimated loss in revenue collection from March, 2020 till May 21, 2020 is Rs 1,155 crore and there would be an expected shortfall of Rs 10,214 crore to the states revenue till December, 2020, the report stated. The committee suggested waiving off loans taken by farmers for raising crops during Rabi season of 2019-20, compensation to pig farmers who lost pigs due to African Swine Fever (ASF) and one-time compensation of Rs 5,000 each to agricultural labourers. For the industries sector, it recommended interest subsidy of 3% to 4% for two years for loans availed under guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) scheme to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) to reduce the interest burden. It also suggested the government to consult with banks and try to reduce interest subsidy of 3% to 4% for two years on working capital loans taken by MSMEs. To improve employment, the committee suggested increasing work-days limit from 100 days/year to 150 days/year under MGNREGA, increasing the amount of Rs 2,000/month paid to workers from Assam who stayed back in other states to Rs 4,000/month while extending the scheme till August, 2020. Setting up of a farmers commission, notification of the state agriculture policy, creation of a land bank for infrastructure projects and a comprehensive social security scheme that takes care of workers for 6 months if they lose their jobs are some other suggestions made by the committee. Detectives have charged two men over the shooting of another man in a home in Brisbane's south in April, with two others still believed to be at large. The group of four men had allegedly arrived at the Didbrook Street home in Robertson on the night of April 29 when they shot a 38-year-old man in the leg. The scene in Robertson after the incident. Credit:Nine News Police at the time said the man had suffered "life-threatening injuries" and was transported to hospital, with the group of alleged attackers fleeing in a black hatchback. Two Petrie men have now been charged after a number of search warrants were carried out as part of the ongoing investigation, dubbed Operation Sierra Crevasse. Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak at the start of an OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, December 6, 2019. Some of the world's most powerful oil producers had been expected to convene on Thursday, with energy market participants closely monitoring whether the influential group will officially agree to extend their deepest ever round of output cuts. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC leader Russia were thought to support a one-month extension of the current level of supply cuts, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed OPEC sources. However, the date of a virtual meeting to finalize an agreement was still unclear on Thursday afternoon. OPEC and non-OPEC allies, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, were originally scheduled to review their production cuts on June 9-10. Late last month, Algeria, which currently holds the rotating OPEC presidency, proposed this meeting should be brought forward to Thursday. An OPEC+ meeting was still possible this week, according to Reuters, citing unnamed OPEC sources, if Iraq and other non-complying members promised to deepen their production cuts. Brent crude futures traded at $39.50 a barrel during early afternoon deals, down more than 0.6%. The international benchmark rose above $40 a barrel for the first time since March 6 in the previous session, before erasing those gains amid OPEC+ uncertainty. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures stood at $36.78 a barrel, almost 1.4% lower. The contract also climbed to its highest level since early March on Wednesday. Oil prices have marched higher in recent weeks, recovering from a dramatic fall in April which saw Brent futures hover close to 20-year lows and WTI tumble into negative territory for the first time in history. It comes amid optimism about an economic recovery in China, the world's second-largest economy, and as other countries across the globe seek to gradually lift coronavirus lockdown measures. Walker, who joined the district court bench in Kentucky just seven months ago, would take a seat on the appeals court with powerful backers as he served as a law clerk for Kavanaugh and retired justice Anthony M. Kennedy. The high-profile appeals court has been a pipeline for nominees to the Supreme Court and handles major clashes between Congress and the White House, and challenges to administration policies. ProLiteracy Worldwide There are 760 million adults globally who cannot read, making it difficult to sustain a level of self-sufficiency to escape poverty. ProLiteracy believes that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts with an educated adult population. ProLiteracy, the largest adult literacy and basic education membership organization in the United States, announces the launch of the new International Organizational Membership program. This membership program will offer materials and resources that will aid in instruction for adult education internationally. ProLiteracys International Organizational membership offers benefits designed for international member programs, including Laubach Historical Primers, currently available in Arabic, Hindi, Kikuyu, Kiswahilli, Maasai, Pashto, and Yoruba. The Historical Laubach Primers teach basic reading and writing skills using a time-tested method that has taught millions of adults to read. These materials were developed with teams of educators from Dr. Frank Laubachs many travels around the world. International Organizational members will also receive access to the International section of ProLiteracys Education Network, a comprehensive collection of online courses and resources for adult literacy and ESL instructors, program staff, trainers, and adult learners. International members have access to exclusive resources. ProLiteracy is proud to be able to tend to the needs of adult literacy education on an international level, says ProLiteracy President and CEO, Kevin Morgan. There are 760 million adults globally who cannot read, making it difficult to sustain a level of self-sufficiency to escape poverty. ProLiteracy believes that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts with an educated adult population. More information on ProLiteracys International Organizational membership is available on https://www.proliteracy.org/Get-Involved/Become-a-Member. About ProLiteracy ProLiteracy is the largest adult literacy and basic education nonprofit organization in the U.S. ProLiteracy works with adult learners and with local, national, and international organizations to help adults gain the reading, writing, math, computer, and English skills they need to be successful. ProLiteracy advocates on behalf of adult learners and the programs that serve them, provides training and professional development, and publishes materials used in adult literacy and basic education instruction. ProLiteracy has 1,000 member programs in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and works with 50 nongovernmental organizations in 34 developing countries. For more information, visit ProLiteracy.org. Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters defied a ban against gathering at a park to commemorate Thursday's anniversary of China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown, with tensions seething in the financial hub over a planned new security law. The semi-autonomous city had for three decades seen huge vigils to remember those killed when China's communist leaders deployed its military into Beijing's Tiananmen Square to crush a student-led movement for democratic reforms. This year's vigil was banned, with authorities citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings. But pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, who have been waging a long struggle against what they see as China's tightening grip on the city, were determined to make their voices heard. Hundreds of people, including some prominent democracy leaders, broke through barriers at Victoria Park where the vigil is held each year just as night fell. "Ive come here for the vigil for 30 years in memory of the victims of the June 4 crackdown, but this year it is more significant to me," a 74-year-old man who gave his surname as Yip told AFP inside the park. "Because Hong Kong is experiencing the same kind of repression from the same regime, just like what happened in Beijing." Some of the people in the park wore black t-shirts with the word "Truth" emblazoned in white. Others shouted pro-democracy slogans including: "Stand with Hong Kong". Police maintained a presence near the park but did not move to disperse the protesters. The defiant gathering came hours after pro-Beijing lawmakers in Hong Kong's legislature succeeded in passing a bill criminalising insults to China's national anthem. Neighbourhood, church vigils China's communist rulers forbid discussion on the mainland of the Tiananmen crackdown, during which hundreds -- by some estimates more than a thousand -- people were killed. Hong Kong, which has been allowed liberties unseen on the mainland as part of its 1997 handover agreement with the British, had been the only part of China where such mass displays of remembrance were possible. Organisers of commemoration events also called for residents to light candles of remembrance at 8pm (1200 GMT) wherever they were. Booths sprung up across the city to hand out candles as commuters made their way home on Thursday evening. On the campus of Hong Kong University, students spent the afternoon cleaning a memorial to the Tiananmen dead known as "The Pillar of Shame" Seven Catholic churches have also announced plans to host a commemorative mass on Thursday evening. Security and anthem laws Crowds have swelled at Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils whenever fears have spiked that Beijing is prematurely stamping out the city's own cherished freedoms, an issue that has dominated the finance hub for the past 12 months. The city was engulfed by seven straight months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year -- rallies that kicked off five days after the last annual vigil. In response to those demonstrations last month Beijing announced plans to impose the security law, which would cover secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference. China says the law -- which will bypass Hong Kong's legislature -- is needed to tackle "terrorism" and "separatism" in a restless city it now regards as a direct national security threat. Opponents, including many Western nations, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub. Blackout on mainland But in mainland China, the crackdown is greeted by an information blackout, with censors scrubbing mentions of protests and dissidents often visited by police ahead of June 4. Police in Beijing prevented an AFP photographer from entering Tiananmen Square to record the regular pre-dawn flag-raising ceremony on Thursday and ordered him to delete some photos. The candle emoji has been unavailable in recent days on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. The United States and Taiwan issued statements calling on China to atone for the deadly crackdown. "Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year," Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of him meeting prominent Tiananmen survivors as US racial justice protests continue. China's foreign ministry described calls for Beijing to apologise for the crackdown as "complete nonsense". "The great achievements since the founding of new China over the past 70 or so years fully demonstrates that the developmental path China has chosen is completely correct," said spokesman Zhao Lijian. Qantas and Jetstar will increase domestic and regional flights as travel restrictions around Australia ease. More than 300 return flights will be added by the end of June. By the end of July the airlines hope to return to 40 per cent of their pre-coronavirus flight frequency. Flights impacted the most will be an increase of services to and from Canberra and between Melbourne and Sydney. Qantas and Jetstar will be increasing their domestic and regional flight schedules as travel restrictions around the country ease (stock) By the end of July the airlines hope to return to 40 per cent of their pre-coronavirus flight frequency There are currently five Qantas flights per week between the two capital cities but by the end of July there will be 47. There will be more intra-state flights in Western Australia and Queensland, particularly to places such as Broome and Rockhampton. Flights will begin once again between Sydney and Byron Bay after being halted due to coronavirus. Other routes that will begin once again include Brisbane to Townsville, Moree to Sydney and Melbourne to Newcastle. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: 'We know there is a lot of pent up demand for air travel and we are already seeing a big increase in customers booking and planning flights in the weeks and months ahead.' He said if there is more demand in July they will ramp up flight schedules during the school holidays 'The one million people who work in tourism around Australia have been really hurting over the past few months. These additional flights are an important first step to help get more people out into communities that rely on tourism and bring a much-needed boost to local businesses,' Mr Joyce said. 'Customers will notice a number of differences when they fly, such as masks and sanitising wipes, and we'll be sending out information before their flight so they know exactly what to expect and have some extra peace of mind. Flights impacted the most will be more services to and from Canberra and between Melbourne and Sydney (stock) 'Importantly, the Australian Government's medical experts have said the risk of contracting Coronavirus on an aircraft is low.' There will be a lot of health measures during flights to give passengers peace of mind during the pandemic. This includes contactless check-in and enhanced cleaning measures. Masks and hand sanitiser will be given to all customers. There will be more staff to man these flights but hundreds remain stood down until operations resume to normal levels. All customers will be able to change the date of their flight once without paying a fee but bookings need to be made before June 30. If a flight is cancelled the passenger will be put on the next available flight with no additional cost to them. WASHINGTON - The public health crisis gripping the world and civil unrest roiling cities across the United States are precisely why President Donald Trump should be embracing America's global friends and allies, not tearing down the rules-based international order, says a key member of the congressional committee that oversees global trade. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. President Donald Trump returns to the White House after visiting outside St. John's Church, Monday, June 1, 2020, in Washington. Part of the church was set on fire during protests on Sunday night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP - Patrick Semansky WASHINGTON - The public health crisis gripping the world and civil unrest roiling cities across the United States are precisely why President Donald Trump should be embracing America's global friends and allies, not tearing down the rules-based international order, says a key member of the congressional committee that oversees global trade. Rep. Ron Kind, a Democrat from Wisconsin on the House Ways and Means Committee and an advocate for the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, says now is precisely not the time for the U.S. and the Trump administration to be isolating the United States, erecting protectionist barriers and abandoning international partners. "I think psychologically, at a time of national crisis and great anxiety, it's awfully easy politically to demonize outsiders multilateral institutions, other countries it's just the typical political fallback position," Kind told a panel of trade experts hosted by the Washington International Trade Association. "I believe it creates a more dangerous world, and complicates the complex and difficult issues that we have to work on." The widespread protests in cities all across the U.S. following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd may not at first glance have anything in common with the typically drab issue of international trade. But deep-seated cultural issues like racial disparity, joblessness and income inequality are directly related to the sense of injustice now being expressed and on visible display in America's urban centres, Kind said, and much of that economic imbalance can be traced back to how the country's trade agenda evolved over the course of the 25-year NAFTA era. The COVID-19 pandemic, too, has widened the divide, exacting an outsized toll on disadvantaged communities and exposing essential workers who were either required to keep working through the crisis or couldn't afford to stay home to avoid the risk of infection. "How do we help the workers of today develop the skills they need for tomorrow to be full participants in the global high-tech economy that we find ourselves in and have to compete in?" Kind asked. "This goes to George Floyd too, and the reaction we're seeing on the streets the income inequality, the lack of economic opportunity that exists for too many families in our country. They're all asking, what role can they play in the 21st-century global interconnected economy, or are they just going to be left behind?" Trade experts, including some veterans of the talks that produced the North American revisions to NAFTA taking effect next month, told a similar panel Wednesday that they see the USMCA known in Canada variously as CUSMA, ACEUM or simply the "new NAFTA" as a template for future trade deals in jurisdictions around the world. That's in part because of its unprecedented language on labour and environmental standards, an effort to address some of the perceived shortcomings of its much-maligned predecessor. But first, people in countries around the world need to be convinced that multilateral trade agreements have merit in the first place, said Jameson Greer, trade ambassador Robert Lighthizer's former chief of staff in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "I think the bigger question is not necessarily whether the USMCA is going to be a template, but what's going to be the appetite politically for additional free trade agreements," Greer said. 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. I think we still have some threshold questions do we want to have trade agreements, period. If we say we do, then USMCA for sure is going to be a template. But there are still some broader questions out there." Kenneth Smith Ramos, who was Mexico's chief negotiator throughout the USMCA process, described the agreement as the most advanced free-trade agreement in the world, something that is "stronger" and "more inclusive" that includes new labour, environmental and anti-corruption standards. It also includes language to ensure annual evaluations and a six-year review clause the substitute for the so-called "sunset clause" the Trump administration originally wanted, which would have required completely renegotiating the agreement every five years. "We implemented the NAFTA and then we just let it run, on automatic pilot," Smith Ramos said. "Now, we have a six-year review and yearly reviews ... that will analyze how the agreement is being implemented, what needs to be tweaked, do we need new negotiations, do we need to ask civil society for input. I think that is a very important piece in order to recover the public's feelings that trade agreements are living instruments that can be changed over time." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. British PM Johnson Tells China: Well Not Walk Away From Hong Kong People LONDON/HONG KONGBritain will not walk away from the people of Hong Kong if China imposes a national security law that would conflict with its international obligations under a 1984 accord, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. The United Kingdom has urged China to step back from the brink over the national security legislation for Hong Kong that it says risks destroying one of the jewels of Asias economy while ruining the reputation of China. Riot police detain a group of people during a protest in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong as the citys legislature debates over a law that bans insulting Chinas national anthem on May 27, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free, Johnson wrote in the Times of London newspaper. If China proceeds, this would be in direct conflict with its obligations under the joint declaration, a legally binding treaty registered with the United Nations. Many people in Hong Kong fear that their way of lifewhich China pledged to upholdis under threat, Johnson said. Chinas rubber-stamp legislature approved last week a decision to create laws for Hong Kong to curb sedition, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference. Mainland security and intelligence agents may, for the first time, be stationed in the city. If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honor our obligations and provide an alternative, Johnson said. Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of British ruleimposed after Britain defeated China in the First Opium War. China said its decisions on national security in Hong Kong were its own affair. We advise the UK side to step back from the brink, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. Johnson repeated Britains pledge to give British National Overseas (BNO) passport-holders in Hong Kong a path to British citizenship, allowing them to settle in the United Kingdom. There are about 350,000 holders of BNO passports in Hong Kong and another 2.5 million are eligible for them, Johnson said. Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong called on the United Kingdom to go further and impose sanctions on China. I call upon the UK government to impose necessary sanctions and restrictive measures, Wong said. Despite a first-ever cancellation over concerns about the CCP virus, Hongkongers plan to rally to mark the June 4 anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, when Chinese troops fired on pro-democracy student demonstrators in and around Beijing. Its unknown how many were killed due to suppression of information by the communist regime, but estimates range from hundreds reported by the regime, to over 10,000 according to a secret British diplomatic cable released in 2017 and U.S. documents declassified in 2014. Tens of thousands more were injured. Demonstrations are also planned for the June 9 anniversary of last years million-strong march against a now-withdrawn Hong Kong bill to allow for the extradition of Hongkongers to mainland China, as well as protests three days later that police tackled with tear gas and rubber bullets. By Guy Faulconbridge and Anne Marie Roantree Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A respiratory simulation device, complete with an artificial nose made from a 3-D printer, is the subject of Miami University's newest patent and a potential breakthrough in researching, diagnosing and treating breathing disorders. Lei Kerr, professor of chemical, paper and biomedical engineering, is the inventor on the patent along with co-inventors at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Kerr said the research can advance knowledge of nanomaterials whose functionality and applications are affected by the respiratory flow patterns to the brain. Small enough to fit into a suitcase, the device mimics human breathing and helps determine the toxicity of the smallest particles that enter the nasal cavity, particularly the olfactory region. The research could provide more realistic predictions for drug screening and other potential commercial uses, Kerr said. "We are very excited because I think this is a different technique for nanotechnology fields," she said. "With aggressive support for this research, this device can be turned into something very useful for researchers and companies." Lei Kerr with students in her lab. Credit: Scott Kissell Kerr has been working with researchers at Wright-Patterson for several years. Students have contributed as well. Undergraduates in a senior design capstone class helped lay the groundwork, and Kerr's lab includes about seven graduate students. The patent is another step in Miami's program to enhance research opportunities for students and increase externally funded research projects. Miami holds about 40 patents producing a small revenue stream. Counting private and government grants and contracts, overall external research funding totaled about $24 million each of the last two fiscal years. "We have a modest portfolio of patents, but the ones we have are of high quality," said Jim Oris, vice president of research and innovation. In another potentially valuable example of the increased research emphasis, Miami has granted PsyBio Therapeutics Inc. a global exclusive license to Miami-developed technology, a collaboration aimed at developing a new class of molecules to treat mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance dependency. In the case of Kerr's research, Oris said the strong collaboration with the Air Force Research Lab will help provide real-life research results, rather than statistical models. "This could lead to better safety in occupations where aerosols and other dangerous chemicals are present, both in domestic or military applications," Oris said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 20:32:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HANOI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam reported no new cases of COVID-19 infection on Thursday, with its total confirmed cases remaining at 328 and zero death so far, according to its Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, 302 patients in the country have recovered from the disease, according to the ministry. Vietnam has recorded no local transmission for 49 straight days while there are over 6,600 people being quarantined and monitored in the country, according to the health ministry. Enditem 'Instead of wailing about the absence of tax benefits, the private sector should press for an early implementation of the package of measures,' advises A K Bhattacharya. Nobody could have missed the emphasis that the government laid on the private sector while announcing the economic package in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rs 20 trillion economic package announced in five instalments to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 shock had an ample dose of policy changes aimed at enhancing the role of the private sector in the Indian economy. A new public sector enterprises policy was announced to restrict the role of state-owned enterprises only to government-defined strategic areas. Even within strategic areas, no more than four public sector enterprises would be allowed to remain operational. A list of strategic areas would be finalised soon. The public sector enterprises that now operate in non-strategic areas would be privatised over a period of time. At the end of March 2019, there were 339 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) with a total investment of Rs 16.4 trillion and a total net profit of just Rs 1.42 trillion. Over 70 CPSEs had incurred a total loss of about Rs 31,600 crore in 2018-2019. As many as 56 of the total number of CPSEs were listed on the stock exchange and their market capitalisation has been shrinking. At the end of March 2019, their market capitalisation fell to Rs 13.7 trillion and must have fallen further in the last few months. But their reserves and surplus stood at Rs 9.93 trillion and the net worth at Rs 12 trillion. The government as shareholder earned dividends of about Rs 72,000 crore from the CPSEs in 2018-2019. If all these CPSEs, barring a few operating in strategic areas, are up for sale in the coming year or two, the private sector in India may actually be spoilt for choice. It is true that there may not be too many takers for some of these CPSEs, given their current financial condition and viability. But several of the CPSEs would still remain attractive for private sector acquirers. The private sector may complain about the lack of adequate capital to buy the CPSEs, but they could collaborate with a foreign company or tap overseas markets for capital to bid for such acquisition. In short, if the new public sector enterprises policy gets implemented as has been planned, then the big privatisation drive of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in the late 1990s would, in comparison, pale into insignificance. The package also had a few more policy changes aimed at increasing the private sector's role in the Indian economy. Private sector companies would now be allowed to increase their footprint in the country's space programme, hitherto reserved for the Indian Space Research Organisation and its State-owned arms. Power distribution companies in Union Territories would also be privatised. There would be more privatisation when the government allows six airports to be developed under the public-private-partnership model. More air space would be freed up for airlines to fly their planes. And 41 factories under the Ordnance Factory Board, employing over 80,000 workers and producing a host of weapons and defence equipment worth over Rs 5 trillion every year, would be corporatised. This is likely to lead to their listing on the stock exchanges and greater participation of private sector capital in their operations. This is a significant shift in the Modi government's approach to the economy. Since its attempt to relax the restrictions on land acquisition for industrial projects did not make headway because of stiff political resistance in the early years of its first term, the Modi government had been shying away from initiating any move that could be seen as favouring big business. The first sign of a change in this approach was visible in September 2019 when it announced a huge tax break for India Inc with a reduction in the corporation tax rate to 25 per cent, provided it opted out of the exemptions regime. And now, the COVID-19 package has a series of steps that gives the private sector a bigger role in the economy. Yet, the private sector is generally unhappy with the package of measures announced by the government. This unhappiness could be caused by the fact that the package has no specific sectoral relief, except a credit package for the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. The disappointment is also due to the absence of any tax concession for either industry or for individual tax payers. But it would be wrong to presume that the private sector has got nothing in this package. There may be no tax benefit for industry. But there are several elements in the reforms package that offer new opportunities for the private sector, for which it has been waiting for many years. Instead of wailing about the absence of tax benefits, the private sector should press for an early implementation of the package of measures that was announced recently. Srinagar: Three soldiers on Wednesday injured as militants attacked their convoy in Kupwara district of Kashmir, Army officials said. Militants fired on the army convoy at Handwara in Kupwara district, resulting in injuries to the two soldiers, the officials said. They said the militants fled the scene after carrying out the attack. An operation has been launched to track down the militants, they added. Terrorist attack on Army convoy Kralgund, in Handwara (Kupwara, J&K); three jawans injured (deferred visuals) pic.twitter.com/ZBfFkPJ287 a ANI (@ANI_news) September 7, 2016 This is the second terrorist attack on army convoy in Kashmir since the encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani on July 8. Two soldiers and a policeman were killed and five soldiers injured when an army convoy was attacked on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway near Khawaja Bagh in Baramulla in August. (with PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. [June 04, 2020] Beacon Healthcare Systems Unveils New Appeals and Grievances Product for Small to Midsize Health Plans Beacon Healthcare Systems announced today the introduction of a new appeals and grievances product designed expressly for small to midsize health plans and other managed care organizations. Concurrently, Beacon announced that this new product-named "VAM Out of the Box (News - Alert)"-will launch initially at HealthTeam Advantage, a North Carolina-based Medicare Advantage health plan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005661/en/ Beacon is home to the healthcare industry's leading compliance, appeals and risk management technologies. Among its core products is its Virtual Appeals Manager (VAM), the industry's most intuitive and easy-to-use appeals and grievances tool. VAM is a highly configurable, automated solution that can be implemented in record time and provides unparalleled control and transparency of cases from intake to review while reducing a massive amount of health plan letters into a manageable and efficient core of templates. VAM has also been shown to improve star ratings, resulting in financial rewards from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to health plans. "VAM Out of the Box" incorporates all of VAM's best practice workflows, reporting and letters into an easy-to-implement, lower-cost solution ideally suited for he needs of small to medium-sized plans. Similar to its highly acclaimed VAM product, "VAM Out of the Box" was designed by health plan compliance and operational experts and meets all compliance and operational requirements. "After seven years of working with plans of all sizes across the country, we are excited to launch this new product with HealthTeam Advantage who will make great partners in this effort," said Beacon CEO Ken Stockman. "Together we'll be able to leverage the best of what we've learned through the years in ways that help HealthTeam Advantage enhance their efficiencies and serve their members even better." HealthTeam Advantage is a health insurance company founded in 2016 in Greensboro, North Carolina. HTA offers Medicare Advantage plans to eligible Medicare beneficiaries in certain counties in North Carolina and is committed to the health and well-being of its members and communities. HTA offers medical and prescription drug benefits, dental, vision, hearing as well as personalized customer service. "From the first time I saw the VAM product in action at a conference last year, I was in awe," said Bethany Carter, director of operations, provider services and claims at HealthTeam Advantage. "When it came time for our organization to look for a platform to support our growing needs, Beacon immediately came to mind. When we saw the personal demonstration in January, we were hooked; and now that we are in the midst of implementation, we are beyond excited." Beacon Healthcare Systems is home to the healthcare industry's leading compliance, appeals and risk management technologies, providing health plans of all sizes and sponsorships with customizable and scalable SaaS (News - Alert) (Service as a Software) solutions that ensure accountability, accuracy and operational efficiency. With a focus on appeals, grievances, compliance and analytics, Beacon HCS is the first place health plans turn to when they are looking for a trusted, experienced partner who can help them reduce costs, grow revenue and achieve their strategic goals. Founded in 2011, Beacon HCS is a privately held California-based company with a technology center located in Austin, Texas. beaconhcs.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005661/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Madeleine McCann parents Kate and Gerry have long fought to find their missing daughter. (PA) German police have identified a new prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and her parents have fresh hope they will find out what happened to their daughter. Kate and Gerry McCann have always vowed to continue searching for their daughter in their 13-year-quest to uncover the truth. In a statement accompanying the revelation that a suspect had been identified in her disappearance, the couple said: "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. Heres what else the McCanns have said throughout the years about their search for their daughter. Gerry and Kate McCann arrive at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. in 2008. (AP) May 2008 On the first anniversary of Madeleines disappearance, Kate said that she senses that her daughter is alive. She said: Madeleine just feels very close. It's more of a kind of sensation that she's there. You try to be objective and you think it is because I am her mum and I want to believe, but it has not changed. Gerry added: Today is about Madeleine and today is about us stating our absolute categoric belief that there's no evidence Madeleine has been seriously harmed People want to help. They must want to help. She's a completely innocent four-year- old girl. Surely we can find her if everyone pulls together. July 2008 With the case closed, and no suspects identified, Kate and Gerry were officially cleared of any involvement in Madeleines disappearance. And, despite mounting legal issues, the couple reaffirmed the search for their daughter. MORE: Scientists reveal reaction to Boris Johnson's infamous 'shaking hands' speech Kate said the news they were no longer suspects was no cause for celebration, while Gerry added: Our priority has always been the search for Madeleine and that will be what will be prioritised in the coming weeks. Kate and Gerry McCann talk to the media outside a court in Lisbon. (AP) May 2009 On the day an age progression image of their daughter was released, on the second anniversary of her disappearance, the couple said: "It is two long years since Madeleine was taken. It is two years since we were a happy family of five. The pain and anxiety does not lessen, but our determination to find our beautiful daughter remains steadfast Story continues "Madeleine is still missing! She has the right to be back with her family. We have a responsibility to keep looking for her. We urge you please do not give up on Madeleine. February 2010 After the Portuguese detective who led the initial investigation into Madeleines disappearance lost his attempt to overturn a ban on a book where he claimed the Kate and Kerry were involved in her disappearance, the couple highlighted how they were still holding onto hope that she was still alive. They said: "By upholding the injunction against Goncalo Amaral's book and DVD, the judge has rightly agreed that there has been significant, ongoing damage to the search for our beloved daughter Madeleine and to the rights of our family. "We are grateful to the judge for accepting that this injustice must not continue. The court case has demonstrated, once again, that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm. Kate and Gerry McCann pose with a missing poster depicting an age progression computer generated image of their daughter Madeleine at nine years of age. (AP) April 2010 As the third anniversary approached, Kate said: Certainly in my heart I feel she is out there. I mean, I know there is nothing to say that she isnt so we have to carry on working and thinking like that. Gerry also reflected on how police in Portugal and the UK were not doing more to find their daughter, adding: Its not right that an innocent British citizen is essentially given up on and I dont think that it is right that, as parents, we have to drive the search. May 2011 On the fourth anniversary of Madeleines disappearance, Kate told the BBC that she believed her daughter was still alive. She said: "We know there's no evidence at all that's she's come to harm. There's many cases of missing children who disappear off the radar for really long periods of time and still be found alive. MORE: Chester Zoo 'at risk of extinction' after losing millions "I feel that she's still out there. There's nothing telling me to stop or slow down. I truly believe she's out there and if we can get the help we need, we can find her and bring her home." Kate and Gerry McCann react during a BBC TV interview ahead of the 10th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. (AP) February 2016 Kate said she believed Madeleine had been taken far from Praia da Luz, which she described as the place where I feel closest to her. She added to The Sun: The urge to look for Madeleine absolutely hasnt changed at all. You hear all the time about people who have been missing for years being found. There have been so many cases like that. We will never give up. You couldnt settle if you thought about giving up. I want an end, an answer. Whatever that it is. Kate and Gerry McCann hold hands during a news conference at a hotel in Lisbon. (AP) December 2019 Last Christmas, a message on the official Find Madeleine Facebook page, said "nothing has changed. As they faced their 13th Christmas without their daughter, the McCanns added: "We love her, we miss her, we hope as always. "The search for Madeleine goes on with unwavering commitment. MORE: Paedophile-hunting group's evidence 'breached right to privacy' June 2020 After a new prime suspect emerged, the McCanns said in a statement: "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. "We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. Novelist Ottessa Moshfegh with her dog, Jewely, looks out the window of her home at the base of the Angeles National Forest. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) I first met the novelist Ottessa Moshfegh a little over a week into quarantine, in a small park in Pasadena not far from where she lives. We talked first across the social distance of a hiking path and then, when it started raining, on the phone from our two parked cars. In retrospect it was touching to have thought at the time that this scene would hold its tension, maybe even gain in eloquence and meaning, over the months that followed. Instead it only seems banal. Then again, maybe that faded novelty is more in line with Moshfeghs most consistent theme, which appears once more in her forthcoming novel, Death in Her Hands: that even radical personal change cannot cleanse our lives of ourselves. The author of four previous books, Moshfegh is 39, dark-haired and dark-eyed, a little bit guarded in a way that seems sensible, and very plainly intelligent. She has the air that some writers acquire after finding success (and some before, no doubt) of finishing her sentences at exactly her own pace, in a way that verges on inattention to others, or else implies close attention. When we distance-met, one of the first things she told me was that shed been watching Miss Americana, the Netflix documentary about Taylor Swift. Probably a genius, she said, after a moments consideration. Which roughly sums up the consensus about her too. Moshfegh grew up in Massachusetts, the daughter of musicians, and accumulated a blue-chip writers pedigree: Barnard, an MFA from Brown, a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford. Her 2015 novel Eileen, a northeastern noir told from the perspective of a woman looking back on her wretched early adulthood, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But it was 2018s brilliantly acidic, wounded My Year of Rest and Relaxation about a beautiful young woman who, in an abyssal depression, decides to confine herself, drugged, to a New York apartment that made Moshfegh a force of cultural cool, the writer to take with you to a park bench in Eagle Rock or Bedford-Stuyvesant. Story continues What marks both novels is the deep internal ferocities at work in their first person narrators both outwardly at least relatively normal, but in truth almost completely isolated, in real contact with only one or two people and arguably better off without those. Thrown back upon themselves, they live within their bodies in a way that slowly comes to seem profound, registering their appetites, their excretions, their skin itself so impassively that it becomes almost a relief, a candor we didnt know we needed, that paramount feeling of fiction: other people, too. Otessa Moshfegh's work exudes a candor we didn't know we needed, that paramount feeling of fiction: other people, too. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) An author who disappears so far into her lead characters can be tricky to read as a person. Its always weird, Moshfegh said of reading a recent profile of herself. Theres this entity thats not me but is of me and fashioned by someone else. I feel the psychic weight of that. It feels bad. It feels uncomfortable. Her caution is understandable. Much of Moshfeghs public persona seems to have emerged from a 2016 profile in the Guardian, in which she talked about buying a how-to guide to write Eileen, called her novella McGlue an astonishing book, and said, There are all these morons making millions of dollars, so why not me? Im smart and talented and motivated and disciplined and talented: did I say that already? Depending on their regard for her work, people tend to read those quotes as either ridiculous or rightly self-assured. What neither interpretation captures is Moshfeghs equivocal tone when you meet her in person, the disavowal that lurks behind both any praise she has for her own work and any criticism she makes of it. And of course, theres the entire life recessed behind her public-facing moments her marriage to a fellow writer, Luke Goebel, her recent dive into the novels of Anne Tyler, her research for future work (a ghost story set in San Francisco, maybe). Her friendships, in particular, where many of her characters can falter, have a devoted quality. One of the things about which she cares is friendship, the novelist Rachel Kushner told me. Shes a person of deep integrity. The curator and journalist Kristine McKenna said that when she needed physical help after a medical procedure, it was Ottessa she called. McKenna added that not long ago Moshfegh had flown across the country to spend a week with a friend in a similar bind. There were moments in our conversations when I caught sight of the version of the author whos alienated some people and appealed to others. Her disdain for social media (a writer using Twitter is sacrificing something sacred) has an aristocratic high-handedness to it, for example, as if, having crested the peak of literary fame, she cant conceive of there having been a different outcome: the system worked, and anyone still out hustling for Goodreads followers is one of its deserving losers. Yet there are likely a handful of writers of Moshfeghs exact age and gifts who, for whatever reasons socioeconomic, almost invariably havent had her success. Different things might seem sacred to them. But those flashes are rare, and mostly Moshfegh seems extremely serious about the work shes made. Thats the main reason she hates the occasional depiction of her as a dilettante. She used the how-to book for Eileen as a structuring tool, she says, not because she wanted to make money, and only after years of working patiently at her craft. I was very naive, she said about the Guardian profile, which created the easy template for how to write about her. He came over, drank my tea, used my bathroom, talked to me like he was really trying to do a good job. I told her it was hard to imagine a young male writer being scrutinized so ruthlessly for the qualities of ambition and honesty. I hope you write that, she said. Then she added, with the sharpness that marks her writing, My only other option was to pretend to be an insecure shivering idiot. Shes right. Literary culture demands a personality test of women that few men have to take, and especially of women who write frankly about womens experiences, making them seem somehow answerable to readers, available, in a way that (to pick another first-person novelist more or less at random) someone like Richard Ford never has been. I was really upset by that profile, Moshfegh told me. She paused. I think it will last for the rest of my life. Shed said earlier that theres still a ring-shaped stain on her coffee table where the writer from the Guardian set down his mug of tea. "Death in Her Hands" by Ottessa Moshfegh. (Penguin Press) Moshfegh wrote Death in Her Hands in 2015, before editing it for publication last year. (Some of her time has been given over to screenwriting projects, one of them an adaptation of her own work.) It will be the third novel shes published thats narrated by a woman in solitary flight from the past, in this case Vesta Gul, a widow of 72 living in a lakeside cabin. On a walk with her dog, she finds a note that reads, Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasnt me. Here is her dead body. Theres no body with the note, however, and Death in Her Hands becomes a teasing exercise in judging Vestas sanity. Another character at home alone: Its not hard to convince yourself that Moshfegh intuited something untenable about the way we live long before this quarantine. Or indeed, that maybe the writers we elevate as a culture arent random but have grabbed hold of some imminence in our lives, a new part of reality still yet to fully appear. When Ottessa knows things, she knows them, Kushner told me. She knows when shes right. The observation stuck with me. Technical elements of Moshfeghs books can misfire Vesta Gul is a widow: vestigial; why do writers do this? but never the voice. There, the credibility is total. Before we hung up, Kushner mentioned that Moshfegh had recently ordered her a jumpsuit she saw online. When it arrived, it fit perfectly. I spoke to Moshfegh again in the sixth week of quarantine, long after our first conversation. I had a resurgence of the enormous gravity of all this, she said. This terror sort of regurgitating repeating on me. There were echoes of her various characters, including Vesta, in that, particularly in the language drawn from the body. But then she added, perhaps surprisingly, that she thought the whole experience might make people value their ability to be together. Youll have spent all this time communing with yourself. And it could push you further into delusion, or it could get you reconnected with something that might not be, you know, Kim Kardashians line of shapewear. She paused. I watch YouTube a lot. They make these corsets that are like leotards, she and her sisters. I laughed. For the first time it felt like the energy of her fiction had come alive in our conversation, and in the same moment I saw why she might be inclined to conceal it. Her writing is vulnerable, and not in the devalued present currency of the personal essay more like an admission, from a very reluctant source, about how trivial and vaguely ashamed and distinctly real each of us is, residing as we do in the permanent solitude of our selves. Finch's novels include the Charles Lenox mysteries. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, June 5 2020 Several ailing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are still in the dark over how to raise funds to finance their operations and pay debts despite trillions of rupiah worth of government guarantees. State-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said the company was in talks with the Finance Ministry on how it would raise the funds needed to keep its business afloat. The use of the funds is also still being discussed, but its supposed to be used as our working capital, he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. 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 Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 11:55:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis broke silence on Wednesday amid the ongoing turbulent unrest across the United States, saying that President Donald Trump "tries to divide" the American people. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people -- does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us," said the revered Marine general, who resigned as the Pentagon chief in December 2018 in protest against Trump's Syria policy. "We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," Mattis continued in an article carried by the Atlantic magazine. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children," he said. Mattis's excoriation came as Trump threatened to send in active-duty military forces to quell the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial discrimination that have spread to over 300 U.S. cities and towns following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, by white police. "We should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict -- a false conflict -- between the military and civilian society," Mattis said. Enditem Germany will lift its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday, as the continent looks to further ease restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus. Germany introduced an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March. But with new infections sharply down, the government is looking for ways to restart the economy. "We have decided today that the travel warning for the named circle of countries will not be continued but replaced by travel advice," Maas said, referring to EU nations, other Schengen countries and Britain. The individual advice will be on a total of 31 nations, "provided that there are no longer any entry bans or large-scale lockdowns in the respective countries", he said. The advice could still include warnings against travel to certain countries, such as Norway and Spain, which still have their own entry restrictions in place. Germany will be watching contagion data very carefully, Maas added, saying that warnings could be reintroduced if new infections were to reach 50 per 100,000 people in a week in the country concerned. Germany reported just 342 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday -- down from more than 6,000 a day at the height of new infections in March. - Phased restart - The European Union set out plans in May for a phased restart of travel this summer, with EU border controls eventually lifted and measures to minimise the risks of infection, like wearing face masks on shared transport. Some countries have already started reopening their borders in a bid to revive the embattled tourism industry. Italy reopened to travellers from Europe on Wednesday, and Austria is lifting restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. German tour operator TUI said Wednesday it would be resuming flights to popular holiday destinations, with the first flight scheduled for Portugal on June 17, according to news site Business Insider (BI). "Our main destinations will be the Balearic Islands, Canaries, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus," Germany boss Marek Andryszak told BI. However, foreign minister Maas continued to urge caution. "I know that this decision raises great hope and expectations but I want to say again: travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel," Maas said. He also warned that Germany would not be repeating its unprecedented and costly effort to rescue stranded Germans from around the world in the first weeks of the pandemic. In Berlin, residents were divided over whether lifting the travel warning was a good idea. "If I fly somewhere, I will be afraid about coming back again because maybe it will get worse and they will close the borders again," said Berlin resident Regina. Another, Henri, was more optimistic: "There are masks, so I'm not afraid. I mean, I don't understand what this is all about anyway." Germany still has a travel warning in place for Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans. The government will review this after an expected European Commission decision next week on whether to extend entry restrictions for citizens of third countries, Maas said. Other countries, such as Belgium and Britain, are still advising against, or forbidding, all non-essential travel abroad. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. In the aftermath of the tragic death of the young man in Minneapolis, Democrats and their sycophants in the media are carrying on the biggest scam perpetrated on the American people since LBJ with his Great Society and Tonkin Gulf incident in 1965. Thanks to Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod for publicly standing up to black on black crime, especially homicide, yesterday. Once again it seems BLM matters only in the extremely rare occurrence when a black man is murdered by a white person. Here are some actual statistics as compiled by the FBI on 2018 homicides where the race of the offender is known. In 2018, 2,925 blacks were murdered. Exactly 234 of 2,925 were killed by white people which works out to 8 percent. In other words 92 percent of black people were murdered by their fellow blacks. Out of 6,570 total murders, 3,114 were committed by black people which is 44 percent. So one demographic that makes up 13 percent of the population committed 44 percent of the murders. Three thousand, three hundred and fifteen white people were murdered, 514 by black people. That comes out to 15 percent or almost twice the percentage of whites murdering blacks. And where are the professional victims and protesters mourning the death of Kahlil Strickland that the council members mentioned yesterday? I have said before I opposed Ms. Coonrod when she ran but I am happy to admit I was 100 percent wrong. Douglas Jones Ooltewah * * * I think for the very first time in my life, two wrongs wound up with a right for I, too, was full of angst at the election of Ms. Coonrod. But just like you, Mr. Jones, I was also 100 percent dead wrong. I was not there and my opinion is based solely on what I have read but I believe the knee-taking from those two beautiful police women with the peaceful segment of the protesters is worthy of national attention. That all happened in spite of some "unidentified" white person's attempt to incite with a recording of George Floyd's horrific death struggle. Then you have the comments by Ms. Coonrod. Thank you Chattanogan for posting her comments in their entirety. I had no idea that those remarks came some two days after Ms. Coonrod's grandbaby lost her 23 year old daddy in a mindless, grizzly way. I have no words and was/am pretty tearful at the concept of a grandmomma trying to explain that to a four year old. What a nightmare! My heart goes out to Ms. Coonrod and her family. I hope they can learn to cope. However, this much is clear to me: Demetrus Coonrod is an American Hero who has just earned at least two ardent fans- me and Mr. Jones. Savage Glascock Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:53:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW DELHI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pledged 15 million U.S. dollars to "Gavi", the international vaccine alliance, while participating in the virtual Global Vaccine Summit 2020, said an official statement issued by the PM office. Addressing the summit, Modi said India stands in solidarity with the World in these challenging times. Referring to Gavi, he said it is not just a global alliance but also a symbol of global solidarity and a reminder of that by helping others we can also help ourselves. "India has a vast population and limited health facilities and that it understands the importance of immunization," he added. He also stated that that India had digitized its entire vaccine supply line and developed an electronic vaccine intelligence network to monitor the integrity of its cold chain. These innovations are ensuring the availability of safe and potent vaccines in the right quantities at the right time till the last mile, he said. Enditem PHOENIX, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RAADR, Inc. (OTC PINK: RDAR), a technology and software development company that monitors cyber-bullying and social media platforms with artificial intelligence, introduces their latest website update, version 2.0, at RAADR.com. RAADR has improved their company's main website to better serve its clientele. The new design adds a more cohesive brand identity and a user friendly layout. This modification in aesthetics and design is to coincide with an eventual RAADR application 2.0 update for both the Android and Apple iOS platforms which is to be released by the end of Q3. The website leads visitors into a clear understanding of how the RAADR platform and services function. The new look incorporates animated screenshots of the forthcoming app update and highlights many of its impressive features. CEO Jacob DiMartino says " Our new look and new features to the website and mobile application will play a substantial part of our user base growth over the next 12 months." The new RAADR website redesign is modern, uncluttered, and responsive on mobile devices. The improved RAADR.com allows already registered users to login to a private account dashboard while allowing new visitors to sign up for their services. The company offers a 1 week free trial of their platform. Lastly, the new website 2.0 model displays all RAADR company information including investor relations, financials, SEC filings, past press releases, social media accounts, a daily anti-bullying blog, and corporate contact information. About RAADR, Inc.: RAADR, Inc., makers of the artificial intelligent proprietary technology application RAADR, have developed a web based tool that provides families with peace of mind when it comes to knowing that their children have a layer of safety from bullying and predatory behavior. By customizing their own unique monitoring and alert settings, parents and guardians can be alerted when their children's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other pertinent social media platforms contain inappropriate language. By utilizing customized keywords chosen by the user that are added to an already existing database, parents and guardians can carry a sense of assuredness that their child is safe from bullying or being subjected to inappropriate behavior. Because RAADR constantly monitors social profiles for threatening activity and language without the parent having to read every update or message, it offers peace of mind to the parents, without requiring continuous monitoring by hand. This also offers a layer of privacy for the students since parents don't need to comb through their posts and read every one. RAADR enables parents to maintain a level of trust with their children while knowing that they are safe from bullying. RAADR gives families the ability to protect their image, correct erroneous postings and safeguard children from online bullying. The Company's core focus is building and acquiring apps and other products, services and companies to build a nationwide network of related businesses that are positioned to serve the mobile app development needs of small businesses and individuals. Contact: Jacob Dimartino 602-501-3836 [email protected] SOURCE RAADR, Inc. Related Links https://www.raadr.com SOURCE RAADR, Inc. Related Links https://www.raadr.com Pediatricians and Medical Leaders Warn that Low Child Vaccine Rates Pose Huge Risk Amid COVID-19 Pandemic In the U.S., our children rarely fall ill to grave infections because they are protected by vaccines. Serious illnesses like measles, mumps, congenital rubella syndrome, chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, rotavirus diarrhea, hepatitis (A and B), polio and bacterial meningitis are all preventable through routine childhood vaccinations. It is not magic that keeps our children safe from these many serious illnesses, it is vaccines routine delivery of safe and effective vaccines. What will happen if we stop vaccinating or if we reduce our vaccination rates? These diseases will return. We will have epidemics of these old diseases during an unprecedented pandemic of a new disease. Yet, during the pandemic, we have seen a staggering reduction in the proportion of children vaccinated, despite recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maryland Department of Health, agencies that have provided guidance for us to continue to deliver vaccination services to children. We all are hopeful that clinical trials of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 lead to licensed products that are safe and effective, but we must not forget to continue to provide child vaccines, the most important protections against infections that we already have available. In Maryland alone, there has been a 32% reduction in all vaccines given to children from birth to 11 months of age and a 47% decline in 12 to 23-month-old toddlers. Even more alarming, as we begin a reentry into greater normalcy, after weeks of stay-at-home mandates, Marylands pre-kindergarten vaccine rates have collapsed by an astounding 76%. Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella alone, which critically protect our children from measles, have tumbled 71% In March and April, 15,950 fewer children in Maryland received this vaccine when compared to the same time last year. Under-vaccination is widespread in the U.S., not just in Maryland, as reported by the CDC. We are at serious risk for calamitous syndemics of COVID-19 plus other highly contagious diseases, like whooping cough and measles, if we do not return to the rates of protection we had before the pandemic. Without vaccination of our children, the SARS-CoV-2 virus will win another victory. In 2019, when measles hit many communities in the U.S., leading to 1,282 cases, Maryland was spared. Only five of our children were infected and there was no significant person-to-person spread. In 2017 and 2018, there was only a single case of measles in Maryland each year. This year, so far: none. Why? Not magic; we vaccinate. Right now, with almost no one traveling and very little personal contact outside the home, these contagious pathogens cannot gain a foothold. But, once people start moving, so do viruses and bacteria. If our children remain unprotected when we fully reopen, reemergence of diseases that were once kept at bay by vaccines is inevitable. Why are we not vaccinating? There are overlapping reasons. Families are sometimes scared to travel to or enter any health care facility for fear of getting COVID-19. Communities have received mixed messages about what kinds of care are essential. There is confusion about whether care providers are open and which hours are for sick or well children. We want to assure families that pediatricians are open, safe and eager to see their children. Importantly, in a COVID-19 world, families may feel that the only care warranted is for urgent medical problems, like acute illnesses, and they may underestimate the vital importance of vaccines for our children. This is especially true as many providers have come to rely on telemedicine for visits that can be done remotely. During these encounters, we may fail to prioritize communications to families about the importance of timely, complete childhood vaccinations. We cannot allow COVID-19 to take a greater toll on us than it already has by leading to the unintended consequence of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in our communities. Pediatricians, parents, researchers, advocates, educators, officials, and everyone who cares for children need to fix this problem now. We owe it to the children. If we dont speak up for them, who will? By James Campbell, MD, MS Professor of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine and Chair, Sub-Committee on Immunizations, Committee on Infectious Diseases, American Academy of Pediatrics Jay Perman, MD, Chancellor, University System of Maryland, and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine Bruce Jarrell, MD, FACS, Interim President, University of Maryland, Baltimore Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine Steven Czinn, MD, Drs. Rouben and Violet Jiji Endowed Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine Karen Kotloff, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Director Infectious Diseases and Tropical Pediatrics Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, Pediatrician-in-Chief, Johns Hopkins Childrens Center and Director, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Kwang Sik Kim, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Director, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor in Vaccinology and Director Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine Ruth Karron, MD, Professor, International Health, Director, Center for Immunization Research; Director, Johns Hopkins Vaccine Initiative, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Aziza Shad, MD, Ellen W.P. Wasserman Chair of Pediatrics, Chief, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, The Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics & Oncology Susan Lipton, MD, MPH, Director Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and Chair, Committee on Infectious Diseases for the Maryland State Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Timothy Doran, MD, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Greater Baltimore Medical Center; Susan Dulkerian, MD, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Mercy Medical Center; Maria Brown, MD, FAAP, President, Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics; Rebecca Carter, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Chair Committee on Immunizations, Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Letitia Dzirasa, MD, Commissioner of Health, Baltimore City, and a pediatrician; Joshua Sharfstein, MD, Professor of the Practice, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, former Baltimore City Health Commissioner and Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and a pediatrician; Neal Halsey, MD, Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Former Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety, and a pediatric infectious diseases specialist; Dan Salmon, PhD, Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety Gerhard Berger is not optimistic that Sebastian Vettel will still be in Formula 1 next year. Already this week, the F1 legend - who was team co-owner when Vettel won his first grand prix in a Toro Rosso - has invited the German to switch to DTM. "Seriously, why not?" said the German touring car series' boss. Berger also said he is not surprised that Vettel and Ferrari have decided to split after 2020. "You could see it coming," the Austrian told Sport Bild. "But he doesn't have to blame himself. He joins many drivers who failed to get Ferrari back on the winning track. Gerhard Berger was one of them," he smiled. "But as a four-time world champion Sebastian will easily be able to cope with it. There are very few who have been so successful." Some think Vettel, 32, is now inching towards retirement, but Berger thinks the German actually wants to keep racing. "He wants to drive in a top team, but only at Mercedes is it possible. And I'm afraid that the seats are occupied there too," he said. Finally, Berger says he is happy that his country is the one that will kick off Formula 1's return to action with two 'ghost races' in July. "Is it thanks to the persistence of Red Bull, Didi Mateschitz and Helmut Marko," he told Austria's Kronen Zeitung newspaper. "On the one hand, they have the potential, but above all the ability to deliver." (GMM) (CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a state of emergency in the Siberian city of Norilsk, after 20,000 tons of fuel spilled into a nearby river from a power station. An environmental group has described the damage as "catastrophic," and the concentration of contaminants in nearby waters has already exceeded permissible levels tens of thousands of times over, according to Russian environmental agency Rosprirodnadzor. The power station's employees originally tried to contain the spill on their own and did not report the incident to emergency services for two days, head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Evgeny Zinichev said during a Wednesday meeting chaired by Putin and shown on national television. "So what, we are going to learn about emergencies from social media now? Are you okay over there?" Putin said, chiding Krasnoyarsk governor, Alexander Uss and managers of the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company, which operates the station, for a delayed response after local authorities learned about the spill from social media. The Investigative Committee, Russia's top law enforcement body, said Tuesday a criminal probe had been launched into 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilling into a Norilsk river following "unexplained decompression" of a storage tank. Thawing permafrost? Nornickel, the energy company's parent, said the foundation of the storage tank possibly sank due to thawing permafrost, highlighting the dangers increasingly warming temperatures pose to Arctic infrastructure and ecosystems, according to Russian state news agency TASS. "Right now we can assume... that due to abnormally mild summer temperatures recorded in the past years, permafrost could have melted and the pillars under the platform could have sank," said Nornickel chief operating officer, Sergey Dyachenko, according to the TASS news agency. Northern Asia, especially above the Arctic Circle in Siberia, has seen the most above-normal temperatures on the planet so far in 2020. Through the first four months of the year, the region has seen temperatures more than 4 degrees Celsius above normal on average. The Arctic region is warming, on average, twice as fast as the rest of the planet, as a consequence of global warming, scientists say. The local authorities said the spill might take weeks to start a clean up as the region lacks expertise in utilizing such amounts of fuel, the river is not navigable and there are no roads surrounding it. Additional groups of experts are being deployed from other regions following the state of emergency. "The incident led to catastrophic consequences and we will be seeing the repercussions for years to come," Sergey Verkhovets, coordinator of Arctic projects of Russia's WWF branch, said in a statement. "We are talking about dead fish, polluted plumage of birds, and poisoned animals." Norilsk has been historically among one of the world's most polluted cities. According to a 2018 NASA study based on satellite data, Norilsk tops the list for worst sulphur dioxide pollution, spewing 1.9 million tons of the gas over the Arctic tundra. Police officers look at protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas, Nev., on June 1, 2020. (Bridget Bennett/AFP via Getty Images) 3 Men Linked to Boogaloo Movement Tried to Provoke Violence at Protests, Feds Say Three men linked to the so-called boogaloo movement were arrested after plotting ways to cause conflict between protesters and police officers during recent protests in Las Vegas, federal prosecutors said. Criminal complaints say Stephen Parshall, 35; Andrew Lynam, 23; and William Loomis, 40, were arrested on May 30 on charges including conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism and conspiracy to damage or destroy a building by means of explosives. Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force began investigating Parshall, who served in the U.S. Navy and is known as Kiwi, and Lynam, who served in the U.S. Air Force, in April, based on information provided by an informant; Loomis, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, was added to the probe the following month. All three are self-identified members of the boogaloo movement, which federal officials say is focused on the belief that a civil war and/or collapse of society is in the near future. Lynam attended a ReOpen Nevada rally in April, where he met the FBI informant and Parshall. He said his group wanted to violently overthrow the U.S. government, according to a criminal complaint. He said he wanted to target structures without a defense system, putting an economic burden on businesses and government. Parshall displayed maps with terrains and locations and mentioned an unoccupied U.S. Forest Service ranger station. The group went on a hike later that month to discuss plans. They plotted to destroy a ranger station near Lake Mead. Parshall took identification and phone numbers from each person to conduct background checks and Lynam asked each person to tell him in private what they could contribute to the group. Lynam and Parshall, along with the source, took part in another protest to reopen Nevada. They talked afterward of a plan for another protest the next week, saying they wanted to follow guidelines of the Irish Republican Armys Green Book, including creating a chaotic and confusing scene by setting off fireworks, smoke bombs, or noisemakers that were placed in predetermined locations before the beginning of the event. Glass jars filled with gasoline to use as Molotov cocktails found in Stephen Parshalls vehicle. (FBI) The goal was to cause a confrontation between police and protesters, according to a complaint. Lynam backed out of the May 16 event, but Parshall placed a bag on the ground near a Department of Motor Vehicles building. It was picked up by local police officers, who found spent shotgun shells, packaging for a new magazine, and an empty box. Parshall opted against following through with the plan because he noticed police officers closely observing the movements of the group. Loomis appeared at the event and told the group he wanted to join and help take down the government. The source told authorities that the men discussed causing an incident to incite chaos and possibly a riot, in response to the death of George Floyd. As some of the group caused a distraction for police, others planned to firebomb a power substation in Las Vegas. The idea was to create civil unrest and rioting throughout the city, the source claimed. The men attended a Floyd-related protest on May 29 but didnt take action and no violence occurred. Afterward, Parshall said he had supplies for Molotov cocktails and had purchased fireworks. The four peoplethe trio and the confidential sourceagreed to take part in a Black Lives Matter protest on May 30. As the men allegedly prepared to cause violence at the protest, they were arrested by the FBI. A member of the Boogaloo Bois walks near protesters in Charlotte, N.C., on May 29, 2020. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images) Violent instigators have hijacked peaceful protests and demonstrations across the country, including Nevada, exploiting the real and legitimate outrage over Mr. Floyds death for their own radical agendas, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich for the District of Nevada said in a statement. Law enforcement is focused on keeping violence and destruction from interfering with free public expression and threatening lives. Parshall, Lynam, and Loomis were charged with multiple state and federal offenses, including conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosives, possession of unregistered firearms, and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. They face decades in prison if convicted. According to the Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit that tracks misinformation and hate across social media, and the Anti-Defamation League, the boogaloo catchphrase, or meme, has roots in a 1984 movie and is a joke for some. For others, it signals a willingness to commit violence, particularly in the context of opposition to laws and policies that target gun ownership. Analysis of major social media sites such as Facebook shows an increase in boogaloo-related posts in the past several months. Federal officials said in recent days that a range of extremist groups have been linked to organizing violence at protests and inciting riots. Acting Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said in an appearance on Fox News on June 3 that overall, officials have seen groups such as Antifa, or anarchists in general, instigating violence at protests. I think what were seeing right now, its loosely organized within a metropolitan city. Is it being organized across the country in an organized way? I dont think that we see that yet. But, again, were continuing to analyze the intelligence and really getting the feedback from the state and local law enforcement officials in these individual cities, Wolf said. A number of cases have been opened that specifically focus on some of the leaders of Antifa and other groups that are involved, he added. Antifa is a far-left group with communist roots that openly advocates violence. Luxury storage units coming to Petoskey, Charlevoix in spring New "luxury" warehouses are coming to Petoskey and Charlevoix in the spring, providing high-end, climate-controlled storage. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presides over a symposium attended by experts and scholars in Beijing, capital of China, June 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping Tuesday called for efforts to develop a strong public health system to safeguard people's health. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when presiding over a symposium attended by experts and scholars. Noting that the people's security is the cornerstone of national security, Xi called for readiness for worst-case scenarios, stronger awareness of potential dangers and constant efforts to forestall major risks in health care. "Only by developing a strong public health system, improving the early warning and response mechanisms, comprehensively enhancing the capacity for prevention, control and treatment, weaving a tight prevention and control network, and consolidating the wall of quarantine, can we provide a strong guarantee for safeguarding the people's health," Xi said. Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Huning, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, who are both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the symposium. Experts and scholars, including academicians with the Chinese Academy of Engineering such as Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory professor at Guangzhou Medical University, and Zhang Boli, head of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, spoke and put forward suggestions at the symposium. Xi exchanged views with experts and scholars who spoke at the symposium. When delivering a very important speech, Xi noted that the CPC Central Committee, in the face of the unexpected COVID-19 epidemic, took the overall situation into account, made resolute decisions, and insisted on putting people's lives and health first. Thanks to the concerted, all-out efforts made by the Chinese people, as well as the most strict, comprehensive and thorough measures for epidemic prevention and control, China has made major strategic achievements in the battle against COVID-19, Xi said. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, Xi expressed gratitude to the experts and scholars for their important contributions to epidemic containment. The disease prevention and control system serves as an important guarantee for protecting people's health and public health security as well as maintaining economic and social stability, he noted. Xi required efforts to make disease prevention measures more calibrated and effective, calling for greater reform in streamlining systems and mechanisms, clarifying functions and improving professional competence. Xi stressed the pressing need for boosting the early-stage epidemic monitoring and warning capacity to improve the public health system, including efforts for a better monitoring system for epidemics and public health emergencies, and a better monitoring mechanism for diseases of unknown causes and abnormal health incidents. Party committees and governments at all levels were asked to put in place public health working mechanisms for the regular study and deployment of epidemic prevention and containment. Following the principle that nothing matters more than the people's lives, China has unprecedentedly mobilized resources across the country to treat and rescue COVID-19 patients on a large scale, said Xi. "From newborns to centenarians, we never leave out any infected person and never give up on any patient. We make sure that no one has to worry about treatment expenses," Xi pointed out. Xi urged drawing on the experience accumulated in fighting COVID-19 and making innovations in carrying out public health campaigns, stressing the transformation from environmental sanitation to comprehensive society-wide health management. Party committees and governments at all levels should put public health work on their priority list and explore more effective ways for mobilization, Xi said. Noting that the combination of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine is one of the major characteristics of China's COVID-19 response, Xi urged improving the emergency response and treatment capabilities of TCM hospitals and strengthening the training of TCM professionals to build a national high-caliber TCM professional team for epidemic prevention and treatment. Xi stressed the need to advance the revision of laws including the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases to improve the response measures against major emerging infectious diseases and sudden outbreaks. Stating that science and technology are sharp weapons in humanity's battle against diseases, Xi said humanity cannot defeat a major disaster or epidemic without scientific development and technological innovation. He called for increasing scientific and technological inputs in the health sector and attracting more talent for scientific research. Since the epidemic outbreak, China has been upholding the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and working closely with the World Health Organization and related countries, Xi said. He added that China has also actively shared epidemic and virus information, as well as containment experience and measures with the international community. It has provided material and technical support to over 100 countries and international organizations to the best of its ability, he said. Xi added that China will continue to fulfill its international obligations, fully play its role as the world's biggest supplier of anti-epidemic materials and work together to build a community of health for all. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presides over a symposium attended by experts and scholars in Beijing, capital of China, June 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 03: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas speaks to the press about travel restrictions in Europe in front of the Federal Foreign Office on June 03, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Thomas Koehler/Photothek via Getty Images) German foreign minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday announced that the country will lift its travel restrictions for 31 countries on 15 June. As well as allowing its citizens to travel to 26 EU member states, Germany will also lift its warning for Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the UK. However, Maas said that the government does not recommend travel to the UK while the country still has a 14-day quarantine period in place. I realise that this decision will raise great hopes and expectations, but let me say that travel warnings are not travel bans and travel advisories are not invitations to travel, Maas said. Meanwhile, the US is not on the list of places Germans can now go to right now and existing travel restrictions remain in place. Europes largest economy shut its borders to most of its neighbours in the middle of March, meaning only essential goods vehicles and commuters could cross. That same week, on 16 March, German chancellor Angela Merkel announced national lockdowns, as the federal government in Berlin agreed with the 16 states that all commercial and social life must be shuttered to contain the virus. READ MORE: Coronavirus: Early testing and swift lockdowns prevented 'up to 100,000 deaths' in Germany At the time of the shutdown, Germany had only 4,800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and around 10 deaths from COVID-19. Two-and-a-half months later, the comparatively low number of deaths some 8,576 as of today points to the effectiveness of the swift lockdown. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK Germanys leading virologist, Christian Drosten, has attributed the relatively low death toll to the fact that his team at the Charite hospital in Berlin was developing a coronavirus test in January already, and clinics were well-armed to start mass testing early on in the outbreak. The German foreign minister said today that what were previously travel restrictions, will now be replaced with travel advice, meaning that the government will issue guidance on whether or not it is safe to travel to a certain country on an individual, case-by-case basis. Maas also noted that travel warnings could be reintroduced in the future if new coronavirus infections in a particular country surpass 50 per 100,000 people in the space of one week. A Mexican man appears to have been beaten and tortured to death by police after they caught him breaking lockdown rules by not wearing a facemask. Giovanni Lopez, 30, was detained on May 4 in the Jalisco municipality of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos for ignoring the town's preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus. Christian Lopez told LatinUS, in a story published Wednesday, that Mayor Eduardo Cervantes offered him 200,000 Mexican pesos, or $9,000, if he did not go public with the footage that was recorded with his cellphone. 'The policemen came to carry out a raid to arrest people who did not have face masks. We were going to dinner and they came and assaulted us,' Christian said. 'My brother was grabbed by like ten policemen, myself as well, but I managed to get away and he was being beaten, tortured, choked there. At that moment I started recording.' Giovanni Lopez was detained in Jalisco, Mexico, by the police for not wearing a face mask on May 4 and was beaten, an incident which was captured on video. He died the following as a result of a brain injury but his aunt discovered he had been shot near his foot and that his body had bruises. The Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office is currently investigating A police officer puts Giovanni Lopez in a choke hold before he was arrested May 4 Giovanni Lopez's aunt discovered he had been shot in the ankle after he was taken into custody. The shocking finding took place when she visited the local morgue and workers told her not to open her nephew's body bag A cop is seen on the 96-second video telling Christian to shut the phone off while two cops tussled with Giovanni in the background. The aunt, who was also with Lopez brother at the moment they were pulled over, argued with the cops and is heard shouting at them, 'you can't put him in [the truck] because he is not doing anything.' Subsequently, three officers shoved Giovanni into the rear seat of a police pickup truck. With the help of neighborhood residents, the family was able to talk to mayor Cervantes Aguilar on the phone, who promised that Giovanni would be released from custody on May 5 at 10am local time. When the aunt showed up at the police precinct, cops informed her that her nephew had been taken to a local hospital. The mayor of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, Eduardo Cervantes, said Wednesday via a statement that he never offered Giovanni Lopez's brother 9,000 to not post the video which shows the 30-year-old man being beaten by cops Christian Lopez told LatinUs that he was on his way to dinner with his brother, Giovanni Lopez, and aunt when cops stopped them and beat his sibling. The above image shows the moment Giovanni was placed inside a police pickup truck A death certificate that was shared by the family indicated Giovanni died at 10pm due to a traumatic brain injury. The aunt discovered her nephew had been shot in the leg and also displayed several bruises on his body when she disobeyed an order from a worker at the medical examiner's office and opened the body bag that contained Giovanni's remains. Christian said he feared for his life and had to change addresses. But his other families members did not move from their homes. Cervantes told reporters Wednesday that Giovanni was walking around challenging member of the National Guard to a fight. In a press release statement, the Mayor of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos also denied offering money to Giovanni's brother in exchange for not posting the video on social media. 'At no time did I offer 200,000 pesos or any amount in exchange for the silence of the family members, nor did I threaten them,' Cervantes said. 'On the contrary, from the beginning and until today I have instructed my municipal agencies to provide all the information to the State Prosecutor's Office. 'In my municipal government we do not tolerate police brutality, abuse of authority, and much less serious violations of human rights, such as deprivation of life,' he added. Floyd (pictured), 46, died shortly after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes The cops involved in beating Giovanni are still employed by the Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos Municipal Police. 'The police will have to explain what was the act of disturbance and what were the reasons for the use of force in their arrest,' said Jalisco state prosecutor Gerardo Octavio Solis on Wednesday. Giovanni's death caused outrage in Mexico just two days after another video went viral in which a police officer in Tijuana is seen pressing his foot on the neck of a a handcuffed Jair Lopez - of no relation to Giovanni - for 90 seconds before he died. The incident took place March 27 at a gas station after cops received reports of Lopez hurling rocks at customers. Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white cop who has since been arrested, was seen in footage kneeling on Floyd's neck for eight minutes as the victim repeatedly said he could not breathe (incident pictured) In addition to Chauvin, present at the scene were officers (left to right) Tou Thao, Thomas K. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng Another cop pinned his knee on Lopez's legs while he pressed down his restrained hands. Moments later, a cop attempted to revive Lopez while performing chest compressions. The cop, who placed his foot on Lopez's neck, and the second law enforcement agent, who held him down against the ground, have been suspended pending an investigation. The Tijuana occurred two months before George Floyd, a black man, was killed in a similar hold in Minneapolis. Floyd was killed in Minnesota after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, placed his knee over the side of Floyd's neck while he was handcuffed and lying face down on May 25. Video of the incident also showed two other cops kneeling over Floyd's body as he said 'I can't breathe' and called for his mother after the police had arrested him for allegedly using a fake $20 bill at a deli. Chauvin and the three other officers - Tou Thao, Thomas K. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng - who were at the scene were fired. Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder, third degree murder and third degree manslaughter Thao, Lane and Kueng were each charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. An image that began circulating on Facebook on Tuesday depicted an alleged antifascist recruitment flyer from Denvers Monday night protests over police killings of African Americans. It appears, however, that the flyer is fake. My goal is to give patients access to innovative cosmetic procedures that can enhance their life and appearance. 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I am truly passionate about what I do, and it is an honor to be recognized as a Top Patient Rated Plastic Surgeon, says Dr. Christine Blaine More about Dr. Christine Blaine: Christine Blaine, M.D., FACS is a board-certified plastic surgeon with three New York offices in Huntington, Staten Island and NYC. Dr. Blaine graduated from Albany Medical College in 2005 and has been in practice for 11 years. She is well known and respected in the field of plastic surgery, specializing in both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. Dr. Blaine frequently participates in research and is a published author in the Annals of Plastic Surgery. She has presented her work at national meetings, such as the Northeast Society of Plastic Surgeons and is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Academy of Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Blaines mission is to treat the individual patient as a whole, providing the highest level of comprehensive cosmetic, plastic and reconstructive surgical and non-surgical care. To find out more about the office locations and procedures offered at Blaine Plastic Surgery please call (631) 470-2000, or visit the website at http://www.blaineplasticsurgery.com. Ottawa, June 5 : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic remains serious in Canada. The rise in infections has slowed across all age groups and in most regions of the country, but Trudeau said the situation remains serious in some regions where large numbers of new cases are still being reported, as well as in places like long-term care homes, Xinhua reported. "I want to be very clear. We're not out of the woods. The pandemic is still threatening the health and safety of Canadians," Trudeau said at a press conference on Thursday. "While we start loosening some restrictions, we also have to strengthen other measure... And as people head back to work, it's even more important that we keep a two-meter distance from others, wash our hands, and wear a mask when physical distancing is not always possible," Trudeau added. Meanwhile, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam warned that Canada could see "explosive growth" in new COVID-19 cases if reopening is not done with caution. According to new short-term federal model released by Health Canada on Thursday, as of June 15, the country could see between 97,990 and 107,454 cases, and between 7,700 and 9,400 deaths. "These models all tell us that if we relax too much, or too soon, the epidemic will most likely rebound with explosive growth as a distinct possibility," Tam said. As of Thursday afternoon, according to CTV News, Canada reported 93,700 cases of COVID-19, with 7,636 deaths and 51,685 recoveries. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) On June 3 after being closed for two and a half months the Bellaire Public Library reopened to the public, albeit with certain guidelines in place. Library Director Mary Cohrs was excited to be able to offer services to that she had not been able to while the building was closed. A few regulars came in to browse through books on that first morning and another person came in to use the computer and print something. Graduation parade: Bellaire honors Class of 2020 with celebration drive through town Cohrs admitted that traffic was slower than she expected for the first morning of the building being reopened but conceded that it might have been better that way while the library staff figures out how to best operate amid the new guidelines and precautions. Among the new guidelines and precautions is the requirement that the building is limited to 25 percent capacity and all people in the building wear a face covering. The library installed Plexiglass shields at the desks where the staff members interact with people. In addition to the occupancy limit, the library has taken every other computer offline and put only two chairs at each table to promote social distancing. There is hand sanitizer all around, and all surfaces are cleaned and disinfected hourly. All the cloth covered furniture has been put in storage so that furniture is easier to clean. Cohrs acknowledged that when it comes to the books, those are harder to clean since they are made of paper. Positive signs: Home sales spike in Houston for first time since pandemic began She is continuously reading about how long the virus stays on different surfaces and the best way to clean certain surfaces. Books and water dont mix, Cohrs laughed. So to avoid damaging the collection, were just having to be very very careful. In addition to books, Wi-Fi and access to computers is another valuable resource that the library provides. The wireless signal extends to outside the building, so Cohrs said that people will bring work and sit in front of the library. With the building being open again, the library can continue issuing library cards. Unlike the Harris County or Houston Public Library System, the Bellaire Library only issues physical library cards. The only requirement for a library card for the Bellaire Public Library is a residency in the state of Texas. With the Harris County and Houston public libraries still closed, the Bellaire Library is the only library in the county whose building is currently open. Cohrs thinks that fact will lead to increased traffic in the coming days and weeks. Were here, and were ready to meet their reading needs, Cohrs said. We have all these new books. While we were closed, we kept buying new books, keeping the collection current, getting them catalogued. So theyre here ready for them to read. To learn more about the Bellaire Public Library, visit www.bellairetx.gov/657/Library. elliott.lapin@hearst.com On May 29, Assemblywoman Diana Richardson and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie attended what they had hoped would be a peaceful protest against police brutality and institutionalized racism at Brooklyns Barclays Center. However, despite their positions of power as state legislators, both were pepper-sprayed by New York City Police Department officers. Assemblywoman Diana Richardson says she was pepper sprayed while peacefully protesting in Barclays plaza #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/JouBsKAsqm Gwynne Hogan (@GwynneFitz) May 30, 2020 They (the NYPD officers) didnt need to know who we were, they didnt need to know our title, for them to do their job, Richardson told City & State. I have all of the things that you quote-unquote want to avoid trouble and have a bunch of degrees for which Im paying dearly, Myrie told City & State. I have a pretty good pedigree by way of my profession as a state senator. I have no criminal records. I went to a peaceful protest. Regardless of all those things, I was still subject to unjust treatment by the NYPD. He added: Im hoping that my experience shows people that this isnt some sort of made up grievance. This isnt a fake agitation. This is a deep-seated frustration with the system that has ignored us for way too long. Both lawmakers recounted that as the sun began to set on that Friday evening, officers with bicycles began surrounding them and the group of protesters they were demonstrating alongside. The officers began pressing the wheels of their bikes into their bodies and then proceeded to pepper-spray them. Richardson, eyes stinging from the chemical irritant, was pulled out of the group by a fellow protester who helped her rinse out her eyes. Myrie, on the other hand, was handcuffed with a zip tie, eyes still burning. Myrie was identified by an officer soon after being brought to an area where other detained protesters had been gathered, but he could not shake the feeling that he shouldnt have been the only person released. Richardson and Myrie had intended to act as peacemakers between the officers and the protesters, but then officers chose to act aggressively toward them. I was absolutely shocked because where we were and who we were amongst, there was nothing happening to warrant that response from the officers present, Richardson said, as her voice trembled over the phone. We were assaulted by the NYPD. Since being pepper-sprayed, Richardson has been having difficulty dealing with the lasting psychological impacts of the incident. Im really emotionally hurt and fragile about the situation, and I have been feeling very down and depressed inside, the assemblywoman said, audibly trying to hold back tears. It speaks volumes about what exactly is wrong here in America and how the officers are out of control, she added. Myrie said that he is similarly haunted by the experience and has been questioning why the NYPD acted so aggressively. However, both lawmakers are hoping to advance a package of legislation, along with other state lawmakers, that would hold cops more accountable for their actions. Included in the package of bills, which have been around for years, is a bill to repeal Section 50-a, which prevents the public from accessing the personnel records of first responders. I think the legislation is a first good step. Its not one bill by itself; its the package and each addresses a very specific issue regarding the negative patterns of behavior weve seen with the NYPD. ... People want accountability and transparency, Richardson said. Many feel that the NYPD has a badge and license to kill unjustly. When we look at everyone in the streets (protesting), its about pain and holding accountability and the legislation puts us on the path to where we want to go. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that he will sign a bill to reform the 50-a law, but Richardson pointed out that Cuomo could introduce his own bill to repeal it at any time. Legislation is one part of the solution, Myrie said. We are seeing another solution, protests, advocacy, agitation, as another point. But I do believe that legislation will help move the needle forward (when it comes to addressing systemic racism). I think its a step in the right direction to help restore public trust. I think we have to remove disciplinary proceedings from the auspice of the police department so that they (New Yorkers) will feel confident that there are consequences for police combat. He added: Were talking about a centuries-old problem. People have been mistreated by authorities in this country forever so, no, one piece of legislation is not going to rid us of that DNA. But I think it will start to help change behavior. The Chinese interest in campaigns is hardly new. In 2008, Justice Department and F.B.I. officials approached Barack Obamas campaign at a time when Mr. Biden was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and running for vice president and told the campaign it had been penetrated by Chinese hackers. The same hacking groups went after Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee. But this time far more is at stake. The relationship between Beijing and Washington has never been more tense since relations between the two countries opened nearly five decades ago. And Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are in a match to declare which one will be tougher on Beijing over its failures to report quickly about the coronavirus, its new security laws in Hong Kong, its declaration of exclusive territory in the South China Sea, and its efforts to spread its 5G communications networks around the world. The announcement about Irans attempts to get into accounts surrounding the Trump campaign was not new. In October, Microsoft disclosed that Iranian hackers, with apparent backing from that countrys government, made more than 2,700 attempts to identify the email accounts of current and former United States government officials, journalists covering political campaigns, and accounts associated with a presidential campaign. While Microsoft didnt name the campaign, those involved in the investigation said it was Mr. Trumps re-election effort. The attacks Google described on Thursday appeared to be along similar lines as to what Microsoft detailed. Russian hackers are also active this election season. In January, the same Russian hacking group that stole Mr. Podestas emails in 2016 began a phishing campaign against Burisma, the Ukrainian company that formerly employed Mr. Bidens son and was crucial to Mr. Trumps impeachment. It is not clear what the Russian hackers were after, but cybersecurity experts surmised at the time that the hackers were looking for kompromat compromising material on the Bidens or hoping to support Mr. Trumps claim that Burisma was corrupt and that Ukrainian investigations into the company were warranted. In February, American intelligence officials warned that Russia was once again actively meddling, though it was unclear whether the goal was simply disruption or support for Mr. Trump. This week he invited President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to join a Group of 7 meeting scheduled for Washington in the fall, angering European allies and Canada given that Russia was thrown out of the group after it annexed Crimea in 2014. Mr. Biden has been far more critical of Mr. Putin and indicated he would not let up on sanctions against Russia, unlike Mr. Trump. Tim Ryan, the chair of PwC U.S., on Thursday released the company's plans to combat racism, telling CNBC that employees are insisting real progress gets made. "People are angry. They're upset. They're exhausted, and they want action," Ryan said on "Closing Bell." "They want a heck of a lot more than just saying, 'We condemn the killing of George Floyd or many others.'" The death of Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on the unarmed black man's neck for nearly nine minutes, has ignited nationwide protests in recent days. Demonstrators are demanding police reform and other steps to address racism in the U.S. Ryan detailed PwC U.S.' plans in a LinkedIn post earlier Thursday. Among the components: one week of paid time for its 55,000 employees each year to volunteer at nonprofits, a two-year fellowship program for some employees to work on policy issues that combat racial injustice and discrimination, and donations to four social justice organizations. The company also will match employee contributions up to $1,000. Additionally PwC U.S. is creating a diversity and inclusion advisory committee, consisting of employees across all levels of the company, that will help build out its larger plan to address racial inequality, according to Ryan's post. Ryan told CNBC he has heard from thousands of employees in emails, texts and other conversations in the last few days following Floyd's death. "As I read them, it was very clear that our people wanted a say in how we shape our future and instead of being defensive and talking about all the stuff we've done in the past, we're going to listen to our folks," Ryan said. The company also will share each year progress on the diversity and inclusion plan, including "the good and the bad and room for improvement," Ryan said, adding that the transparency can be "a major catalyst for action." Ryan said the American business community and government policymakers must work together to address racism and the deaths of unarmed black people by law enforcement. He said PwC U.S.' new fellowship program was designed with that collaboration in mind. "What is so disappointing is we are in the moment right now in 2020 with George Floyd and many others but unfortunately we know these events and these killings happen over and over again," he said, that Botham Jean, who was fatally shot in 2018 by an off-duty Dallas police officer, was an accountant for PwC. Amber Guyger, the now-former officer, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2019. "I'm proud about how our country is rallying now, but what we really need is a sustainable solution, and that is going to take business and government working together," said Ryan. By Kern Hendricks Muhammad Rehman Shirzad squints against the late afternoon sun as he scrambles up the side of a steep ravine in the district of Surobi on the eastern edge of Afghanistan's Kabul Province. This rugged gorge, only an hours drive from the national capital, is a far cry from the sprawling pink-and-red poppy fields that have long put Afghanistan at the heart of the global heroin trade. But these high, rocky outcroppings are home to a plant that may soon play as central a role in the country's drug economy as the infamous opium poppy. Rehman, a forensic scientist with the Afghan government's Forensic Medicine Directorate, stops to catch his breath and scans the uneven ground ahead. He is searching for Ephedra sinica, a hardy, sage-colored shrub that grows abundantly across central and northern Afghanistan. The plant contains a naturally-occurring stimulant called ephedrine the synthetic version of which is a common ingredient in decongestants and weight loss pills, and is often used to make crystal methamphetamine. That characteristic has made ephedrine-containing medications tightly controlled in North America and Europe. Even in Afghanistan, which has no such restrictions, it is difficult for drug producers to obtain enough of the chemical for the large-scale production of crystal meth. For them, the ephedra plant has been a game-changer, providing a cheap, local, and naturally abundant source of ephedrine. In turn, Afghanistans cities and even its impoverished rural areas are seeing a flood of crystal meth use and addiction. Early on, this development garnered little sustained attention, either from law enforcement or international drug experts. But in a 2019 report on Afghanistans crystal meth industry, a team led by David Mansfield, an independent consultant and former fellow at the London School of Economics who has studied Afghanistans narco-economy for more than 20 years, outlined the far-ranging effects of ephedras new role. The conditions are right for this industry to become deep-rooted, Mansfield said in a recent interview. Exploiting the plants natural abundance in certain areas of the country and the absence of central government control, ephedra is harvested and shipped by truck to open-air markets that are now dedicated to supplying the surging demand, according to the LSE report. Although the effects of ephedra harvesting in Afghanistan are still difficult to gauge, Mansfield suggested that in terms of scale and value it is quite possible for the ephedra and meth industry to equal that of the opium and heroin economy. The opium and heroin trade in Afghanistan is worth as much as $6.6 billion per year, according to a 2018 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Above image: Unemployed men smoke crystal methamphetamine under a bridge in Fayzabad, in the northern province of Badakhshan. As he strides along the slope, Rehman points out that there are no small or freshly chopped ephedra shrubs here, suggesting they have not been harvested on any significant scale. The plants here are much more difficult to reach than in other areas, he says. Even if local people need some ephedra for medical use, they are more likely to buy it from the bazaar. At those bazaars, ephedra merchants are doing a roaring trade. * In the heart of Kabuls bustling Kochi Bazaar, 30-year-old Ali Mardan shuffles between rows of heavy burlap bags in his storefront. The bags overflow with herbs, spices, and natural remedies from every corner of Afghanistan and abroad. Mardan reaches into one and draws out a handful of small, dried ephedra branches, each one the size of a toothpick. The shrub, he says, is a mainstay of many local medicine cabinets, with customers brewing the dried branches into a tea to use for the treatment of maladies like kidney stones, congestion, urinary tract infections, and low blood pressure. People buy it to cure a whole range of illnesses, he says. Its very popular. Ephedra grows widely across Afghanistans central and northern latitudes, stretching from Farah Province in the west to Nangarhar Province on the eastern border with Pakistan. Villagers in northern provinces harvest the plant, and trucks bring it to Kabul, says Gijinder Singh, a local expert in natural medical remedies known as a hakim. He owns a small shop in Kabul and his father and grandfather before him have been buying ephedra for decades, though Singh claims he hasnt heard about ephedras new use, a sign of just how isolated the knowledge of the ephedra-based meth industry is within Afghanistan, even among those selling the plant. Some of that isolation can be attributed to how crystal meth is made. One of the drugs appeals, at least to producers, is that, unlike heroin, it can be manufactured with limited resources and equipment. Aside from the key ingredient of ephedrine or a related chemical called pseudoephedrine, meth production only requires a handful of common chemicals, including red phosphorus and, often, iodine. With the requisite knowledge, a small meth lab can be built with nothing more than some simple kitchen glassware and a gas burner. In the US, rolling meth labs in the backs of campers and vans have become a common method used by meth cooks to avoid law enforcement, and this clandestine approach seems to have been fully adopted by Afghan meth producers as well. Still, obtaining ephedrine or pseudoephedrine from store-bought medication is a slow and expensive process, and there isnt enough in the country to support the growing drug trade. Afghanistan legally imports 100 pounds of pure ephedrine and 600 pounds of pseudoephedrine annually according to the UNODC, although a 2017 report noted that it is possible that in addition to the government quotas, larger quantities are being brought into the country across uncontrolled border crossings. Unlike the US and the European Union both of which began regulating sales of ephedrine-containing medications in the mid-2000s due to their common use in the manufacture of crystal meth Afghanistan has no laws governing the import or sale of such medications. But even with an unregulated supply, says Mansfield, the price of obtaining large amounts of ephedrine-containing medicine is still prohibitively high for Afghan meth producers, some of whom reportedly have suffered losses when using this method. The potential for the ephedra plants use in crystal meth production in Afghanistan was recognized over a decade ago. In a 2008 report, the UNODC reported that synthetic drug production thrives where precursors are available and unregulated, as is known to be the case in Afghanistan. The report pointed out that there is an ample supply of ephedra in central Asia, providing abundant amounts of raw material that drug producers would find hard to resist. Above photo: Ali Mardan, a wholesaler of Ephedra sinica in Kabul. How local producers learned to process the plant and isolate the ephedrine is harder to discern. According to Mansfield, both Iran and China are possible points of origin for the know-how. One possible theory, he says, is that Iranian meth producers passed their knowledge on to Afghan counterparts to skirt a crackdown on meth production in Iran in the mid-2010s, allowing these Iranian producers to maintain a steady supply of the drug. But following the genesis of the knowledge in Afghanistan is not easy. At this point, only the cooks themselves know where the knowledge originally came from, he says. Regardless of how knowledge of the plant and its use made its way to Afghanistan, Mansfield says that it has significantly reduced the barriers to entry for making methamphetamine in the country, and ephedra has transformed local economies in the regions where it is grown and sold. After local villagers harvest the plant by hand in the rocky cliffs, truck drivers who would otherwise be likely earning less than $10 as day-laborers are paid up to $1,150 to transport loads of ephedra to various district centers, sometimes more than 100 miles away. Once the ephedra lands in these district centers, often outside areas of Afghan government control, it is milled to a fine powder and sold in bulk quantities at open-air markets that have sprung up with the express purpose of providing supplies to local meth-producers. Mansfield notes the extent to which meth lab operators have become versed in the subtle art of ephedrine extraction. As time has passed lab owners have become more discerning customers of 'oman' a local term for ephedra and their cooks have become better at processing it, he says. * Cooks can now produce about 17 pounds of meth from 1,000 pounds of dried ephedra plant, says Mansfield, equating to a street value in Afghanistan of over $50,000. In nearby potential markets of the Middle East, this street value is orders of magnitude higher according to research conducted by the UNODC. Prices in the markets of Central Europe are lower due to the prevalence of methamphetamine manufacturers in the region, but even here street prices far outstrip those for the same drug sold within Afghanistan. Once a meth lab owner has purchased the ephedra from the market, extracting the pure ephedrine is fairly straightforward. The whitish powder is soaked in large plastic drums filled with water, allowing the ephedrine to naturally separate from the plant fibers. The cooks then strain the green, gooey liquid multiple times to remove the remaining plant matter. The strained liquid is then evaporated, leaving behind the ephedrine solids as a powder. From here, the meth is cooked in the same way as it would be had the ephedrine come from any other source. The sheer natural abundance of ephedra in Afghanistan appears to be allowing meth labs to increase production, while also lowering production costs. Mansfield says his team has recently uncovered evidence from satellite imagery of purpose-built soak ponds large, concrete vats constructed adjacent to the main lab building enabling producers to process larger quantities of ephedra at a time. These ponds take time and money to build and cant be moved from place to place like small plastic drums, which Mansfield says may suggest a new permanence for the industry. * Another uncertainty is on the demand side. Thanks to a lack of research and data, the true scope of the meth problem in Afghanistan is hard to quantify, says Martin Raithelhuber, a synthetic drug expert with the UNODC. There is a risk we severely underestimate a problem which has the potential to grow massively. Despite the sparse data, Raithelhuber says that there are still plenty of signs that crystal meth is well established in the country and rapidly spreading. The first officially documented seizure of crystal meth in Afghanistan occurred in 2014, according to the UNODC, although Raithelhuber says that here, too, available data is likely misleading: We cant exclude the possibility that methamphetamine was seized even before 2014 but misclassified, as not every shipment seized was necessarily tested for in a laboratory. In downtown Kabul, meth pipes are crafted out of repurposed medical vials. However the drug arrived, in recent years meth use has seen an explosion in popularity in Afghanistan in part thanks to the lowered production costs of using the ephedra plant. According to statistics gathered by Afghan government counter-narcotics forces, seizures of crystal meth increased dramatically from 2018 to 2019. The few drug rehabilitation facilities that exist in Kabul have seen surges in meth-related cases and the UNODC reports that many people who use now suffer from concurrent addictions to both heroin and meth. Soaring unemployment rates may also be driving demand for the drug. A 2019 Gallup poll revealed that 30 percent of the Afghan workforce is unemployed, the highest rate ever recorded in the country. The experience of Gul Muhammad, 45, illustrates the common pattern for many Afghans who are out of work. Muhammad says he became addicted to meth after he migrated to Iran to work as a day laborer. Crystal meth allowed him to work longer hours in a physically demanding construction job, with seemingly little strain. I was using heroin for about three years before my friends introduced me to sheesha in Iran, he says using a local term for meth. It makes everything difficult seem easy. You can work from early morning to late at night and not even realize that the day has passed. The hours seem to disappear. In this image: A small amount of low-purity crystal methamphetamine, worth less than $3. * While ephedra harvests and meth processing often occur far from Kabul, urban centers are where the destructive effects are most evident. In response, some locals are trying to build support networks. One example is Abdur Raheem Rejaey, the director of Bridge, a small Afghan nonprofit that provides free medical care, clean needles, and psychological support for people with addiction to drugs living on the streets of Kabul. Raheem used to use drugs himself. Like many others, he first became addicted during his time as a day laborer in Iran, and he has seen firsthand the effects that meth can have, not just on the body but on the mind. Many people who use meth end up with psychological problems, he says. According to a recent UNODC report on current treatment methods for those suffering from long-term stimulant use, methamphetamine use can have a raft of medical, psychiatric, neurologic, and neurocognitive effects including sleeplessness, hyper-aggression, and severe weight loss. To Raheem, the addictive and destructive effects of these drugs are clear. Up until now, he said, Ive never seen someone completely beat their meth addiction. When crystal meth was first sold on the streets of Kabul, Raheem adds, dealers advertised it as a healthy alternative to heroin something that would help people break their addiction to opiates. By the time many began to realize the devastating physical and psychological effects of this new drug, it was already too late. Raheems efforts to support those with addiction to drugs are rare in Afghanistan. Drug abuse is highly stigmatized, and the number of local and government organizations offering help and treatment is limited. There are only five drug treatment centers in Kabul, and, Raheem says, targeted treatment for crystal meth addiction is nonexistent. The widespread appeal of the drug may be due, in part, to stress from the ongoing war in the country. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 3,403 civilians were killed and 6,989 injured in the conflict in 2019, the sixth straight year that civilian casualties surpassed 10,000. This environment creates significant psychological pressure on those involved and drives many to seek a means of escape, says Rohullah Amin, a psychologist in Kabul and former director of the American Institute for Afghanistan Studies, a nonprofit scholarly institute. Other factors are also at play. Amin says that a widespread lack of mental health support for Afghans leads many in difficult situations to become even more susceptible to drug addiction. There are very few mental health services available in Afghanistan, and very few professionals with the training to properly diagnose and treat mental health issues, particularly in regards to emergency responses, he says. As a result of a lack of proper treatment, many people suffering from mental health issues in Afghanistan self-medicate, and this can also lead to addiction. Until recently, government and law enforcement efforts to curb the sales of illicit drugs had been limited. According to the UNODCs 2017 Afghanistan Synthetic Drugs Situation Assessment, overall, the issue of methamphetamine trafficking has hardly been present in the national drug discussion. Above photo: Staff from a local, non-governmental organization provide medical care to people with methamphetamine addiction in Kabul. Still, there have been hints of change. Afghanistans Ministry of Interior Affairs updated the countrys drug laws in 2016, significantly lowering the quantity of drugs a person must be caught with before they can be prosecuted. According to Khalid Mowahid, a spokesman for the Counter Narcotics Justice Center, an Afghan government body in charge of prosecuting large drug cases within Afghanistan, the move indicates an admission by law enforcement that previous laws were out of touch with the severity of the synthetic drug problem in Afghanistan. American forces have also ratcheted up the pressure on illicit drug producers in Afghanistan. On May 6, 2019, U.S. forces conducted 68 airstrikes in one day against Afghan drug labs, most of which produced crystal meth. American forces have also started to use the large, telltale ephedra soak ponds to help identify labs for strikes. But despite the destruction of numerous labs and the associated casualties at least 60 civilians may have been killed in the airstrikes according to UNAMA investigators, a finding disputed by the U.S. military authorities reported seizing more than 200,000 pounds of meth in March of this year, indicating that this aggressive approach has not significantly slowed production. There are some indications that the Afghan government is starting to acknowledge the increasing significance of the ephedra plant to the domestic meth industry. In October 2019, the Afghan ministers for health and counter-narcotics submitted a bill to the National Assembly proposing a nationwide ban on the harvest and use of ephedra. The bill is yet to be approved, but it represents one of the first public acknowledgments by the Afghan government of ephedras role in this public health issue. An official at the health ministry did not respond to questions regarding a timeframe for implementation of the bill. * Back in Surobi, Rehman, the Afghan government scientist, scrambles back down the slope to his car, a large bunch of ephedra branches in hand. He will take them back to his lab to test how potent the ephedra in the region is; the higher the ephedrine content, the more alluring the plant is for drug manufacturers. There are a number of different types of ephedra growing in Afghanistan, he says. But there are very few places where we have the equipment to conduct these sorts of tests. A boy not yet one year old raised in a one-room home by two generations of family members with meth addiction. For now, the only ephedra harvesting done here is by the odd local looking for small amounts to use as kindling or medicine, says Rehman. Because of the rugged terrain, large scale harvest for drug manufacture is not currently practical, but as ephedras value to local drug producers continues to climb, harvesters will begin looking further afield for sources of the plant. This plants use is something that people in Afghanistan are only recently becoming aware of, says Rehman. It will take time to understand its true importance. But, he adds, this is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We already face so many issues in Afghanistan. The creation of cheaper, more destructive drugs is not something we should allow to be added to that pile. *** Banner image: Muhammad Rehman Shirzad, a government forensic scientist, inspects an Ephedra sinica plant in the Surobi District in eastern Afghanistan. All images via Undark/ Kern Hendricks This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article. LENOX TOWNSHIP, MI More than 100 prisoners in southeast Michigan received the wrong coronavirus test results, the Michigan Department of Corrections said. At the Macomb Correctional Center, 54 men were told they tested positive while 54 others were informed they were negative for the virus, the Associated Press reports. However, the results were actually the reverse, said MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz. The mix-up led to the prisoners being housed in the wrong areas, he said. Those who test positive are housed in segregated units while those who are test negative remain with the general population. The department recently concluded testing the statewide population of 38,000 prisoners; 10%, about 3,800, were infected and 68 have died, including 5 at the Macomb facility. READ MORE: Thursday, June 4: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan From hair salons to gyms, experts rank 36 activities by coronavirus risk level Credit: University of Miami Brazil, which has followed the inept example of Mexico in failing to swiftly enact national public health policies to contain the coronavirus pandemic, has now become the world leader in terms of infections and daily deaths, according to the latest round of data provided by the Latin America COVID-19 Observatory. In a trilingual webinar Tuesday, members of the University of Miami-led initiative that provides timely data in an effort to improve government public health policy responses and save lives, along with a leading Brazilian epidemiologist, analyzed the observatory's study on Brazil. "This is a very timely discussion as Latin America has now become the world's hot spot for COVID-19 infections and deaths, accounting for 40 percent of the daily registered deaths globally, and Brazil has reached a critical phase in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said University of Miami President Julio Frenk, setting the context for the session. Frenk, a former health minister in Mexico and global public health expert, highlighted the "enormous expressions of solidarity, service, and sacrifice in the region, particularly on the part of frontline health workers and researchers" in seeking to combat the contagion. "In that spirit of solidarity, we are presenting this data," he said, "yet, sadly, we are witnessing the peril of delayed action by populist governments that tend to devalue science and evidenceand that has put millions of lives at risk." The Latin America COVID-19 Observatory was developed by the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, Miller School of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Communication, in collaboration with research partners throughout Latin America. A first round of data released several weeks ago focused on Mexico, and this second release centered on Brazil with a comparative regional data analysis. The observatory provides daily updates on public health and physical distancing policies10 variables in totalimplemented at the national and subnational level, the only consortium to offer state-level regional data of this scope, explained Felicia Marie Knaul, director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Miller School. Knaul noted that the observatory plans next to continue its assessment of other countries in the region and also to strengthen its collaboration with Brazil. She emphasized the value of providing state-level data that can be easily visualized on the website. "From a research point of view, we will be able to look at differences across states and countries to help us explain what works and what doesn't work in the face of a pandemicand that should help with future preparedness and also what we might see in terms of second waves of the current pandemic," said Knaul, who has been instrumental in advancing the initiative. "Also," she continued, "what we've seen in Mexico, in Brazil, and other countries with major variance is that if you demonstrate that some states are performing better than others, you can encourage those states that have weak public policy or even those that have enacted strong policy, but are still seeing mobility, that they need to adjust their public policies." Such analysis, she said, can provide "an opportunity for an overall improvement at the national level by asking states to come together and do as well as the best-performing states." Knaul noted that Brazil, with now nearly 1,000 deaths a day and a trajectory that is on the upswing, is now the hot spot of the global pandemic. "Our hearts and souls go out to all living in Brazil at the epicenter and to see how this is evolving, and we are here to do whatever we can to be supportive," she said. Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair in Visual Journalism and associate professor with the School of Communication, moderated the webinar. Cairo formed part of a robust collaborative effort from the school that played a major role in translatinglinguistically, textually, and visuallythe website's data and display. In pre-release findings on Brazil, the consortium observed that the administration of Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro wasted valuable time while COVID-19 spread across the country, a delay that obligated state and local governments to fend for themselves. Michael Touchton, assistant professor of political science and the global health associate faculty lead for the institute with expertise in Brazil, highlighted the impact of the disparities in the differing responses of Brazilian states and other more recent trends in his presentation. The best state performers were not limited to the wealthiest states, nor to those that are often considered the best governed, Touchton noted. Instead, political explanationswhether the state governor opposed or supported the Brazilian presidentwere a better indicator of how well the state was in controlling the contagion. The relatively marginalized states of the northeast part of the country have responded more aggressively and have fared better, as have some northern states. And, governors from opposition parties lead these states and have imposed much stricter measures than what the Bolsonaro administration recommended, Touchton pointed out. Cesar Victora, Brazilian epidemiologist and lead of the International Center for Equity in Health at Universidade Federal de Pelotas, provided a detailed analysis based on household surveys of 133 sentinel cities in Brazil's 27 states. In response to an audience question, Frenk said that the common element for both controlling the pandemic and opening the economy in Latin America and elsewhere is to do testing, both for surveillance and diagnostic in nature. "It's not a trade-offthe two objectives of controlling and opening have to go hand in hand," Frenk said. "If you reopen the economy in an accelerated, reckless way, you will have a spike in cases. And, you may have to shut down the economy a second time." "And the third piece is clear, clear communication," Frenk continued. "Communicating to the people so that they adhere to the physical distancing, protection of personal space by using masks, and extensive measures of personal hygienethat is the combination that allows you to open the economy safely and to control the pandemic." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak By Jonathan Mercantini As I write from one of the spaces in my home now being used as an office or classroom, my universitys campus is serving as a drive-through testing site for the novel coronavirus. Kean University, in hard-hit northern New Jersey, has seen sickness, hospitalizations and death in its community caused by COVID-19. In addition, several students have lost parents and grandparents, and many more have struggled to keep up with schoolwork while dealing with symptoms themselves. Other colleges have turned parking lots into Wi-Fi hotspots so their students, who otherwise lack adequate internet access, can complete assignments and watch online classes. Meanwhile, faculty and administrators are planning for a fall semester that might be face-to-face, remote, or some combination depending on our success at battling the virus that has upended all of our lives. If institutions of higher education have been brought into the war against COVID-19, then it is worth our thinking about the post-war world. The end of World War II brought the United Nations and rebuilding efforts including the Marshall Plan, the U.S. interstate highway system and the GI Bill. That, along with other economic and diplomatic innovations led to a vibrant economy, perhaps the most egalitarian in human history, that fueled Americas global dominance. The time has come for a new investment in higher education, modeled on the GI Bill, but for all students. This time, the investment needs to be broad and inclusive, to give every American the social mobility that a college education makes possible. Such an investment could include an increase in Pell Grants to low-income students, grants for supplemental instructors in first-year courses to provide additional support to students, and investments in classrooms, labs and libraries to ensure our students and faculty are learning with the newest technology. Of the nearly $3 trillion allocated by the federal government in response to the economic destruction wrought by COVID-19, $13 billion, less than 1%, is directed to higher education. Even the overall request by higher education of $46 billion seems modest and affordable when more than 15 times that amount has been directed to small businesses. Any higher education federal relief package is a long time coming. American colleges and universities never recovered from the Great Recession. A report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association shows that appropriations remain 8.7% below 2008 levels. Like those suffering physically, the virus will be tough on a higher education system already weakened by previous cuts. The transfer of the cost of college to students and families has led to a massive increase in student loan debt that threatens the future of these students and impacts financial decisions for their families. To be sure, college is still among the best investments one can make. But in the current system, talented students from under-resourced schools and economically disadvantaged backgrounds often cant afford to attend college. The majority of students need financial assistance and more and better resources to ensure their success on our campuses. A federal infusion into higher education should not allow a return to business as usual, however. Americas higher education system has been the envy and model for much of the world. Yet, like much of our infrastructure, built in the heady post-World War II era, it has become increasingly outmoded. While colleges and universities serve as engines of innovation, new technologies, and the next great idea, they themselves have been slow and reluctant to change. It is fair to say that the rapid transition to remote instruction this semester marks the most dramatic transformation of American education since the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. Post-COVID America will look different in ways we are only starting to imagine and understand. In past economic downturns, college enrollment increased as students flocked to college because of a lack of jobs or a need to retool. The new economy will require an educated workforce trained with new knowledge and skills, to enter the fields of public health, research, technology, communication, the humanities and more. As we seek ways to plan for the future and use this crisis to benefit our world rather than seeing the war end without achieving any gain, investment in education must be a priority. Jonathan Mercantini, Ph.D., is acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Kean University. 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. [June 04, 2020] Paycor to Host #MissingSHRM20 Virtual Conference CINCINNATI, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Human Capital Management (HCM) company Paycor today announced it will be hosting a virtual conference, #MissingSHRM20, taking place June 28 July 1, 2020. This virtual conference will provide HR and business leaders with the actionable insights they need to make a strategic impact in their organization and adapt to the new workplace environment. With the cancellation of the 2020 Annual SHRM Conference & Exposition, Paycor is committed to providing an alternative opportunity for HR and business leaders to connect, learn and network virtually. Paycors four-day virtual #MissingSHRM20 conference will feature a series of three webinar sessions, a virtual booth, networking lounges, a Twitter chat and various online learning activities and resources. Once attendees are registered, they can customize their experience and select the sessions of their choice. Event highlights include: - An interactive virtual booth for visitors to engage with Paycors resources and learn more about product offerings - A Paycor Customer Lounge where customers can learn more about Paycors exclusive community, the CORner, where they can network, share best practices and earn special prizes - Networking lounges for HR and business leaders to discuss the latest HR topics and share best practices and insights - HRCI and SHRM credits for all three webinars - An #HRSocial Hour Twitter chat on June 28 at 7 p.m. ET with Jon Thurmond, Wendy Dailey and Jennifer McClure In addition, Paycor will give away a $2,000, $1,500 and $500 Visa gift card to three winners. Attendees can enter to win by signing up for a Paycor consultation leading up to the event. Register for the #MissingSHRM20 virtual conference here. Conference Schedule-at-a-Glance: Day 1: Sunday, June 28, 2020 - When: 11:00 a.m. ET - What: #HRSocialHour Twitter Chat Sponsored by Paycor - Who: Jon Thurmond, Wendy Dailey and Jennifer McClure Day 2: Monday, June 29, 2020 - When: 2:00 p.m. ET - What: How to Tackle HR with a Team of One - Who: Lori Kleiman Day 3: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 - When: 2:00 p.m. ET - What: Post COVID-19: Reimagining the Future Of Work - Who: Jennifer McClure, Joey Price, Jon Thurmond and Wendy Dailey Day 4: Wednesday, July 1, 2020 - When: 2:00 p.m. ET - What: Keeping Culture Strong Post COVID-19 - Who: Melanie Booher Networking Lounges The Networking Lounges will be available Monday, June 29 - Wednesday, July 1, 2020 for scheduled open networking sessions as well as themed discussions throughout the day. Virtual Booth The Virtual Booth is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET June 28 - July 1, 2020. Supporting Resources: #MissingSHRM20 Registration Paycor Website Paycor Products Paycor Latest News Join the Conversation Join us on LinkedIn About Paycor Paycor creates HR software for leaders who want to make a difference. Our Human Capital Management (HCM) platform modernizes every aspect of people management, from the way you recruit, onboard and develop people, to the way you pay and retain them. But what really sets us apart is our focus on business leaders. For 30 years, weve been listening to and partnering with leaders, so we know what they need: HR technology that saves time, powerful analytics that provide actionable insights and dedicated support from HR experts. Thats why more than 40,000 medium & small businesses trust Paycor to help them solve problems and achieve their goals. FOR MORE INFORMATION Katy Bunn [email protected] (513) 307-6392 MEDIA CONTACT Marta Debski Offleash for Paycor (810) 956-4501 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] James Mattis, a former Marine and Trump's first secretary of Defense, has pushed back against the president's threat to use military power for enforcing domestic order. (Brynn Anderson / Associate Press) Ever the opportunist, President Trump within the last several days has used the social unrest triggered by the police killing of George Floyd to mount an attack on the Constitution itself. His specific offense: exploiting his authority as commander-in-chief to try to convert the armed forces of the United States into a personal instrument for enforcing domestic order. Allow this effort to succeed and the constitutional order created in Philadelphia in 1787 will cease to exist. Citizens already on overload as they attempt to cope with ongoing crises related to public health, a faltering economy, and endemic racial injustice may not appreciate the gravity of the situation. We can be thankful that thoughtful and patriotic very senior retired military officers are speaking up to alert the public to the danger Trump has created. The founders believed that military power, especially in the form of a large standing army, was antithetical to liberty. A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive, wrote James Madison, will not long be safe companions to liberty. For many decades, Americans took Madisons dictum seriously. After World War II, however, they set aside such concerns. Persuaded that the nations very survival required it to create and maintain a massive military establishment, Americans exempted themselves from Madisons warning. Over time they became confident perhaps too much so that mechanisms for reconciling a massive military and individuals rights and freedoms were securely in place. Might and liberty could march hand-in-hand. Three factors made this at least temporarily workable. The first was the role assigned to the postwar military establishment. It existed to avert and if need be to fight wars in distant places. Its domestic responsibilities were minimal. The second was recognition that the authority of the commander in chief, while considerable, was not absolute. The oversight exercised by Congress placed limits on presidential prerogatives. Finally, and most importantly, the military professional ethic to which members of the officer corps subscribed ensured that their ultimate loyalty was to the Constitution, not to the individual temporarily residing in the White House. Story continues President Trump has now mounted an attack on each of these. He appears intent on assigning to regular troops broad responsibilities to function as a domestic police force. He refuses to acknowledge any limits on his authority as president. On that score, he is actively or passively abetted by supine members of his own party in the Senate and House of Representatives. Particularly despicable is Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who urged Trump, in an op-ed article, to deploy several army combat divisions to pacify American cities, offering no quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters and looters." Trump tweeted a response: 100% correct. Thank you, Tom! Perhaps most insidiously, Trump is engaged in undermining the military profession itself. His clear purpose is to transfer the primary loyalty of the officer corps from the Constitution to his own person. How else to explain Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, compliantly tagging along on the presidents show-the-Bible photo op earlier this week in Washingtons Lafayette Square. By doing Trumps bidding, Milley allowed himself to be publicly emasculated. Except as a presidential lackey, he has lost all credibility. That he retains his job is convenient for Trump, but a disgrace to the officer corps. So we must be grateful to the retired officers who are speaking out against these outrages. Gen. James Mattis, a well-regarded former Marine and Trumps first Defense secretary, has been particularly vehement and notably effective. In a widely publicized letter, he writes: We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. Just so. But it is Mattis poignant conclusion that especially demands reflection. Only by adopting a new path which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad. Yet the original path charted by Madison and the other founders was a path that defined Americas essential purpose in terms other than amassing and employing armed might. The nation as first envisioned was not a superpower perpetually at war. In that sense, the present civil-military crisis fecklessly instigated by the president should prompt all Americans to consider whether that standing military force, with an overgrown Executive just might define the root of our problems today. Andrew Bacevich is president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a retired army colonel and professor of history and a contributing writer to Opinion. ALTON State Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, is promoting a new Get Hired Illinois program from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Illinois Department of Employment Security. This program will help connect employers and job seekers with opportunities for job and career development across the state. Easypay.bm 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 20 Aug 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the easypay homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the easypay homepage on Twitter + the total number of easypay followers (if easypay has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the easypay homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. 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Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates (Los Angeles Times) Even before the Los Angeles riots in 1992, many at City Hall believed that the Los Angeles Police Department was too small to effectively patrol such a sprawling city. They noted that L.A. had fewer cops per capita than some other cities and that L.A.'s huge geography caused its own unique challenges. So, for more than two decades, L.A. pushed to expand the department. The magic number was 10,000 officers. And in 2013, L.A. hit that number. But by then, there were voices at City Hall questioning whether more expansion was needed and whether it might be time to trim the LAPD's budget to preserve other city programs during tough economic times. Some also noted the huge drop in crime during that period, a dramatic difference from the late 1980s and early 1990s. The LAPD budget, however, remained largely protected even as Black Lives Matter and other groups pushed to cut funding. On Wednesday, after days of massive protests over the death of George Floyd, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he supported budget cuts for the LAPD. That statement marks a major shift for Los Angeles, though many of the details still are being worked out. What is Garcetti proposing? Garcetti had originally proposed a 7% spending increase for the LAPD, including a lucrative package of raises and bonuses for rank-and-file officers. But Wednesday, a day after thousands of protesters chanted Defund the police outside his Windsor Square home, Garcetti said he had changed course, deciding now is not the time to increase the department budget. Garcetti said his administration would look for $250 million in cuts from city departments, including the LAPD, and steer the funds to investing in jobs programs, health initiatives and other services supporting the black community and other communities of color. As part of those reductions, the LAPD would see cuts of $100 million to $150 million, he said. Mayor Eric Garcetti addresses protesters and clergy participating in a march in downtown L.A. on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Council President Nury Martinez and several of her colleagues proposed the same reductions for the LAPD, which would eliminate the increase planned in Garcettis budget. Story continues While a complete overhaul of the citys budget will take time, we can begin to slowly dismantle those systems that are designed to harm people of color, Martinez said. A preliminary cut to the LAPD budget will not solve everything, but its a step in the right direction. How much of L.A.'s budget is taken up by police? Garcettis budget, first proposed in April, called for police spending to consume 53.8% of the citys unrestricted general fund revenue taxes that are not earmarked for special purposes or certain fees, fines and grants. The LAPD makes up 17.6% of the citys overall $10.5-billion budget, a figure that does not include police pensions and healthcare, according to city budget officials. The amount of police spending in L.A. has long been a source of frustration for activists. This year, Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles teamed up with other grassroots organizations to survey Angelenos about their budget priorities and draft their Peoples Budget. Under their alternative spending plan for the coming year, police would receive only 5.7% of the citys general fund. How have activists, others reacted? Progressive activists say Garcetti's actions do not go far enough. Meanwhile, leaders of the LAPDs biggest union were furious with Martinez over her statement that government systems were "designed to harm people of color." They said her choices of words was offensive and dehumanized police officers. Council members have shown little appetite for cutting the LAPD as dramatically as outlined in the Peoples Budget. But several said in recent days that they could not shield police officers from cuts when other employees were facing reductions. Why is this moment so big? The LAPD struggled for decades with a series of scandals as well as widespread evidence of bias and abuse toward minorities during the era of chiefs including William Parker and Daryl Gates. Gates infamously said blacks fared poorly under police chokeholds because their physiology was different from that of normal people. The videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King and the riots that followed the acquittal of white officers sparked the beginning of reforms that continued after another scandal involving officers at the Rampart division. The LAPD is now more racially diverse than ever. And although the reforms have generated praise even from longtime critics, problems persist. The department has struggled with the number of black officers. Leaders long argued that a larger number of officers would mean better, less militaristic policing of the city. But that argument has been challenged, not just by activists and advocates of criminal justice reform but also by those who say, with crime so much lower than in the past, it makes more sense for the city to invest in other things. Back in 1990, the 10,000 plan was designed to boost the LAPD staffing by 25%. At the time, the LAPD had more than 8,000 officers, which represented at 2,000-person increases from several years earlier. Some thought it could be done in a few years. It took almost two decades. One of the architects of the plan to expand to 10,000 officers was quick to note there was no science to that goal. The 10,000 figure lacked any analytical underpinning but was a nice round number, then-Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said at the time. It also takes the force from four digits to five digits." OTTAWA - Canada's top doctor says the country has been successful at slowing the spread of COVID-19 but warns that relaxing public health restrictions too quickly or too soon could lead to a rampant resurgence of the disease. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference outside Rideau cottage in Ottawa, Thursday June 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Canada's top doctor says the country has been successful at slowing the spread of COVID-19 but warns that relaxing public health restrictions too quickly or too soon could lead to a rampant resurgence of the disease. Dr. Theresa Tam presented a new report on the novel coronavirus in Canada Thursday, including new short-term projections that say between 157 and 1,857 more Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the next 11 days. The projections, based on recent trends, estimate in the best-case scenario at least another 4,459 people will be diagnosed with COVID-19 by June 15, and in the worst-case scenario there will be more than 14,000 new cases by then. What happens depends almost entirely on how well Canadians practise proper public health behaviours, and how good health systems are at testing, contact tracing and isolating positive cases. "Without a vaccine or treatment, public health measures remain essential to control the epidemic," said Tam. Canada has been averaging just under 800 new cases a day for the last week, down from an average of 1,050 new cases the week before that. Tam said most of the country has seen spread of the disease diminish substantially but there remain hot spots of community transmission in Toronto and Montreal that are concerning. In the last two weeks, Ontario and Quebec accounted for 90 per cent of new cases, and most of those were in those two cities. Tam said the efforts Canada has made, including physical distancing and closures of businesses and public spaces, have allowed us to flatten the curve, but we can't get cocky and think the worst is over so we can get back to normal now. "Resurgence can actually occur at any time over the course of the outbreak depending on what we're doing on the ground," she said. "We mustn't forget that." As of Thursday, Tam said, Canada has had 93,441 positive cases and 7,543 deaths. She said about 16 per cent of patients required hospitalization and three per cent needed to be admitted to intensive care. The eight per cent death rate reflects the number of outbreaks in long-term-care homes more than 80 per cent of patients who died are connected to long term care homes or seniors' residences. But Tam said the rate must be viewed knowing the overall number of people who have had COVID-19 is not yet known, because lab-confirmed cases are "just the tip of the iceberg." Plans to test Canadians for antibodies to detect whether they have had the novel coronavirus will give a better sense of the true number of cases, Tam said. The modelling also shows Canada has successfully reduced the reproductive rate the number of additional people infected by a single person with COVID-19. This virus is highly infectious and in some parts of the world the rate was as high as five, meaning every person getting COVID-19 was passing it on to five more people. In Canada, the rate peaked at just more than two, but the numbers show that began to decline sharply in the last week of March when the country went into strict lockdown in almost every province. Tam said the rate needs to be consistently below one for more than three weeks to be sure public health measures are working. It has been below one most of the time since the beginning of May but the hotspots of community transmission in Toronto and Montreal are exceptions, said Tam. Overall, the report says, with a high degree of physical distancing and case testing and tracing, Canadians can expect that the number of new cases will stay very low, including no real second wave in the fall. With weaker controls, a surge of cases could see half of Canadians infected, with a rising number of cases throughout the summer and into next winter. With no controls at all, as many as 80 per cent of Canadians will get infected by the end of the summer. "It doesn't take very long for an outbreak to really gain some steam," said Health Minister Patty Hajdu. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier Wednesday he is encouraged by the overall trends in Canada but warned the country is not out of the woods. Clusters of cases of COVID-19 have disproportionately affected institutional settings including long-term care homes, hospitals, prisons and meat plants. Canada's largest single outbreak is linked to the Cargill meat-processing plant in Alberta, with 1,560 cases including workers, their family members and others in their communities. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. OTTAWAAhmed Hussen, a Somali immigrant and the only Black member of Justin Trudeaus cabinet, remains deeply disturbed by developments in the United States. He cant bring himself to talk to his 10-year-old son about the George Floyd video quite yet, although he knows that day will come. The reason is simple its because Im still processing it, Hussen said Wednesday in an interview with the Star. Its such a hard footage to watch someone who is dying in slow motion right in front of our eyes at the hands of a police officer. I havent had the strength to have the conversation. He chafes at suggestions that systemic discrimination is an American phenomenon that doesnt happen here in Canada partly because he has lived it himself. Its as Canadian as anything else. In the wake of Trudeaus strong condemnation of racism and discrimination, the question is, now what? As the minister for families, children and social development, Hussen is in a unique position to do something, and he has a plan. The first step, he says, is to declare and define the problem. Systemic racism is real in Canada, Its real for millions of Canadian individuals. Its real for Indigenous and Black Canadians, he said. And the sooner we acknowledge that, the sooner we amplify the voices of those who feel that sting of discrimination of racism as part of their lived reality, the sooner well be able to tackle it and to eradicate it. Those in positions of leadership have a particular responsibility to call it out. The second step is to empower community groups and people working on the front lines of the problem, he says, and make sure they have the resources to deal with the day-to-day issues that differ from community to community. At a federal level, he says, having data disaggregated by race is key. That way, for example, when he goes to implement housing policy or homelessness policy, he can know whether to pay special attention to a specific challenge. Statistics Canada is ramping up its ability to analyze data by race, he says, and he wants the provinces to join in the effort. It starts with recognition and then it goes into being open to the solutions. The best people to offer those solutions are those who live with this every single day, he said. Hussens plan could be a lifeline for a government that condemned racism and discrimination but this week offered no actions to combat it. Public condemnations of racism and discrimination are a critical step but community advocates, academics and politicians say words alone wont resolve these systemic issues. Our government officials continue to speak about the existence of racism and discrimination in our country but they do nothing to celebrate, highlight and champion Black communities. What we get is lip service, said Cheryl Thompson, an assistant professor at Ryerson Universitys School of Creative Industries. There are many Black people in our government today, and yet, I do not see any outreach, collaboration, or even asking them to lead on any kind of initiative that addresses anti-Black racism head on. Instead, there are ceremonial statements and websites but no action, she said in an email. Thompson said one of the best solutions to combating racism is education. Its time to put ones support where ones rhetoric is to create a culture where Black people are seen and heard not only in times of Black death and crisis, but all the time., Thompson said. Grace-Edward Galabuzi, an associate professor in the department of politics and public administration at Ryerson University, said there needs to be a better focus on employment equity with improved job opportunities for racialized, Indigenous, immigrant, women, disabled and youth populations. Equitable access to employment should be standardized and become the norm in recruitment, hiring, retention and mobility within organizations and businesses, Galabuzi said in an email. And now, as the government looks to nurture job creation in the wake of the COVID-19 shock, Galabuzi said the focus should be on sectors where racialized populations and women are disproportionately represented, such as social services, retail and hospitality. Ask Kathy Hogarth, an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, about the solution and she talks passionately not about targeted measures but rather a sweeping effort to change discriminatory attitudes that have taken root over centuries. All of our structures in society need to be addressed. This cannot be a singular focus on a singular system, Hogarth said in a telephone interview Wednesday. Canada is based on this framework of racism. Once weve made that acknowledgment, then we must rightly ask the question about how we undo that, said Hogarth, who has done research on issues of immigration, ethnicity and diversity. That effort extends to elements like the education system and curriculum to teach students about racism, to the justice system and the overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous men, and a health system that treats racialized bodies so much differently. Hogarth said the belief that Canada is somehow different than the U.S. only undermines the imperative for change. Our national identify is really based on Canada the good and that works against us in the fight for justice, she said. We have a huge task before us. Read more about: The unusually public attribution is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts. State-backed hackers from China have targeted staffers working on the presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden, a senior Google security official said on Thursday. The same official said Iranian hackers had recently targeted email accounts belonging to Republican President Donald Trumps campaign staff. The announcement, made on Twitter by the head of Googles Threat Analysis Group, Shane Huntley, is the latest indication of the digital spying routinely aimed at top politicians in the United States. Huntley said there was no sign of compromise of either campaign. Iranian attempts to break into Trump campaign officials emails have been documented before. Last year, Microsoft Corp announced that a group often nicknamed Charming Kitten had tried to break into email accounts belonging to an unnamed US presidential campaign, which sources identified as Trumps. Earlier this year, the threat intelligence company Area 1 Security said Russian hackers had targeted companies tied to a Ukrainian gas firm where Bidens son once served on the board. Recently TAG saw China APT group targeting Biden campaign staff & Iran APT targeting Trump campaign staff with phishing. No sign of compromise. We sent users our govt attack warning and we referred to fed law enforcement. https://t.co/ozlRL4SwhG Shane Huntley (@ShaneHuntley) June 4, 2020 Google declined to offer details beyond Huntleys tweets, but the unusually public attribution is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at political campaigns. We sent the targeted users our standard government-backed attack warning and we referred this information to federal law enforcement, a Google representative said. Hacking to interfere in elections has become a concern for governments, especially since US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia ran a hacking and propaganda operation to disrupt the American democratic process in 2016 to help then-candidate Trump become president. Among the targets was digital infrastructure used by 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons campaign. Moscow has denied any meddling. Charming Kitten, the group identified by Google as being responsible for the targeting of the Trump campaign, has also recently hit the headlines over other exploits, including the targeting of the pharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences Inc. Earlier this year, Reuters News Agency tied the group to attempts to impersonate high-profile media figures and journalists. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said the constitutionality of the controversial Anti-Terrorim Bill can immediately be questioned in the Supreme Court once President Rodrigo Duterte signs it into law. It can be facially challenged because there is a provision that penalizes inciting to sedition. The law affects free speech, Carpio said. Under Section 9, the bill introduced a new crime inciting to commit terrorism, which punishes "any person who, without taking any direct part in the commission of terrorism, shall incite others to the execution of any of the act...by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other representations tending to the same end." As to the provision on warrantless arrest in Section 29, Carpio argues that it is unconstitutional. House Bill 6875, which repeals the Human Security Act of 2007, will extend the number of days suspected terrorists can be detained without a warrant of arrest from three days under the current law to up to 14 days, extendable by another 10 days. Lawmakers in the Makabayan bloc said they will take the bill to the High Court after it becomes a law. Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said they are ready to challenge the constitutionality of the measure, which now only needs the Presidents signature after the House approved it on third and final reading on Wednesday evening. "Kailangan hintayin natin yung bersyon, yung batas na nalagdaan na ni Pangulong Duterte...kailangan dumaan pa sa legislative process hanggang sa umabot sa Malacanang at malagdaan ito at yun nga ang gagawin nating basehan sa pagquestion nito," Zarate told CNN Philippines' Balitaan on Thursday. [Translation: We need to wait for the version of the measure which will be signed by President Rodrigo Duterte ito law...it needs to go through a legislative process until it reaches Malacanang and have it signed into a law so that we could question it.] Zarate noted that the measure also poses threats against progressive groups, who previously faced "red-tagging" from state forces. "Dahil binigyan ng discretion yung pulis at militar to determine the intention of those staging the protest, sasabihin in pursuit of terrorism at pwede sabihing acts of terrorism pa rin yon," the lawmaker said. [Translation: Because police and military forces were given the authority to determine the intention of those staging the protest, they could say that these acts may be in pursuit of terrorism or acts of terrorism.] He also warned that the measure only gives the government the right of passage to abuses which could be "worse than the martial law." "The track record of the Duterte administration for gross violations of human rights, extrajudicial killings, intensive military operations against rural communities, including Moro and indigenous people, and weaponisation of the law to harass and detain critics, virtually assures that the new anti-terror law will be used and abused by Malacanang against the people," Zarate said. The lower chamber approved the bill with 173 affirmative, 31 negative, and 29 abstention, adopting the exact version that was passed in the Senate last February. The Senate then noted that the bill would be as "good as passed." Over the weekend, protesters across the Lehigh Valley cried out for justice and racial equality, while condemning all-too-common acts of police brutality. They wont be stopping anytime soon. The Black Lives Matter protests are in reaction to now-former police officer Derek Chauvin killing 46-year-old black man George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis by holding his knee on Floyds neck for roughly nine minutes as Floyd pleaded that he couldnt breathe, authorities say. Chauvin, who is white, was first charged four days later. The three other officers involved in the homicide have been fired, but were not immediately charged. Protests demanding justice for Floyd and the countless other black men and women whove been lost to police violence started in Minneapolis, and have since spread to other cities throughout the country. In the Lehigh Valley, protests in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and East Stroudsburg were all well-attended over the last few days. 43 Hundreds pack together for Bethlehem protest against police brutality The number of protests in the area are expected to ramp back up, with the following planned for the coming days: Black Lives Matter stand-in is planned for 3 p.m. Thursday (June 4) around Bethlehem City Hall and the Bethlehem Area Public Library. According to the events Facebook page, all-black attire and face coverings are required, and signs are encouraged. Across the state line , a peaceful march will take place at noon on Saturday in Phillipsburgs Shappell Park. Walk With Us has a Facebook event page with more details. Organizers are asking for donations of granola bars and cases of water. Allentowns young people are making their voices heard as well. A Time For Change is a youth-led peaceful protest happening at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. A meet-up before the March is at 2 p.m. in Stevens Park, before the march kicks off and winds up in Arts Park for speeches. If you want to double-up on Saturday marches in Allentown, the Justice March will begin its rally at 4 p.m. Itll start at 1005 Hamilton St. and make its way to American Plaza. Nazareth is also making its voice heard, with a 4 p.m. march on Saturday starting at the Nazareth Police Department at 134 S. Main Street. The protestors, who will be led largely by young people, will march to Center Square and back. Eastons Centre Square is expected to be packed at noon on Sunday just as it was last weekend, with A Circle of Peace scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Organizers are emphasizing wearing masks and social distancing amid the continuing threat of the coronavirus Up in Bangor, an all-encompassing Slate Belt Walk For Change will be getting started at noon Sunday. The route will take protestors from the Bangor General Store to the Bee Hive Community Center. All the info is also listed on the events Facebook page At 3 p.m. on Sunday, the Bethlehem Area Public Library will again be the site of a peaceful protest, this one more rooted in faith, featuring spoken word, prayer and worship. Allentown will be protesting again next week, as a Black Lives Matter protest is scheduled for 3 p.m. on June 13. The protest will start at the Allentown Rose Garden. If there are any other Black Lives Matter protests happening in and around the Lehigh Valley, please reach out to clagore@njadvancemedia.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Lehighvalleylive.com. Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 09:30 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbff3b7 2 World US,anti-racism,anti-racism-protests,George-Floyd,Racism,racial-discrimination,racial-issues,racial-tension,racial-violence Free US defense officials said Wednesday they would investigate the use of a medical evacuation helicopter carrying red cross markings to harass and intimidate demonstrators in Washington. The helicopter hovered very low and directly above peaceful protestors Monday using its rotor wash to blow debris on them, a dangerous tactic used by the military in war situations to force people to disperse. The act itself was criticized, as well as the use of a medical helicopter bearing the international symbol of the Red Cross, which in wartime delineates non-combatant and neutral vehicles carrying injured persons and medical personnel. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that he had ordered an inquiry into the helicopter, which was operated by the Washington DC National Guard, which is overseen by the Pentagon. Esper said he understood that the helicopter was not on a medical evacuation mission, and that its movements appeared to be "unsafe." "There are conflicting reports. I think we need to let the army conduct its inquiry and get back and see what the facts are," he told reporters. Major General William J. Walker, commanding general of the National Guard for the US capital, said he had also ordered an immediate probe. "I hold all members of the District of Columbia National Guard to the highest of standards," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 01:42:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BISHKEK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan is preparing for the resumption of international flights, which was canceled amid COVID-19 pandemic, the country's headquarters for the fight against coronavirus said on Thursday. Airports in Kyrgyzstan are planned to be ready for international flights from June 15 and the resumption of international flights will be carried out by a separate decision of the country's government, the statement said. The headquarters noted that foreign and domestic airlines should provide their plans about when and how many times they will carry out their flights. The health authorities of Kyrgyzstan also plan to take additional sanitary and quarantine measures at the airports to prepare for the resumption of international flights. At the same time, in order to prevent the import of the virus, the Ministry of Health has proposed to introduce the requirements for the mandatory medical report confirming the absence of COVID-19 from passengers received 3-5 days before they fly to Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, domestic flights in the country will be resumed from June 5. Enditem New Delhi: Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya may soon be extradited to India from United Kingdom, sources told Zee Media. It may be noted that on May 14, the High Court of Justice, London, UK rejected the application of Indian fugitive and former liquor baron Vijay Mallya against his extradition to face trial in India. The judgement also vindicates the painstaking investigation by CBI, especially since Mallya had raised various issues with regard to the admissibility of evidence, the fairness of investigation itself and extraneous consideration, with a view to divert attention from his own acts. The extradition of Vijay Mallya was sought to face trial in offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy and abuse of official position by public servants, wherein Mallya faced allegations of conspiring with public servants and dishonestly defrauding the IDBI bank to the extent of Rs 900 crores. Incidently, on May 14 itself Mallya had in a tweet asked the Indian government to accept his offer to repay 100 per cent of his loan dues unconditionally and close case against him. Mallya, congratulating the government for announcing over the Rs 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat package, said that his repeated offers to repay his dues have been ignored. "Congratulations to the Government for a Covid 19 relief package. They can print as much currency as they want BUT should a small contributor like me who offers 100% payback of State owned Bank loans be constantly ignored?" he said in a tweet. The former parliamentarian, who ran India`s largest spirits company, United Spirits, and founded the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, faces charges of fraud and money laundering worth $1.3 billion. He left India in March 2016 under the pretext of personal reasons. Mallya has defrauded at least 17 Indian banks, drawing loans which he allegedly routed to gain full or partial stake in about 40 companies abroad. The Trump administration moved Wednesday to block Chinese airlines from flying to the U.S. in an escalation of trade and diplomatic tensions between the two countries. The Transportation Department said it would suspend passenger flights of four Chinese airlines to and from the United States starting June 16. The decision was in response to Chinas failure to let United Airlines and Delta Air Lines resume flights to China this month. The airlines suspended those flights earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic that started in Chinas Wuhan province. On Thursday, the Chinese air regulator said more airlines would be allowed to resume flights to and from China but gave no indication whether United and Delta were included. An employee who answered the phone at the Civil Aviation Administration of China and would give only her surname, Yan, said she had no details on the status of United and Delta. The Transportation Department said that China was violating a 1980 agreement between the two countries covering flights by each others airlines. The department said it would continue talks with Chinese officials to settle the dispute. Before the pandemic, there were about 325 passenger flights a week between the United States and China, including ones operated by United, Delta and American Airlines. While U.S. carriers stopped their flights, Chinese airlines continued to fly scaled-down schedules between the two countries 20 flights a week in mid-February and 34 a week by mid-March. To curb the spread of coronavirus, China limited foreign airlines to one flight per week based on schedules that they operated in mid-March. Since U.S. airlines had already stopped flying to China by then, that effectively has shut them out, the Transportation Department said. The department said it objected, but Chinas aviation agency said last week it was not violating the air-travel treaty because the same one-flight limit applies to Chinese airlines. Despite the cancellation of pretty much every major tech event so far, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) says that CES 2021 will still take place in January, with a raft of social distancing safety measures in place. Those include widening aisles in many exhibition areas and more space between seats during events The organization says various spaces across the show will be cleaned and sanitized regularly (shouldnt that be de rigueur, anyhow?), with hand sanitizer stations placed throughout. CES/CTA logo For tech media and analysts, the Consumer Electronics Show is legendary for its ability to make you ill with flu-like symptoms. Maybe its the dry air or the melting pot of thousands of people from around the world. Maybe its just all those touchscreen devices or simply those Vegas buffets, but its very easy to get sick by the end of the show. For now, the organization says itll encourage attendees and exhibitors to adopt best practices, like wearing masks and not shaking hands -- though it seems it wont demand it. The CTA says major companies and brands have already committed to next years CES. Seven months is ample time to prepare and reassess the risks -- and maybe reconsider holding the event all over again? -- Mat Studio Ghibli is making a fully CG movie Aya and the Witch will premiere on Japanese TV, not theaters. Studio Ghibli logo The next animated movie from the world-renowned Studio Ghibli will be a departure from its previous efforts. The studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki is well known for its expertise in traditional hand-drawn animation and only occasionally uses CG in its films. The upcoming Aya and the Witch, however, will be animated entirely in 3D. The studio usually only uses computer animation as a fallback for scenes that would be particularly difficult or labor intensive to achieve through hand-drawn methods. (All Ghibli films before 1997s Princess Mononoke are completely animated by hand.) The movie will be based on the childrens book Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones. Studio Ghibli previously used another Wynne Jones title, adapted into 2004s Howls Moving Castle. The movie will arrive this winter but will go direct to TV, sidestepping movie theaters. Continue reading. Story continues SpaceX's latest batch of internet satellites includes one with a sun shield The Falcon 9 booster used is now the first one to have launched and landed five times. Visorsat Last night, SpaceX deployed another 60 of its Starlink internet satellites, but one of them was different from the rest. It includes a deployable visor intended to keep sunlight from hitting the brightest, most reflective surfaces. These satellites intentionally fly lower than normal communications satellites, and reflected light has been upsetting astronomers who need clear skies to look out into space. Continue reading. Kitty Hawk moves on from its original flying car project The Flyer is no more. Flyer The original Flyer that debuted in 2017 was a one-seat, propeller-driven vehicle that looked like a flying motorcycle. Kitty Hawk introduced a new version one year later, and while it remained a single-seater, the updated 250-pound aircraft looked more like a cross between a drone and a stunt plane. However, the Larry Page-backed company is ending work on that project. CEO Sebastian Thrun told TechCrunch that No matter how hard we looked, we could not find a path to a viable business. So instead its focusing on a new project: an all-electric aircraft dubbed Heaviside that takes off and lands like a helicopter despite being 100 times quieter. Continue reading. Sponsored Content by Stack Commerce Stack Commerce Google makes it easier to use Advanced Protection and Titan security keys on iOS devices With a Lightning-to-USB adapter you can use any security key. Titan key Thanks to changes rolling out now, anyone with an Apple device (iOS 13.3 and above) will be able to use Googles Titan Security Keys to secure both work and personal Google Accounts. Because USB-A and Bluetooth Titan keys have NFC functionality, signing-in should be as easy as tapping your key to the back of your iPhone. You will also be able to use Lightning security keys, like the YubiKey 5Ci, to secure your Google Accounts. Continue reading. But wait, theres more... The joy of Final Fantasy Adventure, 25 years later A new mom reviews two smart breast pumps 'Project Cars 3' trailer has some sim racing fans worried Amazon knocks $300 off the price of Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro 'Call of Duty' developer will further crack down on racist players Epic delays the next 'Fortnite' event and season again Zoom explains why free users won't get end-to-end encrypted video calls Snapchat stops promoting Trump's account due to his tweets Lawsuit accuses Google of violating wiretap laws by tracking users in Incognito mode A few Nintendo Labo kits drop to $20 each on Best Buy Engadget's 2020 Dads and Grads gift guide: What to buy your dad who's hopelessly low-tech Minneapolis protesters say theyre disappointed charges against four officers werent stronger, but they remain hopeful. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA The intersection where George Floyd was killed on May 25 has during the last week become a space for reflection, mourning and the honouring of the 46-year-old Black man, who died after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes as he called out, I cant breathe. Flowers, signs, cards, candles and a mural fill the pavement turned memorial at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In many ways, the atmosphere at the site on Wednesday felt the same as all the other days. Music filled the air. A few people danced. Small children played. But the heaviness that has been hanging around the intersection for the past week felt a bit thicker on Wednesday than it had felt before. More than 1,000 people stood mostly silent as Floyds son, Quincy Mason, visited the site. No man or woman should be without their father, Quincy Mason told the crowd. Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump and George Floyds son, Quincy Mason Floyd, react as they visit the site where he was taken into police custody, in Minneapolis, Minnesota [Lucas Jackson/AFP] Benjamin Crump, the prominent civil rights lawyer who is representing the family, stood by Quincy Masons side, urging the arrests of all four officers involved in Floyds death before Thursday, when the city is set to hold a public memorial. Not one minute, not two minutes, not three minutes, Crump shouted out, referencing the time Floyds neck was pinned to the ground. By the time he reached almost nine minutes, the crowd chanted along with him. Eight minutes and 46 seconds George Floyd begged for air. We cannot have two justice systems in America one of Black America and one for white America, Crump said. Change is going to come in the tragic killing of George Floyd, he added. That change starts today. Moments after Crump and Mason left the area, someone in the crowd yelled, They got all four! Terrence Floyd visits the site near where his brother George died in Minneapolis police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota [Eric Miler/Reuters] News had surfaced that prosecutors decided to upgrade the charges previously announced against Derek Chauvin, the now-fired officer who knelt on Floyds neck. They also announced charges against the three other fired officers involved. Following the news, the heaviness of the day turned noticeably lighter, a collective sigh of relief from the crowd. I feel very very happy that they decided to charge them, said Williametta Jallah, who used to live in the neighbourhood. Justice should prevail, she said, as cheers rung out. I got really excited because, honestly, we never do get justice out here, Tati Ampah said. For me, as long as they do get jail time, and as long as they do like understand that they did something wrong and that one of them could have jumped in and stopped a man from dying. It should have been first-degree murder Chauvin, who has been in custody since Friday, had his third-degree murder charge increased to second-degree. He is also charged with second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers Thomas Lane, J Kueng and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. People gather at site where George Floyd died on May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota [Stephen Maturen/Getty Images/AFP] As initial news settled in, many at the memorial on Wednesday said the upgrade to the murder charge was not enough. Am I happy? No said Tiffany, who flew out to Minneapolis from New York City on Monday. She acknowledged that progress was being made, but said Chauvin should have been charged with first-degree murder instead. It was a call made by Floyds family, as well. In announcing the new charges on Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison noted that you have to have to have premeditation and deliberation to charge first-degree murder. He added that history shows that there are clear challenges here in prosecuting police officers. The second-degree murder charge carries a maximum 40-year sentence. I strongly believe that these developments are in the interest of justice for Mr Floyd, his family, our community and our state, Ellison said. Others at the memorial site were sceptical that the charges would result in convictions. Just because theyre charged, dont mean that theyll be found guilty, and just because theyre found guilty, [it doesnt] mean they cant be found guilty of a lesser crime and given a slap on the wrist, just like other police officers do, said John Thompson. You gotta look at it from the eyes of a Black man, he told Al Jazeera. It sucks. To come in contact with the same people who are supposed to serve and protect you. They got the serving part down pat. They served the s*** out of [him]. Still, many remained hopeful. We got a charge; we need a conviction, the crowd yelled. I have hope, Jallah, the Minneapolis resident who used to live in the neighbourhood, said. With the release of the first coronavirus aid in US, many are wondering when will be the second release of the stimulus check. The COVID-19 pandemic has cost the US economy so much money, especially those losing income like the loss of a job or anything that brought money, before the lockdown, reported in AS News. Back in May, President Donald Trump was asked if there is a good chance that a new bill for another round of stimulus payment could be given to those suffering economic hardships. His answer to the question was yes to the second round of payments, according to CNBC. Trump said that the second payment will help more Americans to move forward. He said that the disbursement will be at the outbreak's end, mentioning government plans to open the US economy again, which is what other nations are doing to restart their economic engines from hibernation with reasonable limits. Most Democrats are gunning for the HEROES Act, for senate approval as well, though the Republicans are still on the fence about the act or just mulling it over. One of the ensuing concerns is how much will it cost to spend on these checks? It seems that Trump is considering the proposal which is good news to those hoping for it passing. But for the record, the second stimulus check payment depends on the two parties. Also read: 100 Countries Demand Answers, Join Forces to Probe China's Cover-up of Coronavirus The CARES Act For many, the CARES Act will be an amount of $1,200 that was approved on the end of March. Many who lost jobs received it in the middle of April, during the time when COVID-19 has ravaged many livelihoods already. It is meant to benefit those with money during the outbreak, but most of the $1,200 are gone and spent, confirmed by Forbes. Governors in states are moving to kickstart and reopen with a four-part plan too. For now, the Republicans and Democrats are sorting how to get to approve the bill, and other schemes to buoy up struggling Americans in the soonest time. A warning by the Federal Reserve speculates that as many as 30% will lose their jobs which is not good news for many. Changes in the HEROES Act There will be changes in the HEROES Act, courtesy of the Republicans and President Trump who called the bill, "dead on arrival". A new version will suspend a second payment, but introduce a cut in payroll taxes which has several advantages for employees. These are more substantial paychecks, but some said that will not work for the hard-hit sectors of America. In short, everyone will benefit from getting a stimulus check payment, compared to the alternative suggested by the Republicans, reported in Daily Mail UK. Democrats keep on sending the stimulus checks in a second set, and more unemployment benefits will help in the pandemic. Americans get an amount of $600 for unemployment, but this will cease on the last day of July. Both parties in the US legislature are going to assess a new proposed bill this month. For now, the second stimulus check payment is under consideration and with a slim chance in the election year. By the end of Trump's term, the second set will be forthcoming. Related article: US President Trump Leaves WHO But Loss of American Funding Get Backlash from Members @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new security test would be imposed on all foreign investments that threaten the national interest in a federal government plan to fix legal gaps that leave critical assets exposed to overseas control. The test would toughen powers to block foreign takeovers and investments in technology, energy, communications, ports and other sectors considered crucial to national security. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has warned about "emerging risks" to Australian assets. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Stronger compliance laws would also give regulators more power to investigate companies that flouted the law or broke conditions on deals, with penalties that could force them to sell the assets. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will announce the planned changes on Friday with a warning about the "emerging risks" to Australian assets and the need for laws to be passed by Parliament this year to erect the new hurdles. NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VeriTran , a leading global Low-Code platform provider, and Mambu , a global cloud banking platform, today announced their official partnership. The collaboration allows VeriTran's front-end capabilities to integrate with Mambu's true SaaS cloud banking platform, resulting in a streamlined solution that assists traditional banks in the US and Latin America launch their digital apps in a matter of weeks, not years. With digital transformation playing an increasingly critical role in today's global environment, financial institutions recognize the need to leverage technology to remain at the forefront of competitive innovation. This strategic partnership provides a solution that allows global customers and traditional banks to innovate and achieve a fully digital experience in record time without the need of programming. VeriTran's Low-Code Platform provides a visual and intuitive Drag-and-Drop model that allows clients to create customized apps in a fraction of the usual timeand without writing a single line of code. As the transition to digital channels increases, the company remains committed to powering the growth of client's new business solutions through rapid scaling of digital capabilities. Mambu's true SaaS banking and lending platform is a cloud-native, scalable and secure solution. The platform provides modern and flexible technology to support the growth of modern banking and lending services. It enables customers to use the highly configurable core platform to easily integrate with a pre-selected range of best-for-purpose partners. "As digital transformation becomes a priority for customers, the app economy continues to play a critical role in driving business innovation," said Omar Arab, EVP Corporate Business at VeriTran. He added, "We are excited to welcome Mambu into our financial ecosystem. We see them as a valuable partner in providing a highly configurable back-end platform and we view this collaboration as the next step in delivering a best-in-class digital platform to our clients." Edgardo Torres-Caballero, Managing Director for Latin America at Mambu said "Bringing VeriTran onboard as a partner reinforces our global strategy to connect seamlessly with the best-of-breed technology providers and offer the most powerful platform available in the market to enhance our client's ability to transform the banking landscape." About VeriTran VeriTran is a global company that speeds up and simplifies business application development through its Low-Code Platform. Focused on driving digital transformation, the company integrates exponential technologies into legacy systems, improving deployment times and delivery costs without writing a single line of code. VeriTran's Low-Code Platform is used by more than 50 clients, reaching more than 15 million users who safely run more than 10 billion transactions annually. To know more about VeriTran, visit: https://www.veritran.com/ About Mambu Mambu was launched in 2011 with the vision to enable access to modern financial services for all. We make this possible by providing a modern cloud-native banking platform that not only competes with core products from traditional players but changes the market through our composable banking approach. We're bringing SaaS to banking at a time when it's needed the most. Our customers range from top tier banks like ABN AMRO and Santander, to leading venture-backed fintechs like N26 and OakNorth to telcos like Globe Telecom. We enable them to build a modern banking or lending offering, in the cloud, by composing a best-for-purpose solution for their needs which is an order of magnitude more agile and cost-effective than the legacy approach to core banking. As a result, we're taking on the $250B market of banking technology worldwide. We're currently a team of over 250 people spread between our main offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Singapore, London, Iasi (Romania), Miami, Sydney and Vilnius (Lithuania) servicing over 160 customers with over 20 million end users in over 60 countries. We've raised over 42M to date with the latest round led by Bessemer Venture Capital in San Francisco. For more information, please visit our website or connect with us on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook . SOURCE VeriTran; Mambu Related Links http://www.mambu.com Spaces of Distinction team, from bottom left: Denise Balassi, owner and lead designer; Sage Bardani, design associate; and Judy Romano, office manager. People are starting to consider their homes as multi-functional spaces, said Denise Balassi, owner of Spaces of Distinction, an award-winning interior design firm in South Salem. As New York and Connecticut reopen for business and companies prepare for a return to the workplace, many residents are taking a fresh look at their home offices and weighing their options for living in a post-pandemic world. People are starting to consider their homes as multi-functional spaces, said Denise Balassi, owner of Spaces of Distinction, an award-winning interior design firm in South Salem. Can the spare bedroom second as a gym? Can the dining room double as a home office? Can the kitchen be transformed into more of classroom for the kids? This multi-living style also involves a new perspective on the uses of outdoor space think Zooming on your veranda as well as incorporating new safety modes into home designs. We just received a request for mudrooms that allow people to sanitize themselves, said Balassi, whose firm is celebrating its 25th year in business. The pandemic has really prompted people to rethink their homes. It also has prompted New York City dwellers to consider heading north and as many people flee Manhattan for more open space in the suburbs, they are going to either buy, build or renovate and they are going to need local talent. This presents opportunities for designers to be even more creative and fits in perfectly with Spaces of Distinctions unique approach. Interior design is about people, lifestyle and the functionality of living space, Balassi said. The iconic design firm, formerly Interior Consultants, recently unveiled a new name Spaces of Distinction by Denise Balassi to reflect its evolution into a new breed of interior designers. The firm, which specializes in luxury homes, boutique hotels and vacation properties for clients locally and nationwide, is marking its 25th anniversary milestone with its own redesign. Established in 1995, the firm takes an integrated approach to meet clients goals and visions of their ultimate dream home. Technological advancements, new tools and techniques, easier access to information and changes in consumer mindsets all have contributed to an evolution of interior design. Sophisticated clients know what they want, and Spaces of Distinction knows how best to fulfill the demand. The tech-savvy team uses the latest CAD and 3D modeling software and is exceptionally skilled at space planning, architectural detailing and interior design, from creating initial floor plans to placing the last decorative detail. Using a team-centric method that includes the homeowner, designer, builder and architect, Spaces of Distinction provides efficient and cost-effective results. This comprehensive design technique offers a precise course of action, guiding clients through a seamless process from design concept to project completion. We are thrilled with our reinvention, said Balassi. We selected this brand to capture the essence of what we do. We are more than consultants and decorators we are designers and creators, who offer our clients a timeless home environment. About Spaces of Distinction by Denise Balassi South Salem-N.Y.-based Spaces of Distinction is a multifaceted design firm specializing in high-end, luxury residential and hospitality design. The firm serves clients throughout the tri-state region and also nationwide. George Floyd died on May 25 after an American police officer pressed his leg on Floyds neck for several minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Three days later, another black man struggled to breathe under the knee of a French police officer on the streets of Paris. The arrest methods in which officers restrain suspects by the neck to prevent them from moving are used around the world. They are known as chokeholds. Critics have long blamed the methods for cutting off oxygen and, in some cases, causing death. We cannot say that the American situation is foreign to us, said French lawmaker Francois Ruffin. He has been pushing for a ban on chokeholds. But the legislative effort has been delayed by the coronavirus crisis. The May 28 arrest in Paris of the black man is among those being compared to what happened to Floyd in Minneapolis. The Paris arrest was filmed and widely shared online. In Hong Kong, clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters have gone on for some time. The territorys officials say they are investigating the death of a man who was held face-down during his arrest in May. The arresting officers were filmed kneeling on his shoulder, back and neck. Police rules and policies on chokeholds and restraints are different from country to country. In Belgium, police trainer Stany Durieux says he warns trainees every time he sees a knee applied to the spinal column. He added, It is also forbidden to lean on a suspect completely. This, he said, can crush a suspect's ribs and make it impossible for them to breathe. A spokesman for Israeli police says forces there are not permitted to put pressure on the neck or airway during an arrest. But Human Rights Watch reported that Israeli border police have used chokeholds on Palestinian children as young as 11. In Germany, the police union says officers are permitted to put pressure on the side of a suspects head for a short time -- but not on the neck. The College of Policing in Britain says suspects should be placed on their side or in a sitting, kneeling or standing position as soon as practicable. Londons police website says any form of pressure to the neck area can be highly dangerous. Even within one country, the rules and policies for arresting a suspect can differ. The New York Police Departments guide says that officers SHALL NOT use chokeholds. It also says officers should avoid any actions that may put extreme pressure on a suspects chest area. But another method of restraint, in which pressure is applied to the neck with an arm was permitted for police in San Diego, California. After Floyds death last week, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said he would order an end to the method. Frances head of training for police forces in rural areas, Laurent de Joux, says officers are told to avoid pressing down on the chests. They also are no longer taught to put pressure to the neck. You dont need to be a doctor to understand that this is dangerous, de Joux added. But rules issued in 2015 for the French National Police in cities and urban areas permit officers to apply pressure for a short time on a suspects chest. Christophe Rouget, a police union official in France, defended the method. He said such methods are used by all the police in the world because they represent the least amount of danger. The only thing is that they have to be well used," he said. "In the United States, we saw that it wasnt well used, with pressure applied in the wrong place and for too long. He added that the real problem in France is that officers do not get enough continued training after being taught restraints in police school. You need to repeat them often to do them well, Rouget said. I'm Ashley Thompson. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English from an Associated Press news report. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story apply - v. to cause force or pressure on something spinal column - n. backbones that provide support for the entire body forbid - v. to say that something is not permitted lean - v. to rest on or against by force practicable - adj. able to be done or used Hong Kong, June 4 : Hong Kongs legislature passed the national anthem bill on Thursday by an overwhelming majority, outlawing insults against the Chinese anthem "March of the Volunteers". The Legislative Council voted 41 to one for the legislation after a lawmaker disrupted proceedings by releasing foul-smelling liquid in the chamber, reports the South China Morning Post. Under the bill, anyone found guilty of misusing or insulting the national anthem could be fined up to HK$50,000 ($6,450) and jailed for three years. Earlier in the afternoon, pan-democrats Eddie Chu and Raymond Chan rushed out from their seats, and Chu emptied the bottle of brown-coloured liquid, forcing a suspension of the debate. House Committee chairwoman Starry Lee, who was presiding over the meeting, ordered the pair to leave the chamber, and they were forcibly removed by security guards. Outside the chamber, Chu said the substance used was a biofertiliser. He said it was similar to what Democratic Party's Ted Hui dropped in the chamber last week, even though Hui said the substance was a container of rotten plants. Chu said his action was to protest against the national anthem bill, as well as to remember the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. Meanwhile, the city's annual Tiananmen vigil, organised by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, has been banned for the first time in 30 years. Many Toronto homes sport a sign in the window that reads: Youre out there for us. Were in here for you, expressing the citys support of health-care workers. Ontario went into lockdown in mid-March to make sure COVID-19 cases did not overwhelm hospitals. But do we still need to be locked down? Provincial officials, who have extended Ontarios emergency orders until June 30, would say yes. Some public health physicians, epidemiologists and economists would say no. Many worry the cure may now be worse than the disease. I dont question the need for a lockdown in March, said Dr. Martha Fulford, an infectious diseases specialist and chief of medicine for the McMaster University Medical Centre. But now we have more information. And two months in, we are at a stage where the harm from lockdown is starting to look like it is going to be greater than the harm from COVID. And that is the conversation I think we should be having. Fulford is not talking about the fiscal harm to an economy in tatters. Shes referring to so-called social determinants of health or the health impact on millions of low- to middle-income Canadians most of them women and newcomers who have been thrown out of work due to the shutdown. We know there is a correlation between poor health and poverty and disenfranchisement, Fulford said in an interview. And if weve got massive unemployment and massive job losses, that is going to lead to poor health, which is going to lead to premature death. Public health officials say Ontario has successfully flattened the curve and spared its health-care system. But there doesnt seem to be an exit strategy to deal with the worsening collateral damage of non-COVID mortality that we are seeing, Fulford said. And its not being tracked or clearly documented. Vivek Goel, a professor with the University of Torontos Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the universitys vice-president of research, innovation and strategic initiatives, is also concerned. Shutting down your economy is like cutting off both your feet or maybe a better analogy would be your head to try to save the rest of your body, he said. It was never meant to be a long-term strategy. Goel is leading a team of U of T researchers looking into the health consequences of a prolonged shutdown on various sectors of the economy and trying to quantify the non-COVID risk of mortality. So often the shutdown gets framed as a debate between health and the economy, Goel said. But the economy is health, too. For example, studies on past economic downturns have shown that unemployment increases a persons risk of death by about 1.7 per cent, Goel said in an interview. If we compare the deaths in people age 25 to 60 from COVID versus deaths in coming years to unemployment, I certainly think we will have many times more due to unemployment, he said. Death is just the starkest thing. But there will be other health effects for those individuals as well. Goels team includes U of T colleagues Laura Rosella, Canada Research Chair in population health analytics, and economist Kevin Bryan, an assistant professor with the Rotman School of Management. Together, they are aiming to have their analysis ready by mid-July to help guide decision-makers on reopening the economy. I would say we need to carefully assess the kinds of (public health) consequences that we are talking about, Goel said. And then think about how we safely reopen sectors, starting with the ones that are most important to the economy. Can we get the right protections? Can we work with the unions? And can we reassure people that we will have them working in a safe way? he said. Outbreaks are inevitable as the province opens up, he acknowledged. Therefore, hospital capacity, testing and contact tracing will be crucial. Hospital admissions, rather than the number of new cases, should be the number to watch, Goel added. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the health units had reported a total of 30,807 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, including 2,373 deaths. About 97 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada have occurred in people age 60 and older. Seventy-two per cent of deaths have been in people over age 80. Meanwhile, about 2.2 million Ontario workers have been directly impacted by pandemic-related shutdowns through either job losses (1.1 million), temporary layoffs or sharply reduced hours (1.1 million), according to the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO). Health Minister Christine Elliott on April 28 acknowledged that about 35 Ontarians had died awaiting treatment for heart disease, according to modelling, while hospitals cleared space to treat the novel coronavirus. More than 52,000 hospital procedures had been cancelled or avoided as of April 22, and every week that the pandemic continues, up to 12,200 more procedures are delayed, according to the FAO. Hospitals began a gradual return to elective surgeries in late May, but medical researchers estimate that it will take 11 months to clear the backlog. A spokesperson for Elliott did not say how provincial officials are weighing the risk of COVID deaths against the risk of non-COVID deaths during the pandemic. But in a statement, Hayley Chazan said the government has introduced measures to help vulnerable populations, including funding to improve access to food banks and other supports. We understand how important it is for people to return to work, particularly for those whose lack of employment has resulted in mental health struggles and poverty, she said in an email. As we gradually open our economy, continued protections for vulnerable populations must be in place, along with the continued practice of physical distancing, hand washing and respiratory hygiene, and significant mitigation plans to limit health risks, Chazan added. Fulford, who works mostly in pediatrics at McMaster, is particularly worried about the impact of the shutdown on children. This is not a pediatric disease anywhere in the world, she said, noting that fewer than 100 people under age 20 in Canada have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 and none have died. (In Ontario, less than 4 per cent of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus are under age 20.) By comparison, 1,372 people under age 20 were hospitalized for influenza in Canada last year and 10 died. So if we are looking for an exit strategy and trying to ameliorate harm, why have we not reopened playgrounds, school yards, camp, pools? she asked. Depriving a child of their education or socialization is going to do nothing to prevent COVID but do a lot to damage those children. Keeping camps and daycares shuttered further disadvantages the adults and single parents who cant afford alternate care, Fulford added. As mental health experts sound the alarm, Fulford is already seeing the impact in her practice. One of her patients, a former injection drug user who had been clean for six or seven years, has become so depressed by self-isolation that he has begun using drugs again, she said. These are the lives that are going to spiral downwards if this continues, she said. We didnt get a tsunami of COVID, but as a result (of the lockdown), we are all bracing for a tsunami of mental health issues. Physicians in the United States are also speaking out. Last month, a letter to President Donald Trump signed by 600 American doctors called lockdowns a mass casualty incident with exponentially growing negative health consequences for millions who have not contracted COVID-19. The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke or kidney failure, said the May 19 letter. In youths it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty and abuse. It is impossible to overstate the short-, medium- and long-term harm to peoples health with a continued shutdown, said the letter by Dr. Simone Gold, an emergency medicine specialist in Los Angeles. Gold, who has been criticized in American media as a Trump supporter, has said the letter was a grassroots effort by physicians and was not politically motivated. Losing a job is one of lifes most stressful events, and the effect on a persons health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million (now 38 million) other people, the letter noted. Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children, teenagers and young adults for decades to come. Richard Schabas, who was chief medical officer of health for Ontario between 1987 and 1997, said it is unfortunate the question of reopening the American economy in the wake of COVID-19 has become so politicized. It really has clouded the debate in the U.S., and I think it has impacted some of our thinking in Canada, said Schabas, who was chief of staff at York Central Hospital during the 2003 SARS outbreak. He retired as medical officer of health for Hastings Prince Edward in 2016. Politicians need to establish some non-negotiables, he said in an interview. They need to say things like: kids have to go to school; people have to go to work; there has to be elective medical care. Once we set those foundation stones that are necessary to protect our public health, then we can discuss what we can do to control COVID above and beyond that, he said. Until now ... its all been: What do we need to do to control COVID, and the rest can go to hell, Schabas said. And thats a serious mistake from a public health perspective. If, in our attempts to abolish deaths from COVID, we end up causing far more deaths from other things deaths that will haunt us, or damage to our health that will haunt us for decades to come its not a good trade. Canadians are spooked by COVID-19 deaths because they are broadcast daily in the absence of any context, Schabas said. Almost 300,000 Canadians will die every year from cancer, heart disease, stroke, motor vehicle crashes, suicide and a myriad of other causes, he noted. Since mid-March, for every Canadian outside long-term care who has died of the novel coronavirus, 50 have died of something else, he added. The great majority of people in Canada are at very little personal risk of death from COVID-19, Schabas said. For most people under age 60 and for older people without serious health conditions, the risk of death from the coronavirus is about the same as dying from influenza, he added. We are two populations: the frail elderly for whom COVID is a deadly disease and the great majority for whom it is not, he said. In an appearance before the House of Commons Health Committee on May 20, Schabas said the country is facing both a tragedy and a crisis. The tragedy is COVID-19, a respiratory virus that has the potential to cause the deaths of tens of thousands of Canadians who are overwhelmingly old and infirm, he said. The crisis is our attempts to control that virus that have the potential to cause severe and lasting damage to the countrys economy, education, social and cultural institutions and mental health that will have public health repercussions for decades, Schabas said. The tragedy is a natural disaster that saddens me and saddens us all, he said. The crisis is a self-inflicted wound that frankly terrifies me. It offends social justice because the burden of the crisis falls disproportionately on children, young families and blue-collar workers, he said. The more we focus exclusively on COVID, the greater the danger to our public health. Ex-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis condemned his former boss, President Donald Trump, over his aggressive rhetoric and strategy to quell protests that erupted after the death of an unarmed black man in police custody. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us, Mattis, a retired Marine general, wrote in a scathing statement on Wednesday evening. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society, Mattis wrote. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children. The sharply worded and unprecedented rebuke from Trumps first defense chief will raise pressure on the president, who this week threatened to dispatch active duty troops to quash protests and drew widespread condemnation when the square in front of the White House was forcibly cleared before he walked to a historic church to hold a Bible for photographers. The president responded Wednesday evening saying that he didnt like his leadership style or much else about Mattis. His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations, Trump wrote in one of a pair of tweets. Mattis stepped down 18 months ago after Trump abruptly announced on Twitter that he wanted to pull US troops from Syria, but he was a hugely influential member of the presidents first national security cabinet. Trump was so eager to unveil his nomination of Mattis after the 2016 election that he announced his plans at a campaign-style rally where he introduced the former head of US Central Command by a moniker -- Mad Dog -- and called him one of the most effective generals that weve had in many, many decades. Mattiss statement, first published in The Atlantic, came on what had already been a rough day for the defense establishment. Trumps current secretary, Mark Esper, angered White House officials by publicly distancing himself from Trumps potential use of the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy active duty forces to cities confronting protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At a news conference in the afternoon, the presidents press secretary tiptoed around whether Espers job was safe, saying only that he remained in his post. While Trump has condemned police for their role in Floyds death, he has generally avoided directly responding to demands to address racial injustice and a spate of deaths of black Americans at the hands of police. Instead, he demanded that governors dominate the protests to snuff them out and compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, musing that perhaps only Lincoln had done as much for black Americans as he had. It remains to be seen if Mattiss denunciation will have lasting political power, but it strikes at the heart of what the president has pitched as one of his strengths: His fulsome praise of the military as part of his America First approach to the world, even while he frequently accuses the national security establishment of trying to undermine him and his administration. Despite Trumps praise of Mattis when he took office, by the end of the defense chiefs tenure, their relationship was shattered. Upon his departure, Mattis he issued a blunt resignation letter that amounted to a public reproach of Trumps America First mantra. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances, Mattis wrote. Because you have the right to have a secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. Shortly afterward, Trump lashed out at Mattis, saying Whats he done for me? Singling out the U.S. quagmire in Afghanistan, Trump added, How has he done in Afghanistan? Not too good. In his statement this week, Mattis took aim at Esper, too. Without naming the Pentagon chief, but citing the military jargon the Defense secretary and other top officials have used in describing the geography of the current protests, Mattis said, We must reject any thinking of our cities as a battlespace that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate. Esper had used the battlespace term during a call with governors on Monday, before US authorities used smoke bombs and pepper-spray-like devices to clear out the peaceful protest outside the Whiet House. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Park. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution, Mattis wrote. Around the time Mattiss statement was published, Trump was renewing his threat to send in the military to quash protests, during an interview on Newsmax with Sean Spicer, his former press secretary. He called continuing protests in New York a disaster. And we could help them a lot, they have to ask,Trump told Spicer. If they dont get it straightened out soon, Ill take care of it. White House and Pentagon officials didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on Mattiss statement. The mother of a black man who was arrested in Manchester while 100 bystanders 'pushed and kicked' police has claimed her son shouted 'I can't breathe' as five officers held him down. The suspect, 28, screamed 'I can't breathe' as he was arrested in front of his seven-year-old daughter in Moss Side on May 28, witnesses said. His mother, 46, known only as Michelle, said 'I thought they were going to kill him' after at least five policemen reportedly 'jumped him' after he left his car on Greame Street. The unidentified man's arrest drew a 'hostile' crowd of more then 100 people, Greater Manchester Police said, some of whom interfered with the arrest by 'pushing and kicking at officers without the knowledge of what had occurred beforehand'. Of these, at least 10 who 'at best could be described as hostile' surrounded officers. 'He was shouting "I can't breathe" as the police were on top of him,' Michelle told MailOnline. 'His daughter saw it all and she was terrified. A mob of 100 people reportedly 'pushed and kicked' at police officers as they attempted to arrest a drugs suspect, 28, on Greame Street (pictured), Manchester 'I thought they were going to kill him. I told them: "You are acting like the police in America". 'They were so aggressive - he is my only boy so I was so scared for him.' Another onlooker claimed a police officer had his foot on the suspect's arm, as bystanders reportedly shouted at police to get off him. Those who gathered on the street were said to have shouted 'you are not letting him breathe' and 'I saw officers stamp on his neck' as police attempted to detain the driver of a car 'linked to drugs' last Thursday. But police in Manchester insisted the 28-year-old was 'sat up on the ground' at the time the remarks were made, and he only suffered a grazed elbow. The force added police body-cam footage of the arrest had been reviewed by senior officers and IAG members, who agreed the actions of the officers were reasonable. GMP added that the suspect was restrained as he was resisting arrest, but was 'safely restrained within seconds and brought up to a sitting position.' The incident came amid rising tensions over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota last Monday, who was killed after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Suggesting a potential link between the death of Mr Floyd and the incident in a statement released yesterday, Greater Manchester Police said: 'The recent footage of the incident in USA... has clearly raised tensions in the community.' Police were attacked by George Floyd protesters at a demonstration in London yesterday Mr Floyd, an unarmed black man, had gasped 'I can't breathe' while white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck outside a convenience store in Minneapolis days before the Moss Side incident. The 46-year-old father's death set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States since the 1960s civil rights era. It also sparked outrage across the globe, with solidarity protests taking place in the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Germany and London. According to the 2011 census, Moss Side's largest ethnic minority group is African - making up 17 per cent of the population. The ward, which is the most diverse in Manchester, was hit by 48 hours of rioting and looting in 1981 after allegations police were using excessive force against black youths. Following the gathering in Manchester last Thursday, GMP sent an email to local community groups setting out a timeline of events. Police said officers from GMP's Moss Side and Hulme neighbourhood team noticed a vehicle parked on Cowesby Street with two people inside at 8.20pm. Moments earlier, the vehicle was seen 'driving at a very high speed' in Hulme, they said. Officers then tried to 'engage' with the driver and passenger, but the pair refused and the car windows were shut. The vehicle was 'linked to drugs' on GMP's intelligence system and the people inside 'appeared to be concealing items', police added, although 'it was difficult to see due to the car having illegally tinted windows to the front'. The occupants of the car refused to leave the vehicle after being told they were being detained under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Pictured: Cowesby Street, where the suspect was first spotted in a car 'linked to drugs' last Thursday Officers tried to get inside the car, before it rammed a police vehicle and attempted to drive away, the statement added. Police gave chase, and the passenger escaped the vehicle during the pursuit, before it eventually came to a stop on Greame Street. The driver then resisted arrest as a large crowd gathered around the officers, the statement added. An unnamed GMP officer said: 'I can understand our communities' concerns and have no issues with them witnessing the detention/arrest or filming the incident, but in this incident they were interfering with the arrest of the driver. 'There was a large police presence due to a backup call being made, but as soon as the prisoner and vehicles were removed, police withdrew from the area to assist removing some of the tension. 'This area of Moss Side has recently seen several large gatherings and we have been engaging with the community, but unfortunately the recent events elsewhere have clearly added to tensions.' The arrest, which is understood to have been filmed by onlookers, was also captured by police body cameras. The 28-year-old was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, obstructing police and assault whilst resisting arrest. He has been released under investigation. Police are not looking to prosecute any other person at the scene during the incident. Government hospital workers in Sri Lanka held a series of protests in late May against the slashing of their allowances, the abolition of transport facilities and a lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE). The measures taken by President Gotabhaya Rajapakses cash-strapped government include non-payment for overtime work, special and additional services and public holidays, and for leave due after 24 hours of continuous work. Private companies have also unleashed attacks on jobs, wages and social rights as the coronavirus pandemic accelerates an underlying economic crisis. The trade unions called the protests in response to mounting anger amongst health workers. The unions involved included the All Ceylon Health Service Union (ACHSU), controlled by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Public Services United Nurses Union (PSUNU) and the Government Nursing Officers Union (GNOU). Workers demonstrate at Kurunagala Hospital (Credit: WSWS) Fearing that workers might escalate the struggle, the unions halted the protests as soon as the health ministry promised to resolve the issues. Workers told the WSWS they had no faith in these official pledges and were waiting until their salary payments this month to see what happened. On May 20, more than 200 workers at the Wathupitiwala hospital in the Gampaha district protested against non-payment of their dues for April. They also opposed the May 17 cessation of a lockdown of transport facilities. A male nurse said the dedicated health workers had carried out an essential service during the pandemic but that overtime payments for April were not paid. In addition, annual salary increments for this year have not yet been paid. This was not all. The nurse added: We have not been provided with proper PPE as the coronavirus spreads. Only two face masks are given to us a day but they are not according to minimal standards and not sufficient for nursing staff. The ward where I work needs at least right nurses but there are only six available. The nurse said the danger of the pandemic spreading had increased because the country was being reopened. The government wanted to restart work anyhow. It has no concern for peoples lives, he said. After the June 20 parliamentary election, he warned, the government would further cut wages and allowances and suppress workers struggles. He asked why military officials had been appointed to government institutions. The army commander heading the national task force for the prevention of COVID-19 is accused of killing innocent civilians during the 30-year anti-Tamil war in the countrys north. Protest at Kurunagala Hospital (Credit: WSWS) About 300 nursing officers also participated in a protest at the Kandy Teaching Hospital on May 20. At times, nurses there have been compelled to work 24 hours continuously, far beyond their normal 6-hour shifts. They also complained about the difficulties of travelling after the halting of transport facilities. Apart from ordinary face masks, standard N-95 ones recommended by the World Health Organisation are not available at any hospital, a matron at Kandy hospital said. Nurses also had to get masks and uniforms sewn with our own money. She added: Without thinking of our children, tiredness and danger, we work day and night. We were given false respect by being called Suwa Viruwo (health heroes). Her basic monthly salary is 44,000 rupees ($US265) but with overtime pay and other allowances it is about 54,000 rupees. Even though she had no deductions for loans, she barely managed her monthly spending. About 80 percent of workers have loans. This means that their take-home pay is inadequate after their loan payments are deducted. People are dying en masse due to the pandemic in every country in the world. In Sri Lanka, though we were told that the pandemic was under control, the number of cases has started to rise with the reopening of the economy. The danger is increasing, the matron explained. On May 22, junior staff demonstrated at the Balapitiya and Walasmulla hospitals. About 300 attendants, drivers, telephone operators and sewing and other workers joined the protest. They opposed the non-payment of overtime, uniform allowances and arrears. About 400 workers, including nurses, apothecaries, attendants and drivers, protested at the Gampaha hospital protest on May 24. The Western Provincial Council, like other provinces, ended its special transport service on May 17. Balapitiya Hospital workers demand outstanding overtime pay (Credit: WSWS) A nursing officer said: PCR [virus] tests are carried out only for those who are suspected of accompanying infected patients. While we are not paid dues, the government tells us to donate from our salary. No one in the hospital staff has consented to cut their salary. More than 100 nurses took part in the picket at the Dambulla hospital on May 26. They silently held placards with slogans such as, Are Suwa Viruwo only for television? Health workers are heroes only until they do duty and Provide a proper transport service. Hospital workers across all grades and union affiliations were involved in the protests. While the ACHSU called the demonstrations, PSUNU and GNOU members participated. All three unions, however, are seeking to head off a political confrontation with the government. Dambulla hospital ACHSU branch secretary Saman Wijeratne attempted to let the government off the hook, telling the demonstration: Although the health minister told them not to cut the allowances of nurses or health services, lower officials are not following these orders. The JVP, which controls the ACHSU, has pledged support for the government, attending its two all-party meetings. After blocking health workers struggles, GNOU leader Saman Ratnapriya cynically praised nurses in his message on World Nurses Day. There are no reports that duties were rejected due to the unavailability of equipment, masks, goggles, dresses or boots, he wrote. Albeit with difficulties, all the duties are being carried out. PSUNU president Murutthettuwe Ananda, a Buddhist monk, is a henchman of the Rajapakse government. He has warned the government about rising opposition amongst health workers. In a letter to Major General H. S. Munasinghe, the health ministry secretary, he said that if the allowance payment issues were not resolved within 72 hours, an unpleasant situation would occur. The government appointed Munasinghe, a military general, as health secretary recently as the crisis in the sector developed. Workers must take this as a warning of plans to suppress their fight. Globally, health workerswho are in the frontline battling the pandemichave entered major struggles, fighting the refusal of governments to provide adequate PPE and other facilities, which has exposed them and their patients to serious health dangers. Like their counterparts around the world, the Sri Lankan unions oppose any united struggle of health workers. By calling isolated protests, they seek to divert and stifle the growing anger. The pandemic has exposed the dilapidated nature of the countrys public health system. For the limited free health service, governments allocated only around 1.5 percent of gross domestic product until 1978. After open economic policies were imposed in 1977, the budget allocations for social programs, including health and education, were further slashed to 1.2 percent. One of the International Monetary Funds recommendations for Sri Lanka is the gutting of public health to pave the way for the further boosting of private health operations. A fighter loyal to the GNA celebrates after victory in a battle for the capital - Reuters Libya's internationally recognised government vowed to defeat Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar after its troops recaptured key districts of Tripoli, effectively ending a 14-month siege of the capital city. Turkish backed-troops with the Government of National Accord said they had secured all of Tripoli's entry and exit points early on Thursday morning, a day after they seized the city's derelict but bitterly contested international airport. "Our heroic forces have full control of Greater Tripoli right up to the city limits," Mohamad Gnounou, spokesman for GNA forces, said in a Facebook post. Separately Reuters cited a source in Gen Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) saying that it would complete its withdrawal from the Tripoli districts of Ain Zara, Abu Salim and Qasr Ben Gashir on Thursday. LNA troops are believed to be consolidating around the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli. The announcements came as international pressure builds for the two sides to accept a truce. The UN said on Monday that both sides had agreed to resume ceasefire talks. Fayez-al Sarraj, the prime minister of the GNA, said after meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara that his government would continue to fight until it had secured the rest of the country. "Our fight continues and we are determined to defeat the enemy, impose state control on the whole of the homeland and destroy all those who jeopardise the construction of a civil, democratic and modern state," he said. Gen Haftar, who rules eastern and southern Libya in tandem with a parliament that split with the GNA in 2016, launched an assault on Tripoli in April 2019, vowing to root out "terrorist militias" backed by the GNA. The LNA, with military backing from several foreign countries including the UAE, Egypt and Russia, succeeded in seizing the city's southern suburbs but became bogged in a war of attrition before it could reach the city centre. Story continues The tide of the war turned after Turkey intervened on the side of the GNA at the beginning of this year, deploying drones, air-defence systems, and thousands of Syrian fighters in support of Tripoli. The success of the Turkish intervention has shown how foreign players have grown increasingly important in Libya's war. Hundreds of Russian fighters, believed to be with the Kremlin-linked Wagner private military company, have been seen accompanying the LNA pull back. Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that large numbers of Russian and Soviet made anti-personnel mines not previously recorded in Libya had been found planted in civilian areas abandoned by the LNA. Any use of internationally banned landmines is unconscionable, said Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch and chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Those fighting in Tripoli should halt using landmines and start clearing them to avoid further harm to life and limb. Greys Anatomy has been around for over 15 years, and you could say the Shondaland series knows a thing or two about romance. The ABC medical drama has spawned epic loves like Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Its also given us marriages to aspire to like Ben Warren (Jason George) and Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). But the show has also delivered a number of fiery romances that, for some reason, just didnt work out. So here are the best Greys Anatomy couples that deserved to end up together but didnt. 1. Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey Chyler Leigh as Lexie Grey and Eric Dane as Mark Sloan on Greys Anatomy | Adam Taylor/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images RELATED: Greys Anatomy Fans Still Wish Mark and Lexie Could Have Lived Happily Ever After Say what you want, but the way Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) finally got together was absolutely devastating. At the start, the pair had a few things going against them and they were never really on the same page. Nevertheless, Mark and Lexie always found themselves drawn to one another. But on Greys Anatomy, love isnt enough. When we all thought the couple would get together, the cruel Shondaland gods dropped the airplane crash episode. In Flight, Mark and Lexie were able to confess their love, finally acknowledging they were meant to be. But sadly, this happened as Lexie was dying. Mark also passed in the next episode. And just like that, Greys Anatomy shattered our dreams of a Slexie endgame. 2. Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins RELATED: Why Greys Anatomy Fans Might Never See Callie Again After All Ask any Greys Anatomy fan and they will tell you Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) deserved better. They were the shows first prominent LGBTQ couple and had some extraordinary moments together. But whatever came their way, it seemed Callie and Arizona always fought for their relationship in the early days. Then things started to shift. After a brief breakup and the birth of Sophia (via Mark), Callie and Arizona got married. However, the plane crash episode ruined yet another relationship. Following the crash, Arizona lost her leg, which led to a lot of resentment. Then Arizona cheated on Callie, and even after therapy, the couple decided to divorce. Arizona and Callie found a way to co-parent following their split. But after a difficult custody battle, Callie moved to New York with her new girlfriend, Penelope Blake (Samantha Sloyan). However, that may not be the last of the couple. In Greys Anatomy Season 14, Arizona left for New York for Sofia. Coincidentally, Callie and Penny broke up. So does this mean Callie and Arizona got back together? Calzonas final ending was never shown on-screen. But after everything they went through, we hope so. 3. Jackson Avery and April Kepner RELATED: Greys Anatomy: Will April and Matthew Ever Return? The Door Is Still Open Greys Anatomy fans are still not over Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) and April Kepners (Sarah Drew) relationship. Fans were first introduced to the characters when Seattle Grace and Mercy West merged. The two sparked up a friendship before finally hooking up. Then suddenly, everyone could see the couples chemistry. As things progressed, fans saw Jackson and Aprils devotion to one another. Even when they decided to stop hooking up, the red string of fate kept them closeby. Then finally, it happened and it happened in the most Greys Anatomy way. In the middle of Jackson and Matthew Taylors (Justin Bruening) wedding, Jackson got up and professed his love. Everyone was shocked including the audience. Then April and Jackson ran off together and eloped. Nonetheless, it wasnt happily ever after. Jackson and April faced plenty of challenges, including the death of their newborn, Samuel. Then as time went on, the couple started to unravel and they ended up getting divorced. And when the former lovers signed the papers, April found out she was pregnant with Harriet. Despite everything, Japril was not endgame on Greys Anatomy. April rekindled her love for Matthew the man she left at the altar and married him. She also continues to co-parent with Jackson offscreen. So technically, its possible April and Jackson could magically end up together. But as much as it pains us to say it, were not holding our breath. 4. Jo Wilson and Alex Karev RELATED: Greys Anatomy: Krista Vernoff Reveals Why Alex Karev Didnt Die in Season 16 Before season 16, Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) were on the fast-track to becoming one of Greys Anatomys endgame couples. The pair just knew how to support one another, particularly because their backgrounds were similar. Heck, Jo and Alex even got married twice to prove how much they loved each other. Even so, that all came tumbling down when Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) came back into the picture. In Greys Anatomy Season 16, Alex disappeared and ghosted Jo. Then in a letter, Alex revealed he reconnected with Izzie, who had his children from the embryos they made when she had cancer. So he decided to leave Jo for his ex-wife in Kansas, mailing her signed divorce papers. For a couple that delivered so much promise, it was disappointing to see JoLex split so quickly. And seeing as the couple just remarried in season 15, Alexs betrayal has us questioning whether or not true love exists. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! New Delhi, June 4 : A pilot working with SpiceJet airlines had a horrid time after around 10 men allegedly robbed him at gunpoint, taking away his wallet which had Rs 10,000 in it after stopping his car while he was on his way to the airport. Yuvraj Tewatia, the SpiceJet pilot, was heading towards the IGI Airport from his house in Faridabad in his office cab on Wednesday night. The incident took place near the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi's South district. Before leaving the spot, the miscreants attacked him with a knife, leaving him bleeding inside the car. The accused persons, riding on four to five two-wheelers, first blocked the road and then broke all the windows of the cab. One of them pointed a country made pistol at Tewatia while another poked him with a knife on the thigh and snatched his wallet which had Rs 10,000 in it. The police have registered a case under sections of IPC and Arms Act and the investigation is underway. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Devendra Arya, told the media that a case has been registered against unknown persons. He also said that an ERV stationed nearby tried to chase the accused persons till Mehrauli, but somehow they managed to escape. Jajpur: A newborn girl child was allegedly sold for Rs 6,000 by her parents in Odishas Jajpur district, prompting the authorities to order a probe into the incident on Thursday. According to local media reports, Lata Rana (28) wife of Baikuntha Rana (35) of Ranpur village under Binjharpur police station in the district allegedly sold their newborn for Rs 6,000 to a childless couple of the same area on Sunday soon after the childbirth. The couple already has two daughters and one son. The parents told local accredited social health activist Abanti Samal, who had got Lata admitted to Binjahrpur community health centre for delivery, to sell or give the child up for adoption as they were poor and would find it very hard to feed four children, the report said. The couple then allegedly sold the infant girl to a childless couple for Rs 6000 on Sunday night. We are very poor people and find it very hard to feed a six-member family, including four children, the couple said. They decided to hand over the newborn to a childless couple to be adopted and raised well, it said. We have not sold our new born baby girl for money, they added. Jajpur Collector today asked the district child welfare committee (CWC) to inquire into the matter and submit a detailed report soon. I have asked the chairperson of CWC to conduct an inquiry into the matter and furnish a report very soon. I am waiting for the inquiry report to know the actual fact, said Sarat Kumar Biswal, in-charge Collector of Jajpur. The probe was ordered after reports on the alleged sale appeared in a section of local media. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Just three days after two Pakistan High Commission officials were apprehended in India for espionage, the neighbouring country's intelligence agency ISI has attempted to intimidate an Indian diplomat. Vehicle of India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was chased by an ISI member on Thursday. The Pakistani intelligence service has also stationed multiple persons in cars and bikes outside the Indian diplomat's residence in an attempt to harass and intimidate him. Speaking to Republic TV, Dr Sreeram Chaulia, Strategic affairs expert stated that chasing an Indian diplomat is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention. "We need to pick it up and escalate the matter and not keep it down. Because we know they are trying to retaliate after two of Pakistani diplomats were caught spying here. It is a matter of making sure that there is a sort of balance. We should be immediately summoning their High Commissioner here," he added. READ | Pakistan Embassy Spies Booked Under Secrets Act; Delhi Cops To Probe Despite Their Return Pak embassy spies booked Shortly after two Pakistan High Commission officials were declared 'persona non grata' by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), sources within the Delhi Police special cell have revealed that the investigation in the case will continue under the Official Secrets Act. In a major embarrassment to Pakistan, two of its officials in the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi were asked to leave India within 24 hours after they were found involved in espionage activity. READ | Buddhist Carvings In PoK's Gilgit-Baltistan Vandalised, Pakistan Flag, Slogans Painted Following this, the Delhi Police special cell is actively probing the case filed under the Official Secrets Act 1923 which largely deals with offences pertaining to spying, sabotage and related crimes. Three persons have been apprehended by the Indian government including two Pakistan High Commission officials identified as 42-year-old Abid Hussain Abid and 44-year-old Mohd. Tahir Khan and a third person, 36-year-old Javed Hussain, also a resident of Pakistan involved in the espionage activity. READ | Pakistan High Commission Officials Apprehended For Espionage; Spies Sent Back To Pak Meanwhile, Pakistan High Commission has released a statement condemning the action taken by Indian security agencies. "Pakistan condemns the Government of India's decision to declare two officials of the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi persona non grata requiring them to leave India within 24 hours. The Indian action has been accompanied by a negative pre-planned and orchestrated media campaign, which is a part of persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda," read the statement. READ | Arrest Warrant Against Sharif For Failing To Appear In Court In Corruption Case The facility reopened to the public briefly on May 26, the same day the Cass County Board of Commissioners met in an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. It was decided by a unanimous vote to close the courthouse until May 29, and reopen on June 1 by appointment only. The commissioners ask the public to make an appointment for services that can only be done in-person. If a service can be completed via phone, email or online services, or cannot be delivered through the drop box, then the person should call the appropriate office to make an appointment. The Cass County Assessors office remains completely closed to the public until further notice. Personal property returns and Homestead Exemption applications can be delivered using the silver drop box on the west side of the courthouse. Forms can also be mail. The staff will return phone messages. The county, district and juvenile courts remain open. They are under the jurisdiction of the state, not the county. We recognize this will be a challenge, the public may still contact offices directly by telephone or email. All offices remain staffed and available to assist tax payers, said the commissioners in a statement on the county website, cassne.org. KYODO NEWS - Jun 4, 2020 - 19:55 | All, Japan A Japanese district court on Thursday rejected a request by a man to overturn a prefectural commission's decision deeming him ineligible for victims' compensation as a surviving family member after his same-sex partner was murdered. "I cannot recognize same-sex relationships as de facto marriages," Presiding Judge Masatake Kakutani said in the hearing at the Nagoya District Court where Yasuhide Uchiyama, 45, challenged the decision made by the Aichi Prefectural Public Safety Commission in December 2017. In order for Uchiyama to be recognized as a de facto spouse, "two people of the same sex living together must first be regarded as equal to marriage in society," Kakutani said. Whether a same-sex partnership could be considered a de facto marital relationship was a major point of contention in the trial, as it would make Uchiyama eligible for victims' compensation as a surviving family member if so. "It is extremely disappointing that my request was rejected on the basis that same-sex couples are not sufficiently accepted in society," Uchiyama said at a press conference following the trial. The plaintiff's lawyers had argued that the system is intended to ease the emotional and financial stress suffered by families of crime victims, and that it was outdated to regard de facto marriages as being only heterosexual relationships amid a greater awareness of sexual diversity in present society. "It is an extremely regrettable ruling which perpetuates discrimination against sexual minorities," Uchiyama's lawyers, who plan to appeal, said in a statement. According to the written complaint, Uchiyama had lived with his partner Hideaki Mizuno, who was 52 at the time of his death, for around 20 years. Mizuno was murdered in December 2014 by a worker who was Uchiyama's colleague at the time. He was later sentenced to 14 years in prison. Uchiyama filed for victims' compensation in December 2016 but it was rejected a year later on the basis that his relationship was same-sex. In another trial involving the recognition of same-sex partnerships, a district court branch in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, ruled last September in favor of a woman who sought compensation for infidelity by her same-sex partner. The Tokyo High Court upheld the ruling in March. When asked the other day about leaks within his administration on the bungled handling of the coronavirus crisis, Phil Murphy indulged his penchant for expressing himself in cliche: People leaking things and giving the outside world some sense of how the sausage is made, as it were, you know, Ive got no time for that and thats got to stop, Murphy said. It was 19th-century German chancellor Otto Von Bismarck who coined that cliche: Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. Perhaps you could get away with that sort of thing in the land where Murphy was once an ambassador. But here in New Jersey we have all sorts of laws that let us oversee our lawmakers. Unfortunately, however, that sausage factory on State Street in Trenton remains closed for the crisis. That means the public wont be able to watch this morning as the Assembly considers what may turn out to be the biggest piece of bratwurst in state history. Thats Assembly Bill 4175, which will be up for a vote this morning on the group phone call that substitutes for a session. The bill would permit Murphy to immediately borrow $5 billion from his old friends on Wall Street. It also authorizes him to borrow from the federal government for the benefit of the State in such amounts and on such terms as the federal government sets forth in or pursuant to any federal stimulus law. The bill cites the sales tax as the primary source of revenue for paying those billions back. If sales tax revenues are insufficient, then a statewide property tax can be imposed. Assemblyman Jay Webber says theres no way the sales tax can generate a sufficient amount of revenue to pay back all those bonds. Because of the virus and the governors response to it, were just not gonna have the sales tax to cover this and everybody knows this, said the Morris County Republican. Another Republican, state Sen. Declan OScanlon of Monmouth County, said that if the bill becomes law as written, the only alternative to a statewide property tax would be a massive sales tax hike. Assembly minority leader Jon Bramnick said the public needs a whole lot more information before this bill is voted on. If you go to buy a house and you want to get a mortgage, whats the first question you ask: What are my payments? he said. Bramnick noted that the deadline for state income tax payments has been moved from April 15 to July 15. Those payments will include taxes from the boom year of 2019, which could be quite substantial, he said. Why are we deciding how much to borrow when we dont know how much we collected from 2019? the Union County Republican asked. Only Murphy would ask for authority to borrow without knowing how much is coming in. Invoking a cliche of his own, Bramnick speculated Murphy wants to strike while the iron is hot. Part of the reason hes doing this right now is that he still has this alleged increase in popularity, Bramnick said. If he waited another month or two and things go back to normal, his popularity goes down. I suspect it will be going down sooner than that thanks to those leakers. Earlier this week our reporters unearthed a letter to legislative leaders from some anonymous whistle-blowers in the state Health Department. The letter listed a number of failures in the departments handling of the coronavirus crisis in long-term-care facilities. The writers said the administrations response was an unmitigated failure that led to preventable deaths. OScanlon said he was particularly upset by the governors invoking of that sausage factory comparison. For a guy who supposedly champions accountability, its outrageous, he said. Equally outrageous was the administrations effort to find leakers. Rather than spending money to plug the leaks, how about you fix your department so there arent any juicy scandals? said OScanlon. The Monmouth County Republican, who serves on the Senate Budget Committee, said any action on borrowing should be put off until major structural changes are made in the states budgeting practices. It is a complete abdication that were not working on structural reforms that will save us money, OScanlon said. If were smart, we can save between one and two billion every year. Fortunately for us taxpayers, Democratic state Senate President Steve Sweeney has been teaming up with OScanlon and other Republican senators in pushing for such reforms. Sweeney has yet to take a position on that bonding bill. But if youre a homeowner who already faces a big property-tax bill, its nice to know theres more than one boss in the sausage factory. WILTON They wanted to march. And to be seen. And to be heard. That was the beginning and conclusion to an evening of protest. Despite an official cancellation of the march to end racism on June 2, in favor of a gathering in the parking lot of Our Lady of Fatima Church, many people of all ages made the one-mile walk from the Wilton train station down Route 7 to the church a mile away. People wanted to be seen and heard as they marched chanting and carrying signs, some of which read: Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere, Equality Always, Black Lives Matter, Respect Existence or Expect Resistance, I Walk for George Floyd, and I Cant Breathe. Among them was a family from Bethel. Sixteen-year-old Laura Weiss said after seeing protests all around the country she thought, I gotta come. What can we do, even if it is as small as a few hours out of your day? Her 11-year-old sister Julia she felt it was the right thing to do. Their mother, Jen Glover-Riggs, said, I wanted the kids to see what they could do. Im so sad and angry. I want them to see we all have a voice. We can stand up for others. There, in the lot behind the church that is not visible to the main traffic artery that runs through Wilton, they joined more than 100 others, swelling to some 200 to 300 people who, almost always, listened politely, and in many cases enthusiastically, to the speakers. Sitting in one of the many chairs spaced six feet apart was Marcellin Mbwa-Mboma, who came from Weston with his four children and nephew. His reason, he said, was I believe we have to bridge the racial divide. We are made in the eyes of God. We must strive to live together in love and peace. We are moved by peace, by hope for better communities, a better workplace, a better nation, a better world. Black lives have to be respected, he said. Click here to sign up for The Bulletins free electronic newsletter, Online Today. The evening was arranged by members of Wiltons clergy, and was led off by Our Lady of Fatimas black pastor the Rev. Reggie Norman. Over the past few days, he said, my emotional roller coaster is all over the place. He recalled how his mother grew up in the segregated south and was taught to never look a white person in the face. When she came north in 1967, it took her a year to overcome that admonition. Norman said he asked her about that and she told him to close his eyes. When you close your eyes you start listening to other people differently, she told him. Now imagine, with your eyes closed that you had never seen another human being. You would find out that they bleed the way you bleed, they have the same organs that you have, and theyre just like you. We need to recognize we are all Gods children and he loves all of us regardless of who you are and what you have. We must all work together to change this world we live in, he said. Norman introduced police chief John Lynch, who he said was a personal friend. This goes pretty deep, Lynch said. All of our officers have worked really hard to come together, treat people with respect and we are all appalled at what we saw. He said he did not want to dwell on the events in Minneapolis that resulted in the death of George Floyd except to say we all have a lot of work to do. He chose instead to quote Martin Luther King Jr.: In spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. He promised, we will all work harder to accomplish this and well all live as equals. At this point some from the crowd shouted what will we do to make people of color feel safer in this community, but the question was not addressed as First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice came to the stage. She described Wilton as a caring community, a community with generous hearts and the size of the crowd was a testament to the type of community we live in. She asked those assembled to think about what they could do, what are the agents of change that you can do to make a difference? Silence After pausing for eight minutes of silence to commemorate the length of time a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on George Floyds neck, the Rev. Lindsay Curtis, a Wilton resident who is pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Norwalk, spoke. I have lived in Wilton 23 years, he said, and I could not be prouder to be living in Wilton than I am this very moment. This issue of racism is not just a black problem, he said. This issue of racism is shared by all shades of color. We come together today, but I ask you, how will we act tomorrow? He referenced the eight minutes a police officers knee was on Floyds neck. Those eight minutes But there have been over 400 years a knee has been on the neck of individuals who happen to look like me. When will we stop the inhumanity to humanity? When will we see each other beyond the color of our skin? When? When? he said to enthusiastic applause. When can we stop saying I cant breathe? When will we all be able to breathe, after all we all breathe the same air? We all shed red blood. Why do we have to live in a society that divides us by color? That divides us by our economic status. That divides us by who lives in north Wilton and south Wilton. He denounced the violence that has occurred across the country saying, this is not about breaking, looting, robbing, stealing. This is a struggle for our society and how we see each other. Black lives do matter, but as a Christian I submit to you, all lives matter. The Rev. Caroline Smith, pastor of Wilton Baptist Church, quoted the book of Amos: Seek good, not evil. Hate evil, love good. Maintain justice. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness in an ever-flowing stream. The Rev. Dr. Anne Coffman, senior pastor of Wilton Congregational Church, offered a prayer of healing. She prayed for wisdom so each of us will take the responsibility of doing the deep work of transformation so that each of our hearts will break with the things that break the heart of God. The final speaker was the Rev. Shannon White, pastor of Wilton Presbyterian Church, who told the crowd, its not any person of colors job to teach white people about racism. It is white peoples job to teach ourselves and to reflect and have conversations and then go and have honest and real collaboration. Im calling on us white people to do the hard work. Step by step, its not easy. We have to face this. Why is it hard for people of color to live in this town? Ive heard stories. She said she is hoping colleagues in different spheres politics, education, clergy will help with that effort. Get with people who look like you and start to talk, she said. After protest As the crowd began to disperse, a group of young people, many of whom appeared to be high school students, approached Chief Lynch and peppered him with questions about what his department was doing to make people of color feel safe in this town. Why do you feel they are not safe? Lynch asked, to which a young woman replied this town is full of racists. She referenced local social media sites. Attempting to respond to her, Lynch said, we are open and transparent everything is recorded. Father Norman stepped in, saying This is the first step, not the last step. We will not fix 400 years of oppression in one hour. We will get a dialogue going. Lynch said he was open to having discussions. Norman asked one of the group to collect names and email addresses and he promised to have a meeting with them. Were not giving up on this, he said. Not content to end the evening, a crowd of about 50 or so who had been walking north, turned around and marched down Route 7 shouting, I cant breathe! Accompanied by police and with cruisers behind them to stop traffic, the marchers stopped in front of the town hall campus, where police headquarters is, and sat in the road. They remained there for more than half an hour while Lynch, assisted by Middebrook Middle School teacher Michael Gordon, engaged them in discussion. A black student said if Im driving and get pulled over, I want to feel safe. Lynch admitted he couldnt understand what youre going through, but we do recognize it and were trying to fix it. In addressing the students about police behavior Lynch reminded them they all wear body cameras, which police requested. They really try to do the right thing, he said of his officers. You may disagree and I appreciate that. Gordon reminded them they have as much a role to play in fighting racism as anyone else, particularly when they witness racist behavior. This wont stop until you, and Im talking to the white students, Gordon said, until you step up that puts it on them to say, Im wrong. At the Dadawan restaurant in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht, an unusual group of new staffers has been brought in to help after the Netherlands eased its coronavirus lockdown this week: robots. A robotic trio of waiters named Amy, Aker and James roll back and forth from the bar at the Asian fusion restaurant, handing out drinks -- and lessening the number of trips that human staff need to make through the restaurant. Each robot has a simple humanoid figure, including arms to hold serving trays. Simple displays on their faces shows a smile, or occasionally a frown. A robot serves in a Chinese restaurant to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Maastricht, Netherlands. (REUTERS) The service can be a bit stiff. Hi, here is your order. Please take it away from the tray. I will go back automatically in 20 seconds, Amy informs a pair of women seated at a booth, after presenting them with two glasses of ice tea. Customers must pick up their own drinks. Though robotic servers were introduced in China several years ago and have since become a novelty at restaurants around the world, only a handful of Dutch eateries have so far introduced them. For now, Dadawans robo-service is limited to drink delivery, but the owner hopes to quickly widen their repertoire. Restaurant representative Paul Seijben said waiters jobs are not threatened by the newcomers. Our team is actually really happy with the robots, Seijben said. Staff, who wear face masks, load drinks onto the trays, press a table number, then stand back as the robot rolls away. Restaurants in the Netherlands were closed from mid-March to June 1 for everything but take out and delivery. Since Monday, restaurants have been allowed to receive up to 30 people with a minimum distance of 1.5 metres (5 ft) between tables. Diners must make an appointment in advance. Also read | Robot barista serves coffee in South Korean cafe to help with social distancing SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: International Financial Corporation (IFC) is working with the government of Uzbekistan to plan future projects, Regional Manager for Central Asia of IFC Cassandra Colbert told Trend. Colbert said that IFC is helping the government structure and tender a public-private partnership (PPP) to develop a 1,200-1,500 MW gas-fired power plant in the Syrdarya region. This is an important project for both IFC and Uzbekistan. This large-scale PPP will help modernize Uzbekistan's aging power infrastructure and supply both residents and businesses with steady electricity. It will also significantly increase efficiency of the use of gas, contributing to reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions. The new equipment will make the power sector more flexible, creating a better environment to introduce intermittent renewable-energy sources. In March 2020, IFC together with the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, and the PPP (public-private partnerships) Development Agency organized an online investor conference, which brought together more than 100 participants - including investors, financial institutions, and other stakeholders - who were familiarized with the Syrdarya projects scope and transaction structure, Uzbekistans power sector, and its PPP regulatory framework. "The investor conference highlighted transparent and competitive tender process that we expect will attract interest from a number of market-leaders from across the world," she said. Colbert said IFC is looking to invest in areas such as energy, manufacturing, services, and agribusiness. In the financial sector, we will continue to focus on financial institutions that lend and lease to support small and medium-sized enterprises. "We are also helping the government establish and develop a strong pipeline of PPPs. There is great potential for PPPs in several sectors, including power and transport. Along with other international financial institutions, we are also supporting the governments privatization programs in the banking and chemical sectors," she stated. The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global institution dedicated to supporting the private sector in emerging markets. The corporation works with more than two thousand private enterprises around the world. In fiscal year 2019, the company provided more than $19 billion in long-term funding to developing countries. In doing so, the corporation has attracted the strong potential of the private sector to eradicate extreme poverty and improve global prosperity. Recently, IFC and Ipak Yuli Bank of Uzbekistan signed an agreement allowing the bank to better manage currency risks and increase local currency financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, which play a key role in the economic development of Uzbekistan. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini Hongkongers letter to Pompeo: Please Save Hong Kongs Children, Please make HK safe again Honest News Straight to Your Home. Try the Epoch Times yourself, and get a free gift. On the 31st anniversary of the June 4th Massacre, Elmer Yuan (), a HK entrepreneur addressed a letter to US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. As Hong Kongers fight for their freedom, standing up against Beijings recent plan to implement the Hong Kong National Security Law, Yuan calls for the US, as an ally of democracy, to help make HK safe again. Regulatory News: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) ("PSH") today announced that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's Public Shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"): Trading Venue: London Stock Exchange Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 4 June 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 35,303 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,960 pence 24.68 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,938 pence 24.41 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,944 pence 24.48 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 4 June 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 22,517 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.45 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 24.40 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.42 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 4 June 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 48,706 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.50 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 24.35 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.43 USD PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 34.24 USD 27.72 GBP which was calculated as of 31 May 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 196,874,445 Public Shares outstanding, or 202,793,425 Public Shares calculated on a fully diluted basis (assuming that all Management Shares had been converted into Public Shares at the Relevant NAV). Excluded from the shares outstanding are 14,082,305 Public Shares held in Treasury. The prices per Public Share were calculated by Jefferies. The number of PSH Management Shares and the one special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) have not been affected. About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005717/en/ Contacts: Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk LONDON A vaccine summit has raised billions of dollars to immunize children in developing countries as experts wrestled with how any potential vaccine against the coronavirus might be distributed globally and fairly. The United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have urged that a peoples vaccine be developed for COVID-19 that would be freely available to everyone, calling it a moral imperative. Thursdays event hosted by Britain raised $8.8 billion, exceeding its target, for the vaccines alliance GAVI, which says the funds will be used to vaccinate about 300 million children in dozens of countries against diseases like malaria, pneumonia and HPV. GAVI also announced a new advance market commitment mechanism to enable developing countries to get any effective COVID-19 vaccine when available. It hopes to raise an additional $2 billion for that effort, to immunize health care workers as well as high-risk individuals and create a buffer of doses to be used where needed most. But experts pointed out that the unprecedented pandemic where arguably every country will be clamoring for a vaccine may make efforts at fair distribution extremely messy. The worldwide scramble for masks and ventilators that erupted in the early stages of the outbreak where France took over the countrys mask stocks so they could be given to first responders and others inside the country and the U.S. apparently paid off shippers to redirect ventilators to the U.S. are not encouraging signs that there will be much global cooperation if and when a coronavirus vaccine is available. Rich countries will most likely try to push their way to the front of the queue, leaving poorer countries at the back, and thats a problem, said Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I cant imagine any country saying, Africas need is greater than ours, so they can get the vaccine first and well remain vulnerable.' The urgency of finding a way to stem outbreaks was evident as the worldwide total of reported virus cases reached 130,398 on Wednesday, the highest one-day total so far, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Brazil reported yet another record number of deaths 1,473 raising its toll above 34,000, surpassing Italy for the worlds third-deadliest outbreak even though its still considered by experts a significant undercount due to insufficient testing. India reported a record number of infections 9,304, with 260 deaths as its tally of fatalities surpassed 6,000 and its number of infections rose to nearly 217,000, the worlds seventh-highest. Neighboring Pakistan reported over 4,000 new cases as its confirmed infections surpassed neighboring China a spike that came weeks after Prime Minister Imran Khan overrode warnings from experts and eased a lockdown. Ahead of the vaccine gathering, philanthropist Bill Gates said there were potential solutions to the growing tide of vaccine nationalism exhibited when the CEO of Sanofi suggested the U.S. had a right to the first doses of any vaccine because of its significant investment. The key to that challenge is having scale and having factories all over the world that are making the vaccines, including multiple factories in Asia, the Americas and Europe, Gates said. Gates acknowledged there could be some benefit to countries that funded vital vaccine research but called for a system of allocating doses to those most at risk, and making sure that even the countries that cant compete financially for that access, that theyre considered their health workers, their elderly. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped Thursdays gathering would mark the moment when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against disease. But Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, noted that in the past such sentiments have not always been backed by action. In reality, that can be turned on its head in the weeks and months ahead, he said. About a dozen vaccine candidates are in early stages of testing in thousands of people. There are no guarantees any will work but theres increasing hope that at least some could be ready by the end of the year. Oxford University is beginning an advanced study involving 10,000 volunteers; the U.S. is preparing for even larger studies in July that involve 30,000 people each testing different candidates, including Oxfords and one made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc. Vaccine developers are worried about whether the virus spread is slowing enough in the U.S. and Europe that it will be hard to prove if their candidates really work. So later this month, the Oxford vaccine will be tested on 2,000 Brazilian volunteers in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, according to the U.K. ambassador to Brazil, Vijay Rangarajan. The U.S. government also is considering test sites in other countries. While Oxford scientists say they are committed to making their shot available to all who need it at a fair price, academic Whitworth noted that doesnt square with the rhetoric coming from British ministers funding it, saying U.K. citizens will be at the front of the queue. And the U.S. has signed a contract with AstraZeneca, which makes the Oxford vaccine, for 300 million doses. Vaccine makers know theyll be judged if rich countries buy up all their supply. Thursday, AstraZeneca said it would provide 300 million doses of the Oxford vaccine to GAVIs new financing mechanism to try to ensure equitable access. The doses will be provided when the vaccine is licensed or pre-qualified by the World Health Organization. Im thinking very carefully what would be the best way to make sure that everybody will get a fair share of the supplies that exist as quickly as possible and that in this fairness we will not forget the unprivileged countries, said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. From the human perspective they have equal rights. In the U.S., where a wave of protests is adding to concerns over possible additional outbreaks, new cases have been surging just weeks after many businesses were allowed to reopen. On Thursday, Vegas casinos and Universal Orlando were among those welcoming visitors. More than 6.6 million people have been infected with the virus and more than 389,000 have died from COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins count. The true toll is likely much higher, due to limits on testing and many asymptomatic cases. ___ Neergaard contributed to this report from Alexandria, Virginia. Associated Press reporters around the world also contributed. Industry recommendations to federal government will attract investment, advance environmental leadership and encourage innovation CALGARY, AB, June 4, 2020 /CNW/ - As governments turn their attention to the reopening and rebuilding of Canada's economy, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) has been working closely with the federal government to identify measures to support economic recovery while the country continues to manage the health risks of the COVID-19 pandemic. CAPP recognizes the Government of Canada has expressed deep concern for the serious impact this unprecedented crisis is having on the oil and natural gas industry and the people whose livelihoods rely on the sector. The federal government's implementation of the wage subsidy program, funding for orphan and inactive wells and the Emission Reduction Fund, along with liquidity measures for small and large producers have offered vital support to keep workers employed, help companies survive and position the industry to take advantage of a global economic recovery. Provincial governments have also implemented programs and are making significant efforts to complement the federal support. The federal and provincial government supports have rightly been focused on short-term economic survival. However, to turn from near closure and contraction to recovery and growth, Canada's economy cannot rely solely on government support. The pathway to rebuilding requires encouraging and attracting private investment back to Canada's industries. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Canada will be competing with every other jurisdiction in the world for more limited investment dollars. The oil and natural gas sector is Canada's largest industry, generating more than $100 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) annually and supporting half a million jobs across the country. The industry is also the biggest source of international investment and produces the country's largest export commodity. In addition to contributing to Canada's economic recovery, a strong oil and natural gas sector can help advance the federal government's objectives related to both Indigenous reconciliation and climate change. Oil and natural gas projects are shovel-ready and shovel-worthy. They can immediately put Canadians back to work with a multi-billion-dollar national supply chain, offer economic and self-sustaining opportunities for Indigenous communities and generate desperately-needed revenues for governments in the form of taxes and royalties. These objectives can be achieved while leveraging the sector's leadership in emissions reduction, water protection, and land and species management. CAPP has publicly released letters it submitted to the federal government through the organization's ongoing work with a number of ministries to stabilize Canada's economy and position the country for recovery. The May 27, 2020 letter focuses on economic recovery and outlines three areas of recommendation to provide certainty to capital markets and attract investment back into Canada's resource industry. The recommendations to the federal government include: A visible government commitment to work with the oil and natural gas industry to demonstrate Canada is a supportive and competitive country in which to invest over the long term. is a supportive and competitive country in which to invest over the long term. Prioritize a 100 percent immediate deductibility, levelling the playing field consistent with other capital intensive industries in Canada , for oil and gas sector capital investments; including clean technology and emission reducing investments. , for oil and gas sector capital investments; including clean technology and emission reducing investments. Work together to develop and implement an integrated recovery strategy that considers goals around economic growth, job creation, Canada's climate targets, its clean technology export ambitions and economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities. CAPP quotes Tim McMillan, president and CEO: " Canada's oil and natural gas industry is committed to creating good jobs, generating benefits for Indigenous communities and advancing Canada's environmental leadership. Working collaboratively with the federal government we have an opportunity to reset the national conversation about energy and bring Canadians together to build value across the country." oil and natural gas industry is committed to creating good jobs, generating benefits for Indigenous communities and advancing environmental leadership. Working collaboratively with the federal government we have an opportunity to reset the national conversation about energy and bring Canadians together to build value across the country." "A strong industry creates jobs for Canadians and generates desperately-needed revenues for government. The oil and natural gas industry is crucial to our country's economic well-being and can help lead our recovery, as well as be the foundation for long-term resilience." "Provincial and federal governments have stepped up to provide critical support to industry during this crisis but we cannot rely on government spending alone for recovery. It is crucially important we make the right policy decisions so Canada can compete for investment dollars in what is going to be a hyper-competitive international market." Supporting information: The oil and natural gas industry supports nearly 500,000 jobs across Canada , generates approximately $8 billion annually in revenues to governments, and contributes $109 billion to the country's gross domestic product. , generates approximately annually in revenues to governments, and contributes to the country's gross domestic product. The supply chain of oil sands producers alone is associated with close to 10,000 businesses across the country. The offshore oil and natural gas industry makes up one-quarter of Newfoundland and Labrador's GDP and 41 percent of exports. Approximately 600 supply and service companies in Atlantic Canada rely on work associated with offshore development. and GDP and 41 percent of exports. Approximately 600 supply and service companies in rely on work associated with offshore development. Ontario's participation in the oil sands supply chain was valued at $1.89 billion in the two-year period from 2016-2017, supporting more than 63,000 jobs and 1,162 businesses. participation in the oil sands supply chain was valued at in the two-year period from 2016-2017, supporting more than 63,000 jobs and 1,162 businesses. The oil and natural gas industry is Canada's largest investor in clean technology and environmental protection, spending about $3.5 billion annually. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) represents companies, large and small, that explore for, develop and produce natural gas and oil throughout Canada. CAPP's member companies produce about 80 per cent of Canada's natural gas and oil. CAPP's associate members provide a wide range of services that support the upstream oil and natural gas industry. Together CAPP's members and associate members are an important part of a national industry with revenues from oil and natural gas production of about $109 billion a year. CAPP's mission, on behalf of the Canadian upstream oil and natural gas industry, is to advocate for and enable economic competitiveness and safe, environmentally and socially responsible performance. SOURCE Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers For further information: Jay Averill, Manager of Media Relations, (P) 403-267-1151, (C) 587-225-4534, [email protected] Related Links http://www.capp.ca George Floyd's death revealed one of the hidden secrets in America, looting. Hispanics and African-Americans have been looted of trillions since 1920, according to a recently published article. History of Looting in America Looting has become one of the favorite words of people in the U.S. today following the death of George Floyd who was accused of counterfeiting $20 in a grocery store. People of different colors outraged because of the way that Floyd was arrested. They described it as inhumane. When Ronald Reagan ended the New Deal era, crushed the labor unions, and massively cut the top corporate and personal taxes in 1981, he kicked off the widespread looting in the U.S. that started since 1920. People who work across the country who have seen accumulated a total wealth of $7 trillion were looted and they were reduced from the working middle group to the working poor. Additionally, when Reagan stopped the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1983- this is a law that regulates competition among the enterprises- small and medium-sized businesses were looted by giant companies. Different Looting Experiences Across the Country Millions of American citizens in the country have their homes looted specifically by California's "Forclosure King" Steven Mnuchen and Wall Street banksters just like Jamie Dimon. This time, it is happening again. This problem is not only significantly seen in properties but also include the most basic need of human, food. There are many Americans across the country who starve every day because of the defense contractors who have apportioned big federal spending at the expense of food stamps and agricultural products. Betsy DeVos, the current Secretary of the Education Department since 2017, has earned a massive amount of $56 million last year. She was accused of looting billions of dollars from the country's public schools and give it to the for-profit and religious industries buddies running who are running schools. Even former U.S. President George W. Bush was accused of looting trillions of dollars when he decided to partially privatized the Medicare Program with the so-called "Medicare Advantage" in 2005 that led the system into a crisis. The country's air and water have also been looted by giant fossil fuel companies and billionaires. It even led to millions of deaths every year and many migrated from their land of origin. Hispanics and African-Americans Have Been Looted too of Trillions Hispanics are the largest minority group in the country while African-Americans are the second largest group. Over-all the two groups are comprised of more than 60 million in the country's total population. Hispanics and African-Americans have been looted of trillions through their reduced pay from their racist employers. In some instances, this also happens in a big corporation. Additionally, their safety, peace of mind, and lives have been looted by some police officers most especially these days. This problem must stop today as it will only add up to the present phenomenon the country is experiencing. Looting, protests, and the global pandemic are now becoming the greatest foes of the country. Mumbai: Congress MLA Prithviraj Chavan arrives to take oath as MLA in Mumbai on Nov 27, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Bengaluru: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan addresses a press conference at the party office, in Bengaluru on April 28, 2018. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, June 4 : Advocating a supplementary budget, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Thursday the economy was in crisis and the budget 2020-21 had become irrelevant. "With the crisis in the economy, the budget presented on February 1 has become irrelevant. The Finance Minister should present a supplementary budget in June," he said. The Congress leader said after Covid -19 the situation had worsened and the government must seek Parliament's approval for new revenue streams, taxation, borrowing plans, cuts in development outlays and revised expenditure priorities. The opposition is also demanding parliamentary oversight on the economic package. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the Rs 20 lakh crore package. But the Congress termed it "far from reality" and a "loan mela". Citing the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report, the Congress said unemployment rate as of May 3 was at a record 27.1 per cent, four times that of the USA. Unemployment was 8.7 per cent in March. Of the 122 million people who have lost jobs, 91 million were small traders and labourers, and 18 million salaried class, it said and added, 27 million youth in the 20-30 year age group and 33 million in their 30s lost their jobs in April. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also criticized the government policies after Moody's, a rating agency, downgraded India. "Moody's has rated Modi's handling of India's economy a step above JUNK," he said and added, lack of support to the poor and the MSME sector meant that the worst was is yet to come. Moody's said the Covid-19 pandemic amplified vulnerabilities in India's credit profile, such as slower growth relative to the country's potential, rising debt & further weakening of debt affordability and persistent stress in parts of the financial system. For the latest updates, check out Fridays live blog here. Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined Thursday to comment on video from the Brickyard Mall where an officer knelt on a woman, saying its an ongoing investigation, but promised that the police oversight agency investigating is doing everything it can to identify the officers and then make an appropriate recommendation. Meanwhile, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxxs office said that it was conducting its own review of the incident in collaboration with the FBI. Hours earlier, the attorney for the woman, Mia Wright, demanded a criminal investigation. Also on Thursday, Lightfoot said the city will not tolerate vigilantism after groups of mostly white men patrolled the streets of Bridgeport on Wednesday night in response to a nearby city protest. The situation in Bridgeport frightened and angered many residents and activists who expressed concerns about racism and violence. Additionally, state health officials are urging anyone who participated in mass gatherings following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis to be tested for COVID-19, and said tests are now available to everyone regardless of symptoms at 11 state-run sites. Here are the latest developments: 8:50 p.m. (updated): Kanye West appears to join march on South Side It appeared that Kanye West showed up shortly before 8 p.m. to join marchers as they prepared to head down South State Street. The South Side rapper, with his face mostly covered, emerged after a series of speeches from students and activists. He did not address the crowd and appeared to have left a half hour later as marchers continued north on State. The Tribune asked organizers for confirmation of Wests appearance, but they just pointed to the surrounding security. According to CNN, West has made a $2 million donation to support the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor As the sun set, marchers cheered: CPD, KKK, how many kids did you kill today? Morgan Greene 8:21 p.m.: Large crowds turn out at suburban events to decry racism in aftermath of George Floyds death More than 400 protesters marched through the streets of Grayslake on Thursday afternoon, decrying racism and police actions in the deaths of African Americans in several recent tragedies across the country. Chanting the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Laquan McDonald, the crowd stretched about a half-mile and shut down Illinois Route 83 and the entrance to the College of Lake County. The march was one of many similar events held throughout the suburbs this week that have drawn large crowds. Many of the protesters in Grayslake were students from local schools. The protesters, some of whom wore red shirts, carried signs reading, Black Lives Matter and chanted, No justice, no peace, no racist police. Im out here because Im tired of seeing people who look like me getting killed across the country, said Jeremy Glende, 21, of Gurnee. Protesters were trying to broaden the focus, he said, from just one incident to many. Read more here. Robert McCoppin 8:07 p.m.: Young people rally for counselors instead of cops A crowd of a few hundred people, skewing young, showed up Thursday evening under a clear sky outside the closed Zenos Colman Elementary School on the South Side to call for the removal of Chicago police from Chicago Public Schools. Protesters held signs with messages like Counselors Not Cops and No more CPD in CPS. Organizers walked around with hand sanitizer and water bottles. The crowd cheered Books not cops as students shared stories about the possibilities of what the cost of the police contract could instead fund. Michelle Yisrael, a nearby resident, said she came to the gathering because most of the men in her life, including her adult sons, have had problems with police. And also I am an educator, and I never thought it was OK for the Chicago Police Department to be in the high schools. Thats never been OK with me. I think its important for us to think about the fact that black people did not choose to be here, she said. We built this place. Its just time for things to change. I would like to see my grandchildren and my great grandchildren have a different experience. Yisrael said she will march as many days as my feet will carry me. Shelia Hamlin, 53, of Englewood, said she came to the event for her nieces and nephews. I just want to get out here and show my support for the young people and let them know it needs to stop, she said. Morgan Greene 7:42 p.m.: Hundreds gather near Lincoln Park High School echoing call to defund police Crowds of hundreds of young people and other Chicagoans gathered at Oz Park near Lincoln Park High School Thursday evening to rally and demand that the city defund the police. Many gathered on the peak of a nearby hill holding signs, clapping and chanting. Protesters rode in bikes and skateboards, performing tricks before the rally organizers started chanting into a megaphone. It was another in a series of protests and marches held around the Chicago area in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Several more were taking place around the region Thursday evening, including another student-led march on the South Side. On the North Side, as protesters clapped and cheered, more than 20 police officers stood at the parks perimeter. The group also called for justice for victims of police violence and demanded the release of all protesters from jails. There were also demands for a civilian police accountability council. According to the citys budget overview, almost $1.8 billion was budgeted for CPD in 2020. As hundreds headed west on Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street, Camille Garst, 23, of Edison Park, kept an eye out for fellow marchers. Garst said she has been involved in a march almost every day since Saturday. I know there a lot of people going out by themselves but Im encouraging people to stay together, she said. Im trying to take care of my friends. Garst added shed continue to march until change is made. This is what you gotta do, she said. Come out until they can commit to policy changes. Jessica Villagomez 7:25 p.m.: Police killing of George Floyd amplifies calls to remove school resource officers from CPS Outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis is fueling a local push to get police officers out of Chicago Public Schools. Since Floyds death, the Minneapolis Board of Education has ended its contract with the local police department. Pressure is mounting for school districts nationwide to follow suit, a movement that was already underway in Chicago. Among the demands of protesters this week, including many CPS students, is for the district to nullify the $33 million contract it entered with the Chicago Police Department in August for school resources officers in CPS buildings. The only board member to vote against it was Elizabeth Todd-Breland, who cited research showing that having police in schools often contributes to the school-to prison pipeline, which disproportionately affects students of color. High school senior Diego Garcia, who lives in Brighton Park, cited the same concern when he spoke out against school resource officers. The city of Chicago should be investing that money ... in our communities. They should be investing that money in after-school programs and mental health resources," said Garcia, 18. We dont need more cops. At the end of the day we are just being set up for the school-to-prison pipeline. The police department is currently reviewing its policies for school resources officers, who are assigned to 77% of CPS-run high schools, according to the district. The contract already includes several reforms to the way police are trained and involved with schools, a shift from reactive enforcement to proactive intervention. Read more here. Hannah Leone 7:24 p.m.: Lake Zurich rally organized by students draws hundreds In Lake Zurichs Breezewald Park, a rally organized by high school and college students drew more than 300 people in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and to protest the death of George Floyd in police custody. Students from Lake Zurich High School said they wanted to stand in solidarity with black victims of oppression such as Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest in Minneapolis last week. They emphasized they wanted a peaceful protest in contrast to the rioting and looting that occurred following protests elsewhere. Its just as important to educate white people they need to use their voices to stand against oppression of black people, said co-organizer Zach Richards, 17, who is just graduating from high school. The parents of 15-year-old Dana Fleming wouldnt let her attend a protest in Chicago, so she decided to organize her own event. She said its important for people with white privilege to stand up for people of color. Isabelle Jordan, 19, said her research showed there was a Ku Klux Klan rally in the area in 1921, suggesting a racist history to the predominantly white area. Along with students and families, some older residents also show their support. Octogenarians Beryl Ibbotson and Bill Ditman said they hoped the Minneapolis incident would bring about change. Ibbotson called Floyds death outrageous and disgusting." This has gone on for 400 years, said Ibbotson, who is originally from England but now lives in Hawthorne Woods. Im hoping this will be a wake-up call for everybody. Lake Zurich Mayor Tom Poynton said some residents were worried about the rally or questioned why it had to be there, but he reassured them it would be a peaceful. We need to do better, he told the crowd. We need to be committed to change. And Waukegan parks commissioner Marc Jones called on those attending to be not just non-racist, but anti-racist, actively working to end discrimination. The crowd stayed silent for about nine minutes in memory of the length of time a police officer knelt on George Floyd before he was pronounced dead. They then made a peaceful march through downtown Lake Zurich. As the protesters marched through town, their chants of black lives matter could be heard across the lake. Other demonstrations were scheduled Thursday for the Lake County communities of Waukegan, Zion and Buffalo Grove. Robert McCoppin 7:06 p.m.: Black and Latino Chicagoans unite to condemn anti-blackness. Dont let them divide us. Latino and black Chicagoans organized Wednesday on the Southwest Side to denounce reports of violence against black people in Latino neighborhoods after protests and looting followed George Floyds killing in Minneapolis. Many joined peace marches and engaged in other collective actions throughout the city in an attempt to begin the dismantling of the anti-black narrative and avoid more violence between the two communities. Racial tension intensified after social media posts showed alleged Latino gang members in Little Village and Cicero attacking black passersby in those neighborhoods. The social media reports fueled more fear and frustration in the black community, said Jai Simpson, who participated in a Little Village unity march organized by El Foro del Pueblo, a grassroots organization made up of volunteers to promote civic engagement. Although he had doubts at first, Simpson, who is black, joined about 200 people at Wednesdays march because he said he believes the wrongdoings come from a small group of Latinos who do not represent the community as a whole. Read more here. Laura Rodriguez Presa 6:32 p.m.: Cook County states attorneys office says it will review Brickyard Mall arrest The Cook County states attorneys office said Thursday it is reviewing allegations that Chicago police pulled a woman from a car by her hair and placed a knee on her neck. We are aware of the incident that occurred at Brickyard Mall and are currently conducting a thorough, independent review of the matter, including the conduct of the police officers involved, the office said. We take law enforcement accountability seriously and have reached out to the family involved through their attorney. The investigation into the officers conduct is being done in collaboration with the FBI, according to Cook County states attorneys office spokeswoman Aviva Bowen. The statement came hours after the attorney for the woman, Mia Wright, demanded a criminal investigation into the incident last Sunday. Read more here. Gregory Pratt and David Jackson 4:24 p.m.: Grocery stores that closed during the George Floyd fallout start to reopen. But food remains elusive in some neighborhoods. Many grocery stores that shut their doors this week during the fallout from George Floyds death in Minneapolis started to open again Thursday with limited hours, hoping the unrest that damaged dozens of neighborhood businesses had quieted. But some remain closed with no word on when they might resume operations, raising concerns about food access in communities that already had limited options. In South Shore, Local Market, which had been boarded up and closed since Sunday, opened with shortened hours Thursday after hearing from residents who said they needed the store to function because they didnt have food, co-owner Eva Jakubowski said. Parts of the neighborhood had been designated a food desert by the city before Local Market opened in December on a site that had been vacant since Dominicks closed six years before. Looters tried to break in Monday but the stores security guards, with reinforcement from police , fended them off before they caused serious damage, Jakubowski said. On Wednesday, close to 500 volunteers gathered to help clean up the store. The way the community has stepped up to support their store is something I have never seen before, Jakubowski said. So many people are depending on us because they really need us. Read more here. Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz 4:03 p.m.: Activists call for investigation into how Chicago police handled George Floyd protests Activist groups have asked the court-appointed monitor overseeing reforms to the Chicago Police Department to investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters who flooded the streets last weekend to decry police mistreatment of African Americans. The groups also want the monitor, former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey, to require the city to discourage officers from arresting protesters. The letter to Hickey, who is overseeing a consent decree that mandates broad changes to the troubled police force, also complains of protesters being detained without contact with lawyers and asks her to establish a process for attorneys to communicate with arrested clients. In the letter sent Thursday, Sheila Bedi, a Northwestern University law professor who is among the attorneys for the groups, wrote: Clearly, the consent decree entirely failed to provide any meaningful protection to the people of Chicago against CPD violence during the recent protests. If the independent monitoring team fails to take decisive, urgent action at this moment, the consent decree will be a historic failure, the letter states. Read more here. Dan Hinkel 3:56 p.m.: Lightfoot says Brickyard incident is under investigation, rejects calls to defund police: It would be irresponsible Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined Thursday to comment on video from the Brickyard Mall where an officer kneeled on a woman, saying its an ongoing investigation, but promised that the police oversight agency investigating is doing everything it can to identify the officers, and then make an appropriate recommendation. I dont want to get ahead and Im not the head of (the Civilian Oversight Police Authority). Im the mayor and I want COPA to be doing its job, but doing it independently, she said. They have to call balls and strikes. I mean, of course I have my own personal opinion about it, but Im not going to share it, because I dont want to influence what COPAs work is, theyve got to, they have the jurisdiction and the mandate, and more importantly they have my full support to do their job, independently. Lightfoot said it isnt easy to identify officers in a grainy video but they are being investigated and once theyre identified theyll be reported to Chicago police Superintendent David Brown. Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx released a statement Thursday afternoon saying that her office was conducting its own review of the incident. The Cook County States Attorneys Office is committed to public safety and pursuing the fair administration of justice for everyone in our communities. We are aware of the incident that occurred at Brickyard Mall and are currently conducting a thorough, independent review of the matter, including the conduct of the police officers involved. We take law enforcement accountability seriously and have reached out to the family involved through their attorney," the statement said. The mayor, meanwhile, rejected calls from some progressive aldermen such as Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, to defund the police department. I dont think thats an appropriate action at this time. I think that the people in our neighborhoods want and have been begging for more police support, she said. In light of whats happened over the last couple days, it would be irresponsible for me to even entertain any idea that we would cut back on our public safety resources at this time. Lightfoot again reiterated her support for some civilian oversight of police but noted that there remain a final few issues her administration is stuck on with activists. Its my hope that well be able to break the logjam and move forward, she said. Gregory Pratt 3:44 p.m.: More than 400 protesters many of them students march through Grayslake More than 400 protesters marched through the streets of Grayslake Thursday afternoon, decrying racism and police actions in the deaths of African Americans in several recent tragedies nationwide. Chanting the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Laquan McDonald, the crowd stretched about a half mile and shut down Illinois Route 83 and the entrance to the College of Lake County. Many of the protesters were students from local schools. They many wore red shirts, carried signs reading, Black Lives Matter, and chanted, No justice, no peace, no racist police. Im out here because Im tired of seeing people who look like me getting killed across the country, said Jeremy Glende, 21, of Gurnee. Protesters were trying to broaden the focus, he said, from just one incident to many. Harper Fischer, a social studies teacher at Grayslake North High School, said she joined the crowd because, I feel I cant look my students in the face and tell them theyre safe in America. Robert McCoppin 3:04 p.m.: Family seeks criminal investigation after they say Chicago cops pulled woman from car by hair and placed knee on her neck The family of a woman who says Chicago police pulled her from a car by her hair and placed a knee on her neck demanded a criminal investigation into the officers Thursday. I didnt do anything, Mia Wright, 25, said at a news conference in the parking lot of Brickyard Mall, where she said the officers surrounded her car, broke the windows with clubs and pulled her to the ground on Sunday. I was trying to get out with my hands up. They continue to break the window, and before you know it I was being pulled out of the vehicle, pulled by my hair, Wright said, crying. The officer grabbed me. I had my hair tied in a bun. He grabbed me by the top of my bun and pulled me out of the vehicle. And that is when they threw me on the ground, and he proceeded to put his knee in my neck. Read more here. Chicago Tribune staff 2:50 p.m.: Mayor Lori Lightfoot denounces vigilantism in Chicago after white men patrol Bridgeport streets with bats Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city will not tolerate vigilantism after groups of mostly white men patrolled the streets of Bridgeport on Wednesday night in response to a nearby city protest. Multiple streets were blocked in the Bridgeport neighborhood Wednesday night as nearby protests dispersed. Near West 39th Street, water hurled from an open fire hydrant as small groups gathered on corners. Some of the men held bats. One wore a shirt that said All Lives Matter, one sipped a beer and another waved at an officer as he drove by. Additional groups of people, some armed with bats, lined West 31st Street. Asked about the situation in Bridgeport, a diversifying neighborhood that served as an Irish-American power base for the Daley political family, Lightfoot said, It is absolutely not appropriate for people to take up arms, bats, pipes, whatever in patrolling neighborhoods. Weve seen that end with tragic results across the country and were not about to allow that practice to happen here in Chicago. If theres an issue, call 911, Lightfoot said. I absolutely support neighbors being vigilant as to whats going on on the streets and in their blocks but taking up arms, that leads to chaos and were not supporting vigilantism in the city of Chicago under any circumstances. The situation in Bridgeport frightened and angered many residents and activists who expressed concerns about racism and violence. Gregory Pratt and Morgan Greene 2:47 p.m.: Illinois AG Kwame Raoul among attorneys general asking Congress for broader authority to investigate policing Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of state legal officers in urging Congress to give them broader authority to investigate unconstitutional policing, his office said Thursday. The letter to congressional leaders from Raoul and 17 other attorneys general asks for an expansion of the law enforcement misconduct section of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, enacted three years after Rodney King was beaten by Los Angeles police officers. Once again, our nation has been called to reckon with police brutality against black people in this country and the systemic failures that cause and allow this misconduct to perpetuate, the letter states. Many members of the public have no trust in the police, with tensions visible in the streets across this nation. Urgent action is necessary at all levels of government to remedy the injustice of police misconduct. Read more here. Jamie Munks 2:11 p.m.: Kanye West launches college fund for George Floyds daughter, reveals $2 million in additional donations Its been nearly 10 days since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hand of a Minneapolis police officer, during which time massive protests against police violence have taken place across the country. But while tens of thousands have taken to the streets to express their anger at the systemic racism that has gripped the United States, the usually vocal Kanye West has been surprisingly quiet. Today the rapper revealed via a representative that he has donated $2 million so far to charities associated with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and has set up a college fund to cover tuition for Floyds 6-year-old daughter Gianna. In addition, the rapper has pledged to cover legal costs for the Arbery and Taylor families. And in his hometown of Chicago, hell also be aiding black-owned businesses with financial contributions. Read more here. Variety 1:47 p.m.: Judge sets bail at $750,000 each for 3 former Minneapolis police officers accused of aiding and abetting in death of George Floyd A judge set bail at $750,000 apiece Thursday for three fired Minneapolis police officers who have been charged with aiding and abetting in the killing of George Floyd. Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng were making their first appearances in Hennepin County District Court since their arrests Wednesday. The Minneapolis Police Department fired them last week, along with Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyds May 25 death. Widely seen bystander video shows the white police officer pressing his knee into Floyds neck, ignoring the African American mans pleas that he cant breathe, until he stopped moving. Read more here. Associated Press 1:34 p.m.: Even with much of downtown reopened, some bridges still up Even as much of downtown has been reopened and transit service has resumed, several city bridges downtown and on the South Side remained closed Thursday afternoon, according to the city. Bridges at Michigan and Wabash avenues, as well as State, Van Buren, Jackson, Adams and Franklin streets and at 92nd Street remained closed, according to the city. Chicago Tribune staff 12:10 p.m.: Illinois expands COVID-19 testing to all and urges those who participated in protests to get tested Testing for the new coronavirus is now available in Illinois to anyone who wants it regardless of symptoms at nearly a dozen state-run testing sites, state public health officials said Thursday. The availability of on-demand testing was a key component of moving from phase three of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers reopening plan, which began May 29, to phase four, though officials later reframed it as a goal rather than a requirement. The expansion of free testing to anyone, without the need to display symptoms or have a referral or doctors order, comes as more businesses have opened and as thousands have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The state is encouraging anyone who has participated in mass gatherings to get tested. Read more here. Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks 9:06 a.m.: Pastors call on Joliet mayor to resign following viral video of protest skirmish, cite previous disciplinary action from his work as a cop years ago Three local pastors have called for Joliet Mayor Robert ODekirks resignation in the wake of a skirmish between the mayor, who is white, and an African American protester that was captured on a video that has gone viral as the Chicago area and nation reel from unrest over issues of racial injustice. The video, which surfaced Tuesday, depicts a chaotic scene where police are dispersing a crowd of demonstrators who had gathered along Jefferson Street in Joliet in protest over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. ODekirk, a former Joliet police officer, appears to grab a protester by the collar and forcibly walk him backward to a police vehicle. The two then fall to the ground when another man appears to jump on ODekirk from behind. ODekirk said he would not resign or apologize, and has maintained that he was acting in self-defense. Read more here. Angie Leventis Lourgos and Alicia Fabbre 8:08 a.m.: Witness who was in car says George Floyd didnt resist arrest: Im going to always remember seeing the fear in Floyds face A longtime friend of George Floyds who was in the passenger seat of Floyds car during his fatal encounter with a Minneapolis police officer said Wednesday night that Floyd tried to defuse the tensions with police and in no way resisted arrest. He was, from the beginning, trying in his humblest form to show he was not resisting in no form or way, said the friend, Maurice Lester Hall, 42, who was tracked down Monday in Houston, arrested on outstanding warrants and interviewed by Minnesota state investigators. I could hear him pleading, Please, officer, whats all this for? Hall said in an interview Wednesday night with The New York Times. Hall recounted the last moments with Floyd on Memorial Day, May 25, after they had spent part of the day together. Read more here. The New York Times 5:25 a.m.: Peeking out from behind plywood, nervous Chicago stores and restaurants weigh getting back into business When Chicago announced last week its intention to reopen the city Wednesday, its leaders did not anticipate servers emerging with cold drinks and hot plates of food from behind boarded-up windows. But that along with nervous shoppers finding narrow entry corridors through back doors and between shattered glass was the bittersweet mix of cautious optimism and painful reality that greeted the resumption of Chicagos retail and dining operations from 75th Street to the Southport Corridor, as modified for a coronavirus-scarred reality that had collided with the fallout from the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Read more here. Chris Jones, Adam Lukach, Grace Wong, Nick Kindelsperger, Kasondra Van Treeck, Lauren Zumbach and Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz 5:20 a.m.: Police investigating alleged racial insult and physical altercation outside River Forest grocery store River Forest police are investigating after a woman posted a video on social media claiming a man made a racial insult and then scuffled with her. The incident took place at about 10 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of a Jewel store at 7525 W. Lake St. in the western suburb, police said. In the video, the woman says the man called her a black b----, among other insults, while in line at a nearby coffee shop, and asks the man, Do you have anything to say for yourself now? Read more here. Steve Schering 5:15 a.m.: Why Chicago Police Department reform moves slowly despite cries for immediate change After days of street protests urgently calling for changes in the way police treat African Americans, Mayor Lori Lightfoot lamented in a televised speech this week that the process of reform has been too slow. Indeed, it took decades to even get to the starting line of reforming the historically troubled Chicago Police Department. The police union strongly pushed back, and politicians disagreed on the need for significant change. Overhauling the nations second-largest police force is a task of daunting scope. Now, a pandemic stands to slow reforms further. While Lightfoot promised a handful of prompt adjustments, what she listed largely involved educational and support programs for officers, rather than policy changes to guide the police conduct that has driven protests. She also made a vague call for training efforts that appear similar to some already contained in the federal court order governing department operations. Read more here. Dan Hinkel 5 a.m.: Family alleges brutal police restraint with knee on neck in Chicago arrest caught on video Tnika Tate said she was parking near a looted mall Sunday when Chicago police surrounded the vehicle, broke the windows and searched Tate and a group of four friends and relatives in the car with her. Tate, 39, said an officer restrained her cousin Mia Wright, 25, by placing a knee on Wrights neck while she was prone on the ground. Wright was charged with disorderly conduct and released Monday, according to police and the family. A Tory MP has defended the Governments approach to encouraging racial equality, saying the UK is one of the best countries in the world to be a black person. Women and Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch rejected suggestions that being black amounts to a death sentence in this country, saying Britons should not accept such statements. She was responding to questions from Labour MP Rupa Huq on the Black Lives Matter protests which have swept London since the killing of African-American man George Floyd. Ms Huq said: Anyone in Westminster yesterday couldnt have failed to have noticed the Black Lives Matter protest, inspired by Minneapolis, and the placard that sticks in my mind most is one that said Being black should not be a death sentence. She (Ms Badenoch) talked about having courage and being a black woman herself. She and I are both BAME parents, can we really look into our sons eyes and say that we acknowledged it? Surely we need action, its not good enough. Black Lives Matter protests in London continue - In pictures 1 /12 Black Lives Matter protests in London continue - In pictures Black Lives Matter protesters descend on Londons streets Getty Images Protesters practice social distancing Getty Images Police detain a protester Getty Images Protesters practice social distancing Getty Images Protesters take part in a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration near Marble Arch on June 01 Getty Images The death of an African-American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis has sparked violent protests across the world Getty Images Protesters wearing masks at Marble Arch amid the coronavirus pandemic Getty Images Police detain a protester Getty Images Police detain a protester Getty Images Ms Huq urged the Government to involve diverse communities in its coronavirus response, in a way that is not simply a box-ticking exercise. Ms Badenoch replied: I agree with her that we cannot be seen to do anything that looks like a box-ticking exercise. But, she continued: We also should not just be accepting statements like being black is a death sentence in this country. Its not true. It is true there are disparities, it is true that there are other factors that can make outcomes worse, lets look at that. But let us not in this House use statements like being black is a death sentence, which young people out there hear, dont understand the context and then continue to believe that they live in a society that is against them. When actually this is one of the best countries in the world to be a black person. Addressing the heightened coronavirus risks suffered by BAME communities, Labour MP Zarah Sultana then argued that Covid-19 does not discriminate but the system in which it is spreading does. She added: Higher rates of poverty, overcrowded housing, precarious work and jobs on the front line mean that if youre black or Asian youre more likely to catch the virus and to be hit worse if you do. Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan and we are owed more than confirmation that our communities are suffering were owed justice. She pressed for the Government to develop a strategy covering all Whitehall departments to tackle underlying inequalities and systemic injustice. Ms Badenoch defended the Governments record before adding other groups, including based on age and gender, have been affected by the coronavirus and must be looked at. She went on: Im not going to take any lessons from the honourable lady on race and what I should be doing on that. I think this Government has a record to be proud of. New Delhi, June 4 : The Residents Welfare Association (RWA) of Zakir Nagar in south east Delhi, which has been a containment zone for last 54 days, has been writing to the concerned authorities to de-contain the area as no fresh Covid-19 cases have been found, but says has not got any response from either the authorities or the Chief Minister's Office. The latest letter was written to the LG on Wednesday, which said, "We would like to inform you that our locality Zakir Nagar West (Abu Baker Masjid Area), Jamia Nagar, South East District, New Delhi-110025 has been sealed since April 10, 2020 due to few positive cases of coronavirus reported in the first week of April. As per our knowledge, two last positive cases were reported on April 15 and no further cases were found in our locality." Irkan Chaudhary, president of the RWA, said, "We have written 4 letters to the CM and concerned officials but did not get any response so we wrote a letter to the LG." He said Residents of our area have been facing acute problems due to the sealing and the lockdown situation. They are not able to purchase essential daily use commodities and even some families have faced starvation. The RWA has requested to remove the sealing as per new guidelines for the convenience of the residents. "As per new guidelines, the sealing should be removed in the first week of May but no action has been taken so far in this regard. We have also not received any information yet," said Parvez Alam Khan, a resident of the area and Congress leader. The RWA alleged that residents of New Friends Colony are also trying to block path of the residents and putting a barrier which is main pathway for the Zakir Nagar residents while the police have removed all the barriers after lockdown was eased. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text By PTI NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel hit out at the BJP dispensation in Gujarat over the rapid spread of coronavirus in the state on Thursday and wondered if it was the only government in the world that had abandoned people in the middle of a global pandemic. Gujarat reported 492 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours -- a single-day record -- taking the tally in the state to 18,601, while 33 more patients succumbed to the infection, according to the state health department. "Isn't Gujarat government the only one in the world where: 1) Government has abandoned people in the middle of a global pandemic? 2) Refused to fund train fare for poor migrants? 3) But leaves no stone unturned to fund horse-trading activities for a Rajya Sabha election?" Patel wrote on Twitter. The latest: The idea of keeping schools closed in the fall because of safety concerns for children might be "a bit of a reach," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In a phone interview with CNN Wednesday, Fauci noted that children tend to have milder symptoms or even no symptoms when they are infected with COVID-19. What's not yet clear is whether children get infected as frequently as adults, and whether they often pass the infection on to others. Ultimately, he said, the decision to reopen schools needs to be predicated on the level of infection in each community. In the past academic school year, 48 states recommended schools close through the rest of the year as coronavirus began its rapid spread. Some, including schools in Montana and Idaho, opened their doors again for a few weeks before the academic school year finished with the thought of gaining experience in reopening that could be used in the fall. "I hesitate to make any broad statements about whether it is or is not quote 'safe' for kids to come back to school," Fauci told CNN. "When you talk about children going back to school and their safety, it really depends on the level of viral activity, and the particular area that you're talking about. What happens all too often, understandably, but sometimes misleadingly, is that we talk about the country as a whole in a unidimensional way." Fauci seemed to think that keeping schools closed in general was not necessary. "Children can get infected, so, yes, so you've got to be careful," Fauci said. "You got to be careful for them and you got to be careful that they may not spread it. Now, to make an extrapolation that you shouldn't open schools, I think is a bit of a reach." Fauci said it's not premature to start the conversation about reopening schools now. "I think we need to discuss the pros and the cons of bringing kids back to school in September," he said. Stressing the importance of not generalizing, Fauci laid out the spectrum of scenarios for what a return to school in the fall could look like. "In some situations there will be no problem for children to go back to school," he said. "In others, you may need to do some modifications. You know, modifications could be breaking up the class so you don't have a crowded classroom, maybe half in the morning, half in the afternoon, having children doing alternate schedules. There's a whole bunch of things that one can do." Talking about classroom layouts specifically, Fauci underscored the need to "be creative" and create plans based on the degree of infection in the community. He suggested that one option is to space out children at every other desk, or every third desk in order to maintain proper social distancing. US Senate passes Paycheck Protection Program reform bill by unanimous consent The Senate on Wednesday evening passed by voice vote a House-passed Paycheck Protection Program reform bill in the chamber, clearing it for President Donald Trumps signature. Earlier in the afternoon, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin objected to a prior effort to pass the bill via unanimous consent, blocking approval. But Johnson agreed to let the bill pass after getting a letter entered into the record clarifying the authorization period. The bill, which passed the House last week, gives business owners more flexibility and time to use loan money and still get it forgiven as part of the Paycheck Protection Program, set up to help struggling small businesses with emergency loans during the pandemic. The legislation titled the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota. It is intended to make loans more accessible under the program by making its terms of use more flexible The legislation would give small businesses more time to use emergency loans under the program by extending the eight-week period in which they must use the money to qualify for loan forgiveness to 24 weeks. The bill would also give small businesses more flexibility by changing the so-called 75/25 rule, which requires recipients of funds under the program to use three-quarters of the money for payroll costs and to limit other costs to no more than 25% in order to be eligible for loan forgiveness. The new ratio would be at least 60% on payroll and no more than 40% on other costs. Trump administration has picked 5 companies most likely to produce coronavirus vaccine The Trump administration has selected five companies as the most likely to produce a Covid-19 vaccine, a White House Coronavirus task force source tells CNN. The same source added that the decision came from "Operation Warp Speed," which seeks to quickly ramp up production, organize distribution and determine who gets the first doses of a potential vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has previously suggested January as a potential date for a vaccine, but vaccines typically take years to produce. The New York Times first reported that the administration had selected five companies most likely to produce a vaccine. WUHAN TESTS NEARLY 10 MILLION PEOPLE The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected late last year, has tested nearly 10 million people in an unprecedented 19-day campaign to check an entire city. It identified just 300 positive cases, all of whom had no symptoms. The city found no infections among 1,174 close contacts of the people who tested positive, suggesting they were not spreading it easily to others. That is a potentially encouraging development because of widespread concern that infected people without symptoms could be silent spreaders of the disease. More for you Scientist behind Sweden's covid-19 strategy suggests it allowed too many deaths "It not only makes the people of Wuhan feel at ease, it also increases people's confidence in all of China," Feng Zijian, vice director of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state broadcaster CCTV. There is no definitive answer yet on the level of risk posed by asymptomatic cases, with anecdotal evidence and studies to date producing conflicting answers. Wuhan was by far the hardest hit city in China, accounting for more than 80% of the country's deaths, according to government figures. A city official announced Tuesday that the city completed 9.9 million tests from May 14 to June 1. If those tested previously are included, virtually everyone above the age of 5 in the city of 11 million people has been tested, said Li Lanjuan, a member of a National Health Commission expert team. "The city of Wuhan is safe," she said at a news conference with city officials. The campaign was launched after a small cluster of cases was found in a residential compound, sparking concern about a possible second wave of infections as Wuhan emerged from a 2 1/2 month lockdown. The industrial city on the Yangtze River in central China spent 900 million yuan (about $125 million) on the tests, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a Wuhan official. The rapid testing of so many people was made possible in part through batch testing, in which samples from up to five people are mixed together, Xinhua reported. If the result is positive, then the people are individually tested. National resources were also mobilized to help, said Wang Weihua, deputy director of the Wuhan Health Commission, according to Xinhua. Together, these efforts raised Wuhan's daily testing capacity from 300,000 to more than one million, she was quoted as saying. NASA, Fitbit get FDA approval for ventilators to help virus patients NASA and Fitbit received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for their ventilators designed to help COVID-19 patients. NASAs design, dubbed the VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), is a temporary piece of equipment that uses an internal compressor and is meant to last three to four months. Because the VITAL runs on parts that are not typically in the medical device supply chain it shouldnt have any impact on need for supplies for current ventilators. The FDA also added the Fitbit Flow to its list of authorized ventilators. The device, which has quietly been in the works for some time, is a continuous respiratory support system that also includes an FDA-approved manual resuscitator as part of the machine. The company calls it a a high-quality, easy-to-use, and low-cost automatic resuscitator that is designed for emergency ventilation. COVID-19 has challenged all of us to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity, and use everything at our disposal to more rapidly develop products that support patients and the healthcare systems caring for them, said Fitbit CEO James Park. We saw an opportunity to rally our expertise in advanced sensor development, manufacturing, and our global supply chain to address the critical and ongoing need for emergency ventilators and help make a difference in the fight against this global virus. CNN contributed to this report. The French health ministry has allowed family members to visit ageing relatives in nursing homes as of Friday, providing hygiene rules are respected. The establishments have been in strict lockdown since mid-March, and have recorded over 10,000 deaths from Covid-19. The easing of access rules to nursing homes, known as "Ehpads", across France comes in time for Mother's and Father's Day, celebrated on 7 and 21 June respectively. Family visits will be able to resume "if conditions are right", according to a statement issued by the French health ministry on Monday. "Nearly 45 percent of Ehpads are still reporting at least one case of Covid-19," warned the ministry, adding that it was up to care home directors to decide whether to allow visits based on recommendations from their staff and medical personnel. The re-opening of nursing homes coincides with the second phase of easing lockdown measures across France, from 2 June, with all but three regions reclassified as "green", signifying the continuing downward trend of Covid-19 infections. Some care homes had already begun allowing visits from 20 April, to relieve isolation, but these were restricted to two family members, with no physical contact. Under the revised rules, more than two people can visit if in an outdoor setting, and two people maximum per room. Children will be allowed to visit as long as they wear masks. Visits will no longer be monitored by staff members, as was previously required. "Hand washing, social distancing, wearing a mask will be mandatory for all visitors," the ministry statement said. Mental well-being The news comes as a relief for many families whose contacts were restricted to telephone or video, and leaving food parcels or messages during more than two months of lockdown. There was concern among many Ehpad directors who felt that the lack of contact with elderly loved ones, and the subsequent solitude during confinement, could have been nearly as dangerous as the virus itself. The national organisation of Ehpad directors (AD-PA), had already called for restrictions to be eased earlier this month, underlining that visits were "essential to their residents' psychological well-being". "An Ehpad is not just a place where you go for treatment, it's a place for living," Henri Henaff, who runs an Ehpad in Brittany, told France Televisions. "These establishments are so medicalised these days, yet what we should be focusing on are relationships." As well as visits, Ehpad directors can reintroduce onsite medical and paramedical appointments and group activities with a limited number of participants, as well as outdoor activities if possible. Volunteers will be allowed back on site once they have received relevant training. Indian army trucks drive along the Srinagar-Leh National Highway at Sonmarg some 89 Kms of Srinagar on May 28, 2020. Both China and India are unlikely to turn to the United States for mediation over an ongoing border dispute high in the Himalayas, a political commentator told CNBC. The two Asian powerhouses are locked in a bitter standoff in the remote Ladakh region in the Western Himalayas. Indian media reported that Indian and Chinese military officials will hold high-level talks on Saturday to ease tensions. "I think both sides would not like any kind of mediation," Sadanand Dhume, resident fellow at the public policy think tank American Enterprise Institute, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Thursday. "Even though India and China have the world's longest unresolved boundary in the Himalayas, in many ways the two countries had a very good record of ensuring that these kinds of tensions don't spill into conflict," Dhume said. He referred to a standoff between the two countries in another disputed border area in 2017 a plateau known as Donglang in China and Doklam in India. "During the Doklam crisis, (China and India) sometimes have sort of pushing and shoving, they have troop build-ups, they have disagreements," Dhume said. "But, they have also used diplomatic means to deescalate in the past, and certainly, neither of them would be looking for the United States to intervene." India and China's border is represented by a demarcation line called the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Mumbai, June 4 : Breaking the 6-day rally, the Indian equity indices settled in the red on Thursday as traders took to profit booking. The Asian market ended on a mixed note and the major European indices settled in the negative zone, which also weighed on the investor sentiments in India. Rahul Sharma, Head of Research at Equity99 Advisors, said: "Snapping its six-session winning streak, as traders were seen booking profit in the banking and financial stocks ahead of weekly options expiry." "However, select buying by fund houses continued in other index heavy stocks. Traders are expecting the markets to show a sharp recovery in the coming days," he said. Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said that broad market indices like the BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices lost less, thereby outperforming the Sensex and Nifty. Market breadth was positive on the BSE and NSE. Sectorally, the top gainers were the BSE Telecom, IT, Healthcare and Metal indices. The top losers were the BSE Bankex, Capital Goods, Realty and Consumer Durables indices. On the technical front, Jasani said: "While the Nifty has taken a breather, the underlying trend remains up. The uptrend is likely to resume once the immediate highs of 10,124 are cleared. On the downside, crucial supportAto watch for any further weakness is at 9,944." On Thursday, Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 10,029.10, lower by 32.45 points or 0.32 per cent from its previous close of 10,061.55 points. The Sensex closed at 33,980.70, lower by 128.84 points or 0.38 per cent, from the previous close of 34,109.54. It had opened at 34,072.50 and touched a high of 34,310.14 and a low of 33,711.24 points. Heavy showers and strong winds lashed Mumbai on Thursday morning a day after cyclone Nisarga brushed past the countrys financial hub and made landfall at Alibag in Maharashtras Raigad district the previous afternoon. Severe waterlogging is reported across Mumbai such as LBS Road in Kurla, Goregaon, Andheri, Sion, Chembur, Goregaon and Bhandup. Dr. BA Ambedkar Road in Kings Circle is under knee-deep water, photographs, and videos circulating on social media showed. Angry Mumbaikars posted photographs and videos on social media and accused the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities of their lack of preparedness to prevent waterlogging. BJP leader and lawyer Vivekanand Gupta tweeted, Few minutes of rain and waterlogging already on LBS near R-City Mall and Bhandup. @ShivSena ruled BMC. What work did the BMC contractors carried out? Nalla safai kidhar hai (where is the de-silting of drains?). Same scene every year. Earlier, the civic authorities had identified 69 waterlogging spots in the city ahead of the onset of monsoon, but their preparedness was disrupted because of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, which led to lockdown restrictions from end-March. The BMC authorities had planned to complete the work at 45 waterlogging spots in Mumbai before the onset of monsoon, but it got delayed because of the unavailability of an adequate workforce due to lockdown restrictions. Advertisement A year and a half before the mysterious disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann another crime had occurred in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve: A 72-year-old American was brutally raped and robbed in her home. There was no trace of a perpetrator for years, until a witness spoke to police about a video camera from a friend's house in Praia da Luz in 2006. The acquaintance had been detained for diesel theft and he and a friend had used the opportunity to break into his home. Christian Brueckner (left) is the new key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case. In 2013 police released a photofit (right) of a man seen lurking near the McCanns' apartment The man testified at the trial of Christian Brueckner in December, stating he saw a film sequence on the video camera in which an older woman was bound and masked and whipped then raped. 'Then the man sat on the bed and pulled the mask off his face. Then I thought: That can't be. ' He recognised the house occupant. A second film showed a younger person in the house. She was tied naked to a wooden beam. The house inhabitant, his acquaintance, had sat on the sofa in this sequence. The young woman had asked him to release her a few times. It was a rape, what was going on, she said in German. The witness who stole the camera said he and his friend wanted nothing to do with what they found. He claimed he left the videotapes in his motorhome which which was later scrapped. He said he and his accomplice were certain that what they saw was no staged scene. For the police, this statement prompted them to look for possible rape victims. Cold-case officers turned up the American widow who was attacked in September 2005 as she was watching a TV news report about Hurricane Katrina. She was in her house alone when the patio door was opened and she was grabbed from behind and dragged by her hair to her bedroom. The factual events showed parallels to one of the video recordings described by the witnesses. The 72-year-old was also beaten with a metal, flexible object. 'I felt that he enjoyed torturing me,' she told the investigators. He carried a sabre, she claimed, 30cm long. The farmhouse where the new prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance lived was located just two miles from where she went missing from her family's holiday apartment The 43-year-old German prime suspect lived in the rented building on a remote hillside along a footpath that runs from above the beach where Madeleine and her family played on holiday The victim remembered 'a long and planned procedure by the perpetrator,' an investigator investigator said in court. After pushing her into the bedroom, he gagged her, tied her up and blindfolded her. After the physical and sexual abuse of his victim, the perpetrator is said to have claimed money. She went to the kitchen with him and gave him between 80 and 100 euros from her wallet. Then he led her to the bathroom and told her to stay calm for ten minutes. After a few minutes, she went to her office to call a neighbour and the police. There she noticed that the perpetrator had also stolen her computer. It seemed to her that this 'methodical procedure' by the masked person took at least 15 minutes. The victim's home was near the beach and investigators discovered a vital clue. A body hair found on her bed came from Brueckner's body. The last photograph taken of Madeleine McCann shows her smiling next to her little sister Amelie and their father Gerry at 1.30pm on May 3 in Portugal, the day she went missing According to a BKA DNA analyst, there is no doubt that the hair is from the accused. The gene profile found is only once among 244 billion people. In court Brueckner came across as 'eloquent' and leafed through legal texts as evidence was heard. He called what happened a 'bad deed,' denied he had any role in it and added; 'If I had committed this act, I would have earned ten years.' In court he repeatedly mentioned the names of ex-lovers who he said would testify as to the 'normalcy' of his sex life. He branded the witnesses as liars and said the body hair mave have got on to the victim's bed after he had petted one of her cats on the street and the cat transferred the hair inside the house. German witnesses from his Portuguese time described the man, who appeared intelligent in court in a plain gray shirt and slightly too-large jeans, as a wannabe big shot who drove a Jaguar and always paid attention to his appearance. The suspect's battered camper van. Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate 'He was walking around very well, always wearing a shirt and jacket,' said one. As a young man, he dreamed of emigrating with his girlfriend at the time. He had just turned 18, had a fresh driver's license and went to Portugal with his girlfriend because he had trouble with the judiciary and didn't want to go to prison. 'We didn't know anything about Portugal. We went to Lagos because we liked the name so much. We had a tent with us and camped in the wild,' he said. According to his description, they met Germans who arranged jobs. He had planned to start his own business. In 1999 his escape from the law in Germany came to an abrupt end: he was arrested in Portugal and extradited back home where he served a youth sentence. According to witnesses, he lived in Praia da Luz in a somewhat dilapidated and remote house accessed by a dirt road. 'In terms of furnishings, it was a typical bachelor's apartment,' says an acquaintance. Pictured, the Jaguar car he re-registered the day after Maddie disappeared But the emigrant did not only seem to earn his money legally. He was imprisoned in Portugal for diesel theft, and is also said to have traded passports and stolen goods. 'He probably got into one or the other apartment through open windows,' says a witness. But he didn't want to know more about it. 'We never spoke directly about his earnings.' He was convicted several times by German as well as Portuguese courts for crimes including theft of documents and drug trafficking. He later came to Braunschweig. He wanted to start his own business with his partner at the time. 'We came across a shop in Braunschweig via the Internet.' He had been registered in Braunschweig since 2014. In court, he said he worked until seven in the morning until midnight but the business, along with his relationship, failed and he began to hit the bottle and live on social assistance. The Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, during a family holiday with her parents and younger twin siblings He returned to Portugal where he was arrested in June 2017 and extradited again to Germany. The reason was a sentencing of the Braunschweig district court to 15 months' imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a child. In addition, the court ordered multi-year supervision in its 2016 ruling. After his release in August 2018, he was homeless, the accused continued at his trial. He spent nights sleeping in park benches before fleeing to Italy where he was arrested in Milan in September 2018. The victim remembers a long and planned procedure by the perpetrator, said the investigator in court. After pushing her into the bedroom, he gagged her, tied her up and blindfolded her. She suspected that the man had a rope to tie him up and the blindfold with him. A compulsory journey to a polling station to cast a vote and snag a sanger from a sausage sizzle fundraiser is increasingly likely to become a vestige of the past for NSW's council elections. The Berejiklian government is considering universal postal voting for the next council polls, which have been postponed by 12 months and are now likely to be held on September 4 2021. But the prospect of postal-only voting next year has infuriated mayors, who describe it as a blow to democracy and a cost-cutting exercise by the state government. Council elections in NSW have been postponed until September next year. Credit:Ben Rushton "We don't want it. If it's so good, why are the state and federal governments not doing it, because they cost a hell of a lot more than local government elections?" Forbes mayor Phyllis Miller said. The announcement should allow US carriers to resume once-a-week flights into China starting on June 8. The United States Transportation Department plans to issue a revised order in the coming days that is likely to allow some Chinese passenger airline flights to continue, government and airline officials said. On Thursday, China said it would ease coronavirus restrictions to allow more foreign carriers to fly to the mainland, shortly after Washington said it planned to bar Chinese passenger airlines from flying to the US by June 16 due to Beijings curbs on US airlines. The announcement should allow US carriers to resume once-a-week flights into a city of their choosing starting on June 8. The US Transportation Department did not immediately comment. The department said on Wednesday it would allow Chinese carriers to operate the same number of scheduled passenger flights as the Chinese government allows ours. The US order would halt the four weekly US round-trip flights by Air China, China Eastern Airlines Corp, China Southern Airlines Co and Xiamen Airlines Co. US and airline officials have privately raised concerns about the revised Chinese rules. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have asked to resume flights to China this month, even as Chinese carriers have continued US flights during the pandemic. A Delta spokeswoman said the company was reviewing the order from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The CAAC said all airlines will be allowed to increase the number of international flights involving China to two per week if no passengers on their flights test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, for three consecutive weeks. A magistrate court in Osogbo today remanded a 57-years-old man, Moses Oloko for having sex with a 12-years-old girl ten times by luring her with 100 each time. The Nigerian Voice reports that the accused person committed the offence on 25th of May, 2020 by 10:30am at Oke-Mission area, Ejigbo. The Police prosecutor, ASP Adegoke Taiwo told the court that the accused person unlawfully and indecently assault the minor. The prosecutor said the accused person sexually exploit the minor more than 10 times. He said Moses lured the girl with N100 each time. The prosecutor said the offence committed by the accused person was contrary to and punishable under section 31(1)(2), 32 of the Child's Rights of Osun State 2007 and Section 360 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol.II Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002. The accused person's plea was not taken by the court. Magistrate Riskat Olayemi remanded the accused in police custody. She transferred the case to Ejigbo magistrate court for mention on 9th of June, 2020. by Fady Noun Supported by the Middle East Council of Churches a "restoration fund for social services" and "damaged infrastructure" has been created. The goal is to contribute to the restoration of local communities, places of worship, schools. According to UN estimates, 69% of Syrians live in conditions of extreme poverty. Young people and professionals who fled abroad. Beirut (AsiaNews) - About 1,500 communities of the Evangelical Church of the Netherlands have decided to respond to a "special appeal for the recovery of the Christian communities in Syria", and for the resumption of their religious and social services in the different regions of the country. In response to the request, with the support of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), a "Restoration fund for religious-inspired social services and religious infrastructures damaged during the crisis in Syria" was created, as explained by a note from the secretariat with based in Beirut. The announcement came in the context of a conference call that brought together representatives from Kerk in Actie (KiA) - Pays-Bas (Church in action - Netherlands), donors of an aid program, participating churches and senior officials from the general secretariat of the Middle East Council of Churches in Beirut. The postponement of the official launch of the program, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, has not however prevented its implementation from a practical and technical point of view, albeit remotely. Its aim is to contribute to the re-establishment of local communities, restoring and restructuring their places of worship, as well as their schools, their dispensaries and other community installations damaged by the conflict. This is combined with the intention of ensuring the return of displaced populations to their places of origin, or to workplaces and schools. Samer Laham, regional director of the MECC diaconia department, made the practical announcement of the launch of the program in Beirut; aid from the new fund, he explains, will benefit all the Churches of Syria without any discrimination, in the form of a majority share in the costs of the reconstruction or restructuring work. Laham himself said he hoped that this pioneering project could become a school and encourage other local and international churches to collaborate on the desired objectives. Among these there is primarily "the return of displaced persons and refugees to their cities and villages of origin", combined with the "consolidation of the Christian presence that has its origins in the appearance of Christianity in this region of the world". For his part Wilbert van Saane, representative of Kerk in Actie, one of the main financiers of the program, wanted to emphasize that the Evangelical Church in the Netherlands is aware of the profound solidarity that unites the Eastern and Western Churches. This means that building the one means at the same time giving the other reasons to continue on the path. He added, as living stones we continue to be built into the spiritual temple, even when we are not physically in the same location. Moreover, Saane expressed that his Church is pleased to work on restoring the rich and compassionate religious and social ministries of the Syrian churches in different parts of the country. He also stressed that this project supports many local communities, especially those that cannot afford to bear the entire costs of the restoration of their infrastructure. At the end, he stated that this program is a beautiful, ecumenical initiative gathering all ecumenical churches in Syria and fostered by the Middle East Council of Churches. The various Church missions conducted in Syria reveal the urgency of a process of reconstruction not only material terms, but also human, civil and spiritual ones. During one of these missions, the Congregation of Eastern Churches expressed its "concern" for the "drama of a heavily wounded country in its structures", with neighborhoods and villages completely destroyed. Stressing the "total desolation" of certain areas, it wonders "if and how those who have left their homes can return". Furthermore, according to estimates provided by the United Nations, 69% of Syrians live in conditions of extreme poverty. One of the main concerns of the local population is "massive emigration abroad, especially of young people, professionals, doctors". One of the consequences is "a huge impoverishment" of healthcare facilities. In the picture: Aleppo children, photo taken from Cor Unum's Twitter account President Trump has come closer this week than at perhaps any point in his presidency to reproducing, in appearance if not in form, some of the same traits of the strongmen rulers for whom he has long expressed admiration. The man who praised President Vladimir V. Putins very strong control over Russia, and once said that Chinas violent crackdown in Tiananmen Square showed the power of strength, found himself threatening to deploy the military to states where governors did not restore calm. Mr. Trump also told governors you have to do retribution against the protesters he described as terrorists and, later, endorsed as 100% Correct a tweet by Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, calling for zero tolerance of anarchy, rioting and looting and for deploying an Army division against these Antifa terrorists. Such moments in another, Mr. Trump warned protesters, when the looting starts, the shooting starts echo his praise for Rodrigo Duterte, the strongman president of the Philippines. Mr. Trump lauded the Philippine leader for doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem, referring to a campaign of vigilante police violence thought to have claimed thousands of lives. Members of the Indiana National Guard holds a position as protests continue in Washington against police brutality and the death of George Floyd on June 3, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Trump Prefers Using National Guard Over Military to Contain Unrest President Donald Trump indicated on Wednesday afternoon that he would prefer not to use military personnel to quell the unrest that has been sparked by the death of George Floyd. He made the remarks during an interview with Sean Spicer, his former press secretary, on Newsmax TV. It depends. I dont think we will have to, he said. The president said he personally would prefer to use the National Guard to respond to the riots instead. We have very strong powers to do it. The National Guard is customary and we have a very powerful National Guard over 300,000 men and women, and we can do pretty much whatever we want, he said. Trump praised the National Guard for their work in Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis in protecting law and order. He singled out New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio decided not to call in the National Guard. The city has been damaged by widespread rioting. Trump called the situation in the city a disaster. Earlier in the week, Trump had urged city mayors to call in the National Guard to help: We can help them a lot. They have to ask. But he added, If they dont get it straightened out soon, I will take care of it. Trumps statement on his preferred response to the rioting nationwide comes after his announcement on Monday that he was dispatching heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to contain the riots. The Pentagon moved about 1,600 troops into the Washington area after Trumps announcement about troop moblization. The movement was described by Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman as a prudent planning measure in response to ongoing support to civil authorities operations. Active duty elements are postured on military bases in the National Capitol Region but are not in Washington, D.C. They are on heightened alert status but remain under Title X authority and are not participating in defense support to civil authority operations, Hoffman said in a statement. A man tries to tow away a car in a safe zone as another car catches fire in a local parking garage in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images) However, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday that he didnt support deploying the military without first fully utilizing the National Guard to support civil authorities. Esper said the federal government should not invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 that allows the president to deploy U.S. military and federalized National Guard troops within the United States in some instances. Ive always believed and continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations, in support of local law enforcement. I say this not only as secretary of defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, he told the reporters. He insisted that usage of military personnel should be the last resort in most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act, he stated. Police take back the streets at around midnight after firing copious amounts of tear gas to disperse protesters and rioters outside the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) The death of Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest last week, has caused national uproar. But the initially peaceful protests, expressing grief and anger over police brutality, have in many cases been marred by looting, violence, and arson. Protests continued for days in dozens of cities around the nation, including Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, and Louisville, with occasional looting, arson, and vandalism. According to a Minneapolis Fire Department report (pdf), Floyd was unresponsive and pulseless when he was transported into an ambulance by paramedics from the site of his arrest to the hospital. The police officer who was kneeling on Floyds neck, Derek Chauvin, was fired on May 25, along with three other arresting officers. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and the three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting his murder. | By Laura Lee Grief. Exhaustion. Anger. Confusion. Guilt. These are all feelings the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) community expressed during an emotional virtual town hall on June 3 dedicated to discussing the personal and nationwide outrage surrounding the death of 46-year-old George Floyd in police custody. (l-r) Chaz Arnett, associate professor, Maryland Carey Law; Elsie Stines, assistant vice president, special projects and initiatives, and chair, Diversity Advisory Council, UMB; Bruce Jarrell, interim president, UMB; Russell McClain, professor and associate dean for diversity and inclusion, Maryland Carey Law; and Wendy Shaia, clinical associate professor, School of Social Work. The town hall, titled A Social Justice Crisis in America, featuring panelists Wendy Shaia, EdD, MSW, clinical associate professor, University of Maryland School of Social Work; executive director, Social Work Community Outreach Service; and founder, Positive Schools Center, and Chaz Arnett, JD, associate professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, sought to create a space where a frank and sometimes uncomfortable discussion could begin about the realities of systemic racism in America and how it plays out at UMB. In introductory remarks, Interim President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, said he was horrified by Floyds brutal death, which he said followed a clear pattern of structural oppression. Most of us have seen the video of a white officer staring calmly into a camera as his knee planted firmly on Floyds neck extinguishes the black man's life over what seemed like an interminable 8 minutes, 46 seconds. The question remains for the nation and for UMB of how to move forward. I do not have answers, Jarrell admitted. As a surgeon, he said, when he doesnt have an answer, he consults other experts. So Ive turned to experts at UMB who can help me understand this, he said. I want to make UMB as a community not only more sensitive and more informed on these issues, but also to develop a plan to take action. Moderated by Russell McClain, JD, professor and associate dean for diversity and inclusion at Maryland Carey Law, and Elsie Stines, DNP, CRNP, assistant vice president, special projects and initiatives, and chair, UMB Diversity Advisory Council, the discussion began the painful process of peeling back layers of racial trauma and denial that can be traced back to the Founding Fathers. More than 800 members of the UMB community logged in to the town hall to listen and contribute to the hour-and-a-half discussion. Acknowledging UMBs diversity, Stines noted we all have a lens through which we experienced the tragedy of Floyds death. You may see your brother, uncle, or son in Georges eyes as you witnessed his life taken away. You may be newly awakened to the reality of police brutality. Were here, she said, to begin as an anchor institution to map a path forward for systemic change. Part of that change, panelists agreed, includes recognizing the stark reality of white supremacy in America and the subtle ways it manifests itself. Many people are going to imagine hoods or burning crosses, and that in fact is a form of white supremacy, Shaia said. But it is so much more than that, she said, nodding to legal scholar Frances Lee Ansleys definition of white supremacy as a political, economic, and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority and entitlement are widespread, and relations of white dominance and non-white subordination are daily re-enacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings. Any one of us socialized into this society has been socialized into a culture of white supremacy, regardless of race, and it impacts the way we see the world, Shaia added. There is no middle ground in addressing this issue, she continued. If we fear talking about white supremacy, if we avoid it for politeness sake, we are complicit in giving it life. After sharing the story of Ty Anders, a 21-year-old African-American man who was violently arrested for running a stop sign in Midland, Texas, in late May, McClain asked, How many of us are afraid to send our children out into the world? For some people, you get pulled over by the police. For me, I know I better keep my hands at 10 and 2 and not move them until Im told to. Some of us live in a different world and often experience the world as second-class citizens, said the father, husband, and law professor. Arnett, who begins at the law school on July 1 and joined the discussion from Pittsburgh, said the video of Floyd being killed by law enforcement while defenseless and handcuffed is clear evidence that our legal system operates differently depending on who you are. As the panelists spoke, a robust conversation was taking place in the chat comments of the town hall, with issues ranging from how to show compassion to black and brown colleagues, to concerns about hiring practices and diversifying teaching curricula, to the simple query of What can I do? Shaia suggested that white people start by asking themselves, How do I benefit from white supremacy? There are a lot of ways that white people benefit, and the first step is to figure that out. The next step is to figure out how white supremacy hurts you, because it hurts every single thing, she said, noting the huge number of black and brown people who are held back from reaching their full potential. I think that is one of the things that is holding Americans back because were only working with the full potential of a small number of people. From a legal perspective, Arnett encouraged participants to familiarize themselves with the local criminal justice system. Do you know who your prosecutors are? he asked. Do you know whats happening in your police departments? Harking back to Maryland slave narratives hes been reading about for a research project, Arnett marveled at the courage and sacrifice of slaves who risked their lives for freedom along the Underground Railroad. He also commended the white people who assisted slaves on their perilous journey north. We have to do this together, he said, and if we dont, we wont be able to dismantle the system and structures to the degree that we need. This is not a black problem, its an American problem, Stines said of the need to work together to tear down walls that simultaneously entrap and exclude minorities in America from access to health care, justice, housing, and education. One way to dismantle the system is through education, a UMB strong point. Stines suggested a mandatory History of Baltimore course for incoming students who often have no context about the socioeconomic and racial complexities of the city where they will be living and studying for several years. The chat immediately responded with positive feedback about the idea and added that faculty and staff also should be required to take the class. Precious Ohagwu, a recent University of Maryland School of Pharmacy graduate, agreed, saying, I think it would be really beneficial to have a social justice class that relates and is tailored to health care, social work, law as many students are not aware of these inequities or dont understand the ramifications. Speaking of his own education about structural racism Jarrell indicated hes in favor of a class to educate students. I think that would be a very important first step, he said. If theres one thing Ive learned from the social work students, its that you have to learn about structural racism in order to understand whats going on in Baltimore. I think our entire University needs to understand these things because its part of our fabric. At the end of a mind-opening and often-painful conversation about racial inequity that only scratched the surface of a complex and entrenched issue, an attendee in the chat wrote, I have a feeling these are conversations that will have to go beyond this town hall. I agree, wrote another. Plaintiffs' Case Against Mike Postle, Stones Dismissed by Judge June 03, 2020 On Wednesday, June 3, United States District Judge William B. Shubb granted motions to dismiss filed by Kings Casino (parent company to Stones Gambling Hall), Justin Kuraitis, and Mike Postle. The massive decision stands as the biggest development so far in the high-profile cheating case that dominated the poker world last fall in which Postle was alleged to have profited around $250,000 in live-streamed cash games at Stones through nefarious but never proven means. According to court documents obtained by PokerNews via Pacer, the judge sided with the argument put forth by Kings that the plaintiffs' various claims were not cognizable under California law because California public policy bars judicial intervention in gambling disputes, in part because the asserted damages are inherently speculative as laid out in Kelly v. First Astri Corp. While some of the charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they're settled barring an appeal, the door was left cracked on some, so an amended complaint can still be filed by the plaintiffs who took the case to court last October. Unfortunately for those who wished to see Postle punished for his alleged cheating, the charges against him fell into the former category. At this time, there's no word on whether an appeal will be filed. A request for sanctions against Postle for allegedly underhanded legal work was also dismissed. Mac VerStandig, attorney for the plaintiffs, indicated his disappointment with the ruling in a statement to PokerNews: "We are in the process of reviewing the judges orders, and are appreciative he clearly devoted great time and thought to his rulings. While I am of course disappointed Mr. Postle has been let out of this litigation, I trust that disappointment pales compared to that of Stones Gambling Hall, which made the arguments that permitted Mr. Postle to exit the case." Postle has not responded to PokerNews' request for comment at time of publication. Postle Dismissal Predicated on California Gambling Law Judge Shubb's granting of Postle's motion to dismiss was predicated squarely upon a California law that specifically addresses gambling losses. Shubb wrote that "monies lost to Mr. Postle" and "the loss of opportunity to earn monies through honest games of poker" are "quintessential gambling losses that are barred for recovery by California public policy." "Today, the California state legislature still has not created a statutory right to permit individuals to recover their gambling losses, although other states have done so." "Accordingly, Californias strong public policy against judicial resolution of civil claims arising out of gambling disputes mandates the dismissal with prejudice of plaintiffs claims against Postle for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligence per se, and unjust enrichment," Shubb wrote. Shubb relied on the aforementioned case, which dates from 1999. Today, the California state legislature still has not created a statutory right to permit individuals to recover their gambling losses, although other states have done so." A further charge that Postle's cheating violated Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) due to his alleged use of wire transmissions was dismissed because gambling losses are not sufficient injury to business or property for RICO standing. As for Postle's alleged legal indiscretions, the judge simply dismissed them out of hand. The plaintiffs sought sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (Rule 11) after alleging Postle used an attorney ghostwriter to author his motion to dismiss when he was purportedly representing himself. Regardless of whether Postle had his ghostwritten by that attorney or cut and pasted from the brief his attorney filed in that prior case, the court sees no reason to impose sanctions here, a four-page ruling read. It is therefore ordered that plaintiffs motion for sanctions be, and the same hereby is, denied. Justin Kuraitis (center) Stones, Kuraitis in Clear as Well Judge Shubb dismissed all of the claims against the venue and the house tournament director, who also headed the livestreaming operation as well. Allegations of fraud, according to Shubb, lacked specificity: "They do not allege the cost of the rake during each game, let alone what they contributed individually. Instead, they offer nothing more than a general allegation that the rake amounted to 'tens of thousands of dollars during the life of Mr. Postles scheme.'" Claims of constructive fraud, which require a fiduciary or confidential relationship, were attacked by Stones when it contended the venue "did not owe a general duty" to gamblers, a claim with which the judge apparently agreed. The lack of special relationship between players and venue also led to dismissal of negligence claims. As for negligent misrepresentation, the judge targeted the plaintiffs' failure to disclose the identity of Postle's alleged accomplice. A libel claim from Veronica Brill, stemming from Stones tweet calling her accusations against Postle "completely fabricated," was dismissed on the grounds that it can't be proven the tweet was directed at her since dozens of others participated in the suit. Similar fraud and negligence accusations against Kuraitis were dismissed on similar grounds. Case Expected to Continue in Some Fashion VerStandig expressed his dismay with the dismissal to PokerNews: "In 1851, California established a precedent of not permitting litigation related to claims stemming from card games," he said. "It is a policy with which I do not agree in this day and age of legalized gaming, and one I am disappointed a legal gaming parlor would rely upon. But I am also heartened the court has acknowledged that our claims to recover the rake collected by Stones potentially fall outside the contours of that policy." Judge Shubb did leave open the possibility of hearing an amended complaint on several of the charges. Notably, fraud and negligent misrepresentation by Stones and negligence by Kuraitis are among them. Chiefly, it seems as VerStandig said, the rake can be specified and potentially recovered. However, that won't be enough to satisfy many onlookers and Brill herself, who tweeted her disgust in the aftermath of the news: Just letting the poker community know that if you decide to cheat on a live stream you are free to do so. There wil https://t.co/rI3f990q0j Veronica BLM (@Angry_Polak) Expect the case to continue to play out with, at a minimum, an amended complaint. "The court has given us leave to amend, and I anticipate we will avail ourselves of that right," VerStandig said. "The courts opinion acknowledges the core viability of certain claims (obviously without making any judgment as to facts), and we look forward to restating those claims in a manner that will comport with the courts order." However, any amended complaint will only be in regards to Stones and Kuraitis. In regards to this case, Postle will walk away scot-free barring an appeal. Sharelines A massive development in the Mike Postle case: a California judge dismissed all claims against him. Mike Postle and Stones Gambling Hall, and house TD Justin Kuraitis won a major court victory. Apple has appointed Ipshita Dasgupta as Country Manager for streaming service business in India. She was previously associated with Hotstar as President of Strategy and New Ventures. Dasgupta has worked in major organisations like General Electric, Cisco and IBM in key roles. According to media reports, she takes over from Khushboo Ponwar, who has moved into the role of Head of Business Development for Apple in India, Middle East, Turkey and Africa. In 1989, hundreds of thousands of people flooded onto the streets of Beijing and into Tiananmen Square demanding democracy, freedom of speech and an end to corruption. After a seven-week standoff, the government called in the troops and a bloody battle ensued. The number of deaths is not known. The Chinese Red Cross initially issued a statement saying that 2,600 people had been killed but rapidly retracted that. The Chinese government claimed that 241 people died, including 23 soldiers. .... Actor Vidya Balan has reacted to the news of the release of Manu Sharma, who killed Jessica Lal in 1999, from jail. Speaking to The Quint, she mentioned that she didnt think that any amount of time in jail is enough for people like him but expressed a hope that he could have had a change of heart. The report quoted her as saying: Personally speaking, I dont think any amount of time for him or for people like him in jail is enough. So that will always play in my mind. Yes, may be he has turned a new leaf. I hope he has. I hope he is a reformed person. She continued, So thats all one can hope you know, after spending so much time in jail. That is the point of being in prison, right? That you reform. So let us hope that has happened. Vidya played Jessicas sister Sabrina in Raj Kumar Guptas film, No One Killed Jessica. The film brought out the struggles Sabrina had to face to get justice for her sister. In 1999, at a night club in Delhi, Manu had shot dead Jessica for refusing to serve him liquor. Manu, son of former Union minister Venod Sharma, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2006 for killing Jessica Lal in 1999. Earlier this month, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal approved the premature release of Manu Sharma, who was serving life sentence, according to an official order. The Delhi Sentence Review Board (SRB) which comes under the Delhi government had recommended Manus premature release last month.The sources said the recommendation was made at a meeting of the SRB chaired by Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain on May 11. Also read: Kartik Aaryan wants to marry someone like Deepika Padukone because she shows off her husband proudly After the news broke, Sabrina, told the media that she had no objection on his release and hoped that he reformed as a person. Sabrina, along with her father, has fought a long battle to get Manu Sharma convicted. She told PTI on Tuesday, I really do not have anything to say. I am not feeling anything. I feel numb. The only thing I hope and pray to God is that he never thinks of repeating that mistake again. She had in 2018 written to the jail authorities that she had no objection to Sharmas release.I wrote that I had no objection to his release. It was a long and arduous fight... It was very difficult. It is not easy to go back to a normal life. (With PTI and IANS inputs) Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON June 04 : Superstar Allu Arjun has been spending quality time with his family during the corona-virus lockdown. Today, the actor took to his social media to celebrate 10 years of his super-hit film, Vedam. Helmed by Krish, the film is a landmark in Allu Arjun's career, which catapulted him to a different league. The actor thanked his co-stars and technicians for being a part of this journey. Allu Arjun tweeted, A Decade of Vedam . I would Like to Thank each and everyone who is a part of this beautiful journey. I heart fully thank @dirkrish for his vision n passion . And I would like to thank @HeroManoj1 #Anushka @BajpayeeManoj Ji & many other actors & technicians for their support Spl THANKS to # MMKeeravani garu gyanahekar garu other technicians. I heart fully thank Arka Media for believing in us. #DECADEOFVEDAM A Decade of Vedam . I would Like to Thank each and everyone who is a part of this beautiful journey. I heart fully thank @dirkrish for his vision n passion . And I would like to thank @HeroManoj1 #Anushka @BajpayeeManoj Ji & many other actors & technicians for their support. pic.twitter.com/vEEep7Xb7l Allu Arjun (@alluarjun) June 4, 2020 The story of Vedam revolves around five characters played by Allu Arjun, Anushka Shetty, Manoj Manchu, Manoj Bajpayee and Nagayya. Their lives get entangled when a terrorist attack takes place at a hospital. Spl THANKS to # MMKeeravani garu gyanahekar garu other technicians . I heart fully thank Arka Media for believing in us . #DECADEOFVEDAM Allu Arjun (@alluarjun) June 4, 2020 Vedam received positive feedback from critics and audience alike, and went on to win several awards. Later, the film was remade in Tamil as Vaanam with Simbu, Bharath, Anushka Shetty in the lead roles. East Missouri Action Agency this week opened Uplift Center for Better Living in a wing of the Farmington Senior Center located at 607 Wallace Road. Space for the satellite office is being made available to EMAA rent-free by the city of Farmington to provide residents a local resource where they can receive various forms of assistance. According to its website, EMAA is a not-for-profit community action agency that seeks to act as a catalyst within the community to empower economically disadvantaged individuals and families to reach their highest possible level of success. With a staff of more than 225 full-time and part-time employees, along with an annual budget of nearly $17 million, the agency provides services to more than 18,000 low-income individuals every year. In addition to St. Francois County, EMAA serves Ste. Genevieve, Washington, Madison, Iron, Perry, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties. Vicky Huff, EMAA community services representative, will provide on-site direction for the center. Prior to a tour of the facility by community leaders held Tuesday morning, EMAA Executive Director Keri McCrorey explained the reason why the city of Farmington and the agency decided to open the Uplift Center. I think it was originally initiated by the city of Farmington, she said. They had a meeting, and Vicky was invited to attend, and it really kind of grew out of that. "[City Administrator Greg Beavers] had an idea of what he wanted to do to try to address some homeless issues here in the city of Farmington. We stepped up to the plate and said we would be willing to take on that issue with you. So, we partnered with them, and that was how the birth of this center began. According to McCrorey, the Uplift Center will offer several helpful services for people in the community. Well be doing our regular EMAA services, as well as offering services to homeless people who come here, she said. For example, we will provide showers, laundry service, frozen meals they can warm up, and a room where they can fill out job applications. "Well also have community computers they can use, and there will be other resources made available that will be based out of the building that will be rotating in and out the Job Center, some mental health services, the childrens home, and the health department. Huff briefly explained the process for providing help to those seeking assistance from the Uplift Center. When they come in, well take them to the office and do an assessment to find out what their needs are, she said. Its not just going to be immediate needs, crisis needs, but we want to find an overall solution for them. "Were here to serve the community in the best way that we know-how. With being in Farmington, it allows those living here to access resources more efficiently. McCrorey offered two reasons why she felt having an EMAA satellite office in Farmington was so important. Number one, homelessness is a huge issue for folks, and so its good to be able to try to address some of those issues, she said. We may not be able to fully address every issue that a homeless person faces, but were going to take a good stab at it. Secondly, sometimes transportation is an issue for customers that have to come from Farmington to our Desloge office. We have a large percentage of people that come from Farmington for services, so now well be based out of here, and hopefully, transportation issues will be minimized. I just want to thank the city of Farmington for stepping up and helping us out here through the vision of the mayor and Mr. Beavers of how this could play out. After completing a tour of the facility, Mayor Larry Forsythe explained why the city decided to go into partnership with EMAA to open a local center. We had this building that had stayed empty for a while, he said. We made one little end of it a communications center for [IT Director Floyd Massey] and his tech crew. We get a lot of homeless people who dont have anywhere to go and cant figure out where to go. They need help, and they always have to go to EMAA over in Park Hills. Well, they dont have a ride they dont have a phone, so Greg Beavers came up with the idea of making this a place where they would have a source to go to where they can get the help that they need. We went a little bit further. Well, they need a shower. A good shower always makes somebody feel better. Well, how do you get hold of your family? You need phones, so we got them phones. Can I get on the internet to get my Social Security Number and other information? So, we got some computers. Then we got hold of EMAA, and they are staffing it. Forsythe believes the Uplift Center is a great example of community needs being met through shared involvement by the city, EMAA, and the other agencies that will be offering assistance there. Its a win-win for everybody, he said. Thankfully, the city of Farmington comes through again with the help and support our people need. Were here to do whatever we can. Kevin R. Jenkins is the managing editor of the Farmington Press and can be reached at 573-756-8927 or kjenkins@farmingtonpressonline.com Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. An Atlantic City man has been charged by federal authorities for participating in a riot in the casino town after an otherwise peaceful protest last week, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced Thursday. Carlos A. Matchett, 30, was charged with use of a facility of interstate and foreign commerce with intent to participate in and carry on a riot after law enforcement allegedly observed him enticing people to loot and vandalize stores in Atlantic City after the protests on May 31. Authorities said Matchett was also screaming obscenities at law enforcement, and when he was ordered to disperse, Matchett allegedly refused, leading to his arrest by local police. Officers allegedly found a knife, a hatchet and a jar filled with gasoline inside a backpack that he was wearing, according to the criminal complaint. Shortly before his arrest, Matchett posted on Facebook in response to an article about looting in Philadelphia: LETS START A RIOT, according to officials. The destruction of stores in Atlantic City came after hours of a peaceful protest as hundreds joined in to protest the death of George Floyd, a 46-year old man who was died at the hands of police in Minneapolis, as well as systemic injustices that have long impacted black communities across the country. After the protest, a group of around 100 people congregated around the Tanger Outlet stores in the casino town, known as the Walk, and began smashing windows at the Ralph Lauren and Timberland stores, among others, according to police. Authorities said Matchett also posted a video after the peaceful protests that showed him allegedly encouraging and assisting others in the vicinity of the outlet stores to steal items from smashed store fronts. Matchett will make his initial appearance in court Thursday by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams. He is the second individual to be charged by federal authorities in New Jersey for alleged criminal conduct at a recent protest. Justin Spry, 21, of South Plainfield, was arrested earlier this week for attempting to set fire to a marked police vehicle in Trenton during a protest over the death of Floyd. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 12:59:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Rumor has it that the fifth-generation (5G) telecoms network is speeding up the spread of the novel coronavirus as the cellular network suppresses people's immune systems. The fact is, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and some fact-checking organizations, there is no evidence that 5G has anything to do with the spread of COVID-19. Full Fact, a British independent fact-checking charity, has debunked such rumor by saying that "The main implication of the claim -- that 5G can impact immune systems -- is totally unfounded. There is no evidence linking the new coronavirus to 5G," according to Business Insider. 5G is the next generation of wireless network technology, which will offer faster connection speed than its previous generations such as 4G, 3G or 2G, and 5G mobile data is transmitted over radio waves -- a small part of the whole electromagnetic spectrum (which includes microwaves, visible light and X-rays). "These radio waves are non-ionising, meaning they don't damage the DNA inside cells, as X-rays, gamma rays and UV rays are able to do," Southampton local newspaper Daily Echo quoted a report from Full Fact as saying. The WHO also noted that viruses cannot travel on mobile networks or radio waves. "COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks. People can also be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their eyes, mouth or nose," it said. Moreover, the international health body pointed out that COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks. Full Fact also noted that many of the hardest-hit countries have no 5G coverage, such as Iran. Iran, with 160,696 COVID-19 cases reported up to now, has no 5G masts. In late May, Australian Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher also warned people about misinformation linking COVID-19 to 5G mobile technology. "Any suggestions that there is a link between 5G and coronavirus are utterly baseless," said Fletcher. Enditem Photos Getty White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany raised eyebrows on Wednesday when she credulously compared President Donald Trumps photo-op at St. Johns Episcopalian Church this week to Winston Churchill surveying World War II bombing damage and George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Trump has faced widespread criticismeven from within his administrationover the political stunt, which featured him walking over to the so-called Church of the Presidents to pose with a Bible after law enforcement violently cleared out peaceful protesters with chemical munitions. During Wednesdays White House press briefing, McEnany repeatedly gave conflicting and contradictory answers on the forceful removal of the protest gathering moments before Trumps stroll. While repeating the Park Polices assertion that no tear gas was useddespite reporters and clergy on the ground insisting it had beenshe also claimed the protesters were pushed out because they ignored warnings and threw bottles and bricks at the police. At the same time, she said that the reason Attorney General William Barr gave orders for the Park Police to move protesters out before curfew and Trumps walk as they were not going to see the church burn another night. The press secretary was eventually confronted on why the president decided to go to the churcha moment that clergy have called sacrilege, because Trump used the church and Bible as a prop. The president wanted to send a powerful message that we wont be overcome by looting, rioting, and burning, she declared. This defines America. Standing by St. Johns Church was very important to America. She then directly compared Trumps photo-op to other iconic imagery by world leaders during crises over the past decades. Through all of time, weve seen presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and powerful symbols for a nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination, McEnany exclaimed. Like Churchill. We saw him with the bombing damage. George W. Bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after 9/11 and Jimmy Carter putting on a sweater to encourage energy savings and George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act flanked by two disabled Americans. Story continues She concluded by boasting that Trump holding up the Bible was hailed by Franklin Graham and others, seemingly ignoring the widespread criticism Trumps received by other faith leaders, specifically those involved with the church in question. Asked about McEnanys comparison of Trumps photo-op to Churchill and Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN, I think theyre hallucinating. 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. When the Rutland Police Department suffered the loss of Officer Sean Cooney eight years ago, Chief Nicholas Monaco recalled looking across the ranks of police officers gathered to attend Cooneys wake and noticing that Officer John Songy was missing. It had turned out, Monaco recalled, that Songy volunteered to stay behind in town to work so that everyone else could attend. That was the kind of guy John was. He was the kind of guy that did the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do," Monaco said Thursday at a funeral Mass for Songy. Songy, 48, died on May 29 after a battle with coronavirus. He joined the Rutland Police Department in 2012 after working as a patrol officer in Oakham. But before his police career, Songy worked as a machinist at Service Network and Heald Machine Company. That machinist work, Monaco said, helped give Songy an extreme attention to detail, something that helped him thrive as a detective. Monaco recalled one case Songy pursued. A local couple had been scammed on Craigslist, wiring $9,000 to purchase a tractor that did not actually exist. John felt bad for those people, Monaco said. I remember him talking about how upset he was that this local couple was victimized and how bad he felt for them." Songy worked the case until he was able to track down the perpetrator, who was in New York City. Working with NYPD, Songy ensured the suspect was arrested and extradited to Massachusetts to face charges. That case ended up becoming part of an FBI investigation of wire fraud, Monaco said. Procession for Rutland Police Detective John Songy Posted by MassLive Worcester on Thursday, June 4, 2020 But even more important than attention to detail, Monaco said Songy was a great detective because he showed respect and empathy for everyone. After Songys death last week, calls started coming in to the police department offering memories and condolences. Some of those calls were even from people Songy had arrested, or people Songy registered as sex offenders, Monaco said. Following Monaco at the pulpit, Officer Brent Carpenter recalled the way Songy helped him when he was still in the police academy. Carpenter wanted to make sure his reports were up to Songys standards, he said. Seeing how John was as a husband, father and police officer all are things I hope to accomplish in my lifetime," Carpenter said. Songy leaves his parents, Alfred and Elaine Songy; his wife Joanne Songy; his daughter, Katlyn M. Songy of New Braintree; a stepdaughter, Shantell B. Madera of Florida; a stepson, DeVante Cotto of Leicester; and his sister, Sherill Colonero-Fitzgibbons of Maryland, according to his obituary. Carpenter promised that the police department would continue to take care of Joanne and the Songy family. Songy will be truly missed, Carpenter said. We know that you and Sean Cooney will be watching over us as our guardian angels, he said. Police officers salute Detective John Songys wife Joanne Songy. Posted by MassLive on Thursday, June 4, 2020 As we grieve the recent loss of Detective John Songy, we take some comfort knowing that our old friend, Officer Sean... Posted by Rutland Police Department on Monday, June 1, 2020 Related Content: (Newser) The youngest of the boys accused of murdering Tessa Majors in a Manhattan park in December has taken a plea deal. The boy, who was 13 when he was arrested the day after Majors, a freshman at Barnard, was stabbed to death Dec. 11 in Morningside Park, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree robbery, CNN reports. The boy, now 14, was initially charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon; the other charges will be dropped. The teen will be sentenced June 15, and faces six to 18 months in detention. He will get credit for the time he's been in custody, the New York Post reports. At the remote Wednesday hearing, held via a Zoom call that CBS reports was beset with technical issues, he described going into the park with the other two suspects, Rashaun Weaver and Lucci Lewis, "to rob someone." story continues below He says when they saw Majors, 18, he watched as Weaver used a knife the teen had previously handed Weaver to stab Majors. "I saw feathers coming out of her coat," he said. Lewis is accused of holding Majors in a headlock as she was stabbed. Weaver and Lewis, who were 14 when they were arrested and have since turned 15, pleaded not guilty to multiple murder and robbery charges. They were charged as adults, while the third boy was charged as a juvenile. The Legal Aid Society, which is representing the third boy, says, "He did not touch Ms. Majors or take any of her property. Furthermore, no DNA evidence exists linking him to the events." It notes the teen will face repercussions of the "tragic" event "for a long time, likely the rest of his life." A prosecutor adds, "This resolution is in the best interest of the community and for a youth who has had no prior contact with the juvenile justice system and was not the main actor in the murder." (Read more Tessa Majors stories.) Con presencia del ministro de Defensa, se realiza la entrega de 12 ventiladores mecanicos donados por Alemania a la Marina de Guerra para reforzar la atencion de pacientes COVID-19. El embajador aleman entrego los equipos al comandante general de la @naval_peru. pic.twitter.com/eYpL1F4vC0 John Boyega has been hailed a 'hero' by Star Wars producer LucasFilm following his impassioned speech at the Black Lives Matter demonstration in London's Hyde Park. The big screen star, 28, spoke out against the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 2 to the 15,000-strong crowd that had gathered on Wednesday. He warned that his activism could damage his career - but he has since been inundated with support from the movie industry. Support: John Boyega, 28, has been hailed a 'hero' by Star Wars producers LucasFilm following his impassioned speech at the Black Lives Matter demonstration in London's Hyde Park LucasFilm shared a link to a video of John's speech on the Star Wars website alongside a caption that read: 'Lucasfilm stands with John Boyega and his message that, "Now is the time. Black lives have always mattered. Black lives have always been important. Black lives have always meant something." 'The evil that is racism must stop. We will commit to being part of the change that is long overdue in the world. 'John Boyega, you are our hero.' Together: LucasFilm shared a link to a video of John's speech on the Star Wars website alongside a caption that began: 'Lucasfilm stands with John Boyega and his message...' Risk: John (pictured in Star Wars: Episode IX) had warned that his activism could damage his career - but he has since been inundated with support from the movie industry And a whole host of other famous faces were quick to add their support including Star Wars legend Mark Hamill who admitted he had never felt prouder of his co-star. Mark tweeted: 'Never been more proud of you, John. @JohnBoyega [heart emoji], dad [sic].' Director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi Rian Johnson also lent his support as he retweeted a video of the actor alongside a simple caption that read: 'Love this man'. Similarly 9 Rides writer and director Matthew A. Cherry urged other filmmakers to work with John. He tweeted: 'I would work with John Boyega and I urge other Non-Black creators to affirm that they have his back as well. 'Cause I know most Black creators got his back. And I also know it's not us that would try and black ball him either.' Powerful: And a whole host of other famous faces were quick to add their support including Star Wars legend Mark Hamill who admitted he had never felt prouder of his co-star Writer-and-director Seth Graeme-Smith replied: 'Any project. Any role he wants.' He later added: 'I can't think of a single project that wouldn't be elevated by the participation of John Boyega. Not one.' Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan was another to reply and admit she would be delighted to cast him in one of her films. She wrote: 'I would love to work with John Boyega.' We are one: Director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi Rian Johnson also lent his support as he retweeted a video of the actor alongside a simple caption that read: 'Love this man' Back-up: Writer-and-director Seth Graeme-Smith said: 'I can't think of a single project that wouldn't be elevated by the participation of John Boyega. Not one' Harmony: Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan was another to reply and admit she would be delighted to cast him in one of her films And John's Pacific Rim: Uprising director, Stephen DeKnight, told Cathy she would not regret it if she did. He replied: 'You would have a blast. 'John Boyega was one of the most prepared, talented, and laugh-until-you-cry-funny human beings I've ever had the privilege to work with.' Jordan Peele also offered reassurance to the Detroit actor by simply adding: 'We got you, John.' Resounding: Pacific Rim: Uprising director, Stephen DeKnight, told Cathy she would not regret it if she did Reassurance: Jordan Peele also offered reassurance to the Detroit actor by simply adding: 'We got you, John' It comes after George Floyd, 46, an African-American man, died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death has sparked days of demonstrations across the nation over police brutality against African-Americans. The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Derek Chauvin, was taken into custody Friday and charged with third-degree murder, officials said. John told protestors: 'We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence. Heartache: It comes after George Floyd, 46, (pictured) an African-American man, died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, Minnesota 'I'm speaking to you from my heart. Look, I don't know if I'm going to have a career after this, but f*** that.' He went on: 'Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process, we don't know what George Floyd could have achieved, we don't know what Sandra Bland could have achieved, but today we're going to make sure that won't be an alien thought to our young ones. 'I need you to understand how painful this s**t is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isn't the case any more, that was never the case any more.' He urged protesters to remain peaceful as they demonstrated over the death of Mr Floyd. 'It is very, very important that we keep control of this moment. That we make this as peaceful and as organised as possible,' he said. Demonstration: Crowds gathered in central London at 1pm for the protest with many carrying signs and chanting: 'no justice, no peace' 'Because they want us to mess up, they want us to be disorganised, but not today. 'This message is specifically for black men, black men we need to take care of our black women. They're ours. They are our future. 'We cannot demonise our own. We are the pillars of the family. 'Imagine this, a nation that is set up with individual families that are thriving, that are healthy, that communicate, that raise their children in love have a better rate of becoming better human beings. 'Black men, it starts with you. It's done man, we can't be trash no more. We have to be better. 'You lot came today, you left your kids, and when you see your kids they're aimlessly playing, they don't understand what's going on. Stand as one: Most of the protesters wore gloves and masks and also chanted 'black lives matter' and 'we will not be silent' Progress: A further demonstration by Black Lives Matter is scheduled for 1pm on Saturday in Parliament Square 'Today's the day that we remind them that we are dedicated and this is a lifelong dedication. 'Some of you are artists, some of you are bankers, some of you are lawyers, some of you own shop stores. 'You are important, your individual power, your individual right is very, very important, we can all join together to make this a better world.' Crowds gathered in central London at 1pm for the protest with many carrying signs and chanting 'no justice, no peace'. Most of the protesters wore gloves and masks and also chanted 'black lives matter' and 'we will not be silent'. A further demonstration by Black Lives Matter is scheduled for 1pm on Saturday in Parliament Square. The NYPD exercising restraint Wednesday night. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the NYPD on Thursday morning for showing restraint in its dealings with protesters and claimed to have no knowledge of the widely circulated videos showing police officers using batons and shoving peaceful protesters after the 8 p.m. curfew. Hours later, the mayor was booed and taunted during a George Floyd memorial in Brooklyn. In prepared remarks at the start of his daily briefing on Thursday, de Blasio said that despite some specific horrible moments, Wednesday nights protests were overwhelmingly peaceful. Then he lauded the NYPDs handling of the situation. Last night in New York City, the NYPD was out there protecting us, de Blasio said. Men and women of the NYPD. We ask so much of them. We ask so much strength, so much restraint. They were out there protecting us. They do every day. During the question-and-answer section, de Blasio was asked to comment on NYPD activity captured in numerous videos. A lot of folks can see on video the use of batons, protesters who are asked to leave being hit with batons, noted NBC New Yorks Andrew Siff. Wondering what you think about that and whether you condone that type of police behavior? De Blasio started by reiterating that the protests were largely peaceful, then said we saw a lot of restraint from the NYPD overall. He then claimed that he was unaware of any footage to the contrary. I have not seen the videos you refer to or seen those accounts, he said. But if theres anything that needs to be reviewed, it will be. If theres anything that needs to be investigated, it will be. He then offered more praise for the NYPD response, admonished protesters who defy officers instructions, and criticized the very few demonstrators who simply want to create conflict, want videos of conflict, want to attack police officers, want to attack property. I want to be clear. When people are instructed by the NYPD, especially after curfew, they must follow those instructions. The NYPD has actually taken, I think, a very open approach respecting protest, flexible as always. This is part of what is never given its credit, is that the decades of NYPD handling protests where theres, in many ways, the approach is to give space. And if protesters do not engage in violence, theyre given the opportunity to protest. We still know there are some in these crowds who are committing violence or aim to commit violence. Its an obvious fact; were seeing it all over the country. And were going to keep providing information to the media. About the very few, and I want to emphasize, Andrew, very few, who aim to do violence. Whether its just the pure vandals that we saw on Sunday, Monday night or whether it is those who, again, based on an ideology I cant even follow or understand, simply want to create conflict, want videos of conflict, want to attack police officers, want to attack property. Very small number, but that has to be addressed. But if theres any instance of inappropriate activity by police, we will investigate that. Its the balance we always strike. But lets never forget that the vast majority of our officers are doing something very difficult at this moment and showing a lot of restraint and trying to shepherd us through this moment to a better and more peaceful moment. Judging from the crowd reaction during the Brooklyn memorial service for George Floyd, whose killing by Minneapolis police has sparked protests worldwide, de Blasios latest words did nothing to quell anger over his handling of the unrest. NOW: Mayor de Blasio appears at a huge George Floyd rally in Cadman Park, Brooklynhis first time in front of the protestersand hundreds boo him & chant Resign! and Fuck your curfew! Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) June 4, 2020 Major boos now for the mayor. Raised middle fingers. Briefly drowned out by shouts if I cant breathe! and Resign! He can barely start his speech. Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) June 4, 2020 Total disaster for de Blasio. My entire section of this huge crowd turned their backs on him. He could barely get a word in over the heckling. He gave up after about a minute and ceded the mic to George Floyds brother, Terence. Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer) June 4, 2020 Put sound on for this one: NYC Mayor de Blasio gets booed and taunted at the George Floyd memorial in Brooklyn, quickly ceding the mic. pic.twitter.com/dnuUh4khrp The Recount (@therecount) June 4, 2020 While Governor Andrew Cuomo appears to relish any opportunity to contradict Mayor de Blasio, during his own press conference on Thursday morning, he claimed ignorance of any NYPD misbehavior as well. Per Politico: At an Albany press conference, Cuomo said he did not believe the police used excessive force. If somebodys standing there and they just walked up and hit somebody with a baton, thats wrong. But I dont believe thats what happened, he said. Police bludgeon peaceful protesters with batons for no reason? Thats not a fact. They dont do that. Anyone who did do that would be obviously reprehensible if not criminal. Multiple videos surfaced Wednesday night as police whacked protesters on bikes with batons and threw demonstrators to the ground. Cuomo said cops were right to force crowds to disperse. Police have to enforce the law. If you are violating the curfew and you refuse to leave so you continue to violate the curfew, the police officers have to enforce. Heres some of the footage that de Blasio and Cuomo say theyve missed: Some of the footage from Cadman Plaza this evening pic.twitter.com/J8aa4hkiv6 Joe Anuta (@joeanuta) June 4, 2020 The moment NYPD struck against peaceful protesters in downtown Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/YOERVnNsnh Zach Williams (@ZachReports) June 4, 2020 People stuck in traffic are witnessing NYPD beat up folks on their way home. pic.twitter.com/AkUGPQQOIf Josh Fox BlackLivesMatter (@joshfoxfilm) June 4, 2020 Unlike de Blasio and Cuomo, many of New Yorks elected officials said they have seen the footage and find it totally unacceptable. This isnt a problem of bad apples or incidents. This is an institutional and systemic crisis, tweeted Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in response to one of the videos. City Comptroller Scott Stringer agreed, tweeting: The penalty for protesting after curfew is not to be beaten senseless by the police. That @NYCMayor has not seen these videos is not just ignorance, its a total disgrace. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams criticized the NYPD and de Blasio in a tweet Wednesday night after seeing officers push protesters out of Borough Hall in Brooklyn in person. These are the type of actions Id expect from past administrations, maybe the current White House, not a mayor who who came into office pledging to reform the type of aggressive policing I experienced tonight. https://t.co/Ru5zW18YiQ Jumaane Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) June 4, 2020 Williams tweeted Thursday morning that de Blasio and Cuomo apparently missed every social media post, every news story on every channel and written news outlet about the incident. He added that hes so ashamed of the mayor. Hes not the only one. On Wednesday, an open letter to de Blasio signed by more than 400 current and former members of his administration was published online. We have joined together in writing this letter because we could not remain silent while the Administration we served allows the NYPD to turn our City into an occupied territory, the letter says. Our former boss might not hear the cries for justice from Black and brown New Yorkers, but we do. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available New Delhi, June 4 : A Delhi court on Thursday denied bail to Jamia Millia Islamia scholar Safoora Zargar, saying it found "no merits" in her application. Zargar, also the media coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee, was arrested by Delhi Police's Special Cell after being accused of hatching a conspiracy to incite communal riots in the national capital's northeast area in February this year. Additional Sessions Judge at the Patiala House Court, Dharmendra Rana, while dismissing the plea filed by Zargar, said, "I do not find merits in the bail application, it is accordingly dismissed." The court, however, directed the jail officials to provide adequate medical aid and assistance to Zargar, who is pregnant. Opposing her bail application, the Special Cell submitted before the court that she had allegedly made inflammatory speeches and was part of a conspiracy to instigate communal violence, which had been planned weeks ago. The police told the court that the accused persons were part of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in various parts of the national capital. "In mid February, the accused had allegedly planned to hold protests in various parts of northeast Delhi. They had also blocked road near the Jafrabad Metro station," the police said. The case relates to organising anti-CAA protests in the Jaffrabad area, where majority of the participants were women. Later, violence broke out between pro and anti-CCA protesters in February, which left at least 53 people dead, including IB official Ankit Sharma and Head Constable Rattan Lal. Standing Together As a public university in Virginia, William & Mary is called at this moment to condemn the violation of individual rights, to name our grief and outrage for the killings of African American citizens by those who should protect their rights, and to stand together in support of peaceful protest. We speak with different voices, from different positions and experiences, to affirm the tenets of a pluralistic democracy. Events | Messages | Resources Events The Office of Diversity & Inclusion helps to prevent discrimination and harassment, is committed to creating a university community that is representative and inclusive of individuals with different backgrounds, talents and skills, and works to ensure that William & Mary is a community where all faculty, staff and students feel supported and affirmed. The Lemon Project is a multifaceted and dynamic attempt to rectify wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by William & Mary through action or inaction. The Center for Racial & Social Justice will work to advance the cause of racial and social justice by educating students and the broader community, building students capacity to engage in antiracist and social justice work, and engaging in legal and multidisciplinary research and advocacy aimed to inform the public, advocates and policymakers both in the Commonwealth of Virginia and nationwide. July 13 - August 10, 2020 The Student Assembly and the Student Bar Association have partnered to create a virtual campus-wide Racial Justice & Social Reform Speaker Series. Recognizing the importance of education at this moment, the goal is to keep the momentum going to engage students, faculty and staff in various aspects of the current social movement throughout the summer. June 9, 2020 at 8:30 p.m. ET President Katherine A. Rowe and members of the William & Mary community gathered in solidarity for a virtual candlelight vigil in remembrance of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and so many others. Messages Resources Biden meets with black leaders at church; vows to tackle institutional racism if elected Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, spoke with over a dozen African-American leaders at a Delaware church on Monday to discuss police brutality and racism. When discussing the first 100 days of his presidency should he win in November, Biden explained that he planned to look towards crafting economic recovery that tackles institutional racism and economic structures that undermine minority advancement. During his comments at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, the Democratic candidate criticized the handling of the current protests over racism and police brutality by President Donald Trump. Hate just hides. It doesnt go away, and when you have somebody in power who breathes oxygen into the hate under the rocks, it comes out from under the rocks, stated Biden. Ordinary folks who dont think of themselves as having a prejudiced bone in their body, dont think of themselves as racist, have kind of had the mask pulled off. The gathering at the church involved Biden dialoguing with attendees about racial concerns and what tangible steps he will take if elected president to handle the issue. Biden said there was so much the American public is now seeing racial hatred that came out, big time over the past few years. I want to make something clear: I dont expect anything from the black community, said Biden, adding that the support of African-American voters has to be earned, every single time. Bidens comments about Trumps rhetoric echo remarks he made before the National Baptist Conventions winter meeting in Arlington, Texas, back in January. If I have learned anything during a time of Donald Trump being president is this: hate never goes away. It just hides, he said at the time. When leaders give it oxygen as Trump has done, it comes roaring back. Biden himself faced criticism for his record on racial civil rights during a Democratic Primary debate in June when then candidate U.S. Senator Kamala Harris took issue with his past opposition to federally mandated busing to help desegregate schools. it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States Senators who built their reputations and careers on segregation of race in this country, stated Harris at the time, who has since endorsed Biden for president. You also worked with them to oppose busing. And there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me. During the debate, Biden said Harris gave a mischaracterization of his views, responding that he believed it was best left to the local government to support or oppose busing. If you want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether I did or not, Im happy to do that. I was a public defender, replied Biden. ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Findit, Inc. a Nevada Corporation (OTC PINK:FDIT) owner of Findit.com, a full service social networking management platform which provides online marketing services, offers customized marketing campaigns to plumbing companies and plumbers who are looking to improve their online presence. Plumbers and plumbing companies can also use Findit on their own or with their in-house marketing professionals to help improve their exposure online. Findit has developed a unique program specific to general contractors and service providers, such as plumbers and plumbing companies to help improve their overall online presence. These campaigns are customized to the services that plumbers provide in the areas that they service. The campaigns that we run for plumbers and plumbing companies are on a monthly, recurring basis and are designed to improve tangible search results in Google, Yahoo, Bing and Findit along with branding throughout social media. Clark St. Amant of Findit stated, "In many cases, service providers such as plumbers are on-site daily for the jobs that they have taken on. Jobs can take all day depending how complex the issue is and many plumbers don't have the time or knowledge needed to improve their online presence. As experts in the industry, Findit can handle the marketing side of your business so you can focus on the actual jobs." Findit's marketing campaigns can help increase the number of organic search results in search engines unlike PPC marketing. Many plumbing companies or independent plumbers utilize pay-per-click marketing as part of their overall strategy, however, creating organic, sustainable, and tangible search results over time can help increase your lead generations while reducing your per lead cost. At Findit, we have a team of highly skilled in house content writers and search engine optimization specialists that will be able to create crafted content for you both on your website and off-site to improve your positioning in search results. Each time this occurs, you are removing a competitor that used to be in that search spot and replacing it with your name. Search engines have a limited number of organic search results per page along with paid-for ad placement for companies. By creating fresh content daily that aligns with your products and services, you can begin to index highly in search, in many cases above your competitors. Story continues Peter Tosto of Findit stated, "Findit marketing campaigns have proven to be incredibly effective for general contractors and service providers such as plumbers. We have been working with several different general contractors including, a pool builder, a flooring company, a residential renovation company and a roofing company here in the Southeast for the last several years now on a monthly recurring basis. As a result, they have been able to expand the areas that they service and the services that they provide because of their results they have received from their Findit campaign." Findit offers tiered online marketing packages whereby the plumbing companies or plumbers that engage us will receive content created on a daily basis that is posted and shared for search engines to index and for social networks to see. Campaigns are matched to your online marketing objectives and budget. A majority of the content that is created that is part of your plumber online marketing campaign is done on Findit. The content that is being created usually includes in a single post, text that describes the services that you offer so search engines know how to index your content, a video link, photos from your photo galleries, and a back link to your website. By creating individually crafted content targeting each service you provide in the areas you provide them in, search engines can prioritize you above your competitors when it comes to plumbing repairs, new appliance installation, toilet repairs and installation and the other services that you provide in the areas that you service. All of the content on Findit can be indexed by search engines and shared to social sites - helping improve your exposure online. Once we take on a plumber or plumbing company that services a specific location, we do not take on another company or industry professional in that area that offers the same services. This limits any competitors from hiring Findit to compete against you while we are working on your campaign. This is very different from pay-per-click marketing campaigns where your competitors can simply go online and outbid you for certain keywords - this does not happen with a Findit campaign. Get in touch with Findit today to start your online marketing campaign with us. We can be reached at 404-443-3224 and have areas available now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5n2blR9vao& About Findit, Inc. Findit.com which is a Social Media Content Management Platform that provides an interactive search engine for all content posted in Findit to appear in Findit search. The site is an open platform that provides access to Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines access to its content posted to Findit so it can be indexed in these search engines as well. Findit provides Members the ability to post, share and manage their content. Once they have posted in Findit, we ensure the content gets indexed in Findit Search results. Findit provides an option for anyone to submit URLs that they want indexed in Findit search result, along with posting status updates through Findit Right Now. Status Updates posted in Findit can be crawled by outside search engines which can result in additional organic indexing. All posts on Findit can be shared to other social and bookmarking sites by members and non-members. Findit provides Real Estate Agents the ability to create their own Findit Site where they can pull in their listing and others through their IDX account. Findit, Inc., is focused on the development of monetized Internet-based web products that can provide an increase in brand awareness of our members. Findit, Inc., trades under the stock symbol FDIT on the OTC Pinksheets. Safe Harbor: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including statements regarding potential sales, the success of the company's business, as well as statements that include the word believe or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Findit, Inc. to differ materially from those implied or expressed. CONTACT: Clark St. Amant 404-443-3224 SOURCE: Findit, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/592745/Plumbers-and-Plumbing-Companies-Can-Utilize-Findit-Online-Marketing-Campaigns-To-Improve-Online-Presence According to a local government statement, 37 children and 2 adults were injured after an attacker armed with a knife was able to enter an elementary school in southern China. Knife attack The attack happened in Cangwu County, located in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. All of the 39 victims of the attack were hospitalized and fortunately, no one is in serious condition. The children were all slightly injured, according to a statement that was posted by the Cangwu county. On the other hand, the two adults suffered from more serious injuries. According to the statement, the suspect was detained by the police. Global Times claimed that the single attacker was a security guard at the elementary school, there was no other information provided about the suspect. The children who attend the said school are between the ages of 6 and 12. Uncommon occurrence Unfortunately, the knife attacks in China are not unheard of. There are a number of knife attacks that took place in schools in the past few years. In October 2018, one woman armed with a kitchen knife injured 14 children at a kindergarten in Chongqing, according to CNN. In April 2018, 9 children were killed at a middle school in Shaanxi province, the suspect was a 28-year-old man who was given the death penalty. In 2017, 11 students were injured after a suspect climbed over the wall of a kindergarten, armed with a knife, and attacked the children. Also Read: Outrage in Social Media as Pregnant Elephant Dies After Being Fed Pineapple With Explosives In January 2019, around 20 children in a school in Beijing have been injured after a man attacked them in with a hammer. The horrifying attack happened in Beijing's Xicheng district. Three out of the 20 children were critical but recovered eventually. The attacker was immediately arrested, though until now the police did not reveal what his motive was to attack the children. There were some reports that stated that he was a former maintenance worker at the school. Why are there a lot of school attacks in China? Since 2004, there has been at least one school attack every year. The Chinese government does not make any attempt to address this obvious problem in the country, as deranged citizens are targeting the most innocent and vulnerable lives in society. Mental health is still a touchy topic in the Chinese community, and serious sufferers are usually left untreated and they are sometimes locked away by their families who are ashamed to talk about the issue. Even the media does not address the real reason behind the school attacks and just blames grudges or mental illness in the vaguest way possible. However, psychological reasoning is not enough as the system is also a problem. China is notorious for tamping down the citizen's freedom of speech, the rule of law, tightening the bolts of repression in the country. Every move is being monitored and the country took away the rights of the citizens to demonstrate, vote, report, tweet, or blog about the happenings in the country. The injustice of the mentally ill and the repression of those who want to speak out contributes to the pent up anger of the citizens who were already in their tipping points. And unfortunately, it is easier to attack the vulnerable and innocent lives of children was their grief sends a message. Related Article: All Four Minneapolis Ex Police Officers Charged in George Floyd's Death @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It became evident that more funding was needed than the early grants provided, Beasley said. She said family child care homes also will be eligible for a one-time grant of $3,500 and child care centers would be eligible for a one-time grant of $5,500. Providers will need to submit an application and be in good standing with HHS. Funding can be used on allowable expenses such as utility payments, rent or mortgage payments for child care programs, staff salaries, cleaning supplies, personal protective gear, supplies to care for children. Some of the funds will also be directed to after-school and summer projects. A new Child Care Referral Network website (nechildcarereferral.org) was created to help families find safe, high-quality, licensed child care through a public-private collaboration of agencies and organizations. The site provides a searchable database that connects working parents with child care providers that have open child care spots in their area. The department will use some of the funding to improve data collection and technology to sustain the network and build it into the existing Nebraska child care resource and referral system. Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSLegislature 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. Kate Beckinsale shut down a 'mean spirited' All Lives Matter comment on her Instagram post about Breonna Taylor. Taking to social media on Wednesday, the actress, 46, shared a post by activist Gloria Steinem which demanded justice for the aspiring nurse who was fatally shot by police in her Louisville, Kentucky home. However, when one person criticised her for not speaking up about other victims of police brutality, the star was quick to hit back at them as she told them 'Dont make a fight where there isnt a fight'. Firing back: Kate Beckinsale shut down a 'mean spirited' All Lives Matter comment on her Instagram post about Breonna Taylor Her post, accompanied by an image of a black square with 'Breonna Taylor' written in white, read: 'Dear Mayor Greg Fischer, I join thousands of others in asking you to bring posthumous justice to Breonna Taylor, who was shot eight times in her bed by the Louisville Metro Police after they invaded her apartment looking for a drug trafficker already in custody.' The message which addressed the mayor of Louisville and was initially shared by Gloria Steinman, continued: 'Tamika Palmer is Breonnas mother, and her small request in the face of huge injustice is easily within your power as Mayor and human being: "I want justice for her. I want them to say her name. Theres no reason Breonna should be dead at all." 'As you know, Breonna Taylor was an award-winning emergency medical technician and first responder in Louisville, who loved helping her patients and her community, and who made other people's lives better. Justice: Taking to social media on Wednesday, the actress, 46, shared a post by activist Gloria Steinem which demanded justice for the aspiring nurse who was fatally shot by police in her Louisville, Kentucky home 'She protected you and your city. Now it's your responsibility to show her the same respect. With hope, Kate Beckinsale (link in bio to sign).' However, shortly after sharing her support, a follower was quick to call out the actress for not discussing other victims, with the person adding an All Lives Matter hashtag. They wrote: 'Ok, now do David Dorn. #alllivesmatter', referring to the retired St. Louis police captain who was shot dead while trying to protect his friend's business during recent protests. The Underworld star immediately slammed the follower, noting that their remark did a 'disservice' to Breonna. Appeal: Her post, accompanied by an image of a black square with 'Breonna Taylor' written in white, read: 'Dear Mayor Greg Fischer, I join thousands of others in asking you to bring posthumous justice to Breonna Taylor' Support: When one person criticised her for not speaking up about other victims of police brutality, the star was quick to hit back at them as she told them 'Dont make a fight where there isnt a fight'. She wrote: 'Whats really sad is you being pushy on a post about a womans death and saying what about someone else actually does a disservice to the person you are trying to illuminate. 'Its a f**king tragedy too but you will stop people from honoring him since you are being mean spirited and co opting him with a slogan which offends. Serve him better.' She went on to say that there more productive ways to honour David Dorn. Hitting back: However, when one person criticised her for not speaking up about other victims of police brutality, the star was quick to hit back at them as she told them 'Dont make a fight where there isnt a fight' She continued: 'All these deaths are tragic and could ALL have been avoided. ALL. Someone posting about one does not imply not caring about another. Dont make a fight where there isnt a fight its disrespecting both and all.' Her defiant response sparked several reactions from her other fans, with many praising her for speaking out. Kate Beckinsale is one of a number of celebrities using their platforms to support the Black Lives Movement in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died after an arresting officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. - A suspected murderer of Vera Omozuwa, a UNIBEN student killed inside a church in Edo state, has been apprehended - Edo police command disclosed that the arrest was carried out following a close examination of a fire extinguisher Vera was attacked with - Abike Dabiri-Arewa, NIDCOM chairman, also made the confirmation on her Twiter handle on Tuesday afternoon PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed Following massive outrage that trailed the murder of Vera Omozuwa, police have disclosed that a suspect linked to the death of the late 100-level University of Benin (UNIBEN) student has been apprehended. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), made the confirmation on Tuesday, June 2, via her Twitter page. According to the NIDCOM chairman, Chidi Nwabuzor, spokesman of Edo Police command, confirmed the arrest of the suspect after a fingerprint examination was carried on the extinguisher used to attack the deceased. "According to the spokesman of Edo Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, the suspect was arrested after the fingerprint on the fire extinguisher she was attacked with was examined," Abike Dabiri said on Tuesday afternoon. The Background Legit.ng recalls that Nigerians on social media went agog in fury following the murder of Uwaila by men suspected to be cultists. #JusticeforUwa hashtag was massively trended as Nigerians bemoaned the coordinated violence against women in the country. Omozuwa, a 100-level microbiology student, was cold-bloodedly murdered after her attackers forcefully had canal knowledge of her inside a church close to her school. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Ministry of Women Affairs in Nigeria reacted Earlier, Legit.ng reported that as Nigerians continue to grieve the tragic death of Uwaila Omozuwa, the federal government also raised eyebrows over violence against women. In a tweet by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs on Monday, June 1, the government at the central called for justice for both Uwaila and Tina Ezekiel who were both killed in a blood-soaked circumstance. "Federal Ministry of Women Affairs Nigeria is aware of the recent rising incidences of sexual violence across Nigeria, and it's on a follow-up to Uwaila Omoziwa and Tina Ezekiel deaths that occurred through sexual violence. "Federal Ministry of Women Affairs Nigeria condemn these awful acts and call on all and sundry to rise against this cruelty," the tweet read. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state reacts Meanwhile, the news of the murder of Uwaila has gotten to the Edo government. In response to the sad and unfortunate development, Governor Godwin Obaseki has ordered for the investigation and immediate arrest of the culprits. How trigger-happy police officer shattered Tina's dreams of becoming a doctor | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng Holidays in the Lake District are off-limits for people in England but not for people travelling from abroad. (PA via Getty Images) A minister has admitted a family from abroad will be allowed to holiday in England under the governments new quarantine travel policy but people already in the country cant. Brandon Lewis, appearing on BBC Breakfast, was asked if people from Spain could holiday in the Lake District. He confirmed: As long as they are following the guidance and doing the quarantine as outlined. From Monday, people travelling to England from abroad will be made to self-isolate for 14 days in a bid to restrict the spread of coronavirus. Under the governments latest lockdown rules for those already in the country, people are allowed to travel anywhere in England from their home but only if they are spending their time outdoors and do not spend the night. Presenter Charlie Stayt asked Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary: If you or I wanted to go for a two-week break in the Lake District right now, we cant do that, can we? Were not allowed to do that. If a family from Spain wants to come to the UK and spend two weeks in the Lake District next week, can they do that? Lewis admitted: As long as they are following the guidance and doing the quarantine as outlined, and giving the details to Public Health England (PHE), somebody from abroad can come to the UK but they will have to quarantine for 14 days. Stayt responded: Can you understand how that sounds utterly ridiculous? Brandon Lewis, right, admitted on BBC Breakfast that people from Spain can holiday in the Lake District but those already in England can't. (BBC Breakfast) So you or I, who we know have been following the guidelines, cannot go away and take a break for two days, two weeks, whatever but other people coming in from the rest of Europe can come to this country and they can do exactly that? How does that make sense? Lewis would only say: If people are coming into the UK, yes they will have to quarantine. They will have to give their address, give their details. PHE will be checking up on this. There will be substantial fines for people who dont follow those guidelines, they will have to quarantine here within the UK we are gradually looking at how we can ease the lockdown measures. Story continues On Wednesday, home secretary Priti Patel confirmed the quarantine travel rules will come into force next week for most people arriving in the UK via air, rail or sea. People must tell PHE where they will be staying, with the agency able to report people suspected of non-compliance to the police. Fines can reach up to 3,200. Coronavirus: what happened today Read more about COVID-19 How to get a coronavirus test if you have symptoms How easing of lockdown rules affects you In pictures: How UK school classrooms could look in new normal How public transport could look after lockdown How our public spaces will change in the future Help and advice Read the full list of official FAQs here 10 tips from the NHS to help deal with anxiety What to do if you think you have symptoms How to get help if you've been furloughed Thursday, June 4th, 2020 (3:00 pm) - Score 4,479 The Broadband Stakeholder Group, which is a think-tank that advises the UK Government, has today published a new report from WIK to help highlight some of the barriers that remain (other than coverage) to getting customers to adopt gigabit-capable broadband ISP connections ahead of the copper switch-off. At present nearly 97% of the United Kingdom should be able to access a fixed superfast broadband network (download speeds of 24Mbps+), although over the past few years the Government has gradually switched its focus to fostering full fibre (FTTP) and other gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+) networks that currently only cover around 20% of premises. Most of the gigabit class coverage that exists today comes from Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based infrastructure from multiple operators (Summary of Full Fibre Progress) and also Virgin Medias hybrid fibre DOCSIS network (Virgins D3.1 upgrade will enable 1Gbps+ download speeds to half of all homes by the end of 2021). On top of all these existing deployments, the Government has also committed 5bn to help ensure that every UK home can access a gigabit capable connection by the end of 2025 (here), which will primarily target the final 20% of premises (i.e. the hardest to reach rural and some sub-urban areas) where pure commercial investment models tend to fail. The current focus on deployment is all very well, but its also important to consider the other side of this coin adoption by consumers. Seeking Gigabit Adoption Attracting take-up of gigabit services is vital in order to support the investment that operators are making. At this point were also assuming that any future framework under the Governments 5bn investment will probably involve an element of clawback (i.e. public money being returned by operators as take-up rises), which may be similar to the one seen under the Building Digital UK contracts that helped to boost superfast cover beyond 95% and is continuing to do so today. Clare MacNamara, CEO of BSG, said: No gigabit nation was built in a day, but several, like Sweden, have largely been achieved in the course of a decade, with favourable demand-side conditions a critical factor. As the UK seeks to leverage its position as an evolved digital nation, and deployment of new digital infrastructure accelerates, we need to aim for a similar level of fibre adoption to international competitors so that consumers and businesses benefit from the investments being made. Now is the time to grasp the opportunity to build on the constructive collaboration achieved between industry, government and the regulator. During this national crisis we must implement these recommendations to speed up our recovery and so that we create the conditions needed to bring consumers and businesses with us towards a fibre-enabled UK. On the surface it may seem like a simple matter of build it, and they will come. Indeed full fibre networks seem to do quite a good job at organically growing take-up, which is partly down to the significant step change they bring in performance and reliability. The chart below, which is from a separate report by Analysys Mason, is certainly showing some promise. NOTE: Its best to judge take-up by only looking at areas that completed their roll-out around 1-2 years ago (a lot of FTTP operators target 20-25%+ take-up), otherwise the overall pace of build may dilute the figure. However, despite those positive signs, attracting take-up remains a slow and complicated process due to various obstacles. For example, consumers may be discouraged by the higher prices of a new service or any loss of existing functionality (e.g. copper extension sockets wont work with FTTP as calls are made via VoIP and such lines wont work in a power cut without a battery backup). Meanwhile others might not even desire a faster service (e.g. users with only basic needs). The rising number of gigabit-capable alternative network (AltNet) ISPs also make the market much more confusing for consumers and some people may not even be aware that they can access a faster connection. On top of that you also have the more predictable problems, such as people being tied to long contracts with their existing ISP, which could hamper their ability to switch, or simply being fearful of switching in general. Lest we forget that gigabit broadband somewhat lacks a killer application, although admittedly the ability to transfer data so quickly does make everything feel much more seamless. Indeed people are often attracted just as much by the idea (marketing) of 1Gbps, perhaps even more so than the reality of its practical benefits. One issue here is that youd struggle to take advantage of a full 1Gbps+ connection today as most internet services simply cant run that fast and hardware limits often get in the way. For example, even those 1G LAN ports on your router cant individually hit 1000Mbps due to limitations of their design (960-970Mbps is closer to the real max) and slow WiFi is another issue, although the addition of the 6GHz band in the future may help. Looking to the future Openreach (BT) currently has the biggest job here because of their massive legacy copper network and theyre only just starting the transition to FTTP (here). The current process will give consumers a few years to make a natural migration (supported by messaging and adverts from ISPs), although eventually some users may need to be forcibly switched (this needs to be handled very carefully). Openreach expects to switch-off their old analogue telephone (PSTN) services in favour an all-IP (e.g. VoIP) platform by the end of 2025 (here), which is a process that has already started with existing copper networks adopting IP solutions via SOGEA (here). However it will take years longer, through a phased approach, to fully withdraw the old physical copper line network itself (Openreach will start this process once 75% of an exchange area can access FTTP). The new report from WIK Moving to a fibre-enabled UK: International experiences on barriers to gigabit adoption essentially looks at how other countries (i.e. France, Germany, Italy and Sweden) have handled the various challenges involved with growing take-up and makes a series of recommendations for the UK. WIK also did a related report for the FTTH Council Europe last year (here). The research found differences in approaches and some commonalities. Across the board it found that there isnt always a direct correlation between the pervasiveness of gigabit networks and the pace of consumer and business adoption. The latter may have more to do with attractiveness of alternatives, such as FTTC, which may be perceived to be adequate. The above is particularly true in markets when triple-play (i.e. bundles of broadband, TV and phone) is offered at the same price on lower-speed networks, such as in France and Italy. Conversely, where there are currently only low speed broadband offerings, as in many rural areas, migration on to high speed gigabit services becomes an attractive proposition, particularly when well-marketed in those localities. There is evidence of this in Germany and France as well as in the UK, said WIK. Overall WIK has identified four broad areas where the BSG believe there could be useful lessons for the UK. WIKs Four Recommendations 1. Address advertising and customer communications to improve consumer and business understanding of the benefits of gigabit broadband and ability to distinguish between the broadband networks available to them. The UK Government and Ofcom could consider developing and adopting a labelling system that enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions, including by allowing them to better compare services they are contemplating. Options pursued in other countries include labelling systems based on traffic lights. The Government could also consider providing funding to local authorities to support the marketing of gigabit broadband which is being deployed through Government aid programmes. 2. Incentivise take-up of new gigabit broadband connections and address issues of affordability for businesses and consumers. Building on previous experience, the Government could consider expanding on its existing voucher schemes. Besides extending schemes which subsidise the cost of new connections, the Government could consider whether there may be value in schemes which incentivise customers to upgrade to gigabit-capable broadband lines in areas where such lines have been deployed. Such support could be universal, or, if desired, could be targeted towards those facing specific challenges with affordability or groups which risk being left behind. Vouchers to support the provision of gigabit connectivity for public institutions including schools and hospitals could also be considered. 3. Leverage digitisation to support the economy and society in a post COVID-19 era. The Government could consider revitalising and refocusing initiatives around the digitisation of industry and public services to leverage lessons from the coronavirus experience. Such initiatives could support and extend the potential for remote working, delivery of healthcare and education services, as well as supporting businesses in utilising new technologies such as AI and robotics to aid production and increase efficiency. Support could for example include funding for central as well as local Government to support the delivery of remote healthcare, social care and monitoring, and innovation vouchers for SMEs to support their purchase of consulting and training services to adapt to the use of new technologies. In this context, the Government could also highlight, for example through a national marketing campaign, how gigabit broadband connections could support SMEs in pursuing flexible working and implementing digital solutions and could potentially consider a voucher scheme for this purpose. Tax incentives could also be explored. 4. Facilitate eventual switch-off of the legacy copper network by securing buy-in from all relevant broadband industry stakeholders. Ofcom and Government together with industry, could consider what role if any, could be played by co-investment, in the context of ongoing discussions on migration to fibre networks and switch-off of copper networks. Consideration is also needed, through industry dialogue supported by Government, of how migration to gigabit networks and switch-off of the copper network can be achieved in areas where fibre has been deployed by alternative investors or where there are competing networks. Government, together with Ofcom, could also consider whether any additional measures may be needed to support the deployment of 5G fixed wireless access, especially in the most remote areas. A holistic solution will be needed across the different operators and technologies present to achieve nationwide copper switch-off. Wed add to the above that Ofcom could also do more to require that network builders share their existing coverage data, particularly Openreach and Virgin Media, in order to make it easier for third-parties like ISPreview.co.uk to build more effective broadband coverage checkers that work across multiple networks. At present trying to get any progress on this front is often akin to hitting your head against a brick wall and the industry would benefit from a clear standard. At the same time we shouldnt forget that building gigabit-capable networks isnt just about achieving the top speed, its also about creating a network that will last for decades to come and give people greater reliability and performance from whatever speed they choose. Consumers are generally happiest when they get what they pay for, as opposed to today where for many areas achieving what is advertised by an ISP can be rather more challenging. Overall WIKs report provides quite a good summary of the challenges, even if they are issues that regular readers of ISPreview.co.uk will have seen repeated on these pages more than a few times before over the past few years. Finally, credits to Thinkbroadband for the most recent broadband statistics. Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, said: Delivering the Governments goal of nationwide rollout of full fibre by 2025 has never been more important. As CityFibre and others invest billions to future proof the digital connectivity that increasingly supports our lives and businesses, its essential that consumers are able to easily choose and switch to these new networks. This timely report outlines the steps required to enable consumers to benefit from the rollout, including the need for clearer broadband advertising. We look forward to working with industry colleagues, Government and Ofcom to deliver them. Catherine Colloms, Director of Corporate Affairs and Brand at Openreach, said: We know that new, ultrafast and ultra-reliable broadband can help the UK bounce back more quickly from the Covid-19 crisis. Our new networks going to boost productivity, slash carbon emissions, and level-up our rural and local economies and thats why were aiming to reach 20 million UK homes and businesses with full fibre by the mid-to-late 2020s. But all that wont happen from Openreach building it alone. It is vital that the industry and Government work together to drive faster deployment and rapid adoption, making sure everyone can reap the benefits of full fibre broadband as soon as possible. Lucy Thomas, Corporate Affairs Director at TalkTalk, said: Now more than ever, the whole country needs fast, reliable connectivity, so the race to deliver a full fibre Britain is on. These findings make clear that two things are vital to making it happen: cost, so that consumers and businesses can afford the product and are not priced out; and communications so that people understand all the benefits it brings. By learning the lessons from Europe and elsewhere, we can incentivise take-up and ensure that the full advantages of full fibre are available and affordable for everyone. So its down to industry, the Government and regulators to take this on board. Landmines Kill 12 Afghans in 2 Incidents By Ayesha Tanzeem June 03, 2020 Ten civilians were killed and another four wounded when their van hit a roadside landmine Wednesday morning in Afghanistan's Arghistan District in Kandahar province, according to local police. Jamal Barakzai, a spokesman for Kandahar police, told VOA the victims were residents of a local village. The district, bordering Pakistan, is considered one of the more restive areas of Kandahar, where several similar mine explosions in the past week killed at least 10 civilians in addition to Wednesday's deaths. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has urged the Taliban to stop using the devices, saying they primarily hurt civilians. In a tweet after Wednesday's blast, UNAMA wrote: "Pressure-Plate IEDs in #Afghanistan inflict a devastating toll on Afghan civilians. UNAMA initial findings show Taliban-placed PPIEDs killed 10 civilians & injured 10 more in first 48 hours of June alone in Kunduz & Sar-e-Pul. Stop using these illegal improvised landmines." A separate landmine blast in Paktia province Tuesday night killed the police chief of Sayed Karam District and his guard, according to local police. A source at Paktia provincial police headquarters who wished to remain anonymous told VOA that chief Homayoun Hemat was on his way to a police outpost that was under attack by the Taliban when his vehicle hit the mine. Taj Mohammad Mangal, a member of the Paktia Provincial Council, said police also suffered casualties. The Taliban has not commented on the incident. The militant group announced a three-day cease-fire toward late May to mark the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Fitr that commemorates the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The cease-fire prompted President Ashraf Ghani to reciprocate and announce the release of 2,000 Taliban militants in custody of Afghan forces. The action by both sides seemed to be an effort to reduce tensions and pave the way for the start of intra-Afghan dialogue, when the Taliban and a representative group of Afghans are expected to negotiate the future of their country. The talks are part of a deal signed between the United States and Taliban in February to help bring an end to conflict in Afghanistan. Under the deal, the U.S. announced a timeline to withdraw its forces from the war-torn country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The early draft suggests that the Constitution is created by the states; it sees We the People as citizens of their states, first and foremost. The final text emphasizes national citizenship. And rather than going directly from We the People to the act of establishing the Constitution, it declares the purposes of that act and gives pride of place to the formation of a more perfect Union. UPDATED As people across the country have taken to the streets to protest the police killing of George Floyd, some have focused their frustration on public symbols of the nations racist past: Confederate monuments and symbols. On Monday night, a statute of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was torn from its pedestal in front of his namesake high school in Montgomery, Ala. Because of legal errors in warrants and affidavits, the county district attorney dismissed charges against four people arrested in the incident. The Montgomery, Ala., school district is currently assessing damages to the statue, which is in storage, a district spokeswoman said. Under the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017a state law that bars the removal, renaming and alteration of most Confederate momentsthe school system has up to one year to complete repairs and restore the statue. Alabama is not the only state where residents are reckoning with its Confederate past in the wake of Floyds death. The presence of Confederate monuments and statues across the South has been challenged for years. The death of Floyd, a black man who died as a white police officer knelt on his neck, has reignited the debate. Protesters in cities in Florida, the Carolinas, and Tennessee have also vandalized or toppled local Confederate monuments. In Mississippi, a geometry teacher in the states Hollandale school system faces charges for allegedly vandalizing a Confederate statue on the campus of the University of Mississippi. While more statues and monuments are targeted for destruction or come under consideration for removal, it will take more than spray paint, rope, and trucks to remove the names and likenesses of Confederate leaders from the more than 100 public K-12 schools that honor them. A 2018 Education Week analysis found that more than 100 schools, almost all below the Mason-Dixon line, still bear the names of figures from that era. Like Alabama, South Carolina has a law that restricts the renaming of public schools named for Confederate leaders. In Alabama, the state attorney general has sued the city of Birmingham, after the mayor ordered the removal of a Confederate monument that has stood in the city for more than a century. The attorney general says the mayor, a black man, violated the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, a 2017 law. Protesters in the city had already torn down and vandalized a nearby Confederate statute. Photo credit: A pedestal that held a statue of Robert E. Lee stands empty outside a high school named for the Confederate general in Montgomery, Ala. Four people were charged with criminal mischief after someone removed the statue amid nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota --Kim Chandler, Associated Press The latest: The idea of keeping schools closed in the fall because of safety concerns for children might be "a bit of a reach," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In a phone interview with CNN Wednesday, Fauci noted that children tend to have milder symptoms or even no symptoms when they are infected with COVID-19. What's not yet clear is whether children get infected as frequently as adults, and whether they often pass the infection on to others. Ultimately, he said, the decision to reopen schools needs to be predicated on the level of infection in each community. In the past academic school year, 48 states recommended schools close through the rest of the year as coronavirus began its rapid spread. Some, including schools in Montana and Idaho, opened their doors again for a few weeks before the academic school year finished with the thought of gaining experience in reopening that could be used in the fall. "I hesitate to make any broad statements about whether it is or is not quote 'safe' for kids to come back to school," Fauci told CNN. "When you talk about children going back to school and their safety, it really depends on the level of viral activity, and the particular area that you're talking about. What happens all too often, understandably, but sometimes misleadingly, is that we talk about the country as a whole in a unidimensional way." Fauci seemed to think that keeping schools closed in general was not necessary. "Children can get infected, so, yes, so you've got to be careful," Fauci said. "You got to be careful for them and you got to be careful that they may not spread it. Now, to make an extrapolation that you shouldn't open schools, I think is a bit of a reach." Fauci said it's not premature to start the conversation about reopening schools now. "I think we need to discuss the pros and the cons of bringing kids back to school in September," he said. Stressing the importance of not generalizing, Fauci laid out the spectrum of scenarios for what a return to school in the fall could look like. "In some situations there will be no problem for children to go back to school," he said. "In others, you may need to do some modifications. You know, modifications could be breaking up the class so you don't have a crowded classroom, maybe half in the morning, half in the afternoon, having children doing alternate schedules. There's a whole bunch of things that one can do." Talking about classroom layouts specifically, Fauci underscored the need to "be creative" and create plans based on the degree of infection in the community. He suggested that one option is to space out children at every other desk, or every third desk in order to maintain proper social distancing. US Senate passes Paycheck Protection Program reform bill by unanimous consent The Senate on Wednesday evening passed by voice vote a House-passed Paycheck Protection Program reform bill in the chamber, clearing it for President Donald Trumps signature. Earlier in the afternoon, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin objected to a prior effort to pass the bill via unanimous consent, blocking approval. But Johnson agreed to let the bill pass after getting a letter entered into the record clarifying the authorization period. The bill, which passed the House last week, gives business owners more flexibility and time to use loan money and still get it forgiven as part of the Paycheck Protection Program, set up to help struggling small businesses with emergency loans during the pandemic. The legislation titled the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota. It is intended to make loans more accessible under the program by making its terms of use more flexible The legislation would give small businesses more time to use emergency loans under the program by extending the eight-week period in which they must use the money to qualify for loan forgiveness to 24 weeks. The bill would also give small businesses more flexibility by changing the so-called 75/25 rule, which requires recipients of funds under the program to use three-quarters of the money for payroll costs and to limit other costs to no more than 25% in order to be eligible for loan forgiveness. The new ratio would be at least 60% on payroll and no more than 40% on other costs. Trump administration has picked 5 companies most likely to produce coronavirus vaccine The Trump administration has selected five companies as the most likely to produce a Covid-19 vaccine, a White House Coronavirus task force source tells CNN. The same source added that the decision came from "Operation Warp Speed," which seeks to quickly ramp up production, organize distribution and determine who gets the first doses of a potential vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has previously suggested January as a potential date for a vaccine, but vaccines typically take years to produce. The New York Times first reported that the administration had selected five companies most likely to produce a vaccine. WUHAN TESTS NEARLY 10 MILLION PEOPLE The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected late last year, has tested nearly 10 million people in an unprecedented 19-day campaign to check an entire city. It identified just 300 positive cases, all of whom had no symptoms. The city found no infections among 1,174 close contacts of the people who tested positive, suggesting they were not spreading it easily to others. That is a potentially encouraging development because of widespread concern that infected people without symptoms could be silent spreaders of the disease. "It not only makes the people of Wuhan feel at ease, it also increases people's confidence in all of China," Feng Zijian, vice director of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state broadcaster CCTV. There is no definitive answer yet on the level of risk posed by asymptomatic cases, with anecdotal evidence and studies to date producing conflicting answers. Wuhan was by far the hardest hit city in China, accounting for more than 80% of the country's deaths, according to government figures. A city official announced Tuesday that the city completed 9.9 million tests from May 14 to June 1. If those tested previously are included, virtually everyone above the age of 5 in the city of 11 million people has been tested, said Li Lanjuan, a member of a National Health Commission expert team. "The city of Wuhan is safe," she said at a news conference with city officials. The campaign was launched after a small cluster of cases was found in a residential compound, sparking concern about a possible second wave of infections as Wuhan emerged from a 2 1/2 month lockdown. The industrial city on the Yangtze River in central China spent 900 million yuan (about $125 million) on the tests, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a Wuhan official. The rapid testing of so many people was made possible in part through batch testing, in which samples from up to five people are mixed together, Xinhua reported. If the result is positive, then the people are individually tested. National resources were also mobilized to help, said Wang Weihua, deputy director of the Wuhan Health Commission, according to Xinhua. Together, these efforts raised Wuhan's daily testing capacity from 300,000 to more than one million, she was quoted as saying. NASA, Fitbit get FDA approval for ventilators to help virus patients NASA and Fitbit received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for their ventilators designed to help COVID-19 patients. NASAs design, dubbed the VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), is a temporary piece of equipment that uses an internal compressor and is meant to last three to four months. Because the VITAL runs on parts that are not typically in the medical device supply chain it shouldnt have any impact on need for supplies for current ventilators. The FDA also added the Fitbit Flow to its list of authorized ventilators. The device, which has quietly been in the works for some time, is a continuous respiratory support system that also includes an FDA-approved manual resuscitator as part of the machine. The company calls it a a high-quality, easy-to-use, and low-cost automatic resuscitator that is designed for emergency ventilation. COVID-19 has challenged all of us to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity, and use everything at our disposal to more rapidly develop products that support patients and the healthcare systems caring for them, said Fitbit CEO James Park. We saw an opportunity to rally our expertise in advanced sensor development, manufacturing, and our global supply chain to address the critical and ongoing need for emergency ventilators and help make a difference in the fight against this global virus. CNN contributed to this report. Portlanders returned to the citys core Wednesday for the seventh night to protest police brutality, amid a wave of demonstrations spurred by the killing of a black man by police in Minneapolis. George Floyd died after a white police officer kneeled on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes. Three other officers stood nearby as Floyd pleaded for air. On Tuesday, prosecutors in Minnesota announced that all four would face charges in connection with Floyds death. The officer who knelt on Floyd had already been charged but now faces a more severe accusation of second-degree murder. In Portland, demonstrations demanding systemic change have continued to grow. More than 10,000 people gathered downtown on Tuesday, and several thousand people converged Wednesday in the Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Rev. E.D. Mondaine, who leads the Portland chapter of the NAACP, called for help to exterminate the disease of racism and to end racist systems that have choked out the hope of better days. Its time for you to rise up, exterminators, and claim what belongs to you, he said. Mondaine and others used a sound system to amplify their calls for police reforms. One person told the crowd the demonstrations would continue into the future. Were going to be here every day. We dont have an end date. But the event made a frenetic turn a little after 9 p.m., as the crowd reacted to a rumor that a group had been confronted by police. Thousands of people cleared out from the park and left in different directions. Ultimately, the group converged again outside the Multnomah County Justice Center. A crowd remained there as Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning. Late Wednesday night, Portland Police Chief Jami Resch released a video statement about the ongoing demonstrations. We understand the protests occurring in our city and around the country are monumental," she said. This is a watershed moment for our nation, for our city and for our bureau. She said she wants people to trust law enforcement and decried how some of previous protests had escalated to vandalism and other criminal activity. We support you and we support your peaceful demonstrations, she said. We want you to exercise your First Amendment rights and honor George Floyd, while also calling for action. In recent days, Portland police have reacted in two main ways to the protests: by staying away from peaceful protests and by breaking up unlawful assemblies with tear gas and loud, short explosives if warnings to leave go unheeded. The bureau displayed both tactics Tuesday and during previous nights. As Wednesday nights protests got underway, the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called on police and public officials to stop using indiscriminate weapons against protesters, such as tear gas and stun grenades. The group also called on police to adopt practices that do not heighten the risk of contracting the new coronavirus, which has had a disproportionate impact on people of color. Using tear gas and other chemical weapons that attack respiratory systems, cause coughing and make it hard to breathe in response to protests about the longstanding racial injustices in our communities is excessive and morally repugnant. Hours earlier, at a Wednesday morning press conference, Resch defended officers use of force. She responded in particular to a video showing police ramming through a barricade near protesters hours earlier. The collision occurred after most protesters left downtown and only hundreds of protesters remained. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who oversees the police bureau, thanked the majority of protesters for remaining peaceful. More than 10,000 came together peacefully to demand accountability and justice, Wheeler said at the Wednesday morning press conference. They took responsibility for keeping one another and our city safe. Later in the day, Wheeler tweeted that he had signed a pledge promoted by former President Barack Obama to review police rules, seek community input and reform use of force policies. Protesters gathered again Wednesday evening at a city-owned green space on Southeast Stark Street and 12th Avenue, a site that has become a launching pad for marches into downtown. Noelani Johnson decided to attend the protests for the first time to press for criminal justice reforms. Im here because Im tired of feeling like an outcast in my country, and I want to see changes, she said. "I think the turnout here has been really impressive. It shows that racism is finally being recorded, and that weve all had enough. As the crowd grew in southeast Portland, smaller demonstrations emerged throughout the metro area. Dozens of people gathered in Columbia Park in North Portland waving signs of support for police reform. The scene led to a chorus of car horns as drivers passed by on busy Lombard Street. In St. Helens, a high school student organized a march where demonstrators shouted George Floyds name in unison. Hundreds of people then gathered outside the Columbia County Courthouse, the end point of the march. In downtown Portland, protesters began to converge in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center and in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Three 18-year-old women came together to the protests to stand in solidarity with people of color and called for city officials to defund the Portland Police Bureau. I think its time to start a revolution," said Shea Rider, who graduated this year from Westview High School in Beaverton. We need to act. We need justice for George Floyd. Nearby, Alexandra Lopez, 17, and Jewel Knox, 15, carried signs that said, No justice, no peace, and Hands up, dont shoot. Lopez said she believes the protests are making a difference. She cited the charges announced earlier Wednesday against the three addition officers involved in Floyds arrest. I feel cops dont care, said Lopez, of Portland. They dont care about what we have to say or how we feel. Knox, who also lives in Portland, said she attended the protests because there needs to be a change. There have been so many lives that have been lost, she said. By 6:30 p.m., the crowd in southeast Portland had grown to thousands of people. Many held handmade signs with messages advocating for police reform or justice for Floyd. One sign said, The color of our skin is not a crime. Some people sat near the edge of the huge crowd and handed out water bottles and snacks. Other people carried signs that advertised free hugs. Isiah Aceves, 23, of Portland, said he attended the protest knowing that he was increasing his risk of contracting the new coronavirus. But the reason for the mass gathering is legitimate, he said. It really does feel like a movement," Aceves said. "Its something where we do have a sense of solidarity throughout every being here. Margaret Jacobsen, from West Linn, attended the gathering with her husband, ex-husband and two children. Jacobsen, who is black, said she has talked to her children since they were 4 or 5 about police violence. "Its been an ongoing conversation for the majority of their lives, she said. Jacobsen said she felt conflicted about the debate around protests remaining peaceful. "I dont think we should ever censor peoples anger or frustration that way, especially when theres fear around being murdered. A speaker said at the gathering said a group of seven leaders, including six who are black, had organized the Southeast Portland demonstration. The speaker said organizers soon plan to move the protests outside of central Portland and to other parts of the city. Wednesday night, though, the group marched from Southeast Stark Street, across the Morrison Bridge, then collect in the downtown waterfront park. Around 6:45 p.m., the group began to move toward downtown. Shortly after 7 p.m., the crowd had reached the Morrison Bridge as they chanted, Hands up, dont shoot. The Tom McCall Waterfront Park began to fill up even before marchers reached downtown. Ariane Audett, 25, a Portland State student, said she wanted to join in pressing for reforms of the criminal justice system, which disproportionately impacts African Americans. We need some serious changes, justice reform and police policies, Audett said. By 7:30 p.m., the marchers filled much of the Morrison Bridge. The crowd paused on the bridge, and a speaker near the front shared the story of Breonna Taylor, a black woman from Louisville shot and killed by police in March after officers arrived at her home to serve a no-knock warrant. Despite the crowd, the bridge was not blocked off to vehicle traffic, and a driver in a silver pickup approached the crowd and tried to cross the bridge. After several moments, the crowd parted to let him through. People chanted Peaceful protest as the driver navigated past. At 7:45 p.m., the march resumed toward the waterfront park. As they walked from the bridge on to Naito Parkway, the crowd chanted, " I cant breathe. We cant breathe. I cant breathe. We cant breathe. The group filled the entire street and spilled on to the sidewalks. Police did not appear during the march, but did tweet out information about where the crowd was gathering and said the crowd remained peaceful. "Thank you everyone who is participating in this peaceful march, the police bureau said at 7:50 p.m. By 8 p.m., thousands of marchers reached waterfront park, and the crowd continued to grow. Some people set up a sound system and posted welcome signs. Over the next hour, several people addressed the crowd. There is no safer place to be than in the company of hope, and I want you to know that you are our hope, said Rev. E.D. Mondaine, the Portland NAACP president. The voices of the people are music to the ears of God. Around 9 p.m., though, the speeches abruptly ended, after someone told the crowd that other protesters were fleeing police on the east side of Portland. Police had not disclosed any information about a confrontation on Twitter. A speaker first asked a few hundred people to leave together to help the group safely make it to downtown. But people began to leave in mass. Someone announced that the remaining speeches were canceled and asked people to stay calm and file out. People streamed out of the park in multiple directions. At Southwest Second Avenue and Jefferson Street, Oregon State Police troopers were stationed, holding batons. By 9:20 p.m., hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Chapman Square park across the street from the Multnomah County Justice Center, an area of downtown that had been fenced off to demonstrators for two days. The Justice Center, which houses the downtown jail, remained fenced off. A loudspeaker told people to stay away from the fence. A separate group of thousands of people marched throughout downtown Portland and toward the Burnside Bridge. A chant of Peaceful protest broke out as marchers started to walk east over the bridge, then turned around and began to walk south toward the Justice Center. By 9:30 p.m., the crowd gathered at the Justice Center had grown to thousands. Portland police said on Twitter criminal activity, had occurred, including people who were shining lasers at police. An Oregonian/OregonLive reporter also saw the lasers beams. The crowd continued to grow outside the Justice Center. Although many people stood in the park, hundreds of people had gathered near the fence as of 10 p.m. Police stood on the other side, wearing helmets and tactical vests. The crowd of thousands did not join in a unified chant, but several smaller groups did try to lead chants of Peaceful protest. One person played a drum. Some people used megaphones to encourage people to kneel in front of the fence. Around 10:15 p.m., officers wearing plain clothes beneath their helmets and vests talked with people gathered near the fence. One officer told people that nonviolence allows their important message to get out. On the other side of the fence, a demonstrator responded by asking for a guarantee that police would not use tear gas. Aerial footage from a KPTV helicopter showed that some people tried to make space between the crowd and the fence, while other people stood next to it. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., police announced over a loud speaker that they did not intend to engage the crowd and asked the group to remain peaceful. Police said there were children at the event. Around 11 p.m., police again reiterated the message they had been sharing throughout the night. We support everyones First Amendment rights and want this to stay peaceful, police said on Twitter. By midnight, a large crowd remained gathered outside the Justice Center. One person used a megaphone to say the protest would soon end, then resume again Thursday in Southeast Portland. Some people started marching north away from the crowd. Police tweeted that someone had passed a donut through the fence to an officer. Outside the justice center, though, officers pointed bright lights in the direction of Chapman Square. Police used a loudspeaker to tell people there to stop building a structure that could be used to throw projectiles. Oregonian/OregonLive journalists did see at least one bottle thrown over the fence toward officers. By 12:30 a.m. Thursday, hundreds of protesters were still outside the Justice Center. Most of the demonstrators later dispersed, police said, but agitators remained in the area. And in the early hours of Thursday, police said the agitators set fires and vandalized buildings. An agitator hit a security officer in the head, prompting police intervention, according to police, and a police officer was hit in the jaw with a full can beer. Police said they eventually told those remaining that a civil disturbance had been declared and that force or crowd control munitions would be used against them if they didnt leave. Police had dispersed the protesters by 4 a.m. Police said they arrested an unspecified amount of people and towed two cars associated with the agitators. Police have not released the number of people arrested during the citys seventh wave of demonstrations. Resch, the police chief, called out agitators in a statement early Thursday. We have witnessed a pattern of behavior in the past several days where select agitators remain and target the police, engage in crimes, and cause disorder, Resch said. We will continue our efforts to identify, arrest, and hold responsible those who engage in crimes in our City. She also praised peaceful protesters, saying Wednesday night was a great example of a safe and responsible demonstration that sends a powerful message. Portland was just one of many Oregon cities where demonstrators turned out Wednesday. Protests also occurred in Salem, Eugene, Happy Valley, Medford, among other towns. Beth Nakamura, Dave Killen, Eder Campuzano, Kale Williams, K. Rambo and Jim Ryan of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report. -- Noelle Crombie ncrombie@oregonian.com -- Joe Freeman jfreeman@oregonian.com -- Jayati Ramakrishnan jramakrishnan@oregonian.com The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed CBI's review petition challenging the bail to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in INX Media case. In October 2019, CBI had moved Supreme Court with a review petition challenging its order granting bail to Chidambaram in INX Media corruption case registered by the investigating body. Chidambaram was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 21 last year in connection with the INX Media case. "Application for oral hearing the review petition in open court is rejected. We have perused the Review Petition and the connected papers carefully and are convinced that the order, of which review has been sought, does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration. The Review Petition is, accordingly, dismissed," the bench of Justices P Banumathi, AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy said while dismissing the petition, NDTV reported. The CBI registered its case on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister.Subsequently, the ED had lodged a money-laundering case in connection with the matter. Menawhile, earlier this month, Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed an e-chargesheet against former finance minister P. Chidambaram, his son Karti Chidambaram, and others in the INX Media money laundering case in a Delhi Court. The password-protected prosecution complaint (chargesheet) was filed through an e-facility before the court of Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar in Delhi on Monday. Refusing to take cognizance of the matter, the judge ordered the agency to file a hard copy of the chargesheet once the normal court functioning begins. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Renault India gives 15% hike, promotions to boost morale of staff Also read: Rs 2 lakh crore blow to banks if interest during loan moratorium waived, RBI cautions SC By Cao Weiwei It is reported in May that the US Department of Defense (DoD) issued a memo barring anyone confirmed with COVID-19 from enlisting. "During the medical history interview or examination, a history of COVID-19, confirmed by either a laboratory test or a clinician diagnosis, is permanently disqualifying," the memo reads. Pentagon spokesperson Jessica Maxwell confirmed as authentic the memo but refused to explain why COVID-19, in comparison with other diseases, would be a veto. The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to ravage the world, and the US has topped the world in the number of both confirmed cases and deaths, with outbreaks at multiple military bases and vessels. The Pentagons new rule on enlistment at such a moment mirrored how much the top military leaders are worried about the coronavirus. First of all, the highly infectious virus has seriously disrupted the US militarys strategic deployments and fluttered the top brass at Pentagon so much that the permanent ban on the enlisting of confirmed COVID-19 patients reflected Americas ambitions to maintain its hegemony. Studies show that the MERS virus that broke out in the Middle East in 2012 had a basic reproduction number (R0) of 0.9, whereas COVID-19 has an R0 of higher than 3, making it one of the most infectious viruses in history. Thats why the struggle to stop this virus, a common enemy of humankind, from spreading across the world is called the third world war. The combat force losses and mental panic caused by the pandemic has put the US in a very passive situation as far as its global strategic deployment is concerned. Since Americas global hegemony is based on its powerful military strength, the new rule that bans COVID-19 patients, even recovered ones, from enlisting comes as no surprise as the US wants to maintain its military deterrence, superiority, and hegemony by avoiding the same situation in the future. Second, a deep and thorough study of the coronavirus may be an important reason that prompted the Pentagon to launch such a new enlistment rule. The DoD memo only barred COVID-19 patients even if they are cured, whereas applicants with other toxic diseases or non-chronic diseases can still be enlisted. The US military explained that they took the move because the knowledge about COVID-19 is very limited at the moment and there is no way to evaluate whether its damages to the human respiratory system are permanent, whether there is a possibility of relapse or other complications, and whether the vaccine will give everyone immunity. Several universities and scientific research institutes in the US have made substantial breakthroughs in coronavirus study and vaccine development since February, and the results by both official and private institutions have been sent to the White House and the Pentagon promptly. Its highly probable that the DoDs rule to permanently disqualify COVID-19 patients from enlisting is based on some of the research results or suggestions, and the country has long had deep and detailed knowledge about the virus. Third, the permanent ban on COVID-19 patients from enlisting is extremely discriminatory. Apart from the well-known racial discrimination in the US, the discrimination against patients of infectious diseases is prevalent in the US military too. However, the new enlisting ban will make Pentagons already hard recruitment work even more difficult, although it has already lowered the bar to expand the scope of potential recruits. To date, there have been a cumulative total of more than 1.8 million COVID-19 cases reported in US, averaging five confirmed cases per every 1,000 Americans. Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the US Surgeon General, who oversees the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, warned that there higher infection rate among young Americans and the ban amid the pandemic will undoubtedly make it harder to find suitable recruits. Therefore, the DoD has recently adjusted the ban. Russian News Agency Sputnik reported that Matthew P. Donovan, US Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, said the Pentagon had revoked the draft that permanently disqualified COVID-19 survivors from joining the military. Why did the Pentagon change its latest enlistment rule in just a month? Perhaps it is a choice of no choices given the current reality of its recruitment work since its impossible for Americas military deterrence to sustain without ample soldiers. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The President's fifth State of the Nation Address next month may take place in Malacanang instead of the Batasang Pambansa, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Thursday. Sotto said Senate and House representatives are currently in talks with the Office of the President and security on the new venue. "There is a suggestion that the President will deliver his State of the Nation Address in Malacanang," he told the Senate during a session. "As we speak the Presidential Security Group and the Office of the President is already having talks with the Senate secretariat and the Senate Secretary and also Secretary General of the House." Sotto added that senators and congressmen have the option choose where to stay to watch the SONA in July. The yearly SONA is traditionally held at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City but lawmakers have earlier raised concerns on safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro Manila is currently under general community quarantine, with limited businesses operating, to contain the spread of the infectious disease. More than 20,000 people in the country have caught COVID-19 and 984 of them have died. Meanwhile, 4,248 have survived. NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VNUE, Inc. (OTC:VNUE) reported today that the company has made significant progress on its Soundstr MRT (Music Recognition Technology) platform, and that alpha testing has been ongoing. According to management, public beta testing with invitation-only early adopters should begin within the next month to six weeks, if not sooner. The Soundstr platform consists of a cloud-based backend, which includes an admin portal, and custom software deployed on the proprietary Soundstr Pulse tablet-based hardware devices. Soundstr identifies music played at radio stations and physical establishments, such as bars, restaurants, and other businesses, and when deployed, will help ensure that the correct stakeholders such as songwriters and publishers are compensated for public performances of their works. Further to this, because of highly sophisticated tracking technologies, the company expects that the data collected can be used to reduce licensing costs to businesses, whilst simultaneously encouraging other businesses to become properly licensed, due to the aforementioned lower costs. In the US alone, the largest PROs (Performing Rights Organizations) collect hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties from "general licensing," which represents only a fraction of the potential revenue from properly licensed businesses revenue that could be in the pockets of songwriters and artists. "This is a monumental step forward in the deployment of our platform," said Zach Bair, CEO of VNUE. "When we acquired the Soundstr technology, the platform was still very much in development, and although about 80% complete, there was still a lot to be done. Our dev team has been working nonstop. They have modernized the code, updated numerous libraries, and implemented updated processes and architecture which will allow it to rapidly scale, as we prepare to start adding radio station and venues into an active public beta test. Thus far, our internal testing indicates that Soundstr is identifying about 99% of the music being monitored, creating an indisputable audit trail so that songwriters and publishers can ensure they are being properly compensated, and that business owners are only being charged for music that is actually being played." The data that is collected and analyzed with Soundstr will then be parsed and utilized to dive deeper for even more comprehensive data, such as detailed publisher, writer, and PRO information. VNUE's goal is to have the most complete set of data for any music that is performed in the public space around the globe, and eventually to offer a direct licensing solution based on a "pay-per-play" model. Radio stations or businesses interested in receiving an invitation to take part in the public beta are encouraged to send the company an email at [email protected]. General inquiries may be sent to [email protected]. About VNUE, Inc. (www.vnue.com) VNUE, Inc., (OTC: VNUE) is a leading music technology company dedicated to further monetizing the live music experience for artists, labels, writers, and publishers, with products such as its set.fm instant content distribution platform (www.set.fm), exclusive license partner and "instant live" pioneer DiscLive (www.disclive.net), and protecting the rights of artists and writers with the company's groundbreaking Soundstr music recognition technology (MRT) platform (www.soundstr.com). The veteran entrepreneurs, artists and songwriters behind VNUE, led by music and tech executive Zach Bair, are passionate about the future of their industry and ensuring that rights holders' value is not lost amid always-changing technology. For more information, please visit www.vnue.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues and any payment of dividends on our common stock, statements related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods and the other risks set forth in Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q as filed from time to time. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in the expansion of our existing and new service lines, noting there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long term. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein. Stockholders and potential investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. SOURCE VNUE, Inc. Related Links http://www.vnue.com A two-member division bench of the Gauhati high court (HC) on Thursday issued notices to the Centre, Assam government and others while taking up a suo motu case (on its own motion) against a proposed move to allow coal mining in Assams Dehing Patkai rainforest. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Ajay Lamba and Justice Soumitra Saikia, informed the court that it has taken up the matter suo motu while hearing two public interest litigations (PILs) on the same issue. So far, three PILs have challenged the recent approval granted by the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) allowing opencast coal and underground coal mining in a section of the Dehing Patkai forest, said advocate Santanu Borthakur, one of the petitioners. The court issued notices to the Centre, Assam government, Coal India Limited (CIL), NBWL, mines and mineral department of Assam, state home department, Assam Police and others and fixed July 20 as the next date of hearing of the case. All the respondents have been asked to file affidavits by July 14. All the PILs wanted a ban on coal mining in the forest. But our plea specifically sought a declaration of the entire rainforest as a heritage site as per provision of Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, said Borthakur. Spread across 937 square kilometres, Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve falls in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts in Upper Assam and is located within the periphery of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, which is said to be the largest lowland tropical rainforest in the country. On April 17, National Board of Wild Life (NBWL), under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), had recommended coal mining to be allowed in a portion of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve if it fulfils 28 pre-conditions. NBWL allowed CIL to conduct opencast coal mining in 98.59 hectares of the reserve forest. The state-run CIL has been carrying out mining in 57 hectares of the reserve and the fresh recommendation allowed it to do mining in another 41 hectares. Besides elephants, leopards, hoolock gibbons, pangolins and bears, Dehing Patkai is also home to over 200 species of birds, various replies, and many species of butterflies and orchids. The habitats of these species, and the foraging routes of elephants, are likely to be affected by indiscriminate coal mining activities. The NBWL approval has led to widespread opposition in Assam against the proposed coal mining move. State forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya also visited the site recently and assured the people that there would be no compromise on protecting Assams forests and rich biodiversity. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking part in his third international summit in a week as Canada campaigns for a coveted United Nations Security Council seat on a platform of helping to rebuild the post-pandemic world. Todays summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is aimed at ensuring poor countries will have ready access to an eventual vaccine for the deadly coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Trudeau will join leaders from 50 countries and major organizations, including philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, at the international pledging conference, which hopes to raise nearly $10 billion for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance the leading agency for distributing vaccines to less-developed countries. He has already announced Canadas five-year, $600-million pledge to GAVI, which has immunized 760 million children and prevented 13 million deaths in the worlds poorest countries since 2000. Trudeaus participation in the virtual conference comes one day after he delivered an address to a virtual summit of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States. He told members that Canada is committed to helping developing countries hardest hit by the pandemic to survive the crisis. His remarks underlined a message he delivered last week when he co-hosted a UN-sponsored conference aimed at developing a co-ordinated global recovery plan that leaves no country behind. Without a global plan, the UN estimates the pandemic could slash nearly US$8.5 trillion from the world economy over the next two years, forcing 34.3 million people into extreme poverty this year and potentially 130 million more over the course of the decade. Trudeaus leading role in the international conferences comes just two weeks before the UNs 193 ambassadors are to start voting by secret ballot to fill two, non-permanent seats on the Security Council. Canada is competing for one of the two seats against Norway and Ireland. The June 17 vote is to be conducted without a full meeting of the General Assembly because of physical distancing requirements to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Closer to home, Trudeau is also expected today to announce when seniors can expect to receive a promised emergency boost to the old age security pension and guaranteed income supplement to help them defray additional costs caused by the pandemic. On May 12, Trudeau announced the federal government would provide a tax-free, one-time payment of $300 for seniors eligible for the OAS and an additional $200 for those eligible for the GIS. That money totalling some $2.5 billion has not yet begun to flow. In April, the federal government spent $1.3 billion to provide seniors with a one-time special payment through the goods and services tax credit, worth an average of $375 for each single senior. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. US senator moves to curb Trump's 'vague authority' to use military against protesters Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 8:02 PM Legislation is being introduced in the US Congress to limit President Donald Trump's authority to use military forces against protesters, seeking justice for George Floyd, an African American killed by a white police officer last week. Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday that his resolution was aimed at reining in the commander-in-chief's powers under the Insurrection Act. "I will be proposing legislation to reform the Insurrection Act to establish restrictions on the president's now very vague ... authority," Blumenthal told reporters. The lawmaker further said on Twitter that the resolution would change Trump's "undefined power." "Right for the DC National Guard to investigate this apparent abuse in use of military force. Disproportionate responses in DC & across the country cannot go unchecked. The Senate Armed Services Committee must conduct additional oversight with scrutiny." Twenty-one Democrat and Independent senators, meanwhile, called on the Defense Department not to use US troops to crush nationwide protests against police brutality and racism. "We urge you to refrain from using the United States military to diminish or suppress the peaceful, free expression of Americans who are exercising their civil liberties in a call to hold government institutions to a higher standard in the fight for racial justice," the senators wrote. The initiative was spearheaded by Democratic Senators Michael Bennet, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey, Sherrod Brown as well as Blumenthal. This is while US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has broken with Trump on using the country's military forces to tackle the protests. "Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled," Trump said at the White House this week. "If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the US military and quickly solve the problem for them." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MILFORD A heartbeat coming from a loudspeaker drowned out the noise of traffic around the Milford Green when 16 members of the clergy and 100-plus prayer-service attendees chose to lie prone, kneel or stand for the final eight minutes and 46 seconds. The action took place as the Unified Prayer Gathering held by the Milford Clergy Association Thursday recognized the amount of time authorities say a police office kept his knee on George Floyds neck. As we end this prayer gathering today, we want you to be a part of our prayer for the nation, said Pastor Alfred D. Watt from the Cornerstone Christian Center. All news reports confirm that George Floyd laid on the ground for eight minutes and 46 seconds, being tortured and being in anguish, as a police officer held his knee upon his neck and his heart slowly stopped beating and his life ended. But Watt said he does not believe that it is Gods desire that the number 846 be etched in minds in association with racism, hatred, helplessness, and hopelessness. Rather, that when you think of 846, we want you to be reminded of the power that God has given you during trials like these, Watt said. Floyd, 46, was killed May 25 by a Minneapolis police officer. Watt was the last of seven clergy to speak Thursday at the 50-minute ceremony. The Rev. Michael Bulkley, senior associate pastor at the Kingdom Life Christian Church, who spoke first, said the purpose Thursday was simple. Our country is broken. When something is broken and needs fixing you must start someplace, Bulkley said. This afternoon is not a protest, they are necessary, but equally necessary is that churches stand together in prayer, unity, and love. We represent churches from diverse backgrounds, culturally, theologically, generationally, he said. But we are bound together by the recognition that we must stand against injustice, we must pray for peace, and we must love as Christ loved. The Clergy Association had met with the Milford Health Department Tuesday to talk about the reopening of churches. Members stuck around afterward to talk. They came away with the decision to hold a prayer meeting. The genesis was all of us agreed that we had to do something, Bulkley said. We believe unified prayer is part of the healing. Our churches are from every theological perspective. The thing that binds our hearts together is that we recognize that injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. said that injustice anywhere is injustice for all. That is our purpose here. Toward that end, there wasnt a mass announcement. We waited until Wednesday night to tell each congregation because we didnt want to risk outside agitation, Bulkley said. The enemy is hatred and misunderstanding. Today is about unity and prayer. Earl Dancy and Melissa Dancy learned about the gathering following Wednesday service at Kingdom Life. Im 59 years old, I was born in Missouri and I think people in New England area have a different experience as it relates to race relations, said Earl Dancy, who noted he had the personal experience of having a police officer officer unholster his gun during an incident in Danbury. My mother walked during the bus boycotts when she was pregnant, Earl Dandy said. It is a little more personal to me, but what weve found is that through all the years of frustration of us not being able to see eye-to-eye and hearing each others experiences and perspectives, that in this difficult time there is a new opportunity for people to have a conversation that allows for understanding. The Dancys met while attending the University of Connecticut 40 years ago. We are Milford residents, and I was brought up in Norwalk, Melissa Dancy said. I think this gathering is wonderful, I think it is a good thing. Weve been experiencing issues all our lives. Before all this started (protests, solidarity, prayer gatherings), we thought Here we go again, and that nothing is going to happen, that there is going to be no change. Now we are hopeful and that it wont end here, she said. We have two adult children and a male son, and a male grandchild, so, I want better for all of them. Earl Dancy said: People must understand both sides of the equation. The first house we bought was in Bridgeport. We bought it from a retiring police officer who was completing his 20 years, he was selling, and he was going to move. The last six months he was on the force he was hospitalized three times from being on the job. Breaking down walls The Rev. Matt Lindeman, of St. Peters Episcopal Church, spoke about unity between churches and congregants of all colors, creeds, and backgrounds. People are imperfect. The Holy Spirit has the way of taking imperfect people and calling them in to do things greater than they could ask for or imagine, Lindeman said. It is in that spirit that we unite today as imperfect people, as representatives of Gods incredible human family In his prayer, Lineman said: Take away the arrogance and hatred, which infects our hearts. Break down the walls that separate us, unite us in bonds of love to work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth. Milford Mayor Ben Blake said said he appreciates the clergy association bringing those present together praying for hope, praying for peace as we work toward social justice. The video that everyone saw, and what happened to George Floyd was horrific. It was a real tragedy and reminded us of the hurt and pain, Blake said. His death shook institutes in government. For me, my job as a public official is to work with all our public employees, and their job is to serve the entire community. It is everyones responsibility to stand up against racism. It is everyones responsibility to stand up and bring change and guarantee social justice. Pastor Curran Bishop of Christ Presbyterian Church, was asked to pray for leaders, influencers and those in authority. Father, we want to lift our politicians and political leaders because you tell us to pray for them, Curran prayed. You tell us that they need our prayers enable to lead us in justice. God, to be your servant for our good, they (those in authority) need your guidance, your mercy, your empowering. The Rev. Horace A. Hough from the First Baptist Church was asked to talk about for the Floyd family, as they laid George Floyd to rest and peace in the observances to follow. Hough added healing prayers for Breonna Taylor, 26, who was killed last March during a Louisville police raid of her Kentucky apartment, and Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed by two white men in February while jogging in Georgia. As we come to you today, understanding that the injustice that has happened and has allowed these families to suffer a loss that they could never have imagined, Hough said. We ask that you be with them even in these times, wrap them your love, wrap them in your peace that passes all understanding, wrap them in your comfort so that when the tears run down their face and they dont know what to do and nobody else knows what to say, well we ask that you be right there by their side ... knowing you can speak to their heart. Hough added: Lord for those like the Floyd family, the Taylor family and the Arbery family, who have offered up their grief to the entire world so that can scream from the rooftops I, too, am American and that others can scream that they, too, are American. The Rev. Carleton Giles of United Presbyterian Church addressed eradication of racism and police brutality. We hold up today women and men who are in positions of authority and we intercede for those in Law enforcement everywhere, some who have joined us this afternoon, Giles said. Men and women that have committed themselves to serving you by serving others. Giles prayed: Our world, our society has become rife with racist tendencies that are not like you. We have perverted your vision for what we should be. It seems we dont want to be together. We want to be separate. We dont want to work together; we want to work apart from each other. It seems that we have become a society and culture of them versus us. We pray God for forgiveness and reconciliation. We come to you to eradicate racism in all its ugly forms and most especially in our public servants who have dedicated themselves to protect and serve, Giles prayed. Keep them safe from all hurt, harm and danger. Fix their minds on things above, as they do this work to which they are assigned. Have them be resolute on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, because these virtues are admirable. Milford Police Chief Keith Mello and six officers attended the service. This is what Milford is about, Mello said. Im not talking only about the people that live in Milford, Im talking about the people that come from outside of Milford and take it to heart. We were proud and happy to be invited. This was an expression of understanding, compassion and love. The Rev. Karl Duetzmann, with the United Church of Christ in Devon, spoke of healing for the brokenhearted and for the broken land. My task is to pray for our nation, Duetzmann said. Help us to put aside our feelings, jumbled, confused and angry as they may be at this time. Help us to remember your high calling to us to be agents of forgiveness and reconciliation, love and peace, healing and hope, in a world that is darkened by fear, hatred and brokenness. In his closing, Pastor Alfred D. Watt said: My prayer is this that you will leave here today knowing that as a people of God and at a time when most of this nation is lamenting over the death of a man who seems as though he lost his life beneath the authority and the weight of hatred and racism, I want to remind you that the Lord says that the people of God have the authority to bring healing, peace, love and reconciliation to our land. God has given us those keys, and I want to use those keys today so for the next eight minutes and 46 seconds that we are together I want to give you an opportunity to pray in silence, not just in recognition of George Floyds life and the heartbeat that ended in his life but also in recognition of the power that God has given us to bring forth peace, love and reconciliation. As you hear a heartbeat behind the silence of our prayers, let it not only be reminding you of George Floyds heartbeat that at one point stopped, but of Gods heartbeat that is weeping and waiting for us to bind to heaven love, peace, reconciliation, and his power. May the peace of God guide you as you go from here. Clergy and churches included Kingdom Life Christian Church: Pastors Michael Bulkley, Marco Palumbo and David Thomas, ministers Brandon Kellum and Lee Avellanet; St. Peters Episcopal Church: Rev. Matt Lindeman; United Presbyterian Church: Rev. Carleton Giles; First Baptist Church: Rev. Horace A. Hough; Trinity Lutheran Church: Rev. Chris Files; Woodmont United Church of Christ: Rev. Kimball Cartwright; Christ Presbyterian Church: Pastor Curran Bishop; United Church of Christ of Devon: Rev. Karl Duetzmann; First United Church of Christ: Pastors Rev. Adam E. Eckhart and Ashley Grant; and Cornerstone Christian Center: Pastors Alfred Watt and Todd Foster. william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @blox354 Subscriber content preview REDMOND The Liberty Mutual data center, at 15319 N.E. 45th St., sold for a little over $15.3 million, according to King County records. The buyer for what's also called the Columbia Building was Microsoft. . . . With Akhilesh Yadav announcing that the Samajwadi Party (SP) would not field any candidate against Shivpal Yadav from the Jaswantnagar seat in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, differences between the nephew and uncle may be slowly coming to an end. Recently, the Samajwadi Party had also written to the UP legislative assembly taking back its plea for disqualification of Shivpal Yadav from the House. We have made adjustments for Shivpalji also and the SP will not field any candidate against him from the Jaswantnagar Assembly seat in the next elections. We will not contest against him. We may forge alliances with many other small political outfits as we want representation from all sections of society, the former chief minister said in an interview with News18s Kishore Ajwani. The Akhilesh-led SP had sought disqualification of Shivpal under the anti-defection law in September 2019 after the latter floated his own outfit Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSPL). Although the PSPL could not win any seat in the 2017 Assembly elections or 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it did manage to dent the prospects of Samajwadi Party in several constituencies. Soon after the Samajwadi Party decided to withdraw its disqualification plea from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Shivpal Yadav had called up his nephew and thanked him for the move. The conversation between the SP chief and his estranged uncle strengthened speculations of the Yadav clan reuniting ahead of the crucial state elections. Shivpal Yadav, who is still an SP MLA from the Jaswantnagar seat, has also extended an invitation to Akhilesh for the inauguration of newly built Lohia Bhawan in Etawah to be done by party patriarch and Akhileshs father Mulayam Singh Yadav. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 3, 2020 / There is nothing more rewarding than being able to enjoy a healthy and affordable meal despite one's hectic schedule. Stay fit and energized most, especially on toxic days. No more unhealthy, calorie-loaded fast-food meals at work with Primealete Nutrition's healthy, affordable, and delicious meal preparation. Primealete Nutrition is the #1 Meal Prep Company in Michigan, that delivers at least 12,000 meals per week to its clients. Customers who have unique food preferences can select from several varieties of choices. These include gluten-free, paleo, low carb, organic, and pasture-raised protein food preparations that can be as low as $2.69 per meal. The largest meal preparation business in Michigan makes sure that clients' taste buds are fully satisfied. Some of the meals include chicken meatballs with fettuccine spaghetti, veggie burgers on onion buns, veggie rice, and sirloin tip side steak with veggies. Nutritional facts for every meal can be checked on the company's website. Additionally, the company also offers a wide array of special healthy juices. Most of those who order the juices are those who want to detoxify or lose weight. Amine Zreik, the company's founder, built the business to respond to high demand for nutritious and delicious meals from bodybuilders. Being a bodybuilder himself, he understands that specific types of food have to be consumed at certain hours of the day to maintain one's desired shape. He envisioned the business as an avenue for athletes and bodybuilders alike to get their nutritional needs without going through the demanding routine of food preparation. True enough, the business was a welcome option to many bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. Daily routines become a lot easier as they no longer need to worry about measuring the nutritional value of the food they consume. They can rely on the excellent meal preparation services of Primealete Nutrition. Story continues Surprisingly, Zreik discovered that he was not only attracting bodybuilders and athletes when he opened his business. Even ordinary people who have no time to cook healthy meals in their rush to get to work are hooked on the company. More and more clients are realizing that they don't need to compromise their health to be productive at work. They can make orders online and have them delivered to their location. A more extensive range of clients was introduced to Primealete Nutrition when it was established. From people trying to lose weight, clients medicating for an illness, to those who do not have the time to cook after a long day at work - they're all turning to Primealete Nutrition to enjoy healthy and affordable meals. As the company is committed to giving excellent service, it makes sure that the food is fresh out of the kitchen. Each meal or juice is carefully packed in unique insulation bags to guarantee that it maintains its recommended temperature. Clients feel like the meal is fresh out of their oven when they receive it. The Primealete Nutrition experience guarantees clients ease in the transaction, delicious and healthy food, reliable delivery, on schedule availability of orders, and fresh ingredients. Not only are taste buds satisfied, but clients also stay healthy without exceeding their meal budget. With the company's excellent service, they were able to hit a 7-digit sales in a year. Along with their success, Primealete Nutrition provided meals to 5,000 children. Check out Primealete Nutrition's website or follow them on Instagram for more information on meal choices, pricing, and delivery options. You may also reach them via message at info@primealete.com or at 313-406-9537. SOURCE: Amine Zreik View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/592692/Stay-Fit-with-the-Most-Affordable-and-Delicious-Meal-Preparation-from-Primealete-Nutrition Amanda Kloots has been told to say her final goodbyes to her husband Nick Cordero. The Broadway actor's health condition continues to decline even after testing negative for the coronavirus. Staying Positive Amid Health Complications Cordero has been in Cedar Sinai Hospital since March. The "Rock Of Ages" star was first diagnosed with pneumonia before the doctors were able to confirm that the he has contracted the coronavirus. After months of battling with the dreaded coronavirus, Cordero has finally tested negative. Unfortunately, he continues to be in the ICU due to the complications brought about by the dreaded disease. Doctors have repeatedly told Cordero's wife that his chances for survival are very low, but Kloots has chosen to stay positive. She believes that her husband's health condition will get better in time and with God's grace. On Wednesday, the fitness instructor shared a black and white photo of the 41- year-old actor and their son Elvis. In the photo, the actor can be seen hugging his son. In the caption, Kloots wrote a heartwarming message about faith and hope. "I've been told a couple of times that he won't make it. I've been told to say goodbye. I've been told it would take a miracle," Kloots captioned the post. "Well, I have faith. Faith that is small as a mustard seed sometimes, but that is all you need sometimes. He's still here and despite his odds gets slightly, slightly better every day." She went on to talk about how her faith has given her hope that her husband will be well soon. "Where there is faith, there is hope. Where there is hope, there can be a miracle! Like my dad has said since day one, every day he's still with us is a miracle. I believe God is with us, with the doctors and with Nick." Amanda remains hopeful that her husband Nick will soon wake up from the health scare. At this point, this mother of one is holding on to the faith that all will be well. A Woman Of Strength The last few months have been very tough for Cordero's family, particularly his wife Amanda. While little is known about her, the fitness guru has continued to provide support to the actor who is fighting for his life. Kloots have kept a record of the highs and lows of her husband's health battle. She shares updates on Cordero's condition through social media -- including his leg amputation in April and lung infection in May. She was happiest when Cordero showed signs of improvement from the medically induced coma on May 12. "We are at the beginnings of him waking up and the beginning of him following even more commands and being able to do more things," Kloots explained. "What a miracle! Our guy is coming back. He is coming back. It's just so great. It's a great day." While Kloots admitted how difficult this journey has been, she has remained strong for her husband. "My sister gave me great advice the other day about how sometimes you ask for a miracle," Kloots said. "In your mind, you're asking for the miracle you're asking for, but God gives you a miracle in a different way. I will continue praying and asking God for this miracle for Nick and we will see. If it's not the miracle I'm asking for, maybe it's a miracle that comes out in a different way at a different time." Amanda has been a picture of a woman of great strength. Her faith and the encouraging words from her family provides her comfort at this difficult time. READ MORE: Broadway Actor Nick Cordero Survived Leg Amputation Due to Coronavirus Infection Primary Health Properties has contracted to provide development funding for the construction and acquisition of a purpose-built primary care centre in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, for an anticipated total cost of 18.0 million. Agreements for lease for an initial term of 30 years have been signed with the... [] Primary school pupils could face daily temperature testing, a two-day week, emotional wellbeing lessons and a relaxation of school uniform rules when they return to education. The proposals are among many that some schools in Belfast have started to set out in the absence of official guidance from the Education Minister. Peter Weir is currently working with teaching unions and schools on guidance which is expected to be announced later this month. He has previously said he expects a phased return for schools in August, but this week he wrote to teaching unions to admit that strict social distancing will be hard to maintain. In letters to parents, the principals of Our Lady's Girls' Primary, Saint Vincent de Paul Primary and Sacred Heart Boys' Primary School - all in Belfast - set out their vision for a 'new normal'. Each school acknowledged the arrangements could change after the official guidance is issued. Our Lady's principal Emer Hughes told parents "life will be very difficult" when school returns. Children will have their temperature taken on arrival every morning and leaving times will be staggered. She added that most children will probably be in school just one or two days a week in a group setting and at home for the remainder of the week. Children will be allocated into a group, taking into account any siblings. Where possible, the girls' school will liaise with nearby Sacred Hearts Boys' so brothers and sisters can attend school on the same days. The school building and yard is to be marked out to comply with social distancing measures with a one-way system in place. "There are many aspects of school life that have to be fine-tuned, therefore we cannot be more specific at this time," Ms Hughes said. "However, one thing is certain - our school will still be a happy place to learn and social connections will be so important. "We will continue to nurture our pupils. The emotional wellbeing and welfare of your daughter and of our staff is paramount." A relaxation on school uniform policy will also be in place, as children would not be attending every day. Expand Close Principal Bronagh McVeigh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Principal Bronagh McVeigh While Saint Vincent de Paul head Bronagh McVeigh does not envisage the steps facing other schools such as temperature checks, she has set out a proposed new weekly timetable as her school's main change. Primary Six and Seven pupils taking the transfer test would return at some point in August, attending four days a week from 8.45am to 2pm. Primary One and Two pupils would attend one day a week for reduced hours from August 31 until the end of September. Pupils in Primary Three, Four, Five and Seven, who aren't taking the transfer test, will attend two days a week. Sacred Heart Boys' principal Joanne Smyth told parents the new term would likely mean a mix of learning in school and at home. "This will mean that your son will be attending school on certain days of the week with a small group of children from his class. "Currently we anticipate this to be two days a week," she said. As the school year ended abruptly, Sacred Heart is aiming to have pupils resume lessons with their previous teacher in August before changing to their new class in the middle of September. "This will help ease children's anxiety and also prepare them better for transition to their new teacher for the year ahead," Ms Smyth said. "During this time the teacher will be developing social and emotional lessons with an emphasis on improving positive wellbeing." Expand Close Principal Keith Wysner / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Principal Keith Wysner Whiteabbey Primary School head Keith Wysner said he has yet to make arrangements, saying it would be too difficult to anticipate the official guidance. "We haven't tried to second guess any of what's happening, obviously we're keeping an eye on things but we don't know whether pupils will have to be one or two metres apart," he said. "Just like with restaurants and hotels, that detail will make a world of difference to what we can do in school." Mr Wysner said it was "crucially important" that any guidance will make staff and parents feel safe. "There is a Dutch model, which encourages the children to come in and be together, as the coronavirus to date has had very little impact on that age group. "I can potentially see how that would work for our children. But they would still need to remain two metres apart from adults. "A part of educating children is socialising them and allowing them to play and cooperate together." Ulster Unionist education spokesman Robbie Butler MLA said a number of schools and parents had expressed their frustration at the ongoing uncertainty. "The minister has given a commitment to release guidance this month and said it could change at any time," he said. "However, we know what the threats are and what the strategies are needed in public. So, we could already be giving a range of scenarios to schools to help them to prepare." Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist peer Lord Rogan has criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not doing more to help schools open safely in devolved regions. "He has shown no inclination to use the vastly superior resources of the UK Government to properly support our schools in the difficult task of reopening later this year," he said. "As the months go by, it is becoming increasingly clear that he has no desire to take responsibility for anything." The Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, and the Japanese Ambassador to Belgium, H.E. Mr. Makita Shimokawa virtually exchanged Notes Verbales on 4 June 2020, on the Government of Japans financial support of the WCOs project to improve the capacity of developing countries Customs administrations respond to the impact of COVID-19 (COVID-19 Project). The COVID-19 Project will develop WCO Guidelines for Customs administrations on business continuity and incident response in dealing with various disruptive scenarios represented by COVID-19 and other similar emergency situations on the basis of collected best practices. This project will also promote relevant WCO instruments and tools, in particular to WCO developing Members including Least Developing Countries (LDCs), through various assistance measures including national and regional training, considering each countrys individual situation and particular needs. In order to ensure the timely dissemination of information and expertise, the project will also contribute to further upgrading the dedicated WCO web-site, which compiles information about relevant WCO instruments, tools, initiatives, databases and national practices that can be utilized in the effort to address the various COVID-19-related challenges faced by our Members and concerned stakeholders. During this time of crisis, the Customs administrations around the globe are urged to continue advocating for and realize the facilitation of not just relief supplies but of all goods being traded in order to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Mikuriya. He further added that the Government of Japans support for the COVID-19 Project can ensure that Customs administrations stay operational and are equipped to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our societies and economies. H.E. Mr. Makita Shimokawa stressed that Japan recognizes the criticality of the WCO and Customs administrations in the efforts to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and highly appreciated the WCO activities to address this global challenge under the leadership of Secretary General Mikuriya. He went on to express his expectation that the project would support prompt actions of the WCO to help its Member Customs administrations fight the pandemic, while further ensuring a coordinated response and strengthened cooperation, not only with the WCO, but also with its Members. About a year ago outside the sprawling Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, my Portuguese tour guide Antonio tried to convince me that the kidnappers of Madeleine McCann would never be found. With my eyes fixed on the white-washed holiday resort that was etched for ever in the memories of millions of people around the world, Antonio said people in this stunningly beautiful Algarve village believed the mystery of Maddie's final hours would never be solved. Wednesday's disclosure that German police had made a breakthrough by identifying a new chief suspect in the case, which they are now treating as murder, will presumably have stunned Antonio, the fast-talking Portuguese tour guide, into a rare spell of silence. Last June it was my curiosity about the world's most infamous missing person's case that made me agree to Antonio's offer to take me and my wife to the beach of light, Praia da Luz - 'the most charming village on the western Algarve' - on a private tour around where we were staying in the neighbouring but much larger resort of Lagos. Even though Madeleine McCann was very definitely in our thoughts, her name was not on our lips as we drove from Lagos to Luz, along virtually deserted country roads lined with untamed pomegranate trees and rambling fennel bushes, a journey which was a refreshing respite from the more touristy hot spots of the Algarve. Expand Close Gerry and Kate McCann, parents of Madeleine McCann, after her disappearance in 2007 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gerry and Kate McCann, parents of Madeleine McCann, after her disappearance in 2007 Minutes later Praia da Luz appeared around a corner and even though its towering cliffs and sparkling sandy beaches, set against the ultramarine blue of the Atlantic Ocean, were instantly recognisable from TV news bulletins, the vistas were still breathtaking and familiarity had in no way bred contempt. But it was hard - no, it was impossible - not to recall other images from May 2007 when Madeleine vanished from the Ocean Club as her parents, Gerry and Kate, ate at a nearby tapas bar with friends who said they took it in turns to check on the McCanns' three sleeping children in apartment 5A. In the centre of the village Antonio pulled up at the spiritual heart of Praia da Luz, its 16th century Catholic Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz which sits just above the serene crescent beach and which is dedicated to 'Our Lady of Light' and doubles up as St Vincent's Anglican chaplaincy. Thirteen years ago TV crews filmed a steady stream of the village's 4,500 residents, ex-pats and locals, descending on the church to pray for Madeleine's safe return. Gerry and Kate McCann had their own key so they could go in secret to the white and mustard yellow trimmed church where a little space had been set aside as a place of prayer for them, a sanctuary that was not there last year. Gone too were the 'missing' posters with their pictures of an angelic Madeleine and which had been on the windows of every business in Luz, from the Ice Cream Factory to the Bull Tavern. Expand Close Ivan Little in the village / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ivan Little in the village This week's announcement about a new prime suspect rang a bell from last year's visit to Praia da Luz. For last June Portuguese police flagged up a fresh development in the long-running inquiry as they said they were investigating 'a new clue and suspect' and the speculation pointed to confirmation that Madeleine had been kidnapped by an intruder. The story faded from the front pages just as quickly as it had dominated them but even a mention of the suspect drew a cool response from our guide Antonio, who insisted that he had a rule never to talk about Madeleine McCann's disappearance, a topic which was nigh impossible to avoid in conversations over dinner with friends who had holiday homes on the Algarve. Antonio, however, did not stay silent for long, reflecting on the many theories around Madeleine's disappearance that have emerged over the last 13 years. Our guide said people in Luz were weary of their village's unwanted notoriety around the world and were furious about a Netflix documentary series which reopened the McCann case - and old wounds - but did not establish the truth. Also back in the spotlight was former Northern Ireland policeman and child protection officer Jim Gamble, who figured prominently in the eight-part Netflix series. On Thursday Mr Gamble said he was 'more hopeful' than he had been in the last 13 years that the 'jigsaw puzzle' of the case was coming together, though it did appear that German police were now certain that Madeleine was dead. Expand Close British police conduct a search of the area in 2014 PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp British police conduct a search of the area in 2014 He said police had established that the suspect, known only as Christian B, who is in custody in Germany for sex offences including the rape of an elderly woman, had been in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. He added that other circumstantial evidence relating to telephone calls and the changing of car registration numbers made the suspect 'a very, very significant person of interest'. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell was also interviewed extensively on television, relaying the view from the parents that the latest development is 'potentially highly significant'. But for the McCanns there was another shock on Thursday as a press conference was broadcast live and a police chief, through a translator, said that the public prosecution office in Germany had charged the suspect with murder. Shortly afterwards Sky said the translator was wrong and there was no mention of a murder charge. This is an opinion column. Much has been made about the treatment of the press in this age of protest, of dissent, daresay of revolution. The attacks and assaults and injuries have been unprecedented in this country. My own colleagues have been detained by police, as they have been punched by protesters in Birmingham. They have been gassed by police, along with peaceful but determined objectors in Huntsville, shot at with police pepper bullets in Mobile. It is true here, as it has been across the country. Observing the tension between police and those who gather to protest police violence can be risky, and dangerous. I stand with my colleagues. I stand with those everywhere who bring you information, who have always entered dangerous situations without shield or weapon, who have long considered themselves an extension of the people, until for political gain some branded them an enemy. We stand with our colleagues, because we love them, and value what they do in these days and all those others, those anonymous moments when you wont see their bruises or hear shock in their voices. We stand with them, but it should be clear, we do not stand apart from you. Because it would be a mistake, a trap, to be indignant about the treatment of our media brothers and sisters and not be as concerned for that child who was gassed Wednesday in a Huntsville city park, for every other American, every other human being bruised by rubber bullets or left gasping for air, from gas or pepper or a knee to the throat. A small girl, maybe three years old , was just enveloped in a cloud of tear gas. She screamed while her dad ran away with her. Ian Hoppe (@IanHoppe) June 4, 2020 Sure, we in the media like to hold up the First Amendment, the very first thing the Founders thought of when they decided to make a list of American rights. We post it on our walls, because the press was the beneficiary of explicit freedom. Congress was barred from making any laws to limit it, and we enjoy that and hold it sacred. But thats the thing. The brief and beautiful blessing of that First Amendment gives me and my colleagues nothing more than it gives to every one of you, and to all those protesters who peacefully assemble to speak their minds and express grievances with their government. It is owned by all of us, the foundation of what Americans want and what they were promised from the start. It is why Americans protest, and why they can protest in the first place. It is why they should be able to kneel or to stand, peacefully, to observe or complain without fear of pain or death or detainment. Simply because they are people. We the People. Nothing more, and nothing less. It shakes the very foundation of this republic any time and anywhere peaceful Americans are gassed, or bruised, or detained for their own safety. The words are clear and full of promise: 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. It is as American as us. All of us. Like the right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Basic rights. That George Floyd and too many like him will never get. Thats what this protest is about. John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register, Birmingham Magazine and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. Many across the globe are praying for scientists and researchers to develop a vaccine for coronavirus. Here in Ghana Scientists have successfully sequenced genomes of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic, "obtaining important information about the genetic composition of viral strains". The scientist "analyzed samples from selected cases to gain a comprehensive understanding of the variations of the virus that are present in the country". Deputy Minister of Health, Bernard Okoe Boye says there is a likelihood by the first quarter of 2021, a vaccine would have been developed. "By 1st quarter of 2021 we are likely to get samples of the vaccine in the global population," he said. Dr Okoe Boye who was speaking to Nana Yaw Kesseh on 'The Platform' programme on Peace FM, further indicated: "it is possible that before the end of this year, there will be a treatment for COVID-19". According to him, "treatment is different from the vaccine. The vaccine is to prevent you from getting infected, but the treatment is to help you take care of the condition". Listen to him in the video below Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 13:12:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A man who fired gunshots at police officers and held children hostage from home surrendered on Wednesday after a 12-hour standoff in the U.S. city of Oakland, Northern California. "The incident ... was peacefully resolved. The subject was in communications with our Tactical Negotiators and agreed to let the children exit the home. Shortly after the subject exited the home and surrendered to police," the Oakland Police Department said in a tweet Wednesday evening. Police officers saw the man shooting a rifle from inside a residence on the 5700 block of Harmon Avenue early Wednesday morning. No one was injured in the incident, according to the police. The man was holding two children, aged 6 and 8, hostage inside the residence. A woman believed to be his wife then escaped from home, the reports said. A SWAT team responded to the situation and police had been in contact with the man after the first shots were fired, the police said. Oakland police spokeswoman Felicia Aisthorpe said in a Twitter video post earlier that a tactical negotiation team had been sent to deal with the situation. Enditem Advertisement Police in Hong Kong have fired pepper spray to disperse protesters who defied an official ban and gathered in a park to mark the 31st anniversary of China's bloody crackdown on democracy students at Tiananmen Square. The scuffles broke out in the working-class Mong Kok district when demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers and officers used spray to dispel them, according to Reuters witnesses. Earlier, thousands flouted police's order, broke through barricades and amassed at the city's Victoria Park with candles to pay tribute to the victims of the 1989 violence. On Twitter, Hong Kong police said that 'some black-clad protesters are blocking roads in Mongkok. ... Police officers are now making arrests.' They urged people not to gather in groups because of the coronavirus. In a separate Facebook post, police said the situation in Mongkok was dangerous and chaotic, and that it used the 'minimum required force' in response. After the vigil in Victoria Park, groups of protesters dressed in black carried flags that said 'Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times' as well as 'Hong Kong Independence'. 'We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really don't want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park,' said Wu'er Kaixi, a former student leader who was number two on the government's most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Thousands of Hong Kong residents attended a rally commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Rally attendees chanted slogans, lit candles and held a moment of silence in remembrance of the day Undercover police arrested attendees during a memorial vigil in Mongkok on June 4 in Hong Kong. Thousands gathered for the annual memorial vigil in Victoria Park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre despite a police ban citing coronavirus social distancing restrictions After 31 consecutive years, Hong Kong remembered the conflicts that occurred in Beijing in 1989 surrounded by a tense climate with China and with the outbreak of the Coronavirus still active in the city. The gathering was banned, but still thousands of people have gathered in Victoria Park Thousands gathered for the annual memorial vigil in Victoria Park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre despite a police ban citing coronavirus social distancing restrictions Protesters hold their candles during a moment of silence on the 31st Anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre Slide me Hong Kong residents have defied a ban to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. Hong Kong, ruled under the 'one country, two systems' framework, was the only place in China that could mark the bloodbath. The picture (left) shows a candlelight vigil on June 4, 2019 and the picture (right) shows a view of Hong Kong's Victoria park on June 4, 2020 Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4 after police banned the mass gathering One participant holds a flag bearing the words 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times', a slogan of the ongoing pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub. Police blocked the vigil on public health grounds because of coronavirus People walk over barriers, which were set up to prevent access to Victoria park, to attend a candlelit vigil commemorating the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Hong Kong on Thursday. The vigil has been banned by police People holding umbrellas try to bring down barriers set up to prevent access to Victoria park to attend a candlelit vigil commemorating the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Hong Kong on June 4 The Tiananmen crackdown is the most censored topic by China's ruling Communist Party who paints the young participants as anti-government rioters aiming to overthrow their regime. Hong Kong was the only place that could mark the incident Pro-democracy activists have defied a police ban and come to mourn those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Thursday. Police rejected the application of a mass vigil, which had been running for 30 years Chairman of the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and former Legislative Council member, Lee Cheuk-yan (central), leads a candlelit remembrance with other activists outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Thursday Hong Kongers had kept memories alive for the past three decades by holding a huge annual vigil until this year's official ban The semi-autonomous city had for three decades seen huge vigils to remember those killed when China's communist leaders deployed its military into Beijing's Tiananmen Square to crush a student-led movement for democratic reforms in June, 1989 Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, who have been waging a long struggle against what they see as China's tightening grip on the city, were determined to make their voices heard even though authorities have forbidden a mass gathering Critics accused Beijing of stifling freedoms on the semi-autonomous territory after authorities blocked an annual mass vigil at a time of seething anger over a planned new security law. Police made at least four arrests after clashing with protesters between Portland Street and Argyle Street in Mong Kok, according to South China Morning Post. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed on the Tiananmen Square when tanks and troops moved in on the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. The event is the most censored topic by China's ruling Communist Party who paints the young participants as anti-government rioters aiming to overthrow their regime. Hong Kongers have kept memories alive for the past three decades by holding a huge annual vigil, the only part of China where such mass displays of remembrance are possible. But this year's service was banned on public health grounds because of the coronavirus pandemic with barricades surrounding Victoria Park, the traditional ceremony venue, and police patrolling nearby. However, the official order has not deterred Hong Kong people. The bloodbath has been immortalised by the above picture called the 'Tank Man', which shows a student holding bags of grocers standing in front of a row of tanks to protest at the clampdown by the armies against its own people. The picture was taken by photographer Jeff Widener of the Associated Press from a sixth-floor balcony of the Beijing Hotel near Tiananmen A protester raises his British National Overseas (BNO) passports during today's candlelight vigil. Boris Johnson has said that he would 'willingly' offer three million people from Hong Kong visa-free refuge in the UK if China erodes human rights there Protesters wearing protective face masks take part in a candlelight vigil to mark the 31st anniversary of the crackdown of pro-democracy protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. Police have reportedly made at least arrests during clashes Social media footage shows a lone Hong Kong man earlier today kneeling in front of a barricaded Victoria Park to show his respect to the thousands of victims of the bloody event. This year's annual vigil was supposed to take place in the park A tweet accompanying the video reads: 'If anyone thinks ban and barriers can stop the mourning and memories...' If anyone thinks ban and barriers can stop the mourning and memories...#june4 pic.twitter.com/8uSPLZDiPj Xinqi Su (@XinqiSu) June 4, 2020 People in 2019 attend a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong to mark the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary Social media footage shows a Hong Kong man earlier today kneeling in front of a barricaded Victoria Park by himself to show his respect to the thousands of victims of the bloody event. A tweet accompanying the video reads: 'If anyone thinks ban and barriers can stop the mourning and memories...' Another clip shows students at Hong Kong University wearing black T-shirts and observing a minute's silence to show their respect to the young protesters in the Chinese capital city 31 years ago. China's communist rulers forbid discussion on the mainland of the Tiananmen crackdown, during which hundreds -- by some estimates more than a thousand -- people were killed. Pictured, chairman of the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and former Legislative Council member, Lee Cheuk-yan (centre L), leads a candlelit remembrance With democracy all but snuffed out in mainland China, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown Hong Kong was engulfed by seven straight months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year -- rallies that kicked off five days after the last annual vigil. Pictured, a man wearing a protective face mask looks on in today's vigil A 74-year-old man who gave his surname as Yip told AFP inside the Victoria Park: 'I've come here for the vigil for 30 years in memory of the victims of the June 4 crackdown, but this year it is more significant to me.' He added: 'Because Hong Kong is experiencing the same kind of repression from the same regime, just like what happened in Beijing.' Some of the people in the park wore black t-shirts with the word 'Truth' emblazoned in white. Others shouted pro-democracy slogans including: 'Stand with Hong Kong'. Police maintained a presence near the park but did not move to disperse the protesters. University students wearing black T-shirts observe a minute of silence before cleaning the Pillar of Shame, a statue by Danish artist Jens Galschiot to remember the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing, at The University of Hong Kong Students at Hong Kong University observe a minute's silence on Thursday to pay tribute to the young protesters killed in 1989 University students clean the Pillar of Shame, a statue by Danish artist Jens Galschiot to remember the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing, at Hong Kong University The commemorations fell on another febrile day of political tension in the semi-autonomous city as lawmakers approved a Beijing-backed bill criminalising insults to China's national anthem. Pro-democracy politicians refused to cast their ballots with one throwing a foul-smelling liquid on the floor in a bid to halt proceedings and others shouting slogans as the votes were cast. Opponents say the law is the latest move by Beijing to snuff out the city's cherished freedoms and have rallied around the symbolism of the law being passed on the anniversary of Tiananmen. Open discussion of the brutal suppression is forbidden in mainland China where hundreds -- by some estimates more than a thousand -- died when the Communist Party sent tanks into Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 to crush a student-led demonstration calling for democratic reforms. Organisers have called for residents to instead light candles of remembrance at 8pm (1200 GMT) wherever they are. 'I don't believe it's because of the pandemic. I think it's political suppression,' a 53-year-old man surnamed Wong, told AFP after kneeling by the park barricades to pay respects to the dead. 'I do worry that we may lose this vigil forever.' On the campus of Hong Kong University, students spent the afternoon cleaning a memorial to the Tiananmen dead known as 'The Pillar of Shame'. Hong Kong riot police set up a checkpoint near the Legislative Council on the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown Protesting Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers (facing) are blocked by security (bottom) during debate on a law banning insulting China's national anthem Crowds have swelled at Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils whenever fears have spiked that Beijing is prematurely stamping out the city's own cherished freedoms, an issue that has dominated the finance hub for the past 12 months Students clean the Pillar of Shame, a statue by Danish artist Jens Galschiot to remember the victims of the crackdown Hong Kong security law in the hands of China Crowds have swelled at Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils whenever fears have spiked that Beijing is prematurely stamping out the city's own cherished freedoms, an issue that has dominated the finance hub for the past 12 months. The city was engulfed by seven straight months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year -- rallies that kicked off five days after the last annual vigil. In response to those demonstrations last month Beijing announced plans to impose the security law, which would cover secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference. China says the law -- which will bypass Hong Kong's legislature -- is needed to tackle 'terrorism' and 'separatism' in a restless city it now regards as a direct national security threat. Opponents, including many Western nations, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub supposedly guaranteed freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after the 1997 handover from Britain. - Blackout on mainland - With the Victoria Park vigil banned, Hong Kongers are organising locally and getting creative, chiefly with the scattered candle-light ceremonies. Seven Catholic churches have also announced plans to host a commemorative mass on Thursday evening. But in mainland China, the crackdown is greeted by an information blackout, with censors scrubbing mentions of protests and dissidents often visited by police ahead of June 4. Police in Beijing prevented an AFP photographer from entering Tiananmen Square to record the regular pre-dawn flag-raising ceremony on Thursday and ordered him to delete some photos. The candle emoji has been unavailable in recent days on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. The United States and Taiwan issued statements calling on China to atone for the deadly crackdown. 'Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year,' Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of him meeting prominent Tiananmen survivors as US racial justice protests continue. On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry described calls for Beijing to apologise for the crackdown as 'complete nonsense'. 'The great achievements since the founding of new China over the past 70 or so years fully demonstrates that the developmental path China has chosen is completely correct,' spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. * Hundreds at service for black man who died in police custody * Attorney General Barr says foreign interests instigate protests * Protesters return to streets of U.S. cities for 10th day By Brendan O'Brien MINNEAPOLIS, June 4 (Reuters) - Prominent civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton told mourners on Thursday George Floyd's fatal encounter with police and the nationwide protests his death ignited marked a reckoning for America over race and justice, demanding, "Get your knee off our necks." Memorial tributes to Floyd in Minneapolis, where he was killed on May 25, and in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, a major flashpoint for demonstrations stirred by his death, came as protesters returned to the streets of several U.S. cities for a 10th straight day, including Atlanta, Washington D.C., Denver, Detroit and Los Angeles. The gatherings, while boisterous at times, were for the most part orderly, in contrast to several previous nights punctuated by sporadic arson, looting and clashes between protesters and police. The change in mood reflected a determination voiced by many protesters and organizers in recent days to transform outrage over Floyd's death into a renewed civil rights movement, seeking reforms to America's criminal justice system. "This is a very seismic moment, and someday I'm going to have a kid, and he or she or they are going to ask me what I did during the uprising of 2020, during the American spring," said Nana Mensah, a writer in her 30s from Brooklyn. She held a sign that read: "You're lucky we just want equality and not revenge." In the nation's capital, hundreds if not thousands assembled for a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, many sitting on the ground listening to speakers and chanting, "Say his name - George Floyd," before an evening thunderstorm dispersed the crowd. Another group of protesters congregated near the White House, where construction workers erected concrete barriers and fences around the presidential residence. Story continues Two Buffalo, New York, police officers were suspended after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground as he approached police lines. The man was taken to hospital where he was in a stable but serious condition. 'STAND UP' Delivering the eulogy at a memorial service inside a university chapel in Minneapolis, Sharpton said Floyd's fate - dying at the hands of police, pinned to the ground under the knee of a white officer - symbolized a universal experience of police brutality for African Americans. "George Floyd should not be among the deceased. He did not die of common health conditions. He died of a common American criminal justice malfunction," Sharpton said. "It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks.'" Sharpton led mourners in eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence, the amount of time Floyd lay on a Minneapolis street with a knee pressed into his neck. In addition to hundreds who gathered inside the North Central University chapel, a crowd of hundreds listened to the service over loudspeakers outside. One was Zsa-Vona Williams, 36, who knew Floyd from his days working at the homeless shelter where she once lived, recalling him as a caring, friendly soul. "He gave to and fed a lot of people. He was a gentle, peaceful person," Williams said. The prayer service, which drew comic actors Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish as well as U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, coincided with a separate outdoor memorial tribute to Floyd in Brooklyn. The day of remembrance capped more than a week of largely peaceful protests, accompanied by civil unrest that prompted dozens of cities to impose overnight curfews and the mobilization of the National Guard in several states. The size of the disturbances seemed to ebb after prosecutors in Minneapolis on Wednesday elevated murder charges against one police officer jailed last week in Floyd's May 25 death and arrested three others accused of aiding and abetting the first. EX-COPS IN COURT On Thursday, the three newly arrested officers made their first appearance in court and were ordered to remain held on $750,000 bond each. Their principal co-defendant, Derek Chauvin, 44, is slated to appear for his bond hearing on Monday. Chauvin is the officer seen in video footage kneeling on Floyd's neck as Floyd gasped for air and groaned, "I can't breathe," before passing out. The four former officers, all dismissed from the Minneapolis police department the day after Floyd died, each faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges. Floyd, a Houston native who had worked security at nightclubs, was unarmed when taken into custody outside a corner market where an employee had reported that a man matching his description tried to pay for cigarettes with a counterfeit bill. His brother, Terrence Floyd, joined an outdoor memorial on Thursday in Brooklyn where many in the crowd knelt in a symbol of protest and chanted, "No justice, no peace." He urged the crowd to continue to seek justice but to avoid violence, saying, "My brother wasn't about that." New York Mayor Bill de Blasio took the stage to pledge that Floyd's death would lead to substantive changes in police practices in the nation's largest city. A string of memorial services for Floyd were expected to stretch across six days and three states. A funeral was planned for Tuesday. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien, Michelle Nichols, Nathan Layne, Peter Szekely and Andrew Hay; Writing by Alistair Bell and Steve Gorman; Editing by Howard Goller, Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates) MIDLAND -- To assist with recovery in Midland and Gladwin Counties from the recent floods, AT&T Michigan recently launched a text-to-give campaign to benefit residents during this time. AT&T kicked off the effort with a $25,000 donation to the United Ways in Midland and Gladwin counties, which will receive all proceeds from the campaign. "Our hearts go out to the Mid-Michigan residents dealing with last week's unimaginable flooding on top of the struggles that already exist due to the COVID-19 pandemic," AT&T Michigan President David Lewis said. "Recovery from this disaster won't be easy and that's why we are proud to donate to the cause and launch a text-to-give campaign to allow people to donate to the Mid-Michigan recovery efforts." To donate to the effort, residents can text FLOOD to 20222 and a one-time $25 donation will be provided to Midland County United Way and United Way of Clare and Gladwin Counties. The effort will work on any cell phone provider and donation costs will appear on the contributor's next cell phone bill. (Message and data rates may apply) "The Mid-Michigan area has been hit hard by this flooding but everyone is working together to make recovery from this crisis possible," United Way of Midland County President Holly Miller said. "We greatly appreciate AT&T Michigan's support and coordination of the text-to-give campaign because every donation will make a difference during this time." On May 19, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Midland County and requested a federal disaster declaration, which was approved by President Donald Trump on May 21. Gladwin, Arenac and Saginaw Counties were added to state's emergency declaration May 22. "There has been widespread damage across Mid-Michigan as a result of last week's flooding and we must work together to protect families in impacted areas from the effects of this crisis," said state Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland. "I am grateful to AT&T Michigan for putting this effort together so that Michiganders can support each other during this difficult time." Bengaluru, June 4 : Resolving the home guards' apprehensions about losing jobs, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, here on Thursday, decided to continue the services of 3,000 home guards by deputing them in different departments. "Review the proposal of providing services of the home guards to private companies in the coming days," Yediyurappa told officials. He said this after reviewing the Home Department's works and appreciated the services of the police during the Covid-19 pandemic. He assured all support for the betterment of the department. Yediyurappa also asked the department to strengthen cyber crime, economic offences and narcotics wings of the police stations. To speed up investigation of crime, the forensic laboratories would also be strengthened, he added. Officials informed Yediyurappa that 200 State Disaster Response Force personnel had been trained to handle the emergencies in the monsoon season. The trained force would be shortly deployed in four divisions. Similarly, the department has taken all precautionary measures to handle Covid-19 in the prisons. Not a single Covid-19 case has been reported from jails. Acting on the Supreme Court's directives, 5,005 prisoners were released on bail and parole to avoid overcrowding, which has been reduced from 110 per cent to 95 per cent. Yediyurappa asked the officials to submit proposal to develop infrastructure in all the departments that come under the home department. He also asked officials to take strict action against the people who misused government funds deposited in banks. BETHEL Residents may still gather downtown Thursday evening, despite the postponement of a candlelight vigil organized in the wake of Minnesota black man George Floyds death. First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker postponed the vigil Wednesday night, about 24 hours before the event, saying he was concerned it would attract many more people than originally anticipated and lead to a spike in coronavirus cases. The plan had been for people to stand six feet apart on the municipal center lawn. It is very clear that the pain and anguish caused by Mr. Floyds death is still so great, and so raw, that we would likely see many, many more people attend this vigil than could possibly be safely accommodated on the lawn of town hall, Knickerbocker said in a statement. Thousands of people have protested locally and nationwide after Floyd died when a white Minneapolis cop pressed his knee on Floyds neck for more than eight minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder and the three other officers who witnessed it were charged with aiding and abetting a murder. Residents on social media said they still plan to protest Thursday night, despite the postponement. I support anyone that wants to go out there and express themselves (Thursday) tonight, said State Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan, D-Bethel, who had organized the vigil with Knickerbocker, but disagreed with the postponement. Meanwhile, a protest called Occupy Greenwood is planned for noon Sunday Our town has failed us, the Facebook event for the protest states. Their gross complicancy in the recent weeks can no longer be accepted. They've taken down signs, washed away messages of support, and canceled a peace vigil. Business wish to remain neutral, while members of the our very community face racism and oppression everyday. Protesters plans to meet at the Dougboy Statue and then stand or sit down Greenwood Avenue. We will shut down the street that runs through the heart of town, and the heart of our community, the event page states. Allie-Brennan said he was disappointed with the postponement because similar events have been held in other towns and vigils like this give people an outlet to condemn racism, grieve and heal. Silence is its own loud statement, and right now Bethels is speaking volumes, he said in a statement. Knickerbocker said he wants to hold discussions virtually and has been talking to the police captain about how to safely hold an in-person event at another venue. Our police officers are very much in agreement that people need a safe means of expressing their grief over what happened to Mr. Floyd in Minnesota, as well as express their views about racial injustice in our country, he said. I am 100 percent committed to that goal. Knickerbocker encouraged residents to leave a small memorial for Floyd at the gazebo. He said police will be ready to protect protesters if they show up. They will be prepared to ensure people are kept safe and that they are not harassed by anyone that might hold different opinions, Knickerbocker said. What Knickerbocker described as minor vandalism occurred on the municipal center Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. The phrases Black Lives Matter, No justice, no peace and the No. 12 with a slash through it were painted on the floor of the gazebo. The letters B-L-M were also painted on the side of town hall. The phrases on the gazebo were painted over, while the letters on town hall were painted in red over red brick, so they are hard to see, Knickerbocker said. Police have possible suspects in mind from video surveillance, he said. The vandalism and some violence that has occurred in cities nationwide were not a factor in postponing, Knickerbocker said. Violence was not one of my concerns in our town, he said. Outdoor religious gatherings are permitted to have up to 150 people, but Knickerbocker expected more than that after events in Danbury and Wilton exceeded predicted crowd size. As an elected official who has worked steadfastly to adhere to all of the governors executive orders and follow the advice and guidance of the scientists, I felt I had to take this step, he said. But Allie-Brennan said Bethel could have had an event like other towns have. He said he will push for continued dialogue about racism. Im not done having this conversation in Bethel, he said. I am a person of color and I think I shy away sometimes from that. And throughout this movement right now, I'm gonna to take the responsibility to make sure that were having those conversations right now. US President Donald Trump is trying to convince the leadership of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to open their airspace for Qatar aviation. The following was reported by the Wall Street Journal referring to sources from among officials of the US and Gulf countries, TASS reported. According to them, the diplomatic crisis prevents the US from exerting full sanction pressure on Iran. The ban on the entry of Qatar's aircraft into the airspace of Arab neighbors forces this state to use Iranian airspace. This is a source of replenishment of Tehrans finances, which Washington wants to block, the edition explains. The flow of money to Irans treasury through Qatar Airways flights is a constant irritant for us, an American source said. According to the WSJ, Trump assumed the role of mediator in the talks and personally raised this topic during phone talks this spring with the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. Riyadh is still showing intransigence; Qatar wants only one thing - to open airspace to fly again, another source noted. A diplomatic rift broke out in the region back in 2017. The emirate was isolated after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and meddling in their internal affairs. Arab neighbors imposed economic sanctions and a transport blockade against Qatar, particularly by closing the airspace for Qatari aviation. The countries put forward a list of requirements to Doha, including details such as lowering diplomatic relations with Iran, closing the Al Jazeera channel, ending military cooperation with Turkey, and liquidating the Turkish military base in Qatar. Qatar found these claims unsubstantiated and impossible. Experts say just 26 words from a 1996 law have helped companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google grow to the size they are today. The law is known as Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. It is facing new attention and might be changed. It protects internet companies from facing legal cases over things others place on their platforms. Under U.S. law, the companies are generally not responsible for things their users post on their websites. But last week, President Donald Trump pushed back against Section 230 with an executive order. The order says the government will reconsider protections if companies make editorial decisions about what users post. Trumps executive order came last Thursday, days after Twitter added what it called a fact-check warning to two of Trump's posts. Trump and other politicians say that Twitter, Facebook and other social media companies have abused protections from Section 230. They have argued that the law should be changed or cancelled altogether. Some experts suggest that the internet as we know it today might change completely if the law were cancelled. Here are some common questions and answers about the law. What is Section 230? An example might help answer that question. If a news website falsely calls you a cheat, you can bring legal action against the publisher. But if someone posts on Facebook that you are a cheat, you cannot bring a legal case against Facebook only the person who posted it. The law protects companies, which can have many millions of posts, from facing legal cases brought by anyone who feels wronged by something someone else has posted. It does not matter if the post is true or false. Section 230 also permits social media services to remove posts that are obscene or violate what the service considers acceptable. In addition, the law requires the service to be acting in good faith. In legal terms, good faith means acting with honesty and fairness and without the desire to destroy the rights of a person or business. Where did Section 230 come from? The measure has its roots in the 1950s, when bookstore owners were being held responsible for selling books containing obscenity. Obscenity is not protected by freedom of speech rules in the First Amendment. One case on the issue reached the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that it was unlawful to hold someone responsible for someone elses writings. The 1990s were years when the internet experienced huge growth. Two companies operating at that time were CompuServe and Prodigy. They offered online forums where people could share information. CompuServe chose not to moderate its forum, while Prodigy did. CompuServe was taken to court over its policy. That case was dismissed. Prodigy, however, got in trouble. A judge ruled that Prodigy exercised editorial control said Jeff Kosseff. He wrote a book about Section 230 called The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet. Politicians did not like the judges decision. They worried it would lead internet companies not to moderate at all. And Section 230 was born. What if Section 230 is limited or goes away? Kosseff told the Associated Press, I dont think any of the social media companies would exist in their current forms without Section 230. He said the companies have based their business models on being platforms for user posts. There are two possibilities of what could happen. Platforms might remove some of their offerings. The website Craigslist, for example, took down a section from its website after the 2018 passage of a sex-trafficking law. The law created an exception to Section 230 for material that supports sex work. Craigslist quickly removed its personals section completely. The company did not want to take chances. Kate Ruane is a senior lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. She said that if social media platforms were not protected under the law, they would not risk posting Donald Trumps posts. Another possibility is that Facebook, Twitter and other platforms could stop moderation altogether. Instead, they could let anyone post anything, good or bad. Services like 8chan, which is known for letting users post extremist images and messages, could then easily take control of social media, said Eric Goldman. He is a law professor at Santa Clara University in California. He said undoing Section 230 would be dangerous to the internet. But Goldman does not see the administrations order as that kind of threat to the internet. He said it is meant to appeal to Trump supporters. The president cant override Congress, he said. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. Quiz - Legal Protection Rule for Internet Companies Could Be Changed Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story post v. to add a message to an online message board platform n. a tool, often involving technology that permits a person or group to tell a large number of people about an idea, product, etc. editorial adj. relating to editors or editing obscene adj. relating to sex in an indecent or offensive way forum n. an area of a website where people go to discuss things moderate adj. to guide a discussion or direct a meeting involving a group of people Several Alabama counties that were once coronavirus hot spots have now seen their new case counts go down. New coronavirus cases in Alabama have fallen each of the last two days. Thats a small sample size, and the coming days will be very telling for where Alabama is in its fight against the virus. But several counties have seen new virus cases fall for a more significant amount of time, including some that were once among the states worst hot spots. Chambers County, which at one time was experiencing the worst per-capita outbreak in the state, saw cases fall dramatically, then stay relatively flat for weeks. The seven-day average for new daily cases in Chambers peaked at around 16.6 on April 13, but fell quickly after that. The average hasnt gotten higher than 3.1 there since May 1. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] Chambers isnt the only county to see a hotspot cool down. Two of Its neighboring counties, Lee, home of Auburn University, and Tallapoosa have followed similar trends, though Lee saw a minor bump in new cases at the end of May. Lees peak of 19.6 cases per day came on April 14. New cases there fell below three per day in early May before jumping back up to nearly 10 at the end of the month. Tallapoosa, saw its spike in cases come a few days after Lees, on April 18. Its peak was 16.9 cases per day. As of Wednesday at noon, its seven-day average was 3.1 cases per day. Marshall County, which was also once a hotspot, reported it had no hospitalizations last month. Marshalls curve looks different from many other Alabama counties. Cases there spiked once in late April, reaching a 7-day average of 22.6 cases per day, before falling below five. Cases then jumped again, peaking at more than 31 per day, before finally falling again. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] Several other counties, including Randolph, DeKalb and Bullock, have seen steep declines in new cases, as well. Overall, the state average had been trending up for the past few weeks, fueled heavily by some of the states larger counties. But on Wednesday the statewide average fell below 400 - down to 397 - for the first time since May 25. Its also the first time since May 14 the state has seen two consecutive days of decline in average new cases. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] 397 is still a relatively high number of cases - its the ninth highest average for any day since the start of the pandemic. But the coming days will help determine whether the state is truly on the right track. The seven-day average for deaths in Alabama also decreased for two consecutive days, falling to 10 per day on Wednesday. Similar to Marshall countys average case curve, Alabamas daily deaths peaked twice so far during the pandemic, reaching above 16 per day in late April, falling slightly and then rising again. Two new deaths were reported by ADPH between Tuesday and Wednesday. That was the smallest total for any 24 hour period since May 16th. And while a lot of counties are trending down, there are still some counties that are seeing active increases in new virus cases. Cullman, Dallas, Escambia and several others will be among those to watch in the next week or so. But other factors could influence the numbers in the next few weeks. Alabama has been reopening following its month-long shutdown over the virus, and its unclear how the reopening will affect new case counts. Alabama has also seen a number of large, public gatherings in recent weeks - from high school graduations across the state to large protests in many cities on racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. ADPH urged the use of facemasks and social distancing during those protests, but not everyone present adhered to those guidelines. Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at rarchibald@al.com, and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) Healthcare workers who died of or were critically infected with COVID-19 should be given even the benefits promised by the government even without the implementing rules and regulations on this, Senator Richard Gordon said Thursday. Speaking to CNN Philippines, Gordon backed calls for the immediate release of compensation due these frontliners, saying the delay is "inexcusable" in this time of crisis. "Hinihintay pa ni (Health) Secretary (Francisco (Duque). I don't think it's his fault, pero 'yung implementing rules and regulations, dapat matapos 'yan. Sa akin, hindi na kailangan 'yung implementing rules and regulations. I spoke to him. Sabi ko, 'ibigay mo na lang,'" Gordon said in an interview with The Source, adding Duque agreed to this. [Translation: Secretary Duque is still waiting, I don't think it's his fault, but the implementing rules and regulations, need to be finalized. For me, the IRR is not needed. I spoke to him. I said, 'just give the benefits.'] Gordon stressed that it is essential for authorities to prioritize service to the country instead of being too cautious about rules. On Wednesday, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III wrote a letter urging Duque to release the 100,000 to healthcare workers with "severe" COVID-19 infection and 1 million to the families of those who died from the mysterious disease as provided for by the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act approved in March. It was revealed in a Senate session earlier this week that none of the healthworkers have been able to receive these benefits due to the lack of an IRR from health department. The DOH assured it was working on this and that department officials have been reaching out to the concerned families. "We are also gathering information to identify those who were classified as severe patients so they can be informed also of this benefit," Health spokesperson Ma. Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing on Wednesday. Over 2,600 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19, while 32 have died, according to the DOH latest data. Nationwide, there are over 19,000 cases of the deadly disease. A research group made up of academics from across the globe have published a paper arguing that "cross-cultural cooperation" on AI ethics and governance is vital if the technology is to "bring about benefit worldwide." The experts from Cambridge University's Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, Peking University's Center for Philosophy and the Future of Humanity, and the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence specifically want to see cooperation across different domains, disciplines, and cultures, as well as different nations. "Such cooperation will enable advances to be shared across different parts of the world, and will ensure that no part of society is neglected or disproportionately negatively impacted by AI," wrote researcher Jess Whittlestone in a blog post this week that summarizes the paper. "Without such cooperation, competitive pressures between countries may also lead to underinvestment in safe, ethical, and socially beneficial AI development, increasing the global risks from AI." AI is poised to change the world in the coming decades as machines become increasingly competent at a range of tasks, from driving cars to discovering new drugs. But some are concerned that AI could end up being a dangerous technology if it is developed in isolated silos across different labs in different countries. In the near term, there's a genuine risk that AI could be used in warfare to power autonomous weapons, and in the long term, some have speculated that "superintelligent" machines could decide humans are no longer necessary and wipe them out altogether. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this would ever happen. Political and business leaders are aware of the competitive edge that AI stands to give them. However, narratives that frame AI as a race between Eastern and Western nations "threaten to seriously undermine any prospects for international cooperation," according to Whittlestone. Kolkata, June 4 : Shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani, the first person to win an Olympic gold medal as an independent athlete at Rio 2016 Olympics, on Thursday said the feat was something incredible keeping in mind the challenges he had to overcome to reach there. Fehaid was unable to represent Kuwait at Rio after its Olympic body was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The 53-year old decided to go solo and impressed one and all when he beat Italy's Marco Innocenti 26-24 in the final of the double trap shooting event. "The quantity of problems I faced was a challenge and something incredible. God helped me to win," said Fehaid during a webinar on the fifth episode of #ManavRachnaHappyTimes on Zoom platform. "To overcome all problems and win the medal, it was incredible when I look back," added Fehaid, an army officer who was one of eight independent athletes at the 2016 Games. The IOC had banned Kuwait in October 2015 due to domestic laws that permit government interference in sports. Speaking about the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by Iraq, Fehaid said: "It was 2 AM. That time all streets were full of Iraqi soldiers. Everywhere we go roads are blocked. It was a very bad situation." Fehaid won bronze in the event at the 2000 Sydney Games, and another bronze in single trap at London 2012 while competing for Kuwait. As protests and demonstrations continue around the country (and world) in response to the death of George Floyd, many have questions about what they should do to safely participate. Some people are reporting being met with force as they protest. Many are concerned that the large numbers of people participating in protests might lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases. The list below, gathered using expert guidance, outlines what to wear, what to know and what to do at a protest to stay safe. What to wear to be safe at a protest Amnesty International has compiled a thorough list of what to wear, bring, and know for a protest. A graphic showing the information has gone viral in the past week as more people attend demonstrations. An Amnesty International graphic shares information about what to bring and wear to a protest. (Amnesty International) When getting ready to go, make sure you have essential supplies such as water, energy-boosting snacks and enough funds for any needs that might arise. Amnesty International also recommends bringing identification and emergency contact information, a watch, paper and a pen to document events, any prescription medication you may need and sanitary products like menstrual pads. "Avoid using tampons," says the organization. "If you're arrested, you may not have a chance to change." The site advises against bringing things that can be easily grabbed or lost, such as jewelry, ties or loose hair. To avoid being strongly affected by tear gas and other chemicals, avoid wearing Vaseline, mineral oil or oil-based sunscreens and moisturizers on skin since they can trap chemicals. Contact lenses can also trap irritating chemicals underneath. US-POLITICS-RACE-UNREST (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images) Amnesty International recommends wearing shatter-resistant swimming goggles and an N95 face mask, if available, to protect yourself. If an N95 face mask isn't available, wear a bandana or other cloth mask to cover your mouth. Wear comfortable and protective, closed-toe shoes that you can easily move in, and wear clothes that protect all of your skin to protect from sun and pepper spray. If you can, bring fresh clothes in a plastic bag in case yours are contaminated by chemical agents. Story continues How to slow the spread of COVID-19 while protesting Peter Pitts, current president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, spoke to TMRW about what to do to slow the spread of COVID-19 while protesting. There have been some concerns that protests may be "super-spreader" events and that the large groups demonstrating might lead to a spike in diagnosed coronavirus cases. While it helps that most of the protests have been taking place outside, Pitts said that the large number of people gathering in one area could lead to increased spread of the virus. "Having a social conscience doesn't mean ignoring social distancing and other measures to stop COVID-19," Pitts said. "People's emotions are running high and their cause is just, but we can't forget that we are also in the middle of a pandemic." Pitts noted that since people of color are likely to be disproportionally affected by COVID-19, it's important that protestors take measures to keep themselves and their families safe. All protestors should wear masks to reduce their chances of spreading and being exposed to the virus, as well as to protect against chemicals. Pitts also recommends wearing gloves and hand sanitizer, and social distancing as much as possible. It's also important to get tested and quarantine as much as possible. "When you go outside and you mix with lots of people, the chances for infection and spread of the disease are very high," Pitts said. "This is not a risk-free proposition, and if one does choose to go out, be smart, get tested afterward." US-POLITICS-RACE-UNREST (Olivier Douliery / Getty Images) How to safely handle tear gas Multiple protestors have reported being targeted by tear gas, even during peaceful demonstrations. To preemptively limit your potential exposure, avoid using oils and lotions on your skin because they can trap chemicals and prolong exposure. As noted above, contacts can also trap the chemicals in the eye, so avoid wearing them if possible. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a group that aims to protect the rights and freedoms of reporters around the world, notes that "Individuals with asthma or respiratory issues should avoid areas where tear gas is being used" since those people can suffer from more severe effects. Before joining a protest, the CPJ recommends taking note of the surrounding landmarks so you can navigate the area if you are struggling to see. Tear gas looms over Ocean Avenue near the California Incline (Stanton Sharpe / Getty Images) If you are sprayed with tear gas, Amnesty International highlights the need to stay calm. "Panicking increases the irritation," said the site. "Breathe slowly and remember it is only temporary. Blow your nose, rinse your mouth, cough and spit, (and) try not to swallow. ... DO NOT RUB IT IN." If tear gas does get in your eyes, the organization recommends doing an eye flush using a solution of half liquid antacid and half water. Some homemade tear gas remedies have been published and shared online, but can do more harm. If you are wearing contacts and are sprayed with tear gas, remove the lenses immediately or get someone to remove them for you if your hands are contaminated. If someone is helping, make sure they have clean, uncontaminated fingers. Destroy or dispose of the lenses once they are removed. Related: "Several people were hit with rubber bullets in the arm, in the back and in the head," Kent said, adding that three police officers were also injured. To help minimize the effects of exposure, the CPJ recommends finding higher ground and standing in fresh air, preferably with a breeze, which can help carry away the gas. Shower in cold water as soon as possible to wash the gas from your skin, and wash clothing several times to make sure it is clear of the chemical. What to know while at a protest Both Amnesty International and the CPJ have shared advice on what people should know about attending protests and avoiding aggression. "Be calm and focused," says Amnesty International. "When things get most intense, react to danger or warning signs sooner, not later." Protests Continue In Louisville Over Deaths In Recent Police Shootings (Brett Carlsen / Getty Images) Be sure to go in a group, if you can, and try to keep everyone in your group calm. Amnesty International recommends watching for signs of physical or mental distress and avoiding "panic behavior." The CPJ recommends making sure you know the area you are going to, to avoid any confusion, and make sure that at least one person not at the protest knows where you are. Check in with that person regularly, and have a plan for what to do in case you are arrested or harmed. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Both people and administration were relived as Cyclone Nisarga, which landed in Mumbai on Wednesday, spared the COVID-battered metropolis of any major damage. The major damage occurred in the Konkan region as the cyclone whirled past at speeds of 100-120 kmph. Four people were injured while crops including cotton were destroyed and trees were uprooted. In Ratnagiri, a vessel carrying oil capsized but all the 10 people were rescued. Mumbai remained on edge as it braced for the cyclone after a gap of 72 years. The Maharashtra government has asked local administrations to carry out the damage assessment and to prepare a plan for compensation. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the cyclone damaged 117 trees/branches while 29 short circuits were reported across Mumbai. BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal said that after the alert from the IMD, the civic body put its entire evacuation and rescue system in place. Nisarga had weakened into a 'cyclonic storm' in the evening and by night further weakened into a deep depression and now lay over north-central Maharashtra, said the latest bulletin by the India Meteorological Department(IMD). The wind speed has reduced considerably to 25 kmph, it said. The neighbouring coastal districts of Raigad and Palghar bore the brunt of the storm experiencing strong winds, heavy rainfall and raging sea surge. Tidal waves measuring up to 6-8 feet lashed parts of the coastal areas. Tin roofs erected on the terraces of residential apartments flew away in some places and several trees and electricity poles were also uprooted. A 58-year-old man was killed after a power transformer fell on him while he was rushing home to escape the cyclone fury in Raigad district, police said. A 65-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man died in house collapse after the tin sheets over the roof were blown in separate incidents in Pune district, according to an officer of the District Disaster Management Cell. We created 30 temporary shelters where 18,887 people were shifted from danger zone to a safer place within Mumbai. Food and water were provided with these people at these temporary shelters home, Singh said. As precautionary measures, the BMC officials were directed to remain on alert for the next 24 hours. In Navi Mumbai, more than 10 houses were damaged due to tree collapse while 25 trapped people were rescued. No major damage was reported from the southern coast of Gujarat. The state government had evacuated over 63,700 people from coastal areas of eight districts and 18 NDRF and SDRF teams were deployed for rescue operation. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the resilience showed by people and officials helped in "mitigating the intensity" of the cyclone. "Thanking all who protected Maharashtra along with Mumbai in the face of the Nisarga cyclone which had hovered over Maharashtra at a time when the state is already grappling with COVID-19. "But we all warded it (the cyclone crisis) off. The people and administration fought hard and mitigated the intensity of the crisis," the chief minister said in a statement. Cyclone Nisarga made landfall at 12.30 PM at Alibaug and the process was completed by 2.30 PM, a senior IMD official said. Nisarga means nature and the name was coined by by Bangladesh. The cyclone did not cause any major damage on the southern coast of Gujarat where over 63,700 people from eight districts were evacuated. Luckily, the cyclonic storm passed without any major incident and casualties, said state relief commissioner Harshad Patel in Ahmedabad. Ahead of Nisarga's landfall, thousands of people in its path were evacuated, trains rescheduled, flights cancelled, fishermen ordered out of the seas and rescue workers were put on standby. As the cyclone weakened into a depression, it was clear that the extent of damage was far lesser than anticipated. The threat posed by Nisarga to Mumbai has lessened, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat had said, as the city was already down on its knees from the raging COVID-19 pandemic. "Though the threat posed to Mumbai by the cyclone has reduced, the next few hours will be quite crucial. The cyclone can have influence over an average of 200 km from its eye," Thorat had tweeted after the cyclone made the landfall. Mumbai on Wednesday reported 1,276 new COVID-19 cases and 49 deaths, taking the case count to 43,262 and the number of fatalities to 1,417, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. "It(Nisarga) made the landfall just north of the historic Murud-Janjira town. A slight change of direction towards North Eastwards meant, the impact of the cyclone on Mumbai was less severe than originally expected," the Ministry of Earth Sciences said in a statement. The statement said Alibaug witnessed wind speeds of 120-130 kmph. Power utilities had shut down electricity supply in some parts of Ratnagiri district as a preventive measure while Mobile services were affected in parts of Raigad district. Alibagh recorded a rainfall of 45 mm and Ratnagiri 38 mm (till 4 p.m). According to Anupam Srivastava, Commander, NDRF, a number of trees have fallen in several areas in the coastal districts. He said trees fell on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway too, but the traffic flow was not affected. Steeped in colonial history, Alibaug is a quaint little town and is dotted with sandy beaches, unpolluted air, several forts and temples. It is also home to many Bollywood stars and other rich people. As a precautionary measure flight operations remained suspended at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mumbai International Airport for a few hours in the afternoon. During the day, a cargo aircraft belonging to FedEx overshot the main runway of the Mumbai airport on its arrival from Bengaluru, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said in a statement. The aircraft was towed away from the runway and there has been no disruption in flight operations, it said. Four long-distance trains on the Konkan Railway route connecting Kerala with Mumbai and New Delhi were re-routed via Madgaon, Belgavi, Miraj of the South Western Railway. Central and state authorities had taken necessary precautions to restrict the damage by Cyclone. The NDRF(National Disaster Response Force) had deployed43 teams in Maharashtra and Gujarat. BJP MLA Nitesh Rane tweeted videos purportedly showing damage caused to a makeshift COVID-19 hospital in BKC area in Mumbai but the authorities said the structure was intact. Built by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the 1,000-bed hospital in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) is run by the BMC. Some 250 coronavirus patients who are undergoing treatment there were temporarily shifted to other facilities as a precaution in view of the cyclone threat on Tuesday. The MMRDA, however, claimed there was no damage to the hospital, and it has resumed the construction work of the second facility as well. "After #CycloneNisarg, work restarts for second COVID facility at BKC. Nothing happened to COVID hospital 1 and 2 during Cyclone though as a matter of abundant precaution, patients were shifted," the MMRDA tweeted. Maharashtra and Gujarat had activated their disaster response mechanism, deploying NDRF teams and evacuating people from areas in the cyclone's path. All fishing boats which were out in the sea off Palghar coast in Maharashtra returned before the landfall, an official said. As many as 577 fishing boats from Palghar had gone out in the sea and till Monday evening, 564 came back. Later, the help of the Coast Guard, Navy and the fisheries department was sought and the remaining 13 boats also returned to the shore late Tuesday evening. Ahead of the cyclone, carnivorous animals in Mumbai zoo were shifted to holding areas in their enclosures to keep them safe from rain and strong winds, an official said. Since the city has been experiencing rain, authorities at the Veermata Jijabai Udyan, also popularly known as Byculla Zoo which is spread over an area of 50 acres, took all steps to protect the animals against the rough weather, he said. Tigers, leopards and hyenas were shifted to holding areas, a BMC official said. Authorities in Indore and Ujjain divisions in western Madhya Pradesh have been asked to be prepared to deal with the impact of Nisarga. The cyclonic storm is likely to enter Khandwa, Khargone and Burhanpur districts in the state on Thursday, an IMD official said. Rains have been reported from some places in MP due to its impact. (With PTI Inputs) In a rather shocking development, Facebook has admitted that the #sikh hashtag was being blocked on Facebook as well as Instagram since March. They only became of it a few hours ago, apparently, and they say it is a mistake caused by a report in early March. They say community feedback made them aware of the #sikh hashtag block on both social networks on Wednesday and have since unblocked the hashtag. Facebook and Instagram have apologized for the #sikh hashtag being blocked on the social networks. Facebook says #sikh hashtag was first blocked on Facebook and Instagram on March 7, following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by their teams. We became aware that these hashtags were blocked today following feedback we received from the community, and quickly moved to unblock them. Our processes fell down here, and were sorry, says Instagram in an early morning statement released on Twitter. This is an incredibly important, painful time for the Sikh community. We designed hashtags to allow people to come together and share with one another. It's never our intention to silence the voices of this community, we are taking the necessary steps so this doesnt happen again, they add. Users had been pointing out for a while now that the #sikh hashtag search on Instagram had been throwing up error messages instead. The outrage on social media was certainly to be expected particularly from the Sikh community around the world, considering religious sentiments have been hurt. Posts for this hashtag are temporarily hidden because of unusual activity that may not meet Instagrams Community Guidelines, it read. The Sikh Press Association had raised this issue with the social networks. In a tweet, they said, Why has Instagram blocked the hashtag #Sikh @instagram @mosseri? In the same week that #Neverforget1984 trends on Twitter, Instagram seemingly conspires to suppress the truth about the atrocities of the 1984 Sikh genocide by censoring the faith of 27 million people. This isnt the first time, just this week, that Instagram has been on the wrong side of things with hashtag monitoring. Earlier this week, users had reported that they were unable to post or view #BlackLivesMatter hashtag content, something that Instagram admitted happened because of incorrect spam detection. UK and US Condemn Chinese Regime for Eroding Hong Kongs Autonomy UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Donald Trump both indicated on May 29 that the Chinese regime is eroding Hong Kongs autonomy by imposing a so-called national security law on the city. In addition, the United Kingdom announced it will extend visa rights for Hong Kong British national (overseas) passport holders. On May 29, the UK government published a press release after Johnson spoke with Trump. The announcement said: The leaders said that Chinas plan to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong goes against their obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and would undermine Hong Kongs autonomy and the One Country Two Systems framework. Moreover, the UK will extend visa rights for as many as 300,000 Hong Kong British National (Overseas) passport holders if China continues to impose repressive security laws on the former British colony, The Guardian reported on May 28. The UK would extend the BN(O) passport holders current right to visit for six months without a visa to an extendable 12 months, leading to a pathway for future citizenship, Foreign Secretary Domonic Raab said. It is estimated that about 2.9 million people can apply for BN(O) passports in Hong Kong, and 350,000 Hong Kong people currently hold such passports. The UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, explained: In relation to BN(O) passport holders, currently they only have the right to come to the UK for six months. If China continues down this path and implements this national security legislation, we will change that status. And we will remove that six-month limit and allow those BNO passport holders to come to the UK and to apply to work and study for extendable periods of 12 months and that will itself provide a pathway to future citizenship. In the phone call, Johnson and Trump also discussed the importance of leaders meeting in the United States for the G7 Summit which will be held at the end of June. Both leaders also mentioned the issue of telecommunications security. According to The Sunday Times, Britain is seeking to forge an alliance of ten democracies to create alternative suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid relying on China. The government has approached Washington about a D10 club of democratic partners, based on the G7 plus Australia, South Korea, and India. Other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the EU have expressed their concerns and criticized Beijings security law for Hong Kong. Joe Biden is on the cusp of formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination after winning hundreds more delegates in primary contests. The votes have tested America's ability to run elections while balancing a pandemic and sweeping social unrest. Mr Biden could lock down the nomination within the next week as West Virginia and Georgia hold primaries. President Donald Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination in March. On Tuesday, voters across the US were forced to navigate curfews, health concerns and National Guard troops - waiting in line hours after polls closed in some cases - after election officials dramatically reduced the number of in-person voting sites to minimise the spread of the coronavirus. Mr Biden and Mr Trump easily swept their respective primary contests that ranged from Maryland to Montana and featured the night's biggest prize: Pennsylvania. The two men are certain to face each other on the presidential ballot in November, yet party rules require them first to accumulate a majority of delegates in the months-long state-by-state primary season. Pennsylvania, which offered Tuesday's largest trove of delegates, also represented a significant test case for Republicans and Democrats working to strengthen their operations in a premier general election battleground. Voters were forced to brave long lines in "militarised zones" because officials consolidated the vast majority of polling places in Philadelphia to minimise health risks, according to Erin Kramer, executive director of community group One Pennsylvania. She noted that some polling places in African American communities are in police stations. "Having to stand in line while police officers are entering and exiting the building on police business is not exactly how people want to spend their election day," Ms Kramer said. Mr Biden was in Philadelphia earlier to deliver remarks about the civil unrest that has erupted across the nation after the police killing of George Floyd. He didn't talk about the primary, instead focusing his attention on Mr Trump, whom Mr Biden blasted as "more interested in power than in principle". Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is not actively campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, having suspended his operation and endorsed Mr Biden, but his name appeared on the ballots. Adjust On the eve of Tuesday's primaries, senior adviser Jeff Weaver encouraged progressives to vote for Mr Sanders anyway to help maximise his influence in the direction of the Democratic Party. The comments served as a reminder that Mr Biden may have no legitimate Democratic rivals remaining but must still win over sceptical activists from his party's far-left flank, who worry he's too close to the political establishment. Party unity was an afterthought this week, however, as more immediate health and safety concerns dominated the national conversation. The coronavirus death toll has surged past 100,000 nationwide, and thousands of new cases are reported each day. At the same time, several major cities, particularly Washington DC and Philadelphia among those voting Tuesday, struggled to contain protests and related looting that led to thousands of arrests. Some voters said Mr Trump's increasingly tough tone toward protesters inspired them to participate in the democratic process. Nicholas Autiello, who works in finance in Rhode Island, said he was disturbed by police driving back peaceful demonstrators near the White House on Monday. "Last night, we have a president who is acting like a dictator," Mr Autiello said. "So being able to come out here this morning and fill in a circle next to a name for someone who I know will restore honour and decency to the presidency was so important." Political groups have had to adjust as some states move to a system that relies largely on voting by post. They include Montana, where all 56 counties decided to vote entirely by post, despite Mr Trump's repeated warning against it. Voting rights watchdogs in multiple states expressed concerns about access to postal ballots, confusion about deadlines and a shortage of poll workers that led to long lines. New results from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the early universe took place sooner than previously thought. A European team of astronomers have found no evidence of the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, when the universe was less than 1 billion years old. This artist's impression presents the early universe. Credits: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser and NASA New results from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope suggest the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the early universe took place sooner than previously thought. A European team of astronomers have found no evidence of the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, as far back as when the universe was just 500 million years old. The exploration of the very first galaxies remains a significant challenge in modern astronomy. We do not know when or how the first stars and galaxies in the universe formed. These questions can be addressed with the Hubble Space Telescope through deep imaging observations. Hubble allows astronomers to view the universe back to within 500 million years of the big bang. A team of European researchers, led by Rachana Bhatawdekar of ESA (the European Space Agency), set out to study the first generation of stars in the early universe. Known as Population III stars, these stars were forged from the primordial material that emerged from the big bang. Population III stars must have been made solely out of hydrogen, helium and lithium, the only elements that existed before processes in the cores of these stars could create heavier elements, such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and iron. Bhatawdekar and her team probed the early universe from about 500 million to 1 billion years after the big bang by studying the cluster MACS J0416 and its parallel field with the Hubble Space Telescope (with supporting data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory). "We found no evidence of these first-generation Population III stars in this cosmic time interval," said Bhatawdekar of the new results. The result was achieved using the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, as part of the Hubble Frontier Fields program. This program (which observed six distant galaxy clusters from 2012 to 2017) produced the deepest observations ever made of galaxy clusters and the galaxies located behind them which were magnified by the gravitational lensing effect, thereby revealing galaxies 10 to 100 times fainter than any previously observed. The masses of foreground galaxy clusters are large enough to bend and magnify the light from the more distant objects behind them. This allows Hubble to use these cosmic magnifying glasses to study objects that are beyond its nominal operational capabilities. Bhatawdekar and her team developed a new technique that removes the light from the bright foreground galaxies that constitute these gravitational lenses. This allowed them to discover galaxies with lower masses than ever previously observed with Hubble, at a distance corresponding to when the universe was less than a billion years old. At this point in cosmic time, the lack of evidence for exotic stellar populations and the identification of many low-mass galaxies supports the suggestion that these galaxies are the most likely candidates for the reionization of the universe. This period of reionization in the early universe is when the neutral intergalactic medium was ionized by the first stars and galaxies. "These results have profound astrophysical consequences as they show that galaxies must have formed much earlier than we thought," said Bhatawdekar. "This also strongly supports the idea that low-mass/faint galaxies in the early universe are responsible for reionization." These results also suggest that the earliest formation of stars and galaxies occurred much earlier than can be probed with the Hubble Space Telescope. This leaves an exciting area of further research for the upcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope -- to study the universe's earliest galaxies. These results are based on a previous 2019 paper by Bhatawdekar et al., and a paper that will appear in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS). These results are also being presented at a press conference during the 236th meeting of American Astronomical Society. The European team of astronomers in this study consists of R. Bhatawdekar and C.J. Conselice. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 04:10:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW YORK, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Protesters defied a curfew in New York City on Tuesday night to keep protesting the death of African American George Floyd, but the night was largely peaceful with only sporadic reports of looting and violence citywide. Tuesday's curfew, the second since 1943, started earlier than Monday at 8 p.m. local time and ended at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, during which vehicle traffic below 96th street in Manhattan was limited. Hundreds of protesters refused to leave after 8 p.m. on Tuesday and kept marching across the Manhattan Bridge. Police tried to block them but failed. However, it was still a relief for city officials and police as the night was much more peaceful and quieter than previous ones. Around 200 people were arrested, mostly for minor violations. Very few incidents of looting, violence or vandalism were reported, according to the New York City Police Department (NYPD). "Last night we took a step forward in moving out of this difficult period we've had the last few days and moving to a better time," said Mayor Bill de Blasio at his daily briefing, adding that the measures were effective. He said the curfew would remain for the rest of the week till the morning of June 8, the day when New York City is scheduled to enter phase one of reopening. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Wednesday that officers across the country are facing orchestrated attacks from criminals. "We are seeing it, unfortunately, alive and well in New York City," said Shea, who joined the mayor's briefing through phone, adding that some bottles thrown to the police during the turmoils in previous days were filled with cement rather than water. He also retweeted a video on Wednesday showing officers confiscating boxes of pre-staged bricks left on a street corner in Brooklyn. "This is what our cops are up against: Organized looters, strategically placing caches of bricks & rocks at locations throughout NYC," he said. On the first night of curfew in New York City, dozens of shops were looted hours before the curfew began at 11 p.m. and over 700 people arrested. Wednesday's protests in New York City are scheduled to start around 4 p.m., according to organizers. Enditem An NHS frontline doctor who threatened to quit unless Dominic Cummings stood down has today sensationally announced he has resigned. Dr Dominic Pimenta hit the headlines last month when he launched a furious tirade directed at the Downing Street aide, after it was revealed he has travelled across the country during the lockdown. The London cardiology registrar said he was prepared to quit if Cummings stayed in his job and has now stood by his pledge by handing in his notice and stepping back from the NHS frontline as the coronavirus crisis continues. NHS frontline doctor Dr Dominic Pimenta threatened to quit unless Dominic Cummings stood down. Today, the London cardiology registrar announced he had resigned from his job In a tweet this morning, Dr Pimenta wrote: 'Cool subtweet guys. I gave my notice Monday.' In a tweet this morning, Dr Pimenta wrote: 'Cool subtweet guys. I gave my notice Monday.' Speaking in the wake of the Cummings scandal last month, the doctor told Good Morning Britain: 'It's incredibly insulting to myself to the NHS staff and frankly to everyone in this country who's lost loved ones,' adding: 'It's unacceptable and I will not accept it.' It came after he tweeted a picture of himself wearing personal protective equipment, saying: 'This stuff is hot and hard work. 'Haven't seen my parents since January. Frankly, Cummings spits in the face of all our efforts, the whole NHS. If he doesn't resign, I will.' This comes as the Attorney General insisted she made no public legal view by defending the Durham trip made by Boris Johnson's most senior adviser. Suella Braverman, the chief legal adviser to the Government, faced claims she had undermined the impartiality of her role and the rule of law following her intervention in the case of Dominic Cummings. But she described the criticism as 'simply absurd' before stressing her 'full confidence' in the operational independence of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the police. Speaking last month, the junior doctor told GMB: 'Cummings spits in the face of all our efforts, the whole NHS. If he doesn't resign, I will'. Pictured, the senior government advisor outside his London home on May 24 Ms Braverman tweeted 'protecting one's family is what any good parent does' as she highlighted a Downing Street statement which defended Mr Cummings' behaviour last month. The Prime Minister's aide travelled from London to Durham during the lockdown because of concerns over who would look after his son if both he and his wife were incapacitated by coronavirus. Durham Police concluded Mr Cummings may have committed a 'minor breach' of the regulations by taking a trip to Barnard Castle but took no further action. A pro-democracy activist reenacts an iconic moment from the pro-democracy protests of 1989, during a march in Hong Kong on June 1, 2014, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The reenactment depicts the young man who blocked the path of Chinese tanks. (Photo by Jessica Hromas/Getty Images) Remembering Tiananmen Square Anniversary With Creator of Tank Man Short Film SANTA CLARA, Calif.This year marks the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square student pro-democracy movement. The creator of the short film Tank Man about the Tiananmen Square Massacre shared with The Epoch Times about the importance of the film and the difficulties he went through in making it. On June 4, 1989, students gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing to protest for freedom and democracy. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) silenced them with military tanks, troops, and assault rifles. Robert Anthony Peters, director of the 15-minute film Tank Man, released the short film last year for the events 30th anniversary. It reenacts the events leading up to the iconic moment in which a man stood alone in front of a line of tanks. This year, during shelter-in-place orders, Peters held webinars to talk about his film and the historical event. A Propaganda-Covered Truth Peters told The Epoch Times that the image of the man standing in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square always stuck out to him, and he was curious to know why the man did that. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to walk in front of not even one tank. I mean, one tank would be outstanding, but it was like a line of tanks that this guy walked in front of, said Peters. Nobody knew who that man was, so Peters decided to create a possible scenario to try to uncover why he made such a decision. He started with the historical footage and image. Just kind of looking at him, what he looked like, how he dressed and kind of work backwards from there, he said. He also did a lot of research on that period of time. This included reading a book titled Tiananmen Papers and internal documents surrounding the protest, as well as researching Chinese culture, history, philosophy, and religion. He did the filming in Los Angeles, but he tried to add as many details from his research as he could to make it as realistic and authentic as possible. Peters wants to make a longer feature film about the 1989 Tiananmen Square events. However, since Chinas communist regime is funding Hollywood, he says there are challenges in working with Hollywood to make a film critical of the CCP. Even with his 15-minute film, he encountered obstacles. He wanted it to be an all-Chinese cast, but actors wouldnt audition when they discovered what it was about. As the audition process went on, they said, I cant be involved in this because Ive got family in China, or Im a Chinese national, I cant do this and go back, or Im afraid of repercussions for one reason or another, said Peters. In the end, the actors participating were U.S. citizens, had fewer connections in mainland China, or wanted to do something meaningful. Even after the film was released, he had trouble showing it at many Asian events. Ive tried to book screenings to rent out the cultural center. I tried to do it in the town I live in, Tucson, and as soon as I told them what the film was about, they wouldnt respond to my emails, he said. Weve only gotten accepted to two Asian film festivals, one in Hong Kong and one in Dallas. Every other Asian film festival has rejected us. He was able to do a lot of screenings at universities, but he received some backlash from mainland Chinese students. In response, he directed them to the firsthand interviews and historical resources that are available. I hope it inspires people to take strong, bold actions for the things that they believe are right, he said. I think its important that we see the power of even what one individual standing up against the state can do. Thousands of people take part in a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2009, to mark the 20th anniversary of Beijings crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. (ANTONY DICKSON/AFP via Getty Images) In regards to Chinas timing for the National Security Law that was passed for Hong Kong this year, Peters believes theres more to it. If its any wonder that the National Security Law comes within a week of Tiananmen Square [events], just like last year when they shut down WeChat and other things for upgrade right before [the] Tiananmen Square anniversary, I dont think these things are coincidental, he said. He says he feels fortunate to be in America and to be able to make a film to tell such a story. [If] nobody in China could make this film, then I make it for them, he said. Bay Area pro-democracy supporters gather on May 31, 2020, as part of their annual effort to clean the Goddess of Democracy statue at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown in San Francisco.(Nancy Han/NTD) The Boy Who Survived Fang Zheng, president of the Chinese Democracy Education Foundation, was one of the students at the 1989 Tiananmen Square student pro-democracy movement. He lost both of his legs after a tank rolled over his body during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. He arrived in the United States in 2009 and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Every year around the Tiananmen Square anniversary, Zheng and other pro-democracy supporters clean the Goddess of Democracy statue at Portsmouth Square in San Franciscos Chinatown. They also put up signs to educate people passing by the area. Bay Area pro-democracy supporters clean the Goddess of Democracy statue at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown in San Francisco on May 31, 2020. (The Epoch Times) The June 4 incident happened 31 years ago, but for us witnesses and victims, that day is not something of the past. It still exists, because the Chinese communist regime hasnt changed, Zheng told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times. He said that the CCP has recently been trying to take control of Hong Kong, compromising the freedom of Hong Kong people. June 4 must be officially remembered as the day the CCP massacred, he said. Acknowledge the CCPs true nature. When everyone acknowledges the CCPs true nature, I think its destruction will arrive soon. NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ATSG, a tech-enabled managed services and solutions company, announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named ATSG to its 2020 Solution Provider 500 list. Each year, CRN releases its list of top 500 solution providers, a ranking of the leading IT channel partner organizations across North America by revenue. CRN's Solution Provider 500 list serves as the industry's benchmark for recognizing the top-performing technology integrators, strategic service providers, and IT consultants, and as a valuable resource for technology vendors looking to partner with top solution providers. ATSG, Inc. was founded as an IT solution provider with an initial focus in the enterprise networking arena. Since then, ATSG has grown and evolved into a holistic Managed IT services company, bringing Technology Solutions as a Service (TSaaS) to the marketplace at large. This expansion of capabilities and offerings includes public and private cloud, collaboration, unified communications, contact center, digital workplace, mobility, hybrid infrastructure, and security. "ATSG's accelerated growth and transformational success is a result of our maniacal commitment to our clients, the depth of our technical and operational expertise, and coupled with our thoughtful culture of innovation and tangible results," said Anthony D'Ambrosi, Chief Executive Officer, ATSG. "During a series of unparalleled circumstances in this marketplace, I am extraordinarily proud of how our team continues to prove that effective collaboration, focusing on delivering on our promises, has resulted in exceeding our clients' expectations." "CRN's Solution Provider 500 list showcases the top IT channel partner organizations across North America," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "This year, companies on this list represent a combined revenue of $393 billion, a data point that underscores the impact and influence these solution providers have on the IT industry. On behalf of The Channel Company, I'd like to congratulate these companies for their outstanding contributions to the growth and success of our industry." CRN's complete 2020 Solution Provider 500 list is available online at www.CRN.com/SP500 and a sample from the list will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine. About ATSG ATSG is a global, tech-enabled managed services and solutions company focused on innovative services that enable today's digital enterprise and end-user experiences. ATSG provides Intelligent IT through our Technology Solutions as a Service (TSaaS) portfolio to a wide variety of enterprises and organizations; leveraging our comprehensive offerings of rediTech, rediManage, and rediSecure, which deliver reliable, elastic, dynamic information technology, and world-class operations. ATSG is a privately held company headquartered in Manhattan, New York. For more information on ATSG, please visit us on the web at http://www.atsg.net/, like us on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter, or become a fan on our Facebook page. #AboutATSG 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 unequaled 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. Contact: Elizabeth Kubycheck ATSG [email protected] SOURCE ATSG Related Links http://www.atsg.net Bhattacharya is now more optimistic than before regarding the adoption of newer technologies, even though she acknowledges there could be short-term challenges owing to the pandemic. Salesforce is among the first global employers to take the no lay-off pledge, pertaining to COVID-19. Former SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya joined Salesforce to head its India unit at a time when the firm was facing multiple challenges. On April 1, when she took over as chairman and CEO of the US-based software major, the country was under a lockdown. Business sentiment, too, was quite low. A couple of months later, she is now more optimistic than before regarding the adoption of newer technologies, even though she acknowledges there could be short-term challenges owing to the pandemic. In the short term, it is going to be challenging (due to the pandemic). However, the future is very bright in the medium-to-long term. "In India, there is huge demand, which will drive growth for Salesforce, said Bhattacharya. The veteran banker added that the company would stick to its earlier hiring plans and is planning to come up with new product launches in the banking and insurance segments. As we have not seen that level of slowdown in demand, there is no reason for not taking in necessary people, at this point of time. "Rather, our Hyderabad support unit has received clearance for another 100 staffers. Therefore, it will all depend on the business. At present, Salesforce has offices in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Mumbai, with the firm employing more than 2,500 people. The Hyderabad centre, which provides global support to enterprises, is the largest for the company in India. Salesforce is among the first global employers to take the no lay-off pledge, pertaining to COVID-19. Bhattacharya said that the CRM (customer relationship management) software company has, in the midst of the pandemic, come up with several offerings for enterprises to effectively manage themselves. One such product has been launched in the health care space, which helps hospitals regulate their patient intake and care. Deloitte has implemented the Salesforce platform in its healthcare programme for the Odisha government. It is helping the Odisha government monitor hospitals, hospital supplies, and patient status, among others, through this service. In the coming few months, the firm is planning to increase its focus on the banking and insurance space. Earlier products were more on the NBFC (non-banking financial company) side. "Now, we will be definitely looking at the banking and insurance space more closely, she said. Photograph: Courtesy, SBI Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler convened a news conference Thursday to address the seventh consecutive night of demonstrations in Oregons largest city. The protests come as part of a massive wave of unrest that has swept the nation after the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by police in Minneapolis. Thousands gathered and marched on Portlands east and west sides Wednesday, demanding systemic change. Smaller demonstrations also emerged throughout the metro area and state. Wheeler discussed at length during his news conference the development that city police will no longer patrol Portlands schools, saying officers who work in Portland Public Schools and the David Douglas and Parkrose school districts will be reassigned. Portland Police Bureau Deputy Chief Chris Davis also spoke about the bureaus use of tear gas. Other developments: - Wheeler thanked Portlanders for demanding change and extended condolences to Floyds family, friends and supporters on the day of his memorial in Minnesota. - Wheeler bashed President Donald Trumps response to protests. Heres what our president hasnt done: listen, learn, empathize, inspire. In cities across America, were all feeling that void, Wheeler said. - Davis said an estimated 8,000 protesters turned out for Wednesday demonstrations. Splinter group totaling about 200 people remained after protesters dispersed, he said. They threw items at police, lit fires and broke windows. A security guard was assaulted with a bottle, Davis said, and an officer was hit in the face with a full beer can that someone threw. - Davis said 19 officers have been hurt in the past week. - Davis said officers did not use tear gas to disperse protesters during Wednesdays demonstration. - Davis said significant overtime costs have been associated with the protests but that the police bureau has adjusted shifts to have officers working their scheduled hours during the protests. - Davis said protest crowds are gradually getting smaller, but theyre still large. Crowds at the beginning of Portlands recent protest movement topped 15,000, Davis said. The crowd Wednesday night was estimated at about 8,000. - Davis thanked the thousands of people who have come out to demonstrate. I know youre frustrated," he said. "I know youre angry. I know youre tired. But despite all of this, youve been able to keep it peaceful and dignified, and I have a lot of respect for that. The actions of a small group of disruptors intent on committing criminal acts is no reflection on any of you. He also thanked families and neighbors of first responders in Portlands police and fire bureaus. The news conference can be viewed in the video above. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Equal Experts, a global network of experienced technology consultants, is today making available Work Space, a free mobile app designed to help enterprises thrive in our new, post-lockdown reality. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005270/en/ Return to work safely with the new Work Space app (Photo: Business Wire) Work Space helps businesses implement social distancing measures by nudging employees via their iPhone or Apple Watch when they come into close contact with each other for longer than government guidelines. The app encourages behavioural change and helps employees adapt to new workplace requirements. The app uses similar smartphone technology to that being used by the UK Government for its 'Contact Tracing' apps, but addresses the privacy concerns, something essential to gaining widespread adoption. "We've seen smartphone and Bluetooth technology being used to provide new 21st Century ways to combat COVID-19," said Paul Stringer, Mobile Practice Lead at Equal Experts. "Physical distancing will remain the most effective measure we have against a second wave and is a key part of advice on safely returning to places of work. However, physical markers, one-way systems, and PPE are simply impractical in most office environments and other proposed solutions such as smart cameras using facial recognition technology provide an unacceptable invasion of privacy. The Work Space app provides enterprises with a practical, simple and privacy-first way to encourage employees to adapt to physical distancing measures, protecting themselves and others," he added. "When we thought about how best we could contribute to business return to a new normal, it was logical to leverage our technical and mobile expertise," said Joe Lubczynskyj, Client Principal at Equal Experts. "To make it easier for all businesses to participate we've decided to give it away for free," he added. Enterprises who want to learn more about deploying the free Work Space app can visit equalexperts.com/workspace for further information. About Equal Experts Founded in 2007 to challenge the traditional technology consulting model, Equal Experts is made up of over 1,700 experienced professionals delivering value globally. As strategic partners to their clients, Equal Experts use industry-leading strategy, design and delivery techniques to help customers disrupt their markets, create innovative products, accelerate delivery, and build world-class solutions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005270/en/ Contacts: Kathleen Collier kcollier@equalexperts.com The proportion of American workers who were working remotely in May due to concerns over COVID-19, according to a Gallup poll. ( The Augusta Chronicle June 2, 2020) Iran President Says Coronavirus Restrictions To Be Restored If Warnings Not Heeded 06/04/20 Source: Radio Farda President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said restrictions will be restored if warnings are not heeded and the coronavirus outbreak peaks again. "People and businesses must take officials' warnings very seriously that there will be another peak if regulations and social distancing are not observed," Rouhani said and warned that restrictions will be restored wherever the virus spreads quickly. Iran reports a record number of daily coronavirus cases as a surge in infections sweeps the country following a relaxation of its lockdown https://t.co/EiOS63m8Qt Bloomberg (@business) June 4, 2020 President Rouhani's remarks came in response to the Health Minister Saeed Namaki's warning about the increase in holiday trips due to a long holiday this week which puts tourist destinations in danger of higher infections. Iranian officials color-coded the country into white, yellow, and red zones in April and said restrictions will be lifted only in white zones where the risk of the epidemic was lower. However, last week they changed their approach and lifted all coronavirus restrictions across the country on Saturday despite daily new infection cases being more than 3,000; back to early April levels. Talking about the new measures Rouhani on Saturday stressed that people must believe that "going back to normal" is not possible in the short term and they need to consider the changed lifestyle for years to come. The number of new COVID-19 cases is alarmingly increasing in Iran after relative improvement in the past two months. The jump in infections has led to serious concerns among health officials who keep warning that the situation is far from normal. On Saturday in addition to opening mosques for prayers (but not large gatherings and funeral services), shopping centers and malls were also allowed to stay open for longer hours and government employees went back to work. Iran has the highest number of cases in the Middle East and its economy, already under the heavy burden of U.S. sanctions, has been hit the worst by the pandemic. According to the latest announcement of the Health Ministry the total number of cases in Iran now stands at more than 160,000 with more than 8,000 fatalities. Official Iran's statistics on coronavirus as of June 4 Infections: 164,270 Deaths: 8,071 New Cases: 3,574 Recovered: 127,485 Around 100 people armed with a phone most sitting in the comfort of their homes in Bangalore are helping the Delhi government monitor the health of around 9,500 Covid-19 patients who are presently in home isolation in the capital. With the rising number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Delhi, the Union health ministry came up with guidelines for home isolation at the end of April. The challenge was to ensure that the symptoms of the patients confined to their homes did not worsen. Initially, district officials called those under home isolation in their areas each day to check on their health. To ease their workload, the Delhi government contracted the Bangalore-based home healthcare company Portea Medical on April 30. Once a person tests positive, a two-member district health team visits him or her at home to check their symptoms and the facilities available for home isolation. Only those with mild symptoms such as low-grade fever or sore throat and no comorbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart and kidney disease are allowed to remain in home isolation. Comorbid conditions are known to increase the risk of a person developing severe symptoms of Covid-19. Even then, home isolation will only be allowed if the patients have adequate facilities such as a separate room and toilet for the person who tests positive for the infection. And if the others in the family do not have severe comorbidities. Once we get the numbers of the people who have been advised home isolation, our team calls them up to check what their symptoms are whether they have fever, any uneasiness, who all are living with them. All this data gets recorded. After that, our team calls them up once everyday to check how they are doing, said Meena Ganesh, chief executive officer of Portea. The dos and donts are communicated over the telephone during the first two days. It is essential to thoroughly explain these things to each patient and the caregiver. There can be queries and confusion. For instance, the caregiver has to take the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine 400 mg twice a day on day 1 followed by one tablet every week for three weeks. Most people do not know about the dosage. They need to be explained in an organised way like the way a doctor usually does when medicines are prescribed. These are areas where the professionalism of the consultant helps, a Delhi government official said. The patients are provided a number on which they can call in case they have any problems. When we receive a call from the patients, there are two things that we can do. One, we can provide consultation from a Delhi government-empanelled doctor on our portal. The doctor already has access to the information that we have collected over the days. Two, if the doctor thinks that there is a need for intervention, then the team gets in touch with the health officials in Delhi, Ganesh said. They coordinate with the district surveillance teams and medical staff under the governments health department to ensure that the patient is moved to a hospital. From what we have seen so far, only about 7% of those who have been put under home isolation need to be moved to a hospital. The rest can recover on their own at home, Ganesh said. The team follows the person who tests positive for the coronavirus for 17 days of home isolation, after which they are considered to have recovered. During the spell in home isolation, the patients must wear a triple-layer mask at all times and discard it after eight hours of use or when visibly dirty or moist. The mask has to be disinfected using 1% hypochlorite solution. The caregiver also has to wear a triple-layer mask when in the same room as the patient and use disposable gloves when handling the infected person. The caregiver must also avoid contact with contaminated items such as cigarettes, eating utensils, dishes, drinks, used towel and bed linen used by the patient, according to the governments home isolation guidelines. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday again urged people with mild symptoms to stay at home so that hospital beds may remain free for those with moderate to severe symptoms in need of hospitalisation. . STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An NYPD officer was stabbed in the neck and two cops were shot during a chaotic encounter with a suspect in Brooklyn late on Wednesday night. The suspect snatched a service revolver from an officer during the struggle, according to police. The NYPD and the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force are probing whether the suspect has ties to a terror organization, according to the New York Post. Several hours later in Manhattan, police shot a suspect armed with a knife, according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The Brooklyn assault occurred at about 11:45 p.m. when two officers from the 70th Precinct were stationed at the intersection of Church and Flatbush avenues in an effort to prevent looting after the 8 p.m. curfew. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said during a news conference at Kings County Hospital that without warning, video surveillance shows a male walk up to the officers casually, take out a knife and stab one of the officers in the neck. "That officer was stabbed in the left side of his neck, thank God missing an artery, and is recovering here in stable condition at the hospital. A sergeant and officer who were at least a block away heard shots being fired and rushed to Church and Flatbush. We believe that when they got there, they saw the perpetrator with a gun in his hand, which we believe belonged to one of the officers, Shea said. What we know at this point in time, is that 22 shell casings have been recovered from a number of members of the service. We know that we had a chaotic scene with a knife recovered as well. The suspect was struck multiple times with bullets and he is in critical condition at Kings County Hospital, Shea said. Two police officers suffered gunshot wounds to their hands. All police officers at this point in time, thank God, are in stable condition and are expected to recover, Shea said. The NYPD allegedly recovered this knife from a 55-year-old man who was shot on June 4, 2020, by police outside a deli on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. (Courtesy of NYPD) MANHATTAN INCIDENT Cops shot and wounded a man who allegedly refused to drop a knife that he brandished inside a store in the East Village on Thursday morning. A 55-year-old man who allegedly was holding a knife in his right hand followed two police officers assigned to the 9th Precinct into Healthy Green Gourmet at 48 3rd Ave. The suspect menaced the officers with the knife and an officer deployed her department-issued Taser, which did not stop the man from advancing, according to the police statement. The suspect confronted a store clerk and then attempted to leave. The 55-year-old man allegedly shoved a female officer who also was on her way out of the store. Once outside, police say the man continued to motion toward his waistband and refused officers repeated demands to stop his aggressive behaviors. The female officer and a responding officer discharged their firearms, striking the suspect in his arm and torso. The 55-year-old was removed to an area hospital in stable condition. Four officers were taken to a second area hospital in stable condition, according to the police statement. Four persons who allegedly shot and killed an elephant at Vamboi in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region have been arrested. The suspected poachers reportedly butchered and removed the tusks of the middle-aged male elephant while a herd of elephants were moving from Ghana to Burkina Faso on April 13, 2020. Following the incident, a team of personnel from the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, the military and the police carried out joint investigations that led to the arrest of the four, whose names had been withheld. The suspects are currently in court facing charges related to the killing of the elephant. Barbaric act The Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the FC, Mr Bernard Asamoah-Boateng, described the killing of the young elephant as a barbaric act that is unacceptable. Elephants are among the appendix one animal species that are not killed at all either for their tusks or their meat. These animals are protected, he told the Daily Graphic. Shared animals Mr Asamoah-Boateng said in the past there was a contiguous forest that stretched from Ghana to Burkina Faso, allowing herds of elephants to move freely between the countries to enjoy feeding habitats. He said as a result of rapid development and population growth, the forests became fragmented, impeding the movement of the animals. These animals are able to study the environment to know when it convenient to travel to either Ghana or Burkina Faso in search of water and food. So these elephants can be described as shared animals between Ghana and Burkina Faso, Mr Asamoah-Boateng said. He pointed out that elephants normally travelled to Ghana between April and August after which they travelled back to the Burkina Faso. Unfortunately on April 13 this year, while the animals were travelling from Ghana to Burkina Faso, one of the elephants was shot dead, he said. We are to protect elephants Mr Asamoah-Boateng indicated that in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), staff of the Wildlife Division were on a 24-hour duty call, observing the safety protocols and working day and night to ensure that the elephants and other animal species were protected. He indicated that Ghana was currently chairing the African Elephant Fund Steering Committee, and so we are supposed to protect elephants with the utmost best, but here is the case this unfortunate thing has happened. 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 OnePlus 8 Pro is yet to go on sale in India, but when it does, it could come with a disabled color filter camera out of the box. Let's revisit the chain of events for some context. It all started when early adopters found out the color filter sensor on the OnePlus 8 Pro can see through thin plastic and clothing. Then OnePlus said the camera would be disabled for the Chinese model, only to disable it globally and then reverting it back in some markets. OnePlus has said that it's working on some sort of a fix for the camera, that will reportedly be ready for rollout by June's end. The people over at XDA-Developers were able to decompile the OnePlus Camera 4.0.267 app that comes with OxygenOS 10.5.10 and found a property, which disables the color filter camera on model names IN2020 and IN2021, which refer to the Chinese and Indian OnePlus 8 Pro models. Since the OnePlus 8 Pro isn't yet on sale in India, it isn't clear whether the software that disables the color filter camera is preinstalled in the box. But even if it isn't, it's likely the device would get a update when it's set up to disable the color filter mode anyway. The OnePlus 8 series were supposed to go on sale in India on May 29, but were delayed due to production difficulties. OnePlus is yet to set a new date. Source Today, the McDonalds Drive Thru restaurant at the N4 Retail and Business Park, Red Cow Roundabout, Longford, will reopen with new measures in place to help keep employees and customers safe. This follows a successful pilot in May. With restaurant teams adjusting to new procedures to enable safe working and social distancing, things may take a little longer and high demand is anticipated. The restaurants will be operating with reduced hours, between 11am and 10pm. McDonalds and its franchisees are working closely with An Garda Siochana, and may determine that it is necessary to close Drive Thru lanes if queues cause disruption at busier sites or put employees or customers at risk. To help create a safe experience for everyone, McDonalds has introduced a number of changes to their restaurants, including: Social distancing has been introduced in the kitchens and service areas to help create a safe working environment for restaurant teams. Perspex screens at Drive Thru windows and employees wearing protective equipment, as well as Perspex screens and floor markings in specific areas in the restaurant and kitchen. All McDonalds employees will be asked to confirm they are fit and able to work and contactless thermometers will be used to take employee temperatures on arrival at work for every shift. Ensuring our delivery procedures with couriers are contactless for both our people and our customers. Restaurants will return with smaller teams, offering a limited menu* and operating reduced hours. Encouraging capped spend for Drive Thru and McDelivery at 30 per order, and customers are encouraged to pay by contactless payment methods. As employees and the business adapt to a new way of working, McDonalds would like to thank customers for their continued support and patience. As of June 4, over 1,000 McDonalds restaurants have reopened in the UK and Ireland, either for Drive Thru or McDelivery. The Drive Thru restaurant in Longford is among 23 McDonalds restaurants reopening today. Microsoft Corp. ranks as one of the nations most valuable companies, but that isnt fazing a Texas construction company from taking on the giant software maker over its massive San Antonio data center. Dallas-based Rogers-OBrien Construction LLC, which has a San Antonio office, alleges its been stiffed $34.2 million for work on the far West Side data center. So, in March, Rogers-OBrien filed a mechanics lien on two buildings in the data center. The buildings, identified as the SAT 9/10 Facility at 15434 Lambda, are a nearly combined 400,000 square feet. On ExpressNews.com: Microsoft buys $80M data center on far West Side Last month, Rogers-OBrien took the unusual step of filing not one, but two, lawsuits against Microsoft. The complaints were filed May 15 in state District Court and federal court in San Antonio. Rogers-OBrien has opted to pursue its claims in the federal court case, however. On Wednesday, the company filed an amended lawsuit that laid out its beefs with Microsoft in greater detail. Rogers-OBrien wants the courts OK to proceed with a foreclosure of its lien. The general contractor says in the lawsuit its entitled to an Order of Sale and Writ of Possession to be issued by a sheriff or constabledirecting him/her to seize and sell said property to satisfy Microsofts alleged obligations. A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the dispute. The company has not yet filed a response in the case. The Redmond, Wash., company cant plead it doesnt have the cash. It had more than $11.7 billion in cash on its balance sheet as of March 31. Its market value was more than $1.4 trillion as of Thursday morning. In fact, the amount Rogers-OBrien is suing for is less than the $42.9 million in total compensation that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received in its 2019 fiscal year. Almost $30 million of that was in stock awards. The far West Sides cheap and plentiful electricity, thanks to the numerous substations that CPS Energy has there, has made it a desirable location for data centers. San Antonios low probability of natural disasters such as hurricanes and ice storms also makes it well-suited for data centers. The area has more than a dozen data centers, according to developer Marty Wender. Westover Hills, which he was instrumental in building, has 10. Companies like Microsoft, Frost Bank and Valero have data centers for their own use on the far West Side. Other companies, such as CyrusOne and Stream Data Centers, host space for servers for multiple companies including those that may be too small to need their own data center. Other companies are interested in building centers, Wender said. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases I think the world has changed, and the need for companies to operate from different locations has made the internet and data centers even that more important, he said. Microsoft has been engaged in a 15-year effort to cluster data centers in San Antonio. The company has four centers, based on information on the Bexar Appraisal Districts website. Combined, they have an assessed value of about $655 million. In late 2015, Microsoft bought 158 acres in the Texas Research Park, about five miles west of Loop 1604, to build a reported $1 billion, 1-million-square-foot data center. Thats where Rogers-OBrien has performed work on the SAT 9/10 Facility. The work on the center is about 70 percent complete, the Bexar Appraisal Districts website shows. The project had been expected to be completed in 2022, the Express-News reported in 2015 at the time of the land purchase. It also was anticipated the project would increase the amount of Microsofts data center space in San Antonio to about 2 million square feet. Data centers have few workers relative to their size. Microsofts 1-million-square-foot center reportedly was expected to employ about 150 workers when completed. Rogers-OBrien has been a general contractor for 50 years and has built data centers for other companies. Rogers-OBrien entered into a contract to complete the SAT 9/10 Facility in 2017. The construction company says in its suit that by early 2018 it had informed Microsoft of delays in the project because of continued errors in design, software, and ultimately manpower supplied by Microsofts outside vendors. Microsoft failed to address the issues, adversely affecting Rogers-OBriens construction schedule, the suit says. Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox In addition to the delays, Rogers-OBrien says the SAT 9/10 Facility has experienced significant water intrusion related to air handling units, which condition and distribute air within a building. Water leaks most recently surfaced in October, the suit says. Rogers-OBrien blamed Microsofts vendors for the problem, which contributed to the delays, the suit adds. Throughout 2018, the complaint says, Microsoft and its vendors consistently hindered the Project through software errors, failure to supply equipment, loss of personnel, and component malfunctions. Rogers-OBrien documented the ongoing vendor problems and repeatedly shared them with Microsoft, but Microsoft didnt do anything to address them, the suit says. Contractually tasked with managing its own contractors, Microsoft bears the associated costs with the loss in productivity and efficiency, the action alleges. Microsoft has refused to acknowledge the delays and any related costs, the suit adds. Rogers-OBrien says it hasnt been paid for its continued work and delay damages, essentially requiring (it) to fund (Microsofts) construction. Rogers-OBrien has sued Microsoft for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and to foreclosure on the mechanics lien. It seeks $34.2 million in damages, which includes damages for delays and increased construction costs. A lawyer for Rogers-OBrien had no comment on the lawsuit. Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. To read more from Patrick, become a subscriber. pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD Australian universities will be hit by an estimated $16 billion in lost revenue between now and 2023 due to the coronavirus crisis - and experts say the ramifications for the country's economy will be far-reaching. The modelling drawn up by Universities Australia - the sector's peak body - predicts the impact would could cripple tertiary education and make it more difficult for the country to recover from the pandemic. The predicted losses for 2020 alone have increased from a maximum of $4.6billion to $4.8billion as the crisis continues into semester two. Australian universities will be hit by an estimated $16 billion in lost revenue between now and 2023 due to the coronavirus crisis Catriona Jackson, the CEO of the representative group, said in a statement the lack of funding will undoubtedly have a huge impact on Australia's future. 'Not only does that revenue support the staff and facilities to educate the next generation of skilled workers, it also pays for much of the research and innovation that keeps Australia internationally competitive,' Ms Jackson said. 'If there's less research on campus we will be less equipped to deal with crises like COVID-19 and bushfires in future.' CEO of Universities Australia Catriona Jackson said the funding would impact critical research in Australia Ms Jackson called on the federal government to invest in research while pointing towards a long history of successful Australian based projects. 'Great Australian researchers have been responsible for so many job-creating, life saving innovations including vaccine for cervical cancer, IVF, soft contact lenses, the bionic ear and spray on skin for burns victims,' she said. In more recent times, scientists at the University of Queensland have become one of the leading teams in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The university sector has increasingly invested more into Australian research, accounting for 34 per cent in 2017-2018 compared to just 24 per cent ten years ago. Australian scientists at the University of Queensland are one of the leading teams developing a COVID-19 vaccine Professor Andrew Norton from Australian National University said the sharp decline in revenue was due around 20 per cent of international students unable to make it into Australia for their semester one classes due to lockdown restrictions. 'It is going to get much worse, because large numbers of international students start their courses in semester two,' Prof Norton told Business Insider. He noted that international students made up 26 per cent of revenue in Australian universities in 2018 and the lack of funding would undoubtedly lead to job cuts. But Prof Norton said he would not recommend offering a bail out to universities as it would set a precedent that would allow poor financial management. 'However, I believe a more strategic investment in current research projects could be valuable, to ensure that they are not abandoned with consequent loss of the time and money already invested,' he said. The federal government has already shown resistance to bailouts after it turned down the largely foreign owned Virgin in April who threatened thousands of job losses if it did not receive a $1.4 billion loan. Asthma patients have reported improvements to their symptoms. (Getty Images) Nearly two million Britons who are living with lung conditions have seen their symptoms improve as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, research suggests. The British Lung Foundation surveyed more than 14,000 people living with everything from asthma to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. One in six (16.2%) praised the fall in air pollution, with extreme restrictions forcing many to stay indoors. When extrapolated out to the general population, around 1.94 million patients are said to be enjoying the cleaner air. Read more: Dust could worsen asthma in children One who is reaping the benefits is Paul, 14. The Liverpudlian was diagnosed with asthma when he was five. The difference is substantial, he said. I walk out and Im hit with clean air, which is like a utopia compared to before. There are still problems, but you can really feel the difference now. Paul, who has asthma, described the 'clean air' as a 'utopia'. (British Lung Foundation) Twelve million people in the UK have been diagnosed with a lung condition. Air pollution is a known trigger, causing flare-ups that can lead to hospital stays. Pollutants have also been linked to heart disease, cancer and impaired development in children. With fewer people driving and industries shutting up shop, nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen by around 40%. Of the parents surveyed, just under one in five (19%) noticed an improvement to their childs symptoms. Pauls mother, Sarah said: Two out of my three boys have lung conditions. It has been remarkable to see the difference in them during lockdown. Paul has used his reliever inhaler a lot less and my youngest sons constant cough is a lot less noticeable. This has been such a positive outcome from such a negative experience. Read more: Essential oil diffusers may cause indoor air pollution More than four in five (83%) of the parents think air pollution should be a priority for the government. As officials work to ease restrictions, the British Lung Foundation and Taskforce for Lung Health are calling for a long-term commitment to reducing air pollution. Story continues Air pollution can increase your likelihood of getting a lung condition and cause lasting damage to childrens growing lungs, said Zak Bond, from the British Lung Foundation. Now, more than ever before, we have all become aware of how important it is to look after our lungs and the government has a duty to ensure that as the country recovers from COVID-19. COVID-19 is the respiratory disease that can be triggered by the coronavirus. We can continue to keep air pollution levels down and keep pushing them lower with the rapid introduction of clean air zones, support for public and active transport, and tougher air quality laws, said Bond. We want to see the government commit to reaching the WHOs [World Health Organizations] guidelines for fine particulate matter by 2030 at the latest. For those most vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, such as people with existing respiratory conditions, or those recovering from COVID-19, clean air is crucial for living well now, and in the future. Read more: Bonfire Night could trigger asthma attacks in millions of patients The Taskforce for Lung Health, a coalition of different organisations, is calling for a commitment from the UK to meet the WHOs air pollution recommendations by 2030 at the latest. Its chair Alison Cook said: Children deserve to breathe cleaner air and to grow up in a country where their health is not put at risk by going outside. Air pollution causes harm to healthy lungs and exacerbates problems for those living with a lung disease. Our legal limits remain higher than those recommended by the WHO. The government has made commitments to reduce emission levels, but it must go further. Jim Mattis was Trump's first defence secretary, serving from 2017-2019. He quit and promised he would not be quiet forever, but also said it would be improper to criticize a sitting president. When protests over George Floyd's death at the hands of the police sprang up, many wondered if he would finally speak. He finally spoke. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our valuesour values as people and our values as a nation. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children. Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that 'The Nazi slogan for destroying us was "Divide and Conquer." Our American answer is "In Union there is Strength."' We must summon that unity to surmount this crisisconfident that we are better than our politics." NAIROBI, Kenya - Burundis constitutional court on Thursday upheld the results of last months presidential election and rejected the complaints filed by opposition leader Agathon Rwasa, who had alleged widespread irregularities. The court upheld the win of ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye with 68% of the vote, with Rwasa receiving 24%. The court called Rwasas complaint unfounded and said any irregularities could not taint the entire electoral process in the East African nation. Rwasa, who is also the first vice-president of the National Assembly, and CNL party spokesman Therence Manirambona were not available to comment. But Rwasa earlier told The Associated Press that he would take the matter to the East African Court of Justice based in neighbouring Tanzania if he was not satisfied with the courts decision. Rwasa had alleged the stuffing of ballot boxes and said the electoral roll had never been published. Not a single district, no single province was spared, he said after going to court. Burundis Catholic bishops conference also questioned the vote, saying they witnessed intimidation and constraints exerted by some administration officials who accompanied voters to the voting booths, the exclusion of observers from places where votes were counted, the intrusion of unauthorized persons into places where votes were counted and voting in the name of the dead. Ndayishimiye, 52, will succeed President Pierre Nkurunziza, who has been in power since 2005. The ruling party has said Nkurunziza will have the title Supreme Guide after he steps down, and many believe he will wield considerable influence behind the scenes. Ndayishimiye will be inaugurated in August. While Rwasas party alleged intimidation ahead of the vote and said more than 200 supporters were arrested on election day, this election did not see the widespread demonstrations and deadly violence that marked the previous vote in 2015 after Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term that many called unconstitutional. The deadly turmoil badly damaged global relations, and Burundi became the first country to leave the International Criminal Court after it started investigating allegations of abuses. June 4, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today reiterated Canadas commitment to the Global Coalition against Daesh, during a virtual meeting with foreign ministers of the Coalition. The Minister outlined Canadas contributions to the Coalition across all five lines of the Coalitions efforts to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria including preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters across borders and tackling Daeshs financing and economic infrastructure. Minister Champagne also took the opportunity to welcome the confirmation of Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and pledged Canadas commitment to working with the new Iraqi government. Canada provides humanitarian assistance to the people most impacted by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, including refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. HERNDON, Va., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and data analytics, today announced that Steve Worley, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Cybersecurity, Training and Services within Raytheon Intelligence and Space, a Raytheon Technologies business and Chris Emerson, President & Chairman for Airbus U.S., have joined HawkEye 360's Board of Directors. Worley and Emerson will contribute to the impressive Board of Directors with their defense industry expertise and know-how. "Steve Worley and Chris Emerson bring deep knowledge from their fields and will be great assets to HawkEye 360," said HawkEye 360's Chief Executive Officer John Serafini. "As members of the Board of Directors, they will bolster HawkEye 360's position as an innovative geoanalytics company and will help push the company to solve hard challenges for our global customers." Steve Worley has tremendous experience in the defense industry, which he will use to advise HawkEye 360 in achieving HawkEye 360's business initiatives. Before Steve Worley was the Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Cybersecurity, Training and Services, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services and held several leadership positions including CFO of the Cybersecurity and Special Missions business. "I am very excited about joining the HawkEye 360 board," said Steve Worley "I look forward to working alongside the other Board members and the company management team to advance truly innovative intelligence solutions to our U.S and international customers." Chris Emerson is currently the Chairman and President of Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc., where he oversees the operations, activities and strategy to offer advanced solutions to meet the most sophisticated U.S. defense, space and security requirements. Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc., headquartered in Northern Virginia, is an industry leader in space, intelligence, defense and homeland security markets, and has provided U.S. customers with innovative systems for more than 50 years. Previously, Emerson held positions as the President of Airbus Helicopters, Inc., and Senior Vice President, Head of Marketing at Airbus commercial aircraft. "HawkEye 360 is an ideal partner to complement the Airbus global intelligence portfolio, combining our unique electro-optical, SAR, and analytics with HawkEye 360's global radio frequency data and analytics brings together power sources of intelligence for a more accurate global intelligence picture," said Chris Emerson, Chairman and President of Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc. "I am excited about how our combined strengths will serve the growing needs of our customers." SOURCE HawkEye 360 Wearing a mask helps keep you and others healthy when it comes to covid-19. But it can have a harmful effect on your face, leading to skin irritations or acne. In fact, breakouts caused by masks have become so prominent that the word "maskne" has even been added to the Urban Dictionary. "Virtually all skin types will see some form of irritation from wearing a face mask if they are wearing them for extended amounts of time each day," said Dendy Engelman, a dermatologic surgeon in New York. "Many people will see irritation from the physical friction and/or pressure of the material on their skin, while others will see acne pop up." --- Why masks cause irritation: Masks trap moisture, sweat, oil and dirt close to our skin. The resulting blemishes can include acne, small bumps, inflamed hair follicles, irritation, pressure sores, broken blood vessels, contact dermatitis and rosacea, said Jacob Steiger, a facial plastic surgeon in South Florida. Habits we engage in while wearing masks can exacerbate the problem. Because the masks tend to move (there are very few custom-fitting masks on the market), we're continually touching our faces to adjust them, leaving behind dirt or other irritants on our skin. We also move the mask around to eat or to take a sip of coffee - and any friction causes irritation. Even the simple act of breathing is a complication. "When we breathe or talk into the masks, we increase moisture, which ends up changing our skin's natural PH," Steiger said. "This can result in an overgrowth of bacteria, which can create acne, inflamed hair follicles and a flare-up of rosacea." To avoid blemishes, you need to alter your skin-care routine and consider what kind of mask you are wearing. --- Changing your skin-care routine: Keeping clean is the most important thing you can do to prevent breakouts, Engelman said. So, before you pop that mask onto your face, wash with a gentle cleanser such as those from Alastin or Cetaphil. Add soothing products like Avene's Cicalfate Restorative Skin Cream and SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore, which will hydrate, repair and support your skin's barrier function, Engelman said. Avoid wearing makeup, which can soil the mask and further clog your skin. Next, tackle the irritation that the mask may be causing from friction. For this, she suggests a barrier cream such as Vanicream Moisturizing Ointment. "I'd suggest you use it sparingly along the edges where the mask is most tightly fitted," Engelman said. The goal is to seal in moisture to protect the skin, said LeighAnne McGill, a physician assistant with the Dermatology and Laser Center of Chapel Hill. She recommends applying a moisturizer containing anti-inflammatory ingredients such as niacinamide. Niacinamide is a B vitamin that supports the skin barrier by helping with ceramide production - proteins that retain water inside the skin. It also helps regulate the amount of oil produced by the acne-forming unit within the skin, she said. To treat acne and blemishes caused by the masks, try cleansers containing salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide or elemental sulfur, McGill said. Salicylic acid is a beta-hydroxy acid, which helps keep your pores clean, while benzoyl peroxide is a topical antibiotic that decreases levels of the bacteria that worsen inflammation on your skin. For those with sensitive or rosacea-prone skin, elemental sulfur is a gentle option that decreases skin redness and inflammation, McGill said. --- Consider the type of mask: The type of face mask you're wearing is also key, especially if you're prone to acne. But in some cases - if you're a health-care worker, for example - you might not be able to do much about it. N95 masks, which can filter out more than 95% of small particles that could contain viruses, are considered essential protection for health-care workers performing procedures such as intubations. When fitted correctly, they create a tight seal around the nose and mouth, so health-care workers who wear these masks for long hours often experience pressure ulcers and irritant rashes in addition to breakouts, McGill said. Surgical masks don't form the same kind of tightfitting seal, so they don't do as much damage to your face, McGill said. They protect from droplets, but not small particles. The effectiveness of cloth masks depends on the material, the fit and the number and kind of layers. When it comes to your face, cloth masks can absorb natural oils, which may trigger your skin to compensate and overproduce oil, leading to more acne, McGill said. The best cloth option for your skin is a mask made from silk or silk-lined materials, said Adam Mamelak, an Austin-based dermatologist, because silk has antimicrobial properties and has been shown to be better for people with sensitive skin. The downside to those? They aren't as effective at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus because they tend to gap around the cheeks, mouth and nose. Plus, the fabric is porous, so smaller droplets may be able to get through. Mamelak suggests looking for silk masks that include multiple layers with filters in between. If you can't snag a silk mask, try to find one with layers of breathable material such as cotton, which would be less irritating than heavier, more airtight fabrics that can increase facial sweating, said Dana Marshall, dermatologist with Klinger & Marshall Dermatology in Gretna, Louisiana. Avoid masks that have adhesives or glue that touch your skin directly. --- Washing your mask: Regardless of the material, the mask needs to be cleaned often - both to protect yourself from the virus and from exacerbating skin irritations. (Oils and any dirt on the mask will affect your skin). If possible, wash it after every time you wear it. "The buildup of germs, makeup, lip balm, oils and even detergent residue on your mask can worsen acne and skin irritation when pressed against your skin," said Gwen Whiting, co-founder of The Laundress, which sells eco-friendly laundry and home cleaning products. She recommends using a gentle detergent free from unnecessary additives such as dyes. Put the mask in a mesh washing bag to protect the elastic from snagging, and use the hottest water possible, Whiting said. It can be washed along with your regular laundry. Adding a capful of bleach alternative to the hot water will offer an extra boost of clean. Use the highest heat setting to dry, and leave it in the dryer until the mask is completely dry. If you're washing your mask by hand, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using 5 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of room-temperature water. Soak the mask in the solution for five minutes before rinsing with cool or room-temperature water and drying, in direct sunlight, if possible. --- Braff is a freelancer based in Chicago. Follow her on Twitter at @daniellebraff. A group of people protested in front of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem on June 2 against police brutality following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Iyad Halak in Jerusalem. Halak, who reportedly had autism, was unarmed when Israeli police shot him dead on May 30, five days after George Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis. Israeli police said they thought Halak was holding a pistol at the time he was shot, but no weapon was recovered. Israels defense miniter Benny Gantz apologized for the killing on Sunday. The incident of Halak has drawn parallels with the death of Floyd, and protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on May 30 against both the death of Halak and that of Floyd. In this video, people can be seen holding a big sign with the photos of Floyd and Halak put next to each other and which reads KILLED BY US POLICE and KILLED BY ISRAELI POLICE, under each photo respectively. OUR STRUGGLES ARE ONE follows on the sign. Credit: Abdelrahman Hassan via Storyful In January, a swastika was painted on front steps of the South Street Temple and anti-Semitic graffiti on the synagogues wooden front door. Last month, swastikas were discovered spray painted onto trees in Wilderness Park and on a Holdrege Street bike trail. Those bigoted acts of vandalism and reports of bias against Asian American residents resulting from false assumptions about coronavirus prompted Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird to propose a city ordinance that would create a city hate crime, designed to outlaw offenses committed to intimidate. The proposed ordinance would not create a new crime. Rather, it would make the commission of an already prohibited offense an additional crime if the perpetrator meant to intimidate someone based on their actual or perceived race, color, religion, physical or mental disability, national origin, age, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Violation of the ordinance would be punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine and the sentence would be required to be served consecutively to any other sentence, unless a judge stated on the record why it should be concurrent. Former Defense Minister, Dr. Benjamin Kumbour has added his voice to calls on the Electoral Commission (EC) to abort its decision to compile a new voters register. The EC has rejected such advice and has scheduled to begin the registration exercise in the last week of June 2020. Speaking at the 41st anniversary of the June 4th Uprising, Dr. Kumbuor who is also a former MP for Nandom said the EC must consider the risk involved to gathering Ghanaians to register for the new roll in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is in this context that the controversy surrounding a new voters register should be situated. This is the time when we talk of integrity and patriotism, it is with the challenges of COVID-19 that we have made the decision to mass our people unnecessarily in a risk to actually re-register especially when there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that the existing register cannot be used for that purpose regardless of the minor imperfections it might contain. We normally say a bird in hand is more than ten in the bush. What happens when we take the entire country through this risk only to end up with a register that is worse than what we have? We of the June 4th use this opportunity to join many of the voices of reason that have spoken of this topic and say that were indeed in a new normal and it calls for new conditions. If the idea of a new register was conceived at normal times, the circumstances have radically changed and we need to use the standards of a new normal in our judgement, he said. NDC sues EC The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has sued the Electoral Commission over attempts to compile a new register. The NDC argues in its suit that the EC lacks the power to go ahead with its plans because it can only compile a register of voters only once, and thereafter revise it periodically, as may be determined by law. According to the writ invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the opposition NDC among other things demanded a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 45(a) of the 1992 Constitution, 2nd Defendant [the EC] has the constitutional power to, and can, compile a register of voters only once, and thereafter revise it periodically, as may be determined by law. Accordingly, 2nd Defendant can only revise the existing register of voters, and lacks the power to prepare a fresh register of voters, for the conduct of the December 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. The NDC in its case is also praying the court to declare as illegal the decision of the EC not to use the old voter ID cards as registration proof in the compilation of the new register. The NDC claimed that the decision which is without any justification is arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and contrary to article 296 of the 1992 Constitution. Upon a true and proper interpretation of the Constitution, specifically, Article 42, the EC's purported amendment of Regulation 1 sub-regulation 3 of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I 91) through the Public Elections (Registration of Voters)(Amendment) Regulations, 2020 to exclude existing voter identification cards as proof of identification to enable a person apply for registration as a voter according to the NDC is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever. On the back of this, the Supreme Court has directed the EC to explain why the old voter ID card has been removed from the list of identification particulars for the yet to be compiled new voters' register. ---citinewsroom Faustino Martinez owns a pushcart business that sells mostly ice cream treats. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) When the coronavirus shut the city down, there were few in the food community more affected than street vendors. After years of fighting, street vending had finally been legalized in L.A. last year. But amid fears about public health and safety during a pandemic, vendors were ordered to close. In addition to losing the fees ($291) that many had already paid to the city, gone was the progress that thousands of vendors, many undocumented and/or from immigrant communities, had made to finally be able to sell their sliced fruits and vegetables, pozole and mulitas on sidewalks without fear of punishment. In the context of flattening the COVID-19 curve, instituting a temporary moratorium on vending was understandable. But with L.A. restaurants given the green light to reopen their dining rooms last week and with protesters flooding the streets, the ban on sidewalk and street vending for the sake of public safety seems more and more absurd. On Friday Mayor Eric Garcetti launched his L.A. Al Fresco initiative to provide restaurants cost-free permits to use public spaces such as sidewalks and private parking lots but he did nothing to address street vendors rights to conduct business. On Wednesday, the L.A. City Council convened to weigh a motion to expedite permitting for use of sidewalks and public space. Councilman Joe Buscaino moved to amend the motion to include eligibility for street vendors, who were not mentioned in the original language of the legislation. The motion was kicked back to committee despite passionate, urgent testimony from many vendors who called in. I havent been working since the pandemic and Im concerned about the welfare of my children. I cant pay my rent I owe three months of rent, said Ana Cruz, a vendor in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the rent doesnt wait. The bills dont wait, said Merced Sanchez. Now we see that the city has a program that only benefits restaurants. We have been struggling 10 years for that sidewalk, said Melida Alvarado. And they have always restricted us because of public security. Its unfair that youre giving restaurants use of the sidewalks without permits and weve had restrictions for so long. Story continues Branimir Kvartuc, spokesman for Councilman Buscainos office, described the councilman as disappointed at todays inaction. There is no reason to disallow the vendors from going back to work, he said. Sending things back to committee is a bit of a black hole. But every passing day is vital to the livelihood of the vendors, who have been without work or assistance since March. And this negligent, hypocritical farce endangers one of the most valuable and certainly one of the most vulnerable populations in our food community. Restaurants were able to apply for loans and grants from the government, but street vendors, who number 50,000 by some estimates , have received no such lifeline. Many face language or logistical barriers in applying for state and federal aid, or are undocumented and thus ineligible. The city offered a modest debit card program that was open to all L.A. residents experiencing poverty regardless of legal status not just street vendors. 450,000 people applied; between 10,000 and 15,000 cards were issued. Before the crisis hit, vendors were by and large subsistence earning, said Doug Smith, an attorney with public interest law firm Public Counsel . Theyre facing a real threat or reality of homelessness. You cant be tone deaf or blind to the history of public space in L.A. and the ways different people experience public space differently and have different access to it, said Smith. He said street vendors have a long history of being excluded from the public discourse, despite their value economically, culturally and nutritionally: In food deserts, vendors can sometimes be the lone source of fresh fruits and vegetables. Historically, street vendors are an immigrant workforce that was prevented from building a business, he said, and subject to really troubling consequences due to vendor criminalization, including hefty fines and confiscation of equipment. With the Trump administration, he said, the situation is even more dire: Vendors have become prioritized for deportation. Unfortunately, we have seen examples of vendors seeing deportation proceedings simply because they were selling elote on the street, Smith said. In a Twitter thread posted Wednesday, Smith outlined ways to begin addressing the issue. It begins with including street vendors in the mayors initiative. Other ways to help, he said, might include leveraging things like school and church kitchens to help vendors abide by the countys health permitting requirements. Vendors are desperate for a lifeline. Long ignored and now abandoned by our government, this vital segment of our population is in extreme danger. With so many unable to take advantage of our federal and state programs, the mayor must use his power to re-legalize street vending, immediately. He must include street vendors in this reallocation of our public space, and quickly refund any fees paid by them for licenses. Finally, the mayor and city at large should find ways to provide support and opportunities for them to succeed in the future. Guwahati, June 4 : A Singapore-based emergency management firm will start work to control the 8-day long blowout in the gas well in Assam's Tinsukia district, officials said on Thursday. The announcement came even as experts, individuals and members of civil society organisations expressed concern over the environmental effect of the blowout near the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, a biodiversity hotspot. At least 650 families, comprising 2,500 people, have been shifted to three relief camps after the state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) oil well at Baghjan village in Tinsukia, around 450 km east of Guwahati, started releasing natural gas into the air after a leak for the past eight days. An OIL official said that the experts and engineers of the Singapore-based Alert Disaster Control are being mobilised and they are expected to reach the accident site by Thursday night or early Friday. "Gas is flowing gas uncontrollably from the well. The OIL has also taken a series of measures to deal with the situation," an OIL release said. The OIL measures include pumping of water to the well through the casing valve, fabrication of the fit for the purpose of equipment (hydraulically driven mechanical transporter), removal of well site debris, completion of digging of water reservoir near well site, preparation of area for placement of pumps of 2,500 gallons capacity, and collection of required quantity of water from the source. The release said that a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is being mobilised to look after the relief operations. The OIL had already approached the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and Dehradun-based Wild Life Institute of India for conducting a detailed impact assessment studies. Ove 45 environmentalists, academicians, wildlife experts, writers, social activists and journalists expressed deep concern over the blowout and environmental effect. In a statement, they said that Baghjan oilfield is located right next to the Maguri-Motapung wetland, part of the eco-sensitive zone of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, known especially for its migratory birds and feral horses. "The villagers of this area depend on the wetland and the Dangori and Dibru rivers in the Baghjan area as sources of livelihood. The oil spill as seen after 8 days already unleashed an adverse effect on biodiversity of this area. Dense particles or condensates from the blowout have turned the local atmosphere misty, rain-like droplets falling on the vegetation have formed a sticky oily layer," the statement said. "Surrounding the affected Baghjan village are the rivers Dangori and Dibru which flows into the Lohit to join the majestic Brahmaputra River. The oil spill will contaminate the rivers all the way to river Brahmaputra. The unique site forms the natural habitat and breeding ground of the highly endangered species including the river dolphin. The month of May is usually the nesting and breeding season for birds and fishes. The wetland, with thick bushes and shrubs on its shores is a paradise for bird watchers and research scholars around the world. In fact, this ecosystem has nurtured a promising industry of eco-tourism and environmental learning with its rich diversity," it added The experts and environmentalists said that in the wake of the blowout several endangered birds and fish varieties and a dead carcass of a Gangetic Dolphin was found by locals of the area. "This indicates that there might be many such carcasses floating in inaccessible parts of the location. Since a decade and a half, the oil exploration by OIL and other oil companies has been going on in this highly sensitive zone," they said. Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), and an international research team have predicted that by 2050, mangroves will not be able to survive rising sea-levels if global carbon emissions are not reduced. Using sedimentary archives from when the Earth underwent deglaciation up to 10,000 years ago, the researchers estimated the probability of mangrove survival under rates of sea-level rise corresponding to two climate scenarios - low and high carbon emissions. When rates of sea-level rise exceeded 6 mm per year, corresponding to what is estimated to result under high emissions scenarios for 2050, the researchers found that mangroves very likely (more than 90% probability) stopped growing at the pace required. In contrast, mangroves can survive by building themselves up vertically when the sea-level rise remains under 5 mm per year, which corresponds to that projected under low emissions scenarios during the 21st century. The threshold of a 6 mm sea level rise is one that will be "easily surpassed" on tropical coastlines if society does not make concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, said lead investigator of the study, Professor Neil Saintilan from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Macquarie University. Prof Saintilan said, "We know that sea-level rise is inevitable due to climate change, but not much is known about how different rates of sea-level rise affect the growth of mangroves, which is an important ecosystem for the health of the earth." The team comprising scientists from NTU Singapore, Macquarie University, University of Hong Kong, Rutgers University, and University of Wollongong published their findings on 5 June 2020 in the top academic journal Science. Co-author Professor Benjamin Horton, who is Chair of the Asian School of the Environment at NTU Singapore said, "In 30 years, if we continue on a high-emissions trajectory, essentially all mangroves, including those in Singapore, will face a high risk of loss." "This research therefore highlights yet another compelling reason why countries must take urgent action to reduce carbon emissions. Mangroves are amongst the most valuable of natural ecosystems, supporting coastal fisheries and biodiversity, while protecting shorelines from wave and storm attack across the tropics," Prof Horton added. Why mangroves matter With roots that rise from under the mud, mangrove stands grow in a process called vertical accretion. This feature is important to their ecosystem as it helps to soak up greenhouse gas emissions (carbon sequestration) at densities far greater than other forests, and provides a buffer between the land and sea - helping protect people from flooding on land. The study, which covered 78 locations, explored how mangroves responded as the rate of sea-level rise slowed from over 10 mm per year 10,000 years ago to nearly stable conditions 4,000 years later. The drawdown of carbon as mangrove forests expanded over this time contributed to lower greenhouse gas concentrations. The study found that mangroves will naturally encroach inland if their ability to vertically accrete is hindered. In doing so, mangroves will have to compete with other land-uses and may become squeezed behind coastal protections. Co-author Assistant Professor Nicole Khan, who is from The University of Hong Kong said, "Most of what we know about the response of mangroves to rising sea level comes from observations over the past several years to decades when rates of rise are slower than projected for later this century. This research offers new insights because we looked deeper into the past when rates of sea-level rise were rapid, reaching those projected under high emissions scenarios. "Our results underscore the importance of reducing emissions and adopting coastal management and adaptation measures that allow mangroves to naturally expand into low-lying coastal areas to protect these valuable ecosystems." ### Note to Editors: Paper titled "Thresholds of mangrove survival under rapid sea-level rise", published in Science, 5 June 2020. Media contact: Ms Junn Loh Manager, Media Relations Corporate Communications Office Nanyang Technological University, Singapore DID: (65) 6592-3557 Mobile: (65) 9339-9639 Email: junn@ntu.edu.sg About Nanyang Technological University, Singapore A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and Graduate colleges. It also has a medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, set up jointly with Imperial College London. NTU is also home to world-class autonomous institutes - the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering - and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N). Ranked 11th in the world, NTU has been placed the world's top young university for the past six years. The University's main campus is frequently listed among the Top 15 most beautiful university campuses in the world and it has 57 Green Mark-certified (equivalent to LEED-certified) building projects, of which 95% are certified Green Mark Platinum. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a campus in Novena, Singapore's healthcare district. For more information, visit http://www.ntu.edu.sg. The uproar over George Floyd's killing at the hands of police is helping shed light on the death in custody of an Aboriginal man whose last moments bear chilling similarities to those of his American counterpart. Dunghutti man David Dungay Jr died in hospital at Sydney's Long Bay Jail in December 2015 after being restrained face-down by prison officers. The 26-year-old was captured on video being restrained by up to five officers from Long Bay's Immediate Action Team while he screamed 'I can't breathe' before his death. Mr Dungay's nephew Paul Francis-Silva told the ABC his family felt solidarity with George Floyd's relatives after the men died in such similar circumstances. 'I couldn't really watch the video all the way through,' Francis-Silva said. David Dungay Jr died in Long Bay in 2015 after being held face-down by prison officers 'We really do feel for the family over in the US, because we do know how it feels to actually watch a video clip of a loved one being suffocated to death.' Global protests about Mr Floyd's death at the hands of police have brought a renewed focus on the systemic mistreatment of Australia's Aboriginal people, with more than 400 indigenous people dying in custody since 1991. Mr Dungay was in the prison hospital suffering from mental health issues and was just three weeks from being paroled when he died. NSW deputy state coroner Derek Lee found he died from cardiac arrhythmia, with factors in his death including acute stress, antipsychotic medication and type 1 diabetes. The Immediate Action Team officers were found not to be responsible for his death. Mr Dungay's family launched a GoFundMe in 2017 to fight for justice and raise money for legal costs and an appeal to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Paul Francis-Silva with Mr Dungay's mother Leetona during an Invasion Day rally in Sydney in 2019 At least five prison officers were captured on video holding down Mr Dungay as he screamed 'I can't breathe' before his death The fund had around $3,000 in it on May 29, but the response to Mr Floyd's death and increased scrutiny the treatment of Indigenous people in Australia have now helped raise more than $345,000. More than half a million dollars has been donated to GoFundMe pages set up for Indigenous people in the past three days. A page for Northern Territory man Kumanjayi Walker, who was allegedly shot by police in his home in Yuendumu in November 2019, now has more than $200,000 in donations. Mr Walker's family said Mr Floyd's death had brought attention to injustices that have occurred to many Indigenous people. 'This astonishing event has shone the light on our own deaths in custody problems in Australia, a statement on their fundraiser reads. More than $200,000 has been raised through GoFundMe for Kumanjayi Walker, who was allegedly shot dead by police in his home in Yuendumu in Central Australia in November 2019 GoFundMe spokesperson Nicola Britton told 7News the donations were unprecedented. 'We have never seen this amount of support for indigenous causes ever in Australia,' she said. The footage of Mr Dungay's death has been released, which Mr Francis-Silva said will highlight the devastation felt by the family in the tragedy. Mr Francis-Silva hopes the protests brought on by Mr Floyd's death will focus Australians' attention on the mistreatment of Indigenous people. 'We need to be just as outraged with what's going on in our own backyard,' he said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:04:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel on Thursday of violating the Muslims' right in the freedom of worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. The ministry's accusation was made in a press statement in response to a decision issued by the Israeli authorities on Thursday to prevent Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the Palestinian Speaker of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from entering the mosque for four months. The statement said that Israel had also prevented during the past few months several Palestinians from entering the mosque or the old city of Jerusalem. The statement said that "all the Israeli occupation authorities' measures against Jerusalem and the holy places in it are illegal, rejected, and unveil the falseness of the Israeli claims that it respects the Muslims' freedom of worship." Enditem Maryland has undergone its primary election, but things did not go as smoothly as the people hoped. Votes are still being counted but there are inconveniences and patterns that the public is taking note of. Ballot error In Baltimore's District 1, there were errors on ballots that were mailed to voters that led to inaccurate results that can no longer be counted. The State Board of Elections wrote on June 3 that the error in the ballot title for the race between Democratic candidates Zeke Cohen and Paris Bienert was not corrected. The board added that the officials requested the printing vendor SeaChange to correct the error during the printing process, but there were still improper ballots that were mailed out. This then led to the votes not being counted properly. Around 75,000 ballots were sent out last week and the ballots were sent in by mail and were collected from drop boxes through the weekend. Both Democratic candidates questioned the early returns of the ballots especially since on the evening of June 2, Cohen got only 39 votes while Bienert already got 1,882. The election officials of Baltimore could not be reached even after officials from mayoral campaigns are also seeking clarity over the matter. Also Read: George Floyd GoFundMe: Who Will Benefit from the Over $10 Million Donations? Voting in person Despite the ongoing pandemic, people still want to vote in person. Elections officials encouraged voters to cast their ballots through the mail due to the pandemic that prohibits people from gathering, but there are those that still showed up. On June 2, there were 42,451 people voted in person in Maryland, and 6,236 people showed up in Baltimore. While the total number of people who showed up in Baltimore only accounted for 2% of the eligible registered voters in the city, it was still double the number of voters who chose to go in-person during a special congressional election in District 7 last April. Maryland's former secretary of state, John Willis, said that the turnout among the voters who did not get their ballots in the mail was predictable. However, elections officials also needed to take into consideration the voters who are not prepared for the sudden change in voting style. What needs to change by November There were two problems in the primary election in Maryland. The ballots that were delivered were not soon enough and that there weren't enough places to cast a ballot in person. Maryland has blamed SeaChange for the late ballots. SeaChange then said that it received voter files late from the state. In addition, there were some voters whose mailed ballots were marked as undeliverable but were still recorded that they did cast a vote. All of these discrepancies need to be resolved before the general election in November, which could still be affected because of the coronavirus pandemic. Amy Cruice from the ACLU of Maryland stated that she recommends a logistics team that could head to polling places fast, scan and find the bottlenecks, and can solve the issues in real-time. She said that it is important that all things need to be resolved by November which is the most important election in the country. Related Article: Coronavirus Cases in US Surges to 19,000 in 24 Hours Amid Protests @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. " " Olaudah Equiano is shown on the cover of his memoir, which was a best-seller in the 1700s and one of the first written by a former African slave. Fotosearch/Getty Images Slavery is a moral stain on humanity, and sadly one that continues even today. Thankfully there are people brave enough to hold a mirror to society's darkest sins and persistent enough to never stop fighting for freedom. While you've likely heard of famous abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and John Brown, they weren't the only ones out there. Here are five other abolitionists you should know, including one working to abolish slavery in the 21st century. Advertisement 1. Olaudah Equiano Wrote a Best-Selling Memoir When Olaudah Equiano was just 11 years old, he and his sister were abducted by slave traders from their village in what's now southern Nigeria. Years later, he wrote his first impressions of the kidnappers who would take him across the horrific Middle Passage to the American colonies: "I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shewn towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves." In Virginia, Equiano was sold to a Royal Navy officer who treated Equiano well, teaching the young boy to read and write and taking him along on sea voyages for the next eight years. But Equiano, like all slaves, was still property and was sold again to an English merchant in Montserrat who employed him as a deckhand, valet and barber. Equiano never took his eyes off of freedom, though, and was able to work and trade on the side to save up 40 British pounds, the price of his freedom. Raised on the sea, he followed in his former masters' footsteps and became an explorer and merchant for the next 20 years, visiting far-flung ports like Turkey and the Arctic. When Equiano finally settled in London, he joined the burgeoning movement to abolish slavery and became a member of the "Sons of Africa," a group of 12 free black men who lobbied for the end of the English slave trade. In 1789, as Parliament was set to debate abolition, Equiano published his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African." The book was expressly written, as Equiano says, "to excite in your august assemblies [Parliament] a sense of compassion for the miseries which the Slave-Trade has entailed on my unfortunate countrymen." Not only was his memoir one of the first English books written by a black African author, but it was a wildly popular best-seller and helped turn the tide of British public sentiment against slavery. Equiano died in 1797, 10 years before Britain formally outlawed the African slave trade. Advertisement 2. William Wilberforce Fought 18 Years to End the British Slave Trade Those who knew William Wilberforce during his university days would have been shocked to learn that this rich and spoiled young man with an appetite for drinking, gambling and horse racing would go on to become the moral conscience of Parliament and a tireless advocate for abolition. Elected to Parliament at just 21 years old, Wilberforce underwent a transformative Christian awakening and fell into a close friendship with Thomas Clarkson, the influential abolitionist. Starting in 1789, Wilberforce began regularly submitting bills to Parliament calling for an end to the British slave trade. He and his Christian supporters, ridiculed as "The Saints," won few votes from lawmakers who had grown rich on the fruits of slavery. For the next 18 long years, Wilberforce submitted bill after bill, gradually wearing down the strength of the slavery lobby even as he himself suffered from debilitating bouts of colitis. Finally, on March 25, 1807, Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act to shouts of jubilation. " " William Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. Culture Club/Getty Images Following that triumphant day, Wilberforce went on to work for the abolition of slavery itself in the British colonies; the Abolition of Slavery bill was finally passed just three days before his death in 1833. A movie about his life, "Amazing Grace," was released in 2006. Advertisement 3. Josiah Wedgwood Combined Pottery with Protest Today, it's taken for granted that people sell customized T-shirts, bumper stickers and mugs to support a political cause or campaign. That idea may have gotten its start in 18th-century England with the Wedgwood medallion, an abolitionist icon. " " The "Am I not a Man and a Brother, medallion" was produced by Josiah Wedgwood's factory and modelled by William H. Hackwood. Brooklyn Museum/Wikipedia Josiah Wedgwood was already England's most successful pottery manufacturer (you may know the trademark blue-and-white Wedgwood china) when he commissioned the creation of a wearable medallion to call attention to the inhumanity of the slave trade. The ceramic medallion showed an enslaved man kneeling in chains underneath the words: "Am I not a man and a brother." The abolitionist Thomas Clarkson wrote that the words and imagery of the medallion became a popular fashion accessory among England's enlightened upper classes. Men carried snuff boxes engraved with the icon and women wore hairpins carrying the abolitionist message. "[A]nd thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity, and freedom," wrote Clarkson. In 1788, Wedgwood sent a shipment of the medallions to America, to which Benjamin Franklin, then president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, replied, "I am persuaded [the medallion] may have an Effect equal to that of the best written Pamphlet in procuring favour to those oppressed people." Advertisement 4. Harriet Jacobs Exposed the Sexual Abuse of Enslaved Women When Harriet Jacobs published her autobiography, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," in 1860, she became the first woman to write a fugitive slave narrative. Her book also sparked the first open discussion of the sexual harassment and abuse heaped upon enslaved women at the hands of their masters. Starting when she was barely a teenager, Jacobs was hounded and harassed by her master, Dr. James Norcom, a North Carolina physician. Jacobs refused his foul advances and endured the double cruelty of Norcom's suspicious wife. In an effort to finally free herself of Norcom's unwanted attention, Jacobs began a sexual relationship with a sympathetic white lawyer, with whom she had two children. She later hid out in a tiny crawlspace in her grandmother's house for seven years, only occasionally coming out at night for exercise. She hoped that by doing this, it would make Norcom think she had escaped and induce him to sell her children to their father. Eventually, Jacobs did escape to Philadelphia where she became involved with the abolitionist movement, giving speeches, raising funds to help other escaped slaves, and writing her book. Jacobs' story didn't fit the mold of other fugitive slave narratives meant to pull on the sympathies of white readers. Although Jacobs wrote under the pen name "Linda Brent," she was honest about using her sexuality to get revenge on Norcom and to win her escape to Boston. To those who dared to judge her, Jacobs replied that the morality of free white northerners had no bearing on the choices of an enslaved black woman. Advertisement 5. Kevin Bales Draws Attention to Plight of Modern-day Slaves Slavery did not disappear with the end of the African slave trade or the emancipation of enslaved people in Great Britain and the United States. According to the International Labour Organization, a division of the United Nations, there were still 40.3 million people worldwide trapped in modern slavery as of 2016. That number is more than triple the number of people trafficked during the transatlantic slave trade (10-12 million). Most present-day slaves work as domestic servants, miners, farmers or prostitutes all over the world. And one of every four of these is a child. Kevin Bales is a professor of contemporary slavery at the University of Nottingham and the co-founder of Free the Slaves, an international nonprofit actively rescuing people from forced labor. His organization, founded in 2000, has to date has freed more than 14,000 people from slavery and helped get more than 300 traffickers and slaveholders arrested. Bales is also the author of numerous eye-opening books on modern slavery, including "Blood and Earth" about the destructive intersection of modern slavery and climate change. A modern-day abolitionist, Bales works tirelessly to make the world aware of this invisible plague of the global economy and teach governments and industries how to eradicate it. He also gave a great TED Talk. "It's kind of hard to describe how powerful job satisfaction can be when you know if you put in a good week, some people have come out of slavery," he told NPR in 2016. "That in a sense is the tonic, it's the balance, it's what allows me to keep going in those areas where I see the horror, but I also see the triumph of freedom and that's just worth it." Now That's Cool Feminist pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott not only fought bravely and passionately for the rights of women, but were dedicated abolitionists. WASHINGTON Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, breaking months of public silence on President Trump since resigning in protest in December 2018, on Wednesday offered a withering critique of the presidents leadership amid growing protests across the country. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try, Mr. Mattis wrote in a statement issued late Wednesday. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. Mr. Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, also criticized comments by the current defense secretary, Mark T. Esper, who in recent days has described protest sites across the nation as a battle space to be cleared. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a battle space that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate, Mr. Mattis wrote. At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict a false conflict between the military and civilian society. A few days ago, when a pregnant elephant was killed in Kerala, many celebrities and netizens reacted to the brutal killing and slammed the heinous act on Twitter. Now, actress Pooja Bhatt has expressed her anger in her Twitter page and condemned the killing of elephant. "We worship Lord Ganesha and kill and abuse elephants. We worship Lord Hanuman & get pleasure out of watching monkeys being chained & performing degrading tricks. We worship and revere female goddesses and resent strength in women, abuse, maim them & practise female infanticide." Earlier, actor Akshay Kumar also condemned the killing of the elephant in Kerela and tweeted, "Maybe animals are less wild and humans less human. What happened with that #elephant is heartbreaking, inhumane and unacceptable! Strict action should be taken against the culprits. #AllLivesMatter." Actor Varun Dhawan also spoke against the killing of the elephant and wrote, "We pray to him and yet do this." Pooja Bhatt Slams Faizal Siddiqui's Controversial TikTok Video; Netizens Share Insulting Memes Actress Sonali Bendre also condemned the heinous act on her Instagram page and wrote, "Just when I thought nothing could shock me anymore, I came across this terrible news... how could they do this??? This is the karma humanity has to face.... no wonder we are going through all this Where is the humanity?" Apart from them, many celebrities including Anushka Sharma, Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor, Malaika Arora, etc condemned the animal brutality. The federal government has lamented that the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a heavy blow on its revenue. Speaking shortly after the federal executive meeting on Wednesday, Lai Mohammed, the minister for culture and information added that the problem is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. He said, We are not just Nigerians, we are all witnessing what is going on in the world today. When the budget was passed in December last year, we all celebrated that the budget was passed for the first time in a good time to allow for us to plan. We were very hopeful that this year we will be able to achieve a lot, he said. Read Also: Wear Masks At Home If Unsure Of COVID-19 Status Of Those You Live With: Minister Advertisement I remember that the benchmark for crude oil was $57 but from nowhere today we have COVID-19, which has brought every economy in the world to its knees. Nigeria cannot be an exception. As a matter of fact, we are praying that the crude will go to $30 per barrel. All sources of revenue have been attacked by COVID-19, when we locked our borders how will goods come in? How will customs make money for the country? Abuja, Lagos and Ogun have been on lockdown for more than four weeks. It was only yesterday that we were easing the lockdown. How will they make money to pay taxes? So if we say there is no money it is not because we are seeking for lame excuses. The entire world, not just Nigeria is facing serious fiscal challenges. Forty million people in the US today have filed for unemployment, the aviation industry alone has lost about $1 trillion. So please look at this in context, if you budgeted for $57 a barrel and we sold at $18 a barrel two weeks ago. This is why the minister of finance at the last council meeting, informed all of us that they will slash every ministrys budget by 20 percent capital and 16 percent overhead. So where will the money come from? So when we complain there is no money, it is genuine. If you know what is being spent on COVID-19 alone and what it is costing the whole world, you will be able to appreciate this better. The SACS programme aims to support "highly motivated, talented and socially engaged applicants in the arts and culture field The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development has announced a last call for applicants to submit their entries to the Sawiris Arts & Culture Scholarship (SACS). The entries deadline is 5 June. The scholarships are offered to Egyptian nationals (not including dual nationality holders) to support their studies at the Bachelors degree (up to four years) or Masters degree (up to two years) levels. According to information released by the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, SACS welcomes applicants who wish to pursue their education in the field of the arts and culture. The field includes the performing arts, visual arts and film studies, pursued in an internationally recognised university. "The Sawiris Arts & Culture Scholarship programme targets highly motivated, talented and socially engaged applicants who are aware of the important role art plays in a flourishing and developing society. It aims at fostering these talents until they themselves are effective artists in the scene, who in return enrich their country and society with their acquired knowledge in their designated fields." Read more about the scholarship here. Follow this link to download the scholarship application form. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: GREENVILLE, SC / ACCESSWIRE / June 3, 2020 / SC Home Offer, a home buying company based in Greenville, South Carolina, released an updated range of services for property owners interested in selling their houses fast for cash. The agency offers a fair property evaluation and quick cash offer to help sellers reduce market time. More details about SC Home Offer and services can be found at https://www.schomeoffer.com/. The newly released services aim to help home sellers in the Greenville area minimize the time needed to sell their homes. The company's services are particularly useful for homeowners who want to sell their house fast for a variety of reasons. From inherited houses that they do not need to properties in advanced disrepair, the agency is open to buying all types of property in the Greenville area. SC Home Offer can purchase properties of all ages and sizes and in all conditions. The real estate agency works closely with each client to assess their property and make a reasonable cash offer, thus helping them close the deal in as little as two days. The company provides a same-day offer upon a visual inspection of the property. The company ensures high standards of transparency and client satisfaction, homeowners are under no obligation to do anything if they are not fully satisfied with the company's offer, and there is no assessment of inspection fees. Company spokesperson Daniel D'Ambrosio said: "Our goal as a company is to help you sell your house fast so that you can focus on what's more important to you. We know what it's like to have a house be the first thing you think about each day, weighing on you. It's not fun. We buy houses in Greenville so that you get rid of that headache." D'Ambrosio further stated, "There's no need for the owners to clean up or repair the property, no need for an agent to assist in selling the property, and there's no contract involved that binds the homeowner to a certain term. With this fast cash company, there will be no waiting or wondering since there is no waiting period of 6-12 months, as is the case with other real estate companies." With the latest announcement, SC Home Offer continues to expand its real estate services for property sellers in the Greenville area. More news about the company can be found at https://classifieds.usatoday.com/press/sc-home-offer-publishes-new-article-on-buying-houses-in-any-condition-in-greenville/. For more information about SC Home Offer LLC, contact the company here: SC Home Offer LLC Daniel D'Ambrosio (864) 506-8100 schomeoffer1@gmail.com 31 Boland Ct #8100 Greenville, SC 29615 SOURCE: SC Home Offer LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592670/We-Buy-Houses-In-Greenville-With-No-Fees-And-Commissions-Says-SC-Home-Offer At least 39 people, including dozens of children, were injured after a security guard went on a stabbing spree inside a primary school in a southern Chinese city on Thursday morning. The attack occurred at the Wangfu country centre primary school in the town of Wangfu in south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at about 8:30 am soon after students had gathered for a day in school. Soon after, the alleged attacker, identified as 50-year-old security guard Li Xiaomin, rushed in with a sharp weapon and went on the stabbing and slashing spree. The school principal is said to be injured, state media reports said. The reason for the crime wasnt immediately known. The suspect Li was arrested. Local authorities told state media that at least eight ambulances were dispatched to the school to rush the victims to the nearest hospitals. At least two of the victims were seriously injured in the knife attack. Their identities were not immediately revealed. No one had sustained a life-threatening injury, local authorities told state media. China has a history of knife attacks mostly carried out by disgruntled employees or mentally disturbed persons. A disgruntled school worker had gone a similar rampage at a primary school in Beijing in January, 2019, attacking 20 students, injuring at least three of them seriously. Many such attacks are triggered by personal grievances. In April, 2018, a 28-year-old man killed nine middle-school students as they were returning home in one of the countrys deadliest knife attacks in recent years, news agency AFP reported. The killer, who said he had been bullied when he attended the school in northern Chinas Shaanxi province, was executed in September, the news agency further reported. In 2012, a knife-wielding man in central China had attacked dozens of kindergarten children because of family problems. Two children were stabbed to death outside a Shanghai kindergarten in June, 2018, while nine children died in a similar attack at a school in Shaanxi province in April. In October, 2018, a woman stabbed at least 14 children at a kindergarten in southwest Chinas Chongqing city. Reports said a woman attacked the children with a kitchen knife inside the school. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: The Azerbaijani Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund continues the process of registration and transfer of apartments upon a rental mechanism with the right for purchase, a source in the Fund told Trend. "From February 2020 up till now, 115 out of 233 citizens who have received the Funds decision about an agreement on the transfer of apartments, have drawn up the rental agreements with the further right for purchase, a source in the Fund said. So far, 541 apartments have been allocated in the housing stock. Taking into account the requirements of citizens, the Fund expanded the list of residential areas and added another residential complex to the housing stock in May, the source said. The new complex is located on Boulevard Street (Seaside Park) in Sumgayit city. Seventy-four apartments are offered to the citizens in this complex. All apartments have been repaired and equipped with a combined heating system (including thermal power plants), water meters, gas meters and electricity meters, the source said. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the formation of a mechanism for renting apartments with an obligation to further sell them on January 25, 2019. The procedure for the rental of residential areas of the Azerbaijan Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund with an obligation for sale has been approved upon the decree. The apartments are rented with an obligation for purchase in Azerbaijan for a period from three through 25 years, which has been indicated in the contract. Such a condition has been envisaged in the procedure of renting the Funds residential premises with an obligation for sale, approved by President Aliyev. According to the procedure, the Fund receives the right to acquire housing for its further rent with the right for purchase. At the same time, the Fund may purchase such housing through its own equity and income from the issuance of bonds. There is no age requirement for concluding a rental agreement. The rules allow the tenant to transfer his/her rights under the rent agreement to a third party, and also allow the tenant to transfer his/her rights under the rental agreement to heirs following the tenant's death. As for the requirements for tenants, the cost of renting residential premises with an obligation for sale must not be lower than the market price and housing must be insured by the Fund. This is one of the main requirements. Moreover, the Fund is entitled to provide tenants with additional requirements. In accordance with the terms of the rental agreement, the address of the living space, building, floor, area and number of rooms are determined by the Fund; then it is offered to the population through an electronic system by indicating the cost of housing and monthly payments. In turn, the residents may also use the right to connect to the electronic system. Downing Street today insisted Britons must keep their lockdown locks for a while longer, refusing to allow hair salons and barber shops to reopen this month. Reports had suggested that Boris Johnson, whose own unruly mop has been growing noticeably, would allow crimpers to take up their scissors within weeks. It was suggested they would be allowed to re-start trimming with staff wearing dentist-style masks and gloves to prevent the spread of coronavirus from June 15. But Downing Street rejected the idea, first reported in the Telegraph, saying that the original plan for them to re-open in the next phase of knockdown easing in July was still in place. The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: 'It is correct to say we are working as quickly as we can to get hairdressers up and running safely and that is one of the areas which we have a ministerial led task force focused upon. But as we have set out in the road map it is our ambition to reopen them from July at the earliest and that will be subject to the scientific advice at the time. Hair salons and barbers could reopen on June 15, one source has claimed. The Gatsby and Miller in Amersham is among the hairdressers that says it is ready welcome customers again Hairdressers could have to follow similar distancing measures to dentists, last week Gatsby and Miller in Amersham showed MailOnline how they were preparing for lockdown to ease One insider told the paper: 'Hairdressers were supposed to be the next thing. Boris has talked about unleashing the great British haircut again. It would be treated under similar rules to dentists.' More than three quarters of the National Hair and Beauty Federation's 1,600 members say they are very well prepared to return to business. Hilary Hall, chief executive of the NHBF, told The Telegraph: 'If youre in a job that means you're in close contact with clients, the PPE becomes particularly important. Its that guidance that were very keen to see and to ensure that salons prepare for that.' Last week the Health Secretary Matt Hancock would not commit to hairdressers being allowed to open on June 15 but is working to ensure they are open as soon as possible. He said: 'I would love to be able to do that and the way to do that is to ensure that, when it is safe to do so, hairdressing is brought back in a way that itself is safe. So, protective equipment. 'We are working on what it would look like to have the protective equipment, exactly as you say, in place. 'Hairdressing, like so many industries, we're doing everything we can to support them through what is inevitably an incredibly difficult time.' One of Britain's first hairdressers ready for reopening is the Gatsby & Miller in Amersham, Buckinghamshire - one of the 25,000 UK salon partners of beauty giant L'Oreal which is creating a blueprint for the sector. This includes a digital screen in the window to display important reminders about social distancing, and clients being welcomed by one mask-wearing stylist who will stay with them for their visit via a one-way system. Downing Street has not ruled out reopening salons on June 15, but no final decision has been made All staff will be wearing gloves and masks which will be changed throughout the day, while customers will be also asked to wear a mask during the appointment and hand sanitiser dispensers will be provided for their use. It is understood the Department for Business has started to draw up social distancing guidelines which would force hairdressers to wear face masks, perspex visors and gloves. Downing Street has refused to rule out reopening salons on June 15, but there is no final decision as yet. A Department for Business spokesman told The Telegraph: 'The Government has set up task forces to work with industry representatives to develop safe ways for businesses such as hairdressers to open at the earliest point at which it is safe to do so.' Diego Costa has been sentenced to six months in jail for tax offences but will pay a 32,000 fine to avoid serving the time. The ex-Chelsea striker pleaded guilty to an offence which occurred in 2014 the year he left Atletico for Chelsea. According to reports in Spain, the 31-year-old avoided paying 980,000 in tax which he paid back last year by not declaring payments of around 4.6million. He is also said to have concealed image rights payments of around 890k. The Spanish Tax Agency said Costa defrauded them out of taxes and also charged him with a separate financial offence in the 2013 financial year. Costa initially refuted the claims but reconsidered his original stance and reached an agreement with Spanish authorities which was confirmed in court today. According to Spanish outlet El Mundo Deportivo the Spaniard asked Atletico to pay the fine for him but the club refused. But they are said to have given him an advance on his wages so he could afford to pay. An Atletico spokesperson said on Wednesday: Costa reached an agreement a few months ago with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn. This week it is expected that agreement will be ratified in court, as is mandatory. In Spain, sentences of less than two years in prison can be swapped for a fine of 32,610. Costa will pay this on top of the 485,500 fine issued by the court for the crime. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have fallen foul of Spanish tax law in the past. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates (Newser) President Trump now has a critic among Republican senators whose name isn't Romney. Alaska's Lisa Murkowski on Thursday praised former defense chief Jim Mattis' strong condemnation of Trump's actions in response to the George Floyd protests, reports the Hill. I thought General Mattis words were true and honest and necessary and overdue, Murkowski told reporters. (Mattis accused Trump of trying to divide, rather than unite, Americans.) When she was asked if she could vote for Trump in November, Murkowski responded, I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time." She added that she would continue to work with the White House. The Washington Post describes Murkowski's comments as a "big break" with Trump. story continues below When I saw Gen. Mattiss comments yesterday I felt like perhaps were getting to the point where we can be more honest with the concerns we might hold internally and have the courage of our convictions and speak up, she said. The Must Read Alaska blog has some context on Murkowski's politics: "Conservative Republicans in Alaska have had trouble reconciling her stances on various issues with their own values time and again, but she pulls broad support from the middle of the political spectrum." Indeed, this wouldn't be the first time Murkowski has angered Trump. (The president responded to Mattis' criticism with some of his own.) Ajay Kumar's condition is stable and he is currently under home quarantine, sources said. New Delhi: Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, following which the defence ministry carried out a massive contact-tracing exercise, official sources said. Kumar's condition is stable and he is currently under home quarantine, sources said. At least 35 officials working at the ministry's headquarters in South Block in the Raisina Hills have been sent on home quarantine after reports of Kumar testing positive for the infection emerged on Wednesday morning. There was no official comment on Kumar's health condition. The defence ministry spokesperson refused to comment on the issue. It is learnt that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not attend office as part of a precautionary measure. The offices of the defence minister, the defence secretary, the Indian Army chief and the Indian Navy chief are on the first floor of the South Block. The sources said all laid down protocols on contact-tracing and quarantining of people are being scrupulously followed. CFA Awards of Excellence The CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising celebrate franchise brands that have demonstrated the strongest relationships with their franchisees, a true representation of the very best of Canadian franchising in 2020 and Growing Together." The Canadian Franchise Association has awarded MaidPro Franchise the Grand Prize and the Gold Award for Top Traditional Franchises of 2020. The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) works to help partner entrepreneurs with top franchise opportunities. The CFA noted, The CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising are the pinnacle of franchise achievement in Canada. These awards recognize excellence in franchise operations, and winning brands must demonstrate a dedication to superior franchisee relations, leadership, business planning, marketing, training and support, ongoing operations, and communications. This year, more than 70 CFA member franchise brands participated in the CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising program. Sponsored by the CFA and administered by the Portage Group, a third-party research firm, the winning franchise brands were determined based on the results of a survey completed by participating brands franchisees about their experiences and levels of satisfaction with the system. The CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising celebrate franchise brands that have demonstrated the strongest relationships with their franchisees, a true representation of the very best of Canadian franchising in 2020 and Growing Together, says Sherry McNeil, CFA President & Chief Executive Officer. The honored franchises prove that above all else, the connection between a franchisor and their franchisees is vital to a franchise systems success. MaidPro has also received the Franchisees Choice Designation for 2020. We are are so grateful to our franchisees and our entire home office staff for helping us to win these awards, says David Buckler, MaidPro Canada Representative & Franchisee. Our Canadian offices are outstanding representatives for the brand, and we look forward to continuing to grow our presence here. MaidPro is a professional home cleaning franchise with over 285 locations across the United States and Canada. MaidPro is known for its friendly nature and supportive community. They have developed proprietary software and continue to lead the industry in dynamic marketing campaigns. MaidPro is currently accepting inquires for those interested in owning a MaidPro Franchise. For more information, visit maidprofranchise.com. About MaidPro MaidPro is a Boston-based franchisor of house cleaning services with over 285 locations in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1997, takes pride in its strong owner community, cutting-edge technology, and creative marketing. It has been honored with the Franchise Business Reviews Four-Star Rating and Franchise 50 awards every year from 2006 to 2020 for owner satisfaction. Forbes has named MaidPro a Top Franchise to Own in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. MaidPro was named one of the Top 50 Franchises for Minorities by USA Todays Franchising Today. MaidPro is also a proud member of the International Franchise Association, Canadian Franchise Association, and the New England Franchise Association. The company can be found online at http://www.maidprofranchise.com. Advertisement The new Madeleine McCann suspect was unmasked last night as it emerged he had been on the police radar for more than two decades - and he could be let out of jail on parole within days. As prosecutors labelled him a 'multiple sexual predator', it was claimed Christian Brueckner, 43, had been convicted of a child sex offence in his native Germany when aged just 17. Yet the drifter, who reportedly has as many as 17 criminal convictions, was apparently overlooked by Portuguese police. It also emerged yesterday that he had been convicted of raping a 72-year-old US widow in her Algarve home 18 months before Madeleine disappeared. Brueckner is now the focus of the 13-year investigation into the disappearance of the three-year-old from the Algarve. Yesterday a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann hailed the 'significant' breakthrough. But they faced renewed anguish as German prosecutors stated they believed their daughter was dead and also suggested officers knew how she died. Brueckner is behind bars in Germany. But it was claimed that he could walk free within days, as he will become eligible for parole on Sunday. Cruising the Algarve in his classic Jaguar, Christian Brueckner posed as a fun-loving playboy. The German drifter spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle but not long after Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007, he left Portugal and returned to his homeland. It was in a German bar exactly ten years later on the anniversary of the three-year-old's disappearance that Becks-drinking Brueckner turned the spotlight on himself. As Madeleine's face flashed up on the bar's television screen, he reportedly turned to his drinking partner and claimed he 'knew all about' the case. He is alleged to have said something to suggest he knew what had happened to Maddie, according to a report on Sky News. Later, it is claimed, he showed his companion a video of himself raping an elderly American widow in Portugal in 2005. The friend contacted German police. Brueckner who chose a moniker for his Facebook page that means 'madness' in German swiftly became of interest to the detectives probing Madeleine's disappearance. It was three more years before his name became public. Photographs obtained by the Mail show blue-eyed Brueckner enjoying a night out in a Hanover bar in 2011. Wearing a pinstriped blazer, the self-styled Romeo appeared to be enjoying himself with a group of friends. One picture shows him cradling a small dog. Christian Brueckner spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle but not long after Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007, he left Portugal and returned to his homeland. Photographs obtained by the Mail show the drifter enjoying a night out in a Hanover bar in 2011, wearing a pinstriped blazer, sitting next to an innocent shot girl Portuguese detective says 'Christian B' was dismissed as a suspect in 2008 - but a discussion 'years later' on an online forum about Maddie and her abduction was brought to the attention of police; The German drifter spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle in and around Praia da Luz at two houses, one in the town and one two miles away between the neighbouring town of Lagos As Madeleine McCann's face flashed up on a bar's television screen in 2017, Bruekner reportedly turned to a drinking partner and claimed he 'knew all about' the case. He is alleged to have said something to suggest he knew what had happened to Maddie Last night one friend told the Mail that Brueckner's 'life situation' was 'a bit chaotic', but added that 'if everything is true then he was indeed a master of illusion'. In fact, despite the Renaissance man image he seemed desperate to cultivate, Brueckner, 43, has long tried to hide a gruesome life of crime ranging from petty thefts to horrific sexual assaults. As more details come to light over the new prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, it also emerged that: Portuguese police face serious questions as it is revealed that the man who may have taken Maddie spent 12 years in Portugal before her disappearance committing serious sexual and drugs crimes without ever being arrested; German police were told about his bar chat about Maddie with a friend in 2017 - but three years on have finally confirmed he is a suspect; His VW campervan and Jaguar have been located by police who believe one or both were - but a lack of DNA evidence means a 10,000 euro reward has been put up for any information that leads to his conviction; Portuguese detective says 'Christian B' was dismissed as a suspect in 2008 - but a discussion 'years later' on an online forum about Maddie and her abduction was brought to the attention of police; Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann have not given up hope that their daughter is alive but are 'realistic' that she might not be, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said today; Downing Street said the latest developments appeared to be significant and added that Number 10's thoughts were with the McCann family 'who have had to endure so much'. Born in 1976, Brueckner was raised 'in a home' according to German news magazine Focus. He committed his first burglary in his home town of Wuerzburg in Bavaria when he was just 15. Within two years, he was convicted of sexually abusing a child, earning him a two-year youth sentence in 1994. A report by Germany's Der Spiegel claimed he served only part of this term. Brueckner went on to notch up convictions for drug dealing, driving under the influence and without a licence, the news magazine reported. As a young man, Brueckner is said to have dreamed of emigrating with his girlfriend of the time. After turning 18 and acquiring a driver's licence he took off to the Algarve town of Lagos with his girlfriend, the German newspaper Bild reported. It quotes him as saying: 'We didn't know anything about Portugal. We went to Lagos because we liked the name so much. We had a tent with us and camped in the wild.' He eventually settled in Praia da Luz the picturesque resort where the McCanns took their three children on holiday. Brueckner stayed there for 12 years, telling families he was working as a caterer and odd-job man. In truth, he was dealing cannabis, trafficking drugs and burgling holiday homes and hotel rooms. The farmhouse where the new prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance lived was located just two miles from where she went missing from her family's holiday apartment Bruekner is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla - meaning 'old school' - during at least part of his 12-year stay in Portugal until 2007 - shortly after Madeleine disappeared Pictured above and below, the Jaguar he re-registered the day after Maddie disappeared The suspect's battered camper van. Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate He was briefly locked up for diesel theft, and is also said to have traded passports and stolen goods, according to Bild. He initially lived in a dilapidated house accessed by a dirt road. 'In terms of furnishings, it was a typical bachelor's apartment,' said one acquaintance. After a decade on the Algarve, Brueckner burgled a 72-year-old American widow and subjected her to a violent sexual assault, which he recorded on camera. By this time Brueckner lived in a rented whitewashed villa on a remote hillside above the beach where the McCanns played during their week's holiday. Neighbours described him as an 'angry' car dealer who sped along country roads. They say that when he vanished, he left behind a collection of exotic clothing, including wigs and fancy dress. Brueckner left Portugal after Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007. The previous month, he had moved out of the villa and into a VW Westfalia campervan. Police have now linked this vehicle to Maddie's disappearance. Brueckner also retained his prized 1993 Jaguar XJR6. Scotland Yard has now revealed that the day after Madeleine vanished, Brueckner re-registered the classic British car to someone else, even though he was still driving it. On May 3, 2007 Kate and Gerry McCann went to a small tapas bar metres away from their apartment to dine with friends. But when Kate returned to do a routine check on their children, she found that Madeleine had disappeared Yesterday a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann hailed the 'significant' breakthrough. But they faced renewed anguish as German prosecutors stated they believed their daughter was dead and also suggested officers knew how she died Extraditing a foreign suspect will be difficult It is expected that Met Police will want any suspect charged in the Madeleine McCann case to be tried in the UK, given the nationality of the victim. The force has consistently said that if the suspect were British, then they would push for a prosecution at the Old Bailey, rather than Portugal where the crime was committed. But if the suspect happens to be from any other country, the chances of extraditing them to the UK for a crime which took place overseas is unlikely. If a German national is ever charged, it is unclear if Portuguese authorities, who have been heavily criticised for their involvement in the past, who pursue a prosecution of allow Germany to try their own citizen. Portugal the maximum prison sentence that can be imposed is 25 years, whereas Germany can hand down an indeterminate life sentence - although there can be the option for parole after 15 years. Advertisement After returning to Germany, Brueckner continued stealing and drug-dealing. In October 2011, a district court in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein sentenced him to one year and nine months for a crime involving 'narcotics in large quantities'. The term was initially suspended. By 2014, Brueckner was living in Braunschweig, near Hanover, where he boasted to friends he had opened a local shop. He claimed he worked from seven in the morning until midnight but the business, along with his relationship, failed and he began to hit the bottle and live on benefits. In 2016 he was sentenced to one year and three months' imprisonment for 'sexually abusing a child in the act of procuring himself and possessing child pornography'. After his bar-room claims about Madeleine in May 2017, Brueckner appears to have returned to the Algarve. Within a month he was held under a European Arrest Warrant and extradited back to Germany. That September, he was sentenced to 15 months in prisonfor the sexual abuse of a child according to Thomas Klinge, spokesman for the Hanover public prosecutor's office. After his release in August 2018, he later told a court, he was homeless, spending nights sleeping on park benches. He travelled to Milan but within a month he was arrested and extradited to Germany yet again, this time to face trial for drugs offences. In October 2018, he was convicted of dealing drugs and sent to prison in Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein, where he remains to this day. Prosecutors also had enough evidence to charge him with the horrific sex attack he had filmed 13 years earlier. His rape trial took place last December. Reports of the proceedings descibe Brueckner as 'eloquent' and state he leafed through legal texts as evidence was heard. He called what had happened to the traumatised pensioner a 'bad deed', but denied any role in it. In court he repeatedly mentioned the names of ex-lovers, insisting they would testify as to the 'normalcy' of his sex life. He branded witnesses as liars and claimed that DNA from a strand of hair used to convict him must have ended up on the victim's bed after he had petted one of her cats. Yet as so often before, the court rejected his denials and Brueckner was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years, pending the outcome of an appeal. One trial witness described Brueckner as someone who 'always paid attention to his appearance'. As the Madeleine case enters a dramatic new phase, there will certainly be a lot more attention paid to him now. Bound, blindfolded, beaten with a pole and raped... attack by Christian Brueckner on US widow, 72, that years later alerted Maddie police Details emerged yesterday of the horrific rape of an American pensioner by Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner. The German, who was given seven years in jail for the sexual assault, is reported to have blindfolded and then beaten the 72-year-old with a metal pole after breaking into her house near Praia da Luz. He is then said to have carried out the degrading rape, videotaping the whole ordeal and ripping off his own mask at the end of the attack before stealing cash and a computer, according to evidence heard at Brueckner's trial last year in Braunschweig, near Hanover. Details of the rape case first emerged in a local newspaper, but were then reported by two of Germany's biggest media organisations Bild and Der Spiegel after Brueckner's name was linked to the McCann case. Police in Braunschweig, who are leading the investigation, refused to comment directly. Christian Brueckner was given seven years in jail for the sexual assault However, according to widespread reporting of the case yesterday, a witness told how he had seen a horrific video of the sexual attack which happened just a year and a half before Madeleine disappeared. The witness, an acquaintance of Brueckner, said the elderly woman was bound, masked and whipped before being raped. He said: 'Then the man sat on the bed and pulled the mask off his face. I thought: That can't be!' He said he immediately recognised Brueckner. The witness told the court he had also seen a second video film, showing a younger woman tied naked to a wooden beam, crying out to be released and saying she had been raped, and that in it Brueckner was sitting on a sofa. The witness stole the video tapes during a burglary in 2006 and said he later destroyed them, horrified by what he had seen but years later reported the contents to police. His testimony prompted detectives to trawl cold cases and they came across the report of the American widow. On the night of the attack, in early September 2005, she had been watching television news coverage of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. At around 10.30pm she went into her office to compose some emails when she was grabbed from behind, dragged up several stairs to her bedroom and tied up with a rope and raped. She was also beaten with a metal, flexible object. 'I felt that he enjoyed torturing me,' she told the investigators. The ordeal lasted more than 15 minutes and the widow suffered a broken jaw and injuries to her shoulder. The victim, who was 86 at the time of the trial, was unable to travel to Germany to give evidence. But an investigator visited her at home in the US when she told him how the attack still haunted her. 'After that she couldn't sleep, couldn't turn off the lights at night and was afraid,' he said. She said she did not recognise her assailant as he was wearing a mask but said he was muscular and spoke poor Portuguese. Brueckner is currently doing time at Justizvollzugsanstalt Kiel Prison in northern Germany After the brutal attack he demanded money. She went to the kitchen with him and gave him 100 euros from her purse. He also took a computer before vanishing. The woman said she hid in the bathroom for ten minutes before running to her neighbours who called police. The court heard DNA linked a body hair found on the woman's bed to Brueckner, who was living less than a mile away from the woman. He denied the attack, claiming the hair could have been transferred to the woman's bed on the back of her cat after he petted it outside her house, which was on his way to the beach. In court Brueckner was said to have come across as 'eloquent' and was seen leafing through legal texts as evidence was heard. He wore a plain grey shirt and jeans that were slightly too big for him, it was reported. He denied the offence and said the witness was a liar. He said he could give the names of former lovers who would testify as to the 'normalcy' of his sex life. Brueckner was handed a seven-year jail term, it was reported. But it is understood he appealed arguing the trial was unfair because he had been extradited from Portugal, in 2017, on a different matter. Lawyers argued he could only be prosecuted in Germany for the offence to which the European arrest warrant was issued for. The case is understood to be ongoing. New Madeleine McCann sex offender suspect had been on police radar for 'more than two decades' and 'has as many as 17 criminal convictions' The new Madeleine McCann suspect was unmasked last night as it emerged he had been on the police radar for more than two decades. As prosecutors labelled him a 'multiple sexual predator', it was claimed Christian Brueckner, 43, had been convicted of a child sex offence in his native Germany when aged just 17. Yet the drifter, who reportedly has as many as 17 criminal convictions, was apparently overlooked by Portuguese police. It also emerged yesterday that he had been convicted of raping a 72-year-old US widow in her Algarve home 18 months before Madeleine disappeared. Brueckner is now the focus of the 13-year investigation into the disappearance of the three-year-old from the Algarve. Yesterday a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann hailed the 'significant' breakthrough. But they faced renewed anguish as German prosecutors stated they believed their daughter was dead and also suggested officers knew how she died. Brueckner is behind bars in Germany. But it was claimed that he could walk free within days, as he will become eligible for parole on Sunday. Brueckner is in jail in Kiel, northern Germany. But one German media report yesterday suggested he was on the verge of getting parole, having served two thirds of his sentence. According to a German newspaper, he becomes eligible for freedom from Sunday, if the Federal Court of Justice in Germany decides to grant him parole. On Wednesday, Scotland Yard, which has been carrying out a 12million review of the Madeleine case, dropped the bombshell revelation there was a new suspect, as German police launched an appeal via that country's equivalent of CrimeWatch. Yesterday Mr Wolters said: 'We think that Madeleine McCann is dead and are appealing for witnesses. The 43-year-old is a multiple sexual predator already convicted of crimes against little girls.' He suggested police had determined the method used to kill the three-year-old and said others would have 'concrete knowledge' of how she died and where her body was hidden. Scotland Yard still insists that it is a missing person inquiry and the McCanns say they have never given up hope she will be found alive. Madeleine disappeared while her parents, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were having a meal with friends at a tapas bar close to their apartment. Portuguese police were facing serious questions yesterday about why Brueckner was not identified earlier as a suspect given he had child sex abuse convictions dating back to 1994. He lived two miles from the resort where she vanished and phone data indicates he was in the area on the night. If Portuguese officers had done basic checks of known sex offenders his name could have emerged within months. The ex-lead Portuguese investigator on the case, Goncalo Amaral, has claimed the suspect had been ruled out of the inquiry in 2008. But he allegedly came back into the frame after a conversation in an internet chatroom about Madeleine and her abduction. Yesterday it emerged Brueckner only became a suspect for Scotland Yard in 2017 when he is said to have told a friend at a bar he 'knew all about' what had happened to Madeleine. According to Sky News, Brueckner was prompted to make the comment when her face flashed up on a TV screen in a German pub during a report on a UK appeal for information on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance. A spokesman for the McCanns said: 'This would appear to be the most significant lead they are trying to close down in 13 years.' German police said their phones 'rang hot' after the appeal went live. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, leading the Met Police investigation, said more than 270 calls and emails had been received. His view over Maddie resort: 25 minutes' walk from Praia da luz, home where suspect lived at time of three-year-old's abduction Nestled into the hillside, this is the remote farmhouse which gave Christian Brueckner unrivalled views of Praia da Luz. The convicted child sex offender is now a key suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in May 2007. When Brueckner lived in the farmhouse above Praia da Luz, he seldom mixed with his neighbours and allowed the property to fall into disrepair. Christian Brueckner was living in a rented home overlooking the holiday resort where the McCanns were staying Last night one neighbour told the Daily Mail: 'I immediately recognised him from the pictures in the media. He kept to himself and lived with a girlfriend for some of the time.' Brueckner, now 43, is understood to have lived in the farmhouse from 1999 to 2006 and may have been living in a distinctive campervan at the time Madeleine disappeared. The single-storey property is surrounded by disused water wells and sits on a hillside which leads on to a footpath to the beach where the little girl played. It also sits close to where Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate used to jog along the clifftop in search of solace during the aftermath of her disappearance. The farmhouse is a 25-minute walk to the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie. In 2014 police sealed off an area of scrubland close to the farmhouse and used ground-penetrating radar to detect whether the soil had been disturbed. The single-storey property is surrounded by disused water wells and sits on a hillside which leads on to a footpath to the beach where Maddie played Another neighbour said of Brueckner last night: 'He moved in in the mid-Nineties with a German girlfriend who left around a year and a half later. They seemed to have a tempestuous relationship. I would hear them arguing. I knew very little about his life but he seemed to me to be a choleric man.' Another added: 'He had a fall-out with another German he sub-let the place to for around six months. He treated him very badly. 'But I never for one moment suspected he could have had anything to do with Madeleine McCann's disappearance. It's something that never even crossed my mind. His life was pretty much of a mystery to people round here. His girlfriend left a long time ago and she hasn't been seen around here since.' A third neighbour said: 'This is an idyllic spot and we are all proud of our houses and look after them. But this guy let his place go to ruin. He left it looking a right mess and it took the owner some time to make it right.' The owner of the property is a British man who rented it to the German suspect and his girlfriend. The homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous, said both UK and Portuguese police have asked for his help relating to background information on Brueckner. Neighbours say Brueckner left the idyllic property in a rundown state after moving out He said: 'In 2006 my neighbour contacted me in the UK to say that the house had been left ramshackle and abandoned with no sign of occupancy. 'We returned to Portugal and reported the disappearance to the Portuguese police and later discovered that he may have been arrested. This was the last we heard from him until about a year ago when we were contacted by the UK and Portuguese police requesting what information we had as they were following a new line of inquiry relating to this person.' Speaking to Sky News, he added: 'My wife and I moved back to the UK in 1992. The house was let out to friends and friends of friends to maintain occupancy, look after the land and pay the bills. 'The house was occupied for a period of time by what seemed like an ordinary young couple trying to get by in Portugal. Living in England, we had relatively little interaction besides talk of the house, the land and any maintenance issues. We met in person when passing through on family holidays to the Algarve. At a later date we discovered that the man's girlfriend had parted company and returned to Germany.' Police are now trying to trace Brueckner's ex-girlfriend to establish a full picture of the suspect's movements on the Algarve. She is thought to have left Praia before Madeleine's disappearance. Brueckner, a known drifter, also spent time dog-sitting for German friends at a house in Monte Judeu, a few miles from the seaside. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global bone grafts and substitutes market size is expected to reach USD 4.15 billion by 2026 according to a new study by Polaris Market Research. The report Bone Grafts and Substitutes Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report, By Material Type (Natural, Synthetic); By Application Type (Spinal Fusion, Craniomaxillofacial, Long Bone); By Region, Segment Forecasts, 2020 2026 gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future industry growth. For decades, bone grafts have been utilized in regenerate the bone, restore the structure and relieve pain. Autographs were traditionally utilized for bone grafting, using the bone of patience itself as a graft. Added to this, autologous bone grafts have been regarded as bone transplant gold standard. However, the use of autologous bone grafts in both tissue harvesting and transplant locations includes the danger of transferring infection during surgical procedures. This can lead to delayed healing of wound and extended stays in hospital. In order to overcome the drawbacks associated with autologous grafts, allografts were introduced in the market. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bone-grafts-substitutes-market/request-for-sample Increasing instances of orthopedic surgery and musculoskeletal illnesses (MSD) requiring the use of bone grafts and replacements will drive market growth. Approximately 3 million musculoskeletal interventions operate annually in the United States, for instance, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Moreover, bone grafts are also reported to be used worldwide in approximately 2.2 million orthopedic procedures. Increasing use of bone grafts combined with growing instances of illnesses requiring the use of these products will therefore increase the development of the market for bone grafts and replacements. Allografts have both osteo-inductive and osteo-conductive characteristics and therefore serve as autograph replacements. During the forecast period, ready availability of allografts in different shapes and sizes that can be processed in different forms like chips and others as required is likely to increase the allografts segment of the bone grafts and replacements market. Bone grafts and substitutes have been used to treat flaws considerably. Osteogenesis, osteoinduction, osteoconduction, and structural support are the basic characteristics of bone graft. The fast advances seen in technology and product innovations fuel the development of the worldwide industry for bone grafts and replacements. In addition, the growing amount of musculoskeletal circumstances such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis is another key factor likely to further boost the worldwide bone grafts and replacements market over the timeframe forecast. Increasing the amount of bone grafting processes, growing aging population with demand for high-quality musculoskeletal function in ancient age, and increasing penetration of specialty orthopedic clinics and health insurance are the main drivers of industry growth. The danger and complications of bone grafting processes and elevated bone graft therapy costs, however, restrict industry growth. Growing consumer awareness of appearance, increasing preference for natural / organic goods, increasing disposable income in emerging economies, the accessibility of technologically sophisticated are driving this industrys development. On the other side, it is probable that deceptive marketing methods will restrict market growth. It is anticipated that the increasing number of middle-aged people, a fast-paced life and a burgeoning urban population will further drive demand. In the years ahead, North America is expected to lead the worldwide bone grafts industry. North America retained approximately 38 percent of worldwide bone grafts and replacement market share in 2019. In specific, the US is leading the worldwide industry by generating enormous demand for products due to a large incidence of trauma-related accidents and orthopedic illnesses. Rising osteoarthritis events have resulted to increased demand for bone grafts and replacements used for therapy and transplantation. This also drives the North American bone grafts & substitutes market. In the years ahead, Europe is expected to demonstrate fast development in bone grafts and replace the globally. Due to the increasing demand for innovative and technologically advanced therapies for chronic disease therapy and the existence of major players, Europe was the worlds second major industry in 2019. Some of the main players on the industry are Orthofix Holdings, Inc.; DePuy Synthes; Medtronic PLC; Stryker Corp, Nuvasive, Inc.; and AlloSource, Inc. among other players. Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bone-grafts-substitutes-market Polaris Market research has segmented the bone grafts and substitutes industry report on the basis of material, application type, and region Bone Grafts and Substitutes Material Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 2026) Natural Synthetic Bone Grafts and Substitutes Application Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 2026) Spinal Fusion Craniomaxillofacial Long Bone Bone Grafts and Substitutes Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 2026) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany France Italy Russia Asia Pacific India Japan China South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Colombia Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia South Africa Israel UAE Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/bone-grafts-substitutes-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: http://www.polarismarketresearch.com With 9 observations and "Official Action Indicated" classification Aurobindo Pharma announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) inspected AuroLife Pharma LLC's oral solid manufacturing facility situated at Dayton, New Jersey, a wholly owned step-down subsidiary of the Company, from 13 January to 12 February 2020. At the end of the inspection, a 'Form 483' has been issued with 9 observations. With respect to the mentioned inspection, we have received a letter from USFDA classifying the inspection as Official Action Indicated". The Company believes that this OAI classification may not have any material impact on the existing revenues, the supplies of our US business or pipeline products at this juncture. The exclusive sales from this facility is around 2% of the group turnover. The Company will work closely with the regulator to comprehensively address the issues. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kim Yo-jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, issued the warning in a statement, adding that good faith and reconciliation can never go together with such hostile activities. Korea Times file North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister threatened Thursday to scrap a military tension reduction agreement with South Korea and shut down major exchange projects unless Seoul stops defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the communist nation. Kim Yo-jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, issued the warning in a statement, adding that good faith and reconciliation can never go together with such hostile activities. "Clearly speaking, the South Korean authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making sort of excuses," she said in the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. "If they fail to take corresponding steps for the senseless act against the fellow countrymen, they had better get themselves ready for possibility of the complete withdrawal of the already desolate Kaesong Industrial Park following the stop to tour of Mt. Kumgang, or shutdown of the North-South joint liaison office whose existence only adds to trouble, or the scrapping of the north-south agreement in military field which is hardly of any value," she added. Kim also said the summit agreements in 2018 and the military deal intended to stop all kinds of hostility and tension-raising action and the sending of anti-North Korea leaflets runs counter to such agreements. She pointed her finger directly at the anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border earlier this week by a group of North Korean defectors. The leaflets, totaling about 500,000 and carried by balloons, criticized the North's leader for threatening to take "shocking actual action with a new strategic nuclear weapon." The leader's sister also called those defectors "human scum" and "rubbish-like mongrel dogs," urging South Korea to take every possible action, including enacting a law against such act without using "freedom of expression" as an excuse anymore. "If they truly value the North-South agreements and have a will to thoroughly implement them, they should clear their house of rubbish, before thoughtlessly blowing the 'supporting' bugle," she said. Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide, Kweku Baako has condemned the mass procession of political party supporters to the headquarters of the Ghana Police Service during an arrest of a political leader. According to Kweku Baako, such processions need to stop because it violates the Public Order Act in the country. He made this statement when addressing recent comments by the Chairman of the People's National Convention (PNC) Bernard Mornah and Major Osahene Boakye Gyan (rtd) among other politicians who tend to instigate the masses against authority. Contributing to a panel discussion on 'Kokrokoo' on Peace FM, Kweku Baako noted that the culture where people crowd up at the premises of security agencies should be a thing of past as he feared it may have dire consequences on the State in the offing. He stated that one of his headaches in the nation is ''a crowd that masses up and engages in a procession to a security service location and it's across the political divide. That subculture worries me. One day, it can lead to big problems". 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 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday said he would offer millions of Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship if China imposes a national security law that opponents fear will erode political freedom in the territory. "Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life -- which China pledged to uphold -- is under threat," Johnson wrote in op-eds published in the South China Morning Post and the Times of London. China's parliament approved a proposal last week allowing mainland security and intelligence agents to be stationed in Hong Kong for the first time, which analysts say could facilitate an ability to suppress opposition. The proposal was approved in response to recent waves of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. "If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honor our obligations and provide an alternative," Johnson wrote. Johnson reiterated Britain's vow to grant British National Overseas passport-holders in Hong Kong a possible route to citizenship, allowing them to settle in the United Kingdom. Johnson estimated there are about 350,000 holders of BNO passports in Hong Kong and another 2.5 million who are eligible for them. Video may contain offensive images and language. Viewer discretion is advised. The latest: Demonstrators broke curfew in some cities on the tenth night of protests. An ACLU lawsuit argues that President Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other officials unlawfully conspired to violate protesters rights when clearing Lafayette Park on Monday. Celebrities, musicians and politicians were among those who gathered at the Minneapolis service for George Floyd. A judge set bail at $750,000 apiece for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting in Floyd's death. A metal fencing security perimeter has been set up around the White House, which has been a common site for protests. Secret Service cited "necessary security measures" and told CNN it is expected to stay up through next Wednesday. Protests continue across US NEW YORK Protesters stayed on the streets of New York City after curfew for another day Thursday, spurred by the death of George Floyd. Actions by the protesters included gathering at Brooklyns Cadman Plaza, the site where police used batons against demonstrators who were out past the city-imposed curfew a night earlier. Protesters continued past the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday, even after Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to deflect criticism over harsh tactics from police enforcing it. Thousands of protesters were out after curfew, and so were police. At some locations, officials watched, but didnt immediately move in. At other spots, they made orderly arrests without the batons and riot gear, like a night earlier. WASHINGTON Protests in the nations capital over George Floyds death broke up before dark Thursday as a heavy rain began to fall. The law enforcement presence at the Lincoln Memorial, where protesters gathered, was much smaller than it had been near the White House during the previous nights demonstrations. ATLANTA Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms walked with protesters in downtown Atlanta on Thursday and told the crowd through a megaphone that there is something better on the other side of this. We are in the midst of a movement in this country, she said. But its going to be incumbent upon all of us to be able to get together and articulate more than our anger. We got to be able to articulate what we want as our solutions. The mayors appearance came on the seventh straight night of protests in the city following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Police Chief Erika Shields also attended the protest. When the first night of protests on Friday turned violent, an impassioned Bottoms held a news conference and urged the protesters to go home, saying those who were looting and vandalizing businesses were disgracing the city and Floyds life. She told the crowd on Thursday that they matter to her, and before she left, she encouraged them to get tested for COVID-19. BUFFALO A violent incident in Buffalo, New York, involving police was caught on camera that eventually led to two officers being suspended. Video from WBFO showed a Buffalo police officer appearing to shove a man who walked up to police clearing Niagara Square on Thursday night. The man falls straight backward and hits his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the man is 75 and hospitalized in serious condition. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo condemned the incident as wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful. Two medics treated the unidentified man, the station reported. Buffalo police initially said in a statement that a person was injured when he tripped & fell," WIVB-TV reported, but Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation was opened. Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended two officers late Thursday, news outlets reported. George Floyd mourned in Minneapolis Hollywood celebrities, musicians and politicians gathered in front of the golden casket of George Floyd at a fiery memorial Thursday for the man whose death at the hands of police sparked global protests, with a civil rights leader declaring it is time for black people to demand, Get your knee off our necks! The service the first in a series of memorials set for three cities over six days unfolded at a sanctuary at North Central University as a judge a few blocks away set bail at $750,000 each for the three fired Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Floyd's death. Floyd, a 46-year-old out-of-work bouncer, died May 25 after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, put his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes as he lay handcuffed on the pavement, gasping that he couldn't breathe. Chauvin has been charged with murder, and he and the others could get up to 40 years in prison. George Floyds story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is you kept your knee on our neck, the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a fierce eulogy. Its time for us to stand up in Georges name and say, Get your knee off our necks! Sharpton vowed a movement to change the whole system of justice. Time is out for not holding you accountable! Time is out for you making excuses! Time is out for you trying to stall! Time is out for empty words and empty promises! Time is out for you filibustering and trying to stall the arm of justice! he said. The service drew the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley. Among the celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Marsai Martin. ACLU sues over police force on protesters near White House The American Civil Liberties Union and others have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before President Donald Trump walked to a nearby church to take a photo. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Washington. It argues that Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other officials unlawfully conspired to violate the protesters rights when clearing Lafayette Park on Monday. Shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Monday, law enforcement officers began aggressively forcing back the peaceful protesters, firing smoke bombs and pepper balls into the crowd to disperse them from the park. The ACLU called it a coordinated and unprovoked charge into the crowd of demonstrators. Barr said Thursday that he ordered the protesters to be dispersed because officials were supposed to extend a security perimeter around the White House earlier in the day. He said he arrived there later in the afternoon and discovered it hadnt been done. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the group Black Lives Matter D.C., and individual protesters who were in Lafayette Park on Monday evening. Man arrested, accused of making terroristic threats over Confederate monument A Birmingham, Alabama police spokesperson says an arrest has been made in connection with an alleged threat made Monday over the phone toward Mayor Randall Woodfin. According to the city, 49-year-old Brian Vest was arrested and is in the Jefferson County Jail on $30,000 bond. He is charged with making terroristic threats. A 911 caller who refused to give their name said they would bring their AK-47 and kill people, including the mayor, if a statue in Linn Park was taken down. Not even 24 hours after protesters attempted to remove the Confederate monument themselves Sunday, the city of Birmingham had heavy machinery at Linn Park to remove the controversial monument. Salt Lake City man with bow and arrow arrested A man captured on video aiming a bow and arrow at protesters in Salt Lake City over the weekend was charged Thursday with assault and weapon possession. Brandon McCormick was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, as well as aggravated assault and threatening or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel. He was reportedly pushed to the ground on Saturday after pointing the bow and arrow at people protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. People then flipped over his car and set it on fire. No attorney was listed in court records. Legal proceedings continue In the U.S., where some gatherings had been marked by bouts of lawlessness earlier in the week, relative quiet continued for a second straight night Wednesday following a decision by prosecutors to charge the three other Minneapolis officers at the scene and file a new, more serious count of murder against Chauvin. Meantime, in Georgia, a white father and son charged in another killing of a black man that has raised racial tensions in the U.S. made a court appearance Thursday via video. A state investigator testified that Travis McMichael was heard uttering a racist slur as he stood over the body of Ahmaud Arbery after killing him with three blasts from a pump-action shotgun. The new charges in Minneapolis punctuated an unprecedented week in recent American history, in which largely peaceful gatherings took place in communities of all sizes but were rocked by bursts of violence, including deadly attacks on officers, theft, vandalism and arson. In Minneapolis alone, more than 220 buildings were damaged or burned, with damage topping $55 million, city officials said. Nationwide, more than 10,000 people have been arrested, an Associated Press tally has found. More than a dozen deaths have been reported, though the circumstances in many cases are still being sorted out. MBABANE Eswatinis trap music industry is growing in leaps and bounds. There is a fresh kid on the block named Ohtom Sally, whose real name is Sizwe Nkambule, and has dropped two singles titled Superfly and Corona. He is 20 years old. In an interview with the publication, he said so much turmoil was being experienced in the country because of the coronavirus pandemic, which then inspired him to compose a song titled Corona, one that also serves as a prayer. With a mind-set like his, the artist revealed that the song was mainly directed to everyone who was chasing their dreams. Hunger He further mentioned that with a hunger and passion for music and the willingness to make a difference in the industry, his single Superfly would be inspiring to anyone who listened to it. Part of the lyrics in the song say; They want me down but I am stuck in the clouds which Ohtom Sally highlighted was a motivation for upcoming artists to have the courage, especially because of the treatment they received while trying to break out. The song does not discriminate because it states clearly that for as long as you have a dream, you will succeed, said the artist. He also highlighted that he had worked with a DJ from Italy known as Amir from Italy as well as DJ Popskin from the United Kingdom. DJ Popskin approached me through Facebook and offered me a beat which I gladly accepted and are in the process of finalising it, he said. In essence, those are normal dreams a person could have and that is what this song preaches. Humbled He said he was humbled by the positive feedback that he continuously received on social media from his supporters who were both known and unknown to him. Ohtom Sally also revealed that he was currently in studio working on an upcoming album with Mr Kangaroo. The album is titled Trapped Inside Rome. He said the name was inspired by the kind of music he made which did not receive the kind of support they envisioned as artists. Trap is an intrusion and I am trying to have the endearment of the country, he concluded. The song is readily available for downloads on Audio Mack as well as on his Facebook page, Ohtom Sally. Climbing into the saddle, he adjusts the scarf protecting his head from the sun and, with a tap on the camel's back, the caravan sets off. Thierry Tillet is again off to explore the vast Saharan desert, at the head of a nine-camel convoy with three other riders. At 68, the Frenchman is one of the last European explorers since the end of the 19th century to dedicate much of his life -- 47 years -- to crisscrossing the Sahara. This expedition, which began before the coronavirus epidemic, starts and ends at two desert jewels in central Mauritania. From Tichitt, the convoy is headed east to Oualata, 300 kilometres (185 miles) away, travelling in single file over a sandy, rocky landscape. For the first time, Tillet -- or Ghabidine, as a Tuareg friend renamed him -- is taking journalists along "so that this knowledge reaches the general public". Perched on the back of his swaying camel, Tillet wears an old, holey T-shirt and worn sandals. With his tousled, white hair and stubbled chin, it's easy to forget he's an authority in his field. For many years he was a member of the anthropology laboratory at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He was also professor of prehistoric archaeology at Grenoble University and taught in Chad, Niger and Mali. Throughout, he would go back and forth to the Sahara. He has documented Neolithic civilisations, overseen the inventory of Malian archaeological sites and discovered a dinosaur skeleton in the Tenere desert in Niger. "Sometimes, small fragments of discovered tools contain more information than a dinosaur, even if it's less spectacular," Tillet says. - In all its diversity - Exploring the history of the world's largest expanse of arid land is a hugely diverse venture. It can range from the forgotten religious centres of Sufi brotherhoods in northern Mali, to the sandstone plateaus in northeastern Chad and prehistoric Saharan settlements in Niger. But trading his camel for the comfort of an air-conditioned vehicle as his mode of transport isn't an option for Tillet. "You're going at the speed of the camel, and that allows me to observe and spot a number of things on the ground," he says. "In a car I wouldn't be able to do that, it moves too quickly." Each trip brings something new, be it publications in scientific works, "a few stones brought back for research" or photos of objects from the Neolithic era, the last period of the Stone Age. Currently it's an 11th-century caravan depot lost in the Mauritanian dunes, the Ma'den Ijafen, that begs to be found. "It was Theodore (Monod, the late French explorer) who discovered it in 1956," Tillet says. "He asked me to go back there." For three years now, he has been searching and, on this expedition, wants to ask around among nomadic shepherds. - The revealing winds - Tillet does not consider himself an adventurer or a daredevil. "Exploration carries with it a fantasy. I'm not trying to discover the unknown, but to discover what exists!" he says. "That is true scientific exploration." In this part of the Sahara, prehistoric artefacts are everywhere, constantly revealed by an omnipresent wind, but indistinguishable to the untrained eye. "In a continental climate, it's often necessary to dig... Here, it's all on the surface." Without warning, he pulls the reins to stop, on spotting something interesting. If he doesn't know what it is, he takes notes and -- in his only recourse to 21st-century technology -- satellite coordinates using a GPS. Once home in southwestern France's Perigord region, he will transfer them onto a map, tirelessly completing what he calls his "spider's web". The hundreds of GPS points are not only a scientific record but suggest the route of his next expedition. - Searching for a bull - Tillet, the son of Parisian bakers, said his love of Africa and archaeology began after hearing stories as a child. But it was his first university professor who ignited the desire to go and see it for himself, encouraging him to focus on the Sahara. On his first trip -- in Algeria -- it rained a lot. "For someone wanting to study the Sahara, it was a bad start!" he says, laughing. Tillet's wife occasionally used to accompany him on his explorations. But this time, his companions are Ahmadou, Sheih and Ahmed, whom he has known for many years. Looks, gestures and common phrases in mixed mother tongues make up for any language barriers. The days are punctuated by the same rituals: a sunrise departure, stops to drink green tea and finding a place where they can make supper before sleeping under the stars as the camels graze. After two days, the caravan stops at Akreijit, an archaeological site discovered in 1934 by Monod and partly restored by a French team at the end of the last century. The foundations of the old buildings are visible again. European tourists disembark from their 4x4s in a cloud of dust and briskly visit the old town, just last year removed from the "red zones where the French foreign ministry advises against travel. Tillet looks for a drawing of a bull on a rock, located during a previous visit. "It is two metres (6.5 feet) long, he says. My GPS point tells me it's in 22 metres." He scans and searches, passing repeatedly through the ruins, but finds nothing. - 'At great risk' - Concerned about kidnappings, the French authorities are not always happy about the caravan's off-the-radar trips. "These people are as worrying as they are fascinating, so we have to keep an eye out," a French diplomat in the sub-region later told AFP. Three-quarters of the caravan's route are in areas that travellers are officially advised by the French government to avoid. Objectively, he sometimes puts himself at great risk, acknowledged Pierre Touya, president of the Association of Saharans which groups archaeologists, geographers and other enthusiasts. Still, "he remains rational, does very good research and is supported by local knowledge," he said. On-the-ground information from locals is key to Tillet's preparations before leaving. By email and phone, he finds out about nomadic tribes' movements or where there are wells for the animals to drink. For decades, the region has been buffeted by inter-communal clashes, separatist insurgencies and conflicts between religious groups -- and Tillet has often found himself on the front row. In the 1990s, he met Iyad Ag Ghaly, then a rebel leader and now head of one of the main jihadist coalitions. He also met French ethnologist Francoise Claustre in Chad before she was kidnapped in 1974 by Hissene Habre's rebels. And he has shared mechoui, a meal of slow-roasted lamb, with former Malian president and fellow archaeologist Alpha Oumar Konare. "As long as I don't bump into the bastards, it's all right," he smiles, talking about the jihadists, who are an escalating threat in the Sahel region. In 2009, he was forced to hide in the northern Malian town of Kidal. Alerted to the presence of "likely unfriendly" groups at a time when Tuareg independence rebellions and jihadist groups were emerging, he left at 4:00 am in a pick-up truck, his head down and face hidden. That same year, he and his camel team were woken in the night by the blinding light of a surveillance drone in the desert of Mali's Taoudenit region. The jihadist expansion in the Sahel-Saharan strip has reduced exploration possibilities. But, according to a source close to the authorities, interviewed in Mauritanias capital, Nouakchott, a security grid set up a decade ago to counter the emerging jihadist influence is "once again allowing scientists and tourists to come". - 'So much to document' - It's day four and, after a cold night, he groans from the pain of an old foot injury as he climbs into the saddle. But, neither the discomfort nor deteriorating regional security will stop him. This desert is "the place where I feel the best, where you can't go wrong", he says. When he reaches Oualata near the Mali border after what will have been a two-week journey, Tillet plans to relax and drink tea with an old acquaintance. Even if he didn't find the elusive caravan depot this time, he's happy with the information gleaned. Previously the projects were funded by his former employer, the CNRS, but since retiring in 2012, he pays the several thousand euros needed for the trip himself. Monod got off his camel for the last time aged 93 and Tillet, a member of the French Society of Explorers, hopes to go on for a long while yet. "There's still so much to document," he says. For next year he is planning his longest route so far, at more than 1,000 km, back in the Sahara, with its many silences but, as he says, "where it's never boring". People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally march through Donegall Square in Belfast in memory of George Floyd (/PA) Public health concerns have been expressed after thousands gathered in Belfast for a rally in support of George Floyd. Demonstrators took over the main road in front of the landmark City Hall for more than two hours, forcing police to divert traffic. They chanted, knelt and held aloft hundreds of placards to protest over the death of Mr Floyd in police custody in the US last week. People were packed tightly together at the centre of the City Hall protest, with others observing social distancing at the fringes of the rally. 1/2 I outright condemn the murder of George Floyd, as a Police officer I am appalled at actions of the former officers from Minneapolis PD. However public protests at this time will endanger lives, we must support #BlackLivesMatter but also stop the spread of #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/FDKHTYPT5b Simon Byrne (@ChiefConPSNI) June 4, 2020 The Public Health Agencys head of health protection Dr Gerry Waldron warned public gatherings increased the risk to the population from coronavirus. Weve got to bear in mind that the virus hasnt got any conscience and doesnt recognise good causes, he told the BBC. Unfortunately, people that congregate in large groups, even if theyre trying to maintain social distancing, put themselves and others in that group at risk. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Simon Byrne said public protests at this time will endanger lives. I outright condemn the murder of George Floyd, as a Police officer I am appalled at actions of the former officers from Minneapolis PD. However public protests at this time will endanger lives, we must support #BlackLivesMatter, but also stop the spread of #Covid19, he tweeted. I am fully in sympathy with those protesting the murder of George Floyd and institutional racism. The cause is just. However, public protests in a pandemic are reckless and could endanger lives. We can support #BlackLivesMatter and continue to #StayHomeSaveLives. Cont... Naomi Long MLA (@naomi_long) June 3, 2020 Justice Minister Naomi Long said she is in sympathy with the cause of the demonstration but said public protests in a pandemic were reckless and could endanger lives. The Police Service of Northern Ireland maintained a low-key presence at the event, with officers observing from a distance. Chief Inspector Gavin Kirkpatrick said officers had engaged with the organiser before and during the event and maintained a presence throughout. Expand Close People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally march through Donegall Square in Belfast on Wednesday (David Young/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally march through Donegall Square in Belfast on Wednesday (David Young/PA) We will continue to engage, explain and encourage people to make the right choices and enforce the law as appropriate, he said. Jolene Francis, who helped to organise the Belfast rally, defended the gathering, pointing out that many were wearing masks and using sanitisers. I would say that racial injustice and discrimination have been a health crisis since the beginning of time, and while I understand where the people are coming from, the government advice has also advised people to behave at their discretion, and that is also the message we pushed, to come down and act responsibly, she told the BBC. If you look at the pictures, if there are groups of people that were gathered, those are people that came together. Towards the back of the protest there were people spread out. I agree at the epicentre of the protest there was people gathered together, those people were wearing masks, they were using sanitisers, those people were incredibly emotionally charged. These are people who feel racial discrimination and injustice every single day. EDMONTONPremier Jason Kenney, saying Alberta needs to take the initiative given recent gun bans by the federal government, is taking all forensic firearms testing in-house. While some in Ottawa believe in targeting legally purchased inanimate objects, Alberta believes in targeting actual criminals who represent a threat to public safety, Kenney said Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month announced a ban on a range of rifles considered to be assault-style weapons. While some people in faraway places like Toronto may not understand the reality, hundreds of thousands of Albertans simply use firearms as a part of everyday life, Kenney said. Those law-abiding Albertans should not be used as scapegoats for the actions of criminals by politicians in Ottawa. Kenney said his United Conservative government will centralize in Calgary all firearms testing tied to criminal cases to reduce wait times and prevent prosecutions from being potentially abandoned due to delays. He said Calgary police currently do their own testing and Edmonton police are setting up their own lab, but Mounties and other forces must have gun tests done out of province. He said that leads to eight-month delays on average. Kenney also announced a 12-member panel made up of weapons experts and UCP legislature members to advise on firearms policies that are under provincial jurisdiction. The panel, to be chaired by backbench legislature member Michaela Glasgo, will include hunters, retired law enforcement officers, gun collectors and a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces. These women and men are exemplars of responsible gun ownership with broad knowledge and expertise, Kenney said. Alberta, along with Saskatchewan, has also announced it will be appointing its own provincial chief firearms officer, joining Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The federal government sets gun laws, but the provinces enforce them. Trudeau announced a ban on some 1,500 models of firearms, including the AR-15 rifle and the Ruger Mini-14. The weapons cant be legally sold, used or imported. There will be a two-year amnesty while the government develops a program to allow current owners to be compensated for turning in the weapons or to be allowed to keep them. Kenney said the federal government is taking action to ban some weapons, which he says penalizes law-abiding gun owners, while failing to address root causes such as cross-border smuggling. Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley said her caucus supports initiatives to reduce crime, particularly rural crime, but questioned if the new advisory panel is designed to meet that goal. (It will be) helpful, Im sure, but its very homogenous, Notley said. It doesnt include on it the people across the province who have significant public safety concerns, whose communities are very troubled by rises in gun violence, and who want to see meaningful strategies to reduce availability of guns. Youre not going to have a very effective advisory committee if you insist upon turning up the volume of your own echo chamber. Read more about: A Chinese state-run newspaper has warned that Britain is facing 'substantial damage' to its economy and a trade deal with China could be off the table after Downing Street stood up to Beijing over a new security law for Hong Kong. Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week said he would 'willingly' offer three million people from Hong Kong visa-free refuge in the UK if China erodes human rights in the former British colony words that enraged the Communist nation. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab indicated that the UK was prepared to sacrifice free trade deal with China to protect people of the former British colony. Chinese state media has warned the UK that a trade deal with China could be off the table after No 10 challenged Beijing over a new security law for Hong Kong. Pictured, a pro-democracy demonstrator waves the British colonial Hong Kong flag during a rally in Hong Kong on June 1 Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week said he would 'willingly' offer three million people from Hong Kong visa-free refuge in the UK if China erodes human rights in the former British colony Beijing's state-controlled outlet The Global Times declared that Britain would have more to lose than China should a free trade agreement between the two nations fall through. 'British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government may sincerely believe they are battling for their values as they confront China over the national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, when in fact they are complicating a much-needed deal, threatening to inflict substantial damage on their own economy,' the nationalist tabloid said in a commentary today. The paper claimed that there were 'many things wrong' with No 10's comments over the Hong Kong matters and stressed that the new security legislation was 'exclusively an internal Chinese affair'. 'One more thing British politicians may be mistaken about is which country needs the free trade agreement more,' the author wrote. 'The coronavirus has hit the UK hard, and it is currently suffering its worst peacetime downturn in centuries' Dominic Raab hinted to Sky News Britain had anticipated roadblocks to the trade negotiations with China, but stressed that protecting people of Hong Kong was 'a matter of principle' China is facing widespread criticism after Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament last week approved a national security law to ban what it deems as 'subversion, treason and foreign interference' in the semi-autonomous city. Protesters are pictured rallying in Hong Kong today The Global Times has been at the forefront of defending Beijing's actions and castigating the West over its criticism against the Community Party. The outlet's editor-in-chief is an avid user of Twitter even though the social media platform is banned in China and people can't access it Billed as China's 'most belligerent tabloid', the Global Times has been at the forefront of defending Beijing's actions and castigating the West over its criticism against the Community Party. Earlier this week, it accused the UK of waging a technological Cold War on Beijing over Britain's reported plan to phase out Huawei from its 5G networks. China is facing widespread criticism after Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament last week approved a national security law to ban what it deems as 'subversion, treason and foreign interference' in the semi-autonomous city. Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam said that the central government would not back down on plans for national security legislation for the financial hub, even as Britain stepped up criticism of the move. The law could allow mainland security and intelligence agents to set up branches in the city for the first time. Critics say the decree would mark 'the end of Hong Kong's freedoms' and lead to the widespread use of secret police, arbitrary detentions, surveillance and even control over the internet on the island territory. The act is a direct response to the months-long pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, which have seen millions of people taking to the streets to demand democratic reforms. Hong Kong leader (pictured) has said that the central government would not back down on plans for national security legislation for the financial hub, even as Britain stepped up criticism Chinese leader Xi Jinping pushes a button on Thursday to vote on the new national security law for Hong Kong, which critics say will destroy the autonomy of the former British colony Beijing's push to impose its will in the former British colony has stoked worry about its future. It has prompted Britain to offer refuge to almost three million Hong Kong residents eligible for a British National Overseas passport. Writing in the Times, Mr Johnson said: 'Britain would then have no choice but to uphold our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong. 'Today, about 350,000 of the territory's people hold British National (Overseas) passports and another 2.5million would be eligible to apply for them.' Currently, the passports allow visa-free access to the UK for up to six months. British Nationals (Overseas) do not have the automatic right to live or work in the UK, but can currently travel here without a visa for up to six months. Pictured, a protester holds a British National (Overseas) passport in a shopping mall during a protest in Hong Kong on Friday He added: 'If China imposes its national security law, the British government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship. 'This would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in history. 'If it proves necessary, the British government will take this step and take it willingly. 'Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life, which China pledged to uphold, is under threat. 'If China proceeds to justify their fears then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulder and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative.' It is understood the people of Hong Kong will be offered a route into Britain only after the publication of full details of the proposed laws, expected this month. The BNO passport was created for Hong Kong people before Britain returned the territory to Chinese rule in 1997. Though they are British passports that allow a holder to visit Britain for six months, they do not come with an automatic right to live and work there. Hong Kong has been rocked by sometimes violent mass street protests since June last year because many people think their promised freedoms are eroding. Pictured, riot police detain a protester during a demonstration against Beijing's new law in Hong Kong on May 24 Beijing's state media criticised Britain after it extended the visa rights of Hong Kong people amid mounting international concerns over the end of freedoms in the former British colony. Pictured, protesters take part in a pro-democracy demonstration in Hong Kong on May 24 Dominic Raab yesterday suggested that Britain had anticipated roadblocks to the trade negotiations with China, but stressed that protecting people of Hong Kong was 'a matter of principle'. He told Sky News: 'Us extending the UK BNO passport holder offer to come to the UK in the way that I have described is not contingent on a free trade deal or anything like that, we wouldn't allow that to get in the way of us living up to our responsibilities as a matter of principle both for moral reasons and international standing. 'That is really important. China yesterday accused the UK of 'blindly commenting on and grossly interfering in our domestic affairs' after Downing Street had urged Beijing to respect Hong Kong's autonomy. Beijing's Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged stern representations with the UK and claimed that No 10's 'interference will definitely backfire'. Beijing's spokesperson Zhao Lijian (pictured) lodged stern representations with the UK as he accused Britain of 'blindly commenting on and grossly interfering in our domestic affairs' Beijing's push to impose its will in the former British colony has stoked worry about its future. It has prompted PM Boris Johnson to offer refuge to almost three million Hong Kong residents The Chinese foreign ministry claimed that it had promised nothing to the UK about Hong Kong's freedoms and did not have international obligations towards the Asian financial hub. Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, said that China's 'fundamental principles' for Hong Kong mentioned in a bilateral treaty signed by China and the UK in the 1980s were 'a one-sided declaration of policy from China'. He told a press briefing: 'We urge the UK side to pull back before it's too late, abandon the Cold War mentality and colonial mindset, recognise and respect the fact Hong Kong has already returned and is a special administration of China.' Mr Zhao called for Britain to 'abide by basic norms of international law and international relations' and 'immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and China's internal affairs'. 'Otherwise [Britain will] lift a stone and hit its own feet,' he warned, using a Chinese idiom. The UK and China signed an international bilateral announcement called The Sino-British Joint Declaration on December 19, 1984, to ensure Hong Kong's freedoms and liberties after its handover to China. The treaty protects Hong Kong with a constitutional principle known as 'one country, two systems', which aimed to allow residents in the Asian financial hub to enjoy rights unseen on the mainland, such as freedom of speech. Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4 One participant holds a flag bearing the words 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times', a slogan of the ongoing pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub People walk over barriers, which were set up to prevent access to Victoria park, to attend a candlelit vigil commemorating the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown Tensions between Hong Kong's riot police and pro-democracy protesters escalated again today after a few thousand people joined a peaceful main rally in Victoria Park. Many of them were wearing masks and chanting slogans such as 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time' and 'Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong'. Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China's bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too. Scuffles broke out briefly in the working-class Mong Kok area where hundreds had gathered and some demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, prompting officers to use spray to disperse them, according to Reuters witnesses. It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which police had prohibited this year citing the coronavirus crisis. Several protesters were arrested, police said. Today's clashes took place just hours after the city's lawmakers approved a Beijing-backed bill criminalising insults to China's national anthem another sign of Beijing's tightening grip. Researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University are working on an entirely new way to detect blood clots, especially in pediatric patients. Unlike what a biology textbook may show, blood vessels are not straight cylinders. They are tortuous, meaning they have complex curves, spirals and bends. When the blood reaches these curves, it makes changes to its fluid mechanics and interactions with the vessel wall. In a healthy person, these changes are in harmony with the tortuous microenvironment, but when diseased, these environments could lead to very complex flow conditions that activate proteins and cells that eventually lead to blood clots. Dr. Abhishek Jain, assistant professor, said a big challenge in medicine is the medical devices used to detect clots and assess anti-blood clotting drug effects are entirely chemistry-based. They do not incorporate the flow through the naturally turning and twisting blood vessels, which are physical regulators of blood clotting. Therefore, the readouts from these current static systems are not highly predictive, and often result in false positives or false negatives." Dr. Abhishek Jain, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University To approach the problem from a new angle, researchers in Jain's lab at Texas A&M designed a microdevice that mimics tortuous blood vessels and created a diseased microenvironment in which blood may rapidly clot under flow. They showed this biomimetic blood clotting device could be used to design and monitor drugs that are given to patients who suffer from clotting disorders. Jain said he can see several applications for the device, including critical care units and military trauma care units. "It can be used in detection of clotting disorders and used in precision medicine where you would want to monitor pro-thrombotic or anti-thrombotic therapies and optimize the therapeutic approach," Jain said. After developing the device, the team took it into the field for a pilot study. Working with Dr. Jun Teruya, chief of transfusion medicine at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, the team coordinated with clinicians to test the device with pediatric patients in critical care whose heart and lungs were not working properly. These patients were in need of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which provides cardiac and respiratory support in exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. A common complication in ECMO is blood clotting, so patients are administered anticoagulants to prevent clotting. However, ECMO machines are also known to" eat" clotting proteins and platelets, which puts anticoagulated patients in further risk of bleeding. Anticoagulated pediatric patients on ECMO are especially prone to bleeding. Current chemically based blood clotting tests are expensive, time-consuming, can be unreliable and require a skilled technician. Jain's team's tortuosity based microfluidic system doesn't require expensive chemicals, is quick, with results within 10-15 minutes, uses low blood sample volume and is easy to operate. "The margin for error is essentially zero for these patients," Jain said. "Therefore, it's imperative that all the tests, not just clotting tests, must work and provide clinicians with quick and reliable information about their patient so they can provide the best care possible." By having the opportunity to test their system with real patients, Jain said his team was able to demonstrate that their design could detect bleeding in anticoagulated patients with low platelet counts, which can help guide doctors to make better evidence-based clinical decisions for their patients. The study was recently published in Nature's Scientific Reports journal. For Jain and his team, the next stage is continued clinical studies to compare their approach to standard methods and hopefully demonstrate key performance advantages. Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - Colonel-Major Baidy Ba, director of Water, Forests, Hunting and Soil Conservation, said here Wednesday he was emotionally touched, saddened and discouraged after his visit Tuesday to the Bignona sector in the southern region of Ziguinchor New Delhi: BJP womenas wing workers, who were protesting against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the New Delhi railway station, on Thursday mobbed and chased the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief as he arrived to board a train for Punjab.A The Delhi BJP women wing members demanded a statement from Kejriwal on the misconduct of his MLAs. They also demanded the expulsion of Ashutosh from AAP. The BJP supporters also chanted 'Kejriwal hai hai', 'Kejriwal istifa do'. Kejriwal is scheduled to hold meetings in Ludhiana with the candidates for the 2017 Punjab Assembly election. Delhi BJP women wing protest against Delhi CM, demand he speak on misconduct of his MLAs & expel Ashutosh from AAP pic.twitter.com/ReacRsami3 a ANI (@ANI_news) September 8, 2016 Arvind Kejriwal had recently sacked Sandeep Kumar, who held the Women and Child Welfare and Social Welfare portfolios, from the council of ministers after a sex scandal involving the latter rocked AAP. Kejriwal had received a nine-minute-long CD in which Kumar was allegedly seen in a compromising position with a woman. Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi Police had expressed its inability to provide security to Kejriwal during his five-day visit to Punjab, saying it adoes not have jurisdiction over that statea. aWe have not refused him security. He is leaving Delhi for Punjab for five days. As per the security norms, if he travels by train or car, we are supposed to drop him at the first destination in that state and thereafter, the state police takes over,a said a senior Delhi Police official. The rules have been followed. Any VIP going to any other state is not provided aall components of securitya, said the officer, adding that security is a matter of law and order which is a state subject. aHe was given security during previous trips as we had no time to write to the state police concerned and also because they were short visits. This is a long visit and we cannot keep any component with him for that long,a the officer said. A Delhi government source said: aIn the past, the Delhi Police provided a security personnel to Kejriwal outside Delhi. But now, a letter from DCP (security) has informed that he cannot be given security during his Punjab visit.a For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Protesters face police as the latter move in with tear gas to take over the chaotic streets outside the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) GOP Representatives Propose Doubling Federal Punishment for Rioting Legislation to double the penalties applicable in incidents of rioting, looting, and other acts of violence against people and property was introduced June 4 in the House of Representatives by two North Carolina Republicans. Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) told The Epoch Times on June 4 that anyone with a soul is outraged by the death of George Floyd, and peaceful demonstrations that are in support of justice for George Floyd are absolutely appropriate. But rioting is never the answer. Our streets, our businesses, our communities, they cant be terrorized. You dont avenge the death of George Floyd by looting a Target. Budd was referring to the May 25 death of Floyd, an unarmed black man being forcibly detained by a Minneapolis policeman, who has since been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers present during the incident have also been charged in connection with Floyds death. All Americans are rightfully outraged by the death of George Floyd. The peaceful demonstrations against racism in the wake of his death are totally appropriate, Budd said in a statement announcing the proposal. If you engage in rioting, you disgrace the cause you claim to fight for, and you should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Co-sponsoring the bill with Budd is Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), who issued a statement earlier this week critical of state and local officials who havent enforced existing laws against rioters as dozens of U.S. cities have experienced street violence, property destruction, and lethal assaults on law enforcement officers. It is incomprehensible that when George Floyd cried out in distress, those officers brutalized him instead of helping him. But in city after city, governors and mayors compound the tragedy by turning our streets over to looters and rioters, Bishop said. This misguided attempt to appease criminals never succeeds, and its victims include the voices of law-abiding protesters and the livelihoods of innocent business owners. It also callously exposes our overwhelmed police to grave risk. Known as the No Toleration for Rioters Act of 2020, the BuddBishop bill doubles the jail time to be served by convicted rioters under federal law to 10 years from 5 years. Thousands of rioters, many associated with the radical far-left Antifa, which President Donald Trump has described as a domestic terrorist group, have created mayhem in more than 30 cities since Floyds death. Hundreds of rioters have been arrested and at least two law enforcement officials have been killed during the violent activities, including a Federal Protective Service officer protecting a government building in Oakland, California, and a retired St. Louis police captain shot while guarding a friends business from marauding looters. Pre-positioned stores of bricks and Molotov cocktails have been found in multiple cities across the country, evidence that anti-terrorism experts say indicates pre-planned efforts to co-op peaceful demonstrations such as the Floyd protests. Asked about Trumps vow to classify Antifa as a domestic terrorist group, Budd said, When I drive around downtown Charlotte, and I see [firsthand] the news like everyone else watches, thats terrorism. Budd recalled the violent protests in the hours after Trumps inauguration in 2017, noting that I saw a fraction of this in Washington, D.C., on inauguration day and shortly thereafter. I saw burning cars on the street; thats terrorism, so it is absolutely appropriate. At that time, rioters set several vehicles ablaze and broke store front windows in the downtown area of the nations capital. Budd praised Trumps response to the riots. When you look at what hes done, hes always been for the rule of law. I think hes done well. Budd said Trump can be a bit abrasive at times, but you look at the content of what hes done, he protects people no matter their ethnicity. Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc. - A milestone for Western Provinces and their efforts to accelerate the energy transition - MONTREAL, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xebec Adsorption Inc. (XBC.V) (Xebec), a global provider of clean energy solutions is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) on May 28th, 2020, for the sale of a multi-million dollar biogas to renewable natural gas (RNG) installation to a large-scale utility customer in Alberta. Xebec expects the LOI to convert into backlog over the coming months and system delivery to occur in 2021. An opportunity to further Canadas oil and gas industry and help the country decarbonize its energy mix Canada is the worlds fourth largest natural gas producer. Renewable natural gas (RNG) production represents an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions of natural gas by creating renewable gas from organic waste sources, that can be blended with fossil natural gas to reduce the overall carbon intensity. There are several benefits to RNG which include: reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, increased domestic energy production, compatibility with existing natural gas infrastructure, improved waste management, new revenue streams for farmers and municipalities, advancement of the circular economy and job creation. Quotes: "Were happy to see the continued sales of our Cleantech systems as customers remain forward-looking in this pandemic and see the long-term need to create renewable energy from organic waste streams. Alberta is a significant contributor to the economic well-being of Canadians and were happy to see the adoption of renewable natural gas production. This is the first commercial RNG project in Alberta which marks a significant milestone as the province continues to innovate and deploy technologies to help reduce carbon emissions. Were hopeful for the continued production of renewable gases in Canadian Western provinces as decarbonization and infrastructure investments remain in focus. Renewable natural gas is the perfect bridge between fossil and renewable energy, and Xebec is proud to be playing a role in that transition across Canada." Dr. Prabhu Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Xebec Adsorption Inc. Story continues Related links: https://www.xebecinc.com For more information: Xebec Adsorption Inc. Brandon Chow, Investor Relations Manager bchow@xebecinc.com +1 450.979.8700 ext 5762 About Xebec Adsorption Inc. Xebec is a global provider of gas generation, purification and filtration solutions for the industrial, energy and renewables marketplace. Well-positioned in the energy transition space with proprietary technologies that transform raw gases into clean sources of renewable energy, Xebecs 1500+ customers range from small to multi-national corporations, governments and municipalities looking to reduce their carbon footprints. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Xebec has several Sales and Support offices in North America and Europe, as well as two manufacturing facilities in Montreal and Shanghai. Xebec trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XBC. For more information, www.xebecinc.com . 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Forward-looking statements, including statements concerning future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses and future prospects as well as the expectations of management of Xebec with respect to information regarding the business and the expansion and growth of Xebec operations, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic factors and uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, including the relevant assumptions and risks factors set out in Xebec's public documents, including in the most recent annual management discussion and analysis and annual information form, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the uncertain and unpredictable condition of global economy, notably as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, Xebecs capacity to generate revenue growth, the availability to Xebec of financing and credit alternatives and access to capital, Xebecs capacity to meet all its other commitments and business plans, Xebecs limited number of customers, the potential loss of key employees, changes in the use of proceeds relating to the loan, share price volatility, and other factors. Although Xebec believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, Xebec disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Despite impediments like the coronavirus-induced turmoil and social unrest, T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS has achieved a historic milestone by offering 5G services across all 50 states in the country. The feat showcases the inherent strength of its resilient business model amid a competitive and cut-throat business environment. The company recently formed a strategic collaboration with General Communication Inc., a telecommunications firm operating in Alaska, to provide 5G network connectivity in Anchorage the largest city in the state. With this, T-Mobile reportedly became the only wireless carrier to offer 5G services throughout the country either on its own or through partner coverage. The win-win partnership further enabled General Communication customers to enjoy roaming access to T-Mobiles nationwide 5G network spanning one million square miles across nearly 6,000 cities and towns. Notably, T-Mobile and General Communication have a long-serving business relationship and had inked the first LTE roaming partnership in 2014. The firms, together, were also the first to deliver voice over LTE services. The recent collaboration will likely serve as a model for General Communications network modernization initiative as it aims to extend its footprint across Alaska in order to serve cities like Juneau, Fairbanks and other fiber-connected regions. With the merger and subsequent integration with Sprint assets, T-Mobile has redefined itself as a wireless giant with a huge subscriber base that is comparable with rivals AT&T Inc. T and Verizon Communications Inc. VZ. The merger has enabled T-Mobile and Sprint to join their high- and low-band spectrum for a faster nationwide 5G rollout, undeniably disrupting the competitive landscape of the U.S. telecom market. In addition, T-Mobile has gained the wherewithal to offer unmatched value to consumers, with better service at lower prices. The enhanced scale and financial strength of the combined entity will drive a planned investment of $40 billion in its network and business over the next three years. Moreover, synergies achieved from the integration have the potential to unlock massive scale and deliver greater value to stockholders. T-Mobiles network will likely have 14 times more capacity in the next six years than on a standalone basis, which will enable it to leapfrog the competition in network capability and experience. Its customers will have access to average 5G speed, which will be up to eight times faster than current LTE in a few years and 15 times faster over the next six years. Within six years, the new T-Mobile is expected to provide 5G to 99% of the U.S. population and average 5G speeds above 100 Mbps to 90% of the population. T-Mobiles business plan is built on covering 90% of rural Americans with average 5G speeds of 50 Mbps, up to two times faster than broadband. It will compete for consumers at all price points. The stock has gained 35.3% in the past year compared with 3% growth for the industry. Story continues T-Mobile currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). A better-ranked stock in the industry is United States Cellular Corporation USM, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. United States Cellular delivered a positive earnings surprise of 104.1%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. 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 >> 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 ATT Inc. (T) : Free Stock Analysis Report Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report United States Cellular Corporation (USM) : Free Stock Analysis Report TMobile US, Inc. (TMUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Both Hippo and Spinnaker have been business partners since 2017, with the latter serving as the managing general agents largest carrier platform. Spinnaker-backed Hippo products are currently available in over 18 states. Read more: Spinnaker partners with California-based insurtech company Hippo Insurance will continue to operate as a managing general agent following the transaction, with a portion of its premiums to be underwritten by affiliate Spinnaker, and the balance underwritten by other carrier partners. Spinnaker will also operate independently under the Hippo banner, and will continue to service its portfolio of program administrators. Bringing Spinnaker into the Hippo family is a natural next step in growing our proactive home insurance offering, said Hippo chief insurance officer Rick McCathron. Spinnaker knows the complexities of our industry, mirrors our same standards for technology innovation and customer experience and has continued to meet, oftentimes exceeding, our expectations over the years. Read more: Hippo Insurance's latest funding round draws in $100 million Last year, Hippo Insurance revealed that it had raised $100 million in a Series D funding round. [June 04, 2020] Innoviti's AI Platform Sparcs to Provide Customers an X-ray View Into Payment Operations Helping merchants, banks and brands know what they cannot infer from conventional MIS BENGALURU, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Provider of intelligent payment systems, Innoviti Payment Solutions, announced today the introduction of Sparcs, an AI/ML based platform, that can help customers get an X-ray view into their payment operations being managed by Innoviti. Conventional payment Management Information Systems provide raw and analyzed information on transactions accessible through filters. These are primarily used by the Finance department for reconciliation and dispute management. However digital payment systems can be utilized for far more, as they provide a real-time eye-in-the-sky view of what is happening across categories and cities in the country. Innoviti's Sparcs platform is using AI to intelligently process millions of transaction data points, information along with authoritative information available through public sites to create category and geographic insights. This is helping customers see what is not visble through their own data and use it for getting that extra sales, extra savings, extra customers. Architected as a Low Code Application Platform (LCAP), Sparcs is a modern tool that enables progressive merchants to directly integrate their own reporting systems with Sparcs through APIs, helping them with one view of their business. Customers can also customize their own dashboards, configure alerts, and track performance against targets, enabling them to take faster and more accurate decisions about their business. Processing over 6.5B$ of annualized offline merchant payment volume (~5% of India's offline merchant volume, based on RBI data), Innoviti is transforming digital payments at scale. An obsessive focus on customer-centric design has led to a 2X increase in usage from every installation over this period. Sparcs is one more such tool that Innoviti is now making available to customers to help them get more out of digital payments than just inert terminals. Quotes: "At Innoviti, we pride ourselves on our consistent technological innovation to utilize the full power of digital payments beyond terminals. Sparcs will ensure that our partners get an X-ray view into their payment operations and use it for growing their business faster in their own unique ways," said Mr. Digvijay Singh, Vice President, Technology, Innoviti. About Innoviti Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India. Innoviti Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has been a pioneer in the use of technology to design payment experiences that enable merchants to deepen engagement with their customers, helping them compete far better than possible with conventional payment terminals and gateways. The company processes over 6.5B$ of offline merchant payments (~5% of India's offline merchant payments volume as per RBI data), from over 1000+ cities with a volume throughput per installation that is 2X of the country's average. Catamaran Ventures, SBI Capital, Bessemer Ventures and FMO are investors in the company. The company has several patents filed for with two awarded. Innoviti is the winner of Mastercard's Innovation Wizards Award in 2019 and Reliance's Most Promising Growth Consumer Finance Award in the same year. For more information, please visit: http://www.innoviti.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1041869/Innoviti_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A man loads Sabecos Saigon-branded beer crates onto a truck PHOTO: THANH HOA According to rumors, Thai investor Thaibev that holds 53% of Sabeco's shares is seeking to sell them to another investor. However, foreign breweries are uninterested in the deal, while the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which holds 36% of Sabeco's shares, would reportedly buy Thaibevs shares at VND130,000 per share. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai disputed this, saying, Vietnam is trying to recover the economy and help businesses resume operations. There will not be any deals that affect the safe investment environment. The ministry earlier rejected a rumor that Sabeco would be sold to a Chinese investor in October 2019. In a document sent to the Singapore Exchange on May 29, on which ThaiBev is listed, the Thai investor confirmed that it is not seeking buyers for Sabeco's shares. In late 2017, ThaiBev spent over US$4.8 billion buying 53.59% of Sabecos shares from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. After the deal, Sabeco operated efficiently until the Government issued Decree 100 banning drink driving, followed by the Covid-19 outbreak, which saw the companys revenue and profit fall in 2019 and the early months of 2020. SGT A Duncan hospital was among 53 funding applications approved Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commissions Wireline Competition Bureau for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Duncan Regional Hospital was awarded $56,266 for teleconferencing equipment and software licenses, as well as remote monitoring equipment to expand telehealth offerings for primary care and mental health patients by sending equipment home with chronic patients to allow home care monitoring and communication with medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $16.46 million in total funding to provide telehealth services during the pandemic. To date, the FCCs COVID-19 Telehealth Program, authorized by the CARES Act, has OK'd funding for 238 health care providers in 41 states plus Washington, D.C. for a total of $84.96 million in funding. Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The mayor of a Southern California city has resigned following an email in which he stated he didn't "believe there's ever been a good person of colour killed by a police officer" locally. Temecula Mayor James Stewart had apologised on Thursday for the email, saying he never meant to use the word "good". He said he is dyslexic and so used voice text to send his late-night message onTuesday but failed to notice the added word. "Unfortunately, I did not take the time to proofread what was recorded. I absolutely did not say that," Stewart told the Riverside Press-Enterprise on Thursday. "What I said is and I don't believe there has ever been a person of colour murdered by police, on context to Temecula or Riverside County. I absolutely did not say 'good.' I have no idea how that popped up." Stewart said he was replying to someone "concerned about our police officers and their sensitivity training". The city issued a press release late on Thursday announcing that Stewart, who was elected to a four-year term in 2016, was stepping down from his post and the city council, news outlets reported. "You have every right to be hurt and offended. My typos and off-the-cuff response to an email on a serious topic added pain at a time where our community, and our country, is suffering," Stewart said in a statement. "I may not be the best writer and I sometimes misspeak, but I am not racist." He said he was resigning because he understood his "sincerest apologies cannot remedy this situation". The initial email came as cities around California were the scenes of large demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died last week after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck. Four police officers have been charged in his death. Stewart's email message also said that "racism is not excepted or tolerated" in the city or surrounding areas. "I have several good friends who are African Americans, and they love living here because how safe it is for them and their families," the email said. AP BTW did y'all see this? Edited at 2020-06-04 01:25 am (UTC) I'll celebrate when there is a conviction. Far too many times these people have been arrested and then they go free. I'm tired of getting excited over this part to be let down.BTW did y'all see this? https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-ozv_naKP/ He should be charged with murder as well. Reply Thread Link Yeah I've been listening to a lot of podcasts that have explained all the laws that U.S. cops have to protect them from any sort of justice when they murder and it's pretty absurd. The fact that people had to protest so much just to have enough scrutiny to have them arrested is pretty heart-breaking. Reply Parent Thread Link what are some podcasts you would recommend? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link and breonna taylor's murderers have yet to be charged.... Reply Parent Thread Link I cant watch this stuff, can you tell me what happens? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'll celebrate when there is a conviction. Far too many times these people have been arrested and then they go free. I'm tired of getting excited over this part to be let down. exactly. or these fucks end up with a paltry sentencing time like botham jean's murderer. Reply Parent Thread Link Well would ya look at that? Protesting DOES work! Im ever so amazed and inspired by all the people who took to the streets in solidarity. I did the best I could via donating, Twitter, and IG but I wouldve been out there if I and my family members weren't high risk. Bless everyone and their bravery though Reply Thread Link At approximately 8:08 p.m., on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in the area near 6th and McKinley, an individual threw a molotov cocktail at uniformed police officers. Thankfully it did not ignite. If anyone has any information regarding this incident they are asked to call MPD at pic.twitter.com/uEm6T6w0nK Milwaukee Police (@MilwaukeePolice) June 3, 2020 Did anyone see this? Most of the replies are great. Either Milwaukee has some fucking stupid Antifa, or some fucking shitty police....which could it be.... Edited at 2020-06-04 01:26 am (UTC) Did anyone see this? Most of the replies are great. Either Milwaukee has some fucking stupid Antifa, or some fucking shitty police....which could it be.... Reply Thread Link i don't even understand. are they trying to trick people who don't know what a molotov cocktail is? Reply Parent Thread Link I think they are either stupid- or they are purposefully trying to call a plastic water bottle that was thrown at them a molotov cocktail to argue escalation against the protestors Reply Parent Thread Link the fact that they tweeted this with confidence... :| Reply Parent Thread Expand Link So fucking stupid. I'm loving all the replies on Twitter though. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm LIVING for the police being roasted under every shitty tweet they make Reply Parent Thread Link Milwaukee cops are certified brain dead Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Oh my godddddd Reply Parent Thread Link How is this even real?!? How do they even came up with this?! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The banana tweet reply is killing me Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Not surprised from Milwaukee, still the most segregated city in the country in one of the most racially unequal states. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link As Im from Milwaukee I can tell you....its the police force. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm not a grass Reply Parent Thread Link OMG. it's HYDROGEN-TWO-Oh! be careful, you might quench your thirst. Reply Parent Thread Link lmfao the replies Reply Parent Thread Link The fact that they can pull shit like this and not be scrutinized or punished is insane. I hope people wasted the PDs time and actually called to troll their idiot asses. Reply Parent Thread Link As one who lives in MKE...the MPD are certified brain dead idiots. Reply Parent Thread Link The responses are killing me lmao Reply Parent Thread Link Why cant they just do first degree Reply Thread Link because first degree charges involve proving the murder was premeditated, and it would be very hard to prove that in court. Reply Parent Thread Link he was on him for over 8 minutes. that is a very long time to change your mind or get off of him. he knew what he was doing. he knew this would kill him. I've heard of strangulation cases where it takes far less time to kill. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Honestly? If it's a choice between a first degree charge he can get out of, or a second degree charge with a much higher chance of conviction? I say go with second degree. Anything to get him off the streets Reply Parent Thread Link straight to the electric chair that's what they all deserve Reply Parent Thread Link Good. I was watching LA police Commissions video meeting and damn people went off. I wish we could just storm the white house. Reply Thread Link Probably heightened Secret Service forces. Reply Parent Thread Link And that hero pretzel tried to choke him out. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez introduced a motion today asking city staff to identify $100 million -$150 million in possible cuts in the LAPD budget to be reinvested into disadvantaged communities and communities of color. Emily Alpert Reyes (@AlpertReyes) June 3, 2020 Here's the full statement from @CD6Nury: pic.twitter.com/BLyNalcJBo Emily Alpert Reyes (@AlpertReyes) June 3, 2020 The LAPD is fucking out of control and Garcetti not doing shit about it is so infuriating. But this was a thing that happened: Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i watched that before sleeping at it was great, had lots of laughs. i love the way white people talk to cops. Reply Parent Thread Link IT TOOK ALL 50 STATES, THE AMISH, KPOP STANS, 13 OTHER COUNTRIES, WITCHES, ANONYMOUS, THE LGBT COMMUNITY, CELEBRITIES, STAN TWITTER, PEOPLE OF COLOR, WHITE ALLIES & BATMAN TO GET 2ND DEGREE MURDER AND THE THREE COPS ARRESTED AND WE HAD THE PRESIDENT & MILITARY AGAINST US, MY GOD BLM (@rauhling_bizzle) June 3, 2020 WE DID IT (but on the other hand, it takes THIS much effort to make public servants to their jobs on a very basic level, Christ Almighty) Reply Thread Link The thing of it is, this is our job though lol Reply Parent Thread Link ...IS it?? I'm pretty sure law enforcement is supposed to arrest people who commit murder on camera without us telling them to do so. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This is absolutely not our job Reply Parent Thread Link Cool, when do we get paid? I'm also assuming our job of policing the police means we get their exact salaries too? Reply Parent Thread Link Yees the Boston Withes! Reply Parent Thread Link Best tweet of the year also against a pandemic Reply Parent Thread Link (New tab for full size) Right? I even made this because this shit is so surreal(New tab for full size) Reply Parent Thread Link Good start. Now charge the officers who killed Breonna Taylor and David Mcatee. Reply Thread Link It's so fucking infuriating. There's a link about what people can do to demand justice for her: https://msha.ke/30flirtyfilm/ Reply Parent Thread Link IN HER BED! I didnt know that! Reply Parent Thread Link So all Black people across genders are subjected to state violence across all spaces. But there is a reason why Black women killed by cops are often killed in or near their homes. (Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Rekia Boyd, Taneisha Anderson, Korryn Gaines, Atatiana Jefferson, etc) Brittney Cooper (@ProfessorCrunk) May 28, 2020 Brittney Cooper had a really great thread pointing out that Black women who are killed by the police are often killed in their homes. It's really sobering: Reply Parent Thread Link Aint enough until its in the Supreme Court. Like finish off all of them bastards Reply Thread Link this is ot but a also feel like it needs to be like hourly check-ins. how are you taking care of yourself during this time? specifically, is there an album that is mending your mind? Reply Thread Link i've been playing the sims and zoning the fuck out when i'm not working, which has been nice. what about you? Reply Parent Thread Link i was just reminded of the sims when some asked when did Black people start to stan paramore because i heard simlish pressure a LOT Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm playing Animal Crossing I guess. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link zoning out, but not in a good way. my workouts this week have been lackluster and i can't concentrate on writing. i'm basically doing the bare minimum at work, but everyone has been really understanding. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link not watching the news, sparingly using social media, not talking about it, watching melrose place on dvd, eating too much candy. I want to post something on fb, but keep changing my mind. I want to protest, but I'm scared and not sure I can handle it, and I'm trying not to beat myself up over feeling like that's cowardly. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Walking almost every day and doing exercises, I was playing the Sims a lot but now Sims 4 is boring. Binge watching shows Ive already seen. Listening to new music. Daydreaming...sleeping. Planning for next year. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link to answet my own question. i went outside and stayed in the sun for three hours yesterday. for music, i have been playing moses sumney's new album before going to bed and it's the only thing that really reminds me to breathe Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ive been mediating. So far I can get to 8 minutes before all my thoughts creep back in and I start feeling dumb. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hey bb I had the chance to go to the Downtown LA protest with friends but the last moment I chickened out. I said it was because I live with my mom and grandma and don't wanna potentially infect them, but a part of me thinks my usual cowardice reared it's ugly head again, and I feel like shit not doing my part. Other than that, I've been so distracted it's hard for me to concentrate on anything and I'm trying not to but I feel myself slowly withdrawing from people which I hate. But friends have been checking in so I appreciate it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This week has been so overwhelming and depression that I try not watch the news (though it's tough since my mom watches it). Since I just finished getting my certificate I've been making very future ONTD Original (lol) and making icons (again lol) so I won't fall in a deeper depression. Probably the best I did today I donated to black restaurants and businesses that had been damaged since I have some extra money I was glad I could help out. Edited at 2020-06-04 03:30 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i don't watch any news. watching random movies on netflix/hulu. zoning out and singing my lungs out to music. fucking around on ontd during work hours lmao. i think my team has been giving me a bit of a break with work this week cuz I know we've been busy overall lately, but I haven't been slammed like usual. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Smoking a ton of weed, sobbing, and listening to music and opening up to my parents. I have therapy Tuesday Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I am so depressed that I use time to call family members and friends, pretend to be okay, and cry like a baby when we hang up. I feel good when I'm supporting my family and friends, and at no other time. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link staring at my bank account waiting for like a ton of refunds to go through so i can put it towards donations, paving streets in AC and watching for the first time criminal minds :/ i should be asleep but i can't sleep Reply Parent Thread Expand Link honestly very little but i am listening to lemonade a lot Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I just finished my studying session for Korean and uploaded documents for homework submissions for the finals due midnight. My neck hurts from sleeping lol. Ought stretch out more often. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I've always found supporting mob helps me process a lot of these injustices we see so I've been purchasing a lot of art lately which I'm finding extremely therapeutic. Going for walks always helps me too. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Meditation has been helping. I'm up to 20, sometimes 30 minutes, which would be unbelievable to me before. I was playing Animal Crossing so I should get back to it. Sharing resources and donating to people working in my community has been helping. Taking long walks outside. But it's still hard. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Playing animal crossing, roller skating, walking, listen to music mostly soothing music because Im on edge with whats going on at the moment. Im trying to stay positive but its hard. Oh also colouring books, I love colouring books. It helps me focus on something else. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Been playing Persona 5 Royal, bullet journaling, and catching up with some much needed reading and working on writing projects when I haven't been remote working with my day job. I watch pieces of the news when I can tolerate it, but I've had to take moments to cry in seeing and hearing everything going on. I want to protest, but there's still the threat of COVID in my area, so I'm sticking home, only going out when I absolutely need to. Waiting on my paycheck at the end of the week to be able to donate where I can. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I've been trying to platinum Final Fantasy 7 Remake, watching "Meet the Adebanjos" (horrible sound design tho) and online window shopping. I also put my new bed together yesterday after sleeping with my mattress on the floor for months. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I post on IG every day and have been since last week but for breaks I just watch cartoons and listen to music and detangle my hair lol. and for albums I mainly have been listening to tracy chapman's self titled Reply Parent Thread Expand Link My friend lost an eye when he got hit with a flash bang in the face. All cops are fucking bastards. Reply Thread Link So many horrible injuries have occurred from the police brutality. I'm sorry about your friend. Reply Parent Thread Link hope he can sue. fuckers. Reply Parent Thread Link OMG that's so awful. My best to your friend and I hope he sues. Reply Parent Thread Link i'm so sorry Reply Parent Thread Link I'm so sorry about your friend :( Reply Parent Thread Link Seconding "I hope he can sue". Reply Parent Thread Link I'm so sorry about your friend. I hope he can sue those fuckers. Reply Parent Thread Link why would anyone reply to this with a laughing face omg Reply Parent Thread Link I'm so sorry bb! Please give your friend our best Reply Parent Thread Link Im so so sorry. Your poor friend :( Reply Parent Thread Link holy fuck, i'm so sorry for your friend. all of my thoughts and well wishes to them Reply Parent Thread Link I hope your friend is ok Reply Parent Thread Link good god i'm so sorry about your friend. :( all my best to him Reply Parent Thread Link the disgraceful new york times let psychopath tom cotton write an op-ed about how the military should be called in to stop protests. cancel your subscription if you still have one. this shit this paper pulls cannot continue. (and ofc that hack olivia nuzzi is defending it.) Reply Thread Link Ugh she is? The Wash Post had an article or editorial today calling them out. Which good for them and fuck Tom Cotton Reply Parent Thread Link Would you look at that, protesting can work. They obviously have to be convicted of course, but this never would have happened if people didn't protest every day this past week. Reply Thread Link if they had acted earlier perhaps people wouldn't have already started a movement around the idea the police should be abolished or defunded that is gaining traction by the day. poor that Reply Parent Thread Link This dude asked a passing car in Fort Greene if he could connect his Bluetooth to the speakers so he could play Fuck The Police, Brooklyn is special man pic.twitter.com/S6mdVDUVx4 Tim Donnelly (@timdonnelly) June 4, 2020 Reply Thread Link Actually surprised this is the first time I'm seeing someone blast fuck the police from a car Reply Parent Thread Link Love that. the lightning in the bg! There have been so many moments that have felt downright cinematic - in good ways and bad Reply Parent Thread Link Good. Now they all need to be convicted. It seems like a no brainier, but sadly you still have to worry about it not happening. Reply Thread Link Harry was hacked earlier than previously thought, according to a source. (Getty Images) Prince Harrys phone was hacked while he was studying for his GCSEs, a whistleblower has said. The whistleblower spoke to Byline Investigates about his time working for the defunct News Of The World tabloid newspaper. The new claims pre-date the existing timeframe of hacking of the royals phone. The whistleblower told the news site: As the lead investigator, I was tasked to forensically gather as much intelligence about Prince Harrys activities in the nocturnal hours, with a view to enhancing the newspapers project. Read more: How Archie's LA life with Harry and Meghan will differ from his royal cousins The instruction was to monitor communications and to identify any references to drugs. The whistleblower said he would clone the identities of mobile phone company workers and use them to access customer accounts. The admissions come a few months after Prince Harry announced he would sue the owners of The Sun, the News of the World and the Daily Mirror. William and Harry were both victims of phone hacking. (Getty Images) As he and his wife Meghan finished off their tour in South Africa last October, Harry made the announcement that he would take legal action over the alleged illegal interception of voicemail messages. Harrys lawsuit is believed to include instances that go back to the 2000s. The hacker found no evidence of drug use. Read more: Why is Meghan Markle suing the Mail On Sunday? Meghan is pursuing her own legal action against the publisher of the Mail On Sunday and the Mail Online for copyright breach. In October, a spokeswoman for News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of the Sun and the News of The World, said: "We confirm that a claim has been issued by the Duke of Sussex." The Royal Family was first swept up in the phone hacking scandal in 2005, when a story emerged about William straining a tendon in his knee. Harry and Meghan are both taking legal action against newspaper groups. (Getty Images) A complaint from Buckingham Palace sparked a police investigation that opened up thousands of instances of hacking. In previous court hearings, it emerged that Harry, Prince William and the then Kate Middleton, had all been hacked. Story continues Kates messages were hacked 155 times between 2005 and 2006, while William was hacked 35 times and Harry nine times. News UK and a spokesman for the Sussexes did not comment to Yahoo UK. Our Back to the Future of Work initiative is all about helping businesses build speed and operational agility while reducing IT complexity, risks and costs. Quick Base, the leading low-code platform for operational agility, today announced an expansion of its Back to the Future of Work initiative to help companies rapidly adapt their operations through COVID-19 with $250,000 in prizes to those who develop the most innovative applications during a community app-a-thon later this year. To date, over 300 customers in our community have already built more than 750 applications related to managing the impacts of COVID and getting back to work. Every business now faces the daunting task of adapting their operations to work in a new reality, and doing it all with smaller budgets, fewer people and heavy compliance burdens. And the tools that have been provided are woefully inadequate for handling what theyll face in the coming months, said Ed Jennings, CEO of Quick Base. While getting safely back to work, managing a workplace with required social distancing, masks, temperature checks, etc., will be hard enough, its only the opening act for the months of constant change to come. Were calling on our company and community to not only help businesses figure out how to get safely back to work now, but also to help them fast track their journey to the future of work. The announcement was made at Empower, Quick Bases annual user conferenceheld virtually for the first time ever this year due to COVID-19to over 2,300 attendees, more than double last years attendance. Back to the future of work The community app-a-thon, taking place later this summer, calls on the Quick Base communitywhich numbers some 20,000 builders and growingand anyone else interested, to come together and develop applications that will help businesses get back to work quickly and safely. Teams of builders are eligible for up to $250,000 in prizes for the most innovative applications built on Quick Base. Anyone can participate, as Quick Base offers a free builder account and online training, as well as free certification now available through the end of the year. More details are coming soonyou can sign up to learn more here. Additionally, Quick Base has put together a series of fast and flexible application acceleratorsmany based on applications built by members of our customer communityfor managing through the crisis and beyond. Rather than pre-packaged applications, these accelerators are adaptable and can be built to work the way an individual company needs. Examples of how these applications are used include monitoring employee wellness, facilities management and personal protective equipment (PPE) inventory management. A platform for empowering rapid transformations COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how businesses operate today and into the future, said Jay Jamison, chief product and technology officer at Quick Base. The pace and scale of transformation now is like nothing weve ever seen before. While long-term digital transformation is still critical, survival today will require every business to embrace rapid adaptability. Right now, speed matters, details matter and connections matter. Our Back to the Future of Work initiative is all about helping businesses build speed and operational agility while reducing IT complexity, risks and costs. In addition to the already easy-to-use platform for builders, additional investments have been made to bolster: Real-time operational insights: To deliver more real-time insights, Quick Base announced a new set of dashboards and reports that make it easier for users to uncover and share information, as well as a new offline mobile capability that allows data to be entered anytime, anywhere. Stronger governance and oversight: To enable governance across applications while still driving collaboration between IT and the business, a new centralized portal for insights is available to give admins more oversight and control over how the platform is being used. Connecting data across systems: To better connect data across technologies, simple, robust integrations are available regardless of technical expertise, from the drag-and-drop connectivity of Pipelines (with two new channels available soonon-premise ODBC and GSuite) to a robust, modern API portal and new RESTful APIs. Additionally, building on its years of experience working with customers, Quick Base continues to offer best-in-class services and support, including Quick Start services to help get applications up and running faster while establishing a foundation for future success, best practices and guidance for deploying low-code throughout an enterprise via centers of excellence, a network of solution providers to support customers and world-class care that is available 24/7. To learn more about Quick Bases initiative, the app-a-thon and more, visit our blog. About Quick Base Quick Base is the low-code platform for business agility. As the first cloud application development platform to support safe, secure and sustainable citizen development, Quick Base helps more than 6,000 customers, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 50, continuously perfect the processes that make their businesses unique. Quick Base is a leader in the Forrester Wave: Low-Code Platform For Business Developers. Visit QuickBase.com to learn more. [June 04, 2020] Valmont Acquires Majority Stake in Brazil-Based Solar Energy Company Valmont (News - Alert) Industries, Inc., a leading global provider of engineered products and services for infrastructure development and irrigation equipment and services for agriculture, today announced the purchase of a majority stake in Energia Solar do Brasil (Solbras), a leader in the photovoltaic (PV) energy sector. Effective immediately, the company will go to market under the Valley brand. "As the irrigation industry's worldwide leader, Valmont supplies products that support critical infrastructure, and the Valley brand is the market innovator in irrigation technology," said Len Adams, President of Valley Irrigation. "This acquisition allows us to expand our product offerings to include not only the most durable and advanced pivots available, but also a sustainable, low-cost energy source to provide power to them, with Valmont Solar Solutions." Solbras was founded in 2013, with locations in Sao Joao da Boa Vista (SP) and Goiania (GO). Geraldo Afonso Dezena da Silva, president of Solbras, believes the acquisition marks an important new phase in their history. "Combining the global strength of Valmont with the market leadership of Solbras, we will be able to expand the presence of solar energy in agri-business and all sectors of the economy." Solbras operates throughout Brazil; with the acquisition, their services will expand globally through the strength of the industry-leading Valley dealer network. They offer the most advanced solution in photovoltaic solar energy, efficiently converting he sun's rays to clean electric power. Their services include distributed or centralized generation of photovoltaic energy; approval, design, and engineering of detailed technical projects; and consulting on new PV plants focusing on agri-business. In addition, every Valmont Solar installation includes remote monitoring and control capabilities. "Solar energy is already a fundamental strategy for projects that seek to maximize efficiency and sustainability," said Joao Rebequi, Vice President of Valmont Irrigation - Latin America. "Combined with the strong presence of Valley equipment in fields around the world and our industry-best dealer network, we will leverage the expertise of Solbras beyond Brazil. This will further our leadership position in all facets of irrigation and agricultural technology." According to the Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association (ABSOLAR), the installed power of solar photovoltaic generation in Brazil grew by around 1 GW between January and May this year. The country's total volume reached 5.5 GW. Renato Silva, General Manager of Valmont Irrigation - Brazil, adds that photovoltaic energy has several benefits for the automation of irrigation systems, in addition to an important role in reducing environmental impacts. "Growers can optimize the efficiency of their operation, saving on energy expenses and reducing water usage." Both the positive environmental impacts and the potential to contribute toward developing local economies are exciting, says Adams. "Our market-leading technology is furthering our mission of delivering a complete package of solutions to help growers make smarter decisions and produce greater yields while using fewer resources. Valley, the brand trusted by generations of farmers, is helping reduce their environmental footprint for generations to come." About Valley Irrigation Valley Irrigation founded the center pivot irrigation industry in 1954, and our brand is the worldwide leader in sales, service, quality and innovation. With historical sales of more than 250,000 center pivots and linears, Valmont-built equipment annually irrigates approximately 25 million acres (10 million hectares) around the world. We remain dedicated to providing innovative, precision irrigation solutions now and into the future. For more information, please visit valleyirrigation.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005026/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Daksha Devnani writes stories about life, traditions, and people with uncompromising courage that inspire hope and goodness among humanity Armenias Court of Appeals overturned on Thursday a lower courts decision to allow investigators to arrest Mikael Minasian, former President Serzh Sarkisians fugitive son-in-law prosecuted on corruption charges denied by him. Armenias State Revenue Committee (SRC) moved to arrest Minasian in late April one month after charging him with illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money laundering. A district court in Yerevan agreed to issue an arrest warrant for him on May 6. A bitter critic of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Minasian left Armenia shortly after he was dismissed as the countrys ambassador to the Vatican in late 2018. He has declined to reveal his current whereabouts in a series of video messages posted on Facebook in recent weeks. Minasian has said that he is not returning to Armenia because he believes that investigators and judges dealing with his case are acting on Pashinians orders. He has also accused Pashinian of corruption and misrule. Pashinian has dismissed most of those accusations. The premier has repeatedly accused Minasian of illegally making a huge fortune during Sarkisians rule. A close Pashinian associate, deputy parliament speaker Alen Simonian, condemned the Court of Appeals judge who revoked the arrest warrant. I believe this [decision] is vivid proof of the fact that the existing problem within Armenias judicial system needs to be resolved as soon as possible, Simonian told reporters, according to the Armenpress news agency. Minasian, 42, enjoyed considerable political and economic influence in the country when it was ruled by his father-in-law from 2008-2018. He is also thought to have developed extensive business interests in various sectors of the Armenian economy. One of Minasians lawyers, Amram Makinian, said on April 22 that the money laundering charge brought against his client stems from large sums of cash which he transferred from one of his bank accounts to another in 2017-2018. Makinian also claimed that the other accusations are based on a technical error committed by the employee of a private firm which drew up and filed Minasians income declarations. He said that SRC investigators are refusing to summon that person for questioning. WASHINGTON Even in peaceful times, Washington is situated on a fine line between freedom and order, flexibility and barriers. This city of grand architecture and ever-present security forces conveys an inescapable message: This might be the seat of American liberty, but it is also not a place to be messed with. The contrast fosters a constant tension in the capitals governance. How do you police a city of heavily fortified targets without making it feel like a police state? What is the proper balance in a representative democracy? The question has hung heavy in recent days. Like the country it supposedly answers to, Washington has been on edge, hovered over by low-flying helicopters and patrolled by law enforcement agents from a stew of federal agencies the F.B.I., the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bureau of Prisons and more dressed in an assortment of uniforms, riot gear and military fatigues. Nowhere has this tension between autonomy and authority been on more vivid display than in the area around the White House, site of the citys largest and most intense protests after the death last week of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis held down by a police officer who placed his knee on Mr. Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes. New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi-led Congress party is facing trouble in Gujarat as two of its MLAs, Akshay Patel and Jitu Bhai Chaudhary, have resigned from their posts. The resignations of these legislators came days ahead of the crucial Rajya Sabha elections. So far, 7 Congress MLAs have submitted their resignations. "Two of Gujarat MLAs voluntarily gave their resignation yesterday evening. I have investigated the matter, they have resigned with their own will," said Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi while speaking to the reporters in Gandhinagar on Thursday. Trivedi further said, "There is no kind of threat or any other issue. I have accepted the resignations." The Congress has fielded two candidates, while BJP has fielded three. In March, five Congress MLAs had tendered their resignations, reducing the Congress prospects of retaining both the seats. Notably, the elections are scheduled to fill as many as 18 seats from seven states, including four Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat, which will be held on June 19. The RS polls were earlier scheduled to be held on March 26, but were postponed for an indefinite period in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and then the nation-wide lockdown. Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head and vice chairman of Samsung, is in trouble again after the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed an arrest warrant for him and two former executives, Choi Ji-sung and Kim Jong-joong. Back in 2017 Lee was sentenced to 5 years in prison, following an investigation into charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury (he was released soon after in 2018). This time around, Lee and the two former execs are charged with committing illegal transactions and market manipulation related to the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries back in 2015. Cheil is a major owner of Samsung BioLogics and Lee is Cheils largest shareholder. What the prosecution is alleging is that accounting fraud was committed to boost the valuation of BioLogics (by $3.7 billion, according to a Korean financial watch dog), just before the merger with Samsung C&T. Cheil Industries is itself an affiliate of the Samsung Group, theres a lot to untangle here. In July last year the prosecution requested arrest warrants for three executives of Samsung BioLogics, including CEO Kim Tae-han. They were accused of changing the ownership status of Samsung Bioepis from subsidiary to affiliate, which triggered a different accounting method, causing a surge in the valuation of Bioepis (and in turn the valuation of BioLogics and Cheil Industries). Source American YouTuber Logan Paul is being praised for his anti-racism speech at the beginning of his latest Impaulsive podcast episode. Paul condemned racism and talked about his own privilege as a white man, the Insider reported. In the episode, titled "America is Racist," Paul discussed how everyone needs to hold their kin, friends, politicians, and police officers accountable for 'systemic racism'. "You have to be anti-racist. "You condemn those who feign superiority because of the color of their skin," Paul said in the two-minute-long podcast. "Make your voice heard. Attend a protest. Speak up against injustice," Paul said. "If you're white, if you look like me, use your privilege. And for those who do not think white privilege exists, you are f---ing blind. You are delusional." Acknowledge and weaponize your privilege, he urged his listeners, adding that he attended the anti-racism protests because he like others wanted to find a solution to the country's "inability to truly treat humans as equals" in 244 years of existence. "On behalf of Breonna Taylor, we must change. On behalf of Ahmaud Arbery, we must advance," he said. "And on behalf of George Floyd, and the hundreds of others who have been unjustly murdered in this country, we must evolve," he said towards the end of the podcast. The clip soon went viral on social and scores of people, including Paul's critics, praised him for taking the strong stand. logan paul is becoming likeable 2020 is weird nuri (@nuriisnotfunny) June 3, 2020 By Trend Export of chemical products from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by 8.7 percent from January 2020 through April 2020, and reached $26.4 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend. In April 2020, the export of Turkish chemicals to Kazakhstan increased by 15.5 percent compared to the same month of 2019, exceeding $6.7 million. Meanwhile, Turkey's export of chemical products to the world markets amounted to $6 billion from January through April 2020, which is 10.9 percent less compared to the same period of 2019. Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to 11.7 percent of the countrys total export from January through April 2020. According to the ministry, in April 2020, Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to slightly over $1.2 billion, which is 27.3 percent less compared to the same month of 2019. Meanwhile, Turkey's export of chemical products made up 14.3 percent of the countrys total export. From April 2019 through April 2020, Turkey's export of chemical products to world markets amounted to $19.8 billion. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Sophie Smith has been stranded in an Airbnb holiday rental property in Melbourne's Surrey Hills with her wife and three children for 10 weeks after flying to Australia to visit her dying father just before the border closed in March. She is one of thousands trying to leave the country at a time when COVID-19 restrictions make this impossible for most Australians, with official data showing more than 10,000 people have lodged requests for permission to leave or enter the country since the travel ban began. Sophie Smith with her children Will, 4, Charlie, 6, and Lucy, 2. Credit:Penny Stephens The family, normally based in Phuket in Thailand where the children go to school, faces uncertainty over whether they will be able to continue their expat life as they await the outcome of a request for an exemption from the Home Affairs department. In Hong Kong, they will fast. In Melbourne and Sydney, they will light candles. In Beijing, you wont hear about it. Thirty-one years on from the massacre that came to define modern China, the world is once again convulsing in protest and propaganda. The Tiananmen Square vigils held around the world on Thursday symbolised more than the estimated 2600 people who were killed as tanks and soldiers rolled through Beijing on June 4 1989. The candles were as much about the future of Hong Kong and the memory of Dr Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who died after trying to warn the world about the coronavirus. Chinese activist Wuyuan Dong Zoo, who goes by the name Horror, revealed her identity on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Credit: Dongwuyuan Zoo, an LGBTI activist from eastern China who now lives in Melbourne, showed the world her face for the first time on Thursday. If I hide my identity now they would win, she said. Police paid her parents a visit in China on April 23 after she participated in Hong Kong demonstrations in Melbourne and organised a memorial for Dr Li under a pseudonym. "The police said to me you are citizen of China so you are being watched by the Chinese government," she said. "You should love your country." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain Thu, June 4, 2020 10:00 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc02188 2 World health-worker,medical-practitioners,health-care,Spain,Princess-of-Asturias-prize Free Spain's healthcare workers won the prestigious Princess of Asturias prize Wednesday, with the jury hailing their "heroic spirit of sacrifice" in risking their own lives in the frontline fight against COVID-19. Considered the equivalent to a Nobel Prize within the Spanish-speaking world, the Princess of Asturias Award recognizes individuals or institutions in a number of different categories from literature to the arts, science and sport. In allocating the award, the jury congratulated "thousands of people.. in public and private healthcare centers who have been in direct contact with patients" suffering from the deadly virus that has claimed more than 27,000 lives. Health ministry figures indicate more than 50,000 healthcare staff have been infected by the virus in Spain, representing 22 percent of the 240,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. And medical associations say more than 50 have died as a result of the virus. "With their heroic spirit of sacrifice and facing serious risks at personal costs, including that of their own lives, they have become a symbol" of the fight against the virus, the jury said. And that had won them "ongoing expressions of thanks and solidarity" from the nation, it said in a nod to the applause that has rung out every night at 8:00 pm from homes across the country since the crisis began in mid-March. At the height of the pandemic, with hospitals on the brink of collapse, healthcare professionals had protested over the lack of beds and ventilators for patients as well as personal protection equipment for frontline staff. Renate Hodgson March 10, 1940-April 5, 2020 Renate Hodgsons 80 years on earth were book-ended by two cataclysmic events. The first, World War II, shaped the whole of her life and the second, a terrible pandemic, took her from us. Renate Regina Hodgson (nee Gadischke) was born in Bremen, Germany. Her maiden name reflects her descent from protestant Huguenots who, in the 17th century, fled to East Prussia to escape persecution by the French Catholic government. Both Renates parents died during World War II. Her father, Paul Gadischke, who had served as a fighter pilot in WWI and who, at age 49 was drafted, again as a fighter pilot in 1940, was shot down in air combat near Reims (France) and died in November of that year. Renates mother, Charlotte Gadischke, died in 1945 in an air raid shelter in Bremen. Sterling fell on Thursday as Britain and the European Union continued their Brexit negotiations, before the late June deadline by which the UK needs to say whether it wants an extension of the transition period. British officials said the UK might be able to reach a compromise on fisheries with the EU earlier this week, sending the pound higher. An improvement in risk sentiment had also helped the pound, pushing it up more than 3% in one week. But a strengthening dollar and worries that Britain will exit the EU without a trade deal at the end of the year weighed on the British currency, which was last trading 0.5% at just above $1.25. Against the euro, sterling was down 0.1% at 89.49 pence. My sense is that the market is selling sterling again and this will continue this month on fear that we might not get a deal or an extension, so there are some preparations for a worst-case scenario -- Brexit without a deal, which is a possibility, said Neil Jones, head of European hedge fund sales at Mizuho. A no-deal Brexit is not fully factored into the price of sterling at the moment, Jones said. It doesnt bode too well for sterling at the moment, he added. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons spokesman urged companies on Wednesday to prepare for Britains leaving the EU single market and customs union at the end of the year regardless of the outcome of talks. Some market participants, however, believe that the December transition deadline might get extended because of the new coronavirus pandemic, which slowed down Brexit negotiations, keeping the pound near the top of its recent trading range. (Amit Khanna wrote lyrics for Basu Chatterjees "Swami" (1977) and "Man Pasand" (1980). He also produced "Man Pasand" and executive-produced the 1997 release, "Gudgudee") BY AMIT KHANNA One of India's great storytellers Basu Chatterjee and the high priest of middle cinema in India passed away in Mumbai today. Basu was one of the founding fathers of the new wave cinema, with stark but poignant Sara Akash in 1969, and a fountainhead of middle cinema (along with older colleague Hrishikesh Mukherjee), so popular nowadays .Unlike many of his contemporaries his cinema was not obscure or tedious. A prolific filmmaker he drew upon the cinema of his predecessors Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee and European new wave masters to tell human stories of middle-class Bharat that is India. What some of our young filmmakers are doing successfully today Basu Da did it four decades ago. Just see his oeuvre -- Piya Ka Ghar, Choti Si Baat, Chit Chor, Rajanigandha, Swami, Baton Baton Mein, Manpasand, Priyatama, Manzil, Chakrvyuh, Prem Vivah, Khatta Meetha, Dillagi, Shaukeen, Jeena Yahan, Kamla ki Maut, Ek Ruka hua faisla, Chameli ki Shaadi, Sheesha, Triyacharitra, Gudgudee and many others. He worked with many top stars -- Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Jeetendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Anil Kapoor, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Moushumi Chatterjee, Neetu Singh, Tina (Ambani). At the same time we could see Girish Karnad, Utpal Dutt, Amol Palekar, Farooq Shaikh ,Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi ,Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Vidya Sinha, Mallika Sarabhai and others. He was as familiar with Sarat Chandra as with as with George Bernard Shaw. He often drew on literature for his stories and was equally at home with Manu Bhandari and Paddy Chayefsky. His films were layered but were always simply told. Basu's cinema was unobtrusive, straight from the heart set in in a familiar milieu. Always economical in his craft (his film had excellent cinematography by KK Mahajan and AK Bir for the most), he seldom compromised with quality. Much before the trend of casting directors, Basu Chatterjee's films were always perfectly cast with interesting actors doing small cameos. He had begun his career as a cartoonist (Bal Thackeray and Lakshman were his contemporaries) in the fifties, which gave him his brevity of expression and wit. He had spent his childhood in Mathura and thus had an excellent grasp of the Hindi language. Usually writing his own scripts, his dialogue is laced with everyday lingo and profundities in equal measure. A staunch film society enthusiast he was always up to speed with the best of world cinema, yet he kept his own storytelling simple. Interestingly many of his films had outstanding music and he worked with a range of composers like SD Burman, Salil Chowdhury, RD Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Rajesh Roshan and Bappi Lahiri, who all gave him distinctive scores. Whether it is middle-class office romance in Rajanigandha or a lower middle class bride discovering her husband and his family in a Mumbai Chawl in Piya ka Ghar, Mumbai local romance of Bandra Christians (Baton Baton Mein), premarital relationships in a conservative middle class setting (Kamala Ki Maut) or the Hindi adaptations of classics like Pygmalion (Man Pasand), Twelve Angry Men (Ek Ruka Hua Faisla) Basu da 's characters were always well etched out. You would often see simple everyday happenings highlighted in his films. Many of his films had strong women characters --Swami, Chitchor, Jeena Yahan, Apne Paraye, Pasand Apni Apni. Subtle humour expressed quietly was another of his hallmark. Basu Chatterjee was one of the first filmmakers to successfully take to the small screen. His series on everyday life Rajni (featuring Priya Tendulkar) was the first attempt at consumer guidance on Indian screen. Kakaji Kahin, Byomkesh Bakshi, Darpan and Ek Prem Katha were some of his other landmark serials. If he had been keeping good health in the last few years, I am sure we would have seen some pathbreaking stuff from him on streaming platforms as well. Though he won several National awards (and many Filmfare awards too), he remains one of the most underrated directors in Indian cinema. He has neither been honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award or has been given a Padma award, though many lesser deserving contemporaries have been given these honours. One rarely saw him at gala film parties or award shows. Yet his films will continue to inspire generations of film makers. His passing away brings to a close another great chapter in Indian film history. I am fortunate to have worked with him over the years. We did not meet so often but I was in touch with him until recently and had asked her daughter Rupali to please facilitate my telephonic conversation with him after his recent illness. Unfortunately, that call did not happen. I will always treasure my time spent with him. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Your Fare Inc. Your Fare, an online third-party delivery management solution for restaurants, has partnered with delivery.com to provide a comprehensive tablet application for restaurant owners across the country to manage third-party delivery orders. delivery.com has more than 17,000 restaurants that will have access to this new technology to help with POS integration and sending orders directly to the restaurant. One of the deterring reasons why restaurant owners hesitate to add an additional third-party delivery service is the challenges associated with managing another device, said Chris Monk, CEO and founder of Your Fare. With Your Fares capability to streamline operations for restaurants through a single device, this made for an obvious partnership. The new delivery.com Tablet Application is hosted on the Your Fare platform, allowing Your Fare to provide a well-rounded solution for restaurateurs. The software confirms the order, prints the order ticket, has the capability to search order history and provides customer service support. With the on-demand courier market quickly growing, all national partners of Your Fare have developed or are developing solutions to streamline the third-party delivery process. These solutions allow restaurants to complete their in-house delivery and catering orders without having to invest in a delivery infrastructure. Your Fare has also partnered with online ordering solutions to streamline the customer experience when ordering directly from a restaurants website. To learn more, visit http://www.yourfareinc.com. About Your Fare A leading online ordering management solution for restaurants, Your Fare integrates multiple third-party delivery services into one simple, user-friendly platform. Built for restaurant operators by restaurant operators, Your Fare works directly with restaurants to create a customized strategy for utilizing online ordering platforms, increasing operational efficiencies and profit margins. Your Fares Restaurant Portal tracks all the order details, accounting data and customer information while the Tablet Application and POS Integration allow the restaurant staff to receive orders directly to the kitchen staff. Your Fare is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit https://www.yourfareinc.com/. About delivery.com delivery.com empowers the neighborhood economy by enabling consumers and corporate customers to order online from their favorite restaurants and other local businesses. More than two and a half million delivery.com customers and delivery.com Office clients explore their communities and order from over 17,000 local businesses in more than 1,800 cities while at home, at work, or on the go. With headquarters in New York and a growing presence across the country, delivery.com makes e-commerce an integral part of local daily life, enabling customers to order, companies to provide, businesses to grow, and neighborhoods to thrive. CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company and Guardhat today announced that they will deliver the first connected worker solution to the nuclear energy industry. Leveraging Westinghouse's nuclear industry expertise and Guardhat's technology, the WEConnect system will help utilities initiate or accelerate their digitalization strategies. "Westinghouse and Guardhat are an impressive combination of industry expertise and technology," said David Howell, president, Westinghouse Americas Operating Plant Services Business Unit. "Together we are capable of providing groundbreaking human-centric digital solutions for our customers when they need it most, throughout the entire life cycle of nuclear assets." Westinghouse will globally offer the WEConnect system, a mobile connected worker solution that can be utilized across an entire site or plant population. The WEConnect system provides utility customers with the ability to limit the amount of required personnel on-site, while giving those who are on-location real-time access to remote experts and resources for optimizing the performance of the onsite crews. Flexible packages can either build or leverage an existing digital ecosystem to offer enhanced features that help to improve workforce safety and optimize asset management strategies. The system can also be connected to other digital devices, enterprise applications and platforms, enabling efficient workforce and job management. "We are pleased to join forces with Westinghouse to deliver 'smart' technology to the nuclear industry," said Indranil RoyChoudhury, Guardhat's executive vice president of Growth. "Our comprehensive safety monitoring and data analysis system offers enhanced features and benefits that can help plants improve safety while remaining cost-competitive." Westinghouse has piloted Guardhat's connected worker technology at several utilities during their scheduled refueling outages. Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa., U.S. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. For more information, please visit www.westinghousenuclear.com. Detroit-based Guardhat is a leading industrial IoT technology company specialized in developing wearables, infrastructure and software platforms to provide a safer and more productive work environment for frontline industrial workers in heavy manufacturing industries. Founded in October 2014 by industry veterans and former steel & mining CEO Saikat Dey, Guardhat's mission is to modernize safety and enhance last mile connectivity in the industrial workplace. By combining a cutting-edge, wearable technology with advanced proprietary software, Guardhat is able to proactively monitor a user's location, health and work environment. For more information, visit: www.guardhat.com. Contact: Sarah Cassella Director, External Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: +1 (412) 374-4744 SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company Related Links http://www.westinghousenuclear.com The View Shuttered Canada-US border highlights differences between the countries The U.S. and Canada have had a long, supportive relationship. But the recent closure of the border because of the coronavirus underscores a growing divide between the two countries. By DANIEL HESS, UB, and ALEX BITTERMAN, Alfred State College Reprinted from The Conversation Popular opinion in Canada has soured on the U.S. approach to mitigating the coronavirus. Daniel Hess, professor and chair Department of Urban and Regional Planning The United States and Canada have long enjoyed a stable relationship. The countries share history, the longest nonmilitarized international border in the world and strong economic ties. About 90% of the Canadian population lives within a one-hour drive of the border. More than 2 million people traverse the countries 119 border crossings each month. Part of the largest international megalopolis in the world, whats called the Golden Horseshoe region of New York and Ontario encircles Lake Ontario and accounts for the greatest number of cross-border shoppers between the two countries. Key cities in the Golden Horseshoe Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Hamilton and Toronto have strong economic connections and account for as much as CAD $10 billion in cross-border retail sales which continues to increase annually. But the recent closure of the U.S.-Canada border because of the coronavirus underscores a growing divide between the two countries. Similarities becoming differences In our roles as professors of urban planning and architecture, we have studied the attitudes and policies that unite and divide the U.S. and Canada. Over the past two centuries, Canada and the United States were closely aligned. The two countries stood shoulder to shoulder during World War II and the Iran hostage crisis (popularized in the film Argo). On Sept. 11, 2001, Canada assisted when U.S. airspace was abruptly closed, by putting a mothballed airport in Gander, Newfoundland, into service. And 10,000 citizens of Gander volunteered to house and feed more than 7,000 inbound passengers who couldnt get to the U.S. This act of international friendship was celebrated in the popular Broadway musical Come From Away. Canada is more socially progressive than the U.S., legalizing same-sex marriage 10 years before the U.S. But differences have begun to emerge between the two countries. Canada was first to legalize same-sex marriage, 10 years before the United States. The country has a lower drinking age than the U.S., and an open and welcoming immigration policy. The Canadian single-payer national health insurance plan, established in 1984 and available free and universally, reflects a stark difference from the U.S. approach to health insurance. These changes have placed Canada on a more socially inclusive trajectory than its southern neighbor. Now, a further difference has emerged: Popular opinion in Canada has soured on the U.S. approach to mitigating the coronavirus. Amplifying tensions In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. closed its border to Canada for the first time since the War of 1812. Halting leisure traffic and barring entry to noncitizens, the closure impedes consumers who want to cross the border to shop and take advantage of favorable exchange rates, lower prices or greater product selection. The closure also effectively suspends tourism and blocks the daily commute for cross-border workers and property owners, until at least June 21. The Trump administration announced it planned to deploy military troops to the U.S.-Canada border, too, also a move not seen since 1812. Ultimately, at the urging of the Canadian government, the U.S. relented and did not install troops at the border. Now, it is Canada that wants to extend the closure until midsummer with increased screening at the border. These thorny actions mark a shift in the normally friendly relationship between the countries. Unfriendly behavior between the countries continued to ramp up when U.S.-based 3M corporation recently produced N95 masks for routine export to Canada, but the Trump administration targeted the company and barred exportation of these goods to Canada. This unusual action appeared to be specifically targeted at 3M and its exports of personal protective equipment. Responding to the U.S. move, Ontario provincial premier Doug Ford said, When the cards are down, you see who your friends are. The action has been roundly decried as unfair and unkind in news reports around the world. And 3M blasted the U.S. government order as a shortsighted one that would have humanitarian implications and possibly spark retaliation from allies. The divergence has some Canadians calling for forging a more independent path in what has been referred to as the greatest crisis in relations between the two countries since 1945 when a minor trade dispute and disagreements over helping Britain to rebuild followed World War II. Theyre joined in their dismay with the U.S. by other Canadians. Public opinion has shifted on the ground Canadians now feel anxious about the future direction of the relationship between the two countries. How Canada does it It could soon cost a little less to park at Winnipegs paid street spots if city council approves a new cost-cutting proposal. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It could soon cost a little less to park at Winnipegs paid street spots if city council approves a new cost-cutting proposal. A Winnipeg Parking Authority report recommends a 75-cent decrease in the hourly rate and for that price cut to arrive within two months of a final council decision. The change comes after dozens of Exchange District businesses lobbied council for lower parking rates in recent months, arguing the current price repelled customers so much that some companies were forced to shut down. Obby Khan, owner of the Shawarma Khan restaurant on McDermot Avenue, said the proposal would offer much-needed relief. "I think this reduction will help businesses immensely. I think it will bring people to the core again," Khan said. City parking rates currently cost $3.50 per hour in high demand and hospital areas and $2.50 in lower-demand zones. The high-demand area is, largely, located in the downtown and Exchange areas. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Obby Khan, owner of Shawarma Khan, in his Exchange District restaurant: A lot of businesses suffered." Since the city increased parking rates by $1.50 an hour in early 2018, Khan said multiple businesses have shut down and his business suffered a 20 per cent drop in sales. "A lot of businesses suffered, a lot of businesses had to close due to these decisions and it really hurt the downtown core and the Exchange District core," he said. With his own Exchange restaurant expected to remain closed until at least mid-June due to the pandemic, Khan said the parking relief is especially needed right now. A city report says the rate reduction is based on an economic analysis that considered parking demand and would cost the city $452,000 annually in lost revenue. In a comparison with nine other Canadian cities, Winnipegs current average hourly parking rate is the highest, the report notes. David Pensato, executive director of the Exchange District BIZ, said his organization has asked for the parking rate analysis for three years and expects it will help ensure a fair rate. "Im glad to see the numbers out, Im glad to see the analysis. It looks fairly relevant and well-presented," said Pensato. The city also saw a decline in on-street parking demand over the past few years. In 2017, an average of 85 per cent of stalls were occupied during peak hours in high-demand areas. The number dropped to 62 per cent in 2019. Randy Topolniski, chief operating officer of the Winnipeg Parking Authority, said the proposed rate cut should increase demand for paid street parking. While the report is based on pre-pandemic demand, Topolniski said the rate cut should also help Winnipeg businesses recover from COVID-19 losses. "We think that this reduction will further support the notion of bringing people back downtown," he said. Topolniski said the city hopes the change will help its downtown parking occupancy rate reach 85 per cent, a target meant to ensure regular parking turnover and availability. A public service report predicts the parking authority will see pandemic losses that are "far greater" than $500,000, though it did not note an exact figure. Coun. Matt Allard, the chairperson of councils public works committee, said he will support the parking fee reduction. "I think, definitely, the 75-cent reduction is warranted, both to get to that vacancy rate that were looking for and (to better compare to) other major cities," said Allard (St. Boniface). Even if the hourly parking rate falls, council will still face questions over why it shot up by $1.50 in 2018. Khan challenged the city to reveal any parking data that supports a 50-cent portion of that hourly hike that was devoted to boost Winnipeg Transit funding. "I really want to know how and why city council is justified in adding on an extra 50 cents," he said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The city also commissioned a survey of 610 Winnipeggers in late 2019 for their views on parking. The Probe Research poll found 61 per cent of those surveyed agreed cost is an important factor, but not the only factor, when they decided to purchase parking. The poll is considered accurate to plus or minus four percentage points, with 95 per cent certainty. A final council vote on the parking fee reduction could take place as soon as June 26. Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), informed INEC that the party had agreed to choose its gove... Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), informed INEC that the party had agreed to choose its governorship candidate for the Edo election through direct primary, even before the national working committee of the party took the decision. The NWC, headed by Oshiomhole, reached the decision on May 22 but Oshiomhole had written to Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, three days earlier. In the letter dated May 19, Oshiomhole said the party had agreed that direct primary would be conducted in 192 wards. I convey to you my compliments and wish to respectfully inform you that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has decided to conduct direct primary for the Edo state governorship election on Monday, 22 of June. 2020, the letter read. To this end we have put in place modalities to ensure strict compliance with the COVID-19 prevention guidelines as announced by the COVID-19 presidential task force (PTF) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Therefore, direct primaries will be conducted in one hundred and ninety two wards (192). We accordingly invite you as observers of the primaries with full compliance with the All Progressives Congress constitution and the electoral act. In a direct primary election, all card-carrying members of the party from local government areas of the state will be eligible to vote for the candidate of their choice but indirect primary involves selected delegates. Many governors prefer indirect primary as they can easily sway the delegates to their side. Although six aspirants have indicated interest in the primary election, the race is between Godwin Obaseki, the governor, and Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who is believed to have the backing of Oshiomhole. Obaseki has been at loggerheads with Oshiomhole, and this has divided the party in the state. Oshiomholes faction had picked Osagie Ize-Iyamu who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the heat of the crisis between Obaseki and the APC national chairman. Several Chicago police officers are under investigation after a video surfaced showing them yanking two women out of a car and throwing them to the ground, and one of the women alleges one of the officers put his knee on her neck while restraining her. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) has launched an investigation into the encounter Sunday at Brickyard Mall on the city's West Side in which police said in a statement that Mia Wright was charged with disorderly conduct. During the encounter, Wright, 25, said 'they threw me to the ground, and he (the officer) proceeded to put his knee on my neck'. The video shows officers on both sides of the car bashing the vehicle with their batons before pulling Wright and Tnika Tate from the vehicle and pinning them to the ground. The police department has not commented about the use of force and the video does not clearly show any officer kneeling on Wright's neck. Several Chicago police officers are under investigation after a video surfaced showing them yanking Mia Wright and Tnika Tate out of a car and throwing them to the ground outside of a mall Wright's mother, Kim Woods, who watched from the backseat of the car, said: 'The first thing I could think about was (George) Floyd,' who died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into the handcuffed black man's neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. The department said Wright was charged after she was 'observed by responding officers assembled with 3 or more persons for the purpose of using force or violence to disturb the peace'. On Sunday, according to several media outlets, witnesses said police arrived at the mall where there had been reports of looting and spotted a car in which Wright, Tate and others were inside. Wright said that she and her relatives had gone to the mall on Sunday because there had been looting at another mall they had wanted to go to. But they quickly realized that the Target store they wanted to visit was closed. She said their vehicle was surrounded by police as they tried to leave the parking lot. She told WLS-TV that she was trying to get out of the car when police pulled her out. On Sunday, according to several media outlets, witnesses said police arrived at the mall where there had been reports of looting and spotted a car in which Wright (left), Tate (right) and others were inside Wright said: 'I was trying to get my hands up, they continue to break the window (pictured), and before you know it I was being pulled out of the vehicle, pulled by my hair' 'I was trying to get my hands up, they continue to break the window, and before you know it I was being pulled out of the vehicle, pulled by my hair. ... The officer grabbed me. 'I had my hair in a bun (and) he grabbed me by the top of my bun and pulled me out of the vehicle. And that is when they threw me to the ground, and he proceeded to put his knee on my neck.' In a statement, Ephraim Eddy, a spokesman for the civilian board that investigates officer-involved shootings and other incidents involving the use of force, said that the agency has started an investigation 'to determine if the actions of involved officers are withing Department policy'. Over the weekend, police were scrambling across the city to restore order after protests over the death of Floyd in Minneapolis devolved into widespread vandalism, fires, and clashes with police. The COPA and the department are also investigating a separate incident that was captured on video, which showed an officer chasing and then punching a protester after a demonstration that was held Monday night in the Uptown neighborhood on the city's North Side. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, an officer can be seen pushing a man to the ground and punching him in the head. Neither the officer nor the protester have been identified, department spokesman Howard Ludwig, told the newspaper. 'We do not tolerate misconduct of any kind and if any wrongdoing is discovered, officers will be held accountable,' Ludwig said. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, a similar incident happened to college students, Taniyah Pilgrim (left, with her boyfriend and right) and Messiah Young. Atlanta police release bodycam footage from college student arrest The video shows Pilgrim in the passenger seat screaming in terror as an officer aims a Taser at her and deploys it Meanwhile, in Atlanta, a similar incident happened to college students, Taniyah Pilgrim and Messiah Young. Pilgrim was dragged from a car by Atlanta police when she and her boyfriend, Young, were caught in traffic caused by a protest over Floyd's death. 'I still can't even process what happened,' Pilgrim said at a news conference Monday. 'We felt like we were going to die in that car.' Dramatic body-camera video released by police shows a group of officers shouting orders, smashing the driver's side window, deploying stun guns and pulling Pilgrim and Messiah Young from the sedan. Throughout, the couple can be heard screaming and asking officers what is happening. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference Sunday after reviewing body camera footage that she and police Chief Erika Shields decided to immediately fire two of the officers involved and place three others on desk duty pending an investigation. 'Use of excessive force is never acceptable,' Bottoms told reporters. Shields called the footage 'really shocking to watch'. Police identified the fired officers as Investigator Ivory Streeter, who was hired in December 2003, and Investigator Mark Gardner, hired in August 1997. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said in a statement Monday that his office is in contact with Shields and is 'moving rapidly to reach an appropriate charging decision'. Young, 22, of Chicago, is a rising senior at Morehouse, where he's studying business management. The shocking footage showed officers smash the driver's side window and use a Taser on Young, a 22-year-old student attending Morehouse College Pilgrim, 20 from San Antonio, Texas is a psychology major at Spelman College. Both schools are historically black colleges near downtown Atlanta. Young suffered a fractured arm and required 20 stitches. He said the arrest was 'one of the hardest things that I've ever experienced in my life'. The two were out getting something to eat Saturday night when they got snarled in traffic along Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, their lawyers said. A friend of theirs, another Morehouse student, was standing in the street talking to them while they were stopped when police began to take him into custody, Young's lawyer Mawuli Davis said. Young used his phone to film what was happening and that's when officers turned on him, Davis said, adding he believes the officers' motivation was to keep his client from capturing what was going on. Police on Sunday released video from seven officers' body cameras. It shows the officers taking the other young man into custody as he pleads with them to let him go, saying he didn't do anything. Young, behind the wheel of a car stopped in the street, is holding his phone up as an officer approaches and pulls his door open. He then pulls it shut and says repeatedly, 'I'm not dying today'. Young tells officers the other man is with them and urges them to release his friend and let him get in the car. The car advances and gets stuck in traffic as officers run up to both sides, shouting orders. An officer uses a stun gun on Pilgrim as she's trying to get out, and officers pull her from the car. Another officer yells at Young to put the car in park and open the window. An officer repeatedly hits the driver's side window with a baton, and another finally manages to break it. Officers also slashed the tires, the lawyers said. As the window glass shatters, an officer uses a stun gun on Young and officers pull him from the car as officers shout, 'Get your hand out of your pockets,' and, 'He got a gun. He got a gun. He got a gun'. Once he's out and on the ground, officers zip tie his hands behind his back and lead him away. Police reports do not list a gun as having been recovered. Davis said Young has never been arrested and there was no gun or drugs in the car. 'There is no justification, none whatsoever, for what they did to them and for what the system did to them,' Davis said, later adding, 'If there was a gun, best believe this would have had a very different outcome.' In incident reports, Streeter wrote that he used his 'electronic conductive weapon' on the driver and Gardner wrote that he deployed his Taser 'to bring the female passenger under control' Bottoms said Pilgrim was released without charges. She said Young was released, too, and she's ordering charges against him dropped. A police report says he was charged with attempting to elude police and driving with a suspended license. Davis said criminal defense attorney Gary Spencer is working pro bono to make sure Young's charges are dropped and to get the arrest wiped from his record so it doesn't cause him problems later in life. L. Chris Stewart, an attorney representing Pilgrim, said they intend to file a lawsuit, saying cities often don't make changes until they have to start writing checks. 'We want change in policies, in procedures, in laws,' Stewart said. 'It's not hard to fix.' Training records from the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, which certifies law enforcement officers in Georgia, show that Streeter and Gardner recently completed training in use of force and in deescalation tactics. ANN ARBOR, MI As 3,500 cubic feet of water per second passed through Ann Arbors four city-owned dams with the Huron River approaching record levels on May 19, Brian Steglitz insists there was no reason to be concerned. Steglitz, manager of Ann Arbors Water Treatment Services, offered the assurance in context of Mays failure and breach of dams near Midland to illustrate the citys dams are capable of handling serious flooding events. The cheetah is returning to India: How the govt plans to bring them back Death of pregnant elephant: What Forest Minister Javdekar says about the cruel act India oi-Briti Roy Barman New Delhi, June 04: The country is grieving over the horrific killing of an elephant which was pregnant at the time, by allegedly feeding her a pineapple stuffed with crackers in Kerala's Malappuram. Addressing to the matter the Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javdekar on Thursday said that strict action will be taken against those involved the killing of the pregnant elephant. The minister said, "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill". India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News Javdekar assured about taking strict action as he said that the authority has deputed senior officers in Malappuram to nab the culprits. 'Grieved and shocked': Ratan Tata shares moving post on pregnant elephant killed in Kerala Forest officials of Mannarkkad, Kerala have lodged an FIR on Wednesday against unidentified people under relevant sections of Wild Life Protection Act over the incident. The incident came to light after a forest officer, Mohan Krishnan, who was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant, narrated the details of the horrific death on social media. "When we saw her she was standing in the river, with her head dipped in the water. She had a sixth sense that she was going to die. She took the Jalasamadhi in the river in a standing position", Krishnan, who was deputed to bring the elephant back to the shore, wrote. The incident took place on May 27 while the elephant was standing in water and forest officials said that it died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw. "She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village. She didn't crush a single home. This is why I said, she is full of goodness," Krishnan wrote in an emotional note in Malayalam. "First, we observed this animal on May 23 when we were informed by locals that an elephant has been roaming around in the private area of the forest. When one of our staff members went to saw the elephant, it was observed that the wound in the lower jaw area was exposed. Later, for at least 24 hours the animal was trying to look for water and on May 24 we received information that the animal has come into river Velliyar," said Wildlife Officer, Silent Valley National Park. "Even then the animal did not take any solid matter and only took water. It was very weak so we called a vet, he was of the opinion that it may not be possible to revive back but will see what options are available. Later we were told to observe the animal's behaviour," he added. Kerala govt orders probe into pregnant elephant death; Centre seeks report "Today we thought of taking the animal to a safe spot to examine. Anyway, we had very little hope of reviving the animal because it has not been eating for many days. So, before we could take the animal out of the stream, it had collapsed and we hope it was a peaceful death," he said. "Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth. It is certain that she was offered the pineapple filled with crackers to eliminate her," Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Surendrakumar told PTI. Business tycoon and philanthropist Ratan Tata on Wednesday took Twitter to mourn the death of the elephant saying he was grieved and shocked. "Such criminal acts against innocent animals are no different than acts of meditated murder against other humans," wrote the veteran industrialist who is known as a keen animal lover. TANZANIA, Tanzania - Russia is defending Irans right to launch a satellite, dismissing U.S. claims that Tehran was defying the U.N. resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers by sending it into space. Russias U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said that the ongoing attempts of the United States side to deprive Iran of the right to reap the benefits of peaceful space technology under false pretexts are a cause for serious concern and profound regret. He dismissed as misleading U.S. accusations that the April 22 satellite launch carried out by Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps went against the 2015 resolution, which calls on Iran not to undertake any ballistic missile-related activities capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran has never possessed nuclear weapons, nor does it possess these weapons now, nor, we expect, will it ever possess them in the future, Nebenzia said in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council circulated Thursday. Since the Iran nuclear deal was adopted in 2015, he said, Iran has been the most verified state by the International Atomic Energy Agency and it is an established fact that Iran does not possess, nor develop, nor test or use ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The Russian ambassador was responding to a letter from U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft to the council president last month saying that space launch vehicles incorporate technologies that are virtually identical to and interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. We once again urge the international community to hold Iran accountable for its actions, she wrote. Irans further development of ballistic missile technology contributes to regional tension and poses a threat to international peace and security. Craft urged the Security Council to strengthen existing sanctions on Iran to address the threat and to consider re-imposing binding restrictions against its repeated missile and satellite launches. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated since the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposed crippling U.S. sanctions. A year ago, the U.S. sent thousands more troops, long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The satellite launch was a first for Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could accelerate Irans ballistic missile development. After its announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter, without citing any specific incident, I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Both Nebenzia and Craft called on the U.N. secretary-general to reflect their letters in his report on implementation of the 2015 Security Council resolution, which is due by June 23. The Security Council has scheduled an open briefing on the resolution for June 30 followed by closed consultations. A U.N. arms embargo against Iran is set to expire in October and the United States circulated a draft U.N. resolution that would indefinitely extend it to a small number of council members in late April. Nebenzia has said Moscow will oppose any U.S. attempts to extend the arms embargo and reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran. He also dismissed as ridiculous the possibility of the Trump administration possibly seeking to use the snap back provision in the 2015 council resolution, which would restore all U.N. sanctions against Iran that had been lifted or eased under the terms of the agreement if the nuclear deal is violated. Nebenzia said the U.S. pulled out of the agreement and they have no right to use any of its provisions. The Minneapolis police officer who used his knee to pin down George Floyd's neck before his death was the most experienced of the four officers involved in the arrest, with a record that included medals for bravery and 17 complaints against him, including one for pulling a woman out of her car during a speeding stop. New details about Derek Chauvin and the other now-fired officers emerged Wednesday after prosecutors upgraded Chauvin's charge to second-degree murder and charged the others with aiding and abetting in a case that has convulsed the nation with protests over race and police brutality. Heavily redacted personnel files show that Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the force, was initially trained as a cook and served in the Army as a military police officer. Eleven-year veteran and native Hmong speaker Tou Thao began as a community service officer and was the subject of six complaints. The other two officers were relative newcomers to the department, including Thomas Lane, a former juvenile detention guard who did volunteer work with Somali refugees, and J. Alexander Kueng, who got his start in law enforcement by patrolling his college campus and a department store. The files were notable for what they didn't include. Only one of the 17 complaints against Chauvin was detailed, none of the six against Thao were mentioned and there was no further detail about a 2017 excessive force lawsuit against Thao. Records show that the 44-year-old Chauvin initially studied cooking before taking courses in law enforcement and doing two stints in the Army as a military police officer in the late 1990s, serving at Fort Benning, Georgia, and in Germany. Chauvin became a Minneapolis police officer in 2001 and the lone reprimand in his file involved a 2007 incident when he was accused of pulling a woman out of her car after stopping her for going 10 mph (16 kph) over the speed limit. Investigators found it was not necessary for Chauvin to remove the woman from the car and noted that his squad car video was turned off during the stop. But Chauvin was also singled out for bravery. Files show he won two medals of valor, one in 2006 for being part of a group of officers who opened fire on a stabbing suspect who pointed a shotgun at them, and another in 2008 for a domestic violence incident in which Chauvin broke down a bathroom door and shot a suspect in the stomach. He also won medals of commendation in 2008 after he and his partner tackled a fleeing suspect who had a pistol in his hand, and in 2009 for single-handedly apprehending a group of gang members while working as an off-duty security guard at the El Nuevo Rodeo, a Minneapolis nightclub. Since his arrest, the former owner of the club, Maya Santamaria, said Chauvin and Floyd both worked as security guards there at various times but that she wasn't sure if they had known one another. She said Chauvin was unnecessarily aggressive on nights when the club had a black clientele, quelling fights by dousing the crowd with pepper spray and calling in several police squad cars as backup, a tactic she called overkill. Chauvin's wife, Kellie, a Laotian immigrant who became the first Hmong winner of the Mrs. Minnesota pageant, said shortly after his arrest last week that she intends to divorce him. Before news of the upgraded charges, an attorney for Chauvin said he was not making any statements at this time. Lawyers for the others did not return messages seeking comment. In cellphone video of the May 25 arrest of Floyd, Chauvin is shown pressing his knee onto Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes while Floyd cries out "I can't breathe" and eventually stops moving. During much of the arrest, Kueng and Lane were helping Chauvin restrain Floyd. Thao was standing nearby keeping onlookers back. According the complaint, at one point during the arrest, as Chauvin held Floyd down with his knee, Lane asked Chauvin twice whether they should roll Floyd over. "No, staying put where we got him," Chauvin replied, "I am worried about excited delirium or whatever," Lane said. And Chauvin replied again, "That's why we have him on his stomach". None of the three officers moved from their positions. Lane joined the police early last year as a 35-year-old cadet much older than most rookies and became a full-fledged officer last December. He had no complaints in his file during his short time on the force. On employment forms, the University of Minnesota graduate said he done volunteer work tutoring Somali youth and as a mentor helping at-risk elementary school students with reading and homework. Kueng, at 26 the youngest of the four officers, was also a recent recruit to the police force. He completed his year's probation just three months before the Floyd arrest. His personnel file, which notes that he speaks, reads and writes Russian, did not include any commendations or disciplinary actions during his short time on force. Kueng was a 2018 graduate of the University of Minnesota, where he worked part-time as part of the campus security force. He also worked nearly three years as a theft-prevention officer at Macy's. Thao joined the police force part-time in 2008 while attending community college. Before that, he worked as a security guard, a supermarket stocker and trainer at McDonald's. City records show six complaints were filed against Thao, but there was no mention of that in the records released Wednesday. There also was no mention of a 2017 federal lawsuit accusing him and another officer of excessive force. According to the lawsuit, Lamar Ferguson claimed that in 2014, Thao and his partner stopped him and beat him up while he was on his way to his girlfriend's house. The lawsuit was settled for $25,000 ___ Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press writer Scott Bauer in Madison and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report. Representative Image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Unwilling to be left behind in the digital race, two-wheeler companies are ready to take purchasing digital, promising doorstep delivery of bikes and scooters as COVID-19 makes showroom-hoppers anxious. Four of Indias top five two-wheeler manufacturers controlling nearly 80 percent of the domestic volumes have either started a major push at selling vehicles online or are in advanced stages of creating such a platform and a supporting backend infrastructure. Under the digital sales initiative, customers can visit the website of the manufacturer for placing an order and getting a doorstep delivery of the vehicle of choice just like ordering a smartphone from an e-commerce company. The entire buying process including securing loans and insurance is done online without any in-person interaction during the period except test rides. Carmakers like Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki and others have already rolled out these options. Honda and Bajaj Auto are the latest to jump onto the bandwagon. With the gradual restarting of manufacturing and sales operations post easing of lockdown about 80 percent of Hondas dealers are now providing doorstep deliveries and digital booking facilities. Hondas initial internal analysis for May showed that around 5 percent of total customers booked online and almost 10 percent availed test ride at their doorstep. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, We are seeing a major shift in customer engagement in the new normal of coronial era. The focus on enabling contactless engagement with customers for the convenience of all stakeholders in this time of social distancing. While Bajaj Auto is yet to roll out a digital platform for selling its motorcycles, a senior company executive confirmed to Moneycontrol that plans are afoot to tap this medium on an urgent basis. A major chunk of Bajajs sales comes from budget motorcycles Platina and CT100 bought by customers who may not be as digitally connected and comfortable buying vehicles online. Rakesh Sharma, executive director, Bajaj Auto said, Maybe its the class of customers who are not as digitally savvy and we have also found that the percentage of people buying completely digitally is very limited. We will certainly have to quickly get onto the digital process, which we have done for Chetak. The Chetak can be bought completely online. So we would now like to take that platform and apply to other models. Going forward this is going to be a very important channel to nurture. Two-wheeler market leader Hero MotoCorp was the first to make sales online, much before coronavirus disrupted markets. The Delhi-based company launched a separate online portal in August last year allowing customers from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Noida to buy motorcycles and scooters. Home delivery will carry a nominal charge of Rs 349. On June 2 Suzuki Motorcycles India, the countrys fifth largest two-wheeler maker introduced a five-step buying process. This comprises booking of desired product, followed by colour selection, then location and dealer selection, choosing the payment mode and finally choosing the date and time of delivery. Customers can book a product by paying the booking amount and full payment of the ex-showroom price. The payment will be made through an online gateway and the invoice detail will be shared with the customer and respective dealer emphasizing on the government prescribed preventive measure, Suzuki said in a statement. Editor's Note: Sign up for the International Precious Metals Institute's (IPMI) LIVE WEBINAR. A panel discussion on current issues facing the autocatalyst segment of the precious metals industry, including procurement, financing manufacturing, recycling and refining. Click HERE to register for FREE. (Kitco News) - Exchange-traded funds increased their holdings of gold by 154 metric tons during May, taking holdings to an all-time high of 3,510 tons, the World Gold Council reported Thursday. In a monthly report on ETF gold holdings, the organization said year-to-date inflows of 623 tons now exceed the highest annual inflow ever, which was 591 tons in 2009. Holdings by North American funds increased by 102 tons, while those based in Europe added 45 tons, the WGC said. Asian-listed funds added 4.4 tons, while other regions had inflows of 2.6 tons. Among individual ETFs, SPDR Gold Shares posted the biggest inflow, adding 67 tons, while iShares Gold Trust added 20 tons. Aberdeen Standard Physical Gold Shares led low-cost with an increase of 4.1 tons, the WGC said. Meanwhile, two U.K.-based funds led European inflows: iShares Physical added 23.3 tons, while Invesco Physical Gold added 6.9 tons. U.K.-based gold funds continue to take regional and global market share, now representing 48% of European assets and 21% of global assets, the WGC said. Low-cost gold-backed ETFs in the U.S. have doubled their collective holdings in the past year to 99t, which is roughly the size of all Asian-based funds. Gold ETF Holdings May 2020 in tonnes of gold Slopegraph shows ETF gold holdings by region in tonnes of gold. For example the SPDR Gold Shares is listed in the U.S. thus fall under North America. Holdings correspond to the total assets under management (AUM) of gold-backed ETFs and similar products. Data is from World Gold Council ETF June 2020. Korea Electric Power Corp. branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul / Yonhap By Nam Hyun-woo Investors and researchers are calling into question the overseas portfolio of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), as its continued investments in coal-based power generation outside of Korea will expose the state-run power company to greater risks, a report by an international research institution showed Thursday. This is in line with a global trend of large institutional investors divesting from coal power projects. APG, a leading global pension fund based in the Netherlands, has divested its investments from KEPCO due to the company's continued investment in overseas fossil-fuel power projects, while BlackRock sent a letter to KEPCO requesting full disclosure of KEPCO's interests in coal-fired power plants outside Korea. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said in its recent report that "overseas investments add risk and unstable returns to KEPCO's stressed financial outlook," citing its coal- and fossil fuel-centric overseas investment portfolio. The IEEFA has drew attention last year as it warned of the financial risks of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, which has filed for a government bailout program. In the report, IEEFA Director Melissa Brown said KEPCO is still heavily investing in coal-fire independent power producers in emerging markets, even though its domestic experience with energy transition is "highlighting the risks of making wrong bets" on large coal and nuclear power plants. According to KEPCO, it is implementing 43 projects including thermal, nuclear, renewable and other power-related businesses in 27 countries as of June 2019. The IEEFA said 51.2 percent of KEPCO's capacity in those projects is based on coal power. When oil, gas and diesel power are included, the total thermal capacity accounts for 79.7 percent, while that of renewable energies is standing at 9.7 percent. KEPCO posted a consolidated 1.28 trillion won ($1.1 billion) operating loss last year, up from 208 billion won in 2018. This was largely interpreted as a hefty one-time cost for the company's effort to lower its reliance on coal and nuclear power in accordance with President Moon Jae-in's renewable energy-focused policies. The IEEFA noted that KEPCO is "not acknowledging the reality that returns to IPP investors are increasingly at risk as finance drains away from carbon emissions-intensive coal investments." "The company has already embraced the optics of clean energy, but its investment decisions are strangely out of sync with this and still reflect the company's legacy fossil fuel habits," Brown said in the report. The institution cited KEPCO's investment into Australia's Bylong coal project. After acquiring the coal mine in 2010, KEPCO has so far invested about 700 billion won into the project. In the third quarter of last year, however, the company disclosed a write-off of 616.8 billion won of the investment after it failed to win planning approval from the local government. The IEEFA said KEPCO's overseas operations "do not currently make a meaningful contribution to the company's financial performance, despite tying up capital and exposing the company to operational, tax and foreign exchange risk." The IEEFA is not the only organization worrying about KEPCO's overseas coal investments. In February, APG said it was divesting from KEPCO due to its continued investment in overseas fossil-fuel power projects, saying "the global financial market is turning its back from the coal-fired power sector." BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has recently sent a letter demanding KEPCO disclose its interests more transparently in coal-fired power plants outside Korea. This appears to be in line with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's January pledge that his firm would make environmental sustainability a core goal of its investment decisions. "KEPCO must take note of the ways in which leading global investors such as BlackRock may react to the KEPCO's current climate strategy and energy transition plans," Brown said. "The disconnect between KEPCO's strategy at home and its overseas investments exposes the company to scrutiny from international stakeholders and, more importantly, with investors who now associate climate risk with financial risk." Oregon hasnt seen a coronavirus resurgence in the weeks since most counties began to slowly reopen, the states top health official said Wednesday. Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen offered declining hospitalizations and infection rates as evidence that the spread of COVID-19 remains mild, even as new reported cases climbed slightly in recent days. He also credited Oregonians for taking steps to reduce their risk of infection, such as wearing face coverings in public and continuing to practice social distancing. I think its safe to say our situation is stable, Allen said during a news conference with Gov. Kate Brown. As stores, salons and restaurants have reopened across the state, COVID-19 has not reemerged with renewed ferocity. The official assessment comes as other states around the U.S. such as Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin have seen steady increases in coronavirus infections and deaths after lifting lockdowns imposed at the beginning of the outbreak. That has yet to occur in Oregon after Brown allowed most counties to gradually resume public and economic activity on May 15. Twenty-six counties have applied to enter Phase 2 of the states reopening regimen starting Friday, which further eases restrictions. Throughout the pandemic, Oregon has had one of the lowest infection and death rates in the country among known cases. While nearly 4,400 people have tested positive for COVID-19 since late February, recent projections estimate more than 20,000 almost five times the number of identified cases have been infected. According to Allen, the number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus infections statewide fell from 161 to 102 in the last two weeks. It was over 300 in mid-April, state data shows. Allen also said that a record 17,447 people tested for COVID-19 in the last week, and only 1.7% were found to be infected with the virus. Oregons positive test rate during the week of May 15 was 2.6%, Allen said, far lower than the 12% nationwide average. While many parts of the nation continue to struggle to test residents who are sick, Oregon is testing more people and more people who are actually well, Allen said. However, positive tests are on the rise. Oregons rolling average for daily reported infections has been increasing slightly since bottoming out about two weeks ago. Although on the upswing, identified infections remain relatively low at about 50 a day, equal to cases from late March. Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and epidemiologist, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday that any rise in infections makes him nervous. But Sidelinger said recent increases are likely tied to more testing occurring now and also workplace outbreaks among people without symptoms, such as cannery workers at Townsend Farms in Fairview. A review of case counts by the newsroom shows that more than three-quarters of new or presumed infections since May 15 are in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties regions that have been among the last in the state to reopen. Multnomah County, home to nearly 20 percent of the states population, remains under the governors stay-home order. It has applied to begin reopening June 12. Oregon state and county health officials have long said they expect coronavirus infections to increase as more residents resume daily life. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories The Brideship Wife By Leslie Howard, Simon & Schuster, 400 pages, $24.99 Like so many bookworms across the city, in the early days of the pandemic, I found myself unable to concentrate enough to read. The book that finally brought me back to reading was Leslie Howards wonderful debut. The Penticton, B.C. author is the daughter of the late novelist Blanche Howard, to whom this book is dedicated. When she was ten years old, Leslie Howards parents took her to visit the historic gold rush town of Barkerville, B.C. The trip stayed with her for decades, ultimately inspiring her to pen this page-turner. The Brideship Wife opens in England in 1862 and follows twenty-one-year-old Charlotte, as she makes the long, harrowing journey to Canada, as part of a real-life scheme to provide single, English (and often destitute) women as wives to male settlers in the colonies. Theres a reason this well-researched read has landed on the Toronto Star bestseller list; it marks the arrival of a new talent on the Canadian historical fiction scene. The Library of Legends By Janie Chang HarperAvenue, 400 pages, $22.99 The Vancouver, B.C., author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road has done it again. One of the most original voices in Canadian historical fiction, Chang writes epic novels inspired by personal family stories. This time out, Chang is inspired by her fathers experiences as a refugee student in China. In 1937, at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, there was a mass exodus of youth from Chinese universities, relocating scholars to safer campuses, away from the conflict, and protecting the countrys cultural legacy in the process. The Library of Legends follows several such students as they make this treacherous trek, carrying with them precious volumes of books. Captivating, tinged with magic realism, and rich with Chinese history, folklore (and cuisine!), this is a delight from start to finish. The Secret Hours: A Deverill Story By Santa Montefiore Simon and Schuster UK, 528 pages, $22.00 A Santa Montefiore novel is always a major event, and The Secret Hours is no exception. The British author whose books have been translated into twenty-five languages and sold millions of copies is a master storyteller. And her multi-generational series on a family in Deverill castle, in Ballinakelly, Ireland, has her at the height of her powers. This time out, Montefiore tells the tale of American wife and mother Faye Clayton, whose own mother Arethusa has just passed away. Shes left behind mysterious instructions that propel Faye on a voyage to Ireland, uncovering roots she never knew she had and upending her entire life in the process. This is the kind of epic story you can lose yourself in. A triumph of a novel. Daughter of the Reich By Louise Fein William Morrow, 560 pages, $34.99 Another riveting debut rounds out the pandemic reading list, this one from British writer Louise Fein. Feins father was sixty-one when she was born, and he died when she was seventeen years old. A Jewish lawyer originally from Germany, hed fled the Nazis in 1933, his pregnant young wife following him to England shortly after to build a life there. The idea of writing a novel inspired by his experiences percolated for many years, and after much research, Fein felt compelled to also include a Nazi character, as a way of trying to understand what went so horrifically wrong. The result is Daughter of the Reich, about the child of a high-ranking Nazi officer and her secret love for a Jewish friend. Containing fascinating parallels between 1930s Germany and Western history post-2008, this is a must-read. PUNE, India, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global airport services market size is predicted to reach USD 232.88 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 16.66% during the forecast period. The flourishing projections of the aviation industry can be a vital factor that will enable speedy growth of the market during the forecast period. Moreover, the surge in air traffic passengers will incite the progression of airport services, which in turn, will aid the expansion of the market in the forthcoming years, states Fortune Business Insights in a report, titled "Airport Services Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Type (International, and Domestic), By Application (Aeronautical Services, Non-Aeronautical Services), By Infrastructure Type (Greenfield Airport, Brownfield Airport), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027" the market size stood at USD 172.19 billion in 2019. Airport Services Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Speak to Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/airport-services-market-102855 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. Get Sample PDF Brochure with the "Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of COVID-19" on airport services industry, Please Visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/covid19-impact/airport-services-market-102855 Market Driver: Global Tourism to Contribute Impetus to Airport Services The growing necessity for low-cost airlines owing to the rise in air passengers will positively impact market growth during the forecast period. The boom in domestic flights and massive investment in airport infrastructure will promote the healthy growth of the market in the foreseeable future. For instance, Hardeep Singh Puri, civil aviation ministry announced the investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in the airport infrastructure sector in the next five years. The agenda sets for Rs 95,178 crore for creating new terminals, development of greenfield airports, and private investment in joint venture airports. The prosperous travel and tourism industry is likely to uplift the global airport services market share. Additionally, the rising urbanization and frequent air travelers can potentially boost the market growth in the forthcoming years. Similarly, the escalation in the terminal capacity of passengers at airports will significantly create new opportunities for the market in the forthcoming years. For instance, The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has an annual terminal capacity of 155 million passengers which intends to raise to 300 million by 2026. Regional Analysis: Rapid Development of Airport Infrastructure to Propel Market in Asia Pacific North America generated a revenue of USD 48.73 billion in 2019 and is likely to remain dominant during the forecast period. The growth in the region is attributed to the well-established aviation industry. The rising passenger air traffic in the US and Canada will subsequently bolster the healthy growth of the market in the region. According to ICAO's preliminary compilation of annual global statistics, the total number of passengers carried on scheduled services rose to 4.3 billion in 2018, which is 6.4 percent higher than the previous year, while the number of departures reached 37.8 million in 2018, a 3.5 percent increase. Asia Pacific is likely to witness massive growth during the forecast period due to the perpetual development of airport infrastructure in emerging nations such as India and China. However, the COVID-19 outbreak is likely to impede economic development, simultaneously impacting the aviation industry. Europe is predicted to grow rapidly in the forthcoming years owing to the surge in student travelers and migrant workers in the region. Browse In-depth Analysis with Table of Content with COVID-19 Coverage: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/airport-services-market-102855 Key Development: September 2019: PrimeFlight Aviation Services announced the acquisition of Global Aviation Services, LLC. The new development will enable PrimeFlight Aviation Services to serve customers with ground support equipment (GSE) maintenance services at more than 80 airports in the U.S. List of the Key Companies Operating in the Airport Services Market are: Beijing Capital International Airport Co Ltd ( China ) ) Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide ( Germany ) ) Air General Inc. (The U.S.) dnata ( Dubai ) ) Worldwide Flight Services ( France ) ) S.A.S. Services Group, Inc. (The U.S.) LHR Airports Limited (The U.K.) Acciona ( Spain ) ) Signature Aviation plc (The U.K.) Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation ( Japan ) ) Celebi Aviation ( Turkey ) ) Airports de Paris SA ( France ) Get Discount on this Premium Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/check-discount/airport-services-market-102855 Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Industry Developments Contracts & Agreements, Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Latest technological Advancements Porters Five Forces Analysis Supply Chain Analysis Global Airport Services Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Type International Domestic Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Application Aeronautical Services Aircraft Ground Handling Services Aircraft Maintenance Services Passenger Service Non-Aeronautical Services Baggage Handling Services Car Rental Service Car Parking Service Food and Beverages Service Retail Service Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Infrastructure Type Greenfield Airport Brownfield Airport Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region North America Europe Asia pacific pacific Rest of the world TOC Continued!!! Order a Complete Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102855 Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Airport Security Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, by Security Type (Access Control, Cyber security, Perimeter Security, Screening, Surveillance, and Others), By System (Metal Detectors, Fiber Optic Perimeter Intrusion, Backscatter X-Ray Systems, Cabin Baggage Screening Systems, and Others), By Airport Model (Airport 2.0, Airport 3.0, and Airport 4.0), By Airport Class (Class A, Class B, and Class C), and Regional Forecast,2020- 2027 Smart Airport Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Platform (Hardware Systems, Data Management, Software Systems, and Others), Airport Model (Airport 2.0, Airport 3.0, and Airport 4.0), Airport Size (Small, Medium, and Large), Application (Airside, Landside, Terminal Side), Airport Operation (Aeronautical and Non-aeronautical), and Regional Forecasts, 2020- 2027 Inertial Navigation System Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, by Component (Accelerometers, Gyroscopes, and Others), By Technology (Ring Laser Gyro, Mechanical Gyro, Fiber Optics Gyro, MEMS and Others), By Platform (Airborne, Ground, Maritime, and Space), By End User (Commercial, and Defense), and Regional Forecast, 2020 2027 Security Solutions Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Type [(Product: Fire Protection, Video Surveillance, Access Control, Entrance Control, Intruder Alarms, Thermal Cameras) and Services: Security Systems Integration, Remote Monitoring Services, Fire Protection Services, Video Surveillance Services], By End-User (Commercial, Residential, Industrial, Government), and Regional Forecast, 2019- 2026 Aviation MRO Software Market Size, Share and COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Solution [Software (ERP Solution, Point Solution,) and Service (Deployment & Integration, Consulting], By Function [Maintenance Management (Line, Base, Engine), Operation Management (Training Safety & Quality Assurance), Business Management (Accounts, Finance, HR)], By Point of Sale (Subscription, Ownership), By Deployment Type, By End-Use and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027 Homeland Security and Emergency Management Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By System (Modeling And Simulation, Communication System, Rescue And Recovery Systems, Intelligence And Surveillance System, Detection And Monitoring System, Weapon System,), By End Use (Cyber Security, CBRNE Security, Aviation Security, Maritime Security, Law Enforcement and Intelligence Gathering, Critical Infrastructure Security), and Regional Forecast, 2020- 2027 Business Jet Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Aircraft Type (Light, Mid-sized, Large, and Airliner), Point of Sale (OEMs, and Aftermarket), Systems (Aerostructures, Avionics, Propulsion Systems, Aircraft Systems, Cabin Interiors, Landing Gears and others), By End User (Private and Operator), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026 Helicopter Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Civil & Commercial and Military), By Application (Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Corporate Services, Search and Rescue Operation, Oil and Gas, Defense, Homeland Security), By System (Airframe, Engine, Avionics, Landing Gear System, and Cabin Interiors), By Weight (Light Weight, Medium Weight, and Heavy Weight), By Point of Sale (OEMs and Aftermarket), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights, we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We therefore offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1-424-253-0390 UK: +44-2071-939123 APAC: +91-744-740-1245 Email: [email protected] Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Read Press Release: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/airport-services-market-9987 SOURCE Fortune Business Insights At least 47 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam on Thursday, a day after the state recorded its highest single-day spike of 269 coronavirus cases, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state currently stands at 1,877. Among the fresh cases, 33 are from Hojai, six from Dhemaji, four from Bongaigaon, three from Barpeta and one from Baksa, the minister said. For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here As many as 76 people were released from various hospitals following their recovery, taking the total number of those discharged to 413. Three international flights have landed at Lokopriyo Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport since May 29, an Airport Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson here said. One of the flights, carrying 69 passengers from Kiev in Ukraine, arrived at 2.30 am on Thursday, while the other from Russia, with 37 people on board, landed well past midnight on June 3. On May 29, a flight from Kuwait brought home 155 passengers. CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH Altogether 66 air passengers have tested positive for the disease, since flight operations resumed on May 25. Meanwhile, 62 passengers, travelling in the Mumbai- Dibrugarh Shramik Special train, had on Wednesday tried to escape institutional quarantine by pulling the chain, just about 300 metres from the Hojai Railway station. A Railway Protection Force (RPF) escort team nabbed 57 of them on the spot. Five others were picked up from their homes. Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on June 4 The number of coronavirus cases in the state has recorded a steep increase since travel curbs were eased on May 4. Prior to that, it had only 42 cases. Assam has so far examined 1,26,726 samples, with 1,17,650 reporting negative for the disease, according to the state Health and Family Welfare Department. Of the 1,877 cases in the state, 1,457 are active patients, four have succumbed to the disease, and three have migrated, Sarma said. Investigations revealed that some of the students had gathered there to study and attend online lectures, while some were invited over tea Singapore: A court in Singapore has imposed hefty fines on nine Indian students for gathering at a rented apartment, in violation of the country's "circuit breaker" rules enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The court on Wednesday heard the case and imposed the fines ranging between SGD 2,500 (USD 1,782) and SGD 4,500 (USD 3,208) on the Indian students. It noted that the incident occurred on May 5, during the COVID-19 "circuit breaker" period when it was illegal in the country to have guests at one's household, or to meet other people for social purposes. They were caught after an unidentified person called the police about "an altercation" at the apartment on Kim Keat Road, reported Channel News Asia. When the police responded to a call at about 12.50 pm, they found 17 people inside the apartment. Imposing the fine, District Judge Bala Reddy said that what could and could not be done in Singapore during the circuit breaker had already been widely publicised. The "circuit-breaker" period began on April 7 as part of which all non-essential work places were closed and residents were barred from leaving their house except to buy food and groceries or to exercise alone in the neighbourhood. It ended on June 2. Businesses that operate in settings with low transmission risks were allowed to reopen. Full hairdressing services, motor vehicle servicing, air conditioning servicing, printing, basic pet services and education bookshops and limited school activities have been allowed to resume as part of phase 1 of the reopening. According to the health ministry, there are 36,922 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore. Three of the students fined, Navdeep Singh, 20, Sajandeep Singh, 21 and Avinash Kaur, 27, were tenants at the apartment. Navdeep and Sajandeep were given the highest fines of SGD 4,500 each for inviting three people to the apartment. Their guests, Arpit Kumar, 27, Karmjit Singh, 20, Mohammed Imran Pasha, 26, Sharma Lukesh, 21, Vijay Kumar, 20, and Waseem Akram, 33, were each fined SGD 2,500. Avinash was fined SGD 3,500 (USD 2,496) for inviting one guest. Her guest's case is pending. Six people - including the three accused tenants - are registered tenants of the unit. One person was a sub-tenant who claimed to live there and three others said they were guests who had stayed over since May 4 after being evicted from their own lodging. The police found some of them sleeping in the living room. The remaining seven people were guests of the accused who visited that day. Investigations revealed that some of the students had gathered there to study and attend online lectures, while some were invited over tea. Navdeep and Sajandeep pleaded guilty to one charge each of breaking a COVID-19 regulation by inviting guests to their unit for a non-exempted reason, with two other charges taken into consideration. Avinash pleaded guilty to one charge of inviting a guest over to the unit. The guests pleaded guilty to a charge of meeting others for a social purpose. Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh asked for the fines that were eventually meted out, noting that the unit was "obviously overcrowded". "This is by no means a small number and in fact far exceeds the proper living capacity of the three-bedroom unit, which was only legally tenanted to six persons and already had people sleeping in the living room," she said. She said the offences magnified the potential for COVID-19 to spread within the unit and to the rest of the community. "The guests each spent between one to four hours in the unit which is a lengthy period of time. Moreover, their visits did not have an agreed end-time and would likely have continued had the police not gone to the unit," Koh said. She said the accused met "for a frivolous and completely unnecessary purpose in blatant disregard of the social distancing measures that the rest of society has taken pains to comply with". The hosts committed more severe breaches than the guests as they instigated the visits, with Navdeep and Sajandeep most culpable as they had three guests each. The students were not represented and each gave their own mitigation, with most of them saying that they had taken loans to study in Singapore and could not afford hefty fines. Sajandeep said he took a loan of INR 300,000 (SGD 5,560) to study in Singapore and had a clean record. "Please give me a chance, I am very remorseful for what I have done," he said through an interpreter. "I came to study so that I could brighten my future." Some of them, including Avinash, said they came from poor families in India. For each charge of breaking COVID-19 regulations, they could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to SGD 10,000 (USD 7,133) or both. PTI GS RS 06041507 NNNN The whirring sound of rotor blades became louder and louder as the helicopters loomed into view, punctuating the skyline over Cabrillo National Monument, directly across the bay from Coronado Island. My heart beat faster and faster as I noticed my green satin dress and tan shrug. They were looser fitting now than when I bought them a couple of months before in anticipation of this day. The engines stopped, and everyone grew quiet as the crew began to disembark. It was March 2005, and my husband had been gone for six months on his second deployment. I spotted him right away. We locked eyes. I ran to him as quickly as I could wobble in my platform sandals, and he scooped me up to hug me tight. The look of joy that had been on his face when he first saw me, though, faded quickly to concern, and that perfect moment was over. Youre so thin. What happened? he whispered. The author and her husband, David, at homecoming, in San Diego, March 2005. (Photo courtesy of Jenna Levin) I brushed off the question, but the circumstances that led him to even comment on my appearance made me wonder, How did we get here? Before he left, I reached out for advice from other Navy spouses who had been where I was, in a brand-new city thousands of miles from home, facing a long separation, with very little support. The main thing, it was instilled into me over and over, was to be strong. Being strong was important, because our spouses had to be confident that we could handle things while they were gone. We were never to worry them, never to tell them anything bad, never even to say that we missed them, because it would be upsetting, and there would be nothing they could do about it. They had to know that we were all right. We had to just figure everything out, because, as I was also told, asking for professional help would ruin my husbands career, which would be my fault for not handling my circumstances on my own like I was supposed to. I tried hard to be that archetypal strong spouse. I didnt cry the night I dropped him off, at the docked USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego, because I was told that we should keep any sadness to ourselves. I bravely smiled into the phone when he called, while brushing tears off of my face that first holiday season 3,000 miles from my family. I told my husband everything was fine and that I was doing so great in every email I sent. Meanwhile, I was severely depressed and anxious. I was determined to be strong, because that meant being worthy, and I badly wanted to be worthy, to belong to this group of military spouses who held it together. The reality, of course, was different. I was struggling, badly and turned again to an eating disorder that had been the devil on my shoulder since high school, something that gave my life some semblance of order when everything was chaotic. At the time, bulimia was the one thing over which I had total control. As a military spouse, being told to bottle everything up so I would not distract my husband from another ubiquitous mission made me fade into the background as mental illness consumed me. All the while, he was thousands of miles away, doing humanitarian work in Sumatra after a devastating tsunami, under the impression that nothing was wrong at home. The look of shock on his face after that first hug is permanently seared into my memory. We came to an agreement after that deployment that we would never keep secrets from each other, that even if we couldnt be physically together, that we would support each other no matter what. After all, we had promised for better, for worse, in sickness and in health. I know now that I was given incorrect advice to be strong, and that seeking help would not ruin my husbands career. In fact, sometimes being strong is having the courage to ask for help and admit when you are struggling. I know now that keeping secrets from your spouse about serious problems, even if your intention is to be protective, can make reuniting and reintegration after a long separation that much more difficult. Unfortunately, I still hear that well-intentioned but misguided advice floating around today, the same words I heard nearly 17 years ago. Its time to update that advice and change the narrative. You can be strong and also leave to be in a familiar place or stay with family during a long separation, instead of trying to manage life alone. You can be strong and realize that youre drowning, and reach out to mental health professionals to throw you a life raft. You can be strong and utilize resources like Military OneSource, Military Spouse Advocacy Network or branch-specific community services. They all share the same mission of helping military families navigate life and even thrive. You can be strong and still share with your spouse when youre having a hard time. You can be strong and ask for help from friends or family, and admit that you really arent sure what to do. It takes an enormous amount of fortitude to realize that you cant do it all by yourself. You do not have to be that stereotypical definition of strong all the time. You just have to be you, and if that means asking for help, there is absolutely no shame in that. You dont have to be a superhero. I wish that just one person had told me that 17 years ago. Those words might have been the life raft I needed when I was drowning and pretending everything was just fine when things had never been harder. My well-being, my health, my very sense of self mattered then. It has mattered all along. And I want other spouses to know that theirs does, too. This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service, war and its impact. Jenna Levin lives in San Diego with her husband of nearly 17 years. Like her hero, the late actress and author Carrie Fisher, she is a firm believer in staying afraid, but trying new things anyway, using humor to deflect from awkward situations, and destigmatizing mental illness. When shes not working, writing or caring for cats shes got to put through college (and they dont want to go to a state school), you can find her knitting, reading, baking or hiking. Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox. Hyde Marine perspectives on tanker ballast water systems We interviewed Mark Riggio, senior market manager with Hyde Marine, a UV ballast water equipment supplier, about how he sees the current picture for tanker operators installing ballast water systems, with new IMO requirements next October. There are unique challenges of the tanker space with ballast water systems, which the industry has not yet unpacked and understood, says Mark Riggio, senior market manager with ballast water equipment manufacturer Hyde Marine, based in Pennsylvania. The big incoming issue is a change to requirements for new ballast water systems on October 28, 2020. Systems installed after this date will need to meet a set of requirements known as Revised G8 or MEPC.300(72). It is not currently clear which companies systems comply with the new rules, Mr Riggio says. Note, these rules apply to new systems installed after Oct 28, not to systems installed before that date. But tanker companies making orders for new systems now (April 2020) probably would not have them installed before this deadline. If ships have new ballast systems installed after Oct 28 which do not meet the G8 requirements, they will not be able to enter most of the worlds ports. The G8 requirements were developed following concerns that some ballast water systems would not be as good as they needed to be in removing microbes from water. The guidelines were originally defined in 2005 and underwent a critical revision in 2016. The push for the revised G8 guidelines was driven partly by customer organizations like the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). Under the initial guidelines, all new build ships must have had a D2-compliant system for ballast (shipboard microbe removal system) since September 2017. Existing ships have the option of D1 system (where ballast water is exchanged in deep water before the vessel enters port), but they must have a D2 system by the time of the ships first International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) Certificate renewal survey after 8 September 2017. Certificates last for 5 years usually, so that means by September 2022. Thinning out of suppliers According to Hyde Marines internal research, there are only 13 systems that have this new G8 certification. There are some surprising names that are not on our list, he said. IMO used to publish lists of which companies were certified, but they stopped doing that, he said. Now we rely on Flag Administrations to tell the IMO that they have issued these new certifications. About 60 ballast water equipment manufacturers got the original IMO certification so if there are really are only 13 companies certified to the new standard, it means about 75 per cent of suppliers may be leaving the market. A thinning out of the ballast water supply sector may be good news for the suppliers which survive, because having 60 suppliers in the market made it very hard to make any margin. I would contend that everyone is basically selling at their marginal price, he says. Also, the market offerings of the suppliers had little differentiation, with the industry consolidating around two technologies, electrochlorination and ultra violet (UV) light. Mr Riggio notes that many of the ballast water companies are funded by investors, who thought they were investing in a safe market in 2012, due to ships being required to carry the equipment. Testing for the original IMO certificate would have cost $1m to $4m, he says. Then the USCG came up with a tougher standard. Testing for that standard would cost $4m to $10m. So the investors had to spend between $5m and $14m for two sets of testing, without necessarily selling many systems. Testing for IMOs G8 standards means more expenditure. There is some overlap with the USCG standard, but not a complete overlap. So it is possible that your USCG test gets you through G8, but not a certainty, he said. Each test round takes 18 to 36 months to get done. The restrictions on travel during spring due to coronavirus makes it harder to meet the October deadline. Hazardous classification Tanker companies, unlike many other types of shipping, additionally need systems which have Ex certification (classified as safe for use in hazardous areas), since the vessel is carrying fuels which can catch fire. Ballast water systems have two different explosion concerns. The first is that cargo fuel tanks are usually next to ballast water tanks. There are concerns that the steel between the tanks may corrode, so fuel enters the ballast water. So ballast water can potentially contain explosive fuels. The second concern is that ballast water systems are typically placed in hazardous environments, such as the deck or pump room, and so there cannot be any spark from the equipment in case it ignites any explosive gases in the surrounding air. So there are concerns about both the internals and externals of the system. Being explosion proof for both at the same time can make the system design very challenging. To add to the potential hazard, electro chlorination (EC) systems, which are popular with tanker operators, release small amounts of hydrogen, which is itself hazardous. It is not that simple to get a ballast water treatment system Ex certified, he says. USCG standards The US Coastguard standards, required for vessels visiting US ports, differ to the IMO standards in that they require microbes to be killed, not just sterilised. Whether ultraviolet light kills microbes, or just sterilises them so they cannot reproduce, depends on the power of the lamp. You typically need three times more power to kill microbes, Mr Riggio says. For a mid-sized tanker, it could mean 500 KW to a megawatt of power. Having generators onboard which can make this much power is not very popular in an age where companies are trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And the power you need also depends on how much sediment is in the water, which impedes the power of the light through the water. If the vessel has taken on ballast in a river, it is likely to have much more sediment. Sediment in ballast water is actually usually less of an issue for tanker operators than for operators of other types of vessels, because tankers do not typically go up rivers much, because they need a deep draft. Companies using UV for ballast water systems on tankers in the US will typically use three methods to make it work increasing the power, reducing the water flow, and removing sediment from the water (or only using ballast water with a low level of sediment), Mr Riggio says. EC vs UV systems The tanker market seems to be consolidating around two methods for handling microbes - electro chlorination (EC) and ultraviolet (UV), Mr Riggio says. Tankers generally have much larger volumes of ballast water than other types of ship, which pushes them to a certain class of systems. An advantage of EC systems is that the power requirement is usually lower 500KW to 700KW for a Suezmax or VLCC, compared to 2MW for UV, he says. The enormous UV power requirements are largely due to the US Coastguard requirements described above. An advantage of UV systems is that they are much simpler to operate, not requiring any specialist knowledge, Mr Riggio says. Its a very simple process. It really doesnt add much to the crews burden if designed properly. Electro chlorination systems mean handling chemicals. The electrical power in salt water causes sodium chloride (salt) to react with water to form sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and hydrogen. The hydrogen has to be vented off, and the sodium hypochlorite kills the microbes. These chemicals can gradually wear down cargo tank coatings, the gaskets, valves and seals, he says. There are risks of killing other organisms around. The chlorine in the water needs to be continually measured using a Total Residual Oxidants sensor, to ensure it is not so high as to itself be a pollutant in the water going overboard. Mr Riggio says that this sensor can be very finicky. An EC system is a completely unique piece of equipment on the ship, he says. A further weakness of chlorination systems is that they are sometimes not so good at adjusting to changing flow rates, Mr Riggio says. This is very important for tanker operators to understand. The vessel will typically be pumping in oil and pumping out ballast water at the same time. The oil and ballast water go in different tanks, but the flows need to be matched to ensure the vessel is stable but not overloaded. If the ballast water is not treated fast enough, there may be a need to slow down oil pumping. You end up trying to call the port, slow down the pumps. Thats sometimes more or less possible, but its a delicate balance that crews have to be careful about, he says. Saying the evidence shows three white suspects "chased, hunted down and ultimately executed" Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, a prosecutor on Thursday laid out in detail how the 25-year-old black victim tried to run for his life before he was struck by a vehicle and called a racial slur by one of the suspects after being gunned down. The preliminary hearing for Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan unfolded with graphic details describing the last moments of Arbery's life. At one point, testimony from the lead investigator in the case became so graphic Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper, walked out of the courtroom. After hearing hours of evidence from the prosecution, Glynn County Chief Magistrate Judge Wallace E. Harrell rejected requests from the defendants' attorneys to dismiss the charges. Harrell ordered the McMichaels and Bryan to stand trial on the charges in superior court. Travis and Gregory McMichael were arrested on May 8, about three months after the killing, and charged with murder and aggravated assault. Bryan, 50, who claimed through his attorney in media interviews that he had no involvement in the incident, was arrested on May 22 and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. All three have pleaded not guilty. Thursday's hearing occurred at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Georgia. Present in the courtroom was Gregory McMichael, 64, a former Georgia police officer, and Travis McMichael, 34. Bryan was not in the courtroom during the hearing. PHOTO: Wanda Cooper, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, and attorney Lee Merritt leave the Glynn County Courthouse on June 4, 2020 in Brunswick, Ga. Gregory and Travis McMichael are charged in the Feb. 23 fatal shooting of Arbery. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) "We're here essentially on behalf of the citizens of Glenn County to talk about the fatal shooting of the Feb. 23 incident involving victim Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased, hunted down and ultimately executed we believe the evidence will show based on what's about to be presented to the court," said Jesse Evans, an assistant district attorney for the Cobb County District Attorney's Office, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case. Story continues The only witness called on Thursday was Richard Dial, a special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who cited video and direct statements from the suspects in the presentation of the case to the court. Under direct examination from Evans, Dial said that Bryan told investigators that during the fatal confrontation, he heard Travis McMichael, who allegedly fired the three shots that killed Arbery, yell a racial slur to the victim as he lay dying on the ground. PHOTO: Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot and killed in Brunswick, Ga., on Feb. 23, 2020, is seen in an undated photo provided by Marcus Arbery. (Handout via Reuters) Dial said that the investigation uncovered other instances in which Travis McMichael used racial slurs in social media posts and in text messages to describe black people. Arbery was out for an afternoon jog through the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick when he stopped and went into a house under construction, Dial said. He said a surveillance video showed Arbery, who lived in another neighborhood of Brunswick, inside the unsecured house looking around, possibly for a water source and then leaving. MORE: 'I have a sense of hope,' Ahmaud Arbery's mother says of arrests in son's slaying Dial said Arbery continued jogging past the McMichaels' home, where Gregory McMichael, who was in front of his residence working on his boat, spotted him and believed he matched the description of a burglary suspect seen on a surveillance video posted online by his neighborhood association. The investigator said Gregory McMichael armed himself with a .357 Magnum revolver, which had been issued to him when he worked for the Glynn County Police Department, and called his son, who armed himself with a pump-action shotgun. Dial said the father and son got into a pickup truck and chased after Arbery, initially stopping him in front of Bryan's home in the same neighborhood. PHOTO: Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was allegedly shot and killed by a father and son while jogging in Georgia. (Courtesy Civil Rights Attorney S. Lee Merritt) The McMichaels ordered Arbery to stop, but the victim kept running, Dial said. The father and son chased after him in their truck as Arbery tried to evade them, Dial said. MORE: Authorities investigate new video showing Ahmaud Arbery just prior to shooting Bryan also got into his vehicle and attempted to use it to block Arbery's path several times, Dial said. He said Bryan allegedly struck Arbery during the pursuit hard enough that it left a dent in his vehicle. Eventually, Arbery found himself trapped between the McMichaels' truck and Bryan's vehicle, Dial said. He said Travis McMichael got out of the truck with his shotgun and that he and Arbery began to fight in the street. PHOTO: Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, right, are pictured in photos released on May 7, 2020. (Glynn County Sheriff's Office) Part of the confrontation was caught on a cellphone video taken by Bryan. The footage showed the first shotgun blast hitting Arbery in the chest and showing Arbery's white T-shirt immediately soaked in blood. Arbery was shot two additional times, once in the upper left chest and in the right wrist. After being shot, Arbery attempted to run but collapsed and died at the scene. MORE: Timeline: Events leading up to the arrests of 3 men in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery In their closing arguments to Harrell, the suspects' defense attorneys asked that the charges be dismissed. Travis McMichael's attorney, Jason Sheffield, said his client only wanted to speak to Arbery about the burglaries in the neighborhood. "That escalated and Mr. Arbery attacked him in an aggressive way that caused Travis McMichael to fear for his safety," Sheffield said. Mr. Travis McMichael used self-defense when he was attacked by Mr. Arbery." PHOTO: TWilliam 'Roddie' Bryan Jr., seen in his booking photo. (Glynn County Sheriff's Office via AP) Franklin Hogue, Gregory McMichael's attorney, argued that his client should not be charged with murder since he didn't shoot Arbery. And Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, said his client did not know the McMichaels were allegedly "acting unlawful" when he saw them chasing Arbery and decided to help out. "He does, with all due respect, what any patriotic American citizen would have done under the same circumstance," Gough said of Bryan. The fact that Mr. Bryan does not know what's going on is his legal defense." Evans bristled at Gough's comments, describing them as "asinine assertions." "Any American would have picked up the phone and called 911, Evans said. As for Gregory and Travis McMichael's requests for charges to be dropped, he said, "The blood of that man is on two of these defendants hands." Evans added, "But for the actions of Gregory McMichael walking into this home and asking his son to arm-up with him, Ahmaud Arbery might very well be alive today." This report was featured in the Friday, June 5, 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. Ahmaud Arbery was struck by vehicle before he was shot dead; suspect yelled racial slur: Investigator originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Representative image Facebook and Instagram have unblocked the #sikh hashtag after nearly three months. The company said that it only became aware of the blocked hashtag earlier today after receiving feedback from the community. Facebook said that the hashtag was accidentally blocked as the result of a report in March that was inaccurately reviewed by its team. However, both Facebook and Instagram unblocked the hashtag soon after learning it was blocked. is now unblocked on Facebook. Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) June 3, 2020 Thanks for your patience today. We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams. Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) June 3, 2020 Users searching for posts tagged #sikh were greeted with error messages while the hashtag was blocked. The error messages were found as users tried to post about Operation Blue Star on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in the year 1984. It is unclear how the block came about or why it took the company so long to realise it. In a subsequent tweet, the social media giant said, We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams. Burma Soldiers and Civilian Die in Western Myanmar Booby Trap Myanmars military in northern Rakhine State. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy Naypyitaw A civilian and an unknown number of soldiers were killed and injured when the Arakan Army (AA) attacked by using remotely detonated mines to target a patrol outside Ponnagyun Township in northern Rakhine State on Tuesday morning, according to Myanmars military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun. Two mines detonated as the troops arrived at Kinchaung Bridge on the Yangon-Sittwe road, he said. Tatmadaw soldiers were walking along the road for security. Two civilians were passing on a motorbike when the blast happened, the spokesman told The Irrawaddy in reference to Myanmars military. A civilian, 35, was killed and another, 47, was injured, he said. He did not say how many soldiers were killed and injured. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services confirmed that troops were killed and injured. Previous mine blasts occurred in rural Ponnagyun and not so close to the town, said the townships Rakhine State lawmaker, U Aung Than Tin. The injured civilian was taken to Sittwe. I dont know who planted the mines, said U Aung Than Tin. The Tatmadaw blamed the AA, accusing the armed group of using increasingly powerful mines to cause greater destruction. They previously attacked the Rakhine State chief ministers convoy with remotely detonated mines. The Indian army informed Myanmars military and some Indian newspapers have also reported that the AA has received technical assistance in remote technology from technically advanced [forces], said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun. The spokesman claimed that the AA now has the technology to detonate mines by remote control, walkie-talkie and even Wi-Fi. The AA is yet to comment although it has claimed responsibility for previous mine attacks. When a lieutenant colonel and other ranks from Battalion 374 were killed in a mine attack in Rakhine States Kyauktaw Township in November last year, the AA claimed responsibility. Military analyst U Than Soe Naing said the AA has advanced technology because it is backed by another country. If it uses remotely detonated mines, the public will suffer more. It is a dangerous situation. The AA cant produce those mines. They must have been supplied from another country, said U Than Soe Naing. He said he was not surprised by the AAs remote technology as armed groups in northern Myanmar are already using shoulder-launched missiles. Some unexploded mines detected on the Yangon-Sittwe road are around 30cm wide and deep, suggesting the sizes are increasing, said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun. Civilian deaths and injuries are still being caused by landmines in northern Rakhine although neither Myanmars military nor the AA have claimed responsibility. Fifty-eight civilians stepped on landmines in northern Rakhine in 2019, and 19 of them died, according to a mine education group. Clashes between the two sides have escalated in northern Rakhine and Chin State after the government declared the AA a terrorist group in March. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Arakan Army Releases Civilians Seized in Raid on Myanmars Border Police Taang Armed Group Attacks Myanmar Military Convoy in Shan State Opening of the First Airport in Myanmars Chin State Delayed Amid COVID-19 A private jet descends before landing at the Pulkovo Airport, in Saint Petersburg By Maria Vasilyeva and Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) - Some private jet companies have seen a rise in demand from wealthy Russians who want to spend time in the West during the coronavirus crisis but who were unable to take commercial flights amid tight restrictions by airlines and governments. Passengers are heading for countries such as Britain and Cyprus where they own property, have residency rights, sometimes thanks to holding dual nationality, or have close relatives, according to industry sources. They are paying from 16,000-25,000 euros per flight, a fee that can cover up to 13 passengers, the sources added. "People are tired of lockdown living ... they are looking for ways to get out," said Aleksandr Osit, owner of the JETVIP broker company which says it has registered a surge in one-way Europe-bound flights in the last two months. The use of private aircraft when most airlines stopped flying is not illegal and not unique to Russia, with reports of Chinese flying home from the United States and Americans landing in elite domestic vacation spots. In March, there were 250 private jet round flights between Moscow and Europe, flight tracking data from 80 planes registered with Russian and European charter firms show, though the data did not specify how many people were on board each. Flights continued in April, albeit falling to 61 round trips that month despite Russia suspending regular and commercial charter flights to and from Russia with some exceptions and locking down Moscow, the epidemic's epicentre. The frequency of such flights rose to 107 between May 1-26. Three aviation sources said the number of Russians flying into the country in March outweighed those leaving at a time when Russia had a relatively low coronavirus count and European countries were reporting far greater numbers. That trend reversed over time, the three sources added, and more people are leaving Russia, which now has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, though with a relatively low official mortality rate. Story continues Jet Partners, which offers private jet flights, said it was experiencing an increase in requests for destinations in France, Spain, Cyprus, Britain and other European countries. "People believe that it is safer for them to be at their private residences abroad," said Margarita Lomakina, the company's commercial director. Stanislav Kruglov, an account manager with Vip Group Aero, said he had received dozens of requests from mid-April for flights to Vienna, Larnaca and Riga from individuals and families with children. The Sirius Aero private jet airline said prices for flights were 20-30 percent lower in April and May compared to the same period last year. Rosaviatsia, Russia's federal aviation industry, declined to comment on the patterns in private jet use. (Additional reporting by Rinat Sagdiev; Writing by Maria Vasilyeva/Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mike Collett-White) Taking the knee has become a political act in protests that have sometimes turned violent. Whether this is being done out of solidarity with a cause or out of fear, who can say? Protesters who insist they hate oppression publicly compel police and politicians to kneel. Ive heard it said that the kneeling is about healing the nation, even as the violent bear the nation away. Using a nontargeted mass-spectral approach, researchers identified the presence of chloro-perfluoro-polyether-carboxylate compounds (ClPFPECAs) in soils across the state of New Jersey. According to the new study, the previously unidentified chemicals - likely used as a substitute for highly toxic and environmentally persistent poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - provide insight into the nature of proprietary industrial chemicals in use, and for which their environmental impact and toxicity remain unknown. PFAS have been widely used in creating nonstick and waterproof coatings, including Teflon. Due to concerns surrounding their toxicity and environmental persistence, many chemical manufacturers agreed to work toward the elimination of PFAS's harmful underlying compounds, prompting the need to develop "safer" alternatives. However, little is known about the nature nor risks of next-generation PFAS substitutes, as most compounds are treated as confidential industry secrets. Nevertheless, environmental chemists have been seeking to describe their molecular formulas using nontargeted, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to identify chemical traces in the surrounding landscape. Using this approach, John Washington and colleagues evaluated soil samples from across New Jersey and detected the unexpected presence of ten different ClPFPECAs - at least three of which were identified in all samples, as well as in a sample from a site more than 400 kilometers away. Comparison of the ClPFPECA congeners discovered by Washington et al. with a similar compound identified in Italy suggest that the nearby chemical manufacturer, Solvay, was the source of the ClPFPECAs - where it is used as a PFAS alternative. Its widespread distribution throughout the northeast U.S. suggests atmospheric release and transportation. In a related Policy Forum, Steve Gold and Wendy Wagner evaluate chemical regulation regarding ClPFPECAs in the U.S. and Europe. Gold and Wagner illustrate key limitations and shortcomings in current regulatory programs that have led to a dearth of publicly available information concerning the risks of these compounds as well as the extent to which they're being managed. "The toxicological mysteries of ClPFPECAs - and thousands of other potentially toxic chemicals that are regulated (or perhaps not regulated) in ways that remain effectively inscrutable - suggest that we have a long way to do in designing effective and accountable chemical regulation, particularly in the United States," Gold and Wagner write. ### By Chimezie Anaso A Nigerian doctor Obinna Aniagboso, has said legalising abortion would help reduce unwanted pregnancies and risks associated with unsafe abortions. Aniagboso, an Obstetrics and Gynaecology expert at the Chukwuemeka Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Amaku said legalising abortion would drastically reduce mortality, morbidity and infertility amongst women. According to him, while awareness about family planning is about 80 per cent, its acceptance among the people is still as low as 20 per cent. The gynaecologist blamed the poor embrace of contraceptives, which he said was the most effective planning method, on religious belief systems, ignorance and fear of side effects. He said that withdrawal method and other natural methods used by many people often failed and were contributing immensely to unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortion and population surge. The use of contraceptives is very unpopular; only a few educated women do family planning, and funnily, lots of husbands advise their wives against it. We advocate the use of contraceptive as the most reliable method of spacing families and avoiding unplanned pregnancies. Some couples use withdrawal and natural methods that involve avoiding intercourse during the wifes fertile period, but these methods are prone to mistakes, he said. Aniagboso told NAN that the issue of unwanted pregnancies had increased the demand for abortion by the sexually active female population. According to him, stringent abortion law in Nigeria has denied these people expert services and left them at the mercy of quacks with its attendant dangers that include post-abortion sepsis, which could eventually cause infertility. The medical practitioner said that in spite of the legal limitation and societal disapproval for abortion in Nigeria, people still sought and accessed the services. He, therefore, advocated that the practice (abortion) be liberalised to help meet the prevailing social health challenges in the country. Related GODFREY Dr. Ken Trzaska has been named the sixth president of Lewis and Clark Community College. At a special meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, the L&C board of trustees unanimously approved a contract with Trzaksa for the new president at a special meeting Wednesday, June 3, via Zoom. The presidential search process has been a semester-long team effort to find the right fit, said L&C Board Chair David Heyen. We believe Dr. Trzaska is the team-oriented leader Lewis and Clark needs to move forward. L&C worked with The Pauly Group and a Presidential Search Committee composed of faculty, staff and community members to review applicants. Students, faculty, staff and community members had multiple opportunities to share their priorities for a new president and meet the three finalists, including Trzaska, via Zoom meetings in May. Trzaska will start his new role Sept. 21. His initial contract will run through June 30, 2024, with an annual salary of $205,000, in addition to a compensation package which includes paid leave, an 8.5 percent contribution to the State University Retirement System, employee and family health and dental insurance benefits, long-term disability and term life insurance. Trzaska is the successor to Dr. Dale Chapman, who served as the colleges fifth president from 1992-2020. As your next president, I am excited to be part of the next chapter in the story of Lewis and Clark, to promote and lead the balance of service to students, community, and our internal campus team in purposeful, inspiring and bold ways, Trzaska said. Lewis and Clark has a strong history of serving students and community at the highest levels. This is important to me, he said. I notice that the realities before us today require a new level of readiness and creativity for educational change and in how we embrace the ideas of educational accessibility and functionality for everyone. Community colleges are essential to this focus and charge. Trzaska comes to Lewis and Clark from Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas, where he has been president since 2015. His legacy there includes a $6 million capital campaign that funded two new facilities on campus and other strategic campus projects as well as the introduction of innovative student access models such as Blendflex courses, which aim at reducing barriers that interfere with attaining an education. He currently is president of the Community College Council of Presidents and co-chair of the System Council of Presidents. For more than 23 years, he has served in executive leadership and faculty roles at small, medium and large colleges and universities in urban, suburban and rural communities. He began his career in the corporate world in Hoffman Estates and began teaching English and working at a writing center at a community college in suburban Chicago. He occasionally speaks at colleges and organizations nationally and has published op-eds on community colleges in the Washington Post and The Hechinger Report. In 2019, Trzaska was recognized as a Man of Distinction and in April 2020 as Liberal Area Coalition for Families Community Champion in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield. An Eagle Scout, he received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America in 2018 for inclusive leadership and support of the local council. Other awards include Michigans annual Governors Connect award in 2014 for his work as co-founder of an Entrepreneurial Center for Innovation and Development. Trzaska earned a Doctor of Education in Education Policy and Organization Leadership from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His masters degree is in English from the College of St. Rose, and he earned an Institute for Educational Management Certification from Harvard Universitys College of Education and Harvard Program for College Presidents. He also has a Bachelor of Science in English from the State University of New York College at Brockport. South Jacksonville trustees will meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today in Village Hall, 301 Dewey Drive. Among the items on the agenda are approval of the fiscal year budget and approval of a rock and chip bid. Lenovo introduced an affordable tablet called M10 Plus back in March, but it was limited to the Chinese stores. Now the slate is hitting overseas markets, and the first country to see the global version is Australia. The retailer Bing Lee is offering the Lenovo M10 Plus in Gray for AUD349 ($240/215) and it can be collected immediately from a physical store, while delivery is between one and eight days, depending on location. The M10 Plus has a Helio P22T chipset and a 10.3 screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and 87% screen to body ratio. There are no buttons on the front, only the selfie camera which comes with an 8MP sensor, tucked in the top bezel. On the back, Lenovo has provided a single 13MP shooter, but no LED flash - that way youll be discouraged to be one of these monsters that take pictures with a tablet, instead of a smartphone. Lenovo Tab M10 Plus Initially launched with 4GB RAM and two storage versions, Australia gets the lesser - only 64GB, but there is a microSD card slot for up to 256GB more. Speaking about cards, you cant put an LTE SIM card in this M10 Plus - Bing Lee is only selling the Wi-Fi variant. Other specs include a 3.5mm audio jack, Android Pie, a 7,000mAh battery, and a USB-C port. There are also dual-sided speakers powered by Dolby Atmos and you can find pogo pins on the left-hand side for connecting accessories. Thanks for the tip! Source The IMF will also evaluate the 2015 Extended Fund Arrangement during the meeting. A meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board on the allocation of the first tranche for Ukraine under a new Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) is scheduled for June 9. The IMF will also evaluate the 2015 Extended Fund Arrangement during the meeting, as reported at the IMF Executive Board Calendar on June 3, 2020. Read alsoIMF's Stand-By Arrangement with Ukraine to be approved soon phone talk with Zelensky As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine's government expects the IMF to make a final decision by June 10 on the allocation of the first tranche for Ukraine under the new SBA. UNIAN memo. An IMF staff team led by Ivanna Vladkova Hollar concluded remote discussions with the Ukrainian authorities on May 21 and reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies for a new 18-month SBA. The new SBA, with a requested access of SDR 3.6 billion (equivalent to US$5 billion), aims to provide balance of payments and budget support to help the authorities address the effects of the COVID-19 shock, while consolidating achievements to date, and moving forward on important structural reforms to reduce key vulnerabilities. The National Bank of Ukraine predicts the first US$2 billion disbursement from the IMF will arrive in the second quarter of 2020. A man lights a candle at a banned vigil in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020, for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) What was supposed to be a banned event commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre became one of Hong Kongs most unifying vigils in 31 years, as the old themes of accountability for massacre victims merged with new demands for democracy and autonomy in the territory. Police had banned the annual vigil which usually draws more than 100,000 people to mourn the Chinese pro-democracy protesters killed by soldiers and tanks in Beijing on June 4, 1989 on grounds of public health, citing coronavirus concerns. They set up metal barricades around Victoria Park and mobilized 3,000 riot police officers to guard the city Thursday night. Anxiety was in the air, given the new national security legislation issued by fiat in Beijing last week and the passage in Hong Kongs legislature Thursday afternoon over the objections of pro-democracy legislators of a law criminalizing disrespect for China's national anthem. But when dusk fell, fears seemed to melt away as thousands of people streamed into Victoria Park, pushing the barricades over and turning them into benches, lighting candles and lifting cellphones alight with candle images as they sang pro-democracy songs in Mandarin and Cantonese. Similar scenes sprouted in other parts of the city at the same time, with hundreds of people lighting candles in parks, outside subway stations, on the streets and along the harbor in defiance of police orders. You cant run away, said a 23-year-old student who gave only his last name, Lau, and who was taking part in his first Tiananmen commemoration. If you dont come out now, you might not be able to come out ever again. A woman in Hong Kong's Victoria Park closes her eyes during an illegal commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) When the vigil was banned earlier this week, organizers called for flowers blossoming everywhere, a Chinese metaphor for a good thing spreading with no need for a leader. The number of people participating Thursday appeared to be fewer than in previous years, but they were spread around the city and seemed self-organized and more spontaneous than before. Story continues In Victoria Park, there was no central stage as in days past. People sat in masked clusters of twos and threes, spaced several feet apart, streaming democracy songs on phones and tablets. One group sat on a government sign that read: Observe the prohibition on group gatherings together, we fight the virus! The annual vigil, started by patriotic pro-democracy groups in the 1990s, had been shunned in the past by younger Hong Kongers who felt less connected with mainland China. The slogans for a democratic China and an end to one-party rule were often dismissed as irrelevant to Hong Kongs youth. But this year, increasing repression from Beijing has united two generations and disparate identities, forging fresh bonds between those whose lives pivoted in 1989 and those who werent even born at the time. We werent the generation to experience it, said Ersir, a protester in his 20s who asked that his last name not be used for safety's sake. Yet he came out to join the crowds in his neighborhood of Mong Kok. I came out because I thought the authoritarianism is too much, he said. We dont want to break the law, but the system has pushed us this far. We dont have a choice but to break the law. An attendee leaves a candle next to a sign that appeals to U.S. troops for help as Hong Kong marks the 31st anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square protests. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) A couple who gave only their surname, Yuen, said theyd been coming to the protests annually for at least 20 years. Theyd watched the massacre in central Beijing unfold on TV in 1989 and prepared to emigrate, selling their stocks and properties. But in the end, they didn't go. I am too captivated by this place," said the husband, 62. "Ill never be able to leave. On Thursday, he and his wife arrived two hours early and sat down inside the park as soon as the barricades were pushed down, they said. Hong Kong was their home, and they planned to protest the loss of their rights as long as they were there. We are supposed to have the right to assemble," he said. "Its particularly important this year, because we are telling the government we will not be intimidated. Mr. and Mrs. Yuen take part in the commemoration of the Tiananmen Square protest anniversary in Victoria Park, Hong Kong, on June 4, 2020. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) His wife, 58, agreed. Our outlook for Hong Kong is very bad. But we still have to do what we can. Do you only have kids if you know they will be successful people? No. You dont know the future. All we have is hope. As usual, there was a video message from the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of mainland Chinese women who advocate on behalf of their slain children; a series of democracy songs; and a moment of silence at 8:09 p.m., signifying 1989. Then as the silence ended, a rush of new protest slogans filled the air: National security law? No! Democracy? Now! Some of the younger protesters shouted, Hong Kong independence, the only way out! while the older ones cried, Democracy for China! Younger protesters, some with more radical slogans like "Hong Kong independence," joined the vigil on June 4, 2020. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) They all mixed together, then raised their candles in a sea of lights as they sang Glory to Hong Kong, an anthem penned during last years protests and often sung in defiance of the Chinese national anthem. The police were conspicuously absent, with just a small group recording everyone who walked through the park entrance. There was a brief scuffle between plainclothes officers and some protesters across the harbor in Mong Kok after the vigil ended, but things were otherwise peaceful. People in Hong Kong light candles in memory of slain Tiananmen Square protesters on June 4, 2020. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) Meanwhile, in Beijing, Tiananmen Square was quiet all day, with the few visitors on the sprawling plaza monitored by police and armored vehicles. Some members of Tiananmen Mothers visited their childrens graves but had to register their IDs in advance and were watched by roughly 40 plainclothes and uniformed police, according to Hong Kong media. Dissidents and activists on the mainland had been warned by state security to keep quiet on June 4, as usual, and many were taken on forced vacations trips accompanied by police to ensure they didnt hold any gatherings. Liu Jiacai, a former labor organizer and democracy activist from Hubei who has been imprisoned twice and often sent on vacation around June 4, said he would commemorate the day by fasting. It was the only feasible method of protest most mainlanders had left, he said. I can do this in any circumstance, even under their control. They keep asking me to eat, and I just say no, not today, Liu said. We will just quiet our hearts and reflect, after all these years, on everything weve done, and express pain and sorrow for those people who were lost. Another dissident based in Guangzhou who asked that his name be withheld said hed posted a single flower emoji on WeChat on June 3 at 11 p.m. Within an hour, state security police called his wife, threatening to come to their home unless they deleted it. He obeyed, then posted a blacked-out square instead. Its an image of darkness, he said. That was all they could express. A couple looks at a display that shows the timelines for the recent Hong Kong pro-democracy protests and the Tiananmen student uprisings at the June 4 museum in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) Earlier in the day, visitors filled Hong Kongs June 4 museum a small space usually aimed at teaching mainland Chinese visitors about the massacres history. This year it has hosted mostly young Hong Kongers. Amy Chan, 17, brought her brother Aaron, 10, for the first time. They browsed a special exhibit comparing the 1989 protests to Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement, complete with maps of Hong Kong and Beijing marking where protesters in each place had been shot, beaten or killed. June 4 is history, something we cant forget, said Amy. She worried that this was her last chance to visit the museum and that she might be punished by authorities for speaking about June 4 online or in person in the future because of the national security legislation. So she brought her little brother along while it was still possible. Children need to learn about this. Its not about whether it was gruesome, she said. He has the right to know what happened in society then. And I want him to understand that humans are entitled to basic human rights. People should be able to express what they think. Amy Chan and brother Aaron pose in front of a display at the June 4 museum in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, on June 4, 2020. (Laurel Chor / For The Times) They paused at an exhibit dedicated to Wang Nan, a high school student who was shot and killed in Tiananmen Square. His mother had donated the banner hed waved in the square, which said, The people support you, and the red motorcycle helmet hed been wearing when he was shot. Amy pointed out the bullet holes in the helmet. Im a little scared, her brother said. Im scared that a tank might crush me. But he also repeated what his sister had taught him: As long as we join forces with one heart, there is no need to be afraid. Times staff writer Su reported from Shanghai and special correspondent Chor from Hong Kong. SAN DIEGO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrew Jones, a longtime expert in financial and consulting services, has joined the Trucept Inc. (OTC-PINK:TREP) Board of Directors. Norman Tipton, CEO, said Jones will provide invaluable insights to the company's direction of marketing, accounting, HR and payroll services. "Andrew's expertise will serve Trucept well and we're excited to have him join the team," said Tipton. Jones graduated from Baylor Law School in 1999 and formed the Law Office of Andrew L. Jones, P.C. as a national outside counsel and commercial litigation practice representing a wide array of businesses including staffing companies, professional employer organizations (PEOs), human resources outsourcers and consultants, financial services providers, publishers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, trade and professional services providers, oil and gas, electricity and other energy companies, internet companies, business brokers, investors, and health care providers. Andrew previously served as the President of the North Dallas Bar Association from 2002 to 2003. About Trucept Inc. True solutions, today and tomorrow: Trucept Inc. helps organizations focus on growing their business. With a dedicated suite of powerful tools and services designed to put business owners in charge of running their businesses, Trucept tackles a variety of administrative needs and provides a host of value-added advantages. The company offers expert business services in the form of human resources and management, employee benefits, accounting support, safety and risk management, and marketing and technology services. For more information, call 858-798-1620 or visit http://truceptservices.com/. Disclaimer Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future revenues and sales projections, plans for future financing, the ability to meet operational milestones, marketing arrangements and plans, and shipments to and regulatory approvals in international markets. Such statements reflect management's current views, are based on certain assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events, or performance may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors, and will be dependent upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain additional financing that will allow us to continue our current and future operations and whether demand for our products and services in domestic and international markets will continue to expand. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard to these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events. Factors that may impact the Company's success are more fully disclosed in the Company's most recent public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its annual report on Form 10-K. SOURCE Trucept Inc. Related Links trucept.com The New Brunswick government says its still investigating Peterborough Coun. Stephen Wrights visit to the province during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the politician apologized for his actions earlier this week. The province launched the probe after The Examiner reported that Wright had travelled to New Brunswick last month. As part of its measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, New Brunswick prohibits non-essential travel and requires that anyone coming into the province self-isolate for 14 days. In an open letter issued Wednesday, Wright apologized for what he called his error in judgment in making the road trip. He characterized it as taking an overzealous approach to researching the restaurant sector in preparation for the eventual reopening of such businesses in Ontario. I take my role as a city councillor very seriously and do not consider that to provide me with any special privileges, Wright wrote. To (New Brunswick Premier Blaine) Higgs, and the residents of New Brunswick who have not been able to return home to be with their loved ones during to this unprecedented pandemic; I receive your criticisms and hope you accept my deepest regrets. The councillor had previously defended the trip, telling local media he needed to see firsthand how restaurants were handling the loosening of restrictions. Peterboroughs mayor, Diane Therrien, told The Examiner the trip was not authorized or paid for by the city. Neither Wright nor Therrien could immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Asked Wednesday if Wright could face removal from council, censure or expulsion from any committees, Therrien told The Examiner: Locally, there have been suggestions about how best to proceed and were looking into what the impact might be. A spokesperson for New Brunswicks Department of Public Safety declined to give details on the investigations or any possible penalty. New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has said the province would look into what Wright was asked at the border crossing and what answers he gave. Higgs, meanwhile, has said the province would look into what Wright was asked at the border crossing and what answers he gave. Wrights actions have also drawn a rebuke from the mayor of Saint John, N.B., who said the councillor should have respected the state of emergency. An elected official who encourages his own community to stay safe, while putting ours at risk, should have known better, Don Darling said on Twitter. Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef, the MP for Peterborough-Kawartha, is engaged to former Fredericton MP Matt DeCourcey. Monsef hasnt been to Fredericton since the pandemic closed some provincial borders. When asked on Wednesday night what she thought of Wrights travels to New Brunswick, she said she thinks public health officials have been very clear about the guidelines we need to follow. I encourage everyone to follow public health guidelines and stay at home. with files from Examiner staff writer Joelle Kovach WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the Trump administration's recent "threats to impose his dangerous and callous will" on protesters in the District of Columbia underscores the need for a congressional vote on D.C. statehood before the end of the year. Hoyer, D-Md., initially promised to bring statehood legislation up for a floor vote before the summer, but the coronavirus pandemic altered the House schedule, leaving little time for other priorities. On Wednesday, with protests of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody captivating Washington and much of the nation, he clarified that a vote would still happen. "President Trump's behavior in the District of Columbia in recent days . . . has underscored in dramatic terms the urgency of giving the District the same constitutional rights and authorities that the nation's 50 states have had since 1789," he said in a statement. After the initial days of demonstrations in the nation's capital, which were mostly peaceful but included looting, the Trump administration floated the idea of taking control of D.C. police, city officials confirmed this week. Attorney General William Barr ordered the clearing of streets near the White House, leading to the use of smoke canisters, riot shields and projectiles against the gathered crowds. And the president activated the D.C. National Guard, which unlike guards in all 50 states and three territories is always under federal control. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has pushed back against the prospect of a takeover, telling reporters on multiple days this week that the possibility shows the importance of statehood and full self-governance for the city of more than 700,000 residents. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s Democratic nonvoting representative in Congress, said Hoyer's statement sends a strong message about that cause. "What we see happening with respect to these demonstrations would certainly be different if D.C. were a state," she said in an interview. "We don't see federal officials trying to take over what is happening in [neighboring] states." Hoyer was one of several lawmakers to link the cause of statehood to the federal response to the protests in the nation's capital. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, tweeted "D.C. statehood," to which Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., replied, "Now." The statehood bill, introduced by Norton, would shrink the seat of the federal government to a two-square-mile enclave, encompassing the White House, Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court and other federal buildings. The rest of D.C. would become known as the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. Residents would elect two senators and a representative to Congress. The bill, which has more than 200 co-sponsors in the House, probably would pass, but it could put moderate Democrats in a tough spot before the November election, forcing them to vote on a bill that Republicans see as a Democratic effort to expand their ranks in the Senate. Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have said that as long as Republicans are in control of the Senate, the bill will not get a vote there. The last time the House held a vote on statehood in 1993, it failed in a 277-to-153 vote, with support from 60% of Democrats and one Republican. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Benjamin Legendre (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France Thu, June 4, 2020 08:30 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbf5116 2 World Rwanda,genocide,Felicien-Kabuga Free When Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga was arrested at his home on the outskirts of Paris in mid-May, it marked an abrupt end to a quarter of a century on the run. Without the coronavirus pandemic, which forced his children out of the shadows to help the octogenarian, the man with a five-million-dollar bounty on his head might never have been found. At dawn on May 16, French police entered a modern five-storey apartment block in the eastern Paris suburb of Asnieres-sur-Seine. On the third floor, they broke down the door and burst in to find one of the suspect's sons, Donatien Nshimyumuremyi. Next to him was an elderly man with a scar on his neck - an identifiable feature of Felicien Kabuga. A DNA test confirmed they had detained the man accused of financing the 1994 genocide during which 800,000 people were slaughtered over 100 days. The businessman had been living in France under a false name for at least four years, said a source close to the case who asked not to be named. Kabuga, who officials say is 84 but proclaims to be 87, was taken to hospital several times between 2016 and 2019. He was treated under the name Antoine Tounga, assisted by his daughter who served as his interpreter. Children's help Kabuga's children helped him repeatedly during his time on the run, but it is through them that French, Belgian and British police eventually tracked him down. European police forces lost his trace in 2007, when they failed to arrest him in Germany where he was treated for a throat tumor. When Kabuga's wife Josephine Mukazitoni died ten years later in Belgium, investigators closely watched the funeral. But he didn't show up. "Several times we had leads about his presence in France. We tried to arrest him in Paris on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago, but without any success," a police source who used to work on the case told AFP. But in March 2020, the French police received another lead. According to their British colleagues, Kabuga's daughter, who lives in London, was in touch with him and regularly visited a Parisian suburb. Using the daughter's GPS location, the police tracked her movements between the UK and France at the height of the coronavirus pandemic when much of Europe was in lockdown. Several weeks later, the suspect's flat was identified through the matching of the daughter's GPS data with that of her brothers and sisters who also regularly visited. "His dependency and the lockdown forced his children to reveal themselves," said a person with knowledge of the case, who requested anonymity. Protection money Kabuga's children weren't his only helpers. Once one of Rwanda's richest men, his fortune appears to have helped him buy his protection. The organization Rwandan Community of France (CRF) has asked prosecutors to open an investigation to identify those who assisted him whilst he was on the run. His flight from justice began in July 1994, when he reached Switzerland. Deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, known then as Zaire, he moved on to Kenya. Kabuga was indicted in 1997 by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on seven counts, including genocide. Between 1997 and 2006, he avoided at least three arrest attempts. In 2002, the American government published a photograph of Kabuga in the Kenyan press, offering a five-million-dollar reward for any information leading to his arrest. After Kabuga's treatment in a German hospital in 2007, the US believed he had returned to Kenya. Relations between the two countries turned sour as the US accused Kenya of refusing to cooperate. But it now appears possible that Kabuga never returned to Africa after his operation in Germany. Kabuga is expected to stand trial at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) in Tanzania, after a French appeals court gave its green light for his extradition on Wednesday. Thousands of young people in Hong Kong ignored a police ban and gathered to observe the thirty-first anniversary of the Chinese militarys attack on democracy activists in central Beijing. The demonstrators pushed through barriers to hold a candlelight vigil in Hong Kongs Victoria Park. The vigil honored those killed and injured in the 1989 military action in Beijings Tiananmen Square area. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed when tanks and troops moved into Tiananmen Square in central Beijing. The action crushed student-led protests there which also had spread to other cities and appeared a threat to the rule of Chinas Communist Party. Hong Kongers have marked the day freely for 30 years. This year, city officials banned observances for the first time. The government in Beijing has hardened its position after months of protests in Hong Kong last year. Thousands protested a bill that would have permitted Hong Kongers accused of crimes to be sent to mainland China for trial. That bill was withdrawn; but last month, Chinas National Assembly approved a plan to enforce national security laws in the city. Many countries, including the United States and Britain, Hong Kongs former ruler, have criticized the plan. On Thursday, Hong Kongs legislature approved a law that makes it a crime to show disrespect for Chinas national anthem. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China organizes the yearly vigil. The chairman of the group Lee Cheuk-yan called on people to observe the anniversary Thursday night. Lee led a group of about 15 members in a candlelight observance around Victoria Park shouting, Stand with Hong Kong. In the Mongkok area of Kowloon, large crowds also marked the anniversary. But when some protesters tried to block a road, police quickly made arrests. On Twitter, Hong Kong police said that protesters in black clothing were blocking roads in Mongkok. Police are now making arrests, the tweet read. Police urged people not to gather in groups because of the coronavirus. In a separate Facebook message, police said the situation in Mongkok was dangerous, and that they used the minimum force. After the vigil in Victoria Park, groups of protesters dressed in black carried flags that said, Liberate Hong, Revolution of our times and Hong Kong Independence. Thirty-one years later Beijings Tiananmen Square was quiet and empty on Thursday. Police in military vehicles guarded the huge space. Rights groups say that around the anniversary date, dissidents are usually placed under house arrest and their communications are cut. Wuer Kaixi is a former student leader of the Tiananmen protests 31 years ago. He said the Hong Kong and Chinese governments do not want to see candlelight vigils in Victoria Park. He told the Associated Press, The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson defended the governments actions all those years ago. Zhao Lijian said, The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance of the late 1980s. He said Chinas policies have won the support of the Chinese people. Im Mario Ritter, Jr. Zen Soo and Ken Moritsugu reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story vigil n. an event when a person or group stays in a place quietly, waits, prays and observes minimum adj. the least possible conclusion n. a final decision or judgement disturbance n. something that stops the usual progression of things JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (" FNF ") (NYSE: FNF) today announced the final results of the elections made by former shareholders of FGL Holdings (" F&G ") regarding the form of merger consideration they wished to receive in connection with FNF's acquisition of F&G pursuant to that certain merger agreement by and among FNF, F&G, F I Corp. and F II Corp. (the "merger agreement"), which closed on June 1, 2020. As previously announced, F&G shareholders were able to elect to receive, without interest and subject to any required withholding of taxes, (i) $12.50 in cash (the "cash consideration") or (ii) 0.2558 shares of FNF common stock (the "stock consideration") per F&G share. All elections for cash consideration and stock consideration were subject to potential proration and adjustment as set forth in the merger agreement and election materials. The greater the oversubscription of the stock election, the fewer shares and more cash a F&G shareholder making the stock election would receive. Reciprocally, the greater the oversubscription of the cash election, the less cash and more FNF common stock a F&G shareholder making the cash election would receive. Such procedures were designed to ensure that the aggregate amount of cash consideration did not exceed $1,471,936,485, in an effort to ensure that the transaction was treated as a "reorganization" within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As previously announced, the deadline for making this election was 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 (the "election deadline") The final election results were: Holders of 176,352,291 F&G ordinary shares, or approximately 82.22% of the outstanding F&G ordinary shares, elected to receive the cash consideration (the "cash election shares"). Holders of 3,488,854 F&G ordinary shares, or approximately 1.63% of the outstanding F&G ordinary shares, elected to receive the stock consideration (the "stock election shares"). Holders of 34,649,842 F&G ordinary shares (including 12,000,000 F&G ordinary shares with respect to which dissenters' rights have been asserted on a preliminary basis under Cayman law), or approximately 16.15 % of the outstanding shares of F&G ordinary shares, did not make a valid election (the "non-election shares"). In accordance with the proration and adjustment procedures of the merger agreement, because there was an oversubscription of the cash election: Holders of F&G ordinary shares that validly elected to receive stock consideration in the merger will receive, for each F&G ordinary share for which such election was made, 0.2558 shares of FNF common stock; Holders of F&G ordinary shares that did not make a valid election (other than such shares with respect to which dissenters' rights have been asserted on a preliminary basis under Cayman law) will receive, for each F&G ordinary share held by such stockholder, 0.2558 shares of FNF common stock; and Holders of F&G ordinary shares that validly elected to receive cash consideration in the merger will receive, for each F&G ordinary share for which such election was made, a combination of cash consideration and stock consideration based on a final proration factor of 0.667723490. As a result, the shares held by cash-electing shareholders will be exchanged for $1,471,936,450.00 in cash and an aggregate of 14,988,872 shares of FNF common stock. About Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. FNF is the nation's largest title insurance company through its title insurance underwriters - Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title, Alamo Title and National Title of New York - that collectively issue more title insurance policies than any other title company in the United States. More information about FNF can be found at fnf.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements "Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains, and certain oral statements made by our representatives from time to time may contain, forward-looking statements relating to FNF, including statements relating to the proposed transaction and related matters. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of FNF, that could cause actual results, events and developments to differ materially from those set forth in, or implied by, such statements. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the management of FNF. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "seeks," "estimates," "projects," "may," "will," "could," "might," or "continues" or similar expressions. Factors that could cause actual results, events and developments to differ include, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; (2) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against FNF following the announcement of the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated therein; (3) the risk that the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement disrupt current plans and operations of FNF as a result of the announcement thereof; (4) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the management of FNF to grow and manage its business profitably and to retain its key employees; (5) costs related to the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement; (6) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (7) the risk that the mergers may not be treated as a single integrated transaction that qualifies as a "reorganization" under Section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in which case the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement would be treated as a taxable sale by U.S. Holders of their F&G shares in exchange for the merger consideration; (8) adverse legal and regulatory developments or determinations or adverse changes in, or interpretations of, U.S. or other foreign laws, rules or regulations, including tax laws, rules and regulations, that could delay or prevent completion of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, cause the terms of such transactions to be modified or change the anticipated tax consequences of such transactions; (9) the possibility that FNF may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors, as well as the impact on the business, operations, results of operations and trading prices of the shares of FNF arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak; (10) risks that any of the closing conditions to the proposed merger may not be satisfied in a timely manner; (11) the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully, that such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected or that the expected benefits of the acquisition will not be realized and (12) other risks and uncertainties identified in FNF's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC "). FNF cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. FNF does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, subject to applicable law. The information contained in any website referenced herein is not, and shall not be deemed to be, part of or incorporated into this press release. All forward-looking statements described herein are qualified by these cautionary statements and there can be no assurance that the actual results, events or developments referenced herein will occur or be realized. FNF does not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results, except as required by law. Additional Information about the Transaction and Where to Find It This press release relates to a proposed transaction between F&G and FNF, which is the subject of a registration statement and relevant solicitation materials filed by FNF with the SEC. In connection with the proposed transaction, FNF has filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 that includes a proxy statement of F&G and a prospectus of FNF, as well as other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction. F&G commenced mailing of the definitive proxy statement to F&G's shareholders on April 30, 2020. This press release is not a substitute for the registration statement, the definitive proxy statement and relevant solicitation materials that FNF has or may file with the SEC or any other documents which FNF may send to its shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders are urged to carefully and entirely read the registration statement and relevant solicitation materials and all other relevant documents, as well as any amendments or supplements to these documents, if and when they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction and related matters. These documents will be available at no charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In addition, documents will also be available for free from FNF by contacting Jamie Lillis, Managing Director, Solebury Trout, (203)-428-3223, [email protected]. FNF-G SOURCE Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Related Links http://www.fnf.com Police across the United States are using a variety of weapons on protesters as demonstrations against the police killing of George Floyd intensify. Often described as non-lethal, these weapons include tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. They have sometimes seriously injured protesters. TEAR GAS: Tear gas has been widely and frequently used by police to disperse protesters. CS or CN gas are chemical compound powders that spray from canisters. They produce a burning sensation in the eyes and mouth that incapacitates. PEPPER SPRAY AND PEPPER BALLS Police have shot protesters with pepper spray both from handheld devices and projectiles. While pepper spray is chemically distinct from tear gas, it produces similar effects: burning and watering of the eyes and skin. Police have also fired pepper balls, small projectiles containing chemical irritants. Such projectiles can contain PAVA spray, an irritant similar to pepper spray, as well as CS gas. The balls can be shot from launchers or modified paintball guns. FLASHBANGS: Police have thrown flashbang grenades into crowds, which explode with bright light and sound in order to stun and disorient demonstrators. RUBBER AND PLASTIC BULLETS: Protesters have also been hit by a variety of rubber, plastic, and sponger bullets. Reuters journalists in Minneapolis were shot by police with 40mm hard plastic projectiles during a protest on Saturday. In Los Angeles, police have used rubber projectiles, and Mayor Eric Garcetti has said the police department will minimize their use going forward. A 2017 survey published by the British Medical Journal found that injuries from such kinetic impact projectiles caused death in 2.7% of cases. STING BALL GRENADES: Protesters have reported police using sting ball grenades, which upon explosion spray the surrounding area with rubber pellets. In addition to the rubber balls, the grenades can contain chemical agents. WOODEN BULLETS: Protesters in Columbus, Ohio reported having been shot with wooden bullets by police forces. Images online showed wooden dowel-shaped rods sliced into small, bullet-sized projectiles. The Columbus Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. Pipeline 4 June 2020 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announces the signing of a franchise agreement with Westmont Hospitality Group and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. ("Oaktree"), for a captivating property in the heart of Rome. A multi-million-euro investment is behind IHG's plans to open InterContinental Rome in 2022, marking a welcome sign of confidence in the Italian tourism industry at this challenging time. The luxury hotel will be set on the iconic Via Veneto, in the Ludovisi area of the city, close to the Villa Borghese. The existing property - which includes 160 rooms and suites, a restaurant, bar, spa and public areas - will be restored to create a sense of discreet, modern luxury for visitors and locals alike. Designed in the early 1900s by architect Carlo Busiri Vici in the neo-renaissance style, the palazzo building was originally home to ambassadors staying in Rome, opening as a hotel in 1993. Guests will benefit from its proximity to the city's wealth of art and history, thanks to a prime position less than a kilometre walk from the Galleria Borghese, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. The hotel can be easily reached from Rome's Ciampino or Fiumicino international airports and is less than 10 minutes from the city's main rail station. IHG joins a strong consortium including the US-based fund, Oaktree, Westmont Hospitality Group, strategic investment partner and operator, and UniCredit S.p.A, the project's senior lending bank. The project is held by a newly established real estate investment fund managed by Milan-based Castello SGR, one of Italy's premier real estate management companies. Celebrated Indian filmmaker Basu Chatterjee passed away on 4 June 2020. Yesteryear's actress Bindiya Goswami exclusively speaks to FilmiBeat about the late director and how she got the girl-next-door tag with Basuda's films. The actress, who did four films with Basu Chatterjee, shares her experience of working with the filmmaker. In her words.... "I have done four films with him and aaj ki lingo mein bole toh he was the coolest director. He never put any pressure on his actors, whether it was Amol Palekar, Rakesh Roshan or me. He was easy to work with. My journey with him was enriching. Like JP Dutta puts it, 'I was like the girl next door because of the films I did with Basuda'. And it was because of his films that I got the tag of girl next door. I worked with him during the impressionable years of my career and it was very nice. Basuda ke set pe kaam shanti se ho jaata tha aur pata bhi nahi chalta that film kab ban gayee. I am really honoured to have done four films with him including Prem Vivah, Khatta Meetha and Hamari Bahu Alka. I am glad that two of his films are in the top 100 best films in cinema. I miss him dearly, but I am happy that I met him a couple of years ago for Amol Palekar's 70th birthday. Amol had come down from Pune and all of us, including Amol, Zarina Wahab and Vidya Sinha went and met him. He wasn't keeping well and did not speak much, but he was really happy to see all of us. He never controlled his actors and just let us act. After the second assistant read out the scene to us, he would tell us to do it our way and that is probably the reason you could see us at our natural best, whether it was in Hamari Bahu Alka or Khatta Meetha. Basu Chatterjee's films had an instant connect with the middle-class, which is why his cinema was understood and loved by all. I am blessed to have worked with him. I also had the honour of working with his guru Hrishikesh Mukherjee. And what Basuda inherited from Hrishida was his simplicity, which reflected in his cinema and story-telling. Basuda was not aggressive on the set, but he always had a handkerchief with him. I remember an instance while shooting for Hamari Bahu Alka at the Mayor's Bungalow. After he said cut to a scene being shot with Uptal Dutt, Rakesh Roshan, Sudha Shivpuri and me, we turned around and saw him chewing the corner of his handkerchief, which was an indication of the stress he was going through! Since I have worked in quite a few of his films, I once asked Basuda, why does he keep casting me in his films? He just said, "You fit into my cinema, that's all." I am glad Rakesh Roshan and I had the honour of handing him the Lifetime Achievement Award to him by IIFA. Rest in Peace, Basuda!" As told to FilmiBeat. ALSO READ: Amitabh Bachchan Remembers Basu Chatterjee: A Quiet, Soft Spoken And Gentle Human Being ALSO READ: Chhoti Si Baat And Byomkesh Bakshi Director Basu Chatterjee Passes Away TORONTO, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) (CAR-UN.TO) announced today that it has agreed to prepay the buyout of eight operating leases (8 Lease Buyouts) for eight properties in Toronto, which are expected to close by June 30, 2020. The properties are located at 88 Isabella Avenue, 30 Livonia Place, 500 Murray Ross Parkway, 10 San Romanoway, 411 Duplex Avenue, 77 Huntley Street and 33 Orchardview Boulevard. CAPREIT has executed binding agreements for these Operating Lease Buyouts, other than for the one located at 33 Orchard View Boulevard, which remains conditional but is expected to close. CAPREIT previously closed the early buyout of three of its operating leases in Toronto located at 20 Shallmar Avenue, 124 Broadway Avenue and 111 Davisville Avenue (together with the 8 Lease Buyouts, the Operating Lease Buyouts). When completed, CAPREIT will have successfully converted eleven of its fifteen operating lease properties to traditional fee simple ownership interests. The aggregate purchase price for the Operating Lease Buyouts is approximately $154 million, representing a 29% discount to the aggregate purchase price for the buyouts set out in the respective operating leases, which buyouts would have been exercisable beginning in 2024. The Operating Lease Buyouts are expected to be financed by a draw on CAPREITs Acquisition and Operating Facility. CAPREIT expects to replace the draw with mortgage financing in the near-term. In addition, the vendors of the 8 Lease Buyouts have the right to elect to receive Class B LP units in CAPREIT Limited Partnership (Class B LP Units) for all or part of the proceeds. The Class B LP Units, which are exchangeable into CAPREIT trust units on a 1-for-1 basis, will be issued at an agreed upon price of $48.00 per Class B LP Unit. CAPREIT estimates that the Operating Lease Buyouts will result in an increase in fair market value in excess of approximately $300 million, which, after deducting the cost of prepaying the Operating Lease Buyouts, represents a net fair value gain of over $150 million, of which $130 million has been previously recognized by CAPREIT. The Operating Lease Buyouts are expected to provide CAPREIT with significant additional financing capacity due to the anticipated increase in fair market value of the eleven properties, the current low leverage on these properties, as well as the elimination of lending restrictions applicable to the operating lease structure. CAPREIT expects that the fee simple properties could have incremental mortgage capacity of over $500 million, above the amount of mortgages currently outstanding on the properties. Story continues The impact of the cost of the Operating Lease Buyouts on CAPREITs NFFO per unit is expected to be marginally dilutive, due to the low cost of our Acquisition and Operating Facility and ultimately long-term mortgage financing, as well as the number of Class B LP Units that are expected to be issued. Over the course of the next few years, CAPREIT will evaluate prepaying the buyouts on its remaining four operating leases, which have contractual buyout periods commencing between 2024 and 2028. The acquisition of fee simple interests in these premium Toronto apartment properties adds material incremental financial capacity, provides meaningful NAV accretion, unlocks potential for accretive development opportunities, and simplifies CAPREITs balance sheet, commented Mark Kenney, President and CEO. ABOUT CAPREIT CAPREIT is one of Canadas largest real estate investment trusts. CAPREIT owns approximately 56,800 suites and sites, including townhomes and manufactured housing sites, in Canada and, indirectly through its investment in ERES, approximately 5,600 suites in the Netherlands. CAPREIT manages approximately 60,900 of its own suites and sites in Canada and the Netherlands, and additionally, approximately 3,700 suites in Ireland. Since its Initial Public Offering in May 1997, CAPREIT has grown monthly cash distributions per Unit by 93%. For more information about CAPREIT, its business and its investment highlights, please refer to our website at www.caprent.com or www.capreit.net and our public disclosure at www.sedar.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS All statements in this press release that do not relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements. These statements represent CAPREIT's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could result in actual results differing materially from these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in regulatory filings that can be obtained on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For more information, please contact: Owens says she held back on releasing this video for several days due to the emotional environment surrounding the George Floyd murder and the left-wing riots. Black America has plenty of real heroes who are upstanding, successful, non-violent individuals. Owens asks why black America cant honor its moral, ethical and law-abiding heroes instead of glorifying the lowest low-life scraped from the bottom of the heap of humanity. While explaining that she does not in any way support the actions of the arresting officers who killed George Floyd, Candace Owens says that she also doesnt support the black community making heroes out of its lowest criminals who are despicable human beings. No other race, she explains, chooses its most vile criminals and tries to transform them into heroes through media lies and propaganda. Only the black community does that, and the practice needs to stop, she says. The lying corporate-controlled media doesnt tell the public anything negative about George Floyd because he has to be shaped into a cultural hero in order to support the mass rioting now taking place across the country. So the media withholds the real facts about Floyd, including the fact that he was high on two different drugs (including fentanyl) at the time of his arrest. ( Natural News ) Candace Owens, one of the most elucidating voices in black America, has declared she does not support George Floyd, whom she describes as a repeat felony criminal who carried out a multitude of violent crimes, including threatening a pregnant woman with a gun held to her torso. Floyd was sentenced to five years in prison for that armed robbery crime. About the author: Mike Adams (aka the Health Ranger) is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com called Food Forensics), an environmental scientist, a patent holder for a cesium radioactive isotope elimination invention, a multiple award winner for outstanding journalism, a science news publisher and influential commentator on topics ranging from science and medicine to culture and politics. Follow his videos, podcasts, websites and science projects at the links below. Mike Adams serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs. There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation. Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation. He has also achieved numerous laboratory breakthroughs in the programming of automated liquid handling robots for sample preparation and external standards prep. The U.S. patent office has awarded Mike Adams patent NO. US 9526751 B2 for the invention of Cesium Eliminator, a lifesaving invention that removes up to 95% of radioactive cesium from the human digestive tract. Adams has pledged to donate full patent licensing rights to any state or national government that needs to manufacture the product to save human lives in the aftermath of a nuclear accident, disaster, act of war or act of terrorism. He has also stockpiled 10,000 kg of raw material to manufacture Cesium Eliminator in a Texas warehouse, and plans to donate the finished product to help save lives in Texas when the next nuclear event occurs. No independent scientist in the world has done more research on the removal of radioactive elements from the human digestive tract. Adams is a person of color whose ancestors include Africans and American Indians. He is of Native American heritage, which he credits as inspiring his Health Ranger passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution. Adams is the author of the worlds first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books. In his laboratory research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten. Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder, and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products. In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue, a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories. With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software. Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com, a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies. Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply. He has also exposed strange fibers found in Chicken McNuggets, fake academic credentials of so-called health gurus, dangerous detox products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams, the California raw milk raids, the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics. Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents. Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness. In addition to his activism, Adams is an accomplished musician who has released over fifteen popular songs covering a variety of activism topics. Click here to read a more detailed bio on Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, at HealthRanger.com. Find more science, news, commentary and inventions from the Health Ranger at: Brighteon.com: Brighteon.com/channel/hrreport Diaspora: (uncensored social network) Share.NaturalNews.com GAB: GAB.com/healthranger Podcasts: HealthRangerReport.com Online store: HealthRangerStore.com #1 Bestselling Science Book Food Forensics: FoodForensics.com iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-health-ranger-report/id1063165791 SoundCloud: Soundcloud.com/healthranger Health Rangers science lab CWClabs.com Health Ranger bio HealthRanger.com TruthWiki.org Search engine: Webseed.com Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 2 (ANI/NewsVoir): Globsyn Business School Online (GBS Online) - a global platform of digital learning is donating all proceeds from purchases of course till June 30, 2020, to a fund for PM Cares. Powered by Globsyn Business School (GBS), GBS Online is a unique e-learning portal with highly engaging courses to learn about vital management business and IT concepts. Since the initial phase of the Nation-wide lockdown, GBS Online had made its courses available at a token cost of Re 1, so that students can be productive and further their during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. These courses are available on their official website, and also on AICTE's National Educational Alliance for Technology initiated ELIS portal. "We are now enabling over 30,000 minds through GBS Online. With 6 PG courses on offer, what makes this achievement more worthy is the fact that at a time when 'self-isolation' has become essential for survival; we, at GBS Online, have made sure that learning never stops by helping learners, across 35 States and Union Territories of India, be productive on our dynamic e-learning platform," said Rahul Dasgupta, Director, GBS. "However, for us the journey has still just begun. And there are milestones to cover. We hope this small donation, from the learners to our heroes, helps in re-building our Nation from the debris of a post-COVID-19 landscape," added Dasgupta. GBS Online aims at creating a community of like-minded learners around the world, who are able to gain access to online learning resources and complete coursework at their own time while completing assignments of international standards. The courses presently offered through GBS Online covers a wide gamut of subjects like Digital Marketing (30 hours), Industry 4.0 (36 hours), Performance Management and Competency Mapping (60 hours), Financial Markets and Investments (60 hours) and Product and Brand Management (60 hours), culminating in a staggering 300 plus hours of dynamic and pertinent coursework. With new courses getting added every month, GBS Online intends to connect students all over the world through a globally networked, corporate savvy, research-driven online management platform. "My thirst for exploring the Digital Marketing domain brought me to GBS Online. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of study materials and course curriculum of their Digital Marketing course! The assignments were quite useful, and I was more than satisfied with the overall knowledge gain & browsing experience. This course helped me in gaining a perspective about what Digital Marketing is all about and I will certainly recommend this course to others!" said Debopama Basu, who has just received her certificate after successfully completing a course on Digital Marketing. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The heads of IFCCI, IGCC and Roedl & Partner presenting the White paper to Subhash Desai - Min for Industries and Mining of Maharashtra, Govt of Maharashtra. (top centre in white) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 2 (ANI/NewsVoir): The Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) presented a white paper "Challenges faced by French and German companies in Maharashtra caused by Nationwide COVID-19 Lockdown" to Subhash Desai, Minister for Industries and Mining of Maharashtra, Government of Maharashtra, during a live session on June 2, 2020. The white paper was developed as a joint initiative of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, and consulting firm Roedl & Partner with the support of the French and German Consulates in Mumbai. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of India has extended the nationwide lockdown for the fourth time. The extended lockdown has caused numerous business and economic disruptions which create challenges for companies to restart their operations. The white paper contains the financial, commercial, and labour related conditions and challenges faced by French and German companies operating in Maharashtra to explore specific solutions to help smoothen business operations in the state. It highlights key aspects that policymakers should consider in their policy-making deliberations. Sonia Barbry, Consul General of France in Mumbai, and Dr Juergen Morhard, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai, who supported the joint initiatives of both Chambers are looking forward to facilitating the follow-up of the White Papers recommendation with the Maharashtra government. "Maharashtra has traditionally been one of the top investment destinations for European, and in particular, for French and German companies in India. This webinar meeting and the suggestions in the form of a White Paper are just the continuation of a long and well established regular dialogue with Honourable Minister Desai himself, as well as with the Government of Maharashtra in association with the relevant Consulates, Chambers and our industries," expressed Dr Juergen Morhard, "Maharashtra is the home base of our Indo-French Chamber members in India with leading investments in business and CSR activities. We at IFCCI are very glad to have the support of the Govt. of Maharashtra in these delicate times," similarly reiterated Sumeet Anand, President of IFCCI. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry are committed to support its member companies and to promote bilateral trade between the two countries and India to achieve sustainable economic development. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article (ANI/NewsVoir) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Newser) North Korea has taken note of the George Floyd protests, and it's not exactly sending a note of support. "Demonstrators enraged by the extreme racists throng even to the White House," says a statement in one of the main state-run newspapers. "This is the reality in the US today." The context: The North says the US has no right to criticize China about human rights violations in Hong Kong when it's threatening to "unleash dogs" on its own protesters, reports Reuters. Pyongyang criticized Mike Pompeo in particular for his anti-China comments of late, saying he "has become too ignorant to discern where the sun rises and where it sets." The meaning: The North is suggesting that America is on the wane (a setting sun) and being overtaken by China (a rising sun), per the New York Times. story continues below The North also made headlines on another front Thursday. Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, denounced as "human scum" North Korean defectors in the South who send balloons with anti-regime messages back over the border, reports the BBC. She said if the South didn't stop the balloons, the North would end its agreement to operate a joint liaison office and to end border hostilities. South Korea's government said the balloons cause "tension" and promised to crack down, though the BBC talks to balloon launchers who say they have no intention of stopping. "If the leaflets get blocked, then we will send drones," says one. "They cannot stop us." (Read more North Korea stories.) John McCall, the chief of police at Troy University, has been suspended from his job due to social media posts he wrote about George Floyd The chief of a college campus police department in Alabama was suspended for writing a social media post saying that George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police, played a role in his own death. John McCall, who heads the on-campus police force at Troy University, wrote comments on his Facebook page that administrators said were inflammatory. People die in police custody from time to time, McCall wrote in the now-deleted post. Did the officer make a mistake? Yes. Does he regret it? Yes. Was he intentionally trying to kill George Floyd I dont think so. McCall then accused Floyd of resisting arrest, prompting officers to restrain him physically, though video evidence from the arrest does not support that claim. Did George Floyd play any role in his own death? ABSOLUTELY! he wrote. He fought with the police who were trying to make a lawful arrest. Dont fight with the police and fight in the courtroom. Thats what the system is for. McCall went on to label Floyd violent while accusing Antifa and opportunists of turning this tragedy away from the real narrative and trying to blame the president which is so wrong. A student took screenshots of McCalls post and shared them on social media on Wednesday. Troy University Chief of Police cares more about defending a murder than he does the safety of his black students, Shelly Alexander wrote on her Facebook page. If youre a person of color at Troy University do not expect him to protect you. Make this go viral. As of Thursday, the post generated hundreds of reactions and comments. In response, Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr, the schools chancellor, condemned McCalls posts. George Floyd (left), the 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 while in the custody of Minneapolis police, 'absolutely' played a role in his own death, McCall wrote on his Facebook page (right) A student took screenshots of McCalls post and shared them on social media on Wednesday. Troy University Chief of Police cares more about defending a murder than he does the safety of his black students, Shelly Alexander wrote on her Facebook page. If youre a person of color at Troy University do not expect him to protect you' He announced that the school has launched an internal investigation. These statements do not reflect the values of Troy University, he said. We firmly reject any suggestion that George Floyd contributed to his death or that his actions justified the lethal force inflicted on him. We support the calls for reform and an end to police violence that disproportionately targets our black citizens. Troy University has long been guided by the philosophy that understanding leads to appreciation. Understanding starts with listening. We hear the voices of our students and the voices of all people who are calling for change. We are committed to a campus culture and policies that ensure all people feel supported and safe. Floyd died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyds neck while Floyd was handcuffed for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. Troy University, located in Troy, Alabama, has a student body of 13,400 undergraduates. It released a statement condemning McCall's post We firmly reject any suggestion that George Floyd contributed to his death or that his actions justified the lethal force inflicted on him,' the school said in a statement Since then, Floyds name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people and empowered a movement. Violent encounters between police, protesters, and observers have inflamed a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. Minnesota prosecutors charged three more police officers Wednesday in the death of George Floyd and filed a new, tougher charge against the officer at the center of the case, delivering a victory to protesters who have filled the streets from coast to coast to fight police brutality and racial injustice. The most serious charge was filed against Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyds neck and now must defend himself against an accusation of second-degree murder Minnesota prosecutors have also brought criminal charges of aiding and abetting against the other three officers. From left to right: Tou Thao, J.A. Kueng, and Thomas Lane The most serious charge was filed against Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyds neck and now must defend himself against an accusation of second-degree murder. The three other officers at the scene were charged for the first time with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. All four were fired last week. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to four decades in prison. Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Those charges still stand. The new second-degree murder charge alleges that Chauvin caused Floyds death without intent while committing another felony, namely third-degree assault. It carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, compared with a maximum of 25 years for third-degree murder. The other officers - Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao - face the same maximum penalties for aiding and abetting. All three men were in custody by Wednesday evening. Chauvin was arrested last week and is still being held. In apparent signal to US: Russia's Putin endorses strategy of using nukes against conventional strike Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 5:55 AM Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed a strategy document outlining the country's nuclear deterrent policy, amid rising tensions with the United States over a nuclear arms control accord. The document allows Moscow to use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional strike targeting the country's critical government and military infrastructure, Russia's RIA news agency reported on Tuesday. The new document appears to send a warning signal to the United States by including a non-nuclear attack as a possible trigger for Russian nuclear retaliation. It also reflects Moscow's concerns over the development of prospective US weapons, including space-based ones, labeling the creation and deployment of anti-missile and strike weapons in space as one of the main military threats to Russia. The document offers detailed descriptions of situations that could trigger the use of nuclear arms, including attacks that "threaten the very existence" of Russia. The document states that Russia could use its nuclear arsenal if it gets "reliable information" about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting its territory or its allies. The United States has unilaterally pulled out of one nuclear arms treaty with Russia the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and is flirting with the idea of not renewing another. President Putin has previously warned that yet another arms race would be inevitable if Washington did not renew the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The New START accord is the last major nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington that puts a limit on the development and deployment of strategic nuclear warheads of the two countries. It can be extended for another five years, beyond its expiry date in February 2021, by mutual agreement. Under the New START, signed in April 2010, the US and Russia agreed to halve the number of their strategic nuclear missiles and restrict the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550. Russia has also repeatedly voiced concern about the installment of US Patriot missiles and the deployment of American ground troops in the Baltic countries, as well as NATO drills near the country's borders. The buildup of conventional forces near Russia's borders and the deployment of missile defense assets are among the threats identified in the new document. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Contentious bill adds to tension over Beijing influence in territory that is only place in China to mark 1989 crackdown. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the national anthem bill had been passed. Reuters later issued a correction to say that while voting had started, the bill had not yet been passed. Police and firefighters entered Hong Kongs legislature on Thursday after two pro-democracy legislators threw foul-smelling liquid to protest against Chinas murderous crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square 31 years ago. Eddie Chu and Ray Chan rushed to the front of the chamber during a debate over a controversial bill that would criminalise disrespect of Chinas national anthem, splashing the reeking fluid as guards grappled with them. Police and firefighters later arrived on the scene. A murderous state stinks forever. What we did today is to remind the world that we should never forgive the Chinese Communist Party for killing its own people 31 years ago, Chu said later, before he and Chan were removed from the chamber. A final vote on the bill is expected later on Thursday with people in Hong Kong set to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by lighting candles across the city. For the first time, police have banned an annual vigil to mark the event that is usually held in downtown Victoria Park, citing the coronavirus outbreak. Some 3,000 riot police 2,000 of them on Hong Kong Island where government offices are located were deployed, while two water cannon were also stationed near the government complex and the Chinese liaison office, according to local media. University students clean the Pillar of Shame statue, a memorial for those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, at the University of Hong Kong on Thursday, June 4, 2020 [Kin Cheung/ AP] Beacon of light Vigil organisers have urged people to light candles in groups of no more than eight people to remain within the coronavirus rules on gatherings. The event has traditionally drawn tens of thousands of people to Victoria Park. The Hong Kong vigil has been a beacon of light for those of us struggling in darkness to keep the history and memory (of Tiananmen) alive, Rowena He, an associate professor in history at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and author of Tiananmen Exiles: Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China told Al Jazeera. It shows the world and the regime that theres something that cannot be crushed with tanks and guns and jail, and thats the human spirit. Calls online have urged people to light candles in specific places throughout the evening and then where you are at 8pm local time (12:00 GMT), followed by a minute of silence. Some have said they will go to Victoria Park in smaller groups. Police will observe and enforce the law as the situation requires, the South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed high-ranking officer as saying. Some people gathered to light candles on Wednesday night, while others held aloft neon lights depicting the date of the crackdown in Roman numerals. Speaking up Police have said a mass gathering on June 4 would pose a threat to public health at a time when the city has reported its first locally-transmitted coronavirus cases in weeks. Hong Kong has banned gatherings of more than eight people, a public health measure authorities insist has no political motivation. Malissa Chan, a 26-year-old who works in the property sector, told Reuters she would go to the park anyway. When authorities want to suppress us, there are more reasons to speak up, she said. Social distancing measures allow for religious gatherings under certain conditions, so some people plan to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown in churches and temples. Other residents are also expected to lay flowers along a waterfront promenade, while some artists plan to stage short street theatre plays. Today we commemorate the protesters who fought for democracy in Tiananmen Square, scores of whom were violently repressed by the CCP. For the first time, Hong Kong's June Fourth vigil has been banned by the government. Defiantly, we commit to remembrance as a form of resistance. https://t.co/bd7WVdjhdx Lausan (@lausanhk) June 4, 2020 China has never provided a full accounting of the 1989 violence, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands of people died when the military cleared the square of pro-democracy protesters who had been camped out there for weeks. The death toll given by officials days after the crackdown was about 300, most of them soldiers, with only 23 students confirmed killed. The event has been all but erased from history in mainland China, with Hong Kongs vigil the most significant commemoration of the massacre anywhere in the world. The ban means it is the first time since 1990 that it has not taken place. Tensions in Hong Kong have ramped up after Beijing gave the green light last week to move ahead with national security laws to tackle secession, subversion and foreign interference. The move was quickly condemned by the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, as well as international human rights groups and some business lobbies over concerns it will erode freedoms in the global financial hub. Chinese authorities and the Beijing-backed government in Hong Kong say there is no threat to the citys high degree of autonomy and the new security law would be tightly focused. Breaking with their usual policy of political neutrality, HSBC and Standard Chartered banks gave their backing to the new law on Hong Kong on Wednesday. Meeting at university, Kerry Fisher and Pat Sowa never expected their friendship would become a lifeline. Kerry became an author, living in Surrey with husband Steve, son Cameron and younger daughter Michaela; Pat, a head teacher, living in Harrogate with husband Jan and sons Greg and Dom. Last week, in our first extract from their memoir Take My Hand, Kerry, now 53, and Pat, 54, told how they both found their teenage sons facing life-threatening illness. Kerrys son Cameron began chemo for a rare cancer, while Pats son Dom was receiving counselling after emerging mental health issues prompted an overdose. Here, in the final part of their deeply moving story, Kerry is about to learn whether Cameron, turning 18, is responding to treatment. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Dom has gone missing during a family holiday in Cornwall, sparking a major police search. Courageous: Pat, (above), became a battler for better mental health care after the death of Dom Sunday, October 29, 2017 Pat Here in Cornwall, hundreds of locals are looking for Dom. Caged in our holiday cottage, I want to be out there hunting, too, but the police ask us to stay where we are in case he turns up. My husband Jan, our older son Greg and I are by turns prowling, sitting, scrolling through messages. I text Kerry to tell her we fear the very worst that we have lost him. Later, the world falls dark and silent as the helicopters and search parties head home for the night. In bed, I lie awake and think of my boy. I try to will him alive with my mother love. But, as my tired and bruised heart searches for hope, a coldness creeps over me. Monday, October 30 Pat The hell we have been living in continues with a hideous rhythm all of its own: the police, the updates, the stuttering radios. Then, the detective in charge of the search bursts in and asks us to sit down. He is panting heavily and apologises, saying he had to run to beat social media. He explains that they have found a body in the sea. It is a young male. The three of us cling together, heads bent against this news as my world compresses to a pinprick of light, then explodes into a million shards of pain. Kerry Having cancer has not dimmed Cams enthusiasm for birthdays. We all join in singing Happy Birthday but my mind keeps drifting to Cornwall. Although I have railed against the injustice that Cam will be celebrating his 18th with a blood test, Pats situation makes me painfully aware that there is always someone worse off. At The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, the process is swift and the nurses make a fuss of the birthday boy. He soon goes back to school. Then, the news from Cornwall comes in: they have found Doms body. I message Pat to let her know I could be with her by tomorrow afternoon if any use. She says shell save my company for later when the numbness wears off. Tuesday, October 31 Pat The day after Doms body is found, the weather is beautiful. Jan, Greg and I go for a walk together along the coast. As we walk, Greg says: Dom didnt do this to hurt us. Dom was ill; the proper help just wasnt there. The view in hindsight is searingly bright, and we can only spend so much time discussing the if onlys before it hurts too much. At the end of the week, Doms body is taken back to Yorkshire, where we live, and we must follow. We drop Greg at his student digs in Cornwall, then fly home. Pat said for the first weeks after losing Dom (pictured), nothing mattered beyond surviving and finding a way to carry on through the pain I have tried to ready myself for stepping over the threshold into a house without children. But when we arrive our home is filled with a warm glow, with every candle lit and a welcoming committee made up of nearly all our closest friends. Friday, November 3 Kerry Cam and I drive to the Marsden for the scan, halfway through his treatment for a rare cancer of the lymphatic system, to see whether its working. At home afterwards, I find a text from Pat. She asks about Cams scan and I text back: No idea until next week. Wish you were here to hug. Only a really special person could be generous enough to ask about my son when hers is lost to her for ever. Six days later, we are back at the hospital for the results. Our oncologist tells us its excellent news Cams tumour has shrunk by 60 per cent. I send a blanket text to everyone to let them know, then I go with Cam for his next chemo. As I sit watching the poison pump into Cam, hope seeps into the cracks where despair was. I wonder how Pat and Jan are coping with our good news, when theirs is so painful. Then a text full of champagne corks arrives from Pat, followed by an email from Jan to say the news about Cam really lifted him. November 2017 Pat For the first weeks after losing Dom, nothing matters beyond surviving, finding a way to carry on through the pain. A bird feeder that Dom and I built connects me to him and I tend to it religiously, obsessed with the idea that I must keep the starlings alive. I spend hours watching them through the window, tears quick to flow as I wish for a return to the times Dom and I did this together. Amid the despair, I have moments of pure rage at the unfairness of Doms treatment. I have Cams five-star cancer treatment to compare it with, which sharpens my gaze. Relief: Kerry with Cam, who survived having a rare cancer. Two days before he is due to leave for university, they hear he is still in the clear I realise how the professionals tasked with helping Dom lacked the tools to see how ill my boy was, and failed to give me and Jan any useful support to keep him alive in our role as de facto carers. The stigma around mental health holds us all back from investing in it, improving survival rates. Slowly, I am finding some fuel to live on: the need for things to change. I long for a sign of life from beyond. One night I am rewarded with a vivid image of Dom smiling and haloed in golden light. I wake weeping and take the dream as a blessing. Tuesday, November 21 Kerry The night before Doms funeral, Steve and I arrive in Yorkshire and have dinner with Pat and Jan at their home. Its so good to be able to hug them tightly. It is just over three months since Pat came to join me in hospital when Cam was first diagnosed. Three short months in which she has lost her son, and we cling to the hope that well keep ours. Wednesday, November 22 Pat On the day of my Doms funeral I am stiff from the effort of not collapsing. At the chapel, I register it is packed but face resolutely forwards, only pausing to place my hand on Doms coffin. Silently, I tell him I love him to Pluto and back a million times. Huddled on the front pew, our family feels pitifully small. Feeling the wall of love at my back gives me just enough of a lifeline to inhale air. Then it is my turn to talk about Dom. Gazing out from the lectern across the sea of familiar faces, I dare to talk of when he came out as gay and the bullying that followed. And how it taught me that kindness is really the only way to create a decent world. I speak out loud my love for him. It is too late but I hope he can hear me. Kerry At the chapel, I wonder how this gorgeous boy can really have believed the world was better off without him. I have flashes of fear that this is a dress rehearsal for us. I feel selfish and small for thinking that way, but I cant help it. When Pat talks about Dom, I dont think I have ever respected anyone more in my life. I love her for making sure we understand that Doms suicide isnt what defines him it was the devastating outcome of his diseased mind. Hearing her say, I wish Id known how to stop him slipping through my fingers, but it comforts me to know he is free and at peace and wants us to live our lives joyfully, breaks through the steel doors I have built around my heart. I cling to Steves arm, sobbing, as Pat dips her shoulder under Doms coffin and, with Jan, Greg and her brother, takes Dom on his last journey. December 2017 Pat In the aftermath of Doms Gathering, as we called his funeral, I cry endlessly. I am not ready to go back to work but Richard, a fellow head teacher, asks if I would like to speak at next summers teachers conference about mental health. I leap at the offer. January 17, 2018 Kerry Cam had his last chemo in December. I should feel relieved but all I have been able to focus on is the tick-tock of the clock towards todays scan which will tell us if the cancer is still active. The day after Cams scan, the oncologist puts us out of our misery. There is no sign of cancer activity; he doesnt need radiotherapy. Steve laughs, Cam and I cry; we burble our thanks. But what words would be strong enough to thank anyone for giving us back our son? We let everyone know, Cam dashes straight back to school. I cry all day. Pat texts: Just heard the news. FANTASTIC xxxx. Sunday, January 28 Kerry Ten days after Cams clear scan, I dont yet know if Pat can bear to hear about Cam or whether its just clumsy to mention him. But I do want to know how shes doing, so I telephone, determined to be cheery. I dont realise were going to have the conversation today, but when I hear her voice I know this is not something I can dodge. She makes it easy for me by asking how Cam is and I tell her I feel awful talking about Cam when Doms not here any more. She doesnt hesitate: I get that, she replies. But how would it possibly make me feel better if Cam had died? I dont think it would make you feel better, I tell her. But up until now we were both in the same boat. Dont stop talking to me about Cam, otherwise our friendship wont be real. The elephant leaves the room as we both sob. Eventually, we default to our established coping mechanism of laughing in the worst possible circumstances. We agree were glad we had no idea what life had in store for us when we met at Freshers Week. When I put the phone down, the strength that underpinned the conversation takes me back to the day of Doms funeral. Ive never known Pat quit at anything in her life and I am certain that, even given the Herculean task of finding a way forwards, she wont do so now. July 2018 Pat I am addressing a conference centre full of fellow teachers about mental illness and what more we must do. I have practised day and night and held myself together by imagining Dom listening in. As the final lines of my speech echo around the hall, I receive a standing ovation. Ive done it. Only nine months ago, my son was ripped away from me and this feels like a way of honouring him. Afterwards, a stranger thanks me: Im a youth worker and I know it needs saying. You will have saved lives today. September 2018 Kerry Since Cam went into remission, hes had a cough that lingered all summer. We cant quite believe its just a virus. But two days before he is due to leave for university, we hear he is still in the clear. Driving him to his new life, I feel barely capable of holding in such conflicting feelings delighted he is finally doing what he should be doing, but afraid because no one will be secretly inspecting him for return of cancer as I often do. But, as I hug him goodbye, I recognise my own distress for what it is. Normal, not exceptional, heartbreak. Amen to that. Adapted from Take My Hand, by Kerry Fisher and Pat Sowa, published by Thread Books at 8.99. Kerry Fisher and Pat Sowa 2020. Also available in ebook for a limited period at the special price of 99p from amazon.co.uk SAMARITANS 24-hour helpline: 116 123 PAPYRUS (UK charity for the prevention of youth suicide): 0800 068 4141 (Weekdays 9am-10pm; weekends and Bank Holidays 2pm-10pm). papyrus-uk.org Pat Sowa runs Starfish, an organisation that campaigns for mental health first aid and suicide prevention training (starfishing.co.uk). [June 04, 2020] ATC Alert LLC Acquires East Rock Medical Alert's PERS Accounts LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ATC Alert LLC, a leading Connected Health company, today announced the completion of its acquisition of East Rock Medical Alert's PERS accounts. East Rock Medical Alert was a nationwide provider of Medical Alert Systems. It's national marketing strategy and widely diverse customer base made its customers a strategic acquisition target for ATC Alert. Since launching ATC Alert in 2017, our core mission has been to provide Americans with simple options to maintain their independence," says Jordan S. Savitsky, CEO of ATC Alert. "As we continue to grow the company's service offerings into enhanced Connected Care services, such as Remote Patient Monitoring, we're still guided by our core belief that Medical Alert Systems remain a key component of the senior care continuum. As such, we intend to continue our strategy of growth within the PERS market both through organically and through further acquisitions." As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put elderly Americans at risk, Medical Alert Monitoring remains a key component of aging in place. Especially now that seniors have been identified as the highest risk demographic to experience life-threatening symptoms for the COVID-19 virs, keeping them in their homes with a 24/7 lifeline to help is essential to their wellbeing. Seniors who overwhelmingly showed little interest in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities before are now even more hesitant to leave their homes. Additionally, seniors are being told to stay inside and socially isolate, which puts them at even greater risk for unaddressed falls, injuries and depression. Without the ability to go shopping, participate in social activities with friends or see their doctors, ATC Alert's Medical Alert Systems are more vital today than ever. "The addition of close to 4000 customers to ATC Alert's PERS business will help us provide even greater support and resources to our clients," says CFO Gus Nunziata. "In the last month alone we've been able to hire additional full time employees across multiple departments, including customer support, operations, fulfilment and finance. By doing so we're not only helping working Americans during a time of historically high unemployment, but we're also continuing to ensure that our customers have the best service and support in the Medical Alert industry." ABOUT ATC Alert ATC Alert is one of America's leading connected health companies, with thousands of customers across the United States and Canada. The company's mission features a commitment to remotely connecting seniors with their families and healthcare providers to enable them to live life independently as they age. For more information on ATC Alert call 877-MED-ALRT or visit atcalert.com Contact: Sasha Flor 917-992-4779 [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atc-alert-llc-acquires-east-rock-medical-alerts-pers-accounts-301070275.html SOURCE ATC Alert LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Authored by Vishal Rupani, CEO, mCanvas, India's first mobile advertising company. With almost 20% of search queries being done by voice in India in 2019, and with a 270% year-on-year increase in voice searches, its no surprise that the use of speech and sound is slowly finding its footing in the Indian market, and brands are clamoring to find ways to engage users with it. The fact that voice is faster than typing has contributed exponentially to its humongous growth. Capitalizing on Indias diversity in terms of language, marketers can build on mobiles reach to localized markets, and create meaningful experiences for a wide range of audiences. In the mobile ad industry, voice has gone beyond digital assistants like Alexa and Siri. Brands have used voice-enabled interactive mobile ads to enhance brand experiences for their audiences, that have created a lasting impression. Here are 10 brands that have efficaciously used speech and sound recognition technology in mobile ads revamping the mobile experience. Mercedes-Benz GLC | Voice Bot Advanced automotive technology are words used synonymously with Mercedes-Benz cars, and the brand went one step ahead to promote its latest feature the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX), a smart multimedia system and in-car voice-activated assistant. The interactive mobile ad enabled users to ask creative questions to the MBUX. Using real-time speech recognition technology, the voice bot in the ad would respond with an appropriate answer, simply recreating the experience a user would have in the car. State Bank of India | Speech Amid the prevailing COVID 19 pandemic, State Bank of India empowered users to access banking facilities at home, with their mobile app YONO - You Only Need One, an integrated digital banking platform. With a voice-enabled mobile ad, the bank advocated for social distancing by encouraging users to walk into the world of SBI by saying Enter. Thereafter, the ad transitioned and showcased the features of the app and also prompted users to download it. Amazon Echo Dot | Interactive Content Amazons Echo Dot is one of the most popular devices to use voice, and the brand took on a unique route to make users aware of the product and its features. A great way to engage users, brands are gravitating towards sponsored content - branded articles that appear natively on the website, consistent with the surrounding content on a webpage. Through this interactive sponsored content article users were prompted to say Alexa! Show me more, to learn about the varied features of the Echo Dot; this was enabled using speech recognition technology. Users could also share the interactive article on social media. Idea 4G - #IndiaKaLiveNetwork | Video Chat Bot Intriguing users by enabling them talk to comedian Mallika Dua, Idea 4G etched a mark for itself by featuring an Artificial Intelligence (AI) led, interactive video chat bot ad, to create awareness about the power of its network. Using speech recognition technology, users were encouraged to ask Mallika questions about rightful behaviour. The actress would then respond accordingly, via a set of pre-recorded videos, which was seamlessly integrated using AI and Machine Learning. Flipkart Big Billion Days | Blow The Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart captivated users attention with an ad that promoted the Big Billion Days sale, while tying in the auspiciousness of the moon, with the theme Deals Ka Chand. Using sound recognition technology, the creative prompted users to find the moon in a virtual reality (VR) and blow into the phones microphone to move the clouds away and reveal exciting offers from the sale. The experience was replicated on a microsite, which could also be shared on social media. Canon EOS 200D II | Speech Canon, one of the worlds largest camera manufacturing companies, intelligently used a voice-enabled ad to build an association with its ability to make everyday photography better. Aligned with the campaign Do Great With Canon, users were prompted to say Do great to further learn how the brands camera could help improve the visual appeal of photographs, in a simple yet elegant manner. On the other hand, if the user said a different word, the ad would not proceed, and they were asked to Try Again, in order to proceed with the campaign. Amazon Fashion | Speech Stepping away from the otherwise basic route of showcasing its fashion collections, Amazon took it a notch higher, coupling speech and virtual reality (VR), creating a distinct experience for its users. Encouraging users to move their phone to explore the different clothing collections in virtual reality, the ad then prompted users to say Winter Wear, Partner Wear or Casual Wear to explore the different clothing ranges. Lenovo Thin & Light Wave| Blow Stepping up to the challenge of building interest among users innovatively, Lenovo creatively engaged users, while educating them about its newest laptop, which is both thin and light. The rich-media, mobile ad prompted users to blow into the phones microphone. Using sound recognition technology, on blowing, the laptop in the creative moved upward, which was suggestive of the lightness of the laptop, its USP. Apollo Hospital World Stroke Day | Speech Apollo Hospital informed users about how to avoid strokes, and negate the risk of it with a voice-enabled, rich-media mobile ad. Adding an interactive spin, users were asked if they desired to learn how to avoid a stroke, and were prompted to say Yes. Thereafter, the campaign then displayed a variety of ways they could prevent a stroke like eating healthy, monitoring and reducing high blood pressure, among others. Canara Robeco Mutual Fund | Speech Brightening up the experience of learning about mutual funds, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund engaged users with an ad that enabled users to actively interact with the ad. Encouraging users to say Know More, the ad then showcased six different videos, highlighting different target market segments, suggesting that theres a mutual fund for users at different levels, based on their needs. On saying an incorrect term, the ad would then encourage users to Try Again, in order to experience the complete campaign. The Internet of Voice is the next best thing thats going to take the advertising industry by storm. Incorporating advanced technologies like speech and sound recognition, brands have managed to successfully leverage the power of speech and sound, to create captivating experiences for users. Recently, social media was on fire after it witnessed a verbal brawl between Tollywood actress Meera Chopra and Jr NTR fans. Many netizens as well as celebrities supported the actress for her stand against the fans, who started a hate campaign against her. Following actress Chinamyi Sripada's advice to file a case against the wrongdoers, Meera made a collage of the abusive screenshots and requested Twitter India and Hyderabad Police to look into the matter, and suspend the accounts mentioned. Another section of netizens are not happy with the attitude of the actress, during the Twitter question and answer session, which became the sole reason for all the problems. Well now, a recent tweet of actress Khushbu Sundar has become the talk of the town, with many equating it with the Meera Chopra-Jr NTR fans controversy. The actress, without mentioning anyone's name, wrote, "Some women never change or learn. Poor them." Some women never change or learn. Poor them.. KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) June 3, 2020 This is what we @tarak9999 fans are always proud of. One of our Cult Fan @khushsundar Maam is always there for our @tarak9999 anna as a fan to support even if some attention seekers are trying to defame our Idol Love you maam @khushsundar for all the Love #WeLoveTarakAnna JrNTR_TheManOfAMillionHearts (@Koushik_JrNTR) June 3, 2020 The Annaamalai actress has recently revealed that she is a die-hard fan of Jr NTR. And now, with her latest tweet, fans can't keep calm as they predict that her message was for Meera Chopra, and in support of the Young Tiger of Tollywood. Many were proud that the actress was a strong supporter of the actor. "This is what we @tarak9999 fans are always proud of. One of our cult fan @khushsundar Maam is always there for out @tarak999 anna as a fan to support even if some attention seekers are trying to defame our idol Love you maam @khussundar for all the love", a user wrote. Well, only time will reveal if the actress really took an indirect dig at Meera Chopra, or the tweet was meant for someone else. Meera Chopra, who has earlier worked in a few Telugu films earned the wrath of NTR fans, after she was asked to describe the actor in one word, to which she replied, "I don't know him.. I am not his fan." When another user said that she would become a fan after she watches NTR's Shakti and Dammu, Meera said that she was not interested. Jr NTR Fans Abuse Meera Chopra On Social Media For This Reason! Jr NTR Fans Abuse Meera Chopra On Social Media For This Reason! A lawyer and former intelligence official under the Obama administration guaranteed the $250,000 bail of a New York City attorney arrested for allegedly tossing a Molotov cocktail into an NYPD vehicle early Saturday morning during a protest decrying the police killing of George Floyd. Attorney Salmah Rizvi agreed to guarantee the large sum explaining to a court that she and Urooj Rahman, the lawyer accused of the fire bombing, were best friends. Rizvi said that she was an associate at Ropes & Gray in Washington, DC, earning enough to cover the amount so Rahman can stay out of jail. 'Urooj Rahman is my best friend and I am an associate at the law firm Ropes & Gray in Washington, D.C.,' Rizvi told the court. 'I earn $255,000 a year.' Attorney Salmah Rizvi (pictured) guaranteed $250,000 bail for Urooj Rahman, a lawyer arrested for allegedly tossing a Molotov cocktail into an NYPD vehicle early Saturday morning during a protest decrying the police killing of George Floyd Attorney Salmah Rizvi agreed to guarantee the large sum explaining to a court that she and Urooj Rahman, the lawyer accused of the fire bombing, were best friends. Rahman is pictured in surveillance footage taken of her allegedly holding a Molotov cocktail The guarantee makes Rizvi liable for the hefty sum if Rahman fails to comply with the requirements of the court, The Washington Beacon reports. Rizvi had worked as a lead linguist and analyst for the Defense and State Departments when President Barack Obama was still in office, according to her page at the Islamic Scholarship Fund, or ISF. The organization works to raise the profile of American Muslims in media and politics. Rizvi, who was raised as a Shia Muslim, speaks Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, and has expertise in international security and diplomacy, according to the ISF. 'Her high-value work would often inform the President's Daily Briefs,' the organization says of the lawyer's time with the Obama administration. Rizvi had worked as a lead linguist and analyst for the Defense and State Departments when President Barack Obama was still in office, according to her page at the Islamic Scholarship Fund, or ISF. Obama is pictured speaking at a virtual town hall this week Her friend Rahman, a 31-year-old Brooklyn lawyer, had been charged in the alleged firebombing alongside a second attorney, Colinford Mattis. The 32-year-old is a corporate attorney with Pryor Cashman. Both were charged with allegedly throwing the bomb into an empty police cruiser that was parked outside the 88th Precinct station house in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, cops say. Police say Rahman tossed a bottle filled with gasoline through a broken window into the cruiser just before 1am Saturday but the Molotov cocktail failed to ignite. Rahman then jumped into a van that Mattis was driving and together they sped away from the scene according to the New York Daily News. The bomb attempt was caught on video surveillance cameras outside the precinct located on DeKalb Avenue. Police chased and stopped the duo's van on Willoughby Street and found the makings of another Molotov cocktail in the backseat and a gasoline container. Both Rahman and Mattis were arrested and charged with attempting to damage or destroy law-enforcement vehicles. Neither had been arrested before. They face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in jail. 'No rational human being can ever believe that hurling firebombs at police officers and vehicles is justified,' Brooklyn US Attorney Richard Donaghue said at the time the lawyers were arrested. Both Urooj Rahman and Colinford Mattis were arrested and charged with attempting to damage or destroy law-enforcement vehicles. Neither had been arrested before. The two are pictured after their arrest Mattis lives in East New York and graduated from Princeton University and New York University law school in 2016, according to his Linkedin page Rahman's social media shows she graduated from Fordham University in New York. The super of Rahman's building in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn described her as 'an angel' who recently lost her legal job. 'I can't believe it. I'm stunned. This kid? She's an angel,' George Raleigh said. Mattis lives in East New York and graduated from Princeton University and New York University law school in 2016, according to his Linkedin page. He's an associate with Pryor Cashman, a corporate law firm in Times Square where he specializes in start-ups, and is a member of Community Board 5 in East New York. As of Sunday evening his profile on the law firm's website was deleted. 'This is shocking news to me. The allegation does surprise me because that doesn't sound like him,' Andre Mitchell, president of Community Board 5, said to the Daily News. Rizvi is part of the litigation & enforcement practice group at Ropes & Gray. She also is has a civil rights and human rights practice, which she operates on a pro bono basis, according her profile on the firm's website. The practice focuses on on prison reform, LGBTQ equality, and immigration. Rizvi is part of the litigation & enforcement practice group at Ropes & Gray. She also is has a civil rights and human rights practice, which she operates on a pro bono basis, according her profile on the firm's website A spokesperson for the firm did not immediately respond when DailyMail.com reached out. The lawyer, according to Fox News, received a scholarship backed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a radical anti-Israel group. The incident allegedly involving Rahman did not appear to be directly linked to a similar Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD officers in Brooklyn on Friday night around 10.30pm where two upstate New York women threw a bomb into a cruiser carrying four NYPD officers. Samantha Shader, 27, of Catskill New York is now facing federal charge of attempting to damage of destroy law-enforcement vehicles for allegedly throwing the Molotov cocktail into the cop car in Prospect Heights Friday evening. The device failed to ignite because she used tissue paper in her makeshift bomb, which burned out before reaching the explosives inside. The extradition hearings in Canada for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, wanted on fraud charges in the United States, are set to continue until 2021, after Covid-19 threw scheduling for the complicated case into disarray. At a hearing in Vancouver's Supreme Court on Wednesday, Meng's defence and the Canadian government lawyers representing US interests in the case jointly suggested that hearings be extended until early 2021. Hearings in the case, which has drawn worldwide attention and battered China's relations with the US and Canada, had previously been set to last until October or November. But the Covid-19 pandemic forced that schedule to be scrapped. British Columbia's Supreme Court halted normal operations in March as a pandemic precaution. Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver on May 27. Photo: Reuters alt=Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver on May 27. Photo: Reuters As a further precaution, Meng and both sets of lawyers attended Wednesday's hearing by phone, with journalists allowed to listen in. Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes was in the Vancouver courtroom in person. The public gallery which had been packed during pre-pandemic hearings had just seven people in it, Holmes noted. Government lawyer Robert Frater said: "We're looking at schedules that would bring the hearings to a close at the latest early in 2021." He said however that "a somewhat aggressive schedule" would be needed to achieve this. Holmes agreed to a joint submission that a proposed schedule be presented by both sets of lawyers at the next hearing, on June 15. She also agreed to consider the appointment of an independent referee to arbitrate various disputes about the admissibility of evidence. Doing so would be a "tremendous efficiency" and allow Holmes to "offload" the burden of hearing these disputes in court, said one of Meng's lawyers, Scott Fenton. Story continues Holmes agreed to consider the suggestion, although she added that "quite frankly, it's not something I've ever done before". Meng, attending by phone, said little during the hearing, except to confirm her presence and acknowledge Holmes' instructions. But in the moments before the hearing, Meng almost revealed her private phone number to those listening to the call. She recited the first six digits of her phone number to her interpreter before a court official interrupted to remind her that reporters were listening in, prompting Meng to laugh. Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, is accused by the US of defrauding HSBC bank by lying about Huawei's business activities in Iran, allegedly in breach of US sanctions. In a key ruling last week, Holmes rejected Meng's application for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the charges failed the test of "double criminality", which demands that suspects in Canadian extradition cases must be accused of something that would constitute a crime in Canada as well as in the requesting country. Meng's lawyers said the case was a "dressed up" accusation of breaching US sanctions, which is not a crime in Canada, but Holmes concluded that the underlying charge was that Meng had committed fraud by lying. Meng was arrested on December 1, 2018 by Canadian police, acting on a US request, at Vancouver's airport during a stopover on a flight from Hong Kong. She is currently under partial house arrest at her C$13.6 million (US$10.1 million) mansion in Vancouver, on C$10 million bail. On Wednesday, Holmes agreed to receive the joint scheduling submission on June 15 and adjourned proceedings until then. Meng was bound over. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Dhaka, June 4 : In a nationwide crackdown, Bangladesh security forces has arrested six human traffickers responsible for sending more than 30 workers to Libya, most of whom perished in a grisly massacre last week. Chandan Devnath, Assistant Director of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) -14, told IANS that these four were part of a big racket that smuggles Bangladesh workers to Middle East and Europe via Kolkata and Mumbai. On May 28, accomplices of a Libyan labour contractor opened fire on 38 Bangladeshi and some African workers after they had killed him. Twenty-six Bangladeshis and four African migrant workers were killed on the spot and two later succumbed to wounds in a hospital. The workers alleged that the Libyan contractor was fleecing and torturing them until they could take it no more. Two victims, Mohammad Ali and Mahbub, had been sent by the trafficker Khabiruddin and Helaluddin Hilu, both of whom were arrested by RAB. Another victim Rajon Khandaker was sent by trafficker Shahid Miah, who was apprehended by RAB. Injured migrant Janu Mia was sent by the traffickers Khabiruddin and Helaluddin , RAB official Devnath added. RAB-3 has also arrested Kamal Uddin alias Haji Kamal (55), a ringleader of human trafficking. He was arrested by a team of RAB-3 from Shahjadpur in the capital's Gulshan area early on Monday. Kamal allegedly had trafficked many of the 26 Bangladeshi nationals killed in Libya on May 28, said senior police Super Abdul Jabbar member of RAB-3 . RAB official Jabbar told IANS: "Kamal supplied tiles for buildings but was connected to a big labour group. He would promise to send the labourers to Libya, then Europe. And then smuggled them abroad after taking money. In this way, he has sent at least 400 people to Libya." After his arrest, RAB seized a number of passports from Kamal reportedly used for human trafficking in the last nearly 10 years. Bangladesh has strongly protested the massacre in the Libyan town of Mizda, 180 km south of Tripoli, on May 28. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had demanded justice and compensation for families of those killed, appealing to both Libya and international agencies to deliver. Bangladesh is one of three nations which continues to retain a mission in the civil war-ravaged Libya. Labour exports and remittances by these labourers from abroad account for Bangladesh's second largest source of foreign exchange earnings after ready-made garments. Which is why Bangladesh authorities discourage illegal labour exports and crack down on them, because the illegals don't use banking channels but are compelled to use 'hawala' and 'hundi', resulting in loss of remittance income for the development-driven Hasina Sheikh government. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved another supplementary budget of W35.3 trillion (US$1=W1,218). It is the first time in 48 years that the government has drawn up three supplementary budgets. The government already set aside a massive budget amid the economic recession long before the coronavirus epidemic in addition to supplementary budgets amounting to W60 trillion to deal with the epidemic. The government's debt now stands at a staggering W840.2 trillion, up W99.4 trillion on-year, while the debt ratio rose from 37.1 percent last year to 43.5 percent. That puts the fiscal balance W112.2 trillion into the red and makes it equivalent to a record 5.8 percent of Korea's GDP. To fund it, the government plans to issue W23.8 trillion worth of bonds and hopes to make up for the shortfall by readjusting other government's spending. While Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who chaired the meeting, voiced "concerns" over fiscal soundness, he justified the spending by saying, "A stitch in time saves nine." WASHINGTON - Former defense secretary Jim Mattis' strong rebuke of President Donald Trump forced Republicans to choose sides between a revered retired Marine Corps general and a leader with a near-stranglehold on the party and the voters critical to their election. Mattis moved one senior Senate Republican to finally declare she had to speak out against Trump's handling of the racial injustice protests, and more broadly about his overall moral leadership, while signaling she may not support him in November. "When I saw General Mattis' comments yesterday, I felt like perhaps we're getting to the point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally, and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Thursday. Murkowski, the 10th-longest-serving active GOP senator, told reporters that she agreed with Mattis' broadside that Trump tries to deliberately divide Americans and the nation was "witnessing without mature leadership." "I thought General Mattis' words were true and honest and necessary and overdue," Murkowski told reporters at the Capitol. Her comments stood out among Republicans, who for the most part either remained silent in the wake of Mattis's criticism, accused the media of trying to stir controversy or offered supportive words for Trump. Yet it served as a stunning denunciation from within a party whose leaders on Capitol Hill have either marched in lockstep with Trump or ducked any of his controversial moves, to the point that Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump at his impeachment trial earlier this year. Romney initially avoided addressing the matter, but after Murkowski spoke out, he joined in criticizing Trump's recent behavior by calling Mattis's statement "stunning and powerful" "I think the world of him. If I ever had to choose somebody to be in a foxhole with - it would be with a General Mattis," the 2012 Republican presidential nominee told reporters. Most other Republicans decided to remain in Trump's political foxhole, offering praise for Mattis' more than four decades of military service but sidestepping his feud with Trump that occurred during two tumultuous years as secretary of defense. These same Republicans had heralded Trump's nomination of Mattis, seeing him as a stabilizing force in the mercurial president's Cabinet. Congress went so far as to change the law so the retired general could serve in the civilian post despite being out of uniform for just over four years. The previous law had required seven years out of uniform for incoming defense secretaries. The Senate approved his nomination 98-to-1 on the day Trump was inaugurated. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., accused Mattis of "buying into a narrative" from the news media that everything wrong with the country is Trump's fault. "To General Mattis, I think you're missing something here, my friend. You're missing the fact that the liberal media has taken every event in the last three and a half years and laid it at the president's feet. I'm not saying he's blameless, but I am saying that you're buying into a narrative that I think is quite frankly unfair," Graham told Fox News. In 2018, when he presented an award to Mattis, Graham said the Pentagon chief was "somewhere between Ronald Reagan and the Pope." "There are very few people you can quote that the Senate and House cares about. When General Mattis speaks as secretary of defense, people listen," Graham said. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., told reporters that Mattis has "always been one of my favorite people" but said that his military background left him incapable of handling the internal political battles inside a West Wing overseen by an erratic president. "He'd never been around that kind of environment and consequently he was kind of encumbered from the very beginning of not really understanding the political enemy," the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee said. Inhofe had told Mattis at his confirmation hearing: "I'm so excited that you're willing to do this." Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a member of GOP leadership, said he had "a great deal of respect" for Mattis and John Allen, a retired four-star Marine general, but declined to address the contents of their sharp critiques of Trump. "Everything I'm focused on right now is things that are going to bring everybody together rather than divisiveness, and that's what I'm focused on," Barrasso told reporters. Published merely hours apart, Mattis wrote in a story published in the Atlantic Wednesday that Trump "is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people." Allen published a Foreign Policy op-ed lambasting the president for his threats to use the military on protesters and his controversial church photo op on Monday, writing that his actions "may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment." Trump responded on Twitter on Wednesday night, criticizing Mattis in a pair of tweets that had at least two factual errors. "Probably the only thing Barack Obama and I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world's most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about. His nickname was 'Chaos', which I didn't like, & changed it to 'Mad Dog'," Trump tweeted. "His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom 'brought home the bacon'. I didn't like his 'leadership' style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!" Another retired Marine general, John Kelly, who served as Trump's chief of staff, stood by Mattis and rejected that assertion that Trump fired him, explaining Mattis resigned at the end of 2018 in a policy dispute over U.S. military presence in Syria. "The president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation," Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, said in an interview with The Washington Post, calling Mattis an "honorable man." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who was a Mattis ally and declared he was "particularly distressed" by his 2018 resignation, ignored questions from reporters about the former secretary's comments at Thursday's Senate session. Senate Republicans did not discuss Mattis's criticism of Trump at their closed-door policy lunch. Other Republicans tried to explain the issue as a personality dispute that grew out of Mattis's tenure running the Pentagon. "I think it's kind of obvious for some time that he and the president are at different wavelengths," Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said, suggesting that today's political moment makes it hard for Trump to forge unity. "I don't share that view," Roberts said of Mattis' statement. "I think he's doing the best he can under very difficult circumstances." But Mattis' assault showed chinks in Trump's armor that had not been seen since the GOP revolt after his remarks in 2017 when he praised white nationalists who caused riots in Charlottesville. One of the party's prized House recruits disagreed Thursday with Trump's tone and how federal officers cleared the area outside St. John's Episcopal Church Monday so that he could visit. "I would like to see him lead by addressing the nation and call for everyone to come together," Ashley Hinson, who won the GOP primary in Iowa's 1st District on Tuesday, said. "I don't have all the details of what happened, obviously, but I've seen the pictures and the video of what happened in Washington, D.C. I don't believe people in a peaceful protest should be cleared for a photo op." Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said that Trump's "prepared remarks" have included calls for unity and also justice for the Floyd family, promising a fair prosecution of the police charges in the case. "But his tone and words kind of in between those more formal presentations have not unified people, because it's helped to push people," Portman said. And Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, frustrated with the administration's failure to explain why Trump fired the intelligence community's inspector general, blocked two of Trump's nominees, a rare move by a GOP senator. Murkowski's break with Trump might be the strongest so far. Romney has had a personal feud with Trump predating his presidency, as did the late John McCain, R-Ariz., and former senators Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Bob Corker. R-Tenn. Instead, Murkowski had been a moderate Republican who occasionally bucked Trump on significant votes, such as confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, but rarely took her views public, hardly ever appearing on TV news shows. On Thursday morning, barely prompted to respond to Mattis, Murkowski expressed relief that she was finally saying what she grappled with for several years. "I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time," she said whether she could vote for Trump in November. "I think there are important conversations that we need to have as an American people amongst ourselves about where we are right now," she added. - - - The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey, Dan Lamothe and David Weigel contributed to this report. Former President Jerry John Rawlings appeared in public on Thursday to address a virtual celebration of the 41st anniversary of the June 4 uprising. Spotting a bushy hair with bushy appeared, he attempted to explain his new look and sarcastically compared it to that of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos clean shaven head. Ladies and gentlemensince the president [Akufo-Addo] has decided to use his shaven hair to get rid of convo-19, what is called, I will use Moses brush to get rid of it and when it happens, then I think we can go back to our normal lives, the former President said amidst laugher and pointed to his bushy hair and beared. The coronavirus pandemic in Ghana since March 12 has made many to stay away from barbering saloons in line with social distancing protocols. 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 A 30-year-old pilot of a private airline was allegedly attacked and robbed at gunpoint by unidentified men on the IIT Delhi flyover here in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. New Delhi: A 30-year-old pilot of a private airline was allegedly attacked and robbed at gunpoint by unidentified men on the IIT Delhi flyover here in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. The incident took place around 1 am when the pilot was on his way to the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Faridabad in his office cab as he had to catch a 3 am flight from Delhi to Mumbai, they said. Three unidentified masked men intercepted the car and robbed the man of his wallet containing Rs 10,000 cash and cards, the police said. In his complaint, the pilot stated that the car was intercepted by the men who were on two-wheelers. They smashed the windows and while one of them pointed a pistol at him, another poked him with a knife on his thigh. He said they demanded money so he gave away his wallet. Devender Arya, DCP (Southwest), said a case of robbery has been registered at the Kishangarh police station. Efforts were on to trace the culprits, the police added. (@ChaudhryMAli88) TASHKENT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2020) Mosques, churches and other religious organizations will open in Uzbekistan on June 5 due to the partial lifting of quarantine measures against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Uzbek cabinet's coronavirus response center told Sputnik. Uzbekistan recorded the first COVID-19 case on March 15. On Wednesday, the number of registered cases rose to 3,843. The country's coronavirus death toll stands at 16. More than 3,000 have recovered. "From June 5, religious organizations in Uzbekistan are resuming their activities," a spokesman for the response center said. He specified that the decision had been made by the special commission to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country. President Akufo-Addo in his tenth national address on updates on the novel coronavirus lifted some restrictions on the country. By this, schools were allowed to open for final year students. Restrictions on churches and mosques were also lifted except they are to take a majority of 100 people at a time. Prior to these announcements, a journalist with Angel FM, Kofi Adomah Nwanwani, made some predictions on these directives on his YouTube page. He said that people should expect that Akufo-Addo will reopen schools for final years, and allow for religious activities to commence only with a specific number of congregants. These predictions seemed very accurate to what the President announced, hence attracting the attention of the Ghana Police Service Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. Speaking to Umaru Sanda on Wednesdays edition of Eyewitness News, Kofi Adomah disclosed that he was called and questioned by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Juliana Obeng of the Public Affairs Unit of the CID as to where he got the information from. On Tuesday, I was called by the PRO, Madam Juliana Obeng. The information was in relation to a publication I made before the Presidents address on Sunday. According to her, her superiors felt my prediction was too accurate so I needed to answer some questions. The time the call came was impossible for me to go so I pleaded that they allow me to come on Wednesday. So on Wednesday afternoon, I had to go with my General Manager to answer the questions. They asked me to explain how I came by that information. Generally, journalists will not tell their sources but they were projections so I didnt find anything wrong with that. They just questioned me and allowed me to go, he said. Calls for easing of restrictions Before the Presidents address, there had been several calls by Ghanaians, asking for the easing of the public gatherings protocol. The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, for instance, had indicated that it was not expecting a spontaneous easing of the COVID-19 restrictions in the country. According to the Council, such a move should be done in a gradual process. Giving reasons for this view, the General Secretary of the Council, Rev. Emmanuel Barrigah said their call for a gradual easing of the restrictions will give them ample time to prepare their congregants on how to embrace the new normal. Former President, John Mahama was also expecting a significant easing of restrictions and called on the government to first conduct more widespread testing. In the face of the imminent easing of restrictions, let me repeat the call on the government to consider conducting mass testing, at least, at the point of need, Mr. Mahama said in a tweet. ---citinewsroom 04.06.2020 LISTEN Accra, Ghana, June 3, 2020//-Ms Beatrice Boatengs interpersonal relation, good communication skills coupled with her experience in student politics and corporate Ghana, among others make her the best candidate for Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG)-Legon Branch Womens Commissioners position. She is competing with another woman for the position in the upcoming GRASAG Legon election which is expected to place next academic year. When African Eye Report caught up with Ms Boateng affectionally called BB, she did not hide her desire in wanting to lead women of the GRASAG. Her own words: I have the experience and most especially my demeanor, passion and persistent spirit and nature makes me a better person for this position. I am a former Womens Commissioner for 2015/2015 academic year of the marketing department in my former school (Kumasi Technical University) where i served diligently. And ofcoure i am a marketing person, customer stewardship is my number one priority. With the passion, skills and experiences gathered and still gathering, I am convinced I want to do this and can do it more than expected with the help of God. The power now is in the hands of the abled members of GRASAG Legon to vote massively for her in the upcoming election. Ms Boateng who is currently pursuing a two-year Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Marketing programme at the University of Ghana Graduate Business School, is confident that she will carry the day. From the look of things, I am confident I will come up victorious in the election, she stated. Ms Beatrice Boateng, Womens Commissioner Hopeful for Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG)-Legon Branch Projects to be implemented if she gets the nod Ms Boateng who is not new to the issues confronting female students in her school, when given the nod she pledged to organize periodic symposia on career, school and family life to empower them. Another project which is dear to her heart is the setting up of a Special Anti-harassment Unit to liaise between graduate women and the sexual harassment committee of the university to help bring a lasting solution to the canker. With her mantra of Lets Build Together As Women , she will also strengthen the school peer-counseling unit to assist on academic, social and general wellbeing of graduate women. Under my watch, I will organize periodic woman health and wellbeing screening programmes for the women, the pretty GRASAG Legon Womens Commissioner hopeful told this publication. The affable Ms Boateng was quick to add that under her tenure as the Womens Commissioner, periodic outreach programmes of mentorship would be organised to help empower girls in the society. Furthermore, she would also like to build the career capacity of the graduate women to face this ravaging COVID-19 pandemic world where everything has really gone digital and organizations are not just looking for just the normal but the newly well equipped digitally advanced women with the knowledge. Ms Boateng would make this possible by employing the expertise of resource persons to help train the graduate women on how to use required digital tools for the modern workplace . Multitasking whereas being a strength can equally be a weakness if not balanced well. Women get frustrated sometimes when faced with too many things at a time. But I think as women, we have the strength and if we are able to nurture and train our minds in the right directions, we can take up any task and finish it well with very less stress. Ms Boateng who is also currently the Managing Director of Erica B Hotel in Kumasi, is service-oriented young lady with human beings as the fulcrum. Previous working life She a service-oriented person with seven years of working experience in the field of service with eminent organizations in Ghana. She did her national service at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. Subsequently, Ms Boateng has had experience in previous work places where she led and served effectively and efficiently. She worked at Vodafone Ghana as a A-Team lead and customer care executive, Golden Foundation Microfinance as a customer care executive, and CDH Insurance. I have also worked with the Nantel Systems Limited, Northern Sector Distributor for Nestle and Vodafone Ghana, according to her. Interest Ms Boateng has a profound interest in brand marketing, relationship marketing, and service marketing. Hence, she explores the chances she gets in working in those fields. I am equally interested in internal marketing. I believe success is a result of healthy relationships. Ms Boateng who described herself as an extroverted introvert and a very disciplined young woman, is seen by her family and friends as hardworking and a goal-getter. I am a firm and a credible young woman who do not compromise on my integrity and as a result makes sure things are done right. Ms Beatrice Boateng, Womens Commissioner Hopeful for Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG)-Legon Branch Inspiration Ms Boateng takes inspiration from God almighty and the great women out there seeking out for the welfare of other people. I am motivated to work hard to achieve my dreams and aspirations in other to be able to help build my fellow women and children. I believe that success is a conscious effort made constantly, and that is what I live with. My will-do and can-do spirit has and is helping me achieve my goals in life. I have an interest in empowering both genders especially females. Ms Boateng believes that, if not the best, women empowerment is amongst the best solutions to alleviate poverty in Ghana. GRASAG Legon Womens Commissioner hopeful aspires to be an accomplished marketing lecturer, a marketing consultant, and an entrepreneur, looking out for the less privileged and helping to build a better Ghana. By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report Photographer Jan Skwara captured members living their ascetic life of meditation as well as rituals involving corpses and human skeletons Worship the Hindu deity Shiva but contradict the religion by practicing post-mortem rituals and cannibalism Advertisement Stunning images have revealed new insight into a reclusive religious sect of men who live in cemeteries, use dead bodies as alters and consume human flesh to enhance their spiritual connections. Portraits show members of the Aghori sect, a small denomination of Hindus, going about their prayer-focussed lifestyle in the north Indian province of Uttar Pradesh. The group reside near cremation sites along the banks of the Ganges near the city of Varanasi, where bodies are routinely cremated and scattered into the sacred river. One chilling image captured a man as he tipped his head back and raised his hands before drinking from the mouth of a real human skull. In another picture we see a man sat down with a red human skull perched on top of his own whilst his face is covered in an eerie white dust. Polish photographer, Jan Skwara, 38, was travelling through Varanasi, when he encountered this Aghori sect. The Aghori believe in asceticism - a lifestyle in which one denies themselves of sensual pleasures choosing instead to pursue spiritual goals. Stunning images have revealed new insight into a reclusive religious sect of men who live in cemeteries in northern India, using dead bodies as alters and consuming human flesh to enhance their spiritual connections Portraits show members of the Aghori sect, a small denomination of Hindus, going about their prayer-focussed lifestyle in the north Indian province of Uttar Pradesh. Polish photographer, Jan Skwara, 38, was travelling through Varanasi, when he encountered this Aghori sect and began to document their reclusive lifestyle One worshipper's home used an empty coffin as a shelving unit, and a gym bag of collected human skulls are seen at the foot of his bed One chilling image captured a man as he tipped his head back and raised his hands before drinking from the mouth of a real human skull Over the course of four days, Jan learnt a great deal about the Aghori people. Known for specialising in post-mortem rituals, the Aghori people also practice cannibalism. Whilst they worship the Hindu deity, Shiva, Aghori practices are seen as being contradictory to orthodox Hinduism. 'It is said that the Aghori exist in the space between life and death. They usually live close to crematory grounds and collect "human oil" from corpses,' Jan said. One stirring image shows a bearded man sat silently with a human skull perched atop his own head 'Post-mortem practices are considered to be filthy in Hinduism but the Aghori disagree with this. They have their own belief system built upon providing offerings to their God and consuming polluted things like human flesh, excrement, or toxins. 'There are many Aghori who choose not to partake in these ancient traditions. Instead, they engage in positive social change - even a former president of India was Aghori. However, others live outside of society pushing asceticism to the extreme. 'The Aghori don't like visitors - especially tourists - as their lives are concentrated on praying and meditation. I was able to visit them as I met a young man who was a former Aghori.' Aghori people only eat the flesh of deceased corpses and often also use bodies as alters to forge a connection to the sect's deities. Asceticism promotes ridding yourself of passion, lust, and shame. For this reason, Aghori people wear very little clothing as a way to rid themselves of any shame. They are not interested in receiving any fame or notoriety. 'It was difficult to find anyone who could take me to see them. I must confess, it is scary to see all of the skulls,' Jan said. 'They behave strangely - sometimes screaming or running around. Aghori rituals may seem shocking to Western people but they are largely accepted. 'It's hard to describe the Aghori as their philosophy is so complex. There are no rules to how they should behave. Many follow their own individual paths.' In another picture we see a man sat down with a red human skull clasped in his hands whilst his face is covered in an eerie white dust Known for specialising in post-mortem rituals, the Aghori people also practice cannibalism. Whilst they worship the Hindu deity, Shiva, Aghori practices are seen as being contradictory to orthodox Hinduism The Aghori believe in asceticism - a lifestyle in which one denies themselves of sensual pleasures choosing instead to pursue spiritual goals The check arrived every month: $73.13. Irene Triplett, who lived in a North Carolina nursing home, rarely talked about the source of the money. She was the final American to receive a pension from the Civil War - $877.56 a year from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The jaw-dropping fact that someone in the year 2020 was still earning a Civil War pension was the result of two factors: First, Triplett suffered cognitive impairments, qualifying her for the lifelong pension as a helpless adult child of a veteran. Second, her father, Mose Triplett, who'd served as a private in the Confederate Army before defecting to the Union, was on his second marriage when she was born in 1930. He was just a few weeks away from turning 84. On Sunday, Irene Triplett died at Accordius Health, a long-term care facility in Wilkesboro, N.C., at the age of 90. A relative said she'd broken her hip a few days earlier and died of complications. She never married, and her only brother had died in 1996. Triplett's story is a powerful reminder that the Civil War wasn't all that long ago, said Columbia University historian Stephanie McCurry. "Just like the Confederate monuments issue, which is blowing up right now, I think this is a reminder of the long reach of slavery, secession and the Civil War," she said. "It reminds you of the battle over slavery and its legitimacy in the United States." Many more widows and children of other long-ago soldiers are still alive. According to the VA, there are 33 surviving spouses and 18 children receiving pension benefits related to the 1898 Spanish-American War. Triplett's status as a Civil War pensioner began gaining attention in 2011, when the Wilkes Genealogical Society in Wilkes County, N.C., displayed her photograph on its quarterly publication and featured her in a story. The article noted she was one of only two people in the country still reaping a Civil War pension. One of the piece's researchers, Jerry Orton, of Syracuse, N.Y., a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, first discovered that Triplett was earning the benefit at some point in the late 1980s, after he'd embarked on a research project on surviving widows and children of Civil War soldiers. He'd gotten her name from the Veterans Administration. Eventually, he traveled to North Carolina and interviewed her about her life. "Irene could not recall much of her childhood and has no recollection of Mose," the historical society's article said. "She has virtually no memories of fun, presents, friends, neighbors or such as they lived so isolated, and she had to work on the farm each day where they primarily raised chicken[s] and kept some hogs and cows as well." In 2013, an Associated Press story reported that more than $40 billion a year was being spent to compensate veterans and survivors from the Spanish-American War, World War I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq war, and the Afghanistan war. Then, the wire service dropped this juicy nugget: "The Civil War payments are going to two children of veterans - one in North Carolina and one in Tennessee - each for $876 per year." But the AP story didn't name Triplett or the Tennessee recipient. That's when the tabloid Daily Mail got involved, identifying Triplett for the first time in a major news publication. The headline: "EXCLUSIVE: Revealed, America's last living link to the Civil War." Relying partly on military records, Orton's research for the genealogical society and an interview with her recently deceased nephew, the Daily Mail piece included a photo of Triplett and painted a colorful portrait of her father: Mose first joined a Confederate regiment in North Carolina in 1862 and then defected to the Union in 1864. He once held a rattlesnake around his neck and sported a Wyatt Earp-style mustache that fell below his chin. He sat on his porch and shot acorns out of trees. The next year, the Wall Street Journal published its own story on Triplett, a lengthy front-pager that recounted how Mose chose to abandon the Confederacy at exactly the right time - just as he and his regiment were marching through the Shenandoah River Valley on their way to Gettysburg, Pa. The Journal noted that Mose went to a hospital in Danville, Va., with a fever and that state records said he "deserted" on June 26, 1863. For his future daughter, the timing of his decision could not have been more significant. About a week later, of the 800 men in Mose's Confederate regiment, 734 of them died at the Battle of Gettysburg, the Journal said. On Aug. 1, 1864, Mose joined the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry, known as "Kirk's Raiders," a regiment that laid waste to Confederate depots, railroads and bridges. Four months after the war ended in 1865, Mose was discharged and eventually moved back to his native North Carolina, settling on farmland in Wilkes County. Twenty years later, the Journal article said, he applied for his Civil War pension. He and his first wife Mary had no children. After Mary died in the 1920s, Mose married Elida Hall. He was 78. She was 27. Their 1924 marriage, according to the Journal, was rough. They lost three babies. Then Irene was born on Jan. 9, 1930, but had mental disabilities, according to the newspaper. She was 8 when her father died on July 18, 1938, at the age of 92. His headstone reads: "He was a Civil War soldier." When the Journal interviewed Triplett, she said her teachers beat her with an oak paddle, and her parents also hit her. Other children teased her about her father "the traitor," one of her relatives told the newspaper. She dropped out of sixth grade. According to the Journal, she and her mother lived for years in a county "poorhouse," which was infested with rats and mice, before she and her mother later moved into a private nursing home. "I didn't care for neither one [of my parents], to tell you the truth about it," she said. "I wanted to get away from both of them. I wanted to get me a house and crawl in it all by myself." After her mother passed away in 1967, Triplett eventually found her own friends at various nursing homes, especially at her most recent stay at Accordius Health. She chewed tobacco from her pouch of Star tobacco. She loved watching the news on television and reporting back to other residents about the latest goings-on. Jamie Phillips, the home's activities director, said she spent most days with her, playing bingo and watching her use a red Solo cup as her spittoon. She loved gospel music. Listening to the Bill Withers song "Lean on Me." Cream cheese cheeseballs. Fried potatoes and onions. Fried chicken and pinto beans. Laughing. This is what she was really famous for. "Even if you tripped or dropped something, she'd laugh," Phillips said. "She was set off by anything. I never saw her angry. Everything was funny." But if anyone asked her about her father or, in the aftermath of all the news stories, why she was getting a Civil War pension check, she'd demur. "A lot of people were interested in her story," Phillips said, "but she'd always deflect the conversation to something different going on in the news." - - - The Washington Post's Harrison Smith contributed to this story. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP No one accuses Donald Trump of subtlety. When the US president raised a Bible overhead on Monday evening outside St Johns Episcopal church in Washington DC, the sign was unmistakable: an appeal to his white evangelical base for loyalty, as protests and riots roared across America. Not every Christian answered the call. The Rev Gini Gerbasi, an Episcopal priest, said police used teargas to drive her and others from St Johns before Trumps appearance. They turned holy ground into a battleground, she told Religion News Service. But many of Trumps evangelical supporters, far from Washingtons political stage, saw the move as a victory in a world rife with evil. Related: Bishop 'outraged' over Trump's church photo op during George Floyd protests My whole family was flabbergasted, said Benjamin Horbowy, 37. The Horbowys had gathered in Tallahassee, Florida, to watch live as Trump walked from the White House to St Johns. My mother just shouted out, God give him strength! Hes doing a Jericho walk! A Jericho walk, in some evangelical circles, refers to the biblical book of Joshua, where God commanded the Israelites to walk seven times around the opposing city of Jericho, whose walls then came crashing down. Horbowy already supported Trump politically he heads the local chapter of a pro- Trump motorcycle club and is campaigning for a seat in Floridas state senate but when Trump lifted the Bible, Horbowy and his family felt overcome spiritually. My mother started crying. She comes from Pentecostal background, and she started speaking in tongues. I havent heard her speak in tongues in years, he said. I thought, look at my president! Hes establishing the Lords kingdom in the world. Did he feel that conflicted with the Gospel of John, where Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world? Well, Horbowy said, thats a philosophical question. After watching Trumps gesture, Horbowy changed his Facebook profile photo to one of Trump outside St Johns, with added rays of light emanating from the Bible. It was the coolest thing he could do. What more could he do, wear blue jeans and ride in on a horse? he said. Story continues The catalyst for the protests was the killing of 46-year-old George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Asked about that, Horbowy said, Theres a Bible verse that says we shouldnt talk about evil things. We can just say, Theres evil and move on. He couldnt remember the exact verse, he said. So how did devotees like Horbowy become such a potent force that Trump would signal them in his hour of need? One answer lies in their relationship with Trump. They have given him their fervent support at the ballot box and in turn they have seen a conservative takeover of the courts and an assault on reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights. Their power and worldview is a culmination of trends that started decades ago, according to John Fea, a history professor at Messiah College and himself an evangelical Christian. Its rooted in fear, he said. In the 1980s, Fea said, several forces converged to alarm white Christians: a removal of official prayer and Bible readings from schools, an influx of immigrants from Asia and the Middle East, and the final desegregation of schools like Bob Jones University. So came the emergence of the Christian right, Fea said. Figures like Jerry Falwell and James Dobson started wielding political influence in a new way, followed today by a new generation that includes Franklin Graham and the Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress, one of Trumps leading evangelical defenders. What seems to be missing in much of the coverage is that a group of protesters had tried to burn that church to the ground 24 hours earlier, Jeffress said. Jeffress sees no conflict between Trumps behavior and the Bible he held up on Monday evening. You mean, does he pretend to be perfectly pious? he said. No. Fea calls faith leaders like Jeffress court evangelicals. Related: 'How did we get here?': Trump has normalised mayhem and the US is paying the price Trump has these people around him, Fea said. Theyre telling him, You need to get your evangelical base on board. People once concerned with piety, Fea said, now crave an exercise in pure political power, and the Bible is no longer a spiritual weapon but an earthly one. When Trump describes himself as a law and order president and holds aloft a Bible, he conflates which law he will enforce, and whose order will follow. In a short speech before the walk to St Johns, Trump said he would dominate the streets. That is the kingdom in the world Horbowy referenced. I believe its like Ephesians 6:10 through 19, Horbowy said from Florida. I believe this is a president who wears the full armor of God. But one of those verses verse 12 says explicitly that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual enemies. Well, Horbowy said. Hes fearless. A push to promote absentee voting as a safer alternative during the coronavirus pandemic is not expected to produce widespread fraud, according to election experts, despite President Donald Trumps recent attacks on mail-in voting in Michigan and other states. Concerns about the potential for COVID-19 to spread through polling places in the August and November elections motivated Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to mail every registered voter an application to obtain an absentee ballot. The president quickly condemned the decision in a series of statements linking no-reason absentee voting to partisan election interference, claims that are considered misleading and possibly harmful by election clerks and researchers in Michigan. Portuguese detectives who probed the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have been left facing tough questions after it emerged they identified the German paedophile who is now the chief suspect in 2007 - but 'discarded' him. Goncalo Amaral, the man who led the initial investigation, confirmed in April last year that 'a German paedophile currently in jail in Germany' - now named as Christian Brueckner - was identified 13 years ago as a potential suspect. But Amaral, who was sacked after naming Kate and Jerry McCann as suspects in the disappearance and maintains they were responsible, said his detectives 'found nothing to suggest [Brueckner] took Madeleine'. That is despite revelations today that Brueckner had a lengthy criminal record including burglary and child sex crimes, lived in a property just three miles from where Maddie went missing, and can be placed in the area on the night in question using mobile phone records. Goncalo Amaral, the Portuguese ex-investigator who was in charge of the initial Madeleine probe, said his team identified the man now considered to be the chief suspect back in 2007 - but 'discarded' him from their investigation British police are now working on the theory that the German national - named in media reports as Christian Bruckner (right) - was responsible for taking Madeleine (left) According to German media, Brueckner was first convicted of child sex offences in Germany in 1994, aged 17. He was sentenced to two years in jail but was released early, travelling to the Algarve in 1995 as a backpacker, where he became involved in drug smuggling. He then spent 12 years on the Algarve dealing drugs, burgling holiday homes and even raped a 72-year-old American tourist after breaking into her holiday home to loot it - but was never arrested. Police have long believed Maddie may have been snatched during a burglary. He was then brought to the attention of Amaral as he investigated Madeleine's disappearance in 2007, but was dismissed as a 'scapegoat'. Speaking to Australian podcast Maddie in April last year, Amaral predicted that British police 'are probably going to use a German paedophile who is in jail in Germany' as their chief suspect. He said that the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria, 'investigated him at the time but found nothing to suggest he took Madeleine.' Amaral suggested that British police had been working up cases against two German paedophiles - one of whom died a few years ago, leaving one suspect to pursue. In the interview, he accused British detectives of 'wanting it to be' the now-dead paedophile. German and British police say Brueckner was not on a shortlist of 600 suspects drawn up by Portuguese officers despite his criminal record. On Wednesday evening, British detectives from Operation Grange - a 12million, eight-year investigation into Madeleine's disappearance - announced Brueckner as their new chief suspect, though without naming him due to privacy laws. They confirmed he is currently in jail in Germany for the rape and assault of the American woman which occurred in 2005, 18 months before Maddie vanished. Amaral was sacked from the 2007 investigation after launching public attacks on the British police, and has been involved in bitter legal disputes with Kate and Jerry McCann (pictured) Police allege that he had been living in a house three miles from the resort where Madeleine vanished - moving out just a month beforehand. Officers say he left the house filthy and rent unpaid, and that he moved into a VW campervan. On the night of Maddie's disappearance, they say a phone call placed Brueckner in the area where she vanished. They say he spoke on the phone with the mystery caller for half an hour, before hanging up. Some time after she vanished, Brueckner moved back to Germany where he continued to reoffend, and in 2011 was sentenced to jail for drug smuggling. In 2016 he was jailed for sexually abusing a child and possession child pornography. After serving that sentence he made his way to Italy, where he was arrested last year in Milan for the 2005 rape. He was deported back to Germany where he was convicted in December thanks to DNA evidence, and was sentenced to seven years in jail. In total, he has 17 prior convictions including driving without a licence, assault, burglary, theft and drink driving. Today German prosecutors said they are confident Madeleine is dead, they know how she was killed, and are treating the investigation as a murder inquiry. British police continue to pursue it as a missing persons case. Friends say Kate and Jerry McCann are 'realistic' about the possibility their daughter is dead, but still hope she may be alive since no body has been found. Portuguese lawyers have cautioned that, in the absence of a body, it may be impossible to get a conviction against the suspect since he is unlikely to confess. 'Without the body of little Maddie and without a confession, it will probably be very difficult to provide the necessary evidence in a trial,' said experienced lawyer Sofia Matos on Portuguese television. Henrique Machado, another senior lawyer, added: 'Motivation and opportunity are not sufficient for an indictment.' British, Portuguese and German police are now issuing a joint appeal for anyone who might know the man they have described to come forward. They are particularly interested in speaking to the person who held the thirty-minute phone conversation with their suspect on the night Maddie vanished. As part of the investigation they have revealed two phone numbers - +351 / 91 65 10 683, which they say belonged to the witness, and +351 / 91 27 30 680, which they say belonged to the suspect. Officers have appealed for anyone with information on either of those phone numbers or the people using them in 2007 to come forward. The suspect, who is in prison in Germany for rape, has been linked to an early 1980s camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which is seen here on the Algarve in 2007. Police believe it may have been used in the crime He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and the surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007 including just days before Maddie's disappearance. It has been seized by police. They have also revealed details of two vehicles connected to their chief suspect - a white and yellow camper van and a German-registered Jaguar XJR6. Anyone with information on either of the two vehicles or their whereabouts in 2007 is also being asked to come forward. Finally, they say the man rented a property called Escola Vehla which is located between Praia da Luz and Lagos which he vacated suddenly in 2006, and a second property located inland from the beach resorts. They are asking for anyone with information on either of the properties to come forward. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who is working with Operation Grange, said last night: 'Some people will know the man we are describing today, the suspect in our investigation. I'm appealing to you directly. 'You may know, you may be aware of some of the things he has done. He may have confided in you about the disappearance of Madeleine. 'More than 13 years have passed and your loyalties may have changed. 'This individual is in prison and we are conscious that some people may have been concerned about contacting police in the past. Now is the time to come forward. 'I'm appealing to you to contact us, or the German authorities or the Portuguese authorities.' The suspect is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla - meaning 'old school' - during his time in Portugal German federal police say the man lived in this house until shortly before Madeleine disappeared - when he left abruptly without paying rent The house is located just three miles from where Madeleine vanished in 2007 The German suspect had lived in a warehouse outside Praia da Luz for several years but moved into a campervan just before Maddie vanished Madeleine - then aged three - disappeared from an apartment where she was staying with her family in Praia da Luz on the night of May 3, 2007. Her parents, Kate and Jerry, had been dining with friends in a nearby restaurant and periodically checking on Madelenie and her two siblings - Sean and Amelie - as they slept. Around 9pm, Jerry went to check on the children and found them sleeping. At 9.30pm, a family friend went to the apartment and heard no noise, but did not check far enough into the room to see if Madeleine was there. At 10pm, Kate went to check on the children and found Maddie was gone. The disappearance was reported immediately and a search party launched the same evening including officers from the Guarda Nacional Republicana and the Policia Judiciaria, which launched an investigation. Amaral was brought in to head that investigation and ran it for several months, infamously naming both Kate and Jerry as suspects. He was sacked shortly after launching a public attack on British detectives - accusing them of only pursuing investigative lines given to them by the McCanns. He has since published a book and appeared in a documentary called 'The Truth of the Lie' in which he repeated his claims against the McCanns. The family won a libel suit against him in 2015, and were awarded 500,000 in damages. He is now retired and lives in Lisbon. He rarely speaks about the case or appears in public. Olha Stefanishyna replaced Vadym Prystaiko on the position. Previously, she worked as Director-General of the Government Office for Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers Olha Stefanishyna Open source Olha Stefanishyna, an international lawyer, has become the new Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, replacing Vadym Prystaiko on the position. We tell you what we know about her. Biography of Olha Stefanishyna She was born on October 29, 1985, and lives in Kyiv. In 2008 she graduated from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, obtained the qualification of an international lawyer, and English language translator. In 2016, Stefanishina graduated from Odesa National University of Economics with a degree in Finance and Credit. In 2006-2007 she was engaged in private legal practice. In 2006-2007 she was engaged in private legal practice. In 2007-2010 she worked as a specialist and head of the Department for Legal Support of European Integration in the State Department for Legislation Adaptation. From 2010 to 2015, Stefanishina worked in the Department of International Law / Department of European Integration in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. From March to December 2017, she worked as the Director of the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers. In December 2017, she was appointed Director-General of the Government Office for the Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Secretariat. After resigning from the Government Office in 2019, she worked in the legal business. In 2019, Stefanishina ran for the Verkhovna Rada in the lists of Ukrainian Strategy of Groysman Party under number 25. But she did not get into parliament. Olha Stefanishina has the 5th rank of a civil servant. She was awarded the Honorary Certificate of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Stefanyshyna's income Stefanyshyna's income According to the tax declaration for 2019, Stefanishina fully or partially owns several apartments in Kyiv and Odesa. The new vice-premier drives a 2009 Toyota RAV4 worth almost 4,870 dollars. Last year, Olha Stefanishyna received a salary of 30,000 dollars in the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers. Stefanishina did not indicate other sources of income and bank accounts. BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will draw up a stimulus plan for domestic tourism to be rolled out for four months starting in July, a senior official said on Thursday, as the country seeks to revive a sector hit badly by the global impacts of the coronavirus. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will submit a plan to the Ministry of Finance for a package that will boost domestic tourism by next week, TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said in a statement. The plan will offer perks encouraging travel for some 1.2 million medical personnel and health volunteers, he said, adding that offers would also be extended to the general public. Spending by foreign tourists accounted for 11.4% of the country's gross domestic product last year, while domestic tourism made up 6%. (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Orathai Siring; Editing by Martin Petty) Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 16:13:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A large volume of rubber might be used in the construction of riverside rubber embankments throughout Thailand in an effort to promote its domestic use instead of export. Uthai Sonlaksap, chairperson of the Rubber Network Council and Rubber Farmers Institute of Thailand, said on Thursday that his agency is yet to submit a proposal to the National Rubber Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The proposal is made for the planned use of some 500,000 tons of rubber in the construction of the anti-flooding rubber embankments along the banks of 25 rivers in all regions of the country. If initially approved by the committee and finally by the government, an estimated 100-billion-baht (about 3.16 billion U.S. dollars) budget will be provided for rubber embankment projects to be carried out nationwide, according to the rubber agency's chairperson. That sum of money to finance the planned rubber levee scheme might be secured from a 500-billion-baht (about 15.81 billion U.S. dollars) government budget, which have no been allocated under an executive decree for post-pandemic social and economic restoration measures. Instead of exporting a large volume of rubber at lowered prices to the world markets, Uthai said, Thailand might look to use more of it within the country to create jobs and raise more incomes for local villagers, who might be hired in such rubber levee project. Some 360,000 tons of rubber might be used in the planned making of rubber fender barriers along 12,000 km of roads throughout the country, according to Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob. Rubber farmers will earn more income by directly providing their product to road-building agencies, namely the Department of Highways and the Department of Rural Roads. Such rubber fender barrier project is primarily designed to make a substantial domestic use of rubber, which would be otherwise bound for export, according to the minister. As the world's biggest producer and exporter of natural rubber, Thailand's total rubber production increased for 2.43 percent from 13.54 million tons in 2017 to 13.87 billion tons in 2018, according to Rubber Statistical Bulletin. Thai rubber accounts for up to 40 percent of global supply but Thai rubber farmers have struggled with low prices in recent years due to decline in global demand. Enditem KYODO NEWS - Jun 4, 2020 - 17:52 | Japan, Coronavirus, All Japan's prefectural governors on Thursday came up with joint proposals for how to revive the country's economy while preventing a second wave of infections amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Measures proposed during the online meeting of the National Governors' Association included a review of how prefectures responded to the outbreak in terms of testing and medical care, and coordination with the central government on sharing anti-virus measures and analyzing infection routes. Recognizing that the country is facing its biggest crisis of the postwar period, socially and economically, the governors plan to launch a team by this summer to jointly compile measures to fight the pandemic. A state of emergency, initially imposed on Tokyo and six other prefectures in early April and later expanded to the whole country, was lifted in stages by May 25, but the country still faces the risk of a second wave of infections, with new cases in Tokyo showing signs of increasing again. The capital reported 34 new cases on Tuesday, 12 on Wednesday and 28 on Thursday, after the figure had fallen to single digits. In the southwestern city of Kitakyushu, a group of school children have been infected and cluster cases have occurred at medical institutions. Ishikawa Gov. Masanori Tanimoto said hospitals that have accepted people infected with the virus need financial support from the central government. The governors called for the continued promotion of telework and online meetings even after the lifting of the state of emergency, while stressing the need to achieve sustainable economic growth through administrative and economic decentralization. The association's conference was initially scheduled to be held in Shiga Prefecture but was moved online due to the spread of the virus. Related coverage: Japan mulls simplifying Tokyo Olympics due to coronavirus China using pandemic to silence Hong Kong protestors: activist Japan researchers create tiny bronchi to develop drug for COVID-19 The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called on the government to roll out a different stimulus package targeting smallholder farmers to revamp their operations. Mr Charles Kwowe Nyaaba, Head of Programmes and Advocacy at PFAG, who made the call, said We think that if we want this country to become food secure next year, government needs to come out with a different funding mechanism that addresses specific needs of smallholder farmers. He made the call at a training on COVID-19 held at Sognayili in the Sagnarigu Municipality for Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) drawn from the Tamale Metropolis, Sagnarigu and Savelugu Municipalities of the Northern Region. The training, organised by PFAG, was to equip participants with knowledge on the transmission, symptoms and safety precautions on COVID-19, such that they would also educate farmers on the disease as part of their extension activities to help curb its spread. As part of the training, PFAG presented a veronica bucket each including other personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Departments of Agriculture in the Tamale Metropolis and Sagnarigu Municipality to help ensure hygiene. Following the emergence of the COVID-19 in the country and its devastating impact on businesses, the government rolled out a GHC600,000,000.00 stimulus package to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to manage the impact of the disease on their operations. Mr Nyaaba argued that smallholder farmers would not benefit from the current stimulus package because, they neither registered their operations nor had tax identification numbers, which were key requirements for accessing the funds. He said funds under the currents stimulus package were also not enough, adding, a different stimulus package targeting smallholder farmers would help cushion them in this era of COVID-19 as they needed just between GHC500.00 to GHC2,000.oo to revamp their operations. He said We think that farmers bear more of the consequences of COVID-19 than other businesses. Farmers cannot sell their produce because of disruptions in businesses. Farmers have cleared their lands waiting for tractors to plough but there are no tractors because borders are closed, yet they are left out of the credit facility meant to cushion businesses. If we do not take a second look at that approach, we may be addressing one problem but the problem will escalate to the agricultural sector. Mr Iddriss Nouridean, an AEA at the Tamale Metropolis, who spoke on behalf of the participants, said the COVID-19 had overstretched resources of the Departments of Agriculture as AEAs had to now make two trips to communities instead of one for their extension activities to farmers. Mr Nouridean commended PFAG for the training, saying, it would boost their operations as they and the farmers would keep safe during this era 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 The High Court decision to rule that the use of tear gas on four youths at the Northern Territory's notorious Don Dale detention centre in 2014 was unlawful could not have come at a more appropriate time. Not that the court planned it this way, but the decision was announced against a backdrop of discontent in this nation and of course, the United States, about the excessive use of force by law enforcement against those they detain, including young people. The Don Dale detention centre in Darwin. Credit:AAP The four detainees, aged between 15 and 17 in August 2014, claimed damages for assault and battery against the Northern Territory government for the use of spit hoods, leg shackles and hand cuffs. But Justice Judith Kelly of the Territory's Supreme Court dismissed their claims based on the use of CS, or tear gas. As the ABC's Four Corners showed in a 2016 expose of Don Dale, there were 10 bursts of tear gas sprayed into the enclosed area containing six detainees over a period of 90 seconds. Tear gas is, as the High Court noted, is a dangerous substance. Justices Michelle Gordon and James Edelman noted that the gas "disables those who breathe it by inducing uncontrollable burning and tearing of the eyes, and intense irritation of the nose and throat, causing profuse coughing and difficulty breathing". While there is power in the Northern Territory to use it in adult detention, there is no power to use this weapon on children. The Caribbean was one of the last regions of the Americas to be settled by humans. Now, a new study published in the journal Science sheds new light on how the islands were settled thousands of years ago. Using ancient DNA, an international team of researchers found evidence of at least three population dispersals that brought people to the region. "Our results give a glimpse of the early migration history of the Caribbean and connect the region to the rest of the Americas," says Hannes Schroeder, Associate Professor at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, and one of the senior authors of the study. "The DNA evidence adds to the archaeological data and enables us to test specific hypotheses as to how the Caribbean was first settled." More data, more details The researchers analysed the genomes of 93 ancient Caribbean islanders who lived between 400 and 3200 years ago using bone fragments excavated from 16 different archaeological sites across the Caribbean. Due to the region's warm climate, the DNA from the samples is not very well preserved. Using targeted enrichment techniques, the researchers managed to extract genome-wide information from the remains. "New methods and technology allowed us to increase the number of ancient genomes from the Caribbean by almost two orders of magnitude," says Johannes Krause, Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, another senior author of the study. "With all that data we are able to paint a very detailed picture of the early migration history of the Caribbean." The researchers' findings indicate that there have been at least three different population dispersals into the region: two earlier dispersals into the western Caribbean, one of which seems to be linked to earlier population dispersals in North America, and a third, more recent wave, which originated in South America. Connections across the Caribbean Sea Although it is still not entirely clear how the early settlers reached the islands, there is growing archaeological evidence that, far from being a barrier, the Caribbean Sea served as a kind of 'aquatic highway' that connected the islands with the mainland and each other. "Big bodies of water are traditionally considered barriers for humans and ancient fisher hunter gatherer communities are usually not perceived as great seafarers. Our results continue to challenge that view, as they suggest there was repeated interaction between the islands and the mainland," says Kathrin Nagele, PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany and one of the lead authors of the study. Biological and cultural diversity in the ancient Caribbean "The new data support our previous observations that the early settlers of the Caribbean were biologically and culturally diverse, adding resolution to this ancient period of our history," says Yadira Chinique de Armas, Assistant Professor in Bioanthropology at the University of Winnipeg and co-director of three large-scale excavations in Cuba. The researchers also found genetic differences between the early settlers and the newcomers from South America who, according to archaeological evidence, entered the region around 2800 years ago. "Although the different groups were present in the Caribbean at the same time, we found surprisingly little evidence of admixture between them," adds Cosimo Posth, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and joint-first author of the study. "The results of this study provide yet another layer of data that highlights the complex and multi-nature of pre-Columbian Caribbean societies and their connections to the American mainland prior to the colonial invasion. It's reflected in the archaeology of the region, but it is fascinating to see it supported by the biological data," says Corinne Hofman, Professor of Archaeology at Leiden University and PI of the ERC Synergy project NEXUS1492. "Genetic data provide a new depth to our findings," agrees Mirjana Roksandic, Professor at the University of Winnipeg and the PI on the SSHRC project. ### The study was funded by the Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (ERC Synergy Project Nexus1492). The threat of a US counter-attack has made the Chinese devise ways to keep them from gaining any foothold like anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) to give any attacking assets a hard time. One of the threats feared by China is the US Navy that they will engage variable threats that will make the US think twice in this cover devised by the CCP, reported by Defense News. The Pentagon states the A2/AD strategy will be able to protect the China's People's Liberation Army from air or ground attack from US or Allies in a conflict. Chinese military is avoiding any head-on confrontation in the areas they protect like the Yellow Sea. This apprehension of foreign incursions has driven them to steal territory and claim areas from the first island chain, also the Western Pacific. They are using longer-range missiles with satellites for tracking and aiming from space. Way back 2016, the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US, warned the number of Chinese satellites placed in orbit. Many of them are used by various entities that are connected to the CCP and for civilian or military. Chinese satellites may have payloads that are for offensive purposes like electro-optical sensors, synthetic aperture radar and electronic intelligence technology which are all for spying. China has satellites that keep monitoring the south China sea and waters around China. Their main purpose is to target, track, and integrate all weapons with a clear sight picture for accurate hitting of targets. DF-21D, China's answer to its fear of US carriers Its purpose is to attack ships on the move, especially the US aircraft carrier that the PLA believe is vulnerable to fast missiles travelling at Mach 5 plus, which is hard to counter the DF-21 missile, as defined by Business Insider. Also read: Deployment of Chinese Aircraft Carriers Close to Taiwan Could Trigger US Naval Confrontation To enable the best mobility, they'll do a mobile launch system that can be moved to survive a cluster attack on PLA bases. Their range is 780 nautical miles with several load-out of nuclear or conventional warheads used by the PLA Rocket Force. US Defense Department thinks the DF-21D will be operational by 2010 with a manoeuvrable reentry vehicle, including satellite guidance that utilizes radar and visual imaging to reach its target. There are questions whether it will perform well on fix targets, but how it can hit a mobile target accurately is not sure. Many doubts exist if it can perform as well as claimed. A sensor network should be capable of the keeping watch on a large area, but the Chinese network cannot so chokepoints at the Miyako Strait and the Bashi Channel where most ships pass. China's space eyes in the sky cannot equal more advanced surveillance nets, possessed by western nations, reported by Naval News. One short-coming of aircraft from aircraft carriers is they need refuelling in the mid-air for extended range. It seems better to keep the planes away and their carriers are what is needed like what A2/AD does. Besides the DF-21D, anti-ship ballistic missiles like the YJ-12 and YJ-18 that is used to knock ship at longer ranges. Both can fly from Mach 2 to 4, whether it is launch or cruise altitudes. The YJ-12 and YJ-18 can fly at speeds of between Mach 2 and Mach 4, depending on launch and cruise altitudes, including a range of 108 to 290 nautical miles for both, reported Andrew Erickson. According to sources, a new air-to-air missile is under development but nothing is final yet. Related article: US Navy Ships in Washington State Might Be Sent to the South China Sea to Face Chinese Navy With Increased Tensions @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Those whove seen Little People, Big World know Matt and Amy Roloff well, as weve learned a ton about them over the years. And theres no doubt they have a huge fanbase. Unlike other controversial families featured on TLC, the Roloffs always mean well, and Amy and Matt show love and kindness on their social media platforms regularly. With the current political climate, fans are noticing which reality TV stars are speaking out and staying silent regarding the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. And Matts girlfriend, Caryn Chandler, posted her support for black lives while Matts stayed silent. Could the couple be at odds over this? Heres what we know. The Roloffs have a history of conservative views Amy Roloff and Matt Roloff appear on NBC News Today show | Peter Kramer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images The Roloffs dont usually get too political, but theyve expressed conservative views in the past. We know Jeremy and Audrey Roloff are extremely religious, as they have a covenant marriage. And Audrey has come under fire in the past for expressing anti-LGBTQ sentiments. Those who followed her blog for marriage advice were told that her advice only applies to opposite-sex marriages, and same-sex couples should seek their advice elsewhere. Matts also seemed to share some pro-Donald Trump sentiments that turned fans off. Back in 2017, he shared an article to Facebook that seemed to praise Trump for his response to ISIS. Many fans descended on Matt with criticism for the post, but Matt commented back, What about the undisputed facts? Iraq seems to be getting their country back. Jacob seems to be the only staunchly liberal member of the family. He recently tweeted, I, too, am embarrassed to be related to Trump voters. Matt Roloff has remained silent regarding the Black Lives Matter movement Many reality TV stars are feeling the pressure to respond to the protests and riots and their silence is deafening. Even the Duggars, who have never shown support for Black Lives Matter before, are posting blackout posts in solidarity. But Matt and Amy have yet to add to the conversation. So far, theyve both remained silent on the issue. And fans are noticing. I see nothing from you or your family about what is going on in the black community, a fan commented to Amy. I have watched you guys from the beginning and you have a lot of black fans but I cant continue to support those who dont support me and my family and my kids and my community and my race. To that, Amy didnt respond. Jeremy, Audrey, and Zachs Roloffs wife, Tori, have all posted blackout posts to their Instagrams, though. And Jacob is doing the most out of anyone. Hes posted resources to his Instagram regarding how to donate, how to support people of color during this time, and how to take action now in a variety of meaningful ways. Matts girlfriend, Caryn Chandler, showed support despite his silence RELATED: LPBW: Matt Roloffs Girlfriend, Caryn Chandler, Said She Would Absolutely Go to Amy Roloffs Wedding While Matt isnt posting much in response to the movement, his girlfriend, Caryn Chandler, is taking a stand. She added a blackout post to her Instagram for Blackout Tuesday and it got some serious backlash. Not you too! How can you support when one of our local cops here in Las Vegas is on life support after being hit by a bullet at last nights protest, a follower commented. ALL LIVES MATTER. We might be all different skin shades but we all bleed RED, another wrote. BOOOOO! open your eyes! You are being duped, yet another noted. Chandler is usually quick to respond to her followers, but shes been noticeably silent here. And many of her fans are supporting her for posting a blackout image, though theyre hoping shell use her platform for even more good. Were not sure if Chandlers post puts her odds with Matt, either. Well have to wait and see if Matt remains silent or speaks out for the greater good. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! DENVER - The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission held former Gov. John Hickenlooper in contempt Thursday for defying orders to appear at a hearing on a Republican complaint that private plane trips he took while governor violated the states gift ban. The commission had subpoenaed Hickenlooper to testify after his legal team argued that the hearings remote format violates his right to face his accusers. His taxpayer-funded attorney, Mark Grueskin, appeared instead. Late in the day, Grueskin offered to have Hickenlooper appear at a June 16 hearing but the commission rejected the last-minute offer. Commissioners voted unanimously on the contempt motion and will reconvene Friday to discuss sanctions against Hickenlooper, a Democrat who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat. Those sanctions can include fines and imposing costs associated with the proceedings. Your client has wilfully chosen not to appear here, panel chair Elizabeth Espinoza Krupa told Grueskin. Im not willing to wait until the 16th. The ethics commission, a quasi-judicial civic body, will consider the ethics complaint after it decides on contempt sanctions. The case comes at an awkward time for Hickenlooper, who faces a June 30 Democratic primary against former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. The winner will challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in the November election, and Hickenlooper has the backing of national Democratic Party leaders. Voters will start receiving mail ballots next week. The ethics panel originally had asked Hickenlooper to suggest some dates for in-person testimony, and the Public Trust Institute also said it preferred an in-person hearing. Hickenlooper proposed hearings be held in August. The commission decided instead to proceed with Thursdays hearing. Hickenlooper campaign spokeswoman Melissa Miller cited repeated video, audio and internet glitches during Thursdays hearing as confirming concerns weve raised for months over remote testimony. In order to put an end to the partisan political circus orchestrated by a dark money Republican group, Governor Hickenlooper offered to testify, and though that was rejected, he remains ready to appear, Miller said in a statement. Romanoff issued a statement after the hearing, saying Coloradans deserve a chance to weigh the facts before they vote next week. Mr. Hickenlooper should testify now. Joanna Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said events make it impossible for Colorado voters to trust him with elected office again. The group plans to spend millions of dollars in Colorado to defend Gardners seat. The Public Trust Institute, a conservative group led by Frank McNulty, a former Republican speaker of the Colorado House, has alleged that Hickenlooper violated Colorados ethics law by taking free flights on private jets as governor. Hickenlooper, who was governor from 2011 to 2019, has denied the accusations as politically motivated. The complaint deals with travel to Turin, Italy, for a meeting of government, business and financial leaders, and a separate trip to Connecticut on a jet owned by billionaire Larry Mizels company, MDC Holdings, to preside at the commissioning of the USS Colorado, a U.S. Navy submarine. MDC Holdings is a large developer in Colorado. Colorado law at the time prohibited gifts worth more than $59 to elected officials with limited exceptions. That figure is now $65. Coloradans expect that their public officials are not magnets for VIP signs, said attorney Suzanne Staiert, representing the institute. Grueskin countered that some of the allegations made about appearance of impropriety and about the nature of some of the plane gifts would not meet (a) preponderance of the evidence standard needed to find that the ex-governor violated ethics laws. Late Wednesday, a Denver district court judge dismissed a bid by Hickenlooper to quash the subpoena that he appear at the hearing, which was being conducted remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. In voting on the contempt motion, commissioners noted that Colorado courts have switched to remote hearings during the pandemic in non-jury cases. A Washington-based tech group supported by Facebook, Google and Twitter filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, alleging his executive order targeting social-media giants threatens to "curtail and chill constitutionally protected speech" during the 2020 presidential election. The challenge brought by the Center for Democracy and Technology marks the first major legal test of Trump's directive, which paves the way for federal agencies to investigate and penalize some of Silicon Valley's most popular platforms over the way they police politically oriented posts, photos and videos across the web. Trump issued the controversial directive last week, just days after Twitter took the rare step of fact checking one of his tweets. Trump blasted the move as political censorship, a charge that the social-media company and other major technology companies long have denied. In its lawsuit, CDT said the White House had run afoul of the First Amendment, which "prohibits government officials from using government power to retaliate against an individual or entity for engaging in protected speech." Even though Trump's order hasn't taken full effect, CDT said the mere existence of the policy could "chill" speech, undermining efforts by Facebook, Google and Twitter to ensure their platforms are used responsibly during the presidential race. "We see the executive as very clear retaliation that's designed to deter social media companies from fighting misinformation and voter suppression," said Alexandra Givens, the leader of CDT. The group filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which asked it to invalidate the whole of the order. Facebook and Google declined to comment. Twitter praised the lawsuit in an unsigned tweet, while basting the president's order as "reactionary and politicized." All three companies have given money to CDT in the past, the group's public statements indicate. The White House referred requests to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond. The lawsuit reflects long-simmering acrimony between the Trump administration and the Silicon Valley social-media sites that have become critical tools in his own political arsenal. Trump is one of the most popular, influential users on services including Facebook and Twitter, but he is also one of their most controversial -- attacking critics and spreading falsehoods that might have run afoul of those companies' rules if he did not serve as the commander-in-chief. Twitter long had resisted calls to discipline Trump, believing even his most incendiary comments should be available for users to view and share without restriction. But the company took a more aggressive approach beginning last week, after Trump erroneously linked mail-in ballots with election fraud. Twitter opted to append a label to his tweets, directing users to news stories that fact checked Trump's claims. Trump responded throughout the week by repeatedly assailing Twitter for censorship, a battery of attacks that culminated in the executive order he signed Thursday. The directive chiefly takes aim at a provision of law known as Section 230, which for decades has spared Twitter and other tech giants from being held liable for the content posted by their users -- and the decisions those companies make about the posts, photos and videos to leave intact or take down. "We're here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers," Trump said before signing the document. Ultimately, it is up to two independent agencies to determine how, exactly, Trump's executive order will be implemented. A wide array of Democratic lawmakers, free-speech activists and conservative advocacy groups, however, all have condemned Trump for an order they see as unconstitutional and dangerous to the future of free expression on the web. CDT, for its part, called the executive order "retaliatory" in the lawsuit it filed Tuesday. In the meantime, Trump and Twitter have continued to clash. On Friday, the president drew the company's latest rebuke after he condemned demonstrators in Minneapolis as "THUGS," threatened military intervention there and predicted local looting could lead to "shooting." In response, Twitter took the unprecedented step of limiting the public's ability to view and share Trump's tweet, which the company said had glorified violence. (Bloomberg) -- A group of hackers with a history of targeting health-care organizations executed a successful ransomware attack this week on the University of California, San Francisco. UCSF confirmed it was the target of an illegal intrusion but declined to explain which portion of its IT network may have been compromised. Researchers at the university are among those leading American antibody testing and clinical trials for possible coronavirus treatments, including a recent study on anti-malarial drugs touted by President Donald Trump as a possible remedy, then refuted by scientists. The university has alerted security experts and law enforcement of the attack, which didnt affect its patient care operations, according to a statement issued by the university.With their assistance, we are conducting a thorough assessment of the incident, including a determination of what, if any, information may have been compromised, the university said. In order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, we will need to limit what we can share at this time. Read more: Malaria Drug Taken by Trump Provides No Covid-19 ProtectionThe hackers, known as Netwalker, claimed credit for the attack on their dark web blog. The post dedicated to UCSF appeared to have been copied and pasted from the universitys home page promoting its work on health care.Attack groups often post data samples to prove the success of their breach. In this case, their blog posted four screenshots, including two files allegedly accessed by the attackers. The files names, seen by Bloomberg on the dark web, contain acronyms that appear to reference the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and departments central to the universitys coronavirus research. The blog includes a flashing-red timer threatening secret data publication by June 8 if payment isnt received. The post doesnt mention the value of ransom demanded. But it did mention other alleged hacking victims in recent days: Columbia College in Chicago and Michigan State University. The universities didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. Story continues In most ransomware cases, payment is followed by the exchange of a decryption key that allows victims to gain access to their files. When victims dont pay, which is often the case when they have backup copies to restore their data, attack groups sometimes publish the most sensitive data in hopes of coaxing payment. Hackers are increasingly targeting institutions like UCSF not only for ransomware payments themselves, but also for possibly lucrative intellectual property, like research on a cure for Covid-19. UCSF has engaged in extensive sampling and antibody testing, including on the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, which has shown signs of being effective early in the Covid-19 life cycle. The U.S. was hit by a record volume of ransomware attacks in 2019 and attackers have shown little sign of relenting in 2020, when users spent more time on less secure networks while working from home. In 2019, at least 966 government agencies, schools and health-care providers were attacked at a cost of more than $7.5 billion, according to the cyber research firm Emsisoft. Among those were almost 90 universities and school districts.Netwalker ransomware was first introduced and operated by the criminal cyber group dubbed Circus Spider by CrowdStrike Inc. Since September 2019, Netwalker ransomware has been actively used by criminal actors with links to malware including Mailto, Koko, and KazKavKovKiz.The use of Covid-19 lures and targeting entities in the health-care sector indicate that the operators of Netwalker are taking advantage of the global pandemic in order to gain notoriety and increase their customer base, according to a Crowdstrike research report. (Updates with other hacked universities in eighth paragraph) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that explains how the zip code can affect the price of car insurance premiums. For more info and free quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/why-car-insurance-varies-by-zip-code/ Car insurance can help drivers overcome some delicate situations that involve the paying of medical bills, damage claims, and legal expenses. Some drivers get confused when they start comparing their insurance policies with their relatives or friends and they notice the huge differences between them. One of the most important reasons for these differences is the ZIP code. The ZIP code can help the insurers find out more about the following factors that determine the insurance premiums: The number of claims in a certain area. Drivers that live in areas where the number of claims is high, will have to pay more money on their insurance rates. Companies correlate the high number of cases with region-specific elements, like roads layouts or geographic elements. Drivers that live in areas where the number of claims is high, will have to pay more money on their insurance rates. Companies correlate the high number of cases with region-specific elements, like roads layouts or geographic elements. Population density . Living in an urban area is usually more expensive. The car insurance premiums paid by those living in high-density urban areas are higher when compared with the premiums paid by drivers that are living in the suburbs. . Living in an urban area is usually more expensive. The car insurance premiums paid by those living in high-density urban areas are higher when compared with the premiums paid by drivers that are living in the suburbs. Climate . Those who live in areas where the winters are longer and more severe are likely to pay more money on car insurance. Also, higher rates will be paid by drivers that live in areas known to be affected by floods, earthquakes, or tornadoes. . Those who live in areas where the winters are longer and more severe are likely to pay more money on car insurance. Also, higher rates will be paid by drivers that live in areas known to be affected by floods, earthquakes, or tornadoes. Crime rates . In some areas, cars are stolen more often or they are vandalized. Especially in large port cities, where specialized gangs are known to steal vehicles in order to send them to foreign countries. Also, drivers have higher chances of getting their cars vandalized if they happen to live in large cities. The recent riots have seen many cars set on fire by rioters. As a result, future premiums will be higher for people living in areas with numerous cars vandalized. . In some areas, cars are stolen more often or they are vandalized. Especially in large port cities, where specialized gangs are known to steal vehicles in order to send them to foreign countries. Also, drivers have higher chances of getting their cars vandalized if they happen to live in large cities. The recent riots have seen many cars set on fire by rioters. As a result, future premiums will be higher for people living in areas with numerous cars vandalized. Unemployment . In areas where the number of unemployed persons is high, there is also a high number of persons that are driving without insurance. Uninsured drivers who are causing an accident are responsible for large losses suffered by insurance providers. Insurance companies will compensate for those losses by increasing the premiums of their paying customers. . In areas where the number of unemployed persons is high, there is also a high number of persons that are driving without insurance. Uninsured drivers who are causing an accident are responsible for large losses suffered by insurance providers. Insurance companies will compensate for those losses by increasing the premiums of their paying customers. Road conditions. Living in an area where the roads are filled with potholes will make the insurance costs go up. The same happens if there are any dangerous intersections or curbs nearby. People living in areas infamous for these traffic dangers can expect higher premiums. 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. "For any insurance company, the neighborhood where a customer lives is very important. Customers living in good and safe neighborhoods pay less on their premiums, while drivers living in dangerous neighborhoods will pay more on their insurance rates.", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing Company Person for contact: Gurgu C Phone Number: (818) 359-3898 Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.biz Website: https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ SOURCE: Internet Marketing Company View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592730/Why-Car-Insurance-Varies-By-ZIP-Code Nearly everyone has seen the video of George Floyd's killing, and no one with a good heart could help but be saddened. George Floyd, himself convicted of the violent crime of aggravated robbery, suspected of attempting to pass counterfeit currency, and reportedly documented on body camera resisting arrest, was not a perfect individual, but he did not deserve to die. I support those who have peacefully protested his death, but I would insist on going one step farther. Each week on average, 333 Americans are murdered. I would protest each of those killings with the same energy and emotion that has been directed at the case of George Floyd. In my heart, I do protest those killings, including the 39 persons murdered in 2018 in nearby Orlando, where Val Demings served for four years as police chief. Murders and assaults in Orlando are so frequent that it is painful to watch the local news. We should grieve for all innocent victims of crime, but the response to Floyd's death does not reflect this fact. Cases involving apparent misconduct by police officers are rare, but each year, 500 whites are murdered by blacks, and many times that number of blacks are murdered by other blacks. Do these lives also matter, or is there something special about the case of a black man killed by white officers? For the victim, whether white or black, it makes no difference. The difference is that, in our politically correct society, any offense against a black person is treated as egregious while offenses by blacks against whites, even murder, are overlooked. They are overlooked by the mainstream media, which has long maintained a policy of not identifying perpetrators by race except when they are white. And they are overlooked by politicians like Joe Biden, who this week rushed from his cozy basement to the site of nearby protests and spoke of his "anguish" and of a "demand for justice" and of his eagerness as future president to "lead the conversation" on race. Does that conversation include the 500 whites murdered each year by blacks twice the number of blacks murdered by whites? Apparently not. Biden urged the protesters to continue, stating that protest against police brutality is "right and necessary." As if on cue, the protests have continued each night, and they have taken the lives of a number of innocent people, including Patrick Underwood, a federal officer in Oakland, and two others in Indianapolis. How about protesting the deaths of those victims? To my knowledge, Biden has never expressed grief at the death of a white victim of crime (nor has he mentioned Underwood, who was black). Is it just when a key Democrat constituency is involved that Biden makes a show of his grief? It's not just that there is a double standard involved when Biden and the media rush to make a martyr of an unfortunate individual like George Floyd while they ignore the deaths of hundreds of entirely innocent persons. It's a reflection of the extent to which society has turned against its traditional values, including a true sense of justice. That traditional definition of justice demands that all crimes be addressed in a fair and unbiased manner, but that is not what is happening in connection with the death of George Floyd. Tonight, Antifa protesters will be out again, looting and burning in the name of justice but with only a twisted idea of what justice demands. Antifa barely needs a reason to pillage and engage in violence, but the Floyd protests provide the group with a convenient excuse for carrying out violence. Like all anarchists, Antifa "protesters" are not really protesting anything; their idea of justice is nothing less than the destruction of civilization. As they see it, all social institutions are corrupt, and the "solution" is to level everything. In the mind of the anarchist, it is "just" to pummel bystanders, fire at police, loot businesses, and burn churches. It is especially just to threaten the White House, the seat of the executive branch of government. Government, business, the churches, personal safely, the rule of law for the anarchist, justice means the ruin of all that humans have created. America has seen this kind of anarchist attack before, and it did not end well. Before it was over, hundreds lay dead, and thousands of businesses were destroyed. Back in the spring of 1969, I spent a couple of hours with Mark Rudd, one of the leaders of the Columbia University insurrection. Like Antifa members today, he seemed to me unconcerned with specific goals such as income equality or universal health care or even an end to the war in Vietnam. What seemed to excite him was political action not "power," the power to make things better, or "protest," but action. As it seemed to me, he had little interest in practical politics: he spoke with the ardent voice of a revolutionary intent on "taking over." Mark Rudd was not all that articulate, but he was more so than today's anarchists, who seem incapable of expressing themselves except with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Perhaps they are inarticulate because they aren't really protesting anything they are just into violence. Or perhaps they are being paid. Politicians like Biden are quick to distinguish between Antifa and the "genuine" protesters who "honor the memory" of George Floyd. But rather than distinguish them, we should consider what the sincere protesters and antifa have in common. Both have lost sight of a true and honest sense of justice. It is not "just" to focus on only one black victim of violence while ignoring the fatal violence suffered by 17,300 others each year, including over 6,000 whites. No legitimate conception of justice can be based on the idea that the lives of one race matter while the lives of others do not. The most essential criterion of justice is that it must be blind. By limiting their protests to the death of George Floyd, "genuine" protesters those whom Joe Biden encourages to return to the streets night after night reveal their lack of compassion for others who have died unjustly. In this way, they are not so different from Antifa, who seem to have little compassion for any who have died unjustly. What "genuine" protesters share with Antifa is a callous rejection of the idea that justice is blind. Antifa would destroy our legal system, burn our government buildings, and assault the police who maintain order. Mainstream protesters would not go that far; they would simply limit their concern to one race. "Justice for one race" is not an acceptable idea. It sounds a great deal like the fascist doctrine of race superiority that the Floyd protesters claim to be opposing. Those who really want to honor the memory of George Floyd or anyone else should do so by considering the true nature of justice and basing their actions on what justice demands: a sincere concern for all who are victims of violence. Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011). Under the initial five-year agreement, The Valens Company will manufacture a range of innovative, new products, including hydrocarbon-derived crumble, one of first such entries into the Canadian legal market. Two initial product lines will be launched. First, the Verse Concentrates line will be introduced with crumble and an innovation-led product pipeline. The second line to launch, Verse Originals, will include high-quality vapes and oils with unique terpene profiles at great value price points. The new partnership will leverage SoRSE by Valens emulsion and other proprietary technologies. KELOWNA, BC, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Valens GroWorks Corp. (TSX: VLNS) (OTCQX: VLNCF) ("Valens" or "The Valens Company"), a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products, today announced a custom manufacturing agreement with Verse Cannabis ("Verse"), a group of innovators focused on bringing to market cutting-edge product formulations rooted in cannabinoid science. Under the initial five-year agreement, The Valens Company will manufacture and distribute a range of next generation products, such as hydrocarbon-derived crumble a much-anticipated product by experienced consumers, as well as one of the first entries into the Canadian legal market. The first line of products will be manufactured under the brand Verse Originals, which will include a range of high-quality essential products, such as vapes and oils. To follow, the Company will produce and manufacture a line of innovative formats under the brand Verse Concentrates, including live resin vape pens and various water-based products leveraging SoRSE by Valens emulsion technology. Under the terms of the custom manufacturing agreement, The Valens Company will pay Verse royalties over the five-year term. More information on the Verse product lines can be found here. "We are excited to develop new, long-awaited products with a brand that values quality and innovation as much as we do," said Tyler Robson, Chief Executive Officer of The Valens Company. "In partnership with Verse, we will be introducing a wide assortment of reimagined cannabis products yet to be seen in the legal Canadian market, but very much in line with the expectations of experienced cannabis users." Vape and concentrate product formats continue to present a significant market growth opportunity and generate a substantial portion of cannabis sales in North America. In 2019, the vape and concentrate product categories represented 33 percent of total sales in mature markets like California and Colorado. In Colorado, sales growth in these product categories has outperformed the growth in the flower category, being responsible for more than 50 percent of total sales growth from 2016 to 2019. Furthermore, concentrates alone make up for 14 percent of sales in Colorado's legal market.1 Due to Canada's phased rollout, the illicit market for concentrates continues to thrive and outperform these products in the legal cannabis market. Manufacturing popular, advanced products with Verse can put into motion an important consumer migration opportunity from the illicit market that The Valens Company hopes to bring to life with this partnership. Robson added, "Concentrates have a long history in Canada, albeit in the illicit market. We now see a genuine opportunity to offer popular products, redeveloped based on the highest standards and our proprietary hydrocarbon processes. Over the last three years, The Valens Company has created a state-of-the-art platform that holds the highest regulatory certifications for hydrocarbon extraction. Our proprietary technologies, knowledge, and mass production capabilities will be used to create premium concentrate products that will satisfy a large void in Canada's current legal market." Source: 1 Headset Inc. Cannabis Intelligence About The Valens Company The Valens Company is a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products. The Valens Company is focused on being the partner of choice for leading Canadian and international cannabis brands by providing best-in-class, proprietary services including CO2, ethanol, hydrocarbon, solvent-less and terpene extraction, analytical testing, formulation and product development and custom manufacturing. Valens is the largest third-party extraction Company in Canada with an annual capacity of 425,000 kg of dried cannabis and hemp biomass at our purpose-built facility in Kelowna, British Columbia which is in the process of becoming European Union (EU) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant. The Valens Company currently offers a wide range of product formats, including tinctures, two-piece caps, soft gels, oral sprays and vape pens as well as beverages, concentrates, topicals, edibles, injectables, natural health products and has a strong pipeline of next-generation products in development for future release. Finally, The Valens Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Valens Labs is a Health Canada licensed ISO 17025 accredited cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical services and has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop a Centre of Excellence in Plant-Based Science. For more information, please visit http://thevalenscompany.com. The Valens Company's investor deck can be found specifically at http://thevalenscompany.com/investors/. About Verse Introducing Verse There is a clear need in the marketplace for Verse. On the one hand, beautifully branded and marketed flower-based brands line the shelves of cannabis stores nationwide. On the other hand, quality-obsessed craft products, fill the needs of those demanding more, but at a high price. This is where the idea for Verse was born. An assortment of the highest quality cannabinoid-based Gen2 products accessible to all. A brand whose North Star would always be innovation and quality but values like realness and honesty would trump frills and gimmicks. Like the verse of a song or poem, where creativity follows the rules of rhythm to become attractive to its listener, so does Verse, combining creative innovation with the rules of science to engineer extraordinary experiences for consumers. Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements All information included in this press release, including any information as to the future financial or operating performance and other statements of The Valens Company that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "scheduled", "trends", "indications", "potential", "estimates", "predicts", "anticipate", "to establish", "believe", "intend", "ability to", or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", or are "likely" to be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of these words or other variations thereof, have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding future results of operations, economic conditions and anticipated courses of action. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, regulatory risk, United States border crossing and travel ban, reliance on licenses, expansion of facilities, competition, dependence on supply of cannabis and reliance on other key inputs, dependence on senior management and key personnel, general business risk and liability, regulation of the cannabis industry, change in laws, regulations and guidelines, compliance with laws, reliance on a single facility, limited operating history, vulnerability to rising energy costs, unfavourable publicity or consumer perception, product liability, risks related to intellectual property, product recalls, difficulties with forecasts, management of growth and litigation, many of which are beyond the control of The Valens Company. For a more comprehensive discussion of the risks faced by The Valens Company, and which may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of The Valens Company to be materially different from estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, please refer to The Valens Company's latest Annual Information Form filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com or on The Valens Company's website at www.thevalenscompany.com. The risks described in such Annual Information Form are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Although the forward-looking statements contained herein reflect management's current beliefs and reasonable assumptions based upon information available to management as of the date hereof, The Valens Company cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. The Valens Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. The Valens Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Nothing herein should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell securities of The Valens Company. SOURCE The Valens Company Dnyanesh Pandit COVID-19 outbreak has engulfed countries world over affecting the global economy beyond anybody's imagination. India is no exception to this. This is also a sensitive time for the regulatory authorities to watch out for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) activities. Those in AML landscape will understand the methods of money laundering and predicate crimes are ever-evolving and are usually one step ahead. As financial institutions globally struggle with meeting regulatory requirements and expectation while managing the increasing volumes for both local and cross-border transactions, they should still continue to understand and counter potential money laundering risks and employ best practices to even stay ahead of the curve. While we understand the challenges and expectation, here are some of the emerging trends and challenges in Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing which will help understand the importance of being proactive in monitoring and investigation as well as remain a customer service champion. FATF (Financial Action Task Force) Mutual evaluation: FATF conducts mutual evaluations for its member nations basis. The last methodology was released in 2013 and the fourth round of evaluation initiated in 2014 is underway. It evaluates the specific requirements of the 40 FATF Recommendations, including how a member nation relates them to its relevant legal and institutional framework, and the powers and procedures of competent authorities. The focus is on the fundamental building blocks of an AML/CFT (combating the financing of terrorism) system. The overall prospect for 2020 is a year of transition to combat money laundering. Regulatory authorities and global bodies continue to direct the financial sector for following norms of AML including FATF 40 recommendations. FATF evaluations are bringing about change in the ways the financial crime is fought at a country level. Financial Innovation: The financial sector is progressing and evolving at an exceptional pace. New technologies have introduced a whole new spectrum of money laundering opportunities. At the same time, these technologies provide an opportunity to develop a sophisticated response to this problem. Innovations such as artificial intelligence and machine learning could facilitate the processing of large volumes of data to spot patterns and anomalies that a human might miss. We foresee 2020 will see more coordinated efforts to employ security standards on these technologies to ensure a baseline of controls is applied to their implementations in regulated environments: Biometric identification: Biometrics is defined as the unique and intrinsic physical and biological characteristics of a person that verifies the persons identity. Know Your Customer (KYC) check is one of the obligations wherein financial institutions need to verify and authenticate the customers identity during the onboarding process and for conducting customer due diligence. This is a fundamental for combatting digital fraud, identity theft, financial crimes, and money laundering. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved remote video-based authentication through Aadhar as a substitute for e-KYC practices. India is one of the first countries to roll out video-KYC for financial institutions. Integrating biometric identification checks, organisations can streamline the KYC process making it faster and more efficient. Robust Transaction Monitoring: After having seen cases on the scale of some of the bulge bracket financial institutions in the last two years, where illicit funds were transferred secretly for years, and authorities have realised that the technology control environment of FIs is not enough. In 2020, regulators are expected to insist on faster methods for detecting suspicious behaviour, specifically in the field of transaction monitoring. Smart technology will be the key here. Businesses will need to be able to set their risk radius and work with tools that reduce false positives as well as use data analytics significantly to identify outliers. Virtual Assets: A major innovation that has drastically changed the financial landscape is the introduction of virtual assets whose anonymity, speed and global reach have provided significant efficiencies. In past, we have seen ransomware attacks and terrorists financing via virtual assets/currencies. Countries and jurisdictions around the world have responded differently to prevent the misuse of virtual assets. The patchwork of regulatory responses, ranging from robust regulation to complete prohibition of virtual assets will take a few more years to stabilize wherein a more informed consensus is achieved across regulators and geographies. Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML): In January 2020, the US Government Accountability Office released a study conducted in coordination with enforcement agencies regarding an expected increase in TBML which may threaten the integrity of financial institutions worldwide. In US, the cash seizers has reduced suggesting the international crime has pivoted the TBML schemes to keep the regulators and agencies hands out of their illegal funds. Retrospective review of import-export data, suspicious financial activities, patterns and anomalies clubbed with optimised tools and with coordination of public and private sector will be the key to combat TBML. Data analytics methods such as Text analytics, link analysis and statistical analytics are some of the techniques which have shown promising signs in identification of TBML incidents in recent times. New Methods of Terrorist Financing: The requirement of financing is constant in terrorism by way of a sturdy flow of funds from various sources to point of distribution. In absence of continuous and stable flow funds, any terrorist organisation is less likely to succeed. Enforcement agencies across the world have devised methods to detect such sources but methods of funding have been evolving with much greater promptness. While private donations, abuse of non-profit organisations and state sponsorship of terrorism has been in play for many years, we are witnessing new trends in financing terrorist activities such as fundraising through social media, virtual currencies, prepaid cards, exploitation of natural resources namely oil & gas and mining sector. Compliance Vs Customer Satisfaction: Customers of banks and financial institutions have often voiced their discomfort on overtly increase of paperwork and questionnaires and thus leading to customer displeasure. Banks and FIs are in urgent need of finding the equilibrium between being compliant to all regulatory norms and customers service quality. This also impacts the digital journey which becomes really cumbersome. Streamlining the details sought and the frequency of such requirements could be one such step in reducing the customers discontent. For this, financial institutions should invest more in equipping better storage and retrieval facilities for customer information. Additionally, Independent verification, Biometric identification, Robotics and automation at branches or hub and spoke models can greatly reduce the customer dissatisfaction and time spent on digital and branch journeys. If a country has not reached a high level of effectiveness, then assessors give reasons why it fell below the standard, and recommend measures the country should take to improve its ability to achieve the outcome. FATF also publishes the "Call for action" list of countries which have significant strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation and also a list of "Other monitored jurisdictions". Major upcoming evaluation in Asia Pacific and Middle-East regions are Qatar (June 2020), India (February 2021), Laos (October 2020), Oman (June 2021) and Kuwait (Oct 2021). These timelines may be impacted considering the COVID 19 crisis. Dnyanesh Pandit is Managing Director, Financial Services, Protiviti Member Firm for India The latest: Nearly 1.9 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many employers are still cutting jobs even as the gradual reopening of businesses has slowed the pace of layoffs. The total number of people who are receiving jobless aid rose slightly to 21.5 million, down from a peak of nearly 25 million two weeks ago but still at a historically high level. It shows that scattered rehiring is offsetting only some of the ongoing layoffs with the economy mired in a recession. Thursday's latest weekly number from the Labor Department is still more than double the record high that prevailed before the viral outbreak. Still, the number of people who applied for benefits last week marked the ninth straight decline since applications spiked in mid-March. The job market meltdown that was triggered by the coronavirus may have bottomed out as more companies call at least some of their former employees back to work. Governor calls for COVID-19 testing for demonstration attendees Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that anyone who demonstrated should receive a test for COVID-19. Protests in Minneapolis have sparked crowds across the U.S. over the death of George Floyd, who died after a white officer pressed his knee to his neck for over eight minutes. If you think youve been exposed, get a test 5 days after the event. If that test turns up negative, get tested again 14 days after the event, Walz said on Twitter. If you start to experience symptoms, get tested right away, he added. Malaria drug fails to prevent COVID-19 in a rigorous study A malaria drug President Donald Trump took to try to prevent COVID-19 proved ineffective for that in the first large, high-quality study to test it in health workers and others closely exposed to people with the disease. Results published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine show that hydroxychloroquine was no better than placebo pills at preventing illness from the coronavirus. The drug did not seem to cause serious harm, though about 40% on it had side effects, mostly mild stomach problems. We were disappointed. We would have liked for this to work, said the study leader, Dr. David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota. But our objective was to answer the question and to conduct a high-quality study, because the evidence on the drug so far has been inconclusive, he said. Hydroxychloroquine and a similar drug, chloroquine, have been the subject of much debate since Trump started promoting them in March. Hydroxychloroquine has long been used for malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, but no large studies have shown it or chloroquine to be safe or effective for much sicker patients with coronavirus, and some studies have suggested the drugs may do harm. Trump took a two-week course of hydroxychloroquine, along with zinc and Vitamin D, after two staffers tested positive for COVID-19, and had no ill effects, according to results of his latest physical released by his doctor Wednesday. Federal regulators have warned against their use except in hospitals and formal studies because of the risk of side effects, especially heart rhythm problems. Boulwares study involved 821 people in the United States and Canada living with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 or at high risk of getting it because of their job doctors, nurses, ambulance workers who had significant exposure to a sick patient while not wearing full protective gear. They were randomly assigned to get either placebo pills or hydroxychloroquine for five days, starting within four days of their exposure. Neither they nor their doctors knew who who was getting what. After 14 days in the study, 12% on the drug developed COVID-19 symptoms versus 14% in the placebo group, but the difference is so small it could have occurred by chance, Boulware said. Theres basically no effect. It does not prevent infection, he said of the drug. Even if it were to give some slim advantage, wed want a much larger effect to justify its use and risk of side effects for preventing illness, he said. Results were no different among a subgroup of participants who were taking zinc or vitamin C, which some people believe might help make hydroxychloroquine more effective. This fits with everything else weve seen so far, which suggests that its not beneficial," said Dr. Peter Bach, director of a health policy center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. This study was in younger relatively healthy people, but the results would make me very discouraged about trying to use this in older people who are most vulnerable to serious illness from the coronavirus, Bach said. If it does work, it doesnt work very well. Dr. Dan Culver, a lung specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, said theres still a chance that giving the drug sooner than four days after someones exposure to the virus may help prevent illness. But the study takes home run off the table as far as hopes for the drug, he said. ER visits for non-Covid cases dropped 42% during the pandemic, CDC says The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that some people may be putting off emergency care for serious health conditions during the coronavirus pandemic and fewer visits for critical conditions could result in complications or even death. During the pandemic, the total number of visits to hospital emergency departments across the United States for conditions other than COVID-19 was 42% lower than during this same time last year, according to a new CDC report. The research, published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Wednesday, found that emergency department visits fell from about 2.1 million visits per week between March 31 and April 27 last year to 1.2 million between March 29 and April 25 this year. The "steepest decreases" were among children 14 and younger, women and girls, and people living in the northeast region of the country, CDC researchers noted. For instance, in 2019, 12% of all emergency department visits were in children 10 and younger, compared with 6% during the same time period this year. Yet overall, "the proportion of infectious disease-related visits was four times higher during the early pandemic period," according to the report. Fauci weighs pros, cons of reopening schools this fall The idea of keeping schools closed in the fall because of safety concerns for children might be "a bit of a reach," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In a phone interview with CNN Wednesday, Fauci noted that children tend to have milder symptoms or even no symptoms when they are infected with COVID-19. What's not yet clear is whether children get infected as frequently as adults, and whether they often pass the infection on to others. Ultimately, he said, the decision to reopen schools needs to be predicated on the level of infection in each community. In the past academic school year, 48 states recommended schools close through the rest of the year as coronavirus began its rapid spread. "When you talk about children going back to school and their safety, it really depends on the level of viral activity, and the particular area that you're talking about," Fauci said. "What happens all too often, understandably, but sometimes misleadingly, is that we talk about the country as a whole in a unidimensional way." Fauci seemed to think that keeping schools closed in general is not necessary. "Children can get infected, so, yes, so you've got to be careful," Fauci said. "You got to be careful for them and you got to be careful that they may not spread it. Now, to make an extrapolation that you shouldn't open schools, I think is a bit of a reach." Fauci said it's not premature to start the conversation about reopening schools now. "I think we need to discuss the pros and the cons of bringing kids back to school in September," he said. Stressing the importance of not generalizing, Fauci laid out the spectrum of scenarios for what a return to school in the fall could look like. "In some situations, there will be no problem for children to go back to school," he said. "In others, you may need to do some modifications. You know, modifications could be breaking up the class so you don't have a crowded classroom, maybe half in the morning, half in the afternoon, having children doing alternate schedules. There's a whole bunch of things that one can do." Talking about classroom layouts specifically, Fauci underscored the need to "be creative" and create plans based on the degree of infection in the community. He suggested that one option is to space out children at every other desk, or every third desk in order to maintain proper social distancing. When we go back to eating out, more of us will pay with our phones Major restaurant chains are trying to make it easier for customers to get their food without touching anything but their own phones. It's a trend that started before the pandemic hit and has only accelerated as consumers and restaurants adjust to a new normal, where contact with others is discouraged. Now, restaurants are betting people will want to peruse digital menus instead of physical ones and opt for mobile ordering rather than paying at the register with cash or credit card. "The handling of cash creates consumer concerns about the spread of viruses," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson wrote in an open letter in early May describing the company's plan to reopen. He noted that Starbucks is adding new features to its app to include voice ordering through Siri and more opportunities for rewards. The app already shows which restaurants have mobile order and pickup so that customers can plan their visits and manage expectations before they get to the store. Johnson predicted that "the mobile app will become the dominant form of payment." W2lmcmFtZSBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vZDJjbXZicTdzeHgzM2ouY2xvdWRmcm9udC5uZXQvZW1haWwvcHJvZF9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1c19pZnJhbWVfYXJ0aWNsZS5odG1sIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjQxNCIgc3R5bGU9IndpZHRoOjEwMCU7Ym9yZGVyOm5vbmU7b3ZlcmZsb3c6aGlkZGVuIiBzY3JvbGxpbmc9Im5vIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3dUcmFuc3BhcmVuY3k9InRydWUiXVsvaWZyYW1lXQ== The Associated Press contributed to this report. Last week, a few hours after accusing Big Tech companies of censoring conservatives, President Donald Trump put out an incendiary comment on Twitter and Facebook that seemed designed to bait them into censoring him. Twitter did, albeit in a halfhearted way that didnt actually remove Trumps words. Facebook didnt and its failure to act may do more harm to its cause than Twitters display of backbone. Thats because Facebooks fecklessness will only feed into the mounting pressure on policymakers to regulate how social media networks police themselves, and to deny them a crucial liability shield if they fail to meet some new government standard for evenhandedness. Both of those options are fraught with unintended consequences and potentially bad outcomes. Trump himself is one of the leading proponents of regulating social media. The misbegotten executive order he released Thursday (which drew a lawsuit Tuesday from the tech advocacy group the Center for Democracy and Technology) seeks to have the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission determine when those companies are misleading the public about their policies toward speech and concealing some kind of bias. Later that day, Trump tweeted and posted a 102-word attack on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, saying he needed to get his city under control or Trump would send in the military. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts, Trump wrote, quoting (consciously or not) a racist and brutal Miami police chief from 1967. Although Trump later contended that he was trying to warn people about the consequences of looting, his original words run clearly afoul of both social media companies guidelines against glorifying or inciting violence. Twitter responded by hiding the tweet behind a notice that Trumps words had violated the companys rules, forcing anyone who wanted to read the tweet to click on the link provided. Facebook responded by doing nothing, despite calls from inside and outside the company to take the comment down. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg later explained that although the post had a troubling historical reference, we decided to leave it up because the National Guard references meant we read it as a warning about state action, and we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force. He stood by that decision even as hundreds of Facebook employees protested apparently the first time the company has witnessed such a large-scale action and some of the countrys most prominent civil rights leaders pressed him to change his mind. The employee revolt continued Tuesday, still to no avail. Granted, moderating the torrential flow of content on a site as popular as Facebook is a huge challenge, which in itself is a good argument against sites growing to Facebooks scale. And theres necessarily some subjectivity involved. But lax moderation led Facebook to become a hotbed for fakery, hate speech and other damaging uses of the network. It has responded with some better rules and procedures, but theyre meaningless if theyre not enforced. The more exceptions Zuckerberg carves out for powerful people, the more inconsistent and ineffective his rules will appear boosting the case for orders like Trumps, which would give political appointees the power to shape how social media companies compete. And maybe Zuckerberg is comfortable with that idea, considering that he can afford the lawyers and lobbyists needed to navigate the new environment while upstart competitors cannot. But no one else should want that outcome. Washington would be far better off focusing on ways to protect Facebook users and their privacy, particularly from the manipulation that the company empowers its advertisers to do by exploiting their personal information. Lawmakers, including Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), have introduced bills to stop Facebook and its ilk from micro-targeting political ads without users permission, preventing campaigns from tailoring their messages to play on the susceptibilities of small groups in ways that avoid detection. But Congress has been just as leery of protecting internet users privacy as Zuckerberg has been of enforcing Facebooks rules against Trump. They both need to change course. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Walmart will strip gun racks from some of its stores after looting swept the US in riots over the death of George Floyd. 'As a responsible seller of hunting and sporting firearms, we have temporarily removed firearms and ammunition from the sales floor in some stores out of an abundance of caution,' Walmart stated. The nation's largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said these items are available for purchase, but are being stored in a secure room. Walmart operates 4,700 stores in the US and sells firearms at around half of those supermarkets. It did not disclose how many of its stores would be affected. Guns for sale at a Walmart store. Walmart operates 4,700 stores in the US and sells firearms at around half of those supermarkets. It did not disclose how many of its stores would be affected The company doesn't sell any firearms in many of the major urban centers which have experienced looting. It is one of many retailers to have faced looting in the wake of Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last Monday. Walmart, along with other big chains like Target, CVS, and Apple, had temporarily closed or limited hours at some locations for safety reasons or because they were looted or damaged. Forty-two guns were stolen from a firearms store in Atlanta in the early hours of Saturday. Jim Hinsdale, who owns Atlanta-based Chucks Firearms Inc., told FOX Business that the guns stolen ranged in price from $500 to $2,500. None of the firearms have been recovered and the thieves remain at large. Police officers tackle a protester during demonstrations last night in New Orleans, Louisiana. The unrest over the death of George Floyd in police custody has led to looting in some states Last year, Walmart stopped selling handgun and short-barrel rifle ammunition, while requesting that customers not openly carry firearms in its stores, even where state laws allow it. The company also ended the sale of handguns in Alaska, the only state where the retailer sold handguns. It ended sales of assault-type rifles in 2015 and two years ago it stopped selling guns to anyone under 21. Per a New York Times report, the Trump administration has identified five companies, which are most likely to be successful in making vaccines to prevent COVID-19. As part of the Operation Warp Speed (OWS) initiative to rapidly develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the administration narrowed down on the five promising candidates from an extensive list of probable candidates, which are being developed by around a dozen companies. The White House aims to begin widespread vaccination of its citizens by the end of this year even though health experts have time and again said that development of a vaccine would take a year to 18 months. The five companies that have been shortlisted are Moderna MRNA, the partnership between Oxford University and AstraZeneca AZN, J&J JNJ, Merck MRK and Pfizer PFE. The report mentioned that the five companies will get extra federal funds, help to run their clinical studies and manufacturing assistance. Moderna, AstraZeneca, and J&J already have funding support from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for their COVID-19 vaccine development program. Other than BARDA, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is also providing funding to companies involved in making drugs/vaccines. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global organization based in Oslo, has also provided funding of millions of dollars to biotechs including Moderna, Novavax, CureVac and Inovio and several universities to accelerate the development of vaccines against COVID-19. The report said that the White House will officially announce the names of the five companies in the next few weeks. Here we discuss how the five companies are progressing in their coronavirus vaccine development program. Moderna This week, Moderna initiated phase II studies on its mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273. Phase I data on the vaccine was announced last month. It demonstrated that patients vaccinated with mRNA-1273 achieved levels of antibodies similar or higher than those typically found in a patient who recovered from COVID-19 naturally. Moreover, the company is finalizing the design for a phase III study on mRNA-1273 and anticipates to initiate the study in July. Meanwhile, Moderna has a $483 million funding support from BARDA to accelerate the development of mRNA-1273. It has also signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Lonza for manufacturing of mRNA-1273. Story continues AstraZeneca & Oxford University British drugmaker, AstraZeneca has an agreement with Oxford University for the global development and distribution of the Universitys potential recombinant adenovirus vaccine, also known as AZD1222, to prevent COVID-19. AZD1222 is currently being evaluated in a phase I/II study, which began last month. Data from the study is expected to be released shortly. If the data is successful, late-stage studies with 30,000 participants are expected to begin in a number of countries. Last month, AstraZeneca received more than $1billion in funding from BARDA to help produce the vaccine. AstraZeneca secured the first agreements to supply at least 400 million doses and plans to begin the first deliveries of the vaccine from September 2020. AstraZeneca has also agreed to provide the United States with up to 300 million doses. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca also said that it has the capacity to produce one billion doses if the vaccine is approved and continues to increase capacity further. J&J J&J has identified a lead vaccine candidate for COVID-19 and expects to begin phase I human clinical studies on the same in the United States and Europe by September. J&Js goal is to supply more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine globally. J&J looks confident of having the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine available for emergency use authorization, on a not-for-profit basis, by early 2021. It has established a new U.S. vaccine manufacturing facility and is in discussions with other potential partners to expand manufacturing capacity in Europe and Asia. J&J is committed to invest more than $1 billion in partnership with BARDA to co-fund vaccine research, development, and clinical testing. Pfizer Last month, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech dosed the first patients in the United States in the phase I/II clinical study for BioNTechs mRNA-based vaccine program, BNT162 to prevent COVID-19. Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans to co-develop a COVID-19 vaccine in March. Four vaccine candidates, each representing different mRNA formats and target antigens, will be evaluated in a single, continuous study in the United States. The companies also initiated a phase I/II clinical study in Germany in April. Pfizer earlier said that it has the potential to supply millions of vaccine doses by the end of 2020 if it receives the necessary regulatory approvals. Thereafter, it can rapidly scale up capacity to produce hundreds of millions of doses in 2021. Merck Last month, Merck announced a deal to acquire Austrian private biotech Themis, which has a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in preclinical development with clinical studies expected to start later this year. Themis developed the candidate using its measles virus vector platform. Themis is part of a consortium which includes the Institute Pasteur and The Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh to make the vaccine. The consortium has funding support from CEPI. Merck also signed a collaboration with a nonprofit research organization, IAVI to co-develop a vaccine, designed by IAVI scientists, to prevent COVID-19. The vaccine candidate will leverage the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) technology, which has also been the basis of development of Mercks rVSV-based vaccine for Ebola Zaire, Ervebo. Other than these five, companies like Novavax and Inovio Pharmaceuticals have initiated human/clinical studies on a coronavirus vaccine. However, both have been left out of the list. Several other vaccine candidates are in pre-clinical stage of development. All eyes are on these pharma/biotech companies to find a vaccine for COVID-19 as they are being considered the key to bring stalled global economies back on track. These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Johnson Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Pfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Merck Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The new prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is a convicted child sex offender, German police have revealed. The 43-year-old man, who has not been named, is white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft tall with a slim build at the time the toddler vanished on May 3 2007. Christian Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told the country's ZDF television channel the suspect is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls". A new suspect has been identified in the hunt for Madeleine McCann. (PA) German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported the suspect, a German national, was carrying out a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005. The newspaper said he was convicted of the offence in Braunschweig district court in December last year. Murder probe Hoppe said German police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine, which is being treated as murder by the BKA. He added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie before spontaneously kidnapping her. A police officer stands outside the apartment at the Ocean Club Hotel in Luz, Portugal, where Madeleine McCann went missing. (PA) Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said: "In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on 3 May, 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder. We are assuming that the girl is dead. "With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence." MORE: Paedophile-hunting group's evidence 'breached right to privacy' Police also said there are other who have concrete knowledge of Madeleines disappearance. Story continues A BKA appeal said: "There is reason to assume that there are other persons, apart from the suspect, who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left. Suspects connection to Praia da Luz The suspect is known to have been in and around the area on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine went missing shortly before her fourth birthday. A half-hour phone call was made to his Portuguese mobile phone around an hour before Madeleine is believed to have gone missing. Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the Madeleine McCann suspect. (PA) The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van. (PA) The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007. Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after 3 May. MORE: Sunken Italian village not seen since 1994 set to rise out of the depths He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007. The day after Madeleine went missing, the suspect had the car re-registered in Germany under someone else's name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal. Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 that has been linked to the suspect. (PA) The suspect been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007. (PA) Both vehicles have been seized by German police, who said there is information to suggest the suspect may have used one of them in an offence. An appeal on German Crimewatch-style programme XY said the suspect is thought to have worked odd jobs, including as a waiter, but also committed burglaries in hotels and holiday resorts and dealt drugs. The BKA is also appealing for other potential victims to come forward. Car bumper stickers raising awareness of Madeleine McCann are handed out inside the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia Da Luz, Portugal. (PA) Now is the time to come forward DCI Mark Cranwell, who is leading the investigation into Madeleines disappearance for the Metropolitan Police, appealed to the public for details about the suspect. He said: "Some people will know the man we are describing today, the suspect in our investigation. I'm appealing to you directly. "You may know, you may be aware of some of the things he has done. He may have confided in you about the disappearance of Madeleine. "More than 13 years have passed and your loyalties may have changed. "This individual is in prison and we are conscious that some people may have been concerned about contacting police in the past. Now is the time to come forward." Gerry and Kate McCann at a press conference in London where they hold an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl. (PA) Tip-off The Met's investigation has identified more than 600 people as potentially significant and were tipped off about the German national, already known to detectives, following a 2017 appeal 10 years after she went missing. She vanished shortly before her fourth birthday and would have turned 17 last month. German police are treating her disappearance as a murder investigation but the Met's Operation Grange, launched in 2013, has always considered the case a missing person inquiry. Watch: All the government support for UK businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic' Parents reaction A statement from Madeleine's parents, read by DCI Cranwell, said: "We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter Madeleine. "We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine. "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. MORE: Drink driver 'returned to pub for pint' after killing man in bus stop crash Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's family, said her parents felt the development was "potentially very significant" and that he could not "recall an instance when the police had been so specific about an individual" in the 13 years since she disappeared. He told BBC Breakfast: "Of all the thousands of leads and potential suspects that have been mentioned in the past, there has never been something as clear-cut as that from not just one, but three, police forces." First Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters addresses the media during a press conference on the Madeleine McCann case at the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, Germany. (AP) Downing Street response Downing Street said the latest developments appeared to be significant and added that Number 10's thoughts were with the McCann family "who have had to endure so much". The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The police have said that this appears to be a significant development in the case. "The investigation is ongoing and I am not in a position to comment any further. "Our thoughts remain with Madeleine's family, who have had to endure so much over the past 13 years." The spokesman said that any decisions concerning extradition and charging would be a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The Operation Grange incident room can be contacted on 0207 321 9251 or operation.grange@met.police.uk. Mallya lost his appeals in the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges NEW DELHI: Indian fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya can be extradited to India in the coming days "anytime" as all the "legal process" has been completed, top sources in the government said on Wednesday. India has been in touch with the British government over extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya after he exhausted legal options against New Delhi's request to the UK to extradite him. "The government of India is in touch with the UK regarding the next steps in his extradition process," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. Mallya lost his appeals in the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. The UK top court's decision marked a major setback to the 64-year-old businessman as it came weeks after he lost his High Court appeal in April against an extradition order to India. Mallya has been based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017. The High Court verdict in April upheld the 2018 ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December 2018 that the former Kingfisher Airlines boss had a "case to answer" in the Indian courts. A former chief of the U.S. Forces Korea has warned that North Korea will soon launch a new submarine equipped with ballistic missiles. Gen. Walter Sharp expressed his views during a virtual seminar hosted by the Korea Defense Veterans Association on Tuesday. "I continue to worry that we're going to see a submarine here pretty soon that's got a ballistic missile capability on it," he said. The North is expected to launch a 3,000-ton sub currently under construction at a shipyard in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province or test a sub-launched ballistic missile ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November to draw attention to itself. Sharp said, "The strong option has got to always be there. It's got to be there until complete denuclearization and we have peace on the peninsula." Meanwhile, Sharp claimed the U.S.-led UN Command will remain critical even after the wartime operational control of allied troops is transferred from Washington to Seoul in 2022. If the transfer "takes place at a different time, potentially after... North Korea denuclearizes and there's peace on the peninsula, a peace treaty has been agreed to, the UN Command may still have a role," he said. "It will be a different role, but I think it could potentially have the role in helping maintain the peace for at least a period of time after we end up with a peace treaty and denuclearization, but that's yet to be seen." Currently, Seoul and Washington are taking delicately different views over what role the UNC commander will play. Nothing better reveals the depth of the madness afoot in the land than the demands to defund or completely abolish the police. It's bad enough for airhead celebrities, something worse for the formerly prestigious New York Times, and downright alarming for office-holders state and federal to indulge the fantasy that the thin blue line is all the separates us from anarchy, mob rule, and ultimately a dictatorship spawned by the need to restore order. Photo credits: YouTube screen grabs (cropped). The experience of Baltimore following the Freddie Gray riots, when the police there stopped aggressively engaging in minority neighborhoods, ought to be enough to close the case. Even progressive thought leaders at the New York Times and Pro Publica called the results a "tragedy." [I]n the years that followed, Baltimore, by most standards, became a worse place. In 2017, it recorded 342 murders its highest per-capita rate ever, more than double Chicago's, far higher than any other city of 500,000 or more residents and, astonishingly, a larger absolute number of killings than in New York, a city 14 times as populous. Other elected officials, from the governor to the mayor to the state's attorney, struggled to respond to the rise in disorder, leaving residents with the unsettling feeling that there was no one in charge. With every passing year, it was getting harder to see what gains, exactly, were delivered by the uprising. Mind you, the police were not abolished or even defunded. They were simply chastened and behaved as the demonstrators demanded with a light hand and withdrawing at times from neighborhoods where they were denounced as racists. Fortunately, there is a real-life experiment in complete withdrawal of police protection that occurred a century ago that is available to learn from. The Boston Police Strike that began September 9, 1919 led to immediate looting and chaos as soon as the sun went down. In August, Boston police had voted to form a union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor but ran up against opposition from Boston police commissioner Edwin Curtis, backed by Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge. After attempts at compromise failed, the cops walked off the job at 5:45 PM. In the language of the day, "hooliganism" broke out, with widespread looting. The following day, the mayor of Boston asked Governor Coolidge to supply the force of the state militia, and he agreed. But in the time it took to raise a force that eventually numbered 5,000, about three times the size of the Boston Police, looting increased on September 10, and continued for 9 days until the militia was able to quell it. Coolidge took a hard line and built a national reputation. His words, "There is no right to strike against the public safety, anywhere, anytime," propelled him to the vice presidential nomination of the Republicans in 1920 and eventually to the White House. I suggest that progressive had better be careful what they wish for. Massachusetts state militia awaiting assignment to police duties (source). These facts are well documented. See A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike and A City in Terror: The 1919 Boston Police Strike. Hong Kong: As China tightens its control over Hong Kong, activists in the city defied a police ban and broke through barricades on Thursday evening to mark the 31st anniversary of the crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. With democracy all but snuffed out in mainland China, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown. An aerial view of a vigil in Victoria Park, Hong Kong to mark the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Credit:AP Police cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak and barricaded sprawling Victoria Park to prevent people from gathering there. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the city's rights and liberties. "We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really don't want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park," said Wu'er Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the government's most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. 'The Message Sends Itself': In Coverage Of U.S. Protests, Russia Reveals Its Own Fears Of Unrest, Disorder By Matthew Luxmoore June 03, 2020 MOSCOW -- The screen depicts the Statue of Liberty backdropped by a cloud-specked sky, its outstretched arm and crowned head superimposed over the body of an American police officer whose knee presses firmly into the neck of a black man pinned to the ground and struggling to breathe. The unsubtle montage, aired on May 31 on the state-run Rossia-1 channel's flagship news show, Vesti Nedeli (News of the Week), presented Russian viewers with a jarring juxtaposition between an enduring symbol of U.S. democracy and what many see as an incident emblematic of its flaws: the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of police in the city of Minneapolis on May 25. "This is America, and such attitudes to blacks are an accepted practice," host Dmitry Kiselyov asserted during the Sunday night broadcast in a scathing monologue about racial inequality and police violence in the United States. "And this same America is constantly trying to teach the planet how to live?" For authoritarian governments around the world, footage of looting and police violence in dozens of U.S. cities is serving as fodder for renewed accusations that the United States does not practice at home what it preaches abroad. The Russian state is no exception. President Vladimir Putin's government has clamped down on protests at home, sometimes deploying violent methods that have earned it opprobrium from Washington and the West and demands that it respect human rights. Now, amid unrest and police violence in the United States, Russia is issuing demands for accountability that echo those Washington has repeatedly made to Moscow. "We are urging the U.S. authorities to take effective measures to improve the current state of affairs," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 29. "Resume good-faith efforts to honor international commitments and tailor national legislation to the UN basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement." Accusations of U.S. hypocrisy are nothing new for the Kremlin and the media outlets it controls -- they go far back into the Cold War. Kiselyov, who is widely seen as the Kremlin's chief TV propagandist, once told viewers that Russia was the only country "capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash." On Vesti Nedeli, incendiary anti-American rhetoric is par for the course. No Place For Politics? Yet, while pro-Kremlin pundits and state TV programs may be amplifying the anti-American diatribes that are a frequent staple, some analysts say Moscow is forced to walk a fine line between replaying clips of chaos on U.S. streets and appearing to cheer on the popular anger at the authorities -- from local police to the presidency -- that underpins it. "The Kremlin is very averse to anything that has to do with revolutions," said Maria Snegovaya, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based think tank. "That's because of the Kremlin's painful history with 'color revolutions' in Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and the fear of fueling similar sentiments domestically that will undoubtedly threaten Putin's hold on power." For years, Moscow has positioned itself at the vanguard of an ideological offensive against the United States, accusing it of fomenting protests that have swept out entrenched governments ruling former republics in these so-called "color revolutions." In 2011, Putin accused U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of helping orchestrate a big wave of protests against election fraud and his return to the Kremlin for a third presidential term. In 2014, the Euromaidan protests that ousted Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych had been falsely portrayed by Moscow as a Washington-orchestrated coup d'etat aimed at reorienting Kyiv toward the West. So any suggestion that street protests, revolt, or revolution is a valid way to effect political change is taboo for those who control Russia's airwaves. "There is a broader and very consistent message that the street is not a place for politics, indeed that popular engagement in politics only leads to destabilization and, eventually, violence," said Sam Greene, the director of the Russia Institute at King's College, London. "That's the spin they put on the Euromaidan. And that's the context in which they want current American events to be seen." Some Russian TV commentators quipped that a country accused of encouraging unrest abroad ultimately got a taste of its own medicine. "Perhaps America has simply begun finally to live in that same wild world they've been painstakingly constructing around themselves all those years," host Yevgeny Popov said on the popular 60 Minutes talk show. But much of the coverage has seemingly sought to send a signal, for viewers at home, about the inherent dangers of mass unrest. State TV reports have shown "no qualms about portraying protesters as violent," Anna Arutunyan, senior Russia analyst at the International Crisis Group, wrote in a tweet. Much of the coverage, she added, reflected "what Russian political commentators are preoccupied by: the fear of popular, violent, unrest." So beyond the triumphalism espoused by talking heads like Popov and Kiselyov, Russian news reports have often refrained from incendiary rhetoric and instead broadcast the same videos of conflagration and police violence on U.S. streets that have gone viral online in recent days. The calculation may be that the material is self-explanatory. "When it comes to what's going on in the U.S. right now, the message sends itself," Greene said. "The Kremlin's propagandists don't need to spin this, they don't need to dress it up." The problem the Kremlin may create for itself by fanning the flames and broadcasting graphic material from the U.S. protests, Greene argues, is that the protests and riots in fact demonstrate the street's legitimate place as a platform for people facing what they see as a corrupt, unjust political establishment to demand change. As a result, the Kremlin has far greater incentive to denounce the violence itself, without shedding light on the complex issues that lie behind it and the genuine public mobilization they have sparked. Doing otherwise, Greene suggested, would risk drawing uncomfortable parallels between the United States and Russia and potentially provide Russian viewers with an example to follow -- at a time when Putin's popularity is falling amid economic troubles and the impact of the coronavirus. "[Russia's] honest coverage of the movement in the U.S. will show how isolated Trump is, and how people of diverse backgrounds are, in fact, consolidating in demanding justice and reform," he said. "That may not be a message the Kremlin wants people to receive." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/in-coverage-of- us-protests-russia-reveals-its-own-fears -of-unrest-disorder/30650947.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 Regulatory News: Philip Morris International Inc. ("PMI") (NYSE:PM) will host a live audio call of a presentation and question and answer session by Jacek Olczak, Chief Operating Officer, and Emmanuel Babeau, Chief Financial Officer, at the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer Conference on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at approximately 7:00 a.m. ET. The call will be held in a virtual format and provide a live audio of the entire PMI session in a listen-only mode. You may register for the call at www.pmi.com/2020deutschebank, in order to receive dial-in instructions and numbers. Presentation slides will be available on the same site. An archived copy of the call will be available at www.pmi.com/2020deutschebank until 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, July 10, 2020. The archived call can also be accessed on iOS or Android devices by downloading PMI's free Investor Relations Mobile Application at www.pmi.com/irapp. Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the United States. In addition, PMI ships a version of its IQOS Platform 1 device and its consumables authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Altria Group, Inc. for sale in the U.S. under license. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI's smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of March 31, 2020, PMI estimates that approximately 10.6 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI's heat-not-burn product, available for sale in 53 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005762/en/ Contacts: Investor Relations: New York: +1 (917) 663 2233 Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4666 Media: Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4500 Iro.Antoniadou@pmi.com Purdue Extension is partnering with Prairie Farms to distribute gallons of milk to those in need as part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box Program. Through the program, USDAs Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is purchasing fresh produce, dairy and meat products from national, regional and local suppliers affected by COVID-19 to provide to food pantries and non-profits. The program began May 15 and ends June 30. Due to Purdue Extensions broad presence in all 92 Indiana counties, Purdue Extension educators have coordinated milk redistribution from Prairie Farms to local food banks and non-profits across the state. Over 2,000 gallons of milk have been distributed in the past two weeks to food deserts in Delaware and surrounding counties. More milk is scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks. Laurynn Thieme, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Purdue Extension - Delaware County, spearheaded the program in Delaware County by reaching out to Prairie Farms representatives to arrange milk deliveries and pick-ups with local food pantries. She can discuss how she led the program into action and her experiences of delivering milk to area food pantries. Contact: ljthieme@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews) Lindsey Cox, NEP Community Wellness Coordinator Purdue Extension Delaware and Blackford Counties, cochairs on the Delaware County Food Council and assisted with coordinating milk requests with area food pantries and non-profits. She continues to contact non-profits and schools in the surrounding counties to reach more people in need. Contact: lecox@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews) Melinda Duckett, NEP Community Wellness Coordinator, Purdue Extension - Hendricks, Putnam and Parke Counties, led the coordination between the Hendricks County Food Pantry Coalition and Prairie Farms by providing an inventory of local milk needs and setting up drop-off locations. She also coordinated with food pantries and non-profits in Putnam and Parke counties. Contact: duckett@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews) Cory Tonnsen, Account Manager at Prairie Farms, worked with numerous Purdue Extension Educators to deliver milk supplies to various pick up locations and farmers markets, including the Downtown Lafayette Farmers Market. Contact: Ctonnsen@prairiefarms.com (also available for phone and webcam interviews) Josh Gruver, associate professor of environment, geology, and natural resources at Ball State University and cochair on the Delaware County Food Council, assisted Purdue Extension - Delaware County by providing cold storage and leadership for the distribution of milk through the Muncie Food Hub Partnership and Mobile Market. Contact: jbgruver@bsu.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews) Jacqueline Hanoman, director of Ross Community Center, worked closely with Purdue Extension Delaware County to arrange a milk delivery for the community center. She can discuss how Purdue Extension connected the center with the milk distribution and how this has affected people in need in her community. Contact: director@rosscentermuncie.org (also available for phone and webcam interviews) Media Contact: Abby Leeds, mayer36@purdue.edu Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415; Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu Agriculture News Page Court orders Poroshenko's compulsory appearance at SBI for questioning on June 10 Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has ordered compulsory appearance of fifth Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) for questioning. This decision was approved on Thursday, the press service of the SBI said. "The questioning will begin at 11:00 on June 10, 2020 at the State Bureau of Investigations," it said. According to the SBI, Poroshenko will be questioned as a witness in criminal case No. 42020000000000307 on the illegal movement of 43 paintings created by worldwide known artists bypassing customs control procedures. AMD's GPU shipment volumes are now reported to have exceeded 500 million. This figure, which encompasses discrete and integrated graphics, beat corresponding numbers for Intel and NVIDIA. This success is projected to benefit even more from future projects such as a new partnership with Samsung. 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 group Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has published a report on findings that AMD has shipped approximately 553 million chipsets between 2013 and 2019. This success was derived from the popularity of Radeon and Zen-based desktop and notebook APUs and GPUs over those 6 years. However, JPR concludes that it was sparked by the initial ability to secure the contracts to power PlayStation and Xbox series consoles. Those devices accounted for 20% and 9% of AMD's shipments over the period studied. However, mobile APUs took the greatest share (23%), followed by discrete graphics (dGPUs) for the same platform and desktop dGPUs at 18%. Desktop APUs rounded them out at 12%. JPR stated that the volume of these chipsets in total were superior to those of NVIDIA and Intel. However, when broken back down into the integrated (iGPUs) and dGPUs categories, both of those rivals were ahead of AMD. Nevertheless, the latter is expected to have even greater success in the future. This will be influenced in part by new endeavors such as the mobile graphics the company is currently said to be working on in conjunction with Samsung. Infill Drilling Commences At KAT GAP Perth, June 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - WA-focused gold exploration and development company Classic Minerals Limited ( ASX:CLZ ) is pleased to announce that it has recommenced RC drilling at its 100% owned Kat Gap Gold Project covering exploration licences E74/422 and E74/467.Highlights:- Up to 3000m of RC drilling in two separate programs underway at Kat Gap after highly successful campaigns in January and February 2020;- Hole depths ranging from 30m to 100m;- Assay results expected late-June;- Infill RC Drilling program consisting of 21 holes for 1,400m designed to increase resource modelling confidence over a strike length of 100m north of the cross cutting Proterozoic dyke;- Results from infill RC drilling will aid in potential pit design while Mining Lease approval is awaited;- Extensional RC Drilling comprising 20 holes for 1,600m testing a further 200m of potential strike north and south of current drill coverage bringing the overall potential strike length of the Kat Gap system to over 800m;- Previous RC drilling by Classic at Kat Gap has returned outstanding high-grade gold intercepts from shallow depths including:Classic CEO Dean Goodwin said:We are very pleased to be drilling again at Kat Gap after a bit of a break due to COVID 19. It's great to back at it following up on the great results of our last two drilling programs, including multiple high-grade gold hits close to the surface, extensions at depth down plunge and along strike south of the dyke. This round will comprise of two separate programs focused solely on Kat Gap which has delivered outstanding results from the previous 9 drill campaigns.Drilling will again focus on the main granite - greenstone contact of which only 600m of a total 3.5km of potential strike has been tested by the Company.The first program will focus on infill drilling 100m of strike north of the cross-cutting Proterozoic dyke as we increase the confidence of our current resource model in readiness for future open pit mining operations. The second program will be carried out 100m north and 100m south of existing drill coverage in an attempt to increase the overall strike of known gold mineralisation to 800m. The south side of the dyke has received very little attention to date. The program is designed to probe between 40m and 90m below surface.Classic has completed 9 separate drilling campaigns at Kat Gap prior to the most recent RC drilling program. A total of 166 holes for 12,493m was completed between May 2018 and February 2020 all returning significant high-grade gold intercepts. The majority of the drilling is relatively shallow, down to approximately 60m vertical depth below surface and covered a strike length of the granite - greenstone contact of approximately 500m. The main area of drilling has been focused primarily on and adjacent to both contacts of a cross-cutting Proterozoic dyke where it intersects the main granite-greenstone contact. At this location the gold mineralisation has been significantly enriched.ABOUT THE FORRESTANIA GOLD PROJECT (FGP)The FGP Tenements (excluding Kat Gap and Lady Lila) are registered in the name of Reed Exploration Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX listed Hannans Ltd ( ASX:HNR ). Classic has acquired 80% of the gold rights on the FGP Tenements from a third party, whilst Hannans has maintained its 20% interest in the gold rights.For the avoidance of doubt Classic Ltd owns a 100% interest in the gold rights on the Kat Gap Tenements and also non-gold rights including but not limited to nickel, lithium and other metals.Classic has a Global Mineral Resource of 8.24 Mt at 1.52 g/t for 403,906 ounces of gold, classified and reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012), with a recent Scoping Study (see ASX Announcement released 2nd May 2017) suggesting both the technical and financial viability of the project.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Classic Minerals Limited Classic Minerals Limited (ASX:CLZ) is an exploration and development company focused on gold deposits in Western Australia's famous Goldfields region. In March 2017, Classic acquired the Forrestania Gold Project, with seven tenements stretching across 450km2. Strategically located in a very prospective region, the FGP is an underexplored package surrounded by multimillion ounce deposits such as Bounty (2Moz) and Yilgarn Star (1.5Moz). Mr Simon Osei Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, has warned against the continued stigmatisation of persons infected by the coronavirus disease (COVId-19). He said stigmatisation was undermining efforts to get suspected people in communities to test for the virus and seek prompt treatment for positive cases. Launching an anti-stigmatisation campaign on Covid-19 patients in Kumasi, Mr Osei Mensah said it was a major challenge for tracing and testing in communities. The anti-stigmatisation campaign is a collaborative initiative between Bloomberg Philanthropies, Vital Strategies and the Education Sub- Committee of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly's Public Health Emergency Committee. It aims at embarking on a media/community-based anti-stigma campaign to change the negative attitude of people towards persons who have recovered from the disease in the communities. Mr Osei Mensah said it was becoming extremely difficult to get isolation centres in the communities for Covid-19 suspected persons due to stigmatisation. That is why suspected persons are made to do self-isolation in their homes, which is also becoming difficult to contain the spread. He said Ghana could have done even much better in the tracing, testing and management of the virus if stigmatisation was not unnecessarily associated with it. Mr Osei Mensah commended the Government for the measures and achievement so far and urged the people to adhere to all the preventive and restrictive protocols to fight the virus. Dr Ruth Owusu-Antwi, the Head of the Psychiatry Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), pointed out that structural and public stigmatisation were making it difficult to reintegrate persons recovered from the disease into society adding that the campaign was the first step towards achieving that goal. She said education targeted at removing the myths, misconceptions and misinformation of the Covid-19 and specific desired behavioural change attitudes were needed in the campaign to stop stigmatisation. She stressed the need for the media to produce more balanced and appropriate content on the COVID-19 to help reduce fear and panic associated with it, which was fuelling stigma. Dr Oheneba Owusu-Danso, the Chief Executive of KATH, said the disease had now become endemic, hence the need for people to understand its dynamics and prepare to stay with it. He said strict adherence to the preventive protocols was the surest way to stay safe of the virus. Mr Osei Assibey-Antwi, the Chief Executive of KMA, said the campaign would involve the design and deployment of anti-stigmatisation communication materials in the media and local communities to sensitise the public to change the negative attitudes towards recovered persons. ---GNA This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. In the early hours of Monday, around 1 a.m., peculiar tweets began claiming that Washington, D.C., had been cut off from the digital world. A Twitter account with just three followers was the first to post about the supposed outage, the Washington Post later reported. By the time people began waking up and logging online, #DCblackout was trending in the U.S. The hashtag, which appeared in hundreds of thousands of tweets, was accompanied by reports of explosions, missing protesters, and silencers attached to police rifles. What followed was a brief period of online mayhem: Had the police really jammed cell towers? What was the alleged outage meant to obscure? Journalists on the scene quickly tweeted that they had not experienced any outages, and over the course of the day, the rumor was thoroughly debunked. The blackout, it turned out, was misinformation of the highest order. It was also a distraction from the realities of protesting on the ground, where police used violent tactics against protesters throughout the night, including pepper spray, rubber bullets, and tear gas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The assumption of a blackout, though, presupposes that its possible for the police (or the federal government) to shut down communication networks entirelyan act with grave implications for free speech and the right to assembly, as well as for the safety of protesters and passersby. And although it didnt take place on Monday, the hoax raised questions of whether its possible for law enforcement agencies to create a blackoutboth technically and legallyand whether its likely. Americans tend to think of deliberate service stoppages as dangerous tactics employed by oppressive regimes abroad. Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Unions Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told me that communication shutdowns are generally seen as an odious form of abusesomething thats used worldwide as a way to cloak suppressive violence and other human rights violations. Advertisement Advertisement But this form of censorship has happened in the U.S. at least once. In 2011, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, or BART, shut down cellphone service in underground stations in downtown San Francisco, after hearing of plans to protest the shooting of a man by BART police. BARTs goal was to prevent protesters from coordinating, but it was shortsighted, leaving the agency at the center of a national free speech controversy. The Federal Communications Commission got involved, and BARTs actions were condemned by rights organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (which referred to the incident as BART Pulls a Mubarak in San Francisco). The FCC investigated BART, but as Harold Feld, the senior vice president of nonprofit Public Knowledge, told me, the commission decided not to make a declaratory ruling on the incident. It came down to a technicality: BART had physically shut down the service by turning off equipment in the underground system, rather than jamming the signal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No similar incidents have been confirmed since, but during the 2016 Standing Rock protests, Wired reported that tribal leaders believed police were jamming cellphones. The problem with proving these claims is that its difficult to tell whether something nefarious is happening or theres just a bad signal. Only bodies like the FCC, which didnt investigate the claims, really have the ability to verify that jamming has occurred. The BART controversy and, to a lesser extent, Standing Rock show how complicated shutting down signals can be in the U.S.and how we dont really have a blueprint for understanding and addressing current and future blackouts by police departments. What we do know is that, nearly a decade later, its still possible from a technical standpoint. According to Joshua M. Pearce, a materials science and engineering professor at Michigan Tech, there are two main ways of creating a blackout aboveground. (The BART shutdown was an unusual situation, given that authorities could access the equipment themselves.) The first is to ask (or demand) service providers to turn off a particular set of cellphone towers. Thats as easy as flipping a switch, and providers generally want to comply with law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The secondand far trickieroption is to use jamming technology, which sometimes works by sending out false signals that overpower those coming from a cellphone tower. Small-scale, short-range devices are available commercially from abroad (the kind that have been used, for instance, at certain universities abroad to prevent cheating, and that led to a Florida high-school teachers suspension in 2015). Theoretically, one could use a large number of small devices, like this one, to ring a neighborhood, but it wouldnt be convenient. Jammers that cover larger areas do exist, Pearce said, but only organizations like the National Security Agency possess them. Advertisement The question of whether police blackouts are legal is much more complicated. The general rule is that its a violation of federal law to interfere with any wireless signal, according to Section 333 of the Communications Act of 1934, or the act that forms the basis of FCC policy. The FCC has issued public guidance stating that this applies to state and local law enforcement, and to Wi-Fi as well as cell signals. All jamming, in short, is illegal. However, Feld pointed out that local authorities could find workarounds that dont involve jamminglike BART did. In theory, a service provider isnt supposed to discontinue service without the FCC. But the Communications Act includes an exception for emergencies. So if the local police chief, for instance, went to phone companies saying Hey, theres a riot and we need you to halt your services for safety reasons, the companies could choose to do that, in accordance with the law. Advertisement Advertisement The greater danger, though, may come from the federal government. The FCC doesnt regulate federal use and abuse of signals, so President Trump could order federal forces, such as the U.S. military, to jam signals or require that companies shut them down, Feld told me. He noted that the Department of Homeland Security, along with service providers, developed a protocol after 9/11 where the cellular companies will shut down their networks if requested by federal authorities. In addition, if Trump were to proclaim that theres war, a threat of war, a state of public peril, or a national emergency, he would have the authority to act alone and essentially federalize and take over all means of communication, in line with the presidents war powers detailed in Section 706 of the Communications Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [I]f Trump goes ahead with invoking the civil Insurrection Act, and he also invokes his powers under [Section 706], he could then arguably order phone companies to shut down their service on demand of federal authorities, Feld said. The presidents power as granted in Section 706 is so great that Jessica Rosenworcel, an FCC commissioner, called for a reassessment of it earlier this year. Congress, she said, should consider whether, in the digital age, this power is constitutional and how the other branches of government might temper it. Rosenworcel also said that the U.S. should finally develop policy on government-directed shutdowns. Our existing law could be contorted to support outages, and we should expect to see government-directed shutdowns happen in many more placesincluding right here at home, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps its obvious that, legality aside, a blackout would endanger the public, and not just because of its clear violation of the First Amendment. Its the wrong response to political protests, whether its halfway across the world or here in the United States, said Stanley. Service stoppages impede peoples ability to call 911 and check in with loved ones during emergencies, and they can disrupt health care and other businesses. So by cutting off an entire mode of communication youre not just stifling protests, youre creating collateral damage that reaches far and wide, Stanley said. Whether a blackout seems distinctly possible depends on whom youre talking to. Stanley was hesitant to speculate, though he thinks there are strong reasons to believe the U.S. wont go that far again. I think the BART incident was widely regarded by everybody as a mistake, he said. But Feld is more concerned, even as he acknowledged that blackouts arent all that effective for the purposes of police or the federal government: They can disrupt protest coordination and affect live streams, but they cant prevent individuals from taking videos and documenting their circumstances. Still, given the current environment, hes worried. The problem is that in a world where youve got police departments that are apparently willing to use tear gas against unarmed protesters, he said, its not that hard to imagine theyre willing to jam cellphones. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Effutu constituency, Alex Afenyo-Markin, has criticised the Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayarigas attempt to get Parliament to reject the Electoral Commission's (EC) move to make the Ghana card and passports as the only valid identification for registering to vote. Speaking on Eyewitness News, Afenyo-Markin insisted that Ayariga did not have the standing to make such a call. A Notice of Motion was filed by Mr. Ayariga to get Parliament to reject the Public Election (Registration of Voters) (Amendments) Regulations 2020 (C.I. 126) pursuant to Article 11 (7)(c) of the Constitution. This motion was turned down by the Speaker of Parliament. The Effutu MP stressed that Mr. Ayariga could not overstep jurisdiction of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee. When a referral is made to a committee and that committee is given jurisdiction to look into the matter until the committee reports at the plenary, a member who is not a member of the committee cannot seek to arrest that mandate by bringing a motion. As a member of Parliament you can speak in any committee deliberation but of course if you are not a member, you cant vote, he added. Mr. Afenyo-Markin further said that Mr. Ayariga had fellow Minority MPs on the committee and could have appropriately relayed his concerns through them. His side is well represented on the committee. He is working as though he is alone in Parliament, Not that is not it. Responding to his setback, Mr. Ayariga held that the proposed law changes by the EC were flawed. He decried the absence of a birth certificate from approved identification because of the legitimacy of the Birth and Deaths Registry. I take the position that the current prescription which takes out birth certificate makes the C.I. so flawed because the birth certificate is the primary document for proving you were born in Ghana and that at the time of your birth you were a citizen. He also noted that NIA and passport office rely on the birth certificate for verifying citizenship. Beyond this, he also insisted that the voter ID deserved to be part of the required identification because it was coordinated by a constitutional body. I don't understand why they [Parliament] will accept the Ghana Card, accept the passport but reject the previous decision of the Electoral Commission; a constitutional body. ---citinewsroom KERRVILLE, Texas, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- James Avery Artisan Jewelry, a family-owned jewelry retailer based in Texas, announces the upcoming opening of its new store on Wednesday, June 24 in Waxahachie, Texas at The Waxahachie Marketplace shopping center. "We are excited to be opening in the Waxahachie community," says James Avery Manager of Strategic Initiatives Lindsey Avery Tognietti. "With the COVID-19 public health crisis continuing to impact our communities, the store will look a little different with social distancing and acrylic windows at checkout. Guest and associate safety is our number one priority as we welcome them into this new store." The Waxahachie Marketplace store will open following Governor Greg Abbott's recommended health protocols and other guidelines which have been implemented in James Avery stores. Tognietti says that care and concern for guests and associates is a cornerstone of James Avery customer service. Hand sanitizing stations will be set up in store for guests and associates and all high-touch areas of the store and jewelry will be regularly cleaned and sanitized. Additionally, the company encourages guests to honor social distancing guidelines when possible and consider wearing face coverings when in the store. James Avery associates will undergo daily health screenings and wear facemasks. The Waxahachie Marketplace James Avery Artisan Jewelry is located at 1700 North U.S. Highway 77, Suite 195, near Ulta. Current store hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 12 to 6 p.m. The Waxahachie Marketplace customers are welcome to shop in the new store or use the Contactless, Curbside Pickup or Buy Online, Pickup in Store options at JamesAvery.com. The James Avery team will announce plans for a grand opening celebration after regular store operations resume across the company. About James Avery Artisan Jewelry James Avery is a vertically integrated, family-owned company located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. We offer finely crafted jewelry designs for men and women in sterling silver, 14K and 18K gold, gemstones and leather handbags. James Avery jewelry is designed by our own skilled artisans in Kerrville, Texas. We are a multi-channel retailer with 92 James Avery stores in four states. Our jewelry is also available in more than 220 Dillard's stores in Texas and 28 additional states, airport stores in Austin and Houston, Army and Air Force Exchange Service locations at Fort Hood and Fort Belvoir and nationwide through JamesAvery.com. James Avery crafts jewelry in Texas workshops in Comfort, Hondo and Kerrville, made of the finest materials sourced worldwide. For more information, visit JamesAvery.com or facebook.com/JamesAvery. SOURCE James Avery Artisan Jewelry Related Links https://www.jamesavery.com By Allison Proffitt June 4, 2020 | At 10x Genomics, culture is key says Ben Hindson, co-founder and CSO. In early March, when we could still sit together in the companys sunny California offices, Hindson outlined a winning recipe bringing together software folks, hardware experts, biologists, chemists, and data scientists. In fact, the 10x Genomics company co-founders represent similar diversity: Hindson is a chemist by training. Serge Saxonov, CEO, is a bioinformatician who previously served as the founding architect and director of R&D at 23andMe. Kevin Ness, now CEO of Inscripta, but formerly COO and CTO at 10x Genomics, has an engineering background. Hindson knows better than to claim that the 10x formula is unique; lots of life sciences companies these days aim to bring together diverse teams. The difference, he argues, is that at 10x it works. A lot of places have it, but they dont actually work together. They dont really like each other, he observed. Weve created this culture where we kind of rely on each other. So how does a company make a varied team really like each other and work well together? First you have to give them a really hard problem, Hindson said. They get their heads together and they start generating results. Theres no shortage of really hard problems these days. In early March when I toured the officesnew space in Pleasanton, California, bought before the companys September IPOHindson already knew of at least one SARS-CoV-19 paper using the 10x platform, testing samples from a patient in a Shenzhen hospital. Since then, the platform has been used in SARS-CoV-19 research published in Nature, Nature Medicine, Cell, EMBO Journal, Science Immunology and more. More papers are in the pipeline and available on bioRxiv and medRxiv. 10x Genomics vision is to master biology, Shernaz Daver told me in March. Daver is an advisor to the company, and an executive advisor with Google Ventures. She joined Hindson for my visit, enthusiastically sharing the companys growth and future plans. We have been working on COVID-19 and supplying our products to academic labs, research institutes and pharma companies around the world. We are at over 50 places that are using 10x products to fight this deadly disease, Daver said in an email update last month. She mentions therapeutics and vaccine work at Vanderbilt University, Shenzhen labs in China, Imagine Institute in France, and Merck among others. But the companys plans extend beyond the current pandemic, of course. 10xs recent growth includes nearly doubling its workforce in the past year and acquiring Epinomics and its ATAC Seq technology in September 2018 and Spatial Transcriptomics, now its Visium spatial genomics technology, in December 2018. The company has 700 patents or patent applications, a research center in Sweden (thanks to the Spatial Transcriptomics acquisition), a sales office in Singapore, and plans to open a manufacturing facility in Singapore later this year. Expanding the Product Suite The business is now divided into two families Hindson said: the Chromium single-cell sequencing technology and the Visium spatial genomics technology that came from the Spatial Transcriptomics acquisition. Chromium is the companys oldest existing product. In January at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the company quoted an install base of the Chromium Controller single-cell sequencer for more than 1,600 instruments. Hindson sees a broad market with much growth ahead of it. Were nowhere near the limits of that technology, he said. Tens of thousands of labs out there that could have their own Chromium Controller on their bench and run a suite of our assays, Hindson said. Were seeing the amount of reagents that people use; its very healthy. Even as we get downstream [of the purchase], we see that usage continue in terms of how much instrument/reagent theyre using. The people who have had it the longest are also increasing the usage, which is also nice. 10x Genomics has combined the Chromium single-cell gene expression capabilities with the ATAC Seq technology, announcing Chromium Single Cell ATAC + Gene Expression at AGBT in February. The tool lets customers measure both epigenetic and gene expression markers from the same single cell at scale simultaneously. The performance is equivalent to running each one individually, but you can see things that you wouldnt necessarily see if you ran them separately and combined them computationally, Hindson said. Customers requested increase in volume and efficiency are driving the 10x business, Hindson said: doing more, faster, cheaper. Already routinely doing 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000-cell experiments, the 10x user community is asking the company for even more scale, Hindson said. What people want to get to next is routine million-cell experiments and 10 million Its kind of like the next wave, he predicts. Combinatorial drug screens, immunology, and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) are all driving the need for gene expression on a large scale. That really comes down to not just the bulk gene expression, but which expression is going on in which cells, Hindson explained. When you look at the individual cell level, you may get the total opposite answer of which variants were responsible for disease states. CellPlex, also announced at AGBT, is meant to improve scale. Customers can run experiments on a scale of up to 160K cells or multiplex up to 96 samples per run on an 8-channel chip. In combination with other 10x Genomics innovations, CellPlex will enable routine million-cell experiments. And last month the company launched its Targeted Gene Expression Solution. When used in conjunction with 10x Genomics Single Cell Gene Expression workflows, the Targeted Gene Expression Solution provides expression profiles of a set of targeted genes, from hundreds to thousands of single cells in suspension. It can also increase your sensitivity for low-expression genes somewhat, but importantly it can reduce the cost of your experiment by reducing the amount of sequencing you have to dothats significantwhich enables you to then run more samples, Hindson explained. The tool launched with three pre-designed gene panelsa Human Pan-Cancer Panel, Human Immunology Panel, and Human Gene Signature Panelwith validated probes for more than 1,000 genes per panel. A Human Neuroscience Panel is coming soon, the company says, as well as custom panels with customers own gene lists. The tool is currently for single cell research, but 10x expects to release optimized protocol, support, and software for targeted panels with spatial gene expression in September 2020. On the spatial genomics side, early adoption of the Visium product is really promising, he said. Spatial Transcriptomics had some great tech, some really early assets, and some great people. Then we applied the 10x way of doing things and some of the assets we developed and kind of took it to the next level. 10x increased the resolution of the arrays, picked up 300% more genes from each region, and refined the workflow decreasing run time from three days to eight hours. Visium is bringing new customers, Daver said, particularly within pharma and for brain applications. 10x hopes to create a network of Visium users. There seems to be a lot of interest and excitement over spatial, she said. Future Vision Hindson feels a strong commitment to the 10x user community and rolls out new products to key beta tester sitesacademia, pharma, biotechs, and government labsfor feedback and insight into future applications. Through that network, we get to test samples that we dont have access to, to see whether there are things we may be missing, or what the insights may be, he said. 10x tries to announce new products early and often, Hindson said. A 10x goal, Daver pointed out, is to be an innovation engineto constantly bring new products and test how they succeed in the market. Our customers want to be able to plan, Hindson said. If they know something is coming from us, they may not spend the energy developing it themselves. They appreciate that because they can go spend their time on something else. Biotechs, in particular, have been using the 10x platforms and products as core discovery engines more and more in the past 5 years, Daver noted. The 10x offerings help these biotechs get more products to market more efficiently. The idea, she said, is can you create an ecosystem of these different companies and research labs that couldnt do things as efficiently if 10x was not there. Were seeing a lot of that right now. The company plans to launch the 10x Genomics Cloud this year, tying all of the product offerings togetherfirst for US customers, then globally. Its going to enable even more downstream folks to not have to worry about buying a bunch of these blade servers, which Ive done here at 10x, Hindson laughed. You can just use the cloud. Existing customers will be able to access a standard set of analysis at no cost, and in the midst of a pandemic, that seems like a very timely offering indeed. Theres more opportunity for collaborative opportunities. A lot of people want to compare datasets across different countries, et cetera, Hindson said. Police face serious questions over why it took a decade to identify convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner as a key suspect. Portuguese detectives are under renewed scrutiny after it emerged Brueckner had been convicted of paedophile offences in 1994, when he was 17, before he arrived in Praia de Luz. He received a two-year sentence in Bavaria for 'abuse of a child' and 'sexual acts against a child', according to German magazine Der Spiegel, which reported he has at least 17 entries on his criminal record. The Daily Mail can reveal that Brueckner emerged as a 'person of interest' for British police early on in a major Scotland Yard review of the case that started in 2011. Cashing in: Ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral. He wrote a book accusing the parents Kate and Gerry McCann Shameful treatment: Kate (pictured in 2007) and Gerry McCann had to live under the shadow of suspicion However, even after this was upgraded to a multi-million-pound full investigation two years later, he did not emerge as a key suspect until 2017. Portuguese detectives have been widely criticised in the past over a string of elementary mistakes which hampered the investigation. At the time of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, Brueckner was known to have previously lived two miles from the resort where she vanished and was still living in the area in his campervan. Sources said that if Portuguese officers had done basic groundwork, including comprehensive door-to-door inquiries, and identified known sex offenders including foreign nationals living locally, his name could have emerged as a potential suspect within months. Last night, a source said that Brueckner's name cropped up after Met detectives began probing the case but there was no firm evidence then linking him to Madeleine's disappearance. Taped-off: It was hours before the crime scene was protected. Portuguese police officers are pictured on duty in Praia da Luz 'He was an itinerant whose exact whereabouts on the night could not be established,' the source added. 'This is why he was not treated as a suspect at that stage.' It was only in 2017 that Brueckner emerged as a potential key suspect, after German police were tipped off about his possible involvement. According to German law enforcement officials, Brueckner lived almost permanently in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007. Portuguese police closed the inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in 2008 after claiming there were no more leads to pursue. The inquiry was shelved after the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were wrongly implicated in the case. Amateurish: police smoked in the McCanns' apartment. Pictured: a forensic expert takes a sample from the blinds of the apartment where the family were staying in 2007 THE PROLIFIC CRIMINAL According to Der Spiegel, Brueckner's criminal record contains 17 entries and he has been investigated for 'driving without a licence, assault, serious theft and drunk driving'. The magazine reported that according to the Federal Central Register, aged 17 he stood trial in Bavaria in 1994 for 'abuse of a child' and 'sexual acts against a child'. The district court of Wurzburg imposed a two-year 'youth sentence', of which he served only part. It also said yesterday that in October 2011 the district court in Niebull, northern Germany, jailed Brueckner for 21 months for drug offences, while in 2013 the district court in Braunschweig, near Hanover, jailed him for 15 months for 'sexually abusing a child and possessing child pornography'. He was last in court in Germany in December over the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist in the Algarve in 2005, for which he received a seven-year jail term. Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of Bild, said the new key suspect who is fighting his rape conviction is currently in prison in the German city Kiel. Not revealing the suspect's full name, Mr Reichelt said: 'Everything we have heard so far publicly has been around and basically known to police in Germany and Britain for years. 'We are hearing that there was an additional push towards looking at 'Christian B' another time and that's when the police reviewed all the pieces again and opened a murder case investigation. 'He has been convicted of child abuse as early as 1994. He was born in 1976, he's 43 years old. 'That means early in his life already there was a record of child abuse. And it wasn't the only time. 'There are numerous other convictions, drug convictions, driving under the influence, driving without a licence. It is a huge, numerous page-long criminal record that we have seen.' Pictured is a sketch that was done of a suspect by the detectives working on the case - which features only hair THE BOTCHED PORTUGUESE INQUIRY The disappearance of Madeleine from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz in May 2007 was mishandled by Portuguese detectives from the very beginning. The immediate aftermath of a child going missing the so-called golden hour is seen as a critical phase of a case by experienced detectives. But Portuguese officers, woefully out of their depth according to British police sources, took four days even to issue a description of the missing girl. They failed to lock down the resort or set up road blocks because they assumed she had just wandered off. The McCanns' apartment was not taped off until 10am the following day, by which time dozens of people had traipsed through the crime scene and contaminated potentially vital evidence. Ash from policemen's cigarettes would be found among contaminated forensic samples from the flat. Not all the staff and guests at the Ocean Club were traced and interviewed. Those who were interviewed were not always properly eliminated. And a photofit picture of an early suspect consisted of nothing more than the sketch of a face with hair parted on one side but with no eyes, nose or mouth. Portuguese police closed the inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in 2008 after claiming there were no more leads to pursue. The inquiry was shelved after the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured), were wrongly implicated in the case The catalogue of mistakes and official complacency was almost endless and culminated in a shameful shadow of suspicion over Kate and Gerry McCann, who were treated as suspects themselves until their 'arguido' (suspect) status was removed in 2008, the same year as the inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance was formally suspended. There were, declared the Portuguese police, simply no more leads to pursue. Maddie police: We need more money to keep probe going Scotland Yard has requested more funding for its 12million search for Madeleine McCann. It has reportedly applied to the Home Office for more money so it can continue its nine-year investigation, known as Operation Grange. The investigation was launched in 2011 and it has already received more than 12million in special grants from the Home Office. Last year it was given 300,000 so it could continue for another year. Officers insist that the decision to make a new public appeal over the latest development was not connected to a request for further taxpayer funding. The original Portuguese investigation was shelved in 2008 and Madeleines parents used public donations to pay private investigators. They continued to lobby successive home secretaries to launch a British police investigation and finally succeeded in 2011, when then Home Secretary Theresa May announced a Scotland Yard review of the case. Operation Grange initially had 29 officers working on it. They took 1,500 statements from potential witnesses and collected more than 1,000 exhibits. Detectives travelled regularly to the Algarve to liaise with their Portuguese counterparts and oversaw exploratory digs in the area around Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished. By 2015 the inquiry was scaled back and the number of officers was reduced to four. But funding continued every six months to keep the investigation open. In 2018 police said the inquiry had examined 60 persons of interest and investigated 650 sex offenders. By June last year Operation Grange had received 11.75million and was expected to be given a further 300,000. It is not known how much Scotland Yard has said it will need to continue its current line of inquiry, which involves liaising with police in Germany. Money is given by the Home Office through special grant funding, which is available to any police forces facing significant or exceptional costs. Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry McCann have continued to raise money to fund a private search. The couple launched a crowdfunding appeal after she vanished and raised nearly 2million within ten months. They also won financial backing from wealthy benefactors. The Home Office refused to comment on the funding application which is due to be considered later this year. Advertisement In 2016, retired police officer Goncalo Amaral, who had led the search for Madeleine, won his appeal against a court ruling that he libelled her parents. The McCanns had sued the ex-police chief over claims he made about them in a book. They were initially awarded 358,000 damages by a Portuguese court. But Mr Amaral's successful appeal meant his book criticising the McCanns could be sold again. Portugal's supreme court later rejected an appeal by the couple. VITAL PHONE CLUES NOT PURSUED It was only after Scotland Yard, at the behest of then prime minister David Cameron, launched a two-year review of the McCann case in 2011, that evidence was properly accessed and analysed. Basic groundwork, including research into mobile phone data in Praia da Luz on the day that Madeleine disappeared, was not done until an elite team of Met officers on Operation Grange were asked to investigate. Although the Policia Judiciaria had this information at the time she vanished, they did not find out who the phones were registered to even though cell-site analysis is a crucial investigative tool and the catalyst for solving countless crimes. The oversight seems more critical now, after Scotland Yard released details this week of the phone number believed to have been used by Brueckner on the night Madeleine disappeared. Speaking in October 2013, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, then leading the Met inquiry, said officers were examining a 'substantial amount of data' from thousands of mobile phones thought to belong to people who were in the resort of Praia da Luz in the days just before, during and after Madeleine's disappearance. 'This is not just a general trawl,' Mr Redwood said. 'It's a targeted attack on that data to see if it assists us to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann at that time.' Officers had so far been unable to attribute a 'large number' of mobile numbers, he added, admitting that it was difficult to do so with phones bought six years previously on a pay-as-you-go basis. Jim Gamble, the former head of the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, said he had recommended the 'cell dump' was looked at again in his 2010 review of the case. Speaking in 2013, he said it appeared the data 'wasn't properly or appropriately interrogated' at the time. In UK investigations, he would expect the data to have been examined almost immediately, he said, but the 'complex nature and geography' had made it more difficult. The senior Scotland Yard detective who oversaw the two-year-review of the McCann before he retired told the Daily Mail in 2013 it was 'perfectly probable' that information that could identify the suspect responsible for Madeleine's disappearance was already in the Portuguese files. 'Of course, there is a possibility she is still alive,' said former Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell. 'But the key is to investigate the case and, dead or alive, we should be able to try to discern what happened..' With German prosecutors saying they believe Madeleine is dead, there appears very little cause for optimism, her case now effectively a murder investigation. Forensic tests on Brueckner's old campervan have not yielded any clues. With no body, no forensic evidence and no confession, detectives may struggle to gain justice for her and her family. With business advice from the EBRD and EU, Trendtex is ready to meet growing demand As many countries across Europe have found themselves in short supply of medical scrubs during the Covid-19 pandemic, Trendtex, a Serbian-based manufacturer of workwear, is scaling up and re-focusing its production. Known for making high-quality work clothing for global brands such as Stihl, Karcher, Audi, Mercedes, MAN and Rolex, Trendtex has given itself over entirely to producing medical uniforms and invested in new equipment to manufacture reusable face shields and poncho-type coats. Of the 3.5 million medical uniforms Trendtex already produces each year, 80 per cent are sold in Germany; Denmark, France, Italy, Poland and Sweden are also among its buyers. With the onset of the coronavirus, the company has been working around the clock to meet the fast-growing demand in the European Union. Not all products were destined for export, however, as thousands of masks have been donated to Serbian hospitals. Now Trendtex is working to double its production capacity with business advice from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU). It recently invested in new equipment and a production hall in Prijepolje, Western Serbia. The facility is being re-purposed for the companys needs with help from a Turkish expert under an EBRD consultancy project funded by the EU. Emir Inajetovic, the export manager at Trendtex, said: We are all very enthusiastic about this advisory project as it will provide us with the competitive advantage we need in these challenging times. As part of another initiative with the EBRD and EU, Trendtex has introduced an enterprise resource planning system a digital management system that allows the firm to fine-tune the new production unit, monitor and control work processes, train employees and facilitate the overall technical management of the plant. Goran Radojevic, Associate for the EBRDs Advice for Small Business programme, commented: With funding from the EU and the combination of local and international expert advice, the EBRD is helping Trendtex to improve production efficiency and further its expansion. This has been an excellent opportunity to support a socially-responsible business and the largest local employer in one of the most vulnerable regions of Serbia. Founded in 1996 with a just dozen workers, Trendtex today employs over 2,000 people across seven plants in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. Only a quarter of business that have temporarily closed during the coronavirus critic plan to reopen their doors within the next month, dampening efforts to kickstart the economy, new figures reveal today. Just nine per cent of businesses told the Office for National Statistics they would be ready to open within a fortnight, with a further 16 per cent saying they could be ready within four weeks. Almost half of those polled in May said they did not know when they might open, piling pressure on the Government's economic plans. Boris Johnson last month gave the go-ahead for non-essential retail to restart on June 15, as he attempted to bring the coronavirus-battered UK High Street back to life. Outdoor markets and car showrooms have been open since Monday with strict social distancing guidelines. The ONS figures, some of which may pre-date the May 25 announcement, show that 42 per cent of retailers would be able to reopen by the end of June. Of businesses with 250 employees or more, 21 per cent said they intend to restart trading again in the next two weeks compared with 14 per cent of businesses with fewer than 250 employees. The Prime Minister said that few countries around the world has done as much to put 'our arms around workers' last night Grant Fizner, the INS' chief Covid-19 economist, said: 'One quarter said they expected to restart trading in the next four weeks, and another 30 per cent in more than four weeks. Mental health of UK workers plummeting before coronavirus, study shows Work was making the wellbeing of employees worse even before the Covid-19 crisis started, new research suggests. A survey of more than 6,000 workers found the number saying work has a positive impact on their mental health has fallen from 44 per cent to 35 per cent over the past two years. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said its study highlighted that employers have not done enough to tackle the issue, and raised concerns about the further impact the crisis could have on people's wellbeing, given many are worried about falling ill, losing their job or bearing the brunt of other cutbacks. As the Covid-19 crisis was about to hit the UK, there were already 'red flags' about the impact work was having on wellbeing amid a general downward trend in work-related health, said the report. One in five people said they were always or often exhausted or under excessive pressure at work, and one in 10 were miserable, the data indicated. Jonny Gifford, senior research adviser at the CIPD, said: 'Even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, work was becoming worse for our health. This is the complete opposite of how it should be - work can and should have a positive impact on people's lives. 'As the full scale of the economic crisis unfolds, the outlook looks even bleaker. We'll likely see employers trying to do more with less, which will only increase people's workload and the pressure they are already under. 'Many people will also be worried about losing their job or living on a reduced income. 'While the Government is right to focus on protecting as many jobs as possible, it should also be encouraging employers to look at job quality. 'Not only is there a moral imperative to do so, but if people are happy and healthy in their jobs they also perform better, take less time off and are less likely to drop out of the workforce. In the long run, this will help us get on the road to economic recovery sooner.' Advertisement 'If those predictions are born out, we would see the proportion of firms that have paused trading fall to under 10 per cent of all companies around a third of the number seen at the start of this pandemic. 'However, almost half (45 per cent) of paused businesses told us they weren't sure when they would be able to restart trading, reflecting the high levels of uncertainty that many UK businesses continue to face.' He added: 'These averages mask a significant divergence in business impact across different industries. 'In real estate, water & waste, and professional, scientific and technical services fewer than 5 per cent of businesses have paused trading. Information and communication, Transportation & storage, and Manufacturing were only a little higher. 'But two industries have been particularly hard hit: around three-quarters of businesses in accommodation and food services and arts, entertainment and recreation, have temporarily closed. 'Even more worrying, the vast majority of these expect their businesses will continue to be on hold in four weeks' time. 'Two-fifths of paused businesses in accommodation and food services, and almost half of arts, entertainment and recreation businesses, said they were not sure when they would be able to restart.' The ONS data released today also shows the impact on company turnover, with 61.19 per cent of all UK firms reporting a decline in May. They included 62 per cent of firms in England, 67 per cent in Wales, 65 per cent in Scotland and 54 per cent in Northern Ireland. Within England, the North East and West Midlands were the worst affected. Jack Izzard, director of small business recovery group The Great British Bounce Back, said: 'The fact that more than a quarter of UK businesses have seen their turnover halve, and nearly two thirds seen it decrease, says all you need to know about the problems to come. 'Reduced turnover will mean a lot businesses are burning through cash reserves to cover their overheads and costs, and those cash reserves will only last so long despite the furlough scheme. 'When the furlough scheme draws to a close, businesses will feel the full impact of reduced turnover and will have to make cuts and savings in multiple ways in order to recalibrate. 'Those businesses lucky enough to have been able to take out a Government-backed loan will be under less pressure but turnover is the oil of a business and when it dries up firms have to either restructure or face ruin.' Mr Johnson used a rare appearance at the Downing Street daily press conference last night to warn workers that it was 'inevitable' there would be widespread job losses because of the coronavirus lockdown today. But the Prime Minister said that few countries around the world has done as much to put 'our arms around workers' as he led the daily Downing Street press conference. He pledged to follow the furlough and business loan schemes that have ploughed hundreds of billions of pounds into keeping firms afloat and preventing people being laid off. He insisted that he would lead an 'activist and interventionist' Government that would seek to invest the UK back to health. It came as a new warning came that tens of thousands of aerospace and aviation workers are set to lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Paul Everitt, chief executive of industry body the ADS Group, said redundancies will be made in the coming weeks and months because of the collapse in demand for flights. He told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee it was 'very difficult' to see demand return quickly, so airlines and other companies will be forced to restructure or 'resize'. Mr Everitt told MPs that the Government's controversial decision to press ahead with its quarantine plans for people arriving in the UK would lead to a further period of uncertainty for the sectors his group represents. The industry believed the right approach would be to put in place measures to minimise the risk of anyone getting on to an aircraft who might be affected by the virus, he said. 'Summer is incredibly important for airlines, so the fact that they are not able to sell tickets with confidence in July and August is a clear worry and will only mean the recovery will take longer and be more painful.' Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, told MPs that one in four manufacturers were planning to make redundancies in the next few months. He voiced fears about the loss of skills in the industry, saying he had spoken to the Education Secretary about the need to tackle the issue. Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, told the committee that the steel industry was in a 'difficult position' before the current crisis, with falling prices for its products and rising costs for raw materials. UK steel companies also faced higher electricity charges and business rates than competitors in other countries such as Germany, he said. 'The Government needs to build a bridge to help us through this crisis. There is no point in the Government saving the steel sector from going out of business now, if it is not going to work with us and trade unions to develop a brighter and sustainable future. 'It is totally within the Government's gift to do that.' A Bexar County Sheriff's deputy has been suspended after "a troubling Facebook post" was reported, the department said in a statement Thursday. BCSO said one of its deputies posted on social media about "killing people who are rioting, looting, attacking innocent people and burning the city down," the department's statement said. The deputy has not been identified. READ ALSO: BCSO deputy fired after off-duty arrest in connection with discharging firearm, resisting arrest Sheriff Javier Salazar described the post as "extremely inappropriate and offensive," emphasizing that those are not the views of BCSO or any reputable law enforcement officer. "Obviously, those found committing illegal activities do face arrest, but the notion of killing anyone without justification is ludicrous," Salazar said in the department's statement. "The BCSO will continue to support and protect peaceful protests." The deputy, who works in the detention division, has had no public interaction, but Salazar said the strong language was "troublesome for anyone who wears a uniform or badge." A full investigation is being conducted and the deputy was placed on administrative leave along with having his Texas Peace Officer's license, badge, credentials and county property surrendered. The punishment could include termination, the BCSO statement said. "All deputies have been reminded of the consequences and implications of social media posts and the importance of on duty and off duty conduct," Salazar said. "Misconduct will not be tolerated and will continue to be dealt with efficiently and effectively." The suspension follows another BCSO deputy who was terminated after being arrested Wednesday morning after being arrested by San Antonio police. Officers said they were called to former deputy Luis Lopez's residence near the 1800 block of Mally for a disturbance and shooting. When SAPD officers arrived, Lopez was "obviously intoxicated" and was fighting with officers as they attempted to arrest him, police said. He was charged with discharging a firearm in a municipality and resisting arrest. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway By Jiraporn Kuhakan and Panu Wongcha-um SALADANG, Thailand (Reuters) - Nearly every day, 77-year-old Surin Makradee goes door-to-door in her village in Thailand, visiting every home to check people's temperatures in a routine repeated in communities across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. "I consider people in the village my family. If I don't educate them, they will not understand the risk of getting infected," Surin said in her village of Saladang in Ang Thong province, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Bangkok She is a member of the Village Health Volunteers, a long-overlooked network of more than 1 million community workers dating back to a Cold War-era hearts-and-minds programme. The volunteers have been praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "unsung heroes" in Thailands relatively successful efforts to fight the novel coronavirus. Thailand was the first country outside China to detect a case of the coronavirus, in January, but it has reported only about 3,000 cases and 58 deaths since then. "Thailands village health volunteers are unsung heroes working to support the prevention, detection and reporting of COVID-19," said Daniel Kertesz, WHO representative for Thailand, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus. Apart from the temperature checks, the front-line health volunteers help the government collect daily health information and watch for flare-ups in infections. Surin, who has been a volunteer for 38 years and does her rounds by motorcycle, said she is also responsible for monitoring people who have returned from other provinces and need to be in quarantine for 14 days. "I have to educate those in quarantine to eat and live separately from their family members," she said. COLD WAR HOLDOVER Created in 1977, the Village Health Volunteers were set up as part of government efforts to help rural communities at a time when communists insurgents roamed through many parts of the country. Story continues With basic health training, the volunteers help provide rudimentary care and initial diagnoses in areas that are often a long way from a clinic or hospital. "They were gatekeepers for people in the community to get to medical treatment, and this was important considering the limited resources of our health system," said Chatichai Muksong, a historian at Srinakharinwirot University. He said volunteers helped create greater participation in the health systems in subsequent decades and won praise during previous epidemics like the H5N1 bird flu in the mid-2000s. Their role, however, had become less prominent over the past 10 years - at least until the coronavirus emerged. One person under quarantine in Surins village, Ticomporn Kingpet, 60, who recently returned home from the resort island of Phuket, said he was impressed with the volunteers' work. "They're like a group of small ants working together. They are giving very good advice to the people," he said. (Writing by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Kay Johnson, Robert Birsel) Gregory McMichael, left, and his son Travis McMichael, right, arrested for alleged murder of a young black man: AP The man who shot Ahmaud Arbery stood over his body and was heard saying a racial slur, according to the lead investigator. Special prosecutor for Georgia, Richard Dial, said on Thursday that evidence showed Mr Arbery was boxed in by two pickup trucks before Travis McMichael shot him in the chest. Mr Dial said the driver of the second pickup truck, William Bryan, said he heard the alleged shooter say a racist epithet as he stood over the body of Mr Arbery: F---ing N-word. The allegation was made during a preliminary hearing to support murder charges against Mr McMichael, 34, and his father, Greg McMichael, 64. Special prosecutor Jesse Evans said during the hearing that Mr Arbery was chased, hunted down and ultimately executed. Mr Bryan, 50, who filmed the video of the shooting and made the allegation of the racial slur, is also charged with felony murder and using a vehicle to confine and detain Mr Arbery. All three were arrested just days after the video leaked online, but months after Mr Arberys death on 23 February. The new details of the killing emerged during preliminary hearings requested by the defence to make prosecutors show whether they have probable cause to charge the men with murder. Glynn County Magistrate Judge Wallace E Harrell will determine if authorities have enough evidence of murder to take the case to trial. According to the prosecutors testimony, body camera footage also showed a Confederate flag sticker on the toolbox of Mr McMichaels truck. Mr Dial outlined the events that lead to Mr Arberys death, and said that before the shooting the three men engaged in an elaborate chase and hit the 25-year-old with a truck as he tried to evade them. While attempting to flee he was allegedly struck by the truck of Mr Bryan, with investigators testifying they found a palm print on the rear door and cotton fibres above a dent that we attribute to contact with Mr Arbery. While the defence for Mr Bryan has said he was only a witness to the killing, Mr Dial told the court that he yelled do you got him when he saw his neighbours chasing Mr Arbery, before joining the chase himself. Story continues Mr Byan made several statements about trying to block him in and using his vehicle to try to stop him, Mr Dial said. His statement was that Mr Arbery kept jumping out of the way and moving around the bumper and actually running down into the ditch in an attempt to avoid his truck. While none of the men have entered formal pleas, attorneys for each have previously said that they were innocent and that judgements shouldnt be rushed to. Read more New video shows police trying to tase Ahmaud Arbery in 2017 Sister of alleged killer of Ahmaud Arbery shared Snapchat of dead body Ahmaud Arbery was one of many caught on camera trespassing at home Neo-Nazis spread racist, false claims about Ahmaud Arbery shooting Ahmaud Arbery killing: Dont vilify a good person, lawyers say Protesters gathered on Boston Common on Wednesday to again denounce police brutality against people of color, as authorities mopped up after violent demonstrations overnight in a restive suburb. Black Lives Matter called for more peaceful protesting aimed at ending white-on-black brutality like the deadly arrest of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. Demonstrators began to come together on the Common at about 3:30 p.m. They cheered after learning that prosecutors have expanded their case against the police who were at the scene of Floyds death, charging three with aiding and abetting a murder and upgrading the charges against the officer who pressed his knee on Floyds neck to second-degree murder. The protesters also listened to speeches and held signs reading White Silence=Violence, I Cant Breath, Black Lives Matter, and No Justice, No Peace. Members of the National Guard and Boston police officers carrying sticks and riot gear were standing at a distance from the protesters. Many of the protesters black, white, young and older were also wearing masks in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Thousands protested peacefully Tuesday night in Boston's Franklin Park, staging a die-in and chanting no justice, no peace. Police officers at times knelt in solidarity with the racially diverse crowd. Things took a violent turn Tuesday night in Brockton, a city south of Boston with a large black population, where police used tear gas and pepper spray to break up protesters rallying in front of the police station as they hurled bottles and other objects at officers. The unrest followed a peaceful rally at a middle school. I share the anger of our citizens at police misconduct across the United States, but Im saddened that some chose violence and vandalism, Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan said in a statement. We cannot let a few violent acts overshadow the powerful message of peace. Protesters rushed to the aid of a Boston Globe reporter who was hit in the face with pepper spray as police pushed back the crowd. State police were called after demonstrators began pelting Brockton officers with bottles and fireworks. Gov. Charlie Baker acknowledged the protests at a Wednesday press conference saying thousands and thousands of people are making their voices heard and taking a stand against the violence and injustice that befalls the black community every day across this country. There were moments of tension and raw emotion. People shared their pain and frustration. They shared their agony and their anger over the injustice that pervades our nation. It was hard to watch at times, Baker added, decrying the cowards and criminals who tried to injure police and destroy property. Baker said he and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito have talked in recent days with members of the black and Latino community, elected officials, clergy members and public safety officials about ways to enhance transparency and accountability across the Massachusetts law enforcement system. Baker also acknowledged the challenge of holding protests during a pandemic given the need to remain six feet apart from each other, wear masks in public, and avoid large gatherings. We understand this guidance is in conflict with assembling to exercise First Amendment rights, Baker said. We ask everyone to balance the fight against the virus with the fight for what we as individuals believe in. Also Wednesday, a Worcester man was arrested and charged with civil disorder and possession of a Molotov cocktail during a demonstration in Worcester on Monday. Vincent Eovacious, 18, was charged with civil disorder for attempting to obstruct or interfere with law enforcement officers and unlawful possession of firearm a destructive device according to United States Attorney Andrew Lelling. Eovacious was arrested after being released on bond following state charges, including possession of an incendiary device. He will appear in federal court in Worcester on Thursday. London, June 4 : Pakistan-backed Kashmiri separatists based in the UK organized a virtual conference which was mostly attended by anti-India Labour politicians. The online seminar was organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Self Determination Movement International (JKSDMI), led by Chairman Raja Najabat Hussain. Among the speakers, was Debbie Abrahams, who is a member or Parliament from Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency. She shares a close rapport with the Pakistan-backed Raja Najabat Hussain. Her Indian visa was rejected by the Indian authorities in February this year. Abrahams chairs a UK parliamentary group focused on Kashmir, and has been a critic of the Narendra Modi government's move to scrap Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Debbie's profile raised a red flag in India, as authorities had reasons to believe that she has links with individuals and outfits working for Pakistan's spy agency, ISI, to run anti-India propaganda. Following her deportation from New Delhi, she visited Pakistan, where she was treated like a state guest. Fawad Hussain Chaudhary, Pakistan's Science and Technology minister, was one of the speakers in attendance too. The speakers present in the conference included twenty Labour Party politicians and Members of Parliament, however, only six Conservative politicians were invited to the conference. The Labour Party politicians who attended the conference included Yasmin Qureshi, Pakistan born Labour MP for Bolton South East, Afzal Khan, Pakistan-born MP for Manchester Gorton, and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Britain's first Sikh MP. Dhesi has always maintained a pro-Pakistani stance on Kashmir, even as his community members have been victims of Pakistan's cross-border terrorism. During the December 2019 elections, the Labour Party received unconditional support from Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) UK. JKLF, a terror group banned in India, was one of the first groups that launched Pakistan-backed terrorism in Kashmir in late 1980s, targeting ethnic minority of Kashmiri Pandits and other civilians. In September 2019, Labour Party passed an emergency motion on Kashmir calling for party leader Jeremy Corbyn to seek international observers to 'enter' the region and demanded the right of self-determination for its people. Following this, British-Indian bodies accused Corbyn of bringing an India-Pakistan bilateral affair into the domestic politics of the UK by adopting a 'divisive' emergency motion that calls for international intervention in the region. But there has been a change in Labour's stance now. The Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has repositioned his party's line on the issue of Kashmir after his meeting with the executive team of Labour Friends of India (LFIN) earlier in May 2020. Starmer said, "We must not allow issues of the sub-continent to divide communities here. Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament, and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully," altering the position taken by his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn. Advanced Polymer Coatings, Inc. promotes Joseph G. Fortman to role of Technical Services Manager Joseph G. Fortman has been promoted to Technical Services Manager at Advanced Polymer Coatings, Inc, a role that manages the companys growing technical infrastructure for APCs well-known MarineLINE and ChemLINE brands. Fortmans responsibilities cover various technical service functions that include: managing APCs international inspection and heat cure teams, staffing, and activities; directing technical operations of new building and repair projects; coordinating with APCs After Sales Department for marine insurance and on-board vessel inspections; supporting APCs propriety web-based technical portal; implementing quality standards and application guides; and responding to lab review requests from industrial and marine customers. Prior to his new role, Fortman was an APC Coating Inspector for 14 years, in both the marine and industrial divisions and had also served as APCs Regional Manager in China for two years, and in the same role in South Korea for a year. Before that he worked for two years as a Manufacturing Associate at APC in the production department. Prior to joining APC, Fortman worked three years at Chi Corporation in technical support, and as a network technician. He started his career at Anchor Tool & Die, where he worked for seven years in various departments including shipping/receiving, and in quality assurance and quality control of processed coated and plated parts. Fortman is a member of NACE International and is a certified Level 2 NACE Coating Inspector. He received an Associate Degree in Information Technology from Bryant & Stratton College. A right-wing official in charge of promoting black culture in Brazil has described the countrys black rights movement as scum, according to an audio recording. Sergio Camargo, who is himself black, made the comments at the end of April while discussing a mobile phone that had allegedly been stolen from the Palmares Cultural Foundation headquarters, according to audio obtained by the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. The black movement, those bums from the black movement, bloody scum, Camargo can be heard saying. Camargo, a self-styled right-wing black man, was appointed president of the foundation an organisation linked Brazils Ministry of Culture by president Jair Bolsonaro last year, in a move that sparked outrage among the black community. Camargo, who has a history of slurring prominent black figures in Brazil, also called the anti-slavery activist and Brazilian warrior Zumbi dos Palmares a filho da puta (son of a b***h) in the recording. He also claimed that leftists had infiltrated the agency, calling on his colleagues to hand them over so they could be fired. If there is a leftist here, you tell me where is this son of a bitch so that I can fire them or send to another agency, he said. The Palmares Foundation said in a statement that it regretted the illegal recording of an internal and private meeting. The foundation said it is in sync with Bolsonaros federal government and would no longer attend the interests of only those who proclaim themselves to be representatives of the entire black population. Camargo remains in his post. The Palmares Foundation was set up in 1988 to promote the preservation of cultural, social and economic values resulting from the black influence in the formation of Brazilian society. The organisation derives its name from Palmares, a settlement in northeastern Brazil founded by runaway slaves during the 17th century. Earlier this week, demonstrators gathered outside the state house in Rio de Janeiro holding up signs in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and protesting against the government of President Jair Bolsonaro Kerala: Post-mortem report says pregnant elephant couldn't eat or drink for 2 weeks before her death India oi-Madhuri Adnal Thiruvananthapuram, June 04: The preliminary postmortem report of the pregnant wild elephant in Kerala, who died following firecrackers burst in her mouth appears to have had an agonising death. The report has been released by the Thiruvizhamkunnu Forest Station. The report released on Wednesday states 'drowning and inhalation of water leading to respiratory failure' as the immediate cause of the death of the elephant. It also reveals major and incapacitating wounds that led to localised sepsis which is most likely to occur following an explosive blast in the mouth. Death of pregnant elephant: What Forest Minister Javdekar says about the cruel act Apart from painful burns due to firecrackers the elephant also could not eat or drink anything for nearly two weeks before her death. Vijay Mallya may not be extradietd to India soon, another legal hurdle in way | Oneindia News The postmortem report notes "drowning, followed by inhalation of water leading to lung failure" as the immediate cause of death of the female elephant. The elephant succumbed to an act of human cruelty after a pineapple filled with powerful crackers offered allegedly by locals exploded in her mouth. The elephant died at Valliyar River on May 27. According to sources, the postmortem report revealed that the elephant was pregnant and her jaw was broken. She was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth, they said. Kerala govt orders probe into pregnant elephant death; Centre seeks report Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Mannarkkad forest range officer said that an FIR has been lodged against unidentified people under relevant sections of the Wild Life Protection Act over the incident. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has promised strict action against the offenders. "The forest department is probing the case and the culprits won't be spared," he said today. Vijayan also said that he was "saddened by the fact some used this tragedy to unleash a hate campaign." Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, an honest look at President Biden's press conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Let The Trumpets Sound The Murder of George Floyd Scripture: Revelations 8:1-13 Stephen B. Oates is a former professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA and an award-winning author. He wrote several biographies of Americans profoundly affected by the moral paradox of slavery and racial oppression in a land based on the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. He is the author of With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown, and The Fire of Jubilee: Nat Turners Fierce Rebellion. ADVERTISEMENT His fourth biography is entitled, Let The Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. As Oates saw it, Kings life was a continuation of the fight of Lincoln, Brown, and Turner against racial injustice and the bringing to fruition their century-old visions of emancipation. Let The Trumpet Sound brought to life the private individual with aspirations, self-doubt, and inner struggle, as well as the public figure, a history making leader whose hard earned victories changed the course of race relations in America. Kings use of nonviolent social action brought into existence federal laws that changed the face of American society. The tried and proven use of nonviolent social action is what is needed to deliver the final blow to racial injustice the remnant of Americas original sin of chattel slavery. The forwarding page of Oates book contains a quote from 1 Corinthians 15:52: For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. He could have very well sited the words of our text, Revelation Chapter 8, as the trumpet sounds initiating the final judgment of God upon racial injustice in America. And when the Angel opened the seventh seal, John said in Verse 1 that there was a half hour of silence in heaven. Silence according to biblical scholars is the language of heaven surrounding the mystery of God. God speaks in the silence. For John, the impending judgment of creation is initiated by the creator God self. The murder of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, MN on May 25, 2020 has unleased a lot of noise across the country. The pent up anger, frustration, and rage over military policing, racial injustice, and the disregard for Black life came to a boiling point and the noise of chanting, gunfire of rubber bullets, looting, destruction of property were heard across the country. From Minneapolis to Denver to Seattle to Los Angeles to Santa Monica, to Long Beach to Washington D.C., the noise of unrest and civil disobedience was being heard. ADVERTISEMENT While there was noise across the country, there was silence in heaven. For silence is the language of heaven surrounding the mystery of God. The eradication of inequity and injustice is sacred work. Sacred work requires sacred means. Dr. King said it best, means are ends in process. You cant achieve sacred ends through any means necessary. You can only achieve sacred ends through sacred means. You can only achieve peaceful and productive ends through nonviolent peaceful means. Soul force is still the most powerful force in creation. And when we use that force, the force will be with us. There is silence in heaven because God is declaring the final judgement on racial injustice in America. Let the trumpet sound because the end is near. The failure of our nation to adequately address the consequences of its original sin of slavery upon former slaves and former slavers has become too heavy a burden for the nation to bear. California Governor Gavin Newsom made the point profoundly on June 1, 2020. He said, in essence, that the civil unrest that we have seen and heard over the death of George Floyd was not the responsibility of the Black community, but the white community and the institutions that have not been responsible and accountable [for its racial injustice]. Further, he went on to say that he was lost for words in trying to explain to his pre-adolescence and adolescence children why the police held their knee on a Black mans neck for nearly nine minutes while handcuffed with his hands behind his back, lying face down on the ground. Structural systems of racism are changing. Military policing has been proven to be what it is a modern day tactic of fear upon African Americans and is being done away with. Police training in apprehending suspects is being revised. Choke holds and knees on the necks of suspects are being outlawed. Sensitivity education to the cultural nuances of the diverse communities of our nation is being implemented. God is declaring the final judgement on racial injustice in America. After the Angel opened the seventh seal, John goes on to say in Verse 2 that the seven angels were given seven trumpets. Let me hasten to say that Johns revelation is not from one of the casinos were 777 hits the jackpot. John is not in Las Vegas. He is not at Pechanga or Morongo. He is not at Hollywood Park or Hawaiian Gardens or any other casino. Johns revelation is from the throne behind heavens door and his use of the number seven is symbolic representing the finality or the completeness of Gods judgment. When God judges Gods creation, nobody will be able to stand the judgment. Nobody will be exempt from the judgment. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the creator. In the midst of the impending judgment and the wrath of the Lamb, John says in Verse 3 that there was another angel that stood on the altar with a golden censer of incense offered with it the prayers of the saints. In the midst of the thundering, and the lightning, and the quaking, and the shaking, and the rattling, and the rolling, God heard the prayers of the saints vindicating their righteousness (VV.3-5). God heard the prayers of the saints vindicating their righteousness. Church, God hears the prayers of the saints. If we ever needed to pray, we sure do need to now. I appreciated the protestors when they kneeled on their knees in front of the police for five minutes to prayer. If we cant be on the front line of the protest, we can have their backs with our prayers. God hears the prayers of the saints. In Verses 7, the angels prepare to let their trumpets sound. The destruction and devastation that follows is familiar to John readers/hearers because it resembles that of the plagues of God upon Pharaoh and Egypt in the Exodus. The destruction of the first angel of hail and fire resembles the eight plague in Exodus 9:22-25. The destruction of the second angel of the sea John says in Verse 8 of the text resembled that of the second plague in Exodus 7:14-21 when the water turned to blood causing everything in them to die. The destruction of the third angel, John said in Verse 10, was a great star that fell from heaven. It was not some astrological coincidence or some freak act of nature or some scientific phenomenon. It was what Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann might characterize as the judgment of God upon creation that refused to acknowledge God as Creator. God started it all and God will end it all. God is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. This is still my Fathers world. And then John concludes this chapter of his revelation in Verse 12 by saying that the destruction he saw of the fourth angel when he let his trumpet sound resembled that of the ninth plague of God upon Pharaoh and Egypt in Exodus 10:21-22, where there were three days of thick darkness in all the land. John says in Verse 13 that the sun was smitten, and the moon was smitten, and the stars were smitten and the day shone not. When creation refuses to see the light, God brings darkness. Thats what we have seen in the last few days of rioting, and looting, and curfews. We have seen darkness in the human spirit. Thats also what happened on the hill called Calvary. Mark 15:27 says that when they crucified Jesus between the sixth and the ninth hour, darkness was over the whole land. In Verse 39, when the centurion who stood over against Jesus, saw him cry out and give up the ghost he said, truly this man was the Son of God. One of these days the creation will echo the sentiment of the centurion that Jesus is the light of the world. Walk in the light, beautiful light. Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright. Shine all around us by day and by night. Jesus the light of the world. The Rev. Dr. Kelvin T. Calloway, Sr., is the senior pastor of Bethel AME Church in Los Angeles. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 22:11:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 1,636 after 150 new cases were confirmed on Thursday, marking the highest daily increase since the outbreak, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said. Of the new cases, 147 are Ethiopian nationals, while the remaining three are foreign nationals. The ministry also said that 250 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have so far recovered from the virus, while the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the country stood at 18. Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation with about 107 million people, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13. The government has instituted a wide range of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. In April, the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives announced a five-month state of emergency to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Enditem UI Claims Torpedo Markets Market Tea Leaves - 57 minutes ago Yesterday the markets faltered due to not too stellar economic news. What will happen today? Arabica Coffee (KC) Tries Extending Weekly Chart Upchannel Tradable Patterns - Fri Jan 21, 2:06AM CST Arabica Coffee ((KCH22) ) consolidated the upchannel (on the 4hr chart) yesterday closing where KC may form a 2nd data point to a triangle/downchannel resistance (on the daily chart). Significantly,... KCH22 : 239.75 (-1.60%) California's COVID gun store shutdowns ruled illegal AP - Thu Jan 20, 5:42PM CST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Two California counties violated the Constitution's right to keep and bear arms when they shut down gun and ammunition stores in 2020 as nonessential businesses during the coronavirus... $SPX : 4,482.73 (-1.10%) $DOWI : 34,715.39 (-0.89%) $IUXX : 14,846.46 (-1.34%) Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 10:20:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SEOUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating fell slightly this week, but stayed high around 60 percent in recent weeks, a weekly poll showed Thursday. According to the Realmeter survey, support for Moon edged down 1 percentage point from a week earlier to 58.9 percent this week. The support score had hovered above 60 percent for five straight weeks, before falling to 59.9 percent last week. The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs inched up 0.2 percentage points over the week to 35.5 percent this week. Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party rose 0.7 percentage points to 42.8 percent. The main conservative opposition United Future Party gained 27.5 percent of support this week, up 1.2 percentage points from the previous week. It was followed by the minor center-left Open Democratic Party with 5.1 percent, the minor centrist People's Party with 3.8 percent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 3.0 percent. The results were based on a survey of 1,510 voters conducted from Monday to Wednesday. It had plus and minus 2.5 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level. Enditem New York Councilman Urges Trump to Revoke Benefits of People Arrested for Looting New York councilman Joe Borelli has called on President Donald Trump to immediately revoke the $600 federal unemployment benefits for those who are arrested for looting amid mass protests throughout the city. Borelli said that several nights of looting and violence across the city, prompted by the death of African American man George Floyd last week, have left many New Yorkers scared to travel to work. The mass looting of commercial property along 5th Avenue and throughout significant swaths of Manhattan and Brooklyn is doing irreparable damage to the sense of safety in New York City, said Borelli, according to SI Live. Witnessing looters emptying Apple stores and exiting the store only to be violently assaulted and robbed by other criminals has shaken the confidence of everyday New Yorkers who are afraid to travel to work, hospitals, and shop for necessities. It is unfair and unacceptable that people who are furloughed from retail stores are receiving the same supplemental benefit as those who are smashing and looting retail stores and I hope this can be addressed immediately. People run out of a smoke shop with smoking instruments after breaking in as police arrive in New York on June 1, 2020. (Wong Maye-E/AP Photo) Currently, the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion CCP virus relief law enacted in late March, provides $600 a week to those who are unemployed due to the pandemic, on top of state benefits. The $600 enhancement to weekly unemployment checks is stopping at the end of July and it is not yet known how long lawmakers will extend it for, or indeed if they will at all. Borelli said the $600 benefit should also be revoked for those who are arrested for committing violent crimes. Chaotic scenes of violent protesting across New York City prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to order a citywide week-long curfew on Monday from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. While groups of peaceful protesters have continued to march on the streets within the curfew time restrictions, thousands more have defied it, with protesters often turning on police, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. A Statue of Liberty graphic is seen through a smashed Dolce and Gabbana store window, in the SoHo neighborhood of New York on June 1, 2020. (Mark Lennihan/AP Photo) People loot a store during protests over the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, in New York on June 1, 2020. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images) In a very volatile situation over a series of days weve had numerous encounters where organized crowds, not peaceful protesters, are trying to intentionally ambush police officers in cars, Shea told CBS on Monday. Weve had officers trying to be burned alive in cars, weve had officers trying to be blocked in with road blocks and surrounded and then attacked and pulled out of cars while theyre in them, he added. Despite the chaotic scenes, de Blasio has decided not to call in the National Guard in an effort to quell protests, as 28 other states have, and in a press conference Monday defended his actions, stating, We do not need the National Guard to come into New York City. When outside armed forces come into communities, especially these intense situations they have not been trained for, thats a dangerous scenario. We have 36,000 police officers who will keep this city safe, he added. A man jumps from the window of a damaged store in New York on June 2, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) On Wednesday, President Trump, who has previously urged city mayors to call in the National Guard to help, said New York had been damaged by widespread rioting and called the situation in the city a disaster, adding that if they dont get it straightened out soon, Ill take care of it. The NYPD said Wednesday that they had arrested about 290 people for protesting and looting overnight. However, de Blasio told reporters that Tuesday night was a step forward in reducing the violence and criminal activity seen throughout the weekend. Donald Trump meets with African American business and civic leaders in Philadelphia in 2016. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Just when you thought it couldnt get any weirder, President Trump posted Tuesday on Twitter that he had done more for the black community than any president since Abraham Lincoln. Of course, Trump says untrue things on Twitter on a regular basis. But this one, at this moment in time, seemed particularly egregious. Does Trump really believe hes a better president for black Americans than Lyndon Johnson, who fought for and secured passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, two landmark pieces of legislation that helped bring the Jim Crow era to an end? Better than Jimmy Carter, who named more blacks, Latinos and women to the federal judiciary than all previous presidents combined? Better than Barack Obama, the nations first African American president? Or does he just think that if he says it feverishly enough, people will believe it? With Americans across the country taking to the streets to protest racial injustice, Trump doubled down. On Wednesday, he posted a new tweet saying that hed done more for black Americans than any president not just since Lincoln, but with the possible exception of Lincoln. In other words, now hes saying that maybe hes done more than Lincoln too. Wow. Lincoln, you may remember from high school, fought a devastating four-year war that risked the very existence of the nation in order to end slavery in the United States. He signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing 3.2 million slaves with a single pen stroke. He fought for the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery throughout the country. For his troubles, he was assassinated. And whats Trump done? Well, for one thing, on May 29, just as outrage was welling and protests were starting over the killing of George Floyd, he released a statement proclaiming June to be African American Music Appreciation Month. In the middle of a deadly pandemic, a worldwide economic crisis and escalating racial unrest, he offered thanks to Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Ray Charles and others for their classic guitar riffs, memorable hymns and uplifting beats, including at major sporting events. Story continues OK, score one for Trump. I'm pretty sure that the man Trump calls the late, great Abraham Lincoln never did anything for African American Music Appreciation Month. (Trump also, by the way, recently proclaimed May to be Jewish American Heritage Month. So theres a case to be made that hes done more than anyone for the Jews too, with the possible exception of Moses.) In his tweets, the president tried lamely to defend his Ive done more for black Americans assertion by pointing to the opportunity zone tax break he signed into law (which the New York Times says was designed to help poor neighborhoods but has fueled a wave of developments financed by and built for the wealthiest Americans). Trump also said he has presided over the lowest black unemployment rate in history, although those numbers are hopelessly out of date. Today, thanks to the coronavirus shutdowns, fewer than half of black adults are now employed. Trumps claim is particularly brazen given his history of racist dog whistles, his call for the death penalty for the unjustly convicted Central Park Five, the accusations of racial discrimination in his real estate dealings, his praise of marchers at the white nationalist demonstration in Charlottesville and his recent threats to call in the military to subdue the protests over George Floyds killing. Instead of speaking up in favor of racial justice during this weeks demonstrations, Trump has been railing at killers, terrorists, arsonists, anarchists, thugs, hoodlums, looters, ANTIFA & others. Just for a sanity check, I called Columbia University history professor Eric Foner, an expert on the Civil War. Foner finds it ludicrous for the president to compare himself to Lincoln. Of all the ignorant things Trump has said over the years, this is possibly the most absurd, he said. Foner added that Lincoln was intellectually inquisitive, modest, didnt mind criticism and was always rethinking his positions, which is what you want in a crisis. Trump, by contrast, is stubborn, blind to the flaws in his own ideas and incapable of seeing where he falls short. Sean Wilentz, a professor of American history at Princeton, noted Trumps abiding, almost morbid obsession with Lincoln, which he said has nothing to do with American history, about which Trump knows exactly nothing. But because Lincoln is widely considered the greatest of presidents, Wilentz said, Trump feels he has to be better. Its his deep psychic wound talking again. Trump is simply not in the same league with the late, great Abraham Lincoln, or for that matter with Johnson, Carter or Obama. But stay tuned to his Twitter feed for more bloviating, ahistorical, self-aggrandizement. Whats next that hes done more for the citizens of Gotham City than anyone with the possible exception of Batman? @Nick_Goldberg Amy Cooper, the white woman filmed falsely accusing an African American birdwatcher of threatening her life in Central Park has regained custody of her dog she was filmed hauling up by its neck in video of the incident. Rescue group Abandoned Angels had temporarily gained custody of the cocker-spaniel, called Henry, from Cooper in the hours after her unhinged exchange with former Marvel Comics editor, Christian Cooper, went viral online. Concern had been raised for Henry's well-being, who appeared to be flailing around and trying to free himself from Coopers grasp throughout the video as she hauled him up by his neck harness. Cooper later voluntarily surrendered the dog amid the backlash, Abandoned Angels said at the time. But in an update shared to Facebook on Wednesday afternoon, the group, whom Cooper adopted Henry from, said their vets had determined the pooch was in good health and therefore law enforcement refused to seize the dog from Cooper. Consistent with input received from law enforcement, we have now complied with the owners request for return of the dog, the groups post read. Abandoned Angels added that it wanted to express gratitude for the outpouring of support regarding the dog that was recently placed in our custody, following release of a troubling video that was brought to our attention. Amy Cooper, the white woman caught falsely accusing an African American birdwatcher of threatening her life to 911 dispatchers, has regained custody of her dog Concern had been raised for the cocker-spaniels well-being, who appeared to be flailing around and trying to free itself from Coopers grasp throughout the video as she hauled the dog up by its neck harness In a statement to DailyMail.com, animal activist group PETA decried the decision to return Henry to Cooper's care. 'Anyone who is this rough with a dog and hangs the animal by the neck, as in the video, clearly shouldn't have a companion animal,' PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a written statement. 'Surely, a better home can be found than with Amy Cooper, and PETA stands ready to assist with that.' Harvard graduate Christian Cooper, 57, had been bird watching in an area of the park known as The Ramble over the Memorial Day weekend when he encountered Amy Cooper walked her dog unleashed, against park rules. After pointing out to Cooper that dogs must be leashed in The Ramble at all times to protect wildlife habitats, she quickly became irate, with the 41-year-old hysterically dialing 911, wailing into her cell phone that an African American man is threatening my life. In the hours that followed the video's emergence, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio branded Cooper as 'racist...pure and simple' as outrage over the incident commonly referred to as Central Park Karen rippled out nationwide. Cooper was terminated from her $170k-per-year role at as head of insurance investment solutions at Franklin Templeton shortly afterwards. A petition to ban her from Central Park for life also emerged, as did new legislation that would make falsely reporting an incident as a hate crime illegal, should it pass. In a statement, Amy Cooper offered her sincere apologies to Christian Cooper, saying she 'reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash. 'I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause and would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred with Chris. 'I hope that a few mortifying seconds in a lifetime of forty years will not define me in his eyes and that he will accept my sincere apology.' Cooper later voluntarily surrendered the dog after the footage went viral, the group said Abandoned Angels, whom Cooper adopted Henry from, said that vets had determined the pooch was in good health and therefore law enforcement refused to take him into their custody In a later statement to CNN, Cooper further elaborated, saying: 'I'm not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way,' she told the network. 'I think I was just scared. When you're alone in the Ramble, you don't know what's happening. It's not excusable, it's not defensible.' She said that since the video has sparked widespread outrage online, her 'entire life is being destroyed right now'. Last week, Christian told the panel of The View that he has accepted that apology but urged viewers to look at the bigger picture of racism that the encounter displayed. I do accept her apology, Christian said. I think its a first step. I think shes gotta do some reflection on what happened because up until the moment when she made that statement. It was just a conflict between a birder and a dog walker, and then she took it to a very dark place. I think shes gotta sort of examine why and how that happened. Christian said the reaction isnt necessarily about Cooper, or her snap-second judgement, but about the underlying current of racism and racial perceptions thats been going on for centuries and that permeates this city and this country that she tapped into. Thats what we really have to address; not the specifics of her, but why are we still plagued with that and how do we fix it. When asked if he would accept Coopers apology, Christian, a senior biomedical editor at Health Science Communications, said if it's genuine and if she plans on keeping her dog on a leash in the Ramble going forward, then we have no issues with each other. Christian, a board member of the NYC Audubon Society, also doubled down on his previous urges asking the public to stop making death threats against Cooper. If you think that what she did was wrong, that she was trying to bring death by cop down on my head, then there is absolutely no way you can justify then turning around and putting a death threat on her head, he said. Cooper explained that hes also uncomfortable with judging Cooper solely on a few secondsover very poor judgement. [Theres] no excusing that it was a racist act because it was a racist act, he told the show. But [does] that define her entire life? Only she can tell us if that defines her entire life by what she does going forward. Christian Cooper's sister, Melody Cooper, a writer for HBO who also shared the video to social media, said that when she saw the footage, she thought Its personal. I just imagined what happened to Mike Brown or George Floyd happening to him, and I wanted to make sure no other black person would have to go through that kind of weaponization of racism from her, she said. If the cops showed up, they wouldnt have seen his resume or known his job, she said of her high-flying brother, who now works as a biomedical editor for Health Science Communications. This kind of racism can kill people. It couldve killed my brother. The government has been accused in the House of Commons of using a racist policy to drive black people back to work during the coronavirus outbreak. The SNPs Alison Thewliss made the allegation as MPs debated the recent report on the causes behind the higher rate of Covid-19 deaths among black and minority ethnic (Bame) communities. But equalities minister Kemi Badenoch accused her of confected outrage and declared that Britain is one of the best countries in the world to be a black person. Ms Thewliss told the Commons that Bame people were being denied the chance to stay home to protect their health during the pandemic because of the governments no recourse to public funds policy, which bars many migrants from receiving welfare benefits. Boris Johnson last week agreed to look at the rule after apparently being unaware of it during a grilling by MPs, but made clear at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday that he was not planning to reform it. Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Show all 30 1 /30 Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Shoppers observe a minute's silence in Tescos in Shoreham Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Firefighters outside Godstone fire station PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute's silence at University College Hospital in London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A school children's poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A man holds a placard that reads "People's health before profit" outside St Thomas hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus University College Hospital, London Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute's silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London An NHS worker observes a minute's silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London AFP via Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Belfast, Northern Ireland NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Plymouth NHS workers hold a minute's silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Mater Infirmorum Hospital People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Waterloo Station, London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew's House in Edinburgh to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy's Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Royal Derby Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Leicester, NHS workers during a minute's silence outside Glenfield Hospital Getty Ms Thewliss told the Commons: It is one thing to say black lives matter, but quite another to force black people and people from Bame backgrounds out to work because they have no choice whether they go to work because they have no recourse to public funds. No recourse to public funds is a racist policy. Will she abolish it? Ms Badenoch who is herself of Nigerian background, but was born in the UK retorted: It is wrong to conflate all black people with recent migrants Im a black woman who is out at work. To an angry response from the opposition benches, she accused the SNP MP of inflaming racial tensions for the sake of publicity. It is wrong to conflate different issues and merge them into one just so you can get traction in the press, said Ms Badenoch. Its not right for us to use confected outrage. We need courage to say the right things and we need to be courageous to calm down racial tensions, not enflame them just so we have something to put on social media. The resounding defeat of Rep. Steve King at the hands of Iowa Republican voters Tuesday signaled the political demise of one of the GOP's most polarizing figures, an archconservative culture warrior who frequently veered into outright bigotry that tarred his entire party. The ideas King promoted, however, stand to live on inside the GOP - adopted by President Donald Trump and his followers, who have enthusiastically embraced and pushed forward elements of King's agenda, none more so than sharp restrictions on legal and illegal immigration. As many Republicans cheered King's exit from public office, they acknowledged his demise was more about his personal controversies - which ranged from denigrating illegal immigrants with "calves the size of cantaloupes" from hauling drugs to associating with far-right political figures with historical Nazi ties to defending white supremacy - than his conservative views. "It's not about the ideas. It became about the person," said Sarah Chamberlain, president and chief executive of Republican Main Street Partnership, whose affiliated super PAC spent $100,000 to oust King. "A lot of his ideas have been adopted by the Republican Party. His rhetoric has not been, though." Even that suggestion is subject to debate: Trump has pushed the bounds of political discourse to unforeseen limits and made bigoted comments in private - attacking, for instance, majority-black "shithole countries" in a 2018 meeting with lawmakers - though he has publicly courted minority voters and refrained from making public comments as obviously prejudiced as King's. King did not initially back Trump for president in 2016, throwing his influential support behind Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, instead during a contentious GOP primary. But King enthusiastically embraced Trump after he won the nomination, and Trump in turn echoed many of King's views on immigration - restrictionist views that had been marginalized if not rejected entirely inside the business-friendly GOP for years before the tea party and then Trump rose to power. Shortly after conceding the Republican nomination to state Sen. Randy Feenstra early Wednesday morning, King posted a Facebook message that in part pointed to the mainstreaming of his views as vindication of a job well done. None of his primary opponents "raised an issue with a single vote I've put up or a single statement that I have made, and that's pretty interesting when you think of nearly 18 years in the United States Congress," he said. "This comes from an effort to push out the strongest voice for full-spectrum constitutional Christian conservatism that existed in the United States Congress." The case made against King in Iowa's 4th Congressional District was in fact not about King's views or even directly about his controversial comments but rather about his effectiveness. After questioning why the terms "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" should be considered offensive in a New York Times interview last year, party leaders stripped King of his committee assignments - including his seat on the House Agriculture panel, an important post for a district whose economy is overwhelmingly dependent on food production. That offered Feenstra and others an opportunity to blast King as ineffective without necessarily having to directly challenge his views - an important distinction that allowed the candidates to appeal to former King supporters without having to indict their views by implication. "I said from Day 1 that Iowans deserve a proven, effective, conservative leader that will deliver results . . . and I promise you, I will deliver results in Congress," Feenstra said in a late night Facebook video. While the influence of King's views are most clearly seen in the immigration realm - where King was an early supporter of not only cracking down on illegal immigration though physical barriers and tough sanctions on employers, but on further restricting the flow of legal immigrants - his views opposing abortion and supporting gun rights have also been at his party's vanguard. King was an early supporter, for instance, of "heartbeat bills" that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Several states passed that legislation last year, and anticipated constitutional challenges are now working their way though the federal courts. But his long string of racially offensive comments forced even some of his most conservative allies to keep their distance. While King protested that his Times comments had been taken out of context, few prominent Republicans were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt due to his long record of controversy. Just months before, for instance, King met in Vienna with members of a far-right Austrian party with historical ties to the Nazi party while on a congressional junket financed by a Holocaust memorial group. Trump did not mention King in a late night tweet offering praise to the nominee: "Congratulations to Randy Feenstra on your big win in the Iowa Republican Primary. You will be a great Congressman!" But other Republican officials did not hold their tongue. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel repudiated King in an early-morning tweet: "Steve King's white supremacist rhetoric is totally inconsistent with the Republican Party, and I'm glad Iowa Republicans rejected him at the ballot box." Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, a former chairman of the House GOP campaign arm, thanked Feenstra in a late-night Instagram post for defeating King. Stivers raised eyebrows in Washington last year by rebuking King and later making an early donation to Feenstra. Part of the concern about King was rooted in politics: While King won in 2016 by 22 percentage points over his Democratic opponent, he beat first-time candidate J.D. Scholten in 2018 by barely three points. Scholten is again running a well-financed campaign, and many prominent Republicans feared that King might not survive. Chamberlain said she spoke to several Republicans who breathed sighs of relief as it became clear King would lose Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. At stake was not only a House seat, she said, but also the six electoral votes in a presidential swing state and the reelection campaign of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). "Most of them would never wish ill on him; I think they just wish he had retired and gone home," Chamberlain said. "It's tough to have to beat a sitting member. You know, they don't like to do it. But at the same time, it kind of had to be done because we could not lose the seat to the Democrats." With King's loss, two prominent nonpartisan forecasters - the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections - moved the race from "lean Republican" to "safe Republican," indicating Feenstra should have no trouble dispatching Scholten in a district that voted for Trump by 27 points in 2016. King, meanwhile, warned his fellow travelers in his concession video that his loss - fueled by spending from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other outside forces - could portend future setbacks. "What I regret is these tactics may get legs and be used against the next most effective [conservative], then the next, then the next," he said. A Chinese police officer 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 China delayed the release of critical information about its coronavirus outbreak, a new AP investigation revealed. Chinese authorities took several days to alert the World Health Organization about an initial cluster of cases and waited more than a week before releasing the virus' genome to the public. That likely stalled the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. When China reported the emergency of a new coronavirus to the World Health Organization on January 3, it at first seemed to be rectifying mistakes made during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Back then, it took Chinese officials three months to notify the WHO about a "strange contagious disease" that by that point already killed 100 people. This time, Chinese officials claimed to have quickly identified the virus, sequenced its genome, and shared that information with the world. "The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak," Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, said at a press conference on January 30. "In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response." But a new investigation from the Associated Press revealed that China delayed the release of critical information, including the discovery of the initial outbreak and the country's first death, for several days. China also took more than a week to release virus' genome to the public. Those actions likely stalled the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests. A January recording obtained by the AP shows that Michael Ryan, executive director the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, compared China's response to its handling of SARS. "This is exactly the same scenario, endlessly trying to get updates from China about what was going on," Ryan said to colleagues, according to the AP. "WHO barely got out of that one with its neck intact given the issues that arose around transparency in southern China." Story continues Here's what we know about the actual timeline of the outbreak's beginning, and how that compares to China's account. Authorities in Wuhan reported more than 40 cases of an unknown, pneumonia-like illness to the World Health Organization on January 3. A woman wearing a protective mask walks across the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, China, on January 27, 2020. Getty Images Chinese officials said 11 patients were severely ill, while the remaining 33 patients were in stable condition. But Wuhan health officials had sent an emergency notice to hospitals four days earlier, on December 30. The notice, which leaked on social media, asked doctors to report unusual cases of pneumonia. On December 31, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported 27 cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause on its website. Chinese ophthalmologist Li Wenliang also warned fellow doctors about a possible disease outbreak resembling SARS on December 30. Dr. Li Wenliang. AP Photo A few days later, Chinese officials summoned Li to the Public Security Bureau in Wuhan. He was detained for "publishing untrue statements on the internet" and forced to sign a statement saying that he had "seriously disrupted the social order." Li later contracted the coronavirus himself. He died on February 7 at age 33. The WHO first learned about the virus through an open-source platform on December 31, the AP reported. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a news briefing on COVID-19 from WHO headquarters in Geneva on April 6, 2020. AFP via Getty Images The organization requested more information from China on January 1. Chinese authorities responded 48 hours later. "It's obvious that we could have saved more lives and avoided many, many deaths if China and the WHO had acted faster," Ali Mokdad, a professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told the AP. Research suggests the first coronavirus patient may have been exposed on December 1, more than a month before Chinese authorities publicly confirmed a case. A suspected coronavirus patient fills out a form at a community health station before being transferred to a hospital in Wuhan on January 27, 2020. Feature China/Barcroft Media/Getty Images A study published in the journal The Lancet determined that the first person to test positive for the coronavirus was likely exposed on December 1, then showed symptoms on December 8. The virus was likely spreading in the Wuhan community by early January. A crowd in Wuhan. Getty An April study in the journal Nature Microbiology suggested that the virus may have already been spreading quickly in Wuhan around the time that the scientists were attempting to sequence its genome. Chinese authorities announced that the illness in question was a new coronavirus on January 9. Xinqi Su (@XinqiSu) January 9, 2020 Xu Jianguo, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told China's CCTV news station that the coronavirus had been identified as novel in a laboratory on January 7. It took until January 12 for Chinese labs to publish the coronavirus' genome. But it had been sequenced more than a week before that. A laboratory technician prepares COVID-19 patient samples for semi-automatic testing at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, New York, on March 11, 2020. AP Photo/John Minchillo Three labs the Chinese CDC, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences formally published the genome on GISAID, a scientific platform. The Wuhan Institute of Virology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had decoded the full sequence by January 2. The Chinese Academy of Sciences. http://english.ihb.cas.cn/au/ The institute identified the genome just three days after learning about the mysterious illness. But on January 3 the same day that the Chinese CDC sequenced the virus on its own the Chinese National Health Commission ordered labs with the virus to either destroy their samples or send them to specific institutes for safekeeping, according to a notice obtained by the AP. That meant labs couldn't publish their findings without government authorization. At a briefing on May 15, Liu Dengfeng, an official with the National Health Commission's science and education department, said the samples were destroyed for "biosafety reasons." Another Chinese lab had sequenced most of the genome by December 27, nearly two weeks before the sequence was formally published. A laboratory physician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepares to perform nucleic acid testing on a novel coronavirus specimen in Chongqing, China, on May 3, 2020. Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images The lab, Vision Medicals, shared a partial genetic sequence with Wuhan officials and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences on December 27, the Chinese publication Caixin reported. Chinese officials only agreed to share the genome with the WHO after a Chinese laboratory uploaded the sequence to a virology website. An illustration of the SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19. CDC The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center sequenced the genome on January 5, from a sample from a 41-year-old man who was admitted to a Wuhan hospital on December 26. The center reported its discovery to China's National Health Commission. After waiting six days, the center published the 30,000-nucleotide sequence on a virology website in order to enable other scientists to develop a diagnostic test. That move angered Chinese CDC officials, three people familiar with the matter told the AP. Hours after the genome went public, the Chinese National Health Commission said it would share the sequence with the WHO. Still, the Shanghai Health Commission ordered the center to close on January 12. More than a month later, the center told the South China Morning Post that it had submitted four requests to reopen, but had not received a response. Wuhan health authorities linked the first cluster of cases to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, but evidence now shows that wasn't the outbreak's true origin point. The Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market on January 12, 2020. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images In their first public mention of the virus on December 31, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission pointed to the market as the origin site. Officials shuttered the market on January 1. Researchers found evidence in January that the market wasn't the place where the virus first jumped to people. But Chinese officials didn't acknowledge that until May. A market in Wuhan. Stringer/Getty Images The Lancet study determined in January that 13 of the first 41 cases in Wuhan had no connection to the Huanan market. Among the first 425 coronavirus patients identified, only 55% of infections that occurred before January 1 were traced to the wet market, according to a March study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, recently told state media that samples from the wet market showed no link between the animals sold there and the coronavirus. It took until January 20 for China's health ministry to warn the world that the virus could spread person-to-person. But scientists there knew that was the case weeks earlier. Zhong Nanshan, head of China's investigation in the coronavirus outbreak STR/AFP via Getty Images Zhong Nanshan, an infectious-disease doctor working with the Chinese government, confirmed that two cases in China's Guangdong Province were the result of human-to-human transmission on January 20. Until then, experts and the public weren't sure how it spread or whether people could pass it to one another. That same day, the WHO said there was no evidence of significant transmission between humans. But virologist Zhang Yongzhen warned China's National Health Commission that the virus "should be contagious through respiratory passages" as early as January 5. Nurses at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle demonstrate how they wear medical face shields. Ted S. Warren/AP Zhang helped sequence the virus at the Shanghai Public Clinical Health Center. In an internal notice obtained by the AP, the center told the National Health Commission it recommended "taking preventative measures in public areas." Research shows that human-to-human transmission likely occurred as early as mid-December. A street in Wuhan. toehk at http://www.flickr.com/photos/toehk/2831901873/ The New England Journal of Medicine study found that human-to-human transmission was probably happening before the first cases were even reported. Wuhan reported its first casualty on January 11, two days after the patient's death. A doctor examines a patient in Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan on February 13, 2020. Associated Press The first known patient to die of the coronavirus, a 61-year-old man, died on January 9. China now says its outbreak is contained. The nation has reported around 84,000 cases and less than 5,000 deaths since December. Security personnel wear face masks walk in front of a field hospital in Wuhan on April 9, 2020. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images Since April 18, China has only reported a handful of new cases each day. But epidemiologists and US officials suspect that China's actual case total is much higher. Fan Zhongjie, a respiratory doctor in charge of about 30 critical COVID-19 patients in a Wuhan, Chin hospital, writes encouraging words for a patient on February 25, 2020. Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images US intelligence officials told Bloomberg in April that China had concealed the extent of its outbreak. Epidemiologists have estimated that the nation's actual number of cases could be 10 times higher than the reported figure. "I think probably we were missing a significant amount of the data, now that what we see happened to Italy and see what happened to Spain," Dr. Deborah Birx, lead coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said on March 31. Reporting from Radio Free Asia found that Wuhan funeral homes handed out far more cremated remains than would align the city's official death count. Estimates suggest 42,000 remains might have been distributed by the end of March, though Chinese data suggested that only 2,500 people had died in the city during that time. China has said that it didn't conceal information, however. "Since the beginning of the outbreak, we have been continuously sharing information on the epidemic with the WHO and the international community in an open, transparent, and responsible manner," Liu Mingzhu, a National Health Commission official, said at a press conference on May 15. Read the original article on Business Insider Nobody told us we could do that! exclaimed a startled British commentator when Britain suddenly abandoned the gold standard in the depths of the 1930s Depression. The move came as a shock because everyone had assumed the gold standard an international agreement linking currency rates to gold was an immutable law of nature, along with much else about the economy. And then, just like that, it was gone. That sense of shock is probably not unlike what many people are feeling today as all our long-held assumptions about how the economy works and what is and isnt possible suddenly seem no more certain than when well be able to get our next tattoo. For years, weve submitted to the economic orthodoxy dictated by Bay Street: that governments must deliver balanced budgets and low spending or economic disaster will follow as surely as gravity will bring a heavy object plunging to the ground. Then along came the pandemic. Suddenly the Bank of Canada is creating vast amounts of money, which the federal government is distributing to Canadians across the country. Nobody told us we could do that! In fact, its just whats needed. To prevent an economic collapse, our central bank is buying $5 billion a week in government bonds, which is effectively creating money out of thin air. Private banks do this all the time; they effectively create money whenever they issue a loan. Its one of the reasons banking is such a lucrative business. Now, the Bank of Canada is creating enormous sums of money to help pay for the federal governments huge increase in spending during the pandemic. Bay Street financial interests are grudgingly accepting this, given the emergency, but they want it to stop as soon as possible. But wait! Not so fast! Now that we see how it can be done, one is tempted to ask: could this be a way to pay for increased government spending on future things we truly need like building hospitals and public transit and investing in renewable energy? This is the sort of dangerous thinking that a phalanx of powerful interests from the Fraser Institute to the financial press are keen to crush, realizing it could spread more easily than coronavirus at a crowded, maskless beach party. But, as economist Jim Stanford suggests, the genie is out of the bottle. Bay Street is determined to return to low government spending and to ensure that the recovery focuses, not on new aspirations, but on restoring the corporate world so that its as rich and dominant as it was before the crisis. As the Fraser Institutes Jason Clemens insists, the priority must be on tamping down government intervention and encouraging entrepreneurial innovation, while avoiding tax hikes. In other words, resurrecting the old orthodoxy and making sure the rich arent asked to pay a penny more. This is exactly what financial interests urged during the 1930s Depression and it only prolonged the downturn. The brilliant British economist John Maynard Keynes pointed out at the time that private enterprise wasnt investing during the Depression because, with everyone out of work, there was little prospect of making a profit. He argued that the only solution was for government to step in and spend massively on needed projects. We have the savings, the men and the material, he declared. The things are worth doing. Keynes said that putting people back to work would create productive capacity the very source of wealth: It is utterly imbecile to say that we cannot afford these things. For it is with the unemployed men and the unemployed plant, and with nothing else, that these things are done. Keynes point was proved when U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelts vast government spending on New Deal projects put millions of Americans back to work building roads and power plants, and helped kick-start the recovery. Roosevelt also defied economic orthodoxy by dramatically raising taxes on the rich. Certainly, today, nobody is telling us we can do that! But then, under the new reality of the pandemic, that looks like another bit of economic orthodoxy that now seems so 24 hours ago. Chennai, June 4 : Tamil actor Rajinikanth has thanked Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for appointing R. Chandrasekaran as the first permanent Director of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil. In a letter to Nishank, Rajinikanth thanked the Minister for his efforts and commitment to the promotion of Tamil language. Rajinikant also thanked Nishank for appointing Chandrasekaran as the first Director of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon Samuel Atta Akyea has said Messrs Construtora OAS Ghana Ltd, a Brazilian company which was awarded the contract for the Saglemi Housing project near Old Ningo in the Greater Accra region, has allegedly misappropriated an amount of US$ 159 million. The Minister made the statement whilst answering a question by Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh MP for Nsawam/Adoagyiri who wanted to know the state of the Saglemi Housing project and when Ghanaians will benefit from it. Hon Atta Akyea said the ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH ) on 4th January, 2013 signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement with Messes Consrutora OAS Ghana Ltd to construct 5,000 affordable houses at a contact sum of US$200 million, after Parliamentary approval granted on 31st October, 2012 . However, the Minister said the then sector Minister, Hon Collins Dauda by his own authority reviewed the agreement with the Brazilian company to reduce the number of houses to be constructed to 1,502 housing units at the same contract sum of Ghc US$200 million. "On the 21st day of December 2016, 14 days after President John Mahama has lost his position in the elections, the then Chief Director, Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu and the contractor reviewed the first amended and restated agreement and signed the Second and Restated Agreement in which the scope of the works were reduced to 1,024 instead of the Parliamentary approved 5000 housing units, 388 to be finished completely externally and 90 units to be left at foundation or lintel levels. This brings the total units to be constructed to 1, 502 units at a revised contract sum of US$ 181, 519, 000," Samuel Atta Akyea added. He also said the Chief Director of the Ministry of Works and Housing reviewed the Second amended restated agreement and signed the Third Amendment and Restated EPE Agreement to extend the period to December 2017, to allow the contractor complete the project. According to the Minister, the scope in the Second and Restated Agreement was maintained but the contract price was reviewed further downwards to US$181, 018, 000. Hon Atta Akyea said as soon as the ministry released a sum of US$80 million to the Brazilian contractor for mobilization when actual work had not started, the contractor transferred abroad US$ 40 million, which according to the minister led to the bankruptcy of the Saglemi Housing project. "In accordance with articles 35 (7) of the Constitution, the Akufo-Addo government pledges to complete the botched Mahama Saglemi Housing project. When we surmount these challenges, we can positively inform this August House as to when my ministry will deliver the 5,000 housing units with full amenities for the benefit of our hard-working workers," the Minister stated . He said currently the contractor has completed only 636 housing units without water and electricity and 388 other housing units which are at various stages of completion. The Minister said total payment made by the Ministry to the contractor till date amounts to US$ 179.8 million. He said a value - for - money audit is being carried out on the project by the Ghana Institution of Surveyors after which civil action shall be used to recover monies lost to the state. The Speaker of Parliament Rt Hon Prof Michael Aaron Oquaye referred the matter to the joint Committee of Works and Housing and the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Parliament for consideration and submit a report in two weeks to Parliament Source: Emmanuel Akorli/ Peace FM Parliamentary Correspondent 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 Scientists say the reopening of schools in England, both primary and secondary, is 'unlikely' to lead to a second wave of coronavirus infections. The gradual reopening of schools, starting with primary schools, wouldn't drive the average coronavirus transmission rate above one, infectious disease experts claim. Their mathematical modelling study shows that the impact of less social distancing on the part of adults would in fact be more likely to cause a 'second wave'. As part of a phased return to schools in effect since Monday, the government is allowing pupils in reception, year one and year six to return to classes. While this policy could slightly raise the 'R' number the average amount of people that one infection person would pass the virus on to it's unlikely to push it above one, the research team claims. The act of reopening workplaces, pubs and restaurants and gyms would 'exacerbate' any potential impact of reopening schools, they say. The gradual reopening of schools, starting with primary schools, is unlikely to lead to a second wave of infection, according to new mathematical modelling of the COVID-19 outbreak from University of Warwick researchers. Primary schools started to get up and running in England this week, with reception, years one and years six the first to return. Pictured, Stoneriase School near Carlisle The experts support a 'cautious' reopening of schools along with close monitoring of the reproduction (R) number, they conclude from their research at the University of Warwick. 'Our work indicates that the current policy of reception, year 1 and year 6 children returning to school is likely to result in a small increase in the reproduction number,' said Professor Matt Keeling, director of the University of Warwick's Zeeman Institute, which works to bring 'sophisticated mathematics to challenges in biological sciences'. 'In isolation this is unlikely to push R above 1 but there still remains uncertainty over the consequences of other recent changes that have relaxed the lockdown.' In the UK, cases of COVID-19 the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 strain of coronavirus that has killed 50,000 people in the country so far have been declining since mid-April. 'R' RATE: THE AVERAGE OF SECONDARY INFECTIONS The reproduction number (R) is the average number of secondary infections produced by one infected person. It is a value that represents how many people one sick person will, on average, infect if the virus is reproducing in its ideal conditions. An R number of one means that on average every person who is infected will infect one other person, meaning the total number of new infections is stable. If R is two, on average, each infected person infects two more people. If R is 0.5 then on average for each two infected people, there will be only one new infection. R can change over time for example, it falls when there is a reduction in the number of contacts between people, which reduces transmission. The R number in the UK is updated on the government's website and currently is just below one. Advertisement Since the decline there is evidence to suggest the government's oft-mentioned 'reproduction number' designed as a measurement of the severity of the disease has dropped below one. An R number of one means that on average every person who is infected will infect one other person, meaning the total number of new infections is stable, according to the government. If R is greater than one, the epidemic is generally seen to be growing, while if R is less than one the epidemic is shrinking. With a shrinking epidemic, a multi-phase relaxation plan for the country to emerge from lockdown has been laid out, starting with the return to school on Monday. However, the decision has divided parents, with many expressing concerns that their child could become infected and bring the contagion into the family home. Professor Keeling and his team say a range of sources suggests children are only mildly affected by the disease in general and have low mortality rates, although 'there is less certainty regarding children's role in transmission'. The University of Warwick team compared different strategies for opening schools in England from June 1, focusing on particular year groups and the 'epidemic consequences'. They investigated a range of school re-opening scenarios, including the current policy, as well as children returning in 'half-sized classes' and all primary and secondary school children returning to full time education. The team used a detailed mathematical model, calibrated against data on the age distribution of cases, as well as the changing numbers of those being hospitalised and dying as a result of the disease. From this, they were able to forecast the impact of school re-opening upon the R number and the expected increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 as a result of the return to schools. They found that reopening schools in a way that allows half-sized classes or focuses on the return of younger children is unlikely to push the R rate above one. Less social distancing on behalf of the rest of the population, enabled by the reopening of pubs and restaurants, will generally have fare greater effects than reopening schools, the researchers said Reopening secondary schools, meanwhile, would lead to larger increases in coronavirus transmission than only opening primary schools because older children have more social contacts, leading to increased mixing and transmissions. Reopening both primary and secondary could push the R rate above one in some regions of the country, they say, although the opening of schools alone is unlikely to push the R rate above one. The impact of less social distancing on the part of the rest of the population that don't go to school would have 'far larger effects'. Reopening workplaces, leisure facilities such as gyms and pubs and restaurants would exacerbate the impact of reopening schools and likely drive the R rate above one, they warn. The government is set to ease more of its lockdown restrictions as the R rate falls, ending with the reopening of pubs, clubs and restaurants While any reopening of schools would result in increased mixing and infection above children and the wider population, reopening schools alone would likely keep R under one. While there would likely be more infections as a result of opening schools, it shouldn't cause a second wave and could leave an open path to a full emergence from lockdown. 'It is important to note that any increase in mixing will likely lead to some increase in COVID-19 cases, even if the value of R remains below one,' said Assistant Professor Dr Louise Dyson at the university's Mathematics Institute. A reintroduction of lockdown measures should be considered if any significant rise in cases is seen after any other social distancing rules are relaxed, they say. Limited data on COVID-19 in children also means school reopening and its effects should be carefully monitored. The full study has been published on the university's website. James Nielsen, Staff / Houston Chronicle First Texas Hospital Cy-Fair, a private hospital in northwest Houston, will lay off 62 employees and shutter its doors, and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates will let go of 103 workers, according to a Thursday release from the Texas Workforce Commission. Hospital officials notified the state it would lay off employees on July 26 and permanently close. [June 04, 2020] AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of ELCO Mutual Life and Annuity AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of "bb+" of ELCO Mutual Life and Annuity (ELCO) (Lake Bluff, IL). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains positive. The ratings reflect ELCO's balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as weak, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM). The positive outlooks reflect a continued strengthening in ELCO's balance sheet strength, including improving risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), from profit-based growth in absolute capital and improvements in the risk profile of its investment portfolio. ELCO's balance sheet had previously been impacted by unfavorable factors, including the asset portfolio composition, which historically has had a higher risk profile, and very high dependence on reinsurance in its core annuity business. Continued strengthening of the balance sheet could result in positive rating action. ELCO's balance sheet strength assessment mainly reflects its level of risk-adjusted capitalization, which improved from weak to adequate, together with significant reinsurance leverage and limited financial flexibility, partly offset by the absence of financial leverage and a fixed income portfolio that is nearly all investment grade. Furthermore, AM Best notes that as a small mutual company, ELCO's financial flexibility is somewhat limited. The company has a long history of producing operating profits that support capital growth. Returns on equity are strong and driven by the profitability of its core Medicaid compliant annuity products, which are expected to see continued growth. AM Bes believes that the company's operating profitability is likely to remain favorable over the near term. ELCO's business is concentrated in annuity offerings, although the company sells pre-need life insurance products that add some diversity. Annuity production is centered on the senior market. Elder care attorneys provide deposit type single premium annuity sales, while most deferred annuities are distributed by independent general agents. The group's ERM assessment is reflective of a governance structure, culture and risk management controls that are commensurate with a small mutual insurer. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2020 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005742/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Express News Service PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Thursday lamented that the government will have to present the annual budget soon without any financial support from the Centre. In an audio visual release, he said the Centre is yet to release the dues to Puducherry such as GST compensation and reimbursement of the 7th pay commission dues among others. The Prime Minister, Health Minister and Finance Minister were apprised about the matter and yet there has been no response from them, he charged. States are finding it hard to even disburse the salary of their employees and considering this, the Centre should come forward to help, he said. He reiterated that the government will oppose the move to privatize the electricity department here. The chief minister said when the UT received the letter from the Centre in this regard, the government had replied stating that a decision could not be taken without consulting the Puducherry government since Puducherry is not an ordinary Union Territory but one with a legislative assembly and is treated as a state. But no reply has been received yet from the Centre. He said electricity is in the concurrent list and no amendment could be made in Parliament without the recommendation of the states. He said the Puducherry government is supporting the cause of electricity department employees who are on strike against this move of the Centre. They should fight against the central government and not against the state government, he said. The CM said that a special train with migrant workers will leave for West Bengal and Assam from Puducherry on Friday. Already migrant workers from Bihar, UP, MP, Odisha and Jharkhand were sent back home, he noted. With the departure of migrant workers, industries here are experiencing manpower shortage, he said adding that he had requested industrialists to provide jobs to the locals by training them. After the shifting of the vegetable market from the bus stand, no social distancing was adopted and no security measures are being taken. If this continues, the market will again be shifted to the AFT grounds, he warned, reminding them of the Koyambedu market in Chennai from where COVID-19 spread. Stating that a large number of patients are coming to the Government General Hospital for OPD treatment, making it difficult to maintain social distancing, the Chief Minister exhorted them not to come for simple ailments. DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads - Market and Technology Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global airborne ISR platforms and payload market is dominated by companies based in the United States, China, and the European Union. A number of firms in the US, China and EU are taking steps towards the introduction of upgraded payloads, while also attracting new funding. This report examines, analyzes, and predicts the evolution of airborne ISR systems, technologies, markets, and outlays over 2019 -2027 in the Airborne ISR Platforms & Payload industry. It also examines airborne ISR markets geographically, focusing on the top 95% of global markets, in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The report shows how airborne ISR platforms and payloads are used today to add real value. To provide the most thorough and realistic forecast, this report provides a twin-scenario analysis, including steady state, the emergence of new Airborne ISR Platforms & Payload technology. In this report, the researchers have classified the airborne ISR industry under 4 major groups. These are: Technologies - The 9 major technologies driving this industry are: Sensors & Payload Platform Development Navigation & Control Autonomy Communications & Data Management Weapons Energy & Propulsion Cyber Mobility Applications - The 6 key areas where airborne ISR are making a big impact: Surveillance & Reconnaissance Search & Rescue Law Enforcement Border Surveillance Engineering, Surveying, and Mapping Delivery & Logistics Platforms - Airborne ISR platforms will have to place the payload in orbit. We will focus on the 4 major platforms: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Aircraft Helicopters Aerostats/Balloons Payloads - We will reflect on 4 major payload types: Electro-optical imagers (EO/IR) Radar Seismic/Acoustic monitoring Ad hoc wireless sensor nodes (WSN) In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following: Overview: Snapshot of the various airborne ISR tech in the aerospace market during 2019-2027, including highlights of the demand drivers, trends and challenges. It also provides a snapshot of the spending with respect to regions as well as segments. It also sheds light on the emergence of new technologies Snapshot of the various airborne ISR tech in the aerospace market during 2019-2027, including highlights of the demand drivers, trends and challenges. It also provides a snapshot of the spending with respect to regions as well as segments. It also sheds light on the emergence of new technologies Market Dynamics : Insights into the technological developments in this market and a detailed analysis of the changing preferences of governments around the world. It also analyzes changing industry structure trends and the challenges faced by the industry participants. : Insights into the technological developments in this market and a detailed analysis of the changing preferences of governments around the world. It also analyzes changing industry structure trends and the challenges faced by the industry participants. Segment Analysis: Insights into the various Systems market from a segmental perspective and a detailed analysis of factors influencing the market for each segment. Insights into the various Systems market from a segmental perspective and a detailed analysis of factors influencing the market for each segment. Regional Review: Insights into modernization patterns and budgetary allocation for top countries within a region. Insights into modernization patterns and budgetary allocation for top countries within a region. Regional Analysis: Insights into the Systems market from a regional perspective and a detailed analysis of factors influencing the market for each region. Insights into the Systems market from a regional perspective and a detailed analysis of factors influencing the market for each region. Trend Analysis: Key airborne ISR Platforms & Payload markets: Analysis of the key markets in each region, providing an analysis of the various Systems segments expected to be in demand in each region. Key airborne ISR Platforms & Payload markets: Analysis of the key markets in each region, providing an analysis of the various Systems segments expected to be in demand in each region. Key Program Analysis: Details of the top programs in each segment expected to be executed during the forecast period. Details of the top programs in each segment expected to be executed during the forecast period. Competitive Landscape Analysis: Analysis of the competitive landscape of this industry. It provides an overview of key companies, together with insights such as key alliances, strategic initiatives, and a brief financial analysis. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Executive Summary 3 Current and Future Technologies overview of the Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Current Technologies 3.2.1 Airborne ISR - Platforms 3.2.2 Airborne ISR - Payloads 3.3 Future Technologies 4 Current and Future Market overview of the Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Current Markets 4.3 Future Markets 4.4 Number of Airborne ISR Aircraft - Per Region 4.5 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for ISR by region 4.6 How to reach scale 5 Market Analysis 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Analysis 5.3 Porter's 5 Forces Analysis 5.4 Macro environment 5.5 Forecast factors 6 Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads - Markets by Regions to 2027 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads - Market by Regions overview 7 Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads - Market by Technology to 2027 8 Global ISR Platforms & Payloads -Market by Platforms to 2027 9 Global ISR Platforms & Payloads -Market by Payloads to 2027 10 Global ISR Platforms & Payloads -Market by Application to 2027 11 Global ISR Platforms & Payloads -Market by End User to 2027 12 Event Forecast - Global Airborne ISR Platforms & Payloads Market to 2027 13 Leading Companies in the Global ISR Platforms & Payloads Market Airbus Defence and Space Aselsan BAE Systems Boeing Co. Elbit Systems Flir Systems General Dynamics Griffon Corp Inmarsat Israel Aerospace Industries Leica Geosystems AG Leonardo Lockheed Martin Nanjing Research Institute Of Electronic Technology Northrop Grumman Raytheon Saab Safran Electronics & Defense Teledyne Technologies Vega Radio Engineering Corporation 14 Conclusions and recommendations 14.1 Major Conclusions and Recommendations 14.2 Fulfilling the business objectives For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2k1naq About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Advertisement Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton attacked President Donald Trump's agenda, vowed not to let people use George Floyd as prop and declared it was time for black people to demand 'get your knee off our necks' during his fiery eulogy for the man whose death at the hands of police has sparked global protests. Hollywood celebrities, musicians and politicians gathered in front of the Floyd's golden casket on Thursday at a sanctuary at North Central University in the first of a series of memorials set for three cities over the next six days. The service took place as a judge less than a mile away set bail at $1 million each for three of the four fired Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Floyd's death. Floyd died on May 25 after white police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder, put his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes as he lay handcuffed on the pavement, gasping that he couldn't breathe. Floyd's memorial drew the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took a knee in front Floyd's casket and sobbed before the service got underway. Among the celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Marsai Martin. During his fierce eulogy, Rev Sharpton criticized President Trump's rhetoric and handling of the protests that have stemmed from Floyd's death, including how he staged a photo op outside a Washington DC church with a Bible earlier this week. 'I've never seen anyone hold a bible like that (and) I've been preaching since I was a little boy. If he's watching us today, I'd like him to open that Bible and reach Ecclesiastes 3: 'To every season, there is a time.' I'd like him to understand what time it is,' Sharpton said. 'We cannot use Bibles as a prop. For those that have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use George as a prop. Let us stand for what is right.' At one point during the service, mourners stood in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to mark the fatal length of time the officer held his knee to Floyd's neck. 'George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is because you kept your knee on our neck,' Sharpton said. 'What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services, and in every area of American life. It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks!' George Floyd's family members surround his golden casket at the Lindquist Sanctuary at the North Central University on Thursday during the first of three memorial services in the next six days in his honor The Rev. Al Sharpton delivers a passionate address at the memorial of George Floyd at the North Central University in Minneapolis on Thursday George Floyd's casket leaves the sanctuary at North Central University in Minneapolis on Thursday after the memorial service Gianna Floyd, George's six-year-old daughter was three rows back during the service. She was seen putting her hand on the back of a relative to comfort them as they cried during the service During his eulogy, Sharpton vowed a movement to 'change the whole system of justice' and said it was time to hold police accountable. 'Time is out for not holding you accountable. Time is out for you making excuses. Time is out for you trying to stall. Time is out for empty words and empty promises. Time is out for you filibustering and trying to stall the arm of justice'' he said. 'There is a time and a season for everything,' he said. 'Time is up. Time is out. This is the time. 'Y'all talk about making America great. Great for who and when? We gonna make America great for everybody.' Addressing the nationwide demonstrations, some of which have descended into destruction, Sharpton said Floyd's family did not condone violence. 'There have been protests all over the world. Some have looted and done other things. None of us condone it - looting and violence,' Sharpton said. Floyd's memorial service will be held on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis where he died at the hands of police last week 'But there is a difference between those calling for peace - and those calling for quiet. Some y'all don't want peace, you just want quiet. You just want us to suffer in silence.' Sharpton acknowledged that looters and violent protesters who broke the law should be held accountable but said the four officers implicated in Floyd's death should also pay for their crimes. 'Some in the criminal justice system have trouble looking at a tape and seeing that there's probable cause,' he said. Acknowledging the high US death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic - which saw mourners wear masks for the service - he said Floyd should not be among the deceased. 'He did not die of common health conditions. He died of a common American criminal justice malfunction. He died because there has not been the corrective behavior that has taught this country that if you commit a crime, it does not matter if you wear blue jeans or a blue uniform, you must pay for the crime you commit.' Floyd's brother, Philones Floyd, told the crowd at the memorial he was in awe of the number of people paying their respects as he recounted their childhoods playing catch and eating banana-mayonnaise sandwiches. 'All these people came to see my brother,' he said. 'That's amazing to me that he touched so many people's hearts because he touched our hearts.' Meanwhile, Ben Crump, a lawyer for Floyd's family, told the memorial service that the police action the day Floyd was killed was evil. 'What we saw in that video was evil. So America, as we proclaim as we memorialize George Floyd, do not accept evil. Protest against evil. We cannot cooperate with evil. We cannot cooperate with torture,' Crump said. Floyd's casket was flanked by white and purple flowers and a vibrant image was projected above the pulpit of a mural of Floyd painted at the street corner where he was seized by police on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. The message on the mural: 'I can breathe now.' The sanctuary normally seats 1,000, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, the capacity was reduced to about 500, and mourners wore masks. Floyd's death has empowered a national movement that has seen widespread demonstrations and civil strife in cities right across the United States to condemn racism and police abuses. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey kneels in front of George Floyd's gold casket and sobs Tiffany Haddish joined Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother, on stage to stand in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds Actor Kevin Hart and musician Ludacris are seen during a memorial service for George Floyd on Thursday Tiffany Haddish, wearing a cheetah print coronavirus mask, sits in a section of VIP seats with producer Will Packer (right) on Thursday at the memorial service Tiffany Haddish pulls down her mask to smile after being called out by Rev. Al Sharpton at Thursday's service Actor Tyrese Gibson attends the service. A seat that was reserved for Tyler Perry was empty Gianna, George's six-year-old daughter, is led into the ceremony holding a coronavirus mask George's adult son Quincy Mason Floyd attends the service in Minneapolis wearing a mask with a picture of his father on it Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who fired all four police officers now charged in Floyd's killing, took a knee nearby as his body arrived ahead of the service. Floyd's Promethean casket is the same type of custom-made coffin that singers Aretha Franklin and James Brown were laid to rest in. President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. John's Church across Lafayette Park from the White House on Monday In an interview with NBC's Today at the site of the memorial, attorney Ben Crump said the Floyd family don't want his death to be in vain. 'It's going to be a celebration of life, but it's also going to be a plea to America and a plea for justice that we don't let his death be in vain,' Crump said. 'We want everybody to use their forces to say no more - we're tired of dying at the hands of the people supposed to protect us.' It is the first of three memorial gatherings planned to honor Floyd's life - the man whose name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Floyd's body will then travel to Raeford, North Carolina, where he was born 46 years ago, for a two-hour public viewing and private service for the family on Saturday. Finally, a public viewing will be held Monday in Houston, where he was raised and lived most of his life. A 500-person service on Tuesday will take place at The Fountain of Praise church and will include addresses from Sharpton, Crump, and the Rev. Remus E. Wright, the family pastor. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, may attend, and other political figures and celebrities are expected as well. The mother of Ahmaud Arbery, the black man who was shot dead by two white men while out running, will attend Floyd's memorial in Houston, her attorney Lee Merritt told TMZ. A private burial will follow. George Floyd's son, Quincy Mason Floyd, bows his head while his father's cousin wipes tears at the memorial service on Thursday Hart embraces Reverend Jesse Jackson before the ceremony on Thursday Martin Luther King III and his family pay their respects to George Floyd ahead of his memorial service in Minneapolis Civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson and his son Jonathan Jackson pray in front of Floyd's coffin ahead of his service Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (left) and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz arrive ahead of Floyd's memorial service Former NBA player Stephen Jackson is pictured at the memorial service for George Floyd on Thursday Minneapolis cops take a knee before George Floyd's casket is driven past on Thursday after his memorial Crowds of people surrounded North Central University to pay their respects without being able to go inside The organizers of the memorials want to acknowledge the meaning Floyd had in life to his large family and the broader meaning he has assumed in death, which happened after a white officer pressed a knee into the handcuffed black man's neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. 'It would be inadequate if you did not regard the life and love and celebration the family wants,' Rev Sharpton said prior to Thursday's memorial. 'But it would also be inadequate... if you acted as though we're at a funeral that happened under natural circumstances. 'The family is not independent of the community. The family wants to see something happen.' Both the memorials in Minneapolis and Houston will include personal tributes and eulogies about social justice, Sharpton said. Floyd's final journey was designed with intention, Sharpton said. Having left Houston for Minneapolis in 2014 in search of a job and a new life, Floyd will retrace that path. 'They collectively said we need to make the first memorial statement from the city he chose to go to make a living, that ended his life,' he said. The memorial services to honor Floyd are extraordinary but so are the circumstances surrounding them. Since his May 25 death in Minneapolis, Floyd's name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people and empowered a movement. Violent encounters between police, protesters, and observers have inflamed a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. The memorial service on Thursday happened less than a mile from where three of the cops charged in Floyd's murder were having their first court appearance. They had their bail set at $1million George Floyd's body was taken to the North Central University in Minneapolis on Thursday ahead of the first of three services that will be held in the different cities over the next six days Floyd's death has empowered a national movement that has seen widespread demonstrations and civil strife in cities right across the United State to condemn racism and police abuses Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who fired all four police officers now charged in Floyd's killing, took a knee nearby as his body arrived ahead of the service Floyd's memorial on Thursday took place at the same time three Minneapolis police officers who were at the scene, but did not intervene, will face court for the first time. It comes as prosecutors on Wednesday leveled new criminal charges against all four policemen implicated in Floyd's death after he was filmed being pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest. Derek Chauvin, who was jailed Friday on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, was newly charged with second-degree murder. He was the white officer seen in widely circulated video footage kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, 'Please, I can't breathe.' Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao - the three fellow officers fired from the Minneapolis police department along with Chauvin the next day - were charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd's family attorney said his relatives were relieved to hear all four officers had been charged. 'They had a sense of relief... they were very thankful,' Crump said. 'George Floyd's family and many others believe the charge should be first degree, however, we're relieved (it's been upgraded). Crump said he didn't believe the additional charges would have been brought if it were not for the widespread protests over the past week. 'I don't think we would have seen those charges. There's evidence for these charges. There's always evidence for many of these cases when white police kill black people, they just never get charged,' he said. Following the charges, demonstrations seen over the past week across the US remained large but turned notably more subdued. In many cities, demonstrators defying nighttime curfews have been met by police in riot gear firing tear gas, mace and rubber bullets to disperse unruly crowds. National Guard troops have been activated in several states to assist local law enforcement. Floyd's death has empowered a national movement that has seen widespread demonstrations and civil strife in cities right across the United State to condemn racism and police abuses. Pictured above is the memorial at the place where Floyd was killed The service on Thursday is the first of three memorial gatherings planned to honor Floyd's life - the man whose name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people across the country Judge sets bail for three officers charged with aiding and abetting in George Floyd's death to $1million at heavily guarded court hearing while star-studded memorial happens less than a mile away Bail has been set at $1million for each of the three police officers who did nothing as George Floyd died under the knee of Derek Chauvin after a tense court hearing which was heavily guarded by both army and police where one of the officer's lawyer's asked the judge: 'What was he supposed to do? Tell Chauvin to get off?' J Alexander Kueng, 26, of Plymouth, Thomas Lane, 37, of St Paul and Tou Thao, 34, of Coon Rapids, made their first appearances in Hennepin County District Court today. They have been charged with Aiding and Abetting Second Degree Murder Unintentional While Committing a Felony and Aiding and Abetting Second Degree Manslaughter, Culpable Negligence Creating Unreasonable Risk. The disgraced former cops were escorted through an underground tunnel between Hennepin County Jail and Hennepin County District Courtroom 141 where they appeared before Judge Paul Scoggin at 12.45 this afternoon. Just a couple of blocks away mourners gathered at North Central University for a memorial service held by family and friends and led by Civil Rights leader Rev Al Sharpton. The men appeared separately before a courtroom rendered sparse despite the high profile of the case due to social distancing measures. Each stood, masked, in regulation prison orange. None of them spoke but Lane's attorney argued that he'd only had four days on the job. He pleaded with the judge: 'What was he supposed to do? Tell Chauvin to get off?' Thao was first in a hearing that lasted only a few minutes and saw little objection from his attorney despite their request for a bail of $200,000 or $100,00 with conditions. Next the court heard from Kg's attorney, Thomas Plunkett who asked for a bail of $200,000 and described his client as a 'young African American man male who grew up with an absentee father and a single mother' and had turned to law enforcement to make his community, 'a better place.' He said that the graduate of Henry Patrick High School was captain of his high school soccer team, had traveled to Haiti to build a school and that when his mother adopted 4 at risk children from the community and he had helped with their childcare. And he stated that the South Minneapolis native was no flight risk and had never lived any further than 10miles from the place of his birth. Derek Chauvin, who was jailed Friday on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, was newly charged with second-degree murder (left). Tou Thao (right) charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter J.A. Kueng (left) and Thomas Lane (right) were also charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter Lane was the last of the three to take his place to the left of the judge in a stand partitioned off from the court by plastic and his attorney made an impassioned plea for a far lesser sum to be set. His attorney referred to him as 'a good guy,' and pointed to Lane's inexperience he had been four days on the job when Floyd died and Chauvin's status as a 20-year veteran. He reminded the judge that his client had asked repeatedly, 'Shall we roll him?' and it was his client and his alone who got into the ambulance and attempted to resuscitate Floyd with CPR. He requested an interim hearing and Judge Bartolomie noted that he was setting bail as he had done for Thao and Kueng; $1million unconditional and $750,000 with conditions including that he have no contact with Floyd's family. George Floyd (pictured) said 'I can't breathe' when Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes However, in Lane's case that may be reviewed pending a hearing regarding the strength of his case. In setting the bail Bartolomie said that he had 'struggled to find any comparisons' for the cases but appeared convinced by Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank's assertion that the terrible nature of the crime and the high profile rendered each defendant a high flight risk. If convicted as charged the men face up to 40 years in prison on the first count, with the second carrying a sentence of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of $20,000. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney General Mike Freeman announced the latest charges in a press conference Wednesday during which a further charge of Second-Degree murder was also added to the charge sheet of the already charged Chauvin, 44. Speaking at Wednesday's press conference Ellison said of the additional charge: 'I believe that evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge of second-degree murder. We've consulted with each other and we agree.' He added, 'I strongly believe that these developments are in the interest of justice for Mr. Floyd, his family, our community and our state,' Attorney General Ellison said. 'We're working together on this case with only one goal: justice for George Floyd. I want to thank, first, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who has been a true partner in this matter at every step of the way. His experience and insight have been invaluable and will continue to be counted on by the team.' The actions of all three officers appearing in Hennepin County District Court today have been set down in a detailed Statement of Probable Cause pieced together from surveillance footage, interviews with witnesses and the officer's own body cameras. Officers Lane and Kueng were the first to arrive at the scene at 8.08pm, May 25 when someone made a 911 call reporting a man for buying merchandise from Cup Foods with a counterfeit $20. Floyd was parked in a car just around the corner when the officers arrived. There were three people in the car, with Floyd in the driver's seat. As Lane began speaking with Floyd through his open window he pulled his gun and asked Floyd to show him his hands. Floyd placed his hands on the steering wheel and Lane reholstered his gun. National Guard troops outside the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis on Thursday while the three officers' hearing took place inside There was an enormous police presence at the courthouse. Fencing was put up and the windows were boarded up Dozens of cops were there along with the National Guard to protect the courthouse while the hearing got underway The footage goes onto show Floyd complying with all the officers' requests getting out of the car, sitting on the ground, being handcuffed. The probable cause statement notes that as he sat on the ground, 'Floyd said, 'Thank you man,' and was calm.' It was only when Lane stood Floyd up and tried to get him into the squad car that the man 'stiffened' and fell to the ground. The statement said, 'Mr Floyd told the officers that he was not resisting but did not want to get in the back seat and was claustrophobic.' Chauvin and Thao arrived in separate squad cars at this point and all four officers began trying to push Floyd into the car as he, 'repeatedly said that he could not breathe.' At 8.19pm Chauvin pulled Floyd from the car and he went to the ground face down. Keung had his back, Lane held his legs, Chauvin placed his knee on Floyds neck in an act that has reverberated around the world. Floyd said, 'I'm about to die,' he repeatedly called for his 'mama' and said he could not breathe but they held their positions as Chauvin pressed the life out of the 46-year-old father of two. After five minutes Floyd stopped moving, after six he fell silent and stopped breathing. Lane said he 'wanted to roll him on his side.' Kueng check his wrist and found no pulsed. Still they held their positions. Two minutes later at 8.27pm Chauvin finally relinquished his pressure. By then he was holding down a dead man. Chauvin, who has not made bail posted at $500,000 is currently being held in Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights a maximum security facility. He was moved from Hennepin County Jail on the request of Sheriff David Hutchinson who said the move was made due to coronavirus concerns as well as safety fears because they anticipated a high number of people being booked into the jail due to the violence and looting sparked by the killing. He is due to have his first court appearance on Monday June 8 after an earlier date was pushed as protests escalated. The three other officers will next appear at a June 29 hearing. All four cops were fired when the video surfaced last week but the three others were not charged initially, to the dismay of Floyd and protesters around the world who say they complicit because they did nothing to prevent Floyd's death. The case was taken out of the hands of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and handed over to Minnesota AG Keith Ellison earlier this week after a groundswell of outrage over how the case had been handled to date. Protesters during a George Floyd Memorial demonstration at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn on Thursday NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is BOOED off the stage by 5,000-strong crowd of peaceful protesters at George Floyd memorial in Brooklyn - as the slain man's brother addresses the crowd saying 'power to the people New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was widely booed on Thursday after he took the stage at a memorial service for George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police last week has prompted ongoing protests across the country. Hundreds of mourners jeered over the embattled mayor's brief remarks at the Brooklyn service following a night in which videos circulating on social media showed NYPD officers using batons on peaceful demonstrators. De Blasio was introduced by activist and preacher Kevin McCall, who was forced to ask the crowd for 'respect' as the mayor and his wife Chirlane approached the podium. Demonstrators, among the several thousand in attendance, immediately booed de Blasio as he walked across the stage and chanted: 'De Blasio go home!' and 'Vote them out!' Mayor Bill de Blasio, who some in the crowd had booed when he arrived on stage, called on white people to do more to understand African-American communities 'You are not alone,' the large crowd chanted before an emotional Terrence Floyd, wearing a mask and a T-shirt bearing his brother's likeness, thanked them for their support at the Cadman Plaza Park on Thursday The mayor, who has come under fire from both residents and public officials, is facing criticism for supporting the police's tactics but also for not preventing the looting of businesses that rocked Manhattan earlier this week. De Blasio kept his speech short, urging protesters that Floyd's death should not be in vain. 'We have too much to change in this city and this country,' he said. 'We will not be about words in this city; we will be about change.' 'For all of us who have not walked a mile in the shoes of the black community, or communities of color, all of us who know white privilege, we need to do more, because we don't even fully recognize the daily pain that the racism in this society causes,' he added. As de Blasio struggled to be heard, many were seen turning their backs to him as he talked. Several others in attendance could be heard shouting for him to resign. An estimated 10,000 people gathered in Brooklyn to pay their respects for Floyd and fight against police brutality on Thursday Terrence Floyd (center) led protesters across the Brooklyn Bridge following a memorial service for his brother George Protests for George Floyd are still going strong across the city and the nation more than a week after his death by cops An estimated 10,000 people gathered for the vigil at Cadman Plaza Park earlier in support of Floyd and his family, including brother Terrence, who thanked the crowd for their demonstrations. 'You are not alone,' the large crowd chanted before an emotional Terrence Floyd, wearing a mask and a T-shirt bearing his brother's likeness, thanked them for their support. 'I thank God for you all showing love to my brother,' he said. Floyd, however, spoke out against the violence and chaos that has engulfed the city and the nation in the wake of George's death, saying his brother was about peace. 'I'm proud of the protests but I'm not proud of the destruction. My brother wasn't about that. The Floyds are a God-fearing family,' he said. 'Power to the people, all of us,' he added. Following the service in Brooklyn, thousands of protesters filed out of Cadman Plaza to march across the Brooklyn Bridge and headed for Foley Square in downtown Manhattan for a seventh night of peaceful demonstrations against police brutality. Demonstrators had also gathered in Cadman Plaza on Wednesday night, where videos were taken of officers using batons and pepper spray on nonviolent protesters who remained after the 8pm curfew. As protests carried on Thursday evening, hundreds of people had filled Foley Square, located near the NYPD Headquarters, about an hour before the city's curfew came into effect and were met with a heavy police presence. Further demonstrations took place at Gracie Mansion, de Blasio's mayoral residence in the Upper East Side, and in Harlem, where protesters dressed formally in black as they marched down the streets. (Newser) The US Park Police says it has placed two officers on administrative leave after video showed two Australian journalists being attacked during Monday nights protest in Washington, DC, the AP reports. Acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan said the attack is being investigated. Video captured by WJLA-TV in Washington showed reporter Amanda Brace and cameraman Tim Myers being assaulted as law enforcement officials cleared an area near the White House so President Trump could walk to a nearby church that had been damaged during the demonstrations the previous night. The journalists were reporting live for Australias Channel 7 on the demonstrations. story continues below "As is consistent with our established practices and procedures, two US Park Police officers have been assigned to administrative duties, while an investigation takes place regarding the incident with the Australian Press," Monahan said in a statement posted on Twitter. Australias ambassador to the United States has complained about the attack that the networks news director Craig McPherson described as "nothing short of wanton thuggery." Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Australians involved in George Floyd-related anti-racism protests around the world to be "extremely cautious" after attacks on Australian journalists in Washington and on Wednesday in London. (Read more Washington DC stories.) A convicted murderer broke out of a prison in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Ngai for the second time on Wednesday. Trieu Quan Su, 29, who was convicted of murder, robbery, desertion, and prison break, escaped from the T10 detention facility in Binh Son District, Quang Ngai Province at around 3:00 pm, according to the provincial Department of Police. Police said Su is a highly dangerous criminal, advising local residents to promptly contact police or military units if they spot him. This is the second time the inmate has broken out of prison. Su and another cellmate previously escaped from the facility on November 8, 2015. They were arrested on December 15 the same year while hiding in Hanoi. A police officer was injured after being stabbed by Su while in pursuit. According to a probe by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Su used to be a soldier in the 1st Military Region, which is headquartered in the northern province of Thai Nguyen. During his time in the army, Su stole multiple belongings from his comrades and sold them to gain money for personal purposes. After being caught stealing nine mobile phones on one occasion, Su escaped from the military but eventually returned to his unit thanks to the advice from his family members. However, the man deserted his unit an additional four times. On August 22, 2012, Su was headed to a coffee shop in Long Bien District, Hanoi, where he murdered the 49-year-old shop owner before stealing jewelry, two mobile phones, and some cash. He was captured three days later and convicted of murder, robbery, and desertion by a military court in March 2013. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Newly-appointed Culture and Information Policy Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko considers support and financing of culture and tourism a priority for the Ministry. "The first priority is to resume funding for this sector. The second priority is to increase funding for this sector, and, of course, to complete the restructuring of the ministry, the formation of agencies, the administrative capacity of the Ministry, and to conduct an audit. The real figure that needs to be channeled into supporting culture and tourism is UAH 3-4 billion. [It is required] to survive and return opportunities for development, Tkachenko said at the Parliament on Thursday, June 4, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. According to him, culture is the element that cements the state and society and creates additional grounds for its development. One million people currently work in this field. "Every year they form about 4% of the country's GDP, but their contribution is much larger. Because there is no future without culture, there is no nation without culture, and we will not exist without culture," Tkachenko added. As reported, the Verkhovna Rada has adopted a resolution today appointing Oleksandr Tkachenko as the Culture and Information Policy Minister of Ukraine. ol From the time she initially deployed the National Guard to Sioux Falls in the wake of a riot at the mall, Gov. Kristi Noem said she has pre-deployed the National Guard to Rapid City and Pierre. The incident at the Sioux Falls mall followed a day of peaceful protest Sunday where Black Lives Matter protesters walked from one end of the city to the other in condemnation of George Floyds death while in Minneapolis police custody. The Guard was deployed later Sunday night after the peaceful crowd moved away and more violent protesters began throwing rocks at police cars and shattering windows of buildings and stores nearby the mall. Noem said the National Guard still has a presence in Sioux Falls, in addition to being pre-deployed in Rapid City and Pierre. She said theres a conversation every couple of hours about where they think extra assistance and backup may be needed. The Guard in Rapid City is poised and ready when the local leadership asks for their assistance, Noem said. They have been engaged in these communities and will continue to stay available to us, Noem said. They have specialized training thats helpful in crowd control and situations that could potentially turn violent. They are only there to assist local law enforcement, so its when local law enforcement and the mayor asks, thats when they come in and assist. Noem said the National Guard is usually in a supporting role to local law enforcement, although they are trained as security personnel and military police. Neither Noem nor Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender would say Wednesday how many National Guard are deployed at this time in Rapid City, citing security reasons. Allender said the governors office was present in the Emergency Operations Center on Monday and Tuesday nights in Rapid City. Allender also said there isnt a mathematical algorithm or formula that determines when he would request Gov. Noem to deploy the National Guard or enforce a citywide curfew, but the decision would depend on a higher level of disorder and unrest, property damage, widespread chaos and defiance of orders to break up unlawful assemblies. We accommodate protesters for their own protection and general public safety, Allender said. We will even block roads and help with navigation. We proactively contact event organizers. Although the city works to contact event organizers to hear their plans ahead of time, some groups are reluctant to share their plans, their routes or their desire to move into city streets. That all has to be seen first-hand and analyzed on the spot but when property damage occurs, when traffic is stopped, when the behavior of the group becomes more threatening, we would move in with a higher level response, Allender said. It is largely a know it when you see it criteria, but I estimate it would be accompanied with criminal behavior. Allender also echoed Noems comments from early Wednesday regarding disappointment she had upon seeing the Confederate flag flown at Rapid City protests. Agitation of any kind is not productive, its only meant to anger and escalate, Allender said. People riding around in pickup trucks with Confederate flags? How embarrassing. We strive all the time to be better. Youre not taking us back to the Confederacy, but certainly it seems to be the best way to anger these protesters because we see its working. Allender said the crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters hes been seeing are larger groups of young people such as high schoolers, college students and people in their 20s and 30s. The crowd were seeing protesting, weve not seen many of them before, he said. Weve not heard from them in official channels. The doors open. There are ways to solve problems and they will not be done in the streets, he said, noting not many of the protesters have directly reached out to him asking to meet and talk about the issues at hand. When asked if the highway patrol plane is being used to monitor Rapid City for the last few days, Noem said the plane has been utilized but couldnt say specifically where its been used. Noem also said she hasnt received a request from President Trump to send the states National Guard to Washington D.C. where similar Black Lives Matter protests have erupted. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 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. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. and DES MOINES, Iowa, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (" FNF ") (NYSE: FNF) and F&G, a leading provider of fixed indexed annuities and life insurance, announced today that the companies will host an F&G Investment Portfolio Update via webcast for institutional investors and analysts on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. The presentation will provide a high-level F&G business and investment overview followed by a detailed discussion with F&G's investment management partner, Blackstone, one of the world's leading asset managers. Key speakers for the event will include: Mike Nolan President, Fidelity National Financial President, Fidelity National Financial Tony Park Chief Financial Officer, Fidelity National Financial Chief Financial Officer, Fidelity National Financial Chris Blunt President & Chief Executive Officer, F&G President & Chief Executive Officer, F&G Raj Krishnan Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, F&G Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, F&G Gilles Dellaert Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; Global Head of Blackstone Insurance Solutions Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; Global Head of Blackstone Insurance Solutions Dan Smith Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; GSO Capital Partners, Head of Liquid Credit Strategies Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; GSO Capital Partners, Head of Liquid Credit Strategies Jonathan Pollack Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; Global Head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; Global Head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Michael Wiebolt Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Robert Camacho Senior Managing Director, Blackstone; GSO Capital Partners, Co-Head of Structured Products Group Webcast information To register for the public webcast, please use the following link: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1330369&tp_key=d236e2a2a9 Investors and analysts are encouraged to register at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the presentation. Webcast information can also be accessed at investor.fnf.com. The companies intend to publish a presentation available at investor.fnf.com prior to the commencement of the webcast. A replay of the webcast will be available after the presentation at investor.fnf.com. About Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. FNF is the nation's largest title insurance company through its title insurance underwriters - Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title, Alamo Title and National Title of New York - that collectively issue more title insurance policies than any other title company in the United States. More information about FNF can be found at fnf.com. About F&G F&G is part of the FNF family of companies. F&G is committed to helping Americans turn their aspirations into reality. F&G is a leading provider of annuity and life insurance products and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, please visit www.fglife.bm. FNF-G SOURCE Fidelity National Financial, Inc.; FGL Holdings Related Links http://www.fnf.com She was the focus of much scrutiny last week, after she was outed for breaking the stringent national lockdown rules twice in just 10 days. Yet Lauren Goodger, 33, was putting her troubles behind her as she headed to her salon on Thursday while wearing a loose-fitting tracksuit with a face mask. The TOWIE star was exercising caution with her mask - perhaps in a heightened measure of protection given her recent gaffes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Curves for days: Lauren Goodger, 33, was putting her troubles behind her as she stepped out on Thursday while wearing a loose-fitting tracksuit with a face mask Lauren shunned her usual scanty sportswear as she instead went for maximum comfort in the oversized tracksuit with a hoodie and bottoms. She held on to a chic fur coat while also sporting trendy Balenciaga trainers. Last month, MailOnline exclusively revealed that Lauren had broken lockdown. The star posted an Instagram story which showed her friend Georgia's son Danny blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. Lauren appeared sad at missing the gathering, writing on the picture 'Wish I was there', alongside a crying emoji in a message for her 764,000 followers. Sad story: The TOWIE star was exercising caution with her mask - perhaps in a heightened measure of protection given her recent gaffes amid the coronavirus pandemic But in a photo obtained by MailOnline, Lauren can be seen at the party, smiling and taking pictures on her phone as the three-year-old is presented with his cake. A source told MailOnline: 'Lauren pretended she wasn't at Danny's party on her Instagram, but she was there. She was even in the background of the photo she posted while claiming to have been missing out. 'Lauren hasn't abided by the lockdown rules at all, which feels unfair to those that have been and are going without celebrating birthdays.' The reality TV star joined friend Georgia to celebrate her son Danny turning three despite government guidelines stating that two households are not able to come together inside the home and social distancing must be maintained at two metres. Out and about: Lauren shunned her usual scanty sportswear as she instead went for maximum comfort in the oversized tracksuit with a hoodie and bottoms 'Wish I was there': Last month, MailOnline exclusively revealed that Lauren had broken lockdown. The star posted an Instagram story which showed her friend Georgia's son Danny blowing out the candles on his birthday cake Instead Lauren entered a second household and was in close contact with several friends and their young children. A spokesperson for Lauren declined to comment when approached by MailOnline. Lauren's second breach of the coronavirus lockdown comes just days after she hosted a boozy party at her Essex flat. She claimed she 'wasn't aware she couldn't have friends over' when MailOnline revealed she had flouted the rules. Lauren partied alongside a handful of pals including John Haynes, who posted videos of the get-together on Instagram. A spokesperson for Lauren told MailOnline she accidentally flouted lockdown rules by having a party after 'seeing other people doing the same on Instagram'. Telling fibs?: The former TOWIE star posted on her Instagram story 'Wish I was there' with a crying emoji, despite being at the celebration of her friend son's third birthday They also claimed she had since educated herself on the government's rules to prevent any further wrongdoing. Speaking in a statement released to MailOnline on May 18, the star's spokesperson said: 'Lauren was unaware she wasn't allowed friends in her house. She was informed this was allowed and that lockdown rules had been lifted slightly... 'She had also seen people having similar gatherings on other people's Instagram stories. Lauren has been told to look at the government website and now understands the guidelines.' Malayalam crime thriller Forensic, has been the talk of the town since its release, thanks to its tremendous running at the theatres. With the lockdown in place, the movie buffs were hoping to watch the film on OTT platforms. A few weeks ago, Amazon Prime Video announced that it would release the Tovino-starrer on its streaming platform on May 1. However, the movie didn't get a release due to undisclosed reasons. The netizens eventually criticized the American company on social media for not releasing the movie on the promised day. Well now, fans can rejoice as the movie is finally releasing on Netflix. Yes, you read that right! Forensic will have a release on June 7. The actors and makers of the movie took to their social media handle to announce the same. Interestingly, the movie recently had its television premiere on popular Malayalam channel Asianet, which bagged the satellite rights of the crime thriller. The premiere garnered huge appreciation from the mini-screen audience, for its impeccable storyline. Directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan, the movie revolves around Dr. Samuel John Kattookkaran, who serves as a medico-legal adviser in the forensic department of Kerala. Forensic shows Samuel using his knowledge of forensic science to solve a murder mystery. Mamta Mohandas as Rithika Xavier is the female lead in the crime thriller. Recently, there were reports suggesting that the makers of the movie are planning a sequel to Forensic. During an interview, one of the directors of the film, Akhil hinted that the team is considering the possibilities for a second instalment of the film. Tovino also stated that he would love to essay Dr. Samuel John Kattookkaran on the screen once again, if everything falls in place. Forensic features an ensemble cast including Reba Monica John, Renji Panicker, Saiju Kurup, Prathap Pothen, Anil Murali, Giju John, Dhanesh Anand and, Anwar Shereef. Bankrolled by Navis Xaviour and Siju Mathew, the thriller has music, including background music, composed by Jakes Bejoy. Minnal Murali: Kerala Police Arrest Accused Who Vandalised Tovino Thomas' Film Set Malayalam Cinema Suffers Loss Of Over Rs 600 Crore, Confirms B Unnikrishnan! Physician Executive Brings Large-Scale Virtual Healthcare Implementation Expertise to MDLIVE During Period of Accelerated Growth CHICAGO and MIRAMAR, Fla., June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MDLIVE Inc. today announced the appointment of Cynthia Zelis, MD, MBA, as chief medical officer. A board-certified family physician and former executive with University Hospitals in Cleveland, she brings to the virtual healthcare provider more than 20 years of clinical and business leadership experience with a focus on transforming the delivery of value-based care through physician collaboration, change management, and the development and adoption of innovative technologies. In her role at University Hospitals, Dr. Zelis was responsible for the health systems partnership with MDLIVE, including the management of implementation and adoption, while also serving as a member of MDLIVEs Strategic Client Council. Dr. Zelis joins MDLIVE at a time of record growth across all business segments as individuals throughout the U.S. turn to telehealth for medical, behavioral health and dermatological care amid continued concerns about exposure to COVID-19. Cindy is recognized industry-wide for her success in increasing both physician adoption and patient utilization of telemedicine at a large health system while maintaining quality and reducing the cost of care, said Charles Jones, MDLIVEs chairman and chief executive officer. She brings strong leadership at a critical time for MDLIVE. The fear of contagion resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to accelerate adoption of virtual care. Accordingly, we will continue to expand our services beyond urgent care, behavioral health, dermatology, and more broadly into virtual primary care and chronic care. Cindys role on our executive team will be integral to our continued growth. Dr. Zelis commented, Becoming the chief medical officer of MDLIVE gives me the opportunity to lead a clinical team and contribute to the success of a growth-oriented virtual healthcare business aligned with my core values of compassion and innovation. Today we see how important it is to provide consumers with convenient access to quality care from the safety of their homes. Beyond this, we must continue to challenge ourselves to innovate to reduce the overall cost of healthcare and improve outcomes with healthcare provided conveniently and in a contagion-free environment. I am excited to be part of the transformative leaders of MDLIVE and our national provider network that will continue to advance the delivery of high value digital health care. Story continues Prior to joining MDLIVE, Dr. Zelis served in several leadership roles at University Hospitals. Most recently, she was vice president of ambulatory operations and telehealth, a position for which she had strategic and operational oversight of more than 50 ambulatory health centers and all telehealth initiatives across the $4 billion system. Her comprehensive approach using data, digital tools and process improvement to advance physician alignment resulted in more than $140 million in net revenue growth for the health system. While at University Hospitals, Dr. Zelis increased virtual visit volumes by more than 80 percent and laid the foundation to support the additional exponential growth of the systems telehealth offering during the COVID-19 pandemic. An innovator at heart, Dr. Zelis co-invented and served as operational leader for a consumer self-scheduling platform that resulted in large-scale growth of monthly appointment volume. Dr. Zelis is a frequent speaker at healthcare technology conferences. She has been recognized many times as a Top Doctor as well as one of University Hospitals distinguished physicians. Dr. Zelis earned her medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University, MBA in healthcare administration from Baldwin Wallace University, and bachelors degree from Kent State University. About MDLIVE MDLIVE offers convenient, affordable and contagion-free virtual healthcare services to more than 40 million members nationwide. Our network of board-certified physicians, dermatologists, psychiatrists and therapists are specially trained in virtual care and are committed to the highest quality treatment and the best possible patient experience. We leverage technology and artificial intelligence to simplify and streamline, connecting providers and patients whenever and wherever its most convenient, often within just minutes. To learn more about our expanding product suite and our partnerships with major health plans, hospital systems and employers, visit www.MDLIVE.com, download our app, or text Sophie to MDLIVE (635483) to register. David Schull Russo Partners (858) 717-2310 david.schull@russopartnersllc.com Our intention is for our guests to understand that no stone is unturned relative to their safety in our spaces. Equally important is our utilization of touchless technology that offers our guests a safe, comfortable and convenient experience from check-in to check-out. Zenoti is pleased to announce a new partnership with Gene Juarez Salons & Spas. Gene Juarez offers awarding-winning salon and spa services across 10 locations in Western Washington. Gene Juarez made the decision to move from SalonBiz to Zenoti as their cloud management system to elevate their guest experiences with seamless technology. Given post-COVID realities, Zenoti now also assists Gene Juarez in meeting new customer expectations. With Zenotis platform, Gene Juarez now offers customers the ability to interact with their brand through their trusted personal mobile devices. Gene Juarezs new branded mobile app powered by Zenoti allows customers to check-in just by walking through their doors using geo-fencing technology. This means customers do not have to wait in line or interact with front-desk staff to check-in. Through Gene Juarezs new employee-facing mobile app, service providers will receive an immediate notification that their customers arrived on their personal mobile device. This new process eliminates reliance on frequently touched shared devices among employees. Immediate alerts sent to service providers also reduces customers wait time in lounges, helping maintain social distancing measures. Similarly, Gene Juarez now allows service providers to update customer invoices via their mobile devices during service. Invoices can be modified for chair-side upgrades, including service upgrades or product add-ons. This ability reduces reliance on front-desk staff, helping to minimize unnecessary contact between staff members. Using the Gene Juarez mobile app, customers pay their invoice, tip service providers, rate their experiences, and rebook appointments from personal mobile devices. There is no need for customers to wait in check-out lines, interact with front-desk staff, or touch POS equipment. Once again, Gene Juarez allows customers to conveniently social distance and reduce contact with frequently touched surfaces. With Zenoti, Gene Juarez provides customers and employees with advanced solutions to ease post-COVID anxieties and concerns while also elevating guest experiences with unprecedented convenience. Scott Missad, CEO of Gene Juarez Salons & Spas, stated: As a salon and spa brand striving to be best in class, we are completely focused on reopening in a profound way. The most critical part of this is ensuring the health and safety standards are paramount for our team and guests alike. Our intention is for our guests to understand that no stone is unturned relative to their safety in our spaces. Equally important is our utilization of touchless technology that offers our guests a safe, comfortable and convenient experience from check-in to check-out. For more information concerning Zenotis partnership with Gene Juarez, please contact press@zenoti.com. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More State-run transmission utility Power Grid on Thursday said the Department of Telecommunication has raised a demand of Rs 13,613.66 crore as licence fee for years 2006-07 to 2009-10. "Department of Telecommunication vide its revised assessment order dated May 22, 2020 in respect of NLD (National Long Distance) licence for the FYs 2006-07 to 2009-10 has asked POWERGRID to pay Rs 13,613.66 crore on account of License Fee for the FYs 2006-07 to 2009-10, interest, penalty and interest on penalty," a regulatory filing by the company said. The Supreme Court's ruling in October last year led the DoT to demand Rs 1.47 lakh crore in unpaid dues on licence fees and spectrum usage charges from telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. Its demand related to a 14-year-old dispute regarding the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which the Supreme Court agreed should include all kinds of income generated by the telcos. The DoT also raised a demand of over Rs 3 lakh crore from non-telecom PSUs such as GAIL, Oil India and PowerGrid for telecom licences these firms had primarily acquired for internal communication purposes. PowerGrid holds NLD and Internet Service Provider (ISP) licences. Samantha Ware Glee actress Samantha re-ignited rumors of Lea Michele's alleged bad behavior on-set, when she responded to Michele's post regarding the death of George Floyd earlier this week. Ware, 33, said: 'Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?!... 'Cause I'll never forget... I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's*** in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.' Kicking off: Samantha Ware made claims about Lea Michele earlier this week. Alex Newell Alex - who starred as Unique Adams on the series for four seasons - promptly aired his feelings on Twitter. 'We ain't got not a damn thing to lie about 6 years later!' he replied to one fan who suggested they were making false accusations about Michele's behavior. Dabier Snell Actor Dabier Snell, who appeared in one episode of Glee, claimed he wasn't allowed to sit with Michele on set, saying: 'GIRL YOU WOULDNT LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE 'I DIDNT BELONG THERE' F--K YOU LEA.' Bad memories: Lea on Glee with Chris Colfer and Heather Morris Heather Morris Morris, 33, who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce on the Ryan Murphy show, claims Michele was 'very' unpleasant to work with, saying: ''Was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out.' Melissa Benoist Supergirl star Melissa Benoist, who appeared on Glee with Lea Michele, liked a series of posts describing star's bullying and abusive behavior toward castmates. Benoist appeared on Glee's fourth season playing a character named Marley Rose. She sang a duet with Michele on the series. She also pressed the heart button on tweets from Glee's Alex Newell and Amber Riley that essentially endorsed the spirit of Ware's sentiments Amber Riley Riley, who played Mercedes Jones in the through all six seasons, shared two GIFs of herself following the allegations, one raising her hand, while the other sipping tea. The response caused a stir among fans who saw it as a subtle way of the actress chiming in. Later, she made clear she wasn't focused on the controversy amid the turbulent times of social unrest in the wake of George Floyd's killing, and would only speak on the topic once while appearing on Instagram Live. She said, 'I don't give a s*** about this Lea Michele thing - I really don't give a f*** ... people are out here dying and being murdered by police. I don't give a s*** about this Lea Michele thing - I wish her well, I hope she has an amazing pregnancy, I hope that she has grown.' RHONY's Aviva Drescher Even Real Housewives of New York star Aviva Drescher had a story to tell, commenting: 'You were once very unkind to me so I am not surprised by your behavior. You shouldn't judge others before looking in the mirror.' Michele made disparaging remarks about Drescher during an episode of Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live. Awkward: Lea slated Aviva on a 2014 appearance on Watch What Happens Live! Abigail Breslin Scream Queens actress Breslin, 24, was another former co-star who was caught 'liking' a smattering of tweets about the controversy. Including one that read: not everyone agreeing that something felt off about Lea Michele where have yall been ive BEEN saying this FOR YEARS??? i thought i was alone.' Yvette Nicole Brown Actress Yvette Nicole Brown also gave her support to Ware. 'I felt every one of those capital letters,' the Community actress tweeted 'EVERY person on a set matters. EVERY person on a set deserves respect. And it is the RESPONSIBILITY of every series regular to make EVERY person who visits their home feel welcome. This dismissive attitude is whats wrong in Hollywood AND the world.' Marcel Spears The Mayor actor reacted to an array of replies to Ware's initial tweet, including one directly asking Yvette Nicole Brown: 'I assume u feel the same since u worked with her?' Under fire: Lea Michele in Gerard Canonico Broadway actor Gerard Canonico, 30, was an understudy in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening starring Michele and her BFF Jonathan Groff. 'You were nothing but a nightmare to me and fellow understudy cast members. You made us feel like we didnt belong there,' Canonico wrote in a comment on her Instagram apology, which he had re-posted after claiming it had initially been deleted. Elizabeth Aldrich Actress Elizabeth Aldrich - who was Michele's understudy in Ragtime - claimed on Twitter: 'She was absolutely awful to me and ensemble. She demeaned the crew and threatened to have people fired if she was in anyway displeased. I used to cry every night from the mean and manipulative things she would do. She was 12. She was terrifying.' Iqbal Theba Glee co-star Iqbal Theba said he was not mistreated by the star and took to Twitter to write: 'Lot of people r assuming that @LeaMichele mistreated me. Let me state it clearly that I was never mistreated by her. And if some of the cast were treated badly then she has apologized for it which is wonderful. But being called a racist is too heavy & unfair a burden 4 most of us, specially in these troubled times.' Plastic Martyr Trans model Plastic recalled an incident with Lea in the women's bathroom at the 2010 Emmy Awards. She told The Sun: 'She goes, ''Excuse me?'' and she looks at her friends, looks at me again, and says, ''Excuse you, you're in the woman's bathroom''. I went from feeling like I was on cloud nine to feeling like a circus freak.' Dean Geyer Dean Geyer - who played Brody Weston, the boyfriend of Michele's character Rachel Berry, for 14 episodes - had nothing but nice things to say about her. 'Lea is still one of my favourite co-stars that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is extremely hard working and super fun to be around,' he said. Jordan Pruitt The Voice star Jordan Pruitt chimed in on Friday, tweeting: 'Everyone in Hollywood KNOWS that Lea Michele is a horrible human being . she is a B**** to everyone. We all know it yawn. Moving on ' CAIRO For months, one enduring mystery of the coronavirus was why some of the worlds most populous countries, with rickety health systems and crowded slums, had managed to avoid the brunt of an outbreak that was burning through relatively affluent societies in Europe and the United States. Now some of those countries are tumbling into the maw of the pandemic, and they are grappling with the likelihood that their troubles are only beginning. Globally, known cases of the virus are growing faster than ever with more than 100,000 new ones a day. The surge is concentrated in densely populated, low- and middle-income countries across the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and South Asia. Not only has it filled hospitals and cemeteries there, it has frustrated the hopes of leaders who thought they were doing everything right, or who believed they might somehow escape the pandemics worst ravages. Taiwans officials have confirmed that the Ministry of National Defense plans to buy land-based Boeing-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles as part of its military modernisation efforts, the latest purchase from the United States to deal with a rising threat from China. Taiwans officials have confirmed that the Ministry of National Defense plans to buy land-based Boeing-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles as part of its military modernisation efforts, the latest purchase from the United States to deal with a rising threat from China. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link A Republic of China Navy Hsiung Feng II/III Anti-Ship Missile Launchers on a military vehicle at Zuoying Naval Base, China (Picture source: Wikimedia) At a meeting of the Legislative Yuans Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Deputy Minister of National Defense Chang Che-ping confirmed that Taiwan was planning to buy Harpoon missiles from the United States to serve as a coastal defence cruise missile. Taipei will still have to make a formal request to Washington, but if the United States agrees to sell the Harpoons, Taiwan should receive them in 2023, Chang added. The United States already has exported weapons to Taiwan annually for more than 70 years. Since 2008, the United States has sold more than $24 billion in arms to Taiwan, including fighter aircraft, tanks, and missiles. USS Coronado, a US Navy littoral combat ship, launches a Harpoon missile (Picture source: US Navy) Why the Harpoon Missiles? Harpoon missiles are similar to the Taiwanese weapons, although the Hsiung Feng II has greater range and faster cruising speed, CSIST president Art Chang said, adding that the truck-borne Harpoons allow for comparatively greater mobility than the Hsiung Feng II, which needs to be towed. Taiwan has also developed its Hsiung Feng III, a supersonic missile that uses solid-fuel propellant as a booster and liquid fuel to power a ramjet. It was originally conceived as an anti-ship missile, but its range is limited to just 75 to 90 miles. With that in mind, Taipei has taken another look at the American Harpoonand it isnt the only power in Asia that sees the potential of the ageing U.S. missile platform. A view of an RGM-84 surface-to-surface Harpoon missile, immediately after leaving a canister launcher aboard the cruiser USS LEAHY (CG-16), near the Pacific Missile Test Center, Calif (Picture source: Wikipedia) About the Harpoon Missile: The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile. Its low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory, active radar guidance and warhead design assure high survivability and effectiveness. To strike targets on land and ships in port, the missile uses GPS-aided inertial navigation to hit a designated target aimpoint. The 227-kilogram blast warhead delivers lethal firepower against a wide variety of land-based targets, including coastal defense sites, surface-to-air missile sites, exposed aircraft, port/industrial facilities and ships in port. BOCA RATON, Fla., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AE Industrial Partners, LP ("AEI"), a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets, announced today that Kevin G. McAllister, former President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has joined the firm as a Senior Operating Partner, effective immediately. Mr. McAllister will also serve as co-head of the newly formed AE Industrial Portfolio Strategy and Optimization Group (PSO Group). Paul McElhinney, an AEI Operating Partner, has been promoted to co-head of the AEI PSO Group and Senior Operating Partner. To assist in maximizing the value of all AEI portfolio companies, the AEI PSO Group will serve as a resource to each company to help strengthen their strategic planning processes, leverage the firm's industry relationships to accelerate growth, improve quality and productivity, and foster a strong culture of safety, performance, learning, and people development. "Having an industry leader of Kevin's caliber join AE Industrial is not only an honor, but it's also a sign that the firm is recognized as one of the leading investors in aerospace and defense," said David Rowe, Managing Partner, AEI. "We are confident that Kevin's insights and unparalleled aviation expertise will be a tremendous asset to all of our portfolio companies as they look to improve operations and realize untapped potential. We welcome him to our leadership team." "The formation of the PSO group is a natural evolution for the AEI platform given the size of our industrial portfolio and the firm's value-added approach building businesses to scale," added Michael Greene, Managing Partner, AEI. "Over the past two decades, AE Industrial has built a stellar reputation as a smart investor that understands the intricacies of deeply technical industries such as aerospace and defense," said Mr. McAllister. "Joining AEI is a perfect opportunity for me and I am excited to partner with Paul, the AEI team, and the companies' management to unlock greater value in the portfolio." Mr. McAllister served as President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes from 2016 through October 2019. Prior to joining Boeing, he spent 27 years with GE Aviation, where he most recently served as President and CEO of GE Aviation Services. Mr. McAllister was previously Vice President and General Manager of Global Sales and Marketing at GE Aviation, where he was responsible for delivering record backlog growth for the business. He holds a bachelor's degree in materials engineering from University of Pittsburgh. Mr. McElhinney joined AEI in 2018 following a more than 30-year career in senior leadership at General Electric. He most recently served as President and CEO of both GE Power Services, a $15 billion power generation aftermarket business, and GE Aviation Services, the global aftermarket division of GE Aviation where he was responsible for more than doubling the backlog of the business to over $100 billion. Mr. McElhinney holds an Honors Degree in Law from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. About AE Industrial Partners AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from our deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout our target markets. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com. CONTACT: Lambert & Co. Jennifer Hurson (845) 507-0571 [email protected] or Kristin Celauro (732) 433-5200 [email protected] SOURCE AE Industrial Partners Related Links http://www.aeroequity.com The head of the Bexar County Republican Party has put forth some extreme positions during her time in office, but when she suggested that George Floyds death might have been staged by Democrats to hurt President Donald Trump that was it. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott himself led the charge against Cynthia Brehm on Thursday, demanding she resign immediately. He was joined by the states other top Republicans: U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz; and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, among others. With protests over Floyds death continuing to draw thousands into the streets of Texas cities, sometimes turning into violent clashes with police, Brehms Facebook post was political dynamite that had to be defused. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes; the officer was fired and has since been charged with murder in Floyds death. State party leaders had little to say about Brehms remarks two weeks ago at a rally that the novel coronavirus was a hoax promulgated by the Democrats to undo all of the good that President Trump has done for our country. And they had nothing to say earlier this year when she accused the Bexar County Elections Department of tampering with ballots providing no specifics or evidence in the March primaries. But claiming a faked Floyd death couldnt be ignored. Not over yet The trouble isnt over for the Republican Party yet; Brehm refuses to resign. No, Im not going to do that. I have constitutional rights, which is freedom of speech, Brehm said, accusing the top Republicans of attacking a leader in their own party amid the pent-up frustrations people are feeling from the pandemic, economic strife and civil unrest related to Floyds death. They couldve handled that better and said, You know what? We have free speech in this country. I dont agree with that, but you should go talk to her, Brehm said. But instead they cut at the jugular. Im not going to resign. Brehms Facebook post, which has been deleted, was entitled: George Floyd A Staged Event? I think there is at the very least the possibility that this was a filmed public execution of a black man by a white cop, with the purpose of creating racial tensions and driving a wedge in the growing group of anti-deep state sentiment from common people, that have already been psychologically traumatized by COVID-19 fears, Brehm wrote in the post. Abbotts communications director John Wittman called the comments disgusting and said they have no place in the Republican Party. Cynthia Brehm should immediately resign her position as chair of the Bexar County Republican Party, Wittman said. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Brehm said the post, and her comments about the COVID-19 pandemic at the rally were taken out of context. She also said the Facebook post was done as a favor to a journalist friend. Brehm said she had talked on the phone a few nights earlier to Gigi Hughes, publisher and owner of the San Antonio Herald, an African American newspaper on the East Side. Hughes told her about a conspiracy theory circulating among black publications nationwide. Brehm said she didnt believe it, but posted it Tuesday, for the other side of the view. Her post began, Tell me what you think: Subject: George Floyd - A Staged Event? Its a question. Its not a claim. I didnt say it was a hoax. But its being spun that way, and thats not right, she said Thursday. Brehem noted that Express-News columnist Gilbert Garcia posted a screenshot of her message Wednesday/ She said that all of his haters around the country descended on me, so she removed her post later that day. But the screenshot remained on Facebook. On ExpressNews.com: Party chairwoman said she was assaulted, is not a brawler On Wednesday night, U.S. Rep Chip Roy, an Austin Republican whose district includes San Antonio, took to Twitter saying Brehm should resign if she did post the message. The states lieutenant governor agreed. Cynthia Brehm must resign now, today, Patrick said. There is no excuse for this outrageous, ignorant racist message made worse by using her position as a local party leader to spread it. Republican Party of Texas chairman James Dickey said hes personally reached out to Brehm and called on her to resign immediately. Brehm said she made a mistake, but has no intention of resigning. We all live and learn through mistakes and so I wont be making that mistake again, she said. I posted that for Gigi. Yeah, in hindsight, I shouldnt have done it. But shes my friend and she wanted me to do it. Hughes tells a different story. She said she mentioned the conspiracy idea to Brehm during a conversation about a lot of stuff, including the upcoming state GOP convention next month in Houston, but never asked her to post about the weird conspiracy theory on social media. Im well know on the East Side. Why would I use her to post it? For what? said Hughes, a former Democratic who now is a Republican and Trump supporter. Their discussion on the rumors about the controversial video of Floyds death was just an FYI conversation, she said. Hughes was shocked to learn Brehms post had prompted a demand from the governor that she resign, especially after the party chair had survived the recent controversy concerning the remarks about the novel coronavirus conspiracy. I thought the COVID thing was going to take her out, Hughes said. At the rally, after making her coronavirus comments, she urged supporters to ignore the recommendations of health and city officials. So, take off your masks, exercise your constitutional rights, she said at the rally. Stand up, speak up, and vote Republican. On ExpressNews.com: Republican Party Chair Brehm denounces novel coronavirus as Democratic hoax Those remarks came even as Abbott, too, has recommended Texans wear masks and warned again this week that COVID-19 hasnt left the state and is still a threat. Brehm has since said she doesnt believe COVID-19 is a fake crisis. But she maintains that the public response is an overreaction. We have a 0.05 percent chance of getting the coronavirus, she said. We know that its real. But because we know that its real, I think that its been taken advantage of, its really been blown out of proportion. And I believe its become politicized. And its wrong. We need to come together as a country, and we need to take care of each other. Brehm, the countys party chair since 2018, is in a re-election battle with real estate appraiser John Austin in a July 14 GOP runoff. Her past controversies also include a refusal in the fall to sign documents for a joint Democratic-Republican Party primary in March, potentially forcing the county GOP to stage its own election. She later relented and signed the papers. In December 2019, Brehm had an altercation with long-time Republican activist Monica Rojas Stone that resulted in each having police reports filed accusing the other of assault. Political consultant Laura Barberena said she first dealt with Brehm while working for Manny Pelaez, who defeated Brehm in a June 2017 runoff for City Council, to fill a seat left open by Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Brehm was involved in an altercation with Pelaezs parents, and she raised eyebrows during her campaign by promising to advocate for giant tarps to be placed at traffic accident scenes, to prevent motorists from rubbernecking, Barberena recalled. On ExpressNews.com: Discord erupts over March primaries in Bexar County She said the GOP and its voters can blame themselves for the embarrassment over Brehms outlandish comments and brushes with controversy. Theyve created this space for these type of candidates to not only be elected but then to thrive, Barberena said. Not until they actually go to such an absolutely crazy extreme that its like, Oh, we need to get rid of her. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA A York City police officer was taken out of the field after officials received a complaint that hed reenacted the police-custody death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at a party. Mayor Michael Helfrich responded to the allegations against the officer on Facebook, urging residents to record everything so it is easier to prove fact from fiction. The officer in question is on desk duty while the incident is investigated, he said. The police officer has been removed from public service and has been assigned to desk service until that we can complete the collection of evidence and testimonies, a process required by law. A city is not like a business. I cant just fire someone based on an allegation without an investigation, Helfrich said. This is the best I can do for now. Police havent commented on the allegations. The York Dispatch reported that the off-duty officer reenacted the death at a college graduation party in front of two black women, both of whom told the newspaper theyve spoken to internal affairs investigators. The York City Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PennLive. Demonstrations have surged in central Pennsylvania cities such as York and Harrisburg over the last week after a video went viral of a handcuffed Floyd being restrained. Regarding the York City Police Officer accused of involvement in a reenactment of the George Floyd public murder by... Posted by Michael Helfrich on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 Floyd a 46-year-old black man accused of trying to pass a counterfeit bill died on May 25 after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. He and three other officers at the scene were fired and now face charges in Floyds death. Chauvin is charged with second and third-degree murder. The three others are accused of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. READ MORE: Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf joins Wednesdays rally, march against injustice, gun violence in Harrisburg Barack Obama speech: Former President steps out as nation confronts confluence of crises Drew Brees national anthem comments draw ire of LeBron James, Michael Thomas and more "At Monday Properties, the health and safety of our tenants remains our number one priority, and during this challenging time, we're working to find practical and efficient solutions," said Jennifer Burns, Senior Vice President of Property Management and Operations, Monday Properties. "As the first commercial real estate landlord to fully implement this technology in one location in the D.C. metro area, we're proud to be a leader in the space and partner with Kastle Systems. KastleSafeSpaces is providing a way for us to leverage the existing infrastructure we already have in our building, while incorporating upgrades that will better safeguard our tenants health and safety as they return to the office." Kastle has combined five decades of security experience with best practices around managing the novel coronavirus to introduce KastleSafeSpaces, which lets workplaces re-open by making their spaces smarter and safer, while maintaining a level of convenience enabled by technology. Monday Properties is integrating KastleSafeSpaces technology into its property at 1812 North Moore Street, focusing initially on touchless technologies for both tenant and visitor experiences, employee screenings for safe access, occupancy control and contact tracing enabled by access control and exit reader implementation. Kastle CEO Haniel Lynn said, "From the minute you walk up to your office building to when you get to your desk, KastleSafeSpaces integrates a coordinated system of touchless technologies for doors, turnstiles, elevators and more, to get employees and visitors safely to their destination. Additionally, KastleSafeSpaces can help facilitate employee screening, social distancing and contact tracing processes to reassure workers returning to their offices." About Kastle Systems Kastle Systems has been leading the security industry since 1972 with advanced managed security solutions and services, protecting commercial real estate, multi-family residential, global enterprises, educational institutions, and critical government facilities. Kastle's state-of-the-art security solutions include access control, video surveillance, visitor management and identity management, as well as a suite of mobile security applications, all integrated on an open, standards-based platform and supported by a team of experts 24x7x365. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, Kastle is on CIOReview's 2019 List of Top 10 Physical Security Providers. For more information about KastleSafeSpaces, KastleAccess or any of the other advanced security innovations from Kastle Systems, contact Jake Heinz, Chief Marketing Officer at [email protected] or visit https://www.kastle.com. About Monday Properties Monday Properties is a dynamic real estate investment firm that serves as an owner, operator, and developer in highly targeted, supplied constrained markets. With 238 years of senior leadership experience, Monday Properties delivers unique commercial and residential investment offerings that transform communities, including the U.S. corporate headquarters of Nestle, which resides in Monday Properties' world-class office tower, 1812 North Moore Street. Since 2002, the firm has completed over 60 property transactions representing $13 billion in capital value and 28 million square feet and has leased over 10 million square feet. For more information on Monday Properties, please visit www.mondayre.com. SOURCE Kastle Systems Related Links http://www.kastle.com Getting into law school is only the first step of your career journey in the legal field. While legal studies could be really hard, the major challenge once you get in is about choosing a practice area. This single decision can be the foundation of your career as it has an impact on where you would work, what kind of people you would deal with, and how much money you would make in the future. Moreover, this is a choice you would have to live with throughout your career and life. Obviously, it makes sense to decide carefully, considering the pros and cons of diverse practice areas before nailing the one you would want to pursue ahead. Amongst the myriad opportunities in the legal field is personal injury law, which involves protection of the rights of accident victims and helping them get the compensation they deserve for covering their injuries and financial losses. Let us explain why this practice area makes a good choice for law students. A competitive yet rewarding field If you have decided to be a lawyer because you love challenges, this is just the right practice area for you. The challenges out there are immense because you will often have to deal with powerful opponents like insurance companies, manufacturers, reputed surgeons and more. Once you choose personal injury law as your core area, you will also quickly realize that it has plenty of competition out there. While some attorneys go for volume, others stick to specialization in severe and high-value cases. The pick is yours, whether you would want to find a niche, such as traffic accidents, medical malpractice or workplace injuries, or offer legal representation for injury cases randomly. Apart from the competition, the good thing about this practice area is that it is in high demand. Negligent accidents happen every day and people want help. So you will probably never be out of work. Real opportunity to help people For someone who wants to serve helpless people who have been wronged due to someone else's fault, personal injury law is the field of choice. Clients approach personal injury lawyers at a difficult point in their lives, with a dire need for justice and money to get things back on track. Ask an expert personal injury attorney near Nashville Tennessee and they would surely recommend this practice area as a real opportunity to help these victims who deserve to be compensated rightfully. They are often pitted against strong opponents, from insurance companies, healthcare providers, manufacturers, and trucking companies, who would go to any lengths to deny compensation. Only a lawyer with the right expertise can secure them a fair deal. A noble profession One thing that makes personal injury law different from other practice areas is that it is a noble profession. Criminal defense attorneys, for example, may have to defend even guilty clients more than once during their careers. Similarly, business lawyers may have to stand for clients responsible for illegitimate acts. But with personal injury lawyers, things are different. You will be serving real victims, people who suffer because of someone else's negligence, and deserve to be paid for the injuries and losses they have sustained. Your services will be vital to their lives and the lives of their families as well. You can secure for them the claim they should get and even justice in case of wrongful deaths or debilitating injuries. It is all about making a difference in someone's life! Opportunity to be inspired Representing accident victims often brings you close to the truth and shows how they have to struggle with circumstances. You come across their families, friends, colleagues, and communities as a whole. You deal with unscrupulous manufacturers, harsh business owners, heartless insurance companies, and greedy medical practitioners who regularly act in bad faith. Still, even the weakest of the accident victims have the courage to stand against the wrongdoers and seek justice. For a lawyer, these clients bring the opportunity to be inspired and stand strong even in the face of the toughest challenges. As you help your client, you also get the satisfaction about serving everyone their life touches and the feeling can be incredible in itself. Personal injury law may not be glamorized like other practice areas such as criminal defense and business law. It is more about helping people and families that have been wronged, getting them the justice and compensation they should get to be back on track. It is all about going the extra mile to help someone who must be paid for their injuries, pain, and suffering. Brooke Boney (pictured) has slammed Australians for jumping on the #blackouttuesday bandwagon while remaining silent about issues facing Aboriginal people Brooke Boney has slammed Australians for jumping on the #blackouttuesday bandwagon while remaining silent about issues facing Aboriginal people. The indigenous Today Show host said she was shocked to see people who have 'openly expressed racist views' in the past post a black tile on Instagram in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. 'We, on one hand, will condemn the savagery we've seen play out in the US but sit idly by while the oldest continuing culture in the world is dismantled before out eyes,' Boney wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald. 'So while I appreciate the #blackouttuesday movement on Instagram, I want people to maintain this level of engagement and commitment to black issues.' Social media was awash with black squares on Tuesday as thousands of people joined the online campaign in support of the George Floyd protests Great loss: The movement comes after the death of African-American George Floyd, 46, last week, who died when policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for several minutes Social media was awash with black squares on Tuesday as thousands of people joined the online campaign in support of the George Floyd protests. Mr Floyd was arrested by white Minneapolis cops last Monday accused of using a forged bank note. Video circulated of one of the officers, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck for eight minutes - even after he lost consciousness. Mr Floyd was later declared dead, and Chauvin charged with his murder. In her opinion piece, Boney called out the majority of Australians for remaining silent when indigenous people are brutalised. She called for Australians to 'use this momentum...to make Australia better for every Australian'. 'Next time an Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander person dies in custody will you ask why? 'Will you ask for justice? The indigenous Today Show host said she was shocked to see people who have 'openly expressed racist views' in the past post a black tile on Instagram in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement 'We, on one hand, will condemn the savagery we've seen play out in the US but sit idly by while the oldest continuing culture in the world is dismantled before out eyes,' Boney wrote 'Will you march (peacefully) with those families through the streets?' Black Lives Matter rallies are being held around Australia this weekend. Marches will be held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra on Saturday in the wake of black man George Floyd's alleged murder at the hands of a white cop in the United States. The rallies will call for an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody, police brutality and racism in Australia. More than 400 indigenous Australians have died in police detention since a 1991 according to a Royal Commission into the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody. Officer Derek Chauvin (pictured) was identified as the officer pinning down George Floyd in video footage that was widely shared last week Bank of America announced it would be making a $1 billion, four-year commitment to address economic and racial inequality. Fueled by the pandemic, the program will focus on assisting people and communities of color that have experienced a greater impact due to COVID-19, said a press release. COMPANIES SUPPORTING COVID-19 EFFORTS: These companies gave back their federal stimulus loans during COVID-19 Underlying economic and social disparities that exist have accelerated and intensified during the global pandemic, said CEO Brian Moynihan. The events of the past week have created a sense of true urgency that has arisen across our nation, particularly in view of the racial injustices we have seen in the communities where we work and live. We all need to do more," said Moynihan Areas of focus as shared on a press release include the following: Health Jobs/Training/Reskilling/Upskilling Support to Small Businesses Housing The program is scheduled to be executed among the company's 90 local U.S. market presidents and non-U.S. country executives, said the press release. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: How to talk with your kids about police, race, protests Some of the areas in which these commitments will be executed include: Virus testing, telemedicine, flu vaccination clinics, and other health services, with a special focus on communities of color. Partnerships with historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions in the United States for hiring, research programs, and other areas of mutual opportunity. Support to minority-owned small businesses, including clients and vendors. In addition to these efforts, Bank of America has already provided $100 million to support nonprofit partners across its communities, stated a press release. STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. FARMINGTON Michelle Troconis will be allowed into the Jefferson Crossing property she shared with Fotis Dulos to retrieve the remainder of her belongings as foreclosure proceedings move forward. Defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn submitted a detailed list of items that his client owned and were still in the home when probate proceedings started in early February following Fotis Dulos death. The list included everything from kitchenware to bath towels and paintings of Troconis. We will go through the house and she will be able to take whatever is hers, Schoenhorn said Wednesday. Arrangements will have to be made for the larger items. Foreclosure proceedings on the Jefferson Crossing home are moving forward as the estate makes it way through probate court. On Wednesday, attorney Christopher Hug was appointed administrator of the estate. Hug was appointed in early February as the temporary administrator to unravel the financial affairs of Fotis Dulos, who was nearly penniless, according to an inventory that was conducted of his assets. Fotis Dulos had paid a cadre of attorneys in the various civil and criminal cases filed against him while trying to finance the mortgages on five properties owned by his company, Fore Group. Fotis Dulos died Jan. 30 from an apparent suicide as he faced murder and other charges in the death and disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, who vanished May 24, 2019. Troconis, his former girlfriend, and his friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, each face conspiracy to commit murder charges in the case. Troconis had been living in the Jefferson Crossing home until last June when she was originally arrested on tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges. Fotis Dulos apparently didnt have a will, Hug said in February, and someone emptied his safe deposit box likely in the days before his death. When he died, Fotis Dulos was also awaiting a ruling on the lawsuits filed against him by his mother-in-law, Gloria Farber, and was the subject of two foreclosure proceedings. A state Superior Court judge in Hartford issued a decision Monday in the lawsuits, awarding Farber $1.9 million. Farber contended that Fotis Dulos owed her family more than $2 million in loans made to the Fore Group, and he had not paid $200,000 left on a loan allowing him and Jennifer Dulos to build the Jefferson Crossing house. Farber filed to foreclose on the house as Fotis Dulos was the prime suspect in the death of her daughter. Fotis and Jennifer Dulos were embroiled in an acrimonious two-year divorce and custody battle over their five children when she vanished after dropping them off at school, police said. The 50-year-old New Canaan mother is presumed dead based on blood evidence found in her garage, according to arrest warrants. The foreclosure proceedings have been stalled since Feb. 20 as Hug has been trying to determine the value of the estates assets. The foreclosure proceedings will now move forward, said attorney Richard Weinsteint, who represents Farber. I will work with attorney Hug to get the contents out of the house, Weinstein said Wednesday. The Fore Group has little or no value, according to Weinstein, who plans to file a request for Farber to be awarded the $1.9 million from the estate. Danbury Savings Bank also filed foreclosure proceedings on the Sturbridge Lane home in New Canaan that Fotis Dulos was hoping to sell. It is unclear what will happen to several other properties owned by the Fore Group that Fotis Dulos was developing for sale. Intense thunderstorms washed over the state on Wednesday, resulting in a lot of wild weather that had people posting the whirlwind weather, or funnel clouds, they saw forming in their areas. West Penn Power shows power outages for more than 17,000 people in Berks County and more than 12,000 in York County. PECO is reporting 2,500 active outages as of 10 p.m. Wednesday. Philadelphia-area residents had some of the mosts spectacular photos and videos, as what appeared to be a funnel cloud began forming over the city. In State College and around central Pa., quarter size hail and torrential downpours were reported. Today I got to go chasing with @CTforecasting and @alexhatwx and it was so successful. We intercepted 3 severe warned supercells in eastern PA and saw quarter sized hail! #PAwx pic.twitter.com/7MOxhvGQs2 Quinlan Mulhern (@Mulhern_Wx) June 4, 2020 Heres the quarter sized hail we found in Troxelville! #PAwx pic.twitter.com/BwaH9Pj6dX Quinlan Mulhern (@Mulhern_Wx) June 4, 2020 Storm chasing in central Pa today. Got pea to dime sized hail in Beech Creek. Beautiful structure on the storm too! #pawx @NWSStateCollege pic.twitter.com/5AUz8ceiu5 Nicholas Norman )/ (@Stormin13Norman) June 3, 2020 Gusty thunderstorms passing through State College, PA #pawx pic.twitter.com/w1TAl2sgeV Kevin Coskren (@KevinCoskrenTV) June 3, 2020 Another round of pea to dime sized hail in Carlisle Pa, about an hour ago. #pawx @NWSStateCollege pic.twitter.com/VZ9wGZdVcV Nicholas Norman )/ (@Stormin13Norman) June 4, 2020 I would say its raining just a bit here in Spring Garden. #pawx pic.twitter.com/3MQV6yZ1h2 Anthony J. Machcinski (@ChinskiTweets) June 4, 2020 The National Weather Services has not released information on rainfall amounts or high wind records. On May 25, 2020, Minnesota Police Officer, Derek Chauvin, murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American. The murder of George Floyd marked another blot on human conscience. The beastly manner in which Floyd was killed demonstrated the failure of human institutions to transform the human heart. Many of us could not stand the shock that we experienced, especially as racism rises high in a country that is considered the superpower of the world. In the face of the agitation against the killing of George Floyd, the people of Ghana are marking five years of one of the evil days in the history of the country. June 3, 2015 marked an unfortunate incident where fire and flood conspired to kill over 250 people and left others totally deformed. While natural evil unsettles us, it is moral evil that causes us much pain. This is because moral evil is caused by human beings whom we value so highly. But the shock of moral evil is also because we have a high view of human goodness. In understanding human evil, it is important to reflect on the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution that was popularised by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century created the impression that things progress on a linear scale: from simple to complex. While Darwins theory was developed in the remit of biological science, the theory of evolution was appropriated in the social sciences. Social scientists appropriated the theory to argue that human beings progress from savage to civility. The society also progresses from being simple (primitivity) to complex (civility). In sum, we move from bad to good; and from good to better; and better to best! The impression that we got from the theory of evolution is that life would be better if the external factors of life were rigorously controlled. The idea of civilising the so-called primitive man was based on providing education rationality. The so-called civilising project verged on the assumption that if people were educated enough, they would be free from the shackles of irrationality the Id. The equation, therefore, was that the more educated we become, the better we become. The classroom becomes the key epicentre of socialisation in virtually every modern society. In view of this assumption, over the years, many analysts have focused on broadening the frontiers of education to liberate human beings from a beastly act. So much hope has been invested in the transformative power of education that for platonic philosophers, human evil was as a result of ignorance. Platos Allegory of the Cave was one of the quintessential ways of demonstrating the importance of education to transform human life. But over the centuries, human civilisation appears to verge on a cyclical basis. Perhaps, it appears that the more educated we become, the least transformation we experience. Apart from what some scholars refer to as natural evil, human history is replete with many instances where human beings have wreaked unspeakable havoc on their fellow human beings. Whether ideological battle or religious battles, we have seen human beings behaving beastly towards their fellow human beings. As human wickedness unfolds daily, we are compelled to rethink the nature of human beings. The narratives and conversations that brought about the doctrine of social contract were based on the understanding that human beings are ontologically wicked and evil. While we have the potential to do good, we are equally dangerous to our fellow human beings. Greed, selfishness, and self-aggrandisement have collectively messed the human society up. We also have what Hannah Arendt referred to as the banality of evil. In discussing the argument for a social contract, Thomas Hobbes argued that humans are savagely self-centred and must be governed by a sovereign. The idea of a social contract was conjured to, inter alia, salvage human beings from self-destruction and from the banality of evil. As part of the social contract, laws were passed to govern peoples actions; prisons were constructed to isolate undesirable characters and reform them for reintegration where necessary. More schools are built on a daily basis across the world to sustain civil life. Social welfare programmes are expanded to minimise the ravaging effect of poverty. Drugs are produced to manipulate human genes. Given the logic of social contract, we blame the environment and our genes for almost every human evil. Sometimes we blame our evil on our ignorance. We argue that if only we had enough education, we would have behaved differently. Sometimes we base it on our genes. This is precisely the argument of some humanist writers like Yuval Noah Harari. But for our genes, we would have behaved differently. Sometimes we blame it on poverty. Other times, we blame it on bad parenting. In many cases, we blame it on bad company. By externalising the reason for our evil proclivities, we seek to absolve ourselves of any blame. Consequently, instead of exercising a penitential culture, we take to blame culture. We blame everything, but ourselves, for the evil we commit. We are not responsible for our actions. We become victims of our environment. In the ongoing discussion on racism, many are blaming racism on the 400-year history of the enslavement of Africans in the Americas. Others are blaming it on the Bible. Some are also blaming it on poor political leadership. With all these reasons and many more, some individuals have taken to the streets to destroy physical facilities; attacking the police and shouting against racism in response to the killing of George Floyd. Obviously, we cannot exonerate Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd. But where would Jesus have located the cause of racism? The answer is in Mark 7. Today, as part of my evening devotion, I meditated on Mark 7:1-23. In the story, as recorded by Mark, the Pharisees were charging the disciples of Jesus Christ for subverting purification rituals. They argued that, as the disciples failed to perform cleansing rituals before eating, the disciples had violated the traditions of the elders. According to the Pharisees, therefore, the disciples of Jesus Christ had committed evil (and become polluted), because they failed to do what was considered a tradition. The tradition of ritual purification that the Jews practised had become important for marking Jewish identity. Through tradition, the Jewish could identify individuals who had deviated from the Jewish way of life. Consequently, the Jewish tradition of purification (externalities) was stifling the Jews from seeing the real cause of evil. But Jesus responded differently to the charge of the Jews differently. Instead of merely refuting their charge against His disciples, He told the Jews that it was not what was outside that pollutes a person. According to Jesus Christ, what pollutes one is what comes from ones heart. So, instead of education or the environment, Jesus argued that it was the heart that was the citadel of all evil. He said out of the heart emerges evil thoughts (including racism), sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly (Mark 7:21: emphasis mine). According to Jesus, therefore, it is not the absence of education; it is not the issue of a long history of enslavement, neither is it the issue of colonialism that cause racism. It is the issue of the heart. Certainly, history and context contribute to our understanding of the enduring effect of racism. But racism is an issue of the heart. It is the issue that is framed in the form of a question: How do I love someone who is not like me? The answer to this question cannot be solved with doses of education. Institutional reforms will do little to resolve that question. The answer to that question is the need for the transformation of the human heart. The transformation of the human heart is so central that Jesus did not engage in moral rehabilitation when He embarked on the redemption of the elect of God. His mission was not about building schools. His mission was not about refurbishing us. His mission the epicentre of the Gospel is the transformation of the human heart. Education may help us have a temporary change in opinion about something (including racism). But the heart, which is the centre of our actions, will remain untouched by education. Institutional reforms may have the superficiality of minimising racism, but the heart, until it is touched with the Gospel, will corrupt the institutions. We all need a transformation of our hearts. We may blame everything for every evil, but until our hearts are changed, we will not be far from committing the very evil we condemn. Until our hearts are transformed, we will condemn our fellow sinners because they sin differently. It is the axiomatic to have the heart transformed that I love the African-American Negro Spiritual that runs as follows: It's me, it's me, oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer. Not my mother, not my father, But it's me, oh Lord. We are all capable of committing the atrocities we condemn. Until the Lord transforms our hearts, we are no better when we condemn others. If we dont have a change of heart, we will as well perish like any other person who holds the racial card against other people (Luke 13:3). Jesuss response to racism is not just condemning those who are racist. His response is that those of us condemning racism must also have a change of mind. We should all go to God with a contrite heart to ask for forgiveness. We should move away from investing education with the power to change the human heart which, as I have argued, is the centre of human actions and inactions. Until we face our ontology as sinners in need of prayer and grace from the Lord, we will not be any better from those we are condemning. We can destroy buildings. We can set cars ablaze. We can pass laws. We can shout on top of the rooftop. All these are superficially good to express our anger. They provide temporary relief to our emotions. But to wholly deal with evil, including racism, we must acknowledge our need of the Lord to change us and our enemies. When Jesus was punished by His enemies, He did not rain curses on them. He did not condemn them to hell. Instead, He prayed for them to be transformed. He prayed for them to see His light. This is not to passively accept injustice. It is rather to identify the fundamental root of human evil. Jesuss approach to dealing with evil is based on the fact that the source of human evil is not institutions. The source of human evil is the heart (Jeremiah 17:9). This was succinctly captured by J.C.Ryle as follows: The wickedness of men is often attributed to bad examples, bad company, peculiar temptations, or the snares of the devil. It seems forgotten that every man carries within him a fountain of wickedness. We need no bad company to teach us, and no devil to tempt us, in order to run into sin. We have within us the beginning of every sin under heaven. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. Satyagraha Charles Prempeh ([email protected]), African University College of Communications, Accra Presettlement funding firm previously reported Roundup update that settlement talks were progressing; now the company is first to report that a settlement has been reached for plaintiffs who've contracted non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from the weed killer. WHIPPANY, N.J., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal-Bay LLC, the Lawsuit Settlement Funding Company, has received word that a tentative settlement has been reached regarding a portion of some of the numerous Roundup lawsuits filed across the United States. According to Legal-Bay's sources close to the litigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity, settlement amounts pertain specifically to plaintiffs who've contracted non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from their exposure to the Bayer Monsanto product. Financial terms are still not known, however plaintiffs will fall into tiers of damages which will determine ultimate dollar amounts. Bayer AG is located in Germany but settlements do not involve European residents. Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay, commented, "As reported last month, we are happy that this litigation is now officially in resolution status. I believe the plaintiffs' lawyers and Bayer did an amazing job resolving some of these claims considering all factors happening in the country today. Although final confirmation has not come, we believe this is a huge step in the next phase of process for sufferers." Bayer Monsanto was getting pressure as jury verdicts went against them. With 80,000 claims filed, Bayer is now offering to embark on a global settlement structure to contain exposure and put this chapter of the company to bed. Calls to Bayer Monsanto for comment about confirmation of settlement were not returned, and company still denies liability. Legal-Bay will be accepting new pre-settlement applications for Roundup cases, as well as for current clients. If you require an immediate cash advance from your anticipated Roundup settlement, please visit the company's website HERE or call 877.571.0405 where agents are standing by 24 hours a day. Legal Bay reviews have shown that they are a great lawsuit funding company to work with. Funding for lawsuits, commonly referred to by plaintiffs as lawsuit loans or a lawsuit loan, are always risk-free. You only repay if you win your case. The non-recourse cash advance is not a pre settlement loan, loans for settlement, or pre-settlement loans as commonly referred to. Contact: Chris Janish, CEO Email: info@Legal-Bay.com Ph.: 877.571.0405 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/126845/legal_bay_llc_logo.jpg A person walks towards the main quad during a quiet morning at Stanford University on March 9, 2020 in Stanford, California. Stanford University announced that classes will be held online for the remainder of the winter quarter after a staff member working in a clinic tested positive for the Coronavirus. Top college officials told lawmakers Thursday that universities will remain closed until officials can ensure it's safe to bring students back to campus, which will require extensive Covid-19 testing and contact tracing. College campuses across the country will see new coronavirus cases whenever they do reopen, regardless of whatever they do to prevent an outbreak, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told members of the U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Without adequate testing, universities "can't function at all," he said. "All the current evidence shows that we will continue to have undetected, broad community spread of Covid-19 and will continue to do so for many months to come," he said. Purdue University, which plans to reopen its campuses this fall, won't test all students for the coronavirus when they return, President Mitchell Daniels told the committee. The school will instead focus its efforts on those who come into contact with known positive cases and will conduct random testing through the semester, he said. The university has set aside over 500 beds to quarantine students who test positive, Daniels said. The university will spend "tens of millions" of dollars on enhanced health precautions, he said. Some universities, however, are still working toward implementing adequate testing strategies to reopen before making a final decision. Christina Paxson, president of Brown University in Rhode Island, said the university is still working with epidemiologists on a testing strategy. Classmates and dorm residents of known positive Covid-19 cases would also have to be tested. "I'm cautiously optimistic that we can reopen if we continue to coordinate closely with the state of Rhode Island and develop a sound, science-based plan for our campus," Paxson told the committee. "In this plan must include all of the things we just heard that we're very familiar with now about preventing the spread of infection, testing and more testing, tracing, isolation, quarantine, social distancing, masks and hygiene measures." Schools should have the ability to test all students and staff and should consider random testing to detect asymptomatic cases, Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, the committee's chairman, said during his opening remarks. Universities should also be able to test older faculty, students with medical conditions or people arriving from virus hot spots as well as all students in a class or dormitory where a person tests positive for the virus, he said. Alexander recommended university officials contact their local health department and the governor of the state, which submits a monthly plan to the federal government outlining testing supplies and needs, to expand their testing capabilities. Logan Hampton, president of Lane College, a historically black college in Tennessee, said his university is prepared to provide testing to all students who have Covid-19 symptoms. Lane College is preparing three separate plans for reopening, which could combine distance learning with on-campus classes, but has not determined if it will allow all students to return in the fall yet. Colleges and universities are suffering from revenue shortfalls as the pandemic upends daily life, much like the rest of the nation, and some are unsure if they'll be able to survive. Lane College credited each of its 819 residential students $713, or nearly $584,000, when the campus closed in the spring about 10% of the school's budget. Hampton said a large portion of the university's students lived on campus. The college laid off 21 employees and extended spending freeze. The college is now bracing for an even bigger revenue hit that will impact its ability to operate, he said. He asked Congress provide $1 billion in funding to historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions as well as doubling the award for Pell Grant recipients, who experience exceptional financial need. Paxson said that while Brown University has enough resources to weather the coronavirus crisis, many colleges and universities don't and will be forced to lay off more employees or close forever if they're not allowed to reopen in the fall. "If colleges and universities have to close permanently, they have a lot of students who are going to be halfway through degrees and finding another institution to complete their degrees may be very difficult," she said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 14:39 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc2041d 1 Lifestyle University-of-Indonesia,Pendidikan-Indonesia-University,Gajah-Mada-University,uniRank,universities,Education Free Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta has ranked first out of 573 higher education institutions in the 2020 Indonesian University Ranking, an annual list released by international higher education directory and search engine uniRank. Formerly known as 4 International Colleges and Universities (4ICU), uniRank listed the universities based on three criteria, namely being accredited by higher education-related organizations, offering at least four-year undergraduate degrees or postgraduate degrees, and providing most of the courses in face-to-face format. Following behind UGM are the University of Indonesia (UI) in Depok, West Java and Pendidikan Indonesia University (UPI) in Bandung, West Java in second and third position, respectively. Widyawan, head of information resources and system center at UGM, said in a statement that the ranking was a form of appreciation from the international agency for the universitys use of information technology in education, teaching and research. "Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and work-from-home and study-from-home policies, the role of information technology has become more important. The ranking [serves] as encouragement and promotes reflection, he added. In 2018, uniRank also ranked UGM and UI in the first and second position, respectively. Meanwhile, last year UGM was recognized as the country's best higher-education institution by university index agency Webometrics. (wir/kes) Below is the top 15 list of the 2020 Indonesian University Ranking: Gajah Mada University University of Indonesia Pendidikan Indonesia University Diponegoro University Brawijaya University Yogyakarta State University (UNY) Lampung University Airlangga University Bogor Institute of Agriculture Semarang State University Muhammadiyah Surakarta University Bandung Institute of Technology Malang State University North Sumatra University Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta University BELLEVUE, Wash., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The COVID-19 pandemic reinforces the urgent need to provide leading-edge care for the country's most vulnerable seniors. As one of the nation's most established providers of assisted living and memory care services, Aegis Living recognizes the long-term implications of the virus on the safety, health and wellness of its residents, families and caregivers. The company is taking bold, new steps guided by the latest clinical expertise to keep its residents and staff safe and healthy during this unprecedented health crisis and beyond. Today, the company announced the creation of the Aegis Living Coronavirus Advisory Council, a group comprised of physicians and medical experts from some of the nation's leading medical and research institutions and representing a core set of disciplines critical to the health of older adults. The Council is launching with seven initial members representing epidemiology, immunology, geriatrics, psychology, naturopathy and more. Charles Bernick , M.D., MPH, University of Washington , UW Medicine , M.D., MPH, , Rebecca Conant , M.D., University of California, San Francisco , M.D., Glenn Hammel , Ph.D., Private Practice , Ph.D., Joseph Pizzorno, ND, Institute for Functional Medicine Joshua T. Schiffer , M.D., M.Sc., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center , M.D., M.Sc., Eric Sievers , M.D., BioAtla , M.D., Becky Su , L.Ac, M.D. ( China ), Private Practice For over 20 years, Aegis Living has leveraged clinical expertise to help develop and inform its standards, practices and approaches to exceptional resident care. The new Council will extend this expertise even further. "Aegis Living has and will continue to lead the industry through this pandemic and into the future based on deep scientific understanding of the virus and the latest best practices for protecting our senior population," said Aegis Living CEO Dwayne Clark. "The coronavirus and its devastating impact on the fragile population we serve has brought into sharp focus the immediate need to evolve how we care for aging adults, keeping them safe while helping them live full lives. The creation of the Coronavirus Advisory Council is a critical part of this effort." As the world looks ahead beyond the coronavirus pandemic, senior living companies will be a critical component of the health care continuum, a relatively new role for senior living and one that will increasingly require more advanced clinical knowledge, innovation and knowhow. Aegis will look to researchers to teach the organization about how the virus travels, how it is evolving and where it may be headed next. It will look to leading medical experts and institutions for progressive thinking on how to best care for its fragile population physiologically, emotionally and cognitively. And it will look to naturopathic doctors to understand how alternative medicine may aid in long-term wellness. The company will leverage this knowledge to evolve its care planning in the short- and long-term. "It is an honor to join Aegis Living's proactive mission as we collectively confront the pandemic," said Eric Sievers, M.D., Virus Council member. "The swift dissemination of best practices based upon scientific evidence now enables us to actively prevent new infections. I am confident Aegis Living will continue to improve both the lifespan and health span of its residents and lead the way for others serving vulnerable populations." The Council will meet four times annually, starting in July 2020, with other ad-hoc meetings, as needed. The company is evaluating how to best share its learnings so other senior living providers can benefit as well. For more information on how Aegis Living is responding to the coronavirus crisis, visit: https://www.aegisliving.com/communications. About Aegis Living Aegis Living is a national leader in senior assisted living and memory care with a simple philosophy: make every day count. With more than 22 years of experience, it is known for its innovative approach to supporting residents along the continuum of care, from light assistance to advanced dementia; an eye for innovation and staying on the frontlines of design; and an employee-centric company culture. With every community, Aegis Living creates a living environment where residents can feel at home and inspired to live life to the fullest. The privately held company is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and operates 32 communities in Washington, California and Nevada, with 7 additional communities currently in development. For more information, visit www.aegisliving.com. Follow the company on Twitter @Aegisliving and Facebook at www.facebook.com/AegisLiving. SOURCE Aegis Living Related Links http://www.aegisliving.com JERUSALEM - Eyad Hallaq liked to watch cartoons. He loved dressing up and wearing cologne. He even dreamed of getting married. But his favourite activity was walking to school, where he volunteered in the kitchen, preparing meals for his fellow special-needs students. Early on Saturday, the 32-year-old Palestinian with severe autism was chased by Israeli border police forces into a nook in Jerusalems Old City and fatally shot as he cowered next to a garbage bin after apparently being mistaken for an attacker. He was just a few meters (yards) from his beloved Elwyn El Quds school. The shooting has drawn comparisons to the death of George Floyd in the U.S. and prompted a series of small demonstrations against police violence toward Palestinians. The calls for justice have crossed Jewish-Arab lines, a rarity in this deeply polarized society. Yet for his devastated family, such gestures have provided little comfort and even less hope that the officers who shot Hallaq will be punished. Whenever a person is martyred here, we say that we hope for change, said Hallaqs father, Khiri. Where is the change? Two large photographs of Hallaq sit in the living room of the familys modest home in a Palestinian neighbourhood of east Jerusalem. In one photo, wearing an Adidas sweatshirt, Hallaq holds a cactus he planted during the coronavirus lockdown. It was the last photo the family took of him. His tiny bedroom is neatly made up, with a small photo of Hallaq above the pillow, next to his cologne collection. He was a gentle soul, his mother, Rana, said as she fought back tears. She described him as intensely shy, afraid of strangers, unable to make eye contact and terrified of loud noises. He liked nice clothes, but he had no friends. He didnt talk to others. Only with me would he talk about what had happened that day at school, she said. What exactly happened on Saturday morning remains unclear. According to the family, Hallaq, wearing a badge that identified him as having special needs, left home on his daily walk to school, about 10 minutes away. Police said that officers in the Old City spotted a man carrying a suspicious object that looked like a pistol. When the man failed to heed calls to stop, police said they opened fire and neutralized him after a chase. Hallaqs teacher, who had accompanied him on that last walk to school, told Israels Channel 13 TV that she repeatedly cried out to the police that he is disabled and tried to stop the shooting. They didnt listen to me. They didnt want to listen to me, she said. She told the station they fired three bullets at him. He fell to the ground, asked her for help, then ran for cover in a small area housing a garbage bin. Officers came after him and killed him. At least five bullet holes could be seen in the wall of a small structure at the site. Hallaqs parents said they rushed to the scene but were not allowed to see him. Police later came to the house, cursing them as they searched for weapons, they said. They said police found nothing in the home. Israels Justice Ministry said two officers have been placed under house arrest, but gave no further details. Security camera footage has not been released. Khiri Hallaq said he has heard nothing from investigators. Even with the worlds attention focused on the unrest shaking the U.S., Hallaqs death has reverberated across Israel. Scores of people, mostly Jewish Israelis, marched through downtown Jerusalem on Saturday night to condemn the shooting. Demonstrations were also held in Arab towns throughout the week. Inspired by the protests in the U.S., demonstrators have held signs that say Black Lives Matter, Palestinian Lives Matter, or showed photographs of Floyd and Hallaq. Hallaqs death is expected to be a theme at a larger demonstration planned by a coalition of Arab and Jewish groups in central Tel Aviv on Saturday. Is there anything lonelier than an autistic person cowering and trembling in fear in a garbage shed, not understanding what is going on and why, while policemen empty a magazine of bullets into him, wrote Haaretz columnist Rogel Alpher, a parent of a grown autistic child. Good God, they executed him. If that happened to my son, Id find it hard to go on living. The shooting came two weeks after another fatal shooting of an Arab man outside an Israeli hospital. According to police, the man was shot after stabbing a security guard. Security camera footage showed the man, who reportedly suffered from mental illness, lying on the ground when he was shot multiple times. For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem, and members of Israels Arab minority, these cases reflect what they see as Israeli forces loose trigger fingers when it comes to dealing with Arab suspects. Just as the white police officer easily kills the black citizen he sees as a second-class citizen, here the Jewish police officer easily opens fire on the Arab he sees as second class, said Said Issa, a 46-year-old protester in the Arab town of Jaljuliya. Israeli leaders typically stand behind the countrys security forces and have stopped short of condemning the shooting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained silent. But several top officials, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, whose daughter is autistic, and Defence Minister Benny Gantz have expressed sorrow. Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, who is close to Netanyahu, said the family deserves a hug and vowed to introduce new tactics for police to better identify individuals with disabilities. A stream of Jewish and Arab well-wishers, including a former chief rabbi of Jerusalem, have visited the family. Hallaqs mother played down the outcry and said nothing will bring back her son. Sympathy is temporary and then ends, she said. Making things even more painful, the family has little faith in an Israeli justice system they see as hopelessly biased. If an Arab killed a Jew, what would have happened? said the father. They would demolish his home and arrest all of his family. That is the difference. According to Israeli human rights group BTselem, there have been at least 11 cases over the past two years in which Palestinians who did not pose a threat were killed while fleeing Israeli security forces. Amit Galutz, a spokesman for BTselem, said no charges have been filed in those cases and he did not expect different results in the Hallaq shooting. Existing Israeli law enforcement mechanisms are designed to protect the perpetrators of this violence not their victims, he said, calling the investigation into Hallaqs killing the first step of its whitewash. Israels border police force declined to comment. But David Tzur, a former top-ranking Israeli police officer who commanded the unit, said policing Arab neighbourhoods was difficult and complicated. He said officers are on heightened alert in places like the Old City because the area has seen numerous Palestinian stabbings and shootings there over the years. Subjectively, the police officer feels more threatened. He knows he is entering an area where he could be subjected to violence, Tzur explained. Hallaqs mother said nothing could justify the death of her son. We are convinced that those who killed him will not be punished, she said. Justice does not exist. ___ Associated Press writer Aron Heller contributed reporting from Jaljuliya, Israel. Hit musical Chicago will embark on a new UK tour in 2021. The hit 1996 production of Kander and Ebb's iconic musical, choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse with direction by Walter Bobbie, will begin its run in Birmingham next spring. Casting for the show, which follows Roxie, a woman who murders her lover but tries to escape the wrath of the law, is to be announced. The piece is the winner of six Tony Awards, and has played in 36 countries worldwide. Numbers include "Razzle Dazzle", "Cell Block Tango", and "All That Jazz". The show will open at the Birmingham Alexandra Theatre on 12 March 2021, before visiting Sunderland Empire, Liverpool Empire, Woking New Victoria, Milton Keynes Theatre, Eastbourne Congress, Hawth Theatre Crawley, Torquay Princess Theatre, Cardiff Millenium Centre, Manchester Palace Theatre, Eden Court Inverness, Southend Cliffs Pavilion, Stoke Regent Theatre, Ipswich Regent Theatre, Bristol Hippodrome, Plymouth Theatre Royal, Royal and Derngate Northampton, Hull New Theatre and the Mayflower Southampton. Tickets go on sale later this month. A portion of the Wellington Crescent parkway will be dug up and moved south in anticipation of the pavement eventually slipping into the river. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A portion of the Wellington Crescent parkway will be dug up and moved south in anticipation of the pavement eventually slipping into the river. Come winter, crews are scheduled to begin an estimated $9.6-million project to rebuild the roadway between Fulham Avenue and Grenfell Boulevard. The project will also include a kilometre-long riverbank stabilization effort to slow failures along the southern bank of the Assiniboine River. "Weve had one failure and, thankfully, it was not a large, widespread failure," said Cam Ward, a project manager in the citys public works department. "If we didnt do anything, eventually you would see relatively large riverbank failures progressing away from the riverbank and impacting City of Winnipeg assets." Ward said city officials have been monitoring the portion of riverbank just before the entrance to Assiniboine Park since 2015. The year following, the paved pathway looping through trees along the river started to crack and in 2017 the riverbank failed, forcing a closure of the area. The city has released its plans to rehabilitate the area and a preliminary design for the relocation of Wellington Crescent. The project will include placing riprap stone to reinforce the bank, shear keys to slow sliding, moving pathways and the removal and replanting of several trees. Relocating Wellington Crescent south instead of shoring up the riverbank was a more economical decision and fit within the council-approved project budget, Ward said. The project cost would have increased to $15.5 million to build the retaining wall necessary to safely accommodate the 8,700 cars that use the existing road on a daily basis. Before relocating the street, which would reduce setbacks for homes on the crescent, area councillor Kevin Klein said the city ought to give more consideration to a proposal to close or limit the road to vehicles and turn it into an active transportation corridor. "Those trees are priceless and moving the road closer to the homes is not going to eliminate the problem forever," Klein said. "The residents have all told me... they'd prefer the road be closed. "The residents are disappointed that the city is not listening to them and theyre very angry that the neighbourhood has not been included in any official engagement." The city has consulted residents adjacent to the project area, however. 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. "You have to stabilize the riverbank, we know that," Klein said. "I believe its reasonable to close that and make it a path like they suggested." Traffic studies conducted by the city ruled out closing the road after noting the diverted traffic would overwhelm adjacent streets. While a pathway requires less investment than a roadway to protect it from riverbank instability, overall cost savings would be negligible due to work required to relocate underground assets and add needed traffic infrastructure, Ward said. The city has launched an online portal to collect public feedback on the project and preferred roadway alignment. Two webinars will also be held on June 9. More information can be found at engage.winnipeg.ca. Construction is expected to be complete by October 2021. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca 'Give cash assistance of Rs 75 per person per day and an android phone and you will see the economy reviving.' IMAGE: Migrants from Uttar Pradesh walk to Chennai's Central railway station to board a train home, May 28, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo The Impact and Policy Research Institute -- along with the Centre for International Design and Planning, University of Florida, United States -- and support from Action Aid Association and other civil society organisations, conducted a survey, Life in the Era of COVID-19. This survey was conducted from May 7 to May 17, during the lockdown, on the urban poor working in the unorganised sector and staying in slums. In what is said to be the largest telephonic-survey based study, some 3,121 families in more than 50 cities in India were interviewed. Questions were asked about the effects of the lockdown on their lives and whether the government schemes have reached them. "Rs 500 that is being deposited through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to the bank accounts of the poor is too less. Half-a-litre milk costs Rs 20, so what will a family do with Rs 500 per month? They will not even be able to drink tea for the whole month with that money," Dr Arjun Kumar, director, IMPRI, and visiting scholar fellow, China-India, Ashoka University, points out to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com. What did you find in your survey about the lives of the urban poor people during the lockdown? Key findings Eight out of 10 casual daily wage labourers and 6 out of 10 salaried workers reported unemployed or lost their employment during lockdown due to closure of business/construction activities and inability to visit their workplace. Six out of 10 respondents reported that unawareness and congestion are the major constraints in ensuring social distancing and hygiene practices during the lockdown and the pandemic. Coverage of different government schemes is far from being universal and lack of awareness and eligibility are the two major impediments. Many respondents reported that they are not eligible for the programmes introduced by the government. More than 50% of the respondents are worried about earning a livelihood and losing work and are anxious about how they would feed their families and themselves. About 6 out of 10 respondents demanded free ration after the lockdown ends. Eight out 10 respondents seem to resume their work after the lockdown ends, reveals the current livelihood loss is a temporary phenomenon. However, this will depend to a large extent on how the government, business and people respond. The major finding is that the livelihoods of six out of 10 urban poor people have gone due to the lockdown. And if you talk about the casual labour category, then more than 80 per cent of them have lost jobs. Cash, jobs and food are the three major concerns for the urban poor. They are anxious about the future. More than 80 per cent people feel that as soon as the lockdown is over, they will go back to work. Urban poor fear more about livelihood than COVID-19 infection. Other findings are that most people who had ration cards got food on time, and 60 per cent people said they were happy with rations being supplied (by the government). About 20 per cent said they are getting less ration, whereas the other 20 per cent said they have no ration available from government public distribution shops. You are saying that 40 per cent with ration cards aren't getting rations. Aren't ration shops supposed to be transparent after the introduction of biometrics? We have highlighted this issue in our case study. Even Jean Dreze and other economists highlight this point. This is happening specially in places like Jharkhand. Some people who stay on rent in cities don't have documents, therefore they miss out. Now after Prime Minister Modi's Aatmanirbhar Bharat push, there are talks of 'One nation, one card'. We hope, in a phased manner, this will be implemented across India. Other problem that we found was Rs 500 that is being deposited through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to the bank accounts of the poor is too less. Half-a-litre milk costs Rs 20, so what will a family do with Rs 500 per month? They will not even be able to drink tea for the whole month with that money. The latest Economic Survey spoke of 'Thalinomics', which says that a good vegetarian thali costs Rs 25 minimum and a non-veg one costs Rs 40. So, I am saying one dollar and one android phone per person should be given, per person, not per family. Rs 2,000 in cash should be given to every person every month to solve the problem. And an android phone so they can download the Aarogya Setu app. Why Aarogya Setu? For the better health of poor people, the Aarogya Setu app is necessary. So they can be up to date with the latest technology, be healthy and physically fit. We have so many schemes for the poor, therefore, if we do direct cash transfer of Rs 2,000 per person per month, we will see a change in their lives for sure. What is happening to Aayushman Bharat, that offers health insurance for poor people? Key policy takeaways Local periodic data are essential for the pandemic preparedness and response. New urban agenda focusing on dynamic urban planning processes and empowering city governments. An urban job assurance programme as a longer-term policy option to address the looming economic crisis. Plugging the gaps and expanding the public assistance programmes; Rights of city-makers to the city. We found out that only 10 per cent of the population benefits from the Aayushman Bharat scheme (under which Rs 5 lakh insurance is given to each family). There are so many schemes which are not reaching the poor and even if they do, only about 10 per cent benefit (from them). In terms of pure numbers, if you divide Rs 20 lakh crore value of the financial package by the population of India, each person gets Rs 15,000. But in reality, we don't give poor people more than Rs 500 per month. If you look at developed countries, this money will be spent only on a one-time meal. In the United States, $300 to $400 are given weekly to the unemployed as allowance. Therefore, we feel our government too can give $1 (em>about Rs 75) a day to every poor man of India. No GST is being collected for now as no sales are happening so there is no revenue for the government. Then how do you expect the government to give out $1 a day to every poor person? We have to decide where to spend our resources. It is possible to do if we reorient our budget. We can, say, for example, reduce the money given to the UDAN (regional air connectivity) scheme and pay more attention to health and other sectors. It is just that we need to re-focus and reorient our budget and give priorities to the right sector. The best part of this government is that they have kept our macro economy very strong and sound. I am stressing on a dollar because we do not want to go back to the 1991 days where we were running out of foreign reserves. At present we have dollar reserves worth Rs 35 lakh crore and if we do not use it wisely and bring confidence in our people, what is the point of having that money? I am just saying give these poor people some dignity. You also said job loss is temporary and you think people will get their jobs back. How will jobs be created in the absence of demand? Therefore, I am saying give cash assistance of $1 per person per day and an android phone and you will see the economy reviving. If you do that for three months, then they will spend money and economic activities will regenerate. We speak of Mahatma Gandhi and the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (providing food to the poorest segment of population) all the time, and this is the time to help poor people with schemes. What is the mood of the nation as per your survey? The mood is that of pessimism, confusion and sadness. But we do not have data prior to the lockdown to compare. Why don't people know of government schemes in spite of the PM talking about them all the time? The problem is that every three months a new scheme comes. There is no consistency in following up on schemes. Like, if you see PM Modi's flagship programmes, Swachh Bharat is doing well because he constantly speaks about it. On the other hand, many people do not know about Ayushman Bharat, which is also a good scheme. There is not much awareness about it. If we push Ayushman Bharat the same way as Swachh Bharat, then that too will do wonders. At least 39 students and members of staff have been injured in a knife attack at a kindergarten in south China. The attack occurred at Central Primary School in the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi autonomous region about 8.30am local time. The attacker was identified as 50-year-old Li Xiaomin who worked at the school as a security guard and has been detained by police. At least 39 students and members of staff have been injured in a knife attack at a kindergarten in south China . Social media footage show children with bandages walking out of the school At least 39 students and members of staff have been injured in a knife attack at a kindergarten in south China. Pictured: Students being carried out of the school after the attack and rushed to a hospital in in the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi autonomous region of southern China All injured staff and students were rushed to hospital for treatment, according to an official notice released by local government. No one is in life-threatening condition. The school principal and another security guard were the only adults injured in the attack and were taken to hospital in critical condition. Meanwhile 37 students suffered injuries of varying degrees with at least one in a serious condition. Videos posted to social media show children with bandages walking out of the school. Other students are seen being carried out of a health centre with crowds of worried bystanders watching on. One man is seen with blood dripping down his face as he holds his forehead in pain. A photo shows the alleged attacker being escorted by two police officers while being hand-cuffed. Officials said that an investigation for the incident is ongoing. All injured staff and students were rushed to hospital for treatment, according to an official notice released by local government. No one is said to be in life-threatening condition Egypts Chamber of Tourism said on Thursday that the government will issue a decision very soon this month to reopen restaurants and cafeterias with strict new safety regulations. Shisha smoking, open buffets and chidrens areas will be banned, however, and workforce levels in restaurants will be limited to 50 percent. According to a statement from the body, there will be periodic inspections to make sure that restaurants are complying with the regulations. The chamber also stated that restaurants hoping to resume work must apply to the chamber with a plan in accordance with the governments precautions to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurant dining services have been suspended in Egypt since March as part of strict regulations in the wake of the spread of the pandemic, although they have been allowed to continue offering takeout and delivery services. The government has this month begun reopening suspended facilities and businesses, and is expected to review the daily 8pm curfew and other restrictive measures next week. It is looking to get back to normal starting from the second half of June, according to cabinet spokesman Nader Saad, speaking earlier this week. Restaurant precautions According to the chambers statement, restaurants will be required to do the following: Provide hand sanitisers for guests at the entrance. Avoid crowding at the entrance and exits. Organize a waiting list and make online or telephone reservations. Measure the temperature of guests at the entrance and of the staff daily before work. Provide periodic sanitisation inside the restaurant. Provide sanitisation of things like door knobs and taps. Provide good indoor ventilation and periodically clean the air conditioners filters. Avoid crowding in restrooms. Ban open buffet service and depend mainly on set menus. Close children areas. Only have 50 percent of staff working. Leave not less than two metres between tables and 1 metre between every person, and only have four chairs maximum at family tables. Provide one-use cutlery to guests as an option. Provide tissues and sanitisers on tables. Provide delivery all day and all week. Not allow shisha or parties. Ensure staff have gloves, masks and sanitisers. Not hire the elderly or people suffering from chronic diseases. Make staff aware of all the basic protection precautions against the coronavirus. Inform the authorities as soon as a case of coronavirus appears among the staff. Managers must sign a commitment to all these regulations. Violations of these regulations will see the managers license revoked and the establishment closed. Search Keywords: Short link: One critical element for Connecticut to fully get back to work is quality child care. But because of consequences, mainly financial, from the coronavirus pandemic, the state stands to lose an estimated 45,000 child care spaces. Government intervention is necessary to keep this vital industry operating; the overall recovery will falter if 45,000 working parents cannot go back to their jobs. Backup systems may be nonexistent leave the kids with grandparents? These days they are likely to be working, too. Leave the children alone? Of course not. Turn to a neighbor? Thats not the answer. State-licensed child care is the best option for the well-being and safety of the children. But the commissioner of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, Beth Bye, warned last week that the state already was losing child care spaces before the pandemic and now the situation will be exacerbated. The usual demand is down, and weve cut their supply in half. Theres no way they can make it, she said, citing projections from the Center for American Progress. Unlike other states, Connecticut allowed licensed family day care providers and day care centers to remain open with restrictions. Initially, they had to limit groups of no more than 10 children in one space, do temperature checks of the staff and children, and increase hygiene and sanitation practices all sensible measures to try to limit the spread of the virus. But for homes and centers already operating with thin margins, the reduction of children put them in precarious positions. On Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont increased the number of children in a center to 50 without needing state approval. That will help, but some parents might still be reluctant to leave their children and return to work until the state reaches another phase of lower cases, hospitalizations and deaths. (It should be noted that the trend was going in the right direction, but the results of partially re-opening the state on May 20 to outside dining and Monday to hair salons and barbershops may not be known yet, as well any effect of closer contact from recent protests around the state.) Federal financial assistance is what can keep the businesses afloat, but that is scheduled to end next month. Grants had been available for child and day care places to remain open and care for children of health workers and first responders. Extended, substantial, federal financial assistance is the answer to maintaining the child care industry, built mainly of small and home businesses. Nonprofits, such as the United Way of Western Connecticut, had made progress with helping child care home providers to become state licensed. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd, said she would introduce a bill in the House for $50 billion in additional funding for the child care industry. Not only Connecticut, but also the entire country, is on the precipice of a child care crisis, she said. A child care crisis would affect every other industry, and must be averted for the economy to improve. New Delhi: Even as the number of coronavirus COVID-19 positive cases in the national capital witnesses a spike, the Delhi government has issued new guidelines for COVID-19 sample testing. Only patients who exihibit symptoms will be tested. As per the Office of Director General of Health Services (DGHS) order issued on June 2, the strategy for COVID-19 testing includes all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) individuals with history of international travel in the last 14 days; all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) contacts of laboratory confirmed cases; all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) healthcare workers/frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of COVID 19; all patients of Severe Acute Respiratory infection (SARI). The order further included direct and high-risk contacts (diabetic, hypertension, cancer patient and senior citizen) of a confirmed case to be tested once between day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact with a confirmed case; all symptomatic ILI within hotspots/containment zones; all hospitalized patients who develop ILI symptoms; all symptomatic ILI among returnees and migrants within 7 days of illness. According to the order, ILI case is defined as one with acute respiratory infection with fever more than 38C and cough. Similarly, SARI case is defined as one with acute respiratory infection with fever more than 38C and cough and require hospitalization. All testing in the above categories is recommended by real time RT-PCR test only, the order said. However, many patients are unable to get tests done while there are several labs that have not conducted a single sample testing in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the virus has infected over 2,16,919 people which includes 1,06,737 active cases, 1,04,107 cured cases and 6,075 deaths. Canadian gender clinic's gruesome photos in trans surgery promotion found in violation of ad standards Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Canadian gender clinic was found to be in violation of advertising standards following a complaint about its promotion of radical surgeries to young people using gruesome photos and post-operative patient testimonials. In response to a complaint against the McLean Clinic a medical outfit in Mississauga, Ontario, known for performing mastectomies on transgender-identifying females the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario identified photos and content in the clinic's promotional efforts deemed to be misleading and undignified and had to be removed, according to Canadian Gender Report, a watchdog site that monitors the activities of transgender medicalization and activism. One such photo that was found to be in violation of CPSO standards was a picture on the clinic's Instagram account where Dr. Giancarlo McEvenue is seen wearing a Santa hat and holding up two buckets labeled "breast tissue" that had been surgically removed from female patients. Cosmetic mastectomies of this type are euphemistically referred to as "top surgery." The CPSO's decision states that the clinic is in non-compliance with the relevant Canadian law, specifically the Advertising Regulation of the Medicine Act. That regulation states that information communicated must not be false, misleading or deceptive; must not contain a testimonial; and must be readily comprehensible, dignified and in good taste. In response to the CPSO's findings, the McLean clinic has made its account private a feature that requires followers to be approved first but advocates actively monitoring the situation say that such a move does not constitute adequate compliance. "We find the CPSO ruling very reasonable and will be following up to ensure full compliance. Under our socialized medical system, patient testimonials cannot be used to promote a physician's services, so while the McLean clinic has made their Instagram account private, this does not meet the requirements of the ruling," said Pamela Buffone, founder of the Canadian Gender Report who filed the complaint against the clinic on behalf of a coalition of like-minded advocacy groups, in an email to The Christian Post Monday. The CPSO's appropriate use guidelines hold that doctors are expected to adhere to every professional expectation set forth in law, codes of ethics, and as it pertains using social media utilities. Regarding the Instagram photo of the physician holding the buckets of breast tissue, the committee found that it was not in good taste. "The Committee has previously determined that 'before and after' photographs are equivalent to testimonials, and thus the use of these photographs is contrary to the Advertising Regulation which indicates that when physicians communicate their professional services, the information must not contain testimonials as per 5 section 6 (2) b. In this case the post-surgery image of a patient is a testimonial in our view, and contrary to the Advertising Regulation," Canadian Gender Report noted. "The inclusion of a photograph of an 'ideal' male chest in clinic promotional material on the Internet is misleading in that the results depicted are impossible to achieve using female to male top reconstruction surgery, and thus contrary to section 6(2) a of the Advertising Regulation." Though advocates maintained that many of the clinic's posts appeared to market surgeries to young women through use of keywords in their social media channels, the medical body did not find that the clinic was targeting a particular age group. Transgender surgeries and drugs such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have come under heightened scrutiny in recent months particularly as detransitioners individuals who once lived and identified as transgender or nonbinary have become more visible and vocal about their experiences, publicly detailing how their bodies were harmed. "With more and more detransitioners coming forward, the medical community would be negligent if they don't take a closer look at what's going on. And I don't think the general public is aware of how experimental the treatment is and how much marketing and promotion is behind it," Buffone previously told CP in a February interview. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The government's slow response to recognise the impact of coronavirus on UK prisons has led to unnecessary deaths amongst its population, according to Loughborough University academic Dr. Christopher Kay. In a recently published paper, Dr. Kay, Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy, states that the policies implemented were neither effective nor delivered on time, with the delay causing an increased spread of the disease throughout the prison estate. The first cases of COVID-19 in the prison estate were confirmed in HMP Manchester on 18 March 2020, with the rate of transmission since growing exponentially. "The current prison system, which is significantly overcrowded, understaffed and containing an ageing prison population with a host of underlying medical conditions, makes the potential for severe disease and even death highly likely," Dr. Kay explained. "This is a concern not just for the prison estate, but also for their local communities. We have to remember that prisoners don't stay in prisons forever, many prisoners will reach the end of their sentences during this pandemic and will be released back into the community. If we do not control the spread of the disease inside prisons, this can significantly impact upon the spread of the disease in these communities. "We must also remember the fact that not all of the people who go into prisons every day are prisoners. Significantly more prison staff than prisoners have become infected with the disease since the first cases were confirmed in March." Recent figures suggest that 879 prison staff have tested positive for the disease, with 434 prisoners also testing positive for the disease. In order to reduce the spread of the disease within prisons, Dr. Kay argues it is important to increase the potential for social distancing measures within the prison estate. He believes that tackling the issue of overcrowding and allowing for single cell occupancy is the most appropriate way to do this. While such attempts have been made by the Ministry of Justice, the report from Dr. Kay finds that these attempts have been implemented too slowly and with little success. Within the report, he highlights several shortcomings, including: In order to reduce the potential for transmission of the disease by providing single-cell occupancy, the government targeted to release circa 4,000 prisoners who were within two months of their automatic release date. This figure has been widely criticised by the Prison Governors Association, who estimated the figure closer to 15,000. To date, just 79 prisoners from this cohort have been released. Further to this, government plans to release an estimated 70 pregnant women were announced on 31 March 2020, yet by mid-April, only six women had been released. Whilst there has been a drive to increase temporary accommodation across the prison estate, staffing levels have not increased accordingly. It has been suggested that roughly one-quarter of all prison staff are off sick or self-isolating as a result of COVID-19. The process of filing the temporary structures has also come under criticism, with COVID-19 testing measures of the new occupants unknown. Dr. Kay added: "One thing the science is clear about is that, in the case of pandemics, time is of the essence. The faster we are able to implement policies to curtail the spread of a disease, the more effective these policies will be. The delay in implementing policies which aim to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in prisons has and will continue, to put the lives of prisoners and prison staff at risk." Explore further Limited release of prisoners may prevent COVID-19 break out More information: COVID-19 un Custody: Responding to Pandemics in Prisons In England and Wales, British Journal of Community Justice With the plight of wild, big cats a hot topic in the news, everyone has to make up their own mind about visiting these types of tiger attractions in Thailand. One of them in Kanchanaburi province was closed a few years ago when the authorities discovered tigers were being sold into the Chinese traditional medicine trade. But the Tiger Kingdom in Phuket is one attraction where you can see many tigers up close, have your picture taken with them, pet them, and even feed tiger cubs. Tiger conservation is one of the worlds worries as the wild habitat for most of the tiger species all over the world is slowly shrinking due to agriculture, habitat encroachment and development. The attractions owners have a breeding program to help the conservation of the species. These types of attractions can pave the way for people who have never seen a live tiger up close to gain an appreciation for them. In seeing these magnificent animals up close, tourists can develop empathy for them and want to conserve them for future generations. Choice of Programs At the Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, the tigers are not drugged, nor are they in chains. They are in small cages for the duration of the tourist visits after which they are said to have access to a larger enclosure on the property where they can socialize and play. Visitors can choose from just a general admission or a series of programs that allow you to interact with the tigers. The park offers several different programs, depending on the size of the cats. Tourists who want the experience of interacting with tiger cubs are among the most popular options, and this program charges the most at 1,400 THB. Small and medium tigers cost 1,000 THB, and the big tiger program costs 1,100 THB. You are also given the choice of being able to visit with multiple tigers. A visit with both a big or medium tiger as well as a tiger cub costs 1,500 THB. An interaction with a big or medium tiger, a small tiger and a tiger cub costs 2,500 THB. For those who cant get enough of tigers, you can choose the Take 4 program for 3,100 THB, in which youll be able to visit with a big, medium, small and, of course, a tiger cub. Tour Schedules and Things to Know You also have a choice of when you visit Tiger Kingdom in Phuket. Tours are scheduled for 9 AM, 11 AM and 2 PM. But the park is open from 9 AM to 6 PM. Visitors to the park must be fit and healthy to interact with the tigers. They must be able to squat and stand up quickly. All the programs last about ten minutes. There are photographers on hand at the park who can take pictures for people who dont have a camera. The tigers at the park have all been born in captivity and hand-raised. They are used to being around people. For people who have never experienced the awe and wonder of being up close to these lords of the jungle, this is your chance. Photos and Web Content by Primal Co., Ltd. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has appointed Roman Golovchenko, the chairman of the State Military Industrial Committee, as the countrys new prime minister, the BelTA news agency reported. Lukashenko said that he had no grievances against former Prime Minister Sergei Rumas and welcomed his plans to do business. "There are no major grievances, but the man wants to run a business. I welcome it," TASS cited the Belarusian president as saying. Yesterday, Lukashenko dismissed his government ahead of a presidential election set for August 9. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal biographer Omid Scobie has revealed his experience with racism in a candid post. The British writer, who has co-written the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's upcoming biography Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family, took to Twitter amid the Black Lives Matter movement, to speak out against injustice. Revealing that 'fear' has previously stopped him from speaking about his experiences relating to his mixed race heritage, Omid said recalled how he lost his first job in journalism after fighting back against a workplace incident. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal biographer Omid Scobie has revealed his experience with racism in a candid post The British writer, who has co-written the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's upcoming biography Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family , took to Twitter amid the Black Lives Matter movement, to speak out against injustice Taking to Twitter, Omid wrote: 'I see some asking why, in the past, I didn't always publicly speak up about racism or racial bias and the answer, quite honestly, is fear. 'My first job in journalism was also my first experience of racism in the workplace. 'Worried that, as a 20-year-old mixed race guy, taking on an older white person of power would probably mean the end of my job, I sat on the incident for a few months before mustering up the courage to present the issue to HR.' He continued: 'Unfortunately my complaint was met with poor excuses, a lack of empathy and me having to leave. I felt small, ashamed and convinced my journalism career was over before I'd even attended my university graduation ceremony. 'Of course, the racist in question had no such worries. They got a pay rise and continue to work in a prominent media role.' Revealing that 'fear' has previously stopped him from speaking about his experiences relating to his mixed race heritage, Omid said recalled how he lost his first job in journalism after fighting back against a workplace incident Omid admitted: 'That incident knocked my confidence for some time (not just regarding my place in the industry but also about my own mixed race identity) and I did my best to work and stay below the radar to protect myself.' Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family is set to be released worldwide online on August 11, with the hard copy on sale from August 20 The writer finished his brave revelation by saying that he 'realised the incident is small compared to the racist horrors many face', and added that he had shared it as an example of why the 'fight against racism needs to be led by the truly privileged. He concluded by asking others with a platform to speak up, adding: 'There are far less risks for you when you do it. You are lucky enough to condemn racism with virtually no fear'. His statement comes after Meghan Markle spoke out against racism in a heartfelt video last night. The mother-of-one, 38, who is residing in LA - where many of the demonstrations are taking place - with Prince Harry, 35, and 1-year-old Archie, shared an impassioned message of support. Protests have taken place across America and beyond after white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on unarmed George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds last week, despite Floyd's desperate repeated pleas for help crying, 'I can't breathe'. Floyd passed out and later died. His death is seen as a symbol of systemic police brutality against African-Americans sparking outrage country-wide. Tens of thousands of people gathered as the National Guard was deployed to over half the states in the country on Sunday for further demonstrations against police brutality. His statement comes after Meghan Markle spoke out against racism in a heartfelt video last night. The mother-of-one, 38, who is residing in LA - where many of the demonstrations are taking place - with Prince Harry, 35, and 1-year-old Archie, shared an impassioned message of support Credit: Science Advances Over the past 200 years, the population of the United States has grown more than 40-fold to an estimated 328 million, with 81% of the population living in an urban area. Cities, as we know them, are constantly changing and up until now, the absence of long-term data has limited our understanding of how our cities have become what they are today. New research co-authored by Dylan Connor, assistant professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, provides the most extensive picture to date of how urban development has unfolded in the U.S. over the past two centuries. In his paper, published in Science Advances, Connor and his colleagues, led by Stefan Leyk of the University of Colorado Boulder, analyzed hundreds of millions of U.S. property records on buildings constructed between 1810 and 2015, enabling researchers opportunities to study land use, population change and urbanization at a granular level like never before. The dataset, obtained through a collaboration with online real estate company Zillow, details the year each building was constructed, its location and what materials it is made of, among other things. Using mapping and basic statistics, Connor and his colleagues analyzed the data and identified developmental patterns to serve as a beacon of what can be done with the data compared to what was previously possible. "This data gives you an opportunity to understand urban development in a new way and from that, to plan smarter," Connor said. "Cities have always been changing and we now have a lot more information to understand those changes than we had before." Empowering local policy and developmental efforts Understanding where, why and how urbanization has changed over time is essential to addressing a host of challenges ranging from predicting the impact natural disasters can have on community resilience, to forecasting urban sprawl, gentrification and redevelopment. Connor and his colleagues are conducting additional research using buildings' structural data to identify areas along the U.S. coastlines that are most vulnerable to sea-level rise and impending natural disasters. Similar urban vulnerability research can be applied to heat exposure and heat adaptation in Phoenix, which Connor says will likely be an area to explore in the future. "In terms of local planning, if you were trying to pinpoint places that are vulnerable to coastal hazards, or heat exposure, or potential gentrification, these data could help you pinpoint the area of your city or the part of your community or neighborhood that's most at risk to change. It empowers local policy and development efforts to plan smarter for the future." The future of equitable cities Connor, whose research at ASU focuses on leveraging historical data sources to better understand intersections between inequality and basic needs, says he hopes the work he and his colleagues are doing enables researchers to undertake future social equity studies. "I hope people use these data to make cities more equitable," Connor said. "It's becoming increasingly clear that the way cities are designed has huge impacts on people's life chances and how people will fare in the face of future climate change." "There is a huge amount of scope to use these data in smart ways to try and figure out how we can design more equitable cities, more inclusive cities." Connor suggests that as the field of geography progresses, this type of mass data analysis will be even more prevalent in the future. "I think this is where a lot of the field is going, which is intelligently crunching these huge data sources to try and understand how the world is changing around us and what impact that is having on our lives." Explore further Data science drives new maps to predict the growth of cities over next century More information: Stefan Leyk et al. Two centuries of settlement and urban development in the United States, Science Advances (2020). Journal information: Science Advances Stefan Leyk et al. Two centuries of settlement and urban development in the United States,(2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba2937 With the aim of honoring black lives taken by police, organizers are planning to hold multiple vigils Thursday evening in Boston, marking the most recent series of demonstrations to take place in the city following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Boston and other communities across Massachusetts and the United States, including Springfield and Worcester, have seen largely peaceful protests organized in the past week in the wake of Floyds death on Memorial Day. Protests in recent days have resulted in more than 10,000 arrests throughout the nation, though, the Associated Press reported. In Boston on Sunday, 53 people were arrested at nighttime after clashes between officers and protesters erupted following three demonstrations that remained nonviolent throughout the day. One of Thursdays vigils will be held near Washington Street at Adams Park in Roslindale at 5:30 p.m., according to the events Facebook page. The other demonstration will take place at the intersection of Centre and South streets in Jamaica Plain at the same time. The vigil will solely consist of a silent standout in support of Black Lives Matter that will last for 30 minutes, organizers of the Jamaica Plain vigil wrote on the demonstrations Facebook page. We encourage all participants to bring their own signs or to just show up with your bodies. Organizers urged attendees to wear face coverings and socially distance by standing at least 6 feet away from other people. Nearly 900 individuals have already said over social media they would be going to the event in Jamaica Plain. Floyd died after a white Minneapolis policeman, later identified as Derek Chauvin, kneeled on the unarmed black mans neck for nearly 9 minutes. Video of the incident captured by a bystander showed three other officers pinning Floyd down as well, while the 46-year-old man pleaded with them and gasped for breath. The four officers have been criminally charged in connection to Floyds killing. A second-degree-murder charge was lodged against Chauvin. Thousands gathered on the Boston Common on Wednesday, cheering after learning prosecutors had expanded their case against the police who were at the scene of Floyds death, the AP reported. On Tuesday night as well, demonstrators protested peacefully in Franklin Park in Boston, holding a vigil, march and die-in." Police officers at times knelt in solidarity with protesters. Related Content: FREMONT, California, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightMonk, the world's only community of specialized experts on deep technologies, and a part of BIS Research, has launched Top 25 Voices Awards, an initiative to recognize the elite compendium of thought leaders in deep technology fields of Healthcare Robotics & Precision Medicine Asia. The first edition in 2019, Top 25 Voices in Precision Medicine, which recognized thought leaders from across academic institutions such as Harvard Medical School and Stanford University and industry organizations, such as Thermo Fisher Scientific and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, was highly acclaimed by the global healthcare industry. Faisal Ahmad, CEO, BIS Research, states, "Owing to our focus on deep technology, our team of analysts and specialized experts at InsightMonk, a BIS Research platform, interacted with more than 200 healthcare organizations. It enabled us to identify healthcare robotics and precision medicine in Asia as two transformative themes and enablers of the future of healthcare delivery." Healthcare robotics initiated one of the pivotal paradigm shifts witnessed by the global healthcare industry in the 20th century. It has effectively impacted every element in the healthcare ecosystem, right from diagnosis to utmost complex surgeries. On the other hand, Asia is emerging as the next hub for precision medicine, with improving research competency in genome sequencing and increased government funding. According to Arvind Pal, Lead Analyst, BIS Research, "Amidst significant deep technology advancements and dynamic market developments, individual contributors have been able to make their mark with extraordinary laboratory research and product development. These individual contributors are interdisciplinary leaders who possess the potential to influence and benefit everyone in the industry and are being recognized as the Top Voices." InsightMonk invites nominations of various stakeholders where scientists, academicians, healthcare executives, startup founders, and policymakers are all eligible. Individuals associated with the field of precision medicine in Asia and healthcare robotics across the world can nominate themselves or anyone who, they believe, can make an excellent contribution to the compendium. The nomination process has begun. Click here to nominate in Healthcare Robotics or Precision Medicine Asia. About InsightMonk InsightMonk enables businesses and individuals to accelerate technology discovery, business evaluation, and innovation planning. The company provides its clients from global corporations and startups with crowdsourced innovative thinking and problem-solving by world's smartest individuals in a timely, cost-effective, and secure ecosystem. It also provides the experts with a valuable opportunity to contribute their path-breaking projects, make an impact toward the development of the future of society, augment their market equity, and gain extra rewards for their expertise. About BIS Research: BIS Research is a global B2B market intelligence and advisory firm focusing on those emerging technological trends which are likely to disrupt the dynamics of the market. With over 150 market research reports published annually, BIS Research focuses on high technology verticals such as 3D Printing, Advanced Materials and Chemicals, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Healthcare, Electronics and Semiconductors, Robotics and UAV, and other emerging technologies. Our in-depth market intelligence reports focus on the market estimations, technology analysis, emerging high-growth applications, deeply segmented granular country-level market data, and other important market parameters useful in the strategic decision-making for senior management. What distinguishes BIS Research from the rest of the players is that we not just provide data but also complement it with valuable insights and actionable inputs for the success of our clients. Contact: Bhavya Banga Email: [email protected] BIS Research Inc. 39111 PASEO PADRE PKWY STE 313, FREMONT CA 94538-1686 Visit our Blog @ https://blog.bisresearch.com/ Connect with us on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/bis-research Connect with us on [email protected] https://twitter.com/BISResearch SOURCE BIS Research on Mt. Ephraim Avenue in the heart of the Whitman Park neighborhood of Camden, N.J., stained-glass windows are riddled with bullet holes. On a recent Saturday afternoon, pastor David King pointed out street corners near the church where men have been gunned down. Sometimes, he says, people have run inside the sanctuary for safety when drug deals go bad. On the streets of Whitman Park, King says, theres like a drug script that never shuts down.Whitman Park has become ground zero in the battle to take back one of Americas most crime-plagued cities. For the past several years, the crime rate in Camden, just across the river from Philadelphia, has consistently ranked in the top five nationally. In 2012, Camden saw a record-high murder rate that rivaled national rates of the most dangerous countries. Signs of crime are everywhere. Houses and storefronts sit abandoned. Some of the empty buildings have become hotbeds for drug crime; others serve as makeshift memorials to those who have been killed, with names and dates spray-painted on front porches. A stop the violence mural decorates the base of a rusting water tower.In the face of this violence, Camden did something quite radical: It disbanded its 141-year-old police force. In its place, the surrounding county formed a new police department that it wants to expand to other jurisdictions outside the city. The Camden County Police Department rehired most of the laid-off cops, along with nearly 100 other officers, but at much lower salaries and with fewer benefits than they had received from the city.Across the country, strapped budgets have pushed municipalities to consider consolidating some services, including public safety, with neighboring communities. Some are sharing patrol cars or facilities with other jurisdictions; others have merged departments. But Camdens move is unprecedented in that no other major U.S. city has completely dissolved its force for a wholly new department that does not yet include other jurisdictions. The plan is to create a truly regional force run by the county. So far, though, its only operating in the city of Camden.One year in, its too soon to say whether the change will be effective in turning around Camdens crime. Some pockets of the city have seen crime decline; other areas havent changed much. In the first 12 months of the new department ending in April, the city of 77,000 recorded 57 homicides. Thats down from a record 67 in 2012, but its still higher than the citys annual average of 48 in the last five years of the prior department.More recently, police reported year-over-year declines for nearly all crime types for the first quarter of this year. Leaders attribute the decrease, at least in part, to the reorganized force that still isn't fully staffed. Weve started taking back sectors of the city on behalf of the residents, says Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. Children are playing in playgrounds and parks that they havent played in for years.Some in the law enforcement community, though, remain skeptical about whether the move was the right one. Maria Haberfeld, a department chair at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, says shes concerned about the loss of institutional knowledge of the former officers who were laid off. Ditching the old department and building an entirely new one, she contends, wont solve Camdens problems. Creating a new department, she says, is a completely misguided approach to effective policing.in Whitman Park over the past year: the number of cops on the street. Thanks to the reorganized force, there are now far more officers throughout Camden -- walking their beat in tandem, talking with residents, driving patrol cars.Back in 2011, budget cuts led Camden to ax half its police force. At its low point, Camden was down to 175 officers, with as few as a dozen patrolling the entire city during peak crime hours at night. For a high-crime area like Camden, those numbers are anemic. Making things worse, the remaining officers frequently had to do double duty on administrative tasks, meaning they were stuck behind a desk. The department had become completely reactionary, unable to focus on proactive policing measures, says Chief Scott Thomson, who ran the former city department and now runs the new county force as well. Our ability to police the city, he says, had been reduced to a triage unit going from emergency to emergency.When the city began publicly considering the dissolution option, it was, not surprisingly, met with some fierce opposition. As policymakers weighed the issue, a group of residents submitted a ballot initiative to stop the city from moving forward. The mayor and the city council president sued to block the petition. A superior court judge ruled in their favor, but the petitions eventual fate will be decided by the state Supreme Court later this year.Meanwhile, the city went ahead with the plan. On May 1, 2013, Camden laid off its entire force and the county took over. The city paid the county $62 million for operational costs and leased its police administration building for $1. Critics decried the reorganization as nothing more than union busting. By laying off the officers and rehiring them as county employees, Camden was able to slash officer pay and cut benefits roughly in half. In all, average per officer costs were trimmed from $182,168 to $99,605, according to county figures.With those savings, the department, which has since unionized, hired scores of new officers while keeping overall costs about the same. An analysis of police employment data indicates that in the course of a year, Camden has gone from a bare-bones force to having at or near the highest police presence of any larger U.S. city on a per capita basis. By the time the force is fully staffed, which the county expects will be later this summer, Camden will have 411 full-time sworn officers, or about 53 for every 10,000 residents. Cities of populations exceeding 50,000 employed an average of 17 officers per 10,000 residents in the most recent 2012 data reported to the FBI. Only Washington, D.C., recorded a higher tally that year about 61 officers per 10,000 residents than Camden will once its new force is fully up and running.Many of the newly minted officers are young recruits with either no prior or only part-time experience, a top concern for some local residents. To get them up to speed, the department has turned to its veteran officers. The former city police officers who came over were the most important part of the puzzle with indoctrinating the new officers to the city, the neighborhoods and policing, Chief Thomson says. Newly certified officers attend a regional police academy and complete another eight weeks of field training to prepare for the challenging environment Camden poses. Until youre actually there doing it on a day-to-day basis, its hard to wrap your head around it, says Sgt. Kevin Lutz, who trains recruits at the academy. We do our best to explain to them the different experiences weve had in the past, and try and really get them prepared for what theyre about to do.For Camden residents, the influx of additional police has taken some getting used to. Officers are making more traffic stops and issuing tickets for minor violations, such as tinted windows and obstructed license plates. Theyre citing bicyclists for failing to have a bell or other audible device on their bikes. Even pastor King expressed frustration over being pulled over five times within a month for, among other things, driving with a broken headlight during the day. Many locals view the citations, which they say were never before enforced, as harassment. Police, however, say the citys most egregious offenders also commit these types of minor violations. Armed robbery suspects, for instance, often drive cars with tinted windows. Drug dealers deploy lookouts on bikes. We are going to leverage every legal option that we have to deter their criminal activity, says Thomson.There have been other clashes. The makeup of the newly expanded force is more suburban -- and much more white -- than the old city police department. More than two-thirds of the former departments officers were minorities; they now account for about 43 percent of sworn personnel in a city that is 95 percent minority. Thats a problem, says Colandus Kelly Francis, head of the Camden County NAACP. Most of them had never set foot in the city of Camden, says Francis. They dont know whos who. Pastor King also suspects the new majority-white police force must overcome perceptions of kids in the neighborhood who arent yet accustomed to seeing them. Its going to be very hard for them to step into a place like Camden, he says. Maybe theyll grab it later on, but theres a whole method to dealing with folks here.The key to bridging any divides between officers and city residents, Thomson says, is increasing interaction. When a cop works hand in glove with them to fix the problems that are keeping them from sleeping at night, Thomson says, they dont care what the color of the skin of that officer is, what the accent is in his voice or where he grew up. Accordingly, the department has placed a major emphasis on a community policing strategy. Officers routinely walk the beat, listening to residents concerns and hosting Meet Your Officers events to further engage residents -- things they couldnt do before with such a limited force.As part of the new department, the county has also implemented some state-of-the-art technological advancements. Inside its Real Time Tactical Operation Intelligence Center, analysts pore over monitors displaying surveillance cameras throughout the city. On a recent afternoon, one analyst conducting a virtual patrol moved from camera to camera, zeroing in on possible drug activity at Fourth and Vine streets. The departments monitoring system displays locations of police cruisers, cameras, calls and reports of gunshots all on a single integrated map. Outside, shot sensors and more than 120 cameras now blanket the city. For a birds-eye view of an area, police can deploy Sky Patrol, a mobile observation tower that extends 40 feet high. Theyve also equipped some police cruisers with license plate readers that alert officers if known offenders are nearby.Officials say some of the initial opposition to the new force seems to have cooled. Take Eulisis Delgado, a 60-year-old East Camden resident and anticrime activist. Delgado can often be spotted driving around the citys roughest neighborhoods in a pickup truck decked out with signs and a large speaker cabinet in the back. With one hand on the wheel and the other on a microphone, he yells out messages. Do not allow these drug dealers in your neighborhoods, residents of Camden! Take your neighborhood back! Delgado was once a vocal critic of the reorganization plan, protesting outside the police administration building. Today hes one of the new departments biggest boosters. A lot of the old officers, all they did was ride around and not do anything, Delgado says. These are soldiers we have here now.By and large, residents remain roughly evenly divided over the still-young department. Part of the opposition stems from the citys effort to block the matter from being put to voters. Brian Coleman, the lone council member voting against laying off the city police, contends residents were excluded from the process. A year later, though, he says some have moved on. They want their neighborhoods stabilized and drug dealers off the corner.definitely has not yet been achieved: the creation of a truly consolidated countywide police force. As the plan was originally envisioned and touted, other municipalities within the county would do as Camden city had done, disbanding their local departments and rolling them into the county force. That hasnt yet happened. A year into the initiative, none of the other 34 municipalities in Camden County that have their own police forces have bought into the countywide department.County Freeholder Cappelli says the county has been in talks with two municipalities, but so far no locality has been willing to cede control. In terms of finances, Cappelli says, it should be a no-brainer. He suspects, though, local police chiefs are talking their mayors out of it. Protecting ones fiefdom is the only thing stopping this department from growing leaps and bounds, he says.Cappelli says preserving quality service is other jurisdictions top priority, so theyll be watching to see how the new department fares. If we can do it in Camden city, he says, we can do it in any other municipality in Camden County.For jurisdictions wanting to join, the county conducts an assessment, with the localitys input, of operating costs it would need to pay for a new metro division. The county police department is structured to allow for centralized administration, booking and evidence collection. Jurisdictions opting to join would also share narcotics, detectives and various special teams. Any expansion would not affect the departments current officers, the county reports.Much of the push for New Jerseys localities to consolidate or share services has been driven by the state. Right now, more than 500 local law enforcement agencies are spread across New Jersey, and Gov. Chris Christie would like to see some of those consolidate to better realize savings through economies of scale. In 2011, Christie met with officials from Camden, Newark and Trenton. Christie made it clear, Cappelli says, that the administration would provide strong backing to any new county police departments.So far, only Camden has taken him up on the offer. Because of its already hefty dependence on state funding, some believe the city had no other choice. About 60 percent of city properties are tax exempt, and the tax base that does exist is predominantly poor. Property tax collections bring in a mere $25 million a year, so the state contributed about $114 million in fiscal year 2014 to cover the bulk of the citys remaining budget shortfall.Some lawmakers have been publicly blunt about the need for municipalities to share services. We tried the nice way of giving you money and people wouldnt take it to share, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said in a 2011 press conference. Now, my approach quite honestly is the stick approach. If you dont share, were going to reduce your state aid.Unsurprisingly, cities often bristle at that approach. Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, says he prefers that any consolidation efforts be homegrown. We have a problem if the state is going to mandate sharing of services, consolidation or any particular program they believe is in the best interest of the communities, he says. The residents of the community are basically cut out of the equation. More of the states localities are mulling consolidation or shared services agreements, and Dressel says they should be, particularly given budgetary constraints.Any kind of consolidation agreement is a political challenge, but its especially hard for public safety services. Governments are reluctant to relinquish local control of their police forces. Even when they do consolidate, its not uncommon to continue maintaining separate public safety departments. Indianapolis consolidated with Marion County in 1970, for example, but it wasnt until 2007 that the two merged police departments.Nationally, theres no one-size-fits-all approach. Smaller communities throughout California contract with counties, for instance, and many regional police departments operate in Pennsylvania. Full mergers of large departments are rare. Las Vegas merged its police department with the Clark County Sheriffs Department in 1973; the city of Charlotte, N.C., joined forces with surrounding Mecklenburg County in 1993. But such full-scale mergers are few and far between.are deeply entrenched, and it remains to be seen whether the merged police force can help reverse the citys cycle of violence. The drug trade holds a strong grip on the city, accounting for the vast majority of the killings. With 175 open-air drug markets at one point, Camden gained a reputation as a drug hub, attracting buyers from the surrounding suburbs and as far away as New York City. Indeed, nonresidents make up 80 percent of the citys drug arrests.Blight also remains a major problem. Some abandoned and decaying buildings have been taken up by gangs, so the city is exploring ways to raze or seal up empty structures. In some parts of South Camden, mountains of bottles and other trash spill out of alleyways and side streets. When police make a drug bust there, officers say they can spend hours searching for evidence among all the litter.The city has a high concentration of young adults who tend to be disproportionately poor and unemployed. The latest Census estimates indicate 39 percent of city residents live in poverty, the fourth highest rate nationally.There are some small reasons to be hopeful. The city says some businesses are now considering moving into Camden, something unthinkable even a couple years ago. Even in Whitman Park, there are hints of progress. On the neighborhoods main corridor, a family is preparing to open a shop selling books and fashion accessories.The police are an integral part of winning back the city, but turning Camden around will take much more than a redeployed police force. At the end of the day, it makes no difference whether its 500 or 300 officers, says Roy Jones, a local activist who also directs the nonprofit National Institute for Healthy Human Spaces. It does matter what you do about some of the more systematic issues in this community.Chief Thomson, too, knows the citys fate depends on more than his department alone. We are in the equation of public safety and safe communities, he says. I believe we are the most important variable. But were one of many variables. CHICAGO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a research report "Consent Management Market by Component (Software and Services), Touchpoint (Mobile App and Web App), Deployment Type (Cloud and On-premises), Organization Size (SMEs and large enterprises), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Consent Management Market size is projected to grow from USD 317 million in 2020 to USD 765 million by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.3% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the growth of the Consent Management Market include growing awareness on data compliance regulations; rising cyberattacks, data breaches, and the need for data security; increased demand for customers to control their consent and preferences; and implementation of Privacy by Design (PbD) to enhance data privacy. Browse in-depth TOC on "Consent Management Market" 102 Tables 40 Figures 154 Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=68100621 The software segment to lead the market during the forecast period A robust consent management software manages the entire life cycle, including the collection, storage, and documentation of the consent of the users. The software leverages the eConsent management engine that identifies data subjects and harmonizes their consent preferences collected through any collection point, such as web, mobile, and over-the-top (OTT) channels. It enables an organization to record the consent interactions with their customers, employees, and users. It allows them to choose what they consent to, what purposes they accept, and to control access to their personal data. The software allows publishers, advertisers, and tech companies to consolidate and simplify the user experience across these domains and devices to provide the right personalized experience based on a user's preference. Professional services segment to lead the market during the forecast period Professional services are required during and after the implementation of the consent management software. These services include consulting, implementation, and support and maintenance services. As the nature of these services is complex, service providers must possess high levels of technical skills and expertise. Several vendors in the Consent Management Market offer professional services and provide consulting based on client-specific requirements. They offer educational support, such as training and classroom lectures (online and offline), to help clients understand their software and related processes. They also assess the risks associated with any project and help deploy a better consent management software or replace the existing one. Consent management experts and dedicated risk management teams specialize in the design and delivery of critical decision support software, tools, services, and expertise. The professional services segment is expected to hold a higher share in the Consent Management Market. Cloud deployment mode to hold a larger market size during the forecast period Cloud-based software offered by consent management providers have the functionalities to manipulate data sets and re-organize them as required for different customers or when regulatory requirements change. The cloud deployment mode is the most preferred deployment mode for securing web and mobile applications and is used by most Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) as it is easy to maintain and upgrade. The cloud deployment mode involves the storage of applications and software on remote servers and provide access through the internet. The cloud deployment mode is growing at a faster pace in the Consent Management Market. SMEs, in particular, have implemented the cloud deployment mode, as it enables them to focus on their core competencies, rather than investing their limited capital in security infrastructure. North America to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period North America is one of the largest contributors in the Consent Management Market, due to the existence of several data privacy laws in the region. Majority of the Consent Management Market share in the region is contributed by the US and Canada. The US does not have a central federal level privacy law but instead has several vertically-focused federal privacy laws, and a new generation of consumer-oriented privacy laws coming from the country. These laws protect the data on the US websites by taking consents from its customers to gain access to their personal data through cookies. The region has launched many data privacy laws while supporting user's consents about their personal data accessibility and usage. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) came into effect on January 1, 2020 and may affect how a website handles the personal information of the citizens of California. Speak to Analyst: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=68100621 Major vendors operating in the Consent Management Market include OneTrust (OneTrust, LLC.), Quantcast, Cookiebot (Cybot A/S), iubenda (iubenda s.r.l), Trunomi (Trunomi Ltd.), TrustArc (TrustArc Inc.), Crownpeak (Crownpeak Technology, Inc.), Piwik PRO (Piwik PRO Sp. z o.o.), BigID (BigID, Inc.), CIVIC, SAP SE (SAP), Sourcepoint, HIPAAT (HIPAAT International Inc.), Didomi (DIDOMI), Osano (Osano, Inc.), Otonomo (Otonomo Technologies Ltd.) , PossibleNOW (PossibleNOW, Inc.), Verizon Media, Usercentrics (Usercentrics GmbH), Secure Privacy, and Rakuten Advertising (Rakuten, Inc.). Browse Adjacent Markets: Software and Services Market Research Reports & Consulting Browse Related Reports: Data Governance Market by Component, Deployment Model, Organization Size, Application (Risk Management, Incident Management, and Compliance Management), Vertical (Manufacturing, Healthcare, and BFSI), and Region - Global Forecast to 2024 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/data-governance-market-108243043.html RegTech Market by Component (Solutions and Services), Application (Risk and Compliance Management, Identity Management, Regulatory Reporting, AML and Fraud Management), Vertical, Deployment Type, Organization Size, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/regtech-market-63447434.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/consent-management-market.asp Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/consent-management.asp SOURCE MarketsandMarkets A controversial Muslim preacher is predicting Islam will replace the United States as the world's dominant geopolitical force. Ismail al-Wahwah, the Australian spiritual leader of hardline Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, has suggested riots across the US would bring down the global superpower. 'Who will take over if America fall?,' he said a video on Wednesday night. 'Someone can say Europe, someone can say China, speak about Russia some, but for me the message is, the one who have more values, true values, and that's us Muslims. 'I would be hypocrite if I say I'm not happy for what's happening in America today.' A fundamentalist Muslim preacher is predicting Islam will replace the United States as the world's dominant geopolitical force. Pictured are riot police clearing Lafayette Park in Washington DC on June 1, 2020 Mr al-Wahwah described the violent mass demonstrations across the US as an opportunity for Muslims to exploit - following the alleged murder of black man George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer. 'It's time to use this opportunity to stand up, and to come back and to take the leadership again,' Mr al-Wahwah said. 'We as a Muslim, we should take this opportunity to take the leadership again, I know it's not easy job. 'I know it will cost us much, but I know 100 per cent that we are able, we can do it.' Hizb ut-Tahrir is global Islamist political party, active in 50 countries, that wants Islam imposed as a political system. It has a goal of replacing world governments with a caliphate based on the rule of Sharia law. The Islamist group's 'Draft Constitution of the Khilafa State', a blueprint for how its caliphate would govern, advocates the killing of ex-Muslims, known as 'apostates'. Despite its fundamentalist Islamic ideology that endorses slavery and only allows Muslim men to rule, Hizb ut-Tahrir is claiming to be the party of civil rights and is convinced riots against police brutality would hasten the downfall of the US. Ismail al-Wahwah, the Australian spiritual leader of Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, has suggested riots across the US would bring down the global superpower 'Do you think what's happening in America will be the end of the Americans' time? Yes,' Mr al-Wahwah said. Who is Hizb ut-Tahrir * A global Islamist political party that wants Islam imposed as a political system * HT seeks to replace world governments with a caliphate and impose the rule of sharia law * It is active in more than 50 countries * Each country's chapter is headed by an emir who answers to Hizb ut-Tahrir's overall emir Ata Abu Rashta * HT is estimated to have more than a million members worldwide * The group is banned in at least 13 countries including Germany, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Jordan * HT has not been banned in Australia where its Facebook page has about 32,000 likes * The Counter Extremism Project reports Hizb ut-Tahrir does not advocate violence directly but acts as a conveyor belt for terrorists, indoctrinating young members who go on to join jihadist groups Famous terrorists who were once members of Hizb ut-Tahrir include: * Khalid Sheikh Mohammad - al-Qaeda's surviving 9/11 mastermind * Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, killed in 2006 * ISIS fighter Mohammed Emwazi, a.k.a. Jihadi John, reportedly attended Hizb ut-Tahrir events while in university in England * Bangladeshi Islamist Farabi Shafiur Rahman, of Ansarullah Bangla Team, arrested for killing secular blogger Avijit Roy with a machete in 2015 Advertisement 'Absolutely, I believe what happened in America today, what will happen in the coming days and months and years, maybe, that will be a change in the position of America as a leader in this world. 'That's how superpowers fail. That's how superpower fall. 'That is one of the vital points that will be in the American history. 'It was a natural development in the decline of the American leadership.' He predicted the US would resort to war in a bid to maintain its global hegemony but would fail to stop its decline. 'You can delay it, maybe. You can maybe run to an international war, total war world,' Mr al-Wahwah said. Like other fundamentalist Islamists, Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to avenge the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. 'We have all elements of success if we do the right thing with help from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,' Mr al-Wahwah said in his Facebook video. Nonetheless, Hizb ut-Tahrir is so extreme it is banned in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. The group is also illegal in other Islamic nations, including Pakistan, Turkey and Jordan, along with Germany and Russia, but it remains legal in Australia. In July 2018, Mr al-Wahwah was detained at Amman Airport while travelling in Jordan with his wife, and was kept in custody for several months. Ismail al-Wahwah, also known as Abu Anas, was born in the West Bank city of Hebron which is now jointly controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Israel. He came to Australia as a refugee in 1997. The former taxi driver, based in south-west Sydney, is a controversial figure who had previously been deported from Indonesia and travelled to Syria in 2013 in support of an Islamic caliphate. A video from March 2016, translated and shared by the Middle East Research Institute, showed him urging Muslims to restore the Islamic caliphate at a conference held in Turkey. He called on the attendees in Ankara to pledge 'before Allah to restore the caliphate, to raise the banner, to restore the Sharia, to unite the Islamic nation and to lead the armies of jihad that will conquer Europe and America so that the word of Allah will reign supreme'. Mr al-Wahwah described the violent mass demonstrations across the US as a chance for Muslims to exploit - following the death of black man George Floyd in Minneapolis allegedly by a white police officer. Pictured is a burning car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020 In 2014 Mr al-Wahwah delivered an anti-Semitic rant to a rally in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba that vilified Jewish people, calling them 'the most evil creatures of Allah'. 'Moral corruption is linked to the Jews,' Mr al-Wahwah said. In 2017, Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar told a forum at Bankstown, in Sydney's south-west, that ex-Muslims, called 'apostates', should be killed. 'The ruling for apostates as such in Islam is clear, that apostates attract capital punishment and we don't shy away from that,' he said. The extraordinary admission was caught on camera by Daily Mail Australia and the matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police by Justice Minister Michael Keenan. In 2014, another Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman, Wassim Doureihi, repeatedly refused to condemn Islamic State when interviewed by ABC journalist Emma Alberici on the Lateline program. Last year, he told Hizb ut-Tahrir's 'Unapologetically Muslim' conference at Campsie in Sydney he refused to condemn ISIS and considered the Australian national anthem to be oppressive. 'Imagine someone comes into the room and looks at us both. Looks at us both and says these two are a bunch of paedophiles,' he said. 'And they come up on stage and they say, "Do you condemn paedophilia?" 'Would I actually respect that question and give a yes or a no? Why would I do that?' live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Hemang Jani In light of the current COVID-19 crisis, we look at the rural economy which has been less affected by the pandemic so far. Rural India plays a very important role, as it contributes 53 percent to India's GDP. Except for the villages very close to urban areas, rural areas were not much impacted by the COVID-19-led lockdown. Most of the mandis had got re-opened, which led to an upbeat sentiment in the last two months. Rabi crop flow has been smooth, with 85 percent of the harvest having arrived at the mandis. The government which generally buys 1520 percent of the produce for 38 commodities, has continued with its buying program and has managed the current situation well. The rabi season ended on May 15 and is now transitioning to Kharif sowing season. At present, it appears the Kharif crop is unlikely to be affected and may see a normal season. While the logistics have been staggered, they are also expected to improve going forward as the lockdown is getting lifted in a staggered manner. The timely onset of the monsoon season from June 1 and the likely normal rainfall projects a strong outlook for the Kharif sowing season, which is critical at such a challenging time. As the rain distribution is likely to be good across the regions, including the east and the north-east, production of all the Kharif crops cereals, pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals, cotton and sugarcane is expected to be robust and farmers may expand the acreage. The government has also provided support to the farmers by hiking the MSP for 14 Kharif crops for 2020-21 by 2-13 percent. In addition it has extended the time frame for farmers to repay their loans by August-end. All this would boost farmers' sentiments and provide a decent expansion to the farm sector which will partly soften the blow to the economy, which is ravaging under the COVID-19 outbreak. The urban migrant labour is now returning to villages and getting registered under MGNREGA. They may now be able to engage in productive work in rural areas depending on skills set and the type of work available. In the recent stimulus announcement, the government increased the MGNREGA allocation by Rs 40,000 crore and raised the wages to Rs 202 from Rs 180. This would lead to an overall increase in wages (outside of MGNREGA as well), in turn leading to higher rural incomes. This bodes well for rural consumption. Nonetheless, the monsoon this time holds a lot of importance, as this time around it will not just have an impact on agriculture, but bearings on employment generation, auto sales, and demand for everything from cement to steel. Thus, from the equity market perspective, tractor, two-wheelers, auto/rural financing, agrochemical and select FMCG companies will benefit from the good monsoon. Some of the names that investors can consider are M&M, Escorts, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, M&M Financial, Coromandel International, PI Industries, SRF, HUL, Colgate, Marico and Britannia. The author is Head Equity Strategist - Broking & Distribution at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Escondido Police Chief Ed Varso kneels at City Hall during a demonstration on June 3. (Gary Warth / San Diego Union-Tribune) To the editor: Police chiefs across America are kneeling and expressing grief over George Floyd's death. How noble of them. It must be difficult to engage in an act of solidarity that requires zero actual sacrifice. People are demanding real reflection, not genuflection. Perhaps as a follow-up, these police chiefs can return some of their bloated salaries and pensions to fund fair housing. They can cancel contracts for militarized equipment that intimidates black and brown communities. They can take personal responsibility by resigning when one of their officers brutalizes or kills another human being, providing true justice for communities who see one standard of accountability for themselves and another for the police. Solidarity and justice demand sacrifice, not feel-good publicity measures. There will never be justice until the police overcome their arrogance and fear. We have a long way to go. Charles Kohorst, Glendora .. To the editor: The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board's recommendation that police unions be barred from contributing to district attorney campaigns would set us on a dangerous path. A police union represents the interests of its members. It is not a government entity. Would you also bar contributions for unions representing autoworkers, farmworkers, actors and others? We should not be banning any contributions. Instead, concentrate on full disclosure and let the voters decide. Joseph Gunn, Burbank .. To the editor: Note to future mayors and police chiefs of Los Angeles: In times like these, the very first group to march against police brutality should be the LAPD. Take off your riot gear, put down your batons and rubber bullet guns, and march through every district with your fists in the air. We know the Los Angeles Police Department has a tough job. We know there are bad actors. If you put your guard down and show you love us and want to listen, you will build trust. And the people will respond in kind. Story continues Daniel Shafer, Los Angeles .. To the editor: Let's give police officers an economic incentive to control themselves. Have their salaries and pensions reduced when a government body has to pay for lawsuits based on their conduct. This can be based on both individual conduct and that of the department as a whole. Maybe then, in situations where an officer is behaving illegally, the good cop will intervene against a bad cop's action. At least ethical officers would have an additional incentive and argument to use: "Stop, this will cost us money." Ron Rouda, Venice Composer Valerie Coleman, seen here with the Philadelphia Orchestra in September following the premiere performance of her "Umoja, Anthem for Unity" by the Philadelphia Orchestra in Verizon Hall. Her new piece dedicated to front-line workers will receive its world premiere virtually Saturday night, and she will be part of a conversation on racial injustice. Read more Citing larger national events, the Philadelphia Orchestra has postponed its online gala originally slated for Saturday night with Steve Martin, Wynton Marsalis, and others. Instead, the orchestra has constructed an online event of conversation and contemplation about racial injustice. The June 6 gala has been moved to June 20 with its original guests. READ MORE: Heres live coverage of whats happening June 4 Its the wrong moment. Were in the middle of a national tragedy on so many levels. It just doesnt feel right to do a joyful celebratory event on Saturday night," said orchestra president and CEO Matias Tarnopolsky. We need to do something to respond to the moment, reflect, and listen deeply. Marsalis will still be on hand this Saturday night, but in conversation with composer Valerie Coleman, whose Seven OClock Shout, inspired by frontline workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, will still receive its world premiere. Colemans stirring piece, Umoja, was the first classical work by a living African American woman performed by the orchestra, last fall. READ MORE: Valerie Colemans stirring Umoja is a Philadelphia Orchestra milestone: The first classical work by a living African American woman that they have performed. Tarnopolsky said the conversation element is being convened in part to help ask questions, to know which questions to ask. We need to be listening more acutely now and much more purposefully to chart a path to equity throughout our community. Saturday nights online event will be dedicated to George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and the countless Black Lives wrongfully and tragically lost before them, and to the value and dignity of all Black Lives, the orchestra said in a letter sent Thursday to its constituents, signed by Tarnopolsky and music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. To various extents over the past two decades, the orchestra has been active in developing concerts and programs that meet underserved communities in the city and neighborhoods. It has commissioned numerous works from black composers, and recently has made women an integral part of its programming and conducting staff. The composition of the ensemble itself, however, has been slow to change. In a city that is about 44% black, the orchestra itself has only three black members or 3%. We need to do better," said Tarnopolsky. "Its the Philadelphia Orchestra. We are of Philadelphia. We need to do better. As for when or how, he said: There are ideas. We need to turn ideas into plans. We need to turn those plans into action. The orchestras HearTOGETHER live stream, Saturday at 7 p.m., will be available at philorch.org and on the orchestras Facebook page. Ladana Igler said her 21-year-old daughter Lauren Igler always looks forward to horse riding at SIRE in Spring. But for the past couple of months, she hasnt been able to receive the benefits of weekly exercise activities that help with her cerebral palsy. SIRE, a program that uses horse therapy to help people with special needs, is reopening its Spring site June 9 after closing in March due to COVID-19. The location has organized a phased-in plan to reopen with an abbreviated six-week riding program, adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Christmas in June: Car parade to celebrate the Centrum performance halls plan to reopen by end of 2020 This fall will be Laurens 14th year riding with SIRE. She has been asking to ride for the past several weeks. Now that the equine-assisted therapy location is starting up a pilot summer session, Lauren is ecstatic because she gets to go ride with her equestrian friends. She loves riding her horse, socially it benefits her to be with everyone, Ladana said. Shes excited but were excited just simply because it keeps her in a better condition. SIRE was started in 1983 and has three locations in Houston including Spring, another site in Richmond and its main administrative office near the Katy Freeway. The locations use the movement and interaction of horses to create equine-assisted activities for riders overcoming physical, intellectual or emotional challenges. Executive director Joe Wappelhorst said under normal circumstances they have about 250 people a week visiting their locations, but will now be implementing occupancy limits. Weve had to put in a lot of changes, Wappelhorst said. Our campus normally is very open and welcoming to volunteers, visitors and family members. Now we have to limit the number of people on site at any one time. Wappelhorst said the abbreviated program is a new way of doing things, but SIRE looks forward to serving as many people as they can. He hopes the program acts as a proving ground for how SIRE can fully reopen the Spring and Fort Bend locations in September. Unprecedented season When asked if theyve ever had to close before, Spring site manager Shayna Bolton said, not like this. She said there have been several hurricanes or potential floods in the past where they had to temporarily shut down, but never for more than a couple of weeks. The last class the location held was March 14 and Bolton said riders were preparing for the area and state Equestrian Special Olympics games. Then everything was canceled. SIRE distributed surveys a few weeks ago to staff, volunteers and clients to get their reactions about reopening and safety measures amid the COVID-19 situation. Bolton said the response was tremendous, with several riders ready to return. Now, Bolton has been at work with her staff making a schedule that will house as many as 37 riders a week, abiding by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship rules and health and safety protocols. On HoustonChronicle.com: Gov. Abbott expands reopening as Texas sees record number of new cases Wappelhorst said they could have easily doubled or tripled the size of the summer program based on the number of requests. We set up a pilot program with a limited number of riders so we can focus on ensuring a safe, fun and therapeutic experience for all participants, Bolton said. Wappelhorst said staff has been running mock lessons so that they know what to expect when their clients are on horseback and how to interact with them while social distancing. Back to normalcy The Igler pair usually stop by an hour ahead of Laurens riding session to volunteer, which Ladana said gives her daughter a sense of pride in something that shes accomplishing and doing for others. Lauren likes cleaning horse buckets, washing tables, or completing a basic task that she can do independently. As far as the riding, Ladana said it strengthens muscles and helps with her condition. Any form of exercise is good for her, Ladana said. When she rides weekly its excellent for her because every week youre getting that benefit. Whereas when youre not for two months, its just like a regular person going to the gym and working out, your muscle tone deteriorates or weakens. Even six weeks can make a difference in muscle tone, Ladana said. Were excited that they are able to come back and do the therapy, Ladana said. Any time you have a break like that, it breaks up their routine. When you dont have that and your social life is dwindled down, thats a lot for them. Bolton said that most of families were desperate for SIRE to reopen and were missing the horses, volunteers and all that the program offers physically, emotionally and mentally. Its hard for a lot of our clients to understand why they cant ride right now, Bolton said. This population thrives on structure and routine but thats all been taken away from them. Cautiously optimistic As far as safety measures, Bolton said everyone entering the property will have their temperature taken, the class size will be reduced from four to two, and horses and equipment will be washed daily or more if needed. Bolton said staff and volunteers will be cleaning all equipment and removing any toys or items that cannot be easily washed on a daily basis. Handwashing stations will be set up throughout the common areas, which will have running water, soap, and/or sanitizer. Riders have been asked to purchase their own helmets, if possible. We spent a lot of time discussing masks and ultimately decided they would be optional, Bolton said. We had staff members practice riding and working outside with the masks on and it was difficult to breathe. SIREs revenue and donations have taken a hit during the pandemic, Wappelhorst said, but people have stepped up to help the organization. He said that while there are a lot of changes being implemented to ensure health and safety, SIRE is happy that upon deciding to reopen at least on a trial basis so many clients have expressed interest in returning. Its therapeutic for not only the riders but for the families, our staff and volunteers too, Bolton said. We are cautiously optimistic about reopening for the summer. We cant wait to see our riders and volunteers. However, we are prepared to stop classes again if for any reason we feel the safety of our riders and any others are being compromised. alvaro.montano@chron.com By Aas Mohammad Kaif, TwoCircles.net Uttar Pradesh: A fifty-six-year-old Muslim lawyer from Saharanpur Uttar Pradesh has vowed to fight for the release of 57 foreign nationals, belonging to Tabligli Jammat, from various jails in UP. Support TwoCircles Talking to TwoCircles.net advocate Janisar Ahmad said that the worst thing to happen in the media trial of the Nizamuddin controversy was the selective conspiracy against foreign members of Tablighi Jamaat and sending them to jail. Recently, the governments of these detained Tablighi Jamaat members from Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, Thailand and Indonesia authorized them to present themselves in courts. Janisar said the arrest should not have happened. To understand this matter, lets take the example of Kushinagar during the same period around April 20, 3 foreign nationals were facilitated to their respective homes, he said, adding, In contrast, 916 foreign nationals around the country, who were Tablighi Jamaat congregation attendees have been selectively hounded and portrayed as villains. Out of these detained foreign Tablighi Jamaat members, 300 were arrested only in UP and 57 of them are lodged in four police stations in Saharanpur. Janisar said the case pains him and he doesnt want to take any fee for fighting for their release. I am fighting a big case without any fees for the first time. They are our guests. Not just as Muslims, but as human beings, things have gone very bad against them. The government should not have been so ruthless, he said. Janisar said that he has been very concerned with these cases. Recently, the ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to India arrived at Janisars home and both of them met the jailed nationals. Out of the 57 foreign nationals jailed in UP, 21 of them are from Kyrgyzstan. The country has shown concern for its detained citizens in India. The Kyrgyzstan ambassador has constantly met with the detained Tablighi Jamaat members inside the jail The government of Kyrgyzstan has decided it will do everything possible for the release of its citizens. According to the Z Aigerim, ambassador of the country, Every country should be concerned about its citizens. We are also worried. Our citizens have not done anything wrong. We are making legal arrangements. We are also talking to the Government of India and hopefully, our people will be released. Like Kyrgyzstan, the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and their embassy officials are also regularly following up on the cases of these foreign nationals in Indian jails. Pertinent to mention, 179 foreign nationals among the Jamaati members are in jails in the Meerut zone of UP for more than 45 days. A close friend of the local MP who came to meet the prisoners in Saharanpur jail said that all prisoners are happy and they arent facing any issues. Jailers and the prison staff are behaving respectfully with the foreign nationals. Even though not all of them can speak English, expect 3, it is comforting that they are being treated well, he said. No police official in UP was ready to comment on the issue, stating that the matter is being dealt at court. However, without being named, some officials confirmed that the decision to jail these foreign nationals who attended the Jamaat in Nizamuddin came from top-level bureaucracy. Waheed Siddiqui, an expert political analyst from Lucknow said that this kind of a decision can only come from the Chief Minister but arrests have been made in the entire country which means this is being closely coordinated and monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Ever since the media trial of the Nizamuddin Markaz story started, 17 foreign nationals from the Jamaat have been sent to UPs Bahraich. The same continued with Jamaat members, who after being quarantined were sent to various jails in UPs Prayagraj, Kushinagar, Meerut, Saharanpur, Hapur, Shamli, Bulandshahar and Baghpat. Local dailies reporting these events during that time used derogatory language and incited fear among the people. Other nationalities include Kenya, Sudan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan. This crackdown came into effect on a massive scale starting March 30. After April 20, they were finally being sent to jails. 20 were arrested from Meerut, 16 from Bijnor, 9 from Hapur, 22 from Shamli, 16 from Bulandshahr, 28 from Baghpat and 57 from Saharanpur under charges of Epidemic Act, Foreigners Act, and charges like preaching on a tourist visa, and more. Their passports were confiscated. On April 21, UPs Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh had demanded that a case of attempt to murder should be registered against all these foreign nationals. Attempt to murder cases was not filed but they have been kept in jails for more than 45 days now. Advocate Janisar said that he has seen countless cases of murder cases in his life whose trials are completed in less than a month but there is unnecessary and purposeful delay only in political matters. In these matters, only what the government wants is done, he said. Janisar recalls the case of Chandrasekhar of Bhim Army who was arrested and kept in the same Saharanpur jail. As soon as he got bail, a new case was immediately registered against him. The same happened in Bulandshahar where Majeed Ghazi is looking into the cases of these foreign Tablighi Jamaat nationals. Ghazi said that local Muslims are disturbed due to these incidents. But the Jamaat members inside jails are patient and smiling, he said. He said that the court proceedings are administered through video conferencing. Haji Mahboob, who has been associated with the Tablighi Jamaat for the last 20 years told TwoCircles.net that the current situation concerning foreign Tablighi Jamaat members can be called an atrocity. At least foreigners should not have been sent to jail, he said, adding, They could have been quarantined without any charges brought against them. Apart from this, 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members from India have been sent to jail or quarantined all over the country. At present, there are one and a half million Corona patients but there is no history of spreading infection that can be traced to Jamaat members, Mehboob said, adding, Are we still not understanding the lapses during the Namaste Trump program or will raising voice against its failure result in consuming ones whole community? Allah is watching usall we can do is be patient. How concerned the governments are for their citizens is also being revealed through this case. At Saharanpur jail, inmates from other nationalities include from Spain, Israel and France. According to Advocate Janisar, the officials from these countries keep talking to their citizens inside jails. He informed them that they have also advertised for legal help for these citizens. As of now, he has obtained a No Objection Certificate for them. Now these people will not stay in jail for long. However, Janisar is sure that there will be talks of a trial even after this as the most serious charges have been brought against them for spreading communal propaganda on a tourist visa. Ataurrahman Khan, an expert on religious affairs from Meerut told TwoCircles.net that it is not the right to call it propaganda because Jamaat members do not go to people of any other religions to motivate them into changing their religion. Rather, they make basic appeals to Muslims as per their religion, like offering prayers and giving zakat. This is different from Christian missionary work, he said. At present, embassies of all countries are active to free these foreign nationals. They are coordinating efforts to present both sides of their home courts as well as the Indian governments stand. But the possibility of their release can only be determined by the decision of Nuh Court of Haryana. A similar case was made against 107 foreign nationals lodged in Haryana. Advocate Asima Mandal was fighting the case for them where Nuh Court fined them a thousand rupees in the Pandemic Act and granted them bail. Later the court had also ordered the Haryana government to send all of them to their homes. Local student Aftab Ahmed Mewati assisting them had immediately paid a fine for many of them. Advocate Janisar said that ultimately the matter comes at the disposition of the government and he can only intervene to a limit. We are fully engaged. Soon the people of Tablighi Jamaat are going to get good news, he said. The Jail Superintendent of Bijnor told TwoCircles.net that foreign Jamaat members lodged in jails are very cooperative. We have 16 people from Indonesia. They are kept in temporary jails across the state. He said that officers from their respective embassies came to visit them and they were satisfied with the condition. We have improved the condition of jails medically. We are doing sanitation every day. Masks and PPE kits are made. We have no complaints from the foreign nationals regarding safety and hygiene, he said. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has also shown interest in the recent past in getting the Jamaatis released. However, this has not been their main priority. Jamiat spokesman Maulana Azimullah said that their first priority is the people of the country. We have earlier been involved in taking the stranded children of the madrassas to their homes. Apart from this, 22,000 Tablighis have been sent to their homes. Now we will focus on helping these foreign nationals. We have started working on this. 300 from Wazirabad have already been sent to a better place. Janelle Monae calls out Kansas City cops for arrest of protester Celebrities are continuing to use their platforms to speak out as Black Lives Matter protests continued Tuesday across the United States. And the issue of police oppression came close to home for Janelle Monae who took to Twitter Tuesday to denounce an incident in her hometown of Kansas City. This songstress is now more famous for her political activism than any recent hits . . . Accordingly, she calls out local police during recent KC riots along with a great many other Internets denizens.Read more: President Trump signed a law in March that gave an additional $600 per week to tens of millions of workers who had lost their jobs during the pandemic, in addition to the unemployment benefits that they would normally receive. Those expanded benefits expire July 31 and Congress is divided over whether to extend the higher payments. Republicans have raised concerns that the more generous benefits would act as a disincentive for people to return to work as the economy recovered, because many workers are now earning more from unemployment than they did from their jobs. Democratic supporters of the benefits say they are cushioning workers against a shock and helping to keep up the level of consumer spending. The budget office essentially found merit in both arguments. In a brief report prepared at the request of the Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the office said that if the benefits were to be extended, economic output would be higher in the second half of 2020 than if the benefits were to expire. But it said output would be lower in 2021 if the benefits were extended, because fewer Americans would be working. An extension of the additional benefits would boost the overall demand for goods and services, which would tend to increase output and employment, the office wrote. That extension would also weaken incentives to work as people compared the benefits available during unemployment to their potential earnings, and those weakened incentives would in turn tend to decrease output and employment. Even as more states reopen and some businesses slowly start to rehire, 1.9 million people filed new claims for state unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The weekly tally continues to decline from the more than six million who submitted applications in a single week in March, but it underlines the persistent strain that the pandemic has put on the economy and the long climb ahead. As New York City plans its reopening, new clusters emerge across the U.S. The Ontario government took the opportunity this week to proudly announce that its forging ahead with the signature project in the largest subway expansion in the provinces history. With the $11-billion Ontario Line, set to run from Exhibition Place to the Ontario Science Centre, the Ford government credits itself with taking historic steps to expand subway service and reduce traffic congestion. Ordinarily, transit announcements especially if they lead to actual transit building and not just drawing (or redrawing) lines on a map are welcome. But, as we know all too well, these are hardly ordinary times. In these pandemic-ridden days its more than a little tone deaf to tout a shiny new subway line in Toronto when half the citys existing transit system is in danger of being shut down without immediate and substantial financial aid. Financial aid that, so far, has not been delivered or even committed to by the province or the federal government. And its not just the transit system thats at risk. Torontos budget shortfall due to pandemic-related expenses and drastically reduced revenues is at least $1.5 billion. Since cities cant carry deficits the way senior governments can the only way to fill that hole without aid is through impossibly high property tax increases or slashing services. Mayor John Tory laid out the doomsday scenario two weeks ago. It would include cuts to subways, streetcars, buses and Wheel-Trans service; cuts to front-line police officers and fire services; cuts to child-care subsidies, long-term-care beds, community centres and libraries; and layoffs of city staff. Cuts like that would devastate the city and, given that its Ontarios economic engine, they would hurt the entire province and delay economic recovery. It makes no sense for the Ford government to push a new transit project, with a years-away delivery date thats already being questioned, without first dealing with the emergency needs of Torontos existing transit system and city services. Not to mention Ontarios other municipalities, whose budgets may have fewer zeros but are also struggling with pandemic costs they cant afford to pay. All told, its been a particularly disappointing week for municipalities since the Ford government was not alone in making an impressive-sounding announcement that doesnt deliver what cities need. The federal government did the very same thing. On Monday, the Trudeau government said it would deliver $2.2 billion in gas-tax funds to municipalities more quickly than it usually does. Not a bad thing. But Torontos $166-million portion, which was already factored into its budget, does nothing to address the citys looming financial crisis. So Toronto is faced with one government moving ahead with billions in new transit costs and another fast-tracking money for capital spending on infrastructure. Neither Ontario nor Ottawa has agreed to help Toronto and other municipalities where the bulk of Canadians live with the immediate peril they face. Instead were subjected to a merry-go-round in which Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau both say they understand the need and insist theyre willing to help but are waiting for the other guy to go first. Ford says Ontario will be at the table for the municipalities but behind Ottawa, which it claims has all the money. Trudeau, in turn, says Ottawa will be there to work with the provinces, but they must take the lead since cities are a provincial responsibility. As Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie puts it, theyre engaged in a stare down while cities wonder how theyre going to pay the bills. This needs to stop. Ottawa has done an admirable job in setting aside the usual political wrangling and bureaucratic delays to rush money out the door to individuals and businesses of all kinds, because thats what a crisis like this one requires. Trudeau and the premiers cant fall down on the job now. Cities like Toronto need financial aid period. This is not the time for jurisdictional games. Read more about: 1. The comment section is for discussion. Opinions are welcome. Personal attacks, trolling, name-calling and/ or bigotry will not be tolerated. 2. Posts containing links may be moderated. This blog does not accept paid advertisements and will not entertain free ones either. 3. Kindly stay on topic. Say what you think and refrain from telling others what they think. 4. Violators will be warned, deleted, and/ or banned at sole discretion of the moderator. She was very highly respected in our community. Broderson still believes that she has big shoes to fill as Muscatines current mayor. She did a lot to bring our community together and lift peoples voices Im trying to fill her shoes as best I can. She was also grateful that, during her first days as Mayor, Schauland helped provide guidance and mentorship, as well as her friendship. It was wonderful to know I had her and Dick OBrien helping me navigate those fresh waters. Through Schaulands roles as an educator and mayor, as well as her roles with other organizations such as the Zion Lutheran Church, Muscatine Alderman, Muscatine General Hospital Auxiliary, the Salvation Army, Muscatine Humane Society and many more, she firmly established herself as a caring and hardworking member of the Muscatine community. I remember fondly Mayor Schauland meeting with me when I came to Muscatine in 1979 and sharing with me her vision for the community's future, McAvoy said. She certainly continued for many years to stay involved and to provide her unique support for that vision. She will be missed, but not forgotten. Over 100 poor people suffering from ailments like diabetes, hypertension, blood pressure and paralysis, whose livelihood depended on a temple here in Maharashtra, had to stop taking their medicines after the temple closed due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. However, a doctor in the area with the help some locals and pharmacists ensured that these poor people, who include bards, folk artists and small-time shopkeepers, who earned by selling worship items at the temples base, get their monthly doses of medicines on time. There are several households in Punes Jejuri town whose livelihood is dependent on the famous Khandoba temple located in the area, Dr Nitin Kenjale told PTI. Members from these families work as bards, folk artists and run shops selling puja items at the temple base. But due to the lockdown, temples and religious institutions are closed. Since the economy around the temple in Jejuri is also affected, these people are bearing its brunt, he said. Kenjale said several of these people come to his clinic for consultation. While talking to some of these people, who are suffering from diabetes, hypertension, blood pressure and paralysis, I came to know that they stopped taking their medicines for want of money, Kenjale said. Kenjale, his wife and a couple of other locals then surveyed several households and came to know that at least 105 people living there had stopped taking their medicines due to the financial crunch. Since people with such ailments are more prone to the coronavirus infection, it was a matter of concern. Initially, we provided medicines to a handful of persons, but as the number of those requiring regular medicines rose, we formed a Jejuri Health Service Group with the help of some like-minded people, Kenjale said. The group then contacted some local pharmacists, who agreed to provide medicines required by these 105 people at the base price, said one of the group members Prakash Khade. All these needy people are now getting their medicines on time, Khade said. The average monthly cost of these medicines per person is around Rs 500, he said. The group is committed to provide medicines to all these people until the temple opens for devotees and the economy around comes back on track, he added. WASHINGTONMichelle and I, and the nation, grieve with you, hold you in our prayers. Were committed to the fight of creating a more just nation in memory of your sons and daughters, said former president Barack Obama. Right now, I think the nation needs law and order, said current President Trump said. The two U.S. presidents addressed America on Wednesday evening in broadcasts less than an hour apart Obama during in a roundtable sponsored by the Obama Foundation, Trump in an interview with his former press secretary, Sean Spicer and the contrast between the two men could not have been clearer. In demeanour and tone, of course, thats always been the case, but on Wednesday it was also reflected in the core of the message that each delivered. Those messages highlighted what has been missing from Trumps approach, and what could offer hope of easing the rage and sorrow that have motivated days of protest and spurred a national crisis. Obama expressed deep empathy, not just for the family of George Floyd but for others he named who have died from police violence in recent weeks. He tied the ongoing problem of how police treat Black communities to the countrys original sin of racism, and then proposed ways to achieve real change through reforming policing practices. Trump acknowledged the country might need healing, but only briefly, and only after highlighting what he called the very bad people who needed to be cracked down upon. Asked about police reform, he pivoted to attack Sleepy Joe Biden for a 44-year political career during which Trump said Biden did nothing to address the problem. Trump also spent considerable time discussing the incidents of violence among protesters without mentioning the many incidents of violence against protesters by police except where he approved of it. He criticized the mayor of Minneapolis for crying while discussing the problem. The focus of Obamas message like that of Bidens in a speech delivered Tuesday was on addressing the racial injustice in policing that is motivating protesters. The focus of Trumps message was the need to police those protesters, and harshly. The addresses came on a day when protests continued from morning to evening in Washington around the White House, at the Capitol building and at Trumps hotel on the National Mall. Several hundred people paraded through downtown in the 32 C heat of the early afternoon, chanting George Floyds name. People in nearby apartments banged pots and pans in support as bystanders on the sidewalk including security guards outside boarded-up businesses joined in protest chants. Authorities had expanded the perimeter around the White House area from the edge of Lafayette Square, which had been the focus of recent days protests, to one block north. Throughout the afternoon on 16th Street, where protesters have a view of the White House, the new line was marked not by a fence as it had been at Lafayette Square, but by armed officers. Many of them were wearing no immediately identifiable service uniforms beneath their bulletproof vests. By early evening, it remained unclear if the plan was to erect a fence in the new location. What was clear throughout the day to John Noakes, an expert on police-protester interaction from Acadia University, was that a heavily armed human barrier was a lot more volatile than an inanimate barrier, such as a fence making conflict between protestors and police more likely rather than less. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited the protests Wednesday afternoon, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren did Tuesday night, both of them highlighting what a different attitude the Democrats have toward to the protesters. They werent the only ones. A growing group of prominent people many of them sometime-allies of the president added their voices to a chorus of disapproval of his approach to the crisis, especially after Monday nights speech promising to deploy the military to states over governors objections and his photo-op visit to St. Johns Church after a peaceful crowd had been forcefully cleared by police to make way for him. Those critics included evangelist Pat Robertson (You just dont do that), Trumps former defence secretary James Mattis (angry and appalled) and even, to a very mild degree, current Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who caused a fuss when he said the country was not in a situation that would justify deploying the military to cities under the Insurrection Act, as Trump had threatened to do. Robertson and Mattis both advised the president to offer empathy to the protesters. Mattis said their grievance is justified and needs to be addressed. That is also the message of Obama and of Biden, whom the former president risks overshadowing by bringing his political wattage to bear on the question. Its possible that in that calculation, the people around them decided Obamas voice could actually do some good in helping heal the nation amid the current crisis. But its also possible that any problem of overshadowing Biden is offset by the former presidents message and charisma and direct engagement with the problem the protesters want solved which serves to highlight what may be Trumps deficiency in this crisis. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week showed almost two-thirds of Americans said they were sympathetic to the protesters. Trumps authoritarian approach appears calculated to project toughness. His opponents are catering to a desire that protesters seem to share with the general public to address police behaviour. Read more about: PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal German police said Thursday they presume a British girl who went missing in southern Portugal 13 years ago is dead, but Madeleine McCanns parents still nurture hope their daughter will be found alive. McCann was 3 at the time of her disappearance from an apartment while her family vacationed in the seaside town of Praia da Luz, in Portugals Algarve region, in 2007. Police in Germany reported Wednesday they had identified a suspect, a 43-year-old German citizen currently imprisoned in his home country for a sexual crime. They did not name him. The suspect spent numerous years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of McCanns disappearance, and has two previous convictions for sexual contact with girls. Police in Portugal and the United Kingdom confirmed the new lead in the long-running case. They did not explain why, after so many years, suspicion had now fallen on the German man, who was registered in the German city of Braunschweig before he moved abroad.. Hans Christian Wolters, a prosecutor in Braunschweig, Germany, told reporters the man is being investigated on suspicion of murder. You can infer from that we assume the girl is dead, Wolters said. The development, though grim, raised hopes that the mystery surrounding the case might finally be resolved. Authorities have never before given so much detailed information about any suspect during the years of investigating the childs disappearance, which received worldwide attention. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said on their website www.findmadeleine.com that their hope of seeing their daughter again had not faded. All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice, the couple, who live in the U.K., wrote. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. Wolters, the prosecutor, wouldnt give any other details of the suspects identity so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation. German police said the suspect, described as white with short, blond hair and a slim build, was linked to a camper van seen in Portugals Algarve region in 2007. Portuguese, British and German police appealed for the publics help in building their case against the suspect, asking people if they remembered seeing him in or around Praia da Luz 13 years ago. Her parents say Madeleine disappeared after they left her and her twin siblings asleep in their holiday complex while they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Christian Hoppe of Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office told German public broadcaster ZDF that police arent ruling out a sexual motive. He said whoever abducted the girl may have broken into the holiday apartment and then spontaneously committed the kidnapping. Hoppe said the suspect in the McCann case lived between Lagos and nearby Praia da Luz, and was regularly in the Algarve region from 1995 to 2007. The suspects description fits that of a 43-year-old man who was convicted in December of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in her apartment in Portugal, local German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported. The newspaper said the physical description provided by German authorities and other details match the defendant in the 2005 rape attack, who recently was linked to the case by DNA. The suspect denied the charges during his trial and has appealed his conviction. According to a copy of the rape verdict sent by the court in response to an AP question about the suspects December trial, his other convictions were for the sexual abuse of a child in 1994 and a case in 2016 when he was convicted of possessing child pornography. Other convictions include drug trafficking, burglary and weapons violations. Police from Britain, Germany and Portugal asked for anyone to come forward if they had seen two vehicles linked to the suspect a Volkswagen camper van and a Jaguar. They also sought information on two Portuguese phone numbers, including one believed to have been used by the suspect on the day of Madeleines disappearance. Portuguese police declined to comment because the countrys judicial secrecy law forbids revealing details of open investigations. In Praia da Luz on Thursday, local people wondered whether the riddle of what happened to Madeleine might finally be solved. Its been so long to actually find someone that might be responsible for what happened so long ago, said 20-year-old Daniel Westcottoy, who was at a nearby school when Madeleine disappeared. Its pretty shocking actually, but I think everybody wants to know what happened. ____ Rising reported from Berlin and Kirka from London. Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed. WASHINGTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With schools facing unprecedented challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) and ICMA-RC have released new research that assesses K-12 public school employees' views on their job and benefit satisfaction, familiarity with mutual funds and annuities, sources of financial information, debt, and school diversity. The research, Survey Findings: K-12 Public School Employee Views on Job and Benefits, is available here. The survey results indicate that the K-12 public school workforce is passionate about their profession, especially the ability to serve the community and their job security. However, the research suggests that if significant cuts were made to their salary or benefits, many educators would leave their jobs. The research also reveals that many public school employees would like more information about their retirement benefits and retirement planning, especially when it comes to managing their investments. "While K-12 public school employees have always been integral to educating and inspiring our nation's youth, the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified recognition of their importance," said Rivka Liss-Levinson, PhD, SLGE director of research and report author. "To recruit and retain top talent as the economic effects of the pandemic unfold, schools will need to consider the importance K-12 public school workers place on their job security, salary, and benefits. We hope this research provides policymakers with valuable information as they make critical workforce decisions that will have long-lasting impacts," she explained. "The research indicates that 70 percent of K-12 employees are either somewhat or not very confident when it comes to making retirement plan decisions on their own," says Bruce Corcoran, ICMA-RC managing vice president, head of education, healthcare and not-for-profit business. "This study reinforces the opportunity for better and more engaging education for K-12 employees, giving them the ability to make informed decision as they save and work towards their well-deserved retirement." The report key findings are summarized below. K-12 public school employees are generally satisfied with their employer. They are most satisfied with the ability to serve their community (83 percent), their job security (77 percent), and the personal satisfaction they receive from their job (75 percent). These are the three job elements employees say are most competitive with the labor market and that were most influential in attracting them to their job. Employees would be most likely to leave their job if significant cuts were made to their salary (75 percent), defined benefit (DB) pension plan (60 percent), or health insurance (58 percent). K-12 public school employees vary in how often they review their defined contribution (DC) retirement account results. Twenty-one percent of respondents are very comfortable investing and managing their DC accounts, and 51 percent are somewhat comfortable doing so. Overall, respondents have more favorable than unfavorable views of both annuities and mutual funds. Approximately one-third of those with a DC plan are given the option by their employer to invest in annuities and in mutual funds. Among those given the option, most choose to do so (75 percent for annuities and 82 percent for mutual funds). K-12 public school employees report varying levels of confidence when it comes to making retirement plan decisions on their own. To make these decisions, they most often turn to a friend or family member who isn't a financial professional (40 percent) or to a financial professional associated with their employer (34 percent). While only 23 percent of K-12 employees report that the racial/ethnic composition of their school's faculty and staff and the student population are a close match, nearly three in four say having a racially/ethnically diverse faculty and staff positively impacts student achievement. Employees also indicate that it is important for schools to have a racially/ethnically diverse faculty and staff, regardless of the makeup of the student population. This report is based on the results of a national online survey of 400 state and local government K-12 public school employees, conducted in March of 2020 by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) and Greenwald & Associates. SLGE gratefully acknowledges ICMA-RC for their support of this research initiative. The Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) helps local and state governments become knowledgeable and competitive employers so they can attract and retain a talented and committed workforce. SLGE identifies leading practices and conducts research on public retirement plans, health and wellness benefits, workforce demographics and skill set needs, and labor force development. SLGE brings state and local leaders together with respected researchers. Access all SLGE publications and sign up for its newsletter at slge.org and follow @4GovtExcellence on Twitter. About ICMA-RC Founded in 1972, ICMA-RC is a non-profit, independent financial services corporation with approximately $53 billion in assets under management and administration (as of March 31, 2020), focused on providing retirement plans and related services for over a million public sector participant accounts. ICMA-RC's mission is to help public sector employees build retirement security. The organization's mission is delivered through its RealizeRetirement approach in which ICMA-RC representatives actively engage participants in their retirement programs, help them build their asset base, and help them realize their retirement goals through a comprehensive retirement planning strategy. For more information, visit www.icmarc.org, download ICMA-RC's mobile app from the App Store and Google PlayTM or follow ICMA-RC on Facebook, LinkedIn , and Twitter. SOURCE Center for State and Local Government Excellence Related Links http://www.slge.org Everyone has heard about the schoolboys dubious claim that a dog ate his homework. But how often has a probate judge been told that a lawyers dog ate the original will? That is among the issues before Bexar Probate Judge Oscar Kazen in a case involving the estate of Billie Ray Hood, who died in San Antonio in 2014. Debra Ann Catalani, one of Hoods daughters, said the 2009 will which gave everything to Hoods three children was consumed by a pooch belonging to her lawyer, William E. Leighner. Decedents original Will was purloined from Leighners study by an unruly two-year-old Golden Doodle named Linus, who took said original Will through the doggy door, into the back yard and devoured it, she asserted in a pleading filed by her lawyer shortly after her mothers death. What remained of the original Will, blowing about the back yard was the left half portion of page 1, and small fragments of pages 2 and 3. This peculiar episode may soon resurface in a nasty family struggle over Billie Ray Hoods assets, estimated to be worth more than $50,000. Most of it is Hoods communal share of the family home. Six years before drafting the 2009 will, Hood had made another will giving all her assets to her husband Jack Hood, who was not the father of her three children. And now, Kristi Hood, 66, one of Jack Hoods children by his first wife Jerline, is contesting the second will, asserting that the earlier one is the only valid will before the court. I cant sell the house until I have clear title to it, said Kristi, 66, And I cant let them probate the fraudulent will because it says everything goes to them. She said her offers to her step-siblings to split the proceeds from the home sale were rejected. Jack and Billie Hood were married for 39 years. He outlived her, dying in February 2019 at age 95. The first legal challenge to Billie Hoods second will was made in 2015 by Jack Hoods guardian, but it then lay dormant until last year. According to Leighner, it should now be dismissed for lack of prosecution. Plaintiff has not sought discovery, or in any way or form, sought a trial date, he wrote in a pleading. This case has aged long past the point where it could be considered diligently prosecuted. And, he said, even though the original version of the 2009 will is long gone, that does not pose a serious obstacle to a copy eventually being admitted. You can probate a copy of a will, as long as you can prove that the original was not revoked by the decedent, that it was destroyed or lost by other means, and we all know what that was, he said. But that task wont be necessary, he said, until the will contest is resolved. The case is set for trial next month, but because of the courthouse shutdown due to the pandemic, Leighner said, it likely wont happen before this fall, if it happens at all. Kristi Hoods lawyer, Phil Ross, claims there are other reasons to challenge the 2009 will, foremost that Billie Ray Hood was not mentally competent to make a second will just five years before her death. Ive got a doctors report that Billie Hood was incapacitated when she drafted the second will in 2009, said Ross, adding that she may have been unduly influenced by Catalani to remove her husband as beneficiary and replace him with her three children. Years before the will dispute arose, a larger family battle played out in Bexar probate court between Jack Hood and his stepdaughter Catalani over who would be in charge of Billies affairs. Although the probate code says that the spouse of an incapacitated person acquires full power to manage, control and dispose of their community property, Probate Court Judge Tom Rickhoff appointed Catalani as permanent guardian of her mothers person and estate. Jack Hood took the case to the Fourth Court of Appeals, which reversed Rickhoffs order. Rickhoff recused himself from the case soon afterward. However the case goes, its unlikely that the last Linus the paper-eating-pooch joke has been heard. I was surprised that he wrote in his pleadings that his dog ate the will, Ross said. What lawyer has a dog for a secretary that has access to his clients files? Who would admit that? Leighner said that Linus is kept away from important legal paperwork, but has been known to eat the mail. The last thing I wanted to do was try to cover this up, even though I knew they would razz me up and down, he said of his fellow lawyers. I got a lot of cute and funny e-mails, as I expected. If the shoe were on the other foot, Id do the same thing. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) - A lawmaker from Mindanao said that engaging in a dialogue with the rebels is still a better solution to the violent extremism in the country. Rep. Hajiv Hataman of the lone district of Basilan was one of the lawmakers who voted against the controversial House Bill 6875 or the Anti-Terrorism Bill. He stressed that laws should not be oppressive. Naniniwala po ako na hindi ito ang katugunan para matuldukan natin ang problema natin sa terorismo, Hataman told CNN Philippines. Hindi natin dapat gawing oppressive ang ating batas. [Translation: I believe that this is not the answer to end our problem in terrorism. We should not make our law oppressive.] With 173 affirmative votes, 31 negative, and 29 abstention, the Anti-Terrorism bill is just waiting for President Rodrigo Duterte's signature before it becomes a law. The measure provides that any suspected terrorists can be detained without a warrant of arrest to up to 14 days. Also, anyone who committed or threatened to do such act of terrorism could be imprisoned up to 12 years. Ang prinsipyo diyan ay hindi natin kailangan siilin ang ating mga kababayan. Hindi natin kailangan i-supress ang kanilang mga karapatan, said Hataman. [Translation: The principle there is we dont have to oppress our people. We dont need to suppress their rights.] Basilan is known to be a bailiwick of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayaf that was established in 1991. READ: Who are the Abu Sayyaf? During his stint as the governor of then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Hataman launched the Program Against Violent Extremism which conducted dialogues with rebels. He said that more than 200 Abu Sayyaf members have surrendered to the government and returned to their families. Dapat magkaroon tayo ng polisiya na hindi tinutugis o hinahabol natin sila. Dapat magkaroon ng isang tamang pamahala-an na nakikipag-dayalogo sa kanila, he said. [Translation: We should have a policy that does not hunt them or run after them. We must have the right government that holds a dialogue with them.] Sa kasaysayan at batay sa aming karanasan, mas epektibo ang pag-engganyo sa ilang mga terorista na makibahagi o manumbalik sa ating lipunan," Hataman added. [Translation: In our history and experiences, engaging with some terrorists to cooperate or return to the folds of the law is more effective.] Hataman said tracking down terrorists could provoke them to do worse against the government. Habang pinipigilan mo, habang sinisiil mo, inaapi mo, lalong lumalaban, he said. [Translation: While you stop them, while you oppress them, the more they fight back.] Misinformation For his part, ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Yap said those who are against the bill are just misinformed of its provisions and could be interested in destabilizing the government. Sa tingin ko po, misinformed yung mga ibang tao kasi kung makikita mo, very organized itong group na ito, yung Junk Terror [Bill]," Yap told CNN Philippines. "Pati si Taylor Swift na-drag pa nila, [Translation: I think some are just misinformed because they are organized, those who support Junk Terror Bill. They even managed to drag Taylor Swift to this.] The lawmaker said there is nothing to be afraid of the bill and the President will not abuse the provisions. There is nothing to be afraid of, yung warrantless arrest (There is nothing to be afraid of, like the warrantless arrest).... Kung merong magre-report na na-aresto sila, na hindi sila terrorist (If they will report that they were arrested and not terrorists), they can go to us, they can go to the senators, they can go to the media to report, said Yap. He added, Lahat ng laws there will be abuse, pero I have confidence sa Presidente na hindi niya papayagan yung abuse. [Translation: All laws are prone to abuse, but I have confidence in the President that he will not allow abuse to happen.] Yap also addressed the celebrities who are against the bill, saying they are just following the trend. Nakikita ko is misinformation," he pointed out. "Kung titingnan mo maraming celebrities ang nag-o-oppose nito, kapag tinanong mo sila kung nabasa nila yung bill, baka 90% ang di pa nakabasa. Nag-react lang sila. [Translation: What I see is misinformation. There are a lot of celebrities who oppose it, but if you ask them if they have read the bill, maybe 90% of them havent actually read it. They just reacted about it.] READ: Taylor Swift, local celebrities join plea to junk anti-terrorism bill Yap said he will move to repeal the measure if there is any proven abuses in its enforcement. The Anti-Terrorism bill was certified urgent by the President in order to preserve the national security and general welfare of the people. OSWEGO, IL While residents grappled with the restrictions imposed due to the Illinois stay-at-home order, a child care center in Oswego devised a way to let the children know that they were missed by organizing a special parade. Execute director of Loving Arms Childcare Center, Julie Mueller, said one of the teachers organized a parade for her daughter's birthday and conceived the idea to host something similar for the kids and parents. The initial plan was simple the teachers would station themselves around the parking lot and parents would drive their kids around as teachers waved at them and told them they were missed. But, it turned into something much more grand when the Yorkville Police and Bristol Kendall Fire departments joined the parade along with multiple vehicles. For about an hour on May 12, over 20 families showed up and drove around a few times while the children enjoyed seeing familiar faces carrying heartfelt signs. "A lot of parents came, I was overwhelmed by how many showed up," Mueller said. "We expected a fire truck or an ambulance and one police car and the city sent a fire truck, an ambulance, four police cars, and the Park and Recreation van. The police chief also arranged a meeting point for the parents and met them all there before the start of the parade to line them up. It was amazing to see the willingness and support from the city to make the parade extra special for our families and staff." Throughout the pandemic, the center has endeavored to keep the kids engaged. The teachers post craft and activity ideas on the Facebook page that parents can do with their kids. Some even posted videos of themselves reading stories. "I am hoping this has encouraged families to slow down and spend time with each other," she said. "Play games, go for walks, watch movies, read books, talk. We take so much for granted and Im hoping this situation has given families the opportunity to appreciate these things." Story continues Mueller said she was overwhelmed by the support Oswego showed her. "I could hardly contain my emotions," she said. "I am so thankful for them and proud to be part of this community." For more news and information like this, subscribe to the Oswego Patch for free. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. Don't forget to like us on Facebook! This article originally appeared on the Oswego Patch Researchers developed a microscopy technique that measures the location and orientation of single molecules and used it to study the structural details of amyloid protein aggregates. (a) Single-molecule localization microscopy image of a network of amyloid aggregates. (b) Image showing Nile red binding orientations to amyloid surfaces, color-coded according to the average orientation measured within each bin. (c-g) Individual orientation measurements localized along fibril backbones within the white boxes in (b). The lines are oriented and color-coded according to the direction of the estimated angle. Horizontal white scale bars are length markers, 1 micron in (a), (b) and 100 nm in (f), (g). Credit: Tianben Ding, Tingting Wu and Matthew D. Lew, Washington University in St. Louis Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are often accompanied by amyloid proteins in the brain that have become clumped or misfolded. A newly developed technique that measures the orientation of single molecules is enabling optical microscopy to be used, for the first time, to reveal nanoscale details about the structures of these problematic proteins. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis describe their new approach in Optica, The Optical Society's journal. "Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are leading causes of death all over the world," said Tianben Ding, co-first author of the new paper. "We hope our single-molecule orientation imaging approach can provide new insights into amyloid structure and possibly contribute to the future development of effective therapeutics against these diseases." Biological and chemical processes in the brain are driven by complicated movements and interactions between molecules. Although most amyloid proteins may be non-toxic, the misfolding of even a few could eventually kill many neurons. "We need imaging technologies that can watch these molecular movements in living systems to understand the fundamental biological mechanisms of disease," explained Matthew D. Lew, leader of the research team. "Amyloid and prion-type diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes are our first targets for this technology, but we see it being applied in many other areas too." Selecting the best microscope Lew's lab has developed several single-molecule super-resolution microscopy methods that measure the orientation and location of fluorescent molecules attached to single proteins. The orientation information is obtained by measuring not only the location of fluorescence in the sample but also characteristics of that light, such as polarization, which are typically ignored in most other microscopy approaches. In their Optica article, the researchers described a performance metric they designed to characterize how sensitively various microscopes can measure orientations of fluorescent molecules. Using the new performance indicator, the researchers found that a microscope that splits fluorescence light into two polarization channels (x and y) provides superior and practical orientation measurements. "The metric we developed calculates the performance of a particular microscope design 1,000 times faster than before," said Tingting Wu, co-first author of the work. "By measuring the orientations of single molecules bound to amyloid aggregates, the selected microscope enabled us to map differences in amyloid structure organization that cannot be detected by standard localization microscopes." Since there is no artificial link between the fluorescent probes and amyloid surfaces, the probes' binding orientation to the amyloid surfaces conveys information about how the amyloid protein itself is organized. The researchers quantified how the orientations of fluorescent molecules varied each time one attached to an amyloid protein. Differences in these binding behaviors can be attributed to structure differences between amyloid aggregates. Because the method provides single-molecule information, the researchers could observe nanoscale differences between amyloid structures without averaging out details of local features. Opportunities for long-term studies "We plan to extend the method to monitor nanoscale changes within and between amyloid structures as they organize over hours to days," said Ding. "Long-term studies of amyloid aggregates may reveal new correlations between how amyloid proteins are organized and how quickly they grow or spontaneously dissolve." The researchers note that the set-up they used for orientation-localization microscopy consisted of commercially available parts that are accessible to anyone performing single-molecule super-resolution microscopy. Their analysis code is available at https://github.com/Lew-Lab/RoSE-O. "In optical microscopy and imaging, scientists and engineers have been pushing the boundaries of imaging to be faster, probe deeper and have higher resolution," said Lew. "Our work shows that one can shed light on fundamental processes in biology by, instead, focusing on molecular orientation, which can reveal details about the inner workings of biology that cannot be visualized by traditional microscopy." Explore further Protein shapes matter in Alzheimer's research More information: Tianben Ding et al, Single-molecule orientation localization microscopy for resolving structural heterogeneities within amyloid fibrils, Optica (2020). Journal information: Optica Tianben Ding et al, Single-molecule orientation localization microscopy for resolving structural heterogeneities within amyloid fibrils,(2020). DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.388157 The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will celebrate the best of television broadcast in the United Kingdom during 2019 in a live show at the end of July - though with stars and studio audience absent. Chernobyl, HBO's critically acclaimed dramatisation of events surrounding the world's worst nuclear accident, tops the roll-call of nominations announced on Thursday, with 14. "We've had over 500 entries this year... (so) it was really fiercely contested," BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar told Reuters TV. Nominations fall into two categories, television and television craft, with winners of the former to be announced at the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards ceremony on July 31. Also read: Entertainment in the time of coronavirus, an essential watchlist of TV shows, films to help you survive self-isolation As things stand with the coronavirus pandemic, nominees are expected to film their speeches rather than appear in person and there are no plans for a big audience. There will however be a live element to the BBC show, which actor and filmmaker Richard Ayoade will present. "All those details are being worked out at the moment because the social distancing rules are changing. What we can say at the moment is that there will be a show in a studio and we're working out the participants," Majumdar said. Chernobyl nominations include leading actor for Jared Harris, supporting actor for Stellan Skarsgard, and mini-series. The Crown, the warts-and-all account of the reign of Queen Elizabeth that aired its third season last year, has seven nominations, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge's black comedy Fleabag and Anglo-Japanese thriller Giri/Haji on six each. The British Academy Television Craft Awards will be announced online on July 17. Follow @htshowbiz for more Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:41:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and visiting Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj hold a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on June 4, 2020. Turkey and Libya agreed to further enhance their cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean over a deal made on maritime delimitation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) ANKARA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and Libya agreed to further enhance their cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean over a deal made on maritime delimitation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. "On maritime delimitation, we aim to improve our cooperation, including exploration and drilling," Erdogan said at a joint press conference with Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. Sarraj on Thursday met with Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara after GNA's military said in a statement that they had regained control over Tripoli. Erdogan welcomed the recent military success of the GNA forces. Turkey supports the GNA both politically and militarily. Ankara deployed Turkish troops in Libya to train and advise forces loyal to Sarraj in Tripoli. Sarraj and Erdogan discussed the ways of lifting embargos on Libya, the Turkish president said, "We are on the same page on the issue of continuation of oil exports of Libya," he stated. Erdogan called on international actors to prevent the "illegal" oil export of Hafter. Sarraj expressed gratitude for Turkey's "historical and responsible attitude." He said they want to increase cooperation with Turkey. Since the uprising which killed former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, Libya has been divided between the powers of GNA and the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA). (CNN) Nearly three dozen of Facebook's earliest employees wrote an open letter addressing Facebook's leadership Wednesday calling for the company to rethink its inaction on recent incendiary posts by President Donald Trump. In the letter, which was published in the New York Times, the former employees said the company they helped build is no longer recognizable. They also called decisions by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives "cowardly." "They have decided that elected officials should be held to a lower standard than those they govern," the former employees wrote in the letter, a version of which was also viewed by CNN Business. Among those who signed were Meredith Chin, a former corporate communications manager at Facebook; Adam Conner, a former public policy manager; Natalie Ponte, a former marketing manager; and Jon Warman, a former software engineer at the company. "It is our shared heartbreak that motivates this letter," they added. "We are devastated to see something we built and something we believed would make the world a better place lose its way so profoundly." Facebook didn't immediately respond to CNN Business's request for comment. The letter is just the latest example of mounting public criticism of Facebook and Zuckerberg, both inside and outside the company. Last week, Twitter for the first time affixed a fact-check label to multiple Trump tweets about mail-in ballots and days later put a warning label on a tweet from Trump about the Minneapolis protests. In the tweet, he warned: "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," a phrase with racist origins. While identical posts appeared on Facebook, the company chose to do nothing. "I've been struggling with how to respond to the President's tweets and posts all day. Personally, I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. "But I'm responsible for reacting not just in my personal capacity but as the leader of an institution committed to free expression." So far this week, there has been a virtual walkout by current employees, a tense all-hands meeting Tuesday between Zuckerberg and Facebook staff, and public condemnation from civil rights leaders. At least one employee has quit over Facebook's handling of Trump's content. This story was first published on CNN.com 'Facebook's earliest employees say Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump posts is 'cowardly'' Toronto and Spanish physicians describe in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) an approach to create dedicated COVID-19 patient units, infection control protocols and care teams to help other hospitals safely care for patients. "The care of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 cannot be construed as falling within usual hospital operating procedures," writes Dr. David Frost, a general internist at University Health Network and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, with coauthors. Meticulous planning is required. There are unique challenges regarding necessarily strict infection control procedures, provision of care to potentially large numbers of patients and clinical considerations specific to COVID-19." David Frost, General Internist, University Health Network, University of Toronto The approach is based on real-world experience in Madrid, Spain, and from Toronto's University Health Network, one of Canada's largest hospitals, as well as relevant medical literature. Some highlights include Creating a dedicated COVID-19 unit with delineated risk zones and protocols Establishing a buddy system for health care professionals to safely doff and don personal protective equipment (PPE) Considering how rapidly care teams can be scaled up, how to integrate other physicians and how to maintain continuity of care Standardizing procedures with checklists to maximize efficiency and safety for ward rounds Adopting patient-centred practices to help lessen isolation and ensure links with families and caregivers Fostering a culture of safety and clear communications to all stakeholders "The ability to rapidly disseminate information, iterate protocols and collaborate with physicians around the world will continue to be important through subsequent waves of the pandemic," the authors write. Seems like theres one place on Earth that humans have spared from the devastating effects of air pollution and scientists claim to have pinpointed that precious location. Source/Kathryn Moore/Colorado State University According to a CNN report, Scientists from Colorado State University found t the worlds cleanest air, located over the Southern Ocean. The team of researchers has said that the atmospheric region over the ocean which surrounds Antarctica has not been adversely impacted by human activity. The Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica has the air that shows the smallest concentration of particles caused by human pollution. The first of its kind study of the bioaerosol composition of the Southern Ocean was conducted by researchers from Colorado State University. A research ship sailed from Tasmania to within 24 miles (40 km) of the Antarctic ice edge to conduct "bacterial profiling" from air filter samples. But scientists found the air was so clean there was little DNA to analyse. Image For Representation Professor Sonia Kreidenweis and her team from Colorado State University identified one such pocket while conducting a first-of-its-kind study of the bioaerosol composition of the Southern Ocean. The team found that aerosol particles which are produced by human activity like burning fossil fuels, planting certain crops, and fertiliser production were absent in the boundary layer. The aerosols controlling the properties of SO (Southern Ocean) clouds are strongly linked to ocean biological processes, and that Antarctica appears to be isolated from southward dispersal of microorganisms and nutrient deposition from southern continents, Thomas Hill, co-author of the study, said in a statement. "We were able to use the bacteria in the air over The Southern Ocean as a diagnostic tool to infer key properties of the lower atmosphere," said co-author of the study Thomas Hill. www.researchgate.net He said the particles they discovered were linked to marine bacteria from sea spray, with no contaminants from outside the region. According to the university statement, the bacterial composition of the microbes also was differentiated into broad latitudinal zones, which suggested that aerosols from distant land masses and human activities, such as pollution or soil emissions driven by land use change, were not traveling south into Antarctic air. 21 of the Worlds 30 most polluted cities are in India. Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh was named the worlds most polluted city in 2019, as per the World Air Quality Report 2019. H-E-B H-E-B received the highest customer satisfaction score among grocery chains for its coronavirus precautions, according to a recent consumer study report. On Monday, Bond Brand Loyalty, a marketing and customer experience business, released its latest COVID-19 consumer tracker study, which ranks customer satisfaction with regard to precaution measures in the grocery, pharmacy and gas station store sectors. Not only was I closeted because the dont ask, dont tell policy was still in effect, but I was one of just a few black people in my platoon of 40 soldiers. I think my company of a couple of hundred had maybe 10 black soldiers most of the others were Midwestern white guys. There were so many microaggressions and so much racism and homophobia. A gay soldier had been discovered in the unit before I got there, and he was beaten with a bat in the shower. And there was the lieutenant colonel who erupted when he saw the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on TV, telling me to turn it off, because I dont want to see that troublemaker. You just let it roll off your back, because youre getting ready to go to war with these people, and short of fighting people every day, you just become numb to it. It begins to chip away at your sense of self. I was under constant pressure to hide in plain sight as a black queer person in a mostly all-white infantry unit getting ready to go to Afghanistan. I managed to build a somewhat close relationship with my fellow soldiers anyway. I started reading a lot while I was over there. Specifically, I read The New Jim Crow, and it helped me see more directly the connection between slavery and modern-day racial inequity. Two months after I got back from Afghanistan, Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Fla. the same town in which I interned for Barack Obama in back in 2008. That was the arc for me: joining the military on the heels of the first black president, going off to war, dealing with all the overt aggressions, trying to hold onto a sense of who I was, being completely disconnected from everyone I knew and loved. I came back and took advantage of what Id worked for, which was school and within a year of graduation, I finally had a chance to breathe and think of all that had happened over the past eight years. I fell into a deep depression that led to a suicide attempt because I no longer fully understood the America that existed, and I no longer recognized the America I lived in. And that created an existential crisis for me. It was my mother and other black folk who cared for me, who listened and helped me find who I was again. In 2016, I started to get involved in the Black Lives Matter movement and joined the local chapter in New York. It was composed of mostly young black queer people who were doing a lot of work with families who were victims of police violence. (Newser) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was in the process of announcing a strategy to assist Australians in investing in their homes Thursday when he was interrupted by an annoyed homeowner who'd just invested in his lawn. "Can everyone get off the grass please," the man yelled from his front door in Googong, New South Wales, home to a major redevelopment site. "Sure, let's just move back from there," responded Morrison, who was speaking from a grassy area just off a road, per the BBC. He urged reporters standing on a sidewalk in front of him to move forward off the man's property. "Come on," the man continued, drawing chuckles from the crowd. "Hey guys, I've just reseeded that." story continues below "Yeah, please, off the thing," Morrison told the crowd. In the end, the homeowner wasn't too upset with the prime minister. "Sorry, mate," he said, giving the leader a thumbs up, which Morrison returned with an "All good, thanks," per Sky News. He then continued with his announcement of grants for homeowners seeking to build a new home or renovate their existing onean offering designed to stimulate the construction industry as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll. "Make sure you get off that bloke's lawn!" Morrison said as he wrapped up, per ABC Australia. "Nothing wrong with a proud homeowner," added a government official. "He's put a lot of time and effort into that [lawn]," said another. (Read more Scott Morrison stories.) 1 June 2020, the beginning of level 3 lockdown for all South Africans during the global Covid-19 pandemic that has placed us in the position of 'what's next?' or - more importantly, and closer to the soul of the nation - 'we've got this - we will rise'. There is brutal evidence, and no doubt that the implications imposed on the industry from the level 5 and level 4 lockdown regulations have left industries battered and bruised. The out of home (OOH) industry, in particular, was first to be hit - as a country we were told 'stay home', we were literally turned off. Jorja Wilkins, a Marketing Executive at Primedia Outdoor DOOH and OOH are agile, flexible and tactile, especially when it comes to contextual messaging People are focused coming out of lockdown, they have higher level of attention as they are re-emerging out from their homes OOH - the place to go where people need good and positive messaging There is no other bigger broadcast medium than OOH OOH needs to operate in a data economy not a guess economy. OOH has an inherent power with location and relevant data Strategic and analytic tools will be key in assisting clients with a way forward The opportunity for OOH is in its undeniable power of broadcast and reach; brands want to bounce back post-crisis OOH power of immediacy The unrivalled creative power of OOH OOH brings the fame game to brands a feel-good factor But thats the thing about OOH, you cant turn it off. OOH is profound, its here for you and me and it is here for a reason.From the onset of lockdown which was initiated towards the end of March 2020 OOH raised its voice in solidarity in support of the frontline and essential workers who put their lives at risk in combating the coronavirus that has put all our lives in danger in order to protect our fellow South Africans. Messages of thanks and praise across most digital out of home (DOOH) billboards have eclipsed the landscape of South Africa. Primedia Outdoor utilised its dynamic optimised creative capable Social Wall platform with #PrimediaBigThanks to ensure messages from social media could be linked to the big screen of DOOH, making the nations voice louder and prouder. Primedia Outdoor, in addition to the praise for our front liners, communicated preventative measures to help curb the spread of Covid-19 on all its DOOH roadside, mall and rank platforms. OOH in support of the people, ensuring that the public in need of, or in search of a hospital or clinic, knew exactly which way to turn to get there with the use of directional signage on different formats of OOH. The agility and dynamic capability of DOOH ensured that the nation was up to date on the statistics of Covid-19 and all regulation updates through the utilisation of live feed updates from Eyewitness News (EWN) on all of Primedia Outdoors DOOH structures that cover the country and key environments. Primedia Outdoor took part in a global initiative #SendingLove which promoted messages of love that was positioned to unite communities all over the world during the fight against the effects of Covid-19. The socially-enabled DOOH campaign was facilitated by the World Out of Home Organisation (WOO) of which Primedia Outdoor is a proud member and launched by outdoor specialist Talon Outdoor, saw advertising space donated by over 70 media owners across 153 cities making it the biggest user-generated campaign ever to screened on DOOH. OOH has without a doubt been a formidable platform during lockdown that has played an important role for society going beyond selling and acted as a force for social good.The first 21 days of lockdown and its contested extension in South Africa left clients in a state of confusion and wondering if anyone was going out? Ask yourself this: Did you go out? whether it was once or twice a week or more the answer is yes. Most definitely yes. The number of times that you stepped out may have been significantly less but you still ventured out no matter if you live in Polokwane or Johannesburg, you went out. You stayed closer to home, not going too far in fear of being caught for breaching the regulations. The Google Mobility Reports showcase this clearly with residential trips having an increase of 20% up until 2 May 2020 after the extension of the initial lockdown. A key benefit of OOH is that its presence on a hyper-local level means that it works just as well as or even better than a billboard on longer journeys. Indications from vehicle tracking company Tracker collated by data analytics company Lightstone shows that on a national level, traffic was down 75% in the first week of lockdown. But from 15 April, there was an 80% increase in activity with Lightstone reporting drivers making 40% of their trips they did before lockdown and over the following weeks continued to increase.Primedia Outdoor has been monitoring the roads very carefully since Level 4 was initiated there has been a buzz of engines humming and a steady increase in flow of passenger vehicles making its way past our 25 DOOH roadside billboards that are all equipped with live feed cameras that are positioned in front of the screens to monitor flighting of creative. Six of Primedia Outdoors Urban Digital Network billboards in Gauteng located on main arterials have intelligent cameras attached to them known as Prime(i) not only do these cameras count the traffic passing each structure but can also tell what make and model of car is stationary in front of the billboard at the intersection. These Prime(i) devices have shown a volume increase of over 160% from the first three weeks of April to end May 2020 and a volume level of 30% of February traffic on these specific locations. Reports from the past week and weekend (2531 May 2020) show positive signs of Level 3 reporting close to 6070% of normal traffic volumes with approximately eight million employees returning to work from 1 June 2020. Importantly, this information as it is presented, is not intended to substitute or be used as traffic counts or impressions, as a proud member of the Out of Home Measurement Council (OMC) we believe this is a task firmly left to the expertise of the OMC.As an industry, we look forward to the increasing levels of audiences and the advertising opportunities for brands across our environments as lockdown levels ease up. According to a recent webinar hosted by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) called Why OOH Should Be the First Place Brands Go Post-Crisis Part 1, the following key points were raised as to why OOH will come out strong post-crisis:When lockdown was implemented, shopping malls across the nation ensured they created an environment that was safe for their shoppers with social distancing measures in place and sanitisation stations everywhere you looked. A recent survey conducted by the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) sets the scene perfectly for what has happened in shopping malls across the country during the initial levels of lockdown. From Level 4, malls reported a 50%60% on pre-Covid levels of volume with 38% reporting weekly (41% pre-Covid) shopping and 13% reporting more than once a week (24% pre-Covid). The survey also highlighted key frustrations of the shoppers: 41% were frustrated that not all shops were open and 35% were annoyed with the long queues to enter stores however their overall experience showcased a 60% satisfaction rate due to good health and safety practices. According to Urban Studies, they believe Covid-19 will bring about a trend in two distinct types of shoppers, the born-to-shop shoppers who want everything back to normal and the concerning and frightened shoppers who will buy discreetly and spend less time in a shopping mall. The key aspect for both is safety and malls need to ensure they are perceived as the safest mall in protecting their shoppers. Urban Studies has reported a 50%-70% volume on pre-Covid levels.In-house research conducted by Primedia Outdoor, utilised passive WiFi nodes within shopping centres that it has rights to, has reported an average volume increase of 85% of shoppers on the first three weeks of the month from April to May 2020, and volume level of 47% of February audiences. Some malls are in fact over indexing from February to May 2020, implying that South Africans are going to the malls and, in truth apart from going to work if allowed they have nowhere else to go. The shopping malls are the only approved recreational locations to visit and enjoy. Based on the latest data received from the research, we should see a stable return on a volume of 70%-90% of pre-Covid shopping at most shopping centres during Level 3 lockdown.Brand presence, price and product within the mall environment has always been incredibly important on the consumers purchase journey especially because of the hyper-locality of point of purchase to the store and relevancy.A recent global webinar held by the World Out of Home Organisation (WOO) and Ocean Outdoor called An evening of conversation with UKs biggest OOH specialist agencies put forward some key points positioning OOH strong coming out of lockdown:The South African township environment has been a contested environment during lockdown with issues relating to social distancing and the bustling informal economy that constitutes a way of life within the township setting. Comments and reports that townships arent in any lockdown are false, the fact is that the township has adapted for decades community members within townships have worked together to ensure the best for their community. One thing for sure is that the businesses within the township will never let an opportunity slip by. During Level 5, spaza shops and informal traders were hit the hardest with their stores temporarily closed down. But in Level 4, they rose to the challenge and utilised social media and online platforms for delivery of food and other essentials to ensure their customers received their products. Esteemed author of Kasinomics and Kasinomic Revolution, GG Alcock states: Township businesses have very rapidly shifted to utilising online or mobile tech for e-commerce with the most popular platform being WhatsApp. And just like any environment, if your brand is not visible to the audience how do you expect them to buy your product? Whether shopping in the formal or informal market, brand presence on the consumer's journey whether the path to purchase or daily commutes is vital make your brand stand loud and proud. And when it comes to e-commerce, for years OOH has proven to be the most effective offline medium in driving online activity and engagement.The taxi rank environment, powerful and robust the engine to the South African economy in normal times transporting over 18 million South Africans on a daily basis has remained resilient during the initial lockdown and Level 5 through to 4. The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) reported a conservative level of 40% of pre-Covid volumes for Level 4 lockdown ensuring that front-liners and essential workers have the transport support they need to keep the country safe. Footage from all of Primedia Outdoors taxi rank cameras purposefully used to monitor flighting of campaigns have showcased a hive of activity within the taxi rank space from commuters queueing for taxis to hawkers and vendors selling their goods to their loyal customers. The taxi associations have implemented safety measures in all ranks of South Africa to promote social distancing; the wearing of masks and sanitisation of the vehicles and the rank itself. With a receptive audience in the commuter market, OOH is perfectly positioned to deliver effective and relevant messaging to an audience that is considering their next purchase as they go about their daily commute.So here we are, Level 3 lockdown in South Africa the opportunities in OOH for advertisers are bountiful and appealing with a growth trajectory based on recent global developments that resembles the familiar Nike tick. OOH stands its ground as the most profound traditional media platform utilised for social good; brand building and point of purchase positioning. Primedia Outdoor, pre-Covid; during lockdown and post-lockdown is committed to delivering targeted, intelligent and streamlined OOH media solutions for all advertisers. Lets go outside safely. Boris Johnson pleaded for vaccine funding pledges today as he opened a UK-hosted summit - and swiped at Donald Trump by urging countries to work with the WHO. The PM insisted the globe must 'cooperate on a scale beyond anything we have seen before' as he appealed for 6billion in contributions to immunise 300million children within five years. He name checked the WHO - which has had its US funding cut off amid fury from Mr Trump over a 'China-centric' attitude - as a key part of the battle against diseases. If the Gavi alliance funding target is met, it is hoped 300 million children in the world's poorest nations could be vaccinated against diseases like polio, diphtheria and measles by 2025. Mr Johnson said he hoped the meeting will be a 'moment when the world comes together'. Downing Street said the US President has recorded a video statement for the gathering, while Russia and China will be represented as 'former donors' to Gavi. The PM insisted the globe must 'cooperate on a scale beyond anything we have seen before' as he appealed for 6billion in contributions to immunise 300 million children within five years The WHO has had its US funding cut off amid fury from Donald Trump over a 'China-centric' attitude. Pictured, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shakes hands with Xi Jinping of China in January Germany, Norway, Australia, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Kenya, Senegal and Somalia are also among the nations taking part. Opening the virtual summit, Mr Johnson said: 'To defeat the coronavirus we must focus our collective ingenuity on the search for a vaccine and ensure that countries, pharmaceutical companies and international partners - like the World Health Organisation - co-operate on a scale beyond anything we have seen before. 'We must use the collective purchasing power of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, to make that future vaccine affordable and available to all who need it. 'If we are to make this the beginning of a new era of global health collaboration, we must also replenish the funding for the vaccines we already have - strengthening the routine immunisation against preventable diseases in the poorest countries.' Representatives from 50 countries are expected to join the virtual summit which comes against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. By vaccinating the children against those diseases, it is hoped it will alleviate the extra pressure heaped on health systems by the Covid-19 outbreak. The PM will be joined by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and at least 35 heads of state or government, Downing Street said. The UK has pledged 1.65billion of funding for Gavi over the next five years. Mr Trump announced he was severing ties with the WHO last week, saying: "China has total control over the World Health Organization." He said the US funding would be distributed to other bodies. Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Aura Resources Inc. (TSXV: AUU) ("Aura" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive amalgamation agreement for the acquisition of Territory Metals Corp. ("Territory"), an unlisted private company located in British Columbia, subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval. Territory's key asset is the Tip Top Gold project located in Esmeralda County, Nevada USA. The Tip Top Gold project is subject to an agreement of purchase and sale whereby Territory has a right to acquire a 100% interest in the project. The Tip Top Gold Project The Tip Top Gold project is comprised of 22 unpatented mining claims covering approximately 173 hectares. The property is located in Esmeralda County, NV at the north end of the White Mountains, five miles south of Montgomery Pass, which is on U.S. Highway 6 between Bishop, CA and Tonopah, NV. The project contains several low-sulfidation oxide gold-silver epithermal veins with low base metal contents which are peripheral to an altered rhyodacite intrusion emplaced into Jurassic-Cretaceous intrusive and a bimodal package of volcanic rocks. Two of the veins historically produced a total of 6,900 ounces of gold and some silver. Since 1980, the property has been drilled by five companies, with 143 drill holes totaling over 24,000 feet. Selected historical high-grade drill hole intercepts from the Tip Top Gold project include the following: Hole TTD-02 returned 2.44 metres of 19.82 g/t Au from 20.20 metres depth (Hecla 2001, core drilling); Hole TTD-04 returned 2.59 metres of 7.89 g/t Au from 32.00 metres depth (Hecla 2001, core drilling); Hole T98-12 returned 4.57 metres of 16.31 g/t Au from 28.97 metres depth (Dos Amigos 1998, reverse circulation drilling); and, Hole T98-14 returned 9.14 metres of 14.42 g/t Au from 21.34 metres depth (Dos Amigos 1998, reverse circulation drilling). Story continues Gold bearing intercepts above are drilled intervals and true width can not be determined at this time. Historical drilling along the Tip Top vein, and particularly around the Tip Top adit, has identified gold-bearing veins and there is a good possibility of expanding the known mineralization along strike and to depth. Currently, there is not enough confidence in the historical data to support resource modeling. Regardless, there is significant exploration potential along the Tip Top vein system as well as other parallel veins. To complete the acquisition of a 100% interest in the Tip Top Gold project Territory is required to issue the vendor its publicly traded shares (or shares of the resulting issuer of a going public transaction) equal to a value of US$175,000 on or before May 12, 2021; and, pay an amount of US$25,000 in cash on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of May 12, 2021. The vendor retains a 1% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty on the property and Territory shall pay the vendor a cash payment of US$200,000 within 30 days of completion of a bankable feasibility study on the Tip Top Gold project. Territory may purchase the NSR royalty by paying the vendor US$1,000,000. Proposed Transaction Summary Aura to secure the Tip Top Gold project with significant exploration potential associated with known veins and underexplored adjacent veins and approximately $288,000 in cash held by Territory. All share transaction with Territory shareholders to receive two Aura common shares for each one Territory share held, resulting in the issue of 26,581,400 common shares of Aura. The transaction is to be structured as a "three-cornered amalgamation" between Aura, Territory and a newly created Aura subsidiary such that Territory will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aura (the "Transaction"). Territory will have a right to appoint its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gary Thompson as Chairman and director of Aura's board of directors upon closing of the Transaction. Biography of Gary Thompson Mr. Thompson is a co-founder of Brixton Metals Corporation. He has 27 years' experience in resource exploration including precious and base metals, renewable power and unconventional oil and gas, and is a "qualified person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Thompson was the president and CEO of Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. until 2010 when it was acquired by Ram Power Corporation. Mr. Thompson founded Cayley Geothermal Corp., which was acquired by Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. in 2006. Mr. Thompson has previously held positions with EnCana Corporation, Newmont Alaska Ltd. and Novagold Resources Inc. Mr. Thompson is credited with the 1988 discovery of the TAG gold silver prospect which he sold to Taku Gold Corp. He was the vendor of Kodiak Copper's diamond assets and Solstice Gold's assets and is a holder of a 2% NSR for both diamonds and gold within a 35 km radial area located near Agnico Eagle's Meliadine Mine in Nunavut. Mr. Thompson is a professional geologist and an active member in good standing of both the Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia and The Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. Mr. Thompson holds a B.Sc. (honours) in Geology from the University of British Columbia. Mr. Robert Johansing, CEO and director of Aura, commented: "The acquisition of Territory holding the Tip Top Gold project forms an interesting addition to Aura's existing project portfolio and enhances our focus on prospective gold projects located in the southwestern USA. We believe that the improving fundamentals for gold and interest in gold focused exploration plays at this time makes this acquisition an excellent opportunity for Aura. We look forward to working with Gary Thompson on the Aura board." Mr. Gary Thompson, CEO and Director of Territory, commented: "We are excited to combine forces with Aura. The combined company will provide Territory shareholders with liquidity and exposure to Aura's portfolio of gold exploration properties specifically the Jefferson Canyon project which has generated very strong gold-silver results and is located near the producing Round Mountain Mine. I look forward to working with the Aura board of directors to ensure the success of this transaction and to unlock shareholder value in the combined portfolio of gold projects." Description of Proposed Transaction Subject to TSXV and all other necessary approvals, Aura and Territory have concluded an amalgamation agreement (the "Amalgamation Agreement") under which Aura will acquire all the outstanding common shares of Territory, whereby each one Territory share will be exchanged for two Aura common shares, resulting in Aura issuing a total of 26,581,400 common shares. In addition, Territory's 160,000 warrants to be outstanding upon closing of the Transaction will be exchanged for 320,000 warrants of Aura with equivalent terms. The Transaction is to be structured as a "three-cornered amalgamation" between Aura, Territory and a newly created Aura subsidiary such that Territory will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aura under the laws of the Province of British Columbia (the "Amalgamation"). As part of the Amalgamation Agreement, Aura has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to reduce its indebtedness prior to the closing of the Transaction by way of shares for debt transactions. Mr. Gary Thompson will be appointed as Chairman and director of Aura's board of directors upon closing of the Transaction. It is expected that a concurrent private placement financing of a minimum of $500,000 and up to a maximum of $1,000,000 (the "Financing") will occur as part of the Transaction. The details of the Financing and Aura shares for debt transactions will be announced separately in future press releases. The proposed Transaction would result in Aura having a total of 59,441,528 common shares outstanding prior to the concurrent Financing and any proposed Aura shares for debt transactions with Territory shareholders holding approximately 44.7% of the total common shares outstanding. Completion of the proposed Transaction is subject to several conditions, including: All requisite regulatory approvals relating to the Transaction, including without limitation the TSXV; Territory seeking and obtaining requisite shareholder approval for the Transaction; Territory obtaining all consents and waivers contemplated in the Amalgamation Agreement; and No order or decree shall restrain or enjoin the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Amalgamation Agreement. The Transaction is a reviewable transaction under the policies of the TSXV. It is anticipated that trading in common shares of the Company will be halted until such time as the TSXV has determined that the Transaction will be acceptable based upon the Company's filing of all required documentation including the definitive Amalgamation Agreement; an independent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Tip Top Gold project; financial statements of Territory; and, other required filings. Closing of the proposed Transaction is expected to occur on or about July 3, 2020, or such other date as the parties may mutually agree. The Transaction does not include any non-arm's-length parties and no finders' fees are to be paid in connection with the Transaction. There can be no assurance that the proposed Transaction, the Amalgamation or the Financing will be completed as proposed or at all. Trading in the securities of Aura should be considered speculative. Qualified Person / Quality Control and Quality Assurance Robert Johansing, M.Sc. Econ. Geol., P. Geo. is a qualified person ("QP") as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. The QP has not verified the historical analytical data and procedures of previous operators related to drill hole intercepts from the Tip Top Gold project. A description of known analytical procedures and related limitations of past operators is as follows: (i) Dos Amigos used Barringer Laboratories for sample analysis, which was an accredited laboratory at that time. No records were available that discussed sample preparation or analytical procedures used, or the nature and extent of quality control measures used by Dos Amigos or Barringer Laboratories; and, (ii) Hecla submitted drill core samples to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada for analysis. The exact procedures used by Hecla and ALS Chemex during sample preparation and analysis were not available in the records. A Hecla summary report states that 12 check assays were selected from pulp samples. These, along with 10 standards and 22 blanks, were submitted to Bondar-Clegg in Vancouver, British Columbia for check analyses. No significant concerns regarding laboratory protocols were identified, and all check analyses were found to be within acceptable limits. About Aura Aura is a TSX Venture listed company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal prospects in Arizona, USA (Gold Chain project, subject to an option to earn a 100% interest), in Nevada, USA (Jefferson Canyon project, subject to an option to earn 100%), in Nunavut, Canada (37.6% interest in the Greyhound project under operation by our partner, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited), and, in Oaxaca, Mexico (20% owned Taviche project, operated by Minaurum Gold Inc.). Aura has 32,860,128 common shares outstanding. For further information regarding this press release contact: Robert Johansing, President and CEO at (805) 455-4775 or by e-mail at rjohansing@gmail.com. Aura's web site is located at www.aurasilver.com. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release may contain forward looking statements that are made as of the date hereof and are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions which involve risks and uncertainties associated with our business including the uncertainty as to whether the proposed transactions including the amalgamation agreement, the proposed financing, the proposed shares for debt transactions expansion and growth of the business and operations, other financing activities of the Company, plans and references to the Company's future successes with its business and the economic environment in which the business operates. All such statements are made pursuant to the 'safe harbour' provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements contained herein that are statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual results or conditions to differ materially from current expectations. Please refer to the risks set forth in the Company's most recent annual MD&A and the Company's continuous disclosure documents that can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Aura does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 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/57221 By Tracy Rucinski CHICAGO, June 4 (Reuters) - Airlines from America to Australia are ramping up flights in June and July, boosting hopes for a pickup in tourist traffic even as bigger-spending business and global travel remains sluggish during the ongoing pandemic. American Airlines and United Airlines each announced more flights to key U.S. business and leisure destinations where national parks and outdoor recreational spaces are reopening after months of lockdowns and travel curbs, sending their shares sharply higher. Chicago-based United is adding more non-stop flights as well as servicing markets like Aspen, Colorado and Jackson Hole, Wyoming where it said "social distancing is a natural feature" in the scenic landscapes. "Leisure travel has been the most missed activity during lockdown across age and income demographics, even more so than things like restaurants," said Jason Guggenheim of Boston Consulting Group, which has surveyed consumers in the United States and Europe. "But it's going to take business travel longer to come back," he said, noting work-from-home models will remain in place for some time. Even with the schedule increases, analysts expect overall U.S. airline capacity will remain drastically lower this year; and without business travel, yields will likely remain negative, they said. Yield is the revenue an airline makes per mile flown. Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd and Air New Zealand Ltd outlined plans on Thursday for significant boosts to domestic capacity, while Emirates and Etihad Airways are restarting transit flights through hub airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In Europe, Iberia - part of the International Consolidated Airlines Group - told customers on Thursday it is starting a schedule of regular flights from Spain in July as a first step to building back a full service. (Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Richard Chang) Tens of thousands of people across Hong Kong lit candles and chanted democracy slogans on Thursday to commemorate China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown, defying a ban against gathering as tensions seethed over a planned new security law. The biggest crowds descended on Victoria Park that has hosted huge Tiananmen anniversary vigils for the past three decades, with smaller rallies erupting in multiple shopping districts and local neighbourhoods. Police arrested some demonstrators in one shopping area, in scenes reminiscent of seven months of violent protests last year, although they allowed the main rally to proceed. The displays of resistance came hours after Hong Kong's legislature passed a bill criminalising insults to China's national anthem, which the pro-democracy movement sees as yet another example of eroding freedoms. China also last month moved to impose the security law on Hong Kong which would outlaw subversion and has cemented fears that the semi-autonomous city is losing its treasured liberties. "I've come here for the vigil for 30 years in memory of the victims of the June 4 crackdown, but this year it is more significant to me," a 74-year-old man who gave his surname as Yip told AFP as he joined the crowds inside Victoria Park. "Because Hong Kong is experiencing the same kind of repression from the same regime, just like what happened in Beijing." Hundreds of people -- by some estimates more than a thousand -- were killed in on June 4, 1989, when China's communist rulers deployed the military into Beijing's Tiananmen Square to crush a student-led movement for democratic reforms. Commemorations of the event are forbidden in mainland China but have been allowed in Hong Kong, which has been granted liberties under the terms of its 1997 handover from the British. This year's vigil was banned, with authorities citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings even though people are allowed to commute in packed trains to work. As dusk fell on Thursday, many thousands of people, including prominent democracy leaders, began pouring into Victoria Park and lit candles as an act of remembrance and resistance. Some wore black t-shirts with the word "Truth" emblazoned in white. Others were in office attire. Many shouted pro-democracy slogans including "Stand with Hong Kong" and "End one party rule", in reference to the communists who hold monopoly power in China. - Neighbourhood, church vigils - Crowds have swelled at Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils whenever fears have spiked that Beijing is prematurely stamping out the city's own freedoms, an issue that has dominated the finance hub for the past 12 months. In response to the seven months of protests last year, China announced plans to impose the security law, which will be approved by national authorities in Beijing and bypass Hong Kong's legislature. China says the law is needed to tackle "terrorism" and "separatism" in a restless city it now regards as a direct national security threat. Critics, including many Western nations, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub. - 'Complete nonsense' - In mainland China, authorities do not allow any open discussion about the Tiananmen crackdown and censors scrub any mention of it off the internet. The candle emoji has been unavailable in recent days on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. Police in Beijing prevented an AFP photographer from entering Tiananmen Square to record the regular pre-dawn flag-raising ceremony on Thursday and ordered him to delete some photos. The United States and Taiwan issued statements calling on China to atone for the deadly crackdown. "Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year," Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of him meeting prominent Tiananmen survivors. China's foreign ministry described calls for Beijing to apologise for Tiananmen as "complete nonsense". "The great achievements since the founding of new China over the past 70 or so years fully demonstrates that the developmental path China has chosen is completely correct," spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. Read more: Farmers Insurance denies business interruption claim the same day it was filed, faces lawsuit California governor Gavin Newsom ordered all restaurants including In-N-Out to shut down dine-in operations in an attempt to stem the outbreak on March 17. Despite this, In-N-Outs drive-thru lines remained open during the lockdown. In its lawsuit, In-N-Out said that Zurich American erred in denying claims involving the pandemic. The fast food chain maintained that it carries an all risk policy that specifically includes entirely unknown and novel risks that may arise which were not previously considered by the company. In-N-Out also disclosed in its filing that its policy is capped at $250 million. Zurich American denied In-N-Out both over the phone and in writing on May 29, the restaurant alleged in its lawsuit. Eater reported that In-N-Out currently has more than 300 locations across six states: California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado. Many restaurant owners have been denied business interruption insurance coverage by their insurers in the wake of the pandemic, and the business lockdowns it forced. The issue is so great, that even famous American restauranteurs and chefs have banded together to form an organization called the Business Interruption Group (BIG). Read more: Insurance battle turns out lights in Times Square BIG recently participated in a protest event in Times Square, New York. Together with the Times Square Alliance, and the NYC Hospitality Alliance, participating businesses in the famous commercial intersection staged a lights out protest to bring awareness to the issue. RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, plans to announce Thursday that he will remove the towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from its site on Monument Avenue and put it into storage, according to an official in his administration. Word of the pending announcement set off jubilant roars among thousands gathered at the foot of the edifice Wednesday evening for a sixth straight day of marches protesting police brutality against African Americans. The stone base of the monument has been festooned with colorful graffiti calling for racial justice, with numerous expletives directed at police. "Who said our protests were useless? Who said our protests were stupid?" Mel Shelton, 27, a Richmond musician who goes by the name KaNinja, shouted through a bullhorn. "Look what we've done! We are leading the rest of the country." The 14-foot statue atop a nearly 50-foot base has been the emotional core of Richmond since it was unveiled in 1890, first as an icon of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, then as the anchor of the city's grandest residential district and finally as a passionately debated symbol of racial division. Lee is the only one of the five Confederate figures along Monument that is owned by the state. Northam has supported removal since the deadly Unite the Right white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, but he had long deferred to local sentiment. Previous state law also made it unclear whether the governor had authority to remove a war memorial. This year's General Assembly passed, and Northam signed, a law that allows localities to decide whether to take down monuments on city property. Northam appears to have authority to act as well under the new law. Virginia has more Confederate memorials than any other state. In Richmond, a black-majority city that served as the capital of the Confederacy, city government has long debated what to do about those public symbols of a painful past. The Richmond City Council has fallen just shy of enough votes to seek removal of the four other Confederate statues on Monument Avenue that are on municipal property. But its mayor - Levar Stoney, who is African American - said Wednesday that he will introduce an ordinance on July 1 to take down the remaining monuments. "Removing these statues will allow the healing process to begin for so many Black Richmonders and Virginians," Stoney said in a news release. "Richmond is no longer the Capital of the Confederacy - it is filled with diversity and love for all - and we need to demonstrate that." Later, Shelton used his bullhorn to exhort the crowd to use upcoming elections to make sure the issue passes. "We only need two more votes to get rid of all these statues," he said. Then he led the group in a call-and-response chant: "What are we gonna do?" "Vote!" Northam intends to have the Lee statue removed from its base and stored until its fate can be decided, with public input, according to the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been announced. Northam will address the subject Thursday morning, as initially reported by the Associated Press. When news was posted on the Facebook page of the Virginia Flaggers - a Confederate heritage group that regularly marches with battle flags on nearby Arthur Ashe Boulevard - comments ranged from anguished to disbelieving. "My god something has to give this is getting ridiculous," read one. "If such an ATROCITY were allowed to occur it would be as Dark a Day as the day Richmond fell to the Invading Yankees!" said another. Republican lawmakers who opposed the removal charged that the announcement was intended to distract from the way Northam and Stoney have managed the sometimes-violent demonstrations. Northam made no public appearances regarding the topic until Tuesday, the same day Stoney spent apologizing for police using tear gas on peaceful protesters. "It's not surprising that the Governor and Mayor Stoney would take this route," Virginia House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said in an emailed statement. "The leadership failure from City Hall to the Executive Mansion has been complete, so naturally, they're thrilled to change the subject." But community leaders who have pushed for a tougher reckoning with the state's complicated heritage were ecstatic. "This is huge!!! I'm speechless," tweeted Christy Coleman, who transformed the city's American Civil War Museum into a multicultural look at the conflict before becoming head of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation earlier this year. Coleman, who is African American, co-chaired a commission appointed by Stoney to study the monuments issue after the Charlottesville rally. Their recommendation was to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, and put more context around the others, explaining not only the legacy of slavery but also the Jim Crow-era oppression that went hand-in-hand with erecting many of the monuments. In the past few years, Richmond has put up numerous memorials honoring minorities and women, including statues outside the Executive Mansion commemorating schoolgirl Barbara Johns and the lawyers who helped her overturn school segregation and on busy Broad Street honoring Maggie Walker, the first black woman to charter a bank in the United States. Late last year the debate took an artistic turn when the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts drew thousands for the unveiling of an outdoor sculpture by artist Kehinde Wiley. Called "Rumors of War," the figure is modeled after the statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on Monument Avenue, but it depicts a modern, urban black man in a heroic pose atop a horse. The statue was hailed nationally as casting the debate over symbols in a whole new context. During the unrest this past weekend over police killings of unarmed African Americans, touched off by the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer, the Wiley statue was left untouched. Next door, though, the marble-clad headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy - which oversaw the construction of most of the Confederate monuments - was partially burned. Artifacts were destroyed in the fire, including a camp flag that had been flown by Stonewall Jackson. On Wednesday, as speeches and marching continued into the night, some protesters cautioned against putting too much faith in the removal of a statue. "We are not here to bring a monument down," said a man who identified himself only as Q, 23, a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University. "We are here to bring a system down." Earlier, one speaker addressing the crowd at Lee's feet was a white man who spoke nervously, admitting that he had never considered himself a racist but had never thought much about racial injustice. His eyes were opened, he said, by recent protests. "I'm like Windows 98, and I'm about 12 upgrades behind," said Ty Fogg, 56, a stay-at-home father of three. He said he was a lifelong Richmonder who used to toss Frisbees through the legs of the monuments' bronze horses; in high school, he told the crowd, his best friend was black, yet he gave no thought to the school mascot, a rebel soldier, and sang the school song, "Dixie." Fogg's comments were greeted warmly. Despite anger over the racial injustice highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement, Richmond's demonstrations have taken on an increasing tone of racial healing and community action. Many protesters, as well as the city police, blame outsiders for the destruction that marked late-night demonstrations over the weekend. Some of the hardest-hit shops were in the historic black business district of Jackson Ward. "To the organization that wants to come in and destroy our city, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," Pastor Karen Fountain, 61, of Zion Under God's Holiness International Ministry, prayed Wednesday on the steps of St. Paul's Church. "And we send you back from where you came!" In keeping with the communal tone, as marchers set out from the Lee statue for the Capitol, a cry went up: "Pick up your trash!" At the gates of the state Capitol, Justice Peebles, 23, urged the crowd to sit in the shade and drink water to recover from the 90-degree heat. The crowd had swelled so that it filled a full block of Ninth Street. Peebles, who runs an education nonprofit, said the marches would continue for 381 days, the length of the bus boycott led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "381! 381!" Peebles called. "We're here and we're here to stay!" YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. Though the Armenophobic propaganda and war threats of Azerbaijan are meant for domestic consumption, they seriously undermine the peace process and demonstrate that not the population, but the top leadership of Azerbaijan is not prepared for peace, ARMENPRESS reports spokesperson of MFA Armenia Anna Naghdalyan said, commenting on bellicose statements of various circles of Azerbaijani authorities ''Recently the high leadership along with the other state agencies of Azerbaijan have been competing in delivering hysterical Armenophobic statements with no substantive content. It seems that the Azerbaijani leadership is attempting desperately to exceed its previous Armenophobic statements, which is not an easy task to do amid its decades-long anti-Armenian consistent discourse. It is noteworthy that the authoritarian leadership of Azerbaijan, which promotes hatred among its people and puts forward war threats, instrumentalized the fighting against COVID-19 to commit massive human rights violations in its country. Recently, a number of reputable international and regional organisations have raised their voice against these practices of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, even though the Armenophobic propaganda and war threats of Azerbaijan are meant for domestic consumption, they seriously undermine the peace process and demonstrate that not the population, but the top leadership of Azerbaijan is not prepared for peace. The anti-Armenian actions of the leadership of Azerbaijan have already received their legal assessment by the international bodies. In this vein, the ECHR ruling on Makuchyan and Minasyan vs Azerbaijan and Hungary case condemned Azerbaijan's racist policy, which was manifested by pardone, release and glorification of the murderer Ramil Safarov. The current authorities of Azerbaijan, which consider Armenophobia as the main source of their legitimacy and domestic consolidation, pose a threat not only to Artsakh, Armenia and all Armenians, but also to regional peace and security. The security system of Artsakh and Armenia is comprehensive and consolidated enough to effectively address and confront such threats'', reads the comment. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 02:13:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TIRANA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The parliament of Albania approved on Thursday the bill on the issuance of a 650-million-euro (735-million-U.S. dollar) Eurobond by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, a press release of the ministry said. Speaking in front of the lawmakers on Thursday, Minister of Finance and Economy Anila Denaj said that the issuance of the Eurobond in 2020 is foreseen in the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy, approved by the Albanian government and presented to the Parliament during the discussions on the 2020 Budget. The ministry plans to issue the Eurobond with a maturity of seven to 10 years. Denaj stated that this is the most opportune time to issue the Eurobond "as the financial markets are showing stability after the high volatility encountered after the spread of COVID-19." The Bank of Albania has confirmed that the issuance of Eurobond does not affect the country's monetary policy and has a positive effect on foreign exchange reserves and macroeconomic stability in the short and medium term. This is the fourth time for Albania to issue a Eurobond in the international financial markets, after the issuance in 2010, 2015 and 2018. Enditem June 4 had always been a special day for Pamella and Christian Fink; it was their wedding anniversary. But after the tragic death of their son Cohen on this date one year ago, June 4 became the worst day of their lives. Cohen Fink died by suicide last year. He was 17. The severity of Cohen's mental health issues prior to the teenager taking his own life should have raised alarm bells at his school, his parents say, particularly after the formerly bright student handed in nonsensical exam papers. A year on, Cohen's family members who are fighting for an inquest into his death are still pleading for answers, with Mr Fink posting an open letter to Education Minister Sue Ellery describing the harrowing day his son died, and asking why his child was let down by authorities. "There's so many levels of wrong going on right now," a Holland America salesperson told Business Insider. Reuters Internet access isn't free for Holland America crew members stranded onboard the cruise line's fleet of ships. Crew can purchase a plan that offers 607 mb for $40 on a monthly basis. A Holland America spokesperson told Business Insider that the cruise line offers 24/7 "happy hour" rates for crew, thus allowing the workers to access more megabits per second. "There's so many levels of wrong going on right now," a Holland America salesperson told Business Insider, referring to the company's practice of charging crew for internet access. Are you a cruise line employee with a story to share? Email acain@businessinsider.com. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Video: Heres what its like to travel during the pandemic Holland America Line crew members must purchase internet packages in order to access the web as they await repatriation during the coronavirus pandemic. Two Holland America employees confirmed to Business Insider that the Carnival Corporation-owned line is charging crew for internet access. Holland America confirmed to Business Insider that it offers a monthly package of 607 mb for $40. Many Holland America crew members left onboard are enduring pay cuts. One crew member told Business Insider that they purchased such a WiFi package for the months of April and May. They said that the cost "wouldn't sting as much if the internet worked half of the time." Holland America published a blog post on May 28 providing updates on its efforts to repatriate crew members. Holland America's blog post said that the cruise line expects that the "vast majority of crew repatriation" will be finished by mid-June. "Crew are able to use WhatsApp on their personal device free of charge to remain connected with loved ones, and the ships are offering low-cost internet packages," the blog post said. A cruise line spokesperson told Business Insider that, due to onboard "happy hour" rates, crew members who buy these internet packages end up getting a greater value. Story continues "The charge for internet is $40 for 667 mb," the spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. "However because Happy Hour fees are in effect 24/7 on the ships, the user balance is only 'charged,' or accrued at a small percentage of the non-Happy Hour rate." The spokesperson said that if a crew member used 10 mb, they would only be charged "one cent per MB for that time." "At the end of the 667 MB, you are actually receiving approximately 4,200 MB," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson also told Business Insider that texting on WhatsApp is free throughout Holland America's fleet and that "a phone call with WhatsApp of 5 minutes would cost a crew member approximately five cents." But two Holland America employees who spoke to Business Insider criticized their employer cruise line for charging crew members who are still waiting to return home after the global coronavirus pandemic left thousands of cruise workers stranded for months. "600 mb doesn't go far when you want to video your families," a Holland America crew member said. A Holland America salesperson told Business Insider that they were also upset by the fact the cruise line is charging trapped crew members whose contracts have been terminated for WiFi. "There's so many levels of wrong going on right now," a Holland America salesperson told Business Insider. "And those crew who are stuck at sea? They're not being paid. And for their WiFi access, they have to pay for their WiFi access while they're stuck at sea." Read the original article on Business Insider The Cairo Centre for Strategic Studies (CCSS) announced it has launched the Adel Mahmoud Science Forum as part of its programmes. Ahmed El-Maslemani, president of the CCSS, said The forum aims to honour the name of one of our greatest scientists with international reputation, and looks forward to promoting scientific culture on viruses and biology, especially as the community's attention to biological issues mounts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The forum, chaired by a prominent biologist, will be an arena for developing knowledge about health policy and biosecurity, El-Maslemani added. Professor Adel Mahmoud (1941-2018), after whom forum is named, is a prominent scientist who contributed to revolutionising vaccines in modern times. The great scientist received widespread international attention and when he passed away in a New York hospital in June 2018, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates wrote in his memory, The world has lost one of the greatest vaccine developers of our time, Dr Adel Mahmoud, who saved countless childrens lives. Born in Cairo in 1941, Mahmoud graduated from Cairo Universitys Medical School in 1963, following in the footsteps of his mother Fathia Osman, who attended the same college, but her family aborted her dream to become a doctor on the grounds that women at that time should not become doctors. He moved to the United States in 1973, where he later became head of the Department of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and in 2006 he became a professor at the prestigious Princeton University. Mahmoud is a pioneer in biomedical research and global health policy and has overseen the production and marketing of many vaccines that have made significant progress in public health. Search Keywords: Short link: File photo: Xinhua The novel coronavirus appears to have originated in horseshoe bats and the possibility cannot be ruled out that it may have come from outside China from Southeast Asian countries, according to study results recently revealed by a research team led by Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The study was jointly conducted by the WIV and some foreign research institutes, including EcoHealth Alliance in the US; School of Veterinary Science, the University of Queensland, Australia; and Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. In a paper recently released on the preprint server for biology BioRvix, the team said they found that the novel coronavirus likely derived from a clade of viruses originating in horseshoe bats after analyzing all known bat-CoVs in China. The virus' full genome was 96 percent similar to a viral sequence reported from Rhinolophus affinis. Closely related sequences were also identified in Malayan pangolins, read the article. The geographic location of horseshoe bat samples the team used appears to be from Southwest China's Yunnan Province. However, the paper noted that many of their sampling sites were close to China's borders with Myanmar and Lao and most of the bats sampled in Yunnan also live in those countries. For these reasons, the possibility cannot be ruled out that an origin for the clade of viruses that are progenitors of the novel coronavirus, which caused the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, is outside China, and within Myanmar, Lao, Vietnam or another Southeast Asian country, according to the paper. During the study, researchers generated 630 partial sequences of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene from 79 bat rectal swabs collected in China and added 608 bat-CoV and eight pangolin CoV sequences from available data in GenBank, a genetic sequence database under the US National Institutes of Health, according to the paper. Analysis shows that a significant amount of cross-species transmission has occurred among bat hosts over time. Analysis also identifies the host taxa and geographic regions that define hotspots of CoV evolutionary diversity in China that could help target bat-CoV discovery for proactive zoonotic disease surveillance, according to the paper. House and Senate Judiciary Committees: Urgent Need to Reform Police Use of Force The brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police has U.S. lawmakers mapping out the quickest way to reform police use of force. Representatives and Senators want to create legislation that will help stop police brutality. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Ralph Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday that his committee would hold a hearing June 10 where they will delve into the issues of racial profiling and police brutality. The members will hear from witnesses about what is happening with current police practices and how trust can be reestablished. Millions of Americans peacefully protesting police brutality have made their voices heard: the need for real change in policing has never been more urgent. @HouseJudiciarys June 10th hearing will allow us to craft legislation and deliver change, wrote Nadler. The House Judiciary Committee is working very closely with the Congressional Black Caucus to determine the best path forward to address police brutality and racial inequality. Yesterday, we held a listening session to hear recommendations from the CEOs of national advocacy organizations, Nadler said in a statement. Nadler said that the witnesses will include, community leaders, advocates, academics, and law enforcement. We are reviewing legislative proposals and will consider legislation in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced last week, that his committee will be holding a hearing to address the police use of force so that no other person will be brutalized like Mr. Floyd. I have just spoken with Senator Feinstein, the Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, about the horrific death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. Both of us are appalled at what we saw and believe it is important to have a hearing as soon as possible as to how to combat this outrage, said Graham in a statement. The Committee intends to call a wide variety of witnesses on the topics of better policing, addressing racial discrimination regarding the use of force, as well as building stronger bonds between communities and police, added Graham. Minnesota State officials, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Department of Safety Commissioner John Harrington convened a task force, 4 months before the Floyd incident, to discuss how to reduce the number of deadly force encounters with police. The working group held four state-wide public hearings and a handful of listening sessions to get testimony from those affected by excessive use of force by police, including family members of people killed by police and law enforcement training experts. The Group listed 28 recommendations and 33 action steps in the report put out in February for the state government, local police departments, and an officer training board to carry out. The report makes mention of making sanctity of life a core value that all police adhere to and reads, Require officers to intervene, when appropriate and safe, when witnessing unreasonable use of force. It continues, Require force used by officers to be reasonable, necessary, and proportionate. In the killing of Floyd, there is a national consensus that brutal and excessive force was used and that the police officers involved in the brutality should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The video weve all now seen is distressing and hard for anyone to watch. Its also hard for any of us to even begin to understand how something like that could occur and to occur in such a seemingly oblivious way. We cannot accept it or excuse it, read a statement by the National Police Foundation. Flash Local authorities instituted a curfew on Wednesday for the fourth night in a row in Los Angeles County as protests over the death of George Floyd, an African American man, in police custody continue across the area. The most populous county in the United States, with a population of over 10 million, will be under a countywide curfew that runs from 9 p.m. local time Wednesday through 5 a.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. "Tonight's curfew will start later than the curfew in previous nights as the County assesses public safety needs on a daily basis. Residents, unless otherwise noted, are asked to stay in their home during the curfew," said the statement. Any violation of the order is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed 1,000 U.S. dollars or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both, according to the terms of the curfew. Kathryn Barger, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, expressed her thanks to local residents for their "continued patience and understanding as we support peaceful protestors" in a tweet. Some cities in the area, such as Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Culver City, also issued their own stricter citywide curfew orders Wednesday in response to days of civil unrest. Protests were largely peaceful in the area on Tuesday as thousands of protesters took to the streets to express their anger over the killing of the unarmed Minnesota black man by police. Multiple protests over the death of Floyd are taking place or expected to be held in cities across Southern California on Wednesday. Consultancy - Hyperion Oracle Techno-Functional Consultant, Vienna, Austria Organization: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Country: Austria City: Vienna, Austria Office: IAEA Vienna, Austria Closing date: Friday, 12 June 2020 Consultancy - Hyperion Oracle Techno-Functional Consultant ( TAL-MTIT20200527-002 ) Organization: MTIT-AIPS Management Section Primary Location: Austria-Vienna-Vienna-IAEA Headquarters Job Posting: 2020-05-29, 9:33:57 AM Contract Type : Special Service Agreement SSA Organizational Setting The Department of Management (MT) provides a platform of services that serves as a foundation for the successful delivery of the IAEAs scientific and technical programmes. Its mission statement is as follows: MT is a partner and a business enabler that champions change and efficiency, leveraging a common purpose. Thus, among other support activities, it assists a scientific manager in recruiting the right expert, helps a technical officer coordinate the purchase of radiation equipment, and ensures that all Board documents are translated and distributed on a timely basis to Member States. The Division of Information Technology provides support to the IAEA in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), including information systems for technical programmes and management. It is responsible for planning, developing and implementing an ICT strategy, for setting and enforcing common ICT standards throughout the Secretariat and for managing central ICT services. The IAEAs ICT infrastructure comprises state of the art hardware and software platforms in a partially decentralized environment. The Division has implemented an IT service management model based on ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) and Prince2 (Projects in a Controlled Environment) best practices. The IAEAs Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, known as the Agency-wide Information System for Programme Support (AIPS), was implemented in a multi-phased phased approach beginning in 2011 and completing in 2017. AIPS provides a single, fully-integrated solution that standardizes and improves efficiency of business processes by leveraging the Oracle ERP suite of products. AIPS encompasses 8 business domains: finance, procurement, programme and project management, planning and budgeting, human resources and payroll, contacts, travel and events management. The AIPS Management Section (AMS) within the Division of Information Technology manages the operations, maintenance, improvements, and sup port for the AIPS system in collaboration with business process owners. The AMS Section consists of approximately 20 staff members and is led by a Section Head, who reports to the Director of Information Technology/CIO. Main Purpose The Hyperion Oracle Techno-Functional Consultant will provide technical expertise to AIPS Hyperion with operational guidance for customer service. He/She will also serve at the second level of production support. Functions / Key Results Expected Provide technical expertise to AIPS Hyperion with operational guidance for customer service and serve at the second level of production support. Provide technical advice and solutions on assigned CRs, research and document existing processes, and provide expertise to the functional leads of the respective area.Provide solutions to the functional leads in developing the functional specifications for the identified problems and change requests and prepare technical documents for all the custom components work undertaken.Test the technical components to ensure the objects developed meet the business needs and facilitate the business sign off after successful testing.Provide data, metadata and artefacts extracts as required by clients or problems investigation.Participate in various testing cycles like UATs to provide functional expertise in identifying and fixing the bugs and retesting the same, so that the developed components/objects meet the business requirements.Provide technical insight and coordinate with customers on incident resolutions. Qualifications, Experience and Language skills University degree in human resources, business administration, management, information technology or related field. Minimum 5 years of experience as techno/functional consultant for Oracle Hyperion Planning (EPM) of which 3 years of experience supporting. Ex perience with customer support and incident resolution is required. Tags communication technology enterprise resource planning human resources information systems information technology library oracle payroll prince2 procurement project management service management subsistence allowance Planning and Budgeting, and strong domain expertise is required. Experience with support of custom-built Hyperion Planning applications. Demonstrated debugging and performance tuning skills in Business Rules, calc scripts. Experience in ODI development and re-engineering would be a strong asset. Experience with EPM upgrades would be an asset. Experience with EPBCS (Hyperion Planning Cloud) would be an asset. Good command of written and spoken English. Knowledge of other official IAEA languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) an asset. Remuneration The remuneration for this consultancy is a daily fee of up to a maximum of A 286, based on qualifications and experience. In case duty travel is required within the assignment, a daily subsistence allowance (DSA) and travel costs are provided. Health coverage and pension fund are the responsibility of the incumbent. STOCKHOLM (AP) Sweden's chief epidemiologist on Wednesday defended his country's controversial coronavirus strategy, which avoided a lockdown but resulted in one of the highest per capita COVID-19 death rates in the world. Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency denied that the Swedish strategy was wrong and should be changed. Thats not the case." We still believe that our strategy is good, but there is always room for improvement. ... You can always get better at this job, Tegnell told a news conference in Stockholm. Sweden has stood out among European nations and the world for the way it has handled the pandemic, not shutting down the country or the economy like other nations but relying on citizens sense of civic duty. Swedish authorities have advised people to practice social distancing, but schools, bars and restaurants have been kept open the entire time. Only gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned. Tegnell's statement to reporters came after more contrite comments earlier in the day to Swedish radio in which he said I think there is potential for improvement in what we have done in Sweden, quite clearly. Asked if the countrys high death toll has made him reconsider his unique approach to the pandemic, Tegnell told Swedish radio yes, absolutely. According to the national health agency, Sweden, a nation of 10.2 million people, has seen 4,542 deaths linked to COVID-19, which is far more than its Nordic neighbors and one of the highest per capita death rates in the world. Denmark has had 580 coronavirus deaths, Finland has seen 320 and Norway has had 237, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. If we were to encounter the same disease again, knowing precisely what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done, Tegnell, considered the architect of the unique Swedish pandemic approach, told SR. Story continues Still, authorities in Sweden, including Tegnell, have been criticized and some have apologized for failing to protect the country's elderly and nursing home residents. But Tegnell said Wednesday it was still unclear what the country should have done differently. He also said other nations are unable to tell exactly what measures affected the outcomes of their outbreaks because they threw everything at the crisis at once. Maybe we know that now, when you start easing the measures, we could get some kind of lesson about what else, besides what we did, you could do without a total shutdown, Tegnell said in the radio interview. At the news conference, Tegnell made it clear that his previous statement was an admission that we always can become better. Im sure my colleagues all over the world would say the same thing. There are always aspects which we could have handled this situation even better than we do today, now, as we learn more and more things, he told The Associated Press. Sometimes I feel like a personal punchbag, but thats OK. I can live with that, Tegnell added. Sweden's COVID-19 infection rate of 43.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is lower than Spain's (58.1) and Italy's (55.4), but is higher than reported rates in the United States (32.1) and Brazil (14.3), according to Johns Hopkins University. Last week, the countrys former state epidemiologist, Annika Linde, said in retrospect she believes an early lockdown could have saved lives in Sweden. Political pressure has also forced the Swedish government to speed up an investigation into the handling of the pandemic. Ordinary Swedes are not sure what to think. Im not walking around thinking that we have a real disaster here in Sweden, Jan Arpi, a 58-year-old sales executive, told The Associated Press. I think we have it more or less under control, but we have to be even more careful now after we learned how the virus is spread, especially among elderly people. Tegnell's pandemic tactics made Sweden a bit of a local pariah in the Nordics and didn't spare the Swedish economy. Sweden's economy, which relies heavily on exports, is expected to shrink 7% in 2020 and the finance minister says the Scandinavian country is headed for a very deep economic crisis. More than 76,000 people have been made redundant since the outbreak began and unemployment, which now stands at 7.9%, is expected to climb higher. On the travel front, neighboring Norway and Denmark said they were dropping mutual border controls but would keep Sweden out of a Nordic travel bubble. The Danes said they will reopen the border next month to residents of Germany, Norway and Iceland as the country eased its coronavirus lockdown. But Denmark, which has a bridge that goes directly into Sweden, has postponed a decision reopening to Swedish visitors until after the summer. ___ Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark. ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak A woman has shared the 'utterly ridiculous' response from a local councillor after she asked him to consider using an Acknowledgment of Country during meetings. Mikaela Gallaway decided to email Brooke Collins, from The Hills Shire Council in western Sydney, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the world. 'The time is now for change,' she wrote in her email seen by Hills Shire Times. 'Our indigenous population has also lived through hundreds of years of atrocities and are still fighting to overcome racism and racial profiling today. 'It is my belief that this gap needs to be bridged and that this is a wonderful way to get that bridge started.' Mikaela Gallaway (right) decided to email Councillor Brooke Collins (left), from The Hills Shire Council in western Sydney, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the world to ask for an Acknowledgement of Country at council meetings Ms Gallaway shared the emails on Facebook to urge community members to contact the councillor directly An Acknowledgement of Country is the opportunity to show respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is often given at the beginning of a meeting, speech or formal occasion. But Cr Collins seemingly failed to understand the concept by saying he did not want to 'single out one race'. He replied to Ms Gallaway's email: 'Thank you for your email however I won't single out one race we are all equal and what you suggest just divides us more!' 'However if you were to suggest we should also acknowledge people brought against their will from England in 1788 and European settlement for making our country what it is today, plus those who fought and died for us then yes I would agree!' In an additional email screenshot, Cr Collins 'thanked' Ms Gallaway for a 'history lesson' before claiming Indigenous Australians could have wiped out another race. 'You may want to find out where Indigenous people originated from and it wasn't here in Australia,' the email reads. 'They too turned up on our shores unannounced, however, yes they were the first here. However, they lived a very nomadic life unlike the life you lead now. 'How do you know they didn't wipe out another race when they arrived here 70,000 years ago?' Cr Collins said he did not want to 'single out one race'. He replied to Ms Gallaway's email: 'Thank you for your email however I won't single out one race we are all equal and what you suggest just divides us more!' ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY An Acknowledgement of Country is the opportunity to show respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is often given at the beginning of a meeting, speech or formal occasion. A general acknowledgement could sound like: "Id like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today. I would also like to pay my respects to Elders past and present." Advertisement Cr Collins then said the pair should 'agree to disagree' while thanking European settlement for modern Australian society. 'We have what we all have today thanks to European settlement. However, if they didn't arrive you and I wouldn't be here,' he concluded. 'I can't change what happened over 250 years [ago], let's all move forward!' Ms Gallaway shared the emails on Facebook to urge community members to contact the councillor directly. 'I'm not sure Councillor Collins understands what an Acknowledgement of Country is,' she wrote. 'Last time I checked the groups he mentions were never original owners of the land. 'Also the part about acknowledging European settlement is utterly ridiculous and I have no words.' In an additional email screenshot, Cr Collins 'thanked' Ms Gallaway for a 'history lesson' before claiming Indigenous Australians could have wiped out another race Ms Gallaway also encouraged residents to sign a Change.org petition 'to acknowledge Traditional Owners'. The petition reads: 'At the start of reconciliation week my family and I challenged my local community to write to our local councillors requesting they acknowledge Traditional Owners the Darug people and Acknowledge Country before their meetings and events.' 'The responses received within the community were quite disheartening. 'Currently there is no acknowledgement of Traditional Owners at meetings or major events within my community.' There are more than 800 signatures. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cr Collins and The Hills Shire Council for comment. China on Thursday put up its customary defence of the ruling Communist Party's massive crackdown on students' protests in Beijing's iconic Tiananmen Square in 1989 in which hundreds were killed as "fully correct" and said the socialist political model it pursued is the "right choice". Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters are believed to have been killed on June 4, 1989 in and around Tiananmen Square in the Chinese military's brutal crackdown to quell the demonstrations against the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). The massive square where the foreign journalists were turned away on Thursday became famous all over the world with an iconic picture of a young man standing before a row of battle tanks in a bid to stop them. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with some of the survivors of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Washington ahead of the 31st anniversary. Pompeo met with four Tiananmen protest participants - Wang Dan, Su Xiaokang, Liane Lee and Henry Li - in a closed-door meeting at the State Department in Washington, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. Answering a spate of questions on the protests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian termed the Tiananmen Square protests as a "political disturbance". "The Chinese government has clearly drawn a conclusion on the political disturbance that took place at the end of 1980s. After the founding of the People's Republic of China the past 70 years witnessed great achievements in China which is a full testament to the fact that our development path is the right choice that suits our national conditions and has been endorsed by the Chinese people," he said. "We will stay committed to socialism with Chinese characteristics", he said. He asked the US to "reject the ideological bias, correct mistakes and stop interfering in China's domestic affairs in any form". The US State Department spokeswoman, Morgan Ortagus, said in a statement that "thirty-one years later, the total number of missing or dead Tiananmen protesters is still unknown. We reiterate our call for a full, public accounting of those killed or missing". Asked whether there is any addition to the earlier official announcement that 319 people were killed in the crackdown, Zhao said that he has no information to offer. "China's great achievement of development shows that Chinese government's action is fully correct, which upholds the development and the progress of the Chinese nation," he said. To another question that if it's a fully correct decision, why China has blocked the Tiananmen Square protests on the internet, he said China handles the internet according to the relevant laws. This year's Tiananmen Square protests have political significance for Hong Kong as it is for the first-time that the people of the former British Colony were barred from observing the anniversary with participation of thousands. China last month passed a new security law under which it could open its security agencies offices in Hong Kong. The administration in Hong Kong for the first time barred the Tiananmen Square protests. "For the first time since 1990, there will be no mass June 4 vigil at Victoria Park to commemorate the military crackdown on students-led democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989 that left hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead," the South China Morning Post said in its editorial. "Police have refused permission to ensure compliance with coronavirus restrictions on social gatherings. But what happens still matters", it said. "There may be no headcount on the 31st anniversary to compare with past observances as a measure of the relevance of the tragedy to Hong Kong's identity and a whole new generation. But the organisers have vowed to adapt to the times" with candlelight protests across Hong Kong, it said. In pursuit of democratic development, elections and other political processes are fundamental to the quality of a countrys governance and can either seriously facilitate or set back a countrys development. Elections can only promote sustainable development if they are credible. An essential principle that defines trustworthy elections is that they must reflect the free expression of the will of the people. When elections and associated processes appear to be subverting the will of the people, the credibility of the electoral processes is affected and serious upheavals arise. For electoral processes, the ideal practice is for them to be transparent, inclusive, and accountable, with equitable opportunities for political entities to compete. The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana is the formal body responsible for all public elections. The existence and independence of the EC are guaranteed by the 1992 constitution of Ghana and the Electoral Commission Act (Act 451) of 1993. For Ghanaian citizens to appreciate what is at stake in the foggy processes leading to the 2020 elections there is the need to recount how far we have travelled the democratic journey. Since 1992, Ghana has conducted seven successive general elections, which have led to peaceful change of power between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The ability of the state to seamlessly transfer power cyclically, through competitive, free and fair elections, has earned Ghana a seat among established democracies. Indeed, in terms of multiparty democracy, Ghana has enviably modeled for the rest of Africa. Nevertheless, since the course of democratic consolidation is a protracted one, the progress chalked so far cannot be taken for granted, lest the aforementioned gains be lost. The threat to Ghanas democracy and stability was subtly launched on June 28, 2018 when President Nana Akufo-Addo dismissed Charlotte Osei, the head of Ghana's EC, and the 2 deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwaa. While the president insists that he was constitutionally obliged to dismiss the officials after a committee made its recommendations, pursuant to article 146 (1) of the constitution, However, the NDC indicted the government of deliberately targeting ECs chair. Of course, the NPP had a motive to dismiss her and replace her with a friend they would trust and engage well with. When the chameleon brings forth a child, is that child not expected to dance? With the professional backgrounds of Mrs. Jean Mensa and her deputies, many Ghanaians were confident that they would be competent at the job. We expected that they would work dispassionately to improve the EC's internal governance, with an ultimate focus on strengthening electoral management and credibility of the EC. The corporate character of the EC has fast eroded the confidence in the commissioners competence and impartiality. A test of the commissioners competence was made when they supervised the referendum on creation of the six new regions, in December 2018. This referendum was characterized by serious violations; some of which had video evidence circulated in social media. The December 17, 2019 District Level and Unit Committee Elections were not also immune from the violations, although the EC claimed a 99 percent success rate. Many Ghanaians thought otherwise! With a foolhardiness of the EC to compile an entirely new register, instead of cleaning and updating the existing biometric register, as may be pragmatic in this eon of COVID-19, the nation is accelerating towards a cliff. From the outset, the EC has not been consistent with the reasons for the need for a new electoral register. What is consistent has been the lingering interest to have a new register. In a December 31, 2019 press statement, the EC communicated its intention to procure a new Biometric voter management solution ahead of the 2020 general elections with claims that the decision was based on the advice of its IT team and external consultants. They appealed that, it would be prudent to acquire a new system rather than refurbish the current system. Other reasons cited included the cost of frequent replacement of failing parts and the renewal of warranties through third parties was equivalent to the acquisition a brand new system with complete service and warranties. One argument the EC, has made, supported by the NPP, is that the current Biometric Verification Device (BVD) is unable to verify a number of voters electronically occasioning a high number of manual verification during voting. Moreover, this compromises the integrity of the elections. The EC therefore swiftly proposed using new scanners and software with improved fingerprint capturing algorithm and with facial recognition as an additional feature for those whose fingerprints cannot be verified. Rigorous analysis done by discerning individuals, political groups, civil society organizations (CSOs) and think tanks, have revealed that the ECs arguments have been nothing of matter-of-fact but a pursuit of a voracious interest. The IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, which has been a leading Think Tank in matters of national interest, has demonstrated beyond doubt that the EC has spent over $40 million of our tax cash since 2016 grounded on the recommendations of an objective system audit to get the current system into top shape to guarantee the quality of elections. Apart from the ECs own tacit admissions, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and EU reports indicate that the 2016 elections and biometric operations were better than the 2012 and that the 2019 district level elections and biometric operations were smoother than the 2016 version. IMANI has provided evidence, which indicates that while 33% of polling stations recorded a failure of BVDs in 2012, it dropped to less than 7% in 2016, and went even lower to less than 5% in the December 2019 elections. A system with a false rejection rate of 0.64% in the 2019 district elections, comparable to 3% and 5% false rejections rates of Indonesias e-KTP and India's Aadhar system, respectively. Internationally, they are among the largest and most sophisticated biometric systems. In a milieu of these facts, which pegs Ghanas system a notch higher than some of the world's best, how can it be described by Jean Mensa led EC as "obsolete? A lie begets a lie! Excepting the ECs foolhardiness in building a new voters register and a biometric voter management system, the timelines for such an elaborate exercise are technically impossible to meet. The EC will have to wade through the passing of the Constitutional Instrument (CI) by Parliament after the 21 days maturation. In addition, the EC must document and gazette the details of all registration centres and make them available to the various political parties, 21 days prior to the start of the registration exercise. Observing the COVID-19 prevention etiquette at the registration centres as the EC has stated, will limit the number of people to be registered daily. Spending 6 days per polling station, the whole registration exercise is estimated to capture more than 17 million eligible voters nationwide. It is interesting to reminisce that with about 12 million eligible voters in the 2012 biometric voter registration exercise, the EC worked for 10 days at each polling station. It appears also that the EC is yet to exhaust the procurement processes for the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, which will be deployed for the exercise. A new system will obviously come with its inherent problems. There are examples from many countries that indicate that the problems with biometric installations only get fully resolved with time and ripeness. We cannot accept any excuses for failure of technology, especially when the EC has ignored all reasonable caution to defer its intention. Ghana should not risk the 2020 general elections on an unknown system that is yet to be tried. We have an option of using the tried and tested system, which has since 2012 improved significantly to surpass, in accuracy, some of the most sophisticated systems globally. Equally worrisome, in addition to the unruliness of the EC, is the plain disingenuity of Mrs. Jean Mensa. After the 2012 election petition, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) under Jean Mensa commissioned the current Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, to do a monograph (No. 38 IEA Monograph) entitled Strengthening Ghana's Electoral System: a Precondition for Stability and Development. The IEA considered the publication as a competent treatment worthy of public consideration. Indeed, in the monograph, Prof. Oquaye contends, Electoral Reform is akin to continuing education. It has no immediate end, especially in fledgling democracies. The process should be professional, non-partisan and transparent; it must be seen as a true reflection of the people's will by politicians and the citizenry alike. In Jean Mensas consideration of Prof. Oquayes work as competent treatment, does the EC she leads now conduct the processes professionally, transparently and in a non-partisan manner? Does the ECs scheme to disenfranchise many Ghanaians amount to a true reflection of the peoples will? Certainly, an EC muscularly seeks to amend the Constitutional Instrument (C.I 91) to make the Ghana Card or passport acceptable documents for registration onto the voters register, is indirectly subverting the peoples will. The NPP has been predominantly more elitist and has been attractive to the middle class who happen to the stratum of the population with access to proposed registration eligibility documents the Ghana Card and passport. Conversely, the NDC is predominantly a mass party; attractive to the grassroots and lower class populations, with an inconsequential number holding the passports. Yet significant numbers in many regions were either not captured by the National Identification Authority (NIA) or were only partially done with the exercise, and are, nevertheless, waiting to collect their cards. If the EC went ahead with this constricted eligibility criteria for registration, many citizens, especially, the masses would be denied their right to register and to vote! Even more nebulous is the ECs recognition of the alternative eligibility criterion of persons who have already registered to acquire the new voters card guaranteeing for others to register. This is classically a walking stake turned upside-down sons and daughters with passports or Ghana Card will then have to vouch for their parents as citizens for them to be able register. Many of us as citizens, CSOs and politicians, and others, have had the belief that rigging an election is a process, and could be orchestrated long before the election day. Prof. Oquaye concludes that the electoral cycle approach depicts elections as a continuous, integrated process made up of building blocks that interact with and influence each other, rather than as a series of isolated events. He argues further that the Integrity of the election process is holistic and refers to a state of completeness from beginning to the end of an electoral cycle. Election analysts often use an old adage that only amateurs steal elections on election day. Hence, the purity of elections must cover all stages in the process, as well as fundamental institutional and policy choices related to the electoral system, competition and outcomes. Surprisingly, Jean Mensa who agreed with Prof. Oquaye in 2012 has only become indifferent to such reasonable standpoints, especially when she finds herself in a seat with the opportunity, or maybe power to improve the integrity of the EC. The respectability of the processes leading to the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections are as crucial as the results of the elections. Ghana has a choice to escape the inherent furore, which characterizes disputed election outcomes. The EC must wake up from this lethargy and delusional independence and act on strengthening its competence, professionalism and integrity so that public expectations will be met, and the results of the elections it oversees are accepted with little or no bitterness. Unfortunately, the nations temperature of peace and stability is already getting high to a convulsive degree; needlessly stoked by bare incompetence of the EC or a sinister motive pursued ineptly. Either way, the EC is blindfolded and speeding towards a cliff. Falling off the cliff will leave us with sustained periods of political fragility and standoff, deflating national stability. A canoe does not know who is king. When it turns over, everyone gets wet - Malagasy proverb. Long live Ghana! Long live Ghanas Democracy! By MOHAMMED MUSAH | [email protected] michelle goldberg Im Michelle Goldberg. ross douthat Im Ross Douthat. frank bruni Im Frank Bruni. And this is The Argument. [THEME MUSIC] It has been a devastating week in America. Tens of thousands of people have gathered in cities across the country to protest police brutality against black Americans. Theyre chanting the names of those recently killed by the police George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Tony McDade in Tallahassee, and many, many too many more. And theyre being met in some cities with violent reprisals from an increasingly militarized police force. The scenes flickering across our TVs and social media feeds are terrifying tear gas, riot gear, looted stores, police vehicles on fire, people tearfully begging for justice. Both Michelle and Ross, along with many other New York Times columnists and opinion writers, have been covering these uprisings. All three of us are white people who work in the media, with perspectives that are inevitably somewhat blinkered. But were going to do our best to talk about the utility of protests and what has and hasnt worked to effect lasting change. Ross, the title of your column last weekend was The Case Against Riots. For people who havent read that piece yet or who need a refresher, what is the case against riots, and how does that apply now? ross douthat Well, the case against riots is twofold. First, riots as opposed to peaceful protest riots meaning attempts to direct violence against not just police but sort of targets within a given community or outside a community, stores, buildings, and so on, do a tremendous amount of damage. Neighborhoods and even cities take a very long time to recover. Baltimore, the city where I lived for a couple of years, is still recovering from the Freddie Gray riots of 2015. Washington, DC, took decades to recover from the 1968 riots. So there is, I think, a high bar in terms of political effectiveness for you to be able to say riots are, a useful tool for social change. And in the column, I cited interesting research from a Princeton political scientist named Omar Wasow, who basically looks at the contrast between the political effects of non-violent and violent protests in the civil rights era in the 1960s. And his argument is that basically when protests were able to maintain themselves as nonviolent acts, especially when they faced police brutality in the process, that increased white support for civil rights, and for the civil rights agenda, and for the Democratic party. And when protests became violent and turned into riots, that increased support for the Republican Party, and ultimately helped elect Richard Nixon in 1968. Now, I dont think this is a terribly shocking or surprising finding. And obviously its one measurement of a very complicated historical reality. I think that the Black Lives Matter movement had tremendous success sort of highlighting and focusing the American discussion on police brutality against black men. And I think that as, first in Ferguson and then Baltimore, peaceful protests turned violent, that undercut the movement to some extent. And I think that and subsequent events a rise in crime, terrorist attacks, and so on, created a climate of a sort of miniature late-1960s effect that helped elect Trump. And we can argue about the political consequences of whats going on now. Im very uncertain about them. But thats the basic argument. frank bruni Michelle, do you agree with Rosss analysis of cause and effect there? michelle goldberg Well, with parts of it. I mean, look, I think its unseemly for an upper-middle-class, extremely privileged white lady to be cheering on riots or to be kind of condemning people overmuch for property damage, which just seems sort of minor in the context of the repeated murder of black people in this country. And my Twitter feed has been full of these little videos of black people kind of yelling at white radicals for instigating violence, saying that the weight of that was going to come down on them. And then its also been full of white radicals kind of, you know, celebrating riots, and repeating endlessly that Martin Luther King quote, a riot is the language of the unheard. But aside from the immediate electoral consequences, theres also this question of just political consequences. And Ross is right that riots leave really deep, lasting scars on the communities where they take place. At the same time, I think its kind of undeniable that serious unrest often precipitates political change. It happened in the 60s, where the uprising after the assassination of Martin Luther King leads to the 1968 Civil Rights Act. Theres a lot of examples of this. You can see it in some sense right now. On Tuesday morning, Joe Biden called for federal legislation banning police chokeholds. And I dont think that, absent the uprisings of the Black Lives Matter movement during the end of the Obama administration, Im not sure criminal justice reform becomes such a salient issue with so much momentum and so much bipartisan momentum behind it. As a counterexample, I would offer the national protests over impeachment, which were much more widespread than, say, the armed reopen the country protests. They were in as many cities, although certainly didnt involve as many people as these current protests, and got basically no media coverage, or were seen as a sort of quaint little display. Because they werent threatening, because they werent disruptive, they were very easy to dismiss. And so I dont think theres any question that mass unrest creates pressure on politicians to restore the peace, which is what one historian told me in a recent column I wrote the difficult thing about this current moment is that we have a president who doesnt care about restoring the peace. Its not really in his interest to do anything to stop it. And that makes the situation much more volatile. frank bruni Theres one thing thats frustrating me as I listen to this, which is theres a kind of inherent flaw in what were talking about, which is were analyzing riots as strategy. And the riots, I dont think, are a strategy. And I think its really important to make the distinction. Because it gets lost in the media images for all the obvious reasons, to make the distinction that most of the people out there in cities across the country are peaceful protesters with a very clear point that theyre making, and God knows, a just grievance. And the riots may come out of that. They may be something grafted onto that by groups. And were still trying to kind of parse through and figure out whos doing what which bad actors are destroying what, in which places. But one of the things I want understand about your argument, Ross, is are you saying that if the possible consequence of what started out as a vivid demonstration is a riot, then the vivid demonstration in the first place isnt worth it? ross douthat No. Im saying that there are sort of two groups whose choices and decision-making is deeply entangled with what happened in protests in a given city. And one of those groups is the organizers of the protests, and the other group is obviously the city government. And I think my argument I agree with you, Frank, that there isnt some theres no magic switch that you flick that says, heres when a protest avoids having any rioters attached to it, and heres when it becomes a riot. But I think that people who are running protests and obviously, I know, that even running is a strong word, but have certain obligations to look at what is the moment when your protest is getting hijacked or taken over by bad actors. Do you observe curfews? Do you cooperate more with police, and so on? And then the strategies that politicians and civic leaders undertake have an effect on and its incredibly complicated and challenging, for the reasons you lay out, to figure out what kind of strategy minimizes the chances of peaceful protests turning violent. Trying to figure out what is actually going on right in the age of Twitter video is really hard. So you have, the sort of liberal side of my Twitter feed is all clips and anecdotes about, if not police brutality, something very close to it, but a sort of police riot as the defining story of the moment. And then the right-hand side of my Twitter feed is all images from downtown New York and L.A., of people running through shops, and breaking windows, and in some cases beating up storekeepers unmolested. It looks like the worst of the L.A. riots. And then obviously both of those things are happening at once. But the challenge of leadership in that moment is figuring out what to do about it. And its easy for a pundit to criticize. But I think its fair to say that, below the level of Donald Trump, whos obviously been dreadful, you have some kind of leadership failure, not one store window gets busted, but when whole downtowns are sort of a free zone for looting. frank bruni Ross, you just put your finger on something that I think is super, super important to note as a difference between 1968 and now, which is social media. People are getting much more different, separate narratives of whats going on, because they have their own curated information systems and feeds. But on top of that, when we were talking about the way in which different agendas, different groups are grafting themselves onto whats going on, theyre able to do that in part because the speed of organization through the internet and the force of the internet. And I feel that puts us in really uncharted territory in some regards. michelle goldberg Right, well, thats what I wanted to say when Ross talked about protest leaders. Like, its really not clear who are the protest leaders or who are the protest organizers here. There is a really great book that I recommend to people about contemporary protest movement, called Twitter and Tear Gas by Zeynep Tufekci. And one of the things that she points out is that, in the past, a protest itself was the manifestation of organizing. You just dont get that many people out without organizing. And in the context of organizing, you build structures. You kind of identify leaders. You identify chains of command. Now, often, you have the protest first. You have the sort of mass convergence thats often sort of spontaneous. And then the leadership evolves out of that. And so that makes it much harder to say what the responsibilities of people are, right? I mean, obviously I think ross douthat Well, unless I mean, I think there is an open question about police strategy here that we dont fully have a handle on. But it seems like, at the moment, the heavy police presence is sort of around large masses of protesters. And then you have smaller groups breaking off and rioting. And the police are either not prioritizing that, or not successfully dealing with it. michelle goldberg So I was working on a column about de Blasio. And I called Eugene ODonnell, whos a former N.Y.P.D. officer whos now a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. And he really just yelled at me for 45 minutes, about that New Yorks liberal government and The New York Times, they wanted police abolition, and now theyve got it. And basically the police are just theyve endured so much abuse, and now theyre just not going to do anything. Now I think theres evidence that the police have taken a pretty aggressive stance towards the protesters. And then you see hints of a kind of hands-off stance towards the destruction of the city. And its understandable, a cop not wanting to put themselves on the line for Macys. ross douthat I saw at least one non-New-York mayor or police chief, I think, literally give a press conference saying, we cant ask our officers to put their lives on the line just to protect property. So that may not be just a sort of screw you kind of gesture. It may be sort of defensive policy in effect. frank bruni Well, and the police response seems to have varied greatly in different places. One of the things I get concerned about in a moment like this, when passions are running so high, is the way we say, the police, as if its uniform behavior forgive my use of the adjective, uniform as if its uniform behavior, coast to coast, north to south. I have been heartbroken by the pictures Ive seen of an overzealous, over-violent police response. But Ive also been heartwarmed by those images which I think have taken a backseat, those of police kneeling with protesters. I think it was Louisville, where there was that amazing short video on Twitter of a protester hugging a police officer, of the two of them falling into a hug that lasted something like 30 seconds. michelle goldberg I think if were going to talk about heartwarming images out of Louisville, we also have to remember that the police shot a restaurant owner named David McAtee, somebody who used to let the police eat for eat for free. And then I believe his body was left out unclaimed for a long time. And so I do understand the frustration that Im seeing from a lot of protesters who think that those images of the police kneeling that kind of warm the hearts of liberals like me then just become cover for later acts of brutality. frank bruni I mean, thats a very, very fair concern. And those images dont lessen the urgency of the cause. Im just saying that I think one of the dangers of moments like this is when we paint with such a broad brush that you know, I mean, I see signs that say Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Murder. I dont want to see the Blue Lives Murder sign, because I dont want to paint every law enforcement officer in the country with that broad a brush. ross douthat And also, cops are actually in serious danger here, right? I mean, youve had people throwing bricks at policemen. The police are operating in what is obviously a dangerous situation. And that has to be kept in mind as well. frank bruni I just want to go back to one thing, guys. We began this discussion by talking about the utility of riots. I keep flashing back stirring this to something that I watched in real time, and was to some extent involved in, which is the ACT UP protests, the ACT UP organization of the late 1980s, which was designed to get Americans and the US government to care more about AIDS than they were caring about it. And at the time, there was huge debate among L.G.B.T.Q. people about whether some of the tactics the die-in, in which you threw yourself on the street, and although police officers were nervous about who and who might not be infected with H.I.V., you forced them to kind of pick you up and move you. The throwing of condoms in the air in St. Patricks Cathedral. And thats just a little bit of what was done, and not necessarily representative. But there were many people who were saying these tactics were so obnoxious, this was so disrespectful. Choose your adjective that it was going to alienate people, it was going to be counterproductive. And at the time, it was hard to tell which was happening. I think history shows that it was productive. Could that not be the positive thing that comes out of this? michelle goldberg In a way, thats kind of different, because were talking about the efficacy of civil disobedience, which I dont think theres any question that mass civil disobedience, if you can organize it, is really effective. And even if people hate it and people really hated Martin Luther King when he was alive but kind of organized, disciplined civil disobedience, even when or maybe especially when its viewed as obnoxious by large parts of the mainstream, when its disruptive, when it kind of gets in the way of peoples ability to just go about their ordinary lives, is really, really effective. And the problem is that its just harder to pull off, for the reasons I was talking about earlier. Because the structures that organize a protest dont really precede the protest itself. ross douthat Right, no, I think thats right. I think theres a big difference between protests that are perceived as obnoxious, and offensive, and even in the case of the St. Patricks protest, sacrilegious, which I obviously have strong negative feelings about, and protests that are perceived as dangerous to the non-involved. And that thats the difference between a riot and a die-in. A die-in at most is somewhat threatening to the police officers who have to clear the streets, who are paranoid about touching someone infected with an illness. But its just a very different situation from living in a neighborhood, and having shops on fire, having your own shop on fire. And thats where, if theres backlash, thats where the backlash comes from. And if there is just a sort of abandonment right, like nobody was going to move out of New York City. Or certainly large numbers of people were not going to move out of New York City because of Larry Kramer or ACT UP. But large numbers of people moved out of American cities because of riots and crime. And American cities are under a lot of stress from the coronavirus right now, which is another thing we havent talked about. frank bruni I was wondering when someone was going to bring that up. ross douthat Well, Ill bring it up. So tell me what you guys think about this about this question which hangs over all of this. For the last few months, we have been engaged in a policy of dramatic, sometimes draconian lockdown in order to, in theory and hopefully in fact save hundreds of thousands of American lives from a deadly virus. And this has involved impositions on civil liberty, its involved heavy impositions on religious practice, heavy impositions on families that weve talked about, and its attracted a certain amount of protest, especially from some of my fellow conservatives. And all of that seems to be gone. Theres no sense that I can see from people running major American cities that there was a public obligation to prevent these protests. Instead there was a sense that anti-racism was a cause that justified essentially ending the lockdown. What do you guys think about that turn? No one has said that explicitly, although Bill de Blasio did just now. Someone asked him, why can people protest but they cant go to church? And he said, the long history of racism in this country means that protesting is more I mean, he didnt say more important than churchgoing, but he basically said that. Thats not really what the constitution says. And its not clear to me that thats actually a totally defensible argument. frank bruni Well, Ross, my reaction first is I think the lockdowns are probably relevant in the sense that there are a whole confluence and constellation of dynamics right here that I think have led to the anxiety and the fury of the moment. But I think it also has to be said, I mean, lockdowns are one aspect of the pandemic. The other aspect is the pandemics disproportionate toll on people of color, on black people. And I dont think you can untangle that from what were seeing right now. I think all of that feeds into this, dont you, Michelle? michelle goldberg I do. I mean, I understand what Ross is saying, that people were kind of yelling at people to stay home. And now they are saying, no, its actually your sort of civic duty to take to the streets. And how you think of that depends on how you understand the urgency of this moment. Its not that people no longer think that its a risk to be out congregating in groups. Its that they think that its a risk worth taking, the same way that you take a lot of physical risks when you engage in these kind of protests. And so I think that thats how most of the people who are out on the streets would see it. I understand why conservatives are not going to see it that way. ross douthat Well, but what about politicians? I mean, what about, like because this is not just about how people feel, right? The prior policy was basically the public health version of facts dont care about your feelings. It was that we have these lockdowns. We dont care if you feel that its urgent to go to mass, or you visit here, or gather there, or perform charity work, or any of these other things. We have a policy that is science-based and driven by public health. And now the argument is, actually, these feelings are more important than those facts. michelle goldberg No, because all along, people have been allowed out in public. People have been allowed in the streets. Theyve been allowed in the parks. And I just think that are you suggesting that it would be a good use of police resources for them to go out and start trying to enforce social distancing in these mass gatherings? I mean, it just doesnt seem frank bruni [CHUCKLES] michelle goldberg Right? I mean, even if you thought that was a good idea, its not practical or doable. ross douthat Well let me spin out a crazy hypothetical, right? Lets say frank bruni No, youd never do that, Ross. michelle goldberg Can I just add, quickly, that Im scared to death about what the kind of public health repercussions of these protests. And especially if having hundreds more people sent to jail is going to be in a few weeks, in New York City and elsewhere. ross douthat Right. I think this wouldnt I do think that, one, the protests wouldnt have happened had this become an issue right at the start of the pandemic. I do think the government response would have been more draconian. The protests are a manifestation of anger with, as Frank said, sort of a feeling of sort of disproportionate suffering from the lockdowns, and theyre coming at a time when people are sort of exhausted, and feeling like, well, the weathers warm. Outdoor transmission might not be so bad. Lets get out. So I think thats one reality. But I just want to spin out my hypothetical. Suppose that, in the midst of the pandemic, there had been another Kermit Gosnell case that came to light. Kermit Gosnell is the illegal abortionist who was put on trial in Philadelphia for performing illegal abortions. And it was it became a cause celebre for the pro-life community. Imagine that that had happened, and then the Catholic church had said, were going to stage a march for life in the midst of Philadelphia and New York. And then some people at the fringes of the March for Life started defacing Planned Parenthood facilities. What do you think the reaction would have been from the governments of those cities to that kind of thing, to say nothing of people in our profession? It would not have been, oh, these people are moved by a deep political passion. It would have been, these lunatics need to be put in jail. michelle goldberg No, Ross, I think youre right. Well, obviously people are going to be more sympathetic to a cause that they think is good than a cause that they think is bad. I think thats pretty clear. But I dont know that the analogy quite works, because, again, its not somebody saying, we are going to stage a march. Its if a bunch of pro-life people sort of suddenly converged, do we think that the police would start arresting them? And I think the answer is pretty clearly no, in that they would probably be treated far more leniently than the protesters weve seen recently. I mean, you can see how the anti-lockdown protesters were treated, despite often being quite menacing and closing down a legislative session in Michigan. You see white armed counter-protesters violating curfew being treated much more leniently by the police than black people who live in those same cities. So again, I think that, in your analogy, yes, would I be less sympathetic? Obviously. Would the state be less sympathetic. I dont think so. frank bruni Well, let me tell you who would be more sympathetic, Ross. I think Donald Trump, given rich voters he courts, would have praised those pro-life gatherers regardless of any show social distancing directives. I think the same Donald Trump who had tear gas and stuff used to disperse peaceful protesters so he could march to the so-called march, it was a short walk over to the Church of the Presidents, where he could hold a Bible, the same Donald Trump who was very flamboyantly holding that Bible would have sung the praises of those pro-life marchers. ross douthat I think thats fair, Frank. As always, in these debates, theres a question of sort of, who is the government at this moment? frank bruni Yes. ross douthat Because Trump is such a peculiar figure. And as of this moment, hes sort of ranting about invoking the Insurrection Act and sending in the military. But mostly he seems to want to let big-city mayors do their thing, and then blame them when it doesnt frank bruni [CHUCKLES] ross douthat it doesnt work. But mean well know more by the time we reconvene. frank bruni Well, I want to talk in our next segment about politicians, the government, and leadership. But right now we need to take a quick break. Well be back in a minute. [THEME MUSIC] So Ross, Michelle, and I dont precisely agree on which sorts of protests are most useful or how controllable these things are. But theres a whole other question, which is what needs to happen going forward. How do we get beyond this moment? How do we address police violence effectively? And so lets turn to that. Michelle, lets start with you. You had a terrific column earlier this week called The de Blasio Disappointment, in which you went, point-by-point, through all the things the mayor of New York City has done wrong. But what does right look like? michelle goldberg Well, part of the problem is that you have even very liberal mayors are elected, and then they come up against the power of a police force and this is really what happened in New York City that even if they are nominally in charge of, theyre not really in charge of, and that theres kind of a constant insurrectionary threat if they go too far in trying to rein it in. So theres some sort of obvious reforms that are so obvious that even you hear Joe Biden calling for them. The demilitarization of the police, which is something that has really happened in our lifetimes. Like I can remember when police were not typically kitted out as if they were about to charge into Fallujah. And it just seems obvious that if you have this stuff and if youre outfitted in this way, then it changes the way you approach your job. And you start approaching the population that youre supposed to protect and serve as if you were kind of not all police, obviously but it, I think, creates a mentality of an enemy occupying force. ross douthat I mean, you need weaker police unions. Thats the sort of big-picture reform that, to the extent that it already exists, to the extent that you have police forces that are sort of dissolved and started over, you do seem to get better results and better behavior from cops. But its a hard policy lift, because cops sit at the intersection of public sector unions that liberals and Democrats like, and cops and firefighters and the military, which conservatives like. And they have taken advantage of that position to build up, in many cities, more protections than they should have. frank bruni Michelle, whats your reform agenda? Well, I definitely think you have growing support among Democrats, and certainly on the left, for taking on police unions, even if people support public sector unions in general. But I mean, if you look at this man who killed George Floyd, there were so many complaints against him. He should have been taken out of there a long time ago. And one problem is that these complaints is that the public doesnt have access to them, which is another focus of activism. So I dont know that I have a specific reform agenda, because I just think that a lot of these reforms are obvious. Theyre things that keep people in the criminal justice world have been calling for for a long time. Its really just a question of whether you have the momentum to break through all the very powerful impediments to change. ross douthat And I guess thats my to bring this back to the opening of the show, thats where I really think that the longer the sort of riots and looting part of these protests go on, the less momentum you have maybe not in some particular blue cities, but generally. I think that, to me, is whats likely to be the takeaway here. I dont think Donald Trump is like Richard Nixon. I dont think that a period of disorder gets him re-elected. But I do think a period of disorder has the opposite effect on that kind of larger momentum. What do you think, Frank? frank bruni Well, I have to give you a hat tip, Ross, because you just mentioned you dont think that Donald Trump is like Richard Nixon. And correct me if Im wrong, but I think he wrote a great line in that weekend column that weve referenced, where you said Donald Trump is like Richard Nixon on his best days, and George Wallace on all the rest. Did I get that right? ross douthat Something like that, yeah. No, and I think thats right. I mean, Trump is different from Wallace in a lot of ways. But I think, fundamentally, Trump Nixon was an establishment figure, as much as he hated the establishment, and was capable of sort of projecting reassurance, and showing magnanimity, and doing all kinds of sort of leadershippy things that Trump doesnt want to do, isnt capable of doing. And it doesnt mean that violent protests couldnt help him. But I dont think its its not a replay of the 1968 dynamic. frank bruni But lets pivot from Trump. During this, I have just been very kind of pained by and aware of what feels like a void of leadership, beyond Donald Trump. So I would love for each of you to tell me where youve seen examples of great leadership during this last week, during these last couple of months, what we can learn from them, and what kind of promise they can give us going forward. Who has really stepped up and been the right kind of leader with the right kind of language in this moment? michelle goldberg I think Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, has just been terrific. You know, shes been both extremely empathetic with the protesters, extremely protective of the order of her city. It was the press conference with her and Killer Mike where he gave this kind of impromptu speech about not burning down your own city, but kind of plotting, and strategizing and organizing. And something that shes done that weve seen over and over again is take really quick action against bad cops, which I like to hope increases the legitimacy of efforts to protect the city. frank bruni Ross? ross douthat I was also going to say Keisha Lance Bottoms, which I think tells you something about the general leadership deficit. I think the Times story on frank bruni [CHUCKLES] What are you ross douthat Well, just that were each reaching for one the same example. frank bruni That the short list is a really, really short list. ross douthat And I think there probably is something where, you know, I think African-American mayors and leaders are just not inevitably, but are potentially in a stronger position to make this combined argument that you have to make. You have to be able to say, simultaneously, we totally understand the grievances here. And you cant torch your own city. And I think the sort of figure, whether its de Blasio or the mayor of Minneapolis. I feel like sort of progressive white administrators feel like they dont have the credibility to really offer the second part of that statement. And when youre actually in charge of a city, thats a problem. michelle goldberg But again, I think that, Ross, if youve really watched de Blasio closely, I mean, he hasnt been out there saying, to the protesters, I feel your pain. I mean, his press conferences have really been striking for the degree to which he seems to see things almost entirely through the eyes of the police. Yet the police kind of hold him in contempt. And so he ends up as this feckless sort of figure that doesnt really have anyone on his side. ross douthat I mean, we already did the segment about whether de Blasio is the worst mayor in New Yorks history. But Ill just say that Im we may have done it frank bruni Apparently we did it too soon. ross douthat Frank, let me ask you, has there been any national political figure who youve been impressed with? frank bruni Yes. And I hate to give this answer because its so backward-looking, and its so wistful and nostalgic, but Barack Obama. I mean, he just came out with a statement in a post on Medium that was published Monday. Looking at what he said, I thought this really isnt that hard of a needle to thread. This is really very clear. You denounce acts of destruction that victimize people you dont mean to be victimizing. But you acknowledge what is behind all of this anger in America. And you make sure that people dont lose sight of the genesis of all of this and of very real injustice and enormous grief in this country. He nailed it. And you read what he has to say, and you just become all the more heartsick that we have someone in the White House right now who, while giving the briefest, and most perfunctory, and least persuasive of nods to what happened to George Floyd and all that it represents, and then moves as fast as he can to, I am the president of law and order, a chilling phrase that shows that he, at least, thinks theres something to be learned for him of Nixon in 1968. Let me ask each of you a question in closing. Im 55. I was born in 1964. So I wasnt reading the news or really conscious of what was going on in an adult way in the late 60s. And in my adult life, I have never lived through a period where I felt so terrified and concerned for this country, where I felt that we are so close to ripping apart. Michelle, your weekend column was headlined America is a Tinderbox. And it feels more like that to me right now than ever before. And so Im hoping you guys will give me hope. But I want you to give me just your honest assessments. How scared for and worried about America are each of you right now? Michelle, why dont you start? michelle goldberg Look, you obviously dont turn to me to give you hope. I mean, Ive been terrified. The night Donald Trump was elected, I cried and cried like I cant remember crying. And I did sort of imagine that this country was going to be burnt to the ground. I dont know if I could have ever imagined that it would get this bad, but just absolute ruin, civil unrest, near civil war, and something akin to fascism is basically what I expected Trump to deliver us. And now its here. frank bruni Michelle, does the American project ride on what happens that first week of November at the ballot box? michelle goldberg Absolutely. I feel like, yes, of course, do I yes, I feel like either were going to keep having an America that can be rebuilt, or we wont. frank bruni OK, Ross, you get the last word. And please give me some hope. ross douthat Well, look, so I just wrote a book about decadence that weve talked frank bruni You did, did you? [CHUCKLES] ross douthat I did that weve talked about on the show. And the argument in the book, which has been a version of an argument that Ive sort of counter-posed to Michelle throughout the life of this show, has been that our decadence is real, but its more sustainable than you think, and that sort of stalemate and repetition are more the American norm right now than the catastrophic end of the republic. And obviously that argument is being put to the test right now. I agree with Michelle that some of what were seeing now is what I sort of expected from a Trump presidency, urban unrest especially. And its only happened now because youve had I really think the pressure of the coronavirus on our system has been intense. And so were going through a test to see how sustainable our decadence really is. I do want to stress, again, the importance of recognizing that were seeing all of this filtered through a technology, social media plus cable news, thats designed that makes the world seem like its falling apart. And I went and looked up the data on the Los Angeles riots, which I do remember vividly. They happened when I was 12 years old. It was a huge event. And yet it gave way to the relative tranquility of the later of the later 1990s. And the protests that were seeing now, as of this day, are not as bad, nationally, as the protests concentrated in LA were in that period. And it doesnt mean they wont get that bad, and well be back here next week to talk about it. But I just do want to stress that were seeing through a glass darkly. And there are certainly moments when Im up, with my baby asleep on my shoulder, at 3 am, scrolling through my Twitter feed from New York, when Im sure the world is ending. But well know more in six months than we do today. frank bruni An Islamorada man said the hallucinogens found in his car when he was arrested were leftovers from a New Years party, according to the Monroe County Sheriffs Office. Joshua Moon, 37, was arrested on Plantation Key on Tuesday. He was charged with driving with a suspended license, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of hallucinogens, and possession of drug equipment, according to the arrest report. He claimed ownership of all the items found and stated they were only for recreational narcotic use, the police report stated. His girlfriend, Inkede Hall, 25, and daughter, 13, were released. Joshua Moon, 37, was arrested on Plantation Key Tuesday. Moon was initially pulled over because of the suspended license, according to the report. When asked by a deputy about the car smelling like marijuana, Moon said he smoked with a friend before being stopped. Moon is not a medical marijuana card holder. The drug equipment in his car included a bowl pipe, two wood sticks, a toothpick and a lighter, according to the arrest report. He received a Florida Trade Commission suspension in April for not paying a traffic fine, and two guilty dispositions in 2002 and 2018 for driving with a suspended license. He was released from the Monroe County Jail Wednesday on a $16,000 bond. Google may end up in hot water with the US government all over again, following reports that it gave out users location data tracking information without their knowledge. Specifically, the company handed over around 300-million users data to a group of scientists conducting a study aggregated from smartphones and covering nearly all countries and 65% of Earths populated surface. Thats according to the study itself, published in May and based on data collected before the advent of widespread lockdowns. The study was led by Robert C. Reiner Jr, John S. Brownstein, and Moritz U. G. Kraemer and published in Nature Human Behaviour under the title Mapping global variation in human mobility. As that title implies, the scientists were looking into how people tend to move around. Advertisement To accomplish that, they ran the data through AI-based algorithms that examined when people took trips. The system identified trips by signals such as the timing of location points, dwell times, and other factors. The scientists indicate that, for example, the data examination included stops at airports and other locations on a multi-stop international itinerary. This likely isnt the full extent of sharing with scientists Now, Google has repeatedly claimed not to store or track location data for users who arent aware of it. That is users who have opted to have location tracked rather than turning it off simultaneously turning off select features. So theres a good chance that the location data used here belonged to users who had willingly left location data tracking turned on or opted in. Advertisement But thats not the only data the company has been accused of keeping tabs on. In fact, in addition to previous suits brought against Google, the company is now being sued for alleged tracking of user activity in its Chrome browsers incognito mode. That lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday, June 2, by Mark C. Mao. Mr. Mao is a partner at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner. It could ultimately cost the company as much as $5 Billion. Previous filings and widespread reports, centered more precisely on location data tracking have plagued the company too. So its not unlikely that other groups have been granted access too. And it isnt immediately clear whether those groups intentions were quite as above-board. Or whether the trend would pertain solely to location data. But since the company did not inform users of its use here, that could end up causing further legal issues in the future. Advertisement So what findings did the Google Data Tracking help reveal? Looking past intentions and the possibility that other user data has been handed over, the data does seem to have led to some interesting results. According to the associated scientists, they were able to make some determinations regarding which borders are the busiest and how weather and other patterns affect travel. In some cases, those findings acted more as confirmations for what might otherwise simply be known solely via common sense. For instance, the border between the US and Mexico is one of the busiest while restrictive borders such as those between Turkey and Armenia, Morocco and Algeria, and Israel and the Gaza, saw relatively low traffic. Conversely, people are most active in terms of travel and related movement in July and August. That indicates that daylight patterns and weather greatly affect movement. Peak movement times also coincide with national or religious holidays. And people travel and move around, in general, a lot less in colder months and those where there arent any major events or holidays. January saw the least movement overall. The London Metropolitan Police urged anyone with information about the suspect to come forward. They released pictures of a white and yellow Volkswagen camper van that they believe the suspect was using that summer and of a Jaguar car that was once registered to the suspect. On the day after Madeleine disappeared, the Jaguar was registered to someone else in Germany. Police said they were also looking for information about two Portuguese phone numbers. There are other issues that our committee needs to be focused on not a partisan issue thats coming up just before an election related to a political candidate, he said, citing the ongoing civil unrest in U.S. cities and the coronavirus pandemic. It looks as if its a fishing expedition, and we dont have time for fishing expeditions. We need to be focused on the domestic crises that we have right now in our country. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 07:55:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A lack of sufficient testing for the presence of COVID-19 in the general public might be one of the major reasons for the large number of deaths in the United States, a leading medical expert has said. The United States has suffered the most from the pandemic around the world, with over 1.84 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and a death toll of more than 107,000 as of Wednesday. "Without greater monitoring and testing, it is difficult to properly control the spread of the novel coronavirus infection. Simply testing individuals with suspected infection and first responder health care personnel is inadequate to provide the protection and means to reduce the spread of COVID-19," Kent Pinkerton, professor of pediatrics from the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "This is particularly troublesome with some active carriers and shedders of COVID-19 who are completely asymptomatic," he added. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least a third of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic. About 40 percent of transmission occurred prior to symptom onset. Pinkerton said although measures taken for stay-in-shelter mandates around the country have helped to flatten the curve of infection, many areas continue to see no reduction in the incidence of infection. To lighten these mandates without the proper use of personal protective equipment could be associated with a future resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States, he noted. According to Pinkerton, the major challenges ahead in controlling the spread of the pandemic are patience on the part of the U.S. public and the development of an efficacious vaccine for protection against COVID-19. Experts are worried that the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died last week while in police custody, may result in new outbreaks. "Based on the way the disease spreads, there is every reason to expect that we will see new clusters and potentially new outbreaks moving forward," said U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Coronavirus testing sites in many locations have been closed due to unrest. Since most people who are infected with the coronavirus develop symptoms within 14 days of being infected and can spread the disease days before they feel sick, the window to get tested and avoid infecting others is small. "The impact of the ongoing protests on COVID-19 case counts may be revealed in about two weeks," Zhang Zuofeng, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research with the school of public health at University of California, Los Angeles, told Xinhua. Enditem Geojit's report on Agri Picks India received 5.5 mm rainfall, 83% higher than the normal of 3.0 mm for the day, the India Meteorological Department said. During Jun 1-3, the country received 16.4 mm, 96% above the normal of 8.4 mm. The Union Cabinet today approved three ordinances--amendment to the Essential Commodities Act, and two central laws on inter-state trade of farm produce, and contract farming--Farm Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. The government expects a bigger crop of nutri-cereals--bajra, jowar and ragi-- as it has over 45,000 tn seeds for sowing in 2020-21 (Jul-Jun) kharif season, a near 14% surplus, a senior government official said. The Centre is unlikely to extend the deadline for procurement of wheat beyond Jul 15 as it is hopeful that major procuring states will be able to wrap up the purchases in June itself, a senior government official said. The Centre does not see the need to slash the import duty on tur due to the comfortable level of stocks and strong supply prospects, a government official said. The US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service has retained its estimate for India's 2020-21 (Aug-Jul) cotton crop at 28.5 mln bales (1 US bale = 218 kg). Around 843,600 tn of farm produce was sold at 142 Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees in Gujarat amid lockdown till May 30, said Ashwini Kumar, secretary to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. International Coffee Organization has pegged global exports at 10.82 mln bags (1 bag = 60 kg) in April, 3.1% lower on year, due to a decline in demand from Mexico, South and Central America. The government has slashed import duty on masur to 10% from 30%, effective Aug 31, according to a notification by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. For all commodities report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Read More Authorities are looking into whether the Wednesday night stabbing of an NYPD officer in Brooklyn was a terror-inspired attack, law enforcement sources said Thursday. One officer was stabbed in the neck and two others were shot during the confrontation in the Flatbush neighborhood. All three officers are expected to recover, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at an early Thursday press conference. The suspect was shot eight times and is in critical condition at a hospital. Three senior law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Dzenan Camovic, 20, an immigrant from the Balkan region. One senior source said Camovic had recently shared anti-police sentiments on his social media feeds. Camovic had not been on police radar, the sources said, but is associated with "individuals of concern." Terrorism, however, is just one theory for what happened, they said, and nothing has been ruled in or out. "What we know at this point in time is that it appears to be a completely cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer," said Shea during the press conference, "and thank God we're not planning a funeral right now." The assault happened during the seventh night of citywide and nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis last week. Image: New York City police stand on a street early Thursday, June 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, after a police officer was shot. (Frank Franklin II / AP) The stabbing happened at around 11:45 p.m. Two officers were assigned to an anti-looting post. Surveillance video shows a man "walk up to the officers casually, take out a knife and stab one of the officers in the neck," Shea said. About a block away, a police sergeant and officer heard gunfire, responded and found the suspect with what investigators believe was a gun from one of the officers, Shea said, adding that the information was preliminary. Multiple body camera video shows "an extremely chaotic, rapid situation that is dark" and police were still establishing what exactly occurred, but 22 shell casings have been found and it is thought a number of officers fired, he said. The two injured police officers were shot in the left hand, police officials said. The knife wound missed an artery and that officer is stable at the hospital, Shea said. Francesca Allen threw herself into exercise on Thursday as she got back to normal five days after being filmed in an explosive altercation outside an Essex pub. The Love Island 2019 star, 24, was captured squaring up to another woman outside the King Oak pub in High Beech, Epping Forest on Saturday in shocking footage, with police called to the scene. Yet a cheery Francesca was putting the drama behind her as she shared photos and video from her 4km forest run. Back to normal: Francesca Allen threw herself into exercise on Thursday as she got back to normal five days after being filmed in an explosive altercation outside an Essex pub Spat: The Love Island 2019 star, 24, was captured squaring up to another woman outside the King Oak pub in High Beech, Epping Forest on Saturday in shocking footage, with police called to the scene The star looked stylish in black workout gear as she prepared for her run, before sharing a clip of her legs covered in leaves after the jog. She wrote in the caption: 'Dust yourself off and start again I say #positivityalways'. The smiling star also penned: 'Trying to run fast in the forest is not ideal.' The social media posts come after the shocking video of the star emerged. Telling: She wrote in the caption: 'Dust yourself off and start again I say #positivityalways' Francesca and the other woman, flouted social distancing rules as they got close to each other's faces and shouted at one another. Francesca, who is said to have got into the row over a man, can be seen waving her hands in the face of a woman standing in front of her, who in turn, is shrieking at her. Francesca aggressively points her fingers and shouts: 'You're not going to do anything, you're not going to. Why come over here then!' Meanwhile the other woman, who is sporting an-all beige outfit, grows increasingly angry and loses her temper. The woman, whose friend holds onto her hand in an apparent bid to quell the situation, then lunges forward and repeatedly yells at Francesca. What drama? Francesca looked in good spirits despite her recent park fracas Within a matter of seconds, Francesca bites back and shouts in her face with her fist clenched, in the shocking footage. Another bystander, who appears to be friends with them, barges forward and tries to act as a mediator. She struggles to contain her frustration and repeatedly says 'Woah'. Francesca puts her hand in the air to block the woman out. The pair then break away from the group and square up to each other as groups of stunned onlookers watch on. Seconds later, the screaming gets louder and a police officer is seen dragging Francesca's nemesis away. A witness to the row on Saturday said: 'They appeared to be fighting over some guy. Row: The social media posts comes days after Francesca and the other woman flouted social distancing rules as they got close to each other's faces and shouted at one another in a shock row 'He was on the side and basically telling them to calm down. It didn't seem right, like they were fighting over him. 'Francesca was trying to stay calm but when the girl got involved, that's when she lost it and went for her.' An Essex Police spokesman said: 'We were called at around 5.10pm on Saturday 30 May, with reports of a disturbance outside the King Oak pub in High Beech. 'We received information that a large group of people had gathered on green space outside the pub and reports of people fighting. 'We attended the scene and gave words of advice to people about congregating. They were understanding and left the vicinity without issue or the need for enforcement action.' Rise to fame: Model Francesca shot to fame on the 2019 series of Love Island No injuries were reported during the incident. A spokesperson for Francesca told MailOnline: 'Francesca was approached by two unknown females on Saturday afternoon who began verbally then physically abusing her. 'In self-defence, Francesca defended herself. The attack was witnessed by the police and Francesca was asked if she wanted to pursue the matter, to which she declined.' A close friend of Francesca's added to MailOnline: 'Fran was really shaken up by the whole experience, it was out of character for her. 'She didn't know the girls and had no idea why they were trying to attack her, in the circumstances she felt she needed to defend herself.' The video comes days after fellow Love Island 2019 star Anna Vakili and her sister Mandi were filmed in a vicious park fight in London's Hyde Park on Bank Holiday Monday Anna claimed she was set upon by a group of people who 'threatened them with illegal weapons'. The Love Island star, 29, released a statement on Instagram the next day, insisting she was forced to act in 'self-defence' after a 'drug-using' teenager 'swung' at her cousin Asal - a claim her family have firmly denied. In a video shared on social media, the TV personality can be seen dragging a young woman by her hair across the concrete, before her sister Mandi, 28, kicks her in the head following a heated exchange. FLINT, MI -- Flint Community Schools honored more than 80 graduating seniors with a drive-in style commencement ceremony Tuesday, June 2. It was not a traditional ceremony as schools have closed and many traditional senior activities have been canceled due to COVID-19. Instead of walking across a stage, graduates, families, teachers and staff drove to the the US-23 drive-in theater off Fenton Road to safely celebrate graduation. During the ceremony, the district shared a shout-out video including local leaders, Elon Musk and athletes from the Charlotte Hornets and Oregon Ducks. The video played on the big screen during commencement to surprise seniors. In addition to limiting the venue to half capacity, all social distancing protocols, including maintaining six feet of distance between participants, keeping concessions closed, limiting restroom capacity, and ensuring students and families were in their vehicles at all times, were followed on-site. The ceremony was a private event to maintain social distancing, according to the release. It was made possible partially through a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. The class received more than $80,000 in scholarship money, with acceptance to schools such as University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Western Michigan University and more. Aaron Walker is valedictorian of the FCS Class of 2020. During his time at FCS, Walker participated in three Advanced Placement courses, student council, marching band and National Honors Society. Walker also participated in the Harvard Extension Program, Poetry in America: The City from Whitman to Hip-Hop. Amari Green is the Class of 2020s salutatorian. During Greens time at FCS, she was a member of the volleyball team for all four years of her high school career and an honors student, serving as president of the National Honors Society her senior year. Outside of school, Green contributed more than 100 hours of community service at organizations including the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and the Renaissance Festival. Other activities the district organized to recognize seniors included personalized yard signs for each graduate, a digital billboard congratulating the Class of 2020, a virtual senior convocation and other special commemorations, the district said. Senior spotlights were shared on social media to recognize their achievements. The world doesn't forget but CCP insists in deny it and keep trying to delete it from story.* The "Tiananmen Square massacre" were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during 1989. The popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests is sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement.The protests started on April 15 and were forcibly suppressed on June 4 when the government declared martial law and sent the military to occupy central parts of Beijing. In what became known as thetroops with assault rifles and tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square. Estimates of thetoll vary from, with thousands more wounded.*Info from Wikipedia Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Thursday's trading session based on latest developments. Companies set to announce their earnings are NIIT, DLF, Jyothi Labs, PI Industries, IL&FS Transmission, LKP Securities. Investors will also be taking cues from the latest released March quarter earnings. Key highlights on share market; check the latest stock market news - Sensex closed 284 points higher at 34,109 and Nifty ended 82 points higher at 10,061 on Wednesday. - On a net basis, FIIs bought Rs 1,851 crore, while DIIs offloaded Rs 782 crore worth in equities on Wednesday. Share Market LIVE: Sensex rises 130 points, Nifty at 10,088; Tech Mahindra, GAIL, Tata Motors top performers Reliance Industries: The company has achieved successful closure of India's largest ever Rights Issue of Rs 53,124.20 crore. It was subscribed approximately 1.59 times, cumulating to an overall commitment of over Rs 84,000 crore. Oil India: The company said it has engaged a Singapore-based company to manage Assam well blowout. Indian Overseas Bank: Moody's Investor Service, has affirmed their local and foreign currency deposit rating Ba2 and Baseline Credit assessment (BCAs) at b2. HUDCO: Moody's has downgraded the ratings of company's to "Baa3" from "Baa2" level with Negative outlook GAIL: Moody's has revised the rating of various Government related issuers (GRI)of the company in line with the revision of India's Sovereign Rating from Baa2 to Baa3. Powergrid: Moody's Investors Service has downgraded rating of the company by one notch from baa2 to baa3, consequent to downgrading of India's sovereign rating from baa2 to baa3. ONGC, HPCL, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum: Moody's Investor Service has downgraded the long-term issuer ratings of these oil marketing companies (OMCs). The outlooks on these ratings are negative, the agency said on Tuesday. JSPL: The company has recorded 28% YoY rise in monthly Steel sales volumes with the revival of domestic demand at 640,000 tonnes in May 2020, as compared to sales of 500,000 tonnes during the same period in the previous year. Aurobindo Pharma: The company reported a 88.99% rise in profit at Rs 998.57 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against Rs 528.36 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Company's total income rose 16.27% (YoY) to Rs 6191.02crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 5324.47 crore in a year-ago period. DCM Shriram: The company reported a 29% drop in profit at Rs 207.38 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against Rs 292.14 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Company's total income rose 0.01% (YoY) to Rs 1928.77 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 1928.64 crore in a year-ago period. Cholamandalam Investment and Finance: The company reported a 85% drop in profit at Rs 42.45 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against Rs 298.07 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Company's total income rose 13.82% (YoY) to Rs 2165.57 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 1902.56 crore in a year-ago period. MAS Financial Services: The company reported a 35% drop in profit at Rs 35.67 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against Rs 55.66 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Company's total income fell 5.85% (YoY) to Rs 182.55 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 193.89 crore in a year-ago period. Q4 Earnings Today: NIIT, DLF, Jyothi Labs, PI Industries, IL&FS Transmission, LKP Securities, Chemfab Alkalis, Cosmo Films, Tourism Finance Corporation, T D Power Systems among others will announce their Q4 results today. DLF share price trading flat ahead of Q4 earnings Aurobindo Pharma share hits 52-week high post Q4 earnings How Coronavirus crisis has helped Reliance Jio emerge winner in digital economy Chinas crude oil imports jumped by 13 percent from April to near record-highs of 11.11 million bpd in May, due to favorable spreads of the Shanghai-traded yuan-denominated oil futures and a ramp-up in refinery throughput, oil analytics firm OilX said in a report this week. There has been a steady recovery in Chinese refinery crude processing rates in recent weeks to warrant higher imports, but at least some of the increased crude intake can be attributed to the Shanghai INE crude futures trading at a premium over other deliverable grades, OilX said. Since April, Chinese hedge funds have been betting big on an oil price recovery on the Shanghai crude futures, which has led to major Chinese state oil firms, including PetroChina and Sinopec, delivering oil into the crude oil futures contract. Apart from the Shanghai crude futures and recovering crude processing rates, another factor in Chinas near-record imports of crude was the fact that the independent refiners the so-called teapotscontinued to actively procure oil, most likely because of the low prices, OilXs analysts Juan Carlos Rodriguez and Valantis Markogiannakis noted. Chinas crude oil imports in May were up by 1.28 million bpd compared to April and up by 1.27 million bpd compared to May last year, OilX said. Chinas imports from Saudi Arabia jumped by 800,000 bpd, following declines in the two previous months, while imports from Iraq surged by more than 400,000 bpd as the Basrah crude grade is one of the seven grades allowed under the Shanghai crude futures contract, OilX data showed. Chinas imports are rebounding and its oil demand is also steadily recovering, according to analysts. In recent weeks, China has led the global oil demand recovery, while tentative signs of improvement emerge in other major economies, including the United States and India, as lockdowns are eased. In China, oil demand was at 90 percent of the pre-COVID-19 levels in April, and was expected at 92 percent of normal demand in May, according to data from IHS Markit. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The act was aimed at protecting farmers from exploitation by institutional buyers such as large retailers and food processors Farmers sort tomatoes near a field for their transportation to various markets during the nationwide lockdown. India is to allow farmers to sell produce directly to bulk buyers. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: India is to allow farmers to sell produce directly to bulk buyers such as trading companies, food processors and large retailers, the farm minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Wednesday. This would obviate the need for farmers to bring their produce to Indias more than 7,000 regulated wholesale markets and let buyers buy from the fields, Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cabinet agreed to pass an emergency executive order to change the rules. Indias antiquated Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act requires all farmers to sell their produce at the wholesale markets in most of the countrys 29 states. The act was aimed at protecting farmers from exploitation by institutional buyers such as big trading houses, large retailers and food processors. But many farmers saw the act as an impediment to selling directly to big buyers such as Wal-Mart Stores and Tesco which can give them attractive returns. Also, an opaque system of auctions by middlemens cartels at wholesale markets leaves farmers with little bargaining power and adds an extra level of intermediaries, pushing up prices for consumers. The coronavirus lockdown, introduced in late March, triggered a severe shortage of labour, crimping operations at wholesale markets - the only channel for getting food to Indias 1.3 billion people. The wholesale markets will operate as usual as the government hasnt abolished the APMC Act, but it has now empowered farmers to sell directly to buyers. (Newser) Barack Obama is still calling for hope and change. In his first on-camera remarks about the killing of George Floyd and nationwide protests, the former president said that when despair strikes, "I see what is happening with young people all across this country"and it makes him feel "as if this country is going to get better." In a livestreamed video ahead of a virtual town hall on policing in America, he said the country has recently seen "epic changes and events as profound as anything I've seen in my lifetime," the Guardian reports. He addressed the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and "too many others to mention," saying "Michelle and I, and the nation grieve with you ... we're committed to the fight of creating a more just nation in memory of your sons and daughters." story continues below Discussing racism in America, he said the current upheaval marks an opportunity for change and an "awakening" around issues of police violence: "I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in this country," he said. "I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter. That your dreams matter." Voting versus protest, he said, is not an "either-or" situation. He also invited mayors across America to sign a pledge on his website to review and reform use-of-force policies. The New York Times reports that before Obama's address, Jimmy Carter also spoke out. "As a white male of the South, I know all too well the impact of segregation and injustice to African Americans," the former president said in a statement. "We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this." (Read more Barack Obama stories.) Tune into the 'Neon Nights' event if you want to catch some GRIMES-themed items, plus marvel at some Golden Moons. In an important move, Apple CEO Tim Cook has published an open letter on the companys website in which he speaks up on racism following the tragic events emanating from Minneapolis. Face the challenge of change Responding to the senseless killing of George Floyd, Cook pulls no punches, pointing to the longer history of racism. Observing that discrimination persists across many parts of life, including criminal justice, health and access to education and services, Cook states: While our laws have changed, the reality is that their protections are still not universally applied. Weve seen progress since the America I grew up in, but it is similarly true that communities of color continue to endure discrimination and trauma. Cook, who draws inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King, uses the open letter to make several commitments to do more in the future in this struggle, including maintaining the companys work against environmental injustice, which (he points out) disproportionately harms black communities and other communities of color. 'We must do more' He also commits to getting resources into schools, and to work harder on the companys own inclusion and diversity goals. Apple recently claimed 53% of its new hires in the U.S. come from historically underrepresented groups in technology, though it is worth pointing out that black representation (9%) has remained relatively static since 2016. Apple is also donating to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative. (There is a GoFundMe page raising money in support of Floyd's young daughter Gianna Floyd and her mother Roxie Washington.) The bottom line, as Cook sees it, is that human dignity matters. He also signals his thoughts on structural discrimination, when he writes: This is a moment when many people may want nothing more than a return to normalcy, or to a status quo that is only comfortable if we avert our gaze from injustice. As difficult as it may be to admit, that desire is itself a sign of privilege. Signing off, Apples CEO states: With every breath we take, we must commit to being that change, and to creating a better, more just world for everyone. A message for the enterprise Cook has not been shy about taking a stance on matters that matter. Not one to sit on the sidelines, he has also proved himself capable of working constructively with others whose views he may not share. This is reflected by action. Take the ongoing COVID-19 crisis: Apples business most certainly suffered as a result of the challenge, but the company also launched multiple initiatives in an attempt to mitigate the wider consequences on society. Shops were shut, huge donations made, and tweaks and improvements seemed to emerge from within every section of the company. We now know the pandemic disproportionally impacts some of the most marginalized people not only are these communities more liable to suffer the consequences of the disease, they are also less able to sustain the financial losses caused by the lockdown. The shame is that the true heroes of the crisis are not those at the top of the tree, but the often poorly-paid health carers, city workers and retail staff who have kept society going while we go through it. Where is their reward? Just like every other enterprise, tech firms understand the nature of business in our connected age has transformed. Where they can, people seek values, not just when they shop, but also when they seek out work. So, is Apples CEO simply trying to associate his brand with these matters in order to maintain its connection with the companys customers? Can these thoughts be dismissed as little more than public relations? While some critics may try to accuse Cook of that, the mud wont stick. This is because Cook also knows that his customers dont just respond to nice sentiments, but also seek authenticity. And Id be hard-pressed to believe a man who openly draws inspiration from Martin Luther King and remains (as far as I know) Americas only openly gay CEO has lived a life in which he has been fortunate enough to remain unaware of structural inequality and the need to break down the walls of prejudice. Though in some places those walls are tall and removing them seems likely to take a little more time. When I arrive in my office each morning, Im greeted by framed photos of Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy, wrote Cook in 2014. I dont pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that Im doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe. Advertisement The New York City Police Department continued its crackdown on Wednesday night by arresting more than 180 people across the city after the 8pm curfew went into effect. At around 9pm, officers began moving in on crowds of demonstrators in Manhattan and Brooklyn, at times blasting people with pepper spray or using batons to shove those who didn't move fast enough. NYPD Chief Terence Monahan warned there will be 'no more tolerance' for curfew violators as the department moves to restore order on the streets following four nights of chaos and violence that left businesses across the city ransacked and vandalized. It was the calmest night in the city this week and there were scarce incidents of looting. In Brooklyn, however, a cop was stabbed in what police are calling an orchestrated attack. Protests over the death of George Floyd had continued for a sixth day on Wednesday, but strict curfew enforcement, drenching rain and refined police tactics appeared to have stopped some of the destruction of previous nights. Some critics however, said the calm came at a high price, as the city was forced to grind to a halt at 8pm, bridges were closed to traffic, and police arrested dozens of orderly people for violating the curfew. Scroll down for video NYPD strictly enforced the citywide curfew on Wednesday, even arresting peaceful protesters who remained on the streets after 8pm Peaceful protests continued across the city on Wednesday night, but an early curfew, drenching rain and refined police tactics appeared to have stopped some of the destruction of previous nights Despite a calmer night of protests, at least 90 people were arrested and taken away in paddy wagons after ignoring the city curfew Critics said the night of calm came at a price as police arrested dozens of orderly people for violating the curfew Many took to social media to condemn police officers' heavy handed tactics on peaceful protesters on Wednesday Chief Monahan said while most people dispersed after arrests began, police were forced to take action on those who refused, moving in on crowds just before the heavy rain began. 'When we have these big crowds, especially in this area, especially where we've had the looting, no more tolerance. They have to be off the street,' he said on Wednesday. 'An 8 o'clock curfew, we gave them until 9 o'clock, and there was no indication that they were going to leave these streets.' City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended a rally in downtown Brooklyn, expressed outrage that peaceful demonstrations were broken up after cops began physically pushing protesters out. 'I can't believe what I just witnessed & experienced,' Williams wrote on Twitter, calling the use of force on nonviolent protesters 'disgusting.' He also shared a video taken outside Brooklyn Borough Hall where he was heard questioning cops' heavy-handed tactics on participants of a peaceful demonstration. 'There's no looting, there's no fires, why are we pushing everyone?' he says. Footage shared by journalist Zach Williams showed further police clashes with protesters in Brooklyn as they tried to clear out the area. Protesters also appeared to react more calmly to police attempts to break up crowds, a contrast to the early days of the protests One man is seen on the ground as police detain and arrest him for violating curfew NEW YORK: Protesters raise their hands as police prepare to make dozens of arrests during demonstrations in Manhattan The NYPD began moving in on crowds about one hour after curfew and just as heavy rain poured down About 90 people were arrested on Wednesday, despite an early curfew and rainy weather curbing much of the previous nights' violence Police were seen chasing after protesters in the rain as demonstrations continued in Manhattan over the killing of George Floyd City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended a rally in downtown Brooklyn, shared a video of cops using batons to clear out peaceful protesters Cops were seen urging crowds of people to move out, at times stopping to make an arrest or to use their baton to push protesters along. When one demonstrator asked an officer why he was being taken into custody, an Associated Press reporter heard the officer reply: 'Curfew violator. You didn't hear the news?' At least one NYPD officer was injured when a scuffle broke out between police and protesters marching to Cadman Plaza after dark. Shortly after the curfew took effect, Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke to WBLS radio saying the restriction has had a 'calming impact' on the city and is allowing it to get 'back to a better place.' 'I've asked protesters to go home at the time of the curfew but if they keep going peacefully about the streets of the city that's going to be respected,' he said. Police Commissioner Demot Shea also later told CNN police officers were 'trying to have a softer touch as possible, hear people, see people.' 'We continue to reinforce that we respect the rights of people to peacefully assemble,' he said. However, social media videos appeared to contradict both Shea and de Blasio's message, as cops aggressively pushed out crowds of peaceful protesters. About 60 people were arrested near Central Park out of a large band of protesters who had marched from near the mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion. Despite the arrests, as the evening deepened, there were few reports of the mayhem that had occurred on several days of demonstrations, when protesters burned police vehicles and showered officers with debris. Gone also were the roving bands of people who smashed their way into scores of stores and stole merchandise Sunday and Monday nights. Chief Monahan said there had been no reports of looting as of 9.30pm. Protesters also appeared to react more calmly to police attempts to break up crowds, a contrast to the early days of the protests where attempts to break up crowds were sometimes met with thrown objects. Thousands gathered outside of Gracie Mansion in the Upper East Side for a silent vigil honoring George Floyd The silent protest was planned for 7pm on Wednesday evening, just one hour before the city curfew went into effect Thousands marched up the streets of New York City before sitting on the ground or taking a knee By the time crowds arrived, NYPD had cut off access to much of the park near Gracie Mansion, where Mayor de Blasio and his wife live (2019 stock photo) It comes as hundreds took to the streets to peacefully protest again, this time gathering outside Mayor Bill de Blasio's residence Gracie Mansion. A silent protest was scheduled for 7pm Wednesday evening, just one hour before the city's 8pm curfew went into effect. Demonstrators marched towards the Upper East Side before arriving at the mayoral residence in Carl Schurz Park, where they sat on the ground and observed 30 minutes of silence in honor of George Floyd. As protesters marched in, NYPD officers lined the streets and cut off entry to most parts of the park near the mayor's home, forcing many to squeeze onto East End Ave and E 86th street instead, Gothamist reported. Videos shared on social media showed crowds sitting or kneeling in silence with only the sound of birds chirping and helicopters circling above filling the air. At the end of the half hour, protesters broke out in cheers and chants. As curfew came into effect at 8pm, hundreds exited the area and continued marching southbound, as police trailed behind. It is unknown if Mayor de Blasio was at the residence at the time however, as 8pm approached, he took to Twitter to tell residents on the streets to go home. 'Last night had its challenges, but we saw real progress from Monday and our city was safer for it. Help us keep it up. It's 8 PM and a citywide curfew is in effect. It's time to head home,' he said. It comes after thousands of people ignored the city's newly-imposed curfew on Tuesday night which had been moved forward from 11pm the night before in a bid to help curb violence and looting that have wreaked havoc on the streets since Friday. In a no-nonsense crackdown, NYPD officers arrested 280 people across the city, although it is unclear if it was for violating the curfew or for other offenses, like looting or violence. Protesters were forced to climb onto rocks as thousands marched for a sixth night of protests A protester and a police officer shake hands in the middle of a standoff during a solidarity rally calling for justice over the death of George Floyd Tuesday on June 2 in New York In videos shared on social media, only the sounds of birds chirping and helicopters hovering above filled the air One hour into the curfew, officers also cut off access to the Manhattan Bridge, leaving 5,000 protesters who were marching towards the island stranded for two hours. Despite the mayhem, Tuesday's protests proved to be much calmer than the previous night's demonstrations which saw more than 700 people arrested. Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday that the situation overnight was a vast improvement on the previous 48 hours. Trump claimed on Tuesday that the city was 'totally out of control' and on Wednesday he said the National Guard was 'ready'. Governor Cuomo was hesitant to call in the National Guard as was de Blasio. They both said the NYPD could handle it in a better way. On Wednesday, Cuomo said: 'New York City last night was much better. The police officers had the resources and capacity to do their jobs. The results last night were much, much better than the night before. The NYPD stopped 5,000 protesters from entering Manhattan by blocking them on the Manhattan Bridge on Tuesday night. The protesters retreated after two hours Young protesters wearing coronavirus masks sit with their hands behind their backs Protesters leave the Manhattan Bridge after being stopped by police last night during an 8pm curfew which thousands ignored but which was followed by less rampant destruction than on previous days in New York City 'The people of New York City should feel much better today than they did after the night of looting.' The calmer scenes in New York City were echoed across much of America where protesters once again turned out in force but the confrontations with police were subdued and widespread rioting was limited. It followed a day of anger from President Trump's critics over the way he threatened to deploy the military to quell riots across the US and cleared protesters in Washington DC so he could visit damaged St John's Episcopal Church. The curfew, barring people from streets citywide and nonessential vehicles from part of Manhattan from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., was imposed to prevent the nighttime chaos that followed peaceful protests for several days in a row. Around Manhattan, even in parts of the city that hadn't seen the damage and thefts, businesses had boarded up windows as precautions. Vandalism and pilfering didn't stop completely Tuesday. Some shops had windows smashed and merchandise taken. But it was a contrast from the previous two days, when several Manhattan shopping districts and one in the Bronx were overrun with people - some with crowbars and clubs - who ransacked numerous shops and set fires. 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. Australians have been mispronouncing French condiment brand Maille their entire lives, cookbook author Leah Itsines has revealed - and that's not the only popular food shoppers are getting wrong. The self-taught chef, 25, who is the younger sister of fitness star Kayla Itsines, 28, made the revelation in an Instagram tutorial for a maple pumpkin breakfast dish on May 21, in which she used a jar of the Parisian brand's Dijon mustard. 'I know you're like wait, did she just say Maille [as] MY? Yes, for the past 25 years of using this brand I've been calling it MAL-EE - but it's actually pronounced MY because it's beautifully French,' Leah says in the video. The correct pronunciation of 'Maille' is 'my', as in 'my mustard', according to the rules of French linguistics where double Ls are sometimes pronounced as Y. Adelaide chef Leah Itsines, 25, who gave her Instagram followers a quick French lesson while teaching them how to cook As a general rule, double Ls after A, E, O, U and Y should sound like an L. Words where I is followed by a double L like Maille are always pronounced as a Y. Leah said she 'couldn't believe' she had been mispronouncing the word, having grown up with the brand's Dijon and wholegrain mustard in her family's kitchen in Adelaide, South Australia. Now a staple in households around the world, Maille was founded in Paris in 1747 by Antoine-Claude Maille, the son of a master distiller and vinegar-maker of the same name. Maille sold his father's mustard from a boutique in the centre of the city and quickly became the official supplier to the court of King Louis XV, according to the brand's website. Maille Australia replied to Leah's Instagram post confirming she had perfected the pronunciation, saying she was 'spot on'. Leah (left) was amazed to learn she has been pronouncing her family's favourite mustard brand (right) her entire life 5 commonly mispronounced foods 1. Cumin a spice made from seeds of the parsley plant, popular in Indian and Mexican food. The dictionary lists three possible pronunciations for cumin: coo-min, kyoo-min and cuh-min. It is most frequently pronounced as coo-min but all are linguistically correct. 2. Gyro a Greek flatbread sandwich filled with meat from a roasting spit, tomatoes, onions and tzatziki (garlic yoghurt) sauce. It is widely pronounced as gyro with a soft g, but the correct pronunciation is actually yee-roh with a silent g, according to Greek linguistics. 3. Mascarpone a soft and sweet Italian cheese made from cow's milk. It's often pronounced with an R in the first syllable MARScarpone but the dictionary dictates it should be said as mas-car-POH-nay. 4. Gnocchi Italian dough dumplings usually served with pasta sauce. Online food delivery service Eat24 ranks gnocchi in their top 10 list of most commonly mispronounced foods. In Italian, 'gn' is pronounced as 'ny', which means the g is silent. The word should be pronounced like 'nyawk-kee'. 5. Bruschetta an Italian bread grilled with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper, served as a snack or antipasto. Often pronounced 'broo-shet-ta', with a soft S and silent C, the correct pronunciation is 'broo-skeh-tah', with a hard emphasis on the 'ch'. Source: Harper's Bazaar Australia Advertisement It's not the first time Australians have been caught mispronouncing classic brand names. The correct pronunciation of Maggi noodles was revealed in a voice-over clip on MasterChef: Back to Win on May 21, in which the two-minute noodles were referred to as 'Madgey' instead of 'Ma-gee'. Confused viewers tweeted their surprise, with one saying: 'Wait what, I always pronounced Maggi with a hard G?' 'Since when did everyone just collectively decided it was pronounced Madgeyor did I jut grow up being lied to?' said another. A still from the 10-second commercial aired during MasterChef's immunity challenge when a voice-over pronounced the two-minute noodle brand as 'Madge-y' Others refused to accept it and said the voice-over artist had made a mistake. 'No. The ad is pronouncing Maggi wrong! It's a hard g, not like magic,' one person said. According to the brand's official website, the pronunciation of Maggi is dependent on the country. In the US, it's pronounced with a 'hard g' as in 'magnet', but in Australia, it's pronounced with a 'soft d' as in 'madgee'. There's similar confusion about Italian food brands. One of the world's most commonly mispronounced products is Nutella, a chocolate-hazelnut spread made by Piedmont firm Ferrero, which could logically be assumed to be said as 'nut-ella'. Pasta brand Barilla (left) should be pronounced like 'gorilla', with hard Ls, while Nutella (right) is actually pronounced 'Newtella', with a hard 'oo' at the beginning The FAQ section of the brand's website says differently, giving the pronunciation as 'new-tell-uh' with a hard 'oo' at the beginning. This claim is supported by a string of TV ads in which the spread is clearly pronounced 'Newtella'. Barilla, a popular Italian pasta producer, is usually said 'bar-ee-a' - like Maria - when in fact it should be bar-ril-lah, like gorilla. Seoul: South Korean prosecutors on Thursday sought an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics' Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, an heir apparent of the Samsung Group, over accounting fraud. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office asked a Seoul court to arrest the heir of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, on charges of illegal trading and market price manipulation under a capital market act and accounting fraud under an act on external audit of corporation, reports Xinhua news agency. The country's financial regulator ruled in November 2018 that the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group violated accounting rules, referring the case to the prosecution office for criminal investigation. Samsung BioLogics has been suspected of committing a fraudulent accounting to help the Samsung heir inherit a management control over the entire group from his ailing father, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Samsung BioLogics altered the method to evaluate its affiliate, Samsung Bioepis, into the mark-to-market valuation in 2015, leading to a net profit of 1.9 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in the year after years of losses. The biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung, set up in 2011, launched a joint venture, Bioepis, with the US-based Biogen in 2012. In 2015, Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T merged into Samsung C&T, the currently de-facto holding company of Samsung Group. Cheil Industries, controlled by Lee at the time, inflated its valuation by overvaluing Samsung Biologics. Lee was believed to have controlled the merged Samsung C&T, one of major shareholders of Samsung Electronics, and the family was believed to have controlled Samsung Group with a fraction of shares through cross-shareholding. The financial market regulator estimated the fraudulent accounting at about 4.5 trillion won ($3.7 billion). Golden Age Drilling Delivering for Wiluna Perth, June 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Blackham Resources Limited ( ASX:BLK ) ( FRA:NZ3 ) ( OTCMKTS:BKHRF ) is pleased to report further results from drilling at the high-grade Golden Age underground mine located within the Wiluna Mining Centre. The programme instigated in November 2019 aims to improve free-milling operations ahead of the Company's Stage 1 Expansion Plan which involves a transition to sulphide gold concentrate production ("Stage 1").Latest results are from a further 17 holes for 2,947m drilled at Golden Age. This drilling tests extension targets between the 850 and 600 levels at the underground mine as summarised in Figure 2 (see also ASX release dated 13th November 2019).Milan Jerkovic, Blackham's Executive Chair commented: "While the Company is focussed on optimising the mine plan around our large Wiluna sulphide resource and transitioning to gold concentrate production, these results also deliver on our parallel free-milling strategy. We aim to extend the high-grade Golden Age orebody to sustain or increase production and improve transitional cashflow over the next 12-18 months ahead of sulphides production from September 2021.In addition, we are drilling at the Williamson and Regent free-milling deposits, which have the potential to provide substantial baseload mill feed during the transition to, and potentially alongside, Stage 1 sulphides production".Golden Age Drilling is Delivering for Wiluna- Results from latest drilling at the high-grade free-milling Golden Age mine include:GAGC0318: 3.8m @ 7.90g/t from 43.0mGAGC0320: 1.8m @ 39.68g/t from 47.3mGAGC0321: 2.6m @ 21.74g/t from 49.1mGAGC0322: 0.8m @ 22.80g/t from 55.0mGAGC0323: 1.2m @ 11.08g/t from 38.5mGAGC0325: 0.4m @ 12.10g/t from 52.6mGARD0112: 7.1m @ 7.47g/t from 185.9m, incl. 2.7m @ 17.32g/t- Golden Age high-grade ore supplements the baseload free-milling open pits and is an important source of transitional cashflow for the next 18 months whilst we transition to sulphide production.- Drilling at Golden Age continues to enhance the free-milling operation ahead of Stage 1 sulphide production.- The Company continues to evaluate the drilling results to complete detailed mine planning and optimisation of the Golden Age production.- Currently seven drill rigs in operation at the Wiluna Mining Operation- Williamson and Regent resource development programmes underway, with a view to significantly extending the Company's free-milling resource pipeline in parallel to the Stage 1 sulphide strategy.- Major sulphide resource development programme ongoing ahead of Stage 1 sulphide production.To view the full release, please visit:About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX:WMC) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential. Sean Hannity and his wife Jill Rhodes quietly divorced more than a year ago after over two decades of marriage. "Sean and Jill are committed to working together for the best interests of their children," the former couple said in a joint statement to PEOPLE, adding that they separated years ago. "Amicable agreements were entered into over four years ago between Sean and Jill. They maintain a close relationship as parents to their children." "Neither will have any further comments and ask for sake of their children that their privacy be respected," the statement concluded. U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Sean Hannity from Fox News speaks at a campaign rally on the eve of the U.S. mid-term elections at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S., November 5, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria Hannity, 58, and Rhodes, 57, share two children: a son named Patrick and a daughter named Merri Kelly. The Fox News anchor and the former journalist tied the knot in 1993 and lived in Long Island, New York. Hannity is currently the host of his namesake political talk program, which first aired in 2009. RELATED: All the Celebrity Couples Who've Called It Quits in 2020 Hannity made headlines last month after criticizing armed anti-lock down protestors in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The View co-host Joy Behar agreed with Hannity's stance, saying: "Things are really bad when even Sean Hannity is out there telling these crazy people to stop it. Just stop it." "I come from the generation, as do you Whoopi, where we protested the Vietnam War. ... Nobody was carrying a gun, okay," Behar, 77, continued. "That is not a protest. That is a terrorist act, or the indication of it. I dont say that they are terrorists, but they are certainly intimidators." Behar's comments were in response to Hannity's remarks on his eponymous show, during which he called out the armed protesters in Michigan for, in his words, "attempting to intimidate officials with the show of force." "Now, no one is a bigger defender of the Second Amendment than yours truly," he said. "Everyone has a right to protest, protect themselves, and try to get the country open." "This with the militia look here and these long guns, uh no," he continued, as his show aired footage of protesters gathering with large guns. "Show of force is dangerous," Hannity added. "That puts our police at risk and, by the way, your message will never be heard, whoever you people are. No one should be attempting to intimidate officials with the show of force. And God forbid something that happens, then they're going to go after all of us law abiding Second Amendment people. (Newser) In what Fox News calls an "open revolt," New York Times staffers pushed back on their employer after the paper published a Wednesday op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton titled "Send In the Troops." In his piece, the Arkansas senator argues for using the US military to handle what he calls the "orgy of violence" surrounding the protests over George Floyd's death. "One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain, and ultimately deter lawbreakers," Cotton writes, adding: "The nation must restore order. The military stands ready." His take didn't go over well, especially among Times staffers and contributors themselves, several of whom posted screenshots of the op-ed, along with the words "Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger," per CNN Business. Here, a roundup of some of the reactions on Cotton's piece, as reported by Fox, Forbes, CNN, and the Times: James Bennet, Times editorial page editor: "Times Opinion owes it to our readers to show them counter-arguments, particularly those made by people in a position to set policy," Bennet wrote in a Twitter thread explaining the paper's decision to run the op-ed. "We understand that many readers find Senator Cotton's argument painful, even dangerous. We believe that is one reason it requires public scrutiny and debate." story continues below NewsGuild of New York: Cotton's message "promotes hate, and is likely to encourage further violence," the union representing many Times journalists noted in a statement. "We find the publication of this essay to be an irresponsible choice," it added, citing the piece's "lack of context, inadequate vetting by editorial management, spread of misinformation, and the timing of its call to arms." Cotton's message "promotes hate, and is likely to encourage further violence," the union representing many Times journalists noted in a statement. "We find the publication of this essay to be an irresponsible choice," it added, citing the piece's "lack of context, inadequate vetting by editorial management, spread of misinformation, and the timing of its call to arms." NYT Magazine correspondent Nikole Hannah-Jones: "I'll probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral. As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this," she wrote. "I'll probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral. As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this," she wrote. Times opinion columnist Jamelle Bouie : "The piece is irresponsible and should have never been published," he writes. "If Cotton wants to call for military force against Americans (and lay the groundwork for his inevitable presidential campaign), he has plenty of platforms from which to do it as a US senator." : "The piece is irresponsible and should have never been published," he writes. "If Cotton wants to call for military force against Americans (and lay the groundwork for his inevitable presidential campaign), he has plenty of platforms from which to do it as a US senator." Contributor Roxane Gay: "We are well served by robust and ideologically diverse public discourse that includes radical, liberal, and conservative voices," she noted. "This is not that. His piece was inflammatory and endorsing military occupation as if the constitution doesn't exist." "We are well served by robust and ideologically diverse public discourse that includes radical, liberal, and conservative voices," she noted. "This is not that. His piece was inflammatory and endorsing military occupation as if the constitution doesn't exist." Freelance writer Thor Benson: "The Times publishing Tom Cotton's abhorrent op-ed is unacceptable, and there should be resignations," he tweeted, calling himself a "free speech absolutist" but adding that "Tom Cotton has plenty of places to express himself as a senator, and he does. The Times doesn't need to help him do it, and publishing that piece was a terrible decision." Three unidentified Times journalists : They say they've let their editors know they now have sources who've decided to stop working with them because of Cotton's piece. : They say they've let their editors know they now have sources who've decided to stop working with them because of Cotton's piece. David Brooks: "I believe in democracy. I believe in a free press. I believe in open debate. I love it when my newspaper prints pieces I disagree with. It causes me to think," the Times columnist wrote in a tweet that itself got plenty of pushback. "I believe in democracy. I believe in a free press. I believe in open debate. I love it when my newspaper prints pieces I disagree with. It causes me to think," the Times columnist wrote in a tweet that itself got plenty of pushback. Olivia Nuzzi: The New York Magazine writer, who calls herself a "radical when it comes to the free press," found herself, like Brooks, in the minority, with her take that "the best way to shut down a bad opinion is not to suppress it but to share a better opinion." Bouie put it to her thusly: "Let's say Stephen Miller called for forcibly sterilizing every Hispanic immigrant in the country. Should the Times run that op-ed?" The New York Magazine writer, who calls herself a "radical when it comes to the free press," found herself, like Brooks, in the minority, with her take that "the best way to shut down a bad opinion is not to suppress it but to share a better opinion." Bouie put it to her thusly: "Let's say Stephen Miller called for forcibly sterilizing every Hispanic immigrant in the country. Should the Times run that op-ed?" US Sen. Brian Schatz: The Hawaii senator offered a tongue-in-cheek dig at the paper, noting, "I've submitted non-fascist opinion pieces to the Times in the past but no luck so maybe this is just sour grapes." (Read more Tom Cotton stories.) Walmart continues its tradition of leaking products early and the latest to fall victim are the highly anticipated Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones. They are currently listed on the retailers website complete with a detailed feature breakdown and pricing. It seems the XM4s will be a minor update to the already excellent WH-1000XM3s with the addition of some new AI tweaks for real-time upscaling of compressed music files. The about section also reveals the new model will come with the same 40mm Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) drivers, 30-hour battery life and side touch controls. Sony's class-leading noise cancellation is also mentioned in the listing, but it's unclear if anything about it changed. A while back, news broke out that Sony is ready to add a new Smart Talking feature to the XM4s which will trigger an ambient sound mode once it detects the user is trying to speak to someone and automatically adjust the music and noise cancellation after the conversation is over. Earlier this year, we saw live photos of the headphones from a listing on Brazil's Anatel certification agency which confirmed the design. The new Walmart listing has the Sony WH-1000XM4 listed at $348 which is exactly the same price as their predecessor. Photos and the manual of the Sony WH-1000XM4, the successor to Sony's excellent XM3 Bluetooth wireless headphones, just went up on Brazil's Anatel (equivalent to the FCC). h/t @evefavretto pic.twitter.com/sjXb4XaCN9 Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 6, 2020 Source | Via Demonstrators take to the streets in New York to protest against the killing of George Floyd: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Gambia has demanded a transparent, credible and objective investigation after one of its citizens was shot dead by US police. Momodou Lamin Sisay, son of diplomat Lare Sisay, was shot following a car chase in Snellville, Georgia shortly before 4am on 29 May, according to a police statement. Officers said they had attempted to pull Mr Sisay over for a driving offence. The 39-year-old refused to stop, according to the police, and a chase ensued thereafter. When the car eventually stopped, police approached and told Sisay to show his hands. He did not comply and pointed a handgun at officers. Officers fired at the driver before pulling back to take cover, investigators said. A Swat team was then dispatched and during the standoff, the driver pointed his weapon and fired at the Swat officers. One GCPD Swat officer fired his weapon, they added. Sisay was pronounced dead at the scene. Lare Sisay, who has also worked for the United Nations, claimed that police had not done enough to peacefully resolve the incident. He also told Gambian media that he disputed his son had been carrying a gun. We will do an independent autopsy and we want to get a private investigator to investigate the circumstances of his death and if necessary hire a lawyer to sue the Georgia state police. Were not going to let it go, The Point newspaper quotes him as saying. Gambias Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday requested that its embassy in Washington DC engaged the revelant authorities including the State Department to begin an invesigation. The killing of George Floyd has set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States since the 1960s civil rights era (EPA) Sisays death came just days after the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mr Floyd died by asphyxiation after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, an event that has set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States since the 1960s civil rights era. Protests have taken to the streets across the world to protest against the killing, with Sisays name used in social media posts this week supporting the campaign against US police brutality against black people. Story continues Four Minneapolis police officers have now been charged with a number of offences in connection with Floyds death. Derek Chauvin, the sacked officer who knelt on Floyds neck, has been charged with second-degree murder after initial charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, according to court documents. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao have also been taken into custody and each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Read more UK police say they are appalled by George Floyd killing Pride Hamilton says a rainbow flag at city hall and an online video created by police are unwelcome and should be taken down given unresolved concerns about how LGBTQ+ residents are treated. Mayor Fred Eisenberger opted to raise the rainbow and transgender flags at city hall to celebrate Pride this month but skipped the ceremony citing COVID-19. Hamilton police also posted a video online urging residents to celebrate Pride that featuring officers and Chief Eric Girt. But for the second year in a row, organizers of the annual Pride celebration argued the city should not fly the flags without more consultation with the LGBTQ+ community. In a statement, the group called the flag-raising a hollow and empty gesture. The group also said members are troubled by a video posted by police, criticizing the imagery of bulletproof vests and military-style uniforms mixed with pink and rainbow-washing calls to join in a virtual celebration. Hamiltons LGBTQ+ community is waiting on the results of an independent review, expected June 8, into how police handled a violent clash of anti-gay demonstrators and counterprotestors at Pride 2019 in Gage Park. Both Eisenberger and Girt were criticized in the aftermath for defending the controversial police response. Police were also accused of focusing subsequent arrests on pink-masked counterprotestors rather than far-right demonstrators. The mayor acknowledged in a statement after raising the flags that there is still much we need to do to support all LGBTQ+ residents and called for meaningful dialogue. Since the tumultuous events of last June, the police service has appointed a LGBTQ+ liaison officer, Det.-Const. Rebecca Moran. Moran said the service is not planning to remove the video, which she said has earned positive feedback as well as criticism. She said the video also celebrates contributions of LGBTQ+ members of the police service. Moran said the protective vests noted by critics in the video are part of a standard police uniform. But we have to be open to criticism and we definitely welcome the feedback. Covid-19 norms, including social distancing and better preparedness to tackle pandemics, will be among the key focus areas of the Capitals next master plan (Master Plan of Delhi-2041) a blueprint for citys urban development prepared by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), according to two people familiar with the matter. DDA has asked the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), which has been tasked to draft MPD-2041, to incorporate post-Covid norms while planning for housing, mobility and public spaces in the next master plan. It has also asked NIUA to factor in pandemics and new kind of threats while reworking the citys disaster management strategy, the people said. A meeting in this regard was held a few days ago between DDA and NIUA officials, said a senior DDA official involved in the master plan preparation who asked not to be named. The issues that were discussed included incorporating Covid norms in future planning, he said. Until last year, air pollution topped the focus areas for MPD-2041. However, after the breakout of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), DDA officials said the current challenge also has to be considered while making the master plan. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we live; social distancing and protective gear are the new normal now. Now we will have to rethink about the future development in Delhi keeping in mind the post-Covid norms and the emerging situation, said the DDA official cited above. Delhi reported 1,513 infections on Wednesday -- the maximum in a day so far -- with the total cases reaching 23,645. With nine more succumbing to the disease in the past 24 hours, the toll was 606, according to the Delhi governments bulletin. NIUA, which has to submit the draft of MPD-2041 by December, is currently in the process to finalise the chapters of MPD-2041, which will govern citys urban planning for the next two decades. DDA has asked us to review the MPD-2041 preparation incorporating lessons emerging from Covid-19 situation. We have to take into account post-Covid social norms in public spaces, mobility, workplaces and housing while laying out guidelines for city planning, NIUA director Hitesh Vaidya said. Urban development experts say that housing, commercial spaces, environment, transport or mobility, disaster management, including pandemics, are some of key areas that need to be re-examined in view of the new challenges posed by the Covid pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on disaster management strategy in the master plan, which was largely about earthquakes and floods so far. Based on the learnings from Covid-19, we should also look into disaster management strategy for Delhi and include this new threat. Till now, the focus has been only on flood and earthquakes, Vaidya said. In the past two decades, Delhi has witnessed outbreaks of diseases such as dengue, H1N1 (another pandemic in 2010) and now Covid-19. However, the current master plan is silent on pandemics. With Sars-CoV-2 virus bringing parts of the world to a halt, experts say the master plan of big cities should have a chapter on pandemic resilience. Every city should have a plan to deal with pandemics, we cant be caught unawares. The master plan should also focus on benchmarking health infrastructure, said R Srinivas, senior town and country planner, Town and Country Planning Organisation -- an urban planning body under the ministry of housing and urban affairs. Health care infrastructure has to be an integral part of planning, said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, adding that Delhi doesnt have good secondary level health facilities. There are dispensaries and then tertiary care centres. There has to be a secondary level of health care facilities that can take the load off tertiary centres. Currently, there is uneven distribution of hospitals. Areas such as Dwarka and Najafgarh dont have a single big government hospital whereas there are two tertiary care centres in South DelhiSafdarjung and AIIMS. Similarly, Lok Nayak and GB Pant hospitals are located in close vicinity in central Delhi. The master plan should focus on even distribution of healthcare centres, said Dr Kishore. Urban planning experts also said that housing, especially for poor, public spaces, and mobility are some of the areas, which will have to be re-imagined while factoring in the realities of the post-Covid world. Slums clusters and densely populated residential neighbourhoods have emerged as hot spots for Covid-19 in the city. At a time when the Centre and the state governments focus on housing for all, they point out that there is also the need to review housing for poor. While planning for housing, we will have to ensure density management so that it doesnt lead to crowding, as social distancing has become essential now, Srinivas said. AK Jain, a former planning commissioner at DDA, said it is also time to focus on Transit Oriented Development (TOD), which is mentioned in the MPD-2021 but hasnt been implemented, and to increase mixed land use developments. Work from home has to be encouraged, especially now. There is a need to push for mixed land use developments were 50% of the space is reserved for commercial activity. The main focus of the MPD should be to ensure that a sizeable population can walk or cycle to work. Focus should be on planned densification, said Jain. Anuj Malhotra, mobility expert and knowledge partner to the high-powered committee of the Union ministry of home affairs, said TOD has become extremely relevant in the post-Covid scenario because it addresses both mobility and housing concerns. Planned mixed-use development near Metro stations will automatically reduce the number of trips or the need for travel, since it will bring residential and commercial developments in close proximityTOD is the way forward, said Malhotra. DDA officials agreed that fixing mobility would be a challenge. The restriction on the number of passengers in buses and other public transport modes to ensure social distancing, transport experts say, provides an excellent opportunity to address the problem of crowding in public transport in one stroke. Though these are testing times, it is an opportunity to address the issue of crowding in public transportone of the main reasons why people avoid using it. We should ensure that the travelling in public transport remain convenient even after things return to normal. This can be done by prioritising public transport lane so that buses can cover more kilometers. Also infrastructure should be built in such a manner that it takes load off public transport by making it easier and safer to cycle or walk,, said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, transport at the Centre for Science and Environment. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria said, The impact pandemics can have on economy and livelihood has become more evident now. Healthcare infrastructure has to be integrated with city planning for better and effective management during pandemics. There is a need to have dedicated setup for outbreak management centres in cities which in normal times can work as regular hospitals. S trade in goods and services plunged in April to the lowest level in almost a decade as the Covid-19 pandemic stifled demand and hindered logistics. Exports declined from the prior month by 20.5%, the biggest drop in comparable data back to 1992, to $151.3 billion. Imports decreased 13.7%, also the most since 1992, to $200.7 billion. Combined, the value of US exports and imports decreased to $352 billion, the lowest since May 2010, Commerce Department data released Thursday showed. The overall gap in goods and services trade expanded to $49.4 billion, matching the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists and the widest since August, from a revised $42.3 billion in March. Foreign trade was already easing prior to the pandemic, and now, faced with supply-chain disruptions, a previously incomprehensible surge in US unemployment and a drop-off in demand, the worlds largest economy has pulled back more dramatically. Tensions between the US and China have been escalating, with President Donald Trump blaming the Asian nation for misleading the world about the scale and risk of the coronavirus outbreak. The report showed imports of merchandise from China rebounded in April to $35.2 billion from $24.2 billion in March, while exports edged up to $9.3 billion, leaving a deficit of $7.2 billion. The trade report didnt include country-by-country data for goods and services, with the Commerce Department noting that these figures will be made available on June 8. Reflecting the pandemic and lockdowns of economics around the world, the value of travel-related imports and exports slumped to $4.4 billion, an all-time low in data back to 1999. Among merchandise trade, the decline in exports was widespread with US companies shipping less capital equipment, motor vehicles, consumer goods and industrial supplies such as oil. The nation also received fewer capital and consumer goods, vehicles and food from overseas producers. Food exports are at risk of declining after Chinese government officials this month telling state-run agricultural companies to pause purchases of some American farm goods including soybeans. ALBANY, N.Y., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York State Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers Who Are Blind (NYSPSP) continues to play a significant role in coordinating a strategic statewide response among its network of 10 affiliated nonprofit agencies, many of whom are providing essential products and services to help New York fight COVID-19. Each day, New Yorkers who are blind working at NYSPSP affiliated nonprofit agencies produce and deliver thousands of critical products that are strengthening the state's COVID-19 response, including personal protective equipment (PPE) such as exam gloves, masks, and face shields, as well as cleaning products, including mops, sponges, wipes, disinfectants, hand sanitizer, emergency preparedness kits, and more. New Yorkers who are blind are proud to provide these essential products to support hospitals, health care professionals, first responders, and state and local governments. "These incredible efforts to support the state's response to COVID-19 come as no surprise to many of our customers and partners. We couldn't be prouder," said NYSPSP Executive Director Carrie Laney. "In the face of one of the most challenging crises in our lifetime, New Yorkers who are blind continue to step up to supply critical products and services to the public sector organizations on the front lines of this pandemic. We want to thank Governor Cuomo and the hardworking men and women on the frontlines for their leadership during this pandemic." Employees at NYSPSP affiliated agencies are responding to this unprecedented crisis in a variety of ways: Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) in Utica has dramatically increased its shifts and production to meet the exploding demand for face masks and exam gloves. has dramatically increased its shifts and production to meet the exploding demand for face masks and exam gloves. The Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany (NABA) is finding innovative solutions to meet the demand for N95 masks by repurposing the excess Body Filter 95+ material used in making cleanroom coveralls to produce surgical-style facemasks. (NABA) is finding innovative solutions to meet the demand for N95 masks by repurposing the excess Body Filter 95+ material used in making cleanroom coveralls to produce surgical-style facemasks. The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill of the Finger Lakes, in Rochester , and VIA (formerly known as Olmsted Center for Sight), in Buffalo , are answering the barrage of calls coming into the region's crisis hotline. , and VIA (formerly known as Olmsted Center for Sight), in , are answering the barrage of calls coming into the region's crisis hotline. The Association for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment (AVRE) in Binghamton is teaming up with ECK Plastic Arts to manufacture plastic face shields. New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Commissioner Sheila J. Poole said, "The COVID-19 crisis has been difficult and heartbreaking for New York State, our country and the world, but the worst of the pandemic has brought out the best from responders. The New York State Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers who are Blind (NYSPSP) and its affiliates manufactured, located, and packaged personal protective equipment for those on the front lines who could not stay home, which was a game changer for us at OCFS. We are grateful for all of the NYSPSP agencies who have gone above and beyond to serve their fellow New Yorkers." New York State Office of General Services Commissioner RoAnn Destito said, "The New York State Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers Who Are Blind (NYSPSP) and its agencies have proved that they fall squarely into the definition of what Governor Cuomo says it means to be 'New York Tough' by providing the protective equipment and services that healthcare professionals and essential workers need to respond to the COVID-19 medical emergency safely and effectively. We owe NYSPSP our heartfelt appreciation." "The Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers who are Blind and the blind employees have been a literal lifesaver by providing PPE such as masks, gloves, and sanitizer to the Office of Children and Family Services and the entire state of New York," said Associate Commissioner of the New York Commission for the Blind Brian S. Daniels. "Not only that, but NYSPSP affiliated agencies, like VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, volunteered their time to prepare and deliver meals for older blind people in the community." NYSPSP and its affiliated agencies continue to be reliable providers of products and services in response to statewide crises. Whether it be natural disasters, humanitarian crises, or COVID-19, New Yorkers who are blind working in NYSPSP affiliated agencies are committed to serving the state of New York, as well as local public transit, hospital organizations, and first responders across the Empire State in times of need. "No matter what the challenge, New Yorkers who are blind continue to show up and prove that they are proud to be New York tough," said Laney. Learn more about NYSPSP at http://www.nyspsp.org. Like and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for real time updates. About New York Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers who are Blind The New York State Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers Who Are Blind (NYSPSP) is a state-mandated initiative under Section 162 of the Finance Law which creates and sustains employment opportunities for New Yorkers who are legally blind by directing state and local government agencies to purchase pre-approved products and services on the Office of General Services (OGS) Preferred Source List. All these offerings are produced by affiliated nonprofit agencies in New York that employ people who are blind or visually impaired. They are: Alphapointe Queens Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired Rochester Association for Vision Rehabilitation & Employment Binghamton Aurora Syracuse Central Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired Utica & Syracuse My Blind Spot New York City & Long Island Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany Albany VIA (formerly Olmsted Center for Sight) Buffalo Southern Tier Association for the Visually Impaired Elmira VISIONS Manhattan & Rockland County OGS information at: https://ogs.ny.gov/procurement/preferred-sources OCFS/NYSCB information at: https://ocfs.ny.gov/main/cb/ SOURCE New York State Preferred Source Program for New Yorkers Who Are Blind (NYSPSP) Related Links http://www.nyspsp.org The California Department of Insurance issued a cease and desist order against unlicensed van rental company, Airport Van Rental Inc. and its owners, Yazdan Irani, 57, of Encino, and his wife, Kimberly, 61, for operating a rental agency without a license and selling insurance-related products to the public. Airport Van Rental, acting as a rental car agency, rents vehicles, including passenger vans, mini vans, and automobiles. The company is currently selling insurance-related products without proper licensing via Sonoran National Group and the coverage is purchased on behalf of Airport Van Rentals customers through National Specialty Insurance Co., according to the CDI. An investigation by the department found that in 2007, Yazdan Irani applied with the CDI for a license to act as a Resident Insurance Producer, but his application was withdrawn after he failed to respond to inquiries about his criminal background. The Iranis applied for a business entity license for Airport Van Rental in 2015 and 2018, but failed to disclose Yazdans criminal background each time, according to the CDI. The order was served at the Iranis place of business in Los Angeles on May 29. It states that they are to immediately cease and desist the solicitation, marketing, sale, and issuance of any contracts, policies, or certificates of insurance in California. The Iranis have seven days to request a hearing and face a possible fine of $5,000 per day if they continue to operate. Topics California Auto Aviation BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 Trend: According to data from the Azerbaijan State Statistics Committee, during the first quarter of 2020, exports from Mexico to Azerbaijan increased 225.49%, in relation to the same period in 2019. Exports of Mexican products to Azerbaijan accumulated $ 16.6 million dollars, during the first quarter of the year. Despite the fact that international trade began to feel the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, due to the vigorous start of bilateral trade in the first two months of 2020 and if this trend continues, the annual total could reach more than $ 65 million. It should be remembered that in 2019 Mexico-Azerbaijan trade registered the historical record of $ 52 million USD. During this period, exports of tubes for the oil industry and automobiles (capacity of 1000-1500 cm3 and 1500-3000 cm3) used in the tourism sector represented 80% of total Mexican exports to this country. The remaining 20% was distributed in products corresponding to 244 tariff sections, which shows the wide variety of Mexican exports to Azerbaijan. In the first quarter of 2020, 45.16% of exports were iron and steel manufactures, while 37.64% were vehicles and 6.78% various electrical machines and appliances. Amenome, which is seeking historic tax credits for the redevelopment, has begun preliminary work on the site, which has long been a haven for transients and a drain on the citys budget for security and maintenance. The first phase of the two-phase project will be the transformation of the venues five buildings into 72 studio apartments, which are set to be completed by the summer or fall of 2021, said Josh Kunkel, founder and managing principal of Method Architecture, which is designing the project. The second phase will involve a three-story retail and office building and about seven town homes totaling roughly 18,000 square feet, Kunkel said. A listing of the Tulsa Boys Home Historic District would provide recognition of its historic importance and assures protective review of federal projects that could adversely affect the character of the property, according to a letter to the TDA from Roy Malcolm Porter Jr., historic preservation officer for the city of Tulsa. Further, if the property is listed in the National Register, certain incentives for rehabilitation and other provisions may apply. What began as an undercurrent of newsroom grumbling built into an unusual Twitter tidal wave of public outrage among journalists at the New York Times over their newspaper's decision to publish an opinion column by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., calling for military intervention in U.S. cities wracked by protests over police violence. But after 24 hours of debate and acrimony - during which both the paper's publisher and editorial-page editor and publisher strongly defended the need to showcase diverse and controversial viewpoints - the paper late Thursday abruptly announced that Cotton's op-ed was the result of a "rushed editorial process" and "did not meet our standards." The statement from a Times spokesperson and shared online by a Times staff writer did not apologize for the op-ed nor explain if it would be marked with a correction. One by one, dozens of Times reporters, columnists and editors had rebuked the paper's editorial page Wednesday night for publishing the op-ed, in which Cotton of Arkansas stated that "rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy" and that an "overwhelming show of force" is needed to "restore order to our streets." Several staffers tweeted a message that became a kind of rallying cry: "Running this puts Black @nytimes staffers in danger." The outcry reflected the tensions that have long existed between news and opinion sections of newspapers - separate and distinct staffs, run independently of each other while coexisting under the same brand. In less than 24 hours, both the Times publisher and editorial page editor wrote messages explaining and justifying the decision to publish Cotton's piece. "I believe in the principle of openness to a range of opinions, even those we may disagree with, and this piece was published in that spirit," publisher A.G. Sulzberger wrote in a letter to staff Thursday morning. But he acknowledged that many staffers had raised concerns about many aspects of the story and promised to hear them out "with an open mind." James Bennet, who is often mentioned as a possible successor to Times executive editor Dean Baquet, wrote in a column that, "the public would be better equipped to push back if it heard the argument and had the chance to respond to the reasoning. He added: "Readers who might be inclined to oppose Cotton's position need to be fully aware of it, and reckon with it, if they hope to defeat it." The Cotton op-ed made several questionable assertions, such as that "leftwing radicals, like antifa, [have] infiltrated marches," and that "some elites" have condoned vandalism and looting. Cotton didn't identify any individual making such statements, nor offer any support that antifa - a vaguely defined group of radicals - had instigated violence. As one Times reporter pointed out, the antifa claim has been debunked in Times reporting as misinformation. Opposition within the Times began shortly after the column was published late Wednesday. It was articulated subtly at first: "As if it weren't already hard enough to be a black employee of the New York Times," tweeted Jazmine Hughes, an editor of the New York Times magazine just before evening. But the staff reaction quickly turned more vitriolic. Tejal Rao, a restaurant columnist for the magazine, tweeted a screengrab of Cotton's headline ("Send In the Troops") with a an expletive, adding: "The nation must stop killing black people." President Donald Trump's talk of deploying troops has set off alarm bells for many, including retired senior officers such as former Defense Secretary James Mattis, a concern heightened by the U.S. Park Police's use of tear gas and aggressive tactics to clear peaceful protesters from a square outside the White House for a presidential photo op on Monday. Against that backdrop, several Times staff members viewed Cotton's essay as an ominous "call for military force against Americans," as Times opinion columnist Jamelle Bouie put it. "I'll probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral," tweeted Nikole Hannah-Jones, who recently won the Times a Pulitzer for her "1619 project. "As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this." The Times was not the only major U.S. newspaper to experience a staff backlash Wednesday. Journalists at the Philadelphia Inquirer protested the decision to give an opinion piece about damage suffered by city buildings during protests the headline of "Buildings Matter, Too" - a riff on "Black Lives Matter" that many felt equated the toll on architecture to the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police. The paper apologized, but about 40 minority staff members signed a protest letter, with many choosing to call in sick today. The Cotton column was published by the Times' editorial, or opinion, section, which is distinct and separately managed from its news section. It was part of its op-ed page, created by the Times in 1970, and copied by many newspapers since, to contain outside opinion. Op-ed refers to both the physical placement of the page - opposite the newspaper's institutional columns and editorials - and the notion that its authors often hold opinions that are different from the newspaper's own. That was the case with Cotton's piece; the Times has editorialized against the use of military force in cities grappling with violence around protests. In a lengthy response to the controversy emailed to Times' subscribers and in his column, Bennet said he, too, opposed the use of troops. On Thursday, some commentators pushed back on the pushback within the Times. "The attacks on the newspaper capture the rising intolerance for opposing views in our society," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who frequently writes opinion columns, in an email. He called it "chilling" that "the demands are coming from journalists and writers themselves. This is akin to priests campaigning against free exercise of religion. . . . I never thought I would see the day where writers called for private censorship of views." Because of its prominence, the Times' op-ed page and columnists often generate controversy, though rarely from within the newspaper itself. There was widespread criticism in February, for example, when the Times published an op-ed from a member of Afghanistan's Taliban, particularly because the paper failed to identify the author's history of involvement in terrorist activities. There was little internal opposition to the column, however, at least none that spilled into public view. One Times reporter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations, said most reporters welcome "a diverse range of opinions in our op-ed pages" but that "I just felt like we didn't add enough context." The reporter added it would have been more useful to cover Cotton's argument within a news story, which could then have included context, fact-checking and counterarguments. Cotton's Senate office declined to comment earlier Thursday about the newsroom uproar. Instead, his office pointed to a Fox News spot on Thursday where Cotton commended the New York Times' leadership for standing up to "to the woke progressive mob in their own newsroom." Times employees are planning to send a letter to the organization's management, according to a statement from the New York NewsGuild, which called the op-ed's publication "an irresponsible choice." The union argued that "invoking state violence disproportionately hurts Black and brown people. It also jeopardizes our journalists' ability to work in the field safely and effectively." Times reporter John Eligon, who is covering the protests in Minneapolis, pointed to a confluence of recent events - coronavirus's disproportionate toll on minority communities, the killing of Ahmaud Arbery by a retired police detective in Georgia, the shooting death of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police executing a search warrant on the wrong home, the viral incident when a white woman called the police on a black birdwatcher in Central Park. "We are already in a moment in America where black people and black journalists felt vulnerable," said Eligon. "To that extent I think that there needs to be some serious discussion about why the Cotton piece was published, how it happened and what needs to be done going forward so that we have a systemic change in the way we go about things about the Times." ATLANTA, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers are beginning to re-engage with dealerships. Dealers are re-opening their doors, and there are indications the industry is rebounding. The latest Cox Automotive analysis shows new auto sales in May finished down 30.2 percent from May 2019 but showed an increase of 57 percent from April 2020. Used cars sales in late May were down approximately 20 percent from year-earlier levels, an improvement from late April when the sales pace for used vehicles was down more than 40 percent. If there is a silver lining to the downturn, it is that savvy dealerships have led the way in re-imagining automotive retail, adopting strategies and techniques that will continue to benefit their businesses into the future. To help document best practices moving forward, Cox Automotive's Dealer Software Solutions portfolio (Dealer.com, Dealertrack DMS, VinSolutions, and Xtime) has developed three playbooks to help dealers tackle their biggest challenges in this digital-first world: generating demand and selling and servicing vehicles safely and cost effectively. "Our initial response was to quickly disseminate as much information as we could to help our clients be resilient during the crisis," said Lori Wittman, senior vice president of Dealer Software Solutions, Cox Automotive. "Across the Cox Automotive Dealer Software Solutions brands, we launched webinars, tutorials, blogs, podcasts, and emails. Now these playbooks, we're taking the next step toward helping dealers reimagine their businesses by adopting digital tools to meet consumer demand." The four Cox Automotive Dealer Software Solution brands took a collective step forward in interviewing hundreds of dealers to better understand both the technology and process changes dealers are undergoing. Wittman says dealers want these tools to 'work better together' - collaborating across platforms and business units align the information to how dealers run their businesses. The playbooks are a first step in an enterprise initiative called the One Dealer Experience. Designed to connect with clients in a more coordinated effort, the change includes cross-training Performance Management and Client Support teams to give dealers one 'go to' expert on-call to help optimize workflows across platforms used in both variable and fixed operations. The playbooks go step-by-step and address key dealership roles to demonstrate how to implement digital tools and build proficient processes to support dealers in three key areas where success has never been more crucial: Moving Marketing Forward, Reimagining The Road to The Sale, and Moving Fixed Operations Forward. "With challenges come opportunities. Dealers told us they need training and updated processes for digital marketing and retailing and help to manage all of the change," said Wayne Pastore, vice president of dealer marketing operations and general manager of Dealer.com. "The Moving Marketing Forward playbook addresses those needs as dealers return to business and accelerate digital retailing for car shoppers." Digital adoption in the service lane has allowed for an exceptional service experience with minimal physical interactions through Self Check-In, Online Approvals and Online Payments and Valet Pick-up or Drop off options. Online Approvals, an included feature of Xtime Inspect that enables service advisors to electronically share additional service recommendations (ASRs) with consumers on their computer or smartphone, allowed Xtime dealers a $4.4 million aggregate increase in additional service revenue from March 2020 to May 2020. Utilization of Online Approvals was up 10% in May compared to March 2020. Consumer replies to the ASRs and the total dollars approved by consumers through the feature were both up almost 18 percent over the same time period, despite total volume of Repair Orders and Repair Orders with Additional Service Recommendations (ASRs) being down by one percent from March to May 2020. (Source: Analysis of 1700 Xtime Spectrum INSPECT dealerships) Tracy Fred, vice president of CRM sales and service operations and general manager of VinSolutions and Xtime, explains, "Dealers demonstrated great resiliency in the face of adversity providing a safer, superior customer experience. The Sales and Fixed Ops playbooks can help put digital transformation into overdrive with strategies and tactics dealers can act on immediately." "We had a solid April and May," said dealer John Burford, Dealer Principal at Jack Burford Chevrolet in Richmond, KY. "I attribute our performance during this downturn to three things: our dealership team's willingness to embrace change, use technology and take care of our customers no matter the circumstances. And Cox Automotive's Dealer Software Solutions team has been right there whenever we need them." Learn more and download the Dealer Software Solutions Playbooks at dealerplaybooks.com. About Cox Automotive Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company's 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, VinSolutions, vAuto and Xtime, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com SOURCE Cox Automotive Inc. Related Links http://www.coxautoinc.com Representative image Gilead Sciences has said its licensed manufacturers in India are free to fix the price of Remdesivir, The Economic Times has reported. Remdesivir is the experimental drug used for treating patients of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The report further cites the United States-based company as saying that its own brand of Remdesivir will be available in India from July. Gilead Sciences' experimental drug Remdesivir has been found to aid in the recovery of COVID-19 patients. In India, the US-based company has licensing agreements for Remdesivir with four pharmaceutical companies Cipla, Hetero Drugs, Jubilant Life Sciences and Mylan. 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 Also read | Gilead's Remdesivir could see $7 billion in annual sales on stockpiling boost: Analyst A Gilead spokesperson told the newspaper that generic manufacturers would be free to set prices. It is our hope and intent that volumes and competition will drive costs down, the spokesperson added. The report further cites a private physician in Mumbai as saying that distributors of Hetero Pharma, one of the licensees, are quoting Rs 7,000 per 100 mg vial for the generic version of Remdesivir. At this price, a five-day full course would cost Rs 35,000- Rs 42,000. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic However, it was earlier reported that Indian pharmaceutical companies are yet to receive an approval to market Remdesivir. It was also reported earlier that companies licensed to manufacture Remdesivir might have to sell it only to government institutions for now as the drug was still under trial. Gilead Sciences is reportedly developing easier-to-administer versions of Remdesivir for COVID-19 that could be used outside of hospitals, including ones that can be inhaled, after trials showed moderate effectiveness for the drug given by infusion. For critically-ill patients, Roche and Eli Lilly and Co are testing drugs in combination with Remdesivir. Even as businesses struggle to get re-open after nearly two months of lockdown, salons and beauty parlours in Madhya Pradesh have adopted a simple way to avoid spreading or catching coronavirus. As the salons opened under newly lifted restrictions, employees working in salons have been instructed to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits while being at work. In images shared by news agency ANI on Twitter, salon workers can be seen sheathed head to toe in protective gear including shields while tending to customers. Madhya Pradesh: Salons reopen in Bhopal following relaxations in lockdown. Workers of a salon wear PPE kits while giving haircuts to customers amid #COVID19 pandemic. #Unlock1 pic.twitter.com/LfMI991hzF ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2020 The salons have opened as part of the phased 'unlock' after the nation-wide lockdown imposed on March 24 to contain the spread of coronavirus. On Saturday night, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the opening of several services and institutions including religious places of worship, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and hospitality services such as hair salons and spas in non-containment zones. Cinema halls, swimming pools, gymnasiums, theatres, parks, gathering halls and auditoriums are among the many things that remain closed. In containment zones, the lockdown will remain in place till June 30. With the easing of lockdown restrictions, different states and districts are creating their own SOPs to supervise the return of business while maintaining social distancing in order to keep COVID-19 in check. Hair salons in Maharashtra's Nanded district, for instance, are asking customers to bring their own towels while coming for a haircut. Some hair salons and spas in Bengaluru have also made wearing of gloves and face shields along with maks mandatory for employees. Magical Acres in New Jersey hosted a 13-race qualifying session on Wednesday, June 3. The great Shartin N was busy sharpening up during the morning races, but stealing a bit of that thunder were a pair of pacing colts from the stable of Brett Pelling. The third race of the morning saw Papi Rob Hanover record the first charted line of his three-year-old campaign. The Somebeachsomewhere colt has been assessed as the 5-2 favourite in Trot Magazine's 2020 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book. To view the spring book odds, click here. David Miller was in the bike behind Papi Rob Hanover, and the duo lined up in the outside Post 4 for trainer Brett Pelling. Once the starting gate sped away, Papi Rob Hanover made quick work of his foes. He went on to record a wire-to-wire win in 1:53.2. He cut the fractions in :28.1, :58.3 and 1:26.3 before gearing up for the wire. Papi Rob Hanover finished his mile off with a :26.4 final quarter before posting a two and a quarter-length victory. Papi Rob Hanover is owned by David McDuffee of Delray Beach, Florida. "He was very much in hand," Pelling told Trot Insider on Wednesday afternoon. "Dave said he never let him pace at any time. He asked him a little bit halfway in the turn and he took off and shut him down. And his exact words coming back were 'wow, I could have went in :50 with this horse, he's so powerful.'" The session got underway with a win from another North America Cup eligible colt, as the David Miller-driven and Brett Pelling-trained Allywag Hanover (50-1 in Spring Book) fired from second over and posted a one and a half-length win in 1:53.2. Allywag Hanover is owned by the Allywag Stable of Wellsville, PA. "They were very good. Allywag I wasn't sure about; he's a different kind of horse and likes to do things his way. Three months ago I said I'm not going to force this horse to do anything, I'm just going to leave him to his own free will. And when I take him to the qualifiers, I'm going to rig him up then. So today we basically took him to the qualifiers with zero rigging, and he was pretty near perfect. When the speed's on, he knows how to go forward." For those looking to assess the speed of these miles versus other tracks, Pelling offered his take on qualifying at Magical Acres for the first time. "It's a very circular five-eighths. In fact, the starting point and finish are almost opposite each other...I couldn't really get my head around that," said Pelling with a chuckle. "Imagine a regular five-eighths, then expand the turns and shorten the straightaways. But it was nice and in really good condition." Pelling also compared the qualifiers at Magical Acres to the session at The Meadowlands and was pleased with his decision to enter where he did. "I had told [Dave] a couple of days before what I was going to do, and the reason I did it [at Magical Acres]...I went to The Meadowlands on Saturday and qualified six there and, to me, that's not how you qualify horses. Going to the first quarter in :28.3 and going a mile in 1:50 or :51, wherever you end up is where you line up. "And I think not having 10-horse fields in the qualifier helps too so that anyone who wants to go forward gets an opportunity and not spread out like Brown's cows." The veteran trainer has a very meticulous approach and Magical Acres made more sense to him for these horses at this point. "One thing about good horses: right from the get-go, you need a certain amount of recognition and respect and yet I don't want to be leaving the gate with them. Even Papi there, Papi cut it and everything but he fell out of the gate...there was nothing in there that wanted the front. He still went to the half in :58 and a piece, and at The Meadowlands he couldn't have done that." Given Wednesday's efforts, Pelling confirmed that Papi Rob Hanover would qualify again but wasn't sure what the next step was for Allywag Hanover. That uncertainty can be excused given the uncertainty that many U.S. trainers face with the lack of clarity regarding Pennsylvania's harness racing season. "They're pretty fit, they were ready a month ago. I'm definitely coming back with Papi again...but there's so many unknowns. I'm of the attitude that It's an unusual circumstance we're all in and really just letting things fall into place. Get through this first weekend at The Meadowlands here and see how it all goes and play it by ear a bit. "I'm not opposed to actually racing [Allywag] but Papi will definitely qualify, and he'll qualify at The Meadowlands next week." Pelling anticipates that the first major stakes event for Papi Rob Hanover will be The Meadowlands Pace. Later on the card, 2019 U.S. Horse of the Year Shartin N took to the track for Race 10 and lined up in the outside Post 5 for driver Tim Tetrick. The duo surveyed the scene early and opted for the back of the pack through the :28.4 opening quarter and :59.2 half. Tetrick asked for some 'go' in the third panel, and the seven-year-old daughter of Tintin In America was more than willing to oblige. Shartin N was first up alongside the leader at the 1:27.1 three-quarters pole and had wrestled the lead away by the time she hit the head of the stretch. The Jim King Jr. trainee kicked home with a :26.2 final panel and was clear by two lengths at the wire. Shartin N stopped the clock in 1:53.3 for her connections, Richard Poillucci, Joann Looney King, and Tim Tetrick LLC. Canada's two-year-old filly trotter of the year Dip Me Hanover was the star of Race 2 for driver David Miller and trainer Linda Toscano. The winner of the 2019 Peaceful Way Stakes was making her three-year-old charted debut and lined up in Post 2. Miller and the miss sat fourth through the :28.3 opening quarter and :59.3 half before firsting first over. The duo was overland and more than two lengths off the lead at the 1:29.2 three-quarters pole, but were ready for a fight in the lane. When all was said and done, Dip Me Hanover came home with a 28-second final quarter and grinded to a neck win in 1:57.4. Dip Me Hanover is owned by Camelot Stable Inc., Dreamville Stable, and R And I Farms LLC. Protests have continued on in Los Angeles over the senseless killing of George Floyd who died at the hands of police on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding joined in on a Black Lives Matter demonstration held in West Hollywood on Wednesday afternoon with his wife Liv Lo, 35. The 33-year-old actor donned all black as he trekked down Santa Monica Blvd with his hands raised above his head. Like minds: Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding joined in on a Black Lives Matter demonstration held in West Hollywood on Wednesday afternoon with his wife Liv Lo Henry had a black bandana tied around his mouth and nose, while a pair of sunglasses dangled from his neck. Lo also braved the day in all black and mimicked her husband's protest stance. The pair were surrounded by fellow demonstrators who wielded various homemade signs. The protest in West Hollywood was organized by 'the LGBTQ community in support of Black Lives Matter,' according to NBC. Hands up: The 33-year-old actor donned all black as he trekked down Santa Monica Blvd with his hands raised above his head Team effort: Henry and wife Liv have been married since 2016; the pair pictured in 2019 The protest commenced around noon and at one point, the hundreds of demonstrators in attendance blocked the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, according to KTLA. On Wednesday, the organizers of L.A. Pride announced that they would be holding a peaceful protest march on June 14 to show the community disdain towards police brutality. Aside from taking to the streets, Henry has been using his Instagram page to show his support for Black Lives Matter. On Tuesday, Golding partook in the site-wide 'Blackout Tuesday,' which aimed to bring awareness to the topic of police brutality against African-American civilians in the States. Solidarity: The protest in West Hollywood was organized by 'the LGBTQ community in support of Black Lives Matter,' according to NBC; protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 Organized: The protest commenced around noon and at one point, the hundreds of demonstrators in attendance blocked the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, according to KTLA; protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 The virtual protest required participants to share a solid black image to their page with the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday and links to various activist resources. On Sunday, Henry paid tribute to the late George Floyd whose unjust death has sparked outrage and protests across the nation. 'Stand up for what is right. Remember #GeorgeFloyd and countless others this weekend. Remember the cause,' captioned Golding, along with a portrait of Floyd. In the horrifying video footage of Floyd's death, he is seen saying that he can not breathe as officer Derek Chauvin, 44, kneeled on his neck. Homage: On Sunday, Henry paid tribute to the late George Floyd whose unjust death has sparked outrage and protests across the nation Eventually he went silent and limp, and he was later declared dead. Protests swelled after federal authorities said on May 28 that they were making the case a top priority but announced no arrests at that time. The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Chauvin, was taken into custody on May 29 and charged with third-degree murder, officials said. On Wednesday, Chauvin's charges were upgraded to second-degree murder and three more officers, Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, were arrested and charged with 'aiding and abetting murder,' according to the New York Times. The Supreme Court of India, on Thursday, stepped in to resolve the NCR border issue. The apex court has asked the centre to arrange a meeting with officials from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi to arrive at a consensus to allow interstate transport/commuters' movement across the NCR border. On June 1 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had made an announcement to seal the national capital's border for a week. He also sought suggestions from people by Friday (June 5) to reopen the same. The chief minister only allowed the movement of essential services as the national capital witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases. Kejriwal's announcement came on the day when Haryana government opened Gurgaon-Delhi borders. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the borders would be opened after the mutual consent of both governments. Hence, chaos prevailed after Kejriwal's announcement at the Sonepat-Kundli border on the Ambala-Delhi national highway. Similar reports from the Gurgaon-Delhi border surfaced. Uttar Pradesh's Noida which also shares border with Delhi had sealed all routes since April. In fact, despite the Centre's 'Unlock Phase-1', the UP district administration continued to shut the Delhi-Noida border until further notice. Besides, the borders at Ghaziabad have also been sealed. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines, there should not be any restriction on the inter/intra state movement. Also, no separate permission/e-permit will be required for such movements. However, the ministry added that a state or a union territory can restrict the movement of the person after notifying the public in advance. Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: Haryana reopens all border points between Gurugram, Delhi Also read: Alcohol makers urge Delhi govt to lower 70% liquor cess as sales dip Celebrating church diversity without addressing racial disparity is hypocrisy, Steven Furtick says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Steven Furtick, pastor of the popular Elevation Church in North Carolina, said celebrating diverse churches without addressing racial disparity is hypocrisy in a frank conversation Sunday with fellow megachurch pastor and friend John Gray in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. The two pastors who teamed up to address race, racism, the heart of God and the way forward in the wake of the recorded killing of Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man while in police custody, acknowledged that there are many people of faith who have chosen not to speak up or have constructive conversations about the issue. Furtick said God told him it was time to speak up and he could not keep silent as the leader of a diverse congregation. If I celebrate that diversity but never address the disparity, to me, thats hypocrisy, he said in the conversation with Gray, who leads the Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina. In a moment where our nation is collectively reeling from the atrocity of the murder of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in this nation at the hands of a law enforcement officer, I thought it was time for us. In fact, I knew it was time because the Holy Spirit spoke to me that it was time for us to sit down and have a conversation, Furtick said. Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, died in police custody on May 25, after he was restrained for several minutes by Minneapolis Police Department officers. One of the officers, Derek Chauvin, was caught on video kneeling into Floyds neck as he begged for his life until he stopped breathing. Last Friday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman charged Chauvin, who has since been fired along with three other colleagues, with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Protesters whose actions have gripped the national news cycle for several days have since been demanding that the other officers involved in Floyds death also be arrested. Furtick said he decided to have the discussion about racial disparity with his church when God spoke to him after Gray shared his reaction to Floyds killing in a video last Wednesday. Although we dont turn this pulpit into a reflection of the news cycle because that would be lethal to our ability to teach Gods Word and preach Gods Word, I know when the Spirit of God speaks to me, thats the only way I can describe seeing your video, Furtick said about his reaction to Grays video. When I saw your face on my computer screen, the message came through the computer. I saw how hurt you were in your eyes and I saw how tired you were in your face, and how angry you were all at the same time, Furtick told Gray. Gray praised Furtick for having the courage to use his platform to address the issue of racial inequality as many white pastors, he said, have been silent on the issue. The fact that you had the courage to speak in the moment when many of our white pastors brothers and sisters normally have reserved their comments till they get all the facts. For you, with all of your influence, the anointing thats on your life and the global position of leadership that you hold in the church, for you to step out and say regardless of the facts, what I saw is enough for me to say from a human standpoint, this is wrong It broke something that has been quiet but very real for many of us as black pastors, Gray said. In moments like this, and theyve happened far too often, I always get texts to my phone but they wont talk about it out loud. And in this season, silence is agreement, he continued. I dont need you to quietly tell me youre praying. I need you to publicly say this is wrong because this is not just about race, this is about justice. And the entire Bible is about justice throughout Old Testament and to the New Testament. God is very clear that even with Israel, he said treat the alien and the stranger among you, this is how you treat them, Gray said. In 2018, Gray and Furtick, along with the Rev. A.R. Bernard, leader of the 40,000-member Christian Cultural Center, Pastor Levi Lusko of Fresh Life Church in Montana, and Pastor Ken Claytor of Alive Church in Gainesville, Florida, came together for a conversation on building bridges to heal the nation's racial divide. The meeting came after Gray came under heavy criticism from members of the black community for meeting with President Trump to discuss prison reform and urban job creation. "My job is to drive the dialogue not only into the natural but the spiritual and to identify areas where the Church can be an agent of healing as opposed to a place of further division," Gray said at the time. "The Church needs to be able to speak about the moral high ground without dishonoring people from different backgrounds." The Covid-19 pandemic has put 265 million people globally at risk of starvation and India is expected to add 12 million more poor to its population, a new annual study has claimed. The report, titled State of Indias Environment in Figures 2020, published by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) talks about the massive scale of the economic impact of the pandemic. According to the report, the global poverty level will rise for the first time in 22 years. Fifty per cent of the global population is under lockdown or containment with little or no new income -- 40-60 million people would be living in extreme poverty in the coming months due to loss of income. India will add 12 million more poor, the highest in the world, to its shattered population, the report said. Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage According to CSE Director General Sunita Narain, extreme weather events in the past four years have remained the topmost global economic risks. The impact of this, coupled with our lopsided and bad development strategies, has been very severe on Indias poor. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has now been added to these misfortunes, and we find that our poor are now fighting with their backs to the wall. This is what CSEs latest publication, the State of Indias Environment in Figures 2020, brings out clearly, Narain said. The publication was released on Thursday at an online webinar attended by over 300 participants. On COVID-19, the report points out that while new cases remain static or are diminishing in North America, Europe and Australia, countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia are emerging as the new hotspots. India and Brazil are the only two of the nine worst-hit countries in the world that have decided to ease their lockdowns and scale down their stringent measures even as new cases continue to mount. India ranks fourth globally in terms of active cases, it claimed. It, however, said that Indias national commitments on climate are far more ambitious than most countries including the US and nations in Europe. The book makes it quite clear that we will need new futures, new directions for growth. But this cant happen if our natural resources are threatened and our governance systems and practices are failing. Green growth requires protection and sustainable use of our natural resources. Green growth cannot happen if our health is compromised, Narain said. Security forces launch major anti-IS offensive in Iraq Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/6/3 11:57:44 The Iraqi security forces on Tuesday launched a major offensive to hunt down Islamic State (IS) militants in the provinces of Kirkuk and Salahudin, the Iraqi military said. The troops, backed by Iraqi and international coalition aircraft, pushed in early morning in five routes to secure the desert and rugged areas between the two provinces, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces said in a statement. So far, the troops have managed to kill two IS militants and destroy three of their hideouts and a number of tunnels, along with destroying a booby-trapped car and various weapons and ammunition, Rasoul said. The Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, paid a visit to the headquarters of the Joint Operations Command in Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and immediately held a meeting with the commanders to supervise the offensive, Rasoul added. The offensive was designed to bring stability and security to the area, which has recently been a hot bed for IS militants, Rasoul said. Recently, the extremist IS militants have intensified their attacks on the security forces, including Hashd Shaabi forces, and civilians in the formerly IS-controlled Sunni provinces, resulting in the killing and wounding of dozens. The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS militants across the country late in 2017. However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The anti-China sentiment prevailing now is at its highest in the world since the Tiananmen Square crackdown on this day in 1989, the Oragniser, a weekly magazine linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, claimed citing a Chinese think-tank report. IMAGE: Chinese flags flutter at Tiananmen Square. Photograph: Reuters Amid a border standoff between India and China, the weekly in its latest edition recalls the Tiananmen Square event in the present context of COVID-19 crisis, unrest in Hong Kong and territorial dispute with India. The cover page of the magazine has a famous photograph from 1989 of a lone Chinese student standing in front of a column of tanks going to break up the student protests at Tiananmen Square. The magazine in its cover story, titled 'Revisiting Tiananmen Square', has said globally the anti-China sentiment is at its peak since 1989 students' protests. The publication has made this claim citing an assessment report of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a think tank affiliated to the Ministry of State Security, which happens to be China's top intelligence body. 'As per the assessment report of top leadership of Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including President Xi Jinping, generated by the Institute in April 2020, global anti-China sentiment is at its highest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown,' the magazine said in its cover story. On June 4, 1989, the Chinese army had attacked the students and protesters gathered at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing demanding democracy, freedom of press and greater accountability among others. In an editorial in the Organiser, its editor Prafulla Ketkar writes that globally, the anti-China, or a rather anti-Maoist regime in China, sentiments are on the rise. 'China is shamelessly defending the irresponsible behaviour of hiding or perhaps spreading the COVID-19 pandemic by blaming others,' Ketkar wrote. He further said that the muscle-flexing in the South China Sea to reassert the unfulfilled maritime aspirations, and curbing of the freedom and identity of Hong Kong are also going on at the same time. 'China is even trying to use the same high-handed approach against Bharat when we are trying to strengthen our border infrastructure, the long overdue project,' he wrote. Testing can show if retail staff have the skills to adapt and thrive Retail needs a 'skills shake-up' to bounce back from the current crisis. Experts believe the impact of the coronavirus will mean retail will change forever1. Nevertheless, many believe that the demand for a physical shopping experience will not disappear.2 3 Based on expert trends and predictions, Questionmark, the online assessment provider, is advising retailers to test whether workers have the right skills, and to identify any training needs, to: Protect the public surveys in both the USA and UK indicate a high reluctance among consumers to return to non-essential shopping.45 Retailers must demonstrate that staff understand how to manage social distancing measures. Utilize new technologies countless consumers have tried or got used to online shopping for the first time.6 They have experimented with new payment methods.7 Experts predict that seamlessly integrating physical retail and e-commerce will be key to survival.8 Employers must ensure that staff have the skill to operate relevant technologies. Build loyalty and demonstrate product knowledge as online shopping continues to increase, the in-store sales experience will become less about quick transactions. Retailers should focus on building loyalty to brands and product ranges.9 Staff will need to demonstrate a customer service focus with high product knowledge or the aptitude to acquire those skills. Through testing and assessment of the workforce, employers get the fair, valid and defensible information they need to make effective decisions. They can identify where training is needed, and what type. Employers can make better decisions on recruitment, promotions and internal transfers. Lars Pedersen, CEO of Questionmark said: "Retailers recognize the need to radically evolve their offer. They must be confident that their staff have what it takes to adjust. Assessments with Questionmark will give employers confidence that their team is up to the task." The Questionmark Platform can assess an unlimited number of test-sitters, from anywhere in the world. The platform provides a range of assessment formats. Tests are automatically marked. Results are instantly compiled. Trends and patterns are easy and quick to spot. To book a demo click here. www.questionmark.com About Questionmark Questionmark provides a secure enterprise-grade assessment platform and professional services to leading organizations around the world, delivered with care and unequalled expertise. Its full-service online assessment tool and professional services help customers to improve their performance and meet their compliance requirements. Questionmark enables organizations to unlock their potential by delivering assessments which are valid, reliable, fair and defensible. Questionmark offers secure powerful integration with other LMS, LRS and proctoring services making it easy to bring everything together in one place. Questionmark's cloud-based assessment management platform offers rapid deployment, scalability for high-volume test delivery, 24/7 support, and the peace-of-mind of secure, audited U.S., Australian and European-based data centers. 1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherwalton/2020/04/01/the-domino-effect-5-ways-coronavirus-will-forever-change-retail/#212b3a7066be 2 https://www.retailprophet.com/the-future-of-retail/ 3 The narrative around retail facing irreversible change but there still being a demand for a physical shopping experience can be found throughout the articles referenced. However, they are most succinctly articulated in referenced 1 2. 4 https://adage.com/article/news/mall-shoppers-scared-return-when-us-stores-reopen/2252066 5 https://www.ft.com/content/901a679e-d3e1-4842-9f12-8f36b0d3a0b8 6 https://www.fmi.org/blog/view/fmi-blog/2020/05/21/unprecedented-times 7 https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherwalton/2020/04/01/the-domino-effect-5-ways-coronavirus-will-forever-change-retail/#4c9ee4b966be 8 https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/05/01/retail-coronavirus-pandemic-shopping 9 https://www.retailprophet.com/the-future-of-retail/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005456/en/ Contacts: US: Kristin Bernor, head of external relations: Kristin.bernor@questionmark.com 203.349.6438 UK: James Boyd-Wallis: james.boyd-wallis@fourteenforty.uk 07793 021 607 A young child is fighting for life today after four people were shot in north west London. Police were called to Energen Close in Harlesden at about 9.45pm yesterday and found three adults and one child suffering gunshot injuries. All four were taken to hospital, where the young child and one man remained in a critical condition today. The two other victims, a man and a woman, suffered non life-threatening injuries. Detectives are still hunting the gunman and there have been no arrests. Extra stop and search powers and police patrols were in place across the borough of Brent overnight. Forensic teams attended the scene after the incident which happened around 9.45pm on Wednesday / Nigel Howard A dispersal zone has also been authorised for the Harlesden area. Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting reference 8326/03june. MANILA, Philippines The controversial Anti-Terror Bill now only has President Rodrigo Dutertes signature as its final hurdle into becoming law, after the House of Representatives voted in support of the measures passage. With an overwhelming 173 affirmative votes, the House of Representatives (HOR) approved on third and final reading the controversial House Bill No. 6875 or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 which seeks to amend the Human Security Act of 2007. During the deliberation on Wednesday (June 4), only 31 lawmakers opposed the bill while 29 abstained. The Lower House adopted and eventually approved the Senate version. This will do away with the bicameral conference committee deliberations and will have the bill directly transmitted to the Office of the President for signature. President Duterte on Monday (June 1) certified the bill as urgent. READ: Duterte certifies as urgent bill seeking to toughen PH anti-terror law Meanwhile, several lawmakers expressed concern over the possible swift approval of the bill. According to House Minority Floor Leader Benny Abante, the bill seemed to have been passed in haste and was not even given time for amendments. Several provisions, Abante said, seemed alarming specifically Section 9 of the bill or the Inciting to Commit Terrorism provision which states that: Any person who, without taking any direct part in the commission of terrorism, shall incite others to the execution of any of the acts specified in Section 4 hereof by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, banners or other representations tending to the same end, shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of twelve (12) years. Ibig sabihin nito, lahat ng kritiko ng gobyerno at mga may hinaing laban sa gobyerno ay puede ng ipa-aresto [This means that anyone who is critical of and with grievances against the government can be arrested], Abante argued. Under this bill, anyone suspected of being a terrorist can be detained without a warrant for up to 24 days. Kahit sino sa atin ay maaaring ipa-aresto at makulong ng 24 days ng walang anumang kasong isinasampa sa hukuman [Anyone of us can be arrested and detained for 24 days without being charged], he warned. Story continues Congressman Ace Barbers, meanwhile, admitted that he has hesitations on the bill although he voted yes to it. The bill, he said, will only be good if it targets the real terrorists such as Abu Sayyaf Group, Maute group and other armed groups, but there is also a big possibility of abuse. Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque said the Palace trusts the constitutionality of the proposed measure. He also argued that it is only the Supreme Court (SC) who can determine if the law has provisions that will violate the peoples human rights. Naniniwala po ako na dahil alam naman ng Kongreso lalo na ng Senado ang kaniyang ginagawa [I believe that Congress, especially the Senate, is aware of what it is doing], not only presumed constitutional but (the bill) will also pass the test of constitutionality, he said. Lahat po ng provision diyan ay ibinase rin natin sa mga batas na mga ibat ibang bansa na mas epektibo po ang kanilang pagtrato dito sa mga terorista,[The provisions of the bill are based on similar existing laws being implemented in other countries which are proven effective when it comes to dealing with terrorists], he added. The Palace Spokesperson also defended the President for certifying the bill as urgent despite the ongoing crisis on coronavirus disease (COVID-19). He said there is nothing extraordinary about the timing of the bills passage as it has long been pending since the 17th Congress. Nangyari po ang Marawi (siege pero) dalawa lang po ang na-convict sa Human Security Act. Patunay na kailangang lagyan ng ngipin ang anti-terrorism legislation natin [After Marawi siege, only two terrorists were convicted under the Human Security Act. That means we really have to strengthen our anti-terrorism legislation], Roque said. MNP (with inputs from Vincent Arboleda) The post Anti-Terror Bill awaits Dutertes signature appeared first on UNTV News. Donate, sign, contact and learn. These are four significant ways in which you can establish your support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which has regained national attention this week following the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The Black Lives Matter movement, founded in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida, is an international human rights effort seeking to eradicate violence and systemic racism toward Blacks. As dozens of protests have risen across New Jersey, numerous members of law enforcement have come forward to express their support for the movement. For those who dont want to join in public protests, but want to support the movement, there are ways to do so: Donate The Black Lives Matter Movement Black Lives Matter regularly holds protests against issues relating to racial discrimination, including the death of minorities while in police custody and racial profiling. Beyond the United States, the organization spans the United Kingdom and Canada in its mission to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities. Black Visions Collective This is an effort committed to transforming the political landscape of Minnesota for its Black citizens. Its goals are centered around healing communities, transformative justice principles and the development of both the organization itself and the Black political leadership of Minnesota. Know Your Rights Camp Know Your Rights Camp aims to advance the liberation, well-being and elevation of Black and brown communities through education, self empowerment, mass mobilization and the creation of new systems. In response to the George Floyd protests, former NFL-player-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick has established a Legal Defense Initiative to provide aid to protesters arrested in street confrontations in Minneapolis. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) The NAACP seeks to eliminate racial discrimination by securing the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights in order to ensure the health and well-being of all human beings. After the death of George Floyd, the organization hosted a Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday night to heighten the accountability of police departments across the nation. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is concerned with expanding democracy and achieving racial justice through actions including litigation, advocacy and public education. National Bail Fund Network Made up of more than 60 community bail and bond funds across the country, this organization regularly updates its listings of the funds that are freeing people by paying bail or bond. Donations can also be made to the Emergency Release Fund, a member of the network that raises and posts bail for medically vulnerable individuals as well as LGBTQ individuals. Or, split your donation across numerous bail funds. National Police Accountability Project (NPAP) The NPAP is composed of plaintiffs lawyers, law students and legal workers dedicated to improving law enforcement accountability across the United States and ending officers abuse of authority. Reclaim the Block This organization seeks to transfer funds given to the Minneapolis Police Department into other areas of the citys budget that promote community health and safety. Official George Floyd Memorial Fund The fund was established by George Floyds brother, Philonise, to cover funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings and any other assistance sought by his family. A portion of these funds is also going toward the estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and for their educational fund. The established fundraising goal was $1.5 million. As of Wednesday, the effort had raised nearly 12 times that number. Sign Large numbers of people signed petitions, including Justice for George Floyd and #JusticeforFloyd, on Wednesday. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has created its own petition to ensure the protection of all protesters from law enforcement. Contact The following Minneapolis state and local leaders can be contacted about justice issues: Learn You can dually help the movement at a more intimate level by identifying and patronizing black-owned businesses. Individuals can find these local eateries, retail stores and other services using resources like Official Black Wall Street, the largest online platform for black businesses, and Buy From A Black Woman, which empowers over 300 businesses owned and operated by black women. Readers looking to further educate themselves about the black experience in New Jersey can also check out articles written for NJ.coms Black in N.J. series, or read about the states history with race in Black New Jersey: 1664 to the Present Day by Graham Russell Gao Hodges. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Terming World Health Organisation's decision to resume testing of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in its global clinical trial "a step in the right direction", experts said any "positive outcome" of the exercise will be in the larger interest of the people globally. The global heath body had earlier suspended the hydroxychloroquine arm of the clinical trials of experimental COVID-19 drugs over safety concerns. However on Wednesday, it recommended the trial to be continued following a review of safety data. "On the basis of the available mortality data... the members of the Solidarity Data Safety Monitoring Committee unanimously agreed that there are no cogent reasons to recommend modifications of the protocol of the trail and advised that the trial should be continued as planned," the Executive Group of the Steering Committee of the Solidarity Trial wrote to all National Principal Investigators of the Solidarity Trial. Welcoming WHO's decision, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said, "ICMR and India have been firm on recommendations about the drug based on biological plausibility, in vitro data and case controlled studies. "It is a time tested drug in use for decades. Any positive outcome from the clinical exercise will be in the larger interest of the people globally." He had earlier said that no major side-effects of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine has been found in studies in India and its use can be continued as prophylaxis for COVID-19 under strict medical supervision. AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said WHO's decision about resuming the HCQ arm of the clinical trial was "a step in the right direction towards larger public interest". "Data from India both from AIIMS and ICMR shows a good safety profile. We did not find that this drug was causing significant cardiac toxicity and therefore it is good that WHO reviewed their data and reintroduced the drug in the trial. "This is a drug which is less expensive, easily available and has been used widely for a long time with good safety data. It will be good if the medicine turns out be beneficial in some way in COVID-19 treatment," he said. Dr Sheela Godbole, the National Coordinator of the WHO-India Solidarity Trial and Head of the Division of Epidemiology, ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute said the hydroxychloroquine arm of the Solidarity Trial alone was paused as the Solidarity Data Safety Monitoring Committee reviewed the data. "Yesterday, the report of this committee was received and they advised that the trial should be continued as planned. Based on this, the Executive Group has restarted the hydroxychloroquine arm. The world needs strong data from well-conducted randomised controlled clinical trials on the drug for treatment of COVID-19. We are glad that we can begin the hydroxychloroquine arm again," Dr Godbole said. Besides hydroxychloroquine, three more treatment protocols -- remdesivir, comibnation of lopinavir and ritonavir, and lopinavir and ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a -- are being evaluated during the clinical trials at selected hospitals in the world. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in its revised advisory on May 22 recommended use of the drug as a preventive medication for COVID-19 for asymptomatic healthcare workers in non-COVID hospitals and frontline staff on surveillance duty in containment zones and paramilitary/police personnel involved in coronavirus infection related activities. The drug is also recommended for all asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in containment and treatment of COVID-19 and household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases. The Union health ministry on March 31 had also recommended use of hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin on COVID-19 patients who are in severe condition requiring ICU management. Lancet issues 'expression of concern' after scientists question validity of HCQ study The Lancet journal has issued a statement of concern after over 100 scientists from across the world flagged discrepancies in its recent study linking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine with increased death risk during COVID-19 treatment. "We are issuing an Expression of Concern to alert readers to the fact that serious scientific questions have been brought to our attention. We will update this notice as soon as we have further information," the editors of the journal said. The statement has come after more than 100 scientists from across the globe wrote an open letter to the editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton, questioning the validity of the study which assessed the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in COVID-19 treatment. The research, which was published on May 22, was an observational study of 96,032 hospitalised COVID-19 patients from six continents that reported substantially increased deaths, and incidences of heartbeat rhythm changes associated with the use of the drugs HCQ and closely related chloroquine. Based on the study, the scientists had concluded that the drugs are "associated with decrease in-hospital survival and an increased frequency of ventricular arrhythmias when used for treatment of COVID-19." Soon after the study was published, the World Health Organisation (WHO) paused recruitment of patients to the HCQ arm in their SOLIDARITY clinical trial, which they resumed on Wednesday after the scientists questioned the study. "If we don't have a double blind randomised controlled trial (RCT), where the neither the doctors nor the patients know what drug they are on, conclusions are always subject to bias, and The Lancet study was not and RCT," explained Ram Vishwakarma, Director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) in Jammu. Vishwakarma told PTI that the ethical process in publishing scientific studies is to disclose the database being used in any study, which he said was not followed in The Lancet research. "Important scientific questions have been raised about data reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra et al -- Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis -- published in The Lancet on May 22, 2020," said the editors of The Lancet in their statement expressing concern. The research was based on a database from a company based in Illinois, US called Surgisphere Corporation, which according to the study contains COVID-19 patient data from hundreds of hospitals around the world. From this database, the study assessed data from 96,032 patients admitted to 671 hospitals across six continents by April 14, of whom, 10,698 had died in hospital by April 21, according to the research. However, in the open letter, the researchers flagged several points of concern about the validity of this data, and the kind of analysis done in the study with it. Among the major issues cited in the Lancet study by the scientists, are concerns that there was no mention of the countries or hospitals that contributed to the data source and no acknowledgments of their contributions. The data reported in the study from Australia, for instance, the open letter said, was not compatible with government reports from the country. Data from Africa, for instance, indicated that nearly 25 per cent of all COVID-19 cases and 40 per cent of all deaths in the continent occurred in "Surgisphere-associated hospitals" which had patient monitoring facilities that could detect and record "nonsustained or sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation". "Both the numbers of cases and deaths, and the details provided, seem unlikely," the scientists flagged in the open letter. Scientists also noted that the mean daily doses of HCQ reported in the Lancet study are 100 milligrames (mg) higher than US Food and Drug Administration recommendations, while as much as 66 per cent of the data are noted from North American hospitals. In the expression of concern raised by The Lancet on Wednesday, they said "an independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere and is ongoing." "The expression of concern means that no scientist or doctor should be biased from the study," Vishwakarma explained. "But that doesn't mean the study is wrong. Now the author's replies need to come and if they have all the evidence supported, then the study will stand, otherwise this paper will have to be retracted," he said. 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. Chinese and Iranian hackers recently targeted the email accounts of staffers for both presidential campaigns, a senior Google official announced Thursday. There was "no sign of compromise" of either the Donald Trump or Joe Biden campaigns, Shane Huntley, the head of Googles Threat Analysis Group, disclosed on Twitter. He said the company had detected Chinese-based hackers attempting to use malicious emails to breach the accounts of Biden campaign staffers, while hackers in Iran attempted the same with Trump's campaign. "We sent users our govt attack warning and we referred to fed law enforcement," Huntley wrote. The revelation is the latest instance of the 2020 campaigns, and people associated with them, coming under digital attack. In October, Microsoft announced that hackers linked to the Iranian government had targeted the campaign of at least one 2020 presidential contender. It was later reported that hackers tried to infiltrate the Trump reelection effort, which the campaign denied. And in January, the threat intelligence company Area1 said Russian hackers had targeted the Ukrainian gas company where Bidens son, Hunter, once served on the board. Biden's campaign said in a statement that it was aware of Google's latest report. "We have known from the beginning of our campaign that we would be subject to such attacks and we are prepared for them," the campaign said. "Biden for President takes cybersecurity seriously, we will remain vigilant against these threats, and will ensure that the campaign's assets are secured." The Trump campaign likewise said it had been briefed that foreign actors "unsuccessfully attempted to breach the technology of our staff." "We are vigilant about cybersecurity and do not discuss any of our precautions, the campaign said. Its not surprising that a number of state actors are targeting our elections. Weve been warning about this for years," an official from DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency said in a statement. "Our job at CISA is to make sure theyre not successful." Story continues Today's announcement "shows that secure, resilient elections are much bigger than state and local, or even federal government efforts. The private sector has a key role, as does the American voter." The agency will continue to work with "political committees to help defend their systems and accounts. Well share this information with Congressional campaigns and state and local election officials so they can be prepared as well," according to the official. Senior national security and intelligence officials have long warned that the upcoming election will be targeted not just by Russian hackers, who stole and disclosed a wealth of documents from Hillary Clinton's campaign staff and the Democratic Party, but could also face interference by Iran and China. The Iranian group that Google said targeted Trumps reelection bid is known as APT35 or Charming Kitten. It is the same group reported to have targeted accounts associated with the Trump campaign last year. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, "Send In the Troops," the sole virtue of which is that the headline accurately captures his thesis. Cotton urges President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and use regular military forces to put down "rioters [who] have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s." For Cotton, it does not matter that America's governors and mayors have refrained from making any such request. Nor does it not matter that on Wednesday morning, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper explicitly stated that there was no need for such action. For Cotton, the only thing that matters is his theory on how to quell the unrest: - - - One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what's necessary to uphold the rule of law. The pace of looting and disorder may fluctuate from night to night, but it's past time to support local law enforcement with federal authority. Some governors have mobilized the National Guard, yet others refuse, and in some cases the rioters still outnumber the police and Guard combined. In these circumstances, the Insurrection Act authorizes the president to employ the military "or any other means" in "cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws." - - - In case you are wondering what that overwhelming show of force would do, well... Cotton argues that the current carnage justifies this action, and that the American public would support it, citing a recent Morning Consult poll that suggests a majority of respondents would support the deployment of U.S. troops to areas of urban unrest. There is a LOT to unpack here. Needless to say, there is a copious amount of moral outrage about Cotton's proposal. I will leave the expressions of that outrage to writers more gifted than myself. Instead, I want to focus on the social-science-y elements of Cotton's thesis. There are three key elements to Cotton's argument: this is a necessary move because of the damage from violence, an overwhelming show of force would work, and the American public would support it. If any of these three elements fail, then Cotton would be recommending a bloodbath for no reason other than to get his martial jollies off. First, is the carnage as bad as Cotton claims? He clearly refers to concrete examples of violence and mayhem. But it is not clear at all that the property damage even comes close to the Los Angeles riots in 1992, the last time a president used the Insurrection Act: Despite much larger national protests, there is no, repeat, no evidence that the violence has caused more than a thousand burned buildings or a billion dollars in property damage. In some cases police have wildly exaggerated the cost of property destruction. Furthermore, a lot of the carnage I have seen comes less from violent protesters and more from overly aggressive police officers. So let's just say that Cotton's claims of anarchy necessitating military action are somewhat risible. Would overwhelming force work? This is an even more dubious claim. Excessive force has the potential to turn peaceful protests violent. FiveThirtyEight's Maggie Koerth and Jamiles Lartey note that "when the police respond by escalating force - wearing riot gear from the start, or using tear gas on protesters - it doesn't work. In fact, disproportionate police force is one of the things that can make a peaceful protest not so peaceful." At every stage in the social unrest to date, the use of excessive force by police forces has resulted in even larger demonstrations. National Guard and other forces used overwhelming nonlethal force to get rid of protesters at Lafayette Square, and the result was an even larger number of demonstrators. If Cotton truly believes that these protesters are being infiltrated by "cadres of left-wing radicals," then larger protests will simply offer more opportunities for greater damage. It is also worth noting that despite Cotton's assurances that, "The nation must restore order. The military stands ready," it seems rather clear that the military is decidedly not ready to do this. Pick your news story, but the evidence that the military does not want to do this is pretty clear. Neither generals nor soldiers want any part of using force to quell unrest in the United States. Finally, Cotton is leaning a lot on one Morning Consult poll, and it's true that 58 percent of respondents supported calling in the U.S. military. The more I look at it, however, the more I doubt the robustness of this result. The precise question that was asked was, "Would you support or oppose cities calling in the U.S. military to supplement city police forces to address protests and demonstrations in dozens of U.S. cities in response to the death of George Floyd?" The key word is "supplement," and, to use Cotton's own language, the U.S. military does not act as a supporting role when it comes to things like "whatever it takes to restore order." Furthermore, that same poll revealed that 71 percent of Americans support calling in the National Guard. This suggests to me that the support for regular military troops is weaker than the top-line number. If the U.S. military wound up killing Americans on American soil, I doubt that 58 percent would hold up. That number also might change after former military officers start registering their disapproval over any militarization of the response to demonstrations. Which they have. Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen. Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey. Former NATO supreme allied commander James Stavridis. And, most importantly, former secretary of defense Jim Mattis: - - - When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens - much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a "battlespace" that our uniformed military is called upon to "dominate." At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict-a false conflict-between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them. - - - The damage caused by the unrest is not as great as Cotton claims. A doctrine of overwhelming force will not quell the demonstrations. Support for this move is soft. Far more senior combat veterans think this would be a horrible idea. And there is the mild fascist whiff that comes from Cotton's prose. Other than that, it's a great op-ed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend: Tourists from Czechia may be among the first to travel to Georgia after the country lifts its travel ban imposed in mid March amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports via Georgian media. Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has announced that after the phone talk with his Czech counterpart Tomas Petricek, Petricek said he promotes Georgia as a safe travel destination. Minister Zalkaliani added that Israel also considers Georgia as a safe tourist destination. Meanwhile, recently, the Georgian capital of Tbilisi was named the safest place to travel in Europe in 2020 among the cities selected by a travel website European Best Destinations. The Georgian Black Sea town of Batumi was also selected among the destinations least affected by COVID-19. As the 63-day state of emergency came to an end in Georgia on May 23, the country is planning to resume domestic tourism starting June 15 and receive international tourists starting July 1. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 Family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet puts interview with police watchdog on hold after leak by 'sources' Ontario's police watchdog has called for "immediate steps" to prevent leaks about what happened prior to the death of a Toronto woman who fell 24 storeys from a balcony after details of her final moments appeared in the Toronto Sun. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says it wrote to the Toronto Police Service after the Sun's story prompted the family to hold off on speaking to its investigators. "Leaks of this nature detract from the public's confidence, and the family's confidence, in the integrity of the SIU investigation," the civilian oversight agency said in a news release Wednesday. "It is imperative that the public have confidence in the SIU's investigations." The move comes after lawyer for the family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet told CBC News on Wednesday that he and the family believe details reported by the Sun are an effort to sway public opinion. The report published late Tuesday and updated Wednesday describes what police may have seen before the 29-year-old fell to her death. It cites "sources." CBC News has not verified those details and is not including them in its reporting. The family's lawyer, Knia Singh, told CBC News his main concern with the story was that it suggested "nobody could have done anything differently in this circumstance." "The fact of the matter is, a call was made for assistance and Regis ended up dead," he said. Mark Bochsler/CBC Singh suggested the leak undermined trust in the investigative process especially given that the SIU has, historically, cleared the vast majority of officers of alleged wrongdoing. The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates deaths, serious injuries or allegations of sexual assault involving police. Internal investigation A police spokesperson said an internal investigation will probe whether any officers were involved in the leak. Spokesperson Meaghan Gray said in a statement the Toronto Police Service does not comment on the validity of information from unnamed sources but added "unauthorized release of information is taken seriously." Story continues "It is unclear from this article as to whether or not the 'source' is a member of the TPS," she said. Police Chief Mark Saunders said last week that officers are legally prohibited from sharing details about the case during the SIU's investigation. So far, the SIU says it has reviewed security footage from the Toronto highrise where Korchinski-Paquet died, interviewed all six officers involved and six civilian witnesses. The agency had planned to interview the woman's family sometime this week. Those interviews are now on hold, Singh told CBC News. Called for police help before Korchinski-Paquet was an active member of her church, a talented gymnast and proud of her Ukrainian and Nova Scotian roots, Singh said. In the past five years, however, she began experiencing epileptic seizures, with the family saying it sometimes required help from police. Korchinski-Paquet's mother has said she called police on May 27 after a family conflict but that once officers arrived, things went terribly wrong. Claudette Korchinski-Beals said she hoped police could take her daughter to Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to get her help. Cole Burston/Canadian Press Since her death, questions have swirled around exactly what happened once Korchinski-Paquet, who was black, was alone inside her family's apartment with police. Through their lawyer, the family has raised concerns that race may have played in her death. On Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets of Toronto to demand answers in the case, and to protest the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of police A CBC News investigation found black people made up 36.5 per cent of fatalities involving Toronto police, despite accounting for just 8.3 per cent of the city's population, in the period from 2000-17. WATCH | Protests held across Canada against racism: Toronto's police chief has said police were called to the apartment by multiple reports of an assault. Two of those calls stated that a knife was involved, according to Saunders, but the family has said there was no assault underway or knife present when police arrived. Korchinski-Paquet's mother and brother have said they were not allowed into the apartment and that the last words they heard her say were, "Mom help. Mom help. Mom help." They heard a commotion inside, then silence. Minutes later, officers confirmed she was dead. English French TORONTO, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- St. Joseph Communications (SJC), today announced that Ken Hunt has been named President and Publisher of SJC Media, a division that will be comprised of Canadas largest and most influential group of magazines and digital properties including Macleans, Toronto Life, Chatelaine (English and French), Todays Parent, FASHION, HELLO! Canada, FLARE, Ottawa Magazine, Canadian Business, Weddingbells, Mariage Quebec and Quill & Quire. These titles have a combined monthly Canadian readership in print and digital of over 10 million. Mr. Hunt started his career in publishing at SJC as an editorial intern at Toronto Life in 2003. He co-founded Ink Truck Media, one of Canada's most influential digital media companies in 2008. SJC acquired Ink Truck in 2011. In 2012, Hunt was promoted to Vice President, Digital at St. Joseph Media. In 2015, he was promoted again to Publisher of Toronto Life and in 2019 he was named Executive Vice President and Group Publisher of the Media Group. He has been a multiple nominee and recipient of National Magazine Awards including being the first-ever recipient of the Publishers Grand Prix, awarded to Canadas most outstanding magazine publisher. I am very proud to make this announcement, said Tony Gagliano, Executive Chairman and CEO of St. Joseph Communications. Ken has shown an unwavering commitment to producing the very best print and digital publications in the country, as well as running successful and growing businesses. Over the years I have known him, I have been continually inspired by Kens deep belief in a bright future for the media business. He has successfully negotiated the shifting landscape and launched a number of new initiatives that defied the odds within the media industry. All throughout, he has led his teams with a purpose and clarity that is rare to find. Im humbled to be in this position, said Ken Hunt. These are all titles that I deeply admire, led by the most talented and dynamic editors in the industry. I believe that with the scale, quality and focus we offer, we will reach new heights as the most successful media company in the country. About St. Joseph Communications (SJC) St. Joseph Communications (SJC) is Canadas largest privately owned print, media and communications company. Whether the channel is mobile, online, print, bricks-and-mortar, or all of the above, SJC creates integrated cross-platform content solutions that deliver a seamless brand experience. The company brings its 60+ years of award-winning expertise to leading retailers, publishers, cataloguers and financial corporations in North America. SJC also publishes some of Canadas most iconic and celebrated media brands: Canadian Business, Chatelaine (English and French), FASHION Magazine, FLARE, HELLO! Canada, Macleans, Mariage Quebec, Ottawa Magazine, Quill & Quire, Todays Parent, Toronto Life, Weddingbells and the Where Group of Magazines in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto. SJC is a 2020 Platinum Club winner of Canadas Best Managed Companies, marking 17 consecutive years of recognition. Visit visit www.stjoseph.com. For further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact: Marta Tsimicalis Marketing & Communications Manager, SJC marta.tsimicalis@stjoseph.com 416.895.4771 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c5485081-70cd-41d3-83fb-20043bf16854 In a clear rebuke to US President Donald Trump, former defence secretary James Mattis on Wednesday sided with people who had been protesting outside the White House over George Floyds killing. Mattis, who differs with Trumps handling of the protests and his threats to deploy the military to end the unrest, joins a growing list of top defence leaders, past and present, who have either openly criticised Trump or distanced themselves from him. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people, does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us, Mattis wrote in a statement to the news publication The Atlantic. His remarks came hours after Mark Esper, his successor at the Pentagon, tried to distance himself from Trumps threat to use US military personnel against protesters. Esper said that he doesnt support invoking the Insurrection Act, which is a significant departure from Trumps plan to use the 200-year-old law to deploy military forces domestically. Demonstrations in cities across the US to condemn racism and police abuses remained large but subdued. At least 10,000 protesters have been arrested so far. On Wednesday, a police officer was stabbed and at least two people shot in Brooklyn, hours into the curfew in New York City. Former chairman of the US chiefs of staff Mike Mullen wrote in a piece in The Atlantic, I am not convinced that the conditions on our streets have risen to the level that justifies a heavy reliance on military troops. Certainly, we have not crossed the threshold that would make it appropriate to invoke the provisions of the Insurrection Act. John Allen, a retired general who headed US-led forces in Afghanistan, wrote in Foreign Policy, Right now, the last thing the country needs is the appearance of US soldiers carrying out the presidents intent by descending on American citizens. Trump is trying to convince various states to use military reservists of the National Guard, specially in New York City. If they dont get it straightened out soon, Ill take care of it, Trump told News Max TV. Novadip Biosciences to unveil its 3M3 Platform at BIO Digital 2020 -Unique 3M3 tissue regeneration technology platform generates multiple product candidates: autologous, off-the-shelf and miRNA/exosome Mont-Saint Guibert, Belgium, 4 June, 2020: Novadip Biosciences ("Novadip" or "the Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its unique tissue regeneration technology platform to generate multiple product candidates, announces that it will unveil details of its 3M3 miRNA delivery platform in a recorded presentation at the BIO Digital conference, which is taking place on June 8-12, 2020. Novadip's unique 3M3 platform for tissue regeneration is aimed at healing damaged tissues by restoring their natural physiology and brings together over 15 years of academic research with practical surgery experience and proof of principle clinical data. 3M3 consists of a 3-dimensional, scaffold-free extracellular matrix (ECM), utilizing differentiated adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), to generate a high and stable amount of highly-specific growth factors and miRNAs to restore the physiology of natural healing of the tissue. The platform is capable of driving three distinct classes of product: (i) autologous cell therapies for critical size tissue reconstruction, (ii) allogeneic off-the shelf therapeutics for prevalent and complex tissue defects such as multi-level spinal fusion, diabetic skin wounds and maxillofacial fractures, and (iii) miRNA/exosome-based therapeutics for unattainable systemic tissue and other diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, and certain solid tumors. Novadip has already demonstrated clinical proof-of-concept with the autologous cell therapy line in bone reconstruction with two clinical trials ongoing in bone regeneration indications and advanced pre-clinical programs for skin. Furthermore the Company has meaningful in vivo data for future allogenic off-the-shelf therapeutics. The market potential across all three product lines range could be worth in excess of $10 billion with future opportunities for partnering and licensing. The presentation at BIO Digital will be available on the conference website here . If you would like to speak with Dr. Denis Dufrane from Novadip please contact denis.dufrane@novadip.com. Dr. Denis Dufrane, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Novadip, commented:"Novadip's clinical work to date provides confidence in our ability to restore natural healing and we are now focused on rapidly bringing the benefits of the platform to bear across multiple indications and product formats. We look forward to generating further data in support of our unique tissue regeneration technology platform as we strive to address the unmet need in damaged tissue conditions." - Ends - Notes to editors Novadip Biosciences Novadip Biosciences is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its unique 3D tissue regeneration technology platform to generate multiple product candidates to address hard and soft tissue reconstruction for patients who have limited or no treatment options. The company's proprietary 3M3 platform is a 3-dimensional, extracellular matrix that utilizes adipose-derived stem cells to deliver highly-specific growth factors and miRNAs to mimic the physiology of natural healing and creates a range of products that address specific challenges in tissue regeneration. Novadip's initial focus is on critical size bone reconstruction and its lead program is in development for a rare pediatric orthopedic disease. The company is also applying its 3M3 platform to develop truly novel off-the-shelf/allogeneic therapies to address more prevalent tissue defects and miRNA/exosome products for broader indications. For more information, visit www.novadip.com . For further information, please contact: Novadip Biosciences Denis Dufrane Acting Chief Executive Officer, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Novadip +32 (10) 779 220 info@novadip.com For media enquiries: Consilium Strategic Communications Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal, Angela Gray +44 (0) 20 3709 5700 Minneapolis: All protest movements have slogans. George Floyd's has a number: 8:46. Eight minutes, 46 seconds is the length of time prosecutors say Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was pinned to the ground under a white Minneapolis police officer's knee before he died last week. In the days since, outraged protesters, allies and sympathetic companies have seized on the detail as a quiet way to honour Floyd at a time of angry and sometimes violent clashes with police. Even as prosecutors have said little about how they arrived at the precise number, it has fast grown into a potent symbol of the suffering Floyd - and many other black men - have experienced at the hands of police. Protesters lie down for eight minutes and 46 seconds during a protest at the University of Utah. Credit:AP In Boston and salt Lake City, demonstrators this week lay down staging "die-ins" for precisely eight minutes, 46 seconds. In Houston, churchgoers held candles and bowed their heads in silence, experiencing the crawl of time. Photo: Contributed When the Canadian Emergency Reponse Benefit (CERB) program was launched, government of Canada civil servants estimated the total costs of the program would be roughly $35 billion in this fiscal year. However, we now know that the government is projecting the CERB to cost up to $60 billion when it wraps up later this year. We also now know that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government instructed civil servants to ignore fraudulent applications. It has been revealed that instructions were given to approve applications that did not meet the CERB guidelines that were set by the government in the first place. This is part of the reason why the revised total for the CERB program will be much higher than expected. These significant expenditures will come up for debate shortly, and without regular Parliament being in session, there will be only four hours of debate to scrutinize this additional spending. This is completely unacceptable. We need time to dig into the books and ensure that taxpayers are being respected. Sadly, due to the Liberal government and their NDP allies, that will not happen. Recognizing that CERB fraud has become a significant problem, the Liberal government has now announced what the media reports as a CRA snitch line. Using this "snitch line," suspected fraudulent claims may be reported. This same method will also be accepting suspected fraud reports of the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) programs. Revenue Canada has confirmed it will take all necessary steps to recover any funds obtained by fraud. The purpose of my report this week is not to criticize the government for taking these steps but rather to inform citizens of the efforts being undertaken by the government to address the problem of fraud, after the fact. These are important challenges to be aware of. These are challenges that would be important to include in debate in Ottawa. Unfortunately, with just four hours of debate being made available, divided among all members of the House, it will be a challenge. I remain of the strong view that it was a serious mistake for the NDP to support this Liberal government in shutting down Parliament during this crisis. My question this week: Do you believe regular sittings of Parliament must be resumed as a priority? I can be reached at 1-800-665-8711 or [email protected] The federal government has refused an exemption to its live export ban that would have allowed 56,000 sheep to be transported to the Middle East, and they will now be slaughtered in Western Australia. The Al Kuwait vessel docked in Fremantle on May 22 was to take the sheep, but when crew members began testing positive to COVID-19 it left the ship stranded and the livestock in limbo at a feedlot. The Department of Agriculture said it considered animal welfare and trade implications before denying Rural Export and Trading WA an exemption to its northern summer live export ban, which began on Monday, and reasons would be given this week. 'The livestock that was to be exported in this consignment remain at registered premises and ... there are no welfare concerns,' the department said. Fifty-six thousand sheep will be killed after the crew of the ship that was supposed to take them to the Middle East have been struck down with coronavirus The livestock have been left in limbo at a feedlot in Western Australia and will now be killed WA Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said she presumed a rational decision had been made based significantly on weather analysis. 'This has not been a problem of Australia's making,' she told reporters on Wednesday. 'While some people will be a bit grumpy about this, I'm sure that in the long run it is ensuring that we don't have another disaster.' Ms MacTiernan said the sheep would go to local processors and conceded the price of lamb could fall, but it would be modest. RETWA managing director Mike Gordon said the decision would have significant trade ramifications. 'Animal welfare is always our top priority,' he said. 'We believe the department's risk appetite is unrealistic and over-cautious.' WA Health Minister Roger Cook said it was not an optimal outcome. 'Sheep travelling in the harsh conditions of the northern summer wouldn't be a great outcome for them either,' he said. The Department of Agriculture said it considered animal welfare and trade implications before denying Rural Export and Trading WA an exemption to its northern summer live export ban, which began on Monday. Pictured: the vessel 'We are just working with what we've got.' WAFarmers livestock president David Slade said the industry had worked hard for a resolution after government authorities 'entirely mishandled' the situation, but were left frustrated and disappointed. Mr Slade said it was obvious regulators had no intention of ever granting the exemption. 'Given the major advances to animal welfare conditions onboard live export vessels, it is extremely clear there are hidden agendas at play.' Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said an appeal was unlikely. RSPCA Australia senior policy officer Jed Goodfellow said the government made the right decision. 'Granting an exemption and sending Australian sheep to that fate would have completely undermined the integrity of the new laws and rocked public confidence in the regulator.' The northern summer ban was sparked by thousands of sheep dying from heat stress aboard the Awassi Express in 2017. Almost half of the 48 crew on the Al Kuwait have coronavirus and the ship cannot leave before June 13. WA has recorded one new coronavirus case after a man in his 30s, who travelled overseas and is in quarantine, tested positive. during the forecast period. The Enterprise Content Management (ECM) market size is projected to grow from USD 40. 1 billion in 2020 to USD 66. 9 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10. New York, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Enterprise Content Management Market by Component, Deployment Mode, Organization Size, Business Function, Vertical And Region - Global Forecast to 2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05025060/?utm_source=GNW 8% during the forecast period. The major growth factors of the ECM market include the increased need of companies to organize, categorize, and structure all of the content in a meaningful, easily explorable manner and rising demand of companies to deliver personalized content to the right audience through the right channels. Cloud deployment mode to grow at a rapid pace during the forecast period Advances in cloud and analytics technology, as well as the continued integration of social collaboration tools, have expanded the outlook of what ECM solutions can do.The sheer volume of content that is being created and stored can be staggering; over time, the improvements in cloud and analytics technologies would drive the need for better usability and mobility among end-users. All these signs point in the direction of cloud deployment as a primary means of maximizing ECMs effectiveness.ECM cloud-based solutions enable organizations to avoid upfront implementation and infrastructure costs, mitigate staffing expenses, and ultimately reduce their total cost of ownership on the storage and management of content. In addition to significant cost-reduction, organizations are considering improving their ECMs ease-of-use and accessibility by implementing cloud deployment. Therefore, moving an ECM tool to the cloud makes it even easier for team members to store, retrieve, and apply content while on-the-go or working from home. Based on solution, the eSignature segment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period There is a clear move in the business world toward all-digital business processes.Electronic, automated processes allow the kind of efficiency that old-fashioned, paper-focused processes simply cannot. One of the areas where a digital solution is clearly called for signature capture software.An effective ECM enables customers and clients to digitally sign documents, proposals, and more. An electronic signature (eSignature) solution is composed of software to sign documents electronically, which has a whole host of benefits for companies security, organization, and efficiency. eSignatures provide companies and their customers the ability to sign electronic documents from just about anywhere. Automatic emails notify signers when their signatures are required, and with the click of a button, documents are presented for signature from any computer or mobile device. Based on region, Asia Pacific to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period APAC has witnessed advanced and dynamic adoption of new technologies and is expected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period.APAC is expected to witness the fastest adoption of ECM solutions. Organizations from various verticals are adopting ECM.Many international players are tapping the ECM market, which is focused on all sizes of organizations. Initially, content management in this region followed a low-profiled approach.However, the increased need to manage consistent data and prompt control and visibility mechanisms has led to a wider demand among enterprises in the region. Moreover, the sale of ECM solutions has increased due to the growing need for implementing security and accessibility controls, as enhanced decision-making has made APAC a highly potential market. In-depth interviews were conducted with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), innovation and technology directors, system integrators, and executives from various key organizations operating in the ECM market. By Company: Tier I: 15%, Tier II: 40%, and Tier III: 45% By Designation: C-Level Executives: 50%, Directors: 30%, and Others: 20% By Region: North America: 25%, Europe: 30%, APAC: 30%, MEA: 10%, and Latin America: 5% The report includes the study of the key players offering ECM solutions and services.It profiles major vendors in the global ECM market. The major vendors includes IBM (US), Oracle (US), Microsoft (US), SAP (Germany), OpenText (Canada), Xerox (US), Atlassian (Australia), Newgen Software (India), Veeva (US), Fabasoft (Austria), Ascend Software (US), Alfresco (US), Laserfiche (US), M-Files (US), Hyland (US), Everteam (US), Nuxeo (US), Systemware (US), DOMA Technologies (US), SER Group (Germany), GRM Information Management (US), Box (US), Adobe (US). It also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the ECM market, along with their company profiles, business overviews, product offerings, recent developments, and market strategies. Research Coverage The market study covers the ECM market across segments.It aims at estimating the market size and the growth potential of this market across different segments, such as component, deployment mode, organization size, business function, vertical, and region. The study further includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the market, along with their company profiles, key observations related to product and business offerings, recent developments, and key market strategies. Key Benefits of Buying the Report The report will help the market leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall ECM market and the subsegments.This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to position their businesses better and to plan suitable go-to-market strategies. The report further helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05025060/?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. __________________________ Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 HOWELL, MI Nearly 100 demonstrators lined Grand River Avenue in Howell on Thursday in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and to protest police brutality. Protesters were out as early as 11 a.m. in downtown Howell to support the movement that has generated demonstrations nationwide after a white Minnesota police officer killed a black man, George Floyd, by kneeling on his neck last week. For Genevieve Schoeberlein, 18, of Howell, the Black Lives Matter movement has been something she has been passionate about for a long time, and was grateful for an opportunity to demonstrate in her own town. Being able to do something so close to home and seeing so many people that are supportive, it really means a lot and Im excited to be able to share this message, Schoeberlein said. At one point, Schoeberlein left the line of protesters to get more cardboard and sharpies for signs. Other community members walked around with coolers to make sure people had enough water, and Harley Wheeler was engaging with protesters, asking them to keep their messages peaceful. Were here to show that we can be peaceful and you can do this, and it just means a lot to me to show that Howell is not what it used to be 50 years ago, Wheeler said. A former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, Robert E. Miles, once lived in Cohoctah Township, just north of Howell, fueling perceptions the town as historically racist. Miles died in 1992. Thomas LaMay a Howell resident, said the city is only associated with racism because of its past. A tale of two towns: Newest racial incident has Howell facing its past LaMay, along with a few dozen other people, said he was out with the protesters to make sure the demonstration doesnt turn violent. While he sometimes carries a concealed weapon, he decided not to bring it to the protest because it would send the wrong message. We welcome anybody, LaMay said. It doesnt matter whether youre black, Asian, Mexican, it doesnt matter youre more than welcome here. Ill even buy you a sundae. Wheeler shook hands with those who werent protesting, but rather making sure things were peaceful, and she said those people were there to protect our town and protect our right to peaceful protest. I wanted to make sure that I went through and said thank you to everybody that showed up here today, Wheeler said. Theyll all tell you the same thing they just dont want to see this town hurt. Many passing by along Grand River Avenue honked their horns and cheered in support of the protesters. Some held up signs from their car windows in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, while others held a fist up and acknowledged the crowd. There were some, however, who were not in support of the protesters as they drove by. A few yelled white power out of their car windows and all lives matter, and one man took the time to slow down near the sidewalk and flip off each protester from his truck. One man, who would not provide his name, walked in front of the protesters with his middle finger in the air and even confronted one who said, This aint the spot, man. Schoeberlein said those actions come down to ignorance and stubbornness. Theres not much I can do to change their minds other than want to share and give resources (to them) in order to educate themselves, Schoeberlein said. Eden Spallone, who lives in Howell, showed up to the protests around 3 p.m. and led the crowd in numerous chants. Spallone said she was in Detroit the last previous two nights peacefully protesting, and while she was fine with being just a protester, she wanted to make sure that everything in Howell remained peaceful. What she saw in Howell was everything I wanted in terms of a peaceful protest for the town. We have come together and there are quite a few familiar faces that I know here that live in Howell, and Im so incredibly proud, Spallone said. I think this is about as peaceful as we can get. The black community in the United States has not only been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, but taken the weight of recent community trauma dispersed in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The death of Floyd, a Houston native, also hits very close to home for many Texans. San Antonio has no shortage of local, black-owned businesses. Supporting local, black restaurants keeps our dollars in the Alamo City and bolsters black cuisine, creativity and economic opportunity. The Black Business Directory of San Antonio offers comprehensive guidance to supporting these businesses. A full list of San Antonio black-owned restaurants can be found here. The Taliban boasted of their readiness to fight the deadly coronavirus when it first reached Afghanistan, but now the insurgents are struggling to curb its spread in their strongholds. For months, Habib Rahman, a resident of a Taliban-controlled area in the south of the country, has been unable to test whether his persistent cough is due to the virus. "I have a cough, fever and chest pain," said Rahman, 32, who owns a grocery store in Helmand province. "There is neither a center here to diagnose or treat coronavirus patients, nor is there any effort to create awareness of the disease. Official figures show Afghanistan has more than 17,000 confirmed cases -- including thousands in Taliban-controlled territories. But an overall shortage of testing kits, medical supplies and a dilapidated health system were compounding problems in tackling the spread, said Ahmed Saeedi, an independent analyst. Years of war have left Afghanistan with a crumbling health sector, hampering the government's fight against COVID-19. In an attempt to bolster their narrative that they can run Afghanistan better than the struggling administration, the Taliban launched a campaign to tackle the virus in March. They posted images online showing insurgents distributing masks and soap to villagers -- albeit without any social distancing. In one image, masked militants wearing white protective suits check residents' temperatures and explain about personal hygiene as a machinegun is seen on a nearby table. Disbelief About Virus The virus entered Afghanistan as infected migrants returned from neighboring Iran, the region's worst-hit country, and the Taliban ordered hundreds of returnees into quarantine. In some areas they controlled, the insurgents allowed government health officials to monitor the virus's spread -- something rare for a group blamed for the deaths of dozens of medics over the years. But in recent weeks, residents from provinces such as Kunduz, Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar -- where the Taliban hold sway over large areas -- complain they have been abandoned to their fate. In Kunduz, where the militants fought a fierce night battle before a short nationwide ceasefire last month, insurgents have barred medics. "They said they would handle the virus on their own," said Sebghatullah, a doctor from a nearby district, worried about the residents' lack of awareness when it came to personal hygiene. Haji Qudratullah, a resident of Helmand, said he recently saw a group of Taliban fighters film a promotional video at a neighborhood clinic, but they never returned. "I have not seen anybody do anything to raise awareness about the virus here," he said. Taliban commanders insist they are helping fight the virus. "People who are suffering from high fever, cough and body pain... are taken to Tarinkot," said Hafez Mohammad, a Taliban commander, referring to the capital of Uruzgan province. Even during the Taliban's rule in the late 1990s, Afghanistan's health sector was hit by poor infrastructure, little international aid and underpaid medics. The disease is also sweeping through the Taliban itself, with several high-level militants believed to be sick with COVID-19, according to international media reports. The group deny any of their senior leaders are ill. Transgression Against Religion In his annual message marking the Eid holiday, the Taliban's top leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, urged people to seek medical help for the disease. But he also insisted the virus was caused by mankind's "transgression against Allah's religion". To stop the virus, people should "seek forgiveness from Allah and stop violating his commands", Akhundzada said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants had distributed booklets explaining how to prevent infections. "Our mobile teams, using motorcycles, are taking people with symptoms to the hospitals," Mujahid told AFP. Experts, however, said the insurgents faced an uphill task. "There is no ambulance or a professional team that can take their samples or treat these suspected patients," health official Hamid Ahmadi said. Residents, meanwhile, say they have little information on what to do. "Many people are complaining from flu-like symptoms... we don't know why," said Haji Abdul Bari in Helmand. "Nobody has told us about the symptoms of corona. We don't know anything about it." Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The UK IVF market was valued at $514 million in 2018 and is estimated to reach $928 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 7.6% during the analysis period. In-vitro-Fertilization (IVF) is a common artificial infertility treatment performed in the laboratory. The treatment involves removing an ova (egg or eggs) or ovum from the ovaries and allowing sperm to fertilize them in a laboratory dish. It is a form of assisted reproductive technology based fertility treatment across the clinical industry. The process involves five major steps such as stimulation, egg retrieval, insemination & fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo transfer, which is completed over a course of several months. After the fertilized egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for up to 6 days, it is implanted in another or same woman's uterus. In vitro fertilization can help conceive when other natural treatments have failed. Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/13250 The UK invitro fertilization market is on the rise owing to increase in awareness about assisted reproductive technology, favorable regulations for IVF, and commercialization of three-parent IVF procedures. In addition, rise in awareness about assisted reproductive technology is expected to boost the UK IVF market. However, ethical considerations by social and religious organizations, and cost of the treatment are expected to hinder the growth of the IVF market in the UK. However, involvement of social and religious organizations for revaluation of the IVF legislation in the UK hinders the growth of the market. Furthermore, surge in technical advancements related IVF technique is projected to provide lucrative opportunities during the forecast period. The UK in vitro fertilization market (IVF) is segmented based on cycle type, and end user. Based on cycle type, the market is divided into fresh IVF cycles (non-donor), thawed IVF cycles (non-donor), and donor egg IVF cycles. Based on end user, the market is classified into fertility clinics, hospitals, surgical centers, and clinical research institutes. KEY MARKET BENEFITS The study provides an in-depth analysis of the UK in vitro fertilization (IVF) market along with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets. The report presents a quantitative analysis of the market from 2018 to 2026 to enable stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing market opportunities. An extensive analysis of the market based on application assists in understanding the trends in the industry. The key market players along with their strategies are thoroughly analyzed to understand the competitive outlook of the industry. Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/13250 KEY MARKET SEGMENTS UK In Vitro Fertilization Market By Cycle Type o Fresh IVF Cycles (non-donor) o Thawed IVF Cycles (non-donor) o Donor Egg IVF Cycles By End User o Fertility Clinics o Hospitals o Surgical Centers o Clinical Research Institutes LIST of KEY PLAYERS PRofILED IN THE REPORT The Lister Fertility Clinic The Bridge Centre Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (Assisted Conception Unit) More Info of Impact Covid19@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/13250 The drug war is a major policy of President Rodrigo Duterte and tens of thousands may have been killed. Tens of thousands of people in the Philippines may have been killed in the war on drugs since mid-2016, amid near impunity for police and incitement to violence by top officials, the United Nations said on Thursday. The drugs crackdown, launched by President Rodrigo Duterte after winning his election on a platform of crushing crime, has been marked by police orders and high-level rhetoric that may have been interpreted as permission to kill, it said. Police, who do not need search or arrest warrants to conduct house raids, systematically force suspects to make self-incriminating statements or risk facing lethal force, the UN human rights office said in a report. There has been only one conviction, for the 2017 murder of Kian delos Santos, a 17-year-old Manila student, it said. Three police officers were convicted after CCTV footage led to public outrage, it said. At least 73 children were killed in the drug war, the youngest being five months old, the report added. Despite credible allegations of widespread and systematic extrajudicial killings in the context of the campaign against illegal drugs, there has been near impunity for such violations, the report said. Police say their actions in the anti-drug campaign have been lawful and that deaths occur in shootouts with dealers resisting arrest. But in at least 25 cases of drug war raids, proof was found suggesting police were planting evidence. In some instances, guns allegedly used by slain suspects bore identical serial numbers. The pattern suggests planting of evidence by police officers and casts doubt on the self-defense narrative, implying that the victims were likely unarmed at the time of killing. The report said that some statements from the highest levels of government had risen to the level of incitement to violence and vilification of dissent is being increasingly institutionalized. The human rights situation in the Philippines is marked by an overarching focus on public order and national security, including countering terrorism and illegal drugs, it said. But this was often at the expense of human rights, due process rights, the rule of law and accountability. The government has also increasingly filed criminal charges, including by using COVID-19 special powers laws, against social media users posting content critical of government policies and actions, the report added. The document will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council later in June. In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines said the report was a damning indictment of the Duterte administrations non-compliance with principles, standards, instruments and conventions on human rights. Lawyers and activists raised the alarm this week over a new anti-terrorism bill pushed by Duterte, warning of draconian and arbitrary provisions that could be abused to target his detractors. Drug-related killings Most victims in the drug war are young, poor urban males, the UN report said. Their relatives described numerous obstacles in documenting cases and pursuing justice. The most conservative figure, based on Government data, suggests that since July 2016, 8,663 people have been killed with other estimates of up to triple that number, it said. The UN cited reports of widespread drug-related killings perpetrated by unidentified vigilantes and a Philippine government report in 2017 that referred to 16,355 homicide cases under investigations as accomplishments in the drugs war. Human rights groups said that the death toll in Dutertes drug war could be at least 27,000. An undertaker removes the body of a suspected victim of the Philippines war on drugs from a street in Pasay city, south of Manila, in March 2019 [Francis R. Malasig/EPA] A 2016 police circular launching the campaign uses the terms negation and neutralisation of drug personalities, it said, calling for its repeal. Such ill-defined and ominous language, coupled with repeated verbal encouragement by the highest level of State officials to use lethal force, may have emboldened police to treat the circular as permission to kill, it said. Government figures show that 223,780 drug personalities were arrested from mid-July 2016 until 2019, but unclear charges and irregularities in due process raise concerns that many of these cases may amount to arbitrary detentions. At least 248 land and environmental rights activists, lawyers, journalists and trade unionists were killed between 2015 and 2019, the report said. So-called red-tagging, or labelling people and groups as communists or terrorists, had become rife. [June 04, 2020] MPS Limited Announces Christian Mutzner as New Chief Operating Officer of MPS Europe Christian Mutzner has taken charge as the Chief Operating Officer of the subsidiaries of MPS Limited in Europe, a leading provider of content, learning, and platform solutions. Christian joins the Senior Management Team of MPS and will be responsible for leading the group's eLearning and platform businesses in Europe in addition to managing key customer relationships in the region. With nearly 30 years of experience serving as the CFO and COO in large multinational corporations, Christian's role in MPS' senior leadership team leverages his experience in bringing operational excellence and ensuring sustainable business growth. He has a reputation for building global business models and bringing together multi-cultural teams to deliver Excellence, Efficiency, and Empathy. His past associations with well-known companies sch as UBS, Pharmexx, Solera (News - Alert), and Quantum Global will hold him in good stead as he focusses on scaling up MPS' European operations. "MPS Europe is an exciting team of talented individuals and dynamic leaders. We are working on some very innovative ideas and approaches that will redefine learning for years to come. I look forward to carrying forth and boosting the positive momentum that MPS has built in Europe," says Mutzner. "I am confident that Chris will provide operational oversight to our European business inline with our core strategy of Leverage, Diversify, and Disrupt. We remain committed to supporting our customers in their digital learning journey and to minimize the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. We are glad to have Chris lead us in Europe through such unprecedented time," said Rahul Arora, CEO of MPS Limited. About MPS Limited Established in 1970, MPS provides platform, learning, and content solutions to the world's leading enterprises, publishers, learning companies, and content aggregators. MPS is listed on major Indian stock exchanges; nearly 2,500 associates power MPS across seven development centers in India, two subsidiaries in Europe, and five offices in the US. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005024/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Meghan Markle has spoken to the graduating class of her former high school about racism amid ongoing protests in Los Angeles and across the USA following the death of George Floyd. But its far from the first time the royal has spoken about race. As the daughter of a white father and a black mother, Meghan has admitted in the past to being scared to talk about her identity. In an article for Elle in 2015, before she met Prince Harry, she said talking about green juice, pilates, and her love of handwritten notes (she is a master of calligraphy) was easier than tackling the issue of her heritage. The former actor shared a story of being asked to fill in a form at school including her ethnicity but not feeling as though she could comfortably tick caucasian or African-American. She put her pen down when her teacher told her to choose caucasian and her father, Thomas Markle, told her to draw her own box. She wrote: While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman. That when asked to choose my ethnicity in a questionnaire as in my seventh grade class, or these days to check 'Other', I simply say: 'Sorry, world, this is not Lost and I am not one of The Others. I am enough exactly as I am. In the same article, she added: On the heels of the racial unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore, the tensions that have long been percolating under the surface in the US have boiled over in the most deeply saddening way. And as a biracial woman, I watch in horror as both sides of a culture I define as my own become victims of spin in the media, perpetuating stereotypes and reminding us that the States has perhaps only placed bandages over the problems that have never healed at the root. Read more: Meghan Markle shares devastation at George Floyds death in speech to her former LA high school Story continues Meghan's latest comments come after years of campaigning. (Getty Images) In a resurfaced video from 2012, Meghan also addressed how people treat her because she is biracial. She said: Certain people dont look at me and see me as a black woman or a biracial woman. They treat me different, differently I think then they would if they knew what I was mixed with. And I think that is I dont know it can be a struggle as much as it can be a good thing depending on the people that youre dealing with. I am really proud of my heritage on both sides. Im really proud of where Ive come from and where Im going. I hope that by the time I have children that people are even more open-minded to how things are changing and that having a mixed world is what its all about. I mean, certainly, it makes it a lot more beautiful and a lot more interesting. Meghan became a global ambassador for World Vision Canada in 2016 and travelled to Rwanda for their clean water campaign. Speaking about her humanitarian work and hinting at the racial issues which surround it, she said: There is a myth that those who do humanitarian work have a saviour mentality, but the relationship is reciprocal. As a royal, she addressed her skin colour during a speech to women facing gender-based violence in South Africa. Read more: Full transcript of Meghan Markle's impassioned anti-racism speech given to students at former high school Meghan referenced her skin colour in a speech in South Africa. (WireImage) She told them: On one personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour, and as your sister. According to the PA news agency, before marrying into the Windsor family, she shared of how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at KFC during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for coloureds and eat the chicken in the car park. That story still haunts me, she wrote. It reminds me of how young our country is. How far weve come and how far we still have to come. Read more: 'Nervous' Meghan Markle delivered anti-racism speech with no notes, says friend Meghans continuing court case with the Mail On Sunday and the MailOnline also addresses issues around race. In court documents addressing the articles written about her, particularly as she was described as being straight outta Compton, she said: The fact that the Defendant chose to stereotype this entire community as being 'plagued by crime and riddled with street gang' and thereby suggest (in the first few days of her relationship being revealed) that the Claimant came from a crime-ridden neighbourhood is completely untrue as well as intended to be divisive. The Claimant will also refer to the fact that the article cites her aunt as living in 'gang-afflicted Inglewood' in order to bolster this negative and damaging impression of where this (black) side of her family is said to come from. While Harry and Meghan may have stepped back from their roles as senior royals, they are still the president and vice-president respectively of the Queens Commonwealth Trust. The trust shared a Martin Luther King Jr comment on Twitter amid the protests, and wrote: Young people are vital voices in the fight against injustice and racism around the world. As a global community of young leaders we stand together in pursuit of fairness and a better way forward. Silence is not an option. We all have the power to effect positive change. It is time to speak up and speak out. Time to have uncomfortable conversations with ourselves and with others. Time to educate ourselves and unlearn. Time to come together and build a better future as one. Markets reacted to a failure by major oil producers to meet on Thursday to discuss extending oil output cuts into July. Oil prices dropped on Thursday, reversing gains in the previous session, on concern over whether major crude producers will be able to agree to extend record output cuts, heightened by worries over a huge build-up in distillate inventories in the United States. Brent crude futures fell 1.46 percent or 58 cents, to $39.21 a barrel as of 04:59 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 1.98 percent, or 74 cents, to $36.55 a barrel. More: Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the worlds biggest oil producers, have agreed to support extending into July the 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in supply cuts backed in April by the OPEC+ group, comprised of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers. But they failed to agree on holding an OPEC+ meeting on Thursday to discuss the cuts, with OPEC sources saying it would be conditional on countries that have not complied with their targets so far deepening their cuts. The market has taken a look at that and said its getting more complicated to get that deal over the line, said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank. That would imply OPEC+ would go back to what they agreed in April, which was to ease their supply cuts to 7.7 million bpd from July, he said. Further, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are not planning to extend voluntary additional output cuts of 1.18 million bpd after June, indicating crude supply could rise next month no matter what OPEC+ decides. Saudi Arabia and Russia are keen on ensuring that all members comply with the current deal. In particular, Iraq and Nigeria, whose compliance over May came in at just 42 percent and 33 percent respectively, Dutch investment bank ING said in a research note sent to Al Jazeera. It does appear that any extension of current cuts will be largely dependent on these countries improving their compliance levels, and potentially even making up for their lack of compliance in May. Failing to do so would mean that the deal likely stays in its current form, the banks commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said. The huge build in distillate inventory in the US, the worlds biggest oil user, also weighed on prices, said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy. US Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed gasoline stocks rose by 2.8 million barrels, nearly triple what analysts had expected, while distillate stocks rose by 9.9 million barrels, or nearly four times more than expected. Overall demand for diesel and similar fuels is down 13 percent from the year-ago period over the last four weeks. Gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, picked up last week, but the four-week average still shows a 23 percent drop from the year-ago period. It shows the recovery in gasoline and distillate demand is not V-shaped. It just reinforces that weve had this initial (price) recovery driven by supply-side discipline, Shaw said. Dhaka, June 4 : In a nationwide crackdown, Bangladesh security forces have arrested 16 human traffickers responsible for sending more than 30 workers to Libya, most of whom perished in a grisly massacre last week. Seven of these 14 traffickers were nabbed by CID, said DIG (Organised Crime), Imtiaz Ahmed, in a press briefing on Thursday afternoon. They also identified the travel agents, who are involved with human trafficking. The Libyan warlord Khaled Al-Mishai, who is said to be responsible for killing 26 Bangladeshis and four African migrants in the town of Mizda, has reportedly been killed in a drone strike by Libyan government forces.In a tweet, Libyan English daily The Libya Observer said Khaled Al-Mishai was killed in a drone strike by Libyan air force south of Gharyan on Tuesday. Chandan Devnath, Assistant Director of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) 14, told IANS that four of those arrested belonged to the big racket spearheaded by Haji Kamal that smuggles Bangladesh workers to Middle East , Africa and Europe via Kolkata and Mumbai. On May 28, accomplices of a Libyan labour contractor opened fire on 38 Bangladeshi and some African workers after they had killed him. Twenty-six Bangladeshis and four African migrant workers were killed on the spot and two later succumbed to wounds in a hospital. The workers alleged that the Libyan contractor was fleecing and torturing them until they could take it no more. Two victims, Mohammad Ali and Mahbub, had been sent by the trafficker Khabiruddin and Helaluddin Hilu, both of whom were arrested by RAB. Another victim Rajon Khandaker was sent by trafficker Shahid Miah, who was apprehended by RAB. Injured migrant Janu Mia was sent by the traffickers Khabiruddin and Helaluddin , RAB official Devnath added. RAB-3 has also arrested Kamal Uddin alias Haji Kamal (55), a ringleader of human trafficking. He was arrested by a team of RAB-3 from Shahjadpur in the capital's Gulshan area early on Monday. Kamal allegedly had trafficked many of the 26 Bangladeshi nationals killed in Libya on May 28, said senior police Super Abdul Jabbar member of RAB-3 . RAB official Jabbar told IANS: "Kamal supplied tiles for buildings but was connected to a big labour group. He would promise to send the labourers to Libya, then Europe. And then smuggled them abroad after taking money. In this way, he has sent at least 400 people to Libya." After his arrest, RAB seized a number of passports from Kamal reportedly used for human trafficking in the last nearly 10 years. Bangladesh has strongly protested the massacre in the Libyan town of Mizda, 180 km south of Tripoli, on May 28. Bangladesh did reach out to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to bring back the bodies home and sought compensation for their families. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had demanded justice and compensation for families of those killed, appealing to both Libya and international agencies to deliver. Bangladesh is one of three nations which continues to retain a mission in the civil war-ravaged Libya. Labour exports and remittances by these labourers from abroad account for Bangladesh's second largest source of foreign exchange earnings after ready-made garments, nearly 35 nbillion US dollars . Which is why Bangladesh authorities discourage illegal labour exports and crack down on them, because the illegals don't use banking channels but are compelled to use 'hawala' and 'hundi', resulting in loss of remittance income for the development-driven Hasina Sheikh government. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed WASHINGTON - After a day-long interview with the State Department inspector general who was fired last month amid investigations of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's conduct, lawmakers of both parties said they came away with little better sense of the specifics surrounding his termination. "What was disturbing was not so much anything he said as ... here we are deposing an IG who got fired for doing his job," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who took part in the virtual interview jointly conducted by members and staff of the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees. President Donald Trump abruptly fired Steve Linick, the department watchdog, last month at what both he and Pompeo said was at Pompeo's request. Pompeo has said Linick pursued investigations of administration policies he disagreed with, that his office was responsible for leaks, and that he was not supportive of the secretary's "ethos statement" on department behavior. In a brief opening statement, Linick said that "the record shows that I have served without regard to politics, having been nominated as an inspector general by presidents from both parties," he said. He served first at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and then for seven years at the State Department. During questioning by lawmakers, Linick confirmed that his office was looking into alleged misuse by Pompeo and his wife of personnel who reportedly were tasked with doing personal errands for them, as well as the administration's bypassing of congressional approval for arms sales to Saudi Arabia, according to a person familiar with the interview, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the closed-door session. But the inspector general did not get into details, and he refused to speculate as to whether either of those matters had anything to do with why he was fired, the person said. As in the House impeachment proceedings, the two sides of the aisle came at the Linick issue from different directions. Republicans, while asserting the absolute right of the president to fire any inspector general, have also sought to put meat on the bones of Pompeo's vague charges that Linick misused his office. Democrats have said that proper congressional oversight includes ascertaining whether the secretary of state wanted to get rid of him because Linick was investigating Pompeo himself. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said he questioned Linick about leaks from an investigation that concluded last year that found the department office of policy planning had acted against a career employee for having served under the Obama administration and being of Iranian heritage. When those conclusions appeared in the media before the report was released, State Department leadership instructed Linick to seek a review by the Council of Inspectors General. On the council's instructions, he asked Glen Fine - at the time the acting inspector general for the Defense Department - to look into the matter. Linick told lawmakers that Fine had cleared his office of responsibility for leaking, Zeldin said, but at the same time refused to answer questions about who else might have done it, because the investigation was still "pending." "There was too much that he was forgetting throughout the day, and there was way too much cherry-picking of which questions he felt like answering," Zeldin said. While Linick declined to talk about individual investigations, "the Republicans tried to pursue various alternative theories" about why he was let go, said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J. "After sitting through parts of it, I still cannot point to any legitimate reason for why he might have been fired," Malinowski said. The interview took place despite a State Department letter to Linick's attorney on Tuesday warning against disclosure of "any classified information" or "information that may be subject to executive privilege and other protections." It described "Congress's limited oversight role" in President Trump's decision to terminate the inspector general. The letter, signed by Undersecretary for Management Brian Bulatao, said it is "critical" that Linick be accompanied to any interview by a State Department lawyer to prevent classified disclosures. A similar State Department demand was made, and similarly ignored, by officials who gave depositions and testimony before the House's impeachment proceedings against Trump. Democrats have said they are expanding their investigation into Linick's firing as they try to learn more about Trump's sidelining of independent watchdogs in several agencies this spring. The investigation is being led by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.; Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairman of the Oversight Committee; and Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A congressional aide said a transcript of Linick's interview would be released as soon as early next week. The committees also have asked to interview Bulatao, who was a classmate of Pompeo's at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Clarke Cooper; acting State Department legal adviser Marik String; and Lisa Kenna, Pompeo's executive secretary. In a separate letter to Engel on those requests, Bulatao said that "it is difficult to understand why the Foreign Affairs Committee believes this action would warrant the time or resources contemplated by the Committee's several requests for transcribed interviews of Department personnel. Bulatao said Linick's removal "fell within the lawful prerogative of the Executive Branch," and cited inspector general terminations in previous administrations upheld by courts and unquestioned by Congress. "At the same time, the Department is prepared to further address the Committee's interest in those Departmental concerns," the letter said, without elaboration. White House deputy counsel Michael Purpura wrote a similar letter to Engel this week in response to requests for documents on the firing, saying Congress had no authority to investigate the matter. In his statement, Linick said that "every minute of my work . . . has been devoted to promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of both agencies, along with ensuring that taxpayer funds are protected against waste, fraud, and abuse." "In carrying out my work, I have always taken the facts and evidence wherever they lead and have been faithfully committed to conducting independent and impartial oversight, as required by law," the statement said. Pompeo has denied the May 15 firing was an act of retaliation and said he did not know about investigations of allegations about his potential abuse of power. Linick was looking into internal State Department complaints that Pompeo asked a low-level political appointee to run personal errands, including walking his dog, and into travel expenses the State Department paid when Susan Pompeo accompanied her husband on trips abroad. In addition, lawmakers had asked Linick to look into the State Department's role in sidestepping Congress to approve a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Pompeo has conceded that he was aware of that investigation, because he provided written answers to questions to the inspector general about the transaction. That report, said to be in draft form, with results already briefed to the State Department, has not yet been released. Trump has replaced Linick with acting inspector general Stephen Akard, a political appointee who worked on economic development for Indiana when Vice President Mike Pence was governor. Akard will maintain his position as director of foreign missions, raising potential concerns about a conflict of interest because he still works for the agency he is assigned to monitor as a watchdog. In his letter to Engel, Bulatao said that Akard would recuse himself from "any particular audits or investigations where such a step would be appropriate." - - - The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis contributed to this report. The Electoral Commission (EC) held a two-day pilot of the voter registration exercise nationwide. The exercise was however called off in the Western Region due to some challenges with the Biometric Voter Registration machines. Speaking on Citi TVs Breakfast Daily on Thursday, June 4, 2020, the Member of Parliament for the Mpraeso Constituency, Seth Kwame Acheampong said the challenges encountered during the pilot exercise will enable the Electoral Commission to prepare adequately for the main registration. For me, it is a very useful exercise which came with this revelation. The exercise started on Tuesday and it is yesterday that this news broke so it is worth reporting. I dont think it is a failure on the part of the EC, he noted. Meanwhile, the Tamale North legislator, Alhassan Suhuyini, on the same show said the challenges werent only registered in the Western Region but other pilot stations in other regions also witnessed similar issues. You see what we are experiencing is not only from the Western Region but from almost all the pilot stations that the EC has set up. This is one of the reasons many people including the over the 18 civil society organizations, the National House of Chiefs and all well-meaning Ghanaians are calling on the Electoral Commission to hasten slowly and not to be intransigent in their positions about how to carry out their mandate. Weve had concerns over for example how long it takes one person to get registered per the system that was deployed which is between 30 to 50 minutes. Now giving the numbers that usually comes out and the numbers we are expecting per of our population census, we are expecting not to register less than 17 million people and given the time that we have left to elections, how long is it going to take the Electoral Commission to register everyone? Background The Electoral Commission (EC) is set to compile new voters registration for the upcoming 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections beginning last week of June. The NDC and other civil society organisations have kicked against the move. But the EC is bent on compiling the new register regardless of the agitations. citinewsroom As coronavirus closed businesses around the world and forced billions to stay home, Nigerian director Obi Emelonye came up with an innovative way to keep filming. Inspired by his wife's teleconferencing calls from their isolation in Britain, he wrote and put together a short feature about a couple separated between London and Lagos. There was just one day for rehearsals and two for filming, and relatives shot the actors on mobile phones in their homes on two continents. "I said to myself, 'What if I shoot a film remotely? I can direct my actors and produce it from home, and the cost is zero," the well-known 53-year-old director told AFP. "I wanted to show young people that despite the countless difficulties of our profession, despite the coronavirus, you can make a film without funding, without even a real camera." Inventiveness has always been a hallmark of Nigeria's Nollywood -- the second most prolific film industry on the planet -- as it has risen from shaky homemade movies to slickly-produced blockbusters. But now, in the face of the coronavirus crisis that has seen social distancing rules shut down shoots and cinemas closed, the sector has needed that spirit more than ever. "We are an endangered species, we have to be innovative and to push the boundaries," said Emelonye, whose short "Heart 2 Heart" was released for free on YouTube last month. "Things are very bad? You can make them better!" - 'Difficult times' - The Nigerian film industry is riddled with contradictions. On the surface are the red carpets, glitz and glamorous stars with millions of Instagram followers. But underneath, much of the sector is poorly-funded, salaries are miserly and rampant piracy robs it of crucial revenues. The arrival of the virus has dealt a major blow just as producers try to focus on higher-quality movies, cinema audiences grow and giants like Netflix push to tap into the country of 200 million, the most populous in Africa. Moses Babatope watched in dismay as a government order to close saw income evaporate over the past three months at the Filmhouse, a cinema chain he co-founded in 2012. "We've been through other difficult times, but this crisis is even worse," he told AFP. Babatope estimated loses for the sector had reached over $9 million (eight million euros) so far due to the virus. Dozens of film shoots have been put on hold or scrapped and the legion of workers in the industry -- from make-up artists to technicians to ushers -- are going unpaid. Netflix has suspended the filming of its first original series made in Nigeria and French media giant Vivendi has delayed the opening of its first cinema in the capital Abuja. Distributors reckon some 50,000 jobs are under threat since the sector juddered to a halt. "It's going to take a while before it really starts up again," Babatope said. - 'New experiences' - To navigate the current troubles the industry has begun pushing its boundaries. Producer Charles Okpaleke teamed up with two local cinema chains Genesis and Silverbird to launch open-air "Drive-in" facilities. Drive-in theatres have done well in Nigeria's lockdown / AFP A first screening in Abuja in late May saw all tickets sell out in just a few hours as viewers flocked to watched his film "Living in Bondage" from the comfort of their own cars. "COVID forces us to rethink our habits, but it is also an opportunity to try new experiences," Okpaleke told AFP. Producers and directors are also looking increasingly to the release their films on online streaming services like Netflix and its local competitor Iroko TV. And even up-and-coming industry hopefuls were given the opportunity to keep on honing their skills despite the disruptions. French start-up LAFAAC has partnered with cinema school Femis and Nigerian television channel Wazobia to offer online training to would-be scriptwriters via a mobile app. "Nowadays there is a huge demand for series from Subsaharan Africa despite a relative lack of training," said LAFAAC co-founder Francois Catala. "I believe that online releases are the future of Nollywood." Photo: James Willamor/Flickr Missed the most recent top news in Raleigh? Read on for everything you need to know. Man charged in shooting death of teenage girl at North Raleigh apartment Raleigh police have arrested a man following the Tuesday night shooting death of 17-year-old girl at a North Raleigh apartment. Read the full story on WRAL TV. 'Miserable:' Downtown Raleigh businesses reeling from pandemic, vandalism Capital Smoke Shop is one of the few places that has reopened in downtown Raleigh. A broken window has been removed from the store and some of the display cases are exposed, but at least customers are able to again come inside. Read the full story on ABC11 WTVD. Local doughnut shop owner ousted from Raleigh food hall, says racist comments on Facebook the result of a hack A local doughnut shop owner's racially charged comments about recent protests about the death of George Floyd caused his shop to be removed as a tenant from a Raleigh food hall. Read the full story on WRAL Out & About. Raleigh business owner says Wake deputies fired flash-bangs, pepper balls toward him One downtown business owner says Wake County Sheriff's Deputies harassed him during a recent protest. Read the full story on WNCN. Some Raleigh community activists say police wont change if specific demands arent made Some longtime community activists working with protesters have said without specific demands, nothing will change. After four nights of protests, Raleigh police made a simple gesture they took a knee to show their support. Dr. Kimberly Muktarian said it was her idea. Read the full story on WNCN. 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. Press Release 4 June 2020 IntercityHotel's innovative app is helping to ensure that all guest stays are as convenient and as contactless as possible. Especially during these unprecedented times, this is a service which is giving the hotel chain a real edge over its competitors. "Our number one priority is for guests to feel safe and secure at all times," said Joachim Marusczyk, founding Managing Director of IntercityHotel GmbH. "We are absolutely delighted to be able to offer an app which facilitates a completely contactless stay and thus significantly minimises the risk of COVID-19 infection." The IntercityHotel App offers a lot of features. Its functionality takes effect directly upon arrival. Guests are able to avoid waiting times at reception by checking in beforehand with a smart phone. This procedure is entirely contactless and can be carried out at their leisure. They are then able to proceed to their room without further ado. The door to the room can also be opened effortlessly by using the IntercityHotel App without any need for an additional key. If the customer wishes, the app can be used again to check out and make payment in a contact-free way. The bill is presented paperless and environmentally friendly via e-mail. The app is available for download free of charge and works on all common operating systems. IntercityHotel has also been revising its hygiene and safety concept over the past few weeks. Up-to-date measures have been added to a catalogue which was already very comprehensive in order to adapt to requirements. The new protection concept particularly focuses on more frequent cleaning and disinfection, on compliance with social distancing rules in public areas and on the provision of mouth and nose coverings for guests upon request. Grant Shapps today appeared to confirm the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app wont work perfectly when it is eventually launched nationwide to help halt the spread of the infection in Britain. The Transport Secretary responded to claims that the app considered the 'cherry on the cake' of Number 10s flagship Test and Trace scheme would be 'imperfect' and 'clunky' for several months. He said on BBC Radio 4s Today programme: 'Anyone who downloads an app on their phone knows it is forever being updated and bugs squashed and all the rest of it. Apps are never complete in that sense.' Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi last night revealed the app won't go live until the end of the month despite officials first promising it would be ready to roll-out across Britain in mid-May following a trial on the Isle of Wight. He said on BBC Question Time the app, which was supposed to form a crucial part of the NHS Test and Trace scheme when it was launched in England and Scotland last week, would be rolled out when it is 'robust'. However, Tony Prestedge, chief operating officer for the contact tracing system, is said to have told employees it would be 'imperfect and clunky', claiming it wouldn't be world-class until 'September or October time'. Former Labour leader Ed Miliband today said he hoped the claim wasn't true, telling Good Morning Britain: 'Let's have some clear answers from the government on when the system will be up and running.' Critics have claimed the development of the app has been 'chaotic'. Concerns were raised almost from day one amid fears it could drain phone batteries, didnt work on older mobiles and wouldnt be downloaded by the elderly. The delay of the app means the scheme is currently reliant on an army of 25,000 tracers to track people down and prevent a second wave of infections. But staff paid up to 27-an-hour on the scheme have told of the 'shambolic' programme, which has seen workers left with no-one to call and unable to even log-in. The Transport Secretary responded to claims that the app considered the cherry on the cake of Number 10s flagship Test and Trace scheme would be imperfect and clunky for several months Business Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said on BBC Question Time last night that the app, which had been trialled in the Isle of Wight, would be in place 'this month', adding that it would be rolled out when it is 'robust' But major questions remain over when the NHSX coronavirus app will be made available nationwide. Mr Hancock originally said it would be 'mid-May' but Downing Street said today it will be in the 'coming weeks' The NHS Test and Trace programme launched last week but ministers are under pressure after failing to reveal how many people have so far been contacted POLICE FORCES ARE 'PLANNING TO USE THEIR OWN CONTACT-TRACING SYSTEM' Police forces plan to use their own contact tracing system amid concerns the government's test and trace scheme could put officers in danger, according to reports. The plans would see officers who test positive for Covid-19 not providing contacts to NHS tracers. Instead they would tell their police force, who would then take over the task of contact tracing to identify those at risk of getting the virus, Sky News reported. Sources told the outlet that the Police Federation and National Police Chiefs' Council were developing the plans - which could see police forces managing all contact tracing for police staff. One source said there are 'a host of areas we have to be very careful,' including undercover operations and counter-terrorism. The source added: 'If I'm working undercover with another officer, giving those details across could give away not just their information but the methodology of how we work, which would put people in danger.' Police forces are said to be concerned that contact tracing rules, when strictly applied, might see entire stations or units having to close down, with contact tracing compromising sensitive information. One option reportedly under consideration is seconding staff from the NHS to police forces - but police chiefs are said to have doubts over whether Public Health England has enough resources for this. Advertisement In a May 27 video to staff, obtained by The Guardian, Mr Prestedge said: 'I am sure when Dido [Harding, the NHS chief overseeing the programme] announces this service later she will make clear that it is an imperfect service at launch that we will improve over time and make it world-class by the time that we are moving towards the September or October time.' Mr Prestedge added: 'We know it will be imperfect, we know it will be clunky but we ask you to help us improve the service.' He added that he expected the scheme to be running for two years. The video was recorded the day before the scheme was launched by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Mr Zahawi last night said he could not give an 'exact date' for when the app would be rolled out, because 'it would be wrong for [him] to do so'. Biologist Hugh Pennington, also on Question Time yesterday, said the tracing app would be essential before major lifting of lockdown. 'It's very important to have the contact-tracing up and running before we really do any massive release on lockdown, what's happened so far is essentially pretty trivial chipping away on lockdown, and we'll see if that has any significant effect on the R number,' he said. Asked about the story in The Guardian and the scheme not being up to speed by September or October, Mr Shapps said: 'I think that is a slight misreading of the situation. 'What he (Mr Prestedge) said was that as with any app it gets released and anyone who downloads an app on their phone knows it is forever being updated and bugs squashed and all the rest of it. Apps are never complete in that sense.' Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Prestedge was talking specifically about the app, in an attempt to alleviate fears that the whole system is currently sub-par. The programme requires anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 to provide phone numbers and email addresses of people they have been in close contact with. A Department of Health spokesman said: 'The new NHS test and trace service is up and running and is helping save lives. 'Anyone in this country can now book a test and the majority who book a test get the results back within a day. Former Labour leader Ed Miliband today said he hoped the claim wasn't true, telling Good Morning Britain: 'Let's have some clear answers from the government on when the system will be up and running' Mr Prestedge's comments came in a video that was recorded the day before the scheme was launched by Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured) WHAT ARE THE PITFALLS OF THE NHS TEST AND TRACE SCHEME? 1. It is launching without the NHSX contact tracing app. Experts believe the app will be crucial to the success of the programme because it can identify contacts much quicker than human contact tracers. The smartphone app uses bluetooth to register other phones it has been near for a prolonged period of time. A date has not been set for the nationwide roll out of the app but without it contact tracing will not be as swift as it would be with it. 2. It is entirely reliant on human testimony Without the app the tracking down of contacts will be based on the say so of people who have tested positive. That means people will need to remember exactly where they have been and who they have been close in the days leading up to their positive test. If people forget or simply remember inaccurately who they have seen it could risk the virus spreading. 3. Self-isolating will be voluntary When the scheme launches it will not come with the threat of penalties or fines for people who do not comply with the request to stay at home. However, Mr Johnson made clear that minister could later impose penalties if people do not play by the rules. 4. It is unclear exactly who will be in charge of tackling localised outbreaks Councils and public health officials will be tasked with cracking down on local spikes in infection but it was not immediately clear who will lead those efforts, how many staff members would be available to help or if local authorities will get extra funding and powers to act appropriately. 5. Test results could take longer than 24 hours The aim of the scheme is to get all test results processed and returned within 24 hours but it is unlikely to hit that goal right at the start of the rollout. That means some people could face lengthy waits to find out if they have tested positive, potentially delaying the contact tracing process and allowing the virus to spread. Advertisement 'We have over 25,000 contact tracers in place, who have all been trained and are fully supported by public health experts.' However, three contact tracers told the Daily Mail earlier this week that they had not made a single call. Another claimed she had spent much of her time reupholstering a chair as she had so little to do. On Wednesday the Prime Minister said it has already resulted in 'thousands' of people self-quarantining who would not otherwise have done so. But the Government has refused to publish more detailed figures, saying that Ministers wanted to be sure they were reliable. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs on May 20 the test and trace operation would be 'world-beating'. Responding to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Johnson said: 'He has heard that we have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating, and yes, it will be in place by 1 June.' The Guardian reports that Mr Prestedge said he expected the test and trace programme to run for two years. NHS England's test and trace system, which is being lead by Baroness Dido Harding, is one of the key measures introduced to help the return to something approaching normality. It relies on identifying people who have been in contact with a positive case and getting them to self-isolate. Earlier this week Mr Johnson rejected Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's claim that the system is not yet fully operational. During Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said: 'Two weeks ago today at the despatch box the Prime Minister promised that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be 'world-beating and yes it will be in place by June 1'. 'But it isn't. And a critical element - the ability of local authorities to respond to local spikes - is missing.' Mr Johnson said the Labour leader was 'casting aspersions on the efforts' of those involved in setting up the programme, telling MPs that 40,000 people were involved in it. 'I'm afraid he's casting aspersions on the efforts of tens of thousands of people who have set up a test, track and trace system in this country from a standing start,' the Prime Minister said. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'The new NHS Test and Trace service is up and running and is helping save lives. 'Anyone in this country can now book a test and the majority who book a test get the results back within a day. 'We have over 25,000 contact tracers in place, who have all been trained and are fully supported in their work by public health experts.' Jammu: A terrorist was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday. According to sources, the Army and J&K Police had launched a cordon and search operation in Kalakote belt of the district after receiving specific inputs about the presence of infiltrating terrorists there. One of them was reportedly killed by the security forces after the hiding terrorists opened fire. As per the reports, two-three terrorists are still believed to be trapped in the area and the encounter is currently underway. Earlier in the day, one civilian was injured after a police party was attacked by terrorists in south Kashmir`s Kulgam. "One civilian injured after terrorists attacked a police party at Yaripora market in Kulgam area of South Kashmir. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation," Jammu and Kashmir Police said. The injured civilian was identified as Imitiyaz Ahmed who had sustained a bullet wound in his chest. Being in critical condition, the injured civilian was shifted to GMC Anantnag for treatment. An Edo State-based lawyer, Iyoha Osobase Omon, has been murdered, with his remains buried in a shallow grave. This was disclosed by the spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police Chidi Nwabuzor, on Tuesday in a statement. Nwabuzor said the killers of the lawyer, who admitted to the crime, led police investigators to the shallow grave where Omon was buried in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He said Omons remains were on Tuesday exhumed by pathologists from the Central Hospital, Benin City and taken to the hospitals mortuary for autopsy. According to the police, the command received a complaint from one Ukato Thompson on May 7, 2020 that his brother, 41-year-old Omon, had been kidnapped by one Osasu Osadolor and his gang members at Evbuomodu village, Aduwawa, Benin City. Nwabuzor said thereafter, operatives of the anti-kidnapping and cybercrime units immediately took over the case from Aduwawa Police Division after a preliminary investigation. He said on May 19, 2020, Osadolor, the alleged kidnap kingpin, was arrested with a black coloured Lexus 330 Jeep, with registration number: BEN 374 CU, reportedly used in kidnapping the victim. Police operatives of the unit were also said to have on May 26, 2020 arrested three additional suspects, namely: Uwadia Taiwo Uhunmwangho (38 years old), John Oke (30 years old) and Saturday Imagbe (40 years old), with one Audi 80 car with registration number CA- 956 BEN, also used in kidnapping the victim. The suspects were said to have confessed to beating up the victim and later dropped him somewhere along old Benin-Auchi Road, Aduwawa, Benin City. The police statement revealed that on June 2, 2020, the operatives, while furthering their investigation, arrested two other gang members, one Leonard David (21 years old) and Valentine Dibie (24 years old). They maintained that all the suspects confessed to conspiracy, kidnapping and the murder of Omon, whom they allegedly killed and buried in a bush close to his house at Aduwawa, Benin City. INDIANAPOLIS -- A new study led by ecohydrologists at IUPUI has shown for the first time that it's possible to use satellite data to measure the threat of climate change to ecological systems that depend on water from fog. The paper, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, presents the first clear evidence that the relationship between fog levels and vegetation status is measurable using remote sensing. The discovery opens up the potential to easily and rapidly assess fog's impact on ecological health across large land masses -- as compared to painstaking ground-level observation. "It's never been shown before that you can observe the effect of fog on vegetation from outer space," said Lixin Wang, an associate professor in the School of Science at IUPUI, who is the senior author on the study. "The ability to use the satellite data for this purpose is a major technological advance." The need to understand the relationship between fog and vegetation is urgent since environmental change is reducing fog levels across the globe. The shift most strongly affects regions that depend upon fog as a major source of water, including the redwood forests in California; the Atacama desert in Chile; and the Namib desert in Namibia, with the latter two currently recognized as World Heritage sites under the United Nations due to their ecological rarity. "The loss of fog endangers plant and insect species in these regions, many of which don't exist elsewhere in the world," said Na Qiao, a visiting student at IUPUI, who is the study's first author. "The impact of fog loss on vegetation is already very clear. If we can couple this data with large-scale impact assessments based on satellite data, it could potentially influence environmental protection policies related to these regions." The IUPUI-led study is based upon optical and microwave satellite data, along with information on fog levels from weather stations at two locations operated by the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute in the Namib desert. The satellite data was obtained from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. The fog readings were taken between 2015 and 2017. Wang's work with the Gobabeb facility is supported under a National Science Foundation CAREER grant. At least once a year, he and student researchers, including both graduate and undergraduate students from IUPUI, travel to the remote facility -- a two-hour drive on a dirt road from the nearest city -- to conduct field research. The study found a significant correlation between fog levels and vegetation status near both weather stations during the entire time of the study. Among other findings, the optical data from the site near the research facility revealed obvious signs of plant greening following fog, and up to 15 percent higher measures during periods of fog versus periods without fog. Similar patterns were seen at the second site, located near a local rock formation. The microwave data also found significant correlation between fog and plant growth near the research facility, and up to 60 percent higher measures during periods of fog versus periods without fog. The study's conclusions are based upon three methods of remotely measuring vegetation: two based upon optical data, which is sensitive to the vibrance of greens in plants, and a third based upon microwave data, which is sensitive to overall plant mass, including the amount of water in stems and leaves. Although observable by machines, the changes in vegetation color are faint enough to go undetected by the human eye. Next, the team will build upon their current work to measure the effect of fog on vegetation over longer periods of time, which will assist with future predictions. Wang also aims to study the relationship in other regions, including the redwood forests in California. "We didn't even know you could use satellite data to measure the impact of fog on vegetation until this study," he said. "If we can extend the period under investigation, that will show an even more robust relationship. If we have 10 years of data, for example, we can make future predictions about the strength of this relationship, and how this relationship has been changing over time due to climate change." ### Additional authors were Wenzhe Jiao, a Ph.D. student at IUPUI, who made significant contributions to the satellite data processing, as well as Changping Huang and Lifu Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Science and Maggs-Kolling and Eugene Marais of the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute. Qiao is also a student at the Chinese Academy of Science. IU Research IU's world-class researchers have driven innovation and creative initiatives that matter for 200 years. From curing testicular cancer to collaborating with NASA to search for life on Mars, IU has earned its reputation as a world-class research institution. Supported by $680 million last year from our partners, IU researchers are building collaborations and uncovering new solutions that improve lives in Indiana and around the globe. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The President did not certify as urgent the second Bayanihan bill that was supposed to extend extra powers for the Chief Executive for three months to address the COVID-19 health crisis, his spokesperson said Thursday. "We wish to announce that Malacanang will not certify as urgent the extension of the Bayanihan We Heal as One Act, for now," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told reporters. The message came moments after the Senate adjourned its first regular session. Senators waited the whole day for Malacanang to certify the bill as urgent so they could pass it on third and final reading. Senate Bill 1546 or the Bayanihan We Recover As One bill earmarked 140 billion for programs including subsidies for affected sectors until September 30 this year. The new bill follows the Bayanihan We Heal As One Act signed in March which gave the President extra powers to counter the pandemic. It will lapse on June 24. But some senators earlier said Duterte's special powers may expire when Congress adjourns in line with the Constitution. "If the Constitution is interpreted strictly where it says that emergency powers cease upon the next adjournment of Congress then yes it would expire," said Senator Sonny Angara. Article VI of the Constitution says "Unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers shall cease upon the next adjournment thereof," referring to powers given to the President during a national emergency. Representative Image The finance ministers of the wealthy G7 nations have said a debt relief initiative for the world's poorest countries could be extended beyond the end of the year to help deal with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Their joint statement came amid warnings that low-income and emerging market economies will need more than the International Monetary Fund's initial estimate of USD 2.5 trillion to deal with the crisis. The Group of Seven (G7) includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. "We continue to work together to advance the international economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the poorest and most vulnerable countries," the ministers of the world's most advanced economies said. "COVID-19 has exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities in many low-income countries, highlighting the importance of debt sustainability and transparency to long-term financing for development," they said. These nations welcomed efforts of the international financial institutions (IFIs) to amplify their support for the most vulnerable countries. 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 this context, we are committed to implementing the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) agreed by the G20 and the Paris Club, by suspending official bilateral debt payments for the poorest countries to year-end 2020 and possibly longer, providing those countries fiscal space to fund social, health, and other measures to respond to the pandemic," they said. "In line with the G20 and Paris Club DSSI agreements, we will implement the DSSI across our export credit agencies and other public lending agencies, and call on all official creditors to do so, too," they said. The G-7 finance ministers said they strongly support the commitment by DSSI beneficiary countries to strengthen debt reporting, which facilitates better-informed investment decisions, enhances public accountability, and supports long-term sustainable development. "We welcome that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group will monitor creditor participation, public debt disclosure, and use of additional fiscal space, and we look forward to public reporting of these results. "Beyond the DSSI, the IFIs have an important role to play in helping borrowing countries improve practices to promote debt transparency and sustainability, as outlined in the framework of the IMF and World Bank's multipronged approach for addressing emerging debt vulnerabilities," they said They called on the IFIs, borrowers, and creditors to work together on strengthening public reporting of debt data used in debt sustainability analyses, including a breakout by the external creditor and more thorough coverage of contingent liabilities, the state-owned enterprise debt, and collateralised financing. "The IFIs can encourage and support borrowing countries' efforts to enhance public debt disclosure, limit non-concessional borrowing when necessary, and reduce debt vulnerabilities," they said. "We remain committed to assisting low-income countries in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to work with the G20, Paris Club partners, the IMF, the World Bank, and other creditors to secure debt sustainability and transparency, including promoting timely creditor coordination and fair burden-sharing," they said. The number confirmed coronavirus cases across the world has gone up to 6,429,453 while the death toll reached 385,873 on Thursday morning, according to the Centre for System Science and Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University. "Larry is a one of a kind guy who always had a hearty laugh and smile for those he interacted with, no matter a persons place in life. He knew the cleaning crew and he knew the President of the United States Barack Obama, Palmer said. He loved them all and always talked about the friendships he had made throughout his life in Will County. His passing has left a huge void in this community and I will truly miss his friendship. The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 2.17 lakh on Thursday with a record number of over 9,000 new cases getting detected and several states reporting their highest one-day surge, even as efforts were accelerated to restart long-stalled business activities to contain the economic cost of the pandemic. The Union Health Ministry released standard operating procedures for reopening offices, hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and religious places. Some of them have already re-opened in parts of the country and few others are scheduled to re-start in the next phase of unlocking from next Monday. A nationwide lockdown came into effect on March 25, which was initially announced for 21 days, but was extended thrice and the last fourth phase ended on May 31. A graded exit from the lockdown began on June 1 and the next phase, beginning June 8, would see reopening of malls, hotels and restaurants, among other places, followed by further easing of the lockdown curbs through the remaining weeks of June and then in July. In its morning update, the Union Health Ministry said the total number of positive cases has reached 2,16,919 with a record spike of 9,304 new cases since Wednesday 8 AM across the country, while the death toll has increased to 6,075 with 260 more fatalities in this period. A PTI tally of figures announced by different states and union territories, as of 9.50 PM, showed a higher number of confirmed cases across the country at 2,17,389 and the death toll at 6,233. It also showed more than 1.07 lakh COVID-19 patients having recovered so far. India is now the seventh worst hit nation after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. In terms of fatalities, India is ranked 12th at present, while it is placed at eighth place in terms of recoveries. However, India figures among the top-five countries in terms of active cases, as also for the number of tests conducted so far. The health ministry also said that the number of active COVID-19 cases now stands at 1,06,737, while the count of recoveries has risen to 1,04,107 with 3,804 patients recovering in the last 24 hours. "The recovery rate is 47.99 per cent amongst COVID-19 patients," the ministry said. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 42,42,718 samples were tested for coronavirus as of Thursday 9 AM, including 1,39,485 of those tested in the last 24 hours. "The apex health research body, ICMR, has further ramped up the testing capacity for detecting the novel coronavirus in infected persons. The number of government laboratories has been increased to 498 and that of private laboratories to 212," the ministry said. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the rising number of COVID cases, a high positivity rate and low testing level in parts of the national capital was worrisome. He stressed on a need for ramping up testing, coupled with aggressive surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control measures. Chairing a high-level meeting through video-conference to review the preparedness for prevention and control of the novel coronavirus infection in Delhi, Vardhan expressed concern over all districts of the national capital being affected by COVID-19, and high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts. According to Union health ministry data, Delhi had reported 606 deaths due to COVID-19 and 23,645 cases till 8 AM on Thursday. Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said his government's entire focus is on saving people's lives and ensuring adequate facilities for COVID-19 patients who need hospital care, without getting entangled in data or any competition with other states. He said COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Delhi and the government has started focusing on ensuring that those who need hospitalisation get beds and proper treatment facilities. Delhi figures among the badly hit states and union territories by the COVID-19 pandemic, while Maharashtra is the worst hit. Maharashtra registered its highest single-day spike of 2,933 COVID-19 cases, taking its tally of confirmed cases to 77,793, while its death toll rose to 2,710 after 123 fresh fatalities. The number of discharged patients in the state also rose to 33,681. Of the 123 deaths, 68 were reported in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). In West Bengal, the COVID-19 death toll rose to 283 with 10 more fatalities, while the state's case count rose by 368 to 6,876. Tamil Nadu also reported its highest single-day spike of 1,384 cases to take its tally to 27,256, while its death toll rose to 220. In Andhra Pradesh, the state government secretariat appeared turning into a hotspot for the novel coronavirus infection with one more employee there testing positive. The state reported 141 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 4,112. The death toll has risen to 71 there. Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, among other parts of the country, also reported new cases. The city of La Mesa has hired an outside investigative firm from Mission Viejo to look into the conduct of one of the citys police officers. Barry Aninag, B.A. Investigations, LLC has been hired to review the circumstances of a January incident involving a school resource officer and a student on the Helix Charter High School campus. The investigation will seek to make a determination about whether any La Mesa Police Department policies or procedures were violated related to the incident. The contract stipulates that the city wants to have the investigation done within 90 days. Advertisement Aninag will be looking into the event of Jan. 19 when La Mesa police officer Scott Wulfing was called to the campus. The call came in response to a report of a 17-year-old girl who had been suspended and was refusing to leave school grounds. It was reported that Wulfing twice asked the student to leave, but she would not go. He then handcuffed the teen and started escorting her away. Police said when she became noncompliant and made an attempt to free herself, the officer forced her to the ground until she agreed to quit resisting. A video showed him body-slamming the female student and pinning her to the ground. Helix and the police department have also launched their own investigations into the incident. Aninags group will be paid $155 per hour for investigative time including consultation, preparation, interviews, and documentation. The contract notes that the company will be paid $280 an hour for any testimony that may be required at any court or administrative hearing. I am pleased with the citys choice, City Councilwoman Kristine Alessio said. I look forward to the outcome of his investigation and hopefully that outcome will heal a lot of wounds in our community. Aninag has investigated a variety of administrative cases ranging from allegations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation to allegations of violations of city or department policy concerning dishonesty and the use of excessive force, a La Mesa press release said. The release said that Aninag retired in 2015, after 29 years of law enforcement work with the city of Irvine. The city said he has extensive training and experience in firearms and arrest and control tactics. From April 2015 until March 2016, Aninag was employed by Westminster as an interim Deputy Chief of Police. I know that it it always difficult to investigate your own department, Alessio said. (Aninag) appears to be one of the most qualified investigators in Southern California to do this. karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken Jan. 6, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters) Facebook Placing Labels on Chinese, Russian State Media Amid Concerns Over Foreign Influence Facebook said June 4 it would start labeling state-controlled media outlets on its platform amid intensifying concern over foreign actors using social media to shift public opinion to advance their own agendas. The company said it would start labeling Facebook pages of state-run outlets, and from next week would start labeling posts from such outlets for users in the United States. The move would apply to Chinese state-run media such as Xinhua News, Peoples Daily, and China Global Television Network (CGTN), and Russian state-owned outlets including Russia Today, and Sputnik. Later this summer, it will also start blocking these outlets from buying ads in the United States to provide an extra layer of protection against foreign influence ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, Facebook said, without detailing exactly when this will occur. On its global platform, Facebook will also start labeling ads from state-controlled outlets later this summer. Were providing greater transparency into these publishers because they combine the influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state, Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebooks head of cybersecurity policy, said in a statement. The move comes after increasing scrutiny on Beijings efforts to use Western social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to spread propaganda and disinformation during the pandemic, and most recently on the race-related unrest across America. Observers say the regime is taking advantage of the crisis and deliberately stoking racial tensions to undermine the United States and the model of democratic governance that it represents. Earlier in the year, ads from Chinese state media including Global Times, Xinhua, China Central Television (CCTV), and CGTN, attacking President Donald Trumps handling of the outbreak drew millions of views. These outlets also used hashtags #Trumpandemic and #TrumpVirus in its Facebook and Twitter posts. Last August, Twitter and Facebook uncovered vast Chinese state-backed influence campaigns on their platforms aimed at undermining the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. YouTube also identified a similar coordinated influence operation around the Hong Kong protests. In response, Twitter banned state-controlled media from advertising on the platform, YouTube expanded labeling of state-backed media outlets in the region. Top Ukrainian And German Diplomats Talk NATO And Conflict In Eastern Ukraine By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service June 02, 2020 BERLIN Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has discussed the ongoing conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's relationship with NATO, and the issue of Russia-annexed Crimea with German officials during a one-day visit to Berlin. At a joint press conference after the talks on June 2, Kuleba and his German counterpart Heiko Maas said they had agreed to accelerate the implementation of agreements reached in Paris in December during talks held in the so-called Normandy Format, a diplomatic process involving Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France to end fighting in eastern Ukraine. Maas also said that Germany will continue to support Ukraine in the European Union as well as Kyiv's ties with NATO. Germany's top diplomat stressed the importance of ending fighting in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known as the Donbas, some parts of which have been controlled by Moscow-supported separatists since April 2014. More than 13,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict, including some 50 Ukrainian soldiers killed this year. Maas also pushed for more crossing points along the demarcation line in the Donbas, pointing out that the current five such points along the 400-kilometer line of contact are not enough. Maas also said that it was important to continue demining operations in the conflict zone and stated that "all sides need compromises." Kuleba said that Kyiv wants peace in the Donbas, but such peace should not lead to "crossing the red lines," which "are national security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine." Kuleba also addressed the importance of providing access to the International Committee of the Red Cross for Ukrainians illegally held in Russia-annexed Crimea. Kuleba separately mentioned dozens of Crimean Tatars held in Crimea and in Russia, saying Moscow is carrying out an "intentional policy" of persecution against the Muslim Turkic-speaking people of Crimea, the majority of whom opposed the peninsula's annexation by Russia in 2014. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine- germany-russia-nato/30649307.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 WILLIAMS BAY Out of concerns for public safety, the Williams Bay Lions Club has cancelled this summers 43rd annual Corn and Brat Festival. The three-day event in Edgewater Park complete with vendors, bands, games and of course, corn and brats, was cancelled by the Lions Clubs board out of directors out of concerns surrounding the coronavirus. The cancellation is the first in 43 years of the festivals operation. The clubs 49th annual, 4th of July Pancake Day has also been cancelled. Board President Jim Burton said there were concerns over how well social distancing could be practiced at the Corn and Brat Festival, which typically receives thousands of visitors throughout the long weekend. We just didnt want to put our community at risk, he said. That was our primary goal, the health and safety in Williams Bay. Burton said the cancellation is a disappointment to community members and organizers whove worked on festival plans since January alike but that it is the best way to ensure everyone remains in good health. With the festival serving as the largest revenue generator for the club throughout the year, Burton added that while many of the clubs scholarship programs and non-profit donations will continue, spending by the club will likely be reduced in some areas. Its our staple, he said. Thats one of our big money makers and with all of our money going back to the community it is a little disappointing. In a Williams Bay Lions Club press release announcing the cancellation, the club said it was still dedicated to serving communities through donations, and it will be exploring other opportunities for fundraising throughout the year. It was estimated by a Williams Bay Lions Club member that between $140,000 and $160,000 was donated by the group for community projects between 2016 and 2017. Jess Hawk, the chairman of the festival planning committee, said it is difficult to see all the work that went into planning event put off until next year but that holding the festival during a pandemic was just not worth the risk, to the public and to older club members. A good percentage of our club is in the higher-risk community and we were concerned about our own peoples safety who would be working the festival, he said. Even if the festival were to continue, Hawk said there was concern surrounding the virus might keep people from attending and that a low attendance wouldnt make up for the costs associated with set up. In addition to a potentially lower than normal turnout, Hawk said hes been hesitant to reach out to the normal festival sponsors, many of which are restaurants, because the pandemic has kept them closed and reduced business. On a positive note, the club has been able to roll vendor deposits over to next year and Hawk said all of the bands scheduled this year, like Milwaukees The Toys and Rebel Grace, have agreed to play for the 2021 festival. Hawk said the cancellation is unfortunate but that he is already thinking about making next years festival the best one yet. The fireworks display that annually accompanies the Corn and Brat Festival is a village coordinated effort that was also cancelled by the village board during a June 1 meeting. Trustee Jim DAlessandro, who also serves on the Lions Club board, said while the fireworks are ultimately up to the village, there was a desire within the club that the fireworks be cancelled as well. The sentiment was that it would be odd to say the Lions Club felt it was unsafe for people to have crowds in the park for the Corn and Brat Fest, then throw fireworks and ask people to crowd in the park for that, he said. Trustees Robert Uman and Don Parker said they agreed with DAlessandro that the fireworks should be cancelled before the unanimous voted. I think the guidelines are clear, youre supposed to be able to share social distancing and the park does not allow that at all, its a very tight place, Parker said. Village administrator Jim Weiss said there will be no penalty with the pyrotechnics company for cancelling the display. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Governments decision to offer a zero-import tax rate on automobile components opens significant opportunities for the local industry to lower prices, enhance competitiveness and promote consumption. Vinfast automobile factory. The Governments moves to offer a zero import tax rate on automobile components were expected to help lower prices of domestically-produced cars. Photo kinhtenongthon.vn Under the Governments Decree No 57/2020/ND-CP, dated May 25, the import tax rate on automobile components would be cut from July 10 in an effort to promote the domestic automobile production and assembly industry in 2020-24 period. This would mean that more automakers would enjoy the tariff compared to those regulated in Decree 125/2017/NQ-CP dated November 16, 2017. In the previous decree, automakers must reach regulated output levels to enjoy the tax incentive, which benefits only producers with high output. For example, companies must produce at least 8,000 nine-seat cars with cylinder capacity of 2,500 cc or less in 2018 and 13,500 cars in 2022 to be eligible for the tariff. Notably, firms which import automobile components which had not been produced domestically to supply automakers would also enjoy the tax incentive, according to the new decree. Le Ngoc Duc, director of TC Motor, was quoted by online newspaper Vietnamnet that the tax incentive would help narrow down the gaps in price competitiveness between domestically assembled cars and those imported from ASEAN. However, the competition remained harsh. It was estimated that the tax incentive would help reduce production cost of domestically assembled cars by about 15-17 per cent. In comparison, cars imported from ASEAN were enjoying zero import tax, meaning that their prices were 23-25 per cent lower. Automakers were expecting more incentives so that they could further lower their prices to be able to compete with those imported from ASEAN, Duc said. The Government was also considering amendments to the special consumption tax on cars, which, if passed, was expected to give a boost to the local automobile industry. The domestic automobile industry was anticipated to face increasing competition as import tax on cars would be gradually cut to zero in the next 10 years following commitments to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Customs statistics showed that Viet Nam imported automobile components worth US$4.16 billion in 2019, from $3 billion in 2015, mainly from the Republic of Korea, Japan, China and Germany. In the first four months of this year, automobile component imports totalled $1.16 billion, a slight decrease against the same period in 2019 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. More details awaited The Government officially gave nod to a 50 per cent reduction in registration fees for buyers of locally manufactured cars which was highlighted in the Resolution No 84/NQ-CP dated May 29 about measures to remove difficulties for business and production and accelerate disbursement of public investment in the post-pandemic period. However, it is unknown when the reduction would come into force, while it would expire by the end of this year. In the market, buyers tended to delay their purchase decision until they could enjoy the reduction, which would amount to dozens of millions of dong per car. The registration fee is two per cent, according to the Decree No 140/2016/ND-CP dated October 10, 2016. Pham Dinh Thi, Director of the Ministry of Finances Tax Policy Department, was quoted by Zing.vn as saying that a decree on the registration fee reduction was being developed and would be issued soon. The draft neared completion and would be raised for comments, Thi said, adding that the process for issuance of this decree would be shortened. The Ministry of Industry and Trades statistics showed that automobile sales saw a considerable drop in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic by 23.8 per cent in April and 26.9 per cent in May. According to Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers Association, its members sold 10,816 cars in April, 46 per cent lower than the same month of 2019. VNS Chinese cars to arrive in Vietnam en masse Chinese cars will flood the Vietnamese market, both CBU and domestically assembled products, soon after the epidemic ends. (CNN) "Star Wars" actor John Boyega rallied crowds at a large London protest against George Floyd's death on Wednesday, telling demonstrators that "now is the time" to demand racial equality. The star made an emotional speech into a megaphone as thousands poured through Hyde Park, marching in solidarity with protesters in the US. "Black lives have always mattered," Boyega said at the rally. "We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain't waiting. I ain't waiting." "Every black person understands and realizes the first time you are reminded that you are black," Boyega added, occasionally stopping to fight back tears during the speech. "You remember. Every black person in here remembers when another person reminded you that you were black." Crowds braved bad weather to gather for the central London protest, following the lead of activists who have organized demonstrations in the US for more than a week in response to Floyd's killing at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The British-Nigerian actor listed the names of several black men killed by police in the United States, and also those of Stephen Lawrence -- a black British teenager murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993 -- and Mark Duggan, whose 2011 shooting by police sparked protests and then riots across the UK. "This is so vital," Boyega said. "I need you guys to understand how painful this s**t is." "It is very, very important that we keep control of this movement, and we make this as peaceful as possible," he added. "They want us to mess up." And he went on to address black men specifically, urging them to "take care of our black women." Protesters have been taking part in rallies across Europe and around the world in recent days, both in solidarity with the American protesters and to highlight racism in their own countries. Tropical Storm Cristobal is preparing to invade the United States this weekend, and while meteorologists continue to analyze its strength and track, residents across Louisiana and throughout the Gulf Coast began their preparation days ago. Although its strengthening turned Cristobal into the earliest-ever third named storm of the hurricane season, Louisiana officials made sure the fast start to the season didn't catch anyone by surprise, especially during this pandemic era. In New Orleans, preparations began early in the week as the city office urged residents to review hurricane plans and adjust for COVID-19. "As always during hurricane season, residents are reminded to review emergency plans, gather emergency supplies, and stay informed," the city wrote in a Tuesday press release. "Hurricane preparedness information, including how to account for the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, is available at ready.nola.gov/hurricane." As of June 5, over 41,000 people in the state had tested positive for COVID-19, which has proved fatal for over 2,800, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. Orleans Parish and neighboring Jefferson Parish have accounted for more than one-third of those cases, according to NOLA.com. To address potential shelter concerns while respecting social distancing policies, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a Wednesday press conference that the state made agreements to use hotels where possible instead of regular, open-area shelters like in years past. "I do hope that everyone will stay safe this weekend both from the tropical weather and from COVID-19," Edwards said during a press conference. "...As always, prepare for the worst and pray for the best," he said. He asked that residents monitor the weather in their area closely by keeping up with local forecasts, alerts from the National Weather Service and updates from local officials. In Baton Rouge, Director of Emergency Preparedness Clay Reeves told The Advocate that he expects to drastically decrease the capacity of his community's shelter for similar reasons. Story continues "Normally, if we house people for a short period of time, we give them 10 square feet per person, and, if it's overnight, 20 square feet per person," Reeves told the Advocate. "In a COVID-19 environment, the Department of Children and Family Services recommends 45 square feet per person." Along with reviewing plans, New Orleans residents were encouraged to prepare for the extensive rainfall the area can expect to see over the weekend. The city asked for leaves and debris to be cleared from gutters and catch basins in order to increase drainage and asked drivers to be cautious when parking on the street in order to reduce street flooding. "Even though it is still too early to know exactly what this system is going to do, we know it's going to be a rainy few days in Louisiana," Edwards tweeted on Wednesday. "We could see impacts across the Louisiana coast from this storm, and everyone should be prepared and take it seriously." A woman walks out of a restaurant on Frenchman Street in New Orleans, Friday, May 15, 2020, next to a boarded up window that has been decorated with a painting of musician Louis Armstrong. The clubs and restaurants that are usually packed with people listening to music are closed as the city has fought to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (Rebecca Santana/AP Photo) "I don't want anyone to focus too much on the specific track, but rather the cone, because that cone clearly shows you that everything in Louisiana will likely be impacted," Edwards said in the press conference. "The most reasonable worst-case scenario that we've been told by the National Weather Service is to expect 10 to 15 inches of rain on the east side of the storm, that's going to fall over a 48-hour period. That's a lot of rain." Forecasters are predicting an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 16 inches in the U.S. Gulf Coast states, with landfall likely across the central coast of Louisiana late Sunday or Sunday evening. "The worst of the conditions from Cristobal will end up being on the eastern side of the storm," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said, adding that most of the storm's rainfall will be skewed toward the eastern side of the system. He noted that's why people can't let their guard down, even if they are not near the center of the storm's window of movement. Ahead of the storm, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards requested President Donald Trump declare a pre-landfall emergency for the state effective Friday, June 5. "We are confident that there will be widespread, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding," Edwards said in a press release. "I anticipate the need for emergency protective measures, evacuations, and sheltering for the high-risk areas... At this time, due to the dangers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, sheltering activities will need to include non-congregated settings." Near Cancun, Mexico, Cristobal dumped more than 14 inches of rain over a 48-hour period ending early Thursday, according to local reports. The large storm slowed to a crawl across southern Mexico this past week, resulting in serious flooding and damage in some areas. New Orleans Homeland Security Director Colin Arnold said officials have prepared for the worst-case scenario, and he has ensured that downtown areas and construction sites are ready for the heavy winds, according to NOLA.com. Throughout the southern portion of the state, parish officials have opened sandbag locations and are offering the bags to residents for free. At the five different locations, residents are being asked to bring their own shovels and prepare their own bags. While the impacts are expected to be most severe in Louisiana, the impact range could spread from east Texas to the Florida Panhandle. Harris County Chief Executive Lina Hidalgo began warning residents on Twitter to prepare on Tuesday. #Cristobal has formed in the Gulf and we're monitoring the forecasts closely. Be smart-take time to prepare for hurricane season by visiting https://t.co/54amA11Z6r & taking simple steps: Do an insurance check up (get flood insurance) Build a kit Learn your evacuation zone Harris County Judge (@HarrisCoJudge) June 2, 2020 The National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced a risk of "life-threatening storm surge" from portions of Louisiana to the Florida Big Bend in its Friday night update. In Mississippi, closures and cancellations began on Wednesday as officials in the southern portion of the state prepare for dangerous coastal conditions. "As winds increase with the strengthening storm, seas over the Gulf of Mexico are expected to transition from choppy to very rough this weekend," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said, adding that there would be an uptick in rip currents as well. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. South Korea has today bowed to pressure from Kim Jong-un's powerful sister by vowing to ban activists from flying anti-North Korea leaflets over the border. Kim Yo-jong called the defectors involved in the balloon launches 'human scum' and 'mongrel dogs' as she threatened to scrap a military agreement if Seoul did not prevent the protests. South Korea says it will introduce new laws to ban the protests in an effort to keep its faltering diplomatic efforts alive. While Seoul has sometimes sent police to block such activities, it has previously resisted the North's demands to ban them. South Korea has bowed to pressure from Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong (pictured together) by vowing to ban activists from flying anti-North Korea leaflets over the border Sending balloons across the border has been a common activist tactic for years, but North Korea considers it an attack on its government. In recent weeks, defectors and others have flown leaflets into the North criticising Kim over his nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights record. But Kim's sister today threatened to end the military agreement and said the North could shut down a liaison office and factory site that have been major symbols of reconciliation. In a statement released through state media, she called the defectors 'mongrel dogs' who had betrayed their homeland and said it was 'time to bring their owners to account,' referring to the government in Seoul. Yoh Sang-key, spokesman of South Koreas Unification Ministry, said the government would push for legal changes to 'fundamentally resolve tension-creating activities'. He added that the balloon campaigns were threatening the safety of residents living in the border area. South Korea's ruling liberal party and its satellite party have 180 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly after winning April's elections, giving it a solid majority to win approval for the proposal in parliament. An official from Seouls presidential office said the balloon launches do 'all harm, no good' and that the government will 'sternly respond' to activities threatening security. In 2014, soldiers exchanged fire after South Korean activists released propaganda balloons across the Demilitarized Zone, but no casualties were reported. Activists in have stopped releasing protest plans in advance in recent months, to prevent police from stopping them. Seoul has touted the military agreement, reached during the third summit between Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, as a major step in the peace process. South Korean conservative activists launch balloons carrying leaflets denouncing North Korea in this photo from 2010 The Koreas had agreed to search for human remains from the 1950-53 Korean War and act to reduce military threats, such as establishing buffer and no-fly zones. They also removed some front-line guard posts and jointly surveyed a waterway near their western border to allow freer civilian navigation. However, the North has been less enthusiastic about upholding inter-Korean agreements as the larger nuclear talks with the US remain in stalemate. North Korea has suspended virtually all cooperation with the South, while also pressuring Seoul to break away from Washington and restart the joint economic projects, which would breathe life into the Norths broken economy. North Korea's latest denouncement of the balloon protests follows months of frustration over the Souths unwillingness to sanctions. Kim Yo-jong took a higher profile in North Korean affairs as part of her brothers diplomatic efforts in 2018 and has been issuing her first public statements as that diplomacy has slowed in recent months. 'If they truly value the (North-South) agreements and have a will to thoroughly implement them, they should clear their house of rubbish,' she said. In a separate statement, Pyongyang also commented on the George Floyd protests, saying that the unrest exposes harsh realities in America. 'Demonstrators enraged by the extreme racists throng even to the White House. This is the reality in the US today,' it said. 'American liberalism and democracy put the cap of leftist on the demonstrators and threaten to unleash even dogs for suppression.' The liaison office in Kaesong has been closed since late January after the Koreas agreed to temporarily shut down until the coronavirus outbreak is controlled. The North has also postponed plans to tear down South Korean-made hotels and other facilities at the Norths Diamond Mountain resort. North Korea claims there has not been a single case of coronavirus on its territory, but this is widely regarded as implausible. San Antonio police are searching for the drivers of two vehicles involved in a hit-and-run and shooting downtown early Thursday. Officers were called to the 800 block of Alamo Street around 2 a.m. for a bar fight that had spilled out onto the street. A 29-year-old man who had been involved in the fight had attempted to run after a BMW sedan leaving the bar to continue the fight, police said. The man ran in front of the vehicle and was struck. Churches in the Ashanti Region have been directed to officially register their premises for effective monitoring by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). The directive comes in the wake of the recent lifting of the governments ban on church gathering which was necessitated by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. The Regional Security Council (REGSEC) is asking all churches to undergo the necessary registration processes at their respective MMDAs in this critical time of COVID-19. This is to facilitate the work of the assemblies in the area of monitoring to check whether or not the churches would abide by the measures put in place in the course of their activities to mitigate the spread of the pandemic, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, the Chairman, told a press conference in Kumasi. Those who flout this order, he said, would be dealt with, stressing that the Security Council would not compromise in its resolve to ensure that the COVID-19 preventive protocols were adhered to strictly by the church. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his recent tenth address to the nation on measures taken against the spread of the pandemic, announced the lifting of the ban on religious meetings, including the church. According to the President, all church services must be conducted within an hour with a congregation of not more than one hundred (100), while the identity of the members should also be booked before such activities are held. Additionally, leaders of the various churches are to ensure that all the COVID-19 preventive protocols are followed to the letter, including social distancing and hand-washing, as well as the use of hand sanitizers. Under the new guidelines, churches are also required to use thermometer guns in checking the body temperature of members before they are allowed entry into the respective premises. Ghanas confirmed COVID-19 case count stood at 8, 297, with 2, 986 recoveries and 38 deaths, as of Tuesday, June 02, this year, according to the Ghana Health Services portal on the pandemic. 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 First optical measurements of Milky Way's Fermi Bubbles probe their origin MADISON -Using the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper telescope, astronomers have for the first time measured the Fermi Bubbles in the visible light spectrum. The Fermi Bubbles are two enormous outflows of high-energy gas that emanate from the Milky Way and the finding refines our understanding of the properties of these mysterious blobs. The research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Whitewater and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University measured the emission of light from hydrogen and nitrogen in the Fermi Bubbles at the same position as recent ultraviolet absorption measurements made by the Hubble Telescope. "We combined those two measurements of emission and absorption to estimate the density, pressure and temperature of the ionized gas, and that lets us better understand where this gas is coming from," says Dhanesh Krishnarao, lead author of the new study and an astronomy graduate student at UW-Madison. The researchers announced their findings June 3 at the 236th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which was held virtually for the first time since 1899, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Extending 25,000 light years both above and below the center of the Milky Way, the Fermi Bubbles were discovered in 2010 by the Fermi Gamma Ray Telescope. These faint but highly energetic outflows of gas are racing away from the center of the Milky Way at millions of miles per hour. But while the origin of the phenomenon has been inferred to date back several million years ago, the events that produced the bubbles remain a mystery. Now, with new measurements of the density and pressure of the ionized gas, researchers can test models of the Fermi Bubbles against observations. "The other significant thing is that we now have the possibility of measuring the density and pressure and the velocity structure in many locations," with the all-sky WHAM telescope, says Bob Benjamin, a professor of astronomy at UW-Whitewater and co-author of the study. "We can do an extensive mapping effort across the Fermi Bubbles above and below the plane of the galaxy to see if the models that people have developed are holding up. Because, unlike the ultraviolet data, we're not limited to just specific lines of sight." Matt Haffner, professor of physics and astronomy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a co-author of the report, says the work demonstrates the usefulness of the WHAM telescope, developed at UW-Madison, to tell us more about the workings of the Milky Way. The central region of our home galaxy has long been difficult to study because of gas blocking out view, but WHAM has provided new opportunities to gather the kind of information we have for distant galaxies. "There are regions of the galaxy we can target with very sensitive instruments like WHAM to get this kind of new information toward the center that previously we are only able to do in the infrared and radio," says Haffner. "We can make comparisons to other galaxies by making the same kind of measurements towards the center of the Milky Way." ### --Eric Hamilton, (608) 263-1986, eshamilton@wisc.edu This story has been published on: 2020-06-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. MOSCOW - In Russia's push to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, researchers have tested formulas on themselves, members of the military have been selected for trials and some officials are claiming that a breakthrough could be just months away. But Russia's rush to be first - and claim the global bragging rights for President Vladimir Putin's government - also is prompting some in the country to raise warnings about possibly cutting corners with testing and keeping expectations in check. "There are still too many questions to give you time predictions," said the head of Russia's consumer health regulator, Anna Popova, speaking on a panel Thursday. "We all want it now, but I know we won't get it by tomorrow." she said at an event hosted by theValdai Discussion Club, a Moscow-based think tank. "We all want to get there as quickly as possible without violating the ethical rules." The contrasting approaches offer a sense of the internal tensions in Russia as the state-backed medical system is throwing resources at potential vaccines. That has led to highly unorthodox proposals that critics say cross ethical lines - such as researchers taking self-administered doses of test samples and a politician's suggestion of using inmates in clinical trials. "When we mention some timelines, this is always somebody's hope," Popova said. "We can say when it's technically going to be possible to get the vaccine, but we cannot say in advance how efficient that vaccine is going to be." Russia - with the third-most confirmed coronavirus cases in the world with more than 400,000 - is far from alone in the vaccine hunt. It is competing against other countries including the world's two biggest economies, the United States and China, in the vaccine race for the prestige of having the first team to crack the covid-19 code. Testing is underway on at least five experimental vaccines in China and four in the United States. Top infectious-disease scientists, including Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and infectious-disease, have offered a timeline of a year to 18 months for a vaccine. But Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said Thursday that Muscovites will be required to wear face masks until a vaccine is available, which he expects "will happen between October and February of next year." "I would like to hope that we will receive the first large vaccine shipments in October," Sobyanin told the state-run Tass news agency. Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko was more optimistic just two weeks ago, telling state television that a "vaccine's availability for broader use should materialize somewhere in late July." He made the same claim during a parliamentary session. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said last month that Russia is developing 47 coronavirus vaccines, but 10 are listed on the World Health Organization's latest registry. "I think it's impossible, if we're talking about a tested, reliable vaccine ready for mass application," said Vitaly Zverev of Moscow's Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera. "We should always remember that we're going to administer a vaccine to perfectly healthy people. That's why we have to be absolutely sure it's safe, but it's impossible to check that in such a short period of time." Zverev said the rush to claim the world's first novel coronavirus vaccine could be about "prestige" for Russia, which has long prided itself on its legacy of scientific innovation. The Soviet Union was a vaccinating force, collaborating with U.S. scientists on a polio vaccine during the Cold War and donating more anti-smallpox vaccines to the WHO than all other countries combined. But Anton Gopka, the head of the health-care investment firm ATEM Capital, said Russia's disregard for international ethical protocols means that any vaccine is unlikely to gain acceptance outside of the country. The Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday that it has "finished selecting volunteers" from its military ranks - 45 men and five women who already underwent a preliminary health checkup and testing and have not been diagnosed with any diseases for a month, the statement said. Gopka said that using members of the military means "you can't say they are volunteers." "We have brilliant scientists, but there needs to be a constructive discussion about bioethical standards," Gopka said. Researchers at Moscow's Gamaleya research institute, part of the Russian Health Ministry, drew scrutiny after boasting about testing a vaccine on themselves - an act Gopka referred to as "crazy" and Zverev similarly decried because it means the experiment couldn't have been blind, when the subject doesn't know if he or she received a placebo or the vaccine. Gamalyea director Alexander Gintsburg told the Interfax news agency that the staff working on the so-called viral vector vaccine "didn't so much seek to test it on themselves, rather, they sought to protect themselves in order to be able to work on this development amid the pandemic." Gopka said he doubts there was any ill intent with the methodology but the mentality needs to change for wider acceptance of any results. "They're trying to show the commitment of the state, or that by testing it on themselves, they'll reassure people it's safe," Gopka said. Other vaccine fervor has included research from St. Petersburg's Institute of Experimental Medicine on a vaccine that could be administered orally in a dairy product, perhaps yogurt. Nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky made headlines last month when, in an interview with state television, he proposed asking inmates to volunteer for trials in exchange for reduced prison sentences. "This rush scares me," Zverev said. "I believe the earliest we can have a vaccine ready is the middle of next year." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 19:03 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc33b22 4 National ship,Basarnas,missing-ship,search-and-rescue,cargo-ship,sea-accident,West-Nusa-Tenggara,NTB,Bima-West-Nusa-Tenggara Free A cargo ship with 21 crew members on board was reported missing in waters off Bali on Wednesday evening. The cargo ship, belonging to PT Odyssey Maritim Nusantara, departed from Semarang, Central Java on June 5. The ship did not arrive at Bima, West Nusa Tenggara on Tuesday as expected and could not be contacted. Bali National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) head Gede Armada said the last communication with the ship occurred on May 29 when the ship was sailing 6 nautical miles (NM) northeast of Gili Trawangan in Lombok. Read also: Cargo ship sailing in Maluku waters loses contact On May 30, Vessel Finder managed to locate the ship at 43 NM north of Kubu water, Karangasem, Bali. The ship was estimated to arrive in Bima on June 2, but its last location was far from its original destination, Darmada said as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday. Basarnas Bali also received a report that the ship was experiencing a generator issue. The agency is currently dispatching a search and rescue team to the ships last location. (dpk) The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, inserted N500 million worth of projects into the 2017 budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), according to a document released by the Senate. Among the contracts inserted in the budget was the fencing of the Federal Polytechnic, Ukana, Akwa Ibom state, for the sum of N200 million and the fencing of the Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene, at the cost of N100 million. The Chairman of the Senate panel on NDDC, Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP/Delta state) had accused Mr Akpabio of pushing in millions of projects into the NDDC budget while he was a senator, but the minister had denied the accusation. The release of the document is to validate Mr Nwaoboshis claims, apparently. Mr Akpabio, who was serving in the Senate as the minority leader then, said in a letter addressed to the chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta, that the projects he requested for inclusion in the NDDC budget were for the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District which he represented. Apart from being a minority leader then, Mr Akpabio was also a member of the Senate committee on the NDDC. Other projects requested for inclusion in the 2017 NDDC budget by Mr Akpabio included entrepreneurship training for the youth of Akwa Ibom North West District on the use of modern farming tools at the cost of N75 million and similar training for the women of the district at the cost of N75 million also. There was also a hostel renovation project at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Mr Akpabios media aide, Anietie Ekong, told PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday morning, that there was nothing extraordinary about the document. In fact, it would have been a dereliction of duty if Senator Akpabio did not try to influence projects to his constituency. It was part of his legislative duties as the Senate minority leader to attract projects to his constituency. I dont know what the hue is about, Mr Ekong said. PREMIUM TIMES pointed out to Mr Ekong that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where Mr Akpabio also inserted a hostel renovation project was not within his senatorial district. There is an Akpabio hall in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, named after the Akpabios family, Mr Ekong responded. If the university can do his family that honour of naming a hall after him, is it too much to seek to renovate that all as part of his constituency projects. Mr Ekong said Mr Akpabio, while he was the Senate minority leader, did constituency projects as far as Eleme in Rivers state. READ ALSO: Senate insiders said what senators usually do to enrich themselves is to insert projects into budgets and then go ahead to pick contractors who in turn execute those projects on their behalf. Mr Ekong said the former senator did not have a hand in the contractors picked for the projects nor did he have any personal relationship with the contractors. Honestly, I am not even sure all the projects were awarded. I am not also sure of the status of the ones that were awarded, he said. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Anna Naghdalyan has disseminated a comment regarding the bellicose statements of various circles of the Azerbaijani authorities. The comment reads as follows: Recently the high leadership along with the other state agencies of Azerbaijan have been competing in delivering hysterical Armenophobic statements with no substantive content. It seems that the Azerbaijani leadership is attempting desperately to exceed its previous Armenophobic statements, which is not an easy task to do amid its decades-long anti-Armenian consistent discourse. It is noteworthy that the authoritarian leadership of Azerbaijan, which promotes hatred among its people and puts forward war threats, instrumentalized the fighting against COVID-19 to commit massive human rights violations in its country. Recently, a number of reputable international and regional organizations have raised their voice against these practices of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, even though the Armenophobic propaganda and war threats of Azerbaijan are meant for domestic consumption, they seriously undermine the peace process and demonstrate that not the population, but the top leadership of Azerbaijan is not prepared for peace. The anti-Armenian actions of the leadership of Azerbaijan have already received their legal assessment by the international bodies. In this vein, the ECHR ruling on Makuchyan and Minasyan vs Azerbaijan and Hungary case condemned Azerbaijan's racist policy, which was manifested by pardon, release and glorification of the murderer Ramil Safarov. The current authorities of Azerbaijan, which consider Armenophobia as the main source of their legitimacy and domestic consolidation, pose a threat not only to Artsakh, Armenia and all Armenians, but also to regional peace and security. The security system of Artsakh and Armenia is comprehensive and consolidated enough to effectively address and confront such threats. SpaceX is planning to launch the next batch of its Starlink internet satellites on Wednesday, marking the second major launch for the private space firm in less than a week. A Falcon 9 rocket will carry 60 Starlink satellites into orbit, with lift-off scheduled for 9.25pm EDT (2.25am Thursday UK time) from the Complex 40 launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Adverse weather conditions delayed last weeks launch from the same location of Nasa astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), which resulted in a delay for the latest Starlink mission. Weather forecasts from the US Space Forces 45th Weather Squadron project that there is a 70 per cent probability of favourable conditions for Wednesday nights launch. It is the eighth launch of Starlink satellites and if successful it will bring the total number of Starlink satellites to 480. Eventually they will form part of a 12,000-strong constellation designed to beam high-speed internet down to Earth. Recommended Elon Musk responds to Twitter time travel conspiracy SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed new details about how Starlink will work last month, stating on Twitter that it will only work for higher latitudes at first. This will cover places like Seattle and London to begin with, he said, before coverage progressively spreads closer to the equator. SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Show all 15 1 /15 SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Space X Dragon departs from the International Space Station and heads for earth AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Space X Dragon undocks from the International Space Station NASA SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX Crew Dragon is pictured about 20 meters (66 feet) away from the International Space Station Nasa/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on March 2 2019 Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Astronauts aboard the Space Station preparing to open hatchet to the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying a instrumented dummy after it successfully docked with Space Station Nasa TV/EPA SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A dummy(L) named Ripley onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard after the opening of the hatch during the Demo-1 missioN Nasa TV/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission The SpaceX team watches as the SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with the International Space Station Nasa/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket docked with the International Space Station during the Demo-1 mission Nasa/AFP/Getty SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Astronaut David Saint-Jacques taking a look inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying a instrumented dummy Nasa TV/EPA SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off on an uncrewed test flight Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on an uncrewed test flight Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a demo Crew Dragon spacecraft on an uncrewed test flight AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX's new crew capsule approaches just before docking Nasa TV/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Astronaut Eric Boe, assistant to the chief of the astronaut office for commercial crew, left, and Norm Knight, deputy director of flight operations at Nasa's Johnson Space Center watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft Nasa/AP In May, SpaceX signed a three-year deal with the US Army to test Starlinks broadband internet service when connected to military systems. A report in SpaceNews claimed that the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (Crada) will evaluate potential applications and assess whether the Army invests further in the network. The swarms of satellite have drawn criticism from some astronomers, who claim that they disrupt optical and radio telescopes. Some even claim that the Starlink satellites could potentially even block sightings of Earth-bound asteroids. SpaceX is launching its internet-beaming Starlink satellites in batches of 60 (NSC) Trains of Starlink satellites have been visible following previous launches and continue to be visible at certain times. Following the last launch of Starlink satellites, Mr Musk said SpaceX was taking some key steps to reduce satellite brightness. These measures include paining the underside of the satellites black and changing the angle of the solar panel at certain times. TEMPE, Ariz., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Benchmark (NYSE: BHE), a global provider of engineering, design, and manufacturing services, today held a virtual grand opening of its new advanced electronics manufacturing facility in Phoenix. Benchmark's President and CEO Jeff Benck hosted the live webcast and was joined virtually by several dignitaries including Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. "As Arizona begins to safely re-energize our economy, Benchmark's expansion into its new Phoenix facility is positive news," said Governor Ducey. "We are grateful that companies like Benchmark, which relocated its headquarters from Texas to Arizona, continue to bring hundreds of good-paying jobs to our state." Benchmark's new Phoenix facility produces solutions for high-reliability RF, photonics, and high-speed electronic systems in a wide range of market sectors, including: aerospace and defense, computing, complex industrial, medical, and next-generation telecommunications. Benchmark currently serves several high-profile customers within each of these key industries today at the new site. "We're thrilled to announce the grand opening of our latest Phoenix facility," said Benck. "Arizona has proven to be an excellent location for Benchmark to grow and thrive. The support we've received from the community, government officals, and our state's great universities have all contributed to our ability to partner with some of the world's largest OEMs to bring their innovations to life." During the live webcast, Benchmark leaders provided attendees a behind-the scenes virtual tour featuring the facility's groundbreaking capabilities, services, and technology building blocks, including: RF and high-speed electronics engineering sandbox Very High Density Interconnect (VDHI) circuit fabrication Microelectronics assembly Surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly System integration Functional test Rapid prototyping and volume production "Our new advanced manufacturing facility offers a completely different approach to innovation and problem solving in high-performance electronics by allowing us to partner with our customers through the entire product development cycle and innovate rapidly with high-reliability products," said Jan Janick, CTO, Benchmark. "We're not only tackling challenges with the communication technology of tomorrow such as 5G, space satellites, munition guidance, and advanced radar systems for the defense sector, but we are also attacking miniaturization solutions for the progressive needs of our industrial and medical customers." Highlights of the webcast can be viewed here. For more information, please visit www.bench.com or call Benchmark at 623-300-7000. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. Benchmark provides comprehensive solutions across the entire product life cycle; leading through its innovative technology and engineering design services; leveraging its optimized global supply chain; and delivering world-class manufacturing services in the following industries: commercial aerospace, defense, advanced computing, next generation telecommunications, complex industrials, medical technologies, and semiconductor capital equipment. Benchmark's global operations include facilities in seven countries and its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHE. SOURCE Benchmark Electronics, Inc. Related Links http://www.bench.com Dr. Anthony Fauci called the idea of keeping schools closed in the fall out of safety concerns due to coronavirus a bit of a reach in an interview with CNN. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease spoke with CNN on Wednesday and said children tend to have milder symptoms or are completely asymptomatic when they are infected with COVID-19. Children can get infected, so, yes, so youve got to be careful, Fauci said. You got to be careful for them and you got to be careful that they may not spread it. Now, to make an extrapolation that you shouldnt open schools, I think is a bit of a reach. In the interview with CNN, Fauci didnt want to make broad generalizations for every school in every state as the pandemic has affected regions of the country differently. He said now, though, is the time to begin discussing the pros and cons of bringing kids back to school in September. When you talk about children going back to school and their safety, it really depends on the level of viral activity, and the particular area that youre talking about," Fauci told CNN. "What happens all too often, understandably, but sometimes misleadingly, is that we talk about the country as a whole in a unidimensional way. Schools in Massachusetts have been closed since March. In April. Gov. Charlie Baker closed schools for the remainder of the academic year while online learning continued. In discussing what reopening Worcester may look like, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said in April that its likely schools would be one of the last sectors to reopen amid the pandemic. Massachusetts reopening plan under Baker is set to begin its second phase next week. State education officials intend to provide school districts with guidance on summer programming soon, followed by a mid-June distribution of draft fall guidance to help schools plan to reopen in the new academic year. In some situations there will be no problem for children to go back to school, Fauci told CNN. In others, you may need to do some modifications. You know, modifications could be breaking up the class so you dont have a crowded classroom, maybe half in the morning, half in the afternoon, having children doing alternate schedules. Theres a whole bunch of things that one can do. In the interview, Fauci said schools will likely have to be creative" when students return. He suggested that one option is to space out children at every other desk, or every third desk in order to maintain proper social distancing. Colleges and universities in Massachusetts have started to release plans to welcome students back to campus. Northeastern University said it plans to rethink its whole operation in bringing students back to campus. Boston University plans for campus-wide testing while using robots to streamline testing. A couple of Harvard University graduate schools, though, on Wednesday announced plans to continue online learning through the fall. The Harvard University Graduate School of Education said it would continue online classes through the entire 2020-21 academic year. Related Content: Ajay Kanth By Express News Service KOCHI: The Kottayam incident in which an aged couple was attacked in their home is just a warning sign as criminologists fear that economic difficulties due to the lockdown could result in a spurt in crimes in the coming days. Though the crime rate has fallen during the lockdown, it could increase in the coming days with the relaxation of lockdown rules and reduction in visible policing from the streets. Its a fact that the lockdown and Covid-19 have resulted in an economic crisis, affecting the lives of many. As life returns to normalcy, people have started to feel the heat of shortage of money and the economic difficulties can lead them to commit a crime and other anti-social activities, said Indian Criminology and Forensic Science Association president and criminologist Febin Baby. For all these lockdown days, there have been no extravaganza and liquor. But things have changed with the lifting of many restrictions. People are a frustrated lot after being in lockdown for all these days and they have started to come out to the streets with no money and this could lead to crimes, he said. Former State Police Chief Jacob Punnoose said unemployment and job loss created by the lockdown could result in a spike in property crimes in the due course of time. There will also be anti-social activities like illicit liquor brewing. It is true that the lockdown has witnessed a drop in crimes as people were virtually in a jail-like situation with heavy police presence. Now, with restrictions lifted, life is back to normal. But people have no money or job and its impact on society will start to come through, he said. Kochi Range Deputy Inspector General of Police S Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar said the police will assess the ground-level situation and chalk out an appropriate strategy to deal with the rise in crimes. As far as the Kottayam incident is concerned, we are yet to ascertain the motive behind it. Only after a detailed probe, we will be able to conclude whether it was a burglary attempt or not, he added. Criminologists also warn that face masks, which have become a part of life as a Covid safety protocol, would come in handy for criminals to commit street crimes like chain snatching and robberies. Cops to assess situation, chalk out tactics to deal with rise in crimes ALBANY The state district attorneys association said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and members of his administration are wrong on the law and should not be saying as they have this week that prosecutors could be charging looters with second-degree burglary, a felony that after July 2 would allow judges to set bail on the offense. "Look at the facts. Look at what they did and charge appropriately, that's what I'm saying," Cuomo said Thursday during his daily coronavirus task force briefing. "Don't feel, 'Well, there's a political environment where I don't want to charge because it's not political to hold people account for crimes.' The law is the law. ... District attorneys have to do their jobs. Enforce the law. I'm not interested in a political enforcement of law." As protests have erupted across the state and nation over the past 10 days, prosecutors in New York have been charging alleged looters with third-degree burglary, a low-level felony. Under bail reform laws that took effect in January, judges cannot set bail for people charged with that offense. A change in the bail laws that the Legislature and Cuomo enacted in the recent state budget, however, will after July 2 enable judges to set bail for a defendant charged with second-degree burglary. Earlier this week, amid outcries that looters and others arrested for violence were not having bail set or issued appearance tickets members of Cuomo's administration erroneously said that judges could set bail for some looters if prosecutors had charged them with second-degree burglary. At Thursday's briefing, the governor's secretary, Melissa DeRosa, said that the charge of second-degree burglary "applies directly to looting." "This has always been the law. It wasnt changed in the budget," DeRosa said. "It says that bail can be set if a person is ... carrying a dangerous instrument, which includes a rock ... (and) uses a rock, brick or the like to break the window to gain entry, or ... another participant acting with the defendant, that did (carry a dangerous instrument) or use something like a rock to break a window." "So, I understand some of the district attorneys may feel uncomfortable charging that as burglary two because traditionally they charge that as burglary three," DeRosa said. "But they have the tools available to them, and I think what the governor is saying they should use them." Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, president of the state district attorneys association, said the governor is mistaken. "The notion that district attorneys can charge burglary two in cases where individuals throw rocks through windows of closed businesses to loot is not supported by New York state's penal law," Hoovler said in a statement. "If the premises are not directly shared with a dwelling, this action alone simply does not arise to burglary two. The law that would allow for bail for a burglary of a dwelling or shared dwelling does not go into effect until July 1 and even then the facts would have to also support entry into the dwelling portion of the premises." Hoovler said that using a rock or brick to smash a window also does not qualify as a "dangerous instrument" unless it could cause serious physical injury to someone inside. "For an overwhelming majority of these cases, the facts do not justify charges that would be bail eligible under New York state's current laws. That is why we are seeing these looters immediately released upon arraignment or given a desk appearance ticket," he said. "Any suggestion that prosecutors should knowingly charge an offense that the facts and circumstances do not support, or to put another way, 'overcharge,' would run afoul of the ethical obligations prosecutors are sworn to uphold." Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The district attorneys association statement cited a recent Court of Appeals decision which threw out a second-degree burglary conviction for a defendant who broke into the basement of a deli that had six floors of apartments above it. The decision said that since the residential floors were not accessible from the deli it was not appropriate to charge the defendant with second-degree burglary. The court upheld the person's conviction for third-degree burglary. In an interview, Hoovler said the association issued the statement, in part, to back Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., whose office is handling hundreds of arrests of alleged looters over the past week by the New York Police Department. Cuomo "made a comment that wasnt complete and I wanted to make sure that a complete statement was made," Hoovler said. "Cy Vance was right on the law and the association had to back him." Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who has been critical of many elements of the initial criminal justice reforms, was even more pointed in his response to Cuomo's remarks. "He wants us to violate our code of ethics, Soares said. They basically wrote laws that could not have come at a worse time for our country and now business owners are suffering for it. Its not just business owners: Its anyone who has been assaulted, who gets to feel a perpetrator assault them and then watch them get an appearance ticket. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 11:40:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's industrial output fell 18.8 percent in April from March, the biggest decline since 2002, as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Brazilian statistics agency reported on Wednesday. The industrial production decreased in the fourth month of the year by 27.2 percent compared with April 2019, also a record fall, said the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in its report. Meanwhile, the Brazilian industrial output dropped by 8.2 percent in the first four months of the year compared with the same period in 2019, according to the IBGE. "The April result occurred, clearly, due to the greater number of stoppages of the various production units in various industrial segments caused by the pandemic. March had already presented a negative result. Now, in April, we see an increased decline, with falls in double-digits in all economic categories," the IBGE said. In April, 22 of the 26 industrial segments analyzed reported a lower production, led by the automotive industry, which contracted 88.5 percent from March. The interruption of automotive production impacted other sectors as well, such as machinery and equipment, which saw a drop of 30.8 percent, metallurgy by 28.8 percent, and plastics by 25.8 percent. The only segments of the industry that increased production in April were areas considered to be essential: pharmaceuticals, up 6.6 percent; food products, up 3.3 percent; and perfumery, cleaning, and personal hygiene products, up 1.3 percent. Financial analysts estimated that Brazil's industrial production will decrease by 3.59 percent in 2020. Enditem The NHS is being targeted by a campaign of cyber attacks since the coronavirus outbreak, the director of GCHQ has said. Jeremy Fleming said that GCHQ's cybersecurity arm, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), had been supporting the health sector after it had been targeted by hackers. He told the Cheltenham Science Festival there were clear efforts being made to access sensitive data linked to Britain's response to the pandemic, such as vaccine research. 'The reality is that we are seeing attacks on the health infrastructure,' he said. Jeremy Fleming said that GCHQ's cybersecurity arm, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), had been supporting the health sector after it had been targeted by hackers Drugs to treat Covid-19 are 'essential' because a vaccine will take YEARS, expert warns Drugs that treat coronavirus are 'essential' to getting a grip on the pandemic because a vaccine will take years to roll out, a top expert has warned. Dr Nick Cammack, head of the Wellcome Trust's Covid-19 Therapeutic Accelerator project into promising therapies, urged caution to those pinning their hopes on a jab being mass-produced this year. He said it would take several years to scale up manufacturing capacity, even if a vaccine is developed and proven safe in 2020. Dr Cammack emphasised the importance of an effective treatment for potential second and third waves of the epidemic in winter, after countries come out of lockdown and air travel restarts. His comments come after hopes for a vaccine were ramped up in recent weeks following promises by several pharmaceutical giants to deliver jabs by autumn. British firm AstraZeneca said it fully expected to have millions of doses of its AZD1222 vaccine, being developed by Oxford University, ready by September. Brentford-based GlaxoSmithKline and US drugs giants Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer also unveiled plans to roll out their jabs later this year. But Dr Cammack described it as an 'extraordinary undertaking' and said most people will not get their hands on a vaccine for 'several years'. Advertisement 'We do know that, whether it's states or criminals, they are going after things which are sensitive to us in this regard. 'So, it's a high priority for us to protect the health sector, protect, particularly, the race to acquire a vaccine, and there has been quite a lot of publicity around all of that. 'They're not using particularly different techniques to do it, they're still looking for pretty basic vulnerabilities in our cybersecurity, they'll still try and use lures to get people to click on the wrong thing, or will look for vulnerabilities where people aren't backing up properly, or where they've got basic passwords and so on. 'There is a lot of low-hanging fruit, still, in cybersecurity. 'If we all did some of these basic things, then even quite sophisticated state actors would find it hard to come after us.' The attacks were no more sophisticated than previous hacking attempts, Mr Fleming said, but he warned that criminals had seen Covid-19 as an 'opportunity', using fear around the pandemic to scare or trick people in sharing personal information. 'We've been helping government and helping policing and the National Crime Agency in particular, cope with some of the spikes we've seen in serious and organised crime. As it is the case that hostile states can seek to do us harm, cybercriminals have spotted the opportunity from the pandemic,' he said. 'We've seen them using Covid-related tactics as lures to try and defraud people, to mount their forms of criminality and cause people harm.' Mr Fleming revealed that GCHQ had 'moved in' to support the healthcare industry early in the pandemic for multiple reasons, including also offering cybersecurity support for the NHS' contact-tracing app, which remains in development. 'We lent in to advise and help around the creation of the NHS app around COVID, and that's to make sure that all of our information is as secure as possible, and that the architecture behind the system is really cutting- edge and is protecting the things that we need to do, so that the decisions taken from it are as effective as possible,' he said. Mr Fleming revealed that GCHQ had 'moved in' to support the healthcare industry early in the pandemic for multiple reasons, including also offering cybersecurity support for the NHS' contact-tracing app, which remains in development (pictured: GCHQ headquarters) Mr Fleming warned that criminals had seen Covid-19 as an 'opportunity', using fear around the pandemic to scare or trick people in sharing personal information (stock image) GCHQ - A century of protecting Britain 1919: GCHQ is formed under the original name of the Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS) after a merger between Room 40 (naval intelligence) and MI1(b) (military intelligence). Its first home was in London at Watergate House. 1926: GC&CS buys its first Enigma machine. 1939: GC&CS is given the cover name GCHQ to better disguise its secret work when it moved to its wartime home at Bletchley Park. 1946: The UKUSA agreement was signed and became the 'cornerstone' of the Five Eyes partnership in which the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada now share intelligence. - GCHQ moves to Eastcote, in Greater London. 1950: GCHQ moves to Cheltenham (completed 1954). 1983: GCHQ is avowed - publicly acknowledged - in Parliament for the first time. 1984: Trade unions are banned at GCHQ. 1994: The Intelligence Services Act puts new legal duties on GCHQ. 1997: Trade Union ban lifted for GCHQ workers. 2016: Investigatory Powers Act is brought in to provide oversight of the intelligence agencies. 2019: GCHQ's office in Manchester set to open. - November 1: GCHQ turns 100. Advertisement Questions have previously been raised about the security of the app, but Mr Fleming said: 'Privacy, security, data protection has been absolutely at the heart of our approach' to its development. 'It has been built in as a fundamental principle, the way in which the app operates, the way in which, with the user's authority, it shares data so that clinical decisions can be taken, the way in which, long term, the interests of every individual in this country who downloads the app and the data that they provide is treated long term has been treated so seriously from the off, that I would like to provide significant reassurance on that. 'I think it's also equally important that we continue to be as transparent as we can be about that as a nation,' he added. Asked about the increase in time people are spending with digital devices during lockdown, the GCHQ director said it was right to embrace technology, but the public needed to remember good cybersecurity practice in order to stay safe. 'The reality is, you can do most things from home, for most people, you don't need to worry about it very much. 'But you do have to make sure that some pretty basic cyber hygiene disciplines are in place to protect your information,' he said. 'Then, you can fill your boots with everything that this technology can bring. 'It really is enabling, and our message in GCHQ and from the NCSC is that these technologies are here to enable us, they're brilliant at doing that, so let's do it, but let's try and do that as safely as we can.' For the last 15 years, former Metropolitan Health District epidemiologist Cherise Rohr-Allegrini has studied and planned ways to prevent infectious diseases from spreading in San Antonio and the rest of South Texas. She began her tenure at Metro Health in 2005 then quickly became the departments first person in recent decades to oversee pandemic flu planning. After that, she oversaw the regions communicable disease division for the state health department during the H1N1 pandemic. Today, Rohr-Allegrini works as the San Antonio director for The Immunization Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases. We sat down with her to understand how the citys pandemic flu position came to be, how funding cuts got us to the state were in and what obstacles we face moving forward. Now Playing: Former Metro Health epidemiologist Cherise Rohr-Allegrini is the San Antonio director for The Immunization Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases. Video: San Antonio Express-News Tell me about how you started with Metro Health 15 years ago. There was a lot of Homeland Security funding, and they were investing a lot in doing research on potential bioweapons and preparing for outbreaks of diseases caused by bioweapons. They brought me on for that in the public health emergency preparedness division. That was the year of Hurricane Katrina. About two months in, I got thrown into Katrinas response. It was crazy for everybody nobody had ever done anything like that. As that started to wind down there was a large investment nationally in pandemic flu planning. And our health director said to my boss, Whos our pandemic flu person? And he said, Cherise is! And I was like, What? I had a lot of virology classes in graduate school, I felt fairly confident that I had at least a firm understanding of the basics, but I had never studied respiratory diseases before that. I was not an expert on pandemics or flu before that. But I had to become one. I quickly became the local expert, not just in influenza and all the different epidemics weve had, but in contingency planning. What I ended up having to do was work with all sorts of entities city departments, local businesses, big businesses, like USAA, school districts and universities to help them come up with plans for, what would you do if 30 percent of your workforce was out? I dont think we honestly ever talked about a full shutdown of the economy like we have now. When you were working in that role, did you ever expect something like the COVID-19 pandemic to happen? Yes and no. We expected the pandemic to be flu. We know a lot about influenza, so that helps us. This is a virus thats got a lot more unknowns than influenza virus. The incubation period is longer for COVID-19. We dont fully understand the transmission dynamics, so thats different. We didnt anticipate a whole shutting down of the economy. It was more measured, like, if we have to close schools, how would your business stay open? A lot of focus was on how do you keep your economy including your schools functioning at a time when you dont have your workforce fully available, assuming they would be sick. We actually expected a lot more people to be sick in the process. So there are differences, but there are also a lot of similarities. We always would say its not if, but when. Tom Reel /Staff photographer We did have a pandemic in 2009. At that point, I was working for the state health department in Region 8 and we had the first cases of H1N1 that were identified here. But that pandemic ended up being not nearly as bad as we expected. It was pretty significant, but it wasnt having the broad impact that this is having. And I think thats a little bit part of the perspective because people mostly remember H1N1, but they dont remember it as a big deal. But memories are short. Then the funding went away. I dont think any health department still has that level of staff or pandemic preparedness that we had in 2005. This is a very, very common problem in the history of public health. When you do things well, you prevent disease. Preventing disease is not sexy, and its really hard to show how many lives you saved when by prevention. When you have a fire and you put it out, you can show what you did. But when you prevent the fire from happening, its hard to say, Well, we prevented all this stuff. So the money goes away, theres not even resources for it, and you shift priorities because its not whats happening right at that moment. It was mostly federal funding, right? It was then that was the Homeland Security funding that went away slowly over the years. And thats a big deal. Everyone wants to blame certain political leaders for it, but really, I blame us as a society, regardless of my opinion of certain political leaders. I think, as a society, we had decided that funding these efforts was not important so Congress cut funding to it over the years, and certain executives made other decisions making it worse. That was something that I think we all share responsibility in. We stopped caring about it as a society, until its in your face. Were not alone in that, I think worldwide thats an issue. Again, its easier to see the need to put out the fire than to prevent the fire from happening. Considering those things, what are going to be our biggest obstacles to recovering from this pandemic? In this way, COVID-19 is very different from flu because we were able to get a vaccine pretty quickly for flu. That is a lot of what kept H1N1 from spiraling out of control: we had a vaccine within about six months. Thats not going to be the case at all for COVID. So whats going to be really hard is getting I hate saying, the new normal or getting back to normal but its figuring out how to move forward in a way that continues to be safe. Theres a great article by a woman from Harvard. She compared it to abstinence. Basically, abstinence-only doesnt work, and in this sense, shes referring to the physical distancing. Telling everybody to not go outside is essentially saying, You can only practice abstinence. We know that thats not practical. So how do we adapt to limiting our social interactions so that were not spreading disease in a really problematic way? I think weve done a really good job up until now, but we cant continue to live like that. You brought up the future COVID-19 vaccine. To what extent do you think the anti-vaccination movement will threaten our recovery? Its a huge threat. In Texas, they like to say theyre not anti-vaccine, theyre pro personal rights. Its a huge problem because they already are not just opposed to vaccines, they are opposed to anything the government tells them to do. The movement in Austin a month ago when they had the big rally at the Capitol by the people demanding reopening the state, it was the same people. They overlap. Its going to be a problem because they spread misinformation constantly. Weve been dealing with that. We already have an issue with being at risk of a measles outbreak. We always have pertussis its going to get worse. Therere a few other diseases that if kids arent vaccinated more, theres enough lurking out there that its going to be a problem. They havent gone out of control yet, because we do have good vaccination rates overall. But we do have pockets of people who arent vaccinated, and all you need is one person in that population. That scares me that were going to be at higher risk of diseases that we do have vaccines for, on top of COVID-19. And that community is already fighting against a vaccine that doesnt exist. Theyre already saying, we will not get vaccinated, you cant force us to get vaccinated. That part, Im not worrying about yet. Because the reality is, even if we get a vaccine, we are not going to have enough vaccines for everybody for a number of years. Were going to start off with high-risk groups that get vaccinated first because it takes a while to manufacture, and this has to be worldwide. The biggest problem with (the anti-vaxxers) is they are spreading misinformation already. What other efforts will be critical moving forward? Anyone who knows me knows I talk about contact tracing excessively. Contact tracing is something that is not new. It has been done since John Snow, the founder of epidemiology in the 1800s. Contact tracing is how he was able to understand the source of a cholera outbreak. Its always what weve done. Using new technology is all the rage right now, and certainly having a good database to enter this information is useful. However, an app doesnt replace that human interaction because you get so much more from human interaction. And in the U.S., we respect peoples privacy. We have HIPPA for a reason. When I call someone to say, Youve been exposed to COVID-19. You need to get tested, the source of that exposure is never named. Im not using cellphone tracking data. Our society is such that we use a lot of resources so I might go through Facebook and look for that person and go, Who are those people there? But its not anything beyond what people are already sharing. 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 Our public institutions especially our police have serious problems that have caused systemic suffering for large groups of Americans. But it would be pathetic if we used that as a reason to abandon our duty to also stand up to repression in China. In fact, the drives for greater justice at home and abroad reinforce each other. This is actually the perfect time to press the issue. [June 04, 2020] DeleteMe is protecting Protesters, Law Enforcement and Government Officials BOSTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DeleteMe, a service of The Online Privacy Company, is experiencing high demand from all participants involved in recent US demonstrations. DeleteMe is a service that removes people's personal info including home addresses, phone numbers and relatives names from dozens of top online data brokers. 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CONTACT: Will Simonds, (425) 736-1528, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deleteme-is-protecting-protesters-law-enforcement-and-government-officials-301070409.html SOURCE DeleteMe [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] More than 100 companies are competing to be first in the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine to market. Its a race against time, not because the death rate is climbing but because it is falling to the point where there will soon be too few subjects to prove the effectiveness of the drug. Pascal Soriot is chief executive of AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company that is challenging biotech company Moderna, the U.S. frontrunner in the race. Soriot said on May 24th, The vaccine has to work and thats one question, and the other question is, even if it works, we have to be able to demonstrate it. We have to run as fast as possible before the disease disappears so we can demonstrate that the vaccine is effective. COVID-19, like other coronaviruses, is expected to mutate at least every season, raising serious questions about claims that any vaccine will work. A successful vaccine has never been developed for any of the many strains of coronaviruses, due to the nature of the virus itself; and vaccinated people can have a higher chance of serious illness and death when later exposed to another strain of the virus, a phenomenon known as virus interference. An earlier SARS vaccine never made it to market because the laboratory animals it was tested on contracted more serious symptoms on re-infection, and most of them died. Researchers working with the AstraZeneca vaccine claimed success in preliminary studies because its lab monkeys all survived and formed antibodies to the virus, but data reported later showed that the animals all became infected when challenged, raising serious questions about the vaccines effectiveness. Moderna has gotten fast-track approval from the FDA and managed to skip animal trials altogether before rushing to human trials. Its candidate is a messenger RNA vaccine, a computer-generated replica of an RNA component that carries genetic information controlling the synthesis of proteins. No mRNA vaccine has ever been approved for marketing or proven in a large-scale clinical trial. As explained in Science Magazine, RNA that invades from outside the cell is the hallmark of a virus, and our immune systems have evolved ways to recognize and destroy it. To avoid that, Modernas mRNA vaccine sneaks into cells encapsulated in nanoparticles, which arent easily degraded and can cause toxic buildup in the liver. These concerns, however, have not deterred the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is proceeding at Warp Speed to get the new technologies tested on the American population before the virus disappears through mutation and natural herd immunity. HHS has already agreed to provide up to $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca and $483 million to Moderna to develop their experimental candidates. As American taxpayers, we are justified in asking why, writes William Haseltine in Forbes. Both companies have attracted billions from private investors and dont need taxpayer money, and the governments speculative bets are being made on unproven technologies in the early stages of testing. The argument at one time was that the magnitude of the crisis justified the risk, but the virus is now disappearing of its own accord. The computer-modeled projection of 2.2 million U.S. deaths issued by Imperial College London (a business partner of AstraZeneca), triggering shutdowns across the United States, was subsequently found to be wildly overblown. The model was described in the UK Telegraph on May 16th as the most devastating software mistake of all time. The researchers wrote that we would fire anyone for developing code like this and that the question was why our Government did not get a second opinion before swallowing Imperials prescription. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has also revised its projections. Experts disagree on what the new data means, but according to an expert at the Montreal Economic Institute, The most likely CDC scenario now estimates that the coronavirus mortality rate for infected people is between 0.2% and 0.3%. This is a far cry from the 3.4% figure that had been put forward by the WHO at the start of the pandemic. In other news from the CDC, on May 23rd the agency reported that the antibody tests used to determine whether people have developed an immunity to the virus are too unreliable to be used. But none of this seems to be dimming the hype and the deluge of investment money being thrown at the latest experimental vaccines. And perhaps that is the point of the exercise to extract as much money as possible from gullible investors, including the US government, before the public discovers that the fundamentals of these stocks do not support the media hype. Moderna: A Multibillion-Dollar Unicorn That Has Never Brought a Product to Market Moderna in particular has been suspected of pumping its stock price with unreliable preliminary test data. On May 18th, Modernas stock jumped by as much as 30%, after it issued a press release announcing positive results from a small preliminary trial of its coronavirus vaccine. After the market closed, the company announced a stock offering aimed at raising $1 billion; and on May 18th and 19th, Moderna executives dumped nearly $30 million worth of stock for a profit of $25 million. On May 19th, however, the stock rocketed back down, after STAT News questioned the companys test results. An antibody response was reported for only eight of the 45 patients, not enough for statistical analysis. Was the response significant enough to create immunity? And what about the other 37 patients? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the results a catastrophe for the company. He wrote on May 20th: Three of the 15 human guinea pigs in the high dose cohort (250 mcg) suffered a serious adverse event within 43 days of receiving Modernas jab. Moderna acknowledged that three volunteers developed Grade 3 systemic events, defined by the FDA as Preventing daily activity and requiring medical intervention. Moderna allowed only exceptionally healthy volunteers to participate in the study. A vaccine with those reaction rates could cause grave injuries in 1.5 billion humans if administered to every person on earth. A volunteer named Ian Haydon buoyed the markets when he appeared on CNBC to say he felt fine after getting the vaccine. But he later revealed that after the second jab, he got chills and a fever of over 103, lost consciousness, and felt more sick than he ever has before. Those were just the short-term adverse effects. Long-term systemic effects including cancer, Alzheimers disease, autoimmune disease, and infertility can take decades to develop. But the stage is already being set for mandatory vaccinations that will be deployed by the U.S. military as soon as the end of the year. The HHS in conjunction with the Department of Defense has awarded a $138 million contract for 600 million syringes prefilled with coronavirus vaccine, individually marked with trackable RFID chips. Thats enough for two doses for nearly the entire U.S. population. One hundred million are to be supplied by years end. Fortunately for vaccine manufacturers and investors, they do not have to worry about the drugs side effects, since the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the 2005 PREP Act protect them from liability for vaccine injuries. Damages are imposed instead on the US government and US taxpayers. What Moderna could have to worry about, however, is criminal action by the Securities Exchange Commission. By May 22nd, Modernas stock was down by 26% from its earlier high, making its 30% rise on a misleading press release look like a pump and dump scheme. On CNBC on May 19th, former SEC lawyer Jacob Frankel said its stock offering on the heels of hyped news was the type of action that would draw scrutiny by the SEC, and that it could have a criminal component. Why All the Hype? Modernas mRNA Vaccine It wasnt the first time Modernas stock had skyrocketed on a well-timed press release. On February 24th, the World Health Organization said to prepare for a global pandemic, collapsing stock markets around the world. Most stocks collapsed, but Modernas shot up by nearly 30%, after it reported on February 25th that testing on humans would begin in March. Mega-investors made tens of millions of dollars in a single day, including BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, which made $68 million just on February 25th. BlackRock was called the fourth branch of government after it was tasked in March with dispensing up to $4.5 trillion in Federal Reserve credit through special purpose vehicles established by the Treasury and the Fed. Moderna has other friends in high places, including the Pentagon. Several years ago, Moderna received millions of dollars from the Pentagons Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as well as from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Modernas stock has more than tripled this year, taking it to a market cap of over $22 billion. STAT News called it an astonishing feat for a company that currently sells zero products. Many of the companies actively developing COVID-19 vaccines have longer and more impressive track records. Why all the investor interest in this unicorn startup that went public only in 2018 and has no record of market success? The major advantage of mRNA vaccines is the speed with which they can be deployed. Created in a lab rather than from a real virus, they can be mass-produced cost-effectively on a large scale and do not require uninterrupted cold storage. But this speed comes at the risk of major side effects. In a 2017 TED talk called Rewriting the Genetic Code, Modernas current chief medical officer Dr. Tal Zaks said, Were actually hacking the software of life . As explained by a medical doctor writing in The UK Independent on May 20th: Modernas messenger RNA vaccine 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 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. 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. A lab-created self-amplifying virus encapsulated in nanoparticles that evade the cells defenses by stealth sounds a lot like the stealth viruses that are classified as bioweapons, and that could explain DARPAs interest in the technology. In a 2010 document titled Biotechnology: Genetically Engineered Pathogens, the US Air Force acknowledged that it was studying genetically engineered pathogens that could pose serious threats to society, including binary biological weapons, designer genes, gene therapy as a weapon, stealth viruses, host-swapping diseases, and designer diseases. DARPA was behind the creation of both DNA and RNA vaccines, funding their early research and development by Moderna as well as by Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. In December 2017, over 1,200 emails released under open records requests revealed that the U.S. military is now the top funder behind the controversial genetic extinction technology known as gene drives. As investigative reporter Whitney Webb observed in a May 4th article, these genetic kill switches could also be inserted into actual humans through artificial chromosomes, which just as they have the potential to extend life also have the potential to cut it short. Biowarfare is forbidden under international treaty, but the armys Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick says its investigations are to protect the warfighter from biological threats and to protect civilians from threats to public health. Even assuming that is true, are the armys technicians proficient enough to tinker with the human genetic code without hitting a kill switch or two by mistake? The military is thinking about war, the pharmaceutical companies and investors are thinking about profits, the politicians are thinking about getting the country back to work, and even the regulators are bypassing proper safety tests in the rush to get the entire global population vaccinated before the virus disappears. It is left to us, the recipients of these novel untested GMO vaccines, to demand some serious vetting before the military shows up at our doors with their prefilled RFID-chipped syringes some time later this year. ________________________ Ellen Brown is an attorney, chair of the Public Banking Institute, and author of thirteen books including Web of Debt, The Public Bank Solution, and Banking on the People: Democratizing Money in the Digital Age. She also co-hosts a radio program on PRN.FM called Its Our Money. Her 300+ blog articles are posted at EllenBrown.com. by Sumon Corraya On 14 May, the first cases of infection were reported among the Rohingya in the Lambashia camp, Coxs Bazar. Steps have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus among the 34 Rohingya refugee camps. Three camps, housing 15,000 people (3,600 families), are in lockdown. Coxs Bazar (AsiaNews) The first Rohingya refugee, a 71-year-old man, died of the coronavirus in a camp in Coxs Bazar last Sunday, but the death was reported by the media only yesterday. At present, 29 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are infected in Bangladesh, home to over 1.1 million Rohingya distributed among 34 camps. Many of them entered the country after 25 August 2017. The first coronavirus cases among Rohingya were reported in the Lambashia camp in Coxs Bazar on 14 May, followed by the first measures to prevent the infection from spreading among the various camps. Three camps, holding 15,000 people (3,600 families), have been locked down. The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner's Office (RRRC) is providing them with food and medical aid. A total of 71 Rohingya refugees are at home with coronavirus symptoms. We collected samples on May 30th and sent them to the Cox's Bazar Medical College, said RRRC Chief Health Coordinator Abu Toha M.R. Bhuiyan. . A 71-year-old Rohingya man died and was buried that same day, he added. We subsequently locked down his nine-member family. We also collected their samples and sent them for the coronavirus test. The coordinator explained that around 15,000 refugees were quarantined last week as the number of cases increased. Face masks and hand sanitisers were provided for free to the camps. I believe deaths among the Rohingya will increase, because the camps are densely populated, Christian Rohingy Saiful Islam Peter told AsiaNews. We live in fear of being infected with this virus. Some NGOs have handed out masks and hand sanitisers but these are not enough, he noted. But many Rohingya do not realise the danger of the virus and refuse to follow health rules because they are uneducated. Caritas Bangladesh has been helping the Rohingya, providing basics like food, medicine and education through its emergency response programmes. Following the first reports of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, the Catholic charity got involved in raising awareness among the refugees about this deadly virus, distributing Burmese-language leaflets, face masks and hand sanitisers. Dr. Rod J. Rohrich Chairs the 37th Annual Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting The Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting remains one of the most highly regarded educational experiences for surgeons studying this difficult procedure. Past News Releases RSS Dallas plastic surgeon and rhinoplasty speciliast, Dr. Rod J. Rohrich, chaired the 2020 International Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting which was held at the Westin Galleria in Dallas, Texas. This uniquely designed medical conference takes participants from the fundamentals of nose reshaping surgery through the most innovative advances and updates in rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty. This highly regarded annual meeting is attended by plastic surgeons and otolaryngologists from around the world. Dr. Rohrich and the late Dr. Jack Gunter, who founded the meeting, have together trained over 17,000 rhinoplasty surgeons from around the world in the art and science of rhinoplasty surgery. One of the many unique features of this meeting is the interactive cadaver anatomy lab in which participants gain hands-on experience under the direction of Dr. Rohrich and other prominent experts in rhinoplasty. The meeting also included surgical video demonstrations, lectures, Q&A sessions, and panel discussions with many of the world's most experienced rhinoplasty surgeons. Innovative new techniques and technology including preservation rhinoplasty and piezorhinoplasty were highlighted to demonstrate some of the recent advances in rhinoplasty surgery. "The Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting remains one of the most highly regarded educational experiences for surgeons studying this difficult procedure," says Dr. Rohrich, who is also the lead author and editor of the open rhinoplasty textbook "Dallas Rhinoplasty: Nasal Surgery by the Masters" based on presentations from the meeting. "Every plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist with an interest in rhinoplasty should consider attending this unique event." Dr. Rohrich has also co-authored the leading textbook on revision rhinoplasty, "Secondary Rhinoplasty by the Global Masters." Dr. Rohrich, who has a rhinoplasty practice in Dallas, serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal. He strongly believes that to be the best you must train with the best and this is the primary focus and goal of each Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting. The Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting provides access to information and advances that are truly unique in the style of teaching pioneered by Dr. Rohrich who is on the forefront of this specialized area of rhinoplasty. "Rhinoplasty remains one of the most difficult procedures in all of plastic surgery, one of great finesse which takes years to master," explains Dr. Rohrich. About Rod J. Rohrich, M.D., F.A.C.S. Dr. Rod J. Rohrich is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas. he is a Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He was the Founding Chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery as well as the first plastic surgeon selected as a Distinguished Teaching Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine with high honors, and completed his plastic surgery training at the University of Michigan Medical Center and fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard (hand/microsurgery) and Oxford University (pediatric plastic surgery). He is Chair of the Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting, Founding Chairman of the Dallas Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine Meeting, Founding Member of the Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery, and a Founding Partner of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute. Dr. Rohrich also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the most respected global peer reviewed plastic surgery journal the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He developed and is Editor-in-Chief of the first open access peer reviewed plastic surgery journal, PRS Global Open. Dr. Rohrich has published over 900 peer reviewed articles and six textbooks in plastic surgery Dr. Rohrich also served as president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the largest organization of board certified plastic surgeons in the world. He repeatedly has been selected by his peers as one of Americas best doctors. He received the ASPS Special Achievement Award and on three occasions has received one of his professions highest honors, the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes his contributions to education in plastic surgery. Representative image Commercial air travel has plummeted in the coronavirus pandemic, but interest in private jet service is surging, particularly among people who have not paid to fly privately before. For years, jet service providers have ferried corporate executives and wealthy leisure travellers who paid high fees for the privacy and security. Now, those companies are scrambling to meet rising demand from people worried about getting on a commercial flight. Over the Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest travel times in the United States in years past, traffic in the private jet industry was 58 percent of the volume from the same time last year, according to Argus, a company that tracks aviation data. But commercial flights fared worse over the holiday, plunging to 12 percent of the 2019 level. Five weeks ago, private flights had fallen to 20 percent to 25 percent of what they were the same time last year, said Doug Gollan, founder of Privatejetcardcomparisons.com, a research site for consumers. Now to be back to 60 percent of pre-COVID levels shows the people who have access to private travel are getting back out there, he said. NetJets, the largest private jet operator in the world, has had a rush in interest from new customers, said Patrick Gallagher, its President. 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 May is on track to be the best month of new customer relationships that weve seen in the past 10 years, Gallagher said. Competitors are experiencing the same rise. Magellan Jets has had an 89 percent increase in new customers from mid-March to this past week, said Anthony Tivnan, its President. He added that this was coming off a strong 2019, when the companys revenue was up 34 percent from 2018. Companies that carved out a niche with private international flights are also reporting an increase. Thomas Flohr, founder and Chairman of VistaJet, which has longer range jets, said the companys refuelling landings in Anchorage, Alaska, a major stop for transcontinental flights to Asia, were up 250 percent since the coronavirus outbreak. The number of fuel stops we had there in the last 60 days is unheard-of, Flohr said. It was the East moving West, and then when the pandemic shifted, it was the West moving East. Unlike commercial airlines, the private jet industry sells its services by the hour. Private jets are faster and can fly directly to most airports, while flying commercial may involve connecting flights. Service providers make money by selling charter flights, jet cards with flight hours and fractional shares of jets and individually owned planes. But as executives curtail their business travel during the pandemic, new wealthy flyers and existing customers are driving a private aviation boom. In some cases, they are actually flying and in others, they are stocking up on private flight hours. The desire is akin to hoarding toilet paper and flour at the start of the pandemic: The extra allotment provides peace of mind, even if it is never used. Everyone from boutique companies with five to six planes to NetJets is in a good mood, Gollan said. There were a huge amount of people who had the wealth to fly private but never bought into the pitch of business efficiency, he said, adding that wealthy people are now thinking less about the cost of flying privately than about the safety of flying commercially. Marco Fossati, a member of the multibillion-dollar family that owns Star, an Italian food conglomerate, said he had little need to fly privately since he became less active in the family business. But the coronavirus caused him to rethink his plans. At this moment, with the COVID-19, if you can afford it, fly private, he said from Miami, where he has been since the stay-in-place orders were issued in March. Fossatis stance illustrates a change from just a few months ago: The wealthiest are less concerned about the perception of flying privately. Sentient Jet, a private aviation company that offers flight hours, reported that it sold 5,000 hours in April, or the equivalent of about $30 million in flying time, significantly more than the $25 million it sells in a typical month. More than 2,500 of those hours were bought by people new to private aviation. Worries over the environmental effect of flying privately may have taken a back seat as well. Concerns about opulence and concerns about environmental issues are gone, said Gallagher of NetJets. Many wealthy people put up with flying commercial because they had benefits like first class, TSA Precheck and a status that allowed them various perks. But now, he said, there are a lot of people out there who dont want to fly commercial if theyre part of an aging population or have underlying health concerns. A person on the average commercial flight has about 700 points of contact with other people and objects, according to a recent analysis by consulting firm McKinsey, but private flights have only 20 to 30. For travellers concerned about the environment, private jet companies offer programmes to offset carbon emissions. Terrapass, which has teamed with Magellan, can calculate carbon offsets based on the size and age of a plane and where it is flying. Magellan includes carbon offsets in jet cards greater than 50 hours. New flyers may be driving some of the increase in sales, but existing clients are refilling their jet cards with more hours. Were seeing members purchase larger increments, so someone at 50 hours is renewing at 75 hours, said Tivnan of Magellan Jets. These flyers want to lock in availability for themselves and family members, should they need it, he said. The prices are not cheap. Magellans entry-level jet card for a Hawker 400XP, which seats six to eight people, is $130,000 for 25 hours. For the 14-passenger Gulfstream 450, its $313,950. But tax breaks are available. The CARES Act, the economic stimulus package passed in late March, waived the 7.5 percent excise tax on all private jet flights and hours bought this year. That savings adds up. The same 25 hours on the Gulfstream 450 would have been $25,000 more expensive before the tax break. Owners who put their planes into chartered service can also take advantage of tax exemptions. The 2017 tax overhaul allows an owner who uses a plane at least 50 percent for business purposes to deduct the entire purchase price in the first year of owning the jet. But that business purpose could be putting the jet into the market for other flyers to use. Experts caution, however, that the supply may catch up to the demand. The price for chartering a plane to fly in the U.S. as opposed to buying flight hours is low now. A one-way chartered flight from New York to Los Angeles, for example, would typically cost around $30,000 for a jet that seats eight people, said Jean De Looz, head of Americas for MySky, which helps jet owners manage costs. But that has fallen to $12,000 to $17,000. Operators are trying to get some cash flow, he said, so they are offering cheaper rates. But there are only so many private planes, and the number of people who want to use them is growing. If more people buy planes outright, fewer will be available for chartered service. There are less than 1,300 planes for sale built in the last 20 years the timeframe that banks use in financing the purchase of a jet. The numbers are tiny, said Dan Jennings, Chief Executive of the Private Jet Co, a brokerage firm. Of course, that type of economic imbalance is predicated on commercial aviation continuing to be hobbled by health fears. Even now, a billionaire like Fossati is weighing his options to fly from Miami to Switzerland. He is waiting to see what safety protocols will look like for commercial carriers, but he has also asked for quotes to fly on a private plane. Chartering a plane for two to three hours is one thing, but over the ocean, thats very expensive, he said. Being rich doesnt mean you have to throw away money. c.2020 The New York Times Company Fears about the impact of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol on farmers, food producers and their supply chains will be explored by peers. The short inquiry will look into what the protocol will mean for Northern Irelands agri-food sector and its trade with Great Britain. The government last month published its proposals for implementing the Northern Ireland part of the EU withdrawal agreement, known as the protocol. It is designed to avoid a hard border between Ireland and NI, and means that from 1 January 2021 EU rules affecting the movement of goods will apply. The government has, however, insisted that Northern Ireland will still have 'unfettered' access to Britain's market. Now the House of Lords EU Environment Sub-Committee has launched a short inquiry into the protocol and its impact. Concerns have been raised by the farming industry over the level of additional checks and possible barriers on agri-food moving from GB to NI. Farmers have highlighted worries over what the future UK-EU relationship will mean for the protocol, and the involvement of NI industry in implementation decisions. Peers who sit on the committee also want to explore the impact of Covid-19 on preparations for the end of the Brexit transition period. The committee will hear from farmers, food producers and transport companies this month, publishing to government the views expressed before parliaments summer recess in July. The EU Environment Sub-Committee is chaired by Lord Teverson and scrutinises EU energy, environment, agriculture, fisheries and climate change policies. Manila (CNN Philippines Life) Various civil rights groups took to the University Avenue of the University of the Philippines Diliman to protest the controversial Senate Bill 1083 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2019. There were already protests on Wednesday, June 3 where the march began from Philcoa to the U.P. Quezon Hall. On June 4, the protest was held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and ended with a march to the Commission on Human Rights office in Magsaysay Ave., Diliman. The protest began as a call from the Movement Against Tyranny group. An estimate of 1,500-2,000 people came to the protests, accounting for the organized groups and other unaffiliated protesters. Raoul Manuel, secretary general of the National Union of Students in the Philippines, said in his speech during the rally, Hindi dapat matakot ang gobyerno sa mamamayan kung hindi sila nag-aastang diktador. Napakahaba na ng kanilang listahan ng kasalanan sa Pilipino. Humanda na sila dahil sunod-sunod na ulit ang ating mga protesta. Social media platforms were alight with #JunkTerrorBill protests on Wednesday evening as the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the anti-terrorism bill with an overwhelming 173 votes. Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Tuesday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte certified the bill as urgent, that it is as good as passed. The bill now only needs the Presidents signature to pass it into law. Civil rights groups and advocates have raised concerns that the Anti-Terrorism Bill may be misinterpreted and used to legitimize human rights violations, particularly against critics of the incumbent administration. The anti-terror bill defines terrorism as any activity that may endanger a persons life, cause damage to public or private property, and release any weapons of destruction "when the purpose of such act, by its nature, and context, is to intimidate the general public or a segment thereof, create an atmosphere or spread a message of fear, to provoke or influence by intimidation, the government or any international organization, or seriously destablize or destroy the fundamental political, economic, or social structures of the country, or create a public emergency, or seriously undermine public safety..." While it stipulates that measures will not cover legitimate exercises of the freedom of expression and to peaceably assemble, where a person does not have the intention to use or urge the use of force or violence, multiple progressive organizations, including workers unions and peasant groups, have reportedly been red-tagged in recent years. Here are scenes from the protests. Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Photo by JL JAVIER Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 3) Several lawmakers from Mindanao have argued that the controversial and vague anti-terrorism bill passed on final reading at the House on Wednesday will only lead to more brutality especially against the Moro and Lumad communities. Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, Rep. Yasser Alonto Balindong of the 2nd District of Lanao del Sur, and Anak Mindanao Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan voted against House Bill 6875 or the Anti-Terrorism Bill, which repeals the Human Security Act of 2007 by giving more surveillance powers to government forces. As congressman of Basilan, where the Abu Sayyaf mainly operates, Hataman said his constituents are most often the victims of terrorist attacks. He expressed alarm that the proposed bill focuses more on widening the definition of who can be tagged as terrorists, rather than crafting measures to ensure that the true threats to the nation land in jail. "Mas pinahahalagahan ng panukala ang pagpapalawak ng saklaw ng kung sino ang puwedeng ituring na terorista kaysa sa pagtukoy at paghuli sa totoong mga terorista... This law is not meant to combat terrorism. It is meant to give the state the power to tag whomever they please as a terrorist " he said in his speech. [Translation: This bill focuses more on those who can be considered as terrorists rather than identifying and arresting real terrorists.] Hataman highlighted that under the measure that President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent, political appointees will have the power to brand their opponents as enemies of the state. The Muslim community will suffer the most from the passing of the law, but none of its experts have been consulted in crafting the bill, he added. Kung ganito kalabnaw at kalawak ang mga probisyon kung ganito kadaling ma-misinterpret o maabuso ang nakasaad sa batas baka lalo lang mapalala ang batas na ito kaysa maampat o mapigilan ang terorismo, he said. [Translation: With such vague and wide-ranging provisions that can easily be misinterpreted, the law may only worsen terrorism in the country instead of stopping it.] If the anti-terrorism bill is signed by Duterte into law, 12 years of jail time awaits any person who threatens to commit any act of terrorism, proposes any such acts, or incites others to commit terrorism. Life imprisonment may also be imposed on those who will facilitate terrorist acts or recruit people to terror groups. It will allow surveillance activities such as tracking down individuals or organizations, wire-tapping and recording of discussions and other communications of individuals supposedly engaged in terrorism. It will also extend the number of days suspected terrorists can be detained without a warrant of arrest from three days under the current law to up to 14 days, extendable by another 10 days. Anak Mindanao Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan agreed that the Moro and Lumad communities in the country are victims of Islamophobia and are the most affected sectors during terrorist attacks. She said the situation may become worse as this bill can incite sheer terrorist tagging based on their beliefs. Sa pagpapatupad ng batas na ito, naniniwala kami madadagdagan lamang nito ang pagpapahirap at pagaaabuso sa tulad naming nahuhugshan na terorista. This law is not the way to combat terrorism, but a way to further incite people to resort to violence, she said. [Translation: Enforcing this law, we believe, will only increase the abuses against those who are falsely branded as terrorists.] She added this will not only affect their community, but all Filipinos whose rights will be squashed if this measure is signed into law. This monstrous and evil legislation not only violates constitutional guarantees, it also tramples almost every known article under the universal declaration of human rights, the solon said. Balindong, who is the representative of Lanao del Sur where the Marawi siege occurred said the bill may lead to abuse of power. As a Maranao, we know that we are the most affected when it comes to terrorism as shown to us by the Marawi siege in 2017 among others. We want to stamp out terrorism but we also want to prevent abuse of authority, he said. Meanwhile, Lanao del Norte 1st District Representative Khalid Dimaporo said he disagrees with the provision allowing warrantless arrests. He said he chose to abstain in good conscience because they werent allowed to raise questions on the passing of the bill. I feel it's unfair that we werent allowed to amend Section 29. I believe we could've come up with a better version. How I wish we could've amended, he said. The lower House voted with 173 affirmative votes, 31 negative, and 29 abstention. The Senate already approved its own version of the bill in February. Some of Australia's top politicians have shared before-and-after photos of their younger selves - and some of them looked very different in their heyday. From prime ministers past and present to the country's most recognisable state premiers, Daily Mail Australia takes you through what the nation's current leaders looked like in their youth. Can you tell who each of these fresh-faced Australians are in each of these throwback photos? This future political leader shared a photo of herself in a black tank top and a pair of short as part of the 'Me At 20' social media trend Answer: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk This couple topped Australian Financial Review Magazines 2017 Overt and Covert List of the most powerful people in Australia - but they're pictured in more humble days in this photo Answer: Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy This couple met through church when they were just 12-years-old and now have two daughters together Answer: Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny This future Labor frontbench politician also shared a photo of her in her 20s for the 'Me At 20' viral trend Answer: Shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek A future party leader is pictured right alongside Australian political legend and former Prime Minister Bob Hawke - but can you guess who it is? Answer: Ex-Labor leader Bill Shorten With his hair almost down to his shoulders, this fresh-faced Australian looked more like a rock star than a future political leader Answer: Labor leader Anthony Albanese Pictured second from left, this future leader is pictured here launching her political career as the elected member of parliament for Curtin in Western Australia Answer: Former foreign minister Julie Bishop The #MeAt20 social media challenge was also embraced by this well-known figure, who shared this photo of her wearing a blonde wig and a Superman outfit In response to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade and Breonna Taylor, as well as the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has had on communities of color, the Criterion Collection announced a few steps its taking to fight systemic racism. For starters, Criterion plans to lift the paywall on select titles from black filmmakers and documentary portraits of the black experience. The titles will stream for free on Criterions new streaming service, which is available on several platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS and Android. Some of the titles include Daughters of Dust (the first feature film by a black woman to be distributed in theaters in the US), Maya Angelous Down in the Delta, Shirley Clarkes Portrait of Jason, Agnes Vardas Black Panthers and Kathleen Collins Losing Ground, IndieWire reports. Criterion will share work by both early pioneers of African American cinema and contemporary filmmakers. We are also committed to examining the role we play in the idea of canon formation, whose voices get elevated, and who gets to decide what stories get told, president Peter Becker and CEO Jonathan Turell wrote in a letter to the Criterion community. Criterion has established an employee-guided fund with an initial $25,000 contribution to support organizations fighting racism in America, including bail funds, community groups, legal defense funds and advocacy groups addressing police reform. Criterion has pledged to contribute an additional $5,000 monthly to these causes. We support the protesters who have taken to the streets to demand justice, and we share their hopes. We are committed to fighting systemic racism, Becker and Turell wrote. This attempt by the city of Chicago to privatize work that should be done out of the Chicago Department of Public Health is an insult to our communities, to those of us who have contracted this virus, and to those of us who are really concerned about making sure about making sure that we have the right tools to meet this challenge, Brandon said. LIVONIA, MICH. - Madonna University student Julianne Annika Elipse recently received the Ambassador Award (2018-2019 and 2019-2020), and the Zero Hero Award (2019-2020) from the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and InnerView. Now in its second year, the National Community Service Awards program connects student community service activities to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world. Elipses Ambassador Award recognizes the more than 100 hours of community service she has invested in SDG 16-Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions. Youth efforts and voices are essential to achieve the SDGs. These awards allow us to share our appreciation for youth leaders who have invested talent and effort in the causes they care about, says Rachel Bowen Pittman, Executive Director of United Nations Association of the USA. With a decade remaining to deliver on the SDGs, we are thrilled that these students will be entering the workforce with meaningful community engagement skills and socially aware experiences. We are encouraged that educators are including community service and cultural engagement in the educational experience of their students. In addition to her outstanding community service, Elipse has been quite active at Madonna in the TRIO program, Franciscan Symposium, Girl Power Art Exhibit, Painting Escape, BWellMU, the MLK Kick-Off, creating thank you cards for veterans, and making the Deans List for her academic achievements. Her service to the community demonstrates how she, and many other Madonna University students live out the schools Franciscan core values. In the last ten months, thousands of students devoted more than 557,000 community service hours to causes and community needs. The close of this school year, will be a moment in time, never forgotten by current students. Every aspect of life has been affected by COVID-19, and there has never been a better personal understanding of the connectedness between people, local, and global challenges, says Kristine Sturgeon, CEO of Inner View Technologies. We are delighted to amplify and honor the incredible work of students who are changing the world, one action at a time. In the last few months we have seen student transition their passions for causes to safe remote pathways including virtual tutoring, organizing local food collections, recording music performances for senior centers, digital connections to advocate for voter registration, unique appreciation for HealthCare heroes and so much more. A key artifact students gain through this program is the development of a digital service resume for use in job and college applications to demonstrate personal commitment, 21st century skills, and key areas of interest. The three tier award program recognizes a range of student achievement: Merit for 20 hours, Honor for 40 hours and Ambassador for 100 hours of service this school year. ### About Madonna University Liberal arts education, career preparation and service-learning have been the hallmarks of a Madonna University education for 80 years. In addition to the beautiful main campus, conveniently located at I-96 and Levan Road in Livonia, Madonna offers academic programs in Gaylord, Macomb, and online in China, Haiti and the United Arab Emirates. Michigans most affordable, independent, Catholic, liberal arts university, Madonna offers more than 100 undergraduate and 35 graduate programs in the colleges of arts and humanities, natural and social sciences, education, and nursing and health, as well as the School of Business. About United Nations Association USA The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is a membership organization dedicated to inform, inspire, and mobilize the American people to support the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. For 70 years UNA-USA has worked to accomplish its mission through its national network of Chapters, youth engagement, advocacy efforts, education programs, and public events. UNA-USA is a program of the United Nations Foundation. UNA-USA and its sister organization the Better World Campaign represent the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the United Nations in the world. Learn more at UNAUSA.org About InnerView Technologies InnerView is the leading youth social responsibility platform to help students, groups, and schools highlight community service impact, passion for causes, skill development, and connect local effort to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. All college and high school aged students are welcome to join thousands of 14 to 24 year olds who have discovered ways to get involved and developed dynamic visual service resumes through my.InnerView.org. InnerView Technologies is a social impact organization working with students, groups, schools, nonprofits, and committed & compassionate institutions. Learn more at InnerView.org Delivering a digital customer journey with enhanced provisioning serviceability across carriers HONG KONG, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC), a fully-fledged fixed-line operator and ICT service provider with extensive local and international network coverage, services and infrastructure, is delighted to announce that the company is on track to be production-ready in Q2 2020 for deploying MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata APIs to automate ordering of MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet Access E-Line services. With this major milestone HGC joins the industry-wide momentum for seamless inter-provider service provision, enabling a further assured level of operational efficiency and serviceability. LSO Sonata APIs relate to the interface reference point within the LSO Reference Architecture that supports automated business-to-business interactions between service providers. The full suite of available and planned LSO Sonata APIs deals with serviceability (address validation, site queries, product offering qualification), product inventory, quoting, ordering, trouble ticketing, contracts, and billing. Implementation of LSO Sonata APIs enables HGC to further enhance its participation in a global federation of automated networks that will support dynamic inter-provider services with frictionless commerce, bringing value to business customers with: Faster and more efficient interconnection between service provider and partners, creating a complementary and frictionless commerce; On-demand ordering and augmented service provisioning, which minimizes manual order handling; Accelerated service delivery in near-instantaneous cycle times, streamlining business customers' experience. Jacqueline Teo, Chief Digital Officer, HGC, said, "HGC is a firm believer in standards that drive consistent and repeatable collaboration between carriers. LSO Sonata enables HGC to access markets faster and to integrate our core platforms with other carriers to provide frictionless customer experience. Such seamless integration would enable HGC to achieve our vision of digital customer journeys, improve our productivity and further down the road, make inclusion of new business models possible." Ravindran Mahalingam, Senior Vice President of International Business, HGC, said, "The investment in MEF's LSO Sonata APIs is a key leapfrog for HGC. With continuous industry-wide support, it would enable us to achieve the vision in automation in our business operation, further down the road inclusion of new business models will be available, with improved flexibility, agility. We can pick up the momentum to assist customers to achieve fast business deployment in their digital experience spectrum as a result." Nan Chen, President, MEF, said, "MEF congratulates HGC on its work to become production-ready with MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata APIs. This accomplishment demonstrates a clear commitment to providing a high-quality customer experience with faster service delivery and improved service agility made possible by automation of inter-provider business interactions. Together with MEF, the pioneering adopters of LSO Sonata APIs are accelerating industry transformation to dynamic, assured, and certified services across a global federation of automated networks." About HGC Global Communications Limited HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) is a leading Hong Kong and international fixed-line operator. The company owns an extensive network and infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and provides various kinds of services. HGC has 223 overseas offices, with business over 5 continents. It provides telecom infrastructure service to other operators and serves as a service provider to corporate and households. The company provides full-fledged telecom, data centre services, ICT solutions and broadband services for local, overseas, corporate and mass markets. HGC owns and operates an extensive fibre-optic network, five cross-border telecom routes integrated into tier-one telecom operators in mainland China and connects with hundreds of world-class international telecom operators. HGC is one of Hong Kong's largest Wi-Fi service providers, running over 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong. The company is committed to further investing and enriching its current infrastructure and, in parallel, adding on top the latest technologies and developing its infrastructure services and solutions. HGC is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities and transport in North America, Europe and selected fast-growing economies. To learn more, please visit HGC's website at: www.hgc.com.hk 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. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes: Strictly Necessary Cookies We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a sale of your data under the CCPA. 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Targeting Cookies We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website. Hong Kongs legislature approved a contentious bill that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem. The legislation was approved after pro-democracy opposition politicians tried to disrupt the vote. They see it as an infringement on freedom of expression and the greater rights that residents of the semi-autonomous city have compared to mainland China. The pro-Beijing majority said the law was necessary for Hong Kong citizens to show appropriate respect for the anthem. Those found guilty of intentionally abusing the March Of The Volunteers face up to three years in prison and fines of up to 50,000 Hong Kong dollars (5,153). A drop of liquid was dropped in the chamber by one protester. Raising a sign that said A Murderous Regime Stinks For 10 Thousand Years, politician Ray Chan walked to the front with the pot hidden inside a Chinese paper lantern. When security guards tried to stop him, he dropped the lantern and the pot, and was ejected from the meeting. Another politician who accompanied him in protest was also ejected. The chamber was evacuated, shortly before police and firemen were called in to investigate the incident. Pro-democracy politicians see the bill, which would make it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem, as an infringement on freedom of expression and the greater rights that residents of the city have compared to mainland China. Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, under a One Country, Two Systems agreement that guarantees the city a high degree of autonomy until 2047. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Photo: The Canadian Press Premier John Horgan is calling on the federal government to lead an anti-racism program, saying fighting racism needs a nationwide plan to ensure the participation and support of Canadians. The premier said Wednesday he will lobby for a national anti-racism program during a conference call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his fellow premiers Thursday. Horgan said he's horrified by the death of George Floyd in the United States and saddened by the unfolding situation as protests continue in cities across America. "We are pretty clear in B.C. that again we are wanting to push as hard as we can for national approaches to these vexing problems," he said at a news conference. "We have enough to deal with here in B.C. by ourselves, but if we are aided by a federal program and a federal initiative that has us all working together from coast to coast to coast, I think that lifts up all Canadians." Horgan said a federal plan, supported by the provinces, will add strength to messages of anti-racism in Canada. Recently, Horgan denounced alleged racially motivated attacks against Chinese-Canadians in Metro Vancouver during the COVID-19 pandemic. At Wednesday's news conference, he said despite efforts to treat people equally there are blotches on the province's past. "Although we do our level best to address racism here in B.C., it exists here as well," Horgan said. "We've had certainly challenges with racism going back to the head tax for Chinese-Canadians, the Komagata Maru when it comes to South Asians and Indigenous Peoples have experienced racism from the beginning of settlement here in B.C." He said law enforcement agencies aim to treat people equally, but there are also blemishes on that record in B.C. "What we do in those situations is try and get better," said Horgan. After the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it was changing how it protects the identities of individuals for the 2020 Census, a Penn State-led research team began to evaluate how these changes may affect census data integrity. The Census Bureau is proposing to use differential privacy, a new method that attempts to protect the identities of individuals when publishing public data. Census data is used to distribute federal funding that impacts communities and also determines congressional representation. Alexis Santos, assistant professor of human development and family studies at Penn State, along with researchers Jeffrey Howard, assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Ashton Verdery, assistant professor of sociology, demography, and social data analytics at Penn State, examined mortality rates in 2010. The researchers compared both methods of privacy protection and the implication of this change to better understand health disparities in the United States. The work was published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team discovered that when differential privacy method was used on Census data, it produced dramatic changes in population counts for racial and ethnic minorities compared to the traditional methods. "We focused on mortality rate estimates because they are an essential population-level metric for which data are collected and disseminated at the national level and because mortality rates are a critical indicator of population health," said Santos. The research team then explored the changes in mortality rates resulting from the two disclosure avoidance systems by metropolitan classifications. "We discovered that by using differential privacy, there were both instances of under- and over-counting of the population. In rural areas, there was undercounting of racial and ethnic minorities, while in urban areas there was an overcounting of these populations," Santos said. The researchers found that some discrepancies between the two methods of data analysis exceeded a 10% difference. "This is very concerning because it could impact how much funding programs receive for a specific geographic area," said Santos. "These discrepancies could result in understated health risks in some areas, and while overstating in others where there isn't a great need." According to Santos, the findings highlight the consequences of implementing differential privacy and demonstrate the challenges in using the data products derived from this method. "The Census Bureau has been very receptive to our research, and demonstrated concern about the accuracy of the data," Santos said. "We plan to move forward with additional research to determine how differential privacy may affect population growth estimates and populations changes from census year to census year. We still have time to fine tune the differential privacy algorithm, and our research will help pinpoint areas of improvement." Santos, who is also a cofunded faculty member of the Social Science Research Institute, and the research team were supported by the Population Research Institute and the Administrative Data Accelerator at Penn State. The work also is supported by the Center for Community Based and Applied Health Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Donald Trumps preferred platform is social media. But he has managed to pick fights, and divide, even there. Twitter recently added a warning label to two of his tweets, with a link to a fact-check of the information he posted, and then blocked a third tweet with a message about violent content. Within days, Trump issued an executive order calling on the FCC to investigate whether social-media companies should lose the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives online platforms immunity for the content they host, because of what he says are biased decisions about content. Facebook, meanwhile, has done nothing about Trumps comments, despite the fact that a number of staffers have walked out to protest its lack of actionan unprecedented show of dissent for the companyand some have even quit their jobs. The executive order is widely viewed as legally dubious, but it is a convenient stick with which to threaten the social platforms. Will it work? Is that why Facebook has declined to take any action? Which approach is the right one, Twitters labelling or Facebooks hands-off strategy? To address these and other related questions, we used CJRs Galley platform to host a virtual discussion with a group of journalists, legal analysts and other experts. Parker Molloy, editor-at-large for Media Matters, said the executive order is just another attempt to deal with what conservatives feel is a liberal bias in social-media companies. Is there any evidence of this? No. Weve done study after study after study on this topic, and theres honestly no reason to believe theres some sort of liberal/progressive bias at social-media companies. Conservatives are really just trying to work the refs as a way to push these companies into adopting a pro-conservative bias. Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute, said the order was aimed at internet companiesto discourage them from moderating conservative contentbut was also a diversionary tactic to get the media to stop focusing on all the people who died from COVID-19. Even if the order has no actual legal effect, Goldman says, Trump has likely accomplished his goals. Related: The police abuse the press. Again. Bridget Barrett, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, says that Facebook had an opportunity here to clearly communicate what it would and wouldnt tolerate, and for Trump, it looks like almost everything will be allowed. As someone who has spent the past couple months digging into the policies that platforms set for their users, this is incredibly frustrating. More importantly, as someone who wants our democracy to work, this is incredibly worrying. Sign up for CJR 's daily email And Errin Haines, editor-at-large for The 19th, a nonprofit news entity focused on gender and politics, said as a major source of information for a majority of people around the world and in our country, both of these platforms do have a responsibility to do no harm. Jonathan Zittrain, a professor of law and computer science at Harvard, made the broader point that its strange that people like Mark (Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook) and Jack (Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter) have as much power as they dowhether to promote or squelch speech across billions of posts and users per day, including the power to do nothing. Issie Lapowsky, a writer at Protocol, a technology news site, said that the odds of the FCC doing anything to fulfil Trumps demands in the executive order are slim. When the order was introduced, one Republican FCC Commissioner noted on Twitter that the First Amendment governs a lot of the issues that the order touches on and said hes extremely dedicated to the First Amendment. If even Republican members of the FCC cant get behind the order, she says, its pretty well tanked. Karen Attiah, global opinion editor for the Washington Post, noted that in addition to Twitters moves, Snapchat decided on Wednesday that it would no longer promote Trump as part of its Discover feature. But Facebook has done nothing. Zuckerberg talked about how he had a call and how he told Trump on the phone how he felt about the comments, Attiah said, but I find that completely inadequate. As if a phone scolding between buddies is a substitute for actual policy enforcement. Malaika Jabali, a writer, public-policy attorney and activist, said that Twitter and Facebooks control over speech and what they do with it is important, but that some of the focus on Trumps tweets and what to do about them is misplaced. I think its important to look beyond Trump, she said. He gets a great deal of attention, but hes a master distractor. And his actions should not overshadow the vulnerable communities who tend to get lost under the 24/7 Trump cycle. This is even more pertinent now given the current economic and policing crisis that has led to unrest over the past week, and how traditional media has covered the protests. Heres more on the social platforms vs Trump: Runaround : Goldman said Trumps executive order is a multi-faceted attempt to get around the fact that he cant actually force anyone to do any of the things he describes in the order. In general, Congress makes the laws and the executive branch implements them, he says . The executive branch cant override Congress statutory language. It also cant definitively interpret Congress laws unless Congress delegates authority to do so. As a result, the order tries to interpret Section 230 in a way that the executive branch might be able to implement, but will almost certainly fail in court . And it asks the FTC, the FCC, and the Department of Justice to do a number of things, but it cant force any of these agencies to do anything. Progress : The media has paid too much attention in the past to Trumps tweets as news in and of themselves, Haines said , but many outlets seem to have learned their lesson to some extent. The initial attention was largely just a function of the sheer volume and content of his tweets, she says. But more recently, the treatment of his Twitter addiction has changed . I would also say that these tweets are often no longer just presented at face value, but journalists are more often interrogating the posts, providing context, and seeking to get clarity on when, if and how his online rhetoric translates into real-world policy. All of this is absolutely progress. Middle ground : Daniel Kreiss, a professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina, said he believes that Twitters approach to Trumps tweets was the right strategy. I think that what Twitter is doing broadly is meeting speech that it does not respect that runs counter to its own clearly stated policies with counter-speech, he said . The company did not take Trumps tweets down, it contextualized them with counter-speech. To me this is a middle-ground approach. It asserts and acts on the right of the platform to set its own policies and rules, while still allowing the problematic speech (from the companys perspective) to be accessible. Other notable stories: ICYMI: The mystery of Tucker Carlson Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg. Attendees gather in front of a banner featuring Tiananmen Gate at Victoria Park during a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Hong Kong, on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Many people in Hong Kong plan to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square by lighting candles across the city on Thursday, circumventing a ban on the usual public gathering amid the coronavirus pandemic. The anniversary strikes an especially sensitive nerve in the semi-autonomous city this year after Beijing's move last month to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong, which critics fear will crush freedoms in the financial hub. It also comes as Chinese media and some Beijing officials have voiced support for protests against police brutality across the United States. The Tiananmen crackdown is not officially commemorated in mainland China, where the topic is taboo and any discussion heavily censored. In Hong Kong, an annual candlelight vigil that has been held in the city's Victoria Park for three decades usually draws tens of thousands of people. But police said this week a mass gathering would pose a threat to public health just as the city reported its first locally transmitted coronavirus cases in weeks. That prompted vigil organizers to call on residents to light candles across the city instead at 8:00 pm local time (1200 GMT) and hold a minute of silence shortly after. Anyone fearing arrest for public action was encouraged to mark the day on social media using the hashtag #6431truth, referencing the 31th anniversary along with the date. One student said his parents would not allow him to attend any public gatherings, but he intended to join the online vigil. "I think we have to restore the truth," the 15-year-old, who only gave his surname as Ho due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters. The European Union on Wednesday urged China to allow people in both Hong Kong and Macau, its other semi-autonomous city, to commemorate the crackdown, saying it would be "a signal that key freedoms continue to be protected." Democratically-ruled and Chinese-claimed Taiwan, where commemorations are planned throughout the day, called on China on Wednesday to apologize, a call dismissed by China's foreign ministry as "nonsense." "In China, every year has only 364 days; one day is forgotten," Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wrote on her Facebook page on Thursday. "I hope that in every corner of the earth there won't be any days that are disappeared again. And I wish Hong Kong well." China has never provided a full accounting of the 1989 violence. The death toll given by officials days later was about 300, most of them soldiers, but rights groups and witnesses say the death toll could have run into the thousands. The U.S. State Department said it mourned the victims, adding "we stand with the people of China who continue to aspire to a government that protects human rights, fundamental freedoms, and basic human dignity." Two Chinese expatriates working at a mining site in Ebonyi State have been abducted by unknown gunmen. The abducted Chinese nationals are employees at Greenfield Metals Nigeria Limited, which specialises in lead and zinc mining. The incident, it was gathered, happened at Ihietutu, Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on Wednesday at a mining pit close to the companys offices. The Chairman of the company, Henry Ahanaotu, said the gunmen first shot sporadically into the air to scare away workers before proceeding to whisk away the expatriates. According to him, the incident happened at the companys mining pit at Ajirija mining site, 300 meters from the companys Life Camp. Mr Ahanaotu, who doubles as the Managing Director of the company, said a formal report on the incident has been lodged with the police command in the state. He said the company has not made contact with the kidnappers. The unidentified persons bearing sophisticated arms stormed our mining pit at Ajirija and shot severally before whisking their victims away. We are yet to establish the identity of the abductors or where they came from., he said. The Police spokesperson of the state, Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident. Ms Odah said the victims were abducted on Wednesday at the mining site, adding that the police have commenced investigation into the incident. We got the information yesterday. A detachment of our tactical team was dispatched to the area with a view to unravelling the true situation and also to rescue the victims. The team is yet to return to furnish us with relevant information about the incident. But, I can confirm to you that we received a distress call from the area yesterday informing the police of an alleged abduction of two Chinese working in a mining site at Ihietutu in Ishiagu community. We are waiting for information from our men before we can make informed comments on the motive behind the alleged abduction. For now, we cannot say if the abduction was for ransom purposes or not because the abductors are yet to establish contacts with the company, she said. Ms Odah, however, urged non-Nigerian nationals working in any part of the state to ensure they move about with armed security guards to prevent attacks and molestations from criminals and possible kidnapping or abduction. This is the second kidnapping involving the company this year. In March, two Chinese expatriate staff were also abducted at the companys Life Camp at Ugwuajirija. They were later freed after the company allegedly paid an undisclosed amount of money as ransom. A 45-year-old man in Kothrud area of Pune was duped of Rs 18,25,500 in a SIM-swap online fraud. The case was registered at the Pune cyber crime cell. According to the cyber crime officials, in this type of fraud, the original SIM is cloned, and the duplicate is misused to get access to the victims mobile phone and, thereby, to the victims online bank account from where funds are transferred to the fraudsters account. On May 6, the complainant received a call by a person advising him to update his SIM card. The caller allegedly sent a text message to the complainant and asked him to forward the text to a phone number he was provided with. The procedure allegedly led to the SIM card getting activated on the cloned SIM card in the fraudsters possession, according to the complaint. The swapped SIM card was used to withdraw Rs 1,80,148 from the savings bank account of the complainant. Two days later, on May 8, a personal loan worth Rs 16, 45,352 was sanctioned in the name of the complainant without his knowledge. The police suspect it to have been done with the help of the cloned SIM card. The loan was also withdrawn from the victims bank account and the complainant lost Rs 18,25,500. A case under Sections 419 (personation) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 66(c) and 66 (d) of Information Technology Act was registered at Kothrud police station. Police inspector (crime) KB Balwadkar is investigating the case. While millions of South African learners are terrified by the Covid-19 pandemic, an 11-year-old entrepreneur has used the lockdown to create a cartoon series educating his peers about the new coronavirus. Eleven-year-old entrepreneur Jan Louwrens of Baggo Stronetrip has teamed up with Food For Mzansi to provide child-friendly covid-19 safety information in 11 languages. The story of the Battle of Covid-19 and Captain Stay Safe is the brainchild of 11-year-old Jan Louwrens and Food For Mzansi. Jan Louwrens, a grade five learner from Paarl Boys Primary School in the Western Cape, added Captain Stay Safe to his already impressive range of robot characters. He could barely hold a pencil when he first designed Baggo Stonetrip, his first character, which now includes a host of unique robots, including Marsmellow and Bloodshrike.In a recent interview with, he says: It is normal to feel a bit scared to go back to school in Covid-19. Im not looking forward to it myself. This is why I made these comics to help kids stay safe.Although the young inventor misses his friends dearly, he has found some escape in his T-shirt business called Baggo Apparel . This is named after his first robot character. Around the country, kids and even adults who are besotted by the fictional world of superheroes and villains are wearing T-shirts featuring Louwrens characters.First, it was more of an undercover thing with Louwrens and his fellow nerds, as he calls them, secretly rebelling against the schools rugby jocks. Word soon spread, and since he has been featured in many magazines and even television shows. Now even corporates are ordering T-shirts with his robot designs via his online business.After being inundated by parents who were looking for Covid-19 information in different languages,called on Louwrens to sharein all 11 South African languages.Dr Zeinab Hijazi, a mental health and psychosocial support specialist for Unicef, estimates that 99% of the worlds children are currently living with restrictions on movement because of the pandemic. He says: The stakes could not be higher. If not appropriately addressed, the mental health consequences for a generation of children and young people could far surpass the immediate health and economic impact of Covid-19, leaving long-term social and economic consequences in its wake.co-founder Ivor Price says: For us, it was important to not merely translate information in languages such as Afrikaans, Zulu and isiXhosa. We wanted to fully understand childrens fears brought about by the pandemic. It just made sense to team up with Jan, a quirky robot inventor who has been making waves in the digital world.A new edition ofwill be uploaded ons website and social media platforms every Tuesday. In the first edition, the characters experience the realities of the lockdown and social isolation, which has been a rather stressful time for up to 99% of the worlds children who are currently living with restrictions on movement. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 13:09:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- With the novel coronavirus still in pandemic mode, the African continent has seen a continued growth in the total tally, while Italy, an earlier epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, has begun to partially lift travel bans as its new infections are dropping. RISING AFRICAN CASELOAD As of Wednesday afternoon, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent surpassed 158,318, and the death toll surged to 4,508, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The continental disease control and prevention agency also disclosed that some 67,630 people who have been infected with the disease have recovered across the continent so far. On Tuesday, Africa CDC said the virus has spread to 54 African countries. Figures from the agency showed that the highly affected countries include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana and Morocco. It also said that the Northern African region is the most affected area across the continent both in terms of positive COVID-19 cases and the number of deaths, followed by the Western Africa region. South Africa, the worst-hit country on the continent, on Tuesday reported a total of 35,812 confirmed COVID-19 cases. According to the latest data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, the tally now stood at 37,525. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Wednesday projected that the ongoing pandemic could push 29 million people into extreme poverty across the continent. The UNECA further stressed that the containment measures established in African countries "have already cost the region some 69 billion U.S. dollars per month and are expected to have a negative impact on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the region." EASING TRAVEL BAN Italy, earlier an epicenter of COVID-19 in Europe, partially reopened its border on Wednesday after closing it to all but essential travel for nearly three months. Starting from the day, people in Italy are allowed to move freely within the country. Cross-border travel restrictions were also eased on the same day, with travelers from the European Union and Schengen countries, as well as the United Kingdom, Andorra and Monaco being allowed to visit the country without subjecting to quarantine. The step was part of a wider strategy to help restart the Italian tourism industry, which was shuttered along with the rest of the Italian economy at the start of the national lockdown on March 10. "A month from May 4, when we reopened our manufacturing and construction sectors, we can say the numbers are encouraging," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a nationally televised press conference Wednesday. "The trend of new cases is constantly decreasing in all our regions," he said. "This shows the strategy we adopted is and has been the right one." He added that the government is hard at work to ensure Italy is once again "the safe and coveted destination of the tourists of Europe and the whole world." Health Minister Roberto Speranza, meanwhile, sounded a note of warning to Italian citizens. "We must proceed with caution and continue to follow the rules we have learned ... because they are the key in the battle against COVID-19," Speranza said in reference to social distancing in a statement released on Wednesday. "The virus is still very dangerous." Fresh figures on Wednesday showed that 71 new COVID-19 deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, taking the country's death toll to 33,601, out of a total of 233,836 infection cases. Enditem NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Mayor Bill de Blasio was met with boos and hostility Thursday as he stood before thousands gathered in Brooklyn for the memorial service of George Floyd. First Lady Chirlane McCray and the events organizer tried to get the crowd to stop booing the mayor after he was introduced, but it didnt work. Black lives matter! George Floyd! the crowd shouted as the mayor struggled to be heard. To everybody, here is what we must resolve George Floyd cannot have been allowed to die in vain. We have to make a change in this city and this country I thank you for being here for change, to build a change, the mayor said as the crowd continued to boo. Protests began last week in New York City and across the country following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis last Monday after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. De Blasio has come under fire for his response to the protests over the weekend, in particular, for not initially condemning officers who were seen driving into a crowd of protesters in Brooklyn. A citywide curfew was put in place at 11 p.m. Monday after protesters and police clashed over the weekend. But despite the curfew, looting and unrest continued Monday evening, prompting the mayor to enforce the curfew three hours earlier at 8 p.m. The crowd in Brooklyn also reportedly turned their backs on de Blasio during his speech, a move reminiscent of the time when thousands of cops turned their backs on him during the funeral for slain cops. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong bows before a nationally televised apology over various company-involved wrongdoings at Samsung Seocho Tower, May 6. / Korea Times file Despite prosecutors' arrest warrant request, Samsung plans to proceed with its plan to convene "citizen committee" regarding its heir case By Baek Byung-yeul A last-ditch effort to save Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong has hit a serious roadblock, after South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for the vice chairman over accounting fraud. Lawyers defending Samsung in the ongoing court case released a statement strongly condemning the prosecutors' decision to seek an arrest warrant for the heir of the country's most powerful business group. "Samsung Vice Chairman Lee and senior group executives involved in the alleged accounting fraud claims and other acts of wrongdoing were fully cooperative with the prosecutors over the last 20 months. Some 110 group executives were summoned 430 times. Samsung never complained about the prosecutors' probe despite growing business challenges. However, Thursday's decision by the prosecutors went too far," said the statement Samsung's legal team shared with reporters. The statement and the prosecutors' seeking of an arrest warrant came a day after Samsung requested the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office to convene a citizen committee to judge the investigation regarding the merger between two Samsung units. Given the external committee will determine whether prosecutors should continue with their investigation and whether Lee and other Samsung executives should be indicted, officials said Thursday that Lee's request for a citizen panel can be interpreted as his last resort to put an end to the four-year-long investigation. Lee made his public apology over issues surrounding his succession plan that happened during the administration of Park Geun-hye, who was impeached. President Moon Jae-in visited Samsung factories "two times" and encouraged Lee to keep up Samsung's continued investment in OLEDs and EUVs, which the government identified as the country's new growth engines after Japan's decision to remove South Korea from its list of most trusted trading partners. Last month, Lee visited Samsung Electronics' key semiconductor plant in Xian, China, becoming the first global businessman to visit there since the coronavirus erupted. He also has announced a series of investment plans for the company's plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, including injecting around 10 trillion won to expand the company's contract-based chip manufacturing business and 9 trillion won for its flash memory chip business. (TNS) The San Francisco Employees Retirement System, the city workers pension fund, reported a data breach affecting around 74,000 members.The pension systems vendor, 10up Inc., said an outside party accessed a test data server with members information on Feb. 24. The server was closed and 10up Inc. said there was no evidence information was removed, but could not confirm whether the data was viewed or copied.The data, which was last updated in Aug. 29, 2018, may have included first names, home addresses, dates of birth, designated beneficiary information, and SFERS website user names and passwords, the fund revealed Tuesday. Retired pension members may have had 1099-R tax form information and bank routing numbers exposed.Your personal financial information may be misused, the pension fund said.Social Security numbers and bank routing numbers were not included, SFERS said.An investigation is ongoing and all members are required to reset their passwords.The San Francisco Employees Retirement System breach is a good reminder that even applications on test systems need to be secured against threats, whether they are internal bad actors in the organization and its partners or external, coming from hackers trying to exploit vulnerabilities, Jayant Shukla, co-founder of K2 Cyber Security in San Jose, said in a statement. Vulnerabilities, misconfigured servers, and misused credentials are among the top reasons systems get breached.The breach occurred shortly before another city agency, the San Francisco International Airport, reported hacks of SFOConstruction.com and SFOConnect.com, two websites used by suppliers, in March. The airport said login information may have been taken. Air pollution is a global problem that has been there for decades. It continues to threaten our health and our environment, and experts continue to exert a lot of effort to minimize air pollution, and eventually solve the said problem. One of the reasons why air pollution is all over the world is due to aerosols, which are a suspension of solid and liquid particles in the air. In the study, the researchers used bacteria in the air as a metric for identifying how clean the air is. Where do you find the cleanest air on Earth? For the first time ever, atmospheric researchers have identified where we can find the cleanest air in the world--just above the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Scientists from Colorado State University have observed that the ocean is virtually free from particles that are products of human activity. WOW: World's Largest Solar Panel Manufacturer Doubles Production Capacity To conduct their research, the scientists used a boat to travel south to the Antarctic ice edge from Tasmania. They sampled the air found in the marine boundary level, which is the boundary between the atmosphere and the ocean. The samples were then used to analyze airborne microbes. Because these airborne microbes travel relatively great distances as the wind blows, the researchers had to use a combination of DNA sequencing, source tracking, and wind back trajectories. Study co-author Thomas Hill explained that ocean biological processes dictate the quality of aerosols in the air above the Southern Ocean. He said, "Antarctica appears to be isolated from southward dispersal of microorganisms and nutrient deposition from southern continents." READ NEXT: Federal Judge Awards Carole Baskin with Joe Exotic's G.W. Zoo, Big Cats Not Included Mayors across the country are vocally condemning the police killing of George Floyd, marching with protesters in their streets and outlining concrete steps to address the systemic racism that still plagues U.S. communities. Why it matters: De-escalating the violence that's erupted amid protests is only the start of rebuilding a constructive relationship between the public and local law enforcement. And mayors are in a unique position to do that, given their close relationships with both. Mayors tell Axios that concrete steps have to be taken to not only curb police brutality, but to also address the underlying discrimination that people of color face every day. "The process of building trust is never finished," said St. Paul, Minn., Mayor Melvin Carter, the son of a police officer. "We have to continue to earn it every day." He acknowledged the trauma of Floyd's death and a pervasive culture that has not held all the officers involved accountable. "We have real deep and critical soul searching work to do as a country to stop this from happening over and over and over again like we have seen it happen." He said St. Paul's police chief, Todd Axtell, is focused on building community relationships and ensuring officers' actions are "reasonable, necessary and responsible." Whats happening: Some mayors took quick action after major missteps by their police departments during protests. Louisville, Ky ., Mayor Greg Fischer swiftly fired the citys police chief after officers fatally shot black business owner David McAtee while they had their body cameras turned off. ., Mayor Greg Fischer swiftly fired the citys police chief after officers fatally shot black business owner David McAtee while they had their body cameras turned off. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered the firings of two police officers who used excessive force in the arrest of two young African Americans during curfew. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered the firings of two police officers who used excessive force in the arrest of two young African Americans during curfew. Richmond, Va., Mayor Levar Stoney apologized after police fired tear gas at peaceful protesters before curfew, tweeting that words cannot restore the trust broken this evening. Only action. Only action will repair this communityI want to say sorry. I want to listen. Others have committed to holding police accountable. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged to vigorously investigate all complaints of police misconduct. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said hell be reviewing all police communications after a clash with protesters to make sure everything was done by the books. He tweeted that he would put together "a broad coalition of Pittsburgh leaders to address local racism, disparity and the effects of urban poverty on a constant basis." Separately, former President Obama called for mayors, city councils and police oversight bodies to review and reform police use of force policies in their communities. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, the city's former police chief, marched with protesters on Saturday. Officers were on hand to provide a safe space for people to express themselves, she said. But when the sun set, agitators lit explosives, burned buildings and threw rocks at police officers. "I've seen a lot of civil unrest, but nothing to that level," Castor told Axios. "When anything happens in a community, law enforcement is the most visible arm of government...and they are the unfortunate target of pent-up frustration and anger." Castor is well aware of the long-standing barriers and inequities faced by African American and Latinx communities. Since taking office last year,, she's established task forces to address disparities in education, transportation, housing and workforce development. Castor, who served 31 years at Tampa's police department, said the police force has a good relationship "built on trust" with the community. "It's a relationship we work on every day," she said. Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Quinton Lucas answered protesters' questions, marched with them up Main Street, gave out his cell phone number, and took a knee in a moment of silence with police chief Rick Smith at a downtown gathering. "I think what this moment is calling for is de-escalation not just in protests, but in every interaction between black individuals and the police," said Lucas, who's experienced racial profiling throughout his life. In conversations with Smith, Lucas has emphasized the need for police to look less like an outside militaristic force. "Do we need tear gas? Do we need the same number of officers standing so close to protesters, and therefore becoming a focus point of anger? Every time tear gas is deployed, it escalates anew." Newport News, Va., Mayor McKinley Price said he's visiting church services and events "wherever I'm invited" to hear what people are feeling. The police department held a six-hour online chat to take questions and comments. He said he and his police chief Steve Drew see eye-to-eye on the importance of "true community policing" and, when hiring and promoting officers, focusing on equal justice and forming relationships with youth before something goes wrong. "If the first time you engage with a black teenager is to question him, that's a big part of the problem right there," he said. Price newly elected president of the African American Mayors Association said black mayors across the country are encouraging communities of color to use tools they already have to make their voices heard. Those tools include ensuring that people of color, who are often significantly undercounted, are counted in this year's census so communities receive the necessary funds for programs like police training. They also include turning out to the polls to vote for candidates pushing for change, Price said. In St. Paul, Carter has overseen an exhaustive review of the police department's use-of-force policy after a months-long conversation with the public. Going forward, he said the focus should be on changing racist elements in laws, city charters, local and state policies and court precedents. "There are police contracts all over the country that are laced to barriers to holding police officers accountable when a life like George Floyd's is so wrongfully taken," Carter said. "All the folks who are on fire right now, let's channel this energy toward changing that." Editor's note: This article has been updated to spell Quinton Lucas' name correctly. Catholic schools in Spain appeal for respect of the right to freedom of education in the face of education reforms that they are concerned will make private schools subsidiary to public schools. By Vatican News Spains Catholic schools are appealing to the government to ensure the right to freedom of education enshrined in the countrys legislation. They made this appeal in the wake of the debates surrounding the new legislation on education approved by the Spanish government last March. The new law, also known as LOMLOE (Ley Organica de Modificacion de la LOE) is the organic act of modification of the LOE, the previous education law. LOMLOE is a reform of the education system that addresses issues like early drop-out and grade repetition. However, it recommends that religious education no longer be compulsory for students in the first and second years of high school. Besides, marks obtained in religious education will no longer count for admission into universities or for obtaining scholarships. In the place of religious instruction, education in civic and ethical values will be compulsory for all primary and secondary school students. Appeal of Catholic schools Expressing their concern, Spanish Catholic schools point out that the education reforms might stifle teaching in private schools, making it subsidiary to that of public schools. To guarantee the right to freedom of education, the Catholic schools hold that it is necessary to devise systems of public funding for private schools. This proposal rejoins the 12 June 2018 resolution of the European Parliament which encourages governments to provide adequate financial support for all schools - private and public, within the framework of inclusiveness and respect for freedom of educational choice. Catholic schools insist that it is necessary to overcome differences and conflicts in order to achieve an educational pact that promotes complementarity of public and private systems. They call for a broad social debate that recognizes that diversity of schools reflects the plurality of European societies. The Catholic schools also point out that though public education in Spain is important, it should not be the only type of education available. Education in Spain Catholic schools account for roughly 15% of the total education system and 58% of subsidized private education. ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- National PTA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation have teamed up to launch Every Student Connected, an initiative to raise awareness of the need to close the connectivity gap during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the effort, National PTA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation are working to create a sense of urgency around the inability of over 12 million students to participate in distance learning. "Far too many students are being left behind from distance learning as they lack internet access at home and a dependable device. Many teachers also lack the connectivity they need to deliver remote instruction and support student learning," said Leslie Boggs, president of National PTA. "National PTA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation share a sense of urgency around closing the connectivity gap as part of our nation's response to COVID-19." Through EveryStudentConnected.org, National PTA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation will be working with their respective state and local affiliates to better understand the unique connectivity needs at the local level. They are joining together to push for a robust and dedicated financial investment in digital connectivity. "The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated inequities in our public education system. Learning has shifted online, and far too many students do not have internet access required to continue their studies," said Cheryl Oldham, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Center for Education and Workforce. "While there are high quality and trusted online learning tools available, they are powerless if we do not solve this foundational issue." Every Student Connected builds on National PTA's PTA Connected initiative, which educates and engages families in digital wellness, security, access, equity and literacy. Through the initiative, National PTA and PTAs across the country have worked to deepen the understanding and knowledge of parents, families and teachers about digital safety tools and resources. The initiative also engages families around best practices and shared learning to generate collective impact. In the last two years, PTA has reached over 120,000 people with resources for accessing low or no-cost internet services to help close the connectivity gap. Additionally, in April, National PTA's Board of Directors adopted a position statement on Distance and Remote Learning for K12 Students during the COVID-19 pandemic. "National PTA has consistently advocated for resources to address the connectivity gap, and we remain committed to doing so. It is critical that both educators and students are equipped with the appropriate tools in order to teach and learn," added Nathan R. Monell, CAE, National PTA executive director. "It is essential that all students can tap into the wealth of online learning materials now and in the future. Every day that passes without a nationwide solution is a day that students fall further behind." About National PTA National PTA comprises millions of families, students, teachers, administrators, and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of family engagement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health and welfare of children and youth. For more information, visit PTA.org. About the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is dedicated to strengthening America's long-term competitiveness. We educate the public on the conditions necessary for business and communities to thrive, how business positively impacts communities, and emerging issues and creative solutions that will shape the future. SOURCE National PTA Related Links http://www.pta.org Ex-President Jerry Rawlings has highlighted the importance of transparency and better dialogue from the Electoral Commission (EC) as Ghana heads towards a general election in December 2020. In his address at the 41st anniversary of the June 4 uprising, Mr. Rawlings urged the Commission to ensure that the processes leading to this years election are done in consultation with the stakeholders of the nation to prevent unnecessary suspicion and promote a peaceful and cohesive society. The EC is currently at the centre of controversy over its moves to compile a new voter register. Because of a proposed change in the identification requirements for the register, the EC has been met with accusations from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is conniving with the EC and the National Identification Authority (NIA) to rig the 2020 elections . The NDC has also boycotted key meetings on the voter registration exercise and was absent from the recent Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting on the compilation of a new voter register where it was announced that the voter registration would begin in June. A pro-government think tank, the Danquah Institute also recently had cause to criticise the lack of clarity in the ECs communication on the voter registration which it says was adding to the controversy. But Mr. Rawlings cautioned that more dialogue was necessary to preserve the integrity of Ghanas democracy. The debate surrounding the new voter register must be thoroughly examined so we do not undermine the successes we have chalked so far as a nation. He further stressed that the constitutional mandate of the EC must be respected by all. While we work towards perfecting our electoral process, I urge you all to pursue and sustain our uniqueness as a country in the democratization process. As we inch towards November let us ensure that the institutional processes are transparent and beyond blemish. In line with fears that some persons may be disenfranchised by the ECs move toward making only passports and the Ghana Card valid IDs for registering to vote, Mr. Rawlings stated that those who are eligible to exercise that right of choice should not and cannot be disenfranchised by dictates that defeat one's right to vote. ---citinewsroom HOUSTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The wife of an imprisoned former U.S. Congressman and other community leaders called for an investigation by the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, into allegations of the aborted transfer to home confinement and inadequate medical care of an imprisoned former U.S. Congressman. Steve Stockman, 63, a former Representative for Texas' 9th and 36th congressional districts, was convicted in 2018 of diversion of federal election donations. He is an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont. In April, Stockman's caseworker advised he'd made the list for transfer to home confinement under the CARES Act due to his advanced age and health conditions, including asthma-scarred lungs, hypertension and diabetes. Stockman signed documents to begin the transfer process. When he reported, with other non-violent offenders on the list, for quarantine prior to being sent home, he was told his name had been removed from the list. He was allegedly told that he is safer in prison and he had not served 50% of his sentence. This, despite the fact that other inmates who allegedly served less 50% were in home confinement. Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal told senators Monday that percentage served is no longer a factor in transfers to home confinement. "Steve is now the only insulin-dependent diabetic over 60 remaining there. All other elderly diabetic inmates have been, or are being, moved to home confinement because it's impossible to social distance in prison," Patti Stockman, his wife, said. She added that Stockman goes without insulin for up to 15 hours due to improper administration protocols. Additionally, prescriptions such as Trulicity, Novalog, Aricept and Lantus are withheld from her husband, according to Patti. "Having a medically vulnerable senior sit in prison without adequate medical care during a pandemic, while his peers are sent to home confinement, is cruel and unusual punishment. Don't send him home to me in a body bag," Patti said. U.S. District Judge Michael Shea, ruling on a similar case, said last month that such "failures amount to deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm to inmates in violation of the Eighth Amendment," adding that the Warden in that case "failed to implement what appears to be the sole measure capable of adequately protecting vulnerable inmates." "The Warden waiting until the very last second to deny his transfer smacks of political gamesmanship," Benjamin Wetmore, an attorney and key government witness in Stockman's case, said. SOURCE Patti Stockman China is an ever-more important customer for Middle Eastern oil producers as they scramble to find buyers in the wake of the coronavirus, Bloomberg writes in the article Middle Eastern Petro-States Reliance on China Surges With Covid. The regions petro-states shipped about one in every three of their crude exports last month to the Asian country. Thats the biggest proportion in at least 2-1/2 years, tanker tracking from six Persian Gulf nations show. Their push into China comes with its oil demand having all-but recovered from the pandemic. Consumption in swaths of Europe and the U.S. -- normally the other key importers -- is still down sharply. China's share Exports to China are making up a bigger portion of Middle Eastern sales. Chinas heightened clout will be an important subplot in the coming days, when many of the largest producers are set to discuss whether to maintain their deepest-ever output curbs at an OPEC meeting. Middle Eastern producers dont have much choice now other than to direct their oil to China, said Carole Nakhle, chief executive of London-based consultancy Crystol Energy. Its still risky because anything that derails Chinas economic recovery from the virus could sap oil demand, she said. In absolute terms, flows to China were almost unchanged in May even as total shipments slumped by about 4.5 million barrels a day. Reliance on China More than one-third of Persian Gulf crude and condensate exports headed for China in May. Saudi Arabia, the worlds top exporter, sold almost a third of its crude exports to China in May. The regions next-biggest producer, Iraq, sent around half its shipments to the country, a record. China, where the virus emerged, is regaining its thirst for energy even while the pandemic continues to throttle consumption elsewhere. With the International Energy Agency predicting global crude demand will fall by about a tenth this year, Saudi Arabia and Russia corraled other members of OPEC into the most drastic output cuts in history. Slashing sales Biggest Middle Eastern oil producers slash May exports as OPEC cuts bite. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners are debating whether to extend their nearly 10 million barrels a day of cuts beyond June. A proposal to meet as early as Thursday has run into difficulty amid haggling over compliance with the cuts. Increased Chinese purchases are helping push prices higher. Brent crude traded above $40 a barrel on Wednesday, double its level in late April, before slipping back as OPEC continued to deliberate over meeting dates. Omans main grade traded over $40 a barrel this week for the first time in almost three months. The Chinese have been buying a lot of physical Oman crude, due to fact that it is highly blend-able, and Iraqs Basra Light, said Ahmed Mehdi, a research associate at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. The Saudis, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all shipped more crude than ever to China in April, when they were pumping record or near-record amounts. A month later supplies to China were almost as large, despite the unprecedented reductions overall. Chasing China Even as OPEC cut, Gulf producers shipped near record amounts to China. Saudi Arabias lead over Iraq for Gulf sales to China slipped in May, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Iraq, the Saudis biggest Persian Gulf rival for exports to China and India, pumped more than it pledged under the OPEC deal, according to Bloomberg data. The Saudis largely made their promised reductions and said theyll cut even more than agreed in June. The export picture for June could show another decline in overall flows and theres no guarantee China will be immune. State oil producer Saudi Aramco has already indicated it will trim shipments to Asia as well as to the U.S. and Europe. Oil pricing for July, which Aramco may release this week, will indicate which markets the company is targeting for sales. Battle for buyers Saudi Arabia has lost ground to Iraq among Persian Gulf suppliers to China. Tanker-tracking data are subject to change as vessels can switch locations and loadings can be canceled. Revisions in Iraqs exports to China now show it gaining ground on Saudi Arabia in April, a different picture than the data showed a month ago. A 22-year-old man suspected of stealing from a pharmacy in the San Francisco Bay Area was kneeling and had his hands above his waist when he fatally shot by officers who thought he had a gun in his waistband when he actually had a hammer, police said on Wednesday. A Vallejo police officer was placed on administrative leave after firing five shots through the windshield of his car, killing Sean Monterrosa. Details of the shooting were revealed even as some California counties and cities planned to end curfews after days of largely peaceful protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco was the first confirmed death at the hands of law enforcement in California related to stealing from stores since Floyd's death. Sean Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco was shot and killed by a police officer in Vallejo early on Tuesday morning The officer who shot Monterrosa suspected he had a gun, but it turned out to be a hammer Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams said officers were responding to calls involving a Walgreens early Tuesday when the shooting occurred. The death prompted renewed calls against police brutality by critics at a brief news conference by Williams, saying it was exactly the kind of police action they were protesting. 'The intent was to stop the looting and to arrest any perpetrators if necessary. The officers reacted to a perceived threat,' Williams said. 'I would say that it's always a tragedy anytime an officer has to use force. My condolences to his family; it is a difficult thing to happen I understand that.' Williams said police saw about a dozen people suspected of stealing in the parking lot of the store. One of the cars rammed into a police vehicle and prompted a wild chase, he said. At the same time, officers spotted Monterrosa near the building, with what appeared to be a weapon, he said. 'This individual appeared to be running toward the black sedan when suddenly he stopped, taking a kneeling position, and placing his hands above his waist, revealing what appeared to be the butt of a handgun,' Williams said. An officer fired five times through a police car windshield, hitting Monterrosa once, Williams said. Police were called several times to a Walgreens in Vallejo, where businesses have been hit hard by looters The officer fired five gunshots through his windshield, one of which struck Monterrosa John Burris, an attorney for the family, said he is appalled police would shoot at a person who was on his knees with his hands raised (pictured is the scene) Monterrosa had a 15-inch hammer tucked into the pocket of his sweatshirt, the chief said. John Burris, an attorney for the family, said he is appalled police would shoot at a person who was on his knees with his hands raised. 'This young man was shot multiple times while he was on his knees and appeared to be trying to surrender,' Burris said, adding that he understands tensions have been high. 'But one has to maintain control and you don't get to arbitrarily shoot someone in a panic, just because the situation is excitable.' Melissa Nold, an attorney in Burris' law firm, told KTVU-TV that police ought to release any video footage from the incident. 'He was a well-loved member of the community,' Nold said of Monterrosa. 'This wasnt a person that was committing murder. This wasnt a person that shouldve ended up dead on Monday night. 'Until we see the videos, were not going to believe anything that [the police] tell us, anyway.' This unmarked police SUV was damaged after one of the vehicles carrying several of the alleged looters rammed into it early on Tuesday morning One of the vehicles used by the alleged looters led police on a high speed chase before it was eventually tracked down The officer who shot Monterrosa is an 18-year veteran who has been placed on leave pending an investigation. Williams said Monterrosa had a criminal history, including arrests for shoplifting and petty theft. The shooting has ignited outrage, and Williams declined to answer repeated questions from the press as to whether the shooting was legal. 'The Solano District Attorney will make the ultimate finding if the force was legal,' the police chief told The Mercury News. But a California state lawmaker is demanding an independent investigation, saying that it was 'absolutely unacceptable' that the police waited more than 24 hours before revealing the shooting. 'I believe an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting that occurred Tuesday must be conducted by the California Attorney Generals office or a federal agency,' Assemblyman Tim Grayson said. 'The family of Sean Monterrosa and our community in Vallejo deserve to have clear information about the events that occurred and the response from the Vallejo Police Department. 'Our community is in pain and we must look for ways to both heal and move towards meaningful change.' Williams held the news conference at Vallejo City Hall, which was undergoing repairs after someone broke into the building and lit a fire inside on Monday night. Several residents expressed their anger at the police chief during the news conference, prompting him to end the briefing prematurely. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Monterrosa's family pay for funeral expenses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to host the first bilateral virtual summit with his Australian counterpart, Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week on 4 June to discuss a range of issues including joint fight against COVID-19 and Indo-Pacific partnership. The summit was initially planned to be held in January for which Prime Minister Morrison was expected to visit India, but the visit had to be cancelled for the bushfire crisis in Australia. Both sides have since been negotiating about the dates for conducting the summit. But with the ongoing pandemic, it got further stalled. India has been conducting virtual summits with SAARC and G20 members during this period which shows that it is using the diplomatic tool to strengthen its presence and voice both in its neighbourhood and in the global forums as well. Australia has supported these initiatives of PM Modi. The decision by Prime Minister Modi to conduct the very first virtual bilateral summit with the Australian Prime Minister is indicative of the upward trajectory that the relations between the two countries have been on in the current times. India and Australia are strategic partners they engage in dialogues like Foreign Secretaries and Defence Secretaries 2+2 Dialogue, India-Australia-Indonesia Trilateral Dialogue, Japan-Australia-India Trilateral Dialogue. Last year, AUSINDEX, bilateral naval exercise between Australia and India was the most intense till date with the presence of four frontline ships with integral helicopters, one submarine and a variety of aircraft, including P8I and P8A long-range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft. India and Australia are strategic partners they engage in dialogues like Foreign Secretaries and Defence Secretaries 2+2 Dialogue, India-Australia-Indonesia Trilateral Dialogue, Japan-Australia-India Trilateral Dialogue. Last year, AUSINDEX, bilateral naval exercise between Australia and India was the most intense till date. The two sides plan to conclude a range of pacts including Mutual Logistics Sharing Agreement (MLSA) and in areas of science & technology and public administration on the occasion. The MLSA will make it easier for the militaries of both countries to conduct complex exercises and facilitate access to each others bases. Strengthening defence cooperation will be a major theme during the Modi-Morrison summit. According to the Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry OFarrell the summit is also expected to advance an ambitious agenda that will include working together to improve regional and multilateral institutions, including on COVID-19 and public health, boosting science and tech cooperation, stronger collaboration on cyber-security and critical technology, maritime issues in the Indo-Pacific, critical mineral supply chains, education, and water resource management. Australia is presently concerned with reducing its economic dependence on the Chinese and in this context, Australia would want to export more goods to India, including agricultural products such as barley after China imposed an 80 per cent tariff on the grain. With 1.3 billion people and an emerging middle class, India represents a huge opportunity for Australian exporters. A new education partnership might also be on the cards as Australia seeks to diversify its international students so the sector is less dependent on China. But strengthening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the post-COVID world order, is expected to be one of the primary areas of discussion. High Commissioner Barry OFarrell in a recent statement stressed the need for like-minded democracies and important partners like Australia and India, to work together to shape the post-COVID multilateral order. India and Australia are committed to a free, open, inclusive and secure Indo-Pacific and strengthening and making their economies more resilient and both have a shared goal of strengthening international institutions as well. In their last phone call in April, both the leaders agreed to remain attentive to the wider significance of the India-Australia partnership, including in the Indo-Pacific region, while they focus on solving the present health crisis. Australia is presently concerned with reducing its economic dependence on the Chinese and in this context, Australia would want to export more goods to India. The growing importance of the Indian and Pacific Oceans have given new momentum to the Indo-Pacific as a geo-strategic construct. India and Australia are particularly prominent players. India flanks the Indian Ocean and Australia lies between the Indian and the South Pacific Oceans. In essence, India and Australia strategically anchor the Indo-Pacific in the northwest, and southeast. Both have articulated new or refreshed visions for their own engagement with the region, India through Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision for the Indo-Pacific, and Australia through the white papers that lay out its determination to ensure a secure, open and prosperous IndoPacific. If the Indo-Pacific view of the world is to prove meaningful, these two nations will need to find new ways to deepen their strategic conversation and their practical cooperation across a wide range of areas. The summit comes against the backdrop of India and Australia having tense ties with China. In the case of India, tensions are due to the recent standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In the case of Australia, tensions are high due to the Australian government seeking an impartial probe into the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origins of the disease. China has in recent weeks threatened economic consequences for Australia taking such a stance. Australia has also been lending support and alongside the US have been a part of the Freedom of Navigation exercises, joint patrols in the disputed South China Sea (SCS), where China has been flexing its muscles. Last year too Australia-China relations saw clashes over political interference, human rights abuses in western China and Huawei 5G equipment. Australia has been lending support and alongside the US have been a part of the Freedom of Navigation exercises, joint patrols in the disputed South China Sea, where China has been flexing its muscles. As prominent players in the Indo-Pacific desiring a free, open, rules based order and given the ongoing US-China tussle with regard to the origin and handling of the virus which has compelled smaller Southeast Asian countries to choose sides, India and Australia can build a coalition of middle and rising powers. This can be done by engaging with the Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia who are at the receiving end of Chinas aggressiveness in the South China Sea. Both India and Australia have strong ties with their Southeast Asian neighbours and in some way have been involved in the SCS issue, this only seems logical if they want to lead the way for the maintenance of a rules based order in the Indo-Pacific and making the Indo-Pacific regional architecture more inclusive. Indias Act East policy is aimed at establishing deeper economic engagement with Southeast Asia and broader cooperation with East Asia and the Pacific Island countries. PM Modis recently introduced Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative also seeks for the safety, security and stability of the maritime domain. Australia also seems to be looking to establish a multipolar Indo-Pacific order and ensuring that no single power dominates it. Both the countries have been taking active steps towards shaping the multilateral order and the global response towards the pandemic. India by PM Modis efforts to engage with leaders and member countries of SAARC and G20 and now as the chairman of the WHO Executive Board, Australia through invoking the probe for investigating the origins of the virus. The two can bring in more like-minded countries besides Japan and the US in the Indo-Pacific region like Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand and engage with them in a Quad Plus platform to help bring about change, more accountability in multilateral institutions specially the WHO. One of PM Modis key messages at the G20 summit was the need to strengthen the WHO. Countries like Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand have been the few successful examples of dealing with COVID-19 so there needs to be platforms which can encourage experience-sharing in the context of this health crisis, including collaborative research efforts. India and Australia can take the responsibility of organising summits involving these other countries of the Indo-Pacific. A report can be drawn up based on the experiences of the participating countries and later presented at the platform of the WHO as a united response of the Indo-Pacific countries in dealing with COVID-19. Both India and Australia have strong ties with their Southeast Asian neighbours and in some way have been involved in the South China Sea issue. The long-term strategic stability of Indo-Pacific thus depends to a significant degree on the two countries and how they interact with one another. Given the regional uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific, and the limitations of existing multilateral institutions and bilateral partnerships, stronger cooperation and alignment between the two countries could boost regional stability and provide strategic benefits for both. The White House is now the political nerve center of a conspiracy to establish a military dictatorship, overthrow the Constitution, abolish democratic rights and violently suppress the protests against police brutality that have swept across the United States. The political crisis unleashed on Monday nightwhen Donald Trump ordered military police to attack peaceful protesters and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and deploy federal troops to states to establish martial lawis rapidly escalating. Democracy in America is teetering on the brink of collapse. Trumps attempt to carry out a military coup is unfolding in real time. There is no other way to interpret the sequence of events that have occurred over the past 24 hours. In a series of extraordinary public statements, high-level political and military figures leave no doubt they believe that Trump is seeking to establish a military dictatorship. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated at a press conference that he opposed Trumps threat to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military throughout the country. The use of active duty soldiers to patrol US cities, Esper said, should be a last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. Trump, according to an official who spoke to the New York Times, was angered by Mr. Espers remarks, and excoriated him later at the White House The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, indicated that Esper may soon be dismissed from the presidents cabinet. Responding to Trumps threats, Esper has reversed himself and ordered 750 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne currently in Washington DC not be sent back to Fort Bragg, as had previously been announced. Espers comments were followed by an extraordinary denunciation of Trump by former Marine General James Mattis, Trumps first secretary of defense. We quote Mattis comments in some detail not because we give any political support to mad dog Mattis, who played a leading role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but because he provides a blunt assessment from someone who is intimately familiar with what is happening within the military. Mattis accused Trump of attempting to overthrow the Constitution. When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, he writes, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizensmuch less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. Mattis continued: We must reject any thinking of our cities as a battlespace that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate. At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them. Mattis concluded his statement by implicitly comparing Trumps concept of the military to that of the Nazi regime. Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, a retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in an email published in the New York Times: We are at the most dangerous time for civil-military relations Ive seen in my lifetime. It is especially important to reserve the use of federal forces for only the most dire circumstances that actually threaten the survival of the nation. Our senior-most military leaders need to ensure their political chain of command understands these things. None of these military figures are devoted adherents of democracy. Their statements are motivated by fear that Trumps actions will be met with massive popular opposition, with disastrous political consequences. Senior Pentagon leaders, the Times reports, are now so concerned about losing public supportand that of their active duty and reserve personnel, 40 percent of whom are people of colorthat Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a message to top military commanders on Wednesday affirming that every member of the armed forces swears an oath to defend the Constitution, which, he said, gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. Statements were also released by all the living former presidentsObama, Clinton, Bush and Carter. These statements were far more circumspect and made no explicit warning of a coup. They called for no specific action against Trump. It was far less an appeal to the people than a cautious effort to dissuade military leaders from backing Trump. On the side of the fascistic cabal around Trump, the Times published a comment by Senator Tom Cotton under the headline, Send In the Troops. This political conspirator declared, One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. Since delusional politicians are refusing to do what is necessary, Cotton writes, it is necessary for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act [which] authorizes the president to employ the military or any other means in cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws. The political situation is on a knife edge. Never in the history of the United States has the country been so close to a military takeover. Threatening military deployments are still underway. The Times reported on Wednesday night: Despite calls for calm from senior Pentagon leaders, the troops on the ground in Washington on Wednesday night appeared to be ramping up for a more militarized show of force. National Guard units pushed solidly ahead of the police near the White House, almost becoming the public face of the security presence. They also blocked the streets with Army transport trucks and extended the perimeter against protesters. In the face of this unfolding political conspiracy, the Democratic party is acting with its habitual mixture of cowardice and complicity. Not a single major Democratic Party politician has openly denounced the dictatorial actions of the Trump administration. They are doing everything they can to keep the raging conflict within the state out of public view. The line from top Democrats is that Trumps rhetoric is unhelpful and is serving to inflame the situation. Among the most pathetic responses to the crisis is that of Senator Bernie Sanders, who merely retweeted the statement of Mattis, to which he attached the comment: Interesting reading. During the long-forgotten impeachment trial that was held in January, the Democrats insisted that it was necessary to remove Trump immediately because he had allegedly withheld military aid to the Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. They advocated the removal of Trump because he was seen as insufficiently aggressive in his relations with Russia. But now, when Trump is attempting to carry out a military coup and the overthrow of constitutional rule in the United States, the Democrats offer no serious opposition to Trump, let alone demand that he be removed from office. When it is a matter of upholding the global interests of American imperialism, the Democratic leaders are full of fire and brimstone. But when confronted with the direct threat of dictatorship, they are meek as church mice. Underlying their cowardice are basic class interests. Whatever their tactical differences with Trump, the Democrats represent the same class interests. What they fear more than anything else is that opposition to Trump may assume revolutionary dimensions that threaten the interests of the capitalist financial-corporate oligarchy. The target of the conspiracy in the White House is the working class. The corporate-financial oligarchy is terrified that the eruption of mass demonstrations against police violence will intersect with the immense social anger among workers over social inequality, which has been enormously intensified as a result of the ruling class response to the coronavirus pandemic and the homicidal back-to-work campaign. Nothing could be more dangerous than to think that the crisis has passed. It has, rather, just begun. The working class must intervene in this unprecedented crisis as an independent social and political force. It must oppose the conspiracy in the White House through the methods of class struggle and socialist revolution. The demonstrations that have taken place during the past week rank among the most significant events in American history. In every region and state, tens and hundreds of thousands of working people and youth, in an extraordinary display of multi-racial and multi-ethnic unity and solidarity, have taken to the streets to oppose the institutionalized racism and brutality of the police. The Souththe old bastion of the Confederacy, Jim Crow laws and lynch mobshas been the scene of some of the largest of the demonstrations. The protesters are giving voice to the deep-rooted democratic and egalitarian sentiments that are the noble heritage of the great American Revolution of the eighteenth century and the Civil War of the nineteenth century. The only viable answer to the criminal conspiracy being hatched in the White House is to raise the demand for the removal of Trump, Pence and their conspirators from office. This can be achieved only through the intervention of the working class, which should join the protest demonstrations en masse and initiate a nationwide political strike. No to dictatorship! Trump and Pence must go! The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality Party call on all readers of the World Socialist Web Site to become active in this fight. Virgin Atlantic has today announced it plans to restart passenger flights on July 20. The airline will initially operate London Heathrow flights to Orlando, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles. Flights will resume to more destinations in August, with details to be confirmed in the next two weeks. The embattled carrier, which is fighting for survival and last month announced 3,150 job cuts, has only operated cargo flights in recent weeks due to the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Billionaire founder Sir Richard Branson last month sparked fury after seeking taxpayer support in a 500m Government bailout to save his struggling airline. The airline will initially operate London Heathrow flights to Orlando, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles He subsequently announced he would sell a 405m stake in his space exploration business to prop up the rest of his ailing empire. Branson plans to sell 25m shares or 12pc of New York-listed Virgin Galactic. His company Virgin Group said it would use the proceeds to support its portfolio of global leisure, holiday and travel businesses that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of Covid-19. It has already cut 3,000 jobs and announced it will end its presence at Gatwick Airport, while its sister airline Virgin Australia has gone bust. Branson had even offered to put his luxury Caribbean retreat Necker Island up as security against the loan. Enhanced hygiene and safety measures announced by the airline include deploying powerful disinfectant on board 'ensuring no surface is left untouched'. Passengers will be required to wear masks when social distancing is not possible. Virgin said in a statement today: 'As countries around the world start to relax travel restrictions, Virgin Atlantic will resume some routes on July 20, while steadily increasing passenger flying throughout the second half of 2020, with a further, gradual recovery through 2021 in line with customer demand.' Billionaire founder Sir Richard Branson last month sparked fury after seeking taxpayer support in a 500m Government bailout to save his struggling airline Chief operating officer Juha Jarvinen said the carrier is 'monitoring external conditions extremely closely' such as the UK's incoming 14-day quarantine policy. 'We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK's economic recovery,' he said. 'Therefore we are calling for a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, which will allow for a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.' The businessman had warned the carrier would collapse unless it received Government support and indicated he would be willing to remortgage his private Caribbean island home on Necker Island to raise funds. Rival airline British Airways plans to launch 'a meaningful return to service' in July. EasyJet will resume mainly domestic flights on June 15, with half its total routes reopened by the end of July. By Stella Qiu and Se Young Lee BEIJING (Reuters) - China will ease coronavirus restrictions to allow more foreign carriers to fly to the mainland, shortly after Washington vowed to bar Chinese airlines from flying to the United States due to Beijing's curbs on U.S. airlines. Qualifying foreign carriers currently barred from operating flights to China will be allowed once-a-week flights into a city of their choosing starting on June 8, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on Thursday. The CAAC said all airlines will be allowed to increase the number of international flights involving China to two per week if no passengers on their flights test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, for three consecutive weeks. If five or more passengers on one flight test positive for COVID-19 upon arrival, the CAAC will bar the airline from services for a week. Airlines would be suspended for four weeks if 10 passengers or more test positive. The CAAC has slashed international flights since late March to allay concerns over rising coronavirus infections brought by arriving passengers. Mainland carriers are limited to one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines are allowed to operate just one flight a week to a city in China. Carriers could also fly no more than the number of flights in a weekly schedule approved by the CAAC on March 12. U.S. passenger airlines already stopped all flights to China at that time, meaning they were unable to resume flights to China. On Wednesday, the U.S. government said it would bar Chinese passenger carriers starting from June 16, pressuring Beijing to let U.S. airlines to resume flights. The U.S. Department of Transportation could not be immediately reached for comment, though it has said it will reconsider the decision against Chinese airlines if the CAAC adjusts its policies affecting U.S. airlines. Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said at a daily briefing on Thursday the CAAC is lodging a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation for the ruling against Chinese air carriers. He said the CAAC is in close cooperation with its U.S. counterpart about passenger flights. "We hope the U.S. side will not create obstacles for the resolution of this issue," Zhao said. China suspended the entry of most foreigners in late March, meaning only Chinese nationals can enter on commercial passenger flights. (Reporting by Stella Qiu, Se Young Lee, Huizhong Wu, Lusha Zhang and Cate Cadell; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Christian Schmollinger) Two people have been arrested after suspected herbal cannabis was seized in Co Dublin. Approximately 1kg of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of 20,000 was found in a search, under warrant, of a premises in the Sandyford area. The Prince's Trust has become the latest royal charity to lend it's support to the Black Lives Matter movement. The organisation was founded in 1976 by the Prince of Wales, 71, and supports 11 to 30-year-olds who are unemployed, or pupils at school who are at risk of being excluded. The charity shared a poignant Twitter post which stated that 'championing diversity is at the heart' of what the organisation does. The statement, which was shared online on a black background, read: 'As events taking place around the world affect so many very deeply, we continue to stand in solidarity with the Black Community because #BlackLivesMatter. The Prince's Trust, which was founded by Prince Charles, 71, in 1976, has shown it's support for the Black Lives Matter movement It continued: 'We have never and will never tolerate racism or inequality of any kind. 'We're continuously looking at ways we can improve as an organisation to empower the young people we support.' The charity, which had to axe 100 jobs as part of a 2.8million funding shortfall in 2014, works with around 60,000 young people every year and says three in four of them move on to employment, education or training. The charity has helped 870,000 young people since 1976 and supports over 100 more each day. Three in four of these young people move into work, training or education. The charity posted a statement of support on Twitter for the movement, adding that 'championing diversity is at the heart of what we do' The royal is still actively involved in the charity and it's work, and keenly took part in visits to meet volunteers earlier this year. In February, Prince Charles was greeted by well-wishers who lined the streets before he strolled into a TK Maxx store on Tooting High Street to meet with Prince's Trust alumni. And on Valentine's Day the royal hosted The Prince's Trust Invest in Futures Gala, which is the largest fundraising event for the charity, in London Prince Charles rubbed shoulders with West End star Alexandra Burke, elegant in a black and white polka dot dress, as well as Chic's Nile Rogers, who got the dance floor started with his energetic set. The Prince of Wales remains actively involved with the charity, hosting the Prince's Trust Invest in Futures Gala in London in February this year (pictured, the royal meeting Alexandra Burke and Chic's Nile Rogers at the event) Since its inception in 2005, the star-studded event has raised an astounding 23 million and has enabled The Trust to change the lives of over 22,000 young people. The Prince's Trust is not the first royal charity to announce it's support for the movement. Royal campaign Head's Together, which was set up by Prince William, Prince Harry and Kate Middleton in 2016, shared its support for the Black Lives Matter movement yesterday. In February this year, Prince Charles visited Tooting's TK Maxx store in order to meet employees who had been helped by the trust It comes after The Queen's Commonwealth Trust and The Diana Award joined forces to show their support for for the movement earlier this week. The show of unity from social media users around the world has come in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white policeman in Minnesota who knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest over the alleged use of a counterfeit banknote. In highly distressing video footage which emerged last week, the 46-year-old was heard gasping 'I can't breathe' before his death. Protests have taken place across America and beyond after white police officer Derek Chauvin (seen right) knelt on unarmed George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds last week, despite Floyd's desperate repeated pleas for help crying, 'I can't breathe'. Floyd (left and right) passed out and later died Protests have taken place across America, Britain and beyond after white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on unarmed George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds last week, despite Floyd's desperate repeated pleas for help crying, 'I can't breathe'. Floyd passed out and later died. His death is seen as a symbol of systemic police brutality against African-Americans sparking outrage country-wide. Tens of thousands of people gathered as the National Guard was deployed to over half the states in the country on Sunday for further demonstrations against police brutality. When Mayra Velazquez dropped her husband, Saul, off at a hospital near their home in the northwest suburbs, she didnt realize it would be the last time she would be with the love of my life. But COVID-19 was not done with the Hanover Park family. In the days that followed, Velazquez would be forced to drop off both of her parents outside the hospital. Neither survived. Since resigning as Secretary of Defense, Gen. James Mattis has been reluctant to criticize President Trump. No doubt, Mattis has grievances against President Trump, but his soldierly and patriotic instincts counseled against airing them. Mattiss instincts were sound. He should have kept following them. Instead, the former Secretary lashed out at Trump this week. He said: I have watched this weeks unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words Equal Justice Under Law are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demandone that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our valuesour values as people and our values as a nation. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. So its wrong to be distracted when rioters loot, vandalize, and burn our cities? Of course not. We can respect protesters and still condemn rioters and do what it takes to stop them. What is Mattis prattling on about when he talks about those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution? His claim seems to be that Trump violated the First Amendment rights of protesters when authorities cleared the area between the White House and a nearby church Trump wanted to visit a church that had been set on fire by the rioters Mattis doesnt want us to be distracted by. There seems to be some uncertainty about Trumps role in the decision to clear out the area and his knowledge about what was going on at the time. Lets put that aside and assume that Trump ordered what happened. Citizens have a First Amendment right to protest, and to do so next to the White House. But that right doesnt mean the U.S. president must either remain sheltered in place at the White House or, if he walks across the street, be confronted by a mob. Protesters in Washington D.C. have been exercising their First Amendment rights virtually non-stop for days on end. Their rights arent diminished if they have to move a block or two for a while so the president can walk across the street securely. The First Amendment does not grant protesters the indefinite run of a city. Protests have always been subject to time and place restrictions. Mattis states: We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We didnt. The military was deployed in response to riots. In Washington, D.C., the local police, guardsmen, and secret service members were outnumbered and outmatched by Antifa agitators and their thug shock troops. According to this report, more than 60 US Secret Service Uniformed Division officers and special agents were injured between Friday night and Sunday morning near the White House. They were injured because some protesters threw projectiles such as bricks, rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them. In addition, personnel reportedly were directly physically assaulted kicked, punched and exposed to bodily fluids. If Mattis considers attacks on Secret Service a mere distraction, hes become too clueless to be taken seriously. Maybe we should be thankful hes no longer our Secretary of Defense. Mattis also sniffs, Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try. But Trumps response to recent events is what, broadly speaking, we should want from a president. He condemned the killing of George Floyd, calling it a tragedy, and members of his Department of Justice have been assigned to Minnesota to investigate. When rioting broke out, he condemned the rioters, urged mayors and governors to protect American citizens effectively, and deployed a small military presence to protect the nations capital. American should be able to unite behind this response. Its not Trumps fault that we cant. UPDATE: In posting this, I dont mean to minimize Gen. Mattiss outstanding record of service to our country. I consider Mattis an American hero. I just believe that, like a great many people, hes not thinking clearly about whats been going on in America this past week. A woman whose two brothers are on death row in Belarus after being found guilty of murder has told how her family won't know when they are shot - or where they are buried. Hanna Kostseva was in court when 19-year-old Stanislaw and 21-year-old Ilya, who all grew up together in Cherykaw, close to the Russian border, received their verdict and execution order in January - and told how the courtroom 'clapped' in approval. The brothers were arrested in April 2019 for stabbing their neighbour to death and setting fire to her house in 'revenge' for her complaining about Hanna's children and suggesting they were taken into care, reports the BBC. Belarus is the only country in Europe which still operates the death penalty, having not been carried out in any other European nation since 1996. Hanna Kostseva was in court when 19-year-old Stanislaw and 21-year-old Ilya, who all grew up together in Cherykaw, close to the Russian border, received their verdict and execution order in January - and told how the courtroom 'clapped' in approval Hanna argued the judgement is denying her brothers their 'right to repent' for their actions and said killers should be sentenced to a life in prison. 'Not everyone leaves prison alive, but you have to live through it, to bear it and then be released with a sense of repentance,' she told the BBC. 'I'm not justifying them in any way - they are guilty, you shouldn't take a person's life. In one moment, they crossed out someone's life as well as their own and ours.' Hanna described feeling like her own life had been 'cut short' when the judge read out the verdict to 'apply an exceptional measure of punishment in the form of execution'. The brothers were arrested in April 2019 for stabbing their neighbour to death and setting fire to her house in 'revenge' for her complaining about Hanna's children and suggesting they were taken into care 'People in the courtroom began to clap,' she recalled. 'Initially, just one started, then another followed, then a third, and in the whole hall only applause was heard.' She managed to approach her brothers and hugged them through the bars of the cage they were in, and promised to do all she could to save them. She has since moved 90 miles away after being hounded out of her hometown. However, it's unlikely the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, granted the family's request for clemency - something he's only ever done once in 25 years. In April, he told a Russian radio station that the boys are 'scum', adding: 'There's no other word for them. They have been in trouble before and have been punished. Hanna, pictured holding a childhood photo of her younger brothers, managed to hug them through the bars of the cage they were in, and promised to do all she could to save them. She has since moved 90 miles away after being hounded out of her hometown 'They killed a teacher - only because she wanted to save two of their sister's children. Their sister is a nothing - an asocial element. The teacher only tried to protect the kids and take them out of the family. These two were knifing her all night.' Hanna's mother Natalya was unable to attend the sentencing to hear her sons' fate due to the fact she owes the Belarus government money from when they were taken into care. After her husband died almost 20 years ago, Natalya worked all hours to provide for her family but acknowledged she wasn't a perfect mother, with visiting social workers noting she'd been drinking. When Stanislaw and Ilya were 14 and 16, they were taken away from her after being caught fighting and playing truant from school. Hanna's mother Natalya was unable to attend the sentencing to hear her sons' fate due to the fact she owes the Belarus government money from when they were taken into care The brothers are being held at a detention centre in the centre of Minsk, where it is believed they will be executed They were put into a state-run children's home, with Natalya required to pay for their care. She still owes around 3,190 and a chunk of her small salary is deducted each month - which will continue after her sons die to pay her debt. Due to the fact she'd missed some payments, she was not allowed to leave Minsk to visit her sons until the money was paid - meaning the only contact she's had with her sons since their arrest has been via letter. The brothers are being held at a detention centre in the centre of Minsk, where it is believed they will be executed. Afterwards Hanna will be sent a package containing their belongings and a note to say their punishment has been carried out. Hanna told the BBC she 'won't go on living' if she loses them, adding: 'I don't want to.' Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) talks with reporters as he heads for a meeting at the Capitol October 02, 2018 in Washington, DC. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Thursday said he would block two Trump administration nominations until the White House explained why it fired two federal watchdogs. Grassley had previously sent letters to President Donald Trump asking for explanations after the firings of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. The White House counsel responded to Grassley's letter in late May about Linick's ouster, but it "failed to address" the requirement that there be a "good reason" for such a termination, Grassley said at the time. In a tweet Thursday afternoon, Grassley said he was "placing holds" on the Trump administration's nominations "until I get reasons" for the firings "as required by law." "All I want is a reason 4 firing these ppl," Grassley added in a shorthand-style text for which he has become known online. "CHECKS&BALANCES," Grassley added. Grassley TWEET Grassley was blocking the nominations of Christopher Miller to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center and Marshall Billingslea to be the State Department's undersecretary for arms control and international security. Trump fired Linick in a surprise, late-night move on May 15 on a recommendation from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was involved in at least two investigations reportedly being conducted by the watchdog's office at the time. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Trump said he lost "confidence" in Linick, without providing further explanation. Democrats are investigating whether the firing was a retributive move by Pompeo, who last month admitted that he had answered questions sent from Linick's office related to a probe. Despite that admission, Pompeo said he could not have been retaliating against Linick when he recommended his removal because he was unaware of the inspector general's investigations at the time. Linick told Congress in a private interview Wednesday that he told at least three of Pompeo's aides about one of the investigations a probe into whether Pompeo and his wife misused government resources before he was fired, NBC News reported. Pompeo has said since the firing that Linick should have been terminated earlier. "He was acting in a way that was deeply inconsistent with what the State Department was trying to do," the secretary said in a Fox News interview. He added that Linick was leaking information, had refused to allow his office to participate in a coronavirus protection team and was "investigating policies he simply didn't like." Linick, however, said in his private interview with Congress, "The record shows that I have served without regard to politics," NBC reported. In April, Trump ordered the removal of Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community who had flagged the Ukraine whistleblower complaint that became a major catalyst for Trump's eventual impeachment in the House. Trump was acquitted in the Senate. Days later, Trump removed acting Pentagon Inspector General Glenn Fine, who was overseeing the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package. Trump in early May also moved to replace Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm, who weeks earlier had sent the president a report showing that hospitals were lacking the supplies necessary to combat the pandemic. Grassley, a co-founder of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, entered statements in the congressional record Thursday objecting to "any unanimous consent request" related to the nominations, his office told CNBC. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Grassley's actions. London, June 4 : Another 359 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 39,728, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Wednesday. The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community. As of Wednesday morning, 279,856 people in Britain have tested positive for the disease, a daily increase of 1,871, said the department, Xinhua reported. Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday revealed details of the government's plans to impose 14-day isolation on almost all people entering or returning to Britain from June 8. Imported cases of the novel coronavirus posed a more significant threat now and it was now important to "protect our hard-won progress as we move in the right direction," she told lawmakers in the House of Commons (lower house of the parliament). A breach of self-isolation could result in a 1,000 pounds (about $1,260) fixed penalty notice in England, or potential prosecution, according to Patel. Chairing the Downing Street daily briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government's quarantine plans despite criticism from the opposition parties and the aviation sector. There is a need to impose strict controls to stop the risk of imported cases, said Johnson. He added that "air bridges" will be considered with countries with similar or lower levels of the virus but "only when it is safe to do so". Noting that Britain is seeing continuing falls in deaths, Johnson said that "we want to take more steps to unlock our society." But he urged people to follow "basic rules" such as washing hands, self-isolating, taking a test and observing social distancing. "We are beating this disease -- and we will beat it if everyone works together," he said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text WASHINGTON - Iran on Thursday released Navy veteran Michael White, a California native who had contracted the novel coronavirus and had been held for nearly two years, said his family and a U.S. official. White, a cancer patient who traveled to Iran to visit a woman he had met on the Internet, was arrested by Iranian authorities in July 2018. Due to several complicating health conditions, White's family feared for his life in Iran's notoriously cramped and unsanitary prison system. Several weeks ago he was placed on medical furlough as the coronavirus outbreak spread rapidly through Iran's prisons, and U.S. and Swiss diplomats renewed efforts to secure his release. "I am incredibly grateful to the administration, especially the team at the State Department for their work on Michael's case and I owe the Swiss Diplomats who have worked so hard to keep Michael safe a debt I can never repay," said White's mother, Joanne White. President Donald Trump tweeted that White is on a Swiss plane "that just left Iranian Airspace" and that he expects him "to be home with his family in America very soon." The Swiss government has acted on behalf of the United States in Iran since the two nations severed diplomatic relations after the Islamic revolution. White's release comes after an Iranian scientist, Sirous Asgari, who also contracted the coronavirus, was flown back to Iran on Tuesday, setting the stage for White's release despite the increasingly bitter relations between Tehran and Washington. A senior U.S. administration official said that the two cases were not technically linked but that Iranian officials had suggested they would be more open to White's release after the scientist was back on Iranian soil. The release ends a painful saga for White and his family, who had tirelessly lobbied for his freedom, saying that he did nothing wrong and that his health conditions threatened his life. White was charged for insulting the supreme leader and privacy violations related to the posting of a photo of himself on social media while in the country. He underwent treatment for throat cancer before leaving for Iran. "For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC and I have been living a nightmare," Joanne White said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home." In the statement, she also thanked former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who repeatedly raised White's case with Iranian officials. Richardson, a Democrat, was also involved in helping set up a prisoner swap in December in which the United States traded an Iranian scientist convicted on charges of violating trade sanctions for Xiyue Wang, a Princeton University graduate student accused of spying. "This should have and could have been done earlier, but I am glad and relieved that Mike is on his way home to get treated and rejoin Joanne and his family," Richardson said in a statement. Trump administration officials have downplayed Richardson's role in the negotiations. White's release has been bittersweet for the family of Baquer and Siamak Namazi, a father and son who have been in Iranian custody for more than four years. "It is extremely hard for my family to understand how a third prisoner swap or release has taken place which has not included my family and other American hostages unjustly held in Iran," said Babak Namazi, the son of Baquer. "My brother Siamak Namazi remains in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, despite Iran having furloughed 100,000 other prisoners due to COVID-19 pandemic." Another dual U.S. and Iranian citizen, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, is also believed to be in Iranian custody on charges of collaborating with the United States. - - - The Washington Post's Carol Morello contributed to this report. As increasingly explosive social tensions grip the United States, opposition is growing to Omaha, Nebraska officials decision to release a man who shot and killed a protester on May 30. Omaha officials imposed a curfew for three nights following the shooting and the National Guard was mobilized to assist police in suppressing protests on Sunday. During one of Omahas recent protests against the police murder of George Floyd and the unending reign of police violence in the United States, 22-year-old black youth James Scurlock was shot and killed in a confrontation with white bar owner Jacob Gardner. Official reports indicate that the father of the bar owner pushed someone twice. Another person then shoved Gardners father to the ground. When Jacob Gardner went over to his father, the situation escalated. James Scurlock, 22 Reports and surveillance video indicate that Jacob Gardner backed up and lifted his shirt to show he had a weapon in his waistband and then moved the gun to his side before he was tackled. He then fired at least one shot, according to reports. A man and a woman tackled Gardner, who ended up on his back in the street. As he rose from the ground with the weapon in hand, Scurlock jumped on Gardners back and the two wrestled. Police say Scurlock placed Gardner in either a chokehold or a headlock and after a struggle, Gardner fired over his shoulder hitting Scurlock in between his neck and shoulder, killing him. Gardner, 38, a self-described libertarian, is a former Marine who had been deployed to Iraq and Haiti. He recently commented on Facebook about having to protect his business over the weekend, according to the Omaha World Herald. He did not have a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm. Since the shooting, Gardner has reportedly been evicted from two properties where he operated bars on Harney Street. The establishments had public complaints of racial discrimination going back several years. Gardner had a history of making public statements on social media voicing his prejudices, having been in the news for negative comments about transgender women. The Omaha World Herald reported Douglas County Attorney Don Kleines initial decision to conclude justified self-defense in the killing was made based on a handful of grainy and graphic videos. On Monday, Omaha City prosecutor Matt Kuhse also said the security video of the altercation and shooting was the only evidence he reviewed. Kleine chose his words carefully on this matter: You cant use deadly force to protect property. Deadly force can only be used if someone is in fear of their own life or serious bodily injury, and they dont feel like they can retreat safely. Even if they are mistaken, if their beliefs have a reasonable basis, its justifiable for them to use deadly force ... thats what the law is. But after growing outrage over the murder, Kleine announced on Wednesday he supported a grand jury investigation: I certainly believe in transparency, and I have no problem with any oversight about decisions that weve made. There is broad support for the Scurlock family. A GoFundMe for the family has collected more than $200,000 in donations. James Scurlock was the father of a newborn girl. His brother Nicholas Harden spoke to local news media KMTV, There needs to be further investigation obviously. This man fired shots at different people before my brother jumped on him. Theyre trying to portray him as someone involved in an act of violence. Robert Fuller, a witness to the altercation Saturday, told the World Socialist Web Site the situation was quite different, noting local and state officials seem to have fully and uncritically accepted Gardners tale in releasing him without charge. He said, I had never met James Scurlock before Gardner walked over. I walked over to James, who Gardner was talking to. Thats when his dad was pushed down. I was shoved, I put myself between James and Gardner. It was escalating, they were in each others faces. He [Gardner] accused him of breaking windows. But Ill be honest, I only saw white kids breaking windows. I put my arm up to physically block him and James pushed me away. Things happened fast. He was waving the gun in a really weird erratic motion. He waved it toward me and others. He seemed agitated and ready to fire. James was trying to stop him. At the first shot, I didnt know what to do. At the second shot I went back over and someone was trying to help him [Scurlock]. I saw the look on his face and I could tell that he was dying. I had no idea at the time of Gardners history of racism. We called the police who came over in a big group, nine or ten, from a half a block away. I was trying to offer a statement. Shouldnt I have been removed to make a statement? They said, Get out, or well arrest you for obstruction of justice. I was trying to find an officer to talk with, but they were all on edge and I stayed on the outskirts of what was going on. I called homicide and gave a statement to a detective about 35 hours later. By then Gardner was released and, well--no charges pressed. On why the events took place in this manner, Fuller said, Well, its obvious! Hes a rich business owner in town. Officials think about everything from his point of view. They never once mentioned the rest of us were afraid. We were terrified for our lives and these people tackled him to get the gun out of his hand. This is the whole point of the protests. The irony is overwhelming. Its why people are marching in the first place. Police violence against the demonstrations also played a role in this murder. Two witnesses confirmed that, prior to entering the downtown area on Saturday, demonstrators had gathered in Omahas traditional area for protest at the intersection of 72nd and Dodge, almost six miles away from where the shooting took place. Demonstrators said police kettled the protest of about 1,000 into a parking lot and broke it up using teargas for the second night in a row. Within an hour, many protesters moved the demonstration to the downtown area, where the shooting eventually took place. Republican Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, who is from a billionaire family of financiers and political operatives, apologized Tuesday for referring to black leaders as you people in a meeting with religious and community leaders, Omahas mayor and the chief of police in the aftermath of Scurlocks murder. The discussion was on legislation governing accountability of law enforcement. A party to that meeting, Pastor Jarrod Parker, voiced his frustration and concern, Thats why the city is going to go up in flames, Mrs. Mayor and Mr. Chief. Youre not listening, and you cant listen because at the top of the state is a racist governor. Ricketts has pursued viciously reactionary policies as governor, including Nebraskas first execution in decades in 2018, pioneering the use of the opioid fentanyl to carry out a state killing. In 2015, state lawmakers voted to abolish the death penalty in Nebraska, but Ricketts financed an effort to reinstate capital punishment after lawmakers overrode his veto. Contributing $300,000 of his own wealth to a petition drive organized by several close associates, the issue was placed on the November 2016 general election ballot and approved by a 61 percent majority. Amy Atkisson was arrested after authorities said she pepper-sprayed a protester. (Ventura County Sheriff's Office) Police have arrested a Thousand Oaks woman after a online video allegedly shows her pepper-spraying protesters. A group of demonstrators, who appeared to be teenagers, were standing on the side of the road chanting Black Lives Matter, when a driver at a red light rolled down her window and pepper-sprayed them, video footage shows. The video was filmed on Sunday at a protest in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Get her license plate, a voice in the video says after the incident. The video then moves behind the car to capture the plate, which read LUVMYUX. The driver was in a Lexus UX. a white WOMAN pepper sprayed CHILDREN protesting for #BLM yesterday in Thousand Oaks, CA. Her license plate is recorded. Twitter, do your thing pic.twitter.com/ZOlPlAeC7S kayla butterfly (@MVKDRE) June 1, 2020 The incident came to the Ventura County Sheriff Departments attention after it was posted to Twitter, Capt. Denise Silva said. Detectives identified the driver as Amy Atkisson, 46, according to a department press release. The primary victim was a 16-year-old female. A racist white woman pepper sprayed me today for peacefully protesting, those are her plates Tik tok do your thing #blm #georgefloyd #fyp read the caption on the TikTok video. The video has nearly 110,000 views and more than 34,000 likes on the platform. Silva said her department received the video on Sunday and spoke with witnesses to gather more information. There wasnt much more than was in the video, she said. Atkisson was arrested at home on Tuesday and booked for on suspicion of unlawful use of tear gas before being released as mandated by the state Judicial Councils zero-dollar bail order. The order resets presumptive bail for people arrested for misdemeanors and many non-violent felonies to zero. She has a court date set for July 31, the release said. The release also encouraged witnesses to contact Detective JD Eisenhard at (805) 494-8224. Press Release June 4, 2020 Tolentino slams MMDA for slapping P1,000 fine on each member of bike group Administration Senator Francis "Tol" Tolentino slammed the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which he formerly headed, for slapping a P1,000 fine against each member of a bicycle group that put up temporary barriers to protect the cyclists along Commonwealth Avenue. "This is too harsh and severe a penalty for our cyclists, fellow travelers in the road, who only wanted to make the roads a safer place for them to travel, in the absence of an established bike lane in Commonwealth," Tolentino said. The MMDA imposed the fine against members of Bikers United Marshalls (BUM) for placing lines of 6-liter bright orange plastic bottles that contained water to serve as temporary markers for one lane intended for bike riders. Tolentino said the MMDA should lead efforts to promote the use of bicycle in the metropolis, instead of penalizing groups with noble ideas on how to address the lack of public transport amid to the general community quarantine. "The MMDA should be on the same page with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which are both promoting the use of bicycles and the establishment of bike lanes," he said. The IATF and the DILG both encourage the use of bicycles as one of the primary modes of transportation and for requiring local government units (LGUs) to put up bicycle lanes in all the thoroughfares to promote bike use and ensure safe mobility during the general community quarantine. Tolentino recently filed Senate Resolution No. 411, calling on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), in coordination with the MMDA, to designate, develop and improve bicycle lanes in Metro Manila for the duration of the community quarantine. The said resolution was considered in the prepared Committee Report No. 101 by the Committees on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking, Public Works and Finance. Advertisement Three more former Minneapolis police officers were charged on Wednesday in the deadly arrest of George Floyd, five days after charges were brought against a fourth officer who was seen in a video kneeling on Floyds neck. Former officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng are facing charges of aiding and abetting murder, according to criminal complaints filed by the state of Minnesota on Wednesday. The murder charge against another former officer, Derek Chauvin, were also elevated to second-degree murder. Chauvin, the officer who place knee on Floyds neck for about eight minutes while detaining him on May 25, was initially charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter by the Hennepin County prosecutor. All four officers were terminated from their positions with the department on May 26, after a video showing the detainment went viral. Advertisement Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who has been appointed to lead the prosecution in the case, said in an MSNBC interview Mondaythat he intended to charge the officers with the highest degree of accountability that the law and the facts will support. Multiple videos have been released on Floyds arrest, with one showing him pinned down by three different officers near a patrol car while a fourth stands near his head. Floyd can be heard pleading, I cant breathe. Please, please, please, I cant breathe, Floyd begged in one video caught by a bystander. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Please, please. I cant breathe. He died while in custody that day. Lane and Kueng were the first officers to arrive at scene that night, as they investigated a possible fake $20 bill being passed at the Cup Foods grocery store, according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin. When Lane found Floyd parked nearby, the officer pulled his gun, had the man get out of his car and then handcuffed him, the complaint against Chauvin said. The handcuffed Floyd was eventually put face-down on the pavement with Kueng holding down his back and Lane pressing down his legs, the charging document against Chauvin said. While a distressed Floyd said I cant breathe, Mama and please several times, Lane asked should we roll him on his side? according to prosecutors. No, staying put where we got him, Chauvin responded, according to the complaint against him. I am worried about excited delirium or whatever, Lane allegedly said. Thats why we have him on his stomach, Chauvin responded, according to the criminal complaint against him. Several minutes later, Kueng checked Floyds right wrist for a pulse and allegedly said, I couldnt find one. The official autopsy from the Hennepin County medical examiner listed Floyds cause of death as a cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. The medical examiner ruled that Floyds death was a homicide but added that he had significant underlying conditions, including hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use. But an examination funded by Floyds family reached a somewhat different conclusion. It found that police officers pressing on his neck and body cut blood and air flow to his brain, causing him to die by mechanical asphyxia, pathologists hired by the family said. The autopsy paid for by the family also found that Floyd had no other medical conditions that contributed to his death. Benjamin Crump, the civil rights attorney representing Floyds family, on Wednesday released a statement on behalf of the family: This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that Attorney General Keith Ellison took decisive action, arresting and charging all the officers involved in George Floyds death and upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder. Crump said on the TODAY show on Tuesday that he expected the charges to be filed against the other three officers and that the familys autopsy report was significant because it pays particular attention to the two knees at the back compressing his lungs. Since the beginning of 2015, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department have rendered people unconscious with neck restraints 44 times, according to an NBC News analysis of police records. Several police experts told NBC News that number appears to be unusually high. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights on Tuesday filed a civil rights charge against the Minneapolis Police Department to launch an investigation. The probe will look at the departments policies, procedures, and practices over the past 10 years to determine if it engaged in systemic discriminatory practices, Gov. Tim Walz said. By Rich McKay and Aakriti Bhalla (Reuters) - A man armed with a knife stabbed a New York policeman in the neck on Wednesday and two officers who ran to his rescue were wounded before they shot the attacker multiple times, police said. All four were taken to Kings County Hospital where the police were in stable condition and the suspect was in critical condition, police said. The attack in Brooklyn came amid mass protests and some rioting in New York over the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in the custody of white police officers. It was not immediately clear if the attack was related to the protests, but Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the police were on duty to stop looting. A man walked "casually" up to one of the officers near Church and Flatbush avenues in Brooklyn, pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the left side of his neck, Shea said. "It appears to be a completely cowardly, despicable, senseless attack on a defenseless police officer," Shea said. "Thank God we're not planning a funeral." The two other officers heard shots fired from two blocks away and ran over and saw that the suspect had the wounded police officer's gun, he said. The two officers were shot in their hands in the struggle. Shea did not give details on how they were shot. Prosecutors brought new criminal charges against four Minneapolis police implicated in the death of George Floyd, pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest that sparked more than a week of nationwide protest and civil strife. Police in Brooklyn charged into a crowd of about 1,000 protesters defying a curfew, albeit peacefully, near an outdoor plaza, and clubbed demonstrators and journalists as they scurried for cover in a downpour of heavy rain. The confrontation in Brooklyn seemed to be the biggest exception to a calmer night, hours after the new charges in Minneapolis. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Nick Macfie) A former MI6 chief was yesterday accused by Government officials of peddling 'fanciful claims' that coronavirus was accidentally created in a Chinese laboratory. British security agencies believe Covid-19 is not a man-made virus and is 'highly likely' to have occurred naturally and spread to humans through animals. And Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said there is 'no evidence' to back up the theory that it originated in a laboratory. Sir Richard Dearlove was accused by Government officials of peddling 'fanciful claims' that coronavirus was accidentally created in a Chinese laboratory But Sir Richard Dearlove, who was head of the MI6 from 1999 to 2004, cited a recent report claiming the disease was accidentally manufactured by Chinese scientists. 'I do think that this started as an accident,' Sir Richard told The Daily Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast. 'It raises the issue: if China ever were to admit responsibility, does it pay reparations? I think it will make every country in the world rethink how it treats its relationship with China.' He added: 'Look at the stories... of attempts by the [Beijing] leadership to lock down any debate about the origins of the pandemic and the way people have been arrested or silenced.' The study claims to have identified 'inserted sections' on the surface of the Covid-19 virus that were 'significantly different' from any other similar bug they had studied. Pictured above, researchers in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Sir Richard cited a report by Professor Angus Dalgleish, from St George's Hospital, University of London, and Norwegian virologist Birger Sorensen, which claims the virus was manufactured in a laboratory, saying the study was a 'very important contribution to a debate which is now starting about how the virus evolved and how it got out and broke out as a pandemic.' The study claims to have identified 'inserted sections' on the surface of the Covid-19 virus that were 'significantly different' from any other similar bug they had studied. But the Prime Minister's spokesman slapped down Sir Richard's comments, saying: 'We've seen no evidence the virus is man-made.' And a Government official added: 'These are fanciful claims. World leading scientists in the UK, US and the World Health Organisation have said numerous times... the virus was natural in its origin and likely moved into the human population through natural transfer from animals not through a specific accident or man-made incident.' Wild theories that didn't add up to scrutiny Analysis by John Naish Back in April, a slickly produced investigative documentary, Tracking Down The Origin Of The Wuhan Coronavirus, was released online. It claimed conclusive proof that the Covid-19 virus had been created as a biological 'weapon of mass destruction' in a Chinese lab. At first sight, it seemed a shockingly convincing piece of journalism. On behalf of this newspaper, I cross-checked every claim: The experts it cited and the factual evidence unearthed. I also researched the backgrounds of its makers. I then approached some of the world's best independent scientific authorities to ask their opinion. They all agreed this enticingly spicy story just didn't stand up. It had been produced by a US based anti-Chinese government media organisation called the Epoch Times. Its 'experts' were veteran hard-Rightists. Most damningly, its scientific 'facts' were twisted out of shape. So much, then, for the Chinese-manufactured coronavirus conspiracy... Well, not quite. Around the time I was researching the film, I became aware of rumours emerging about a 'blockbuster' piece of biological science by British and Norwegian investigators to be published in a reputable journal. Experts who were sent the paper for 'peer review' prior to publication were astounded because it claimed to have established 'beyond reasonable doubt that Covid-19 is an engineered virus'. The authors alleged the Covid-19 virus had 'unique fingerprints' that could not have evolved naturally, and were 'indicative of purposive manipulation'. In other words, someone had manufactured this virus. Who exactly? The paper reportedly concluded Covid-19 should correctly be called the 'Wuhan virus'. When the paper was finally published this week, it sparked global headlines, largely thanks to former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove. In a newspaper podcast interview he claimed the research was smoking-gun evidence the virus pandemic had 'started as an accident' when a man-made virus escaped from a Chinese lab. The paper co-authored by Professor Angus Dalgleish, a renowned oncologist and vaccine researcher who works at St George's Hospital, University of London, and Birger Sorensen, a Norwegian virologist contains none of the stark allegations that originally stunned its reviewers. The initial paper that triggered wild rumours failed stringent tests of verification and is understood to have been rejected in April by eminent international journals such as Nature and the Journal of Virology. Biomedical experts from the Francis Crick Institute and Imperial College London are said to have refuted its conclusions. Then one of the paper's co-authors, Dr John Fredrik Moxnes, chief scientific adviser to the Norwegian military, asked for his name to be withdrawn. This week, after numerous rewrites, the paper was published by the Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery. And those original world-shaking conclusions have now withered to innuendo. No accusation of Chinese manipulation appears. The rewritten paper describes the virus as a 'chimera' this means it contains the viral genetic material of more than one virus. This may occur naturally when two viruses infect a living creature at the same time. It is the reason leading investigators believe that the Covid-19 virus acquired its pandemic powers by jumping between species. The other definition of a 'chimera virus' is one that has been created in a lab as a bioweapon, but the published paper only vaguely implies foul play. In conclusion, the paper argues that: 'A comprehensive analysis of the aetiology of the target virus is prerequisite, not optional'. 'Aetiology' is defined in medical terms as 'the cause or origin'. In other words, Professor Dalgleish and his colleague are demanding to know where Covid-19 came from. Well we'd all love to know the answer to that one. Certainly, the Chinese authorities have done plenty to arouse suspicion about the virus's origins. And they have form when it comes to poor biosecurity: they let a lethal Sars virus escape from a Beijing lab in April 2004, infecting nine people before the outbreak was contained. None of this changes the fact that the overwhelming consensus is Covid-19 originated in nature, and most likely infected us through the cruel trade in live wild animals for the cooking pot. What this furore does do, however, is distract us from the most truly explosive warning contained in Professor Dalgleish's paper. It is well established that the coronavirus invades our bodies via ACE2 receptor sites on cells in our noses and lungs. But his detailed study of the virus's make-up indicates that it can break in to the human body through a variety of other routes. An effective vaccine may have to 'educate' our bodies to block the virus from multiple points of entry. In this respect it shows many similarities with the Aids virus HIV. Prof Dalgleish's warning to those working to create a conventional vaccine against Covid-19 is this: 'The world was promised an HIV vaccine that would be ready in 18 months. That was 36 years ago.' Could coronavirus prove similarly immune to our best vaccine efforts? We can only hope the researchers' science on this question proves as thin as their Chinese conspiracy theory. When veteran police officer Janee Harteau was appointed Minneapolis police chief in December 2012, there was hope that the noted reformer could help mend the force's historically poor relations with the city's black community. But when asked Tuesday whether or not she failed in that task given the eruption of outrage, protest and violence in the city over the death of George Floyd she chose her words carefully. "I would say that clearly what we did wasn't enough," Harteau, the first woman to hold the position, said in a phone interview with CBC News. The comments from Harteau, who resigned as chief in 2017, come as protests and scattered violence has rocked Minneapolis and other cities across the U.S. following the death of Floyd, who had been arrested on May 25 by police on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was on the ground face down and handcuffed while one officer held his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes, according to a criminal complaint. At one point, Floyd stopped breathing. Derek Chauvin, 44, who has been fired from the force, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. 'How could that happen?' "For me to see it be done at the hands of the Minneapolis police department," Harteau said, "how could that happen? Knowing everything we did?" David Joles/Star Tribune via AP She believes she made progress with some initiatives, including implicit bias training, along with increasing the number of officers on foot so that they could connect better with the community. However, she said, "when you look back, it makes you question everything you knew. But what I know for certain then is I was doing all of the things that everybody was saying needed to be done." She said that the current tensions are an "accumulation of years of issues, years of mistrust." "Then things seem to get better. We start making progress. And then each time it seems an incident becomes more egregious," said Harteau, who is currently the president & CEO of Vitals Aware Services, which offers an app of critical information for first responders. Story continues "I had my share of controversial incidents, said Harteau, who was forced out as chief after a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia was shot to death by a member of her police force. "And the common denominator is they are all tragic." Harteau puts much of the blame for tensions between the police department and the black community with the current police union president Bob Kroll, whose resignation she called for after he described Floyd as someone who had a "violent criminal history" and said that the demonstrations were part of a "terrorist movement." Systemic racism blamed However, others believe the problems run deeper and that this is more than a series of incidents involving only some members of the police force. "[People need] to think about and talk about this not as individual recent incidents, but as systemic racism in the way that the system itself is set up and the way the culture of the department is set up," said Tony Williams, a community activist in the city. When the 3rd Precinct was torched last week, the same precinct where the four officers involved in the detainment of Floyd were stationed, the organized protests there were "based on generations of harm," said Mike Griffin, a community organizer in Minneapolis. WATCH | A community organizer in Minneapolis speaks about the anger directed toward the city's police force: "The police precinct specifically is a symbol of white supremacy. And that is where a lot of the protests and anger was directed toward." Indeed, relations have so soured that some have given up on reform. Jason Sole, a criminal justice educator and past president of the Minneapolis NAACP, told CBC News that policymakers need to focus on shrinking the current police department and eventually abolish it. 'We have people in the community who are amazing folks. They are therapists, social workers, and they're also licensed to carry," he said. "We trust them a little bit more than we trust law enforcement." Sole said he's "been choked by police, pepper-sprayed. I've been through the worst things of law enforcement in my life." Jim Mone/The Associated Press Williams, who contributed to MPD150, a report into the 150-year history of the Minneapolis Police Department, has also called for the dismantling of the force. He said despite the number of reformist politicians and police chiefs throughout the years, including the current police chief who is a member of the black community, there have been no significant changes in how the black community is treated. Police 'impervious to reform' "It's very clear that the police are set up in such a way that makes them impervious to reform," he said. "If we have the best reformist chiefs possible in these positions and we have these politicians who are deeply dedicated to this, which is what they've been telling us for nearly 100 years or longer, then it's clear that it doesn't work." Keith A. Mayes, a professor of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota, said with the city home to some of the worst disparities within the black community in the U.S., including income levels, income gaps, educational gaps, rates of incarceration and rates of home ownership, the situation "was just a powder keg waiting to explode. "So, the police abuse on top of the massive inequality in the state gave rise to what you see today taking place in the streets." David Schultz, a professor of political science at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minn., said while the relationship between the black community and police in Minneapolis has been poor for decades, he believes it became worse in the 1990s and 2000s as the black community grew from about 10 per cent of the city's population to 20 per cent. Schultz said when he used to teach a class in the early 2000s about police criminal and civil liability, he would tell his students that. "Minneapolis was like a living laboratory in everything you can do wrong." WATCH | Protesters set the Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd Precinct on fire: "I would bring in these press clippings of major police abuses. The city would settle for six and seven figures, et cetera, et cetera. And so you just got this long train of the police abusing its authority. And nothing's changing." Not taking action against police abuse As well, Schultz believes some of the anger stems from the fact that when police abuses do occur, the county attorney's office has a history of not taking action as people would like to see it take. Leila Navidi/Star Tribune/The Associated Press Harteau's own tenure was marked by two high-profile police shootings. In 2015, Jamar Clark, a black man, was shot and killed during a scuffle with two white Minneapolis police officers. Two years later, U.S. and Australian dual citizen Justine Damond, a white woman, was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, a black man. "The police officer who kills Jamal Clark is not prosecuted for it. The county attorney moves rapidly to prosecute the black officer who kills Justine Damond," said Schultz. "So, think about those images. Those are not good images." Fire Damages Swiss Chalet Fire Fighters tackle the fire at Swiss Chalet Restaurant (Pic: IOM Fire & Rescue Service) The Swiss Chalet building at Glen Helen has been damaged by fire overnight. The occupants were woken by the smoke alarms just after 1am this morning. 40 firefighters from stations in Peel, Kirk Michael and Douglas spent six hours tackling the blaze. The occupants of the building, which is owned by DEFA, all escaped without injury and the cause of the fire is under investigation. Photos Another hurdle has reportedly popped up in the extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to India. "A further legal issue needs resolving before his extradition can be arranged," a spokesperson of the British High Commission in India told news agency ANI on June 4. The spokesperson refused to offer any more details on the 'confidential' issue, adding that under the laws of the United Kingdom, extradition cannot take place until this issue is resolved. No estimate was given of how long resolution of the legal issue will take. The statement came after speculative reports regarding Mallya's return to India surfaced on June 3. Another report quoted sources as saying that Mallya seeking political asylum in the UK is another possibility that the investigating agencies are aware of. This, owing to his position as a former Rajya Sabha Member. The beleaguered liquor baron who had once upon a time fashioned himself as the 'King of Good Times', is now fighting tooth and nail to avoid being brought back to India. Last month, he lost his appeal against extradition and was refused leave to appeal further to the UK Supreme Court. The final call with respect to his extradition will be taken by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel. Mallya is wanted here on charges of money laundering and fraud. The promoter of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines had defaulted on repayment of loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore to several lenders in the country. Following this, a case was registered against him in Mumbai by a consortium of banks. He fled to London in March 2016, following which his passport was revoked by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Subsequently, a special court set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 in India finally declared him a 'fugitive economic offender' in January 2019. Citizens across Los Angeles have taken to the streets to protest police brutality against African-Americans in wake of the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis. And Victoria Justice made sure to make her mark on the movement by marching through West Hollywood with her half-sister Madison Grace, 24, on Wednesday. The 27-year-old former Nickelodeon star held a neon green sign above her head that had 'Black Lives Matter' written on it. Black Lives Matter: Victoria Justice made sure to make her mark on the movement by marching through West Hollywood with her half-sister Madison Grace, 24, on Wednesday afternoon Justice gave a peek at her toned midriff by sporting a cropped racer-back tank top and a pair of daisy dukes. She had a leopard fanny pack secured around her waist and erred on the side of caution by donning a printed face mask. The Victorious actress' brunette hair flowed down from underneath a black ball cap and she shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of aviator shades. Madison carried a pink neon sign that mirrored her sister's sentiment. Making moves: The 27-year-old former Nickelodeon star held a neon green sign above her head that had 'Black Lives Matter' written on it Sister-sister: Madison - who has been quarantining with Victoria - celebrated her 24th birthday last Thursday in Los Angeles; Madison and Victoria pictured on Instagram on Thursday The model - who just celebrated her birthday last Thursday - kept the majority of her face concealed behind a pair of black sunglasses and a coordinating face mask. She rocked a black, v-neck bodysuit and a pair of high waisted cut-off shorts. Victoria and Madison were surrounded by fellow protesters who passionately forged their way through the bustling streets of West Hollywood with signs in hand. Wednesday's protest commenced around noon and at one point, the hundreds of demonstrators in attendance blocked the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, according to KTLA. Undeterred: Wednesday's protest commenced around noon and at one point, the hundreds of demonstrators in attendance blocked the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, according to KTLA; protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 Outrage: Protests have erupted across the nation following the senseless killing of George Floyd, 46, who lost his life at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25; protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 On Wednesday, the organizers of L.A. Pride announced that they would be holding a peaceful protest march on June 14. Protests have erupted across the nation following the senseless killing of George Floyd, 46, who lost his life at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. In the horrifying video footage of Floyd's death, he is seen saying that he can not breathe as officer Derek Chauvin, 44, kneeled on his neck. Eventually he went silent and limp, and he was later declared dead. The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Chauvin, was taken into custody on May 29 and charged with third-degree murder, officials said. Social influence: Aside from doing the ground work, Victoria has also been using her Instagram to advocate for Black Lives Matter and share information with fellow protesters; post shared by Justice on Sunday Take action: She shared a similar post on Tuesday, where she encouraged her 19.1million followers to 'take action' and 'educate' themselves on the complex issues at hand On Wednesday, Chauvin's charges were upgraded to second-degree murder. Three more officers, Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, were arrested and charged with 'aiding and abetting murder,' according to the New York Times. Aside from doing the ground work, Victoria has also been using her Instagram to advocate for Black Lives Matter and share information with fellow protesters. 'Lets educate, lets donate, lets advocate, lets amplify the voices that need to be heard. For those of you who think Im just one person, it wont matter if I speak up or not. Imagine if everyone felt that way?!,' wrote Justice in a post shared on Sunday. Steps to justice: On Wednesday, Derek Chauvin - the officer accused of killing George Floyd - had his charges upped from third-degree murder to second-degree murder; protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 'Were all in this together. We are all members of ONE race. The HUMAN race. JUSTICE and EQUALITY for all #blacklivesmatter.' She shared a similar post on Tuesday, where she encouraged her 19.1million followers to 'take action' and 'educate' themselves on the complex issues at hand. 'its not enough to just be posting about this, we need to take ACTION. I will be donating today and signing petitions. 'Lets continue to educate ourselves and others. And dont forget to VOTE!!! Let your voice be heard!!! Together I believe that we can make a change. Sending love,' concluded the Zoey 101 star. Gambia has demanded a transparent, credible and objective investigation after one of its citizens was shot dead by US police. Momodou Lamin Sisay, son of diplomat Lare Sisay, was shot following a car chase in Snellville, Georgia shortly before 4am on 29 May, according to a police statement. Officers said they had attempted to pull Mr Sisay over for a driving offence. The 39-year-old refused to stop, according to the police, and a chase ensued thereafter. When the car eventually stopped, police approached and told Sisay to show his hands. He did not comply and pointed a handgun at officers. Officers fired at the driver before pulling back to take cover, investigators said. A Swat team was then dispatched and during the standoff, the driver pointed his weapon and fired at the Swat officers. One GCPD Swat officer fired his weapon, they added. Sisay was pronounced dead at the scene. Lare Sisay, who has also worked for the United Nations, claimed that police had not done enough to peacefully resolve the incident. He also told Gambian media that he disputed his son had been carrying a gun. We will do an independent autopsy and we want to get a private investigator to investigate the circumstances of his death and if necessary hire a lawyer to sue the Georgia state police. Were not going to let it go, The Point newspaper quotes him as saying. Gambias Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday requested that its embassy in Washington DC engaged the revelant authorities including the State Department to begin an invesigation. The killing of George Floyd has set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States since the 1960s civil rights era (EPA) Sisays death came just days after the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mr Floyd died by asphyxiation after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, an event that has set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States since the 1960s civil rights era. Protests have taken to the streets across the world to protest against the killing, with Sisays name used in social media posts this week supporting the campaign against US police brutality against black people. Four Minneapolis police officers have now been charged with a number of offences in connection with Floyds death. Derek Chauvin, the sacked officer who knelt on Floyds neck, has been charged with second-degree murder after initial charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, according to court documents. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao have also been taken into custody and each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Had the independent expert panels report assessing the Westpac boards money-laundering and anti-terrorism compliance efforts scored it on its efforts it would have been a B minus with a comment in the margin - plenty of room for improvement. The banks self-assessment was harsher - it felt more like a D. It was sufficiently self-scathing to account for a range of punishments from last years departure of the chief executive, chairman and head of the boards risk committee to the docking executive bonuses. But despite the fact there were failures by the bank and its board, the assessments could not be read as a fail even though the compliance issues will cost the bank about $900 million and have an unquantifiable impact on the Westpac brand. Lindsay Maxted (left) brought forward his retirement after the scandal. John McFarlane (left) replaced him as Westpac chairman. In part this is because the failures were characterised as omissions - there was no intentional wrongdoing. AUSTRAC, which is currently prosecuting Westpac over breaches of anti-terrorism and money-laundering laws, may not agree. Last year the financial intelligence regulator blamed director and executive indifference. The thought of sharing an ice cream cone with a stranger can trigger feelings of disgust -- however that's often not the case with someone close to us, such as a romantic partner or child Pakistani aviation authorities have told Pakistan International Airlines that the pilot of a passenger plane that crashed into a residential district of Karachi last month had ignored air traffic control's instructions for landing, a PIA spokesman said on June 3. The PIA Airbus A320 crashed on May 22 while trying to land after the pilots reported the loss of both engines. Ninety-seven people onboard were killed and two survived. At least one person was reported to have died on the ground. Initial reports suggested the plane scraped its engines along the runway on a first attempt to land following what appeared to be an unstable approach, arriving steep and fast. In a letter sent to PIA, the Civil Aviation Authority said an approach controller told the pilot twice to discontinue its approach as he came into land but he did not comply. As it neared landing, the plane's ground speed was above the runway threshold, the letter quoted the controller as saying. It lifted up from the runway surface and crashed over Model Colony while attempting a second approach, the letter said. "Yes, we have received the letter. They are documenting it," Abdullah Hafeez Khan, PIA's general manager for corporate communications, told Reuters. He declined to comment on the assertions made in the letter. The flight had been observed as being high for approach as it passed Makli, about 100 kilometers east of Karachi, but the pilot said he was comfortable for the descent, the letter said. He was also cautioned a second time. The plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data box are being decoded in France by French air accident agency BEA. Pakistan's Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said an initial report on the crash will be presented to parliament on June 22. Aviation safety experts say air crashes typically have multiple causes and it is too early to determine the reasons behind the air disaster, which is Pakistan's worst since 2012. Fraud is a very serious crime and what makes this offence even more serious is the number of counts, which are just too much and it shows that it was carefully planned. The amount of level of prejudice is high, which means she benefitted immensely, he said. A day that began with hope that New York City was beginning to find a way out of the crisis caused by the coronavirus and a week of angry demonstrations over police brutality ended Wednesday with more violence. Peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd drew thousands of people, but were broken up by police as rain poured down about an hour after the citys 8 pm curfew went into effect. Then, with the streets quiet for the first time in days, police said a man ambushed officers on an anti-looting patrol in Brooklyn, stabbing him in the neck. The attacker was shot by responding officers and was in critical condition. Two officers suffered gunshot wounds to their hands in the chaos, but all three wounded officers were expected to recover. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called it a completely, cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer. While he declined to say what motivated the attack, he drew a line to the heated rhetoric of the past week, in which angry crowds decrying police violence have also hurled insults, and sometimes bottles, bricks and firebombs, at officers and their vehicles. Words matter, Shea said. More protests were planned for Thursday around New York, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for a statewide moment of silence at 2 p.m., to coincide with a memorial service in Minnesota for Floyd. Wednesday nights attack came at the end of the day in which the police had drawn praise for bringing a stop to days of pilfering and destruction in some parts of the city, but also harsh criticism for rough tactics used to enforce the citys curfew. About an hour after the 8 p.m. deadline to get off the street, officers began moving in on crowds of demonstrators in Manhattan and Brooklyn, at times blasting people with pepper spray or using batons to shove people who didnt move fast enough. Asked whether those officers had acted appropriately, de Blasio said Thursday that he had not seen videos of officers using batons on peaceful protesters. He added, if theres anything that needs to be reviewed. The mayor said protesters should observe the curfew thats in place through Sunday. If at a certain point, officers say, Its time, people need to go now, people need to listen to that, he said. NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said about 60 people were arrested near Central Park for defying an order to go home. When we have these big crowds, especially in this area, especially where weve had the looting, no more tolerance, Monahan said. They have to be off the street. City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended a rally in downtown Brooklyn, expressed outrage that police had broken up the peaceful demonstration by shoving protesters and hitting them with batons. I cant believe what I just witnessed & experienced, Williams wrote on Twitter. He called the use of force on nonviolent protesters disgusting. As the evening deepened, there were few reports of the mayhem that had occurred on several days of demonstrations, when protesters burned police vehicles and showered officers with debris. Gone also were the roving bands of people who smashed their way into scores of stores and stole merchandise Sunday and Monday nights. During the day, some protesters had been heartened by news that three more Minneapolis police officers had been charged in connection to the May 25 death of Floyd, a black man who died after an officer pressed a knee on his neck. But most said they wanted bigger societal changes to fight institutional racism in policing. Theres been progress, but are we at a point where we can all celebrate? No, said demonstrator Lisa Horton, calling for radical change in the criminal justice system. Tuesday nights protests had also been mostly peaceful, prompting de Blasio to declare that an early curfew was working. It is set to remain in effect through at least Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of shutdowns because of the coronavirus. ___ Jennifer Peltz, Brian Mahoney and Jake Seiner in New York City and Marina Villeneuve in Albany contributed to this report. Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court against Google LLC for deceptive and unfair practices used to obtain users location data, which Google then exploits for its lucrative advertising business. Arizona has brought forward this action under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act to put a stop to Google's deceptive collection of user data and obtain monetary relief up to and including forcing Google to disgorge gross receipts arising from its Arizona activities. While Google users are led to believe they can opt-out of location tracking, the company exploits other avenues to invade personal privacy, said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Its nearly impossible to stop Google from tracking your movements without your knowledge or consent. This is contrary to the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and even the most innovative companies must operate within the law. Google derives the vast majority of its profit through selling advertisements and displaying them to users of Googles products and services. In 2019, over 80% of Googles revenues$135 billion out of $161 billion totalwere generated through advertising. Google collects detailed information about its users, including their physical locations, to target users for advertising in a specific geographic location. Googles collection of location data also allows the tech giant to validate the effectiveness of ads by reporting to advertisers how often online ad clicks are converted into real-world store visits. As outlined in the lawsuit filed by Arizona, Google's advertising revenues are largely driven by the company's collection of detailed data about its users, including location information, often done without the users consent or knowledge. The Arizona Attorney General's Office began its consumer fraud investigation of Google in August 2018, following an Associated Press article entitled, "Google tracks your movements, like it or not", which detailed how users are lulled into a false sense of security, believing Google provided users the ability to actually disable their Location History. Google told users that "with Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored." But as the AP article revealed, this statement was blatantly false even with Location History off, Google surreptitiously collects location information through other settings such as Web & App Activity and uses that information to sell ads. At the same time, Googles disclosures regarding Web & App Activity misled users into believing that setting had nothing to do with tracking user location. Googles account set-up disclosures made no mention of the fact that location information is collected though Web and App Activity, which is defaulted to on," until early-to mid-2018. Arizona's investigation has also revealed that Google uses deceptive and unfair practices to collect as much user information as possible and makes it exceedingly difficult for users to understand whats being done with their data, let alone opt-out. Given the lucrative nature of Google's advertising business, the company goes to great lengths to collect users' location, including through presenting users with a misleading mess of settings, some of which seemingly have nothing to do with the collection of location information. According to Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff, "Google's proprietary methods enable it to surveil, capture, expand, construct and claim behavioral" data "including data that users intentionally choose not to share." The almost 50-page complaint cites extensive testimony from Google employees given under oath and contains nearly 100 additional exhibits, including internal documents that were obtained from Google over the course of the nearly two-year investigation. The public version of the filing redacts certain information that Google has asserted is confidential; the State will be seeking to make more information public consistent with applicable court rules. The State is being represented by Brunn W. Roysden III, Oramel H. Skinner, Joseph A. Kanefield, Michael S. Catlett, and Christopher Sloot of the Arizona Attorney Generals Office; and David H. Thompson and Peter A. Patterson of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC; Guy Ruttenberg and Michael Eshaghian of Ruttenberg IP Law, APC. WASHINGTON - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed the Democratic primary challenger of a veteran House committee chairman and fellow New Yorker in her latest challenge to party leaders. Ocasio-Cortez, who in less than two years has shot from obscurity to one of Congress most recognized names and faces, announced late Wednesday that she was backing 44-year-old local educator Jamaal Bowman over Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Engel, a 73-year-old liberal, is in his 16th House term and represents a district from parts of the Bronx and Westchester, next door to Ocasio-Cortezs home base of the Bronx and Queens. Ocasio-Cortezs support for Bowman puts her in direct opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who as a party leader backs incumbents when they face primary foes. He does a great job for New York and I wish him well on his election, as I wish her well on her election, Pelosi said Thursday, asked about Ocasio-Cortezs opposition to Engel. This moment requires renewed and revitalized leadership across the country AND at the ballot box, Ocasio-Cortez, 30, tweeted as she lent her support to Bowman. Her announcement came during the second week of nationwide protests against the killing of black men by police officers and after President Donald Trumps display of physical force and taunts against the demonstrators, some of whom have been violent. She called Bowman, who is African American, a profound community leader. The solidly Democratic district represented by Engel, who is white, has mostly black and Hispanic voters. When she first entered Congress last year, Ocasio-Cortez and three other young first-term women calling themselves The Squad clashed repeatedly with Pelosi, though in recent months those battles have receded. Engel has reported raising more than $1.6 million through March, about triple Bowmans haul. Engel has been accused of spending insufficient time in his district, and Bowmans challenge is considered legitimate. Bowman claimed a fundraising bonanza this week after Engel was overheard at a news conference seeking time to address the crowd. He told the event organizer that he wouldnt care about speaking if he didnt face a primary. Engel campaign spokesman Tom Watson said the lawmaker lauded the combined skills, ethics and experience of colleagues he said have endorsed him, including Pelosi, civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and the Congressional Black Caucus. Watson explained Engels news conference remark with a prepared statement saying that running for re-election, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand. Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed two other challengers to conservative House Democrats for this years elections. Marie Newman defeated Rep. Daniel Lipinski in an Illinois district south of Chicago, but Jessica Cisneros lost to Rep. Henry Cuellar in south Texas. ___ Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman in Washington contributed to this report. A former special adviser to six secretaries of state has said it was always intended that Stormont fund the Troubles' pension scheme. Lord Caine was speaking as the stand-off continued between Downing Street and the Executive over who foots the 100m-plus bill. The Tory peer, whose time in Northern Ireland spanned from 1991 until last year when he was not reappointed, said he understood the fury of the bereaved and injured. "Victims and survivors who have campaigned for so long and with such dignity will be rightly angry and devastated by the latest setback," he said. Lord Caine stated that it was "always envisaged" that any pension scheme would be run by the Executive and financed through the "substantial" block grant it received from Westminster. In the House of Lords, government representative Viscount Younger expressed disappointment and frustration at the failure to introduce compensation payments for victims. He said that innocent people had waited too long for financial help and that Stormont "must deliver". The scheme had been due to open for applications on May 29 and victims are threatening legal action over the delay. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said that while the issue must be urgently addressed, it should not prevent Stormont nominating a lead department and progressing with award assessments. "I understand the very real resource concerns that exist at the Executive level," he said. "I agree that the British Government should make additional funds available. "But that should not stop the nomination of a lead department to take the scheme forward, the creation of a budget line to allow funds to be allocated quickly and progress on panel assessments to determine the scale of individual awards." Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie rounded on the Executive Office for its dithering. "The Executive Office still can't get their act together to even nominate a lead department," he said. "It would be fair to say that the UK Government must put [in] some financial resources as it is a UK-wide scheme. However, the Northern Ireland Executive must be prepared to pay also." Rounding on Sinn Fein, he said the party's "sheer audacity" saw it demand that London wholly fund a scheme that included many victims of an IRA it had supported. "To add insult to injury, they want those IRA perpetrators to avail of the same payment to give them equivalence with their victims," he said. "This is Sinn Fein acting for the few, not the many, to preserve their own narrative of the past." DUP Economy Minister Diane Dodds accused some parties of dragging their feet and urged them to "step up to the plate" on the issue. The Justice Department had offered to administer the pension scheme, she said. On Radio Ulster's Talkback, Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said the Northern Ireland parties had not been consulted on the legislation which had "the potential to exclude perhaps thousands of republicans and nationalists who were injured by state forces". Prime Minister Narendra Modi in talks with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Thursday focused on the importance of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations, especially during the COVID-19 period. He also called for a coordinated and collaborative approach to overcome the economic and social side effects of the pandemic. The role of our comprehensive strategic partnership will be more important in this period of the global epidemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to overcome the economic and social side effects of this epidemic, the Prime Minister said. He said that the Indian government has decided to view this crisis as an opportunity. In India, a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all areas. It will soon see results at the ground level, the Prime Minister added. He said that this global epidemic has affected every type of system in the world and the digital conversation between the two leaders is an example of similar effects. The Prime Minister pointed out that the visit of his Australian counterpart had been cancelled twice this year and urged on him to plan a family visit soon. As a friend, I urge you to plan a family visit to India soon after the situation improves and accept our hospitality, he told Morrison. I thank you (PM Modi) for your leadership not just within India but broadly throughout G20, Indo-Pacific and the stabilizing, constructive & very positive role that you have played in these very difficult times: Scott Morrison, Australia Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/rJlF6LEuwx ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020 Also Read: India witnesses highest single-day spike of 9,304 cases, total cases reach 2,16,919 and death toll at 6,075 Also Read: PM Modi praises cabinets decision to create one India, one agriculture market, says it will have positive impact on rural India I believe that this is the perfect time, the perfect opportunity to further strengthen the relations between India and Australia. We have infinite possibilities to make our friendship stronger. How our relationships become a factor of stability for our region and for the world, how we work together for global good, all these aspects need to be considered, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister pointed out that India is committed to expanding its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace. This is important not only for our two countries but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world, stressed Modi, adding further that Australia is one of Indias friends. So the criteria for the pace of development in our relations should also be ambitious, he said. The Prime Minister also expressed his heartfelt condolences to all the people and families affected by COVID-19 in Australia on behalf of the people of India. This is the first virtual summit between the two leaders. Morrison was scheduled to visit India earlier this year but his trip was cancelled due to the bushfires in Australia. The two Prime Ministers earlier had a telephonic conversation on 6th April 2020, where they discussed the ongoing COVID-19, including facilitation and support for citizens stranded in each others country. The virtual summit provides an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship, in the context of growing ties between India and Australia, and to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also Read: Cabinet approves amendment to Essential Commodities Act to create one India, one agriculture market for farmers For all the latest National News, download NewsX App A jealous boyfriend has brutally raped and bashed his latest lover only months after getting out of jail. Troy Jenkins, 41, ought never have been allowed to have offended the way he so violently did in October 2017. The brute had been tormenting women for as long as any of them were unfortunate enough to give him any attention. Troy Jenkins, 41, is the father of a teenage daughter himself. He is also a violent, woman bashing thug Troy Jenkins, 41, is a woman bashing coward who savagely raped a woman he hardly knew In 1999, a then young Jenkins grabbed a womans breasts at an Ararat nightclub - in country Victoria - and was convicted of sexual assault. He copped a fine after blaming it on a drunken night out. Ten years later he would be sentenced to jail over a shocking domestic violence incident which saw him convicted of making threats to kill, harassing a witness and reckless conduct endangering serious injury. He had also contravened an intervention order - one of many he would go onto ignore. Again the courts showed him mercy and his six month jail term was wholly suspended for a year. Jenkins ignored the chance and spent the full six months in jail. In the years that followed Jenkins became increasingly more dangerous. He was using heroin and committing assaults. In October 2010, he attacked an ex-partner and her new boyfriend, hitting the woman before fleeing. With the six months Jenkins was already serving, he would serve just two more for the ugly attack. On June 20, 2017, Jenkins was sentenced to six months in jail over yet another attack on a woman. The victim was another woman who had been in an intimate relationship with him for just a couple of months. He had fought with her about her use of social media, punching her face in before smashing her iPhone and burning her personal belongings in the kitchen sink. Again, Jenkins was served with a family violence safety notice. Again, he breached it. He was still serving a community corrections order for that attack when he met-up his last unfortunate victim. Troy Jenkins, 41, will spend the next seven years sleeping in a jail cell under 22 hours of lockdown He gained her trust dispite being hooked on ice only to go on to degrade and demean her at the whim of his paranoid obsessions. The jealous rage he could not control kicked-in immediately. Jenkins would demand her phone, call her friends and attempt to coax them into giving information about secret lovers she did not have. Sorry, I got f**ked in an alley, he texted one friend from her phone. Yeah it was a different nice guy. It was good. A week later his victim tried to kill herself and was taken to hospital. But the torment continued. Jenkins began tracking her phone and became fixated with the notion that she was sleeping with other men and would constantly accuse her of being unfaithful. At one point he snapped her phone in half. Another time he forced her to drive him to a location she honestly claimed she had been at. When no-one answered the door, Jenkins made no secret he was displeased. A day later he accused the woman of sleeping with her boss. He was sure she had and claimed to 'feel' evidence within her that did not exist. He raped her brutally in her own home, throttled and bashed her. He yelled at her, calling her a liar, a dog and a sl*t. He left the woman black, blue and naked. But he wasn't finished yet. Troy Jenkins, 41, raped, bashed and dragged his victim around by her hair (stock image) Jenkins dragged her by the hair across the bed, tearing a clump out. He threatened to cut her throat and refused to allow her to dress when he was done. 'You can sit there like the fat sl*t that you are, he told her. When he was finished he begged her for another chance and told her that he would go to a doctor to organise drug and alcohol counselling. Of course he didn't. And days later he was at it again. The woman bravely broke free, but not before he attacked her again. She went to the police and reported him that day. Later that night, Jenkins started up the text messaging. First came the apologies, then came the threats. I dont give a f**k if I get charged with assaulting you ... I obviously did it,' he wrote. Should (have) gave you more. Reluctantly, the woman allowed Jenkins back into her house. It was a mistake she would live to regret. Jenkins accused her of sleeping around, assaulted her and began calling her friends off her own phone. The woman managed to send off emergency emails to a friend and the police came to her rescue. But Jenkins continued to ignore the intervention orders. So brazen was his offending that he once threatened to kill a police officer who answered her phone and then threatened to kill her too. Founder of the National Homeless Collective Donna Stolzenberg (pictured) said services to support women trying to escape intimate partner violence are woefully inadequate. By October 27 - three months after he walked out of jail - Jenkins was back inside. He has remained there for the past 892 days. Jenkins eventually pleaded guilty to rape and a swag of assault and stalking charges. On Thursday, County Court Judge Michael O'Connell sentenced him to nine years in jail, with a non-parole period of seven years. 'Your treatment of (the victim) was absolutely appalling. It was calculated to terrorise her and it succeeded,' he said. 'You gained her trust and formed an intimate relationship with her only to go on to degrade and demean her at the whim of your paranoid obsessions.' A furious Jenkins was removed from the court before the judge could even finish telling him his non-parole period. Outside court, founder of the National Homeless Collective Donna Stolzenberg said services to support women trying to escape intimate partner violence was woefully inadequate. 'Many women are forced to stay with their abuser because there is no safe pathway out,' she said. Ms Stolzenberg said victims of domestic violence in Victoria had no effective support available to safely leave their home. 'Moving house is a stressful situation for anyone but packing up an entire house when youre badly injured and psychologically traumatised by your abuser is so daunting many women simply cannot face it. Theyre effectively trapped,' she said. Ms Stolzenberg said women trying to escape abusive relationships need to wait up to nine months for any kind of support or counselling. 'Until there is a safe and effective way for women to leave we will continue to see the rates of domestic violence related deaths rise,' she said. SEOUL, South Korea, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation ("MagnaChip" or "Company") (NYSE: MX) today announced the appointment of Camillo Martino as its new nonexecutive Chairman of the Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective June 11, 2020, immediately following MagnaChip's upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Mr. Martino succeeds Nader Tavakoli as the Company's Chairman. Mr. Tavakoli will remain a director on the Company's Board and continue to serve as a member of the Audit, Compensation and Risk Committees. Mr. Tavakoli joined MagnaChip's Board in 2009 and has served as its nonexecutive Chairman since late 2018, shortly before the Company's announcement that it would undertake a strategic review. The strategic review process was successfully completed with the Company's announcement in March 2020 of a definitive agreement to sell its Foundry business and Fab 4 to a special purpose company in South Korea established by Alchemist Capital Partners Korea Co., Ltd. and Credian Partners, Inc. for a transaction value of approximately $435 million. Following the completion of the sale, MagnaChip will be a pure-play products company focused on the attractive highgrowth opportunities in the Display and Power market segments. "It was an honor to have served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of MagnaChip," said Mr. Tavakoli. "When I assumed the role, my goal was to help unlock the significant shareholder value at the Company and position it for future success by deleveraging the balance sheet, while at the same time making it a more streamlined pure-play product company. The announced transaction is expected to close in the September-October timeframe and will fully achieve that objective. I firmly believe Camillo is the right person to be appointed as the new Chairman, allowing me to devote more of my time to new initiatives and opportunities related to the current business environment in corporate credit and restructurings." "The Board thanks Nader for his leadership as Chairman," said Mr. Martino. "I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as Chairman and look forward to working with the entire Board of Directors and the management team to transform MagnaChip into a pure-play products company to drive sustainable and profitable growth." "The Company and the management team would like to express their appreciation to Nader for his dedicated service as Chairman and for his leadership during the important strategic review process," said YJ Kim, MagnaChip's Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. "I also look forward to working with Camillo and drawing upon his vast knowledge and experience in the semiconductor industry. His decades of expertise, particularly in semiconductor products, will play a vital role as we enter an exciting new chapter." Mr. Martino has served on MagnaChip's Board since 2016 and is also currently serving on the board of directors of Sensera Limited. Mr. Martino also serves on the board of directors of several privately held companies, including VVDN Technologies, Keracel and CyberForza. Mr. Martino previously served as a director of Cypress Semiconductor until the closing of its sale to Infineon in April 2020 and was also the Chief Executive Officer and director of Silicon Image until it was acquired by Lattice Semiconductor in 2015. His semiconductor experience also includes the position of Chief Operating Officer at Zoran Corporation, and earlier in his career, he served at National Semiconductor in four different countries including Japan and China over a nearly 14-year period. Mr. Tavakoli has served as an investor, executive and advisor in complex corporate financial and operational restructurings for more than 30 years. Over the last year, Mr. Tavakoli has been engaged in senior executive and consulting roles in a number of large restructurings, including Cobalt International Energy, MF Global Inc., Sears and Toys "R" Us. Mr. Tavakoli is the Founder and CEO of EagleRock Capital Management and has recently formed Global Restructuring Advisors to assist creditors and boards of directors with the restructuring and winddown of unprofitable businesses. The following link provides additional information on each of the directors who serve on the Company's Board of Directors: http://investors.magnachip.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors. About MagnaChip Semiconductor MagnaChip is a designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platform solutions for communications, IoT, consumer, industrial and automotive applications. The Company's Standard Products Group and Foundry Services Group provide a broad range of standard products and manufacturing services to customers worldwide. MagnaChip, with more than 40 years of operating history, owns a portfolio of approximately 2,950 registered patents and pending applications, and has extensive engineering, design and manufacturing process expertise. For more information, please visit www.magnachip.com. Information on or accessible through MagnaChip's website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this release. CONTACTS: In the United States: So-Yeon Jeong Investor Relations Tel: +1.408-712-6151 [email protected] In Korea: Chankeun Park Director, Public Relations Tel. +82.2.6903.3195 [email protected] SOURCE MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation Related Links http://www.magnachip.com Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The Europe fresh food packaging market size was valued at $3,718.2 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $4,890.6 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.1% from 2019 to 2026. Food packaging helps in retardation of product deterioration, retainment of the beneficial effects of processing, helps in extension of shelf-life, and increasing and maintaining the quality and safety of food. European countries have witnessed strong demand for fresh fruits & vegetables owing to paradigm shift toward organic variant and introduction of packaging that enhances shelf life. For 2018, vegetables and fruit accounted for 14% of the total value of the European Union agricultural production. Increase in fresh food production along with favorable government norms augment the growth of the fresh fruits & vegetables market, which in turn, drives the fresh food packaging market growth in the region. Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/13253 Growth in consumption of fresh produce drives the growth of the Europe fresh food packaging market. In addition, emergence of modified atmosphere packaging has gained huge traction in the last few years. These types of packaging regulate in-pack gas atmosphere, enhancing freshness and extends shelf life for fresh food products. In addition, these types of packaging provide logistics benefits, counters anaerobic respiration, reduces microbial spoilage, and enhances texture, color, & freshness. However, environmental leakage and littering of plastics negatively impact environment, biodiversity, and bring significant socioeconomic costs. High toxic chemicals released by plastic waste poses a significant challenge. As a result, leading economies are venturing to eliminate single use plastics market in the upcoming years. The Europe fresh food packaging market is segmented based on food type, product type, material type, and country. Based on food type, the market is classified into fruits, vegetables, and salads. Based on product type, the market is studied across into flexible film, roll stock, bags, sacks, flexible paper, corrugated box, wooden boxes, tray, and clamshell. Based on material, the market is categorized into plastics, wood, paper, textile and others. The Europe fresh food packaging market is studied across Spain, UK, France, Italy, Russia, Germany, and rest of Europe. Key players profiled in the report include Sonoco Products Company, Hayssen, Inc., Smurfit Kappa Group, Visy, Ball Corporation, Mondi Group, and International Paper Company. KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERS The report provides an extensive analysis of the current and emerging market trends and opportunities in the global Europe fresh food packaging market. The report provides detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of current trends and future estimations that help evaluate the prevailing market opportunities. A comprehensive analysis of the factors that drive and restrict the growth of the market is provided. An extensive analysis of the market is conducted by following key product positioning and monitoring the top competitors within the market framework. The report provides extensive qualitative insights on the potential and niche segments or regions exhibiting favorable growth. KEY MARKET SEGMENTS Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/13253 Europe Fresh Food Packaging Market Segments By Food Type Fruits Vegetables Salad By Product Type Flexible Film Roll Stock Bags Sacks Flexible Paper Corrugated Box Wooden Boxes Tray Clamshell By Material Type Rigid o Plastic o Wood o Others Flexible o Plastic o Paper o Textile By Country Spain UK France Italy Russia Germany Rest of Europe Key Market Players of Europe Fresh Food Packaging Market Profiled in the Report Sonoco Products Company Hayssen, Inc. Smurfit Kappa Group Visy Ball Corporation Mondi Group International Paper Company. More Info of Impact Covid19@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/13253 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pledged $15-million as India's contribution to the vaccines alliance GAVI at the Global Vaccine Summit hosted by the UK. The summit, held virtually given the coronavirus pandemic lockdown around the world, was opened by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urge nations around the world to pledge funding for vaccinations to save millions of lives and protect the world from future outbreaks of infectious diseases. Addressing the summit, Prime Minister Modi said, Our support to Gavi is not only financial. India's huge demand brings down the global price of vaccines. In today's challenging context, I want to reiterate that India stands in solidarity with the world. Our proven capacity to produce quality medicines and vaccines at low cost, our own domestic experience in rapidly expanding immunisation, and our considerable scientific research talent are all at the service of humanity, he said. Modi was among around 35 heads of state and government participants, including US President Donald Trump, to virtually join the conference aimed at raising $7.4 million to immunise a further 300 million children in the world's poorest countries by 2025. 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 Modi pledged that the world can count on India's support in the critical mission of vaccination against infectious diseases, highlighting the country's role as the world's fourth-largest producer of vaccines. The Indian prime minister also pointed to the government's Mission Indradhanush, which aims to ensure full vaccination of children and pregnant women, as a sign of the importance attached to immunisation within the country. He said: We are fortunate to contribute to the immunisation of about 60 per cent of the world's children. India recognises and values the work of Gavi, which is why we became a donor to Gavi while still being eligible for Gavi's support." Gavi is not just a global alliance, it is also a symbol of global solidarity and a reminder that by helping others, we can also help ourselves, he said. The UK government said the funding raised from the summit will not only protect children from deadly diseases like polio, diphtheria and measles and save up to 8 million lives, but will also help ensure a global recovery from the coronavirus. Just as the UK is the single biggest donor to the international effort to find a coronavirus vaccine, we will remain the world's leading donor to Gavi, contributing 1.65 billion pounds over the next five years. I urge you to join us to fortify this lifesaving alliance and inaugurate a new era of global health cooperation, which I believe is now the most essential shared endeavour of our lifetimes, Johnson said in his address. The UK said that vaccinating millions of children against these other deadly diseases would help protect healthcare systems in the world's poorest countries so they can cope with rising coronavirus cases. Health experts have warned that if the virus is left to spread in developing countries, this could lead to future waves of infection reaching the UK, Downing Street said. As the world focuses on tackling coronavirus, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi have warned that the pandemic is disrupting routine immunisation, affecting approximately 80 million children under the age of one across 68 countries. The world is quite rightly focusing on responding to the invisible killer that is coronavirus. But we cannot allow this pandemic to disrupt routine immunisation in some of the world's poorest countries and cause other deadly diseases to spread across the globe, said UK International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan. We know vaccines work, which is why at today's summit we need others to step up and pledge funds to Gavi, so it can continue to save the lives of millions of children and protect everyone from infectious diseases, she said. Gavi is addressing the immediate needs triggered by coronavirus, including providing essential medical supplies and helping to increase testing and surveillance of the disease. As part of the global effort to find a coronavirus vaccine, the UK is also the single largest donor of any country to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations' (CEPI) urgent appeal. If a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine is developed, Gavi will have a role in its delivery around the world. Global access will ensure a collective international recovery and reduce the risk of future waves of infection. Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said: Over the past two decades we have witnessed incredible progress boosting vaccine coverage in the world's poorest countries: more children in more countries are now protected against more diseases than at any point in history. However, these historic advances in global health are now at risk of unravelling as COVID-19 causes unprecedented disruption to vaccine programmes worldwide. We face the very real prospect of a global resurgence of diseases like measles, polio and yellow fever, which would put us all at risk. That's why the Global Vaccine Summit is so important, bringing together leaders from around the world led by the UK to build global health security and keep us all safe from further outbreaks, Berkley said. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold India-Australia Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday to focus on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations. Dates for the visit of Prime Minister of Australia to India this year had been finalised, but the visit could not take place. It was also agreed to hold a Virtual Summit. This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a Bilateral Virtual Summit, this signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. The focus would be on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations during discussions between the two Prime Ministers, who have already met on four occasions on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, sources said. The virtual summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship in the context of their growing ties. It will also be an opportunity to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of MoUs and announcements are being discussed by the officials, they added. Modi and Morrison have met four times during the last one and a half years -- on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore in November 2018, on the sidelines of G20 in Osaka in June 2019, on the margins of G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019 and on the margins of East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019. India and Australia have very warm and friendly relations. The two nations have much in common, underpinned by shared values of pluralistic, Westminster-style democracies, Commonwealth traditions, the long-standing people-to-people ties and sporting links. Our economies have many complementarities with the potential to enhance bilateral trade and investment, sources said. The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was strengthened in 2014 - with the visit of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India in September 2014, and the visit of PM Modi to Australia in November 2014. Framework for Security Cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of PM Modi to Australia laid the foundation for intensified foreign, defence and security policy exchanges between the two countries. Since then, regular meetings of the institutional dialogues have been taking place, MEA said. High-level interactions have also continued. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, visited India in April 2017; the Governor-General of Australia visited India in March 2018 to attend the founding Summit of the International Solar Alliance and Rashtrapatiji made a historic visit to Australia in November 2018, MEA said. Due to a better understanding of Indias strength and future role, Australia, in its White Paper on Foreign Policy-2017, recognised India as the pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries and a front-rank partner of Australia. During the last five years, bilateral relations between both countries have strengthened and expanded tremendously. Framework for security cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of Modi to Australia laid an action plan on foreign, defence and security policy exchanges and coordination, sources noted. Several new initiatives and bilateral/trilateral mechanisms such as Foreign Secretaries and Defence Secretaries 2+2 Dialogue, India-Australia-Indonesia Trilateral Dialogue, India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue have been established since then. These new platforms have provided greater momentum to strengthen our strategic cooperation, they added. Moreover, economic engagement has been growing. In 2018-19, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion. Australias cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas Indias total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion, MEA added. Australia has been supportive of Indias position on cross-border terrorism and on asking Pakistan to take meaningful action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. Australia also co-sponsored UNSC resolution to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist, sources said. Australia values Indias diversity and inclusiveness and has held the view that recent developments with regard to Jammu and Kashmir are Indias internal matters, they added. There is a 700,000 strong Indian diaspora in Australia. There are about 1,06,000 students studying in Australia. Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 1,560 Indian nationals and five OCI cardholders were evacuated from Australia in seven flights in the second phase of the initiative in May this year. The Virtual Summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship, in the context of growing ties between India and Australia, and to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, MEA said. (ANI) Plow & Hearth will reopen this week. The store at the Shoppes at Susquehanna Marketplace at 2553 Brindle Drive in Susquehanna Township will reopen. "We will be opening Friday, June 5, " a sign at the store said. The store has been closed since March when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered that all non-essential stores in Pennsylvania to close. Retail stores in Dauphin County were permitted to reopen when the county moved into the yellow phase on Friday. The store sells indoor and outdoor decor and other items. --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 CLEVELAND, Ohio Federal agents are investigating after a 19-year-old man was arrested in downtown Cleveland with an incendiary device inside his car the day after violent protests turned to riots. Cleveland police arrested him Sunday in downtown Cleveland after he drove into the area, which was under curfew and blocked off by police. Formal charges have not been filed against the man, who has since been released from the Cuyahoga County Jail. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are now investigating the incident, ATF spokeswoman Suzanne Dabowski said. The man, who gave his address as in Beachwood, was driving a car with Texas license plates. He had a bottle of nail polish remover with a wick hanging out inside his car, according to police reports. A lighter was found next to the bottle in the car. The arrest came the day after Cleveland police and protesters clashed outside the Justice Center during what started out as a peaceful protest over Floyds death. Between 3,000 and 4,000 protesters descended on the downtown area. Police used tear gas, pepper-spray, tear gas and rubber bullets during the hours long incident outside the Justice Center. Hundreds of protesters made their way further into downtown, where dozens of businesses and buildings were damaged, some heavily. Some businesses were looted. Police arrested 99 people on Saturday and have made dozens of other arrests for curfew violations since. Officers noted in police reports that he fled from police earlier in the day, but the report does not say where that happened. Later in the day, the man drove in circles around a small group of protesters that gathered near the West Side Market in Ohio City. Police followed the car as the man drove east on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. He turned around on the highway and started driving the wrong way down the East Ninth Street on-ramp, an area blocked off because of the curfew imposed the night before. The man stopped his car near St. Clair Avenue, according to police. Officers found the nail polish remover and another man, who was not arrested, inside the car. The other man said his friend was doing stupid stuff and driving erratically. The man was released to his father at the Fifth District police station. The man was seen about four hours earlier at the Family Dollar on Pearl Road with three others. The group bought nail polish remover, WD-40, two bottles of wine and candy, the source said. Read more from cleveland.com: Cleveland police gave order for George Floyd protesters to disperse; legal observers, witnesses said no one heard it Protesters and Cleveland officers kneel, pray together during George Floyd demonstration at police station Cuyahoga County Sheriff says department was unprepared for scale of protests that turned into riots in downtown Cleveland Oh, how I have missed browsing. Looking at clothes online is OK, but nothing beats the thrill of being in a real shop, casting your eye around like the hunter-gatherers we all are deep down, looking for the best berries on the savannah. Or in my case, a summer dress and a pair of khaki shorts. So, with clothes shops set to reopen on June 15, I asked for a sneak peek at the new normal. Would one-way systems make browsing impossible? Would I be allowed to feel the fabric to test quality? Would there be any shorts big enough to accommodate my lockdown waistline? At Marks & Spencer in Gillingham, Kent, I was offered an exclusive look at the changes. The store has kept its food hall open and offered a few basic clothing items during lockdown, but its whole upper floor has been shuttered for the duration. Now, it is being transformed into a safe place to shop post-corona. I walk past a woman in a plastic visor and feast my eyes on rails of clothes. Summer togs are in evidence, and while some products are marked down by up to 70 per cent, M&S says there are no more sale items than usual for the time of year. At Marks & Spencer in Gillingham, Kent, Maggie Alderson was offered an exclusive look at the changes Im glad. After being deprived of a favourite pastime for so long, I dont want to be greeted by a sea of scruffy sale rails. Arrows on the ground keep me walking in the right direction, with red -and-white tape lines at two- metre intervals. But numbers will be limited by a new queuing system, M&S says, so there shouldnt be any pile-ups. All in all, its far less stressful than a supermarket shop. I always wear a mask for those missions, and while I started out with one on my clothes shop, I soon took it off. It didnt seem necessary with so much space. Drawbacks? Well, changing rooms wont be opening yet, and you will have to get used to shopping alone (unless you are assisting someone who needs help). But there are moments such as the joy of spotting some bright yellow pyjamas when it feels like old times. Sussex boutique Fleurie Gallery is taking only booked appointments. Owner Victoria Johnson shifted everything online a week before the official lockdown because her customers had already stopped coming in My arrival at the till offers a stark reminder of the new normal. Theres a thick window of Perspex between me and the assistant, who is also wearing a plastic visor though I can just about tell shes smiling through it. Next, to get a sense of how independent shops will cope, I head for Fleurie Gallery, a boutique in Lewes, East Sussex. Owner Victoria Johnson shifted everything online a week before the official lockdown because her customers had already stopped coming in. At John Lewis (pictured), which provided exclusive photographs of its new signage and is limiting numbers using the lift to one customer or family at a time Now she is preparing to re-open, and plans to solve the issue of queues in her small retail space by allowing just one customer in at a time, by prior appointment (via her Instagram account @fleurie_lewes). She will be open from 6am till 10am only, then head home to home-school her two sons. Spending time in the beautifully styled space was a reminder of how delicious the retail experience can be. Its proof theres no one-size-fits-all answer to making the new rules work. When Femail contacted them, stores offered a host of different solutions. At John Lewis, which provided exclusive photographs of its new signage, only a quarter of branches will open at first. Only certain entrances will be open, at which hosts will welcome shoppers. Only certain entrances will be open at John Lewis (pictured), at which hosts will welcome shoppers Upmarket chain Reiss plans to reduce opening hours, allowing staff to travel safely at quiet times. Mango will offer customers sanitising gel and gloves. At River Island, anything you try will be quarantined for 72 hours. As for me, when June 15 rolls around, I will be making an appointment to be one of the first in Fleurie Gallery, and heading along to all my favourite High-Street spots. I really need new clothes after all none of my old ones fit me. Additional reporting: Amy Kester By PTI NEW DELHI: As the operation of Shramik Specials move towards culmination, Railways' data showed that of the 4,040 trains run till Sunday, 256 were cancelled by state governments, with Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh being the top defaulters. Maharashtra cancelled 105 trains since May 1, and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has been very vocal about the trains the state demanded but did not use. Gujarat, from where the maximum number of trains originated, defaulted on 47 occasions, followed by Karnataka (38) and Uttar Pradesh (30), the data showed. Officials indicated that most trains were cancelled due to a lack of coordination between the originating and the terminating state. "We cannot run the trains without proper protocol. There were cases where the originating states did not provide us the list of passengers ready to board the trains so it had to be cancelled. The cancellations were primarily due to the lack of coordination between the two states," an official said. The Ministry of Home Affairs amended the protocol for Shramik trains in mid-May, removing the need for consent from terminating states for these services. This cut out the possibility of any state not accepting the trains. Gujarat, which cancelled the maximum trains after Maharashtra, also ran the maximum 1,026 migrant special trains, ferrying more than 15 lakh migrant workers to their home states. At least 77 per cent of the total 15.18 lakh migrant workers were sent to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and remaining to West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The Maharashtra government facilitated the movement of 802 trains, second only to Gujarat, with 423 trains bound for Uttar Pradesh and 193 for Bihar. Of the 227 trains originating from Karnataka, 70 went to Bihar and 57 to UP. Of the 294 trains originating from UP, 138 ran within the state while 129 went to Bihar. Other states that cancelled the Shramik trains included Delhi (7), Telangana (9), Andhra Pradesh (6), Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (4 each), Rajasthan (2) and Goa, Haryana, Kerala and Uttarakhand (1 each). As on Wednesday, the Railways has run 4,197 Shramik trains. While 81 trains are in transit, 4,116 have reached their destinations. Only 10 more Shramik trains are in the pipeline. The Shramik trains are being operated primarily on the request of states that want to send migrant workers, stranded due to the coronavirus lockdown, home. While the Railways is bearing 85 per cent of the total cost of running each train, the rest is being borne by states in the form of fares. The lockdown has had a devastating impact on the economy as well as on the livelihoods of lakhs of migrant workers. The plight of migrant workers, who had started walking from several urban centres to their villages hundreds of kilometres away, had grabbed headlines for almost two months. Many of them were killed in road accidents. In one incident, a number of migrant labourers were run over by a train after they fell asleep on the tracks due to exhaustion. The Railways also said that nearly 80 per cent of 'Shramik Special' trains were destined for various destinations in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Officials said there were requests for 321 more trains according to the demands sent by states by May 30. The Railways will run them in a staggered manner depending on the requirement of the states, officials said. A decision on the discontinuation of these trains will be taken soon. The Railways is to run 30 Shramik trains on Wednesday, officials said. 'Dates for the visit of Prime Minister of Australia to India this year had been finalised, but the visit could not take place. It was also agreed to hold a 'Virtual Summit'. This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a 'Bilateral Virtual Summit', this signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory,' Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold India-Australia Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday to focus on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations. "Dates for the visit of Prime Minister of Australia to India this year had been finalised, but the visit could not take place. It was also agreed to hold a 'Virtual Summit'. This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a "Bilateral Virtual Summit", this signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. "The focus would be on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations during discussions between the two Prime Ministers, who have already met on four occasions on the sidelines of multilateral meetings," sources said. "The virtual summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship in the context of their growing ties. It will also be an opportunity to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of MoUs and announcements are being discussed by the officials," they added. Modi and Morrison have met four times during the last one and a half years on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore in November 2018, on the sidelines of G20 in Osaka in June 2019, on the margins of G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019 and on the margins of East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019. "India and Australia have very warm and friendly relations. The two nations have much in common, underpinned by shared values of pluralistic, Westminster-style democracies, Commonwealth traditions, the long-standing people-to-people ties and sporting links. Our economies have many complementarities with the potential to enhance bilateral trade and investment," sources said. The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was strengthened in 2014 with the visit of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India in September 2014, and the visit of Modi to Australia in November 2014. Framework for Security Cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of PM Modi to Australia laid the foundation for intensified foreign, defence and security policy exchanges between the two countries. Since then, regular meetings of the institutional dialogues have been taking place, MEA said. High-level interactions have also continued. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, visited India in April 2017; the Governor-General of Australia visited India in March 2018 to attend the founding Summit of the International Solar Alliance and Rashtrapatiji made a historic visit to Australia in November 2018, MEA said. Due to a better understanding of India's strength and future role, Australia, in its White Paper on Foreign Policy-2017, recognised India as the "pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries" and a "front-rank partner of Australia". During the last five years, bilateral relations between both countries have strengthened and expanded tremendously. Framework for security cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of Modi to Australia laid an action plan on foreign, defence and security policy exchanges and coordination, sources noted. "Several new initiatives and bilateral/trilateral mechanisms such as Foreign Secretaries and Defence Secretaries 2+2 Dialogue, India-Australia-Indonesia Trilateral Dialogue, India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue have been established since then. These new platforms have provided greater momentum to strengthen our strategic cooperation," they added. Moreover, economic engagement has been growing. In 2018-19, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion. Australia's cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas India's total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion, MEA added. Australia has been supportive of India's position on cross-border terrorism and on asking Pakistan to take meaningful action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. Australia also co-sponsored UNSC resolution to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist, sources said. "Australia values India's diversity and inclusiveness and has held the view that recent developments with regard to Jammu and Kashmir are India's internal matters," they added. There is a 700,000 strong Indian diaspora in Australia. There are about 1,06,000 students studying in Australia. Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 1,560 Indian nationals and five OCI cardholders were evacuated from Australia in seven flights in the second phase of the initiative in May this year. The Virtual Summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship, in the context of growing ties between India and Australia, and to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, MEA said. WASHINGTON - Its the time of the year when Supreme Court justices can get testy. They might have to find a new way to show it. The courts most fought-over decisions in its most consequential cases often come in June, with dueling majority and dissenting opinions. But when a justice is truly steamed to be on a decisions losing side, the strongest form of protest is reading a summary of the dissent aloud in court. Dissenting justices exercise what a pair of scholars call the nuclear option just a handful of times a year, but when they do, they signal that behind the scenes, theres frustration and even anger. The coronavirus pandemic has kept the justices from their courtroom since March and forced them to change their ways in many respects. Now, in their season of weighty decisions, instead of the drama that can accompany the announcement of a majority decision and its biting dissent, the courts opinions are being posted online without an opportunity for the justices to be heard. University of Maryland, Baltimore County political science professor William Blake, who co-authored the article calling oral dissents the nuclear option, says a June without them would be a missed opportunity. They are a chance to see the justices as exhibiting emotions, not just the logic of their opinions, he said. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said that an oral dissent garners immediate attention. It signals that, in the dissenters view, the courts opinion is not just wrong, but grievously misguided, she has said. The act of reading can also be a signal to Congress. In a 2007 dissent Ginsburg read from the bench, she called on lawmakers to overturn her colleagues decision in a case about equal pay for women. Congress did, passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Ginsburgs oral dissent underscored her belief that urgent action was needed, even if it wasnt the only reason lawmakers acted. University of Minnesota professor Timothy Johnson, who has written about oral dissents, says justices also reach the public through them. If you can have a vociferous enough dissent from the bench youre going to get the nightly news to talk about it, he said. The court, which heard arguments in 10 cases by phone last month, hasnt said what would happen this year if a justice wants to note that they would have read a dissent aloud or if theres a way they might still do so. But there are several cases remaining to be decided where a dissent from the bench might have happened in normal times. Decisions that divide the court 5-4 are more likely to generate the passion that prompts a dissenting justice to speak up, research shows. This year, unresolved cases about gay and transgender rights, President Donald Trumps decision to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program and restrictions on abortion in Louisiana might have produced dissents read aloud. Dissents from the bench in contentious cases go back to the 1940s. In 1973, Justice Byron White read aloud a dissent in Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights case. A 1978 case invalidating a University of California affirmative action program resulted in four concurring and dissenting statements from the bench. And in 2006, justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas read dissents when the court rejected a Bush administration plan to try Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees before military commissions. In the last decade, justices have read an average of between four and five dissents a year, according to a list maintained by Supreme Court librarian Jill Duffy and the Federal Judicial Centers Elizabeth Lambert. The most recent year they found no oral dissents was 1984. Oklahoma State University professor Eve Ringsmuth, who plays recordings of both opinion announcements and oral dissents for students in her undergraduate courts class, says theyre a valuable resource because theyre often more easily understood than the actual decision. Students frequently remark, Wow, that was so clearly explained, she said. Justices spiciest spoken words are usually in their written dissents, but occasionally what they say in their oral summary is memorable. Dissenting from the bench in a 2007 case that invalidated school desegregation efforts, Justice Stephen Breyer criticized his colleagues, saying it is not often in the law that so few have so quickly changed so much. That line didnt appear in his written opinion, but it captured Breyers sour mood at the end of a term in which he was often in dissent and the two newest justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, were in the majority. Over the last decade, Breyer and Ginsburg have been the most prolific oral dissenters, reading about a dozen times each. Alito and Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor have each read three or four times in that time while Thomas has only read twice since joining the court in 1991. Roberts lone oral dissent came in 2015 when the court ruled that gay couples have a right to marry nationwide. His decision to read aloud may have kept Scalia from reading from his own more fiery opinion. The courts newest members, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, have yet to read a dissent aloud. Arkansas State University professor Hans Hacker, Blakes co-author, calls dissents from the bench a piece of how the Supreme Court interacts with the public. But, he said:, that tool doesnt seem to be available at the moment. One of the four former Minneapolis officers charged in George Floyds death tried to warn his fellow officers during the arrest, his attorney claimed in court Thursday. J. Alexander Kueng hadnt yet completed his third full shift as a police officer when the deadly arrest occurred, his attorney Tom Plunkett claimed. Plunkett says Kueng allegedly told his fellow officers as they were detaining Floyd, You shouldnt do that." Kueng was in court on Thursday along with former officers Tou Thao and Thomas Lane after being charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting murder, as well as aiding and abetting manslaughter, in the case. A fourth officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged with second-degree murder after video showed Chauvin placed his knee on Floyds neck for more than eight minutes while detaining him on May 25. Thomas Kiernan Lane, Alexander Kueng, and Tou Nmn Thao. (Hennepin County Sheriff) Lane was also new to the job, only on the force for four days when the incident occurred, his attorney Earl Gray claimed. His lawyer said that Lane twice asked Chauvin, a training officer, Shall we roll him over? He also expressed concern that Floyd may be in delirium. What is my client supposed to do other than follow what the training officer said? Gray said in court. A judge ordered Kueng, Lane and Thao each an unconditional bail of $1 million compounded with $750,000 of conditional bail. No pleas were entered. All four of the former officers face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to the criminal complaints. Multiple videos have been released on Floyds arrest, with one showing him pinned down by three different officers near a patrol car while a fourth stands near his head. "Please, please, please, I can't breathe," Floyd begged in one video caught by a bystander. "My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Please, please. I can't breathe." Lane and Kueng were the first officers to arrive at the scene that night, as they investigated a report that a possible counterfeit $20 bill had been passed at the Cup Foods grocery store, according to the complaint against Chauvin. When Lane found Floyd parked nearby, the officer pulled his gun, had Floyd get out of his car and handcuffed him, the complaint said. Story continues A cuffed Floyd was eventually put face-down on the pavement with Kueng holding down his back and Lane pressing down his legs, the charging document against Chauvin said. While a distressed Floyd said I cant breathe, Mama and please several times, Lane asked, Should we roll him on his side? No, staying put where we got him, Chauvin responded, according to the complaint. I am worried about excited delirium or whatever, Lane allegedly said. Thats why we have him on his stomach, Chauvin responded, according to the complaint. The official autopsy from the Hennepin County medical examiner listed Floyd's cause of death as a "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression." The medical examiner ruled that Floyd's death was a homicide, but added that he had "significant" underlying conditions, including hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use. But an examination funded by Floyds family reached a somewhat different conclusion. It found that police officers' pressing on his neck and body cut blood and air flow to his brain, causing him to die by mechanical asphyxia, pathologists hired by the family said. Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter last week, but Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison elevated the prosecutorial case by adding a second-degree murder charge on Wednesday. Ellison said his team will assert that Chauvin committed a felony assault which unintentionally resulted in Floyd's death, which fits the requirements for second-degree murder. New Delhi, June 4 : As the World Health Organisation announced the resumption of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine in the solidarity trail for the treatment of COVID 19 disease, experts across the country hailed the decision by the world health body in one voice. Speaking to IANS, Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr Shekhar C. Mande said the decision is welcome. "I am pleased to note that the WHO has resumed the trial of hydroxychloroquine again. The Lancet paper based on which the trial was temporarily suspended, was not on sound ground. Therefore WHO's decision is welcome. I firmly believe that the WHO's decision was taken in haste. It was a kind of kneejerk reaction. They should have analysed the data on their own before temporarily suspending trials." Similarly Dr Arvind Kumar, founder trustee of the Lung Care Foundation told IANS that it was shocking to learn about the suspension of the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) drug from the solidarity trial of WHO for the COVID 19 disease. "The study published in Lancet has a lot of flaws and that study cannot be the basis of changing the approach of the WHO as was done. I would not accept the finding of a study where even the source of the hospitals is not known. When they were asked about the source of data they had said everything was anonymous. How can you believe a data where even the source of the hospitals or the background of the data cannot be verified? Therefore in summary the study on the basis of which this action was taken by WHO is a flawed study. I would not accept it and I would continue with the trial that WHO was doing," said Kumar. Dr Kumar also said that the study published in a journal like Lancet was almost a shock for him. "I am actually shocked that a journal like Lancet published the study at the level of editor. Generally there is a three month review period. But this whole thing was published in a fast track way. I am shocked at the authors and journal's approach. Also WHO accepted it without having it verified by their experts. It is only when 100 scientists across the country raised their voice and objections and wrote to the editor, only then this entire episode came out in the open." However the General Secretary of the Indian Medical Association Dr R.V. Asokan said that the WHO is an advisory body and solidarity trials are dynamic. "We in India never stopped using hydroxychloroquine. In fact we had recommended HCQ to all the healthcare workers. The ICMR had recommended it to only limited people and the healthcare workers who are exposed to COVID. There was a strong recommendation from us along with 19 other organisations." Dr Asokan also said that because there are many papers on medical science from all over the world therefore the WHO keeps evaluating and modifying its guidelines. "In medical science papers come from all over the world. The WHO is a technical body, advisory in nature to the governments of the world. WHO is saying something today, but in a year or so it will review its decision as some more evidence comes. Therefore it should be taken in this spirit only. HCQ is a drug that is used in India for a very long time under the supervision of professional medical practitioners. Every drug has side effects. It is for the medical practitioner to monitor that specially, if it is given as prophylaxis. ICMR has cleared it for prevention while the WHO trial is for therapeutic," he added. The World Health Organisation on Wednesday had said that hydroxychloroquine will return to the solidarity trial for the potential treatment of coronavirus disease. At a press conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "On the basis of the available mortality data, the members of the committee recommended that there are no reasons to modify the trial protocol. The Executive Group received this recommendation and endorsed continuation of all arms of the solidarity trial, including hydroxychloroquine." The world health body had temporarily suspended the usage of HCQ from the solidarity trial for coronavirus treatment on May 25 soon after a study published in one of the most prominent medical journals - Lancet - which had suggested that the drug could cause more fatalities among Covid-19 patients. However, the WHO chief had said that the decision was taken as a precaution while the safety data was reviewed. Soon after HCQ was suspended from the trial, the Indian government had said that the antimalarial drug has been known for its benefits for a very long time and its usage will be continued for the frontline workers including police and healthcare professionals as prophylaxis. The government had also said that studies were being conducted and the drug would be included in the clinical trial also for the treatment of coronavirus disease. US President Donald Trump had also strongly advocated the use of HCQ and called it a "gamechanger". He went to the extent of saying that he had himself taken the medicine. According to the WHO, so far, more than 3,500 patients have been recruited in 35 countries for the trial. (Sfoorti Mishra can be contacted on sfoorti.m@ians.in) Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- Syndicated from IANS RIO DE JANEIRO - In Brazil, when support for the president ends, the attacks begin. When the anticorruption-crusading justice minister quit this year, criticizing President Jair Bolsonaro on his way out, a tsunami of invective washed over social media, calling him a communist, a traitor, a crook. When the social distance-championing health minister contradicted Bolsonaro on coronavirus containment, claims that he was corrupt went viral. When the congressional president condemned Bolsonaro's dismissal of the pandemic, a barrage of hashtags labeled him the enemy of Brazil. It has long been a fact of political life here that virtually anyone who criticizes Bolsonaro - from the powerful to everyday journalists - draws overwhelming and coordinated digital smears. What's not known is who has been behind the violent and bigoted imagery, the fabricated correspondence, the outright lies. But now investigators and prominent politicians are charging that some, if not much, of the disinformation is being generated not in the internet's nether reaches, but by those closest to Bolsonaro - friendly bloggers, wealthy businessmen, close aides and even his own children. Critics have called it the "office of hate." "This is the major machinery of the government," said Julie Ricard, a researcher at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative who has studied disinformation in Brazil. "It's creating a lot of tension because the potential consequences are expected to be big. Bolsonaro and his whole team are aware of it." Bolsonaro and his sons have denied the allegations, which they say are politically motivated. But the possibility that Bolsonaro's closest allies and family members are helming the digital smear campaigns has further roiled the country at a time of a devastating coronavirus outbreak, widespread unemployment and deep political mistrust. Brazilian police last week searched the homes of Bolsonaro allies as part of its investigation of fake news, prompting a threatening outburst by the president. "I repeat, we will not have another day like yesterday," he said after the raids. "Enough! We have reached our limit. I have the weapons of democracy in my hands." As investigators bear down on Bolsonaro and his allies, Brazilians fear a constitutional crisis. The judicial branch of government has authorized an investigation of whether Bolonsaro improperly manipulated the federal police. The president has said he won't comply with "absurd" legislative orders that would "plunge Brazil into a political crisis." His son Eduardo, who has been accused of spreading fake news, took the rhetoric further. The federal senator, who has wondered publicly whether the military will need to take over the country, warned of a "rupture" and a "broader conflict." "It is no longer a question of if," he said, "but a question of when it will occur." Disinformation is a global scourge, having precipitated violence and swayed elections. Now Brazil is tussling over some of its most fundamental questions: how to stop it, and how to hold those responsible to account. After fake news, much of it in support of Bolsonaro, swamped the 2018 presidential election, the national congress convened a panel of 15 senators and 15 representatives to determine how it was influencing the public debate. The goal, federal senator Angelo Coronel said, was to "discover the flash points in the industry of fake news that is shaking Brazilian democracy." Among the witnesses called to testify was a conservative congressional representative named Joice Hasselmann. She was once one of Bolsonaro's closest allies, leading his former political party in congress, but the pair had a bitter split. Soon after the rupture, she started seeing distorted images of herself all over the internet. Claims that she was corrupt, that she was a prostitute and "everything else you could imagine" were everywhere. "It was my body disfigured," she said. "There were montages where my face on the body of a pig surrounded by men in pornographic postures. "My son asked, 'Mom, why are they doing this?' " She used her connections on the right to infiltrate WhatsApp groups to find out who was behind the attacks, and took what she said she'd learned to lawmakers in December. She said Bolsonaro's sons were involved in a "criminal organization" bent on destroying people they considered "traitors" with disinformation. "This doesn't happen anywhere in the world," Hasselmann told The Washington Post. "If you weren't strong, you'd shoot yourself in the head. . . . This isn't to punish or penalize you. This is to kill you morally." The severity of the allegations - coupled with Bolsonaro's aggressive posturing - is ratcheting up political tensions as the investigation draws near its conclusion. The president's supporters are massing in the streets each week to call on him to lead a military takeover. Bolsonaro last weekend flew over them in a military helicopter, then mounted a police horse and rode out to greet them. Afterward, one of the members of the supreme court reportedly fretted that Bolsonaro wants to take Brazil where Hitler took Germany. The investigations have done little to stop the spread of false information. If anything, since the arrival of the coronavirus, it has increased - much of it in support of Bolsonaro's controversial opinions on the pandemic. Brazil has reported more than 555,000 cases, second only to the United States, and more than 31,000 deaths. Both figures are widely believed to be undercounts. Bolsonaro has repeatedly minimized the disease. He's on his third health minister since the virus hit Brazil, after the first two wouldn't acquiesce to his demands to treat patients with the anti-malarial drug chloroquine, an unproven remedy that has dangerous side effects. Now conspiracies are rampant that the pandemic is being exaggerated to make Bolsonaro look bad. That governors who've imposed containment measures are communists. That chloroquine is a miracle cure. "We are in the middle of a pandemic," said Marcelo Ribeiro Freixo, a leftist politician and frequent critic of Bolsonaro. "But Bolsonaro isn't talking about that. He isn't talking about the deaths. If he didn't have fake news on social media, he wouldn't survive. He would be defeated." - - - Heloisa Traiano contributed to this report. Leader Circle size is proportional to the amount each countys leading candidate is ahead. Kolkata, June 4 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) member of the Lok Sabha Kalyan Banerjee went into home quarantine on Thursday after one of his security personnel tested Covid-19 positive on Wednesday. The security person was admitted to the Bangur Hospital. "Around 12 members of my household, including me, have chosen to go for home quarantine. There is no Covid-19 symptom in any of us. Our swab samples have been collected for the test," Banerjee said. The advocate-turned TMC leader said a section of West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party supporters spread the rumour that he had tested Covid-19 positive. "They should know that my security person tested Covid-19 positive. I have no coronavirus symptoms. The test reports are yet to come," he said. Earlier, West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose tested Covid-19 positive. He has also gone into home quarantine along with wife and domestic help, who tested Covid-19 positive. Bose, TMC MLA Bidhannagar constituency, said his domestic help tested positive and they must have got infected by the help only. KALAMAZOO, MI -- High school students in Kalamazoo will host their own protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd. The Youth PEACEFUL Protest for BLM will begin at noon Friday, June 5, in Bronson Park. The event was organized by a group of students from Kalamazoo Central High School. The students plan to walk on sidewalks through downtown Kalamazoo in support of Floyd and the movement against police brutality. A map of the planned route is available on the event page. Protests across the nation were sparked by the death of Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after being restrained by a white police officer. All four officers involved in the incident have been charged, including the officer who knelt on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes after putting him in handcuffs. Cristiana Worthams, one of the event organizers, said the students were motivated to plan a protest to speak up for their generation. We decided to get together because we thought if we dont speak out, then no one will, Worthams, said. Our generation is going to lead the future. If we dont stand up and speak, then nothing will happen, nothing will change. The students are working with local nonprofit Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative and sought help from city commissioners and Mayor David Anderson to plan the event, said Worthams, 14, a freshman at Kalamazoo Central. Worthams, who described herself as mixed with a black father and white mother, said she has been too afraid in the past to speak up for fear she would be judged. But she said she wants to stop worrying about her family members. Police need to see beyond the color of peoples skin and treat them as an actual individual, Worthams said. Peaceful protests occurred in Kalamazoo over the weekend and during the day Monday but were followed by overnight vandalism that police said was caused by outside agitators. People also gathered to protest Tuesday but were forced to leave by police using tear gas because of a 7 p.m. curfew imposed by city officials that has since been lifted. The curfew was canceled Wednesday afternoon and there were no reports of unrest Wednesday night. The student-led protest comes two days after the new superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools, Rita Raichoudhuri, announced the creation of an equity task force and voiced support for protesters. George Floyds death adds to our shameful history of racial abuse, discrimination, and violence toward our fellow citizens and communities, Raichoudhuri said in a letter to the community. It continues to claw at the very fabric that holds us together: humanity. The recent loss of other Black lives Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor exemplifies the racist acts and aggression in this nation. Related: New Kalamazoo school superintendent creates equity task force, voices support for protesters Participants must wear a mask to walk in the march and are encouraged to wear neutral colors, specifically black or gray, event organizers said. Also happening Friday are two White Coats 4 Black Lives vigils in Kalamazoo, which are associated with a national advocacy group of health care professionals addressing racism as a public health concern. A group of 100 employees from the Family Health Center will kneel for 8 minutes and 46 seconds beginning at 2:40 p.m. at the Paterson campus, 117 Paterson St., according to a press release from the Family Health Center. FHC hopes this vigil sends a message to the community of its support for those whose lives have been impacted, often tragically, by racial injustice, and to send a message that racial inequity has no place in health care or in any corner of our society, the press release said. The Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine is also participating in a vigil. Attendees will kneel for 10 minutes beginning at 1 p.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church, 120 Roberson St. Also on MLive: Kalamazoo protesters urge police to join them, are tear-gassed after curfew Gov. Whitmer announces plans for police reform as protests continue My heart was wrenched with pain, assistant chief says of ordering tear gas on protesters As Albuquerque emerges from a COVID-19 shutdown, its transportation landscape will look a little different. Zagster, the first and only company to launch an e-scooter program in New Mexicos largest city, has decided to cease the operations, according to a city spokeswoman. The Boston-based company had suspended Albuquerque service in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, during which its one-year pilot program with the city had ended. Zagster told the city that it did not plan to stay in the market. We had a discussion with Zagster (in April) in which they told us that Spin was not coming back to Albuquerque, city Planning Department spokeswoman Maia Rodriguez said. Prior to that we were under the impression that the suspension was temporary. Zagster has also ended its Albuquerque area bike-share program, the Rio Metro Transit District announced this week. It has also discontinued bike-share programs in many other communities throughout the U.S. Multiple Journal attempts to reach a Zagster representative were unsuccessful. No other vendors have city approval to rent e-scooters in Albuquerque, though Rodriguez said the city is interested in new partnerships. We were pleased with what we saw of the program and thought it was a success, she said in an email. Zagster launched its Albuquerque service in May of 2019 with 250 Spin-branded, orange vehicles. That fleet generated more than 20,000 trips in the first month. The company expanded its fleet to 750, placing vehicles not only in Downtown and Nob Hill but also areas like Uptown and the Northeast Heights. Ridership fell after last summer, and the company shrunk its fleet in the winter. But it was planning to grow again when the pandemic hit. The Albuquerque fleet will be scaled up over the next two months as we come out of the winter riding season, the company wrote in its January ridership report to the city. Through the interminable weeks of the lockdown, Bicester Village has been like a retail Brigadoon. Back in the days of what used to be normal life, its thoroughfares teemed and thrummed with life. Tills rang and changing room curtains swooshed as visitors scooped up armfuls of bargains, bargains, bargains. Now, there is only silence and empty streets. The good old days: Back in the days of what used to be normal life, its thoroughfares teemed and thrummed with life But the world-famous outlet shopping centre is preparing to spring back into life on June 15 when 'non-essential retailers' devotees of designer labels might beg to differ over that description are allowed to open up again. When it does, there will be new mega-brands on sale including Christian Louboutin, whose red-soled stilettos shot to fame on the feet of Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City, and Etro, the luxury Italian label known for its paisley prints. Other new signings agreed during lockdown include Roland Mouret and Prada. It's news to cheer any cash-conscious fashionista's heart after weeks of retail deprivation. But can we really, in these grim times, go back to shopping till we drop? What is the future for a spendaholic's paradise like Bicester Village in a chastened post-pandemic Britain? Deputy chairman James Lambert, 63, says that, with creative thinking, it will once again be a honeypot for shoppers, albeit in a new safety-conscious age. 'I feel tremendously energised about the re-opening,' he said. 'It will be a great moment, fantastic to see the mall come to life again. The village needs people otherwise it is just real estate.' One new weapon in the armoury, he says, is an app that enables social distancing inside the shops without having to queue for ages, as shoppers have done outside the supermarkets and Ikea. Lining up to shop would, of course, be decidedly un-Bicester, not to mention pretty joyless. 'This app removes the need to queue,' says Lambert. 'Queuing is a dismal experience. We Brits are supposed to like it, but we don't really. What happens is that you scan a QR code on the shop front with the camera on your smart phone. You get a text confirmation it is multi-lingual then you can wander around until it is your entry time. It is rather like the old fashioned numbers they would give out at the deli counter, where you took a ticket and they would shout out your number when it was your turn.' One consequence of Covid-19 is there will be an unprecedented amount of luxe garments up for grabs in the coming months, as designers have store-rooms full of clothes from collections this year that have gone unsold due to coronavirus. That will act as a temptation when Bicester, which attracted more than 7m visitors last year, opens its doors again later this month. But just how good will the bargains be, and how big is that pile of designer gear? Lambert is a little coy. 'We are working hard to get an orderly flow of stock. It will be authentic and high quality. I have a strong sense there will be an unusually large quantity of it.' In normal times Bicester, in Oxfordshire, is one of Britain's biggest tourist attractions, not far behind Buckingham Palace with the Chinese. The formula is simple: think Bond Street brands, but with up to 60 per cent off. So successful has it been that Bicester Village even boasts its own railway station, and before Covid-19, red-caped staff used to patrol Marylebone in London to help tourists get on the right train. Once on board, there were helpful announcements in Mandarin and Arabic telling them when to get off. Visitors are drawn by more than 160 boutiques, clustered together in the style of a traditional High Street, albeit a very upmarket one. Bicester began life in 1994, the brainchild of American entrepreneur Scott Malkin. It has since expanded so there is a string of outlet villages abroad, in several European countries and two in China. Megabrands: Christian Louboutin's red-soled stilettos shot to fame on the feet of Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City The owner, Value Retail PLC, rang up sales of nearly 260m in 2018. Property investment company Hammerson owns a 50 per cent stake. Some of the villages abroad, including in China, Germany, Belgium, France and Italy, have already re-opened. Lambert says: 'The experience in China and Europe is that we are getting fewer people but they are spending more. We did wonder if it was 'revenge shopping' a moment of release, or revenge on the virus, when people splurged, but it is a trend that has continued.' When coronavirus descended, it turned a once-bustling Bicester into a ghost town, with no visitors to clink champagne coupes at the Cafe Wolseley, or to hunt down a bag from Balenciaga. During the lockdown, Lambert and his fellow Bicester bosses have been working out how to open up whilst preserving the sense of luxury. After all, there would be little point going out for a burst of retail therapy if you felt tense and nervous. 'We want people to feel safe and comfortable,' he says. 'We want to be an oasis of calm in a troubled world.' There will be marshalls in the car park so you are not right next to another car. When they arrive, guests will be ushered through a temperature testing tent. 'The checking is non-intrusive and discreet, you just walk through, Lambert says. The loos will be deep cleaned overnight, and treated with a product called Citrox, which has a six-month anti-viral effect. Eateries, including ones run by the Wolseley and Soho Farmhouse, will be open for takeaways. Some might feel fashion is a frivolous pursuit in the midst of a lethal outbreak. But Bicester is an important part of the local economy, employing around 4,000 people. 'It's not about reckless consumption. It is about a happy experience and it is about supporting the retail economy,' Lambert says. 'Fashion is not all frivolity. It is artistic and enjoyable but the bottom line is it is an enormous employer. And love of luxury is a constant. We are not about consumption, we are about bringing back joy in life, in contrast to the drudge of lockdown. 'When a woman leaves here with a spring in her step, we will have done our job.' When the Mexican Army intervenes to keep internal order, it should be respected, because it has the weapons we have entrusted to it; because this is one of the fundamental functions for which it was created; and because for long years, and on many occasions it has proven to be an army that limits itself to maintaining or reestablishing order, without exceeding the constitutional functions it has been assigned. Our armed forces do not take sides for or against the people or individuals in conflict, nor do they tend to favor one side or the other; they guarantee order. This, in turn, allows institutions to freely function so that they can resolve, in accordance with the law, the problems that gave rise to the conflict that required military intervention. All of Mexico knows that when the army intervenes, it is to safeguard tranquility, not to oppress people. We will defend like men everything that we should defend: our property, our homes, integrity, life, liberty, and honor. The dying patient needed to hold on just a little while longer. Within a few hours, she would receive the new treatment. The placenta cells a therapy that showed promise in boosting the immune system were on their way to Holy Name Medical Center from another state. It was April, and the coronavirus crisis was intensifying. The patient, an unidentified woman, lay dying of COVID-19 at the Teaneck facility, one of New Jerseys hardest-hit hospitals. Everyone was anxious and was excited that we would treat her, said Dr. Ravit Barkama, a clinical researcher at the hospital. And the cells were basically on the way to Holy Name from Maryland. Would the woman hold on long enough to receive them? It was an example of the hope and heartache doctors and nurses faced in the early days of the unfolding medical crisis. They rushed to treat a crush of patients flooding the emergency room, while clinical researchers studied the latest data and searched for anything in their arsenals to keep the infected alive. While the first phase of the COVID-19 crisis is winding down, the pandemic and the health care establishments work are far from over. Holy Name is taking a hard look at everything its medical personnel learned in enduring those treacherous first three months. The clinical researchers recently shared a report with NJ Advance Media outlining a series of medical takeaways: Everything theyve learned after treating hundreds of coronavirus patients since the crisis began. Its an orderly account with dense detail and precise explanations a dramatic contrast to March and April, when more than 200 patients were dying on ventilators, one after the other. When the intensive care units were filled. When there seemed to be no clear answers. The researchers learned the ways COVID-19 affects the body, the various stages in which it manifests and consumes patients, the medications and therapies that show promise and the treatments that proved ineffective. Like every hospital in the state, Holy Name was desperately looking for ways to combat the disease after the pandemic hit New Jersey. Treatment was trial and error. It was a scramble, often necessitating learning on the fly. The first few weeks, basically, almost every night was ... working with a lot of frustration, Barkama said. She and her counterpart, Dr. Thomas Birch, have been working as a research duo of sorts, investigating possible therapies for a deluge of COVID-19 patients. "How are we going to treat the patients? What can we give them? How can we make this better? How can we keep people from dying? How can we keep people off of the ventilator?" Birch said. It was an exhausting sprint of confusion and dashed hopes. Barkama and Birch recalled late nights poring over research and data. Barkama called counterparts in Israel and Europe asking what was working. They found insights, if not epiphanies. Lessons learned One of the hard-won lessons was COVID-19 is a disease of stages. It follows a largely defined progression in the human body, from exposure and incubation (phase 1), to the showing of symptoms (phase 2), to the virus impact on the lungs (phase 3) to the decrease of lung inflammation (phase 4). We basically realized certain interventions might be effective in certain phases and not effective in others. And so thats the key, said Dr. Suraj Saggar, infectious disease specialist at Holy Name. Early intervention is crucial. Antiviral drugs likely work best during the first phase when used as a pre-emptive therapy, the report said. The antiviral drug, remdesivir, seems most effective during phase 2, the stage when the initial symptoms emerge. Convalescent plasma may also have some benefit during this stage. The third phase is what makes COVID-19 different, the report said. This is when symptoms like shortness of breath, persistent fever and pneumonia develop. Severe inflammation begins to batter the lungs, blood vessels and organs. The bodys overreactive immune system not the virus does most of the damage. It is why inflammatory drugs and immunosuppressives appear to help during this period. The final stage, or the convalescent phase, is when the inflammation begins to subside and the lungs and other tissues clear the debris from inflammation, injured tissues and fluid, the report said. The stage can span three to six weeks, delaying the time when the patient can be weaned from the ventilator. It is possible placenta-derived cells may further reduce inflammation, according to the report. It was a tremendous amount of reading, a tremendous amount of reviewing patient cases and seeing what was going on with them clinically, their symptoms, their physical exam findings, the laboratory and imaging, said Birch, who is also an infectious disease specialist. How they responded to some of the therapies that were being used, and how we might use them more rationally. When potential treatments emerged, such as placenta cell therapy or remdesivir, it offered hope after weeks of anguish at Holy Name. It was no different in April as they tried to help the dying woman. Devastating setback The doctors and researchers waited on April 11. The cells would arrive in just a few more hours, they were told. The findings on placenta cell therapy were still preliminary, but the treatment championed by a company in Israel was showing promise. Six critically ill coronavirus patients in Israel had shown signs of improvement after taking it. Some saw it as a possible dream treatment. But then an alarm blared over Holy Names loudspeakers. It was a Code Blue, an emergency calling for the CPR team. "It goes 'Code Blue ICU,' and then, of course, I knew that something was very wrong," Barkama said. Her heart dropped. She rushed to see who it was. It was the dying woman. "A few hours before we were supposed to give the treatment, she desaturated and passed away," Barkama said. The loss devastated her. "When I saw it was her I must say that it was emotionally very difficult to lose a patient a few hours before the so-called 'dream treatment,'" Barkama said. While the researchers remain hopeful about placenta-derived cell therapy, only four patients have been treated at the hospital thus far. Its too early to assess the results. Remdesivir has also shown promise, but research remains ongoing. The National Institutes of Health has found positive results, and Gilead, the maker of the drug, said in a statement earlier this week that it found encouraging data from a recent trial, especially if used as an intervention therapy. Holy Names staff hope the lessons pay dividends for New Jersey hospitals in case they again encounter chaos like they did in March. Looming in the back of everyones mind is the possible resurgence of the virus in the fall, after already claiming 11,880 lives and causing 162,068 infections in New Jersey. There is, of course, a good chance that there will be [another phase], and were not looking at this as a historical episode, Barkama said. The research continues. Hospitals were caught flat-footed, often forced to learn and sift out new techniques on the fly, revamp old ones and apply them in new ways. We obviously hope, just like everyone else, that it will never hit us so hard again, Barkama said. But were going to be prepared in case it does. 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. Ricardo Espin stands outside his ice cream shop after the fifth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 1, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Amid Riots, Ice Cream Shop Owner Stands Outside, Pleads With Looters for 3 Nights MINNEAPOLISSingle-handedly, Ricardo Espin possibly saved a building containing four businesses from being smashed and burned in the heart of the Minneapolis riots. Armed only with ample courage, Espin stood outside his ice cream shop on East Lake Street and Park Avenue for three nights, pleading with rioters to not damage his shop. Situated about a 15-minute walk from the Minneapolis Police Departments 5th Precinct, Espin said he warded off several groups of 5 to 10 young vandals each night, usually around 2 a.m. They were ready to hit the window. Basically, their hand was already ready to hit the window with the hammer or crowbar, he said. I would just tell them, Please, Ill open up the door and give you what you want, but dont break the windows. I told every one of them: Im with you guys. I feel the pain. I know what its like. But this is not the way. And for the most part, they respected that, and they walked away. Daytime protests seeking justice for George Floydwho was killed in police custody on May 25have given way to violence at night in the area between the Minneapolis Police Departments 3rd and 5th precincts. Over the three nights from May 27 through May 29, Espin watched the Shell gas station diagonally across the street getting looted and razed. OReillys Auto Parts, directly across the road was burned to a crispa black, twisted shelf of sooty oil filters was the only recognizable item remaining. The building right next door to Espins was reduced to a smoldering skeleton of wood, steel, and rubble. It had housed four small businesses, including an African hair braiding business and an Italian restaurant. It was scary. And thank God all I had to do was tell them to stop and they stopped, he said. His shop, La Michoacana, was still broken into one night, and several large windows were broken, but he got off relatively unscathed. To add insult to injury, the power went out at about 2 a.m. on May 29 and wasnt restored until later in the afternoon. We threw away a lot of stuff yesterday, because we use all fresh stuff, Espin said. He said he gave a lot of ice cream away to the people who were helping clean up the streets. I was very sad yesterday taking out my equipment. It was a very sad feeling. You know, it almost puts tears in your eyes just to see that your whole life savings are right there, and they might disappear overnight. So it is a terrible feeling. I mean, Im not the only one that put his whole life savings into our business. Im sure theres more than half of us on Lake Street that we put our whole life savings into a business. And to be destroyed like this, its not good. I hope my business will still be profitable. I hope people still come to Lake Street after this. Espin, a Mexican immigrant, opened his shop in June 2018. Just two weeks ago, he spent $3,000 getting a walk-up window installed so he could still serve customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hard enough to try to get through with COVID, and now go through this. These are difficult times. I mean, these are big losses, he said. On May 30, the building owners, James and Kristin Schoffman, covered up the windows and doors of all four shops with about 50 sheets of plywood, and they were back the next day to reinforce it. Youve got to have it, James said of the plywood. [Looters] can still get in, but it buys some time. And then the insurance company, if you dont do it, then they dont think you tried in your best effort to secure your property. And then they could give you a hard time. The Schoffmans have owned the building for 25 years and spent about $150,000 18 months ago replacing the roof and upgrading the facade. They plan to leave the plywood in place for at least a day after the curfew, which Gov. Tim Walz set in place on May 29, is lifted. Yesterday was a very emotional day. Because I had accepted the reality that this would have been burned down by this morning, Kristin said on May 31. All four are minority-owned businesses. Next door to Espin is a phone company, a health care agency, and an Ecuadorian grocery store. The owner of the phone store owns a second shop across the road that was ransacked and looted on May 29. All of the cellphones were taken, Kristin said. The health care agency was broken into and ransacked. The Ecuadorian grocery store opened only a month ago. He signed the lease during COVID-19, because it was an essential service to serve the Ecuadorian community with groceries. And then this happened, Kristin said. I was crying, because we want these people to succeed and do their best. Its their dream, all their savings are put into it, and then this happens. Once the plywood comes down, the broken windows will need to be replaced, as well as the frames that the plywood had to be screwed into. The Schoffmans expect this may take a couple of months due to the likely demand in the area. Theyre also looking into spending around $150,000 to install commercial roll-up security doors along the whole building frontage for nighttime, to make our tenants feel safe, James said. Dont get me wrong, theres break-ins here. During the COVID-19, heres how bad it was gettingbefore the chaos, the nonessential stores were getting broken into over the last 90 days. He said that over the last few nights, a lot of it was lost about George [Floyd]everybody forgot the purpose, and they just wanted free [stuff]. The Schoffmans are praying that no more damage is done. They hear a lot of people saying, Well, youve got insurance, but its not that simple, James said. Some of the small businesses dont have insurance, and even the ones that do will end up out of pocket to some degree. Many will have to make a decision on whether to rebuild or go out of business. Espin said hes hopeful and believes his ice cream business will survive. People in Minnesota are amazing, he said, and what Ive seen today and yesterday these people, just as they are helping out right now to clean up, they will help us succeed. They will help us build the business back up. WASHINGTON The Texas Democratic Party says it raised more money in one day than it typically does in a full month as celebrities and high-profile Democrats on Wednesday tweeted "Win Texas. Lose Trump." and urged their fans to give $38 to the party. The Democrats are holding their convention this week and say they have set records on fundraising, totaling $241,000 by Wednesday night. Most of that, $163,000, came on Wednesday when celebrities such as Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, comic Sarah Silverman and high-profile Democrats, including Andrew Yang, urged their followers to donate after a poll showed the presidential race essentially tied in Texas. TOO TIGHT TO TELL: Trump, Biden in virtual tie in Texas in new poll The Quinnipiac University poll showed 44 percent of the 1,166 self-identified registered voters picked President Donald Trump and 43 percent picked former Vice President Joe Biden. Seven percent said they did not know or did not answer while 6 percent said theyd vote for someone else or would not vote. When we take TX for good, it's game over for the GOP in national elections, tweeted George Takei, who played Sulu in Star Trek. He and others encouraged followers to give $38 for the states 38 electoral votes in tweets that were retweeted thousands of times. Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey responded: "Bless their heart." Republicans have also been aggressively fundraising off the Democratic convention this week, which includes appearances by a slew of national Democratic leaders, including Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Joe Biden? Elizabeth Warren? Kamala Harris? Beto ORourke? Eric Holder? If youre okay with them trying to dictate how we do things here in Texas, go ahead and close this email, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn wrote in an email to supporters on Wednesday. But if youre like me and youll do anything to defend Texas especially from this particular crowd I need your help NOW. Texas Republicans including Cornyn, who has nearly $13 million on hand to fend off Democratic challengers, have pointed to celebrity support for Democrats as evidence that outsiders are trying to flip the state while Texans still have little appetite for Democratic policies. Cornyns campaign has taken to calling former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar, one of his Democratic challengers, Hollywood Hegar because she has received donations from celebrities including Kristen Bell and Rosie ODonnell. ben.wermund@chron.com (Newser) Alabama man Terry Willis has hit the road for a 1,000 mile-walk to the exact spot where George Floyd died in Minneapolis. He says he is walking to protest injustice faced by black Americans. Willis, who owns a carpentry business, says he will walk for as long as it takesand he hopes the trek will help create a better world for his 7-year-old son. "I think a lot of people are just fed up. Because they are like alright, enough is enough," he says, per KFOR. "You just murdered this man in front of the world, on camera, that can't happen and thats why I am marching 1,000 miles for change, justice, and equality." story continues below "I just would really love for us, African Americans, they call us black people, colored people, whatever. Just for us to be seen as equals that's it," he says. Willis, who is documenting the journey on Facebook, says he hopes others will join him along the way. He set off from Huntsville, followed by a pace car, after a quick prayer on Tuesday, WAFF reports. He hopes to arrive in Minnesota by June 16. "If I get fatigued, I know how to stop and drink water," he says. "I am not rushing this, I am doing this for me and everybody else. I am doing this my way and I will take my time and I will make it there." (Read more George Floyd stories.) Washington Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended during congressional testimony Wednesday his decision to appoint a special counsel to lead the Trump-Russia investigation, as Republican allies of President Donald Trump on the Senate Judiciary Committee sought to keep a skeptical spotlight on that matter heading into the fall's election. "I still believe it was the right decision under the circumstances," Rosenstein said of appointing Robert Mueller. "I recognize that people can criticize me for them. That's the consequence of being in these jobs; you make decisions, and people criticize you for them, but I believed it was the right decision at the time." Rosenstein oversaw the probe as the acting attorney general for the inquiry because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself over his role in the Trump campaign. Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel in May 2017 and oversaw his work until Trump replaced Sessions in November 2018. Although Rosenstein stepped down over a year ago, he last testified before Congress in June 2018, well before the end of the Russia inquiry and other related developments that the chair of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and other senators on the panel fixated on during Wednesday's hearing. Rosenstein was sworn in to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department weeks before the president fired FBI Director James Comey, and within days Trump publicly and privately linked the dismissal to the Russia investigation. Rosenstein then called Mueller, a former FBI director and prosecutor, out of retirement to lead the inquiry. Mueller's investigators found that while the Russian government covertly intervened in the 2016 election with a goal of helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton, and while the Trump campaign welcomed that assistance and had many links to Russian figures, the evidence was insufficient to prove any criminal conspiracy. Senators asked Rosenstein whether, knowing what he knows now, he would have appointed Mueller. Among other things, he noted, Trump had ousted most of the Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys en masse, and he did not think that Andrew G. McCabe, deputy director of the FBI who took over the bureau as acting director, should stay in charge of the investigation. "As a result of events that followed the departure of the FBI director, I was concerned that the public would not have confidence in the investigation and that the acting FBI director was not the right person to lead it," Rosenstein said. "I decided that appointing a special counsel was the best way to complete the investigation appropriately and promote public confidence in its conclusions." Graham pushed Rosenstein to explain why he appointed Mueller in May 2017 and then signed a memo clarifying the scope of the special counsel investigation that August that included scrutinizing whether campaign associates were working with Russia pointing out that investigators had found no proof that they were. Rosenstein repeatedly tried to explain that the purpose of investigations is to find out whether there is proof. Eventually, Graham declared, "the point is, the whole concept that the campaign was colluding with the Russians, there was no 'there' there in August 2017. Do you agree with that or not?" Rosenstein said he agreed. On Thursday, Graham and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, plan to ask their respective panels to grant them substantial powers to issue subpoenas for records related to the Russia investigation. The caring sentiment of the entirely peaceful protest in San Francisco's Mission District yesterday was epitomized in the actions of students, nurses and other volunteers who showed up to help protesters stay safe. The demonstration, protesting the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, started at Mission High School at 4 p.m. and drew a giant crowd, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 attendees. But with soaring temperatures and the risk of COVID-19 infection still high, many showed up just to provide protesters with hand sanitizer, masks and bottled water. Milk, which can relieve irritation from pepper spray, was also on offer at many stations in case the chemical agent was used by the police, a fear that never materialized during the peaceful demonstration. The protest was young, energized and largely hopeful, following a day that provided a glimmer of optimism to Black Lives Matter advocates across the country. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded charges against the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck, and charged the other three officers at the scene with aiding and abetting murder on Wednesday. The day also saw a message of urgency and unity from former President Barack Obama. We spoke to some of the young volunteers helping out on the streets of San Francisco yesterday. RyanAir has paid out nearly 500million euros in refunds to customers whose flights were grounded by the coronavirus pandemic - but it could take 12 weeks to make sure everyone is paid. Chief executive Michael O'Leary told BBC Breakfast this morning the airline company had 35million refunds to process. Delays in customers getting refunds were revealed last week after a survey from consumer champion Which? Michael O'Leary, speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, revealed RyanAir still has another 700million euros worth of refunds to issue to customers At the time some 84 per cent said they were still waiting for their money back, in some cases months after they were told their flight had been cancelled due to the pandemic. Customers claimed Ryanair provided refund forms that didn't work, before goading them into accepting credit note vouchers with little consumer protection. Last month Mr O'Leary said it could take up to six months to process all of the refunds. RyanAir expects to issue the rest of its refunds within the next three months, flights remain mostly grounded around the country, including at Luton Airport Speaking today, he said: 'The good news is we are about 40% of the way through the process and we have already paid out nearly 500 million euro and weve got another 600 - 700 million euro to go, we think we will get through that in the next 10 to 12 weeks. 'We are assuring everyone that your refund is safe, if you want the cash refund you will get it, just be patient because we have to process a record backlog of cancellations caused by Government measures and we have limited staff in our offices to process these refunds, but they are on their way.' According to the Which? survey of 2,800 travellers, other airlines have performed slightly better in delivering refunds. Around 63 per cent of easyJet customers said they are still waiting for their money back and just one in seven said they had received a refund within seven days. A quarter of British Airways passengers (23 per cent) and one in five Jet2 customers (19 per cent) are also still awaiting refunds. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the industry regulator, is investigating issues around refunds and has called on MPs to grant them new powers to take on airlines which flout the rules. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: 'The regulator and government cannot sit on their hands any longer. Furious customers took to Twitter to express their frustration and to ask for refunds in April 'The CAA must urgently hold airlines that are brazenly breaking the law to account, and the government must set out how it will support the industry where necessary if airlines are unable to refund their customers without fear of going under.' Furious customers took to Twitter in April as they faced delays in getting refunds. The companie's customer service chat service was branded 'useless' and 'totally unreachable,' in April, as people adjusted to life in lockdown. Two months on more than half of customers who asked for refunds are waiting for their money back. A RyanAir spokesman said last week: 'RyanAir is offering vouchers and free moves as these are automated and would give customers an alternative. Customers who choose a voucher but don't redeem it within 12 months may still apply for and obtain a refund after this 12 month period. 'This also includes partial redemption, as the portion of the unused voucher will be refunded.' YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations informs that on June 4, as of 09:30, the roads across Armenia are passable. The Vanadzor-Alaverdi highway will be closed today from 10:00 to 19:00 due to renovation works. The Georgian side reported that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open only for trucks as the ban on entry to Georgia for foreigners is still in force. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Industrialist Rajiv Bajaj said on Thursday that India ended up flattening the wrong curve of GDP in its bid to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a conversation with Congress MP and leader Rahul Gandhi, Bajaj called the current lockdown draconian as the country got the worst of both worlds with the COVID-19 cases still persisting and the economic situation worsening. He highlighted that the economy has been decimated due to its (lockdown) fallout. "The virus is waiting to hit you, so you have not solved that problem, but you have decimated the economy. You have flattened the wrong curve - not the infection curve but the GDP curve. This is what we have ended up with, the worst of both worlds," Rajiv Bajaj said during the virtual interaction with Gandhi. Also Read: Coronavirus impact on industry: Rahul Gandhi to interact with Rajiv Bajaj on Thursday Bajaj was also critical of India's approach to look at western nations such as the US, UK and Italy, instead of closer home-eastwards countries such as Japan, and South Korea to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. "India not only looked west, but went wild west. We stayed more towards the impervious side. We tried to implement a hard lockdown which was still porous. The virus, which is waiting to hit when you unlock,...We should have never been looking at the west, who are geographically and demographically different from us," he said. Bajaj's conversation with Gandhi is part of a series where the former Congress President talks to experts on the impact of coronavirus outbreak on India. Bajaj further argued that the virus count paced up rapidly as soon as the Centre eased the lockdown. Meanwhile, GDP tumbled in a manner rarely witnessed in the country, he added. ALso Read: Rajiv Bajaj calls father Rahul 'uncommonly courageous' for criticising Modi govt! But, that's not all "There were various forms of lockdown that we could have opted for. We chose a hard lockdown that was porous, because of which the virus situation here is still persisting," he underscored summing up the situation. The industrialist also spoke at length about how negative sentiment around coronavirus has affected India. Talking about unlocking the economy, Bajaj underscored that it is not a smooth one and the fear around the virus is to be blamed. Describing the opening up of the economy as a herculean task, he emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must communicate the message to citizens that things are under control to allay fears. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Hecky Powell had a deal with one of his longtime employees, a woman who had struggled with a drug habit. Every time she attended a rehab meeting, he paid her $15. If she worked a full week, she got a bonus. But if she flaked, she lost the entire weeks wages. Mr. Powell, whose South Side Chicago-style barbecue restaurant was an institution in Evanston, Ill., liked to say that he didnt want to give people handouts he wanted to give them skills. From his office, chockablock with awards, newspaper clippings, banners and plaques in his name, he mentored the young and the disadvantaged as well as the powerful. He died on May 22 at 71 in a hospital in Glenview, Ill. His wife, Cheryl Judice, said the cause was complications of Covid-19. Mr. Powell fed Northwestern University students who didnt have the money to travel home for Thanksgiving. He paid struggling high school students $20 for every A they earned. He offered scholarships and grants to countless others. The head of the federal prisons apologized for law enforcement officials patrolling the protests in Washington D.C. not identifying themselves and said they were not ordered to do so. Unidentified law enforcement officials have been seen around the White House without identifying uniforms or insignia. Some aren't wearing uniforms - merely t-shirts under their protective gear. They were armed with knives and stun guns as they patrolled the streets of the nation's Capitol. And all report to Attorney General Bill Barr, who President Donald Trump deputized for handling the protests that sprung up around the country in response to George Floyd's death. 'I'm not aware of any specific Bureau of Prisons personnel being told not to identify themselves,' Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal told reporters Thursday during a press conference at the Justice Department. Federal law enforcement officials have been seen patrolling the streets of Washington D.C. without any identifying information - such as a badge or name plate; they were armed with knives and stun guns The officials have been identified as being a part of the Federal Bureau of Prison's riot team and agency director Michael Carvajal apologized for the officers not identifying themselves The federal agents wore t-shirts under their protective gear; some, like the one above, wore badges; the agent above wears 'The Punisher' logo - the skull on the American flag - a symbol favored by police officers and members of the military Stun grenades on show: An apparent federal correctional officer is one of the army of federal agents deployed to D.C., carrying three stun grenades in front of body armor, and equipped with what appears to be a launcher for the grenades Little green men: An apparent group from the Bureau of Prisons Special Operations Response Team was stationed at the Hay Adams hotel, close to the White House Bureau of Federal Prisons director Michael Carvajal (left) said his officers were not instructed to keep their identities a secret as they patrolled Washington D.C. and Attorney General Bill Barr (right) praised the prison riot teams for being highly-trained Carvajal said the agents usually only work in federal prisons so don't normally have to identify themselves. 'What I attribute that to is probably the fact that we normally operate within the confines of our institution and we don't need to identify ourselves. Most of our identification is institution specific and probably wouldn't mean a whole lot to people in DC,' he said. He acknowledged the officers should have said who they were and what agency they were affiliated with. 'I probably should have done a better job of marking them nationally as the agency. Point is well taken but I assure you that no one was specifically told in my knowledge, not to identify themselves,' Carvajal said. Barr - a 70-year-old lawyer - flooded Washington D.C. with federal law enforcement agents to control protesters, essentially building a private army of agents from the FBIs Hostage Rescue Team, riot teams from the Bureau of Prisons, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration's elite Special Response Team, and U.S. Marshals. The attorney general said Thursday the Bureau of Prison teams were 'used frequently for emergency response and in emergency situations and either civil disturbances or hurricanes or other things like that. They're a highly trained.' Barr oversees the effort from an FBI command center, The Washington Post reported, as critics called out the use of excessive force against the peaceful demonstrators. He said President Trump gave him the authority to lead the effort but he didn't cite any specific legal precedent. 'On Monday, the president asked me to coordinate the various federal law enforcement agencies - not only the multiple Department of Justice agencies, but also other agencies such as those in the Department of Homeland Security,' Barr said at a press conference at the Justice Department. Barr gave that order the resulted in federal law enforcement officials using pepper spray and other chemical agents, along with rubber bullets and police on horseback to clear the streets around the White House on Monday so Trump could walk to St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op. 'We decided that we needed more of a buffer to protect the White House and to protect our agents and Secret Service,' he said. But he said there was no correlation between the streets being cleared of protesters and Trump's walk across Lafayette Park to hold up a bible in front of the boarded up church, which had a fire in its basement on Sunday night during the protests. Barr said he had ordered the area cleared Monday morning and didn't know about the president's plans to visit the church at the time. The attorney general was seen in Lafayette Park talking to officers shortly before Trump left the White House. 'I think the president is the head of the executive branch and the chief executive of the nation should be able to walk outside the White House and walk across the street to the church of presidents. I don't necessarily view that as a political act. I think it was entirely appropriate for him to do,' Barr said, defending the president who was highly criticized for holding the photo op. 'I did not know that that he was going to do that until later in the day after our plans are well underway to move the perimeter so there was no correlation between our tactical plan - moving the perimeter by one block - and the president going over to the church,' he added. Bill Barr's army: Federal officers in improvised uniforms stripped of identifying markers are being deployed in central Washington D.C. The Bureau of Prisons say most are their officers and that they are not identifying themselves for 'security reasons' Who are they: Federal law enforcement agents have been seen around Washington D.C. without identifying badges. Most are from the Bureau of Prisons, it admitted in the face of mounting questions No uniforms: The Bureau of Prisons 'special operations response team' is among those which have been deployed. They have no visible uniform insignia or badges. This agent was apparently wearing an official t-shirt under body armor Federal officers stationed near the White House and Lafayette Park wore simple t-shirts under their protective gear and no identifying badges St. John's Church can be seen in the background as unidentified federal law enforcement officials lined up around White House Attorney General Bill Barr had flooded Washington D.C. with an array of federal law enforcement agents to control protesters MEET 'GENERAL' BARR, TRUMP'S GET-TOUGH AG Bill Barr made a career as a lawyer before parlaying it into millionaire status - and is now one of the most controversial attorneys general in recent history. The 70-year-old was educated at the elite Manhattan private school where his father was principal - and where Jeffrey Epstein was later a tutor - and Columbia University, where he boasted of his conservative views. Conveniently his undergraduate and post-graduate education at Columbia coincided with the draft. He joined the CIA as an analyst, studied law at night, and had a short stint in Ronald Reagan's White House. It was in George H.W. Bush's administration that he rose rapidly as a Department of Justice political appointee, becoming attorney general in 1991 aged just 41, and an advocate of tough-on-crime policies. He wrote a paper called 'The Case for More Incarceration' and called for a federal prisons building program and the end of parole. His interest in incarcerating more people did not include risking that fate for top White House officials, and he successfully urged Bush to pardon Caspar Weinberger just before Reagan's defense secretary went on felony trial over the Iran-Contra affair. When Bush lost he turned to the private sector, becoming a multi-millionaire as general counsel to GTE then Verizon. But he remained an active Republican and when Trump took office, started outspoken criticism of the Russia probe. Much of his attack on it is based on his view of a 'unitary executive' which gives the president total power over the executive branch - a controversial doctrine which critics say is authoritarian. Trump nominated him as AG before Christmas 2018 and his second term started the following February. Since then he has tried to bring back the federal death penalty, warned that communities which don't offer the 'respect and support that law enforcement deserves' could 'find themselves without the police protection they need,' and been involved in a string of controversies over the Russia probe and its aftermath. But his most controversial role has now arrived, starting with his organization of the infamous St. John's photo-op, and the multiple changing accounts of how it happened, and now the revelation that he is in personal command from an FBI facility - where he can expect to be addressed as 'general' by some in keeping with DOJ tradition - is already generating Congressional scruinty. Advertisement Barr is coordinating with the Pentagon and state officials in his duties. Governors of Tennessee and Florida have offered to send National Guard units to Washington D.C. to aid the response. A series of other governors have flatly refused. Additionally, Homeland Security officers, the D.C. Police, the U.S. Capitol Police, the Federal Protective Service, the Secret Service and the District of Columbia National Guard are all involved. But the visual images on Monday night - protesters being gassed, officials charging on horse back, Trump standing in front of a church holding a bible - have raised a storm of criticism and questions. The controversy has drawn in both the military and civilian officers as the administration displayed its federal might, which included military vehicles in the city streets, helicopter fly overs, armed federal agents on patrol, and check points throughout the capitol. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to President Trump on Thursday, expressing her concern about the use of force and the unidentified federal officers. 'We are concerned about the increased militarization and lack of clarity that may increase chaos,' she wrote. She asked for a list of the agencies involved and the chain of command. 'I am writing to request a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating in the city. Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital,' she added. But some of the most damaging criticism of Trump came from his former defense secretary, retired four-star general James Mattis, who called Monday's incident an 'abuse of executive authority.' 'We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution,' Mattis wrote in The Atlantic on Wednesday night. He also likened Trump's actions to the rhetoric used by Nazis to 'divide and conquer.' Trump responded by calling Mattis the 'world's most overrated general.' There are also questions about why Barr was deputized to led the response and why he brought in prison guards to handle the protesters. The agency told NBC News the agents 'may be deputized' in times of need and 'are not wearing BOP specific clothing as they are serving a broader mission.' Michael Bromwich, the former inspector general of the Justice Department, told Huffington Post that allowing federal law enforcement officers to operate anonymously 'creates a huge problem' for oversight. 'It completely undermines the ability to hold law enforcement personnel who engage in misconduct accountable,' he said. 'You've got to know who they are, and certainly which agency they represent.' But a Justice Department official pointed out that surveillance video would make it easy to identify any officers. The protests also have been heavily filmed by the news media. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to President Trump on Thursday, expressing her concern about the use of force to clear protesters around the White House Monday night and about the unidentified federal officers Democrats are investigating. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ray Grijalva sent a letter Wednesday to Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf about the treatment of protesters Monday night. 'The use of federal personnel to prevent American citizens from exercising their Constitutional right to peaceably assemble represents a direct threat to our democracy,' they wrote, asking for a response by June 10. And Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Delaware is introducing legislation requiring all federal officers to identify themselves. 'We cannot tolerate an American secret police,' he noted. 'I will be introducing legislation to require uniformed federal officers performing any domestic security duties to clearly identify what military branch or agency they represent,' he said. Attorney General William Barr, center, stands in Lafayette Park across from the White House on Monday before President Trump made his walk Attorney General Bill Barr accompanied President Trump on his photo-op to St. John's church Attorney General Bill Barr visiting with law enforcement officers protecting the White House The administration was criticized for its use of gas against protesters on Monday night Additionally, Barr is sending protesters who are arrested through the federal legal system, which has stiffer penalties. The move comes as the DEA has been given new authority to 'conduct covert surveillance' and collect intelligence on people participating in protests,' Buzzfeed News reported, citing a federal memo. The 14-day authority also allows DEA agents to patrol public places and make arrests for non-drug crimes. It began with Trump's now infamous photo shoot in front of St. John's Church, where he held a bible but offered no prayers. The attorney general personally issued the order to clear the area around Lafayette Park so Trump could make his walk on Monday night. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made clear in her briefing on Wednesday that Barr was in charge and took 'appropriate action.' 'AG Barr had determined that we needed to expand the perimeter by one block on each side,' she said of Monday's event. 'He was surprised -- AG Barr -- when he arrived at the White House to see that that perimeter had not been moved. So he said that we needed to get going with moving that perimeter. He told the officers that out there. That was late afternoon. So that decision was made in the morning.' Barr was seen in Lafayette Park talking to officers shortly before Trump left the White House. 'The protesters were told three times over loudspeaker that they needed to move. And what happened was it grew increasingly unruly. There were projectiles being thrown at officers. Frozen water bottles were being thrown at officers. Various other projectiles. And the officers had no other choice than, in that moment, to act and make sure that they were safe and that the perimeter was pushed back,' McEnany added. But video footage and reports from witnesses on the scene noted the protesters were peaceful. Donald Trump walks with Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley (R) at his side and Defense Secretary Mark Esper (middle) just behind him on June 1 to a church near the White House where Trump posed for pictures Donald Trump walks with Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley (R) at his side and Defense Secretary Mark Esper (middle) just behind him on June 1 to a church near the White House where Trump posed for pictures (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski) Washington (AFP) - US Attorney General Bill Barr on Thursday defended security forces firing pepper balls to forcibly clear peaceful demonstrators from a park in front of the White House before President Donald Trump crossed it for a photo opportunity. The Justice Department chief had ordered the expansion of a security perimeter around Lafayette Park Monday just before Trump's walk to the riot-scarred St. John's Episcopal Church with top aides including Barr and Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The aggressive enforcement action sparked outrage among religious and civic leaders after security forces fired smoke bombs, pepper balls and other non-lethal munitions to clear hundreds of non-violent protesters. "The president is the head of the executive branch and the chief executive of the nation, and should be able to walk outside the White House and walk across the street to that church," Barr said. He told reporters however the decision to clear the park and expand the fence perimeter around the White House had been made before Trump's decision to go to the church, where he posed with a bible in his hand. There was "no correlation" between the two events, he said -- though Trump would not have been able to walk to the church safely without the park being cleared. "I think it was appropriate for us to go over with him," Barr added. "I don't necessarily view that as a political act." Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across the US in recent days to voice anger over the killing of African American George Floyd by Minnesota police. Barr told reporters foreign government-backed manipulators were inflaming protests, and that federal law enforcement had arrested 51 people involved in violence. The vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, but Barr pointed to "extremist agitators who are hijacking the protests to pursue their own separate and violent agenda." He cited the leftist group Antifa, anarchists, and other unnamed groups, but added: "We are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides to exacerbate the violence." Barr did not say which countries were involved but the point was also made on Sunday by White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, who named China, Russia, Iran and Zimbabwe. This is an opinion column. What you scared of governor? Better yet, who are you scared of? Why so quiet? Why so silent while Alabamians throughout the state, citizens of all races, are screaming for the removal of Confederate memorials on public grounds? On Wednesday evening, protestorsalong with two of my AL.com colleagueswere handcuffed (zip-tied) and crammed into a police van at Linn Park in Birmingham while peacefully awaiting the rumored arrival of a white supremacist who threatened on a 911 call to come down there with my AK-47 and start blowing the damn pigs away and the protestors, everybody Im going to assassinate n-gger Mayor [Randall] Woodfin and kill that dead n-gger if the Confederate monument is taken down. (Which it was, thankfully.) F-ck off, a--hole, the caller added. Ill hang you from a tree, n-gger. Those citizens were willing to put themselves on the line, governor, to protect their citys right to move the monument to its own divine good place. Are you willing to stand for them? Stand with them against these in-your-face symbols of the very oppression and injustice Americans across the nation are rising to erase? I know you have a whole lot on your platewith a reeling economy, our still rachet prisons, inequitable school systems and healthcare, and this pesky pandemic, which isnt going away anytime soon (no matter how much some of yall dont wear face coverings and just pretend COVID-19 is gone). Still, governor, why keep ignoring an issue that isnt just a Birmingham thing anymore? Its an Alabama thing. Late Sunday night, of course, anger over the monument in Linn Park grew unjustifiably ugly. The monument commemorating the institution that waged Civil War against America to preserve slavery. The monument you deemed more worthy of protection than citizens offended by it, hurt by it, angered by it by signing a new law three years ago making it illegal to all but sneeze on monuments that have been sitting on public property for more than 40 years. Wink. Wink. The bill didnt say stay away from our Confederate monuments, but everybody knew thats exactly what it meant. You knew, too. You knew the law was crafted to pacify descendants of the Confederacy and believers in its immoral history. People like the ratchet excuse for a human on the other end of that sickening 911 call. Crafted without regard to the plethora of Alabamians still pained by that era. I cant tell you how many monuments honoring the Confederacy still stand throughout Alabamaon public lands. In parks where our kids play, or near public institutions where we tell our children that our leaders strive to make decisions best for all of the citizens of our state. Its not how many now, but why any? Now, as wethe nation and our stateconfront our historic systematic inequities and injustices, wink, wink doesnt cut it, governor. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has essentially said to hell with it: On Thursday, hell reportedly declare that a gigantic statue commemorating Gen. Robert E Lee, who led the Confederate military, will be removed from its prominent location in Richmond. The city that was once the capital of the Confederacy. Yes, Northam is a Democrat. Youre a Republican. I get that. We cant afford childish partisanship now, after nearly four months battling a virus that does not care which side of the aisle youre on. Now, just over a week after a black man was inhumanely murdered by a man sworn to protect and defend him. In Mobile, a Confederate flag painted on the ceiling at the entrance of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School was painted over this week, replaced with our state flag. In Montgomery, voices were lifted this week, crying for the removal of Confederate memorials outside our state Capitol. In Huntsville, earlier this week protesters shouted, Take the statue down, referencing a confederate memorial in front of the Madison County Court. Later, the business hired to elevate downtown backed the call. Now, its time for you to make the call, governor. Just do whats right. For everyone who lives in our state and is fatigued by our unsubtle support for these tired symbols of the division that still plagues our nation. Call your buddies Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh and House Speaker Mac McCutcheon and rescind a law that taints us all. Dont be scared. A voice for whats right and wrong in Birmingham, Alabama (and beyond), Roys column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as in the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com and follow him at twitter.com/roysj Caption: Mumbai's policeman Akash Babasaheb Gaikwad, donated blood to save the life of a 14-year old girl SANA F. KHAN, at the Hinduja Hospital, on June 3 -- when the city was paralysed due to Covid-19 restrictions and Cyclone Nisarga onslaught. Image Source: IANS News Caption: Mumbai's policeman Akash Babasaheb Gaikwad, donated blood to save the life of a 14-year old girl SANA F. KHAN, at the Hinduja Hospital, on June 3 -- when the city was paralysed due to Covid-19 restrictions and Cyclone Nisarga onslaught. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, June 4 : At the height of the Covid-19 crisis coupled with cyclone Nisarga, a Mumbai policeman helped save the life of a minor girl who underwent a critical heart operation, an official said here on Thursday. It was on June 3 when a 14-year old girl, Sana F. Khan was required to undergo an open heart surgery at the Hinduja Hospital. "She was in urgent need of the A+ blood group during the open heart procedure. However, owing to the cyclone Nisarga dislocation and the Covid-19 restrictions, no eligible person was able to reach the hospital to donate blood," said the official. When Akash Babasaheb Gaikwad, a policeman, learnt about this he rushed to the hospital and volunteered to help out. Gaikwad was taken inside the hospital and after the necessary tests, his blood matched, thus helping save the patient's life. When informed about this, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh called up Gaikwad and lavished praise on him for adhering to the police motto of 'Sadrakshanaya' in the hour of crisis. "Whether it is the corona pandemic or a cyclone, the police are always with the people and come to their rescue as angels. This has been proved again. My salute to warriors like you," said the minister. Deshmukh added that as the head of the entire state police force, he was proud of the policeman for helping save the minor girl's life with his noble deed. When Dr. D. Brian Mann arrived at the University of North Georgia (UNG) in 1999, he was hired as an assistant professor of French. After five years, Mann was promoted to associate professor and earned his tenure. When the chair of the Department of Language and Literature stepped down in spring 2005, he was asked to become interim department head. "I wasn't interested," Mann said. "But after the first of May, the outgoing department head and Dr. Chris Jespersen, who was interim dean, said that they needed me to do this." Mann agreed with one caveat. He wanted to separate the department into English and modern languages. Jespersen supported the idea. Together, they and others spent a year forming two new departments. In fall 2006, the two new departments were established. Mann went from interim department head of Language and Literature to head of the new Department of Modern Languages, with seven faculty who taught the three languages of Spanish, French and German. Since then, he has methodically increased his department. By 2012, UNG had Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Russian. The languages of Italian, Japanese and Latin were added to the department thanks to the 2013 consolidation that formed UNG. The influx of seven new languages and accompanying faculty members plus the consolidation led to formation of two departments: Department of Modern and Classical Languages and the Department of Spanish & Portuguese. In 2017, Farsi was added to modern and classical languages department and Portuguese in the Spanish department. Now, UNG teaches 12 languages with nearly 70 faculty, which bucks the current trend of dwindling foreign language departments. Mann also guided the creation of the Summer Language Institute in 2008 and the Chinese Language Flagship program in 2011. He credits faculty, the Center for Global Engagement (CGE), the Corps of Cadets, the Department of Military Science, and UNG's administration with both programs' and the departments' success. "I would love to say that I did it. But I have to take the 'I' out," he said. "It's the students who drive the bus. They wanted to study these languages and responded to our quality instructors." Establishing the study abroad programs also turned Mann into a world traveler. He has been to Mexico and France, of course, but also Latvia, Siberia, North Africa, Oman and the Middle East. "Those are opportunities that presented themselves," he said. "I got to see a lot of the world for the sake of the students." Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 20:00:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISTANBUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A group of people on Thursday staged a demonstration in front of the United States Consulate in Istanbul over the killing of an unarmed black man in the U.S. last week. The crowd gathered outside the compound located in the Sariyer district on the European side of the city to denounce the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Raising banners with Floyd's last words "I can't breathe" and photos showing the police choking him to death after forcing him to the ground, the group chanted slogans against the police violence. The protesters, mostly members of several leftist groups, said that they are standing in international solidarity with Floyd and others who have been murdered by police. Istanbul police were seen taking security measures in the area. Enditem A THIRD man has appeared in court charged with helping the McCarthy-Dundon gang carry out the attempted murder of crime figure Christy Keane. The convicted drug dealer was shot a number of times in the car park of University Limerick in 2015 but survived. This afternoon Noel Price (42), of Kileely Road, in Kileely, Co Limerick, was brought before the Special Criminal Court after being arrested in relation to the incident. Det Gda Brian Moylan of Henry Street garda station told State solicitor Michael O'Donovan that he detained the accused at 11am this morning. He made no comment when the charge was put to him, Det Gda Moylan told the court. Expand Close Christy Keane was targeted / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christy Keane was targeted Noel Price is accused of having knowledge of a criminal organisation, namely the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation, and assisting in making available a vehicle to the aforesaid criminal organisation, with the intention of facilitating the commissioning of the alleged attempted murder of Christy Keane (59), or being reckless as to same, between June 27 and June 29, 2015 inclusive. Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said that there would be no bail application at this time and that his client was currently in custody on a separate matter. Noel Price was remanded to appear via-video link next Friday June 12, when two co-accused are also due to appear. Larry McCarthy (42) and John Costello (39) were brought before the Special Criminal Court yesterday afternoon after being arrested in separate parts of the country in relation to the investigation. Larry McCarthy is accused of assisting in providing a vehicle with the intention of facilitating the attempted murder of Christy Keane while John Costello is accused of providing transport in relation to the same incident. Both charges are under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act. Larry McCarthy has previously been described during a bail hearing in the Special Criminal Court by detective gardai as the head of the McCarthy-Dundon organisation and as having known links to criminals around the country and to criminals on an international level. Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State was on Wednesday night released from the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja. The fo... Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State was on Wednesday night released from the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja. The former governor, now a serving senator, was reportedly set free from prison around 7:30pm. Kalu from Kuje prison. The Federal High Court in Lagos, had on Tuesday ordered the immediate release ofKalu from Kuje prison. The court also ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to immediately put machinery in motion for the retrial of the former governor. House, Ude Jones Udeogu in line with the judgement of the Supreme Court that declared Udeogus trial, conviction and sentence a nullity. The court further ordered that his trial should start afresh along side the former Director of Finance in Abia State GovernmentHouse, Ude Jones Udeogu in line with the judgement of the SupremeCourt that declared Udeogus trial, conviction and sentence a nullity. Orji is serving a 12-year jail term at the Correctional Service Centre in Kuje, Abuja for looting N7.65 billion belonging to the Abia State Government. application for his release. The former Governor now a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria hired a 12-man team of lawyers, to fileapplication for his release. on May 12 asking the court to nullify his conviction sentence and release him. The application pending before Justice Mohammed Liman was filedon May 12 asking the court to nullify his conviction sentence and releasehim. who was elevated to Court of Appeal, on December 5, 2019, convicted Kalu and a former Director of Finance in the Abia State Government House, Ude Jones Udeogu of the offence of fraud. Justice Mohammed Idriswho was elevated to Court of Appeal, on December 5, 2019, convicted Kalu and a former Director of Finance in the Abia State Government House, Ude Jones Udeogu of the offence of fraud. Udeogu was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. However, following Udeogus appeal, the Supreme Court on May 8, 2020 declared that the fiat issued to Justice Idris to conclude the case after he had been elevated to the Court of Appeal was a nullity. relates to the appellant (Udeogu)s conviction. The apex court set aside Idris verdict as itrelates to the appellant (Udeogu)s conviction. ordered that Udeogu should be released and the retrial of his case. Consequently, the courtordered that Udeogu should be releasedand the retrial of his case. However, Kalu who was not part of this appeal contended that no legal basis existed for his continued incarceration following the Supreme Courts judgment which declared the whole trial a nullity and freed Udeogu. Some of the most moving testimonies to the human condition have been produced by writers in jail. Rather than lapsing into a state of utter desolation though there were reasons enough for despair they survived those nights of terror and captivity by plunging deeper into the darkness and dawn of themselves, penning words that still move us to tears. My own favorites, in a list that could be considerably longer, are Boethius, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jean Genet, Oscar Wilde, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Breyten Breytenbach, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Nawal El Saadawi, Antonio Gramsci, Malcolm X, the Marquis of Sade and Ezra Pound. Obviously, to be in todays lockdown or self-isolation, with groceries delivered regularly and the Internet at our fingertips, is a far cry from the prolonged detention and cruelty that those imprisoned people, dreading the whip and the wardens, were subjected to. Even so, those writers serve as examples of how enforced solitude and extreme limitations to our right to roam freely can lead to self-discovery instead of paralysis, making sure each precious word wrested from silence has been earned and refined, polished like a stone by a river, over and over again until it is near perfection. Prosecutors may request arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong Samsung Group is trying to save Lee Jae-yong, the heir-apparent of the nation's largest conglomerate, from criminal charges including using suspected illegal methods in the transfer of the group's managerial control. Lee and some top-ranking executives asked the prosecution, Tuesday, to convene a committee of outside experts to review the validity of the potential indictment. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is expected to convene a panel composed of prosecutors and civic groups to decide whether to accept their demand. If the panel decides to convene the review committee, civic experts will determine whether to indict Lee and other Samsung officials and place them in custody. However, prosecutors sought arrest warrants for Lee and two former top executives, Choi Gee-sung and Kim Jong-joong,Thursday, on charges of illegal management transfer and accounting fraud. Lee faces suspicions of stock price manipulation and audit rule violations, among other offenses, according to the prosecution. The move comes amid concerns that the investigation might hit a snag due to Samsung's application for a review of the case by outside experts. The Prosecutorial Investigation Review Committee system was introduced in 2018, after the prosecution agreed to subject itself to outside scrutiny on cases of high public interest. However, the committee has held only eight meetings since its launch, and most of these were opened under the authority of the prosecutor general, not at the request of litigants. This is hardly surprising, however, considering few people under investigation would be bold enough to challenge the investigators. That shows how unusual the situation Lee and other Samsung executives are facing is. The critical point of the case is Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee's possible involvement in the suspected unlawful merger of two significant group affiliates Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries and the alleged accounting fraud by Samsung Biologics. Prosecutors think both the merger and accounting scandal were aimed at ensuring a stable handover of management control from Lee Kun-hee, the group's ailing patriarch, to his only son. In contrast, the business group is denying these allegations, saying such manipulations were neither probable nor possible. As the two sides' positions are sharply different, it is difficult to criticize Samsung for seeking an opportunity for an outside assessment. At stake now is how the civic panel and the review committee can make just and wise judgments based on a careful and objective analysis of the prosecution's investigation. Neither an unreasonable indictment nor a wrist-slapping on grave violations are desirable in this regard. Notably, the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic should not be allowed to affect their judgments. All this explains why the participants should draw a conclusion solely based on sustainable truth. First-time prescriptions of the drugs in retail pharmacies have remained higher than usual since the pandemic began, averaging about 2.25 times their previous weekday rate, according to the analysis. By the evening of March 19, the day the president first praised the drugs on television, the rate of first-time prescriptions had surged to more than 46 times the weekday average, the highest level to date. By contrast, on May 19 the day after Mr. Trump revealed in the late afternoon that he had begun taking one of the drugs the rate changed comparatively little: rising to about 2.8 times the average, the equivalent of about 400 prescriptions. The level remained slightly elevated for most of the week. The stark difference could be explained in part by the timing of the two announcements, said Dr. Walid Gellad, who leads the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. By May, the initial wave of fear and uncertainty about the virus had lessened, he said, and more was known from scientific studies about the questionable benefits even possible harm of taking the two drugs. Even the president taking one of the medications might not be enough to counter those developments. In addition, Dr. Gellad said, the pool of people inclined to take the drugs may have been depleted by May. People who were going to do this already did it, he said. They already have it in their cabinet. Rally participants demand justice for former victims of sex slavery under the Japanese military in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday. Twenty-three donors filed a suit against the House of Sharing, an NGO purporting to support victims of sex slavery, Thursday, demanding their money back. Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong A group of donors filed a civil suit against the House of Sharing, a non-government organization purportedly taking care of former sex slavery victims and working to bring justice for them, Thursday, demanding the return of their money. Twenty-three donors joined the legal action seeking the return of 48.21 million won. "We deeply deplore the fact that people in the organization were busy pocketing the money that we donated," they said in the suit filed with the Seoul Central District Court. "We hope this won't happen again." The group said it is preparing for another suit against the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council), another advocacy group marred by recent allegations of illegal accounting practices, embezzlement and the unethical collection and use of funds by its former director Yoon Mee-hyang. Yoon is now a lawmaker and left the group after she was selected as a proportional representation candidate in the April 15 general election. Among the 23 plaintiffs is a sexual assault victim who donated all of her 9 million won settlement money to the organization. This is the latest development in the spiraling controversy triggered by sexual slavery survivor Lee Yong-soo. In a press conference in early May, Lee criticized Yoon harshly for her illegal and unethical operation of the Korean Council. Lee's revelation gave a rise to additional allegations involving Yoon's accumulation of wealth and the operation of a shelter in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. Yoon denied any wrongdoings and the allegations are currently being investigated by prosecutors. The controversy also shed light on the House of Sharing, an organization located in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, which was facing allegations that it had faked a deceased former sex slave's will to keep her assets. The House of Sharing and the Korean Council were on the front line of Korea's fight to get justice for the former sex slaves for the Japanese military before and during the Second World War. The Korean Council, in particularly, successfully waged awareness campaigns in and outside Korea. Experts and observers expressed concerns that the recent controversy could ruin hard-won accomplishments in resolving the issue. Ahead of Rajya Sabha polls, two Congress leaders in Gujarat resign India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, June 04: Ahead of Rajya Sabha polls that is all set to take place on June 19, two Congress lawmakers in Gujarat have resigned for four seats from the state. On Wednesday, Congress MLAs Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi and handed over their resignations. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Trivedi told the reporters that he has accepted their resignations. He said that the MLAs have resigned voluntarily. Coronavirus outbreak: Study reveals lockdown-like situations better air quality in India It can be seen that Patel represented Karjan seat of Vadodara, while Chaudhary had won from Kaprada seat of Valsad. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News Earlier, three Congress MLAs met Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, triggering speculations of defection. According to a news agency, it is said that it identified these MLAs as Kirit Patel, Lalit Vasoya and Lalit Kagathara. These lawmakers, however, refuted the rumours and claimed that they went to make a representation about various issues related to coronavirus and lockdown. India should have taken cue from the East for COVID-19: Rajiv Bajaj to Rahul Gandhi The Rajya Sabha election for four seats in Gujarat was supposed to be held on March 26, but later it was scheduled to be held on June 19 in the wake of coronavirus outbreak and a series of lockdowns. While the Congress has fielded two candidates, BJP has fielded three, making it difficult for the Congress to win the second seat. It should be noted that in March, five Congress legislators had tendered their resignations days after the elections were announced. This had further reduced the Congress's chances of retaining both the seats. A 21-year-old woman from California insists that it's the police who are starting the violence at otherwise peaceful protests and she has the huge swollen lip to prove it. Zeelee Segura was protesting outside the La Mesa Police Department in La Mesa, California on Saturday, along with a crowd that was changing and holding up signs. But when the police began tear-gassing the group that had assembled, she ran away and was shot in the face with a rubber bullet when she turned back to check on her friend. Ouch: Zeelee Segura was protesting outside the La Mesa Police Department in La Mesa, California on Saturday and got hit with a rubber bullet This is what democracy looks like: She said it was peaceful and the crowd was just holding signs and chanting Zeelee spoke out about the incident on TikTok, sharing a video in which she shows off her startling injury. In the clip, which has been viewed 3.6 million times and counting, the young woman jokingly refers to her swollen lip as her 'fillers' though the horrific injury is no laughing matter. 'Today, I went to a peaceful protest. Keyword: peaceful,' she says. 'We were all just standing, chanting, hold our signs. 'And then the police were the only ones to get violent.' Speaking to BuzzFeed, she explained how the events quickly devolved from peaceful to scary. 'You could tell the officers were plotting something because at one point most of them were rushed back inside the station and came back with riot gear and gas masks on,' she said. 'You could tell the officers were plotting something because at one point most of them were rushed back inside the station and came back with riot gear and gas masks on,' she said Warning: The cops then warned the crowd that they were about to be tear gassed, with an officer even telling them that it would be 'an 8/10 on the pain scale' Violence: Zeelee was heading away from the scene when she turned around to check on her friend behind her. That's when she made eye contact with an officer who shot her in the face The cops then warned the crowd that they were about to be tear gassed, with an officer even telling them that it would be 'an 8/10 on the pain scale.' They stayed true to their promise and were soon covering the crowd with tear gas. As the chemical weapon hit the crowd, she said, they started running away which is when the cops followed through with rubber bullets. Zeelee was heading away from the scene when she turned around to check on her friend behind her, and in that moment, she got hurt. 'When I turned around, I looked an officer on the roof in the eyes and he shot me,' she said. 'It was weird. You have a quick second where you can see the bullet coming towards you, but its not enough time to react. 'I'm glad it was me though, because there was a pregnant woman within feet of me and a child,' she added. 'I'm glad it was me though, because there was a pregnant woman within feet of me and a child,' she said She said: 'I want people to know that protests begin in peace and then have the power to become violent. A lot of the violence begins with the police though' In her video, she expresses frustration that people feel compelled to be protesting for something as basic as civil rights in the first place. 'We come out here to protest for our rights which we shouldn't have to do. Why are we protesting for our rights?' she says. 'And the police are the only ones to get violent. If y'all aren't paying attention yet, y'all need to start paying attention, because we need everyone to f***in' fight this system.' She hopes that her video beings more attention to the cause, and gives viewers a better understanding of what the protest atmosphere is actually like. 'I want people to know that protests begin in peace and then have the power to become violent. A lot of the violence begins with the police though, and I am upset the narrative is the other way around,' she told BuzzFeed. SPRINGFIELD Springfield Preparatory Charter School has found a new permanent home on Roosevelt Avenue in East Springfield that will lead to an expansion of grades and enrollment. The new school, once renovations are completed, is planned at 2071 Roosevelt Ave., at the corner of Memorial Drive. This building project is a huge step for the Springfield Prep community, said Bill Spirer, founder and executive director of the charter school. We have been looking for a permanent space for our school community for many years, and were thrilled to have found a property that we know will serve us well. Friends of Springfield Preparatory Charter School Inc., a nonprofit supporter of the school, purchased the property this year, and will lease it to the charter school, said A. Craig Brown, a lawyer representing the company. The school plans to relocate from its current temporary building on Converse Street in Longmeadow to the one-story, 44,213-square-foot commercial building. The Converse Street site has been used for the past two years, and has 325 students in kindergarten through Grade 5, Spirer said Wednesday. The relocation will allow the school to expand over the next three years until there are 486 students in Grades K-8, he said. Despite being in temporary locations since the charter school was launched in 2015, our our teachers, students, and families have done exceptional work together, Spirer said. Our students are excelling, significantly outperforming state averages on the states MCAS test in all subjects, and last year, Springfield Prep was one of just a handful of schools named a Massachusetts School of Recognition because of the great work our students are doing, Spirer said in a prepared release. A full gut renovation is planned to create the classrooms, a cafeteria, break out spaces and offices, Spirer said. A building addition will house a gymnasium, and and there will be extensive site work to add playground space and landscaping, officials said. The new school site "will give our students the high-quality learning space they deserve, Spirer said. The Planning Board will consider approval of the site plans on June 17. Public comments are being accepted by the board in advance of the vote. Initially, Springfield Prep operated out of available classroom space at Veritas Preparatory Charter School on Pine Street. If the Japanese New Car Assessment Program (JNCAP) gives a car the designation of ASV+++ (Advanced Safety Vehicle plus three, the highest possible rating), you can bet your good money that its going to be one of the safest cars you can own. And with the independent safety agencys latest round of vehicle testing, two Toyota cars came out on top: the Toyota Alphard minivan and the RAV4 compact crossover SUV. global.toyota Since 2018, JNCAP has included collision damage mitigation brake system among its list of items for testing to see how well vehicles can detect pedestrians at night. This particular assessment item owes to the fact that in Japan, pedestrian fatalities relating to vehicular accidents often occur when the sun drops on the horizon. The change is also in accordance with the need to address the Rising Sun's growing population of senior citizens. The Alphard/Vellfire and RAV4, both equipped with the latest Toyota Safety Sense (TSS)a pre-collision safety system that detects pedestrians at nightreceived the highest rank of ASV+++ in JNCAP's assessment of preventive safety performance. global.toyota Meanwhile, the RAV4 and Raize small crossover (aka the mini-RAV4), equipped with the latest collision safety body and occupant restraint system, received five stars, the highest score a car could get in the collision safety performance evaluation. global.toyota Toyota expressed its awareness of the fact that fatal vehicle accidents continue to happen despite the numbers decreasing every year. Under the wish for the ultimate goal of zero traffic fatalities, Toyota is developing vehicles in consideration of various perspectives, such as advancing and expanding the use of a preventive safety package called Toyota Safety Sense, utilizing connected technology, and developing automated driving, to do our utmost in reducing as many traffic accidents as possible, the Japanese motoring giant stated. With the development of safer cars using a three-pillar approach, Toyota continues to promote educational activities for people, including holding awareness-raising activities at Toyota dealers that introduce customers to "Sapo-Toyo" (vehicles that support a safe and comfortable life with cars), and promoting maintenance of the traffic environment in an effort to provide customers with a safe and secure mobility society, the company added. Story continues The Toyota Alphard is available in the Philippine market for a starting price of P3.91 million. The same goes for the RAV4, which begins at P1.725 million. The Raize remains a Japan-only Toyota offering. Photos from Toyota Motor Corporation Also read: Toyota Cars Earn 5-Star Ratings in JNCAP Collision Safety Tests Toyota Issues Recall for Lexus RX350, Alphard Units Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday urged allies to make up a shortfall in funding to defeat the Islamic State movement despite a budget crunch after the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. The United States and Italy led a meeting of 31 nations on fighting the extremists, held virtually due to precautions to stop the virus. A US raid last year killed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shortly after President Donald Trump declared the group that once ruled vast swathes of Syria and Iraq had been defeated on the battlefield. "That said, our fight against ISIS continues, and will for the foreseeable future. We cannot rest," Pompeo told the conference. "We must continue to root out ISIS cells and networks and provide stabilization assistance to liberated areas in Iraq and Syria," he said. "It's true that the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on all of our budgets, but we urge your nations to pledge toward our goal of more than $700 million for 2020," he said. The funding drive by the coalition, which seeks to bring stability to Iraq and Syria, has raised only $200 million this year as of May 26, a State Department spokesperson said. The United States has pledged $50 million for northeastern Syria as well as $100 million in support for Iraq, whose new prime minister, Mustafa Kadhemi, has been welcomed by Washington. The Islamic State group at its height carried out grisly mass executions and enslaved non-Muslims as it inspired attacks around the West. Even as the extremists' presence has dwindled in its former stronghold, alarm has grown over the Islamic State group's influence in West Africa and Afghanistan. The United States blamed the Islamic State group for a horrific attack last month at a maternity hospital in Kabul, saying the militants wanted to scuttle a nascent peace process between the Taliban and the Kabul government. An Iraqi fighter with the Hashed al-Shaabi force inspects the site of the Islamic State group attack in Mukaishefah, about 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, in May 2020 BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks fell slightly on Thursday as markets took a breather after recent sharp gains on hopes for a swift economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Investors kept an eye on the Brexit talks which started on Tuesday and awaited the outcome of a European Central Bank meeting for directional cues. The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 25 points, or 0.38 percent, to 6,357 after gaining 2.6 percent on Wednesday. HSBC Holdings fell about 1 percent while Standard Chartered gained 0.8 percent after they backed China's imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong. Intermediate Capital Group tumbled 3.3 percent. The asset manager reported a rise in net assets, but profit fell 37 percent for the year ended 31 March. Rolls Royce Holding gave up 3.5 percent. The engineering giant, which makes jet engines, said it would slash more than 3,000 jobs in the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic. BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were moving lower as oil prices declined on concerns that major producers will be unable to agree to extend the record level of output cuts that have supported the recent gains. In economic releases, the U.K. construction sector downturn eased in May reflecting a gradual reopening of construction sites as lockdown measures introduced to curb the spread of coronavirus, were eased in England, survey data from IHS Markit showed. The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply construction Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 28.9 in May from 8.2 in April. This was the second-lowest score since February 2009. 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. Young people today need to know that there is hope" - Gerald Chertavian, Founder and CEO of Year Up As the United States continues to grapple with an economic crisis and as systemic racism continues to deny opportunity to people of color the nonprofit workforce development program Year Up announced that its Founder and CEO, Gerald Chertavian, will speak at todays Social Innovation Summit at 11 am ET on Closing the Opportunity Divide and how to increase access to meaningful careers for young adults without four-year college degrees. Young people today need to know that there is hope that their talent, determination and motivation to succeed can lead to a career and that there are programs and partnerships in place to provide them with pathways to opportunity, said Chertavian. At the same time, we recognize just how much work we still need to do to ensure a more inclusive, just and equitable country and economy. My talk will focus on how we can rebuild and recover, and how the private sector can lead moving forward. Launched in Boston in 2000, Year Up has served 30,000 young adults to date in cities across the U.S., with 90 percent of graduates employed or enrolled in postsecondary education within four months of completing the yearlong program, earning average starting salaries of $42,000/year. Almost half of Year Ups students are Black/African American, and almost one-third are Hispanic or Latino. The nonprofit partners with more than 250 leading companies to provide them with a pipeline of skilled, diverse talent. Chertavian will join other distinguished speakers and executives at the Social Innovation Summit on topics ranging from Future of Work; Education & STEM; Sustainability; Emergency Relief & Recovery; Tech for Good; Economic Inclusion; Impact Investing; Youth Development; Leading with Purpose; and Gender Equity. To view the full roster of speakers and detailed agenda, please visit https://www.socinnovation.com/. For more than 15 years, Social Innovation Summit has provided the ultimate platform for sharing best practices, early lessons gleaned, and rising challenges among those who share a commitment to enabling more inclusive and equitable communities. Social Innovation Summit serves as a critical convening, where the most important conversations take place and vital partnerships can be quickly developed and engaged, shared Zeev Klein, founder and curator. "This year's virtual Summit will deliver inspiring content designed to bring together those dedicated to amplifying purpose-driven work in this crisis environment. The Summit will take place in bite-size sessions from 11:00 am-1:00 pm ET and 2:00 pm-4:00 pm ET from June 2-4. Each morning and afternoon session will comprise of a variety of formats including digital main stage conversations, interactive breakouts/workshops, and VIP networking. The event is supported by sponsors including: AARP, Best Buy, Blackbaud, BlackRock, Comcast NBCUniversal, Discovery Education, eBay, Fidelity Charitable, Horizon Therapeutics, Kauffman Foundation, Lyft, Microsoft, NAF, NIKE, Postmates, Prudential Financial, PwC, Starbucks, The Giving Back Fund, UBS, and WE Communications. Attendees can register for free here. About Year Up Year Up is an award-winning, national 501(c)3 organization that enables motivated young adults to move from minimum wage to meaningful careers in just one year by providing the skills, experience, and support they need to reach their full potential. Through a one-year, intensive program, Year Up utilizes a high-expectations, high-support model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, coursework eligible for college credit, and corporate internships at more than 250 top companies. Its holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development to enable young adults with a viable path to economic self-sufficiency and meaningful careers. Year Up has served more than 30,000 young adults since its founding in 2000, and expects to serve 5,000 young adults this year. Year Up has presence in 27 U.S. cities, including Arizona, Baltimore, Bay Area, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Atlanta, Greater Boston, Greater Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, the National Capital Region, New York City/Jersey City, Pittsburg, Puget Sound, Rhode Island, South Florida, Tampa Bay, and Wilmington. Year Up has been voted one of the Best Non-Profits to Work For by The NonProfit Times. To learn more, visit http://www.yearup.org, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. About Social Innovation Summit Operating at the nexus of technology, philanthropy, and business, Social Innovation Summit brings together the brightest minds across industries, sectors, and generations to catalyze inspired partnerships that are disrupting social impact. We have worked diligently to curate and convene a social good community that is an influential and action-oriented agent for impact, and a unique platform in which the norm is challenged, the new is embraced, and the unexpected is celebrated. After 17 successful summits in Chicago, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and the UN in New York, online registration is now open for the Summit's three-day virtual experience on June 2-4, 2020 that will include main stage programming, interactive breakout sessions, and VIP opportunities. For more information, please visit http://www.socinnovation.com. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-03 23:27:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The closing meeting of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) Britain should recognize and respect the fact that Hong Kong has returned to China, and should not use the Sino-British Joint Declaration as an excuse to make irresponsible remarks, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday urged Britain to stop meddling in affairs of Hong Kong which is a special administrative region of China. Britain should recognize and respect the fact that Hong Kong has returned to China, and should not use the Sino-British Joint Declaration as an excuse to make irresponsible remarks, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing. Zhao made the comments in response to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's remarks that the "authoritarian" national security legislation in Hong Kong was in breach of the "one country, two systems" and "this is a moment for China to step back from the brink" and respect Hong Kong's autonomy and its own international obligations. Britain's historical link with Hong Kong arises from the period of invasion, colonialism and unequal treaties. Authoritarian is "precisely the word to describe its colonial rule in Hong Kong," Zhao said, adding that it is after the return of Hong Kong that the residents came to enjoy unprecedented rights and freedoms. "To quote its own words, we urge the UK to 'step back', reject the Cold-War mindset and the colonial mentality, recognize and respect the fact that Hong Kong has already returned to China as a special administrative region," he said. A resident signs in a street campaign in support of national security legislation for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Hong Kong, south China, May 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Gang) The National People's Congress's decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security is part of China's internal affairs that allows no external interference, Zhao said. National security is the very foundation for the existence and development of all countries, and the core and fundamental element of national sovereignty, he added. The Sino-British Joint Declaration is all about China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong. The basic policies regarding Hong Kong declared by China in the Joint Declaration are China's statement of policies, not commitment to Britain or an international obligation as some claim, he said. As China resumed exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the Chinese government administers the SAR in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Meanwhile, all rights and obligations of the British side under the Joint Declaration were completed. "You cannot find a single word or article in the Joint Declaration that confers on the UK any Hong Kong-related responsibility after the handover," Zhao said. "The UK has no sovereignty, no jurisdiction and no right to supervise Hong Kong. As such, on no ground can it cite the Joint Declaration to arbitrarily comment on Hong Kong affairs or interfere in China's domestic affairs," he said. The national security legislation for Hong Kong is an essential step to safeguard national sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and the foundation of "one country, two systems." Only when national security is ensured can "one country, two systems" and Hong Kong's stability and prosperity be guaranteed. Zhao said this legislation only targets a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardize national security and has no impact whatsoever on Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents or the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong. "What threatens Hong Kong's stability and prosperity is precisely some external forces colluding with local anti-China rioters in conducting activities in the SAR that jeopardize China's national security," he said. He said China deplores and opposes the unwarranted comments and accusations by the British side, and has lodged stern representations with Britain. "It should abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's domestic affairs," Zhao said. "Otherwise, there will be consequences." LANSING, Mich., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce announced it is partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on a national initiative to address inequality of opportunity. The Michigan Chamber will join the U.S. Chamber's national townhall event on June 25 where business and community leaders will discuss concrete actions that can be taken by government and the private sector to address inequality through education, employment, entrepreneurship, and criminal justice reform. As a partner on this important initiative, the Michigan Chamber will host local and industry dialogues to further the discussion. "As a business advocacy organization, representing 5,000 members and over 1 million employees across Michigan, we too stand in solidarity against racism and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in our society and economy," said Jim Holcomb, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Michigan Chamber. "As part of the human race, it is imperative that we, collectively, address this issue with a robust plan of action." "The moral case for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace is indisputable, and there's overwhelming evidence that greater diversity benefits the American economy, businesses, communities and employees," said U.S. Chamber President Suzanne Clark. "We are proud to partner with the Michigan Chamber on this initiative and help develop a robust plan of action." The Michigan Chamber is a statewide business organization that represents approximately 5,000 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. The Chamber represents businesses of every size and type in all 83 counties of the state. It was established in 1959 to be an advocate for Michigan job providers in the legislative, political and legal process. www.michamber.com. SOURCE Michigan Chamber of Commerce Related Links https://www.michamber.com Either call them out BY NAME or keep it! Reply Thread Link Thank you. If you have nothing of value to add to the conversation, don't get involved. Reply Parent Thread Link Right?! Shes saying others should be called out yet she wont call them out? Like why even say anything. Reply Parent Thread Link I swear these people just want attention lmao. Wtf is the point of this, like "don't be so mean to her because I know a few names which I won't reveal that were also not nice." Nobody can just sit there, huh? Reply Parent Thread Link we all know she means chord she WAS attention-seeking tho and suddenly got scared of repercussions. we have to laugh. Reply Parent Thread Link Really? I would have guessed the pedo guy. But I guess since hes dead, calling him out would be pointless.. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link chord? What's the tea on him? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link mte I hate this subtweeting shit Reply Parent Thread Link FUCKING RIGHT Reply Parent Thread Link "I'm going to leave that to my male allies" Oh okay, so we're going to have to wait a long time Edited at 2020-06-04 03:02 pm (UTC) So call them out, we're waiting."I'm going to leave that to my male allies"Oh okay, so we're going to have to wait a long time Reply Thread Link lol right? thanks for the *least* information. can't help but think about black celebrities who weren't worried about losing their careers for speaking out Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah they love deflecting with white men. I see on here all the time too! And on /r/popheads Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah the pseudo-feminist~ attempts are kinda of annoying especially when there is overwhelming evidence that someone was terrible. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes. It annoyed me that in one of the Alison Roman posts some people were saying, "What about the men, though?" I mean yes, but as an Asian woman I was beyond happy that that white demon didn't get away with trashing other Asian women and stealing Asian recipes, and to have posters come in and say that really left a bad taste in my mouth. Reply Parent Thread Link It's especially annoying here because Lea was called out directly by a former coworker who she had mistreated, specifically another woman. Making it about how men need to be held to account too, while refusing to name them when you were a whole producer on the show, is some white deflection bs. Reply Parent Thread Link So how about YOU call them out? Reply Thread Link Who were these people?? Call them out or stfu. Reply Thread Link Lol I opened this gif in another tab, and when the uploader labeled it HD they weren't kidding! Reply Parent Thread Link I checked because you said something. Damn. Reply Parent Thread Link When I posted it, I was like whoa that's truly HD lol Reply Parent Thread Link lol i did too after i read this. i was like okay? it just looks like it did on ontd? and then i clicked the expand button and WHEW that is hi-def Reply Parent Thread Expand Link the Glee set was just a mess. Reply Thread Link I wasnt referring to anybody on set specifically. yeah now is really a great time to make wishy washy blanket statements like this. she must also think it's time we have this conversation. Reply Thread Link You cant excuse someones actions on generalities. show me the receipts Reply Parent Thread Link shut the fuck up dumbass. i know there are some shitty people in this world but i just cannot comprehend being in the 0.1% that make it in entertainment and not just floating to work and smiling all damn day. id be kissing every fans feet if i had someone giving a fuck about my ass. the vilest of the vile. Reply Thread Link I truly cannot get over using "actually, LOTS of people were bad, not just this one!" as an excuse. Way to tell on the bosses for completely not doing their jobs. And way to admit you can't actually defend Lea at all. lmao what a mess Reply Thread Link While not the point, I do think a lot of bosses prefer it this way. There isn't any collective bargaining this way. I think of how much the Friends cast got to run shit because they realized how much power they have as a unit versus as individuals. If things had been rosy on the set, it would've gave the cast a lot more power. Granted, this is true for EVERYWHERE and not just glee. Reply Parent Thread Link That's...diabolical, but it makes sense. The tour they did once the show got super popular was apparently really grueling and time-consuming; if they'd been more united, maybe they could've gotten a better schedule. But no, they were busy hating each other (and/or sleeping together, allegedly). mess. Reply Parent Thread Link You can't say "men need to be called out too!" and then not call those men out. Reply Thread Link It was probably Ryan Murphy and Goops husband Brad. Reply Thread Link definitely. Naya got demoted for confronting Goops husband for LM's antics. Reply Parent Thread Link She worked on the third season, so the cast list is quite short compared to the amount of actors by the end of the series.... Reply Thread Link Marti Noxon is the WORST. Also I'm a little disappointed in Amber Riley. She did a live saying that Lea Michele contacted her yesterday and the she (Amber) now doesn't give a fuck about the situation and it's like, you're the one who responded to the tweet and seemingly confirmed it. This isn't just a ~Glee gossip~ thing, it's about calling out this racist who has basically gone around terrorizing their POC coworkers for years. And also, if your black coworker was harassed, you should most definitely give a fuck. I dunno, maybe I am just aggravated in general but it felt like such a sudden cop out. Edited at 2020-06-04 03:02 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link i know i read that she made sure to clarify that she wasn't saying lea was racist, people just assumed that because of what's going on and that it was a black person that spoke out, but i didn't hear about lea contacting her Reply Parent Thread Link This statement is almost as useless as Lea's "apology." Reply Thread Link So I guess Lea Michele really did know who to suck up to, eh? This is an exceptionally bad take. Samantha Ware specifically stepped forward because Lea Michele was claiming she was an ally when she bullied her in a racist way. She specifically included the fact that it was racist in her original tweet. To try to co-opt this into a "well some men are bad and people in the know know who I'm talking about" message is so vile. Reply Thread Link She is being silenced and spoken over all over again, I can't imagine how traumatic that is especially as the initial thread was saying how seeing people post about this performatively was triggering. The whole topic of racial bullying and harassment is being derailed for "unpleasant coworkers" Reply Parent Thread Link What pushed former Defense Secretary James Mattis over the edge, to denounce President Donald Trump, in the strongest possible terms? Only the former general knows for sure, but a clue is provided by the title of his statement: "In Union There Is Strength." Another clue is provided by the most important words in his text: "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us." With those words, Mattis is signaling a national challenge that goes back to the founding era, that almost derailed the American project from the very start, that helped start the Civil War, and that has had to be managed with great care during every national crisis. Shortly after the American Revolution, the new nation was at grave risk of falling apart. To many people, diverse affiliations and identities made it difficult to speak of the "United States of America." Under the Articles of Confederation, intense loyalty to states, and competition among states, seemed to outstrip loyalty to the nation. Prominent politicians fueled the divisions. The Constitution was designed to solve that problem. You can see what its framers had in mind if you look an early draft of the document. It began: "We the People of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York," and so forth, "do ordain, declare, and establish the following Constitution." The final version has a radically different start: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union . . ." The early draft suggests that the Constitution is created by the states; it sees "We the People" as citizens of their states, first and foremost. The final text emphasizes national citizenship. And rather than going directly from "We the People" to the act of establishing the Constitution, it declares the purposes of that act - and gives pride of place to the formation of "a more perfect Union." That project was designed to overcome disparate allegiances, interests and ideologies, producing "factions," which James Madison regarded as an omnipresent threat. More specifically, the institution of slavery was a moral as well as practical threat to the existence of that more perfect union - and of course its legacy is at the heart of some of our divisions today. Mattis's concrete concern is what he sees as the misuse of the military to maintain public order. As he understands it, that task "rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them." In his view, our response to protests should not be militarized. The power of Mattis's text lies in linking that claim with the broader idea of national unity. If the military is deployed too readily, we will see "a conflict - a false conflict - between the military and civilian society." That is dangerous; it is what we see in authoritarian societies. Mattis views a conflict between the military and civilian society, concocted during a series of protests over racial injustice, as distinctly threatening to national unity. There is a reason that, by tradition, the military is nonpartisan. Whether generals or captains or privates, soldiers protect the American people, not a party or a politician. Mattis refers explicitly to the Constitution. But Madison himself was deeply concerned about the potential weakness of "parchment barriers," used to protect "against the encroaching spirit of power." In 1788, Madison asked: "Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks - no form of government can render us secure." The very project of self-government depends on a shared understanding that, for all of our divisions, Americans are engaged in a common enterprise - and that national leaders are committed, above everything else (including their own self-interest), to that enterprise. When the president does not share that commitment, we are in a wretched situation.Mattis is aiming to get us out of it. Who will join him? - - - This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Sunstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. From famous intellectuals to ordinary pensioners, Turkeys senior citizens are up in arms against a government decision to keep them under curfew over the COVID-19 pandemic while greatly relaxing restrictions for others this week. Turkey ushered in a new normal June 1 as most businesses reopened and intercity travel resumed, with the government eager to revive an economy that was already ailing before the pandemic. Yet citizens aged 65 and above, excluding business owners, remain under a curfew introduced March 21, 10 days after Turkey confirmed its first COVID-19 case. A similar restriction remains in place for minors younger than 18. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attributed the ban to the higher risks the coronavirus poses to the elderly, though Ankaras relaxation plan appears to prioritize the economy and has sparked concerns that the current downtick in COVID-19 cases might become a second contagion wave. The governments justification has hardly convinced senior citizens, who are allowed to go out for only six hours on Sunday afternoons. Medical specialists, too, have called for a review of the ban, warning that prolonged immobility and social isolation could trigger health issues for the elderly. Well-known intellectuals are at the forefront of the rising clamor. Poet and academic Ataol Behramoglu is one of them. In a video message June 1, the 78-year-old said, Am I supposed to start some business or open a grocery to be able to go out? How is such nonsense possible? Im calling on all scientists and people of the arts to speak out loudly against this nonsense. In remarks to Al-Monitor, Behramoglu decried the curfew as an illogical, unethical and absurd measure that lacks any legal and rational grounding. Urging a full abolition of the restrictions, he said, One can go out if they run a shop, but being a poet or a musician is of no importance you cannot go out. Arent musicians working as well? The poet disputed the argument that the ban was for the good of senior citizens. Everyone is at risk. Those running the country are in the risk group as well, he said. Referring to the free hours on Sundays, he grumbled, Its like allowing one to walk their dog on Sundays. Its humiliating and very disgraceful. He urged his peers to protest by boycotting the free hours this Sunday. The sense of being ostracized and discriminated against has been rife among seniors ever since they became the first to face stay-at-home restrictions more than 70 days ago. In the early days of the curfew, videos of young people bullying and ridiculing elderly people who were forced to go out, including a young man who posed as a law enforcement official, sparked a widespread outcry, leading to judicial action against some perpetrators and apologies from state officials. Are we plague-ridden or what? exclaimed actress Gulsen Tuncer in a recent program on Arti TV as she lent support to Behramoglus call on senior citizens to stand up against the ban. Burhan Ozturk, a 65-year-old retired public servant from Izmir, told Al-Monitor, I dont feel like I'm in a risk group. I feel one thing only and its the feeling of being ostracized. We are the group that knows best how to protect itself. If we are not allowed to go out, then no one should be, including [government] administrators. For many senior citizens, the curfew means hardships in meeting their daily needs. We are allowed to go out on Sundays only. But banks and post offices are closed on Sundays, said Ozturk. How are we supposed to withdraw money? How are we supposed to pay bills? Are we supposed to plead for help from neighbors and friends? Where is the logic in this? Referring to the revolutionary leftist movement in Turkey in the late 1960s, Ozturk added, We are the 68 generation and the fire of revolt is still burning inside us. Theyd better not bring us to the point of rebellion. For Alaattin Deniz, a septuagenarian from Istanbul, social isolation is the hardest to cope with. What I miss the most are my children and grandchildren, he told Al-Monitor, adding that he bought a pet bird to keep him company. I stay at home, talking to the bird, but it doesnt understand me, he joked. Some senior citizens are planning demonstrations during their free hours on Sunday. Protests are being planned in the Black Sea city of Zonguldak, according to lawyer Senih Ozay, but given the mounting frustration, they are likely to spread to other cities as well. In a bid to have the restrictions revoked, Ozay has petitioned both Turkeys Constitutional Court and the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the measures are disproportionate and discriminatory. Thanks to the law office he runs, the 80-year-old Ozay is no longer subject to the curfew, but home confinement has already taken a toll. I have difficulty walking and Im using a cane. There is something odd with my bones, he said. I couldnt do anything at home. I had lost weight, now Ive put on weight again. I have diabetes. Banning people over 65 from going out amounts to destroying them. As the seniors plot their resistance confined to their homes, other Turks are flocking to shopping centers and seaside resorts. Banks should give their agents or business correspondents a fixed remuneration to help them tide over the losses they have incurred due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Business Correspondents Federation of India said in a press statement on June 4. "There is a demand from the federation towards banks to provide their agents Rs 5,000 per month per agent for the next six months starting from April 2020, to compensate for the income loss they have incurred during the lockdown. Further their performance criteria can also be relaxed so the business becomes viable," said Seema Prem, chief executive officer, FIA Global. BCFI is the industry body for business correspondents or 'bank mitras' who provide rural payments, account opening and other basic banking services to customers. Despite lockdown, the business correspondent business of banks continued to remain operational. Their main job was to process cash outs for rural poor who received support money from the government in form of Direct Benefit Transfers. Explaining the current remuneration structure, Prem said agents have a fixed income and a variable component which is determined by the number of transactions they process. For the fixed component the agents need to be online for atleast 21 days in a month and undertake minimum 100 transactions monthly. Some of these criteria could be relaxed, she said. "We have engaged multiple times with the department of financial services and the finance ministry with regards to these demands from the industry," said Sasidhar Thumuluri, Chairman, BCFI. 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 While the BC industry has played an important role in disbursing DBT payments to the last mile, Sunil Kularni, chief business mentor at Oxigen Payments said that remittance volumes have fallen drastically. As of April, the domestic remittance business was down more than 70 percent, he said. "We are hoping to see some resumption with economic activity showing early signs of pick up, till then our major business has happened through AePS cash outs and DBT transfers," Kulkarni said. he surge in cash out transactions have not helped in the financial recovery of these businesses, since its allied offerings like ticket bookings, hotel reservations, bill payments and recharges to a certain extent have been affected by the nationwide lockdown. Prem pointed out that there was a decline in viable transactions and more small value transactions happened through the network, which caused incomes for agents to fall drastically. Some of these companies have also looked at coronavirus as an opportunity and has forayed into adjacent business opportunities. Anand Kumar Bajaj, chief executive officer of PayNearby, said he has created a JobsNearby portal through which migrant workers who have lost their jobs in cities can get placed at local industrial units. "If a worker was getting Rs 20,000 in Mumbai and saving nothing, may be he can find a job in Khagaria, Bihar for Rs 8000 but still manage to survive in these tough times, that is what we are trying to do through this initiative," Bajaj said. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Many states are still undecided about reopening of schools amid a spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases owing to the easing of lockdown restrictions and safety concerns from several parents organisations. Odisha government on Thursday decided not to reopen schools till end-July because of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, Haryana government announced on Thursday that schools would be reopened in a phased manner. Classes 10, 11, and 12 will resume from July 1, classes 6, 7, 8, and 9 on June 15 and the primary section in August, state education minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar said. Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttarakhand governments are considering reopening schools from July 1. Bihar and Jharkhand governments have indicated that the summer vacations could be extended by another month, as a growing number of Covid-19 positive cases are being reported on a daily basis following the return of stranded migrant workers from across the country because of the easing of lockdown restrictions. On May 25, the National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) had recommended to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) that the secondary and higher secondary classes should be allowed from mid-July, if the lockdown is fully lifted. Several parents have started an online petition on change.org, urging the Central and the state governments not to reopen schools until a vaccine for Covid-19 is developed or a state is free of the viral outbreak. Children are highly susceptible to contracting SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19. How can schools ensure strict social distancing norms and other preventive measures? asked Kanika Khybri, a Delhi-based parent of a five-year-old child. On May 30, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said that the schools and other educational institutions could reopen in consultation with the state governments from July, but did not specify any date. Though some states such as Karnataka and Uttarakhand are looking at reopening the schools from July 1, several parent bodies have opposed the move. On Thursday, Siddaramaiah, Leader of Opposition in Karnataka, urged the BS Yediyurappa-led government not to reopen schools for another two months, echoing a similar plea made by several parent organisations in the state. The probe comes as the renegade military commander pursues international oil deals to help fund his siege of Tripoli. The United States and other world powers are trying to determine if Libyan renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar tried to raise funds through oil dealings with Emirati brokers and Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US, European and Libyan officials According to the Journals interview with unnamed officials, the United Nations and the official Libyan government are also probing a Dubai-based ship charterer for possibly helping Haftar market fuel in the Mediterranean. The US is also looking into a trip Haftar might have made to Caracas, Venezuelas capital. Officials reportedly told the WSJ, Haftar was in South America to broker oil and fuel deals. Data from Flight Radar24 shows the generals private jet was in Caracas as recently as April 24. Venezuela is struggling to sell its crude oil and import petrol and other petroleum products the country needs. Further complicating matters, the US has imposed economic sanctions on the Latin American nation. The Haftar probes are part of a wider international campaign aimed at halting the militia leaders oil sales, which he is hoping to turn into a key source of funding for his 14-month insurgent assault on Libyas capital city of Tripoli, the Journal reports. Haftars faction, the Libyan National Army, did not return the WSJs request for comment. It's been 10 years since Azimjan Askarov was arrested by Kyrgyz security forces in connection with ethnic Uzbek-Kyrgyz clashes that first erupted in the city of Osh. The violence left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. His wife, Khadicha Askarova, told RFE/RL that in that time "our grandchildren have been born. Some of them have passed away." A court in Bishkek recently upheld the ethnic Uzbek human rights activist's life sentence, despite international pressure for his release. United States-China relations are reaching a new low every passing day, as both countries continue to engage in war of words and the States major push for economic restrictions on many Chinese companies. Reuters In a latest move that will not go down well with Beijing, the U.S Commerce Department said Wednesday that new restrictions on 33 Chinese firms and institutions will take effect on Friday, June 5. The agency had announced last month it was adding them to an economic blacklist for helping China spy on its minority Uighur population or because of ties to weapons of mass destruction and China's military. AFP The move marked the Trump administration's latest efforts to crack down on companies whose goods may support Chinese military activities and to punish Beijing for its treatment of Muslim minorities. The firms and institutions are being added to the U.S. "entity list," which restricts sales of U.S. goods shipped to them and some more limited items made abroad with U.S. content or technology. Companies can apply for licenses to make the sales, but they must overcome a presumption of denial. The move will restrict the sales of US goods to the companies and institutions on the list, as well as certain items made abroad with US content or technology. Companies can apply for licenses to make the sales, but they must overcome a presumption of denial. AFP Seven companies and two institutions were listed for being complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in Chinas campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and others, the Commerce Department said. Two dozen other companies, government institutions and commercial organizations were added over Washington allegations that they supported procurement of items for use by the Chinese military. The blacklisted companies focus on artificial intelligence and facial recognition, markets in which U.S. chip companies such as Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Intel Corp (INTC.O) have been heavily investing. Bharti Airtel has clarified that it works with digital and OTT platforms from time-to-time, but has no other activity to report. The statement came in response to an agency report which claimed Seattle-based retail giant Amazon is planning to buy stake in the Indian telecom major. "We routinely work with all digital and OTT players and have deep engagement with them to bring their products, content and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that there is no other activity to report," Bharti Airtel said in a statement. ALSO READ: Airtel's stake sale to get ready for a bigger fight with Jio News agency Reuters had reported that Amazon is in early-stage talks to buy stake worth $2 billion in Bharti Airtel. This translates to 5 per cent stake based on the current market valuation of the Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator. The report also talked about the possibility of Airtel and Amazon agreeing on a commercial transaction where the former would offer the latter's products at cheaper rates. On May 26, promoter firm Bharti Telecom sold its 2.75 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for Rs 8,443 crore to institutional investors in the secondary market. The sale proceeds are to be fully utilised to repay debt at Bharti Telecom. Bharti Enterprises and SingTel, which own Bharti Telecom, will continue to hold a majority stake in Bharti Airtel at 56.23 per cent after the transaction. ALSO READ: Bharti Infratel appoints Pooja Jain as new CFO; to replace S Balasubramanian This partial stake sale was meant to fortify the promoter firm Bharti Telecom in the current times of upheaval for companies across the board and prepare the company for a bigger battle with Mukesh Amabnai-led Reliance Jio. The digital arm of Reliance Industries, Jio Platforms, has secured some significant deal with Facebook, KKR, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic, all within a month. Airtel has also shared plans to integrate tech and telecom to build a digital platform to take on Jio's ambitions of evolving into a tech and consumer company. To scale up its digital platforms business, Airtel has been betting on four pillars: data, distribution, payments, and network. ALSO READ: Bharti Telecom sells 2.75% stake in Airtel for Rs 8,433 crore Foremost Civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked the Inspector General of Police Force Mohammed Adamu to ensure that the take over of the prosecution of the notorious kidnapping gangster whose arrest led to the violent killings of three well trained police investigators in Taraba State, Alhaji Hamisu Bala (Wadume) by the controversial Federal Attorney General and minister of justice Alhaji Abubakar Malami does not end up like some other high profile cases that was similarly hijacked by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and some of them watered down and withdrawn. HURIWA recalled that on Wednesday, Shuaibu Labaran, a lawyer from the Ministry of Justice told the Federal High court, Abuja division which was handling the matter that the minister of justice and the Federal Attorney General Abubakar Malami is now prosecuting the matter. HURIWA stated that going by the philosophical fact that the first impression in everything is critical, it follows that the FIRST STEP OF THE FEDERAL ATTORNEY GENERAL in this take over of the case is suspicious given that it is inexplicable that the Chief law officer feigned ignorance of the details of the matter his office has now taken over when his office asked for adjournment of this sensitive matter that has taken ages to be taken to the Federal High Court of Nigeria to enable his office to study the papers before re-arraigning the defendants. The Rights group said this is a delay tactics which is a grave threat to justice and fairness because the families of the three police detectives killed by soldiers on the alleged orders of Captain Ahmed Tijani Balarabe have not found the SWIFT JUSTICE THAT THEY DESERVE CONSTITUTIONALLY BY SEEING THAT THE SUSPECTS ARE SWIFTLY PROSECUTED AND PUNISHED SEVERELY FOR THIS HEINOUS CRIME. HURIWA which criticised the take over of this matter by the Federal Attorney General and minister of justice who began badly by praying the court for a short adjournment, is absolutely suspicious because there are insinuations that the case may suffer the fate that other politically sensitive corruption cases went through in the hands of the Federal Attorney General to such a ridiculous extent that some of them were eventually withdrawn from the Court of law in what is considered political negotiated settlements in which the Chief law officer relied on the constitutional power of withdrawal to discontinue these cases to the consternation of patriotic Nigerians. "HURIWA is absolutely against this delay tactics and the fact that the Nigerian government has yet to arrest all the suspects and the accusation that the major culprit has been sent on military course does not seat well in the conscience of the nation and is offensive to the core soul of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. "Why the take over by the AGF of this matter? Why did the AGF not take over the case of the Billionaire kidnapper arrested in Lagos who is being prosecuted by the Police? Why did the Minister of justice not take over the prosecution of Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike alias Evans who is being prosecuted by the NPF? What is the interest of the Nigerian government or is it because the kidnapping chief suspect is known to have built a big mosque in his part of Taraba and since some elements in the Federal Government are seen as Islamists therefore they are packaging a soft landing for the once beloved patron of their religious sect in Taraba state which is about 95% a Christian State?" HURIWA warned that the Nigerian Police Force must know that generations yet unborn will not forgive the treachery and betrayal should this matter be swept under the carpets like some other matters taken over midway by the Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice just as HURIWA asked the Federal Attorney General to explain why he is stepping in to prosecute this matter. HURIWA stated that: "Now the case is almost half way and suddenly the Attorney General of the federation from nowhere showed up to take over the matter and stated that he has received the file and noticed that there are about 20 defendants from the charge. The AGF is now playing hide-and-seek which purely is to delay the matter by affirming that there is need for him to review the charge and also liaise with the arresting agency to ensure that all the defendants are brought to court." HURIWA said: "Although the AGF represented by an official assured that the ministry would see that justice is done, We as well as right thinking Nigerians remembering what other cases taken over by the Justice minister had suffered are not comfortable with this politically arranged take over. Although Justice Binta Nyako adjourned the matter until June 8 for re-araignment, We are by this statement demanding that the POLICE FORCE OF NIGERIA SHOULD SET UP A LEGAL TEAM HEADED BY AT LEAST A SENIOR ADVOCATE OF NIGERIA TO TEAM UP WITH THE OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PROSECUTE THIS MATTER TO AVOID POLITICAL Compromised." HURIWA recalled that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had filed a 16-count charge on terrorism, murder, kidnapping and illegal arms running against Wadume and the others.They were first arraigned on March 16.Count one of the charge read, That you, Alhaji Hamisu Bala, 33, aka Wadume; Capt. Ahmed Tijjani Balarabe; ASP Aondona Iorbee; Insp. Aliyu Dadje; Auwalu Bala; Uba Bala; Ahmad Suleiman; Bashir Waziri; Zubairu Abdullahi; Rayyanu Abdul and others now at large, between February and April 2019 at Takum and Ibi, Taraba, within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting in concert, conspired together to commit felony, to wit: acts of terrorism, by attacking and kidnapping one Usman Garba, aka Mayo, at his filling station in Takum, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.All suspects were also accused of possessing six AK-47 rifles and dealing in prohibited firearms." HURIWA stated that Like most Nigerians, we recall some of the high profile Controversial Cases Taken Over By Nigerias Attorney General, Malami and these cases either were muddied up and thrown away or the Justice minister wrongly exercised the constitutional power of nolle proseque as provided for in section 174(c) of the Nigerian constitution. HURIWA recalled that the recent of such high profile matters taken over by the AGF are the money laundering trial of Akinola Ogunlewe being handled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. "Another case taken over by Malami was the N25bn fraud trial of Danjuma Goje, former governor of Gombe State. The case was stalled when in an emergency hearing before Justice Babatunde Quadiri EFCC counsel, Mr Wahab Shittu, told the court that the agency was withdrawing from the case and handing it over to the office of the Attorney-General for continuation. The AGF however, stated that having thoroughly reviewed the matter found no prima facie case while adding that it was weak, withdrew the charges against Goje from the court in exercise of his constitutional power." "Another of such corruption and controversial case taken over by the office of the AGF as we vividly recalled and even reported by the media was the alleged debt of MTN's N242bn and $1.3bn for its business malpractices in the country.HURIWA recalled that MTN announced that it received through its counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), a letter from the AGF formally withdrawing his demand for N242,244,452,215.97 and USD$1,283,610,357.86 alleged revenue indebtedness.According to MTN, while the AGF had dropped his demand, he, however, referred the matter to the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Custom Service to resolve the controversy." HURIWA recalled that the MTN matter has since died an unnatural death. In 2017, Malami reportedly withdrew a corruption case involving three former officials -- Nasiru Ingawa (former Special Adviser on Sure-P to former Governor Ibrahim Shema), Abdulazeez Shinkafi (former director of finance and Account at the Katsina State Sure-P department) and Bello Bindawa (former Chief Store Officer in the Katsina State civil service)". Hunger is not just a scarcity of food, but the manmade unavailability of food to the most vulnerable sections of human society globally. Claiming more lives than epidemics like tuberculosis or fatal diseases like HIV, the cycle of hunger is a vicious one that passes terminal consequences from a suffering mother to her new-born. On World Hunger Day, celebrated on May 28th every year, we will shine the light of some major facts about hunger that has its tentacles spread worldwide. 1. 11% of people are hungry worldwide, despite producing surplus food Though the world collectively produces enough and more food to feed the global population, over 820 million people suffer from hunger each year. There was a steady decline in this figure for a decade, but the slant of world hunger is moving upward, affecting around 11 percent of the people worldwide. The estimated low record of 775 million undernourished in 2014, had swelled to 820 million by 2018. 2. Hunger is highest in Asia and the Pacific Asia and the Pacific are where over 520 million malnourished people live. Ethiopia, Mali, and Ethiopia in sub-Saharan Africa have about 243 million people faced with hunger, while the tally springs to several million even in Latin America and the Caribbean, where men, women, and children struggle to find just enough meal to fill the stomach. 3. Positive changes in these countries Countries that have seen some improvement in these stats and achieved success in pulling a large segment of their hungry population out of this condition in recent years are Brazil, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Cuba, Georgia, Thailand, Kuwait, Venezuela, Saint Vincent, and Grenadines 4. School children in Africa are going hungry It is reported that about 66 million children attending primary classes, go to school in a hungry stomach in the developing countries, with Africa alone being home to approximately 23 million such deprived children. 5. Chronic hunger is resulting in serious health issues Story continues People subjected to chronic hunger for prolonged periods are susceptible to recurring ailments, and show low productivity and developmental disabilities, yet, find themselves compelled to exhaust all their scanty physical and economic resources to put a square meal on the table. 6. Most of the hungry people are women and girls Women and girls constitute about sixty percent of the worlds population forced into hunger. The reasons backing this discouraging statistic range from patriarchal social-structures that leave little to nothing for women in families that are financially week. Having limited access to financial independence, job opportunities, education, and knowledge on their own health also contribute to misery. 7. Undernourished mothers are birthing malnourished babies When a woman goes hungry or stays undernourished during her pregnancy, the baby in the womb is also deprived of nutrients and is often born with symptoms of malnutrition, are likely to have low birth weights, and its a major determinant of whether a child will survive till he turns 5. An estimated 17 million children are born undernourished every year, while 1 in every 15 dies before the age of 5 in the developing world due to hunger-caused issues. 8. Counties with food surplus have the most hungry Shockingly, most of the global population suffering from hunger live in countries that produce surplus food, but the food doesnt reach those who need it the most. You could list down lack of infrastructure, corruption, uneven economic distribution, unfair pricing, diplomatic structures as reasons leading to the hunger for a legion of hungry people, and not the shortage of food. Hundreds of tons of vegetables and grains are destroyed in years of surplus produce, while millions sleep on an empty stomach. 9. Small farmers have no food Its disconcerting that those who toil the land, sow the seeds, and grow much of the food, are enduring hunger pangs worldwide. The International Fund for Agricultural Development estimates that 80 percent of the food in the developing countries grows by millions of small farmers with over 2 billion people depending on agriculture for their livelihood. Broken infrastructure incapable of distributing the growth, lack of investment, unfair trade policies compel them to go hungry. 10. Zero Hunger by 2030 In 2013, the United Nations launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in Asia and the Pacific as part of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Governments, scientists, civil societies, farmers, businesses, and end consumers were called on to work together in the direction of eliminating hunger in these regions as they host the majority of the worlds food-deprived population. Kuwait should scale back its expat population from 70% to 30%, the countrys prime minister said Wednesday, as the country grapples with an economic slowdown and collapsing oil prices. We rely on our sons and daughters to work in all professions, Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah said in a meeting with newspaper editors, as quoted by state-run KUNA agency. Foreigners currently make up roughly 3.4 million out of Kuwaits 4.8 million population. The ideal population structure is to have Kuwaitis being 70% and non-Kuwaitis 30%, so we have a big challenge in the future, which is to address the discrepancy in population, he said. In May, the country's municipality announced plans to dismiss all of its foreign workers and replace them with Kuwaiti nationals, as well as through the increased use of automation and technology. The tiny Gulf country has recorded some 29,000 cases of the coronavirus, including 236 deaths. A significant portion of those infections was among expat workers from India, Egypt and Bangladesh, health officials said. Citing exceptional circumstances amid the coronavirus outbreak, Kuwait this week issued a three-month extension for all residency permits and visas. Kuwait is one of a number of Gulf countries looking to reduce its percentage of expat workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Oman announced last week contracts will not be renewed for at least 70% of foreign experts and consultants working for the government. Foreign workers make up a large percentage of the workforce in the Middle East. Migrants in the Arab States remitted over $124 billion in 2017, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia ranking second and third globally after the United States in terms of foreign workers sending money to their home countries. Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Trump Says He Went to White House Bunker for Brief Inspection Not Refuge President Donald Trump said Wednesday that while he did go down to the White House bunker last Friday, he did so before protests hit peak intensity, and then only for a short inspection, not to take refuge. Trump told Fox News host Brian Kilmeades radio show on Wednesday that multiple media reports characterizing the presidents descent into the bunker as driven by fear for his personal safety were inaccurate. It was a false report, Trump said, adding, I went down during the day and I was there for a tiny, little short period of time and it was much more for an inspection. Trump denied that he went into the bunker at the urging of his Secret Service detail, contradicting a New York Times article that first reported the alleged incident, citing anonymous sources. They claimed the president and his family members were whisked to safety at the insistence of agents as initially peaceful protests over the police custody death of George Floyd grew violent. The Associated Press later reported, also citing anonymous sources, that Trump spent about an hour in the shelter on Friday night, as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the executive mansion, some of them throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades. In his conversation with Kilmeade, Trump insisted that his presence in the bunker, also known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, was during the day and had a different purpose than was widely reported. They told me to go down and take a look just to check it out, Trump said, adding, I cant tell you who went with me but a whole group of people went with me, as an inspecting factor, I was back up, and, Brian, it was during the day, it wasnt during the night. The scale of the coast-to-coast protests following the death of Floyd have rivaled the historic demonstrations of the civil rights and Vietnam War eras. Yet many demonstrations that started off peaceful during the day after nightfall degenerated into chaotic scenes of looting, fire-setting, and violence. Curfews have been imposed in major cities around the United States, and thousands of National Guard soldiers and airmen were activated in states across America. Blaming far-left radicals and anarchists for hijacking the protests, Trump has called for a tough law enforcement response to quell the violence, even warning that he might invoke the Insurrection Act to send in soldiers to keep the peace. While Defense Secretary Mark Esper authorized the movement of around 1,300 active-duty Army personnel to military bases just outside Washington, he told reporters on Wednesday that he did not believe that, at this time, the situation warrants their deployment to protests. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters on Wednesday that Trump may, if necessary, call on the military to intervene. If needed, he will use it, she told reporters at a White House briefing. But at this time hes relying on surging the streets with National Guard. Its worked with great effect. McEnany cited improvement in places like Minneapolis and the nations capital, where the National Guard was deployed, as evidence that tougher measures were working. The weak-kneed policies of New York stand in stark contrast to the law and order policies of this president, she said, referring to the reluctance of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to summon the National Guard even as a wave of street violence hammered Manhattan, leaving businesses vandalized. In an earlier tweet, the president urged New York authorities to bring in the Guard, saying, The lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart. Act fast! Trump on Wednesday told Kilmeade: Washington is in great shape. We called out the National Guard after the first night, which was a little bit rougher, but then after that we called up and we haveII jokingly said, a little bit jokingly, maybe, its one of the safest places on earth. A taxi driver racially abused by a drunken passenger has admitted 'the words do hurt' as he revealed the foul-mouthed tirade lasted for the entire two-mile journey. Police are now investigating after a minute-long video was posted on social media, in which driver Abid Mustafa coolly handles the white male passenger as the man rants 'this is England', and 'we'll blow you out the f****** water' before calling him a 'Muslim c***'. The 39-year-old cabbie even warned the man at one stage: 'I will put this on Facebook now buddy, and more people will see you and what you're saying.' But the man, who could be heard apparently slurring his words during footage filmed in Birmingham, responded: 'I don't give a flying f*** mate. 'Do you really think I give a flying f***?' Father-of-four Mr Mustafa, who is being made the first honorary ambassador of the West Midlands Taxi Drivers' Association (WMTDA) for the way he handled the incident, said he had been 'hurt' by what happened. Abid Mustafa, pictured in his taxi, was subjected to a tirade of racial abuse by a white passenger In the last few weeks Mr Mustafa has shuttled vital Covid-19 samples for the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust during the pandemic, before being subject to the passenger's abuse. Mr Mustafa said the passenger started his tirade as soon as he was picked up in Erdington, in Birmingham, and that he stopped to warn his fare. 'He promised to stop doing it, then as soon as we got going again, after about 50 metres he started up again,' said the taxi driver, who began recording at the end of the journey. Mr Mustafa, pictured, who is being made the first honorary ambassador of the West Midlands Taxi Drivers' Association (WMTDA) for the way he handled the incident, said he had been 'hurt' by what happened 'I have a heart and emotions and it does hurt. The words do hurt us. 'But I chose the profession and I have to face these challenges - if I chose to be in the Army I would face battles, and this is the same.' Mr Mustafa, who lives in Erdington and is licensed by Wolverhampton City Council, hopes footage of the incident, which happened on May 15, will prompt councils to fit CCTV in taxis, to protect drivers and passengers, and show the public what drivers have to put up with. 'On all other public transport, like trams, buses and trains, there are cameras, so why can't we have CCTV in cabs?' he said. 'At least 80-90% of this type of abuse would stop then.' Having spoken to colleagues, Mr Mustafa believes every BAME driver in the West Midlands has been subject to racist abuse from a passenger at one point or another. Echoing that view, Shaz Saleem, of the WMTDA, said it was poor reward for taxi driver key workers, who have done a vital job ferrying supplies, medical samples and other emergency workers during the pandemic. The passenger hurls racist abuse at the taxi driver, who remains calm and doesn't react as he counts the man's change He said: 'I understand the row started because Abid asked the gentleman to sit in the rear seats, because of Covid-19 controls - which are there to keep both the passenger and driver safe.' Mr Saleem added: 'This story is powerful. 'Yes, there is a negative, and we all know what happened in the United States with George Floyd, and we need more support here from councils and the police. 'This driver responded with patience, calm and professionalism should be held up, in comparison to the passenger's behaviour. 'I guarantee you that if the driver had responded to that behaviour in any way, he'd have lost his licence.' As the video, which has been viewed more than a million times on Twitter, starts, the man is sitting in the front passenger seat, next to Mr Mustafa, with the taxi stationary. The passenger then said: 'Who do you think you are? 'You think you're something special - Pakistan?' The passenger then apparently refers to an incident from last year in which Indian warplanes conducted airstrikes on their neighbour. The man said: 'I'll tell you what, no wonder the Indians are bombing you,' ending the sentence with a laugh. 'You're never going to win that battle are you?' Exasperated, the taxi driver told the man that he is being filmed and the video will be uploaded to Facebook, but that only further encouraged him The taxi driver, who stays cool and polite throughout the abuse, responded: 'That's fine,' handing the man his change from the fare. His passenger then said: 'And this is England, by the way. 'And you're in a f****** job - in England. So respect this country, that you're in.' The driver replied: 'Thank you very much sir.' Pointing to a camera facing both men, the cabbie then said: 'I will put this on Facebook, now buddy, and more people will see you and what you're saying. 'Because people can see your face as well.' Despite the warning, the passenger said 'I don't give a flying f***.' The driver then told the man that he will be charged a 25p-a-minute waiting time charge, if the man does not go, adding 'thank you mate, we're all done here'. The passenger then leaned across towards the driver, inches from his face, and said: 'I'll tell you what, do you think Pakistan are going to beat the English?' The driver responded: 'We're not here for a competition, sir.' But the passenger said: 'Well I'll tell you what about wars, wars? 'We'll blow you out the f****** water.' As the man gets out of the taxi, he can he heard adding: 'F*** off. F****** Muslim c***.' West Midlands Police said: 'Lots of people are asking us about this video - we are aware of it and are making inquiries.' A public interest litigation (PIL) requesting the courts to bring the PM CARES fund under purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act has been filed with the Delhi High Court. The plea, filed by Dr SS Hooda comes after the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) responded to an RTI query stating that the fund is not liable under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005 as it is not a public authority. The PIL seeks Delhi HCs direction to trustees of the PM CARES fund, mandating them to provide particulars and purpose of expenditures from the fund on its website, LiveLaw reported. The petition conducted via Advocate Aditya Hooda submits that since the fund is "controlled" and "substantially financed" by the government, it sufficiently qualifies as a public authority under the RTI Act. It cited precedence from the Supreme Court in PUCL v. Union of India, (2004). On the controlled qualifier, the plea states: The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of PM CARES fund while the ministers of Defence, Home Affairs and Finance are its ex-officio trustees. The Chairman and trustees of the fund further have the power to appoint three additional trustees. The Rules/criterions for spending the funds of the trust shall be formulated by the Prime Minister and the three ministers aforementioned." 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 On financing it said: The corpus of Rs 10,000 crore has been created by donations largely from the Public Sector Undertakings, Central Ministries and Departments and even the salaries of armed forces personnel, civil servants and members of the judicial entities have been compulsorily donated into the fund." Further the plea posits that if the fund is held not to be a public authority, possibility of whether those at higher levels could prompt government agencies, public servants to contribute should be examined. These details are currently opaque, it notes. It also argued that given the nature and scale of the PM CARES fund, coronavirus victims have a right to know how much is collected and what is planned. "The victims of COVID-19 and are not in a position to enforce their fundamental right of being treated and financially supported, by the use of funds collected in the PM CARES fund. Every victim of COVID-19 is interested in and has a right to know as to how much fund has been collected and how the same is being expended or is planned to be expended. These victims are not able to enforce their fundamental right to get medical treatment and financial support and hence the Petitioner, being a public-spirited person is compelled to file the present Writ Petition in the nature of PIL," the plea states. The petition also called out trustees for reluctance in divulging information as to management, which raises profoundly serious apprehension" since it was created to fight a public cause. The Delhi HC is likely to take up the matter on June 10. skanchan95 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Mangalore KA-19 Posts: 1,085 Thanked: 2,974 Times View My Garage Re: Indian Aviation: A Photo Essay Quote: sagarpadaki Originally Posted by Any idea what is the other aircraft registration? Quote: Foxbat Originally Posted by The prefix 'VT' stands for Victorian or Viceroy Territory, which is the nationality code that each aircraft registered in India is required to carry. The code is generally seen just before the rear exit door and above the windows. Speaking of Victor Tango, if anyone comes across this book pf the same title, do not forgo the chance to buy it. Mr Vijay Seth, as many would know, is well known and well respected Indian aviation historian & photographer. One of the first aviation themed books I got was his "Aircraft of the Indian Air Force 1932-1999". The book is in a brilliant photo album format of modern Indian Civil Aviation- Boeing, Airbuses, ATRs, Q400s etc of various Indian airlines. It is a treat to go through the high res photos in this fairly large book, especially those brilliant Jet Airways/Jetlite/JetKonnect 737s and yes, I miss them. Quote: ads11 Originally Posted by I had my suspicions about that photo too, given the myriad issues right now, a shiny new executive transport suddenly making it's first public appearance isn't exactly a good image to be projecting right now. But agreed with skanchan, the text looks far too sharp compared to the rest of the image. All white with two tone blue cheatlines running along the length of the fuselage with IAF roundels, finflash & IAF/BVS painted at its usual locations. It is simple & elegant. Or is this a pathetic attempt to get even with the Trump in terms of a different, non-standard livery on an aircraft meant exclusively for El Presidente? Quote: ads11 Originally Posted by So utilising a multi role tanker to move about when needed makes more sense in those occasions. Of course the issue here is just how reticent the bigwigs would be to having to fly in a tanker aircraft instead of a bespoke executive aircraft with all the bells and whistles it entails. Quote: arijitkanrar Originally Posted by I was assuming that Victor Tango and Victor Hotel were the pronunciations of VT and VH respectively in NATO Phonetic alphabet and not the other way around? Quote: Jeroen Originally Posted by I dont think it stands for Victor Tango. That is just how letters of the Alfabet are read out in the world of aviation.; A for Alfa, B for Beta, C for Charlie etc Quote: FrozeninTime Originally Posted by Has change in name of cities in India bought any tangible benefits to citizens? The best thing to do is to accept our past and strive for best without getting caught in political jingoism. VT-ALV "Punjab". The other one - VT-ALW was named "Himachal Pradesh".The thing is that the British legacy and denial/acceptance/twisting of events in Indian history has been milked for far too long by political parties and its leaders. If one were to ask them this - If V in VT is "Viceroy" and T is "Territory", then what is H in VH(Australia) or for that matter the second Alphabet in aircraft registrations of former Pre-Independence British colonies? They would be stammering for answers and look for answers by looking it up in an Alphabet Chart.Speaking of Victor Tango, if anyone comes across this book pf the same title, do not forgo the chance to buy it. Mr Vijay Seth, as many would know, is well known and well respected Indian aviation historian & photographer. One of the first aviation themed books I got was his "Aircraft of the Indian Air Force 1932-1999".The book is in a brilliant photo album format of modern Indian Civil Aviation- Boeing, Airbuses, ATRs, Q400s etc of various Indian airlines. It is a treat to go through the high res photos in this fairly large book, especially those brilliant Jet Airways/Jetlite/JetKonnect 737s and yes, I miss them.I would anyday prefer the standard IAF livery sported by IAF's VIP jets over this, which anyway looks fake.All white with two tone blue cheatlines running along the length of the fuselage with IAF roundels, finflash & IAF/BVS painted at its usual locations. It is simple & elegant. Or is this a pathetic attempt to get even with the Trump in terms of a different, non-standard livery on an aircraft meant exclusively forThe average Indian politician would consider travelling on an aircraft like this a personal insult!!!! Look how the IAF's need for tankers is being dragged on unnecessarily. Jet Airways' A330s are rotting in India and they can easily be acquired for conversion into tankers, but then that won't fill some babu's pockets as shiny new acquisitions would!!!!Yes, I know about NATO Alphabetic Codes and it is probably incorrect of me make such assumptions But then does anyone have a better explanation for what V & T stands in VT for or for that matter V & H stands for in VH? I am all ears.Rightly said. Playing with people's emotions using this for political gains has gone on for way too long. Nothing good ever came of it and yes, I see nothing wrong in retaining VT. Nothing is going to change or improve if VT is changed to something more "Indian" sounding. Last edited by skanchan95 : 3rd June 2020 at 17:58 . The airline industry has been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in social distancing and disrupted air travel. The trend seems to be reversing lately with easing of restrictions, reopening of the economy and new safety measures that have led to the resumption of flights in many countries. This is especially true as U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS, the one ETF dedicated to the airline industry, was the best performer over the past week, having gained nearly 17%. Here are some insights into the solid performance (read: Does Warren Buffett's Latest Move Spell Doom for Airline ETF?). Memorial Day Travel Ticks Up Air travel bumped up over the Memorial Day weekend to levels not seen since plummeting in March when stay-home orders took effect across most of the United States. More than 1.5 million passengers passed through airport security checkpoints during the Memorial Day weekend. Though this is just a fraction of 12.2 million people who flew during the same period in 2019, it is the strongest number since late March and indicates a solid revival in airline business from the lows seen in mid-April. In particular, the Memorial Day weekend was the busiest travel period for American Airlines AAL since Mar 21. The carrier said that the traffic was 320% better during May 22 through May 25 than April 10-13, when it saw the worst of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines LUV is expecting improved business in May and June. European Comeback Some European countries are easing travel restrictions. Italy plans to allow travel between select European countries starting Jun 3. Germany and Greece plan to resume flights on Jun 15, while Spain will lift the mandatory two-week quarantine for overseas travelers starting Jul 1. Summer Travel Optimism Airlines in many parts of the world are planning to resume flights starting next month. Air China is expected to operate 24 international routes between Jun 1 and Jul 1 while Air France is planning to increase its flight schedules during June. Alitalia has announced plans to ramp up services next month, including the resumption of its nonstop Rome-New York routes from Jun 2. It will operate 30 routes to 25 airports (15 in Italy and 10 abroad), offering around 36% more flights than in May (read: Post-Lockdown Travel Plans to Impact These ETFs). Philippine Airlines plans to fly a reduced number of weekly flights on most domestic routes and selected international routes starting Jun 1. Korean Air is planning to resume flights to 19 international routes on Jun 1, including Washington, D.C., Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Frankfurt, Singapore, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur. Qatar Airways plans a summer schedule to more than 80 destinations worldwide by June. Emirates has announced its plan to operate scheduled flight services from May 21 to nine destinations: London Heathrow Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne (subject to government approval). Ryanair is planning to reinstate some 40% of its flights over the course of summer, beginning in June. Delta Airlines DAL has added about 100 daily flights in June. Easyjet is planning to resume some services in June. United Airlines UAL is planning to resume four flights to Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai next month. Additionally, Southwest Airlines announced summer travel sale by launching a month-long fare sale with one-way fares from $49 to $99. It will also offer double frequent flyer points to travelers who buy tickets during the sale, which covers travel between May 26 and Aug 31. JETS in Focus This fund provides exposure to the global airline industry, including airline operators and manufacturers from all over the world, by tracking the U.S. Global Jets Index. In total, the product holds 34 securities and charges investors 60 bps in annual fees. The fund has gathered $951.1 million in its asset base while sees solid trading volume of nearly 1.6 million shares a day. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a High risk outlook (see: all the Industrial ETFs here). From a year-to-date look, the ETF is down 49.2%. However, given the resumption of a higher number of flights ahead of the peak summer travel season, airline stocks and ETF are set to rebound strongly. Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The daughter of a woman killed in a car crash by a disqualified driver has said she was saddened that her late mother's name was not even mentioned when an application for restoration of a driving licence came before Tullamore District Court. Banagher native Susan Griffith, a 76-year-old mother of seven, grandmother of 16 and great grandmother of one, died in November 2009 when the car she was driving burst into flames after being hit by the vehicle of Patrick Rhattigan. The Rochfortbridge man, aged 22 at the time, was a banned driver when the collision occurred near Tyrrellspass and was subsequently found guilty of dangerous driving causing death by a Circuit Court jury. He received a three-year suspended sentence and several different disqualifications from driving, the longest being 10 years. He had previous convictions and drove without insurance. Mr Rhattigan successfully applied for the restoration of his driving licence in April after the court heard more than half of the 10-year ban had elapsed. The application was opposed by the gardai. While there was reference during the application hearing to an extremely tragic accident, Mrs Griffith was not named and the impact on her and her family was not brought to the attention of the court. One of her daughters, Shirly Griffith, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, said she wished to share her perspective on the licence application. I just wanted my mother to be named and not referred to as 'the victim', said Ms Griffith. My mother would be the first to be forgiving. She wouldn't want any of this. She would let bygones be bygones. She said her mother was an Irish mammy who like most Irish mammies, spent her whole life giving to others. She provided for her family in the best way she could afford and ensured that everyone was warm, had enough to eat and went to school. But above all she gave the example of her own words and deeds; the example of hard work, selflessness, kindness, compassion, respect for others, knowing right from wrong, taking responsibility, helping your neighbours, caring for people, putting others before yourself. She was also a farmer and like most farmers she never took a day off and didnt have much time to give herself. By his actions, she said Mr Rhattigan had taken the very flesh from her bones, most of which were crushed by the ferocity of the impact. In an instant he had taken a mother from her children, had taken any chance of a final farewell kiss on the cheek, had taken the peace of mind of a whole family forever, had taken the laughter and joy. Since her death, additional great grandchildren have been born but for them she will be nothing more than a grainy photo from the ancient past, said her daughter. Originally Susan Bailey from Banagher, Ms Griffith lived in Tyrrellspass from the 1950s where she and her husband Francis Griffith, now 94, raised their family and farmed their whole lives. Francis was a brother of the well known Clara farmer, George Griffith, who died in March at the age of 97. Ms Griffith said her mother is loved and missed every day and her legacy continues. She has nine more great grandchildren whom she never met and one more on the way. The lessons she imparted live on in every decision and action taken by those she left behind. She continues to give long after she is gone. Tullamore District Court heard in April that nearly 11 years after the fatal road crash Mr Rhattigan now has a partner and four children aged between three and 14. The court heard one of the driving bans had been imposed in the District Court and the other had been imposed in the Circuit Court when they could have been dealt with together as they both arose from the same incident. Cristobal came ashore on the Gulf Coast as a tropical storm late Sunday afternoon, lashing the Louisiana shoreline with 50-mph sustained winds and gusts even higher. The storm officially made landfall in southeast Louisiana, but tropical storm conditions spread across the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines and heavy rain fell across the Florida Panhandle. Cristobal regained tropical storm status on Friday as it began moving northward after drenching parts of southern Mexico and Central America with heavy rain. It continued to gain strength as it raced over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico Saturday into Sunday, its forward speed between 12-15 mph. The center of Cristobal, which slowed as it approached the coast, landed between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Grand Isle, Louisiana, about 100 miles south of New Orleans at 5 p.m. CDT on Sunday. Not only is Cristobal the earliest third named tropical storm system on record in the Atlantic Basin, the National Hurricane Center forecast has it tracking farther west across Wisconsin than any other post-tropical system on record since the mid-1800s. This radar image shows Cristobal's heavy rain lashing the Gulf Coast on Sunday night, June 7, 2020. (AccuWeather) The storm has gradually lost intensity over land, weakening to a tropical depression early Monday morning. Despite weakening, the risk of isolated tornadoes, flooding and locally damaging winds will continue through Monday across the lower Mississippi Valley and central Gulf Coast. Several tornadoes were reported in Florida over the weekend as Cristobal's outer bands began bringing impacts to the Sunshine State. One tornado came close to impacting downtown Orlando on Saturday. Rough surf was stirred well ahead of Cristobal's landfall. Two brothers were killed after they were caught in an undertow and swept away by a rip current off the coast of Louisiana on Friday as Cristobal churned in the Gulf of Mexico. The boys, ages 8 and 10, were swimming at a beach in Grand Isle when they were caught and swept away, FOX8 reported. Story continues While rough surf and rip current concerns will gradually lessen as Cristobal moves inland, heavy rain and gusty winds will continue to impact the Gulf Coast states and lower Mississippi Valley early this week. The risk of storm surge flooding will persist into Monday morning. On Sunday afternoon, 100 employees at the Silver Slipper Casino in Hancock County, Mississippi, were evacuated as floodwaters left them trapped in the building, according to NOLA.com. Emergency responders trekked through 5 feet of water to get the employees to safety. Firefighters returned to the casino on Sunday night to rescue a family staying at the casino's hotel. This nighttime satellite image shows the swirl of clouds associated with Cristobal over the Gulf Coast states on Sunday night. (NOAA/GOES-EAST) By 2 a.m. CDT Monday, power outages were affecting around 20,000 customers across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, according to Poweroutage.us. Ahead of the storm, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards requested President Donald Trump declare a pre-landfall emergency for the state effective Friday, June 5. "We are confident that there will be widespread, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding," Edwards said in a press release. "I anticipate the need for emergency protective measures, evacuations and sheltering for the high-risk areas ... At this time, due to the dangers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, sheltering activities will need to include non-congregated settings." "We do not expect the slow movement of Barry from last year and the 24 inches of rain it delivered along the central Gulf Coast," Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather's top hurricane expert, said, referring to a short-lived hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in July of 2019 and triggered widespread flooding. Even with Cristobal's quicker pace compared to Barry, meteorologists warned that the amount of rainfall projected with the storm could be enough to cause serious flooding problems along and east of the storm track. A general 6-12 inches of rainfall was projected with an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 16 inches over southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. AccuWeather National Reporter Jonathan Petramala was on the ground in Waveland, Mississippi, where heavy rainfall on Sunday and the storm surge caused significant coastal flooding. Drone footage captured above Bay St, Louis, Mississippi, on Sunday showed several coastal homes overwhelmed by floodwaters. Motorists along the Mississippi coastline in Waveland turned around before becoming stranded in floodwaters from Cristobal's storm surge several hours before it made landfall. (Jonathan Petramala / AccuWeather) Flooding can occur even where conditions have been rather dry so far this year. In Mobile, Alabama, for example, 21.50 inches of rain fell from Jan. 1 to June 6, or about 76% of normal. By Sunday night, the city was under a flash flooding warning due to heavy rain setting up over the area. Due to the flooding potential of Cristobal, the storm has been designated a 1 on AccuWeather's RealImpact Scale (RI) for Hurricanes. AccuWeather's RealImpact Scale (RI) looks into a broad range of important factors to determine the actual impact the storm will have when it hits land. The scale considers high winds, flooding rain, storm surge and the financial damage and economic impacts. Comparatively, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which has been used by meteorologists for decades, only considers wind speeds. Winds will remain gusty as Cristobal moves northward through Monday into the lower Mississippi Valley. Gusts will generally range between 30-50 mph with some locations gusting to 60 mph. Beyond this weekend, Cristobal is forecast to move inland over the Mississippi Valley this week. An area of heavy rain with localized flooding is likely as the storm moves northward and evolves into a tropical rainstorm. Problems from Cristobal could even continue as far away as the Upper Midwest in terms of flooding rain, strong wind gusts and severe thunderstorms as the tropical storm transitions further into more of a continental storm. LINK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Any flooding could also have an effect on rice crop in the Mississippi Delta, especially since the crop has just emerged. About 65% of the total U.S. rice crop is grown in this region, with 40% of the U.S. crop grown in Arkansas alone. Hurricane season just began on Monday, and already the Atlantic has set a new record. Cristobal became the earliest third tropical storm on record when it was named on June 2. The storm beat the previous record which stood from 2016 when Colin formed on June 5. Cristobal was preceded by Arthur and Bertha, which both formed prior to the official start of the season on June 1. And even more threats could soon arise. AccuWeather meteorologists began monitoring another area of showers and thunderstorms in the Atlantic for tropical development late in the week. "An area of low pressure could form along a frontal boundary within a region of marginally warm water and could turn into a short-lived subtropical or tropical storm system during Tuesday and Wednesday of next week a few hundred miles to the southeast and east of Bermuda," Kottlowski said. A subtropical storm is a system that has both tropical and non-tropical characteristics. AccuWeather is forecasting a busy tropical season in the Atlantic with 14 to 20 tropical storms, including seven to 11 which could strengthen further into hurricanes. Four to six major hurricanes -- Category 3 or higher -- are predicted. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. Countries that form the Organization of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) have identified the growing debt burden and existing economic sanctions among its members as challenges that are aggravating the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking Wednesday during a virtual summit of Heads of State and Government that was convened by President Uhuru Kenyatta in his capacity as the organizations President-in-Office, the leaders welcomed the various debt relief measures being rolled out by global lenders but called for more interventions including debt cancelation. In his opening remarks, President Kenyatta observed that the debt of many OACP countries continues to rise saying close to half of low income and least developed countries have hit debt crisis levels. The debt of many member states continues to rise. Forty four (44) percent of low income and least developed countries (LDCs) are in debt distress or assessed as being at high risk of external debt distress, President Kenyatta noted. He added: Covid-19 and related global economic shocks will exacerbate this problem. In his recorded address, French President Emmanuel Macron challenged global lending institutions to go beyond current relief measures and consider debt cancelation for the most vulnerable countries. Mrs Erna Solberg, the Prime Minister of Norway said his country supports the debt moratorium issued by multilateral lenders and assured OACP nations that her country will remain a close partner throughout the crisis. Led by President Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa) who is also the current Chairperson of the African Union, the OACPS leaders who included Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Edgar Lungu (Zambia) urged for the lifting of economic sanctions against Sudan and Zimbabwe. They said the international community needs to lift the sanctions so as to enable the two African nations to apply their resources in mitigating their populations from the adverse socioeconomic effects of the current health crisis. The meeting, also attended by OACPS development partners led by France, Norway and Canada, expressed dissatisfaction at the recent decision by the European Union (EU) to list some of its members as high risk nations for money laundering and terrorism financing. The countries blacklisted by the EU in May this year include The Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, speaking on behalf of the Carribean Community (CARICOM) termed the EU decision as unilateral saying the process leading to the listing was not transparent. President Danny Faure of Seychelles asked the OACP secretariat to push for a moratorium on the publication of the list of shame and reiterated the Barbados Prime Ministers sentiments that the EUs decision was unilateral. In line with the Nairobi Nguvu ya Pamoja Declaration made during the 9th OACPS summit held in Nairobi last year, the leaders resolved to deepen cooperation through South-South, North-South and Triangular Cooperation. President Kenyatta said diversified partnerships established through these new avenues will help alleviate the health and socioeconomic disruptions caused by Covid-19. At the national level, Covid-19 has led to a shrinking of fiscal space while at international level, the pandemic has weakened the pipeline of resources dedicated to development programmes, President Kenyatta said. Alongside debt relief and lifting of economic sanctions against Sudan and Zimbabwe, the OACPS leaders called for global solidarity in the fight against Covid-19 and voiced their support for Dr Tedros and the World Health Organization. Further, the leaders agreed to broaden sources of financing Covid-19 response and recovery interventions through public-private partnerships as well as through increased access to concessional financing. President Kenyatta was joined in the meeting by Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo, her Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua as well as State House Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Strategy Ruth Kagia. The theme of the inaugural Extra-Ordinary Inter-Sessional Summit of the Heads of State and Government of OACPS was, Transcending the Covid-19 Pandemic: Building Resilience through Global Solidarity. PSCU Authorities and rescue crews from three states converged over a section of Lake Superior in Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon after reports that a boy last seen swimming there had gone missing. The body of the 6-year-old Duluth boy was found later in the day. Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City flew north to assist in the search, already being undertaken by local Douglas County, Wisconsin authorities and a Coast Guard boat crew from nearby Duluth. The Coast Guard ended its search for the missing child in Lake Superior Wednesday night after notification from local partners that the body of the missing child was located. Unfortunately, the result of todays search was not what we hoped for and our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with the family, said Commander Amy Florentino, Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie Deputy Commander. We applaud the teamwork of our local partners to dedicate an all-out collective effort to search for the child and bring closure to the family. The Coast Guards command center was notified just before 3 p.m. Wednesday that a small boy was missing. He was last seen swimming in Lake Superior, west of the mouth of the Middle River in Wisconsin. Authorities said a mother and her two children were swimming where the Middle River meets the big lake when the boy disappeared. Initial reports were that two children were missing in the water. A 9-year-old girl was pulled from the water by rescuers and revived, according to the Superior Telegram. The search occurred in Lakeside, Wisconsin, which is in the states northwest corner, near the Minnesota border. Lakeside fire officials said the search was hampered by water clarity in the area and a fluctuating current, according to station WDIO. The area is known for strong rip currents, authorities said. A chopper crew lifted off from Traverse City, while Station Duluth sent out a 45-foot boat and personnel to assist in the search. They were joined by local sheriffs departments, firefighters, the Wisconsin State Police and Wisconsin DNR conservation officers. Searchers using side-scan sonar located the boys body in about 7 feet of water around 6 p.m., the Telegram said. A court in Russian-annexed Crimea has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for being a member of an extremist group. The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, a Ukrainian organization, called the sentencing of Artyom Gerasimov on June 4 "a shocking escalation of repression in occupied Crimea." Russia officially banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in April 2017 and deemed it an "extremist organization," despite widespread condemnation from Western countries and human rights groups. The Supreme Court in Crimea ruled in an appeal on June 4 that Gerasimov should serve six years in a penal colony. The sentence came after Gerasimov appealed a Yalta city court fining him 400,000 rubles ($5,785) in March, the Jehovah's Witnesses said in a statement. The prosecutor's office then demanded 6 1/2 years of imprisonment. "Today's ruling by the Crimean Supreme Court brings religious persecution to a new level of cruelty," Jehovah's Witnesses spokesman Jarrod Lopes said. According to the group, Gerasimov is the second Jehovah's Witness to be sentenced in Crimea, and the 30th Jehovah's Witness convicted in Russia and Crimea since 2017. Ten have been imprisoned. On March 5, a Crimean court found Sergei Filatov guilty of being a member of the religious group and sentenced him to six years in prison. For decades the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Russian Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin. The Christian group is known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, rejection of military service, and not celebrating national and religious holidays or birthdays. Authorities in annexed Crimea also persecute members of the Muslim organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was declared a terrorist group in Russia. Dozens of people have been convicted for involvement in the group's activities. Neither Hizb ut-Tahrir nor the Jehovah's Witnesses are banned in Ukraine. Crimea has been controlled by Moscow since March 2014, when Russia forcibly annexed the peninsula, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries, after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted amid a wave of public protests. With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, AFP, and Reuters Britain said on Thursday that a confidential legal issue was holding up the extradition of businessman Vijay Mallya to India, where he is wanted by investigative agencies for alleged financial offences, but that it was seeking to deal with the matter as quickly as possible. Indian agencies and legal experts could only speculate about the nature of the issue that has cropped up-- from coronavirus infections in the Mumbai prison where he is to be held on his return to the possibility that he has applied for asylum in the UK or may be planning to approach the European Court of Human Rights. Mallya, 64, lost his appeal against the 2018 order to extradite him in the UK high court in April. Last month, the high court also refused Mallya permission to appeal in the UK Supreme Court. Amid a string of reports in the Indian media that Mallyas extradition was imminent, a spokesperson for the British high commission said there was still a legal issue of a confidential nature that must be resolved before the businessman can be sent back to India. Vijay Mallya last month lost his appeal against extradition, and was refused leave to appeal further to the UK Supreme Court, the spokesperson said. However, there is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mr Mallyas extradition can be arranged. Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved. The issue is confidential and we cannot go into any detail, the spokesperson added. The spokesperson declined to estimate how long this issue will take to resolve, and said: We are seeking to deal with this as quickly as possible. Mallya is wanted in India to face charges of financial offences involving 9,000 crore borrowed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines from several Indian banks. He left India in March 2016 for the UK as his creditors closed in on him to recover the loans. UK home secretary Priti Patel is expected to make a final decision on his extradition. British authorities, through the external affairs ministry, have also informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the confidential legal issue in the way of Mallyas extradition. However, officials in both agencies said they werent given details of the issue on the grounds that UK law didnt allow disclosure of details before it is resolved. Both agencies also suspect Mallya had applied for asylum in the UK on certain unknown specific grounds because his claim of a political witch-hunt against him has been debunked by British courts. After the UK high court declined on May 14 to give Mallya permission to appeal in the Supreme Court, the extradition was to have been carried out within a 28-day removal period as set out in the Extradition Act of 2003. This period ends on June 23. There is also a possibility that Mallya could use coronavirus infections at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where he is to be held, as a change of circumstance to avoid or delay his extradition, people familiar with developments said. There are close to 200 Covid-19 cases in the prison and Mallya has underlying health conditions that could be exacerbated by the virus, the people said. Senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot had issued the ruling for Mallyas extradition to India in December 2018 in response to a request from the Indian government, which has accused him of knowingly misrepresenting the profitability of his companies when he sought bank loans in 2009. The UK high court, in its ruling in April, upheld the senior district judges verdict. When the UK high court refused Mallya permission to appeal to the Supreme Court last month on the grounds that his case didnt involve a point of law of general public importance, the long-drawn extradition process was believed to have entered the last stage. Mallya, arrested in London in April 2017, also has the option of approaching the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that his human rights would be at risk if extradited. Zulfiquar Memon, managing partner at the law firm MZM Legal and an international extradition expert, said: Since the British high commission has said its a confidential issue, its difficult to say what Mallya has applied for but one thing is for sure he must have taken a particular plea as part of his Plan B a long time back. Its just that its taking shape now. It could be anything asylum on grounds of human rights violation or the European Convention on Human Rights. Delhi-based lawyer Sherbir Panag, an expert on white collar crimes, said, I think asylum is not possible for Mallya because in the UK, one has to show that one is coming to that country without any baggage and that something changed in the home country. If he has taken any plea, it has to be on the basis of something new, which nobody knows since its confidential. His plea of a political witch-hunt and human rights violations in jails was already rejected during the extradition hearing. (With inputs from Prasun Sonwalkar in London) WASHINGTON With a health crisis expected to drive a surge in mail voting in November, U.S. election officials face a major challenge: Ensure tens of millions of ballots can reach voters in time to be cast, and are returned in time to be counted. Recent presidential nomination contests and other elections held in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic a warm-up for the Nov. 3 general election if COVID-19 remains a threat showed some states have been overwhelmed by the sudden rush to vote by mail. Nearly half of U.S. states allow voters to request absentee ballots less than a week before their elections. Even under normal circumstances, that often is too little lead time to guarantee voters will receive their ballots and have sufficient time to return them, election experts and state officials say. In Ohio, for example, whose nearly all-mail election on April 28 was marred by ballot delivery delays, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has asked state lawmakers to change the deadline for voters to request a mail ballot to one week before an election, up from three days currently. It is not logistically possible for all voters asking for ballots at the last minute to get them in time to return them by mail, LaRose told Reuters. That relies on a lot of luck. At stake is the integrity of the general election, and possibly its outcome. Voters who follow their states rules but cant get their ballots back in time due to no fault of their own could be effectively disenfranchised. That could spark legal challenges in states where the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden will be decided by slim margins. Tight contests could also decide control of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Citizens could respond to all this and say our democracy is broken, said Paul Gronke, a political scientist who expects about half of all ballots to be cast by mail in November, compared to a fifth delivered that way in 2016. Election officials need to move now to make preparations to expeditiously move election mail and to avoid widespread disenfranchisement, said Gronke, who heads the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College in Portland. Some are taking action. Wisconsins bipartisan election commission is working on adding new barcodes to ballot envelopes for tracking them in the mail, a move experts say would help the United States Postal Service process them more quickly. The commission also plans to mail absentee ballot applications to 2.7 million registered voters who are not already on absentee voter rolls, a move that should help reduce 11th-hour requests. Michigans Democratic Secretary of State likewise plans to mail absentee ballot applications to every voter ahead of Novembers election, as Republican secretaries of state in Georgia and Iowa did for their June primaries. Trump has criticized Michigans plan, and some Republican state lawmakers called it an unnecessary expense. The president and his allies nationwide have repeatedly said mail voting is prone to fraud, even as numerous independent studies have found little evidence of that. Experts are most worried about battleground states that have little history of large-scale voting by mail, including Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. They are among the 24 states in which mail-in ballots comprised no more than 8% of ballots counted in 2018 midterm elections, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Failure by these states to prepare could lead to messy legal fights in the event of a close contest in November, said Edward Foley, an election law expert at Ohio State University. If you have 10,000 voters that never got their ballots, or their ballots didnt get returned by the post office and the statewide margin is 3,000, well now you have got litigation over the results, Foley said. The Postal Service has internally set delivery targets for election mail ranging between one and three days, according to an audit of election mail service by the USPS Inspector General published in November. But in the 2018 elections, about one in 20 political and election mailings took longer than targeted, the audit found. In a statement to Reuters, the Postal Service said it is holding discussions with state and local election officials nationwide on how to design their mailings for efficient processing and delivery. Some voting rights advocates worry these efforts dont go far enough. Setting an earlier deadline for requesting a ballot could also make it harder for people to vote if they contract the coronavirus or have other problems just before the election, said Jen Miller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. Miller is advocating that Ohio send ballot applications to all registered voters and set up more drop boxes so that concerned voters can deposit ballots there. I think its reasonable for an Ohioan to be worried about putting their ballot in the mail, Miller said. Terrific challenges April elections in Wisconsin and Ohio, which included presidential nomination contests, offered a preview of what could happen if the coronavirus is raging in November and in-person voting is severely restricted. After Ohio sharply curtailed in-person voting, election officials were inundated with roughly 2 million applications for mail-in ballots more than six times the number of mail ballots cast in the 2016 primary. But as they scrambled to process the requests, they discovered that some ballots mailed out to voters took as long as nine days to reach them. What was not known to them at the time, and which Reuters has exclusively learned, was that a coronavirus outbreak was ravaging a mail sorting facility in neighboring Michigan called the Michigan Metroplex, delaying election mail bound for northwestern Ohio. At least two workers at the Detroit-area plant died after testing positive for COVID-19, and hundreds of its roughly 700 union workers were out sick or in quarantine on many days between mid-March and mid-April, according to Roscoe Woods, the head of the local branch of the American Postal Workers Union. Letters were shipped to Ohio unsorted, forcing local post offices there to organize mail manually for delivery, Woods told Reuters. I dont think anyone was prepared for the level of infection, Woods said. The Postal Service told Reuters it was investigating the matter, but would not confirm a coronavirus outbreak at the Metroplex. A spokesman for the office of LaRose, the Ohio Secretary of State, said the Postal Service confirmed the Metroplex was the problem facility. LaRose said the experience left him with big concerns about November. He anticipates as many as 60% of Ohios ballots will be cast by mail, triple the percentage from 2016. I hope we never have to have an all vote-by-mail election again, he said. In Wisconsin, an important battleground state that was decided in Trumps favor by less than a percentage point in 2016, about 1.3 million voters applied for absentee ballots for its April 7 primary, overloading officials accustomed to issuing only a fraction of that number. In a May 15 report, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said 2,659 ballots were tossed out because they arrived after April 13, the last day ballots postmarked by Election Day could be counted. The commission does not know how many of these were postmarked in time, spokesman Reid Magney said. The commission said it expects terrific challenges in November. It estimates more than half the states 3.4 million registered voters could request mail ballots. In November 2016, just under 150,000 or about 5% of three million votes were cast by mail. In North Carolina, another competitive state, the state election board expects 30% to 40% of ballots to be cast by mail and is working to implement new barcodes on all ballot envelopes, said Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the board. Mail ballots that arrive at North Carolina election offices up to three days after the election are counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. But Jason Roberts, a Democratic member of the board of elections for Orange County, North Carolina, said he saw scores of ballots in the states March primary that were postmarked in time but arrived four or five days after the election. I would be hesitant to vote by mail in North Carolina on Election Day given what Ive seen, Roberts said. Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Detroit. President Trump spent a portion of Thursday meeting with top campaign officials as cratering polls show states he won easily in 2016, like Ohio, becoming battlegrounds. Bloomberg reported that the president was meeting with Campaign Manager Brad Parscale, his deputy Bill Stepien, pollster Tony Fabrizio and aides Jared Kushner and Mark Meadows at the White House. The meeting comes on the heels of a report in The New York Times that quoted the president lashing out at his campaign team for his electoral troubles, telling them,' Biden has a team of killers and all I've got is a defense.' President Trump is meeting with the heads of his re-election campaign at the White House Thursday after internal and public polling showed him slipping in states, like Ohio, he was expected to win in November Campaign manager Brad Parscale was among those heading to the White House. Trump has previously yelled at Parscale over his falling 2020 fortunes, including in April when the president threatened to sue his campaign chief Recent public polls show Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, gaining ground in states like Ohio, Arizona and Wisconsin, which President Trump won in 2016 The same report said that internal polling shows Trump well behind Biden in his re-election effort. In April, CNN, The New York Times and The Associated Press reported that Trump got so frustrated with Parscale that he threatened to sue him and shouted, 'I'm not f***ing losing to Joe Biden,' into the phone. Parscale and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel had told Trump that his daily coronavirus taskforce briefings were hurting his political standing. The president yelled at Parscale a day after he had floated that the coronavirus could be fought by putting sunlight in the body or injecting disinfectants, after hearing about a study that looked at how long the virus survived on surfaces. Now Trump is facing concurring crises, with the COVID-19 death toll still ticking up, while droves of Americans are protesting across the country over the death of George Floyd. The president has increasingly reacted in a way that might help him retain his base - but drive other important swing voters away. 'He's too defective to have any strategy than to be who he is,' Rob Stutzman, a California-base GOP strategist, told The Times. 'The president defaults to base messages regardless of strategy, thus his campaign becomes a base-driven campaign.' In recent weeks, Trump has made both the coronavirus an us-versus-them issue, by winking at the predominantly white protesters who showed up to state capitols to demonstrate state and local stay-at-home orders, while chiding Democratic governors who issued them. And now, Trump has leaned back in to the Black Lives Matter versus Blue Lives Matter debate by heralding police officers killed by looters and complaining about coverage of the protests by describing those attending as, 'killers, terrorists, arsonists, anarchists, thugs, hoodlums, looters, ANTIFA & others,' in a Thursday tweet. As The Times' report points out, some of the latest primary data suggests Trump is already seeing trouble retaining suburban voters. For instance, while the votes from Tuesday's Maryland GOP presidential primary are still trickling in, 11 per cent of Republican voters across the state chose former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who dropped out in March, for president instead of Trump. But in Montgomery County, the ritzy county adjacent to Washington, D.C., 22 per cent of Republican voters selected Weld, while about 78 per cent went for Trump, with 56 per cent of the vote reporting. Recent polls - that haven't even taken into full account Trump's handling of the racial unrest - show Ohio, and also Arizona, turning into battleground territory. Trump won Ohio by 8 points and Arizona by 3.5 points in 2016. An Ohio Fox News poll released Wednesday showed Biden two points ahead of Trump - 45 per cent to 43 per cent. Trump moved Ohio into the Republican category after it was won twice by President Barack Obama and after it won the 2004 election for Republican President George W. Bush. For 2020, Democrats had largely given up on the state. In 2016, Trump underperformed in Arizona, as 2012 GOP candidate Mitt Romney won the state by 9 points. New polling shows Biden up by 4 points in a Fox News poll, while Trump is up 1 point in a CNBC/Change Research survey. Wisconsin, one of the trio of usually blue states that pulled Trump over the line, looks favorable to Biden in Wednesday's Fox News survey, having a lead of 9 points. Trump's campaign has so far responded by spending $1.7 million in advertising in Ohio, Arizona and also Iowa - another state that Trump carried in 2016 - according to The Times. An inmate in New York has died after being pepper sprayed by prison guards during a lockdown prompted by George Floyd protests across the US. Jamel Floyd, 35, allegedly smashed his cell-door window with a metal object on Wednesday morning at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Officers attempted to subdue the prisoner with pepper spray and Floyd lost consciousness. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn but died of a heart attack, prison sources told the New York Daily News. 'Responding staff observed inmate Jamel Floyd barricaded inside his cell and breaking the cell door window with a metal object. He became increasingly disruptive and potentially harmful to himself and others. Pepper spray was deployed and staff removed him from his cell,' the Bureau of Prisons stated. Jamel Floyd, 35, allegedly smashed his cell-door window with a metal object on Wednesday morning at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured) 'The FBI and the United States Marshals Service were notified. No staff or other inmates were injured,' the statement added. Floyd had been imprisoned since October 2019. It was not immediately clear for what crime he was serving a sentence. Records show he had previously jailed for charges including burglary, tampering with evidence and endangering the welfare of a child. An investigation into his death is ongoing. The Bureau of Prisons had ordered a lockdown at all its facilities on Monday in response to the nationwide demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis the week before. 'In light of extensive protest activity occurring around the country, the BOP - in an abundance of caution - is implementing an additional, temporary security measure to ensure the good order and security of our institutions, as well as ensure the safety of staff and inmates,' the Bureau said in a statement. The agency said that the move, imposing the strictest lockdown in 25 years, was not as a response to anything happening within its prisons, but a precaution. This bolstered earlier restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the jail. The International Criminal Court is deeply concerned about reports of renewed violence in restive northeastern DR Congo and plans to send a mission to the country soon, the courts chief prosecutor said Thursday. Fatou Bensouda said there had been credible reports of armed attacks on civilians and camps which have escalated in recent months in the Democratic Republic of Congos lawless Ituri province. Moreover, these reports indicate the killing and maiming of many civilians, many of whom are children, Bensouda said in a statement, issued at the ICCs headquarters in The Hague. Armed gangs also carried out abductions, sexual-based crimes against girls and women, and looted and pillaged homes, property and public buildings, she said. Warning that the crimes fell within the jurisdiction of the court, which has been investigating in the DR Congo since 2004, Bensouda called on all groups and all parties to cease all attacks without delay. She also urged Congolese authorities to continue efforts to protect civilians and to take measures to prevent renewed bloodshed. My office will deploy a mission to the DRC as soon as conditions related to the current COVID-19 health crisis allow, Bensouda said. In the latest massacre in Ituri, 16 civilians, five of them children, were killed overnight Tuesday at a village near Mambisa, north of the provincial capital Bunia, a local official told AFP. The authorities attributed it to a notorious ethnic militia called CODECO, for the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo. The organisation is mainly drawn from the Lendu ethnic group, who are predominantly farmers and clash repeatedly with the Hema community of traders and herders. Nearly 300 civilians have been killed since the start of the year in attacks blamed on CODECO, while the UN says around 200,000 people have fled their homes. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, in a visit to Ituri in late January, said crimes against humanity had been perpetrated. Tens of thousands of people were killed in Hema-Lendu fighting between 1999 and 2003. Set up in 2002 to prosecute the worlds worst crimes, the ICC has successfully prosecuted three former warlords stemming from fighting in the mineral-rich eastern DR Congo. In its latest case, the ICCs judges sentenced rebel chief Bosco Ntaganda to 30 years in jail for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ituri in 2002-2003. The verdict is currently subject to appeal. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The House of Representatives gave its final nod on third and final reading House Bill 6815 on Thursday. Voting with 216 affirmative, 7 negative, and no abstention, the bill otherwise called Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines (ARISE Philippines) was passed. This bill, formerly known as the Philippine Economic Stimulus Act (PESA), will provide a 1.3-trillion of economic stimulus package to key sectors gravely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure seeks to extend support to micro, small, and medium enterprises. It will also give assistance to other sectors that have been greatly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the proposed measure, a 568-billion package is intended for immediate employment protection stimulus for affected workers. Marikina City 2nd District Representative Stella Luz Quimbo, a primary author of the bill, proposed massive testing to be conducted through local governments, and earlier expressed the intention to test asymptomatic individuals. Around 80 billion from the package will be allocated for 2021, while 650 billion will be for the Build, Build, Build program to be spread within three years, which will cover healthcare, education, and security. The bill also seeks to generate jobs through infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management has ordered government agencies to focus their programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) on containing the spread and mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is under the proposed P4.335-trillion cash budget for fiscal year 2021 to usher the country to economic recovery under the new normal, according to the National Budget Memorandum No. 136 issued on May 21. The bulk of the PAPs for next year is aimed at strengthening the countrys capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic by further buttressing the health care system, ensuring food security, enabling a digital government and economy, and helping communities to adjust to the 'new normal', the DBM said in a statement. President Donald Trump, eager to deflect the nations anger over George Floyds death away from his administration, has repeatedly threatened to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. On Wednesday, the White House released a compilation of video clips posted on social media showing piles of bricks that supposedly had been planted at various locations by Antifa activists to foment violence at protests. Antifa and professional anarchists are invading our communities, staging bricks and weapons to instigate violence, the White House caption for the video claimed. These are acts of domestic terror. The Intercept reported that journalists immediately found that most of the clips had already been investigated and debunked, and shortly thereafter the White House deleted the video from its official Twitter and Facebook feeds. But only after it tallied more than a million views. For a supposed terrorist organization, Antifa an amorphous left-wing movement comprising socialists, communists, anarchists and anti-capitalists is about as disorganized as a group can get. It has no known leadership, no headquarters and no clear ideology, besides opposing whatever its adherents consider to be fascist. Trump and Attorney General William Barr blamed the group for the violence that broke out over the weekend during some of the demonstrations protesting the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis. Trump tweeted on Sunday that ANTIFA led anarchists and Radical Left Anarchists, were responsible for the unrest, without offering any evidence. That was followed by a statement from Barr: The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly. So far the Justice Department has yet to provide any evidence of Barrs claims. According to The Nation, an FBI situation report states that based on CHS [Confidential Human Source] canvassing, open source/social media partner engagement, and liaison, FBI WFO (Washington Field Office) has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence. However, the FBI did warn that members of a far-right social media group "called for far-right provocateurs to attack federal agents" and "use automatic weapons against protesters." "Blaming anarchists and antifa, with absolutely no evidence, is a way to make what's happening seem fringe and marginal when these are popular uprisings. This is a time of mass outrage at an unjust system," Scott Crow, a spokesperson for Agency, an anarchist public relations effort, said in a release. CNN reported Tuesday that Trumps son, Donald Jr., directed his nearly 3 million Instagram followers to a tweet calling for violence from an account claiming to represent Antifa's position." Trump Jr. intended to show his supporters how dangerous Antifa is. Twitter took down the account after it was revealed to have been created by a group linked to the white supremacist organization Identity Evropa. A Carnegie Mellon University study of tweets referencing the protests show that essentially no humans have been using the antifa hashtag, according to Cnet. Kathleen Carley, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, said data from May 25 through Sunday showed that it's largely bots using the hashtag. She estimated that 30% to 49% of users posting about the protests likely are machines, not humans. San Francisco-based Zignal Labs, a media intelligence software service, tracked certain categories of falsehoods relating to the protests. Of 873,000 pieces of misinformation linked to the protests, 575,800 were mentions of Antifa, Zignal Labs said. Antifa is short for anti-fascist. The movement originated in Germany and Italy to oppose Hitler and Mussolini during their rise to power before World War II. According to Mark Bray, the author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, the modern American Antifa movement has its roots in the 1980s. A group called Anti-Racist Action confronted neo-Nazi skinheads at punk gigs across the U.S. and especially in the Midwest. The first U.S. group to use the word Antifa in its name was Rose City Antifa founded in 2007 in Portland, Ore. The movement was mostly dormant until Trump's election in 2016, which emboldened white supremacist groups and right-wing ideologues. Correspondingly, Antifa activity increased. In 2017, about 100 Antifa activists smashed windows and threw Molotov cocktails at police while trying to prevent right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at UC Berkeley. Far-right demonstrators who were marching peacefully were doused with pepper spray, hit with hurled water bottles and physically assaulted. The next year, during protests marking the killing of Heather Heyer by a Unite the Right participant in Charlottesville. Va., Antifa demonstrators clashed with journalists, throwing eggs at them, and grabbing and swatting their cameras. They also pelted police with eggs and water bottles, and shot off fireworks. Antifa contains many nonviolent members who make their point by marching, giving speeches, distributing literature and community organizing. But the groups occasional violent outbursts get most of the headlines. Some supporters will dress in all black, including hiding their faces with masks or helmets, the so-called black bloc tactic. The most extreme carry weapons typically pepper spray, knives, bricks and chains rather than firearms. In 2017, Vox warned: When far-left protesters act violently, it gives Trump and other conservatives more ammunition to draw equivalencies between the far left and far right even if it is a false equivalence, given that America has a long history of racist violence and very little, by comparison, of left-wing violence. MORE COVERAGE ON THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on Bay Area protest coverage here. Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate Venue is packed with advanced safety and infotainment features, an attractive starting price of $17,350, complimentary maintenance and America's Best Warranty. The Venue is a seamless combination of style and versatility packed with on-demand conveniences and advanced technologies not typically found in the compact segment. Venue was recently recognized by Consumer Guide as a 2020 Best Buy and 2020 Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost to Own Award for the subcompact crossover segment. "Venue is a fun, sporty vehicle that digital natives will love," said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. "Whether a first-time car buyer entering the workforce or a young established professional, Venue offers tech that's got people talking and safety that checks all of the boxes for those constantly on-the-go." 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Model Engine Transmission Drivetrain MSRP* SE M/T 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Manual Transmission FWD $17,350 SE IVT 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $18,550 SEL IVT 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $19,250 SEL IVT (Convenience Pkg.) 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $20,400 SEL IVT (Convenience & Premium) 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smarstream IVT FWD $22,150 Denim IVT 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $22,050 * Freight Charges for the 2020MY Venue are $1,140 and not included in the above chart. Hyundai Motor America reserves the right to change prices and features at any time. Hyundai's Retail Operations Hyundai dealers across the country enhanced their safety measures and adapted their businesses to comply with social distancing guidelines by leveraging Shopper Assurance and Hyundai's Click to Buy capability. 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Please visit our media website at www.HyundaiNews.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram SOURCE Hyundai Motor America Related Links www.hyundainews.com Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin faces a new charge of second-degree murder in connection with the death of George Floyd after first having been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Floyd died May 25 after a confrontation with Minneapolis police outside a market. Three other officers present as Chauvin had his knee on the neck on the face-down victim for 8 minutes, 46 seconds were charged with aiding and abetting murder. Officers were responding to a report that someone had passed a counterfeit bill at the store. Cellphone video of the confrontation prompted outrage and more than a week of protests across the nation and beyond. Image: Derek Chauvin (Hennepin County Jail) For Chauvin, each of the charges, from murder to manslaughter, concedes that Floyd's death was unintentional. For third-degree murder, the state needs to prove that Chauvin's act was "eminently" (translation: very) dangerous, that it caused Floyd's death and that Chauvin acted with "depraved mind" a disregard for human life when he held his knee on Floyd's neck. The distinction between third-degree "depraved mind" murder and second-degree manslaughter is that manslaughter is an unintentional killing that results from a reckless act, one that disregards a risk of harm. Essentially, "depraved mind" murder requires a much greater risk and much greater harm. It's easy to see how a jury, and lawyers, could be confused by those nuances. Chauvin is now also charged under Minnesota's "felony murder" statute. The felony murder rule allows one whose conduct brought about an unintended death while committing a felony to be found guilty of murder by imputing malice when there was no obvious evidence of intent to kill. Minnesota courts have observed that felony murder is an "anomaly" in homicide law, because malice is imputed from "crimes qualitatively different from and far less severe than murder." Story continues Full coverage of George Floyd's death and protests around the country Traditionally, the predicate felonies for felony murder included rape, arson, mayhem, robbery, burglary, larceny, prison breach and rescue of a felon. Minnesota, however, appears to have greatly expanded the reach of felony murder. The statute appears to allow any "felony offense other than [first and second degree] criminal sexual conduct ... or a drive-by shooting." In practice, however, Minnesota courts also require that the predicate felony must involve a "special danger to human life." The predicate felony in Chauvin's case is third-degree assault. In other words, the prosecution alleges that Floyd died as a result of Chauvin's felony third-degree assault, defined as an assault resulting in the infliction of substantial bodily harm. Minnesota courts have held that third-degree assault involves that "special danger," so third-degree assault is an appropriate predicate felony. Second-degree felony murder imputes the evil intent from some other crime or felony that happens to result in the killing. Third-degree depraved murder involves an incredibly reckless act that causes the death of another. Again, it's possible that a jury could struggle with those definitions. For each of those charges against Chauvin, the prosecution must prove an elusive element called "causation." A person causes the death of another in Minnesota if his or her acts were a substantial causal factor leading to the person's death. The defense will likely retain medical or other experts to testify that other health conditions, or possibly even bad drug interactions, caused Floyd's death. Of course, the state will use experts and other evidence to argue that kneeling on the back of Floyd's neck was a substantial factor in his death. In this June 5, 1989, file photo, a Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square. The man, calling for an end to the recent violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way. Thousands of students demonstrated for democracy in Tiananmen Square. Hundreds died when the government sent in troops. Read more On June 4, 1989, exactly 31 years ago, Chinas military shot, killed, and arrested thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijings Tiananmen Square. Tens of thousands of Hong Kong protesters came out with candles on Thursday in memory of the massacre, despite a Beijing-backed ban on their rally. READ MORE: U.S. must stand with Hong Kong against Beijing | Trudy Rubin Yet, in 1990, Donald Trump, then a 43-year-old real estate magnate, praised the Chinese massacre. When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it, Trump told Playboy magazine. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. The president clearly dreams of such unbridled powers as demonstrations continue over the death of George Floyd. On Monday, Trump called Vladimir Putin, just before telling U.S. governors by phone that they had to dominate or look like a bunch of jerks. Perhaps Putin encouraged Trump to use riot police to forcefully clear peaceful demonstrators from Lafayette Square with pepper spray so he could pose for an autocrat-style photo op across from the White House. Arm raised with a Bible, he was flanked by his chief military adviser who wore battle fatigues. Or maybe, the president was buoyed by another Monday phone call with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump clone who hints hed like his military to take over the country. We know that Trump has yearned for a military parade with tanks rumbling down the center of the capital. As retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who coordinated U.S. military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, put it to a TV host, Hes acting like hes running Turkey, not the United States of America. But Trump is not Xi Jinping, nor are we China or Putins Russia, or Turkey where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has imprisoned thousands of peaceful protesters. Or an Arab dictatorship such as Egypts, where other thousands of protesters, including journalists and leaders of the Tahrir Square uprising, languish in prison. I have spent too much time in Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Russia, and China to confuse those realities with Trumps reality show pretensions. No matter the presidents military fetish, no matter how despicable what happened in Lafayette Square, it is not Tiananmen Square. Thats what Americans must remember and act on as we try to figure out how to move ahead. That does not mean Trumps fake show of toughness isnt dangerous. A normal president would have shown compassion, addressed the nation about racial grievances, invited governors and mayors to work with him. He would have quoted George Floyds brother, Terence, who eloquently pleaded for calm and warned that the serious destruction caused by looters (including in minority communities) was not going to bring my brother back. READ MORE: Memorial Day should have inspired unity, not red and blue divide I Trudy Rubin Instead, Trumps response was to threaten the use of the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. troops to cities, whether or not mayors and governors consented, an act that has been used only in the most extraordinary circumstance. However, Trumps military overreach has been so egregious that it has stirred immense pushback, including from senior retired military. Most notably, former defense secretary and retired Marine general James Mattis issued a broadside accusing the president of dividing the nation. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime, Mattis wrote, who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. The general added that, when he swore to support and defend the Constitution upon joining the military 50 years ago, Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstances to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief with military leadership standing alongside. Mattis criticism was echoed by former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and retired admiral Mike Mullen. Perhaps from embarrassment, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper distanced himself from Trumps call to use the military to put down civilian unrest. These criticisms from the most senior level retired officers clearly signal that, unlike in China, or Russia, or Turkey, the military brass is deeply conflicted about a president who wants to use it as a political prop. Similarly, despite the send in the troops call of uber hawks like Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), there is unease among many GOP politicians over Trumps embrace of the military. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich said bluntly that if Trump wont call for unity and policy accountability from the White House, mayors and governors must. Mattis made a similar point, saying, We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This is what separates us from China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and others and the way their autocrats use the military to put civilians down. There is still a strong U.S. civil society that can push back against Trumps military pretensions, before and during elections. The test for that civil society is now. By PTI NEW DELHI: India's Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, following which the defence ministry carried out a massive contact-tracing exercise, official sources said. Kumar's condition is stable and he is currently under home-quarantine, they said. At least 35 officials working at the ministry's headquarters in South Block in the Raisina Hills have been sent on home quarantine after reports of Kumar testing positive for the infection emerged on Wednesday morning. There was no official comment on Kumar's health condition. The defence ministry spokesperson refused to comment on the issue. It is learnt that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not attend office as part of a precautionary measure. The offices of the defence minister, the defence secretary, the Army Chief and the Navy Chief are on the first floor of the South Block. The sources said all laid down protocols on contact-tracing and quarantining of people are being scrupulously followed. Advertisement The nominations for the BAFTA Television Awards and Television Craft Awards 2020 have been announced. Explosive show Chernobyl leads the nods with a staggering 14 nominations across the two awards, while The Crown and Fleabag have racked up a respectable seven and six nominations. Sky Atlantics Chernobyl has taken the world by storm and scored a higher IMDb rating than Game Of Thrones and Breaking Bad. BAFTA TV Awards 2020: WINNERS BRITISH ACADEMY TELEVISION AWARDS COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME The Graham Norton Show The Last Leg Taskmaster - WINNER The Ranganation CURRENT AFFAIRS Growing Up Poor: Britain's Breadline Kids (Dispatches) The Hunt For Jihadi John Is Labour Anti-Semitic (Panorama) Undercover: Inside China's Digital Gulug (Exposure) - WINNER DRAMA SERIES The Crown Gentleman Jack Giri/Haji The End of the F***ing World - WINNER ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE Frankie Boyle for Frankie Boyle's New World Order Graham Norton for The Graham Norton Show Lee Mack for Would I Lie To You Mo Gilligan for The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan - WINNER ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME Strictly Come Dancing - WINNER The Voice The Greatest Dancer The Rap Game UK FACTUAL SERIES Crime and Punishment Leaving Neverland - WINNER Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure FEATURES The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan - WINNER Snackmasters Joe Lycett's Got Your Back Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME Phoebe Waller- Bridge in Fleabag Sarah Kendall in Frayed Sian Clifford in Fleabag - WINNER Gbemisola Ikumelo in Famalam INTERNATIONAL Succession When They See Us - WINNER Euphoria Unbelievable LEADING ACTOR Stephen Graham for The Virtues Jared Harris for Chernobyl - WINNER Takehiro Hira for Giri/Haji Callum Turner for The Capture LEADING ACTRESS Jodie Comer for Killing Eve Suranne Jones for Gentleman Jack Samantha Morton for I Am Kirsty Glenda Jackson for Elizabeth Is Missing - WINNER LIVE EVENT Blue Planet Live - WINNER Election 2019 Live: The Results Glastonbury 2019 Operation Live MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME Ncuti Gatwa for Sex Education Guz Khan for Man Like Mobeen Youssef Kerkour for Home Jamie Demetriou for Stath Lets Flats - WINNER MINI-SERIES Chernobyl - WINNER A Confession The Virtues The Victim NEWS COVERAGE Hong Kong Protests - WINNER ITV News At Ten: Election Results Prince Andrew & The Epstein Scandal (Newsnight) Victoria Derbyshire: Men who lost loved ones to knife crime REALITY & CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL Celebrity Gogglebox Race Across The World - WINNER RuPaul's Drag Race UK Harry's Heroes: The Full English SCRIPTED COMEDY Derry Girls Fleabag Derry Girls Stath Lets Flats - WINNER SHORT FORM PROGRAMME Anywhere But Westminster Brain In Gear - WINNER Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle toni_with_an_i (Born Digital: First Cuts) SINGLE DOCUMENTARY The Abused The Family Secret The Last Survivors - WINNER David Harewood: Psychosis and Me SINGLE DRAMA Brexit: The Uncivil War Elizabeth Is Missing The Left Behind - WINNER Responsible Child SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA Coronation Street Casualty Holby City Emmerdale - WINNER SPECIALIST FACTUAL 8 Days: To The Moon and Back Seven Worlds: One Planet Thatcher: A Very British Revolution Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story - WINNER SPORT 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL: ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA - WINNER ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL FIFA WOMENS WORLD CUP 2019 SEMI FINAL: ENGLAND V USA WIMBLEDON 2019 MENS FINAL SUPPORTING ACTOR Joe Absolom for A Confession Josh O'Connor for The Crown Stellan Skarsgard for Chernobyl Will Sharpe for Giri/Haji - WINNER SUPPORTING ACTRESS Helen Behan for The Virtues Helena Bonham Carter for The Crown Jasmine Jobson for Top Boy Naomi Ackie for The End of the F***ing World - WINNER VIRGIN MEDIAS MUST-SEE MOMENT (voted for by the public) CORONATION STREET - The Death of Sinead Osborne FLEABAG - Confessional scene GAME OF THRONES - Arya Kills the Night King GAVIN AND STACEY - Nessa Proposes to Smithy - WINNER LINE OF DUTY - John Corbetts Death LOVE ISLAND - Michael recouples after Casa Amor SPECIAL AWARD Idris Elba BRITISH ACADEMY TELEVISION CRAFT AWARDS REAKTHROUGH TALENT AISLING BEA (Writer) This Way Up Merman TV/Channel 4 ANEIL KARIA (Director) (episode 3) Drama Republic/Channel 4 & Top Boy (ep 10) Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan Films, Dream Crew, SpringHill Entertainment/Netflix LAURIE NUNN (Writer) Sex Educatiion Eleven Film/Netflix SEAN BUCKLEY (Writer) Responsible Child Kudos, 72 Films/BBC Two COSTUME DESIGN CAROLINE MCCALL His Dark Materials Bad Wolf/BBC One JOANNA EATWELL Beecham House Bend It TV/ITV MICHELE CLAPTON Game Of Thrones HBO, Bighead, Littlehead, 36 Television, Startling Television/Sky Atlantic ODILE DICKS-MIREAUX Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic DIRECTOR: FACTUAL ARTHUR CARY The Last Survivors Minnow Films/BBC Two DAN REED Leaving Neverland AMOS Pictures/Channel 4 MARK LEWIS Dont F*** With Cats Raw TV/Netflix ROBIN BARNWELL Undercover: Inside China's Digital Gulag Hardcash Productions/ITV DIRECTOR: FICTION HARRY BRADBEER Fleabag Two Brothers Pictures/BBC Three JOHAN RENCK Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic SHANE MEADOWS The Virtues Warp Films, Big Arty Productions/Channel 4 TOBY HAYNES Brexit: The Uncivil War House Productions/Channel 4 DIRECTOR: MULTI-CAMERA BRIDGET CALDWELL The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance BBC Studios/BBC One JANET FRASER CROOK Glastonbury 2019 BBC Studios/BBC Two MATTHEW GRIFFITHS Six Nations 2019 Wales v England BBC Sport/BBC One PAUL MCNAMARA ITV Racing: Cheltenham Festival ITV Sport/ITV EDITING: FACTUAL ANDY R. WORBOYS Untouchable: The Rise And Fall Of Harvey Weinstein Lightbox/BBC Two JULES CORNELL Leaving Neverland AMOS Pictures/Channel 4 KIM HORTON 63 Up MultiStory Media/ITV MICHAEL HARTE Dont F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer Raw TV/Netflix EDITING: FICTION DAN CRINNION Killing Eve (Episode 4) Sid Gentle Films/BBC One ELEN PIERCE LEWIS Giri/Haji Sister Pictures/BBC Two GARY DOLLNER Fleabag Two Brothers Pictures/BBC Three SIMON SMITH, JINX GODFREY Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic ENTERTAINMENT CRAFT TEAM AMBER RIMELL, BRONSKI, MISTY BUCKLEY, TIM ROUTLEDGE Glastonbury 2019 (Stormzy) BBC Studios, Tawbox/BBC Two DAVID BISHOP, VICKY GILL, ANDY TAPLEY, PATRICK DOHERTY Strictly Come Dancing BBC Studios/BBC One MARK BUSK-COWLEY, STEVE KRUGER, IAIN STIRLING, JAMES TINSLEY Love Island ITV Studios, Motion Content Group/ITV 2 NIGEL CATMUR, PATRICK DOHERTY, KEVIN DUFF, ANDREW STOKES The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance BBC Studios/BBC One MAKE UP & HAIR DESIGN DANIEL PARKER, BARRIE GOWER Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic INMA AZORIN The Trial Of Christine Keeler Ecosse Films, Great Meadow Productions/BBC One KIRSTIN CHALMERS Catherine The Great New Pictures, Origin Pictures/HBO/Sky Atlantic LOZ SCHIAVO Peaky Blinders Caryn Mandabach Productions, Tiger Aspect/BBC One ORIGINAL MUSIC ADRIAN JOHNSTON Giri/Haji Sister Pictures/BBC Two ANDREW PHILLIPS War In The Blood Minnow Films/BBC Two DAVID HOLMES, KEEFUS CIANCIA Killing Eve Sid Gentle Films/BBC One HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic PHOTOGRAPHY: FACTUAL BERTIE GREGORY, HOWARD BOURNE, JOHN SHIER Seven Worlds, One Planet BBC Studios/BBC One DOUG ANDERSON, ROGER HORROCKS, GAVIN THURSTON Our Planet (Coastal Seas) Silverback Films/Netflix JAMIE MCPHERSON, HECTOR SKEVINGTON-POSTLES, BARRIE BRITTON Our Planet (Frozen Worlds) Silverback Films/Netflix PATRICK SMITH, NEIL HARVEY Untouchable: The Rise And Fall Of Harvey Weinstein Lightbox/BBC Two PHOTOGRAPHY & LIGHTING: FICTION ADRIANO GOLDMAN The Crown Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix JAKOB IHRE Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic JOE ANDERSON Top Boy Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan Films, Dream Crew, SpringHill Entertainment/Netflix SUZIE LAVELLE His Dark Materials (Episode 3) Bad Wolf, BBC Studios, HBO/BBC One PRODUCTION DESIGN LAURENCE DORMAN Killing Eve Sid Gentle Films/BBC One LUKE HULL, CLAIRE LEVINSON-GENDLER Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBOSky Atlantic MARTIN CHILDS, ALISON HARVEY The Crown Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix SAMANTHA HARLEY, MIRI KATZ Sex Education Eleven Film/Netflix SCRIPTED CASTING DES HAMILTON Top Boy Cowboy Films, Easter Partisan Films, Dream Crew, SpringHill Entertainment/Netflix LAUREN EVANS Sex Education Eleven Film/Netflix NINA GOLD, ROBERT STERNE Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic YOKO NARAHASHI, SHAHEEN BAIG, LAYLA MERRICK-WOLF Giri/Haji Sister/BBC Two SOUND: FACTUAL GRAHAM WILD, KATE HOPKINS Seven Worlds, One Planet BBC Studios/BBC One GRAHAM WILD, KATE HOPKINS, TIM OWENS Our Planet (One Planet) Silverback Films Production/Netflix NICK FRY, STEVE SPEED, JAMES EVANS, NICK ADAMS Formula 1: Drive To Survive Box to Box Films/Netflix SOUND TEAM Battle of the Brass Bands Two Four/Sky Arts SOUND: FICTION DILLON BENNETT, JON THOMAS, GARETH BULL, JAMES RIDGEWAY His Dark Materials Bad Wolf, BBC Studios, HBO/BBC One IAN WILKINSON, LEE WALPOLE, FRASER BARBER, STUART HILLIKER A Cristmas Carol FX Productions in association with the BBC, Minim UK Productions, Scott Free, and Hardy Son & Baker/BBC One STEFAN HENRIX, JOE BEAL, STUART HILIKER, VINCENT PIPONNIER Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic SOUND TEAM The Crown Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix SPECIAL, VISUAL & GRAPHIC EFFECTS BEN TURNER, CHRIS REYNOLDS, ASA SHOUL The Crown Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television/Netflix FRAMESTORE, PAINTING PRACTICE, REAL SFX, RUSSELL DODGSON His Dark Materials Bad Wolf, BBC Studios/HBO/BBC One LINDSAY MCFARLANE, CLAUDIUS CHRISTIAN RAUCH, JEAN-CLEMENT SORET, DNEG Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic MILK VISUAL EFFECTS, GARETH SPENSLEY, REAL SFX Good Omens Amazon Studios, BBC Studios, Narrativia, The Blank Corporation/Amazon Prime Video TITLES & GRAPHIC IDENTITY ALEX MACLEAN The Durrells Sid Gentle Films/ITV ELASTIC Catherine The Great New Pictures, Origin Pictures/HBO/Sky Atlantic ELASTIC, PAINTING PRACTICE His Dark Materials Bad Wolf, BBC Studios, HBO/BBC One LIGHT CREATIVE Ghosts Monumental Television, Them There/BBC One WRITER: COMEDY DANNY BROCKLEHURST Brassic Calamity Films/Sky One JAMIE DEMETRIOU Stath Lets Flats Roughcut TV/Channel 4 PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE Fleabag Two Brothers Pictures/BBC Three SAM LEIFER, TOM BASDEN Plebs Rise Films/ITV2 WRITER: DRAMA CHARLIE COVELL The End Of The F***ing World Clerkenwell Films, Dominic Buchanan Productions/Channel 4 CRAIG MAZIN Chernobyl Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games/HBO/Sky Atlantic JESSE ARMSTRONG Succession HBO, Project Zeus, Hyperobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions/Sky Atlantic SHANE MEADOWS, JACK THORNE The Virtues Warp Films, Big Arty Productions/Channel 4 SPECIAL AWARD NICKY SARGENT, VIKKI DUNN, founders of post-production house The Farm Advertisement Acclaimed: Explosive show Chernobyl leads the nods at the BAFTA Television Awards and Television Craft Awards 2020 New guard: The Crown has picked up seven nominations for the newest series which saw Olivia Colman take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II The five-part series follows an investigative commission appointed in the wake of the devastating nuclear accident on April 26, 1986. The show has been lauded as a harrowing and realistic account of those who battled to save the world from the toxic radiation emitting from the plant's Reactor Four. Chernobyl has received nominations in the Costume Design, Director Fiction, Editing Fiction, Make-up & Hair Design, Original Music, Photography & Lighting Fiction, Production Design, Scripted Casting, Sound Fiction, Special, Visual & Graphic Effects, Writer Drama, and Mini-Series categories. Actors Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard have also been recognised in the Leading Actor and Supporting Actor categories at the BAFTA Television Awards. Huge haul: Actors Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard have also been recognised in the Leading Actor and Supporting Actor categories for their roles as Valery Legasov and Boris Shcherbina The Crown, which saw Olivia Colman take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II for the third and four series, has received nods in the Photography & Lighting Fiction, Production Design, Sound Fiction, Special, Visual & Graphic Effects and Drama Series categories. Josh O'Connor who plays Prince Charles, and Helena Bonham-Carter, who portrays Princess Margaret have been nominated in the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress categories. Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award winner Fleabag scored an incredible six nominations at the awards, recognised in the Director Fiction, Editing Fiction, Writer Comedy, Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Scripted Comedy categories. BBC's thriller series Giri/Haji picked up six nominations across the two awards shows. Royal roles: Josh O'Connor who plays Prince Charles, and Helena Bonham-Carter, who portrays Princess Margaret have been nominated in the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress categories The eight-part series is set in England and Japan with dialogue in English and subtitled Japanese, and has a pair of brothers at its heart, Kenzo and Yuto Mori. Kenzo is a respectable Tokyo-based detective, and Yuto is rumoured to be part of the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, and is lying low in London after allegedly murdering a Japanese businessman there. The critically-acclaimed series was dubbed the 'next Peaky Blinders' upon its debut. It has been nominated in the Editing Fiction, Original Music, Scripted Casting, Drama Series, Leading Actor (for Takehiro Hira) and Supporting Actor (for Will Sharpe) at the awards. Killing Eve has scored three craft nominations and one television award nomination for Jodie Comer's Villanelle. a role which has already landed her a Primetime Emmy Award and 2019's Best Actress BAFTA Television Award. Multi-award winner: Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award winner Fleabag scored an incredible six nominations, including a nod for Must-See moment and Female Performance in a Comedy Programme Suspense: BBC's thriller series Giri/Haji picked up six nominations across the two awards shows including nods for supporting actor Will Sharpe (end left) and lead actor Takehiro Hira (centre) His Dark Materials has scored five craft nominations in the Costume Design, Photography & Lighting Fiction, Sound Fiction, Special, Visual & Graphic Effects and Titles. Channel 4 drama The Virtues, starring Line of Duty's Stephen Graham has picked up five nominations in the Director Fiction, Writer Drama, Leading Actor, Mini-Series and Supporting Actress (for Helen Behan) categories. Sex Education picked up nods in the Breakthrough Talent (for writer Laurie Nunn), Production Design, Scripted Casting and Male Performance in a Comedy Programme (for Ncuti Gatwa) categories. Can she do it again? Killing Eve has scored three craft nominations and one television award nomination for Jodie Comer's Villanelle (left), a role which has already landed her 2019's Best Actress BAFTA Television Award Rounding off the top nominees, Top Boy, which was revived in 2019, has scored four nominations in the Breakthrough Talent (for director Aneil Karia), Photography & Lighting Fiction, Scripted Casting and Supporting Actress (for Jasmine Jobson) categories. Notable snubs include EastEnders, which won Best Soap at the 2019 awards, but has failed to be nominated at the 2020 show. This comes amid claims EastEnders could reportedly be off the air until September due to the COVID-10 criss. The cast and crew at set to return at the end of the month to resume filming, but producers are apparently planning to build up a 'block' of episodes before it returns. The much-loved soap will be off the air for between six to eight weeks while they record a backlog of episodes, sources told the Mirror. Rivals Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Casualty and Holby City will battle it out for the award, with Hollyoaks also missing out on a nomination. The BAFTA Television Awards 2020 announced the nominees for the Must-See Moment category on Wednesday. The conclusion to last year's Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, in which Ruth Jones' character Nessa proposed to James Corden's alter-ego Smithy, is among the contenders in the shortlist, which is voted for by the British public. Nominations debut: Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa has received his first BAFTA nomination in the Male Performance in a Comedy Programme category for his role as Eric while Top Boy's Jasmine Jobson (right) has been recognised in the Supporting Actress category Line Of Duty's shock killing of undercover police officer John Corbett, played by Stephen Graham, is up for the award, while the scene where Arya Stark kills the Night King in the final season of Game Of Thrones also got a nod. Michael Griffiths' post-Casa Amor recoupling on last summer's edition of the ITV2 reality show Love Island has also been shortlisted, and is the only reality show to have been selected in the category. While the sad passing of Coronation Street character Sinead Osbourne - portrayed by Katie McGlynn - from cervical cancer also received a nod. Snubbed: EastEnders, which won Best Soap at the 2019 awards, has been snubbed in the 2020 nominations Not to be: Britain's Got Talent (left) has failed to pick up a nod in the Entertainment Programme category while now defunct show The Greatest Dancer (right) has Shortlist: The nominees for BAFTA Television Awards 2020's Must-See Moment were revealed on Wednesday, with Nessa's proposal to Smithy in the Gavin and Stacey special getting a nod What a moment: Line Of Duty's shock killing of undercover police officer John Corbett, played by Stephen Graham, is also up for the award, which is voted on by fans Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag completes the shortlist, for the scene where her titular character visits the hot priest in his church, which ends up being a catalyst in their relationship. The awards show will be held in a closed studio on July 31, and in accordance with government guidelines amid the coronavirus crisis the ceremony will be socially distanced with nominees accepting their prizes virtually. Broadcast live on BBC One from the studio, actor Richard Ayoade is set to host the show whilst following social distancing rules. Last year's awards show saw the likes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jodie Comer win for Killing Eve, while Benedict Cumberbatch earned the prize for Leading Actor for his work in the Sky miniseries Patrick Melrose. Dramatic: The scene where Arya Stark (Maisie Williams, pictured) killed the Night King in the final season of Game Of Thrones is also one of the nominees Oh no you didn't! Michael Griffiths' post-Casa Amor recoupling on last summer's edition of the ITV2 reality show Love Island has also been shortlisted, and is the only reality show to have been selected in the category Goodbye Sinead: While the sad passing of Coronation Street character Sinead Osbourne - portrayed by Katie McGlynn - from cervical cancer also received a nod The shortlist was selected by an independent BAFTA-approved jury of media experts, with BAFTA Television Committee Chair Hannah Wyatt heading the group. The winner of this years Must-See Moment award will be revealed on Friday July 31st when the 2020 Virgin Media British Television Academy Awards airs on BBC One. Members of the public can vote for their favourite Must-See Moment online at www.virginmedia.com/bafta. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 04:46:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Finance ministers of Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to implementing official bilateral debt relief for the world's poorest countries through year-end and possibly longer. "COVID-19 has exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities in many low-income countries, highlighting the importance of debt sustainability and transparency to long-term financing for development," the finance ministers said in a joint statement released by the U.S. Treasury Department. "We are committed to implementing the Debt Service Suspension Initiative agreed by the G20 and the Paris Club, by suspending official bilateral debt payments for the poorest countries to year-end 2020 and possibly longer, providing those countries fiscal space to fund social, health, and other measures to respond to the pandemic," the officials said. Given the importance of private financing for sustainable development, the G7 ministers welcome leadership by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in coordinating private sector participation, and look forward to follow-up, according to the statement. The G7 ministers also said they look to the international financial institutions to step up efforts to provide technical assistance to reduce public debt vulnerabilities, strengthen debt management capacity, and enhance debt reporting practices. "I welcome the continued strong support among the G7 for helping low-income countries address the impacts of COVID-19, including through participation in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a separate statement, adding the ministers agreed to convene on a regular basis to work together on critical economic issues to restore their respective economies. "I look forward to making significant progress to review with the G20 Ministers at the meeting in July," he said. In April, G20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed to "support a time-bound suspension of debt service payments for the poorest countries that request forbearance" following a teleconference meeting. Enditem Turkish soldiers patrol along a road past destroyed buildings atop the Arbaeen hill, Idlib (file photo) - OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images Russian war planes have reportedly carried out their first air strikes in northwest Syria in three months, as a ceasefire in the last rebel-held part of the country begins to crack. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, said Russian jets targeted rebel-held areas with missiles early Wednesday morning and Tuesday night, following earlier artillery bombardments by Syrian government forces. The strikes in and around the northwestern province of Idlib are the first in support of President Bashar Al-Assads ground forces since a truce brokered with Turkey brought relative calm to the region in early March. Although there were no immediate reports of casualties, the resumption of violence prompted hundreds of people to flee north towards the Turkish border, where Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, has stationed thousands of troops to oppose any further advance by the Syrian regime and their Russian allies. After nine years of civil war, Syrias rebel forces have been pushed back to a northwestern pocket around Idlib, where the Turkish-backed resistance is dominated by jihadist groups such as Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), led by former members of al-Qaeda. One Idlib-based activist, Hadi Abdullah, said todays air strikes targeted a mountain region in Latakia province on the edge of Idlib, and a power station on the northern edge of Hama province which HTS militants had controlled since 2015. The truce signed in March previously halted a terrifying four-month offensive by President Assads forces, supported by Russian air power, which killed at least 500 civilians and forced nearly one million people to flee their homes many of whom had fled earlier fighting during the war. There have been minor violations of the truce in recent weeks, war monitors said, such as joint Russian and Turkish military patrols being attacked by militias or blocked by protests. But in recent days, both Turkey and the government in Damascus have been sending reinforcements to areas around the Idlib pocket, while Russia has delivered a number of modern MIG-29 military jets to the Syrian Air Force. Aid groups warned that a resumption in violence amid the coronavirus pandemic could be catastrophic for the war-torn country. Brazil and Mexico reported record daily coronavirus death tolls as governments in Latin America battled to fortify defenses against the accelerating pandemic with fresh lockdown orders and curfews. European nations are emerging from months of devastation with some borders re-opening, but South and Central America have become the new hotspots in a crisis that has claimed at least 385,000 lives worldwide. Mexico on Wednesday announced more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the first time, while Brazil reported a record 1,349 daily deaths. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staunchly opposed lockdowns but many local authorities have defied him and, with the crisis deepening, a vast section of Bahia state was on Wednesday placed under curfew. There was more cause for concern in Chile, where the government said it was extending a three-week shutdown of the capital Santiago after a new record for daily deaths. And in more evidence of the scale of the crisis in Latin America, the journalists' union in Peru said at least 20 reporters had died from the coronavirus. The outbreak in Peru has been so intense that oxygen tanks needed in hospitals have become scarce, with many lining up to buy them for their loved ones. "We haven't found oxygen yet," said Lady Savalla in the capital Lima. "I'm worried about my mom more than anything else, because she's going to need a lot of oxygen and the hospital doesn't have enough." - Vaccine push - Experts have warned that travel restrictions will be needed around the world in some form until a vaccine is found -- and efforts to develop one are gathering pace. Britain is set to host a major meeting on Thursday, with more than 50 countries as well as powerful individuals such as Bill Gates taking part, to raise money for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. Gavi and its partners will launch a financing drive to purchase potential COVID-19 vaccines, scale up their production and support delivery to developing nations. Tests on one potential vaccine, being developed by Oxford University, will begin on 2,000 health services volunteers in Brazil next week. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, said Wednesday that it would resume trials of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment after doubts were cast on the study that prompted the suspension over safety fears. US President Donald Trump and Bolsonaro have touted the drug, with Washington sending Brazil two million doses earlier this week. But a separate study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, however, suggested taking the drug shortly after exposure to the coronavirus does not help prevent infection in a statistically meaningful way. Many governments are desperate to revive businesses after the economic destruction unleashed by the lockdowns, despite the lack of a viable treatment. Italy reopened its borders to European travelers on Wednesday, hoping to revive tourism, but a full recovery appeared a long way off for some. "I don't think we'll see any foreign tourists really until the end of August or even September," said Mimmo Burgio, a cafe owner near Rome's Colosseum. "Who's going to come?" - Risk of spread at protests - The United States remains the hardest-hit nation in the world, with 1.85 million infections and more than 107,000 deaths, and there are fears that the ongoing wave of protests in the country over racism and police brutality could fuel the spread of the virus. Many have said that while they were aware of the danger of infection at the big rallies, the cause was important enough to take the risk. Cav Manning, a 52-year-old emcee from New York, was among the tens of thousands across America willing to risk infection as he joined a protest in Brooklyn earlier this week. "What we saw is so disturbing that we've got to be out here right now," he told AFP. "Despite COVID, despite the fact that you might get infected." burs-qan/rbu A gravedigger works at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery where COVID-19 victims are buried daily in Manaus, Brazil Indonesian fire fighters spray disinfectant at a business center on the last day of the lockdown amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Jakarta Madagascar riot police use rubber bullets to disperse protesters who are angry after police officers beat up a Toamasina resident who refused to respect the virus lockdown in Madagascar A worker arranges beds at quarantine centre set up in the Hapania International Fair Complex on the outskirts of Agartala, India People in in Nova Gorica/Gorizia chat across the border fence between Slovenia and Italy, erected due to the Covid19 pandemic Kenya Redcross paramedics assist a COVID-19 patient in Nairobi A woman wearing a face mask walks past statues in central Skopje ,after the country eased lockdown measures Protesters hold up their phones during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, outside the White House in Washington, DC We are grateful for the recognition of the very people and businesses we support, Mair said. We also appreciate our broker networks valuable support and feedback. As an insurer that relies on brokers to provide insurance products, services, experiences and advice to businesses of all sizes, its a huge accolade to win Insurer of the Year. It also tells us that the things we have been focussing on, improving and delivering are valued by our broker partners and that we are heading in the right direction. Veros win marked a significant jump from the 2019 Brokers on Insurers survey, which placed the company off the podium in fourth position. Mair says the improvement comes from a culmination of years of hard work and listening to feedback. Read more: Revealed: Brokers on Insurers survey results Listening to brokers about what is important to them and acting on it has been key Our biggest priority has been supporting our brokers, ensuring our network has the expert tools, resources and skills to lead the competition, Mair explained. This includes our dedicated local BDM support network which provides a human touch point to equip brokers with the latest updates, insights and information they require. Out of the 11 categories the insurer was scored on, it was brand recognition for which brokers returned their highest approval rating. Mair says the companys passionate team is key to why brokers connect so well with Veros brand. Putting brokers and their customers at the forefront of our decision-making process has helped lift our programs and build the capabilities and expertise of brokers, Mair continued. Consistency is also really important for brand recognition and is why weve supported NIBAs Young Alumni program for more than 30 years, run the RM Advancer Awards to recognise excellence in risk management for the last 14 years, and uncovered SME insights for the last nine years through the annual SME Insurance Index research. Among the new initiatives Vero has rolled out over the past year included unveiling new and innovative methods to support brokers, such as the Risk Profile tool which better enables brokers to share expert risk advice with their customers. The Suncorp Learning Campus, which allows brokers access to a subscription style learning platform with an extensive range of education options, is another innovation Vero has invested heavily in to help brokers improve their product knowledge and professional skills. Vero has also improved the claims experience for both SMEs and brokers by launching OneTouch and implemented dedicated case managers to support customers impacted by severe weather events such as last years devasting bushfires, Mair explained. Read next: What does an analysis into ASX-100 companies say about insurance? However, the win didnt come without the need to overcome hurdles along the way. Mair says operating in a COVID-19 environment off the back of the devastating Black Summer bushfire season and storms across the nation were standout challenges for the industry and Australians in general. Weve also taken learnings from the Royal Commission into Financial Services and worked with brokers to ensure were on the front-foot of providing better customer experiences and outcomes, Mair added. A challenge for Vero more locally has been balancing the remediation of our portfolios, while ensuring the products suit brokers and their clients in all areas of Australia. Looking to the future and divulging how Vero plans to retain the Insurer of The Year title in 2021, Mair says the company will look for consistency and continue listening to feedback. Winning Insurance Businesss Brokers on Insurers awards in 2020 is a big achievement for Vero and acknowledges our persistence and consistency in our approach to working with brokers to promote their role as trusted advisors within our community, he said. Looking to the future, we plan to continue building on this strong momentum by improving our service and product offering, listening to brokers invaluable feedback, and growing the business in the areas that matter. The international trade in timber, tobacco, cocoa, coffee and cotton accounts for a high proportion of malaria risk in exporter countries, according to a collaborative study by scientists in Brazil and Australia published in Nature Communications. A paper recently published in Nature Communications is the first to show a connection between demand from certain developed countries for agricultural commodities and the growing risk of malaria in the countries that supply those goods. The study was conducted by scientists affiliated with the School of Public Health of the University of Sao Paulo (FSP-USP) in Brazil and colleagues at the University of Sydney in Australia. According to the article, approximately 20% of the malaria risk in deforestation hotspots is due to the international trade in goods such as timber, wood products, tobacco, cocoa, coffee and cotton. The researchers used data for the period 2000-2015. The study was part of the "Latitudinal landscape genomics and ecology of Anopheles darlingi" Thematic Project supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP. The methodology, which correlates world trade routes with data on forest cover loss in the agricultural commodity exporting countries where malaria occurs, was developed by Maria Anice Mureb Sallum, a professor at FSP-USP, and her PhD student Leonardo Suveges Moreira Chaves, the first author of the article, in collaboration with Manfred Lenzen, a professor at the University of Sydney, and his research group. "Lenzen maintains a database on international trade covering 189 countries and sources such as the World Trade Organization and World Bank, among others," Sallum said. "We know from the data who sells what and where, who they sell to, who processes the commodities, and where the processed end-products are consumed. For example, certain countries buy cocoa, produce chocolate and export to the rest of the world. All links in the supply chain were taken into account." According to Suveges, more than 1 billion commodity trade routes were analyzed by Lenzen and his group using high-performance computing. "Malaria incidence correlates closely with landscape change due to deforestation, which favors the proliferation of vectors and exposes human communities to these insects," Suveges explained. "So, we attributed part of the total number of malaria cases to deforestation and called it 'malaria risk,' meaning how many cases there would be in the presence of deforestation but in the absence of public health interventions to control the disease, such as insecticide-impregnated mosquito netting and artemisinin-based drug treatment. Part of this risk is associated with the world trade in commodities." The researchers selected the countries that had cases of malaria and deforestation hotspots and cross-tabulated this dataset with commodity supply chain data, particularly for the final destinations of the goods in question. They concluded that 10% of deforestation-linked malaria risk was associated with ten countries that import these commodities: Germany, the United States, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The demand for certain commodities in these countries may exacerbate the malaria risk for 10.7 million people in low-income net exporting countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria risk by numbers Deforestation-implicated malaria risk, as defined by the researchers, was highest in Nigeria, corresponding to 5.98 million cases in 2015. These were due in part to exports of timber to China (USD 332?million in 2015) and exports of cocoa beans to the Netherlands (USD 334?million), Germany (USD 72 million), and Belgium, France, Spain and Italy (USD 35 million), as well as exports of charcoal to Europe (USD 35 million). Next came Tanzania, with 5.66 million people at risk of deforestation-linked malaria in 2015, partly owing to exports of raw tobacco to Europe and Asia (USD 344 million), raw cotton to Southeast Asia (USD 41 million), and sawn timber to India (USD 20 million). Uganda had 5.49 million deforestation-linked malaria risk cases, potentially driven by exports of raw coffee to Italy (USD 88 million in 2015), Germany (USD 63 million), Belgium (USD 40 million), the United States and Spain (USD 21 million each) and to a lesser extent by exports of raw cotton to South and Southeast Asia (USD 15 million). Finally, the authors write that deforestation-linked malaria in Cameroon (5.49 million risk cases) could be connected to exports of cocoa to the Netherlands (USD 300?million), Spain, Belgium, France and Germany (altogether USD 79?million in 2015), rough timber to China (USD 175?million), and sawn timber to China, Belgium, Italy, the United States, and many other destinations (altogether USD 440?million). According to the article, other countries with high levels of deforestation-linked malaria risk were (in descending order) DR Congo, India, Zambia, Myanmar, the Central African Republic, and Burundi. Their main trading partner was China, to which they mainly exported timber. In a supplementary note to the article, the authors add that Chinese imports of commodities in 2015 accounted for 1.7 million cases of malaria in countries where deforestation is linked to the production and export of the commodities in question. Next came imports by Germany, accounting for 1.5 million cases, followed by Japan (986,000), the United States (770,000), the United Kingdom (815,000), Italy (595,000), the Netherlands (581,000), Spain (466,000), France (463,000), and Belgium (361,000). Insufficient compensation "It's striking that the US, the UK, France, Germany and Japan, some of the main importers of malaria-implicated products, provide financial support for malaria control programs, especially in sub-Saharan Africa," Suveges said. However, the numbers do not add up. In 2017, global investment in malaria control and prevention totaled USD 3.2 billion, with high-income donors providing 72%. However, the authors write that malaria-endemic countries bore 28% of the total, which was less than half of what was required to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality rates in line with Health Target 3.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed for 2030 by the United Nations. The countries that produce and export commodities remained in this position throughout the period analyzed, Sallum stressed. "We know from previously published studies that malaria is affected by the social impact of economic development, when people have better housing and better conditions for land use, all of which protects them. If commodity exporters became suppliers of manufactured goods, they would add more value to their production, and their societies would benefit. This in turn could reduce the need for deforestation and mitigate malaria risk," she said. "However, the fact that supply chain roles don't change demonstrates the inequality prevailing in these relations. Commodity prices are set by the importers." ### About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at http://www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe. When Indianapolis school officials announced in March they were switching to online coursework in response to COVID-19, Tammy Mann hoped it would only be for a week. Her son, Mylan, was a few months shy of finishing his junior year at North Central High School. However, Indianapolis students finished out their academic year totally online. Both Tammy and her son found the experience to be frustrating and poorly organized. There was no importance put on the e-learning days, Mylan, 17, said. It felt like teachers and administration werent giving us an incentive to do the assignments, so it felt like I wasnt really required to do any of the work, so I sort of stopped paying attention to Canvas [online program for classes] notifications. E-learning struggles arent limited to high school students, however. Abby Thomas, a senior studying public relations at IUPUI, said she and her professors had difficulties with online learning after all of her courses moved to an online format last semester. The transition process was honestly a little rough, she said. A few of my professors werent great with Canvas in the first place, so having to rely on it totally was a challenge and required several relatively severe syllabus changes. In all, I would say it took a solid month to iron out the major challenges and to feel like I was actually back in the swing of anything remotely resembling school. Despite the struggles Thomas and Tammy and Mylan Mann had with e-learning, all feel the instructors did the best they could under the circumstances. They had never prepared for anything like this, Tammy said. According to Tammy, teachers at North Central told students that assignments during e-learning would not harm their grades, only raise them. Essentially, then, if a student was passing classes before the transition to e-learning, they would still pass regardless of how they performed on their e-learning assignments. They messed up when they said the work youre doing can only improve your grades and not hurt it, Tammy said. Thats like telling a kid not to do it. He did the work, but he didnt take it seriously, and it was just a lot of busy work. You dont get a lecture, you dont see people, its just work to fill up the required number of days. He [Mylan] told me he would have rather been in school, and that about killed me, Tammy added with a laugh. Rick Doss, director of secondary education for Metropolitan School District of Washington Township, said schools throughout the township, which includes North Central High School, decided to hold students harmless for any assignments throughout the e-learning process. However, Doss said it was not supposed to be public knowledge that students, in theory, could do no e-learning assignments and not have it affect their grades. After a few teachers informed their students of this, Doss said the township was transparent about the plan and encouraged parents to keep their students engaged. As diverse socioeconomically as our township is, some students and families arent as connected as we would like, Doss said. We knew that we had kids that didnt have devices, so we couldnt guarantee that all students had access to the content. North Central High School hasnt announced if students will be back in traditional classrooms next academic year, and Tammy said she cringes when she thinks about another semester with e-learning. Regardless of whether North Central High School students are back in traditional classrooms next semester, Doss said there will be a period of catching up to allow students who didnt have access to e-learning materials or connectivity to learn any key concepts they may have missed. Throughout summer break, township officials will ensure all students have access to laptops and Wi-Fi, so if e-learning is necessary next school year, students will not be held harmless. Tom Hayes, a journalism teacher at Ben Davis High School, directs students in creating a student newspaper and a yearbook every year. While hes ready to be back in the classroom he said he would be back tomorrow if it was possible he was somewhat prepared for a transition to e-learning thanks to Google Classroom. Our online product increased in content during that two months, Hayes said. Kids still produced stories and took pictures, so we still produced content, it was just all online. Hayes said while he was prepared to transition to online classes and grade accordingly, students in other classes or programs may have realized grading wasnt as strict during the last two months of the school year. Hayes is sure that if e-learning continues into next school year, teachers along with students will be more prepared for next semester. Regardless of the struggles that come with e-learning, questions remain about returning to the classroom without a COVID-19 vaccination readily available. At this point, even though I know anyone can get it, Im still very anxious at the thought of spreading it to my at-risk family and close friends, Thomas said. As much as I resent the forced online learning we had last semester, I contemplated switching classes [to online only] if they insist we go back in person in the fall if things havent really slowed down. Its not what I want to do, but Im very, very wary. While he doesnt know when schools will feel comfortable enough to bring children back into classrooms, Hayes is excited to see his students again. I think [the pandemic] reinforced my belief that relationships with your kids are everything, Hayes said. I always say that high school teachers are prepared to say goodbye to students when graduation comes, its exciting for us to see them go to the next level and celebrate that with them. When thats taken from you in March, its a terrible feeling. Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper. kid smiling at computerJose Luis Pelaez Inc A WeChat mini-program offering online tours of Chinas Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes has recorded 13.8 million visits since it was launched in late February, according to data by Tencent, Chinas internet and technology giant. Jointly developed by Dunhuang Academy China and Tencent, this mini-program has become a master work of Chinas online tourism. This masterpiece of online tourism enables people to appreciate at their fingertips the well-known images of flying Apsaras in the grottoes of Dunhuang located in Gansu Province, Northwest China, and brings the ancient fresco back to life. With the mini-program, people not only can enjoy frescoes and Chinese Buddhism art in the grottoes with just clicks on their phones, but also learn about the stories behind the relics. Tourist sites like the Mogao Grottoes and the Western Thousand-Buddha Grottoes were temporarily closed since January 24 due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Relying on Digital Dunhuang, the academy provided rich resources for online visitors, who stayed at home during the outbreak, and gradually reopened the tourist attractions in early May. Over the years, the academy has been pursuing digitalization to display the splendid culture of Dunhuang, making more than 200 grottoes into digital forms. Thanks to the Digital Dunhuang project (https://www.e-dunhuang.com/) launched in 2015, online visitors can enjoy frescoes and painted sculptures in 30 grottoes for free. Besides, the academy has also blazed new trails in innovative cultural products such as music, game, and cartoon, in an effort to further unleash the vitality of the cultural relics dating back thousands of years. As early as the 1980s, the academy put forward the vision of Digital Dunhuang, in the hope of permanently preserving and utilizing the cultural relics by means of computer and digital imaging technologies, introduced Fan Jinshi, honorary director of Dunhuang Academy. The 81 year-old added that the establishment of the digital repository had created conditions for protecting grottoes in a scientific way, and for better using relevant data. Digital Dunhuang is composed of two parts. One is constructing digital repository including the grottoes, frescoes, and painted sculptures. This provides the basic information for the preservation and research of the art of Dunhuang, as well as reference for making protection measures for these relics. It is also about compiling all the documents and research results about Dunhuang that are scattered in different parts in the world. The other part is making the digital image of the cultural relics, and developing digital films with the help of the digital file. This makes it possible for the cultural heritage of Dunhuang to be exhibited outside the grottoes. Two decades ago, Fan was appointed as director of Dunhuang Academy China. Over the past 20 years, China has continuously strengthened preservation of the cultural relics of Dunhuang by increasing financial input, applying cutting-edge technology to preservation and renovation, and carrying out more international exchanges and cooperation. Today, protecting the cultural heritage of Dunhuang has become an even more daunting task. Natural erosion would cause damages to the frescoes and even lead to collapse of grottoes. Besides, a surge in the number of tourists also poses severe challenges to the grottoes and its surrounding environment. The frescoes and painted sculptures are going through irreversible degradation till they vanish. We, the archaeologists, are racing against time to protect them. And we must shift our preservation strategy, from renovating and conserving endangered pieces to taking precautionary measures, so as to prevent potential harms as much as we can, she said. The Dutch government has ordered the closure of mink fur farms amid fears that they could act as 'reservoirs' for COVID-19 after two workers caught the disease. Nine infected farms will be closed from tomorrow, with thousands of mink whose glossy coats are prized for fur clothing to be culled in the cautionary measure. The mandate followed advice from a team of veterinarians and infectious disease specialists that the infected farms could help the coronavirus remain in circulation. Not only have mink on the farms and two farm workers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, but viral particles have been detected in dust found in some of the mink sheds. Following the decision, the Humane Society International has issued a statement calling for governments across the globe to close their mink farms as well. The UK banned fur farming in late 2000 the first country to introduce such a prohibition but continues to import millions of pounds of mink fur each year. Scroll down for video The Dutch government has ordered the closure of mink fur farms amid fears that they could act as 'reservoirs' for COVID-19 after two workers caught the disease (stock image) MINK FARMS AND COVID-19: A TIMELINE April 26: COVID-19 detected on two mink farms in the Netherlands May 9: the disease is identified on two additional farms in the Noord Brabant province, both in the animals and dust particles within the barn housing them. May 15: Three cats at one of the farms are diagnosed with the coronavirus. May 19: a fur farm worker is found to have contracted COVID-19. Compulsory screening of all Dutch mink farms is called for. May 20: Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten tells Dutch MPs that it likely that the infected worked contracted COVID-19 from a mink. May 22: Half of the 14 employees at a Spanish mink farm in the province of Teruel test positive for COVID-19. May 25: A second farm worker in the Netherlands contracts coronavirus. Ms Schouten declares minkhuman transmission 'extremely likely'. June 1: Three more Dutch mink farms are found to harbour SARS-Cov-2. June 2: The number of infected fur farms rises to nine in the Netherlands. June 3: Ministers announce that the animals on the nine infected farms will be culled 'in the interests of both public and animal health.' Advertisement The Dutch closures were announced last night in a letter sent jointly by Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten and Minister for Public Health, Welfare & Sport Hugo de Jonge. 'We conclude that the clearance of the infected farms is the measure to be taken in the interests of both public and animal health,' the pair wrote. 'The Zoonoses Outbreak Management Team indicates that there is a risk that SARS-CoV-2 will continue to circulate on mink farms for a long time. 'More infections are expected to be detected in the coming weeks.' 'In the coming period there will also be many additional employees on the farms for the vaccination and care of the animals, which entails a risk.' 'When the human epidemic and the risk of human-human infections is decreasing, a mink-human infection can increase the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in humans.' 'We want to prevent that.' Alongside the closure of the nine coronavirus-infected fur farms, for the country's remaining 119 mink farms, the Dutch government has introduced restriction on the visitors allowed at the farms and around the transportation of mink. These measures will sit in addition the mandatory COVID-19 screenings implemented on May 19 following the first known case of a Dutch mink farm worker who contracted coronavirus with all operating farms required to submit mink carcasses for analysis on a weekly basis. It remains unclear whether when the pandemic has passed the nine closed farms will re-open for business. In the meantime, however, the premises have been cordoned off and members of the public have been advised to stay at least 1,312 feet (400 metres) away. 'Official figures haven't been released but it's fair to say that tens of thousands of mink could now be culled on these infected farms,' the Humane Society's director of international media, Wendy Higgins, told MailOnline. 'That level of loss of life is of course a tragedy, but the real tragedy is that these animals were bred to die for the frivolous fur trade in the first place.' 'From the moment every tiny mink kit was born on those farms, spending their entire life in a small wire mesh cage, their terrible fate was always to be gassed to death to be turned into a bobble hat or coat collar.' Mink farming was banned in the Netherlands in 2013 but farms have until 2024 to finally close their operations and, in 2018, the country still euthanized and harvested around 4.5 million mink for their fur. According to Mr de Jonge and Ms Schouten's letter, the Dutch government is now considering, in the light of COVID-19, whether to support fur farms in voluntarily terminating their businesses prior to the 2024 deadline. Globally, it is believe that around 60 million mink are harvested annually for their fur with the top producing nations being China (at around 20.6 million mink), Denmark (17.6 million) and Poland (5 million) as of 2018. Along side mink, other animals reared for their fur foxes and raccoon dogs are known to be able to be infected with coronaviruses and have the potential to also act as reservoirs of these diseases in the event of outbreaks, the Humane Society said. 'The intensive cage confinement of animals on fur farms has always been a potential breeding ground for infectious diseases,' said Humane Society International's senior director of public affairs, Joanna Swabe. 'Confirmation that mink on Dutch fur farms have infected workers with COVID-19 exposes yet another reason to close this cruel and entirely unnecessary industry.' The Humane Society cautioned that fur farms estimated to house around 60 million mink worldwide at any given time have the potential to also become breeding grounds for other novel infectious zoonotic, or animal-derived, diseases. 'Fur farms typically contain thousands of mink in rows of cages in unsanitary, crowded and stressful conditions not unlike the wildlife markets at the centre of global concern,' Dr Swabe added. 'The Netherlands deadline of 2024 for phasing out mink fur farms simply provides three and a half more years of unnecessary risk.' 'The Dutch government, and all fur-producing countries like Denmark, Poland, France, Italy, China, Finland, Spain and the United States, should commit to end this inhumane practice and protect public health.' Following the decision in the Netherlands, the Humane Society International has issued a statement calling for governments across the globe to close their mink farms as well In the UK, meanwhile Humane Society director Claire Bass has called for Britain to 'show world leadership' by implementing a ban on fur sales. 'Its clear from the situation in the Netherlands that mink fur farms can act as reservoirs for pathogens that put human health at risk,' she said. 'By continuing to allow imports of tens of millions of pounds of fur each year, the UK is effectively underwriting trade in wildlife that could act as a petri-dish for the creation and spread of future viral pathogens.' 'We cannot lay pandemic blame at the door of those countries that commercially farm and trade in wild animals in appalling conditions while simultaneously providing markets for their products.' 'We urge the UK governments to ban the sale of animal fur, sending a clear global message that it is not acceptable to put public health at risk for the sake of the frivolous fur fashion industry.' WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices rose slightly in cautious trade Thursday after seeing their biggest daily decline in a month the previous day amid signs of an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,709.99 per ounce, after having fallen 1.7 percent on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures were up half a percent at $1,713.75. While economic optimism prevails, gold is benefiting from the historic civil unrest in the United States, stimulus expectations and rising U.S.-China tensions. Late Wednesday, the German coalition government agreed to a 130 billion ($211 billion) stimulus package to help Europe's biggest economy recover from the coronavirus crisis. Attention now shifts to a European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting later today, with the central bank widely expected to ramp up emergency bond purchases to support the region's battered economies. The ECB will also publish its new economic forecasts. ECB President Christine Lagarde will hold a press conference at 8.30 am ET. U.S. reports on weekly jobless claims and the U.S. trade deficit may attract attention later today, while the Labor Department's monthly jobs report due on Friday is expected to show unemployment soaring to a post-World War Two high. 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. Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer After 11:59 tonight, residents in San Antonio and Bexar County will no longer be under a stay-at- home order. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff issued the first order on March 23 to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The order was extended repeatedly since then, but Nirenberg and Wolff said they will let the local order expire as scheduled on Thursday. WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trumps Pentagon chief shot down his idea of using troops to quell protests across the United States, then reversed course on pulling part of the 82nd Airborne Division off standby in an extraordinary clash between the U.S. military and its commander in chief. Both Trump and Defence Secretary Mark Esper also drew stinging, rare public criticism from Trumps first defence secretary, Jim Mattis, in the most public pushback of Trumps presidency from the men he put at the helm of the worlds most powerful military. Mattis rebuke Wednesday followed Trumps threats to use the military to dominate the streets where Americans are demonstrating following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes. Trump had urged governors to call out the National Guard to contain protests that turned violent and warned that he could send in active duty military forces if they did not. Esper angered Trump when he said he opposed using military troops for law enforcement, seemingly taking the teeth out of the presidents threat to use the Insurrection Act. Esper said the 1807 law should be invoked only in the most urgent and dire of situations. He added, We are not in one of those situations now. After Espers visit to the White House, the Pentagon abruptly overturned an earlier decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region, a public sign of the growing tensions with the White House amid mounting criticism that the Pentagon was being politicized in response to the protests. Former Secretary Mattis, a retired Marine general, lambasted both Trump and Esper in an essay in The Atlantic for their consideration of using the active-duty military in law enforcement and for the use of the National Guard in clearing out a largely peaceful protest near the White House on Monday evening. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a battlespace that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate, Mattis wrote, referencing quotes by Esper and Trump respectively. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict a false conflict between the military and civilian society. Trump responded on Twitter by calling Mattis the worlds most overrated General, adding: I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree, Glad he is gone! Days ago, Esper had ordered about 1,300 Army personnel to military bases outside the nations capital as Trump weighed whether to invoke the Insurrection Act and send active-duty troops into the city, where the scene of large protests that devolved into violence and looting over the weekend. But after a night of calm enforced by a large deployment of National Guard troops and heavily armed federal law enforcement agents, defence officials said the troops would begin returning to their home base. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that the decision was reversed after Espers visit to the White House. The White House didnt respond to request for comment on whether Trump ordered the change. The shift added to confusion over the presidents threat to invoke the Insurrection Act for protests following Floyds death in Minneapolis. White House officials had indicated even before Espers comments that Trump was backing away from invoking the act, though officials said Trump was upset that Espers statement conveyed weakness. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president was still willing to deploy federal troops despite Espers comments: If needed, he will use it, she told reporters. Meanwhile, the president was taking credit for the deployment of federal and other law enforcement officers to the nations capital, saying it offered a model to states on how to stop violence accompanying some protests nationwide. On Wednesday evening, troops and others were out in force in Washington. A Defence official said at least 2,200 National Guard members would be on the streets. Helmeted forces ringed Lafayette Park across from the White House. Military vehicles were parked at intersections, blocking access. Asked repeatedly if Trump still had confidence in his Pentagon chief, McEnany said, As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, and should the president lose faith we will all learn about that in the future. The defence secretary has come under fire from critics, including retired senior military officers, for having walked from the White House on Monday evening with Trump and others for a presidential photo opportunity in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church, damaged by protesters. Esper said that while he was aware they were heading to St. Johns, I was not aware a photo op was happening. He said he also did not know that police had forcibly moved peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square to clear the way for Trump and his entourage. Mattis, in his essay Wednesday, called the scene an abuse of executive authority. The retired general quit the Trump administration in December 2018 after months of conflict with the president as Trump announced he was unilaterally withdrawing American troops from Syria. The White House laid responsibility for Mondays events in Lafayette Park on Attorney General William Barr, saying he gave the order to clear out the protest before Trumps walk to the church ahead of Washingtons 7 p.m. curfew. McEnany said law enforcement conducted the operation with appropriate force, which included pepper spray and other chemical agents, and officers on horseback and batons clearing a crowd made up almost entirely of peaceful protesters. Though the crackdown on the Washington demonstrations was praised by some Trump supporters, a handful of Republicans expressed concern that law enforcement officers risked violating the protesters First Amendment rights. Trump had been furious about images juxtaposing fires set in the park outside the executive mansion with a darkened White House in the background, according to current and former campaign and administration officials. He was also angry about the news coverage revealing he had gone to the secure White House bunker during Fridays protests. Trump acknowledged he visited the bunker but claimed he was only conducting an inspection as protests raged outside. ___ AP writers Michael Balsamo and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Sarah Blake Morgan in West Jefferson, North Carolina, contributed. Every dog has its day, and for a pitbull who eats nothing but chicken and has reportedly been separated from its owner, being featured in the Hindustan Times recently has been a stroke of luck. The report has caught Ludhiana member of Parliament (MP) Ravneet Singh Bittus eye and he has decided to pay for its expensive food and upkeep. I came to know about this abandoned pitbull dog after reading the news in the Hindustan Times. As I am in Delhi, my staff has handed over 10,000 to mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu for the upkeep of the dog and I will bear the expenses till the time MC locates the actual owner of the dog, Bittu said on Thursday The dog was caught in the Ishar Nagar area and kept in a cage at the MCs animal birth control centre since then. No one as yet has paid for its bill of 6,000 for chicken thats pending with a meat shop owner. Bittu has a penchant for dogs, the credit for which he says goes to his wife, Anupama. The couple adores their own pets, a Shih Tzu and St Bernard. Everyone should help animals, says the MP. The MC filed a complaint with Jamalpur police to locate the owner as she had called MC officials in May, but had not failed to show up to collect the animal, saying she had been stuck in Patna due to the lockdown, says MC senior veterinary officer, Dr Harbans Dhalla. Dhalla, who is all praise for Bittu for stepping in to help, adds that anyone with leads on the dogs owner could share it on 98150-91107. Hong Kong's business community, backed by some of its famous billionaires, is upbeat on the benefits of a national security law for the city, according to an industry survey, while expressing concerns about foreign sanctions on their operations. About 61 per cent of the respondents said the law will either have a positive or no impact at all on their businesses over the long term, according to the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Some 54 per cent of them viewed the legislation as "controversial" and hence will have a negative impact on their businesses in the short term, citing foreign sanctions as their biggest concern. The chamber surveyed its 4,000-odd members last week as Beijing endorsed the legislation tailor-made for the city, of which 418 responded with answers. Since it was unveiled at the annual National People's Congress on May 21, the proposal that seeks to bypass Hong Kong's legislature has roiled the local stock market and further widened the rift in US-China ties. China has introduced a national security law for Hong Kong as it claims the anti-government protests in the financial hub endanger the country. Photo: AP Photo alt=China has introduced a national security law for Hong Kong as it claims the anti-government protests in the financial hub endanger the country. Photo: AP Photo The US has since determined that Hong Kong has lost its autonomy from China, and President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw Hong Kong's special trade privileges and impose other unspecified sanctions. The Hang Seng Index jumped the most since March on Monday even as traders braced for more clarity from both sides of the controversy. The survey follows the decision by Hong Kong's second-richest man Li Ka-shing to throw his weight behind the proposed security law. More than 2,000 artists including Jackie Chan, whose industry was also upended by street protests for much of 2019, have also voiced their support for the law last week. Story continues "We oppose any sanctions on Hong Kong as they will not only hurt local companies but also all international companies operating in the city," he said in a phone interview. Leung, who took up the role on May 1 after leaving HSBC, also warned that trade sanctions on Hong Kong may spread the pain overseas. "If Hong Kong companies are restricted or hurt by the sanctions, their overseas trading counterparts and related parties will be hurt as a result," he said. In a Legislative Council meeting on Monday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po repeated his belief that the national security legislation for Hong Kong and the US decision to impose sanctions on Hong Kong would have little impact on the city's economy. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. The UN's cultural organisation on Thursday condemned the killing of Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, a Yemeni journalist who contributed to AFP, in the southern city of Aden this week. "I call on all parties to respect their obligation under the Geneva Conventions to protect journalists," the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) director general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. "Brave reporters like Nabil Hassan carry out important work keeping people in Yemen informed and documenting the extreme conditions their country is experiencing. They must be offered every possible protection." The 34-year-old videographer and photographer, who also worked for other major news organisations in the region, was shot in his car on Tuesday by unknown assailants shortly after leaving his home in Aden. A security source told AFP the armed men had escaped. Yemen's government and the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) both condemned the killing. Quaety, who also went by the name Nabil Hasan, began working with AFP in 2015. He was married with three children and had a fourth on the way. In 2016, he was a finalist in Britain's Rory Peck Award for his work covering the long conflict that pits the government against the Huthi rebels, with an entry the judges described as "rare and outstanding". In January 2019, Quaety survived a deadly Huthi drone attack on Yemen's largest airbase, Al-Anad, north of Aden, during a military parade he was covering. Another AFP contributor in Yemen, photographer and videographer Abdullah al-Qadry, was killed in 2018 during shelling while on assignment for Yemen's Belqees television. Yemen lies in 167th position out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders' world press freedom index. PEACH SPRINGS, Ariz., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Canyon West has announced an extension on its thank you offer of complimentary general admission for an expanded list of eligible frontline workers. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation Through June 15, the company is offering complimentary general admission for police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, healthcare workers, grocery store employees, janitorial workers, maintenance workers, truck or bus drivers, and teachers. It's a small thank you from Grand Canyon West for the incredible work frontline workers are doing to help communities everywhere get through this COVID crisis. "We are pleased to announce we are extending our complimentary general admission offer to continue to express our gratitude and appreciation for the courageous service of frontline workers," said Colin McBeath, CEO of Grand Canyon Resort Corporation. Through June 15, 2020, frontline workers will receive complimentary General Admission to Grand Canyon West at the on-site ticket counter when they show a work ID to validate they are a police officer, firefighter, EMT, healthcare worker, grocery store worker, janitorial worker, maintenance worker or a truck or bus driver. On June 1, Grand Canyon West also launched special introductory pricing to celebrate reopening. To celebrate this momentous occasion from now until July 31, 2020, guests can get a General Admission ticket and Skywalk bundle for just $59. This limited-time offer can be booked at grandcanyonwest.com or by calling 1-888-868-WEST. Grand Canyon West is opening in phases. The world-famous Skywalk, Eagle Point, and Guano Point opened at Grand Canyon West on June 1, 2020. Hualapai River Runners will relaunch their whitewater rafting tours and brand-new rental offerings on June 8, 2020. For more information on how Grand Canyon West is welcoming back visitors with rigorous new health and safety protocols, go to grandcanyonwest.com/reopening-information/. About Grand Canyon Resort Corporation and Grand Canyon West The Grand Canyon Resort Corporation is a wholly owned enterprise of the Hualapai Tribe. The corporation's properties include Grand Canyon West, the Grand Canyon Skywalk, Hualapai River Runners, the Zipline at Grand Canyon West, the Hualapai Lodge, and the Walapai Market. Media Contact: Phylicia Middleton | Director of Marketing [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg SOURCE Grand Canyon Resort Corporation Related Links http://grandcanyonwest.com Eight Kyrgyzstan nationals who had arrived in the city after attending a religious congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi were arrested on Wednesday, in connection with violation of visa norms. They were remanded in judicial custody till June 16. Two others who accompanied them have also been arrested. They had arrived in the city on tourist visa for religion preaching. Complaints were registered at Gandhi Ganj and Town police stations against Kamal Azgar of Odisha, Abdulla Khuddus and the eight Kyrgyzstan nationals. They were found residing at a mosque in the city on April 3. The medical staff, while conducting door-to-door health check-up in the old city, came across the Kyrgyzstan nationals and informed the police. The two others used to translate their speeches to Urdu and Hindi. Doctors examined those arrested and they were quarantined in the mosque itself, in the wake of the Coronavirus scare. According to police, the Kyrgyzstan nationals came to Delhi in January itself and stayed there till March 8. They arrived in Bidar on March 10. Before producing them before the court, their throat swab samples were sent to the lab twice for testing and the reports turned out to be negative. They have all been lodged at the district jail now. Kim Kardashian made an announcement on Thursday about how her company her several companies will help after the death of George Floyd. The 39-year-old reality TV star shared to messages to Instagram with the details. 'We are donating,' the mogul wrote as she named of the list of organizations that will see her money including Black Lives Matter and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. This comes just as TMZ reported her husband Kanye West has donated $2M 'to the families and legal teams' fighting for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Floyd. Doing the right thing: Kim Kardashian made an announcement on Thursday about how her company SKIMS will help after the death of George Floyd His part: This comes just as TMZ reported her husband Kanye West has donated $2M 'to the families and legal teams' fighting for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Floyd It was added the Stronger rapper is setting up a college fund for George's daughter Gianna, aged six. And it was claimed the artist is giving money 'to several black-owned businesses in his hometown of Chicago.' Kim's message began, 'SKIMS is a brand rooted in inclusivity and diversity.' The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star added, 'We stand in solidarity with the fight against systemic racism and are committed to supporting and participating in the shift hat needs to take place.' The mother-of-four then said, 'We are donating across organizations focused on making change and fighting racial injustice.' The cover girl listed off the organizations that will see her money. Her note to the masses: The message began, 'SKIMS is a brand rooted in inclusivity and diversity.' The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star added, 'We stand in solidarity with the fight against systemic racism and are committed to supporting and participating in the shift hat needs to take place' Among them are NAACP Legal Defense Fund, National Urban League, Color Of Change, and Black Lives Matter. Kim then ended with: 'We hope you join us in taking action to make lasting change.' Another note added that not just SKIMS but all her brands would be weighing in including her makeup and fragrance companies: 'My teams and I stand in solidarity with those making their voices heard in the fight against systemic racism.' All her brands are involved: Another note added: 'My teams and I stand in solidarity with those making their voices heard in the fight against systemic racism' Adding her voice: Kim posted to her Insta Stories demanding '#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd' On Monday she generously offered to help a protester who was seriously injured by a rubber bullet over the weekend. The star was shocked to see a trending photo on Twitter showing a woman who was shot while standing in the street filming during a George Floyd protest in Louisville, Kentucky. The graphic image shows a young woman with a chunk of flesh missing from her forehead and her left eye bruised and swollen shut. The reality star was so shocked at the image she offered to help, tweeting in reply, 'This is heartbreaking and so disturbing. Does anyone know how i can get in contact with her? I would love to help her with her medical care if she needs it.' Dozens of people tagged the woman, who's named Shannyn, on Twitter and uses the handle @shannynsharyse so Kim could get in touch. The star was shocked to see a trending photo on Twitter showing a woman shot at while she was standing in the street filming during a George Floyd protest in Louisville, Kentucky Shannyn shared a video to her Instagram to address accusations that she faked her injuries. She wrote, 'So apparently a lot of people think what happened wasn't real and its make up. So here's the video from right after I got hit. That being said please remain focused on why we do this. IT IS FOR THE INNOCENT WHO LOST THEIR LIVES THROUGH POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACISM.' The harrowing clip, which was also shared to YouTube, shows a city street with a line of police officers at one end, it's pretty dark but the sound of a shot can be heard followed by screams as Shannyn hits the ground. The video also captures the ensuing panic as her friends came to her aid. Horrific: Shannyn shared the photos to show people what happened when she was just standing in the street filming the protest 'Exhausted by the heartbreak': Kim denounced 'systemic racism' on Twitter this Saturday amid widespread protests after the killing of George Floyd 'I am exhausted by the heartbreak I feel seeing mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children suffering because their loved one was murdered or locked away unjustly for being black,' wrote the TV star. She is currently in self-isolation with her husband and their four children North, six, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and Psalm, one. 'For years, with every horrific murder of an innocent black man, woman, or child, I have always tried to find the right words to express my condolences and outrage,' she began her statement. 'But the privilege I am afforded by the color of my skin has often left me feeling like this is not a fight that I can truly take on as my own. Not today, not anymore. Like so many of you, I am angry. I am more than angry. I am infuriated and I am disgusted.' Kardashian continued: 'I am exhausted by the heartbreak I feel seeing mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children suffering because their loved one was murdered or locked away unjustly for being black.' Her take: She wrote that 'with every horrific murder of an innocent black man, woman, or child, I have always tried to find the right words to express my condolences and outrage' She wrote: 'Even though I will never know the pain and suffering they have endured, or what it feels like to try to survive in a world plagued by systemic racism, I know I can use my own voice to help amplify those voices that have been muffled for too long.' Kardashian added: 'Text "FLOYD" to 55156 #BlackLivesMatters #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeforAhmaudArbery #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor'. The text contributes to a petition organized by Color For Change demanding the arrest of all four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's death. The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Nnamdi Kanu has promised to release some bombshell on Asari Dokubo, leader of Niger... The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Nnamdi Kanu has promised to release some bombshell on Asari Dokubo, leader of Niger Delta Volunteers Force. The two warlords who are leading militant groups, have been exchanging brickbats. Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra claimed he gave N20m to Dokubo, money that he said belongs to IPOB. Dokubo denied collecting any money. But he went further to claim that Kanu had been collecting hundreds of millions from the state governors in the five Igbo states. Dokubo also claimed Kanu had betrayed IPOB members to the DSS. Now Kanu said he would reply today in a broadcast.. He gave a foretaste by calling Dokubo, a agent of the Fulani Caliphate and an integral part of the zoo. And then there are the fees. In a bid to show the harm, the association said six sober living homes already have been forced to close and countless more are expected to follow because of DHSs zealous enforcement and excessive fines. Teilborg was not impressed by the complaints about the closed facilities. What is missing from this rather cursory allegation is any meaningful explanation about why those homes closed, the judge wrote. In other words, the court cannot determine whether those six homes closed because they elected not to pay the licensing fee, whether they were subject to any fines for noncompliance with the statutes, or whether they closed for any other reason. Regula said the danger of the closure of other sober living homes would mean individuals who need that kind of service to overcome their addiction will be left underserved or even unserved, the effect of which is to deny housing to a protected class of persons. Teilborg said its not that simple. It does not inexorably follow that because some businesses have closed for any number of reasons that other businesses will close too, the judge wrote. In 2019 Backstage Theatre selected a team of Young Curators who, under the mentorship of Artist in Residence Maisie Lee, set about programming an Arts Festival for young people. The Festival was due to take place this Summer however, not to be deterred by the current closure, the team went back to the drawing board to tweak and in places enhance the programme to ensure that the young people of Longford still have a festival to look forward to in 2020. With everything from workshops in dance, spoken word and creative writing, to live streamed theatre & comedy, this festival spans the ages from primary to secondary students giving them the opportunity to taste different elements of the arts from the comfort of their own home. After notching up rave reviews and numerous awards and nominations join Fionn Foley 'Live from his Living Room' for a live Stream of his hilariously fast paced and irresistible performance of his hit comedy Brendan Galileo for Europe. John Connors is one of the leading Irish actors of his generation, receiving acclaim for his roles in Love/Hate and Cardboard Gangsters. Irelands Call now distinguishes him as one of the most important and influential voices of his generation. Examining issues of mental health, suicide, class, religion and identity Irelands Call is an unflinching exploration of the Irish psyche, bringing our collective guilt, secrets and flaws to the surface. Audiences will be able to join John online for a live Q&A following this special show for the festival. There will also be a big focus on creative writing, poetry and spoken word with some of the hottest names around, Natalya O'Flaherty & Colm Keegan commissioned to write pieces especially for the Festival. Colm is also delivering workshops in association with Attic Youth House. Fighting words who are due to launch in Longford shortly will also be delivering workshops for teens and one for primary school students in association with Cruinniu na nOg. Young people will also have the opportunity to dust off their dancing shoes with two dance workshops from Longford's own Marie Egan. The team of young curators is made up of Emer Tyrrell & Daire O Muiri (both of whom are studying Theatre in Trinity) and Maria Knoxx, who whilst studying in Galway was able to research shows in the West. The curators, who were also joined by James Quinn in the research part of the project, all had had the opportunity to work with professional theatre directors through Backstage's summer initiative that gives Backstage Youth Theatre members this incredible opportunity. This love for theatre, that was sparked from an early age, has given them the drive and passion to curate a very exciting arts festival for the young people of Longford. Curated by young people for young people, The Backstage Young Curators Festival is kindly supported by Arts Council Ireland, Creative Ireland via Cruinniu na nOg & Longford County Council. The Festival will run throughout June with full detail available on backstage.ie. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has called out a "lack of moral leadership" in the US amid the ongoing protests and unrest in the country. It comes after RISE TD, Paul Murphy, told Newstalk radio's Pat Kenny Show that the Government should consider expelling the US ambassador to Ireland in response to the Trump administration's recent actions. In a Dail speech, Mr Varadkar also warned that many people in Ireland still experience "overt and insidious" racism. He told deputies the "world has watched in horror" following the recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Taoiseach said: "It has prompted a palpable outpouring of emotion, and spontaneous expressions of solidarity against the poison of racism. We've also seen genuine revulsion at the heavy-handed response in some instances towards peaceful protesters and journalists. "We've witnessed the lack of moral leadership or words of understanding, comfort or healing from whence they should have come." The Taoiseach described racism as a "virus" that's often unrecognised to those who it infects. He said he believes it is fortunate that Ireland has a policing service that's "based on consent" and has unarmed officers. He also told deputies recent years have seen Irish society "enriched by racial diversity". However, Mr Varadkar said there is no need to look across the Atlantic to find racism. He observed: "We have many examples in our own country - discrimination on the basis of skin colour is pernicious. "Sometimes it's overt - discrimination when it comes to getting a job or promotion, or being treated less favourably by public authorities, including sometimes government officials. "Sometimes it manifests itself in the form of hate speech online, bullying in school, name-calling in the streets, or even acts of violence." He also said it can take the form of little things that are "small but nonetheless othering". Highlighting examples, he told the Dail: Being asked where you came from originally because your skin or surname looks out of place... how often you go back to the country where your mother or father was born in... being spoken to more slowly... cultural and character assumptions based on your appearance... being made to feel just that little bit less Irish than everyone else. "Sadly this is the lived experience for many young people of colour growing up in Ireland today." The Taoiseach called on people to use the solidarity shown during the Covid-19 crisis to fight racism and "change the experiences of young people of colour in Ireland for the better". Earlier, RISE TD Paul Murphy urged the Government should call in the US ambassador to Ireland to complain about the US government's recent actions. He said what's happening in the US at the moment is "horrifying". He told Pat: It is akin to the kind of repression youd see in a more openly authoritarian society. I think its vital that the Irish Government takes a stand against that and shows the world that were on the side of the majority of the American people. I think the most effective way to do that is to call in the Ambassador to explain that we stand against the actions of the government that he represents that we stand with the protesters and say Black Lives Matter and until peaceful protesters are not being driven off the streets in a militaristic way, then he isnt welcome in this country to represent Donald Trump. Deputy Murphy suggested it would send a signal right around the world, and added that other countries following such an action would send a clear message to the Trump administration. Tens of thousands of protesters are preparing to march through Australian cities this weekend in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Demonstrators have been given the green light to go ahead with the event on Saturday despite current COVID-19 restrictions limiting gathering sizes. Only 20 guests are allowed at weddings and only 50 mourners are allowed at funerals in NSW in a bid to reduce the risk of spreading the deadly illness. The move has angered heartbroken families who lost loved ones to the coronavirus. Tens of thousands of protesters are preparing to march through Australian cities this weekend in support of the Black Lives Matter movement (pictured: A protest in Sydney on Tuesday) While only 50 mourners are allowed at funerals in NSW, protesters will be allowed to gather around Australia Only 20 guests are allowed at weddings in NSW under the COVID-19 restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the illness A relative of Giuseppe Franzoni, 84, who died in April after battling the virus for two weeks has spoken out against the protest, calling it 'disrespectful'. 'It is total disrespect to the 102 Australians who have died so tragically. People just dont get it. They have a right to protest, but now is not the time,' the relative told The Herald Sun. Leaders in two of the hardest hit states - New South Wales and Victoria - are at odds over the protests, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews telling protesters to stay home. 'It would not be safe, in my judgment, and the judgment of our medical experts, to be having gatherings of that size.' Premier Gladys Berejiklian has given Saturday's protest the greenlight, despite the current limits on gatherings in New South Wales. Ms Berejiklian is encouraging attendees to maintain social distancing. 'I would never want to be in a position where we took away the right of people to demonstrate their ability to protest. 'But it has to be done in a COVID-safe way.' NSW Police Minister David Elliott on Friday slammed the protesters for gathering during a pandemic. 'Anybody who goes to a mass gathering during a pandemic is certifiably insane. They are nuts,' he told Sydney radio 2GB. 'If you attend a mass gathering and you expose and disease to a loved one, to some-one who's suffering, or to the elderly then you have acted completely inappropriately.' Mr Elliott admitted the police did not have the numbers to stop the protesters. 'No pride in Australia's genocide': Protesters march in Sydney on Tuesday 'There are some things in our society that are completely impossible to stop the right to political freedom is one of them,' he said. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott also slammed the demonstrators. He said: 'You can't go to the footy. why on earth should 10,000 people be allowed to make merry at the Town Hall steps?' Leading infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake said large protests pose a risk of transmission. 'Any mass gathering of people when we havent completely gotten rid of COVID-19 from the community increases the risk,' he told the Daily Telegraph. Saturday's protests, which will be held in major cities across the country, come after more than 3,000 demonstrators gathered in Sydney on Tuesday evening to rally against indigenous deaths in custody in the wake of the alleged murder of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department on Monday May 25 after an officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes while making an arrest. His death has led to rallies across the U.S and the world and sparked a global social media movement condemning violence against black people at the hands of police. Protest organisers have urged people to wear face masks and bring hand sanitiser. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said he would rather the protest didn't occur at this time, when the spread of COVID-19 remains a threat. But he stressed the force supports people's right to protest. He urged Victorians to follow the Chief Health Officer's directions on social distancing to prevent the event becoming a coronavirus 'tipping point'. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed protesters won't be fined or arrested for breaking social distancing on Saturday at a Black Lives Matter protest Thousands of demonstrators are expected to break COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne's CBD on Saturday to show solidarity with the movement and demand an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody. Pictured: Protesters demonstrate at Martin Place in Sydney during a ''Black Lives Matter'' rally on Tuesday Mr Cornelius said the force was committed to working with the Victorian Aboriginal community. 'I understand from my engagement with local Aboriginal community members that there is a sense of frustration that it takes a death of a black American to highlight the experience of the Aboriginal community here in Australia,' he said. 'The events in America certainly do give us an opportunity to reflect on our own community.' Police are also on high alert for counter-protests being held in the city, and the potential for protesters to turn on officers. The protests are in the wake of the alleged murder of George Floyd (pictured) Health Minister Jenny Mikakos is also urging people not protest at the weekend. She noted the vulnerability of Aboriginal people, particularly those aged older than 50. 'Black lives do matter. We know that Aboriginal people are more susceptible to becoming severely ill if they contract coronavirus, and I urge them to heed the advice of the chief health officer to follow all of the health advice, and that is to stay home,' she said. Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said it was 'astonishing' the premier was allowing police not to fine protesters, given the restrictions had prevented some people from attending the funerals of loved ones. 'The rulebook is out the window on Saturday because Daniel Andrews will not show consistency on this matter,' he told reporters. 'How can anyone think this is fair?' Upper house Liberal MP David Davis said Western Australia had been on top of the Spanish flu in 1919 before a peace rally celebrating the end of World War One sparked a spike in cases and deaths. 'Having large, mass rallies is a very dangerous matter at this point in time,' he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) Up to 470 hotels opened their doors in the capital region amid community quarantine to accommodate returning overseas Filipino workers and people working in essential industries, the Department of Tourism reported on Thursday. This translates to some 56,871 rooms, DOT National Capital Region Director Woodrow Maquiling told a Laging Handa virtual briefing. "As you may all know, under lockdown, hindi talaga pwede mag-operate ang tourism kasi walang leisure, di ba," Maquiling said. "But ang ating mga accommodation establishments, hotels, pension house, ay cinonvert po natin into quarantine facilities to heed the call of government to you know, help assist in this management of the pandemic," he explained. [Translation: As you may all know, under lockdown, tourism (businesses) cannot operate because leisure (activities) are prohibited. But our accommodation establishments, such as hotels and pension houses, have been converted into quarantine facilities to heed the government's call to help assist in the management of the (COVID-19) pandemic.] With this, Maquiling said the agency was able to ensure accommodation which helped the business establishments provide their employees work for the past eight weeks of quarantine. "Apparently, majority of the hotels talagang nag-full capacity kasi ang daming dumating na mga returning overseas Filipinos," he disclosed. "In fact, around May 24, mga 41,664 rooms po ang occupied at that time.". [Translation: Apparently, majority of the hotels went on full capacity because so many returning overseas Filipinos arrived. In fact, around May 24, 41,664 rooms were occupied at that time.] OFWs occupied 47 percent of these rooms, while employees of BPOs (business process outsourcing) filled up 30 percent, he added. A week after, which was the same deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte to bring 24,000 stranded OFWs home, the number of occupied rooms fell to 31,000 as most of them have been quarantined in these hotels. As of Wednesday, 25,000 rooms have already been freed up, he added. It Only Takes One George Floyds death at-the-hands of a Minneapolis police officer is one of many tragic deaths suffered by communities of color across the country on a regular basis. These acts are the results of systemic racism in our society and the failure to expose it and weed it out from institutions, organizations and places where authority has power to intimidate. Mr. Floyds brutal killing, captured on video, is a grotesque reminder that Americas race-relation issues are strained and the fight for equality and civil rights continues. The individual captured on video slowly draining life from Mr. Floyd wore a uniform, but he did not represent its values his actions were his own. ADVERTISEMENT As the Chair of the California State Assemblys Public Safety Committee, I work with law enforcement agencies and know it takes one bad individual to reflect on the majority of sworn officers working to up hold the law and protect communities. What is concerning to me is the alarming trend of individuals misusing their positions in life and authority to weaponize the police or I.C.E. against blacks, Latinos, and other people of color to compel us to be obedient or fearful. This includes individuals who take the law into their own hands, as was the case with Ahmand Arbery. Whether its a white woman in Central Park threatening a black man with police action because he asked her to follow park rules and leash her dog, or Eric Garner, a black man, selling single cigarettes on a street corner in New York killed by an illegal use of force, blacks and Latinos in America are living in constant fear. As a nation we cannot live in a two-tiered society we must all share the same rights to pursue life, liberty, and happiness without fear of authority because of the color of our skin or the origins of our families. People of color have been targeted, racially profiled, stopped and frisked and brutally restrained in greater numbers and frequency and this must end now. It only took one individual with authority to force his knee into the neck of Mr. Floyd to cause his death as he and bystanders pleaded for his life. It would have taken only one other individual with authority to step-in and save Mr. Floyds life that day. ADVERTISEMENT Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer Chair, Public Safety Committee District 59 Representative Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer and his family have a legacy of civil rights involvement beginning with his uncle Jefferson Thomas (19422010) of the famed Little Rock Nine. Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer in a fierce advocate of social justice and civil rights issues working on prison reform, supporting second chance life enhancement programs for the formerly incarcerated and serving as a member on the Assemblys Select Committee Community and Law Enforcement Relations and Responsibilities. It is only the first week of June, but already there is an early fashion hit of the summer. Popular Instagram fashionistas from across the world, including France, the Netherlands, the UK, and America, have gone wild for a 75 yellow muscle-t-shirt with shoulder pads from It-Girl favourite Frankie Shop - which has stores in both New York and Paris. The tee, which comes in several different colours, has sold out multiple times online, with the trend hitting new heights of popularity last week when French style icon Camille Charriere teamed up with the brand to release a yellow version for charity. While the brand doesn't have a UK store, the founder has previously spoken about how the styles are inspired by London's fashion markets found in places such as Portobello and Shoreditch. The summer is set to filled with padded shoulder T-shirts - with fashion lovers swooning over the must-have item (Pictured: French style icon Camille Charriere wearing the muscle T-shirt sold by cool-girl label Frankie Shop) Popular Instagram fashionistas (pictured) from across the world, including France, the Netherlands, the UK, and America, have gone wild for the muscle T-shirt sold by cool-girl label Frankie Shop - which has stores in both New York and Paris. (pictured left, Estelle Chemouny in the tee, and right, Anne-Laure Mais in the top) The 75 t-shirt, which comes in a variety of different colours, has sold out several times online as faionistas rush to get their hands on the top For every yellow padded shoulder Eva T-shirt (above) sold, 100 per cent of the profits of go to the US Red Cross as a part of the brand's #letthesunchainin initiative For every yellow padded shoulder Eva T-shirt sold, 100 per cent of the profits of go to the US Red Cross as a part of the brand's #LetTheSunChainIn initiative. Frankie Shop has also committed to donating $1 to the Red Cross for every Instagram post which features the colour yellow alongside the same hashtag. The tee taps into the current eighties trend, while also looking effortlessly chic. With a flowing and relaxed fit which falls past the hips, it's perfect for warm days and heatwaves. Frankie Shop is also committing to donating $1 to the Red Cross for every Instagram post which features the colour yellow alongside the hashtag #letthesunchainin. Pictured: LA influencer Alyssa Coscarelli (left) and Dutch-American wardrobe stylist Djuna Bel Rowe (right) both wearing the garment Spanish creative Maria Bernad (pictured) sportst the trendy item, teamed with a pair of jeans, in a recent Instagram post With a flowing and relaxed fit which falls past the hips, it's perfect for warm days and heatwaves. Pictured: Danish fashion influencer Jeanette Madsen, left, and Amsterdam-based Linda Tol, right Influencers across Instagram have showcased the versatile ways in which to wear the padded shoulder T-shirt, including when paired with white or colourful jeans. Norwegian blogger Nina Sandbech paired a white version of the T-shirt with black leather trousers, with followers flooding her comments with praise over the look. One commented: 'Amazing combo! Love everything.' Meanwhile Ellie from the @Slipintostyle wore hers with an ultra-cool pair of brown leather culottes. Frankie Shop: The cool-girl brand that influencers are going wild for Since launching in 2014, Frankie Shop has become a favourite with fashion's most recognisable influencers, and even boasts celebrity fans such as British singer Rita Ora. The label has two stores in New York and Paris as well as its own website. It was inspired by London's local fashion markets found in places such as Portobello and Shoreditch, founder Gaelle Drevet told Grazia last year. It's a one-stop destination for minimal, flattering pieces that arent going to break the bank. Gaelle, who previously worked for ABC News as a producer and journalist, said: 'I've always loved fashion. When I was on assignment in London for long period of times, I discovered the local fashion markets like Portobello, Shoreditch, and all the independent designers that made wonderful things.' She added that she's got every intention of making Frankie Shop the 'go-to place for the downtown working girl.' Advertisement Danish fashion influencer Jeanette Madsen also sported the tee this week, along with Copenhagen-based Emili Sindlev, Spanish creative Maria Bernad, Paris-based Estelle Chemouny, and influencer Sonia Lyson, who can often be found in London. Meanwhile, popstar Rita Ora has also declared herself a fan of the tee, having recently posted a picture of herself wearing the brand's white version layered with gold jewellery on Instagram. While the trend has been exploding onto social media, the British high street has followed suit and is already stocking alternatives to Frankie Shop's look, including Mango, H&M and Monki. Norwegian blogger Nina Sandbech (pictured left) paired a white version of the T-shirt with leather trousers, while Ellie from the @Slipintostyle Instagram account also opted for the muscle tee (right) EDMONTONA year has passed since the National Inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada described the plight of these women as cultural genocide. For the organizers of a convoy that drove through downtown Edmonton Wednesday, not enough has been done to change that. The group is calling for action on the inquirys report released in 2019, which said Canada breached several international conventions on human rights in its relationship with Indigenous peoples. It issued 231 recommendations or calls for justice. That report was supposed to be followed one year later with an action plan, but it has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the organizers of the Convoy 4 Action: National Inquiry Calls for Justice 231, the reports calls for justice and subsequent action plan have taken far too long. On Wednesday, the convoy was preceded by a prayer from Elder Betty Letendre and drumming before several organizers spoke to rally the crowd. April Eve Wiberg, one of the convoys organizers who also started the Stolen Sisters & Brothers Awareness Movement in Edmonton, said she was grateful to everyone who attended. We are tired. We are worn down. But were not giving up. And if it wasnt for people like yourselves and those watching and listening, these types of public peaceful demonstrations wouldnt happen, she said. Wiberg urged people to keep the protest non-violent, as a way to honour the thousands of individuals who were victims of violence, and those who survived it. Several police watched the protest from the sidelines. Wiberg spoke of how being an Indigenous woman affects every aspect of her life. I worry about my children. I dont want them growing up in a society where our dignity and respect is denied. Denied when we walk into a bank. I am tired of being discriminated against, I am tired of watching my back constantly and being looked like as a sexualized object. I am tired of it and I know you are all tired. So, we stand together today. Stephanie Harpe, an artist and advocate who also helped organize the event, gave a rousing speech before the convoy began, urging Canadians of all ancestries to combat racism and historical injustices against Indigenous peoples. She also encouraged Canadians to stand in solidarity with Black people in the United States facing racial injustice and to consider how they can implement the National Inquirys calls to action in their own lives. The reason were doing this today is I havent seen a single solid foundation built yet Canada, you know whats going on, we dont need to tell you anymore. Now, what are you going to do? Harpe asked. The cars in Wednesdays convoy had red dresses affixed to them in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. They were also outfitted with billboards emblazoned with phrases like Speak Sisters, Stand & Rise, It Is Time! and No More Stolen Brothers & Sisters. People honked their horns and screamed No justice, no mercy! as they drove through downtown Edmonton before making their way to the Alberta Legislature and looping around. Debby Bibaud said she was planning to attend the protest to provide photography, but also said showing up was the least she could do as a white woman. I just felt I wasnt doing enough by sharing posts and everything I felt I needed to do more as a white privileged woman who doesnt have to worry about walking outside and getting racial slurs, or getting pulled over by the police. She said while she recognized the challenges of a protest in a time of physical distancing, she said with so many people sitting at home its the perfect time for them to reflect on how they can be allies to Black and Indigenous People of Colour. Theres no escape, she said. Its either youre with us and youre anti-racist, or youre sitting on the fence, which is no better. I dont discriminate, but other people are, so its time to step up and speak up, she added. Lloyd Cardinal, one of men who drummed at the event, pointed out its not only for Indigenous women and girls, although thats where much of the national spotlight has shone. He said Jake Sansom and Morris Cardinal, two Metis hunters who were recently killed while hunting on Crown land, are another example of how Indigenous people are at risk. Cardinal said the two men were his cousins. I want to honour Jacob and Morris in this convoy, because you know what, theyre just one of many, Cardinal said. I grew up with family members, aunts, cousins, uncles who died on the streets right here in the city. He said his cousins were humble, good people who were shot while they were hunting. This kind of stuff has to stop. For organizer Harpe, feeling compelled to take action is also personal. Her mother, Ruby Anne McDonald, was found murdered in an Edmonton stairwell in 1999. Its one of the reasons why she speaks out for other families. We can never let this down, Harpe said. Because were dying. Read more about: The gradual reopening of schools, starting with primary schools, is unlikely to lead to a second wave of infection, according to new mathematical modelling of the COVID-19 outbreak from University of Warwick researchers, but we should be prepared to reintroduce lockdown measures should there be a significant rise in the number of new cases. A team of infectious disease experts from the University of Warwick in the UK have investigated the impact of the re-opening of schools upon the spread of COVID-19 in England, and explored a range of school re-opening strategies. The team use a detailed mathematical model that is calibrated against data on the age distribution of cases, as well as the changing numbers of those being hospitalized and dying as a result of the disease. The researchers are then able to forecast the impact of school re-opening upon the reproduction number, R, and the expected increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 as a result of this change in policy. The research is led by Professor Matt Keeling, director of the Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER) in collaboration with Dr Louise Dyson, Dr Ed Hill, Dr Mike Tildesley and others from the Zeeman Institute at the University of Warwick. Professor Keeling said: Our work indicates that the current policy of reception, year 1 and year 6 children returning to school is likely to result in a small increase in the reproduction number. In isolation this is unlikely to push R above 1 but there still remains uncertainty over the consequences of other recent changes that have relaxed the lockdown." Dr Dyson commented: "We predict that the return of secondary school children to the classroom will result in greater mixing between children than if only primary school children return. However it is important to note that any increase in mixing will likely lead to some increase in COVID-19 cases, even if the value of R remains below 1." The University of Warwick team investigated a range of school re-opening scenarios, including the current policy, as well as children returning in "half-sized classes" and all primary and secondary school children returning to full time education. Dr Hill said: "Our model indicates that re-opening schools alone is unlikely to push R above 1; but other changes in the wider population can exacerbate these effects so any re-opening policy should be implemented gradually to mitigate risk." Co-author Dr Tildesley added: We would advise that the impact of any relaxation policy, including school re-openings, should be carefully monitored to establish the effect on the reproduction number and, if necessary, there should be a consideration of reintroduction of measures should there be a significant rise in cases in the future." The research carried out by the Warwick team provides evidence that supports the cautious re-opening of schools and reinforces the necessity for a measured approach for releasing lockdown. Scenes that played out over the past few days in several East region states are serving as a stark reminder for the insurance industry of civil unrest that took place in New York and other U.S. states more than 50 years ago. Beginning April 4, 1968, riots that broke out in New York and other states throughout the U.S. following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., an event typically referred to as The Holy Week Uprisings, resulted in 43 deaths, thousands of arrests and millions of dollars in property damage, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) estimates the King assassination riots in New York caused $4 million in losses for the states insurance industry, equating to $30 million today. I.I.I. ranks it among the top 10 costliest U.S. civil disorders for the insurance industry, a ranking Larry P. Schiffer, senior partner in Squire Patton Boggs New York office, says recent civil unrest over the fatal arrest of George Floyd may measure up to. This is likely going to be, if not the biggest, one of the biggest insurance losses caused by riot, vandalism and commotion in U.S. history, he said. Riots in Wake of Floyds Death Could Become Most Costly Civil Disorder for Insurers While the industry expects a significant event, it is premature to determine the volume of property loss since it is an ongoing event. Did Debate Over Business Income Insurance Just Get More Complicated? Business income claims due to riots and civil unrest could reflect revenue loss from virus-related shutdowns or receipt of funds from the Paycheck Protection Program. In Minneapolis, where police officers May 25 arrest of Floyd turned fatal, demonstrations over police brutality and racial inequality were sparked and quickly spread to other U.S. cities, including East region cities like New York, Pittsburgh, Boston and Washington D.C. However, peaceful protests by day were overcome by violence at night as criminal activity such as looting, arson and vandalism led to property damage and curfews being imposed in some cities. The Property Claims Service, a unit of the Insurance Services Office, has already labeled this as a catastrophe since it will meet the threshold of exceeding $25 million in losses, according to I.I.I. We expect this to be a significant loss event as the impact is being experienced in large and small markets across the U.S., said Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications at I.I.I. New York In New York City, several days of looting has resulted in vandalism of store fronts and pillaging inside of retail stores, leading Mayor Bill de Blasio to establish a citywide curfew in an attempt to curb violence. A curfew is still in effect citywide through Sunday, beginning each night at 8 p.m. and ending at 5 a.m. The fact that these businesses are facing a double whammy is tragic, Peter Halprin, partner in Pasichs New York office said. They were finally starting to reopen in New York City and get people back on their feet, and to now get hit with vandalism and theft, I mean, its just terrible. Indeed, for businesses already reeling from the financial impact of the COVID-19 shutdowns, property damage due to the riots could exacerbate those challenges, according to David MacLachlan, agent at Syracuse, New York-based The Dominick Falcone Agency and chair of the board for Big I New York. We have this unique situation where we are already dealing with COVID-19, he said. To say its a unique situation is an understatement. In Syracuse, MacLachlan said his customers have already been inquiring about coverage. We definitely have had inquiries because people did have broken glass, broken windows at businesses, and things like that, he said. Massachusetts It was a similar scene in Boston, Mass., on the night of May 31, as storefronts were damaged and monuments, road signs and buildings were vandalized. We have filed many claims already on behalf of our clients who are property owners/managers, store front businesses and some larger chains, said Mike Vitulli, director of Risk Management Services at Boston, Mass.-based brokerage Risk Strategies. Vitulli said he expects to see more vandalism claims for property damage, as well as theft and potentially business interruption from impacted businesses in cities that had re-opened after the COVID-19 shutdowns. Pennsylvania After peaceful demonstrations were marred with violence in Pennsylvania cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman told Insurance Journal she expects the flexibility insurers provided with payment plans and claims administration during the coronavirus pandemic to continue for policyholders impacted by civil unrest. We encourage impacted businesses to contact their insurance agents and companies with any coverage questions and also to coordinate their policies with any additional coverage, such as a policy maintained by a building owner, Altman said. Brandon Mueller, president of Pittsburgh, Penn.-based Seubert Insurance, said that while he hasnt seen any claims from clients yet, he expects claims to arise in areas such as property damage, business interruption, auto physical damage, workers compensation, employment liability and even cyber. We need to wait for the dust to settle to see the full extent of the damage, he said. However, from a physical damage perspective, there will definitely be an influx of claims in the coming weeks. Washington D.C. In Washington D.C., where incidents of civil unrest also occurred on the back of peaceful demonstrations, the D.C. Department of Insurance said it expects insurers to process claims in a timely manner. However, doing so could lead to challenges for some insurers as virus-related restrictions and increased security from the unrest may impede adjusters efforts, industry professionals said. One thing I had heard anecdotally from a clientwas that the insurance adjuster didnt want to go out to their property to inspect it because of the virus, Halprin said. Between the coronavirus and general concerns about safety right now, we may be in a unique situation where an insured may not be able to access their property through government order or police barricade but has a need to try to document the property damage and get that to their adjusters. Damage Assessment For minor property damage, assessments can be done with photos or even drone technology, although substantial claims could be delayed, said Dan Corbin, director of research at Professional Insurance Agents. No doubt, immediate access to damaged premises could be hampered, he said. Insureds can begin the process of completing a proof of loss and taking photos in the meantime. Schiffer added that a lot of adjusting is being done by telephone calls and video conferences right now, as well as through cell phone photos and videos. Theres a lot more trust going on between policyholders and insurance companies because of that, he said. Overall, however, Schiffer doesnt anticipate a large slowdown in the claims process. For these property damage claims in the cities that have been looted, my guess is adjusters are on the ground doing their job right now, he said. For businesses that sustained damage from a riot or civil commotion, I.I.I. recommends boarding up windows and cleaning up shattered glass, as well as keeping receipts for any expenses incurred to turn in to the insurance company as part of the claims process, Friedlander said. Take photos or video of the damage and report the claim as soon as possible to your insurance professional, he said. Insurance Industry Impact As insurers are still facing litigation regarding virus-related claim denials and are in the midst of a hardening market, widespread civil unrest is raising questions about how these losses could further impact the industry, insurance professionals said. Any of those losses in excess of the deductibles, as well as losses to business owners with low or no deductibles, are certainly going to hurt the already hardening insurance industry market, Mueller said. The property market was already hardening, so this will accelerate things. Schiffer said that premiums not only could rise further, but some insurance companies could begin sub-limiting coverage for riots, civil commotion and vandalism in the future. A lot of business interruption is sub-limited, there are often sub-limits for hurricane [coverage], so the same thing can happen here, he said. He added that some insurers may even cut back on underwriting these risks. You could see companies that maybe wrote a little bit of this kind of business in their local community, and they saw what happened on the TV, and they said, You know what? Were not going to write this business,' he said. So you may see a little bit of contraction in terms of how many companies actually write this business or how widespread they write the business. With Atlantic hurricane season beginning June 1 and the industry already dealing with issues arising out of the coronavirus pandemic, on top of a hardening market, insurance industry professionals agreed that civil unrest in response to Floyds death could have vast implications for the industry simply because of its timing. In an industry already pushing higher premiums and reduced coverages, as we head into a possibly active hurricane season, the claims from riots and looters should be insured under property policies and will only exacerbate the hard market conditions, Vitulli said. Topics Carriers Agencies Claims USA Profit Loss New York Washington Property Market Pennsylvania [June 04, 2020] Rebranded Point2 Marketplace Expands & Breaks All Previous Traffic Records Reaching 13M Visits Real estate marketplace Point2 has launched a new brand identity to mark the expansion of its business. Alongside the rebrand, Point2 reported a staggering 13 million visits in May, breaking all previous traffic records and strengthening its position as one of Canada's preferred real estate websites SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, June 4, 2020 /CNW/ -- Real estate marketplace Point2 (formerly known as Point2 Homes) not only reached a new traffic milestone of 13 million visits in May, but also extended its business to accommodate broader real estate needs. Known for operating in the homes for sale niche, the company has developed its commercial vertical and also joined sister company RENTCafe in advertising rental properties across the country. As a result of these changes, Point2's visual identity and logo have ben redesigned to reflect the organization's commitment to offering more property types to its visitors. The website's modern design and layout enhancements also make it easier and faster to browse listings. At the beginning of 2020 prior to the redesign Point2 was already generating impressive traffic figures. The portal logged a remarkable 9.1 million visits in January and 9.2 million in February. After a slight dip in March due to COVID-19 (8.6 million visits), it quickly resurged, topping 9 million once again in April. By far, May has been the best month on record for Point2 the portal reached a staggering 13 million visits. Organic visits represented the bulk of traffic to the website (79%), and new visitors accounted for 73% of the user pool. What's more, Point2 continues to be one of the leading real estate portals for Canadians in search of properties these users made up 55% of overall visits last month. The Toronto, ON, market remains the most appealing locally. Staying true to its goal of connecting potential buyers and real estate professionals, Point2 has also upgraded its conversion points to enhance lead generation . This is in addition to the fact that agents had already received 54% more leads through the platform in May as opposed to the same period a year ago. About Point2: Point2 is a real estate search portal and leading provider of real estate marketing solutions. It incorporates homes for sale and for rent, as well as commercial properties in Canada, the U.S. and a variety of international locations. Contact: Cristina Oprean | Communications Specialist [email protected] | Point2 |1-718-408-4925 SOURCE Point2 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Houston Police Chief Art Acevedos voice cracked several times and his eyes welled as he railed against the death of George Floyd beneath a policemans knee and implored protesters to demonstrate peacefully with him. I will not allow anyone to tear down this city, because this is our city, Acevedo shouted on Sunday to the group of mostly black Houstonians surrounding him at one of many protests in the wake of video showing Floyds fatal encounter with police in Minneapolis. Pay close attention! Because these little white guys with their skateboards are the ones starting all the s---. Video of Acevedos profanity-laced remarks went viral and, along with his other blunt statements this week, won the chief acclaim from those outraged by the death of Floyd, a former Third Ward resident. It has also drawn anger from those who say Acevedo has failed to address the very things hes condemning at home. His calls for police to be more transparent and enact meaningful reform have refocused attention on a series of fatal shootings by his own officers and his refusal to release body camera video of the incidents. Were looking at him say one thing on camera, but locally, we know different, said Dav Lewis, a local activist who was friends with Adrian Medearis, one of the men who died in the spate of shootings. We know different locally. We have not seen police accountability. The chief has also resisted calls to release the results of an audit of his narcotics division, rocked last year by one of its worst scandals in decades, and he has downplayed calls to bolster the citys Independent Police Oversight Board, long criticized as a toothless watchdog group. While these are great photo ops, and maybe the chief has political aspirations, and this is all warm and fuzzy kind of stuff hes doing, its time for some action, said Mark Thiessen, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. In an interview with the Chronicle on Thursday, Acevedo said he is weighing concerns about how family members of people killed by police would react if they saw videos of the encounter spread online. He pointed to the May 8 shooting of Medearis, one of the victims, noting the mans family had asked the video not be released. He also said publicity caused by a publicly shared video could cause the eventual trial to be moved outside of Harris County, one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in the country. It would be a disservice to the people of Houston and to the involved family, in the event of an officer being charged with a criminal offense, for the trial to be moved to a county where the jury pool is not reflective of the rich diversity of Houston, he said. The chief said earlier in the week that law enforcement needs a national standard to determine how departments release such videos. Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer There shouldnt be 18,000 police departments and 18,000 policies, he said. Since April 21, Houston police officers have shot and killed six people. The first shooting drew scrutiny after bystander video appeared to show the victim, 27-year-old Nicholas Chavez, on his knees when he was shot. The subsequent shootings most of which involved people of color sparked calls to release bodycam video. Five of the six people killed in the recent officer shootings since mid-April are black or Hispanic, including Chavez. Video captured by a bystanders cellphone shows at least four officers opening fire on Chavez as he appeared to kneel in front of them. After the shooting, Acevedo said investigators were reviewing about 70 videos from bodyworn cameras. The department has equipped all of its patrol officers with the devices. Acevedo, who called the bystander video difficult to watch, asked the FBI to investigate the shooting May 28, three days after Floyds death. The chief has not released any video publicly, but he has shared some of the video with family members of the victims and released 911 audio from the May 14 shooting of Rayshard Scales, 30. Protesters intensified their calls Tuesday for Acevedo to make the videos public. Mayor Sylvester Turners remarks at City Hall were punctuated by several people chanting release the tapes, and hours later Acevedo was directly confronted by a group of critical protesters at the downtown park Discovery Green. Some lawmakers questioned Acevedos rationale for not releasing the body camera video. It is not law enforcements job to worry about prosecution, said state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston. Its their job to be law enforcement. Wu, a former prosecutor who has called on Acevedo previously to release his audit, said Acevedos attitude does more of a disservice to taint the publics perception than anything else. Right now you have the general public believing the police hide things, Wu said. When other cities during this crisis have shown they can release bodycams immediately that they can fire and discipline officers immediately the fact we cant get videos released months, sometimes even years later, is very telling. Acevedo has been quick to condemn the officer charged in Floyds death but failed to fully address the 2019 drug raid that prosecutors say was launched under unlawful circumstances and ended with the deaths of two homeowners, four police officers shot and the officer who orchestrated the operation charged with murder. He said the officer at the center of the raid, Gerald Goines, dishonored HPD. His investigators launched a probe into the former officer, and he launched a sweeping audit of the narcotics division. Prosecutors have identified at least 160 of Goines cases that they say should be overturned. Many more may be suspect including a 2004 case in which he arrested Floyd on a minor drug possession case. Floyd received 10 months in jail. In March 2019, prosecutors sent Floyd and thousands of other defendants a letter saying they were investigating Goines. Acevedo maintains his departments internal investigation into Goines showed his department could police itself but has refused to reveal the findings of the narcotics audit. Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer In a recent public letter published in the Chronicle, the brother of Harding Street victim Rhogena Nicholas said Acevedos failure to disclose the audit or other ballistics and forensic findings related to the raid speaks volumes. For the City of Houston to continue to refuse to be accountable in the wrongful killing of my sister only compounds our suffering, John Nicholas said. It also prevents the exoneration of Houstons thousands of honorable, hardworking police officers and most of their leaders. State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, praised Acevedos hands-on style and said Houston has never had a police chief like him, ever. But he questioned why the city had invested so heavily in body cameras if the video was not available for citizens to review. Its very clear there are people who are chagrined, Coleman said. He does a good job as chief, but this is an area where the city and chief need to do what we ask everybody else to do. Acevedo also is coming under pressure to strengthen the board tasked with conducting public oversight of the Houston Police Department. For now, police decide whether to refer cases to the board, which is appointed by the mayor and lacks power to subpoena officers. Lawmakers, including Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, have joined advocacy groups in calling for police oversight groups to gain subpoena abilities. This case makes the point that transparency is important, Ellis said. The video was there so people could judge for themselves. Asked about activists desires for a review board with subpoena power, Acevedo appeared supportive but did not say what reforms he would support. Im not afraid of subpoena power, Acevedo said Thursday. If it were to happen, its not the end of the world because I know were trying to do the right thing for the right reasons and we have nothing to hide. Even the chiefs critics praise his political acumen and ability to communicate with residents. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer During his final year leading the Austin Police Department in 2016, Acevedo angered Austin police union officials when he stood with Black Lives Matter activists at police headquarters as they criticized an officers fatal shooting of a naked, unarmed black teenager. Despite the acrimony, Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday said Acevedos No. 1 asset is he is able to fit in with anyone, and hell work with them. Community organizing and outreach hes the best at it, Casaday told the Chronicle in November 2016. Theres no doubt in my mind hes the best politician in the state of Texas. Acevedo, who has championed a relational policing model since taking over the department, insists that he is marching with and talking to demonstrators because he wants to show solidarity and gather their feedback. In a conversation Tuesday with a protester, Acevedo addressed the attention his comments have drawn and the rampant speculation they have fueled about his future political ambitions. Know whats funny? If I come out here, Im political. If Im in my office, I dont care. Its a no-win situation, Acevedo said. Id rather be out here with the people and told Im political than at my desk. On Tuesday, Acevedo spent hours mingling with the crowd. He knelt during a moment of silence for Floyd. He took pictures with babies. Outside City Hall, he stood, unguarded, among a knot of skeptical protesters such as 23-year-old Noor Elchazli, of Katy explaining his rationale about the bodycam videos. Protesters praised his willingness to engage with them but seemed unmoved by his argument. Its up to people to see with their own eyes, Elchazli said. We cant censor every violent act. st.john.smith@chron.com jasper.scherer@chron.com Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global vibration monitoring market size is anticipated to reach USD 3,574.3 million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. The report Vibration Monitoring Market Analysis Report By Component (Hardware, Software, Services); By Monitoring Process (Online, Portable); By End-User (Automotive, Chemical, Aerospace and Defense, Food and Beverages, Construction, Mining, Oil and Gas, Others); By Regions: Market Size & Segment Forecast, 2019 2026provides a complete analysis of present market trends and future insights. In 2018, the hardware segment accounted for the highest market share in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global Vibration Monitoring market revenue in 2018. The increasing modernization of factory equipment, and stringent regulations regarding energy efficiency and workforce safety majorly drive the market growth. The growing adoption of IoT, cloud-based technologies, and machine learning further supports the growth of the market. The growing need to streamline operations for improving productivity and safety, while reducing maintenance time and cost would increase the adoption of vibration monitoring systems during the forecast period. Other driving factors include technological advancements, increasing adoption of smart factories, growing adoption of embedded systems, and increasing demand from emerging economies. Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/vibration-monitoring-market/request-for-sample Vibration monitoring systems ensure that data is organized and decisions can be made efficiently. They collect real-time information, offer historical trends and graph data for further analysis. They generate alarms when abnormalities occur and send instant alarms to smart devices. They sense concerns such as imbalance, misalignment, bearing wear and looseness and provide predictive maintenance. North America generated the highest market share in the Vibration Monitoring industry in terms of revenue in 2018, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The presence of established telecom and cloud infrastructure in this region, and growing trend of IIoT has accelerated the market growth in the region. The growing demand of mobile devices, automation of manufacturing process, increasing safety concerns, and technological advancements generate numerous opportunities for the market in this region. The well-known companies profiled in the report include National Instruments Corporation, Emerson Electric Co., Bruel & Kiaer Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S, Meggitt PLC, Honeywell International Inc., Schaeffler AG, Analog Devices, Inc., SKF AB, General Electric, and Azima DLI Corporation. These companies are consistently launching new products to enhance their offerings in the Vibration Monitoring industry. With the advancement of technologies, companies are innovating and introducing new customized products to cater the growing needs of the customers. Leading companies are also acquiring other companies, and enhancing their product offerings to improve their market reach. Acquisitions enable key players to increase their market potential in terms of geographic expansion and expansion of customer base. Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/vibration-monitoring-market Polaris Market research has segmented the vibration monitoring market on the basis of component, monitoring process, end-user, and region. Component outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015 2026) Hardware Software Services Monitoring process outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015 2026) Online Portable End User outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015 2026) Automotive Chemical Aerospace and Defense Food and Beverages Construction Mining Oil and Gas Others Regional outlook (Revenue USD Millions, 2015 2026) North America o U.S. o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o UK o France o Italy Asia-Pacific o China o India o Japan Latin America o Brazil Middle East & Africa Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/vibration-monitoring-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. 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. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to our customers. Contact Us: Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com Photos of protests from the civil rights movement and from 2020 highlight the similarity between them. Wally McNamee / Contributor / Getty Images / Mark Makela / Stringer / Getty Images Protests have erupted across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck even as Floyd told him that he couldn't breathe. The Black Lives Matter demonstrations are similar to those that took place in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. Photos comparing protests from the 1960s and from 2020 show that demonstrators have used similar strategies and have been met with similar force from the police. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A group of protesters confronted the police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2020. People face off with police near the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct. Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images Protests began in Minneapolis on Tuesday, May 26, following the death of George Floyd. Floyd, 46, died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck as Floyd begged the officer to stop and told him he couldn't breathe. Protesters in Minneapolis were seen standing unarmed across from a group of officers, who held batons and hid behind face shields. The scene is not dissimilar to this shot of protestors facing the National Guard in 1968. Protesters face off with the National Guard on Beale Street on March 29, 1968. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images In 1968, strikers and supporters gathered to protest the horrible working conditions and treatment of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. The sanitation workers' strike is actually what brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, where he was assassinated on April 4. Sanitation workers marched on Memphis' Beale Street in the photo, wearing identical signs that say "I Am A Man," highlighting the inhumanity with which they were treated by the state. The National Guard was deployed to try to contain the protests. In 2020, protesters demonstrated peacefully on a road in West Hollywood by sitting with signs. Black Lives Matter protesters sit at an intersection in West Hollywood on May 30, 2020. Warrick Page/Getty Images Protests spread to California on the Wednesday following Floyd's death. They marched all over the city, even briefly taking over the LA highway. Story continues In this photo, three protesters sat in the middle of an intersection, with a larger group of demonstrators behind them. The woman in the middle held a sign that says "We can't breathe." Protesters across the country have chanted "I can't breathe," the final words uttered by both Floyd and Eric Garner, who died after he was held in a choke hold by a New York City police officer in 2014. In 1963, leaders of the civil rights movement marched with signs in Washington, DC. Civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., surrounded by crowds carrying signs, Washington, DC, 1963. Library of Congress In 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators gathered in DC for the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Ahead of the gathering at the Lincoln Memorial, dozens of protesters marched through the city, carrying signs that called for civil rights legislation and jobs for black Americans. A man raised his fist as he looked at the White House during a protest for George Floyd on May 31, 2020. A man holds up his fist during a protest near the White House on May 31, 2020, in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images Protests across Washington, DC, escalated and became violent on Sunday night, with the White House going dark as protesters gathered in front of it and set fires nearby. The man in this photo faced the White House, looking toward the police force standing in front of the building with his hand raised in a fist, the symbol of the Black Power movement. A group of students raised their hands in the Black Power salute at a protest in 1969. A group of students protested on May 22, 1969. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images In 1969, around 500 students from Central State University protested the school's limit on the number of out-of-state students admitted to the college. The demonstrators gathered at the Ohio State House. Almost every member of the large group raised their hands in protest. Police officers advanced toward protesters in Washington, DC, in 2020. Police charge forward during a protest outside the White House over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police in Washington, DC, on May 31, 2020. SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images The protests in DC became violent on Sunday, with activists setting fires around the White House, looting stores downtown, and vandalizing monuments. Police officers dressed in face coverings and armed with shields launched tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters. Officers blocked a group of protesters from marching in Selma in 1965. Protesters face a blockade of police on March 9, 1965, in Selma, Alabama. Frank Dandridge / Contributor / Getty Images In 1965, protesters marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to demand equal voting rights. The march turned violent on Sunday, March 7, otherwise known as "Bloody Sunday," when demonstrators were met by the authorities on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, who attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas. This photo was taken just before the violence started, as a mass of police officers formed a barricade to block the demonstrators from continuing on their march. Police officers held a protester down as they arrested him in 2020. Police officers arrest a protester on May 31, 2020, in Philadelphia. Mark Makela / Stringer / Getty Images Philadelphia is one of many cities currently dealing with violence and looting, with some stores choosing not to open because of the protests. In this photo, two Philadelphia police officers apprehended a protester. One officer held him down to the ground, while the other stands over them. A protester was similarly held by police in 1968. A protester was arrested at a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court on May 29, 1968. Wally McNamee / Contributor / Getty Images In 1968, protesters gathered at the Supreme Court as part of the Poor People's Campaign, an effort organized by Martin Luther King Jr. to spotlight black people suffering from poverty throughout the United States. At the demonstration shown in the photo, four police officers arrested a protester, holding him from behind with batons in hand. A demonstrator waves an American flag at a protest following the death of George Floyd. A protester holds an American flag in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 29, 2020. Michael B. Thomas / Stringer / Getty Images The protests have spread to St. Louis, where the downtown area and highways have been shut down by large groups of demonstrators. Activists held American flags as they protested voting laws in Alabama in 1965. A group held American flags as they protested in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 25, 1965. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images At the end of the march from Selma to Montgomery, protesters gathered at the Alabama State Capitol, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "Our God is Marching On" speech, which marked a turning point in the civil rights movement. "How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever. How long? Not long, you shall reap what you sow. How long? Not long," King said in his speech. He continued: "How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." A police officer points his baton after knocking down a protester near the White House in Washington, DC. A police officer knocked a protester to the ground on May 31, 2020, in Washington, DC. ROBERTO SCHMIDT / Contributor / Getty Images Police officers' use of force increased as the protests in DC became more violent on Sunday. For instance, in this shot, a protester struggles on the ground as an officer points at him using his baton. Police officers responded to a riot in 1964 with excessive force, including the use of batons. A riot broke out in Harlem in 1964 after a police officer killed a 15-year-old. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images Riots broke out in Harlem, New York, in 1964 when a white, off-duty police officer shot and killed a 15-year-old black student, as NPR reported. The protests quickly turned violent, as this photo shows. A police officer strikes at a protester, as the man raises his hands to protect himself against the baton. Protesters watched a liquor store burn amid riots in 2020. Protesters gather around a liquor store in flames near the Third Police Precinct on May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images Protesters started setting fires to buildings in Minneapolis on the Thursday following George Floyd's death, with the police meanwhile escalating the violent demonstrations across the city with the use of tear gas and rubber bullets. In 1968, protesters set fire to a building in Harlem. Protesters set fire to a building in Harlem following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 5, 1968. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images Riots broke out across the United States after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, with his supporters taking to the streets to protest his murder, according to History. This photo shows a building burning in Harlem during the riots in 1968. Protesters use "I can't breathe" as a rallying cry in 2020. Protesters demonstrate against the death of George Floyd outside the 3rd Precinct Police Precinct on May 26, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images Before the protests in Minneapolis escalated with a truck driving through a crowd of protesters on the highway on Sunday they were largely peaceful. For instance, a photographer captured two protesters calmly standing on a raised surface, setting them apart from the countless people surrounding them. "Black Power" was a popular phrase for civil rights activists in the 1960s. The national director of the Congress of Racial Equality joins a protest in Harlem on July 22, 1966. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images The 1966 national director of the Congress of Racial Equality is at the forefront of this shot, standing alongside protesters calling for voting equality. In the 1960s, the Black Power movement was about encouraging black Americans to create cultural, political, and economic power of their own rather than settle for integration into a white-dominated society, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Protesters marched on the Brooklyn Bridge in 2020. Protesters march across the Brooklyn Bridge on May 29, 2020. NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images The protests in New York also escalated over the weekend, with police cars ramming into protesters and officers using pepper spray on demonstrators. Protesters also started marching along the bridges between Manhattan and Brooklyn as demonstrations popped up all over the city. Activists previously marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in 1964. Protesters boycott school segregation by marching across the Brooklyn Bridge on March 16, 1964. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images To protest school segregation, activists marched to Brooklyn from Manhattan in 1964, with many students joining protests over the course of that spring to call for education equality, according to The New York Times. Much like their 2020 counterparts, the protesters carried signs and faced the police. The familiar sight of the Manhattan skyline in the background drives home the similarity between the struggles black people faced during the civil rights movement and the issues they face today. Read the original article on Insider The curfews were cancelled Thursday in the cities of Oakland, San Jose, San Leandro, San Francisco, San Leandro, Santa Clara, Hayward and Palo Alto as well as Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties. Jurisdictions across the country implemented curfews to disperse crowds and deter late-night vandalism following what have largely been peaceful demonstrations protesting the killing in George Floyd in Minneapolis. In San Francisco, the dawn-'til-dusk curfew was introduced on Sunday. "Following Saturday night, it was important for the safety of our residents to ensure that we could prevent the violence and vandalism that had taken place, but we know that the overwhelming majority of people out protesting are doing so peacefully and we trust that will continue," S.F. Mayor London Breed wrote. San Jose was the Bay Area's first large city to plan an end its curfew and the city council made the decision after "dozens of residents argued that it violated their civil rights," according to the San Jose Mercury News. Here's a look at some Bay Area curfews still in effect: Santa Rosa Curfew is 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily until further notice. Vallejo Curfew is 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. It will remain in effect until further notice. Walnut Creek Curfew is 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. until June 8. The curfew will remain in effect through June 8. MORE COVERAGE ON THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on Bay Area protest coverage here. Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Greif Reports Second Quarter 2020 Results "From a financial perspective, the business generated solid second quarter results. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 12 percent to $181.3 million, while Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by more than 71 percent to $79.0 million." Pete Watson, President and CEO, Greif. June 3, 2020 - Greif, Inc. (NYSE: GEF, GEF.B), a world leader in industrial packaging products and services, today announced second quarter 2020 results. Second Quarter Highlights include (all results compared to the second quarter of 2019 unless otherwise noted): Net income of $11.4 million or $0.19 per diluted Class A share decreased compared to net income of $13.6 million or $0.23 per diluted Class A share. Net income, excluding the impact of adjustments(1), of $56.5 million or $0.95 per diluted Class A share increased compared to net income, excluding the impact of adjustments, of $47.6 million or $0.81 per diluted Class A share. Adjusted EBITDA(2) increased by $19.3 million to $181.3 million. Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $37.6 million to $99.8 million. Adjusted free cash flow(3) increased by $32.9 million to $79.0 million. Total debt decreased by $260.2 million to $2,682.3 million. Net debt(4) decreased $242.8 million to $2,609.9 million and decreased $107.4 million sequentially from the first quarter of 2020. Strategic Actions and Announcements Completed the divestiture of the Consumer Packaging Business to Graphic Packaging Holding Company for $85.0 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments. Announced the permanent closure of the Mobile, Alabama Uncoated Recycled Board Mill (URB) as part of the Company's commitment to optimize the URB mill network. The closure of the #1 machine in October 2019 (approximately 65,000 tons) combined with the closure of the #2 machine (approximately 75,000 tons) removes approximately 140,000 tons of URB capacity from Greif's network. The Company will transfer existing customer business to other mills in its system. Achieved record intermediate bulk container (IBC) volume during the quarter. Also acquired a minority stake in Centurion Container LLC to further expand the Company's IBC reconditioning network in North America. Withdrawing fiscal 2020 adjusted Class A earnings per share and adjusted free cash flow guidance. Due to end market uncertainty, the Company is unable to reasonably quantify the impacts to its business for the remainder of its fiscal year. The Company plans to reinstate guidance in the future when there is better clarity into the duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pete Watson, Greif's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "At Greif, we safely package and protect essential goods and materials that serve the greater needs of communities around the world. That is our purpose as a Company and a serious responsibility in which we take pride. While we are operating in a highly unprecedented time, we continue to draw strength from our 16,000 global colleagues, and I commend them for their efforts this past quarter. I would like to especially thank our front line production colleagues for their dedication during this pandemic and for their outstanding service to our customers. We are responding to COVID-19 from a position of strength, taking proactive steps to prioritize the safety and well-being of our colleagues, customers and suppliers while adapting to new methods to further serve customer needs. We are also advancing our strategic priorities, and during the quarter took steps to enhance our U.S. IBC reconditioning capability and published our 11th annual sustainability report. From a financial perspective, the business generated solid second quarter results. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 12 percent to $181.3 million, while Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by more than 71 percent to $79.0 million. Although pleased with this performance, the current operating environment is dynamic and remains difficult to read. While economies have begun to reopen for business, the pace at which they do so varies and uncertainty persists." COVID-19 Pandemic Response The health and safety of our Greif colleagues is our first priority. The global COVID-19 pandemic remains an evolving situation and our global and regional pandemic task forces meet multiple times per week to monitor the latest updates and take action to further safeguard the health of our colleagues, customers and suppliers. The Company has implemented a variety of safety measures in response to COVID-19, including: conducting temperature screenings for personnel entering our operations; routinely cleaning high-touch surfaces; following social distancing protocols; staggering production teams where needed; prohibiting all non-critical business travel; implementing visitor protocols; and encouraging all colleagues to work from home when possible. Additionally, Greif has launched a dedicated COVID-19 micro site internally for colleagues to access Company and health authority information, guidelines, protocols and polices, including those issued by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Greif's business continuity plans are designed to ensure its operations are fully capable of performing in adverse conditions in support of our customers' needs. The Company maintains a diverse supply chain and has not experienced significant production challenges or raw material or supply disruptions. The Company is also conducting frequent customer outreach and updates in the form of letters, audio and visual calls, and virtual customer webinars to maximize communication and further enhance transparency during this global crisis. Segment Results (all results compared to the second quarter of 2019 unless otherwise noted) Net sales are impacted mainly by the volume of primary products(6) sold, selling prices, product mix and the impact of changes in foreign currencies against the U.S. Dollar. The table below shows the percentage impact of each of these items on net sales for our primary products for the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the prior year quarter for the business segments with manufacturing operations. Net sales from Caraustar's primary products are included in the Paper Packaging & Services segment below for the second quarter of 2020 and for the second quarter of 2019 from Greif's ownership period which began on February 11, 2019. The inclusion of Caraustar's primary products for the full second quarter of 2020 resulted in the Paper Packaging & Services segment volumes within the table below to increase by approximately 5 percent. Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services Net sales decreased by $29.0 million to $602.6 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation decreased by $9.3 million primarily due to lower average sale prices as a result of raw material price decreases and corresponding contractual price adjustment mechanisms, partially offset by strategic pricing actions and stronger volumes in certain regions. Gross profit increased by $8.3 million to $129.3 million. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to lower priced raw materials in part due to opportunistic sourcing, the timing of contractual pass through arrangements, strategic pricing actions, and product mix shifts. Operating profit increased by $23.5 million to $70.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $23.3 million to $92.2 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted gross profit and a reduction in the segment's SG&A expense due to a decrease in performance based compensation, cost reduction activities, and the segment receiving a smaller portion of allocated corporate costs. Paper Packaging & Services Net sales decreased by $16.0 million to $481.6 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation decreased by $15.8 million primarily due to lower published containerboard and boxboard prices and the divestment of the Consumer Packaging Business, partially offset by Greif's eleven day additional ownership period of Caraustar in the 2020 second quarter. The Company took approximately 24,000 tons of economic downtime across its containerboard operations during the quarter. Gross profit decreased by $13.4 million to $94.9 million. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales. Operating profit decreased by $35.7 million to a loss of $5.5 million due to the loss on divestment of the Consumer Packaging Business, which was primarily related to the allocation of goodwill to the transaction. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $3.0 million to $79.1 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales and the segment receiving a greater portion of allocated corporate costs, partially offset by a reduction in the segment's SG&A expense due to a decrease in performance based compensation and cost reduction activities. Flexible Products & Services Net sales decreased by $9.6 million to $67.4 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation decreased by $7.2 million primarily due to continued demand softness and lower average sale prices primarily as a result of raw material price decreases and corresponding contractual price adjustment mechanisms. Gross profit decreased by $2.7 million to $13.9 million. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales, partially offset by the timing of contractual pass through arrangements for raw material price decreases. Operating profit decreased by $6.6 million to $4.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $0.8 million to $6.9 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted gross profit, partially offset by a reduction in the segment's SG&A expense due to a decrease in performance based compensation and cost reduction activities. Greif's complete Second Quarter 2020 report can be found on the company's website. Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services. The company produces steel, plastic and fibre drums, intermediate bulk containers, reconditioned containers, flexible products, containerboard, uncoated recycled paperboard, coated recycled paperboard, tubes and cores and a diverse mix of specialty products. To learn more, please visit: www.greif.com . SOURCE: Greif, Inc. The Massachusetts National Guard removed a soldier from active duty after he posted on social media that he would be slamming" protesters if he was activated to serve during the protests in Boston. A screenshot that was sent to MassLive by a reader showed that an account belonging to Joell Martinez posted on Facebook that as a member of the National Guard, he might get activated for the protests in Boston. In the post sent to MassLive, it read, ...if I have to go today OMG May god be with them cause Im gonna be slamming people left in right I said what I said." MassLive presented the post to the Massachusetts National Guard, which confirmed that the soldier was not on duty during the protests and would not serve in any capacity as an investigation has been launched. Immediately upon learning of an inflammatory social media post that is inconsistent with the National Guards mission and values, leadership took swift action to address it," the Director of Public Affairs for the Massachusetts National Guard Don Veitch said in an email. "The individual was not on duty and will not serve in any capacity while this matter is under investigation. The Massachusetts National Guard is drawn from the communities we serve and we find comments like these unacceptable. The post was originally published with public settings. It is no longer available to the public. The post concludes by saying, Anyone feel some type of way inbox me and we can meet up and I promise you ya wont last 30 seconds with me. Martinez is the second National Guard soldier in as many days to be removed from active duty as a result of a social media post. The National Guard and FBI confirmed to MassLive that it is aware of another post by a Massachusetts National Guard soldier that led to a suspension of active service. The Boston Globe reported that the post in question said (Expletive) your riots and Youre all stupid I cant wait to shoot you tomorrow night." The National Guard said that soldier was also not on duty during the protests in Boston. This Soldier has been placed in an inactive status pending an investigation and will not be on duty, the National Guard said. As we find these accounts we are alerting each social media platform to their fraudulent nature. Please send a direct message to us if you find any fraudulent pages. Related Content: 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 A flag from a WWII battleship stolen from its display at city hall during Saturday's Nevada protests has been returned by a mystery man who feared looters would burn it. City spokesman Jon Humbert confirmed the glass display case that held the U.S.S. Reno flag was smashed during demonstrations over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for minutes, even after he stopped moving. The Reno protest was peaceful until a smaller group of people was seen defacing the old police headquarters, stealing from downtown businesses and burning an American flag, authorities said. 'It's an incredible gut punch to take,' Humbert said. KRNV reports that the flag was inside a package anonymously delivered to the TV station Tuesday and addressed to journalist Kenzie Margiott with a note in Sharpie that read: 'Needed protecting. Looters were flag burning. R.I.P George Floyd.' This photo provided by KRNV journalist Kenzie Margiott shows a note addressed to Margiott and a flag from the USS Reno, a World War II battleship, after it was anonymously returned to the city hall in Reno, Nev., Tuesday, June 2, 2020. The flag was stolen from its display Saturday after people broke into the city hall, amid protests over the death of George Floyd Pictured: The recovered U.S.S. Reno flag after it was returned to city hall. The men of the U.S.S. Reno were credited with shooting down five enemy airplanes and assisted in the downing of at least two more at Iwo Jima This photo provided by Kenzie Margiott shows a flag from a World War II battleship after it was anonymously returned to the city hall in Reno, Nev., Tuesday The tattered flag had a manila tag labeled, '85-55-A USS Reno CL-96.' Margiott said she called the city immediately and the vice mayor arrived within the hour with tears in his eyes. 'I'm really happy and thankful they sent it to you and that we can return it to the city and the citizens of Reno,' Reese said. The flag was donated to the city in 1946 following a ceremony held at Powning Veterans Memorial Park, the Reno Gazette Journal reported. Protesters attend a demonstration demanding justice for the death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada The men of the U.S.S. Reno were credited with shooting down five enemy airplanes and assisted in the downing of at least two more at Iwo Jima. Two sailors from Reno served on the U.S.S. Reno: Lt. Henry L. Clayton and Yoman Second Class Glen A. Spoon. The battleship was inactivated on June 1, 1946, and scrapped three years later. Cara Delevingne was joined by her close friend Kaia Gerber at a protest organised by Black Lives Matter at Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday. The models joined hundreds of other protesters who turned out for the demonstration following the death of George Floyd. Cara, 27, and Kaia, 18, had their arms wrapped around each other and raised their hands in the air as they chanted with the crowd. Demonstration: Cara Delevingne, 27, was joined by her close friend Kaia Gerber, 18, at a protest organised by Black Lives Matter at Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday Cara, who also joined protests on Tuesday, donned a black face mask along with a vest top and blue jeans. Kaia also sported a mask for the day along with a grey vest top while she kept a low profile in a navy cap. It was an emotional day for the pair as Cara appeared to claps her hands together at one point as they stood among the crowds. It comes after Cara was joined by Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker at the Hollywood protests on Tuesday. Protest: The models joined hundreds of other protesters who turned out for the demonstration following the death of George Floyd Casual: Cara, who also joined protests on Tuesday, donned a black face mask along with a vest top and blue jeans Friends: Close pals Cara and Kaia had their arms wrapped around each other March: The pair raised their hands in the air as they chanted with the crowd at city hall Casual: Kaia also sported a mask for the day along with a grey vest top while she kept a low profile in a navy cap Late Monday night, the Paper Towns actress shared a black square to her Instagram, in support of Black Out Tuesday, which calls for social media and businesses to go dark for any issues not relating to Black Lives Matter, racial injustice and protests. The highly organised Tuesday protest - presented by the LA chapter of Black Lives Matter -aimed to pressure the city's mayor Eric Garcetti into significantly lowering the LAPD's exorbitant budget. According to reports, 'over 100 demonstrators' sat before a line of LAPD officers, in order to create a safe space for speakers and activists to voice their ideas and concerns. Attendee: At one point Kaia removed her cap as she stood in the crowd alongside Cara Supplies: Cara appeared to take food out of a nearby box as she walked among the protesters Support: It comes after Cara was joined by Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker at the Hollywood protests on Tuesday Support: Late Monday night, the Paper Towns actress shared a black square to her Instagram, in support of Black Out Tuesday Blackout Tuesday: The blackout calls for social media and businesses to go dark for any issues not relating to Black Lives Matter, racial injustice and protests The death of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked days of demonstrations across the nation over police brutality against African-Americans. On May 25, Floyd - an unarmed, African-American male - experienced a horrific death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the horrifying video footage of Floyd's death, he is seen saying that he can not breathe as officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over eight minutes. The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Chauvin, was taken into custody Friday and charged with third-degree murder, officials said. Aims: The highly organised protest - presented by the LA chapter of Black Lives Matter -aimed to pressure the city's mayor Eric Garcetti into significantly lowering the LAPD's exorbitant budget (Newser) The new suspect in the 2007 disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann in Portugal has been identified as Christian B., a 43-year-old German national and child sex offender currently serving time in prison for rape. McCann family spokesperson Clarence Mitchell said that in 13 years, he couldn't "recall an instance when the police had been so specific about an individual." He added that Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, see the development as "potentially very significant," per the BBC. More on the suspectand other persons still to be found: Christian B. has been named by three police agenciesin Portugal, Germany, and the family's native UK. However, German police say "there is reason to assume that there are other persons who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left." German prosecutors are investigating Christian B. on suspicion of murder, per the Guardian. But the Met Police still consider it a missing persons case as there is no "definitive evidence" showing whether Madeleine is alive or dead. She disappeared while vacationing with her family at a resort in Praia da Luz in the Algarve region on May 3, 2007. story continues below Christian B.described as white, 6 feet tall, with short blond hair and a slim buildwas convicted in Germany in 2019 of raping a senior citizen in Portugal, per the Local. He also has numerous prior convictions for sexual abuse of children and at least one for drug trafficking. The Guardian also mentions "break-ins at hotels and holiday homes," while the Telegraph notes blond-haired men were seen loitering near the family's apartment several times on the day Madeline disappeared. The suspect stayed in the Algarve region between 1995 and 2007. Police say he lived a "transient lifestyle," staying for "days upon end" in his Volkswagen T3 Westfalia camper van. He also owned a Jaguar XJR 6 that was re-registered under the name of a person in Germany on the day after Madeleine's disappearance. Police believe the car remained in Portugal, per the Guardian. At 7:32pm on May 3, Christian B. received a phone call that lasted 30 minutes, and the Telegraph reports police made a "really unusual" move: They released two phone numbers, one (+351 912 730 680) thought to be used by Christian B. and the other (+351 916 510 683) by the person who phoned him. Met police say the person he spoke to is a "key witness" who should come forward, and they are asking people to check their phone contact lists for the numbers. Madeleine disappeared from an apartment between 9:10pm and 10pm while she slept along with two younger siblings. Her parents were at a nearby restaurant. Jim Gamble, who served as senior child protection officer in the UK's first police investigation into the disappearance, says it's the first time since 2007 that "I actually dare to hope," per the BBC. But the outlet notes "there have been so many false trails in the case beforeclues, sightings and suspects that led nowhere." German police were first told about Christian B. in 2013 but didn't have enough info to investigate. New information surfaced in 2017, and he is now "the main focus of our investigation, which is why we are making this appeal, to help us with that investigation, to prove or disprove his involvement," Met deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy tells the Guardian. Madeleine's parents, of Rothley, Leicestershire, said they welcomed the move. "We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know, as we need to find peace," reads a statement. UK, German and Portuguese police are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible. (Read more Madeleine McCann stories.) Someone studying nursing in Queensland's complex TAFE system can pay $14,000 more for the same course offered in Victoria and $9000 more than in New South Wales, according to the Productivity Commission. It is one by-product of the inefficiencies of Australia's complex $6.1 billion a year vocational education sector where half of Australia's trade apprentices are now "dropping out". Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (centre) visits the TAFE Skill Centre at Acacia Ridge in 2017. Credit:Tracey Nearmy/AAP The Productivity Commission will release its interim report on Friday, recommending major changes to the hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies now offered to registered training organisations, a new student voucher system and a fairer, less complex student loan scheme for TAFE students The final report recommending substantial changes will go back to the Australian government in November. 5.5 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Southern California: USGS An earthquake that hit Southern California on Wednesday registered as a 5.5 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter of the tremor occurred around Ridgecrest, located about 50 miles from Barstow, the USGS said. The Los Angeles Times reported that the surrounding area experienced five quakes of 3.0 or greater in the past 10 days or so. But Wednesdays earthquake, which appeared to be the strongest, was an aftershock, said USGSs Dr. Lucy Jones on Twitter. Yes, an earthquake. A M5.5 at the very southern end of the 2019 Ridgecrest aftershock zone. This is a large late aftershock do you remember that I said these are common? she wrote. Caltech seismologist Zachary Ross said also noted that Wednesdays quake was an aftershock of a quake that rattled the area in July 2019. Why is this considered a Ridgecrest aftershock after almost a year? Because the rate of events per day is still way above the rate before the sequence started, Ross said in a Twitter message. There were no reports of damage or injuries. However, on social media, a number of people expressed that they felt the tremor. Kathy Marisol, who works at Red Rock Liquor in Ridgecrest, told the Mercury News that no bottles fell from shelves. Its crazier here with the shaking. We hear the bottles rattling, she said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti acknowledged the earthquake hit while he addressed protests on Wednesday evening. He was asked if he felt the quake, responding that he hadnt, according to The Hill. Ellie Gonsalves revealed that she feared she would be sexually assaulted while living on the streets filming SBS documentary Filthy Rich and Homeless. The 29-year-old model told WHO magazine the experience of sleeping rough for 10 days opened her eyes to the many basic things she takes for granted in everyday life - especially the safety and security of a home. She pointed out that women living on the streets are particularly at risk. 'I felt like I was a target': Model Ellie Gonsalves revealed that she feared she would be sexually assaulted while living on the streets filming SBS documentary Filthy Rich and Homeless 'Did you know, 90 per cent of women on the street are sexually assaulted? To be a young girl... I just felt like I was a target,' she said of her experience. The social media sensation hopes that her journey on the show will clear up the stereotypes surrounding homeless people. 'There are dangerous people living on the streets. However, most of the people I encountered were the kindest, most generous people I have ever met,' she said. Fears: The 29-year-old pointed out that women living on the streets are particularly at risk At risk: Ellie told WHO magazine on Thursday, 'Did you know, 90 per cent of women on the street are sexually assaulted? To be a young girl... I just felt like I was a target' She also hopes her experience will raise awareness of the homelessness crisis in Australia. 'A lot of people will come for Ellie Gonsalves being eaten alive by cockroaches in her bed, but I think a lot of people will stay for the amazing message this show sends,' she said. It comes after Ellie - who was forced to sleep in a park, crisis accommodation and a boarding house on the show - spoke about how she connected with some of the people living on the streets through the trauma of losing someone. Eye opening: Ellie hopes her experience will raise awareness of homelessness in Australia She told the Herald Sun: 'I think the one thing that helped me connect in those situations was my dad committed suicide five years ago.' 'A lot of people on the show had to deal with the trauma of losing someone close to them. But the difference was, I had a support network, and family,' she added. Despite being left heartbroken, Ellie said the experience had given her 'a newfound gratitude for everything I have in my life'. Trauma: It comes after Ellie spoke about how she connected with some of the people living on the streets through the trauma of losing her father (right) to suicide five years ago The upcoming season of Filthy Rich and Homeless will feature five celebrities, including doctor Andrew Rochford, Melbourne Deputy Mayor Arron Wood, broadcaster Ciaran Lyons and restaurateur Pauline Nguyen. They will each spend 10 nights on the streets of Sydney to gain an insight into what it's really like not having anywhere to live. Filthy Rich and Homeless premieres Tuesday at 8:30pm on SBS Hong Kong not afraid of US sanctions: Lam Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/3 10:27:32 Last Updated: 2020/6/3 13:27:32 Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam said ahead of her Wednesday visit to Beijing that Hong Kong is not afraid of US accusations and threats of sanctions. Lam said in a China Central Television (CCTV) interview on Tuesday that Hong Kong does not need to worry about US threats to end Hong Kong's special status following the approval of the decision on national security legislation for Hong Kong by the National People's Congress (NPC), thanks to the firm determination of the central government and support of Hong Kong citizens. She felt assured when the NPC passed the decision, and if the central government did not actively play its part, Hong Kong may not be able to solve its current issues, Lam said, noting that this has given Hong Kong a chance of survival and will help it overcome its difficulties. She also said that Hong Kong's focus will be on restoring the economy as stability gradually returns to society. Lam is expected to visit Beijing on Wednesday, when the central government will listen to Lam's views on the national security legislation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Advertisement By Godwin Akor, Makurdi Suspected herdsmen last Monday went on rampage at Itakpa in Obi local government area of Benue state killing no fewer than 11 persons. The natives including a publisher, Mr Lawrence Okwe, told our correspondent that because Igede women do not see mangled or charred or mutilated bodies of dead people, some of the bodies were hurriedly hurried before daybreak. Advertisement Okwe said the herdsmen invaded the place at about 7.30 pm, adding that before 6 am, many of the corpses had been buried. Police public relations officer, DSP Serwuese Anene, told our correspondent that the police commissioner, Mukadas Garba, went. To the troubled spot yesterday being Tuesday with some men who recovered two corpses while the third corpse was that of one of the persons that was taken to the hospital but could not. survive. She said four detachments of the officers and men have been sent to the area, stressing that normalcy was returning to the place. It was gathered that many of the persons displaced because of the attack have taken refuge at Obarike Ito, headquarters of Obi local government area. The Duchess of Sussex has shared her absolute devastation at racial divisions and the death of George Floyd in the US, telling girls graduating at her old high school: Im so sorry you have to grow up in a world where this is still present. Meghan told leavers at the Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles: I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing because George Floyds life mattered. Mr Floyd died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on May 25, sparking days of protest in the US. The 38-year-old duchess recalled living through the 1992 race riots in LA which were also triggered by a senseless act of racism. We are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until its rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. In a video address to the all-girls Catholic school on Wednesday, she said: What is happening in our country and in our state and in our home town of LA has been absolutely devastating. I wasnt sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldnt or it would get picked apart and I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing, because George Floyds life mattered and Breonna Taylors life mattered and Philando Castiles life mattered and Tamir Rices life mattered and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know. The former actress, the first mixed race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal, has been outspoken on racism in society. She recalled seeing armed men on the street and burnt-out buildings during race riots in the Californian city in 1992 after police officers were filmed violently beating Rodney King. Meghan went on: I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home, and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky, and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings. I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories dont go away. I cant imagine that at 17 or 18 that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience. She said they should understand it but only as a history lesson, not as your reality. Now you get to be part of rebuilding we are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until its rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we, she added. The video was first reported by the African-American female US magazine Essence. Meghan and Harry are now living in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, with son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned one on May 6. The Sussexes have quit as working royals and have spoken of their struggles with royal life and intense tabloid interest. They are preparing to launch their new charitable organisation Archewell named after their son. It will replace their now-defunct Sussex Royal brand, but plans to launch the venture have been delayed while the world battles coronavirus. A quarter of adults aged between 18 and 25 are unaware that women should not drink alcohol during pregnancy, according to a survey of 2,000 Britons. A staggering 26 per cent admitted they did not know that official guidance states that a woman, if pregnant, should avoid alcohol entirely. Just 17 per cent of the young adults correctly identified alcohol exposure in utero as causing more long-term harm to a baby than other substances such as heroin. Only 26 per cent of 18-25 year-olds were aware that official guidance states that a woman, if pregnant, should avoid alcohol entirely (stock) Almost half (49 per cent) of 18-25 year-olds polled said they get information on alcohol in pregnancy from social media while four in ten discussed it with a teacher. The research was carried out by the National Organisation for FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders). Sandra Butcher, chief executive of the British arm of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS-UK), said: 'Information is power. It is deeply concerning that so few young people are aware of the dangers. Almost half (49 per cent) of 18-25 year-olds polled said they get information on alcohol in pregnancy from social media while four in ten discussed it with a teacher (stock) Pregnant women should avoid alcohol or risk harming their child Pregnant women shouldn't drink alcoholic drinks because the chemical can pass into their baby's body. The liver is one of the last organs to finish growing in the womb, so babies exposed to alcohol may not have any natural defences against its harms in grown people the liver filters it to reduce damage. Drinking during the first trimester can raise the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, or a low birth weight. Whereas drinking later in the pregnancy increases the chance of the baby being born with health problems. Babies of mothers who drank regularly in pregnancy may develop a serious condition called foetal alcohol syndrome. This can cause physical deformities (notably the eyes can be set far apart, and a large forehead and thin upper lip can develop) as well as disability. Babies with severe foetal alcohol syndrome may have learning difficulties, behaviour problems or even develop cerebral palsy. Around 6,000 to 7,000 babies are thought to be born in the UK every year with foetal alcohol syndrome, according to the charity Mencap. Source: NHS Advertisement 'Alcohol exposure in pregnancy risks more life-long impact on a developing brain and body than heroin. FASD is preventable - no alcohol, no risk.' However, the study did find that 22 per cent could identify that the acronym FASD stands for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. FASD is the lifelong, brain-based condition that can result from exposure to alcohol in the womb. This can cause physical deformities (notably the eyes can be set far apart, and a large forehead and thin upper lip can develop) as well as disability. Around 6,000 to 7,000 babies are thought to be born in the UK every year with foetal alcohol syndrome, according to the charity Mencap. Babies with severe foetal alcohol syndrome may have learning difficulties, behaviour problems or even develop cerebral palsy. Studies have shown that FASD is more prevalent than autism but it is widely misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. Health and social care lecturer Jo Buckard, an expert in FASD, said: 'There's been progress but no one should rest easy with these figures. 'If one-quarter of those in childbearing years hasn't got the message yet, that could lead to a massive risk of FASD. 'Add to that the fact that during this lockdown it's harder to get access to contraceptives and pregnancy tests, it's a perfect storm for a possible future upsurge in FASD.' Sandra Butcher, chief executive, NOFAS-UK, added: 'We hope schools and community groups will get behind this initiative. 'Young people need to know why this matters. 'Adults have missed the mark on this for so long, we believe once they have the facts the next generation will be the one to stop this preventable, hidden epidemic.' YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenian banks and credit companies have already revised the loan repayment liabilities of nearly 550,000 individuals on loans worth 682 billion drams for anti-crisis purposes, with the amount of 45 billion drams, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting. In other words, they have formed loan repayment holidays. In addition, 17,400 legal entities have been provided with loan repayment holidays worth 57 billion drams, the PM said. In 1821 Derry was the twelfth largest town in Ireland, by 1911 she was the fourth. In 1821 Derry was only twice as big as her rivals, Strabane and Coleraine, and four times the size of Letterkenny. By 1911 she was five times as big as Coleraine, eight times the size of Strabane and eighteen times the size of Letterkenny. In 1821, with a burgeoning coasting trade in linen and provisions to Britain, a growing emigration trade to North America and a prosperous linen industry, Derry was a small but vigorous town of 9,313 souls. Apart from Belfast, whose population increased ten-fold, no other town of significance in Ireland had anywhere near the rate of growth of Derry. In fact, of the eighteen major Irish towns in 1821 with a population of over 8,000 eleven had declined in size by 1911. Seven did increase in size, but only two, Belfast and Derry, actually more than doubled in size. How does one account for this growth? In the 19th century expansion was the exception rather than the norm within Ireland. Yet during that time Derry stamped her dominance over her local rivals, and emerged as an important urban centre within Ireland. The answer lies in Derry experiencing an Industrial Revolution. From the 1830s a succession of entrepreneurs, both local-born and from Britain, especially Scotland, appeared on the scene and established new industries or expanded old ones. These men put Derry at the forefront of technology in the 19th century. They identified new markets, introduced new ideas and new methods of work organisation. In shirt-making, shipbuilding and distilling Derry was to compete successfully with the rest of the world. The shirt industry grew, in the space of 50 years, from virtually nothing to become the principal seat of the shirt industry in the UK and an exporter to all over the world. It was the enterprise of one man, namely William Scott, which laid the foundations of this new industry. At the age of 66 William Scott, a linen-weaver from Ballougry, outside the city, saw that there was a growing demand in the cities of Britain for cotton shirts with embroidered fronts. In 1831 he got his wife and daughters to make a few shirts which he took with him on the steamer to Glasgow. He returned with the shirts sold and orders for more. By 1840 he had set up an outworker system whereby, at stations spread throughout Counties Derry, Donegal and Tyrone, local girls, long skilled in working with linen, were provided with the material, to make up shirts in their own homes, from his factory at Bennetts Lane where the weavers, cutters, examiners and packers were based. By 1850 this business had grown to such an extent that the wage bill of William Scott & Son of 500 per week was one of the highest in the city. In the 1850s Scotts initial success attracted a number of Scottish businessmen who brought with them new methods of factory organisation and new technology in the form of the sewing machine. William Tillie arrived in Derry from Glasgow in 1850, and with his partner, John Henderson, erected, in 1857, a five-storey building, covering nearly one acre of land on Foyle Road, with 19,000 square feet of factory space. At that time this shirt factory (below) was the largest of its kind in the world. The sewing machines and cutting machines were all driven by steam-power. By 1890 Tillie and Henderson employed 1,500 hands in their factory, and provided work for 3,000 outworkers in Counties Derry, Donegal and Tyrone. They had wholesale warehouses in London and Glasgow and they exported overseas to Australia, South Africa, North and South America and the West Indies. Other factories followed. Peter McIntyre, from Paisley, and Adam Hogg, from Melrose, opened the City Factory in Queen Street in 1864. In 1876 the London firm of Welch Margetson moved into new premises in Carlisle Road, and they were soon employing 1,000 together with 3,000 outworkers. So great was the demand for Derry-made shirts from Glasgow and London that the number of shirt factories in the city increased from 5 in the 1850s to 44 by 1926. At its peak in the mid 1920s the Derry shirt industry employed 8,000 and provided work for an additional 10,000 outworkers. Confidence in the shirt industry was reflected in the massive red-brick factories that were built. When David Hogg and Charles Mitchell opened their five-storey factory in Great James Street in 1898 a specially chartered steamer was hired to bring over guests from England. The beginnings of a shipbuilding industry in Derry can be assigned to 1830 when Pitt Skipton, of Beech Hill near the city, and John Henderson, a Dungiven linen-bleacher, reclaimed slob land to the north of the Shipquay and erected a slip dock for the repair of vessels, 300 tons in size. In 1835 they employed Captain William Coppin (who, though still only 30, had designed and built sailing vessels in Canada for Derry merchants, captained sailing vessels on the West Indian trade route and commanded the Derry-to-Liverpool steamer) to build a West Indian sugar-trader for the Derry firm Pitt & Co. The resulting 180 ton Sir Robert Alexander Ferguson, built of Irish oak from the nearby forests of Walworth and Learmount, was a significant landmark. It marked a shift away from total reliance on repair work to the construction of ships. More importantly, it began Captain Coppins 35-year association with the city. In 1839 William Coppin bought the yard of Pitt Skipton & Co, and by 1840 he was employing 500 men in building new vessels, ship repairs and salvage work. His greatest achievement was on the 23rd July 1842, when 20,000 persons, who had gathered since 8 a.m., watched the launch of his three- masted, screw-propelled, 274 feet long, 1,750 ton, 360 horsepower steamship, The Great Northern. The Illustrated London News, on witnessing its arrival in the East India Docks, regarded it as a remarkable monument of marine architecture. In creativity and inventiveness Coppin was far ahead of his competitors. This was his downfall because he could find no buyer for such a new and unproven design. In 1850 he had to sell the ship for scrap, and from then until the yard closed in 1870 Coppin concentrated on repair and salvage work. In 1882 shipbuilding returned to Derry when local man Charles Bigger set up the Foyle Shipyard at a new site at Pennyburn. He specialised in constructing large steel-hulled sailing ships, and before its closure in 1892 the yard built 26 sailing ships, including five for local merchant, William Mitchell, and 7 steamers. Shipbuilding resumed again from 1899 to 1904. In 1912 the yard was re-equipped and four new berths, up to 1,000 feet in length, were constructed. During the First World War the yard was working flat out, 24 hours a day, to replace allied shipping losses. By 1918 the workforce totalled 2,000 men. The yard continued to expand after the war, and the workforce grew to 2,600 in the early years of the 1920s, with a weekly wage bill of 7,000. Derrys future as a major shipbuilding centre seemed secure; it had the third largest output in all Ireland. Yet in 1924 the yard closed for the last time, owing to a deepening world depression. Although never a permanent fixture, shipbuilding was a very significant employer in the city. As a major male employer it acted as a counterbalance to the predominantly female workforce of Derrys shirt industry. It resulted in the attraction of a small Scottish community to the city when Scottish shipwrights, platers, boilermakers, caulkers and drillers came to live in streets such as Glasgow Terrace and Argyle Terrace. By 1830 Derry had a small whiskey-distilling industry with distilleries at Pennyburn, Waterside and Abbey Street producing over 200,000 gallons of whiskey annually between them. In 1839 David Watt, the son of Andrew Alexander Watt, a leading merchant in the city, acquired full ownership of the Abbey Street distillery, and began the expansion that was to make Watts distillery one of the largest in the UK. When Aeneas Coffey invented the patent-still, the Abbey Street distillery was one of the first to have it installed, with Mr Coffey personally supervising its installation in 1833. The grain whiskey produced had a milder flavour to the malt whiskey produced in pot-stills at Pennyburn. In 1870 David Watt took over the Waterside distillery from the Mehan family. By 1887 the two Coffey patent-stills, seven storeys high, within the 8 acre Abbey Street complex, produced 1,260,000 gallons of grain whiskey annually and employed some 200 men, while its Waterside distillery produced 200,000 gallons of malt whiskey. Like shipbuilding, the end for Watts, and its Old Tyrconnel grain whiskey and Old Inishowen malt whiskey, came with the depression and the resultant contracting market in the inter-war years. In 1900 Derry was an old-established manufacturing centre where growth seemed assured. In the three decades to 1911 the population had doubled. It was a place of opportunity offering good employment prospects. Her growing industries attracted workers and families from outside the city. For example, of 31 households living in Argyle Terrace in 1901, 19 of them had origins outside the county; 10 of the heads of household were born in Scotland, while 8 had come from County Donegal to live in this one street. The shipyard and bakery were the major employers with 11 of these households depending on them; 6 on the shipyard and 5 on the bakery. Not only did the head of household find employment in Derry, but so too did the rest of the family. For example, in one family group on Argyle Terrace the father, born in Scotland, worked as a baker, while the 25 year old daughter found employment as an examiner in a shirt factory, the 18 year old son as an apprentice baker and the 16 year old son as a rivet boy in the shipyard. In 1900 Derry seemed capable of sustaining economic growth. Yet by the 1930s the shipbuilding and distilling industries had ceased, while the shirt industry contracted in the face of cheap imports from Europe. Derry A City Invincible costs 5 and is available to buy in the Guildhall, Tower Museum and Warehouse Gift Shop, above Warehouse cafe. JEFFERSON CITY A north St. Louis County Democratic club faces a $2,500 fine after the state ethics commission found the group made cash payments to 13 campaign workers and didnt properly document the spending. The case, which dates to the April 3, 2018, municipal elections, when four Berkeley City Council seats were up for grabs, involves Berkeley Mayor Ted Hoskins, who was charged in November with felony absentee voter fraud in that election. Hoskins, 81, lost reelection on Tuesday to Babatunde Deinbo. The Missouri Ethics Commission said in documents published Wednesday that a $1,500 cash withdrawal from the Norwood Township Democratic Clubs account on April 3, 2018, was divided among the 13 campaign workers. But, in a disclosure report filed a month after the election, the club and its treasurer, Millicent Johnson, did not report the spending that way. The club reported $800 going to Hoskins, who was working as Norwood Township Consultant, according to the disclosure; and $700 to Pamela Harris, of Florissant, for coordinating election day for township. Hoskins, reached by phone on Thursday, said instead of reporting that the $800 went to him, he should have reported the names of the campaign workers he paid. On April 2, the day before the reported $800 payment to Hoskins, the club reported an $800 contribution from Allied Waste Services. The $1,500 cash withdraw was in excess of state limits, which cap such transactions at $50. A revised disclosure report filed in May shows Hoskins receiving $300 for work as supervisor. It also shows $300 going to a Pamela Hoskins, whose address is the same listed for Pamela Harris two years earlier, for supervisor work. The amended report says nine other campaign workers, six of them listing Berkeley addresses, received smaller payments of $100. Two of 13 the campaign workers were not identified in the new report. Hoskins said he erred by paying the workers with cash. Obviously that was a mistake, he said. I shouldve given them checks instead. The location of the Norwood Township Democratic Club, on the 8400 block of January Avenue, is at the same address as Hoskins campaign committee. Hoskins and Johnson both list the same phone number, but the number was disconnected when a reporter called on Wednesday. Hoskins, a former state representative, faces several counts of election fraud in St. Louis County connected to fraudulent absentee ballots charges say he turned in before the April 3, 2018, election. Defense lawyer Scott Rosenblum said in November that Hoskins disputes every allegation and intends to enter a plea of not guilty. The case was still pending as of Thursday. The consent order cites other reporting errors by the Norwood Township Democratic Club. For example, on March 16, 2018, the commission said, a $380 check was drawn from the clubs account. The clubs disclosure reports said the money went to four campaign workers, but the spending wasnt itemized. In a joint stipulation of facts Johnson signed, she acknowledged the commission had probable cause to believe the club made withdrawals exceeding state limits, and that the committee didnt properly document spending. The club will have to pay the state $1,600 if it pays within 45 days, according to a consent order published online Wednesday. The group will have to pay the full fine if it commits any more violations within two years. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. After the arrest of Felicien Kabuga in Paris on 16 May, several Kenyan families are seeking justice, accusing the top Rwanda genocide suspect of having a hand in the murder of their relatives while he was hiding out in Kenya. In September 1994, months after the genocide, Felicien Kabuga is thought to have fled to Kenya under the protection of autocratic President Daniel arap Moi. He reportedly stayed in the country until 2012. The controversial presence of the Rwandan tycoon, charged with financing the 1994 murder of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, is believed to have led to the murder of several Kenyans. After the 84-year-old's arrest on 16 May in Asnieres-Sur-Seine, northwest of Paris, families of those allegedly killed in Kenya are hopeful that the highly-sought Rwandan genocidaire will also face justice for his actions in their country. Chasing FBI reward Lydia Wangui, 68, is a small scale subsistence farmer based in Nyeri, central Kenya, who for the past 17 years has being seeking justice for her murdered son William Munuhe. On 20 January 2003, Munuhe's dead body, partially dissolved in acid was discovered at his home in Nairobi's exclusive Karen suburb. The former journalist, then aged 27, was thought to have been eyeing a $5 million reward the United States had offered for Kabuga's arrest a year earlier. He had reportedly promised to lure the Rwandan to his house under the pretext of discussing a business deal and planned to deliver him to FBI agents whom he had contacted three days earlier. I feel a bittersweet relief that Kabuga has been caught," Lydia tells RFI as she gazes at a well-tended graveyard in her homestead where Munuhe is buried. "He will now face justice for the pain and anguish that he caused my family and also to the people of Rwanda." Munuhe's family has sought compensation from the Kenyan government for his murder and for denying that Kabuga was hiding in Nairobi, as well as for monies spent over the past 17-years pursuing justice for their son. Dr Charles Khamala, a senior lecturer at the local Africa Nazarene University Law School, thinks the complainants have an uphill task. But he says the police also have questions to answer. "If the victim was working as an informer and had reported to the police that his life was in danger, they should have protected him. Otherwise, why did he take the risk of exposing himself to Kabuga?" Khamala asks. Many victims There are many other relatives of Kabuga's Kenyan victims who are seeking justice. Benjamin Mbiti Kalili, a telecommunications expert, seconded by the United Nations to the Tanzanian based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), was killed on 12 July 2003 by unknown people. He was actively involved in another botched operation to capture Kabuga in Nairobi a month earlier. Kalili's younger brother Francis says his sibling had told the family how the Arusha court had managed to locate Kabuga's hideout in Nairobi's Hurlingham estate, where a dawn raid was planned. However, Kabuga was tipped off and slipped away moments before the arresting squad, including Kalili, arrived. Another victim is Michael Sarunei, a soldier allegedly assigned to protect Kabuga, who disappeared on 13 February 2009, never to be found. His family believes he was killed for secretly photographing the Rwandan fugitive while he was in a Nairobi hospital for treatment in 2008. Extradition On 3 June, a French court ordered that Kabuga be handed over to the ICTR to face genocide charges. The 84-year-old could be transferred to The Hague before a trial in Arusha, Tanzania. His lawyers have objected to the transfer due to his frail health. They also say he will not receive a fair trial at the tribunal, and have called for a domestic trial in France, which has already tried and convicted three Rwandan genocide suspects. Kabuga can still appeal the extradition ruling by challenging the validity of the 1999 arrest warrant issued against him. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan increased by 105 to 3,874, Trend reports on June 4 with reference to the Ministry of Health. To date, 3,014 patients have fully recovered in the country, 16 have died. Uzbekistan has divided the country into certain "red", "yellow" and "green" zones, with regards to the level of COVID-19 pandemic spread level. The Special Republican Commission for the preparation of a program of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Uzbekistan has extended the quarantine until June 15, 2020. Since May 15, the commission has lifted some restrictions on certain activities in Uzbekistan. By decision of the Special Republican Commission from June 15 in "green" and "yellow" regions will resume the activities of catering, kindergarten and clothing markets. The "red" zones include Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic, Andijan, Namangan, Fergana, Samarkand, Bukhara, Syrdarya and Tashkent regions (also divided into zones). The "yellow" zones include Khorezm region and Tashkent city. The "green" zones include Jizzakh and Surkhandarya regions. Today, in Kitab district of Kashkadarya region (previously - "green" zone), the quarantine regime has been tightened. Earlier, Navoi region was transferred from "green" zone to the "red" zone. Moreover, Jizzakh and Surkhandarya regions were declared free from COVID-19. The first case of coronavirus infection in Uzbekistan was detected on March 15 in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Virology; it was an Uzbek woman who returned from France. The Ministry of Health later announced that her son, daughter, husband and grandson also tested coronavirus-positive. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Former Head of Oncology Cell Therapy Research Unit at GSK to lead clinical development at Immatics Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company active in the discovery and development of T cell redirecting cancer immunotherapies, today announced that Cedrik Britten, MD, has been appointed as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) effective June 1, 2020. Trained as a physician, Cedrik Britten will join Immatics with more than a decade of experience in clinical development including his most recent position as Vice President and Head of the Oncology Cell Therapy Research Unit at GlaxoSmithKline. He will be responsible for the management and global development of Immatics' clinical pipeline. In parallel, Carsten Reinhardt, MD, PhD, the current Chief Medical Officer at Immatics, will assume the newly created role as Chief Development Officer to lead Immatics' product development strategy. Carsten will also continue to lead the TCR Bispecifics platform and pipeline and the Immunology and Translational Development functions at Immatics. Stephen Eck, MD, PhD, the current Chief Medical Officer at Immatics US in Houston (TX), will step down and remain with the Company until the end of June to support the transition. "We are excited about Cedrik joining Immatics. He has an extensive background in cell therapy, translational oncology and immunology as well as great experience in leading clinical and preclinical development programs in immuno-oncology. His appointment will complement Immatics' existing strengths and capabilities as we continue the clinical development of our targeted immunotherapies with an emphasis on treating solid tumors through our two therapeutic modalities, Adoptive Cell Therapy and TCR Bispecifics," commented Harpreet Singh, PhD, Chief Executive Officer at Immatics. "Cedrik's appointment enables Carsten to take on the leadership for Immatics' product development strategy, as Chief Development Officer, as well as retain leadership of the very promising TCR Bispecifics platform and pipeline. We extend our thanks and gratitude to Stephen for his contributions to our success and wish him all the best for his future endeavors." "Immatics is bringing together three synergizing core elements that attracted me: excellent science, powerful proprietary technology platforms for the discovery of relevant targets and T cell receptors tailored for use across a range of therapeutic modalities and a vibrant corporate culture focused on serving patients in need. These three cornerstones have enabled Immatics to reach a dynamic stage of growth with four ongoing clinical trials and a promising pipeline of several product candidates in development," added Cedrik Britten. "Immatics will have significant new opportunities to exploit the full potential of its science and capabilities and I am very much looking forward to leading our future product development strategy to enable us to do so," commented Carsten Reinhardt. "Working together with a clinical leader of Cedrik's caliber will benefit both the Company and, hopefully, also the patients in need of innovative and effective new treatments." Cedrik Britten, MD, brings over ten years of experience in clinical and preclinical research as well as drug development in the field of immuno-oncology. He most recently served as Vice President and Head of the Oncology Cell Therapy Research Unit at GlaxoSmithKline in the United Kingdom, where he was responsible for the early cell therapy pipeline in Oncology R&D which included clinical development to proof-of-concept. In this role, he also established research and development teams and led the development of TCR-T as well as early-stage CAR-T programs. Prior to that, he held various senior positions at BioNTech including Vice President for R&D. During his time at BioNTech, he built and established clinical research teams, was responsible for early drug development and led clinical, as well as non-clinical, oncology development programs for personalized cancer immunotherapy products. Cedrik Britten graduated from the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany, with both a medical and doctoral degree. About Immatics Immatics combines the discovery of true targets for cancer immunotherapies with the development of the right T cell receptors with the goal of enabling a robust and specific T cell response against these targets. This deep know-how is the foundation for our pipeline of Adoptive Cell Therapies and TCR Bispecifics as well as our partnerships with global leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. We are committed to delivering the power of T cells and to unlocking new avenues for patients in their fight against cancer. For regular updates about Immatics, visit www.immatics.com. You can also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Immatics' future financial or operating performance. For example, statements concerning the timing of product candidates and Immatics' focus on partnerships to advance its strategy are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expect", "intend", "will", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "predict", "potential" or "continue", or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Immatics and its management, are inherently uncertain. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, various factors beyond management's control including general economic conditions. Nothing in this presentation should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Immatics undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005032/en/ Contacts: For media enquiries Gretchen Schweitzer or Jacob Verghese, PhD Trophic Communications Phone: +49 89 2388 7731 immatics@trophic.eu Investor Relations Contact John Graziano Solebury Trout Phone: +1 646-378-2942 jgraziano@soleburytrout.com Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH Anja Heuer Corporate Communications Phone: +49 89 540415-606 media@immatics.com Jordan Silverstein Head of Strategy Phone: +1 281-810-7545 InvestorRelations@immatics.com A detailed survey has exposed the shocking conditions facing UK call centre workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Boris Johnsons Conservative government denoted call centre operatives as key workers. This meant that throughout lockdown imposed on March 23, many major companies could operate call centres to maintain and even expand the flow of profits to their shareholders. In the process they exposed workers to serious hazards. Data collected through an ongoing survey by Professor Phillip Taylor, an expert on employment issues at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, centred on a confidential questionnaire, began on April 8. Over 2,800 workers responded, with Taylor receiving several calls each day from call centre staff frightened to enter their offices and risk contracting the virus due to employer malpractice. Call centre operatives are placed at risk on multiple levels, due to commutingoften by public transportto cramped, overcrowded offices where management often insist on normal working practice, including meetings proceeding as normal. Approximately 1.3 million people in Britain are employed in call centres, four percent of the workforce. The COVID-19 fatality rate is generally higher among lower-skilled occupations. According to official figures, those in sales and customer service occupations are suffering 14.3 deaths per 100,000 males (the average death rates differ greatly by gender.) Reports have emerged of call centre workers dying of COVID-19. Victims include an employee of multinational outsourcing firm Capita in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who died in April. A female worker in her 50s who worked at Virgin Media call centre in Wythenshawe, Manchester died on April 2. She left work on March 2 to self-isolate. The office was closed for just one day before opening again. The Manchester Evening News reported, It prompted scores of worried members of staff to contact the M.E.N. to express concern about an alleged lack of social distancing at the office and another office in Baguley, alleging they were being asked to carry out non-essential work like convincing customers not to leave them. Professor Taylor was told of multiple critical hospitalisations and even fatalities among the co-workers of those responding to the survey. Three-quarters of respondents had colleagues in their call centre forced to self-isolate after developing symptoms. The survey measured the acute concern and suffering among call centre workers: 78 percent believed they might get coronavirus at work and 91 percent feared passing the virus onto their families. Seven-in-ten reported feeling very scared at having to continue to report for work. The author notes that the total length of the responses from workersof over 200,000 wordsis a measure of the impact of the crisis and the social tensions it is generating. Most call centre workers (82 percent of replies) felt their services are non-essential and they are being made to risk illness and death unnecessarily. As large sections of the economy and public sector have switched to online operation, many call centres are critical (e.g. the National Health Service help line emergency services), but most are not, including certain financial services, retail, etc. One worker cited in the study said, Im going to work during a national lockdown as I am now described by the government as essential when only a few months ago I was low skilled... its a joke. Workers expressed their scorn at management neglect. Many have been coerced back to work by performance targets and financial pressures, despite presenting undiagnosed symptoms or soon after recovering from the disease. Seventy eight percent of respondents reported feeling pressurised into attending work. One worker reported several cases where management, despite being informed of the condition of ill co-workers, compelled them to attend: They came to work as they were worried about their job due to discipline action. They were told then to go home after completing half of the shift. Management at many workplaces have concealed incidences of the disease to prevent opposition mounting to their back-to-work drive. One respondent explained, Of my knowledge there has been one confirmed case and two suspected cases. The confirmed case was a colleague he required hospital treatment. Managers are aware of this and tried to deny the situation at first. When the colleague eventually confirmed it to everyone for himself, they then accepted that it had happened but have made several cover stories to try to keep the office open. Workers with pre-existing health conditions, who are at increased risk, are being made to report for work. Many call centres contain large numbers working in confined spaces with shared facilities and breathing in recycled air. Alongside complaints of dirty offices and a lack of sanitation, such as insufficient hand sanitiser and toilet cleaning, only 4 percent said that their employer had provided face masks. Only half of those surveyed reported being at least two metres distant from their colleagues. A particularly strong opposition was expressed to hot desking, whereby multiple people on different shifts share the same desk space. These concerns were voiced by workers at two of NHS 24s main contact centres, in Cardonald Park, Glasgow, and Clydebank. Every worker of 800 surveyed at the sites said it was impossible to socially distance at the required two metres. Ninety one percent said they do not feel safe at work, while 90 percent said health and safety concerns have made them think about not going into work. Many call centre businesses have not organised homeworking. Taylors report notes, Two-thirds of staff still working in the sector have asked bosses to work from home, but just four percent of all requests have been granted. Taylors survey notes that it is supported by various trade unions and health and safety campaigning bodies, notably Hazards. The main aim of the survey is To expose bad employment practices hazardous to call-handlers and, through intervention by trade unions, health and safety and regulatory bodies, to stop them The claim that the employment practises exposed can be opposed by the trade unions is belied by all experience. Trades Union Congress General Secretary Frances OGrady described the report as grim reading, adding, Bosses who refuse to take steps to protect their workforces should be prosecuted. But the unions will do nothing. Such rhetoric is aimed at concealing their corporatist role and collaboration in enforcing the return-to-work, beginning with Mondays reopening of schools. Labours Shadow Employment Minister Andy McDonald described the report as deeply concerning before declaring that the Johnsons governments guidancea government whose polices have led to at least 60,000 coronavirus deathswas the way forward. The governments guidance must be strictly implemented and enforced, in the interests of workers safety and to protect public health, he insisted. The unions must be involved to ensure workplaces are safe to work in now and when we emerge from this crisis. Labour councils have played a key role in signing off unsafe working conditions and the unions are policing the return to work. McDonalds party nationally is collaborating in implementing a return to work in a de facto national unity government. Call centre workers can only oppose the dangerous conditions they face by establishing rank and file safety committees, independent of the trade unions. These must organise the resources to create safe working conditions, including provisions for home working, sanitation, and social distancing to halt the spread of contagion. The author also recommends: Build rank-and-file factory and workplace committees to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus and save lives! [21 May 2020] Ex-President Jerry Rawlings has hit out at the intellectuals in the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He described them as a disappointment during his speech at the 41st anniversary of the June 4 uprising suggesting they had not done enough to shape Ghanas historical narrative. Mr. Rawlings, for example, suggested that his time as a military leader was not divorced from democracy despite general assertions of human rights abuses during his junta. We entered Constitutional rule in 92 but democracy started well before then. It [the revolution] was one of the finest times in our history. We need to talk about this a lot more. Because of what he believes to be a miscasting of history, he then said: some of the intellectuals in our party [the NDC] have been a real let down. They open their mouths and I don't hear much coming out of their mouths, he added, stressing that they need to boldly draw a more accurate picture of Ghana under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) which ruled Ghana following the second successful Rawlings-led military coup detat on December 31, 1981. Taking a jab at socialists, he remarked that not even the so-called socialist here have ever bothered to school, educate Ghanaians in their socialist beliefs. The June 4 uprising was the first coup by Mr. Rawlings, then a Flight Lieutenant. On June 4, 1979, members of the military, made up of mostly junior officers, overthrew General Fred Akuffo and Rawlings took the reigns of the country as the Chairman of a 15-member Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). They have largely claimed their actions were fueled by public discontent, state corruption among others. The council oversaw a 'housecleaning' exercise for three months after which elections for Ghanas Third Republic were held and government handed over to Hilla Limans People's National Party. citinewsroom Ephraim Eddy, a spokesman for COPA, said in an email that the agency had received a complaint regarding this incident and has opened an investigation to determine the if the actions of involved officers are within Department policy. We encourage anyone with information to contact our office at 312-746-3609 or visit our website at ChicagoCOPA.org. Yves here. Given the routine inaccuracies in traditional media, and their near pervasive refusal to issue corrections and make retractions, the uproar over social media is not about accuracy. If you have any doubts, see how many publications have eliminated the historical venue for making complaints, an ombudsman, which is Potemkin accountability. Recall how the Washington Post refused to correct or retract its PropOrNot piece which attacked this site and other alternative media venues. The Post instead issued a bizarre We dont stand by the accuracy of our reports disclaimer, which was ridiculed by the Columbia Journalism Review. Traditional media regularly publish quotes that are factually challenged as part of their fetishization for accuracy. It is hard to see what the beef is about when the source of allegedly inaccurate information discloses his real-world identity, or it is widely known. By Marshall Auerback, a market analyst and commentator. Produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute Donald Trump threatened to close Twitter down a day after the social media giant marked his tweets with a fact-check warning label for the first time. The president followed this threat up with an executive order that would encourage federal regulators to allow tech companies to be held liable for the comments, videos, and other content posted by users on their platforms. As is often the case with this president, his impetuous actions were more than a touch self-serving and legally dubious absent a congressionally legislated regulatory framework. Despite himself, Trump does raise an interesting issuenamely whether and how we should regulate the social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as the search engines (Google, Bing) that disseminate their content. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act largely immunizes internet platforms from any liability as a publisher or speaker for third-party content (in contrast to conventional media). The statute directed the courts to not hold providers liable for removing content, even if the content is constitutionally protected. On the other hand, it doesnt direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce anything, which calls into question whether the FCC does in fact have the existing legal authority to regulate social media (see this article by Harold Feld, senior vice president of the think tank Public Knowledge, for more elaboration on this point). Nor is it clear that vigorous antitrust remedies via the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would solve the problem, even though FTC Chairman Joe Simons suggested last year that breaking up major technology platforms could be the right remedy to rein in dominant companies and restore competition. In spite of Simons enthusiasm for undoing past mergers, it is unclear how breaking up the social media behemoths and turning them into smaller entities would automatically produce competition that would simultaneously solve problems like fake news, revenge porn, cyberbullying, or hate speech. In fact, it might produce the opposite result, much as the elimination of the fairness doctrine laid the foundations for the emergence of a multitude of hyper-partisan talk radio shows and later, Fox News. Given the current conditions, the Silicon Valley-based social media giants have rarely had to face consequences for the dissemination of misinformation, or outright distortion (in the form of fake news), and have profited mightily from it. Congress has made various attempts to establish a broader regulatory framework for social media companies over the past few years, in part by imposing existing TV and radio ad regulations on social media companies, introducing privacy legislation in California, as well as having congressional hearings featuring Facebook, Twitter and Google, where their CEOs testified on social medias role in spreading disinformation during the 2016 election. But an overarching attempt to establish a regulatory framework for social media efforts has seldom found consensus among the power lobbies in Washington, and, consequently, legislative efforts have foundered. As the 2020 elections near, the GOP has little interest in censoring Donald Trump. Likewise, Silicon Valley elites have largely seized control of the Democratic Partys policy-making apparatus, so good luck expecting the Democratic Party to push hard on regulating big tech, especially if their dollars ultimately help to lead the country to a Biden presidency and a congressional supermajority. As things stand today, theres not even a hint of a regulatory impulse in this direction in Joe Bidens camp. As for Donald Trump, he can fulminate all he likes about having Twitter calling into question the veracity of his tweets, but that very conflict is red meat for his base. Trump wants to distract Americans from the awful coronavirus death toll, which recently topped 100,000, civil unrest on the streets of Americas major cities, and a deep recession that has put 41 million Americans out of work. A war with Twitter is right out of his usual political playbook. By the same token, social media companies cannot solve this problem simply by making themselves the final arbiter of fact-checking, as opposed to an independent regulatory body. Twitter attaching a fact check to a tweet from President Trump looks like a self-serving attempt to forestall a more substantial regulatory effort. Even under the generous assumption that social media giants had the financial resources, knowledge, or people to do this correctly, as a general principle, it is not a good idea to let the principal actors of an industry regulate themselves, especially when that arbiter is effectively one person, as is the case at Facebook. As Atlantic columnist Zeynep Tufekci wrote recently, Facebooks young CEO is an emperor of information who decides rules of amplification and access to speech for billions of people, simply due to the way ownership of Facebook shares are structured: Zuckerberg personally controls 60 percent of the voting power. At least Zuckerberg (unlike Twitters Jack Dorsey) has personally acknowledged that Facebook shouldnt be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online Private companies probably shouldnt be, especially these platform companies, shouldnt be in the position of doing that. One thing we can quickly dismiss is a revival of the old fairness doctrine, which, until its abolition in 1987, required any media companies holding FCC-broadcast licenses to allow the airing of opposing views on controversial issues of public importance. That doctrine first came under challenge in 1969 on First Amendment grounds in the case of Red Lion Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission. Dylan Matthews explained in the Washington Post that [t]he Court ruled unanimously that while broadcasters have First Amendment speech rights, the fact that the spectrum is owned by the government and merely leased to broadcasters gives the FCC the right to regulate news content. In theory, the idea that the broadcast spectrum is still owned by the government and merely leased to private media could arguably be extended to the internet broadband spectrum, so that social media companies and digital platforms, like broadcast media companies, would have to abide by a range of public interest obligations, some of which may infringe upon their First Amendment freedoms. However, Matthews went on to point out, First Amendment jurisprudence after Red Lion started to allow more speech rights to broadcasters, and put the constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine in question. It is unlikely that this would change, especially given the configuration of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Roberts, which has tended to adopt a strongly pro-corporate bias in the majority of its rulings. The FCC still retains some discretion to regulate conventional media on the basis of public interest considerations, but Philip M. Napoli, James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, has argued that the FCCs ability to regulate on behalf of the public interest is in many ways confined to the narrow context of broadcasting. Consequently, there would likely have to be some reimagination of the FCCs concept of public interest, so as to justify expanding their regulatory remit into the realm of social media. Napoli has suggested that: Massive aggregations of [private] user data provide the economic engine for Facebook, Google, and beyond. If we understand aggregate user data as a public resource, then just as broadcast licensees must abide by public interest obligations in exchange for the privilege of monetizing the broadcast spectrum, so too should large digital platforms abide by public interest obligations in exchange for the privilege of monetizing our data. That still would mandate changes being initiated by Congress. As things stand today, existing legal guidelines for digital platforms in the U.S. fall under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The goal of that legislation was to establish some guidelines for digital platforms in light of the jumble of (often conflicting) pre-existing case law that had arisen well before we had the internet. The legislation broadly immunizes internet platforms from any liability as a publisher or speaker for third-party content. By contrast, a platform that publishes digitally can still be held liable for its own content, of course. So, a newspaper such as the New York Times or an online publication such as the Daily Beast could still be held liable for one of its own articles online, but not for its comments section. While the quality of public discourse has suffered mightily for the immunity granted by Section 230, the public doesnt have much power to do anything about it. There is, however, a growing coalition of business powers that have bristled for many years at their inability to hold these platforms accountable for the claims made by critics and customers of their products, and to prevent the expansion of Section 230 into international trade agreements, as it had already seeped into parts of the new USMCA agreement with Mexico and Canada. A New York Times story about the fight explained that companies motivations vary somewhat. Hollywood is concerned about copyright abuse, especially abroad, while Marriott would like to make it harder for Airbnb to fight local hotel laws. IBM wants consumer online services to be more responsible for the content on their sites. At this point, it is necessary to be prepared for the sophistication and capacity of business lobbies in Washington to initiate a national controversy like the recent headlines of struggles at Twitter and Facebook with Trump to serve a long-term regulatory goal. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, an advocate of Section 230, argued that companies in return for that protectionthat they wouldnt be sued indiscriminatelywere being responsible in terms of policing their platforms. In other words, the quid pro quo for such immunity was precisely the kind of moderation that is conspicuously lacking today. However, Danielle Citron, a University of Maryland law professor and author of the book Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, suggested there was no quid pro quo in the legislation, noting that [t]here are countless individuals who are chased offline as a result of cyber mobs and harassment. In addition to the issues of intimidation or targeted groups cited by Citron, there are additional problems, such as the dissemination of content designed to interfere with the function of democracy (seen in evidence in the 2016 presidential election), that can otherwise disrupt society. This is not a problem unique to the United States. Disinformation was spread during the Brexit referendum, for starters. Another overseas example is featured in a Wall Street Journal article that reported in June, [a]fter a live stream of a shooting spree at New Zealand mosques last year was posted on Facebook, Australia passed legislation that allows social-media platforms to be fined if they dont remove violent content quickly. Likewise, Germany passed its NetzDG law, which was designed to compel large social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, to block or remove manifestly unlawful content, such as hate speech, within 24 hours of receiving a complaint but have up to one week or potentially more if further investigation is required, according to an analysis of the law written by Human Rights Watch. It is unclear whether Section 230 confers similar obligations in the U.S. Given this ambiguity, many still argue that the immunity conferred by Section 230 is too broad. Last year, Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced the Ending Support for Internet Censorship Act, the aim being to narrow the scope of immunity conferred on large social media companies by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The stated goal of the legislation was to compel these companies to submit to an external audit that proves by clear and convincing evidence that their algorithms and content-removal practices are politically neutral. Under Hawleys proposals, for example, Google or Bing would not be allowed to arbitrarily limit the range of political ideology available. The proposed legislation would also require the FTC to examine the algorithms as a condition of continuing to give these companies immunity under Section 230. Any change in the search engine algorithm would require pre-clearance from the FTC. Hawleys proposal would fundamentally alter business models of social media companies that today depend on huge volumes of user-generated content. But it certainly will not solve the problem of fake news, which has emerged as an increasingly controversial flashpoint in the discussion on how to regulate social media. The problem with Hawleys proposal is that it could potentially require digital platforms to engage in further content moderation. Ironically, then, efforts to retain the platforms political neutrality could well create disincentives against moderation and in fact encourage platforms to err on the side of extremism (which might inadvertently include the dissemination of misinformation). Public Knowledges Harold Feld noted that Section 230 does not exempt the application of federal or state criminal laws, such as sex trafficking or illegal drugs, with respect to third-party content protection. But he recognized that it by no means constitutes a complete solution to the problems raised here. In his book The Case for the Digital Platform Act, he proposes that Congress create a new agency with permanent oversight jurisdiction over social media. Such an agency could monitor the impact of a law over time, and mitigate impacts from a law that turns out to be too harsh in practice, or creates uncertainty, or otherwise has negative unintended consequences. To maintain ample flexibility and democratic legitimacy, Feld proposed that the agency have the capacity to report to Congress on the need to amend legislation in light of unfolding developments. Regulating the free-for-all on social media is unlikely to circumscribe our civil liberties or democracy one way or another, so the First Amendment enthusiasts can breathe easy. The experiment in letting anybody say whatever he/she wants, true or false, and be heard instantly around the world at the push of a button has done less to serve the cause of free speech, or enhance the quality of journalism, than it has to turn a few social media entrepreneurs into multi-hundred millionaires or billionaires. We managed to have the civil rights revolution even though radio and TV and Hollywood were regulated, so there is no reason to think that a more robust series of regulations of social media will throw us back into the political dark ages or stifle free expression. Even with the dawn of the internet era, major journalistic exposes have largely emerged from traditional newspapers and magazines, online publications such as the Huffington Post, or curated blogs, not random tweets, or Facebook posts. Congress should call Trumps bluff on social media, by crafting regulation appropriate for the 21st century. That may have to wait until after the 2020 election, but it is a problem that wont go away. WATCHING Joaquin Phoenixs disturbing portrayal of Arthur Fleck in 2019s The Joker was a bit too on-the-nose Monday night. I knew the film was violent, but it was the depiction of Gotham City as a fundamentally broken society that really resonated, with riots against the one per cent egged on by billionaire mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion WATCHING Joaquin Phoenixs disturbing portrayal of Arthur Fleck in 2019s The Joker was a bit too on-the-nose Monday night. I knew the film was violent, but it was the depiction of Gotham City as a fundamentally broken society that really resonated, with riots against the one per cent egged on by billionaire mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne. I watched the movie while U.S. President Donald Trump used police and National Guard troops to push back protesters outside the White House on Monday evening. The president and his entourage walked across Lafayette Square to St. Johns Episcopal Church, where he posed awkwardly with a Bible surrounded by white members of his administration. Only moments before, police had cleared largely peaceful demonstrators from the area, using tear gas and beating some with batons and shields, including at least one news photographer. These protests follow the death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis after police arrested him. Videos made public show one police officer kneeling on his neck while Floyd screams: "I cant breathe." Derek Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and three other officers on scene during his killing were charged with aiding and abetting. There are various opinions on whether 2020 has surpassed 1968 as a high-water mark for poor race relations in the U.S. But for many of us watching whats happening from afar, we can be excused for thinking that, like Gotham City, the U.S. right now is a fundamentally broken society and its problems are being exacerbated by its current president. If you go back to his inaugural speech as president, Trump talked about making the White House and his administration one for the people: " this moment is your moment. It belongs to you. It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country. Because what truly matters is not what truly controls our government but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again." But since 2017, Trumps promises to bring back America for the people, all people, has been an utter failure. The well-documented "Trump effect," first determined by Griffin Edwards and Stephen Andrews, concludes that Trumps "election was associated with a statistically significant surge in reported hate crimes across the United States." The researchers determined that "it was not just Trumps inflammatory rhetoric throughout the political campaign that caused hate crimes to increase. Rather, we argue that it was Trumps subsequent election as president of the United States that may have validated this rhetoric in the eyes of perpetrators and fuelled the hate crime surge." Now, as his presidency nears the end of its first term, the protests occurring across the U.S. are further evidence of this. African-Americans, already at a higher risk of being killed by police (its estimated that they are 2.5 times more likely to be killed than white people), are frustrated by the lack of policy accountability and the failure of the president to step up to promise action. But, theres more evidence of the Trump effect at play. Numerous media organizations have reported the infiltration of the protests by so-called "accelerationists" wanting to promote violence to speed up the collapse of society. This includes neo-Nazis. During Trumps presidency, there has been a marked rise in the number of neo-Nazi organizations, with the Southern Poverty Law Centre suggesting that these groups have been emboldened by the fact that this is a "country where racism is sanctioned by the highest office, immigrants are given the boot and Muslims banned." 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. Theres much more that can be written about whats going on in the U.S. that goes beyond Trump and the Trump effect systemic racism, poverty, the rise of the police militia, media framing of the protests but this is just one column and there will be many more commentators writing about this over the next few days and months who can bring the discussion into the forefront. But, when election day comes for the U.S. in November, I hope my friends in the U.S. can remember the sight of a darkened White House on Friday night as their president hid in a bunker rather than stand up and use the media to attempt to calm his broken nation. I hope theyll remember that. Or remember Trump, a broken Thomas Wayne, now morphed into the Joker rather than Arthur Fleck, dancing metaphorically with a Bible. Shannon Sampert is a retired political scientist who works as a media consultant. www.mediadiva.ca. shannon@mediadiva.ca Twitter: @CdnMediadiva Students at Brandon University took to social media Tuesday and Wednesday to denounce racist social media posts made by some of their classmates. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us Students at Brandon University took to social media Tuesday and Wednesday to denounce racist social media posts made by some of their classmates. The posts, made by a group of four people, stretch back as far as October 2018 and as recently as Tuesday of this week. A screen shot of the apology offered for posting racist things to social media. (Screenshot) White members of this friend group make frequent jokes about their black friend being a slave or for sale. One video shows a black man in a cage pretending to act like an animal as he is referred to by the racial slur n----- by several unseen voices. Another post from Tuesday appeared to make light of "blackout Tuesday," a social media initiative in support of the protests against anti-black racism and police brutality happening in the United States, by insinuating it involves a sex act with black men. See University Page A2 Complaints about the posts were made by other Brandon University students on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. On Wednesday, the university denounced the posts on its website. "Yesterday, we were made aware of social media posts showing heinous and hateful acts of racism attributed to a person identifying themselves as a BU student," the post said. "These posts showed disgusting and demeaning behaviour. We utterly condemn these horrible posts and are investigating through our Diversity and Human Rights Office. We have also reported them to the police." The universitys discrimination and harassment policies lay out the procedure for such an investigation. After receiving a complaint, an appointed investigator will review the complaint with the complainant and create a summary of allegations. That summary will then be provided to the person being complained about and will be given 10 days to review the complaints and prepare a response before being interviewed by the investigator. After the interview, the investigator will analyze the facts presented to them and decide if further steps, such as more interviews with witnesses and evidence gathering, need to be completed. After a final report is presented, the university will decide if the matter constitutes a breach of the rules. Possible corrective actions that can be taken at this point include banning a student from residences, ording the student deliver a formal apology, suspension, supervision or expulsion. Brandon Police Service confirmed to the Sun that the matter was brought to their attention, but they did not have any specifics to provide on their investigation. Staff Sgt. Kevin Loewen said the officer working on the case is now off-duty until Sunday and will pick it up again on their return to work. University spokesperson Grant Hamilton told the Sun the university will be unable to comment on specific investigations due to privacy laws. This isnt the only racist incident at Brandon University in recent years. In June 2019, a teepee on university grounds set up as an activity for a conference addressing decolonization was burnt down during the night. After the incident, Aboriginal community co-ordinator with the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples Council Jason Gobeil said what happened was an "atrocity." Gobeil had been giving lessons on how to build teepees and their cultural importance during the conference, later leading a community effort to build several new teepees at the same site. In 2017, stickers from a white supremacist organization were found in multiple locations on campus. In the wake of the racist social media posts, the university has pledged to recommit to implementing the Manitoba Indigenous Education Blueprint, accelerate the BU Senates work on reconciliation, enhance racial sensitivity training provided to students, continue to employ a harm-reduction approach to instances of racial injustice and have campus discussions on how education can create a just society. The Brandon Sun is not printing the names of the accused until charges have been laid. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark The Senate is probing over N1.8 trillion federal government interventions in the Power Sector since privatisation of the sector from 2012 to date. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Gabriel Suswam, made this known at a meeting with members of the Committee on Thursday in Abuja. The meeting was on Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The chairman, who said the three-day hearing would begin next week, recalled that the Senate had a motion on the floor where the committee was mandated based on that motion to investigate comprehensively the power sector, especially in areas as it related to the intervention. Mr Suswam said the Committee would investigate all interventions in the sector since the privatisation of the sector to date with a view to ascertaining the adequacy of such interventions and their desired impact. We are looking at the intervention and whether corporate governance has been introduced since privatisation because the expectation is that the sector will become efficient, unfortunately that is not the case. You know that the federal government has over the years intervened at various times in different sums: N701 billion, N600 billion and this year there has been N380 billion and N213 billion. All of these monies were federal government interventions in the power sector with the intention and hope that the power sector will become efficient and Nigerians will have access to electricity. Unfortunately, in spite of these huge amounts of monies that have been expended, the result in what we see today is that the performance is below expectations, Mr Suswam added. He however noted that the investigation would not be punitive, but intended to identify the reasons for efficiency and under performance in terms of unstable and inadequate electricity supply in the sector in spite of the huge financial interventions by the government. Mr Suswam, a former governor of Benue State, said other objectives of the investigation was to assist President Muhammadu Buhari to achieve his promise to Nigerians of providing them with adequate and stable power supply. The investigation is intended to identify why these interventions have come and there has been no improvement. This is so that at the end of the day, the leadership of the Senate will present that to the President of this country, who has shown a lot commitment to providing electricity to Nigerians, he said. He listed those agencies to appear before the committee to include the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) because most of the interventions of government came from these two bodies. Others, Mr Suswam said, are the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Presidential Power Initiative among others. (NAN) Anchored ships are seen miles away from the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, on May 26, 2020. (Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo) CCP Virus Strands Merchant Ship Crews at Sea for Months ATHENS, GreeceFor nearly four months, Capt. Andrei Kogankov and his oil tanker crew havent set foot on dry land. With global travel at a virtual standstill due to the CCP virus pandemic, the Russian captain was forced to extend his normal contract. He still doesnt know when hell be able to go home. Countries across the world have imposed lockdowns, shut borders, and suspended international flights to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus. The move was deemed essential to prevent rampaging contagion, but merchant ship crews have become unintended victims. With more than 80 percent of global trade by volume transported by sea, the worlds more than 2 million merchant seafarers play a vital role. In some ways, theyve been the forgotten army of people, said Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS. Theyre out of sight and out of mind, and yet theyre absolutely essential for moving the fuel, the food, the medical supplies, and all the other vital goods to feed world trade. About 150,000 seafarers are stranded at sea in need of crew changes, according to the International Chamber of Shipping. Roughly another 150,000 are stuck on shore, waiting to get back to work. Its not a tenable position to keep on indefinitely. You cant just keep extending people, said Platten. International shipping organizations, trade unions, and shipping companies are urging countries to recognize merchant crews as essential workers and allow them to travel and carry out crew changes. Our challenge now is to get a very strong message to governments. You cant expect people to move (personal protective equipment), drugs and all the issues that we need to respond to COVID, and keep cities and countries that are in lockdown fed, if you dont move cargo on ships, said Steve Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation, or ITF. Theyve got to recognize the sacrifice seafarers are making for our global society. Anchored ships are seen miles away from the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, on May 26, 202. (Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo) Kogankov is seven months into a four-month contract and was supposed to be replaced in mid-March in Qatar. But a few days before he arrived, Qatar imposed a lockdown and banned international flights. From there to South Korea, Japan, South Korea again, and on to Singapore and Thailand, each time the same story: lockdown; no flights; and no going home. The uncertainty and open-ended extension of his contractand with it the responsibility for his 21-man crew and a ship carrying flammable cargois taking its toll. When you are seven months on board, you are becoming physically and mentally exhausted, Kogankov said by satellite phone from Thailand. We are working 24/7. We dont have, lets say, Friday night or Saturday night or weekends. No, the vessel is running all the time. Officers sign on for three to four months, the rest of the crew for around seven months. But they always have an end date. Take that away, and suddenly the prospect of endless workdays becomes a strain. Were gravely worried that there could be a higher increase of incidents and accidents. But we also are seeing a high level of what I would describe as anxiety and frustration, Cotton said. If you dont know when youre going to get off a ship, that adds to a high level of anxiety that really is quite demoralizing. Unless governments facilitate crew changes, Cotton warned, its difficult for us to convince the seafarers not to take more dramatic action, and stop working. Its not just crew changes that are problematic during the pandemic. Getting medical help for seafarers has also become difficult, as Capt. Stephan Berger discovered when one of his crew fell illnot with CCP virus. A cargo ship approaches the port of Piraeus as other ships are anchored, near Athens, Greece, on May 26, 2020. (Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo) Lockdowns in successive ports made visiting a doctor impossible. It took multiple phone calls and the combined efforts of a Dubai paramedic, Berger, and the German ship-owning company to eventually get the necessary care for the crewmember, who was hospitalized for three weeks. Of the 23 people aboard Bergers Berlin Express, 18 were due for a crew change when it moored in Valencia, Spain, in late May. The officers had extended what were normally three-month contracts to four and five months, while the mostly Filipino crew had been on board for eight or nine months, instead of three or four. Despite this, morale has been good, Berger said. Nobody is particularly happy with the contract extensions, but we have to take it as it is, he said. It feels sometimes like a prison. Ship-owning company Hapag-Lloyd was doing everything it could to arrange crew changes and managed to arrange for the seven European crew members to sign off in Barcelona on May 30, Berger said. But there are still no flights home for the Filipino crew. We are very much hidden. We are on board our vessels, and the people might see the big ships coming in and out of the ports, but very seldom they see the people who are operating the ships, Berger said. We hope that people would recognize it a little bit more now. On another Hapag-Lloyd container ship, apprentice Hannah Gerlach was to sign off in mid-March in Singapore. But even as her vessel headed to Asia, it was clear that wouldnt happen. Gerlach packed her bags for an earlier departure from Sri Lanka, but by the time she arrived, so had the lockdown. I definitely miss my family very much. And I miss just these moments of a normal life, to have the possibility to go out for a walk, to the forest, to ride the bicycle, Gerlach said. You dont know any more when your contract will end, when you have the chance to see your family again. David Hammond, founder of the Human Rights at Sea organization, said many seafarers have really been at the end of their tether due to contract extensions. The reality is that until there is global cooperation among states and shipping entities then crew change is going to be very problematic. By Elena Becatoros and Thesdora Tongas Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 20:49:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LISBON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit said on Thursday that he is "reasonably optimistic" about Portugal's "rapid recovery" after the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Portuguese Lusa News Agency. "We anticipate that the economic recovery in Portugal will happen relatively quickly, which will also allow unemployment to fall faster than what happened in the previous crisis. At the moment, I am reasonably optimistic about Portugal," he said in an interview with Lusa. Schmit believed that the situation will now be different from the "euro crisis" 10 years ago, "which had very serious contours in the country and affected especially young people, some of whom having to leave the country." The European Commissioner praised Portugal for being able to "control the pandemic quite well." "It was not one of the countries most affected and I think this is a positive element for Portugal and for the tourism sector," he was quoted as saying. Schmit recalled that Portugal "is also a beneficiary" of the European Commission's proposal for a Recovery Fund of 750 billion euros (843.36 billion U.S. dollars), of which it will receive 26.3 billion euros (29.57 billion U.S. dollars) to "shorten this severe recession." "We are already seeing an increase in unemployment -- because people are already losing their jobs -- but it is necessary to put in place the right measures to limit it and to help Portugal to recover vigorously," said the official. Enditem Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) "Angry and frustrated" over the delay in the compensation of health workers infected with COVID-19, President Rodrigo Duterte is giving health authorities until June 9 to release the money. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in an online briefing on Thursday, said Duterte gave the order in response to the revelation made in a Senate hearing that no infected healthcare worker has received the benefits as promised in the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act. The law, approved in March, grants 100,000 to healthcare workers with "severe" COVID-19 infection and 1 million to the families of those who died from the viral illness. Three months since the law was passed, none has been given to any of the more than 2,600 medical frontliners who have tested positive for COVID-19. Thirty-two of them died. "Galit, frustrated, at ngayon ko lang po nakita na talagang medyo uminit ang ulo ng Presidente... Binabalaan ko po ang mga otoridad. Sumunod po tayo," Roque said. [Translation: The President is angry and frustrated. It's only now that I saw that the President got hot tempered... I am warning the authorities. Let us comply.] READ: Gordon to DOH: No need for IRR, give COVID-19 health workers promised benefits Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that the release of the sickness and death benefits was delayed as the agency needed to find the money to make the payments. She said they earlier eyed charging the benefits to the Government Service Insurance System or Social Security System but later decided against it. "Ating inexplore ang iba- ibang posibilidad para magawa natin itong sinasabi na provision na ito sa batas kaya medyo tayo ay natagalan," she said. [Translation: We explored the different possibilities to implement this provision in the law that's why it took us time.] In a virtual press briefing, Vergeire announced that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has signed a joint administrative order along with the Budget and Labor departments, instead of issuing implementing rules and regulations. The absence of an IRR was among the reasons earlier cited for the delay in health workers' compensation. The funding will now come from the DOH's Medical Assistance Fund, which is currently at 100 million. A total of 79 healthcare workers who fell severely ill will receive 100,000, while the families of the 32 fatalities will get 1 million. "Once they have completed the documentary requirements, we can immediately process the checks since the budget is ready already," Vergeire said. The World Health Organization in April sounded the alarm over the high infection rate among healthcare workers in the Philippines, which the government said has improved following the purchase of more personal protective equipment for frontliners. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI A Muskegon area landlord is accused of sexually touching female tenants, asking for sex from them and retaliating when they refused in a lawsuit filed by the federal government. Darrell Jones, who owns rental properties in the Muskegon area, is accused of violating the Fair Housing Act for alleged acts over 10 years, between 2008 and 2018, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. Also named as defendants are property co-owners Fatima Jones, who is Darrell Jones wife, and Jones Investing LLC. No woman should be forced to suffer sexual harassment to keep her home, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in a prepared statement. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate victims, as well as civil penalties to vindicate the public interest, the press release reads. A phone message left by MLive/Muskegon Chronicle seeking comment from Fatima and Darrell Jones was not immediately returned. The complaint alleges that Darrell Jones offered free rent in exchange for sex with his female tenants, and retaliated against those who refused. It also alleges that he made repeated and unwelcome sexual comments and touched womens bodies without their consent. Jones owns and/or manages 25 rental properties in the Muskegon area, according to the complaint that alleges "severe, pervasive and unwelcome sexual harassment to multiple female tenants. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Darrell Jones: -Asked for photos of female tenants naked body parts -Offered to make repairs, reduce rent or overlook late or unpaid rent in exchange for sex. -Touched female tenants buttocks and breasts without their consent. -Evicted, threatened eviction or refused to make repairs when female tenants refused his sexual advances. -Displayed preference for renting to single female tenants and taking adverse housing actions against female tenants when he learned they were not single. -Entered homes of female tenants without their consent. The lawsuit references the alleged experiences of three of Jones tenants: -In 2018, its alleged he repeatedly harassed a female tenant with unwelcome sexual comments about her body, asking her to go on dates, asking for naked photos of her, asking for sexual activity, touching her buttocks without her consent. Hes also accused of delaying or refusing to make repairs and eventually evicting her once his sexual advances were rebuffed. -On numerous occasions between 2013-16, he allegedly touched the breasts of a female tenant without her consent, made unwelcome comments to her about his genitalia and asked she touch his penis when he collected her rent. He also told her her boyfriend could not be at the property. -In 2016, its alleged he repeatedly pressured a woman to show him her buttocks or breasts and said if she did so he would reduce her rent. He also offered to waive her rent completely if she had sex with him. He also asked her to give him naked photos of herself. Fatima Jones, is named in the lawsuit because she is vicariously liable for his actions because Darrell Jones acted as her agent in the management of properties she owned with him. Anyone who believes they were victims of sexual harassment or other types of housing discrimination by Darrell or Fatima Jones is encouraged to call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743 and choose option 91 to leave a message. The lawsuit is one of 15 filed as part of the Justice Departments initiative against sexual harassment in housing, and is led by its civil rights division. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or familial status. Reports of sexual harassment and other forms of housing discrimination also can be emailed to the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov. More on MLive: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson testifies evidence of mail-in voter fraud is infinitesimal in Michigan Thursday, June 4: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Groups accuse Detroit police of doing what demonstrators are protesting Critical care nurse, Anna Maria Ruiz, is well aware of the human toll the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked across the globe because she has treated patients in their darkest hours. She fears the possibility of being outnumbered by severe cases and running out of personal protective equipment, as well as getting sick herself. But, according to a report by BuzzFeed News, Ruiz, who is Afro-Latina, lives in fear of something else, too: racism, discrimination, and violence against black Americans. Weeks of social distancing had finally led to a decline in cases for Ruiz to treat at her hospital in central Texas, the report said, but when police killed two unarmed black people - George Floyd and Breonna Taylor - protests erupted across the nation and have increased in size and number by the day. When a demonstration sprung up in downtown Austin last weekend, Ruiz felt compelled to be there - despite what she knew was the very real threat of the coronavirus spreading further as a result, the report said. I just feel like its too important to not show up for, the 27-year-old told BuzzFeed News. I feel like its about me fighting for my rights, my partners rights, my fathers rights, my brothers rights, my friends rights. Its everybodys fight to me. Among the thousands of protesters flooding town squares and downtowns are doctors, nurses, residents, medical students, and others in the medical field, whose participation may seem controversial or hypocritical to some, the report said. A half-dozen health care providers who attended recent events, all said during interviews with BuzzFeed News, that they were deeply concerned about the pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 Americans. And the report said, they, like other health experts, believe the crowds will likely spread the virus, which will be exacerbated by police-use of tear gas and mass arrests. As a result, the report said, a surge in coronavirus cases will likely be hitting their hospitals in the coming weeks. Despite the fact that the decision to attend was tough for some, all those interviewed said they were deeply distraught by the racial inequality that runs through seemingly every facet of American life - from the economy to education to the pandemic itself, where black people are dying at higher rates. The report said they see themselves as advocates for patients, not just inside the hospital but outside of it as well. They told BuzzFeed News that police brutality and systemic inequality are so oppressive, as to leave them no choice but to publicly take a stand. Those forces, they noted, are also a public health crisis. Dr. Jessica Edwards, a family medicine physician in New Braunfels, Texas, told BuzzFeed News: Im an African American first before Im a physician. According to the report, all the health care workers interviewed said they, as well as the vast majority of people around them, wore masks and tried to keep a distance from other protesters. Several came prepared to serve as medics, in case police officers should use tear gas, tasers, flash grenades, pepper spray, and rubber bullets on the crowds. When a smaller group of people across the country gathered earlier this spring to protest - in that case, against the stay-at-home-orders intended to slow the transmission of the virus, but which paralyzed business and drove Americans out of work - groups of protesters were criticized for potentially and needlessly spreading the virus as a result. Should the criticisms of earlier protests against stay-at-home orders apply to the current protests? To the nurses and doctors interviewed for this article, the difference boiled down to a cause that is more widespread and fundamental, even existential, the BuzzFeed News report said. I am incredibly sympathetic to the ways [the shutdown] impacts my fellow Americans, said Dr. Yasmin Rawlins, a first-year psychiatry resident in Southern California. However, I will say that I do feel that I agree with the people who say, If its your job or your life, it should be your life that you pick. And I think thats what Black Lives Matter is doing - theyre picking life. Data shows that in the US, black people have shorter life expectancies than white people, she noted. Its not just inherently unjust. Were fighting for our right to live, to just exist, to survive in this society. Following are quotes taken from the interviews BuzzFeed News conducted with six health care providers who attended recent protest events. Anna Maria Ruiz, age 27, a registered nurse in Texas, said this regarding the message on her protest sign: When Im in a patients room, [patients say] Im great, Im the best nurse ever, whatever they want to say. But would you feel this way about me as a person if I wasnt the one taking care of you, if your life wasnt in my hands right now? If we were on the street, would you treat me with the same respect if I had on jeans and a T-shirt? That is a real question that I have to ask myself every time Im in a patients room, sadly. If I am a great person in scrubs, Im a great person outside of scrubs. I shouldnt have to live in two different worlds divided only by my uniform. Sarah, age 23, a registered nurse in Florida, said this on why she chose to protest: Being a registered nurse, I felt I had a duty to my community, not only to care for them in the hospital setting, but also to recognize health disparities and racism and microaggressions and this kind of stress of seeing your people die, seeing people that look like you being murdered by police, constantly, and see the brutality theyre treated with. Dr. Yasmin Rawlins, age 27, first-year resident in psychiatry in California, said this on the differences between these protests and the recent protests to reopen the economy: Id say the concept of protesting during this pandemic is inherently dangerous. And when you weigh the pros versus cons of whether to protest, I would argue that if you feel that balance tips in favor of protesting, it depends on the cause youre protesting for. I think that the purpose of the protest is inherently linked to your decision, weighing all of the risks and benefits of whether or not you protest. So the differences that I see between Black Lives Matter protests and the protests to reopen the economy are, again, purpose and intention." Dr. Danny Kim, age 32, third-year family medicine resident in California, said this on protesting: Im Korean American, I havent been subject to this kind of violence. Ive had the privilege of that. But for my black brothers and sisters, for my partner, whos Afro-Latina, this is every day, this is reality, this is family. Everyone I talk to can see they have a loved one who could have been George Floyd, couldve been Trayvon Martin, couldve been Tamir Rice. Its a reckoning and all of us need to step up. Dr. Jessica Edwards, age 32, family medicine physician in Texas, and president of the Committee of Interns and Residents, said this regarding her advice to health care providers considering whether to protest: It depends on what this means to you. For me, Im a mother to a black son. I feel like I have no choice. I feel like his life matters more to me, and his ability to be an American without worrying or fearing for his life, dying at the hands of police, matters way more to me. I would lay down my life for my child, right? For me, I feel like the stakes are much higher. Dr. Hannah Janeway, age 39, emergency medicine physician in California, said this on the health risks of protesting: Obviously that is an increased risk, but I think were at a point in history where you have to decide how much risk youre willing to take. As a person who has quite a lot of privilege, and Im young and healthy, I felt like this was kind of a no-brainer. There are all these people out there even people who are older than me, who dont necessarily have health insurance and theyre out there risking their own health in the name of trying to really call attention to this issue that is devastating an entire race and our country and other minority races as well. It kind of feels like this just keeps happening again and again and again and theres no justice." Longer versions of the interviews can be found in the BuzzFeed News report. The protests referenced were sparked across the nation as a result of the death of George Floyd, a black man who was suspected of passing a counterfeit bill at a Minneapolis convenience store, and who died in police custody after a Minneapolis police officer was captured on video kneeling on his neck for several minutes. That officer has since been fired and charged. READ MORE: xxxx 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. Former Neighbours of the German paedophile named as a suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance remember him as a loner who only occasionally stayed at a rented villa near Praia da Luz. The single-storey red-tiled villa where suspect Christian Brueckner lived is called Escola Velha - the old school house - and is now owned by a British couple. 'He had no interest in becoming friends or neighbourly,' said a 52-year-old neighbour. 'We would see him occasionally at the villa, but he spent most of the time in his camper vans. 'We did not have much to do with him and to be honest we're surprised that he is the suspect in the McCann girl case. The police must know something.' The single-storey red-tiled villa (pictured) where suspect Christian Brueckner lived is called Escola Velha - the old school house - and is now owned by a British couple Madeleine, then aged three, disappeared from her hotel room during a family holiday in the Algarve in 2007. On Thursday, German authorities said she was assumed to be dead and that an imprisoned German child abuser was the murder suspect. The two neighbours, both Dutch, said they recognised photos of the camper van that had been released as part of the Police investigation. 'He spent most of his time in the van. We never saw him with a girlfriend. He was always on his own, not friendly at all.' German authorities said an imprisoned child abuser was the suspect. Pictured, Bruekner The owner of the villa, which is in a rural area surrounded by olive trees, said he bought the property in 2011 and had never met Brueckner. He confirmed British police had visited the property but declined to give any other details. A group of men drinking on an outside terrace of a nearby bar said they recognised photos of Brueckner - but had never spoken to him. As the investigation into what happened the night Madeleine disappeared continues, those who live in the town are hoping for an end to 13 years of association with the tragedy. 'It was very complicated back then for everyone involved. Everyone spoke badly about Praia da Luz, especially among parents with children,' said 40-year old Irina Itrabar, who owns a tiny beach store in the town of 3,500 inhabitants. 'It was a tragedy for all of us. But some people have already forgotten what happened.' In the days and weeks after Madeleine's disappearance, members of the community rallied around. Many helped the police in searches for clues in the surrounding area. Hundreds of people prayed in churches or gathered outside, flying balloons in a show of support for Madeleine and her family. Madeleine (pictured), then aged three, disappeared from her hotel room during a family holiday in the Algarve in 2007 The suspect's battered camper van. Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate But the town also suffered a stigma. Business owners said some foreign tourists had been too scared to spend their holidays at Praia da Luz after she disappeared. Looking at the ocean near a spot where he said friends of the McCanns had looked for Madeleine on the night she disappeared, 68-year old Luis Marques said he hoped the case was finally solved. 'I was here when the girl disappeared. It was very weird at the time. This changed everything. All the televisions were here. A very complicated environment was created,' Marques said. The farmhouse where the new prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance lived was located just two miles from where she went missing from her family's holiday apartment Some feared that, 13 years later, the new development could cast the town in a bad light again. 'Back then it killed all the business, just like the coronavirus,' said 62-year-old German tourist Petra Michel. 'And people are trying to get back on their feet again and this whole thing is starting again.' Meanwhile, Brueckner is serving a seven-year jail sentence for the rape of 72-year-old American woman. The German criminal was convicted in Braunschweig district court last year for a rape he is said to have committed in Portugal in 2005. Months before Madeleine's disappearance, the paedophile is said to have left the farm to move into his two-tonne camper van. Madeleine McCann pictured above He lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, including for a few years in a house between Lagos and Praia da Luz, according to Braunschweig Zeitung. Just two years before Maddie's disappearance, the criminal raped an American tourist, the newspaper reported. It can be revealed he is a suspected burglar, drug dealer and paedophile who was living just two miles from the holiday apartment where Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007. He has two previous convictions for 'sexual contact with girls', according to Christian Hoppe from Germany's federal criminal police office, and the farmhouse he rented was on the footpath leading to the beach where the little girl played. Above, an interior of the rented home where the suspect lived. Extraordinary details emerged yesterday about the German criminal currently at the centre of an international investigation It is thought the suspect made his living by stealing from holiday apartments in the area, and he may have entered the McCann's apartment and decided to take their daughter, say Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. Scotland Yard insisted it was still a missing person inquiry, but German police said: 'There is reason to believe that there are other people besides the perpetrator who have concrete knowledge of the possible scene of the crime and, if necessary, where the body is stored. 'We expressly ask these people to report and share their knowledge.' Mr Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), said police had not ruled out a sexual motive for the crime. He added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie before spontaneously kidnapping her. In 2007, when the suspect was 30, he is said to have spent his days stealing from hotel complexes and holiday apartments and trafficking drugs, according to police. The living room of the rental apartment where the suspect was living just two miles from the McCann's holiday apartment Last night it was reported that he may also have committed further sexual assaults or rapes during his time in Portugal. Neighbours described him as an 'angry' car dealer who vanished suddenly, leaving a collection of wigs, fancy dress and exotic clothing. He lived in a rented ramshackle farm building on a remote hillside along a footpath that runs from above the beach where Madeleine and her family played during their week's holiday in May 2007. According to residents, he littered the land with old vehicles which he bought and sold for a living, which may explain how he acquired the distinctive camper van and Jaguar at the centre of the police investigation. Pictured above and below, the Jaguar he re-registered the day after Maddie disappeared Scotland Yard released images of a second vehicle the suspect owned The car is a 1993 British Jaguar, model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany Months before Madeleine's disappearance, the paedophile is said to have left the farm to move into his two-tonne camper van. Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after 3 May. A former neighbour told Sky News: 'He arrived in the mid-90s and rented the place from the English owner. He went back to Germany at one stage and moved another German guy in to look after it, then came back and threw him out on the street. 'He was always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane, and then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word. I think he left some rent unpaid.' The neighbour added: 'About six months later I was asked to help clean up the place and it was disgusting, absolutely vile. It had been trashed, with broken stuff like computers all over the place.' The neighbour said she was contacted by Scotland Yard detectives last year. They asked her about the man, without revealing why. The Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, during a family holiday with her parents and younger twin siblings Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry were sitting at The Ocean Club Tapas Bar and had just checked on their daughter who was sleeping in their holiday apartment when she went missing just after 10pm This year she was visited by Portuguese detectives who showed her photographs of the man and asked more questions. It is understood that many neighbours, friends and acquaintances of the suspect have since been interviewed as police try to establish his movements around the time Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment. Yesterday Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate. They also released images of a second vehicle the suspect owned a 1993 British Jaguar, model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany. Detectives say it is significant that the day after Madeleine's disappearance, the paedophile re-registered the car in someone else's name back in Augsburg, Germany, even though the vehicle had never left Portugal. The last photograph taken of the little girl shows her smiling next to her little sister Amelie and their father Gerry A photograph of the bedroom from which Madeleine was snatched in May 2007, which was included in police files released in August 2008 The Jaguar is believed to have been in the Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007 and was originally registered in the suspect's name. German police said there were indications that he could have used one of these vehicles to commit the crime and they want to trace anyone who remembers seeing them parked up anywhere. Detectives revealed last night that the suspect lived more or less permanently in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007. He worked occasionally in the catering business in the Lagos area. But police believe he was really earning his living by committing burglaries of hotel complexes and holiday flats as well as trafficking cannabis. In 2013, Scotland Yard revealed that a blond man had been seen lurking near the 5A apartment about 4pm on the day that Madeleine was snatched. He was described as white, aged 30 to 35, thin, with short, light-coloured hair and spots on his face possibly caused by shaving. Last night detectives said the e-fit of the man released in 2013 had 'not been ruled out', suggesting he may resemble the new suspect. A blond-haired man was also seen on the balcony of a nearby empty apartment and in the stairwell of the McCanns' block. Police believe a mobile phone call made by the suspect could be the key piece of evidence that unlocks the mystery which has puzzled detectives the world over for 13 years. At 7.30pm on May 3, 2007, he made a call which places him in Praia da Luz. For half an hour he chatted to a mystery person before ending the call at 8.03pm. Three-year-old Madeleine was snatched from her bed sometime after 9pm. Yesterday Scotland Yard took the highly unusual step of releasing the suspect's Portuguese mobile phone number 00351 912 730 680 and that of the mystery witness he spoke to. The unidentified witness, who used the Portuguese phone number 00351 916 510 683, was not staying in the area at the time of the call. On May 3, 2007 Kate and Gerry McCann went to a small tapas bar metres away from their apartment to dine with friends. But when Kate returned to do a routine check on their children, she found that Madeleine had disappeared The suspect's name was given to the Metropolitan Police in 2017 after the 10th anniversary. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: 'We know a lot about the suspect, but we need to know more about his movements on the night Madeleine vanished and in the days before and afterwards. 'We know he was in the resort on the night, about an hour before Madeleine was last seen about 9pm. 'He took a phone call on his Portuguese mobile from another Portuguese mobile. The call lasted half an hour. 'While this male is a suspect we retain an open mind as to his involvement and this remains a missing person inquiry.' German police said inquiries were homing in on two properties near where the toddler vanished and last night they appealed for anyone who could provide information about the rooms the man used to come forward. Scotland Yard is launching a joint appeal with the BKA and the Portugal's Policia Judiciaria, including a 20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible of Madeleine's disappearance. Last night, as more details emerged about the suspect, there were questions about why police took so long to release the information. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who is leading the British investigation, said Scotland Yard knew a lot about the man who became a suspect when officers received critical information in 2017. It emerged that since then Scotland Yard had been secretly working with German and Portuguese police to piece together his movements. Yet Scotland Yard chose to make the information public only when the German police announced their appeal yesterday. Yesterday Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy denied the timing was anything to do with seeking extra funding for Operation Grange, which has cost 12 million so far. Mr Cranwell said: 'We know a lot about the suspect, but we need to know more about his movements on the night Madeleine vanished and in the days before and afterwards. It's more than 13 years since Madeleine went missing and none of us can imagine what it must be like for her family, not knowing what happened or where she is. 'Following the ten-year anniversary, the Met received information about a German man who was known to have been in and around Praia da Luz. 'We have been working with colleagues in Germany and Portugal and this man is a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. 'The Met conducted a number of enquiries and in November 2017 engaged with the BKA who agreed to work with the Met. 'Since then a huge amount of work has taken place by both the Met, the BKA and the Policia Judiciaria. While this male is a suspect, we retain an open mind as to his involvement and this remains a missing person inquiry.' German TV station RTL.DE interviewed a friend of Bruekner's who met him in Braunschweig. Norbert M, whose name was changed by the TV station, said: 'You couldn't tell what made him tick.' Norbert claimed his former friend was in debt to many people and was running a kiosk in the town. The witness claimed Bruekner had an underage Kosovan girlfriend, though he had never seen the suspect with young children. He said: 'I heard that he left the kiosk and then went to Portugal or Spain with a girl. He then left dogs in his kiosk for weeks. 'I can imagine that he is behind the disappearance of Maddie.' The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating six additional confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which one is a locally transmitted case involving a 72-year-old man who lives in Luk Chuen House in Lek Yuen Estate, Sha Tin. This local case brings the number of people infected in the same residential block to seven. The centre urged all residents in Luk Chuen House to be tested for COVID-19. The man had tested negative for the virus on June 1. He then developed fever on June 3 and was sent to the Prince of Wales Hospital this morning where he tested positive for the virus. The remaining five additional cases are imported ones. They returned to Hong Kong from Bangladesh on June 3. There are 1,099 confirmed cases in Hong Kong so far. Additionally, the Hospital Authority reported that 48 confirmed COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalised and 1,042 confirmed and suspected patients have been discharged. For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage. WHO set to resume hydroxychloroquine trial to battle covid-19 World Health Orgnanisation (WHO) said hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) will return to solidarity trial for potential treatment covid-19. The UN body had paused trials of the anti-malarial drug citing a Lancet study. The study had suggested the drug could cause more fatalities among Covid-19 patients. At a press conference in the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, The Executive Group received this recommendation and endorsed continuation of all arms of the solidarity trial, including hydroxychloroquine. Watch the video for more. ...read more Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian National Council of Civil Society (CNSC) on Thursday urged political authorities to prioritize social dialogue, in order to restore confidence among all citizens for the safeguarding of social stability MIDLAND, MI In the aftermath of two Midland County dam failures and widespread flooding, free mental health resources, vaccines and water testing kits are being offered. Community Mental Health for Central Michigan (CMHCM) is offering a variety of services to its communities via telephone and teletherapy options. In addition to existing service, CMHCM is now offering free, short-term therapy to residents in Midland, Gladwin, Isabella, Clare, Mecosta, and Osceola counties. Residents will have access to up to four sessions of free therapy to address mental health needs related to current difficult times. Please contact the local CMHCM office to inquire about this service. A statewide peer-operated phone line is available at 1-888-733-7753, which is operated by individuals in recovery who are available to connect one on one with residents. The following Crisis Intervention Services remain available: CMHCM-24-7 Crisis Mobile Intervention Team Services (CMIT). If you or someone you know is having a crisis, the CMHCM CMIT staff can assess, safety plan, and connect you with services. CMIT is available 24-7 and can be reached by calling your local CMHCM phone number. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24-7 at 1-800-273-8255 Crisis text line is available 24-7 by texting home to 741741 National Disaster Distress helpline is available at 1-800-958-5950 COVID-19 Helpline is available at 1-800-535-6136 or by text at 66746 The Midland County Department of Public Health is also hosting additional clinics to provide vaccinations that can protect residents if they are injured while working in flood-contaminated areas. Injuries sustained in unsanitary conditions carry a risk of contracting a disease. Vaccines for Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) and Hepatitis A will be available at all clinics. There are no out-of-pocket costs associated with the vaccinations. The dates and locations for the clinics are as follows: Wednesday, June 3: Meridian Public Schools Administration Building, 3361 N. Meridian Road, Sanford from 10 a.m. 3 p.m. Thursday, June 4: Midland High School, 1301 Eastlawn Drive, Midland from 9 a.m. noon and Bullock Creek High School, 1420 S. Badour Road, Midland from 1 4 p.m. Friday, June 5: Jerome Township Fire Station 1, 725 Irish Street, Sanford from 10 a.m. 3 p.m. Monday, June 8: North Midland Family Center, 2601 E. Shearer Road, Midland from 9 a.m. noon and Sanford Senior Center, 3243 West River Road, Sanford from 1 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 9: Coleman High School, 4951 N. Lewis Road, Coleman from 9 a.m. noon and West Midland Family Center, 4011 W. Isabella Road, Shepherd, from 1 4 p.m. Officials are also advising Midland County residents whose groundwater wells were affected by floodwaters to have their water tested to ensure it was not contaminated. Floodwaters can contain numerous pathogens, chemicals, and other materials that can make people ill. Free well testing kits are available through the Midland County Department of Public Health. These kits can be picked up at the County Services Building, 220 W. Ellsworth St., by calling 989-832-6380. If a well is found to be contaminated, it must be disinfected before safe water use can resume. Residents who experience no water service or low water pressure from their groundwater wells should also contact the Department of Public Health. After days of heavy rain, the Edenville Dam failed and the Sanford Dam was breached on the evening of May 19, flooding the surrounding areas and counties. Heavy rainfall also caused flooding in the surrounding region. Related: FEMA to help Gladwin County in dealing with flood damage FEMA arrives to assess damage in Midland County, but notes much of their work will be done virtually Gladwin County prosecutor allows restaurants to reopen for dine-in services in wake of flooding Owner watches demolition of her Sanford pet grooming business after floods left it unsalvageable Gov. Whitmer issues executive order adding flood-affected Iosco County to relief efforts EMT survives coronavirus but loses home to flooding after Midland County dam failure Our whole life is gone, says woman whose Sanford home was washed away in Midland floods MOSCOW (Reuters) - A court in Russian-controlled Crimea jailed a Jehovah's Witness for six years on Thursday after finding him guilty of belonging to an organisation banned in Russia since 2017, according to a local human rights group. Crimean Human Rights Group said in a statement that Artem Gerasimov had become the second Jehovah's Witness to be convicted for practicing his religion in Crimea, following the decision by the Crimean Supreme Court, and was one of dozens to be prosecuted in similar cases by Russian authorities. The court did not immediately respond to a request to comment. In a similar case in March, Sergei Filatov was found guilty of knowingly ignoring a 2017 ruling by Russia's Supreme Court that the Christian denomination was an extremist organisation and should disband. "Today's ruling by the Crimean Supreme Court brings religious persecution to a new level of cruelty," said Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses. "We hope that senior officials in Russia will soon correct the injustice being doled out in their local courts and that judges in Crimea will follow suit." Jehovah's Witnesses have been under pressure for years in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin. Jehovah's Witnesses say Russia's constitution guarantees their right to exercise freedom of religion and deny wrongdoing but Orthodox scholars have cast them as a dangerous foreign sect that erodes state institutions and traditional values. Putin said in 2018 he did not understand why authorities were pursuing the group and called for the matter to be analysed. But the Kremlin has said since that the group remains illegal under current legislation and has declined to confirm whether the law will be changed or not. Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian denomination known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, and rejection of military service and blood transfusions. The group has about 170,000 followers in Russia, and 8 million worldwide. (Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) General John Kelly could be the next retired general to rebuke Donald Trump for calling in active duty military in the midst of George Floyd protests as the former chief of staff called the president 'nasty' for his comments about General Jim Mattis. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, defended Trump's former defense secretary on Thursday after Mattis publicly criticized the president's handling of the nationwide protests. He also shot down Trump's claim that he fired Mattis in 2018. 'The president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation,' Kelly asserted in a Washington Post interview Thursday afternoon. 'The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused. 'The president tweeted a very positive tweet about Jim until he started to see on Fox News their interpretation of his letter. Then he got nasty. Jim Mattis is an honorable man,' Kelly said. The interview was ahead of Kelly appearing Friday with Anthony Scaramucci - 'the Mooch' - whose 10-day tour as White House director of communications ended in his firing and who has now become a resolute Republican critic of the president. Mattis submitted his resignation in late December 2018, and stayed on until after the New Year, amid reports of rising tensions between the Defense secretary and president. Although Mattis had remained largely silent about his former boss, on Wednesday he released a statement criticizing Trump's handling of protests that have erupted across the country following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer. Mattis accused Trump of deliberately trying to divide Americans and likened his actions to the rhetoric of Nazis to 'divide and conquer.' Who's going next? All six of these four-star Marine generals are now retired. Jim Mattis (standing, left) has called Donald Trump a danger to the Constitution; John Kelly (seated, left), called Trump's attack on Mattis 'confused' and nasty'; John Allen (second right) accused Trump of trying to plunge the U.S. into 'illiberalism'; which leaves Joe Dunford, Trump's first chairman of the joint chiefs (seated, second from left); James Amos (standing, right); and John Paxton (right) who have not spoken out General John Kelly is the latest retired general to speak out against the president, calling his comments against John Kelly 'nasty.' Anthony Scaramucci, who had a short 10-day stint as Trump's director of communications, will host a talk with Kelly on Friday as part of a global leadership forum, where the former chief of staff could come out in full force against his former boss Brutal fact check: John Kelly called Donald Trump's claim he fired Jim Mattis 'confused' and his tone when Mattis left 'nasty' 'Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,' Mattis wrote in a statement first published by the Atlantic. Other generals, including fired four-star Marine Corps General John Allen and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, also spoke out against the president's actions especially in regards to bringing in active duty military to the nation's capital. Kelly could join them as he announced shortly after defending Mattis that he will be interviewed by Anthony Scaramucci, who had a very short stint as White House Communications Director under Trump. Trump was quick to fire back at Mattis in a two-part tweet laced with inaccuracies. 'Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world's most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about it,' Trump tweeted Wednesday evening. 'His nickname was 'Chaos', which I didn't like, & changed to 'Mad Dog,' Trump added. While Trump claimed that he fired Mattis, the general had submitted his resignation after he disagreed with Trump's decision to pull US forces out of Syria. His military call sign was 'Chaos' which stands for 'Colonel Has Another Outstanding Suggestion'. He was given his nickname 'Mad Dog', which Mattis reportedly does not like, years before Trump came into office. 'His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom 'brought home the bacon'. I didn't like his 'leadership' style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!' Trump added. Mattis' op-ed was the first time ever that he openly and intently directed criticism at his former boss. Milley also put himself at odds with President Trump in a Thursday memo telling troops to 'defend the Constitution.' In the memo he also asserted that the National Guard was not under federal control as Trump demands governors activate the reservist unit in their states. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a letter to top military leaders that armed forces will continue to protect Americans' right to 'freedom of speech and peaceful assembly,' as the president has called in troops to defend Washington, D.C. 'We all committed our lives to the idea that is America,' Milley hand-wrote in as an addition to the bottom of the letter. 'We will stay true to that and the American people.' The letter represented an extraordinary public statement from the most senior U.S. military officer and was clearly directed at the Commander-in-Chief. Coming after the words of Mattis, and two other former chairmen of the joint chiefs, it suggested serious misgivings by the military about Trump himself. Milley's attempt to distance himself from the president comes as the general was recently rebuked by retired generals after he marched out of the White House as part of Trump's entourage for a photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church while dressed in his combat uniform. Some asserted if he was going to participate in the stunt, he should have worn his service or greens uniform. Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended Milley's uniform choice, saying it was 'appropriate,' after a series of former military leaders voiced anger at both men's conduct and warned they were politicizing the military. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Arkansas, defended Mattis's statement was 'honest and necessary and overdue.' When asked if she can still show support for the president, she said: 'I'm struggling with it.' Despite the president insisting that a 'show of force' must be exhibited in Washington, D.C. to quell rioters and violent protesters, the scene was much more tame Tuesday and Wednesday night than previously, with more peaceful protests taking place across the nation. In D.C., local police said there were no arrests. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley issued a public rebuke of Donald Trump in a Thursday memo where the told troops to 'uphold the Constitution' as the president called the military to defend Washington D.C. against George Floyd rioters In a handwritten note at the bottom of the memo, Milley reminded military leaders: 'We all committed our lives to the idea that is America' after he defended protesters' right to assemble Milley faced backlash from retired generals for marching out of the White House in his combat uniform rather than his service or greens uniform meant for more formal settings like the White House or Capitol Hill His letter came after General John Allen (left) and former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (right), both retired four-star Marine generals, denounced the president's decision to call in the U.S. Military to assist with rioters Despite the president's steadily increasing demand for force to quell demonstrators, Wednesday night's protests across the country were widely peaceful, with few to no instances of violence, looting, rioting or arson, which riddled other days of protests Retired Marine Corp four-star General John Allen lashed out at Trump in his own op-ed Wednesday claiming his actions in the midst of violent nationwide riots over the death of George Floyd are 'shameful.' Allen, who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan then was an envoy in the international effort against ISIS, insisted Trump's presidency could be the 'beginning of the end of American democracy.' 'The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020,' Allen wrote in an op-ed published to ForeignPolicy.com. 'Remember the date. It may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment.' The retired general is referencing the Monday, June 1 outing when Trump stepped outside the White House with an entourage of Secret Service, administration officials, aides and media, walked across Lafayette Park, which was clear of protesters minutes earlier by use of tear gas and rubber bullets, and arrived at St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op with his bible. The stunt came in the midst of days-long peaceful and violent protests across the nation over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white cop in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Memorial Day. Milley asserted in the memo that only the National Guard, a reservist unit of the Army, is responding to the riots at the activation of governors and not the federal government. 'As members of the Joint Force comprised of all races, colors, and creeds you embody the ideals of our Constitution,' Milley wrote in the letter the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Space Force and Commandants of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as to the Commanders of the Combatant Commands. Retired four-star Marine General John Allen (pictured with an Iraqi tribal leader in 2007) denounced Donald Trump's actions in the midst of nationwide unrest, claiming his presidency could be the 'beginning of the end of the American experiment' 'Please remind all of your troops and leaders that we will uphold the values of our nation, and operate consistent with national laws and out own high standards of conduct at all times,' he concluded. Trump's Senate ally Lindsey Graham accused Mattis Thursday morning of 'buying into' the 'liberal media' narrative. 'To General Mattis, I think you're missing something here, my friend,' the senator from South Carolina told Fox & Friends 'You're missing the fact that the liberal media has taken every event in the last three and a half years and laid it at the presidency.' 'I'm not saying he's blameless,' Graham continued in rare partial criticism of Trump, 'but I am saying you're buying into a narrative that I think is quite frankly unfair.' He conceded, however, that 'Mattis has the right to express himself because of his military service. 'General Mattis has the right to express himself because he's served the country over a long period of time put himself at risk for the nation,' Graham said. 'But the one thing I would tell General Mattis that from the time President Trump wakes up, to go to bed there's an effort to destroy his presidency.' He also called out Trump's Monday walk from the White House, across Lafayette Park to St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op with his bible, claiming: 'The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020' '[T]he president proclaimed himself the 'ally of peaceful protesters.' But, at that very moment, just a few hundred feet away across Lafayette Park, fully equipped riot police and troops violently, and without provocation, set upon the peaceful demonstrators there, manhandling and beating many of them, employing flash-bangs, riot-control agents, and pepper spray throughout,' Allen wrote The scene in Washington, D.C. was filled with peaceful protests on Wednesday a break from days prior High five: Here a D.C. resident high-fives a three-year-old present at the protests as a police barricade blocks a street leading to the White House In Atlanta, police knelt in the street with peaceful protesters Thousands of noisy but still peaceful protesters also marched the streets of New York City to call for justice for George Floyd, a black man who was killed during an arrest by a white cop Former Defense Secretary James Mattis broke his silence on Trump's leadership and revealed he is 'angry and appalled' at his handling of the George Floyd protests Utah National Guard soldiers stand on a police line as demonstrators gathered to protest the death of George Floyd in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night Members of the DC National Guard remained on guard outside the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday after keeping watch through the night despite an easing of tensions between demonstrators and law enforcement A man yells at soldiers at sunrise outside the White House on Thursday morning. The protests in D.C. remained peaceful throughout Wednesday and Wednesday night Members of the D.C. National Guard gear-up after a short rest from standing guard at the Lincoln Memorial Thursday on what will be the seventh day of protests in DC over the death of George Floyd. Demonstrations remained peaceful Wednesday Hundreds of demonstrators stayed as close to the White House as they could get as the 11pm curfew approached and continued to chant until the early hours of Thursday morning A soldier keeps watch at the Lincoln Memorial as thousands of peaceful demonstrators were met with a huge military presence Wednesday following a week of tenses clashes in the capital Allen, who has also spent his life in public service, expressed in his op-ed his opposition to the president's mobilization of the U.S. Military to ward off and quell rioters and condemned Trump's comparison of the violent protesters ravaging cities to 'domestic terrorists.' Mostly, however, the president of the Brookings Institute often referred to as a liberal-centrist think tank was disappointed in the use of force to clear the way for a presidential photo-op. '[T]he president proclaimed himself the 'ally of peaceful protesters.' But, at that very moment, just a few hundred feet away across Lafayette Park, fully equipped riot police and troops violently, and without provocation, set upon the peaceful demonstrators there, manhandling and beating many of them, employing flash-bangs, riot-control agents, and pepper spray throughout,' Allen wrote. On Monday, law enforcement forced peaceful demonstrators from the park ahead of Trump's short visit to the church across Pennsylvania Avenue from the North Lawn of the White House. They used tear gas and nonlethal rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Senior defense officials told reporters the two were not aware that the Park Police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square or that Trump intended to visit the church. They had been in Washington to coordinate with federal law enforcement officials but were diverted to the White House to brief Trump on military preparations, the officials said. Administration officials privately acknowledged Monday's events did not do the administration any justice. Even some Republican lawmakers who are typically in sync with the president said Trump went too far in using force to clear the way for his less than five-minute visit to the church. On Tuesday, a senior White House official said the president wanted to make the aggressive action an example for the rest of the country. Trump pushed back against Mattis' comments on Wednesday, claiming he is the 'world's most overrated general' after the Marine veteran denounced the president's leadership in the face of the nationwide protests. Mattis spoke out for the first time publicly since his acrimonious December 2018 exit from the White House by blasting Trump as making a 'mockery of the Constitution' in a fiery statement shared Wednesday. Although Mattis has alluded to criticism of his former boss in the past, he has never been this forthcoming with his disappointment in the president. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president and criticized Mattis as ineffectual. 'Former Secretary Mattis' 'article' is little more than a self-promotional stunt to appease the DC elite. President Donald Trump is the law and order President that has restored peace to our nation's streets. Mattis' small words pale in comparison to POTUS' strong action.' In his statement Mattis likened Trump's tactics of seeking to 'divide' the nation to that of the Nazis. 'Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that 'The Nazi slogan for destroying us was 'Divide and Conquer,' he writes. 'Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.' We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis - confident that we are better than our politics.' White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany condemned Mattis' article, calling it 'a self-promotional stunt to appease the DC elite' 60 Minutes Correspondent John Dickerson said that he wrote a profile on Mattis 11 years ago, noting that Mattis' had the nickname 'Mad Dog' years before Trump was in office, and it was a nickname he disliked Law enforcement fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters gathered in Lafayette Park to disperse the crowd for the president's photo-op in front of the church, which was set on fire in Sunday riots outside the White House His statement about Trump seeking to divide the nation immediately follows. 'We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society,' he continues. He pointedly takes on Trump's photo-op Monday, writing that he us 'angry and appalled' by the unfolding events. 'We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln's 'better angels,' and listen to them, as we work to unite,' Mattis wrote. He called for unity and calm. 'This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.' His blistering article comes as other former military officials, including former head of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen, blasted Trump for seeking to 'politicize' the military. He also blasts a comment by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, whose job is already in jeopardy, for his comment calling for governors to 'dominate the battlespace' in U.S. cities. 'We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate.' At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society,' he writes. 'It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.' Mattis also joined Allen in denouncing the 'bizarre photo-up' that Trump ordered up, as federal police backed up by the National Guard cleared away peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park. 'When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution,' writes Mattis. 'Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizensmuch less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.' Mattis indicated when he resigned his post that he felt an obligation to keep comments to himself. 'There is a period in which I owe my silence. It's not eternal. It's not going to be forever,' he said at the time. While he was in office, Mattis stood out among other cabinet officials for failing to shower the president with over-the-top praise at public events. Behind the scenes, there were clashes and Mattis even told aides he would rather 'swallow acid' than allow Trump to throw a $50 million 'Victory Parade' in the nation's capital. Esper was fighting for his job Wednesday even as authorities seek to gain control of the nation's streets as he contradicted President Donald Trump on use of a special military authority and the Army announced a sudden reversal on a plan to start withdrawing active duty troops from around Washington. The day featured sudden turnarounds and contradicting explanations about the photo-op that both Esper and the president joined in on Monday, with no clear plan about how regular military, National Guard forces, local police, and outside forces are coalescing to attempt to maintain order. About 200 members of the Army's 82nd Airborne division were to have departed the D.C. were ordered back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Thursday evening. The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, in consultation with the leadership of the various Muslim communities in Ghana, has urged major mosques in urban areas not to hold Jumua prayers until further notice. Despite the easing of restrictions by President Akufo-Addo to allow 100 worshippers, major mosques have been advised not to hold Friday prayers due to the high risk of losing control of the large congregational sizes. This was in a statement issued in Accra by Alhaji Mammah Gado Mohammed, the Chairman of the National Chief Imam Advisory Board, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Thursday. The directive is aimed at preventing overcrowding in mosques to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Chief Imam called for the urgent formation of COVID-19 taskforces or committees for effective monitoring and enforcement of the new protocols at all levels of the masjid administrations - regional, district, community, neighbourhood and institutional. The Chief Imams directives asked that where applicable Jumua prayers should be held at minor/lower masjids (mosques) concurrently in all communities with high Muslim concentration, with the number of worshippers not exceeding 100. However, Jumu'a prayers at institutional mosques such as the Police and Military where there is sufficient control may be observed. The statement said community or neighbourhood masjids may open for daily routine prayers bearing in mind the preventive measures as well as the social distancing protocols. It urged mosque leaders to ensure mandatory wearing of face masks before entering the masjid and check the temperature of worshippers using the thermometer gun where available. It encouraged that persons with high temperature should be referred to the Mosque COVID-19 Committee. It discouraged the use of ablution kettles and rather asked that mosques provided sachet water and dustbins to prevent littering. All masjid should be fumigated before opening and mosques who failed to comply would remain closed, it said. The statement entreated Muslims to strictly observe the new protocols and guidelines while they await further directives on other grey areas. "Let us all help to protect each other," it said. 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 Police DPO, 7 Other Policemen, One Civilian were feared killed in Kogi State Bank Robbery when a gang of armed robbers launched an attack on a first generation bank in Isanlu, Kogi State Bank Robberywhen a gang of armed robbers launched an attack on a first generation bank in Isanlu, Kogi State The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that among those killed was the Divisional Police Officer in the town, two policewomen, and five policemen. NAN sources indicated that while the DPO, the two policewomen, and four policemen were killed at the Police Station, one policeman was killed at the banks premises. The other victim, a male civilian, died when a stray bullet hit him. The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that among those killed was the Divisional Police Officer in the town, two policewomen, and five policemen. NAN sources indicated that while the DPO, the two policewomen, and four policemen were killed at the Police Station, one policeman was killed at the banks premises. The other victim, a male civilian, died when a stray bullet hit him. The armed robbers were said to have invaded the Police Station at about 1 pm and opened fire on all officers and men on duty. The source told NAN that the Police Station was completely destroyed by the armed robbers who also set free all detainees in the detention facility. The robbers later proceeded to the bank where they killed one of the Policemen on duty and carted away money. An eyewitness, Segun Thomas, told NAN that the robbery operation lasted almost one hour. Thomas said: The robbers came in two vehicles a bus and a car with which they also escaped from the town. NAN learnt that the car, believed to have been snatched from its owner, was later abandoned around Kizito College, Isanlu. William Aya, spokesman of Kogi State Police Command, confirmed the robbery incident and the invasion of the Police Station, but added that the casualty figure was still hazy. Aya told NAN: The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ede Ayuba, has dispatched the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation to Isanlu to ascertain the true situation. Aya promised to brief the press as soon as details are available. The widow of Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who was killed in a one-punch attack, is suing the hospital for failing to protect him at work. Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann, 41, suffered fatal head injuries when he was struck by 24-year-old Joseph Esmaili in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital in May 2017. His life support was turned off four weeks later on June 28. Surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann who died four weeks after the one-punch attack. Credit:Eddie Jim The pair had a confrontation after Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann, a cardiothoracic surgeon who treated patients with lung cancer, asked his young attacker to stop smoking in a non-smoking area. As the third anniversary of Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann's death approaches, his widow Christine Baumberg is suing Eastern Health for negligence. Finalized bill permitting to make labor contracts distantly reaches Russias State Duma RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 17:44 04/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 4 (RAPSI) A new refined version of a bill setting forth requirements pertaining to distant intercommunications between employers and employees, in particular those relating to labor contracts made, or vacation request letters and resignation notices submitted via internet has reached the lower house of Russias parliament, according to its statement published on Thursday. The bill envisages the introduction of provisions on e-exchange of legally valid messages between employees and employers. Initially, the bill was submitted to the State Duma yet in June 2019. An author of the document, Chair of the Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov, has stressed that its enactment is especially urgent amid the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in more active use of distant formats of work across many sectors of the economy. The provisions of the bill define legally valid messages as any acts of interaction between the parties of labor contracts committed with the purpose to transmit certain legally relevant information. It is proposed to introduce a new article fixing the general provisions on legally valid messages and the forms they may be made in, including e-forms alongside paper mail notices and statement made during personal contacts. The government is to be empowered to set requirements pertaining to the said intercommunication means except if otherwise provided in a labor contract, local regulation, collective contract or agreement. Employers are to be liable for keeping all legally valid messages from their employees and copies of such addressed by them to their employees under the procedures set forth by a local regulation. Since employers are a prevailing party of labor contracts in economic terms and can impose unfavorable conditions on employees in such contracts, including those concerning legally valid messages, it is envisaged that the respective rules set forth in labor contracts, local regulations, agreements and so on, are not to worsen the situation of employees as compared with the rules set in Russias Labor Code. Besides, the bill envisages that legally valid messages are to entail legal consequences since the moment the message is delivered to its addressee. It is also envisaged that an employee is to have the right to decline exchange of legally valid messages in e-form at any time after the labor contract has been made. This provision, according to Krasheninnikov, is necessary because not all citizens can or wish to use various electronic devices to receive such messages. Yet another new provision of the bill is that amending Russias Labor Code to the effect that labor contracts may be made via an exchange of documents and information using electronic and other technical means. To prevent possible irregularities in the course of negotiations over making labor contracts via exchange of legally valid messages, it is envisaged that both employees and employers are obliged to act in compliance with good practices, so the parties are not to engage in negotiations if one of them clearly does not wish to make a contract with another party. Moreover, it is envisaged that in the Labor Code it is to be pointed out that in the course of interaction between employees and their distant employers (those, who have made their labor contracts on distant work) via exchange of legally valid messages there are to be used methods permitting to clearly identify the persons sending the said messages. Therefore, both parties are obliged to timely confirm the receipts of e-documents to the other party in compliance with the requirements set forth in the respective labor contracts on distant work. It is envisaged that the provisions of the bill are to be in effect since October 1, 2020. They are to be applied to the rights and obligations, which will arise after the law is enacted. Gurugram, June 4 : Noted film producer Ekta Kapoor's new web series 'Triple X-2' has sparked a controversy after some ex-army personnel lodged a complaint in Gurugram's Palam Vihar police station raising objection over its allegedly inappropriate and vulgar content. 'Triple X-2' is based on lives of army personnel. Raising strong objection to the web series, Martyrs Welfare Foundation (MWF) chairman Major T.C. Rao said that army soldiers sacrifice their lives for the country, but the series' producer and director have depicted that armymen's wives are intimate with other men at home when their husbands are away serving on the borders. "This content is highly objectionable and it could demoralise our armed forces," he said. "Triple X-2 also has scenes where uniforms of military men, having symbols of Ashoka statue and Taj are torn apart. This is an insult to our armed forces and military personnel," Rao said. MWF member Major S.N. Rao said "In a state like Haryana having representation of over 3.70 lakh army soldiers. This is an insult to them and ex-armymen like us. If Ekta Kapoor will not remove the objectionable scenes from the web series, we will intensify our agitation." Rajender Kumar, SHO of Palam Vihar police station, confirmed receiving a complaint in this regard and said the matter is under investigation. Protests have gripped the nation over the past week. In city after city across the country, marchers have come out to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Protests have also been seen in Nebraska, with large ones in Omaha and Lincoln. Protests also have been held in Grand Island the last three nights and in Kearney. Peaceful protests have been fine and its good for people to express their First Amendment rights. And what happened to Floyd deserves outrage. However, the looting and violence that has taken place in some cities is inexcusable. Those businesses had nothing to do with Floyds death. Looters see it just as an opportunity to get free stuff by stealing it from others. The organizers of the Grand Island protests have done a good job of communicating with Grand Island police. The police and the protesters have worked well to keep the demonstrations peaceful. The only difficulty has been from outside people seeking to provoke demonstrators. Others have joined the protests late in the night and caused some skirmishes. these videos are also vital: Reply Thread Link I hope they do more videos, I really like Bob and Pepp together. We're supposedly going to get a Bob/Katya video with them speaking on current events as well, so we'll see how that goes. Reply Parent Thread Link I love them, they're two of my favorite queens so the combination of Bob and Pep is just magical Katya is also one of my faves and v smart and her apology for remaining silent was very thoughtful, I hope it comes out soon but I also hope people don't treat Bob as their personal tutor Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Was just contacted by a reddit forum. The idea of speaking on racial inequality on the platform that has been a predominant source of negativity and racism towards me is laughable and nauseating. To give any emotional labor to that hateful lions den. No thank you. The Vixen (@TheVixensworld) June 3, 2020 the main subreddit for Drag Race locked down for the past day in an asinine copy of Tuesday's black out nonsense and locked all comments an attempt to uplift bipoc queens and only post them, and then had the audacity to reach out to the vixen in the midst Reply Thread Link she is beautiful. i was blessed to meet her out of drag in chicago before drag race 10 aired. pure sweetheart. Reply Parent Thread Link The Vixen is easily one of the queens RPDR has done the most wrong. She's usually spot on about everything. Also, fuck Eureka. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i stopped going there because of how violently racist they were toward her. they love loud, outspoken messy white queens but when a black queen does the same, ohh its too much for their pasty asses Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The locking all comments thing was so annoying bc it ended up being all these posts a bout black queens being ignored since no one could discuss on the post bumping it up Edit: plus this tweet was posted in rpdr reddit and no one could drag the sub for what it is. Boo. Edited at 2020-06-04 10:53 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link the main sub remains the most terrible rpdr sub. the mods are racist, self-absorbed people who think just because they get powers on an online community they can project their power fantasies that remain unacted in real life. Reply Parent Thread Link One of Gigis stan made the claim that Jaida only won because of the current events happening. I have never wanted to fight someone as much as I wanted to fight that bitch. Reply Thread Link Gigi's fanbase is quite the reflection of her privileged, clueless ass. I have yet to meet a Gigi fan who isn't a dumb, shallow fuck. Reply Parent Thread Link Jaida already being one of the most perfect winners ever, bless Aquaria was a nice surprise. I thought he'd be another shallow skinny white boy but more often than not I see him expressing his (usually right) opinion without sugarcoating it. I suppose he was listening to The Vixen after all. His contempt for Sh*rry P** was delicious. I like all the queens in this post tbh Reply Thread Link Aquaria also called out Manila after her "not all cops are bad" tweets/videos. She's been on a roll lately, lol. Reply Parent Thread Link truly the biggest dumbassery, Manila is anti-black period Reply Parent Thread Link She did? Bless her. Bitternila continues to be trash, I see. Reply Parent Thread Link Whew, did not know this! Just unfollowed her Reply Parent Thread Link Listening to Sibling Rivalry with Bob and Monet was so saddddd. I teard up listening to them. Reply Thread Link vixen has the right to guillotine rupauls head over a fracking hole Reply Thread Link I think Reddit black outs make sense for certain subreddits that don't post about politics ever (Ealges comes to mind) but not drag race since all drag is political. Reply Thread Link Is Aquaria seriously the only white alum to speak out on this? Wow. Reply Thread Link Aquaria has been very vocal, and has done a lot including calling out her sisters when they fuck up, but no she's not the only one Ben De La Creme has been matching donations to various orgs with Alaska, Willam, Katya, Courtney, Jinkx, and more Willam and Alaska have been discussing on Race Chaser and posting links on their page Trinity the Tuck has been v vocal and many more, Trixie was called out by black fans until she spoke up Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO at Trixie. Good on everyone else tho. Reply Parent Thread Link No... Willam, Alaska, Ben, Jinxx, and Courtney Act have spoken up and been raising/matching donations over the past few days. Trixie was called out for not saying anything, then clapped back by saying something along the lines of "I've got shows to do" .....yikes. She was rightfully dragged for that and apologized on twitch?zoom? one of those platforms. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link To add: I follow Pearl on instagram, and she's been pretty vocal about this and calling out nasty white people. Reply Parent Thread Link katya has been vocal on twitter & insta and is donating thousands of $. she apologised for not speaking up sooner i think. Reply Parent Thread Link Milk has been vocal too. Reply Parent Thread Link Every time Bob speaks I get so thrown because my nephew literally has the same voice and vocal mannerisms. Mayhem made me tear up. Reply Thread Link CARBONDALE Rahm Emanuel, a former mayor of Chicago, congressman and Obama White House chief of staff, said his infamous line about never wasting a crisis has followed his sorry little tush all over. He made the statement at a conference as Obama transitioned into the White House, though clarified that what he actually said was something more along the lines of, Never allow a good crisis to go to waste. Its the opportunity to do the big things you never thought possible and make them possible. During a virtual public forum Thursday morning hosted by the Southern Illinois University Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Emanuel said he believes that statement holds true. The economic, health and social justice crises playing out across America make this a ripe time to push big policies aimed at creating a more equitable society, he said in a conversation with Simon Institute Executive Director John Shaw. Heres how I look at this. You have a 100-year pandemic, a 75-year economic depression and a 50-year civil and racial unrest, Emanuel said. I dont think any of em are President Trumps fault, but I think he has exacerbated and made every one of em worse by his response. I think its naturally an opportunity ... to redo things and think about things in a more inclusive way. Emanuels talk centered on the growing role of mayors in American politics, which is the focus of a new book he released earlier this year titled The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running the World. Emanuel argues in the book that cities and their leaders are responsible for driving innovative U.S. and global policy more so than federal governments. Much of his talk focused on the ways mayors coordinate across major urban centers, but Emanuel also said he wanted to take the time to address the civil unrest that has resulted in protests and demonstrations in communities across America big and small in the wake of the violent killing of George Floyd, an African American man who died in police custody after a white officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The events that unfolded once again put the spotlight on police and community relations, Emanuel said, but also and of equal value, an exclusionary economic model that has run its course. Learning, he said, is the key to economic prosperity, for individuals and communities. But not everyone has equal access to education, he noted. Across the globe in the industrialized world, Emanuel said that the last 30 years have been an incredible period of time, but an incredible period of time for very few people. And if we dont figure out a model that gets more people in the winners circle, this game is up. As an example, one policy change Emanuel is advocating for is a federal takeover of Medicaid and unemployment insurance, which now operate as federal-state partnerships. He argues that doing so would allow for a modernization of the programs while saving states $250 billion that they could reinvest in education including universal, full day pre-K and free community college as well as infrastructure improvements. Emanuel also encouraged SIU students who joined the Zoom call for his talk to take an active role in their communities in the years ahead. I ask all the students that are on this, to spend a part of your life intellectually, personally, figuring out how to change the policies, the politics in your community to a more inclusive model, he said. Emanuels virtual public forum was part of the Simon Institutes Understanding Our New World series in which Shaw has invited numerous guests, including historians, political analysts, journalists, politicians, educational leaders and others, to discuss the various effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world. To date, in addition to Emanuel, he has hosted David Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian from Stanford University; Jan Eliasson, former deputy secretary general of the United Nations and former Swedish foreign minister; Knox College President Teresa Amott; and New York Times Washington chief correspondent Carl Hulse. Upcoming talks include Illinois U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood on June 8; state Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch on June 11; and William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on June 18. Into the future, Shaw said the plan is to host conversations twice monthly through years end, with an emphasis on seeking wide-ranging and diverse voices to help provide perspective in these uncertain times. "The world seems to be shifting under our feet and all of us are trying to understand what is happening and how our lives will be different in the future, Shaw said. The Institute had decided to reach out to compelling leaders and analysts from across the world, throughout the United States, and in Illinois to help us see what challenges and opportunities await us." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The use of chemical irritants is authorized under the Use of Force Policy of both 2019 and 2011. This from General Secretary of the Police Social and Welfare Association Sgt. Ancil Forde who also notes that there must be accountability. asit.kulkarni93 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Pune Posts: 856 Thanked: 2,047 Times View My Garage Car Mall for India! Why don't we have multi-brand car dealerships? This brings me to the automobile industry. I am sure it will be very difficult for a lot of showrooms to operate considering the salaries, rent.etc. We will have a lot of showrooms shutting down. I did a part of my schooling in the Kingdom Of Bahrain and back in 2007, a new mall was the talk of the town. Kuwait Finance House had opened a car mall where you could check out multiple cars under one roof and get easy finance options. I havent been able to keep a track of how successful it was but it seemed like a good deal considering the low sales of regular euro brands in the Middle East. In fact, there are dealers like Euro motors who have one showroom for BMW, Mini, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Jaguar and Land Rover. This has worked well for them. I am sure this concept has worked well in a lot of other countries too. Kuwait Finance House Car Mall Euro Motors showroom in Bahrain Kuwait Finance House Car MallEuro Motors showroom in Bahrain Dealers in India should consider doing this. Advantages of a Car Mall- 1. Overheads will be much lesser for brands who have fewer cars on sale in India(like Jeep, Nissan.etc.) 2. A common service centre with dedicated service bays and individual spare parts section will make servicing easy too. 3. Having all brands under one roof may help boost sales of an underrated product(Figo vs swift) Disadvantages- 1. It will be of no help to customers who have a pre-decided car, might help them consider other cars but there are people who have swift, Creta, crysta.etc. Pre-decided. 2. Instead of having one small showroom and service centre, a bigger real property will be required. Might get difficult in cities like Mumbai. 3. Dealers might push for vehicles where they have higher margins. All said and done, its a concept if executed well can do wonders. Your thoughts? As we have entered the unlock down phase, things are getting back to normal but there are some changes around. The last 3 months have drained a lot of businesses and a few have shut shop.This brings me to the automobile industry. I am sure it will be very difficult for a lot of showrooms to operate considering the salaries, rent.etc. We will have a lot of showrooms shutting down.I did a part of my schooling in the Kingdom Of Bahrain and back in 2007, a new mall was the talk of the town. Kuwait Finance House had opened a car mall where you could check out multiple cars under one roof and get easy finance options. I havent been able to keep a track of how successful it was but it seemed like a good deal considering the low sales of regular euro brands in the Middle East. In fact, there are dealers like Euro motors who have one showroom for BMW, Mini, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Jaguar and Land Rover. This has worked well for them. I am sure this concept has worked well in a lot of other countries too.Dealers in India should consider doing this.Advantages of a Car Mall-1. Overheads will be much lesser for brands who have fewer cars on sale in India(like Jeep, Nissan.etc.)2. A common service centre with dedicated service bays and individual spare parts section will make servicing easy too.3. Having all brands under one roof may help boost sales of an underrated product(Figo vs swift)Disadvantages-1. It will be of no help to customers who have a pre-decided car, might help them consider other cars but there are people who have swift, Creta, crysta.etc. Pre-decided.2. Instead of having one small showroom and service centre, a bigger real property will be required. Might get difficult in cities like Mumbai.3. Dealers might push for vehicles where they have higher margins.All said and done, its a concept if executed well can do wonders. Your thoughts? In February, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced plans to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement with Washington, which allows US forces to be stationed in the country. The pandemic crisis and tensions between the United States and China have led to the reversal. The Philippine military accuse Duterte of bowing to Beijing for investments that never materialised. Manila (AsiaNews) The Philippines will not cancel a twenty-year military agreement with the United States because of national security considerations. At a press conference yesterday, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr said that the decision stems from growing tensions between superpowers in Southeast Asia, an indirect reference to the confrontation between the United States and China amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In February, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced plans to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement signed with Washington in 1999, which allows the stationing of US troops on Philippine territory, and far-reaching joint exercises between US and Philippine forces. Since his election in 2016, Duterte has done everything to build a privileged relationship with China. Unlike his predecessor, Duterte sought to ease tensions in the South China Sea, ignoring a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which in 2016 called Chinese claims to almost 90 per cent of the disputed sea as legally baseless. The Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and to some extent Indonesia, oppose Chinese maritime claims. However, this has not stopped Beijing from militarising some islands in the sea. To contain Chinese expansion, US warships carry out regular patrols near these military outposts. According to several observers, Chinese aggressiveness in the South China Sea, combined with the need to receive aid from the United States to fight COVID-19, have pushed Duterte to step back. The Philippine president has also been the target of strong criticism from the country's military, which accuse him of bowing to Beijing's will for investments that were promised but never delivered. A first sign of the change in Manila occurred last April, when the Philippine government condemned the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea, which Hanoi blames on a Chinese coastguard ship. Indonesia, which usually tries to steer clear of any confrontation with China over maritime disputes, also took a stand against the Chinese. In an official note sent to the United Nations at the end of May, Jakarta recognised the validity of the Hague Court ruling, noting that the Nine-Dash line, the demarcation line used by Beijing to promote its historical claim, has no legal basis and violates the UN Convention on the law of the sea. There's an old saying in China that human life comes above everything. Only by controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and safeguarding the life and health of the people can a solid foundation be laid for continuous economic and social development. This is a nationwide consensus in China, and shall be a choice to be made by global countries. Recently, China's "two sessions," the country's top legislature and political advisory body successfully concluded, and the country is also witnessing orderly progress of work and business resumption. New development opportunities are emerging for industries. Such progress achieved with tremendous efforts is inspiring. From the very beginning, China has considered epidemic control as its top priority, placing a 10-million-people city in stagnation and temporarily slowing the world's second largest economy with a GDP of almost a hundred trillion yuan. The country is aware of the huge cost, but to protect people's life and health and guarantee future economic and social development, it didn't hesitate before making sacrifices. Its arduous efforts forcefully turned the table and finally brought life and production back to normal. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading around the world, and countries should have been offering mutual help to get through the crisis. However, when China is selflessly sharing its experiences and offering medical supplies, and when countries and international organizations are making concerted efforts against the pandemic, some U.S. politicians politicized the disease, stigmatized other countries, fabricated lies to pass the buck to China, groundlessly accused the World Health Organization and declared to terminate ties with the UN health body. Some commented that the pandemic in the U.S. has yet to peak, but the capability of the U.S. government to shift blames is always on a new high. Even U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who's always been anti-China, remarked that the White House's rhetoric on China is a "diversion" from its own missteps in handling the coronavirus outbreak. Unfortunately, it only took 80 some days for the U.S. to see its COVID-19 death toll surging from one on Feb. 29 to over 100,000, making the country the worst-hit region in the world, with both infections and deaths ranking the highest. This fully proves that making rumors, framing and blame game do not help with pandemic control at all, but only waste more time and threaten more lives. Speaking of the chaotic pandemic response in the U.S., Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, noted that Its sad that even the U.S., where you would expect to do this well, did this poorly. An investigation report by New York Times pointed out that with slow response, the White House missed "key turning points along the way." The delayed pandemic response of the White House also left administration officials with almost no insight into how rapidly the virus was spreading, and local governments in the U.S. had to work under no guideline and see the virus get rampant. The novel coronavirus is the No.1 public enemy of mankind. As someone said, today we all live in the same forest that is on fire, hesitation, panic, ignorance, inaction and disorder are all irresponsible. Facing problems is a premise of resolving them, while respecting science remains key to defeating the virus. At the critical moment, we must realize that politicizing the pandemic and stigmatizing other countries poses greater danger than the virus does. A historic pandemic is spreading, said Lawrence Gostin, professor in global health law at Georgetown University, calling for scientific guidance, as ignoring science would cause deaths. Unfortunately, American public health experts are left hanging, he added. Chinese scientist Zhong Nanshan said he had been approached by Ian Lipkin, US epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, to use molecular tools to establish how the virus jumped to humans. However, the endeavor might be stalled for fear it would be distorted by political agendas. In a word, it's all about controlling the pandemic. Facing the virus, adopting correct approaches, making righteous moves and concentrating on pandemic response are what should be done to protect the life and health of the people and to contribute to global public health. We advise American politicians not to manipulate the pandemic or ignore science, as it not only concerns common responsibility, but also reflects human conscience. New York: Hillary Clinton has said the US will go after ISIS terror group and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the same way America had focussed on defeating al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden if she is elected as the next president. "We have to defeat ISIS. That is my highest counterterrorism goal and we have got to do it with air power. We have got to do it with much more support for the Arabs and the Kurds who will fight on the ground against ISIS. We have to squeeze them by continuing to support the Iraqi military," Democratic presidential candidate Clinton said here yesterday. A 'commander in chief' forum, hosted by NBC on the decommissioned USS Intrepid which is now a floating museum, brought Clinton, 68, and her Republican rival Donald Trump, 70, together just weeks before they square off at the first presidential debate on September 26. While Clinton and Trump did not come face to face at the forum, they were questioned one after the other by Today show anchor Matt Lauer, who moderated the forum. Clinton vowed that under her presidency, she will not send ground troops into war-ravaged Iraq or Syria, but said the White House will ensure that the Iraqi military has all the support, including special forces, surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance help. "They are not going to get ground troops. We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again and we are not putting ground troops into Syria. We are going to defeat ISIS without committing American ground troops. So those are the kinds of decisions we have to make on a case-by-case basis," Clinton said as she assured that it is in America's national security interest to defeat ISIS. "I intend to make that happen. And as part of it, we are going after Baghdadi, the leader, because it will help us focus our attention, just like going after bin Laden helped us focus our attention in the fight against al-Qaida in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater," she added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Twitter also issued a detailed thread outlining its policies and principles and their enforcement process while highlighting controversial tweets. Amid the ongoing spat between US president Donald Trump and Twitter after the latter flagged a post by the American president on the ongoing protests against the murder of an African-American man named George Floyd, the social media platform on Wednesday posted a detailed thread outlining its policies and principles and their enforcement process while highlighting controversial tweets. Trump had tweeted saying, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in reference to the ongoing unrest in the US following the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed African-American man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck. Twitter had flagged the post for "glorifying violence." Twitter had also earlier added fact-check links to two of Trump's tweets, enraging Trump. Trump had responded by signing an executive order aimed at stripping social media giants like Twitter and Facebook of legal immunity for the content posted by third-party users. "We believe that healthy public conversation is an important element to enable the achievement of Universal Human Rights for all," the platform said through its handle Twitter Safety on Wednesday, detailing its process to flag inappropriate content. The platform said that its process was based on providing context to tweets and not fact-checking them. It also said that it does not try to address all misinformation but prioritises on the basis on certain criteria. We are NOT attempting to address all misinformation. Instead, we prioritize based on the highest potential for harm, focusing on manipulated media, civic integrity, and COVID-19. Likelihood, severity and type of potential harm along with reach and scale factor into this. Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 3, 2020 The company also said that it focuses on issues of civic integrity an public health as it believes that these are contemporary matters of importance. We have since expanded to issues of civic integrity and public health given the critical importance of elections and the current health crisis. https://t.co/S4c3SRYTB0 Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 3, 2020 The social media platform on Wednesday also sought to throw light on the purpose behind labelling tweets. When we label Tweets we link to Twitter conversation that shows three things for context: 1Factual statements (e.g. ballots are only being sent to registered voters) 2Counterpoint opinions & perspectives 3Ongoing public conversation around the issuehttps://t.co/gSPzaEZ1Fk Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 3, 2020 "We also believe its important people can read and speak about what world leaders say, even if they violate our rules,"said Twitter. Last week, the White House's official account pointed to a 22 May tweet by Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and accused the social media app of allowing "terrorists, dictators, and foreign propagandists to abuse its platform". "We will continue to be transparent in how we make our decisions and be open with our rationale on how we label certain Tweets. Publicly sharing our work is core to everything we do. If we cant explain and be confident in our determination, we will not label a Tweet," it said. Trumps order violates First Amendment, claims tech-rights body Centre for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a tech-focused civil liberties group on Tuesday filed a suit to stop Trump's executive order that seeks to regulate social media, saying it violates the First Amendment and presses curbs on free expression. In its suit, the Center for Democracy and Technology said that Trump's executive order violates the First Amendment because it attacks Twitter for putting the fact checks on the president's tweets, which CDT said is Twitter's right as a private company. More broadly, the order is trying to curb speech of all online platforms and people "by demonstrating the willingness to use government authority to retaliate against those who criticise the government", news agency AP quoted the CDT as saying. "The government cannot and should not force online intermediaries into moderating speech according to the president's whims," said Alexandra Givens, CDT's CEO, in a statement emailed to AP. The organisation filed the federal suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Trump's social media order had come under criticism from various sources. Tech industry groups had said it was bad for innovation and speech. Civil rights and libertarian organisations and the US Chamber of Commerce had also criticised it. With inputs from AP Edwards Life Sciences: "I like Edward Life Sciences, but you must understand that right now that stock is going to be under distribution ... because it is not fitting with the awaken-America trade, but I bless it when it comes down because they've got the best, absolute best, medical equipment." Flex: "They were in the dog house for a while for accounting, ubt I think everything's come around and I still see them being used by a lot of companies. I'm going to say that's a buy. I like that idea." Microsoft: "I think Microsoft fits the pattern of what this market wants even as it is not a deep cyclical." Oracle: "For the long term it's OK. ... There's so many others that I think are better." Roku: "You want to be long Roku. I'm fine with Roku. I think it's good, but, again, Roku is a stay-at-home stock in an era where we've suddenly decided we don't have to stay at home anymore, so I expect it to be under pressure short term." Akamai Technologies: "I don't blame you for being conflicted because, you know, the stock's had a very big run and it seems it's kind of stalled out ... I'm not going to rave about it." The Meyer shipyard is in crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic and has already threatened mass layoffs. The shipyard builds cruise and luxury ships, including for the Aida shipping company. The yard was able to deliver three such ocean liners last year. Due to the pandemic, numerous cruise ships are now stranded in ports worldwide. All cruises have been canceled and the future is totally uncertain due to the high risk of infection on these ships. Senior manager Bernhard Meyer and his sons see the crisis as an opportunity to implement large-scale restructuring. They run the shipyard, which celebrated its 225th anniversary in January, as a family business. Five years ago, they moved the companys legal seat to Luxembourg, with the aim of not only saving taxes, but also preventing workers representatives from sitting on the company supervisory boardthe form of social partnership which is the rule for German-based companies. The IG Metall and the Left Party in Lower Saxony criticised the move, declaring that in the middle of the coronavirus crisis the shipyard had to take social partnership seriously, in the words of IG Metall representative Thomas Gelder. In the state parliament the Left Party declared that if the shipyard wanted to claim state funding it would have to return to Germany. The shipyard management has already applied to the SPD-CDU-led state government of Lower Saxony for high amounts of state aid to offset losses bring from the corona pandemic. At the same time, executives have announced proposals for a program of rigorous cost-cutting at the shipyard, with 1.2 billion euros to be saved in the coming years. Short-time working has existed since the beginning of May, and the Damocles sword of mass layoffs remains. In this situation, IG Metall has undertaken to undermine workers resistance and is enforcing every measure necessary to ensure the companys economic competitiveness. As the World Socialist Web Site wrote: The coronavirus crisis, however, has hugely intensified the tendency towards corporatismi.e., the fusion of entrepreneurs, unions and government. In the case of the Meyer shipyard, IG Metall is conducting a blatant manoeuvre of dividing the workforce. The works council and union are demanding the yard sack thousands of short term and agency workers in order to preserve the jobs of the full-time workforce in Papenburg. There are around 3,500 full-time workers at the shipyard, as well as almost 3,000 short term and agency workers, most of whom come from Eastern Europe. One cannot tolerate new outside contractors coming to the shipyard during this time, Bloem, chairman of the works council, told the newspaper Die Welt. On the IG Metall web site, Bloem declared: Regular employees with their many years of experience are responsible for the success of the shipyard. Instead of layoffs, it is therefore a question of short-time work with qualifications and the reduction of external capacities (agency and work contracts). This is how to build a bridge to the future. This vile attempt to incite the permanent workforce against agency and contract workers must be decisively rejected by all workers! It only confirms that the unions and works councils act as an extended arm of the management. Workers in the pandemic can only defend their jobs and lives if they break with these nationalist, pro-capitalist union bureaucrats and unite in independent action committees based on socialist policies. All sections of workers are under extreme pressure during the corona pandemic. They build cruise ships at the shipyard for dream trips to the fjords or the Caribbean, although their working conditions are often nightmarish. Even though there were cases of coronavirus at the shipyard, work continued under difficult conditions: the canteen was closed, coffee machines turned off and changing rooms locked. Workers attending their shifts in their working gear have had to work six hours without a break. As for the agency and short-term contract workers, they face even worse forms of exploitation. They work for much less salary than regularly employed shipyard workers. The profits are made by agencies and subcontractors that employ them. These companies take the lions share of wages and leave only a fraction for the workers they employ, who are forced to live in crowded and inadequate accommodation and pay their own transport costs. IG Metall has no interest and no intention of assisting these workers. In this respect nothing has changed since the incident a few years ago, when two Romanian foreign workers from the Meyer shipyard died in a fire in a mass accommodation in Papenburg. All of the demands and promises of the time turned out to be empty words. The fact that all of the unions organised in the German Federation of Unions (DGB) tolerate and support such employment relationships shows the unions true attitude towards all workers. The coronavirus pandemic did not create these conditions, it has only made them public. In slaughterhouses, construction sites, parcel distribution centres, public transport, and in the auto industry, it is the working class who confront the difficulties and dangers posed by the corona crisis. For their part, the unions are on the side of those who rake in billions in aid and keep the German stock market buoyant. The union bigwigs on the supervisory and co-determination bodies of German companies benefit directly from this cronyism. The close relationship between the union and the company at Meyer found striking expression this week when it was revealed that more than 30 members of the works council and company executive are now in quarantine, including the works council chairman Nico Bloem, after several meetings between the works council and company managers at which the head of personnel for the shipyard in Papenburg was present. This official had attended a private party at a restaurant in the German region of East Frisia, near the Dutch border, after which a total of 217 people have been sent into quarantine and tested. According to figures issued late on Thursday, May 28, 34 people were tested positive for COVID-19 as a result of visiting the restaurant. The outbreak was apparently the result of a celebration of the reopening of the Alte Scheune restaurant, which is located in Moormerland, near the Ems estuary in the North Sea. It was not a matter of simply taking a meal in a restaurant, but a large-scale event. A district administrator told NDR news channel that coronavirus rules may have been violated. Guests greeted each other with a handshake, did not keep the proscribed minimum distance and wore no face masks. When the head of personnel met with the works council subsequently, distance regulations were respected, but those taking part did not wear face masks, so the infection spread. The works councilors at Meyer and the IG Metall union do not usually parade themselves in public as best friends of the shipyard management. But the infection spread from management to union because they are, in fact, in the closest contact. By PTI MUMBAI: Veteran filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, known for his relatable, light as souffle brand of cinema with films such as "Rajnigandha" and "Chitchor", died on Thursday following age related health issues. He was 93. Chatterjee, who is survived by his daughters Sonali Bhattacharya and Rupali Guha, died in his sleep at his Santacruz residence. "He passed away peacefully in his sleep in the morning. He hadn't been keeping well for quite a while due to old age problems and died at his residence. It's a great loss for the film industry," Ashoke Pandit, president of the Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), told PTI. The last rites of the filmmaker, who blazed a middle-of-the-road trail in the 1970s and 1980s, will be performed at the Santacruz crematorium, Pandit said. Many people in the film industry and outside condoled the death of the director, who placed the middle class and its everyday joys and struggles at the centre of his cinematic world. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Saddened at the demise of legendary film director and screenwriter Basu Chatterjee. He gave us gems like 'Chhoti Si Baat', 'Chitchor', 'Rajanigandha', 'Byomkesh Bakshi', 'Rajni' among others. Condolences to his family, friends, fans & the entire film fraternity." Filmmaker Hansal Mehta said Chatterjee leaves behind a great legacy of cinema gems. "Basu Chatterjee moves on. For me very few see the lighter side of life like he did. All his films have a smirk on their faces. I'm a big fan. and I have 'Kahaani 2' to prove it," said "Kahaani" director Sujoy Ghosh said. Here is a song from his hit film, 'Chitchor': Chatterjee began as a cartoonist in a tabloid but changed his career path after assisting Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman starrer "Teesri Kasam". The two Basus along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee formed the Hindi cinema triumvirate whose ethos lay firmly in the middle class and its day-to-day struggles at a time when most of Bollywood was focused on larger-than-life stories of angst and tragedy led by Amitabh Bachchan. Actors like Vidya Sinha, Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab were the stars that were favoured by Chatterjee to tell aspiring stories of the middle class. His cinema was progressive for the times, unhurried and a slice of everyday life -- about conversations over cups of chai and romances blossoming in public buses, trains and office buildings. Some of his best known works are "Us Paar", "Chitchor", "Piya Ka Ghar", "Khatta Meetha" and "Baton Baton Mein". The filmmaker passed away less than a week after the death of lyricist Yogesh Gaur, who penned many popular songs in Chatterjee's films, including "Rajinigandha Phool Tumhare" and "Na Jaane Kyun". Gaur died on May 29. For India, the Chinese border has become an active confrontation zone again after several years of relative quiet. The increased activity it more theater than violence. Quiet is a relative term on this border because it still means over a hundred Chinese border incursions each year. Both countries have made an effort to make the border disputes better organized. As a result, in late 2018 China agreed to establish multiple hotlines along their mutual border and also between the defense ministries of China and India. This revived earlier efforts to establish a hotline. In 2016 China and India worked out and agreed to details of a hotline for commanders on both sides of the LAC (Line of Actual Control). Also known as the MacCartney-MacDonald Line the LAC is the unofficial border between India and China. The LAC is 4,057 kilometers long and is found in the Indian States of Ladakh, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal, and Arunachal. On the Chinese side, it is mostly Tibet. China claims much territory that is now considered part of India. There have been several thousand armed and unarmed confrontations over the last decade as one side or the other accuses foreign troops of crossing the LAC. The 2016 agreement fell apart when India went ahead, despite Chinese protests, and expanded its military ties with the United States while also undertaking massive improvements to military infrastructure near the border in the areas where Chinese troops were a growing presence and a constant threat. China had taken the lead improving roads and stabling more military bases close to the border. India was now catching up, having built over three dozen new roads to the more remote border area, New bases for ground troops and warplanes were built and training exercises now included tests of how well ground and air reinforcements could reach the contested border areas. China considered all this an act of aggression. Northwest India (Ladakh State) is the current hot spot now because India is building roads to the border and threatening to take back the portion of Kashmir Pakistan illegally, according to the agreement that established the India-Pakistan border after the British left in 1947, seized from India. Pakistan signed that agreement but had second thoughts as it was being implemented. Pakistan urged Pakistani Pushtun tribes in the area to liberate Kashmir from the Hindus and managed to grab about half of the disputed area. This dispute has remained unresolved ever since and led to several wars between India and Pakistan. Pakistan always lost but India never sent troops into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The current Indian leader is openly questioning the wisdom of that policy. India controlling all of Kashmir is a major economic threat to China, which has invested over $10 billion to build a highway and rail line from China to the Pakistani coast and it goes through Pakistani occupied Kashmir. This link is part of the Chinese OBOR/BRI (belt and road project) which aims to revive the ancient Silk Road that for thousands of years was the main economic link between East Asia and the rest of Eurasia. In Pakistani portion is called CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic corridor) and is costing China over $62 billion. The Indian threats to the Kashmir road-rail link are minor compared to the problems China is having with Islamic terrorist and tribal violence against CPEC projects as well as the high levels of corruption in Pakistan which are also damaging CPEC projects. This is driving up costs while lowering quality and slowing progress. But China also claims ownership of much Indian territory so helping Pakistani keep what they have grabbed is considered something of a professional courtesy. China is also annoyed that India is now using Chinese tactics and threaten to take back disputed border areas. Since 1999, when India officially became a nuclear power, Chinese options on the contested borders were reduced. With both nations possessing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, China could no longer rely on overwhelming non-nuclear forces to push India out of contested areas. That was bad enough but now the Indians are threatening to go Chinese on the Chinese. June 4, 2020: Both India and Pakistan have imposed covid19 related quarantines in many areas to slow the spread of covid19. There has been growing popular resistance to that policy. The quarantine shut down many businesses and in both countries there are now unemployment rates between 20 and 30 percent. For many workers in both nations being out of work means going hungry and too long without work means starvation. Less quarantine is bad for the senior politicians, who tend to be much older and the group that most frequently die from covid19. Most Indians and Pakistanis have little access to medical care. Politicians and the wealthy do and have more to fear from the virus. The popular resistance to quarantine is growing and in some areas the government is relenting and allowing the economy to revive. It simply a matter that for most people unemployment is a greater risk the covid19. So far India has 218,000 confirmed cases and 6,100 covid19 deaths. Adjusting for population that comes out to 157 covid19 cases per million people and four deaths per million. For Pakistan its 86,000 and 1,800 or 387 cases per million and 8 dead. Elsewhere in the region Bangladesh has 335 covid19 cases per million and five deaths per million. In Burma its four cases per million people and 0.1 deaths. Afghanistan is 460 cases and 8 dead. China, where the virus began, stopped releasing covid19 cases and deaths data as part of a government program to try and blame the U.S. for the virus. Few (Chinese or foreigners) believe that and it is taken for granted by neighbors of China that the Wuhan Virus, as it was first known, indeed came from China. By now it has also become known that covid19 is not much more dangerous than one of the deadlier annual influenza epidemics. The flu is taken for granted and it is unclear if covid19, which is genetically almost identical to the 2013 SARS virus, another Chinese corona (trans-species) virus, will be an annual event or disappear like SARS and similar diseases. Covid19 is unique in that it attacks the lungs and is often mistaken for pneumonia. As such it is particularly dangerous to the elderly or anyone with weakened immune system or other illnesses. Most healthy adults and children do not notice covid19 at all even if exposed to it. June 3, 2020: The Indian and Chinese generals commanding forces confronting each other on the China/Ladakh border agreed to meet on June 6th to try and arrange a halt to the Chinese aggression. When the Chinese agree to these meetings it usually means they are willing to ease up on their push and occupy strategy for taking disputed border territory from neighbors. Indian media can describe that as a Chinese retreat but it isnt. China is simply willing to pause their operations for a while. In northwest India (Kashmir) three Pakistani Islamic terrorists were killed when Indian troops found them inside Indian Kashmir. The three would not surrender and were killed. One of the dead was a known Pakistani bomb builder Islamic terror belonging to JeM, a Pakistani Islamic terror group that maintains training camps in Pakistani Kashmir and not only trains Pakistanis and some Indian Moslems but also shows experienced Islamic terrorists who have already worked in Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere how to operate on the Indian side of the border and how to survive crossing the border. These foreigners are particularly unpopular among local Kashmiris and it was a tip from a local civilian that led Indian troops to the bomb builder. Bomb builders tend to kill a lot of local civilians as well as soldiers and police. June 2, 2020: In eastern India (Chhattisgarh State) police clashed with three Maoists (communist rebels) and killed them. One of the dead turned out to be a Maoist leader wanted for organizing several attacks that left dozens dead. As a result, the dead Maoist had a price on his head. It is unclear if someone provided police with information about where the wanted Maoist leaders would be. Information about informants is kept secret because Maoists will seek to retaliate by murdering those who collect such rewards. The Maoists are still active in eastern India but continue to decline as they have been doing for over a decade. Many Indian communists were slow to understand why all those East European communist governments, including Russia, collapsed between 1989 and 1991. Reality is catching up with them. June 1, 2020: In northwest India (Kashmir) three Pakistani Islamic terrorists were killed when Indian troops detected and confronted the armed Pakistanis trying to enter India illegally via a remote portion of the largely rural border separating the Indian and Pakistani halves of Kashmir. May 30, 2020: In northwest India (Kashmir) Pakistani troops again opened fire twice across the LOC (Line of Control) border in two different areas. Pakistan always blames the Indians for firing first but after decades of foreign observers were able to verify that the Pakistanis always fire first, such border violations no longer have any diplomatic benefit for Pakistan and are now used only to remind Pakistanis that India is a threat. May 29, 2020: A UN investigation team estimated that there were at least 6,500 citizens in Afghanistan with Islamic terrorist organizations like JeM (Jaish e Mohammed), LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba), the Taliban (Afghan and Pakistan versions), Haqqani Network, al Qaeda and ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). The Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network work for and are protected by, the Pakistani military while al Qaeda has close ties to leaders of both Taliban organizations as well as Haqqani Network. JeM and LeT work for the Pakistani military but do not carry out attacks in Afghanistan, only in India. A few hundred JeM and LeT members are in eastern Afghanistan to help get Pakistani recruits into Afghanistan, train them and direct them to Afghan Taliban factions that accept Pakistanis. Many of the ISIL men in Afghanistan are Pakistani. May 25, 2020: In southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan) tribal separatists carried out six attacks in the last 48 hours leaving ten soldiers dead and many more wounded. There were some losses to the separatists but the attackers always managed to get away, taking any dead and wounded with them. May 23, 2020: In northwest India (Ladakh State) India accused China of again trying to block the movement of Indian troops in an area along the Tibet border that both nations claim. This is the third such incident this month. This time there was no violence. China believes its strategy of constant unarmed pressure along the border will eventually persuade India to surrender disputed territory. Until now that seemed to be working. What is different in 2020 is that the Indians are using Chinese tactics against the Chinese. This happened once before in 1962. Actually it happened by accident as Indian troops crossed the McMahon line, which India insisted was the border. The Indian troops set up a new outpost and refused to retreat. The Chinese attacked and inflicted an embarrassing defeat. May 18, 2020: In southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan) tribal separatists carried out two attacks leaving eight soldiers dead and many more wounded. These attacks were against construction projects that are part of the Chinese-backed CPEC. May 16, 2020: Burma turned over to India 22 tribal separatists from northeast India. These separatists had been arrested on the Burma side of the border and this time Burma finally did what it had promised to do since 2015. In northeast India, Indian tribal rebels frequently establish camps on the Burma side of the border. These rebels refused to take part in an earlier peace agreement between tribal rebels and the Indian government and continue fighting. Despite years of cooperation between India and Burma to eliminate rebels and outlaws from both sides of the border, Burma refused to prosecute and return to India tribal rebels found to be in Burma illegally. In 2016 Indian and Burmese troops began joint patrols along parts of their mutual border. This was one result of a mid-2015 agreement to cooperate with India to prevent Indian rebel groups from establishing bases inside Burma. In mid-2015 the Burmese army sent several thousand additional troops to the 1,643 kilometer long Indian border. Burma admits it is responsible for detecting and expelling these illegal visitors but most of the border area is thinly populated forests and mountains and it is very difficult to get troops into the area and very expensive to support them as they seek out and deal with any intruders. India believed it was a matter of priorities. The cooperation with India went beyond sharing intelligence and coordinating security operations on both sides of the border. To help with this India also sent a few more battalions to areas the rebels seem to prefer to cross at and increased patrols on the Indian side of the border. This makes it more difficult for the rebels to move to their Burma sanctuaries but does not stop them. This intense interest in border security began with a June 4th, 2015 ambush inside India where Indian rebels operating from Burmese bases inflicted heavy casualties on Indian troops. This led to an Indian cross-border commando raid a few days later that destroyed the rebel camp Burma insisted did not exist. This was clear evidence that despite Burmese promises in 2014 to shut down such camps the rebels were still there. In mid-2015 India believed there were at least 25 such camps in northern Burma, with precise locations given for 17 camps. Some are as close as six kilometers from the border while others are up to 40 kilometers away. The rebels got the message and most packed up and moved back to Assam on the Indian side of the border. But the Indian rebels kept trying to hide out in Burma and decided to try returning the rebels Burma caught instead of escorting them to and across the border or simply trusting them to go back to India. The camps in Burma were destroyed and Burma thought this was sufficient. It wasnt so Burma escalated. May 9, 2020: In northwest India (Ladakh State) about 150 Chinese and Indian soldiers fought with fists and blunt instruments for the second time this week. Ten soldiers were injured. Four days earlier 250 Indian and Chinese troops had a similar battle, which involved more rock throwing as well. There were over twenty troops injured, most of them Chinese. For years Chinese troops have often crossed the Tibet border in the Indian state of Ladakh (northwest India). Chinese troops are seeking to halt the construction of a new road on the Indian side of the border. China claims the road is being built on territory claimed by China. China has often sent in troops and civilians to protest Indian activities on the Indian side of the border when anything happens on terrain China claims. The diplomats have been unable to settle the dispute and these latest clashes continue because neither side will back down. May 8, 2020: In southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan) tribal separatists used a roadside bomb to kill seven soldiers on a road 14 kilometers from the Iran border. May 5, 2020: Covid19 is doing more damage in Pakistan than India and the main reason is the government's inability to get religious leaders to enforce covid19 restrictions for mosque use, especially during the current Ramadan period. Most mosques ignored the sanitary rules and carried on normally. As a result, more people came down with covid19 and allowing people over 50 into the mosques killed a lot of elderly worshippers. The mosque was one place where large groups of people assembled, packed closely together on a regular basis. This usually once a week but during Ramadan, which is from April 24 to May 23 this year. May 1, 2020: In northwest Pakistan (South Waziristan) Sardar Arif Wazir, a PTM (Pushtun Tahafuz Movement or Pashtun Protection Movement) leader was ambushed and killed outside his home. While the killing was apparently done by tribesmen, locals believed the killers were Islamic terrorists working for the army. This is an escalation of the army efforts to destroy or curb the PTM. In late January the government arrested the senior PTM leader, Manzoor Pashteen, accusing him of criminal conspiracy and stirring up trouble and so on. In other words, the military objected to the PTM publicizing and documenting military misbehavior in the tribal territories and is trying to destroy or intimidate the PTM. This has proved difficult because there are pro-PTM Pushtun MPs (members of parliament) and unelected government officials. The military opposition to dissent is not deterred by this. Pushtuns are 15 percent of the Pakistan population and most live in the northwest. The Pushtun have long complained about poor treatment by the government. The PTM is mainly about the Pakistani Pushtuns uniting to oppose the mistreatment of Pushtuns in general. While the PTM calls for peaceful demonstrations the military decided in early 2019 that the PTM was a threat and thus considered a hostile opposition organization. The main reason for this was that the peaceful demonstrations of the PTM were attracting more non-Pushtuns who not only agreed with the PTM complaints against the military but pointed out that the military is hostile to any Pakistani who speaks up and denounces the many misdeeds of the Pakistani military. Pashteen was released on bail three weeks after his arrest and now has to watch out for army deaths squads, in addition to troops armed with arrest warrants. ATHENS, Greece, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX), (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Koch Shipping Pte. Ltd., Singapore, for one of its Capesize dry bulk vessels, the m/v G. P. Zafirakis. The gross charter rate is US$13,200 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum October 1, 2021 up to maximum December 31, 2021. The charter commenced on May 31, 2020. The G. P. Zafirakis is a 179,492 dwt Capesize dry bulk vessel built in 2014. This employment is anticipated to generate approximately US$6.34 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter. Diana Shipping Inc.s fleet currently consists of 41 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 13 Capesize, 5 Post-Panamax, 5 Kamsarmax and 14 Panamax). As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Companys fleet is approximately 5.1 million dwt with a weighted average age of 9.71 years. A table describing the current Diana Shipping Inc. fleet can be found on the Companys website, www.dianashippinginc.com. Information contained on the Companys website does not constitute a part of this press release. About the Company Diana Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Companys vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, Company managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies that are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic and of businesses and governments responses to the pandemic on our operations, personnel, and on the demand for seaborne transportation of bulk products; the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Corporate Contact: Ioannis Zafirakis Director, Interim Chief Financial Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Treasurer and Secretary Telephone: + 30-210-9470-100 Email: izafirakis@dianashippinginc.com Website: www.dianashippinginc.com Investor and Media Relations: Edward Nebb Comm-Counsellors, LLC Telephone: + 1-203-972-8350 Email: enebb@optonline.net Why should we reduce the size of the Pennsylvania legislature? Because at 203 members the Pennsylvania House is the second-largest full-time state House in the country. Because the state budget is in turmoil from COVID-19. Because in 2015, when HB153 to reduce House membership to 151 was approved (but not passed into law in a subsequent year), the House Appropriations Committee estimated the reduction would save $10-15 million per year. Because Republicans made the unforgivable decision not to inform their Democratic colleagues that a GOP member who had been in contact with Democrats on committees was COVID-positive and working with them at a time when he could have been infectious. Because during that time some GOP House members were quietly quarantining, while others who knew about the quarantining were actively encouraging end the lockdown protests. So much hypocrisy. Speaker Mike Turzai should be removed if he does not resign for this deception. His GOP colleagues do not deserve re-election. Redrawing voting districts fairly would reduce the number of members while helping to remove this human detritus. After the June 2 primary, all PA candidates need to be pressured about cost-savings from a reduction. And any GOP candidates need to be pressed hard about their ethics. Helen Sitler, Ligonier, Pa. Despite a huge human and animal population on a limited habitation area, India has been able to maintain 8 per cent of the world's biodiversity because "our ethos is to live with the nature", Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said Thursday. In a video message on the eve of the World Environment Day, Javadekar said there are many constraints for India in conserving the biodiversity, like 16 per cent of world's human population and 16 per cent of cattle population living on 2.5 per cent of world's land. "Still we have maintained biodiversity of 8 per cent of the world," he said. India's culture is to be with the nature. We are the only country which worships trees, animals, birds everybody. We love nature. Our ethos is to live with nature, he added in his video message shared for a webinar hosted by the think-tank TERI. The theme of the World Environment Day this year is 'Biodiversity', which is described as the variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem, where each species has an important role to play. Upsetting this balance, including through over exploitation of the natural resources, can have enormous consequences. Experts say loss of biodiversity can lead to emergence of new infectious diseases like COVID-19. Javadekar also said India is among the "very few countries walking the talk" on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). We have put good targets on our own through our NDCs about reducing emission intensity, having renewable energy component in our installed capacity to the extent of 40 per cent, 2.5-3 billion metric tonnes of carbon sequestration, sustainable lifestyle, climate change adaptation and technology and capacity building. TERI is our partner in all these accounts. We value this partnership, he said. The Energy and Resources Institute held the webinar as a prelude to the World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi, its flagship event in February next year. "As we step into the circles of new normal, it is absolutely important that climate change and biodiversity stay at the top of our sustainable development agenda. The COVID-19 crisis has forced governments and businesses to plan for 'green recoveries'. The road to economic recovery can no longer ignore climate priorities, said TERI Director General Ajay Mathur. World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the environment ministry will hold virtual celebrations with a focus on Nagar Van (Urban Forests). The ministry officials said 40 acres of forest land has been developed in Pune with more than 65,000 trees and 5 ponds. Many trees have grown up to 30 feet. "This year more trees would be planted. Today, the forest is rich in biodiversity with 23 plant species, 29 bird species, 15 butterfly species, 10 reptiles and 3 mammal species," an official said. Not only the Urban Forest project is helping maintain ecological balance, but also provides Pune residents a good, green walkway. "The Wajre Urban Forest is now a role model for the rest of the country, the official said. The death of coal has run hand-in-hand with the rise of renewable energy, though the real credit for killing king coal might just go to U.S. shale. Even if the renewable revolution is growing too big to ignore. There are plenty of environmental and ideological reasons that many academics and pundits are pushing for placing renewable energy at the heart of COVID-19 economic recovery plans. But it turns out that there are plenty of economically compelling reasons for a renewables-forward strategy as well. Last month the World Economic Forum published a report pleading with the energy industry to use the novel coronavirus unprecedented disruption of the economic and societal status quo to begin building a new energy order. Although COVID-19 has severely battered (in some cases irreparably) huge portions of the global energy industry, this is a unique opportunity to redirect resources, investment, and research and development into renewable energy ventures that we may never see again in our lifetimes--and then it will be too late. Though this is the worst possible way to begin a decade, the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of oil prices also offer an opportunity to consider unorthodox intervention in the energy markets and global collaboration to support the recovery phase once the acute crisis subsides, stated the World Economic Forum. This giant reset grants us the option to launch aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way. Writers at the Verge also argued that renewable energy should be the way forward and is the clear answer to employing the tens of thousands of oil patch workers that have been fired or furloughed thanks to the oil price crash of recent months. As business as usual has ceased to become an option, transforming America into a country that runs on clean energy is one-way experts hope to alleviate the devastating economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Verge reported. Related: Lithium-Ion Battery Demand To Increase By More Than 1000% This Decade And now, just this week, PV Tech reports that a raft of new studies has come to underscore the business case of pushing renewables to the heart of the COVID-19 recovery, amid claims green energy plays offer a low-cost, high-return opportunity for investors. Now that the research is being done to investigate claims that renewable energy will be an economic boon for the United States going forward, the numbers certainly seem to support this idea. Solar and wind levelized costs of electricity (LCOEs) have dropped to such an extent that the world would save US$23 billion per year by tapping these technologies to replace the priciest 500GW of existing coal, according to a new study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera, as quoted by PV Tech, underscores the magnitude of these findings by saying that renewables are clearly becoming the default choice for new energy projects worldwide. Now, crucially, their continued cost decline means the world can afford to be ambitious amid the crisis, he continued. And there has already been some major progress. Just this month, for the first time in 135 years, the news broke that the United States consumption of renewables overtook consumption of coal in the last years energy mix. There are two interrelated reasons for this, reports Forbes. The collapse of coal consumption over the past decade, which was fueled by the rise of cheaper alternatives. While the unseating of coal is truly extraordinary and bodes well for the overall clean energy transition, however, renewables still lag far behind oil and natural gas in the United States energy mix. And, in fact, it wasnt really renewables that single-handedly took down coal, but the increased use of natural gas that took away from coals market share. So, writes Forbes, renewables did play an important part in coals demise, but they often get most of the credit. In fact, without cheap natural gas from the shale gas boom, U.S. coal consumption would still be substantially higher than U.S. renewable energy consumption. There are a few different takeaways from this snapshot of the U.S. energy mix. The first is that numbers can be deceiving, and readers and speculators alike should be discerning about narrow interpretations of quantitative data. The second is that the United States is still, far and away, powered by non-renewable fossil fuels and is not making significant progress toward meeting goals set by the Paris climate accord. The third is that if reports by IRENA and the World Economic Forum are to be heeded, renewable energy investment has to expand exponentially and do so in a hurry. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: At least 37 students and two teachers were injured in a knife attack at an elementary school in southern China on Thursday, local officials said. The attack, at Wangfu Central Primary School in Cangwu County, came at 8:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday) and was described by officials as a "knife stabbing incident." The injuries were not described as life-threatening and all 39 victims are being treated in a local hospital. "After a preliminary inspection, 39 people were injured, including 37 students who were slightly injured and two adults who were more heavily injured. They have all been sent to hospital for treatment," said a Cangwu County official on WeChat, the Chinese messaging platform. New: Cangwu County, in southern China, where 39 people were injured in a knife attack (Google Map) The suspect had been "controlled," the statement said, and a working group has been set up to further investigate the incident. China is no stranger to school attacks. In 2018 a woman brandishing a knife injured 14 at a school in the western city of Chongqing. Nearly 20 children were killed in attacks on schools in 2010, which led to increased security measures across the country. Huxley Stauffer had been turned into content before he even met the people who would become his parents. As early as July 2016, YouTube influencer Myka Stauffer was posting videos to YouTube about the long, complex process of adopting a boy from China. She talked about convincing her husband to adopt, cried while describing administrative delays, and exulted when the process inched forward. Over the years, Stauffer and her husband, James, posted 27 videos on their adoption journey, including a heartwarming montage of the familys trip to China to retrieve their 2-year-old son in 2017. Afterward, they kept their hundreds of thousands of viewers updated on the boys growth and his relationships with their biological children. That is, until earlier this year, when attuned fans began noticing that Huxley had quietly stopped appearing in the couples videos. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Myka came to her followers with what she described as by far the hardest video James and I have ever publicly had to make. In a teary dispatch from their brightly lit bedroom in Ohio, they said Huxley had more severe medical needs than they first realized. After multiple assessments, after multiple evaluations, numerous medical professionals have felt that he needed a different fit in his medical needs, Myka told the camera. He needed more. They also alluded vaguely to multiple scary things [that] happened inside the home towards our other children. (The couple also has four biological childrenKova, Jaka, Radley, and Onyxranging in age from 8 years to 11 months.) And so, the family had chosen to place Huxley in a different home with a new family. Advertisement Advertisement Gotcha Day videos on YouTube capture the day an adopted child joins the family. The Stauffers have been pilloried online. Critics offered side-by-side stills that appeared to show the family treating Huxley differently from his siblings. They have accused the family of white saviorism and profiting off Huxley. A petition demanding that the Stauffers remove MONETIZED YouTube videos exploiting a special needs child has more than 150,000 signatures and counting. (Some of the outrage was directed at the use of the word rehome to describe the Stauffers dissolution of the adoption. BuzzFeed used the term in its original headline, and other news outlets followed, sometimes putting the word in quotes, implying the Stauffers themselves used it, but they had not.) Advertisement The Stauffers became notorious because of the uncomfortable ending of their adoption story. But they are not the only participants in the robust online genre of adoption journeys. With handles like @born.from.my.heart and @gracewhilewewait, adoption influencers post a mix of generic lifestyle content, cute pictures of their mix and match families, and adoption ups and downs. The phenomenon has its own tropes and terminology. Gotcha Day videos on YouTube, for example, capture the day an adopted child joins the family. In influencer Anbre Lewis China Adoption: Naomis GOTCHA DAY and Adoption Story (2.7 million views), a white couple and their three biological children travel to China to retrieve their new daughter, set to upbeat pop music. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Videos like Josies Gotcha Day and Adoption Story (1.1 million views) and China Adoption: Lincoln & Penelopes Gotcha Day! (3 million views) follow a similar template and have been hugely popular for their creators. The Stauffers gotcha day video about Huxley, Huxleys EMOTIONAL Adoption VIDEO!! GOTCHA DAY China Adoption, has been viewed 5.7 million times. (The video, along with many others featuring Huxley, has now been taken down.) Advertisement Advertisement On Instagram, adoption content is overwhelmingly inspirational in tone. Racially blended families hug and goof around in their beautiful forever homes. Soon-to-be-adopted children pose with letterboards reading AFTER 700 DAYS IN FOSTER CARE I AM ADOPTED and WE WERE IN FOSTER CARE FOR 525 DAYS AND TODAY WE WERE ADOPTED. Most foster care agencies have strict policies against posting identifiable photographs of foster children on social media, but savvy content creators get around this by artfully scribbling over foster kids eyes or posting digital stickers over their faces. Many influencers, like other adoptive parents, are surely motivated by a sincere desire to expand their families. Adoption posts can offer solidarity, education, and practical insights into a process that is sometimes opaque and emotionally exhausting. But for families who make a living packaging their lives for consumption on social media, a new child can also become a new character to freshen up the familys plotline. As BuzzFeed documented in a story that introduced the Stauffers story to a wider audience, Huxleys adoption was a significant boost to Stauffers career. Her YouTube subscribers doubled between 2017 and 2018, and she acquired partnerships with brands including Glossier and Fabletics. She also expanded her public expertise into new categories. In an interview last fall, Parade magazine described her as an advocate for international special needs adoption. Advertisement Advertisement On social media, racially blended families hug and goof around in their beautiful forever homes. Some adoptive parents who share their lives online worry about the message sent by the Stauffers relinquishment of their son. This story spreads fear and the message that adoption is too hard, lifestyle blogger Elsie Larson wrote me in an email. This is an already WAY too common belief. Larson said she is frustrated that Stauffer portrayed herself as being blindsided by the extent of Huxleys special needs. EVERYONE in the China adoption program understands this level of risk, she said. Larson, for her part, appeared on the cover of Parents magazine last year with her daughter Nova, who was adopted from China around the same time as Huxley. She doesnt allow her children to appear in advertisements for brands, though she does share family photos and, in her words, lets them be involved in my work in other ways. Advertisement To some, the upbeat adoption journey genre itself is a manifestation of a larger problem with (mostly) white adoption narratives. Content creators like the Stauffers center themselves and their experiences in ways that render adopted young people as props, objects to shore up adults narratives of themselves, said Jenny Heijun Wills, author of the 2019 adoption memoir Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related, who was born in South Korea and adopted by a white family in Canada. Posts like the Stauffers, in her view, overlook the truth that every single adoption experience begins with loss, grief, and trauma. Advertisement Advertisement Most successful adoption bloggers do not exactly portray adoption as painless, or parenting as perfection. Inspirational speaker and blogger Ashley LeMieux posts about her pain after losing two children to their birth father in a contested adoption. (Promotional copy for her 2019 memoir, Born to Shine, frames the loss as a starting point: It sent her into a tailspin that, ultimately, taught Ashley how to soar.) Last year, mother of six Brittany Hagensen alluded to her two oldest sons unique struggles as adoptees in responding to followers asking about their absence from her feed; the boys, she wrote, were attending a boarding school that can better meet their needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stauffer, too, spoke openlyor appeared toabout the challenges that came from parenting an adopted child with autism. Myka Stauffer Gets Real Sharing the Hardships of Adoption, a headline on Moms.com put it last summer. The best thing to say about my brand is that [what] I try to focus on in my life and in parenting is the reality that it is hard and that you dont have to do it alone, she said in that interview. We can do it together, and it doesnt always have to be perfect. Critics say that adoption cliches contribute to painful outcomes like this one. Theres so much pressure to put out a very simple, happy story where all the pieces line up and the child comes home and there are no problems, said Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University who studies adoption. The whole idea of a forever home, and he was always meant to be with us makes it so hard for individual families to speak up and ask for help and support when theyre having trouble. Advertisement The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that between 1 and 5 percent of completed adoptions are eventually dissolved. Its hard to know what was really going on in the Stauffers home; they have declined to share details, citing Huxleys privacy. That would appear to be a new concern on their part, although obviously they have been holding back many details along the way. (A spokeswoman for the Delaware County Sheriffs Office told BuzzFeed this week it is investigating the case, but authorities are confident that the appropriate process is occurring.) Regardless, the situation was clearly more than imperfect. But for every admission of a roadblock, Stauffer offered a reassurance that the journey was a positive, inspiring story. In a since-deleted sponsored Instagram post in 2018, she nuzzled Huxley with a strategically placed bottle of Dreft in the background. This adoption hasnt been the easiest ride, the caption declared. But I love everything about this little boy and I wouldnt trade him for anything! The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a 'Form 483' with nine observations to a manufacturing facility in the USA belonging to AuroLife Pharma LLC, a wholly owned step-down subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma. The plant which makes oral solid manufacturing is situated at Dayton, New Jersey and was inspected by the FDA authorities from January 13, 2020 to February 12, 2020. "At the end of the inspection, a 'Form 483' has been issued with 9 observations. With respect to the mentioned inspection, we have received a letter from USFDA classifying the inspection as 'Official Action Indicated," Aurobindo Pharma said in a filing with stock exchanges. The company believes that this OAI classification may not have any material impact on the existing revenues, the supplies of our US business or pipeline products at this juncture, it said. The exclusive sales from this facility are around 2 percent of the group turnover and the company will work closely with the regulator to comprehensively address the issues, it further said. As per the USFDA, a Form 483, is issued to a firm's management at the conclusion of an inspection when investigator has observed any conditions that in its judgment may constitute violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act and related Acts. Oil prices dropped on Thursday, reversing gains in the previous session, on concern over whether major crude producers will be able to agree to extend record output cuts, heightened by worries over a huge build in US distillate inventories. Brent crude futures fell 1.46%, or 58 cents, to $39.21 a barrel as of 0459 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 1.98%, or 74 cents, to $36.55 a barrel. Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world's biggest oil producers, have agreed to support extending into July the 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in supply cuts backed in April by the OPEC+ group, comprised of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers. But they failed to agree on holding an OPEC+ meeting on Thursday to discuss the cuts, with OPEC sources saying it would be conditional on countries that have not complied with their targets so far deepening their cuts. "The market has taken a look at that and said it's getting more complicated to get that deal over the line," said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank. That would imply OPEC+ would go back to what they agreed in April, which was to ease their supply cuts to 7.7 million bpd from July, he said. Further, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are not planning to extend voluntary additional output cuts of 1.18 million bpd after June, indicating crude supply could rise next month no matter what OPEC+ decides. The huge build in distillate inventory in the United States, the world's biggest oil user, also weighed on prices, said CMC Markets' chief market strategist Michael McCarthy. U.S. Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed gasoline stocks rose by 2.8 million barrels, nearly triple what analysts had expected, while distillate stocks rose by 9.9 million barrels, or nearly four times more than expected. Overall demand for diesel and similar fuels is down 13% from the year-ago period over the last four weeks. Gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, picked up last week, but the four-week average still shows a 23% drop from the year-ago period. "It shows the recovery in gasoline and distillate demand is not V-shaped. It just reinforces that we've had this initial (price) recovery driven by supply side discipline," Shaw said. He shows up in a cellphone video, pacing agitatedly as he tries to stop property damage in downtown San Antonio. There he is again in newspaper photos, looking buff in a gray T-shirt and jeans while he shouts at dozens of people to back off. Leading some to wonder: Who was this guy, singlehandedly taking on a mob? Now we know. Bob Owen /Staff photographer Austin King was reportedly in town for military training, the same weekend as the first protest to decry police brutality and honor the life of George Floyd, the African-American man fatally pinned to the ground by a white police officer in Minneapolis. It was a peaceful gathering downtown that turned chaotic once the sun went down. Little did King know that he would soon become the center of attention and not the good kind, at first. The South Carolinian tried to thwart a group of men who were breaking store windows in the 500 block of East Houston Street. To some, hes become a reluctant overnight hero in the process. Bob Owen /Staff photographer On ExpressNews.com: Protest to honor George Floyd turns violent The short video clip of the incident, which was posted on Twitter and has gained more than 8,000 views, is disturbing. It shows King striding in front of a storefront, flailing his arms to get people to hold back. Hey! What are you all doing? This is somebodys business! he yells. One man in the object-throwing crowd gets up in his face. What are you doing? he says. The tension accelerates rapidly. More of the crowd now becoming a mob surround King, almost a dozen men. You can see King throw one punch, then he quickly fades from view, surrounded by attackers, who kick and punch. Matthew Busch /Contributor That would have been the end of it, except for the existence of social media. The clip was posted on Twitter, and soon commenters on the Facebook page of Antonio Lee, an emerging protest leader with a group called Young Ambitious Activists, began hailing the man for standing up for local businesses. Give him a damn key I NEED TO KNOW if this man is still in the city? Lee wrote. If not someone can contact him so I can find a way to GET TO HIM! This has been weighing on my heart. He did more to protect our city than others who actually live here. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!! He ended with a hashtag #LetsMeetAustin. San Antonio owes this man gratitude, David Avila wrote. That video looked pretty brutal, Kelli Conner wrote. Im so torn, as I understand the need for the riots and support it. The peaceful protests have been happening for years and years and death after death. Drastic measures have become necessary to effect change. But man, it hits different when its in your own city and when you watch someone trying to protect her get jumped like that. Matthew Busch /Contributor Someone give him a Medal and a permanent residence here! Ashley Inclan wrote. Give him a damn key! This is 2020 America, so the clip spurred some racial animus as well. King is white; most of his attackers were black. These people are worse than animals, someone Tweeted. Those who study protest movements say property destruction and looting are an outgrowth of racism that has systematically shut out people of color from prosperity and wealth accumulation. Finding King By Wednesday, Lee and his friend, Eric Carreon, another emerging leader of the local protest movement, had been in contact with King. They say he was wounded during the assault a concussion, injury to his back and a broken jaw and had to get medical treatment. Through his father, King declined to be interviewed by the Express-News, saying he didnt want the media attention. On ExpressNews.com: City officials place city under curfew after violence But Carreon, who directs the local chapter of a statewide organization that places college graduates in jobs, said King had agreed to meet with him and Lee for dinner, at a time and place that he wouldnt disclose. We just want to thank him in person, he said. Carreon said his girlfriend was able to find Kings contact information online. King responded to her messages, after he got a new phone his was lost during the attack, along with a Swiss Army knife. Bob Owen /Staff photographer When the Saturday night protest turned rowdy, as Carreon described it, he said he and his girlfriend also tried to defuse tensions and talk to protesters who were yelling and getting into police officers faces. We said we hear you and support you, but we cant condone violence itself, he said. We did our best to downgrade the situation. He said some protesters pointed to the six days of rioting that followed the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that the violence caused change. I told them, no, it was the 10 years of peaceful work for justice that King did that caused that change, he said. Weve got to find new ways to fix this. Carreon said he and Lee, with their many followers on social media, helped draw throngs to downtown San Antonio the morning after the protest to clean up the shattered glass and debris. Theyre also directing a GoFundMe drive to raise money for the damaged businesses. But he said Kings father, who flew here Sunday to be with his son, doesnt want Austin involved with any more protests. Hes worried about his safety, Carreon said. Staff writer Emilie Eaton contributed to this story. 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 Overdrive Toyota has revealed the 2021 Fortuner SUV with a host of cosmetic updates, new equipment in the cabin, and a more powerful engine under the hood. As is instantly evident with the design, the Fortuner now wears a sharper style that comes courtesy of the new headlights, which also integrate a four-pot LED setup. There is more Lexus resemblance in the fascia with very spindle-grille like treatment - but this is exclusive to the range-topping Legender trim. There are a string of daytime running lamps sitting lower in the bumpers. The lower trims get a more sober face, which trades in the current two-slat grille for a new mesh pattern. The lower trims also feature different headlights that have a single projector beam and a new LED signature. The tail has been revised significantly too and looks sportier than the outgoing car. The cabin of the lower trims receives a new and larger 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is compatible with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Legender gets similar infotainment updates too, albeit with a larger 9.0-inch screen. Toyota has also thrown in a 360-degree camera, a 9-speaker JBL audio unit, LED ambient lighting and revised instrumentation. The cabin is secured with up to seven airbags and the Toyota Safety Sense with ADAS features like automated braking at slow-speeds/collision prevention system, lane departure warning and radar-guided cruise control now make its way to the Fortuner. It will be interesting to how many of these new features come to the Indian update. The big change to the 2021 Fortuner is under the hood through - an uprated 2.8l turbo-diesel engine that churns out 204PS of power and 500Nm torque. Toyota claims that despite the upgraded power, the engine delivers better fuel economy and cleaner emissions than its outgoing counterpart. India, however, could continue to receive the current engine in its new BSVI tune. As for the rest of the updates, we expect them to arrive in India early next year at hihger prices than the current model. Most of the reforms that are needed to prevent the type of violence in the justice system that weve seen take place at the local level, Obama said, noting that its prosecutors who decide whether to charge an officer involved in a suspected case of excessive force. The reform has to take place in more than 19,000 American municipalities, more than 18,000 local enforcement jurisdictions. And so, as activists and everyday citizens raise their voices, we need to be clear about where change is going to happen and how we can bring about that change. It is mayors and county executives that appoint most police chiefs and negotiate collective bargaining agreements with police (departments) and that determines police practices in local communities. Epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, speaks at a ceremony to greet and thank a returning medical team who went to aid Hubei province during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, April 22, 2020. [China.org.cn] A top film executive recently revealed his company will produce a new blockbuster based on the true story of doctors who fought against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film Group, said the new movie's working title is Chinese Doctors, and will be based on true events. The creative team has already started work, and carried out in-depth interviews with a Guangdong medical team, led by China's top epidemiologist Dr. Zhong Nanshan, who came to aid Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. According to him, the film will portray various major figures in the fight against COVID-19, rather than focusing on a sole individual. They plan to shoot the film this year and are now working on script. Bona Film Group are experienced at portraying true events in movie blockbusters. Their previous triumphs include Operation Mekong, Operation Red Sea, The Bravest and The Captain, as well as an investment in Hollywood director Roland Emmerich's war epic Midway. Their latest effort is The Rescue based on the true story of a team of Chinese maritime rescuers. However, due to the pandemic, the Spring Festival release date was shelved and postponed. China's film industry has been on hold for four months due to the pandemic and many film companies have suffered and even gone bankrupt. Cinemas are technically allowed to reopen for business with epidemic prevention and control measures, but few have reopened yet. Yu's Bona Film Group has recently set up a new headquarters in Nansha, Guangzhou. He said at a press conference held in Guangzhou on May 27 that he wanted to help make the Great Bay Area the third biggest area for creating Chinese films, after Beijing and Shanghai. There are other two film projects currently in development by Bona Film Group, including Imperial Envoy which will portray national hero Lin Zexu who stopped the illegal import of opium from the British in 1838, and Kashmir Princess, based on the 1955 attempted assassination of Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People's Republic of China (PRC). (Source: China.org.cn) Contributed Photo / Department of Justice / Contributed Photo WATERBURY A man last living in Waterbury faces a federal charge after he allegedly failed to register as a sex offender in Connecticut since moving here back in September 2019, according to federal authorities. Yamil Diaz, 48, was charged by a federal criminal complaint with violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday condemned the death in US police custody of George Floyd as "murder", saying that "racism is something terrible". "This murder of George Floyd is very terrible. Racism is something terrible. Society in the United States is very polarised," she told national broadcaster ZDF in an interview. Asked about US President Donald Trump's role in the unrest sweeping the country, Merkel said while she tries "to bring people together, to seek reconciliation", the US leader's "political style is a very controversial one". Merkel has been a pointed critic of Trump's stance including on his go-it-alone style that sidelines international cooperation. In a striking message to Trump after his election victory in 2016, Merkel had tied her pledge of close ties to democratic values. Any "close cooperation" must be on the basis of the "values of democracy, freedom, respect for the rule of law and human dignity, regardless of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political belief," she said at the time. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, pictured at an interview June 4, 2020, has been a pointed critic of Trump's go-it-alone positions Click here to read the full article. The hashtag #WhiteLivesMatter may have caused some confusion on Twitter on Wednesday, after K-pop fans took over the trending topic by spamming it with fan cams and memes of their favorite artists. The united effort effectively drowned out the white-supremacist messaging that organizers of the hashtag were likely hoping to spread, with K-pop fans using the hashtag to promote their favorite groups instead, while also linking to anti-racist organizations and messaging. More from Rolling Stone The idea for Wednesdays trending topic takeover stemmed from a similar action over the weekend, when K-pop fans spammed the Dallas Police Departments iWatch Dallas app with fan cams and photos. Dallas PD had claimed they were using the app to monitor illegal activity from the protests, but many residents complained that the department was actually using the app to snitch on protesters. K-pop fans replied to the cops call for videos by sending them homemade clips of their favorite Korean artists performing onstage. The idea of spamming these types of white supremacist hashtags came from the idea of spamming the Dallas Police Department app, explains the Twitter user Lovely Doya, a 17-year-old BTS and ONEUS fan from California. We did it to protect the people at the protest because K-pop fans agree that they do not deserve to be arrested for gathering to fight for justice. Since this plan was successful, we realized it would work with other things like burying hateful white-supremacist tweets in their own hashtags. Story continues For Sarah Jimenez, a 20-year-old BTS and Monsta X fan from California, the social media takeover was a way for the K-pop community to unite for something positive, while also refuting common stereotypes about the fandom. People think that sometimes we start those dumb party trends because K-poppers want views for their fan cams, or that we dont even know what the tag is about [and that] we just want the views, but its a misconception, Jimenez says. On some occasions, when we dont like what a tag is trending for, we unite and purposefully spam to overtake it, like was the case for this tag, she explains. While K-pop fans have been known to passionately defend their favorite groups, theyve been unified about the way they are using their voice these days, offering up a more empathetic example of stan culture online. Some big accounts have stopped posting about their idols (favorite artists) and started posting about the Black Lives Matter movement instead, Jimenez explains. The accounts are taking advantage of their already-big platforms to drop links to articles explaining where we can donate funds, and made threads on what we can do to help out the protesters. The K-pop community has also started censoring the idols names [on their tweets] so that we dont accidentally trend them like we usually do, Jimenez says. We want the Black Lives Matter tag to keep trending at number one [rather than the artists]. a thread of hashtags used by the cops to recognize protestors and share informations between each other (m@ga/bluelivesmatter etc..) that we have to spam with fancams/edits espacially on twt and instagram. go get your views #BlackLivesMatter BTS SNIPER bIm ACAB (@BTS_SNIPPER) June 3, 2020 For Lovely Doya, who declined to provide her name but identifies as Mexican-American, participating in Wednesdays #WhiteLivesMatter takeover (which quickly merged to spam the #WhiteOutWednesday tag) came naturally to her and the thousands of others who helped to bury the hashtags racist messaging and original intent. Although K-pop fans are using a very unique and interesting approach, we show our support in this way because social media is our forte and we know we have the ability to make things trend easily, she says. Its important to show support because the BLM movement is about bringing justice to all the innocent lives lost at the hands of racist police officers. It is something that myself and countless other K-pop fans believe in, because many of us, including myself, are POC. At the end of the day, we are human before we are K-pop stans. See where your favorite artists and songs rank on the Rolling Stone Charts. Sign up for Rolling Stones Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A HUNDRED MILLION YEARS AND A DAY by Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Gallic 10.99, 176 pp) A HUNDRED MILLION YEARS AND A DAY by Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Gallic 10.99, 176 pp) Spare, elegant and poetic, this slender novel is quietly devastating. It tells the story of palaeontologist Stan, who risks his already faltering career on a rumour of an unimaginably rare fossil, frozen in a forbidding ice cave deep in an Alpine glacier. Stan enlists the help of long-standing friend Umberto, his young assistant Peter, and local guide Gio: wise, taciturn and with a bone-deep understanding of the treacheries of the weather. As the hazardous conditions worsen, memories of Stans past make their icy presence felt his love for his beautiful, mercurial, depressive mother and his volatile relationship with his brutal, begrudging father. Fault lines begin to fracture the mens friendship as the dig becomes more arduous and the dream of an important discovery turns into a nightmare scenario. WRETCHEDNESS by Andrzej Tichy (And Other Stories 9.99, 176 pp) WRETCHEDNESS by Andrzej Tichy (And Other Stories 9.99, 176 pp) There is a kind of unholy music in this powerful, punchy, perceptive novel. This visceral, rhythmic roar is made up of the pain and the rage and the shame felt by the underdogs in a society determined to exclude them. A cellist meets a worn-down junkie on the towpath of a canal in Malmo and, in an act of literary possession, begins to channel the addicts thoughts. Their pasts of ugly memories and ugly words are uncannily similar. The unspooling story is brutal, a dead-end score of drugs, violence and unbearable sadness, but theres also a damaged beauty to the words and the world, where a stolen radio can offer an escape route from the catastrophes of poverty-stricken life. ROLLING FIELDS by David Trueba ROLLING FIELDS by David Trueba (W&N 16.99, 368 pp) (W&N 16.99, 368 pp) Restless musician Dani Mosca, 40, is in the back of a hearse, re-assessing his life as he brings his fathers body to his childhood countryside village for burial. As they leave Madrid, Dani recalls his troubled relationship with his loving but bossily dismissive dad, his adopted mothers early-onset dementia and the truth about his parentage. Interspersed with these memories are his scattershot thoughts on his failed romances and the schoolboy friendships with glorious, glamorous Gus and hard-drumming Animal, that led to the formation of their successful band, pitching them into a world of fame, money, drugs, infidelity and the untimely death of his best friend. Breezy, bittersweet and tangential, Truebas prose captures the rueful regrets of a man whos searching for meaning and redemption in a life thats short on both. WTI rose almost 90 percent last month, which is the strongest monthly increase in the U.S. benchmark price ever recorded. Naturally, the news has been cause for joy among those rooting for higher oil prices. But should it? It is true that demand for oil is improving, slowly, but improving after lockdowns started being lifted in Asia, Europe, and North America. China's oil demand, notably, has recovered to 90 percent of pre-crisis levels, and U.S. demand is also on the rise, judging by rising refinery runs as reported by the Energy Information Administration. Supply is still being limited, too. OPEC+ started cutting its agreed 9.7 million bpd last month, and despite far from perfect compliance, it has reduced the amount of oil going into markets. U.S. producers also cut production significantly in April and May, and so did Canadian oil companies. All this undoubtedly contributed to the major improvement that WTI prices saw last month. But there was also another reason for the record-breaking price rise: the fact that before that, WTI had fallen to lows also never seen in history. The swing into the negative on April 20 was an unprecedented event as well as a one-time event. The reason WTI swung into the negative was traders selling out of oil to avoid physical delivery. There was little chance this could happen again despite the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission warning about it in May. "The lower you fall, the higher you'll fly" says Chuck Palahniuk, and this has been true for WTI in May. There was no way the benchmark could remain near zero after dropping to below -$37 a barrel in April, not when producers were scrambling to shut in wells, canceling contracts, and generally retrenching. Not when the repeated warnings of analysts that the global oil storage is filling alarmingly fast prompted Saudi Arabia to cut an additional 1 million bpd on top of what it had already agreed to cut under OPEC+ quotas. Related: Saudi Arabia And Russia Agree To Extend Production Cuts This is why this historically fast price rise could be misleading. For all the hype oil demand improvement has been getting, it has yet to recover fully, and nobodyincluding the oil industryknows if it will recover fully. It is yet unclear whether OPEC+ will extend its deepest cuts beyond the end-June expiry. The latest reports here are conflicting, with some sources saying Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed on extending the cuts and others saying Russia is, in fact, in support of the idea to follow the original agreement and ease the cuts to 7.7 million bpd from July. Yesterday, OPEC+ sources said Russia and Saudi Arabia had agreed to extend the deep cuts by one month, but it has yet to be announced officially. What's more, U.S. shale producers are beginning to restart their shut-in wells. This is a necessity for many of them: the longer a well stays shut-in, the higher the risk of losing production. But this means production will be coming back when storage facilities are still full. Demand simply cannot recover this fast, and fuel inventories are proving it: for two weeks now, gasoline and distillate fuel inventories have been rising, with the latest weekly data showing a 2.8-million-barrel rise in gasoline and a 9.9-million-barrel increase in distillate fuel stockpiles. The global picture is not rosier, either. More than a billion barrels of unsellable crude sits in storage facilities around the world, Bloomberg's Grant Smith reported earlier this week. Production may be lower, but these barrels are going nowhere anytime soon. "Even with a conservative view -- assuming a recovery in demand and OPEC sticking to the deeper cuts -- it will take until the middle of next year to reverse the inventory build," BNP Paribas' head of commodity strategy Harry Tchilinguirian told Smith. And this means continued pressure for oil prices, despite the record May gain for WTI. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Baby Dom will now spend his 6-month birthday celebrations at home with his parents: Wagner Andrade via CNN A five-month-old miracle baby has recovered from Covid-19 after spending over a month in a coma, his parents have said. Brazilian baby Dom was diagnosed with the novel virus at the Pro-Cardiaco hospital in Rio de Janeiro a few months after being born. Dom was in the hospital for 54 days in total, with 32 of those spent in an induced coma, according to his father, Wagner Andrade. It is unclear how Dom contracted coronavirus although his parents think he may have picked it up while visiting relatives. He has now recovered and will be able to spend his 6-month birthday on 14 June at home with his father and mother, Viviane Monteiro. First, I felt relieved, and then indescribable happiness, Andrade told CNN. We were longing to get him back home for more than 50 days. Brazil has so far reported over 550,000 Covid-19 cases the third highest in the world, second only to the US and recorded more than 31,000 deaths, according to official figures. Despite Brazil becoming the new epicentre of the pandemic, President Jair Bolsonaro continues to downplay its seriousness, urging people to get back to work. Earlier this month, Bolsonaro was pictured mixing with crowds of supporters and embracing children during a protest, defying his own health ministers social distancing guidelines. Earlier this week, prominent Brazilians from across the political spectrum launched an alternative plan to Bolsonaros handling of the crisis. A movement calling itself Movimento Estamos Juntos (We Are Together Movement) published a manifesto in multiple newspapers, with 1,600 initial signatories pledging to put aside political divisions to resist Bolsonaro. The next day, Bolsonaro rode on horseback with his supporters to protest against Congress and the Supreme Court, which is investigating his interference in police affairs. Read more Brazils political rivals unite to oppose Jair Bolsonaro Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (NYSE: CP) has been given the green light to own the portion of the Central Maine & Quebec (CMQ) Railway operating in the U.S. The Surface Transportation Board approved CP's acquisition of CMQ US on May 4. It became effective on Wednesday, June 3. CMQ will act as a subsidiary of CP. The acquisition of CMQ's Canadian operations was finalized on December 30, 2019. CP has said the acquisition of the U.S. and Canadian operations of the short line railroad would boost CP's reach into eastern Canada, as well as grow CP's network into about 13,000 miles coast-to-coast over six Canadian provinces and 11 U.S. states. The short line provides CP access to ports at Searsport, Maine, and Saint John, New Brunswick, via the Eastern Maine Railway and the New Brunswick Railway. The connections give CP access to a route to Montreal and Toronto that's approximately 200 miles shorter than its competitor CN (NYSE: CNI). CP executives have also said previously that the acquisition could provide opportunities to compete with the eastern Canadian trucking market. CMQ Canada's 236.8-mile route spans from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, to the Maine border, while CMQ US consists of 244.2 route miles in Maine and Vermont. CMQ US also consists of 57.3 route-miles leased from the Maine Department of Transportation. "This transaction is a generational business opportunity for CP," said Keith Creel, CP's president and CEO. "It enables us to serve customers through a larger coast-to-coast network across Canada and brings direct Class I freight rail service to the State of Maine for the first time in decades." CP also said it would invest as much as $90 million over the next three years to bring the infrastructure up to Class III standards as designated by the Federal Railroad Administration. Previously, portions of the track have been reported as having structural deficiencies. Story continues "Today's expansion of the CP network creates opportunities to move products in literally every line of business in our portfolio," said John Brooks, CP's chief marketing officer. "Through the precision scheduled railroading model and the commitment of our people, we will unlock new potential for business and industry across this region and beyond." See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden were rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination when they debated last summer. Now, she's a leading choice for his running mate. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press) The progressive prosecutor brand Kamala Harris tried to build during her failed 2020 presidential bid never stuck with many party activists, who argued her record made her more deserving of the viral meme Kamala is a cop. Yet, with the country gripped by a wave of protest against police brutality toward people of color and former Vice President Joe Biden searching for a running mate Californias junior senator is working overtime to cement the progressive-prosecutor label into the minds of voters. This time, the effort appears to be working better. Since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week, the race to join Biden on the ticket has shifted abruptly in Harris favor, according to Democratic strategists and analysts. Although the campaign dynamics could easily change again by late July, when Biden says he'll make his pick, Harris is making the most of the moment, showing up everywhere and anywhere she can to position herself as a healer, a crusader and a shrewd political mind capable of shepherding change through the criminal justice system. There hasn't been a stronger voice on this issue and out in front and more in the street with marchers than Sen. Harris, said Cornell Belcher, who was a pollster for Barack Obama and has been critical of his partys lackluster outreach to black voters in recent years. If there is one person who has connected in this moment in a way that rises above some of the others, it is Kamala Harris. Even some activists who pummeled Harris during the primary campaign have toned down their criticism, seeing her as the best opportunity for a woman of color to emerge as Biden's running mate. But it remains to be seen whether Harris, a politician who has long excelled at creating inspirational moments only to falter in the follow-through, can move beyond the missteps of her past and persuade voters that she can deliver. America is raw right now, Harris said at a news conference with other lawmakers Tuesday, one of her many public appearances since Americas cities erupted in protest. Her wounds are exposed. The reality of it is that the life of a black person in America historically, and even most recently with Mr. Floyd, has never been treated as fully human. Story continues Harris, who declined an interview request, said at that event that she chose a career as a prosecutor because I knew how law enforcement had a long history of enforcing laws indiscriminately, and often based on race, and racism. She demanded Congress take action to reform a criminal justice system that for far too long has been informed by systemic racism and by racial bias. The typically opaque race for the vice presidential nomination has become an open audition in the current campaign cycle. Biden has said he will pick a woman as his running mate and has also said he wants someone who has the experience to step immediately into the presidency. Given his age and the desire to draw a sharp contrast with the often-chaotic Trump administration, Biden wants a ticket that will convey a message of readiness to voters. At the same time, amid the chaos and anger in the streets, he's under increasing pressure to choose a woman of color. Its something he has to look at very, very closely, said Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader. I think that he is trying to decide what is best because whats happening in the country in the last week has really changed the direction of the country. Among the black women being considered are former Georgia state Sen. Stacey Abrams and Florida Rep. Val Demings. Both are little known nationally, but Biden has confirmed they have caught his eye. Demings is the child of a maid and a janitor who took a job as a night patrol officer and rose through the ranks to become chief of police in Orlando. Abrams has helped lead her partys efforts nationally to expand voting rights. In 2018, she narrowly lost the governors race in Georgia, a red state coveted by Democrats. The nationwide demonstrations have also generated attention for Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has received praise for her poised and empathetic handling of the protests in her city. Also in strong contention is Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a leader of the party's progressive wing. The prospects of Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a political moderate, have dimmed amid renewed scrutiny of her record as county attorney prosecuting police shootings in Minneapolis. Biden's most influential African American supporters are not insisting he choose a black running mate. Nothing would make me more proud than to see a black woman on the ticket, said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest ranking African American in the House, whose support was critical to propelling Biden toward the nomination. But we've got to do what is necessary to make sure that we have someone on the ticket who can complement the candidacy, not complicate the candidacy, he said. Harris' supporters say she most closely meets that test. As a senator and former California attorney general, she has far more national experience than the other women of color on the short list. Yet the Californian is still working to persuade activists that she has the drive and political courage to push through the systemic change Democrats are promising. As California attorney general from 2011 through 2016, she pursued tangible reform but sidestepped more sweeping and politically fraught efforts to address racial inequities. She declined to back a bill requiring officers across the state to be equipped with body cameras, for example, saying she opposed a one-size-fits-all approach. She also stayed quiet on several measures introduced in the wake of Michael Browns death in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014, including legislation that would have mandated independent probes into police killings. As the politics of policing have shifted, so has Harris. During her presidential campaign, she reversed some prior positions. She now backs outside investigations of wrongdoing by law enforcement. She has also called for a national standard on police use of force that would require that force be necessary instead of the current standard in most jurisdictions that allows police to use any reasonable force. She has called for banning the use of chokeholds as ways to restrain suspects. Her history shows Harris to be "a follower and not a leader when it comes to criminal justice reform, said Lara Bazelon, who directs the Criminal & Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinics at the University of San Francisco School of Law. Once there is consensus around a reform, she is all for it. Until there is a consensus, she is just a status quo prosecutor. Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is also wary. During Harris' presidential run, Garza said, she was questioned about her record in putting black people behind bars and her stance of being tough on crime. What I wanted her to say was, that was a different time that was a time that was before Black Lives Matter changed the political landscape and changed what was possible in relationship to transforming the criminal justice system. I think we got a different answer than that. But Garza also said that a strength Harris and Demmings bring is a real relationship with the black community. Nobody can say that they are pandering to black people, Garza said. They're black. The thing I think is very important, is somebody who can activate black voters and energize black voters around this campaign." Bazelon, too, said activists are less intent on relitigating Harris' record than they were when she was running. The senator, meanwhile, has been aggressively meeting with civil rights groups, partnering with them on legislation and making herself available to hear their concerns. She stood before the community and took questions and talked about where she went wrong, said Rashad Robinson, executive director of the advocacy group Color of Change. And some strategists believe Harris' record of moderation, even if it irks activists, could prove an asset with a broader universe of voters. We have to wait to see what public opinion looks like when everything settles down, said Andra Gillespie, a scholar of African American politics at Emory University. Some people will want to take a hard line on reform. But not everyone will be there," she said. "Biden needs someone who is sensitive to the very legitimate concerns about police brutality, but who can also talk about protecting communities and supporting police. This person will have to appeal to multiple camps and communities. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. I climbed into the drivers seat of my parked car and let the late afternoon sun wash over me through the windshield. Sitting in my driveway, going nowhere, I took a deep breath and waited for my therapist to video-call me. Normally, our sessions take place in her office, where I can ease into the inviting couch across from her. But these are not normal times. Since mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic forced the country into quarantine, Ive been having virtual therapy sessionsusually from my parked cars bucket seat. In this cocoon, Im not distracted by the electronic ding of work emails, my kids requests for snacks, or my dogs barking. With the help of my therapist, Im able to process my worries and uncertainties uninterrupted. And while my car isnt as comfortable as my therapists couch, our virtual sessions are as valuable to me as our in-person sessions were, particularly now, when the world seems to have turned upside down. The pandemic, our nations systemic challenges, and the protests raging in recent weeks have all taken a profound mental health toll on Americans across the country. This is especially true for communities of color, which have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and the fear and heartache of our countrys deep-rooted racism. A Consumer Reports nationally representative survey of 2,085 U.S. adults conducted in May found that 38 percent had experienced depression or anxiety as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19. And Census Bureau data collected in April and May found that at least a third of American adults are showing signs of anxiety or depression, up from an estimated 11 percent the previous year. Crisis hotlines are also reporting a dramatic spike in calls, says Janet Sarkos, executive director of Caring Contact, a call center, based in New Jersey, that is part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. She has talked with callers worried about sick family members, overwhelmed by feelings of isolation, frustrated by the effects of quarantine on their daily lives, and terrified about their finances after getting laid off. Story continues Theres also the significant trauma many front-line healthcare providers and essential workers are experiencing. All these mental health impacts may be long-lasting, says Jay H. Shore, M.D., professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. When we have national disasters, we anticipate increasing mental health issues, particularly anxiety, depression, addictive disorders, and trauma disorders, he says. But Shore says mental healthcare is available even now, while were mostly homebound. In fact, therapists may be more accessible because the shutdowns have led most practitioners to transition to virtual care. Also reassuring: Research shows that teletherapy can be just as effective as traditional talk therapy. So if youre looking for psychological support now, perhaps for the first time, you have optionsvia phone, video, and text messaging. Wondering how to navigate the process of finding a therapist? We have the answers. How Can You Find a Therapist Who Will See You Virtually? Even though most licensed mental health providers who offer talk therapy are seeing patients virtually now, it still makes sense to search for a therapist the same way you would have prepandemic, says Lynn Bufka, Ph.D., the senior director of practice and research policy at the American Psychological Association. I always recommend asking your primary care provider or family and friends for a referral, Bafka says. If you have health insurance, you can also look on your insurers website for a list of therapists covered under your plan. Other good resources include the therapist finder tools on websites for the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. If you dont have a referral, or dont have time to look around, several online platforms can help match people with licensed mental health providers. For instance, Talkspace, a virtual service you can access through your phone or computer, contracts with more than 5,000 licensed and credentialed therapists. The process starts with a consultation with a licensed therapist who assesses your goals, your condition, and your preferences, and then uses a matching algorithm to narrow down top providers for you in your state, says Roni Frank, co-founder and head of clinical services at Talkspace. Once you settle on a therapist, you can choose a plan that allows you to text message with the therapist daily, have live video sessions, or a combination. Frank notes that since mid-March, the number of clients seeking help through the website has doubled compared with this time last year. How Can You Vet a Potential Therapist? Its important to get a sense of the therapist before you start sessions. If youre not comfortable with the person, youre unlikely to benefit from the therapy. So schedule a call or a videochat to get a feel for each other, and to ask about the therapists training and approach. There are several types of mental healthcare providers, including clinical social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, marriage and family therapists, and mental health counselors. While all are qualified to provide therapy and must be licensed to do so, their educational requirements and the types of services they provide can vary. A clinical social worker and a mental health counselor, for instance, have masters degrees, a psychologist has a doctorate degree, and a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can prescribe medications. When talking to a prospective therapist, ask about the persons years in practice, specialties, therapy techniques, and fee. Ideally the therapist you choose will be a good personality fit for you, and will be within your budget and/or covered by your insurance. What If You Cant Afford Therapy? Rest assured that anonymous, free mental health support is available 24/7. Its true that some insurers have limited, or even no, coverage for mental health, and many mental healthcare providers dont participate in insurance plans. Its also true that traditional therapy can be expensive: Depending on the type of therapist and the part of the country, a session can cost from about $75 to $500. But there are multiple ways to find free or lower-cost help. For instance, you can call or text 211 (or go to the 211 website) anytime for a referral to a provider who offers support at no cost or on a sliding scale, based on your budget. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 and ask for a referral to a local resource or provider, or ask to be transferred to their warm line for nonemergency calls, where you can talk anonymously to a trained professional at no cost. If you prefer texting, message the Crisis Text Line at 741741, which also provides free confidential support via text message day or night. Talkspace and other online programs, such as Amwell and BetterHelp, can also be options because they tend to cost less than traditional therapy. Fees range from about $40 to $100 per week. Some programs also accept insurance. How Can You Be Sure the Therapist Will Protect Your Privacy? All licensed therapists are obligated to abide by patient confidentiality rules, but youd be wise to ask your therapist what measures he takes to ensure your privacy online and over the phone. Many practitioners are using encrypted web-based platforms that are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. That means the technology meets regulatory standards to protect the privacy and security of personal health information. Ask your prospective therapist whether his telehealth service is HIPAA-compliant. Its also a good idea to ask where the therapist intends to be when you have a virtual session. Ideally, he has a quiet room in his home or office where he can close the door and give you undivided attention. Do You Need to Find a Provider Who Practices in Your State? Yes. Mental healthcare providers are licensed in the state where they practice, so a therapist would typically not be allowed to treat you if you are in a different state at the time of the therapy. During the pandemic, however, some states have created temporary exemptions so patients can continue getting care virtually from their existing providers, particularly for therapists who often see patients from bordering states. Though its unclear how long these exemptions may lastsome experts are advocating for more flexibility in licensing jurisdictions going forwardyour best bet is to confirm that the provider is licensed to treat you where youre located. Does Teletherapy Work As Well As In-Person Care? Studies have consistently shown that teletherapy can be as effective as in-person care. Whats more, virtual therapy can offer patients more scheduling flexibility, convenience, privacy, and a bigger pool of potential therapists. In some ways, this quarantine has been a game changer for telehealth because it suddenly became a necessity, says Shore, who is also chair of the American Psychiatric Associations telepsychiatry committee. It was no longer a theoretical debate about when or how it could be used. Many practices virtualized in less than 48 hours because they had to. There are some differences, though. Bufka, at the American Psychological Association, says it may be harder for therapists to pick up on some nonverbal cues when connecting virtuallybut they have ways to make up for that. Some therapists say they attend to tone of voice and conversation pauses differently on the phone vs. via Zoom or in person, she says. But she emphasizes that regardless of the differences, seeing a therapist virtually is always going to be better than not seeing a therapist. Does Insurance Work the Same for Teletherapy? It depends. Insurance coverage will vary based on your plan, your state, and the providers license. Some states have passed telemedicine parity laws, which require insurers to reimburse for in-person and virtual care at the same rate if the care and results are comparable, Shore says. But not every state has passed that parity law. That said, during the pandemic, some regulations have been relaxed, so before you start, ask the therapist and insurer about how you will be charged and what will be covered. Can a Psychiatrist Prescribe Medication Without Seeing You in Person? Yes, generally. But there are some state and federal regulations about prescribing controlled substances, a subset of drugs that include stimulants such as Adderall, used to treat attention deficit disorder, and Xanax, used to treat anxiety. For some controlled substances, you may need to get blood work and a weight and vital signs check, but that doesnt need to be with the psychiatrist, says Jessica Gold, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. During the coronavirus pandemic, however, many regulations have been waived. Your psychiatrist will let you know whats doable. How Can You Get the Most out of Virtual Therapy? Pay attention to what works for you. If you like to write out your thoughts, texting with your therapist may be your best option. Live video or phone sessions, on the other hand, have the likely benefit of providing the calm you may need to focus on your emotions while getting real-time feedback from the therapist. Having therapy in the middle of a crazy moment at home with kids interrupting and laundry buzzing may not give you the psychic and physical space you need, says Melissa Cohen, a licensed clinical social worker in New Jersey. (Full disclosure: Shes my therapist.) Hence, my newfound affinity for my parked car. And it turns out Im not the only one: I cant tell you how many virtual sessions I have now where people are in their cars, Cohen says. Right now, in the middle of the pandemic, you may have to get creative. Is Teletherapy Here to Stay? Most likely. The pandemic has shown that the demand for mental health services is growing, and virtual platforms are uniquely able to meet some of that need. They may even be able to fill certain gaps that existed in our mental healthcare system before the pandemic upended our lives, especially as regulations evolve. Id love for everybody who wants mental healthcare to get mental healthcare, says Gold, at Washington University. Now that nearly everyone is learning what its like to live with some degree of anxiety and isolation, I hope more people begin to view mental healthcare not as a last resort when youre in crisis but as something that should be part of your regular routine. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255), or message the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Both programs provide free, confidential support 24/7. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright 2020, Consumer Reports, Inc. Judge grants definitive suspension against Grupo Posadas hotel megaprojects at Chemuyil Cancun, Q.R. A seventh district judge has granted the definitive suspension against the Grupo Posadas hotel megaproject next to the Xcacel-Xcacelito Sea Turtle Sanctuary in Chemuyil. On Monday, Judge Dario Alejandro Villa Arnaiz made his ruling against the project, which includes the 340-room construction of the Live Aqua Beach Resort Tulkal and the 515-room construction of the Fiesta Americana All Inclusive Tulkal located in Chemuyil and Chemuyilito. The ruling came after a group of local environmentalists were successful in filing an Amparo against the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (STyPS) by omission in its functions. Araceli Dominguez Ramirez, president of the Mayab Ecological Group denounced the terrible devastation of the coastal area and loss of habitat for the sea turtle as well as the enormous risk of affecting the turtle sanctuary. In his ruling, Judge Villa Arnaiz included the State Health Services (Sesa) in Quintana Roo for not having inspected, closed and removed workers from the site, the same in the case of the STyPS, Profepa and Semarnat for not preventing the construction work from continuing. There was omission on the part of Profepa as it did not prevent work on the property from continuing. Likewise, the Ministry of Labor and the State Health Services for not having inspected, closed and removed the workers in the Chemuyil and Chemuyilito works. Dominguez Ramirez said that a complaint against the project was initially filed March 12, however, officials from Profepa were reluctant to respond, attend and follow up and / or develop the necessary administrative actions to verify the facts of the complaint. According to the ruling, the failure to sanction non-compliance with sanitary measures and actions of prevention and containment to prevent the spread of covid 19 was also taken into account to grant the definitive suspension. Profepa has been requested to execute the measures to determine the acts done and omissions constituting the complaint. The ruling states that inspection and surveillance cannot be postponed given the possible damage to the Chemuyil and Chemuyilito ecosystems, said Araceli Dominguez, who stressed that no guarantee was requested to grant the suspension since, according to the judge, the protection of the environment and natural resources means the social interest of Mexicans. The ruling says the high court of the country has stated that the right to a healthy environment, as a fundamental right and individual guarantee enshrined in Article 4 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, must be understood as a requirement and a duty. More than 1 in 5 immigrants held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Houston have tested positive with the new coronavirus as the rate of infection has nearly tripled there, raising concerns from health experts. As of the end of May, 78 of the 379 immigrants held at the Houston Contract Detention Facility had tested positive for COVID-19, according to statistics provided by the federal agency. The previous week, 21 immigrants were reported to have been infected. To Amanda M. Simanek, an epidemiology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukees School of Public Health, the infection rate was concerning but not surprising. In any congregate, indoor setting in which there is overcrowding, maintaining levels of social distancing necessary to prevent the spread of infection is a huge challenge, which makes detention centers prime locations for outbreaks, Simanek said. The facility has the highest infection rate among three ICE dedicated detention centers in the Greater Houston Area. It is also the only one administered by CoreCivic, a private contractor that manages detention and correctional facilities for government agencies. The Joe Corley Detention Center in Conroe follows with an infection rate of 14.7 percent among immigrant detainees, or about 1 in every 7 people. The number of confirmed cases grew from 29 to 43 during the last week of May. The other ICE facility, the Montgomery Processing Center, has an infection rate of 4.4 percent. However, its COVID-19 cases more than doubled in the same period, from eight to 21. The private firm GEO Group manages that site and Corley. ICE officials said the agency has intensified its testing capability in the three Houston facilities, resulting in a corresponding rise in the number of cases. The agency said more than 400 ICE detainees had been tested in the three detention facilities combined. They said they are now also examining detainees who are asymptomatic, adding that nearly two-thirds of those tested positive were at the time. With over 440 positive COVID-19 cases in detention centers across Texas, the state leads the country in the number of infections among ICE detainees, almost equal to Louisiana, with 294 confirmed cases, and California with 160, combined. ICE has tested 2,781 detainees under its custody across the country as of Tuesday morning, and half of them, or 1,406, were COVID-19 positive. In the afternoon, they reported having fewer cases under their custody, 813, and 3,092 tested. The discrepancy could be due to a change in reporting method as ICE is now separating cases by total confirmed and currently under isolation or monitoring. There are also 44 confirmed cases among employees of ICE detention centers nationwide. One health expert told congressional leaders this week that an anticipated spread of COVID-19 through detention facilities could eventually overwhelm nearby healthcare providers and expand the virus in communities. Now the flames are growing, Dr. Scott Allen testified Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about practices of ICE detentions and prisons during the pandemic. He said he warned Congress in a March letter of a tinderbox scenario. Recent data from the COVID Prison Project shows that prison populations test substantially higher than the general population in many states, said Allen, who works for the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Department of Homeland Security, to which ICE belongs. However, he testified as an individual supported by the whistleblower advocacy group Government Accountability Project. Based on his two decades of experience in correctional health, Allen warned that the expansion of COVID-19 inside detention centers represents not only a risk for detainees but also for the surrounding communities. He compared detention centers to bus terminals with people coming and going. New immigrants arrive regularly and are often transferred from facilities escorted by staff. Detainees are also released at courts and dropped at bus stations and airports without warning, he said. Officers and staff come and go, three shifts a day. And the virus can easily move back and forth by means of the asymptomatic silent spreaders who carry the virus but do not have symptoms. His lawyer Dana Gold, with the Accountability Project, said Allen could not comment directly on the conditions at the three facilities in Houston. Simanek, the epidemiology professor, said that the high proportion of asymptomatic immigrants who tested positive in the three Houston detention centers are precisely the silent spreaders together with staff in the same condition. This is even more testimony to why the inability to properly social distance in such settings is problematic, Simanek said, talking about detentions in general. Meanwhile, immigrant detainees have been trying to reach out to the public with letters, messages and videos posted on social media about their fears of contamination in unsanitary confinement conditions. There are many people sick inside (ICE detentions), but they dont want to tell, said an immigrant from Honduras who was at the Houston Correctional and Montgomery facility this year and released two weeks ago. She doesnt want to be identified for fear of retaliation since she is still hoping to advance her case in court. Advocacy organizations such as the Houston Legal Collaborative and Freedom for Immigrants said they are receiving numerous calls from detained immigrants complaining about lack of hygiene and protection from the virus. ICE officers insist that they are taking measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and noted that they had released about 900 detainees nationwide with serious risk of infection due to underlying health conditions. Democratic lawmakers have questioned ICEs handling of the pandemic at detention facilities. A recent inspection under the Department of Homeland Security found several deficiencies. At the Corley facility, for example, units of both women and men with a capacity of 10 or more detainees have only one toilet. The DHS Office of Inspector General said last month that the agencys watchdog is opening an investigation into ICE handling of the pandemic in its detention facilities. olivia.tallet@chron.com Twitter.com/oliviaptallet P olice are hunting for an IT technician accused of carrying out a rucksack bomb hoax outside Downing Street during the coronavirus crisis. Toby Champeney, 57, is accused of leaving a suspicious package near to Prime Minister Boris Johnsons official residence while the national lockdown was in place in April. It is said he told police the rucksack contained a bomb and allegedly wanted to provoke a reaction, Westminster magistrates court heard. Champeney was set free on bail following his first court appearance in April, but did not show up to court for todays hearing. His lawyer asked for the case to be adjourned for a week, but magistrate Nicholas Tarry issued a warrant for Champeneys arrest. We are very concerned that he has become uncontactable and we believe that it is in the interest of justice to bring him into custody as soon as possible so he can answer this charge, he said. Champeney is charged over an incident in Downing Street on April 21, just after the coronavirus lockdown had been extended and as Boris Johnson was recovering from his own bout of the disease. Boris Johnson was seriously ill with coronavirus earlier this year / via REUTERS He is charged with a bomb hoax for placing an article with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property, and a public order charge of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour. Champeney was released in April on bail on the conditions he live at his home address and does not enter Whitehall in central London. Loading.... Champeney, from Fulham, has not yet entered pleas to the charges. Police now have the power to trace and detain him in order to bring him to a court hearing. President Donald Trump urged New York City leaders to crack down on police-brutality protests in the city, warning he would end the demonstrations otherwise. If they dont get it straightened out soon, Ill take care of it, Trump said of New York in an interview with his former Press Secretary Sean Spicer on NewsMax TV, a conservative outlet. Also read: Snapchat curbs Donald Trump posts for inciting racial violence The remark came as Trump and Spicer discussed whether the president would seek to deploy the US military to break up protests. I dont think well have to, Trump said. He has become an Instagram sensation in recents months thanks to his hilarious Instagram videos from his home quarantine. Leslie Jordan was in fine form on Wednesday as his danced for his 4.6 million followers in honor of the start of Pride Month. The 65-year-old let loose while grooving to the classic Motown hit Please Mr. Postman, performed by the Marvelettes. Shaking it: Leslie Jordan, 65, was in fine form on Wednesday as his danced to Please Mr. Postman for his 4.6 million followers in honor of the start of Pride Month Leslie opened his clip by gently removing his black mask, which read: 'Well, s***... How y'all doin'?' Since coronavirus lockdowns began, the comic actor has used a variation on that greeting for nearly all of his hilarious Instagram check-ins for fellow 'shut-ins.' He danced while holding the mask above his head, before tossing it aside to show off his T-shirt, which featured an animation version of himself and read, 'Love. Light. Leslie.' Catchphrase: Leslie opened his clip by gently removing his black mask, which read: 'Well, s***... How y'all doin'?' He uses a variation on the phrase to open most of his Instagram posts amid his coronavirus quarantine Time to boogie: He danced while holding the mask above his head, before tossing it aside to show off his T-shirt, which featured an animation version of himself and read, 'Love. Light. Leslie' The American Horror Story: 1984 actor turned around to shake his backside and revealed the shirt's reverse side, reading: 'Can I be your favorite Guncle?' 'The link for my merch is in my bio, whatever that means. I wouldn't know, because I'm just a little dancin' fool,' he joked, after revealing to The Washington Post in late April that he can't do much with a computer beyond emailing and scanning documents. Though he looked as if he was having the time of his life dancing, he was a bit more serious in his caption celebrating Pride Month. 'I am excited to celebrate Pride Month with all of you. It is because of all of the people who spoke up both gay and straight that we are able to celebrate our differences today,' he wrote. 'I am excited to celebrate Pride Month with all of you. It is because of all of the people who spoke up both gay and straight that we are able to celebrate our differences today,' he wrote On a serious note: Leslie referenced the ongoing protests against systemic racism and police violence throughout the country that were inspired by the death of George Floyd Leslie also referenced the ongoing protests against systemic racism and police violence throughout the country that were inspired by the deaths of George Floyd and other black men and women. 'Although we are having a different discussion in our country right now, it is very much the same. Always call out inequality when you see it and take the necessary steps to make our world is more inclusive. We got this. 'Happy Pride Yall,' he concluded, reminding his followers to 'remember the rainbow has many colors.' He also announced that part of the profits from purchases of the mask or the T-shirt on his website would go to a 'reputable organization that promotes equal rights.' Sharing the stage: Leslie previously donated his Instagram time on Sunday to Deesha Dyer, the former White House Social Secretary to President Barack Obama, who talked about systemic racism and police violence Doing his part: In April, the actor shared his own story of standing up to prejudice after he revealed he threw a drink on a group of men making homophobic slurs and threats at a West Hollywood Starbucks in 2015 Leslie previously donated his Instagram time on Sunday to Deesha Dyer, the former White House Social Secretary to President Barack Obama. She took over his account for a little under two minutes to speak about the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that have inspired people across the nation to protest police violence and racism. Back in April, the actor shared his own story of standing up to prejudice after he revealed he threw a drink on a group of men making homophobic slurs and threats at a West Hollywood Starbucks in 2015. Limerick City and County Council has been recognised by Bloomberg Philanthropies for its work in local government innovation. The council was recognised by Bloomberg for its creation of a new Covid 19 communications tool, and channel for employee feedback, a smartphone app for outdoor staff who dont always have access to email. The app enables staff to keep up with their work and key information on how to stay safe while doing so. It has since become a central platform for information related to staff health and wellbeing, leave policies, counselling services and more, particularly with remote working. Aoife Madden, Head of the Business Improvement Department at Limerick City and County Council, has also been highlighted as an Innovator to watch by the billion dollar organisation featuring in its newsletter Spark which is distributed to thousands of innovation subscribers and contacts across the world and shared across its social media platforms. Aoife Madden, Head of the Business Improvement Department @limerickcouncil, was this week highlighted as an Innovator to watch by the billion dollar organisation Bloomberg Philanthropies #HowLimerick Read more: https://t.co/lonZ6QhaCH pic.twitter.com/YSeuyglhQx Limerick Council (@LimerickCouncil) June 4, 2020 Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloombergs giving, including his foundation and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. Limerick is the first Irish city to feature in the Bloomberg publication showcasing the local authoritys commitment to innovation in the delivery of services to the people of Limerick. Limerick City and County Council set up its Business Improvement Department in 2017, a small dynamic team trained in Service Design and Lean tools headed by Aoife Madden who says that the local authority places huge emphasis on driving innovation. The Business Improvement team works to ensure services are citizen focused and seeks opportunities to leverage data and collaborate in the improvement of all services, she pointed out. Our team is lucky that driving innovation is a top priority in our organisation and is a key element of our Corporate Plan, we are always looking at ways to innovate, improve and do things better. We have been working with Bloomberg Philanthropies to share information and collaborate with other local government bodies around the world and with thousands of international subscribers to the newsletter, Limerick City and County Council has been put firmly on the map as one of Europes most innovative local authorities, she added. Limerick City and County Council Chief Executive Dr Pat Daly said it is a great honour for the local authority to be recognised by one of the worlds top philanthropic organisations. Innovation in local government is a key priority for us and particularly over the last few months as we led Limerick through this pandemic and are now getting ready to re-open our city and county towns, he said. I would like to congratulate Aoife and her team on being recognised. Our Limerick brand is all about the energetic and driven attitude that has been forged through Limericks transformative journey and the open minded approach that create the conditions for innovation to thrive. I can think of no better example of the edge and embrace of Limerick than this honour which showcases the local authoritys commitment to innovation in the delivery of services to the people of Limerick, he added. Fox News anchor Ed Henry cornered White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley into a trap of his own making on Thursday when the veteran host repeatedly grilled the flack on President Donald Trumps attacks on his former Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis. Mattis, who resigned in late 2018 over Trumps Syria policy, issued a strong rebuke on Wednesday of the presidents bizarre photo op at St. Johns Episcopal Church, calling it an abuse of executive authority and an example of Trumps deliberate effort to divide Americans. The president, meanwhile, responded by falsely claiming he fired Mattis, calling him the most overrated general. During an interview on Americas Newsroom, Gidley was asked to weigh in on the war of words between Trump and his former cabinet official. The Trump flack claimed the former U.S. Central Command leader had his head in the sand over the massive protests amid George Floyds death. And after Gidley declared that Mattis has a fundamental misunderstanding of the moment, Henry pushed back. When General Mattis says hes not even pretending to try to unite people, arent you making his point? Henry wondered aloud. When he says that, rather than inviting him and saying, What do you mean? Lets bring people together, you are attacking this retired general. Isnt that making the point that you are not uniting people? No, the division is on the other side, Gidley retorted before reading off some lines from a recent Trump speech. But the president is calling him the most overrated general, the Fox anchor interjected. Hes the former defense secretary for this president. Thats uniting people, calling him the most overrated? The deputy press secretary, meanwhile, continued to take the Trumpian tack of insulting the presidents ex-official. Its obvious that the general doesnt have a clue whats going on in the American cities out there, or actually worse, has turned a blind eye to it, Gidley exclaimed. The president is solely focused on uniting this country and bringing back safety and security in our American cities. Story continues This country is the greatest country, the greatest idea ever realized and the president wants to protect that at every cost, he continued. Hes doing that. But he also works as the healer-in-chief. Hes done that time and time again, bringing people together. LeBron James Calls Out Fox News Host Laura Ingraham Over Drew Brees Hypocrisy 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. Chattanooga-based PlainView LED, which specializes in digital signage, is expanding operations with a new assembly plant at 2802 Belle Arbor Ave. The 10,500-square foot facility was purchased March 24 of this year. Renovations on the building were completed in just 45 days. Moving forward with the expansion during an unprecedented time in the United States was not an easy task, said officials. However, the PlainView LED team made themselves available to customers, all the while taking safety measures and maintaining social distancing. The pause in the economy allowed us time to devote 100 percent attention in improvements, inventory and streamline [the] assembly process, said Derek Markey, COO of PlainView LED. We expanded our operations as others slowed down. Work on the plant is nearly complete and production will begin in early June. Plans for the assembly plant have been underway since 2018. The expansion marks PlainView LEDs official move to assemble their products in the United States. Dealer partners and billboard operators have already installed PlainView LED products coast to coast, from Philadelphia to Washington state. Interviews for assembly technicians and an assembly plant manager are underway. I knew 10 years ago when the first digital signs began to hit the market that this is where the sign industry was going, and I wanted to be part of it, said Todd Plain, CEO of PlainView LED. After selling digital signs for the past 10 years all over the United States, Im excited to expand our company and begin assembling our own digital signs in my hometown of Chattanooga. The company has also developed its own proprietary software, Spotlight. The software allows users to enjoy a more intuitive approach to creating and scheduling their content on both large and small format digital signs. PlainView LED has also developed an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) approved smart module. PlainView LEDs Signature Series LED Smart Module allows the company to seamlessly build digital billboards, digital business signs, scoreboards, and electronic message centers using the same product and parts. ictured are (top) a 14 foot by 48 foot large format digital sign and (bottom) a 10.5 foot by 36 foot large format digital sign assembled in PlainView LED's Chattanooga plant. The COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged lockdown have radically changed the way South African companies operate, how education happens, and how people interact. Working from home is now the norm for many employees and face-to-face meetings have quickly become a thing of the past. Education moved online for many students and communicating with family and friends is nearly exclusively done electronically. At the core of supporting this digital transformation are South Africas five mobile operators Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, and Rain. Mobile operators support the communication needs of millions of South Africans through Internet access, voice calling, and messaging services. They are also supporting students online studies through free access to a wide range of educational websites and free data bundles. The change in behaviour during the lockdown, free data bundles, and zero-rated access to a wide range of websites have resulted in a spike in traffic on mobile networks. Vodacom, for example, said it has seen a 40% increase in mobile network traffic and a 250% increase in fixed traffic during the COVID-19 lockdown. This raises the question of how mobile are coping during the lockdown and what impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on their businesses. MyBroadband spoke to Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, Cell C, and Rain about the impact of COVID-19 on their operations. Vodacom Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy said the vast majority of their employees continue to work from home, which is now the companys default position. Our work-from-home programme has proven to be a success and contributed to the fact that business operations have remained functional throughout the duration of the lockdown period, said Kennedy. He said Vodacom will take a phased approach guided by government directives when it comes to employees returning to the workplace over the next few months. We will continue to build on the success of our work-from-home programme as this becomes the new normal. The good news is that Vodacom did not have to cut salaries, retrench staff, or let go of any contractors during this period. Vodacom also has no plans to cut jobs due to the impacts of COVID-19. Where certain employees may be unable to carry out their duties as a result of the lockdown such as staff who are unable to fulfil their functions working from home we are actively redeploying them into other areas of the business, Kennedy said. MTN MTN SA executive for corporate affairs Jacqui OSullivan said they started moving their people out of their offices to work from home in the week leading up to lockdown. We initiated our business continuity management plans a month prior to lockdown so the planning for the inevitable lockdown was well-underway by the time it happened, she said. Not everyone could work from home, though. Through level 5, MTN employees such as technicians, engineers, and operators in its national operations centre had to be on-site. OSullivan said MTNs work-from-home arrangements have gone extremely well. We immediately moved our in-house call centre agents to work from home. We then took it upon ourselves to do the same for our outsourced call centre agents, based in KwaZulu-Natal, she said. We set up more than 350 agents in their homes with laptops and connectivity to take customers calls from their homes. OSullivan said the MTN philosophy is that post COVID-19, those who can work from home and are happy to work from home, will be encouraged to work remotely, forever. She highlighted that it is very important that employees are supported and given the adequate tools of trade to work remotely. This starts with equipment like smartphones and laptops, secure communication applications like MS Teams, fuel for connectivity which is plenty of data, and ergonomically friendly set-ups of chairs and desks. COVID-19 is a major disruptor for digital acceleration, and we will take a leading position in this new normal, said OSullivan. The good news is that MTN South Africa is not currently considering any retrenchments despite the economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have frozen all new appointments and we have made significant cuts to this years CAPEX and OPEX budgets, she said. MTN has also made the decision to go ahead in March with salary increases for employees. The MTN SA leadership team has, however, elected to defer their salary increases for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis and those funds are being channelled into an employee support fund that has been created to assist employees directly affected by this pandemic. Employees are also able to donate directly to the fund from their salaries in any amount they choose. Cell C Cell C said its return-to-work policy is informed by the regulations and is updated as restrictions requirements evolve. We have had some staff that could work from home and continue to do so, and others either unable to work at all or on shortened hours, Cell C said. We are making use of the COVID-19 TERS Relief Funds to cover the shortfalls for those employees to the extent provided by the UIF. Cell C paid full salaries for April and May for all employees regardless of whether they were not able to work or worked short time, despite the TERS claim only covering a percentage of the salary bill. For May, a combination of TERS and annual leave will be used to offset the value of the advance paid as far as possible, Cell C said. In early March, in line with its stated operational efficiencies strategy, Cell C initiated a section 189 consultation process affecting certain positions specifically at a senior manager and executive level. There are, however, no COVID-19 related retrenchments of staff. Telkom Telkom said that since level 4 of the lockdown, over 90% of its employees continue to work from home. The remainder its field technicians and Telkom Direct Stores employees are back in shops and attending to its customers. Good news is that Telkom did not have to cut salaries during the lockdown. We are still studying the impact of the virus and the lockdown on the business, however at the moment, we have not had to cut any salaries, Telkom said. Rain Rain CEO Willem Roos told MyBroadband that virtually all of their staff continues to work from home at this stage. We do have some critical functions that required people to come into work some on a periodic basis only, Roos said. Our staff are fortunate to have good connectivity and technology equipment available to them, and therefore our business continues to function very well in a work-from-home environment. The good news is that Rain has not implemented any pay cuts or short time for staff. It has also not retrenched any staff and is not planning to do so. It has also not dismissed any contractors based on the effects of COVID-19. Rain is, in fact, recruiting more staff to better serve our customers, Roos said. We regard ourselves very fortunate that our prospects are good in spite of the epidemic and resultant economic devastation. We therefore continue working with the ClickFoundation, the Solidarity Fund and Government, in general, to assist where we can, Roos said. WASHINGTON Sen. Tim Scott said that he sees a change in the way that white Americans are discussing race and racism, and believes there will be lasting change resulting from the outcry over the killing of George Floyd. I think for the first time, in a very long time, the response from the white community is very consistent with the response to the black community, Scott, a South Carolina Republican, said in an interview on The Long Game, a Yahoo News podcast. Generically speaking, that means that were having an American family response to a crisis in our family. And thats what it should be like. Scott described the impact of an incident like Floyds killing, caught on camera as a white Minneapolis police officer pushed his knee down onto the black mans neck for almost nine minutes, on black men, women and children who watch it. If you have a system that leads to an unjust outcome, and that system is a system of authority, that means youre breaking the back and breaking the spirit of millions of people in your country who see that unjust system and say, It will rain down upon me, guilty or not guilty, Scott said. That does not lead to a society of order. It leads towards a society of chaos. Scott said he does not think attempts to address systemic change in the wake of Floyds death will be swept aside in the days and weeks ahead. Yet already, some conservative pundits are dismissing the idea that systemic racism in policing is a problem, much as President Trumps national security adviser Robert OBrien denied this past weekend that it exists. Actor John Boyega at a Black Lives Matter protest in London on Wednesday. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Scott is pushing two pieces of legislation to create national databases for police shootings and for deaths in police custody, named after Floyd and Walter Scott, a 50-year-old black man fatally shot in the back by a white police officer in North Charleston in 2015. But Sen. Scott said that he does not think theres a piece of legislation that will actually stop hate in the heart. I think we can slow its progress in our society, but hate is a heart issue and thats not something you can legislate against. I do have specific pieces of legislations that I think will be helpful. Story continues Scott has been outspoken in calling out violence during the protests over Floyds death. Acts of violence and looting during protests have varied from city to city, and the issue has become a touch point for debate over whether too much or too little attention is being paid to it. There have also been some people publicly arguing that violence is necessary to effect political change. Many people are asking if violence is a valid means of producing social change. The hard and historical answer is yes, wrote Kellie Carter Jackson, an assistant professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College, in the Atlantic. Riots have a way of magnifying not merely the flaws in the system, but also the strength of those in power. The American Revolution was won with violence. The French Revolution was won with violence. Scott pointed to the comments of Terrence Floyd, George Floyds brother, in which he asked those who were destroying property to stop. If Im not over here wilding out, if Im not over here blowing up stuff, if Im not over here messing with my community, then what are yall doing? Terrence Floyd said. Lets do this another way. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis: Pick one, Scott said. I think they would all say that without any question of the country, the arc of the universe, it bent because of the nonviolent resistance. ... Whether it was sit-ins at Woolworth counters, Rock Hill, South Carolina. Weve seen silent nonviolent protests, Rosa Parks, lead to community transformation when everything else seemed to not work. Scott also said that Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a pioneer of the civil rights movement who was beaten nearly to death in 1965 by Alabama police after crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge at the head of a protest march, warned him about the dangers of violence. He was so crystal clear that aggression and bitterness are the enemies of your soul. It will rot you out faster than anything else. And for those who believe that violence is a way, it seems very much like a hatred. The person who suffers the most is the person that holds on to it, Scott said. Police and demonstrators near the White House on Wednesday. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) _____ Read more: Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Crestview Exploration Inc. (CSE: CRS) ("Crestview" or the "Company") announced it has acquired a geophysical use licence from Edcon-PRJ, Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado for aeromagnetic data. The subject data consists of 934-line miles of high-quality data collected by Edcon-PRJ, Inc. over its Divide Mine, Rock Creek and Castile Mountain projects. The area was covered with northeast lines, 200 meters apart and northwest tie lines 800 meters apart. The company engaged the services of Frank P. Fritz of Fritz Geophysics to complete an interpretation of the data. The company supplied geological data for the property as well as held discussions with Mr. Fritz to convey what the company knows about the project area in regards to significant geological features and the location of current exploration targets. The Divide Mine, a high-grade precious metal vein target located in Elko County, northcentral Nevada. This property is comprised of 12 unpatented lode claims covering 247 acres (110ha). The claims cover the majority of the old workings and potential strike extension of the Divide Mine. Interpretation of the aeromagnetic data indicates the Divide property lies on the north edge of a deep-seated batholith. The aeromagnetic data also indicates the presence of a large northerly trending dike that extends on to the Divide property from the south. Furthermore, the aeromagnetic data indicates that the bedrock geology is primarily sedimentary rocks which are overlain in places by volcanic rocks. Fault structures have been identified with varying orientations. Of note is the northerly trending fault along the west edge of the property that appears to control the large dike. Based on these findings, and additional geochemical data recently acquired by the company, we are currently increasing the size of our claim position. The Divide Mine is located in the northwest portion of the Tuscarora Mining District which is centered 7 miles to the southeast of the Divide Mine. Historic mining from underground and surface placer mines produced 200,000 ounces of gold and 7.27 million ounces of silver as reported in Nevada Bureau Mines and Geology Bulletin 106, Mineral Resources of Elko County, Nevada. In more recent times (1989-1991) 39,976 ounces of gold and 254,000 ounces of silver were produced from the Dexter open pit by Horizon Gold Corporation and Chevron, as reported in "Technical Report Describing the Tuscarora Project, Centered on 565568E/4573240N, UTM WGS84 Zone 11 N in Elko County, Nevada USA, Prepared for American Pacific Mining Corp. by E.L. (Buster) Hunsaker III, CPG 8137, Effective date January 15, 2018. The Carlin Trend lies about 22 miles south-southwest of the property and the mines of the Jerritt Canyon Mining District lie about 18 miles to the east of the property. The Divide Mine sits on the eastern flank of a prominent upthrown block exposing sedimentary rocks surrounded by 40-million-year-old volcanic rocks. The sedimentary rocks exposed here are known to closely overlie favourable sedimentary gold mineralization host rocks in the region. Further, the age of the volcanic rocks is important because the age rocks is coincident with the age of gold and silver mineralization in the region; and there is a relationship with volcanism and mineralization. There is evidence on the property of igneous rock intrusions. Fault structures on the east edge of the host block provide conduits for multiple episodes of dikes as well as plumbing for the gold bearing mineral system. Gold and silver mineralization occur in banded quartz veins and quartz breccia veins deposited in north-south and north-northeast oriented fissure systems. The Divide Mine contains silver, cinnabar (mercury), minor copper oxides and up to 0.224 ounces of gold per ton (7 g/tonne) in rock samples. Additionally, historic drill logs from Homestake mining report drill results that hit Carlin-style sulfide gold mineralization and geochemistry from a hole located just north of the claims. Near term plans are to use aeromagnetic data and interpretations to assist in mapping the intrusive rocks we believe are related to the mineralization at the property; then focus on geochemical sampling and geological mapping to delineate drill targets. M. J. Abrams, Crestview's Vice-President Exploration commented, "The Divide Mine has many similarities to our nearby Rock Creek project located one mile to the west. We plan to incorporate what we have learned there into our work at the Divide Mine; as well as utilize the synergy of having two similar projects in close proximity to lower overall exploration costs on both properties." This News Release was prepared by M.J. Abrams; BS and MS Geology, CPG #11451; Idaho PG #570. M.J. Abrams is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical disclosure included in this news release. About Crestview Exploration Inc: Crestview Exploration is a technology driven, well funded and experienced exploration company focused on finding gold and silver deposits in mining friendly jurisdictions. The company's flagship project Rock Creek as well as the Divide Mine and Castile Mountain precious metal projects are all located within close proximity to each other in the Tuscarora mining district of north-central Nevada. For further information please contact: Glen Watson, Chief Executive Officer Tel: 1-604-803-5229 Email: Glen@crestviewexploration.com www.crestviewexploration.com NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain information that may be deemed "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address acquisition of the Property and future work thereon, mineral resource and reserve potential, exploration activities and events or developments that the Company expects is forward-looking information. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the statements. There are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. These include the results of the Company's due diligence investigations, market prices, exploration successes, continued availability of capital financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, and those additionally described in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities authorities. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the Company, investors are encouraged to review the Company's public filings at www.sedar.com. 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, other than as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57279 Australia on Thursday expressed its strong support for India's membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group and also reiterated its backing for New Delhi's candidacy for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC). Australia's support was stated in the joint statement released after an online summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. "Both sides reiterated their support for continued bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and their commitment to further strengthen global non-proliferation. Australia expressed its strong support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," the statement said. The NSG is a 48-nation grouping which regulates global nuclear commerce. Admission of new members is done through consensus. India had formally applied for membership in May 2016. Even though India has the backing of the majority of the group's members, China has been blocking its entry into the bloc. Australia also reiterated its support for India's candidacy for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC) and India's candidature for a non-permanent seat at the UNSC for the 2021-22 term, it said. During the talks, Australia also welcomed the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s strategic partnership with India. Australia looks forward to continuing to work closely on building stronger ties between India and the IEA community, the statement said. The two countries also vowed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of energy and environment. They decided to progress their Energy Dialogue, which will further cooperation in areas such as pumped hydro storage, cost-effective battery technologies, hydrogen and coal gasification, adoption of clean energy technology, fly ash management technologies, and solar forecasting and scheduling. "Both countries committed to continue to collaborate on climate change, energy security and other issues of importance to the region and wider world, especially through the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)," the statement said, adding that Australia is proud to be a founding member of both organisations. Noting that education, research and skills are a central component of the relationship, both countries said they underpin their progress and growth trajectories, and that the exchange of students and academics between the them generates valuable people-to-people links. "We agree to continue efforts to expand our partnership in these areas, including to deepen research collaboration. We will work together to support the development of education campuses in each other's countries," the joint statement said. "As India continues its ambitious skills reform agenda, we have concluded a new Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training to forge new bonds of cooperation in policy development, programme delivery and information exchange," it said. On collaboration in the tourism sector, the statement said both sides decided to renew the 2015 MoU in order to identify opportunities to strengthen, deepen and broaden cooperation in the travel, tourism and aviation sector. The two countries noted the importance of inter-parliamentary interaction as a valuable component of their bilateral relations, the statement said. The Indian diaspora in Australia is now the fastest-growing large diaspora, it said. In recognition of the growing contribution of Indian-Australians to the bilateral relationship, the two sides said they will continue to work to deepen diaspora and community-level contact. Both countries agreed to hold a senior-level dialogue to discuss India's proposed draft Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement, which outlines ways to cooperate on the prevention of illegal migration, people smuggling and trafficking in human beings, and is also designed to facilitate mobility of students, academics and researchers and migration for professional and economic reasons, the statement said. To provide oversight of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and to deepen economic and strategic cooperation into the future, India and Australia affirmed their desire to increase the frequency of Prime Ministerial contact through reciprocal bilateral visits and annual meetings in the margins of international events. "To pursue CSP, our Foreign and Defence Ministers will meet in a '2+2' format to discuss strategic issues at least every two years," the statement said. Both countries also jointly decided to continue their regular interactions under the Foreign Ministers Framework Dialogue (FMFD). They also decided to continue regular meetings of the annual Australia-India Joint Ministerial Commission to enhance trade and investment relations between the two countries. India and Australia also decided to use the existing 'Consular Dialogue' Mechanism to address the entire gamut of consular matters. Both sides jointly decided to enhance their partnership in the domain of education through the Australia-India Education Council. The Virtual Summit is yet another milestone in furthering the longstanding, deep and cooperative ties between India and Australia, the statement said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 17:49:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DHAKA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh confirmed 35 more fatalities from COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the country's death toll to nearly 800. Nasima Sultana, a senior Health Ministry official, told an online media briefing in Dhaka that "2,423 new COVID-19 positive cases and 35 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh." "The number of confirmed infections in the country totaled 57,563 while fatalities stood at 781," she added. Bangladesh recorded the highest 2,911 cases in a 24-hour period on June 2. According to the official, 12,694 samples were tested in the last 24 hours in the labs across Bangladesh. Also during the last 24 hours, 571 more patients were released from hospitals and clinics, bringing the number of recovered patients in the country to 12,161. Enditem CultNews101.com: news, links, resources. Cults101.org: resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics. CultMediation.com: offers resources designed to help thoughtful families and friends understand and respond to the complexity of a loved ones cult involvement. Intervention101.com: to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement. CultRecovery101.com: assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice. June 3, 2020 News By Thomas Brading , Army News Service Defense.gov Army Targets COVID-19 Vaccine by End of Year, Human Testing in Summer The global race to field a lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine may be nearing its last lap, as the Army aims for a vaccine by the end of this year, the force's top medical research officer said. If all goes as planned, human testing will begin in late summer, Army Brig. Gen. Michael Talley, commander of the Army Medical Research and Development Command, told reporters yesterday. He added that he anticipates widespread distribution of a vaccine next year. To do this, Army researchers are following the science, he said. However, when you follow the science, that lets science take charge of the timeline, said Col. Wendy Sammons-Jackson, director of the Military Infectious Disease Research Program at MRDC. "It's reasonable to expect some form of a vaccine available by the end of the year," Sammons-Jackson said. "As long as we're able to continue to progress, learn, understand and adapt, I think we have all of the resources available and pointed in the same direction that can make [our timeline] possible." Although advances have been made, and goals are set, "we're in the learning phase with every aspect of this, whether it's the development of treatments or vaccines it's a constant learning process," said Dr. Nelson Michael, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. That's why scientists around the globe, including the Army, are simply doing their best to keep up with the complex virus, he added. "We're learning the science of [COVID-19] faster than we have learned the science of any other virus before," Michael said. "We're going from a concept, all the way to Phase 3 clinical trials and potentially licensure in an unprecedented timeline but in this case, it's very much possible." In January, after the virus' genetic makeup was published, the more than 700 Army scientists, researchers and staff at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, began working day and night to develop medical countermeasures against COVID-19. The Walter Reed team also started racing against the clock to develop a vaccine candidate to beat the novel coronavirus. "We are moving at top speed at both labs and yielding promising results," Talley said regarding USAMRIID and WRAIR. At Fort Detrick, they are safely replicating the virus to support countermeasure development. Meanwhile the team at WRAIR has designed a unique COVID-19 candidate, he said. USAMRIID is also developing small- and large-animal models to support testing of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics developed by the Army and its collaborators. "We have been vaccinating hundreds of mice with different versions of our vaccine, and we will be making a decision as to which one is the best to take forward for manufacturing next week," said Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at WRAIR, "then, ultimately, clinical trials by late summer." "Based on the data obtained this summer, we'll know which vaccine candidates to move forward with for larger trials toward the end of the year," Michael said. Prior to the COVID-19 response, Michael's previous global health contributions include the Military HIV Research Program, or MHRP. His team was instrumental in the globally effective HIV-1 vaccine. "Our team is fully engaged in the governmental structure called Operation Warp Speed," Michael said. Operation Warp Speed, an initiative first announced by President Donald Trump and with Army Materiel Command at the helm, brings together experts from across the government to determine a vaccine for COVID-19 and distribute more than 300 million doses across the United States. "We cover [everything] from therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines," Michael said. "But for our specific work in vaccines, we're heavily engaged across all agencies [where] the Army and Defense Department's capabilities and competencies with vaccine development can be brought to bear." What this means is that they're not only testing potential vaccines invented during the intramural program, he said, but they have the capability to also do pre-clinical and stage-1 testing of potential vaccines outside of their laboratories. In addition to WRAIR and USAMRIID, many unique subordinate commands are using their assets to support the overall government response to the virus, Talley said. "For example, in Natick, Massachusetts, at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, researchers are developing wearable technology to [recognize] key early symptoms of COVID-19." To date, COVID-19 has killed more than 370,000 people worldwide, including more than 100,000 in the United States. "U.S. Army researchers were critical during the SARS epidemic, the Zika virus, and the Ebola outbreak as they helped develop antivirals and vaccines," Secretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy said in April. "They've done it before, and they will do it again." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address S ir Ed Davey opened up about caring for his disabled son as he formally announced his bid for leader of the Liberal Democrats. The former Coalition minister called for a caring revolution this morning and spoke out about raising his son John, 12, who has an undiagnosed neurological condition. In an interview with the Mirror, he said: It's been the biggest challenge of my life. And thanks to my amazing wife we've coped and John is doing amazingly well and is a source of inspiration for me. The 54-year-old added: "I know what it's like to be a carer every day. I deal with massaging him, with his care needs. I look at how other parents, my constituents, and the caring challenges they face, I just feel we don't support them enough. Sir Eds father died when he was four, and eight years later he and his brothers cared for their mother when she became terminally ill. Sir Ed has been acting Lib Dem leader since Jo Swinson lost her seat in the December 2019 election / PA Wire/PA Images He added: Too often carers get a raw deal - as Ive seen through my own experience caring for close family during my life. Im determined to change that and build a truly caring society. The MP for Kingston and Surbiton lost the last leadership competition in July 2019 to Jo Swinson who replaced Vince Cable when he retired. Sir Ed has been acting Lib Dem leader since Ms Swinson lost her seat in the December 2019 election in which the party slumped from 21 MPs to just 11. A scathing internal report of the partys General Election performance blamed over-optimism in the anti-Brexit campaign and some improbably positive polling results for a campaign which turned into a high-speed car crash. The Lib Dems' campaign during December's general election was likened to a "high-speed car crash" by an internal inquiry. / Alamy Live News. Sir Ed added: Im determined to lead the Liberal Democrats to rise to todays challenges. Sir Ed has been an MP since 1997 with a break in 2015 to 2017. He served as the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 as part of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. In another interview with the Guardian today, he accused Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings of lacking the compassion and empathy needed to rebuild the UK after coronavirus. He also indicated that Labours Keir Starmer was a leader with whom he could cooperate. Lib Dem MPs Christine Jardine and Sarah Olney have both backed his bid for leader. Two other Lib Dem MPs have also declared, Layla Moran and Wera Hobhouse. The race was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic but will run through the summer with the winner announced in August. Tuan Huynh and Tram Huynh stood outside 897 Main St. Tuesday morning in front of their business, Quan Com Ga, a Vietnamese restaurant slated to open in the old Moynihans location. The business had five of its windows smashed in by a small group of protesters early Tuesday morning, hours after peaceful protests had ended. Tuan says hes owned the property for about two months and is still working on renovations. They were planning to open on June 8. That opening will now have to be pushed off after the property damage sustained on Tuesday. I dont even have insurance yet, said Tuan. Im still waiting for the paper ... Ive already paid too much to fix it here already, I cant afford to pay all that. The group allegedly responsible for the damage to his store had made their way to Main Street late Monday night where they were met with police in riot gear. The crowd lit fireworks and threw rocks toward the officers, who fired multiple rounds of pepper balls and smoke grenades into the crowd of about 70 people. Tuan, who arrived at his business after viewing live footage in a MassLive Facebook Live, was told by police to leave the scene. He now says he will defend his property if the police wont. They cant even protect my business and kick[ed] me out of my business, which is wrong, said Tuan the morning after the damage was done. Worcester police did not respond to a request to comment on the situation. Tuan says hes mad and hes going to protect his business. Everybody is trying to make a living here, said Tram Huynh. We dont have time for them going around damaging other peoples property, its just not right ... I actually support what they have to do for the human rights. One hundred percent support for what theyve done, but it comes to this point where it gets too personal and Im not going to let that happen to my business." They are prepared, says Tram, for whatever happens next. We dont know what will happen next," said Tram. "Nobody does. But were here and were prepared ... Im ready to protect my business. If you come to my business, you will get shot, thats all Ill tell you, Tuan said. I have my gun on me now, and they will get shot. Tuan had what appeared to be a gun in his pocket while speaking to MassLive. Tram Huynh has a license to carry, however her husband Tuan does not. Massachusetts law allows for a person charged of shooting an intruder to argue in court that the person acted in defense, fearing the intruder was about to inflict great bodily injury or death," providing the occupant used reasonable means to defend themselves. There is no duty to retreat from an intruder. The damage to the business occurred hours after a peaceful protest had ended. Police later were in a stand-off with a group of people who were gathered in the Main South neighborhood of Worcester around 11 p.m. Monday night. The group was met by police officers on Hammond Street, where they took a knee and chanted Black Lives Matter and held signs in front of a police vehicle. Police outfitted in riot gear arrived on the scene and formed a barricade between Hammond and Main Streets. The officers then began to move toward the crowd repeating, Move back, Move back. The crowd was dispersed in two separate directions with some heading up Hammond Street and others continuing down Main Street. The crowd on Main Street later would start to set off fireworks and throw rocks toward the officers dressed in riot gear. Glass bottles were thrown at police cruisers. At one point, the bumper of a Worcester police cruiser caught on fire. A person was seen lighting a fire in the bushes in front of the Main Street Dunkin'. People in the crowd shouted to the police, Hands up, dont shoot." There were reports of people getting on top of the PennyWise Market on May Street. One Clark University police cruiser had its windows smashed in. Related Content: The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal inquiry and detained the plants manager, Vyacheslav Starostin. Mr. Putin said he had been angered that he had learned of the spill only on Sunday, and, after declaring the state of emergency on Wednesday, denounced company officials in a videoconference that was broadcast live. Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact? Mr. Putin said. Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media? Mr. Putin said he would ask investigators to look into the spill to make a clear assessment of how officials reacted to the accident. Norilsk Nickel is the worlds largest producer of platinum and nickel, and the company is no stranger to environmental disasters. It was responsible for a blood river, also in Siberia, in 2016, and one of its plants has belched so much sulfur dioxide, a major cause of acid rain, that it is surrounded by a dead zone of tree trunks and mud about twice the size of Rhode Island. Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has come to the defence of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for participating in the pilot registration exercise by the Electoral Commision. The Electoral Commission commenced a pilot exercise on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 which is a prelude to the new voters' registration exercise that will come off in the middle of this month. Although the rank and file of the NDC are against the exercise, some of its members however stunned some Ghanaians by attending the pilot exercise. Former NDC Member of Parliament for North Dayi, George Loh who took part of the exercise argued that he has not betrayed his party. ''If it is time for limited registration, the EC will use the system, won't they? And so if they are piloting what they say are new machines don't we deserve to know what kind of things they are doing and if there are any hanky panky games we prepare ourselves? So clearly, this thing is funny and all those doing mischief with it should better stop because the card that is being showcased is a dummy card, I cannot use it in any election'', he explained why he attended the exercise. Some critics have questioned the logic in participating in the pilot exercise but objecting to the main exercise, hence stressing the NDC is an unprincipled party. Playing the devil's advocate for the party, Kweku Baako believes the NDC can argue out their case. ''They can have an argument that after all they are for a limited registration. They're not for a new register. Now, within the context of a limited registration, they still have the right to go and test these machines...I'm doing the devil's advocate on their behalf...They're committed to a limited registration. ''...it is also the EC which does the limited registration. And if the EC is testing the machines and doing a pilot, why shouldn't they go? They can argue that way and it might sound plausible, good solid sustainable reason, pragmatism; some strategic thinking'', he said on ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM. 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 Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-03 23:12:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close U.S. President Donald Trump gestures at a petrochemical complex in Monaca, Pennsylvania, the United States, on Aug. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) - An Australian think tank found that the 28 Twitter groups propagating coronavirus rumors are associated with Republican politicians. - Many of the Twitter groups are automatically generated Twitter accounts that shared posts frequently. BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- About 30 Twitter groups who claimed to be supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican Party or the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, have propagated rumors that the coronavirus was a bioweapon created by China, according to new research. After analyzing over 2.6 million tweets collected by the think tank Australia Institute's Center for Responsible Technology in the 10 days from late March, the research found that 28 so-called Twitter groups associated with conservative politicians or QAnon spread the story about the origin of COVID-19. Many of the Twitter groups are automatically generated Twitter accounts that shared posts frequently, it added. There have been coronavirus related-rumors on social media since early January that some governments created the new virus as part of "military experiments," U.S. political news outlet Politico reported Tuesday. The World Health Organization and several fact-checking groups have rejected such rumors. Photo taken on May 29, 2020 shows the live broadcast of U.S. President Donald Trump speaking at a press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. Trump told the press conferencen that his country is "terminating" its relationship with the World Health Organization. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The think tank researchers found the conspiracy theory labeling "COVID-19 a Chinese bioweapon" had been shared by these Twitter groups nearly 900 times, the report said. "Those online messages were then retweeted 18,500 times, collectively garnering as many as 5 million views of the rumor across Twitter," it added. In early May, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agitated for "significant evidence" on the virus' origin from the central Chinese city of Wuhan. However, he did offer any concrete proof to validate his claims. The WHO responded by saying that such a claim on the virus' origin remains "speculative," as the organization had not received any data or evidence from the U.S. side. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying in an interview with the National Interest published on Saturday that "the United States uses every single area to pressure China in a most energetic and most forceful manner." "I think it clearly entails a further growth of uncertainty in international relations," said Ryabkov. In Donald Trump's remarks during a press conference on March 19, 2020, "corona" was crossed out and replaced with "Chinese." Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Washington's announcement to punish China could validate the belief that the United States intends to contain China's rise. Former President Barack Obama held a virtual town hall on Wednesday in support of anti-racism protests, signaling his increasing willingness to step into the political fray after years of staying largely on the sidelines. Obamas remarks at the event largely focused on how protesters who are outraged by the police killing of George Floyd and systemic racism in the U.S. can channel that anger into policy changes. As activists and everyday citizens raise their voices, we need to be clear about where change is going to happen and how we can bring about that change, he said during the livestreamed event that featured a number of other politicians and activists. Addressing the recent chatter on the internet that encouraging people to vote wont solve the complex injustices facing the Black community, Obama called for a different outlook. It is mayors and county executives that appoint most police chiefs and negotiate collective bargaining agreements with police unions, and that determines police practices in local communities, he said. Its district attorneys and states attorneys that decide, typically, whether or not to investigate and ultimately charge those involved in police misconduct. And those are all elected positions. Fed-up Americans shouldnt view their activism as a choice between two avenues, Obama urged. This is not an either/or. This is a both-and. To bring about real change, we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable, but we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that can be implemented, he said, then listed a number of things local leaders can do now to change how Black people are policed in their communities. The mayors of San Francisco, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., have already vowed to take the actions Obama outlined. Obama has spoken out multiple times in the last week in support of the... Continue reading on HuffPost Vattenfall has inaugurated a new heat and power plant in Marzahn in Berlin. The highly efficient gas-fired plant will supply electricity and district heating in the eastern parts of the German capital and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 240,000 tonnes per year. The Marzahn heat and power plant contributes to Vattenfall more than fulfilling its agreement with the Federal State of Berlin that was signed in 2009. According to the agreement, Vattenfall would halve carbon dioxide emissions until 2020, compared to 1990. This target was reached already in 2017. Tanja Wielgo, Head of Vattenfall Heat in Berlin, said: Vattenfall has invested more than EUR 300 million in the Marzahn plant and a total of around EUR 1 billion in the past ten years to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from our district heating, district cooling and electricity production in Berlin. Through Marzahn, we have now more than fulfilled our agreement with the Federal State of Berlin by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from 13.3 million tonnes to less than six million tonnes per year. The new combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Marzahn has an installed capacity of 230 megawatts of heat and 260 megawatts of electricity and is powered by highly efficient Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT). With an efficiency of more than 90 percent, the fuel is used to the maximum and the climate footprint is minimized. Marzahn will together with Vattenfalls Klingenberg CHP plant form the basis for the district heating supply to around 450,000 households in the eastern parts of Berlin. We will now continue to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions from our production in order to completely phase out hard coal by 2030. Natural gas significantly reduces the carbon dioxide footprint compared to coal and can in the long term be replaced with renewable gas, for example hydrogen, said Tanja Wielgo. Vattenfalls vision is to be a leading European energy company. Vattenfalls main products are electricity and heat. Today, Vattenfall generates electricity, produces heat and supplies energy to several million customers in the Nordic countries and northern Europe. The major customers are industrial plants, energy companies, municipalities, property companies and housing associations. Tradearabia News Service Dirce Villas Boas, a 93-year-old resident of a nursing home in western Sao Paulo, had gone 70 days without seeing her daughter until this weekend, when the pair hugged and danced together in an emotional reunion. The new coronavirus pandemic has yet to reach its peak in Sao Paulo, the site of the worst outbreak in Brazil, where nearly 30,000 people have lost their lives to the virus. But thanks to the ingenuity of local businessman Bruno Zani, Villas Boas and her daughter Dircyree were able to embrace again. The two were separated by a translucent plastic curtain outfitted with holes for Dircyrees arms, which were also wrapped in protective equipment. Dircyree Villas Boas waves to her mother Dirce Villas Boas, 93, through a plastic curtain at the 3i Bem-Estar - Residencial Senior nursing home. (Reuters) The pair did not seem to mind. When you think about the feeling of a mother hugging her daughter, the heart beats, it really beats, said Dirce. Zani, who produced the curtain, makes a living in the party-decoration business, which has all but ceased in the pandemic. He typically donates flowers from the parties to nursing homes, where he noticed residents now have few chances to see family. After talking with psychologists, therapists and other specialists, Zani tried a pilot program with the plastic curtain at one nursing home, and he plans to offer them in nursing homes throughout the city. The starting point was the heart itself, Zani said, seeing that difficulty of a family member and a confined (loved one) not being able to meet. Also read | Girl designs hug-curtain for grandparents, clip will leave you teary-eyed with happiness Toward the end of every year, chicken producers compete for massive contracts with grocery stores and fast-food chains across America. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. A string of text messages and emails disclosed in a federal indictment Wednesday suggest otherwise. In one 2014 exchange, Jayson Penn, the now-chief executive officer of chicken giant Pilgrim's Pride, asked an unnamed colleague about negotiations with a restaurant franchise. He noted that a competitor "did cave" to offering a lower rate to lock in a previous contract. The manager responded to say, "They are listening to my direction." "Who is they?" Penn asked. If "they" is illegal, he said, "don't tell me." After years of talk, the feds have finally pounced: Big Chicken, they say, has been fixing prices. It's one of the stranger examples of alleged market-rigging in a long history of cases -- and an unusual one in that the chief of a company this big is actually facing criminal charges and as many as 10 years in prison. The charges the U.S. Justice Department laid out Wednesday in its indictment appear to document executives at competing companies colluding to share pricing and bidding information from 2012 through 2017 in the cutthroat world of commodity chicken. Penn was indicted by a grand jury in Colorado along with a former vice president of the company. There are also charges against executives from Claxton Poultry Farms, a tiny player with about 1% market share. Pilgrim's, which is majority owned by Brazilian food giant JBS, said it is "committed to high ethical standards, governance, and free and open competition that benefits both customers and consumers." The company will "continue to fully cooperate with the Department of Justice in their investigation," it said in a statement late Wednesday. Penn didn't respond to a message seeking comment sent to him via LinkedIn. The Justice Department filing includes some colorful text-message exchanges, with Penn boasting to colleagues at Pilgrim's about charging customers "A-Hole Premiums." They also suggest that the poultry giant was in regular communication with rivals over prices. The are seven suppliers referenced in the indictment, though only Pilgrim's and Claxton are named. That indicates more changes could come after a decade of hearings on antitrust and consolidation in the industry and a slew of civil lawsuits. "It's hard to get anything more solid than having text messages of people working together to rig prices," said Christopher Leonard, author of "The Meat Racket," which examines the protein industry. "This is the most significant action in federal government on the meat industry in probably decades." The case against Pilgrim's is part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of price fixing by chicken processors that came to light last year. Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms have also received grand jury subpoenas in the investigation, according to regulatory filings. In a statement, the Justice Department said the charges were the first filed in the open probe. Together, Pilgrim's, Tyson and Sanderson control almost half of the U.S. chicken market. A woman who answered at Claxton's headquarters in Georgia after a transfer from a receptionist declined to comment without identifying herself and hung up. Sanderson said it had no comment on the matter, noting that it wasn't named or involved in the indictment. Tyson didn't respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment. The charges are the latest bombshell to hit the U.S. meat industry, which has been gripped by crisis after the coronavirus pandemic sparked plant closures. Thousands of the industry's workers got sick, and dozens have died, with unions and labor advocates saying that the protein producers didn't do enough to protect employees. Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control concluded in a recent report that conditions at the plants increased the risk of the infection spreading. Meat prices surged after the plants closed. Processing companies continued to see high margins, while some grocery stores ran short of supplies, and farmers were forced to euthanize hogs. That's brought fresh scrutiny to America's opaque pricing mechanisms for meat and livestock. While Wednesday's charges are unrelated to the current crisis, they could signal that enforcers will be vigilant about issues in the industry. The Justice Department is also probing potential market manipulation at beef processors, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is separately investigating processor margins. The four executives charged -- Penn; Roger Austin, a former vice president of Pilgrim's; Mikell Fries, the president of Claxton Poultry; and Scott Brady, a Claxton vice president -- face a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. In the 2014 text exchange between Penn and the unnamed colleague, the latter eventually clarifies that the reference to "they" was referring to a fellow Pilgrim's employee who was negotiating the deal for the company, not a competitor. The text exchanges cited in the indictment are full of industry terminology dealing in the weird complexities of chicken pricing. But the document also gives a public glimpse into the arcane market. Restaurants and supermarkets receive bids and other pricing offers including discount levels directly from suppliers, or in the case of fast-food restaurants, through a centralized buying cooperative. Negotiations usually occur toward the end of the year and establish prices for the following 12 months. Chicken pricing is often based on a cost model for eight-piece bone-in chicken products, know as the eight-piece COB. Dark meat is usually priced at a discount to that benchmark. The messages between executives reveal that a difference of just pennies on a price can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional profit because of the scale of volume. Claxton's Brady, a former Pilgrim's employee, in a 2012 text message tells Fries that Pilgrim's was selling eight pieces of chicken for 3 cents more than his company. His text to colleague Fries shows he found out about the price difference from Austin, the then-executive at Pilgrim's. Austin said "to raise our prices," Brady texted at 4:45 p.m. on November 23, 2012. Fries responded, "Tell him we are trying!" U.S. chicken prices had just started picking up in 2012, after a drought affected supplies. The filing appears to deal mainly with the obscure market for small-sized chickens -- the juicy, sought-after variety that has recently ignited a war for chicken sandwich dominance in national restaurant chains. The Justice Department is likely to bring additional charges in the investigation, said Lisa Phelan, a lawyer at Morrison Foerster LLP in Washington and a former prosecutor with the Justice Department. Pilgrim's Pride is probably negotiating a plea agreement with the government, she said, and other companies in the industry could be targeted, which is typical in a price-fixing investigation. "The DOJ always looks to hold both the companies and executives responsible for any kind of collusion in cartel conduct," Phelan said. While Tyson Foods, the biggest U.S. chicken producer, isn't named, the news "casts a pall" over the company, said analysts at JPMorgan & Chase. Shares of Pilgrim's Pride tumbled 12% on Wednesday. Tyson dropped 3.8%, and Sanderson fell 6.2%. "If these allegations are true, they offer more evidence of an industry that has no problem exploiting workers and now possibly customers, for their gain," said Minor Sinclair, Director of U.S. Domestic Programs at Oxfam America, an advocacy group that also holds shares in Pilgrim's. One tool prosecutors may be using to gather evidence is cooperation from a company. The Justice Department's antitrust division has a leniency program that allows companies to win immunity from charges if they are the first to alert the government to price-fixing conduct and agree to cooperate and provide evidence of wrongdoing by their competitors. A building public backlash against massive companies that dominate their business lines surfaced in the Democratic presidential primary, with several candidates joining "Big Agribusiness" to "Big Tech" and Wall Street as political in appeals to win over traditionally Republican-leaning rural voters. Food shortages during the coronavirus pandemic and market disruptions from outbreaks at meat plants have further focused attention on the risks in consolidation. Republican leaning hog farmers and cattle ranchers have seethed in particular at the disconnect between rising consumer prices for beef and pork and declining prices paid for their livestock. Even with the Trump administration's antitrust investigation into big meatpacking companies, a resolution may be months or years away. The charges against chicken processors demonstrate a commitment to enforcement of price-fixing laws. Still, the revelations are unlikely to have a big effect on retail chicken prices, according to JPMorgan analysts. While the difference of pennies per bird can create big profits for producers, it's unlikely to have a large impact on most grocery shoppers. "Supply and demand remains the primary driver of prices," the analysts said. Overseas students were generating more income for NSW universities than government grants for the first time last year, before the coronavirus pandemic cut international enrolments by more than 13 per cent. Chinese, Indian and Nepalese students alone brought in $2.4 billion for the state's 10 universities, which was close to the total income raised by domestic students fees, according to a 2019 audit. The annual Auditor-General's report found universities were suffering from the consequences of an over-reliance on international student revenue. The Auditor-General had foreshadowed the dangers of this income stream for tertiary institutions in previous reports. Universities Australia this week revealed the country's universities could lose $16 billion between now and 2023, under new modelling which considered the sustained effect of COVID-19 on finances. THE Limerick Civic Trust has appealed for help after the heritage group took ownership of remnants of historic buildings in the city. David OBrien, the chief executive of the Trust, based at the Bishops Palace at Church Street, is hoping people might come forward to provide a truck with a hoist, and storage space. We have acquired a load of cobblestones, original red brick, some of its early Victorian. So its in pristine condition. We have a lot of cut-stone, chippy pieces, original guttering. Its the complete package. e have an awful lot more coming too, he said. The salvage has come from a number of prominent city centre buildings which are being redeveloped. The Limerick Civic Trust will hold the salvage and donate it to buildings needing these materials. We need your help! We are due to be entrusted with a large amount of important architectural salvage from the city. Can you, or do you know anyone who could, provide 1. a truck with a hoist and/or 2. storage - both indoor warehouse & outdoor yard. info@limerickcivictrust.ie or DM Limerick Civic Trust (@LmkCivicTrust) June 3, 2020 David said: Theres nothing on the cards at the moment, but itd be stupid not to take it because as soon as you get another building,youre going to need materials The closer to the original materials you can go, the better. Already this year, the Civic Trust has taken on the rubble from a former Guinness barge, and the archway from the gasworks site in OCurry Street which continues to be cleaned by Bord Gais. "Its important to hold onto this heritage, and we will use it appropriately, he added, It could have ended up as landfill otherwise. He added: Limerick has a blue granite which is quite unique to the city. When you do incorporate these things back into an old building youre putting in original stone, so its more authentic. If you go and buy modern granite now, its not going to sit well with an 150-year-old building if youre replacing stones. If you can help out the Civic Trust, please email info@limerickcivictrust.ie or telephone 061-313399. Senegal said Thursday it would ease an anti-coronavirus curfew and lift restrictions on inter-city travel following two nights of protests marked by violence and more than 200 arrests. Interior Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye said the start of the 9:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew would be pushed back by two hours, to 11:00 pm. "From today, transport restrictions across the country are being lifted, with the curfew being maintained from 11pm to 5am," he said on state television. "Gatherings in public or private places, restaurants, gyms, casinos will also benefit from these relaxation measures," he said. More than 200 people were arrested after demonstrations broke out in several cities, including the capital Dakar, according to interior ministry figures issued on Thursday. Protesters were dispersed by police and gendarmes using tear gas, and there were pictures on social media showing military vehicles in the street. The anger has focused on the curfew, but transport workers have also gone on strike over the travel restrictions. One of the centres of unrest was Touba, Senegal's second largest city located around 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Dakar, and the seat of a politically powerful Sufi Muslim order, the Mouride Brotherhood. Several police vehicles there were set ablaze and a coronavirus treatment centre and post office buildings were attacked, sources said. The Brotherhood's leader, Serigne Mountakha Mbacke, appeared on television late Tuesday to urge protesters to go home and vowed to address the problems. The curfew was imposed by President Macky Sall on March 23, and has been implemented in tandem with a ban on travel between Senegal's regions. The authorities have already extended until June 30 a ban on all passenger flights to and from the country. Economic pain The restrictions have had a major impact on the country's biggest economic sectors -- agriculture and tourism -- and on energy and infrastructure projects. They have also been deeply felt on a personal level by many Senegalese who depend on day-by-day jobs. Around 40 percent of the population live below the threshold of poverty, according to a World Bank benchmark. The West African state has recorded 3,932 cases of coronavirus, 45 of them fatalities, according to a toll compiled by AFP as of Thursday. The figures are low compared to countries in Europe and the United States, although experts caution that, as elsewhere in Africa, Senegal is vulnerable to the pandemic because of its weak health system. Sall announced a first relaxation of measures on May 11, allowing places of worship and markets to reopen. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he signalled that further steps would follow, declaring the time had approached for "a strategy of gradual easing." High schools had been due to reopen on Tuesday, but this step was delayed at the last minute after 10 teachers in the southern region of Casamance tested positive for COVID-19. Search Keywords: Short link: Myanmar & COVID-19 Rohingya Man Tests Positive for COVID-19 After Returning to Myanmar Illegally From Bangladesh The Hla Poe Khaung transit camp in Maungdaw Township, where the family of a Rohingya man who tested positive for the coronavirus is being kept in isolation. / Than Tin Maung / Facebook SITTWE, Rakhine StateA Rohingya man who returned illegally from Bangladesh to Myanmars Rakhine State has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to local authorities. He was part of a five-member family who illegally returned from a Bangladeshi village to their village in Rakhine States Maungdaw Township on May 30. Maungdaw authorities, upon receiving a report about their return, went to the village and took the family to the Hla Poe Khaung transit camp for quarantine. They were tested for the coronavirus and the 38-year-old man, the familys breadwinner, tested positive, said Maungdaw district administrator U Soe Aung. According to the Ministry of Health and Sports COVID-19 update released on Thursday morning, the man was classified as case No. 234 and will be treated at Maungdaw General Hospital. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) launched a series of attacks on security outposts in northern Rakhine on Aug. 25, 2017, prompting the Myanmar military to carry out clearance operations that drove more than 700,000 Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh. The Myanmar government, in accordance with an agreement reached with the Bangladeshi government on the repatriation of Rohingya, opened two reception centers in early 2018 for official returneesone in Taungpyo Letwei, for those returning over the border, and one in Nga Khura for those returning by boat. No one has officially returned under the government-facilitated program established under the bilateral agreement, but more than 600 Rohingya have so far voluntarily returned independently of the procedures, according to the Maungdaw District General Administration Department. Those who return independently must report to relevant departments to verify whether they previously lived in Myanmar and were part of the 2017 exodus, and to check whether they have ties to ARSA, which the government has labeled a terrorist organization. However, since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Myanmar, the government has closed the Maungdaw border and suspended repatriation activities, said district administrator U Soe Aung. The five returned illegally, he said. Authorities are keeping the mans four family members in isolation at Hla Poe Khaung transit camp, and are tracking down their recent contacts, he said. In May, two men from Thandwe and Taungup tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from Malaysia. The two are responding well to treatment, according to the Rakhine State Health Department. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko I wanted to cry for him, said his daughter Darlene Montano of Waukegan. This was really, truly the first time he received those medals in his mind. The Purple Heart medal was apparently stolen from Montano during the Korean War while he was recuperating in a hospital in Osaka, Japan. Montano, who was serving in the U.S. Army, was wounded on July 18, 1952. He had leg and arm shrapnel injuries and has scars, his daughter said. While recovering in the hospital, Montano said his Purple Heart award was hand-delivered, and he asked that it be placed in a nightstand drawer. After approving the most generous unemployment benefits in U.S. history to help counter the coronavirus, Congress is in a bind over what to do when they expire at the end of next month. With America gradually heading back to work, there's no majority among lawmakers to extend the $600-a-week extra payments in their current form. But with the economy more fragile than it's been in generations, they don't dare to just pull the plug. And that means weeks of wrangling lie ahead over the next phase of a rescue effort already costing almost $3 trillion. Almost 2 million more Americans filed for unemployment last week, according to data published Thursday. While that's slightly below the figures in the previous couple of weeks, it's further evidence that U.S. labor markets remain mired in the deepest slump since the Great Depression. The Senate announced late Wednesday that it will hold a hearing next week on unemployment benefits. Any plan that emerges will have to meet the concern, mostly voiced by Republicans, that too-high payments have become a disincentive to work. And it will have to win votes from Democrats who control the House and are pushing to keep safety nets in place for the tens of millions of Americans who've lost their jobs during the pandemic. There are some indications of what a compromise could look like. One plan winning support from the Trump administration would redirect stimulus into topping up wages for the re-employed -- a so-called "back-to-work bonus." A separate Democratic proposal would gradually whittle the jobless benefits back to pre-crisis levels as unemployment rates fall. Both ideas have at least the potential to win across-the-aisle support. They could even be combined with each other. Doing nothing, and simply allowing the additional unemployment payments to expire without a substitute, is an option that has little support -- and would risk torpedoing the economy, after a crisis that's left households relying on government benefits for a record chunk of their income. "At the end of July, in that stage of the economic recovery, we really don't want to see consumer spending go off of a cliff," said Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who worked with Democatic presidential candidate Joe Biden when he was vice president. "Any kind of snapback to basic unemployment benefits would be a disaster." The federal top-up of $600 a week was approved with bipartisan support in late March as part of the first big package of pandemic measures, though many Republicans at the time thought the figure was too high and the duration too long. Delivery has been hobbled by overloaded local systems and unexplained shortfalls. Even so, the Treasury has coughed up about $150 billion of unemployment payments under the plan -- equal to about 4% of GDP in the period, and more than it spent in the whole of 2009, when jobless rates peaked after the financial crisis. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insists the $600 federal contribution, which is paid on top of each state's normal jobless benefit, won't be renewed after next month. White House officials are showing interest instead in the so-called "back-to-work bonus" proposed by Ohio Senator Rob Portman. The plan would offer a $450 weekly benefit to each returning worker in addition to their salary -- mirroring the top-up for jobless benefits. Kevin Hassett and Larry Kudlow, two of President Donald Trump's top economic aides, have both signaled support for the idea in recent days. Advocates say the plan will be especially helpful for small businesses that have had trouble getting employees to return, while critics say it would expose lower-income Americans to bigger risks from the pandemic. "I worry that a back-to-work bonus is a bribe to take a lousy, unsafe job," said Bernstein. Still, he acknowledged that the proposal would address the incentive question. Congress landed on the $600 figure because together with state benefits, it added up to the average weekly wage -- so anyone earning that amount would see their full income replaced if they got laid off. But in fact, job losses have been concentrated among Americans on below-average wages. As a result, about two-thirds of those eligible for the beefed-up unemployment payments will be collecting more in benefits than they earned while working, according to a study by University of Chicago economists. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is calling for a gradual reduction of the payouts. Under his plan, the federal top-up would stay at $600 until unemployment in a given state drops below 11% -- and then decline by $100 for each percentage point that the jobless rate falls, until it's phased out completely. Kyle Pomerleau, resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, says that idea has the merit of avoiding arbitrary cutoffs while unemployment is still elevated. Still, he worries that "if the benefit is high enough, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy -- if people are staying home, and then you never actually hit the threshold to start winding it down." Neither Portman nor Wyden have released estimates of the cost of their plans, which would be tough to arrive at anyway amid so many unknowns. But even if their precise numbers don't survive weeks of bargaining, the ideas behind the two proposals -- tapering jobless benefits, and shifting some of them to the newly re-employed -- may feed into whatever compromise emerges. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, said talks on the next package will take into account an extension of some unemployment benefits, as well as incentives for employees who go back to work, when they get under way this month. Lawmakers shouldn't be making policy in the expectation of a quick rebound in job markets, according to Wayne Vroman, a labor economist at the Urban Institute."It'll be a long time until the U.S. gets back to single-digit unemployment," he said. And meanwhile, "unemployment insurance is the only income for people who have been laid off. The anti-poverty effectiveness of it is not a myth." Islamabad, June 4 : The Pakistan government has the government has abolished the 48-hour quarantine condition for air travellers and would instead be sent to their homes after a medical check-up and test at the airports, aviation sources said. The sources said that the government changed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the international air travellers simultaneously with easing the lockdown and coronavirus-induced travel restrictions in the country, The Express Tribune reported on Thursday. They added that the decision was taken because the capacity at the quarantine centres had been contracting owing to increasing number of COVID-19 cases. According to the new SOPs, all passengers would undergo a complete medical check-up at the airports, while the staff deputed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and provincial health departments at the airports will test the travellers for coronavirus. After the medical check-up and the coronavirus test, the passengers will be allowed to go their homes, instead of the quarantine centre, if they do not show any COVID-19 symptoms. Decision about suspected coronavirus patients had been left on the discretion of doctors. Under the new policy, all the passengers will be checked at the health counters of the airports. The record will carry the names and addresses of suspected coronavirus travellers and will be quarantined at home upon not showing any symptoms. On Wednesday, the NIH team conducted medical check-ups and coronavirus tests of all the passengers including 281 travellers coming from the US and 253 travellers coming from Saudi Arabia in a special PIA flight at the Islamabad airport, after which all the travellers were permitted to go to their homes. New South Wales hasn't recorded any COVID-19 community transmissions for more than a week, but gyms will remain closed for another fortnight. Just two new cases were detected out of 11,365 tests, both of them returned travellers in hotel quarantine. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state is 'doing better than we anticipated' at this stage of the pandemic. 'We have now gone a full week without any community-to-community transmission, that's a great result,' She Berejiklian said on Thursday. 'We want to keep that going as much as we can especially given restrictions are easing, have eased, and this long weekend is an opportunity for people to enjoy the best that New South Wales has to offer in a safe way.' New South Wales hasn't recorded any COVID-19 community transmissions for more than a week, but gyms will remain closed for another fortnight. Pictured: ClimbFit in Sydney Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state is 'doing better than we anticipated' at this stage of the pandemic, but warned NSW residents to take care if travelling intrastate this long weekend Despite the coronavirus milestone, the NSW Government declared gyms, dance studios and fitness centres won't open for another two weeks. Gyms, studios, and indoor pools could re-open across the state from June 13. Up to 100 people will be permitted inside an indoor venue such as a gym. Classes for dance, yoga or pilates will have a cap of 10 people. The state has recorded 3106 cases to date and one person remains in intensive care. Fitness Australia chief executive Barrie Elvish told Daily Mail Australia the association is currently working with NSW Health to develop a series of protocols that will be implemented in gyms as the state moves into stage two restrictions. Despite the coronavirus milestone, the NSW Government declared gyms, dance studios and fitness centres won't open for another two weeks He said venues' capacity will be determined by how many people they can host based on the one person per four square metre requirement, while Fitness Australia is still working to clarify if the 10 class limit is per group, space or room. To increase space, machines will either by removed or disabled by disconnecting the plugs or taping over them to indicate they cannot be used. People will have to ensure they have enough water to sustain them through a workout because drinking fountains will be disabled. Showers will also be inaccessible. Areas where people may meet to catch up after a workout, such as lounges or seated areas in venues, will also be cordoned off so people cannot gather in groups. Meanwhile in South Australia, up to 80 people have been allowed in each gym since Monday, June 1. Up to 20 people are permitted per room for individual workouts, and fitness classes are capped at 10 people. Gyms in Queensland also reopened their doors on Monday, with a limit of 20 people in gyms, health clubs, yoga studios and personal training. In Victoria, gyms and outdoor personal training remain closed for now, but up to 20 people can participate in outdoor group sport and exercise activities. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools reopened to a maximum of 20 patrons per separate enclosed space. Western Australian gyms re-opened to 20 guests on May 18, as the state entered stage two of the recovery plan. Meanwhile, restrictions on travel around NSW were lifted on Monday, meaning residents can go in an intrastate holiday in time for the June long weekend Meanwhile, restrictions on travel around NSW were lifted on Monday, meaning residents can go in an intrastate holiday in time for the June long weekend. But the NSW government encouraged travellers over the June long weekend to take care. They would need to continue adhering to social distancing measures. 'We're probably doing better than we anticipated at this stage of the pandemic, however we have to be cautious, we have to be vigilant, we have to be safe to make sure that even the mildest symptom means we get tested,' Ms Berejiklian said. It 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. KYODO NEWS - Jun 4, 2020 - 15:09 | World, Coronavirus, All A South Korean court is expected to consider in earnest by August at the earliest whether to order the sale of assets belonging to a Japanese steelmaker over a 2018 top court wartime forced labor compensation order that has roiled ties between the two countries. The Daegu District Court's Pohang branch began on Monday the process of serving Nippon Steel Corp. relevant papers by way of publishing them on its website for a certain period. The servicing will be considered completed on Aug. 4. Nippon Steel's assets in South Korea were seized by the court after it failed to pay damages to four Korean plaintiffs following an October 2018 Supreme Court ruling that found the men were mobilized to work for Japan Iron & Steel Co., Nippon Steel's forerunner, in the 1940s while the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule. The court later sent relevant papers, including an order it issued to seize Nippon Steel's assets, to the Japanese Foreign Ministry to effectuate the notification process, but the documents were sent back, according to the plaintiffs' representatives. The company did not comply with the compensation order as it heeded the Japanese government's position that the issue of claims stemming from the 1910-1945 colonial rule has been settled under a bilateral accord signed alongside a 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties. As a result, the plaintiffs had a portion of the company's shares in POSCO-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture, a joint venture with South Korean steelmaker POSCO, seized via the court and in May 2019 asked the court to order the sale of the shares. Once the papers are considered served, the court is likely to order the sale. But if that happens, already chilled ties between the two countries could further worsen given that Tokyo plans to take retaliatory measures in the event the business interests of Japanese firms are harmed. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is also among the Japanese companies whose assets have been seized in South Korea in connection with wartime labor compensation claims. The country's top court in November 2018 ordered the company to pay compensation to former laborers. Nippon Steel called itself Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. until its name change in April 2019. Related coverage: South Korea to resume WTO complaint over Japan's export curbs Ex-comfort woman in S. Korea raps protest rallies against Japan Abe sends ritual tree offering to war-linked Yasukuni shrine China has accused Britain of a "colonial mentality" after Boris Johnson promised to let up to three million Hong Kongers into the UK if Beijing proceeds with a controversial national security law. Mr Johnson had said that Britain could not "shrug our shoulders and walk away" if the Chinese Communist Party imposes a law designed to crush dissent in the former colony. Zhao Lijian, China's foreign ministry spokesman, issued a rebuke to Britain yesterday, saying it had "recklessly commented" on Hong Kong "and made groundless accusations to interfere in Hong Kong affairs". Mr Johnson yesterday appealed directly to residents of Hong Kong in an article published in the city's English language newspaper, the 'South China Morning Post'. Under the proposed visa reform, he said the three million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas (BNO) status would get the right to relocate to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months. "This would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in British history," Mr Johnson wrote. Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament last week approved a security law that will tighten its control of Hong Kong by criminalising separatism, subversion, terrorism, foreign interference and "acts" that threaten national security. Western nations and legal experts say this will end Hong Kong's special autonomy and railroad the "one country, two systems" principle behind the legally binding joint declaration. Hong Kong activists fear the sweeping law, which is yet to be fleshed out, will be used to put a stop to the pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub. Efforts to intensify pressure on China continued yesterday, with the heads of the foreign affairs committees in the British, New Zealand, Australian and Canadian parliaments urging Antonio Guterres, head of the UN, to appoint a special envoy to safeguard human rights in Hong Kong. China's legislation would effectively bypass Hong Kong's parliament, the legislative council. Carrie Lam, the city's embattled chief executive, told state media ahead of a visit to Beijing yesterday: "I felt at ease after the decision was made." But she added: "I have to confess it is almost impossible to have the national security legislation enacted by the local legislative council in the near future." ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] UPDATE (6/5): Lehigh Valley goes yellow. Carbon among next 12 green-phase counties. Cases top 74K. Pennsylvanias reopening from the coronavirus shutdown will continue Friday, when Gov. Tom Wolfs stay-at-home order expires and the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia area enter the yellow phase. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania coronavirus cases continue to climb the Lehigh Valley itself is nearing 7,000 cases to date but the rate of new cases is slowing. As of Thursday, the statewide coronavirus case count increased to 73,942 while COVID-19 deaths rose to 5,817. Here are your Pa. coronavirus updates for June 4, 2020. (Cant see the map? Click here.) Pa. reopening The final red counties in Pennsylvania will enter the yellow phase on Friday. They are: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia. Health Secretary Rachel Levine this week said the administration is very comfortable with southeast Pennsylvania and its move to the yellow phase. Officials are going over data today to determine what other counties may progress to the green phase of reopening. 16 more Pennsylvania counties are expected to enter the green phase of reopening from Gov. Tom Wolf's stay-at-home order on June 5, when the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia regions are to enter the yellow phase of the coronavirus shutdown.lehighvalleylive.com staff None of the phases are a complete return to normal, however. Masks, social distancing and cleanliness are still encouraged. The state is also setting limits on crowd size for events: no more than 25 people in the yellow phase, or 250 in green counties. However, certain businesses will be allowed to reopen in the yellow phase, though they must adhere to new health regulations. Restaurants in the yellow phase can offer outdoor seating in addition to takeout, child care centers can reopen and in-store retail can resume, starting Friday. Health officials will be monitoring local case rates and tracing patient contacts to get ahead of any further outbreaks. The department is also developing plans for a possible resurgence of the virus in the fall. Coronavirus in Pa. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 537 new positive cases of COVID-19 in its daily data release on Thursday. Though that is up slightly day-to-day, the figure still contributes to an overall decline in the rate of new cases, which peaked in early April. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) Of Pennsylvanias nearly 74,000 coronavirus cases, 5,601 or 7.5% have been health care workers. Residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities account for 15,848 cases 21% of Pennsylvanias total case county and 3,895 deaths, or 67% of the states COVID-19 death toll. The health department estimates that 69% of Pennsylvanias COVID-19 patients have recovered. The department also reports that 416,942 tests to date have come back negative. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) Coronavirus in the Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley coronavirus cases now total 6,941, a slight increase of 19 from the day before, all but four in Lehigh County. Coronavirus deaths here number at least 467, nine more than the prior day, according to the states figures. The counties themselves have reported at least 477. (Cant see the map? Click here.) The states report breaks down to 3,817 cases and 242 deaths in Lehigh County, and 3,124 cases and 225 deaths in Northampton County. The health department on Thursday also reported more coronavirus deaths in surrounding counties: Berks County had one more death, its 323rd. Bucks County had three more deaths, 522 total. Montgomery County had 11 more deaths, 713 total. Schuylkill County had one more death, its 37th. (Cant see the table? Click here.) 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 lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Ex-President, John Agyekum Kufuor claims most people on the register used foul means to get their voter's identification cards (ID) and that did not make the voters' register clean. The debate on the compilation of a new voter's register ahead of the December elections has seen the various actors taking entrenched positions, with most opposition political parties kicking against it. Speaking on the issue on Onua TV's Maakye on Wednesday, jointly hosted by Bright Kwasi Asempa, Anokyewaaba Serwaa and Adwoa Konadu-Yiadom, former President Kufuor said in Twi that we agree that some people are not Ghanaians but they are on the voter's register. We should do it again because it is not good. He noted that the register still contained names of persons who registered with NHIS cards and drivers' licence despite a Supreme Court's directive to get those names expunged. He noted that these two cards could be obtained by anyone including foreigners. Mandate of EC He explained that Ghana is governed by the 1992 Constitution and it gives EC the mandate to manage elections in Ghana. If they have realized we should do a new one, we have to do a new one, he said. He therefore advised persons opposed to the idea to go to court and not take the laws into their hands. Advice to opposition parties Former President Kufuor noted that about a year ago, various opposition political parties visited him in his house with a petition to prevail on the EC to halt the compilation of a new voter's register. They came to my house somewhere last year. The NDC Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia; PNC National Chairman, Bernard Mornah, was their spokesperson, Peter Boamah Otukonor and Gyataba came and said they would not agree to the compilation of the new voter's register. But I told them they are Ghanaians and what the law says is for the EC to manage elections, so if they were not in favour, they should go to the Supreme Court for the law court to decide. Protest after petitioning Supreme Court The former President said the NDC and other political parties have done well by taking the issue up with the Supreme Court but the protest after the Supreme Court should stop. ---Daily Guide - Moses Wetang'ula was ejected from Ford Kenya party leadership on Sunday, May 31, on the basis of gross misconduct - The Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu, however, said she would not be swayed by external forces to make unconstitutional moves as she upheld his leadership - Wetang'ula and his ANC party counterpart had accused COTU boss Francis Atwoli of being behind the coup - The trade unionist, however, said if he had an idea and was granted an opportunity to partake in the removal of the Bungoma senator, he would have conspired in the act without hesitation Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary-general, Francis Atwoli, had distanced himself from the ongoing Ford Kenya party wrangles which has pitted Bungoma senator, Moses Wetang'ula, against Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi. In a telephone interview at a local radio station, Atwoli said he was not aware of the coup in the opposition party stating he never had a hand in it. READ ALSO: Aden Duale rubbishes MP Kanini Kega's attempt to impeach him:"It is not easy as ABCD" COTU boss Francis Atwoli said he was not to be blamed for the woes in Ford Kenya. Photo: Francis Atwoli. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: We cannot turn a blind eye to racism: Pope Francis weighs in on George Floyd's death I had no idea on the plot of the coup against Wetang'ula and I had no intention of planning any whatsoever, he said. He, however, said if he had an idea and was granted an opportunity to partake in the coup against the Bungoma senator, he would have conspired in the act without hesitation or looking back. The veteran trade unionist alleged Wetang'ula was playing the antagonism role in both the Mulembe nation and national matters. Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula speaking at a past public rally. Photo: Moses Wetang'ula. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Polisi wanamsaka mwendesha bodaboda aliyetoweka na KSh505,200 za rafikiye We recently met with Musalia Mudavadi during Madaraka Day celebrations at State House and I opened up to him about this. He does not participate in Senate elections and yet he has a responsibility vested upon him by Bungoma citizens, he said. He further accused the Ford Kenya party leader of what he termed as misleading Mudavadi to skip national meetings yet he was interested in uniting all the leaders. READ ALSO: KEMRI researchers say Kenya dealing with 9 strains of coronavirus We had BBI meeting at Bukhungu in Kakamega while Wetang'ula had his own at Mumias, Atwoli said. Wetang'ula who had been ousted as Ford Kenya party leader by Wamunyinyi in a bloodless coup last week, got a reprieve after the Registrar of Political Parties upheld his leadership pending her ruling. Speaking of his retirement as a trade unionist, Atwoli clarified it was always his wish although the organisation never granted him one. Atwoli has served as COTU SG since 2001 when he was first elected. Photo: Francis Atwoli. Source: Facebook I would love to go on retirement. In 2011, I wanted to retire but members objected and same applied to 2016, he said adding that perhaps he may retire in September 2021. Atwoli also rebuked his critics for asking him to retire stating that his position was an elective post and one could serve as long as he wanted. I have not in any way blocked anybody who wishes to take after me and if there is any with evidence, then let them challenge me in the courts, he said. Story by Collins Mmbulika, TUKO Correspondent Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My son has breasts and he is ashamed of himself - Lilian Alango | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Image Credit: PIB File New Delhi/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a virtual bilateral summit with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Thursday said his country was committed to strengthen its ties with Australia. As the entire world is almost in a lockdown mode due to the Covid-19 spread, Modi held the summit with Morrison via video conference. Speaking about the two countries' ties, Modi said, "India is committed to strengthen its ties with Australia at a vast level at a faster rate. The ties are not only important for the two countries but a need for the Indo-Pacific region and the world." "But I won't say I am satisfied with the rate at which our ties are strengthening. The parameter of evaluating the rate of the development of our ties should also be ambitious when Australia is led by a leader like you," the PM added praising Morrison. Modi further said "coordinated" and "collaborative approach" are needed to come out from the pandemic situation. At the virtual summit with PM @ScottMorrisonMP. https://t.co/6JIpZRae21 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 4, 2020 Referring to the Covid times, he said, "Our government has taken a decision to see this crisis as an opportunity. India has already started reforms in multiple sectors. The results can be felt soon at the ground level." After the Indian economy was battered by the anti-Covid-19 lockdown, which began on Mar 24 midnight, the Narendra Modi government last month announced a mega package worth Rs. 20 lakh crore with an aim to make the Asian country "self-reliant". In a major step towards attracting foreign investment, the government increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limits from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in the defence sector while announcing the package through Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. List of the documents announced/signed during the virtual summit Joint Statement on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Republic of India and Australia (Announced) Joint Declaration on a Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo- Pacific. (Announced) Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation.(signed) MOU on cooperation in the field of mining and processing of Critical and Strategic minerals.(signed) Arrangement concerning Mutual Logistics Support (MLSA).(signed) Implementing Arrangement concerning cooperation in Defence Science and Technology to the MoU on Defence Cooperation.(signed) Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation in the field of Public Administration and Governance Reforms. (signed) Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training.(signed) Memorandum of Understanding on Water Resources Management. (signed) (Image Credit: PIB File) Haiti - News : Zapping... Shootout 2 dead and 3 wounded Tuesday evening in the district "Nan Bannann" in Cap-Haitien, a shooting left 2 dead: Junior Wanitho Chery (20 years) and Evens Volmyr (21) and 3 wounded. 2 members of Shada 2's "Aji Vit" gang are accused of committing these crimes. New Care Centers Two medical centers have been set up to care for patients with Covid-19. The first is located at the Olympic Center on Route 9 with the capacity of 200 beds; the second is located at Delmas 2 with the capacity of 40 beds, of which with 10 ventilators (respiratory assistance) operational. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30905-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30896-haiti-covid-19-daily-report-may-29-2020.html Death of Me Ferney Saint Juste Wednesday morning, the eloquent jurist and former Government Commissioner of Cap-Haitien, Me Charles Saint-Juste died in his private residence following a courageously endured illness The State Orders a million masks from textile factories The Haitian government has placed a new order for a million masks from factories in the textile sector to be handed over to the government so that our compatriots are better protected against the Covid-19. Delivery of medical supplies and equipment Wednesday, June 3, as part of the strengthening of the management of Covid-19 cases at the department of the West, the Center for the Management of People Contaminated in Delmas 2 and the University Hospital The State of Haiti (HUEH) commonly known as the "General Hospital" has received its first batch of medical supplies and equipment ordered by the Haitian state. Digicel : donation of 2.6 million Gourdes to DASH hospital The Digicel Foundation has made more than 2.6 million Gourdes (2,675,000) at DASH hospital to help leaders cope with the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic HL/ HaitiLibre Credit: CC0 Public Domain French winemakers will transform wine that went unsold during the country's two-month coronavirus lockdown into hand sanitiser and ethanol to make room for the next harvest, a farming agency said on Thursday. Wine sales and exports, particularly to the US, plunged at the height of the coronavirus crisis, leaving winemakers with millions of litres of unsold wine. "From tomorrow, 33 licensed distillers will be able to collect the wine and distil it," said Didier Josso, head of the wine branch in the farming agency FranceAgriMer, at a video press conference. The alcohol resulting from the distillation is exclusively reserved for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry and the production of hand sanitiser, and for the production of ethanol. "The distilled wine in no case is to be used to make spirits," said Josso. "There will probably be a need to stock ethanol as well, but the volumes will be less significant than for wine," he added. Each winemaker has up until June 19 to indicate the amount he or she wishes to distil. In return they will receive 78 euros in compensation if the wine is certified as belonging to a region and 58 euros if not. European public funds will finance the distillation of two million hectolitres of French wine after Brussels gave its green light for the exceptional measure. Experts said three million hectolitres were in need of distilling. Major wine-producing countries such as Spain and Italy have resorted to similar measures to regulate the excess, as well as to the exceptional destruction of young grape vines. The coronavirus pandemic has added to the woes of the French wine industry, which had already suffered a setback last year with a drop in exports to the US as punitive tariffs kicked in. Explore further New model gives wineries better data from existing tests 2020 AFP Some of our best opportunities often come at inopportune times, but it just shows our commitment to the business we are building together, and it all starts with great people. Republic Business Credit is proud to announce the hiring of Tae Chung as Senior Vice President of Business Development in its Los Angeles office. Tae will significantly increase our presence in the California traditional factoring market, further building upon the acquisition of Continental Business Credit in 2019. In addition to non-recourse factoring, Republic provides asset-based lending, direct to consumer financing and recourse factoring for companies throughout the consumer-packaged goods industry. Tae will lead Republics efforts in the apparel, accessory, electronic, textile, furniture and importer segments. Tae has built his career in the California apparel industry, entering his 20th year of providing factoring and asset-based lending solutions. He has a deep industry knowledge of the California factoring and lending markets. Tae is a member of the California chapter of Secured Finance Network, The Professional Club and various trade show associations. Tae will be located out of our new Los Angeles office, headed by its Chief Operating Officer, Matthew Begley, and EVP Western Regional Manager, Jason Carmona. Republic is committed to assisting apparel companies through this Pandemic, supporting their reopening plans and the likely challenging market that will follow. Republic understands the negative impacts across most retail, e-commerce and wholesale manufacturers and distributors, and believes it is well positioned to help. While Republic provides many solutions for clients, in the short term it believes its factoring solutions and inventory funding options provide a unique solution to help apparel companies continue to ship while things begin to stabilize. Republic provides factoring and lending facilities up to $10,000,000, therefore its credit and collection product is able to support both small and large companies. Republics President, Robert Meyers said, We continue to heavily invest into our non-recourse and asset-based lending offerings in the California market. We believe we are well positioned to pick up market share during this upcoming recession. Republic believes in light of continued disruption in the apparel industry, that its commitment to providing factoring solutions will aid business owners in need of creative and flexible non-bank approaches to solving their cashflow needs. Republics COO, Matt Begley added, We were excited when we learned that Tae was available in the market, Tae has been on our list of top performers in the region for many years. Adding to Matts comments, Republics President, Robert added, Some of our best opportunities often come at inopportune times, but it just shows our commitment to the business we are building together, and it all starts with great people. Republic is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs throughout the country, with its focus on building out regional offices to better support the local entrepreneurs. Republics EVP, Western Regional Manager, Jason Carmona added, I have known Tae a long time, I am really thrilled he has joined our California based team. Tae has a strong track record that supports our commitment to traditional factoring and supporting the apparel and consumer packaged goods space. Republic Business Credit partners with banks, accountants, sponsors, lawyers and investment banks to collaboratively support entrepreneurs across the United States, to create value, by enabling them to focus on growing successful businesses. Republic Business Credit provides fast and flexible working capital solutions to help rapidly growing businesses, start-ups, and companies in turnaround or recoverable distressed situations. Winner of the Emerging Growth Company of the Year award from the Louisiana Chapter of the ACG, and the FactoringClubs Best Factoring Company Award for 2018, the Republic Business Credit team has the expertise necessary to meet the nuanced financial needs of companies across a wide variety of industries. It provides asset-based loans, ledgered lines of credit, non-recourse factoring, factoring and direct to consumer loans including e-commerce working capital. Since its founding in 2011, Republic Business Credit has provided over $10 billion in working capital. Report by WSJ says Washington is concerned airspace restrictions often force Qatari planes to fly over Iran, for a fee. The United States has been pushing to resolve a nearly three-year diplomatic dispute between Qatar and its neighbours by pressing Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to stop their ban on Qatari airlines using their airspace, according to a report. President Donald Trump has personally pressured the Saudi leadership to end the restrictions, which often force Qatari aircraft to use Iranian airspace as their only corridor out of the region, US and Gulf officials told Wall Street Journal. The efforts included calls earlier this spring with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the officials were quoted as saying on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, the UAE Bahrain and Egypt severed political, trade and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017. The quartet continues to impose a land, air and sea blockade against their neighbour, accusing it of supporting terrorism a charge repeatedly and vehemently rejected by Doha. While the diplomatic dispute has complicated the USs Middle East strategy, the Trump administration is particularly concerned over so-called overfly fees that Qatar pays to Iran to use the airspace, the officials told the Journal. There is a greater sense of urgency to resolve the airspace issue, said one US official. Its an ongoing irritation for us that money goes into Irans coffers due to Qatar Airways overflights. Also of concern is the fact that many members of the US military regularly take commercial flights from Qatar, which fly over Iranian airspace, when going to and from Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US base in the region, according to the newspaper. Tensions have escalated between Washington and Tehran since Trump withdrew the US two years ago from a landmark 2015 nuclear accord, in which Tehran had agreed to abandon its nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief. The US has since reimposed crippling economic sanctions against Iran as part of a maximum pressure campaign. The enmity has been further inflamed following the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq at the beginning of the year. The Trump administration first appealed for the end to the airspace ban following the January 3 killing, the WSJ reported. On January 8, Iran launched a missile attack against two bases in Iraq housing US troops, causing no fatalities. On the same day, with the Iranian military on high alert, Tehrans forces accidentally shot down a Ukrainian commercial jet after taking off from the capital. Meanwhile in February, Qatars foreign minister said efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis were not successful and had been suspended in January. The comments by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani came despite signs in previous months pointing to a possible thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. A recent disinformation campaign, circulated by high-profile Saudi Twitter users, that falsely claimed a coup attempt in Qatar has further strained relations. Saudi officials see the airspace issue as their strongest negotiating point, and are loath to relent, a person with knowledge of the issue told the WSJ. Qatar only wants one thing: open sky, to be able to fly over, said the person. But if the Saudis give up flyover, there is nothing else Qatar wants. It is the Saudis only leverage. Qatar, meanwhile, has brought the issue to the United Nations in a series of cases that could force the blockading nations to pay large fines for isolating it. Qatari officials have signalled they would drop the cases if the issue were resolved. Alicia Saddler couldnt contain her anger. What are you going to do? she shouted as Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams attempted on Wednesday to answer questions about the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa. According to police, Monterrosa was allegedly looting a Walgreens when he was shot early Tuesday morning. Its not a story Saddler believes. They dont care, Saddler told me, referring to the Vallejo Police Department. They dont care. Angel Ramos, Saddlers brother, would've turned 25 Wednesday if he was still alive. Ramos was fatally shot by a Vallejo police officer in January 2017 at the home he shared with his family. According to police, Ramos hovered over another person with a large kitchen knife in his hand. Zachary Jacobsen, the officer who shot Ramos, claims he saw Ramos making stabbing motions. No knife was found near Ramos body. George Floyds death in police custody in Minneapolis sparked an uprising in this country, as people have marched in the streets to demand, among other things, accountability for police brutality. To understand why the protests are necessary, look no further than Vallejo. In one of the Bay Areas most racially diverse cities 30% white, 25% Asian, 22% black and 20% Latino Vallejos victims of police violence are often black or brown. Since 2010, more than 40 Vallejo police officers have been involved in at least one shooting, and 14 have participated in multiple shootings. The names of people whove been fatally shot by police Willie McCoy, Ronell Foster and Eric Reason are shouted at protests because Vallejos residents dont want them forgotten. They feel the city has ignored their pleas to address police violence in the city, but at a Tuesday news conference in which they did not name Monterrosa, city officials said they were now listening in the wake of Floyds death. That made some residents Ive spoken to angrier. This stuff was happening in our own community and nobody was doing anything about it, said Askari Sowonde, an events coordinator. We have been talking about police accountability. We have been talking about all of this stuff for years. Now they hear us? Shes felt dismissed at Vallejo City Council meetings when shes implored officials to address police brutality. You dont hear us and you dont see us. No matter what we say, you continue to do what you want to do, she said, referring to City Council members. You dont hear police accountability. What you see is confrontational people. You dont hear the fact that were telling you that we're tired of being murdered by the police. Now you hear it? Im tired of our people being murdered. Sarahbeth Maney / Special to The Chronicle 2019 Five National Guard vehicles carrying 50 troopers rolled into Vallejo on Tuesday night to assist officers as the city braced for another night of protests. Sharmell Mitchell told me she was shot with a rubber bullet while protesting that night. Shes McCoys sister. He was shot in February 2019 as he slept in a Taco Bell drive-through lane. This ain't nothing new for us, Mitchell said about this weeks fatal shooting by police. Theyre not killing because theyre scared. Theyre doing it because they can and theyre getting away with it, and theyre going to keep getting away with it until we stand up like were doing now. 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. Two months after McCoys death, his 20-year-old niece, Deyana Jenkins of Hercules, was driving in Vallejo with three friends when they passed two Vallejo officers who had another motorist pulled over. Jenkins was pulled over, and after she was dragged from the car, Jenkins said, two officers pinned her to the ground with their knees in her back. Vallejo residents have accused police of intimidation tactics like driving past their homes and shining spotlights in windows. In October, civil rights attorney Melissa Nold, who has represented Jenkins and others in claims and lawsuits against the city, filed a cease-and-desist request with the city. In it she claims the police union has made posts about her on its Facebook page, and that a union official videotaped her during a City Council meeting in what she saw as retaliation and intimidation related to her defense work. Now its fashionable to be concerned about dead black and brown bodies, Nold said. If you actually cared, you wouldve been listening to the actual impacted black and brown people in your community. I wonder, why have city officials been so slow to hear what the black and brown community has been telling them for years? I reached out to Erin Kerrison, a UC Berkeley professor of social welfare, for an answer. The entire American project is one thats built on the backs of people whove been racially othered, she said. We rely on this otherness so we can then determine who has and who doesnt, and we justify it based on those constructions of other. We always had police to control the people who are other. And the other is not a property-owning, white, Christian man. Saddlers commitment to police accountability remains steadfast. Shes not only protesting for Ramos, but shes doing it for her 12-year-old son, Giovanni. You just have to look at it like if you dont, then who will, she said. And thats my attitude every day. If I dont, who will? San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr Seoul, June 4 : The South Korean government is working on a plan to legislate a ban on sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets, the Unification Ministry here said on Thursday, hours after North Korea railed against such leaflets and threatened to scrap a no-hostility military pact with the South. The envisioned legislation is aimed at preventing chilly inter-Korean relations from deteriorating further, but enacting a law banning leaflet-sending could spark an outcry over the possible infringement of the right to freedom of expression, reports Yonhap News Agency. The announcement came hours after Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement denouncing the flying-in of such propaganda leaflets as a hostile act that runs counter to peace agreements the two sides signed during summit talks of their leaders in 2018. "Clearly speaking, the South Korean authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making sort of excuses," she said in the statement carried by the the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Unless the South stops such leaflets from flying across the border, the North could scrap a military tension-reduction agreement banning hostilities against each other, dismantle a shuttered joint industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong and shut down a joint liaison office, she said. North Korean defectors and anti-Pyongyang activists have occasionally sent a large number of leaflets via giant balloons sharply criticizing the communist regime and its leader. These are often flown with $1 bills and USB memory sticks to get more North Koreas to pick up the leaflets. The Unification Ministry said the leaflet campaign causes tensions and should be halted. "Actually, most of the leaflets have been found in our territory, causing environmental pollution and increasing the burden on local people to get rid of them... Any act that could pose a threat to the life and property of those people should be stopped," Yonhap News Agency quoted Ministry spokesperson Yoh Sang-key as saying. "Taking into consideration relevant circumstances comprehensively, the government has already been mulling effective regulatory-improvement measures to fundamentally prevent such tension-causing acts near the border," he said. He said that the government is considering legislation but declined to elaborate further. In the military deal reached in September 2018, the two Koreas agreed to stop all kinds of tension-causing activities against each other. During a summit held in April of the same year, the leaders of North and South Korea also agreed to cease all hostile acts and eliminate their means, including broadcasting through loudspeakers and the distribution of leaflets, in the areas along the border. The North Korean leader's sister pointed her finger directly at the anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border earlier this week by a group of North Korean defectors. The leaflets, totaling about 500,000 and carried by balloons, criticized the North's leader for threatening to take "shocking actual action with a new strategic nuclear weapon". South Korea's government has advised against sending such leaflets, citing concerns about the safety of residents in the regions where the leaflet-carrying balloons are launched because the North could take retaliatory military action on the areas. The latest strongly worded statement came as inter-Korean relations have been stalled amid a stalemate in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington since the no-deal summit in February last year between the North's leader and US President Donald Trump. In October last year, North Korea demanded Seoul withdraw all its facilities built at the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast, saying it will build its own international tourist zone there. South Korea shuttered the joint tour project in 2008 after one of its tourist was killed by a North Korean guard. South Korea also closed the joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong in 2016 after Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations. Earlier this year, the two Koreas also temporarily shut down a liaison office in Kaesong due to the coronavirus outbreak. Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday accused India of destabilising it by financing terrorism and supporting militancy, in a fresh rhetoric after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rapped Islamabad for producing and exporting terror. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria at a weekly briefing here said, India is a country destabilising Pakistan through its support for militancy. Responding to Modis veiled reference towards Pakistan at international fora this week that one single nation in South Asia is spreading agents of terror in countries of our region, Zakaria said: India is in fact that single nation. Confessional statement by Kulbhushan (Jadav) is open evidence to show which country is involved in subversive activities in Pakistan, he said, referring to an alleged Indian spy claimed by Pakistan to be arrested in Balochistan. To a question whether Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would raise Kulbhushan issues at UN General Assembly session, he said that issue of Indian involvement and its atrocities in Kashmir would be highlighted. The issue (of Kulbhushan) will be raised because of its direct links with incidents of terrorism in Pakistan, he said. He expressed deep concern over the alleged human rights violations by Indian forces in Kashmir, saying several youths were killed and over 10,000 injured in the ongoing tension. He said Pakistan started briefing the world about Kashmir issue as 22 parliamentarians started visiting various countries as Prime Ministers envoys to highlight barbarism and worst kind of human rights violations in Kashmir. Replying to a question regarding Indias stand that UN resolutions on Kashmir have become inapplicable after Shimla agreement, Zakaria said Shimla Agreement cannot overrule the UN resolutions. He alleged that India violated UN resolutions and also the Shimla Agreement. He also said India launched Balochi language services to divert world attention from the Kashmir issue. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: A personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) was among the new cases of coronavirus in Chhattisgarh on Fridayy, PTI reported. 'On Thursday, the state had reported 93 COVID-19 cases. The state's COVID-19 count is now 863, though active cases are 630 as 231 people have been discharged and two patients have died, he said,' The Indian Express reported. Auto refresh feeds Delhi, which figures among the worst-hit states and Union Territories, recorded 1,359 fresh coronavirus cases on Thursday, which took the city's COVID-19 tally to 25,004, and the toll due to the disease mounted to 650, authorities said. Chairing a high-level meeting through video-conference to review the preparedness for prevention and control of the novel coronavirus infection in Delhi, Vardhan expressed concern over all districts of the National Capital being affected by COVID-19, and high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts. He stressed on a need for ramping up testing, coupled with aggressive surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control measures. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the rising number of COVID cases, a high positivity rate, and low testing level in parts of Delhi was worrisome. "It means people will be at their homes for full eight days in June," said Patnaik. The Odisha government has announced a 'weekend lockdown' in a total of 11 districts till June-end to reduce the frequency of people coming out of their homes, said chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Visitor entry to shopping malls should be allowed in a staggered manner and adequate manpower be deployed by mall management for ensuring social distancing norms, the SOPs mentioned. According to the SOPs for commercial establishments, the ministry said that hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) and thermal screening provisions should be in place mandatorily at the entrance and only asymptomatic customers and visitors will be allowed. Face cover or mask will be mandatory, it said. The Centre on Thursday released standard operating procedures for reopening offices, hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, and religious places amid rising COVID-19 cases across the country. "As one of the largest contributors to UNDP among the developing countries, we take a keen interest in the Organization's success. I assure you of our steadfast commitment to UNDP in catering to COVID times and beyond to adapt to new development priorities," Ambassador TS Tirumurti said in a statement. TS Tirumurti, India's new Permanent Representative to United Nations, on Thursday, assured New Delhi's commitment to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to adapt to new development priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the COVID-19 pandemic, in someways, has "exposed the limitations of global cooperation and that for the first time in recent history, the human kind faces a clear common enemy". In his address, Modi said India stands in solidarity with the world in these challenging times, according to a statement from the PMO. As India pledged $15 million to Gavi, the international vaccine alliance, on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country stood with the world in these challenging times. He was addressing the virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The number of discharged patients in the state also rose to 33,681. Of the 123 deaths, 68 were reported in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Maharashtra remained the worst COVID-affected state with 2,933 new cases on Thursday, taking the total of confirmed infections to 77,793, while its toll rose to 2,710 after 123 fresh fatalities. Even though the Metro operations are shut, a few employees came to work on rotational shifts from 18 May, when the fourth phase of the lockdown kicked in and certain modes of transportation were allowed to function in Delhi-NCR, senior Delhi Metro officials said. Twenty officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have tested positive for the novel coronavirus so far. The DMRC officials clarified that these cases were not reported from a single office and said all precautionary measures were taken to prevent the spread of the disease. In case of religious places with smaller available space, the management committees of such religious institutions can downsize the number of devotees per hour. According to the guidelines issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, all religious places can reopen from 8 June subject to gathering of maximum 20 people per hour, reported The Sentinel . Barring Kamakhya Devalaya, all other devalayas and temples in Guwahati are set to reopen for devotees from 8 June as per the Unlock-I guidelines announced by the government. At least lives of 273 people were claimed by the infectious disease taking the COVID-19 toll to 6,348. In the past 24 hours, India registered 9,851 new COVID-19 cases taking the total number of infections across the country to 2,26,770 as of Friday. The figure also includes 1,10,960 active cases. Of the total 2,26,770 coronavirus cases in India, at least 1,09,462 COVID-19 patients were cured of the viral infection, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday. Of the total 43,86,376 COVID-19 samples tested so far, 1,43,661 samples have been tested in the past 24 hours, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Friday. The package, announced by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, included tax rebates to consumers and loan subsidy for business and shop owners. The Gujarat government has announced a relief package of Rs 14,000 crore to help revive the economy that suffered a setback during the COVID-19 pandemic, PTI reported. Taqwiyat ul Iman Masjid authorities in Lucknow are taking all precautionary measures against the fast-spreading coronavirus as religious places are set to open on 8 June, ANI reported. The Pune Police is planning to launch a "virtual appointment system" which will allow citizens to speak to officers online from their homes and get their complaints and grievances addressed. So far, six people have lost their lives to the infectious disease while, 380 COVID-19 patients have been cured. Jharkhand recorded a total of 843 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Friday, ANI quoted the state health department. The figure included 447 active cases. After 130 more individuals tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Odisha, the total number of confirmed cases in the state climbed to 2,608 on Friday. "Number of active cases stand at 1,117," said the state health department. Another COVID-19 related death took place in Odisha, taking the coronavirus toll to eight on Friday, according to the state health department. The COVID-19 toll in the state climbed to eight on Friday. The report further said that the patient was diabetic and had other underlying comorbidities. The person who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Odisha was a 63-year-old male from Khordha district who had tested positive for the disease, according to local reports . Fourteen new positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Nagaland in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 94, said S Pangnyu Phom, Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Nagaland. Petitioner Avishek Goenka told the apex court that private hospitals are charging exorbitant fees from COVID-19 patients, making it inaccessible to most of them. The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on fixing a price cap for treatment of COVID-19 patients after it agreed to consider a PIL for fixing an upper limit for bills by private hospitals. The case will be heard after a week. The incident took place on Thursday at about 11 pm when the bus driver lost control and the vehicle fell into a ditch, said Circle officer Massa Singh. At least 35 migrant labourers were injured when a bus carrying them from Rajasthan to Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, fell into a ditch, police said on Friday. A woman gave birth to a boy on board 'Shramik Special' from Lingampali in Telangana to Balangir in Odisha, on Friday. The mother and the child have been shifted to a government hospital in Titlagarh, ANI reported. Rajasthan reported 68 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 9,930 on Friday, said the state health department. The COVID-19 toll in the state stood at 213. Twenty cases were reported in Bharatpur, 16 in Jaipur, four in Baran, two in Kota and one in Sawai Madhopur. While, two patients were returnees of other states. Of the 68 new COVID-19 cases in Rajasthan, the maximum was reported in Jhalawar after 23 people tested positive. All protocols are being followed to disinfect the building, according to sources. A floor of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters in Delhi closed for a day for sanitisation after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, ANI reported. The Central government has suspended all new schemes upto Rs 500 crore till March 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, CNBC TV18 reported. The Hand Wash app, which is there as 'Hand Wash' in the Watch section of the Galaxy Store, helps users remember to wash their hands at regularly scheduled intervals throughout the day. "This is why Samsung has developed an app to provide a clear guide on how, and how regularly, users should be washing their hands," the company said in a blog post. Samsung has developed an app that could make handwashing a habit. The South Korean company launched its new smartwatch app that helps improve hand hygiene as people learn to adapt to life amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to a top Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official, as per the data till 2 June, the average daily growth of COVID-19 cases went down from more than 8 percent a a few days ago to 3.64 percent. With a trend of steady decline in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, the average daily growth rate of infections has gone down, claimed officials of the city civic body, spearheading the metropolis's response to the pandemic. Another senior BMC official said, the daily number of cases are seeing a declining trend with the count remaining below 1,500 on most of the days since 22 May. "Even the COVID-19 case doubling rate has gone up to 19 days," said the official. According to the BMC, over 2.08 lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Mumbai till 2 June, of those only 20.18 percent people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. According to The Times of India , the office memorandum issued on Wednesday said the entire premises of the ministry at Nirman Bhawan, including washrooms, lifts and staircases, will remain shut for thorough sanitisation on 6 and 7 June. Only emergency COVID-19 team will be exempted. The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases has prompted the health ministry to issue a list of preventive measures to contain the fast-spreading virus, including restriction on entry of visitors. Three officials in the health ministry have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, News18 reported. Testing of contacts is underway, the report further said. Five people who returned to Mizoram recently tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 22, an official said. Andhra Pradesh registered a total of 3,427 confirmed coronavirus cases after 50 more people tested COVID-19 positive in the past 24 hours, said the state health department on Friday. There will be no events on International Yoga Day in Leh this year, ANI reported quoting AYUSH Ministry Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha on Friday. He further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis participation in the programme is not certain. According to the data released by the civic body, on 27 April, the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in the financial capital was 10 days . In a meeting chaired by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Mumbai civic chief IS Chahal on Wednesday had said that the doubling rate of cases in Mumbai has reached 19 days. Till last week, it was around 11-12 days . The clinical trials for potential COVID-19 treatment drug will be conducted across 12 centres in India on 210 patients. The treatment duration for patients will be 10 days. The results of the clinical trials are expected by October, 2020, Sun Pharma said. The apex court was hearing the matter on the ongoing migrant crisis on Friday amid the coronavirus outbreak in India. The Supreme Court said on Friday that it intends to give 15 days to Centre and States to transport all migrant labourers to their native places, PTI reported. More than 4,200 Shramik Special trains have run till 3 June to send over 1 crore migrant labourers their home states, Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday. The apex court was hearing on suo motu case on plights of migrant workers. "Presently, there are 1,10,960 active cases and all are under active medical supervision," the health ministry further said. In the past 24 hours, a total of 5,355 COVID-19 patients have been cured of the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of recoveries over 1 lakh, according to the latest data released by the health ministry on Friday. This takes India's COVID-19 recovery rate to 48.27 percent. With 99 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Bihar, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 4,551, according to the state health department on Friday. Uttarakhand detected 46 more positive cases of COVID-19, taking total confirmed cases in the state to 1,199. "Active cases stand at 874 while 11 deaths have been reported so far," said the state health department. Forex traders said positive domestic equities, sustained foreign fund flows, the revival of business activities, and weak US dollar supported the local unit, but there were still a slew of risks, including US-China trade tiff, that weighed on the currency. The rupee surrendered all intra-day gains to provisionally close on a flat note at 75.58 against the US dollar on Friday as investors looked for cues to move forward and take positions. The court said, "What we intend to do is we will give you and the states 15 days' time to transport all migrants. All states will bring on record how they will provide employment and other kind of relief. There should be registration of the migrants." The Supreme Court on Friday said the state governments will get 15 days' time to transport all stranded migrant labourers to their respective native states. The apex court was hearing on suo case case on plight of migrant workers. "All steps are being taken by the Bihar government to ensure their well-being. Skill mapping is also undertaken to look for their employability," said Kumar. Appearing for the Bihar government, advocate Ranjit Kumar on Friday told the Supreme Court that around 28 lakh people have returned to the state. The apex court was hearing the matter on the ongoing migrant crisis during coronavirus outbreak. The apex court has said that it will consider the request. Raising the issue of the plight of migrant workers, senior advocate Indira Jaising on Friday requested the Supreme Court to dismiss all FIRs against the labourers for violating lockdown conditions by stepping out of houses, proceeding on foot or by cycles. "Of the total, there are 1,163 workers who are symptomatic. Their samples have been collected for test," said Prasad. The principal health secretary of health in Uttar Pradesh, Amit Mohan Prasad, said 12,80,833 migrant labourers have been tracked so far with the help of ASHA workers in the state. The anti-malarial drug has been controversial in part due to support from Trump, as well as implications of the study published in British journal The Lancet last month, which led several COVID-19 studies to be halted. Three of the authors of the article retracted it, citing concerns about the quality and veracity of data in the study. An influential medical journal article that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients was retracted on Thursday, adding to controversy around a drug touted by US President Donald Trump. The Supreme Court reserved its order for Tuesday on registration of migrant workers in their home state and about their future job arrangements, according to Bar and Bench. Candidates can log on to the official wesbite upsc.gov.in to check the revised schedule online. The exams were postponed in view of the lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct the Civil Services exam 2020 (prelims) on 4 October. The Civil Services main exam will be held on 8 January, 2021. In last 24 hours, 12 deaths and 502 new coronavirus cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total toll to 257 and number of cases to 9,733. There are 3,828 active cases, the state health department. 182 more coronavirus cases have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir; 108 from Kashmir division and 74 from Jammu division. Total positive cases in the Union Territory stand at 3324 including 2202 active cases. Jharkhand reports 79 new Covid-19 positive cases; total number of cases in the state now reaches 922. The death toll stands at 7: State Health Department. Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh was quoted by reports as saying that the state government will provide Rs 65 lakh compensation to the kin of each police personnel who died due to coronavirus infection in the state. "Health Department of Chandigarh Administration has issued orders stating that Govt instructions/guidelines regarding prevention & control of Covid-19 need to be more stringent; has ordered imposition of a fine of Rs 2,000 for violating the home quarantine instructions," India Today reported. The Telangana health department said that 143 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state, taking the total number of cases in the state to 3,290. The Goa health department said that 30 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state on Friday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 196 including 131 active cases and 65 recovered. 316 COVID-19 cases were reported in Haryana on Friday, the state health department said. Total number of cases in the state is now at 3597, including 1209 recovered/discharged and 24 deaths. "Rajasthan reports 222 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 10,084. Number of active cases stand at 2,507, the state health department said. We are witnessing the easiest phase of growth as people come off temporary layoffs and come back to their employers, said Harvard University economist Jason Furman, who led the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama presidency. And once employers are done recalling people, the much harder, longer work of recovery will have to proceed. Still, after weeks of dire predictions by economists that unemployment in May could hit 20% or more, the news that the economy added a surprising 2.5 million jobs last month was seen as evidence that the collapse may have bottomed out in April at 14.7% and that a recovery is well underway as states loosen their lockdowns and let stores, restaurants, gyms and other businesses reopen. The jobless rate is still on par with what the nation witnessed during the Great Depression. And for the second straight month, the Labor Department acknowledged making errors in counting the unemployed during the coronavirus outbreak, saying the real figure is even worse than the numbers indicate. US unemployment dropped unexpectedly in May to 13.3% as reopened businesses began recalling millions of workers faster than economists had predicted, triggering a rally Friday on Wall Street and giving President Donald Trump something to boast about amid his reelection bid. The results convincingly rule out any meaningful mortality benefit, study leaders at the University of Oxford said in a statement. Results released Friday from 1,542 patients showed the drug did not reduce deaths, time in the hospital or other factors. After 28 days, 25.7% on hydroxychloroquine had died versus 23.5% given usual care -- a difference so small it could have occurred by chance. Leaders of a large study in the United Kingdom that is rigorously testing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and other medicines for hospitalized COVID-19 patients say they will stop putting people on the drug because its clear it isnt helping. Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: A personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) was among the new cases of coronavirus in Chhattisgarh on Fridayy, PTI reported. "On Thursday, the state had reported 93 COVID-19 cases. The state's COVID-19 count is now 863, though active cases are 630 as 231 people have been discharged and two patients have died, he said," The Indian Express reported. Maharashtra recorded 139 deaths on Friday, the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 in a single day. 2,436 persons tested positive for coronavirus in the state. Total cases in the state are now at 80229, including 2849 deaths. 35156 patients recovered, the state health department said. Kerala reported its highest single-day jump in coronavirus cases with 111 new patients recorded, reports said. Reportedly, 50 new patients came to the state from abroad, and 48 are from other states. Uttar Pradesh medical education minister Suresh Khanna will undergo a COVID-19 test after he visited a hospital in Meerut where positive patients are under treatment, PTI reported. Khanna had on Monday paid a visit to Government Medical College in Meerut to inquire about the well being of the patients there and get their feedback about the treatment, Information Officer of the minister Jayendra Singh said. On the advice of doctors, Khanna will give his sample for coronavirus testing on Saturday, he said. Khanna, who also holds the portfolios of Finance and Parliamentary Affairs ministries, is currently under home quarantine. The Supreme Court reserved its order for Tuesday on registration of migrant workers in their home state and about their future job arrangements, according to Bar and Bench. Raising the issue of the plight of migrant workers, senior advocate Indira Jaising on Friday requested the Supreme Court to dismiss all FIRs against the labourers for violating lockdown conditions by stepping out of houses, proceeding on foot or by cycles. The apex court has said that it will consider the request. The Supreme Court on Friday said the state governments will get 15 days' time to transport all stranded migrant labourers to their respective native states. The apex court was hearing on suo case case on plight of migrant workers. The court said, "What we intend to do is we will give you and the states 15 days' time to transport all migrants. All states will bring on record how they will provide employment and other kind of relief. There should be registration of the migrants." In the past 24 hours, a total of 5,355 COVID-19 patients have been cured of the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of recoveries over 1 lakh, according to the latest data released by the health ministry on Friday. This takes India's COVID-19 recovery rate to 48.27 percent. "Presently, there are 1,10,960 active cases and all are under active medical supervision," the health ministry further said. More than 4,200 Shramik Special trains have run till 3 June to send over 1 crore migrant labourers their home states, Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday. The apex court was hearing on suo motu case on plights of migrant workers. In a meeting chaired by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Mumbai civic chief IS Chahal on Wednesday had said that the doubling rate of cases in Mumbai has reached 19 days. Till last week, it was around 11-12 days. According to the data released by the civic body, on 27 April, the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in the financial capital was 10 days. According to the BMC, over 2.08 lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Mumbai till 2 June, of those only 20.18 percent people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "Even the COVID-19 case doubling rate has gone up to 19 days," said the official. Another senior BMC official said, the daily number of cases are seeing a declining trend with the count remaining below 1,500 on most of the days since 22 May. With a trend of steady decline in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, the average daily growth rate of infections has gone down, claimed officials of the city civic body, spearheading the metropolis's response to the pandemic. According to a top Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official, as per the data till 2 June, the average daily growth of COVID-19 cases went down from more than 8 percent a a few days ago to 3.64 percent. Rajasthan reported 68 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 9,930 on Friday, said the state health department. The COVID-19 toll in the state stood at 213. The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on fixing a price cap for treatment of COVID-19 patients after it agreed to consider a PIL for fixing an upper limit for bills by private hospitals. The case will be heard after a week. Petitioner Avishek Goenka told the apex court that private hospitals are charging exorbitant fees from COVID-19 patients, making it inaccessible to most of them. Another COVID-19 related death took place in Odisha, taking the coronavirus toll to eight on Friday, according to the state health department. The person who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Odisha was a 63-year-old male from Khordha district who had tested positive for the disease, according to local reports. The report further said that the patient was diabetic and had other underlying comorbidities. The Gujarat government on Thursday announced a relief package of Rs 14,000 crore to help revive the economy battered by the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, a measure that includes tax rebates to consumers and loan subsidy for business and shop owners. The package seeks to cover a vast section of people and businesses in Gujarat, one of the most industrialised states which has reported more than 18,500 COVID-19 cases so far. In the past 24 hours, India registered 9,851 new COVID-19 cases taking the total number of infections across the country to 2,26,770 as of Friday. The figure also includes 1,10,960 active cases. At least lives of 273 people were claimed by the infectious disease taking the COVID-19 toll to 6,348. Barring Kamakhya Devalaya, all other devalayas and temples in Guwahati are set to reopen for devotees from 8 June as per the Unlock-I guidelines announced by the government. According to the guidelines issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, all religious places can reopen from 8 June subject to gathering of maximum 20 people per hour, reported The Sentinel. In case of religious places with smaller available space, the management committees of such religious institutions can downsize the number of devotees per hour. Twenty officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have tested positive for the novel coronavirus so far. The DMRC officials clarified that these cases were not reported from a single office and said all precautionary measures were taken to prevent the spread of the disease. Even though the Metro operations are shut, a few employees came to work on rotational shifts from 18 May, when the fourth phase of the lockdown kicked in and certain modes of transportation were allowed to function in Delhi-NCR, senior Delhi Metro officials said. India will have to build a large number of makeshift COVID-19 hospitals in the near future to contain the rise of the novel coronavirus in the country, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the Supreme Court as it released SOPs to be followed at malls, offices and religious places as the country registered over 9,000 new cases on Thursday. According to the health ministry's 8 am update, 9,304 new patients have tested positive in 24 hours across the country, taking the nationwide tally to 2,16,919, while the toll from the deadly virus increased to 6,075 with 260 more fatalities in this period. Based on the government data, India is now the seventh worst-hit nation after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain, and Italy, whereas it is ranked 12th at present in terms of fatalities. India is among the top five countries in terms of active cases, as also for the number of tests conducted so far. The number of active COVID-19 cases, in the meantime, now stands at 1,06,737, while the count of recoveries has risen to 1,04,107 with 3,804 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the ministry said. India is placed eighth in terms of recoveries. The COVID-19 figures, however, have risen since the 8 am update. A PTI tally of figures announced by different states and union territories, as of 9.50 pm, showed a higher number of confirmed cases across the country at 2,17,389 and the death toll at 6,233. It also showed more than 1.07 lakh COVID-19 patients having recovered so far. Maharashtra cases cross 77,000; Tami Nadu reports 1,384 infections As per figures released by states, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in India with 2,933 COVID-19 new cases on Thursday, taking its tally of confirmed infections to 77,793, while its toll rose to 2,710 after 123 fresh fatalities. The number of discharged patients in the state also rose to 33,681. Of the 123 deaths, 68 were reported in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). In West Bengal, the COVID-19 death toll rose to 283 with 10 more fatalities, while the state's case count rose by 368 to 6,876. Tamil Nadu also reported its highest single-day spike of 1,384 cases to take its tally to 27,256, while its death toll rose to 220. In Andhra Pradesh, the state government secretariat appeared turning into a hotspot for the novel coronavirus infection with one more employee there testing positive. The state reported 141 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 4,112. The death toll has risen to 71 there. Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, among other parts of the country, also reported new cases. Low testing levels in Delhi worrisome, says Harsh Vardhan Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the rising number of COVID cases, a high positivity rate, and low testing level in parts of Delhi was worrisome. He stressed on a need for ramping up testing, coupled with aggressive surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control measures. Chairing a high-level meeting through video-conference to review the preparedness for prevention and control of the novel coronavirus infection in Delhi, Vardhan expressed concern over all districts of the National Capital being affected by COVID-19, and high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts. Delhi, which figures among the worst-hit states and Union Territories, recorded 1,359 fresh coronavirus cases on Thursday, which took the city's COVID-19 tally to 25,004, and the toll due to the disease mounted to 650, authorities said. On Wednesday, the National Capital had recorded the highest single-day spike of 1,513 cases. Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said his government's entire focus is on saving people's lives and ensuring adequate facilities for COVID-19 patients who need hospital care, without getting entangled in data or any competition with other states. He said COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Delhi and the government has started focusing on ensuring that those who need hospitalisation get beds and proper treatment facilities. Meanwhile, the Delhi government also warned that private hospitals which do not comply with its direction to reserve 20 percent beds for coronavirus patients by Friday will be converted into dedicated COVID-19 facilities. Centre issues SOPs for malls, religious places Amid the rising cases in the country, the Centre on Thursday released standard operating procedures for reopening offices, hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, and religious places. Some of them have already re-opened in parts of the country and few others are scheduled to re-start in the next phase of unlocking from next Monday. According to the SOPs for commercial establishments, the ministry said that hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) and thermal screening provisions should be in place mandatorily at the entrance and only asymptomatic customers and visitors will be allowed. Face cover or mask will be mandatory, it said. Visitor entry to shopping malls should be allowed in a staggered manner and adequate manpower be deployed by mall management for ensuring social distancing norms, the SOPs mentioned. Gaming arcades, children play areas and cinema halls inside shopping malls shall remain closed. The ministry sought contactless mode of ordering and digital mode of payment (using e-wallets) to be encouraged. The ministry said that religious places inside containment zones shall remain closed for the public while those outside will be allowed to open. "No physical offerings like prasad/distribution or sprinkling of holy water, etc, should be allowed inside the religious place," the ministry said, underlining that community kitchens, langars, 'ann-daan' etc at religious places should follow physical distancing norms while preparing and distributing food. According to the SOPs, all religious places should ensure hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) and make thermal screening provisions at the entrance mandatorily. They should allow only asymptomatic persons in the premises and allowing those using face cover or masks. Experts raise concerns over fiscal deficit, state of economy A nationwide lockdown came into effect on 25 March, which was initially announced for 21 days, but was extended thrice and the last fourth phase ended on 31 May. A graded exit from the lockdown began on 1 June and the next phase, beginning 8 June, would see the reopening of malls, hotels, and restaurants, among other places, followed by further easing of the lockdown curbs through the remaining weeks of June and then in July. But even as some business activities are set to resume from 8 June, experts expressed concerns over the fiscal deficit and the impact of the lockdown on the economy. Leading industry body CII, cautioned against increasing fiscal deficit to spur the coronavirus-hit economy, while rating agency ICRA said that banks' gross non-performing assets may worsen due to disruptions caused by the pandemic. Industrialist Rajiv Bajaj said a "draconian" but porous lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19 has ended up "flattening the wrong curve" by decimating India's economy and leaving it with the "worst of both worlds". During a video interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Bajaj also said that opening up the economy would be a Herculean task and asserted that none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi should purge the people's mind of fear through a "very clear and aligned narrative". The BJP, however, downplayed Bajaj's remarks, saying Gandhi used the businessman as a "bouncing wall" for his ideas during the conversation in which the opposition leader did "most" of the talking. The party also said Bajaj was not an expert on COVID-19 and how to deal with it. Opposition to ending 14-day quarantine for doctors 'presumptuous' The health ministry's remark that India may soon have to build makeshift hospitals had come while the Centre filed an affidavit in response to a petition filed in the Supreme Court challenging its 15 May order ending a mandatory 14-day quarantine for healthcare workers on COVID-19 duty after a seven/14-day roster. The pandemic has seen a large number of health workers, including doctors and nurses, also contracting the dreaded virus infection, due to which the 15-May order of the health ministry has faced a lot of criticism from the healthcare workers. While responding to the PIL, the Centre said that mandatory quarantine for 14 days after rostering duty of health care workers of 7/14 days is not justified and warranted. The affidavit was filed before a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah which was hearing the plea. The ministry also told the Supreme Court that hospitals are mainly responsible for implementing the infection prevention and control activities, but the final responsibility lies with the health care workers themselves to protect themselves from COVID-19. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the apex court that it is the responsibility of health care workers to adequately train themselves and take all possible measures for preventing the infection. With inputs from PTI Even independents are slightly more likely to support the police. Clearly, the protesters have a big obstacle to overcome with those they need to persuade. Namely, that despite everything, the institutions of hard power including the very ones that make up the system they want to change enjoy a high level of esteem. Thats not a passing phase its apparently growing. Gallup polling in 2016 after Ferguson, after Trayvon Martin, after the launch of Black Lives Matter found the level of Americans respect for police had surged to its highest level in 50 years. And last year, Gallup found the military was Americas most trusted institution. The police came in third. Illustration: Andrew Dyson Credit: Something similar is true in Australian polling, in which federal and state police have gone past the High Court and the Reserve Bank to become the top two most-trusted institutions in the country. This comes as the police themselves are becoming increasingly militarised. Thats especially obvious in America, where the Defense Department distributes surplus military equipment to police. As a result, many of them look like soldiers, having acquired machine guns, night-vision goggles, gas masks, grenade launchers, bayonets, armoured vehicles and military aircraft. In Australia, it is more likely to take the form of police sharing training, tactics and techniques with the military, especially among special operations groups, but it also includes some weapons. Its far less developed, but the militarisation process is under way. Loading All that adds up to a militarised public culture. These protests, both local and global, arrive in that context: police enjoy expanding powers and more lethal weapons as well as increasing public veneration. Along with the military, they become almost sanctified in public and political discourse, revered as quasi-sacred figures who represent the highest ideals of the nation. Scandals might come and go periodically, or even begin to pile up in a moment, but they do no lasting reputational damage because they exist only as exceptions to the overarching rule of their honour and virtue. Their power doesnt need to be justified because it is taken to be self-evidently righteous. What happens when that creed meets racial minorities whose experiences are not of honour and virtue, but of routine, sometimes fatal abuses of power? Well, this. These protests are so explosive and divisive because they condemn a structure that is officially sacred. They are not content to let George Floyd be a victim of the isolated conduct of a rogue officer. They insist he is merely the latest victim of the racism and self-justifying violence that is baked into policing. Loading We face a version of that argument here on the question of Aboriginal deaths in police custody, and which we saw anew this week after a viral video of a Sydney police officer slamming an Indigenous teen face-first to the ground in response to a verbal provocation, despite the teen showing no signs of resisting. In a sanctified, militarised public culture, these become more than civil rights arguments. They become existential: an attack on the very foundations of society. That is especially so for us in Australia, where Indigenous claims to justice are often seen as an assault on the legitimacy of the country itself. Probably the most chilling thing about watching that video of George Floyd die or for that matter, the video of that Indigenous Sydney teen is the supreme confidence and surety with which the police acted. Theres not a moments hesitation or restraint. 161 Shares Share This pandemic has taught us that undergraduate medical education is nimbler and more adaptive than we have previously assumed it to be. COVID-19 has propelled medical schools into an online, remote learning age. It has beseeched educators to creatively deliver new means of teaching human anatomy, pathophysiology, and clinical skills. It has driven administrators around the world to revise graduation requirements to enable students to enter the workforce in times of health care worker shortages. Dr. Staci Leisman, a Mount Sinai nephrologist, in her physiology course for first-years demonstrated how pulmonary function testing works from her Manhattan apartment, calling upon the help of her children. Virtual sub-internshipswith simulated patients and inpatient care scenarioshave been offered to fourth-year medical students pulled off the wards in March. In truth, these transitions have not always been smooth. And these adaptations for distance learning will never fully replace the quality of in-person and on-site learning experiences. We miss the side conversations with classmates. We miss the off-mic stupid questions to our preceptors. We miss the bedside rounds with patient care teams and seeing our patients and their families in the hospital. The decision to pull students off rotations and suspend in-person learning was surely not an easy one. With a strong recommendation by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), administrators were hard-pressed not to suspend classes and clerkships. Yet, swiftly, preclinical courses were moved fully online. Pre-recorded lectures were, at times, substituted for live ones. Some Mount Sinai instructors such as Dr. Tonia Kim, who teaches renal pathophysiology to second years annually, continued to deliver content in real-time. New curricula for the upcoming academic year were furnished to accommodate clinical rotations and shelf exams students missed. Our bureaucratic and inert institutions are, in fact, adaptive in crisis situations. We can harness this momentum to continue to reimagine the trajectory of medical education. Beyond times of pandemic, distance learning opportunities could be combined with in-person sessions, such as in the flipped classroom approach, incentivizing student preparation for case-based group learning and clinical skills sessions. Permitting the re-use of certain lectures year-to-year would save preparation time for medical school faculty and promote more active student learning during their teaching hours. We also believe these efforts can help decrease the cost of an MD across institutions in several ways: resources spent on preparing and delivering these lectures could be reduced and repurposed towards curricular innovation, patient care, or research. Utility costs (for heating, cooling, and electricity) would be lowered with decreased lecture hall usage. The clinical experience could be the point of differentiation for institutionsfor we agree that this experience cannot be standardized across the range of teaching hospital locations and partnering clinical sites. Decreasing the cost of education would bolster the diversity of the physician workforce by drawing in students from lower-income backgrounds who may have otherwise been disincentivized from pursuing expensive education. We also believe that given forced cancellations of licensing exams at Prometric centers around the U.S, we should take this moment to reexamine the validity of such examinations. Students and educators have demonstrated a lack of correlation between scores and clinical performance on United States Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE) examinations. We have also seen how devastating the preparation for these exams can be on student mental health. Making Step 1 pass/fail was absolutely a step in the right direction. Step 2 CK is more clinically relevant but also remains in multiple-choice format, which cannot capture the nuances of practice. Another financial burden on students has been the $1,300+ price tag on Step 2 CS. The state of North Carolina has removed Step 2 CS as a requisite for medical licensing in response to increasing difficulties of administering the exam in-person. Similar decisions across state lines will have to be made soon to ensure the timely graduation of over 20,000 allopathic medical students. Some educators have raised a fair point that devaluation or elimination of these licensing exams may have downstream (and potentially adverse) consequences on residency program selection criteria. We do not wish to overlook these consequences. But as students, we would like to reimagine what a medical education could be for those who may be our future trainees. We dream of a time when students need not curtail their courses to self-study with flashcards because of climbing average exam scores. We also dream of a time when paying for a standardized exam does not mean forfeiting placing money into savings. The history of medical education in the U.S. is ripe with change and transition. Since the Flexner Report of 1910, medical schools formally established clerkships as a formative part of training. Competencies for graduating students were established to ensure that no quack doctors were graduating from credentialed medical schools. Medical schools were and are held to an ever-increasing standard of education and throughput. Even the research sector of medical institutions is not overlookedconsider the tremendous influence research dollars have on annual US News & World Report medical school rankings. The history of medical education, though, has not always been one of progress. Historian Kenneth Ludmerer reminds us, for example, in the recent era of managed care organization takeover, academic clinicians grew increasingly busier with their practices and were able to spend less and less time for teaching and mentorship. Even still, we have witnessed remarkable educators who care as deeply about training and mentoring the next generation of physicians as much as they do their patients. Every iteration of the medical education paradigm offers the opportunity to continue to form and habituate more adept and compassionateneed we say, competentphysicians-in-training. And COVID-19 is not a time to miss out on it. Emmy Yang, Oranicha Jumreornvong, and Jasmine Race are medical students. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 20:15:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam visits a street stand and signs a petition in support of the national security legislation in Hong Kong, south China, May 28, 2020. (Xinhua) Carrie Lam said the HKSAR government will fully cooperate on national security legislation for HKSAR and improve law enforcement capability. She called on Hong Kong people to actively express opinions during the legislative process. HONG KONG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam has said on Wednesday that the HKSAR government will fully cooperate on national security legislation for HKSAR and urged Hong Kong people to actively express their opinions during the process of the legislation. The HKSAR government will cooperate on the drafting of the related law, improve law enforcement capability, and launch national security education, Lam told a press briefing in Beijing, accompanied by several senior officials of the HKSAR government. During the legislative process, the central authorities will listen to opinions from various sectors in Hong Kong, including government officials, chairman of the Legislative Council, legal experts, national lawmakers and political advisers, Lam said. Relevant departments of the central government will also hold seminars in Shenzhen and Beijing to solicit opinions from Hong Kong people, Lam said. Lam called on Hong Kong people to actively attend those activities and said they can also express opinions to the HKSAR government and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR. Lam said national security is the top priority that concerns not only the nation but also Hong Kong, as well as more than seven million Hong Kong residents. Hong Kong has the constitutional responsibility to pass its own national security laws but has failed to finish the legislation, Lam said, stressing that by making the decision on the national security legislation, the central authorities are assuming their constitutional responsibilities and showing care for Hong Kong. Responding to the threat of a foreign government to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and revoke its special status, Lam urged foreign countries to respect China's stance and their relations with China and not to take unilateral action that will bring negative impacts on bilateral ties. AS possible candidates begin to emerge for Limericks new 130,000-a-year mayoralty job, Willie ODea has firmly ruled himself out. But well-known faces from across Limerick are being touted for the high-profile job, including businesswoman Helen ODonnell, former civil servant John Moran, former Fine Gael TD Tom Neville, plus councillors Emmett OBrien and Adam Teskey. After Junior Minister John-Paul Phelan told this newspaper he expects the first election for a directly elected mayor to take place in 2021, speculation is growing as to who may throw their hat into the ring. Parties are set to hold conventions to decide on their candidates in the months to come, but almost anyone can contest the election, so long as they get the endorsement of 40 people on the electoral roll. One political source, who is familiar with the groundwork being done in preparation for the landmark vote, said he feels a high-profile Independent candidate possibly a local celebrity will sweep to power. Personality is going to play a big part in it. It will need someone who connects with people really well. Someone who has a strong personality, someone who can bring people with them. I reckon its going to be presidential in its nature. The county will carry it, as the turnout rate we see in the county is far higher than in the city, they explained. Someone who arguably would be recognisable to voters in both the county and the city is the former Defence Minister Mr ODea. But speaking this week, he ruled a bid out, saying: Its not for me. Mr Moran, a former secretary general at the Department of Finance, and the fulcrum of the Liveable Limerick movement is thought to be in the mix. This week, he said he has lots on, and has not yet considered it. Also weighing things up is businesswoman Ms ODonnell, whod be well-known in both city and county. She is the wife of former Fine Gael minister and MEP Tom O'Donnell. The owner of the Hunt Museum cafe, she would be a popular choice given the fact she has led many initiatives across Limerick, including Tidy Towns, and the TLC annual Good Friday clean-up. She is also known to be politically astute, having been courted by Fine Gael down through the years. Sources close to the businesswoman said shes not ruling it in or not. She has respect, she is well-in with a lot of the businesses. Helen would tick a lot of boxes in my opinion, said a colleague, But neither Alan Dukes or John Bruton both while leading Fine Gael could persuade her to stand for the Dail. Pallaskenry councillor Emmett OBrien has been mooted as a possible runner. Hes a barrister in the city and a farmer in his home parish, with his supporters suggesting this means he could straddle the city/county divide. Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey, who topped the poll in Adare/Rathkeale with a huge personal vote, said he is under pressure from his supporters to run. Im mindful of the mandate I received in the local election. Its encouraging to see both Fine Gael members and non-Fine Gael members encouraging me to consider putting my name forward for the mayoral election, he said, pointing out that he went to school in the city. Tom Neville, who missed out on both a Dail and a Seanad election, said he has a contribution to make. One celebrity who has ruled himself out is comedian Pat Shortt. When contacted by the Leader, he laughed: Ive not thought of it at all! Im not a politics man, sure! A Bay Area assemblyman will revise his bill requiring that mail ballots be sent to every California voter this fall after concerns arose that the current version could cause more problems than it would solve. The measure, AB860 by Democrat Marc Berman of Palo Alto, now states that those ballots would go to every registered voter in the state. That appears to mean not only the 20.6 million active voters, but also the huge but unknown number of inactive voters who might not even exist. The inactive voter question is a main focus of a Republican lawsuit seeking to block a virtually all-mail election in California in November. However, thats not the intention, said a spokesman for Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who supports the bill. Only active registered voters will be mailed a vote-by-mail ballot. That is and has been the practice in California, said spokesman Sam Mahood. The state elections code, he said, already specifies that voters with an inactive voter registration status do not receive elections materials. That includes vote-by-mail ballots. Berman also said his bill, which he hopes to place on the governors desk this month, is aimed only at active voters. Nobody, nobody, nobody has ever said, Lets mail ballots to inactive voters, he said Thursday. But on Tuesday, Democrats on the state Senate elections committee voted down a proposed amendment by state Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Tehama, that would have required local election officials to send ballots only to active voters. If the Democrats are intent on expanding vote-by-mail to all voters, we must also enact protections so the possibility of fraud is reduced, Nielsen said in a statement. Berman said it was not Nielsens intent, but the wording of the amendment, that was the problem. Words are important in legislation, and we didnt want to create unintended consequences, he said. But Berman also said he has recognized in the past couple of days that the current version of his bill brings problems of its own. I think it could be worded better, and I talked with my staff about it (Thursday) morning, he said. Thats why well be adding language to the bill in the next few days. The language will make it clear that only active voters will receive the mail ballots, Berman said. In general, an active voter is anyone who has participated in an election in the previous four years. Bermans bill is aimed directly at a lawsuit filed against the state, Padilla and Gov. Gavin Newsom over Newsoms executive order last month requiring that mail ballots be sent out statewide as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. The suit was from GOP organizations arguing that the order was an illegal and dangerous attack on the election process. Newsoms illegal power grab is a recipe for disaster that will destroy the confidence Californians deserve to have, Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said in a statement last month announcing the suit. Although Bermans current bill would probably have squelched complaints that a virtually all-mail November election was illegal, the prospect of ballots going to a million-plus inactive voters, many of whom may have died or moved away, would have reignited concerns Padilla and other Democrats thought they had answered. In response to President Trumps tweeted charge that Newsom is seeking to rig the presidential election by sending ballots to millions of people, anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, the secretary of states office said mail ballots would go to only active registered voters statewide. All the people who keep bringing this up are just trying to reduce the confidence people have in the security of the election, Berman said. The new wording about inactive voters might not be the only change coming to Bermans bill. The measure now calls for expanding the deadline for mail ballots to arrive and be counted from the current three days after the election to 20 days post-election, and even as long as two days before the (county) elections official sends the (secretary of state) the final results, whichever is later. That could be as late as December. Since those ballots still would have to be postmarked by election day, the change probably wouldnt bring a flood of additional late votes. But many county election officials are unhappy with any prospect of an added workload. Were getting different pushback from different registrars, Berman said. Were going to look at the possibility of making a change to give more breathing room to the registrars. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth MTx's DROPZYLLA platform isolated ultra-rare and highly potent virus-neutralizing antibodies from COVID-19 patients within six weeks SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies to be developed as a COVID-19 immunotherapy Memo Therapeutics AG ("MTx"), an innovator in the field of antibody discovery and immune repertoire analysis, today announces that it has identified several SARS-CoV-2-specific virus-neutralizing antibodies with the potential for development as a COVID-19 immunotherapy. Since March, MTx has selected the most promising donors from hundreds of Swiss COVID-19 patients. The selection criteria identified patients who had demonstrated a clinical course of COVID-19 indicative of a particularly potent antibody response. Blood samples were collected from the clinically selected donors and used with MTx's microfluidic DROPZYLLA discovery platform to identify SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies. DROPZYLLA enables the generation of complete recombinant human antibody repertoires, preserving all specificities present in each of the patient's B cells. By processing more than 2 million memory B cells from the COVID-19 donors, MTx was able to identify ultra-rare antibodies with superior virus-neutralizing activity within just six weeks of first patient enrollment. The most potent of these antibodies will now undergo clinical development as a passive immunotherapy for COVID-19, with a clinical proof-of-concept anticipated for Q4 this year. Dr. Karsten Fischer, CEO of Memo Therapeutics, said: "The identification of SARS-CoV-2-neturalizing antibodies could be a game changer in how we tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic. The discovery process and ongoing clinical development may also provide key insights into how we can combat new mutants and viral outbreaks in the future, as well as other existing viral diseases." Dr. Christoph Esslinger, CSO of Memo Therapeutics, commented: "We are very excited by the opportunity to contribute to the global efforts against COVID-19. We are also extremely pleased to see that our DROPZYLLA antibody discovery platform and the established workflow appear to be perfectly suited for a rapid pandemic response, and we believe that patient-derived antibodies are the most straightforward, safe and reliable therapeutic option in such a situation." -ENDS- About Memo Therapeutics AG Memo Therapeutics AG (MTx) is an innovator in the field of antibody discovery and immune repertoire analysis. MTx's antibody discovery platform uses robust, simple and fast microfluidic single-cell molecular cloning and screening technologies to enable antibody repertoire mining and antibody discovery at unprecedented speed, efficiency and sensitivity. The platform captures and preserves entire B-cell repertoires from any donor species and any B-cell type in recombinant form for display using mammalian cells. The antibody repertoires are subsequently screened in single-cell format using microfluidic screening technology that can assess millions of candidate antibodies directly in functional assays, resulting in recombinant clonal cell lines expressing mAbs with the desired functional properties. Exploiting the power of its microfluidic single-cell molecular cloning and screening technologies, the Company engages in antibody discovery across species and indications for proprietary and partnered projects. MTx's current pipeline features programs in infectious diseases and immuno-oncology. MTx is a private company located in Bio-Technopark Zurich, Switzerland. For more information, see: https://memo-therapeutics.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005044/en/ Contacts: Contact Media Inquiries Memo Therapeutics AG Karsten Fischer CEO Tel: +41 44 5159140 Email: media@memo-therapeutics.com Instinctif Partners (for English language and international media) Siobhan Sanford Dr Christelle Kerouedan Tel: +44 (0)20 7457 2020 Email: MemoTherapeutics@instinctif.com MONTREAL (dpa-AFX) - New York's transit agency The Metropolitan Transportation Authority or MTA has pulled its newest subway cars from service after two cars got detached from a moving train. New York City Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg launched an investigation into the matter. The entire R179 fleet from Canadian company Bombardier Inc. has been pulled until further notice after the incident in Chambers Street Station. MTA noted that the train became separated between the sixth and seventh cars of the ten-car train as it entered the station. Ten passengers were safely evacuated with no reported injuries to customers or employees. Feinberg said, 'At this time, we believe this to be an isolated incident, however, I am launching a full investigation .. This marks the latest unacceptable issue with one of Bombardier's R179 cars. ..We will not return the fleet to service without certainty and validation that all cars are fit for passenger service - period.' The agency has redeployed additional spare cars, and it anticipates minimal impacts to the service. This is the second mechanical issue involving the subway cars from Bombardier. Earlier this year, the entire fleet were pulled for two weeks after reports of doors opening while a train was moving. The wagons also had other issues including slippery controls, stiff windows and other design flaws. 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. Richard J. Meelia has joined the Board of Trustees at the College of Our Lady of the Elms, according to an announcement by the Catholic college in Chicopee. Meelia is principal of Meelia Ventures LLC, a a healthcare private equity investment firm focused on early-stage medical technology companies. From 2007 until he retirement in 2011, he served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Covidien, an $11 billion global healthcare products company, I am delighted that Richard Meelia has accepted our invitation to serve on our board. I look forward to working with him and seeing how his business experience will contribute to our strategic thinking, Elms president Harry Dumay said. I look forward to serving on the Elms College Board of Trustees, and working with Board Chair Cynthia Lyons and the entire board, Meelia said. Meelia has experience in student learning. He funded the Meelia Center for Student Engagement and Volunteerism at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., and has provided the support to establish the Srs. Kathleen Keating and Maxyne Schneider Experiential Learning Fund at Elms College. Meelia is the chairman of the board of Haemonetics, a global provider of blood and plasma supplies and services with Braintree headquarters. He is also a member of the board of directors of Bostons St. Francis House, the largest day shelter in Massachusetts, as well as a nonprofit in Brighton that works to improve health for impoverished children and families in Ecuador, and a Billerica knee replacement manufacturer. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Saint Anselm College. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:02:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TASHKENT, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan is stepping up measures against locust swarms across the country together with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said Thursday. Cooperation with neighboring countries in fighting against the locusts is an important measure taken by the Uzbek government, the ministry said, adding that more than 500 pieces of special equipment and 700 workers are involved in this nationwide action. Locust in Uzbekistan have covered 327,400 hectares of land, of which 309,600 hectares have already been sprayed with chemicals, according to the ministry. Uzbekistan's Agricultural Ministry said earlier that locust swarms are expected to cover 597,900 hectares across the country. Enditem A fashion designer is creating bespoke sustainable face masks for brides-to-be to match their wedding gowns and says she has been inundated with requests from women all over the world wanting to get their hands on the ultimate functional fashion accessory. Asta Jakubson from Dunshaughlin, Co Meath says she has been rushed off her feet producing custom made masks for women who want to protect themselves and their guests while also looking their best on their big day. The talented Lithuanian born fashionista who was just one of ten international designers selected to showcase their work at Paris Fashion last year is also creating haute couture masks to go with her handmade designer ensembles. Im sending orders all over Ireland and have been getting requests from people as far away as America," she said. I can't keep up with the requests. "Face masks are the future of fashion now that this is our new normal and women will be buying them like they would buy any other kind of accessory to go with an outfit. Ive started creating bridal masks to go with wedding dresses that I hand-make for brides as well. I think they look really beautiful but also they are something that is needed from a health point of view. I design and create the masks in every colour and print you can think of and to make them look prettier and trendier I add diamantes, smiley faces and hearts. For brides I can add pearls or lace too. Theyre obviously functional, but I think they can be uplifting. When people see me with my smiley-faced ones they give me a smile back and I think thats contagious and brings out the good feeling." Ms Jakubson said whatever is going on in the world, girls still want to look stylish and have that bit of fashion every day: Who knows how long we will need to wear masks for so we may as well embrace it. As well as being an essential health accessory and trendy addition to your wardrobe, these reusable masks are also good for the environment as the designer explains: The material is made from natural fibre so they are breathable. I use cotton, cotton denim, flannel and linen. They are reusable and washable and you will have them forever whereas everyday people are binning hundreds of thousands of disposable ones. Imagine how many go into the planet every single day. It results in huge damage for nature and the environment. Its important to look after yourself and look after nature." Asta who has a studio in Dunshaughlin and hails from a long line of seamstresses in her home country is also keen to highlight that all her masks are made using materials from local suppliers. We should look after our economy particularly now. That is why I am buying all the materials from Irish suppliers, lets support each other during such an uncertain time for local businesses. Its more important now to look after our own people. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images It doesnt take long to blow up a reputation. In the case of the New York police department, an institution with an already troubled history, the clip lasted all of 27 seconds. It showed an NYPD vehicle in Brooklyn lined up against a metal barricade behind which protesters were chanting during Saturdays demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. Projectiles were thrown on to the roof of the car, then suddenly a second police SUV drew up alongside and instead of stopping continued to plough straight into the crowd. Related: NYPD officers call re-training in wake of Eric Garner death a 'waste of time' Seconds later the first vehicle lurched forward, knocking the barrier over and with it propelling several protesters to the ground amid a harrowing chorus of shrieking. A 27-second video, now viewed more than 30m times, had quickly shredded years of effort to repair the deeply tarnished image of the NYPD. New Yorks finest were firmly cast in a role normally reserved for the security corps of petty dictators. The shocking video was compounded hours later when the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, spoke about the incident. A politician who won election in 2013 largely on a promise to reform the NYPD and scrap its racially discriminatory stop-and-frisk policy, astounded even his closest supporters when he defended the police. De Blasio said: I do believe the NYPD has acted appropriately. Social media lit up. Was it appropriate to drive those two SUVs into the crowd? Was it appropriate for an NYPD officer forcibly to remove the coronavirus mask of a black protester whose arms were raised in the air, then pepper-spray his face? Was it appropriate for another officer to tell a protester to get off the street, then physically shove her several feet towards the curb where she landed on her head? Or that the police officers involved in the pepper spray incident had covered their badge numbers, presumably to avoid having to answer for their actions. Or to beat a nurse walking home from a shift at a hospital? Story continues NYPD police officers arrest a protester during a demonstration on Monday. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images The clashes between New Yorks police and its protesters have reverberated around the city. The largest police force in the US, with its $5.6bn annual budget and 36,000 uniformed officers under the leadership of one of the most progressive mayors in the country, has responded to demonstrations about police brutality with more police brutality. The Black, Latino and Asian Caucus of the city council, which makes up more than half of the legislative body, was swift and devastating in its criticism. In a statement, it said that the NYPD had acted with aggression towards New Yorkers who vigorously and vociferously but nonetheless peacefully advocated for justice. Adrienne Adams, co-chair of the caucus, told the Guardian the NYPD had tried to suppress legitimate anger felt by African American and other minority communities following years of police abuse. We cannot allow people who have kept people of color down for decades to say now that we dont have the right to display our outrage, she said. Though that sentiment applies nationwide, Adams believes New York stands out as having a horrible history of police brutality. It was the NYPD that set the tone, she said, when Daniel Pantaleo, the officer implicated in the 2014 death by chokehold of Eric Garner in Staten Island, avoided prosecution. When nothing happened to the police officers who were responsible for the death of Eric Garner, New York set the blueprint for what happened to George Floyd, she said. Theres no penalty, no consequence, so its OK. Adamss framing of the Garner killing could equally be applied to a long string of notorious episodes of police misconduct that preceded it. In 1997, Haitian immigrant Abner Louima was handcuffed by an NYPD officer and sexually assaulted with a broken broomstick. Police clash with demonstrators protesting against the decision not to indict a police officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner in December 2014 in New York City. Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images Two years later, Amadou Diallo was shot near his home in a hail of 41 bullets after officers mistook his wallet for a gun. In an echo of that event, an unarmed Sean Bell was shot 50 times in Queens on the morning of his wedding in 2006 it took six years for the NYPD detective who opened the fusillade to be chucked off the force while nobody has ever been convicted of any crime. In the policing of protest, the NYPD also has a contentious track record. In 2004 it rounded up more than 1,800 peaceful protesters rallying outside the Republican National Convention during the re-election bid of George W Bush and herded them into overcrowded pens on Pier 57 in Manhattan. In 2011 it was similarly criticized for heavy-handed tactics during the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Cutting across all this, the force has consistently targeted its efforts on neighborhoods of the city with majority black or Latino populations, straying at times into overt racial profiling. Though stop and frisk has been reined back in recent years, the NYPD continues to heavily and disproportionately police those communities despite a historically low homicide rate. Despite this long legacy of overreach, the force continues to be systemically resistant to public oversight. Under Section 50-A of New York state law, the disciplinary files of police officers are largely held in secret, making the task of holding them accountable almost impossible. Jennvine Wong, a staff attorney at the Cop Accountability Project (CAP) within the Legal Aid Society, told the Guardian that there were currently more than 200 police officers still being employed by the NYPD on full pay who should have been considered for termination following reports of misconduct. Data collected by CAP shows that where cases of misconduct arise they often involve escalation of low-level encounters into aggressive confrontations something officers are supposed to be trained not to do. The project is currently litigating the case of Tomas Medina who was put in a chokehold and Tasered in 2018 after police were called to a complaint about loud music being played. Eric Garners fatal arrest was triggered by him allegedly selling single cigarettes. Although the use of chokeholds has been banned in New York, the project has found that between 2015 and 2018 the city settled 30 lawsuits involving NYPD use of the potentially lethal maneuver. Wong believes such endemic deployment of excessive force has spilled over into the NYPDs handling of the George Floyd protests. She was present at a peaceful protest in Brooklyn that suddenly turned volatile not because of the behavior of protesters but by a sudden change of tack on the part of the police. In a split second, the NYPD snapped and engaged in over-aggressive enforcement. They escalated it from 0 to 10 out of nowhere, arresting people and wielding their batons. If there has been unrestrained use of batons in the city, it would be with the full approval of Ed Mullins, the provocative president of one of the main police unions, the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA). He wrote to members urging each and every one of you to report for duty with your helmet and baton and do not hesitate to utilize that equipment in securing your personal safety. The sister Police Benevolent Association of New York City has also spoken to its members in inflammatory terms about them being under attack by violent, organized terrorists while New York City council and other politicians sit at home demanding we de-escalate. A vandalized New York police vehicle is seen the morning after a protest in Brooklyn on Saturday. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters There is no denying that the NYPD faces difficult challenges in the policing of mass protests, especially late at night when violent outbreaks have erupted as they did on Monday in Manhattan and the Bronx. Fires were started in the street and stores looted. For Eugene ODonnell, a former NYPD officer and prosecutor in Brooklyn and Queens who is now a professor of police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Monday nights spectacle of looting along Fifth Avenue amounted to a collapse of policing in the city. This weekend, the job of police officer in New York became officially impossible when the police abolitionists won. They have created a model of zero tolerance towards force being used and any injuries being inflicted, and thats absurd. ODonnell said the same pattern is repeating itself across America. In city after city, the police were abolished this weekend. They stood back and watched as damage was inflicted that was irreversible. BEIJING, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 2, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held the expert webinar of the 2nd conference of Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia (GHF). The meeting was hosted by Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, the President of GHF. Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of BFA, Li Baodong, BFA Secretary-General, Sun Da, Vice-Commissioner of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wang Qingxian, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shandong Committee, Secretary of the CPC Qingdao Committee, Sun Jiye, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, and Li Lei, Vice President of 2020 BFA Honorary Strategic Partner SABIC attended the expert webinar and made speeches. There were more than 200 participants, including experts in public health and related fields from many countries, international organizations, embassies and consulates in China, relevant departments of host governments, Shandong Provincial Government and Qingdao Municipal Government, experts and representatives of industrial enterprises and media. It is generally believed by the experts that it is of vital significance to share information and experiences as well as to have cross-border and cross-region cooperation in the course of the war against the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) has done a lot of work to this end by giving full play to its role and by coordinating the global responses. Although different countries may have different systems and cultures, and the process of pandemic development and transmission may not be the same, yet the basic law of prevention and response is more or less the same for the same kind of sudden outbreak of infectious diseases. The international community should learn from each other and mutually abide the law in order to form the largest joint force to fight the pandemic and to eventually overcome the pandemic. The experts also expressed that the Global Health Forum can play an important role as a platform for the global fight against the pandemic at this special period when the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging around the world. The 2nd conference adjusted its agenda and topics for discussion in accordance with the development situation of the pandemic and made the relevant plans to ensure the health of the guests participating in the conference, control the imported cases and prevent the rebound of the pandemic. Global Health Forum was set up by Boao Forum for Asia in 2018, and its 1st conference was successfully held in Qingdao, Shandong in June 2019. The GHF has built a high-end platform for exchanges and cooperation in the field of health for political, commercial and academic circles around the world, and has promoted the construction of the world's health systems and the development of the health industry. The 2nd Conference of Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia (GHF) is to be held in Qingdao, Shandong Province in October, 2020. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176199/GHF.jpg Eight years ago, Peggy Marchanti and Holly Loftis were told that their husbands, serving as military advisers in Afghanistan, had been fatally shot by an Afghan policeman. This week, the two military widows received another shock: Abdul Basir Salangi, the police officer who admitted murdering their husbands in Kabul in 2012, was freed from prison last week after serving less than four years of a 20-year sentence. Will the riot images last? Or recur? If so, theres potential for a political boomerang, set off by the unjust death of a black man in Minneapolis, that might help President Trumps reelection odds. Thats the kind of year were having. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Trusona, the pioneering leader in passwordless multi-factor authentication technology, today announced that Tandem Bank has selected and deployed Trusona to provide PSD2-compliant, passwordless strong customer authentication (SCA) that enhances the user experience while securing users and their financial data across all channels. Tandem Bank, a digital savings bank formed from Tandem Money's acquisition of Harrod's Bank in 2018, not only wanted to satisfy the UK's Open Banking SCA regulatory requirements, but also be able to extend consistent and secure authentication across multiple channels, including their app and contact centre. Trusona empowers Tandem to continue to delight their customers by removing the largest cyber threat vector of static credentials including passwords, banking IDs, pins, codes and security questions from their customer experience, reducing user friction, promoting app engagement and making digital self-service simple. "Tandem has always been driven by providing an excellent customer experience and we wanted to be able to extend that to the passwordless Strong Customer Authentication experience across all our channels and customer journeys over time," said Nick Bennett, COO, Tandem Bank. "Like all UK banks, Tandem is required to comply with Open Banking, including the provision of PSD2 SCA. Tandem selected Trusona as their passwordless solution is SCA compliant, but more importantly because they share our passion for providing a seamless customer experience, and their technology was quick and easy to deploy." In the EU, PSD2/Open Banking regulations now require all payment account providers to apply SCA in order to increase the security of electronic payments. To read more about Trusona's passwordless SCA solution, please visit https://www.trusona.com/strong-customer-authentication-sca . About Trusona Trusona, the pioneering leader of passwordless MFA for enterprises, secures the identity behind every digital interaction. The company's solutions provide a complete alternative to usernames and passwords, making authentication more secure and more convenient across all enterprise use cases. Organizations in financial services, healthcare, higher education, media and more, trust Trusona for omni-channel authentication across any digital asset. Trusona is leading the passwordless revolution where there are no passwords to be created, remembered, managed or compromised. Trusona is funded by Kleiner Perkins, M12 (Microsoft Ventures), Akamai, Georgian Partners, Seven Peaks Ventures and 2M. For more information, please visit www.trusona.com. SOURCE Trusona Related Links www.trusona.com Congratulations, lawcollective.org got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Lawcollective.org scored 60 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 Jul 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the lawcollective homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. 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Basic Information PAGE TITLE Just Cause Law Collective : Index DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS arrest, search, police questioning, interrogation, probable cause, reasonable suspicion, search warrant, subpoena, detention, police misconduct, excessive force, jail, Miranda rights, bail, arraignment, entrapment, misdemeanor, felony, probation, parole, OTHER KEYWORDS how to, police, rights of, what to, to get, questioning, searches 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 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. 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The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The URL of the found Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND In brief: With most hyperscale cloud companies being headquartered in the US and China, the European Union is looking to set up a cloud ecosystem of its own to ensure that it has complete control over data flowing across its member countries. The EU has a plan to challenge the dominance of American and Chinese companies in the cloud sector with a project dubbed Gaia-X. Currently, the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market is mostly split between Amazon (47.8 percent), Microsoft (15.5 percent), Google (four percent), IBM (1.8 percent), Alibaba (7.7 percent) and Tencent, but the European bloc wants to create a new ecosystem that will reduce its dependence on these companies. Gaia-X is the result of a collaboration between the European Commission and the German and French governments, who have committed to support the project in taking off. According to Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, it will require the concerted efforts of over 100 organizations including Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Bosch, Telekom, and SAP. The initial announcement last year caused a stir among US tech giants who warned that Europe's ambitions for "digital sovereignty," while a legitimate goal, have the potential to stifle innovation and restrict the freedom of choice for potential clients. American companies like Microsoft have even offered to help with Gaia-X, but it's not clear how they could in the context of having to comply with the US Cloud Act, which is one of the reasons why Europe wants to take control of its data flow. That said, Gaia-X is still in its infancy, having just been registered as a company by a group of French and German companies. The official launch is slated for 2021, and details surrounding the project have yet to be revealed. The closest description so far is that Gaia-X will be made up of a swarm of small and large cloud companies that will have to comply with a specific set of security, privacy, and data governance and portability rules. According to Gartner, worldwide spending on public cloud services is set to reach $266 billion this year, which shows that cloud computing is going mainstream and established players have already secured a strong foothold. This casts some doubt on the EU's ability to build an alternative cloud ecosystem, but some companies like French IaaS provider OVHcloud are confident it can be done. Brethren Disaster Ministries is directing the first round of grants from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to congregations carrying out pandemic-related humanitarian relief work in their communities. The new COVID-19 Pandemic Grants program began in late April and provides grants to Church of the Brethren congregations and districts in the United States and Puerto Rico. The following grants were approved as of May 26, totaling $58,100: Brook Park (Ohio) Community Church of the Brethren received $5,000 for its Audreys Outreach food pantry and food give-aways program serving central and western Cuyahoga County. It includes a twice-a-week food give-away, summer lunch program, monthly seniors hot meal, and quarterly community meal. Previously it served 700 to 800 families a month but in April that number increased to 1,375 families, with 475 families as first-time clients. The church also has started delivering food to high-risk people at their homes. This grant will help serve these extra families and the additional children expected for the summer lunch program. Centro Agape en Accion, a church in the Church of the Brethrens Pacific Southwest District received $5,000. Members are either unemployed or employed but working few hours due to COVID-19. The grant will enable the church to assist some families with food, rent, and medical bills, and provide a dinner once per week to families who drive up to the church to receive it. Elderly people will have their meals delivered to them. Eglise des Freres Haitiens Church of the Brethren, Miami, Fla., received $5,000. Many members of the church and community members have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The number of people coming to the churchs twice-weekly food pantry has more than doubled. This grant will help provide food for the pantry as well as special assistance to some of the church members for food, rent, utilities, cleaning supplies, and other needs. Eglise des Freres Haitiens Church of the Brethren, West Palm Beach, Fla., received $5,000. The church serves a community of mostly service workers who are unemployed due to COVID-19. The grant will help purchase food and household cleaning and hygiene materials to distribute to members and the community once per week. Iglesia Cristiana Elohim, located in Nevada and part of Pacific Southwest District, received $5,000. The church serves the Hispanic community in Las Vegas, most of whom have lost their jobs as service workers. This grant will assist families with food, rent, and other expenses. Iglesia de Cristo Sion Church of the Brethren in Pomona, Calif., received $5,000. Most of the congregation and members of the community are unemployed due to COVID-19. The grant will help provide food, rent, medicines, and hygiene supplies for distribution to church members and community members. Nueva Vision la Hermosa in Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area in Stanislaus County, Calif., is part of Pacific Southwest District. It received $5,000. Church and community members who are agricultural workers have been laid off due to COVID-19. The grant will help families pay for food, rent, and utilities. Principe de Paz Church of the Brethren in Anaheim, Calif., received $5,000. The church is located Orange County, Calif., which has a high cost of living and high unemployment among church members and the local community due to COVID-19. The church has seen a rapid increase in the numbers of people coming to its food pantry. The grant will help expand capacity to provide for these additional people. Ephrata (Pa.) Church of the Brethren received $4,000. The community in and around Ephrata has many people who are unemployed because of COVID-19 restrictions. The church has recently been partnering with a local group that participates in the Power Packs Program that previously served families with children who received free meals at school. The program is now open to anyone and distributes food once a week. The grant will help with the increased need, calculated at $500 a week. Sebring (Fla.) Church of the Brethren received $4,000. The church is located in Highlands County, one of the poorest counties in Florida that, due to COVID-19, has a lot of unemployment as well as many older adults who are having difficulty finding food resources. In April, the church started offering a hot meal once a week for anyone who needed it, and the numbers of people showing up have increased each week. The church also offers a food bank once per week. The grant will supplement the funds provided by the church for these programs. Eglise des Freres Haitiens Church of the Brethren, Orlando, Fla., received $3,000. The pastor and church leaders have been assisting church and community members who are out of work due to COVID-19 with food and money. This grant will help the church provide monetary assistance to families to purchase their own supplies. County Line Church of the Brethren, which is located in the rural, low-income Westmoreland County, Pa., received $2,500. Many members of the church and community are elderly and low-income. Others are not able to work or they operate small businesses that had to close down due to COVID-19 restrictions. The grant will help the church distribute food and household items to those in need and will support the church with office supplies to communicate with their members and to advertise their activities. Tabernacle the Restoration located in Broward County in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., and a part of Atlantic Southeast District, received $2,500. The pastor and many members of the church are unemployed due to COVID-19. The church already had begun providing food distributions and this grant will enable the church to add another day of food distributions as well as provide some cleaning and hygiene supplies. The pastor is delivering food and supplies to members who do not drive. TurnPointe Community Church of the Brethren that is part of South/Central Indiana District received $2,100. This small congregation has for many years offered a weekly food pantry and a daycare center that serves many low-income families. This grant will help restock the food pantry and help the daycare purchase supplies needed to comply with pandemic safety regulations. Brethren Disaster Ministries staff shared selected responses to a question on the grant application asking about anticipated long-term effects of the grant on the church and its community, including examples of how even a small church can make a big impact. Here are a few of the responses: The long term impact we are expecting is to be known as a church who was able to use its resources to provide both spiritual and physical assistance to better our community during this pandemic period. Families will stay healthy and it will be a testimony for the church in the community, showing Gods love in action. Families that are in need will have food provided to them. Relationships are being built between these families and our church. These individuals are coming onto our church property, seeing smiling/caring faces, receiving food to feed their children, and having a positive connection to our church. Our prayer is that we are able to continually share Gods love for these families as they continue to have some of their basic needs met. The purpose as a Church is to keep families in their safe and healthy homes until they can return to their jobs, with trust in God, showing that they are not alone! It is a way of teaching that the church is not only to receive, but also what we can help in times of crisis. This program will show people that churches are compassionate and hopefully bring some of them back to church. This program will let people know that asking for help is not something to be ashamed of or to be afraid to ask for assistance. More information about the grant program, including applications, can be found at https://covid19.brethren.org/grants or by contacting bdm@brethren.org . To give to this program go to www.brethren.org/edf . Go to www.brethren.org/Newsline to subscribe to the Church of the Brethren Newsline free e-mail news service and receive church news every week. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - FenixOro Gold Corp. (CSE: FENX) (formerly, American Battery Metals Corp.) ("FenixOro" or the "Company" or "we" or "us" or "our") announces today that the Company's outstanding common share purchase warrants ("Warrants"), issued on March 4, 2019, and June 14, 2019, are subject to accelerated expiration. As of the close of markets on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, the closing trading price of the common shares ("Common Shares") on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") exceeded $0.205 per Common Share for more than 10 consecutive trading days, triggering the acceleration. Accordingly, the new expiry date for the Warrants originally scheduled to expire September 4, 2020 has now been accelerated to July 10, 2020. From and after 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on July 10, 2020, no Warrants may be exercised and all unexercised Warrants will be void and of no effect. Warrant holders who wish to exercise their Warrants should ensure that they allow sufficient time for delivery of their Warrants and the related exercise price funds to the warrant agent for the Warrants, including consulting with and instructing their investment advisors where they hold their Warrants through an investment advisor. Since the common shares of the Company began re-trading on May 21, 2020 subsequent to the Company's completed transaction with Fenix Gold Inc., the Company has received over $215,000 from exercises of Warrants. Any funds received from these Warrant expiries will provide the Company with funding for the first phase of its $2.9 million exploration program that is already underway (please refer to the Company's previous press releases dated May 29 and June 3, 2020). The continuation of the program includes soil sampling, ground geophysics, and the initial 20 hole drill program slated to begin immediately upon receipt of the final permit for water use. Story continues As of June 3, 2020, a total of 7,990,000 of the originally-issued Warrants had yet to be exercised. Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.155. Consequently, if all Warrants are exercised, total proceeds to the Company will equal $1,238,450. If all of the Warrants are exercised, the total issued and outstanding common shares of the Company will be approximately 73,000,000. About FenixOro Gold Corp. FenixOro Gold Corp is a Canadian company focused on acquiring gold projects with world class exploration potential in the most prolific gold producing regions of Colombia. FenixOro's flagship property, the Abriaqui project, is located 15 km west of Continental Gold's Buritica project in Antioquia State at the northern end of the Mid-Cauca gold belt, a geological trend which has seen multiple large gold discoveries in the past 10 years including Buritica and Anglo Gold's Nuevo Chaquiro and La Colosa. As documented in "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Abriaqui project Antioquia State, Colombia" (December 5, 2019), the geological characteristics of Abriaqui and Buritica are very similar. The report also documents the high gold grade at Abriaqui with samples taken from 20 of the veins assaying greater than 20 g/t gold. Abriaqui has not yet been drilled but surface and underground geological mapping and sampling as well as a preliminary magnetometry survey have been completed. The property is drill-ready pending finalization of the government permitting process. Corporate Office: FenixOro Gold Corp 350 Bay St. Suite 700 Toronto, ON Telephone: 1-833-ORO-GOLD Email: info@FenixOro.com Website: www.FenixOro.com Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of FenixOro's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will", "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 may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to information concerning the Transaction including the Listing Date, Abriaqui and the Escrowed Securities. Although FenixOro believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. In particular, there is no guarantee that that the Company will successfully list its securities on the CSE on the Listing Date or at all, that Abriaqui will be drilled or produce viable quantities of minerals, that the Company will pursue Abriaqui or that any mineral deposits will be found.. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this press release, and FenixOro does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accept 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/57287 The Delhi government has warned that private hospitals which do not comply with its direction to reserve 20 per cent beds for coronavirus patients by Friday will be converted into dedicated COVID-19 facilities, as the Centre too expressed concern over the rising number of cases in the national capital which crossed the 25,000 mark. Addressing an online briefing, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday that his government's entire focus is on saving people's lives and ensuring adequate facilities for COVID-19 patients who need hospital care, without getting entangled in data or any competition with other states. He said private hospitals that have been asked by the government to reserve 20 per cent beds for coronavirus patients will be converted into dedicated COVID-19 facilities if they fail to comply with the order by Friday. Earlier, the Delhi government had asked 61 private hospitals to reserve 20 per cent beds for COVID-19 patients. With 1,359 more people testing positive, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 25,004. Twenty-two deaths were also reported on Thursday as the toll reached 650. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan chaired a high-level meeting through video-conferencing to review the preparedness for prevention and control of the coronavirus infection in Delhi. At the meeting, which was attended by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal and Delhi's health minister Satyendra Jain, Vardhan expressed concern over all districts of the national capital being affected by COVID-19, and high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts. "Rising cases, high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts are worrisome," Vardhan was quoted as saying in a health ministry statement. He also stressed on the need to rapidly increase bed availability in view of the rise in cases along with avoiding unnecessary delay in admission of patients. The Union Minister emphasised on the need for ramping up testing, coupled with aggressive surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control measures. The high rate of infection in the healthcare workers was also a serious issue, he noted. "It indicates poor infection prevention control practices in healthcare settings and needs to be attended to on priority," he said. In the joint virtual press conference with Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Sisodia said private hospitals have time till Friday to reserve beds for coronavirus patients. "We already have our dedicated COVID-19 facilities. Three more private hospitals were added yesterday (Wednesday). And if those private hospitals with mixed use (20 per cent reserved beds) are facing logistics issues, then they will be fully converted into dedicated COVID-19 facilities," he said. The idea behind the move is to make sure that no hospital refuses to treat patients suffering from coronavirus, the deputy chief minister said. He also urged people who are infected with coronavirus but are asymptomatic to remain at home and isolate themselves. In terms of cities, Delhi has the highest cases after Mumbai. With regards to the states, Delhi has the highest cases after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. "We do not have to get into data or any competition with other states, our focus is to save the lives of the people. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also believes that our attention should be more on helping people recover by providing them with proper medical facilities," Sisodia said. He said COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Delhi and the government has started focusing on ensuring that those who need hospitalisation get beds and proper treatment facilities. Five government and three private hospitals Moolchand Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Saroj Super Speciality Hospital are dedicated COVID-19 facilities. Many private hospitals have followed the instructions to start the mixed system, but others are facing problems in complying with them, Sisodia said. Jain said asymptomatic patients with no or very mild symptoms slight fever and mild cough can be treated and recover in home-quarantine. Patients with moderate (respiratory rate of more than 15 per minute and oxygen level below 94 per cent) and severe symptoms (respiratory rate of more than 30 per minute and oxygen level below 90 per cent) require hospitalisation, he added. The city government has also issued a new set of guidelines for testing of COVID-19 patients. According to an order issued by the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) in Delhi on June 2, the revised strategy for COVID-19 testing is for symptomatic patients. All symptomatic (ILI symptoms) individuals with a history of international travel in the last 14 days, symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases; all symptomatic healthcare workers or front-line workers involved in containment and mitigation of COVID 19 and all patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) are to be tested, the order said. Direct and high-risk contacts (diabetic, hypertension, cancer patients and senior citizens) of a confirmed case to be tested once between day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact with a confirmed case, it said. Also, all symptomatic people within hotspots or containment zones, all hospitalised patients who develop ILI symptoms and all symptomatic among returnees and migrants are to be tested within seven days of the illness, it said. All testing in these categories have been recommended to be done by real time-PCR tests only, the order said. In the wake of sealing of borders by Delhi and its satellite cities citing the coronavirus pandemic, the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to convene a meeting of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for easing inter-state movement. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, hearing a plea against the border restrictions in the NCR, said the states should have a common programme and a common portal for inter-state movement. "We are of the view that in the facts of the present case, the Government of India shall convene a meeting of concerned State officials/UTs and endeavour to find out a common programme, common portal for easing the inter-state movement on all state borders in the National Capital Region," the bench, also comprising justices S K Kaul and M R Shah, said in its order. Officials said the Delhi government is in favour of opening the borders, but there were some concerns by the states involved. They noted that when economic activities are again restarting, the borders too should be opened. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said Delhi will seal its borders for at least a week in view of the coronavirus pandemic national capital stood at 23,645, including 606 deaths. Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company will inject Rs 9,093.6 crore in Jio Platforms in exchange for 1.85 percent, the sixth investment in the RIL digital unit in as many weeks and underscoring its standing as an irresistible lodestar for some of the worlds biggest tech companies and investors. The investment by Mubadala, which manages about $229 billion in assets, at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore takes the total amount raised by Jio to an eye-popping Rs 87,655.35 crore, according to a statement by RIL. Jio Platforms, which runs movie, news and music apps as well as the telecom enterprise Jio Infocomm, has now sold a combined stake of 18.97 percent in six massive fundraising deals. The series of deals was led by Facebook Inc, which invested Rs 43,574 crore to buy 9.99 percent on April 22. Since then, General Atlantic, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and KKR together spent Rs 78,562 crore on Jio. Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries (RIL), said he was delighted that Mubadala, one of the most astute and transformational global growth investors, has decided to partner his company in its journey to propel Indias digital growth towards becoming a leading digyal nation in the world. Through my longstanding ties with Abu Dhabi, I have personally seen the impact of Mubadalas work in diversifying and globally connecting the UAEs knowledge-based economy. We look forward to benefitting from Mubadalas experience and insights from supporting growth journeys across the world, he said in a statement. The deals underline the status of Jio Platforms as a tech powerhouse and its ability to dominate Indias booming digital economy. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain. Jio Infocomm is Indias biggest telecom player, amassing more than 388 million subscribers since its launch in late 2016. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director and group CEO, Mubadala Investment Company, said his company is committed to investing in, and actively working with, high-growth companies that are pioneering technologies to address critical challenges and unlock new opportunities. We have seen how Jio has already transformed communications and connectivity in India, and as an investor and partner, we are committed to supporting India's digital growth journey. With Jios network of investors and partners, we believe that the platform company will further the development of the digital economy." Mubadala is billed as the second-biggest state investor after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. It has more than 50 businesses and investments in more than 50 countries. Mubadala typically makes investments in enterprises that create lasting value and positive economic and social impact in communities at home and overseas, according to its website. Its portfolio companies are spread in sectors such as aerospace, agribusiness, ICT, semiconductors, metals and mining, pharmaceutical and medical technology, renewable energy and utilities. It also manages diverse financial holdings. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners, and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsel. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:57:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's air force on Thursday confirmed that over 300 armed bandits were killed and their camps destroyed in a military operation in the country's northwest region. Sadiq Abubakar, Nigeria's Chief of the Air Staff, disclosed this to reporters in northern Katsina during an operational visit to the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji. The military operation was launched early this year to rout out bandits from the northwest region. "Over 300 bandits have so far been confirmed killed in the ongoing war against banditry in the northwestern part of the country," Abubakar added. He told reporters that the visit was to assess the level of support in terms of Air and Special Forces operations given by the Nigerian Air Force to the defense headquarters operation to secure the entire northwest and north-central zones of the country. The air force chief, who appealed to the bandits to surrender their arms and face justice, urged troops not to spare any bandit so that farmers can go back to their farms. The Nigerian authorities have launched repeated military operations and local peace talks to try to curb the violence in the northwest, which has been wracked by years of insecurity involving clashes between rival communities over land, attacks by heavily-armed criminal gangs and reprisal killings by vigilante groups. Enditem Ruth Andrews has taken on another key tourism role. Photo: Gerry Mooney The Government is being urged to consider a move to one-metre social distancing and to allow people travel beyond 20km of their homes from June 29 to save Ireland's tourism industry. A delayed reopening of schools, allowing bars and pubs to welcome customers from July 20 and removing the two-week self-isolation period for visitors from "safe" destinations are also being suggested. The issues are highlighted in an eight-point list submitted to Government today by Ireland's new Tourism Recovery Taskforce (TRT), which has been charged with preparing a Recovery Plan for an industry devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cabinet is being asked to consider: A one-metre social-distancing rule workable for pubs, hotels and restaurants Delayed reopening of schools to August 31 to extend the domestic tourist season Cut VAT rates for the general hospitality sector Accelerate Phase 4 recreational reopenings to Phase 3, or June 29, under the lockdown easing plan - allowing hotels and accommodation to open earlier Accelerate Phase 5 social re-openings to Phase 4, or July 20, allowing pubs to reopen a month earlier Allow people to travel for domestic holidays from June 29 Allow schools the option of taking the week-long October mid-term break during one of two weeks (rather than just one week) Remove the two-week self-isolation requirement for travellers from countries deemed 'safe' due to low infection rates In its plea to fast-track the easing of lockdown restrictions once safe to do so, the TRT stressed that common sense measures taken now could help save tens of thousands of Irish jobs. Without them, it says, recovery could take months or even years. Tourism and spin-off sectors employ 260,000 or one-in-ten people within the Irish economy - many of them in rural and regional areas. The submission is separate to issues surrounding the financial viability of pandemic-hit operators, ranging from tax payment concessions to access to low-interest bridging loans. Expand Close A 2m social distancing sign. Picture: Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A 2m social distancing sign. Picture: Collins It is clear that the issues we are highlighting are urgent from the perspective of those tourism businesses which are evaluating whether and how to reopen," said TRT Chair Ruth Andrews. "As a group we fully respect the need to maintain appropriate public health measures," she added. "However, we would not be doing our job properly if we did not alert Government as to the importance of these issues in the short term". "We welcome the measures taken by Government thus far which have helped many businesses to survive up to this point. However, by taking these additional steps now, the Government would be saving so many businesses and preserving jobs in Irish tourism. The submission comes as restaurants, hotels and hospitality officials continue to warn that a two-metre social-distancing rule will be unworkable and, if implemented, will keep thousands of Irish outlets closed until 2021. The TRT has been tasked with preparing a Tourism Recovery Plan 2021-2023, has already met twice, and will continue to meet weekly, Andrews said. Fuller recommendations are expected within several weeks. An interim report is possible. Ireland's aviation industry is also working towards a 'safe flight bubble' whereby travellers are reassured about specific air routes between countries with low Covid-19 detection rates. "With air bridges we could lift travel requirements if people are flying to or from another country where the virus has been successfully suppressed," An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dail today, in a statement expressing confidence that Ireland would be able to proceed to Phase 2 next Monday, June 8. "This is however some weeks away and it is far too soon for anyone to book holidays yet, but summer is not yet lost." "Our plan to re-open the country can be accelerated," he added, "but only if it is safe to do so". - Additional reporting by Pol O Conghaile 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. Representative Image A considerable stretch of the river within the Arctic Circle turned red after over 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel leaked from a damaged fuel plant. The oil spill took place on May 29, when a diesel storage tank at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk, operated by a subsidiary of leading palladium and nickel producing company Nornickel, was damaged. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in the region in light of the accident. The fact that officials were informed about the incident two days after it had happened drew a severe response from Putin. An aerial survey has established that the oil flowed through the Daldykan River into the Ambarka River and is now contained by several booms. Crews are working intensively to collect and dispose of the spilt oil. Nornickel will do its maximum to resolve this ASAP. pic.twitter.com/xcIaqezP9n Nornickel (@NornickelGroup) June 2, 2020 However, the company claims to have "duly reported the incident in a timely manner acting in line with the emergency response plan." The accident took place at the industrial site of the Nadezhdinski Metallurgical Plant, a subsidiary of the Norilsk Nornickel. A considerable amount of the spilled fuel has seeped into the Ambarnaya River, Putin said at a meeting with other officials to take stock of the situation. The company said the spillage happened as a result of the sinking of the pillars that support the fuel tank. Nornickel Vice-President and CEO Sergey Dyachenko said in a statement that the incident could have been caused by soil thawing. "We can assume that abnormally mild temperatures could have caused permafrost thawing resulting in partial subsidence of the tank's supports," he said. As per the latest updates from Nornickel on June 4, 201 tonne of diesel have been collected near the power plant, about 137 tonne of diesel have been collected from the Ambarka River and 1,450 cubic metres of contaminated soil has also been removed. "Containment booms set up near the mouth of the Ambarka River are helping to prevent the oil from spreading. Nornickel has mobilised 250 responders. A team of responders from Russias Maritime & River Transport Agency Murmansk branch estimates clean-up will take about 14 days," Nornickel tweeted. Few teams under Nornickel launched a fuel spill response operation soon after they received knowledge of the accident. The company said it had collected and pumped over 100 tonne of fuel in the adjacent area, with the contaminated soil replaced and surface treated with sorbents, all this by the next morning (May 30). "At present, the spill is contained in the Ambarnaya River by several cascades of booms, and the Marine Rescue Service experts are removing the contaminants from the water surface to have them processed thereafter, Dyachenko said on June 2. Meanwhile, according to the Kremlin , Russian Minister for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Natural Disaster Relief Yevgeny Zinichev said that steps are being taken to localise the spread of the spill. This includes oil booms that have been installed, with the work to collect oil products, contaminated water and soil underway. A group of professional emergency response teams has been formed, he added. 3/6/2020 COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 7/2020 Goodvalley has acquired a sow farm in Gniewno located near the Groups main production network along with additional assets, inventories and herd. In connection with the acquisition, Goodvalley expands the Groups arable land bank through a 20-year lease agreement for 530 hectares of land nearby. The acquisition increases Goodvalleys production capacity by around 2,000 sows and related weaner places in line with the Groups strategy of continuous capacity expansion. The Gniewno farm was initially established in 1980, and Goodvalley has acquired the farm from PPZ Przybkowo with a view to invest in the facilities and upgrade the production unit to the Groups quality standards in terms of efficiency, work safety, animal welfare and biosecurity, among other things. The acquisition of the Gniewno farm and the expansion of our land bank in Poland are important steps in the right direction for Goodvalley. We continue to see great opportunities in the Polish market, and we will make the necessary investments in improving the farm to ensure a perfect fit with Goodvalleys integrated and sustainable business model, says CEO Hans Henrik Pedersen. The Gniewno farm has 40 employees who will benefit from Goodvalleys focus on continuous education and great career and development opportunities in a modern and well-renowned organisation. Following the acquisition, Goodvalley will have 26 production facilities and an arable land bank of 14,000 cultivated hectares in Poland, which accounted for 64% of Group revenue and 56% of Adjusted* EBITDA in Q1 2020. *Adjusted EBITDA refers to EBITDA adjusted for herd price changes and non-recurring items. Further information CEO, Hans Henrik Pedersen + 45 76 52 20 00 investor@goodvalley.com Goodvalley at a glance Goodvalley is an international producer of high-quality pork products operating in Poland, Ukraine and Russia based on Danish production standards. The company is to a large extent self-sufficient and masters the whole production chain from field to fork, from growing crops for feed, breeding and slaughtering pigs including using the manure in biogas facilities to produce electricity and organic fertilizer for the fields. Goodvalley is certified as a carbon neutral company by German TUV and operates according to the highest standards in terms of animal welfare, transparency in the production and sustainable production methods. Story continues Attachment A nearly hour-long standoff between demonstrators and Indiana State Police (ISP) June 1 ended after ISP officers momentarily removed their riot gear. Late in the afternoon June 1, protesters began a march they hoped would take them to the governors mansion. A group of roughly 50 people on foot marched, carrying signs reading messages such as Black lives matter and Blue lives murder and were trailed by a procession of roughly 80 cars as the protest made its way through downtown. With car horns blaring and chants of Hands up, dont shoot echoing through the crowd, police were on high alert. While members of the Indiana National Guard Reactionary Force stood guard near Monument Circle, officers from ISP and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) were attempting to follow the crowd. Protest organizers were streaming much of the procession on Facebook Live, but never revealed their exact location. As they walked toward the governors mansion, protesters noticed a line of over a dozen ISP patrol cars blocking off 46th Street. One protester draped in a flag reading Dont tread on me stopped the group and informed them, They dont want us to reach the governors mansion! and encouraged the group to continue to move forward and confront the police. As the crowd advanced toward the group of well over 40 officers, all in riot gear, it was roughly 15 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew imposed by Mayor Joe Hogsett. As they reached the line of officers, many demonstrators took a knee, raising their hands in the air screaming Hands up, dont shoot! After that, amid the chanting of the crowd, conversations took place: Protesters speaking to fellow protesters, and protesters speaking with officers. At several points, tension arose as words were exchanged. Organizers of the demonstration, however, worked to deescalate the situation, telling members of the crowd to step back. About 30 minutes into the standoff, officers deployed a low-dose pepper ball into the crowd after they said a few demonstrators crossed a threshold that was established by officers earlier in the demonstration. At one point, protester Anthony Brown stood between police and members of the demonstration, trying to bridge understanding between both groups. I was saying, you guys swore you were going to protect and serve, Brown said. And, a bunch of people were asking them to serve with us, hand in hand. They did that. I would love to see more cops come out and do that. Brown said he hopes this protest will create listening ears and change, and said protesters were giving officers examples of what laws they think should be changed and how to move forward. Nearly an hour after the standoff began, ISP officers briefly removed their riot gear and lowered their batons and weapons, seemingly signaling to protesters they heard what they were saying. Loud cheers and applause erupted from the crowd, and several members of the demonstration approached police to shake hands and exchange hugs. Others in the crowd, however, viewed the removal of riot gear as an empty gesture and were upset with protesters for engaging with police. Mat Davis, an organizer who read a list of demands to police and led chants, told demonstrators to not shake hands and hug police. He led chants of Stop hugging the police! as people made their way back toward downtown on Meridian. Police followed behind in squad cars most of the way, and they were posted at many intersections. The original plan was to walk to 16th Street in order to avoid downtown, but many people were parked downtown. They continued to Vermont Street, where Davis, who talked with police earlier, told the group that officers said people would be able to walk to their cars and go home. Theyve definitely given us the green light to be able to do that, Davis said, stopping the group. We dont have anything else. I gotta make sure that none of yall get maced, billy-clubbed, beat up, arrested or none of that. Once weve splitten up, weve been given the word that they wont do anything. Then he harkened back to one of the most common chants of the night: Can I ask you a question? he repeated. Have the police ever deescalated a m**********n thing! Everyone shouted no. Shortly after, people split into smaller groups in order to stay together as they left, with most clearing the area by about 11 p.m. Contact staff writers Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper. Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-78523. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick. We need laws we need justice, four young activists said at a recent rally. (Photo/Breanna Cooper) New Delhi, June 4 : India and Australia on Thursday entered into a comprehensive strategic partnership by signing a wide-ranging joint declaration based on a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The momentous decision was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Scott Morrison during a virtual summit on Thursday. Prime Minister Modi called it a new model of India-Australia partnership and a new model of conducting business, with which both the countries "aspire to achieve yet new heights in collaboration". Morrison said that mutual trust, shared values and common interests between the two countries provide a strong foundation for working together even more closely. His Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that the decisions taken on Thursday marked a major step forward in Australia and India's security and defence relationships. The two sides signed a framework arrangement on cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of mining and processing of critical and strategic minerals. Canberra and New Delhi signed an arrangement for mutual logistics support and implementing arrangements for cooperation in defence, science and technology in the MoU on defence cooperation. Other MoUs on cooperation in the field of public administration and governance reforms, cooperation in vocational education and training and water resources management were also signed. Sameer Patil, a fellow at the Mumbai-based policy institute, Gateway House, told IANS that this cyber diplomacy aligns well with Australia's cyber cooperation programme, under which Canberra helps Indo-Pacific countries in capacity building on cybercrime prevention and prosecution. Patil also said that the militaries of both the countries require developing defence technologies, such as technologies related to sensors, propulsion and nano-materials. "They can work jointly on their development by combining the experience of government defence research laboratories and the efficiency of the private sector. This will also benefit the domestic defence industrial base in both countries." he said. India, Patil said, also needs to learn from Australian examples, like the Australian Marine Complex's Common User Facility at Henderson, near Perth, which offers integrated fabrication and assembly facility infrastructure for its shipbuilding industry -- not just defence, but also for oil and gas and ocean mining. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The anti-malaria drug promoted by United States President Donald Trump failed to prevent people from contracting the COVID-19 disease. Researchers claim the drug was no better than a placebo. Scientists from the University of Minnesota and Canada conducted a study involving 821 people who had been exposed to the virus. The research was the first to test whether hydroxychloroquine could prevent people who had been exposed to the virus from developing symptoms. Safety and Effectivity Researchers from the clinical trial picked patients at random to receive the hydroxychloroquine pill or a placebo. The participants were health care workers and other individuals who had been exposed at home to family and relatives who are ill. The method has been used in many trials and is the most reliable way to test the drug's safety and effectivity. In initial studies conducted in France and China, the drug, when combined with antibiotics, could help combat the virus and speed up a patient's recovery. The work has garnered global attention and was prescribed to patients. HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020 Trump had also touted the drug in multiple press conferences. On May 20, the president revealed he had been undergoing a hydroxychloroquine treatment to protect him from contracting the virus. However, data from the latest study show 12 percent or nearly a hundred people who received the anti-malaria treatment developed coronavirus-related symptoms including fever or breathing difficulties. On the other hand, 14 percent or 115 participants who received a placebo tested positive for the disease. Serious safety problems often associated with the drug, such as irregular heart rhythms or fatalities, did not develop among the participants. Limitations An editorial accompanying the results of the study listed the limitations the researchers faced during the process. The team faced a shortage of test kits, making it impossible to know for sure how many participants were infected with the virus. Only 75 percent or 620 participants finished the full course of the hydroxychloroquine treatment. Several quit due to the side effects of the drug. The scientists, who waited four days after exposure before administering the drug, claims the stalling may not have given the drug a chance to work The researchers are now studying whether taking it earlier may present a different result. The study did not address whether hydroxychloroquine could prevent people from contracting the illness. Other clinical trials have signed up health care workers and medical technicians to study the possibility. Emergency Approval Hydroxychloroquine was designed to treat malaria more than a decade ago. Today, the drug is used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its approval for doctors to use the drug as a treatment to COVID-19 patients on an emergency basis in March. Democratic politicians scrutinized the agency for its decision to grant hydroxychloroquine an emergency use authorization. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon called out the agency for "bowing to the pressure." "Doing so threw open the door to tens of millions of pills, including some, directly related to this hearing, manufactured inside facilities in Pakistan and India that have either failed F.D.A.'s inspection or never been inspected by the F.D.A. at all." Read more here: Business Secretary Alok Sharma has tested negative for coronavirus, it was confirmed tonight, saving Boris Johnson and other senior ministers from a potential fortnight in quarantine. The Cabinet minister spent today in self-isolation and working from home after becoming visible ill in the Commons yesterday. If he had come down with the virus, Mr Johnson and others may have had to isolate themselves under strict test and trace rules recently introduced. But tonight a spokeswoman for Mr Sharma said: 'Business Secretary Alok Sharma has received a negative result after being tested for coronavirus yesterday. 'Mr Sharma would like to thank the parliamentary authorities and Speaker and also for the kind words from parliamentary colleagues and others who have expressed their well wishes over the last 24 hours.' It came after furious MPs demanded Parliament sit 'virtually' again today after Mr Sharma 'sniffled, sweated and snorted' through a statement - before self-isolating for coronavirus. In extraordinary scenes in the chamber last night, he ignored the government's own guidance as he struggled on despite repeatedly wiping his brow and blowing his nose. The episode sparked concerns that dozens of politicians have been at risk of infection and will now have to go into quarantine - potentially including Cabinet ministers and top officials. Mr Sharma physically attended a 45-minute meeting with the PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday. Before tonight's announcement was made, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had used the daily press conference to say: 'I have spoken to Alok within the last hour, he is doing fine It also heaped pressure on Boris Johnson to reverse the controversial decision to scrap electronic voting and Zoom debates, after 'farcical' scenes this week that saw hundreds of MPs 'conga' through Westminster in a mile-long socially distanced queue to take part in divisions. Before tonight's announcement was made, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had used the daily press conference to say: 'I have spoken to Alok within the last hour, he is doing fine. 'Actually, he is working today, but working from home as usual. He is awaiting his test result.' Labour MPs warned that it was now clear the move back to a regular Commons could be 'potentially deadly'. However, ministers suggested Mr Sharma might have merely been suffering from a 'bout of hay fever'. And Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg was defiant in the Commons this afternoon, insisting it was right that MPs should come to the chamber and 'do our democratic duty'. 'How can we look teachers in our constituencies in eye when we're asking them to go back to work and we are not willing to.' Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg (right) was defiant in the Commons this afternoon, insisting it was right that MPs should come to the chamber and 'do our democratic duty Fury as Labour MP boasts of flouting social distancing at protest A Labour MP is facing fury after boasting about flouting lockdown rules to attend a Black Lives Matter protest. Barry Gardiner posted a video of himself in the middle of the crowd outside Westminster, openly stating that he had 'broken' social distancing guidelines. Challenged over the action on Twitter, he said he had recently tested negative for coronavirus. Tory MP Imran Ahman Khan said Mr Gardiner had 'fragrantly flouted the law' and were 'boasting that they have broken social distancing measures'. Mr Khan called on any MPs involved to be 'prevented from rejoining this House until they have undergone a period of self-isolation' for the safety of all those working inside the parliamentary estate. Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing said MPs who took part 'have put themselves at risk' and 'should act responsibly'. It came after thousands of people joined a protest in London on Wednesday over the death of African-American George Floyd in US police custody nine days ago. Advertisement A spokesman for Mr Sharma confirmed this morning that he has been tested for Covid-19, after developing the symptoms. According to a statement from his department: 'Secretary of State Alok Sharma began feeling unwell when in the chamber delivering the second reading of the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill. 'In line with guidance he has been tested for coronavirus and is returning home to self-isolate.' Mr Sharma regularly attends the daily Covid meeting in Downing Street, and was in No10 on Tuesday. The PM's spokesman said: 'He does not yet have his test results. 'Should the Secretary of State receive a positive test then he will work with the test and trace service to share information about his recent interactions. 'He did attend a meeting in No 10, which took place before Cabinet. 'That was a discussion on the economy and in terms of who was present, it was the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Business Secretary.' The spokesman stressed the meeting took place with two-metre distancing in place and pointed towards the Government guidelines on how the tracers operate, which include asking individuals whether they had been to a workplace recently. The spokesman confirmed that even those who have had Covid-19 must isolate and, when pressed on whether the PM would self-isolate if told to, he said: 'I would expect us to take medical advice and to follow it.' As a way of slowing the virus's spread, contact tracers with the NHS service are asking infected individuals who they have come into recent contact with. Tracers will then decide whether it is necessary to tell those contacts to self-isolate for 14 days from their last contact with the individual, as a precaution. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said it was possible Mr Sharma just had a bout of 'severe hayfever'. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Lewis said: 'I don't want to be premature because Alok, who I wish well and hope he recovers quickly, may well have had severe hayfever, we're not sure yet. 'He has had a test, he is self-isolating as you say, to take the correct precaution.' Mr Lewis denied that Mr Sharma's case supported the argument for virtual voting in the Commons to be resumed. He said: 'It is important for parliamentarians to be able to properly scrutinise legislation, not just for Covid but for the wider legislative agenda we have to continue with for people across the country, but to do so within proper guidelines. 'That's what the House authorities have set up, that's what's been working over the last few days and that's a very good thing. 'It highlights Alok's situation, if he has got coronavirus, why it is so important that if you are in a work environment, you have got to follow the guidelines.' Parliamentary colleagues rushed to wish Mr Sharma a speedy recovery. But many seized on the development at evidence virtual sittings should be brought back, amid risks that MPs could become super-spreaders for the disease. After Mr Sharma's statement the government's despatch box needed to be 'deep cleaned', causing a delay to proceedings. Business Secretary Alok Sharma was visibly struggling at the despatch box today, touching his face and adjusting his glasses shortly before he went into isolation with suspected Covid-19 During the debate, Mr Sharma was seen wiping his face with a handkerchief several times and his opposite number in Labour's shadow cabinet, Ed Miliband, passed him a glass of water at one point. Labour MP Barry Sheerman wished Mr Sharma well today, but demanded to know: 'How many other MPs will have been infected?' He added: 'Now obvious what a possibly deadly decision it was for Boris Johnson to demand that MPs flock back to Parliament.' The SNP's Philippa Whitford said: 'Hope Alok Sharma recovers quickly but he should have stopped immediately. 'HoC claim despatch box etc ''deep cleaned'' but can't clean every door handle he touched since Monday when he became infectious! 'Cabinet meeting was on Tuesday so will THEY isolate?' Labour MP Toby Perkins took to Twitter to share his concern that Mr Sharma had attended the chamber while ill, tweeting: 'This is ridiculous. It was clear that Alok Sharma looked unwell. 'If there are now fears that he may have covid-19 and he hadn't already tested negative, it was the height of irresponsibility for him to be in parliament sniffling, sweating and snorting from the despatch box.' Digital voting in the Commons was ended on Tuesday when MPs approved a Government motion introduced by Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg despite widespread objections. How Sharma could STILL have coronavirus despite negative test... Public Health England (PHE) has never disclosed how accurate its antigen testing is, despite publishing public papers on the accuracy of antibody tests. However the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association announced last week that it believed between two to three people in every ten who have Covid-19 may test negative. Experts say false negatives are the result of incorrect swabbing and can depend on when the sample is taken in the course of the disease. Research by the University of Bristol found between two per cent and 29 per cent of COVID-19 tests produced false negatives. The number of 'true positive' results from swabs taken from the nose was as low as 63 per cent, and 32 per cent taken from the throat, the researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal. A review of five studies, involving almost 1,000 people, found Covid-19 swabbing produced false negative results the first time round 29 per cent of the time. The pre-print paper by Public Health Madrid, in Spain, urged to repeated testing to check results are correct. One study showed nasal swabs correctly identified 73 per cent of severe Covid-19 cases and 72 per cent of mild cases in the first week of symptoms. When throat swabs were collected eight days after symptoms, the rate dropped to 50 per cent in severe and 30 per cent in mild cases. PHE uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are a form of antigen tests conducted to see if someone has the virus, SARS-CoV-2, at any given time. These viral RNA tests use samples taken from a suspected patient's throat, mouth or nose with a swab. The accuracy of viral RNA swabs depends almost entirely on the quality of sampling and when the sample is taken in the course of disease, which will vary greatly, experts say. Advertisement Labour MP Toby Perkins called Alok Sharma's decision to attend chambers while feeling ill 'the height of irresponsibility' Liberal Democrat MP Daisy Cooper wrote: 'This should be a MASSIVE wake-up call for Jacob Rees Mogg' Labour MP John McDonnell tweeted: 'This confirms that lives of both staff & MPs are being put at risk in parliament' Labour's Lisa Nandy described the Government's decision to stop MPs working from home was 'reckless' as social distancing is impossible in the House of Commons Labour party MP Dawn Butler wrote: 'Watching this makes me feel like i'm watching a horror movie. That's my place of work, i'm going in there tomorrow. It is scary' Labour Party MP Peter Kyle tweeted: 'I hope Jacob Rees-Mogg makes a full and swift apology' Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 11:43 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc0c5e3 1 National Papua,racism-in-indonesia,Racism,George-Floyd,black-lives-matter,Papuan-Lives-Matter Free As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as well. The scene of Floyd being restrained by a cop employing a knee-to-neck hold is familiar for some, who compared the incident to the 2016 case of Obby Kogoya, a Papuan man whose head was reportedly stepped on by the police before he was arrested during the siege of a Papuan student dormitory in Yogyakarta. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which has accompanied a call for street rallies worldwide, has since been adapted into #PapuanLivesMatter, with many turning to social media to urge Indonesians to also speak up against the racial discrimination and violence that Papuans have long endured. Many Indonesians support the hashtag #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd to denounce the actions of the American police over racial discrimination against black people. This is inversely proportional to when Papuans are racially abused, Papuan activist Rico Tude tweeted on Tuesday. Rico, who writes for Papuan media platform suarapapua.com, criticized the double standards of Indonesians in addressing the issue of racism abroad and at home, saying some might fear the risk of discussing sensitive topics related to Papua or lamented the history of Papuan political attitudes. Some people think that the racism experienced by Papuan people is a logical consequence that must be accepted by those who are considered separatists, said Rico, who is also the spokesman for the Indonesian Peoples Front for West Papua (FRI-WP). Read also: Global fight against racism: Papuan lives also matter While being far from the central governments reach at home, many native Papuans have to put up with discrimination against their skin color and stereotypes while searching for a better life in other cities. Some students previously told The Jakarta Post that they faced rejection by landlords when looking for rooming houses to rent only because they were Papuans, while others had to endure racial slurs. In other circumstances, such as when engaging in peaceful rallies to voice their political aspirations, many Papuans have reportedly faced physical intimidation and brutality by law enforcement personnel. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has tried to reach out more with his development and infrastructure approach but critics and activists argued that Jakarta continues to fail in addressing human rights issues and the repression against their freedom of expression. On Sunday, Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and two native Papuans held an online discussion on how the #BlackLivesMatter campaign had echoed the Papuan movement against the long-standing racism and injustice they felt in Indonesian society. They agreed that the string of protests against Floyd's death were similar to what happened in Papua last year -- when thousands rallied against racism after a Papuan student was called a "monkey" by security personnel in Surabaya, East Java. Dialogue to advocate for Papua-related issues is not enough. Unlike the Floyd case, racism in Papua continues because the public lacks knowledge of it, said one of the speakers, Mikael Kudiai. Cisco Mofu, another speaker, called for other Indonesians to open their minds and listen to the aspirations of Papuans and be willing to "criticize the state for its mistakes". Read also: Internet ban during Papua antiracist unrest ruled unlawful In a statement to the Post, Veronica said it was time to raise awareness among the public, as people outside the activist circle, including celebrities and influencers, had also reached out for discussion. Actress Hannah Al Rashid, for instance, is among those who have amplified such discussion and called for people to actively listen instead of making assumptions about the issue through her Twitter account. "Lets start speaking up for Papua. The government has been able to perpetuate impunity in Papua because the people havent spoken out. We do need your voices but please be mindful in amplifying Papuan voices, Veronica said. Many internet users have also geared up to help disseminate information on issues surrounding Papua and shared links for people to sign petitions and donate to various causes to help Papuan people. Young initiators, through online media platform Kudeta Mag, were among those who compiled the links and reading material on the website weneedtotalkaboutpapua.carrd.co. "It should be our responsibility as Indonesians to feel obligated to understand our own country," Kudeta Mag chief editor Jordinna Joaquin told the Post, "We need to talk, have these conversations, donate whenever and whatever we can and demand justice where it's needed." Amnesty International Indonesia also called on the government to take a strong stand against systemic racism by guaranteeing Papuan rights to freedom of expression and stopping all forms of violence against those who peacefully express their opinions. The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis must be a reminder that discrimination and intimidation also happens to native Papuans in Indonesia, and most of the cases have yet to be resolved, executive director Usman Hamid said on Wednesday. The rights group also urged the authority to immediately release 51 Papuan prisoners of conscience. They do not deserve to be in jail because they did not commit any crimes. Justice must be upheld, Usman said. Police are urging shoppers not to hand over their money to street beggars because many are not homeless and some are claimed to be raking in as much as 200 a day. Career beggars in Birmingham are feared to be exploiting the public's generosity to line their pockets by pretending to be sleeping rough. West Midlands Police have told businesses to move on 'nuisance' beggars to stop them targeting customers. Police are urging shoppers not to hand over their money to street beggars because many are not homeless and some are claimed to be raking in as much as 200 a day (Stratford Road, Birmingham, a hotspot for beggars) In a memo to traders seen by Birmingham Live, Sgt Hanif Ullah said: 'The local community have made a number of complaints of persistent begging in the area of your business premises. 'This can become a nuisance to your shoppers, and ultimately may result in them going elsewhere to purchase shopping. 'We need your co-operation in preventing and reducing this activity. Businesses should politely discourage beggars outside their premises. 'If the person refuses to move on then you may wish to call police on 101. 'Shoppers are giving money to beggars, which encourages beggars to return, therefore advise customers on this.' A further warning was also put out on the force's neighbourhood alert service which said 'The beggars we are referring to are NOT homeless they are BEGGARS. 'They continue to come back time after time because YOU as a community are giving.' Sgt Hanif Ullah of West Midlands police warned local traders that beggars were harming trade It prompted a discussion on the Sparkhill Neighbourhood Facebook group where it was claimed one particular beggar 'averages 150-200 daily'. Last year traders on Stratford Road issued an appeal for people to stop giving to beggars. In 2018 police expressed concerns about the welfare of people asking for money whilst standing in the middle of the road. But Sparkhill ward Labour councillor Nicky Brennan said it was a 'complex' problem driven by a 'perfect storm' of factors. Sparkhill ward Labour councillor Nicky Brennan said begging was a 'complex' problem driven by a 'perfect storm' of factors She confirmed she was aware of the ongoing problems on Stratford Road and had heard similar anecdotes about how much beggars made in a day, but warned they maybe being exploited. 'Begging on the Stratford Road is something that is reported to me by both residents and traders. 'The issues of begging is a complex one which can go hand in hand with addiction and exploitation.' She added: 'My advice to residents would be not to give money directly. Instead, volunteering or donating money to one of the city's homelessness charities such as SIFA Fireside would be a great way to help which could make a big impact. 'If there is intimidating behaviour or if someone is subject to exploitation then report it to the police. If residents think someone is homeless and needs support then report this through the Streetlink app.' A High Court judge who was counsel to the Leveson inquiry 'harassed and intimidated' an unrepresented claimant in a libel case and used 'ill-tempered and at times offensive language', fellow judges have said. Mr Justice Jay has been been censured for his use of 'immoderate' language towards a claimant in the case, who was not represented by a lawyer. Five Supreme Court justices have now ordered a retrial in the case, involving a Polish language newspaper. Following a week-long trial in London in 2017, Mr Justice Jay dismissed a claim for damages brought by 68-year-old businessman Jan Tomasz Serafin, who complained about an article in Nowy Czas. High Court judge Mr Justice Jay (pictured) 'harassed and intimidated' an unrepresented claimant in a libel case and used 'ill-tempered and at times offensive language', fellow judges have said Five Supreme Court justices have now ordered a retrial in the case, involving Polish language newspaper Nowy Czas. Pictured: The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in London which houses both the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales The ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal in May last year, following a challenge by Mr Serafin, when three leading judges said Mr Justice Jay's interventions in the case were 'highly unusual and troubling'. Following a challenge by the newspaper's publishers and two of its editors, heard in March, a panel of five Supreme Court justices upheld the Court of Appeal's ruling. However, the judges said the whole case must now be heard again, as a result of the original trial being unfair to Mr Serafin. In a ruling on Wednesday, Lord Wilson said it was important to remember there were 'long stretches of evidence' in respect of which no criticism could be made of Mr Justice Jay. However, he said: 'But, when one considers the barrage of hostility towards the claimant's case, and towards the claimant himself acting in person, fired by the judge in immoderate, ill-tempered and at times offensive language at many different points during the long hearing, one is driven, with profound regret, to uphold the Court of Appeal's conclusion that he did not allow the claim to be properly presented; that therefore he could not fairly appraise it; and, that, in short, the trial was unfair. 'Instead of making allowance for the claimant's appearance in person, the judge harassed and intimidated him in ways which surely would never have occurred if the claimant had been represented. 'It was ridiculous for the defendants to submit to us that, when placed in context, the judge's interventions were 'wholly justifiable'.' In a ruling on Wednesday, Lord Wilson said it was important to remember there were 'long stretches of evidence' in respect of which no criticism could be made of Mr Justice Jay (pictured) Lord Wilson added: 'Conscious of how the justice system has failed both sides, this court, with deep regret, must order a full retrial.' Lords Justice Lewison, McCombe and Haddon-Cave said in the Court of Appeal's ruling that Mr Justice Jay had acted in a 'manifestly unfair and hostile' way towards the claimant, who was not represented by lawyers during the hearing. They said: 'On numerous occasions, the judge appears not only to have descended to the arena, cast off the mantle of impartiality and taken up the cudgels of cross-examination, but also to have used language which was threatening, overbearing and, frankly, bullying. 'One is left with the regrettable impression of a judge who, if not partisan, developed an animus towards the claimant.' They said the judge's conduct towards Mr Serafin, a Polish national who has lived in London since the 1980s, was 'all the more surprising and troubling' given that he was acting as a litigant in person and English was not his first language. Mr Justice Jay was leading counsel to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press from 2011 to 2012, and was appointed a High Court judge in June 2013. (Photo : REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool) Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman, Jay Y. Lee, speaks during a news conference at a company's office building in Seoul, South Korea, May 6, 2020. South Korean prosecutors have filed for an arrest warrant for Samsung Group's heir Jay Y. Lee and two other former company executives as the investigation continues about controversies over a 2015 merger and alleged accounting fraud that hastened his succession. If granted, this would pave for more jail time for Lee who just got out of prison in February 2018. Lee, the 330th richest man in the world, according to Forbes, has a net worth of $6.3 billion. He is the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics and heir to South Korea's biggest conglomerate. Prosecutors want Samsung Group's Heir Jay Y. Lee's arrested for fraud and merger issues Lee is currently facing a charge of bribery in his attempt to win support to succeed Samsung's patriarch Lee Kun-hee who suffered a heart attack in May 2014 and remains hospitalized. Lee spent a year in detention until the case was suspended in 2018. His cohort was former South Korean President Park Geun-Hye who was convicted of bribery and abuse of power and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in 2018. Lee was accused of bribing Park to win government support for the 2015 merger that helped him tighten his control over his father's conglomerate. The Supreme Court then ordered a retrial for Lee's bribery charges. Last year, Samsung stated that it "deeply regrets that this case has created concerns across the society" and vowed to renew its promise in "carrying out the role of a responsible corporate citizen and will avoid a recurrence of past mistakes." Prosecutors seek for Lee's arrest On Thursday, June 4, prosecutors said they are pursuing Lee's arrest on suspicion of stock price manipulation and audit rule violations, among other infringements. While Samsung declined to comment on the issue, shares for Samsung Electronics were up 1.1%, outperforming a 0.2% rise in the benchmark. Meanwhile, prosecutors have been investigating an alleged accounting fraud at Samsung's drug company, Biologics, after the financial watchdog criticized how its value was overblown by 4.5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in 2015. Prosecutors argue that this instance boosted the value of its major owner, Cheil Industries, in which Lee was among the top shareholders. Cheil Industries later merged in the same year with Samsung C&T, a de facto holding firm, according to Yonhap news agency said. The merger gave a favorable rate for Lee who was then the biggest shareholder in Cheil Industries. Critics also argued that the merger made Lee the largest shareholder of Samsung's de-facto holding company and paved the way for his succession from his ailing father. However, Lee has previously denied charges. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it is following the necessary procedures after Samsung demanded an external assessment of the investigation to check the validity of the charges. Last month, Lee appeared before prosecutors who questioned him over the latest probes. He apologized for the controversies that have been clouding his succession 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Oregon state officials released for the first time a list of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to workplaces, adding up to 485 cases and six deaths. One third of the cases disclosed Wednesday are linked to the Oregon State Penitentiary, and almost half are connected to the food or agriculture industries. Nearly every other case was tied to correctional facilities or healthcare workplaces. The new report says the most recent onset of cases are linked to Bobs Red Mill in Milwaukie, Duckwall Fruit in Hood River and Resers Fine Foods in Hillsboro. Most of the employers are in Northwest Oregon, although Hermiston trucking company, Medelez Trucking, was linked by state officials to 22 infections. The report did not identify the employers linked to the six deaths, although the count likely includes an inmate who died at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. State officials said they first began investigating an outbreak there April 2. The second-largest outbreak is tied to three Townsend Farms facilities in Multnomah and Washington counties, where there have been two separate outbreaks, linked to a total of 93 cases, according to the report. State officials decided to publicly disclose the sites of workplace outbreaks after receiving criticism for not initially naming Townsend Farms as the site of a large-scale outbreak. The list, released by the Oregon Health Authority, does not count every case of coronavirus linked to workplaces. The agency only disclosed outbreaks of five or more cases among employers where at least 30 work. It also noted that the list may not reflect all the workplace outbreaks in Oregon. The tally also only includes active workplace outbreaks, meaning that there has been a case within the past 28 days. It excludes outbreaks such as one at OHSU Hospital in late March, which led to the death of at least one employee. Infections among health care workers make up at least 15% of all confirmed COVID-19 infections in Oregon. The initial list of workplace infections also did not name any nursing homes, which federal officials have tied to several deaths of workers. The state will continue to publish active workplace outbreaks with five or more confirmed COVID-19 cases in its COVID-19 weekly report. -- Celina Tebor ctebor@oregonian.com @CelinaTebor On the heels of an already tumultuous reopening timeline from the coronavirus pandemic, businesses across the country have had to board up windows, clean up graffiti and sweep away broken glass as a result of protests that turned into fiery, violent clashes this week. But many black-owned restaurants that sustained severe damage are just as focused on amplifying cries for racial justice as they are on rebuilding. Rekik Abaineh and her husband Solomon Hailie, owners of Bole Ethiopian Cuisine in St. Paul, Minnesota, told ABC News it was "overwhelming" to see their restaurant reduced to rubble after the first night of George Floyd protests in Minnesota's Twin Cities. "My husband and I went Friday morning to see what was left of it -- and the whole neighborhood was out crying. It was so hard to see the building like that," Abaineh said. "I've never felt this before, the mixed feelings that I have," Hailie said of the emotional toll of seeing his lifelong dream after 20 years in this country turned to ashes. "To come down to this, believe me, is just heartbreaking." Protests initially broke out in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died in police custody on May 25, and within days demonstrations against racial injustice spread across the world. Although Abaineh and Hailie were devastated at the toll of the protests, they said they stand in solidarity with their black community and support the underlying message being echoed throughout the country. PHOTO: Bole Ethiopian Cuisine was burned by protestors in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Rekik Abaineh and Solomon Hailie) "If it means burning our building and our business to get this justice for George [Floyd] and all of Black Lives Matter, we're OK with that," Hailie said. "But we can't bring back any soul for us we stand by it 100%." "We were very sad to see what happened that day. We totally understand the anger of the people who are out there for justice," said Abaineh. "If this is what it takes to bring justice to unfairly treated [people] all these years, then we're fine, we'll be OK. It's just the business that we lost and can rebuild in the future." Story continues The pair that introduced zesty Ethiopian fare like Tibs and Kitfo to the local community eight years ago was mere days away from finally opening Bole Express, a new sister restaurant with a focus on takeout orders and a plan to feed dozens of local health care workers for free. How bar owners envision the future of nightlife after coronavirus Hailie, who did most of the design and handiwork at the restaurant himself, said he "couldn't wait for people to come back and see what we've done while the pandemic was happening." "We were supposed to start on Saturday and we were planning to be busy. Then this happened on Friday. It's very sad," he said. PHOTO: Bole Ethiopian Cuisine in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Rekik Abaineh and Solomon Hailie) Hailie said Bole "was more like a home than just a business," especially for their diverse neighbors, who have rallied to support the beloved restaurant. "There's a big Somalian community in Minnesota and I've seen some of their businesses destroyed too, and I'm seeing the support of their own community to help them," Abaineh said. "Right now it's not about color, it's about humanity -- we're seeing a glimpse of solving the big issue that we have in this country and unity is what needs to be done. You see every corner, whether it's white or black, trying to work towards that and it's a beautiful thing that we're seeing right now." The restaurant owners said they have asked other friends who've lost businesses what they can do to help, "because we're in this together." "We were staying open during the pandemic because so many people needed our help," Abaineh said, adding that they gave discounts and even free meals to many local families. "We are more concerned for what's going on in the country right now. It's very sad to see all that chaos and businesses that lost a lot, but it's beyond us." Lelna Desta, who has worked with Abaineh and Hailie for the last two years, organized a GoFundMe campaign that has already surpassed its $100,000 goal with donations from all around the world. PHOTO: Bole Ethiopian Cuisine was burned by protestors in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Solomon Haile and Rekik Abaineh) "My husband and I were very nervous to do it or put pressure because we know a lot of people don't have jobs because of COVID-19," Abaineh said. "Everyone said you have to do this and Lelna collaborated with the community who wanted to help us." "It's amazing, I've seen people from Europe and Ethiopia donating. It means a lot to us," she said, adding that the currency exchange rate "is very high" and that she was touched that people from their home country rallied behind them. While Hailie is hopeful that they will eventually rebuild Bole, he said day-to-day operations are uncertain and expressed his concern for other black-owned restaurants that have been impacted by both COVID-19 closures and now the protests. 'We don't need fine dining right now': What chefs are doing amid COVID pandemic "I'm worried if they will ever come back again," he said. "It's going to hurt the business even worse." Despite their burned-out building, the owners haven't let the protests dampen their spirit. "I'm sure everyone in our community would place the same value on what's going on with the injustice," Hailie said. "In the meantime we've worked so hard, maybe three times more than the average American, to get here. There's a lot of ups and downs, and no amount of money can bring back that energy that I had put towards this business -- but I don't think I could get back to it with the same energy if it wasn't for this community." How a black-owned restaurant responded after being burned down during protests originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has said that per its calculations, the directive to Oil Marketing Companies to increase the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) margin on petroleum products from 3 pesewas to 6 pesewas effective June 1 will not increase the cost of petroleum products beyond 0.5 percent. According to the NPAs Chief Executive Officer, Hassan Tampuli, the decision was carefully reached to ensure that BOST gets more revenue to maintain infrastructure and enhance its operations as well as not put pressure on the public especially in these difficult economic times of COVID-19. The price of petroleum products will not go beyond 0.5 percent; that is less than 1 percent, Mr. Tampuli said at the opening of the National Information and Research Centre of the Information Service Department, thus debunking reports that the price of petroleum product would increase 100 percent because of BOST margins. Mr. Tampuli noted that it has become necessary to increase the margin because BOST is a strategic national asset that has the responsibility to hold and distribute products so that for every Ghanaian, wherever they find themselves in the country, the price paid for the product in Accra is the same price paid in any part of the country. BOST has an obligation to move volumes from different locations, from the coastal depots to the inland depots, through pipelines and through BRVs. To give you one good example, the storage infrastructure that we have in Bolga, 46 million litres, is almost the same storage capacity for the whole of Mali just one storage infrastructure that we have in Bolgatanga. It takes money to repair and maintain, so that it doesnt come to a stage where it has to collapse so have we go through the process of rebuilding the whole infrastructure. This is a national asset, and even in our homes we maintain them. We are supporting a national asset; it is not coming to the Ministry of Information or Ministry of Finance, it is to support BOST, he added. Background The NPA in 2019 was forced to abandon a similar move, after it emerged that the necessary legal backing and approvals were not finalised before the said communication was made to increase the margin from 3 to 6 pesewas. BOST recently began a campaign making a strong case for the margin to be increased because the current levy was not adequate, maintaining that it was needed to improve the companys infrastructure. Managing Director, Edwin Provencal, has been championing this, and made a strong case at a recent engagement with some civil society organisations in the energy sector and a cross-section of the media in Tema. Source: B&FT online 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 Southerners hoping to come to Queensland to escape the cold winter months will have about 10 days' notice before the borders reopen. Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the border closure would be reviewed at the end of June and "the decisions of that review will be implemented, I think, about a week and a half after that". The hard closure of Queensland's state borders looks set to continue even as travel within the state opens up. Credit:Dave Hunt/AAP His comments came after Prime Minister Scott Morrison pressured the state government into committing to a July reopening date. "When we set out the three-stop process together, July was when interstate travel was supposed to be up and running again," he told 2GB Radio. Fellow country men and women, let me on your behalf say a big thank you to our soldiers and service personnel for the reward of the victory of that fateful June 4th. I thank you all not only for June 4th but for 31st December as well, which pre-empted a repetition of another even bloodier June 4th because people felt betrayed by the elite and political leadership. I have chosen to speak less and rather allow the force of observation and the pain of circumstances to serve as a stimulus in awakening all of us from the deep sleep we have fallen into over the past decades. We must be reminded that we are a country borne out of difficult situations where some had to toil and shed their blood. The positive disruptive force and energy of June 4th was not a product of any political movement or action. The spontaneous eruption on that fateful day represented the unadulterated spirit of liberation that was collectively sought after, as a nation at the brink of collapse. Nothing more has signified or exemplified the patriotism and resilience of Ghanaians than in those difficult moments. Many were those who sacrificed their lives and livelihoods in order to bequeath to subsequent generations a more just society with equal opportunities for all, irrespective of their religion, tribe, ethnicity, political or educational status. We must never forget our past nor erase the memories of where we came from. Commemorations like this allow us to ponder, reflect and re-examine ourselves - our conduct and policies and to see if these have properly been aligned to our core values of probity, accountability, integrity and social justice. The difficult times we faced in the past that propelled the engine of the revolution is almost parallel in hardship with the present era of Covid-19. But the question is, do we have the same mental fortitude and integrity that would enable us survive the circumstances of todays trials? History, it is often said, repeats itself whenever we refuse to learn most especially from adversities and volcanic and near bloody eruptions. We have many dedicated and learned men and women who could provide leadership at various levels to the benefit of this country. The very ordinary people in Ghana are not unwise about issues and developments in this country. We are, however, as a learned group unable to bring the best out of our people. The inability of our people to communicate with us in the administrative English language puts them at a disadvantage and makes them unable to demand accountability and transparency from us. The spirituality and respect in the language of our culture evokes and demands integrity, accountability and transparency from us. This, however, does not and cannot happen because the foreign and colonial language has been used opportunistically to intimidate and promote falsehood and degrade the essence and substance of our being. Had we as a people carried our integrity and spirituality in our culture and language into the use of the administrative English language, a higher level of integrity would have been prevailing in Ghana and this continent and the quality of liberation would have enhanced our developmental efforts. The material and immaterial corruption in this country would not have undermined our ability and capabilities to the extent where the authority of truth would have been so badly undermined by the corrupted truth of authority. In other words, the authority of truthfulness should not be undermined by the words or supposed truths of those in positions of power or authority. The morality and authority of truth is godly and divine and it should always supersede and override the truth of the authority of mortals. We have so mastered the art of untruth in our books, on our radios, on our televisions and now through the Internet so much so that historical truths and facts are struggling to be recognized. People are paid a lot of corrupt money to distort and lie about historical truths. Is it any wonder that the precious lessons we should be learning are invariably lost on us? And we end up committing the same blunders over and over. The royal families of France and Russia were executed for their corrupt and unaccountable leadership. The royal families who learnt their lessons from France and Russia embarked upon serious democratic reforms and that is why the royal family of England and other places in Europe have survived. Instead of learning useful lessons from our not-too-distant past here in Ghana, some have made it their business to corrupt others to distort and wipe out our history. These people with selfish, myopic and wicked motives have consistently re-presented a one-sided story of a history that should serve as a guide for the future and ensure that we do not make the same mistakes that led to the eruptions of the past. Where have the distortions taken us? What has the failure to tell the truth done to us? Has it not brought us right back almost to where we started? We have rather belittled the national psyche. We could have been far richer, socially, culturally and economically, but for our negative desire to destroy the inspirational history that could have lifted us onto another pedestal. When people shamelessly attempt to erase the truth, because they lack scruples, it rather perpetuates a state of corruption that derails all we have achieved while glorifying exploitation, perversion, dishonesty, immorality and criminality. I have countless examples of the evil actions of some of our elite in perpetuating their own depraved reality. More painful is the fact that while we expect some of these historical distortions to come from our natural opponents, some within our own political culture decided it was time to join the bandwagon and re-write the history that birthed our political culture. Last year I spoke about how the intelligence machinery of the former Apartheid regime of South Africa used to pay treacherous characters in some of our countries. They served as spies and helped to spread malicious disinformation. Because the post-Apartheid leadership of South Africa has been silent about some of these traitors spread across the continent including Ghana, many of these characters are still doing some perfidious things. I urge the South Africans to expose these Apartheid collaborators, some of whom parade in their countries as patriots after performing some unconscionable and extremely repulsive acts. COVID-19 Ladies and Gentlemen, early this year the world was struck by a pandemic whose effects eventually affected every facet of our lives. Despite the interventions from state institutions to alleviate the plight of the under-privileged, there is still a lot to be done by all of us in our very own communities to support these groups of people. The health force across the country some of whom have been infected with the virus, in the line of duty have taught us a sense of purpose, selflessness, commitment, dedication and patriotism. I commend all health workers as well as all other frontline workers for proving equal to the task in this defining moment of ours. Fellow compatriots, we have hurt our own by institutionalizing corruption for far too long; giving a little few the access to amass wealth at the risk of the livelihood of the ordinary citizens who are languishing in poverty and misery. National monuments, groups, events, institutions and important state assets are labelled after some deserving individuals to inspire and direct subsequent generations on the good path they must emulate namely: courage, the spirit of patriotism, resilience and integrity. In some instances, it serves as a crucial reminder for historys defining moments. In Ghana, these actions that subtly influences us are sometimes taken for granted. Unsurprisingly, some important roads in Accra have been named after undeserving personalities. Such actions are a spite on the Ghana Armed Forces and an affront to many. There are many distinguished African figures such as our own General Akuffo, Commodore Boakye, Admiral Amedume, Colonel Mensah Gbedemah, General Erskine, General Nunoo-Mensah, General Arnold Quainoo, Commodore Boakye, Brigadier Alphonse Kojo Kattah, Ayikwei Armah, Nigerias Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe and a couple more who merit such honour. In like manner, another administration desecrated the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and rendered it a sheer family cemetery. Ladies and gentlemen, our democracy is borne out of fire and we must dearly and compassionately protect its flames. One of the key institutional arms of this democratic discourse from pre-colonial to modern-day Ghana is the protection of right and choice. We must endeavour as a nation to deepen the spirit of the consultative process, equity, respect for the rule of law or in simple terms, the tenet of democracy and multiparty democracy. The Electoral Commission which is the fulcrum of our multiparty democracy must be supported and protected by all stakeholders; to ensure a free and fair election and a peaceful society. That notwithstanding, it is equally important for that revered institution, EC, to ensure that the processes leading to this years elections are done in consultation with the stakeholders of the nation; to prevent unnecessary suspicion, and promote a peaceful and cohesive society. An election is an event but, building a democratic, free and peaceful society is a process so the debate surrounding the new voters register must be thoroughly examined so we do not undermine the successes we have chalked so far, as a nation. In addition, the constitutional mandate of the Electoral Commission must be respected by all. While we work towards perfecting our electoral process, I urge you all to pursue and sustain our uniqueness as a country in the democratization process. The sanctity of the right of choice is not a matter we can compromise with. That sanctity must be preserved at all cost and as we inch towards November let us ensure that the institutional processes are transparent and beyond blemish. Freedom and justice is not abstract. It is very much related to the sanctity of the right of choice. Those who are eligible to exercise that right of choice should not and cannot be disenfranchised by dictates that defeat ones right to vote. The sanctity of justice should be preserved and protected with all of us being subject to the practice of what is just. An unjust society deepens the inequities that exist. The patriotic zeal that gave birth to June 4 is one that cannot be extinguished. Any attempt to compromise on the ideals of probity, accountability and integrity in our everyday lives is an attempt to snuff out the light that was lit 41 years ago. Let us honour the memories of those who laid down their lives liberating Ghana. Thank you and God bless you all. 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 On Wednesday morning, Philadelphia woke up to a profound change in the landscape of Center City. Overnight, workers had removed the statue of Frank Rizzo, the former police commissioner, then mayor, whose law-and-order tactics had come for many to symbolize racist and brutal policing in the city. The statue represented bigotry, hatred, and oppression for too many people, for too long, Mayor Jim Kenney said in an early-morning tweet. It is finally gone. A polarizing populist whom both fans and detractors now liken to President Donald Trump, Rizzo served as mayor from 1972 to 1980, and died while campaigning for a third term in 1991. His likeness was installed on Thomas Paine Plaza, outside the Municipal Services Building, in 1999 and many in his South Philadelphia base, and in the law-enforcement community, believed that he should remain there in tribute to his service to the city. For others, who recall bloody police beatings of students protesting segregation and the humiliating public strip-search of Black Panthers, it was a 2,000-pound weight lifted off the citys collective psyche. And for those who had been demanding the change first with three years of petitions, social-media campaigns, and peaceful protests, then last weekend, amid protests demanding justice for the death of George Floyd and other victims of police violence, with attempts to topple the statue and set it on fire it felt like a moment to celebrate, if only one incremental step toward ending oppressive policing. This is a lesson in, if you do not listen to people, they will take matters into their own hands and they will force your hand, said Deandra Jefferson, an organizer with Philly REAL Justice, which led Frank Rizzo Down campaign. In response to that campaign, which likened Rizzo to the Confederate leaders whose statues were being scrubbed from cities and towns in the South, Kenney had initially pledged to move the statue by 2021. In May, he said the work would be completed in June. But critics were outraged to see how, as much of Philadelphia lay in shambles after Saturdays protest, the sculpture was quickly cleaned of vandalism and surrounded by a phalanx of police. READ MORE: From Wednesday: Protesters undeterred by storms and heat Even Zenos Frudakis, the sculptor and longtime defender of the 10-foot-tall bronze lightning rod, said he was relieved to learn officials had removed what had become a manifestation of oppression. We want to change the way things are socially, and its got to start at the top in the government, he said. Still, the overnight removal cut short a conversation that many felt was not finished. Rizzos family, in particular, called Kenneys vanishing act cowardly political pandering. The way he did this in the middle of the night, he reminds me of a looter, said Frank Rizzo Jr., a former City Council member, adding that he hoped a future mayor might put it back in place. READ MORE: How Mayor Kenney abruptly ended years of delays to remove the Rizzo statue He recalled a time when he encountered an elderly African American woman standing by the statue, holding its hand. The woman explained she stopped by routinely on her way home, to greet the mayor and thank him for the time he helped her son out of a bit of trouble. She told me she was just visiting her friend. Joe Mastronardo, Rizzos grandson, posited that the decision came down to personal animosity between onetime political rivals. He probably didnt want to look out the window of his office in City Hall and see the statue of a much better mayor than he was, he said. But for those who experienced the worst of Rizzo-era policing, his presence in the civic center was a routine trauma. It sickened me. It sickened me to my stomach, said Bernyce DeVaughan, 72, describing her reaction every time she saw the sculpture charging down the steps toward her, hand raised high. It sent a message that the city approved of Rizzos behavior, that it approves of racism and whatever police did to us. She was 16 when she and her 14-year-old sister, Deborah, joined a march to protest segregation at Girard College, the all-white boys school, in 1965. All of a sudden, the police, the motorcycles, and the horses, they just burst into the crowd and they started chasing us up the street toward 20th Street, she said. After her sister was tripped and fell, she was "bitten by police dogs while a state trooper had his foot on her chest to hold her down. Another Girard protester, Jibril Abdul-Jaleel, 74, now of Chester, said a Rizzo statue never should have been erected. I used to spit on it every time I saw it, he said. Rizzo was our nemesis. He was the one who rallied Philadelphia police against us. And our cause was right. It was just. READ MORE: Mural Arts Philadelphia ceases all involvement with the Frank Rizzo mural Herbert Hawkins, 71, was among those in a Black Panthers office in Mantua in August 1970 when Philadelphia police at Rizzos direction raided it, tossing in tear gas to draw them out into the street, then at gunpoint forcing them to strip nude as media looked on. When Hawkins was taken to police headquarters, out of sight of the cameras, he said, he was mercilessly beaten with batons. Police harassment was a normal thing, the Brewerytown resident said Wednesday. I think in a lot of cases, it felt like that was what they were supposed to do. So nightmarish was life under the Rizzo police department, when Rizzo was elected mayor, Hawkins considered fleeing the city. They knew what the symbol was representing when they put it up, said Michael Africa, a member of the MOVE 9 who spent 40 years in prison. Rizzo had sought to clear the MOVE compound with a court order, and when that failed, police were sent to secure the property. In a subsequent standoff, Officer James Ramp was fatally shot, and nine people in the house were convicted of the murder. The last surviving member of the group still in prison was released just this January. Theres always the hope that finally that corner is being turned. Finally, someone will see that certain things are so egregious that you have to address them, Africa said, given his familys parole and the statues removal. But then you see someone kneeling on someones neck for nine minutes in such a cavalier way," he added, referencing Floyds death by Minneapolis police. Some in law enforcement have a different view of Rizzos tenure. Several said they were sorry to see the symbol of an effective leader whisked into storage. READ MORE: Who was Frank Rizzo? Nearly 30 years after his death, Philadelphians still dont agree | From 2017 He dealt with crime, lets put it that way, said Eddie Lopez, president of the Spanish American Law Enforcement Association. Rizzo was a cops cop," agreed former Upper Darby Police Chief Michael Chitwood, who served under him in the 1960s. Chitwood recalled an incident in the late 1960s when members of Teamsters Local 107 took over Roosevelt Boulevard. Rizzo told his officers, Do what you have to do." In the end, "Some of [the Teamsters] got roughed up and then they left. These were rugged, tough guys. Frank Rizzo was a man of his time. He defended Rizzos approach to fighting crime, and said theories of police deescalation were not developed until years later. But for Abdallah Lateef, 52, of North Philadelphia, the problem is that the lessons from that era have not been learned. Those core values and principles of racialized oppression, aggression and mismanagement of resources, and hyper-marginalization of black folks in particular that transpired during his administration those legacies are still persistent to this very day, said Lateef, a former juvenile lifer and the Pennsylvania coordinator of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. Im not so celebratory about the symbolism, when the substance of our reality is not so different from when he was mayor of Philadelphia decades ago. For organizers like Jefferson, the true test will be what comes next. The second prong of the Frank Rizzo Down campaign is police abolition, the abandonment of a system she views as so broken, no reform can fix it. It really comes down to giving communities space to take care of harm that happens in their communities, without the threat of being kidnapped and dehumanized, she said. But far from the protests that have roiled Center City and Fishtown, in Rizzos native South Philadelphia, some residents who still remember the former mayor fondly scoffed at the idea it needed to be removed. Gee, pal, said Eileen Simmons, 80, on her way to the Passyunk Market Deli, it was Rizzo, right? Were not talking about Hitler here. I cant agree with taking his statue down. Asked about the former mayors reputation for racism, Simmons shook her head with impatience, saying, That guy stepped on a lot of toes of people with lots of different skin complexions. Almost two miles southeast, the opinions were more strident. Taking the statue down was an absolute disgrace, said Bob Pacetti, 73, a former firefighter and lifelong resident of the neighborhood, strolling toward the Philadelphia Pretzel Factory. Our mealy-mouthed mayor was being sneaky by taking the statue away in the middle of the night. There was no chance for us to protest that move, the Irish and Italians down here who didnt like it." Not every South Philadelphian sees it that way. Bill Colsher, 66, a retired software engineer shopping at the Acme, called the statue "an incitement. Colsher said these days the area can no longer be characterized simply as a bastion of apologists for the strong-man mayor. In the end, many agreed that Rizzos likeness no longer represented the community. District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday that Rizzos statue looming over City Hall stood for racism and unaccountable police brutality. Well," he said, he is looming no more. Staff writers Anna Orso and Chris Palmer contributed to this article. A search is underway after reports a young boy fell into the River Boyne in Co Louth last night. Gardai were alerted to the incident which happened at the Bridge of Peace in Drogheda at 10.15pm. Defying sharp objections from Democrats, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent the nomination of Judge Justin Walker of Kentucky to the floor on Thursday for confirmation to a seat on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The 12-to-10, party-line vote reflected the deep partisan divide over the push by President Trump and Republicans to install young, highly conservative judges on the federal courts under Senate rules that leave Democrats no ability to block them. Named a district court judge just last year, Judge Walker, 38, is a favorite of Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, who personally lobbied Mr. Trump for the nomination to the court that handles major cases arising from Washington policy and political disputes. Democrats said the only reasons that Judge Walker, previously a law professor with limited courtroom experience, was in line for such a prestigious position in the federal judiciary were his ties to Mr. McConnell, his conservative ideology and his strong and public criticism of the Affordable Care Act. Coastal Cloud, a Palm Coast, Florida-based independent Salesforce consulting partner in the United States, received an investment from Sverica Capital Management and Salesforce Ventures. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Started in 2012 by Sara and Tim Hale, Coastal Cloud is a Salesforce Platinum consulting partner which provides implementations and managed services to assist clients in migrating to next-generation systems. With a broad range of capabilities and expertise across a wide range of Salesforce solutions, the company serves as a partner to commercial, public sector, and non-profit organizations throughout their digital transformation journeys. FinSMEs 04/06/2020 Gerald Lawless, Ambassador for the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), is confident that the tourism industry will bounce back from the crippling impact of Covid-19. Speaking on the final day of Arabian Travel Markets ATM Virtual event where a panel of tourism experts discussed the opportunities in the region to kick-start sustainable investment in the hospitality sector, Lawless said: "It is a time for opportunity and that is something investors will always look for. Investors are out there, and they will be in the future. There are investment opportunities within our industry, particularly in the hotel sector and we will see this developing and evolving over the coming weeks and months." The session, Restructuring to Attract Sustainable Development and Customers in the New World Order, moderated by BBC presenter and broadcaster, Rajan Datar, and in collaboration with the International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC), took place on June 3, and was opened by Dr. Taleb Rifai, Chairman, ITIC, who said: Who would have imagined three months ago we would be holding our conference in this manner. The world is however quickly waking up. Life post containment is incredibly important and the need for economic recovery is now. Discussing Dubais future investment opportunities, Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: Dubai has a lot of multinational companies who have established their regional headquarters here. Dubai has a lot to offer these businesses in terms of systems and the different free zones giving companies the opportunity and flexibility to be able to practice their business in a way that is comfortable for them. The lifestyle of Dubai also makes it very easy for people to relocate. It simply becomes an offer too good to refuse. The opportunities in the tourism industry for investment as a byproduct of cheaper real estate was discussed by Nicolas Mayer, EMEA Hospitality & Tourism Center of Excellence Industry Leader, PwC, who said: Many of the primary real estate markets in this region, in the UAE, Saudi, and Oman for example, are phenomenally dynamic. Yes, they have taken a hit, but they have demonstrated in the past the ability to ramp up again and go beyond what it used to be, before anywhere else in the world, which makes one very confident in investing. Foreign direct investment was also a hot topic of conversation, particularly from Saudi Arabia when looking at the opportunities afforded by their burgeoning tourism offering. Majed AlGhanim, Managing Director of Tourism & Quality of Life, Ministry of Investment, Saudi Arabia, said: In addition to the local and regional buying power in Saudi, we believe we have an attractive offering for investors from overseas with all the of the new sites and destinations coming up in Saudi Arabia. We are a destination that is ready, open, and looking forward to welcoming visitors to Saudi Arabia. The session also featured investment discussion from Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority; Marwan Bin Jassim Al Sarkal, Executive Chairman, Sharjah Investment and Development Authority Shurooq; and Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director General, Ajman Tourism. Day three of ATM Virtual also featured responsible tourism with Harold Goodwin, Responsible Tourism Advisor for World Travel Market and Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior Vice President Responsible Business and Safety & Security, Radisson Hotel Group, discussing the responsibility agenda in a post-coronavirus landscape. During the session, 'What are the Implications of COVID-19 for Responsible Hospitality? Inge Huijbrechts said: "Whilst most hospitality brands have put responsible and sustainability projects on hold for a few months, we cannot and must not self-isolate from climate change. Climate change is a huge focus as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, with responsibly caring for both our employees and our guests a key objective for all hospitality companies across the globe." Turning to influencers, Make Your Connection: Influencers as a Key Part of the Marketing Mix Covid-19 The Road to Recovery, led by ITP Media Groups Head of Content, Eddie Taylor,, explored the importance of creating relevant, engaging and impactful travel and lifestyle content in the current climate of best practices. ATM Virtual concluded on June 3, a total of 18,959 registrations from 152 countries were recorded, including 490 media. The event included 14,385 pre-scheduled meetings and featured 23 live webinars, interviews, and pre-recorded roundtables. - TradeArabia News Service WASHINGTON As protests rock the nation, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced legislation Thursday that would limit a presidents power to deploy the military to respond to civilian unrest in the U.S. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., announced a new bill with Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., that would require federal law enforcement to show identification when theyre conducting crowd control. Both measures are a rebuke of the force President Donald Trump has used or threatened to use to deal with civil unrest resulting from the recent death of another black man at the hand of police. Blumenthal said he was alarmed when President Donald Trump said Monday he would send military troops to any state or city where law enforcement did not dominate the streets to prevent looting and rioting, although most protests against the killing of George Floyd are largely peaceful. Last used during the Rodney King riots in 1992, the Insurrection Act of 1807 gives presidents sweeping powers to move troops and federalize National Guard forces to suppress civil unrest and rebellion. Trumps remarks made Blumenthal realize the law should be clarified and limited, Blumenthal said. His statement struck me as potentially deeply dangerous, Blumenthal said. He seemed to be acting without any restraint in using military force against American citizens demonstrating peacefully on our streets and communities... that alarm made me think about what kinds of restraints could be imposed because right now he has very broad, virtually undefined powers under that Insurrection Act. Blumenthals bill would require a president to consult with Congress before using the Insurrection Act and require the administration to provide justifications for its use. It would state that the Insurrection Act can only be used to uphold, not restrict civil rights, and give expedited legal recourse to challenge misuse of the law. The bill would make it easier for governors to request federal military help under the law. Members of the Trump administration and Republican senators have said in recent days that the Insurrection Act should only used as a last resort. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said: "The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now." Trump has brought some military troops to bases around Washington, D.C. but has not yet used them to respond to unrest in the city. No governor has requested that Trump deploy troops to his or her state. Instead, his administration has sent officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Prisons to the D.C. streets to deal with protests with local police. Many of these officials have worn uniformed that did not state their agency and refused to say where they worked, while responding to protests. Americans have a right to know who is patrolling their streets, and to have recourse if their massive power is misused, Murphy said. Thats why Leader Schumer and I are introducing legislation that requires all federal law enforcement officers and members of the Armed Forces to clearly identify themselves and their service or agencies, last name, and badge number or rank while they are engaged in crowd control at protests or other events. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated over the past week against racism and discriminatory policing after the May 25 death of Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolic Police officers. Most of the protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but violent individuals at the fringes have used the protests to loot and cause property damage in many cities. Blumenthal joined a small group of protestors in Bridgeport Saturday and said he plans to participate in more demonstrations over the weekend in Connecticut. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson There was no Northern Ireland representative on the Government's Sage committee during a crucial period of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has emerged. Northern Ireland's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Ian Young, has said he was on long-term sick leave until the end of March, meaning he was unable to take part in meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). The first time his name appears as an attendee on the minutes of a Sage committee meeting was April 7, when he was present to provide evidence and advice as part of the Sage process. Sage provides scientific and technical advice to support Government decision-makers during emergencies and has played a key role in the official response to the coronavirus pandemic. Read More The matter was discussed at yesterday's meeting of the Stormont health committee when Prof Young and Health Minister Robin Swann were asked about the controversial decision to end contact tracing in Northern Ireland on March 12. Chair of the committee, Colm Gildernew, asked whether anyone from Northern Ireland attended Sage meetings in the run-up to the decision. "To the best of my knowledge, I don't believe there was anyone from Northern Ireland at those meetings," said Prof Young. He continued that it would be his preference that someone from Northern Ireland would have been involved in the discussions at that stage. He also said he believed that the decision was taken to halt contact tracing in England due to the high number of cases at the time, and that he understood this was Government policy as opposed to a recommendation made by scientists at that time. He said that "it was felt that there were too many cases occurring" and there "wasn't sufficient capacity to contact trace in order to suppress the infection". Prof Young continued: "Additional measures would need to be taken that came in the form of social distancing, generally referred to as lockdown, which has been effective." However, Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan said: "On March 12, there were only 47 positive cases of Covid-19 here in the north." The West Belfast MLA said "it could be argued it was the right decision" to stop contact tracing in England at the time - however, Northern Ireland was not experiencing similar levels of infection. He added: "Why did we make a similar decision? What exactly happened? I would like to understand the process there." Prof Young said he was unable to answer as he was on leave at the time, but Mr Swann said: "It was capacity." He explained there were only 12 people trained to carry out contact tracing at the time. Prof Young continued: "The truth is, there would have been substantially greater number of cases as testing capacity was much more limited at that time." However, outlining the current situation, Mr Swann said there is sufficient capacity to carry out contact tracing for everyone who tests positive with Covid-19 and that a business case has been submitted for a second premises, while there is scope to scale the system up or down depending on requirements. He also revealed that the team involved in contact tracing includes doctors and senior nurses. This is because he wants staff to be able to provide medical advice to anyone being advised to isolate, and added that this is a superior service to the "call centre" system in place throughout the rest of the UK. The issue of contact tracing has been discussed repeatedly at the Stormont health committee. On April 23, the issue was raised by Mr Gildernew, who asked the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride, whether the decision to stop contact tracing was a mistake. Dr McBride said: "No. It was based on sound public health considerations." Mr Gildernew subsequently asked Dr McBride whether the scientific advice on the decision to stop contact tracing could be made available to the committee. Burma Mandalay Chief Minister in Quarantine in Myanmar After Cancer Treatment in Thailand Mandalay Region Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung and his wife Daw Yu Yu May. / Daw Yu Yu May / Facebook MANDALAYMandalay Region Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung has returned from Bangkok after receiving cancer treatment and will resume his duties after spending 21 days in quarantine in line with COVID-19 guidelines, regional Electricity, Energy and Construction Minister U Zar Ni Aung said. The chief minister is under 21-day quarantine at his home. He will be able to return to office after that. Though he has lost some weight, his health is good, said U Zar Ni Aung, who has served as acting chief minister in Dr. Zaw Myint Maungs absence. Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who is also vice chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), has been battling leukemia since October last year, requiring frequent trips to Bangkok for treatment. He returned from his last trip to Bangkok on May 21, and is currently under quarantine at his home in Mandalay. He was tested for coronavirus and the result was negative, according to the Mandalay regional government. Though he has had to travel between Myanmar and Thailand for medical treatment, he has continued to advise Mandalay regional government [officials] online, U Zar Ni Aung said. In an interview with private TV station SkyNet on May 23, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung said, As I have returned after treatment, I will fulfill my duties to the people and the party to the best of my ability as long as I am healthy. I am vulnerable to infection. Doctors said I am OK with those who are [regularly] in close contact with me, but I need to be very careful with strangers. So, I will need to do some work via videoconferencing, he added. The chief minister will have to travel to Bangkok for another medical check-up in six months, his wife Daw Yu Yu May wrote on her Facebook account on May 22. Dr. Zaw Myint Maung was elected to Parliament in the 1990 general election, but the military annulled the results of that vote. In the 2012 by-election, he was elected again and assumed his seat in the Lower House representing Mandalays Kyaukpadaung Township. In the 2015 election, he was elected to the Mandalay regional parliament representing Amarapura Township and was subsequently appointed head of the Mandalay regional government. Dr. Zaw Myint Maung is a Mandalay native; his wife and three children are all doctors. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: NLD Vice Chairmans Poor Health Threatens Partys Prospects in Myanmars 2020 Election Mandalay to Screen Chinese Visitors Amid Coronavirus Scare Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 4, 2020 2020/06/04 The Paper: The US Department of Transportation issued an order yesterday suspending scheduled passenger flights of Chinese carriers to and from the United States, effective from June 16 in response to the failure of the Chinese government to permit US carriers to exercise their bilateral rights to conduct passenger air service to China. Does China have a comment? Zhao Lijian: We deeply regret the US Department of Transportation announcement to suspend the scheduled passenger flights of Chinese carriers to and from the United States starting from June 16. The CAAC is lodging stern representations with the US side. Follow-up: Now that China issued a notice on adjusting plans of international passenger flights, will US airlines be able to request for resuming flights? Zhao Lijian: As I know, the CAAC and the US Department of Transportation have been in close communication regarding flights between the two countries. We have had some progress. Now China has announced the policy adjustment. We hope the US will not create obstacles for resolving this issue. China Daily: On June 2, the United Nations and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia co-hosted a Virtual High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. Can you talk about China's role in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen? Zhao Lijian: China has been closely following the situation in Yemen. We are always there to support and participate in international efforts towards easing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. China appreciates Saudi Arabia's co-hosting this high-level event with the United Nations and providing a large amount of humanitarian assistance and anti-epidemic support to Yemen. China and Yemen enjoy traditional friendship. China has long been providing Yemen with food, medical equipment and other assistance. To support it in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, China has donated medical supplies including nucleic acid testing reagents, medical protective gowns and surgical masks. We will continue to do whatever we can to help the Yemeni people. CCTV: Yesterday it was announced that Premier Li Keqiang will deliver remarks at the Global Vaccine Summit via videolink. Can you give us more details about that? And what has China done to support Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance? Zhao Lijian: Upholding a vision of a shared future for mankind, the Chinese government attaches high importance to global public health. We will continue implementing the initiatives and measures proposed by President Xi Jinping at the virtual opening ceremony of the 73rd World Health Assembly, supporting the WHO, Gavi and other international organizations to the best of our ability, and contributing to the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries as well as building a global community of health for all. Xinhua News Agency: According to the German government, in light of the current situation, China, Germany and the EU agree that the China-EU summit, which was scheduled to be held in Germany in September, will be hosted at another date. Could you confirm that? Did the German side ask for China's opinion on this during President Xi's phone call with Chancellor Merkel yesterday? If so, did China agree with the decision? Zhao Lijian: The China-EU summit, initiated by Germany, is important to China-EU relations. China has positively responded to and supported Germany's initiative. China, Germany and the EU have been in close communication regarding the preparation of the summit, including the date. In light of the ongoing pandemic, all three parties believe the original date is hardly a good timing to hold the summit, and agree that the summit, as a very important political agenda between China and EU, will be held at another proper time. China will stay in communication and coordination with Germany and the EU on when and how the summit will be hosted. Shenzhen TV: Some western countries have raised doubts about the NPC's national security legislation for Hong Kong. However, there are also many that have publicly expressed support for this legislation, believing that this is a just move to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and will help maintain stability and prosperity in Hong Kong. No external force has the right to interfere. What is China's comment? Zhao Lijian: Since the return of Hong Kong, the principles of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy have been implemented in good faith and the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents have been fully guaranteed in accordance with law. This has been widely acknowledged by the international community. The fundamental purpose of the NPC's decision and what the Standing Committee of the NPC is going to do next is to uphold China's sovereignty, security and development interests, safeguard the order and the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, and ensure the success of "one country, two systems", which is beneficial not only to the fundamental interests of Hong Kong, but also to the common interests of the international community. For those that understand and support China's position and actions, we want to express our appreciation. For those that cling to ideological prejudice, we hope that they can discard bias, view China's decision and legislation in an objective and fair light, and refrain from intervening in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs in any way. Reuters: According to reports, the United States is expected to designate at least four additional state-run media outlets as foreign embassies, increasing restrictions on their operations on American soil. They're expected to include China Central Television and China News Service. What's the foreign ministry's comment on this? Zhao Lijian: We note relevant reports. I will not respond for now before official verification. Associated Press of Pakistan: We have noted that Pakistani President Alvi met with a team of medical experts of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on June 3. Can you brief us on the work of this medical team in Pakistan? How many medical teams has China sent to Pakistan? What other assistance will China provide to Pakistan? Zhao Lijian: To help Pakistan respond to COVID-19 and live up to the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, the Chinese PLA sent a 10-member team of experts to Pakistan on April 25. In more than a month of time, the team, paying no attention to the risks and hard work ahead, made multiple field trips to local medical institutions, exchanged experience with Pakistan's health departments and medical experts, and offered guidance to their medical staff on treatment. All sectors of the Pakistani society recognize and speak highly of these concrete actions, a manifestation of the profound friendship between China and Pakistan sharing weal and woe. President Alvi had a cordial meeting with the medical team on June 3, during which he spoke highly of their contribution to Pakistan's COVID-19 response and praised the team for showing the ironclad friendship between Pakistan and China. China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners. The medical team dispatched by the Chinese PLA to Pakistan is the epitome of the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries. As China has said many times before, since the outbreak of the epidemic, China and Pakistan have offered each other selfless support and sincere assistance. At the most difficult moment in China's fight against COVID-19, the Pakistani government and people expressed strong support for China, not only in saying the most supportive words but also in mobilizing the entire country to provide medical goods with no holding back. When Pakistan was in need of help, the central and local governments of China, as well as many enterprises, charities, and people from all walks of life have been active in providing tens of millions of dollars worth of supplies and cash to support Pakistan. At the end of March, the Chinese government sent its first medical team to Pakistan to fight COVID-19. They stayed there for three weeks. China has also provided technical support to Pakistan and held video conferences several times to share relevant experience. At present, COVID-19 is still raging around the world, including in Pakistan. In the face of this unexpected global public health crisis, all countries should pull together to prevail. Upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China has been actively participating in international cooperation. We are ready to continue to provide support within our capacity according to Pakistan's needs and work with Pakistan to defeat the virus. We are also ready to make greater efforts to prevent the global spread of the virus and safeguard global public health security. Bloomberg: Specifically in relation to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his government has criticized Beijing's planned imposition of the security law on Hong Kong and expressed willingness to admit people from Hong Kong if it is implemented. And separately, the UK is taking steps to exclude Huawei from its 5G mobile networks by lining up potential replacement. Do you have a comment on the two elements of UK approach? Zhao Lijian: On your second question, 5G technology plays a leading role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a cutting-edge and platform technology. In an era of globalization, the development and application of 5G is naturally a process and outcome of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits among all countries. We hope the UK will stay committed to free trade and openness, maintain policy independence and ensure an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies. This will help keep up Chinese enterprises' confidence and expectations in the UK market. As to the UK's statements on Hong Kong, I have repeatedly stated China's position. Regarding the British National (Overseas) passport, or the BNO passport, I would like to reiterate that this national security legislation only targets a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardize national security and has no impact whatsoever on Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents or the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong. Political manipulation on the BNO issue or cross-border collusion in an attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs are both dead ends. If the British side makes unilateral changes to the relevant practice, it will breach its own position and pledges as well as international law and basic norms guiding international relations. We firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures. Again, a sound, stable and growing China-UK relationship serves the interests of both, but this needs the UK working in the same direction with China on the condition of respecting each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference. Macau Monthly: According to reports, over 200 former politicians, health experts and academics are calling for an emergency virtual G20 summit to help economically impoverished countries tide over the crisis caused by the pandemic. What's your comment? Zhao Lijian: I have noted relevant reports. On March 26, the G20 leaders held an extraordinary leaders' summit on COVID-19 and reached a series of important consensus on uniting against the pandemic and stabilizing the world economy, which sent a positive message to the international community and gave a strong boost to cooperation. As a step to implement the outcomes of the summit, the G20 adopted in April a debt service suspension initiative for the poorest countries, covering 77 lowest income countries and regions, which was highly praised by the international community, especially developing countries. This shows that the G20 can play a unique leading role at a critical moment, as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, important mechanism for global crisis response and vital platform for equal dialogue and coordination between major developed and emerging economies. At present, COVID-19 is still spreading in many parts of the world and the situation remains grim. China is ready to work with the international community to implement the outcomes of the summit. At the same time, China supports the G20, under the coordination of the Saudi presidency, in continuing to play a leading role, advance consensus-based cooperation, and make new contributions to the global fight against COVID-19 and world economic recovery. CRI: Recently many African leaders have called for the unconditional lifting of sanctions on Sudan and Zimbabwe imposed by the US and several European countries. What is your attitude? Zhao Lijian: We firmly support the call by African leaders for the unconditional lifting of sanctions that have been imposed on Sudan and Zimbabwe. When COVID-19 is still spreading across the world, the US and several European countries have turned a deaf ear to the calls of African countries and people and maintained their pressure on Sudan and Zimbabwe through unilateral sanctions. This has caused great sufferings for local people and can hardly find any support. China calls on the relevant countries to heed the calls of the African people, lift illegal sanctions as soon as possible, and make some real contributions to Africa's efforts to defeat the virus and develop the economy. Kyodo: On China-Japan relations, Japanese foreign minister said yesterday that President Xi's visit to Japan will be arranged after November. Is there still any chance that the visit will take place within the year? Zhao Lijian: I also take note of relevant reports. We hope the Japanese side will work to create enabling environment and atmosphere for the steady development of bilateral relations. The bill spreads sanctions towards companies, which provide services of underwriting, insurance or reinsurance of the vessels, which work at the pipeline Open source A bipartisan group of the U.S. Congress senators determined the list of entities that will face new sanctions tied with the launch of the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline as Bloomberg reported. A bipartisan group of senators is planning to introduce legislation that would expand U.S. sanctions against Gazprom PJSCs Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany by taking aim at insurance companies that work with Russian vessels on completion of the project, the message said. The bill spreads sanctions towards companies, which provide services of underwriting, insurance or reinsurance of the vessels, which work at the pipeline and companies, which provide services and means for technological upgrading, installment of welding machines or vessels upgrading. The new sanction legislation might be also included in the National Defense Authorization Act 2021. One of the leading authors of the bill, Senator Ted Cruz stated that the pipeline poses a critical threat to Americas national security and must not be completed. Another author of the document, Senator Jeanne Shaheen underlined that the pipeline threatens Ukraine, energy independence of Europe and it enables Russia to exploit American allies. The efforts of the congressmen aim to prevent the launch of Nord Stream 2. Shaheen and Cruz last year secured sanctions against the pipeline as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. After President Donald Trump signed the NDAA into law, AllSeas Group SA stopped work on the pipeline, bringing the project to a halt just weeks before the expected completion. Gazprom, the owner of the pipeline and the gas thats supposed to flow through it, has now moved two Russian vessels into the area to continue work. As we reported, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell stated that lawmakers of the U.S. Congress are considering introducing new sanctions against the companies involved in servicing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline The remains of George Floyd await a memorial service in his honor on June 4, 2020, at North Central University's Frank J. Lindquist Sanctuary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A memorial for George Floyd, the black man whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police has sparked days of nationwide protests, is set to begin Thursday afternoon around the same time that three ex-cops are due to appear in court to face charges of aiding and abetting his alleged murder. The memorial in Minneapolis, scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET, is the first in several planned events to honor Floyd, which will conclude with his funeral in Houston on Tuesday. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a New York civil rights activist and the president of the National Action Network, will deliver the eulogy at the memorial Thursday at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis. The service will be livestreamed, with in-person attendance limited to family and friends. Fifteen minutes before the memorial is due to start, three former Minneapolis police officers will be arraigned on new charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. The three 26-year-old J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, 37, and 34-year-old Tou Thao assisted a fourth officer, Derek Chauvin, in Floyd's arrest May 25, on suspicion that Floyd used a counterfeit $20 bill to make a purchase. The murder-related charge they face carries a maximum possible prison sentence of 40 years if they are convicted. Appointment of Dr Agu Kantsler as a new Director Brisbane, June 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP ) ( FRA:C9J ) ( OTCMKTS:CPTLF ) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Agu Kantsler as a Director of the Company, effective 15 June 2020.Central's Chairman, Wrix Gasteen said, "After an extensive search for an oil and gas exploration expert, I am delighted to welcome a person of Dr Kantsler's professional calibre to the Central Petroleum board. Dr Kantsler's appointment is timely as he joins Central during an important step-change in the evolution of our company. We are emerging from recent market and COVID-19 challenges with a focus on growth and diversification by progressing ur near term exploration programme in the Amadeus Basin (Northern Territory), the Range CSG project in the Surat Basin (Qld), and completion of the Dukas exploration well (southern Amadeus Basin, Northern Territory), targeting one of the largest conventional on-shore gas prospects in Australia.""Agu brings strong technical credibility and an extensive depth of experience to the Board at this exciting juncture in Central's strategy to become a major supplier into the east coast gas market," added Mr Gasteen.Dr Kantsler is one of Australia's most respected and experienced petroleum exploration executives, having led Woodside Petroleum's world-wide exploration, business development and geotechnical activities as Executive Vice President Exploration and New Ventures from 1995 to 2009.Prior to joining Woodside, Dr Kantsler worked for Shell in various international locations and has served as Director and Chairman of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA). Dr Kantsler is Managing Director of Transform Exploration Pty Ltd, a Non-executive Director of Oil Search Limited since 2010 and a former President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA.About Central Petroleum Limited Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP) is a well-established, and emerging ASX-listed Australian oil and gas producer. In our short history, Central has grown to become the largest onshore gas producer in the Northern Territory (NT), supplying industrial customers and senior gas distributors in NT and the wider Australian east coast market. Central is positioned to become a significant domestic energy supplier, with exploration and development plans across 180,000 km2 of tenements in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including some of Australia's largest known onshore conventional gas prospects. Central has also completed an MoU with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to progress the proposed Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline to a Final Investment Decision. We are also seeking to develop the Range gas project, a new gas field located among proven CSG fields in the Surat Basin, Queensland with 135 PJ (net to Central) of development-pending 2C contingent resource. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on June 3 appointed Rajeev Ranjan Kumar to replace RM Meena for the post of the chief executive officer of the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB). Announcing the decision, an MHA statement said, "Owing to administrative reasons, CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) has recalled the present CEO, KPKB back to CRPF. It has been decided that Rajeev Ranjan Kumar, DIG CRPF, will function as CEO KPKB for a period of three months in place of RM Meena with immediate effect." The decision to replace Meena comes close on the heels of the release of a document that listed 1,026 items to be de-listed from KPKB shelves. The de-listing purported to be a result of the union governments decision to only sell swadeshi, or India-made products, in KPKB canteens, beginning June 1. The decision has been taken after ex-CEO RM Meena issued a list of 1,026 products to be de-listed from KPKB shelves," a person aware of the development told CNBC-TV18. On June 1, the May 29 list of products was recalled by the chairman, WARB-cum-DG CRPF, saying that the de-listing of certain products had been erroneously issued by the CEO. Guwahati/Agartala, June 5 : With coronavirus cases increasing rapidly in the northeastern states and crossing the 3,000-mark on Thursday, the state governments in the region warned they would take stern action against those violating quarantine norms. With the return of over 3.5 lakh domestic inhabitants from south and north India, there is a surge in coronavirus cases in the eight northeastern states, taking the total positive cases to 3,019, out of which 2,340 are active cases. With a single-day record of 243 cases, Assam's tally climbed to 2,073 on Thursday night, with active cases at 1,624, state health officials said. Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma said that those creating troubles in the quarantine centres and violating the Covid-19 guidelines would be booked under non-bailable provisions. "Some unruly people are doing indiscipline in the quarantine centre and trying to infect others with the disease by defying the quarantine norms. Government has decided to initiate non-bailable case against these unruly people, even attempt to murder provision against those people. This would mean that they would have to stay with (sic)government custody for several more months," he said. The minister said that if somebody has any problem staying in the quarantine centres, they are free to tell the officials about their issues and efforts would be made to get them resolved, but indiscipline would not be tolerated. Meanwhile, five persons recently escaped from the quarantine centres at Silchar in south Assam and in Guwahati but were tracked down by police. Poor quality of food and other difficulties are said to be the reasons for their escape. In Tripura, officials slapped fines of Rs 100 to Rs 200 on around 4,000 people so far for not wearing face masks. Meanwhile, a section of patients late Wednesday night vandalised a Covid-19 care centre in Agartala alleging they were served "poor quality food". Authorities have initiated a probe into the incident. According to the West Tripura district administration, some coronavirus patients late on Wednesday night vandalised the Saheed Bhagat Singh Yuba Awas Covid care centre and harassed the health workers alleging "bad quality food were served to them". "We would take stern action against those violating the quarantine norms and creating ruckus at the health and ovid-19 care centres," a police official told IANS. Governments of other northeastern states have also taken similar decisions to maintain discipline in the health and Covid-19 care centres. Following the footsteps of Rajasthan, Mizoram became the first state in the northeast to promulgate an ordinance to tackle violations of personal and public safety, public hygiene, and lockdown measures with stringent punishment. The Mizoram (Containment and Prevention of COVID-19) Ordinance, 2020 stipulates imprisonment up to three months and a fine of Rs 5,000 for violations. While Assam registered the maximum of 2,073 Covid-19 positive cases, Tripura comes next with 647 cases including 471 active cases, followed by Manipur with 124 (86 active) cases, Nagaland with 80 (all active), Meghalaya with 33 (19 active), Arunachal with 42 (41 active), Mizoram with 17 (16 active) and Sikkim with three (all active). Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) COMPTON, CA - JUNE 07: The Compton Cowboys ride down S Tamarind Ave, along with a couple thousand protesters, during the Compton, CA, Peace Ride, culminating at City Hall, on Sunday, June 7, 2020. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) As protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue across Southern California, Los Angeles County has revoked a nighttime curfew. Officials say that, although they do not plan to issue a countywide curfew Thursday night, cities within the county have the authority to set their own restrictions. The county's cancellation of its order comes amid growing pressure to lift curfews that were imposed over the weekend and have continued for days in the region. Before the announcement of the order's cancellation, L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villaneuva said his agency would not enforce a curfew. "Based upon current situational awareness and the recent pattern of peaceful actions by protesters, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department will no longer enforce a curfew," Villanueva wrote in a statement. "Other jurisdictions are free to make their own decisions." The city of Los Angeles also will not have a curfew Thursday night "We remain strongly committed to protecting the right of Angelenos to make their voices heard and ensuring the safety of our community," Mayor Eric Garcetti said and neither will the city of San Bernardino, officials there announced. The decisions came a day after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Los Angeles city and county and the city of San Bernardino to end the curfews. "We hope that other cities and counties in Southern California and around the country will also allow protesters and others to exercise their constitutional rights free from interference in this important moment, Ahilan Arulanantham, senior counsel at the ACLU SoCal, said in a statement. There was no curfew on the murder of George Floyd, no arrests until we decried his merciless death, no statements of support until people flooded the streets around the world demanding justice," added Melina Abdullah, co-founder of BLM-LA. "We have the right to march, we have the right to speak out, and not just on the governments timetable. Story continues Garcetti also announced that all COVID-19 testing sites in L.A. County would reopen Friday. Police reported few problems Wednesday night after dealing with scattered looting and vandalism Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Officials pushed back curfews later into the evening Wednesday, but many called for them to be lifted completely, saying they unnecessarily restricted the public's right to protest. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said that while the curfews may have been warranted on Sunday and Monday nights, now it seems like they are being used to arrest peaceful protesters. I dont think they are needed anymore." On Thursday, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore who has been embroiled in a firestorm of controversy over comments he made and quickly retracted about looters knelt with a group of protesters outside department headquarters. The gesture represented an attempt to find common ground and to demystify law enforcements reputation as stoic authority figures, he said afterward. Among the topics of conversation initiated by the protesters, according to Moore: what was going to change at the LAPD and how the chief felt about the $100 million to $150 million in potential budget cuts announced Wednesday. We see the hurt. We know and recognize the pain, the anguish, he said. Were disgusted, and we share so many of the same emotions with regard to this latest episode that George Floyd represents, and with regard to issues of black people and all communities of color and their standing in America and the inequities that exist today and the history that has made that existence seem forever. In Beverly Hills, the city initially set a curfew for Thursday night but had walked it back by afternoon. The protests in our city have remained peaceful over the last several days, Mayor Lester Friedman said. We thank our residents and business community for their patience and cooperation as we work to keep our community safe. Santa Clarita did likewise, announcing shortly before 4 p.m. that a curfew originally set for 6 p.m. had been rescinded. City officials said the decision was made "in light of the peaceful protests we have seen today in our city, and in consultation with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department." Although authorities said demonstrations in the city were peaceful, there was a scare shortly after 2 p.m. when sheriff's officials said they were trying to keep demonstrators away from a Shell gas station at Valencia Boulevard and McBean Parkway after a "suspicious unattended device" was found. The bomb squad was called to the scene as a precaution. Officials later said the device "did not contain any incendiaries" but "was definitively designed to cause harm to others when tossed into [a] crowd." They did not elaborate or immediately respond to a request for more details. Curfew restrictions have not applied to first responders, law enforcement, people traveling to and from work or unsheltered individuals. The curfews have allowed law enforcement to make mass arrests over the last few days, mostly of protesters who have chosen not to leave when ordered to by police. Thousands of people have been arrested in the L.A. region since Saturday. On Thursday morning, several hundred protesters, many holding signs reading "Black lives matter" marched through the streets of Santa Monica. Officers on motorcycles rode ahead of the group as the crowd chanted: "Hands up. Don't shoot." A crowd of several dozen people gathered outside the North Hollywood police station about 9 a.m. to voice concern over systemic racism. Provvidenza Catalano, 29, stood by a banner that carried the words, End white silence. She said it was important to her to acknowledge her privilege as a white person. Over the last week, shes reached out to friends and others to encourage them to engage in the Floyd protests. I see my liberation entwined with black peoples liberation, she said. In Hollywood, protesters left candles at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in honor of Floyd, whose memorial was underway in Minneapolis. In downtown Los Angeles, dozens of protesters gathered on the steps of City Hall, holding signs that read, "Don't shoot!" and "Civil rights are colorblind." A small band of musicians played soulful music while buses passing by honked in support. Michael Gonzales, a 24-year-old delivery driver, was among the crowd, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words, "Destroy white supremacy." Before arriving in L.A. from Covina, Gonzales had engaged in a conversation over text message with a friend who had expressed some doubt about the protests. The person had felt excluded by the protests' focus on the lives of black people, Gonzales said. I said, This is their fight, right now, Gonzales recalled. Its their fight, but its for everybody. Police brutality happens to Latinos, Asians too, but right now, its about black lives. Shortly after noon, the protesters had moved to Grand Park, in front of the courthouse and across the street from City Hall. An organizer stood on a bench and invited everyone to sit in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds the amount of time Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyds neck. More than 100 protesters knelt on the grass while holding a fist in the air. Once they rose, they bowed their heads in prayer. Heavenly father, thank you for allowing us to gather peacefully in solidarity for change, an organizer said to the crowd. I pray for everyone thats here that they are covered in peace, that they are covered in activism for witnessing injustice. Protesters also gathered in Burbank. Video from the area showed a crowd of hundreds kneeling in front of the city's Police Department and chanting, "No Justice, No Peace." Social media posts also showed crowds of demonstrators in Long Beach, at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley and at UCLA. The Long Beach Police Department also unveiled a new online portal Thursday so residents can submit video and photo evidence of looting and other criminal activity such as what the city experienced during a protest Sunday. We will not ignore the actions of criminal opportunists that have incited violence and caused damage in our community, Police Chief Robert Luna said in a statement. On Wednesday, the region's largest demonstration took place at the Civic Center, where thousands protesting Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey for her handling of local police killings barely broke their stride around 6:30 p.m. as the ground began to roll and sway from a magnitude-5.5 earthquake centered 120 miles from downtown L.A. The D.A. should be held accountable for her lack of leadership and care for the people that we lost," said protester Al Calderon, 26. "Its unsettling to hear these families' stories. On Wednesday, 61 people were charged with looting and other crimes in connection with the break-ins, fires and thefts across L.A. County. About 2,500 people were arrested from Friday through Tuesday morning during the largely peaceful protests. I support the peaceful organized protests that already have brought needed attention to racial inequality throughout our society, including in the criminal justice system, Lacey said in a statement. I also have a constitutional and ethical duty to protect the public and prosecute people who loot and vandalize our community." A series of peaceful protests over the police killing of Floyd also rolled through Newport Beach on Wednesday. Though the demonstrations were calm, a television camera captured a scary scene on Balboa Boulevard when a vehicle zipped through a crowd of demonstrators eventually colliding with a bicyclist. No one was injured. The driver, identified by police as Don Wallace, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Heather Rangel said. Authorities were also called when a man brandished a gun during an argument with a protester. With help from local citizens and media, police arrested Travis Patrick White, 48, of Newport Beach on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats, according to a news release. For Gale Oliver Jr., a pastor at the Greater Light Family Church in Santa Ana, a protest against racism and police brutality in one of Orange Countys wealthiest enclaves was a sign of the times. Its a blessing that this is going on in Newport Beach, said Oliver, who is black. I mean, this is going on in Newport Beach? I guess America is finally listening. Times staff writers Colleen Shalby, Matthew Ormseth, Matt Hamilton, Sonja Sharp, Richard Winton, Andrew J. Campa, Benjamin Oreskes and Cindy Chang contributed to this report. Rise in demand for clean water for domestic/industrial purposes and surge in end users drive the growth of the global biocides market. Asia Pacific contributed to around two-fifths of the total market share in 2019, and will maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. The raw material shortages for disinfectants have urged the suppliers to contemplate using other biocidal ingredients. Portland, OR, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global biocides market generated $12.7 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach $20.7 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.8% from 2020 to 2027. The report offers an extensive analysis of the changing market dynamics, key winning strategies, business performance, major segments, and competitive scenario. Rise in demand for clean water for domestic/industrial purposes and surge in end users drive the growth of the global biocides market. However, environmental regulations on toxic biocides and variation in the prices of raw materials hinder the market growth. On the other hand, market opportunity for silver-based biocides and development of total organic biocide system create new opportunities in the coming years. Request Report Sample at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1870 Covid-19 scenario: The raw material shortages for disinfectants have urged the suppliers to contemplate using other biocidal ingredients. However, the process and utilization of biocidal products differ region to region. In Slovenia, the Slovene Chemical Office initiated to issue permit to produce disinfectants with certain biocidal products. In Belgium, on the other hand, the competent authorities have initiated to progress with biocidal products followed by the grant of temporary authorizations. Get Detailed COVID-19 Impact Analysis on the Biocides Market @: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/1870?reqfor=covid Story continues Based on type, the halogen based derivatives segment contributed to around two-fifth of the market in 2019, and is estimated to maintain its dominant position during the forecast period. On the other hand, the organic acid segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 7.2% from 2020 to 2027. Based on end user, the agriculture and construction segments together accounted for around one-fifth of the total market in 2019, and is expected to maintain the dominant position throughout the forecast period. However, the personal care, home care and pharmaceutical segments are expected to register the highest CAGR of 7.4% from 2020 to 2027. For Purchase Enquiry at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1870 Based on region, Asia Pacific contributed to around two-fifths of the total market share in 2019, and will maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, the region is also anticipated to manifest the fastest CAGR of 7.4% from 2020 to 2027. The report also analyzes regions including Europe, North America, and LAMEA. Leading market players analyzed in the research include Berkshire Hathaway, BASF SE, DuPont, Kerry, Solvay SA, Lonza Group AG, Lanxess AG, Thor Group Limited, Clariant AG, Corbion N.V., Kemin Industries, Inc., and Nouryon. Interested in Procuring this Report? visit: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/biocides-market/purchase-options Avenue Basic Plan | Library Access | 1 Year Subscription | Sign up for Avenue subscription to access more than 12,000+ company profiles and 2,000+ niche industry market research reports at $699 per month, per seat. For a year, the client needs to purchase minimum 2 seat plan. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Get more information: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access 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: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free (USA/Canada): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141 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 London Thousands of people demonstrated in London on Wednesday against police violence and racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has set off days of unrest in the United States. In Athens, police fired tear gas to disperse youths who threw firebombs and stones at them outside the U.S. Embassy toward the end of an otherwise peaceful protest by about 4,000 people. No injuries or arrests were reported. The London demonstration began in Hyde Park, with protesters chanting "Black lives matter," before many of them later marched through the streets, blocking traffic. Some of them converged on Parliament and the nearby Downing Street office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A few scuffles erupted between protesters and police outside the street's heavy metal gates. Inside, Johnson told a news conference that he was "appalled and sickened" by Floyd's death on May 25 when a white Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on the handcuffed black man's neck for several minutes. Earlier, "Star Wars" actor John Boyega, who was born in Britain to Nigerian parents and grew up in south London's Peckham neighborhood, pleaded tearfully for demonstrators to stay peaceful. "Because they want us to mess up, they want us to be disorganized, but not today," he said. Boyega recalled the case of Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old black man from southeast London who was stabbed to death in 1993 as he waited for a bus. The case against his attackers collapsed in 1996, and a government report cited institutional racism by the London police force as a key factor in its failure to investigate the killing. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "Black lives have always mattered," Boyega said. "We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless and now is the time. I ain't waiting." Police appeared to keep a low profile during the demonstration and the ensuing marches. Earlier, the U.K.'s most senior police officer said she was appalled by Floyd's death and horrified by the subsequent violence in U.S. cities. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the force would "continue with our tradition of policing using minimum force necessary." While the London protesters expressed solidarity with Americans protesting Floyd's death, many also pointed to issues closer to home. "Racism is a pandemic," said one placard at the London demonstration. i love how these performative celebs are being called out. they need to do some self reflection and do the work to really call themselves allies if they're really about it. also fuck priyanka for saying "mean black girls" bullied her Reply Thread Link She also allegedly lied about her bullies being black. People found the yearbooks and couldn't find the mean black girls she mentioned. Reply Parent Thread Link Fuck this racist, the nerve to cry on social media about Black people suffering from racism when you yourself perpuate it, smh Reply Parent Thread Link Fuck! Really?!?! Why would you even do this? Why in the world would you lie and specifically blame black girls?? Like, whats the point of something like that! Reply Parent Thread Link I saw the Rock made a video statement and I was like, werent you buddying up with MBS and refused to acknowledge it when people called you out on it? Reply Parent Thread Link so here for this RECKONING Reply Thread Link whew with that icon... The levels Reply Parent Thread Link i have been waiting for this man like i hate to change an icon on ontd bc the shred of continuity and i have no idea what to change it to. and its so nice and purple. but dumbass binch means nothing to me and will be going shortly. Reply Parent Thread Link same it's delicious. i'm drinking all the celeb tears! Reply Parent Thread Link i hope all these fake ass bitches get called out lmao Reply Thread Link the people are TIRED Reply Parent Thread Link I can't stand either one of them, so this is satisfying for me. Reply Thread Link The ink didn't even get a chance to dry on those receipts. Reply Thread Link I think Nick's step-grandfather is black, so that's gonna make for some awkward Jonas family reunions if this comes up! Reply Thread Link KPS Gill was a policeman convicted of sexual harassment, killing THOUSANDS of Sikhs in an illegal and brutal manner. wowwwwww did not know about this. Yeah, sounds extremely justified. Edited at 2020-06-04 03:38 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Lmaooo at everyone condescendingly using "Pri" in their comments, dkm. Reply Thread Link My favorite part lol Reply Parent Thread Link "here's your racist Pri" alone took me out lmao Reply Parent Thread Link ugh fuck them. i love how people are moving away from the "well if you look hard enough you can find shit on anyone" mindset, especially considering these celebs wouldn't piss on their stans if they were on fire. eat the rich. so much evil. Reply Thread Link I'm glad the whole "every non black person has a racist phase" is no longer an accepted shield. Of course, some non black stans are still trying it but most people are rightfully either dragging or retweeting the dragging of those celebs Reply Parent Thread Link I was gonna say BUT DID YOU DONATE and then I read his tweet where he said they did. BLOOP at the reaction they wanted but didn't get. May as well donate more now Reply Thread Link **because it makes us look good. We stand with you and we love you. #BlackLivesMatter #justiceforgeorgefloyd ** Reply Thread Link Poor Pri doesn't understand or care that there are reciepts out there Reply Thread Link So glad at the tweet replies GetHerJade.gif Reply Thread Link A young farmer has been fined by the police after he was caught 'chatting away' on his mobile phone while driving a tractor pulling a rake. Cumbria Police has issued a warning to farmers following the incident, which happened on 27 May. The farmer was issued a 200 fine and six points on his licence, Cumbria Roads Police said on Twitter. Young farmer seen chatting away on his mobile phone. 6 points and 200 fine on its way to him. #MSGHurrican #1807 pic.twitter.com/X7GNqZt4La Cumbria Roads Police (@CumbriaRoadsPol) May 27, 2020 Young farmer seen chatting away on his mobile phone. Six points and a 200 fine on its way to him, the force said. NFU deputy president, Stuart Roberts responded to the incident, reminding farmers not to use phones while driving machinery. Something I have mentioned before. Very simple - Dont use a phone when driving a vehicle https://t.co/3E8wRAWmMl Stuart Roberts (@HertsFarmer) May 27, 2020 "Something I have mentioned before. Very simple - Dont use a phone when driving a vehicle," he said on Twitter. Jamie Smart, who operates NFU Scotlands Agricultural Vehicles Helpline, has also urged farmers to keep phones 'out of reach' or run the risk of a heavy fine. It is an offence to use a handheld mobile device whilst driving whether that be to make a call, read a text or any other reason," he said. "If you must use your phone when driving, then use a hands-free system and keep the number of calls and your call time to a minimum." The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Three authors of a momentous study that claimed that hydroxychloroquine raised the risks of death for coronavirus patients treated with the controversial malaria drug have retracted their research. The retraction was published in the Lancet on Thursday, and comes just two days after the medical journal posted an 'expression of concern.' Along with the publication, more than 120 prominent scientists raised questions about the data used in the study, which was sourced from a database run by a private company, Surgisphere. On the heels of that research's May publication, international trials of the drug were halted - but the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday it would restart the hydroxychloroquine arm of its international SOLIDARITY trial. And President Donald Trump himself continued to take the drug he dubbed a 'game-changer' in the hopes it would prevent infection. The research, led by Dr Mandeep Mehra of Harvard Medical School, Dr Amit Patel of the University of Utah and Dr Frank Ruschitzka of the University Hospital Zurich, has been under outside review. But Surgisphere - founded by study co-author, Dr Sapan Desai, whose name was conspicously absent from the retraction letter - refused to transfer its data to the auditors, citing patient privacy. As a result, the review was cut short and the study was retracted. 'We can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources,' the three authors wrote to The Lancet in their retraction. Shortly thereafter, a second study, published by Dr Mehra, Dr Patel and another author from the hydroxychloroquine study, Dr Sapan Desai, was retracted from The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study, which suggested heart disease drugs might reduce death risk for coronavirus patients, used the same database from Surgisphere and was retracted after the NEJM's own 'expression of concern' letter. A momentous study on hydroxychloroquine that suggested the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine raised death risks in coronavirus patients has been retracted from The Lancet by three of its authors, the leading British medical journal said Thursday (file) The study was retracted by three of its four authors: Dr Mandeep Mehra, of Harvard Medical School, Dr Frank Ruschitzka from University Hospital Zurich and Dr Amit Patel of the University of Utah (pictured from left to right) all co-signed the retraction 'We all entered this collaboration to contribute in good faith and at a time of great need during the COVID-19 pandemic. We deeply apologise to you, the editors, and the journal readership for any embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused.' The fourth author listed on the study, Dr Sapan Desai, who runs Surgisphere, did not sign the retraction. Even before the study was retracted from The Lancet, hydroxychloroquine was a controversial subject, politicized in part by President Donald Trump's references to the drug as a 'game-changer' and a 'gift from God.' The study's lead author, Dr Mehra, is a cardiovascular surgeon and registered Republican. According to the app, Vote With Me, Dr Mehra voted Republican in the 2016 Presidential Primary. He also voted in the 2016 Presidential election, although data from LexisNexis lists only his registration in Louisiana, and does not give a party affiliation. Dr Mehra said in a personal statement shared with DailyMail.com that he found Surgisphere through a co-author and personally reviewed the company's data, but admitted that in hindsight, his review was perhaps not thorough enough. The study authors published a retraction of their research on June 4, less than a month after the original article was published. They revealed that their data could not be reviewed and apologized for any 'embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused' 'I did not do enough to ensure that the data source was appropriate for this use. For that, and for all the disruptionsboth directly and indirectlyI am truly sorry,' he said in the statement. Results from Vote With Me suggest that Dr Patel, an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Utah may be a registered Democrat. Neither of the pair appear to have made any official political or campaign contributions. Dr Ruschitzka does not practice in and is not a citizen of the US. It's unclear if the study authors harbored any political motivations, although partisanship has certainly swirled around debates over hydroxychloroquine. 'In the end, this type of clinical trials science is quite straightforward,' Dr Mark Poznansky, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General and professor at Harvard Medical School (where Dr Mehra also works) told DailyMail.com. 'People do studies generate data and report them. Its politicized to make it controversial but the background science is patients receiving or not receiving the drug to impartially see if they improved clinically. The ability to see the study design and analyze the core data is a key part of it.' The missing author, Dr Desai, and his company, Surgisphere, have drawn the most pointed scrutiny in the aftermath of the hydroxychloroquine study. Dr Desai is trained as a vascular surgeon but in practice is also an entrepreneur, founding Surgisphere in 2007. He is also a science fiction writer. Two criminal flings were made against Dr Desai in 2011 in North Carolina, but it is unclear what the nature of these filings were. Dr Desai was also named in two medical malpractice suits, but called the allegations 'unfounded' in an interview with The Scientist. His company, Surgisphere, claims to use AI to harvest and organize clinical data from around the world. Its website boasts a database that includes more than 231 billion data points. Yet the company employs only between 11 and 50 people, just five of whom are on LinkedIn, according to its page on the professional networking site. Just over 200 LinkedIn users follow the company. Editors at the NEJM published an 'expression of concern' Tuesday that echoed that written by the editors of the Lancet. The NEJM, too, was suspicious of the data from Surgisphere. More than 120 top scientists and doctors had criticized the study in an open letter to the journal, flagging 10 major flaws. Dr Sapan Desai founded Surgisphere in 2007 and was a co-author on the paper in The Lancet. His name was not included in the retraction, but he did co-sign the retraction of a second study from the NEJM The Lancet then admitted there are 'serious questions' that need to be answered about the data - but did not reveal what those question were - in a public statement. But scientists say the move was too late and that the 'harm was already done', as the race for a cure to halt the virus that has ravaged the world continues. However, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday that the hydroxychloroquine arms of its international SOLIDARITY trial of potential coronavirus treatments would resume. The study in the Lancet, published on May 22, claimed hydroxychloroquine raised the risk of death from the coronavirus by up to 45 percent. And Covid-19 patients taking the drug were up to five times more likely to develop a life-threatening arrhythmia - a known complication. The paper came as a massive blow to hopes of finding a cure after hype was built around the medicine built early on in the pandemic by a French study (which has also since been retracted) that suggested the drug's promise. US President Donald Trump has been criticized for promoting the drugs which are used to treat malaria, arthritis and lupus as a cure for the new virus. The authors from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, led by Professor Mandeep Mehra, said they were 'unable to confirm a benefit' of hydroxychloroquine. Their finding prompted the UKs drugs watchdog to temporarily suspend two major Oxford University clinical trials of the antimalarial. WHAT DID THE LANCET SAY? The Lancet: Expression of concern: Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis Important scientific questions have been raised about data reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra et al Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis1 published in The Lancet on May 22, 2020. Although an independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere and is ongoing, with results expected very shortly, we are issuing an Expression of Concern to alert readers to the fact that serious scientific questions have been brought to our attention. We will update this notice as soon as we have further information. Advertisement The World Health Organization also pulled the plug on its SOLIDARITY study, on the back of the worrying results. But on Tuesday evening, the Lancet's editors published an 'expression of concern' and said 'important scientific questions' had been raised about the data used in the study. The data set was supplied by US-based healthcare data analytics company Surgisphere Corporation and its founder, Dr Sapan Desai, was one of the paper's four co-authors. Among the criticisms were the seemingly high mortality rates linked to drugs that have been routinely prescribed since the 1950s. The Lancet's editors said: 'Although an independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere and is ongoing, with results expected very shortly, we are issuing an expression of concern to alert readers to the fact that serious scientific questions have been brought to our attention. 'We will update this notice as soon as we have further information.' Surgisphere said: 'In our hydroxychloroquine analysis, we studied a very specific group of hospitalised patients with Covid-19 and have clearly stated that the results of our analyses should not be over-interpreted to those that have yet to develop such disease or those that have not been hospitalised. 'We also clearly outlined the limitations of an observational study that cannot fully control for unobservable confounding measures, and we concluded that off-label use of the drug regimens outside of the context of a clinical trial should not be recommended. 'Our Covid-19 research was not funded by any drug company, private or public donor, or political organisation. 'Our research collaborators on the piece for The Lancet devoted their time through personal funds and resources because they saw the urgent humanitarian need and opportunity to inform rapidly evolving pandemic responses.' US President Donald Trump has been criticised for promoting the drugs which are used to treat malaria, arthritis and lupus as a cure for the new virus The study analysed data from almost 15,000 patients with Covid-19 receiving the drugs alone or in combination with antibiotics. WHAT DID THE STUDY CLAIM? The research of nearly 100,000 Covid-19 patients, published in prestigious medical journal The Lancet, cast doubt over the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of Covid-19. As well as uncovering hydroxychloroquine had no benefit for coronavirus patients, results showed it raised the risk of death by up to 45 per cent. And Covid-19 patients taking the drug were up to five times more likely to develop a life-threatening arrhythmia - a known complication. Experts at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, analysed data from 96,032 hospitalised Covid-19 patients spanning six continents. Around 5,000 of the infected were either given hydroxychloroquine or its derivative chloroquine. Another 10,000 were given hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine alongside two other promising drugs, antibiotics azithromycin or clarithromycin. Data from those four groups was then compared against a control sample of 81,000 Covid-19 patients, who were given other medications. Analysis showed one in 11 patients in the control group died in hospital - at a rate of 9.3 per cent. In comparison, 18 per cent of patients given hydroxychloroquine succumbed to the illness. The rate was 16 per cent among the chloroquine group. When the two drugs were used in combination with one of the antibiotics, the death rate rose to almost a quarter of patients (23.8 per cent). Researchers cautioned that some of the difference in the rates of mortality was due to underlying differences between which patients received the treatment. But when other factors known to raise the risk of death were included - such as age, race, BMI and co-morbidities - the drugs still increased the risk of dying by between 34 and 45 per cent. The study added to past research that showed taking hydroxychloroquine could raise the risk of someone developing an abnormal heartbeat. Scientists in the US and France last month found 90 per cent of critically-ill COVID-19 patients given hydroxychloroquine developed heart arrhythmias. Massachusetts General Hospital researchers monitored 90 patients in intensive care units, while University of Lyon academics analysed 40 patients. Both uncovered similar results in JAMA Cardiology, after looking at the QT intervals - the time between the heart's ventricular muscles contracting and then relaxing. When this interval becomes too long, the patient has developed a dangerous form of heart arrhythmia, called atrial fibrillation. Advertisement It then compared this data with the hospital records of 81,000 controls who did not receive the drug - and claimed the data came from six continents. Treatment with the medications among patients with Covid-19, either alone or in combination with antibiotics, was linked to an increased risk of serious heart rhythm complications and death. But the authors stressed that anyone taking these drugs for other conditions should not stop taking them as the trial looked specifically at Covid-19. The researchers estimated that the excess risk attributable to the use of the drugs rather than other factors such as underlying health issues ranged from 34 per cent to 45 per cent. Professor Babak Javid, principal investigator at the Tsinghua University School of Medicine in Beijing, who previously said the study found 'absolutely no benefit' of hydroxychloroquine, said 'mounting concerns' had questioned the validity of the data. He said: 'For example, the number of Covid cases that were supposed to be from a subset of Australian hospitals was actually greater than the sum total of cases in Australia reported at the time. 'In many ways, the harm has already been done. No high-quality trials of hydroxychloroquine for Covid have yet reported, and some may now be unable to recruit sufficient patients to arrive at an answer.' Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said: 'The Lancet publication by Mehra et al has had major adverse impacts, resulting in the suspension of numerous well-designed clinical trials. This is completely unjustified. 'Even if the results were correct, observational data such as this, with its inherent weaknesses, should not be used to stop trials which will provide definitive and actionable answers.' Professor Stephen Evans, pharmacoepidemiology at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: 'In retrospect many readers and decision makers may well have placed too much reliance on that paper.' Dr Stephen Griffin, an associate professor in the School of Medicine, University of Leeds, said 'the question of efficacy when using these drugs remains unanswered'. Major trials have been stopped, while other studies have found little or no benefit of the drug. More than 120 scientists, including prominent Imperial College London epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, whose stark warning that 250,000 Brits could die without action played a role in the UK triggering lockdown in March, wrote to The Lancet to address their concerns with the study. The signatories of the letter said the study did not mention the countries or hospitals that contributed to the data source, meaning they cannot be fact checked. They wrote: 'The authors have not adhered to standard practices in the machine learning and statistics community. They have not released their code or data. 'There was no ethics review... There was no mention of the countries or hospitals that contributed to the data source and no acknowledgments to their contributions.' The scientists nodded towards the fact the Lancet paper included data from more Covid-19 deaths in Australia that existed at the time. Dr Desai told the Guardian that this was due to an error that caused one hospital in Asia to be included in the Australian dataset, and a correction was made in the paper. 'This indicates the need for further error checking throughout the database,' scientists told The Lancet. The letter, first seen by the Guardian, also states that data from Africa claims nearly a quarter of Covid-19 patients and 40 per cent of all deaths on the continent happened in hospitals where Surgisphere operates. The experts say this is 'unlikely' to be true. It follows The New England Medical Journal (NEMJ) writing an expression of concern over a study it published using data from Surgisphere. The study, also led by Professor Mehra, found common blood pressure medicines do not put people at a higher risk of severe or fatal coronavirus symptoms, three major studies have found. There had been concern arising from animal studies that these medicines ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) might increase the body's levels of a protein called ACE2, which the coronavirus latches on to when it invades human cells, thus increasing people's vulnerability to the disease. It used observational data from 169 hospitals in Asia, Europe, and North America to also find Covid-19 patients with cardiovascular disease were at an increased risk of death, NEJM editor-in-chief Eric Rubin wrote in the expression of concern: 'Recently, substantive concerns have been raised about the quality of the information in that database. 'We have asked the authors to provide evidence that the data are reliable. In the interim and for the benefit of our readers, we are publishing this Expression of Concern about the reliability of their conclusions.' Professor Horby said: 'The very serious concerns being raised about the validity of the papers by Mehra et al need to be recognised and actioned urgently, and ought to bring about serious reflection on whether the quality of editorial and peer review during the pandemic has been adequate. 'Scientific publication must above all be rigorous and honest. In an emergency, these values are needed more than ever.' [June 04, 2020] Huobi University Looks to Partner with Experts To Reboot Global Blockchain Leadership Program After Covid-19 Pandemic LONDON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huobi University, the blockchain education arm of Huobi China is looking to partner with blockchain experts across the world to reboot the Global Blockchain Leadership Programme, the most popular and highly acclaimed top blockchain business education program in China, after the Covid-19 pandemic. Validated and designed by the Huobi University, world leading digital economy educators and researchers, the Global Blockchain Leadership course aims to help students explore new knowledge at the forefront of business changes and step into the core circles of the blockchain industry. The course has been successfully run for 5 terms where 150 entrepreneurs and investors from Asia's top blockchain companies have taken part. GBLP courses have five modules - Global Blockchain Trend, Industry Application, Digital Finance and Investment and two study tours. The courses have been taught in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Haina, Tokyo, and Silicon Valley. They include case studies and analysis in blockchain industry trends, global blockchain policy and regulation, blockchain applications, investment strategies and Fintech integrations. As of June 04, 2020, Huobi University has provided training and education programmes in blockchain to more than 30,000 students since 2018 across the globe, including executives from China, U.K. Japan, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. "Work in blockchain education has a long-cycle and slow-impact but we are proud of the multi-dimensional curriculums. Huobi University has designed five levels of curriculum to meet different demands for learners coming from diverse backgrounds. We look to have more industrial experts, talents to join us as instructors and bring our programme distinct perspectives and robust features," commented Dr. Jianing Xu, President of Huobi University. About Huobi University Huobi University is the blockchain education entity of the Huobi blockchain ecosystem. Huobi University focuses on teaching and researching on distributed business models, blockchain applications, and new models on digital finance to empower the business entities and entrepreneurs. President of Huobi University Dr. Jianing Yu joined Huobi and co-established Huobi University in 2018. He has a PhD degree in Economics awarded by Renmin University and is a renowned expert on the digital economy and blockchain. Dr. Yu was the director of Institute of Industrial Economics of the China MIIT (Ministry of Industrial and Information Technology) and has been closely engaged in policy research and drafting for regulation authorities. Business & Media Contact: Hailan Jia: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huobi-university-looks-to-partner-with-experts-to-reboot-global-blockchain-leadership-program-after-covid-19-pandemic-301070923.html SOURCE Huobi [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Rudy Giuliani's defence of Donald Trump on Good Morning Britain descended into an explosive row with Piers Morgan today, culminating in the former mayor of New York City appearing to tell the presenter he 'f***** up' and Mr Morgan calling him 'unhinged' in return. Mr Giuliani, who led New York City in the wake of 9/11, started his interview on GMB this morning by praising President Trump and calling for heavier charges against the police officers present when unarmed black man George Floyd died in their custody. Tempers began to flare, however, when Mr Giuliani blasted 'the left wing media's' reaction to the president's handling of the nationwide protests and defended his use of the phrase 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts'. Former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani was involved in a fiery exchange with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, during which he appeared to tell the presenter he had 'f***** up' his career in America The phrase was first uttered by former Miami police chief Walter Headley during riots in 1967. Critics say the quote has incited violence as protests rage across America. Mr Giuliani, one of President Trump's personal lawyers since 2018, said: 'I've known him for 30 years. I know he's a fair man who doesn't have a racist bone in his body, you know that too. You're going through the politically correct propaganda so you can be popular. You know he's not a racist. 'The president was warning them if you loot you will provoke violence. He may have picked a quote that comes 30 years ago from some nutty, horrible racist, but that isn't what he did on purpose, you attribute it to him because the press is against him. 'It happens to be factually correct no matter who it came from, if you start looting, people are going to start shooting, they're going to kill people and they have killed people and you don't cover it because you're a bunch of phoneys.' As Mr Giuliani battled to speak over Mr Morgan, the presenter told him he was speaking 'claptrap,' adding: 'You've lost the plot and it's sad to see.' The 76-year-old Republican hit back: 'You're the one who got thrown off the television over here because you have ratings that are about two. George Floyd, 46, (left) died last Monday, despite repeatedly telling police officers 'I can't breathe,' widespread protests have taken place across America since his death 'So don't tell me I've lost anything. I know what happened to your show Piers, I remember the mistakes you made how you f***** up.' Mr Morgan immediately apologised for the strong language used on the morning show, but it wasn't until the end of the interview the former Mayor of New York City denied ever saying it. In an exchange with Susanna Reid, Mr Giuliani repeatedly asked: 'I haven't been rude, tell me the profanity I used? Lie about that too, what profanity did I use, liar? What profanity did I use? I didn't use any profanity. You tell me the profanity I used.' Later, Morgan commented on a tweet suggesting Mr Giuliani has instead used the phrase "stuffed up" during their exchange. He wrote: 'It's not clear actually.. many think he said "f***ed up" (as our gallery did in real time), others think 'sucked up', & now you've decided it's "stuffed up"... as for apologies, I'm very sorry to any viewers offended by Mr Giuliani being such a rude, obnoxious & offensive guest.' Earlier in the interview Mr Giuliani had criticised authorities in Minneapolis over their handling of the death of George Floyd. Yesterday Thomas Lane, J.a Kueng and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting the murder of George Floyd, they have also been charged with second degree aiding and abetting manslaughter. Derek Chauvin, who was filmed with his knee pressed against Mr Floyd's neck, has now also been charged with 2nd-degree murder which is more severe than the 3rd-degree murder he was initially charged with. All four police officers have been fired. Mr Giuliani said this morning: 'I think the Minneapolis authorities have badly mishandled this case and they should be charged with first degree murder, particularly the officer who had his knee on Mr Floyd while he was being told constantly that the man couldn't breathe. 'I was a prosecutor for 17 years of my life I've prosecuted over 70 police officers, I believe the mayor the governor and the authorities in Minneapolis have badly mishandled this case.' As the interview continued, Mr Giuliani accused the media of deliberately misinterpreting President Trump. Protesters outside the White House in Washington on Wednesday held up their phones on another day of demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death Black Lives Matter demonstrators raise their hands as they protest in Los Angeles on Wednesday night When Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan interrupted to ask questions, Mr Giuliani said: 'I'm up here at 1am to answer your questions, I think you would give me the courtesy of answering. 'I know you don't like my answers but I think you'd give me the courtesy of giving them. You have a quickly warped picture of what happened, this is constantly what is being done to President Trump by the left wing media, he has handled this really superbly, he's had many fewer incidents than President (Barack) Obama.' Ending his exchange with Piers Morgan, who declared the former politician 'unhinged,' Mr Giuliani said: 'It was really sad to see the way your career imploded in the United States Piers. 'If you think I have any respect for you after this, maybe you don't care, but everyone in America knows you're a failed journalist. You got thrown out of the job pal.' Amber Riley said she 'didn't give a s***' about reports of Lea Michele's allegedly abusive and bullying behavior on the set of Glee. Instead, the 34-year-old actress wanted to keep the focus on the death of George Floyd and protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement across the country in a Twitter video posted Wednesday. Despite not wanting to talk about Michele, she joined a growing chorus of cast and crew members criticizing the Glee star for her treatment toward them by shading her throughout the clip. No distractions: Amber Riley said she 'didn't give a s***' about reports of Lea Michele's allegedly abusive and bullying behavior on the set of Glee in a video chat posted to Twitter on Wednesday Amber made it clear in the impassioned video chat that she didn't want to distract from the much more important stories about systemic racism, police violence and the death of George Floyd. 'I dont give a s***, [about this],' she said. 'People are out here dying and being murdered by police...' She also offered some faint words of good will, though her tone didn't suggest any warmth toward Lea. 'I wish her well, I hope she has an amazing pregnancy, I hope that she has grown.' Eyes on the prize: Amber made it clear in the impassioned video chat that she didn't want to distract from the much more important stories about systemic racism, police violence and the death of George Floyd More important: 'I dont give a s***, [about this]. People are out here dying and being murdered by police...' she said; pictured together in 2011 In addition to the current protests, Amber mentioned the plight of black transgender women who were 'murdered at the hands of men who are upset about being trans attracted.' She also said she didn't read Michele's statement responding to allegations about her behavior 'because I don't give a s***.' She revealed that the Mayor star contacted her following the reports from other cast members. 'She reached out to me. I responded to her, and that's where it ends for me. 'I ain't talked to that girl in two years,' she added, before mention that she had no 'hatred or ill will' toward Lea. Riley previously posted a gif of herself sipping tea, presumably in response to criticisms of Michele from others. She also offered some faint words of good will, though her tone didn't suggest any warmth toward Lea. 'I wish her well, I hope she has an amazing pregnancy, I hope that she has grown.'; still from Glee Earlier on Wednesday, Australian actor Dean Geyer defended Lea Michele amid the growing backlash against her, after playing her boyfriend on Glee's fourth season in 2012. The 34-year-old is the first former co-star of Lea's to publicly support her as she faces multiple accusations of on-set bullying. Dean said the 33-year-old actress was the 'most welcoming' cast member when he joined the hit Fox show, and that he never witnessed anybody being uncomfortable around her. His comments come after Heather Morris said Lea had been 'very unpleasant' to work with on Glee, and Samantha Ware claimed she had made her life 'a living hell'. Support: Actor Dean Geyer has defended Lea Michele amid the growing backlash against her, after playing her boyfriend on Glee's fourth season. Pictured: Dean and Lea filming in 2012 Dean - who played Brody Weston, the boyfriend of Lea's character Rachel Berry, for 14 episodes - had nothing but nice things to say about her. 'Lea is still one of my favourite co-stars that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is extremely hard working and super fun to be around,' he said. 'Her work ethic is so strong it forces you to always be on top of your game, and that's something I looked forward to everyday on set. I definitely learned a lot.' Dean added: 'When jumping onto a hugely successful and established show like Glee, I went into it expecting to be known as the "new guy" for at least a month, but that wasn't the case at all. I almost immediately felt welcomed, and to be totally honest, out of everyone, Lea was the most friendly to me.' 'I can only speak of my own experience': Dean said on Thursday the 33-year-old actress was the 'most welcoming' cast member when he joined the hit Fox show, and that he never witnessed anybody being uncomfortable around her Memories: 'Lea is still one of my favourite co-stars that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is extremely hard working and super fun to be around,' said Dean. Pictured in 2012 Pals: Dean went on to say that he didn't agree with the backlash against Lea. Pictured in 2012 Dean went on to say that he didn't agree with the backlash against Lea. 'I can only speak for myself and my own experience, but from what I saw during my time on set, there was nothing but professionalism and a genuine sense of community amongst the cast and crew,' he said. 'No one showed any signs of discomfort while Lea was on set. If I'm basing my opinion off my season, there definitely shouldn't be a reason for a backlash.' The former Australian Idol star, who recently released new music on iTunes and Spotify, concluded by saying he was 'grateful for the experience and opportunity to be involved with such an iconic show' alongside Lea and the rest of the cast. 'Very unpleasant': On Wednesday, Heather Morris (pictured), who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce on Glee, became the latest person to slam Lea's behaviour on set Statement: Heather said Lea 'should be called out' for the way she treated others for so long On Wednesday, Heather Morris, who played Brittany S. Pierce on Glee, became the latest person to slam Lea's behaviour during filming. The backlash had started earlier this week after Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward on the show's sixth season in 2015, tweeted that Lea had made her life a 'living hell' on set. Heather tweeted: 'Let me be very clear, hate is a disease in America that we are trying to cure, so I would never wish for hate to be spread to anyone else. With that said, was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so. For Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she should be called out. 'And yet, it's also on us because to allow it to go on for so long without speaking out is something else were learning along with the rest of society. But, at the current moment its implied that she is a racist and although I cannot comment on her beliefs, I think were assuming, and you know what happens when we all assume' Speaking out: The backlash had started earlier this week after Samantha Ware (pictured), who played Jane Hayward on the show's sixth season in 2015, tweeted that Lea had made her life a 'living hell' on set Apology: In response to Samantha's comments, Lea apologised for her behaviour on Wednesday. She insisted she had 'never judged others by their background or colour of their skin' but acknowledged she had made mistakes The bullying allegations came to light after Lea took to social media on Friday to pay tribute to George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man who died in custody in Minneapolis earlier that week after being forcefully restrained by a white officer. 'George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end,' she tweeted. Samantha quoted Lea's tweet several days later, writing: 'Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I'll never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's*** in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.' In response, Lea apologised for her behaviour on Wednesday. She insisted she had 'never judged others by their background or colour of their skin' but acknowledged she had made mistakes. The Broadway star also vowed to learn from her past behaviour so she 'can be a real role model for my child' when she gives birth in a couple of months. Other stars, including Glee's Amber Riley, have also spoken out against Lea, who was recently dropped by the food delivery company Hello Fresh over the controversy. El presidente @MartinVizcarraC informa sobre la situacion del Estado de Emergencia en el #Dia81 y las acciones que realiza el Gobierno para contener la propagacion del COVID-19. En vivo: https://t.co/SoFr4R0gsc https://t.co/dHT0xY79P2 New Delhi: A large asteroid, 2020 KN5, will safely fly by the earth within distance of 0.04138 astronomical units on Thursday, 04 June 2020. Scientists have stressed that it poses no danger to the planet. According to NASAs Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the 177 feet wide asteroid will fly past earth at a speed of over 28,000 miles per hour on June 4. There is no danger of the asteroid hitting Earth during its upcoming visit while scientists believe that the asteroid will burn out in the atmosphere. On June 5 and June 6, total five asteroids will fly by the earth. The object 2020 KA6 would fly by Earth on June 5 and at a distance of 44.7 lakh km from Earth. Its believed to be of 12m-28m in diameter. The largest asteroid named 163348 (2002 NN4) which is estimated to be between 250m and 570m in diameter would fly by Earth on June 6. This huge asteroid would fly at a distance of 50.9 lakh km from Earth. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that orbit the Sun, but their orbits bring them into Earth's neighbourhood - within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit. Most of the rocky asteroids originally formed in the warmer inner solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while comets, composed mostly of water ice with embedded dust particles, formed in the cold outer solar system. Hamilton County Government will join Freedom Rings Globals commemoration on the 76th Anniversary of the D-Day Landing at Normandy. Residents of Hamilton County and the region are encouraged to ring their bells at 6:44 p.m. this Saturday.The bells will begin ringing in Western Europe and will continue across the continent and the Atlantic Ocean to the United States and Canada. The commemoration event was organized by citizens in Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands who tend the graves of the fallen who reside in American Cemeteries within their borders.Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger endorsed Saturdays commemoration, stating that "On Saturday, we will recognize those brave men and women who courageously stormed the shores of Normandy on D-Day and in the following days.Their devotion to the ideas of freedom, liberty and justice serve as a reminder for each of us that we remain committed to the fulfillment of those ideals for every citizen of Hamilton County."Echoing the Mayor, Hamilton County Veterans Service Officer Chuck Alsobrook, U. S. Air Force, said, I firmly believe the brave men and women who served during the Second World War should be given our greatest gratitude for their heroic efforts. The Allied invasion of June 6, 1944 was one of the biggest and most significant campaigns in military history, producing countless acts of valor. May we forever remember the sacrifices made on D-Day.Freedom Rings Global, in their announcement of the recognition of Operation Overlord recalled that D-Day was the largest World War II Allied operation against Nazi Germany. Most of the young men who fought to save the world have passed and the remaining veterans are well into their nineties. Sadly, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs, we are losing over 250 WWII veterans every day.Hamilton County Historian Linda Moss Mines, the Tennessee Freedom Rings global coordinator, recounted the significant of the D-Day Invasion. While the majority of our population today have no remembrance of the storming of the beaches of Normandy or the strategic planning required by Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff, we have listened as family members shared their memories and have certainly viewed documentaries and movies regarding the daunting task faced by those brave men. It is important that we pause on Saturday and ring our bells as a combined Thank You to the more than 150,000 American, British and Canadian forces that landed on the five beaches along that heavily fortified 50-miles coast on Frances Normandy region. There was no guarantee that the military assault would be successful and the accounts of those days, beginning on June 6, are chilling with the fight that occurred for every inch of beach and cliffs. It is difficult to view photos of that day without experiencing a small portion of the pain and suffering our troops and their families felt as so many fell in the fight for liberation. We also pay tribute to the thousands who joined the fight in the weeks that followed as the Allies marched toward Germany. As a result of that pivotal moment in the worlds history, France and the Low Countries were liberated and the Nazi government would fall within a year.How can residents participate? Wherever you are at 6:44 pm on Saturday evening, pause and ring a bell; its the symbolism thats most important so you may use a hand bell, a pair of holiday jingle bells, a cow bell or ring your chimes. Our houses of faith may choose to toll the bells in remembrance of those who fell and those who forever carried the battle with them in their hearts. Take the remembrance on step farther and call your favorite World War II veteran and say Thank You. Remembering is important as we move forward to act with freedom, equality and justice. Four proud mates have opened a microbrewery and launched a brand new beer during the coronavirus pandemic. Tim Fishwick, Tim Condon and Adam Trippe-Smith along with head brewer Dennis De Boer set up White Bay Beer Co when they spotted a warehouse for sale in Sydney's inner west last year and saw an opportunity. They turned the warehouse into a microbrewery and were preparing to bring their beer to market when the pandemic struck. Despite many setbacks the group are thrilled to launch their new beer, Sunny Pale Ale, which will hit 64 BWS stores across Sydney on Friday. The White Bay Beer Co was set up when four mates saw an empty warehouse for sale last year and saw an opportunity The team have over 60 years of collective experience in the beer industry but none were prepared for the challenges the pandemic would bring. Mr Fishwick, the former head sales manager of Little Creatures, said they had only just set up their factory inside the 150-year old steel mill with three launch beers brewing when the government handed down the strict lockdown orders. 'We had a couple of brews in the tank for each beer and we sat on it for three weeks and didn't know what to expect,' he told Daily Mail Australia. White Bay Beer Co was created by group of mates who made the brave decision to open up their business at a warehouse in in Sydney's inner west amid the global pandemic. Pictured left to right: Adam Trippe-Smith, Tim Condon, Tim Fishwick and Dennis de Boer But after a placing a call out on social media to the Balmain area, they canned the beers and opened up their doors from 3pm on a Friday 'just to see what would happen'. 'We did about a 110 cases in two hours just from people coming in to see the brewery and to grab a beer they'd never heard of,' he said. 'And from then till now we've just been playing catch up.' Mr Fishwick said launching a beer brand with all the pubs closed was a nightmare but with the support of the local community they turned their fortunes around. 'We couldn't launch our brand the traditional way which is to go to the pub and shout someone your brand new beer,' he said. 'The world of Covid has actually been a positive for us because the audience has actually been interested in what we were doing.' Mr Fishwick said due to the lockdown they were not able launch their beer the traditional way by going to the pub and handing out free beers When the restrictions tightened Mr Fishwick said they closed off their warehouse to outsiders and let their Head Brewer Mr De Boer, along with his assistant and partner Jessica Walker, produce enough beer to keep up with the demand. Mr Fishwick said he and other founders were tempted to go down the path of other brewers to develop much-needed hand sanitiser but the timing wasn't right. 'The business people around the place thought "let's talk" but the brewers really had to focus on what we were just starting as a beer journey,' he said. As the restrictions tightened the company closed off the warehouse to outsiders and let their Head Brewer Mr De Boer, along with his assistant and partner Jessica Walker (right), produce enough beer to keep up with the demand The company is Balmain Peninsula's first ever craft brewery White Bay Beer Co were approached by BWS who gave them the challenge of being able to can their new beer, Sunny Pale Ale, and truck it to stores around Sydney within 72 hours. Mr Fishwick said their inner-city location allowed them to meet the challenge and he was excited to see their product in mainstream stores. He added that the team knew they would need to be seen as a 'genuine' and 'authentic' brand in the local community to be accepted. We really did set up to be a local brewery first and we knew from experience that if we got that right then we it would translate into the greater market and so weve set up a brand that can transfer anywhere in Australia if not the world,' he said. BWS Beer Merch Manager, Sid Ajala, said their customers were always eager to support locally made products. 'With a personal long-time love for craft beers I am so excited for this product to hit BWS shelves,' he said. The vicar of southern Arabia has been appointed apostolic administrator of the North after the death of Msgr. Ballin. His priorities: the conclusion of the cathedral of Bahrain and aid to migrant communities. Travel restrictions remain due to the new coronavirus pandemic. A thought for Yemen, an "open wound". Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) - In a critical context due to the economic crisis and the new coronavirus pandemic, it is "important to preserve the links between Christian communities, notes Msgr. Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen), recently appointed apostolic administrator vacant seat of northern Arabia (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain). The assignment was entrusted to him due to him following the death after a long illness of Msgr. Camillo Ballin, in mid-April at the age of 76. These communities are migrant workers "who come from all over the world", so it is a priority "to maintain their unity also and above all on a spiritual level" as has been done "by my predecessor and I want to continue this journey". I do not intend to bring any innovations - says the prelate of Swiss origins - but I will continue the work begun by Msgr. Ballin, starting from the completion of the construction of the cathedral in Bahrain . Then there are "several legal and administrative issues to be explored, but it is a job that will be developed in the coming weeks after speaking with the resident collaborators". He adds that meeting with them, "will be crucial even if at the moment this is only possible at a distance, because at least for the next two months I will not be able to travel because of the Covid-19 emergency". Until 2011 Msgr. Hinder was in charge of pastoral care of Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, an assignment abandoned with the creation of the vicariate of northern Arabia entrusted to the care of Msgr. Ballin. Saudi Arabia was also added to the original territory, with which the bishop of Venetian origin had created good relations having visited it several times over the years. "Since I left office - continues Msgr. Hinder - these territories have almost completely changed. The North, compared to the South, is more politically complicated and travel is also more difficult, given that it is not possible to go directly to Qatar "due to the tensions that have been going on for years in the area. Then there is the Wahhabi kingdom, which "is a reality in itself". Despite being "similar in many respects", the reality of the Gulf offers some "specificities" for the individual countries that comprise it: "Saudi Arabia is different from Kuwait, Bahrain is different from Qatar and this complicates pastoral care, especially in this historical moment in which it is so difficult to travel. I will use the means of technology available, from Zoom to Skype, to emails to connect with the local clergy. Before August - he underlines - I think that it will not be possible to travel and go personally to the place ". Among the priorities there is also "moral and material support for Christians in the area, the vast majority of economic migrants who risk having to return to their countries of origin. When the travel prohibitions have eased, I intend to visit the different communities, make my presence felt and pastoral care in an area that remains vast ". Moreover, thanks to the work of Pope Francis "there is now a consolidated relationship with the Muslim leaders of the area ... the seed has been sown and it is now a matter of cultivating it". Msgr Ballin, explains the vicar of Arabia, "has done important work in Saudi Arabia, he was able to visit the nation and familiarize himself with its reality thanks to the passport granted to him by the king of Bahrain. By the end of the year, I would like to finish the work on the cathedral, a very dear project for him. However, the greatest efforts will go in the direction of safeguarding the Christian community, because there is a strong fear of a hemorrhaging of faithful due to the economic crisis. We must stay close to them, help them and make our presence felt as a Church . Finally, Msgr. Hinder addresses a conclusive thought to a nation of the southern vicariate dear to him, Yemen, battered by the war, from health emergencies, the latest of which linked to the new coronavirus pandemic. I renew my great concern for Yemen - concludes the prelate - which remains an open wound. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the suffering of the people is growing. The circulation of the virus was hidden for too long, it has spread silently and now you can see the results in all their drama ". Ruling faction's head: Bill to legalize gambling may be put to vote soon 13:15, 04.06.20 2167 Some 3,500 amendments to the bill have been submitted for its second reading. A knife-wielding security guard went on a rampage at an elementary school in southeastern China on Thursday, leaving at least 39 people injured, officials said. The attack, which occurred at 8:30 a.m., left 37 students slightly wounded and two adults with serious injuries, according to an announcement by the local authorities in Cangwu County, in the southern province of Guangxi. None of the injuries were life-threatening, the announcement said. The security guard, a man named Li Xiaomin who was said to be about 50 years old, was arrested, according to Peoples Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece. The adults injured were the schools principal and another security guard. No information was immediately released about a possible motive. A call to the Cangwu Public Security Bureau went unanswered. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- President Donald Trumps self-described law-and-order strategy to quell protests, as well as the disastrous decision Monday evening to clear out a peaceful demonstration across from the White House so the president could stage a photo op, have raised questions around the world about his judgment and policy. The actual policing strategy used on Tuesday night in Washington, however, was so successful it could serve as a model for suppressing violence while encouraging free expression. In a phone conference with governors on Monday, Trump lectured them on the need to dominate and threatened to deploy the U.S. military to keep order. Predictably, the advice was taken as an endorsement of an authoritarian crackdown, a perception further amplified by the tragic assault on protesters and members of the media during Trumps speech later that evening. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that he did not support using active-duty troops to enforce the law in the states. Still, there is a strong case for augmenting local police with the National Guard. This is what happened Tuesday evening in Washington, where I live. I saw the Humvees roll by my window. Its an open question whether the strategy codenamed Operation Themis is sustainable, but there are reasons to be optimistic. First, the sheer size of the force, augmented by those Humvees, is intimidating to would-be looters but may be comforting to protesters. A recent poll shows that most Americans, even those who dont support the president, are supportive of military assistance to the police. Even those who are not supportive of a military role may still want to go out and express their displeasure with the president. In this context, a safe environment is crucial. If more people think the environment is safe, then maybe more will come out to protest. And a large, well-organized protest, along with a military presence, could serve to discourage looters. The mood on the streets would not be chaos and confusion, but order and attention. Story continues The military backup may also reduce fear among police that they could be overrun. They might then be less likely to strike out at legitimate protesters or escalate tensions. None of this is to excuse the brutality that has occurred over the last several days it is simply an acknowledgement of its dynamics and an attempt to defuse them. There is another dynamic to consider: The military is not the target of the protesters ire. As such, it may be better able to serve as a third-party intermediary. The military presence could also undercut the narrative that the police and the protesters are on opposite sides, and increase the possible emergence of nobler impulses. (Lest you doubt that they exist, there are videos showing both sides disciplining those among their ranks who get out of line.) On Tuesday night in Washington, all of these factors came together to produce the best of both worlds: a huge peaceful protest with very little violence or destruction. If the pattern holds, governors may want to move past their justifiable horror at what happened in Washington two nights ago and consider what lessons they might learn from what happened here last night. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Karl W. Smith, a former assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina and founder of the blog Modeled Behavior, is vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation. 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. The Supreme Court on Wednesday received a positive offer from SBI Capital Markets (SBI Caps) and UCO Bank for funding of the stalled Amrapali housing projects. Without specifying any amount, SBI Caps filed an affidavit in the apex court showing its willingness to help finish those projects of Amrapali Group which are net surplus (not in deficit). Senior advocate Harish Salve informed the bench of Justices Arun Mishra and UU Lalit that a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be created for this purpose with the Court-appointed Receiver on board and a CEO appointed by SBI Caps. The National Buildings Construction Corporation, which is currently getting the projects executed, will enter into an agreement to undertake construction as a real estate contractor. Through the SPV, SBI Caps will fund the projects, Salve added. Court-appointed Receiver and senior advocate R Venkatramani told HT, This is a silver lining as the SBI Caps has shown an inclination to proceed with the funding of projects. They have identified six to seven projects for funding. By next date (June 10), SBI Caps will place a concrete proposal before the Court. The Receiver updated the Court about his meeting with UCO Bank officials who are willing to work in collaboration with SBI Caps to fund the projects. They have agreed to provide funds against an unsold inventory of 5221 housing units of Amrapali. This could fetch roughly about 2000 crore, the Receiver added. Hydroxychloroquine has been used to treat COVID-19 patients. A new study suggests thats a bad idea. Photo: Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto via Getty Images UPDATE: After a sustained period of criticism, The Lancet took the unusual step of retracting a published study showing that the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine increased mortality among patients with coronavirus. Three of the studys authors had requested the retraction after outside observers raised questions about the studys data. In an open letter sent to The Lancet last week, more than 100 doctors pointed to many possible flaws in the studys methodology and inquired about the transparency of Sugisphere, the company that had collected the studys data supposedly from 96,000 coronavirus patients. The company refused to submit to an independent review of their collection methods, and in their letter on Thursday, the three researchers said that they can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources. Another study relying on the same data, this one in the New England Journal of Medicine, was retracted shortly after The Lancet took action. But a separate study published in that journal on Wednesday the first to adhere to gold standards in clinical trials found that taking the drug prophylactically, as President Trump has done, does not protect people contracting the coronavirus. Intelligencers previously published article is below. A new observational study conducted on the effect of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on COVID-19 patients found that the medications provide no benefit and are actually associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality. The study, which is the largest of its kind conducted on the drugs, was published in The Lancet Friday. For the study, researchers reviewed the cases of just over 96,000 patients treated for COVID-19 in 671 hospitals across six continents. Close to 15,000 of them were treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, which have both been used to treat malaria and autoimmune disorders for years. Some patients received one of the drugs by itself. Some took an antibiotic, too. The patients who received the drugs suffered worse fates that those who didnt, CNN reports: About 1 in 11 patients in the control group died in the hospital. About 1 in 6 patients treated with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine alone died in the hospital. About 1 in 5 treated with chloroquine and an antibiotic died and almost 1 in 4 treated with hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic died. The treatments were also associated with a higher rate of dangerous heart arrhythmia. The researchers write that because their study was observational, they cannot exclude the possibility of unmeasured confounding factors. Therefore, they write, Randomised clinical trials will be required before any conclusion can be reached regarding benefit or harm of these agents in COVID-19 patients. Still, the researchers have seen enough to feel confident that the drugs are not an effective treatment for COVID-19. Justification for repurposing these medicines in this way is based on a small number of anecdotal experiences that suggest they may have beneficial effects for people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Frank Ruschitzka, a co-author of the study, said in a statement. However, we now know from our study that the chance that these medications improve outcomes in COVID-19 is quite low. The physician Eric Topol, speaking to the Washington Post, provided an even more stark assessment: Its one thing not to have benefit, but this shows distinct harm. If there was ever was hope for this drug, this is the death of it. There was a 6% increase in serious incidents within the HSE last year, with most resulting in a patients death or serious harm. The details have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Some serious reportable events are largely preventable patient-safety incidents. Others might not have been preventable, such as a patient falling, but need to be examined to see if safety could be improved. There were 636 serious reportable events within the HSE in 2018, rising to 675 last year. In 2019, 286 were care-management events, which include a patients death due to a medication or diagnostic error, or a maternal death that was the hospitals fault. 336 were environmental events. These all involved a patient falling and dying or getting seriously injured as a result. 23 were criminal events, which include sexual assaults or serious physical attacks. Dr Mary Tumelty, a lecturer UCC's school of law, said: "The numbers highlight that systems need to be made better. Where serious reportable offences occur often the human cost on the patients and their families is incalculable. "It's essential that safety incidents are reported and investigated and lessons are learned." The HSE says the health service has millions of interactions with patients and service-users every year, and there is often excellent care, but it says adverse events and patient harm can and do occur. All former NDC government officials involved in the botched Saglemi Housing deal will soon face criminal prosecution, Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea has disclosed. The legal processes will commence upon the completion of a value for money audit by the Ghana Institution of Surveyors to ascertain the extent of embezzlement . The US$200 million project located in the Greater Accra Region is near completion but has stalled for the past three years to allow for a government probe into alleged infractions regarding the execution of the deal. It has become a subject of controversy following complaints of abandonment. But responding to questions in Parliament, Mr. Atta Akyea assured that civil action will be pursued to recover monies lost to the state. A strong position in law that all the contracts purportedly signed by Hon. Collins Dauda and thereafter some wayward Chief Directors after the original project had received parliamentary approval have no legal consequence. At the moment, the Ghana Institution of Surveyors is engaged in a value for money audit. Their findings will indicate the extent of embezzlement of state resources via the vehicle of affordable housing delivery. All the traducers of the law will be arraigned before a law of competent jurisdiction to answer criminal charges. Civil actions shall be used to recover money lost to the state The audit will also project how much required to complete the 5000 units with the full amenities. The Akufo-Addo government pledges to complete the botched Mahama Saglemi Housing project. The Saglemi Housing project has stalled over allegations that the country was shortchanged with the provision of less than 1,500 housing units as against the initial agreement of 5,000 housing units. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has been accused by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of leaving the project to rot but the Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea has said that the government is auditing the project and may be forced to terminate the contract with the company since it appears the state has been shortchanged. Allegations Mr. Atta Akyea, has alleged that after Parliament passed the agreement in October 2012 for the construction of 5,000 housing units at 200 million dollars, the then Housing Minister, Collins Dauda reviewed the contract scaling down the number of units to some 1,500 units and later to 1,024 units after another review in 2016. He also said the apparent neglect of the project is because the contractor had misappropriated $129 million of the project funds. The first phase of the project, with 1,500 housing units, which was commissioned by John Mahama in 2016 have been left unused for over three years now. The project, which was intended to reduce the country's massive housing deficit is seated on a 300-acre land with one to three-bedroom apartments for low-income earners. citinewsroom After five days of protests seeking justice for George Floyd and other black men who have died at the hands of law officers, San Antonio demonstrators took their quest to the City Council on Thursday, demanding the council defund the San Antonio Police Department. The slogan defund police has cropped up across the country as protests against police brutality have intensified. Floyd died in the custody of a Minneapolis police officer who has been charged with murder in Floyds death. Chants of Black Lives Matter rang out through council chambers in downtown San Antonio as demonstrators called on City Council members to slash the police budget after a violent confrontation between officers and protesters Tuesday night. Now Playing: Demonstrators call on San Antonio City Council to defund police amid George Floyd protests Video: San Antonio Express-News That amount stands at $479 million more than a third of the citys $1.3 billion operating budget but has fallen by more than $4 million owing to cost savings during the coronavirus pandemic. This bloated budget is what they use to terrorize black and brown communities, Stephanie Koithan, a Democratic organizer, told council members. Its what they use to target peaceful citizens and use military-grade weapons against those they are sworn to serve and protect. That argument seemed to resonate with Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who in the past has shown concern about the growing cost of the citys police and fire departments. Weve got to ensure that our calculus for creating a healthy and safe community are more than just what we spend on public safety, Nirenberg said. The complaints from demonstrators had added urgency after police officers fired pepper balls and wooden and rubber projectiles at marchers during a demonstration Tuesday night. SAPD officials said glass bottles had been thrown at officers. Several video recordings show plastic water bottles being thrown during a protest at the plaza but no glass. William Luther, Staff / Staff Tear gas and rifles firing pepper balls also were used during demonstrations Saturday night. When we see police show up in riot gear for a peaceful protest, it doesnt make us feel safe, Eric Rodriguez told council members Thursday. It makes us feel threatened. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio marches on, leaders reiterate goals during fifth day of protests William Luther, Staff / Staff Demonstrators at Thursdays meeting also brought up San Antonio cases, accusing council members of having blood on your hands. They cited the 2014 killing of Marquise Jones, shot in the back by an off-duty police officer who said he feared for his life. Jones family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court but lost. Protesters also brought up 18-year-old Charles Roundtree Jr., fatally shot in October 2018 in an incident with an SAPD officer. A grand jury declined to indict the officer on a criminal charge last year. You are complicit in the murder of black people, Jennifer Falcon told council members. Often, protesters talked over council members as they tried to speak and Nirenberg struggled to keep control of the chamber. When I say Im listening to you, Im listening to you, Nirenberg said, trying to assuage demonstrators. Many council members pointed out that residents overwhelmingly ask for boosted public safety spending when the council is considering the citys spending plan each year. City officials have tried to tackle ballooning public safety costs in the past. A push by Sheryl Sculley, the previous city manager, to rein in how much the city pays for health care for police officers and firefighters prompted lengthy and costly legal battles and contract negotiations with the police and fire unions. She predicted that, if their contracts were unchanged, public safety would consume 100 percent of the citys general fund by 2031. Both police and firefighters wound up having to pick up some of their own health care costs under new contracts. But protesters also found sympathy on the council for calls to reform police practices. District 2 Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan, the councils lone African-American member, said growing up on the East Side often meant we did not see our police until it was too late. We will not kneel on your necks, Andrews-Sullivan said. But we will stand to rise above everything thats happening in our community. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio police chief says officers may use tear gas, rubber bullets if protesters start throwing objects at officers Others were uncomfortable with some of the rhetoric used by protesters against police, even if they sympathized with their concerns. District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez pointed to a photo he saw on social media of a demonstrator holding a sign saying no cop is a good cop. I will tell you that the San Antonio Battered Women and Children's Shelter is full every week because good cops drop off women there who they see need help, Pelaez said. Council members pointed out the councils Public Safety committee will soon begin to meet. Nirenberg put all council committees on pause during the coronavirus pandemic. He initially hadnt planned to jump-start the panel just yet but that was before protests broke out over Floyds death. That committee will take up a potential ban on knee-holds and chokeholds by police, said District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran, a member of the committee. Council members also want clear rules in place for when police escalate a situation, she said. Efforts to address police violence and racial bias have fizzled in the past. In 2016, then-Mayor Ivy Taylor put together a Council on Police-Community Relations in the wake of police shootings of black men, some unarmed, across the country. After several meetings, the advisory panel issued recommendations and disbanded. Its unclear if any of their recommendations were implemented. District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales raised the idea of reviving that council or something like it. Many demonstrators pointed to the citys contract with the police officers union as being too lenient when it comes to disciplining officers. That agreement expires in 2021 and negotiators between the city and San Antonio Police Officers Association are expected to begin talks on new contract later this year. Nirenberg voted against the current contract back in 2016, in part because it didnt address suggested reforms to officer discipline policy. Those issues that were left unaddressed in the last contract need to be addressed in this one, Nirenberg said. Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. To read more from Joshua, become a subscriber. jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports PM Boris Johnson article on Hong Kong: 3 June 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson writes in the Times about upholding the UK's profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong. 3 June 2020 There is something wonderful about the fact that a small island in the Pearl River Delta rose to become a great trading city and commercial powerhouse of East Asia. Wonderful, but not accidental or fortuitous. Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free. They can pursue their dreams and scale as many heights as their talents allow. They can debate and share new ideas, expressing themselves as they wish. And they live under the rule of law, administered by independent courts. With their abilities thus released, Hong Kong's people have shown that they can achieve almost anything. They have prospered hand in hand with China's economic renaissance; today their home is one of the richest cities in the world and hundreds of mainland companies have chosen to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. So China has a greater interest than anyone else in preserving Hong Kong's success. Since the handover in 1997, the key has been the precious concept of "one country, two systems", enshrined in Hong Kong's Basic Law and underpinned by the joint declaration signed by Britain and China. This guarantees Hong Kong's "high degree of autonomy" with only limited exceptions such as foreign affairs, defence or in a state of emergency. The declaration adds: "The current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged, and so will the lifestyle", including essential "rights and freedoms". Yet last month, the National People's Congress in Beijing decided to impose a national security law on Hong Kong that would curtail its freedoms and dramatically erode its autonomy. If China proceeds, this would be in direct conflict with its obligations under the joint declaration, a legally binding treaty registered with the United Nations. Britain would then have no choice but to uphold our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong. Today, about 350,000 of the territory's people hold British National (Overseas) passports and another 2.5 million would be eligible to apply for them. At present, these passports allow visa-free access to the United Kingdom for up to six months. If China imposes its national security law, the British government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship. This would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in history. If it proves necessary, the British government will take this step and take it willingly. Many people in Hong Kong fear that their way of life which China pledged to uphold is under threat. If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative. I hope it will not come to this. I still hope that China will remember that responsibilities go hand in glove with strength and leadership. As China plays a greater role on the international stage commensurate with its economic prowess then its authority will rest not simply on its global weight but on its reputation for fair dealing and magnanimity. Britain does not seek to prevent China's rise; on the contrary we will work side by side on all the issues where our interests converge, from trade to climate change. We want a modern and mature relationship, based on mutual respect and recognising China's place in the world. And it is precisely because we welcome China as a leading member of the world community that we expect it to abide by international agreements. I also struggle to understand how the latest measure might ease tensions in Hong Kong. For much of last year, the territory experienced large protests, triggered by an ill-judged attempt to pass a law allowing extradition from Hong Kong to the mainland. If China now goes further and imposes national security legislation, this would only risk inflaming the situation. For our part, the UK raised our grave concerns about Hong Kong in the UN security council last week; we will continue to do so in international fora. Instead of making false allegations such as claiming that the UK somehow organised the protests or casting doubt over the joint declaration, I hope that China will work alongside the international community to preserve everything that has allowed Hong Kong to thrive. Britain wants nothing more than for Hong Kong to succeed under "one country, two systems". I hope that China wants the same. Let us work together to make it so. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Miss Nebraska scholarship competition suffered the same fate as many events and activities that have been canceled or postponed due to COVID-19. The 2020 pageant would have taken place this week in North Platte for the 36th consecutive year. The Miss Nebraska organization had already planned to commemorate the milestone with 35 banners bearing the photos of the previous winners along the streets of North Platte. City of North Platte employees installed those banners Wednesday along Jeffers and Dewey streets. With this being the 35th year in North Platte, they had something special planned with these banners, said Layne Groseth, North Platte public service director. Originally they were going to be up from late April until the (competition), which is usually the first week of June. However, Groseth said, plans changed due to the pandemic. With Nebraskaland Days (being) changed and after talking with (Miss Nebraska) officials, we decided, lets have them up over the summer, Groseth said. So were putting them up now, which is basically the time Miss Nebraska would start, and theyre probably going to be up through the end of July. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} [June 04, 2020] ALTR Named a Cool Vendor by Gartner AUSTIN, Texas, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ALTR, developer of the most advanced data governance and protection technology on the market, has been recognized as a Cool Vendor in the May 2020 Cool Vendors in Blockchain Technology report [1] by research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc. Access to the full report, as well as other Gartner research, is available to Gartner subscribers. ALTR is one of only three companies recognized in the report, which states, "the purpose and benefits of blockchain across the enterprise are evolving rapidly. The decentralization and immutability of blockchain records play a key role in the offerings of three emerging vendors. Application leaders should investigate their offerings." Integrating data security natively at the application layer directly between users and the data itself, ALTR's Data Security-as-a-Service (DSaaS) protects the information that these applications create, store, and share from breaches, intrusion and insider threats. This cloud-native approach makes applications more portableas well as more cost efficient to implement and aintaincompared to prevention, detection and recovery using perimeter systems or network appliances. "We see recognition in Gartner's report as affirmation that ALTR's technology is the ultimate failsafe for sensitive data," said Dave Sikora, CEO at ALTR. "Innovative security measures around data protection and cloud data warehouse governance, as well as monitoring as it relates to regulatory compliance such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA, means compromised data is a thing of the past with ALTR." ALTR DSaaS offers data governance and protection, as well as monitoring and auditing capabilities, across the most pervasive data storesboth cloud and on-premiseincluding Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, Apache Cassandra, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and Amazon Redshift. For everything else, service integration can be made using ALTR's API. 1. Gartner "Cool Vendors in Blockchain Technology," Adrian Leow, et al, 21 May 2020 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 & Advisory 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. About ALTR ALTR provides Data Security as a Service, the first service of its kind that embeds data access monitoring, governance, and at-rest protection natively at the application layer to mitigate the risks of direct access to and the consumption of sensitive data. This more effective, more portable, simpler data security model uses a smart database driver or API as a single integration point, making it possible for application teams to place security into the critical path of data and hand off management of governance and protection policy to security and compliance teams. ALTR is an innovator in security and privacy by design, and a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider that holds 24 issued and allowed domestic and international patents. ALTR is based in Austin, Texas. ALTR is a trademark or registered trademarks of ALTR Solutions, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective holders. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/altr-named-a-cool-vendor-by-gartner-301070448.html SOURCE ALTR [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The U.S. telecom stocks mirrored the benchmark S&P index in the past week and witnessed a gradual uptrend, as the government continued its relentless pursuit to keep China-backed firms out of its telecom network in order to lend support to domestic telecommunication companies. The stonewalling effort is also gaining steam in other allied countries as diplomatic channels have managed to convince certain nations to reconsider granting access to China-based telecommunications equipment provider, Huawei, for 5G deployment. The political slugfest for 5G supremacy in the backdrop dovetailed with the administrative efforts to set guardrails and legislations to safeguard the interests of domestic firms and provide confidence to the industry. The concerted efforts appear to be a strategic ploy by the Trump administration to accelerate technology decoupling with China and encourage domestic firms to reorganize their global production network away from the communist nation. Responding to the gravity of the situation, Pacific Networks Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC two state-controlled Chinese telecommunications firms have urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to shut down its U.S. operations. In a formal FCC filing, the firms argued that the dearth of any enforcement action in their two-decade-old operating history indicated that no such actions were undertaken at the behest of the China government that could compromise U.S. national security. Meanwhile, the U.K. government is reportedly reconsidering its decision to utilize Huawei equipment for its 5G network, despite giving it approval earlier for access to certain non-core areas. The change of stance seems to be a fallout of the Chinese-government backed controversial Hong Kong security law that evoked sharp criticism from all over the world, including the British Prime Minister who threatened to change its immigration laws if the anti-sedition law was imposed. The draconian law is mooted to be a ploy to stamp out anti-China protests and undermine the citys autonomy under the one country, two systems framework, curbing overall freedom and democracy. Notably, leading Canadian telecom firms have also decided to utilize telecommunications equipment from Nordic firms like Nokia and Ericsson instead of Huawei. The U-turn by the carriers is probably triggered by the evolving political landscape as relations between Canada and China turned sour with a go-ahead in the extradition case of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei. Although the legal battle is likely to continue, the verdict has set the ball rolling for her extradition to the United States to face trial against various charges of fraudulence. Regarding company-specific news, quarterly earnings, strategic deals and deployments primarily took the center stage over the past five trading days. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories 1. Despite impediments like the coronavirus-induced turmoil and social unrest, T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS has achieved a historic milestone by offering 5G services across all 50 states in the country. The feat showcases the inherent strength of its resilient business model amid a competitive and cut-throat business environment. The company recently formed a strategic collaboration with General Communication Inc., a telecommunications firm operating in Alaska, to provide 5G network connectivity in Anchorage the largest city in the state. With this, T-Mobile reportedly became the only wireless carrier to offer 5G services throughout the country either on its own or through partner coverage. The win-win partnership further enabled General Communication customers to enjoy roaming access to T-Mobiles nationwide 5G network spanning one million square miles across nearly 6,000 cities and towns. 2. TELUS Corporation TU has announced that it has selected telecommunications equipment from Nokia and Ericsson to deploy 5G services across its network. Notably, another Canadian carrier BCE Inc. also snubbed China-based telecom equipment provider, Huawei, in favor of these Nordic firms. With state-of-the-art equipment from Nokia and Ericsson, TELUS aims to leapfrog in the 5G race and drive digital development across industries, backed by super-fast, scalable and low-latency network capabilities. This, in turn, is likely to spur economic growth as the country aims to navigate through the coronavirus-induced turmoil. 3. Verizon Communications Inc. VZ has announced that San Diego is the 35th city to have its 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service. The New York-based telecom giants service, which involves high-speed, low-latency and expanded coverage, is available with 5G-enabled devices. Verizons 5G mobility service offers an unmatched experience that impacts industries as diverse as public safety, health care, retail and sports. The companys 5G network hinges on three fundamental drivers to deliver the full potential of the next-generation wireless technology. These include massive spectrum holdings, particularly in the millimeter-wave bands for faster data transfer; end-to-end deep fiber resources; and the ability to deploy a large number of small cells. 4. Ericsson ERIC recently announced its collaboration with Hong Kongs leading communications service provider SmarTone for the deployment of 5G connectivity by leveraging the Spectrum Sharing technology. Markedly, this will enable Ericsson to capitalize on its best-in-class capabilities in the wireless core services platform, thereby strengthening its position in Asian markets. Ericssons Spectrum Sharing technology promotes cost-efficient and wide-area 5G coverage, which transforms the end-user experience. This technology enables the deployment of both 4G and 5G network on the same radio through a software upgrade. Impressively, this dynamic solution is reckoned to be the most economically feasible way to deploy 5G on existing bands. 5. CenturyLink, Inc. CTL has completed the construction of a fiber-optic project that was started in 2019, connecting more than 14,000 homes in Boulder, CO, to gigabit Internet speeds. The project provides fast and reliable Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Internet service with gigabit speeds to residents and enterprises. Fiber optic-based Internet services have been developed by connecting fiber optic cable directly to homes and businesses using FTTH technology. CenturyLinks fiber Internet services include quick upload and download speeds as well as the ability to support multiple users on multiple devices at the same time. Price Performance The following table shows the price movement of some of the major telecom stocks over the past week and the six months. Story continues In the past five trading days, Motorola has been the best performer with its stock appreciating 9.4%, while AT&T has been the only decliner with its stock decreasing 1.1%. Over the past six months, T-Mobile has been the best performer with its stock appreciating 24%, while CenturyLink was the biggest decliner with its stock falling 33.3%. Over the past six months, the Zacks Telecommunications Services industry declined 9%, while the S&P 500 recorded an average loss of 1.2%. Whats Next in the Telecom Space? In addition to product launches, deals and 5G deployments, all eyes will remain glued to how the administration attempts to devise pre-emptive steps to thwart Chinese dominance in 5G while safeguarding interests of domestic firms. These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report TELUS Corporation (TU) : Free Stock Analysis Report CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ericsson (ERIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report TMobile US, Inc. (TMUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A demonstration will take place outside the American embassy in Luxembourg on Friday to protest against racism and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in the USA. Grand Ducal police have assured protesters that they will be able to assemble without limiting the number of participants, despite regulations on outside gatherings due to the pandemic. A police spokesperson said people were allowed to exercise the right to demonstrate since rules relaxed slightly on 29 May. However, the protest, which will take place at 2pm on Friday, will be supervised by police officers. Sandrina Gashonga, who has organised the demonstration, said protesters had been made aware they need to respect sanitary measures. A message has circulated on social media asking participants to wear masks and observe social distancing, while safety volunteers will also be present to enforce the guidelines. The demonstration joins a series of global protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. The officers involved have since been arrested, with the officer directly responsible for Floyd's death facing charges of second degree murder. Friday's protest has been organised by Letz Rise Up, supported by the Luxembourg Committee for Peace in the Middle East. In a statement, the CPJPO said they supported all nonviolent civic actions essential to end segregation and injustice, often against people of colour. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that nearly all businesses in the state including bars can open at 50 percent capacity. The new executive order, effective immediately, allows restaurants to expand their maximum table size from six to 10 people. Amusement parks in counties with more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases, like Bexar County, can open on June 19. READ MORE: The latest news and features about coronavirus in San Antonio Outdoor events, such as July 4 celebrations, are allowed under the order. County judges or mayors may decide if an event should be modified. The announcement marked the beginning of "Phase 3" of the governor's plan to reopen the state's economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. New positive cases in Texas are "largely the result of isolated hot spots in nursing homes, jails, and meat packing plants," Abbott said. He believes officials can contain those hot spots while Texans get "back to work and their daily activities." The governor reminded Texans leaving their homes to wear face coverings, avoid groups greater than 10, and avoid nursing homes. People over the age of 65 are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible. As of Tuesday, Texas had reported 68,271 coronavirus cases and 1,734 deaths. Here's what can open in the next phase: Now - All businesses currently operating at 25 percent capacity can expand their occupancy to 50 percent with certain exceptions. - Bars and similar establishments may increase their capacity to 50 percent as long as patrons are seated. - Amusement parks and carnivals in counties with less than 1,000 confirmed positive cases may open at 50 percent capacity. - Restaurants may expand their maximum table size from 6 to 10 persons. Wed., June 10 - Fine arts performance halls can open indoors at 50 percent capacity. There is no occupancy limit on halls operating outdoors. Fri., June 12 - Restaurants may expand their occupancy levels to 75 percent. - Counties with 10 or less active COVID-19 cases may expand their occupancy limits to 75 percent. Fri., June 19 - Amusement parks and carnivals in counties with more than 1,000 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 may open at 50 percent capacity. Mark Dunphy is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:07:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Djibouti's Ministry of Health on Thursday announced 119 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Horn of Africa nation to 4,054 as of Thursday afternoon. The Djibouti Ministry of Health in a statement issued on Thursday said that from a total of 1,274 people who were tested for COVID-19 during the past 24-hours period, some 119 of them were tested positive for the virus. The ministry also announced that some 1,685 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered as of Thursday afternoon, in which 49 of the COVID-19 patients recovered during the past 24-hours period. The Djibouti ministry of health has previously disclosed 26 deaths due to illnesses related to COVID-19 disease. Djibouti reported its first COVID-19 case on March 18 and has so far conducted a total of 33,492 COVID-19 tests, according to the ministry. 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 The severe cyclonic storm which made landfall in Maharashtras coastal district of Raigad between 12.15 pm and 12.30 pm Wednesday and left at least six dead, 16 injured and nearly 13000 hectares of cropland damaged in northern parts of the state as well as its coastal districts, weakened into a depression early Thursday as it moved inland with a decreased wind speed of 23 kmph promising relief to drought-prone Vidarbha and other parts of eastern Maharashtra where a heat wave alert had been sounded late last month. Mumbai, which was in the path of cyclone Nisarga that approached the Konkan coastline with a gusting wind speed of 120 kmph, was left largely unscathed on Wednesday but witnessed heavy showers the following day, with the southern tip of Colaba recording a relative humidity level of 92% at 8.30 am and 49.6mm of rain by 5.30 pm Thursday, causing water-logging in some of the low-lying areas of the city. Of the 20,000 residents of low-lying areas like Colaba, Worli Koliwada, Mahim and Kurla who were evacuated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday in preparation for the cyclonic impact, at least 5000 returned after being screened for symptoms of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease. Civic authorities have plans to screen all persons before they return. The evacuees were put up in 35 government schools. The cyclone alert has been withdrawn in the coastal districts, Kishorraje Nimbalkar, secretary, relief and rehabilitation confirmed. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and state revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat held a video conference with the district collectors and divisional commissioners of affected districts, including Palghar, Thane and Raigad among others on Thursday and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh for the family of those who lost their lives due to the cyclone. District officials have been asked to assess the damage and submit reports by June 8 following which a relief package is expected to be announced. In Raigad district, where the cyclone made landfall near Diveagar and Shrivardhan south of the coastal resort town of Alibag mobile connectivity and power supply have been hit. Nearly 500 mobile towers have also been damaged in Raigad district. More than 100,000 trees have fallen and a similar number of homes have sustained damage. We have opened up the state and national highways that were blocked since Wednesday morning. But village roads are still blocked and the communication is disrupted due to power cuts. Thousands of electricity poles have collapsed. Unless we restore the electricity, telecommunications cannot be established, Padmashree Bainade, resident deputy collector of Raigad said. At least 5000 hectares in Palghar, and 8000 hectares of agricultural cropland in Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigad and Nashik among other districts have reported damage. While cyclones are a common occurrence in the east coast, it has happened along the west coast after several decades. We must be prepared to tackle these situations in the future too, Thackeray told administration officials. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had cleared 470 trees and 78 electric poles from 173 km of roadways till Thursday evening; the restoration work will continue till the end of the week, officials said. Even districts like Akola, Chandrapur, Nagpur and Bhandara, which recorded over 46 degrees Celsius last month will receive moderate showers over the next 48 hours, IMDs director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said. Less than 10 days ago, the weather bureau issued a red alert for heatwave conditions for the entire Vidarbha sub-division, with a specific severe heatwave warning for Akola, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Gondia districts. VANCOUVER, BC, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Hollister Biosciences Inc. (CSE: HOLL) (OTCPINK: HSTRF) (Frankfurt: HOB) (the "Company", "Hollister Cannabis Co." or "Hollister") a diversified cannabis branding company with products in over 220 dispensaries throughout California, is pleased to announce that the Company's 100% owned subsidiary, AlphaMind Brands Inc. ("AlphaMind") plans to launch medicinal mushroom based capsule and powder product lines. The initial product line will consist of a blended and bottled powder and capsule consisting of powdered cordyceps, lion's mane, oyster, reishi and shiitake medicinal mushroom varietals. The formulations for both products are unique and developed through research driven initiatives. The health benefits that the capsules and powder intend to provide include but are not limited to anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-microbial and immune system support. Raw materials for the product line have arrived at Alphamind's manufacturing partner, Kirkman and have been sent off for third party testing. Once the ingredients are approved, AlphaMind anticipates production can begin by mid-June with the aim of having the product line in the market by mid-July 2020. Dr. Nikos Apostolopoulos, CSO of AlphaMind shared, "Our AlphaMind five mushroom blend will be a game changer for both athletes and non-athletes alike. This ethically sourced and organically grown blend provides potent antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory responses, helping to improve and maximize performance as well as daily activities." About AlphaMind Alphamind Brands is a Canada and US based growth stage company, that is developing a portfolio of certified legal mushroom based natural health products. It is also actively conducting R&D initiatives, led by Dr. Nikos C. Apostolopoulos, who is exploring psilocybin based pharmaceutical treatments. The company's "ready to ship" product SKU's include Cordyceps, Lion's Mane, Shiitake, Oyster and Reishi Mushroom based: liquid tinctures, concentrated mushroom powder(s), teas, and chocolate. About Hollister Hollister Biosciences Inc. is a multi-state cannabis company with a vision to be the sought-after premium brand portfolio of innovative, high-quality cannabis & hemp products. Hollister uses a high margin model, controlling the whole process from manufacture to sales to distribution or seed to shelf. Products from Hollister Biosciences Inc. include HashBone, the brand's premier artisanal hash-infused pre-roll, along with concentrates (shatter, budder, crumble), distillates, solvent-free bubble hash, pre-packaged flower, pre-rolls, tinctures, vape products, and full-spectrum high CBD pet tinctures. Hollister Cannabis Co. additionally offers white-labeling manufacturing of cannabis products. Our wholly owned California subsidiary Hollister Cannabis Co is the 1st state and locally licensed cannabis company in the city of Hollister, CA birthplace of the "American Biker". Website: www.hollistercannabisco.com The CSE, nor its regulation services provider, does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "would", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com SOURCE Hollister Biosciences Inc. UPDATE: Latest list of protests planned across N.J. Protests against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis are planned throughout New Jersey over the next few days. There have been at least 82 protests against police brutality in New Jersey since the weekend. Protests and marches over Floyds death had spread across the country beginning last week. Four police officers who were at the scene of Floyds death have been fired, and one, Derek Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the case. Three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting, while Chauvins charge was upgraded to a second-degree murder Wednesday. In New Jersey, all 21 N.J. county prosecutors offices have called images of Floyds death deeply disturbing and said police are not exempt from law. New Jersey State PBA President Pat Colligan condemned Chauvin and the four officers also at the scene. The actions that we saw on video are contrary to all our training and does harm to the good reputation of the overwhelming number of brave men and women in law enforcement trying to do their job in an honorable and lawful manner," Colligan said. Nobody in law enforcement can look at that video and justify the actions of those officers. Among the protests, marches and rallies planned in New Jersey this week: A Rally for Justice is planned for 1 p.m. Thursday at Lombardi Field in Old Bridge. The community of Kearny will host a rally in front of the town hall at 1 p.m. Thursday. A march will be held in the Scotch Plains/Fanwood and Westfield area, beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday and going from Park Middle School to the Westfield Train Station. There will also be a Scotch Plains/Fanwood sit-in at the police department at 2 p.m. Sunday. A March for Black Lives will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday in Clark at the Clark Commons at 1255 Raritan Road. Note that the protest was initially supposed to begin at noon. A protest is planned in Clinton at 5 p.m. Thursday at the North County Branch Library at 65 Halstead St. A protest will be held on the Bergen County Courthouse steps in Hackensack beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Borough of Barrington is asking people to light a candle to show support for racial justice in its Barrington Lights Up the Night initiative. Demonstrators are asked to light candles at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. A protest in a will be held between 1 and 4 p.m. Friday at Maxwell Place Park. In a joint statement, Hoboken Police Chief Ken Ferrante and Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla stated that the police department is taking every proactive measure possible to protect our city and have been in actively speaking with organizers to ensure everyones safety. There will be a protest in Collingswood beginning 3 p.m. Friday. The demonstration will begin at the Krispy Kreme at 1170 Haddon Ave. and a march, set to begin at 6 p.m. at the corner of Haddon Ave. and Collings Ave., will progress towards Knight Park. A protest and march will take place at 3 p.m. Friday in front of the South River Police Headquarters. The South River Police Department released a statement saying that they have been in contact with organizers with the goal of ensuring the safety of both our residents and participants. A vigil and celebration on the 27th birthday of Breonna Taylor, who was killed in her home in Louisville in March, will be held at Memorial Park in Maplewood at 6 p.m. Friday. There will be a march at 6 p.m. Friday in Bloomfield in conjunction with the local police department. The march will begin at Bloomfield High School and end at the Bloomfield Police Department. There will be a demonstration in front of City Hall in Trenton at 1 p.m. Saturday. rally to end police brutality will be held in front of Jersey Citys City Hall at 280 Grove St. from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. There is a rally planned in the downtown Lakewood area at 1 p.m. Saturday. Police have already notified business owners on Clifton Avenue. There will be a march on Long Beach Island at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Causeway Bridge, moving east towards LBI then west toward Stafford. A March for Justice will be held between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday at Newton Square in Sussex County. A protest is set for noon Saturday in Flemington. The demonstration will begin at the Flemington Justice Building and move to the Flemington Courthouse. Marchers in Keyport and Matawan will convene at 1 p.m. Saturday for a protest. The demonstration will begin at Saint Joseph Catholic Church and will end at the Matawan Police Department. There will be a student-organized march at 1 p.m. Saturday beginning at Penns Grove Middle School. The march will continue west on East Maple Avenue, north on South Broad Street and west on West Main Street. It will end at the Penns Grove Police Department. Another march in Atlantic City will take place at noon Saturday, starting at City Hall and heading toward the police department. Woodbury is hosting a One Community in Unity rally between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday. The event will include a march from the Child Development Center at 36 Carpenter St. up Broad Street to Hunter Street and then to the Justice Complex at 70 Hunter St. Speakers will be set in front of the complex for the final hour of the rally. The Black Diaspora Club is organizing a rally in Jersey City Saturday. It will begin at 4 p.m. and is scheduled to go until 9 p.m. in front of City Hall at 280 Grove St. There will be a March to the Vigil in Elizabeth at 11 a.m. Sunday in Jefferson Park at 487 Jefferson Ave. A march will be held in Nutley down Franklin Ave. starting at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Demonstrators will meet at Yanticaws Park at the Frank Cocchiola Playground at 11:15 a.m. A march will be held in Gloucester City beginning at noon Sunday. The protest will begin at Proprietors Park on King St. and will move towards the Gloucester City Library on Monmouth St. A march in Woodbury Heights will be held starting at 1 p.m. Sunday and head through the borough. The march will begin at the playground on Lake Avenue and will continue to Veterans Park on Elm Ave. where the demonstration will kneel for nine minutes in remembrance of George Floyd and a commitment against racism. The 9 Mile March for Black Lives in Glassboro will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday. The march will begin at Glassboro Intermediate School and go towards the Deptford Police Department with joining points at the Glassboro McDonalds, Glassboro Friendlys, the Welcome to Pitman rest stop, Terra Nova, Tomars discount liquor, Seven Stars Diner, FCA and Toninos Pizza along the way. LGBTQ organizations and allied partners in South Orange will march beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday. The march begins at Ivy Hill Park and will move to the South Orange Village Center. A student-planned march is scheduled in Millburn Sunday with demonstrators meeting at the high school at noon, marching down Millburn Ave. at 1 p.m. and ending with a vigil at Taylor Park at 3 p.m. The Interfaith Community Action Network (ICAN) is hosting a virtual vigil for justice and peace at 3 p.m. Sunday on Zoom. Director of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders Shanel Robinson is the keynote speaker. Registration is required at http://www.tinyurl.com/VirtualVigil2020 The Young Activists of Atlantic County is hosting a rally, beginning across the street from the Galloway Municipal Complex at 300 E Jimmie Leeds Road. The demonstration will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday. According to township police , there are also protests planned for 1 p.m. Tuesday and 1 p.m. Saturday. A demonstration will be held at Turkey Brook Park in Mount Olive on Sunday. It begins at 3 p.m. with a vigil being held at 8 p.m. A protest is planned at Johnson Park in Jackson at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The park is at the intersection of Kierych Memorial Drive and Cooks Bridge Road. Robbinsville Township is hosting a Night of Unity at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Town Center Gazebo. In a statement , Mayor Dave Fried said that we feel it is our responsibility as a government, as a society and as human beings to do all we can to be part of the change. There will be a rally held at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Wall Township Municipal Complex. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Andrew Koob may be reached at akoob@njadvancemedia.com. Nearly 200 pilots have chosen to stay in the U.S. Air Force as major airlines operate in a limited capacity during the COVID-19 outbreak, sharply reducing the number of commercial flights around the world. While the service is still gathering data, "171 pilots have been approved to stay past their original retirement or separation dates" since March, Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Malinda Singleton said in an email Thursday. She did not provide a breakdown of the types of pilots -- fighter, bomber, airlift, etc. -- who have extended their duty. Read Next: Mattis Breaks Silence on Trump, Denounces Divisiveness as Protests Rage The service is also preparing for the possibility that furloughed airline pilots will submit requests to return to active duty in the Air Force come Oct. 1, the spokeswoman said. Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act, passed in late March, airline jobs have been safe as companies are prohibited from cutting their workforces until that date. However, experts foresee a dramatic reduction in airline jobs when the restriction is lifted. "At this time, it is too early to tell what those impacts may be as the CARES Act prohibited layoffs and furloughs in the airlines until Oct. 1," Singleton said. "We are keeping a close watch on the situation; recognizing the challenges the airline industry is facing, we are providing options for rated officers to remain on active duty who otherwise had plans to depart." Airline hiring efforts had been the biggest factor driving problems in pilot retention and production in the services, officials said in recent years. Commercial airlines became the military's main competitor during a nationwide pilot shortage. The Air Force came up 2,100 pilots short of the 21,000 it needed in fiscal 2019. In February, the service said it would also fall short of its goal to produce 1,480 new pilots across the force by the end of fiscal 2020. But in April, the head of Air Education and Training Command said the COVID-19 pandemic might slow the rate of pilots leaving the force. "We tend to see those [service members who] may be getting out, or those [who] have recently gotten out, want to return to service inside of our Air Force," Gen. Brad Webb told reporters during a phone call from the Pentagon. "I expect that we will see some of that to a degree, which will help mitigate [the pilot shortage]." Webb compared the pandemic to the 9/11 attacks, after which many service members returned to duty or extended their tours. The military also saw a surge in new recruits after the attacks. "This is another [scenario] that we're going to be assessing on a weekly, if not daily, basis," he said, referencing the outbreak's possible effect on retention and recruiting. "While it's too early to know the full effects of COVID-19 on the flying training pipeline, we know it will be impactful," Webb said. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214. Related: The Air Force Will No Longer Reject Pilot Applicants for Being Too Short By ANI NEW DELHI: CSIR Director-General Shekhar Mande said on Thursday that the World Health Organisation's (WHO) decision to halt hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) drug trial was taken in haste and the global body should have actually analysed the data before making the decision. "I firmly believe that WHO decision was taken in haste it was a kind of knee jerk reaction they should have actually analyse the data on their own before temporarily suspend the trials that is my personal opinion," Mande said. India's nodal government agency ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) overseeing the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic last month wrote to the WHO citing differences in dosage standards between Indian and international trials that could explain the efficacy issues of HCQ in treating COVID-19 patients. In addition, Dr Sheela Godbole, National Coordinator of the WHO-India Solidarity Trial and Head of the Division of Epidemiology, ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute also wrote a letter via an email to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at World Health Organisation. In a letter, Dr Godbole stated: "There was no reason to suspend the trial for safety concern," attributing it to the current RECOVERY data which differs significantly from the non-randomised assessment by Mehra et al, a scientific paper. Referring to the letter, the CSIR head said, "We don't know what actually happened behind the scenes but the hypothesis is that because of the paper published in Lancet. It is a very well known journal and if Lancet has done due vigilance in publishing the paper. Therefore, the WHO thought the paper's findings are right that's why WHO hold based on what is published on Lancet. The WHO shouldn't have accepted it immediately this should have taken their own due vigilance to find out that study is right or not." DG CSIR said because there is a global outcry it must have put pressure on both Lancet as well as WHO and both of them now retracted from their original position. "WHO has started a trial again and Lancet has put an expression of concern on their website both of these are very welcome development for science," he said. "So I am pretty sure that Lancet would have published the reports only after seeing somewhere the drug failed to work," Mande said. A man who crashed his car into a hijab shop has been refused bail for a second time after a magistrate rejected evidence relating to an alleged history of seizures. Sabry Moustafa Nassar was denied bail when he appeared via video link at the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, despite claims he has no recollection of the crash. Fourteen people were injured when Nasser drove an SUV through the front of Hijab House in Greenacre, south-west Sydney, last month. The 51-year-old, who was previously denied bail in May, has been charged with a string of offences including driving furiously in a motor vehicle causing bodily harm and reckless driving, and is facing a maximum jail term of two years. Sabry Moustafa Nassar (pictured) was denied bail when he appeared via video link at the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, despite claims he has no recollection of the crash on May 23 Fourteen people were injured when Nasser drove an SUV through the front of Hijab House in Greenacre last month Nassar's lawyer, Mostafa Daoudie, made the second bail application on the grounds there was new material that was not considered in the first application - including medical reasons. He argued his client's history of epilepsy and fasting for Ramadan contributed to the crash. 'He was also fasting your honour. He's a member of the Muslim faith and was practising the month of Ramadan,' Mr Daoudie told the court, The Daily Telegraph reported. He said his client lost consciousness moments before the accident. 'He hadn't taken his blood pressure medication that day all this goes to rule out any malicious intention,' he said. Mr Daoudie presented a 2013 medical letter stating Nassar had an epileptic fit prior to a previous incident and then felt 'drowsy' and 'unresponsive' for 10 minutes. The 51-year-old has been charged with a string of offences including driving furiously in a motor vehicle causing bodily harm and reckless driving after injuring 14 people during the crash. Pictured: a string of injuries from the crash Nassar's lawyer, Mostafa Daoudie, made the second bail application on the grounds there was new material that was not considered in the first application - including medical reasons. Pictured: the crash scene Mr Daoudie presented a 2013 medical letter stating Nassar had an epileptic fit prior to a previous incident and then felt 'drowsy' and 'unresponsive' for 10 minutes He argued the 2013 incident was similar to what allegedly happened at Greenacre in May. 'It's the same situation - it's consistent,' Mr Daoudie told the court. 'There is documentation that he has a history of seizures. 'All this goes to rule out the intention and malicious intention that has been alleged.' Other material included unwatched footage showing Nassar allegedly driving into the store, as well as the driver's reaction following the crash. The defence lawyer also said Nassar, who reportedly produced a negative reading for drugs and alcohol after the incident, would plead not guilty. Nassar's lawyer claimed the painter lost consciousness moments before he crashed through the shop front. Pictured: the crash scene Police prosecutor Ernest Chan disputed claims that Nassar lost consciousness before the crash as he had been speaking coherently after it happened. He said he did not raise any medical issues despite being questioned at length by police in regards to any potential conditions. Magistrate Gary Still did not accept the defence's claim that new material would produce a change in circumstances. However, Mr Still said there was no change in circumstance and the consideration of community safety would prompt a refusal of bail. Nassar will next appear at Bankstown Local Court via video link on June 9. Tuesday was a record-breaking day for Theodora Lee, the owner and winemaker of Theopolis Vineyards. Fifty separate wine orders came in. I have never received 50 orders in one day, says Lee, who produces just 800 cases of wine a year from the vineyard she owns in Mendocino Countys Yorkville Highlands. Lee is scrambling to fill the orders now. In addition to running her winery, she works as an employment lawyer with the firm Littler Mendelson, which has been busier than ever dealing with coronavirus-related employment issues. She also happens to live in Oakland, where protesters have taken to the streets to condemn the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Its been a week, she says, where shes reminded more than ever that being black in America is a burden. Shes grateful for the outpouring of public support for black-owned businesses right now. But as someone whos used to being the only black woman in the room at wine tastings, Lee is all too aware that this moment could be fleeting. The wine industry has a long way to go if it is to be truly equitable. Just look at the numbers. Were less than one tenth of one percent of winemakers and winery owners, says Phil Long, owner of Longevity Wines in Livermore. Careers in wine are not often visible in black communities, he says: I didnt even know about the wine business when I was going to college. It was only after moving to the Bay Area and making wine in his garage that Long and his late wife, Debra, started their wine business. Long is the president of the Association of African American Vintners, of which Lee is also a member. The groups main goal is education; it sponsors internships and scholarships for aspiring wine professionals. Its goal is to raise awareness of the great wines already being made by black winemakers, Long says, and to create a world where there can be more in the future. Could this moment become an opportunity to advance that goal? I do think that it is important to use this time to try to expand the number of blacks in the business, Lee says. At the same time, the perception that there arent enough black wine professionals can often lead to the perception that there arent any and thats a problem too. The wine writer Julia Coney recently complained on Instagram of this misperception, and began to list the handles of black wine producers, growers, sommeliers and more. Shes now launched a separate Instagram account, @blackwineprofessionals, which will highlight their work. Awareness and visibility, Lee says, are important first steps, but the work doesnt end there. She asks of wine companies: What have you put in place to support women and minorities? Is your vendor list diverse? Why, she asks, arent more large wine companies supporting the Association of African American Vintners scholarship funds, which will ultimately foster a more diverse workforce? Too often, the most visible black vintners are celebrities, Lee points out. Stars like Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, Snoop Dogg and John Legend all have California wine brands. Is that the only way companies believe they can appeal to black wine drinkers? Wineries put their names on the bottles to reach out to African American consumers, she says, but theyre overlooking the blacks that are in the wine business. Ron Essex Photography There are exceptions. Longs Longevity Wines recently formed a partnership with Bronco Wine Co. the maker of Charles Shaw, a.k.a. Two Buck Chuck to produce a high-volume line of wine utilizing Broncos national-distribution muscle. Long will continue to make the higher-end, smaller-production Longevity wines at his own winery, but now hell also have the chance to reach new audiences that he might not have reached as a boutique operation. Now, were one of the only certified-minority wineries that can answer the call of a national launch, he says. COVID-19 has proven one thing true: People are drinking, Lee says. Maybe the momentum created by the George Floyd protests can spur people and those who sell wine to people, like retailers and restaurants to be a little more thoughtful about where they spend their money. Saying you support us is not enough, Lee says. Youve got to support with finances, too. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. What Im reading This has nothing to do with wine or drinking, which is exactly why its important to read right now: The Chronicles Otis R. Taylor Jr. writes that were not learning the lessons we ought to from the killing of George Floyd the latest in a long line of unrealized teachable moments. Racism, like the coronavirus, isnt going to simply magically disappear, he writes. Our restaurant critic, Soleil Ho, has started a searchable, crowd-sourced database of black-owned food businesses in the Bay Area, including wine businesses. And in Wine Enthusiast, Kara Newman has a list of 10 black-owned American distilleries. San Francisco sommelier and activist Vinny Eng recently interviewed Vermont winemaker Krista Scruggs as part of Chefstival, a virtual festival that benefited COVID-19 relief organization SF New Deal. Heres the video of their interview. Eng says less than 1% of American farmland is black-owned, but Scruggs whose label is Zafa Wines is one of those few black farmland owners. Drinking with Esther is a weekly newsletter from The Chronicles wine critic. Follow along on Twitter: @Esther_Mobley and Instagram: @esthermob With the U.S. roiled by protests and tensions high in Toronto, Premier Doug Ford has launched a new equality of opportunity task force and earmarked $1.5 million to help Black community groups. Headed by lawyer Jamil Jivani, Fords adviser on community opportunities, the new anti-racism panel is designed to help young people overcome social and economic barriers and achieve success. It comes as dozens of American cities have seen violent protests over the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, and demonstrations in Toronto after Regis Korchinski-Paquet plunged to her death from a 24th-floor balcony of a High Park apartment during a police call. The death of Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old Afro-Indigenous woman, is now the subject of a Special Investigations Unit probe. There is systemic racism here in Ontario ... our history is different than the United States, but we have our own history of racism here in Ontario, said Ford, who represents Etobicoke North, home to the largest percentage of Black residents of any of Ontarios 124 ridings, with about 24 per cent. Thats been going on for decades. I know people right now are ... feeling pain out there. I see it. I just have to go in my own community up in Rexdale, he said Thursday. But Ford and Jivani insisted the announcement was not just in response to recent events. Jivani, the Yale Law School-educated author of Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity, stressed he wanted to acknowledge the pain that Ive seen over the past week. Black communities in our province including my family, friends, neighbours, congregation I attend church with and many more are saddened and outraged by what has transpired in the United States, said Jivani, in part because what is happening south of the border is also drawing attention to racism and racial inequalities within our own nation. Jivani, who was appointed an adviser to Ford last December, said we did not start paying attention to these issues this week because of the current news cycle we did not wait for CNN to tell us that there is a problem. We are investing in and expanding the Black Youth Action Plan, which provides tens of millions of dollars to support Black organizations that amplify the voices of Black communities on a wide variety of issues, including issues in the justice system, he said, adding the Tories will also start meaningfully addressing the impact of school suspensions and streaming policies on Black students and their academic achievement. He noted an additional $1.5 million will flow through the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities to help cope with the challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that has been especially hard on vulnerable groups. But Liberal MPPs Michael Coteau (Don Valley East) and Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) said Thursdays announcement does not undo the previous cuts that Ford has made to anti-racism initiatives since taking office in 2018. Today, the premier announced the creation of a new premiers youth council to replace the one he cut. This is two years of lost progress, the MPPs said in a joint statement. We would invite him to reverse further cuts he made to programs to fight systemic racism and support Black youth. He should restore the funding he cut from the Anti-Racism Directorate and restore its focus. He should restore the funding he cut from the Black Youth Action Plan. NDP MPP Laura Mae Lindo, chair of the New Democrats Black caucus, pointed out the premier slashed $2 million from the Anti-Racism Directorate, stripped $14 million from a culture community hub in Lawrence Heights, and reduced funding for education supports to help Black and Indigenous students. Black Ontarians, along with Indigenous and racialized Ontarians, have suffered two years of cuts, damage and disturbing denials about the existence of systemic racism, and the experiences they face, said Lindo (Kitchener Centre). Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: World food prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic which has stymied demand, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 162.5 points last month, down 1.9pc on April. It was the lowest monthly reading since December 2018. The dairy index dropped 7.3pc, led by sharp falls in both butter and cheese, partly because of lower import demand. The cereal price index slipped 1pc as coarse grain prices continued their decline, with US maize prices some 16pc down on the year, and wheat export prices falling, amid expectations of ample global supplies. International rice prices edged higher. Vegetable oil prices fell 2.8pc to a 10-month low, while the meat index slipped 0.8pc. Poultry and pig meat quotations continued to fall, reflecting high export availabilities and despite an increase in import demand in East Asia. Bucking the general downward trend, the sugar price index jumped 7.4pc in April largely because of lower-than-expected harvests in some major producers, notably India and Thailand. FAO also posted its first forecast for the 2020 cereal season, foreseeing global output of 2.780 billion tonnes - a 2.6pc increase on 2019s record harvest. The UN agency said maize would account for much of the expected increase, rising a predicted 64.5 million tonnes to 1.207 billion tonnes thanks to anticipated record harvests in the United States, Canada and Ukraine, and near-record harvests in Brazil and Argentina. Rice production was seen reaching an all-time high of 508.7 million tonnes in 2020, up 1.6pc on 2019. By contrast, global production of wheat in 2020 was forecast to drop, largely on the back of likely falls in the European Union, Ukraine and the United States, which would offset expected increases in Russian and Australia, FAO said. Google official says no sign of compromise of either campaign On Thursday, an official with Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) warned that hackers backed by China and Iran are attacking the 2020 presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. "Recently TAG saw China APT group targeting Biden campaign staff & Iran APT targeting Trump campaign staff with phishing," said Google's Shane Huntley. "No sign of compromise. We sent users our govt attack warning and we referred to fed law enforcement." Huntley also said Iranian hackers recently attacked email accounts belonging to President Donald Trump's campaign staff. Recently TAG saw China APT group targeting Biden campaign staff & Iran APT targeting Trump campaign staff with phishing. No sign of compromise. We sent users our govt attack warning and we referred to fed law enforcement. https://t.co/ozlRL4SwhG Shane Huntley (@ShaneHuntley) June 4, 2020 If you are working on a campaign this election cycle, your personal accounts may be targeted. Use the best protection you can. Two factor authentication or Advanced Protection really can make a difference. https://t.co/Y8shDx9eWu Shane Huntley (@ShaneHuntley) June 4, 2020 The groups involved are ones referred to as APT31 and APT35. Shane Huntley (@ShaneHuntley) June 4, 2020 APT above refers to "Advanced Persistent Threat." From Reuters: Iranian attempts to break into Trump campaign officials' emails have been documented before. Last year, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) announced that a group often nicknamed Charming Kitten had tried to break into email accounts belonging to an unnamed U.S. presidential campaign that sources identified as Trump's. Earlier this year, the threat intelligence company Area1 said that Russian hackers had targeted companies tied to a Ukrainian gas firm where Biden's son once served on the board. Google declined to offer details beyond Huntley's tweets, but the unusually public attribution is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at political campaigns. The Trump and Biden campaigns did not immediately return messages. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to messages. Read more at Reuters:Chinese and Iranian hackers targeted Biden and Trump campaigns, Google says A drawing of Buffalo dentist Dr. Alfred Southwick, who would become the chief advocate for the use of the electric chair in New York State.New York State Library Pretexting definition Pretexting is form of social engineering in which an attacker tries to convince a victim to give up valuable information or access to a service or system. The distinguishing feature of this kind of attack is that the scam artists comes up with a story or pretext in order to fool the victim. The pretext generally casts the attacker in the role of someone in authority who has the right to access the information being sought, or who can use the information to help the victim. Pretexting has a fairly long history; in the U.K., where it's also known as blagging, it's a tool tabloid journalists have used for years to get access to salacious dirt on celebrities and politicians. But today it's commonly used by scam artists targeting private individuals and companies to try to get access to their financial accounts and private data. And pretexters can use any form of communication, including emails, texts, and voice phone calls, to ply their trade. Pretexting techniques In Social Engineering Penetration Testing, security engineer Gavin Watson lays out the techniques that underlie every act of pretexting: "The key part ... [is] the creation of a scenario, which is the pretext used to engage the victim. The pretext sets the scene for the attack along with the characters and the plot. It is the foundation on which many other techniques are performed to achieve the overall objectives." Watson says there are two main elements to a pretext: a character played by the scam artist, and a plausible situation in which that character might need or have a right to the information they're after. For instance, we all know that there are sometimes errors that arise with automatic payment systems; thus, it's plausible that some recurring bill we've set to charge to our credit card or bank account automatically might mysteriously fail, and the company we meant to pay might reach out to us as a result. An attacker might take on a character we'd expect to meet in that scenario: a friendly and helpful customer service rep, for instance, reaching out to us to help fix the error and make sure the payment goes through before our account goes into arrears. As the scenario plays out, the attacker would ask for bank or credit card information to help the process along and that's the information they need to steal money right out from our accounts. In the scenario outlined above, the key to making the scam work is the victim believing the attacker is who they say they are. That requires the character be as believable as the situation. It's not enough to find it plausible in the abstract that you might get a phone call from your cable company telling you that your automatic payment didn't go through; you have to find it believable that the person on the phone actually is a customer service rep from your cable company. Thus, the most important pretexting techniques are those the scam artist deploys to put you at ease. If an attacker has somehow obtained your cable bill, for example by going through your garbage, they'll be armed with the name of your cable provider and your account number when they call you, which makes you more likely to believe that they really are the character they're playing. This example demonstrates something of a pretexting paradox: the more specific the information a pretexter knows about you before they get in touch with you, the more valuable the information they can convince you to give up. That's why careful research is a foundational technique for pretexters. While dumpster diving might be a good source of intelligence on a victim, it obviously also takes quite a bit of messy real-world work, and may not be worth it for a relatively low-value target. But pretexters have a wealth of other more efficient research techniques available, including so-called open source intelligence information that can be pieced together from publicly available information ranging from government records to LinkedIn profiles. There's also gigabytes of personally identifying data out there on the dark web as a result of innumerable data breaches, available for purchase at a relatively low price to serve as a skeleton for a pretexting scenario. There are also some more technical methods pretexters can use to add plausibility to the scenario they're deploying. For instance, they can spoof the phone number or email domain name of the institution they're impersonating to make themselves seem legit. Pretexting and phishing Spoofing an email address is a key part of phishing, and many phishing attempts are built around pretexting scenarios, though they might not involve a great deal of research or detail; for instance, an attacker could email an HR rep with attached malware designed look like a job-seeker's resume. The targeted variety of phishing, known as spear phishing, which aims to snare a specific high-value victim, generally leads to a pretexting attack, in which a high-level executive is tricked into believing that they're communicating with someone else in the company or at a partner company, with the ultimate goal being to convince the victim to make a large transfer of money. Pretexting is also a key part of vishing a term that's a portmanteau of "voice" and "phishing" and is, in essence, phishing over the phone. Many pretexters get their victim's phone number as part of an aforementioned online collection of personally identifying information, and use the rest of the victim's data to weave the plausible scenario that will help them reach their goal (generally, a crucial password or financial account number). Tailgating attack There's one more technique to discuss that is often lumped under the category of pretexting: tailgating. Tailgating is a common technique for getting through a locked door by simply following someone who can open it inside before it closes. It can be considered a kind of pretexting because the tailgater will often put on a persona that encourages the person with the key to let them into the building for instance, they could be dressed in a jumpsuit and claim they're there to fix the plumbing or HVAC, or have a pizza box and say they're delivering lunch to another floor. Like many social engineering techniques, this one relies on people's innate desire to be helpful or friendly; as long as there's some seemingly good reason to let someone in, people tend to do it rather than confront the tailgater. Pretexting examples As we noted above, one of the first ways pretexting came to the world's notice was in a series of scandals surrounding British tabloids in the mid '00s. These papers, in desperate competition with one another for even minor scoops on celebrities and royals, used a variety of techniques to snoop on their victims' voicemail. In some cases, this was as simple as testing to see if the victim had changed their voicemail PIN from the default (a surprising number had not), but they also used a variety of pretexting techniques referred to internally as "blagging" to get access to information, including dumpster diving and bluffing phone company customer service reps to allow access to the voicemail box. For many Americans, their first introduction to pretexting came in 2006, when internal strife at Hewlett-Packard boiled over into open scandal. HP's management hired private investigators to find out if any board members had been leaking information to the press; the PIs in turn impersonated those board members, in some cases using their Social Security numbers, which HP had provided, in order to trick phone companies into handing over call records. The whole thing ended with HP's chairwoman Patricia Dunn resigning in disgrace and criminal charges being filed (more on which in a moment). Still, the type of pretexting attack that's most likely to affect your life will be in one which these techniques are turned on you personally. The KnowBe4 blog gives a great example of how a pretexting scammer managed to defeat two-factor authentication to hack into a victim's bank account. The victim was supposed to confirm with a six-digit code, texted to him by his bank, if he ever tried to reset his username and password; the scammers called him while they were resetting this information, pretending to be his bank confirming unusual charges, and asked him to read the codes that the bank was sending him, claiming they needed them to confirm his identity. With those codes in hand, they were able to easily hack into his account. But pretexters are probably more likely to target companies than individuals, since companies generally have larger and more tempting bank accounts. It's often harder to find out the details of successful attacks, as companies aren't likely to admit that they've been scammed. VTRAC's Chris Tappin and Simon Ezard, writing for CSO Australia, describe a pretexting technique they call the Spiked Punch, in which the scammers impersonate a vendor that a company sends payments to regularly. Using information gleaned from public sources and social media profiles, they can convince accounts payable personnel at the target company to change the bank account information for vendors in their files, and manage to snag quite a bit of cash before anyone realizes. In another example, Ubiquiti Networks, a manufacturer of networking equipment, lost nearly $40 million dollars due to an impersonation scam. The pretexters sent messages to Ubiquiti employees pretending to be corporate executives and requested millions of dollars be sent to various bank accounts; one of the techniques used was "lookalike URLs" the scammers had registered a URL that was only one letter different from Ubiquiti's and sent their emails from that domain. Pretexting law Pretexting is, by and large, illegal in the United States. For financial institutions covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA) which is to say just about all financial institutions it's illegal for any person to obtain or attempt to obtain, to attempt to disclose or cause to disclose, customer information of a financial institution by false pretenses or deception. GLBA-regulated institutions are also required to put standards in place to educate their own staff to recognize pretexting attempts. One thing the HP scandal revealed, however, was that it wasn't clear if it was illegal to use pretexting to gain non-financial information remember, HP was going after their directors' phone records, not their money. Prosecutors had to pick and choose among laws to file charges under, some of which weren't tailored with this kind of scenario in mind. In the wake of the scandal, Congress quickly passed the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006, which extended protection to records held by telecom companies. How to prevent pretexting One of the best ways to prevent pretexting is to simply be aware that it's a possibility, and that techniques like email or phone spoofing can make it unclear who's reaching out to contact you. Any security awareness training at the corporate level should include information on pretexting scams. (As noted, if your company is an American financial institution, these kinds of trainings are required by law.) And to avoid situations like Ubiquiti's, there should be strong internal checks and balances when it comes to large money transfers, with multiple executives needing to be consulted to sign off of them. On a personal level, it's important to be particularly wary whenever anyone who has initiated contact with you begins asking for personal information. Remember, your bank already knows everything it needs to know about you they shouldn't need you to tell them your account number. If you're suspicious about a conversation with an institution, hang up and call their publicly available phone number or write to an email address from their website. Finally, if a pizza guy tries to follow you inside your office building, tell them to call the person who ordered it to let them in. Don't worry: if they're legit, they've got a special box that will keep the pizza warm for the few extra minutes it'll take to deliver it. To the Editor: Re Long Silent, Mattis Delivers a Blistering Criticism of Trump as a Divider (news article, June 4): Regarding President Trumps suggestion that U.S. soldiers should be used against American civilians who are protesting, and the resistance to this idea among military leaders like Gen. Jim Mattis, the former defense secretary: I cannot help but think of the Tiananmen era of China in 1989. Then, too, the government was calling for military force against its citizens. In the months and weeks leading up to the massacre, there were many instances of the Peoples Liberation Army standing down in the face of the protesters. The P.L.A. had a special relationship with ordinary Chinese citizens, a relationship that was permanently shattered when finally in and around Tiananmen Square the military moved with brutal force against democracy demonstrators. Our soldiers and leaders must surely understand the permanent damage that would be done to the reputation of the military if it allows itself to be used by Mr. Trump in this rash and plainly partisan manner. Michael A. Santoro Santa Clara, Calif. The writer, a professor of business ethics at Santa Clara University, is co-editor in chief of the Business and Human Rights Journal. To the Editor: Gen. Jim Mattiss statement was brilliant and on point. The sad part is that the U.S. divide started long before Donald Trump. We have become a nation whose politics are dominated by ideologues. It gets worse with each election cycle. We have divided ourselves, and newspapers, TV, social media and the political class have exploited and encouraged this division and intolerance of the other. Samsung's billionaire heir and South Korea's prosecutors are escalating an increasingly public clash over how to resolve a years-long legal dispute over bribery and succession. Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, this week requested a public assessment of the validity of his indictment, invoking a 2018 statute that allows the formation of a civil panel to review cases. In essence, he is trying to bypass professional prosecutors by appealing to a review committee, which would be made up of outside experts. Prosecutors weren't amused. On Thursday, they decided to seek an arrest warrant for Lee in a related case, which if granted could return him to jail where he had spent about a year after an earlier conviction. In the original case, Lee stands accused of using thoroughbred horses and other gifts to buy government support for plans to cement his family's control over the Samsung empire -- something both Samsung and he have denied. "Samsung got on the prosecutors' nerves. The move to request an outside review is something that's undercutting prosecutors and could enrage them," said Chung Sun-sup, CEO at corporate research firm Chaebul.com. "The prosecutors' office has been facing a public outcry that it's abusing power. In this situation, Lee might have thought that he could get support from people who distrust prosecutors." Lee's lawyers said the prosecutors' decision to seek an arrest warrant over alleged accounting fraud at Samsung Biologics is "strongly regrettable." They said he has cooperated with the investigation and the warrant request seems to undermine Lee's legitimate right to receive an objective judgment from outside authorities. Both sides are vying for public opinion. Prosecutors have argued that Lee should face more severe penalties in the retrial because of the value of the alleged gifts, which contributed to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The 51-year-old Samsung heir convened a press conference in May to apologize for his company's missteps over succession. Swearing his children would never run the company, he pledged to give back to society and praised his fellow citizens' dedication throughout the outbreak. Lee could face a prison sentence of several years in the current trial. Regardless of covid-19, the outcome could prove a watershed moment in the sensitive relationship between the country's corporate chieftains and government. The hearings, which will likely wrap late this year, are regarded by many observers as a litmus test for whether Korea's courts are truly independent of the powerful business interests that hold sway over the economy. In the backdrop, South Korea's largest corporation and its de facto leader have been key players in one of Asia's most successful coronavirus containment campaigns. Since March, Samsung has dispatched its own doctors to hard-hit zones, flown Korean engineers overseas via its private jet, doled out roughly $39 million worth of aid globally and played a central role in ramping up production of testing kits -- hailed by healthcare experts as a turning point in Korea's battle against the disease. Lee's approval ratings in independent surveys have climbed since the conglomerate, heeding the government's call, swung into action. Samsung representatives emphasized that the company's main goal was to combat the disease, save lives and protect employees, and dismissed any suggestion they were connected to the hearing. "Samsung Electronics is joining the global fight against covid-19 to safeguard the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners and local communities," it said in a statement. "The smart factory program and other global relief initiatives by Samsung Electronics have nothing to do with the ongoing legal proceedings over the case of Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee." Two recent stabbings at Stony Mountain Institution highlight a "scary" increase in violence at the Manitoba prison, a union president says. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Two recent stabbings at Stony Mountain Institution highlight a "scary" increase in violence at the Manitoba prison, a union president says. Six inmates have been charged in connection with the stabbing of two inmates, a 24-year-old and a 45-year-old, on May 31. Manitoba RCMP announced the attempted murder and aggravated assault charges Wednesday, less than seven weeks after a correctional officer had their throat slashed with a homemade weapon inside the prison and had to be airlifted to hospital. James Bloomfield, Prairies regional president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said he's asked union representatives at prisons in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan how changes to confinement or restrictions on inmates' movements because of the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected tension that sparks violence. There has been a "noticeable increase" in assaults among inmates and against guards, he said. Violence at Stony Mountain is a longstanding problem, Bloomfield said, often fuelled by gang and drug activity. "There's been a serious increase in violence. It is not stopping, and the current situation at that institution, it is a combination of, I think, a little bit to do with COVID, however, the reality of this institution is that there is a lot of gangs there, and... there is a lot of drugs at that site as well," Bloomfield said. Asked whether there has been an increase in violence, gang activity, drugs and contraband at Stony Mountain, a representative for the Correctional Service of Canada didn't give an answer. CSC sent a statement saying it has violence-prevention strategies in place, including working with law enforcement. "As part of CSCs investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incidents at Stony Mountain Institution, we will determine if practices need improvement to prevent recurrences of violence. While the investigations related to these incidents are still ongoing, it is important to note that investigation findings and best practices are routinely shared with management to support continuous improvement," the statement reads in part. 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. Neither CSC nor Bloomfield could say whether last week's double stabbing was gang-related. Manitoba RCMP said two stabbings happened within hours of each other in separate wings of Stony's maximum security unit. The victims' names haven't been released, but both men remained in hospital Wednesday, said RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre. Dennis McLeod, 25, and Anthony Mitchell, 28, are charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of the 24-year-old inmate. In the stabbing of the 45-year-old inmate, 39-year-old Tyler Gray has been charged with attempted murder. Inmates Skyler Cook, 25, Brandon Seenie, 22, and Michael Kelly, 25, have been charged with aggravated assault. The investigation is ongoing, RCMP said. Bloomfield said violence in the institution is often not announced publicly, particularly if it doesn't require outside medical treatment. "It's scary, and it's really scary for the officers who actually are the ones on the front lines right now," he said. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca 'Tasman travel bubble' flights between Australia and New Zealand could begin as early as July. The first international flights since March are set to go between Canberra and Wellington Airports on July 1 and July 2. Both Australia and NZ closed their borders to international visitors in mid-March to stop the spread of COVID-19 from overseas. Only politicians, business people and journalists will board the first return flight, but the route is expected to open up to the public once more are scheduled. Australians interested in flying to NZ next month can register their interest on the Canberra Airport website from Thursday. 'It's time to reboot your 2020 travel plans,' the airport website currently reads. The Canberra-Wellington route will be tested for a few weeks before flights are extend to other Australian and New Zealand cities such as Sydney and Auckland. International arrivals in Sydney before PM Scott Morrison banned overseas travel in March. The first 'Tasman travel bubble' flights are set to go between Canberra and Wellington Airports on July 1 and July 2 The ACT has gone one month with no new cases of COVID-19 while New Zealand has gone 12 days without a case. Canberra Airport chief executive Stephen Byron said the Australian and NZ capitals are the safest cities to resume international travel. 'This would be the opening of the bubble,' Mr Byron told ABC Radio Canberra. 'All of the staff at the airport and all of the services in the international terminal... won't have seen any other international passengers for at least three weeks by the time this flight arrives.' Currently, international arrivals in both Australia and NZ are required to self-isolate for 14 days at home or in a hotel. But Mr Byron said this would be scrapped for Australians and Kiwis travelling between the two countries as part of the travel bubble. The airport chief executive said he expects a 'huge demand' for the route and that Qantas and Air New Zealand will each run one flight per day. 'We know there is a backlog of people on both sides of the ditch that want to reunite with family,' Mr Byron said. 'People that have lost their jobs on both sides of the Tasman and need to re-organise their living arrangement... then there is the holidaymakers.' Canberra Airport chief executive Stephen Byron said Canberra Airport (left) and Wellington Airport (right) are the safest places in Australia and NZ to resume international travel Mr Byron expects flight prices to be 'relatively normal' despite the demand. 'Indeed you want to make it competitive and attractive,' he said. Passengers will be able to travel around once they land but would have to follow local restrictions, including state border closures in Australia. Under current restrictions, if a Kiwi landed in Canberra they would not be able to enter Queensland or WA due to border closures. Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said he wants the trans-Tasman bubble to begin 'as soon as possible'. 'I am confident that both Australia and New Zealand will be ready and willing to progress as soon as the health advice allows and all necessary safeguards are in place,' Mr Birmingham told The Australian. ACCI executive chair of tourism John Hart said both countries urgently need to start the bubble to keep businesses afloat. 'Businesses are wanting to escalate the Australia-New Zealand bubble because it's just not happening fast enough to keep them in business,' Mr Hart told The Australian. 'We're not seeing domestic movements pick up quick enough, so we need the bubble to get the tourism activity.' Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham (right) said he wants the trans-Tasman bubble to begin 'as soon as possible' The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is set to propose the Canberra-Wellington travel route on Thursday. All Australian passengers would be pre-tested for COVID-19 when boarding a flight to NZ under the proposal, which has been backed by the Wellington, Auckland and Canberra chambers of commerce. New Zealanders arriving in Australia would be told to download the government's COVIDSafe app, which tracks coronavirus cases. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ACCI for comment. After more than 1.5 million Australians crossed the ditch last year, New Zealand is struggling without its largest source of visitors. Prior to the pandemic, only 20 per cent of Australians wanted to travel within Oceania, which included NZ. But when international travel bans are lifted, 38 per cent of Aussie travellers said they want to travel to NZ, according to the Anne Wild and Associates study. While NZ has not recorded a new COVID-19 case in the last 12 days, Australia recorded eight new cases on Wednesday - seven in Victoria and one in WA. (Natural News) Philadelphia voters have just learned that the democracy they believe in has been ironically hijacked by crooked political operatives within the Democratic Party. Election fraud is real and demands judicial oversight. A former Judge of Elections for the 39th Ward, 36th Division in South Philadelphia just pleaded guilty on two counts of election fraud. The crooked judge, Domenick J. DeMuro, 73, of Philadelphia, PA, was caught stuffing the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates in the primary elections of 2014, 2015 and 2016. United States Attorney William M. McSwain has ruled that DeMuro engaged in a conspiracy to deprive Philadelphia voters of their civil rights. DeMuro was also in violation of the Travel Act because he used a cell phone with the intent to bribe. Crooked democratic candidates hire political consultants to bribe election officials As a Judge of Elections, DeMuro was elected, paid, and trusted to oversee the entire election process and the voter activities in his Division. DeMuro was required to attend Election Board Training and to make sure that the Divisions polling place complied with federal and state election laws. But the voting machines at each polling station are vulnerable to crooked political operatives who take bribes to engage in ballot stuffing. These voting machines generate records in the form of printed receipts. These results receipts relay the vote totals, and the Judge of Elections is tasked with verifying the accuracy of this number. When put on the stand, DeMuro pleaded guilty for participating in a conspiracy to boost the vote totals for select Democratic candidates. According to DeMuro, an unnamed political consultant approached him with bribe money to illegally inflate the vote totals for Democratic candidates. The consultant gave DeMuro specific instructions. Upon further investigation, the favored democratic candidates hired the crooked political operative. Even more appalling, these democratic candidates were individuals running for judicial offices. These democrats are capable of not only corrupting the democratic voting process, but are also capable of gaining positions of judicial power where the rule of law can be further corrupted. The judicial candidates paid the political consultant consulting fees and then the consultant would use a portion of that money to pay off Election Board Officials to tamper with the election results. After receiving payments upwards of $5,000, DeMuro agreed to ring up votes for the corrupt Democratic candidates. When no one was looking, DeMuro stuffed the ballot boxes, diluting the votes of actual voters and ultimately helping corrupt Democrats win on election day. DeMuro covered up the scheme by certifying that the voting machine results were accurate. DeMuro fraudulently stuffed the ballot box by literally standing in a voting booth and voting over and over, as fast as he could, while he thought the coast was clear. This is utterly reprehensible conduct. The charges announced today do not erase what he did, but they do ensure that he is held to account for those actions, said U.S. Attorney McSwain. Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. If even one vote is fraudulently rung up, the integrity of that election is compromised. I want the public to know that this investigation is active and ongoing, and my Office is taking every possible step that we can to ensure the integrity of the upcoming primary and general elections in the nine counties of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Now imagine how easy it would be to stuff the ballot boxes and corrupt the voting process if America implemented a wide scale mail-in voting system where ballots were mailed out in droves, where voting was not authenticated in person, where unused ballots could be intercepted and used, where fraud would be even harder to trace. Sources include: Justice.gov Justice.gov GREENWICH Indivisible Greenwich will hold what it is calling Greenwich Cares: Rally for Justice on Saturday, an event to honor George Floyd and so many others before him while also standing up to protect First Amendment freedoms of speech and to peacefully assemble. The event will take place at 2 p.m. June 6 at Greenwich Town Hall. Protests have been held across the country and the world since Floyds death in Minneapolis last week. A video shows a police officer kneeling on the neck of the African-American man for nearly nine minutes while Floyd says he cant breathe during an arrest over a suspected counterfeit $20 bill. A demonstration was held Monday outside the towns Public Safety Complex, where protesters angrily but peacefully gathered to speak out about Floyds death and about what they allege is a longstanding pattern of racial profiling by Greenwich police. Chief of Police James Heavey and First Selectman Fred Camillo met outside with the protesters, told them they wanted to listen, and urged them to file complaints about any incidents. At Saturdays rally, Indivisible Greenwich said it will welcome those who care about the issue of systemic criminal injustice and the use of excessive police force against our black brothers and sisters, and those who want to protect freedom of speech and assembly. The event will be peaceful, and there will be speakers. Indivisible Greenwich said it wants the community to come together to mourn and explore ways we can move forward in a productive manner. Due to the coronavirus, Indivisible said masks and social distancing are both expected and necessary. Attendees can bring blankets and towels to sit on, too, to help with social distancing. The officer involved in Floyds death, Derek Chauvin, was later charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. On Wednesday, the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder. The three other cops on the scene were reportedly arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. All four officers have been fired. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - An Alaska man accused of laundering $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran funneled nearly all the money through the United Arab Emirates, U.S. federal court documents released early Thursday show. The court documents, filed as part of a U.S. asset seizure effort, shed further light on how Kenneth Zong allegedly created fake invoices to help Iran draw cash held by South Korea in lieu of payment for oil shipments. It also renewed questions about financial transparency in the UAE, as the order sought to seize $20 million held by one of the countrys seven emirates. Zong helped Iran by creating fake invoices for construction material, using them to convince South Korean banks and regulators to release the money, federal prosecutors said. In April, the Industrial Bank of Korea agreed to pay $86 million in fines over failing to stop the laundering, federal prosecutors in New York said. Zong, earlier convicted of criminal charges in South Korea over the scheme, was due to be released from prison in March, though U.S. federal prosecutors said it was likely hed be held there until he paid a fine of millions of dollars. No lawyer was listed for Zong in the U.S. court filings. Federal prosecutors want to extradite him to stand trial in the U.S. as well. Of the money laundered, nearly all of it flowed into the United Arab Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. War profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubais real-estate market as a haven for their assets, one report found. While saying efforts have been made to improve the UAEs financial controls, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in April warned that the countrys limited number of money laundering prosecutions and convictions, particularly in Dubai, are a concern given the countrys risk profile. In announcing the forfeiture effort, U.S. federal prosecutors thanked authorities in Dubai and in Ras al-Khaimah, another emirate whose sovereign wealth fund holds the sought-after $20 million. That money ended up there as part of a plan by three Iranians later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury to buy a hotel owned by the fund in the nation of Georgia. That deal was engineered by an Iranian-American gunrunner with ties to the CIA who was not named in the U.S. court documents. Officials in Ras al-Khaimah did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A crisis like the corona pandemic demonstrates how important reliable information and transparent communication are, particularly when dealing with such a sensitive area as health. Current studies on quality measurement in the healthcare system show why Austria has some catching up to do in terms of transparency. In a country by country comparison, Austria does not excel in terms of data transparency and quality measurements in the healthcare system; this has now been confirmed during the corona crisis. Image Credit: Jesse Orrico on unsplash Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the eyes of the world have been firmly locked on statistics and data to stay abreast of the development of this new viral disease. Reminiscent of a fever curve, the course of the pandemic is documented and disseminated in real time. This is a new and unusual level of information transparency, especially in the healthcare sector. However, Covid-19 does indeed call for transparency, as the virus raises many questions and poses enormous challenges for those responsible. For science, corona has become a real-world laboratory. One of the central elements in this context is access to medical data in order to be able to predict how and within what timeframe the pandemic will develop. Insufficient medical data Austria has weaknesses in this respect, as several members of the scientific community recently pointed out. Scientists wrote an open letter to the Minister of Health to draw attention to the lack of access to data about the corona crisis. Seen from a historical perspective, the issues that have now come to light illustrate that, hitherto, transparency and quality measurements have played a less prominent role in the Austrian healthcare system than in other countries, for instance when compared to the United Kingdom. A lack of access to data for science is one result; another is too little detail in data collection, as Albrecht Becker, an accounting researcher from the University of Innsbruck, explains: The medical data we currently operate with in Austria are insufficient. In a project under the joint lead of Becker and Silvia Jordan that started in 2018 and is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, their team has been exploring quality measurement in the Austrian healthcare system. A lack of context-relevant information One of the aspects Becker and Jordan have noted in their ongoing analyses is a frequent lack of context-relevant information required to understand the figures. This quickly stymies you even when it comes to very simple questions, such as the total number of intensive care patients, where information is lacking as to why this number is going up or down. Silvia Jordan, Accounting researcher, University of Innsbruck Were patients transferred or did they die? Questions like these are currently left unanswered in quality measurements. Nor is there any publicly accessible information about the kinds of pre-existing health conditions found in cases of corona deaths. Such information is the only way, however, to better understand the virus and to protect risk groups. Becker and Jordan also note that the models do not provide much information about their underlying assumptions. Especially when making forecasts for the future, it is important to know these underlying assumptions. Use of routine data for quality management The four-member research team in Innsbruck gains insights into the status and transparency of data within the Austrian healthcare system through their research on the system for measuring the quality of in-patient hospital stays, introduced throughout Austria in 2013 as part of the healthcare reform. Quality indicators, the so-called A-IQIs (Austrian Inpatient Quality Indicators), are continuously recorded on the basis of diagnoses and forms of treatment. The elements measured include the mortality rates, complication rates and care progress. As a basis for the calculation of the indicators the system uses data that hospitals need to collect in any case to invoice their services, i.e. so-called routine data. One of the reasons for choosing this solution is that hospitals already have very extensive documentation requirements and hence staff were not to be burdened even more. Data collection unclear and isolated The system also comes with disadvantages, as Silvia Jordan and Albrecht Becker explain. The A-IQIs are about measuring the quality of results, but there is no general agreement as to what results means and which standard levels they are to be measured against, says Jordan. In addition, the hospital cases are recorded in relatively loose categories. The situation is different in Germany, for example, where more or less the same system exists, but it is more detailed. As a result, Austrian mortality data cannot be compared with those from Germany, to give just one example. According to the researchers, this also makes it more difficult to achieve learning effects, because measurements are not selective enough. Another aspect of the current system that outside experts often criticize is the lack of documentation as to how different service providers in the healthcare system cooperate. The Austrian healthcare system still does not systematically analyse the development of medical histories after an inpatient stay. There are discussions, however, about extending this documentation across the different service sectors and merging the data. Albrecht Becker, Accounting researcher, University of Innsbruck Currently, the results of the A-IQI surveys are published in an annual report by the Ministry of Health and communicated to the public in a highly condensed form on kliniksuche.at. But they do not allow conclusions to be drawn about individual hospitals, and they also provide little of the contextual information that would be important for interpreting the data. Promoting discourse and surveying interests In their basic research project, which will run until 2021, the Innsbruck research team is also conducting case studies in selected hospitals. In order to gain a detailed insight into the hospitals internal processes, the researchers conduct interviews with various interest groups such as hospital management, doctors or nursing staff. The project team aims to bring together the different perspectives and interests and to open up discussion on the causes of the current lack of transparency and on how quality data are used. According to the initial conclusions of the researchers, the current quality system is geared neither to internal quality management nor to information for patients. More transparency and discourse on the key figures would also be desirable for international country comparisons. There are learning opportunities that are being missed, for example when it comes to understanding why some things cannot be compared, explains Jordan. Perhaps experience from the corona crisis will see the learning curve rise in the future. One learning effect would be that data are useful for scientific and social learning processes only where they are not just publicly accessible, but where the conditions under which they were generated are discussed transparently. A draft law that Fianna Fail and the Greens want included in the programme for government would force the State to try to extradite and prosecute people from other jurisdictions for importing some Israeli goods, according to the Attorney General. Fine Gael has cited advice from AG Seamus Woulfe to argue against the Occupied Territories Bill Fianna Fail and the Greens want a new government to pass into law. The bill, which was passed in the last Dail and Seanad but blocked by Fine Gael on procedural grounds, would make it an offence to sell Israeli goods imported from the occupied territories in the Palestinian West Bank. A conviction would carry fines of up to 250,000 or five years in prison. Tanaiste Simon Coveney has argued the bill is illegal under EU law because trade with third countries falls within the EU's exclusive competence under single market rules. But Mr Woulfe's advice, seen by the Irish Independent, also warns that the State would find it impossible to investigate, prosecute or extradite a person who imports such goods. Mr Woulfe, who was appointed by Fine Gael, argues the criminal offences set out in the bill are "quite vague" and enforcing them would be "impractical" as they would involve pursuing persons outside the jurisdiction for offences that are not illegal in other countries. He contends that the bill, if it became law, would be at risk of constitutional challenge. The bill has been championed by Independent Senator Frances Black, who has legal advice which contends that because such goods are produced as a result of breaches of international law then it is justifiable to ban their importation. The bill has strong cross-party support and has garnered global attention as Ireland would be the first EU country to end trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Fianna Fail and the Greens are contesting Mr Woulfe's advice and the impasse has led to the issue being referred to the three party leaders. Israel's ambassador to Ireland, Ophir Kariv, has described the bill as "the most extreme anti-Israeli piece of legislation in the western world outside of Iran". In 31 years, it has not happened in D.C., replied Sgt. Johnny Tubbs. Im from Kansas, and if it was that bad here, Id go right back to the farm. Its not that bad here. There are bad actors and bad apples, and then bad narratives get started and people make bad spin out it. The Government has paid an eye-watering subsidy of almost 8,000 for each passenger return journey just to keep air routes operational between Kerry and Donegal airports and Dublin during the Covid crisis. That is despite Ireland West Airport at Knock having to shut down at the start of the pandemic with no passenger journeys recorded in April - and Dublin, Shannon and Cork Airports seeing passenger numbers plummet by almost 99pc. Waste The State subsidy in place throughout April for the Donegal-Dublin and Kerry-Dublin routes is now a staggering 4,000pc greater per passenger return journey compared to the actual airfare involved. One senior aviation official said the ongoing public service obligation (PSO) payments to Kerry and Donegal to effectively keep empty planes flying represented "a shocking waste of taxpayer money". "Based on the latest air travel statistics, just two people on average were travelling each day on the Donegal-Dublin service on a 78-seat aircraft. "It was very much the same story for Kerry." Ireland West-Knock does not enjoy PSO support for air routes like Kerry and Donegal. Both receive a PSO grant each year to support air links to Dublin. Kerry received 3.3m and Donegal 4m. However, in April just 56 passengers travelled via Donegal - and only 62 used Kerry Airport. For Donegal Airport, the PSO subsidy effectively amounted to 5,952 per passenger journey in April. At Kerry Airport, the PSO subsidy was 4,435 per passenger journey in April. The pandemic has crippled the Irish aviation sector. In April, Dublin recorded just 14,981 passengers compared to Shannon at 4,225 (mostly transfer passengers), Cork at 694, Ireland West-Knock at zero, Donegal at 56 and Kerry at 62. A Department of Transport spokesperson said the provision of both the Donegal-Dublin and Kerry-Dublin air links are now being "kept under review". "The (EU) regulation provides that financial support may be offered to airlines, based on a competitive tender, to operate essential services serving peripheral or development regions which are considered vital for the economic development of those regions and which would not otherwise be provided on a commercial basis. "However, the provision of both services is being kept under review." Wellington: New Zealand finally has a date for when it will achieve its lofty goal of elimination of COVID-19: June 15. After weeks of urging by public health experts and government wrangling, the Ministry of Health has settled on a definition of elimination of the deadly virus. New Zealand has followed an elimination policy path since the arrival of the virus, eschewing lighter approaches by countries including Australia. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Credit:Getty The Kiwi approach, including a seven-week lockdown, is paying dividends. New Zealand schoolgirls will soon be given free sanitary products as part of government's fight against 'period poverty'. The roll out will begin in low socio-economic areas before being offered to all state and state-integrated schools on an opt-in basis next year. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said sanitary products were a necessity as too many young women were missing school because they couldn't afford a tampon or a pad. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) said sanitary products were a necessity as too many young women were missing school because they couldn't afford a tampon or a pad 'We know that nearly 95,000 nine-to-18-year-olds may stay at home during their periods due to not being able to afford period products,' Ms Ardern said. 'By making them freely available, we support these young people to continue learning at school.' A survey of 5,000 New Zealand woman by charity organisation KidsCan found some women were using toilet paper, newspaper or rags as they couldn't afford proper sanitary products. One in 12 students reported having missed school due to lack of access to sanitary products. Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter said campaigners helped raise awareness of the issue. 'Menstruation is a fact of life for half the population and access to these products is a necessity, not a luxury. New Zealand schoolgirls will soon be given free sanitary products as part of government's fight against 'period poverty' 'We want an Aotearoa New Zealand where all people have access to education and the things they need to live a good life - I am so pleased this Government is finding ways of helping children and young people, at a time when every extra bit of assistance is important.' The roll-out comes amid growing concerns the coronavirus pandemic will see more households struggle to sanitary products. KidsCan CEO Julie Chapman said there had been a 30 per cent increase in demand for food in schools since the lockdown. According to Iranian officials, the number of coronavirus cases in the country is on the rise and previously safe provinces are experiencing an increase in infections. According to Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, 3,574 new cases have been confirmed in the country. This daily total is the highest number of cases for a 24-hour period since March before the country took restrictive measures to bring the total number of virus transmissions down. The country has since reopened due to economic necessity. Total cases have exceeded 164,000. Jahanpour also said there were 59 confirmed deaths in the same 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to over 8,000. After lifting lockdown measures, Iranian authorities divided provinces into color-coded zones, with red zones being forced to remain under restrictive lockdown measures and white zones being asked to follow health guidelines while resuming most daily activities. Jahanpour said that three provinces, Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Kurdistan, were placed under a serious warning, meaning they could soon be labeled red zones if their numbers of cases continue to rise. A Tasnim News Agency article explored reasons why some provinces are experiencing a second wave of infections and new findings on the spread of the virus. In all, the article believes individuals have relaxed their social distancing and have gone about their daily lives as previously. According to the article, Khuzestan has experienced an increase in cases due to trips and family gatherings that took place after Ramadan on May 23. This aspect that is, the end of Ramadan as a factor in the increase of coronavirus cases is more closely observed in this province with a high Arab population than it is in other provinces. The article also stated that the warm weather has not slowed the spread of the virus, particularly in the warmer provinces of Hormozgan where the temperature is above 100 degrees. According to the article, in addition to the provinces mentioned by the Health Ministry that are experiencing high levels of infections, other provinces are experiencing high numbers as well, including East Azerbaijani, Bushehr, Hamedan, coastal cities of Mazandaran provinces, Lorestan, Gilan, and Sistan and Baluchistan. At a meeting today of the National Committee to Combat Coronavirus, President Hassan Rouhani urged Iranians not to resume their daily lives. We have to adjust our lives to this virus under every situation, he said. According to the statistics discussed at the meeting, almost 750 mosques have been reopened for Friday prayers since the country began reopening. Friday prayers had been canceled when the coronavirus first broke out. Mosques have reopened in white zones, but they are following specific health guidelines and social distancing inside. The committee said a decision would be made about reopening cinemas, theaters and other cultural centers by the end of June. PASSAIC, N.J., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Orli Langer, MD, FACOG, is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Top Doctor for her outstanding contributions in the field of Medicine and acknowledgment of her role as an OB/GYN & Owner with Perinatal Associates, LLC. Perinatal Associates is one of the top specialist obstetrics and gynecology offices, specializing in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in New Jersey. Practicing in three offices, they proudly serve patients in the New Jersey counties of Passaic and Morris. Dedicated to patient-centered care, Perinatal Associates provide a wide range of services, such as obstetrical scans, viability/dating scans, cervical length studies, and placental checks. Patients that visit Dr. Langer's office have a need that is outside of the purview of a standard OB/GYN, including advanced maternal age, diabetes, hypertensive disorders, seizure disorders, autoimmune diseases, prior preterm birth, multiple gestations, fetal abnormalities, and more. A distinguished doctor, Dr. Langer has led an impressive career for 18 years. As the owner, Dr. Langer has devoted the past two years at her private practice. She is fluent in Hebrew and English and has extensive experience with ultrasounds and treating gestational diabetes and all high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Langer earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Texas in Austin. Later she graduated from Technion Israel Institute of Technology, where she obtained a dual Masters in interdisciplinary science, as well as a medical degree. For post-education training, she worked as an intern and a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Medical Center. Following this, Dr. Langer completed a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship at the New York University School of Medicine. Remaining abreast of the latest industry developments, Dr. Langer maintains active memberships with the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Association of International Ultrasound Medicine. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and the Gynecology and American Board of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and serves as a Fellow of the American College of OB/GYN. In light of her success, Dr. Langer has been the recipient of many honors and accolades. These include being featured in NJ Monthly Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs in October of 2019, being profiled in NJ Biz in November of 2019, and receiving the Award of Research Excellence from the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine for mentoring students and residents in the institutions where she has practiced. A respected voice in her field, Dr. Langer has shared her breadth of expertise in book chapters and numerous articles that have been published in prominent, peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Langer dedicates this recognition in loving memory of her father Oded Langer, MD; he was a leader in maternal-fetal medicine. For more information, please visit http://www.perinatalassociatesllc.com Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634 [email protected] SOURCE Continental Who's Who Related Links http://www.continentalwhoswho.com (Alliance News) - Banks HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC have openly expressed their support for the national security law China will impose on Hong Kong, in spite of opposition from the UK government, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. The FT reported that in a post on Chinese social media platform WeChat, HSBC said that Peter Wong, chief executive of its Asian unit had signed a petition supporting the legislation. "We reiterate that we respect and support laws and regulations that will enable Hong Kong to recover and rebuild the economy and, at the same time, maintain the principle of 'one country two systems'," the post stated. HSBC has confirmed the post and its content. In addition, Standard Chartered said, in a statement made to the FT that "We believe the national security law can help maintain the long-term economic and social stability of Hong Kong". Both banks have followed the suit of UK trading house Swire Group and Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd, which both made public statements in support of the law. https://www.ft.com/content/213c0e2c-f1c7-4637-a0b9-4c3f72709d52 Near the end of May, China's parliament adopted a controversial national security law for Hong Kong, which bypasses Hong Kong's internal legislature to punish acts seen as endangering national security and subverting state power in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Beijing may also set up outposts of mainland agencies in Hong Kong to curb violent protests and what it describes as interference by foreign countries. The law passed at the end of the annual parliamentary session, the National People's Congress, with 2,878 votes for, one vote against and six abstentions. By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Elon Musk's Starlink programme has successfully launched a further 60 satellites into orbit around Earth. spacex has permission from the FCC for a constellation of 12,000 such satellites and it is hoped they will beam internet down to all of Earth's inhabitants. This launch takes the current total of Starlink satellites in orbit to 482 and the company says it will be able to offer a 'moderate' service when it reaches 800. The project has received widespread criticism from astronomers for tainting the natural view of the night sky as the satellites are highly reflective. As a result, SpaceX has included an experimental craft with an inbuilt sun visor in this batch. It is hoped the system will reduce the amount of light that is reflected by the spacecraft and therefore reduce its visibility from Earth. Elon Musk's Starlink programme has successfully launched a further 60 satellites into orbit around Earth (pictured, thr Falcon 9 rocket taking off) . SpaceX has permission for a mega-constellation of 12,000 such satellites The 60 satellites launched atop the firm's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 8:55pm EDT on June 3 (1:55am BST June 4) Starlink received criticism from astronomers for tainting the natural view of the night sky as the satellites are highly reflective. As a result, SpaceX has included an experimental craft with an inbuilt sun visor in this batch, in a project called 'VisorSat' (pictured) 'The goal of Starlink is to create a network that will help provide internet services to those who are not yet connected, and to provide reliable and affordable internet across the globe,' Kennedy Space Center said in a blog post. The 60 satellites launched atop the firm's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 8:55pm EDT on June 3 (1:55am BST June 4). Installing a sunshade on a 575lbs (260kg) satellite orbiting 341 miles above Earth is the second method SpaceX has tried to reduce the visibility of the constellation. Previously, on the January 6 launch, one satellite was covered in a dark coating designed to appease to appease disgruntled astronomers. However, SpaceX engineers had hoped this would reduce brightness by up to 55 per cent, but the paint caused the machinery to absorb radiation and overheat. Now, Elon Musk's company is trialling a system called VisorSat, which will keep antennae in the shade to stop it reflecting sunlight. 'We have a radio-transparent foam that will deploy nearly upon the satellite being released, and it blocks the sun from reaching the antennas,' Musk said of the system in April. The maverick billionaire added that the reason Starlink is so prominent from Earth with the naked eye is because of the angle of the satellite's solar panels. As the satellites rise to orbit altitude, the are at the perfect position to bounce light from the sun back to Earth, making the satellites look similar to stars. SpaceX is working to adjust this angle to avoid the issue going forward, according to Musk. Installing a sunshade on a 575lbs (260kg) satellite orbiting 341 miles above Earth is the second method SpaceX has tried to reduce the visibility of the constellation. Previously, on the January 6 launch, one satellite was covered in a dark coating, but this method caused overheating SpaceX is developing Starlink with the goal of providing high-speed internet to everyone on the globe no matter their location. However, scientists and stargazers have voiced frustrations that the devices are ruining the natural view of the sky Starlink launch delayed to focus on historic astronaut launch SpaceX's June 3 Starlink launch was delayed to focus on Saturday's historic launch of two NASA astronauts aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley took off from Launch Complex 39A at 3:22pm Saturday the first time in nine years an American crew has launched from US soil. 'Let's light this candle,' commander Hurley said just before liftoff. There was a 50 percent chance Falcon 9 would not take off due to ominous clouds and lightning risks, but the weather cleared with just 45 minutes left on the clock countdown. The Launch America mission is also the first time a private company has put astronauts into space and is the second attempt to launch after Wednesday's flight was aborted due to poor weather conditions. After reaching orbit, Falcon 9 successfully returned to Earth and was retrieved by SpaceX's autonomous spaceport drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You.' The two American astronauts later safely docked on the ISS. Advertisement Astronomers have repeatedly voiced their concerns over the project and the interference it brings. In April, a string of bright lights marched uniformly across the sky, with photographers capturing the event and sharing footage on Twitter. Some claimed it was UFOs, but it was in fact the Starlink constellation. Prominent comedian and science communicator Dara O'Briain took to social media to bemoan the man-made constellation, saying 'there goes the night sky'. In response to a user asking him for an explanation to the sight, Mr O'Briain tweeted: 'Yep, just saw them too. It's the Starlink satellite network, and Elon Musk wants to put a 1,000 of them up. There goes the night sky.' His posted garnered more than 150 replies from others who shared his disdain. Before then, astronomers had already called plans for the high-speed global internet a 'tragedy' and said they are getting in the way of key scientific observations. 'The night sky is a commons and what we have here is a tragedy of the commons,' Imperial College London astrophysicist Dave Clements told the BBC. The proposed constellations, he added, 'present a foreground between what we're observing from the Earth and the rest of the Universe. 'So they get in the way of everything. And you'll miss whatever is behind them, whether that's a nearby potentially hazardous asteroid or the most distant quasar in the Universe.' The satellites will be a particular menace to large-scale surveys of the sky, like Chile's planned Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). 'What we want to do with LSST and other telescopes is to make a real-time motion picture of how the sky is changing,' explained Dr Clements. 'Now we have these satellites that interrupt observations, and it's like someone's walking around firing a flashbulb every now and again.' Gardai are investigating an arson attack at a property where they believe tragic teen Keane Mulready-Woods was murdered and dismembered. The incident unfolded at a house in Rathmullen Park, Drogheda, at around 2am Thursday morning when an oil tank in the garden was set on fire. Gardai on patrol in the Co Louth town came across the burning tank. But sources say the fire did not spread because of the low levels of oil in the tank and it was quickly extinguished. Detectives were last night trying to establish a motive for the latest incident in the deadly Drogheda feud, which has claimed up to four lives in less than 10 months. The property is unoccupied and owned by Louth County Council but gardai believe it was the location for one of the most gruesome incidents in the history of Irish gangland. There have been no arrests in relation to Thursday mornings arson attack which is being investigated as criminal damage by fire, a source said. One theory is that the Maguire faction who were aligned to young Keane may have ordered it but it could also be some kind of message being sent out to those who masterminded the murder about not touting to gardai. Either way the arsonist did not do a very professional job and the fire was put out quickly without injury to anyone. The development comes after the Herald revealed last week that gardai believe a 25-year-old gang boss who is the leading player in the so-called anti-Maguire faction in the feud is back in the country after months on the run. For over a week detectives have been urgently trying to find the thug whose mob is the chief suspect for the gruesome murder and dismemberment of Keane (17) in January. A High Court bench warrant was issued for his arrest earlier this year when he absconded to Spain where he remained for a number of months. The gang boss who is believed to be now back in Ireland is a close associate of Paul Crosby (24) who was jailed for four-and-a-half years in April for the arson of a stolen car when he was under major garda surveillance because of his role in the bitter dispute. Gardai suspect that Crosby may have key information about the events surrounding Keanes gruesome murder in which his close associate Robbie Lawlor was a main suspect. Just hours after Keanes murder, Crosby was the target of a revenge attack when a gunman mistakenly shot an innocent taxi driver who was driving the gangster in rush-hour traffic in the Co Louth town on the evening of January 13 last. The property targeted in Rathmullen Park early this morning was searched over a number of days after the murder and gardai believe that Keane was killed there. Officers also detected blood soaked into the floorboards, while DNA testing has linked the teen to the house, according to sources. Furniture was found burnt out in a green area close to the property while burnt clothing was also recovered. Gardai also recovered a number of bloodstained machetes in a nearby shed which they believe were used to butcher Keane. The tragic teen was working for both sides of the Drogheda feud but was more closely aligned to the Owen Maguire-led faction. The 17-year-old was killed by the anti-Maguire grouping involved in the increasingly bitter gang war, gardai believe. HONG KONG Thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of Chinas crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijings Tiananmen Square. With democracy snuffed out in the mainland, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned the annual vigil that remembers victims of the 1989 crackdown. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the citys rights and liberties. Earlier Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect Chinas national anthem. Pro-democracy lawmakers had disrupted proceedings to try to prevent the vote. Despite the police ban, crowds poured into Victoria Park to light candles and observe a minute of silence at 8:09 p.m. (1209 GMT, 8:09 a.m. EDT). Many chanted Democracy nowand Stand for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. While police played recordings warning people not to participate in the unauthorized gathering, they did little to stop people from entering the park. Authorities had cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic in barricading the sprawling park, but activists saw the outbreak as a convenient excuse. If we dont come out today, we dont even know if we can still come out next year, said participant Serena Cheung. Police said they made arrests in the citys Mongkok district, where large crowds also rallied. When several protesters tried to block a road, officers rushed to detain them, using pepper spray and raising a blue flag to warn them to disperse or they would use force on the unauthorized gathering. On Twitter, they urged people not to gather in groups because of the coronavirus. After the vigil ended in Victoria Park, groups of protesters dressed in black carried flags that said, Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times as well as Hong Kong Independence. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on Tiananmen Square the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered the governments standard defense of the 1989 crackdown. The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s, Zhao Lijian said. The great achievements that we have achieved have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to Chinas national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people. On Thursday, the square where thousands of students had gathered in 1989 was quiet and largely empty. Police and armored vehicles stood guard on the vast space. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints, where they had to show IDs to be allowed through as part of nationwide mass surveillance to prevent any commemoration of the event. As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups. We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really dont want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park, said Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the governments most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago, he told The Associated Press in Taiwan, where he lives. But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government doing the same in Hong Kong. China did not intervene directly in last years protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government. Thousands were arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by now-abandoned legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The cancellation of the vigil came amid a tightening of Beijings grip over Hong Kong. Chinas ceremonial legislature last month ratified a decision to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the citys legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents. The approval of the national anthem bill, viewed as an infringement on freedom of expression, followed the recent arrest of 15 veteran activists on charges of organizing and taking part in last years demonstrations. The moves are seen as part of a steady erosion of rights that Hong Kong was guaranteed when it was handed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997. The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law, Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. About 15 members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China, the group that organizes the annual vigil, gathered at Victoria Park at 6:30 p.m. (1030 GMT, 6:30 a.m. EDT). They wore black shirts with the Chinese characters for truth emblazoned on the front. The activists lit candles and urged the public to do the same later to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan then led the group of about 15 members in a candlelit procession around the perimeter of the park, shouting slogans including, Stand with Hong Kong. We have been doing this for 30 years, we have the right to do this, this is a peaceful procession, he said, stating that it would be absurd if this behavior is criminalized. The group later removed one of the barricades surrounding the park, and entered. Eventually, thousands followed. Lee said that the danger in the national security law is that Beijing will define what is a crime. If we commemorate June 4th, condemn the massacre, (call for the) end of one-party rule, will this be labeled as subversion? We dont know, he said. Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were held elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted criticism of China and Hong Kong for banning the vigil earlier this week before meeting with a group of Tiananmen Square survivors at the State Department. Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, We urge the U.S. to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs in any form. Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press videojournalists Alice Fung and Katie Tam in Hong Kong and Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed. Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China: www.64live.org HALIFAX - Businesses such as bars, restaurants and barber shops are poised to reopen Friday across Nova Scotia, after being closed for nearly three months because of COVID-19 restrictions. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Brendan Doherty, co-owner of the Old Triangle Irish alehouse, stands in the newly arranged pub in Halifax on Thursday, June 4, 2020. The province has told restaurants and pubs they can open their establishments on Friday, June, 5 as long as they can ensure proper physical distancing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX - Businesses such as bars, restaurants and barber shops are poised to reopen Friday across Nova Scotia, after being closed for nearly three months because of COVID-19 restrictions. It's a welcome development for many including Brendan Doherty, co-owner of the Old Triangle Irish Alehouse in Halifax. "We're still here," Doherty said, chuckling, during an interview this week. "But it's been mentally trying if I'm being honest." Doherty said his popular pub, which hopes to celebrate its 20th anniversary in November, is excited to get back in business after being closed since St. Patrick's Day. However, he said that excitement is tempered by the realization that it won't be business as usual. "We really want to try to figure out what the new normal looks like and get to it," Doherty said. "It's going to be a different experience eating out." Under plans restaurants and bars must adhere to, Doherty said customers will notice right away that there isn't as much space to socialize as there used to be. The Old Triangle and most other bars and restaurants will be required to operate at 50 per cent of capacity. Doherty said his pub won't have seating at the bar, and tables will be spaced two metres apart in keeping with distancing requirements. Staff will wear masks and servers will wear a mask and gloves he said, while customers will be taken to their tables by a host stationed near the pub's only entrance. Markings will also dictate physical distancing between tables and customers will be asked to use sanitizer or to wash their hands before eating. Changes or not, Doherty expects there will be people to serve, although operating margins will be even tighter then they usually are. He said the Triangle is projecting business will be cut to about 30 per cent of previous revenues if all goes well. "It's uncharted waters for us," he said. "We're fairly confident that at 30 per cent we can survive this." Luc Erjavec, vice president Atlantic for the industry group Restaurants Canada, said there is a "big sense of trepidation" mixed with the excitement of welcoming back customers. Many restaurants aren't quite sure how customers will react to the changes or even if they'll come back in the numbers required to keep many places afloat, Erjavec said. He said estimates show about 10 per cent of Canadian restaurants have already gone out of business due to COVID-19, and reopening will be a "work in progress." "It will be different, but I just think it is so important to get this industry up and operating because it's an industry that employs someone in every single community," Erjavec said, noting He said about 40,000 Nova Scotians are employed by the restaurant business. Under the province's plan to gradually reopen sectors of the economy, hair salons and barber shops such as the one operated by Giovanna Zavarella will also offer a different experience for customers. Zavarella's shop, located at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, has been an institution at the school and in the surrounding community since 1990. The business was first established by her father Luigi in 1968. Zavarella said her father won't be returning to help out so she'll have to operate alone, handling each customer and the cleaning required after every haircut within 45-minute segments 30 minutes for the cut and 15 minutes for the cleanup. Haircuts will be by appointment only and there will be no in-shop waiting by customers, who will instead be contacted when it's their turn. Barbers will have to wear protective equipment such as glasses and masks while customers will also be required to wear a mask. "We are not able to do facial hair at this time, so no beard trimmings, no eyebrows, nose hair or anything like that," Zavarella said. She said many barbers, including herself, will likely raise prices to cover what amounts to a loss of daily business coupled with an increased overhead for things such as safety equipment and cleaning materials. Still, Zavarella is buoyed by the fact she does have customers who want to come back, saying her phone has been "ringing off the hook" in recent days. "I think I'll be ok," she said. "It's going to be tough, but I'll go fine, I'll manage." Some health providers will also reopen Friday, including dentistry, optometry, chiropractic and physiotherapy services. Stephen Richey, president of the Nova Scotia Physiotherapy Association, said patients will notice physical distancing measures in offices and the extra protective equipment used by clinicians. Richey said because of the closeness often required to deliver treatments, there will have to be risk assessments and in some cases adjustments to what can be done. But for the most part treatments won't change, he said. "We are well-educated and very competent in infection control so there's going to be ways that we can still provide the same quality of care," said Richey. Meanwhile, dental offices who are ready to reopen will do so for urgent and emergency care only. "It seems appropriate for a slow re-entry to get all of our guidelines in place and followed properly," said Dr. Joanne Thomas, president of the Nova Scotia Dental Association. Routine care for things such as regular checkups is expected to begin after June 19, she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. Equatorial Guinea have reportedly sacked a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) for falsifying the countrys figures of Coronavirus cases. AFP confirmed the news, citing a document from the foreign ministry and a source at the UN health agency The international news agency claimed WHO's representative Triphonie Nkurunziza is accused of falsifying the countrys tally of coronavirus cases. But the doctor remains in Malabo for now because there are no outbound flights to enable her to leave the country. We dont have a problem with the WHO, we have a problem with the WHOs representative in Malabo, Prime Minister Pascual Obama Asue, told the Senate late last week AFP quotes a source at the UN office in the capital, Malabo, as saying: The government has asked her to go, we have received a document she is accused of falsifying COVID-19 figures. As of Thursday morning, there have been 1306 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Equatorial Guinea with 12 deaths, 200 recoveries, and 1094 active cases. Last month, Burundi also sacked a World Health Organizations top official and three experts after they raised concerns about crowded political rallies days before the country's presidential election. Source: AFP 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 release ends a painful saga for White and his family, who had tirelessly lobbied for his freedom, saying he did nothing wrong and that his health conditions threatened his life. White was charged for insulting the supreme leader and privacy violations related to the posting of a photo of himself on social media while in the country. He underwent treatment for throat cancer before leaving for Iran. Washington: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Wednesday he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces to quell civil unrest for now, despite President Donald Trump's threats to militarize America's response to mass protests. Trump said this week he could use military forces in states that fail to crack down on sometimes violent protests over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. "The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now," Esper told a news briefing. "I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act." Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who had long refused to criticize a sitting president explicitly, on Wednesday accused Trump of trying to divide America and roundly denounced a militarization of the US response to civil unrest. Esper's news conference did not go over well with either the president or his top aides, an administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. To deploy the military on US soil for law enforcement purposes, Trump would need to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act - something last done in 1992 in response to the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. The military has pre-positioned 1,600 active duty forces on the outskirts of Washington, DC, to deploy if needed. A US official said that the Army on Wednesday had been told of a decision to send some of the active duty troops back to their home base, but Esper reversed course following a meeting at the White House and discussions at the Pentagon. Esper said he regretted using the term "battlespace" this week to describe areas gripped by protests. "In retrospect, I would use different wording so as not to distract from the more important matters at hand or allow some to suggest that we are militarizing the issue," he said. Trump's threats to deploy active duty troops even in states that oppose its use to address civil unrest has stirred alarm within the US military and in Congress, where a top Republican warned it could easily make troops "political pawns." Esper said he was unaware that he would be part of Trump's politically charged photo opportunity on Monday, when law enforcement forcibly cleared a park outside the White House of peaceful protesters so that the president could take a picture in front of a church holding a Bible. Mattis, a retired Marine general who denies political ambitions, also took a swipe at current US military leadership for participating in the Monday photo-op and criticized use of the word "battlespace" by Esper and Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In his press conference earlier, Esper acknowledged the difficulty of deploying the military without entering the political fray. "I work very hard to keep the department out of politics, which is very hard these days as we move closer and closer to an election," Esper said. Retired Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was "sickened" to see how law enforcement including the National Guard had cleared the area and warned against over-use of the US military. "Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so," Mullen wrote. Virginia Governor Orders Removal of Robert E. Lee Statue in Richmond Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Thursday announced the removal of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Richmond as soon as possible, saying it will be placed in storage. Today, were here to be honest about our past, and talk about our future, Northam said in a news briefing, adding, We have to confront where weve been in order to shape where were going. Northam said that after the six-story statue goes into storage, there will be a discussion about where it should go next. In Virginia, for more than 400 years, we have set high ideals about freedom and equality, he said, but we have fallen short of many of them. Northam made the decision following days of angry protests, some of them violent, in Richmond and across the nation over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Former officer Derek Chauvin on Wednesday was charged with second-degree murder in his death. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam speaks to the press about a mass shooting in Virginia, Beach, Va., on June 1, 2019. (Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images) When a young child looks up and sees something that big and prominent, she knows it must be important. When its the biggest thing around, it sends a clear message: This is what we value the most, Northam said. Thats not true anymore. Members of The Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization of descendants of Confederate soldiers, said the statue and other Civil War-era monuments in the city should be preserved. The Virginia Division is defending your American History and Heritage throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Fighting the narrow minded that are attacking our heritage, the group says on their website. This is a costly endeavor. A spokesperson for the Virginia Flaggers, a group that stands against the desecration of Confederate monuments, said in a statement: The Virginia Flaggers are disgusted, but certainly not surprised by Mayor Stoneys announcement today that he would introduce an ordinance July 1 to destroy the beautiful memorials on Richmonds Monument Avenue. Against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of citizens and to satisfy the demands of a small, violent group of agitators, he is asking the citizens of Richmond to spend millions to destroy national landmarks in the middle of a pandemic that has wrecked the citys economy. The spokesperson added that Monument Avenue will turn into a burned out and boarded up extension of Richmond. President Donald Trump has previously criticized the move to remove Confederate statues and monuments, writing that it was discouraging to see the history and culture of the country being ripped apart. Lee was the general of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, earning a reputation as a great military mind and tactician. (Natural News) If you were wondering where Amazon stands on all the looting and rioting taking place across America, the company has indicated that it is in full support of it. In a recent statement, the Jeff Bezos-owned e-commerce giant lent its support to the movement to take over cities and wreak havoc, indicating that it is standing in solidarity with the Black community and supports the fight against systemic racism and injustice. Bezos and his company want the world to know that they are pushing for an end to the inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country. They also support the protests that aim to dismantle the entire system, which supposedly perpetuates it. Not only do Amazons employees support this agenda, but its customers and partners supposedly do, too. This is what Amazon indicated on its Twitter page as part of an official announcement. Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the riots and looting are all part of an engineered destruction of the United States: Wait, didnt Amazon work with law enforcement to develop facial recognition technology? For those with short-term memories, this reassurance by Amazon that the company sides with black people in fighting against injustice might seem genuine. But for those who can remember back even just a year ago, it is easily identifiable as just more empty virtue signaling. As you may recall, several years back Amazon unveiled a facial recognition technology known as Rekognition that it piloted with the help of none other than the Orlando Police Department. That pilot program ended last July, however, after it failed to work correctly. What Amazon did was team up with police to test out a system of tracking and surveilling people based on their unique facial features. Once all the quirks are ironed out, this will allow law enforcement to have an even greater invasive presence in peoples lives. How any of this aligns with the goals of Black Lives Matter or Antifa, which Amazon claims to support, is incomprehensible. These two groups would seem to want anarchy and to overthrow the police, while Amazon is working directly with the police to enhance the surveillance state. Amazons partnership with law enforcement was even called out by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which warned that Amazons tech endeavors threaten the privacy rights of all Americans. Congratulations to the Orlando Police Department for finally figuring out what we long warned Amazons surveillance technology doesnt work and is a threat to our privacy and civil liberties, the ACLU announced after this Rekognition partnership between Amazon and OPD came to an end. Fast-forward to the year 2020, however, and Amazon the corporate chameleon is now claiming to be on the side of civil rights activists, some of whom want to abolish the police. The same goes for Twitter, Nike, Netflix, Spotify, and many other large corporations that in the past have aligned with the police state, but are now claiming to oppose it. We stand with the Black community our employees, our partners, artists and creators in the fight against racism, injustice and inequity, reads a tweet by Spotify, which appears to have ripped almost the same exact verbiage from Amazons tweet. We will continue to use the power of our platform to amplify Black voices so they are heard, the tweet went on to read. Spotify, in case you missed it, has been caught silencing peoples voices in the past, including those with conservative-leaning viewpoints. To keep up with the latest news about unrest and rioting, be sure to check out Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com New Delhi, June 4 : Indian Hotels, South Asia's largest hospitality company, announced that its iconic brand - Taj - is ranked number one on the list of the strongest Indian brands by Brand Finance in their coveted 'India 100 2020' report. Taj has got the rare distinction of being ranked the highest across brands in all sectors. Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, Indian Hotels Company said: "We are humbled that Brand Finance has ranked Taj as the nation's strongest brand. This recognition comes on the back of the relentless pursuit of Aspiration 2022 as South Asia's most iconic and most profitable hospitality company. Our unique service philosophy, which we refer to as Tajness, emanates from the warmth and caring Taj has stood for over a century. We remain confident of being able to carry the trust of our guests, employees and all our stakeholders with an even stronger commitment." In this report, released by the world's leading independent brand valuation consultancy, Taj achieved a brand strength index (BSI) score of 90.5 out of 100 and a corresponding elite AAA+ brand strength rating based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, employee satisfaction, customer experience and corporate reputation. Brand Finance defines Brand Strength as the efficacy of a brand's performance on intangible measures, relative to its competitors. Each brand is assigned a BSI score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the calculations, each brand is assigned a corresponding rating up to AAA in a format similar to credit rating. After three years of searching for her birth family in South Korea making trip after trip, passing out flyers, broadcasting her story on local media and, finally, chasing down a DNA lead Kara Bos found her biological father in March. But when she showed up at his doorstep in Seoul, hoping to learn the identity of her Korean mother, Bos was met with silence and a send-off. Her story is not uncommon in South Korea, which, since 1953, has sent nearly 168,000 of its children to families overseas. That figure includes Bos, sent during the peak of international adoption in the 1980s, and the 317 sent just last year. As adults, many adoptees return to South Korea, asking questions about who they are and where they come from. But getting the answers is a battle. Kara Bos when she was called Kang Mee-sook in 1984, and was adopted in the same year by a family in Michigan. (Courtesy Kara Bos) Hitting dead end after dead end, navigating a system riddled with obstacles including missing and withheld records, altered names and birthdates, and the strong social stigma attached to children born out-of-wedlock that causes some birth parents to keep them a secret, to name just a few Bos went down one last path: a paternity lawsuit. Everything was continuously blocked. The fact that he is 85 was the main reason why I kept going, she told NBC Asian America of her biological father. He is my only link to my mother, and if he dies, everything goes with him, without even having a single chance to be able to talk to him and to ask him who my mother is. The paternity suit is the first to be brought by an overseas adoptee in South Korea. If successful, Bos, who lives in Amsterdam with her Dutch husband and their two children, will gain legal recognition as her Korean fathers daughter, officially being entered into his family registry. Kara Bos with her family in Seoul in 2019. (Courtesy Kara Bos) But more important to her, Bos might be able to get to who this is all about: her birth mother. She hopes that with her newfound legal status will come her fathers willingness to give her the information she seeks. The ruling will be announced June 12 in Seoul Family Court, and Bos wants to be in South Korea to hear it in person. Story continues It really is a basic and humble request to know our origins, and yet this right has not been adequately protected by law for adoptees, said Han Boon-young, managing director of Adoptees for Justice Korea. Consequently, we end up in situations like Karas, with huge prolonged emotional and financial costs. On Nov. 18, 1983, Kara Bos was not yet Kara Bos; she was Kang Mee-sook. Found alone, dressed in a red silk coat, in a market parking lot in Goesan, she told the authorities her name and that she was 2 years old. In 1984, Bos was adopted by Russell and Mariann Bedell, of Sheridan, Michigan. Growing up with her adoptive siblings Jenn and Tim, she was largely disinterested in her adoption story, her heritage or her homeland. Even when Bos traveled to South Korea for the first time in 2006, she didnt have any intention of pursuing a birth-family search, or shouldering any of the emotional and financial burdens that come along with it. Kara Bos meets her adoptive family in 1984. (Courtesy Kara Bos) That changed, however, in 2016, as Boss own daughter was approaching the age she was when she had been abandoned. It wasnt until I saw her and how much we were involved with each other and how much she knew me and how deep our relationship was that I really grasped what it would be like to release her as a mother but also to be released as a child, she said. Bos started researching adoptee forums on Facebook, adoptee rights organizations and online genealogy platforms. She took a DNA test through Family Tree DNA, then uploaded the results to MyHeritage. A couple years and several trips to South Korea later, she logged into her account to find shed matched with someone. He would turn out to be her nephew, or the grandson of her biological father. After the nephews mother and aunts Boss assumed half-sisters barred her from reaching their father, Bos went to one of their homes, kneeling and begging for contact. After the woman called security, Bos sought out an attorney. Then, on Nov. 18, 2019, on the 36-year-anniversary of her abandonment, Bos filed her lawsuit. The court ordered a DNA test, and Bos flew to South Korea to undergo it in March. That day was the day she visited her assumed fathers apartment in Seoul, trying to speak to him and his wife in broken Korean. It was unclear to Bos whether the man knew anything about her or the lawsuit, which is being handled by his daughters. About a month later, Boss assumed father underwent his DNA test. When the results came back, she was validated. I felt finally justified. At a certain point, you truly start to doubt yourself, especially when everyone keeps telling you its impossible, she said. I felt finally like the truth had come out. The test showed there was a 99.9981 percent probability he is her father. With this information, the Seoul Family Court will make its judgment next week. While a win for Bos would formally register her in the family records, it does not legally compel her biological father to meet with her or give her any details on her birth mother, said Im Han-kyul, the associate attorney on her case, but they are hopeful it will happen. What other affect the lawsuit could have on Boss citizenship status or otherwise is still being worked out. For adoptees, whats most telling in this case is that it came to a lawsuit. This is one of the results of the adoption system. It shows how far some of us have to go to see our families and obtain information, said Kristin Pak, policy director of SPEAK, Solidarity & Political Engagement of Adoptees in Korea. It might have far-reaching effects. It might make some parents more reluctant to come forward. But adoptees hope that as Korean society becomes more aware of adoption, the prejudice that plagues it can be eradicated. Truth has to break the stigmatization, Bos said. That stigmatization is whats evidently wrong in this. Harness and activate ideas to collectively solve problems quickly in achieving sustainable business continuity during challenging times AUSTIN, Texas, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SoftServe , a leading digital authority and consulting company, is offering a free trial of its Innovation Platform for 90-days to help businesses operationalize ideas to solve problems, particularly during COVID-19. New users must sign-up during June to initiate the 90-day free trial for their company. "An essential part of solving operational problems during a crisis is tapping into the collective creativity of your business with a platform that supports the ideas around which innovation thrives," said Taras Kholopkin, Transformation Platforms Director at SoftServe. "Whether it's quick fire 'shark tank' sessions for a startup, or long-term strategy planning for a Fortune 500, our Innovation Platform facilitates collaboration, enablement, and activation of ideas to achieve structure and agility at a time when they're needed most." The Innovation Platform is a key offering of SoftServe's Innovation Practice. In concert with the company's rapid prototyping service, a dedicated account executive works with you every step of the way to help frame the right questions, define challenges, and identify the best opportunities to deliver on those ideas. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be felt around the world as businesses continue to shift focus to navigating day-to-day operations, with limited resources for developing a sustainable recovery plan. With a collaborative platform, you have a tangible asset to keep innovation going with a way to gather, test, and implement crowdsourced ideas for long-term solutions. In times of crisis, this allows businesses of every shape and size in every sector to be incredibly strategic. Carolinas Alliance 4 Innovation (CA4I) is a South Carolina-based nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to promote innovative solutions in transportation, infrastructure, engineering, and education for the purpose of economic development. CA4I is leveraging SoftServe's Innovation Platform to gather responses about the barriers to employment for job seekers in Greenville, SC. This will help CA4I understand how mobility problems are a factor so it can optimize its Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solution to help accelerate the post-COVID-19 economic recovery for South Carolina. "SoftServe has enabled us to begin innovating systems and processes, as well as attracting innovative technologies and companies in our mission to promote economic and community development," said Fred Payne, former Greenville County Councilman and CA4I Board Member. "They have always shown creative ideas and dependable commitments toward solving challenges with innovative technology solutions. Words are inadequate to describe our deep appreciation of what SoftServe has done and how they have done it." SoftServe's Innovation Platform uses a three-step approach that helps you capture and rapidly turn good ideas into great ones, and translate these into actions and outcomes. Capture, Discuss, and Prioritize Ideas-Involve your employees, partners, and customers to contribute, collaborate, discover, and problem-solve. Refine and Test Concepts-While ideation is a key aspect of innovation, the real difference lies in how quickly companies learn from experiments. The Innovation Platform is unique, as it takes you beyond simply gathering ideas so your business can maximize the velocity of experimentation through rapid prototyping, collaborative reviews, surveys, usability testing, and other validation methods. Take Action-Craft a well-planned execution strategy for how to turn your great ideas into actions that drive outcomes and value for your business. If you're ready to see how SoftServe's Innovation Platform can enable your business to identify opportunities and quickly turn ideas into successful outcomes that solve your toughest problems, please visit Innovation Platform for more details. About SoftServe SoftServe is a digital authority that advises and provides at the cutting-edge of technology. We reveal, transform, accelerate, and optimize the way enterprises and software companies do business. With expertise across healthcare, retail, energy, financial services, software, and more, we implement end-to-end solutions to deliver the innovation, quality, and speed that our clients' users expect. SoftServe delivers open innovation-from generating compelling new ideas, to developing and implementing transformational products and services. Our work and client experience is built on a foundation of empathetic, human-focused experience design that ensures continuity from concept to release. We empower enterprises and software companies to (re)identify differentiation, accelerate solution development, and vigorously compete in today's digital economy. No matter where you are in your journey. Visit our website , blog , LinkedIn , Facebook , and Twitter pages. SoftServe Press Contact Tyler Mahan Public Relations Manager tgarr@softserveinc.com 830-832-8898 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1175995/innovation_platform.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812484/SoftServe_Logo.jpg (TNS) A device originally designed by Northwestern University engineers to record progress in stroke patients has been repurposed to study the effects of COVID-19 as it runs its course through the human body, university officials said.The device, which looks like a thick, rubbery Band-Aid and attaches to the neck with adhesive, collects around-the-clock data on coughs, temperature and breathing, said John Rogers, the biomedical engineering professor leading the project in partnership with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where patients have been participating in a trial that started two and a half weeks ago. So far, scientists have collected about 3,000 hours of data from roughly two dozen COVID-19 patients.The devices also can be used on health care providers to monitor their bodies for symptoms of COVID-19, providing a more exact early warning system for infection, Rogers said.Northwestern announced a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to further the research. The money will fund work to add a blood oxygenation sensor to the devices and to develop better data analytics that would make the information collected more user-friendly for doctors, Rogers said. Some of the work is being coordinated with computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.The devices are Bluetooth-enabled and upload the data they collect to a tablet computer.The devices could lessen the stress on the health care system, both by allowing for precise monitoring of some patients remotely and by helping identify infected doctors and nurses earlier, Rogers said.Our device addresses a key issue in the COVID-19 pandemic: the limited capacity of health care systems, Rogers said. By continuously monitoring high-risk individuals, such as health care workers and the elderly, we can minimize the number of unnecessary hospital visits and provide an early warning to enable preventive measures.Already in use at Shirley Ryan, the devices will also be used at Northwestern Memorial Hospital soon, he said, and later at other facilities.Rogers research group has also worked on similar devices to monitor and treat premature infants in neonatal intensive care units. The technology was originally developed by Rogers group of engineers, along with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, to monitor the progress in recovery of speech, breathing and swallowing abilities among people who had suffered strokes, he said. More than 100 stroke patients have been using the devices before Rogers was asked to adapt the technology to measure COVID-19 symptoms.Given supply chain hurdles caused by the pandemic, the engineers are still making the devices themselves. Once they can be mass-produced in factories, Rogers said they would likely cost between $10 and $20 each.Rogers said his team is currently working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to use the devices to battle COVID-19 in Zambia, Kenya and Ghana. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has been required to apologize for sending a document requesting local airlines to provide its officials with 400 free domestic flight tickets for their business trips. The VNAT and the Office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism organized an irregular press meeting on Thursday morning to address issues related to the document, which was sent to Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways on Tuesday. In the document, the VNAT asked the three airlines to supply its officials with 400 free domestic flight tickets, which would be used for their business trips for the purpose of promoting post-pandemic tourism in the country. At the press meeting, VNAT vice-director Nguyen Le Phuc sought the airlines empathy and understanding over the inappropriate document. Phuc went on to explain that the document was part of a cooperation agreement between the VNAT and the local airlines that was reached in February but its implementation was postponed due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic. Such collaboration has been carried out for years, the official said, adding that local carriers have been providing transportation assistance to tourism officials and reporters who are involved in tourism promotion plans. However, issuing the document at such a sensitive time as when the aviation sector has just been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic is inappropriate, Phuc stated. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Le Quang Tung has ordered the VNAT to apologize to the three airlines and withdraw the unsuitable and unnecessary document. The VNAT must also review the responsibility of those involved, Tung stated. Airlines willing to give away free tickets At the media meeting, representatives of Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air stated that their ties with the VNAT have been very important over the past years. Local airlines are always willing to cooperate and look forward to such cooperation plans on tourism promotion, the representatives elaborated. Tourism is a series of close cooperation between the state and local tourism associations, accommodation establishments, and transportation firms, the Vietnam Airlines representative remarked. For many years, our firm and the VNAT have conducted multiple cooperation programs. We are willing to be part of such programs, especially in this period when tourism promotion is significant to the recovery of the aviation industry. Vietjet Air shared a similar opinion, stating that the number of free tickets proposed by the VNAT was not big, and the airline is willing to provide the support. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Climbing into the saddle, he adjusts the scarf protecting his head from the sun and, with a tap on the camel's back, the caravan sets off. Thierry Tillet is again off to explore the vast Saharan desert, at the head of a nine-camel convoy with three other riders. At 68, the Frenchman is one of the last European explorers since the end of the 19th century to dedicate much of his life -- 47 years -- to crisscrossing the Sahara. This expedition, which began before the coronavirus epidemic, starts and ends at two desert jewels in central Mauritania. From Tichitt, the convoy is headed east to Oualata, 300 kilometres (185 miles) away, travelling in single file over a sandy, rocky landscape. For the first time, Tillet -- or Ghabidine, as a Tuareg friend renamed him -- is taking journalists along "so that this knowledge reaches the general public". Perched on the back of his swaying camel, Tillet wears an old, holey T-shirt and worn sandals. On-the-ground information from locals is key to Tillet's preparations before leaving on an expedition / AFP With his tousled, white hair and stubbled chin, it's easy to forget he's an authority in his field. For many years he was a member of the anthropology laboratory at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He was also professor of prehistoric archaeology at Grenoble University and taught in Chad, Niger and Mali. Throughout, he would go back and forth to the Sahara. He has documented Neolithic civilisations, overseen the inventory of Malian archaeological sites and discovered a dinosaur skeleton in the Tenere desert in Niger. "Sometimes, small fragments of discovered tools contain more information than a dinosaur, even if it's less spectacular," Tillet says. - In all its diversity - Exploring the history of the world's largest expanse of arid land is a hugely diverse venture. It can range from the forgotten religious centres of Sufi brotherhoods in northern Mali, to the sandstone plateaus in northeastern Chad and prehistoric Saharan settlements in Niger. But trading his camel for the comfort of an air-conditioned vehicle as his mode of transport isn't an option for Tillet. "You're going at the speed of the camel, and that allows me to observe and spot a number of things on the ground," he says. Travelling at a camel's pace provides a greater chance of spotting artefacts in the sand, Tillet says / AFP "In a car I wouldn't be able to do that, it moves too quickly." Each trip brings something new, be it publications in scientific works, "a few stones brought back for research" or photos of objects from the Neolithic era, the last period of the Stone Age. Currently it's an 11th-century caravan depot lost in the Mauritanian dunes, the Ma'den Ijafen, that begs to be found. "It was Theodore (Monod, the late French explorer) who discovered it in 1956," Tillet says. "He asked me to go back there." For three years now, he has been searching and, on this expedition, wants to ask around among nomadic shepherds. - The revealing winds - Tillet does not consider himself an adventurer or a daredevil. "Exploration carries with it a fantasy. I'm not trying to discover the unknown, but to discover what exists!" he says. "That is true scientific exploration." In this part of the Sahara, prehistoric artefacts are everywhere, constantly revealed by an omnipresent wind, but indistinguishable to the untrained eye. "In a continental climate, it's often necessary to dig... Here, it's all on the surface." For three years, Tillet has been searching for signs of an 11th-century caravan depot, the Ma'den Ijafen, lost in the Mauritanian dunes / AFP Without warning, he pulls the reins to stop, on spotting something interesting. If he doesn't know what it is, he takes notes and -- in his only recourse to 21st-century technology -- satellite coordinates using a GPS. Once home in southwestern France's Perigord region, he will transfer them onto a map, tirelessly completing what he calls his "spider's web". The hundreds of GPS points are not only a scientific record but suggest the route of his next expedition. - Searching for a bull - Tillet, the son of Parisian bakers, said his love of Africa and archaeology began after hearing stories as a child. But it was his first university professor who ignited the desire to go and see it for himself, encouraging him to focus on the Sahara. On his first trip -- in Algeria -- it rained a lot. "For someone wanting to study the Sahara, it was a bad start!" he says, laughing. Tillet's wife occasionally used to accompany him on his explorations. But this time, his companions are Ahmadou, Sheih and Ahmed, whom he has known for many years. Looks, gestures and common phrases in mixed mother tongues make up for any language barriers. The days are punctuated by the same rituals: a sunrise departure, stops to drink green tea and finding a place where they can make supper before sleeping under the stars as the camels graze. If he finds something interesting and doesn't know what it is, he takes notes and GPS satellite coordinates which he then transfers onto a map once he's back in France / AFP After two days, the caravan stops at Akreijit, an archaeological site discovered in 1934 by Monod and partly restored by a French team at the end of the last century. The foundations of the old buildings are visible again. European tourists disembark from their 4x4s in a cloud of dust and briskly visit the old town, just last year removed from the "red zones where the French foreign ministry advises against travel. Tillet looks for a drawing of a bull on a rock, located during a previous visit. "It is two metres (6.5 feet) long, he says. My GPS point tells me it's in 22 metres." He scans and searches, passing repeatedly through the ruins, but finds nothing. - 'At great risk' - Concerned about kidnappings, the French authorities are not always happy about the caravan's off-the-radar trips. "These people are as worrying as they are fascinating, so we have to keep an eye out," a French diplomat in the sub-region later told AFP. Three-quarters of the caravan's route are in areas that travellers are officially advised by the French government to avoid. The caravan travelled from the former desert jewel of Tichitt to Oualata, 300 kilometres (185 miles) away / AFP Objectively, he sometimes puts himself at great risk, acknowledged Pierre Touya, president of the Association of Saharans which groups archaeologists, geographers and other enthusiasts. Still, "he remains rational, does very good research and is supported by local knowledge," he said. On-the-ground information from locals is key to Tillet's preparations before leaving. By email and phone, he finds out about nomadic tribes' movements or where there are wells for the animals to drink. For decades, the region has been buffeted by inter-communal clashes, separatist insurgencies and conflicts between religious groups -- and Tillet has often found himself on the front row. In the 1990s, he met Iyad Ag Ghaly, then a rebel leader and now head of one of the main jihadist coalitions. He also met French ethnologist Francoise Claustre in Chad before she was kidnapped in 1974 by Hissene Habre's rebels. Concerned about kidnappings, the French authorities are not always happy about the caravan's off-the-radar trips / AFP And he has shared mechoui, a meal of slow-roasted lamb, with former Malian president and fellow archaeologist Alpha Oumar Konare. "As long as I don't bump into the bastards, it's all right," he smiles, talking about the jihadists, who are an escalating threat in the Sahel region. In 2009, he was forced to hide in the northern Malian town of Kidal. Alerted to the presence of "likely unfriendly" groups at a time when Tuareg independence rebellions and jihadist groups were emerging, he left at 4:00 am in a pick-up truck, his head down and face hidden. That same year, he and his camel team were woken in the night by the blinding light of a surveillance drone in the desert of Mali's Taoudenit region. The jihadist expansion in the Sahel-Saharan strip has reduced exploration possibilities. But, according to a source close to the authorities, interviewed in Mauritanias capital, Nouakchott, a security grid set up a decade ago to counter the emerging jihadist influence is "once again allowing scientists and tourists to come". - 'So much to document' - It's day four and, after a cold night, he groans from the pain of an old foot injury as he climbs into the saddle. But, neither the discomfort nor deteriorating regional security will stop him. Next year Tillet is planning a more than 1,000-km route in the Sahara, his longest yet / AFP This desert is "the place where I feel the best, where you can't go wrong", he says. When he reaches Oualata near the Mali border after what will have been a two-week journey, Tillet plans to relax and drink tea with an old acquaintance. Even if he didn't find the elusive caravan depot this time, he's happy with the information gleaned. Previously the projects were funded by his former employer, the CNRS, but since retiring in 2012, he pays the several thousand euros needed for the trip himself. Monod got off his camel for the last time aged 93 and Tillet, a member of the French Society of Explorers, hopes to go on for a long while yet. "There's still so much to document," he says. For next year he is planning his longest route so far, at more than 1,000 km, back in the Sahara, with its many silences but, as he says, "where it's never boring". A Navy veteran detained in Iran since 2018 after visiting a woman he met online has been freed in a prisoner swap deal, officials said Thursday. Michael White flew from Tehran to Zurich, where he was met by diplomat Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran. After speaking to the president from Switzerland, White said he 'wanted to extend his personal thanks' to Donald Trump 'for his efforts both diplomatically and otherwise.' White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with. He said Thursday the first thing he will do when he gets home is 'go to Disney World'. His release was part of an agreement that spared an American-Iranian physician any more time behind American bars. In Atlanta, a federal judge approved a sentencing agreement for Florida dermatologist Matteo Taerri, who had been charged with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran as well as banking laws. Michael White holds an American flag as he poses for a photo with U,S, special envoy for Iran Brian Hook at the Zurich, Switzerland, airport after White's release from Iran White, a Navy veteran who's been detained in Iran for nearly two years has been released and is making his way home, with the first leg on a Swiss government aircraft President Trump had earlier tweeted: 'I am to happy announce that Navy Veteran, Michael White, who has been detained by Iran for 683 days, is on a Swiss plane that just left Iranian Airspace. 'We expect him to be home with his family in America very soon. I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! Thank you Switzerland for your great assistance.' White was convicted of insulting Irans supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison. 'The nightmare is over,' his mother Joanne White said in a statement. White, who has battled cancer, had been among tens of thousands of prisoners granted medical furloughs by Iran as the country tried to curbed the spread of the coronavirus. He said Thursday: 'I am recovering pretty decently, getting back into shape. I was really in poor shape then. But I am getting a lot better as a result of Swiss embassy and all of the efforts of the Trump administration.' White's release comes two days after the United States deported Sirous Asgari, an Iranian professor imprisoned in the United States despite being acquitted on charges of stealing trade secrets. Iranian media reported his arrival on Wednesday. Both the U.S. State Department and Iranian officials have repeatedly denied that Asgari was part of a swap with White, or anyone else and said his case was separate. White's release was predicated on another prisoner deal. As White flew to Switzerland, U.S. prosecutors completed the American part of the arrangement by asking a judge to sentence Taerri to time served on his conviction stemming from the 2018 charges. 'There are numerous foreign policy interests that are furthered by this particular sentence,' U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May said in granting the government's request. Taerri was charged with attempting to export a filter to Iran that he said was for vaccine research but that U.S. authorities said required a license because it could be used for chemical and biological warfare purposes. White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with He was also accused of structuring a series of bank deposits below the $10,000 limit to evade reporting requirements under federal law. He pleaded guilty late last year and has already served months behind bars, but in April was permitted to be free on bond pending his sentence. The Justice Department in March withdrew its request to have him detained, citing what it said were significant foreign policy interests. 'The United States government and the government of Iran have been negotiating the release of a U.S. citizen held in Iranian custody,' prosecutor Tracia King said at the hearing. 'This case, and more specifically the sentence recommendation, is directly related to these negotiations.' A citizen of Iran and the United States, Taerri is permitted as part of his sentence to remain in America and to travel abroad. U.S. Navy veteran Michael White in Mashhad, Iran. White, a Navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years, has been released and is on his way home The two countries are at bitter odds over U.S. penalties imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal and over the killing by American forces of a top Iranian general in Iraq at the beginning of this year. 'I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely in American custody and on his way home,' Whites mother, Joanne White, had said in a statement. She thanked the State Department and Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and onetime New Mexico governor, for raising her sons case with the Iranians. 'Simply put, the 'charges' against Michael were pretexts for a state-sponsored kidnap-for-ransom scheme,' family spokesman Jon Franks said in a statement Thursday. 'The tragedy of this case is Michael's only only crime was falling in love with Iran and its people for whom he cares deeply.' Michael R. White, right, is seen with his mother, Joanne White, left. White has been released as part of an unusual agreement to free an Iranian-American physician who was prosecuted in the United States, U.S. officials said Thursday White, who has battled cancer, had been among tens of thousands of prisoners granted medical furloughs by Iran as the country tried to curbed the spread of the coronavirus White was turned over to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. He was among tens of thousands of prisoners granted medical furloughs by Iran, which was one of the first countries to be hit hard by the pandemic. White had also gone on hunger strike in March. Hook, the State Department's Special Representative for Iran, said: 'Michael White's a pretty tough guy. He's a cancer survivor. He has now survived two years in Iranian prison where he was beaten in prison. He then contracted in COVID and survived. 'The Iranian regime has a history of using Americans as political pawns.' White's mother has told The Associated Press that she was especially concerned about her son's health because of his battles with cancer, and Richardson called on Iran to grant him an immediate humanitarian evacuation. Trump administration officials in recent months stepped up public pressure to release White. Last month, for instance, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned White by name and thanked Switzerland for its work on arranging the medical furlough. White was convicted of insulting Irans supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison The U.S. has also called on Iran to release other Americans who are still jailed. Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American national, remains in Iran's Evin prison after being convicted of collaborating with the United States charges a U.N. panel has said are bogus. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with U.S. and British citizenship, was part of a group of environmental activists sentenced on espionage charges and remains in custody. In her statement, White said her prayers were with their families and 'the families of so many other wrongfully detained Americans around the world.' Namazi's brother, Babak, said he was happy for the White family but distressed that his brother was not released. He also noted that his 84-year-old father, Baquer, who was also convicted, is out of prison but has not been permitted to leave Iran despite his poor health. In December, Iran released Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American Princeton University scholar held for three years on widely disputed espionage charges, in exchange for the release of a detained Iranian scientist. In March, the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran 13 years ago, said they had been informed that U.S. officials had determined that Levinson was probably dead. Officials have not said how they reached that conclusion. What started as a group of community members calling for police reform outside the Lebanon County Courthouse Thursday afternoon morphed into a passionate march through the streets of Lebanon. The protest over Minneapolis resident George Floyds death while in police custody was similar to that of many others that have taken place in cities across the country in the past week, including in central Pennsylvania cities such as Harrisburg and Lancaster. Held outside the courthouse on the 400 block of South Eighth Street, the protest gave people of all backgrounds a chance to voice frustration with the racial inequalities theyve experienced. Kati Stankovich, of Lebanon, said she came out in support for her half-black nieces and nephews, who she doesnt want to grow up believing theyre different just because of the color of their skin. It affects all of us, no matter your community, said 36-year-old Megan Leinbach, who lives near Myerstown. Its not just an urban issue." Protesters are gathered outside the Lebanon County Courthouse in Lebanon, Pa. to speak out against the death of George Floyd. There are roughly 400 people here in support. Posted by PennLive.com on Thursday, June 4, 2020 One of the organizers, Abigail Bragunier, said she expected to only get 10 responses when she created the Facebook event, but was pleasantly surprised to see roughly 500 people turn out in the sweltering summer heat Thursday. Bragunier and her co-organizers planned the event with the support of both Mayor Sherry Capello and Police Chief Todd Breiner, both of whom were at the protest. We cannot change until we change our community, one protester said. We can preach, and preach all damn day long, but until we come together and unite as one, theres no change. Get to know your neighbor." After a number of speeches were given expressing outrage and sadness over the deaths of Floyd and other unarmed black men, the protesters began calling for Breiner and the handful of other officers in attendance to join them. The officers eventually walked into the crowd, linked arm in arm with several community members. But the group became upset when police didnt answer requests for them to kneel alongside the protesters. Several, appearing to take this as a sign of disrespect, began to lead the crowd on a march through city blocks in which they chanted Floyds name, Hands up, dont shoot and similar phrases. The march continued for nearly two hours. At times, the crowd would stop and link arms in intersections such as Lincoln and Cumberland. Pennsylvania State Police and a number of local police departments were on standby outside the courthouse Thursday afternoon, but the protests remained peaceful as of 4 p.m. I feel like a lot of people dont understand what its like to be a black person and live in America, said Michelle Yeboah, a 20-year-old from Lebanon. Were in the middle of a pandemic and you still find time to kill people? Its just the last straw for us. Group of officers was waiting at Lincoln and Cumberland pic.twitter.com/GoxiHQIHFj Nora Shelly (@noracshelly) June 4, 2020 READ MORE: Gov. Tom Wolf talks about reforms stemming from George Floyd protests: Watch live Central Pa. police officer accused of reenacting George Floyds death at party: report Barack Obama speech: Former President steps out as nation confronts confluence of crises According to intelligence data, at least one member of Russia-led forces was wounded on June 3. Russia's hybrid military forces on June 3 mounted four attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "The Russian Federation's armed formations violated the ceasefire four 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 June 4, 2020. Read alsoDaredevil activists go for pro-Ukrainian stunt in occupied Donbas (Photo) Russia-led forces opened fire from grenade launchers of various types, cannons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, and heavy machine guns. Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the villages of Pavlopil, Shyrokyne, and Bohdanivka. Joint Forces returned fire to each enemy shelling. According to intelligence data, at least one member of Russia-led forces was wounded on June 3. The enemy did not attack Ukrainian positions from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on June 4. No Ukrainian army casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops over the period under review. As a presidential candidate, Julian Castro was outspoken about the need for police reform in America, releasing a detailed policy plan to bring about change. Calls for reform have perhaps never been louder in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparking protests across the country, including here in San Antonio. The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Wednesday opposed a request for 0.5 per cent of Federation Account revenue to be deducted and transferred to the Police Trust Fund (PTF). The request was made by the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, through a letter he wrote to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed. Mr Dingyadi is seeking a direct funding of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund from the Federation Account. Request A copy of the letter sent to the Chairman of the RMAFC, Elias Mbam, made reference to the Nigeria Police Trust Fund establishment Act 2019, which listed its sources of funding to include 0.5 per cent of the total revenue accruing to the Federation Account. The letter also listed other sources of the Trust Funds funding to include 0.005 per cent of the net profit of companies operating as business in Nigeria; any takeoff grant, special intervention fund as may be provided by the federal, state and local governments in the federation. Other listed sources included such monies as may be appropriated to meet the objectives of the Act by the National Assembly in the federal budget, aids, grant, and assistance from international bilateral and multinational agencies, non-governmental organisations and private sectors. The sources also covered grants, donations, endowment, bequests, and gifts, whether of money, land or any other property from any source as well as monies derived from investments made by the trust fund. Mr Maigari requested the finance minister to issue directives to all the appropriate authorities in charge of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to effect the monthly deductions in favour of the Trust Fund. He said all monthly deductions of the share of the Police Trust Fund from the Federation Account should be transferred into its dedicated account effective January 2020. Mr Maigari also requested the minister to direct the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to deduct and remit 0.005 per cent of the net profit of the companies operating in Nigeria to the Trust Fund as stated in the Act effective January 2020. Also, he said the ninister should direct the Accountant General of the Federation to open a dedicated account for the Police Trust Fund in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the the purpose of holding the remittances. He also sought the approval of the minister to nominate a representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance into the Board of Trustees of the Trust Fund as stated in its establishment Act. RMAFAC reacts However, in his response, the Chairman, RMAFC, Elias Mbam, told the Minister of Police Affairs that his series of requests are in breach of the provisions of the Constitution. Mr Mbam said listing the sources of funding for the Trust Fund to include 0.5 per cent of the total revenue accruing to the Federation Account was inconsistent with the provisions of Section162(3) of the 1999 constitution as amended. The section directs that all funds collected in the Federation Account should be distributed among the three tiers of government Federal, State and Local Governments in the Federation and their shares utilised to meet their respective obligations. The provisions did not include the Nigeria Police Trust Fund as part of the beneficiaries from the Federation Account accruals. Also, Mr Mbam told the police affairs minister that Section 4 (1) (a) of the Nigerian Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019, which imposes 0.005 per cent levy on all Nigerian businesses was also inconsistent with the provision of the constitution cited above. The RMAFC boss said any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be null and void to the extent of its inconsistency. He said the Supreme Court had laid to rest the proper mode of distribution of funds accruing to the Federation Account in the case between Attorney General of the Federation Vs Attorney General of Abia State (No. 2)(2002)6 NWLR, Pt. 764. 542. In the case, Mr Mbam said, The apex court declared as unconstitutional, null and void any other beneficiary from the federation that was not list as first line charge. Those listed as qualified as first line charge beneficiaries from the Federation Account included funding for the judiciary; servicing of external debt; funding of joint venture contracts and NNPC priority projects, and allocation of one per cent of revenue in the Federation Account to the Federal Capital Territory. Advertisements The RMAFC said it has already sent a response to minister of police affairs to object to his request. The RMAFC is responsible for monitoring accruals of revenues into the federation account from various revenue generating agencies as well as disbursements of all the accruals to the three tiers of government. RMAFC also gives advice to the federal, state and local governments on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenues can be increased. We are focused on accelerating the necessary dialogue for the benefit of advisors, their firms, and most importantly their clients. The Money Management Institute (MMI) and Financial Advisor Magazine are joining forces to take on the Next Big Thing the transition of the financial advice industry to managing retirement. The initiative, Next Chapter, will focus on the long-heralded retirement age wave with specific efforts to support financial advisors, investment managers, income product companies, and service, technology, and planning providers. Financial Advisor has a rich history of providing thought leadership and best practice guidance to advisors. As the leading industry association representing financial services firms that provide investment advice and solutions, MMI facilitates collaboration among investment managers, broker-dealers, FinTech providers, and most recently insurance and annuity companies. The new partnership is aimed directly at helping advisors and their firms work better together and deliver investment advisory solutions that effectively integrate human and digital capabilities. For years weve talked about the coming decumulation phase for Baby Boomer clients, said Craig Pfeiffer, President and CEO of MMI. Weve reached a demographic tipping point where half of the Baby Boomer population is at the age 65 target point or beyond it. We are focused on accelerating the necessary dialogue for the benefit of advisors, their firms, and most importantly their clients. Its time to take real action, especially in light of our current challenging times. The best financial advisors are already leading the way by providing solutions for their clients that account for the challenges of longevity. With Next Chapter, we plan to provide them with greater support and more innovation, added Gary Holland, CEO of Charter Financial Publishing Network, the parent company of Financial Advisor. COVID-19 burst the bull market bubble and reframed retirement and planning. Wealth is now tied to health, and we are all re-assessing our life priorities. What does that Next Chapter hold for clients, their advisors, and the firms that supply critical resources and innovation? We are taking action to drive better outcomes, said Steve Gresham, who will serve as Managing Partner of the Next Chapter initiative. Next Chapters direction and programming will be guided by two steering councils a Leadership Council, which includes Pfeiffer, Holland, and Gresham, and an Advisory Council. Both groups are comprised of senior executives from firms across the investment advice industry infrastructure. The Next Chapter leadership team includes Evan Simonoff, Editor-in-Chief of Financial Advisor, David Smith, Co-Founder and Group Publisher of Charter Financial Publishing Network, and Joan Lensing, Chief Programming Officer of MMI. Background Hidden behind the March 2020 bear market and the COVID-19 pandemic is a new golden age of financial advice that provides a unique opportunity for the advisors and firms willing to answer the call. Baby Boomers have driven the modern economy and are now moving en masse from accumulation to distribution just as pundits have been forecasting for thirty years. Added Gresham, We are smack in the middle of the demographic bell curve with the median Boomer at 64. An advice industry built to help clients invest for retirement has been slow to adjust to the demands of managing and funding that retirement which is a much different and more complex endeavor than investing. To best serve the rapidly evolving needs of this demographic, the industry must come to grips with a new normal, The Retirement Income Age. Objectives: The Four Pillars of Next Chapter Next Chapter will focus on delivering content and programming that addresses four key areas: Better Planning Better application, integration, and adoption of planning tools, including simpler and more approachable unbundled planning Supporting Longevity and Financial Wellness Better understanding of the real-life transitions of longevity, and how to support clients life and health, integrating health and wealth Harnessing the Power of Technology Better adoption of appropriate technology, including CRM and data, alongside human capabilities, leveraging the impact of machines, and creating capacity for essential human actions More Effective Retirement Income Solutions Better deployment of a broader array of financial planning and retirement income solutions and products, including protected lifetime income and creative solutions that incorporate tax efficiency and managing household assets Delivery COVID-19 has created a more robust and connected virtual community. FA and MMI hope to gather their separate constituents in person when safe to do so, but will in the short-term focus on virtual delivery of educational and development tracks for members of the unified retirement income profession: Topical webinars aligned with each of the Four Pillars thought leadership, but with an emphasis on deployment and how to apply the insights to your business Advisor master classes focused on best practices featuring case studies of leading advisors sharing their approach to specific retirement management scenarios Organizational leadership workshops sessions featuring successful industry leaders who can help firms with the challenges of transitioning to retirement income and management Resources a dedicated landing page to house all the focused content and provide support to all members of the community Join us! Participate watch for further launch announcements about our content and programming Become a leader submit your ideas and insights to be published for the community and/or to lead a session for advisors or executives Be a sponsor help facilitate the future and take a direct leadership role in the direction and content of Next Chapter For more information on how you can get involved, contact Steve Gresham, Managing Partner, Next Chapter at steve@theexecutionproject.com or (203) 623-2265. About the Money Management Institute (MMI): Established in 1997, the Money Management Institute (MMI) is the industry association representing financial services firms that provide financial advice and investment advisory solutions to investors. Through conferences, educational resources, and thought leadership, MMI facilitates peer-to-peer connections, fosters industry knowledge and professionalism, and supports the development of the next generation of industry leadership. MMI member firms are dedicated to helping individual and institutional investors, at every level of assets, plan for and fulfill their financial goals. For more information, visit http://www.MMInst.org. About Financial Advisor (FA): Reaching more than 135,000 qualified readers each month, Financial Advisor delivers essential market information and strategies that advisors need to succeed in their increasingly complex environment. FA focuses on sophisticated planning and investment strategies to help advisors better serve their affluent clients, as well as practice management ideas to help advisors build their firms. FA goes in-depth to challenge traditional planning wisdom by introducing readers to new approaches to help them better counsel clients. To achieve these goals, FA continuously seeks to bring together the best team of editors and contributing writers to provide the most compelling publication for the top decision-makers in the financial advisory field. For more information, visit http://www.fa-mag.com. About The Execution Project: The Execution Project is a consulting firm focused on better execution of wealth management, leveraging the four key drivers of success adapting to the demands of aging clients, advisor practice management including technology, effective use of data and AI, and effective organizational alignment to support digital and human capabilities. For more information, visit http://www.theexecutionproject.com. Louise Lovett, the CEO of Longford Womens Link (LWL), has been elected as the new chairperson of National Womens Council of Ireland (NWCI). Following her election, Ms Lovett, said, It is a huge honour and privilege to be elected as chairperson of Irelands national womens representative organisation. Her election, following an online ballot, was announced at NWCIs AGM webinar earlier today, Thursday, June 4. Ms Lovett outlined, As we face uncertain times with a new Government and the response we make to Covid-19, the voice of the womens sector in Ireland, NWCI plays a central role on behalf of our members. We must ensure that womens voices and experiences are at the centre of the debates on womens health, the gender pay gap, direct provision, violence against women, recognition for womens care roles, women and leadership, to name but some of the many issues that face women and need to be redressed, in 21st century Ireland. RTE's Sinead Hussey tweeted a message of congratulations to Ms Lovett following her election, as did Senator Eugene Murphy and Cllr Uruemu Adejinmi, founder & Chairperson, Longford Africans Network and the first African member of Longford County Council. Named as Image Magazines Social Entrepreneur Business Woman of the Year 2017, Ms Lovett initially joined Longford Womens Link in 2008 as Head of Operations before becoming CEO in 2011. LWL is a local rural NGO and dynamic social enterprise based in Longford town and it has been providing services to women and children in Longford/Midlands for the past 25 years. LWL has a long track record on issues such as childcare and violence against women, and were among the first community based womens centres in Ireland. Prior to making the move to the Community & Voluntary sector, Ms Lovett gained extensive management experience working in the corporate sector for 27 years. She was responsible for 150 staff in 5 locations, had a team of 7 managers working to her and was responsible for the management and control of a Billion budget. She has a proven track record in people, process and change management as well as strategic planning and programme management. Ms Lovett believes strongly in supporting the development of collective approaches to achieving equality, working in solidarity and making relevant the connections between the local, regional and the national levels. She remarked, As someone deeply committed to equality and womens rights, I look forward to working with the Board and with NWCIs Director Orla OConnor and the staff of NWCI to progress the key issues facing women today in Ireland. Ms Lovett has completed three terms on the NWCI Board. This will be her final term. Currently, she is Chairperson of Longford County Childcare Committee (LCCC) and a member of Longford County Councils Space Making Strategic Policy committee. NWCIs newly elected board members include: - Denise Charlton, Deputy Chairperson, Immigrant Council of Ireland - Ethel Buckley, SIPTU - Margaret Martin, Womens Aid - Jennifer Okeke Campbell, Immigrant Council of Ireland - Vivienne Glanville, National Collective of Community Based Womens Networks - Nuala Ryan, Irish Federation of University Women - Shirley Scott, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre The National Stock Exchange (NSE) was hit by a trading glitch on June 4 as option segment prices were not reflecting or updating on the terminals linked to the countrys largest bourse. The issue has left many brokers in the lurch. A Mumbai-based broker told Moneycontrol "Our clients have been complaining. The prices of options are not updating quickly. There is a huge difference in buy and sell price of options." "In the morning, buy and sell price of Bank Nifty was more than Rs 100, which is not acceptable as Bank Nifty is one of the most active indices. We have already complained to the exchange, but they are not listening to us. Clients are upset as today is the weekly expiry of Nifty and Bank Nifty," another broker said. In a statement to Moneycontrol, an NSE spokesperson admitted that there was a snag. A few members have reached out to us and we are examining the issue," he said. In the last few days, the Indian equity markets have surged on a wave of optimism as the country gradually eases the stringent restrictions put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19. Nifty has risen almost 1,000 points and Bank Nifty has surged 2,000 points. Technical problems are not new to NSE. Last year, trading was disrupted three times due to technical snag and the Securities and Exchange Board of India had imposed a penalty on the exchange. "Whenever there is high trading volume, some technical issue happens. This happened when the market regulator banned P-notes and the government slashed corporate tax. This needs to be investigated," a broker told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity. (Natural News) On December 9, 2019, long before the world knew anything about it, a video interview took place with one of the key players in the COVID-19 drama, Dr Peter Daszak, President of the EcoHealth Alliance, who inadvertently may have provided indications of its true origin. (Article by Lawrence Sellin republished from Wionews.com) Much of that discussion centred around the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS) epidemic of 2002-2004, which was believed to have originated in bats, although civets may have acted as an intermediate host. While circulating in animals, the SARS virus mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, which it was assumed to have done so, infecting workers in a Guangdong, China animal market. That explanation became the narrative now being promoted by the Chinese Communist Party, the media and some Western scientists to convince the world that COVID-19 was a naturally-occurring outbreak. Beginning at 27:49, Dr Daszak explains the basis of the naturally-occurring narrative and the collection of over one hundred bat coronaviruses capable of infecting humans, but untreatable with drugs or vaccines. Those coronaviruses are presumed to be stored in Chinese laboratories. So, we did a couple of things with it. So, one is around SARS. We focused on SARS coronavirus emerged from a wildlife market. And whilst the first pandemic of this century. So, its big event. And, so we started to trace back from the wildlife market, which species carried the virus, that came into those markets. We found that it was bats, not civets, was the original idea. So, we started looking where did they come from. And we went out to southern China. And did surveillance of bats across southern China. And weve now found, after six or seven years of doing this, over one hundred new SARS-related coronaviruses, very close to SARS. Some of them get into human cells in the lab. And some of them can cause SARS disease in humanized mouse models. And are untreatable with therapeutic monoclonals [antibodies] and you cant vaccinate against them with a vaccine. At 29:51, Dr Daszak describes bioengineering of those viruses by inserting components of one coronavirus into another. Well, I think, coronavirus is a pretty good, I mean, youre a virologist [the interviewer], you know all this stuff, but the, you can manipulate them in the lab pretty easily. Spike protein drives a lot of what happens with the coronavirus, zoonotic risk. So, you can get the sequence, you can build the protein, and we work with Ralph Baric at UNC [University of North Carolina] to do this. Insert it into a backbone of another virus, and do some work in the lab. So, you can get more predictive, when you find the sequence. You have this diversity. Now, the logical progression for vaccines is, if you are going to develop a vaccine for SARS, people are going to use pandemic SARS, but lets try to insert these other related and get a better vaccine. In 2015, Ralph Baric from the University of North Carolina and Zheng-Li Shi, the bat woman from the Wuhan Institute of Virology jointly published a scientific article describing the combination of the receptor-binding spike protein from a newly isolated coronavirus (SHC014) and the backbone from SARS-CoV, the coronavirus responsible for the 2002-2003 pandemic. That experiment produced a novel virus, chimera SHC014-MA15, which showed robust viral replication both in vitro [cell cultures] and in vivo [animals], using models adapted to test human infectivity. The scientific consensus claims that COVID-19, like SARS, originated in bats. There is conclusive scientific evidence, however, that COVID-19s receptor binding domain within the spike protein is structurally closest to that of pangolins (scaly anteaters), not bats, and it was the result of a recombination, not convergent evolution. Yet, pangolins have been ruled out as the intermediate host for COVID-19. Even Dr Ralph Baric in a March 15, 2020 interview, beginning at the 27:40 time point, stated unequivocally, that pangolins were not the source of COVID-19: Pangolins have over 3,000 nucleotide changes no way they are the reservoir species [for COVID-19], absolutely no chance. It is, therefore, logical to conclude that the recombinant event resulting in a pangolin receptor binding domain within a bat coronavirus backbone must have occurred in a laboratory, in a manner similar to the experiment conducted by Ralph Baric and Zheng-Li Shi in 2015. Furthermore, COVID-19s S1/S2 furin polybasic cleavage site, a distinctive feature widely known for its ability to enhance pathogenicity and transmissibility in coronaviruses, does not appear in any of 45 bat, 5 human SARS, 2 civet, 1 pangolin and 1 racoon dog coronaviruses, that have S1/S2 junction structures otherwise identical or nearly identical to COVID-19. There is no credible scientific evidence that the furin polybasic cleavage site evolved naturally, although the methods for artificially inserting such cleavage sites are well-established. It is important to note that the EcoHealth Alliance gets 80% of its funding from the U.S. government (9:22), has been working in China for years (19:40), and presumably uses U.S. taxpayer money to hire technicians in labs or Ph.D. students (12:08) in order to teach people how to do it and give them the capacity and the tools and then you have really made a difference (13:15). Indeed. The EcoHealth Alliance may have really made a difference. Read more at: Wionews.com Housing is critical for healthcare during lockdown Social justice movements and organisations call on government to a reinstate blanket ban on evictions Forty one social movements and civil society organisations working with and in support of poor, working-class and vulnerable people have called on the Presidency, the National Command Council and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to urgently amend Regulation 36 of Alert Level 3 Lockdown regulations to reinstate a blanket ban on evictions. On 28 May 2020, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced the regulations for Alert Level 3 of the Risk Adjusted Strategy. In her address, the Honourable Minister stressed that despite the national migration to Alert Level 3, South Africa will remain in a state of lockdown until a sustained period of containment of COVID-19 can be demonstrated. Regulation 36 of the Level 3 Regulations substantially limits the prohibition on evictions by empowering the courts to order evictions during Alert Level 3 if the eviction is deemed just and equitable under the circumstances. While the Regulations still prohibit the execution of evictions during Alert Level 3, the easing of the prohibition of evictions is concerning. At a time when Minister Dlamini-Zuma herself acknowledges that the risk of a massive increase in infections is now greater than it has been since the start of the outbreak in our country and that the rates of infection are predicted to rise rapidly, the possibility of evictions, displacement and destruction of ones home is a potential death sentence. The preservation of life and the prioritisation of a preventative response under the continued state of lockdown necessitates that the home continue to be the primary defence against the spread of COVID-19 for all in our country. Housing is a critical component of the public healthcare response to COVID-19 and all efforts to flatten the curve. Access to housing has proven to play a significant part in getting and staying healthy, as in instances of self-quarantine or self-isolation. Where one loses access to their home, one cannot sufficiently protect themselves or their community from the risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 and other communicable illnesses including respiratory illnesses and illnesses leading to immunodeficiency. Housing, at this critical point, is healthcare. The pandemic and resultant lockdown have created a burden on society that has, to date, been disproportionately borne by the poor and working class. Many have lost their jobs or livelihoods and face income insecurity. Many households have been forced into the untenable position of having to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table. At the same time, many living in townships or informal settlements are under the continual threat of (often violent) eviction or removal from their homes. We have witnessed a number of illegal evictions and disconnection of basic services taking place across the country despite a moratorium on evictions. As movements and organisations working with and in aid of poor, working-class and vulnerable people, we are deeply concerned by the departure from a blanket moratorium. Regulation 36 substantially limits the prohibition on evictions. The attached letter states that the departure cannot be reasonable in light of the fact that infections are set to increase, especially in Hotspot Areas. Any execution of an eviction order during this period could never be deemed just and equitable in this context. We urge the President and National Command Council to consider the recommendations proposed in the letter: Implement a full moratorium on evictions and demolitions of homes for the duration of the National State of Disaster. Implement measures to alleviate rental obligations and rental income shortfalls in line with recommendations from the United Nations as a means to address concerns about property owners ability to receive rental income, as well as tenants rights to have access to a home. Capacitate the Rental Housing Tribunal with additional staff and resources to effectively assist with mounting complaints from both tenants and landlords. Read the full letter here. Immense possibilities to strengthen relationship further, PM Modi during visual summit with Morrison India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held an online summit on Thursday focussing on ways to further broadbase bilateral ties in a range of areas like healthcare, trade and defence. In his opening remarks, Modi said he believed that it is the "perfect time and perfect opportunity" to further strengthen the relationship between India and Australia. "We have immense possibilities to make our friendship stronger," Modi said, adding: "How our relations become a 'factor of stability' for our region and for the world, how we work together for global good, all these aspects need to be considered." PM Modi holds first-ever virtual summit with Australia PM; Focus on closer bond The prime minister said India was committed to expand its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace, noting that it is important not only for the two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world "The role of our comprehensive strategic partnership will be more important in this period of global epidemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to get out of the economic and social side effects of this epidemic," he said. SC orders Delhi-UP-Haryana to frame common policy for travel in NCR | Oneindia News It is the first time that Modi held a "bilateral" virtual summit with a foreign leader Relationship between the two nations was upgraded to a 'Strategic Partnership' level in 2009. Since then, both countries have expanded their cooperation in a range of key areas In its White Paper on Foreign Policy un 2017, Australia recognised India as the "pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries" and a "front-rank partner of Australia". The bilateral economic engagement too has been on an upswing in the last few years. According to official data, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion in 2018-19. Australia's cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas India's total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion. Australian Super Pension Fund has invested USD 1 billion in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. In the last few years, both the countries have been focusing on expanding maritime cooperation India and Australia commenced their first bilateral naval exercise 'AUSINDEX' in 2015 which was focussed at deepening defence and maritime cooperation especially in the Indian Ocean. The third edition of AUSINDEX-2019 was held in the Bay of Bengal in April 2019. Australia has been supportive of India's position on cross-border terrorism and on asking Pakistan to take meaningful action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. Australia also co-sponsored UNSC resolution to declare Azhar Masood a global terrorist. This article is published through a partnership with New York Medias Strategist . The partnership is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected by New York Media. If you buy something through our links, Slate and New York Media may earn an affiliate commission. Having a story read to us has calmed humans down for centuries. Its why we were read to in bed as toddlers, and its the reason the Von Trapp children all rush into Marias room as soon as the thunderstorm hits in The Sound of Music. Seeing as were living through a particularly stressful time right now, we thought wed take the opportunity to ask some of our favorite authors about the audiobooks they like to have read to them when theyre feeling particularly frazzled, frenetic, or frustrated. Advertisement In speaking to these authors, many also noted the other inherent benefit of having a book read to you: That you are more likely to actually finish it, because you can listen while doing other things, like the dishes, walking, driving, or simply sitting on the couch. Our 17 authors 18 favorite audiobooks span genres, too, so theres something for everyone they also feature narrators as compelling as the material itself, from A-list celebrities like Diane Keaton and Armie Hammer to the books authors themselves. Before we get to the individual picks, we should note that all of the recommended audiobooks below are available on Audible, and for $15 a month, you can get all of them for free via a monthly Audible subscription. Otherwise, you can pay for each individually, but know that most titles cost more on their own than the price of a monthly subscription. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Editors note: All but two of these authors have either recently published new books or are about to publish new books. But due to the restrictions on gatherings and crowd sizes amid the coronavirus pandemic, they have been forced to postpone tours and events to promote them. So in addition to each authors recommendation, weve noted their most recent titles as well. There is something intoxicating and soothing about the experience of listening to Sally Rooneys debut. As I try to sort out why, I imagine its because theres a conversations-with-friends quality to the writing, which lends itself perfectly to a listening experience. It was as if I was simply over hearing and then becoming part of a particularly juicy conversation. I find myself remembering the sensual nature of the prose and the remarkably mellifluous voice of Irish actress Aoife McMahon. I close my eyes and imagine the story and it merges with my listening experience. Joanna Hershon, author of St. Ivo Advertisement The conversational tone of Sally Rooneys coming-of-age novel is truly at home in an audio setting, mainly due to the skilled narration by Irish actress Aoife McMahon. Conversations With Friends is a story about the way our emotional impulses are in constant conflict with social restraint, and Aoifes voice lends instant charm and authenticity to the inner world of 21-year-old college student Frances. Lang Leav, author of Poemsia I lost myself in the narration of Middlemarch, a book I could not get through in high school or college, but that drew me in completely because of the fabulous narrator, Juliet Stevenson. The story itself is so good, but its harder to get into when its flat on the page. Stevenson is British: Her voice is really appropriate for the world George Eliot creates, and the period in which the book was written (the 1870s). I became completely involved with all the characters; fell in love with some, hated others. Stevensons narration makes the book incredibly compelling: I liked it so much, that when the narration was over, I actually bought the print book just to have the words nearby. Eilene Zimmerman, author of Smacked Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no better companion for long socially distanced walks than all 35 hours of Eliots greatest novel, which is the most engrossing, gossip-filled soap opera imaginable. Juliet Stevensons narration is a miraculous performance, with the each of the innumerable characters fully imagined and distinct. It is pure, glorious pleasure. Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness I talk all the time to anyone who will listen about Diane Keaton reading Joan Didions Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Its just the most soothing experience, in part because Didions whole style already is to describe things that seem chaotic in a way that isnt all that chaotic. Theres a music to how Didion writes and a rhythm that is clearly hers, which makes the audio versions of her work even better. And Keaton, whos obviously a professional, reads in the same observant yet disaffected way that Didion can famously make things seem not real. It almost seems like shes playing Didion as a character. I never thought someone could make lines like, People were missing, children were missing, parents were missing sound so soothing, but she does. Ive listened to that opening paragraph almost a thousand times. I once missed my subway stop listening to it. Conor Dougherty, author of Golden Gates Another audiobook Ive listened to during the pandemic is Patrick Radden-Keefes award-winning story of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Because its an Irish narrator, it really feels perfect. I wrote something on Twitter about how much I loved it, and a bunch of people came out to tell me they felt exactly the same way, including Radden-Keefe himself. Dougherty Ive been listening to this at night when my insomnia is terrible. I think the biggest theme of this book is how absurd and ridiculous human bodies are, and yet, still, we desire them. We want to be even in weird and gross moments desirable. Irby takes something so deep and makes it fun. Theres something that can be impossibly lonely about being wide awake at 4 am, especially now. But Irbys reading style is a mixture of an Oh, shit this is actually fun one-woman show and your most interesting friend who can make even the most mundane incident into a hilarious adventure. Im trying to listen to one essay a night. And even if I dont fall asleep after, listening to this book puts me in a much better mood. Megan Giddings, author of Lakewood My favorite genre of anything is what I call people enjoying their summer in Europe, and this is one of its best examples. Theres a horny teen, swimming in the Mediterranean, naps, and clandestine love. The movie is wonderful and James Ivory deserved the Oscar he won for the adaptation, but the book has a completely different ending, including time jumps. And the audiobook has Armie Hammer and his deep, patrician voice doing Italian accents and describing masturbation with a peach. Let him describe the perfect summer none of us will get this year. Marisa Meltzer, author of This Is Big A friendship over 40 years is special thing, and few evoke its qualities more enticingly than Eric Lerner, who shared such a friendship with Leonard Cohen. In his story of their time together there is humor and sadness, discovery, detail, happiness, laughter, desire, and fear of loss and other possibilities. I had to ration the loveliness: No more than 30 minutes of listening at first, then 20, then 10. The gentle narration by the late and much missed William Dufris is an escape. I was there, at times, at the table with Esther, Leonards beloved, complicated sister, she of no appetite yet unable to refrain from invading her brothers plate, and then his friends. Maybe it was lockdown that made this my favorite audiobook ever. But no, I think not. Philippe Sands, author of The Ratline When it comes to calming audiobooks, Id vote for Nina Stibbe reading her memoir, Love, Nina. Its the funny, charming, weird true story of Stibbes time being a nanny for a family in London, and since its told through tiny letters to her sister, its easy to pick it up, put it down, then pick it up again. Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House I also love Nicole Kidman reading Virginia Woolfs To the Lighthouse. If Woolfs classic about whether or not the family will take the boat to the lighthouse seems challenging, it makes absolute sense when Kidman reads it to you. The story just washes over you like a fever dream. Whenever I finish it, I start back at the beginning again. I should also mention that Tom Hanks reading my own book, The Dutch House, is sublime not because of the book but because of the reader. Patchett I swear I can hear a smile on the late David Rakoffs face as he reads from his essay collection, Half Empty. His stories are hilarious. His stories are gut-wrenchingly sad. His details like the late-20th-century-secular-humanist-Jewish-psychiatrist home decor of his youth, or his admission that lying flat against the tile of the kitchen floor, listening to someone else have sex, is essentially my early 20s in a nutshell make me want to write my own details. As he reads the words he anguished to produce aloud, you can hear satisfaction in his voice. He has suffered for these words. Listening to him rail against the musical Rent and the romanticization of entitled starving artists living in garrets as they whine and refuse to pay the bills is one of the funniest things Ive ever heard. A triumph. Phyllis Grant, author of Everything Is Under Control Im still mourning the end of David Shaw-Parkers wondrous new audio recordings of Anthony Trollopes two great literary series, the Barchester series and the Palliser series which are themselves connected. [Editors note: The Warden is the first installment in the Barchester series; Can You Forgive Her is the first installment in the Palliser series.] These novels contain all the elements that make serialized storytelling so deliciously addictive: Recurring characters; multiple subplots; sprawling narratives; the delight of interweaving lives. Animating such a roiling cast of characters is a monumental task, and David Shaw-Parker more than masters it. He individuates voices and accents so consistently that I often recognized reappearing characters before they were even identified. Trollopes great subject was power, and he explored it from myriad angles in a 19th Century England that feels close enough to 21st Century America to be relevant, but at a calming historical distance. Greed, vanity, fame, publicity, wealth, pedigree, duplicity and of course, politics (among rural English clergy in the Barchester Series, and in London Parliament in the Palliser series) are all laid open for dramatic inquiry. Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach Throughout this pandemic, I have been hand-selling this audiobook like my own personal hoard of quilted Northern pastel toilet paper. Its pure escapism. I judge an audiobook by how much housework it makes me want to do to keep listening to this one, I ironed a fitted sheet. This books got everything: humor, horror, heart, and a book club that thinks The Bridges of Madison County is about a serial killer. Its Steel Magnolias meets Dracula. But its the actress who reads the book who makes it: Bahni Turpins voice is soothing and funny and winsome and strong. Helen Ellis, author of Southern Lady Code Just before we were told to be safer at home, I began listening to Margaret Atwoods Booker Prizewinning The Testaments. You would think that traveling back to Gilead in this particular climate would be the farthest thing from calming, but the book has comforted me. Maybe its because Im an optimist at heart and cling to the hope that everything will be all right at some point, here and in Gilead. Or perhaps it is the powerful narration, especially by Ann Dowd, who also portrays Aunt Lydia on the television show. Hearing the voices of Atwoods women, instead of simply seeing them on the page, is like being told to buck up and buckle down a stern but reassuring reprimand to stay strong and stay the course. Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women Jenny Agutter is the British actor most familiar for her work as the narrator of the TV series Call the Midwife. I Capture the Castle is the diary of Cassandra Mortmain, a teenager who lives with her eccentric family in a tumbledown rented castle. Cassandra has to contend with a tormented artistic genius father, a dense-but-hot farmhand whos in unrequited love with her, an artistic stepmother who likes to commune with nature nude on the moors, a bratty but lovable sister, and a pair of rich American brothers who are the castles new landlords. Hijinks ensue. Its a detailed and complex story that rewards multiple listens, with lots of long descriptions of interiors, meals, shopping trips, walks in bluebell woods, et cetera. Its also funny in a gentle witty way, not a distracting LOL way. Emily Gould, author of Perfect Tunes Ive been listening to On Being Human, usually before going to bed or in the early mornings when Im not quite ready to get up. Its about a woman who battles grief over her fathers death, and how that leads to anorexia and depression all while shes progressively going deaf. Yet, in that process, she learns how to listen to others as she goes on to lead workshops all over the world where people learn how to listen to themselves. As I listen to the memoir, which is narrated by its author, I cant help but wonder what its like for someone to not hear herself as shes reading, yet persevere in telling her story anyway. Meredith Talusan, author of Fairest Mary Karrs modern classic memoir The Liars Club isnt exactly soothing in its subject matter alcoholism, abuse, guns, insanity of every sort. But it is immersive, addictive, and very, very funny, which makes you forget about just about everything else thats going on. All of Karrs memoirs have this quality, to be fair, but theyre even better as audiobooks, because Karr narrates them herself, with her incredible salty Texan drawl and poets sense for timing. Trust me: You want to hear her tell this story in her own voice. Emily Temple, author of The Lightness You wouldnt think that a book about children spontaneously (and frequently) bursting into flame would be calming, but it is. I listened to this before I read it, and there was something about the voices both narrator Marin Irelands and writer Kevin Wilsons that soothed me. Maybe its the chill attitude of the story, or maybe its the fact that you, yourself, the reader, do not burst into flames, and what a relief that is. Either way, its an incredible book, and your ears will be happy. Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here In addition to using tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters attempting to cross the Crescent City Connection Wednesday night, New Orleans Police Department officers arrested five demonstrators for misdemeanor offenses, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the action. An NOPD spokesman late Wednesday said there had been no arrests. The discrepancy hasn't been explained. +10 New Orleans protests escalate and 'stampede' erupts as NOPD fires tear gas into crowd New Orleans police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters attempting to cross the Crescent City Connection Wednesday night after what While the agency has yet to disclose details, jail records show police booked one man and four women with illegally crossing or traversing a police cordon in violation of a city ordinance. At least two are described as Louisiana residents and at least one is described as being from Tennessee. By 9:30 a.m., it appeared the protesters were no longer in police custody, according to jail records. NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson is scheduled to address the news media at 11 a.m. The arrests came after a large crowd that was protesting the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis began walking up a ramp at Camp Street towards the Mississippi River bridge around 9:30 p.m. Police vehicles and officers in riot gear blocked the actual bridge span, and the marchers were stopped on the elevated Pontchartrain Expressway, where they held up signs and chanted. 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 About an hour later, police fired canisters of tear gas into the crowd. Police said demonstrators refused to comply with three orders not to attempt to walk across the bridge and engaged in escalating, physical confrontation with officers. On various platforms, numerous protesters and observers say the demonstration was peaceful, though a handful of demonstrators in the front were pushing against a line of officers wielding shields just before police fired the gas canisters. One video circulated on Twitter shows at least one person in a sleeveless shirt get behind the line of officers. A policeman grabbed the person around the waist and yanked the person back. The clip shows the line of officers close ranks again, with demonstrators raising their arms and chanting, Hands up! Dont shoot! Violations of city ordinances fall under the jurisdiction of municipal court. Check back with NOLA.com for updates later. NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chubb Charitable Foundation today announced a $500,000 commitment to Rainforest Trust, a global conservation organization that purchases and protects the most threatened tropical forests, saving endangered wildlife and sequestering carbon through partnerships and community engagement. The grant will support Rainforest Trust's Conservation Action Fund, which focuses on urgent conservation initiatives to protect critical habitats that would otherwise be used for development, agriculture or natural resource extraction. The Foundation's first grant of $154,000 will support the expansion of the Papagaios de Altitude Reserve in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil, one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots. Rainforest Trust, working with local partner Associacao dos Amigos do Meio Ambiente, will purchase a 220-acre property in Santa Catarina and register the land as a protected natural area. Doing so will safeguard one of the most significant remaining Araucaria forests in Brazil, secure the ecological requirements for wildlife and preserve an important watershed. The property stores 17,482 metric tons of carbon, equal to 43 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle. "Rainforests are one of Earth's most critical natural resources, not only for the diversity of life they support but because they provide valuable services to people and communities, such as erosion prevention and flood control. Protecting rainforests is also one of the most effective ways to prevent the release of carbon that causes climate change," said Lori Dunstan, Vice President, Global Corporate Giving at Chubb. "Chubb is pleased to support Rainforest Trust. Their mission is aligned with Chubb's commitment to strengthen the resilience of communities and protect biodiversity against the effects of climate change." Chubb, its employees and its charitable foundation continue to demonstrate their support for a wide range of environmental philanthropies and volunteer activities in local communities around the world. Chubb Charitable Foundation grants have helped preserve sensitive lands and habitats, finance green business entrepreneurs, and support educational programs that promote a healthy and sustainable environment, both domestically and globally. About Rainforest Trust Since 1988, Rainforest Trust has been safeguarding imperiled tropical habitats and saving endangered species by establishing protected areas in partnership with local organizations and communities. In that time, the organization has helped protect over 24 million acres of critically important rainforest and other key habitats at more than 125 project sites around the world. Learn more about and support this important work by visiting www.RainforestTrust.org, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs approximately 33,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: chubb.com . About the Chubb Charitable Foundation The Chubb Charitable Foundation supports U.S.-based non-profit organizations through grant-making and projects aligned with defined focus areas including education, the environment, and poverty and health. The Foundation believes that meaningful contributions that support our communities globally provide lasting benefits to society, to Chubb and to Chubb employees. Through philanthropy, global partnerships and company sponsored-volunteer activities focused on giving the gift of time and donations, the Chubb Charitable Foundation supports clearly defined projects that solve problems with measurable and sustainable outcomes, helping people in the countries where we live and work build productive and healthy lives. Our commitment to assist those less fortunate and to be stewards of the planet is focused on the areas of education, poverty and health, and the environment. SOURCE Chubb Related Links https://www.chubb.com Advertisement Black Lives Matter activists are continuing to march on British cities this afternoon following ugly clashes with police in London yesterday. Demonstrations in Bristol, Birmingham, hull, Exeter, and Portsmouth are riding momentum from the mammoth gathering in the capital to keep alive the outcry over the killing of African-American George Floyd. The global anti-racism protests have largely eclipsed the coverage of coronavirus in recent days - and today crowds were seen flouting social distancing as they stood shoulder to shoulder during rallies. It followed alarming scenes of a 15,000-strong crowd rammed into Hyde Park yesterday, sparking fears the protests could fuel the spread of the disease due to a lack of social distancing. Last night the protest headed to Westminster where mobs started targeting constables in attacks outside Downing Street. Today's demonstrations across the nation have so far appeared to avoid scuffles, with campaigners in Bristol instead displaying a powerful homage by lying on College Green face down - as if playing dead. The placard-waving procession later swept through the streets while chanting. Unlike yesterday's London protest, barely any police were pictured. In Portsmouth, masses of people flocked to the Guildhall in the centre of the city for speeches by campaigners. And protesters swamped Centenary Square in Birmingham, where Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings drummed up crowds with a rallying cry on his social media. Activists have been spurred on by the parents of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, who hit out at social media posts which invoked their son's death 'in a divisive way to fuel arguments against the Black Lives Matter protests'. In a personal message Lee's mother, Lyn Rigby, said the family have been 'hurt' by the posts, which they said were 'in complete opposition to what Lee stood for'. They said he served his country to protect the 'rights and freedoms' of all. Hundreds of people flock to the Guidhall in Portsmouth, failing to maintain social distance, to voice anger over the killing of George Floyd Campaigners wave placards and chant in Portsmouth as similar gatherings take place around the world Black Lives Matter activists are gearing up for another afternoon of protest in the UK following ugly clashes with police in London yesterday (Bristol pictured) Today's protests in cities across the nation have so far appeared to avoid scuffles, with campaigners in Bristol lying in face down - playing dead - in a powerful image People hold signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Centenary Square in Birmingham this afternoon Protesters laying down during a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Bristol in memory of George Floyd who was killed on May 25 People gather at a Black Lives Matter protest at the Guildhall in Portsmouth following rallies in London yesterday Many demonstrators covered their face with masks, while officers and local authorities pleaded with people to observe social distancing after crowds crammed tightly together in London caused alarm Scotland Yard allow PCs to take a knee in protests The Metropolitan Police gave the green light to its officers taking a knee during the Black Lives Matter protest yesterday, while the rank-and-file union said the gesture 'shows we are human beings.' Several officers adopted the iconic pose in support of the anti-racism protests in London which were sparked by the death of George Floyd in the US and are now sweeping the world. It is the first time police in the UK have used the bold stance and those that did outside Downing Street were applauded with whoops and cheers from the crowd. But some older officers have said that police shouldn't kneel to protesters and others commentators has suggested that they are doing so to avoid reprisals from demonstrators. One former officer tweeted: 'I served in the Met Police many years ago. Take a knee, never never ever, I'm ashamed of what they have to do today. In my day it would have been very very different. The Mayor of London and Cressida Dick should resign in total shame.' Advertisement Many demonstrators covered their face with masks, while officers and local authorities pleaded with people to observe social distancing after crowds crammed tightly together in London caused alarm. In Birmingham, West Midlands Police said 'we recognise there will be lots of emotions by many people who feel moved by what they saw and want to express their frustrations'. Assistant Chief Constable Matt Ward said: 'Our aim is to allow and facilitate peaceful protest, and therefore we are not going to stop people coming out on to the streets if they've got legitimate concerns they want to share. 'You can still protest while maintaining social distancing.' Birmingham City Council has also urged demonstrators to keep two metres apart ahead of a Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration in the city centre. But this was ignored by protesters who were seen standing shoulder to shoulder during the rally in Centenary Square this afternoon. Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings drummed up crowds by telling his 109,000 Twitter followers: 'Don't be afraid to speak your truth. Stand for what's right.' After a largely peaceful demonstration in Hyde Park in London on Wednesday, during which Star Wars actor John Boyega gave an impassioned speech, tensions later escalated outside Downing Street. One officer was pushed to the ground in view of the Houses of Parliament, while another clip showed officers being forced down Whitehall by a group advancing towards them. Other footage showed objects including signs and a traffic cone being thrown at officers, while plastic and glass bottles were also seen being launched in their direction. The Metropolitan Police said 13 people were arrested during the protests, which ran into the early hours of Thursday morning. One, Soofuu Yakr, 26, has been charged with assaulting Nine News Australia TV reporter Sophie Walsh and possessing cannabis and a screwdriver. He was due before magistrates on Thursday. Ms Walsh was heard screaming on camera during her report and later tweeted she was 'shaken but OK'; later, her colleague was filmed abandoning his live broadcast, fleeing as tensions flared up. Scotland Yard said two men were arrested at Downing Street on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and violent disorder. Protesters in Birmingham are seen protesting into the evening on Thursday with a sign reading: 'We will never stop fighting for equality' Protesters can be seen kneeling to the ground and raising their fists during a protest in Birmingham today People marching down Colmore Row during a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Birmingham, most ignoring social distancing A young protester accompanies his family to the protest in Birmingham while holding a sign. One sign reads: 'Racism is the real pandemic!!' Protesters hold signs during a Black Lives Matter demonstration outside West Midlands Police Headquarters on June 4, 2020 in Birmingham Crowds gathered outside West Midlands Police headquarters in Colmore Circus, Birmingham, many with signs and masks Protesters in Birmingham kneel, an action associated with the Black Lives Matter movement since NFL star Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the US national anthem An activist addresses the crowd on the steps of the Guildhall for the Black Lives Matter protest Three woman join the demonstration and hold placards saying 'The UK isn't innocent' Today's protests in cities across the nation have so far appeared to avoid scuffles, with campaigners in Bristol instead displaying a powerful homage by lying on College Green face down - as if playing dead Protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Bristol in memory of George Floyd The protest in Bristol saw hordes of activists lying motionless on College Green in the centre of the city Birmingham City Council has urged demonstrators to keep two metres apart ahead of a Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration in the city centre, but this was not observed in Centenary Square (pictured) Meghan Markle says 'George Floyd's life mattered' in speech Meghan Markle today broke her silence on the murder of George Floyd, declaring that 'black lives matter' and revealed that she had not spoken about his death before because she had been 'nervous'. The Duchess of Sussex gave an address to graduating pupils at her old school, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, where she also named other African Americans who were killed in the US by police in recent years. The 38-year-old former actress, who attended the school from the age of 11 to 18, said: 'George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered'. The other three people Meghan mentions were killed by US police over the past six years. Meghan also referred to Los Angeles as the family's 'home town' after moving there with husband Prince Harry, and their son Archie. On speaking out about Mr Floyd, she said: 'I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing'. Advertisement At one point, police escorted a man to the side of the road who was bleeding from the head, with blood over his clothes and camera. Mr Floyd died after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on May 25, sparking days of protest in the US. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was 'appalled and sickened' to see what happened to Mr Floyd, while chief constables from across the UK issued a joint statement saying they 'stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified'. An online-only rally is due to take place this Sunday, campaign group Stand Up to Racism said, with speakers to discuss 'how we turn the new wave of anger over racism and injustice into an effective movement for change'. An online fundraiser for the UK chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement had reached more than 270,000 on Thursday morning, with the funds going to 'support black life against institutional racism'. Despite rumours circulating on social media that The Cenotaph had been vandalised during the protests, police said they were 'not aware of any damage'. In the US, protests began in Minneapolis where Mr Floyd died, and quickly spread across the country. Demonstrations have taken place in areas including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, South Carolina and Houston. Some have included clashes between police and protesters, with officers recorded firing tear gas and rubber bullets on crowds. US President Donald Trump has pressed state governors to take a more forceful approach against protesters. A young man holds a Black Lives Matter sign (left) while a young woman kneels in the rain during a protest in Windsor today Protestors march from Windsor Castle in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on June 04, in Windsor Protesters wearing masks are seen during a peaceful protest in Windsor earlier today, near Windsor castle where the Queen is currently residing Britons across the country kneel on their doorsteps in support of George Floyd after tens of thousands took to the streets in growing racism protests By Bhvishya Patel for MailOnline Hundreds of Britons stepped outside their doorsteps last night to 'take the knee' and demand justice for the American police killing of George Floyd that is provoking increasing global anger. Families, children and emergency services across the country showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement by standing outside their homes and places of work at 6pm yesterday in solidarity with protesters in the U.S. The campaign, which was created by Stand up to Racism, comes as demonstrations continue to increase around the world after George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died after police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on his neck in Minneapolis on May 25 for nine minutes. As the clock struck 6pm last night, families across the nation emerged from their homes to kneel on their streets and show their support for the campaign sweeping across the world. Families in Oxford stepped outside their homes yesterday evening to 'take the knee' and show their support of the campaign created by Stand Up To Racism Broadcaster and former Fame Academy vocal coach Carrie Grant shared a picture of her family kneeling on the ground outside their home Meanwhile in London, a group of people were seen kneeling on the ground with a Black Lives Matter poster in support of the movement Elsewhere two people knelt outside their home with a sign that read 'Black Lives Matter' in solidarity with the campaign Following the death of George Floyd, three other officers who were also present at the scene, Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. A message on Stand Up to Racism's Facebook page earlier this week urged Britons to '#taketheknee' and read: 'On Wednesday 3 June at 6pm Stand Up To Racism calls on people to 'take the knee' on their doorsteps or wherever they are. This is part of a day of action in solidarity with the movement and to highlight the disproportionate BAME deaths in the Covid-19 crisis in the UK.' The campaign was inspired by the American football star Colin Kaepernick who took to his knee during the National Anthem in 2016 in an effort to draw attention to racial injustice and police brutality in the country. In 2016, Mr Kaepernick began making the gesture at the beginning of every game in an effort to cast a light on discrimination towards African Americans in the nation. He told NFL Media at the time: 'I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.' Prior to the event, singer Paloma Faith took to social media to share her support of the gesture and urge others to 'take the knee' in a tweet which read: 'Hi everyone, I've been quiet on here the last week or so. I've been focussing on Instagram but want to share to this community as well. Enough is enough. Black Lives Matter. #TakeTheKnee for George tonight at 6pm.' While Wolverhampton Councillor Beverly Momenabadi wrote: 'Today, I decided to #TakeTheKnee and continue to stand in solidarity with the black community. Ive been quietly reflecting on the hurt, pain and oppression that black people have been suffering for so long. Both in the US and here in the UK. In Hackney, London, Marisol Grandon, 41, and her son Oran Keith (pictured together left), 12, knelt outside their home in support of the movement and in Leicester Shea Pember (right) also showed her support of the campaign At Bristol City Hall, a group of people gathered in solidarity with George Floyd and to share their support of the Black Lives Matter movement A man kneels outside his home with his hand raised in a fist to demand justice for George Floyd and share his support of the Black Lives Matter campaign A woman steps outside her doorstep to join hundreds across the UK in their calls for justice with a sign reading: 'I can't breathe. Justice for George Floyd.' In Scotland, one mother shared a picture of her son and herself knelt outside their home to demand justice for George Floyd and 'Say No To Racism' In Bethnal Green, London, Reverend Alan Green stood outside the Church of St John to join hundreds of Britons across the UK to 'take the knee' at 6pm As hundreds across the UK took part in the Stand Up To Racism campaign, a family was seen emerging from their home in Newcastle last night with a Black Lives Matter banner Two people kneel outside with Stand Up To Racism signs to demand justice for the American police killing of George Floyd that is provoking increasing global anger A group of people shared their support of the 'TakeTheKnee' campaign, organised by Stand Up To Racism, at the Grenfell wall of truth last night In Sussex, two people took the knee at the clock struck 6pm to share their support of the Black Lives Matter campaign Elsewhere Steven Gilbert stepped outside his home to 'Take The Knee' and offer his support for the Black Lives Matter movement A group of people gathered outside Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre to to show their support for those protesting in the U.S. Wolverhampton Councillor Beverly Momenabadi, who also knelt outside her home last night, later took to twitter to write: 'Today, I decided to #TakeTheKnee and continue to stand in solidarity with the black community.' Ria Hebden (left), co-presenter of Sunday Morning Live on BBC One, stepped outside her door to show her solidarity with those protesting the systemic racism in the U.S. and in the UK while Nadine Batchelor-Hunt (right) , 26, from Manchester also shared her support for the Black Lives Matter movement In other parts of the country one woman knelt outside her front door to demand justice for the police killing of George Floyd A group of firefighters in London take the knee during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brixton, south London, yesterday At Finchley Fire Station the fire brigade service took the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and to demand justice for George Floyd Fire brigade workers step outside their fire station to show their support of the campaign organised by Stand Up to Racism In Scotland, Ayrshire Police knelt outside their police station and joined in with the movement taking place across the UK The London Fire Brigade also tweeted a picture of themselves taking the knee and showing their support during last night's campaign PC who took knee reveals he did so to show officers 'are not racist' One of the Met Police officers (pictured) who took a knee A London police officer who took the knee outside Downing Street today as thousands gathered in the capital's streets to protest the death of American George Floyd has revealed he did so to show his colleagues 'are not racist One of the Met Police officers who took a knee during the Black Lives Matter protest revealed: 'I did it because at the end of the day we're all one.' The officer, who is based in north London, showed his support for the campaign for justice for Mr Floyd and followed the lead set by officers in the US where the 46-year-old died. The officer said: 'I know I'm not racist and I know that my colleagues are not racist, so why not? 'I came into the job to help people and it was a nice gesture. A few of us decided to do it.' Advertisement 'But we dont want words. We dont want condolences. We dont want any more deaths. We want justice. We want equality for all. And we will continue to challenge the institutions, the Governments and the abhorrent policies which continue to oppress people.' In other parts of the country, fire brigades and emergency services stepped outside their places of work to kneel on the ground in their uniform. Weyman Bennett, co convenor Stand Up To Racism said: 'Power concedes nothing without a struggle, we must overcome those refuse to challenge racism. 'The 60,000 dead and disproportionate deaths of Black and BAME communities demand answers we want public inquiry. We can do this together and break a racist system so no one loses their life and everybody gets justice and peace.' Meanwhile Sabby Dhalu, Stand up to Racism Co-Convenor, added: 'We're delighted tens of thousands of people joined today's #TakeTheKnee initiative. But we cannot stop here. 'Across the globe the anti-racist majority is making its voice heard in solidarity with George Floyd and protestors in the U.S. Many are also outraged at the disproportionate Covid-19 deaths suffered by BAME communities. 'It's a scandal that the government removed from the Public Health England (PHE) Covid-19 report the section on institutional racism. 'We're building a movement that demands justice and demands change, from the police to the NHS. We're calling for a root and branch public inquiry that examines all factors, including institutional racism, that led to BAME communities dying disproportionately.' Organisers of the campaign also hope that the movement will draw attention to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on BAME communities. The scenes come after Australian news correspondent Ben Avery and his cameraman Cade Thompson were mobbed by youths during a Black Lives Matter protested in Parliament Square, London. The largely peaceful rally, inspired by the killing of George Floyd, had gathered in Hyde Park before marching on Westminster, where some of the crowd turned violent, leading to 13 arrests. Clashes with police continued into the night yesterday, including outside Downing Street where supposed protesters tore down barriers. Treatment of the common disease psoriasis, usually focuses on treating the skin. However, psoriasis patients often have other physical diseases that can bring on depression, anxiety, and suicide. A new study from Umea University, Sweden, shows that these other somatic diseases have even more impact on patients' mental health than their skin symptoms, highlighting the importance of holistic patient care. Psoriasis is a lifelong disease. The body produces skin cells too quickly which build up on the skin's surface in the form of inflamed red, painful, itchy scales. Many people with psoriasis have other physical diseases such as being overweight, diabetes and heart diseases. "What we didn't know before is how psoriasis skin symptoms and other somatic diseases associated with psoriasis impact mental health," says Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf, Dermatologist and Professor at Umea University. Previous research found that people with psoriasis suffer more often from somatic and mental diseases compared to individuals without psoriasis. A new study confirmed this. The study also investigated how psoriasis skin symptoms and associated somatic diseases impacted mental health, considering anxiety, depression and suicide together. The study found that skin symptoms have an important impact on mental health, but that other somatic diseases associated with psoriasis can cause even more harm to mental health. "We found that skin symptoms increased the risk of mental illness by a third, while other physical illnesses doubled the risk among psoriasis patients," says Kirk Geale, PhD candidate at Umea University. The results in the study shows a 32 percent increase risk of mental illness caused by skin symptoms and a 109 percent increased risk at other somatic illnesses. This information is important as the total burden of mental health burden for people with psoriasis, and what contributes to it, was not well established. The study's findings encourage people with psoriasis to talk with their doctors more about symptoms beyond the skin, both physical and mental. It also encourages doctors to proactively discuss these issues with their patients. "I would be delighted if our study could support the trend towards a more holistic view on psoriasis care. At the doctor's office, lifestyle factors should be discussed in the awareness that individual responsiblity may be limited by available personal and community resources. Such an approach may improve the complete triad of psoriasis - skin symptoms, somatic and mental health alike," concludes Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf. The study was conducted during 2017 - 2019. Nationwide data from about 100 000 individuals with psoriasis but without earlier mental diseases in Sweden were compared to a control group without psoriasis. The study is published in JAMA Dermatology. ### New York, June 4 : The world's mighty digital platforms will be reined in only when privacy regulation knocks their business model of "uninhibited data collection" which in turn will erode their margins, and it's unlikely that firestorms over content policy regulation will spark major change, co-director of the Digital Platforms and Democracy Project at Harvard Kennedy School told IANS. "If you were to institute this privacy regulation that says, no Facebook, no Google, no longer can you take whatever data you want without checking with the user, you will see opt-in rates drop drastically," Dr. Dipayan Ghosh said. Ghosh's comments come against the backdrop of Donald Trump's recent executive order that escalates his war against digital platforms. Trump's order targets current law that protects internet companies from lawsuits based on user posts. Trump whipped out his executive order after Twitter put fact checks on two of his tweets. Twitter tagged Trump's tweets with a warning that Trump violated the platform's rules by glorifying violence when he suggested protesters in Minneapolis could be shot. Trump's tweets came in the midst of violent protests over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who was pinned to the pavement and pleaded for air as a white police officer slammed his knee onto Floyd's neck. Debate is swirling around digital platforms' role in content policing as misinformation on coronavirus rages on, the 2020 US presidential election looms and angry protesters spill out onto America's streets, protesting police brutality. Content moderation is not the "hill to die ona, according to Ghosh. "Economic regulation is." "We shouldn't be looking at this at surface level. We shouldn't be reacting to the shiny object out there," Ghosh said. According to Ghosh, digital platforms' will fall in line only when their business model, "focused on uninhibited data collection towards the end of behavioural profiling", is dented in a material way. "Facebook does that, Google does that. These companies have millions of data points on a typical user and will use machine learning to get insights from those millions of data points to try and understand the type of people that we are." For a more lasting solution to the pervasive data collection and profiling on digital platforms, Ghosh recommends that policy makers take "a closer look at this machine, understand how it works, try to identify the ways that it generates these negative externalities in the first place and perhaps curtail some business practices that contributed to those negatives." Ghosh pushes back against the idea that it's okay for companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter to carry on as if they have "unilateral economic authority to kind of do whatever it pleases to the consumer situation." Ghosh contends that the right approach is to "rebalance and redistribute the power between the corporate and the consumer." "That's to say there's information asymmetry between the corporate and the consumer, where Facebook knows very well the value of your data. But you as a consumer, don't necessarily know the value. And you give it away." Ghosh is the author of a new book 'Terms of Disservice: How Silicon Valley is Destructive by Design', out soon. (Nikhila Natarajan is on Twitter @byniknat) The Family Equation And Why No One Believed Her The niece also revealed that she told everyone what was happening repeatedly, and when they still refused to believe her, Minaz "became more aggressive and had even said, 'No one is believing you now, why would they believe you later?' He wanted me to give into his demands." Taking about Nawazuddin and his family's equation with the niece's in-laws, she said, "My father had slapped a kidnapping case on my husband because they were against the boy I married. He has supported me a lot. So, when they had tried dragging him and his family into a kidnapping case, I had stood in front of the judge in Nainital and asked, 'Who has kidnapped me? I'm right here'. Nawaz bade papa had used all his connections to try and put my husband in jail. Thankfully, the judge never agreed. So, they tried everything to ensure that I wouldn't be happy even after marriage." The Most Scariest Incident Of Her Life Nawazuddin's niece reportedly got married after running away from home. Sharing the scariest incident of her life, she shared that during her visit to Delhi for a family function, Minaz whacked her with his belt for resisting him. She added that her dadi (grandmother) had gone downstairs and "Minaz had come and started touching me inappropriately, again. I screamed, but he held my mouth, and continued touching me. He tried forcing himself on me, but I kept resisting. I shouted again, so he removed his belt and began whacking me ferociously on my chest and back for at least five whole minutes. He even started pulling my hair and hitting me. My condition was so bad that I took a pic of myself and sent it to the man whom I'm married to now and told him to come and take me away or I might commit suicide. He arrived the next day and took me away. I couldn't file an FIR then as I had no identity back then and they'd have quashed it. We then eloped and had a court marriage, as I was already 18+." She also told Bollywood Life that nobody besides Minaz had molested her, but she believes that, "they were all responsible for what was happening. However, Shamas chachu (Shamas Nawab Siddiqui, Nawaz's other brother) had once offered that I come to Bombay, but insisted that I surrender everything and forget that he's my chachu (uncle). They all thought that since I'm a motherless child, they could do what they want with me." Shamas Nawab Siddiqui's Reaction To Sexual Harassment Allegations Talking about Shamas Siddiqui's claims on Twitter, she said, "The thing is that they still don't understand that I have all the proof I need in the form of pictures and chats that I had shared with my husband, before marrying him back then. And about names not coming in the earlier complaint, well...I had named everyone that had to be, but their names were suppressed due to influence. As a matter of fact, I can't reveal their names, but there are other little girls in the house with whom this has happened, and it's Minaz who has done it every time." Nawazuddin Siddiqui has not responded to any claims yet. However, the actor is currently dealing with the divorce filed by his wife Aaliya Siddiqui. Fans have been shocked by the reports about his family, and it has also led to severe backlash on social media against the actor. Missouri athletes helped lead a march to the Boone County Courthouse in Columbia, Missouri, on Wednesday where they took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in honor of George Floyd. Floyd was killed on May 25 after now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Law enforcement units from federal agencies across the board have been brought to Washington to protect the White House and deal with protesters, but critics say using them in a show of force has gone too far. President Donald Trump directed Attorney General William Barr "to lead federal law enforcement efforts to assist in the restoration of order to the District of Columbia." Barr was seen walking on the streets of D.C. Monday night, and inside the FBI command center the night after. There were even riot teams from the Bureau of Prisons in full force outside the White House. A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told ABC News its officers are deployed around the country. "The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has specialized Crisis Management Teams (CMTs), including Special Operations Response Teams, which are highly trained tactical units capable of responding to prison disturbances, and providing assistance to other law enforcement agencies during emergencies," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The BOP's CMTs also include Disturbance Control Teams, that specialize in crowd control scenarios," the statement said. "Per the request of the Attorney General, the BOP has dispatched teams to Miami, Florida, and Washington, D.C." Amid reports that BOP officers were refusing to identify themselves, Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carajval addressed the issue at a press conference Thursday. "I'm not aware of any specific Bureau of Prisons personnel being told not to identify themselves. What I attribute that to is probably the fact that we normally operate within the confines of our institution and we don't need to identify ourselves. Most of our identification is institution specific and probably wouldn't mean a whole lot to people in DC," he said at the Department of Justice. "I probably should have done a better job of marking them, nationally as the agency point is well taken but I assure you that no one was specifically told in my knowledge, not to identify themselves." Story continues Barr said that federal agents don't wear a badge with their name on it like many state and localities due, and that he "could understand why some of these individuals simply wouldn't want to talk to people about who they are." PHOTO: Police forces and National Guard vehicles are used to block 16th Street near Lafayette Park and the White House on June 3, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) The ripple effect of using BOP personnel has been felt in prisons across the country, with facilities going into complete lockdown. Additionally, there has been a deployment of active-duty military officers, aimed to help quell the tension between protesters and law enforcement. Barr also said at the same press conference that is not atypical to deploy a cache of federal law enforcement during large scale events. Historically when there have been emergencies where we have to respond to people who do have experience in these kinds of emergencies, theyre highly trained people, Barr said. FBI finds al-Qaeda link to Pensacola naval base shooting suspect: AG Barr In a letter sent to Trump on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested a "full list of the agencies involved" and "clarifications of the roles and responsibilities" of troops and federal law enforcement. "Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital," she wrote. The Department of Homeland Security has also deployed hundreds of law enforcement agents. More than 600 DHS personnel were dispatched this week to control demonstrations in the nation's capital and across the country. The DHS federal agents maintain broad authority and often coordinate with state and local officials prior to appearing at major national events -- such as the George Floyd protests. MORE: George Floyd protest updates: All 4 officers now facing charges But the display of force seen this week has been shocking, said Peter Vincent, who worked as a chief counsel for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Obama administration. "This is not the job of the men and women of ICE or CBP, this is not what they are trained to do, and this is not how their enforcement authorities should be deployed," Vincent said. "Indeed, these actions are specifically intended to intimidate and chill Americans into remaining silent in the face of obscene injustices." MORE: Feds warn 'violent opportunists' infiltrating George Floyd protests, could be 'emboldened' to attack police More than 100 DHS intelligence analysts are assisting state and local authorities nationwide with "real-time updates," according to the agency. "Clearly, the Metropolitan Police Department would have been unable to establish order in the city," former U.S. Secret Service agent Don Mihalek said. "Having those federal agencies there was a benefit to the city and the Metropolitan Police Department. They had an automatic force multiplier of federal law enforcement officers who all have who the majority of them have arrest powers in D.C. to supplement and help lock down parts of the city that MPD didn't have to pay attention to," Mihalek, an ABC News contributor said. The forces also included federal immigration patrols -- ICE swat teams and Border Patrol agents -- pulled from their normal duties and reassigned to crowd control. FBI finds al-Qaeda link to Pensacola naval base shooting suspect: AG Barr Demonstrations are classified by ICE as one of the "sensitive locations" the agency typically avoids. While disruptions to public safety are an exception, an ICE official told ABC News that reassigned agents have not made immigration arrests in D.C. If a protester is arrested, booked and agents later discover they are undocumented, the official said, the protester would be detained by immigration authorities and possibly deported if a judge gives the order. "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fully respects the rights of all people to peacefully express their opinions," the agency said in a statement. As Border Patrol agents were called to D.C., Maryland and Virginia, Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan tweeted that "radicals & agitators" prompted the response. Morgan first announced the involvement of CBP agents on Sunday, which he said came at the request of other law enforcement agencies. MORE: Police shove, make AP journalists stop covering protest The ACLU deputy policy director, Andrea Flores, who worked at the DHS during the Obama administration, called the deployment of immigration agents to suppress protests "a mistake that imperils the lives of even more black and brown people." "ICE and CBP are rogue agencies with sordid histories of abuse, violence, and human rights violations," Flores said in a statement. ABC News' Mariam Khan contributed reporting. As Washington DC militarizes amid George Floyd protests, some experts say it's gone too far originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Michigan Supreme Court has denied the Republican-led Michigan legislatures request to bypass a lower court in its lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her use of executive authority during the COVID-19 state of emergency. In a 4-3 split decision, the Supreme Court opted not to fast-track the suit, concluding, we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court before consideration by the Court of Appeals. Legislative Republicans are suing the governor over her decision to declare a state of emergency in Michigan and continue issuing executive orders after the legislature declined to issue an extension of the initial state of emergency past April 30. Michigan has two laws on the books related to the governors emergency powers. The 1945 Emergency Powers of Governor Act allows governors to call for a state of emergency for as long as necessary, while the 1976 Emergency Management Act includes a 28-day window for the governor to unilaterally declare an emergency without legislative approval. The 1976 law did not invalidate the prior law. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens ruled in Whitmers favor last month, calling arguments that Whitmer doesnt have the authority to extend a state of emergency if the legislature doesnt agree meritless. Attorneys for House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, appealed that ruling and argued their case be immediately considered by the Michigan Supreme Court instead of going through the Court of Appeals process. Chief Justice Bridget McCormack and Justices Richard Bernstein, Justice Megan Cavanagh and Elizabeth Clement made up the majority opinion to deny that request, while Justices Stephen Markman, David Viviano and Brian Zahra dissented. Bernstein said in a concurring opinion that he believes the case is important enough to deserve full and appellate consideration - and argued now that the stay-at-home order has been lifted, there is less urgency. While recognizing that not all restrictions have been lessened (and acknowledging the possibility of future restrictions being reimplemented), I believe the parties and this Court would benefit most from having the vital constitutional issues of this case fully argued in the Court of Appeals before receiving a final determination from our Court, he wrote. Zahra strongly disagreed: Because each residents personal liberty is at stake, it is emphatically our duty to decide this case. I dissent from the Courts failure to immediately undertake this duty, he wrote in his dissenting opinion. 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: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can extend state of emergency without legislature, judge rules Groups pick sides as legislature, Whitmer head to court over Michigan state of emergency Judge to determine if Michigans extended coronavirus state of emergency is legal Whitmer administration calls Republican lawsuit challenging emergency authority a power grab 5 reasons Michigan lawmakers are suing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Protesters condemn stay-home order Michigans mask mandate highlights political fault lines in coronavirus crisis LANSING, MI Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said President Donald Trump does not value black lives, but she does not believe all people who have voted for him in the past are racist. Barnes made the comments during a virtual press conference Thursday, June 4, a few days after writing a statement titled, The Time for Silence is Over, which drew criticism from Laura Cox, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party. In that statement released May 31, Barnes said, If you support Donald Trump, you are a racist. Here is where it gets tricky and uncomfortable. Donald Trump is a racist, and if being a racist is not a dealbreaker for you, you are the reason Black people are being murdered for being Black. When asked by a reporter Thursday whether she believed all people who have voted for Trump in the past are racist, Barnes said, I dont. And what I said, very clearly, is that if youre supporting this Donald Trump, who is engaging in racist activities, then you are a racist. I was not in any way suggesting that having voted for him in the past makes you a racist. During the press conference, which Barnes hosted with State Rep. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, the MDP chairwoman reiterated her position that silence is not an option." Earlier this week, I said, most of you saw, The time for silence is over. I felt compelled to speak up about this presidents hateful and divisive rhetoric and to discuss the devastating impact it has had on the black community. Donald Trump didnt create the racial inequities that have left black Michiganders behind, but he did indeed make them worse. Time and again, hes shown nothing but callous disregard and, as a result, black people have suffered," Barnes said. Barnes said Trumps failed response to COVID-19 has devastated black Michiganders" and when protesters stand up and demand that police be held accountable for racist conduct and abusing black people, he calls those protesters rioters and looters and demands that governors dominate their citizens. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice under the Trump administration has rolled back critical Obama-era policing reforms and has refused to investigate police departments with cultures of abuse, she said. "If it wasnt clear before, the past three years have made it obvious: Donald Trump does not value black lives. If he did, he wouldnt have fanned the flames of racial hate with his divisive rhetoric, he would have taken action on this pandemic and acknowledged the ways in which it is specifically devastating to the black community, and hed be standing with the protesters demanding justice for George Floyd and working to truly change our criminal justice system, not tweeting about halfhearted reforms while his DOJ fails to hold police departments accountable for abuse, Barnes said Thursday. The time for silence is over. We have to have these difficult conversations if were ever going to move our country forward and hold accountable those who are holding us back. Anthony said, this is a moment like none other. I know that in November when those of us who have been protesting and have been using everything we have to bring us together, were not just going to use our feet to walk and our voices to elevate these issues, were going to also use the power of the ballot to finally say, Enough. Enough of the hatred and the fear-mongering and the division. We can do better. Weve seen our country better. And weve all reached a breaking point. RELATED: Gov. Whitmer announces plans for police reform as protests continue 'Enough is enough: Hundreds march in Saginaw to demand justice for George Floyd Michigan sheriffs condemn ex-Minneapolis cop in George Floyds killing Police discuss tactics, diversity and George Floyds death with Saginaw community Lt. Gov. says Trump is preparing to question Michigans 2020 election results if he loses WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday confirmed Michael Pack, a conservative filmmaker who President Trump has said he hopes will dictate more favorable news coverage of his administration, to lead the independent agency in charge of state-funded media outlets. The vote, 53 to 38, came after Mr. Trump personally intervened to expedite Mr. Packs nomination, which had initially stalled amid concerns from senators in both parties and hit a snag more recently amid an investigation by the District of Columbia attorney general into whether he illegally funneled funds from his nonprofit group to his for-profit film company. Mr. Pack, a close ally of conservative activists and Mr. Trumps former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, will lead the United States Agency for Global Media, which oversees news organizations, including the Voice of America, that together make up one of the largest media networks in the world. Mr. Trump and White House officials in recent months have railed against V.O.A.s coverage of the administration, and the president suggested in April that the Senates failure to confirm Mr. Pack was preventing us from managing the Voice of America. Senate Republicans, led by Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, pushed through Mr. Packs nomination over the objections of Democrats, who argued that the process should be paused given the investigation into Mr. Packs finances and outstanding questions about his ability to protect the agencys editorial independence. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sanjeev Miglani (Reuters) New Delhi, India Thu, June 4, 2020 13:50 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc19c1b 2 World India,Australia,China,geopolitics,military Free India and Australia are set to seal a military logistics pact at an online summit between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Scott Morrison on Thursday that will lay the ground for greater military exchanges and exercises, officials said. The agreement to provide access to each other's military bases in line with a similar accord that India has struck with the United States is seen as part of a broader strategy to counter China's military and economic weight in the region. Indian troops are locked in a standoff with Chinese troops on their disputed border, the most serious crisis in years, on top of concerns about a huge trade imbalance in Beijing's favour. Australia's trade frictions with China are also growing and its push last month for an international review into the origins and spread of the novel coronavirus drew opposition from China. Morrison was due in India in January but was forced to cancel the trip because of the bushfires crisis in Australia, The holding of the summit now, in the middle of the pandemic, showed the importance the two leaders attached to bilateral ties, officials said. "This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a "Bilateral Virtual Summit, this signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement under which military ships and aircraft can refuel and access maintenance facilities at each other's bases is ready for signing, another official said. India is also considering Australia's participation in annual naval exercises it holds with the United States and Japan in the Indian and Pacific Ocean in a cementing of security ties between the four countries, military officials said. A similar exercise in 2007 had angered China. Topics : India Australia China geopolitics military BOSTON, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mirakl , the leading eCommerce marketplace solutions provider, today announced the addition of three veteran B2B sales and marketplace strategy experts to its leadership team. On the heels of a stellar year, the strategic hires bring decades of experience in B2B customer experience, sales and engineering to bolster Mirakls position as the leading global marketplace platform solution provider. Riding a wave of momentum with record-breaking GMV growth and customer acquisition in 2020, Mirakl is gearing up to meet surging demand for its marketplace solutions. The most comprehensive and fastest-growing platform provider on the market, Mirakl is well-positioned to power the future of commerce with three new growth-oriented powerhouses: Brian Diehl as VP of B2B Strategy, Natasha Sachdeva as VP of Solutions Engineering for the Americas and APAC, and Sara Moore as Regional Vice President of Sales. Diehl joins Mirakl from SAP Customer Experience, where he led industry go-to-market efforts on a global scale. With 20+ years of IT and manufacturing experience, Diehl has held leadership roles both in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to SAP, Diehl was responsible for Innovation & Channel Technology for Bobcat, where he led the strategy and execution for the deployment of B2B eCommerce in 50+ countries for Bobcats 1000+ location dealer network. Sachdeva has close to 20 years of experience in enterprise software development. She joins Mirakl from Salesforce Commerce Cloud, where she led the U.S. Enterprise Retail Solutions Engineering team. Prior to Commerce Cloud, formerly Demandware, Sachdeva spent more than a decade delivering enterprise B2B and B2C commerce solutions with businesses in North America, Europe and Australia, most recently working as part of the Professional Services team at Elastic Path. Formerly VP of Sales at Commerce Hub, Moore brings more than 20 years of experience in enterprise software industry sales at leading organizations like Salesforce and Demandware to the Mirakl team. Her work as a sales leader has focused on selling disruptive technologies into mid-market and enterprise brands. Our customers choose us for our expertise, best-of-breed technology, and partner ecosystem, and today were adding three new leaders that will further grow our global market reach and give more businesses the platform they need to quickly capitalize on the marketplace opportunity, said Adrien Nussenbaum, U.S. CEO and co-founder of Mirakl. Having these seasoned veterans onboard gives us a strong strategic advantage as we forge ahead to power the future of commerce and distribution in both consumer and professional industries. To learn more about Mirakl and the Mirakl Marketplace Platform, visit www.mirakl.com. About Mirakl Mirakl is powering the platform economy by providing the technology, expertise and partner ecosystem needed to launch an eCommerce marketplace. With the Mirakl Marketplace Platform, both B2B and B2C businesses can offer more, learn more and sell more: increase the number of products available for buyers, grow the lifetime value of customers, and anticipate buyer needs and preferences. Committed to ease of use, the Mirakl Marketplace Platform is a turn-key solution thats easy to integrate into any eCommerce platform and Mirakl Catalog Manager makes managing product data quality simple at marketplace scale. Mirakls unmatched marketplace expertise is key to customers success. Mirakl employs a team of 60+ marketplace experts who help clients adopt best practices and client success provides critical long-term strategic guidance. Over 200 customers in 40 countries trust Mirakls proven technology and expertise. Customers include many notable B2C companies such as Best Buy (Canada) and Urban Outfitters, and a diverse set of B2B clients across a range of use cases including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Siemens, and Toyota Material Handling. In a major blow to the opposition Congress ahead of the 19 June Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from the state, two-party MLAs have resigned as members of the Legislative Assembly. Ahmedabad: In a major blow to the opposition Congress ahead of the 19 June Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from the state, two-party MLAs have resigned as members of the Legislative Assembly. The Congress has accused the BJP of trying to break the opposition party to win the Rajya Sabha polls. However, the ruling BJP dismissed the charge, saying MLAs were leaving the Congress as they were "unhappy" with the party leadership. Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi said Congress MLAs Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met him on Wednesday evening and handed over their resignations. "I have accepted their resignations. They now cease to be the legislators," Trivedi told reporters in Gandhinagar on Thursday. Patel represented Karjan seat of Vadodara while Chaudhary won from Kaprada seat of Valsad. Since March, seven Congress MLAs have so far resigned, including Patel and Chaudhary. In the 182-member state Assembly, the ruling BJP has 103 MLAs, and the opposition Congress now has 66 legislators. Of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state set to go for polls on June 19, three are currently held by the BJP and one by the Congress. While the Congress has fielded two candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, the BJP has fielded three, making it difficult for the opposition party to win a second seat. The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin, and the Congress has announced names of senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki for the polls. Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani accused the BJP of breaking the Congress to win the Rajya Sabha polls. "The BJP has opened its shop to buy Congress MLAs from the money amassed through corrupt means. The BJP is using the state machinery and money power to win elections," he alleged. However, BJP's Narhari Amin refuted the allegations. "I believe that some more Congress MLAs would also resign in near future. They are leaving Congress because they are unhappy with the party leadership," Amin said. The Rajya Sabha elections for four seats from Gujarat are scheduled to be held on June 19. Earlier, the elections were supposed to be held on March 26. However, the polls were then postponed for an indefinite period in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent imposition of the lockdown. In March, five Congress legislators had tendered their resignations, days after the Rajya Sabha polls were announced. With two more legislators now quitting the Congress, its chances of winning the second seat are slim. In the 182-member Assembly, BJP has 103 MLAs, Congress-66, Bharatiya Tribal Party-two and NCP-one. One seat is held by an Independent, Jignesh Mevani, while nine seats are vacant - two due to court cases over poll-related disputes and seven due to resignation of MLAs. Presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford has hit out at outspoken actor Laurence Fox, branding him 'trashy' following his latest tweet. Laurence,42, who stars in recent Netflix drama White Lines, posted: 'Every single human life is precious! The end!' The tweet was a clear nod to the current Black Lives Matter protests that have been rife across the globe in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who was killed by policemen while under arrest in the US. Hitting out: Presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford has hit out at outspoken actor Laurence Fox, branding him 'trashy', following his latest tweet This caught the attention of Sarah-Jane, 36, who replied scathingly with: 'Im not sure whats more trashy, his acting or his activism. White Lines indeed!' Laurence replied to this with a simple: 'Hi. Nice to meet you.' Sarah-Jane - who is expecting her first child in August with fiance Brian Barry - tweeted back: 'Ahh but Laurence, first it was the Sikh extra comment re 1917 and now its almost the deliberate denial that we should be focusing on one issue at a time! As if the rest of dont feel that all lives matter. Come on, I know youre better than this.' To which the actor responded: 'I agree with you, Its a really important issue to talk about. Really happy to get together for a coffee and a chat if you fancy? Thanks for getting back to me. L.' Laurence,42, who stars in recent Netflix drama White Lines, posted: 'Every single human life is precious! The end!' This caught the attention of Sarah-Jane, 36, who replied scathingly with: 'Im not sure whats more trashy, his acting or his activism. White Lines indeed!' At this point another of Laurence's followers chimed in, tweeting at Laurence was 'weird', to which a further fan replied: 'Weird only in the sense that he's prepared to enter open dialogue with people who disagree with him in wokey world of cancel culture.' Sarah-Jane did not let this slide, replying: 'People standing up to generations of disgusting racism... too woke for you is it? Then please go back to sleep. Ps: lets get that cancel culture including the cancellation of the slaughter of blacks. Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!' The follower then hit back with: 'If you realised how ridiculous that comment was with regards to my views on racism you wouldn't have said it. What's too "woke" for me is a lack of open dialogue, cancel culture, and shutting down conversations with 1 liners an irate toddler would blurt out.' To which Sarah-Jane replied: 'But interestingly enough I didnt shut down the conversation did I ? Perhaps the irate one-liner came from you? Besides Im entitled to be upset, hurt and angry right now. Glad to hear you arent racist, perhaps you could do more for the cause then!!' Another of Laurence's followers chimed in, tweeting at Laurence was 'weird', to which a further fan replied, 'Weird only in the sense that he's prepared to enter open dialogue with people who disagree with him in wokey world of cancel culture.' Sarah-Jane did not let this slide Sarah-Jane replied: 'But interestingly enough I didnt shut down the conversation did I ? Perhaps the irate one-liner came from you? Besides Im entitled to be upset, hurt and angry right now. Glad to hear you arent racist, perhaps you could do more for the cause then!!' All this follows Laurence sparking a furious backlash just a day prior to this, when he shared a flippant reference to the Blackout Tuesday movement. Taking to Twitter on Tuesday night after millions across the world boycotted social media by filling their feed with black squares, the actor wrote: 'Instagram seems to be broken.' The movement was aimed to give people an opportunity to reflect on and learn about the Black Lives Matter movement and racial equality, sparked by Floyd's death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. Under fire: Laurence provoked further controversy after using his Twitter platform to comment on the Blackout Tuesday movement Addressing his 183,000 followers, he wrote: Instagram seems to be broken. The comment sparked an inevitable wave of criticism, with many followers condemning Fox for being 'twisted, racist' and missing the point. Responding to the actor, one wrote: 'Obviously your thinking is. Making a joke about people showing solidarity for the appalling way black people have been & are still being treated for generations is pretty twisted.' While another added: 'And the most privilege blind award goes to L Fox. Your blind spot is immense!' Comment: , Fox appeared to make a flippant reference to the lack of movement online sparked by black man George Floyds death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis Taking a stand: Millions across the world boycotted social media for 24-hours by filling their feeds with black squares A third commented: 'No Laurence. People are ending racism. Just as they ended the conflict in Sudan with a blue profile picture.' Hitting back at the actor, another outraged follower wrote: Im sorry, have I missed something here? Is the problem that black police officers are wantonly murdering whites people and I have somehow got the wrong end of the stick? Slamming Fox, another added: 'I believe you officially qualify as a racist now. You cant say Instagram is broken' Target: The comment sparked an inevitable wave of criticism, with many followers condemning Fox for missing the point Hitting out: Followers lashed out at the actor shortly after reading his post, with one accusing him of 'racism' Support: Others sided with the actor, with a faction describing those who opted to post black squares across social media as 'virtue signalling sheep' Others sided with the actor, with a faction describing those who opted to post black squares across social media as 'virtue signalling sheep.' Agreeing with Fox, one wrote: Virtual signaling people are out in force on insta . Aaaah sad.' While another promptly added: 'Theyre just having a sackcloth and ashes narcissist party over there today. It will be mostly back to normal tomorrow.' Previously: The actor son of celebrated screen star James Fox has been targeted for his outspoken political views following a controversial appearance on BBC show Question Time in January Fox (left) was involved in an extraordinary slanging match last night with Question Time audience member Rachel Boyle (right), a lecturer in race ethnicity Laurence Fox's QT highlights On a being actor on flying around the world: 'Yeah the carbon footprint is huge - but we make up for it by preaching to everyone else about how they should change their lives'. On Meghan and Harry quitting: 'I feel sorry for them, in a way, because it's difficult when you have a young baby and all that but surely Harry should have had a chat with Meghan at some point and said: 'By the way this is going to be misery and you don't have to marry me if you don't want to'. And then they hop out and I think, can we have the cottage back and your HRHs? I do sympathise with them but there is a little bit of having your cake and eating it, which I don't enjoy'. On racism and Asian sex gangs: 'We need to call out racism when it's seen and stand together to condemn it - but for fear of sounding racist there have been series of horrific things happening in Manchester and other towns all across the north of England and we should be careful and not call someone racist because they don't agree with you'. On the north: 'The people here are much nicer than anyone you'll meet in London, ever'. On the Labour leadership: 'Hmmm, who should replace magic grandpa. Keir Starmer? He just looks like he can take Boris on. That the vibe I get'. Shami Chakrabarti accused him of ignoring female candidates and he replied: 'Oh God it's not about women, jeepers creepers. Sorry, let me rewind. Any of the women. Is that better? Any woman. Because it's really important what your gender is or what your sexuality is rather than what your policies are'. Advertisement Dismissing the movement, a third commented: 'Its depressing, theyre all sheep. The majority have no idea why they have a black screen.' Another follower quipped: 'I think we all need to salute the bravery of white middle class liberals courageously foregoing posting pictures of their avocado toast and oat milk flat whites for a whole 24 hours.' The actor son of celebrated screen star James Fox has been targeted for his outspoken political views following a controversial appearance on BBC show Question Time in January. Struggle: Laurence couldn't cope with what he was hearing and looked like he was banging his head on a desk during his exchange with Boyle Fox accused black university lecturer Rachel Boyle of 'being racist' on Question Time after she called him 'a white privileged male' for denying Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex was hounded from Britain for being mixed-race. He shot back at her: ''Oh my God. I can't help what I am, I was born like this, it's an immutable characteristic: to call me a white privileged male is to be racist - you're being racist'. Their angry exchange began when Boyle said criticism of Meghan in the media had been motivated by 'racism', adding: 'She's a black woman and she has been torn to pieces.' Here we go: Fox posted a telling tweet after the show - a nod to the extraordinary scenes that would be broadcast later Nonplussed: He later brushed off the criticism and said he'd 'rather eat a lightbulb' than learn more about white privilege But Fox hit back, saying: 'it's not racism' and continued: We're the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe it's so easy to throw the charge of racism at everybody and it's really starting to get boring'. In the ensuing aftermath, which prompted condemnation and praise in equal measure, actor's union Equity were forced to backtrack from comments it posted online branding him a 'disgrace to our industry' and calling on members to 'unequivocally denounce him' for his remarks. Backtrack: In the ensuing aftermath, actors union Equity were forced to backtrack from comments it posted online branding him a 'disgrace to our industry' and calling on members to 'unequivocally denounce him' for his remarks Equity posted the statements online before later deleting them and claiming that they had been published by two rogue members of its Minority Ethnic Members committee. However, in a later twist, actor and Equity MEM committee member Jassa Ahluwalia claimed the statement had been approved before being shared on social media. The union's intervention triggered fury on social media, with actress and member Alice Evans saying: 'This is not fair. Equity you are speaking on behalf of thousands of actors who have not shared this opinion. This is beyond your mandate. 'I have not expressed views on either side but as a member of Equity I have certainly NOT denounced Laurence Fox and neither should my union be doing so on my behalf. Kind of shocked.' Stepping away: In February Fox said he would be taking an 'extended break from social media' as he condemned a 'cancel culture' that pushes 'people to the edge of their ability to remain emotionally ok' Weeks after his Question Time appearance, Fox revealed that he had become 'more and more depressed' following a ferocious left-wing Twitter backlash. He also said that he feared for his future and his 'ability to provide financially' for his children, despite stressing the need to 'stand up to bullies'. Fox, who has two children with actress Billie Piper, said he would take an 'extended break from social media' as he condemned a so-called 'cancel culture' that pushes 'people to the edge of their ability to remain emotionally ok'. He dismissed people's concerns that the troubles would 'blow over', claiming: 'When you are in it, it doesn't feel like it will.' The actor then declared that he would 'turn this noise off for a while', before making a final plea for people to 'respect that we are all different'. Prosecutors in Minnesota filed new charges Wednesday against the four former Minneapolis police officers present when George Floyd died in custody, as protesters returned to the streets of American cities, but a relatively calm tone prevailed early in the evening. The charge against Derek Chauvin - the officer who knelt on Floyd's neck until he lost consciousness - was upgraded to second-degree murder from third-degree, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, announced. The other three officers, who restrained Floyd or stood guard while passersby pleaded for Chauvin to stop, were charged with aiding and abetting the murder. Those charges - which an attorney for Floyd's family called "a source of peace" - came on a day when peace seemed to be making a comeback, at least tentatively. After a week of aggressive use of force by police amid looting and vandalism in some cities, the tone changed. Police in many cities hung back and even marched with demonstrators, while protesters expelled vandals themselves. But if the cycle of protester anger and police reaction simmered down somewhat, the District was an exception. Federal officials sent a small army of National Guardsmen and federal law enforcement officers into downtown streets. The security perimeter around the White House was expanded to include the area where protesters had been forcibly removed on Monday to clear the way for President Trump to visit a fire-damaged church. The church, and the street, were now off-limits. Federal prison guards stood watch near the White House, looking over their riot shields at hot, quiet, mostly empty streets. A crowd gathered near Trump's District of Columbia hotel instead, mounting a peaceful demonstration. Thousands gathered near the White House, and the crowd fell silent as somebody played Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," a 1964 song that became an anthem of the civil rights era. Some of the active-duty soldiers flown to the Washington area earlier this week had been scheduled to return home Wednesday, but Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper canceled that order and kept them in reserve at bases outside Washington, as first reported by the Associated Press. Still, Esper said Wednesday that he did not support the use of the Insurrection Act to respond to the unrest caused by the Floyd's death. That law permits the president to use active-duty troops on American streets to bolster security, something Trump had suggested he might do if necessary. District Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said city officials were not even aware which federal agencies had sent officers to Washington. "They are under their control, not ours," Bowser said. When the protests erupted last week, they were focused sharply on police brutality. But since then, Trump's reaction - calling for more aggressiveness and "domination" against the protesters, describing some as "thugs," using force on peaceful protesters to clear his own path to the photo op - has made him a target of criticism at home and abroad. On Wednesday, former defense secretary Jim Mattis issued a statement condemning Trump, saying he "does not even pretend to try" to unite Americans in a time of crisis. "I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution," Mattis wrote, in his first major statement about the president since resigning as Trump's defense secretary in late 2018. "Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens." Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a memo to U.S. military commanders reminding them that the Constitution protects freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. "We in uniform - all branches, all components, and all ranks - remain committed to our national values and principles embedded in the Constitution," Milley wrote. The memo was notable not for its sentiments, since all military members swear an oath to the Constitution, but for its timing, coming at a moment when Trump and his allies have called for the military to crack down on demonstrators. Trump made no public appearances Wednesday. Instead, he took to Twitter to tout his efforts to help African Americans during his presidency and to issue a terse call for "LAW & ORDER!" In its early hours, Wednesday night was relatively peaceful - with some exceptions. In Huntsville, Alabama, police fired gas at protesters, scattering a crowd and leaving a toddler-age girl crying, according to the news site al.com. In Brooklyn, video shot by reporters showed skirmishes between protesters and police. In Newport Beach, Calif., a man was arrested after plowing his car through a group of protesters, though no one was seriously injured. But many protests were uneventful. In West Hollywood, California, a gay pride parade was supplemented by a civil rights march, with hundreds of people wearing rainbow attire and carrying signs against police brutality. In Philadelphia, a large march broke up peacefully after the city's 6 p.m. curfew, as a protest leader, Sixx King, led more than a thousand kneeling demonstrators in prayer. "We'll be out here tomorrow," he promised the crowd, then led them in a chant: "When? Every day!" In at least two cities on Wednesday, the protests triggered changes that promised to alter their very landscape. In Philadelphia, a crane removed a prominent statue of former mayor Frank Rizzo, a tough-on-crime politician whose tenure brought complaints of police brutality. In Richmond, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, said he is planning to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from its place on the city's Monument Avenue, a once-unthinkable change in the Confederacy's old capital. Both statues had been targeted by protesters and tagged with graffiti. In recent days, the city of Alexandria, Virginia, had removed a statue of a Confederate soldier, and Birmingham, Alabama, removed a five-story-tall Confederate monument. In Minneapolis, Floyd's son Quincy Mason Floyd, 27, visited the site of his father's death for the first time. "No man or woman should be without their father," Floyd said. A report by the county medical examiner released Wednesday found that Floyd had tested positive for the coronavirus in April but was asymptomatic at the time of his death. It also found "blunt force injuries" to Floyd's forehead, face, upper lip, shoulders, hands, elbows and legs. One Minneapolis city council member said he was considering a far-reaching response: abolishing the city's police department and starting over. "I don't know yet, though several of us on the council are working on finding out, what it would take to disband the MPD and start fresh with a community-oriented, nonviolent public safety and outreach capacity," council member Steve Fletcher wrote in a Twitter thread. That idea remains, for now, just an idea: The council has not even begun to sketch out what would replace the current police department, or how it would be different. In Washington, Justice Department officials said the massive law enforcement presence has been orchestrated by Attorney General William Barr, who wanted to "flood the zone" after incidents of vandalism in the early days of the protests. But the officers have kept coming even after protests became more peaceful, and changes made Wednesday brought the officers and the protesters much closer together. On Tuesday, the crowds and the officers were separated by a fence and an expanse of open space; by Wednesday, the officers came out from behind the fence and stood in the street with riot gear. Experts on crowd control have said that violates long-held ideas about how to handle crowds, which teach that the first goal should be de-escalation and that heavy-handed policing often backfires. "The heavy hand is a smack in the face, and the danger is that it may make things worse," said Dennis Kenney, a professor at John Jay College in New York with expertise in police response to protests. "It really does communicate something about where those who are in charge think our society sits right now. We're in the process of demonstrating to the people who are out in the streets that they are right to be there." - - - The Washington Post's Katie Mettler, Devlin Barrett, Gregory Schneider and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report. We understand the restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. But like you, we dream of travelling again, and are publishing these stories with future trips in mind. Airbnb, born in 2008, famously disrupted the hotel industry. It stole market share, put pressure on hotel rates, inspired the creation of affordable brands and saw hotels across the spectrum create restaurants, bars and lobbies that channelled the local vibe. Airbnbs recent layoff of a quarter of its workforce indicates the financial strain the company is under. Now the question is: has COVID-19 disrupted the disrupter? I do think hotels may have a near-term advantage, said Henry Harteveldt, a lodging industry analyst and the founder of Atmosphere Research Group, predicting that hotels will have the edge on hygiene and standardized social-distancing policies. As the industry seeks to recover, the contest between hotels and home shares finds both struggling to convince the public that their rooms are virus-free, their terms are fair and their offerings are social distancing-appropriate. Non-standardized terms The tidal wave of cancellations that came along with COVID-19 suddenly made travellers aware of the wide range of terms in bookings from no-penalty, last-minute cancellations to full liability even months in advance of a trip. Most hotels have generous cancellation policies that allow travellers to make changes to their reservations without penalty 24 to 48 hours in advance of arrival. The exception is for prepaid, non-refundable hotel rates, which tend to be the lowest a good deal unless you have to cancel. But even in those cases, most major hotel companies, including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, came through, offering refunds on non-refundable rates in spring. Some extended the grace period to the end of June. Given the public health and economic crises, job No. 1 for travel brand managers is to be kind, said Chekitan Dev, a marketing and management communication professor in the hotel school at Cornell University, who believes the industrys recovery begins with being as lenient as possible with refunds and providing more incentives to book, such as adding upgrades. Vacation home renters especially learned the importance of reading the fine print, which it turned out was anything but standard. In December, Jessica Bradford, a South Pasadena, Calif.-based publicist, booked a four-bedroom home in Southern Maine on Airbnb for a week with friends in July. In late April, after the state of Maine issued plans to require all arrivals to self-quarantine for 14 days through August, she tried to cancel the reservation and realized the cancellation policy on the $7,000-a-week (U.S.) property covered only the first 48 hours after booking. Thereafter, the policy allowed 50 per cent back if cancelled a week or more before the reservation date. Its on me for not looking, but the cancellation policy is draconian, said Bradford, who is still trying to get the deposit of about $3,500 back. Airbnb declined to comment directly on rentals in Maine, but pointed to the companys extension of its extenuating circumstances policy that provides refunds on bookings made before March 14 through June 15, the third time it has extended the grace period. Because her reservation is for July, Bradford is left hoping the policy is extended again. The episode underscores the variability of home rental terms. In Airbnbs case, hosts have the option to choose their own cancellation policy, which ranges from flexible, or up to 24 hours before check-in, to strict, which is what Bradford experienced. Airbnb, which said over 60 per cent of hosts offer flexible or moderately flexible cancellation policies, is introducing a search filter to help travellers find listings with flexible terms. The winner on cancellation terms: hotels. The case for hygiene When travel is widely permitted, assuming thats before a vaccine or remedy for COVID-19 is found, every place offering overnight accommodations from RVs and yachts to hotels and rental homes is going to have to win back the confidence of travellers and encourage them to step outside of their zones of control. One way to do that: promise youll clean like a hospital. Cleanliness and hygiene will be the new five-star restaurant or 800-thread-count sheets, Harteveldt said. Branded or well-run independent hotels may have a compelling advantage over home sharing because hotels are going to use professional or industrial-grade cleaning products. Their housekeeping staffs will be trained to clean to standards set by hotels. And hotels will have marketing budgets to promote this. Already, many hotel companies are coming out with new cleaning standards inspired by those set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Marriotts include using electrostatic spraying technology to spread disinfectants that broadly kill germs in rooms. Working with the Mayo Clinic and the makers of Lysol, Hilton plans to launch a new room seal in June that indicates no one has entered the room since it was cleaned and place disinfecting wipes at high-touch areas like elevators. The American Hotel & Lodging Association, a trade group, has issued new Stay Safe guidelines for its members, including enhanced cleaning practices with germ-killing chemicals and social-distancing practices like marking where guests should space themselves apart while waiting at the front desk. Vacation rental companies, too, are championing new cleaning protocols. Airbnbs new standards, launched last month, follow CDC guidelines, including using masks and gloves when cleaning and building in a 24-hour waiting period between guests. Hosts who follow them will be identified in Airbnb listings. Vacation rental management companies that employ professional cleaning crews are also announcing enhanced procedures. Based in Austin, Texas, TurnKey Vacation Rentals, which manages more than 5,000 homes in the United States, schedules its housekeeping crews through an app that maintains custom cleaning checklists for each home and requires them to verify their work with photos. So, who comes out ahead? While hotels might have the edge when it comes to state-of-the-art cleaning methods, the shared space endemic to hotels, such as elevators and lobbies, might give many travellers pause. There may be some people who feel a home-share property is better for them from a health standpoint, Harteveldt said. Hotels dont have this battle in the bag. The winner on hygiene: Its a draw. The promise of privacy In the age of social distancing, home rentals are leaning on their promise of privacy. The vacation rental industry is positioning as social distancing-friendly, said Joseph DiTomaso, co-founder and chief executive of AllTheRooms, a vacation rental search engine. A lot of renters dont even meet the owner. You get a security code instead. AllTheRooms Analytics, the data analysis division of the company, found that the fastest-growing areas for short-term rentals from mid-February to the end of March were small towns like Concan, Texas; Geyserville, Calif.; and Bridgehampton, N.Y. This data shows that people are fleeing urban cities in favour of hideouts in hamlets, smaller cities or waterfront towns. The spread of coronavirus has essentially caused urban flight to small, rural STR markets, the report said (STR refers to short-term rentals). Portland, Ore.-based Vacasa, which manages 26,000 rentals globally, said its most recent bookings average six days, versus the norm of three, and that some of its biggest growth areas were in remote locations. Denser by design, hotels have to work harder on integrating social-distancing requirements. Luxury hotels are talking about suspending turndown. Marriott guests will wheel their own room service cart into their rooms. Expect to see hotels take their cues from highly automated hotel concepts like Yotel, an affordable brand that has several locations, including New York City, where guests check in at a lobby terminal that dispenses a key card, and a robot will store your luggage. The contactless hotel stay may be considered the new luxury, Harteveldt said. That also means that some of the amenities that distinguish hotels and often draw local followings including lively bars, celebrated restaurants, rooftop pools may be a lot less convivial for the time being. The winner on privacy: home sharing. 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. - - - Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 14:57:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported one new COVID-19 case in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide count to 186, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Thursday. "A total of 469 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across Mongolia yesterday and one of them tested positive," NCCD's head Dulmaa Nyamkhuu said at a daily press conference. The latest case is one of the over 170 Mongolian nationals who returned home from Russia on a chartered flight on May 26 amid the pandemic, said Nyamkhuu. According to the official, all the confirmed cases, including four foreigners, were imported, mostly from Russia. No local transmissions or deaths have been reported in the country so far. Nyamkhuu added that 21 more patients have recovered from the disease, raising the total number to 65. On March 10, a French national tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Mongolia. Enditem BEIJING - Chinese regulators said Thursday more foreign airlines will be allowed to fly to China as anti-coronavirus controls ease, but it was unclear whether the change will defuse a fresh conflict with the Trump administration over air travel. The announcement came after Washington said Wednesday it would bar four Chinese airlines from the United States because Beijing was failing to allow United Airlines and Delta Air Lines to resume flights to China. Airlines that were flying to China when controls were imposed in March were allowed to keep making one flight per week. United and Delta had suspended their flights before that and asked permission to resume. Airlines that arent on the March list can make one flight per week starting Monday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on its website. The announcement appeared to open the door to United and Delta but CAAC gave no indication which carriers were affected. An employee who answered the phone at CAAC said she had no details. She would give only her surname, Yan. Asked what it heard from Chinese regulators about its status, United said in a statement, We look forward to resuming passenger service between the United States and China when the regulatory environment allows us to do so. The dispute adds to U.S.-Chinese strains over trade, technology, Taiwan, human rights and the status of Hong Kong. The Chinese foreign ministry expressed regret at the U.S. announcement and said CAAC was making solemn complaints to the Department of Transportation. Some progress has already been made in the arrangements. China has also announced adjustments of its policies, said a ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. We hope the United States will not create obstacles for solving the problem. Foreign carriers will be allowed to increase flights to two per week if they go three weeks with no passengers testing positive for the virus, CAAC said. It said a route will be suspended for one week if the number of passengers who test positive reaches five. Ahead of the Chinese announcement, the Transportation Department accused Beijing of violating a 1980 agreement on air travel. It said in response, Chinese carriers would be allowed the same number of flights as Beijing permitted U.S. airlines. The department said President Donald Trump could put the order into effect before June 16. The department protested last month that Beijing was preventing U.S. airlines from competing fairly against Chinese carriers. The four airlines affected by the order are Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. The Chinese ministries of commerce and transportation didnt immediately respond to questions about how Beijing might react. Before the pandemic, there were about 325 passenger flights a week between the United States and China, including ones operated by United, Delta and American Airlines. While U.S. carriers stopped flying, Chinese airlines made 20 weekly flights in mid-February and 34 by mid-March. The Transportation Department said it objected to Chinas March limit but Beijing responded last week that it was not violating the air-travel treaty because the same one-flight limit applies to Chinese airlines. United and Delta announced last month that they hoped to resume flights to China in June, as air travel has begun to recover recently. United wants to fly from San Francisco to Shanghai and Beijing and from Newark, New Jersey, to Shanghai. Delta seeks to resume flights via Seoul to Shanghai from Seattle and Detroit. ___ AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing, AP Business Writer David Koenig in Dallas and Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 10:30:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. services sector contracted for the second straight month in May despite the gradual reopening of businesses across the country, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Wednesday. The non-manufacturing index (NMI), which gauges the performance of the services sector, registered 45.4 percent, 3.6 percentage points higher than the April reading, according to the latest Non-Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. Amid widespread COVID-19-induced shutdowns, the U.S. services sector contracted for the first time since December 2009 in April. "Respondents remain concerned about the ongoing impact of the coronavirus," Anthony Nieves, chair of the ISM's non-manufacturing business survey committee, said in the new report. "Additionally, many of the respondents' respective companies are hoping and/or planning for a resumption of business," Nieves said. Since late April, many U.S. states have started to reopen their economies, allowing certain nonessential businesses to operate under social distancing guidelines. As of late May, all U.S. states had been in some phase of reopening. "Business is slightly picking up but is still drastically down due to COVID-19 and hospitality businesses being closed or limited in service," said a business executive from the wholesale trade industry in the ISM report. According to ISM data released earlier this week, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the third straight month in May, with the Purchasing Managers' Index standing at 43.1 percent. Enditem CASPERBorn July 29, 1960, Kenneth Russell Harris came to the world in his hometown of Casper, Wyoming. Throughout childhood, Ken spent time with his family going on road-trips and enjoying many adventures on Casper Mountain or with the many different children in the neighborhood. Kens mother Jeanne passed while he was still an infant, but his Grandfather Guy always made sure that Ken and his brothers experienced nature the way their mother did. Ken was the youngest of his generation and always had a bright smile when he was with his family and spread that smile to others as the class clown in school. Ken made a lifelong friend, Dan Creger, in school that his future children saw as a second father. Ken found a passion for photography at a young age and joined the Navy to become a Photographer. During his twelve years in service, Ken made many friends and got the chance to see the world from a birds-eye view. Ken would often joke about never having stepped foot on the water during his time in the Navy. He was instead walking on the tops of active volcanoes in Hawaii. Ken met his then wife while serving our country and started a family of his own. Ken continued with his passion for photography after retiring from service and took photos for Ujena in Hawaii. Shortly after the birth of his first child, Ken brought his family back home to Casper, Wyoming. Upon returning home, Ken began working at the local Cenex convenience store in Casper and built his family further with three more children. Ken quickly became the manager of all three local Cenex stores in Casper but decided that it was time for him to spend more time with his family. Ken began working for Sweetheart bread as a delivery driver for a short time but choose a different path the moment he spent a fourth full night away from his family. Ken then began working for True Companies in Casper as an Accountant in the Ranching department. This was the perfect last job for Ken, he was able to spend all day working hard and he could come home to his family for dinner and socializing every night. Ken was able to watch his children grow into adulthood and cared about each of them with every fiber of his being. Ken continued to put a smile on the face of others while at work. Throughout his life, whenever Ken was not working or with his family, you would likely find him playing darts or bingo with good friends. Ken put his heart into his work and play throughout his entire life. Kens dear friend and partner in crime, Brenda Lewis had passed just days before him, holding her arms out waiting for him to join her. Ken took his last breath just a short walk away from his childhood home in Casper on May 30, 2020 while the sun rose, and birds called out to his bed at the young age of 59. Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Jeanne and Donald Harris; his grandparents, Guy and May Stump and Ruth and Alvan Harris and Kylee Beagley. Ken is survived by his step-mother, Hallie; brothers, Dave and Jim; step-sister, Colleen; daughters, Jeanne, Kristin and Lori; son, Guy; grandsons, Elijah, Roman, Kratos and John; and granddaughters, Elizabeth, Carolyn, Angel and Catherine. Services will be held at Bustards Funeral Home, 600 CY Ave., Casper, WY 82601 on Friday, June 5, 2020 at 11:00 AM. The reception will be held the following day Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 1:00 PM at the Hangar, 1410 Prairie Ln, Bar Nunn, WY 82601. In lieu of flowers, Kens family welcomes donations to Habitat for Humanity (HFH)Heart of Wyoming for Harris Crossing, and/or Central Wyoming Hospice. June 03, 2020 Halifax, Nova Scotia National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces At 10:00 a.m. Atlantic time yesterday, the decision was made to conclude the recovery operation that was led by a combined Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and United States Navy (USN) team. After eight days over the crash site we achieved what we set out to accomplish we located the helicopter, we have recovered some remains of our fallen and we have retrieved multiple pieces of the aircraft that will assist in the ongoing flight safety investigation. While we were able to recover remains of some of our fallen, it is important to note that we have not identified these remains and it is unknown at this time whether we have found everyone. This will only be completed once the remains have been brought to Toronto where any positive identification, as well as confirmation of the number of personnel found, will be done using scientific methods by a Forensic Pathologist. Once this is complete, the identities of the remains will be released to the families and then the public. The sequence of events for this operation are summarized as follows: On Monday, May 25th, our recovery team departed Souda Bay, Greece, on the EDT HERCULES, which is an offshore multi-purpose support vessel that served as the platform for the deep-sea recovery. The EDT HERCULES arrived at the search site approximately 220 nautical miles east of Catania, Sicily on Tuesday, May 26th at roughly 7:00 p.m. Atlantic time. After about two hours of preparation, the team was able to get the ROV in the water and quickly begin the search for Stalker 22. The recovery team used a United States Navy Remora Remotely Operated Vehicle, or ROV with a Fly Away Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS) that was integrated for operations with the salvage vessel. This ROV was selected as it has the ability to operate to a depth of 6,000 metres; twice the expected depth of where we had anticipated the CH-148 to be located on the ocean floor. For the most part, the weather conditions and the sea state over the past week have allowed the team to operate the ROV and locate the debris field in very short order. It took the Remora approximately three hours to reach the ocean floor and within eight minutes, the sonar and cameras on the ROV revealed a large portion of the helicopter fuselage, which became the centre point for the rest of the search. Given that we had very accurate data on where the helicopter entered the water, we did not have to rely on the underwater locator beacon, and would have only rigged the detection system to the ROV if we had difficulty locating the helicopter. Given that we discovered it so quickly, it did not end-up being required and we cannot confirm if it was still emitting a signal. At over 3143 meters deep with a debris field that spanned approximately 260 metres by 230 metres, aircraft components were found in a number of clustered groups, to include many smaller pieces that were scattered individually across the ocean floor. Unfortunately, no portion of the main cabin was left intact following the crash, including the external cockpit structure. The largest piece at the wreckage site was the rear deck/ramp area of the helicopter and the next largest intact piece was the tail pylon and tail rotor blades. At this point, we are not able to provide any additional information about the individual pieces that were recovered given the current flight investigation. It should be noted that given the challenges associated with a recovery at this depth, we made the conscious decision to recover all discovered remains and only pieces of equipment that would be useful to the investigation. In terms of next steps, the recovery team onboard EDT Hercules is now enroute to Augusta Bay, Italy, which is proximate to Naval Air Station Sigonella. The ship is expected to arrive early tomorrow morning. Upon arrival, our next priority will be to prepare the remains for transport back to Canada, which we are anticipating will happen as early as this weekend. I would like to echo comments made by the Chief of the Defence and extend my thanks and external gratitude to the United States Navy and the Captain and crew of the EDT Hercules. Throughout this whole process they have provided outstanding support and on behalf of the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and the families of our fallen I would like to thank them for all they have done to help us bring our shipmates home. In closing, and speaking more directly to the families of our fallen, it is our hope that this operation provides some closure to you. Please know that the Canadian military family grieves with you. -30- Note to Editors Imagery of the recovery operations can be found here: Combat Camera. (Newser) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond's prominent Monument Avenue, a senior administration official told the AP. The governor will direct the statue to be moved off its massive pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak before the governors announcement. The move comes amid turmoil across the nation and around the world over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into Floyds neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving. story continues below Floyd's death has sparked outrage over issues of racism and police brutality and prompted a new wave of Confederate memorial removals in which even some of their longtime defenders have decided to remove them. The Lee statue is one of five Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue, a prestigious residential street and National Historic Landmark district in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. It has been the target of graffiti during protests in recent days over Floyd's death, including messages that say "end police brutality" and "stop white supremacy." It was not immediately clear when the statue would be removed. (Northam recently made news over a COVID-19 selfie.) Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Large number of shark teeth found at Rajasthans fossil site A large number of shark teeth have been found at a new fossil site in Rajasthans Barmer district, the study of which has provided valuable insight about the environmental changes in the region from warm, humid, coastal conditions to the present-day dry and desert-like climatic condition. Read more Cyclone Nisarga: Death toll in Pune climbs to 3 as govt measures damage The death toll due to Cyclone Nisarga which hit the district on Wednesday, climbed to three with the death of Narayan Nawale (38), a resident of Khed, who succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, according to an official from the District Disaster Management Committee. Read more Bengal rolls out red carpet for central team for cyclone damage assessment More than a month after locking horns with the Centre over the visit of inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) to inspect its Covid-19 management, the Bengal government in a role reversal has now has called another such team on a three-day visit to assess the losses due to cyclone Amphan as state guests and VIPs. Read more Experts back WHOs decision to resume clinical trial of HCQ for Covid-19 treatment Terming WHOs decision to resume testing of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19 in its global clinical trial a step in the right direction, experts said any positive outcome of the exercise will be in the larger interest of the people globally. Read more VVS Laxman talks about the player who triggered a revolution in Indian pace bowling When it came to Indian bowling, the opposing batsmen usually feared the spinners instead of the pacers. Spin bowling has always been Indias strength in the past 20-30 years. Read more UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2020: Fresh exam date likely to be announced tomorrow Union Public Service Commission, or UPSC, is expected to release the revised schedule for UPSC civil services preliminary examination 2020 tomorrow on its official website. The commission earlier had scheduled to release the revised dates for civil services preliminary examination 2020 on May 20. Read more Google explains why it removed Mitron, Remove China Apps from Play Store Google this week removed the apps Mitron and Remove China Apps from its Play Store. Both apps gained heavy traction in India within just a few days. Google has now responded explaining its reason behind removing these apps. Read more RIP Basu Chatterjee: Master storyteller who made the common man his hero The 1970s were perhaps the heyday of star power in Hindi films. In the era of the angry young man, two directors, namely Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee, made the middle-class the centre piece of their stories. Read more Maggi Pani Puri dish angers tweeple. Looks like a scene from a horror movie, says a Twitter user The past few months have witnessed some non-cooks turning into full-fledged home chefs. But among these, there were also a few who decided traditional recipes werent for them and fusion food was the way to go forward. Read more I wont stand for racism: Meghan Markles heartfelt tribute to George Floyd, old anti-racism PSA resurfaces The death of George Floyd, the African American who was brutally killed in Minneapolis by white police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, has sparked global outrage and protests, with people taking to the streets to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Read more Watch| Covid-19: UP CM Adityanath hands over his official plane to health dept * Asia FX markets pause to lock in gains - analyst * Malaysia's April exports plunge 24% * Thai c.bank to discuss baht with exporters, FX traders (Adds text, updates prices) By Shriya Ramakrishnan June 4 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies retreated on Thursday as a recent rally fuelled by hopes of an economic rebound ran out of steam and investors locked in profits, while dismal export readings pressured the Malaysian ringgit. Asian currencies have rallied this week as the reopening of several global economies has reduced the allure of the greenback and encouraged investors to venture into risky assets. "We have seen some signs of U.S. and China discord again trickling in to warrant caution, although I do see this mostly as an excuse for the locking in of some gains by the market," Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG Asia said. Leading declines in the region, the Malaysian ringgit slipped 0.4%, marking its worst daily performance in more than a week. Data earlier in the day showed the country's exports tumbled 23.8% in April from a year earlier, the steepest fall in a decade, as the COVID-19 pandemic badly disrupted the global supply chain. The South Korean won was marginally lower, while the Singapore dollar and Philippine peso weakened 0.2% each. The Chinese yuan eased slightly in onshore trade, pressured by renewed tensions between the world's two largest economies. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday barred Chinese passenger carriers from flying to the United States, while it is also expected to designate at least four additional state-run Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies. The Indonesian rupiah eased 0.2% to 14,110 per dollar, erasing some of its stellar gains in the past two sessions driven by strong demand for its government bonds. CONCERNS OVER BAHT STRENGTH BACK IN FOCUS The Thai baht weakened as much as 0.4% to 31.66 per dollar during the session on resuming trade after a holiday. Minutes from Bank of Thailand's meeting on Thursday showed that Thailand's economy will contract more than expected this year, while it also expressed concern the baht could strengthen and hurt economic recovery. The central bank is expected to meet with exporters and foreign exchange dealers later in the day to discuss the rapid rise in the currency. "Previous steps taken to curb baht strength have proven to be temporary, and any new measures that they may contemplate will likely be the same," Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ said. "The baht's overall fundamentals point to longer term strength, though its current account surplus for this year will be reduced given the absence of international tourism. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0515 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous Pct day Move Japan yen 109.090 108.89 -0.18 Sing dlr 1.400 1.3975 -0.21 Taiwan dlr 29.890 29.905 +0.05 Korean won 1217.400 1216.8 -0.05 Baht 31.570 31.55 -0.06 Peso 49.935 49.85 -0.17 Rupiah 14100.000 14050 -0.35 Rupee 75.480 75.46 -0.03 Ringgit 4.274 4.255 -0.44 Yuan 7.125 7.1166 -0.11 Change so far in 2020 Currency Latest bid End 2019 Pct Move Japan yen 109.090 108.61 -0.44 Sing dlr 1.400 1.3444 -4.00 Taiwan dlr 29.890 30.106 +0.72 Korean won 1217.400 1156.40 -5.01 Baht 31.570 29.91 -5.26 Peso 49.935 50.65 +1.43 Rupiah 14100.000 13880 -1.56 Rupee 75.480 71.38 -5.43 Ringgit 4.274 4.0890 -4.33 Yuan 7.125 6.9632 -2.26 (Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) Viken Announces "VALOR" Initiative to Provide Local, Underfunded Police Departments with Handheld Technology to Fight the Opioid Crisis Viken Detection, pioneer of x-ray imaging and analytical devices, today announced its "VALOR" initiative to provide free or at-cost refurbished HBI-120 handheld x-ray imagers to local, underfunded police departments. "VALOR" is an acronym for "Viken Assisting Law-enforcement in the Opioid Response." This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005551/en/ HBI-120 handheld x-ray imager (Photo: Business Wire) Viken Detection recently launched its Nighthawk-HBITM series, Viken's next-generation handheld x-ray imaging platform for drug interdiction and other security missions. Building on the success of the HBI-120 with approximately 1,000 units fielded globally (ncluding deployments with U.S. Customs and Border Protection), the Nighthawk-HBI introduces a new suite of game-changing features. Viken also announced its first award of multiple Nighthawk-HBI units with BRS Innovations to supply the Canadian Border Services Agency. "As many of our law enforcement and government agencies migrate to our next-generation platform, Viken will use this opportunity to support local, underfunded police departments with our handheld technology," said Jim Ryan, CEO of Viken Detection. "We will either donate or provide at-cost refurbished HBI-120's with our latest enhanced software packages." Viken Detection is the market leader in handheld x-ray imaging and in handheld lead-in-paint detection, helping officials in each of these capacities keep the public safe. Viken manufactured the first ever handheld device capable of imaging vehicles for drug interdiction. Viken also provides full-scale vehicle scanning equipment, under its Osprey-Portal Series, for border protection and critical infrastructure security. For more information, please visit us at www.VikenDetection.com About Viken Detection Viken Detection provides enabling security imaging and material identification solutions that help law enforcement and safety inspection professionals keep the public safe from drug trafficking, terrorism and other hazardous threats. The company's innovative handheld products, the HBI-120 (handled imager) and Pb200i (lead-paint analyzer), are the recognized leaders in their markets. Viken Detection is headquartered just west of Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, visit vikendetection.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005551/en/ A Good Samaritan has returned the wallet of a television reporter injured in the Birmingham protest. In a Facebook post, ABC 33/40 reporter Stephen Quinn said his wallet was returned on Tuesday. This is Michael Tripp. An example of the good people all around us. Michael found my wallet in his Birmingham neighborhood and reached out to the station and returned it to me on Tuesday. He told me he had his wallet stolen three weeks ago too. Thank you, Michael. Youre further proof there is always more that unites than divides us, he wrote. Quinn was injured after he was hit by a bottle during unrest following Monday protests over the police-involved death of Minnesota man George Floyd. Quinns wallet was also taken and the entire incident was capture on video. [June 04, 2020] VeriTran and Mambu Partner to Deliver Financial Digital Experiences in Record Time NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VeriTran , a leading global Low-Code platform provider, and Mambu , a global cloud banking platform, today announced their official partnership. The collaboration allows VeriTran's front-end capabilities to integrate with Mambu's true SaaS cloud banking platform, resulting in a streamlined solution that assists traditional banks in the US and Latin America launch their digital apps in a matter of weeks, not years. With digital transformation playing an increasingly critical role in today's global environment, financial institutions recognize the need to leverage technology to remain at the forefront of competitive innovation. This strategic partnership provides a solution that allows global customers and traditional banks to innovate and achieve a fully digital experience in record time without the need of programming. VeriTran's Low-Code Platform provides a visual and intuitive Drag-and-Drop model that allows clients to create customized apps in a fraction of the usual timeand without writing a single line of code. As the transition to digital channels increases, the company remains committed to powering the growth of client's new business solutions through rapid scaling of digital capabilities. Mambu's true SaaS banking and lending platform is a cloud-native, scalable and secure solution. The platform provides modern and flexible technology to support the growth of modern banking and lending services. It enables customers to use the highly configurable core platform to easily integrate with a pre-selected range of best-for-purpose partners. "As digital transformation becomes a priority for customers, the app economy continues to play a critical role in driving business innovation," said Omar Arab, EVP Corporate Business at VeriTran. He added, "We are excited to welcome Mambu into our financial ecosystem. We see them as a valuable partner in providing a highly configurable back-end platform and we view this collaboration asthe next step in delivering a best-in-class digital platform to our clients." Edgardo Torres-Caballero, Managing Director for Latin America at Mambu said "Bringing VeriTran onboard as a partner reinforces our global strategy to connect seamlessly with the best-of-breed technology providers and offer the most powerful platform available in the market to enhance our client's ability to transform the banking landscape." About VeriTran VeriTran is a global company that speeds up and simplifies business application development through its Low-Code Platform. Focused on driving digital transformation, the company integrates exponential technologies into legacy systems, improving deployment times and delivery costs without writing a single line of code. VeriTran's Low-Code Platform is used by more than 50 clients, reaching more than 15 million users who safely run more than 10 billion transactions annually. To know more about VeriTran, visit: https://www.veritran.com/ About Mambu Mambu was launched in 2011 with the vision to enable access to modern financial services for all. We make this possible by providing a modern cloud-native banking platform that not only competes with core products from traditional players but changes the market through our composable banking approach. We're bringing SaaS to banking at a time when it's needed the most. Our customers range from top tier banks like ABN AMRO and Santander, to leading venture-backed fintechs like N26 and OakNorth to telcos like Globe Telecom. We enable them to build a modern banking or lending offering, in the cloud, by composing a best-for-purpose solution for their needs which is an order of magnitude more agile and cost-effective than the legacy approach to core banking. As a result, we're taking on the $250B market of banking technology worldwide. We're currently a team of over 250 people spread between our main offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Singapore, London, Ia?i (Romania), Miami, Sydney and Vilnius (Lithuania) servicing over 160 customers with over 20 million end users in over 60 countries. We've raised over 42M to date with the latest round led by Bessemer Venture Capital in San Francisco. For more information, please visit our website or connect with us on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veritran-and-mambu-partner-to-deliver-financial-digital-experiences-in-record-time-301070529.html SOURCE VeriTran; Mambu [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Photo credit: Hearst Owned From Good Housekeeping We've all seen the news. George Floyd, a black man, was murdered in broad daylight by a white Minneapolis police officer, who slowly suffocated him by pressing his knee into his neck while three other officers watched without intervening. In another incident, Christian Cooper, a black man who was bird-watching in Central Park's Ramble area, could have potentially lost his life after simply requesting that Amy Cooper, a white woman, abide by the park's policy of keeping her dog on a leash. Once Cooper refused to refrain from recording her, she leveraged her white privilege to call the police, accusing him of threatening her life. In Louisville, Kentucky, police bolted into the apartment of Breonna Taylor, an emergency room technician, firing several bullets, which resulted in her death. Then there's the case of Ahmaud Arbery. The unarmed black man was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, when a white father and son followed him in a pickup truck and shot him to death. Such heinous acts of racial injustice against black men and women aren't new in the U.S. Discrimination against and police brutality on black people has now become the norm, compounded with the lasting effects of slavery, and many are protesting around the world, demanding change. To make sense of it all, we invited Dr. Robin DiAngelo, a white woman and the author of White Fragility, to explore why she believes racism is a white problem. Dr. DiAngelo also reveals actionable steps white people can take to help effect change in society. Good Housekeeping: How have you processed the recent news involving racial injustice, from the killing of black men and women, including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, to Amy Cooper's use of her white privilege? Dr. Robin DiAngelo: I'm very clear that the situation with Amy Cooper and George Floyd were not the exception. They were not aberrations. They've been happening all along on a consistent basis. The difference is that today we can videotape these situations and prove that they happened. Amy Cooper's phone call could very easily have resulted in Mr. Cooper's death. It did not, but I think it's very representative of the kinds of interactions black Americans encounter on a daily basis. And I don't see these protests letting up or people giving up in the way they may have in the past, so I'm slightly hopeful, even with a very heavy heart. Story continues Where does your sense of hope come from? Because it's fair to say many people have lost it at this point. I am a white person who speaks primarily to white people about racism and what it means to be white, and I have done so for the past 20 years. I definitely struggle with hopelessness. I know that racism will not end in my lifetime. It's not a simple formula of being nice people. It's not as simple as "What's in our hearts is all that counts." I also recognize that, as a white person, I cannot be hopeless. I cannot succumb to the temptation of hopelessness, because that only serves me and my position within this structure. If, as a white person, I feel hopeless and give up, I'm going to be passive and inadvertently colluding. I can only speak as a white American. How black Americans navigate hope is a whole other issue and not my business. It's not for me to tell you whether you should feel hopeful or how the impact of racism comes at you, from me. We're going to have different relationships to the concept of hope and what kind of action that sparks in us. You've spoken a lot about believing white people aren't concerned with racial injusticethat there's this notion of white defensiveness. What do you mean by this? I don't think most white people care about racial injustice if it requires anything that is remotely inconvenient or uncomfortable for us. It's evident in the state of our society right now. It's also been my observation that because most white people don't even understand what racism is, we think that niceness is all it takes to be certified as not racist. So we carry on doing nothing, which ultimately upholds the status quo. Until white people literally remove the phrase "I'm not racist" from our vocabulary, and we remove it because we understand that that's not possible, we're going to uphold racism. Essentially, you're saying that acknowledgment is the first step, right? Yes, that's a very provocative claim for most white people, because we've been taught that racists are individuals who consciously don't like people and are intentionally mean to them based on race. That simplistic formula powerfully upholds the system we're in, because it exempts virtually all white people from the system. What happens is that being a nice person, being a good person, and being complicit with racism become mutually exclusive. That's the root of most white defensiveness. How can a white person shift their thinking and alter their actions if they're willing to do so? Start with self-awareness and self-reflection, and then begin to educate yourself. I would recommend that white people take out a piece of paper and put down their answers to why they don't know what to do about racism. How, in 2020, they have managed to not know what to do about racism when the information is everywhere and when people have been telling us for decades, if not centuries. They might respond with: "I wasn't educated on racism. I don't talk about racism with my white friends. I don't talk about racism with my friends of color. I don't have friends of color. I live a segregated life. I haven't cared enough to find out. I don't want to feel guilty." Whatever is on that list is your map and can be addressednot easily, not quickly, not simply, but all of it can be addressed. I also highly recommend Dr. Eddie Moore's 21-day challenge and Layla Saad's white supremacy workbook. Those two things would significantly point white people toward the right path. What else should white people consider if they're eager to become more educated about racism? Figure out how to put some support in place so that when this news cycle dies down, you're still working toward racial justice. Every moment you seek to challenge your racist conditioning, that conditioning is coming back at you. You can never be complacent; this is lifelong. Giving money is great, but it also doesn't take that much from us to fill out that form on the Internet. I recommend the workbooks I mentionedthat's active engagement. How would you address a white person who is fearful of taking on this challenge? We as white people are going to make mistakes. Try not to fear that you're making a mistake because that will incapacitate you. You cannot learn and grow without making mistakes. You can't use your mistakes or uncomfortable feedback as an excuse to disengage. We have been getting away with this kind of behavior for forever, for as long as we've had this society, and with (my book) White Fragility, I want to make it harder for white people to practice this nonsense with no accountability. There are so many people, even white people, who recognize white fragility now because they have language for it. In addition to following the above steps, Dr. Robin DiAngelo recommends donating to any of the below organizations: You Might Also Like A 69-year-old British man has been charged with animal abuse after Spanish cops discovered 544 dogs being kept in tiny cages at an illegal breeding farm. A metal drum containing burnt puppy remains was also discovered by the Spanish Civil Guard. The Guardia Civil have since rescued the dogs from the breeding farm, that is in the town of Maella, in the northern Spanish province of Zaragoza. In a video shared by law enforcement, investigators can be seen showing the matted fur on the face of a Yorkshire Terrier before dozens of dogs are seen crammed into tiny cages stacked on top of each other in a run-down farm building. In a video shared by the Guardia Civil - or Spanish Civil Guard - hundreds of dogs kept in tiny cages and horrible conditions could be seen at a farm run by a 69-year-old Briton, who has been charged with animal cruelty. Pictured: Guardia Civil officers inspect the cages Some of the cages contain puppies and their mothers, with matted fur dropping into the cages below. The investigation started in March when officers from the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Spanish Civil Guard began looking into the former rabbit farm. The facilities were being rented by the British man, who had turned the site into a dog farm which he ran with a 50-year-old Romanian woman. Some cages, which were meant for rabbits, contained mothers with their puppies with barely any space to move around, and without sufficient access to food or water The cages were shown stacked on top of each other, with matted fur from the dogs falling down into the cages below There were no proper facilities to clean the dogs, which were left in cages that were contaminated with urine and faeces, without access to enough food and water. Pictured: A mother dog with her newborn puppies in a cage, with just cardboard to lay on When SEPRONA arrived at the farm they found the 544 dogs which included breeds such as the Bichon Frise, Maltese, Poodle, Yorkshire Terrier, Pomeranian, Chihuahua, Shih Tzu and Gos Rater Valencia. In the video, as investigators approach, malnourished dogs can be seen barking and jumping in the confines of their cages, seemingly desperate to be released, or excited to see people there to help. Some dogs that have been set free from their cages and are shown running around outside the farm building at the feet of the investigating officers. The Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Spanish Civil Guard found 544 dogs on the farm, of which 294 were adults and 250 were puppies, with 161 of the adults not having been micro-chipped The farm used to be for rabbits, but had been converted into an illegal dog breeding farm by a British man and a Romanian woman. Pictured: An aerial shot of the farm taken by a drone operated by the Guardia Civil. Dogs can be seen roaming around outside of the farm building The officers found the dogs in the cages, which were meant for rabbits, whilst others were in areas of the farm where faeces and dirt covered the ground. The dogs were reportedly suffering from a lack of water and food, with the Spanish Civil Guard saying they were also affected by a lack of veterinary attention. A foul smell reportedly hung over the farm and the investigators reportedly found a metal drum full of ashes where animal bones and the body of a recently-burnt puppy were found. Outside of the building, hundreds of dogs could be seen running around as inspecting officers investigated the extent of the farm One dog shown in the video, a Yorkshire Terrier, had hair so badly matted over its eyes that it could not see (pictured). The officer in the video was shown trying to clear its vision Pictured: Two Guardia Civil officers inspect the farm where the dogs were found. They also found a metal drum full of ashes where animal bones and the body of a recently-burnt puppy were found The Guard also found a variety of veterinary drugs, many of which were out of date, which in any case could only legally be used by a professional. The British man and Romanian woman, whose names have not been revealed, have been charged with alleged animal abuse. Of the 544 dogs, 294 were adults and 250 were puppies, with 161 of the adults not having been micro-chipped. The farm reportedly did not have the correct documentation to work in breeding and the authorities are yet to decide on the future of the rescued dogs. It is unclear if the suspects have been detained as the investigation continues. By Bonnie Watson Coleman, Katherine Clark and Barbara Lee As many of us continue to deal with the enduring impact of COVID-19 on lives, families and our country, its easy and even normal to spend our days thinking only about this virus. Its the focus of news broadcasts and email alerts, the focus of businesses thinking about how to weather a world of distancing, the focus of families homeschooling children, wondering how theyll pay rent and whether theyll get sick. The pandemic has created chaos that has drawn a thin and temporary curtain over Trumps enduring incompetence and dishonesty behind it, he is actively sabotaging oversight and the rule of law at the same insatiable rate. We write to urge Americans to pay attention. On May 16, President Trump fired the State Departments Inspector General, Steve Linick, marking the fifth removal or replacement in the last three months. It has since emerged that Inspector General Linick was looking into the arms deal this administration made with Saudi Arabia, a deal that previously sparked an outcry on both sides of the aisle. And so, again, the administration has made a decision that would appear to be based on politics and personal interest. Its not the first or second time such questions have been raised, its one of many. Just a few weeks ago, Trumps Justice Department dropped charges against former national security advisor Michael Flynn, a man consistently defended by President Trump despite having plead guilty of lying to the FBI most likely to insulate the president. In filings for that case, more than 960 former Justice Department prosecutors accused Attorney General William P. Barr of appearing to use the Justice Department to serve the presidents personal political interests. This is an enduring pattern in this administration, and thats why we want you to pay attention. In late March when we passed the CARES Act in Congress, we made clear that the money included in the bill for industry would not be a bailout with no strings attached. We fought for accountability, and we did not relent until the bill included a Congressional Commission, an Accountability Committee, and an inspector general. But, when the president signed the bill, he immediately made clear he would gag the inspector general, deciding what he would and would not share with Congress. Pentagon Inspector General Glenn Fine was chosen by his peers for the job, but before he had so much as a chance at oversight of those billions of dollars, President Trump replaced him, functionally removing the watchdog for these taxpayer funds. Fines removal followed on the heels of another. Just a few days before, the president had fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, the man who alerted Congress to the whistleblower complaint that eventually resulted in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. In his own words, the president said he no longer had confidence in Atkinson. But we have little doubt that, even as he should be leading our country through an economic and health crisis the likes of which weve never seen before, the president reached back to punish one more person he blames for his own misdeeds. Those misdeeds, that pattern of abusing authority to get out from under any kind of accountability or oversight, thats what brought us to impeachment in the first place. The pattern continues, and so we urge you to keep paying attention. In a vacuum, and with everything else happening around us, its easy to overlook one incident. But we want you to pay attention not to one political ideology or another, not to one political motivation or another, but to the pattern of this president and his administration. From defying congressional subpoenas to unprecedented and blatant interference at the Department of Justice on behalf of his friends to the removal of politically independent inspectors committed to the rule of law, his actions continue to demonstrate that he believes hes above the law. The systems he continues to destroy undermine faith in our government, faith long-established through transparency and accountability. Its a pattern built to protect his interests and one that maximizes his personal benefit. We urge you, the American people, to pay attention. U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman represents New Jerseys 12th Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark represents Massachusetts 5th Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee represents Californias 13th Congressional District. All are Democrats. Prosecutors in Minnesota have filed an amended complaint against Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd, adding a second-degree felony murder charge. This dangerously flawed theory could be used to portray any police restraint of a resistant suspect as criminal assault. The amended complaint against Chauvin also re-alleges the two homicide charges originally filed last week: third-degree depraved indifference murder and second-degree manslaughter, both of which better fit the facts of the case while posing no risk of criminalizing the legitimate use of force by good cops. Separately, the other three fired Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing have been charged, after a week of demands by the Floyd family, as well as intense anti-police rhetoric (and worse) by Black Lives Matter activists and protesters. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder (the new charge against Chauvin) and manslaughter. Weirdly, under the circumstances, the three are not charged with the depraved indifference murder count; nor are they accused of committing manslaughter as principals they are charged only as aiders and abettors, a theory that does not jibe with a negligence charge such as second-degree manslaughter (which is negligent homicide under Minnesota law). Felony Murder: Criminalizing Police Restraint of Suspects The second-degree murder charge is now the main charge against all four officers. Essentially, the theory is that they committed a felony assault when they subdued a suspect who was resisting arrest. During the course of carrying out that crime, prosecutors allege, Floyds death resulted. While the point may be subtle, this is saliently different from the theory of third-degree murder i.e., depraved-indifference murder. In the latter, prosecutors would concede that it was lawful in principle for the police to subdue Floyd, but argue (correctly) that their manner of doing so was recklessly indifferent to human life, causing his death. By contrast, the new felony murder count, spearheaded by Keith Ellison, the radical leftist state attorney general, puts police on notice that they can be charged with a crime felony assault for doing their job, which routinely involves physically restraining suspects who resist lawful commands. Story continues Any experienced law-enforcement officer will tell you that it is common for suspects to resist arrest by lying on the ground, claiming to be ill, waving arms to avoid being cuffed, and refusing to be placed in a squad car. Cops, of course, may not use excessive force when that happens. They must, however, be permitted to use sufficiently superior force to detain and transport uncooperative arrestees. In Minnesota, thanks to its election of the new breed of progressive prosecutor who rails against the justice systems purported institutional racism, police officers who use force in arresting dangerous criminals now run the risk that they will be the ones who face criminal charges. There was confusion about second-degree murder in the media speculation leading up to Ellisons announcement of charges late Wednesday afternoon. When word first leaked that Chauvin would be charged with second-degree murder, it was widely assumed that this meant intentional murder. This seemed a reach. There is immense evidence that the police were reckless in their handling of Mr. Floyd, but scant evidence that they intended to cause his death as in, specifically formulated that purpose and acted to bring it about. Most of the coverage did not note that Minnesotas second-degree murder statute prescribes alternative theories of murder: intentional murder and felony murder. The new charges in the case reflect the latter theory. The complaints filed against all four officers concede that Floyds death was unintentional. Instead, they charge that Chauvin, with the other cops as accomplices, committed the felony of third-degree assault by physically restraining Floyd when he refused to cooperate in being taken into custody. Death is said to have resulted from this purportedly criminal act of assault. Defense lawyers will certainly note that the new theory may have led to some sleight-of-hand by Ellison in drafting the charges. In the original complaint, prosecutors more forthrightly acknowledged that Floyd, while he did not threaten the cops, was uncooperative. For example, the original complaint states, Mr. Floyd actively resisted being handcuffed; in the amended complaint, that allegation has mysteriously vanished we are now told simply that Officer Lane handcuffed Mr. Floyd. Why the change? Because Ellison has changed the direction of the prosecution since taking it over. Originally, prosecutors were not concerned about accurately describing Floyds resistance, since their theory was that, no matter what Floyd may have done, the recklessly excessive manner in which he was restrained with his ability to breathe impeded established depraved indifference. But now, Ellison is alleging that the arrest and accompanying restraint of Floyd was felony assault from the start. To pull that off, he realized he needs to soft-pedal Floyds resistance. Otherwise, physical restraint by the cops may appear to have been reasonable, at least at the start; Ellison wants it to look unreasonable through and through, to the point of assault. Competent defense lawyers will make mincemeat of this legerdemain, showing the jury how prosecutors massaged facts to make them fit their evolving theories. A case that prosecutors should win will suffer. Aiding and Abetting Lets move to the charges against Thao, Kueng, and Lane. Before we get to aiding and abetting, I would expect defense counsel to move to dismiss the complaint against Thao. He is barely mentioned and not alleged to have taken any active role in the physical restraint of Floyd. If there is a case against him, Ellison has failed to allege it in the four corners of the charging document. In any event, to prove that an accomplice has aided and abetted a crime, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the principal offender committed the charged offense; (2) the accomplice knew what the principal was trying to do; and (3) the accomplice joined himself to that objective by committing some act intended to bring it about. As you can probably discern, in an aiding and abetting case, the key is identifying the crime the principal was trying to commit. Therefore, it is difficult to apply aiding and abetting if what the principal did was unintentional. That is problematic for the murder count and, I believe, fatal to the manslaughter count. To convict on the second-degree felony-murder charge, the jury would have to be convinced that, in restraining a resisting defendant, Chauvin committed felony assault. Jurors would further have to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the three alleged accomplices understood Chauvin was doing that i.e., they grasped that the objective was assault Floyd, not make a legitimate arrest and acted purposely to help Chauvin accomplish that objective. This could be tough but not impossible. Remember, jurors just have to decide the case. They do not have to grapple with the wisdom vel non of a policy that will make cops reluctant to subdue an uncooperative suspect. They merely have to weigh the manner in which Floyd, specifically, was subdued. The jury could rationally conclude that, whatever the accomplices may have been thinking when the confrontation started, it eventually evolved into such excessive force that it became a criminal assault. To my mind, the challenge for prosecutors involves the accomplices intent and actions. Unlike the allegations about Chauvin, nothing in the complaint suggests that Lane and Kueng intended to commit a criminal assault. Likewise, their actions would probably not be deemed excessive were they not in conjunction with Chauvins unorthodox choke hold. Again, there is no evidence in the complaint that Thao did anything improper. There is, moreover, evidence that Lane told Chauvin he was worried that the manner in which Floyd was being restrained prone, with Chauvin pressuring his neck could trigger excited delirium, a condition of agitation that can trigger heart or respiratory failure in some cases. Due to this worry, Lane suggested rolling Floyd over on his side a suggestion Chauvin rebuffed. This evidence will make it difficult for prosecutors to establish that the alleged accomplices had it in their minds to assault Floyd. (And even with respect to Chauvins rebuffing Lanes suggestion, counsel will contend that the complaint shows Chauvin, too, wanted to avoid excited delirium he just thought, however foolishly, that it was better to keep Floyd on his stomach.) The Manslaughter Charge On manslaughter, to apply the concept of aiding and abetting is peculiar. Under Minnesota law, second-degree manslaughter is culpable negligence creating an unreasonable risk. By definition, a bad outcome caused by negligence does not happen intentionally; it happens because of carelessness that created a risk the actor did not foresee but should have. See the problem? Aiding and abetting requires proof that the accomplice understood the principals conscious criminal objective. In a negligence case, the bad thing that happens is unintentional i.e., it is nobodys conscious objective. Thats why the prosecutors theory is, to my mind, a non sequitur. Do not misunderstand. I think it would make sense to charge the accomplices with manslaughter as principals, rather than as aiders and abettors. Lets leave out Thao, as to whom I dont see any evidence at the moment. It would be rational to allege that Kueng and Lane, even though not as culpable as Chauvin, acted negligently in physically assisting the patently dangerous method of restraint that, intolerably, continued to be applied to Floyd until he died. That is, they should be charged for their own careless actions, not for the manner in which their own actions may have facilitated whatever they may have thought Chauvin was trying to do. In addition, though it would be a tough case (which may be why prosecutors didnt charge it), it would make logical sense to me to charge the accomplices with the same third-degree depraved-indifference charge that is lodged against Chauvin. The leap from culpable negligence to reckless depravity is not that far as opposed to leaping from aiding and abetting to negligence, or turning a lawful arrest into a crime, neither of which makes sense. It is virtually never a good thing to have an ideological agitator as the prosecutor in a case where the mob is baying for blood, and where nothing less than the most severe charges will satisfy them . . . even if such charges do not line up with the facts of the case. Attorney General Ellisons criminal complaint, however, suggests that he is not up to the job that needs doing here. In some ways, he has overcharged the case, which increases the risk of acquittal for a killing that is already ripping the country apart. Moreover, Ellisons theory of prosecution signals to police that they could face assault charges whenever they physically restrain a suspect, and thus will encourage criminals to resist arrest. And on top of all that, the attorney general has failed to bring charges against the accomplices that both fit the facts as alleged and would be a worthy condemnation of atrocious policing apparently because manslaughter and third-degree murder dont sound harsh enough for the regnant political narrative. More from National Review Navel personnel respond to medical evacuation call near Isla Mujeres Isla Mujeres, Q.R. Elements of the Navy of Mexico carried out the medical evacuation of a crew member from a cargo ship located approximately 7 nautical miles (13 kilometres) northeast of Isla Mujeres. Vessel Antoine requested the emergency medical evacuation of one of its crew members. Elements of the navy headed out to sea where they met Antoine and made the transfer of a 23-year-old male, who was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. He was evacuated from the cargo ship and transferred to the pier of the Naval Station of Puerto Juarez where he was further tranferred by ambulance to a hospital in Cancun. MISSING: One of the last pictures taken of toddler Madeleine McCann It is more than 13 years since three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished from the Portuguese coastal village of Praia da Luz while on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry, and siblings. As the Metropolitan Police have identified a suspect, here is a timeline of events surrounding her disappearance and some of the developments over the following years. 2007 May 3: Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. Nothing is amiss when Mr McCann checks on the youngsters just after 9pm, but when his wife goes back at about 10pm she finds three-year-old Madeleine missing. Jane Tanner, one of the friends dining with the McCanns, reports seeing a man carrying a child earlier that night. May 14: Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese property developer Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or formal suspect. Officers also search the home he shares with his mother in Praia da Luz, just 100 yards from where the youngster vanished. August 11: Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead. September 7: During questioning of Mr and Ms McCann, detectives make them both "arguidos" in their daughter's disappearance. September 9: The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins. Read More 2008 July 21: The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Robert Murat. 2011 May 12: Ms McCann publishes a book about her daughter's disappearance, on Madeleine's eighth birthday. Scotland Yard launches a review of the case after a request from home secretary Theresa May. 2012 April 25: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive, release an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and call on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police say they have found no new material. 2013 July 4: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine's disappearance two years into a review of the case. It has "genuinely new" lines of inquiry and has identified 38 people of interest October 24: Portuguese police confirm that a review of their original investigation has uncovered new lines of inquiry, and reopen the case. 2014 January 29: British detectives fly to Portugal amid claims they are planning to make arrests. June 3: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing. December 12: Detectives began questioning 11 people who it was thought may have information on the case. 2015 September 16: The UK government discloses that the investigation has cost more than 10m. October 28: Scotland Yard's investigation into the disappearance has been cut from 29 officers to four. 2017 April 30: The couple prepare to mark 10 years since the disappearance with a BBC interview where they vow to do "whatever it takes for as long as it takes" to find her. 2019 May 3: Local media report Portuguese detectives are investigating a foreign paedophile as a suspect in the abduction of Madeleine McCann. 2020 June 3: Police reveal that a 43-year-old German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:09:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese medical equipment is seen at the Syrian Health Ministry in Damascus, capital of Syria, on June 4, 2020. Syrian Health Ministry received a new batch of Chinese medical equipment on Thursday as part of the cooperation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic between the two countries. Masks, overalls, and disinfectants were among the new batch of aid provided by China and presented to the Syrian side by the Chinese embassy in Damascus. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Health Ministry received a new batch of Chinese medical equipment on Thursday as part of the cooperation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic between the two countries. Masks, overalls, and disinfectants were among the new batch of aid provided by China and presented to the Syrian side by the Chinese embassy in Damascus. At a handover ceremony held at the Health Ministry in Damascus, Ahmad Khleifawi, the assistant health minister, told reporters that the Syrian side appreciates the Chinese aid. "We always appreciate what is being given by China to Syria and we all know that there are batches of aid that will be provided by China to Syria," Khleifawi said. He further voiced gratitude from the Syrian people and the government to China. For his side, Feng Biao, Chinese ambassador to Syria, told reporters that China will continue to cooperate with the Syrian side to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that COVID-19 is a "mutual enemy" to humanity, adding that the Chinese side is committed to the concept of the mutual future of humankind. "We will continue to enhance cooperation with the Syrian side to counter this pandemic and to continue to enhance cooperation in the health sector," he added. The ambassador stressed that China provides all medical help to the Syrian people to protect the general health of both countries. Thursday's shipment is the second batch of aid from China to help Syria's fighting against the coronavirus. On April 15, China donated 2,016 COVID-19 test kits to Syria to help its fight against the virus. On April 23, a video-conference was held between Chinese and Syrian medical experts for sharing the experiences in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Syria has so far recorded 123 COVID-19 cases, including 53 recoveries and six deaths. With more than two dozen repatriation flights scheduled over a period of just three weeks, Indian officials in Canada are optimistic that most Indian citizens with compelling reasons to return to their home country will be able to do so this month. The first of the total of 26 flights will leave from Toronto on June 9 and the last on June 30. Two dozen flights will depart from Toronto, while the remaining two will take off from Vancouver. Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa Ajay Bisaria was hopeful that these departures will manage to accommodate most of those with urgent needs to return to India this month. Also read: 75 more flights to US, Canada in Vande Bharat Phase 3 This is the second phase of repatriation flights from Canada under the Modi governments Vande Bharat Mission. All flights are being operated by Air India. In May, five flights left from Toronto and Vancouver, carrying back 1,343 Indians. This phase, announced by Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, is part of the 75 flights scheduled from United States and Canada. More cities in India have been added in this phase. While Delhi will remain the hub, passengers will be able to travel to the cities of Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Trivandrum, which did not figure in the May schedule. Those flights connected several other cities including Amritsar, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. This will also be the first time that Overseas Citizen of India or OCI card holders in distress will also be able to fly to India since they were not eligible in the month of May. Relaxation of Government rules for OCIs have meant that some may qualify for these flights. As with the initial phase of repatriation, Air India flights departing from India will also be taking registrations from Canadian citizens and permanent residents wishing to return back to Canada. As Puri pointed out earlier, 1,417 flew out of India in the first phase. Air India will start accepting reservations for the Canada-bound flights on June 5. Also read: India adds over 140 flights to West Asian nations in Phase 2 of Vande Bharat Mission Bisaria said that nearly 8,000 persons had registered for the repatriation flights on the Indian High Commissions website and after the first phase, approximately 6,500 remained. These 26 flights should be sufficient to ferry the majority of them. He also pointed out that with the announcement of these flights, there may well be more registration in the days ahead. However, passengers will have to be prepared for the mandatory 14-day quarantine period once they arrive at their destination in India. Like most expectant mothers, Emy Darragh grew increasingly nervous in the final days of her pregnancy. But for this birth her third Darragh was more afraid of getting infected with COVID-19 while in hospital than of the exhaustion, pain and uncertainty of labour. But Darraghs fears gave way to joy and relief after she met her baby a healthy girl named Peyton and found out they both could go home 12 hours, not days, after giving birth at Mississauga Hospital. I couldnt believe I could go home to my family so quickly, said Darragh, who lives in Etobicoke with her husband and children. To have everything work out, and to get out of hospital so fast and introduce her to everyone else in my family, that was a huge relief. Darragh, whose daughter was born late at night on May 24, is among the first families to benefit from a new program at Trillium Health Partners that allows healthy mothers and their babies to leave hospital within hours after birth. Typically, mothers who deliver with an obstetrician must remain in hospital for at least 24 hours for follow-up care, including a newborn hearing test and blood work that screens the baby for 25 rare diseases. Now, mothers and babies who qualify for the Early Discharge Clinic can leave hospital straight from the birthing suite and return the following day for their checkups and critical tests. THP has an Early Discharge Clinic at Mississauga Hospital and Credit Valley Hospital. Doctors who launched the clinic two weeks ago believe its the first of its kind in the province. They say its a solution for those who are wary of being in hospitals during the pandemic, even though hospitals are a safe space, and for families who want to remain together after birth. Currently, THP does not allow a birthing mothers support partner to stay with her in the postpartum ward a policy in line with its hospital-wide visitor restrictions during the pandemic. A THP spokesperson said exceptions are made for some patients, such as those who are critically ill or who those who need communication supports that cant be done virtually. We know patients want to be home with their families if they possibly can, said Dr. Catherine Taylor, a pediatrician and THPs service medical director for the NICU and neonatal services. The clinic is a creative solution; it brought a lot of different people together to make it happen. We know it matters to give the right care for mothers and babies in this special time. Even as many aspects of health care have been put on hold due to COVID-19, the number of babies being born in the pandemic hasnt slowed. At THP, which delivers about 9,000 babies across its two hospital sites every year more than any other community hospital system in the province obstetricians and midwives are heading into their busiest season for births, said Cathy Walker, THPs interim director of the Womens and Childrens Program. On top of planning for a pandemic, making the best possible experience for a patient and their family is something that all our interdisciplinary care providers are constantly thinking of, she said. Its a challenging time and we want to provide the best services for them. Its such a milestone event in their life. At the Early Discharge Clinic, staff check the health of mom and baby, including vital signs, offer breastfeeding and other care advice, and answer any questions that have come up during the time at home. The team performs the required newborn screens and tests and provides some results all within the short time the parent is in the hospital. In addition to the clinic, THPs Womens and Childrens team has identified and found solutions for other potential gaps in postpartum care that have emerged during the pandemic. Some family physicians in the region have temporarily stopped seeing patients in their offices because of a lack of personal protective equipment. So pediatricians and midwives at THP stepped up to care for patients unable to see their own family doctor; newborn visits are critically important to identify health concerns and feeding issues, Walker said. With physical distancing measures in place, new parents dont have the help of extended family in the difficult days and weeks after birth. So THPs Womens and Childrens Program quickly added additional in-hospital breastfeeding supports and started calling families 48 hours after discharge for a further checkup, said Walker. We ask if the baby is sleeping, how the baby is feeding, if there are any concerns with mom or baby, any signs of jaundice, and if there are issues we can refer them back to a family care provider, she said. We really want to safeguard every mom and baby. The Midwifery Division at THP has helped solve one of the bigger challenges for delivering postpartum care during the pandemic. The group of 24 midwives is going into the homes of new mothers with COVID-19. So far, the midwives have provided postpartum and well-baby care for three women with the virus who were in the care of obstetricians at THP. These women were well enough to be discharged from hospital but could not see their own family physicians because they have to self-isolate. The midwives have also provided care to a pregnant woman and a new mom with COVID-19 in their own practice. Registered midwife Avni Garg volunteered to care for a new mom with COVID-19 during her first week working with Midwives of Mississauga. At first, Garg was hesitant to come into direct contact with a patient with COVID-19 but she said her trepidation was soon overtaken by her desire to help. I kept thinking, if I was in her shoes, with a newborn baby, quarantined at home with this virus, it would feel so isolating. If I could provide, in any way, some level of comfort and care, to make her feel like shes not entirely alone, that was a turning point for me. Garg visited her patient twice in her home, each time connecting before and after with the new moms family physician. The mother, who had tested positive but had no symptoms of the virus, was able to see her own physician once she had quarantined for 14 days. Like Garg, registered midwife Mariah Flynn was also nervous ahead of seeing her first patient with COVID-19. THP provides the midwives with full PPE, and Flynn was careful ahead of each visit to don and doff it properly. She even wore two layers of clothing so she could remove the first and carefully put it in a plastic grocery bag to later wash at home. Still, she said, best practices during the pandemic are to do the majority of care virtually and only go into a patients home for the hands-on portions, including an assessment of the moms health and weighing the baby and taking his or her vital signs. Even though she only saw this patient during her two-week quarantine, Flynn said she did her best to develop a rapport and be available anytime she had questions or concerns. They are isolated in their homes and quarantining with their babies and dont have supports around them. Doing everything we can do to meet their needs is important. Remi Ejiwunmi, a registered midwife with Midwives of Mississauga, said while the COVID-19 outbreak has undoubtedly brought new challenges to prenatal and postpartum care, the virus has also forced health workers to find creative ways to help families something she hopes will continue after the pandemic ends. Parents are worried. They ask: am I safe, is my baby safe. All of these questions and their anxiety are heightened in the current circumstances, Ejiwunmi said. But its also this unprecedented time of innovation and collaboration where were finding new or different ways of doing things. Two weeks after its launch, Walker said obstetricians are now telling pregnant patients about THPs Early Discharge Clinic so parents, should they qualify, can plan to take their baby home hours after birth. With the pandemic stretching into the summer and beyond, Walker expects it will be a welcome option for many new families. Darragh, the Etobicoke mom of baby Peyton, said the clinic eased her fears of giving birth during a pandemic. Not only was she scared of catching the virus at the hospital but she dreaded being in the postpartum unit without her husband, Michael. He had to go home about two hours after Peyton was born, she said, adding that she understands visitor restrictions are in place to protect patients and hospital staff from getting COVID-19. It is what it is. But its still really stressful. Labour is such a heavy thing; your body goes through a lot and youre just so tired. Theres a lot of change real fast. It would have been nice to have him there to help me. Darragh found out about the clinic three hours after Peyton was born and one hour after Michael went home. She quickly opted to go home early and only had to spend one night, not two, in hospital. The next day at the Early Discharge Clinic, Darragh and Peyton received postpartum and well-baby care and found out how to receive additional help, if needed. Darragh, grateful her third child is healthy, said she wishes the clinic had been available after her previous births. It felt good, it felt safe, she said. Then I got to go back home to my safe spot. Agricultural exports from Ukraine grew by 2% in the first five months of 2020, to more than $9 billion, according to the information and analytical portal of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. "In January-May 2020, exports of agricultural and food products amounted to $9.072 billion, which is 2% or $180.3 million more than in the same period of 2019," the report said. According to the report, traditionally dominating in the structure of exports are crop products, in particular, grain crops, oil-bearing crops and processed products. In general, compared to the first five months of 2019, Ukraine increased supplies to foreign markets of sunflower, safflower or cottonseed oil by $421.3 million (up 22.4%), barley by $107.6 million (by 2.4 times), wheat by $100 million (up 10.3%), sunflower seed cake, and solid waste from the extraction of vegetable fats and oils by $44.2 million (up 9.2%). In addition, the demand for Ukrainian coleseed, rapeseed and mustard oil has increased significantly (by 18.7 times). In the 2019-2020 marketing year, Ukraine exported 52.45 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops, which was 18.4% more than in the same period last year. In particular, Ukraine exported 19.68 million tonnes of wheat (up 34.68%), 4.78 million tonnes of barley (up 40.18%), and 27.3 million tonnes of corn (up 8.01%). Exports of flour for the period grew by 19.7%, to 306,300 tonnes. In April 2020, Ukraine also exported a record amount of sunflower oil 717,000 tonnes. op File this one under Hard To Watch. Rudy Giuliani appeared on Good Morning Britain Thursday morning and faced questions about President Donald Trump and his response to ongoing protests and riots happening across the nation. Giuliani defended the president and lashed out at the left-wing media when asked about Trumps inflammatory language and his maligned tweet that contained the phrase, When the looting starts, the shooting starts. That phrase was first used by Miami police Chief Walter Headley in 1967 during a time of civil unrest in his city. Headley was met with anger from civil rights leaders at the time, and he had a long history of bigotry against the black community, Howard University professor Clarence Lusane told NPR in a piece about the origin of the phrase. Giuliani said Trump didnt know where the phrase came from and again pushed back on the line of questioning, which is when host Piers Morgan jumped in for a time-lagged argument that mostly just featured the two men talking over each other. Giuliani shifted his position from the origin of the phrase to the fact that it was an accurate statement, not a threat, from the president. Morgan at one point told Giuliani that he was once one of the most revered and respected men in America and asked, Whats happened to you? He concluded the interview by telling Giuliani he sounded completely barking mad. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Restaurant owners on Staten Island were glad to hear Gov. Andrew Cuomos Wednesday announcement on the return of alfresco dining to New York State -- although there are mixed sentiments on the new dining decrees. According to the new mandates, starting in Phase 2 of reopening, restaurants can begin outdoor seating only, keeping tables six feet apart. Employees must wear face coverings, as should customers when not seated. New York City is slated to start Phase 1 reopening on June 8; if all goes well, Phase 2 will not be far behind. Its a start, said Rob DeLuca, owner of DeLucas Italian Restaurant in Tottenville. DeLuca helped spearhead a campaign under the umbrella of the Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue, I.R.O.A.R., on behalf of proprietors looking to get back to business more quickly. I.R.O.A.R. appealed to Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio last weekend demanding immediate reopening at 50% indoor capacity. It helps some restaurants more than others, getting us back with some capacity inside will be key. Hopefully Phase 3 will get us to 75% inside, said DeLuca. Rob Casatelli of Kettle Black and HoBrah in West Brighton said, The guidelines that they have announced so far seem as they will allow for an almost normal experience and we are excited to start. We hope that Phase 2 rolls in rather soon. The fact that we are so far behind New Jersey and the regions surrounding NYC will allow us the benefit to see ideas what worked and didnt work so far. Casatelli does have some questions. He wonders, Will we be allowed to utilize the sidewalk or portion of the street? Are establishments that have the ability to open their windows considered outdoor space? Currently that answer is no, but will that change? If the City Council has its way, according to a press conference last week, restaurants will have fast-tracked permits through Department of Consumer Affairs and newly sourced, open spaces for outdoor dining thanks to the Department of Transportation. Sidewalk permit fees will be suspended through the fall as a further perk to small business owners. I very much appreciate that we were allowed to deliver alcohol and now the sidewalk seating is another sign the they just maybe are listening, said Jodi Guagliardo, owner of Project Brunch in Charleston. She just closed her West Brighton Project Brunch permanently and, in light of that, said any and all means of increasing revenue will help our industry survive. She likes the fact that City Council is thinking outside the box to help make that happen. The only way we can fight our way back is if we are allowed to find alternative means to promote business, said Guagliardo. The alfresco news is exciting to Joe OToole of Joyces Tavern in Eltingville. When Phase 2 hits hes expecting to seat customers in his patio and deck area at the back of his restaurant. With no customers at his bar the business has been bleeding money since mid-March, but he doesnt believe Staten Islanders are skittish about getting sick any longer. A lot of people are saying they would come back tomorrow and be the first one in. People miss being out socializing and having a good time being with others, said OToole. In its letter to politicians, I.R.O.A.R. maintained that the delivery and curbside pickup model were unsustainable long term. South Shore restaurant owners expressed concern that patrons would be tempted to dine in New Jersey where restaurants are open at reduced capacities come June 15. Phase 2 has happened around New York State in the Capital Region, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country, the Southern Tier and Western New York. Dining reopened in these areas on Thursday. Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com. [June 03, 2020] VIVOTEK Joins ENOVA Robotics Police Robot Project to Enforce COVID-19 Lockdown in Tunisia TAIPEI, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In times of uncertainty, as a global leading IP surveillance solution provider, VIVOTEK (TWSE: 3454) is honored to be part of the police robot "P-Guard" project in Tunisia. Produced by ENOVA Robotics, the P-Guard robot has been deployed on the streets by the interior ministry of Tunisia to impose lockdown restrictions on citizens and to help slow the spread of coronavirus. The police robot, "P-Guard", was originally invented for security patrols of sensitive open areas. To deliver 360 degree zero blind-spot surround imagery, each P-Guard robot is equipped with 2 VIVOTEK MS9390-HV 180 degree panoramic network cameras. Since its debut in 2018, this has been VIVOTEK's most iconic multi-sensor camera. The MS9390-HV features dual 4-megapixel wide-angle lenses, seamless 180 degree panoramic views, and IR illuminators effective up to 20 meters, making it the ideal camera to provide superb image quality for both day and night surveillance. Also, the face-shaped housing design of MS9390-HV is perfectly matched to the robot appearance and makes the P-Guard robot look friendlier to citizens. With its field-beating cameras, Lidar technology and extensive network connectivity, the P-Guard can be remotely operated to perform security missions to all corners of the city, making sure that people are staying at home during the nationwide quarantine. "ENOVA Robotics' core philosophy is knowing today what our customer needs tomorrow. We will help people to handle the most difficult, dangerous or repetitive tasks with artificial intelligence robots," stated Mr. Anis Sahbani, CEO of ENOVA Robotics. "Over recent years, VIVOTEK has aspired to become the Eye in IoT. We believe our products have unlimited potential to be integrated into a wide variety of system applications and look forward to more cooperation with cross-industry partners," said Alex Liao, President of VIVOTEK. While the world is facing a challenge that no one has imagined before, VIVOTEK hopes to contribute to the society by securing people's safety in the smarter ways and is prepared to fight any future crisis together with all their global partners. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200603/2820518-1 SOURCE VIVOTEK Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] In case the fire and fury of Donald Trump wasnt enough to contend with, Twitter is now on the receiving end of a broadside from another acid-tongued figure former prime minister Paul Keating. Keatings gripe? Parody accounts using his name. In recent years, multiple Twitter accounts have appeared bearing the name of Keating, who doesnt have an account of his own. One parody account in particular has captured the attention of the Australian Twittersphere. The account, which uses the display name Paul John Keating and an official-looking profile photo of the 76-year-old, has amassed about 33,000 followers since its creation less than two years ago. Whoever is behind the account has read the Keating playbook. In the past fortnight, the anonymous pro-Labor tweeter referred to former treasurer Joe Hockey as mudguts and labelled animated state Liberal MP Tim Smith a delicate crumb of insignificance. [June 03, 2020] BOCI Securities Limited Signed Agreement with AQUMON to Develop Robo Advisory Platform HONG KONG, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Robo advisors provide customers with easy access to digital investment advices, by combining systematic investment algorithms with scalable technology platforms. As Hong Kong's leading robo advisory solution provider, AQUMON is proud to announce that an agreement has been reached with BOCI Securities Limited on one of the first robo advisors in Hong Kong*. The new platform analyzes the risk profiles, investment backgrounds, and preferences of clients to generate portfolio recommendations. The portfolio will allow clients to achieve their investment objectives by providing access to a wide range of asset classes globally via diversified portfolios. Clients will be able to subscribe, monitor, and rebalance their investment portfolios one-stop in the robo advisory platform, which will be embedded in the BOCI platform. As much as how the COVID-19 pandemic has impeded the development of many traditional business activities, robo advisors have gained growth with the industry's digitization trend. Earlier this year, AQUMON has partnered with one of the largest insurers in Hong Kong to digitize its investment-linked product. BOCI was one of the first investment banks established in China and is one of the biggest and strongest China-invested banks in overseas markets. BOCI has a leading position in the Hong Kong capital market in terms of overall competitiveness, thanks to its comprehensive cross-border investment banking services platform that ranks at the forefront among Chinese investment banks, and to its internationalized investment banking framework that upholds best practices in the industry. This robo advisory offering is provided by AQUMON, a financial technology company incubated at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. AQUMON has partnered with more than 60 financial institutions in Hong Kong and beyond, including AIA, CMB Wing Lung Bank, ChinaAMC, and Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank. AQUMON's early investors include the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, affiliate of BOC International Holdings Limited, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. AQUMON has also recently procured a new round of funding from Lenovo Capital, and Cyberport. *Subject to compliance with regulatory requirements as deemed necessary SOURCE AQUMON [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] May 29, 2020, marked Buharis five years in office - or the end of the first year of his second term in office. How has Buhari fared so far? And what is likely to be his legacy? Answering either of the above questions may not be as straightforward as it seems. There are several issues that will predicate the answers: One, Buharis greatest strengths are also his Achilles heels: One of these was his first coming as military Head of State (December 31 1983 August 27 1985). Some of his core admirers nurse a nostalgia of an unsmiling 41-year old Major-General who introduced the War Against Indiscipline, resisted pressures from the Bretton Woods institutions to devalue the Naira and herded most members of the political class and other untouchables in the society into long jail terms for corruption and sundry offences, (some, for as long as 250 years). Though he stayed in office for only 20 months, he amassed a constituency of support from people who loathed the political class or saw them as their social class enemies. For this constituency of Buharis support base, the Daura Genera would have succeeded in righting many of the wrongs of the Nigerian society if only his government was not truncated by the Babangida coup of August 1985. Two just as Buhari amassed a constituency of support from his first coming, the seeds of many of the negative togas he wore today were also sown during his first coming. There are two broad categories of critics who oppose Buhari on account of how he governed as a military dictator: the first category are those who saw his regime as extremely brutal and repressive and based on that have continued to question his democratic credentials, and consequently view every move of his with suspicion. For this category of critics, since a tiger cannot easily change its spots, it will be dangerous not to perpetually see Buhari as a threat to our democracy and consequently be vigilant with every move he makes. This constituency of opposition will not buy the notion that Buhari is now a democrat. The second category of critics that derived from his time as a military Head of State are those who judged his mode of governance from that era on the basis of ethnic and religious balance and concluded that he was a religious bigot or Northern irredentist. There are numerous instances members of this group often give to buttress their argument such as that Buhari constituted a lopsided Supreme Military Council which was overwhelmingly dominated by Northern Muslims; that he was insensitive to the countrys diversity by choosing as his Deputy Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, a fellow Northern Muslim as his second in Command; and that in herding many members of the political class to prison, he favoured the Northern Muslim political class. In fact by the time Buhari was overthrown, he had become effectively de-legitimized in most parts of the South such that nearly all the politicians he jailed from the Southern part of the country came out of prison as heroes when his government was overthrown. This probably explains why throughout his four-time run for the presidency of the country (2003-2015), it was only in 2015, and largely through alliance with some regional political groups led by Bola Tinubus Action Congress of Nigeria, that he was able to secure 25 per cent of the votes in any state in the southern part of the country. Essentially, the allegation that Buhari is a northern irredentist or Muslim fanatic started from that era but has hardened by continuing allegations that he still favours the Northern Muslims in strategic appointments, including in leadership of the countrys security architecture. The government denies the charge, arguing that its data on political appointments paints a different picture. Three another of Buharis strengths, which ironically also works against him, is that he is generally seen as a regional hero in many parts of the Muslim north. In fact in all his five runs for the presidency of the country, he consistently polled over ten million votes from that demographic. This was one of the reasons he was favoured to be the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 election because the new partys political strategists reckoned that with him as the partys flag bearer, at least ten million votes would be in the kitty going into the election. However being a regional hero in a low trust society like Nigeria (where your name alone makes you a suspect) means that non-members of that in-group view him with heightened suspicion. This contrasts with Olusegun Obasano, whose non-acceptance by his Yoruba ethnic group paradoxically helped to burnish his nationalist credentials and acceptance. Four, following from the above, it is possible to categorize Buharis supporters into two broad categories - those who admire him from his days as military Head of State and those who support him from his core Northern Muslim constituency. Within this latter category, it is possible to have further sub-divisions those who see him as an anti-thesis of the Northern political elite with his self-discipline and austere life style; those who believe he is the one to restore the assumed lost glory of the North (presumably lost under the Obasanjo and Jonathan regimes), and those who do not particularly care about him but will support him anyway as a Northerner - because in Nigerias peculiar mode of allocating privileges, the South holds the economic power so the North needs to perpetually hold political power as a lever. Among Buharis constituencies of support, the most fanatical group appears to be members of the group who see him as the one to restore the assumed lost glory of the North while his most strident critics appear to be those who feel he is a Northern irredentist or Muslim fanatic. Five, an important metric to be taken into consideration in any discussion of Buharis five years in office is that his victory in the 2015 presidential election led to fundamental re-alignment political forces along ethno-regional lines. For instance, while under Jonathan, the government was an alliance of the dominant factions of the South-South, South-East and Benue and Plateau political elite, under Buhari, the extant pattern of alliance was supplanted and the government became an alliance of the dominant factions of the Muslim North and the South-west. In essence when some describe Buhari as a polarizing figure, it has to be seen in the context of the nature of the support and opposition constituencies he attracts, including the politics flowing from the re-alignment of political forces after May 2015. Six, is Buhari interested in changing the pattern of the constituencies of his support? While he seems to have made some inroads into previously hostile constituencies, there are also suspicions that he may not really be interested in changing the sources of his support base as seen in the routine accusations that he pays little regards to the optics of governance. According to this view, each time Buhari is accused of clannishness or Northern bias in appointments it only valorises a sub-constituency of his support base those who see him as the person to restore the assumed lost glory of the North, a constituency Buhari probably holds very dear to his heart. Some people infer that since all politics is local, Buhari probably believes that after his presidency, what matters most to him will be what certain constituencies think of him, and not necessarily what most Nigerians think of his tenure. Seven, so how will we assess his performance in office? Given the hard-line approach of both his support base and opposition constituency, the answer to this question will largely depend on who will be doing the assessment. A Buharist will recount the numerous achievements of the government including in the provision of infrastructure, support for agriculture and even fighting Boko Haram. A critic could focus on the increasing insecurity in the land, the fact that Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world, Buharis alleged clannishness and Northern Muslim bias in strategic appointments and of course his kid-gloves approach to the Fulani herdsmen. In this sense truth is relative and whether Buhari has done well or not will depend on who is answering the question. Eight, what will be Buharis legacy? Unfortunately the same contestations over whether the Buhari government has delivered on its campaign promises or not will follow any attempt to peep into the nature of his legacy. Perhaps, for a leader like Buhari, where most people have very strong views of about him either in support or in opposition it may be better to talk about his legacies. This is because in a typical constructivist manner, what constitutes Buharis legacy will depend on whether the author comes from his support base, (and in fact which of the support bases) or whether he comes from the constituency of those who viscerally oppose him and his politics. . Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Lions Bay Mining Corp. (CSE: LBM) (the "Company" or "Lions Bay") is pleased to announce that it has executed a Share Exchange Agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") with BioVaxys Inc. (previously known as BioVaxys LLC) ("BioVaxys"), a clinical-stage immunotherapeutics company developing vaccine platforms for SARS-CoV-2 and various cancers. Under the terms of transaction, the Company will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of BioVaxys (the "Proposed Transaction"). Terms of the Proposed Transaction Pursuant to the Proposed Transaction, the security holders and certain advisors of BioVaxys will receive an aggregate of 29,000,000 common shares (each, a "Common Share") in the capital of the Company. The Proposed Transaction is an arms-length transaction and it is anticipated that immediately following the Proposed Transaction, the only shareholder of the Company that will hold greater than 10% of the Common Shares will be James Passin. As previously announced, as part of the Proposed Transaction, the Company has agreed to advance US$200,000 to BioVaxys (the "Bridge Loan"), which shall be repayable by BioVaxys in the event the Proposed Transaction does not complete. Management and Organization Following closing of the Proposed Transaction, it is anticipated that the management of Company will be led by James Passin, Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Kovan President & Chief Operating Officer and David Berd, MD., Chief Medical Officer. The Company's board of directors is expected to remain at three, including one nominee of BioVaxys being appointed. Below are the biographies of the proposed management team. James Passin (Chief Executive Officer) - Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BioVaxys Inc., James Passin is a former hedge fund and private equity fund manager at FGS Advisors, LLC, an affiliate of New York-based Firebird Management LLC. He has 20 years of experience as a professional investor, a deep experience of financing and developing venture-stage companies, and directed and managed over $150 million of equity and debt investment into biotech companies including Avax Technologies, Inc., one of the world's first cellular immunotherapeutic vaccine companies. Mr. Passin is a director of several public companies, including Blockchain Holdings, Ltd. and BDSec JSC, and is a Chartered Market Technician and member of the CMT Association. Kenneth Kovan (President and Chief Operating Officer) - Co-founder, President & Chief Operating Officer of BioVaxys Inc, Mr. Kovan has over 30 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals commercial development. He served as Corporate Development Partner with Horizon Discovery plc in the United Kingdom, a world leader in gene editing, and Managing Principal & Owner of Bingham Hill Ventures, a life sciences advisory practice that specializes in corporate development, technology licensing, and business planning. He is an experienced biotech CEO and board member, and founder of life science companies including the former AVAX Technologies, Inc. Mr. Kovan's professional background includes several years in technology transfer with Thomas Jefferson University, Strategic Marketing with GSK, and Global New Product Development/Strategic Marketing with Wyeth-Ayerst. Mr. Kovan has a broad international business background, having launched brands in Latin American and Asia/Pacific markets, and has worked in Europe for several years. Mr. Kovan holds a US Patent for a synergistic drug combination. David Berd, MD (Chief Medical Officer) - Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioVaxys Inc., Dr. David Berd is a medical oncologist with a lifelong record of clinical research in medical oncology and cancer immunotherapy. He co-founded cancer immunotherapy company AVAX Technologies, is the inventor of the cancer vaccines MVax and OVax, and served as Chief Medical Officer from 2005-2008. As National Director for Immunotherapy at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Dr. Berd investigated the application of haptenized autologous vaccines for ovarian cancer. Previously, Dr. Berd was Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, where for 20 years he conducted clinical research on melanoma immunotherapy. He also spent nine years as a research physician at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Over the course of his career, Dr. Berd has published more than 85 original papers in numerous medical journals alongside dozens of editorials, reviews and abstracts. He has ten issued patents dealing with cancer vaccines. Dr. Berd received his BS from Pennsylvania State University and his MD from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. CSE Approval and Name Change It is anticipated that the Proposed Transaction will constitute a "change of business" (a "COB") of the Company in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") and will require the approval of the CSE. As a result, the Company will be required to prepare and file a listing statement containing disclosure on the Proposed Transaction and BioVaxys (the "Listing Statement"). Shareholders are urged to review the Listing Statement in its entirety once available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Following completion of the Proposed Transaction, the Company intends to change its name to "BioVaxys Inc.". About BioVaxys BioVaxys' vaccine platform is based on the established immunological concept that modifying proteins---whether they are viral or tumor antigens---with simple chemicals called haptens makes them more visible to the immune system. The process of haptenization "teaches" a patient's immune system to recognize and make target proteins more 'visible' as foreign, thereby stimulating a T-cell mediated immune response. BioVaxys antiviral approach entails haptenizing those SAR-CoV-2 viral proteins that are critical to the virus' ability to bind to and enter human cells. For greater certainty, BioVaxys is not making any express or implied claims that it has the ability to treat the SAR-CoV-2 virus at this time. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that emerged in December 2019 has aggressively spread around the world, with 5.89 million infections and over 363,000 deaths. In the US alone, there have been 1.78 million confirmed infections in the US and 104,000 deaths, making COVID-19 the leading cause of death in the US. There are no vaccines or therapies available to treat SARS-CoV-2. Many of the vaccines currently in development are either unproven approaches or focus on antibody approaches to the virus. Antibodies are made by B cells and ideally would latch onto SARS-CoV-2 and prevent it from entering human cells. However, a T-cell response, which is induced by the BioVaxys cancer vaccines, may be necessary for effective antibody production; moreover, T cells can directly battle infections by targeting and destroying infected cells. A study published in the May 14 issue of Cell demonstrated that in a sample of patients who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection, all of the patients carried helper T-cells that recognized the SARS-CoV-2 S-spike protein, and virus-specific killer T-cells were detected in 70% of the test subjects. Dr. David Berd, co-founder and scientific director of the BioVaxys research program, commented that, "haptenized proteins are known to induce potent T cell responses as well as antibody, so our approach could have an advantage over other developing SARS-Cov-2 vaccines." BioVaxys is in the process of launching a preclinical study to evaluate the immunogenicity of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine approach in a controlled murine model at various dosages, with serology screening evaluating an immune response to SARS-CoV-2, or the protein that binds the virus to human cells (the "Murine Model Study"), which will be funded by the Bridge Loan. No regulatory approval is required for completion of the Murine Model Study, which is anticipated to commence within the next seven to ten days, conditional on BioVaxys signing a proposal with the supplier who will produce the non-GMP vaccine material to be used in Murine Model Study. The results of the Murine Model Study are anticipated to be available in October, 2020. BioVaxys' lead oncology clinical program is a haptenized autologous cell vaccine used in combination with PD1 and PDL-1 checkpoint inhibitors that will initially be developed and marketed for ovarian cancer. There remain significant unmet therapeutic needs for ovarian cancer treatment. Worldwide, approximately 240 ,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, with ovarian cancer the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy in the United States. An estimated 21,750 new cases of ovarian cancer are expected in the US in 2020 with 13,940 deaths. The case-to-fatality ratio is nearly three times that of breast cancer, making ovarian cancer the most deadly gynecologic malignancy in developed countries. The majority of women with stage III or IV disease will ultimately have recurrent disease that will become resistant to chemotherapy; this large group of non-responders to, or those who relapse after, first line therapy are the initial target market for BioVaxys. Patients who have relapsed after platinum-based chemotherapy have limited life expectancy even with multiple salvage regimens. In studies with the autologous haptenized vaccine in ovarian cancer, proven stimulation of antitumor immunity has been achieved in prior Phase I/II clinical studies. Further, in stage III and IV melanoma cancer studies directed by Dr. Berd, the haptenized autologous cell vaccine was observed to be safe and appeared very promising in phase II trials. Follow-up studies suggested that using two haptens---which were ultimately developed into the Company's bihaptenized autologous vaccine---provided modification of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acids and a more robust immune response. BioVaxys' plans to submit an IND for a Phase I study in ovarian cancer in the upcoming months, and plans to expand the vaccine platform into other solid tumor types. Private Placement In connection with the Proposed Transaction, the Company intends to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 13,636,363 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.22 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $3,000,000. Each Unit is comprised of one Common Share and one-half of one whole Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share at a price of $0.50 per Common Share for a period of twenty-four (24) months. In connection with the Offering, the Company may pay certain eligible finders (the "Finders") a finder's fee of up to 7% of the gross proceeds raised payable in finders warrants (the "Finders Warrants") and up to 7% in cash commissions. Each Finders Warrant will have the same terms as the Warrants. The securities issued in connection with the Offering (including the Units, Common Shares, Warrants and any Finders Warrants) will be subject to a statutory hold period in Canada of four months and one day from the issuance thereof, as applicable, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined under the U.S. Securities Act) absent registration or any application exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Completion of the Proposed Transaction Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including: Receipt of all required approvals and consents relating to the Proposed Transaction and the COB, including, without limitation, all approvals of the shareholders of the Company and the CSE, under applicable corporate and securities laws; Thomas Jefferson University exercising its common stock purchase warrants of BioVaxys, exchanging its shares of common stock for Common Shares and consenting to the transfer of its license agreement with BioVaxys to the Company upon closing of the Proposed Transaction; and The completion of the Offering. Trading of the Common Shares was halted on May 29, 2020, and it is anticipated that trading in the Common Shares will remain halted pending completion of the Proposed Transaction. The halt is considered a "Regulatory Halt" as defined in National Instrument 23-101 - Trading Rules. About Lions Bay Mining Corp. Lions Bay Mining Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company, primarily focused on mineral properties in North America. Its primary asset is the FLV lode mining claims located in Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA commonly referred to as the "Fish Lake Project", which are subject to an option agreement with American Battery Metals Corp. The Company also holds an interest in the mineral claims located in the Upper Hyland River area of eastern Yukon Territory of Canada and common referred to as the "Hy and Jay Property", as well as an interest in the mineral claims located in the Yukon Territory of Canada, commonly referred to as the "VM" and the "VBA" properties. About BioVaxys LLC Based in New York City, BioVaxys LLC is a Delaware clinical stage biotechnology company that is developing developing viral and oncology vaccine platforms for SARS-CoV-2 and various cancers. The Company is advancing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine based on its haptenized viral protein technology, and is planning a clinical trial of its haptenized autologous cell therapy used in combination with PD1 and PDL-1 checkpoint inhibitors that will initially be developed for ovarian cancer. BioVaxys has two issued US patents and two patent applications related to its cancer vaccine, and a patent application for its SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) technology. BioVaxys securityholders include Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) and Company founders. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed "Jeremy Poirier" Jeremy Poirier, President and CEO 604-722-9842 Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, completion of the Proposed Transaction, completion of the Offering , commencement and completion of the Murine Model Study, submission of an IND for a Phase I study in ovarian cancer, and the overall development of BioVaxys' vaccines, including any haptenized SARS-Cov-2 protein vaccine. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, primarily the assumption that the Proposed Transaction and the Offering will complete and that BioVaxys will be successful in developing and testing vaccines, that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies including, primarily but without limitation, the risk that the CSE or the shareholders of the Company will not approve the Proposed Transaction, the risk that the Company will be unable to locate suitable purchasers for the Offering and the risk that BioVayxs' vaccines will not prove to be effective and/ or will not receive the required regulatory approvals. With regards to BioVaxys' business, there are a number of risks that could affect the development of its biotechnology products, including, without limitation, the need for additional capital to fund clinical trials, its lack of operating history, uncertainty about whether its products will complete the long, complex and expensive clinical trial and regulatory approval process for approval of new drugs necessary for marketing approval, uncertainty about whether its autologous cell vaccine immunotherapy can be developed to produce safe and effective products and, if so, whether its vaccine products will be commercially accepted and profitable, the expenses, delays and uncertainties and complications typically encountered by development stage biopharmaceutical businesses, financial and development obligations under license arrangements in order to protect its rights to its products and technologies, obtaining and protecting new intellectual property rights and avoiding infringement to third parties and their dependence on manufacturing by third parties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION INTO THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57208 Myleene Klass put on an elegant display while heading to work on Thursday. The songstress, 42, looked stunning ahead of another day at Global Studios, where she has continues to work throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Her outing comes a day after she detailed the horrific racial abuse she experienced in her childhood and the prevalent prejudice she still witnesses. Suited and booted: Myleene Klass put on an elegant display while heading to work on Thursday Myleene was a picture of elegance as she sported a black trouser suit with a pop of detail in her leopard print tee and nude heels. She was once again rocking an item from her envy-inducing Chanel collection - this time a chic white quilted number in the classic double flap shape. On Wednesday, Myleene detailed the shocking physical and verbal racial abuse she experienced in her childhood and the prevalent prejudice she still witnesses. The star, who was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to an Austrian father and a Filipino mother, took to Instagram on Wednesday morning to reveal she is struggling to explain racism to her children amid the Black Lives Matter movement. Hard at it: The songstress, 42, looked stunning ahead of another day at Global Studios, where she has continues to work throughout the coronavirus pandemic Shocking: Her outing comes a day after she detailed the horrific racial abuse she experienced in her childhood and the prevalent prejudice she still witnesses Heartfelt: The songstress, who was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to an Austrian father and a Filipino mother, took to Instagram on Wednesday morning to reveal she is struggling to explain racism to her children amid the Black Lives Matter movement In her impassioned post, the star, 42, listed some of the horrendous slurs she has faced over the years, with a shocking list reading: 'Chink. Slit eye. Number 69, Fried rice. Mongrel. Ping pong. Slut. All Tai girls are sluts. Banana'. Myleene is mother to Ava, 12, Hero, nine, from her relationship with her ex Graham Quinn and Apollo, 10 months, with her current partner Simon Motson. Amid the Black Lives Matter movement and the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, the star revealed she is trying to educate her kids. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died last Monday after a white police officer knelt on his head for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, prompting a wave of protests. Stunner: Myleene was a picture of elegance as she sported a black trouser suit with a pop of detail in her leopard print tee and nude heels Sweet: Myleene is mother to Ava, 12, Hero, nine, from her relationship with her ex Graham Quinn and Apollo, 10 months, with her current partner Simon Motson Discussing her own experiences - yet conceding she cannot understand the struggles in the US - Myleene shared the lengthy caption beneath a childhood snap. The star attended Notre Dame High School, Norwich, but transferred to the Cliff Park Ormiston Academy in Gorleston-on-Sea, to complete secondary school. Myleene opened the post with explaining what she is working to do by revealing the struggles she has faced in her past. She wrote: 'Im trying so hard to explain the complexities of racism to my children. How it happens... Wild thing: She was once again rocking an item from her envy-inducing Chanel collection - this time a chic white quilted number in the classic double flap shape Working hard: She was stepping out after sharing her candid thoughts 'How whilst I dont understand the struggles a black person living in America might be experiencing, how I do understand and know my own experience of being a mixed race Filipino girl growing up in Norfolk... 'I had those words thrown at me. On other occasions, it wasnt just words, it was rock filled snowballs by a group of boys as I walked home, I had my hair cut in the school cloakrooms by some girls, later they threatened a lighter... 'There was spitting. Why does your mum speak like that? Why dont you have an accent? I was born here. Yeah, but you dont belong here... Radiant: Myleene looked stunning in the elegant suit 'I also remember the pride and relief I felt when a bus of school children, aged 10 pulled up next to my own bus and the children opposite all started making Chinese eyes and buck teeth to then have my own bus retaliate with fist signs and fingers... 'It was small victory, I felt embarrassed, hot, shamed but I remember it so well because for the first time, I didnt feel alone, I had a small token of solidarity that gave me courage'. Speaking about her experiences at college, she went on: 'At college, I walked into the canteen only to have a group of students hand me their trays loaded up with dirty plates. Youre Filipino, youre all cleaners right? Then the laughter.' Sky-high: Her heels were the perfect addition to the already elegant ensemble She went on to detail the ongoing racism she faces in her own area, as she explained: 'In the area I live now, get a Filipino is bandied around so easily when referring to getting a nanny, they dont even realise theyre talking about a person, an actual person... 'A woman who will likely have sacrificed being with her own children for years to raise your snotty kids. Another popular quote... We love our Filipino nanny (still no name), shes like family, we send her home every year for Xmas... 'Not doing a sister out of a job, but shes not your pet and she has a name.' Speaking about how she is now living with and addressing the issues, she went on: 'The world looks different now. I am mixed race and I am so proud of that... 'Growing up in Norfolk, there wasnt much visibility as to what a girl like me could aspire to be. I was surrounded by incredible, selfless nurses and those in service (the same who are tending our covid patients and dropping like flies'. The Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on June 4 reportedly said that the country will pledge $207 million to provide vaccines to children in the Indo-Pacific region. Payne in a statement said that immunisation saves lives and the COVID-19 pandemic has served as yet another reminder than investing in vaccine access is critical to regional health security. The Australian Prime Minister will be making the pledge at the Global Vaccine Summit which is hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to raise funds for the GAVI vaccine alliance, which is a public-private global health partnership. GAVI is backed by Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, it arranges bulk buys to reduce vaccine costs for poor countries. READ: Man Asks Australia PM Scott Morrison, Reporters To Get Off His Lawn The Global Vaccine Summit is aimed to raise at least $7.4 billion for GAVI to immunise approximately 300 million children in the worlds poorest countries by 2025 against diseases such as polio, diphtheria and measles. The pledge by Australia will reportedly help to ensure that GAVI maintains a strong focus in the Indo-Pacific region. Overall, GAVI will be spending $800 million over five years in a bid to provide access to vaccines for 140 million children in the Indo-Pacific. As per reports, under the program, four million children in Indonesia will access pneumococcal vaccines at a quarter of the commercial cost. Moreover, 400,000 children in Papua New Guinea will also have access to vaccines under the program. GAVI will be providing $200 million to continue immunisation programs where possible during coronavirus pandemic. READ: Australia PM Remembers Narendra Modi's 2014 Hologram Campaign; Suggests Using It Next Time 1.5 million children already vaccinated The program will later also organise catch-up immunisation campaigns. While speaking to an international media outlet, Alex Hawke, Australias Minister for International Development and the Pacific, said that more than 1.5 million children in the Pacific and Timor-Leste had previously been vaccinated under the program. With massive disruptions to global immunisation programmes from the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts fear that much of the developing world will not be able to get a vaccine for the virus even once it is ready. According to the UN agencies and the GAVI vaccine alliance, nearly 80 million children in at least 68 countries may be at risk of diphtheria, measles and polio because routine immunisation efforts have been thrown into disarray by travel restrictions, delivery delays and parents fear of leaving home. (Image: AP) READ: Australian PM Scott Morrison Misses 'famous Modi Hug', Wants To Try Khichdi After Samosas READ: Australian Govt's New Scheme To Provide $25,000 To Build Or Renovate Houses France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian kicked off a two-day visit to Italy for a follow-up of February's Franco-Italian summit, dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. The key issues this time: the Sahel crisis, the Islamic State group and Libya, which remains a thorny topic between the allies. Jean-Yves Le Drian greeted his counterpart Luigi Di Maio in Rome with an elbow bump instead of a handshake, in a sign of the new post-Covid times. While a lot may have changed in four months since the last Franco-Italian summit, the objectives have not. France is keen to consolidate a new "relationship of trust" with Italy, President Emmanuel Macron said in February when he met with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The foreign affairs minister embarked on his first post-Covid mission on Wednesday with that same message, and also one of solidarity. "In Rome with my counterpart Luigi Di Maio, to express France's solidarity with its Italian friends," he tweeted in reference to the country's high death-toll of coronavirus victims. Many Italians have expressed feeling abandoned by the European Union and recent polls show that 49 percent of them are in favour of an "Italexit" following in the UK's footsteps by divorcing the EU. This perceived lack of solidarity has cast doubt over Italy's role in Europe, and may give a boost to Franco-Italian ties, some reckon. Tough times "There were some very tough times," says Mitchell Belfer, president of the Euro-Gulf Information Centre in Rome. "Once Europe started to shut down and the lockdowns took effect, there was a growing suspicion of one another and borders were closed," he told RFI. Italy, the initial European epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, on Wednesday reopened its borders to European travellers. But Foreign Minister Di Maio hit out at neighbours Switzerland and Austria for keeping their doors shut. The question of borders was on the agenda for Di Maio and Le Drian, as well as their own relationship. Story continues Their diplomatic relations hit rock bottom at the height of the Yellow Vest crisis in February 2019, when Di Maio, who comes from the populist Five Star movement, met with the gilet jaune protesters, prompting France to recall its ambassador. It is however, the Libya crisis which has crystallised tensions between them. Libya's newcomers Today, "I think that both Italy and France have a renewed interest in trying to better coordinate their activities," says Belfer. "If you don't get these two Nato members who are actively financing opposing sides in Libya on the same page, you'll never find a solution." Italy and France have both given diplomatic support to the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj. However, there have been reports that France is also providing renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar with military support. The changing nature of the conflict however could force them to see eye to eye. "Turkey and Russia are pushing and going very fast, maybe faster than Italy and France in terms of stabilising Libya," comments Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute of European Perspective & Security Studies (IPSE) in Paris. Indeed, Turkish troops were deployed to Libya in January this year to shore up al-Sarraj's Islamist government. And Paris and Rome will not want to be pushed aside by the newcomers, Dupuy told RFI. Another Syria "After losing in Syria, Turkey redeployed fighters from there to Tripoli, internationalising the conflict," Belfer adds, amid fears that Libya could become another Syria, as more foreign actors jostle for influence. "And you're still getting massive amounts of arms being sent there," Belfer points out, despite a recent EU operation to enforce a UN arms embargo. The operation called Irini, named after the Greek goddess of peace, is of crucial importance, says Dupuy, even if it is yet to be fully implemented. "It shows that the European Union must be part of the solution in Libya and included in the France-Italy relationship." Cooperation was likely to extend also to the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. Fighting ISIS "Italy has promised to send 470 Italian soldiers to Niger to back up the Barkhane operation," continues Dupuy. "This will be on the table since these troops have not yet been sent to the Sahel." Terror groups continue to operate in the region despite Covid-19. Experts say the pandemic has allowed groups such as Al-Qaeda's Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) to exploit the vulnerabilities of local communities affected by the virus. Last month, the Islamic State armed group called the coronavirus a punishment from God against its enemies. It has begun stepping up attacks in Iraq, as it moves out of Syria. The IS subject dominated a video conference Thursday of foreign ministers, including Le Drian and Di Maio, as they sought to take stock of The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS's progress. We have made enormous progress," Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "Daesh has lost control of the territories it once held; but the threat of terrorism remains. Michael Stuhlbarg and Elisabeth Moss in the movie "Shirley." (Thatcher Keats/Sundance Institute) Home is where the horror is in the gothic fiction of Shirley Jackson, though seldom in ways you might expect. Think of The Haunting of Hill House, in which a spooky manor merges inextricably with the twisted architecture of a young womans mind. Or think of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, where an isolated chateau full of grim family secrets becomes, for its 18-year-old protagonist, a place of unlikely refuge from the even graver threat of the outside world. The peculiar brilliance of Jacksons writing the sly interplay of wit and horror, pleasure and revulsion in those precisely chiseled sentences itself grew out of an all-too-real foundation. By various biographical and scholarly accounts, the Vermont home she shared with her husband, literary critic and professor Stanley Edgar Hyman, had the effect of both constraining and nurturing her gift. The drudgery of cooking, cleaning and raising four children became an obstacle as well as a source of inspiration. (Jackson conceived her classic 1948 short story The Lottery while pushing her daughter uphill in a stroller full of groceries; she wrote it in less than two hours that same day.) And so it seems entirely apt to treat Shirley Josephine Deckers beautiful, boldly untethered new film about Jacksons life and work as a kind of negotiation between at least two housebound genres. Deckers feverish technique evokes the grammar of the old-fashioned ghost story: a camera that swerves and swoops, a score that thrums with menace, an old manse full of dark shadows, creaky floorboards and disorienting mirrors. (Her fine collaborators include cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grvlen, composer Tamar-kali and production designer Sue Chan.) But the overall tone veers away from horror and into a rich vein of dark humor, spinning the everyday torments of Jacksons life a flagrantly unfaithful husband, harrowing bouts of depression and anxiety into a furious comedy of marital discord. Story continues However you classify this movie and the only category that doesnt fit, really, is literary biopic there can be no denying that Shirley herself, played with unsurprising bravura by Elisabeth Moss, is its swirling, mercurial center. This is true even though Shirley, loosely adapted from Susan Scarf Merrells novel of the same title, initially locates its perspective with another character altogether. We first meet Shirley and Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg) through the eyes of Rose Nemser (Odessa Young), the bright, personable young wife of Stanleys new teaching assistant, Fred (Logan Lerman), at nearby Bennington College. Rose and Fred become long-term guests in Shirley and Stanleys wildly overgrown red-brick house, and for reasons that go beyond mere hospitality. Although she is first seen acerbically holding court at one of Stanleys parties, Shirley turns out to be the opposite of a social creature. When Rose professes her love for The Lottery, the author can barely muster enough energy for an eye-roll. She hasnt left home in ages; her writing has slowed to a halt. And Stanley, a gregarious manipulator, all but pushes Rose into the unenviable role of Shirleys caretaker and companion, the better to pursue his work and his extramarital affairs in peace. But while Shirley may have difficulty crawling out of bed, she turns out to be nobodys pushover. Moss, showing no loss of emotional acuity or stamina after the dramatic exertions of Her Smell and The Invisible Man, turns this sneering, sallow-haired woman into her latest tour de force, a misanthrope with a bespectacled glare nearly as sharp as her tongue. And Stuhlbarg who, between this and Call Me by Your Name, was clearly born to play middle-age bohemian academics nearly matches Moss jab for venomous jab. Their verbal spats, leavened by odd flashes of tenderness and resignation, send this dramatic quadrangle careening into Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? territory, leaving Fred and Rose to stammer timidly on the sidelines as the storys designated Nick and Honey. Elisabeth Moss and Odessa Young in the movie "Shirley." (Thatcher Keats/Sundance Institute) But Rose soon emerges from her initial shock, and Youngs arresting mix of cool poise and warm feeling anchors the movie even as it pushes it in a surprising narrative direction. Although she and Fred are as frisky as youd expect from two attractive young newlyweds, Rose can see in her marriage a future echo of Shirley and Stanleys unhappiness, especially when Fred starts mimicking Stanleys academic ambition and his chronic infidelity. Surrounded by so many useless, faithless men, Rose discovers in Shirley a prickly kindred spirit as well as a conduit for rebellion an emotional bond in which creative inspiration and erotic desire freely commingle. Merrells novel was already a heavily fictionalized treatment of Jacksons life, and Sarah Gubbins' script fittingly takes a pickax to its own source material. Crucial biographical details have been blurred or excised; Stanley and Shirleys four children are neither seen nor mentioned. While the book was set in fall 1964, a year before Jacksons death from heart failure, the movie has been moved closer to 1951, the year that her second novel, Hangsaman, was published. We see Shirley writing that book and drawing inspiration from the real-life case of Paula Jean Welden, a Bennington student who mysteriously disappeared in 1946. Welden haunts, disturbs and influences Shirleys visions; so does Rose, who becomes a gauzy stand-in for that missing student. If all these slippery layers of reality and artifice sound a little confusing, thats very much by design. Decker previously directed Madelines Madeline (2018), an intoxicating meta-jumble about the relationship between a gifted, troubled young actress and her manipulative theater director. The more linearly structured Shirley may look conventional on the surface, though its playful, inquisitive sensibility is borderline radical compared with most of the biographical fictions that Hollywood pumps out. Deckers raw, jagged aesthetics are very much in evidence. So are her signature fascinations: the ever-blurry line separating art from life, the creative properties of mental illness and the ecstasies of artistic creation, especially art by and about women. To some extent, Shirley delights in its own dissembling, but it also uses these complications to arrive at a place of startling truth. The sorcery in which Jackson claimed to dabble in real life finds a cinematic corollary in the movies bewitching late passages, which are by turns disorienting and illuminating. When the smoke abruptly clears, were left with a newfound appreciation of that ramshackle old house, and also of a great writer not yet past the peak of her powers, but approaching it. Home is where the art is. Two teenage entrepreneurs who capitalised on the coronavirus pandemic by selling craft products to bored Australians stuck at home have revealed how they managed to build a successful business overnight. Lachlan Delchau-Jones, 18, and Taylor Reilly, 19, from Brisbane, have been creating their own business ventures and websites since their early teens. But a light bulb moment on April 10 while watching a news segment sparked a lucrative online store that earned them more than $70,000 dollars in 30 days. 'I called Taylor and told him I had just watched a news segment on 'how to stay occupied during the lockdown' and I said "there is something here",' Mr Delchau-Jones told Daily Mail Australia. Lachlan Delchau-Jones, 18, (left) and Taylor Reilly, 19, (right) earned more than $70,000 in a month by starting an online business during lockdown Using a retail method called dropshipping, the pair decided to sell products in the craft and hobby niche to keep Australians entertained during isolation. Dropshipping involves a vendor fulfilling orders from a supplier who then ships the product directly to the customer. Knowing timing was vital as Australians would be seeking ways to stave off boredom over the impending Easter long weekend, Taylor rushed to Lachlan's house to begin building a business from scratch. Over the next four hours, the teenagers sourced a supplier in China and built a website then set up Facebook marketing to run ads for the product online. 'Within a few hours we went from nothing established to a full fledged business,' Mr Delchau-Jones said. 'I called Taylor over at 10pm, and by 2am our computers were off and we were rocking and rolling to start the next morning. By 7am Saturday our ads went live.' 'We went into it thinking 'let's try and make a couple of hundred dollars this weekend". 'The first day we were in business we made $600 bucks.' Orders amassed over the weekend and by Tuesday, when they could cash out their earnings via Shopify, they had hit $16,000 dollars having only spent $1600 on social media advertising. The Brisbane entrepreneurs (pictured) rushed to build a website on Good Friday in time for the Easter long weekend The teenagers started processing thousands of dollars worth of orders within days of starting their online store. A screenshot shows their income days before they ended their project When they ended the project on May 10 they had made a whopping $72,000. Mr Delchau-Jones and Mr Reilly credit their success to timing and the coronavirus lockdown which saw more Australians spending time at home while businesses cut down on advertising costs. 'In terms in dropshipping those numbers are something you don't normally see. It is completely out of the ordinary,' Mr Delchau-Jones said. 'We created it as a project for the month to prove what was possible. 'It was very surprising. I knew we were onto something, but I still wasn't 100 per cent certain about capitalising at this time so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. 'A lot of people were pulling out [of ads] and people were unsure going in to lockdown. Everyone stopped advertising and ads got cheaper so we were just trying to capitalise and that we did.' While entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted, Mr Delchau-Jones said there are steps others can take to build a personal fortune. He said the first step in starting a business using the dropshipping model is to choose a product to sell by researching what goods are in demand. Mr Delchau-Jones (pictured) is the Chief Executive Officer at LDJ Enterprises and the Founder of Aussie Ecom Mr Reilly (pictured) is an Australian eCommerce businesses owner and the founder of TBR Enterprises,. He is also a Co Founder of Ecom Gym and Better Brand which he started with Mr Delchau-Jones in the past 12 months 'Choose a product with a high perceived value so it can be marked up. The product needs to look like the product is worth every dollar and worth its value,' he said. Next, find a supplier by going to online retail service AliExpress - China's version of eBay - and searching for the product you wish to sell. Mr Delchau-Jones recommends vetting the supplier to ensure you are working with someone you can trust. 'It is very crucial in dropshipping to connect with a supplier. If we weren't able to get the product we weren't able to run the business,' he said. 'The ultimate goal is to get the supplier's WhatsApp number and make sure you have constant line of communication so you know what is happening with your product.' Once a supply chain is organised, you can begin building a website using a platform such as Shopify, which has easy-to-use templates. The supplier will provide images of the product to share on the website, but Mr Delchau recommends having the order sent to you first to inspect its quality, which also gives you the option to take your own. 'When you add the product to your website, you can choose the mark up,' he said. 'I would suggest have a $15-$20 profit mark up on your product because you are going to be spending money on ads and testing. It will act as a bit of a barrier.' Mr Delchau-Jones and Mr Reilly used Facebook Ads Manager to keep track of their advertisement campaigns (pictured) A graph shows how their sales progressed throughout the first few weeks of their month-long coronavirus project The fifth step is to run ads on social media. While this service is accessible across many platforms, Mr Delchau-Jones suggests using Facebook Ads Manager which easily links to websites and tracks which demographics are buying the product. When products are sold, a notification will be sent to the Shopify website. The purchase orders will then need to be sent to the supplier to send to the customer. Apps, such as Oberlo, mainstream this process by directing customers details from their Shopify order straight to the supplier. The last step is to monitor ads to identify trends and sales patterns so you can double down targeting on demographics that are interested in the product. But Mr Delchau-Jones warns to be prepared for setbacks. 'Dropshipping is the entry point for a lot of people to business, ecommerce, and entrepreneurship,' he said. 'A lot of entrepreneurs gravitate towards the money, but in terms of dropshipping, you learn a lot from it. 'Be hands on, try to get your feet into the water and not expect too much, and pair up with someone you can trust. 'Of course there are errors but don't over think it. Once you jump into action and start implementing what you have learned you can reach success.' Looting Wikipedia: "Looting, also referred to as sacking, ransacking, plundering, despoiling... and pillaging, is indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a ... political victory..." Donald Trump is the looter in chief. Trump has tried to loot the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve for oil and gas. Trump has tried to loot the Tongas National Forest for logs. Trump has tried to loot the Bears Ears and Grand Escalante national Monuments for oil and gas drilling and mining. Trump has tried to loot the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge allowing hunters to kill bears and wolves in their dens. Trump has tried to loot the Clean Water Act by gutting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget to benefit corporate looters. Trump has tried to loot the Clean Air Act by lowering auto emissions standards. Trump has tried to transport Canadian tar sands oil through the Keystone XL pipeline, looting not only the lands of Native peoples, but essential agricultural land, protected waterways, animal and bird habitats, and causing major greenhouse gas emissions. Donald Trump is the looter in chief. Marilyn Bruya, Missoula You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 13 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:25:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A booklet of the master plan for the Hainan free trade port has been published by the People's Publishing House. The master plan was jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on June 1. The booklet is now available at Xinhua Bookstore outlets across China. Enditem By Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co is developing an electric van aimed at business users, joining a growing list of carmakers planning EVs for the same segment which includes customers such as Amazon.com Inc and United Parcel Service Inc, five people familiar with the plans told Reuters. That multibillion-dollar strategy could enable GM, Ford Motor Co and at least two EV startups to build and deliver more electric vehicles at a time when consumer demand for battery-powered models is still a small fraction of overall industry sales, while targeting a potentially lucrative market segment that Tesla Inc has yet to address. GM's plan to develop an electric van has not previously been reported. The No. 1 U.S. automaker did not confirm the van, but has said it plans to introduce at least 20 new all-electric vehicles by 2023, in a variety of body styles including sedans, trucks and crossovers. Suppliers familiar with such plans at GM and Ford told Reuters the Detroit automakers, which count trucks and commercial vehicles among their most profitable businesses, "don't want to leave the door open for Tesla" as they did in consumer passenger cars. Scott Phillippi, UPS senior director of fleet maintenance and engineering, said the package delivery firm believes electric vans have the potential to disrupt the commercial market. "It's going to be similar to what the Model 3 has done for the consumer market," Phillippi said, referring to Tesla's small near-luxury electric sedan. "Now all of a sudden, we're off to the races." The GM van code-named BV1 is due to start production in late 2021, the sources said. It is believed the BV1 van will share some components with GM's future electric pickups and SUVs, including the automaker's new Ultium advanced battery system. It is expected to be assembled alongside the electric trucks at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant. Story continues GM is considering whether to offer the electric van through its traditional truck brands - Chevrolet and GMC - or market it under a different brand such as Maven, the sources said. GM's first electric pickup truck, due in late 2021, will be sold by GMC dealers under the Hummer brand. In a statement, GM said it is "committed to an all-electric future and is implementing a multi-segment, scalable EV strategy to get there. At this time, we do not have any announcements to make regarding electric commercial vehicles." The GM electric van project is aimed at an important segment of the emerging EV market commercial delivery vehicles. For established players, this is a hugely profitable business segment driven by cost of ownership, not fancy tech or star power. It is also a segment in which Tesla and its high-profile CEO, Elon Musk, lack an entry to compete for sales and CO2 credits, which allow automakers to offset the sale of non-electric vehicles including high-margin pickups and SUVs. "Buyers of commercial vans want reliability and not necessarily a flashy brand name," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. "The reduced maintenance and fuel use of electric vehicles become very attractive to a business customer, where the current limitations of EVs make the price premium less attractive to individual consumers." In February, Ford said it would introduce an electric version of its Transit van for model year 2022. "The most critical bet we will be making over the next several years will be our commercial vehicles," Ford's chief operating officer, Jim Farley, told Reuters at the time. Ford also is an investor in Michigan-based startup Rivian, which is scheduled to begin building the first of 100,000 mid-size electric vans for Amazon next year. Amazon rival UPS has commissioned 10,000 mid-size electric vans from British startup Arrival, which is backed by Korea's Hyundai Motor Co and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. The combined value of the Amazon and UPS contracts with Rivian and Arrival is estimated at $4 billion or more. And more players in the segments will likely follow, including Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, said Samit Ghosh, chief executive of the Americas for consulting and engineering firm umlaut. "The delivery vans is a volume not to be underestimated," he said. "I would not just call it a niche segment." (Reporting by Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Alya Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 15:05 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc24fbd 1 National KPK,ICW,National-Police,UNJ,graft Free Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has expressed disapproval over a decision by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to hand over a case of alleged bribery involving a Jakarta State University (UNJ) staff member to the police. The ICW, which has long been monitoring the education sector for corruption, said the KPK should investigate the possibility of either bribery and extortion or illegal levies in the UNJ case. The antigraft group said it believed the KPK could have investigated the case further. Not that we doubt the police, but the KPK has no reason to not investigate the case, ICW activist Kurnia Ramadhana said in a virtual discussion on Tuesday. There was a clear involvement of state officials in the case, which is contrary to what the KPK has claimed. The KPK arrested Dwi Achmad Noor, the UNJ head of staffing, on May 20 and confiscated US$ 1,200 and Rp 27.5 million ($1,850), which were meant to be given to officials from the Education and Culture Ministry as holiday bonuses. Read also: 2019 sees fewer corruption cases but bigger state losses: ICW Following the arrest, KPK law enforcement deputy director Karyoto, without following formal procedure, published his own version of a press release saying that UNJ rector Komarudin allegedly accepted a total of Rp 55 million from the universitys departments and institutions through deans. So it makes no sense that the KPK said there was no involvement of state officials since the collection of money was done under the rectors orders, Kurnia said. He said that, according to Law No. 28/1999 on clean governance, a rector is a state official. Moreover, Komarudin periodically reported his assets throughout 2019. The KPK, Kurnia said, had set a precedent by declaring a rector a suspect. In a case in 2016, the KPK named then-Airlangga University rector Fasichul Lisan a graft suspect for allegedly abusing his authority in a university project, resulting in Rp 85 billion in state losses. Close relations between higher education institutions and the Education and Culture Ministry have prompted some to suspect possible corruption as the ministry has the power to propose budgets and appoint high-level officials at state universities, including the UNJ, with little transparency over budget management. The ministry controls 35 percent of the vote for rector elections at state universities. Read also: Antigraft group reports KPK deputy for ethics violation We also disagree with the notion that the amount of alleged graft money was too little for the KPK to take the case, Siti Juliantari Rachman of the ICW said. According to ICW data, from 2015 to 2019, there were 202 corruption cases in the education sector involving 465 individuals, resulting in state losses of Rp 410.9 billion, with bribes totaling Rp 52.4 billion. The most common modus operandi for corruption in the education sector is markups (40 cases), followed by embezzlement (37 cases), abuse of budget (36 cases), illegal levies (22 cases), fictitious projects (19 cases), abuse of authority (15 cases), fictitious reports (14 cases), cut money (12 cases), bribery (6 cases) and extortion (1 case). Out of 202 corruption cases, 20 cases took place within higher education, causing an estimated Rp 81.9 billion in state losses. Trends indicate that corruption in higher education includes the procurement of goods and services, grants funds, research funds, college budgets, scholarship funds, bribes over grades, bribes for accreditation and bribes over the selection of officials. Corruption in the education sector not only undermined education provider credibility but also impeded public access to education, decreased the quality of education and services and tarnished the values that should be upheld by educational institutions such as justice, transparency and accountability, the ICW said. Classic rock icon Santana has canceled his Miraculous and Supernatural tour including shows in Boston and Connecticut. The tour, also featuring Earth, Wind, and Fire, was scheduled to play Xfinity Centre in Mansfield, MA on Aug. 12 and Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT on Aug. 14. We the Santana Band regret to inform you that we wont be able to present our music to you this summer," wrote Carlos Santana in a statement. "This is truly beyond our control and of course is for the safety and well-being of our beloved fans. We look forward to bringing you the sounds of Light and Love next year. We will get through this together and be stronger and wiser. We wish you GOD SPEED. Purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates when they are announced. Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster. The government on Thursday blacklisted over 2,000 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members and banned their entry into India for 10 years. In total, 2,550 foreign nationals have been banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for their alleged involvement in the activities of Tablighi Jamaat headed by Maulana Saad, news agency PTI reported. In April, religious congregation at the Nizamuddin, Delhi faction of the Tablighi Jamaat emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus after many people tested positive following which a major area was sealed and an FIR lodged against its cleric for violating government orders.The participants later spread to different parts of the country. The congregation took place in March. In May, Delhi Police filed total 35 charge sheets against 376 foreign nationals from 34 countries for attending a religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz here in violation of visa conditions and indulging in missionary activities amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country. According to the charge sheets, all the foreign nationals have been booked for violating visa rules, violating government guidelines issued in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and regulations regarding the Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act and prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure. These members belonged to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, France, Tunisia, Belgium, eight from Algeria, 10 from Saudi Arabia, among others. On Thursday, India reported the biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases. The country registered 9,303 coronavirus cases and 260 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data. With this India's coronavirus cases have climbed to 2.16 lakh, including 1.06 lakh active cases, 1.04 lakh cured or discharged or migrated and 6,075 deaths. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Renault India gives 15% hike, promotions to boost morale of staff Also read: Rs 2 lakh crore blow to banks if interest during loan moratorium waived, RBI cautions SC A full autopsy report has revealed that the late George Floyd tested positive for Coronavirus before his death. The 20-page autopsy report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office revealed that Floyd tested positive for Coronavirus in April. It was released after the coroners office released summary findings that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers. George Floyds death has now been classified as a homicide. TMZ reported that the Coroner said; Positivity for 2019-nCoV can persist for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease, the autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent PCR positivity from the previous infection. This meant the deceased was likely walking around without issues or active symptoms, but the virus was still in his body. The final report from Hennepin on Wednesday says Floyd had no injuries of anterior muscles of the neck or laryngeal structures. Ben Crump, Floyds family attorney, had earlier decried the official autopsy as described in the original complaint against Chauvin, for ruling out asphyxia. An autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family concluded that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression. Related Kilkenny based life sciences company partners with German manufacturer to bring COVID-19 antibody test kit to the Irish market Kilkenny based life sciences company MyBio has has signed an exclusive distribution agreement in Ireland with German manufacturer MoLab GmbH for its highly accurate COVID-19 antibody diagnostic test kit. The potentially game-changing test kit provides excellent diagnostic specificity and sensitivity for both the IgG and IgM antibodies. Their presence will indicate whether you have been exposed to the virus previously. The test's ability to detect either (or both) antibodies makes it one of the most accurate on the market. MyBio believe the test can play a crucial role as the lockdown eases and more people return to work. "We anticipate strong demand for this kit from corporations, businesses, professional laboratories, and other life science companies and institutes across the country and the EU", said Dan Dilks, the company's head of sales and business development. "If offered by their employer, this test kit will provide an important and simple pre-screening service for employees in Ireland, which will prove an invaluable tool in the fight against COVID-19 in the coming months as people return to work and wish to know if they've been exposed". Currently available for professional use, the test kit provides a quick, on-the-spot result in 10 minutes. It's easy to use, needing only a finger-prick sample much like a blood glucose test. The test can also be run with serum or plasma samples. Unlike the test to determine if somebody is currently carrying the virus, antibody testing determines if a person has had the infection in the past. This is done by detecting the presence of antibodies produced by the immune system against COVID-19. A recent study in Heinsberg, Germany has suggested that the coronavirus infection rate could be much higher than initially thought1. The research showed that close to a quarter of those tested were asymptomatic showing no signs of having caught the virus. MyBio's test kit will help diagnose such cases, on-site and quickly. Commenting on the announcement, Linda Nolan, chief executive said: "We're delighted to partner with MoLab in providing an antibody test kit with the highest specificity and sensitivity to the market here". "Companies and Institutions are looking for ways to reopen while taking every step to reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure. Ensuring employees feel safe returning to work is crucial in this process and this kit, which is affordable and easy to use, is another weapon in the fight against COVID-19 As a result of the new partnership, MyBio Ltd will provide marketing, sales, customer service and technical support for the sale of MoLab's Covid-19 antibody diagnostic kit. The kit is available to order now from and ships to the UK and EU. About MyBio Ltd MyBio is based in Kilkenny, and is a leading distributor to the research, pharmaceutical and diagnostic testing laboratories in Ireland. They have been in business for more than 10 years and was the overall winner of the Ireland's National Enterprise Award in 2015. The company is certified as a diversity supplier by WEConnect International. Website: https://www.mybio.ie About MoLab GmbH MoLab GmbH was established in 1985. For more than 35 years, the company has been pioneering new and modern ways to manufacture point of care diagnostics. Their products and services serve doctors, hospitals, public institutions, and security-related authorities. Website: https://www.moelab.de/ Images, logos and product brochure available here: http://tiny.cc/b0a5pz 1 University of Bonn: COVID-19 Heinsberg Study https://www.uni-bonn.de/news/111-2020 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005094/en/ Contacts: For further information please contact: Thomas Kilroy Email: t.kilroy@mybio.ie Tel: 083-3907321 T housands of people will have to be retested for Covid-19 after a batch of swabs sent to the US was affected by a processing issue. The Government confirmed that almost 30,0000 kits from the UK had to be voided on their return to the country. All the individuals affected by the error have been notified and have been offered a new test. The news comes as Baroness Dido Harding, head of the NHS Test and Trace programme , was challenged over the risks of false-negative tests when she appeared before the Health and Social Care Select Committee. According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, 67,000 coronavirus test samples were sent overseas early last month following capacity issues at a laboratory in Northern Ireland. A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokeswoman has confirmed that 29,500 of those samples were voided upon their return to the UK, meaning all those people had to be tested again. We worked hard to get complete tests for people under difficult circumstances," she said. Technicians at a testing facility in Brazil / AFP via Getty Images "In many cases that worked and we are grateful for the team for their efforts. But in some cases, it didnt, and the correct judgment was made to void the tests. Everyone affected was offered a new test immediately and we worked quickly to restore full capacity in the UK. The Telegraph report said part of the problem could relate to the different standards of equipment used in the US. The DHSC spokeswoman added that sending swabs overseas was one of the contingencies in place to deal with any problems arising from the nations Lighthouse test processing network. She also said the US laboratory has not been used for further surge capacity since. Samples are tested in a machine / AFP via Getty Images At the Health and Social Care Select Committee on Wednesday, former health secretary and committee chairman Jeremy Hunt asked about evidence from the University of Bristol and Johns Hopkins University in the US which suggests 20 per cent of negative results could be false. Mr Hunt said: Now the guidance, as I understand it at the moment, is that if you call in with symptoms and your test comes back negative, the guidance says that you and other household members no longer need to self-isolate. But we know from Bristol University and Johns Hopkins University that up to 20 per cent of test results are false negatives so that people actually have Covid-19 but the test says they dont. Why does the guidance then ask those people to have another test? Baroness Harding said that the question is one for medical and scientific experts but added: I think we all do recognise that there is error in the testing system but current guidance is exactly as you set out, and thats what were building the service to deliver. Mr Hunt questioned why people are not offered a second test if they have tested negative because we wouldnt want people going back into the community if they could be spreading it. 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 Baroness Harding added: My understanding of the guidance is that if, after having a negative test, you and your household are free to go back into normal life but if you do continue to feel unwell after a couple of days we would advise you to stay at home and take another test in a few days time. Loading.... We are not short on testing capacity and actually I want people who are not feeling well to feel really confident that they can book a test. On Twitter, they urged people not to gather in groups because of the coronavirus. After the vigil ended in Victoria Park, groups of protesters dressed in black carried flags that said, "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times" as well as "Hong Kong Independence." Participants take part in a memorial vigil in a Mongkok in Hong Kong, China. Credit:Getty Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on Tiananmen Square the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered the government's standard defence of the 1989 crackdown. "The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s," Zhao Lijian said. "The great achievements that we have achieved ... have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to China's national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people." Tiananmen Square in 1989. Credit:AAP-CTS On Thursday, the square where thousands of students had gathered in 1989 was quiet and largely empty. Police and armoured vehicles stood guard on the vast space. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints, where they had to show IDs to be allowed through as part of nationwide mass surveillance to prevent any commemoration of the event. As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups. Loading "We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really don't want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park," said Wu'er Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the government's most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. "The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago," he told The Associated Press in Taiwan, where he lives. "But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government ... doing the same in Hong Kong." China did not intervene directly in last year's protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government. Thousands were arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by now-abandoned legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The cancellation of the vigil came amid a tightening of Beijing's grip over Hong Kong. China's ceremonial legislature last month ratified a decision to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the city's legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents. The approval of the national anthem bill, viewed as an infringement on freedom of expression, followed the recent arrest of 15 veteran activists on charges of organising and taking part in last year's demonstrations. The moves are seen as part of a steady erosion of rights that Hong Kong was guaranteed when it was handed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997. "The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law," Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. About 15 members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China, the group that organizes the annual vigil, gathered at Victoria Park at 6.30pm, local time. They wore black shirts with the Chinese characters for "truth" emblazoned on the front. The activists lit candles and urged the public to do the same later to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan then led the group of about 15 members in a candlelit procession around the perimeter of the park, shouting slogans including, "Stand with Hong Kong." "We have been doing this for 30 years, we have the right to do this, this is a peaceful procession," he said, stating that it would be absurd if this behaviour is criminalised. The group later removed one of the barricades surrounding the park, and entered. Eventually, thousands followed. Lee said that the danger in the national security law is that Beijing will define what is a crime. "If we commemorate June 4th, condemn the massacre, (call for the) end of one-party rule, will this be labelled as subversion? We don't know," he said. Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were held elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown. June 04, 2020 In the recent months, the onset of the novel coronavirus has significantly impacted nearly every industry on a global scale. According to Barinder Sandhu, the Founder and CEO of Evergreen Pharma Solutions, the pharmaceutical industry proves no exception. While the concrete details regarding industry changes are yet to be determined, one thing remains certain: the industry will weather drastic shifts due to COVID-19s implications. Over the last two decades Barinder Sandhu has helped some of the largest global companies increase productivity whilst delivering significant cost savings. Her industry knowledge and 20-years of experience have earned her the reputation as a trusted visionary in the pharmaceutical world. In the following article, Barinder Sandhu explores COVID-19s potential impacts on global pharmaceutical marketing dynamics, with special attention on supply chain management. In an attempt to provide guidance on impending shifts, she outlines the short-term, mid-term, and long-term impacts of COVID-19 as they will likely occur in the pharmaceutical industry. Short-term Impacts Drug Shortages Perhaps the most immediate short-term impact caused by COVID is the widespread creation of drug shortages. As demand for some drugs have increased, manufacturers have struggled to meet needs. These shortages are further exacerbated due to the extensive adoption of premature information, which has induced a trending towards medication stockpiling. For example, the premature advisement that acetaminophen be used to treat COVID-19 symptoms such as fevers has created an immediate shortage of the drug. However, the notion itself has since been formally retracted. Similarly, shortages are further aggravated due to the need for Rx medications. As a result, many pharmacies have implemented restricted dispensing to a 30-day cycle. Relaxed FDA Standards Considerable shortages of certain key medications (e.g. Hydroxychloroquine) have created an increased demand. As a result, facilities that were previously deemed non-compliant by the FDA have received "exceptions" for imports in an effort to boost overall production and minimize shortages. During a normal year, the US Food and Drug Administration performs 500 inspections a year of Chinese pharmaceutical and medical device plants. However, COVID-related travel restrictions have postponed these measures, meaning 2020 could see significantly less surveillance in regards to product qualities and production practices. In the short term, relaxed FDA standards may help to minimize drug shortages, but Barinder Sandhu highlights that there is uncertainty regarding how the FDA will rationalize their decision to support such allowances and exceptions of non-compliant facilities to commence manufacturing after initial shortages are solved. Likely, once the virus is addressed, inspections will resume, and bans will be reinstated in an effort to improve the national economy by supporting domestic manufacturing. API Shortages Lead to Price Increases Currently, only 28% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) used by major US pharmaceutical companies are manufactured domestically within the US. Most commonly, they are imported largely from India (18%), the European Union (26%), and China (13%). Thus, as COVID progresses, the pharmaceutical industry can expect significant supply chain disruption to continue. These disruptions have inevitably created increased costs. Shutdowns and port restrictions are also adversely impacting production, which will continue to result in increased API and R&D costs throughout the coming months. To combat the impact of these shortages, Barinder Sandhu suggests local manufacturers embrace the opportunity to evaluate the drug shortage list and work to reprioritize their production schedules. For many, the most profitable move will be to ramp up the manufacturing of in-demand medicines to minimize drug shortages and capitalize on current needs. Mid-term Impacts Further Supply Chain Challenges As the COVID pandemic progresses, Barinder Sandhu believes supply chain disruption will continue past the short term, ultimately warranting an in-depth evaluation of local needs vs. global needs. Trade threats (such as those posed between the US and India regarding Hydroxychloroquine supply and those posed between the US and Canada regarding 3M (News - Alert) masks) will continue to raise concerns regarding national interests. As COVIDs longer standing impacts become more apparent, Barinder Sandhu believes the federal government will seek to improve the national economy amidst COVIDs initial fallout by minimizing the countrys reliance on foreign imports. Likely, they will instead enlist domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers to fill the countrys domestic needs. In response to mid-term impacts, Barinder Sandhu encourages shifting the collective focus from reactionary measures (i.e. researching vaccines and medications) to more proactive methodology. For example, investing in quick laboratory diagnostic therapies will likely prove promising in helping mitigate the spread of disease. An increased focus on medical devices may also prove advantageous. Long-term Impacts Decrease in Research and Development As overall costs rise and resources are reduced, the pharmaceutical industry can expect significant long-term profit reductions. In turn, these shifts will likely launch a decline in research and development investments, prompting a halt in industry advancement. In an attempt to ease some of these negative impacts, some national governments are making efforts to offset current expenses and funding interruptions. The EUs Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), for example, has offered the equivalent of around $50 million in research and development funding for promising coronavirus research. Similarly, a consortium led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $125 million in funding to expedite drug access during the coronavirus pandemic. Failed Vaccines Create a Push for Innovation As many pharmaceutical companies rush to develop COVID-19 therapies, the virus will continue mutating. Barinder Sandhu highlights that it will take considerable time to produce safe, effective vaccines. There are currently ~108 vaccines in the development process globally, the majority of which will likely fail. Given that travel bans have halted patient travel, clinical trials will also prove difficult. In this way, Barinder Sandhu believes an effective vaccine is a moving target. Even if a successful vaccine is developed, it is doubtful that manufacturers will have the capabilities to effectively mass produce it. It is her hope that the use of AI will lead to the development of new therapies which will help to speed up drug discovery and provide an expedited solution to the coronavirus pandemic. Likely, it is a proactive approach (investing in quick laboratory diagnostic therapies, for example) that will prove most effective in alleviating the COVID-19 pandemic. About the Author Barinder Sandhu is the Founder and CEO of Evergreen Pharma Solutions; a best in class consulting service to global pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical/cannabis companies. Ms. Sandhus unique skill set allows her to offer creative solutions into business strategy & organizational design coupled with a core knowledge in regulatory affairs, quality assurance and business process re-engineering. This allows her to effectively work with both C-suite leaders and line management at a strategic and operational level. Her clients appreciate her proven track record with both start-up companies as well as more mature organizations, where she has led business transformation projects applying key principles of lean sigma to increase productivity whilst delivering significant cost savings. The statue was erected on Thomas Paine Plaza an irony there in 1999, eight years after the former mayors death. It was an antiquated reminder of an uglypast many Philadelphians would prefer to forget, a fist in the face of African Americans and gays whom Rizzo spent much of his career trying to oppress. It did not help that the statue depicted Rizzo raising his right arm Mussolini-like in what looked like a fascist salute. (It was actually from a St. Patricks Day parade photo where he was waving, which was lost on almost all.) As protesters demonstrate across the country opposing police brutality, Northeastern University will suspend classes and close offices across all of its campuses on Monday for a virtual remembrance of Black Americans whose lives were taken unjustly. The university is referring to Monday as a Day of Reflection, Engagement and Action. It will begin with an online vigil at 11 a.m. and will continue throughout the day with art, poetry and music created by Black artists. We will join together in unity with those all around the world who are grieving and angry over persistent injustice toward African American citizens, president of Northeastern Joseph Auon said in a statement. The forms of art will be shared on the universitys Instagram account. At 2 p.m., on Facebook, the school will have a screening of Murder in Mobile, an award-winning documentary that tells the story of a Jim Crow-era hate crime brought to light seven decades later by a Northeastern law student. Margaret Burnham, a law professor and director of Northeasterns Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, will join a discussion after the film. We have heard the chorus of raised voices demanding that we make real, at last, the promise of American democracy for the many millions of African Americans who have given so much to build it, Aoun said in a statement Northeastern is also planning a series of virtual town halls hosted by Uta Poiger, the dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and James Hackney, the dean of the School of Law, who are co-chairs of the Presidential Council on Diversity and Inclusion. Aoun also declared June 19 a Day of Solidarity across all campuses. The day, often referred to as "Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, marks the day that Union soldiers landed in Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, more than two years after it was signed. We will gather together to listen, to speak, and to engage one another in advancing the cause of justice, Aoun said. Related Content: YOKNEAM, Israel, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumenis Ltd., the world's largest energy-based medical device company for aesthetic, surgical and ophthalmic applications, announced today that MedTech Breakthrough , an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global health and medical technology market, has selected Lumenis' MOSES technology Holmium Laser platform as the winner of its "Best New Surgical Technology Solution" award in the fourth annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards program. Lumenis MOSES Technology Wins 2020 MedTech Breakthrough Award for Innovation in Surgical Technology Used for a variety of urological indications, including kidney stone and BPH treatments, MOSES is a patent-protected pulse delivery technology that remarkably improves energy transmission, resulting in more efficient and faster procedures. Through a proprietary combination of holmium laser systems and fibers, MOSES technology optimizes laser energy transmission to increase stone ablation volume while reducing dependency on the working distance between the fiber and stone. In BPH MOSES unique pulse modulation allows for shorter and more efficient procedures, resulting in greater case volume while releasing patients home the same day.[3] MOSES, chosen by 85% of the US Honor Roll List hospitals as their Urology laser platform of choice,[1] is the only new laser platform that was proven to improve procedural outcomes in a double-blind randomized clinical trial showing 20% faster procedural time compared to the standard laser technology.[2] 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 year's program attracted more than 3,750 nominations from over 15 different countries throughout the world. "MOSES technology embodies the spirit of the MedTech Breakthrough Awards with impressive technological innovation that represents a true advancement in surgical technology," said James Johnson, managing director, MedTech Breakthrough. "Lumenis' MOSES technology is helping surgeons around the world to provide better treatments for their patients, with tangible advantages over standard technologies. We are thrilled to name the Company a 2020 MedTech Breakthrough Award winner." Having introduced the first holmium laser for the treatment of urinary stones and BPH more than 30 years ago, Lumenis continues to push the boundaries of urology care and is a leader in urology care innovation. In collaboration with the leading research and teaching institutions worldwide, Lumenis looks to continue and enhance its surgical solutions providing better technology for better patient care. About Lumenis Lumenis is a global leader in the field of minimally-invasive clinical solutions for the Surgical, Ophthalmology, and Aesthetic markets, and is a world-renowned expert in developing and commercializing innovative energy-based technologies, including Laser, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radio-Frequency (RF). For 50 years, Lumenis' ground-breaking products have redefined medical treatments and have set numerous technological and clinical gold-standards. Lumenis has successfully created solutions for previously untreatable conditions, as well as designed advanced technologies that have revolutionized existing treatment methods. visit: www.lumenis.com. 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 . 1. ***Reference to the new Published PR*** 2. Andonian et al. Double-blinded Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing Moses and Regular Modes of Holmium Laser Lithotripsy: J Endourol. 2020 Apr 3. doi: 10.1089/end.2019.0695 3. Large T, Krambeck AE et al. Comparative Study of Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate with MOSES Enabled Pulsed Laser Modulation. Urology. Feb 2020 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176749/Lumenis_MOSES_MedTech_Award.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/541530/Lumenis_Logo.jpg Media Contact: Genevieve Britton +1-512-774-0735 (c) [email protected] SOURCE Lumenis Ltd. Related Links https://lumenis.com National security legislation for HKSAR shows commitment of central authorities: chief executive Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/6/3 13:42:07 Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the decision by the national legislature to establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security demonstrates the commitment of the central authorities, while some foreign countries applied double standards on the matter. Speaking at a media session on Tuesday, Lam pointed out that national security embodies a nation's sovereignty and sets up the foundation of the governance. It is the jurisdiction of the central authorities to enact laws on national security, as all other nations do, and current laws in Hong Kong are nowhere near adequate to deal with issues related to national security. Lam said China's national security law should be applied in each part and corner of the country, and the central government had thus authorized the HKSAR to complete on national security legislation in accordance with the "one country, two systems" principle, "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy. Hong Kong however has yet to enact such laws. Lam said there has been an increasing threat on national security in Hong Kong since last year, with some advocating "Hong Kong independence," as well as foreign interference harming the national security. Lam, rebuffing some foreign countries' criticism on China, said the central authorities shoulder the responsibility by making the decision under the special situation. Some foreign governments treasure so much of their own national security but look through colored spectacles when viewing China's security and Hong Kong's current situation, Lam said, blasting those foreign governments of taking double standards. Any sanctions or removing of Hong Kong's special status would hurt the United States itself and would not benefit anyone, Lam warned. She said that the United States, for the past over 10 years, has enjoyed its large trade surplus with Hong Kong, the non-reciprocal visa-free access and etc. Lam said that the acts and behaviors to hit businesses and people will only make the economy and people's livelihood worse as the COVID-19 epidemic has already weakened the global economy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's proposed national security law for Hong Kong: Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab gave a statement in the House of Commons on the situation in Hong Kong and the UK's response to it. 2 June 2020 I would like to update the House on the situation in Hong Kong. Mr Speaker, as all members will know, Hong Kong's historic success was built on its autonomy, its freedoms and the remarkable resourcefulness and determination of its people. We have long admired their prosperity and their values, respected through China's own expression of the 'One Country, Two Systems' approach. An approach that China itself has long articulated and affirmed as the basis for its relations with Hong Kong. The UK, through successive governments, has consistently respected and supported that model, as reflected both in China's Basic Law and also the Joint Declaration. Which is, as honourable members will know, the treaty agreed by the UK and China and registered with the United Nations, as part of the arrangements for the handover of Hong Kong that were made back in 1984. So Mr Speaker, set against this Chinese framework and the historic context, on 22 May during a meeting of the National People's Congress, China considered a proposal for a national security law for Hong Kong. Then on 28 May, the National People's Congress adopted this decision. China's Foreign Minister, State Councillor Wang Yi, made clear that this legislation will seek to ban "treason, secession, sedition and subversion" and we expect it to be published in full shortly. This proposed national security law undermines the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework that I have described, under which Hong Kong is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy with executive, legislative and independent judicial powers. Mr Speaker, to be very clear and specific about this, the imposition of national security legislation on Hong Kong by the government in Beijing, rather than through Hong Kong's own institutions, lies in direct conflict with Article 23 of China's own Basic Law. And it lies in direct conflict with China's international obligations freely assumed under the Joint Declaration. The Basic Law is clear that there are only a limited number of areas in which Beijing can impose laws directly, such as for the purposes of defence and foreign affairs, or in exceptional circumstances in which the National People's Congress declares a state of war or a state of emergency. So the proposed national security law, as it has been described, raises the prospect, in terms of the substance and the detail, of prosecution in Hong Kong for political crimes, which would undermine the existing commitments to protect the rights and the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, as set out in the Joint Declaration, but also as reflecting International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. And, finally, the proposals also include provision for the authorities in Hong Kong to report back to Beijing on progress in pursuing national security education of its people. A truly sobering prospect. Mr Speaker, we have not yet seen the detailed, published text of the legislation. But I can tell the House, that if legislation in these terms, is imposed by China on Hong Kong, it would violate China's own Basic Law. It would up end China's 'One Country, Two Systems' paradigm. And it would be a clear violation of China's international obligations, including those made specifically to the United Kingdom under the Joint Declaration. Let me also be clear about the approach the United Kingdom intends to take. We don't oppose Hong Kong passing its own national security law. We do strongly oppose such an authoritarian law being imposed by China in breach of international law. Mr Speaker, we are not seeking to intervene in China's internal affairs, Only to hold China to its international commitments, just as China expects of the United Kingdom. We don't seek to prevent China's rise. Far from it, we welcome China as a leading member of the international community, and we look to engage with China on everything from trade to climate change. And it is precisely because we recognise China's role in the world that we expect it to live up to the international obligations, and international responsibilities, that come with it. So, Mr Speaker, on Thursday, working very closely with our partners in Australia, Canada and the United States, the UK released a joint statement expressing our deep concerns over this proposed new security legislation. Our partners in New Zealand and Japan have issued similar statements. And the EU has too, and I have had discussions with a various number of our EU partners. So the UK stands firm with our international partners in our expectation that China live up to its international obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Mr Speaker, there is time for China to re-consider, there is a moment for China to step back from the brink and respect Hong Kong's autonomy and respect China's own international obligations. We urge the Government of China to work with the people of Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong Government, to end the recent violence and to resolve the underlying tensions based on political dialogue. But if China continues down this current path, if it enacts this national security law, we will consider what further response we make, working with those international partners and others. Mr Speaker, I hope the whole House agrees that we, as the United Kingdom, have historic responsibilities, a duty I would say, to the people of Hong Kong. So, I can tell the House now that if China enacts this law we will change the arrangements for British National Overseas passport-holders in Hong Kong. The House will recall that BNO status was conferred on British Dependent Territories Citizens connected with Hong Kong as part of the package of arrangements that accompanied the Joint Declaration in 1984, in preparation for the handover of the territory. And under that status, currently, BNO passport holders are already entitled to UK consular assistance in third countries. And the British government also provides people with BN(O) passports visa-free entry into the UK for up to six months as visitors. Mr Speaker, if China follows through with its proposed legislation, we will put in place new arrangements to allow BNOs to come to the UK without the current 6 month limit, enabling them to live and apply to study and work for extendable periods of 12 months, thereby also providing a pathway to citizenship. Mr Speaker, let me just finish by saying that even at this stage I sincerely hope China will reconsider its approach. But if not, the UK will not just look the other way when it comes to the people of Hong Kong. We will stand by them, we will live up to our responsibilities. And I commend this statement to the House. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WASHINGTON - Republicans on a Senate panel voted Thursday to authorize a sweeping set of potential subpoenas targeting the origin of the federal investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, with a focus on several senior members of former president Barack Obama's administration. The vote in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee represents the escalation of an election-year GOP campaign to recast the investigations that consumed much of the president's first two years in office as the product of backroom manipulation, corner-cutting and subterfuge orchestrated by Trump's political enemies. The committee voted along party lines to authorize 36 subpoenas after several attempts by Democrats failed to delay the vote. "There are times when extraordinary situations require action, whether or not we all agree. The conduct we know that occurred during the transition should concern everyone and absolutely warrants further investigation," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the panel, said Thursday. The Senate Judiciary Committee debated its plans for subpoenas as Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it was not only the Russians who interfered in the 2016 election. The panel delayed its vote to next week as Democrats sought to offer amendments. "It was the Department of Justice. It was the FBI. It was people who hated Trump and people who had political bias, an agenda to destroy him before he was elected, and after he was elected," he said Wednesday. "And we're going to get to the bottom of it." To Democrats, the Senate investigations represent an insidious use of congressional resources to perform a nakedly political task - bruising the Obama administration, and by extension presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, just months before voters decide whether to hand Trump a second term. The subpoena requests from the two committees would authorize potential interviews and demands for documents from more than 60 individuals, including former FBI director James Comey, former director of national intelligence James Clapper and former CIA director John Brennan. "This motion grants the chair unbridled authority to go after Obama-era officials," Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Thursday, calling the move unprecedented and opposing the effort. Democrats also said the effort was distracting from more pressing business facing the nation - a global pandemic from the coronavirus, an economic crisis and civic unrest. "This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee isn't voting on legislation to confront the life or death crises before us. Instead, it's nursing Trump's wounded ego with a partisan subpoena. Shameful," Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., tweeted Thursday. The fruits of the investigation, several of the Democrats warned, could be used by Republicans to fuel campaign attacks on Biden based on events, documents or testimony that has already been evaluated and discounted by independent investigators - such as Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general who found wrongdoing regarding applications for some surveillance warrants targeting a former Trump campaign aide but did not conclude that there was political bias against Trump at play. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the top Democrat on the Homeland Security panel, said the investigation "appears to be a political exercise" and called on Republicans to allow the Justice Department to complete its own investigation into the origins of the Trump probe - one ordered by Attorney General William Barr. "There are other issues that our committee needs to be focused on - not a partisan issue that's coming up just before an election related to a political candidate," he said, citing the ongoing civil unrest in U.S. cities and the coronavirus pandemic. "It looks as if it's a fishing expedition, and we don't have time for fishing expeditions. We need to be focused on the domestic crises that we have right now in our country." Johnson has shown few reservations about directing the resources of the panel - one of Congress's most powerful oversight organs - against politically sensitive targets that also align with Trump's own political interests. Both committees are under clear pressure from Trump supporters who do not believe that the previous probes - including Horowitz's review - got to the bottom of what they call the "coup" launched against Trump by his political enemies, including Comey and Brennan. "I think they are reacting to public pressure," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which had led the pro-Trump campaign against the Obama-era Justice Department. "There are tens of millions of Americans who are exceedingly frustrated that there's been zero accountability to date, and I think Republicans are all of a sudden recognizing that. That's the number one question I get asked: Why hasn't anyone gone to jail? Why hasn't anything been done? And the Senate hasn't done much." While Graham has focused his committee on actions inside the Justice Department in 2016 and 2017, Johnson has focused his interest in the State Department - and alleged efforts by officials there to foment law enforcement interest in the allegations of British intelligence operative Christopher Steele. That has been aided by troves of documents handed over by the Trump administration - and more could be on its way. Johnson and Graham last month sought and quickly received a list of Obama administration officials who sought to deanonymize foreign intelligence intercepts involving Michael Flynn, who was fired as an intelligence official in the Obama administration and briefly served as Trump's national security adviser. Those exchanges ultimately led to Flynn's prosecution on charges of lying to the FBI. The senators are expected to receive similar information in the coming weeks about "unmaskings" ordered for other Trump campaign officials and potentially members of Trump's family. The Flynn unmasking revelations have fueled criticism of the Obama officials in the conservative media and from Trump himself, though Democrats argue that the scrutiny of the intercepts involving Flynn was both legal and justified for national security reasons. Separately from his investigation into the origins of the Trump probes, Johnson is also investigating Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm that employed Biden's son Hunter as a board member from 2014 to 2019. The committee voted along party lines last month to authorize subpoenas targeting a Washington public affairs firm, Blue Star Strategies, hired by Burisma to open doors in the U.S. government. Johnson is conducting both investigations in tandem with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and in both instances, Johnson has indicated that he intends to issue findings before the November election. Earlier this year he signaled outright intent to deliver a political impact as he move to issue subpoenas in the Burisma case. Johnson said he is aiming to have a report on Burisma's activity - probably focused on its dealings thought Blue Star inside the Obama State Department - this summer, with a report on the origins of the Trump investigations in the fall - aligning with Graham's timeline of delivering a report in October. The Burisma probe has sparked more serious Democratic objections rooted in Johnson's potential reliance on materials provided by Andriy Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian diplomat who worked as a consultant for Blue Star Strategies on Burisma-related matters during Hunter Biden's board tenure. Telizhenko, Democrats and some Republicans have warned, could be spreading Russian disinformation meant to influence the 2020 election. Aside from the Blue Star materials, which are protected by a nondisclosure agreement, Telizhenko said in an interview last month that he had already shared more than 100 emails with Johnson's committee sent before and after his Blue Star tenure and has been in routine communication with committee staff. Johnson told reporters earlier this year that he was treating Telizhenko's materials with appropriate skepticism and defended dealing with him to uncover how Burisma may have influenced U.S. policy using Hunter Biden's name for access inside the Obama administration. Still, the political overtones of the probe have meant hiccups for Johnson. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, withheld support for a Telizhenko subpoena, forcing Johnson to subpoena Blue Star instead. And on Wednesday, Romney said he would back the subpoena of Obama officials only after requesting "adjustments" to exclude inspectors general and to avoid duplicating other committees' requests. He also signaled his dismay that Johnson was not investigating other matters. "It's not, in my opinion, the appropriate priority for the committee," he said Wednesday. "But he sets the agenda, and there was wrongdoing identified by the inspector general, so I will support it." Donald Sherman, deputy director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Johnson and other chairman have wide leeway to direct their panels. But it was notable, he said, that the Trump administration was cooperating with the panel in an apparent effort to embarrass the Obama administration and Biden while stonewalling Democratic oversight requests in the House. That, he said, suggested that the Senate probes are political exercises rather than legitimate fact-finding efforts. "There really aren't a lot of checks on Congress launching political investigations - we've seen it time and time again," said Sherman, a former Democratic oversight counsel to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "The more pressing question is why isn't the State Department treating oversight requests from Republicans and Democrats in the same way?" - - - The Washington Post's David Stern in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report. When a profile is claimed, the practice can enhance it with videos, photos, bios of their doctors and staff, educational articles they contribute, social media content, and more. The idea is to provide them with a way to showcase their practices unique brand and connect with the right GeniusVetsthe top-performing marketing agency serving the veterinary industryhas launched a new platform to help pet owners across the country find the pet care information and services they need. Every veterinary practice in the United States is currently listed with a unique and informative profile, and veterinarians from around the country are contributing answers to the most frequently asked pet health questions. Pet owners have increasingly been seeking answers from Dr. Google for information about their pets health. While web searches can deliver immediate results, much of the information thats returned is not sourced from veterinarians. As a result, DVMs have been excluded from the online conversation. GeniusVets sought to bridge this gap. We saw an opportunity to reverse this trend and help veterinarians reclaim their rightful position in conversations around pet health, GeniusVets CEO Harley Orion noted. Our nationwide platform already reaches millions of pet owners over hundreds of websiteseducating them and connecting them with local veterinarians. To do this we use content representing the expertise of leading veterinarians from around the country. Through veterinarian-contributed content and search engine optimization, GeniusVets clients receive between 3-150 times the national average for website traffic. With over 36,000 veterinary practice profiles, this newly launched GeniusVets platform is primed to deliver these results at 100 times that scale. Veterinarians are also at a huge advantage once they claim their free profiles at https://www.geniusvets.com/start. When a profile is claimed, Orion says, the practice can enhance it with videos, photos, bios of their doctors and staff, educational articles they contribute, social media content, and more. The idea is to provide them with a way to showcase their practices unique brand and connect with the right kind of clients. The platform provides whats been missing in the veterinary field an outstanding web presence for independent veterinary practices, quality answers to pet health questions, and an easy way for pet owners to find and connect with local veterinarians. About GeniusVets GeniusVets is the premier platform that connects pet parents with quality veterinarians and proven pet care advice from DVMs. The mission of GeniusVets is to create better pet health by educating and uniting pet owners and veterinarians. For more information about GeniusVets, visit geniusvets.com. A top GOP official in Texas is facing calls to resign from the governor and other members of her own party after she pushed a conspiracy theory that George Floyd's death was staged to damage President Donald Trump with black voters. Bexar County GOP Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm presented the theory in a since-deleted Facebook post this week, asking for her followers' thoughts. There is no evidence to support the claim the death of Floyd, a black man who died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest on May 25, was staged. Protests erupted across the country after citizen video showed Floyd, who was handcuffed, begging to be let up and crying out 'I can't breathe' as Chauvin and three other officers ignored his pleas. Chauvin is now faces charges for second-degree murder and the other officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder. All four were fired the day after Floyd's death. In her post Brehm wrote: 'These officers were involved in something, I'm not exactly sure what, but something is just not adding up. 'I think there is at least the "possibility", that this was a filmed public execution of a black man by a white cop, with the purpose of creating racial tensions. 'Considering the rising approval rating of President Trump in the black community, an event like this was unfortunately "predictable".' Bexar County GOP Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm is facing calls to resign from the governor and other members of her own party after she pushed a conspiracy theory that George Floyd's death was staged to damage President Donald Trump with black voters Brehm presented the theory in a since-deleted Facebook post this week (pictured) A spokesman for Texas Governor Greg Abbott released a statement calling for Brehm to resign on Thursday morning. 'These comments are disgusting and have no place in the Republican Party or in public discourse,' spokesman John Wittman said. 'Cynthia Brehm should immediately resign her position as Chair of the Bexar County Republican Party.' Soon after Wittman's statement, US Sen John Cornyn's campaign issued a statement saying: 'Senator Cornyn shares Governor Abbotts belief that Cynthia Brehm should resign.' US Sen Ted Cruz, Lt Gov Dan Patrick and Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey followed suit with their own resignation calls on Thursday afternoon. 'Cynthia Brehm's comments were wrong, and only serve to divide us at a time when we all need to come together. Given those harmful comments, she should resign from leadership,' Cruz tweeted. Dickey said in a statement that he had 'personally reached out' to Brehm to ask her to step down. Patrick tweeted: 'There is no excuse for this outrageous, ignorant racist message made worse by using her position as a local party leader to spread it. 'It does not reflect the thinking of Bexar GOP or Republicans anywhere.' George Floyd (pictured) died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest on May 25 Protests erupted across the country after citizen video showed Floyd, who was handcuffed, begging to be let up and crying out 'I can't breathe' as Chauvin ignored his pleas Brehm's Facebook post about Floyd first captured wide attention on Wednesday after San Antonio Express-News columnist Gilbert Garcia shared a screenshot of it on Twitter. The screenshot, which Garcia said he took on Wednesday morning, indicated that Brehm published the post late the night before. It was deleted less than 24 hours later. Nueces County GOP Chairman Jim Kaelin (pictured) also shared a Facebook post about the Floyd conspiracy theory last week The Texas Democratic Party put out a statement on Wednesday evening saying that Abbott and other Texas Republicans should ask for Brehm's resignation. 'Cynthia Brehm's comments are flat out wrong and dangerous,' party spokesman Abhi Rahman said in a statement. 'Enough is enough.' Garcia's tweet prompted US Rep Chip Roy (R - Austin), whose district includes Bexar County, to call for Brehm to step down immediately. The other Republican congressman who represents Bexar County, Rep Will Hurd of Helotes, also called for Brehm's resignation after Abbott did so on Thursday. State Sens Donna Campbell (R - New Braunfels) and Pete Flores (R - Pleasanton) also backed Abbott's call. As Brehm faced widespread backlash, it emerged that the GOP chairman in another large Texas county had posted the same text about the Floyd theory on Facebook last week. The post from Jim Kaelin - chairman for Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi - called the theory an 'interesting perspective'. Several top Texas Republicans, including Gov Greg Abbott (left) and US Sen John Cornyn (right) called for Brehm to step down on Thursday Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick condemned Brehm's comments in a tweet on Thursday US Sen Ted Cruz also called for Brehmn to resign as Bexar County GOP chairwoman This is the second time in a matter of weeks that Brehm, who took over as GOP chair for Bexar County in 2018, has come under fire for advancing a right-wing conspiracy theory. Last month she made headlines for declaring that the coronavirus pandemic was a Democratic hoax. She charged that the COVID-19 crisis 'has been promulgated by the Democrats to undo all of the good that President Trump has done for our country'. Brehm (pictured) has not publicly addressed calls for her resignation Democrats called on Republicans to denounce Brehm's coronavirus comments along with the Floyd theory. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee specifically called on Roy and two other San Antonio-area GOP candidates to condemn those remarks. Roy's chief of staff, Joseph Wade Miller, said Wednesday evening that he was unaware of Brehm's coronavirus comments. 'Just another reason why she should resign though,' he tweeted. On Thursday Miller told the Texas Tribune: 'Coronavirus clearly isn't a hoax. It's a very serious public health problem.' Brehm has not publicly addressed calls for her resignation and did not immediately return DailyMail.com's requests for comment on Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 02:22:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A cloud of expectation hangs over Kenya as citizens are ready for the easing of some restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the COVID-19. Private businesses, places of worship and government offices are among entities that are gearing up for the resumption of operations after June 6, the day when current restrictions end and President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to review the measures. Kenyatta hinted that the government will loosen some of the restrictions, noting that lockdowns and curfews are unsustainable in the long term. He noted that once the restrictions are partially lifted, citizens will be expected to remain responsible by wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining social distancing to curb the spread of the disease. Kenya imposed a partial lockdown in the capital Nairobi and four other counties some 70 days ago and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew across the country, which are the restrictions lauded for slowing down infections. But they have affected business for schools, gyms, bars and hotels, among others, with up to 1.2 million people losing jobs, according to the Labor Ministry of Kenya. It is these businesses that are ready to reopen by installing handwashing and sanitation points and measures to enforce social distancing. At a hotel along Moi Avenue in the central business district in Nairobi on Thursday, a worker was busy fumigating the facility. In a separate section, another was remodeling chairs and tables to comply with measures to curb the spread of the disease in anticipation of the partial reopening of the country. And at the entrance, a handwashing point was prominently installed as well as sanitizers at various points. Like many other such facilities, all its workers would be expected to take COVID-19 tests and get certificates to show they are free of the disease. "We were not offering to take away services or did not open earlier because it did not make sense to reopen when workers are still at home. But we believe this is the right time when the government is expected to loosen some restrictions," said a worker introduced as Martin Kinuthia. Places of worship are also instituting measures to allow the resumption of services. Among the new protocols, they are taking the use of thermo guns, having shorter services, ensuring all worshippers sanitize by washing hands and installation of sanitation booths and everyone must wear face masks. "As we wait for the presidential directive, it has been agreed upon by the government and religious leaders that the following measures must be taken. There shall be a sitting plan with markings on the floor where chairs will be placed observing the 1.5 meter rule in all directions," said John Kitula, the administrative secretary of the African Inland Church. Other places of worship, including mosques, will follow the same protocols to curb the spread of COVID-19. Karanja Kibicho, Interior Principal Secretary of Kenya, said on Wednesday that the government has found itself in a tight spot since the outbreak of the disease, whose cases have taken an upward trajectory, clocking 2,340 on Thursday. "We cannot stay in a lockdown forever, as a government we make money from taxes but most people are currently not working. We must reopen the economy but under strict guidelines," said Kibicho. But as the cloud of optimism hangs over Kenya amid the rise in infections, health experts have warned that most citizens are throwing caution to the wind by resuming old behavior that does not help to curb the spread of the virus. Health Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Thursday acknowledged that the government would ease some of the restrictions as it moves to adopt a home-care approach, but COVID-19 remains a huge threat to the east African nation. Enditem When asked to comment on this dangerous abuse of governmental authority, which flashed across every news channel and website in the world, the presidents allies had this to say. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) wouldnt comment because he wasnt there. One wonders whether he will from now on comment only on world events at which he is physically present. Several senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) demurred because they didnt watch it closely enough, in Romneys words. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said they were late for lunch. A few Republican senators did break with the president, but others went out of their way to defend him. Ted Cruz (Tex.) who used to describe Trump as utterly amoral and a pathological liar said the only abuse of power was by the protesters themselves. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Pacific Metals Corp. (NUAG.V) (NUPMF) (New Pacific or the Company) announces today the filing of an amended and restated technical report entitled Silver Sand Deposit Mineral Resource Report (Amended) with an effective date of January 16, 2020 (the Amended and Restated Technical Report) prepared by AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. (AMC). The Amended and Restated Technical Report includes additional disclosure regarding the assumed mining costs, processing costs and metallurgical recoveries used to establish the cut-off grade selected, but otherwise contains no material differences to the original technical report filed on May 25, 2020 (the Original Technical Report). The Mineral Resource estimates, project economics, and conclusions and recommendations provided in the Original Technical Report remain unchanged. The Amended and Restated Technical Report was prepared in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). A copy of the Amended and Restated Technical Report is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.newpacificmetals.com . Dinara Nussipakynova, P. Geo., Principal Geologist with AMC, is the Qualified Person for the purpose of NI 43-101 who has approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. ABOUT NEW PACIFIC New Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company which owns the Silver Sand Project, in the Potosi Department of Bolivia, and the Tagish Lake Gold Project in Yukon, Canada. For further information, please contact: New Pacific Metals Corp. Gordon Neal President Phone: (604) 633-1368 Fax: (604) 669-9387 info@newpacificmetals.com www.newpacificmetals.com Neither the 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. Story continues CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION Certain of the statements and information in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategies", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "budgets", "schedules", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: social and economic impacts of COVID-19; development of the Company's projects; fluctuating equity, bond and commodity prices; loss of key personnel; dependence on management and others. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2019 under the heading "Risk Factors". 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, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company's forward-looking statements or information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this news release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements or information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Ontario Court of Appeal has set aside Thomas Chans manslaughter and aggravated assault convictions and granted him a new trial. In March 2019, Chan was sentenced to five years in prison for the vicious stabbing death of his father, Dr. Andrew Chan, and the near deadly attack on Dr. Chans life-partner Lynn Witteveen after being convicted in December 2018. On Dec. 28, 2015 Chan had consumed magic mushrooms before experiencing hallucinations and stabbing the couple because he thought they were the devil. Chans legal team of Dave McFadden and Joleen Hiland appealed the manslaughter and aggravated assault convictions. Chans appeal, which was handled by Danielle Robitaille and Matthew Gourlay of Henein Hutchison LLP in Toronto, was heard in October 2019 with a decision rendered by the Ontario Court of Appeal on Wednesday. Chans legal team says its pleased by the result and clarity with which the Ontario Court of Appeal dealt with the complicated legal issues. The court has reaffirmed basic concepts of criminal responsibility and the limits of Parliaments authority to infringe upon fundamental legal rights, Henein Hutchison LLP wrote in an email statement. The appeal was based on the constitutionality of Section of 33.1 of the Criminal Code. Chans argument was that the law unconstitutionally deprived him of access to the non-mental disorder automatism defence. Automatism is defined as a state of impaired consciousness rather than unconsciousness in which a person, though capable of action, has no voluntary control over that action. The section removes non-mental disorder automatism as a defence where the state of automatism is self-induced by voluntary intoxication and the offence includes an element of an assault. Prior to the trial and after the verdict, McFadden challenged the law with trial judge Cary Boswell, but Boswell ruled the law to be constitutional. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled the law unconstitutional, stating the trial judge committed several errors in coming to his conclusion. Most significantly, the trial judge misstated the object of s. 33.1, the decision reads. A reasonable person in Mr. Chans position could not have foreseen that his self-induced intoxication might lead to assaultive behaviour, let alone a knife attack on his father and his stepmother, people he loved. Since Chan should have been provided with the opportunity to invoke the non-mental disorder automatism defence, the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside his convictions and ordered a new trial. Chan was arguing for an outcome of an acquittal because the judge found him to be incapacitated, other than by reason of mental disorder, the automatism defence is satisfied. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal didnt agree. The decision reads that the judge made no finding that Chan was not acting voluntarily. Instead, Boswell concluded that as a result of psychosis induced by intoxication, Chan was incapable of knowing his actions would be considered wrong according to moral standards of reasonable members of society. This not a finding of non-mental disorder automatism, the decision reads. A person can lack the capacity to know their acts are wrong, yet still voluntarily choose to engage in those acts. Chan remains out of bail awaiting a new trial. The public should know that the application of the automatism defence is extremely narrow and therefor rare, Chans legal team added in their statement. The underlying facts in this case remain a profound tragedy for Mr. Chan and his family, which no court decision can hope to remedy. LOS ANGELES - After days of raucous protests accompanied by sporadic violence and scattered looting that led to deployment of the National Guard, Los Angeles, San Francisco and most other cities in California anxiously lifted curfews Thursday amid more peaceful demonstrations. Im a little scared about that, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said about ending the five-night order. But sometimes fear is what youve got to do. Curfews were imposed for several days in many cities some as early as 1 p.m. after a weekend of mayhem that unfolded across the state during or following mostly peaceful protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Cities were criticized for taking the rare step to force residents to stay home and then use the order to arrest thousands of peaceful protesters who stayed out past curfew. The American Civil Liberties Union had sued Los Angeles and the city of San Bernardino on behalf of Black Lives Matter on Wednesday for suppressing First Amendment guarantees to political protest and freedom of movement. We have the right to march, we have the right to speak out, and not just on the governments timetable, Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter-LA, said in a statement. The ACLU said it was pleased those cities dropped their curfews, but they sent a letter demanding Sacramento do the same. The state capital, which had been reluctant to impose a curfew, chose to keep its order in place after downtown businesses were tagged with graffiti and had their windows shattered. Passionate protesters continued to call for racial justice Thursday in symbolic acts of remembrance for Floyd on the day of his funeral in Minnesota. Dozens of demonstrators laid on the ground outside South San Francisco police headquarters with their hands behind their backs and chanted I cant breathe, the dying words of Floyd, a black man whose neck was pinned to the ground by the knee of a white police officer now charged with murder. In the middle of a California Senate hearing, lawmakers paused to observe 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence to mark Floyds death. Outside LA City Hall, a crowd of hundreds went silent and dropped to a knee in a gesture that has come to mark the movement galvanized by Floyds death. Billy Black, who joined the crowd in the hot sun, said the recent calm of the protests helped lure him out to lend his voice after being concerned over the weekend by TV images of marchers clashing with police in riot gear, police cruisers set ablaze and stores ransacked in broad daylight. I didnt like knowing that people were outside taking a stand for something I believe in, while I was in air conditioned comfort, Black said. The 25-year-old African American echoed the words of many who felt their message was being drowned out by coverage of the unrest. He urged news media to shine a light on the more positive messages out here, about peace, about justice, instead of focusing on the looting, the violence. Police have blamed the thefts on organized groups of criminals and stressed that the protesters were not responsible. Protesters have called for prosecuting police brutality and, in the case of LA, even defunding the police department. Garcetti reversed course Wednesday on plans to boost police funding and outlined a plan to shift $250 million in the city budget to address what he called structural black racism and related issues, including funds for youth employment, health care and housing. Your tax dollars should go towards erasing trauma, not causing it, Garcetti said at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Police have been injured in the protests, including a Los Angeles officer who was hospitalized after his skull was fractured with a brick, and others pelted with rocks and bottles. But protesters and activists have complained of being roughed up by police wielding batons, firing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets. A group of state lawmakers on Thursday said they would introduce legislation for when such ammo could be used. Breaking a city-imposed curfew is not a sufficient basis for use of rubber bullets, said Assemblywoman Gonzalez, D-San Diego. Crowd control where there is no rioting is not proper grounds to use rubber bullets. ___ Associated Press journalists Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles, Cuneyt Dil in Sacramento, and Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report. MIAMI, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A highly anticipated and sought after AASCP meeting is back by popular demand, and topics will include a Safety Standards Panel session as well as: Sphenopalatine Ganglion Treatment, Management of COVID-19 by Photodynamic Viral Inactivation, Caudal Block Applications, Benefits, and Indications and Diagnosis and Treatment of Extra-articular Pain in Regenerative Medicine, to name a few. Meeting will now be virtual The importance of this virtual conference coincides with the ever-emerging growth of the global regenerative medicine market which is expected to reach USD 79.8 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 20.5% from 2018 to 2024. Factors driving the growth of the market are increasing prevalence of degenerative and chronic diseases, technological advancements in nanotechnology, bioengineering and stem cell therapy, and increasing geriatric population across the globe. The AASCP virtual meeting is open for registration. The meeting is set for August 1, 2020. Moderators to be announced. Due to COVID-19, the meeting will take place virtually. This is an effective way to ensure that everyone that wishes to participate but cannot travel, can. It will be more easily accessible to many and more economical and students, educators and physicians will not miss out on all the important topics that AASCP has on the pipeline. Virtual Workshop Lecturers will demonstrate the techniques that they spoke on with patients brought into their office on video. These virtual interactive workshops will feature small participant-to-instructor ratios with a customized curriculum focusing on developing hands-on skills. Each technique will be taught by experts in the field, using didactic sessions with dynamic multimedia presentations, live demonstrations and scanning on live model, as well as phantoms. Registration is now open and selling out fast. According to AASCP, if you are using biologics in your practice, whether you are using SVF, PRP, bone marrow, UCB, amniotic products, exosomes, xenografts, or peptides, there are key considerations to take into account to achieve the best safety for your patients. Please do not miss the AASCP FDA Safety Standards panel discussion, this August 1, 2020. The panel discusses FDA safety standards in the industry and AASCP offers many recommendations. One for example is communication with the Chief Scientific Officer from the laboratory you work with. AASCP advises that just talking to a sales agent is not sufficient enough when determining the quality of products for your patients. Sales agents typically do not have a medical or scientific background. The spokesman for the AASCP, Dr. AJ Farshchian, said earlier: "The American Academy of Stem Cell Physicians is a group of physicians, scientists and researchers who collectively represent the most authoritative non-federal group advocating for guidelines and education on stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine. AASCP members are experts within all fields of stem cell therapy from: SVF, BM, UCB, Exosomes, Peptides, Xenografts, Allografts and Amniotic Fluids and are considered the most experienced leaders for proper advocacy in the field." Dr. Farshchian explains, "We will duplicate everything we did in our past meetings such as offer 8 CME credits, have lectures, workshops, discuss FDA safety Standards, have board examinations and a virtual graduation ceremony. AASCP is offering this virtual meeting so that nobody misses out on the education." The American Academy of Stem Cell Physicians (AASCP) is a non-profit organization created to advance research and the development of therapeutics in regenerative medicine, including diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease related to or occurring within the human body. Secondarily, the AASCP aims to serve as an educational resource for physicians, scientists, and the public in diseases that can be caused by physiological dysfunction that is ameliorable to medical treatment. For further information, please contact Marie Barba at AASCP 305-891-4686 and you can also visit us at www.aascp.net. Related Images dr-farshchian-teaching-at-aaoscp.jpeg Dr. Farshchian teaching at AAOSCP workshop Meeting will now be virtual Related Links AASCP registration SOURCE American Academy of Stem Cell Physicians Related Links https://www.aascp.net A group of people vandalized an animal shelter in Louisiana over the weekend and authorities are asking for public help in locating the vandals. Over this past weekend, one or more individuals broke into the Deridder animal shelter and damaged and destroyed supplies and equipment, Director Jeff Dorson from the Humane Society of Louisiana said in a statement. Five dogs at the center were released from the building but have since been located and returned to the animal control facility, the DeRidder Police Department said. Dorson said the dogs have been placed in foster homes. Fortunately, all the dogs remained close to the shelter, were unharmed, and were immediately picked up and placed in foster homes, he said. The suspects also contaminated the shelters dog food with some type of fuel, reportedly kerosine. Multiple shelves that hold food for elderly residence have also been destroyed and contaminated with the substance. Besides vandalizing the center, the suspects stole security cameras, as well as the computer for the cameras, and a gas-powered trimmer, police said. We are deeply saddened and shocked by these events and have offered to assist the sheriffs efforts in replacing some of the stolen items, Dorson said. We will continue to provide updates on this tragic and senseless crime as additional details become available, he added. Authorities are investigating the incident and the Humane Society of Louisiana offered a reward for anyone with information. DeRidder is a small city in Louisiana, located 72 miles from New Orleans. Police ask anyone with information to call the department at 337-462-8911. Across the United States, rioters looting and destroying property have been reported following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died last month after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly 9 minutes during an arrest. The former officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested last week. He has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Brazil reported a record number of daily deaths from Covid-19 as the pandemic continues to spread in Latin Americas largest nation. The country reported 1,349 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the number of fatalities to 32,548. It also said it recorded 28,633 new cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the countrys total to 584,016, behind only the US Click here for full Covid-19 coverage The nation of 210 million people has become an epicenter of the virus, and health experts say the peak of the disease has yet to arrive. Still, after about two months of loosely enforced quarantines, some regions of the country have begun to reopen from lockdowns, including Sao Paulo, which has been the epicenter of cases in the country. On Wednesday, the local government said cases in the state could reach 265,000 by the end of the month, from about 118,000 currently. Contradicting orders from municipal, state and federal leaders have complicated efforts to fight the virus, which has migrated to inland and poorer regions less equipped to deal with the pandemic. The government of President Jair Bolsonaro has resisted social distancing efforts throughout the pandemic, with Bolsonaro often mingling with supporters and pushing for people to get back to work to ease the economic fallout of the crisis. On Wednesday, data showed Brazils industrial output fell the most on record in April, adding to historic drops in indicators from formal jobs to broad retail sales that reflect the shutdown from the virus. Also on Wednesday, Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel said the state was taking over management of field hospitals being built to help cope with the pandemic. Local media have reported problems ranging from delays to mismanagement in the makeshift structures. Last week Witzel, a political rival of Bolsonaro, had his official residence searched by police and his mobile phones and computers seized as part of an investigation into misuse of funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic. With winter approaching the Southern Hemisphere, the country is entering a period of increased cases of respiratory diseases, further adding to concern that the peak may still be weeks away. The Health Ministry said last week that the curve of cases was still growing, and a report by UBS published Wednesday said that six of Brazils 27 states are peaking, while total deaths are increasing in 21 states. AP tally finds 9,300 arrests have been made across the US in connection with recent protests against police brutality. More than 9,300 people have been arrested in United States protests since the May 25 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, according to an Associated Press news agency tally published on Wednesday. According to the tally, Los Angeles has recorded 2,700 arrests since the protests, followed by New York City with some 1,500 arrests. Police in Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have also arrested several hundred people. The toll is likely much higher. The arrests come amid a crackdown on protests against the killing of Floyd and broader acts of police brutality. Many have been arrested for curfew violations, which major cities have imposed to quell demonstrations that have at times turned violent, with looting, vandalism and fires. Some police departments in major cities, such as Houston, say while hundreds have been arrested, this is an extremely low number considering the thousands of people in our community demonstrated peacefully. Secret Service agents arrest a man along Constitution Avenue near the White House in the morning as protests continue over the death of George Floyd in Washington, DC [Andrew Harnik/AP Photo] The tally comes as protests continue to erupt nationwide over the killing of Floyd, who died after a white officer knelt on the 46-year-olds neck for nearly nine minutes. Video of the incident shows Floyd repeatedly pleading with the officer, saying: I cant breathe. Floyd eventually appears motionless, with the officers knee still on his neck. That officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The other three officers involved have been charged with aiding and abetting a second-degree murder and manslaughter. Crackdown The protests over police violence have at times been met with just that more police violence, rights groups say. According to videos, witness accounts, and reports, police have used tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, flashbangs, batons and other tactics against protesters. Police say they are responding to protesters who are violent, pointing to the looting, vandalism and fires that have taken place. In Atlanta, Georgia, six officers were charged after police pulled two people from their car, threw them to the ground and shot them stun guns, according to authorities. Police have also targeted journalists with arrests, intimidation and violence, according to rights groups. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Minnesota on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesotas state and local law enforcement officials, to ensure that police officers who target journalists are held fully accountable for their unlawful actions. The Committee to Protect Journalism has received reports of at least 125 press freedom violations from journalists covering the protests, including reports of a number of arrests. Were calling it: Canned cocktails are the official drink of this summer. Despite the fact that a lot of people are brushing up on their home bartending skills, its hard to beat the convenience of BYOB-ing an RTD (ready-to-drink) for safely distanced get-togethers. Whether its on a porch or in a backyard, small gatherings of people who want to have a quick catch-up over a drink two metres apart, of course will turn to single-servings, since they bypass the awkwardness of serving a cocktail without touching it. Plus, guests can take their cans with them to recycle at home. White Claw, a flavoured vodka soda thats reportedly already doing booming sales in Ontario this spring, will surely be the main beneficiary of this trend, but the Claw isnt likely to satisfy the legions of tequila, rum, whisky and gin fans. Lucky for these, theres an unprecedented number of interesting new canned cocktails on offer at the LCBO this summer. Here are a few weve tried, many of which are locally made: Aperitivo Hour The drinks that populate happy hour in Italy are not all that hard to make at home but, all the same, popping open a bottle of Dillons The Professors Negroni or the new Amalfi Aperitivo Spritz (LCBO 14515; $12.95; 4x355 mL) is even easier than making your own. The deliciously bittersweet and adorably packaged single-serve Negroni has been around for a while, but its finally being sold at the LCBO (11423; $20.05; 4x150mL), so we can get it without having to drive to Dillons Small Batch Distillers in Beamsville. The Amalfi Aperitivo Spritz is also a local hero, made in Vaughan by folks who were inspired to bottle up the flavours of the Amalfi coast. Its a dry and punchy bottled spritz that, with a splash of fresh lemon, is a great answer to a muggy summer afternoon. Gin Craze G&J Greenalls Sicilian Lemon (LCBO 649368; $9.95; 4x355mL) bills itself as the perfect mix of London Dry Gin and sparkling lemonade and, well, I kind of have to agree. Its refreshing, dry and tastes like actual lemons from the Italian coast, a refreshing change from the natural flavours in a lot of RTDs that rarely taste quite right to me. The gin is subtle and its seriously drinkable which, at six per cent alcohol, might make this drink ever so slightly dangerous. Known for its low-calorie vodka sodas, Canadian upstart Social Lite has moved into gin, with its new Lime Gin Soda (LCBO 14478; $2.70; 355mL), a happy development from my point of view. Its clean-tasting, with just a slight hint of lime. Perfect for the vodka lover who wants to wade slowly into gin. Collective Arts Artisanal Gin Lemon & Thyme Soda (LCBO 14481; $2.95; 355 mL) wins for being the ginniest of the gin cocktails. That makes sense, given that this Hamilton brewery is expanding into distilling and has recently launched three new gins. Its a good long drink for a summer evening, especially with a splash of lemon added. Whisky, Tequila and More Torontos own Founders Original is venturing into whisky and tequila cocktails: a Bourbon Sour, a Thai Pomelo Rye & Ginger and a Tequila Paloma. All come in 473-mL cans, a format that by definition limits the booziness of these drinks. Consider that your average classic cocktail like a whisky sour is around 25 per cent alcohol. If you tried to replicate that in a 16-ounce can it would be four ounces of alcohol dangerously strong. So if youre looking for the sweet burn of a spirit-forward cocktail, you wont get it here (or in any RTD, really). If, however, youre looking for a surprisingly complex and spicy ginger cooler, the Thai Pomelo Rye & Ginger (LCBO 649517; $2.50) is really delicious. The Bourbon Sour (LCBO 568337; $3.40) is also a really pleasant drink, with natural lemon flavours, and the Tequila Paloma (LCBO 649509; $3.35) tastes like Ting, my favourite grapefruit soda. And speaking of tart and refreshing flavours, Pombucha (LCBO 131649; $3.50; 473 mL), a blend of Ontario apple cider and kombucha made by Drinklab, a Toronto company, is a great alternative to a can of cider, which is often quite high in alcohol. At four per cent alcohol, its what they call sessionable light enough that you can enjoy a break without writing off the rest of the day. Vodka soda, now with real fruit! Most of the flavoured vodka sodas on the market do well, in part because theyre low-carb, low-cal and low-sugar. Those virtues arent of interest to those of us who prefer natural flavours balanced with a little sugar. Ace Hill saw that nobody was servicing that market and, this summer, launched two new vodka sodas made with natural fresh juices: lemon and raspberry. Ace Hills Lemon Vodka Soda (LCBO 14485; $2.75; 355mL) is dry, refreshing and well worth the 90-calorie tradeoff. The raspberry version (100 calories) is downright delicious, the perfect amount of fruit. (LCBO 14483; $2.75) BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 Trend: The quarantine regime will be tightened in Azerbaijans Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran cities and Absheron region due to an increase in the number of cases of coronavirus infection from 00:00 (GMT+4) on June 6 through 06:00 (GMT+4) on June 8, Trend reports on June 4 referring to Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadovs statement. The Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers made a corresponding decision, Asadov said. The compliance with the requirements specified in the decision is mandatory. If the number of cases of infection in the countrys other cities increases, the quarantine regime will be also tightened there. The Interior Ministry will monitor the process of the implementation of the decision, Asadov said. In conclusion, I would like to stress once again that the goal of all taken measures is to protect the health and life of citizens." Ubi shareholder says won't accept Intesa offer with current terms FILE PHOTO: UBI Banca Popolare Commercio & Industria logo is seen in Milan MILANO (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover offer for UBI Banca cannot be accepted with current terms, an UBI shareholder said on Thursday. Intesa announced in mid-February an all-paper exchange offer for UBI to create the euro zone's seventh-largest banking group. "If it will be proved that the exchange offer is in public interest we will accept it, but not with current terms," Giandomenico Genta, the chairman of UBI's investor Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo (CRC) told a local paper. Genta said Ubi was already considering deals to create Italy's largest banking group before the offer by Intesa was made - including one with Bper Banca - and that it would likely resume its consolidation plans if the Intesa offer fell through. (Reporting by Andrea Mandala; editing by Giulia Segreti) A Pakistan couple have been arrested for allegedly murdering their seven-year-old maid after she was blamed for letting a pet bird escape, police said, the latest case of violence against child domestic workers in the country. Hassan Siddiqui and his wife employed Zohra Bibi at their home in a middle-class suburb of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, to care for their son of a similar same age. "The poor girl was subjected to torture by Siddiqui and his wife who accused her of freeing one of the four pet Macao parrots," investigating officer Mukhtar Ahmad told AFP on Thursday. "Siddiqui kicked her in the lower abdomen which proved fatal." Some 8.5 million people -- including many children -- are employed as domestic workers in Pakistan, according to the International Labour Organization. Theoretically it is illegal to employ anyone under the age of 15, but it remains common practice. Zohra was taken to hospital by the couple on Sunday, but died the following day. The incident was reported to the police by staff at the hospital. The young girl's body was handed over to her parents, who live in Muzaffargarh, near the city of Multan, more than 500 kilometres (300 miles) away from where she was working. Human rights minister Shireen Mazari confirmed the arrests in a tweet and said the ministry was in touch with police. "Violence and physical torture against children will not be tolerated and all those involved in such incidents will be dealt with," city police chief Muhammad Ahsan Younus added. Domestic workers frequently face exploitation, violence and sexual abuse, with Pakistan's patriarchal and rigid social-class structure leaving them without a voice. Children are particularly vulnerable, and Bibi's case is the latest in a growing number of incidents involving minors. In December 2018, the rising number of abuse cases led the provincial legislature in Punjab to set regulations for the employment of domestic workers, which theoretically grants them rights such as sick leave and holidays. Child labour is theoretically banned in Pakistan, but endures Last week she urged her fans to sign a petition calling for justice for George Floyd, the black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. And on Wednesday, after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that the now fired officer Derek Chauvin would face second-degree murder charges and three officers with him at the time would be charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, Beyonce appeared to respond to the news in an Instagram post. The pop superstar, 38, shared an image of a downtown skyline with the freeways in front of it filled with people marching. Reaction: Beyonce appeared to respond to the news that all four officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been charged with this Instagram post on Wednesday Above the image, it said: 'The world came together for George Floyd. We know there is a long road ahead.' Below the image were the words: 'Let's remain aligned and focused in our call for real justice.' Beyonce let the picture speak for itself and didn't add in anything in the caption. Activist: Beyonce, pictured on stage in 2016 during her Formation tour, let the picture speak for itself and didn't add in anything in the caption Call for action: Last week the pop superstar, 38, had urged her fans to sign a petition calling for justice for Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. In her social media post last Friday night, the Lemonade hitmaker had expressed her hurt and anger at the death of Floyd on May 25. 'We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We're broken and we're disgusted and we cannot normalize this pain,' she wrote. 'I am not only speaking to people of color if you are white, black, brown, or anything in between, I'm sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now.' Beyonce went on: 'No more senseless killings of human beings, no more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away.' Spoke out: Last Friday, Beyonce said: 'We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We're broken and we're disgusted and we cannot normalize this pain' Cause: Meanwhile, Beyonce's husband Jay-Z and his activist group Team ROC took out a full-page ad 'in dedication to George Floyd' in major newspapers across the nation on Tuesday Meanwhile, Beyonce's husband Jay-Z and his activist group Team ROC took out a full-page ad 'in dedication to George Floyd' that appeared in major newspapers across the nation on Tuesday. Team Roc also published the ad on their official Instagram page, which featured a poignant excerpt from a speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave in Selma, Alabama in 1965. The ad showcased the 50-year-old rapper's virtual signature and the signatures of various attorneys, fellow activists, and victims of police brutality who partnered with Roc Nation to make the ad possible. The rap mogul also had a phone conversation with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to urge for the prosecution of the police officers involved in Floyd's death. Staying home is vital to halting the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic from spreading. For many of us, it has never been easier to do our part to help. In Albania, as in many countries around the world, the pandemic has only intensified gender-based violence. The lockdown is creating fertile ground for gender inequalities to be exposed at their worst. One in two women in Albania have been subjected to sexual, physical or psychological violence, according to a survey supported by the Swedish Government, UNDP and UN Women. For nearly half, that violence has come from a partner. Albanian police reported 245 cases of domestic violence in March. But the numbers may be higher, since many women remain in self-isolation with the perpetrators of violence. The domestic violence that women and girls experience during emergencies can result in profound physical and psycho-social harm, says womens rights activist Marsela Allmuca. The trends previously identified in the country indicate that during the COVID-19 outbreak, incidents of domestic violence although not reported are silently on the rise, given the fact that movement restrictions are put in place. At the same time, however, when many girls and women need specialized support services more than ever before, practice shows that services provided by Coordinated Referral Mechanisms at municipal level are likely to decrease, due to resources being diverted to dealing with the [COVID-19] crisis. Well-known Albanian reporters, bloggers, lawyers, and UN staff share their stories of violence against women. Many women reached out to UNDP Albanias social media. They said lack of work, money, security, safety, and even the freedom to go out, were the main reasons for violence Remzie (not her real name) and her children were forced to sleep in the shop where she works as a dressmaker I am happy the owners have allowed me to sleep here. I cannot go back to my house, as my husband has become more violent than usual, she says. Not a day passed without him beating me and the kids. So, I left. Anila (not her real name) said her husband became violent when he lost his job in a bar I come home and find him frustrated, shouting, sometimes he gets violent. Im not as worried for myself as I am for leaving my children alone with him all day now that they dont go to school. But what other choice do I have? she says. Most women request anonymity. My children are there, so is my mother from time to time, but none of us can stop my husband from releasing his anger on us. The first week of the quarantine was slightly better, we were all optimistic things would go back to the way they were in no time. But with each passing day, no end seems to be in sight and my husbands mood swings only get worse. I have nowhere to go. These stories come from women living in Tirana. It is worrisome to imagine what happens in remote rural areas, where help is even more scarce. With UNDP support 15 municipalities are immediately seeing how to best use the specialized support services provided by the state and civic organizations. Municipalities use social media to share legal remedies, as well as providing emergency local and national hotline numbers. To maximize public outreach and advocate for a violence-free society, municipalities launched online contests asking to convey messages against violence against girls and women through art. The Ministries of Health and Social Protection and Interior and General Directorate of State Police welcomed UNDPs recommendations on a number of issues. The General Directorate of Police issued special instructions to all local police on how to give adequate attention to sexual and domestic violence cases and how to take action in cooperation with local domestic violence coordinators. Supported by UNDP, LILIUM Centre is developing internal procedural guidelines to adequately handle these cases in the COVID-19 context. Easy to read materials on sexual abuse, its consequences and how to report it are also provided through social media platforms. Sexual violence survivors can also benefit from online psycho-social assistance. In partnership with the Government of Sweden, UNDP supports the government to improve protection and services for survivors, strengthen laws, and address the root causes of violence by challenging social norms and behaviors and tackling the wider gender inequalities. A collage of user-friendly information tailored for survivors of abuse in COVID-19 situations, shared from 15 municipalities. This pandemic is challenging and staying at home can be a nightmare for domestic violence survivors. But there is good news. And when women call, there will be someone on the other end, waiting to help. Fighting COVID-19 takes a whole of society approach. UNDP is working across the region to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Find out more about our work. MINNEAPOLIS - One after another, the dignitaries filed past the casket of George Floyd, which shone gold under the lights of a darkened sanctuary in downtown Minneapolis. Civil rights activists and senators. Congressional representatives and famous black actors. Local and state leaders, along with a well-known rapper. A gospel choir sang softly nearby, their voices piped outside to the hundreds of people who had packed a nearby park to pay their respects. All of them had come to take part in an emotional farewell for Floyd, the 46-year-old father whose killing in police custody set off a wave of national protests that has continued. Thursday's somber service at North Central University stood in sharp relief to much of the week that had proceeded it, with massive demonstrations in dozens of cities, some of which were forcefully broken up by police launching tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray into crowds of peaceful protesters. The memorial service was an opportunity to celebrate Floyd's life. But it was also a call for accountability - not only for Floyd's death, but for the nation's long-standing history of racial injustice and police brutality. "It was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed George Floyd, I want to make it clear," family attorney Ben Crump told the crowd, referring to the fact that Floyd's autopsy report showed that he had recovered from a coronavirus infection last month. "It was that other pandemic that we're far too familiar with in America - that pandemic of racism and discrimination - that killed George Floyd." The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the civil rights organization National Action Network, said Floyd's death was emblematic of the oppression black Americans have faced since the nation's founding. "George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks," Sharpton said. "Ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be, is you kept your knee on our neck." "We were smarter than the underfunded schools you put us in, but you had your knee on our neck," he said. "We could run corporations and not hustle in the street, but you had your knee on our neck." What happened to Floyd "happens every day in this country - in education, in health services and in every area of American life," Sharpton continued. "It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks.' " Sharpton used the occasion to announce a planned march on Washington in late August, led by families of black people who have died because of police violence. The demonstration would come 57 years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Floyd's memorial service - the first of several that are scheduled, including upcoming gatherings in North Carolina and Texas - comes a day after authorities upgraded murder charges against the former Minneapolis police officer who pinned Floyd to the ground by his neck and charged three other former officers with aiding and abetting the killing. All four officers have been fired. On Thursday, as mourners gathered to remember Floyd, Hennepin County District Judge Paul Scoggin set bail at $750,000 apiece with conditions, or $1,000,000 without, for former officers Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and Alexander Kueng. Conditions of their bail included signing an extradition waiver, as well as surrendering firearms and concealed carry permits. Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, faces charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin is scheduled to appear before a judge on Monday. Hours before Floyd's memorial began on Thursday, a hearse carrying his body arrived at the university. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo knelt in a show of respect. Officials ordered the flag outside the combined city hall and county courthouse to be flown at half-staff. Floyd's casket was brought into large sanctuary and positioned before a small stage. Above it, a screen showed an image of the large mural bearing Floyd's name and face. Pieces of paper around the room marked where invitees would sit, each spaced in an attempt at social distancing. Among them were Democratic public officials including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with actor and director Tyler Perry and actors Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart. In the lobby, attendees were greeted by security guards and volunteers spaced several feet apart, as well as large containers of hand sanitizer. The Rev. Jesse Jackson was among those who arrived early to pay his respects at Floyd's casket. As the civil rights leader took his seat, an aide stuffed a face mask into Jackson's front pocket. Klobuchar, wearing a blue bandanna over her face, stood at Floyd's casket, her head bowed. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, knelt at the casket for several minutes. His body shook, and he appeared to be crying. There were smiles and tears as the mourners remembered the man whose death has fueled a national outcry for change. He grew up as part of a large family in Houston's Third Ward, raised by a single mother in a home that was short on money but "full of love," his younger brother Rodney Floyd said. The kids made banana and mayonnaise sandwiches and handwashed their socks and underwear in the kitchen sink, he recalled. Those closest to Floyd called him "Perry," his middle name, and recalled a kind, gregarious soul who brought home kids from school who had nowhere else to go. Sometimes there were 30 or 40 kids in the house, his brother, Philonise Floyd, tearfully recalled. "He touched so many people's hearts," he said. A cousin, Shareeduh Tate, recalled Floyd's hugs. He was a "gentle giant," she said, "and when he would wrap his arms around you, you just felt like everything would just go away, any problems, any concerns." His nephew, George Floyd, who was named after his uncle, recalled how much he loved the NBA player LeBron James. He recalled the phone ringing instantly after the Cleveland Cavaliers finally defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the championship in 2016. It was his uncle, shouting in excitement. "I feel like I won the championship," Floyd told him, his nephew recalled. Outside the sanctuary and across Minneapolis, others stopped to listen, mourn and bid Floyd farewell. "We're hoping this will be the catalyst that things begin to change," said Tracy Wesley, funeral director of Estes Funeral Chapel, who had joined the throng that gathered outside Floyd's memorial service. Welsey said he has planned funeral ceremonies for 35 years, too many of them for black men gone too soon. Albert Ettinga, an immigrant from Cameroon, brought his entire family from Forest Lake, a suburb about 20 minutes from the Twin Cities. He said Floyd's plea - "I can't breathe" - has kept him up at night. "I don't understand why this happened behind my backyard," Ettinga said. "I ask myself, what part of my color or what part of my body that some people don't like?" As an immigrant, he said he is used to America shaping the narrative of what the world should look like. He hopes to see this moment can inspire an end to the mistreatment of black people in the world. "I believe that history has begun in Minneapolis - the world is listening," he said, his 18-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son nearby. "I have kids that were born in this country, I have to really start fighting for them, and hopefully they can rewrite history themselves." Several blocks away, in the Fades of Gray barbershop, 49-year-old Bennie Henderson watched the service on a nearby television as he got a haircut, marveling at the ripple effects Floyd's death has had on his city and on the country. "The turnout has been something that's just, beyond my scope, beyond what I could have imagined," said Henderson, who is black. "None of this had to happen." Toward the end of the service Thursday, Sharpton called on those in attendance to stand in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds - the length of time Chauvin had kept his knee on Floyd's neck. As the minutes passed, some in the room began to sob. One man, his voice muffled by a face mask, called out, "I can't breathe!" Most stood solemnly with their heads bowed, the same way thousands of others had done in observing the same silence Thursday in New York, Washington and elsewhere. "They had enough time," Sharpton said of the police officers as the time concluded. Enough time to make different choices, he meant. "Now," he said, "what are we going to do with our time?" People put their fists in the air and watched quietly as Floyd's casket, blanketed in roses, rolled away in a hearse. - - - The Washington Post's Robert Klemko, Tarkor Zehn, Hannah Knowles, Marissa Iati and Ben Guarino contributed to this report. June 5, 2020: Officers charged in George Floyd death, Mali attacks, Max Lucado speaks at prayer vigil Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Friday, June 5, 2020: Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post. 27 killed, some burned alive in jihadi attacks on predominantly Christian villages in Mali Suspected Islamic radicals killed at least 27 people last week in a series of attacks on three predominantly Christian villages in Central Mali. At least 20 other people were killed in neighboring villages of Bankass and Koro. Local officials said most of the victims in those two villages were shot or burned to death. Mali suffered its worst year of extremist violence in seven years in 2019. Jihadi militants carried out murderous attacks in the north and central area [of Mali], laying waste to Christian villages and causing hundreds to flee with only the clothes on their backs, the interdenominational Christian aid agency Barnabus Aid said in a statement. https://www.christianpost.com/news/27-killed-some-burned-alive-in-jihadist-attacks-on-predominantly-christian-villages-in-mali.html Evangelical church network distributes 750K meals to feed hungry during COVID-19 A United States-based evangelical association has helped churches in over 10 countries in the former Soviet Union provide over 750,000 meals to hungry families as the coronavirus pandemic has caused economic struggles and hunger. The Illinois-based Slavic Gospel Association, which serves over 6,350 churches across countries in Eastern Europe and Asia, has worked with its partners to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to feed families as the region continues to see spikes in the number of coronavirus cases. https://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-church-network-distributes-750k-meals-to-feed-hungry-during-covid-19-pandemic.html All 4 former officers involved in death of George Floyd now charged Derek Chauvin, 44, a former Minneapolis police officer who was previously charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter for the death of George Floyd, had his charge upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday, while three other former officers were charged with aiding and abetting Floyd's murder. The charges come just two days after Minnesotas Attorney General Keith Ellison said he and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman filed charges against former Minneapolis officers J. Alexander Kueng, 26, Thomas Lane, 37, and Tou Thao, 34, of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for their role in Floyds death. Chauvin is being held at the Minnesota Department of Corrections facility in Oak Park. His bail was increased to $1 million Wednesday, according to court documents. Lane, Kueng and Thao are also being held on $1 million bail. https://www.christianpost.com/news/all-4-former-officers-involved-in-death-of-george-floyd-now-charged.html Max Lucado attends George Floyd prayer vigil Pastor Max Lucado took part in a prayer vigil in San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday night amid the societal unrest in response to the killing of African American George Floyd. Lucado, who leads Oak Hills church and is a bestselling author, was one of several leaders who spoke and prayed over a microphone during the gathering. He cited Luke 4 to highlight that God sent Christ to heal the brokenhearted, set free all who are oppressed. "Where Jesus is, those who are traumatized find hope, find a fresh start, find a new beginning. Where Jesus is, every person is valued, the Gospel is declared, Lucado assured those assembled at Travis Park which has bene the site of many protests. https://www.christianpost.com/news/max-lucado-attends-george-floyd-prayer-vigil-calls-on-americans-to-turn-to-christ.html Pakistani Christian couple's death row appeal delayed after 6 years in prison for blasphemy A Pakistani Christian couple who've been imprisoned for six years and sentenced to death on false blasphemy charges of sending a text message insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad continue to have their conviction appeal delayed. The womans brother told the BBC that his sister and her husband are not only innocent, but he believes they aren't even literate enough to have written the text messages. The couple's lawyer, Saif ul Malook, who also assisted in the appeal of Asia Bibi's blasphemy case, said the charges against Kausar and Emmanuel are "deeply flawed" and "weaker" than those levied against Bibi. The couple's appeal hearing has been rescheduled for June 22. https://www.christianpost.com/news/pakistani-christian-couples-death-row-appeal-delayed-after-6-years-in-prison-for-blasphemy.html To read more stories from a Christian perspective, visit christianpost.com. "Corona is a reality. Protect yourself and protect others," Mamie Batata, a worker with the Catholic charity Caritas, warns through a megaphone as she proceeds through Kimbanseke, a rundown part of Kinshasa. The reactions are blunt. "Get out of here." "Leave us in peace." "The disease doesn't exist." Indifference or disbelief towards COVID-19 runs deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital -- a response that strikes fear into watchdogs battling the disease. On May 20, the official committee to fight the coronavirus said three of its workers were threatened at knifepoint, part of what the government last Friday described as "rising cases" of abuse of virus campaigners. The hostility in the chaotic capital of 10 million people is such that Caritas and two grassroots groups called Lucha and Filimbi have resorted to going out in groups to spread awareness messages and hand out masks. In the districts of Victoire and Selembao, they were recently greeted by scores of locals who wagged their forefinger at them in disapproval or screamed "Corona eza te!" ("there's no Corona," in the Lingala language.) Many, however, accepted a mask, although one admitted that this was to avoid the risk of a 5,000-franc fine ($2.6/2.4 euros) for not wearing one. "Here in the Congo, all there is is malaria and ordinary fever. Corona is in Europe, in China," one resident, Hussein, told AFP. "We have antibodies, from the time of our ancestors." When official figures were quoted to him -- the DRC has documented more than 3,300 cases rising at the rate of more than a hundred a day, almost all of them in Kinshasa, with 72 dead -- Hussein was dismissive. "It's not true," he said, demanding "proof and pictures". - Poverty and mistrust - Alphonse Mbelesadidi, a 43-year-old family man in Kimbanseke, said: "I do know that the disease exists, but I haven't seen people I know or in the neighbourhood die of it." As recently as three months ago, denial of this kind was common in Europe and America, until the pandemic gained momentum. But in the DRC, disbelief has been entrenched by poverty and suspicion of government -- a problem already encountered in the fight against the Ebola epidemic that erupted nearly two years ago. Many people surviving on day-to-day jobs have borne the brunt of emergency measures that President Felix Tshisekedi introduced on March 20. "They've closed the schools, the churches, the markets. They want to kill us bit by bit. Tell the president to scrap his measures, we don't want them, we just want to live," a woman said in Kimbanseke, loudly applauded by a crowd that quickly gathered around her. Mino Bomponi, of the NGO Filimbi, said the public's hesitation was "understandable". He faulted the government's communications strategy, noting that the authorities had announced the first case of coronavirus on March 10 as being that of a Belgian, whereas it was a Congolese who had been living in France. This misstep made it harder to recover lost ground among the public, Bomponi said. "The disease is among us, it's causing deaths, it's still spreading," he said. "The real challenge now is to eradicate the doubt which is growing among the public." - 'Poisoning' rumours - The deaths from COVID-19 include around a dozen people at the apex of power in the DRC, according to official figures. They include Tshisekedi's uncle, Monsignor Gerard Mulumba; Jacques Ilunga, a political power-broker; and Charles Kilosho, deputy head of the president's communication's team. Economy Minister Acacia Bandubola lost a brother who was a member of her cabinet, as well as a sister. But according to the Kinshasa rumour mill, these high-profile people, as well as a senior judge, Raphael Yanyi, who suddenly died last week while overseeing a top-level trial for corruption, were poisoned. "Scientifically, there is still no proof that has come forward to say anything other than that COVID-19 caused the deaths that we have regretfully seen in the president's circle," Tshisekedi's spokesman, Tharcisse Kasongo Mwema Yamba Y'amba, told state broadcaster RTNC, which asked him about the rumours. Researchers at Bayreuth University have developed a digital-age speaker system that permits the blind to read Braille using ultrasound waves in mid-air. Instead of either fixed or refreshable physical dots, the HaptiRead system relies on precisely focused tiny puffs of air generated by acoustic force. "With HaptiRead, we investigate for the first time, in a user study with blind people, the possibility of using midair haptic technology for the purpose of presenting Braille text as a touchless haptic sensation," said Bayreuth researcher Viktorija Paneva. "Midair haptic devices consist of an array of phased ultrasonic speakers. By modulating the focused ultrasonic waves, it is possible to generate perceivable haptic points in midair. The sensation is usually described by users as a focused, gentle air breeze." The HaptiRead device is composed of a 16 x 16 grid of ultrasound mini speakers that project air blasts. It uses a Leap Motion sensor to detect an approaching hand. The device can communicate with an individual up to just under 2 1/2 feet away. In addition to the enormous challenges the sightless face undertaking some of life's simplest tasks, they also must contend with special challenges a more digitized world creates. The authors of the report "HaptiRead: Reading Braille as Mid-Air Haptic Information" describe scenarios the blind face daily with interactive tasks: "It is more difficult for the blind to maintain their personal privacy when engaging with public displays. Audio feedback is easily overheard by bystanders and can be perceived as obtrusive, since it contributes to the environmental noisescape. Some interfaces, such as ATMs, feature a headphone plug. In this case, however, users need to remember to bring headphones and once they start the interaction, they might have more difficulty monitoring events in their surroundings." The report adds that refreshable Braille displays have limitations as well. Such displays consisting of lines of pins creating dot patterns are "suitable for text, but not sufficient for content involving shapes and objects" such as graphs and charts. And in this age of COVID-19, there is heightened concern over frequent physical contact with Braille interfaces found in banks, stores, hospitals. With accuracy rates in their tests of between 88 percent and 94 percent, the developers say more work needs to be done. The HaptiRead system is limited to four cells of dot combinations for now, but will need to be expanded to six cells to more fully accommodate all sounds. "We hope that our study will spark research into using mid-air haptics to potentially make the everyday multisensory experience of visually impaired and blind people richer," the developers say. Braille's origins go back 199 years, when Charles Barbier, a French soldier responding to the great French military commander Napoleon's call to develop a means of communicating silently during the night, devised a system of 12 dot patterns representing 36 sounds. A student at the French Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris named Louis Braille was intrigued by the system and at the age of 15 offered several areas of improvement. His approach was ultimately accepted and a language that would ultimately bear Braille's name would go on to be used for two centuries. Napoleon was a pretty big deal in the 1800s, winning most of his battles during the Napoleonic wars forging one of the greatest empires in the world and garnering praise as one of history's greatest commanders. Who knows how much more he could have accomplished with a pair of Air Buds and HaptiRead? Explore further Google introduces braille keyboard for Android More information: HaptiRead: Reading Braille as Mid-Air Haptic Information, arXiv:2005.06292 [cs.HC] HaptiRead: Reading Braille as Mid-Air Haptic Information, arXiv:2005.06292 [cs.HC] arxiv.org/abs/2005.06292 2020 Science X Network Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 03:39:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ATHENS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Greece's Health Ministry announced on Thursday 15 new confirmed COVID-19 cases within the past 48 hours, bringing national total of confirmed cases to 2,952. During the period, one new death was also reported. Currently, nine patients were treated in intensive care units, according to a statement issued by the National Public Health Organization (EODY). A 14-day curfew was imposed in a refugee camp in Nea Kavala, in the northern region of Kilkis, after a pregnant asylum seeker tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Authorities decided to close six schools in the area where refugee children attend classes, while EODY medical teams tested refugees in the camp. Greece launched also on Thursday a large-scale testing program on residents of Xanthi, also in northern Greece, after four people were diagnosed positive. Under a three-day plan, health authorities started conducting molecular tests in order to eliminate the new infections. Greece was in full lockdown from March 23 until May 4. In the past few weeks, the country is gradually lifting more and more restrictions. Students have returned to schools and most businesses have restarted. In the next step starting June 6, indoor dining areas at restaurants, fast-food outlets and other eateries will be allowed to operate, as well as open-air nightclubs, internet cafes and refreshment bars. Moreover, on June 15, Greece's seasonal hotels, gyms, museums and thermal springs will be back in operation, while the country is also opening up to tourists, the government said. As of mid-June, 29 countries, including China, can send to the airports of Athens and Thessaloniki tourists who will be subject to sample testing for COVID-19, Greek authorities have announced. Enditem Two communities in Anambra State; Nibo in Awka South and Abba in Njikoka Local Government Areas on Thursday mobilized Indigenes in separate protest marches to take over the gate of the Anambra State government house. The communities indigenes who wielded placards called on the state governor, Willie Obiano to save them from impending bloodshed arising from communal clashes. Ikwenna Ekwenugo, an elder in Nibo community, representing Ifite Umuamam village in the cabinet of the traditional ruler who led his Indigenes to the protest said they were at the government house to bring to the notice of the governor the intimidation of their community by their neighbors, Awka people. Awka people have taken our land, and their youths have invaded our community, threatening to deal with anyone who challenges them. They are being sponsored by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (name withheld), who hails from their community. He arms them and has supported their activities against us. They have taken our land and also this morning, they moved into our farmland. We have reported to the police, but the way they have dismissed us gives us the impression that they are working with the DIG, and we have been abandoned. We decided to come to the governor to complain because we do not want violence to erupt, because we are a peaceful community. Also, Obinna Chukwuma, a community leader who led Abba community on its own protest said that Ukpo community has taken its land, destroyed its market, school and residential buildings, most of which have been in existence for 35 years. They even said that there is nothing like Abba community any longer. A community that has existed for hundreds of years, they now want to take over it. They are being supported by a billionaire oil mogul, and all our cries to the government for help have come to nothing. We are aware that there are communal crisis everywhere in Anambra, and we do not want to add to the number, that is why we are here to know if Willie Obiano is no longer our governor, or that he has forsaken us. The Secretary to the State Government, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu who received the communities separately thanked them for not engaging in violence, but opting to complain to the governor. I shall intimate the governor of your visit, and I am sure he will look into the crisis and ensure lasting settlement for your communities. The deputy governor is also in charge of boundaries, and I urge you to petition his office, so that he can invite you people to an amicable resolution, he said. In the past one month, several communities in the state have been at war with their neighbours over land dispute. These include; Omor/Umubo, Achalla/Urum among others. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Street vendors buoy local economy From:ChinaDaily | 2020-06-04 09:25 Street vendors are expected to make a comeback in major Chinese cities after authorities urged policy support for the sector in a bid to boost people's income and revive local economies hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak. The government will provide support for the street-stall and small-store economy and inject new vitality into the Chinese economy, Premier Li Keqiang said during an inspection tour to Yantai, East China's Shandong province, on Monday. The country will build a better future when enterprises and self-employed businesses in the Chinese market survive and thrive, he said. Street stalls and markets were a substantial economic source for rural migrants in cities. The street vending market often supplied consumer goods at lower prices, which are affordable for the urban poor. They were ubiquitous at night providing shopping and dining options for people returning after work and for those who enjoy late-night dining or shopping. However, as the country stepped up its urban development pace, street stalls were moved out to keep cities clean and tidy as well as to facilitate local traffic operations. On May 28, the Office of the Central Spiritual Civilization Development Steering Commission said that from this year onward, roadside booths, street markets and mobile vendors will no longer be an assessment criteria for affirming and entitling a civilized city nationwide. Wei Jigang, director of the research department of industrial economy under the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the move will encourage street markets and mobile vendors to play an active role in the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. "Encouraging street markets and mobile vendors is necessary to increase employment. For those who have jobs, starting street market businesses also helps in generating more income at lower costs. However, it is also important for local governments to roll out regulations to ensure security and hygiene," Wei said. Some cities have swiftly recognized the trend and taken the lead in opening street stalls and street markets. Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, has been allowing people to run businesses in designated areas on some pedestrian streets since March 15 in a move to boost the economy, when the COVID-19 pandemic was effectively contained. The city has designated more than 2,234 roadside business areas, 82 promotion areas on streets near large shopping malls and 17,891 vending spots, creating more than 100,000 jobs, the city government said. On Saturday, Changchun, capital of Jilin province, announced that it would encourage and support the opening of night markets and temporarily lift a ban on roadside markets. Night markets and food stalls can be opened in designated areas in parks, public squares and empty spaces as long as they don't interrupt traffic and local life. They also have to pass environmental protection assessments, the office said. Yichang in Hubei province has from Sunday allowed downtown stores to establish roadside stalls for the next two months, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. Local residents have also welcomed the reopening of roadside businesses. At Zhuhailu neighborhood in Qingdao, Shandong province, where 4,000 people reside, the local neighborhood committee has allowed some roadside stalls in certain areas of the compound. "My income has increased after I started a roadside business," said Xin Zhaochun, owner of a grocery stall at the Xinjiazhuang community. Apart from selling vegetables and fruit, Xin delivers packed seafood, such as boxes of oysters or clams. By enabling pre-order facility on his WeChat account, Xin has also managed to have efficient communication with his customers in the neighborhood. About 40 students and staff of a primary school in China were injured when a security guard attacked them with a knife, official media reported on Thursday, the latest such incident of mass attack by disgruntled people in the country. Beijing: About 40 students and staff of a primary school in China were injured when a security guard attacked them with a knife, official media reported on Thursday, the latest such incident of mass attack by disgruntled people in the country. The incident happened at a school in southern Guangxi province, state-run China Daily said in a brief report. Three of the injured are in serious condition, state-run CGTN TV reported. The man has been detained by the police and the injured have been sent to a hospital, it said. The incident happened on Thursday at 8.30 am, at Wangfu Town Central Primary School in Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A press release on the incident released by the Wangfu Town government said the alleged attacker was a school security guard 50-year-old Li Xiaomin, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. The press release said "around 40 people" were hurt, including three severely injured the schools principal, another security guard, and a student. It said eight ambulances were sent to the scene, and all the wounded were sent to the Wuzhou city hospital and the town's health centres for treatment. A video by Xiaoxiang Morning News showed doctors and nurses attending to at least 10 students with bandages on their head and bodies, and helping them to leave the school building. At least one student had to be carried out by adults and some students were treated with a drip. There was a long queue of anxious parents waiting in front of the Wangfu government clinic. One parent requested anonymity and said many of the injured pupils were from the preschool class, aged around six. Around 8.30 am, I heard loud screams and cries from the school as I live nearby. I rushed to the school and saw some pupils run out, the Post report quoted a parent. A bystander told me a man with a knife is attacking the school. I rushed in to get my boy out. Fortunately, my son was just a bit shaken but not hurt, he said. The suspected attacker has been detained by local police for questioning. Knife attacks by disgruntled people have been taking place in different parts of China in the past few years. The attackers targeted mainly kindergarten and primary schools besides public transport to vent their anger. In September last year, eight students of a primary school in central China were killed and two others injured in a brutal knife attack carried out by a man, released recently from jail. Steve Taylor, 33, was shot and killed by a San Leandro police officer on April 18 during a mental health crisis, the family's attorney said. - (Courtesy The Taylor Family)By CHRISTINA CARREGA, ABC News (SAN LEANDRO, Calif.) -- A California city council unanimously voted this week to ask the state's attorney general to step in and investigate the police-involved shooting death of Steven Taylor. Taylor, 33, was seen on video being repeatedly hit with stun guns by two San Leandro police officers and fatally shot by one inside a Walmart on April 18. The incident was captured on cellphone videos and the unidentified officers' body cameras. About 30 seconds after the first officer reported to the store, Taylor was shot dead as several frantic shoppers were nearby. S. Lee Merritt, who represents Taylor's family, previously told ABC News that Taylor was experiencing a "mental health crisis" while wielding a bat inside the store when a store's worker called 911. Taylor's grandmother said he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, since he was a preteen. The officers involved were placed on administrative leave -- standard protocol in any officer-involved shooting, police said The San Leandro Police Department and Alameda County District Attorney are conducting separate investigations, but city council member Corina Lopez has been advocating for an independent investigation for a month. "I think it is important that there is transparency and that people feel confident that the process of the investigation has integrity. My aim is to have public trust and I believe an independent investigation can accomplish this," Lopez, who represents Alameada, Oakland and San Leandro, told ABC News on Wednesday evening. The San Leandro City Council had a closed door session on Monday where Lopez's motion -- to send a letter to the state's Attorney General Xavier Becerra requesting them to do an independent investigation into the police department's use of deadly force against Taylor -- was put on the table. Council member Victor Aguilar Jr. said he "quickly" seconded the motion and the rest of the council agreed to send the letter. "I want the public to know that we hear them, and that for some, having the district attorney investigate is not a direction they want this to go," said Aguilar in a statement to ABC News on Thursday. "I am very happy that this vote was unanimous and there is a lot of leadership in this city behind this," said Lopez. It's unclear if the letter was written or sent to Becerra's office as of Wednesday. However, if Becerra agrees to take on the case, the investigation will happen parallel to the other law enforcement agencies' probes. "Our investigation is ongoing in this matter," said Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Teresa Drenick in an email to ABC News on Wednesday. A spokesman with the San Leandro Police Department confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that their investigation is still ongoing, but they have already started taking steps to change with "refresher courses on mental health training." Lopez says she hopes that if all the investigations return with the same conclusions it will show the Taylor family and the community-at-large that their local representatives are being responsive and are honoring them. "This was a tragedy for the community ... very difficult and painful," said Lopez. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Previously, Dr. Murphy served as associate chief patient safety officer and medical director of intensive care units at Duke University Health System. Under his leadership, all three acute care hospitals in the Duke Health system received 'A' safety grades from The Leapfrog Group for providing the highest standard in patient safety and quality. In 2014, Dr. Murphy was selected by the American Hospital Association National Patient Safety Foundation Safety Leadership for fellowship. He also received an award for Most Improved Patient Safety Culture from Cardiothoracic Surgery Collaborative at Duke Hospital. "We are delighted to welcome Dr. Murphy in leading our patient safety and quality initiatives," said Dr. Amit Rastogi, president and CEO of Jupiter Medical Center. "Aside from his remarkable experiences in leading safety and quality initiatives at world-class health systems, including Duke University Health System and Inova, Dr. Murphy will bring a physician's perspective to how we continuously improve our patient experience and outcomes." Dr. Murphy most recently served as chief patient safety officer at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute based in Falls Church, Virginia. During his four-year tenure, he attained 20 to 30 percent reductions in patient harm year over year. His leadership at Inova resulted in achieving a two percent improvement in the hospital's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) safety culture scores from 2017 to 2019 and expanded the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program from 10 to 100 cases per year as the Executive Leader. He also spearheaded the development of a multidisciplinary shock team with an increase in survival from 50 to 70 percent. "I am pleased to join Jupiter Medical Center, Palm Beach County's number one ranked hospital for quality, safety and patient satisfaction," said Charles Murphy, Jr., MD, CPPS. "We will continue to build on Jupiter Medical Center's well-deserved reputation and unwavering commitment to providing the highest standards of patient care." Since 2014, Murphy has served as a Board Member for the Foundation for the Advancement of Cardiovascular And Thoracic Critical Care. He has received certifications from the American Board of Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery, American Board of Surgery Surgical Critical Care, and Board for Professionals in Patient Safety. Dr. Murphy is also a member of several highly-regard professional medical committees, including the Society of Critical Care Medicine, Society of Thoracic Surgery, Foundation for the Advancement of Cardiovascular And Thoracic Critical Care, American Society of Professionals in Patient Safety, American Association of Physician Leadership, among others. Murphy earned a Doctor of Medicine from Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science with honors in Biology from Loyola University, New Orleans. Dr. Murphy received his post-graduate training at Duke University Medical Center. In May of 2020, Jupiter Medical Center announced it had been awarded an 'A' safety grade rating and is the only hospital in Palm Beach County to earn the top rating for the Spring of 2020. The 'A' safety rating awarded by The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit focused on rating and measuring hospital safety, quality and affordability, is considered 'the gold standard measure of patient safety.' The Leapfrog Group has also recognized Jupiter Medical Center as a "Top Hospital," an annual distinction earned by only six percent of hospitals nationwide. Additionally, Jupiter Medical Center remains the only hospital in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties to receive a 4-star safety and quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). About Jupiter Medical Center Rated number one for safety, quality and patient satisfaction, Jupiter Medical Center is the leading destination for world-class health care in Palm Beach County and across the Treasure Coast region. Recognized as the region's only independent, not-for-profit hospital, Jupiter Medical Center offers a comprehensive continuum of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services, expertise and specialties, including orthopedics and spine care, cancer care, cardiac and vascular care, comprehensive stroke, obstetrics & maternity care, pediatrics, emergency care as well as diagnostic imaging, screening, testing and urgent care. For more information about Jupiter Medical Center, please call (561) 263-2234 or visit www.jupitermed.com. SOURCE Jupiter Medical Center Related Links http://www.jupitermed.com Ivan Pollard, Senior Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills Grand Prix for The Country Pub Project, Airbnb LONDON, June 4, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Campaigns for global brands including Airbnb, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Finish, Harpic and L'Oreal, as well as local brands such as Hungarian Telekom, Maxis in Malaysia and The Times of India, are among the winners in the Effective Use of Brand Purpose category of the WARC Awards, a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness.16 campaigns from around the world - one Grand Prix, four Golds, six Silvers and five Bronzes - have won in the Effective Use of Brand Purpose category, rewarding marketing initiatives that have successfully embraced a brand purpose and achieved commercial success as well as a benefit for a wider community.Airbnb Creative, APAC, has won the Grand Prix for The Country Pub Project. In Australia, Airbnb regained its position as the most popular booking site by creating a project to support rural communities by boosting the country pub, a gathering point for struggling country towns. The campaign used a combination of public policy, paid media, earned media and owned channels in a three-stage strategy to reach more than 15 million people, achieve over 30m video views, and drive increased brand favourability and awareness.Three special awards have also been given in specific areas of excellence:- Evaluation Award, for a brand purpose strategy that has gone the extra mile in measuring both commercial and societal impact, has been awarded to FCB India for The Times of India's Out & Proud - India Comes Out of the Closet campaign. The newspaper sparked a nationwide movement to normalise LGBTQ with a special Out and Proud classifieds section.- Employee Engagement Award, rewarding a purpose-led strategy that is consistent both inside and outside an organisation, has been awarded to FP7 McCann Dubai for The Gift of Mom campaign for children's retailer Babyshop, which increased brand affinity through a multi-channel Mother's Day initiative centred around breast cancer in the United Arab Emirates.- Sustainability Award, for a brand that has replaced a strategy or business practice with a more sustainable alternative and can prove that it has contributed to long-term brand health, has been awarded to Santa Clara for Native Bees, a campaign for Brazilian craft beer brand Cervejeria Colorado, which highlighted the problem of bee extinction to publicise its production chain and brand values.An eminent jury of 18 agency- and client-side industry professionals, selected the following full list of winners:Grand Prix:- The Country Pub Project - Airbnb - Airbnb Creative, APAC - AustraliaGold:- Out & Proud - India Comes Out of the Closet - The Times of India - Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd - FCB India - India + Evaluation Award-The Gift of Mom - Babyshop - Landmark Group - FP7 McCann Dubai - United Arab Emirates + Employee Engagement Award- The Uncovered - Ahmini - Tunisie Telecom - J. Walter Thompson Tunis - Tunisia- As far as we go - Almosafer - Seera Group - FP7 McCann Dubai - Saudi ArabiaSilver:- Native Bees - Colorado's Appia - AMBEV - Santa Clara - Brazil + Sustainability Award- Job-Hunting in Sneakers - Band-Aid - Johnson & Johnson - BBDO Japan - Japan- FinishWaterWaste - Finish - Reckitt Benckiser - DEC PR - Australia- Senior Gamer Club - Hungarian Telekom - Deutsche Telekom - Uniomedia - Hungary- Abtal El Shawarea' (The Stars on the Streets) - Clear - Unilever - FP7 McCann Cairo - Egypt- The Ramadan campaign that didn't launch in Ramadan - Jawwy - STC - FP7 McCann Dubai, FP7 McCann Riyadh - Saudi ArabiaBronze:- Meet Me Halfway - SK-II - Procter & Gamble - Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore, Verizon Media - China, United States, United Kingdom- Glass and a half in everyone - Cadbury Dairy Milk - Mondelez International - Ogilvy Malaysia - Indonesia- The Non-Issue - L'Oreal Paris - L'Oreal Group - McCann London, McCann Paris - United Kingdom- Overcoming India's Toilet Divide - Harpic - Reckitt Benckiser - McCann Worldgroup India - India- The Unheard Prayer - Maxis - Leo Burnett - MalaysiaCommenting on the winners, jury chair, Ivan Pollard, Senior Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills, said: "As you can see from these powerful case studies, purpose is not just the right thing to do, it is the best thing to do for business. Those brands that really do act purposefully and not just talk about it will prosper - not by chance but on purpose."View on www.warc.com/WarcAwards.prize?tab=purpose the winning case studies in the Effective Use of Brand Purpose category alongside the winners of the Effective Innovation category.The winners of the remaining categories - Effective Content Strategy and Effective Social Strategy - will be announced shortly. The Grands Prix and Special Awards winners across the four categories of the WARC Awards share a $40,000 prize fund.More information on the WARC Awards is available on www.warc.com/warcawards.prize?tab=aboutAbout WARC- advertising evidence, insights and best practiceWARC provides the latest evidence, expertise and guidance to make marketers more effective. WARC's mission is to save the world from ineffective marketing.WARC's clients include the world's largest brands, advertising and media agencies, media owners, research companies and universities. They rely on WARC for rigorous, unbiased information and advice on almost any advertising and marketing issue, which WARC delivers via best practice guides, case studies, research papers, special reports and advertising trend data, as well as via webinars, awards, events and advisory services.WARC collaborates with more than 50 respected industry organisations globally including: The Advertising Research Foundation, Cannes Lions, Effie Worldwide, Association of National Advertisers, ESOMAR, 4A's, IPA and DMA.WARC was founded in 1985, and has offices in the UK, US and Singapore. In July 2018, WARC became part of Ascential plc, the global specialist information company.Source: WARCCopyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Bizarre footage shows the moment a Paraguayan congressman rips his shirt off in parliament like The Hulk in an impassioned speech about reopening borders. It happened when independent congressman Jorge Antonio Britez, from the border city of Ciudad del Este, was taking part in a meeting in Congress about the opening of the La Amistad border bridge with Brazil. The 35-year-old was asking the government to reopen the bridge which has been closed since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, saying: 'I don't want anybody to die but Ciudad del Este has been closed for more than 60 days.' Jorge Antonio Britez, from Paraguay's border city of Ciudad del Este, was taking part in a meeting about the opening of the La Amistad border bridge with Brazil He then rips off his shirt and carries on with his passionate speech, saying 80 per cent of citizens at the border rely on trade with Brazil. He added: 'We need to work, we are following all the protocols. I am asking for health, work and education for my people and you are shocked by a shirt.' Shortly after the incident the Head of the Congress Jorge Alliana called an end to the session. He then rips off his shirt and carries on with his passionate speech, saying 80 per cent of citizens at the border rely on trade with Brazil Member of the right-wing ruling Colorado Party Basilio Nunez later asked for a sanction for Britez (pictured) Member of the right-wing ruling Colorado Party Basilio Nunez later asked for a sanction for the politician and said: 'This striptease is unsuitable, another colleague could do the same or even something worse.' President Mario Abdo Benitez's government closed the bridge to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Border town Ciudad del Este has around 20,000 businesses which sell products to Brazil including electronic devices, clothing and cigarettes. He said: 'We need to work, we are following all the protocols. I am asking for health, work and education for my people and you are shocked by a shirt' Brazil is the worst-hit country in Latin America with 32,548 coronavirus-related deaths according to Johns Hopkins University. They have recorded 584,016 infections, which is the highest in the world after the U.S. The Health Authorities have been allowing lorries with cargo to cross the border at the bridge. President Benitez said the country's de-escalation plan would see the bridge and borders reopened in the final stage. Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire Brazil and Mexico reported record daily coronavirus death tolls as governments in Latin America battled to fortify defenses against the accelerating pandemic with fresh lockdown orders and curfews. European nations are emerging from months of devastation with some borders re-opening, but South and Central America have become the new hotspots in a crisis that has claimed at least 385,000 lives worldwide. Indonesian fire fighters spray disinfectant at a business center on the last day of the lockdown amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Jakarta. By ADEK BERRY (AFP) Mexico on Wednesday announced more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the first time, while Brazil reported a record 1,349 daily deaths. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staunchly opposed lockdowns but many local authorities have defied him and, with the crisis deepening, a vast section of Bahia state was on Wednesday placed under curfew. Madagascar riot police use rubber bullets to disperse protesters who are angry after police officers beat up a Toamasina resident who refused to respect the virus lockdown in Madagascar. By RIJASOLO (AFP) There was more cause for concern in Chile, where the government said it was extending a three-week shutdown of the capital Santiago after a new record for daily deaths. And in more evidence of the scale of the crisis in Latin America, the journalists' union in Peru said at least 20 reporters had died from the coronavirus. The outbreak in Peru has been so intense that oxygen tanks needed in hospitals have become scarce, with many lining up to buy them for their loved ones. A worker arranges beds at quarantine centre set up in the Hapania International Fair Complex on the outskirts of Agartala, India. By Papri BHATTACHARJEE (AFP) "We haven't found oxygen yet," said Lady Savalla in the capital Lima. "I'm worried about my mom more than anything else, because she's going to need a lot of oxygen and the hospital doesn't have enough." Vaccine push Experts have warned that travel restrictions will be needed around the world in some form until a vaccine is found -- and efforts to develop one are gathering pace. People in in Nova Gorica/Gorizia chat across the border fence between Slovenia and Italy, erected due to the Covid19 pandemic. By Jure Makovec (AFP) Britain is set to host a major meeting on Thursday, with more than 50 countries as well as powerful individuals such as Bill Gates taking part, to raise money for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. Gavi and its partners will also launch a financing drive to purchase potential COVID-19 vaccines, scale-up their production and support delivery to developing nations. Kenya Redcross paramedics assist a COVID-19 patient in Nairobi. By Simon MAINA (AFP) Tests on one potential vaccine, being developed by Oxford University, will begin on 2,000 health services volunteers in Brazil next week. But months of lockdowns that left half of humanity under some form of confinement have battered the global economy, and there is desperation in many countries to reopen and revive businesses. A woman wearing a face mask walks past statues in central Skopje ,after the country eased lockdown measures. By Robert ATANASOVSKI (AFP) Italy opened its borders to European travelers on Wednesday, hoping tourism will revive its recession-hit economy three months after its shutdown, though a full recovery seemed a long way off. "I don't think we'll see any foreign tourists really until the end of August or even September," said Mimmo Burgio, a cafe owner near Rome's Colosseum. "Who's going to come?" Risk of spread at protests The United States remains the hardest-hit nation in the world, with 1.85 million infections and more than 107,000 deaths, and there are fears that the ongoing wave of protests in the country over racism and police brutality could fuel the spread of the virus. Protesters hold up their phones during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, outside the White House in Washington, DC. By Eric BARADAT (AFP) Massive rallies have been held around America despite the risk of COVID-19 and restrictions on public gatherings. Many have said that while they were aware of the risk of infection, the issue of police brutality and racism was so widespread and longstanding that they had to come out. Cav Manning, a 52-year-old emcee from New York, was among the tens of thousands across America willing to risk infection as he joined a protest in Brooklyn earlier this week. "What we saw is so disturbing that we've got to be out here right now," he told AFP. "Despite COVID, despite the fact that you might get infected." burs-qan/kma Media watchdog calls Samuel Wazizis death the worst crime against a journalist in the past 10 years in Cameroon. Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi, who was arrested in August for criticising the governments handling of a separatist revolt, has died in detention, rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said. Wazizi worked for CMTV, a local broadcaster based in Southwest Region, one of two areas where separatists in 2017 launched an armed campaign to establish an independent homeland for Cameroons English-speaking minority. Wazizi died in detention, RSF said in a statement issued late on Wednesday that called for a thorough and independent investigation into what happened. He was arrested on August 2, 2019, and accused of speaking critically on the air about the authorities and their handling of the crisis, the watchdog said. Five days later, he was taken from a police station in the city of Buea to the local headquarters of the armys 21st Motorised Infantry Battalion, but from then on, neither his family nor his lawyers were allowed any contact with him or given any information, it said. RSF said Wazizis death had been confirmed by two sources, including the head of the Cameroonian National Journalists Union, while a senior military officer said the journalist had been ill but gave no further details. On Tuesday, privately-owned channel Equinoxe TV, quoting what it described as sources close to the military command, said Wazizi had died during transfer to the capital, Yaounde, at an unknown date after his arrest. RSF said Wazizis death in detention, while being held incommunicado, is the worst crime against a journalist in the past 10 years in Cameroon. We call on the Cameroonian authorities to end the intolerable silence around this case, to return the journalists body to his family, and to conduct a thorough, independent investigation to establish the chain of responsibility and circumstances leading to this tragedy, it added. Army confirmation On Friday, Cameroons army on Friday confirmed Wazizi died in detention as a result of severe sepsis on August 17, 2019 10 months after the fact and 15 days after RSF said he was arrested. In the statement, army spokesman Cyrille Atonfack Nguemo said the military took custody of Wazizi on August 7 after investigations revealed he was coordinating logistics for separatist fighters charges his family and colleagues deny. On August 13, Nguemo said, Wazizi was placed into the custody of the national gendarmerie a military police force. Soon after, Wazizi became sick and was taken to hospital in Yaounde, where he died on August 17, Nguemo said. He clearly died from a severe sepsis and not from any acts of torture, Nguemo said, rejecting accusations of torture made by the head of the journalists union. Nguemo also said that Wazizis family was informed of his death. But Wazizis brother, Henry Abuwe, denied that. Its a lie, he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency, adding that his brother was loved by everyone and had never worked with the separatists. #JusticeforWazizi Cameroon ranked 134th out of 180 countries and territories in RSFs 2020 World Press Freedom Index, three places lower than the previous year. On social media, the hashtag #JusticeForWazizi was used by journalists, civil society figures and the opposition. Kah Walla, a Cameroonian opposition figure and social activist, wrote on Twitter: 300 days. A family was looking for their son. Loved ones were searching for him. 300 days. 300 days where his lawyers could not see him. 300 days where he did not show up for court. 300 days hope was kept alive. 300 days. They had already killed him. 300 days. A family was looking for their son. Loved ones were searching for him. 300 days. 300 days where his lawyers could not see him. 300 days where he did not show up for court. 300 days hope was kept alive. 300 days. They had already killed him.#JusticeforWazizi https://t.co/gtvZPzJHZT Kah Walla (@KahWalla) June 2, 2020 Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region, which, along with the neighbouring Northwest Region, has been gripped by violence since the separatist revolt began in October 2017. The conflict, rooted in long-standing perceptions of discrimination among Cameroons English-speaking minority by the French-speaking majority, has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced nearly 700,000 people to flee their homes. Rights groups say atrocities and abuses have been committed by both the separatists and the security forces. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch on Thursday condemned intensifying attacks, abductions and extortion that humanitarian workers are experiencing in the two anglophone regions. The statement singled out non-state armed groups over the kidnappings, while saying Cameroon security forces had delayed the delivery of aid. A Maharashtra Police staff member tested Covid-19 positive and another succumbed to the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of Maharashtra Police personnel who have tested positive for the disease to 2,557 on Thursday. At least 30 police personnel, including an officer, who were infected in the line of duty, have died so far due to Covid-19 in Maharashtra. Of the 30 Covid-19 victims, 18 were members of the Mumbai Police force and had contracted the deadly infection while implementing the lockdown in the financial capital. ALSO READ | Mumbai Police shares video of official, his wife, and two kids retuning home after beating Covid-19. Till now, over 2,557 state police personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus and 30 of them, including an officer, have died, a Maharashtra Police official said. The number of active Covid-19 cases in the police force currently stands at 1,510, including 191 officers, according to data released by the Maharashtra Police. During the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country, there have been 258 instances of assault on Maharashtra Police personnel. Nearly 86 policemen were injured in those attacks along with 45 healthcare workers who were also assaulted while detecting and dealing with coronavirus positive patients. At least 838 people were arrested across Maharashtra for unprovoked assaults on policemen who were doing their duty. Since the lockdown, the Maharashtra Police registered 1,22,484 offences under the Indian Penal Codes Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and the police also arrested 28,820 people for violating lockdown orders. The Maharashtra Police seized 77,435 vehicles, which were found moving on roads in violation of the strict lockdown norms enforced by the government. Police control rooms also handled more than one lakh calls in connection with queries and complaints related to Covid-19 during the lockdown, the official said. T he decision to surround the White House with huge fences amid the George Floyd protests has prompted backlash from social media users. Twitter users noted the irony of President Donald Trump promising to build a wall on the US border with Mexico and now being forced to "build a wall around himself". Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on May 25, and his death has sparked days of protests across the United States and beyond. Former officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder while three other officers at the scene have also been charged in relation to the death. On Thursday, CNN reporter Betsy Klein posted a video showing the new fencing going up around the White House, adding that concrete barriers have also been installed. Social media users were quick to point out the irony of the situation, with one saying: "He couldn't get the Mexico wall built so now he's building one around the White House." Another said: "Im betting Mexico might actually pay for THIS wall." A third added: "Building a wall between the White House and the rest of America. Is there a better metaphor for this entire presidency?" It came after the US president was escorted to a secure facility by Secret Service agents last Friday, which was designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks, as protests raged close to the White House. Meanwhile, former US defence secretary Jim Mattis said he has been angry and appalled by Mr Trumps heavy-handed use of the military to quell protests near the White House. I have watched this weeks unfolding events, angry and appalled, he said. Concrete barriers sit on a truck outside the White House on Thursday / AP He was speaking after protests sparked by the death of Mr Floyd and took issue with Mr Trumps walk to a church on Monday after police forcibly cleared Lafayette Square of mostly peaceful protesters. He said he never dreamed troops would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. Mr Mattis, writing in the Atlantic, said: Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' 1 /16 George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' AFP via Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA Getty Images Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. Mr Trump responded on Twitter by calling Mr Mattis the worlds most overrated General, adding: I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree, Glad he is gone! Dwayne The Rock Johnson has also taken aim at Mr Trumps handling of the protests as he decried the lack of a compassionate leader. The Hollywood actor voiced his support for the Black Lives Matter movement amid heightened racial tensions following the death of Mr Floyd. Johnson posted a video to Instagram in which he directly addressed the camera while repeating the phrase where are you?. While he never mentioned Mr Trump by name, he said the US is lacking a unifying leader who steps up and takes full accountability and picks our country up off its knees. When Dr Gao Jin's clinic closed during the coronavirus pandemic she ramped up virtual consultations from home, talking over her laptop with people from across China who were worried they might have caught Covid-19. After returning to work at her clinic in Chengdu, Sichuan province, she still puts aside a few hours a week for virtual chats. Some of her patients now prefer to seek advice online rather than waiting an average of three hours for an eight-minute consultation in China's hospitals. "In the public hospitals, the time for each patient is very limited, so the patient is not clear about follow-up or not sure about the medicine they've got," said Dr Gao, who charges patients for sessions that normally last about 20 minutes. Zooming with the family GP became commonplace during the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers signed up in droves to apps linking them with doctors, while investors drove their share prices higher in hopes that patient behaviour had changed forever. Technology and health care are the top-performing sectors in the MSCI suite of indices so far this year. As lockdowns are lifted, health care companies are scrambling to ensure patients who logged on for the first time do not all revert to sitting in doctors' surgeries. Chinese start-up WeDoctor hosted free virtual consultations for 1.8 million people during the pandemic and, to keep people engaged, is working with the Chinese government so that patients can quickly and easily reclaim health care costs. Tianjin municipality has already referred to WeDoctor 2.6 million chronically ill patients covered by its basic medical insurance. "The only way to sustain consumer behaviour for online digital health care is going through social insurance," said John Cai, WeDoctor's chief financial officer. "This is our key differentiation." The move illustrates a sea-change in Chinese officials' attitudes vis-a-vis entrusting tech firms with citizens' well-being and personal data. The world's most populous nation is funnelling patients towards digital platforms as a way to reduce overcrowding in hospitals, prepare for future pandemics and care for its ageing society. Story continues Social-security coverage of online consultations and prescriptions reinforces patient behaviour and further alleviates pressure on China's often creaky, paper-based and patchy offline health service. "The debate about making prescription drugs available online had been going on for years but during the lockdown, policy was shaped almost instantaneously in certain areas and big cities to make repeat prescriptions available online," said Rogier Janssens, the general manager of German Merck's health care business in China. Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, made internet medical services eligible for reimbursement on February 23. Other cities have quickly followed suit, including Zhejiang, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Shanghai. At the height of the epidemic in Wuhan, WeDoctor set up its internet hospital and connected to the city's social security network within 36 hours. Hangzhou-based WeDoctor has also hooked up to the social insurance system in cities across Tianjin and Shandong province and is busy applying for social insurance connections in other cities as well. "WeDoctor seems to be a front-runner as a preferred platform [for government's to work with]," said Charlene Liu, a research analyst at HSBC. China sets a high bar for connecting to its social security network, testing software providers' digital and medical capabilities before granting approval. This means fly-by-night copycats would struggle to replicate WeDoctor's model. WeDoctor was well placed to turn the coronavirus crisis into an opportunity. Jerry Liao Jieyuan founded it in 2010 to help patients book appointments at hospitals on its website www.guahao.com. In December 2015, WeDoctor won China's first internet hospital licence, based in Wuzhen but with a nationwide remit. Since then peers Ping An Healthcare and Alibaba Health have also obtained licences. WeDoctor is now linking public hospitals with pharmacies on what it calls a "health care collaboration platform". The idea is to treat chronically ill patients online while matching critical cases with specialists in hospitals. It piloted the platform in Sanming city, Fujian province, and rolled it out earlier this year in Tianjin. "We can optimise resources and save costs of the social security fund and save patients' time and make it more efficient for hospitals," said WeDoctor's Cai. Apart from online consultations, WeDoctor's other divisions include cloud services, insurance and pharmaceuticals. WeDoctor worked with 2,700 hospitals, 220,000 doctors, 15,000 pharmacies and had 27 million monthly active users as of 2018 when it raised US$500 million privately, valuing the start-up at US$5.5 billion. According to its app, the number of registered doctors has grown to about 240,000 as of May 15. The company is verifying the data for its IPO prospectus. Tencent-backed WeDoctor will undergo a very public examination itself when it looks to raise US$700 million to US$800 million in a Hong Kong IPO within the coming months, according to people familiar with its plans. It has hired China Merchants Bank, Citigroup and JP Morgan to help net investors. Investors have driven up the shares of WeDoctor peer Ping An Healthcare by 86.6 per cent since the start of the year. Alibaba Health is 114.2 per cent higher and NYSE-listed Teladoc Health's share price has doubled in value since the start of the year. "The application of artificial intelligence can help the government and health practitioners to improve their efficiency and deliver high-quality service to the public," said Dr Minchuan Wang, a partner at 3H Health Investment. Many will query its path to profitability. China Renaissance, an investment bank, is forecasting break-even for WeDoctor rival, Ping An Healthcare, by 2022. A person familiar with WeDoctor's financial statements said it was on track to turn a profit about the same time. A WeDoctor spokeswoman declined to comment. WeDoctor generates commissions from three main sources: social insurance payments, working with around 60 commercial insurance companies, and from the patients themselves. A patient can consult an artificial intelligence or select a doctor to talk to on WeDoctor's app. The price of a consultation depends on the doctor's qualifications and the treatment. Endocrinologist Zhang Huabing talks to patients via video link in Peking Union Medical College Hospital on May 25. Photo: Xinhua alt=Endocrinologist Zhang Huabing talks to patients via video link in Peking Union Medical College Hospital on May 25. Photo: Xinhua Even without a fillip from the coronavirus pandemic, online health care consultation sales are growing vigorously, driven by advances in artificial intelligence and a burgeoning middle class splurging on well-being, even booking expensive packages for cosmetic surgeries or overseas treatments. Market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts a compound annual growth rate for the sector of 39.8 per cent to 252 billion yuan (US$35.39 billion) by 2024. The number of users will leap to 496 this year from 380 million in 2019, it said. To be sure, digital health care regulation is evolving and could reverse course in what is still an emerging economy. Also, many patients will inevitably drift back to face-to-face consultations, especially in the stronghold of traditional Chinese medicine where taking a patient's pulse is a pillar of diagnosis. Still, growth is likely to come from another source: the doctors. Many are keen to create an online and offline practice as a way to earn extra income. Even Chinese medicine practitioners on WeDoctor's platform are first examining people's tongues on video, and if that fails, arranging an offline visit. Now that more doctors are signing up to WeDoctor's platform, Dr Gao said she has more time to focus on her speciality, gynaecology, both at her clinic and in her online consultations. She finds the system helps her manage time efficiently. "Combining online and offline services, it's very flexible," said Dr Gao. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. When Redwood National Park reopened its roads and trailheads in time for Memorial Day, after closing them for nearly two months because of the coronavirus outbreak, the site of the worlds tallest trees looked a bit different. The popular Lady Bird Johnson Trail was limited to one-way traffic. Permits for the crowd-controlled Tall Trees Trail were no longer offered in-person, only through a new online reservation system. And parts of the park where large groups gather, like campgrounds and visitor centers, remained closed. The changes in the ancient redwood groves, five hours north of San Francisco, were designed to keep space between people and prepare for life in a world with COVID-19. Theyre also a preview of what travelers can expect when they visit the countrys other national parks. While most of Californias national parks werent open for the holiday, missing the unofficial start of summer and staying closed or partially closed much longer than parks in other states, Sequoia and Kings Canyon this week will become the latest to welcome back the public. It opens Thursday, and Yosemite could follow suit next week. Both parks will have safety measures in place that, like in other reopened sites, will mean limited services for visitors and inevitable inconvenience. Yosemite plans to go as far as capping the number of people admitted to the internationally popular destination each day. The park is scheduled to have a soft opening Friday, providing entry only to those with existing wilderness permits and Half Dome climbing reservations. A date for the general reopening is still pending. Joshua Tree, Lassen and Pinnacles national parks have recently lifted their gates, as has Point Reyes National Seashore, all with varying restrictions. Yosemite, Death Valley and major attractions within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, like Muir Woods and Alcatraz, remain closed. Federal officials say their strategy for reopening the parks seeks to balance public safety with getting people outdoors again. Some park watchdogs, though, have concerns. They say many openings have come too quickly, and with inadequate precautions or, on the flip side, constraints too disruptive for visitors. Realize if you want to have your once-in-a-lifetime park trip, you may want to do it another year, said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent park advocacy group. Its just not going to be a normal summer for folks in the parks. Ramin Rahimian / Special to The Chronicle Park officials at Sequoia and Kings Canyon said that starting Thursday, they would reopen roads, trails, restrooms and picnic areas. While entrance stations will be open, and provide maps and information, visitor centers will remain closed as will developed campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, markets and gift shops. We wanted to, as quickly as we could and as safely as we could, open up recreational areas while we work on opening other areas that require more time and more thinking, said Sintia Kawasaki-Yee, spokeswoman for the park. As soon as we open, well be monitoring conditions for possible changes. While locked visitor centers and sparse camping and lodging accommodations will be the norm at national parks this summer, Yosemite plans to join some sites, such as Colorados Rocky Mountain National Park, in reducing the number of total visitors. The park is one of the most popular in the National Park Service more than 4 million people visit annually. Yosemite officials, who closed the park March 20 because of the coronavirus, expect to limit day-use to 1,700 cars, on top of an additional 1,900 vehicles let in for overnight stays. Thats about half of a normal day in June without the quotas. Weve pledged to start with this and be flexible, said park spokesman Scott Gediman. If social distancing is good and the traffic is good, maybe we can increase the numbers. Our approach is simply based upon safety of employees and park visitors. Those granted admission will be required to purchase advance tickets at Recreation.gov, the camping reservation website. Ramin Rahimian / Special to The Chronicle Under the parks plan, Yosemite Valleys hotels, the Ahwahnee and Yosemite Valley Lodge, will reopen, but campgrounds will operate only partially. The parks shuttle buses are not expected to run at all this year. Yosemite administrators said they were waiting for state health officials to review the reopening plan. Under Gov. Gavin Newsoms lockdown order, some of the activities in the plan are not broadly permitted and leisure travel is discouraged, though state officials have been allowing parts of California to return to normal affairs more quickly. The business community in the Yosemite area is clamoring for the park to resume operations. Some groups, including the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, have even expressed concern that the parks reopening plan may be too restrictive. Across the National Park Service, more than 200 of the systems 419 sites completely shut down because of the pandemic, most in March, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. The other parks offered limited access. In May, the bulk of parks began to reopen. Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina was among the first to start up again, operating at least partially early that month. Wyomings Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks reopened in the middle of May, but without opening their lodges, campgrounds and dining halls. So did Utahs Zion and Bryce Canyon. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The Grand Canyon in Arizona reopened for Memorial Day weekend, though access has since been limited to better prepare for summer crowds. The National Park Service has been under pressure to get its sites up and running, as President Trump has urged a quick reboot of the economy. The Interior Department issued guidelines last month to help parks get back to business, suggesting tactics for safe operations but leaving it up to individual sites and local and state health officials to determine exactly how to reopen and when. Among the 16 pages of guidance, masks are not uniformly required at any parks or park facilities. Brengel, with the National Parks Conservation Association, called the patchwork approach to reopening bad management. She said many of the decisions being made were more about politics than sound health policy. She said parks with more measured approaches, like those in California, stand to do a better job of limiting exposure to the coronavirus. This is a time to be careful and make sure were keeping visitors, staff and communities safe, Brengel said. Death Valley, like Yosemite, still doesnt have an opening date. Park officials say they plan to begin a phased reopening, starting with the facilities along Highway 190, once county officials in the area get the go-ahead from the state to resume recreational activities. Golden Gate National Recreation Area has left many of its properties, which are scattered across the Bay Area, open during the lockdown. Most parking lots, however, were closed to limit traffic and crowds. This week, park officials began reopening many of those lots, including parking areas at China and Baker beaches in San Francisco, and they hope to reopen lots at Stinson and Muir beaches in Marin County by next week. Alcatraz and Muir Woods, where travelers from all over the world normally congregate in a rather small amount of space, are not expected to reopen soon. Muir Woods may open in July, according to Charles Strickfaden, spokesman for GGNRA. He said the sites will remain closed until health officials in San Francisco and Marin counties allow large recreation venues and museums to open. Point Reyes this week reopened most of its roads and parking lots, though visitor centers and campgrounds remain shuttered. Back at Redwood National Park, near Crescent City in Del Norte County, maintenance crews have begun building plastic shields at visitor centers in preparation for their reopening. The new barriers are intended to better protect the public and park rangers as they begin to interact again. So will limits on how many people enter the visitor centers and partitions to guide their movements. One park official joked that it might be a little tough for her to huddle with hikers over a trail map. But she said she would do the best she could. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander New Delhi, June 4 : A woman on Thursday alleged that the city's largest Covid-dedicated hospital, Lok Nayak, denied entry to her coronavirus-positive father, claiming that the administration told her that he was "brought dead". In a series of tweets, Amarpreet alleged that her father, Lakh Jeet Singh, was Covid-positive and he needed to be shifted to the hospital. "My dad is having high fever. We need to shift him to (the) hospital. I am standing outside LNJP (Lok Nayak Hospital) Delhi and they are not taking him in. He is having corona, high fever and breathing problem. He won't survive without help. Pls help," she tweeted at 8.21 a.m. on Thursday. However, at 9.08 a.m. she said her father is no more. "The government failed us." The hospital, when contacted, said the patient was brought dead in casualty. In the 'Casualty Card' of the 68-year-old man, created at 7.37 a.m., it was mentioned that the patient was home-quarantined from Ganga Ram Hospital. It also said his sample was taken on May 31 and the report came positive on June 1 at the Ganga Ram Hospital. "The patient was brought in casualty in an unconscious state... Patient was declared brought dead," the card said. It also said the ECG of the patient was "flat line" and the "pupil dilated". The card further said the "body to be packed and sent to mortuary". The hospital also shared the Death Certificate of the patient, which says he passed away on June 4 at 7.37 a.m. On June 2, Amarpreet tweeted that her father is corona-positive and in Delhi, "no helpline is responding... Immediate support is needed." In another tweet, she thanked AAP MLA Dilip Pandey for help. "I am extremely thankful to Dilip Pandey and others for immediate attention and support. We are proceeding on next steps as advised by doctors." So far, Delhi has reported 23,645 covid cases with 606 deaths. GODFREY Village officials and Pride Incorporated have announced a collaborative effort to create welcoming signs, landscaping and event placards from both U.S. 67 and Illinois 255. Pride, Inc., put together a landscape and monument plan accepted by village trustees at their May 6 meeting. The plan supports Godfreys strategic plan, with the hopes that other businesses will join the movement. An Australian student says he was made to sit on a plastic chair for 20 hours after being detained by Hong Kong police, as Beijing approved strict new national security laws for the semi-autonomous city. Kai Clark, an Asian studies major at the Australian National University, was arrested for unlawful assembly in Hong Kong on May 28 and taken to Aberdeen police station. The 21-year-old says he didn't sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time during his 33-hour detention. Kai Clark was arrested for unlawful assembly in Hong Kong on May 28 and says he was unable to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time during his 33-hour detention 'I can't say whether it was their intention but I was certainly sleep-deprived,' Mr Clark told AAP on Wednesday. The student said he got into an argument with police early on after they said it would be 'too inconvenient' to allow him access to his lawyer during a custody search. The Australian citizen and Hong Kong permanent resident was searched and told to get changed into a grey tracksuit before being taken into a 'waiting room'. 'I was told we would be assigned beds, but actually it was a conference room where I would spend (the) next 20 hours sitting on a plastic chair,' Mr Clark wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. Mr Clar said he was not able to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time while at the police station. Pictured: Protesters in Hong Kong in May The student said he got into an argument with police early on after they said it would be 'too inconvenient' to allow him access to his lawyer during a custody search The fourth-year ANU student said he was forced to wait hours before seeing his lawyer, who had been waiting at the police station. Mr Clark was subsequently interviewed by an officer from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau before being eventually released unconditionally late on May 29. He was told he was still under investigation and could be rearrested and charged should sufficient evidence become available to prosecute him. Antony Dapiran, an Australian writer and lawyer based in Hong Kong, last week said police can lawfully hold an arrested person for 48 hours before charging them or releasing them, either on bail or unconditionally. Mr Clark's 33-hour detention was both legal and 'not particularly unusual' in the context of mass arrests, the author told AAP. 'In light of the ongoing protests ... the police have been using arrest as a means of intimidation and crowd control.' The Whole Foods Market in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia. Read more At Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia, workers are regularly reminded of the risk they take while working during a pandemic. Employees at the Fairmount store get their temperature checked before each shift and must wear face masks at work. They receive text alerts when colleagues get sick with the coronavirus. The grocery chain recently gave them T-shirts that say Hero on the front and call them Hard Core on the back. But the extra money they had been receiving during the pandemic went away this week. Whole Foods had temporarily paid workers an additional $2 an hour, but that expired June 1, according to company emails sent to all employees in the United States and Canada. The decision to end so-called hazard pay has upset workers, who believe that they are still at risk of contracting the coronavirus, which has infected at least 1.8 million Americans and killed at least 107,000. The hazard the thing were getting paid extra for is still around. Coronavirus has no cure, said an employee, one of three who spoke to The Inquirer on the condition of anonymity because they feared losing their jobs. If we need to wear a mask, its because theres a hazard. Thats not part of our standard job operation. A Whole Foods spokesperson said the temporary pay increase was a way to acknowledge and appreciate the extraordinary circumstances workers managed in the early days of COVID-19. As business and workloads stabilize, we are planning for the long-term, with a maintained focus on the safety measures weve implemented, while continuing to explore new ways to support our team members during this time, the spokesperson said. READ MORE: Phillys essential workers are risking their lives for low pay: I cant not go to work Whole Foods owned by retail giant Amazon is not the only major grocer or retailer to end hazard pay for essential workers as confirmed coronavirus cases decline in much of the country and governments lift restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. Giant supermarkets and Rite Aid pharmacies have stopped additional pay, too. Grocery chain Kroger was reportedly set to end its hero bonus in mid-May. The company did not return a request for comment. The Fair Labor Standards Act the federal law that governs minimum wage, overtime pay, and record keeping does not address hazard pay, except that it must be taken into account when calculating a federal employees overtime pay. Hazard pay could be included in a companys collective bargaining agreement with unionized workers. There is no right to hazard pay, said Janice Bellace, a legal studies and business ethics professor at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. She said hazard pay is typically provided in industries where jobs are in dangerous or physically extreme conditions, such as frigid temperatures. If those jobs are unionized, collective bargaining agreements often include a formula to calculate hazard pay. Although the extra pay given to grocery workers was called hazard pay by many, Bellace said it was more like a bonus for employees willing to work during the worst days of the pandemic. Stores have branded the pay omcreases as appreciation pay or thank you pay. Workers at Acme and ShopRite continue to receive hazard pay, said the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which represents roughly 35,000 workers throughout Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia and Ohio. Grocery chain Trader Joes, whose workers are not part of Local 1776, will receive an extra $2 an hour until at least Dec. 31, spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel said. But like Whole Foods, other chains have stopped the extra pay. Giant groceries ended its $2-an-hour pay increase on May 30, spokesperson Ashley Flower said. Rite Aid has also discontinued hazard pay, said Wendell Young, Local 1776s president. We argued with them about it, Young said Wednesday. We urged them not to do it. And it had a serious effect on morale. Rite Aid, which branded the extra money as hero pay, paid hourly workers at its retail stores and distribution warehouses an additional $2 an hour when the pandemic first struck the U.S. The program ran from March 15 to May 16, spokesperson Christopher Savarese said. As our journey through this unprecedented situation continues to evolve, we remain committed to supporting our associates and keeping them safe and healthy," Savarese said, adding that the company offered more than $60 million in additional pay, leave, and safety procedures. Rite Aid workers represented by UFCW 1776 continue to work there, Young said, but he stressed the severity of taking away hazard pay that would have supported employees if they were infected. He said 757 union members have contracted the coronavirus, with a large number of cases concentrated in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Seven five of whom worked in food processing have died. Young and Whole Foods workers said customers have become less vigilant about safety as states relax restrictions. Some customers take off masks once inside stores. "We take this very seriously and I'm concerned that we're going have a spike [in cases] because of this, not just now, but again in the fall, Young said. At Whole Foods, workers can still take unpaid time off without penalty through June 21, according to an email sent to workers. The Fairmount store recently put up boards over doors and windows to prevent property damage and looting when its closed. As thousands protest police brutality against black Americans, the store has closed early to ensure that workers get home safely and has paid them for shifts that are affected by store closures, a spokesperson said. All of that has given some workers something else to worry about during the pandemic. One employee, referring to the violent unrest last weekend, said: They took away our hazard pay, which is kind of ironic. Because now, more than ever, we need that hazard pay because it is actually a hazard to be there right now." The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Thursday decided to provide both online and offline facilities for filing property tax returns and making payments. Till now, only online filing of property tax was allowed by the civic body. The move comes after residents complained about difficulties while filing property tax on the website. To make the system more citizen-friendly and streamline operations, the SDMC had, earlier this year, developed a website for online filing of property tax and payment. SDMC officials said that the portal was developed keeping in view future necessities. However, residents complained that the new version of the online tax format is not user-friendly and that there were issues in accessing and submitting forms to pay the tax. On the requests of its citizens and for their convenience, SDMC has also started accepting property tax returns through manual modes also. The last date for making payment of property tax both online and offline with 15% timely rebate will be June 30, the south civic body said in a statement. It added that SDMC would be organising special property tax camps in all colonies in association with the area councillor, residents bodies and, market associations. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 09:01 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbf740c 1 Editorial new-normal,COVID-19,coronavirus,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,anies-baswedan Free Jakarta is preparing for the so-called new normal protocols when the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) wind down after less than two months of implementation, although reports have circulated that Governor Anies Baswedan may extend the policy for the third time. Under the new arrangements, the restrictions will remain in place in only 62 out of more than 2,700 community units (RW) across the capital. Deputy governor for population control and settlement control Suharti said the city administration would enforce local-scale social restrictions (PSBL) in these 62 densely populated community units as a result of their higher rates of COVID-19 infection. Read also: Urbanites turn to bike riding to beat cabin fever Details of the restrictions are being formulated, but the general rules of the new policy stipulate that heads of the red zone community units will be responsible for enforcement of the policy, with the help of public order officers. The new policy amounts to a quarantine as residents are not allowed to leave unless they secure a travel permit from their community unit head, while the areas remain off-limits to outsiders, at least for 14 days, when an evaluation will be made. During the quarantine, community health centers (Puskesmas) will conduct rapid tests and swab tests based on the data of people having tested positive, patients under surveillance (PDP), people under surveillance (ODP) and asymptomatic people collected by each community unit head. The legal grounds for the PSBL are unclear as the 2018 Health Quarantine Law, the basis of the social restrictions, does not include community unit-based quarantines. Notwithstanding the legal controversy, the policy assumes that the 62 community units are the remaining hotspots of COVID-19 transmission in Jakarta. The capital city has until today been the epicenter of the outbreak nationwide, recording over 7,500 confirmed cases and 529 deaths as of Wednesday. Jakarta health officials say new infections have shown a declining trend, with 76 on Tuesday from an average of 100 the week before, while the number of people recovering from the virus has consistently increased. Jakarta had also conducted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on more than 154,000 samples as of Sunday. Despite the progress, however, it will be too risky to confine a few community units while allowing many others to ignore, if not defy, the strict health protocols. Read also: Jakarta discusses new normal possibilities for nightclubs, massage parlors The new normal is basically a compromise to protect both public health and the economy. The new normal is no more than a relaxation to allow socioeconomic life to resume, although only after fulfilling strict requirements such as a consistent decline in reproduction rate for 14 days running and the availability of hospital facilities to treat non-COVID-19 patients. The new normal is by no means an easing of austerity measures, but rather an adaptation to health standards that have been raised to prevent infection. Frequent handwashing, wearing masks and physical distancing have been prescribed ever since COVID-19 first struck and these new habits should persist. The relaxation is tempting but could lead to complacency. There is always a risk of a resurgence in a second wave of COVID-19 infections, as happened in pandemics in the past, if the new normal relaxes the former discipline. Guyana Goldfields (TSX:GUY) said today it received a proposal from a "foreign-based multinational mining company" priced at C$1.85 per share. Silvercorp Metals had an offer on the table at C$1.30 as of mid-May. The new offer values Guyana Goldfields at C$323 million. Guyana said the new offer represents a premium of approximately 35% over what Silvercorp was offering. Guyana said Silvercorp has a five-day matching period to meet the offer. Guyana Goldfields Inc. is a Canadian based mid-tier gold producer operating in Guyana, South America. It's Aurora Gold Mine reached production in 2016, and is guiding to 145,000-160,000 gold ounces in 2019. The company began the year at 69 cents. The Duchess of Sussex has told students at her former high school George Floyds life mattered as she spoke to them at their graduation. Meghan Markle, 38, shared her absolute devastation over the racial divides in the US and told the graduating class: Im so sorry you have to grow up in a world where this is still present. Meghan made her address to leavers at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles via video link. She said: What is happening in our country and in our state and in our home town of LA has been absolutely devastating. I wasnt sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldnt or it would get picked apart and I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing, because George Floyds life mattered and Breonna Taylors life mattered and Philando Castiles life mattered and Tamir Rices life mattered and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know. Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes. All four officers present during his arrest have now been charged and fired. The National Guard had to be called in after a curfew was imposed in LA. (Getty Images) Read more: Harry and Meghans wedding bishop criticises Donald Trumps photo opportunity The former Suits actor, who is the first mixed race person to marry into the British Royal Family, has been outspoken on racism through her life. She also told students of her own experiences living in LA during the 1992 race riots, which happened after police officers were seen beating Rodney King. I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home, and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky, and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings. I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories dont go away. I cant imagine that at 17 or 18 that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience, she said. Story continues Protesters gathered outside the City Hall in LA. (Getty Images) Read more: Meghan Markle's six most significant royal moments in 600 days She urged them to understand the situation as a history lesson, not as your reality. Meghan added: Now you get to be part of rebuilding we are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until its rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. A spokesman for the Sussexes has said Meghan planned to say congratulations, but was compelled to address whats happening in this country right now around the killing of George Floyd as well as whats been happening over many, many years and many, many generations to countless other black Americans. Read more: Full transcript of Meghan Markle's impassioned anti-racism speech given to students at former high school Meghan and her husband Prince Harry moved to her hometown of LA at the end of March. Like the rest of the state of California, they have been in lockdown due to coronavirus and have been spotted in various different video calls with charities. They have celebrated their second wedding anniversary and their sons first birthday in lockdown. The duke and duchess plan to launch a new non-profit organisation, called Archewell, which will replace the work they did through the now defunct Sussex Royal, but with no connection to the Queen. T he UKs coronavirus death toll continues to rise each day. The current total of fatalities linked to Covid-19 in the UK is almost 40,000, however many other figures have been quoted. All the while, behind each number is a grieving family that has lost a loved one. Here we take a look at how the UKs coronavirus death figures are calculated and which numbers to trust. How does the government record the daily coronavirus death toll? Each day the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) compiles deaths in hospitals and the community linked to coronavirus, which are grouped together into one figure. The UK added virus deaths in care homes into daily updates at the end of April / Getty Images Hospital patients are tested and therefore we know those fatalities definitely had Covid-19. However, deaths in the community - those in care homes or who died at home - have Covid-19 on their death certificate but did not always test positive before their death Health authorities in each part of the UK also release their own figures to show regional breakdowns. None of the current publicly available data tells us the extent to which coronavirus caused each death, though, as opposed to underlying health conditions, for instance. Has the system changed? Yes. Up until the end of April, only deaths linked to the virus in hospitals were being recorded. This changed to give the truer picture after growing public concern about the crisis in care homes. However, the official Government data has a lag due to the time it takes for post-mortem examinations, test results and death certificates to be processed, meaning some of the deaths being announced now occurred several weeks ago. An analysis of the current registrations of people who have died with confirmed or suspected coronavirus by the PA news agency suggests the figure has passed 50,000. Countries record their coronavirus deaths differently / PA How do other countries record their death toll? Comparing coronavirus fatality rates across countries is very difficult because there are a range of different factors and recording systems that collide. The US has by far the most Covid-19 deaths in the world, at more than 109,000, but it has a population of 330 million - more than the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain combined. Things are further complicated by there being no accepted international standard for how you measure deaths, or their causes, meaning each country does it differently. France and Germany have been including deaths in care homes in the headline numbers they produce every day since the start of the outbreak. But the daily figures for England only recorded deaths in hospitals until April 29, when community deaths were included. Germany counts deaths in care homes only if people have tested positive for the virus, but Belgium includes any death in which a doctor had suspected coronavirus was involved. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry is now global agency of record for Bynder, which develops digital asset management technology. The agency will implement a media and influencer relations campaign, as well as organic social media initiatives, to increase awareness of the brand in the U.S., U.K. and France in 2020, planning to add Germany in 2021. It will also support Bynder in the Netherlands through the agencys Convoy network partner MCS PR for region-specific campaigns. The global PR program will be headed by the team in RLYLs Boston office, with the agencys U.K. and Berlin offices also contributing. The program will target creative and marketing professionals, positioning the company as the natural choice to bring creative assets to market quickly and facilitate easier team collaboration. With this campaign, were confident in the lorries ability to promote how Bynders solutions help companies maximize the impact of their marketing assets in new and unique ways, said Bynder CMO Andrew Hally. J. Wade Public Relations has been named public relations agency of record for the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board. The agency will develop and execute a strategic public relations campaign that will focus on Providenciales, which garners most of the destinations tourism, along with its sister islands, including Grand Turk, North Caicos, Middle Caicos and South Caicos. As part of the campaign, it will invite press and celebrities to visit the destination. J. Wade Public Relations will also focus on bolstering the destinations positioning as a premier wedding locale and exclusive setting for private getaways. We were impressed by the firms highly strategic approach with thoughtful, creative ideas that will impact our bottom line, along with their track record of success with renowned travel and lifestyle clients, said Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board director of tourism Pamela Ewing. Jenerate PR has been selected as agency of record for both Code Ninjas Las Vegas locationsSummerlin and Centennial Hills. Jenerate PR will provide strategic communication services and messaging development to increase awareness of Code Ninjas, its curriculum, summer camp programs and philanthropic partnerships. Code Ninjas teaches kids ages 7-14 to code by building their own video games and robotics in a fun, safe and inspiring environment. Through its nine-belt, martial arts-inspired curriculum, students advance from white to black belts on the path of coding enlightenment led by instructors known as senseis. Both locations feature a variety of programs including one-day drop-ins, weeklong camps, summer camps, birthday parties and parents night out. (TNS) Police officers have watched from skirmish lines as protesters and others stole from businesses, threw rocks, ignited fires and bashed in streetlights with skateboards.More than 1,000 were arrested in Los Angeles alone over the weekend, but officials said they have not given up on tracking down others.The Los Angeles Police Department has been collecting evidence throughout the protests in recent days over the death of George Floyd, mostly in the form of video footage that could be used to identify individuals and bring charges against them in the future.The FBI on Monday put out a nationwide call for pictures and videos that could help identify people actively instigating violence at protests across the country decrying Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police.This strategy has been used in the past, including during melees that followed Lakers victories in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in other cities that have experienced unrest, such as Baltimore.But it is also generating concern.Nikhil Ramnaney, head of the union that represents Los Angeles County public defenders, expressed concern that funneling footage to local law enforcement agencies or the FBI in the hope of catching looters could allow law enforcement to use facial recognition technology to identify peaceful protesters in the area.If government agencies are stockpiling large repositories of film, in light of whats going on with widely available facial recognition technology, I wouldnt be surprised if those technologies were used on those crowd-sourced contributions, he said. If youre sourcing footage from people, you could pull metadata from that footage that could also tell you who was present at that scene.Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst for the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the ACLU, said the FBI should also seek video of wrongdoing by police officers if it is gathering video from protests.There have been plenty of reports and videos of abusive police and National Guard behavior, he said. They shouldnt retain any video of people exercising their 1st Amendment rights who arent breaking the law.Police have acknowledged missteps and said they are already investigating at least one incident in which onlookers recorded a police vehicle driving into protesters before speeding away.While not every cop on the street was wearing a body camera in recent days, as specialized units dont have them, thousands of officers in areas with severe looting and vandalism were wearing them and recording hours of footage, said Josh Rubenstein, an LAPD spokesman.Police also have been provided footage from residents and business owners, not to mention the slew of images they can access on social media and in other media.Where its being brought to our attention, or where we are able to capture any evidence of people committing crimes, that is being captured for further investigation, Rubenstein said.Most of the protests over Floyds death, which occurred after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held a knee on Floyds neck for more than eight minutes, have been peaceful. But some have taken a darker turn as looters have used the marches as cover to steal from stores.Arrest records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times show the LAPD booked just 14 people on looting-related offenses on Friday and Saturday, even as dozens of stores downtown and in the Fairfax district were being pillaged both days. On Sunday, more than 120 people were taken into custody for looting, records show. Hundreds of people also were arrested for violating nightly curfews put in place by Mayor Eric Garcetti in an effort to quell the unrest.Officials have said those intent on causing harm or stuffing their pockets and cars with stolen goods took advantage of the legitimate protesters, using them as cover. The more successful those individuals were in stealing, and the more violent they were in their destruction, the more likely it is they will be pursued in coming investigations.Law enforcement officials said they are likely to focus on major crimes that caused extensive damage or injuries, and on individuals who committed multiple crimes or were part of a group committing multiple crimes. But they also could choose to charge and prosecute others whose actions were brazen or cruel.Many people wore masks, but others did not. And even those with a mask on in one video may be identifiable in another, in a moment when they let their mask down.Similar work is likely to be conducted by other agencies beyond Los Angeles.Officials in Long Beach placed the blame for looting that marred an otherwise peaceful protest Sunday in the citys downtown area on organized criminals who had been hitting other cities in the area, according to Mayor Robert Garcia.Long Beach police arrested 75 people on Sunday, many for violations of a citywide 8 p.m. curfew. But both Garcia and city Police Chief Robert Luna promised to work with federal partners to review surveillance footage to track down looting suspects in the future.There were a whole lot of cameras out there, Luna said Monday. If you were looting and we have your license-plate number and your face, were gonna come after you.Some residents and business owners said they welcome such work by police, because outsiders who drove into their neighborhoods and destroyed storefronts should be held accountable and were not over the weekend. Some say police stood by and did nothing as looters destroyed businesses already on the brink of closing for good after being shuttered for weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Steve Soboroff, a member of the civilian Police Commission that oversees the LAPD, said he understands peoples frustrations that there was a lack of police presence as some crimes were occurring over the weekend. But, he said, police were in a difficult position and had to pick their priorities, and LAPD Chief Michel Moore rightly prioritized lives and keeping people safe over confronting every looter.The job of the department, of the chief, is a high-wire act right now. Theres not a lot of space in there to do it right, Soboroff said. Whats wrong is over-policing, and whats wrong is under-policing.But people in Los Angeles should know that in terms of holding accountable those who abused legitimate protests for their own criminal means, the battle is not over, Soboroff said.Arrests arent over just because a person isnt out there anymore, he said. I dont think the department is going to make a decision to say, OK, lets just forget about all that and start over, because you saw some really dangerous stuff.Returning to investigate and prosecute crimes at a later date, when the department isnt stretched thin and officers arent in dangerous situations, makes sense, Soboroff said.Are we going to get into a shootout in a shoe store, or are we going to take video and figure all of this out later? he said.In an era of smartphones and pervasive government and business surveillance systems, using footage to retroactively target criminals who escaped immediate arrest in moments of widespread unrest is not without precedent.In 2015, after looting and arson broke out in Baltimore following the death of another black man, Freddie Gray, from injuries suffered in police custody, the Baltimore Police Department formed a task force to identify suspects. Multiple federal agencies lent a hand, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.In the following weeks and months, officials brought charges against people for burning down a CVS, burning down a liquor store, slashing a fire hose and looting pharmacies. Some were sentenced to years in federal prison.When the evidence proves that criminals destroyed property and jeopardized lives, they must be held accountable, said Rod Rosenstein, at the time the Maryland U.S. attorney, after the man who burned down a liquor store was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $380,000 in restitution.Multiple federal agencies said they stand ready to assist local law enforcement in Los Angeles and other localities as well.U.S. Attorney Nicola Hanna said federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are confronting this outlaw behavior by working with the FBI and local police to identify cases in which federal charges could be appropriately filed. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday will host a virtual Global Vaccine Summit in which over 50 countries and organisations will participate including India. PTI quoting organisers of the summit said Prime Minister Narendra Modi or a high-level Indian representative is expected to participate live or with a pre-recorded message along with at least 35 heads of state or government at the event. 'India's response is very positive' The event aims to raise at least USD 7.4 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in additional resources to protect future generations with vaccines and reduce disease inequality. "The response we have had from India is very positive. India's participation in Gavi and in supporting the (coronavirus) vaccine cannot in any way be underestimated and we continue to work together," said Lord Tariq Ahmad, UK Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth. "It is an established fact that 50% of the world's vaccine production is currently in India, which makes it an important partner in that area," said the Pakistani-origin UK minister, who has a dual role as a minister in the Foreign Office and Department for International Development (DfID). In 2014, from being a recipient country of Gavi, India became a donor country and has contributed around USD 12 million to date. "It is a notable achievement for India that it has become a supporter and that demonstrates the steps India has taken in recent years. When we look at the scale of production which India has of vaccines, it will be an important partner in ensuring a large number of vaccines are readily available in an equitable fashion," Ahmad said. READ | Cyclone Nisarga to make landfall in Maharashtra between 1 PM to 4 PM; evacuation underway READ | BJP MLAs told me 'all is not well' with Yediyurappa-led govt, claims Siddaramaiah Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a United Nations-backed organisation which coordinates vaccinations across the world. The virtual summit this week comes against the backdrop of the University of Oxford's fast-track trials for a potential vaccine to protect against coronavirus. However, it has a wider remit as the UK hopes it would help raise the funds required for Gavi to vaccinate over 300 million children against infectious diseases in the world's poorest countries over the next five years. READ | AIIMS Nurses' Union threatens indefinite strike over lack of facilities amid COVID crisis READ | PM Modi raises ongoing George Floyd protest in US in Trump phone call; big statement here Mall Owner Sues Gap for Rent on CCP Virus-Shuttered Stores NEW YORKGap Inc. is being sued for refusing to pay rent for stores temporarily closed during the CCP virus pandemic. Mall owner Simon Property Group said in a lawsuit filed this week that the clothing retailer owes three months of rent, totaling $65.9 million. Gap has more than 390 stores at Indianapolis-based Simons malls, including its namesake brand, Old Navy, and Banana Republic. Foot Locker at Dadeland Mall in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 28, 2009. (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images) A pedestrian carries shopping bags from a GAP store in San Francisco, Calif., on Dec. 14, 2010. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Gap and other major retailers, including sneaker seller Foot Locker, have said they wouldnt pay rent for stores that were forced to close due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. In April, Gap warned that it may be sued by its landlords and that a dispute could be costly and have an uncertain outcome. San Francisco-based Gap did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. By Joseph Pisani Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. In recent weeks, Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to attack mail-in voting as fraudulent and threaten to withhold (unspecified) funding from states taking steps to expand it. Trumps attacks have come at a crucial time, as voters in around two dozen states cast their ballots for June primary elections, many of them by mail, the safest way to vote amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the states that held primaries on Tuesday, for instance, some saw more than 20 times the absentee ballot requests of 2016. Given the virtual nonexistence of empirical evidence of voter fraud, one might reasonably wonder if Trump has motives that go beyond calling attention to a vast (mythical) racket. To some voting rights advocates and watchdogs, hes doing nothing more than trying to discourage voting by mail, which many Republicans believe benefits Democrats (the actual data on the partisan advantages are shakier). Trump himself suggested that part of his opposition to casting ballots by mail is about the partisan disadvantage; MAIL IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY, he tweeted last Thursday. If disrupting the November election is in fact one of Trumps goals, Twitter threats arent the only tool he has. The president and his supporters have a range of mechanisms at their disposalparticularly amid a pandemicto restrict voting in person, change voting rules, hobble the postal service, or just intimidate or discourage voters, all of which could have an impact on election results. Voter intimidation in particular should be a concern right now, as vigilante groups in some cities have taken to the street in recent days to enforce order amid protests against police brutality. Here are some of the tools Trump has to upset the election in November; voters and watchdogs should be on guard for these moves now. 1. With a second coronavirus wave, Trump could issue a national quarantine that forces voters to stay home on Election Day. If Dr. Anthony Faucis prediction becomes reality and we see a second wave of sickness, death and overwhelmed emergency rooms in the fall, Trump can endeavor to order people to stay home under the Public Health Service Act, which gives the executive branch power to enforce quarantines. Story continues Passed in 1944, the statute authorizes executive branch officials to take steps necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from one State into another State or possession, and allows the president, upon the recommendation of the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, to provide for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. But what about the states authority to manage pandemic outbreaks within their borders? Well, under the regulations that implement the statute, the federal government can jump in whenever the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determines that the measures taken by health authorities of any State or possession are insufficient to prevent the spread of any of the communicable diseases from such State or possession. Thus far, Trump has refused to orchestrate any serious federal response to COVID-19, sloughing off the problem to the states. Hed be hard-pressed to change his tune in the fall. A federal order would also stoke widespread anger and lawsuits. But the power is his. 2. Trump and Congress could pull the plug on U.S. postal service (USPS) funding. Without a functioning postal service, states efforts to expand access to voting by mail will become futile. Trump has already threatened to veto any Covid-19 legislation that includes bailout funding for the USPS which, according to the Government Accountability Office, is in an overall financial condition [that] is deteriorating and unsustainable. In March, the White House killed a bipartisan bill to give the postal service $13 billion, arguing that it must increase its rates and make other changes first. The White House and Republicans in Congress are unlikely to support any loan that does not include changes such as USPS raising its rates or using more outside contractors. Without any compromise between the parties, USPS has said money could run out as early as this summer, and Trump, who has called the agency a joke, has been in no rush to find a political solution. 3. Trump could encourage supporters to show up at polling stations to prevent voter fraud. In 1981, the Republican National Committee (RNC) came under a consent decree for practices that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) alleged were violations of the Voting Rights Act. Among those allegations, the DNC said the RNC hired off-duty police officers with National Ballot Security Task Force armbands to patrol majority-minority precincts. The bullying tactics continued through the following decade, requiring two decree modifications in response to other means of voter intimidation. In 1990, for example, a court found that the North Carolina Republican Party sent 150,000 mostly black voters discouraging postcards warning of strict residency requirements and jailtime for voter fraud. The extended consent decree expired in 2017. Although it only applied to the RNC, this history suggests that as states continue to expand early voting as an additional response to Covid-19, Trump could encourage MAGA supporters to show up at polling sites to chill valid participation. This threat is particularly salient for minority voters whoeven if fully documentedmight fear Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 4. Trump could pressure officials in his base states to change voting rules to make it harder, not easier, to vote during Covid. With some exceptions, Republican governors of red states that voted for Trump in 2016 were less likely to issue stay-at-home orderswhich Trump has publicly disfavoredthan their blue-state counterparts. The fewest restrictions were in South Dakota, Idaho, Missouri, Utah and Wisconsin, a perennial swing state. Given this recent history, its easy to imagine that if Trump continues to warn of a rigged election and call for voting restrictions in response to states post-Covid voting changes, Republican governors and secretaries of state would likewise fall in line with what the president suggests. More specifically, under pressure from or allegiance to Trump, Republican secretaries of states, governors or Republican-dominated state legislatures could take last-minute steps to purge registered voters, close polling places or shorten early voting hours, restrict voting by mail or make other changes that could inch Trump across the finish line irrespective of the legitimate needs and wants of individual voters. It wouldnt be the first time that politicians tweaked election rules and affected the results, even in races where they had a clear personal stake in the outcome. In 2000, Floridas secretary of state and co-chair of George W. Bushs presidential campaign in Florida, Katherine Harris, certified Bush as the popular vote winner after halting a recount that was prompted by an exceedingly slim, 537-vote margin over his opponent, Al Gore. A lawsuit famously ensued regarding the counting of confusing punch-card ballots marred by hanging or dimpled chads. Harris certification was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court, but ultimately endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court, thus deciding the presidential election. In 2016, Georgias secretary of state Brian Kempa self-proclaimed Trump conservativerefused to recuse himself from the role of secretary of state and chief election official when he announced his run for the governorship. Under Kemp, over 1.5 million votersor 10.6 percent of Georgia voterswere removed from the rolls in the two years prior to the election, and 214 polling places were shuttered, mostly in neighborhoods with predominantly minority residents. Just days before the election, Kemp reportedly put 53,000 voter registration applications on hold, reasoning that the names on the applications were not an exact match with information in other state databases because of hyphens, accents, typos, and the like. Kemp won the race by approximately 54,000 votes over Democrat Stacey Abrams. 5. Trumps party will continue to sue states that try to make voting easier in order to tie up ballot measures in court so that, by the time things are resolved, its too late. Republicans have reportedly amassed a $20 million war chest for use in challenging state efforts to expand access to the polls due to the coronavirus. So far, multiple suits are already pending across the country over whether Americans should be able to vote by mail or instead risk their health by braving the physical polls during the pandemic. In Texas, the state supreme court recently sided with Republican attorney general Ken Paxton in ruling that a voters lack of immunity to Covid-19, without more, is not a disability that justifies voting by mail. Although the success of such suits under various states laws is uncertain, what is certain is that litigation takes time, and as those lawsuits wend way their way through the court system, measures designed to make voting more accessible in the midst of the coronavirus health crisis could be put on hold through Election Day. Tying up expanded voting measures in court through the fall is itself a win if the goal is to minimize the number of people who cast ballots in Novemberpeople whom Trump fans believe will most likely vote against him and in favor of his presumptive opponent, Joe Biden. Voting is the most precious of all rights under the U.S. Constitution because, without it, all other rights become virtually meaningless. Because a government unaccountable to the people is not a government by the people, every American, regardless of politics, should watch what Trump does to make voting more difficult. NEW DELHI : The Delhi High court on Thursday disposed off a petition seeking de-sealing of the Delhi Borders for allowing citizens living in NCR region to access medical facilities in Delhi. The court also directed Delhi government to upload the order of 1 June on the government websites in a prominent manner and have it highlighted for easy access to citizens. The court also took note of the Delhi governments 1 June order where it stated that in case of a medical emergency, any person can apply for an e-pass to enter the city. The plea filed by lawyer Kushagra had said those working in Delhi and residing in NCR like Noida and Gurugram or other states are deprived of their right to avail central government's medical facilities like AIIMS in Delhi. "The order of the Delhi government is not only inhumane and illegal but authoritarian in nature. Instead of creating medical infrastructure and working to ensure medical facilities, it is sealing the borders and thereby stopping people from availing medical facilities in central government hospitals in Delhi," The plea reads. Meanwhile, The Supreme Court on Thursday asked officials from the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to evolve a common program/portal within a week to facilitate interstate movement in the national capital region (NCR). The plea in the top court had challenged the restriction on movement in the NCR, where borders have been sealed by respective state governments to prevent the transmission of coronavirus. 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 Three more babies have been struck down with a deadly bacteria that hasn't been seen for 20 years. At least eight babies in the neonatal unit at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide have tested positive to the rare bacterial infection Serratia Marcescens. The first case of the pathogen seen in the hospital in two decades, it can cause urinary and respiratory issues potentially leading to pneumonia and sepsis. A baby was isolated and treated with antibiotics when the first case was confirmed on May 18, and made a full recovery. While the infant's bed was disinfected and all other patients were diverted to surrounding hospitals, a second baby tested positive two weeks on May 30 later after it was placed in the same bed. An infant's bed in the neonatal unit at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide (pictured) where eight babies have contracted a deadly disease The child is in a serious but stable condition after being transferred to another hospital, 9 News reported. Dr Diana Lawrence from South Australia's Health said all 40 babies in the unit have been tested for the deadly pathogen. 'We feel very confident that it's actually contained - it was in a small part of our unit, and I've apologised to the parents of the second baby,' she said in a press conference. 'They're very distressed - their baby is unwell and our priority is the care of all our babies.' Six more infants tested positive but are asymptomatic. Six infants have tested positive for the bacterial infection but are asymptomatic (pictured, a baby in the neonatal ward at the hospital) About 200 environmental tests swabs were taken in the ward to determine the origin of the infection - which was found in a sink (pictured, the neonatal unit at Flinders Medical Centre) What is Serratia Marcescens? The pathogen may cause urinary tract infection, sepsis or pneumonia. It can pose a threat to older people or newborn babies. It is increasingly multi-resistant to many broad-spectrum antibiotics. The main transmission path is direct or indirect contact with contaminated persons or objects. Source: Bode Science Centre Advertisement About 200 environmental tests swabs were taken in the ward to determine the origin of the infection - which was found in a sink. The sink has been removed and the area has been closed off to the rest of the hospital. Dr Lawrence said an internal investigation is now underway at the hospital following the diagnoses. 'We are taking all measures possible to prevent further cases and to maintain the safety of the babies within the unit,' she said. 'We will continue to test and screen babies in the unit and our staff will be wearing gloves and yellow gowns as an extra precaution when providing care to babies.' New admissions are also being minimised to avoid the spread of infection, with non-urgent cases being diverted to the Women's and Children's Hospital. As per COVID-19 guidelines, visiting rights in the ward are restricted to parents only. Voestalpine plans to shut down a blast furnace (BF) in Donawitz in Austria for relining this summer, it said on June 3. In Donawitz, there will be a relining of a blast furnace One will be shut down, and [it is planned that this] will last until early October, company representatives said during a conference call. The relining had been planned anyway, its just being done earlier. WEDNESDAY, June 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Taking benzodiazepines -- drugs such as Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, Halcion or Ativan -- to treat anxiety or insomnia before pregnancy boosts the risk of an ectopic pregnancy, new research suggests. Ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy that develops outside the uterus, typically in a fallopian tube. The risk of ectopic pregnancy was nearly 50% higher for women who had filled a prescription for a benzodiazepine within three months of becoming pregnant. "There is a real gap in understanding what leads to ectopic pregnancy. Past studies on psychotropic medications like benzodiazepines in pregnancy looked at the effects on the baby," explained study author Elizabeth Wall-Wieler, from Stanford University School of Medicine. And that's why the researchers started looking at what effects those medications might have on women. "We need a better understanding of how certain treatments might affect pregnancy outcomes," she said. But it's important to note that due to the study design, this research cannot prove a direct cause-and-effect link between the sedating medications and ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies are relatively rare -- affecting just 1% to 2% of pregnancies each year, according to the researchers. But these pregnancies can be associated with devastating effects. If they're not discovered early, an ectopic pregnancy can cause a fallopian tube to burst, which triggers dangerous internal bleeding. Ectopic pregnancies are responsible for as many as 13% of pregnancy-related deaths, according to the researchers. An ectopic pregnancy can also lead to infertility. Known risk factors for ectopic pregnancy include prior fallopian tube or other abdominal surgeries, certain sexually transmitted infections, pelvic inflammatory disease and endometriosis, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Other factors linked to an increased risk include smoking, a history of infertility, use of assisted reproductive technology and older age (over 35). But about half of ectopic pregnancies have no known risk factors, the researchers noted. The study team reviewed insurance data for almost 1.7 million pregnancies between 2008 and 2015. The women were between the ages of 15 and 44. About 1% of the women in this group had filled a benzodiazepine prescription for at least a 10-day supply in the 90 days before getting pregnant. The findings showed that nearly 2% of the women in the study had an ectopic pregnancy. About 1% of them had filled a benzodiazepine prescription before pregnancy. Overall, the drugs were linked to a 50% higher risk of having an ectopic pregnancy. When the researchers looked at women with specific conditions -- anxiety and insomnia -- they found that the drugs were associated with an approximately 30% higher risk of ectopic pregnancy. The researchers said that difference suggests that underlying conditions may play a role in the risk. Wall-Wieler said there are plausible ways these drugs could contribute to ectopic pregnancy. One example is that they might relax the muscles that normally contract and move the embryo from the fallopian tube into the uterus. Dr. Adi Davidov, associate chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City, said this study "has interesting evidence that suggests that perhaps benzodiazepine use during early pregnancy increases a woman's risk of ectopic pregnancy." He agreed that benzodiazepines might affect the ability of the muscles to push the embryo out of the fallopian tubes. "It would therefore make sense that benzodiazepines may potentially increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy," Davidov said. But he cautioned that there are many other factors that could increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy. For example, women who are prescribed benzodiazepines may be different in some ways than women who are not, he said. Typically women who take benzodiazepines are usually older, and being older is a risk factor for ectopic pregnancy. Wall-Wieler said these medications can be an important aspect of treatment for certain conditions, so women should talk with their doctors before making any changes. She said if you're on one of these medications and thinking of becoming pregnant, your doctor may be able to switch you to another medication. If that's not possible, she said, your doctor will need to monitor you for signs of ectopic pregnancy. "Women who are using benzodiazepines need to be aware of the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy, because what's really dangerous is if it goes unnoticed and there is a rupture of the fallopian tube," she said. The findings were published June 3 in the journal Human Reproduction. More information Learn more about ectopic pregnancy from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The current plans for summer schooling for children with intellectual disabilities and autism are against the States obligations to people with disabilities. That is the warning from Inclusion Ireland following briefings with the Department of Education on its plans for this summers July Provision. The programme, which offers additional schooling to children with special needs during the summer months, is being narrowed this year, according to the charity. This is mainly due to the departments plans to provide summer schooling to children who are in special schools and classes. Separately, respite will be provided for children with complex conditions through the HSE. According to Inclusion Ireland, the plans do no include children with disabilities and autism who attend mainstream schools. The proposed narrowing of the scheme by the Department is anti-mainstreaming and against the states obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, a spokesperson for Inclusion Ireland said. Parents for many years have been giving their child the experience of mainstream education to be now told it will cost them a vital summer support. In a statement, a Department of Education spokesman said that no decisions about the scheme have been made yet. A proposal is being developed and the Minister is due to update cabinet colleagues next week. Anybody who has been eligible in previous years will be eligible again this summer. We are working on providing both a school based scheme and a home based scheme. It is not the case that only children who are in special classes or special schools will be able to avail of the programme or attend any service offered as part of the programme. Government wants to maximise number of students back in school Meanwhile, the Department of Education intends to maximize students' return to classrooms at the end of August, the Minister for Education has said. The advice on reopening schools will be published next Friday after a memo is brought to Cabinet, Joe McHugh told the Dail on Thursday. "Just to reassure people, it's our intention in the Department of Education to maximize the return of students back at the end of August," Mr McHugh said. "There is no ambiguity around that, that is our intention but obviously we are going to be guided completely by the health advice. If the current health guidelines stay as they are, we are in a position where we will be looking at a partial reopening [of schools], he said. Modelling carried out by the Department of Education around the current health advice would mean a partial return, he added. However, officials in the Department of Education and the public health officials are looking at different advice, and emerging evidence from other countries that have reopened schools. This includes Denmark, France, Greece and the UK. The department is also looking at Northern Ireland. Ireland has the largest class sizes in Europe, making its return to classrooms more difficult than its European counterparts. Thats according to Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Fein education spokesman. It's a shocking indictment of the governments in recent years that we are in this position, he said. Parents are frustrated, and want to see the return of some normality when it comes to their childrens education, he added. Meanwhile, Mr McHugh has asked teachers and special needs assistants who can do so to think about supporting a summer programme for vulnerable students. The Department of Education is working with the Department of Health and the HSE to develop a programme for students with special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage. "The length of school closure has been a long one, a lot longer than what we might have hoped for," Mr McHugh said. Summer provision would give children an important opportunity to reconnect with their schooling, he added. - This story was updated at 7.57 Navy leaders are looking for spots across the globe where ships can pull into port and sailors can enjoy free time without a big risk that they'll bring the novel coronavirus back onto the vessel. The service has taken extraordinary steps to stem the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. More than 2,500 sailors have tested positive for the disease, which swept through the crews of two deployed warships, sidelining both. Read next: Mattis Breaks Silence on Trump, Denounces Divisiveness as Protests Rage The outbreak has forced the Navy to change a lot about the way it's operating, and that includes where ships -- which have taken a host of measures to keep their crews healthy -- should pull into port. Now, leaders are looking at areas that can be considered "safe havens" as the global pandemic is expected to continue for months. Naval Base Guam will be one of those "safe haven" spots, Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, the Navy's operations chief in charge of its COVID-19 response, told reporters Wednesday. The service is also working on safe-haven ports in the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, he said. "We've got a couple of locations that we've identified ... so that we can pull in and get [rest and relaxation] for the crew, a chance to relax a little bit -- get some burgers, swim in the water, that type of thing," Sawyer said. "But it's a challenge. And it's the next one on our horizon for us to really work through." The question of whether port calls could leave ships' crews vulnerable to catching COVID-19 was raised soon after the virus outbreak started on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in March. The ship stopped in Vietnam that month, after it was clear the pandemic was spreading worldwide. Officials later said they believe the outbreak began after infected flight crews brought deliveries aboard the ship rather than the stop in Vietnam, but the global pandemic has led to policy changes for ships pulling into or leaving ports. Sawyer, along with Navy Surgeon General Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, recently led efforts to develop service-wide guidance for operating in the "new normal" during the pandemic. New policies are in the works at naval bases around the world, but pulling into foreign ports could prove more challenging. "The areas under our control [where we have] the ability to create a safe haven certainly is the first step," Gillingham said Wednesday. "Then, how we do that in cooperation with our host and partner nation I think will then follow." Officials have said the Navy's COVID-19 mitigation measures are expected to be in place "for a lengthy period." Sawyer added that will likely be until a vaccine for the illness becomes available. The crew of the amphibious command ship Blue Ridge recently experienced a "safe haven" liberty during a stop in Okinawa, Japan, after a record-breaking 70-plus consecutive days at sea. The previous record was 64 consecutive days at sea, according to a Navy news release, which the ship set in 1972 during the Vietnam War. During the port call, the Blue Ridge crew could access certain areas of the pier and neighboring beach. The sailors weren't allowed to physically interact with anyone outside their crew, including anyone on the base or in the local community. It's just one of the ways Navy leaders are looking to protect the "bubbles" they're working to build around ships and their crews to prevent another COVID-19 outbreak, Sawyer said. "Anytime that you're going to allow the threat vector into your bubble, you have to be concerned," he added. "Whether that's logistics coming over from a tanker, a [carrier onboard delivery] flight coming in, or a ship pulling into a port. So we are developing those procedures in our ports as we speak." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Navy Announces New Rules for Deploying After Ships' COVID-19 Outbreaks Representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs of Ukraine and Israel hold political consultations on the launch of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. "I and [Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel] Yuval Rotem have started political consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs of Ukraine and Israel in a video conference format. One of the main issues is to launch a Free Trade Agreement in the near future and intensify trade relations," Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar posted on Twitter. As a reminder, the Ukraine-Israel Free Trade Agreement was signed on January 21, 2019. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified it in July 2019. In August 2019, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law ratifying the FTA with Israel. The reason for the delay in Israel's ratification is the constant holding of parliamentary elections. They took place for the third time in a row on March 2 as Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to form a government after two elections in April and September 2019. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Joel Lion said yesterday that Israel planned to ratify the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine as soon as possible. ol STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The governor called on district attorneys across New York state to hold those who are not peacefully protesting criminally liable. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly said that those who are looting and rioting are taking advantage of George Floyds murder and using it for their own gain. Floyd, a black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis last Monday after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been charged along with three other officers who were present at the scene. Floyds death sparked protests across the city, state and nation, that included instances of violence and civil unrest. The civil unrest caused Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to set a curfew for New York City. On Monday night the curfew began at 11 p.m. but was moved to 8 p.m. the following day. It was then extended through Sunday, June 7. Despite the curfew, protestors still remained on the streets throughout the city and as night fell. Looters and those looking to cause violence and destruction took to the streets. Charge people criminally and hold them liable, Cuomo said on Thursday. People around the state are looting, which is a criminal activity, because they know that police departments are busy with protestors and theyve using it as an opportunity to break the law, he said. You look at these videos; it would be nonsensical if the police were arresting looters and then they were returned to the street to loot again. District attorneys charge the crimes, he said. SETTING BAIL FOR LOOTERS Burglary 2 could be burglary with a dangerous instrument like a rock or a brick. If you have looters who are breaking windows and stealing, these people should be charged for the crimes they are committing and bail should be set, he went on to say. Secretary to Gov. Cuomo Melissa DeRosa added: I understand some of the [district attorneys] may not feel comfortable charging that as Burglary 2 because traditionally they charge that as burglary 3 -- but they have the tools available to them and I think what the governor is saying is to use them; they are not using the tools available to them. District Attorney Michael McMahon said there have been no protest-related arrests on Staten Island and things have remained peaceful without the use of unnecessary violence. McMahon thanked the boroughs precincts for their commitment to safety and also allowing protestors to assemble. It is my sincere hope that Staten Island continues to set the example for how communities and law enforcement can work together toward a common goal while remaining peaceful, McMahon said. Adding: At the same time, my office remains ready to hold bad actors accountable and will not tolerate violent acts against our neighbors and local businesses. While I have long supported ending cash bail, I firmly believe that we need judicial discretion in order to asses threat to public safety and risk of re-offense when deciding to hold defendants." "That is why I continue to call on the Legislature to change bail reform laws, especially in times like these. Simply charging second-degree burglary, as the Governor suggests, is not a fail-safe for our current situation. Rather, I strongly agree with Manhattan DA Cy Vances recent call for the Governor to use his emergency powers so that a judge can use discretion to set bail in appropriate situations in order to prevent further violent acts from being committed by these same individuals. Individuals who attack police officers must also be held accountable for their criminal actions, Cuomo said. That is intolerable; the police are doing an impossible job trying to deal with the protestors and to stop looting and keep themselves safe because they want to go home to their families. There is no tolerance in any part of this state for violence against police officers, Cuomo said. MALLIOTAKIS CALLS FOR QUALIFYING OFFENSES ADDED TO BAIL ELIGIBILITY Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis is calling for additions to the bail law that took effect on April 1 that would include additional qualifying offenses for bail eligibility at a judges discretion. Also calling for the addition is Michael Tannousis, who Malliotakis is supporting to be her successor should she beat Rep. Max Rose for the boroughs congressional seat. Rioting, arson, assault, burglary, robbery, grand larceny, criminal mischief, criminal anarchy, menacing and other felonies are among the additions the two hope to see with other fixes that will take effect on July 1. "We restored judicial discretion for a number of serious crimes, we fixed the discovery process for our prosecutors and better protect witnesses, and we ensured that those who are given a second chance and commit another crime can be held. While I am proud of these fixes, we can't stop there. The events of this week proved the need for further corrections. We have seen police cars put on fire, churches vandalized, the businesses of hardworking citizens destroyed, and police officers attacked, Malliotakis said. Michael Tannousis said, "This issue is one of the reasons I decided to run to succeed Assemblywoman Malliotakis last year. As a prosecutor, I knew that policies like the so-called bail reforms would undermine our police and make our communities less safe, and that is exactly what happened. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. BAGHDAD While Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi takes steps to improve relations with neighboring Arab countries and seeks to carry out economic projects with them in an attempt to ward off the repercussions of the current economic crisis, a number of parliament blocs are preparing a draft law to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for dispatching suicide bombers to Iraq. Upon taking office, Saudi Arabia was the first destination of Iraq's new finance minister, Ali Abdul Amir Alawi. Alawi, who also serves as deputy prime minister, arrived in Saudi Arabia at the end of May as Kadhimis envoy to discuss the electricity grid connection between the two countries, bring Saudi investments into Iraq and demand that Iraqs share under Aprils OPEC+ deal, which was signed to address the major decline in global oil prices, be increased. Although the visit was fruitful, some Shiite political parties, including Nouri al-Malikis State of Law Coalition and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Fatah bloc in parliament, denounced the move taken toward the Gulf States and demanded Saudi Arabia be prosecuted instead. These blocs are seeking a law similar to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) passed by the US Congress in 2016, allowing for the prosecution of foreign states, including Saudi Arabia for the 9/11 attacks. They also started a social media campaign to market their draft law. The parties in favor of suing Saudi Arabia did not specify the legislations mechanisms that would force Riyadh to compensate Baghdad. Saad al-Muttalbi of the State of Law Coalition told Al-Monitor the parliamentary blocs that are part of Al-Binaa Alliance, including the State of Law Coalition and the Fatah bloc, are determined to enact a law to hold accountable Saudi parties that publicly promoted and funded the journey of Saudi suicide bombers in Iraq following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003. He added, This law, which some blocs seek to pass, does not come as a reaction to the Iraqi-Saudi rapprochement. Rather, it seeks to restore respect to Iraq and compensate the victims of suicide attacks. Muttalbi expressed hope that the law or demands for compensation would not affect Iraqi-Saudi economic deals. He said, We are neither opposing the electricity grid connection nor against the Saudi investments in Iraq. We hope that the two issues (passing the law of compensation and economic ties with Saudi) remain separate." The State of Law Coalition is trying to separate Saudi official authorities from religious and commercial institutions in Saudi Arabia, which it accuses of funding terrorism in Iraq. Yet the Fatah bloc, which includes PMU leaders, has opted for a hard-line stance toward Saudi Arabia and sees no harm in severing ties with Riyadh. Abdel Hadi Saadawi, member of parliament for Fatah, has even said it is the foreign ministers job to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. He is required to take actions at the international forums and garner international support for a lawsuit to be filed before the [International Criminal Court], and for compensating the families of car bomb and suicide attack victims. There are no constitutional articles prohibiting the enactment of a law to prosecute a foreign state or institution. Yet the Iraqi Constitution does not include provisions explaining how such a law would be enacted. Tariq Harb, jurist and chairman of the Legal Culture Association, explained, The parliamentary parties attempt to legislate a law that would hold Saudi Arabia accountable will not be fruitful. No country is able to hold another accountable through domestic law. Also, international law has not touched on the governments liability for their citizens actions outside their borders. The Saudi government did not send suicide bombers to fight in Iraq. Speaking to Al-Monitor over the phone, Harb said JASTA is a special case because Saudi funds are deposited in US banks and 9/11 victims are compensated through a congressional law. If the draft law is passed, Iraq won't be able to obtain compensation from Riyadh. On the contrary, he added, "Tense Saudi-Iraqi ties and annulment of bilateral trade deals would be harmful to Iraq." It is unlikely that such a law passes in parliament due to a lack of support. The majority of Sunni, Kurdish and even Shiite parties are against the expected damage that would be caused by weakened Iraqi-Saudi ties. Also, the law could not achieve the desired goals, especially when it comes to compensation, which would not be binding for Riyadh. Such a thing could be seen as mere political showmanship or an attempt to obstruct Kadhimis efforts to promote ties with Saudi Arabia and contain Iraqs economic crisis. If those blocs opposing the move to open up to Riyadh manage to annul the agreements Alawi signed during his Saudi visit, especially those regarding the electricity grid connection and supplying Iraqs thermal power stations, the country would be at risk of US sanctions after the four-month waiver ends. The United States gave Iraq a four-month waiver on May 7 to import electricity and gas from Iran. That would also mean that the issue is part of the US-Iranian conflict, which has heightened in Iraq. Al-Monitor has learned from sources close to Kadhimi who spoke on condition of anonymity that Shiite blocs are giving him free rein in drawing his foreign policy so as to serve the interests of the country and save it from the economic crisis and US sanctions. Yet these blocs changed their minds after media outlets revealed a US request that Kadhimi promote ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to minimize dependence on Iranian goods and commodities. That explains why these political blocs are resorting at this time to parliament to oblige Kadhimi to adhere to a specific policy with Riyadh. By Laman Ismayilova From May 9 till September 9 2020, PostEurop is proud to present the most beautiful 2020 EUROPA stamps entries for the theme "Ancient Postal Routes". Azerbaijna is participating in the competition with Shah Ismail post stamp. Produced by Azermarka LLC, the stamp is dedicated to the messenger service established by Shah Ismail Khatai in 1501. At the compeition, the post stamp is presented by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies. Shah Ismail has left a deep mark in the Azerbaijan's rich history. He declared Azerbaijani as the state language, and wrote beautiful epic poems under the name Khatai. Ismail was only a year old when his father was killed by the Aq Qoyunlu. For six years Ismail was hiding from his enemies in the palace of Mirza Ali, who was faithful to Safavids. Ruler of Aq Qoyunlu Rustam urgently requires the issuance of Ismail, and sent threatening letters to Mirza Ali. Making sure in their futility, he sent 300 horsemen to the palace. Within years of hiding, Ismail studied science and military affairs before emerging at the age of 12 years to take over Azerbaijan. Soon young Ismail took under control the territories of today's Iran, as well as Iraq, the Caucasus, parts of Central Asia, and western Afghanistan. During his rule the state became to be called Azerbaijan and Turkish for almost a century remained the state language. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Cyclone Nisarga, which weakened into a depression earlier in the day further weakened into a 'well marked low pressure area' and lay over central parts of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday evening, said the India Meteorological Department. IMAGE: Vehicles ply on a waterlogged street following heavy rainfall, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nisarga, at Uran in Navi Mumbai, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo The cyclone made landfall in Raigad district on Wednesday afternoon, blowing in from the Arabian sea, with an intensity of severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph peaking at 120 kmph. But it spared Mumbai, the country's financial capital which is already struggling to cope up with the coronavirus pandemic. Damage to houses and crops was reported mainly in coastal Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra before the storm weakened. As per a Maharashtra government statement, six persons lost lives in incidents related to the cyclone while 16 suffered injuries in the state. Six cattle were also killed, the statement said. Trees and electricity poles were uprooted in many areas. Parts of Raigad district plunged into darkness and telephone connectivity too was hit in the area. "The depression (remnant of the severe cyclonic storm Nisarga) over south Madhya Pradesh and adjoining Vidarbha (in Maharashtra) moved north-northeastwards, further weakened into a Well Marked Low Pressure area and lay over central parts of Madhya Pradesh at 1730 hrs IST of today," the IMD said. "It is very likely to weaken gradually into a Low pressure area," it added. The Harnai observatory of the IMD in Ratnagiri recorded 121 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Thursday. In Mumbai, the Colaba weather station recorded 50 mm rainfall, while the Santacruz station registered 47 mm rainfall during this period. Coastal district of Ratnagiri and north Maharashtra district of Nashik recorded 30 mm and 1 mm rainfall, respectively. 'Moderate rain/thundershowers' were likely in the city and suburbs of Mumbai and 'heavy falls likely at isolated places over the next 24 hours', the IMD forecast added. The gusty winds and rains seem to have had a positive impact on Mumbai's air quality index, which improved to 17 on Thursday, the best reading for this year. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked officials to complete panchnamas or inspection reports of losses due to the cyclone in Raigad district within two days. Speaking at a video conference to take a stock of damage, Thackeray also directed that electricity supply be restored quickly, said a statement from the chief minister's office. Thackeray directed the authorities to provide aid of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those killed. Cyclone Nisarga, which made landfall near Alibaug on Wednesday afternoon, felled over one lakh tress in Raigad district. Shrivardhan and Murud tehsils were worst hit with all communication being paralyzed, the CMO statement said. The cyclone dumped 72.5 mm of rain in Maharashtra while 78,191 people were shifted to safer places, the CMO statement added. WATERLOO Instead of standing on the stage in an auditorium and lecturing to hundreds of students taking microeconomics, this fall Ken Jackson will sit in his home office and talk into his computer screen as first-year students listen in. Giving a live lecture to 600 students is not new to me, but giving it virtually is, said Jackson, an economics professor with the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. Laurier and the University of Waterloo will deliver the vast majority of classes remotely this fall. At the University of Waterloo approximately 97 per cent of undergraduate courses will be offered online, compared to the nearly seven per cent offered online last fall. When it comes to graduate course offerings, about 82 per cent are being offered online this fall, compared to just over two per cent last fall. Laurier said it is still working through plans for the fall and not able to provide this information. For Jackson, who has been teaching at Laurier for 12 years, that means looking for different ways to host office hours, deliver his lectures, answer questions from students, and design and mark assignments. The idea is to be as flexible as possible, said Jackson, adding he wants to provide students with a number of opportunities to learn. Hell lecture live using the Zoom video chat program and will ask students to answer multiple-choice questions posed in class using an online app tied to their student numbers. This allows him to assign participation marks. Ill work through the common mistakes and how I would have answered the questions, he said. Just as he would stick around after in-person lectures, hell stay online for any questions students might have at the end of class. He recognizes this lecture format wont work for all students. We have other students who wont be able to join us live, Jackson said. They might be living in another country in a different time zone; two oclock in the afternoon here is two oclock in the morning in Beijing, and thats a difficult time to learn. Those students will be able to watch a recording of his lectures and complete a short quiz for participation marks. But there are other ways Jackson will reach out to his students including during online office hours and in online discussion boards. Jackson also plans to run optional Zoom discussion sessions and answer common questions from students in short video clips. Professor James Skidmore, who is the director of the Waterloo Centre for German studies at the University of Waterloo, has been teaching online for about 15 years. Instead of hosting live lectures he offers shorter online videos of himself explaining specific topics and he uses online discussion forums to engage with students in the course material. His largest classes have about 60 students. My feeling is the students are developing good reading skills and theyre required to communicate more than they would in a regular classroom because theyre having to participate in these online discussions throughout the course, he said. He acknowledges there are advantages and disadvantages to both online learning and classroom learning, but one isnt necessarily better than the other. Online teaching isnt worse than classroom teaching, its different, he said, adding one of the disadvantages to classroom teaching is the inevitable drop in attendance as the term goes on. In teaching three online courses this summer, Jackson has also identified Zoom exhaustion as a challenge for him when he is using that particular tool. When were in person with people we take more breaks in a conversation, he said. In the virtual world, we are getting cues, but we are not getting the cues were used to. While moving courses online is intensive, Skidmore said quality classes can be offered to students in this format. Its the student learning thats important here, and we have the ability and the capability of furthering their learning. Help in transition A number of supports are being offered at both universities to help faculty move classes online. For example, Waterloo has hired 320 co-op students to work from May to August to help faculty move their face-to-face summer classes online. They will also help faculty prepare classes scheduled for the fall term. Third-year university student David Klomfass, 21, is one of these co-op students. He is working full time from his parents house just outside of Cambridge and is assigned to help a number of professors in the School of Accounting and Finance. This week Ill be helping one of our instructors with video editing, he said. Hes also helped others facilitate virtual lectures and meetings with students. He said the professors hes working with are looking for immediate feedback about their summer courses. Theyre not waiting until the end of the semester to make improvements, he said. Klomfass isnt just helping get courses online, hes also a student and has a full course load planned for the fall. Ultimately, its about making the best experience for students, he said, which means the best experience for him too. At Laurier, supports including workshops and one-on-one help for faculty members. For the fall, were instituting a faculty peer mentoring program, said Kristiina Montero, acting associate vice-president of teaching and learning at Laurier. Montero said peer mentoring will allow faculty who have experience with this type of teaching to share their expertise with their colleagues. Calls For Dismissal Of Ukraine's Powerful Interior Minister Grow Louder After Alleged Police Rape, Gangland Shooting By Christopher Miller June 03, 2020 KYIV -- The 26-year-old woman was brought to a police station in the central Ukrainian town of Kaharlyk, where officers told her she would be questioned as a witness to an alleged theft. But according to the State Bureau of Investigation, two policemen covered her face with a gas mask and handcuffed her, fired a gun over her head and then raped her several times on the night of May 23. A week later and just 90 kilometers north, in a residential suburb of Kyiv, some 100 gunmen from two rival criminal gangs engaged in a shoot-out in broad daylight. The melee, a video of which went viral, left several people wounded and spawned comparisons to the anarchic, hyper-violent video game Grand Theft Auto on social media. The incidents highlight what critics of Ukraine's formidable interior minister, Arsen Avakov, say is his failure to reform the police and bring law and order to the country. They also add to a growing list of high-profile cases in recent years in which Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have been accused of involvement, negligence, or botching the investigation on Avakov's watch. Now those critics say it's time for Avakov to go -- or, as some have put it during past protests against him, to "Avak-off" -- a play on the minister's surname and the F-word in English. These are not the first calls for Avakov's dismissal during his six-year tenure but they are the latest -- and they seem to be louder and coming from more circles than before. Those expressing their desire for his ouster include members of civil society, especially human rights groups and anti-corruption activists, and lawmakers, some of them from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's ruling party. They argue that Avakov has abused his power for too long and failed to reform a law enforcement system that prioritizes politics over protecting the public. "Let's face it, he's been the interior minister for the past six years and six years is a long term, an amount of time that allows a person to make changes," Inna Sovsun, a lawmaker from the Holos (Voice) party who is pushing for Avakov's removal, told RFE/RL. "If there was a chance he was going to do something, he would have done it already." "That is our argument [for his dismissal]: It's not because of this rape case or the shooting. It's because those two cases are examples of the biggest problems facing law enforcement in Ukraine, which he's not dealing with," Sovsun said. Her party had gathered 55 signatures from lawmakers across parties in support of Avakov's dismissal by June 2. But at least 150 signatures are needed to force an extraordinary session of the 450-seat parliament to discuss his removal. In a statement sent to reporters on June 3, the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), echoed Sovsun's sentiment, calling the alleged police rape and shoot-out "evidence of the desperate need for real police reform and the resistance of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to bringing changes." The 'Tsar' Appointed to lead the Interior Ministry in the aftermath of the 2014 Euromaidan uprising, when massive protests toppled Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych and his government, which was seen as riddled with corruption, Avakov has survived several changes of government and two presidencies. In that time, his power has grown so much that he is known to be the second-most-influential person in the country behind the president. As interior minister, he controls most of Ukraine's law enforcement bodies, from the National Police force on down to local police departments, as well as the National Guard. The border guards, coast guard, Emergency Situations Ministry, and Migration Service also fall under the control of his ministry. "The police and Interior Ministry under control of Avakov is kind of a country within a country, with its own rules and with its own tsar, whose name is Arsen Borisovich the Absolute," Daria Kalenyuk, executive director of AntAC, told RFE/RL, referring to Avakov by his patronymic and a tongue-in-cheek nickname that officials within the ministry are said to use when talking about him. Avakov's reach also extends to parliament, where he "totally controls" the Committee on Law Enforcement and can get most members to "vote as he says," Oleksandra Ustinova, a Voice lawmaker who serves on the committee, told RFE/RL. "Avakov is trying to get as much power as possible." In what government watchdogs and activists fear may be another attempt to broaden his powers, the Interior Ministry recently created a new branch known as the Department of the Protection of the Interests of Society and the State. In a statement sent to RFE/RL, Avakov's office said the branch was not an attempt to broaden his powers but "a structural unit of the police headquarters within the criminal police, which carries out operational and investigative activities to identify, prevent, and stop offenses against public safety and order, human and civil rights and freedoms." About the public calls for Avakov's resignation, his office said he will respond to the issue when he delivers a report to parliament on June 5. 'No Police Reform' Critics say Avakov's expansive powers have hampered efforts to implement crucial reforms of the law enforcement system. Khatia Dekanoidze, a former Georgian minister who served as chief of Ukraine's National Police from November 2015 to November 2016, told RFE/RL that reforms she moved to put in place had since been upended. As part of those reforms, Dekanoidze imposed a vetting process for the police that saw more than 5,600 corrupt and unprofessional officers, or about 6 percent of the police force, fired. Today, that process no longer exists and many of those officers have been rehired after courts ruled against their firing, she said. "There is no police reform at all," Dekanoidze said. "The [National] Police is a swamp, frankly speaking." Critics charge that the reform failure has allowed organized criminal activity to flourish, perpetrators of serious crimes that have shaken the country to go unpunished, and law enforcement to operate with impunity. Sovsun cited reporting from civil rights groups that found some 60,000 cases of police brutality and torture within police departments occur in Ukraine each year. "This is a terrible, terrible number and it shows that the system isn't functioning to protect the people of Ukraine." Controversial Cases Before the alleged rape and shoot-out in late May, there were the high-profile cases of activists Kateryna Handzyuk, who was doused with acid and later died from complications, and Iryna Nozdrovska, a lawyer who was allegedly murdered by a neighbor whose son had run his car over her sister -- neither of which have been fully solved, and both of which are shadowed by allegations of police misconduct or negligence. Then there was the fatal shooting of a 5-year-old boy by two allegedly drunken police officers, both of whom were released on a lowered bail last month. There were calls for Avakov's resignation after that case in June 2019 and Zelenskiy said, "I am sure that there will be political responsibility and criminal liability." But neither followed. Avakov has also faced allegations of corruption, particularly in a case involving his son and the alleged embezzlement of state budget funds allocated for the purchase of 6,000 backpacks by the Interior Ministry for forces fighting Russia-backed separatists in the country's east. He has denied wrongdoing. 'A Smart Politician' Through it all, Avakov has outlasted calls for his removal and cemented his power. Critics say it is because he has made himself indispensable to each president he has served under. Dekanoidze said the argument often made by Avakov and his supporters goes something like this: the minister is the only one who knows how to maintain order and without him in place chaos would reign. "Avakov has always said, 'If I'm not the minister, the system will fall,'" she said. His detractors do not buy that argument. "I don't believe this," Kalenyuk said. "Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia for six years, has many other very capable managers, officers with high integrity, who can impose proper management over the Interior Ministry and police in Ukraine." She said Avakov had managed to stay in power for so long and despite so many government personnel changes not because he is viewed as the only man capable of maintaining public order but because he is "a very smart politician." "He always plays two or three or four sides" at a time, she said. As an example, she cited what she said was Avakov's ability to manipulate lawmakers in Zelenskiy's ruling party to vote against the president when it serves the minister's own interest. She also said Avakov had worked hard to win over Ukraine's international partners. For instance, the Interior Ministry's purchase of dozens of helicopters from France bought him much praise, she said. Another example, according to Kalenyuk, was that Avakov warned then-U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch that there were people close to President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who were trying to smear her reputation and get her removed from her post, while also providing security for those people, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, she said. That information came to light in Yovanovitch's deposition in November and later in documents released by the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives during the process of Trump's impeachment. A seeming combination of broad power, political savvy, and a knack for shaking off attempts to displace him could make this latest push for his dismissal an uphill battle, Sovsun said. But it is one that she and other detractors said was worth fighting. Activists were planning a protest against Avakov on June 5, when he is set to address parliament, while continuing to gather signatures to officially debate his removal. Kalenyuk does not expect Avakov to go down without a fight. "When he loses his post, he loses his power," she said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/calls-for-dismissal-of- ukraine-s-powerful-interior-minister-grow- louder-after-alleged-police-rape- gangland-shooting/30651041.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 Cleveland State student Beau Neidich is the recent recipient of two scholarships to UTC, the UTC Assets and Deans Merit Scholarships available through the College of Engineering and Computer Science. These scholarships provide academic and financial support for students majoring in Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Each year, up to 12 students will be selected to receive the UTC Assets Scholarship. Each awarded student will receive a scholarship of $7,400 per year for two years. Four out of the 12 students may be awarded for the third year. Ms. Neidich was also awarded the Deans Merit Scholarship which is an additional $1,000 for the 2020-2021 school year. To be awarded these scholarships is a tremendous financial relief, said Ms. Neidich. I am very appreciative to be a recipient of such generosity, because now I can focus on what really matters, which is learning. Being able to take my mind off monetary concerns is a breath of fresh air! During her time at CSCC, she participated in the Statewide Mathematics competition in Calculus last semester, taking home second place. In addition, she was an active member of the Engineering Club at Cleveland State, as well as in her communityserving as a mentor for students who want to pursue a career in the STEM fields. Dr. Mathai Augustine, CSCC Math Professor, said, Beau has been one of the best students in my classes. She is very smart, hardworking and always tried do her best in class. She was always very helpful to her peers, organizing study groups that will also benefit her fellow students. CSCC was a great stepping stone, said Ms. Neidich. The college has a great articulation agreement with UTC and simply a good connection with the university, which has continued to get stronger every year since the Tennessee Promise. Ms. Neidich is a graduate of Walker Valley High School and is the daughter of Aaron and Barbara Neidich of Bozeman, Montana, both Cleveland State graduates. Ms. Neidich plans to pursue a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from UTC. The coronavirus pandemic has nuked Australian theatre. Yet our artists have not been idle. Companies and institutions have begun to release ad hoc programs online, the latest being the Malthouse Theatre with The Lockdown Monologues. These freshly commissioned snapshots of life during the crisis, featuring actors performing from their homes, will be livestreamed in three instalments over the next month. Given the profound difficulties the industry faces I really want to be encouraging about the first episode but there were issues that cannot be ignored. Recent events laid bare how deficient Australia is when it comes to recording theatrical performance. No one expects the quality of Londons National Theatre Live, but a subsidised theatre company should be able to produce something slicker than this. Amateurish bloopers piled up even before any actor appeared on screen. Viewers were emailed the wrong Vimeo link. Countdown music stopped and started without warning. Director Bridget Balodis intro referred to the COVID-19 crisis as more like a seismic shift than a sudden earthquake (surely a tautology). The monologues themselves had histrionic potential that was initially marred by extended buffering and visual lag which made the whole thing look as if it were being broadcast from the Moon. On a second (and crystal clear) viewing, though, writing and acting talent were obvious, offering a sincere and affecting attempt to embody the complex psychological rigours of lockdown. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 22, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Grassley Places Hold on Two Trump Nominees, Pending Rationale for Watchdog Firings Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said hes placing holds on two of President Donald Trumps nominees because he hasnt received sufficient justification for the firing of two inspector generals. Grassley in a statement Thursday said hes ramping up pressure on the president and top administration officials until I get reasons for the firings as required by law. It wasnt immediately clear which nominations Grassley was referencing. The Republican said hes raised alarm over watchdog ousters before, including during Democratic President Barack Obamas administration. He said his efforts are following through in a system meant to provide checks and balances. Trump recently ousted Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. Grassley said last month that Trump has the authority to dismiss inspectors general but said sufficient justification is necessary. The White House Counsels response failed to address this requirement, which Congress clearly stated in statute and accompanying reports. I dont dispute the presidents authority under the Constitution, but without sufficient explanation, its fair to question the presidents rationale for removing an inspector general, Grassley said. State Department Inspector General Steve Linick departs the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on October 2, 2019. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) If the proper reasoning isnt put forth, people will be left to speculate about whether political of self-interests are behind the firings, the Senate Finance Committee chairman said. White House counsel Pat Cipollone said in a letter to Grassley that Trump appreciates and respects your longstanding support for the role that inspectors general play but that he can remove watchdogs if he loses confidence in them. In a brief letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in mid-May, Trump said he no longer had the fullest confidence in Linick, who was appointed to his position by Obama years ago. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that he advised Trump to fire Linick but declined to say why he made the recommendation. Pompeo denied knowledge of any investigations the inspector general had underway. Trump fired Atkinson, who handled the anonymous whistleblower complaint that led to the president being impeached, in early April, using similarly vague language about lacking the fullest confidence. Hes a total disgrace, Trump added at a press conference in Washington on April 4. Thats my decision. I have the absolute right. Michael Atkinson, inspector general of the Intelligence Community, leaves a meeting in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 4, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) He also noted that the anonymous whistleblowers complaint didnt have to be rushed and that Atkinson himself determined that there were indications of political bias by the complainant. Attorney General William Barr also spoke of the firing, saying in an April interview with Fox News that Atkinson exceeded his authority when he disclosed to Congress the whistleblower complaint that centered around a phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In a statement, Atkinson, nominated by Trump in 2017, said: It is hard not to think that the presidents loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general, and from my commitment to continue to do so. Cipollone, the White House lawyer, told Grassley that both firings were consistent with requirements of the Constitution and federal law. Other lawmakers have opened probes into the oustings, including House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), while Pelosi has said she wants more detailed answers on Linicks firing. Mimi Nguyen Ly, Tom Ozimek, Janita Kan, Mark Tapscott, and Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. A second group of former Grand Princess cruise ship passengers is suing Carnival Corp. and its Princess cruise line in a federal court in Los Angeles after a similar suit against the companies was filed this week. The more recent complaint filed Thursday is seeking class-action status on behalf of more than 2,000 passengers who sailed aboard the Grand Princess to Mexico in February, a trip that it alleges resulted in over 100 coronavirus infections and two deaths. The filing alleges the cruise line was aware of coronavirus infections on board another of its ships, the Diamond Princess, in Asia prior to the Feb. 11 departure of the Grand Princess from San Francisco to Mexico, but did not take measures to protect passengers from the virus. The lawsuit does not allege that crew were transferred over from the Diamond Princess to the Grand Princess. It instead claims, Defendants knew or should have known of the actual risk of viral contagion of COVID-19 aboard cruise ships, because of the separate outbreak aboard the Diamond Princess, which began when that vessel was docked in Yokohama, Japan. No warnings to passengers were issued, and advanced cleaning and medical screenings were not performed during the Mexico voyage of the Grand Princess, the lawsuit claims, characterizing this as negligence in the face of the separate Diamond Princess outbreak. In an email, Carnival Corp. spokesman Roger Frizzell declined to comment on the suit. Princess Cruise Lines referred to a previously emailed statement from spokeswoman Negin Kamali, noting that it does not comment on pending litigation but that Princess Cruises has been sensitive to the difficulties the COVID-19 outbreak has caused to our guests and crew. Our response throughout this process has focused on the well-being of our guests and crew within the parameters dictated to us by the government agencies involved and the evolving medical understanding of this new illness. On Tuesday a separate group of 60 former Grand Princess passengers also filed suit in Los Angeles federal court seeking class-action status over what they say was the cruise lines failure to protect them from the coronavirus. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Those passengers boarded the Grand Princess in San Francisco and headed to Hawaii in March after the ship returned from the February voyage to Mexico. That complaint claimed Princess Cruise Lines and its parent company Carnival Corp. did not properly clean the ship and alert passengers to the risk of viral infection aboard the Hawaii trip after its prior voyage to Mexico. That voyage to Hawaii was cut short after an outbreak of the coronavirus aboard the Grand Princess. The ship returned to the Bay Area and was stranded off the California coast for four days. It was eventually escorted to the Port of Oakland, and some passengers were sent to hospitals for treatment while others were quarantined at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice DALLAS, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyphen Solutions' BRIX is integrating with informXL's Analyzer, allowing homebuilders to create reports and analyze data faster and easier than ever before. "We're providing our builders with better business intelligence tools," said Dr. Felix Vasquez, CEO of Hyphen Solutions. "Our partnership with informXL supports our promise of giving builders the most collaborative and innovative solutions on the market." Analyzer is informXL's flagship, Excel-based reporting tool. BRIX customers will be able to pull data from BRIX and work live in Excel using informXL Analyzer, then work with the data to create highly customized reports, charts, graphs and data pivots. "Our partnership with Hyphen and kickoff with informXL for BRIX provides tremendous opportunity to extend our business intelligence suite to the building industry's leading cloud-based software platform," said Blayne Parrish, founder and president of informXL. "Bringing builders closer to their data is a goal that is core to both Hyphen and informXL, and we are thrilled to deliver our reporting suite to Hyphen customers." The integration will officially be available to BRIX users by August 2020. About Hyphen Solutions Twenty of the top 25 North American homebuilders trust Hyphen Solutions as their single source of truth in the construction management industry. Hyphen's software-as-a-service delivers greater operational control, better communications, lower costs, and increased productivity for homebuilders, subcontractors, and suppliers. More than 13,000 companies across the United States and Canada subscribe to Hyphen's comprehensive homebuilder and supply chain solutions, making the company the leading cloud-based construction management software provider. The Hyphen Network serves 560 builder divisions. In 2019, the system helped manage more than 306,000 new home construction projects. Visit www.hyphensolutions.com to learn more about the collaborative platform. About Hyphen BRIX Hyphen BRIX is a fully integrated enterprise resource planning solution for production and multi-family homebuilders across North America through BuildPro. Construction companies have built more than 176,000 homes using BRIX software. This cloud-based platform provides complete accounting, purchasing, sales, and scheduling solutions for homebuilders. Connecting field staff with the back office allows builders to streamline communications, automate routine tasks, speed up production, and minimize mistakes. Visit www.hyphensolutions.com for a complete listing of software products for the residential construction industry. About informXL Since 2009, Denver-based informXL has helped North America's fastest-growing homebuilder enterprises turn data into decision-shaping assets. The industry-leading intelligence suite provides visual analytics, dashboards, and mobile reporting for deep, actionable insights. Media Contact: Clarissa Schearer, 888-773-4768, [email protected] Axia Public Relations for Hyphen Solutions SOURCE Hyphen Solutions Lewis Hamilton was the man who gave a clear signal to the rest of Formula 1 this week. Use your popularity to speak out about the problems in America and most of them praise his action. Praise to Hamilton "It's a good thatt Hamilton's is letting himself be heard. It's good that the drivers are now making themselves heard and that should remain the case,'' Bernie Ecclestone said to AFP press agency. Ecclestone made a statement against racism in the past by cancelling the South African Grand Prix because of the apartheid. ''I was surprised how long it took someone to worry about the death of a dark person. I withdrew the licence from South Africar regarding the apartheid. That was wrong and disgusting. Unfortunately racism hasn't completely disappeared since then'', says the former Formula 1 top man. Dictator Yet Ecclestone himself is not completely free of sins. As leader of F1, he chose to race in Bahrain in 2012, despite an uprising and riots. However, Ecclestone is of the opinion that that was different. ''They wanted to take the lead in the country and that is quite different from what is the case in South Africa and America'', says Ecclestone who has a peculiar political preference. ''Apart from all the terrible things he's done, Hitler did a lot,'' Ecclestone said in a 2009 New York Times interview, for example. "I'm not the one who believes in democracy. I believe in a dictatorship and I didn't mean to adore Hitler, but I'm talking about the things that can happen quickly under such leadership,'' Ecclestone concluded eleven years later. Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Francisco Partners has raised nearly $10 billion across three funds to invest in technology companies, one of the largest pools of capital collected by a U.S. private-equity firm this year. The three oversubscribed technology-focused alternative investment funds with a combined $9.7 billion are the $7.45 billion Francisco Partners VI, $1.5 billion Francisco Partners Agility II and $750 million FP Credit Partners. Francisco Partners VI is a buyout fund, while Agility II is a growth equity fund and FP Credit is an opportunistic credit fund. Francisco Partners VI LP exceeded its $5.5bn target, said Dipanjan Deb, a co-founder and chief executive of the firm. It is Francisco's largest fund to date. The nearly $10bn haul demonstrates investors' continued appetite for private equity as an asset class, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the wider economy, including companies backed by buyout firms. Investors in Francisco Partners Fund VI include New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany; Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, Tigard; Nebraska Investment Council, Lincoln; Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System, Oklahoma City; and University of Houston. Investors in Francisco Partners Agility II include Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System and the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System, Columbus. In its 20-year history, FP has invested in or acquired more ...................... To view our full article Click here As protesters across North America demonstrated against police brutality toward Black people in the wake of George Floyds murder, three Toronto mental health workers were worrying about the impact of these experiences on the Black community. Having worked in the mental health and social services field for many years, Melissa Taylor, Susan Bascillo and Yemi Otukoya are familiar with issues affecting Black communities when it comes to accessing mental health services. In addition to a lack of adequate resources to offer culturally competent services, people in Black communities also often face stigma and judgment for seeking treatment for mental illnesses, say the three, who are all members of The Healing Collective therapeutic business on the Danforth. Black Mental Health Matters, an initiative the three professionals just launched, aims to equip local communities with the tools to address the realities that African Canadians face due to systemic racism. In just over a week, the effort has raised more than $150,000, which they plan to use to provide free and low-cost services to Afro-Indigenous and Black individuals across the province who need mental health support. The three professionals say the continued effects of racism, going back centuries, contribute to increased levels of anxiety, PTSD, depression and other possible mental health issues among the Black population, the group says. As its been documented over the years, it can be scary for members of the Black community to constantly be hypervigilant and keep looking over their shoulders, worrying about unprovoked violence, especially by police. Melissa Taylor said two of the main issues she has observed in the profession are overmedication and non-treatment. Too often, medication is used as a means of restraint or control when a Black person expresses anger or grief, she said. Black individuals are often undertreated in mental health institutions because practitioners are not asking the right questions or interpret fear or cognitive dissonance as non-compliance, she said. Mental health assessment tools are often developed and tested by non-Black practitioners and used on Black bodies, resulting in inconsistent results. I would like practitioners to ask about the impact of anti-Black racism rather than treating mistrust as paranoia. Taylors colleague Bascillo also noted the glaring lack of mental health services that take into account the cultural backgrounds of Black clients. She said that too often age, ethnic identity, traditional values and behaviours are not included in the general plans for mental health care. Access to care is also hindered by the scarcity of Black mental health therapists across the province, as well as the fact that the services remain largely unaffordable for many members of the Black communities. The group plans to use funds from this effort to provide therapy sessions and primary mental health care to Black people in need. They will also run workshops in the community to talk about issues like ancestral memory of trauma and post-traumatic slave syndrome, as well as run anti-oppressive workshops for mental health practitioners. There will also be some ongoing training for non-Black practitioners across Ontario to help them work with Black communities. Most of these sessions will be run virtually, at least as long as physical distancing measures against COVID-19 continue to be in place. If youre looking for help, these are some of the places that offer mental health programs specialized for the Black community: Black Mental Health Matters: Provides mental health support and counselling by Black therapists to Black people who are dealing with mental health concerns and substance abuse. Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth (SAPACCY): Provides support and counselling to African and Caribbean Canadian youth who are dealing with substance use and mental health concerns. Across Boundaries: Provides mental health services for racialized communities. Caribbean African Canadian Social Services (Cafcan): Focuses on strengthening the African Canadian community through the use of psycho-social services. Zero Gun Violence Movement: Provides youth and community leaders with the skills to mobilize and create safe and healthy communities. Taibu community health centre: Focuses on Black mental health and wellbeing. Womens Health in Womens Hands Community Health Centre: A community centre for racialized women in Toronto. WASHINGTON - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed the Democratic primary challenger of a veteran House committee chairman whose New York district is adjacent to her own, the progressive freshmans latest challenge to party leaders. Ocasio-Cortez, who in less than two years has shot from obscurity to one of Congress most recognized names and faces, used a series of tweets late Wednesday to announce she was endorsing Jamaal Bowman, an educator. That meant Ocasio-Cortez was trying to topple fellow Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, 73, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Engel, a liberal, is in his 16th House term and represents a district from parts of the Bronx and Westchester, next door to Ocasio-Cortez home base of the Bronx and Queens. This moment requires renewed and revitalized leadership across the country AND at the ballot box, Ocasio-Cortez, 30, tweeted as she lent her support to Bowman. Her announcement came during the second week of nationwide protests against the killing of black men by police officers and after President Donald Trumps display of physical force and taunts against the demonstrators, some of whom have been violent. She called Bowman, who is African American, a profound community leader. Engels district has mostly black and Hispanic voters. Ocasio-Cortezs move also meant she was defying House Democratic leaders, who have stood behind party incumbents facing primary challengers. When she first entered Congress last year, Ocasio-Cortez and three other young freshmen women calling themselves The Squad clashed repeatedly with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., though in recent months those battles have receded. Engel has reported raising more than $1.6 million through March, about triple Bowmans haul. But Engel has been accused of spending insufficient time in his district, and Bowmans challenge is considered legitimate. Bowman claimed a fundraising bonanza this week after Engel was overheard at a news conference seeking time to address the crowd. He told the event organizer that he wouldnt care about speaking if he didnt face a primary. Engel campaign spokesman Tom Watson said the lawmaker lauded the combined skills, ethics and experience of colleagues he said have endorsed him, including Pelosi, civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and the Congressional Black Caucus. Watson also provided a statement in which Engel explained his news conference remark by saying that running for re-election, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand. Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed two other challengers to conservative House Democrats for this years elections. Marie Newman defeated Rep. Daniel Lipinski in an Illinois district south of Chicago, while Rep. Henry Cuellar defeated his Ocasio-Cortez-backed opponent, Jessica Cisneros. A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the House Democrats political arm looks forward to Engel continuing to serve his community for years to come. The district is solidly Democratic, with the primary winner all but assured of being elected in November. Trump Says 'Common Sense' To Invite Russia to G7 By RFE/RL June 03, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump has said it is "common sense" to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to an expanded Group of Seven (G7) summit. Speaking to Fox News radio on June 3, Trump said the G7 leading industrialized nations need to talk to Russia despite its policies on the international stage and illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. "It's not a question of what he's done. It's a question of common sense," Trump said. "The problem is many of the things that we talk about are about Putin, so we're just sitting around wasting time because then you have to finish your meeting and somebody has to call Putin or deal with Putin on different things. And I say have him in the room," Trump said. On May 30, Trump said he would postpone the G7 summit from June to September because of the coronavirus pandemic and expand the list of invitees to include Australia, Russia, South Korea, and India. Some commentators suggested the expanded list was meant in part to isolate China. Trump described the G7 as a "very outdated group of countries" that in its current format doesn't properly represent what is happening in the world. The G7 includes the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, France, Britain, and Italy. Russia was expelled from the G8 in 2014 after it invaded and illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Moscow has simultaneously supported separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Other G7 nations have responded coolly to the idea of having Russia rejoin the elite group. Germany on June 3 said that as the host this year Trump could invite any country he wanted to the summit as a guest, but that any change to the group's format would need the agreement of all the members. "Inviting guests to the G7 has precedent, and is a matter for the presidency," German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said. But "if someone wants to change the format of the G7, that could only happen in any case with a unanimous decision by the G7," Seibert said. France similarly said there has been no change in Russian behavior to justify Moscow reentering the group. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 1 said he opposes reintegrating Moscow into the G7. "Russia was excluded from the G7 after it invaded Crimea a number of years ago," Trudeau told reporters. "Its continued disrespect and flaunting of international rules and norms is why it remains outside of the G7 and will continue to remain out," he added. With reporting by dpa and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ trump-russia-g7/30651293.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 Former Obama-Era Official Secures Bail for Lawyer Accused of Tossing Molotov Cocktail at Police Car: Reports A former Obama administration official has secured bail for a lawyer accused of firebombing a police cruiser during George Floyd unrest in New York City, according to a court transcript and multiple reports. According to the Washington Free Beacon and Fox News, Washington-based lawyer Salmah Rizvi, who worked in both the State and Defense departments under former President Barack Obama, helped bail out fellow attorney Urooj Rahman, who prosecutors accuse of tossing a Molotov Cocktail at an unoccupied NYPD vehicle. A court transcript (pdf) from Rahmans Monday arraignment indicates that Rizvi agreed to sign a bond, telling the judge: Urooj Rahman is my best friend and I am an associate at the law firm Ropes & Gray in Washington, D.C. I earn $255,000 a year. The judge told the accused that if Rizvi signs the bond and you dont do everything youre supposed to do and you dont appear when youre supposed to, they will be jointly and severally liable to the United States Government for a quarter of a million dollars. He added that if Rahman fails to show up for her hearing, she could be charged with jumping bail, which carries a mandatory prison sentence. Police prepare to make dozens of arrests amid unrest in Manhattan, New York City, N.Y., on June 3, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Prosecutors with the Eastern District of New York said in a release on Sunday that an NYPD surveillance camera caught Rahman tossing a Molotov Cocktail at a parked police car in Brooklyn, New York, before escaping in a minivan. Police set off in pursuit and arrested Rahman, along with Colinford Mattis, also an attorney, who drove the escape vehicle. Inside the minivan, police found several precursor items used to build Molotov Cocktails, including a lighter, a bottle filled with toilet paper, and a liquid suspected to be gasoline. Rahman and Mattis, both highly educated attorneys, have both been charged with causing damage by fire and explosives to a police vehicle, and could each face up to 20 years behind bars. A detention memo cited by the New York Post mentioned the prestigious educational backgrounds of both defendants, saying, They knew their acts endangered the NYPD officers and protesters on the street, as well as their own futures, and the defendants were undeterred. These defendants are charged with attacking the New York City Police Department while its Police Officers are risking their lives to protect the Constitutional rights of protesters and the safety of us all, stated U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. No rational human being can ever believe that hurling firebombs at Police Officers and vehicles is justified. The consequences for conducting this alleged attack, and any similar activity planned for the future, will be severe, stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney. President Donald Trumps Mideast peace plan has suffered an unexpected attack from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, many of whom live in areas that Israel hopes to annex as part of the deal devised by Washington. Trump and his senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, "have proven in their plan that they are not friends of the State of Israel, David Elhayani, chairman of the Yesha Council, an organization that represents Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday. The pair "do not have Israel's security and settlement interests in mind. All they care about in this outline is promoting their own interests ahead of the upcoming election, he added, appearing to refer to the U.S. presidential election. The criticism of the White Houses initiative comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to begin Cabinet discussions on extending Israeli sovereignty to parts of the occupied West Bank in July as part of the Trump administrations peace plan. If implemented, the plan would recognize Israeli sovereignty over a significant portion of the West Bank while creating a conditional path to statehood for the Palestinians. The Palestinians have emphatically rejected it as unworkable and have accused the United States of favoring Israel. Now, Jewish settlers living in the West Bank are also sounding the alarm. In a statement released last week, the Yesha Council said that it opposed the recognition or agreement of any kind to the establishment of a Palestinian state. It added that it would reject any building restrictions or settlement freezes in its communities, as well as any annexation map that would isolate settlements or turn them into remote enclaves that cannot develop and grow. Most of the international community consider the settlements to be illegal. Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians seek all the territory and east Jerusalem for an independent state. Story continues The West Bank is home to almost 2.7 million Palestinians and more than 400,000 Israelis, according to figures collated by Peace Now, an Israeli organization that advocates for a two-state solution. Image: A Palestinian man (Mohamad Torokman / Reuters) The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Netanyahu said Wednesday that he condemned the comments made by Elhayani about Trump. President Trump is a great friend of the state of Israel, he told Yediot Ahronot newspaper. However, the Yesha Council leaders are not the only ones to express their concerns. Others have said they fear that the creation of a Palestinian state around their communities would curb their ability to settle the territory, which they see as their biblical right. To us, this is no less than a grave blow to the Zionist vision of the return of the people of Israel to their Biblical Heartland," leaders of the Sovereignty Movement, an activist group that calls for Israel to apply sovereignty to the entirety of the West Bank, said in a statement. The group said it had placed posters around the West Bank and Jerusalem warning of the negative impact of the Netanyahu-backed Trump plan. Jerusalem will be divided, read signs across the city, according to the group, while in the West Bank signs warned Palestine just beyond the fence! and Here Palestine will be established! Meanwhile, a settler youth organization, It's All Ours, has also vowed to fight the division of land by building and hanging on to territory. Harris family sextuplets of Birmingham, Alabama have graduated from high school The two girls, Kaylynne and Kiera, and four boys, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran, and Kyle graduated from Center Point High School in the United States Social media user, Ferlando Parker Sr, has celebrated the accomplishment of the sextuplets online PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see YEN.com.gh News on your News Feed! Harris family sextuplets of Birmingham, Alabama, have graduated from the Center Point High School in the United States. The incredible story of the first known surviving set of African-American sextuplets is regaining attention following their recent accomplishment. The Birmingham family of sextuplets became a national sensation after their parents welcomed them into the world on July 8, 2002. Meet the Harris sextuplets who just graduated from high school Photo credit: Ferlando Parker Sr Source: Facebook Appearing on TV In April 2007, they even appeared on The Oprah Show. Diamond and Chris Harris welcomed their babies, two girls, Kaylynne and Kiera, and four boys, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran, and Kyle, after they used fertility drugs to get pregnant. Enjoy reading our stories? Join YEN.com.gh's Telegram channel for more! Dailymail.co.uk reports that in 2001, the couple wanted to get pregnant and start a family together. Diamond's first child from a previous relationship, Dewayne, was five, and the couple from Birmingham, Alabama, had been married over two years, but they were struggling to conceive. Becoming pregnant Diamond, a nurse, was prescribed fertility drugs by her doctor, who told them not to get their hopes up. Before long, Diamond was pregnant, and the doctor excitedly told them it was twins. However, a sonogram showed them they were having five children. On July 8, 2002, Diamond and Chris had welcomed the first-ever surviving set of African American sextuplets. In 2015, the girls, Kaylynne and Kiera, and the four boys, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran, and Kyle, marked their 13th birthday. Latest photo YEN.com.gh has sighted the latest photo of the teenagers after social media user, Ferlando Parker Senior shared it online. According to him, the sextuplets are proud graduates of Center Point High School, and the kids have their futures planned out. He noted that Kobe and Kalynne will be attending Alabama State while Kaleb and Kieran will be attending Alabama A&M. Kiera will head to Lawson State and Kyle will be studying life skills at Center Point High School. Ghanaian Emerges as Valedictorian with 3 Awards from UCC Meanwhile, a Ghanaian student, Asantewaa A-MacCarthy, swept awards as she emerged the 2021 valedictorian during the 54th congregation of the University of Cape Coast. She swept three awards, including the Chancellor's Award for the Overall Best Graduating Student, during the 54th congregation of UCC. Asantewaa achieved it with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.971 out of the expected 4.000. Source: YEN.com.gh With the rising incidence of coronavirus cases in the national capital, the number of Covid-19 containment zones have also increased at a rapid pace. Covid-19 containment zones in Delhi have gone up to 158 while 58 zones have been de-contained till date, Delhi government data stated on Wednesday. Delhi has witnessed its Covid-19 containment zones double in the last 15 days. On May 18, the national capital had a total of 73 containment zones which rose to 83 on May 24. South-West and North districts have the highest number of containment zones at 31 each and West district has 30. The South-East district has 27 containment zones while the South district has 26 zones. The East district has 17 containment zones, North-West district has 15 containment zones and New Delhi district has 14 zones. The Central and Shahdara districts have 10 zones each. North-East district has the least number of containment zones at five. As per the Centres direction, no relaxation will be provided in Covid-19 containment zones until June 30. The national capital has reported over 20,000 Covid-19 cases till date. On Thursday, Delhis Covid-19 tally soared to 23,645. The death toll here due to the coronavirus disease has climbed to 606 while 9,542 patients have recovered from Covid-19 or have been discharged from hospitals. On Tuesday, Delhi had reported 1,298 new cases of the Covid-19, as per the Delhi governments daily health bulletin. Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that national capitals borders will be shut for a week and only essential services will be allowed. The order came hours after Haryana opened Gurgaon-Delhi borders in line with the Centres revised guidelines for Unlock 1. The Main Line for Black Lives protest marches down Lancaster Avenue in Paoli, Pa. on June 4, 2020. The group marched from the Wayne Train Station to the Paoli Train Station. Read more They raised their voices and their fists as they walked along Lancaster Avenue under a blazing sun. The crowd of thousands chanted George Floyd" in honor of the man who was killed when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Wearing masks, they pushed babies in strollers and pulled young children in wagons. They held handmade signs with messages like We all bleed the same and If youre not angry, youre not paying attention. The protesters, most of whom were white, walked from Wayne to Paoli, through some of the states wealthiest and whitest zip codes, where black people make up less than 5% of the population. They vowed to help people of color address the burden of centuries of racism and inequality, and to push for meaningful change. All of us here are ready to start doing more, said Madison Miller, 26, of Berwyn, who is white. I think its easy to think police brutality doesnt happen here, because its a predominantly white community. But it can happen anywhere. The five-mile march, organized by the Main Line for Black Lives and accompanied by a police escort, is one of several protests that have taken place in the Philadelphia suburbs this week. While they have not drawn the same attention as demonstrations in the city, organizers and attendees said its important suburban residents are also being moved to act. Roshaun Christopher, 20, and his brother, Amani, 18, said the Main Line protest was much larger than they expected. They came to make a statement as black men from Malvern, and were heartened by the show of solidarity. READ MORE: From Thursday: A sixth night of curfews Its not just a one-race problem, Roshaun Christopher said. Its a human problem. Organizer Tajsha Gray-Vause implored the group to maintain the same energy and enthusiasm after they got home, and to educate themselves in order to be better allies. If you see ignorance, please call it out, Gray-Vause said. Nothing is going to change until we start doing that." Hundreds more gathered by the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown to call for the resignation of Republican Commissioner Joseph C. Gale. This week, Gale released a lengthy statement about weekend protests in Philadelphia, some of which were followed by violence. The commissioner called Black Lives Matter a radical left-wing hate group that perpetrates urban domestic terror, and dismissed police brutality as a bogus narrative. On social media, Gales comments were blasted by many, including 76ers forward Tobias Harris, and Thursdays crowd made it clear the commissioners words would not be tolerated by people he represents. Joe must go, the group repeatedly chanted, at the same time that the county commissioners were holding a virtual meeting that was streamed in the building behind them. Later, Gales fellow commissioners, Valerie Arkoosh and Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., both Democrats, voted to censure and condemn Gale for his hateful, divisive and false statements. Gale said in a statement that you can censure me but you cannot silence me." The group in Norristown pushed for more. They wanted Gale off the board, and called for greater racial equality and representation in county government, said Marlena Green. The 36-year-old Norristown native was part of a multiracial panel of female activists who organized Thursdays event. Local officials joined in their calls. That press release from Commissioner Gale was trash. ... I wasnt happy to see what was happening [in Philadelphia], but I understood, Norristown Councilman Hakim Jones told the crowd. In crowds like this and communities like this, well change the narrative and get rid of people like Joe Gale." The people listened intently and responded with enthusiasm. A young black boy held a sign that read Love One Another as he knelt next to a white man with an American flag bandanna covering his mouth and a sign that read, Peace and equality." Another man held a cardboard sign constructed out of a pizza box. He had written, The Jewish community stands with our black brothers and sisters. No justice, no shalom. Tyler Lawson, 21, watched the protest from a plaza above. The Upper Dublin Towship native and University of Pennsylvania student created an online petition calling for Gales resignation that has received more than 78,000 signatures. I think its especially important that this happens in the suburbs," and white people stand in solidarity, she said. This is an issue black people in this county have been talking about for years and years. "We're sorry." That's the message Facebook and Instagram headed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent after they unblocked the #Sikh from its platforms after nearly three months. For months, members of the Sikh community had taken to Twitter and raised their voices against the platforms for silencing their voices. The hashtag apparently did not meet the giant social media platforms' guidelines--a message that showed up on the screen when a user inputted #Sikh on either website. But it took three months for Instagram and Facebook to notice. It's there a way to get @instagram to release an official statement about why they blocked #sikh? What exactly was the "unusual activity"? Because the community should be aware of what it was and potentially by whom? Amrit Kaur (@Amritkaur_bx) June 3, 2020 #Sikh hashtag has been blocked/hidden on @instagram. Everyone report it Seen more awareness this year on social media then previous years so why is it blocked now #NeverForget84 Harj Nagra (@HarjNagra) June 3, 2020 Why has @instagram blocked the hashtag #sikh ???? You helped support raising awareness for BLM yesterday but why cant you show the same support to the #SIKH community, why are you censoring this? Resh (@RESH__B) June 3, 2020 Hi @instagram, we see you blocked #Sikh from your hashtag list. Would appreciate if you could unblock it as it is providing important information and remembrance about attacks that took place in 1984 at the Golden Temple. Panjabi Hit Squad (@PanjabiHitSquad) June 3, 2020 The blocking of #Sikh by @instagram at a time when #Sikhs are remembering the atrocities of 1984. We ask you @instagram what the reason for this blocking is, to suppress the truth? Let us all ask them the same question@SikhPA @sgsssouthall @gngsmethwick @basicsofsikhi pic.twitter.com/Ye7MHg8H22 Sikh 2 Inspire (@Sikh2Inspire) June 3, 2020 Many users pointed out Instagram's "hypocritical" move to stand in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter days earlier when an unarmed African-American was pinned down by a police offer, killing him in the process. READ: #Sikh Was Being Blocked by Facebook And Instagram For Months Yet you blocked the #Sikh ? People need to realise if we dont speak up nobody else is going too! https://t.co/RHQVCpddNP Sunny (@DatSingh7) June 3, 2020 Instagram taking note of the outrage and later admitting that it was rather clueless about the hashtag block led to more outrage online. i want to know why #sikh was blocked on march 7. which team members reviewed it, why was it deemed inappropriate, and whats being done to ensure this wont happen again? https://t.co/TNmPD7usWQ lil decaf (@lildamanjot) June 3, 2020 what would trigger #sikh to get blocked on Instagram and Facebook on March 7th? https://t.co/MhNCeY5Hci Palvinder Kaur (@palvi_kaur) June 4, 2020 Instagram's PR team (@Instagramcomms) on Thursday acknowledged the apparent gaffe and were "investigating" the matter after a sea of angry tweets by the Sikh community and other users called out the social media giants on microblogging site. We have unblocked the hashtag #sikh on Instagram and are working to unblock #sikh on Facebook. We're investigating why this happened. We will follow up here later today with more information. Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) June 3, 2020 In subsequent tweets, the @InstagramComms informed that the hashtag was unblocked from Facebook and #Sikh had been "mistakenly" blocked from its platforms since March 7. "We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams," the account tweeted. Thanks for your patience today. We investigated this issue and found that these hashtags were mistakenly blocked on March 7th following a report that was inaccurately reviewed by our teams. Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) June 3, 2020 We became aware that these hashtags were blocked today following feedback we received from the community, and quickly moved to unblock them. Our processes fell down here, and were sorry. Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) June 3, 2020 The Instagram PR handle also admitted that the timing was incredibly painful for the Sikh community, as the first week of June (1984) saw Operation Blue Star unfold, an Indian military operation ordered by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove the militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab. The move was widely panned by the Sikh community. This is an incredibly important, painful time for the Sikh community. We designed hashtags to allow people to come together and share with one another. It's never our intention to silence the voices of this community, we are taking the necessary steps so this doesnt happen again Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) June 3, 2020 In what can be termed ironic, Facebook and Instagram chief Mark Zuckerberg had recently slammed Twitter for fact-checking US President Donald Trump. "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online," Zuckerberg said on an interview with Fox News. "Private companies probably shouldn't be, especially these platform companies, shouldn't be in the position of doing that." The military action at the Golden Temple was avenged by Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards, who assassinated her four months after the Operation Blue Star took place. The killing of Indian PM led to public outcry and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots resulted in mass-murder of thousands of Sikhs in the country. Virgin Australia's billionaire co-founder Richard Branson wants to invest up to $100 million in the collapsed airline to maintain a minority ownership stake alongside one of two private equity bidders when it emerges from administration. Mr Branson's Virgin Group owned 10 per cent of Virgin Australia when the coronavirus pandemic grounded its fleet and forced it into voluntary administration in April owing $6.8 billion. Virgin co-founder Richard Branson is pushing to maintain an ownership stake in a re-launched Virgin Australia. Credit:Peter Rae The Virgin Group has signalled it wanted to "play a role" in the airline's future but it has not been clear if that would include owning some of the carrier, or simply maintaining the Virgin brand and the associated licensing fees, which were around $15 million a year. With the race to buy the airline this week narrowing down to two contenders - Cyrus Capital Partners and Bain Capital - sources close to Virgin Group and the sale process confirmed Mr Branson's investment vehicle has told both bidders it wants to invest alongside them and own a stake in the carrier. Madeleine McCann The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been named as Christian Brueckner, sources in Portugal have told The Telegraph. A German prisoner was identified as a suspect by Scotland Yard in the case of the missing girl, who vanished from Praia da Luz in 2007. The 43-year-old was was initially convicted of drug trafficking and was found guilty in a German court last year of raping a pensioner in Portugal, according to Spiegel. He also reportedly has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls". Clarence Mitchell - who down the years has been a representative of the McCanns - has hinted this breakthrough is the most significant in 13 years. He told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that in his time involved in the case, he cannot recall such focus on one individual, and stressed that it is the family's belief that only "two or three people maximum on the planet" know what has happened to Madeleine. On Wednesday, Scotland Yard held a press briefing, giving the most significant update in more than a decade in one of Britain's biggest unsolved mysteries. The prime suspect The man, who has not been named by police, is white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft tall with a slim build at the time she vanished on May 3, 2007. Christian Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told the country's ZDF television channel the 43-year-old is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls". German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported the suspect was carrying out a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005. He is known to have been in and around the area on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine went missing shortly before her fourth birthday. Mr Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "The police themselves have called it a significant part of the investigation. Story continues "It's the first time in 13 years that I can recall focusing on one individual, not named but clearly identifiable by them and the authorities, in terms of wanting to know extra detail about this movements and the vehicles he was using even down to the phone calls he was apparently receiving on the night where Maddy went missing." He added: "In my memory of being in the case, police have never been quite so specific about an individual as they have been about this individual. "They make the point that allegiances change. This man is in prison and if he is involved to the extent it appears, then people shouldn't be afraid to come forward now." The Jaguar and the camper van The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007. Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after May 3. He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007. The day after Madeleine went missing, the suspect had the car re-registered in Germany under someone else's name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal. Both vehicles - pictured below - have been seized by German police, who said there is information to suggest the suspect may have used one of them in an offence. The Jaguar linked to the prime suspect The camper van 'Only two or three people on the planet know what happened' Reporters on Wednesday were told that Scotland Yard were taking the "really unusual" step of releasing two mobile phone numbers as part of the appeal. The first, (+351) 912 730 680, is believed to have been used by the suspect and received a call from another Portuguese mobile, (+351) 916 510 683, while in the Praia da Luz area, starting at 7.32pm and ending at 8.02pm on the night of May 3 2007. Madeleine is believed to have disappeared between 9.10pm and 10pm that evening. The caller, who is not thought to have been in the Praia da Luz area, is not being treated as a suspect, but is said to be a "key witness". Mr Mitchell said: "The police and the private investigators brought in by the family have always thought that only two or three people maximum on the planet know what happened to Madeleine. "In this case the police are looking at a particular phone call that I understand was received by somebody else on a Portuguese number. "The German police and the British police have made it clear the person making the call is not a suspect but a material witness in this, which is why they've released those Portuguese numbers in the hope that they might jog somebody's memory. "Are they in their contacts? Were they ever phoned by these numbers? "And of course the distinctive vehicles - the camper van and the distinctive Jaguar - that he is said to have been using." The distinctive Jaguar The camper van He added: "It's 13 years on, but the police still feel it's important to bring these details out now in the hope that somebody out there can still come forward and make that call." Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the camper van in or around Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine went missing, or in the days before or weeks after. Detectives also want to speak with anyone who saw the van together with the Jaguar, or individually, during the spring and summer of 2007. The Operation Grange incident room can be contacted on 0207 321 9251 or operation.grange@met.police.uk. Is this where the suspect was living? The suspect is known to have been linked to the Praia da Luz area between 1995 and 2007, with some short spells in Germany, and is described as having a "transient lifestyle", living in his camper van for days at a time. Volkswagen (VW) T3 Westfalia camper van which police mention in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann An appeal on German Crimewatch-style programme XY said he is thought to have worked odd jobs, including as a waiter, but also committed burglaries in hotels and holiday resorts and dealt drugs. He was also linked to two houses in Portugal - one between Praia da Luz and Lagos and a second inland, according to the appeal. Pictures of the houses can be seen below. A house police mention in connection with the case A second house potentially connected to the suspect Interior of one of the houses A fireplace inside one of the houses German police believe Madeleine McCann was murdered German police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine, which is being treated as murder by the BKA. Mr Hoppe of the BKA added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz - where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie - before spontaneously kidnapping her. A BKA appeal said: "There is reason to assume that there are other persons, apart from the suspect, who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left." Mr Mitchell said: "The German police are classing it as a murder investigation in sharp contrast the British police are not saying that and are classing it as a missing person. "The British police have been at pains to say there is no evidence at all she has come to harm, is dead or indeed alive. "They are literally keeping an open mind about it." McCanns think update is 'potentially very significant' A statement from Madeleine's parents, read by Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, said: "We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter Madeleine. "We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine. "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. "We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. "We will be making no further comment in relation to the appeal today. "We would like to thank the general public for their ongoing support and encourage anyone who has information directly related to the appeal to contact police." Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do feel it's potentially very significant. "They have welcomed the appeal, but they're not doing any interviews themselves because they wish the focus to remain on the police request rather than themselves. "But this is an important chapter in the search for their daughter. "They've never given up hope that she may still be alive, but they are realistic and they say whatever the outcome of this particular line of investigation, they do need to know what happened to their daughter to find peace and to bring whoever is responsible to justice." Bala Chauhan By Express News Service BENGALURU: Beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya is likely to be extradited to India anytime soon, according to a senior Enforcement Directorate officer. Mallya has been living in London since he left India in March 2016. Mallya has exhausted all available legal options in the UK with the last appeal, which he lost in the UK top court on May 14 against his extradition to India. There was one more option of mercy petition available to him, but he has reportedly decided not to avail it, said the officer. India and the UK had signed an extradition treaty in November 1993. The former owner of United Spirits and founder of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Mallya faces charges of fraud and money laundering to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. The charges against him are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate. Though sources in both agencies denied sending any team to London to bring Mallya back, they told TNIE that he may return to India on his own since there are no more legal remedies left for him in the UK. Mallya had pleaded against his extradition to India citing poor prison conditions. The UK court had sought a detailed report on the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai, where he will be lodged after his extradition. The CBI had sent the details along with a video of the prison to the UK court. By Ismaila Chafe Three PDP states of Bayelsa, Rivers and Cross River were the greatest beneficiaries of the refund of N148billion approved by President Muhammamdu Buhari on Wednesday. The money was previously spent by the states and two APC states to repair Federal roads in their domains. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Buhari approved the refund. Rivers state got the lion share of N78.9 billion. Bayelsa got N38 billion, while Cross River got N18billion. Ondo received N7.8 billion and Osun N2.5 billion. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, revealed the refunds in a briefing on the outcome of the third virtual meeting of the FEC, held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Mohammed said the approval of the refund followed a memo presented by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola. You will recall that in 2016, 36 states of the federation sent a very huge bill to the federal government, asking for compensation for money that they have expended on federal roads. This prompted Mr President to set up a committee to go and verify the claims of these 36 states, whether indeed these projects were actually constructed, were they completed, in line with the federal government standards. At the end of that exercise by an inter-ministerial committee, chaired by the minister of works and housing, but also had Ministers of Education, Transportation, Finance, Minister of State for Works, DG BPP and Permanent Secretary Cabinet Office as members. At the end of that exercise, the committee recommended that the federal government should refund N550,364,297.31 billion to 31 of the 36 states, after they were convinced that, yes indeed, the projects were completed and they were federal government roads. But the claims of five other states Cross River, Rivers, Ondo, Bayelsa and Osun failed on the grounds that they did not do proper documentation and the committee felt they needed proper documentation. So, the committee went back with new terms of reference to ensure that the claims of the five states were in order, that is why the BPP is on the committee. So, at the end of the exercise, the committee now reported that the five states Cross River with 20 roads and one bridge will get a refund of N18,394,737,608.85, Ondo with six roads to get a refund of N7,822,147,577.08, and Osun with two roads and one bridge to get a refund of N2,468,938,876.78. Others are Bayelsa with five roads and one bridge is to get a refund of N38,040,564,783.40 and Rivers with three roads and three flyovers bridges is to get a refund of N78,953,067,518.29. Mohammed said the committees confirmed the roads and the bridges, that not only were they completed, they were in substantial good form, adding that some of the bridges and roads were built about 10 years ago. He, however, disclosed that there is a caveat, as the federal government will pay the states but however, henceforth, if any state takes on federal government road, it will not be paid, they will not get any refund. Even if you want to pay from your own pocket, you will still need the permission of the federal government and it will be supervised by the federal ministry of works and housing. According to him, the modalities of refund are being worked out and payment will be made over a period of time. Mohammed said 31 states were earlier paid the sum of over N550 billion as refund for the reconstruction of federal roads in their respective states. Related MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency following massive diesel oil leak into a river in the Russian Arctic region. The spillage of 21,000 tonnes of diesel oil into a river near the Siberian city of Norilsk is feared to cause environmental damage for years to come. This spill, considered the largest one in the Russian Arctic Circle, has contaminated an area of 350 square kilometres, Russian state media report. Head of Russia's environmental watchdog, the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, Svetlana Radionova, has estimated the damage 'at possibly hundreds of billions rubles,' the TASS news agency reports. A fuel tank at a power plant of Russian mining company Nornickel collapsed last Friday, resulting in the spill. It took two days for company officials to identify the incident, over which President Putin reportedly expressed anger at the company's top executive Sergei Lipin in a televised video conference. Nornickel is the world's leading nickel and palladium mining and smelting company. Its largest operations are located in the Norilsk-Talnakh area near the Yenisei River, in northern Russia. Nornickel will be slapped with heavy fine, according to the Kommersant business daily. It also reports that companies in the Arctic could face tougher regulations in the wake of this incident. The company that was earlier known as Norilsk Nickel is one of Russia's most polluting firms. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Further to my article, Namugongo martyrs were not really martyrs, It is generally accepted that a martyr is a person who sacrifices his or her life or their personal freedom in order to further a cause or belief for many. This cause or belief may be political, cultural or religious. Some of the historical political martyrs include the Manouchian Group (a group of foreign communists, heroes, and martyrs of the Resistance in France 1940-44). In Buganda culture, Kabaka was the law and everything he asked for had to be granted by his subjects. For example, If Kabaka was visiting somewhere in Buganda and fancied ones wife, one would let the wife go and it used to be an honor to do so. So, one could only imagine what the king would do to anybody who disobeyed him in the name of a religion, a tool he saw as intended to weaken his kingdom. Secondly, I wish someone could tell me the difference between Muslims who have died for their religion during the religious wars in Buganda and Namugongo x-tian martyrs, and why they cannot have a bank holiday, like the Christians, if Bank holidays is the only way of recognizing martyrdom. According to Amisa Kayondo, Around 2009, I had a chart with a Muslim leader about this topic and refurbishing of the Namugongo Muslim Mosque built in honor of the Muslims burnt by the then Government. To my surprise, he told me that it was Muslims who were killed first, and the number was much bigger around 78. He was kind of confused about whether they should be called Martyrs giving the same reasons as you, Abbey Semuwemba, as to whether they were killed for being Muslims or for disobeying government rules. The other point he raised was that people might be mistaken and start worshiping them as Christians do but he didnt close the door of having the place renovated. If we are to analyze the current Palestine Martyrs or sometimes called suicide bombers, they all go into some form of training to prepare themselves for the deadly cause ahead which is deaths. Historically, church martyrs also used to go into some form of training to prepare for martyrdom. They used to fast and intentionally harm their bodies in order to build perseverance in face of immanent persecution. In that sense, Namugongo martyrs were trained in scripture, church history, prayer and baptism and , probably it helped them to sustain the pain, but isnt this what is called the modern day brainwashing of people to die in the name of religion? So if the Namugongo Martys were brain washed to die for the Christ, what is the difference between them and those claiming to be dying for Islam in the new world order? (Source of reference: Maureen Tilley, The Ascetic Body and the (Un)Making of the World of the Martyr, Journal of the American Academy of Religion; for a similar insightful study on martyrdom and torture in antiquity). In addition, historically, Protestants and Catholics refused to recognize each other as martyrs. So why was it so important for these two religious sects to agree on the title martyr at that moment in time? Was it something done as an act to forge unity between the Christians and protestant? In the 16th century, both protestants and Catholics affirmed that it was not the punishment, but the cause that made one a martyr. Could Protestants killed for faith be called martyrs? The Catholics answered, No. On the other side, could Catholics killed for faith be called martyrs? The Protestants said, No. An example is when Puritan minister Giles Wigginton told catholic Margaret Clitherow, on trial for treason, that she was deceived if she thought that dying for catholic faith counted as martyrdom. What makes it worse is that even protestants did not affirm other protestants as martyrs as evidenced during the time of Luther. Luther thought the deaths of Zwinglis followers should not be compared to the holy martyrs and condemned people for making such a comparison. It was only during the reign of pope John Paul 11,particularly in 2001, when in Ukraine, that he tried to address this issue of division in opinion between Catholics and protestants- in regard to martyrs, when he gave an address to bless 27 Greek catholic martyrs. The wise pope recognized both sides as joint martyrs. He was doing the same thing that was done at Namugongo: to forge unity between the two sects (Catholics and protestants). My argument here only hinges on people having a day off work for questionable reasons. We should not start having bank holidays for whoever fights to change a bad system or culture in the country. For instance, there are bad things going on in the current political system and some people have lost their lives in the process of fighting for what is right but will it ,therefore, be justifiable to start having bank holidays just because so and so died for a political cause in Uganda? Because if we start recognizing all these deaths, then Uganda has got a lot of martyrs rather than the so called Namugongo Martyrs. According to Abbas Muluubya, For purposes of history, I guess this information should be available in the Hansard. The genesis of the current bank holiday for Martyrs in Uganda was as a result of possible nugu. The Late Abbey Kafumbe Mukasa (May Allah forgive his trespasses) moved a motion to officially grant holidays for Eid to parliament or NRC whatever it was called then. Prior to that holidays on Eid were at the discretion of the President- sometimes granted others not. Hon Mutebi Mulwanira proposed an amendment to include martyrs day which was opposed by among other historians, (PhD) Dr. Philimon Mateke, on the basis that the presumed martyrs were actually rebels. Eventually the motion was passed with a compromise amendment that came along with Martyrs day, Womens day, Heroes day etc. According to Beti Kamya, while still active on Ugandans At Heart forum(Shes now a minister in Musevenis government), It was all about politics, really, not religion, although the Bazungu managed to spin it their way and the gullible Africans, as usual, bought it all.Mwanga was not fighting religion, he was resisting colonialism. At first, he, too, converted to Christianity and was baptized Daniel, but he soon realized that the Mzungu agenda was far beyond religion, when they began to undermine his authority among his subjects, thats why he turned against them and became hostile, which anybody would do. They returned his hostility in the same currency . They fought him, not for religion but for his territory, which is why they had come to Buganda, in the first place remember, they were on a colonization spree in Africa, after they had lost America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc to self rule, after bitter struggles. Mwanga convicted them of treason when they refused to fight on his (Bugandas) side and sentenced them to death. Even today, the sentence for treason is death. We need to re-write (and re-read) history from the Ugandan, not British perspective, otherwise, we shall remain colonized for a very long time! By the way, when I write or make suggestions about stuff, it does not mean that I strive on being controversial. I just give people something to think about and leave the choice to them. Thats how society should be: free exchange of different ideas. If Kabaka Mwanga's side had been heard, we should not have possibly called 3rd June- MARTYRS DAY, or even celebrate it. The media rarely gives his side of the story, and only concentrates on the other side, and that is unfortunate. In these days of "spin", we should be allowed to hear "both sides and reach our own conclusions. Better yet if we could be made aware of all the actual facts, not just the opposing viewpoints they generate. What was it president Jefferson said about "a free people, fully informed"?. If I may add, the media hasn't been fair to Idi Amin and Mwanga! GSEB HSC Arts and Commerce Result 2020 Date Announced | The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSEB) announced the results of Arts and Commerce of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations today (Monday, 15 June). GSEB HSC Arts and Commerce Result 2020 Date Announced | The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSEB) announced the results of Arts and Commerce of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations today (Monday, 15 June). Students who appeared for these exams can check their scores on the official site of GSEB at gseb.org. Details such as toppers list and pass percentage are expected at 8 am. To get their results, students need to login using their hall ticket number. The board previously said it would announce the results in the last week of June. Here is how you can check your GSEB HSC result: Step 1: Visit the official website of Gujarat board www.gseb.org Step 2: On the homepage, click on the link that says 'GSEB Results 2020 for Arts and Commerce' Step 3: Fill seat number at the result page Step 4: Hit 'submit' button Step 5: Your GSEB Results 2020 for Arts and Commerce 2020 will appear online Step 6: Download the results and take a print out for future references GSEB usually announces the dates of results much in advance but this year, it had announced the Class 12 Science exam result date one day before the scheduled day. The Class 12 Arts and Commerce streams examinations were held between 5 to 21 March 2020. Chairman AJ Shah told The Indian Express that the board will release the answer key within a day or two following which the results will be announced. The evaluation process of the HSC papers were completed in May. The exam was deferred in mid-April due to the lockdown. The post-evaluation process will be completed soon, following which the results of HSC (general stream) exams will be released this week, the chairman said. GSEB had recently announced the HSC results for the science stream on 17 May and a total of 71.34 percent of students cleared the exam successfully. 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. 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. Although there is no clarity on supplementary exams this year. Meanwhile, the state has decided to mass promote students all schools across boards from classes 1 to 8, 9, and 11. Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook called on his company to do more" to fight systemic injustices and racial inequality in an open letter responding to the protests sweeping the US this week. To create change, we have to reexamine our own views and actions in light of a pain that is deeply felt but too often ignored," Cook said in a letter posted on the iPhone makers website. Issues of human dignity will not abide standing on the sidelines. To the Black community -- we see you. You matter and your lives matter." Cook made the comments as protests against police brutality gripped the US following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis after a police office kneeled on his neck. Earlier this week, Cook had sent the letter to employees as an internal memo where he also pledged that the company would donate to a number of groups, including the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit focusing on racial injustice. The iPhone maker will also offer a two-for-one match for employee donations in the month of June. Cook said Apple would commit to continuing our work to bring critical resources and technology to underserved school systems," as well as fight the forces of environmental injustice -- like climate change -- which disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of color." Protections for people are still not universally applied" as he discussed discrimination and inequality in the US. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. At the George Floyd Memorial at North Central University in Minneapolis this afternoon, school President Rev. Scott Hagan announced the creation of a scholarship in Floyds name. Ive been praying all week that this sacred space would become a table of healing for the Floyd family, for the city of Minneapolis, and for the world that is grieving beyond these walls, Hagan began, before announcing the creation of the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship. Hagan said more than $53,000 has already been collected for me to contribute for the educational promise of aspiring young black leaders. Then, Hagan issued a challenge. Far beyond North Central University Im now challenging every university president in the United States of America to establish your own George Floyd Memorial Scholarship Fund, he said. So people across this nation can give to the college of their choice. It is time to invest like never before in a new generation of young black Americans who are poised and ready to take leadership on our nation. So university presidents lets step up together Floyd was killed last Monday when former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder, but those charges were upgraded to second degree murder yesterday. Former officers Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng and Tou Thao were charged yesterday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. All four officers were quickly fired after Floyds May 25 death. Waves of protests have since gripped Minneapolis and cities around the United States. After peaceful protests ended in several parts of Massachusetts, authorities then saw disorder break out. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:41:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) approved the national anthem bill at the third reading debate on Thursday afternoon. The bill was passed with the support of 41 lawmakers and one voting against. The legislative meeting starting in the morning was once suspended for four hours because of the obstruction of opposition lawmakers, who repeatedly committed disruptive acts, even pouring foul-smelling liquid on the floor. LegCo President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said such acts were extremely irresponsible and strongly condemned the lawmakers involved. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of the HKSAR government Erick Tsang Kwok-wai said the national anthem law will take effect on June 12, urging residents to respect the national anthem and not to commit insulting acts. The legislation began in 2018 but was postponed for about a year due to violent incidents and riots last year and the filibuster by opposition lawmakers in the LegCo's House Committee. China's National Anthem Law came into force in the mainland in 2017 and then the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress adopted the decision to add the law to Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. In accordance with Article 18 of the Basic Law, the national laws listed in Annex III to the Basic Law shall be applied locally by way of promulgation or legislation by the HKSAR. Enditem This achievement would not have been possible without our clients, some of which have been with us for over 20 years. Parmetech, Inc., located just outside of Philadelphia, PA, is celebrating 30 years of outstanding service, and recognition by Xerox Corporation as one of the top performing channel partners of 2019. Parmetech has been a Xerox Platinum Channel Partner since 2008, a top-tier status recognizing superior performance and excellence in customer satisfaction. In terms of performance, Parmetech finished #12 of all the channel partners in the country. As an MPS Accredited Partner, a program designed by Xerox to recognize a select group of channel partners that demonstrate MPS expertise and revenue growth, Parmetech became the first Xerox XPPS Advanced Managed Print Services Partner in the U.S. in 2012. Michael Parmet, CFO of Parmetech, shared his thoughts on the companys latest accomplishment: "This achievement would not have been possible without our clients, some of which have been with us for over 20 years. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients for their continued support and partnership with Parmetech." Parmetech provides a portfolio of industry-leading technology and Managed Print Services solutions. Developed through decades of collaborating with its customers, Parmetech utilizes development experience, industry knowledge, and technical expertise in their proven methodology for assessing organizational print environments. The companys projects are interactive and its process is disciplined, but flexible. We deliver consistent results that meet our clients requirements on time and on budget, stated Parmet. For 30 years, Parmetech has worked with its clients to optimize and manage their document output environment to meet specific objectives such as reducing costs, improving efficiency/productivity, and reducing the IT support workload. "We help you streamline all of your office printing needs, shared Becca Parmet, Director of Sales & Marketing, including output, supplies delivery, support, repair, billing, and the overall management of your devices." Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Havertown, PA, Parmetech is an award-winning reseller, integrator and provider of office equipment technology and services. Its core expertise is in providing comprehensive Managed Print Services (MPS) solutions covering various manufacturers print technology such as Xerox, HP, and Lexmark. Currently celebrating their 30th year in business, the Parmetech team has extensive knowledge and expertise in managed print services, workflow optimization and document management, and only uses practices to help its clients achieve their goals and objectives. The Parmetech MPS Advantage Program can handle all aspects of large fleet deployments and life cycle services. The company is a certified woman-owned and minority-owned business. For more information on Parmetech, visit http://www.parmetech.com. He has reported raising more than $1.6 million through March about three times as much as Bowman but is facing a spirited June 23 primary amid criticism that he has not spent enough time in the district. This article is part of a special report on Climate Solutions. For the artisanal fisherman Gustavo Yanez, setting out in his modest vessel to hunt the jumbo flying squid that roam the deep fathoms of the southeast Pacific is no mere act of subsistence. It is a spiritual enterprise. From his dock in Valdivia, in central Chile, he and his intrepid crew begin their day at dusk during the high summer season. As darkness envelops their boat, they venture 25 to 70 miles from shore before dropping their jigs. Luminescence at the tips of these sturdy fishing lines attracts the mighty and aggressive diablo rojo, as the squid is reverentially known. When caught, the creatures thrash violently aboard the deck, furiously spewing ink that douses the crew, who, clad in protective gear, let the mess roll off. It is a way to disconnect, Mr. Yanez said of these Melvillian nocturnal adventures, a trip to the psychologist, a daily therapy. To fish is to be privileged to be in contact with the sea, with nature, with living beings, with God. If anything good has come out of the coronavirus pandemic in the Lehigh Valley, its the outpouring of support for first responders and health care workers who have done their jobs diligently on the front lines in the fight to stop the spread of the virus. Since March, when the virus that causes COVID-19 starting spreading in the region, weve seen an encouraging and well-deserved increase in acts of appreciation toward cops, firefighters, EMS workers, nurses, doctors and others in these fields. Its come in many forms: Parades around hospitals, complimentary gourmet meals provided by local restaurants, accolades from celebrities and other public figures, coffee on the house at major chains. But in reality, first responders and health care workers have always been at the front lines and always put themselves at risk. Youre dealing with nothing but unfortunate and bad things on a daily basis. Nobody dials 911 to invite you to a birthday party, the head of the Eastern PA EMS Council recently told lehighvalleylive.com. Their work is and always will be life-sustaining. That term became part of the lexicon on April 1 when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued a statewide stay-at-home order. The order virtually shut down all activity except for that which was considered life-sustaining. For first responders and health care workers, there was never a question as to whether their jobs met that criteria. But for those in other jobs, they were suddenly put in a position where theyd continue to go to work even though the state was telling everyone else it was too risky to be going to work. Simply put, they were suddenly being asked to do something heroic. We will never be able to repay the debt we owe to first responders and health care workers, but there are others who are also owed recognition for their contributions. We wanted to tell some of their stories as the Lehigh Valley readies to move into the next chapter in the fight against the coronavirus. On Friday, June 5, more than two months after the initial shutdown, some restrictions in the region will ease up and many more will start leaving their homes to go to work. For those who have been out there through it all, how have they coped with doing their job each day in high-risk environments? Have those of us whove counted on their work to get us through this pandemic shown any appreciation? Do they recognize the importance of the work theyre doing? We wanted to tell a few of their stories. Youll meet a custodial worker, a bus driver, a fast-food restaurant employee, a grocery store clerk, a mail carrier and more in this story. It is by no means comprehensive of all who have put themselves at risk at their jobs during this pandemic. And the intention certainly isnt to detract from what our everyday heroes first responders and health care workers have done and will continue doing. We just wanted to briefly shine the spotlight on our neighbors who deserve praise. To all of them and the others not mentioned: Thank you for your service. The hospital cleaning crew manager from Upper Macungie Township Ynes Rosales is the assistant director of housekeeping at LVHN Cedar Crest in Allentown. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com Ynes Rosales hasnt taken a day off since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Pennsylvania. When she isnt walking the halls of Lehigh Valley Health Networks Cedar Crest campus, Rosales is fielding phone calls and texts from the 220 environmental services employees she supervises as assistant director for Crothall Healthcare, the company that keeps the hospital clean and infection-free. She arrives to Cedar Crest at 5:30 each morning and the days fly by. Sometimes she checks the time and it is already past 4 oclock, when her shift ends. The Peruvian immigrant is a tad tired, but mostly she is proud. Proud of her employees dedication and professionalism. Proud that no one on her teams contracted the new coronavirus. We got through this and all the employees are safe, Rosales said May 28. They come every day now, they have a regular routine. They clean the COVID rooms. They know what they are doing. They are not afraid. They are going to come in and do the job they have to do. They are going to be safe. And shes grateful that a housekeeping job she took nearly 20 years ago prepared her for this moment. She spoke no English when she was hired, but her manager encouraged her to learn the language so she could advance. She took the advice and enrolled in school. She advanced again and again until she landed on the front lines of the new viral disease this year. Hospital environmental cleaning teams are pros at infection control. But COVID-19 brought changing protocols, constant training and outfitting workers with personal protective gear. Rosales led the training effort, communicating with her boss, the infection control team and other departments to stay abreast of the hospitals COVID-19 patients and the networks pandemic response. Every day I have to teach everyone and be the head of everyone and (not) be scared, said Rosales, who lives in Upper Macungie Township with her 16-year-old daughter Rysha. I have to make sure they all do the job they have to do correctly. It was stressful, but I was able to manage everything. When a COVID-19 patient is discharged, workers don protective gear and vigorously clean the room with a specialized machine according to a strict protocol. Rosales dresses up and cleans with them during the busiest times. When the virus rendered daily team meetings too risky, Rosales found a way to connect to each person daily, said Mike Simmers, director of general services for Crothall. Ynes has gone above and beyond, Simmers said. We had a whole lot of people who needed a whole lot of answers and she helped keep them safe. Rosales loved surprising her tired staff at the end of a long day with generous donations of food from the public. That was the best feeling, she said. The grocery store clerk from Bangor Danielle Docherty, a cashier and office manager at Main Street Market in Bangor, cleans a checkout counter on May 27, 2020.John Best | Lehighvalleylive.com contributor Danielle Docherty has been working at Main Street Market in Bangor since the business reopened in November. The Bangor resident works as a cashier and office manager at the grocery store. Docherty said she has had to adapt along with everyone else to perform her job during a pandemic. Over the last several months, cashiers have the added duty of constantly cleaning and disinfecting checkout counters, credit card machines and other objects that customers frequently touch. Wearing a mask for the duration of her shift took a while to get used to, Docherty said. I give a lot of credit to doctors and nurses who have always had to wear a mask all day, she said. Working in a retail position exposes her to a greater amount of contact with people than others who have been staying at home every day, but Docherty said she follows proper safety guidelines, focuses on her job and doesnt worry much about possibly contracting a virus. Im not a very anxious person, she said. In times of stress, some people may unfairly take their frustrations out on those who are servicing them at stores but Docherty said Main Street Markets customers have behaved well. The people have been friendly here and have been good about following the rules, Docherty said. Theyve been very appreciative of us, too. Docherty said she is ready for a time when the country can get past dealing with masks and social distancing, but one benefit of the current situation has been having customers show gratitude for her doing her job well. Im not really used to so many people thanking me, she said. The LANTA bus driver from Macungie Piotr Smiertelny of Macungie drives a bus for LANTA.Photo courtesy LANTA Although the roads and streets emptied and a lot of the regular passengers stayed home at the start of the pandemic, LANTA bus driver Piotr Smiertelny still had customers and they needed the bus more than ever. For the past few months, Smiertelnys seen essential employees heading to their own jobs, young people looking for jobs, and the elderly and disabled. They still have to do their business. They still have to do their shopping, go to the doctors office, the 49-year-old Smiertelny, whos driven for LANTA for eight years, said during a phone interview. We cant just leave these people. They have to live. They have to function. Smiertelny and his fellow drivers are part of the public transportation workers deemed essential during the statewide shutdown in Pennsylvania. During bad weather, like snowstorms, people would look so relieved when the bus pulled up, he said. Now, passengers wait with masks at the ready, but theres still the same relief that their ride is there. It makes you feel good you showed up, he said. LANTA worked to get sanitizers and then masks for drivers; plastic partitions installed to protect drivers from physical attacks turned out to be prescient preparation for the pandemic. Riders are good about keeping six feet between themselves and wearing masks or coverings while on the bus. People really respect the rule, Smiertelny said, adding about 99.9% of the riders he sees cover their faces. They know the drill, he said. We know what we have to do. Theres the focus on COVID-19 while hes driving, and then the focus on the pandemic when he heads home to his family in Macungie. He has four children, including his 7-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter at home. You always think about it, he said of the pandemic. After work, Smiertelny takes his work clothes off to be washed before heading upstairs and taking a shower. LANTA disinfects the buses, and theres a lot of hand washing and using hand sanitizer, he said. His two older kids know what to do, but the younger pair miss the playground and seeing their friends. The future is a little scary, he said, thinking about school for his younger son in the fall. You dont know whats going to happen, but we all have hope its going to get better. You have to. The McDonalds store manager from Palmer Township Dana Teske waves to customers in the Easton McDonalds drive-through.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com Dana Teske has worked for 17 years at the McDonalds in Downtown Easton. The married mother of five and 2004 Easton High graduate is now store manager, but still handles drive-through. Thats the main way, besides delivery, customers get their Big Macs these days. Its a new normal since the coronavirus arrived, she said. More than 50 safety changes are in place, she said. Staff wear masks, wash hands every 30 minutes and change gloves. A temperature check starts each shift. Sneeze guards were added. Ordering is done by voice. But interactions happen next. Credit card payments, two-thirds of the business, feature a machine handed to the customer at the first window, but dollar bills are exchanged, the Easton native said. A timer reminds that employee to wash hands, she said. The bag is double folded then handed out the second window, Teske said. No contact allowed. Teske has a heart issue, but I feel safe here, she said, adding she tries to make sure everyone is safe. The store is deep cleaned each Sunday and a professional service was brought in after a staffer got COVID-19. Employees scared to work can stay home without punishment. They know to come to Teske if theyre worried, she said. As of now, everybody feels comfortable with what we have in place, she said. Customers, including nearby seniors who dont have a lot of options," are really happy with the affordable food source, she said. Regulars eye the lobby reopening, she said. But that will be assessed once Pennsylvania fully reopens, franchisee Jim McIntyre said. When the day ends, Teske trashes her PPE, washes hands and leaves in uniform. Once at her home in Palmer Township, she washes her hands again. Any risk? Teske said her husband and three of the children are working so were all out there. The pizza delivery person from Bethlehem It took a global pandemic, but theres probably never been more harmony between Lehigh Pizza and its customers. Thats according to Brian Mixtacki, a jack-of-all-trades employee at the beloved Southside Bethlehem pizza joint, who recently took on the role of pizza delivery driver for the first time since last fall. Mixtacki, whos been at Lehigh Pizza for more than a decade, had stopped driving for the store around September or October. Since then, he's been operating the restaurants social media pages as well as handling customer service. But as the business has seen an uptick in delivery orders due to the coronavirus pandemic, hes been getting back in the drivers seat when its necessary. And thats pretty often. Every day of the week, the need for more drivers is pumped up, he said. So Im just filling in where they need me. Mixtacki said their busy nights are typically Friday and Saturday. But with the pandemic shutting down the state, delivery and curbside pickup have been paramount. Every day of the week is a Friday, he said. The restaurant conducts no cash transactions and employees wear masks at all times. (The restaurant has a stock of 70 homemade masks from a local business.) Lehigh Pizzas drivers have continued to adjust to the rapidly changing times, and that includes the actual delivery method itself. Weve tried to cater to all comfort levels, Mixtacki said. There are still people who are OK with opening the door and being handed their delivery. There are people who just want to have it left on their porch and ring the bell. Lehigh Pizzas sensitivity to health issues and continued commitment to service hasnt gone unnoticed, either. As Mixtacki said, the stores relationship with customers has probably never been better. People have been generous with tips, theyve been generous with understanding, he said. Customers are really grateful that were still operating, and were really grateful that theyre still ordering from us. The plumber who works in Bethlehem Tyler Hall works for Deluxe Plumbing of Bethlehem. He lives in Palmerton.Courtesy Tyler Hall When a homeowners sewer line backs up or their toilet gets clogged, Tyler Hall answers the call. That means going into homes where he could be exposed to the coronavirus. Hall is a plumber, a life-sustaining profession permitted to continue to work despite the governors shutdown of many businesses in this area. Water is a necessity for people in their homes, Hall said. You go to wash your hands and you cant. What do you do? The 26-year-old works for Deluxe Plumbing in Bethlehem. He lives in Palmerton with his wife, who is pregnant. The couple understands that its important for Hall to continue to work. He follows guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and wears a mask and gloves when making house calls. He said he does whatever it takes to make homeowners feel comfortable. Hes been a plumber off and on for more than five years. Hygiene has always been a priority, especially when you work around wastewater, so adjusting to life with coronavirus hasnt been too troublesome. He said he and his wife now keep a bottle of hand sanitizer near the door for both of them to use. Other than that, he said he does what he has always done when he gets home from work: takes a shower and puts his work clothes in the laundry. I just keep myself as clean as possible when I get home from work, Hall said. Homeowners are grateful for his help. Sometimes he needs to fix a well when homeowners have no water. Sometimes he handles light commercial jobs. Many customers show their gratitude with a cold drink or a snack. It makes you feel more appreciated. Theyre trying to take care of you because youre taking care of them, he said. Hes appreciates the recognition and suspects other plumbers do, too. The relief a customer expresses after he fixes a backed-up sewer line on a Sunday afternoon also makes the job worthwhile for Hall. Its definitely something to feel good about. Youre providing a service. It feels good to help people in their times of need, Hall said. The U.S. Postal Service carrier from Tatamy Barbara Beyer has worked for the past six years for the U.S. Postal Service in Allentown and lives in Tatamy.Courtesy photo Customers in the Allentown area have depended on mail carrier Barbara Beyer for the past six years to deliver their bills, greeting cards, magazines and packages. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Tatamy mother of three now has become their lifeline. For those staying home, Beyer said they await eagerly for packages, which likely run the gamut from books and stationery to clothing, makeup and hair color to disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, pet food and toilet paper. For those the pandemic has struck financially, what shes delivering is critical. When she pulled up to an address a few weeks ago, a small crowd in search of unemployment documents and stimulus checks greeted her. Customers would tell her, Im waiting for something.' Im sorry. This is all I have, she replied. Beyer has gone from delivering 60 to 70 packages daily to about 200 on her route, which spans Emmaus Avenue from Mack Boulevard to Interstate 78. Beyers route includes three apartment complexes, some of which require her to climb three stories. She is careful, wearing a mask and constantly sanitizing her hands despite suffering from dry skin. At the U.S. Postal Service office in Allentown she disinfects her station when gathering up her parcels for delivery. A small sign in the window of her truck asks others to keep 10 feet back. Its been challenging; its been different," Beyer said. Were cleaning everything and sanitizing constantly, multiple times throughout the day. Because we dont know what we are coming into contact with every day being out in the public, it can be very nerve-wracking. A native of East Islip, New York, before moving to Florida and eventually Pennsylvania, Beyer thrives under pressure. But sadness creeps in when she is forced to pass by shuttered businesses she routinely delivered to pre-pandemic. Customers who greeted her with smiles and small talk are no longer there. One obstacle in the wake of the business closures is the lack of restrooms for postal workers. Beyer said she was fortunate to find a rental office willing to allow her to use its facilities, if needed. Beyer also has noticed mailboxes being emptied more frequently since the pandemic. Some residents tell me they look for the chance to get outside, Beyer said. Beyer herself finds comfort in the conversations with customers, which have become more personal since the pandemic. Residents ask how she and her family are doing. Others are concerned about how the mail is being handled, she said. And then there are small gestures of gratitude. Beyer has received small notes from customers of appreciation. Her favorite, she said, was a heart-shaped drawing from a small child thanking her for bringing the mail. Prior to the pandemic, postal workers might have only feared a large dog attack. Now theres a whole new set of concerns, but letter carriers have adapted. The auto mechanics in Bethlehem Kyle Shollenberger and his mom, Beth, wear masks on the shop floor of Dave & Wayne Auto Center on Union Boulevard in Bethlehem.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com In all its 62 years in business, the Dave & Wayne Auto Center in Bethlehem has never seen anything like the coronavirus pandemic. The Shollenberger family says theyve never had to resort to layoffs, but early on, when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf extended a stay-at-home order to the Lehigh Valley in late March and business took a sharp dive, they were scared it couldnt be ruled out. Fortunately, layoffs werent necessary. Reducing the schedule to three days a week did the trick, said Kyle Shollenberger, a technician and assistant manager, and grandson of the Wayne in Dave & Wayne. He spoke to lehighvalleylive.com recently with his mom, Beth, who also works at the Union Boulevard garage. At first, there was a lot of uncertainty. They pored over documents and consulted a service organization to make sure they were, in fact, considered an essential business. Employees were encouraged to apply for partial unemployment to make up for abbreviated schedules. Kyle and Beth credited the CARES Act for providing necessary funds to keep the shop running, finally getting through the process on the second round. Then came safety. Folks in the shop have always had to take care with chemicals, they said, so gloves and handwashing were already routine. To that, they added masks and lots of sanitizing wipes. When you spend your day working in other peoples vehicles, cleanliness matters. Waiting for small jobs like oil changes was discouraged. The reception area was reduced to a single chair as they encouraged customers to drop off their cars (though some might occasionally bring a lawn chair and wait outside). Instead, staff offered to pick up vehicles and bring them in. Through it all, the garage's loyal customers -- and some new ones -- continued to patronize the business for essential and routine work on their cars. "People that were now home working, or laid off, you know, they had work that needed to be done on (their) cars," Beth said. "Sometimes they would drop it off because now they had the time to leave them here to do what needed to be done." Business is now picking back up. If its because of the warm weather, people getting antsy or a result of slowly easing restrictions, the Shollenbergers cant say. But Dave & Wayne Auto Center was back on a full schedule after Memorial Day. It looks like theyll be OK. I hope more businesses have the same scenario, Beth said. REPORTING AND WRITING: John Best, Sarah Cassi, Nick Falsone, Connor Lagore, Rudy Miller, Steve Novak, Tony Rhodin, Sara Satullo, Pamela Sroka-Holzmann PHOTOGRAPHY: Saed Hindash EDITING: Kurt Bresswein, Nick Falsone, Rudy Miller DESIGN: Rudy Miller Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Tom Brooks and Darcey Silva seemed to have one of the most protracted, back-and-forth breakups in 90 Day Fiance history. After 39-year-old Tom, who hails from the UK, broke things off with Darcey after several false starts, the 45-year-old divorced mom of two from Connecticut seemed heartbroken at first. But that wasnt truly the end, as Tom showed up on Darceys doorstep unexpectedly to hand her a letter that she refused to read. On the May 31 episode of TLCs 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days, The Never-Ending Story, Darcey told her twin sister, Stacey Silva, that Tom had tried to win her back yet againthis time through his close friend, and then through his mom. 90 Day Fiance fans chimed in on Twitter during the episode to call out Tom for his shady breakup behavior and mixed signals, especially given that he already had a new girlfriend in Canada at the time. Darcey and Stacey Silva | Brad Barket/Getty Images for Discovery, Inc. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Did Darcey Silvas Ex Make Fun Of Her Lips on Social Media? RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Why Is Darcey Silva Headed to This Foreign Country? RELATED: What Did Darcey Silva Do Before 90 Day Fiance? RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Tom Brooks Promotes His Controversial Sisters Life Coaching Services Darcey claimed Tom tried to reach out to her through his mom and close friend On the most recent episode of 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days, Darcey insisted that she was truly getting over Tom and ready to move on. The days of Tom and Darcey, she declared, were truly over. Its been a few weeks since I last saw Tom, Darcey told 90 Day Fiance producers. I blocked Tom. I dont need to talk to him. I dont need to hear from him. I just gotta move on. Im just trying to get my life back on track and use this time to love myself, better myself, and I just want to focus on me again. But when Stacey asked her what was going on with her British ex-boyfriend, Darcey revealed that Tom apparently wasnt ready to do the same. Im not going to be played for a foolI deserve better, Darcey said of her ex. And he tried to reach out to me again. The 90 Day Fiance star claimed that Tom asked his friend, and then his mom, to reach out to her after she blocked him on her phone and social media. I left Tom behind, but a few days ago, I got a message, Darcey said. And I didnt recognize the number, but the guy identified himself as a good friend of Toms from the UK. He basically was like, Im a friend of Toms. Weve known each other for over 20 years in Nottingham. Darcey read aloud from the message, From my conversations with Tom, he told me that he had made a mistake and wanted to see if I could bridge the conversation between you two. I know he would love that. Please let me know what you think. According to Darcey, she refused to answer the message. I didnt reply to his friend, and basically a few hours later, I got a similar message from his mom, the 90 Day Fiance star explained. I didnt reply. I dont want to reply. He can send all the messages through other people if he wants, but no ones gonna get a response back. Im done. I meant it, and I mean it. Tom Brooks | Bruce Glikas/WireImage RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Which Cast Members Have Had Plastic Surgery? Many 90 Day Fiance fans thought Tom was just trying to use Darcey to get attention Many 90 Day Fiance fans have criticized Tom for what they believe is fame-seeking, attention-grabbing behavior on his part. Some thought he reached out to Darcey through his friend and mom so he could extend his storyline on the reality show. Meanwhile, others thought Tom just wanted to boost his ego and see if he could continue to play with Darceys emotions. Why would Tom be reaching out Darcey? Just so you both get more screen time? one Twitter user wrote during the episode. Darcey Silva | Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images Another agreed, writing: Tom is being thirsty now reaching out through other people. Its only because hes still itching for fifteen more minutes of fame. Be gone!!! We didnt want any. Other fans thought Tom was trying to come across as the good guy, especially after his rude comments about Darceys weight and the strange ending to his relationship with Darcey. Tom is a real scumbag sending messages to Darcey through his mom and friend. Hes really trying to have the last word to *LOOK* like a nice guy on TV, one viewer argued. Another 90 Day Fiance fan thought Toms too-cool-for-school facade had all been an act to begin with. Damn Tom, he went from smooth and cool to getting people to hit Darcey up for him, they wrote of his surprising behavior. First off why is Toms friend reaching out to Darcey and secondly why is mom reaching out to her too? BURN THE BRIDGE!!!! @90DayFiance #90DayFiance #90dayfiancebeforethe90days Fiona (@fionanyc22) June 1, 2020 Tom had his MOM send Darcey a text message? That's pathetic! #90DayFiance #Beforethe90Days pic.twitter.com/WFkBYCajOY Reality TV Universe (@RealityTVU) June 1, 2020 Is Tom FOR REAL getting his friend and mom to contact Darcey? He just wants that TLC fame. He treatedDarcey like trash for no good reason imo. #90DayFiance pic.twitter.com/p5oYZNq1Is SG (@heartstring1111) June 1, 2020 Some 90 Day Fiance fans thought Darcey wasnt as upset about Tom reaching out as she claimed And while plenty of 90 Day Fiance fans thought Toms behavior was shady, others thought Darcey might be protesting a little too much about how unhappy she was to receive the messages. Others thought she might enjoy the continued attention from her ex. Darcey definitely blocks Tom then actively checks to see if hes trying to contact her to feed her ego, a Twitter user commented. Darcey: Tom is out of my life for good. Every episode: Mentions Tom#90DayFiance #BeforeThe90Days #90dayfiancebefore90days Ronny (@TheLifeOfRonny) June 1, 2020 If Darcey dont stop talking about Tom imma scream! #90DayFiance #90dayfiancebeforethe90days Alisha (@WineingMomma) June 1, 2020 Another thought Darcey might enjoy Toms continued pining after her as much as Geoffrey Paschel seemed to enjoy watching Mary Wallace and Varya Malina argue over him. Darcey is loving these messages from Tom as much as Geoffrey got off on Varya and Mary fighting over him, they argued. One 90 Day Fiance viewer thought Darcey wasnt any more over Tom than he was over her. Darcey keeps saying shes moved on, but clearly she hasnt. She keeps talking about Tom, they pointed out. Security forces killed a terrorist late Thursday in an encounter in Kalakote area of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir. Acting upon hard intelligence, security forces eliminated one terrorist in Dharmsal village in Kalakote area of Rajouri district. We suspect that two to three more are hiding there, an official said. A local said that the security forces exchanged fire with terrorists in Dharmsal village around 8.15 pm. The security forces had launched a massive cordon and search operation in Mendhar area of adjoining Poonch district on Thursday morning. Amid the Covid-19 lockdown, there has been a sudden spurt in terror attacks and infiltration bids in Jammu and Kashmir. On Thursday, Pakistani rangers opened heavy fire in Kathua districts Hiranagar sector. Many villagers had a narrow escape as they ran helter-skelter to protect themselves from the unprovoked Pakistani firing. Pakistani rangers targeted the civilian areas with small arms and medium weapons in the Hiranagar sector. Around a dozen houses were damaged, PTI quoted official In Wheaton, Carmin Awadzi who is African American, came to a Black Lives Matter rally at Adams Park out of fear. Two of her children were going, and she wanted to make sure nothing happened to them. She even told her 16-year-old son to wear his Wheaton Warrenville South High School sweatshirt so people would know he belonged. Storyful An observatory in Hawaii captured atmospheric pressure waves created by the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano on January 15.The Gemini Observatory in Hawaii was 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) away from the eruption when it captured the atmospheric pressure waves on three different cameras. They are the faintly red waves seen in the footage, NOIRLab explained.The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano erupted on January 15, triggering a tsunami on the South Pacific nation of Tonga with waves up to 15 meters, according to information released by the Tongan government. At least three people were killed and dozens of properties were damaged across the islands. Credit: NOIRLab via Storyful It was announced today that the European Commission has approved a 200 million Irish aid scheme to support investment in research and development (R&D), testing and production of products that are relevant to the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020, as amended on 3 April 2020 and 8 May 2020. The aim of the scheme is to enhance and accelerate the development and the production of products directly relevant to the coronavirus outbreak, including vaccines, hospital and medical equipment and medicinal products, as well as the development of innovative processes for an efficient production of such products. The public support will take the form of direct grants and repayable advances, and will be open to companies with more than ten employees operating in the manufacturing and/or internationally traded services sectors. Welcoming the scheme, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys said, "The challenge of COVID-19 is first and foremost a health emergency and we will continue to prioritise the medical response to the pandemic. The intention of this new scheme is to accelerate the production of vital medicines and potential vaccines, along with essential equipment, used in the fight against COVID-19." Source: www.businessworld.ie A cyclist was dragged from his bike and beaten by several NYPD cops on Wednesday night during an evening of clashes between officers, peaceful protesters and looters that saw more than 180 arrests, two police shootings and one cop being stabbed. The video was taken at 50th Street and Third Avenue last night after the 8pm curfew went into effect. It was shared on Twitter afterwards and has since circulated widely amid growing outrage over the NYPD's enforcement of the curfew. It shows the cyclist - who has not been identified - trying to get away from a cop by crossing the road. The cop, wearing a helmet and carrying a nightstick, followed him and repeatedly struck his bike. The other officers then caught up to the pair, dragged the cyclist from his bike, and carried on hitting him. The footage was taken by someone in a car who said they were being held up by the cops and not allowed to drive home at the time. The cyclist was trying to cross the road at 50th Street and Third Avenue when the cop started following him, hitting him repeatedly with his nightstick Two other cops ran over and dragged the cyclist from his bike while horrified people in a car filmed the incident All three officers struck the cyclist with their nightsticks as he fell to the ground. It's unclear what he'd allegedly done beyond being outside past 8pm and its unclear if he is an essential worker - they are exempt from the curfew It is one of several incidents to have occurred over the last five days in New York City where cops are seen to be using excess force when moving people along. Others have claimed they are being stopped from getting on subways before the curfew, giving the police department an excuse to arrest them once it hits 8pm. Some - who are essential workers like media, food delivery, medical workers or people seeking medical attention - are being stopped, rounded up and in some cases, beaten just for being outside. Commissioner Shea said earlier this week that it was a 'chaotic' situation and that bad actors lie by claiming they are essential workers when they are not. He apologized and said every allegation of misconduct would be investigation. The tougher response from the NYPD comes after two chaotic nights at the start of the week when rioters ran rampant through the city, smashing stores and setting fire to garbage in the street. City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who attended a rally in downtown Brooklyn, shared a video of cops using batons to clear out peaceful protesters Police were seen chasing after protesters in the rain as demonstrations continued in Manhattan over the killing of George Floyd President Trump weighed in after seeing the unrest unfold, and said the city was 'totally out of control'. The NYPD will not give breakdowns for how many arrests are for curfew breakers and how many are for other alleged crimes. They only provide the total number for the night. As cops in Manhattan rounded up protesters, officers in Brooklyn faced similar crowds. One man was shot after slashing an officer in the neck in what the department has called a 'cowardly' attack. The NYPD began moving in on crowds about one hour after curfew and just as heavy rain poured down One man is seen on the ground as police detain and arrest him for violating curfew Peaceful protests continued across the city on Wednesday night, but an early curfew, drenching rain and refined police tactics appeared to have stopped some of the destruction of previous nights The man - an Albanian immigrant identified as Dzenan Camovic - is being probed for terror links. In the East Village on Thursday morning, a different man was shot at East 10th Street and Third Avenue after pulling a knife during a confrontation with another civilian. According to The New York Post, the man refused to drop the knife. He was shot once and taken to the hospital. The NYPD is investigating six incidents of police misconduct that have been recorded during the protests over George Floyd's death. Earlier incidents include a woman being thrown to the street violently, and a cop car driving into a crowd of protesters in Brooklyn. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:33:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's cabinet has approved a bill that, if enacted by parliament, will regulate human organ donation and trade in the east African country, a top official said here on Thursday. Judith Nabakooba, minister of ICT and national guidance said in a statement issued here that the bill dubbed 'Uganda Human Organ Donation and Tissue Transplant Bill' would soon be presented before parliament for approval. "The bill seeks to establish a legal framework for human organs, cells and tissue transplant in Uganda and also regulate donations and trade in human organs, cells and tissue for safety and security of Ugandans," Nabakooba said. Non-governmental organizations and civil society argue that there is an increase in illicit human organ trade in Africa, partly because of weak laws and enforcement, poverty and human trafficking. Enditem The Minister for Tourism and Creative Arts, Barbara Oteng Gyasi has indicated that event organizers are to ensure that their events do not last too long although there is no time limit to their activities. Speaking at the Information Ministrys presser to give clarity on the eased restrictions, Barbara Oteng Gyasi said all events must also be in strict adherence to sanitation and personal hygiene protocols announced by the Ghana Health Service. In respect of time limits for events, we did not specify a time limit for events but we indicated that event organizers should undertake the programmes under a time constraint, which means that we should not allow the program to travel for too long, she said. President Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, May 31, 2020, announced the easing of some COVID-19 restrictions which include the lifting of the ban religious gatherings and some public events. Per the guidelines for the easing of the restrictions, religious gatherings are permitted a maximum of one hour to conduct service. The limited-time according to the government is to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19. Although the organization of secular events also brings many together, the sector minister said the one-hour service rule does not apply to them. She said unlike religious services where it is possible to hold multiple services of 100 people within the guidelines, it will be largely impossible to replicate the same for corporate meetings and gatherings hence the allowance for secular events to be held beyond one hour. The minister added that a task force will be formed to ensure compliance with the listed guidelines. Below are the full guidelines for the tourism, creative arts sector as presented by the Minister; All Food and Beverage establishments (Restaurants, chop bars, Highway Rest Stops, Fast Foods, Coffee/Tea Shops, Snack Bars, may operate with the following guidelines; i. Display of No Mask No Entry signage and ensure that all patrons are wearing masks on entry. ii. Provision of soap and running water and hand sanitisers/disinfectant gels with a paper towel at public areas. Guests should be reminded when entering and leaving to wash their hands or disinfect their hands with disinfectant gel, preferably located at the entrance to those facilities. iii. Limit the number of guests for dining to 50% of current carrying capacity of the restaurant to ensure adequate spacing for seating and to maintain social distancing of at least 1 metre iv. Regular disinfection of surfaces. Where use of bleach is not suitable, e.g. telephone, remote control equipment, door handles, buttons in the elevator, etc. then alcohol-based sanitisers (70% and above) must be used. v. Buffet style of service ( if necessary ) must : a. Limit communal handling of serving cutlery. b. When necessary, change tongs and ladles more frequently, always leaving these items in separate containers. c. Clean and disinfect the buffet surfaces after each service. vii. Wearing of mask and protective wear by kitchen staff viii. Kitchen staff must wash hands with soap and running water frequently (maximum every 15mins.) and dispose of used paper towel in a bin immediately B. Events: Conferences, awards, workshops and weddings Reception (Entry i. Display of No Mask No Entry signage and ensure that all patrons are wearing masks on entry .Event organizers may supply facemasks as souvenirs at entrances in case any person arrives without a face mask. ii. Enough Veronica buckets together with tissues and stand-alone sanitizer dispensers must be positioned strategically at venue entrances in a manner as to prevent queueing and crowding. People in a queue must stand at least a meter apart. iii. Strictly washing of hands before entering event venues. iv. Ushers upon application of hand sanitizers at entrances shall escort guests to their seats v. Observing strict social distancing of not less than 1 metre. vi. Maximum of 50% of carrying capacity or 100 people per event 2. Activities i. To critically observe social-distancing, tables usually designed for 10 chairs shall be reduced to 50% of the current seating capacity take (5 chairs) ii. MCs shall be required to initiate activities/demonstrations that touch on curtailing the spread of Covid-19 iii. As much as possible, PA facilities shall be required to provide at least two microphones: and carefully sanitized after each use. iv. Use of hand sanitizers at the table should be encouraged. v. Observing 1-meter distance between guests and at least 1-meter interval in between tables is recommended. vi. Accredited individuals shall manage events only. i.e. corporate event houses and certified professionals by the associations or recognized professional bodies vii. All event organisers must be duly licensed by Ghana Tourism Authority viii. All events shall be time-constrained so as not keep guests for too long ix. There shall be the presence of a designated health and safety liaison person amongst the organisers 3.Venues i. Venues shall conform to regulatory standards. ii. Venues must have adequate space and covid friendly washrooms iii. Washrooms at venues should now have stand by janitors to clean and disinfect after each visit during an event. iv. Venues will have to ensure or arrange for uninterrupted supply of services such as water. Food and drinks i. To avoid movement and contact, plates can be placed on guests' tables in the course of the program so guests can pick their plates for buffets and be served by caterer and staff. ii. Guests can make their cocktail and drink requests through hand gloves wearing waiters and cocktails can be served with disposable cups within the venue C. Tourist sites and attraction i. All Tourist Sites and Attractions may apply to the Ghana Tourism Authority to be allowed to open after they have put in place precautionary measures. The Tourism Authority will inspect such measures before allowing them to operate. For the avoidance of doubt, these measures include: a. Enough Veronica buckets together with tissues and stand-alone sanitizer dispensers shall be positioned strategically at venue entrances in a manner as to prevent queueing and crowding. People in a queue must stand at least a meter apart. b. Strictly washing of hands before entering a site or attraction c. Mandatory wearing of face masks before entry. ii. Observing strict social distancing of not less than 1 metre. iii. Maximum of 100 people at a time iv. Provision of designated isolation areas in their facilities D. Night clubs and drinking bars i. All Night Clubs and Drinking Bars must remain closed. citinewsroom Wizz Air is looking to have 100 aircraft serving GCC markets by 2035, the airline's CEO, Joszef Varadi, revealed during a recent interview with aviation industry consultant John Strickland, during ATM Virtual. In the interview Varadi confirmed his ambitions for the low-cost carriers impending move to operate out of Abu Dhabi. If you look at what weve been able to achieve in the EU, we managed to grow our fleet to 100 aircraft over the last 15 years and we should be able to do the same thing in Abu Dhabi. Expanding on his forecast, he added: You should be looking at our platform, not necessarily just Abu Dhabi, we want to serve the UAE and possibly the broader GCC markets. Celebrating its 16th anniversary, Wizz Air employs more than 4,500 people and flew 40 million passengers, to 151 airports in 44 countries, on 710 routes last year. It has a young fleet of 120 Airbus aircraft with an option to buy a further 20 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, the most cost-efficient aircraft of its type. Varadi went to talk about the current situation and the desire to travel, versus the ability to travel. He claimed that his customers were motivated to travel especially younger customers, who generally are more adventurous and less affected by the pandemic. However, the inconsistent response from different governments to the Covid-19 situation was not supporting the industry and that a framework of regulations was needed, to enable aviation to recover. Airports did well after 9/11 introducing heightened security measures and we need similar measures regarding health and safety. While airports and airlines are quiet it is easier to practice social distancing, but not when we start to become busier, he said. Regarding onboard health and safety, Varadi believes the industry is stepping up. But measures such as simply blocking the middle seat, or implementing onboard distancing, is impractical and will not work. There is no scientific evidence to suggest any passengers have contracted the virus while flying. In fact, the air filtration onboard aircraft is comparable with an intensive care unit, he said. He also made an interesting comparison. Why is going to the restaurant, or the supermarket, safer than boarding an aircraft, when we can manage and trace our passengers more easily?" However, I do support wearing masks, hand sanitising, disinfecting and reducing the amount of high touch points such as cash payments for onboard catering and inflight magazines, he said. According to Strickland, Wizz Air has funding totalling 1.5 billion and current operating expenses of 90 million per month during the summer and 70 million per month during the winter, which compares favourably with Lufthansa which is burning through 1 million per hour! When asked about surviving the current coronavirus crisis, Varadi had a typically upbeat message. Its all about liquidity and what that provides to your business. If we do not fly a single passenger for the next 24 months we will still be in business, so we are well positioned to take advantage of the situation, he said. Coming out of the crisis, Varadi believes that the ensuing recession will also create greater challenges for the industry than the outbreak itself. Short-haul, low-cost carriers such as Wizz Air will be better placed to recover initially, because the lowest costs prevail. Some passengers will also look to downgrade from legacy carriers to save money. In terms of corporate travel, companies will look to reduce their expenses post Covid-19, so corporate travel will take longer to recover. But he believes that would also be of benefit to Wizz Air, as businesses look for more cost-effective flights. The aviation industry has been a recurring theme throughout the three-day virtual event and included an interview with aviation industry veteran Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline with respected aviation expert John Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting during the opening session, where he outlined the companys response to Covid-19 and its impact on their future strategy. Also on day one, was the Communicating and Building Confidence Now session led by Travel Weekly Executive Editor, Ian Taylor. The panel of global travel leaders provided thought leadership on empathetic communication during a crisis and included Dr. Taleb Rifai, Chairman, International Institute of Peace for Tourism (IIPT) and former Secretary General of the UNWTO; Bernard Dunn, President, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, Boeing; Gerald Lawless, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) ambassador and Director of ITIC; and Haitham Mattar, CEO, Beyond Tourism. In addition, a webinar by Cirium, the data intelligence experts, which took place on the final day of the virtual event, showcased the power of analytics in supporting business performance. ATM Virtual concluded on June 3. This session is available on demand until June 5 for those who are already registered. - TradeArabia News Service Video of a young black Oklahoma officer announcing he quit his job after his boss refused to allow him to take a knee in solidarity with protestors has gone viral but the local police department says he's lying. Keval Williams, 21, said he worked as a Detention Officer for the Oklahoma Sheriff's Department and was out policing the George Floyd protests until he quit Monday in protest. A video of Williams at the Oklahoma protest on Monday telling his story was posted on TikTok the following day and went viral, getting over five million views when it was shared on Twitter. Williams said he quit because his police captain refused to let him kneel in the streets to show solidarity with protesters as many officers have been pictured doing across the country. But police department spokesman Mark Myers told DailyMail.com that Williams was just a jailer not a sworn deputy, and never asked to take a knee. Keval Williams, 21, said he worked as a Detention Officer for the Oklahoma Sheriff's Department and was out policing the George Floyd protests Monday In a now-viral Tik Tok video he's seen protesting and telling the crowd he quit his job so he can join them after his boss allegedly barred him from taking a knee Williams said he quit because his police captain refused to let him kneel in the streets to show solidarity with protesters 'I worked at the Oklahoma Sheriff's Department. I came out and I said ''Can I take a knee?'' They told me no,' Williams told the protesters. Protests have sprung up across the nation to fight police brutality in response tot he death of Geroge Floyd 'So I said here's my badge, and I won't come back, and here I am protesting.' Williams declined to be interviewed, but posted a video on his Instagram page speaking out about his decision. 'As law enforcement, as a correction officer, police officer, firefighter, anybody, I think we all should be taking knees,' he said in the video. 'I wanted to come out there in my uniform and take a walk with you guys, but I knew that my department wasn't going to let me do that. So I thought that they would at least let me take a knee for you guys to show you guys that I appreciate everything you're doing. They wouldn't let me do that either. 'I feel like my protest needed to be in my uniform. It would have gave ''not all cops are bad'' a life. It would have lifted it up. But honestly this shows me that all y'all motherf***ers is bad,' he said. Williams claimed the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office only decided to let officers kneel once the media spotlight was on them. 'I wanted to take a knee before the helicopters and the news was there, and they told me no,' said Williams. 'When I sat down back in my office, and the news was above us, then they made everybody else take a knee. That's when I went and took my badge in. Now the news is here you want to look good.' Williams is seen (right) holding a sign of George Floyd's name in protest of police brutality The police department told DailyMail.com that Williams was just a jailer not a sworn deputy, and never asked to take a knee. Pictured are protestors in Stillwater, Oklahoma Williams declined to be interviewed, but posted a video on his Instagram page and Twitter speaking out about his decision However, Oklahoma Sheriff's Office told DailyMail.com that Williams was a Detention Officer who worked in one of the county's jails, not a sworn deputy, and so did not have a badge to hand in. 'He is not an officer, he was a jailer,' spokesman Mark Myers said. He said Williams asked to speak to a captain while prisoners in his jail were rioting, and so nobody was available. 'He never told the staff supervisors that's what he wanted to do. He just said he wanted to speak to a supervisor,' Myers said. 'They were all busy, and then he quit. He took off his shirt, left his car keys and walked outside. No one ever told him he could not take a knee. 'We support our employees rights to freedom of speech and expression, but as an essential employee posted inside of a jail he had to do his job,' Myers said. 'If he wants to protest, there's an easy way to do that. Take time off to go protest. Go protest before work, go protest after work.' Myers added that the department supported peaceful protest, and said other Sheriff's Deputies had taken a knee with protesters that week. The Oklahoma Sheriff's Office (pictured) told DailyMail.com that Williams was a Detention Officer who worked in one of the county's jails, not a sworn deputy, and so did not have a badge to hand in Williams said he had wanted to be a cop his whole life, and some members of his family didn't take his decision well especially as his girlfriend is expecting a baby any day now. The 21-year-old claimed his decision to quit was crystallized when he was called out onto the streets and armed with a riot shield to police the George Floyd protests. 'When they had us out there holding the shields, the whole time I was praying 'please don't come over here, please don't let them shoot you, please just stay back,' he said. 'Them shooting the rubber bullets, I couldn't do it any more. 'No one can sit there and keep getting beat on.' Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Research Future has recently published new research that provides detailed insights on the working dynamics of the global insulated concrete form market 2020 over impact analysis on COVID-19. The global retail ready packaging market will reflect an average 7% CAGR, in terms of volume, during the forecast period till 2022, as slated by a recent report. The study estimates the market to surpass high in revenues by 2022-end. The study offers in-depth information about the key market segments, vendor landscape, geographical outlook, factors driving, and inhibiting growth along with COVID-19 impact Analysis with the report. Top Impacting Factors From scratch frame, insulated concrete form (ICF) systems are gaining popularity for providing improved energy efficiency and greater structural strength. This has a major contribution to the increased acceptance from the commercial, residential, infrastructural, and industrial sectors. One of the major factors motivating the global insulated concrete form market revealed is the growing demand for hi-rise residential buildings at the world level. The soaring demand for energy-efficient buildings is also likely to boost the demand for ICF during the forecast period, especially in substantial COVID-19 breakthrough. The rising demand for green & sustainable construction to curtail carbon footprint, disaster resiliency, and heating & cooling benefits in modern construction also stands high in propelling the insulated concrete form market growth. In fact, mounting urbanization in the developing countries also has the possibility to provide a positive outlook for the building sector, which will enhance the industry landscape in the forecast period. Some more essential factors, such as uninterrupted growth and prosperity of the insulated concrete form in the construction & infrastructural sector, are also somehow contributing to the markets growth. Owing to technological superiority compared to the conventional wooden framed walls and roof system has promulgated the insulated concrete form market size. Having said that, over the past few years, the growing concerns in concern with the reduction of carbon dioxide levels along with an increase in electricity costs will further increase the demand for insulated concrete form. All the factors are thus providing lucrative opportunities for the industry participants. Segmentation of Market The analysis of the global insulated concrete form market is segmented for segments such as concrete shape, material type, and applications. In terms of the concrete shape segment, the market has included a flat wall system, a screen grid system, a waffle grid system, and a post & lintel system. In terms of material type segment, the market has included polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, cement-bonded wood fiber, cement-bonded polystyrene beads, and more. In terms of the application segment, the market has included commercial, residential, infrastructural, and industrial sectors. Region-Wise Analysis The insulated concrete form market leads in the North America region owing to the high demand from end-user industries, mainly in the United States. The demand for insulated concrete forms in the United States is driven by commercial and institutional sub-segments. However, the residential sub-segment held a leading position in the U.S. insulated concrete form market. With this, the growing residential construction industry in the United States is also likely to drive the demand for insulated concrete form in the region. Asia Pacific market for insulated concrete form witnessed significant growth at over 8% in terms of revenue in 2018. The increasing infrastructure expenditure in the developing economies of India, Indonesia, and Malaysia owing to the rising population & urbanization will also proliferate the business growth in the future. Besides, essential enhancements in the government regulations at a propos the demand for energy efficiency, require reducing construction time, as well as safety will further stimulate the industry size in the region. Top Grossing Market Players The top players in the insulated concrete form markets are listed as Quad-Lock Building Systems Ltd., IntegraSpec ICF, Logix Insulated Concrete Forms Ltd., Nudura Corporation, Amvic Building System, Reward Wall Systems Inc., Plasti-Fab Expanded Polystyrene Product Solutions, BuildBlock Building Systems Inc., and Airlite Plastics Company. Note: The COVID-19 pandemic disruption is estimated to transform the XX market in the years to come drastically, and its after-effects will be persistently seen in the years ahead. The MRFR report on the XX market meticulously tracks the COVID-19 pandemic effect for the years ahead. Moreover, the precise analysis of drivers and restraints in a post-COVID-19 market offers a coherent understanding of future growth cues. Humanitarian group calls for action, saying pandemic could set in motion a vicious cycle of lost income and hunger. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for concerted action to protect livelihoods during the coronavirus pandemic, warning that failure to do so may foster a boom in aid-dependency in countries at conflict. Citing new survey data from Nigeria, Libya, Iraq and Ukraine, the Red Cross said on Thursday the economic and food security impact of COVID-19 was massive and appeared likely to worsen over time. In countries at conflict, millions already live with little or no healthcare, food, water and electricity, as well as volatile prices and destroyed infrastructure. COVID-19s impact could set in motion a vicious cycle of lost income, deepening poverty and hunger, it said in a statement. In Nigeria, 95 percent of people in a 313-person survey said their sources of income had suffered due to the pandemic. In Iraq, 77 percent of 130 people interviewed said they had no savings to cope with the crisis, while 75 percent of 215 people surveyed in Ukraine reported an increase in the price of basic items. In the Philippines, movement restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 further restricted farmers access to farms in conflict-affected areas such as Mindanao, the ICRC said. Crippling Families that depend on remittances from relatives who have migrated overseas are also at risk, as income opportunities in wealthier countries deteriorate, it said. In Yemen, the Red Cross estimates that COVID-19 has resulted in a drop of as much as a 70 percent in remittances. COVID-19 is causing a tremendous financial shock for families, particularly in conflict zones. I fear that without coordinated action from governments and humanitarians, the long-term consequences will be crippling, said Charlotte Bennborn, the head of ICRCs economic security department. The statement noted that the typical coping mechanism that families use to overcome lean times asking for loans from neighbours or family, reducing purchases, or using savings have been exhausted for many. Governments and humanitarian actors must maintain or extend social protection programmes, with a focus on vulnerable groups, the ICRC said. They must also reinforce existing humanitarian activities that are focused on food security and livelihoods, it added. Globally, there are more than 6.4 million cases of coronavirus and nearly 386,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. American Airlines has said it will return more flights to the skies next month, in a sign that the airline industry is starting to pick itself up from the coronavirus pandemic, after it was forced to reduce its flight capacity by a staggering 80 percent. The US's largest airline announced the move Thursday to fly more than 55 percent of its July 2019 domestic capacity, up considerably from this month when it is flying just 25 percent of its flights compared to June last year and from May when it axed 80 percent of the flights it flew the same month a year earlier. It will also boost its international flights schedule next month, flying nearly 20 percent of its July 2019 capacity to destinations including Europe and Latin America. In total, this will take American's flight capacity to 40 percent of its July 2019 numbers. The news spells some hope for the airline industry after it was one of the hardest-hit by the pandemic as borders closed, the federal government banned flights to and from some nations and stay-at-home orders left the few planes still operating empty of passengers. American Airlines has said it will return more flights to the skies next month, in a sign that the airline industry is starting to pick itself up from the coronavirus pandemic 'We're seeing a slow but steady rise in domestic demand. After a careful review of the data, we've built a July schedule to match,' Vasu Raja, senior vice president of network strategy for American Airlines, said in a release announcing the airline's new schedule Thursday. 'As an airline, we've consciously bet on demand coming back. We have bet the economy,' Raja said. Raja told Reuters that the airline would fly just over 4,000 flights on peak days in July compared with nearly 2,000 on peak days in May. That is still down from the peak 6,800 daily flights before the crisis began. The airline is boosting flights from New York City airports, Los Angeles and Washington and adding flights from its Dallas Fort Worth and Charlotte hubs. It is also increasing flights to major cities in Florida, Gulf Coast cities and mountain destinations as national parks and outdoor recreational spaces reopen. In late May, the airline carried a daily average of about 110,000 customers - an increase of 71 percent over the 32,000 daily average the airline served in April, but still far below numbers last year. Internationally, American plans to resume service to additional European and Latin American destinations in August. Vasu Raja, senior vice president of network strategy for American Airlines, announced the airline's new schedule Thursday saying it will fly just over 4,000 flights on peak days in July compared with nearly 2,000 on peak days in May It will resume service to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from Miami on July 7. Measures are being taken on board the flights to keep passengers safe including stringent cleaning procedures and mandating that staff and customers must wear face masks. American is upping its rate of flights at a faster pace than its US rivals, with United Airlines only ramping up its schedule to 25 percent of its July 2019 capacity. According to OAG, the big four US airlines - United, American, Delta and Southwest -are increasing their June flights by 27 percent from May, mainly driven by a growth in domestic flights. 'The industry is showing some signs of recovery, but there are noticeable changes in consumer behavior,' John Grant, OAG's senior aviation analyst, told CNBC. 'People are booking later, seeking more flexibility in their travel bookings and not committing to payment until the last minute.' The latest announcement from American comes after the airline wrote a letter to staff last week announcing massive job cuts and warning them to prepare for a 'smaller airline for the foreseeable future'. A deserted American Airlines terminal at Laguardia airport in New York in March. The major airlines started receiving parts of a federal aid package in May to pay workers and avoid massive layoffs in the industry In the letter, American said it was cutting its management and support staff by 30 percent - around 5,000 jobs - and that frontline employees like flight attendants would be next if travel continues on its low trajectory. 'We must plan for operating a smaller airline for the foreseeable future,' wrote Elise Eberwein, American's executive VP of people and global engagement. It said the cuts would first be done on a voluntary basis through June 10 with the remaining layoffs allocated by the company in July. Axed employees will stay on the payroll until September 30 under the terms of the federal government bailout package. American Airlines has received $5.8 billion in coronavirus relief money from the government and has applied for another $4.75 billion. The major airlines started receiving parts of the aid package in May after they reached an agreement with the US Treasury for $25 billion in aid to pay workers and avoid massive layoffs in the industry. For airlines, the coronavirus pandemic brought a decade-long hot streak where the big players together earned tens of billions of dollars, bought new planes and hired thousands more workers crashing down overnight. Government flight restrictions and border closures aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus ravaged the industry. Planes lay abandoned on runways as airlines cut thousands of flights, planes that did take off had barely anyone on board and thousands of staff were laid off or furloughed to try to keep the industry afloat. I know sometimes people say, how many times do we need to rebuild?'' she said. Well, you know what? We are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. By Akbar Mammadov In accordance with the combat training plan for 2020 approved by the Minister of Defense, a competition for the title of "Best Motorized Rifle Unit" is being held in the Azerbaijani Army, the ministry reported on its website on June 4. The competition has been focused on testing the readiness of motorized infantry units on combat vehicles, increasing the knowledge and skills of the staff, and improving combat skills. Military personnel successfully fulfill driving, shooting, physical training and other training, as well as perform tasks accurately, on time and correctly, the ministry said. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Photojournalist Staff photographer at the Arizona Daily Star. Previously at the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming and the Savannah Morning News in Georgia. Honored with numerous awards including those by the NPPA and two time Wyoming photographer of the year. YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia is discussing with the concerned sides the applications on revising the tariffs of gas. Two companies Gazprom Armenia CJSC and Transgaz LLC, conduct a licensed activity in Armenias gas supply system. Gazprom Armenia CJSC conducts the import of the natural gas, the operative technological regulation of the system, the distribution and sale of the natural gas to the consumers. Whereas, Trasngaz LLC carries out the natural gas transportation and operation of gas storage facilities. The applications on revising the gas tariffs were submitted by these two companies on April 1 and were examined by the staff of the Public Services Regulatory Commission. The Commission proposed to keep unchanged the current gas tariffs both for the population and the socially needy families. In particular, Gazprom Armenia proposed to set the tariff both for the population and those families at 135,909.6 drams for thousand cubic meters. But this in case when currently the gas tariff for socially needy families is 100,000 AMD, and that for the population is 139,000 AMD. The Commission proposed to keep unchanged the current tariffs. Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Never before since the wars of 1965 and 1971 has all human activity been disrupted to the scale and duration as by the Covid-19 pandemic-driven lockdown in India. Between the beginning of February and May-end, the country experienced nearly 2 lakh diagnosed cases and over 5,000 deaths attributed to Covid-19. The lockdown, however, was in response to the looming threat of the pandemic and its consequences in Europe and America. World-over, 65 lakh people have been infected and nearly 4 lakh of them have died. Most of the deaths have taken place in the US, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Seeing the unprecedented magnitude of this unforeseen calamity and sensing the under-preparedness of the health care system in the country, the government enforced a strict lockdown. An author described the lockdown as a chemical experiment that exposed many hidden things. I disagree because we should also be looking at the positive side. The lockdown was a shining example of unity in the country; amply clear on the evening of March 22, when nearly the entire population came out in balconies in demonstration of solidarity and support. It was also a model appreciated by world leaders of how any country could respond swiftly to a crisis call. How well everyone rallied behind the corona warriors will also be remembered. Not in the least, the people thoroughly complied with lockdown directives and accepted the restrictions imposed with tolerance. TACKLING BIGGER THREATS Overall, the response to the Covid-19 threat cut across disciplines and from both policy-makers and public perspectives have been remarkable. That the numbers of cases are few in comparison to many other countries and fatalities still fewer and far between is another story but it certainly brings to focus other diseases which pose similar and greater health challenges in India. The recently published National Burden of Estimates survey commissioned by the Union ministry of health and family welfare estimated 97 lakh deaths each year in India. This represents a fifth of all deaths in the world. Of these 6.56 lakh deaths were attributed to brain stroke, 5.19 lakh to diarrhoea, 3.75 lakh to tuberculosis, 2.75 lakh to road traffic accidents and 1.99 lakh to suicide. These are only few examples. There are many more causes of death with immensely large numbers. This means that besides the Covid-19 pandemic, there are other demics that India has to cope with and overcome. The numbers projected speak for themselves and are a call to policy-makers to provide appropriate responses to these unsung-demics. We can perhaps save many more lives is we focus our attention to these unrecognised-demics. ROOT CAUSE IS ECONOMIC As someone who is not in to policy-making nor a financial expert, Im not sure of how this is to be done, but the root cause behind the scale of these demics is economic. At present, the government healthcare spending is 3.6% of the GDP, which is way below healthcare spending in other countries. For instance, the US spends 17% of its GDP on healthcare. This amounts to US$ 11,000/person each year in comparison to Rs 2,000/person each year in India. Increasing healthcare spending has a number of collateral benefits, most of all economic. Most of the deaths due to the demics alluded to above affect people in young age. The impact of premature deaths, also measured as years of life lost is far more than a number of late-life health conditions. After all, these are productive lives lost and the economic impact is far more worrying. This, thus is a call for policy-makers and public alike to surmount a meaningful and sustained response to these bigger health challenges akin to our response provided to Covid-19. INFODEMIC AND HELPLESSNESS Besides the Covid-19 pandemic, there is another demic nowadays known as infodemic. The public is flooded with information through a variety of channels, including social media. The veracity of this information is a different matter and subject of a larger debate. The role of hydoxychloroquin in the treatment and prevention of Covid-19 is an example. But I would like to draw the attention of readers to the impact of the flooding of Covid-19 information in conventional media channels and social media alike. Undoubtedly, the public is now well-informed of the day-to-day indicators of the infection and also of recommendations vis-a-vis prevention and treatment. The flooding of information, however, is like a pendulum its impact invariably swings over to the other (wrong) side. The infodemic has led to the development of negative public attitudes towards Covid-19. Today, corona patients and those affected by the disease are being stigmatised and this has impacted them both in life and death. Helplessness and hindrances faced recently by the family of a Chennai-based neurosurgeon during his cremation is an appalling example. People are not coming to hospitals for care of their non-Covid related ailments for fear of getting exposed to Covid. These behaviours are unfounded as most hospitals are geared up to segregate Covid wards from other patient care zones. Here is a call to policy-makers and public alike to swiftly, strongly and persuasively address the more formidable non-Covid-demics of which infodemics, tuberculo-demics, accidemics and suicidemics are just few examples. g.singh@ucl.ac.uk professor-head, department of neurology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. (HT Photo) The writer is professor-head, department of neurology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, and honorary associate professor at UCL Institute of Neurology, London Vista Group International Limited (NZX & ASX:VGL) provides an update on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on its businesses and steps being taken to address these. Operating Update The majority of Vista Groups global workforce continue to work from home. A small number of employees have returned to work at Vista Groups New Zealand head office, with the focus there being on ensuring operation in accordance with level two requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the film industry globally, including the customers of Vista Group. Cinemas in most countries currently remain closed and those that are able to open are generally subject to new mandated operating requirements, including social distancing and capacity restrictions, and generally do not have new content to show moviegoers as a result of studios having delayed the release of new films. Vista Group companies have continued to work to support their customers during the lockdown, and in preparation for potential reopening: Vista Cinema has released the Cinema Re-opening Kit to really strong demand with the Dynamic Social Distance seating capability very popular and already in use in cinemas that have opened in Texas Movio has launched Movio Research 2.0 in the USA and the UK and Australia, focused on increased self-service and capability for studios Vista Cinema has worked with cinemas in the USA to re-configure mobile apps to enable their customers to purchase popcorn and other items through kerb-side pickup Vista Cinema has partnered with a local New Zealand company Shift72 to enable cinemas to implement their own branded TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand) platforms, with customers already live in the USA and New Zealand Movio has launched tea with Movio a weekly webinar series around best practice in movie marketing Both Vista Cinema and Movio have been successful in winning new business over the COVID-19 pandemic period with the majority of these in Europe. Balance Sheet Initiatives As previously announced, Vista Group has responded to the challenging circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic by taking wide-ranging measures to strengthen its balance sheet to ensure it is best placed to weather significant downside scenarios, including: successfully completing a NZD$65 million capital raise, with excellent support from its existing institutional and retail shareholders Directors voluntarily reducing their remuneration by 30% the Chief Executive Officer voluntarily reducing his salary by 30% and the senior leadership team voluntarily reducing their salaries by 25% over 80% of Vista Groups employees volunteering to work reduced hours for reduced pay applying for and receiving government relief for its businesses in New Zealand, the USA the UK and the Netherlands, including by way of the New Zealand wage subsidy and the USA Paycheck Protection Program cancelling the 2019 final dividend and terminating the agreement to acquire a further 14.5% stake in Vista China implementing hiring and salary freezes and terminating engagement with all non-essential contracting resources Further Measures In addition to the above steps, Vista Group has undertaken a comprehensive review of its businesses against future scenarios to ascertain the extent to which additional cost reduction measures need to be implemented. The result of this review is that the company has today begun consultation with its staff around a proposed new structure for the core Vista Group companies Vista Group, Vista Cinema, and Movio. This proposal provides for a new organisation structure worldwide a structure with fewer people than the current structure. Vista Group Chief Executive Office Kimbal Riley said We are operating in a situation where we do not know when our customers (80%+ of Vista Group customers are cinemas) will be able to reopen in a meaningful way. This has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on their businesses and therefore ours. It is also clear to us that our customers businesses will change when they do reopen, and so Vista Group will need to change in order to address their new needs, and position ourselves optimally to enhance the moviegoer experience in whatever a new normal looks like post-COVID-19. Over recent months we have had significant assistance from government subsidies, and from our employees volunteering to reduce their hours and their income. However, we cannot continue to depend on government subsidies (which in New Zealand cover roughly 1/3 of the average salary of our people), and we do not believe it is right to require our people to reduce their hours and income for an unquantified, but potentially extended period. We have therefore taken the decision to implement a restructure of all our core businesses (Vista Group, Vista Cinema, and Movio) in all our offices. Whilst this will have a significant impact on a number of people, we will ensure everyone is treated with the utmost respect and given appropriate support. If this proposal proceeds in its current form, we expect to achieve annualised cost savings of between NZD$12 million and $15 million from this reorganisation. Mr Riley concluded: We have very strong relationships with our customers, for whom we deliver mission critical solutions, and we believe this proposed change, combined with the other measures we have taken, will cement Vista Groups position as the leading provider for software and data solutions for the global film industry in the post COVID economy. Source: Vista Group International Limited Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. 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. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ArborGen Holdings Limited (NZX: ARB) Updates Market on FY22 Guidance My Food Bag Group Limited (NZX: MFB) Q3 FY22 Trading Update ikeGPS Group Limited (NZX: IKE) signs $0.9m deal with tier-1 electric utility Tower Limited (NZX: TWR) Update on Tonga Volcanic Eruption and Tsunami Event 21st January 2022 Morning Report Trade Window Holdings Limited (NZX: TWL) TradeWindow and Mastercard teams up Genesis Energy Limited (NZX: GNE) FY22 Q2 Performance Report Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Seeka announces dividend of 13 cents per share 20th January 2022 Morning Report Z Energy Limited (NZX: ZEL) Q3FY33 Operating Data By Taiwo Okanlawon Nigerian-British actor, John Boyega, joined other Black Lives Matter demonstrators on Wednesday in London to protest the recent killing of George Floyd, a black American. The Star Wars actor, who was among several speakers delivered an emotional speech to a crowd at Hyde Park before they marched towards the residence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Boyega thanked all who came out to join the protest, saying it was about time people protested injustice against blacks. Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important, he said. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I aint waiting. I aint waiting. Most of the protesters wore masks or gloves and also chanted black lives matter and we will not be silent. Thank you for coming out today, thank you for being here to show your support, he added. Black people I love you, I appreciate you, today is an important day. We are fighting for our rights, we are fighting for our ability to live in freedom, we are fighting for our ability to achieve.today you guys are a visible representation of that. Boyega said it mattered little to him if he does not have a career after the protest. Mr Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on May 25 while being pinned down by white police officer, Derek Chauvin, who has been sacked alongside three others and charged to court. An incident that sparked protests across the US and the world. Related The ministry keeps the bans for entrance for citizens outside the European continent Open source Starting from June 15, the Foreign Ministry of Germany will lift the restriction for entrance for citizens of 26 EU countries as Deutsche Welle reported. Besides, the citizens of the UK and countries that enter the Schengen Area but not EU members Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein will be allowed to enter Germany. Moreover, from mid-June, the Foreign Ministry of Germany will allow the German people to travel all over the European continent. They will be allowed to visit 31 countries. The ministry keeps the bans for entrance for citizens outside the European continent. The German authorities may reconsider them but in hand with the decision of the European Commission. It expected that Brussels will consider the issue of extension of the ban for entrance to EU from third countries this or the next week. Not all European counties are ready to admit tourists. In the UK, the tourists are obliged to pass 14-days quarantine after June 15. The borders of Spain and Norway will remain close to tourists. Spain is going to lift the restrictions from June 21; however, officially, it is July 1. Moreover, Italy doubts that Europe will be opened on June 15. As we reported, on June 3, Italy opened borders for foreign tourists. Thus, travelers won't have to spend two weeks in isolation upon arrival. With police misconduct in the spotlight, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday will consider whether to revisit its 50-year-old doctrine of "qualified immunity" for law enforcement officers, which has shielded cops from civil lawsuits even in cases where a citizen's rights have been violated. "This is the cornerstone of our culture of near-zero accountability for law enforcement," Jay Schweikert, a criminal justice policy analyst at the Cato Institute, said of the doctrine created by the court in the late 1960s. While the Civil Rights Act of 1871 gives Americans the unambiguous ability to sue public officials over civil rights violations, the Supreme Court has subsequently limited liability to only those rights that have become "clearly established law." Critics say the standard is near-impossible to meet. "In order for a plaintiff to defeat qualified immunity, they have to find a prior case that has held unconstitutional an incident with virtually identical facts to the one the plaintiff is bringing," said UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz. "And over the last 15 years, the court has made it a more and more difficult standard for plaintiffs to overcome to go to trial." MORE: Congressional Black Caucus to propose policing reforms after George Floyd's death The issue has been percolating in lower courts for years and drawn increasing scrutiny from across the political spectrum. It returns to the Supreme Court now by coincidence, as the country grapples with fallout from the death of George Floyd while he was in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day. During their private weekly conference, the justices are expected to review petitions in eight different cases involving qualified immunity, which the court established in an attempt to curb gratuitous litigation. PHOTO: Justices of the United States Supreme Court sit for their official group photo at the Supreme Court on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE) In one case, a Tennessee man suspected of burglary was mauled by a police dog that was released by officers after he was sitting on the ground with his hands raised in surrender. Story continues Another involves a Georgia mother whose 10-year-old son was inadvertently shot in the leg by a deputy pursuing a suspect into the family's yard. An Idaho woman who gave police permission -- and the keys -- to search her home for a fugitive, wants to sue the officers who instead spent hours bombarding it from the outside with tear-gas grenades that destroyed her property. The fugitive was not inside. In each case, federal courts dismissed lawsuits against the officers in light of the qualified immunity doctrine. "It must be the case that this is weighing heavily on the justices' minds," said Schweikert. "They are smart enough to recognize the direct connection between the doctrine of qualified immunity and the outrage over the lack of accountability for law enforcement motivating so many people to the demonstrations that we're seeing." Police officers accused of misconduct can face criminal charges, but convictions are exceedingly rare. That leaves civil lawsuits as one of the few avenues for alleged victims to pursue their claims. MORE: President Trump to claim 'absolute immunity' from subpoenas in Supreme Court appeal In a 2018 dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned that qualified immunity had become an "absolute shield" for law enforcement, "gutting the deterrent effect of the Fourth Amendment." "It tells officers that they can shoot first and think later," she wrote, in a statement joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Clarence Thomas has also been publicly skeptical of the policy, writing in 2017 that qualified immunity does not have a solid foundation in the Constitution or common law. "Until we shift the focus of our inquiry to whether immunity existed at common law, we will continue to substitute our own policy preferences for the mandates of Congress," Thomas said. "In an appropriate case, we should reconsider our qualified immunity jurisprudence." PHOTO: Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States mingles after delivering a keynote address during a dedication of Georgia's new Nathan Deal Judicial Center, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. (John Amis/AP, FILE) The justices now have that opportunity to clarify or curtail its precedent. It takes at least four justices to vote to take up a case for it to be added for oral argument later this year. "I don't pretend to read Supreme Court tea leaves with any expertise, but it does seem like there's something that the court is trying to do," Schwartz said. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Floyd. Three other officers have also been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting manslaughter. Regardless of the outcome in those criminal cases, the Floyd family may also choose to seek civil damages against the officers. Such a case would likely have to overcome the "exacting standard" of qualified immunity, Schweikert said. "That's going to turn on whether the Eighth Circuit has cases that they've already decided in which police officers have held an unresisting, helpless suspect for a sufficiently long period of time to be close enough to the eight or nine minutes that we saw in George Floyd's case," he said. "I don't know if there are any such cases, and if there aren't, then immunity could stand." PHOTO: Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and George Floyd's son, Quincy Mason Floyd, react as they visit the site where George Floyd was taken into police custody, in Minneapolis, June 3, 2020. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Between 2017 and 2019, police won 56% of excessive force cases in federal courts when they claimed qualified immunity, a recent Reuters investigation found. During the three prior years, police won just 43% of the time. Of the 30 qualified immunity cases that reached the Supreme Court between 1982 and 2017, just twice did the justices find immunity did not apply to official conduct, according to University of Chicago law professor William Baude. Legal immunity for officers was originally devised out of concern about legal harassment and potential for personal bankruptcies. Some experts have also warned about the erosion of a deterrent effect from police if they became hesitant about enforcing certain laws because of potential legal liability. MORE: Clarence Thomas captivates with 63 questions on Supreme Court livestreams "You're trying to strike a balance," said Chris Walker, law professor at The Ohio State University, who has offered a qualified defense of the doctrine. "You don't want to have a legal system or an officer who is going to shirk from doing their duty. And so if you're afraid of liability or being dragged into court, you might not actually faithfully execute the law." If it takes up qualified immunity, the Supreme Court will have to grapple with the fact that it is well-established precedent, Walker added. "Justices (Elena) Kagan, (Stephen) Breyer, and even Ginsburg are going to be really worried about stare decisis," Walker said, referring to the legal principle of respecting precedent when deciding a case. "If we just get rid of a doctrine that was established in the 1960s and that we've repeatedly reaffirmed, what do we do with Roe v. Wade?" Several legal scholars have speculated that the court could be poised to clarify the meaning of qualified immunity in a way that would scale back protections for law enforcement. "I would see Kagan or (Chief Justice John) Roberts saying, it's part of our law; we're not going to get rid of it. But here are some principles to guide courts, and those principles actually really narrow the doctrine in a pro-plaintiff way," Walker said. Police 'qualified immunity' rule getting fresh look by Supreme Court after George Floyd death originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A furious Ryanair customer has slammed the airline after he was stopped from boarding a flight from Dublin to Gatwick because he wasn't wearing a face mask. James Higgins was refused entry at the boarding gate as he tried to fly from Ireland to the UK amid the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday. The Briton said staff insisted he would need to wear a face mask in order to fly, in line with new rules for Ryanair passengers announced by the airline last month. But Mr Higgins asserted that if masks are mandatory they should be provided to passengers in the airport - so they don't end up unable to board. He also claimed he had flown with Ryanair a week earlier and hadn't needed a mask. James Higgins (pictured) was refused entry at the boarding gate as he tried to fly from Ireland to the UK amid the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday In a video posted to Twitter, he said: 'I'm now getting removed from the airport because I haven't got a mask to wear on the plane. 'Although, last week you could do that - this week you can't do that. 'They are saying that they don't have masks, they won't give me one, but they're not allowing me to board the plane.' He added that the airline had reportedly sent an email about the rules, before panning the shot to show another girl who had ended up in the same situation. 'If you want people to wear masks on a plane, give them a mask. It's really simple, they cost two pence if that,' he added. Mr Higgins later claimed on social media he had been removed from the airport, and his phone was searched to 'delete this video.' He added: 'Furthermore, I was threatened that if I did share this video that I would be banned from flying with Ryanair. The Briton said staff (right) insisted he would need to wear a face mask in order to fly, in line with new rules for Ryanair passengers announced by the airline last month The airline last month announced plans to restore 40 per cent of its normal flight schedules by July 1, making 90 per cent of its route network active again (stock image) 'I cannot see how that is any way legally enforceable. What is more likely is that this will go down as another humiliating example of how you treat your customers.' The airline last month announced plans to restore 40 per cent of its normal flight schedules by July 1, making 90 per cent of its route network active again. It added on May 12 that all crew will wear face masks or coverings in-flight and that passengers will have to follow suit. A new 'Healthy Flying' notice on the Ryanair homepage tells passengers to check-in online, download boarding passes to their smartphones and 'wear a face mask/covering at all times, both in the airport and onboard your flight'. It also encourages fliers to check their temperature before travelling. 'It may be checked again at the airport,' the site says. 'If you do not pass this, you will be asked to return home.' Mr Higgins told MailOnline: 'On my way to Ireland less than a week ago, I flew with Ryanair from London Gatwick and I was provided with a face mask at security and there were no issues on the journey whatsoever. 'When leaving Dublin on 3rd June, I arrived at the airport two hours early and was at the gate approximately an hour prior to the scheduled take off time. During this time, the Ryanair staff had ample time to either announce to passengers that they would need a mask to board the plane, or to source masks to provide to passengers, they did neither. 'I was one of the final passengers to board the plane, and as I approached the check in desk, I was shouted at that I would not be allowed to board the plane without a mask. Naturally, I found this rather aggressive and confusing, so asked the Ryanair staff if they could provide one for me which they refused. 'I calmly asked them to allow me 30 seconds to check my carry-on luggage to see if I had one from my outbound flight I could use, which they accepted but continued shouting that without a mask I couldn't board the flight. I can only assume this was intended to create urgency and cause panic, as opposed to trying to reach a favourable outcome! 'Whilst checking my bag and being harried by Ryanair staff with the same message of "without a mask you cannot board, without a mask you cannot board", a young lady had the same issue and asked if we could tie t-shirts or other garments around our faces, which they refused. She was pleading with the Ryanair staff, but to no avail and they abruptly closed the flight without any warning or attempt to help either of us. 'The entire incident lasted less than two minutes, and one member of staff seemed to take pleasure in not allowing us to fly. 'This is the point at which I began recording Ryanair staff and asking them to repeat what they had told me about their refusal to help us. Within seconds of recording they insisted that if I did not stop recording that they would call the police. I refused to stop recording and was more than happy for them to call the police, which is when they falsely reported me as "being an abusive passenger". This was later retracted immediately when the police arrived.' Mr Higgins, who runs The Ethical Bedding Company, said he had been travelling to see his 10-week-old son and had not received an email telling him to wear a mask. He added: 'Rest assured, my return flight to the UK is booked with Aer Lingus and I have five protective masks to take with me which I will wait to hand out to people who may get stuck in the same situation that I found myself. 'You see Ryanair, kindness is extremely easy!' The rules come as Priti Patel this week insisted a 14-day quarantine for UK arrivals is 'essential to save lives' - despite the government's own scientific advisers distancing themselves from the plan. The Home Secretary defied a huge Tory revolt led by former Prime Minister Theresa May to tell MPs the blanket rule will come into force from Monday, with the next review not due to happen until the end of the month. She admitted it will hit businesses hard - and confirmed 'travel corridors' are being considered to low-infection countries. MailOnline has contacted Ryanair for comment. MANZINI Shattered and heartbroken! These are emotions that engulf the families of Dumile Kunene and Sipho Francis Zungu. The pair was killed on Monday evening, allegedly by Malangeni Dlamini, a husband to Kunene. A member of the Kunene family, who requested not to be named for now as the incident was still fresh, said the family was shattered by the demise of their daughter. She described the deceased police officer, who was under the Royal Guard, as someone who was responsible and hardworking. The relative said the news was hard for the family to take in as they were still recovering from the sad loss of their father. Dumile was killed just about two months after we buried her father. It is catastrophic to her mother, who was still learning to live without her husband, the relative said. The relative said it was so heartbreaking and they were concerned about the health of Kunenes mother after learning that her daughter had passed on. She said the challenge for them had been how they would relay the news as she was someone who had hypertension. However, the relative said when relaying the news, Kunenes mother said: God saw it fit for this to happen. She said despite taking the news well, the family was concerned about her wellbeing as this was just hard for everyone. The relative went on to say the deceased was survived by four children. The youngest of the children is about two years old while the eldest has completed school and is aged around 20. The four children comprise two males and two females. The two-year-old child was with the husband. Following the murder of their mother, the relative said some of the deceaseds colleagues took the children to her sister, who resided in Manzini. This, she said, was done so that they could be with someone they knew. With such a chilling incident, the children needed someone they know and to feel safe under that persons care. She said the family was still planning the logistics of her send-off as it was sudden and very shocking to them. The family member said they had learnt that the deceased had died painfully as some of them had visited the morgue to identify her body. We are still reeling from shock as her fingers were severed. It is so sad that she passed on in such a manner, she said. Bruise From her bruises, the relative suspected that Kunene fell while she fled from her assailant and at some point might have used her hands to shield her face. The relative said there was a high possibility that she would be laid to rest at her parental home at Malutha where her family was meeting. Malutha is in the western part of the country. Meanwhile, an aunt to Zungu said they were traumatised by the demise of their next-of-kin. She said since Tuesday, a number of people were visiting their family to mourn his demise. People are visiting us to forward their condolences, she said. The aunt said the brutal manner in which their relative died was worrisome. She hoped that justice would be served. The aunt described Zungu as someone who was down to earth and very humble. She said despite that he had spent most of his time of late in Manzini, he helped whenever possible at home. Zungu hails from Mahlabatsini under KaNgcamphalala Chiefdom in Siphofaneni. The aunt said the deceased civil servant had four chil dren and was a responsible father to them. What happened really shocked us, she said. She said Zungus wife was the one who would be mostly affected as she had lost her companion and partner. Zungu was employed by the Ministry of Agriculture as an Agronomist. He had been in this position for a lengthy period. Following the murder of the pair, Kunenes husband, who is a police officer, was charged with two counts of murder. The pair was killed on Monday evening at Madonsa, Extension 6 through the use of a gun allegedly belonging to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). Dlamini, 47, of Nyakeni under Chief Malunge II, was in the first count accused of unlawfully and intentionally killing Zungu by shooting him with a pistol once in the head, which resulted in his death. In the second count, Dlamini was charged with killing his wife, Kunene, who was also a police officer under the Royal Guard and based in Matsapha. In committing the crime, Dlamini allegedly fired the pistol twice at Kunene. Dlamini made his first court appearance and confession at the Manzini Magistrates Court on Tuesday before Magistrate Lucia Lukhele. The Latest on the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck: TOP OF THE HOUR: Protesters take to New York City streets after curfew, again. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tells protesters they matter, urges COVID-19 tests. Heavy rain brings an end to Washington protests before dark. ___ NEW YORK Protesters stayed on the streets of New York City after curfew for another day Thursday, spurred by the death of George Floyd. Actions by the protesters included gathering at Brooklyns Cadman Plaza, the site where police used batons against demonstrators who were out past the city-imposed curfew a night earlier. Protesters continued past the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday, even after Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to deflect criticism over harsh tactics from police enforcing it. Thousands of protesters were out after curfew, and so were police. At some locations, officials watched, but didnt immediately move in. At other spots, they made orderly arrests without the batons and riot gear, like a night earlier. ___ ATLANTA Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms walked with protesters in downtown Atlanta on Thursday and told the crowd through a megaphone that there is something better on the other side of this. We are in the midst of a movement in this country, she said. But its going to be incumbent upon all of us to be able to get together and articulate more than our anger. We got to be able to articulate what we want as our solutions. The mayors appearance came on the seventh straight night of protests in the city following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Police Chief Erika Shields also attended the protest. When the first night of protests on Friday turned violent, an impassioned Bottoms held a news conference and urged the protesters to go home, saying those who were looting and vandalizing businesses were disgracing the city and Floyds life. She told the crowd on Thursday that they matter to her, and before she left, she encouraged them to get tested for COVID-19. ___ WASHINGTON Protests in the nations capital over George Floyds death broke up before dark Thursday as a heavy rain began to fall. The law enforcement presence at the Lincoln Memorial, where protesters gathered, was much smaller than it had been near the White House during the previous nights demonstrations. Tomora Wright, 29, of Washington, said her parents were concerned that she was coming down to protest but she wasnt worried. I know that my people are peaceful and Im not scared to be around people who believe in the same thing, the same cause. I definitely felt the need to come down here and protest in solidarity. She wants to see the killers of George Floyd brought to justice but also reopening of past cases such as Sandra Bland in Texas. These are unimaginable times. ___ BUFFALO, N.Y. A police commissioner has suspended two officers following video that shows a Buffalo officer appearing to shove a man who walked up to police. Video from WBFO shows the man appearing to hit his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past to clear Niagara Square on Thursday night. The station reports two medics treated the unidentified man. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted that the man was hospitalized and stable, but his exact condition wasnt immediately known. WIVB-TV reports that Buffalo police initially said in a statement a person was injured when he tripped & fell. But Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation was opened. Later Thursday, news outlets reported that Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended two officers without pay. New York Attorney General Letitia Jamess office has tweeted that theyre aware of the video. ___ WASHINGTON The American Civil Liberties Union and others have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before President Donald Trump walked to a nearby church to take a photo. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Washington. It argues that Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other officials unlawfully conspired to violate the protesters rights when clearing Lafayette Park on Monday. Shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Monday, law enforcement officers began aggressively forcing back the peaceful protesters, firing smoke bombs and pepper balls into the crowd to disperse them from the park. The ACLU called it a coordinated and unprovoked charge into the crowd of demonstrators. Barr said Thursday that he ordered the protesters to be dispersed because officials were supposed to extend a security perimeter around the White House earlier in the day. He said he arrived there later in the afternoon and discovered it hadnt been done. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the group Black Lives Matter D.C., and individual protesters who were in Lafayette Park on Monday evening. ___ MINNEAPOLIS Defense attorneys said Thursday that two of three Minneapolis police officers accused of aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd were rookies barely off probation when a more senior white officer ignored the black mans cries for help and pressed a knee into his neck. Earl Gray said his client, former Officer Thomas Lane had no choice but to follow the instructions of Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with second-degree murder in Floyds May 25 death. Gray called the case against his client extremely weak. A judge set bail at $750,000 apiece for Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, when they made their first appearances in Hennepin County District Court on Thursday. The Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers last week and charged Chauvin. On Wednesday, the three other officers were charged. ___ AUSTIN, Texas Dozens of members of the University of Texas football team marched with Austin police officers from campus to the state Capitol to honor the memory of George Floyd. Many of the players locked arms on the two-mile walk that stopped on the north side of the Capitol, the opposite side of the building from where protesters have gathered for several days. Once there, the group and police officers took a knee for nine minutes to symbolize the amount of time Floyd was detained on the ground by Minneapolis police before he died. The players were also joined by head coach Tom Herman, his wife, and several assistant coaches. Im so proud, Herman told the players, urging them to be agents of change. ___ SALT LAKE CITY A man captured on video aiming a bow and arrow at protesters in Salt Lake City over the weekend was charged Thursday with assault and weapon possession. Brandon McCormick was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, as well as aggravated assault and threatening or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel. He was reportedly pushed to the ground on Saturday after pointing the bow and arrow at people protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. People then flipped over his car and set it on fire. No attorney was listed in court records. ___ NEW YORK The Queens district attorney says a man seen on video charging protesters in New York while wearing a glove with four long, serrated-edge blades has surrendered to authorities. A release from the office of District Attorney Melinda Katz says 54-year-old Frank Cavalluzzi jumped out of a vehicle Tuesday afternoon, shouting I will kill you, and chasing protesters who were gathered peacefully on an overpass. The release says he got back into his vehicle and drove on a sidewalk, nearly running over the demonstrators. Cavalluzzi turned himself in Thursday and was arraigned on multiple charges, including second-degree attempted murder. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. It wasnt immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf. ___ SAN ANTONIO The GOP chairwoman of one of Texas largest counties faced widespread pressure from her party to resign Thursday over a conspiracy theory on social media suggesting that George Floyds death was staged. Cynthia Brehm is head of the Bexar County Republican Party in San Antonio. She also drew attention and condemnation last month for suggesting the coronavirus pandemic was a hoax intended to hurt President Donald Trump. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on her to step down after a San Antonio Express-News columnist Wednesday tweeted an image of Brehm suggesting in a Facebook post that Floyds death was staged. The post is no longer on Brehms page. She has not publicly addressed calls for her resignation and did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. The comments are disgusting and have no place in the Republican Party or in public discourse, Abbott spokesman said John Wittman said. Both Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also called on her to resign, as did Texas Republican Party Chairman James Dickey. Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, put his knee on Floyds neck for several minutes as he lay handcuffed on the pavement, gasping that he couldnt breathe. Floyds funeral will be held next week in Houston, where he grew up. ___ BARCELONA, Spain More than a thousand people gathered in a central square in Barcelona, Spain, to protest against the death of American George Floyd and police brutality against African Americans. The protesters held a minute of silence at the candlelight vigil on Thursday. A recording of Martin Luther King Jr.s I have a dream speech was played and people set up a shrine in memory of Floyd. I am hopeful that people are standing up now and theyve said enough is enough, said Jonathan Courtney, a 31-year-old American resident who organized the event. If you go back in history when people did make change, they did go to the streets. ___ FARGO, N.D. Black leaders in North Dakotas largest city pleaded for calm in the face of violent threats to disrupt a gathering in memory of George Floyd. They advertised the event as a celebration and not a protest. The OneFargo event is scheduled Friday afternoon at a downtown Fargo park. Organizers had planned to march from the park to City Hall for a sit-in. They have scrapped that idea after social media threats surfaced to burn down the city offices and commit other violent acts. Organizer Wess Philome says anyone who is looking to destroy the positive energy from Fridays event should stay home. The pledge to tone down the dissent comes after a violent protest in downtown Fargo last weekend resulted in damaged property, a dozen arrests and minor injuries to four police officers. ___ OAKLAND, Calif. Police say well-coordinated criminals are capitalizing on the chaos around protests to stage widespread store thefts. They travel by caravan and use messaging apps or social media to communicate or distract and throw police off their trail. The wave of crime that has followed largely peaceful demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd has happened in big and small cities and in rural areas. Thieves have targeted high-value goods as officers are assigned to prevent protests from becoming unruly and enforce curfews. In the San Francisco Bay Area, a band of thieves stole nearly 75 vehicles from a dealership. ___ MINNEAPOLIS Mourners at George Floyds memorial service are standing for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, a span that has become a potent symbol of police brutality. The Rev. Al Sharpton exhorted Floyds family, civil rights leaders, politicians, athletes and celebrities at the service Thursday to stand as a commitment to justice in Floyds name. Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in police custody in New York City in 2014, stood on stage with Sharpton and comedian Tiffany Haddish. Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died on May 25 as a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyds neck, ignoring his cries and bystander shouts until Floyd eventually stopped moving. In the days since his death, protesters have seized on 8 minutes, 46 seconds the time given in a criminal complaint that the officer held his knee on Floyds neck as a way to honor Floyd. Sharpton says Floyds story has been the story of black people in America, and that he died not from common health conditions, but from a malfunction of the criminal justice system. Sharpton says the reason black people couldnt be who they dreamed of being is because you had your knee on our necks. He added: Get your knee off of our necks! He also commented about the protests that have occurred across the country and the world since Floyds death, saying that this time is different. Sharpton said he saw white people outnumbering black people in some marches and calling for justice. Sharpton also called out President Donald Trump for walking from the White House across the street as protests were going on in Washington so he could pose with a bible. We cannot use bibles as a prop, Sharpton said. For those that have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use George as a prop. ___ VIENNA Thousands of people have participated in an anti-racism demonstration in Vienna. The Austria Press Agency reported police said about 50,000 people gathered in downtown Vienna. Protesters carrying signs with the Black Lives Matter slogan marched to the Karlsplatz square. Many argued racism is just as present in Austria as the United States. Diedo Ladstaetter, a 27-year-old student from Vienna, says his dark-skinned Latino friend is affected by everyday racism. And therefore, I dont see why it would be somehow different in Austria compared to America. You have to protest here, too. Some protesters also carried Antifa signs and were heard shouting fight the police. ___ PORTLAND, Ore. Portland Public Schools will discontinue use of school resource officers from the Portland Police Bureau. Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero says Oregons largest school district needed to re-examine our relationship with the police after the nationwide upheaval over the death of George Floyd. The news came after thousands of protesters gathered Wednesday for the sixth consecutive night in Portland and remained peaceful. Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday ordered all flags flown at half-staff to honor Floyd. ___ LOS ANGELES The mayor of Los Angeles says he will end the curfew starting Thursday night. Mayor Eric Garcetti made the announcement after the curfews were put in place since last week as a precaution against looting and violence. Earlier, the Los Angeles County sheriff said he will not enforce a curfew in areas his deputies patrol. Curfews also ended in San Francisco and San Jose. The decisions follow generally peaceful demonstrations. Oakland and Sacramento plan to maintain curfews for now. ___ LOCUST GROVE, Va. Deputies in Virginia say a white man who called to report an assault turned out to be the aggressor and has been charged with attacking three African Americans because of their race. Authorities responding to a call from Edward Halstead in Locust Grove on Tuesday night interviewed several people and determined that the caller was in fact the perpetrator of assault and battery on three individuals, the Orange County Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post. Halstead, 53, was charged with attempted strangulation and three counts of felonious assault and battery due to the victims race. It was not immediately clear if Halstead had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. ___ BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel says U.S. society is very polarized while sidestepping questions whether President Donald Trump bears a share of the responsibility. Merkel told ZDF television the killing of George Floyd is something really, really terrible, racism is something terrible and society in the United States is very polarized. Merkel say her approach to politics is always to try to bring people together. She deflected questions about Trumps role, saying she hopes the U.S. will unify and shes happy that many are making their contribution to that. Pressed again about Trump, she replied: I think the political style is a very controversial one, that is clear. Regarding racism, she says unfortunately we have it here, too. So lets put our own house in order and hope there are also enough people in the United States who carry forward peaceful demonstrations. ___ ROME The highest-ranking American at the Vatican will lead a prayer service on Friday in Rome to pray for peaceful coexistence following the death of George Floyd and protests that erupted across the U.S. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, an Irish-born naturalized U.S. citizen, is the prefect of the Vaticans family and laity office. The SantEgidio Community, a Catholic charity close to Pope Francis, is organizing the evening prayer at its Santa Maria in Trastevere church. Francis this week decried Floyds death and the sin of racism while denouncing violence as self-destructive and self-defeating. Hes appealed for national reconciliation and peace. Farrell was bishop in Dallas, Texas, and an auxiliary bishop of Washington D.C. before taking his current job in 2016. ___ MOSCOW The Russian Foreign Ministry urged the U.S. authorities to respect Americans right for peaceful protest amid the wave of demonstrations sparked by George Floyds death. The ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, says Moscow has taken note of the use of tear gas to disperse rallies and massive arrests of protesters in the U.S. She also pointed out numerous journalists, including Russian reporters, were hurt while covering the protests. Moscow long has bristled at Washingtons criticism of its human rights record amid Russia-U.S. tensions. Zakharova sought to turn the tables on the U.S. by pointing to the authorities forceful response to protests. She says its time for the U.S. to drop the mentors tone and look in the mirror, challenging the U.S. authorities to start respecting peoples rights and observing democratic standards at home. ___ WARSAW, Poland A large crowd gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw with signs reading Black Lives Matter, in Polands second anti-racist protest in two days in response to the death of George Floyd Some laid face down on the ground in solidarity with the handcuffed Floyd, who was pleading for air as a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyds neck for several minutes. U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, says the violent scenes of protest in the U.S. are an anomaly and not a true picture of the Americans. We can and will heal and learn from this tragedy and justice will prevail, Mosbachers statement said. A small protest march was held Wednesday in Polands western city of Poznan. ___ ST. PAUL, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz is sending Minnesota National Guard troops to states western border because of what he says are credible threats of violence during demonstrations planned in neighboring North Dakota. The city of Moorhead, Minnesota, lies just across the border from Fargo, North Dakota. Walzs order didnt say how many guard members are being deployed in Clay County. The governor didnt provide details on what he perceives is a credible threat. The Minnesota National Guard stands ready to provide protection for all Minnesotans, said Walz in a statement. While Minnesotans turn their attention to rebuilding our communities and re-examining racial inequities in the wake of George Floyds death, our administration is committed to providing protection for our neighborhoods, businesses, and families in order for those meaningful conversations to happen. The National Guard adjutant general will work with local government agencies to provide personnel, equipment and facilities as needed, Walz said. ___ SARASOTA, Fla. A bystander video showing a Sarasota police officer pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed black man a week before the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has prompted an investigation and promises of transparency. Two Sarasota officers are seen on video holding down Patrick Carroll, 27, during a domestic violence call on May 18. A third officer was standing nearby. The department told news outlets it wasnt aware the officer placed a knee on Carrolls neck until it was tagged in the video on social media on Monday. Aerial video posted by the department Tuesday shows the officers speaking with Carroll for several minutes before placing him in handcuffs. He then resists being put in the patrol car, and officers force him to the ground. Carroll said he was trying to ask officers why he was being detained. He said he has asthma and scoliosis in his back and was having trouble breathing. The officer who placed his knee on Carrolls neck has been placed on administrative leave, the department said. He hasnt been identified. The two other officers are on desk duty while the arrest is being investigated, news outlets reported. Carroll faces charges of domestic battery, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and resisting arrest. The Chippewa Falls community came together Wednesday night to celebrate a group of young adults whove had to endure an unpredictable year. A processional was held for the Chippewa Falls Senior High School class of 2020 Wednesday night in Chippewa Falls. Hundreds of onlookers lined the streets from the parades starting point at the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, looping through downtown and ending at Chi-Hi. Each senior drove through the parade route with their families and sported a wide variety of decorations accompanied by hand waves and smiles to commemorate the occasion. Graduating Chi-Hi senior Tyler Ericson said seeing so many people come out on a beautiful night to support him and his classmates meant a lot and will always stick with him when he thinks about his high school experience. It was a really unique experience, Ericson said. I didnt know how this was all going to go, because its never been done before but it came out great. We all had a lot of fun and I just want to say thank you to everyone who came. The more than 300 cars involved in the parade all had their own unique personality, being adorned with whatever the senior thought would best reflect their personality. Some sported class of 2020 caps and signs, some featured large senior photos of the senior inside, some featured words and phrases of where the senior is going to college in the fall and others simply featured the senior in their cap and gown hanging out of the window or in the bed of a truck greeting the crowd. Chippewa Falls native Mary Simpson attended Wednesdays parade because she thought it was important to attend Wednesdays parade because COVID-19 shouldnt take away the class of 2020s ability to celebrate their graduation after it already canceled their traditional commencement ceremony. These kids deserve to be recognized, Simpson said. Graduating high school is an important milestone in their lives and I know it took a lot of hard work on their end. So, sitting outside for an hour or so to cheer for them isnt asking much of us. COVID-19 concerns have canceled commencement addresses at all education levels across the country for the class of 2020. A similar process was held Sunday in Menomonie and accommodations are consistently being made to ensure the graduating seniors have a memorable experience they will carry with them into adulthood. Gary Limberg, another onlooker at Wednesdays Chi-Hi senior parade, said the experiences the now graduated seniors have gone through the past few months on their road to a diploma have been invaluable and will set them up for success this fall and years going forward. Theyve gone through a lot and had to learn in a whole new way, Limberg said. Nothing like this has ever happened and having to learn from home mustve been a hard experience. If anything, this has taught them how to persevere and get the job done. They will take that wherever they go and help them in whatever they want to do with their life. 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 Pacific Northwest College of Art expects its enrollment could decline as much as 20% this fall, which will put more pressure on the colleges already shaky financial condition. The school announced Wednesday that it will lay off staff and furlough others in anticipation of the lower headcount this fall. Chris Maples, PNCAs interim president, said the ongoing pandemic convinced the schools board that it should prepare for the worst. The furloughs will hit about 15 percent of the staff, senior officers of the school will take pay cuts. Ten employees -- 9 percent of the full-time staff -- will be laid off. PNCAs financial plight follows prior crises at other private colleges. The Oregon College of Art and Craft, Marylhurst and Concordia University Portland all failed in the last three years. Maples, formerly president of the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, has a more optimistic view. PNCA is acting with new discipline and a new plan to balance its budget, he said. I dont think were going to be next, he said. I think we have a plan forward. We have a way to get out of this. The 111-year-old institution has been the recipient of huge sums of money over the years from some of the wealthiest, highest-profile philanthropists in Oregon. Hallie Ford, a long-time arts supporter and co-founder of the Ford Family Foundation, donated $15 million to PNCA in 2007, at the time the largest gift to an arts organization in Oregons history. When PNCA moved into its striking headquarters building in Old Town in 2015, it named the sprawling structure the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Center for Art and Design in honor of two other key patrons. The city has also been an enthusiastic supporter. Prosper Portland, then known as the Portland Development Commission, loaned PNCA more than $15 million in 2015 when the school moved into its current headquarters at 511 N.W. Broadway. But the school has also struggled financially, finishing most of the last four years with significant deficits. It never came close to meeting expectations that it would grow its enrollment to 1,000 or more when it moved into the new Old Town space. Currently, more than 600 attend the college. The coronavirus has made the colleges problems more difficult. PNCA had been hoping for around 200 new students this fall. But due to the pandemic, Maples said the school is now budgeting for a number 15% to 20% lower. Jordan Schnitzer, son of Harold and Arlene Schnitzer and a significant arts supporter in his own right, said hes dismayed and furious about PNCAs current financial straits. No nonprofit can survive if consistently loses money, he said. PNCAs expenses exceeded its revenue every year from 2015 to 2017 leading to cumulative losses of more than $10 million. Tragically, the coronavirus is challenging even the best-managed, well-funded colleges to survive, Schnitzer said. I have felt for a long time that PNCA should partner with another larger educational institution in the metro area. Police say a 20-year-old local woman was killed on Wednesday night after a two vehicle crash on rural stretch of Hamilton Mountain. On June 3, 2020, at 9:54 p.m., police say two vehicles crashed at the corner of Airport Road and Nebo Road. The overnight police investigation suggests a 2016 Honda Civic driven by a 19-year-old Hamilton man was westbound on Airport Road approaching Nebo Road. At the same time, a 2011 Ford Escape driven by a 41-year-old Hamilton man was headed northbound on Nebo Road when it was struck on its passenger side by the Honda. Three of the four occupants in the Honda were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. A 20-year-old female passenger in the Honda and from the Hamilton area suffered fatal injuries in the collision. The 41-year-old male driver of the Ford also from Hamilton was transported to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. Police are not releasing any names at this time. Hamilton Police Reconstruction Unit continues to investigate this fatality. Anyone with information is asked to contact police. Any witnesses who have not yet spoken to police are asked to call Detective Const. Jaimi Bannon at 905-546-4753. It is early in the investigation and police have not ruled out any contributing factors. To provide information anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit your anonymous tips online. I dont necessarily view that as a political act, he said. I think it was entirely appropriate. In the minutes before Mr. Trump strode from the White House on Monday evening and crossed Lafayette Park, to pose for a photo in front of St. Johns Church, officers in riot gear rushed to move people out of his path using smoke, flash grenades and chemical spray. Mr. Barr denied any link between Mr. Trumps visit to the church and the authorities violent clearing of protesters, saying that well before he knew that Mr. Trump intended to visit the church, he had asked that the park be cleared in order to create more space between the White House and the protests. There was no correlation between our tactical plan of moving the perimeter out by one block and the presidents going over to the church, he said. The demonstrators in the park on Monday night were peaceful. But Mr. Barr and other department officials said the decision had been made earlier that day to increase the law enforcement presence in and around the park, in response to looters, vandals and others who committed violent acts over the three previous nights, during weekend protests over the killing of George Floyd. The officials stressed that most of the protesters were peaceful, and attributed much of the illegal activity over the weekend to extremist groups intent on sowing chaos. Mr. Barr mentioned antifa, a loose collective of anti-fascists associated with the left, and the similarly loosely organized boogaloo movement of people on the far right who hope to touch off a race war. Its important to point out the witchs brew that we have of extremist individuals and groups that are involved, Mr. Barr said. There were a variety of people, a variety of ideological persuasions. A protester in Austin suffered brain damage from a bean bag round, his brother said. Justin Howell was not the demonstrator who threw a water bottle on Sunday at officers guarding police headquarters, Chief Brian Manley of the Austin police said. It was not Mr. Howell, but someone next to him, who then hurled a backpack toward the officers, the chief said. Q: My boyfriend lives in the United States and Im in Canada. Hes the love of my life. Weve long been the masters of distance, with frequent visits to each other and healthy communication. Until COVID-19. Visiting had to stop for obvious reasons. But now, because of xenophobia in the media and from friends/family, were starting to feel new pressure on our relationship. Were both patient and passionate enough to wait out the border closure and physical distancing requirements, but how can we stop/overcome these other external pressures from taking a toll on our relationship? I know there are bigger matters at hand and stopping COVID-19 is a top priority, but Id be lying if I said this wasnt upsetting. Prejudice in the Pandemic A: Xenophobia is as ugly and hurtful as any other form of discrimination and hatred racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism. When its expressed by family, its even more hurtful because it reveals a strain of fear and ignorance toward anyone including you, a family member whos aligned (indeed, loves!) someone different or foreign in nature, and therefore potentially dangerous. So lets cut to the chase. Your boyfriend, an American citizen, is apparently being judged by your Canadian family for the views and behaviours of some of his countrys politicians and citizens. In the U.S., President Donald Trump made uninformed, misleading statements that the coronavirus would disappear quickly. On Jan. 22, he said in a TV interview: We have it totally under control. Its one person coming in from China. In the following weeks, he continued to blame foreigners. By late March, when some states like Florida finally issued lockdown orders, much of the American public doubted the need. Yet, by June 1, the U.S. which dwarfs Canada in population had 1.8 million coronavirus cases, with more than 100,000 deaths compared to Canadas 92,000 cases and just over 7,000 deaths. Canadians, by contrast, quickly accepted public health and political leaders orders, and observed social distance and self-quarantines starting several weeks prior to many Americans. Now, with no vaccine widely available for perhaps 12 to 18 months, many Canadians want a closed border with their giant neighbour. None of this can lay fault to you and your partner who only wish to be together. IF the borders open (and they will, in time, due to trade and other economic factors), youll likely have to choose in which of the two countries to make your permanent residence. Regretfully, some people may still display the ignorance of xenophobia. Asians in both Canada and the U.S. have been experiencing this ever since the pandemics beginning. With family, make a one-time plea that they end their hostility to Americans (Asians too, since hate is hate) or risk losing contact. With others, walk away from ignorance since its upsetting but not worse. FEEDBACK Regarding an exhausted boyfriends distance as a front-line worker (May 13): Reader: My daughters a nurse. Shes worked in the COVID unit since the outbreak started. The staffs overwhelmed, they dont have enough PPE contrary to what the government says, shes worried about catching or transferring the virus. When she goes home at night shes only interested in food and sleep. Shes had a major panic attack over this crisis. The writer seems unsympathetic. These health care workers are human beings that have suddenly been turned into superheroes. They need support, not criticism. Proud Mom Ellies tip of the day When xenophobic statements come from a political leader, haters repeat it and the media must expose it. The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the federal agency that oversees Voice of America despite the fact that filmmaker Michael Pack's nonprofit organization is being investigated for possible tax violations. The 53-to-38 vote came after Democrats questioned the precedent of approving a nominee to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media as the District of Columbia's attorney general scrutinizes his organization. The agency oversees Voice of America and other government-funded news outlets. "Is Michael Pack fit to serve? Should he be confirmed while he is under investigation and after having been dishonest with the Senate and IRS? Given his alleged use of a small nonprofit for self-enrichment, can we trust that he will not use the massive resources of the U.S. government to line his own pockets?" Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked on the Senate floor. The committee's chairman, James Risch, R-Idaho, defended the nominee. "This man is uniquely qualified to hold this position. He has done an outstanding job," Risch said. Democratic senators have vigorously protested the nomination of Pack to the normally obscure post, one the president has taken a particular interest in as his administration steps up its criticism of Voice of America. The news agency is federally funded but operates independently, yet the White House has accused the outlet of promoting Chinese government propaganda in its coronavirus coverage and threatened to bar its White House bureau chief from traveling on Air Force Two. In a private lunch with Senate Republicans in the past month, Trump derisively called Voice of America the "voice of the Soviet Union" and "communists," according to two people familiar with his remarks. Trump, who has praised Pack publicly and prodded senators privately to install him quickly at the media agency, again told senators that he wanted to see him confirmed, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose details about a closed-door meeting. Menendez pleaded with his colleagues to reject the nominee. "Please put aside whatever pressure . . . whatever threats the president has made, and consider the dangerous precedent we are setting here today: If Mr. Pack is confirmed, the new bar for 'advise and consent' is now set below that of a nominee who is under an open investigation by law enforcement, and who blatantly provided Congress and the executive branch false information." he said. Voice of America has defended its journalistic independence and denied any favoritism. The threat to ban Steve Herman from traveling with Vice President Mike Pence appeared to be short-lived, as Herman accompanied Pence on his trip to Orlando, Florida this week. Pence's aides had threatened to retaliate against Herman after he revealed that the vice president's office had told journalists they would need masks for Pence's visit to the Mayo Clinic last month - a requirement Pence himself did not follow. The tax issues faced by Pack, a conservative filmmaker with ties to former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon, stem from his nonprofit group, Public Media Lab. CNBC reported in September that at least $1.6 million in donations from his nonprofit were sent to his independent production company, Manifold Productions. The D.C. attorney general is investigating whether use of the funds from Pack's nonprofit was unlawful and improper, according to committee Democrats and the attorney general's office. The office, led by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, a Democrat, has requested documents related to Pack from the committee. Risch said that it would be given access to documents that are already public and that the committee would confer with Senate counsel when it comes to nonpublic documents. - - - The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. Virginia Dressler at home with her children in Newbury, Ohio, on June 2, 2020. Dressler spends her days at home caring for her 3-year-old twins while managing a career as a digital librarian. (Da'Shaunae Marisa/The New York Times) Patricia Cohen and Tiffany Hsu Working during the pandemic has meant very different things for Virginia Dressler and for her husband, Brandon. As he, a delivery driver, continued his routes near their home in Newbury, Ohio, she spent her days caring for their 3-year-old twins. Only after her husband came home at 6 p.m. could she turn to her job as a digital projects librarian at Kent State University, finishing her eight-hour shift from home at about 2 a.m. Later, he was furloughed and took over some of the child care responsibilities. But now, with the economy reopening, the prospect of being summoned back to campus fills Virginia Dressler with more anxiety: Day care centers are just starting to reopen, with restrictions, so who will take care of their children? All of these things are spinning around in my head, she said. Were trying to come up with plan A, plan B and plan C. 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 As the pandemic upends work and home life, women have carried an outsize share of the burden, more likely to lose a job and more likely to shoulder the load of closed schools and day care. For many working mothers, the gradual reopening wont solve their problems but compound them forcing them out of the labor force or into part-time jobs while increasing their responsibilities at home. The impact could last a lifetime, reducing their earning potential and work opportunities. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here We could have an entire generation of women who are hurt, Betsey Stevenson, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, said of pregnant women and working mothers whose children are too young to manage on their own. They may spend a significant amount of time out of the workforce, or their careers could just peter out in terms of promotions. The setback comes at a striking moment. In February, right before the outbreak began to spread in the United States, working women passed a rare milestone making up more than half the nations civilian nonfarm labor force. Still, they do a disproportionate share of the work at home. Among married couples who work full time, women provide close to 70% of child care during standard working hours, according to recent economic research. That burden has been supersized as schools and other activities shut down and help from cleaning services and babysitters has been curtailed. This pandemic has exposed some weaknesses in American society that were always there, said Stevenson, a former chief economist at the U.S. Labor Department, and one of them is the incomplete transition of women into truly equal roles in the labor market. U.S. parents have nearly doubled the time they were spending on education and household tasks before the coronavirus outbreak, to 59 hours per week from 30, with mothers spending 15 hours more on average than fathers, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group. Even before the pandemic, women with children were more likely than men to be worried about their performance reviews at work and their mental well-being and to be sleeping fewer hours. The inequities that existed before are now on steroids, said Claudia Goldin, an economics professor at Harvard University. And since workplaces tend to reward hours logged, she said, women are at a further disadvantage. As work opens up, husbands have an edge, Goldin said, and if the husband works more, the wife is going to have to work less. Follow our LIVE Updates on Cyclone Nisarga here Family responsibilities as well as lower wages have always pushed women in and out of the workforce. Women often leave or lose jobs to care for a sick child or aging relative. Meager wages make the work-home trade-off harder to justify, even if the loss of a second paycheck may lower a familys standard of living. In countries that offer more comprehensive support for families like Germany, France, Canada and Sweden a significantly larger proportion of women are in the labor force. And with day care centers and summer camps closed, and health concerns lingering about grandparents and others who often make up the informal network of backstop child care, some working women will have no choice but to give up a job. Nor is it clear whether schools will open on a regular routine rather than staggered or part-time schedules when the fall term begins. For single mothers, the pressure is intense. Karin Ann Smiths paycheck barely covered her expenses when she was working as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Education. She had medical bills for her 13-year-old son, who has a condition that leaves him constantly fatigued and pained, as well as student loans for her two graduate degrees and $1,650 a month in rent for an apartment in Jupiter, Florida. After Smith, 52, was laid off in mid-March, she was often so overwhelmed that she hid in her bathroom with the shower running to catch her breath. She did not receive unemployment insurance until two months after applying, and then only after sending messages to every state employment worker she could find on LinkedIn. Her landlord threatened to evict her until she wrangled rent assistance from the county. Her $500 in savings quickly evaporated, and she applied for food stamps and sold some old toys on Facebook, even taking small donations from sympathetic strangers on Twitter. Smith does not expect to find another job before the fall long after she exhausts her unemployment benefits. Its just too intense Ive thought about nothing else, she said. Theres no help. Theres no break. When youre worried about keeping a roof over your heads, when its something that fundamental, you cant worry about anything else, like whether your career is on track or your resume is good. Despite the miserable choices facing many working mothers, several economists retain hopes that the increased pressure on families could over the long term force structural and cultural changes that could benefit women: a better child care system, more flexible work arrangements, even a deeper appreciation of the sometimes overwhelming demands of managing a household with children by partners stranded at home for the first time. We find that men who can work from home do about 50% more child care than men who cannot, said Matthias Doepke, an economist at Northwestern University and a co-author of a recent study on the disproportionately negative effect of the coronavirus outbreak on women. This may ultimately promote gender equality in the labor market. Companies like Salesforce, PepsiCo, Uber and Pinterest recently signed a pledge to offer more flexibility and resources for working parents, and many businesses have softened their stances on telecommuting. Staggered shifts and less business travel are also likely to become more common. The effects of this shock both good and bad are likely to outlast the actual epidemic, Doepke said. c.2020 The New York Times Company A two-year-old boy is in a coma after being shot in the head by a motorbike-riding gunman in north west London, according to a worried relative. Two teenage boys were also shot alongside the baby's mother, a 27-year-old woman, who was shot eight times including in the chest, arm, and leg, said the relative. Police said the three adults' injuries are 'not life threatening.' The shooting happened at around 9.45pm yesterday evening on a residential road in Harlesden, north west London, police said. The gunman first shot the teenage boys, 18-year-old Juane Youngsam and 19-year-old Rynell Seaton, according to the relative. He then shot the woman, 27-year-old Piera Hutton, and her two-year-old boy, with a hand gun as she attempted to flee the shooting. Two men in their late teens and the child's mother, in her late 20s, are in non life-threatening conditions following the shooting in Harlesden, Brent, at 9.45pm. Pictured: Police at the scene Piera Hutton called a family member from the scene to ask for help, explaining what had happened, according to the family. The relative, a teenager who did not want to be named for her family's safety, said: 'Rynell and Juane were walking with Lillian, Piera's mum, back to her house, when the boys just came and started shooting. 'They tried to shoot Rynell in the neck, but he ducked and they shot him in the arm. Then Juane tried to run off but they shot him in the back and leg.' She added: 'Then I think Piera was in the car near her house trying to run with her baby. 'They shot her eight times in the chest, leg, backside and arm. Then they went to the baby, close range, and shot him in the head. The bullet went straight through the other side. Piera called my grandma for help and she rushed over there and saw all of them on the floor, Juane, Rynell, Piera and the baby, going into the ambulances.' The child was rushed to a central London hospital where police said he was in a serious but stable condition (pictured, the scene today) The family member's mother had visited the victims in hospital. She said: 'They are about to operate on Piera, she has internal bleeding, but I think she will be okay. 'The baby is in a coma. I hope he pulls through.' Another relative commenting on the attack, a 22-year-old woman, added: 'We think it was a random attack. We have no idea who did it. 'I hope there is CCTV there to find whoever did it. I hope our family get justice.' The Met Police confirmed one of the injured was a two-year-old child who is in a 'serious but stable' condition at a central London hospital. The Met said a lone man wielding a handgun approached the group in the street (pictured today) and fired 'multiple shots' at the two teenage men and into a nearby car A police spokesperson added: 'Two men, aged in their late teens, and the mother of the child, a woman in her late 20s, were also taken to hospital. The condition of the three adults is not life-threatening or changing.' 'All the injured are believed to be known to each other and it appears they were in the street when they were approached by a lone man. 'The man was carrying a hand gun and he fired multiple shots at the two teenage men, he also fired into a car they were near. 'As a result of the indiscriminate shooting the mother was hit, as was the child who was in the car. 'The gunman is then believed to have left the scene on a motorbike. There have been no arrests.' Detective Chief Inspector Rick Sewart of the Met's Specialist Crime Command (Trident), said: 'As result of this terrible crime an innocent two-year-old-boy is now seriously ill in hospital. 'This child was shot in a wanton act of indiscriminate violence. I know that people will be shocked and horrified that a little boy should be the victim of a gunman and I need the community to show their support for him, and his family, by telling police what they know.' Police confirmed that nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the horror shooting. Police confirmed that nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the horror shooting Horrified residents said they saw the child 'unconscious' before being wrapped in a blanket and taken to an ambulance. Valerie Miller who lives yards from the scene, said: '[The child] was wrapped in a silver insulating blanket and appeared to be unconscious. It was very disturbing and quite unsettling.' Ms Miller, 63, added: 'I saw another victim. He looked like he was a young man and appeared unconscious too. There was a third adult victim, but they were conscious.' Another neighbour, Nina Moran, said she heard screams and crowds gathering at the scene while she was at home alone with her young son. The 34-year-old said: 'I just heard people screaming and saying a kid around three years old had been shot. Everyone was saying just ring an ambulance. 'My neighbour went out to help one of the men who was shot. She told me that the bullet had gone through his shoulder and she was pressing the wound to stop the blood flowing.' There was a heavy police presence on Thursday morning after the shocking incident last night A school teacher who lives opposite the scene said she saw a man running from the scene before fleeing on a moped. The woman, called Yvonne, 55, said: 'I heard four or five gunshots and looked out of the window. She said: 'I then saw a person dressed in black with a motorcycle helmet on running from houses on Energen Close where the shooting happened. 'I can only assume the person running from the house had fired the shots and then fled. 'They jumped on the back of a scooter driven by another person. I could not see their faces because of the helmets. 'But they were both dressed in black. I couldn't see whether the man running from the flats had a gun.' Another man and a woman are in non life-threatening conditions following the gun attack in Harlesden, Brent, at 9.45pm Yvonne remained at the scene from where she said she saw the child being taken into an ambulance. She added: 'I saw it with my own eyes. He was a baby boy, aged about one and a half. 'I'm sure he was a boy. He was wrapped in a silver-coloured blanket. I know the family involved, but don't want to give any further information.' Police confirmed that nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the horror shooting Forensic officers were checking a white car at the scene, which had its windows smashed North West Borough Commander Roy Smith added: 'This violent incident in itself is shocking but even more abhorrent is the fact that one of the victims is a young child. 'We are doing all that we can to bring these criminals to justice and I am working closely with the senior investigating officer from the Met's Trident Command who is leading the investigation. 'The Trident team are being supported by specialist detectives from across the Met along with officers from the North West Command Unit. 'We want to hear from anyone who might have any information which could help the investigation no matter how insignificant they feel it is. 'As a child is battling for their life I urge everyone in the local community to support us by coming forward with any information that will help us make arrests. 'I am making sure that we have extra officers on the borough, right now and in the coming weeks. This includes offices from the Violent Crime Task Force and the Met's Specialist Firearm Command. 'I know that residents will be worried about their safety and the safety of their families. 'This is my primary concern and local officers will be conducting additional patrols to provide support and a visible reassurance. 'I also know that to tackle violence we need to work together I have been in touch with community leaders today and we will continue to listen and respond to concerns raised by local residents.' BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: The Legislative Chamber of the Parliament of Uzbekistan (Oliy Majlis) creates inter-parliamentary groups on cooperation with the parliaments of France and Belgium, Trend reports with reference to press service of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis. The Council (Kengash) of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis considered the issue of creating the inter-parliamentary group between the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and the National Assembly of France, as well as an inter-parliamentary group on cooperation with Federal Parliament of Belgium. It was noted that these inter-parliamentary groups are charged with the task to further develop relations with the parliaments of the two countries, to take necessary measures in social-political, economic, cultural spheres, as well as to attract foreign investments. The members of the council approved First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, Akmal Saidov as the head of the two groups in the lower chamber of the parliament, which included deputies of political parties. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini Virginia governor Ralph Northam will announce plans to remove Richmonds Confederate statue honouring General Robert E. Lee, amid tensions at Americas complicated racial history. Mr Northam, a Democrat, plans to make the announcement during a news event in Richmond on Thursday, a source in the governors office told CNN last night. That is a symbol for so many people, black and otherwise, of a time gone by of hate and oppression and being made to feel less than, said black lawmaker Jay Jones to The Associated Press on Wednesday, who were the first to report on the impending announcement. Mr Jones, from Norfolk, Virginia, said he was overcome with emotion on Wednesday night when he learned the statue was to come down. The statue, which was unveiled in 1890, had been vandalised with slogans such as stop white supremacy during demonstrations against police brutality and the police-involved killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis last week. The news that Richmonds largest Confederate statue will be removed comes after repeated calls to dismantle controversial monuments which honour Confederate leaders who supported slavery in the south. Virginias Democratic governor is expected to have the Lee statue lifted from its pedestal and placed into storage while his administration considers a new location, said an official to The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear when the Lee statue would be removed. Richmonds mayor, Levar Stoney, announced earlier on Wednesday that he would remove all five Confederate monuments located on the citys Monument Avenue. It comes after Virginias governor signed-off on laws that would undo protections for Confederate monuments, and leave local governments to dedicate what to do with them. Times have changed, and removing these statues will allow the healing process to begin for so many Black Richmonders and Virginians, said Mr Stoney in a statement. Richmond is no longer the Capital of the Confederacy it is filled with diversity and love for all and we need to demonstrate that, he added. The mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, also ordered the removal of a contentious Confederate monument on Wednesday. Helsinki, Finland June 3, 2020 SSH Communications Security Corporation announced that SSH Founder Tatu Ylonen has yesterday sold 4.93 million shares in SSH to investment fund Accendo Capital SICAV, SIF. The amount corresponds to approximately 12.7% of the companys total shares outstanding. With this transaction, Accendo becomes the largest shareholder of SSH, with 29.2% of the company. Tatu Ylonen is now the second-largest shareholder of SSH after the sale with 18.0% of the company. Accendo Capital is an investment fund focusing on creating shareholder value through active ownership in publicly listed Northern European companies that are driving, or benefiting from, technological innovation. This transaction is a logical continuation of the initial transaction on May 22, 2020, and it is aligned with our investment strategy. We seek significant minority positions and typically engage on the Board of Directors to create shareholder value with a long-term view, said Henri Osterlund, Founder and Senior Partner of Accendo Capital. We strive to be a dedicated, entrepreneurial shareholder that improves portfolio companies strategic clarity, financial understanding, and interest alignment among owners, Board, and management." I plan to continue as a shareholder and board member at SSH and help the company build solid growth with its innovative products, said SSH Founder Tatu Ylonen. About SSH Communications Security Corporation SSH helps organizations access, secure, and control their digital core their critical data, applications, and services. SSH has over 3,000 customers worldwide, including 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies, many of the world's largest financial institutions, and major organizations in all verticals. SSH is committed to helping customers thrive in the cloud era with solutions that offer secure access with zero inertia, zero friction, and zero credentials risk. For more information, please visit www.ssh.com . Story continues For more information: Accendo Capital Henri Osterlund henri.osterlund@accendofund.com tel. +376 632 701 SSH Communications Security Corporation Teemu Tunkelo, CEO teemu.tunkelo@ssh.com tel. +358 40 5499605 In this May 2, 2012 file photo, Kate and Gerry McCann pose for the media with a missing poster depicting an age progression computer generated image of their daughter Madeleine at nine years of age, to mark her birthday and the 5th anniversary of her disappearance during a family vacation in southern Portugal in May 2007, during a news conference in London. (Sang Tan/AP Photo) Madeleine McCann Assumed Dead, Prosecutors Suspect Sex Offender Madeleine McCann, a British girl who vanished while her family was vacationing in Portugal in 2007, is believed to be dead, a German prosecutor announced Thursday. We assume that the girl is dead, Braunschweig state prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said. The public prosecutors office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder. German police said on Wednesday the suspect, who was not officially named and previously lived near Praia da Luz, made a spontaneous decision to kill McCann during a break-in of the apartment where she was sleeping with family members. They are treating the case as suspected murder. No body has ever been found. But the German statements that the young girl was assumed dead were the most authoritative thus far on her fate. British police are working on the case with German and Portuguese officers. First Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters addresses the media during a press conference on the Madeleine McCann case at the public prosecutors office in Braunschweig, Germany, June 4, 2020. (Martin Meissner/AP Photo) A man walks with his dog below the apartment where three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007, in Praia da Luz, Portugal, June 4, 2020. (Rafael Marchante/Reuters) Metropolitan Police (MET) detectives working with German authorities identified the sex offender as a suspect, the MET said in a statement. While this male is a suspect we retain an open mind as to his involvement and this remains a missing person inquiry, said Mark Cranwell, detective chief inspector. The suspect was described as white, about 6 feet tall, with a slim build. At the time of the disappearance, he is believed to have had short blond hair, possibly fair. The man is now 43 but may have looked between 25 to early 30s in 2007. The new suspect was convicted of multiple sex crimes, including sexual abuse of children, Wolters said in a statement. He lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007. He used to work in the catering industry. This undated file photo shows Madeleine McCann. (AP Photo). This photo provided by the German Federal Police, Bundeskriminalamt, BKA, on June 3, 2020, shows a camper van vehicle said to be used by a suspect linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. (Bundeskriminalamt via AP) Information gleaned by detectives suggest he supplemented a sporadic income with criminal offenses, such as burglaries of hotels and drug trafficking. Officials said the suspect had access to two vehicles around the time of Madeleines disappearance. One was described as a distinctive VW T3 Westfalia campervan. An early 1980s model, with two tone markings, a white upper body, and a yellow skirting, the vehicle had a Portuguese registration plate. The other vehicle is a 1993 British Jaguar, model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany. Anyone with information about the vehicles during the summer of 2007 is asked to contact police. Additionally, anyone with information about two mobile phone numbers, of which is believed to have been used by the man on the day of the girls disappearance, is asked to contact the authorities. The numbers are: +351 912 730 680 and +351 916 510 683 In a statement following the announcement of the new suspect, but before the prosecutor said she was assumed dead, Madeleines parents, Kate and Gerry, said in a statement: We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter, Madeleine. We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine. All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know, as we need to find peace, they added. This photo provided by the German Federal Police, Bundeskriminalamt, BKA, on June 3, 2020, shows a Jaguar vehicle. (Bundeskriminalamt via AP) Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007, attends a news conference at the launch of her book in London on May 12, 2011. (Chris Helgren/Reuters) Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleines parents, told Sky News that this time appears to be different from prior announcements in the disappearance. From everything police are saying and doing, this would appear to be the most significant lead that they are trying to close down in the 13 years since Madeleine disappeared, he said. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Mitchell added: Of all the thousands of leads and potential suspects that have been mentioned in the past, there has never been something as clear cut as that from not just one, but three, police forces. The investigation into what happened to McCann has consumed major resources, including over $15 million. Police officials last year asked for additional funding for whats known as Operation Grange. Officials repeatedly said they wouldnt stop looking into the case until it reached its conclusion. Madeleine vanished from a holiday rental in Praia da Luz when she was 3 years old. She was alone with her younger siblings. Her parents were out with friends. Jack Phillips, Tom Ozimek, Reuters contributed to this report. Ulrika Jonsson has confirmed she has 'definitely' had coronavirus after paying for an antibody test. The former presenter, 52, took to Instagram to post a candid update during lockdown where she shared that she had tested positive for COVID-19. Ulrika, who has spoke about her depression battle in the past, also emotionally admitted she had been 'blindsided' by sadness this week. Tested: Ulrika Jonsson has revealed that she 'definitely' had coronavirus after paying for an antibody test The mother-of-four said that she couldn't 'establish' the source but it was unwelcome during the challenging and confusing lockdown period. Ulrika added that she had spent the last two evenings alcohol-free and admitted that she wasn't sure it was the 'best idea' for her. Posting a picture of herself wearing striped leggings, she accompanied it with a lengthy heartfelt caption, she said: 'Winter has arrived since we last spoke. I was blindsided by a spell of the Black Dog and sadness on Monday. 'And it sat, stubbornly in my solar plexus like some ghastly piece of over-chewed meat that refused to budge. Speaking out: The former presenter, 52, took to Instagram to post a candid update during lockdown where she shared that she had tested positive for COVID-19 alongside a picture of her striped leggings Candid: Ulrika, who has spoke about her depression battle in the past, also emotionally admitted that she had been 'blindsided' by sadness this week 'Couldn't quite establish its source but it forced an unwelcome introspection at a confusing time such as this. 'When we are told we can do but we can't actually; we can go but we probably shouldn't; we can meet but definitely not in certain circumstances. 'Thought the joy of 'easing' would feel better and greater; would offer relief and some reassurance. I'm not after guarantees that don't exist. Just a gentle pat on the back; a carrot; a little hope. Depression battle: Ulrika has previously spoke about her depression and anxiety battle, she previously admitted that she 'couldn't live' with out her pet Bulldogs 'Sometimes hard to have perspective but I am always willing. Grateful and not self-pitying just navigating. Had 2 nights alcohol free. I'm not sure that's the best idea. Symptoms of depression While it is normal to feel down from time to time, people with depression may feel persistently unhappy for weeks or months on end. Depression can affect anyone at any age and is fairly common approximately one in ten people are likely to experience it at some point in their life. Depression is a genuine health condition which people cannot just ignore or 'snap out of it'. Symptoms and effects vary, but can include constantly feeling upset or hopeless, or losing interest in things you used to enjoy. It can also cause physical symptoms such as problems sleeping, tiredness, having a low appetite or sex drive, and even feeling physical pain. In extreme cases it can lead to suicidal thoughts. Traumatic events can trigger it, and people with a family history may be more at risk. It is important to see a doctor if you think you or someone you know has depression, as it can be managed with lifestyle changes, therapy or medication. If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org Source: NHS Choices Advertisement 'Rum is definitely a good blow-softener. (NB. drinking is neither funny or clever. Well, on reflection it is def both when I do it but not always the day after). Btw. Had immunity test (paid for & proper Govt one) and turns out I've def had COVID-19.' Ulrika didn't specify which coronavirus test she had used, however, in May, Britain finally approved its first commercial coronavirus antibody test that can tell whether someone has had the infection. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche's test is 100 per cent accurate, meaning it will identity everyone who has had COVID-19. Experts are hopeful these people could be immune from catching the infection again for up to three years. Superdrug had sold an antibody test for 69, with other websites such as Lloyds Pharmacy following suit. Yet the health and beauty retailer was forced to halt sales over reliability warnings. Ulrika has previously spoke about her depression and anxiety battle, in August 2019, the star revealed she was struggling with her mental health after splitting from her third husband Brian Monet. The star lives in her Oxfordshire home with three of her four children - Bo, 20, Martha, 16, and Malcolm, 11, and her pet Bulldogs. Eldest son Cameron, 25, lives in his own home. Ulrika has previously admitted that she 'couldn't live' with out her pet pooches and have helped her depression. She previously told PetsPyjamas: 'I couldnt live without them. I centre my life around the children and the dogs. Theyve been very good for my depression because theyre such excellent company (now I really do sound mad). 'But going for daily walks helps me tremendously. Not only does it get me out of the house but you invariably meet other dog owners who are as a general rule very nice.' If you've been affected by this article, you can contact mental health charity Mind by ringing 0300 123 3393 or email info@mind.org.uk. Woman's best friend: She previously told PetsPyjamas: ' I couldnt live without them. I centre my life around the children and the dogs. Theyve been very good for my depression because theyre such excellent company.' Major (rtd) Kwadwo Boakye Djan who planned the June 4, 1979, military coup with other junior officers that brought Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings to power in Ghana, has reiterated that the event was not worth celebrating because of the bloody excesses. Rather, he thinks it should just be a solemn commemorative event. In a radio interview on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the uprising, and when he was asked for a comment on whether or not he has been engaging in conversations with Mr Rawlings, Boakye Djan said he has not spoken to Mr Rawlings for the past 41 years. "Let me tell you and your listeners that for the past 41 years I have not spoken" to Jerry John Rawlings, "even though I was his best man before that," he said in the radio interview with Accra based Okay FM on Thursday morning, which was monitored by Graphic Online. Asked if they were at loggerheads, Boakye Djan said Rawlings went out to remove a democratically elected government on 31st December 1981 that they [Rawlings and Boakye Djan] put in place and for which they [coup makers] organised sanctions against those who had earlier ousted Kwame Nkrumah and the other democratically elected government [Busia's government]. "So he [Rawlings] put himself in a position precisely in what [General] Akuffo and others found themselves and you know in law, they say crime has no time limit." Major (rtd) Boakye Djan said he believes that Mr Rawlings has to be held to account for the 31st December 1981 coup as the last man standing and insisted he has to answer for overthrowing President Hilla Liman's regime [3rd Republic] which was a constitutionally elected regime. He said they [Boakye Djan and Rawlings] put Liman there and for him [Rawlings] to turn around and oust Liman was something he [Djan] does not accept. Let's commemorate June 4th solemnly - Boakye Djan On how the June 4th uprising should be recognised in Ghana's history and commemorated, Boakye Djan said some have said it is not worth celebrating but it should rather be commemorated because people died, "eight Generals were executed and many other soldiers died in the bloody confrontation." He said acts of war are not celebrated and that even in Britain, the whole royal family goes to the cenotaph once a year to solemnly commemorate the death of all those who died in the first and second world wars. I think the time has come for us to start doing something like that in this country. He said the noise with the commemoration of June 4th should be looked at and that there were dangerous gaps in the knowledge of some people . . . and we need to sit down and think properly and do it and stop making politics with it because June 4th is a guarantor of our democracy. He said June 4th has guaranteed the long constitutional rule that Ghana has witnessed since 1992. 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 Americans rightly consider democracy the best form of government. But we shouldn't get too carried away by this idea. Democracies are led by fallible humans. As James Madison put it, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Winston Churchill considered democracy "the worst form of government" except for all the others that have been tried. And E.M. Forster called for "two cheers for democracy, one since it admits variety, and two, because it permits criticism. Two cheers are quite enough. There is no occasion to give three." What people like about democracy may be not so much democracy itself, but the social conditions necessary before it can exist: Freedom of speech and press. Considerable individual freedom. Freedom to enter into voluntary associations by mutual consent except when the actions creating these associations are prohibited by genuine laws. Voters don't always elect the best people. Elections are just procedures for selecting and conferring legitimacy upon officials. If substantial numbers of people believe that elections are "rigged," they cannot serve these functions. Donald Trump's rigging claims could, if taken seriously, make American democracy impossible. Of course, every country should have the best possible government. But democracy's prerequisites don't exist everywhere. Countries may lack a free press. Their people may be unwilling to abide by elections where their favored candidates lose. They may lack procedures guaranteeing that votes are tabulated accurately. In such countries, the best one can hope for is a government which respects the rule of law and refrains from inflicting sanctions (deprivations of life, liberty or property) on anyone not duly convicted of violating a general rule of action. Many countries are still far from this condition, but moving towards it does not pose an immediate threat to those who rule. Any government a military dictatorship, religious dictatorship, one-party dictatorship or absolute monarchy that observes the rule of law isn't all bad. Any government which doesn't observe the rule of law isn't all good, even if democratic. Alexander Pope went too far when he proclaimed, "For forms of government let fools contest. What'er is best administered is best." Forms of government do influence how those who govern act, thus making good administration more or less likely. But a democratic form of government is no substitute for civic engagement by the population, which in turn requires general understanding of how the political system works. Recently American schools have been neglecting civic education, but such education was never adequate. Schools often forced students to memorize boring facts about our government without showing them the interesting implications of those facts. They gave students a sugar-coated vision, ignoring the messy details about how democracies work. Misleading slogans have aggravated misunderstanding. For many years the best-selling college textbook had such a slogan as its title: "Government By The People." But government by the people, taken literally, is impossible. Government requires organization, and organizations are inherently oligarchical in the sense that their day-to-day decisions gravitate into the hands of a small number of people. The "iron law of oligarchy" applies to democracies as much as to any other form of government. "The people" can't possibly make every decision. The basic difference in a democracy is that the governing few can be removed by the electorate and must therefore consider public reactions to how they govern. And the general social freedoms that make democracy possible allow people to lobby, criticize, petition and, in some situations, recall those who govern. Ultimately, though, "the people" do not govern, but they do box in those who govern and narrow their options. Anybody expecting more than this from democracy will be disappointed. Two cheers are indeed plenty! That, however, is more cheers than any other government form deserves. Paul F. deLespinasse of Corvallis is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Computer Science at Adrian College. His most recent book is "Beyond Capitalism: A Classless Society With (Mostly) Free Markets." His columns have appeared in newspapers in Michigan, Oregon, and a number of other states. This column originally appeared in NewsMax. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Hiram Morgans article (Red Hugh hunt shines light on gung-ho hero, Irish Independent, June 2) has much merit in sketching the complex character, and indeed weaknesses, of that ODonnell prince, whilst politely ignoring the accusation of Sir Henry Docwra that Red Hugh hath of late hanged many of good account... He dasht owt the brains of Neil Garves child (of iiij yeares olde) against a post, beinge in the mothers custody, his own naturall sister. There were deep dynastic intrigues at play at the time, laid bare in my own book, The ODonnells of Tyrconnell A Hidden Legacy, and it would be too simple to glorify or repudiate the character of Red Hugh on the basis of Franciscan hagiographies or the English intelligence of the era. Even so, it may be engaging in presentism to say Red Hugh would be too Catholic and too violent for todays Ireland and his Gaelic dynasticism does not suit a meritocratic republic as does Mr Morgan. One could also counter that his English adversaries were also too Protestant and too violent for todays Britain. Perhaps even Spains mid-19th century government was too anti-clerical in demolishing monasteries under the ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizabal. Yet we should avoid the temptation to be holier than the Pope or plus royaliste que le Roi. Fair play or a fair tale should avoid the fallacy of presentism, a little too nunc pro tunc, in this case as much as in others. As for the meritocratic republic, it is a nice aspiration, but I can think of no better authority on the matter than President Michael D Higgins, who as president-elect, in his farewell address to the Oireachtas in 2011, lamented that no real republic has been created in Ireland. In my view, the same is true abroad, as we can see on our TV screens lately. How can we be more republican than Plato? Every era is a work in progress. But let us not be unfair to Red Hugh: unlike modern commentators, he gave his life for Ireland. Red Hughs remains, if identified, should be repatriated to Ireland, lie in state briefly for honour and dignity, and then be given a State funeral to a suitable mausoleum in Donegal Abbey. They should not be made into a spectacle of tourist display, neither in Spain nor in Ireland. A suitable statue could be erected in Valladolid in his memory, based on what we know of his appearance, stature, and Renaissance dress. Go ndeanfaidh Dia trocaire ar a h-anam dilis. This, I believe, would be the wish of the principal branches of the ODonnell Clan, in Ireland, Spain, Austria, and beyond, whom I have consulted, and including of his closest next-of-kin descendants on whose behalf, I am. Francis M ODonnell, Ambassador (ret) Dalkey, Co Dublin Double standards exist over level of outrage on gatherings If a handful of Debenhams workers can be dispersed by gardai from operating a legitimate protest because they are losing their jobs, why is it then ok for 5,000 protesters to be allowed to walk through the city streets unhindered while gardai look on? I dont blame gardai on the street, I blame the commissioner and superintendents for not instructing the force to clear a dangerous spread of Covid-19. Time and again we are treated to our politicians attacking the organisers of the Cheltenham Festival and the spread it caused and yet I am not hearing the same outrage when we have 5,000 walking down the main streets of our capital. Why was there a protest in this country in the first place? Of course, what happened to George Floyd was an atrocity but what was the point of protesting here in Dublin? Anthony McGeough Kingswood Heights, Dublin 24 Death of black man a sad indictment of Trumps USA I cant breathe, this black man shouted as a white policemans knee choked the life out of him. Nobody came to his assistance. A video was taken. What does this say of Trumps America? Brian McDevitt Glenties, Co Donegal Best weapon for American protesters is non-violence The protests might have been a turning point in American history, echoing the Prague Spring, the solidarity protests in Poland and the Arab Spring, had they not turned to violence, looting and aggression. Violence begets violence. Americans cannot be trapped in an inescapable garment of interminable hatred. As Martin Luther King put it eloquently in his Nobel accolade acceptance speech in 1964: Non-violence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob London, UK By Gleb Gorodyankin and Olga Yagova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Rosneft , which closed its oil trading arm after sanctions were imposed by U.S. authorities in February, has set up a new Geneva-based trading business, four trading sources familiar with the matter said. The new business, Energopole SA, will take on the main functions previously carried out by Rosneft Trading of supplying Russian oil giant Rosneft's refineries in Germany and some trading operations in Europe, the traders told Reuters. "Energopole SA is a 100% subsidiary of Rosneft. The company is involved in commercial dealings in the interest of Rosneft and has no connection to Rosneft Trading SA. It is registered in Switzerland and operates in accordance with applicable law," a Rosneft representative told Reuters. Rosneft Trading was sanctioned for trading with Venezuela and Swiss-based Energopole does not plan to do any business with the South American country, the sources added. Rosneft terminated all its operations in Venezuela and has disposed of assets relating to its operations there in order to defend its shareholders, the company has previously said in a statement. Geneva, a home for many international trading houses, is a popular choice among commercial entities due to its favourable tax regime and legal system. Energopole, which has just started operations and is still going through clearing process with banks and counterparties, will lift 82,000 tonnes of CPC Blend oil from Rosneft's resource loading on June 13-14, the sources said. This is likely to be shipped to one of Rosneft's refineries in Germany, they added. Rosneft Trading previously acted as the lifter of Rosneft's share of CPC Blend oil. Energopole was registered in Geneva on March 31, the Swiss Federal Registry of Commerce website shows, and before that the entity was called Rosneft European Services Group SA. Vitaliy Zbant, who has worked for the Rosneft Group of companies in recent years, has been appointed as a director of Energopole, two of the sources said. Story continues Reuters was not able to contact Energopole or Zbant. Some of Rosneft Trading's former team may move to Energopole, but half of them, especially the management, are not expected to work for the new entity, the sources said. (Editing by Alexander Smith) A total of 111 health workers in the Central Region have tested positive for the novel coronavirus with 45 of them, on admission in health facilities. They are part of the region's caseload of 439. Dr. Kwabena Sarpong, the Deputy Regional Health Director, who made this known to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview, said there had been 72 recoveries and three deaths. Cape Coast, the regional capital, has the highest number of cases of the respiratory illness 106, followed by the Komenda-edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipality, with 95 cases. So far, 7,963 people suspected to be having the virus have had their sample tested and out of the figure 2,174 are awaiting their test results. Dr. Sarpong listed the hotspots as Cape Coast, KEEA, Abura-Aseibu-Kwamankese (AAK), Ajumako, Mfantseman, Awutu Senya, Assin North and Assin Central. He said lack of strict adherence to the safety and prevention protocols was the major factor affecting the fight to defeat the pathogen in the area. He expressed disappointment at the refusal by many to use nose masks and observe social distancing, which were critical to battle against the pandemic. The disregard for these protocols by passengers on commercial transport, at markets, and shops, he said, was not helpful. It could only fuel the spread of the infection, the Deputy Health Director added. Dr. Sarpong said majority of the infected persons in the Region were traders, drivers, market women, mobile money vendors, fishermen, shop attendants and owners. "It is very difficult to believe how just about 30 days when it was just one or two cases, infections had suddenly risen to 439 cases." "More strikingly, the Region has nearly 2,174 backlog of sample waiting to be tested which gives much concern to be worried about." He noted that measures taken by the government and the Ghana Health Service to contain and stop spread of the virus were in the best interest of everybody and must therefore be supported by all. Dr. Sarpong spoke of plans to embark on massive testing of the population to halt community spread, to avoid any overstretch of the health facilities and personnel. He encouraged the people to practice social distancing, wash their hands regularly with soap under running water, use of hand sanitisers, avoid handshakes and report suspected cases to the health authorities. He called for the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to scale up precautionary measures and strengthen surveillance to stem community spread of the virus. ---GNA Its a daunting time to run a business. A time where both fear and excitement have blended together. Fear that the pandemic is still present and excitement that we will be able to reopen our economy. The Governor of New York has given us many tools and guidance with reducing the spread top of mind. Before a business reopens, there is nothing better than having a plan. In fact, there is an entire list of requirements that require dedicated resources, leadership, and consistent employee communications. We compiled a list of considerations we are recommending before reopening your business. Planning and Communication: Each business should form a committee or identify the person who is responsible for researching and planning the implementation of all local, state and federal guidelines, industry practices, geographic location and business needs. This guidance changes weekly and someone needs to stay current, with the power to implement the changes. The designated person/committee should determine who will return to work, the possible restructuring of jobs, and the restructuring of work schedules to meet safety standards. Businesses should see this as an important opportunity to clean house on multiple levels. If managers have been complaining about Harrys or Sues performance, maybe you should not hire them back. Different job structuring may require a look at job descriptions and compensation. If you were concerned with classification errors, this is a good time to correct them. Decide which terminated or laid-off employees will be hired back. Does the business have the resources to do all the new hire paperwork such as wage notices, tax forms, benefit enrollment, etc.? Benefits: Speaking of enrollment, businesses should check all their plan documents. Will restructured roles still be eligible for health plans based on new hours worked? What do the plans say about reinstatement periods? There have been changes to Section 125 benefits. Communicate new time codes set up for EPLA and EPFLA (Emergency Paid Leave and Emergency Paid Family Leave) because the business can receive tax credits if these leaves are coded correctly. Policies and Posters: The business should have its handbook updated to include all the new and eminent forms of leave. We are suggesting a supplement created at this time that covers Infectious Disease, Expectations for Remote Workers, FFCRA(Families First Coronavirus Response Act) benefits and physical/personal hygiene protocols unique to this period of time. You may want to consider revising the bereavement policy. Due to the sick time requirements, a business may want to look at its existing paid leave allocations. There are a couple of new required posters that must appear at every business location. Remember remote workers are considered workplaces so employers need a global way to communicate these new policies and posters. Once again, technology can be our friend. Leaves of Absences and Accommodations: Federal and State governments have responded to the pandemic with new leave of absence programs. With the pandemic at the forefront, we have almost forgotten employees have other illness or injuries. It is time to update and implement a mechanism to handle requests for family and/or the employees need for leave and accommodation. This is risky business. There are so many layers to consider and handling leaves properly requires knowledge of the laws and the ability to communicate employee rights and responsibilities. Many businesses have raised the white flag and outsourced leave of absences to a third party. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Employee Well Being: The other side of reopening is anticipating employees' fears and anxiety about returning to work. There is no better time for good leadership, and managers need to step up. Could your managers use some training? Communication is also key because the employer may need to spell out why employees cant refuse to come back to work, yet at the same time understand when they can be flexible based on the business needs. Businesses can get a jump on rumors and misinformation by communicating clearly what measures the business is taking to meet all the building, equipment and personal cleaning and disinfecting protocols. To reopen, all businesses must implement protective personal equipment such as face masks and gloves. State law requires employers to test employees before work and the system should be delivered evenly. Requirements include recording and reporting of COVID-19 symptoms, tracking and tracing of cases. If your head is spinning right know, it means you understand all the complexities involved before businesses can reopen. Some business may conclude it is not possible. Others will adapt. If all goes well, the plan will allow businesses to reopen safely and stay open. Until a solution to the pandemic is found, we all need to consider one last thing. What do we do if we see a spike in cases? The plan must include the what ifs and react quickly and accordingly. Rose Miller is president of Pinnacle Human Resources LLC. rmiller@pinnaclehrllc.com There is widespread resentment in Jammu and Kashmir against the school education department after it recently expressed the governments intention to reopen schools in mid-June amid the coronavirus pandemic. After backlash, the administration stated that the instructions were issued to only ensure sanitization of school premises in view of Covid-19 and not to open schools. Parents of school students in Kashmir are aghast, many say that the decision is not only idiotic but will prove extremely dangerous, putting childrens lives at stake. Also read: Indias single-day Covid-19 spike crosses another grim milestone, 260 fatalities in 24 hours What is the logic of opening schools when every day more than 100 people are testing positive for Covid-19. Even the shops and markets are still closed. How can we put the life of our children in risk, said Ateeqa Begum, 45, mother of three school-going children. Are the officials okay with making our children soft targets? It seems some officials want to score some points for their own benefits, she said. On Monday, School Education Departments Director Finance in a communique stated that the government intends to re-open schools in mid of June and asked the concerned authorities to ensure all safety measures to arrest the spread of coronavirus among students and teachers. In this connection, necessary instructions may be circulated to the heads of all government schools to provide a pair of reusable mask and a pair of hand gloves to every student and ensure availability of bulk hand sanitiser and liquid soap dispenser at the entry point of each school, the communication, directed to directors of school education of Jammu and Kashmir divisions stated. People on social media were also wary of the decision which comes at a time when the number of Covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir has crossed 2,700 and the death toll has reached 33. Reopening of schools is not as easy as it is made to appear. One thing is clear, parents will never risk the lives of their children by sending them to schools in the middle of the worsening coronavirus crisis, no matter how much academic loss it entails or whatever it means, said Faheem Aslam, a Srinagar resident. While babus are out with circulars suggesting reopening of Kashmir schools this month, they are mum on explaining the rationale behind rushing through the decision to the anguished parents Expecting school children to undertake social distancing and follow safety protocols, when top officers and doctors are falling prey to the deadly virus, is nothing but idiocy, he said. Calls to commissioner secretary education Asgar Samoon and director school education Younis Malik went unanswered. Advisor to Lt Governor, KK Sharma said in a statement said that J&K government has not taken any decision to open schools on June 15. However instructions have been issued to schools to ensure sanitization of school premises in view of Covid 19, he said. Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in Prime Ministers Office, said in a tweet that he has asked the J&K administration to defer the decision of opening schools. Have spoken to #JammuAndKashmir UT Government and suggested that decisions regarding 1) Vehicle Registeration Tax and 2) Reopening of schools may be deferred, he tweeted. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Democratic congressional candidate Tedra Cobb said Wednesday they condemn the deployment of the U.S. military to police the streets of American cities amid nationwide protests over the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minnesota. Some of the protests have been violent, with looting, burning and clashing with police. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper also issued a statement Wednesday opposing President Donald Trumps invocation of the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that lets states request support from the federal government and would let the president activate federal troops independent of a states request. While Democrats have largely opposed Trump on this issue, Republicans have been divided on it. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas strongly supports Trumps move, but Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, has publicly worried it would make soldiers political pawns and erode public trust in them. Cobb, of Canton, mentioned the Armys 10th Mountain Division, based in the North Country at Fort Drum, near Watertown. She said soldiers from there were deployed as part of the 91st Military Police Battalion which is part of the 16th Military Police Brigade. Policing American streets isnt the job these brave men and women signed up to do, Cobb wrote in a press release. The 10th Mountain division is the most deployed division in the Army, they fight every day to secure our freedoms and they are uniquely qualified to carry out that mission. I dont think they or any members of our military should be policing the streets of American cities. The question is why does Elise Stefanik? We can have law and order without shredding the constitution. Stefanik, a Republican from Schuylerville, is the North Countrys representative in Congress whom Cobb is challenging in the Nov. 3 election. Stefanik has not made a public statement about military deployment against domestic protesters, although she tweeted Wednesday that New York police need support from the state National Guard. Cobb, in her press release, named several North Country veterans who oppose military use against protesters. As a retired military veteran who served as a first sergeant during Operation Desert Storm, I am angered and alarmed that the president of the United States thinks he can use our military as his own personal army to squash peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights, Michelle Tolosky of Chazy, a retired first sergeant in the Air Force, said in Cobbs release. He thinks it makes him look tough, but it actually makes him look weak and desperate. Instead of leadership, we have an incompetent imposter who is emboldened and enabled by lawmakers who KNOW he is self-serving. Rep. Stefanik is one of those enablers, and an enthusiastic one at that. Betrayed, is how I feel about her. It is a complete disgrace that our military would be used against American citizens, added Philip Jackson, a Navy veteran from Elizabethtown. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley that using the military against U.S. protesters would restrict Americans First Amendment rights. She said Trumps continued threats to use violence against peaceful protesters and deploy our military to states is outrageous and deeply troubling. Gillibrand said the Insurrection Acts specific, limited conditions are not currently met. Esper also said that Wednesday. The Act has historically been invoked under these narrower provisions in order to protect equal access to civil rights, as was the case when federal forces protected the desegregation of public schools in Arkansas in 1957 and in Mississippi and Alabama in 1962 and 1963, respectively, Gillibrand wrote. Invoking the Act to restrict Americans right to freedom of assembly, speech, and protest under current circumstances would be a significant departure from important historical uses of the law. America is not a battlespace and protestors should never be dominated by the government or the military. Those peacefully protesting are not thugs or terrorists but are individuals exercising their fundamental Constitutional rights. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Marcus Owen, with bullhorn, leads a rally for George Floyd as hundreds of protesters gather outside Los Angeles City Hall in a daylong protest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) More peaceful demonstrations occurred across Southern California on Wednesday, with thousands converging at the Los Angeles civic center to protest Dist. Atty Jackie Lacey. The downtown protest was the biggest of numerous marches to express outrage at police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. There were marches in Hollywood, Whittier, Hancock Park, Long Beach, West Hollywood and Newport Beach. Lacey has long been a target of some activists, who have criticized her for not prosecuting more police officers for misconduct. She's locked in a runoff for reelection. Thousands were standing in Grand Park in front of the criminal courthouse. In West Hollywood, protester Nick Atkinson said: Im so freaking mad. He repeatedly yelled at sheriffs deputies who were present about how they should be wearing masks, taking a knee and be held accountable for their actions. He said he has lived in Los Angeles 20 years and wanted to publicly protest to make clear that the killing of black men and women is wrong. Where are your masks. Why arent you wearing your masks? Youre all paid to serve and protect us," he yelled. Where are your masks? For Gale Oliver Jr., a pastor at the Greater Light Family Church in Santa Ana, a protest against racism and police brutality in one of Orange County's wealthiest enclaves was a sign of the times. "It's a blessing that this is going on in Newport Beach," Oliver, who is black, said. "I mean, this is going on in Newport Beach? I guess America is finally listening." Oliver said pastors in Santa Ana began meeting regularly with Orange County law enforcement officials about five years ago in hopes of ending "policing from the point of view that they're under attack." He's seen progress but more needs to be done, he said, here and throughout the country. "Two men have said, 'I can't breathe.' One said it eight times, one said it 11 times," Oliver said, referring to the deaths of Floyd and Eric Garner, who died while being restrained by a New York City policeman. "I can't breathe what that really means is there's things that will suffocate you. Racism will suffocate you. Hate will suffocate you." Story continues Kyle Scallon, 21, turned out Wednesday to protest not just Floyd's death, but a discriminatory approach he believes law enforcement in Orange County has practiced for too long. Driving in his hometown of Mission Viejo and elsewhere in the county, Scallon said, he has been pulled over by officers intent on questioning his girlfriend, who is Creole. "They ask me for my license," he said, "and they ask her where she lives, where she's going, what she's doing in the car."In his experience, Scallon said, the default view for police is to assume people of color are doing something wrong, no matter the circumstances of the encounter. "I'm here because I just want cops to realize not everyone's bad," he said, standing with a group of protesters on the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway. "It's become the system, but they need to realize not everyone they meet is bad." Samsung Group on Thursday unveiled a set of measures backing the group heir's compliance pledge made last month. Seven Samsung affiliates, including Samsung Electronics Co., submitted their action plans to the group's independent compliance committee for improving law-abiding culture. The latest action comes after Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of the conglomerate, last month made a rare public apology over controversies surrounding his succession and vowed to scrap the group's "no labor union" policy following the committee's advice. At the time, the committee evaluated Lee's apology as "meaningful" but asked him to come up with more detailed plans to back up his promises. Samsung said it will form a panel comprising outside experts who can advise on its labor-management relationship, and also designate a communications officer so that it can regain trust from the public. You are alone on a small sailing boat, more than four thousand miles of ocean ahead and you are up against approximately 80 sailors. It will take you three or four weeks to get to the finishing line. But how will you manage to sleep and which sleeping strategy will pay off during the race? For the first time, a group of researchers of the University of Bologna identified and analysed the different sleeping strategies employed by solo skippers. "Especially during singlehanded transatlantic races, sailing needs a skipper that is ready to intervene rapidly and with soundness of mind in full control of his body and brain. This is the only way to be able to quickly modify the yacht route and attitude", explains Giuseppe Plazzi, study coordinator and Unibo professor. "Moreover, sailors are forced to be vigil for long periods of time as they need to face unstable and adverse weather conditions. Appropriate sleep management even before the race can be a decisive factor in their sailing performance and safety". A number of sleep management strategies emerge from this study published in Nature and Science of Sleep. Some sailors stock up on sleep before the race, some others prefer short and frequent naps, while some other skippers get used to increasingly shorter sleeping periods. The study also brings to the fore a "natural selection" among sailors, one that favours early birds (who wake up early in the morning and are more active in the first hours of the day) and excludes night owls (who instead are more active during the evening and night). These results could be useful in preparing athletes for endurance competitions. FROM FRANCE TO THE CARIBBEAN To study sailors' sleep management, the researchers focused on the participants in the Mini Transat La Boulangere, one of the most crowded solo regattas. On odd-numbered years, more than 80 sailors race across the Atlantic Ocean for 4,050 miles and live aboard 6 meters boats. The race presents two stops. The boats set sail from France west coast, La Rochelle, then after 1,350 miles they stop at the Canary Islands. From there, they cross the Atlantic for 2,700 miles and, thanks to the trade winds, they reach Martinique, an island in the Caribbean. Researchers analysed a sample of 42 skippers, gathering data and information about the training weeks preceding the regatta. They asked the skippers about the quality of their sleep, their level of somnolence and their chronotype, i.e. the propensity for the individual to sleep at a particular time during a 24-hour period. SLEEP MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES The analysis reveals that more than half of the skippers in the sample (55%) choose to prep for the regatta by devising a sleep management strategy. "Expert skippers often make this choice", says professor Plazzi. "Indeed, expert sailors with a track record of miles and miles of offshore sailing are more mindful of the importance of sleep management". Which strategies do they employ? The most frequent strategy (52%) is sleep extension, that is stoking up on sleep before the race so to have a sort of "sleep storage" available during the competition when sleep time and quality inevitably decrease. 26% of the skippers adopted polyphasic sleep. In polyphasic sleep, a nap schedule has to be followed throughout the day. This strategy allows to be more vigil and to be absent from the rudder for limited periods of time. Finally, 22% of the sample opted for gradual sleep deprivation in order to strike a balance between a short period of restorative sleep and the psycho-physical conditions to get the race done. SKIPPERS ARE NOT "NIGHT OWLS" Chronotype is another interesting matter here. It represents propensity for being more active at a particular time of the day, thus influencing sleep and wake periods. In this case, researchers observed a "natural selection" among the skippers of the Mini Transat La Boulangere. 40% of the sample presents the morning-type profile. These skippers can be defined as "early birds": they wake up early, are more active in the morning and go to sleep early. 60% of the skippers in the sample belongs instead to an intermediate chronotype, the so-called "hummingbird": they do not show a preponderant preference towards being active in the morning or at night. No one in the sample displayed the third chronotype (eveningness or "night owls"), according to which a person tends to go to bed late and wake up late in the morning. "In our sample, the morning-type chronotype is definitely overrepresented: 'early birds' represent 25% of the general population", explains Plazzi. "Even more surprising is the fact that there aren't any 'night owls' in our sample. This means that 'eveningness' represents a disadvantage in endurance competitions". CHRONOTYPE AND STRATEGIES Sleeping management strategies and chronotype also intertwine. A striking majority of the skippers adopting sleeping management strategies belongs to the intermediate-type profile, while those who do not follow sleeping schedules belong to the morning type. According to the researchers, this result can hint at a lack of flexibility among the "early birds". Indeed, it would seem more difficult for them to radically change their sleep-wake cycles. "The results of our study clearly show the importance of choosing a sleeping management strategy during the psycho-physical preparation for extreme competitions such as single-handed transatlantic crossings", concludes Professor Plazzi. "Our next step will be to closely monitor sleep-wake cycles both during the training and during the race. In this way, we will be able to devise increasingly effective and precise sleep management strategies". ### THE AUTHORS OF THE STUDY The study was published on the journal Nature and Science of Sleep with the title "Pre-Race Sleep Management Strategy and Chronotype of Offshore Solo Sailors". The authors of the paper are Marco Filardi, Silvia Morini and Giuseppe Plazzi from the Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences at the University of Bologna. Queens Park is spending $150 million to improve rural broadband internet and cellular service as Education Minister Stephen Lecce warns students, teachers and parents to brace for all eventualities in the fall. With Ontario schools closed since March 23 due to COVID-19, Lecce emphasized Wednesday that what parents should expect is the government is going to take every single precaution possible to keep children safe. We will never compromise the safety of our youngest learners, he said, noting Ontario was the first province in Canada to shutter classrooms due to the pandemic. Lecce said the government is developing procedures to ensure students, teachers and staff are safe when schools reopen in September. Were coming up with a plan that will keep your child safe but allow them to return in the fall that is the plan for September and obviously build a protocol that gives confidence to parents but also to our staff as well, he said. So were going to do that, were going to build out that plan and release it to the public ... by the end of June, and give some certainty to everyone. Lecces comments came as Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott announced $150 million toward rural broadband and cellular service. As someone from rural Ontario who lives this experience firsthand, I know the digital divide is real, said Scott. The hope is to close that gap for the 12 per cent of Ontario household most in rural or remote areas that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has deemed unserved or underserved. Scott said the new initiative builds up telecommunications infrastructure improvements now under construction in Lambton, Wellington and Norfolk counties in southwestern Ontario. Is it enough? No. Will we do more? Yes. But today is a very good step, a step that moves us forward in connecting Ontarians, she said. But it is a journey that we cannot take without the support of our federal partners. Today, we are calling on the federal government to step up and help us expand connectivity to everyone across Ontario. We all deserve the opportunity to join the economy of the 21st century. Green Leader Mike Schreiner said the Progressive Conservative government needs to do much more. This pandemic has upended the way we work and live and nobody thinks we will be returning to the way things were, said Schreiner. Families, businesses and schools will be relying even more on digital connectivity, amplifying the urgent need for improved broadband in rural areas, he said. This is an opinion tribute. Alabama lost another hero in the line of duty. Moody Police Sgt. Stephen Williams, 50, was shot and killed after responding to a call at the Super 8 motel Tuesday night. Two suspects are in custody. Moody police sergeant killed in shooting at Super 8 motel Moody residents start petition to get motels license yanked after fatal shooting of officer Williams had been a police officer for 23 years, the last three of those at the Moody Police Department. He began his law enforcement career at the Bessemer Police Department. Williams was a father of three, according to a Gofundme account set up for the family. Williams is the second Alabama police officer shot to death in the line of duty in 2020. Kimberly police officer Nick ORear was fatally shot on Feb. 4 during a pursuit on Interstate 65 South. Nick O Rear: Tribute to slain Kimberly police officer Love, peace and prayers to Sgt. Williams family, friends and colleagues at the Moody Police Department. Rest in peace, Sgt. Williams. More cartoons and stories by JD Crowe More tributes by JD Crowe WASHINGTON - The Republican Party is facing a reckoning over some of its most divisive candidates. So far the results are mixed, and thats dicey for the GOP as a country shuddering from coast-to-coast civic unrest hurtles toward November elections. Republican leaders looking to broaden the partys appeal were buoyed Tuesday when Iowans refused to renominate Rep. Steve King, known for racially incendiary comments. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, their surest bet for derailing a Republican immigration hard-liner who might cost them a Senate seat from deep-red Kansas, definitively skipped that race on Monday. And most seriously, President Donald Trump has exhibited little empathy as hes taunted demonstrators as thugs, accused governors of being weak on protesters and threatened to deploy the military to their states. His tweets like when the looting starts, the shooting starts were noteworthy for their pugnacious tone as dozens of cities have been rocked by protests, some violent, over the killing of African Americans by police. Trump is betting such tactics will make him look strong heading into the election. And Republicans often overlook Trumps more controversial actions for fear of angering his passionate base. But this time, some worry about having such a polarizing leader atop the ticket during an unprecedented period that includes civil disturbances, the coronavirus pandemic and a collapsed economy. Hes driving away moderate Republicans and independents en masse, former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who retired last year after clashing with Trump, said in an interview Wednesday. For Republicans who need to appeal to a broader base, its devastating. Asked if Trump might alienate such voters, especially the suburban women who have already been abandoning the Trump-led GOP, reelection campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said city and suburban residents deserve to be able to feel safe. He said Trump has expressed disgust that George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died last week in Minneapolis after a white officer held his knee against Floyds neck for several minutes. But, Murtaugh added, He is going to restore law and order, and all Americans should welcome that. The GOP argues that Democrats have polarizing figures of their own and often point to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to paint all Democrats as socialists. Democratic voters rejected Sanders this year as their presidential nominee in favour of the more moderate Joe Biden. And while Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are prominent leaders, their call for revolution has often been more rhetorical than literal. Republican leaders are taking steps to withhold support from candidates with extreme views. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has pulled his backing for GOP House candidate Ted Howze in central California because of demeaning online posts about Muslims and Hillary Clinton, which Howze said he didnt write. And leaders have distanced themselves from Oregon Republican Senate candidate Jo Rae Perkins, a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory that claims Trump is leading a secret campaign against deep state enemies and pedophiles. With top Republicans labouring to expand the partys appeal beyond white men, voters in northwestern Iowa removed one major irritant by rejecting Kings bid for a 10th House term. They instead nominated state Sen. Randy Feenstra, who was helped by spending from the establishment-oriented U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Main Street Partnership, likely rescuing the seat for the GOP. King was stripped of committee assignments last year by House Republican leaders after he defended white nationalism. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who chairs the House GOPs campaign organization, said in a brief statement that Feenstra will make Iowa proud in Congress but avoided mentioning King. In Kansas, Pompeo failed to file this week to become a Senate GOP candidate. Thats left Republican leaders figuring out how to keep conservative Kris Kobach, former Kansas secretary of state, from winning that partys Aug. 4 primary. A competitive seat would make it harder for Republicans to defend their 53-47 Senate majority. Kobach, who backs restrictive immigration and voting laws, lost a 2018 race for governor in the Republican-dominated state. National Republicans have said they believe they can head him off by backing an alternative, perhaps GOP Rep. Roger Marshall. But theyve been nervous that Marshall has raised only modest campaign funds and failed to push other rivals from the field. The Democratic Senate candidate will likely be Barbara Bollier, a state senator and former Republican whos outraised all contenders. That still leaves Trump. Emmer, the House GOP campaign chairman, said people are nervous about safety and Trumps stance will prove a winning November message. Suburban voters are just like voters in these core cities, Emmer said in an interview. They want to be protected. And they know that this president is all about making sure he restores law and order. Biden, meanwhile, is stepping up his attacks on Trump. He thinks division helps him, Biden said Tuesday. He conjured Trumps use of police to forcefully clear peaceful demonstrators away from a church near the White House on Monday so he could have his picture taken out front holding a Bible. If he opened it instead of brandishing it, he could have learned something, Biden said. Underscoring the hazards of Trumps strong-armed tactics, several Republicans have criticized him for it. Thats rare for a president whom GOP lawmakers usually hesitate crossing for fear of angering his loyal conservative voters. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said he opposed using force for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, facing a difficult reelection fight, said Trump came across as unsympathetic and insensitive. Stuart Stevens, a Republican political consultant and Trump critic, said Trumps tough-guy approach wouldnt appeal to most voters. Lets say theres a fight on the football field, said Stevens. Do you admire the coach who runs in and starts punching? Midland County recorded no new coronavirus cases for the fourth consecutive day, according to the Wednesday afternoon state report. Midland County's pandemic total remains at 82 cases and eight deaths. However, people shouldn't be alarmed if the case total jumps when results come in from a two-day drive-through testing clinic for the disease at Dow Diamond this past weekend, says Fred Yanoski, Midland County Public Health director/health officer. He said 2,435 people, which represents about 2% or 3% of Midland County's population, were tested. Yanoski asked for the clinic because of widespread flooding in Midland County that sent many displaced people to congregant shelters or to other households for shelter, forsaking mitigation practices. This area also had lots of volunteers from near and away come to help. "We feel (if) we tested a significant number of individuals in our community that will help us determine if there is an increased impact of COVID disease," he said. He said the positivity rate in Midland County so far is about 5% and overall in the state about 5% to 10%. In other words, 5% of all tests for coronavirus taken so far in Midland County have come back positive. "With 2,400 tests, it's likely we will see an increase in our case count," he said. He said as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, no results from the weekend drive-through clinic, administered by the Michigan National Guard, have been received from state lab. He expects results later this week. Yanoski said the majority of people who showed up were from Midland County and indicated they were involved in the flood in some way; some were first responders and others had flooded homes. He said some people showed up with symptoms of the disease. The Midland clinic was one of five pop-up coronavirus testing sites offered that weekend in the state by the National Guard. Midland administered three times more tests than the others, Yanoski said. Tests were administered free. People who test positive will be contacted directly by the local health department, asked about their contacts and then quarantined or isolated. People who test negative will be sent a letter. Once results are evaluated, Yanoski said a decision will be made if another testing event is needed. "If we have to pursue another event, absolutely I'm in favor of doing that," he said. He said he appreciates the National Guard and Michigan State police as well as his staff and their efforts. "We were real pleased," he said of the event. "It was well organized. Our community wanted testing." Also in the Wednesday state report, Bay County added five new cases and Saginaw County seven, bringing their totals to 322 cases and 24 deaths and 1,057 cases and 109 deaths, respectively. Gladwin County remained at 18 cases and one death and Isabella County 78 cases and seven deaths. The state added 304 new cases and 17 deaths. Overall, Michigan is at 58,035 cases and 5,570 deaths. Midland County Department of Public Health continues to encourage residents to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19: Continue to practice social distancing as recommended by federal, state and local officials. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Disinfect commonly touched surfaces. Stay home when you are sick. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. If you think you've been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your health care provider for medical advice. If he/she isn't available, call MidMichigan Urgent Care in Midland at 989- 633-1350 or MidMichigan Medical Center's Emergency Department in Midland at 989-839-3100. MidMichigan Health has a COVID-19 informational hotline with a reminder of CDC guidelines and recommendations. The hotline can be reached toll-free at 800-445-7356 or 989-794-7600. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also has a hotline number for Michigan residents for questions about COVID-19. The number is 1-888-535-6136 and is available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can also e-mail COVID19@michigan.gov. E-mails will be answered seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you are feeling anxious, stressed, depressed and feel you need to talk to someone, reach out to Community Mental Health for Central Michigan by calling 800-317-0708. Port Arthur city officials met with activists to continue a community dialogue Wednesday, after a march yesterday ended with a police officer kneeling in solidarity with about 250 protesters demonstrating against police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Yesterday, I asked if they would walk with us, and they didnt, Porcha Williams, a mother of three kids who led Tuesdays march said. I was upset. I took off walking, but they came today, which you dont see a lot of people, but they came, and they supported us. The mayor of Port Arthur, along with members of City Council, a teacher, the police chief and a constable all shared a stage with Williams and Taylor Getwood, a 17-year-old youth activist who also took part in leading Tuesdays march. America, we have got to come to grips with ourselves, Mayor Thurman Bartie said. The law enforcement and the citizens so that first of all, African-American lives wont continue to be lost simply because the individual is African American. The speeches highlighted several disconcerting details seen in the video of the arrest and killing of George Floyd, who died on Memorial Day when an officer, who has since been charged with second-degree murder, pressed his knee into Floyds neck for minutes after he was unconscious. In his final minutes, Floyd could be heard calling out for his mother. It kills me to hear this man call for his mama, Williams said, crying. What if my son called for me, and I cant help him? That is the most hurtfulest killing in the world, and thats not even my son and hes older than me. He called for every black mothers help. Constable Christopher Bates also spoke, attending the event in plain-clothes attire. I am a black man that resembles George Floyd. It couldve been me, he said. Im not in uniform. Ive been an officer for 12 years. But Ive been black almost 35 years. And what happened to George Floyd last Monday shouldnt happen to anyone. Bates said that while his precinct is small, he would ensure that the practice of placing a knee on the back of someones head during an arrest would never be used. A video circulating on social media shows the technique being used by a Beaumont police officer during a recent arrest, garnering the criticism of two Beaumont City Council members earlier this week. That criticism has since been rebuked by the Beaumont Police Association. The PAPD officer kneeling at the end of yesterdays event was met with anger by some of the protesters. Williams and Chelsea Traylor, another protester, shielded the officer from a handful of protesters who were cursing at the officer and telling him to take off his badge. Related: Officials urge demonstrators to turn protests into action Some people didnt like the fact that he took a knee because that is how George Floyd died, Williams said during Wednesdays event. To be a bigger people, to make a change, you have to accept that knee. That knee is not in your neck. That knee is not in your back. That knee is standing with you. And if you get that one cop to take that knee, the next cop could have done it. Traylor, who also stood between the aggressive protesters yelling expletives and the officer, said it was important to recognize that not all cops are bad cops. It takes the bad cops to make all the cops look bad, Traylor said, adding that the officer told her that he was horrified by the way Floyd was arrested. Other speakers localized the movement. Luke Roy, who was in the march yesterday and has been involved in community activism brought up the deaths of Dustin Glover and Shane Lyons, who both died in officer-involved incidents with Port Arthur police in recent years. Related: Social activists mark points where police have killed black people in Texas Roy said he spoke with the chief of police, Timothy Duriso, who was present Wednesday, about how the community could communicate better with police, and also asked about how police were hired to be part of the force. Are you to harass us? Roy asked. And make our life hard? Or are you here to make a difference? Make no mistake, now is the time to find these answers and do something about it, he said. Related: Video: PAPD releases footage from officer-involved shooting Both Roy, and Getwood called on the community to be more involved, and for the movement to build on momentum seen across the country as protests in hundreds of cities continue to grow every night. We are still in the predicament that we are in now, because after Martin died, and after the Civil Rights movement was over, we got too comfortable, Getwood said. Just because we can drink from the same water fountain and go to church together, we thought that was the golden life. We were able to get some money in our pocket we were able to get people on TV, but we failed to realize that it was only just the beginning. MLK died at a very young age, which means the fight was still constant, and the fight was still going. Chief Duriso told The Enterprise before the event that he could see officers in his department marching in future demonstrations, if they were planned in advance and posed no threat to the officers. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 11:28:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- China's civil aviation regulator on Thursday adjusted policies for international passenger flights, allowing more foreign carriers to resume flights to China on a once-in-a-week basis starting from June 8, according to the authority's official website. Enditem Marysville, CA (95901) Today Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High 64F. Winds NNW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low near 45F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. The mass, multiracial and multiethnic demonstrations that have erupted across the US and internationally in response to the police murder of George Floyd are quickly becoming the most powerful protest movement in American history. Demonstrators have courageously defied the increasingly dictatorial moves by the Trump administration, with tens of thousands protesting following Trumps threat to deploy the military in any city he chooses. The central strategic questions facing demonstrators are how to broaden their struggle as widely as possible and the need to maintain its political independence from the procorporate Democratic Party, which can only be accomplished through the mass mobilization of the entire working class and the development of a revolutionary leadership. As the Socialist Equality Party (US) noted in its statement Monday: The working classupon which the functioning of society dependshas the power to stop the assault on democratic rights, create a massive political movement to drive Trump from power, break the back of the corporate-financial oligarchy and begin the restructuring of economic life on a socialist basis. Nurses and protesters cheering each other on in New York City There is broad sympathy for the protesters within the working class, with the vast majority of protesters being working class youth of every race and ethnic background. During a march through parts of New York City Tuesday, nurses and other health care workers across the city stood on sidewalks to cheer on passing protesters. In Minneapolis, nurses finishing their hospital shift joined the protests to treat rubber bullet and tear gas injuries. The World Socialist Web Site spoke with a cross-section of American workers, including workers at UPS, Fiat Chrysler and Amazon, a transit worker in Washington, D.C., and a teacher in Pittsburgh. All of the workers voiced support for the protests, while denouncing the criminal response of the Trump administration and the brutal police crackdown against the demonstrators. Fiat Chrysler workers in Detroit The murder of Floyd is a metaphor for a system that is putting pressure on us so we cant breathe until all the life is sucked out us, a young worker at Fiat Chryslers Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit, Michigan told the WSWS. The crisis we face is not about a particular race. Its about the way the system continues to exploit workers and strip us of our rights so the rich capitalists can control every aspect of our lives. It doesnt matter whether you are flipping burgers at Burger King, are a barista at Starbucks, a cashier at CVS or a production operator at Chrysler. We all have the same problems. Trump wants to become a dictator and use the military as his private militia. The Democrats claim they are for us, but they arent. They want to shut people up as soon as possible too. But what about the rights of the common working people? The working class should have our own party. Were not the megarich, but we make the products and create all the wealth. So we should be entitled to say where that wealth goes. Protesters march in a rally in Detroit, Wednesday, June 3, 2020 (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Race has always been used to divide us. But this is a multi-race, multi-age movement, and its becoming a class movement. We have to take the anger and energies of these protests, communicate and discuss solutions and speak the truth. We have to be aware of those who want to distract and pit us against each other. These are times to help those in need, not to step over each other but to get in line together and fight. In the protests, you are standing next to someone who feels exactly the way you do. With that power, they cant conquer us. My generation doesnt care about race. I work with all types and races of people in the plant. We dont care who is Jewish, who is Catholic or whatever. If we have common ground, then we stand together. The rich are only concerned with keeping their power and positions safe and keeping the racial thing going. The demonstrations are now growing in other countries, like France and New Zealand. That is great. We have multimedia platforms to connect and broadcast. Earlier generations did not have this access, and we have to capitalize on the internet, which is always a day or two ahead of the news. Clearly their capitalist system is set in stone, and we can navigate and unite against it. Another Fiat Chrysler worker, at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, commented on the protests: I think it goes to show how people are tired of racism and of the disparity between classes. Its not just black people. Everyone is fed up. The autoworker added, I think workers are fighting to be heard and listened to, not just passed over. We have to become united and stay united. Amazon workers in Baltimore An Amazon worker from Baltimore, Maryland spoke about the wave of protests and the outlook of the younger generation. Kids today dont have it like we did earlier in our lives. Theres more diversity now. They learn how to respect people. Donald Trump acts like he can do whatever he wants, the worker said. Hes going to pay for it. He noted that the Democrats have put forward African American politicians, such as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, to denounce the protesters as violent. They want to divide the protests based on race. Its the easiest way to control people. The kids arent going for that. Theyre intelligent, and they have access to a lot more resources of information. Another Amazon worker in Baltimore said, Its not acceptable to be abused by a badge-wearing police officer. Its happened to me before in my own home. My fiancee at the time was yelling at the cop to let me breathe. Im encouraged by all the people taking a stand. Trumps actions against the protesters were idiotic. Amazon employees have to take a stand. We must have rank-and-file committees and cut the ruling class off at the knees. UPS worker in Fremont, California Dylan, a UPS worker in Fremont, California, is furious about the murder of George Floyd. If people didnt protest, he said, the officer probably wouldnt have been charged. He probably wont be locked up for more than a year and some months. T-shirt designed by Dylan to honor the memory of George Floyd Dylan, who is white, created shirts that he gave out to family and friends who are also protesting. He explained his support for the protests, saying, "I see how black people get treated. Ive been mistreated by the police too. Ive been beaten up twice by the police, and its just awful, especially when youve done nothing wrong. I know what that feels like. I hate the police. They are messing people up. Its more of a poor thing, than a race thing. Its poor people who get screwed. He agreed with the need to turn the fight against police violence to the broader working class, stating, Its important for the working class to be involved with every issue like this. More working class people need to be involved. Were the ones who run everything. If we stopped working, nothing would work, and nothing would stand. Transit worker in Washington, D.C. A transit worker in the Washington, D.C. area noted that the Declaration of Independence states, All men are created equal. He added, We know thats not true in practice. I knew two of the people who were framed in the Central Park 5 case [in New York City]. They were from my neighborhood. Speaking about the efforts to use race to divide the protesters and claims by proponents of identity politics that black people have always been alone in the fight for democratic rights, the transit worker said, White people have stood with us in all important fights. There was the Underground Railroad, there was John Brown. White versus black: its all an effort to divide us, while Congress is letting Donald Trump get away with these things. Public school teacher in upstate New York A retired teacher from the Buffalo, New York area attended the protest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Saturday with her two college-aged daughters, saying, It was something we wanted to take part in, add our voices to, as all of us shared in the horror of witnessing the murder of George Floyd. Commenting on the unending police violence in the US, she said, The police no longer consider it necessary to give even the pretense that they are here to protect people, that they will respect peoples right to a trial, or that they are concerned about the lives of those they take into custody. Nor are they worried about there being any consequences for their brutality. They understand the Trump administrations message that cops will be protected at all costs. The police are inculcated with the belief that they are fighting an enemy on American soil, that enemy being the working class! She described the Pittsburgh protest as composed of mostly youth, and it was noteworthy that no single race predominated. There were blacks, whites, Hispanics, and others, all standing and chanting in solidarity with one another. At a certain point, the police and National Guard began launching compression grenades and teargas into the crowd, causing protesters to flee and regroup elsewhere. As with the police violence against protesters across the country, There was no violence on the part of the protesters, so their attacks were completely unjustifiable, the teacher commented. She noted, As curfew approached, the Guard began assembling into military formations, as they were going to move in against the protesters. As we began to clear out, we noted the courage of youth, walking with determination into the area of the protests rather than away. Commenting on the Trump administrations increasingly dictatorial moves, she said, The right to assemble and peaceably protest is being stripped away. Protesters are already being subdued by militarized police forces and the National Guard. Trumps illegal invocation of the 1807 Insurrection Act to use the military against legal protest movements and civilians exercising their constitutional rights demonstrates that we are quickly moving towards martial law and a military dictatorship. The continued protests demonstrate that the working class, especially youth, have no intention of allowing this to happen. Although escalating police brutality has been the catalyst for these protests, the true meaning of them is the need to remove from power the capitalist class and its endless attacks on the working class. The ultimate aim of the protests is to create a society that meets the needs of the mass of people, including the right to employment, education, health care, housing, and the end of environmental degradation and endless warfare. Iran reported a record number of daily coronavirus cases as a surge in infections sweeps the country following a relaxation of its lockdown. The Health Ministry recorded 3,574 new infections in the past 24 hours, nearly 400 cases higher than the previous record in late March, following Iranian new year celebrations. Iran, which has been the epicenter for the virus in the Middle East, now has 164,270 total cases and 8,071 deaths. The oil-rich southwest province of Khuzestan bordering Iraq remains a "red zone" for the disease, while Iraq-adjacent Kurdistan and Kermanshah and southern Hormozgan carry a "serious virus warning," Health Ministry spokesperson Kianush Jahanpour said on state TV. He's urged Iranians to take social-distancing rules more seriously, and officials have been warning of a second wave of infections all week. Iran has been easing lockdown measures in the past two months to reduce the strain on an economy battered by the coronavirus and U.S. sanctions. And on Thursday, Turkey reopened its Gurbulak land border crossing with Iran after closing it three months ago due to the pandemic. One of the first shipments to pass through the northwest crossing was more than $696,300 (618,000 euros) worth of medicine from France, Iranian Students' News Agency reported. Some Iranians have criticized the government for not providing financial support and letting the country reopen at the risk of a surge in virus cases. "If the government could support the vast majority of people financially, many businesses wouldn't have to rush their reopening," said Saeed, a 32-year-old high school teacher in the Tehran suburb of Karaj. "Despite a surge in virus figures, many people have returned to work just to be able to pay the bills. If there was a choice, many reopenings wouldn't have taken place." 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. Installation view of "On the Way to Investment," a collaboration between Indonesia's Jatiwangi Art Factory and Korea's Budnamugage, at the 2020 MMCA Asia Project "Looking for Another Family" exhibition / Courtesy of MMCA By Kwon Mee-yoo "Looking for Another Family," the 2020 Asia Project of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), provides diverse perspectives on changes in the concept of family with artists from eight Asian countries. One of the most playful works at the exhibit is "On the Way to Investment," a collaboration between Jatiwangi art Factory (JaF) from Indonesia and Budnamugage from Korea, which invites viewers to make an investment to buy land in Indonesia. Those who invest in this project will receive a land certificate and plant lettuce and Moringa in the museum's courtyard. Jatiwangi is a district in West Java, Indonesia, and the JaF focuses on discourses of local rural life through art. Jatiwangi began as a clay civilization and became the largest roof-tile-producing region of Southeast Asia. "With the same clay, JaF uses it to encourage people to have a collective awareness of identity for its region through arts and cultural activities. The JaF tried to cultivate clay with more dignity, to raise the collective happiness through an event involving the enthusiasm of thousands of people," Arie of JaF told The Korea Times in an email interview. "On the Way to Investment" is part of the JaF's ongoing "Hit & Run" movement in Jatiwangi. "This project is experimenting with some kind of gift economy idea; how a disadvantage can be meaningful as an investment in this crisis situation, and as the way to make a family with this movement," Arie said. "Hit & Run" movement was devised as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Jatiwangi and the government system that was ill-prepared for the crisis. JaF joined hands with motorcycle gangs to distribute personal protective equipment to medical facilities and workers as well as food and health supplements to the people in self-quarantine in the region. "Hit & Run movement runs by open source, both finance and material. We offer our land in Jatiwangi to Korean people and everyone who is interested, also as an open source way to run Hit & Run movement," Arie explained. "Then the people who invest in it become our family that freely can come and stay in Jatiwangi whenever they want. It is for real, not only written in the family land certificate that we displayed in the exhibition." Lettuce and moringa growing in the MMCA's courtyard as part of "On the Way to Investment." Courtesy of MMCA JaF and Budnamugage found strong connections between Seoul's Gaemi Village, an aging slum formed as a post-war refugee settlement, and the inhabitants of Jatiwangi in Indonesia and tried to raise awareness on the identities of both regions. "Several Korean multinational corporations made investment and built big factories in Jatiwangi, but we never know and meet with that investor directly. This is not nice and makes a big gap between locals as a host and the investors as a guest," Arie said. "With this opportunity to take part in an exhibition at MMCA, we want to invite Korean people to invest in Jatiwangi in the relational as a family first, even though later become any other investment and business." Arie said the most important part of this artwork is that people can feel, touch and communicate through it. Unfortunately, the fates of the highly anticipated Lettuce Festival and Moringa Mysteria Workshop, scheduled for July 4, depend on the COVID-19 situation. "The moringa and cabbage they grow in MMCA later can be harvested and used for somebody else who needs," Arie said. Jatiwangi Art Factory prepares meals for delivery to residents as an investment in this crisis situation in their "Hit & Run" movement. Courtesy of the artist and MMCA CINCINNATI, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aignep USA, an innovative manufacturer of pneumatic components, launches its brand-new configurator for its line of NFPA cylinders. Built by CADENAS PARTsolutions, the cylinder configurator gives customers easy access to configure and download the cylinder CAD models directly from the website. Headquartered in Fairview, TN, Aignep USA is the North American branch of the Italian manufacturer, Aignep, which specializes in building pneumatic components, including universal push-to-connect fittings, valves, cylinders, couplers, pneumatic accessories and more. Engineers and machine builders incorporate many Aignep products into their large assemblies and industrial automation designs from the robotics on an automotive assembly line to food processing plants. Prior to launching the cylinder configurator, Aignep USA had to email customers cylinder CAD files after receiving requests for the CAD via phone or email. Now, with the new configurator, engineers can quickly and easily configure the NFPA cylinder they need and download a 3D CAD model to spec into their designs, right from the website. "Engineers want more access to the CAD files they need without waiting, this configurator gives them that experience and the ability to customize the product," says Corey Edmonson, Marketing Specialist at Aignep USA. With easy access to the new configurator on Aignep USA's website, engineers have more control over the configuration of NFPA cylinders. This self-select method ensures Aignep USA's customers receive the right product model with the accurate part number and metadata built into the model. "We want to make it really easy for engineers to customize the cylinder they need. They can go in and get the exact bore and stroke they want, with any accessory, and get the product download instantly," says Edmonson. In addition, the cylinder configurator gives customers native outputs to 150+ CAD and imaging formats, including PDF product datasheets with 3D interactive previews. About Aignep USA Aignep was established in 1976 and in the mid-1990's partnered with Alpha Technologies (now known as Aignep USA) to expand into North America. The North American headquarters relocated in 2015 to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Fairview, TN. which also serves as a cylinder production site. Over the past 44 years, Aignep has experienced extensive growth that has resulted in the establishment of 9 locations throughout the world. In 2017, the company established a distribution center in Denver, CO to better service their growing customer base in the western region. About CADENAS PARTsolutions CADENAS PARTsolutions is a leading provider 3D product catalogs with digital CAD download technology for industrial and architectural manufacturers. CADENAS PARTsolutions helps businesses increase sales lead generation and to ensure that components get "designed in" to OEM products and projects. PARTsolutions.com Media Inquiries CADENAS PARTsolutions Adam Beck Director of Marketing 400 Techne Center Dr., Ste. 301 Milford, OH 45150 USA Phone: (513) 453-0453 [email protected] partsolutions.com @partsolutions SOURCE CADENAS PARTsolutions Related Links http://www.partsolutions.com Company aims to apply for export license upon availability VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Isracann Biosciences Inc. (CSE:IPOT) (XFRA:A2PT0E) (ISCNF) (the Company or Isracann) an Israel-based company focused on becoming a premier low cost, high quality cannabis producer is pleased by the recent government approval permitting the export of cannabis for sale to foreign medicinal markets. On May 13, 2020, the Israeli Ministry of Economy signed a Free Export Order for medical cannabis products. The order allows the government to implement a medical cannabis decision that was previously signed in 2019. The order was announced to go into effect 30 days from the signing, at which time licensed producers of medical cannabis in Israel will be able to apply for an export permit to ship product to international markets. Accordingly, Isracann has tasked its regional consultants with ensuring applications for an export permit will be made as soon as possible. As reported by Israels Globes Business News, the Ministry of Health stated it will permit exports while ensuring adequate supplies for medical cannabis in the Israeli market. During the second half of 2019, after the Health Ministry's new medical cannabis reform came into effect, the tightened medical cannabis manufacturing and processing standards proved complex for many producers, while at the same time making it easier for patients to obtain licensed access creating a gap in supply. The media outlet further reported that the Ministry of Economy has announced that revenue from medical cannabis exports is expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars each year. In the sector, it is estimated that if the country leverages early approval for exports, a more significant place could be taken in the global market. Isracann CEO Darryl Jones notes, As we have noted previously, supply in both the domestic and European markets is lagging behind demand, especially in Europe as more countries work on less restrictive regulations. Our timely ability to jump into the gap will be a great opportunity for Isracann. Additionally, our marketing strategy aims to leverage Israeli-branded products as fundamentally superior due to the unique environment and advanced agronomics Israel offers. We look forward to working with our consultants and the Ministry to ensure we are ready to apply for export permitting as soon as the application process is clarified. Story continues The Company also announced today that Mr. Matt Chatterton has been promoted from his role as VP, Operations to the position of Chief Operating Officer. His proven background in manufacturing including project and facility management, logistics, supply side processes and procedures has been utilized extensively since joining the Company. Mr. Chatterton has fully engaged with every aspect of the operation within Israel. His intimate knowledge and relationships across the organizational structure and understanding of the Companys goals will continue to prove invaluable as commercialization advances. I am very grateful for this vote of confidence and the latitude it provides, Mr. Chatterton comments. As we move ahead into commercialization, I am confident that our team can quickly advance towards revenue generation and sustainable growth. The Company wishes to acknowledge and thank Mr. Israel Moseson who steps down from his role as COO. As a founding member of Isracann, he was instrumental in the early stage growth of the business. We sincerely wish him well in his future endeavors. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Darryl Jones Darryl Jones Chief Executive Officer and President About Isracann Biosciences Inc. (CSE:IPOT) (XFRA:A2PT0E) (ISCNF) Isracann is an Israeli-based cannabis company focused on becoming a premier cannabis producer offering low-cost production targeting undersupplied, major European marketplaces. Based in Israel's agricultural sector, Isracann will leverage its development within the most experienced country in the world with respect to cannabis research. The Company has secured agreements within Israel for medicinal marijuana cultivation. For more information visit: www.isracann.com . The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. The use of any of the words anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, would, project, should, believe and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply and demand trends in the cannabis industry, will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ, materially from the Companys expectations are disclosed in the Companys documents filed from time to time with the Canadian Securities Exchange, the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission, and the Alberta Securities Commission. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Two of the teens had to be extricated from the Impala by firefighters; the third was able to crawl out from the wreckage. They were taken to Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan with what authorities said were injuries that were not life-threatening. More than two thousand Ghanaian Methodists from the USA and Canada connected virtually last Sunday to celebrate Pentecost - the birthday of the CHURCH and also participate in the culminating service of a week-long celebration of the North America Mission diocese Lay Movement week. The preacher from Ghana was the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, the Most Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, who is also the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana. Starting by congratulating the Mission Diocese for these twin celebrations- he also expressed sympathy for all who have been affected or infected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that just as the pandemic has made us discover that we are all united by our vulnerability, we should see the Holy Spirit as the one who unites us all as Gods people. Taking his text from John 20:19-23, Bishop Boafo stated that there are three things that we can learn from the passage namely that a prophecy was fulfilled (as from Joel); and that a promise was fulfilled (as from Luke 24, Acts 1) and finally that when the disciples met in the prayer room, they were not idle but gave themselves to prayer. Therefore we should always remember that the prayer-answering God whom we serve is always with us and ready to respond positively to our requests, especially concerning the prophecies and promises that he has given to us. The message of Jesus is for all nations. He stated and that is why after receiving the Holy Spirit they left Jerusalem to tell the then known world. Pentecost gives us a new sense of mission to the world - an energy and a courage to face persecution no matter what befalls us. He ended by praying that we will all be filed the Holy Spirit - just as on the day of Pentecost, there was no discrimination between the disciples and the rest of the 120 gathered, that both lay and clergy will be filled for united mission to the nations. Earlier prayers had been said for Ghana, USA, Canada, the world and the church by the Very Reverends Prof Joseph Osei, Kofi Bart-Martin and Isaac K. Boamah. Other lay leaders who prayed were Brothers Dr Collins Asamoah-Afriyie, Baffour Amoateng, and Sekum Duncan. They implored divine intervention to stem the spread of COVID, and also asked for Gods spirit to heal the sin of racism in the Americas. Very Rev. Prof Lartey offered the closing prayer and the Lay Chairman brother Nana Yaw Sekyere Mensah moved the vote of thanks. Music was provided by Toronto and Washington groups and the entire program was efficiently facilitated by the Very Reverend Joseph Owusu Atuahene, synod Secretary and Superintendent Minister of Toronto, assisted by the Very Reverend Moses Antwi, the Superintendent Minister of the Washington DC circuit. Many of the participants expressed hope that this will be a repeated occurrence instead of a one time event. The words of the Presiding Bishop resonated in our ears and hearts as we left the virtual divine service: dont make Pentecost an event, let it be a lifestyle Source: reverend dr. casely b. essamuah 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 British banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered have publicly backed China's controversial national security law proposal for Hong Kong, which critics fear will be used to stamp out dissents in the city. HSBC claimed that they 'respect and support laws' while London-based Standard Chartered also lined up to support the legislation, saying they hoped details of its provisions would 'enable Hong Kong to maintain economic and social stability'. Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament approved the law during its annual meetings last week, sparking widespread outrage and criticism from countries around the world. British banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered have publicly backed China's contentious security law proposal for Hong Kong, which critics fear will be used to stamp out dissent in the city. The file picture shows people walking past a HSBC branch in Hong Kong Beijing announced plans last month to bypass Hong Kong's legislature and impose the law, following seven straight months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year. The picture shows Chinese President Xi reaching to vote for the national security law in May Standard Chartered public voices their support for China's national security law for Hong Kong. The file picture shows the entrance to Standard Chartered Bank in the city of London China says the law is needed to tackle 'terrorism' and 'separatism' in the Asian financial hub it now regards as a direct national security threat. Opponents fear it will be used to stifle local opposition to Communist Party rule, despite the promise of limited freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after the city's 1997 handover from Britain. But several conglomerates with mainland business interests have in recent days issued statements supporting the bill, including the Asia-focused banking giants. The news came after the city's pro-Beijing former leader Leung Chun-ying publicly criticised the British bank for not publicly supporting the law while profiting from its Chinese business interests. Standard Chartered told MailOnline today: 'We believe the national security law can help maintain the long term economic and social stability of Hong Kong. The "one country, two systems" principle is core to the future success of Hong Kong and has always been the bedrock of the business community's confidence. 'We hope greater clarity on the final legislative provisions will enable Hong Kong to maintain economic and social stability. We remain positive that Hong Kong will continue playing a key role as an international financial hub and Standard Chartered is committed to contributing to its continued success.' Anti-government demonstrators scuffle with riot police during a lunch time protest as a second reading of a controversial national anthem law takes place in Hong Kong on May 27 Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament approved the law during its annual meetings 'Two Sessions' in late May, sparking widespread outrage and criticisms from countries around the world Various media reports claimed that HSBC voiced its support for the controversial law in a post on Chinese social media platform WeChat on Wednesday. The banking giant reportedly said: 'HSBC reiterates that we respect and support laws that will stabilise Hong Kong's social order and revitalise the economy.' The statement accompanied a picture of the bank's top Asia executive, Peter Wong, signing a petition in support of the law. But the social media post has appeared to be removed from the company's WeChat page as of today. MailOnline has contacted HSBC for comment. HSBC, or the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, was founded in 1865 in Hong Kong. It moved its headquarters to Britain in 1993 after buying Midland Bank. The majority of its clientele remains in the Far East. Pro-democracy supporters gather at a shopping mall during a Lunch With You rally on June 1 Protesters gesture with five fingers, signifying the Five demands - not one less in a shopping mall during a protest against China's national security legislation for the city, in Hong Kong British multinational Jardine Matheson took out a full-page advertisement in a local newspaper on Wednesday to pledge its support for the bill. The firms' support of the law is at odds with the British government, which says the bill breached the agreement signed with China to govern the territory after the 1997 handover. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said Tuesday he had spoken to allies including the United States and Australia about potentially opening their doors to Hong Kongers seeking to leave the city if the law is passed. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab (pictured on June 2) said Tuesday he had spoken to allies including the United States and Australia about potentially opening their doors to Hong Kongers seeking to leave the city if the law is passed By PTI NEW DELHI: India's imports of edible oil fell by 40 per cent to 7.07 lakh tonnes in May, lowest in the month since 2011, due to sluggish demand from bulk users like hotels and restaurants which remained shut due to the COVID-19 lockdown, trade body SEA said on Thursday. India, world's leading vegetable oil buyer, had imported 11.80 lakh tonnes of edible oil in May 2019. Edible oil imports have been declining since the imposition of lockdown from March 25 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The nationwide lockdown continues to be in place till June-end, with relaxations in non-containment areas. "This is the lowest import in May month since 2011. The drop of import in April and May is mainly due to destruction in demand due to shut down of hotels, restaurants, canteens and public functions in this lockdown period," the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said in a statement. Palm oil imports, which comprise more than 60 per cent of the total edible oil shipments, declined by 52.69 per cent to 3.87 lakh tonnes in May this year from 8.18 lakh tonnes in the year-ago month. Among palm oils, import of RBD palmolein fell sharply to 16,250 tonnes in May this year from 3.71 lakh tonnes a year ago. Import of RBD palmolein has been declining since the product was brought under restricted trade category from January 8 this year, the SEA said. Import of crude palm oil and crude palm kernel oil declined by 17 per cent to 3.70 lakh tonnes in May this year from 4.47 lakh tonnes in the year-ago month. "This decline in imports of palm products have directly benefited the imports of soft oils, viz. soybean and sunflower, which is evident by their increase in imports by 7 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, during November-May period of this oil year, thanks to household demand in consumer packs," SEA said. Import of sunflower oil rose by 2 per cent to 1.33 lakh tonnes in May this year as compared with 1.30 lakh tonnes in May 2019, while soybean oil imports declined by 9 per cent to 1.87 lakh tonnes from 2.32 lakh tonnes in the said period. The overall edible oil imports during November-May period of 2019-20 oil year also declined by 18 per cent to 68.89 lakh tonnes from 83.84 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, mainly due to 76 per cent fall in shipments of RBD palmolein. The oil year runs from November to October. India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soybean oil, from Argentina. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia. The media, having milked "Russia, Russia, Russia" for all it was worth, have moved on. They moved first to the Wuhan virus, but, when they failed to destroy Trump, they fanned the flames of riot-happy leftists across America. Perhaps that's why almost no one in the mainstream media has paid much attention to Rod Rosenstein's testimony before the Senate. Rod Rosenstein, as you recall, stepped into Attorney General Jeff Sessions's shoes on the alleged Russia collusion when Sessions, a decent, if malleable soul, allowed the Democrats to bully him into recusing himself. Rosenstein was also the one who wrote the document recommending that Trump fire Comey and then promptly used Comey's firing to justify appointing Robert Mueller, who had a beef with Trump when Trump didn't pick him as FBI director. But wait! There's more. Rosenstein didn't constrain Mueller's investigation into a sitting president; instead, he gave him an almost unlimited mandate. And if Sessions had to recuse himself for essentially saying "hello" to a Russian, why didn't Rosenstein recuse himself when Comey's firing, which Rosenstein engineered, was one of the issues Mueller and his team of rabid Democrats were investigating? And then there are those FISA requests. You know, the ones that were filled with lies and were based on a dossier that the FBI knew was fake and knew that Hillary's guys had bought and paid for. (By the way, did you ever notice that if you're somewhat dyslexic, as I am, you keep typing FBI as FIB? It's kind of Freudian, really.) What the Republican senators zeroed in on were Rosenstein's signatures on the Carter Page spying requests. The most that Rosenstein would admit to being responsible for was maybe not reading the Carter Page FISA warrant renewal requests carefully enough. Hey, who needs to be attentive when stripping an American citizen of his rights? Even if, as some have noted, it was perjury under the Michael Flynn standard, he's a Democrat ally, so he'll walk. Rosenstein readily agreed that he "feel[s] accountable." That means that when he appeared before Congress, he can take a page out of the Hillary Clinton playbook by discounting any responsibility for his past wrongdoing and just focusing on the future. This was Hillary when questioned about Benghazi: With all due respect, the fact is, we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or because of guys out for a walk one night who decide to kill some Americans, what difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator. Rosenstein went for something a little simpler. "I think the issue is, 'How do we fix the problem?'" Bart Simpson said it best: At PowerLine, John Hinderaker caught the inestimable Kayleigh McEnany summing up precisely what the press is so assiduously ignoring: It's a pretty grave thing to spy on an American citizen, to violate his Fourth Amendment rights, to not have a basis to do so, and to rely on a Russian dossier full of lies as the justification. So, it's really astonishing to hear from [Rosenstein] that he's not sure he read every page of that warrant. But, I suppose it's encouraging to hear with his 20/20 hindsight that he wouldn't have signed on it, though I'm sure that's of no comfort to Carter Page. ... The President is dismayed. This happened to the President's campaign. A Republican campaign was spied on by a Democratic presidency a Democratic administration based on a dossier paid for by his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and the DNC. This is absolutely extraordinary. It is the biggest political scandal that we've seen and the lack of journalistic curiosity on this front is appalling. A couple of other points about the hearing. First, Jonathan Turley made the excellent point that Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono (D) practically forced Rosenstein to insist that Trump neither obstructed justice nor committed a crime: Sen. Hirono seems to be making a case for the Administration. She just prompted Rosenstein to say that he agreed with the view that there was no evidence of obstruction of justice. She prompted Rosenstein to say that "he agrees that there was no evidence of a crime" by Trump. Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 3, 2020 Second, Ted Cruz roasted Rosenstein. He pointed out all the illegal and politicized conduct that took place on Rosenstein's watch. And then Cruz accused Rosenstein of being either a crook or a useless piece of bureaucratic refuse (although Cruz said it more gracefully): A Nigerian man who is captured in a trending video kissing a minor has been declared wanted by the police. The bearded man is seen in the 24-seconds video kissing the little girl at least thrice, while he and the girl turned their face to look into the camera. The girl should be between two to three years old. The relationship between the man and the girl is unknown at the time of filing this report. A Twitter post by the Complaint Response Unit of the police (@PoliceNG_CRU), Thursday evening, said anyone with useful information that could lead to the mans arrest should report to the police. A message posted by The Viral Trendz (@TheViralTrendz) on the microblogging site identified the wanted man as Adeyeye O. Babatunde. He is said to be a final year student at the Lagos State University, Lagos, South-West Nigeria. The Viral Trendz said Mr Babatunde deactivated his Facebook account when the video surfaced on social media. Nigerians have been outraged over the recent murder of a university student, Vera Omozuwa, in Benin City, Edo state. Most Nigerians believe Ms Omozuwa was raped by her attackers inside the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Ikpoba Hill. The incident, in addition to other rape cases, has prompted a nationwide call on Nigerian authorities to take firmer actions against rape and other sex-related crimes. A millipede-like creature that was recently discovered in Scotland may be the oldest-known land animal. This small, fossilized creature, some 425 million years old, helped lead the way for the many animals that would eventually live on land. Researchers said they found the creatures remains on the island of Kerrera in Scotlands Inner Hebrides. It lived close to a lake and probably ate dead plants. Fossils of the oldest-known plant with a stem were found in the same area. While the creature, called Kampecaris obanesis, is the earliest land animal known from a fossil, soil worms are believed to have lived before them perhaps 450 million years ago. That information comes from Michael Brookfield of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Massachusetts Boston. Brookfield was the lead writer of the research report that described the findings in the journal Historical Biology. Kampecaris was about 2.5 centimeters long. It looked like modern millipedes, but it was a member of a group that died out. It was not a direct ancestor of the millipedes that live now. Life first began in the worlds oceans, with a growth in diversity some 540 million years ago. Some kinds of plants began appearing on land around 450 million years ago. The land vertebrates animals that have a backbone or spine showed up some 375 million years ago. These animals were the ancestors of the reptiles, birds and mammals that are alive today including humans. Human beings first appeared about 300,000 years ago. Im John Russell. Will Dunham reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story millipede n. a small creature that is like an insect and that has a long, thin body with many legs fossilized adj. having been changed into a fossil. A fossil is something (such as a leaf, skeleton, or footprint) that is from a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in some rocks worm n. a long, thin animal that has a soft body with no legs or bones and that often lives in the ground diversity n. the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc. spine n. the row of connected bones down the middle of the back Flash A Chinese spokesperson said Wednesday that China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea would not be altered by unjustified accusations from any country. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to the U.S. accusations against China over the South China Sea. China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea were established throughout a long course of history and have been upheld by successive Chinese governments, Zhao said. "They are consistent with international law including the United Nations Charter and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and cannot be altered by the unwarranted allegations of any country," Zhao said. Noting that the United States is not a party to the South China Sea disputes, Zhao said the United States had not been abiding by its commitment of holding no position on relevant territorial sovereignty disputes, but instead had stirred up trouble in the South China Sea, engaged in military provocations and attempted to drive a wedge between regional countries. "None of this is conducive to peace and stability in the South China Sea," Zhao said. A man wearing a face-mask watches on a monitor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak during a bilateral virtual summit with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, at an office in New Delhi on June 4, 2020. (Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images) Australia Steps up Relationship With India Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indias Narendra Modi have agreed to increase co-operation between the two countries through a stronger formal relationship during a virtual summit of their leaders. The countries now share a comprehensive strategic partnership, underpinned by a raft of new agreements to co-operate on research, cyber, infrastructure, trade, education, logistics, defence science and Indo-Pacific maritime issues. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said stepping up the relationship would build trust even further between the nations. In a time like this, we want to deal very much with friends and trusted partners, and this is a partnership which has stood the test time and again, he told his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi via videolink on Thursday. We share a vision for open, free, rules-based multilateral systems in our region, whether thats in the health area or its in trade or in other places. Modi later said it was an outstanding discussion, describing Morrison as a dear friend. With [the] comprehensive strategic partnership between India and Australia, we aspire to achieve yet new heights in our collaboration, he said. Australia will throw $15 million behind an India-Australia research collaboration fund, plus another $4.5 million to support work by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to reduce plastics waste. The fund would see grants of up to $600,000 go to Australian and Indian research projects with the Indian government to make matching contributions. Science Minister Karen Andrews said the funds would bring Indian and Australian researchers together. Strengthening that relationship through a shared commitment to science and technology will only serve to benefit both our nations, she said. Foreign Minister Marise Payne welcomed the signing of the maritime pact, which included combating the smuggling of people, guns and drugs. It would also see the Australian and Indian navies working together. Morrison joked about the personal relationship between the leaders, built via social media exchanges about curries. I wish I could be there for what has become the famous Modi hug and to be able to share my samosas, he said. Next time, it will have to be the Gujarati kashti, which I know is a keen favourite of yours that youve mentioned to me before. Ill try that out in the kitchen before next time we meet in person. The only other comprehensive strategic partnerships Australia has are with China, Indonesia and Singapore. A trade deal between the two countries has been stalled for several years. Morrison noted the trade and investment flows were not where he or Modi would like them to be but he hoped they would now grow faster. India is Australias eighth-largest trading partner and fifth-largest export market, due largely to coal and education exports. Morrison was scheduled to travel to India in January but postponed the trip to deal with the bushfires, then the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, pandemic halted international movements. By Katina Curtis and Finbar OMallon By Matthew Gewirtz, W. Deen Shareef and William Stokes Our nation is in grief and turmoil. In less than six months in the United States, there have been nearly 1.8 million diagnosed COVID-19 cases and more than 104,000 deaths resulting from the disease. The COVID-19 catastrophe has also laid bare the virus within the virus: racism. In New Jersey and around the nation, COVID-19 has claimed a significantly disproportionate number of Black Americans revealing the inherent systemic and structural inequities built into the fabric of our society. This has resulted in understandable anger among Black Americans and other People of Color as well as all people of goodwill who are concerned about justice. This anger reached a boiling point on Monday, May 25 when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin asphyxiated 44-year-old Black American George Floyd by applying his knee, and most of his body weight, to the helpless Floyds neck, pinning him to the ground, even as Floyd cried out multiple times, I cant breathe, all this while three other police officers looked on. As the National Council of Churches rightly observed in a statement they issued about the killing of Floyd, This incident adds to a string of occurrences in the last few weeks and too many incidents to count in the U.S. over hundreds of years, where racism and bias coupled with policing are a lethal combination for Black people. In the wake of the Floyd killing and in response to similar injustices in other parts of the country, vigils and protests have materialized across the United States, most organized and peaceful, some spontaneous and violent including in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Atlantic City and Trenton. In response to the eruption of rioting, President Trump held a private call on June 1 with some of the states governors, an audio recording of which was leaked to the press. In this call, Mr. Trump urged the governors to be tough with the protesters, labeling protesters terrorists. He told the governors You have to dominate, and said if they didnt youre going to look like a bunch of jerks. He also advocated sending those arrested to jail for long periods of time. You have to do retribution, he said. As religious leaders in the State of New Jersey who believe in the inherent dignity and worth of all persons, and that all persons are created in the divine image, we feel this guidance is poorly considered, wrong and dangerous. It violates the fundamental tenets of justice and compassion that undergird the faith traditions each of us represents. We urge Gov. Phil Murphy and all the states governors to resist this advice and impulse to use force. We do not condone the violence and vandalism occurring in the cities and communities of our nation and our state. We do, however, recognize that this eruption is, in part, a consequence of long-simmering frustration at the centuries of violence and injustice done to Black Americans over our history. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. observed in a speech to union members in New York City in 1968, less than a year after riots in Newark and Detroit, and less than a month before his assassination, the great tragedy is that the nation continues in its national policy to ignore the conditions that brought the riots or the rebellions into being. For in the nal analysis, the riot is the language of the unheard. With his you have to dominate advice, President Trump continues a historic pattern of not listening and exemplifies Maslows Law of Instruments: if the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything as if it were a nail. In so doing, he ignores the underlying ills and egregious conditions 400 years of white dominance through the institutions of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, systemic racism, mass incarceration - that have bred and contributed to the current social discontent and violence. Human social expressions have their origins in the psyche or souls of human beings. Racism and white supremacy are sins introduced into religion by white Aryan populations in order to dominate, lord or become masters over people of color. This psychological and spiritual oppression, manipulation, and domination persists and plagues the worlds societies up to today. The minds, moral conscience, perceptions of human worth, personalities, and behaviors of white, Black, and brown people have been and continue to be deceived and misguided by these false images of divine authority that people are blatantly and subtly told to submit to, obey and worship in various authoritarian disguises. And the subliminal message in the physical images translates into how race consciousness warps and weakens perceptions of truth, reality, morality, ethics and justice and how these universal principles are applied by, and to, those who do, and do not, relate to these purported images of divine authority in human society. For too long, white America has understood racism as a Black problem, something that Black Americans caused and which Black Americans or other people of color have to solve. Racism is a white problem, which has brought, and continues to bring great harm and often premature death to people of color. It will take sincere truth-telling, listening, humility, confession, intentionality, genuine sacrifice and resolve by whites in this country to dismantle the racist systems and structures they have created and work with those who have been historically marginalized to bring about a just society. The concurrent crises in which we find ourselves as a country confront us with this reality and invite us to this work. It would help to begin with white Americans honestly reckoning with the truth of our national illness, listening with compassion to Black Americans and other people of color who have suffered and who continue to suffer from its deadly effects and then working on concrete and specific ways to dismantle our inherently racist structures. We invite Governor Murphy to create and support such a process within his government and to encourage such processes across the State of New Jersey in all institutions, public and private. Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz is president of the New Jersey Coalition of Religious Leaders. Imam W Deen Shareef is convener of the Council of Imams in New Jersey. The Rt. Rev. William Stokes is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey. 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. (Photo : REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX ) Demonstrators use the light of their cellphones as they gather during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, near the White House in Washington, U.S., June 3, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Terray Sylvester) Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Portland, Oregon, U.S. June 3, 2020. Thousands of people have gathered in various US cities to protest racism and police brutality after the death of George Floyd last week as a Minneapolis police pinned him down with his knee on his neck. While the rise of protests across the U.S., thousands of protest photos and videos have also spread on various social media platforms. While these document the demonstrations, these images also expose the protesters to police scrutiny and other privacy risks, according to Mashable. To ensure the safety of people involved, when taking photos during protests, take time to blur or pixelate the faces of protesters before sharing them online. The following are some easy ways to do it: Why people's faces in protest photos should be blurred before posting them on social media The federal government has been vocal about conducting surveillance on anti-racism protests through social media. Both The Intercept and Vice have reported about the government's social media monitoring of protests after the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland in 2015. On Tuesday, June 3, according to a memo gathered by BuzzFeed News, the Department of Justice has authorized the Drug Enforcement Administration to do "covert surveillance" on protestors during the current demonstrations. This means anyone who joins a protest and has been photographed will be at risk of being tracked down by authorities. While these protests primarily aim to end police abuse over minorities and to end systemic racism, then documenters should still try to protect the subjects of their photographs. How to obscure photos Technology offers various ways to conceal faces in photos without the technicality and complexity of Photoshop. Numerous websites offer free service or tools to do it manually in seconds. The Facepixelizer is one that works well. It's a specialized image editor that hides details in images by blurring out text or pixelating faces. On the Facepixelizer website, drag a photo (.jpg or. png) that you want to alter. Drag the cursor over parts that you want to conceal. Finally, save the image. While this service runs on browsers, images are secure and are never sent over the network. Another recommended is Image Scrubber, which was developed by Everest Pipkin. Image Scrubber is best for covering up faces in protest photos because it allows users easily to manually blur out faces on either a computer or a phone. It also lets you scrub metadata from photos. Whether the photo contains hidden data such as the date, time, and even location where it was taken, it is still possible to get such information for those who would take the time to do so. To use Image Scrubber, load a photo and list it in plain text form. Paint over the face using Image Scrubber's Microsoft Paint-like tools. In a few seconds, the image can no longer be identified, although it may not look professionally done. These are just a few simple tricks that can be done in seconds that, which can help protect individuals from police scrutiny or any form of retaliation. It won't hurt to spend a few seconds to protect strangers before sharing their photos on social media. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. p>Most children with rare genetic diseases spend years undergoing medical tests and waiting for a diagnosis -- a long, exhausting process that takes its toll on children and their families. Almost half of these children never get a definitive diagnosis. Now an international team led by scientists and clinicians from the University of Colorado, University of Calgary, and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has developed a prototype tool based on three-dimensional (3D) facial imaging that could shorten that diagnostic odyssey by making it easier for clinicians to diagnose genetic syndromes. "Families tell us having a diagnosis for their child's rare disease is life-changing," said Benedikt Hallgrimsson, PhD, professor and head of the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, and scientific director (basic science) at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. "A diagnosis is essential to children getting the right treatments and connecting with other children and families with the same syndrome." Most developmental genetic syndromes affect multiple organ systems, and clinical geneticists have long relied on distinctive facial features as an important guide to diagnosis. In a new study published online in Genetics in Medicine on June 1, 2020, the research team created a unique library of 3D facial images of participants of diverse ages and ethnicities, including 3327 children and adults with 396 different genetic syndromes, 727 of their unaffected relatives and 3003 other unaffected individuals from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The secure database is hosted by FaceBase, an international consortium funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The researchers then used this secure database to train a machine learning algorithm to identify most of the genetic syndromes included in the dataset with moderate-to-high accuracy. Based on facial shape, 96 percent of study subjects could be correctly classified as either unaffected or having a syndrome, and for most, the algorithm was able to provide a prioritized list of likely diagnoses with high accuracy. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a rapid shift to telemedicine by genetics clinics, including those at UCSF, University of Colorado, and University of Calgary, but the study team says the field still lacks tools to replace many aspects of the in-person physical exam. The automated diagnostic approach developed in this study could extend the ability of clinical geneticists to diagnose patients without requiring travel to a specialized clinic. It could also help general practitioners without genetic training to home in on potential diagnoses, enabling them to connect patients with appropriate specialty care and community support. "Clinical genetics is labor-intensive," said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, the Larry L. Hillblom Distinguished Professor in Craniofacial Anomalies and the Charles J. Epstein Professor of Human Genetics at UCSF, where he is chief of the Division of Medical Genetics. "Some clinics have a two-year waiting list to get in. Using 3D imaging could dramatically enhance clinicians' ability to diagnose children more quickly and inexpensively." The researchers emphasize that the current study represents an important proof-of-concept for facilitating genetic diagnoses, but further work is required to deploy a clinically available, privacy-protected tool. Currently, the approach relies on expensive 3D cameras, but this is expected to change with advances in smart-phone camera technology. "We have designed a prototype with significant potential to become a clinical tool around the world," said Richard Spritz, MD, professor of Pediatrics and director of the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Our hope is that one day soon, our patients can securely take a photo of their face with a smart phone and send it to their doctor for analysis in a confidential database." Added Hallgrimsson, "In low-income countries where genetic testing and medical geneticists aren't available, this could become a transformational new tool." ### Corresponding Authors: Benedikt Hallgrimsson is professor and head of the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, a professor in the Department of Radiology, scientific director (basic science) at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and a member of the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health. Ophir Klein is professor in the departments of Orofacial Sciences and of Pediatrics, the Larry L. Hillblom Distinguished Professor in Craniofacial Anomalies, and the Charles J. Epstein Professor of Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He serves as Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics, Chair of the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies, Medical Director of the Craniofacial Center, and Director of the Program in Craniofacial Biology. Richard Spritz is professor of pediatrics and director of the University of Colorado School of Medicine Human Medical Genetics & Genomics Program. Funding: The research was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation through the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, and The Larry L. Hillblom Foundation. Disclosures: The authors declare no competing financial interests. Media contacts: Nicholas Weiler Senior Public Information Representative University of California, San Francisco 650.733.6955 nicholas.weiler@ucsf.edu Kelly Johnston Senior Communications Specialist, Cumming School of Medicine University of Calgary 403.617.8691 kelly.johnston2@ucalgary.ca Mark Couch Chief of Staff and Director of Communications University of Colorado School of Medicine 303.724.5377 mark.couch@cuanschutz.edu About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. Learn more at ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet. About the University of Calgary: The University of Calgary is a global intellectual hub located in Canada's most enterprising city. In our spirited, high-quality learning environment, students thrive in programs made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. Our strategy drives us to be recognized as one of Canada's top five research universities, engaging the communities we both serve and lead. This strategy is called Eyes High, inspired by the university's Gaelic motto, which translates as 'I will lift up my eyes.' For more information, visit ucalgary.ca/eyeshigh. About the University of Colorado School of Medicine: The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region, and a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative education, science, medicine, and healthcare. The campus includes the University of Colorado health professional schools, multiple centers and institutes and two nationally ranked hospitals, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado, which treat nearly 2 million patients each year. All interconnected, these organizations collaboratively improve the quality of patient care they deliver, research they conduct, and health professionals they train. ISLAMABAD, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani President Arif Alvi said here on Wednesday that his country firmly opposes the politicization of COVID-19 virus by some countries attempting to blame and pressure China. Alvi made the remarks during a meeting with a visiting Chinese military medical expert team. The president said his country stands with the Chinese government and people. The president thanked China for its medical assistance and support in fighting the pandemic and also hailed China's efforts for the international cooperation against the virus, saying that China has taken effective measures which led to a major and positive result in controlling the pandemic. He said the military medical expert team has been working hard in Pakistan and visited local hospitals to guide medical staff to treat patients contracted with the virus, noting that the consistent efforts made by the team shows the deep friendship between the two countries. During the meeting, the medical team briefed their work to the Pakistani side, shared Chinese experiences on battling the virus and exchanged views on further cooperation to curb the pandemic. Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing emphasized said that the COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge and China will continuously provide support to Pakistan. The 10-member military medical team arrived in Islamabad on April 24 to help Pakistan fight the pandemic. Google had removed Mitron and Remove China Apps from Play Store within a span of two days. Google this week removed the apps Mitron and Remove China Apps from its Play Store. Both apps gained heavy traction in India within just a few days. Google has now responded explaining its reason behind removing these apps. Mitron emerged as the Indian made TikTok-rival which was later discovered to be a copy of an existing short video app called TicTic. As for the other app, it detected removed third-party Chinese apps on smartphones and helped users bulk delete them. This app in particular grew popular owing to the current trend in India to boycott Chinese products. Earlier this week, we removed a video app for a number of technical policy violations. We have an established process of working with developers to help them fix issues and resubmit their apps. Weve given this developer some guidance and once theyve addressed the issue the app can go back up on Play, Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play, said in a statement. Based on this response, the Mitron app was removed should be back on Google Play once the developers fix the issue pointed out by Google. As for the Remove China Apps app, it doesnt look like the app will be back on Google Play. The app has been suspended as it encourages or incentivizes users into removing or disabling third-party apps or modifying device settings or features unless it is part of a verifiable security service. This is a longstanding rule designed to ensure a healthy, competitive environment where developers can succeed based upon design and innovation. When apps are allowed to specifically target other apps, it can lead to behavior that we believe is not in the best interest of our community of developers and consumers. Weve enforced this policy against other apps in many countries consistently in the past - just as we did here, Samat added. Remove China Apps had garnered almost one million downloads on Google Play and it was also the top free app. Mitron also received over 5 million downloads and had a 4.7 star rating on Google Play. A man has returned from a silent retreat in Vermont and was shocked to learn coronavirus cases have massively spiked and mounting racial tensions have sparked protests and riots across the country. Daniel Thorson, 33, entered the Monastic Academy in Lowell on March 23 for two months of 'voluntary physical and memetic self-quarantine'. He tweeted on May 23: 'I'm back from 75 days in silence. Did I miss anything?' President Trump had announced the coronavirus pandemic in the 10 days before Thorson shut himself off from the outside world but more and more lockdowns were enforced around the country in the days following. Daniel Thorson, 33, had no idea about strict coronavirus social distancing measures and mounting racial tensions in the US when he emerged from a retreat last week entered the Monastic Academy in Lowell, Vermont (file image) on March 23 for two months of 'voluntary physical and memetic self-quarantine' He tweeted on May 23 after time in the Buddhist monastic community: 'I'm back from 75 days in silence. Did I miss anything?' One follower simply replied: 'There was a pandemic.' Another responded: 'Yes. We are all in retreat. Good modeling!' Thorson followed up with a tweet declaring 'notification bankruptcy' and asking anyone who had contacted him while he was away to follow up again as he couldn't play catch-up. His first experience with another human was when entered Shaw's supermarket and felt anxieties from other people when he moved near them. 'I would turn a corner in the grocery store, and someone would be there, and they would recoil,' he told the New York Times. 'I haven't installed the Covid operating system. At first, I was, like, "Whoa, what did I do?"' When he did finally scan his social media after months in the Buddhist monastic community, he found people talking about nothing but coronavirus. Cases were at over 3,700 when he went into the retreat and when he emerged there were over 1.6 million. 'Everything else is gone,' he told the New York Times about his initial thoughts. 'There's nothing about the election! It's amazing! The Australian wildfires, what happened there? Didn't Brexit happen? 'Everybody has extremely strongly held, very different opinions about everything: how dangerous it is, what the response should have been, how it's going, whether or not we need to isolate, how to treat it if you get it.' Coronavirus cases massively escalated in the months Thorson was away at the silent retreat Thorson had notifications while he was away but found it difficult to catch up with all that had occurred and asked everyone to get in touch again A person walks down Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont on May 9 amid shutdowns and strict social distancing. Thorson's followers told him everyone was on their own 'retreat' One person summed it up with a meme about 2020, including details about the pandemic He followed up to followers about what went on while he was away. 'While I was on retreat, there was a collective traumatic emotional experience that I was not a part of,' he added on Day 2 of his return to society. 'To what degree do I have to piece it back together?' Two days after Thorson returned from the retreat, African American man George Floyd was killed on a Minnesota street and the death at the hands of four Minneapolis Police Department cops was filmed and went viral. That morning white woman Amy Cooper was filmed threatening black bird watcher Christian Cooper that she would call the NYPD and tell them 'there's an African American man threatening my life' because he asked her to leash her dog in a prohibited area of Central Park. It followed news that black EMT Breonna Taylor was shot to death by cops in her apartment and emerged and a video showing white men killing black jogger Ahmaud Arbery also surfaced. Thorson was slowly reintroducing himself to looking at screens when protests broke out across the country with Black Lives Matter supporters demanding justice and equality. A friend of Thorson's replied with a document titled Making Sense of the New Normal, 'an attempt to place disruptive events like the COVID-19 pandemic and riots in an appropriate perspective of the evolution of the human species.' Thorson shared what his daily routine looked like while he missed two months of news but he was still getting used to looking at a screen when more major events were happening That morning white woman Amy Cooper (left) was filmed threatening black bird watcher Christian Cooper (right) that she would call the NYPD and tell them 'there's an African American man threatening my life' because he asked her to leash her dog in a prohibited area of Central Park One man replied: 'Welcome back! I'd say that in your time away the metamodern & game~b folks have found more overlaps, which is nice. The 'lockdown' has also got many more folks interested in solidarity vibes (though this could be my own bias). Things still dire af but getting worse and better .' Friends compared him to fictional character Rip Van Winkle, who falls asleep in New York's Catskills for 20 years and wakes up to find the US is no longer ruled by the British. Some of his followers who had gotten used to the 'new normal' that they were beginning to forget a time before social distancing, wanted to hear his perspective on what was going on. 'I feel like we should be asking you that question?' one follower asked Thorson. 'Write a journal about what you notice and the most mundane observations as the world has changed quite considerably and it would be of some interest to others to have perspective of person that just found out about all this now,' another person wrote. Thorson, who hosts a philosophy podcast called The Stoa, has opted to step back from technology after finding it anxiety-inducing to process such a flurry of new information. He also found it difficult adapting back to looking at the vibrant colors on a screen and set his phone back to grayscale, four days after leaving the retreat. 'This whole thing is a hell of a drug,' he told the New York Times. 'It really, really, really has an impact on my nervous system.' 'I feel like an oddity, I feel like a curiosity,' he added. 'I don't know what they expect me to say.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-03 23:36:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia will never initiate the use of nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said regarding the country's newly released nuclear deterrence policy on Wednesday. The policy unveiled on Tuesday specifies the situations that could lead Russia to retaliate for foreign nuclear attacks, Peskov told a daily briefing. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the fundamentals of the country's state policy of nuclear deterrence. "The Russian Federation reserves the right to launch a nuclear strike either in response to a similar attack or in the event of a threat to the existence of the state," the decree reads, stressing that the policy is defensive in nature. The nuclear deterrence policy was published openly for the first time in the history of the Soviet Union and modern Russia, according to Victor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland. Russia chose to elaborate on its strategy to use nukes at a time when the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is due to expire in February 2021 and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has already collapsed, Murakhovsky said. At the same time, the United States and its allies from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are strengthening their military presence in Europe near Russia, he noted. The uncertain fate of the New START and the termination of the INF Treaty pose a threat to global strategic stability, said Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine National Defense. Russia's nuclear deterrence policy has sent a signal to the United States that red lines exist, and Russia shows the practical readiness to use nuclear weapons in response to crossing them, Korotchenko said. Enditem Nikko Lester says he was peacefully protesting with friends - Adam Gray for The Telegraph When Nikko Lester was released from the NYPDs Central Booking station, he was so discombobulated he could not be sure what time of day it was. His face was bloodied, his nose bent out of shape. The 33-year-old from downtown Brooklyn did not know whether he sustained the injury from the police baton that had struck him during his arrest, the knee that then pinned him to the ground, or from the seizure that followed. The musician says he had been out peacefully protesting with friends the night before - his first ever march - when he was rushed by four officers, pushed to the pavement and handcuffed. I kept saying over and over again, 'I didnt do anything, I didnt do anything.' There had been no provocation, he told the Telegraph. They werent in any mood to listen. And just like that, another black man in America became a statistic. I was out on #FlatbushAve, I walked across the #ManhattanBridge, up #Bowery towards #UnionSquare for 6 hours & the only time I felt unsafe was when the cops started throwing random people down & shoving me with batons while I walked on the sidewalk in the direction they told us. pic.twitter.com/td2lf4DCkP Phoebe Quin (@PWQuin) May 31, 2020 Mr Lester is one of more than 1,500 people to be arrested in New York City since protests began over the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of heavy-handed Minneapolis cops. New Yorks jails are overflowing as the city - and the rest of the country - tries to put down the biggest civil unrest since the uprising that followed the assassination of rights activist Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. Story continues No tear gas has been thrown or National Guard deployed here, unlike in other cities. Nevertheless, scenes of brutal crackdowns and mass arrests by the NYPD on Black Lives Matter demonstrators has caused outrage. I've seen so many black lives lost that I couldnt stand here watching another and do nothing. All I know is I have to be on the right side of history, Mr Lester said on why he had taken to the streets. It was my first ever real run-in with police and I realised during my arrest that these officers didn't care whether I lived or died. I was screaming at them that I couldn't breathe and they just laughed. I can imagine it is that feeling of worthlessness that is driving many to do what they are doing. NYPD officers arrest a protester continued to flout curfew restrictions was in effect from 8 pm on Tuesday - Anadolu Mr Lester and other recently released protesters the Telegraph spoke to outside police stations across the city said they had been denied phone calls and access to a lawyer, as well as being deprived of food. Those who sustained injuries from violent arrests say they were not offered medical attention. They say they had also been crammed into crowded holding cells and had their facemasks taken away, against health advice issued to police officers to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. Volunteer medics, lawyers and activists have been waiting outside the jails to offer support to those coming out at all times of the day and night. Word has spread and protesters have taken to writing their helpline number on their arms in permanent marker in case of arrest. Mr Lester, who spent several hours handcuffed to a hospital bed followed by eight in a cell, only found out he was being accused of unlawful assembly when he was presented with a court summons upon release. The charges handed down to demonstrators so far have ranged from the less serious ones of unlawful assembly and public disturbance to more serious felonies such as criminal damage and obstructing or assaulting an officer. There were as many as 70 in the 600sqm cell at some points during the night, said Mr Lester. There were black, caucasian, young and older guys in there with me. Most of us had been peacefully marching, a few were looters, while some appeared to have just been picked up by mistake, he said. One bystander was detained after stepping outside his apartment to check out what was going on. He was handcuffed before being given the chance to explain that his young children, who were upstairs sleeping, were now home alone. Another was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time as he picked up a fast food takeout with his girlfriend. The huge number of arrests has forced the city to reopen shuttered detention centres to make space. It has also created a strain on police stations processing powers, meaning hundreds of detainees have been held for longer than the statutory 24 hours. One legal expert pointed to a more malign reason for the delays. This flagrant violation of law by the New York City Police Department appears to be designed to retaliate against New Yorkers protesting police brutality, said Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of Legal Aids Criminal Defense Practice. The huge number of arrests has forced the city to reopen shuttered detention centres to make space - Adam Gray for The Telegraph While the protests have been peaceful by day, a smaller number of looters have ransacked midtown Manhattan by night. The scenes, which have been given wall-to-wall coverage by Donald Trumps favourite news channels, prompted the president to order officials to do whatever they needed to to stamp out the chaos engulfing his hometown. On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled the deployment of officers on the street from 4,000 to 8,000 and imposed a curfew on the city for the first time since the Harlem race riots of 1943. Officials have entered into an ugly blame game as they attempt to restore order. Andrew Cuomo, the states governor, called the situation a disgrace and laid the responsibility on Mr de Blasio and the NYPD, the nations largest police force, with 38,000 officers. First, the NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night. I believe that, Mr Cuomo said on Tuesday. I believe the mayor underestimates the scope of the problem. I believe the mayor underestimates the duration of the problem. Mr de Blasio called the situation a horrible, perfect storm were living through and said the governors criticism was unfair. The protests have been largely peaceful by day - Anadolu Agency The mayor, who has notoriously strained relations with fellow Democrat Mr Cuomo, has been accused of being too slow to respond and of defending what many New Yorkers see as an unchecked police force running riot. A petition to impeach Mr de Blasio garnered more than 100,000 signatures in its first 24 hours. Terence Monahan, the NYPDs chief of department, meanwhile raged against Mr Cuomo, saying his men have been giving their blood. Im watching my men and women out there dealing with stuff that no cop should ever have to deal with - bricks, bottles, rocks, he said. Mr Lester, however, said their conduct in the last few days laid bare an endemic racism that still exists within the force. While he says he will not allow the anger he feels over how he was treated to manifest itself in violence, he fears others could come to see it as the only answer. I dont condone the looting, but they are the minority and the media should focus less on material sh** and more on peoples lives, he told the Telegraph. Youll notice that the looting and ransacking only started when we saw how the police responded to our peaceful protests. The looting will only stop when the police brutality stops. The senseless killing of George Floyd has resulted in a flurry of breast-beating from people straining to outdo one another in expressing their wokeness by sharing sensationalistic hashtags and hammering into submission anyone who questions the narrative of systemic racism or (God forbid) the possibility that this homicide was not racially motivated. Some of these dissenters ingenuously defend themselves by itemizing their black friends, not realizing they are setting themselves up for an unwinnable back-and-forth display of intersectionality credentials. In the final analysis, personal experience does not make anyone an "expert" on the needs and aspirations of anyone else. A better strategy is to expose the attacker's outrage for the shallow and self-serving charade it really is. Virtue signaling is never about "standing up" for anyone because it never speaks truth to power. Just as it took zero courage for Oprah Winfrey to proclaim, "Your time is up" after Harvey Weinstein hit rock bottom, it takes zero courage to denounce obvious instances of police brutality. This feeding frenzy is about only asserting moral superiority or (as in the case of Oprah) mitigating guilt by association. This is precisely why the so-called "victim's rights" organization named after Oprah's gutless screed folded like a cheap lawn chair as soon as Joe Biden's accuser solicited its help. Whenever the media showcase rare instances of police brutality, it takes real courage to point out: All homicides are a tragedy, including the 1624 black-on-black murders that happen every day in America. Unjustified killings of African-Americans by police make national headlines because they are uncommon, and no amount of screening will cull every bad apple from the 700,000+ officers currently serving in America. Absentee fathers and the soft bigotry of low expectations are far greater threats to the black community than the small minority of power-tripping police officers or social misfits marching with tiki torches on Charlottesville. How many of the limousine liberals expressing "solidarity" with the family of George Floyd oppose policies that really empower minorities such as right to work legislation, streamlined occupational licensing, and school choice? Since none of these governing principles affects people in the managerial class, why don't they learn objectively how the policies affect people outside their protective bubble? Don't hold your breath; people who regard themselves as "model citizens" never research anything outside their comfort zones. This is how we got the Deep State. Hannah Arendt wrote Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil following the trial of Adolf Eichmann. What struck her the most about the main organizer of the Holocaust was his intellectual shallowness the same absence of self-reflection you may find in virtue-signaling elites who bail out rioters and express solidarity with dubious organizations like Black Lives Matter. From their gated communities, they fail to reflect upon the countless black lives and fortunes destroyed both directly and indirectly by the turmoil they are encouraging. Last year, a philanthropist pledged millions of dollars to repair the damage at Notre Dame Cathedral. In response to this story, I heard someone indignantly declare, "Why don't they just give this money to the homeless?" This reminded me of a Gospel passage from Mark 14: While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, "Why has this ointment been wasted? For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor." So they grumbled against her. In the verses that follow, Jesus called out their virtue-signaling by pointing out that their "concern" for the poor rendered them oblivious to the bigger picture: "Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me." A pastor whose name I do not recall provided an ideal guide for self-reflection: "If you feel the need to prove your heart is in the right place, it probably isn't." Keep this in mind before you start posting angry emojis under this article. Antonio Chaves teaches biology at a local community college. His interest in economic and social issues stems from his experience teaching environmental science. His older articles with graphs and images are available here. Yet, Mr. Liberman, 61, insists he likes the view from where he sits just fine. In a season of political flip-flops, he still has his credibility, he says. We keep our word, he said in a rare interview at his home this week. Today, everybody knows that you can rely on Yisrael Beiteinu. What we promised and what we say is what you will have. Mr. Liberman says he has little time for Mr. Netanyahus vow to annex occupied territory in the West Bank a promise that the prime minister rolled out in April last year, on the eve of the first of the three elections to shore up right-wing support, and that he has been dangling before Israeli voters ever since. (The latest promise is to follow through after July 1.) Mr. Liberman says he is a strong supporter of annexing at least the Jordan Valley, to give Israel a permanent, defensible eastern border for the first time. A former foreign minister and defense minister, he acknowledges that annexation could disrupt Israels efforts to expand its formal diplomatic ties with Arab countries, which oppose Israels intent to impose its sovereignty over land the Palestinians are counting on for a future state. The cannabis sector generally took a step back after Canopy Growth (CGC) reported a disastrous quarter last week. The Canadian cannabis giant set the sector back after cannabis was generally seen in a positive light coming out of the economic shutdown due to the coronavirus. While the U.S. cannabis space is poised for a strong 2H of the year, the sector wasnt completely unscathed during the coronavirus shutdown. A few states such as Massachusetts and Nevada closed stores during the virus outbreak hitting revenues hard in those states. While some of the large multi-state operators (MSOs) have rallied near pre-virus highs, the smaller MSOs are just now starting to rally. These stocks all trade with market values far below $1 billion and could eventually become acquisition targets from Canadian operators or new entrants into the space. The ultimate gift for shareholders could exist from the Safe Banking Act getting approved via current legislature in the House as part of another round of stimulus. Over 34 state Attorney Generals approved the passage of the bill to eliminate the handling of cash, amongst other reasons. Access to capital will help these secondary MSOs to a greater extent than the larger ones. With this in mind, weve delved into three under-the-radar MSO stocks to consider as the U.S. cannabis space is set to thrive during the economic reopening. Using TipRanks' Stock Comparison tool, we were able to read the fine print on what 2020 has in store for the three MSO players. Harvest Health & Recreation (HRVSF) Harvest Health & Recreation has been one of the most disappointing MSOs due to a couple of failed large-scale deals. The company has had to retreat from deals that wouldve placed Harvest Health into a leading MSO position, but the company is now focused on growing markets with recreational optionality in the future. The company now has core operations in Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Arizona operation has 14 open dispensaries with a good shot for the state approving recreational cannabis by the end of 2020. Story continues For Q1, Harvest Health had $45.0 million in quarterly revenues with a 19% increase from the prior quarter. The cannabis MSO reported a small quarterly EBITDA loss of $3.9 million and expects to reach EBITDA positive in the 2H. Harvest Health needs to boost margins presently at 42%, but the company expects revenue growth and $6 million in quarterly expense cuts to drive the bottom line improvement. The company targets over $200 million in 2020 revenues with the optionality of recreational cannabis in Arizona alone adding a boost of $50 million to the revenue base for 2021. The stock has a market cap of $405 million which could be very appealing in a scenario where any of their core states add recreational cannabis. Harvest Health still trades near the lows of 2020 and far off the 2019 highs. The stock could easily trade below 2x actual 2021 sales assuming Arizona approves recreational sales in the November ballot. All in all, Wall Street is not convinced just yet on this MSO player, but optimism is circling, as TipRanks analytics demonstrate Harvest Health as a Buy. Based on 3 analysts polled in the last 3 months, 2 rate the stock a Buy, while 1 remains sidelined. The 12-month average price target stands at $2.77, marking a 141% upside from where the stock is currently trading. (See Harvest Health stock analysis on TipRanks) Columbia Care (CCHWF) Columbia Care remains one of the few MSOs not well known by the market. The company just reported Q1 results $28.9 million, up $4.4 million from the December quarter. The MSO has strong operations in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio, amongst other states. In total, Columbia Care has licenses in 18 U.S. jurisdictions plus the E.U. Between the Illinois store having business disruption recently due to COVID and Massachusetts shutting down recreational cannabis sales until last week, Columbia Care expects disrupted Q2 sales for areas just ramping up. As with Harvest Health, the MSO is positioned for the optionality of recreational approval in other states while having a relatively small revenue base. For 2020, Columbia Care is forecasted to generate revenues of $210 million with a market cap of $620 million. More importantly, the MSO is expected to double revenues in 2021 to over $400 million before even seeing upside from a Florida approval of recreational cannabis in a few years. The small MSO has $45 million in liquidity and $27 million in cash with the expectation for additional transactions later this year. Columbia Care is still generating large EBITDA losses as the company still launches operations in states such as New Jersey and Virginia. Although the stock has only a few analysts currently throwing the hat in the ring, all are bullish on the stock. Columbia Cares analyst consensus rating is a Strong Buy, with all 3 analysts giving it the thumbs up. The 12-month average price target stands at $8.71, which implies over 200% upside from current levels. (See Columbia Care stock analysis on TipRanks) AYR Strategies (AYRSF) One MSO actually hit by the coronavirus crisis was AYR Strategies. The company operates in both Massachusetts and Nevada where the states chose to close dispensaries or recreational sales. For the March quarter, AYR Strategies reported revenues rose 4% to $33.6 million. The company was highly profitable heading into the mid-March COVID related closures in both Nevada and Massachusetts reduced sales towards the end of March. The company predicted sales wouldve risen by 16% sequentially in the quarter without the store closures. The Q1 numbers werent hit hard with adjusted EBITDA still coming up at $8.4 million and cash flow of operations hitting $7.4 million. With Massachusetts blocking recreational cannabis until May 25, AYR Strategies forecasts June returning to the Q1 EBITDA levels with margins approaching 25%. Analysts have AYR Strategies reaching $230 million in sales for 2021 while the stock valuation is only $152 million now. The stock trades at ~1x forward sales estimates while the industry as a whole trade closer to 3x forward sales. The company only has $9.9 million in cash which could hold back investors, but the solid adjusted EBITDA position of the company should allow for AYR Strategies to easily raise cash in the future. Any approval of U.S. cannabis regulations would help this small MSO either raise cash or attract a suitor at premium prices. All in all, AYR Strategies maintains a Strong Buy from the analyst consensus, based on 4 recent ratings. These include 3 Buys and 1 Hold, giving a 3 to 1 advantage to the bulls. Share are trading at $7.70, so the $51.33 average price target suggests room for whooping 567% upside. (See AYR Strategies stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for cannabis stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Disclosure: No position. Recap: Facebooks photo transfer tool roll-out has progressed steadily over the past several months. In February, the tool was made available to users in Latin America and Asia Pacific and in March, it arrived for Facebookers in the European Union, the UK and Africa. Those in Canada and the US got access to the transfer tool back in April. Facebooks photo transfer tool is finally available to users around the world, the social networking giant announced on Thursday. First launched last December in Ireland, the tool allows users to easily transfer their photos from Facebook to other platforms Google Photos, thus far. Previously, users would have to download their images from Facebook then manually upload them to another service. That's not a big deal if you're dealing with just a few dozen photos or so but for those with hundreds of images, the process is quite time-consuming. Facebook said the tool is based on code developed for the Data Transfer Project, an open-source initiative involving multiple tech giants including Apple, Microsoft and Twitter. The goal is to promote data portability between online platforms. To give it a whirl, simply navigate to the Your Facebook Information section in the settings menu and select Transfer a Copy of Your Photos or Videos. From there, youll need to verify your identity by submitting your password, select the destination for the media and choose Confirm Transfer. Masthead credit: tanuha2001 A former detective from Northern Ireland who has played a central role in the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance believes she could still be alive. Jim Gamble said he disagreed with German prosecutors, who fear Madeleine is dead and are investigating a child sex predator on suspicion of her murder. In a major twist in the 13-year mystery British and German police identified a suspect who was in the Praia da Luz resort on Portugal's Algarve coast when the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007. He is a 43-year-old German national named in media reports as Christian Brueckner. Expand Close Two images, based on a description given by a British holidaymaker, of a man seen around the time that Madeleine was abducted PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Two images, based on a description given by a British holidaymaker, of a man seen around the time that Madeleine was abducted Mr Gamble now believes an end could be in sight to the long-running case. "This is the most hopeful I've been in 13 years," he told the Belfast Telegraph. Mr Gamble was the senior child protection officer in the UK's first investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine. The Bangor man is one of the UK's most experienced and outspoken experts on the safeguarding of children online. Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate have said they will "never give up hope" of finding their daughter alive in their quest to "uncover the truth". And Mr Gamble said he also retains hope. He added: "As a father and a grandfather myself, I understand why it is so important that we all do what we can and that we retain hope. "I know the German prosecutor has said that they are assuming that Madeleine is dead, but I'm not. "That's because until there is evidence that she is dead, I'm not going to accept it." Expand Close Jim Gamble / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jim Gamble Mr Gamble feels the emergence of a new suspect is a significant development. He added: "The reason I'm more positive and optimistic is because when you take a step back and look at the circumstantial evidence that the police are sharing with us, it's strong stuff. "So you know you have a suspect with a proven history of sex offending and a history of child abuse and burglary. "When you take that information and place it in context, you can now see evidence that his phone was in proximity to the scene in or around the time of the crime. "Then you consider the subsequent conduct - what someone had done afterwards that would make you think those are signs of a guilty person. "We are told that a number plate of a car is changed the day after, so when you bring all of that together, it makes him a very, very significant person of interest." Mr Gamble, a former head of RUC Special Branch, was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2008. After his 2010 review into the case commissioned by former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, Mr Gamble said it was "critical" the expertise of the Metropolitan Police was brought on board. He said evidence was not collated together and mobile phone analysis may not have been examined. Some leads, he claimed, may have slipped through the net. Expand Close The Praia da Luz resort PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Praia da Luz resort Mr Gamble continued: "There had been gaps in the investigation, and that's not a criticism of the Portuguese police. "It is a reflection of the fact that these crimes are very rare and when they take place outside of areas where there are very experienced detectives, there is limited expertise at hand. "You need that breakthrough that allows you to go back to all those pots of evidence that were preserved back in the day and then begin trawling through it with more laser-like vision. "Once you have a name, you begin to look at how you can link that person to those places. "What we are seeing now is the outcome from long, hard hours put in from detectives." Last August Mr Gamble supported the family of Nora Quoirin, who went missing during a family holiday to Malaysia. The body of the teenager, whose mother Meabh is from Belfast, was discovered 10 days later near a waterfall less than two miles from the holiday villa at the Dusun Resort. Expand Close The 1993 Jaguar (PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The 1993 Jaguar (PA) Mr Gamble is appealing to people who were in Portugal around that time 13 years ago to revisit their holiday photos with "fresh eyes" to help bring closure to the McCann family. "I would urge people who may have holidayed in Praia da Luz to cast their minds back and look through the lens that they have with this additional information," he added. "Look at your holiday photos for a man who fits the suspect's description, a 30-year-old blond German, or for his Jaguar or his camper van. "The jigsaw is coming together, but there are some pieces missing. "If the public are now prompted or if someone who has held something back suddenly realises how important the little piece of information they have is, come forward because they might bring those last pieces together." Companies involved in the offshore oil and gas sector should use the Covid-19 pandemic, as a springboard to create stronger, more sustainable businesses, using digital technologies to do more with less and make the industry more exciting to the next generation of talent. Participating in an online Adipec Energy Dialogue Webinar, Philip Whittaker, Partner and Director, Oil and Gas, at the Boston Consulting Group, said the coronavirus has prompted offshore oil and gas businesses to ask how they can extract greater margins and use technological differentiation to create more stable, less cyclical businesses from their exposure to exploration and production. Discussing the latest developments and impacts around the Offshore verticals in the oil and gas industry, Whittaker said offshore companies have had to rapidly adapt to the changed work environment created by the coronavirus. Projects have been shut in, crews withdrawn from offshore platforms and work limited to core production operations. But he added, digital technology could speed up the sector's recovery. "At BCG, we are having a lot of conversations around, first, responding to the crisis quickly and, secondly, being really ambitious and using the events of the last few weeks as a springboard to create a stronger, really sustainable offshore business in the mid-term," Whittaker said. "A great example is one of our clients, working in North Sea operations, which has had to demobilise about 40% of its traditional crew from their platforms but due to the application of wearable technology, digitised remote viewing and remote work planning, they are still able to liquidate 90 per cent of the plant maintenance and integrity activity they have planned. "So it really starts to drive us towards the use of technology to do more with less, which has to be good for everyone." However, Whittaker said, the wider adoption of digital technology across the offshore value chain, would create a recruitment challenge for offshore businesses. "At the moment the sector faces two very distinct talent crisis. The first is the demographic crisis of attracting younger people into what they see as a sunset industry. And the second is around the type of talent required. "Beyond geoscientists, beyond traditional engineers, we need to attract the data scientists, the digital scientists, those who are leading the digital revolution and to be frank they are very, very mobile. We have to make offshore exciting for them but at the moment what we offer them is a cyclical and insecure environment, so that is going to be a tough job." The Adipec Energy Dialogue is a series of weekly online thought leadership events created by dmg events, organisers of the annual Abu Dhabi International Exhibition and Conference. Featuring key stakeholders and decision-makers in the oil and gas industry, the dialogues focus on how the industry is evolving and transforming in response to the rapidly changing energy market. Adipec 2020 is projected to attract more than 155,000 energy professionals from 67 countries; including senior decision-makers and energy industry thought leaders, over 2,200 exhibiting companies and 23 national exhibiting pavilions as oil and gas companies convene to share views and best practices to address the long-term impact of the triple challenge of lower oil prices, weaker demand and over supply. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; hosted by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc); and supported by the UAE Ministry of Energy & Industry, the Abu Dhabi Chamber, and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, Adipec is scheduled to take place from November 9 to 11, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec). -- Tradearabia News Service To the Editor: Re Tom Cotton: Send In the Troops (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, June 3): Senator Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, writes: One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do whats necessary to uphold the rule of law. I strongly disagree with Mr. Cottons suggestion to use U.S. troops to suppress the protests occurring throughout the country. I disagree even more strongly with The New York Timess giving Mr. Cotton a platform to express his views. His extremist rhetoric only serves to fan the flames of division and suppression. Not only was the decision to print his words wrong, the decision to do so on the eve of the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing is beyond comprehension. Shame on you! Shame on you! David Andersen Chicago To the Editor: As a white woman who marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when I was a teenager, I feel strongly that black lives matter, and that Senator Tom Cottons Op-Ed needed to be seen in The Times so he and others like him see the reactions it engenders. Unfortunately, Senator Cotton is not alone in his views. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Asif Mehman Trend: The residents of Azerbaijans Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran cities and the Absheron region will be able to leave the homes on weekends by calling "102", Trend reports on June 4. In his appeal to the Azerbaijani citizens, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov said that the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers made a corresponding decision. People may leave the houses in the following exceptional cases: - in case of immediate danger to life and health (emergency medical care is rendered only through the emergency medical service); - in connection with the participation in the funerals of close relatives. The quarantine regime will be tightened in Azerbaijans Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran cities and Absheron region from 00:00 (GMT+4) on June 6 through 06:00 (GMT+4) on June 8. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After two years of life on Forest Avenue, Project Brunchs West Brighton location will close permanently. Owner Jodi Guagliardo made the announcement in an Instagram post Thursday morning. The Charleston location is the original one and will continue at 4553 Arthur Kill Road (ProjectBrunch.com). Many factors contributed to the decision to shut down in West Brighton, said Guagliardo. She had been temporarily closed since late April as several staffers fell ill from the coronavirus. The prolonged closing of all restaurants due to COVID-19 has had irreversible consequences to our Forest Avenue location. The reality of the retail landscape is unfortunately taking a turn for the worse. Small businesses were struggling to stay open as it was, she explained. Our staff members were forced to seek other employment elsewhere, some in different fields entirely, as many felt unemployment was not a long term solution for them. Some staff were afraid to travel or even to be in the restaurant and possibly risk getting sick. My only response was, How can I help? Guagliardo said. Still, she encouraged them to continue with what was best for themselves and their families. Guagliardo conveyed her sadness over the situation to patrons. She said, I will always be grateful to all of our loyal customers. Thanks for all the support, for sharing your families with us and for choosing to spend your time at Project Brunch. To my staff for giving their all every day." She wished her employees the best and easier days ahead. Her focus now turns to ensure her Charleston and Manalapan, New Jersey stores rebound from the pandemic. Of her decision to pack it in on the North Shore, she said her phone and social media blew up with support and downright Staten Island love. Everybody was so sweet about it. It makes you feel like you did something right, Guagliardo shared. The original Project Brunch on the South Shore, affectionately known by its fans simply as PB, opened in May, 2016, then expanded in five months to the next door storefront called Project Brunch Cafe. The third project was the Forest Avenue operation which opened in February, 2018. Take out and delivery are available at the Charleston operation. Project Brunch is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily with delivery through PostMates, GrubHub, DoorDash and UberEats. Guagliardo expects to delve into alfresco dining once its allowed. She said, I plan to put a seat anywhere they allow us to. Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com. Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Chinese objections to border infrastructure improvement on the Indian side have now extended to Uttarakhand. The Chinese military has raised objections on a structure near the borders in Lipulekh area which was meant to safeguard Mansarovar Yatris from the vagaries of weather and terrain. Nepal had earlier objected to the new road to Lipulekh Pass. Chinese have raised objection on the temporary shelter Hut constructed about a kilometre inside the Indian side from the border," a source said. It is a hut prepared for Mansarovar Yatris to safeguard them from extreme cold, rain and assist them in case of any medical help needed, added the source. On the contrary, sources informed, the Chinese side has built roads coming as near as about two hundred metres to the Lipulekh Pass where they have placed their communication and surveillance equipment. Indian Army and Chinese Army clashed at Naku la in Sikkim and at Finger 5 on Northern flank of Pangong Tso Lake at the beginning of May month and since then they are in standoff position in Eastern Ladakh. Chinese objected to Indian road construction at Finger Four and in Galwan Valley. Uttarakhand objection was raised subsequently. 3488 km long Line of Actual Control is divided into three sectors viz Eastern, Central and Western sector with Uttarakhand falling in the Central Sector. This area has been peaceful but Chinese brought the issues after the May standoff in Ladakh and since the road to Lipulekh Pass on the Indian side was inaugurated on 8 May, the source said. The Chinese have increased their patrolling and we have matched it as required, told another source. In an unexpected move, after the road was inaugurated, Nepal for the first time extended its claim from Kalapani to further include Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as its territory and also objected to the road to Lipulekh Pass, gateway to Mansarovar. Pilgrimage to Kailash-Manasarovar is considered sacred and revered by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, The decade-old plan of 80-kilometre road link from Dharchula (Uttarakhand) to Lipulekh (17, 060 ft high) was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on May 8 and was aimed to improve border area connectivity and to ease the trek. The altitude in this stretch has a steep rise from 6,000 to 17,060 feet, making the journey arduous. The road ends 5 km short of Lipulekh Pass. It is difficult to stay long at the pass due to height, extreme cold and unpredictable weather thus the Yatris used to be sheltered in the hut before they cross to the Chinese side. The crossover at the boundary is planned in the early morning with Chinese receiving the Yatris on their side. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The entire territory forming Tripoli's administrative borders is now under the control of the forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA), after the defeat and expulsion of supporters of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a government military source said on Thursday Jason Lukehart spent most of last weekend glued to scenes of protests from around the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Sunday night, Lukehart, a fourth-grade teacher in Oak Park, Illinois, tapped out a message to his students' parents: He would be holding a special Zoom session first thing Monday to talk about the unrest. He didn't want to supersede any conversations parents were having with their own children; the additional Zoom session was optional. The majority of his young students logged on early at 9 a.m. Lukehart, who is white, said he didn't want to preach. He wanted students to know they could share what was on their minds. "Weve talked about the concept of white privilege and I was able to go back to some of those discussions," Lukehart said. "I want my white students to have the right perspective on this stuff in an age-appropriate way. For my black students, I hope they feel like I care about them." Catalina Martinez, 13, and her mother, Wendy Everett, of St. Paul, hold each other as they gather at a memorial for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Wednesday, May 27. In times of great political and social upheaval, schools often serve as a protected space outside the home for students to wrestle with difficult concepts, guided by an educated professional. But those conversations are hard to have right now. To start, there's a pandemic, and school buildings are closed. It's also the end of the academic term. Not to mention the ongoing hurdle: Many teachers are uncomfortable talking about race and racism, especially racism against black Americans. More teachers and parents can and should talk with children about racial injustice in America, experts say. That includes conversations about police and community relations, and about the long history of white people marginalizing people of color in this country, which planted the roots of economic and racial segregation. "Teachers can be incredibly powerful in teaching young people to engage in these conversations rather than avoid them," said Howard Stevenson, a clinical psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. Story continues What to tell your kids:George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Where do we begin? One major obstacle: 80% of the public-school teachers who would lead those discussions are white, and white people are less likely to habitually talk about race than people of color, studies show. Black teachers, who are more likely to discuss race, make up only about 7% of America's teachers. "White people are less exposed to what to do around race and more likely to be socialized to avoid racial matters and see them as dangerous," Stevenson said. The good news for breaking that cycle: Kids who grow up having more conversations about race with their parents and families are better at navigating situations around race, including speaking up for themselves, studies show. Compared with children who don't ever talk about race, they also tend to perform better on tests of conflict resolution and anger management, Stevenson added. "Racial socialization and literacy is more important than your own racial background," Stevenson said. History class: Runaway-slave games. Sanitized textbooks. Schools do a terrible job teaching about slavery Naming or sidestepping racism On Memorial Day, George Floyd, a black man, stopped breathing after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Since then, major protests over racial injustice and the plight of black and brown communities have sprung up in cities across the U.S. and the world. Tens of thousands of people have taken part in largely peaceful demonstrations, but some gatherings have been punctuated by violent encounters between police and protesters and late-night looting and vandalism. George Floyd protests: How did we get here? Many superintendents and educational organizations were quick to denounce the racism that underscored Floyd's death as well as other recent incidents where black people died at the hands of white citizens or police officers, including Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. "The nations urban public schools offer our full-throated condemnation of this killing and the racism behind it," Michael Casserly, head of the Council of the Great City Schools, said in a statement. "We vow to redouble our efforts to ensure racial justice is at the center of everything we do." Adrianna Campbell, 16, center, raises her fist Monday in Columbus, Ohio, as protests continue following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed while in police custody after allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Schools must be part of the solution because education is key to a path out of poverty, said Austin Beutner, the superintendent of Los Angeles schools the second largest district in the country with more than 600,000 students, about 9% of whom are black. "This tragedy must be more than a topic of conversation at every dinner table, in every board room and government hearing," he said in a statement. "It must serve as a wake-up call to unapologetically and with conviction address the systemic bias and institutional racism which exists in many parts of society." Other district leaders avoided mentioning racism directly in email communications with parents. In Bernards Township School District, a wealthy New Jersey district where just 2% of the district's 5,450 students are black, district officials initially pointed parents toward resources for addressing "frightening news" with their children. After the message raised eyebrows among some parents, a late-night follow-up email Wednesday from the superintendent said the district would examine whether it was doing enough to educate students about racism and social justice. Fewer AP classes, suspended more often: Black students still face racism in suburbs Black educators share important perspectives Outside of Flint, Michigan, Jessyca Mathews teaches English at Carman-Ainsworth High School, with an emphasis on activism and inquiry, plus a unit on protests. Classes finished about two weeks ago, but many of Mathews' former and current students have contacted her independently to discuss what they're feeling. Even if classes were in session, Mathews said, having conversations via videoconference from students' homes would not be ideal. Many parents may not agree with the points of view students want to share, she said. "Over Zoom, it's like a meeting," Mathews said. "They don't need a meeting right now. They need a comfortable place to process what's going on, and to think about what actions they can take." People raise their fists after marching in Flint Township, Michigan, on May 30. Protesters marched to the police department headquarters, where they were met by officers in riot gear before the Genesee County Sheriff agreed to march with them. In normal times, Mathews' classroom is a safe space to have those discussions. She's black and can relate to the lived experience many of her black students are feeling. "Im fortunate to be able to talk about different things that white educators cant," she said. "I also get pushback. Its not easy. Youll have parents come at you, theyll say: 'Thats not to be discussed in the classroom.' Or they'll say: 'That's a political issue.' " It's not, she said. "Me living as a black person is not a political issue," she said. "I respect those white educators who have taken a step to say, 'Before I do anything, I need to listen.' Do your research. Listen to perspectives. Youre going to hear harsh truths that you may not want to embrace." School leaders can encourage discussions about racial injustice by creating a place for black students to share with each other first, and then a space for the larger school community to discuss the issues, said Shaun Harper, a professor and executive director of the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California. "If educators are going to engage each other and students and families around this topic, they must be willing to use words like 'racism,' 'white supremacy' and 'anti-blackness' in those conversations, referring to it as injustice against black people and black communities," Harper said. Riots, violence, looting: Words matter when talking about race and unrest, experts say Minneapolis teachers try to connect with students In Minneapolis, the epicenter of the protests, Southwest High School history teacher Robert Kohnert wrote a message to his 10th graders after the first explosive night. Whatever was happening in their worlds, he said, he was there to support them. And despite any tense moments he may have had with them during the year, he said, he cared about all of them. About 60% of the students who attend Southwest High School are white, and about 40% are students of color. Overall, Minneapolis Public Schools' district enrollment is about 66% students of color. Yet most teachers, about 84%, are white. Adding to the layers of inequity: Many of the most vulnerable students Kohnert and his colleagues work with are black children from disadvantaged households. Some didn't get technology right away to do online classes. For some, food or housing is a concern. Kohnert doesn't even know where all his students have gone. And those students are most likely to experience the protests in profound and personal ways. During the year, Kohnert works hard to make sure students can access versions of history from the viewpoints of non-white authors and historians. Students can choose from textbooks written by indigenous people, by Latinos or by black authors, he said. Then they all can discuss the differences. "I tell them at the beginning that I'm a white male who is going to walk you through U.S. history, but that I'm going to do it in a flawed way," he said. "I don't know what it's like to be a black person, or a woman. The recognition of that sets a certain tone for the dialogue I want them to have." Black youth share their thoughts Whether adults facilitate it or not, young people are talking about race and class issues. In Milwaukee a city five hours south of Minneapolis but similar in its stark racial segregation daily and nightly protests have brought hundreds of youth and adults into the streets. "Police are supposed to protect us, but police have gained a reputation for being feared by a majority of people, especially in the black community," said Emmanuel Komba, a 16-year-old black student at Rufus King International High School in Milwaukee. Komba said his parents wouldn't let him attend the protests because they didn't want him getting hurt. But he said if school was still in session, he would have been talking about it there with students and teachers. Rufus King is an urban school with a diverse population, and issues related to racism are talked about frequently, he said. Emmanuel Komba, 16, poses in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With schools out, Komba talked with other Milwaukee teens about the protests this week during a videoconference with Urban Underground, a youth empowerment organization that helps young people engage in projects that improve the community. Executive Director Sharlen Moore invited each of the teens to share their thoughts while on the call. "Right now, theyre being bombarded with so many different types of messages," Moore said. "We want to get a sense of where they are mentally and emotionally. We want to help them process their thoughts and feelings." For many in Milwaukee, the George Floyd protests bring back memories of Dontre Hamilton, a black man killed by an on-duty white Milwaukee police officer in 2014. Hamilton, who was mentally ill, had been sleeping on a park bench by a popular Starbucks in the middle of downtown. Protests followed his death. The city awarded Hamilton's child a $2.3 million settlement in 2017. Moore said many of the black teens she works with know what it feels like to not be considered a priority. "That sort of rage has been what were seeing across the country," she said. "How long are we going to continue to just be left behind as not thought of as human?" Education coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation does not provide editorial input. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Floyd protest: How kids can process racism with schools closed File Photo A major relief had come for teachers, students and school administrations as the Punjab government provided an extension of another academic session to nearly 2,200 state-affiliated schools in view of the difficulties faced due to coronavirus. Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla has given exemption to these schools for another academic year. Advertisement Vijay Inder SinglaHe said that in view of the situation in Punjab due to Covid-19 epidemic, the schools affiliated to the education department have been given this relief for a short period of time. The Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh approved the proposal. The Education Minister said that all the schools would have to ensure the safety of the students during this increase. However, the number of Associated Schools has been extended till March 31, 2021. Punjab GovernmentBut these schools will have to file an affidavit by December 31, 2020 for necessary infrastructure improvements. Non-functioning schools will be able to continue pre-primary classes for the education of three to six year old children from the next academic year. Advertisement Singla said the issue has been seriously considered by the education department in view of the situation created by the spread of the corona virus. The situation will be reconsidered after December 31, 2020. Schools that do not meet the set criteria will only be allowed to continue pre-primary classes from next semester. Users would usually only transfer a dollar or less as a means to send the abuse The offensive messages were written in the transaction description on the app More than 8,000 customers received rude messages as part of a money transfer Trolls were using the CommBank app to send abusive messages to members Trolls using online banking to send 'horrifying' abusive messages have sparked an investigation that could see Commonwealth Bank refuse transactions. More than 8,000 customers received threatening messages when receiving transfers from another person over a three-month period. The offensive messages were written in the transaction description, with only a dollar or less being transferred in most cases. Catherine Fitzpatrick, the bank's boss for vulnerable customers, said some of the messages had been 'disturbing' - and included domestic violence threats. More than 8,000 Commonwealth Bank customers received threatening messages as part of a money transfer from another person over a three-month period (stock image) 'All genders were sending and receiving these messages, but the nature ranged from fairly innocuous "jokes" using profanities to serious threats and clear references to domestic and family violence,' she said in a statement. 'After noticing disturbing messages in the account of a customer experiencing domestic and family violence, we conducted analysis to better understand the problem. 'We were horrified by both the scale and the nature of what we found.' Commonwealth has brought in a raft of policy changes. Anyone caught harassing others via the CommBank app could have the transaction refused or access to their digital banking service suspended. 'The new acceptable use policy makes it clear that it is unacceptable to use our digital services to stalk, harass or intimidate any person and if we see this we may refuse transactions or close a perpetrator's account entirely,' Ms Fitzpatrick said. 'These changes will ensure that all customers can continue to enjoy the benefits of digital banking in a safe and secure way and represents our first step to address the issue of technology-facilitated abuse.' 'Our customers should always feel safe using digital banking.' India and Australia on Thursday inked a landmark agreement for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support besides firming up six more pacts to further broadbase ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held an online summit. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation. India has already signed similar agreements with the US, France and Singapore. The other pacts will provide for bilateral cooperation in areas of cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology, mining and minerals, military technology, vocational education and water resources management. In the talks, the two sides also deliberated on a host of key issues including dealing with growing threat of terrorism, maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, reform in the World Trade Organisation and ways to deal with the coronavirus crisis. According to a joint statement issued after the Modi-Morrison talks, both sides discussed the issue of taxation of offshore income of Indian firms through the use of the India-Australia Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and sought early resolution of the issue. It said both sides also decided to re-engage on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) while suitably considering earlier bilateral discussions where a mutually agreed way forward can be found. The two countries recognised that terrorism remains a threat to peace and stability in the region and strongly condemned the menace in all its forms and manifestations, stressing that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. The joint statement said both sides support a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism, including by countering violent extremism, preventing radicalisation, disrupting financial support to terrorists and facilitating prosecution of those involved in acts of terror. The two sides also called for early adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). In his opening remarks, Modi also pitched for a coordinated and collaborative approach to come out of the adverse economic and social impact of the epidemic that has infected around 65 lakh people and killed 3.88 lakh globally. He said a process of comprehensive reforms covering almost all areas has been initiated in India as his government viewed the coronavirus crisis as an "opportunity". Referring to the virtual summit, the prime minister termed it "a new model of India-Australia partnership, a new model of conducting business". It was the first time that Modi held a "bilateral" virtual summit with a foreign leader. The prime minister described his talks with Morrison as "an outstanding discussion", covering the entire expanse of ties between the two strategic partners. "Our government has decided to view this crisis as an opportunity. In India, a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all areas. It will soon see results at the ground level," the prime minister said. Modi also conveyed his appreciation to Morrison for taking care of the Indian community in Australia, especially the students during the "difficult time". In his remarks, Morrison complemented Modi for his "constructive and very positive" role including at the G-20 role in pushing for a concerted global approach in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Modi said he believed that it is the "perfect time and perfect opportunity" to further strengthen the relationship between India and Australia. "We have immense possibilities to make our friendship stronger," Modi said, adding: "How our relations become a 'factor of stability' for our region and for the world, how we work together for global good, all these aspects need to be considered." The prime minister said India was committed to expand its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace, noting that it is important not only for the two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world. "The role of our comprehensive strategic partnership will be more important in this period of global epidemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to get out of the economic and social side effects of this epidemic," he said. According to the internet blockade observatory NetBlocks, after Twitter went down all across Pakistan from 10 p.m on May 17 to 1.30 am on May 18, 2020 Pakistan Standard Time, the bulk of reports it received from the country described a loss of access to affected services. Media Matters for Democracy from Pakistan reports the outage and calls upon the government to issue an official statement on the matter, clarifying whether Twitter was blocked and if it was, on what grounds. This incident merits clarity on part of the authorities, and we demand transparency from PTA ... KYODO NEWS - Jun 2, 2020 - 18:53 | World, All, Japan South Korea said Tuesday it will reopen its complaint at the World Trade Organization over Japan's tightened export controls on the country, rebuking Tokyo for not showing willingness to settle their ongoing trade dispute. South Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry had given its Japanese counterpart until the end of May to respond to its calls for withdrawing the export curbs. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi immediately expressed displeasure at the South Korean announcement, saying it was made unilaterally by Seoul. The dispute over the export controls is one of many issues that have bedeviled bilateral ties and one that arose after a series of top court rulings in South Korea that ordered Japanese firms to compensate South Korean plaintiffs over wartime forced labor. In July last year, Japan tightened controls on shipments to South Korea of three key materials that are critical for South Korea's chip and display-panel industries. The following month, Japan removed South Korea from a "white list" of countries that enjoy minimum restrictions on buying goods that can be diverted for military use. Of the July move, Tokyo said the tighter export rules were adopted after discovering "inappropriate" cases of export controls related to South Korea. In September that year, South Korea took the dispute to the WTO, claiming the tightened policies were based on political considerations. But Seoul suspended the process at the world trade body in November, after the two countries agreed to start consultations on export controls. In mid-May, the South Korean ministry said Seoul had addressed all of the concerns raised by Tokyo related to its export controls, and gave Japan until Sunday to decide to withdraw the export curbs and communicate such a decision. The ministry said Tuesday that because no progress was made to solve the dispute, it has decided to reopen the complaint with the WTO. Calling the South Korean announcement regrettable, Motegi told a regular press conference that the two countries had been continuing discussions on the matter. The Japanese minister reiterated that South Korea would need to make improvements to its own export controls for Japan to ease its measures. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 23:52:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A man waits for a COVID-19 test at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 4, 2020. The Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday recorded 672 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 8,840 in the country. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) BAGHDAD, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday recorded 672 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 8,840 in the country. It also said that 15 people died from the coronavirus during the day, eight of them in Baghdad hospitals, bringing the death toll in the country to 271, while 4,338 patients have recovered. The new cases were recorded after 11,960 test kits were used across the country during the past 24 hours, and a total of 272,259 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the ministry statement. Meanwhile, Ryadh Abdul Amir, head of the Health Ministry's Public Health Department, said in a statement that the country's health system could collapse with the continuous increase of COVID-19 infections. "Currently the health system is under control, but there is fear that the increasing numbers of infections could lead to the collapse of the health system, which would not be capable of treating large numbers of infected people," Abdul Amir said. People in some neighborhoods are not abiding by the restriction measures, Abdul Amir said, calling on the citizens to cooperate to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Iraqi authorities imposed a week-long curfew from May 31 to June 6 after a meeting of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The committee ordered the security forces to tighten the health restrictions through preventing all forms of gatherings that could lead to the spread of the virus. China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help fight the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad. Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem After Nawazuddin Siddiquis niece claimed that she was sexually harassed by his brother when she was a child, the actors estranged wife Aaliya has said a lot of shocking facts will be revealed soon. She also claimed that he has been trying to suppress the truth with money. The actor or his family have not responded yet. This is just the beginning. Thanking God for sending so much support already. Lot will be revealed, shocking the world as I am not the only one who suffered in silence. Lets see how much of TRUTH money can buy & who all would they continue to BRIBE, she wrote. This is just the beginning. Thanking God for sending so much support already. Lot will be revealed, shocking the world as I am not the only one who suffered in silence. Let's see how much of TRUTH money can buy & who all would they continue to BRIBE.https://t.co/15swqg4Tv5 AaliyaSiddiqui2020 (@ASiddiqui2020) June 2, 2020 Nawazuddins niece has reportedly filed a sexual harassment complaint at Jamia police station in Delhi, as per reports. She said in an interview that she was inappropriately touched and subjected to violence by the actors brother when she was a child. The victim also claimed that when she told Nawazuddin about the abuse, he did not believe her and said, Chacha hai, aisa kabhi nahi kar sakte (He is your uncle, he cant do this). She has also alleged that her father and the actor have filed false cases to harass her in-laws. Also read | Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya anniversary, 10 times he showed off their love on Instagram: Father said you must marry her Aaliya filed for divorce from Nawazuddin last month, after 11 years of marriage. She has sought sole custody of their two children - daughter Shora and son Yaani. In an earlier interview, Aaliya said that Nawazuddins family mistreating its women is a pattern. She claimed that she was even subjected to domestic violence by his brother. He (Nawaz) had never raised his hands on me, but the shouting and arguments had become unbearable. You could say though that only that was left. Yes, but his family has mentally and physically tortured me a lot. His brother had even hit me. His mother and brothers and sisters-in-law used to stay with us only in Mumbai. So, Ive been bearing a lot for too many years. His first wife had also left him for this reason alone, she said. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON This week is Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week, the perfect time to focus on the many ecological contributions of Virginias forests. Forestland has long been recognized as one of the best land covers for protecting water quality and an important strategy for helping the commonwealth meet the targets of its Chesapeake Bay Watershed Improvement Plan. Furthermore, forests are critical to the nations efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because of their ability to store carbon. A recently released report from the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service (USFS) titled Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals from Forest Land, Woodlands, and Urban Trees in the United States, 1990-2018 noted that carbon removed from the atmosphere and stored in forests, harvested wood and urban trees is equal to more than 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States every year between 1990 and 2018. Virginia ranks fourth among the 48 contiguous states in the amount of carbon being sequestered in its forests behind only Mississippi, Alabama and Oregon. For meeting Virginias water quality and greenhouse gas objectives, trees are indeed the answer. Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque will hold a Friday prayer for first time since March, but only in the presence of the mosque's imams and staff and without the attendance of worshipers, Egypt's top Sunni Muslim institution said. Al-Azhar added that tomorrow's sermon will be delivered by well-known cleric Ahmed Omar Hashem, a member of Al-Azhar's senior scholars, on "Islam in the face of calamities." The sermon will be aired on TV and social media platforms, the statement noted. All congregational prayers have been suspended in Egypt since March as a preventive measure against the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, the weekly prayer was performed at Cairo's Al-Sayyida Nafisa Mosque as the country's endowments ministry decided to resume holding Friday prayers every week at one mosque in the presence of only 20 worshipers. The move comes as a preliminary step before issuing a final say on the gradual reopening of houses of worship. The ministry said last week it will discuss the issue with the health ministry and cabinet's coronavirus committee in the second half of June. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said earlier that the reopening of mosques and churches will be considered after mid-June. Egypt has started to ease some restrictive coronavirus measures as the country learns to live with the pandemic. Search Keywords: Short link: Orolia Delivers its First Low SWaP-C Miniaturized Rubidium Oscillator NEUCHATEL, Switzerland, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Orolia, the world leader in Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions and space-based atomic clocks, has introduced a breakthrough low SWaP-C Miniaturized Rubidium Oscillator, the Spectratime mRO-50, to meet the latest commercial, military and aerospace requirements where time stability and power consumption are critical. The Spectratime mRO-50 provides a one-day holdover below 1s and a retrace below 1 x 10-10 in a form factor (50.8x50.8x19.5mm) that takes up only 51 cc of volume (about one-third of volume compared to standard rubidiums) and consumes only 0.45W of power, about ten times less than existing solutions with similar capabilities. With these competitive advantages, the Spectratime mRO-50 Miniaturized Rubidium Oscillator provides accurate frequency and precise time synchronization to mobile applications, such as military radio-pack systems in GNSS-denied environments. Its operating temperature of-10C to 60C (military version extended to -40C to 75C) is also ideal for UAVs and underwater applications. Orolia is the world leader in space-based atomic clocks and an industry leader in high-end crystal, rubidium, hydrogen maser and integrated GPS/GNSS clocks. The company also provides testing instruments for space missions that rely on high precision atomic clock technology. Orolia's Atomic Clocks team received the 2019 PTTI Distinguished Service Award in January 2020 for advancing the state-of-the-art in high stability atomic clocks and producing the only space-based passive H-maser in the world, operating on all Galileo satellites. Spectratime mRO-50 is the latest technology solution from this award-winning team. "Through Orolia's continuous commitment to innovation, we are proud to offer our customers more precise PNT data in a cutting-edge, lightweight form factor for mobile missions," said Orolia's Atomic Clocks Product Line Director, Jean-Charles Chen. Learn more about Spectratime mRO-50 and specifically our worldwide patented product. For Spectratime mRO-50 product details, applications and technical information, please attend our Microwave Journal Webinar on June 15, 2020. Register here. About Orolia Orolia is the world leader in Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions that improve the reliability, performance and safety of critical, remote or high-risk operations, even in GPS-denied environments. With a presence in more than 100 countries, Orolia provides virtually fail-safe GPS/GNSS and PNT solutions for military and commercial applications worldwide. www.orolia.com Orolia Press Contact: Sophie Zangs Telephone +33 (0) 6 07 42 39 33 Email sophie.zangs@orolia.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/840852/Orolia_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.orolia.com SOURCE Orolia Sita, the global IT provider to the air transport industry, has made several changes to its executive management team responsible for its product portfolios. These appointments come at crucial juncture as the air transport industry begins the difficult task of restarting operations after a lengthy shutdown due to the Covid-19 crisis. David Lavorel, previously CEO of Sita for Aircraft, has been appointed to head Sita at Airports and Borders, Sitas airport and border solution portfolio. A key focus in 2020 will be to support Sitas airline and airport customers to implement smart solutions to accommodate new passenger processes required to ensure the health and safety of travellers and employees. Sita is well placed to support the re-engineering of the passenger journey and to manage rapidly changing requirements at the border with the delivery of new solutions such as Sitas cloud-based, open API platform, Sita Flex. David will replace Matthys Serfontein, who will be retiring from Sita after 13 years. Sebastien Fabre, previously Vice President Airline & Airports Portfolio, will replace David to head Sita for Aircraft. As airlines globally begin to resume flights, they will increasingly turn to Sita for Aircraft to deliver new operational efficiencies such as faster turnarounds while extracting the full benefit of modern connected aircraft. Barbara Dalibard, CEO, Sita, said: Ensuring strong leadership of our key business areas is especially important as we look to support the industry as it begins to return to the skies. After more than a decade proving themselves highly capable of driving innovation while ensuring continued customer satisfaction, Sebastien and David are perfectly placed to steer the business through the new challenges and deliver solutions that help support the industrys recovery. - TradeArabia News Service He has taken to social media in recent days to voice his opposition to US President Donald Trump. And on Wednesday Brian Austin Green appeared to be enjoying a casual day when he was spotted while out on a shopping run in the Calabasas neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Beverly Hills, 90210 star, 46, was by himself during the quick afternoon jaunt, some two weeks after he confirmed his split from wife Megan Fox after 10 years of marriage. On the go: Brian Austin Green, 46, was spotted out on a shopping run in the Calabasas neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday The Los Angeles native kept it casual in the fashion department in gray draw-string cargo pants and a NASA t-shirt that showed off his assortment of tattoos on both arms. He also wore black sneakers and a black beanie cap as he carried his phone, a bag of food and a cup of coffee on what turned out to be another warm and sunny Southern California day. In keeping up with COVID-19 requirements, the actor wore a a protective mask during his time shopping, but once he got outside he pulled it off his nose and mouth allowing it to hang around his neck. Easy does it: The actor kept it casual in the fashion department in cargo pants, a NASA t-shirt, along with and a protective mask amid the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic One day earlier, Green took to social media to promote SMAG hats, which are a spin on President Trump's red and white MAGA hats. 'Coming soon :)) Dark grey hat with purple writing shop.withBAGpod.com 'someone make America great', he wrote in the caption. SMAG stands for 'Someone Make America Great', while the President's 2016 campaign slogan is an acronym for 'Make America Great Again.' The MAGA phrase has been a rallying cry for many Trump supporters, but some critics of the President maintain the slogan and the trademark red hats that feature it also have a racist connotation. Not a Trump voter: The Beverly Hills, 90210 star took to Instagram on Tuesday to promote SMAG (Someone Make America Great) hats, which is a spin on President Donald Trump's MAGA (Make America Great Again) Taking a stand: Green also took a subtle jab at President Trump for his controversial church photo op near the White House on Monday Green also took a subtle jab at President Trump for his controversial church photo op near the White House on Monday. The actor shared a photo showing the Commander-In-Chief walking past a building that had profanity spray-painted all over the walls, with some of four-letter vitriol directed at the President. 'Pulitzer,' Green wrote, which was likely a reference to the harsh words. The Trump Administration has faced harsh criticism for the photo op for using federal law enforcement officials to forcibly remove peaceful protestors from Lafayette Park to clear a path so Mr. Trump could walk through the park and stand in front of the church and hold up a bible. The protest was one of many that have emerged in the wake of the killing of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer as three other officers looked on. Three priests from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield have been temporarily removed from public ministry as a result of an allegation of sexual abuse, according to Jeffrey J. Trant, director of the diocesan Office of Safe Environment and Victim Assistance. The priests were not identified. Trant, who was appointed to his position last June, said that 14 new alleged victims have come forward with claims of clerical sexual abuse since July 2019. Ten alleged sexual abuse against a minor/child and four alleged sexual abuse against a vulnerable adult, he said. The diocese defines vulnerable adults as those who are uniquely vulnerable to abuse because of physical or mental disabilities. Four reports, Trant said, were for allegations against independent religious orders and two reports were for allegations of sexual abuse by a cleric from another diocese. Four allegations were made against living priests from the diocese, of which one allegation did not name the identity of the alleged abusers, but it was reported that there were two priests, one of which was from the Diocese of Springfield who had previously been removed from ministry due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse, and the other from another diocese, Trant said. He added, Two allegations were made against living priests from independent religious orders, and one allegation was against a living priest from another diocese. He said new allegations were made against both someone new who is living, as well as someone deceased. The diocese recently clarified and entered into an agreement with law enforcement in which allegations it receives are referred first for investigation to the appropriate district attorneys office, but Trant said the diocese continues as part of its intake process to offer at the time the report is made the alleged victim counseling while the matter is being reviewed by law enforcement and, later, the Diocesan Review Board. He said there have been four new people in the dioceses counseling program within the last 12 months and that 27 victim-survivors participated in the program during that time. Asked if the new team of investigators hired in February to look into allegations of clerical sexual abuse for the diocese had been assigned cases, Trant said, As of June 1, 2020, there are six allegations of clergy sexual abuse that have been reported to law enforcement and have been cleared for diocesan investigators. There is one case of alleged clergy sexual abuse that will be heard by the Review Board at the June meeting, said Trant, adding there were ongoing negotiations involving monetary settlements with victims. Besides appointing Trant, who holds a masters degree in social work from Boston College, and entering into a Memo of Understanding with the district attorneys for the four western counties, Bishop Mitchell Rozanski last June appointed retired Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct made against the late Bishop Christopher J. Weldon dating back to the early 1960s. Last June, after meeting with a man who said he was sexually abused by Weldon decades ago, Rozanski filed an initial report of that accusation with the Hampden Country District Attorneys Office. Trant has said the Veliss investigation will also help identify opportunities for improvement in how the diocese handles allegations of clerical sexual abuse. When the diocese receives a report against a living person in ministry than the person is removed at the point temporarily from ministry and the allegation reported to the appropriate district attorney, Trant said. Allegations made to the Springfield Diocese about a member of the clergy from an independent religious order are reported by his office directly to the appropriate district attorney, and the diocese also notifies the independent religious order, Trant said. Allegations that are made to the diocese about a member of the clergy from another diocese are reported to that diocese, Trant said, with his office working with the other diocese to verify the allegation has been reported to law enforcement. Last week, Rozanski announced the members of an independent task force he has created to advise the diocese on child protection and clerical sexual abuse and the adoption of any recommendations from the Velis report that the diocese said is expected to be finalized and release soon. In February 2019, the diocese released a report that showed that to that date the Springfield diocese has paid out nearly $15 million in settling 147 clergy sexual abuse claims since 1992. A Pennsylvania report released in August 2018 revealed that 300 priests in six dioceses there had sexually abused 1,000 children over seven decades and that the cases were covered up by church hierarchy. The Springfield Diocese has had several high profile cases. The first U.S. bishop said to be indicted on the specific charge of child sex abuse was Springfield Bishop Thomas Dupre. Indicted on charges that he raped two boys in the 1970s, Dupre, who resigned suddenly in 2004 shortly before his indictment, was never prosecuted because of the statute of limitations and died bishop emeritus in 2016 at the age of 83. The Springfield diocese did settle with two men who named Dupre as their abuser. In 2003, the Vatican removed from ministry Richard Lavigne, a diocesan priest who pleaded guilty in 1992 to two counts of molestation of a minor and was given a 10-year probation sentence. Lavigne was also the only publicly identified suspect in the 1972 murder of Springfield altar boy Daniel Croteau. That slaying remains unsolved. In 2018, 15 reported cases of clergy sexual abuse were made to the diocese, the highest number since since 52 claims were made in 2004. The diocese publishes on its website a list of diocesan priests and deacons who have had one or more allegations of sexual abuse of a child made against them while they were living and determined to be credible by the diocesan review board. Due to the non-seating of grand juries and courts limited capacities because of COVID-19, Mark Patterson will wait until Nov. 12 for his preliminary hearing for alleged wire fraud. Patterson, 51, of Gladwin, is out on bond for the felony charge. Patterson worked as a tax preparer for Schuster Tax Service, 115 Park Lane in Beaverton, and allegedly diverted more than $400,000 from clients refunds. According to U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider in a press release, in February 2020, Jennifer Schuster Semer, owner of the tax service, informed authorities that Patterson reportedly stole various portions of clients tax refunds. Directing the refunds to bank accounts he controlled between 2015 to 2020. Semer reported he covered his tracks by giving the clients unfiled versions of returns, indicating smaller refund amounts. Investigating tax refund fraud is a top priority for IRS Criminal Investigation, said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Sarah Kull. Stealing client tax refunds is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers and IRS-CI works tirelessly to hold those that commit refund fraud accountable for their actions. Semer, who was not available for comment, told authorities about 120 clients had refunds electronically diverted to accounts controlled by Patterson, which she said totaled over $400,000. If convicted, Patterson could face 20 years in federal prison. United States Magistrate Judge Patricia Morris of the United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan recently ruled the government must return an indictment in the case by Nov. 12. 04 June 2020 Type Media Article Included in the crops update this week is the impact of the drought on crops, grass weeds in tillage crops, and blight control in potatoes Drought Impact on Crops The effect of the current drought on winter and spring crops, mostly on the eastern side of the country, is likely to similar to that experienced in 2018. Crops in the south are more promising but still need more rain to fulfil their potential. Some of the most severe impacts of the drought include Earlier harvest with reduced yields, higher screenings lower straw yields reduced incomes high value crops are being irrigated where possible, although water shortages are being experienced already in some parts. Possible crop impacts of the drought. Decisions on fungicides that still have to be applied to crops should be based on the disease pressure and the potential yield. Many crops will not justify spending any more money. justify spending any more money. Harvest is likely to be 2 weeks earlier than normal in many areas so preparations by farmers and grain intakes would need to take this into account. Unlike 2018 the drought currently being experienced in Ireland and the UK seems unlikely at this stage to impact greatly on the market prices for grains. National grain yields are going to be significantly reduced with the overall grain harvest below 2 million tonnes. Lower yields and higher screenings may cause some premium crops to struggle to make minimum specifications e.g. malting barley Straw yields are going to be significantly to be lower than 2019 so this may result in increased demand and possibly higher prices. Earlier harvest may allow earlier planting of catch crops, there is likely to be good growth in these crops, where adequate moisture is available, so there is the potential for these to be grazed where this is an option. The earlier harvest should facilitate the planting of winter oilseed rape crops. Incomes from the harvest are likely to be significantly lower in 2020 so many growers may need to talk to their banks regarding credit facilities. Grass weeds in tillage crops Many grass weed species are heading out now or are actually flowering so this is a good chance to identify and assess the problem on farms. Different grass weeds will have different management strategies so accurately identifying the species is critical to controlling the weed in the future. Once the grass weed has been identified then and only then can a management strategy be put in place. All control measures need to be adopted including both cultural and chemical methods. The first method of control is preventing seed return, where possible rogueing of the weeds should be carried out. If this is not possible for weeds such as blackgrass then crops should be desiccated to prevent seed return. Blackgrass seeds become viable early in June so prompt action is necessary where there is a problem. In the video below, Jimmy Staples discusses preventing seed return as part of an IPM approach to controlling grass weeds. For many grass weeds action is needed now as when they have flowered they will have viable seeds which will be returned to the seed bank if they are left untouched. Grass weed survey The Teagasc-led Enable Conservation Tillage (ECT) has launched an important online survey to assess growers awareness of herbicide-resistant weeds as well as adoption of resistance management strategies. The survey will answer the following questions: What weed species do growers find problematic or difficult to control on their farm? Do growers perceive weed resistance as an increasing issue on their farm? Have growers already applied measures to reduce weed resistance build-up? What do growers plan for the future to manage weed resistance? The outcome will increase researchers/advisors understanding of growers concerns about resistance problems, and also develop tailor-made weed management programme and knowledge transfer activities. Blight control in potatoes While the current drought is keeping blight at bay when the weather does eventually break crops will need to be protected. In the below video, Dr. Steven Kildea discusses how to control blight in potatoes and also the new EU 37 A2 strain and its possible implications to blight control strategies. Many crops are being irrigated at the moment due to the drought but also for control of common scab. There have been a number of questions as to the obligation of growers to register extraction points this year, under the EU Water Framework Directive anyone who extracts more than 25 cubic meters of water per day must register the extraction point. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government have set up a website https://www.edenireland.ie/ for growers to register their intention to extract water. The Tillage Edge - Podcast On the Teagasc Tillage Edge podcast this week Michael Hennessy was joined by Eoin Lyons, Teagasc Boortmalt Joint Program advisor who chatted about the current drought effects on spring barley and the final crop management decisions. Eoin told the Tillage Edge there is quite a difference in crops across the south east region where he works. South Wexford has quite good crops whereas the further north (probably from Bunclody) crops are poorer with some very disappointing crops evident now. The past couple of weeks dry and very warm weather were particularly hard on these spring crops. Eoin pointed out there is very little disease but growers should assess crop potential. Where potential is good a normal fungicide program is advised but where yields are likely to be low then reducing fungicides costs is the prudent thing to do. Eoin also pointed out that growers should examine fields in the coming weeks for grass weeds like wild oats and canary grass and hand rogue where possible. If this is not possible then crop burn off may be the most prudent control. In all cases drawing any infected patches on a map for reference is essential. Virtual crop walk Teagasc held a virtual crop on Thursday 28th May with reports of spring crops from around the country. There was a wide range of crops discussed some with good yield potential and others with poor potential. We also discussed grass weed control on tillage farms. Gov. Tom Wolf is announcing a series of reforms aimed at law enforcement in the wake of protests and calls for racial justice across Pennsylvania. The Wolf administration released the reforms as the governor held a press conference Thursday afternoon to outline his plans. Today, I am taking steps to address concerns about community relations with law enforcement as well as strengthen accountability of our agencies, Wolf said in a statement. This effort will commence immediately. The reforms calls for reviewing use of force training standards for police at all levels, the Wolf administration said. Hes also creating an advisory commission to investigate allegations of misconduct involving police under the governors jurisdiction. And hes proposing more mental health support for police. In addition, Wolf is creating a panel to examine racial and ethnic disparities at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Wolf noted that he has worked with lawmakers on criminal justice reform efforts in recent years and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have supported those efforts. Hes banking on similar support for these reforms. He also pledged to address issues of a lack of equality facing people of color. The governor said, "we need to address the looming, systemic failings that have created this situation. The Wolf administration said many of the reforms are based on the 21st Century Policing Task Force, created in 2015 under President Barack Obama after the death of a black teen in Ferguson, Mo. The governors meetings with local leaders in Harrisburg and Philadelphia have informed the proposals, the Wolf administration said in the release. Reforms The Wolf administration said in a press release the governor was proposing several initiatives. Reviewing training and education of police All training academies for law enforcement must review current use of force training standards for law enforcement and form a workgroup to develop model training standards to ensure that all officers receive the best instruction in their interactions with the public. Departments should be striving to obtain state and or national accreditation. Accreditation is a key component in assisting departments in evaluation and improvement of their standards and practices. Citizen advisory boards The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency would offer technical assistance to communities to create local citizen advisory boards. Wolf said hed like to see these across the state, even in small communities. Creating a Deputy Inspector General within the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General (OSIG). This position will be focused on deterring, detecting, preventing, and eradicating fraud, waste, misconduct, and abuse amongst law enforcement agencies under the Governors jurisdiction. Creation of a Pennsylvania State Law Enforcement Advisory Commission. This panel would review allegations of misconduct by law enforcement personnel under the governors jurisdiction. Creation of a racial and ethnic disparities subcommittee This panel would be formed under the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Enhancing officer safety and wellness The governor wants to strengthen mental health initiatives and offer support for officers to deal with trauma. The administration wants to reduce the stigma for getting help. Supporting legislative reforms The governor will work with lawmakers on legislation in several areas. He aims to work on bills that would improve access to police videos; create an oversight board for officer training and continuing education; appointing a special prosecutor in deadly assault cases; interdepartmental law enforcement hiring reform; and PTSD evaluation for police officers. Protests have emerged across Pennsylvania - and around the nation - as outrage has grown over the death of Floyd in police custody. Floyd was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. He died after an officer was captured on video kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes. The Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Reactions The Pennsylvania chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement Floyds death, while tragic, shouldnt define all of law enforcement. The Pennsylvania FOP represents 40,000 members of law enforcement. The PA FOP is fully aware that this incident in Minneapolis has diminished the trust and respect that many in our communities have for the men and women of law enforcement, the group said in a statement. We are firmly committed to working with stakeholders to create an environment of healing, understanding and trust. David Kennedy, president of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, criticized the governors remarks. In a statement, he denounced what he described as an attack on all of law enforcement. What happened to George Floyd was horrific and wrong," Kennedy said in a statement. There isnt a single state trooper who disagrees. But what Gov. Wolf is saying today is the Pennsylvania State Police, and all law enforcement in our commonwealth, are no better than those charged with Mr. Floyds death. This was clear when he ignored his own order and marched in Harrisburg this week during a pandemic with people holding signs that read, Blue Lives Murder. More from PennLive Hundreds march in Harrisburg rally; shouting interrupts speeches from governor, mayor, police commissioner Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf joins Wednesdays rally, march against injustice, gun violence in Harrisburg Carlisle rally speakers urge racial unity, solid action in wake of George Floyds death by Bernardo Cervellera After 31 years, information control, censorship, expulsion of dissidents, prison, physical and psychological torture, executions and deaths have been unable to stifle the demands of those students and workers of Tiananmen Square: democracy and an end to corruption. The West is indebted to the horror of Tiananmen: the screams, the tears, the blood of the young people killed by the people's army have become the holocaust that has exorcised violence and repression in Europe, at the fall of the Wall. And following this massacre, the West has benefitted from the low-cost labor served on the plate of globalization to the cost of the millions. Calls for full democracy for China and Hong Kong. Rome (AsiaNews) - For 31 years, the Chinese Communist Party has been using the most sophisticated and cruel weapons to erase all trace and memory of the massacre that took place in Tiananmen Square on the night between June 3 and 4 1989. However, the controlled information, censorship, expulsion of dissidents, prison, physical and psychological torture, executions and deaths have been unable to stifle or destroy the demands of students and workers of the time, which are still relevant today: democracy and an end to corruption. The fight against corruption has been challenged by the Party and Xi, who made it a weapon of his domination to target all of his political enemies. Democracy has been branded as Western pollution, foreign to Chinese culture. In an attempt to save the one-party dictatorship, Xi decreed that "Western values" should not be studied in Chinese universities. Even in national Catholic seminaries, the Church's social doctrine is obviously censored, with the passages relating to human dignity, family, civil society, subsidiarity, democracy all removed. Yet democracy entered China with the advent of modernity, supported by the May 4 Movement that wanted to end the falling imperial culture. Post-empire China, despite all its approximations, is marked by democracy. This initial experience was aborted with the advent of Mao Zedong, who imposed the Chinese Communist Party empire, while claiming the legacy of the May 4th Movement. The naive demands of the Tiananmen students were prepared by countless Chinese scholars and academics who, in dialogue with the West, revisiting their history, remembering the massacres of Maoism, wanted to shape a modern China that Mao had once again rolled back to a pre-modern level. After the Tiananmen massacre, there were attempts in the 1990s to found a democratic party, whose advocates were all arrested and sentenced to years of imprisonment. In the 2000s, intellectuals and dissidents created the luminous proposal for Charter 08. They included the great Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, who was left to die of cancer in prison. Even in these months of the pandemic, after the Party's silences and complaints about the spread of the virus, the need for democracy has emerged, demanded loudly by doctors, intellectuals, academics and activists. As a result of Beijings silence, Covid-19 and its trail of death spread throughout the world: demonstrating that democracy in China would save the lives of the Chinese and the international community. Yet, right in the West there are lackluster politicians and jaded preachers, who say that democracy is not good for China: it is too large a country (as if India were a Principality of Monaco!); authoritarianism pays in economic and security terms (but not with Covid-19); Chinese culture is different from Western culture (as if the Chinese were a disabled community). On the other hand, the West is the one that has gained the most from Tiananmen. I am convinced that if the fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989) and of the other communist walls in Europe took place in a non-violent way, likened to "velvet" revolutions, this is due to the horror that was created in the world with the massacre of Tiananmen (June 4, 1989): the screams, the tears, the blood of the young people killed by the people's army became the holocaust that exorcised violence and repressions in Europe. The economic modernizations desired by Deng Xiaoping in the 1990s were aimed at making the Chinese wealthy and, in the name of well-being, make them forget Tiananmen. Here too, the West has benefitted: China became the worlds factory and the West has been able to exploit the cheap labor that was served up on the plate of globalization in their millions. Now that China has become a very attractive market and its middle class the target of every company, the West has become very shy about human rights and in unison with Xi Jinping proclaims the good of economic globalization, but in which dialogue between cultures - and therefore democracy and human dignity - is excluded. But if this does not happen, then globalization only serves to enslave the Chinese people, just as Xi Jinping and his Party are doing, intoxicating them with nationalism, but condemning them to the chains of rampant economic development without rights. The West, despite being indebted to Tiananmen, has forgotten it just as the Chinese find themselves in a new season of demands for democracy and an end to corruption. The battle that Hong Kong is offering in recent months on this line: full democracy, an end to corruption and violence of the government and law enforcement. The security law against "subversion, secession, terrorism and collaboration with foreign forces" serves to exclude that, the "virus" of democracy also spreads from Hong Kong to the continent, rekindling fires already lit. If the West, at least out of gratitude, wants to remember Tiananmen, it must ask Beijing for transparency on the number of those who died crushed beneath the tanks then and under the coronavirus now; and it must find ways to guarantee full democracy in Hong Kong. Egypts sovereign fund has placed 43rd among the 93 sovereign wealth funds globally in terms of asset size, in a set of rankings created by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI). It is the first time that the institute had included Egypts fund, which was established in 2018, on the list. Egypts fund has total assets worth $11.959 billion, accounting for 0.14 percent of the total assets managed by all sovereign wealth funds globally. According to SWFI data, the total global assets of the 93 sovereign funds are worth $8,229 trillion. The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) was established in accordance with Law 177 of 2018 with the aim of attracting private investments to Egypt and promoting and co-investing in state-owned assets to maximise their value and efficiency, and to create jobs. The fund is independently managed by senior executives from the private sector. It seeks to select investable assets from public stakeholders to promote and co-invest in alongside local and foreign specialised and financial partners. Executive Director Ayman Soliman said last month that the fund 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. Soliman was speaking at a virtual panel organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). He said 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 over the medium and long term. In the current phase, he 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. Over the long term, Soliman said that the wealth fund will also focus on enhancing strategic regional and international partnerships and exploring commercial investment opportunities abroad. Search Keywords: Short link: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called George Floyd's killing "brutal" and criticised President Donald Trump for posing for photos while holding a Bible. Rouhani in a televised speech said Floyd "was killed in the most brutal way". "We express sympathy toward the American people who are on the streets while harshly condemning the crime," he said, referring to Floyd's death after a white police officer was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyd's neck. Rouhani also made reference to the clearing of peaceful protesters from a park outside the White House with chemical agents and flash bang grenades so that Trump could walk to a church for a photo opportunity. "It is a shame that the president stands with a Bible when he plans to act against his people," Rouhni said. Iranian officials regularly take advantage of protests in the US to criticise the administration, even though Iran itself in November put down nationwide demonstrations by killing hundreds, arresting thousands and disrupting internet access. State television has repeatedly aired images of the US unrest. TDT | Manama A Bahrain resident who had a part of his skull removed in an emergency surgical operation may need to fly the bone to India, where he is currently located, to be able to have another critical procedure performed. Indian national Kapli Kandiyil Rajesh, 41, had a part of his skull removed in a decompressive craniectomy, a brain surgery, performed last December at King Hamad University Hospital (KHUH) after suffering a severe stroke which left him partially paralysed. Following the procedure, Rajesh flew to the southern Indian city of Kozhikode in February for further treatment and physiotherapy. He was meant to return to Bahrain last week and have the removed part of his skull reattached through a cranioplasty. But due to Indias nation-wide lockdown and international travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he has been unable to fly back to Bahrain. Rajeshs doctors and his family are now considering their options so that he may have his necessary procedure. Among them is flying the removed part of his skull to India, where he can have the cranioplasty. The part of his skull that was removed, which is approximately five centimetres in diameter, must be flown to India in a special container under minus 40-degree Celsius temperature, Salmaniya Medical Complex chief resident Dr. P V Cheriyan told TDT. It is currently being stored at KHUH under special environmental conditions to prevent contamination. Dr. Cheriyan spoke to TDT about this unique medical case after his detailed discussions with Rajeshs neurosurgeon in Bahrain. Sending the bone to India is very risky since it can get infected and cause an infection in the patients brain, Dr. Cheriyan said. He added that repatriating the bone could be very expensive and can involve arduous legal procedures. Dr. Cheriyan noted that for Rajesh to undergo the cranioplasty in an Indian neurosurgery hospital, he will have to cover the open part of his skull with artificial materials like titanium or a methyl methocrolate mesh, which is equally effective. But this procedure too would be very expensive, he added. Dr. Cheriyan said that the safest option for the cranioplasty would be for Rajesh to wait until he can travel back to Bahrain. Rajesh had been working as an accountant with a real estate agency in Bahrain, but since his unfortunate incident, his family has been under financial stress. They could not transport the part of his skull along with them to India because it would have cost around BD5,000. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Without the ability to gather in person and memorialize the lives of loved ones who have passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic -- nearly 1,000 of our fellow Staten Islanders have succumbed to the disease -- individuals have had to find new ways to grieve. To help with the communal grieving process, clergy from houses of worship across Staten Island, representing diverse religious backgrounds and spiritual philosophies, will offer prayers and words of comfort to the community at a virtual event on Thursday, June 11 at 7 p.m. Bishop John Jay OHara, Episcopal Vicar of Staten Island, will begin the virtual memorial and service. "As Staten Island nears the horrific milestone of a thousand of our residents who have died from COVID-19, it is appropriate to remember the lives taken and to discuss the role of faith in addressing the inequities that have laid the burden of this pandemic on some communities more than others," said Rabbi Michael Howald of Temple Israel Reform Congregation, Randall Manor. Howald will be among the prominent Staten Island faith leaders to offer prayers and perspective during the evening. Many of those scheduled to speak have lost members of their faith communities to COVID-19. Religious leaders to take part in the virtual vigil also include Rev. Maggie Howard of the Stapleton U.A.M.E. Episcopal Church, Rev. Bill Baker of the Church of the Ascension, Imam Tahir Kukaj of the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, Imam Zulqarnain Bait-ul Jamaat (House of Community) Inc., Islamic chaplain at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze. Healthcare leaders will also join the vigil to share their learning, experience and empathy for families. For further information, contact Rev. Karen Jackson, who will also be sharing words of comfort at the vigil at 917-859-4535 or kjackson@projecthospitality.org. The Staten Island Remembers Memorial Vigil will be live-streamed on YouTube and can be accessed at this link on that day and time. By ANI NEW DELHI: In an attempt to bring the nation together in the fight against COVID-19, actor Bhumi Pednekar on Thursday launched an anti-spitting campaign that aims at educating people. Posting a video of herself on Instagram, the 'Pati Patni Aur Woh' actor launched the spit-free India campaign and urged others to join. "We have to defeat Coronavirus and everyone has to join hands! Leave the habit of spitting. We have to save the country! Currently, our country is under the threat of Corona and the fatal disease spreads even by spitting!" she said. Pednekar who is also known for 'Climate Warrior' initiative aimed at the conservation of the environment further said, " the way we all have come together to get associated with the Toilet campaign and pledged to make the country clean! Similarly, let's pledge to make the country Corona free, by avoiding to spit here and there." "Do your bit, do not spit. Let's come together and join the spit-free India movement," she added. She further added the link to the campaign in her caption and urged her followers to join. "I have joined the Spit Free India Movement for a healthier & cleaner India. You should too...@pleg4life #spitfreeindia #pledgeforlife #covid19," she wrote in the caption. Pednekar has been roped in by an NGO as the face of spit free India campaign. [June 04, 2020] The Pomp and Circumstance Will Continue: Destinations Career Academy of Oregon and Insight School of Oregon-Painted Hills Will Celebrate 2020 Graduates with Online Commencement Ceremony Destinations Career Academy of Oregon (ORDCA) and Insight School of Oregon-Painted Hills (ISOR-PH), two online public school serving students in grades 9-12 and 7-12 respectively throughout the state for the last several years, will cap off their school year by celebrating the Class of 2020 in a combined online commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 6 at 3:00 p.m. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005009/en/ This year, ORDCA, an online school dedicated to providing students with career-focused classes, and ISOR-PH, a school focused on rebuilding strong academic foundations, will graduate over 70 students with 5 students graduating with Career and Readiness Education (CRE) distinctions. Collectively, the school reports having students that plan to attend college, enroll in trade school, join the military or take time to travel. "We all know that school has changed dramatially because of the coronavirus, and it's been a very challenging year for all Oregon students," said ORDCA and ISOR-PH Head of School Sonimar Villegas. "Normally, we look forward to giving our online students an in-person graduation, but, given the times, we are excited for the opportunity to do what's right and celebrate with them online." ORDCA is proud to have a student speaking at the ceremony about her experience at the school. Shanna Lindh will be graduating with a 3.88 GPA and is second in her class. Shanna will attend Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay with a focus in accounting and bookkeeping. Sonimar and Shanna are available for media inquiries. Students enroll in virtual school for a number of reasons, including those looking for a safer learning environment free from bullying, those looking to get back on track academically, or those looking for an alternative to the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom setting. ORDCA and ISOR-PH students access a robust online curriculum in the core subjects and a host of electives and attend live virtual classes every day taught by state-certified teachers. WHAT: ORDCA & ISOR-PH 2020 Graduation Ceremony WHEN: Saturday, June 6, 2020, 3:00 PM CONTACT: For any questions, please contact Sonimar Villegas at 541-480-8927. About Destinations Career Academy of Oregon Destinations Career Academy of Oregon (ORDCA) is a full-time online public charter school authorized by Mitchell School District that serves students in grades 9-12 statewide. As part of the Oregon public school system, ORDCA is tuition-free, and provides families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ORDCA, visit http://ordca.k12.com. About Insight School of Oregon-Painted Hills Insight School of Oregon-Painted Hills (ISOR-PH) is a full-time online public charter school serving Oregon students in grades 7-12. As part of the Oregon public school system, ISOR-PH is tuition-free, and gives parents and families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ISOR-PH, visit or-ph.insightschools.net. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005009/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 4 1 of 4 Emergency medicine physician Dr. Cotton Widdicombe puts on full personal protective equipment before entering further into the Triage Tent used to treat emergency room visitors who aren't experiencing Emergency medicine physician Dr. Cotton Widdicombe puts on full personal protective equipment before entering further into the Triage Tent used to treat emergency room visitors who aren't experiencing respiratory problems in order to promote social distancing at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif. Friday, May 1, 2020. As ER and ICU doctors gain a better understanding of previously unknown COVID-19 complications, such as blood clots, they are changing the way they care for patients. Doctors are now giving many patients blood thinners in light of emerging evidence that many are developing small and large blood clots that cause strokes. They're also finding that CPAP machines often work better to help patients breathe than ventilators, which were once thought to be a standard course of treatment for patients struggling to breathe. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Two respiratory therapists (no names given) wheel a CPAP machine with a modified viral filter through the emergency department at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif. Friday, May 1, 2020. As ER and ICU Two respiratory therapists (no names given) wheel a CPAP machine with a modified viral filter through the emergency department at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif. Friday, May 1, 2020. As ER and ICU doctors gain a better understanding of previously unknown COVID-19 complications, such as blood clots, they are changing the way they care for patients. Doctors are now giving many patients blood thinners in light of emerging evidence that many are developing small and large blood clots that cause strokes. They're also finding that CPAP machines often work better to help patients breathe than ventilators, which were once thought to be a standard course of treatment for patients struggling to breathe. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Nurse Cho Lee sanitizes her hands before checking on a patient on the Covid-19 floor at Saint Francis Hospital in San Francisco on Monday, April 6, 2020. Photos By Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Supervising nurse Regina Truong talks on the phone on the Covid-19 floor that was recently opened at Saint Francis Hospital in San Francisco on Monday, April 6, 2020. Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle California hospital revenue plummeted by more than a third in the first four months of the pandemic as costs to care for coronavirus patients rose, a shocking financial blow that threatens to raise health care prices, according to a recent report. The report, published Wednesday by the California Health Care Foundation, said hospital revenue fell by a cumulative $13 billion from March to June a 37% reduction from pre-coronavirus levels as state and local shelter-in-place orders nearly eliminated surgeries and halved emergency room visits. Even with some patients now returning to hospitals as restrictions ease, dire financial losses persist. Its a huge shock, said Glenn Melnick, a professor of health care finance and public policy at the University of Southern California who co-authored the report. Basically, the bottom dropped out overnight. Melnick said hes especially concerned about losses for public hospitals serving low-income and uninsured communities: The bigger worry is can they survive the immediate impact, stay in business, so that when the dust settles ... are they still there? The report, based on state data and interviews with officials at around 10 unnamed acute care hospitals, projected that beyond immediate financial losses, the states economic recession could reshape health care as jobless Californians lose employer-sponsored coverage and shift to either Medi-Cal or stay uninsured, which means less reimbursement for hospitals. Providers losing revenue could turn to insurance companies for higher payments, which might raise premiums, Melnick said. California hospitals financial crisis began under the shelter-in-place orders when they cleared hospitals to make way for coronavirus patients. Profitable surgeries plummeted 90% in March, the report said. Emergency room visits dropped in half. At the same time, providers forked out millions to prepare for COVID-19 patients by increasing bed capacity, staffing units, and buying ventilators and personal protective equipment. As California flattened the curve, only 5% of statewide bed capacity was filled, meaning hospitals werent getting paid, the report said. In the Bay Area, giant hospital systems Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health reported losses of more than $1 billion in the first quarter of this year. MarinHealth, which runs Marin General Hospital, had projected $34 million in revenue for April and saw $17 million instead, CEO Lee Domanico said. Some hospitals cut staffing: At Marin General, 130 of 1,500 employees filed for unemployment. Surgeries are now restarting and hospitals are encouraging patients to return, which will bring back revenue, but long-term economic impacts remain. Researchers estimated that nearly 3 million jobless Californians will lose employer-sponsored health care, causing a drop in commercial insurance coverage from 55% pre-pandemic to 47% post-pandemic, the report said. Medi-Cal patients could increase 15% and the uninsured 28%, the report predicted. Medi-Cal reimburses only a fraction of the amount that commercial insurance plans do, so coverage changes mean less money for hospitals. The change could reduce California hospital revenue by $2 billion compared to pre-coronavirus levels over the next 12 months, the report predicted. More than 12.3 million Californians used Medi-Cal in April, the most recent data available. Department of Health Care Services spokesman Adam Weintraub said that it's too soon to see whether there's a marked increase because of the pandemic. Susan Maerki, an independent health consultant who co-authored the report, said the spike might not be immediate since some unemployed workers may only be furloughed while retaining health care benefits. Melnick expects the shift wont start until later this year. Melnick said the projected shift to more Medi-Cal or uninsured patients could push hospitals to ask insurance companies for higher payments. Maureen Tresnak, director of health care strategy with consulting firm Terry Group, made the same prediction. That puts pressure on premiums for commercial coverage, which increases costs to employers and makes it difficult for them to offer coverage, she said. Theres pressure all around. Sutter Health and Stanford Health Care are not renegotiating health insurance contracts or asking for cost increases, spokeswomen said. A UCSF spokeswoman said the hospital system is negotiating one contract with another upcoming on the regular schedule and did not expect to increase charges significantly more than usual. Domanico said MarinHealth will be looking at new sources of revenue, hopefully talking with the payer community, insurance community about our needs to fund some of these losses ... and tighten our belt where we can to manage expenses based on volumes. MarinHealth said it was already in negotiations with several of its health plans, unrelated to the pandemic. By the numbers $13 billion Revenue loss for Californias hospitals from March to June 2020 50%+ Drop in California hospital outpatient visits from mid-March to mid-May 28% Projected increase in uninsured Californians over the next year Source: California Health Care Foundation See More Collapse Hospitals say they need more stimulus funds as the pandemic continues. California so far received $3.5 billion in the initial federal disbursement. The California Hospital Association is also lobbying the state government to add $3 billion for hospital relief in the revised state budget this month. We need significantly more stimulus money to make up the losses the whole industry needs it, its serious, Domanico said. So far, we havent seen enough. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench RPA Training Next transforms pipeline to competency-based construct By Dan Hawkins, Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs / Published June 03, 2020 HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- Air Education and Training Command is integrating modern technology and innovative strategies in an effort to transform how remotely piloted aircraft pilots and sensor operators are developed through the RPA Training Next initiative. Current RPA training has focused on training similar to T-6 Texan II centered training in undergraduate pilot training, with RPA students focusing on learning the fundamentals of flying in a simulator and followed T-6 instrument training. "Building off the T-6 UPT model has left little flexibility for the ever-changing needs of the Air Force." said Maj. Adam Smith, RTN director. "Technology is changing the way we live and learn and it has opened up many opportunities to improve training so we can develop the Airmen we need. Our program is a Learning Next initiative aimed at helping us examine how the command has historically trained Airmen, then explores alternatives to potentially modernize training practices." This effort to move to a competency-based training concept where RPA students undergo a tailor-made program based on their capabilities and needs rather than an entire class following a rigid construct and transitioning through the entire pipeline together has been the long-term goal, Smith said. "RPA Training Next is an umbrella with a lot of other programs within it," Smith said. "We are moving out of the experiment phase and connecting different methods of competency-based learning for the students to create a holistic RPA training-pipeline experience." The old version of RPA training included two phases of training. "In the past, students went through RPA Instrument Qualification Course where they would fly a T-6 Texan II simulator and trained on instruments," Smith said. "After that, students would go to the RPA Fundamentals Course, which was more of an academic course with a mission-focused simulator they would fly sorties in to get used to building operational missions and how to control an RPA." With the revamp, the RTN team is taking the two separate courses and blending them into one course; the RPA Course, with the first class beginning later this year at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, under the 12th Flying Training Wing. "RPAC is a missionized course, which means there are more defined reasons for why students are accomplishing certain training objectives," Smith said. "Students are not just flying a teardrop hold as the FAA might ask them to do, but there is a reason why they are holding it's to talk to a joint terminal attack controller on the ground, or to avoid a threat, or wait to get clearance." These types of mission elements are also being introduced earlier in the training so when students arrive at the RPA Formal Training Unit they already have a rudimentary concept of what a JTAC is and how to talk to the JTAC, Smith said. "We believe by getting that exposure earlier in the training, students will show up more prepared at the FTU, allowing instructors to train students on higher-level skills," Smith said. After completing undergraduate training, pilots on the MQ-9 Reaper track will head to a formal training unit at Holloman, March Air Reserve Base, California, or Syracuse, New York. Students on the RQ-4 Global Hawk track will complete their formal training at Beale AFB, California. "MQ-9 pilot or sensor operators will focus on the more Combat Air Force style skills, like employing munitions and working with JTACs," Smith said. "The RQ-4 track will focus on the high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and transoceanic crossings, which are more in line with that platform's mission sets." The entire training process is expected to last about a year, but there are breaks in training that can make the process longer, which is a part of what RTN is trying to fix through seamless transitions throughout all phases of training. The baselining of technology across all phases of training is also a major tenet of RTN. "The idea is to keep the same levels of technology for RPA students across both undergraduate and formal training," Smith said. "This allows the pipeline to have a seamless transition in all phases of training." As part of the technology initiative, the RTN team is more broadly incorporating artificial-intelligence capability initially tested by the Pilot Training Next team to build trust in AI principles early in an Airman's career so the capability can be used throughout a pilot's career. "We are making changes to the AI in regards to how we train RPA pilots and sensor operators and then we will take the same AI software and embed that in with the MQ-9 Reaper simulator at the FTU," Smith said. "The plan, once proven, is to export that software to the combat squadrons so they have access to the same AI instruction and other AI instructor aids in their simulators for continuation and mission qualification training." Smith also noted they have made modifications to the T-6 simulators to expose students to the large amounts of data coming into an RPA pilot that manned-aircraft pilots are not typically exposed to. Modifications such as chat functions that need to be watched and used to communicate with entities around the globe based on mission needs and tasking, as well as moving map displays. "A big portion of RPA training is cross-check and task management," Smith said. "We need to make sure the students have the task management capabilities, so we are left-loading that training earlier in the process so they have that data right off the bat and understand the information process right off the bat." There have also been T-6 simulator modifications made from the sensor operator perspective. "We attached a targeting pod on the bottom on the T-6 simulator to allow us to have the sensor operator participate in the training, which has been a game-changer," Smith said. "In our past training construct, the sensor operator only had about four days of training with their pilot in the undergraduate phase, which means when they have arrived at the formal training unit we have had to spend extra time to show them how to work together as an aircrew." Sensor operators are now getting earlier exposure to topics such as crew resource management skills for four weeks instead of just four days, Smith said. RTN is quickly finishing the development phase and the outcomes from this program are poised to truly evolve how the RPA community has trained. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The GAVI vaccines alliance said on Thursday it had raised $8.8 billion from international donor governments, companies and philanthropic foundations to fund its immunisation programmes through to 2025, Trend reports citing Reuters. At a funding summit in London, GAVI said the pledges had exceeded its target of $7.4 billion, and would help immunise 300 million more children in the worlds poorest countries against diseases like measles, polio and diphtheria. The vaccines alliance also said it had raised $567 million towards an initial goal of $2 billion from international donors for an Advanced Market Commitment to buy future COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries. The deal would help secure enough COVID-19 vaccine doses - when the shots have been developed - for poor countries to immunise healthcare workers and those at high risk, it said, as well as creating a buffer of doses for use when needed. GAVI, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations childrens fund UNICEF have warned that 80 million children under the age of one are at risk of disease due to disruptions to vital immunisation programmes because of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus. Britain, which hosted the summit, was among the largest donor to GAVIs core $8.8 billion funding, pledging the equivalent of 330 million pounds ($416 million) per year over the next five years, GAVI said. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said GAVI could count on the UKs full contribution to help the triumph of humanity over disease, now and for the generations that follow. Other top donors included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which gave $1.6 billion for the period up to 2025, and the governments of Norway, Germany and the United States. To beat the COVID-19 pandemic, the world needs more than breakthrough science. It needs breakthrough generosity. And thats what were seeing today as leaders across the public and private sectors are stepping up to support GAVI, Bill Gates, co-chair of the philanthropic Gates Foundation, told the summit. He added that when COVID-19 vaccines are ready, the AMC funding would ensure people all over the world can access them. GAVI said eight of the government donors were countries making their first ever pledge to the vaccines alliance: These were Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal and Uganda. GAVI is a public-private partnership backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, which arranges bulk buys to reduce vaccine costs for poor countries. The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has slammed the Minority in Parliament for their call on the Auditor General to audit the GHC280.3million government spent on food and other relief packages under the Coronavirus Alleviation Program (COP). The Minority at a press conference called on the Auditor General to probe the use of the money fearing the ruling party has channelled the funds into their campaign for the upcoming polls. The low coverage and haphazard implementation of these interventions during the lockdown period, specifically the distribution of free hot meals and dry food to the vulnerable, as well as the supply of tankers of water to deprived households, give us cause for concern that these funds were not judiciously utilised by the government, Minority Spokesperson on Finance Casiel Ato Forson said at the Press conference. He stated that a special audit into governments expenditure under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme was imperative given media reports that state-sponsored COVID relief items meant for the vulnerable, are being sold in the market by functionaries of the ruling New Patriotic Party in Kumasi and other parts of the country. But addressing the Press on Thursday, Oppong Nkrumah stated that it was premature for the minority to make such a call since the fight against the COVID-19 is still ongoing and several interventions are still being put in place by the government. According to him, the Minority is only seeking to distract the government on the COVID-19 fight as the pandemic is approaching a critical stage. The COVID-19 intervention is ongoing, you are all here because the COVID-19 is ongoingwithin that context we can all understand how premature that petition isas we have always said it is becoming clear that our colleagues in the minority are always looking for some controversy to distract us from this COVID-19 but we will not be distracted. Source: starr fm 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 Zebra Technologies has rolled out a series of initiatives and made strategic donations to help protect the health and safety of employees, communities and companies. Front-line workers are modern day heroes as they serve in hospitals, grocery stores, delivery vehicles, post offices, warehouses, and more. Zebra remains steadfast in its resolve to empower those on the front line with technology that spans Zebras entire portfolio of solutions for the healthcare, retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and public safety industries. To address front-line healthcare protection needs, Zebra launched its COVID-19 Heroes microsite to recognize the efforts of front-line workers and share information on how Zebras technology can enable them at work. Our thoughts are with those who are affected during this period. We want to honor and salute the front-line workers as they relentlessly serve to keep our lives as normal as possible. , said Mr. Deep Agarwal, Regional Sales Director Indian Sub-Continent, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific. We thank them for their hard work, and we will continue to provide them with the right technology and resources to help them do their jobs. In a nod to healthcare professionals, Zebra recently rolled out a new competition for nurses and nursing students, encouraging them to submit their ideas on how technology can help solve some of todays biggest healthcare challenges. Five winning submissions will be selected based on criteria including an innovative approach and the applicability of the solution in todays healthcare environment. Each of the five winners will receive INR 75, 500 scholarship which can be used for certification, continuing education, college loans or nursing school. Interested participants can submit applications here. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, June 30, 2020, and the winners will be announced in August 2020. To support the fight against COVID-19 and put technology in the hands of front-line workers, Zebra has also donated barcode printers and supplies to the Huoshenshan and Shenzhen University General Hospitals, and to the National Institutes of Health University of the Philippines Manila. Apart from providing the right technology to front-line workers, the thorough disinfection of mobile computers, tablets, printers and scanners is essential to support infection control in workplaces and public spaces. Zebras devices are used by multiple front-line workers across shifts so it is critical that they are cleaned and disinfected properly to help curb the spread of the virus. Our guidelines help to educate front-line workers on how they can effectively clean their devices and what to clean them with. There is no one-size-fits-all approach as each device is unique in its design and function, added Mr. Deep Agarwal, Regional Sales Director Indian Sub-Continent, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific Ford Motor said Thursday it is delaying plans for salaried workers to begin returning to offices in late June until September. It said the move is to ensure that Ford has enough personal protection equipment for workers and time to modify facilities to allow for proper social distancing protocols to reduce the spread of Covid-19. "The health and safety of our workforce continues to be our first priority and we want to ensure we have sufficient PPE for all of our place dependent workforce who have already returned, as well as the proper supply for those who would be returning later this summer," the company said in an emailed statement Thursday. Ford announced plans in April for its white-collar employees in the U.S. to begin returning to work in late June and early July. The company had about 190,000 employees globally at the end of last year, including about 100,000 who have already returned to work based on location and job requirements. About 12,000 of its 36,000 salaried nonmanufacturing employees have returned to work in the U.S., a spokesman said Thursday. Ford's 56,000 hourly U.S. employees started returning to work in mid-May. Limited North American production began on May 18. Ford's plants continue to gradually add shifts and production. By AFP LONDON: A top Twitter executive on Thursday refused to rule out suspending Donald Trump's account if the US president continued posting incendiary messages such as those about the George Floyd protests. Trump has relied on Twitter to get out his message without submitting himself to questions from reporters. His 81.7 million followers have made the @realDonaldTrump account one of Twitter's 10 most popular. But the US leader has been at war with the social media platform he uses daily since it took the unprecedented decision to fact-check two of his tweets about postal ballots last month. Twitter followed that up Friday by covering up a message from Trump warning protesters outraged by unarmed black man Floyd's death at police hands that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts". A message above that tweet warned that it "violated Twitter Rules about glorifying violence". Viewers had to click on the message to see Trump's original posting. Twitter public policy strategy director Nick Pickles told a UK parliamentary hearing Thursday that the platform had decided to put Trump's tweets to the same review process as it has for all other verified public figures. "Whenever a tweet by any user is posted and reported to us, we consider it under our rules," Pickles told a virtual hearing of the cross-party digital committee. "If any user on Twitter continues to break our rules, then we will continue to have discussions about any and all avenues open to us." Pickles was then asked twice whether that meant Trump's account could be suspended if he continued violating the rules. "Every Twitter account is subject to the Twitter rules," he said both times. Twitter's decision to fact-check and hide Trump's posting has put pressure on Facebook and other social media platforms to follow suit. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to sanction false or inflammatory Trump posts sparked a virtual walkout by hundreds of the company's employees on Monday. Zuckerberg said in his defence that he mentioned the "inflammatory and harmful" when he fielded a call from Trump last Friday. Youth-focused Snapchat on Wednesday accused Trump of inciting "racial violence" and warned that it would not promote that type of content. 'WHO has been under a lot of attack, so when they saw the Lancet study, they stopped the clinical trials of HCQ.' 'They should not have stopped the clinical trials.' Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes. Photograph: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters Hydroxychloroquine was one of the most talked about medicines in the fight against COVID-19 when US President Donald J Trump threatened India to export the medicine to his country. Then, Trump said he was taking it as a preventive against the coronavirus. Among the clinical trials of four drug combinations that were being conducted all around the world with approvals from WHO, was HCQ. After an article appeared in the respected medical journal Lancet questioning the use of HCQ against the coronavirus, WHO temporarily suspended all its clinical trials. France, Italy, Belgium followed suit and stopped its HCQ trials. The Indian Council for Medical Research has continued with its HCQ trials and has found that consumption of four or more doses of HCQ along with the use of PPEs reduce the risk of coronavirus infection healthcare workers face. Even before the result of the ICMR study emerfged, a letter signed by Dr Shekhar Mande, director general, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research; Anurag Agarwal, director, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology; and Dr Rajeeva Karandikar, director, Chennai Mathematical Institute, was sent to WHO and Lancet questioning its study. "It was a knee-jerk reaction and WHO's decision is going to create confusion among people," Dr Karandikar, below, a well-known statistician, explains to Shobha Warrier/. Why did you three scientists write a letter questioning the Lancet study that said HCQ was more harmful and unhelpful for COVID-19 patients, which prompted WHO to stop all clinical trials of HCQ? One reason was the Lancet study made WHO stop all the clinical trials involving hydroxychloroquine. Though the clinical trials were stopped in many countries, ICMR continued with the trials. In India, we still use the medicine as a preventive among healthcare workers. We felt the scientific community should look at this issue independently. Dr Shekhar Mande, who is in the thick of all this, has been a friend of mine for many years. He asked me to look at the Lancet study from the point of a statistician. His question to me was: Should the Lancet study be taken at face value, and should the trials be stopped? That was why I looked at the paper and the statistical basis behind the study very carefully. The main concern for me was, which we have mentioned in the letter, that the proven methodology in such cases is randomised controlled trials. We also understand that these are unusual times where observational studies are done. So, it has to be examined very carefully and the conclusion has to mention that this was an observational study and not a clinical trial. In fact, the Lancet article concludes thus: 'In summary, this multinational, observational, real world study of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalisation found that the use of a regimen containing hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine (with or without a macrolide) was associated with no evidence of benefit, but instead was associated with an increase in the risk of ventricular arrhythmias and a greater hazard for in-hospital death with COVID-19. These findings suggest that these drug regimens should not be used outside of clinical trials and urgent confirmation from randomised clinical trials is needed.' It has clearly mentioned the limitations of the observational study. Then how can this be the basis for stopping clinical trials? You said the statistics underlying it is faulty, so it would not stand the test of time. Why? We always speak of compounding factors that would influence a study. For example, there are people with cholesterol, hypertension, old age, etc and it is believed that they are more susceptible to risk. In a randomised control trial, what is done is, for example, if you take age as the criterion, the samples are divided according to age, and then equal number of subjects are taken for both the medicine group and the controlled group. This is how we balance the impact of every factor. In this study, the authors have taken care of some of these factors using well known statistical techniques. But what is missing in the data which is very critical, that is, who got hydroxychloroquine-based treatment and who did not. At least, this is not mentioned in the analysis of the Lancet article. It could be that the serious patients might have been given the medicine and the others might not have. But the article simply says people who were given hydroxychloroquine were much worse off. So, were they trying to say that HCQ was working against the patients and making matters worse? What they are trying to project is HCQ does not just help, but harm the patients. Against this background it is important to know how patients were chosen and who got the treatment. You mean because this factor is not mentioned, the statistics behind the study is faulty? Yes, it appears to be a very important factor, but not accounted for. And when such a critical aspect is missing in the study, from the statistics point of view, this study is faulty. This is the main objection that we have. As I mentioned earlier, if patients with severe symptoms were given HCQ and the others were not, then we cannot come to any conclusion about the efficacy of HCQ in treating COVID-19.& The article is completely silent on this most crucial factor. In any case, at most we can go with the final sentence of the article, 'These findings suggest that these drug regimens should not be used outside of clinical trials and urgent confirmation from randomised clinical trials is needed.' But what happened was WHO stopped clinical trials of HCQ based on this paper. In India and in many other countries, HCQ has been used as a preventive medicine against COVID-19 among healthcare workers, police on duty, etc. Of course, taking into account other conditions. Do you think WHO was in a hurry to stop the clinical trials? Yes. It was a knee-jerk reaction and WHO's decision is going to create confusion among people. The Lancet study was only about the confirmed cases, that is, patients who were infected Those who are infected, those who need treatment, and those who need the medicine as a preventive are two different things. The study says nothing about the usage of HCQ as a preventive. The study only talks about those patients who are admitted in the hospitals infected with COVID-19, and were given HCQ within 48 hours of detection. It talks only about usage of HCQ as a treatment for those who are infected. So, you are of the opinion that WHO should not have stopped all clinical trials based on such a report? Yes, clinical trials of the usage of hydroxychloroquine should not have been stopped. India is continuing with the clinical trials, but I am told many countries have stopped the clinical trials they were undertaking after the WHO announcement. WHO was overseeing the trials of four drug combinations. After going through the Lancet study, WHO suspended the hydroxychloroquine clinical trial, but it has given permission for the other drug trials. This is very unfortunate, we felt. In any case, India is continuing with the trial. Did you send your letter to Lancet and WHO? We sent a copy of the letter to the Lancet editor and a discussion is going on with them. We have also sent our letter to WHO. But we want the scientific community to take note of this. It is not that only we three have raised this issue. A day after we sent the letter, around 180 scientists from the Western world also have questioned the study and it has appeared in The New York Times. Who would you blame for this situation, Lancet or WHO? Lancet can be absolved of its responsibility because in medical science, observational studies are taken into account. In this study, the concluding lines of the authors are that randomised trials are necessary. So, I will not question Lancet much. Though I am not blaming WHO, it is a knee jerk reaction. We are aware that everybody is on edge right now. And WHO has been under a lot of attack so, when they saw this study, they went ahead and stopped the clinical trials of HCQ. Anyway, WHO should not have stopped the clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine. Yes, we know HCQ is an anti-malarial drug, and here we are fighting a virus. On a lighter note, many drugs that were developed to help something are later used for some other purpose, after extensive trials. The most famous one is Viagra! So, it is absolutely necessary that we continue with the clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 4 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend The volume of investments in fixed assets of Kazakhstan amounted to 3 trillion tenge ($7.5 billion) over first four months of 2020, which is 84 percent of the planned volume, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans prime minister. The issue of investments attraction was discussed during a regular meeting of the Coordinating Council on Investment Attraction chaired by Kazakhstans Prime Minister Askar Mamin. The meeting participants noted that the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic led to making adjustments to the current economic situation and had a negative impact on the work to attract investment. The prime minister emphasized the importance of realizing the task set earlier, that is increasing investment in fixed assets up to 30 percent of GDP by 2025. In the future, intensification of global competition for investment is expected, which requires adoption of active measures to implement new investment projects in all sectors of the economy, as well as further improve the investment climate. The government has begun work to revive the economy. Comprehensive Plan for Restoring Economic Growth by the End of 2020 was adopted. In accordance with it, investments are considered as one of the key drivers, Mamin said. The prime minister also stressed the need to improve the quality of investment proposals preparation, the level of coordination of the work of government agencies and all interested parties, introduction of new tools to attract foreign capital and technology, targeting priority sectors of the economy. He instructed the central state and local executive bodies to update the pool of investment projects and target indicators for attracting investment in fixed assets as soon as possible, taking into account changes in the economic situation in the country and the world. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Mrs. Bernice Wilmot Oppong 04.06.2020 LISTEN Mrs. Bernice Wilmot Oppong, a Certified International Labour Organization (ILO) SCORE trainer has urged businesses to ensure they adopt risk assessment and practical safety management measures at the workplace to curb the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) disease. Ghana just like numerous countries in Africa and the world at large is faced with the crisis caused by the deadly Coronavirus disease. In the last few months, it has not been business as usual with all sectors of life forced to adopt new ways of doing things. Even in the midst of the pandemic, businesses continue to work to ensure economies do not collapse. In a bid to help businesses and companies to carry on their work in a safer environment, the ILO SCORE with support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and Norad has organized a WEBINAR to provide education on safety protocols for the workplace. Interacting with participants from Ghana and other parts of Africa as the main presenter in the WEBINAR on Zoom on Wednesday, Mrs. Bernice Wilmot Oppong called for strict adherence to all safety protocols at the workplace as directed by the government and health experts. As the saying goes, crisis is the mother of invention. We should try and invent a lot of things so that we will eliminate physical touching at the workplace to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, she noted Her presentation which centered on the theme Covid-19 Risk Assessment and Practical Safety Management at the workplace saw her charging business owners to make provision for all safety measures at the workplace while providing the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for all employees. Mrs. Bernice Wilmot Oppong also advised that all employees should be grouped according to their respective levels of risk in relation to health conditions to ensure appropriate controls are adopted to curb any potential spread in case someone is carrying the virus. If possible, we should allow workers to work from home. Not all workers can work from home. If you are a machine operator there is no way you can work from home. You have to work at the company premises. But if the worker can work from home then we should try and provide them the necessary tools they will need to perform their task and provide adequate supervision, she added. Ghana as of Wednesday, June 3, 2020, has recorded 8,548 Coronavirus cases. Out of that number, there are 5,378 actives cases with 3,123 recoveries and 38 deaths as well. Wisconsin Tapping Call Center Outsourcers and New Hires to Clear Unemployment Bottlenecks Across the United States, nearly three million people filed unemployment claims in mid-May, bringing the total two-month tally to more than 36 million out of work. This has led to state unemployment offices getting slammed with applications, requests and calls, and most of them are struggling to keep up. Millions of Americans have been unable to get their unemployment claims processed because of backlogs. According to a poll conducted by SurveyMonkey for The New York Times in May, more than half of those applying for unemployment benefits in recent weeks were unsuccessful. In some cases, states have tapped outside call center and back-office services to help, but even this process has been slow, as many states have protracted and cumbersome processes for requesting bids from third-party suppliers. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Developments (DWD) recently announced that it has secured contracts with outside vendors to assist more claimants faster, according to local newspaper The Courier. According to Tyler Tichenor, with the UI communications team, the vendors were not contracted with earlier due to the states hiring process. For the call center that we are contracting with, we had to follow state bidding processes, which again, are lengthy and required by state law, he told The Courier. The state has brought teleservices providers Alorica and Beyond Vision onboard. Accelerated (News - Alert) training allowed 55 Alorica employees to begin taking calls on behalf of the DWD. Ultimately, there are plans to ramp up to 500 Alorica employees assisting. The second contractor, Beyond Vision, now employs 40 people handling calls specifically related to the federal pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA). In addition, the Wisconsin DWD has cross-trained some employees to begin processing unemployment claims, and the agency has said its actively recruiting new call center workers to fill about 315 new positions. The agency is hoping to be fully staffed by mid-June. It is too early to surmise the increase in capacity but we expect to provide more timely service to more individuals as we increase our staffing in waves through mid-June, said Tichenor. Edited by Maurice Nagle The house of representatives has said it will not accept castration of persons convicted of rape. The lawmakers during their plenary on Thursday, debated a motion on the increased sexual violence against women particularly the rape and murder of two girls in Oyo and Edo states recently. James Falake from Lagos state had suggested castration as punishment for rapists as suggested by James Faleke from Lagos state. Debating the motion brought forward by Rotimi Agunsoye from Lagos, the lawmakers condemned the increasing cases of rape in the country which they described as the most common form of violence against women. Advertisement Read Also: #JusticeForBarakat: 100L Female Undergraduate Gang-Raped, Murdered In Ibadan They identified weak institutions, poor enforcement, poverty and unacceptable social practices as part of the reasons for sexual violence against women. According to them, Nigerian women also suffer harassment and brutality in the hands of security agencies apart from rape. But they voted against castration of rapists as an amendment to the motion, the lawmakers called for stiffer penalties against persons found guilty of rape. The lawmakers advised the federal government to launch a more effective campaign against rape and other forms of sexual violence against women. Recently, Vera Omozuwa, a student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), was raped while reading inside a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Benin city while Barakat Bello, 18-year-old was raped and murdered by her home. Mad Dog Mattis. The Warrior Monk. Married to the Marine Corps. Its all hype that embarrasses Gen. James Mattis, the chief of U.S. Central Command, who is preparing to retire this spring after one of the most productive four-decade sprints in uniform of his generation. Marine Mad Dog Mattis is chosen for Pentagon To Marines, Mattis is Chaos, his call sign and nom de guerre. According to interviews with more than a half-dozen officers who know him well, Mattis is an iconoclast and innovator who strove to outmaneuver the enemy on the battlefield, paralysis in Washington and the yes, sir! culture of the military. Advertisement Others, particularly civilians, consider the former Camp Pendleton-based commander controversial or brutish, based on statements such as one Mattis made in San Diego in 2005 when he proclaimed he liked brawling and shooting some people like the Taliban. You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap around women for five years because they didnt wear a veil. You know guys like that aint got no manhood left anyway, so its a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them, he said. 5 things to know about Mad Dog Imaging In person Mattis, 62, is unimposing. He is rather short and slight of build. He speaks with a lisp and rarely raises his voice. His blunt tough talk, however, and indisputable aggressiveness in combat endear him to many Marines, especially teenage infantrymen who volunteered during wartime to kill bad guys. Mattis has been rebuked and told to choose his words more carefully, but he never apologized or admitted any regrets another mark in his favor among the rank and file. His pugnacious soliloquies are said to be part of his brilliance as a communicator and, some add, a useful contrivance to rally the troops. Whether his audience is lance corporals heading into combat or sultans, kings and presidents who control the passage or resources needed for his mission, Mattis knows how to speak their language and enlist support. Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy served under Mattis in Iraq. Before the 2003 invasion, Mattis brought each battalion into the base auditorium to brief them on how he wanted every last Marine to fight. Over and over again, the same speech some 50 times. Having a vision and beating that thing flat as a cat on a highway, I think that is genius. Nobody has the staying power to do that, Kennedy said. Mattis, who led 1st Marine Division personnel into Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War as well as the 2003 invasion, is also respected as a warrior statesman, compassionate commander and skilled tactician who reshaped the way America goes to war during an era of protracted combat. The general has inspired a stream of fan mail from fellow Marines, supplications from jailed young veterans, imprudent tattoos, passages in history books, satirical online spoofs, even a television character. The legend is overwrought. Mattis is the first to say so. In a 2004 speech to midshipmen at the Naval Academy that laid out the principles that guided him through the inevitable moral crises of war, he said I get a lot of credit these days for things I never did. In recent years he has given few press interviews or quotable speeches. In his current job he must coax support from Middle Eastern allies who dont want to read about it in the newspaper. He is also a humble and private guy, some say. Mattis spoke with U-T San Diego to dispel some myths. But he otherwise declined to comment for this article, saying he would prefer to highlight the contributions of the Marines you know well in southern California, those who have conducted a significant amount of the fighting and done a lot of bleeding in this long war. Generals get an awful lot of attention and theres not too many generals on the casualty list. The lads deserve the attention, he added. Winning warrior Mattis has never owned a television. As a diligent scholar of his profession, he interviewed active and retired commanders who had grappled with similar missions. He studied everyone from the Spartans to the samurai and Comanche, drawing from his personal library that once included more than 7,000 volumes before he gave many to libraries and comrades. He is a lifelong bachelor with no children, but wouldnt move into a monastery unless it was stocked with beer and ladies. He was passionate about leading Marines in combat and devoted to winning at every assignment, but merely duty-bound to his succession of staff jobs. He persevered for one reason, according to Marine Lt. Gen. John Toolan: He understands the threats. He understands history, and he knows we must stay vigilant. Retired Marine Col. Clarke Lethin, of Fallbrook, served as his chief of staff when Mattis was commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. My fear is they are going to give him another job instead of letting him retire. He deserves it. He has done more than enough for this country, Lethin said. Semper Fidelis Mattis grew up in southeastern Washington state. He was an acolyte in the Episcopal church who admired Native American Indian culture and liked to run The Oregon Trail. After college he was commissioned as a Marine in 1972. As a major, Mattis drew a difficult assignment recruiting duty in liberal Portland, Ore. Mattis quickly turned the station into a top performer by cultivating relationships and winning the loyalty and hard work of junior Marines. Stories about Mattis caring and deference to the lower ranks abound. As a one-star general he dressed for guard duty, sword and all, one Christmas at Quantico, Va., relieving a young lieutenant to spend the holiday with his family. Brig. Gen. John Broadmeadow accompanied Mattis on a tour of remote checkpoints in northern Kuwait in the run-up to the Iraq invasion. Mattis wanted to sound out the Marines on duty, so he had Broadmeadow, then a lieutenant colonel, stand post for a half hour. He walked away from that talk with very junior Marines with some direct tasks to his regimental commanders, and the young Marines got a great story to tell about the general, Broadmeadow said. Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, Mattis asked Lethin, whom he first met on recruiting duty, to rejoin his staff and prepare for war. Lethin had intended to retire before the terrorist attacks. Mattis wanted to be sure Lethins wife Wendy and their young boys were onboard. Mattis had a private talk with her describing what was in store, before her husband knew where they were heading. We are going to go to Afghanistan and were going to kill those guys, he told her, according to Lethin. This is going to be a long war and a lot of people are going to die. Are you ready? Need for Speed Mattis and then-Lt. Gen. David Petraeus oversaw the genesis of the new Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual published in 2006. Mattis espoused a muscular version of the doctrine in line with his philosophy of no better friend, no worse enemy. He also stresses the need to move light and fast in battle. In 2001, Mattis was put in command of a naval task force and had to figure out how to transport two Marine expeditionary units into landlocked southern Afghanistan. The solution included pushing his helicopter pilots some 400 miles until their gas tanks almost ran dry, recalled Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who served in Task Force 58 as a colonel. What we were being asked to do in terms of the distances involved is something that had never been done in the Marine Corps, he said. After securing Camp Rhino, Mattis was gunning to go after Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora. The Marines passed out cold weather gear but were called off when Mattis couldnt get permission to bring what he thought was enough troops. They were stretched already after the amphibious raid into Kandahar, but initiative and tempo is the heart of Mattis command philosophy. He understands how that tears away the enemys unit cohesion. Thats part of the reason hes got to drive his own troops sometimes, to make them think above and beyond what they might think they are capable of, so they can overwhelm the enemy, Waldhauser said. As the 1st Marine Division prepared to lead the invasion into Iraq in 2003, Mattis predicted that they would quickly outstrip their logistics support as they raced across the desert. He ordered his Marines to attach racks to their vehicles to hang extra food, water and fuel and pack gasoline test kits. His need for speed was a factor in his decision to sack the only senior officer removed mid-battle during the invasion of Iraq, a colonel whose regiment stalled in the face of unexpected resistance outside Nasiriyah. Fallujah The next year in Al Anbar, Iraq, four contractors were murdered in Fallujah shortly after Mattis and his Marines moved into the area. Their charred bodies were hung from a bridge, prompting the military command to order an attack. Mattis had planned for a more engaging approach than the soldiers they were replacing. He was forced to lead his Marines into Fallujah prematurely in his eyes, then to retreat because of political pressure. If it was a mistake to attack in the first place and we believed it was then it was an even greater mistake to order the attack stopped so close to victory, as a result of disinformation generated by insurgents inside the city and the Arab press, recalled retired Gen. James Conway, the former commandant who was Mattis boss. Months later when Mattis was gone and peace negotiations failed, the Marines fought a second battle for Fallujah. Insurgents and hard-core jihadists had flocked to the city and stockpiled weapons. Savage combat practically leveled the city. The element of surprise had been lost. The result was over 90 Marines, soldiers, and sailors giving their lives to the effort, and many more wounded, Conway said. Retirement ? The rumor around the Pentagon is Mattis may take over the NATO European command if the nomination of Marine Gen. John Allen, outgoing commander of international forces in Afghanistan, is scuttled. Allen is under investigation because of allegedly flirtatious on-the-job emails with a Tampa socialite who is not his wife. He has denied wrongdoing. The gig would be Mattis third as a four-star general, which is virtually unheard of. Mattis said he thinks the rumor is wrong. Mattis expects to relinquish his Central Command job in March and retire soon after from the military, when he is medically cleared. But Mattis has the confidence of some Democratic leaders, as well as Republicans, who may yet tap him amid the reshuffle of defense and intelligence posts. When he does retire, Mattis plans to settle out West, where he appreciates the free thinking and open landscape. Doing what, he doesnt know yet. Mattis has some good war stories to share with friends, but no plans to write a book. The fine print may go with him to the grave. gretel.kovach@utsandiego.com (619) 293-1293 Twitter @gckovach ALSO Marine Mad Dog Mattis is chosen for Pentagon Secretary of Defense James Mattis? 5 things to know about Mad Dog Ukrainian parliament sends government's draft action program for finalization 16:40, 04.06.20 833 It will take into account the comments and suggestions made by MPs during debates in the parliamentary committees. The wreck of a German battleship that sank off the coast of Kent in 1878, when she was rammed by a friendly vessel trying to avoid two fishing boats, has been added to the National Heritage List for England. SMS Grosser Kurfurst's armour plating was ripped off and a huge hole was gouged into her side when ramming ship Konig Wilhelm struck the warship during preparations for a training exercises near Folkestone, English Channel. Germany's stricken ship rapidly disappeared below the waves, losing 284 out of her 300 man crew. A large memorial in Cheriton Road Cemetery, where many of the bodies pulled from the wreck are buried, has also been given grade-II listed status. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport issued protections for both on the advice of Historic England. SMS Grosser Kurfurst, pictured, had its armour plating ripped off and a hole gouged in its side when it was struck four nautical miles off the coast of Folkestone, Kent She ship sunk within eight minutes according to historians as its bulkheads failed to close The warship was one of only three Preussen-class ironclad warships authorised under the naval programme of 1867, approved by the Reichstag to strengthen the German navy. It was commissioned following the second Schleswig war (1864) involving the weak Prussian navy which had been unable to break a Dutch blockade. Despite the pressure, however, the newly-built Kurfurst sank in just eight minutes as watertight bulkheads onboard failed to close, according to historian Erich Groner. The Konig Wilhelm also suffered significant damage in the collision and severe flooding. Her captain initially planned to beach the ship, but after the pumps managed to hold the flooding to an acceptable level, she instead limped to Portsmouth for emergency repairs before returning to Germany. Lying four nautical miles off the UK coast, the shipwreck's addition to the National Heritage List means divers are still able to visit, but it now has a new level of protection. The stricken warship is shown floundering above as other boats rush to the rescue. It had been preparing for training exercises in the English channel SMS Grosser Kurfurst has been given protected status along with a memorial to the 284 sailors who lost their lives in Cheriton Road cemetery, Folkestone, Kent SMS Grosser Kurfurst SMS Grosser Kurfurst is pictured above Type: One of three Preussen-class ironclad warships Crew: Could take up to 500 men onboard Length: 316 feet and 11 inches Launch date: September 1875 Date of sinking: 31 May 1878, rammed by SMS Konig Wilhelm four nautical miles off the coast of Folkestone, Kent Advertisement Heritage minister Nigel Huddleston said: 'The listing of the SMS Grosser Kurfurst and the memorial plaque is a fitting tribute to the 284 men who died when the ship sank more than 130 years ago. 'I hope that the increased protection for both sites will ensure that the ingenuity of the early ironclad ships and their influence on modern navy vessels is not forgotten.' Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said: 'This historic shipwreck tells the story of Germanys increasing naval strength in the late-19th century at a time when Britain and Germany were on friendly terms. 'The SMS Grosser Kurfurst is important as the only non-Royal Naval warship recorded as wrecked in English waters for the period 1860-1913. 'The listing of the associated memorial in Folkestone with its German inscription is a poignant reminder of the loss of nearly 300 crewmen on board. It is right that we continue to remember them.' Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, also hailed the granting of protection to the wreck and memorial. He said: 'Folkestone would go on to play an important role in the First World War, as a port of passage for many soldiers travelling to and from the trenches in France and Belgium, which I have worked to commemorate as chairman of the Step Short charity. 'In that spirit, I believe the monument is an important reminder of Anglo-German friendship and solidarity in times of disaster, to be remembered as well as times of enmity.' On Wednesday morning, New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot F. Shea tweeted a low-resolution video of an unidentified officer picking up blue plastic crates on a city street corner. The crates, which appeared to be filled with chunks of masonry, had apparently been left next to a garbage can near Avenue X and West 3rd Street in Gravesend, a neighborhood by the water on Brooklyns south end thats been largely untouched by the protests elsewhere in the borough and the city. "This is what our cops are up against: Organized looters, strategically placing caches of bricks & rocks at locations throughout NYC," Shea wrote. On Wednesday afternoon, the White House included that clip in a video compilation of footage it claimed showed Antifa and professional anarchists... invading our communities. But Shea didnt explain why organized looters would have left bricks in a quiet, mostly residential Brooklyn neighborhood, and conversations with people who work and live in the area suggest the NYPDs Twitter bulletin threatened to stoke tensions for no reason. Cops Reclaim New York in Massive Show of Force An officer in Sector B of the 61st Precinct, which covers Gravesend, said he could not explain or discuss the details of the brick discoveries. NYPD coordinators for the neighborhood did not respond to requests for comment. A detective at the Office of the NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Public Information said he did not know anything about the incident. The city is going through an unprecedented issue with looting and protesting, he told The Daily Beast. The normal people who would answer your questions are out trying to protect the city. So thats why youre not getting answers to your questions. In the week of protests since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, cops and politicians alike have been quick to point to organized looters and outside agitators fomenting unrest. But the claims often come with little evidence, and seem to buckle under scrutiny. Last week, after NYPD vehicles were filmed driving into a crowd of protestors, Mayor Bill De Blasio claimed that a small set of men came to do violence in a systematic organized fashion. And there have been reports of protesters throwing bricks at police in New York. Story continues But New York City Council Member Mark Treyger, who represents the Gravesend area, disagreed with the idea that external troublemakers were making mischief in his turf. In a phone call with The Daily Beast, Treyger said he became aware of the discovery of containers of suspect materials at two locations in his district when a constituent messaged him over social media, and that he confirmed the finding with the 61st Precinct. However, Treyger said that the NYPD acknowledged to him the containers might simply contain construction debris. The councilman said that he had not seen protests in the area or any signs of organized lootingand pointed out that at least one set of the containers were found near a construction site, suggesting that the bricks came from there. He called his conclusion simple math. "There is literally a construction site and construction fencing and signage. And they found five or six containers of what appears to me to be construction debris, Treyger told The Daily Beast. I believe that [Sheas] tweet about my district is not responsible. Because he did not give the full set of facts and the full picture, especially when his own department says the discovery was still under investigation, Treyger added, warning that such rumors could cause division in the racially diverse neighborhood. The police commissioner needs to be very mindful with his words, because they could incite violence. The commissioners claims about the crates in Gravesend were especially remarkable because they were nowhere near the locus of protests Tuesday, which is when five employees of local businesses told The Daily Beast the bins were removed. Employees at two businessesKnapp Pizza II and New Fortune Wine & Spiriton the block in question told The Daily Beast police had removed the crates on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Tuesdays protests in Brooklyn were centered closer to the Barclays Center, nearly five miles away. A woman who asked to be identified only as Sabrina R. said that the medical offices next to the apparent site of the bins did have security cameras, but that they were blocked from a view of the corner. An employee at nearby New Fortune Wine & Spirit said they had heard about the bricks, but had seen no protest. She said that while the store was outfitted with security cameras, that they belonged to the landlord, who could not be reached by press time. Violent Social-Distancing Arrest Videos Go Viral, Putting NYPD on Defensive At Smart Choice Pharmacy, which sits across from the site where the crates appeared to be collected, a staff member told The Daily Beast the street has been very quiet. We havent seen anything like that, she said. It was very quiet yesterday. We didnt see anything like that There was no protest in Gravesend last night. An employee at the Dunkin Donuts across the intersection from the site in question told The Daily Beast they had not noticed the bricks at all. An NYPD spokeswoman told the Daily Beast no complaint report had been filed about the containers. No one called it in to complain, she said. It wasnt taken as a complaint report Because its not a crime. [The crates were] just left there. In a media availability Wednesday morning, Commissioner Shea discussed the issue with Mayor De Blasio. So in terms of the tweet today, unfortunately its not an isolated incident, Shea said. That was two locations, one was in Brooklyn, one was in Queens, where pre-staged bricks are being placed and then transported to quote unquote peaceful protestswhich are peaceful protestsbut then used by that criminal group within to sow fear. Shea did not provide any details on the incident in Queens or specify how NYPD had come to the conclusion that the debris containers were associated with protests, given that no major protests had been reported in that area. He did concede that they might have come from construction sites. Weve had construction sites burglarized in recent days in Manhattan, Shea said. Its interesting. Construction site burglary is not that uncommon, but during a riot its interesting what was takenbricks. Shea also mentioned a pattern of protestors throwing water bottles filled with cement at police officers, but did not provide specific instances of when such incidents had occurred, or evidence that any of those had been an orchestrated attack. I do believe that the police commissioner needs to be clear in his messaging that this debris was found near a construction site, Council Member Treyger said. And as of this afternoon, I have not heard of organized looting in my district. 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. Some of Pete Evans' devoted followers are convinced the celebrity chef is going to be murdered for sharing his bizarre conspiracy theories. Fans flocked to Facebook this week to warn the 47-year-old to be careful about airing his controversial views. It comes after the former My Kitchen Rules judge declared in a trailer for his 60 Minutes interview, which airs this Sunday, that his death won't be an 'accident'. Say what?! Loony Pete Evans fans are convinced he's going to be murdered for sharing conspiracy theories - as the celebrity chef warns his death 'won't be an accident' 'I worry for you, Pete. You know that they "suicide" people for speaking out so publicly like you are doing,' one fan wrote. They added: 'Don't get me wrong, I love what you are bringing to the light, I just hope you are safe.' Pete replied by saying he had never been suicidal, and again reiterated that his death would be make to look like an 'accident'. Another fan commented: 'Glad they got your message loud and clear about if you disappear or something happens. At least the world got to see that!' Pete replied: 'Haha - only reason I did it! Just kidding.' 'I worry for you, Pete': Fans flocked to Facebook this week to warn the 47-year-old to be careful about airing his controversial views Another fan observed that 'people do get hit for saying too much'. They added: 'But I think your public support will keep you safe and that people will know what has gone down. You be right mate, no two bullets to the back of the head suicide for you. But do keep your wits about you.' It comes after viewers slammed 60 Minutes this week for interviewing Pete and giving airtime to his dangerous anti-vaccination and conspiracy theories. Pete has grown increasingly vocal about his disbelief of scientifically-backed medicine and attempts to convince his followers of a link between COVID-19 and the rollout of the 5G technology network. In spite of the potentially dangerous ramifications of giving Pete a platform, 60 Minutes will air an interview with him on Sunday night. They're not happy: It comes after viewers slammed 60 Minutes this week for interviewing Pete and giving airtime to his dangerous anti-vaccination and conspiracy theories. The interview will air on Sunday night In a preview for the segment, Pete admitted to being 'skeptical... and also suspicious'. 'If I disappear or have a weird accident, it wasn't an accident,' he said. While the program doesn't appear to agree with or support his bizarre theories, viewers said they couldn't 'see an upside' to sharing his opinions. 'This is so irresponsible,' one person wrote in response to the trailer. 'How dare 60 Minutes share dangerous, ignorant viewpoints that absolutely will put people's lives at risk for a few cheap views.' There are calls for the program to scrap the segment, with some commenters suggesting people could die if they follow Pete's 'nonsense'. Vocal: The former My Kitchen Rules judge has grown increasingly vocal about his disbelief of scientifically-backed medicine and attempts to convince his followers of a link between COVID-19 and the rollout of the 5G technology network Pete on Thursday claimed he wasn't paid for his time, and only agreed to be featured when he learned 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes would be interviewing him. 'I believe her reputation as a journalist is about finding and sharing the truth,' he said, before adding he 'didn't care' how he was edited in the segment. He revealed his team had also filmed the interview, which went for hours, and that he would release the 'unedited' footage following the segment on Sunday night. 'I have no idea how they will edit it, nor do I care. I invite you to watch and listen to their version and also what was fully recorded from my team,' he said. Pete recently endorsed US President Donald Trump's threat to use the military against Black Lives Matter protesters following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. Floyd died in custody in Minneapolis last Monday after being forcefully restrained by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with second-degree murder. Footage of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for eight minutes as he struggled to breathe has been widely shared on social media. Controversial: Pete recently endorsed US President Donald Trump's threat to use the military against Black Lives Matter protesters following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd The vision sparked outrage across the world and led to riots, which Pete believes are part of a media conspiracy staged by 'the elite' to distract citizens from the coronavirus pandemic. 'With the wave of a wand the media diverted your attention from a 'deadly' pandemic to racial riots, and you didn't even stop to notice,' he said in a previous post about the matter. Meanwhile in the 60 Minutes interview, he appeared to justify his beliefs regarding the supposed dangers of vaccinations and medical advice by questioning the motives of scientists. 'Science has been bought by vested interests in so many different fields,' he said. Pete has implied on multiple occasions that vaccinations can cause autism and other conditions in children. Last month, he appeared on The Kyle and Jackie O Show to peddle a disproved theory linking vaccinations with behavioural changes in children. Making headlines: Pete has implied on multiple occasions that vaccinations can cause autism and other conditions in children Pete, who has no medical training and is seeking to profit from alternative health treatments, said: 'I've met so many mothers and their children and they tell me, "Hey Pete, my boy or girl was a healthy, functioning beautiful child - and they're still a beautiful child - but something happened when they got a shot one day." 'And within two hours, 12 hours, 24, 48 hours, that little boy or girl completely changed their behaviour. And certainly changed their nature.' There is no evidence that vaccines can cause such changes in children. Pete insists, however, that he is not an 'anti-vaxxer' but 'pro-choice'. Pete's contract with Channel Seven was torn up earlier this year, and his increasingly erratic posts have sparked concerns from a leading medical practitioner. Dr Harry Nespolon, the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said last month he feared Evans was 'in trouble' and advised him to book an appointment with his GP. The chef maintains he is perfectly fine, physically and mentally. A few centuries ago, Tichitt was a citadel of trade where Saharan merchants bearing gold, salt and cloth would stop to water their camels and haggle. Today, red-and-white signs in the sand dunes point to where this once great hub of commerce and centre of Islamic culture lies. But visitors to Tichitt, a UNESCO world heritage site, are few now, and the great outpost in arid central southern Mauritania is all but forgotten. "Sometimes a month will go by without a car coming," Cherif Mokhtar Mbaka, an English teacher in the town, says sadly. Grey-stone buildings dating from its golden age have survived but little else in the town of 2,470 residents, according to a 2016 census, points to its rich heritage. Today's traders arrive in Tichitt on a monthly supply truck, bringing rice and pasta to local shops, and leave with salt from a nearby saline field. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) The trans-Saharan caravan route that flourished between the 11th and 19th centuries brought a steady stream of traders to Tichitt, en route to Timbuktu and settlements in the Niger river basin. "The decline began when the trade began to prefer sea routes rather than land routes," Mbaka says. "Now it's over, and people are facing many problems." Today, the traders who come arrive on a monthly supply truck, bringing rice and pasta to the local shops -- and leave again, with salt mined from a nearby saline plain, or sebkha. Racing memories Tichitt has lost another economic lifeline, too, in its more recent past. The renowned Paris-Dakar Rally used to pass through, bringing a caravan of race car drivers, journalists and tourists. "The old airstrip laid down by the French in the colonial era was redeveloped for the rally," said local dignitary Mohamed Teya, recalling how dozens of planes used to touch down during the event. Grey-stone buildings dating from Tichitt's golden age have survived and UNESCO and the Mauritanian government stipulate that new constructions retain the unique architectural style. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) But, in 2009, organisers relocated the off-road race to South America due to security threats in the Sahara and the runway has since disappeared. Likewise, Tichitt's reputation as a jewel of Islamic culture has faded. As well as the unique architecture from its heyday, carefully maintained by UNESCO and the Mauritanian government which stipulate that new buildings retain the style, reams of yellowing historic manuscripts have survived. The documents are stored haphazardly in people's homes. High school headmaster Mouhamedou Ahmadou set up a group to preserve them about 20 years ago and was allotted a house for the purpose. But he has few resources for the job and their future looks bleak. "These manuscripts are like old people and children: they are fragile," Ahmadou says. The Paris-Dakar Rally used to pass through Tichitt, bringing a caravan of drivers, journalists and tourists, but was relocated to South America in 2009 . By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) Towns like Timbuktu in Mali -- renowned worldwide for historically important manuscripts -- benefit from foreign funding, or even temperature-controlled rooms, he points out. "Look here! We're in the heart of the desert and it's hot," Ahmadou exclaims. As he pulls out works from the shelves written mostly during the 7th and 8th century Arab conquests, the dust clouds make everyone in the room cough. 'Forgotten' "Tichitt is forgotten," its mayor Hamadou Lah Medou, 38, says. Even within an already sparsely populated country of some four million, its isolation makes life difficult and expensive. Tichitt needs a road, says mayor Hamadou Lah Medou. But its petrol station is often empty anyway. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) There's a small clinic offering first aid -- and an ambulance, one of the six cars in the town, jokes local official Mohamed Teya. For more serious treatment, people must go to the hospital in Tidjikja, the regional capital about 230 kilometres (143 miles) away. "We need a road," the mayor bemoans. Yet, the petrol station -- two pumps and a sign in the sand -- is often empty. Many try to make a living elsewhere. "There's nothing to do here, no work, no opportunities," says Gildou Muhamedou Babui, 34, dressed in a sky-blue boubou. High school headmaster Mouhamedou Ahmadou set up a group to preserve Tichitt's historic manuscripts about 20 years ago but has few resources. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP) Some find jobs at the palm grove, he says. Others work at the salt field, paid a few ouguiyas for their heavy manual labour, cutting the salt and loading up the camels of passing traders impatient to be on their way. Babui himself tried to find work in the capital Nouakchott and in the northwestern town of Atar but to no avail. He now keeps the accounts at the town hall. "At least it's stable," he says, of the work that earns him about 3,900 ouguiyas ($103, 95 euros) a month. "What can we do?" WASHINGTON The governments increasingly militarized response to nationwide protests has sparked concern among employees of a Pentagon intelligence agency, who fear they might be compelled to help conduct surveillance on Americans participating in demonstrations, sources tell Yahoo News. The May 25 killing of George Floyd, an African-American man, in Minneapolis police custody set off a series of nationwide protests, including in Washington, D.C. In response, the Trump administration has sent a wide range of law enforcement and military personnel to the nations capital to help police the demonstrations. The use of military personnel has prompted questions about overreach, including now at the Defense Intelligence Agency. During a weekly unclassified virtual town hall on Wednesday hosted by DIA Director Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, agency employees questioned whether they could be placed on a task force, reassigned, detailed to another agency, or otherwise ordered to support domestic intelligence efforts to investigate protesters, according to two sources familiar with the matter. According to one of those sources, who was briefed on what happened during the town hall, a DIA employee submitted a written question asking: We have been told that DIA is setting up a task force on unrest in our country. Is this true? Is it legal given intelligence oversight? What options will there be for employees who are morally opposed to such an effort? Director Ashley, according to that source, responded that our core mission is foreign intelligence. He went on, however, to cite the example of foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election, which did become a major focus across the U.S. intelligence community. Consider the election space we dont have a domestic position but have a dedicated effort to see what is happening globally, he said. There is a DOD aspect, but we are focused on the foreign nexus. Ashley told employees the Office of the General Counsel had reviewed the issue to ensure that DIA was in compliance with the law. Story continues Demonstrators and police face off on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) If you ever find yourself in a position that makes you uncomfortable, I am your top cover, he added. That answer, however, did not assuage some DIA employees, who were concerned Ashleys response did not address whether their work or the agencys resources might be shifted to support domestic intelligence efforts or whether a task force is indeed being assembled. Its very scary, said the first source. It was not immediately clear who may have considered having DIA employees work on monitoring domestic unrest, or under what authority, since there has been no evidence that those involved in the protests or in criminal activity that has taken place amid the protests have any links to foreign groups. However, the second source said that the employees might be asked to support mission requirements for law enforcement. Almost the entire workforce is against it, because it is not their mission, the second source, who questioned the legality of it, told Yahoo News. James M. Kudla, a DIA spokesman, said the agency has not taken a role in domestic affairs. The mission of the Defense Intelligence Agency is to provide intelligence on foreign militaries to prevent and win wars, he wrote in a statement to Yahoo News. Any claims that DIA has taken on a domestic mission are false. DIA has not established any task force related to the current domestic situation, he continued. Kudla did confirm that DIA has set up an internal coordination group to respond to increased and appropriate Department requests for information. But the tumult at DIA over that internal coordination group could further inflame tensions within the Pentagon over the departments proper role in policing the protests that have sprung up nationwide in response to Floyds death. Doug Wise, who served as deputy director of DIA from 2014 to 2016, said that having the agency involved in domestic work would be a mistake. A mission such as the one alleged for DIA would be highly inappropriate even if DOD lawyers developed a carefully worded position that such an effort was legal, he said in a statement to Yahoo News. Even if DIA could find a way to define such work as technically legal, it would squarely fall into the category of what you can do may be different than what you ought to do, he continued. I am sure [DIA Director] Bob Ashley wants to keep his Agency focused on the foreign threat and not on civil unrest here in America. The Pentagons involvement in the response to civil unrest has been a lightning rod for controversy, particularly after Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley both accompanied President Trump on a short walk Monday evening to St. Johns Episcopal Church, a historic chapel across from the White House vandalized during the previous nights protests. Attorney General William Barr authorized law enforcement to clear peacefully protesting crowds in Lafayette Park, in front of the church, ahead of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowsers 7 p.m. curfew without warning. Officials deployed tear gas, pepper balls and nonlethal projectiles against protesters so that the president could have his picture taken holding a Bible in front of the church. President Trump outside St. Johns Episcopal Church across Lafayette Park from the White House on Monday. (Patrick Semansky/AP) Critics have called for the resignations of Esper and Milley, who denied knowing about the details of the church visit beforehand. By Wednesday evening, even tight-lipped former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis registered his protest against the president under whom he previously served. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a battlespace that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate, Mattis wrote in a statement emailed to reporters. It is unclear what the appropriate role for DIA, a foreign intelligence agency, would be in tracking domestic protesters. The Pentagon has long had a role in counterterrorism operations overseas. In recent days, Trump has compared protesters to terrorists, sweeping up law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the Pentagon in his efforts to disrupt demonstrators activities. On Sunday, he claimed that violent protesters were linked to an amorphous left-wing movement called antifa, short for anti-fascist, and said he would designate the group a terrorist organization, though there is no legal authority to do so for a non-foreign group. President Trump. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) These are terrorists, said Trump during a private conference call with a group of governors on Monday. And theyre looking to do bad things to our country. While counterterrorism experts told Yahoo News that Trump likely does not have a legal mechanism to formally declare a domestic organization an official terrorist group, the federal governments response to the protests has been heavily focused on aggressively surveilling and tracking down potential offenders and tracing their networks. There is currently no federal statute that contains provisions for designation of domestic groups as terrorist organizations, so the president saying it simply doesnt make it so, said Nick Rasmussen, a former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who is now a senior director at the McCain Institute. But I suspect right now there is not a shortage of FBI time and attention devoted to looking at individuals who fall within antifa profile, he continued, especially if they can be investigated and charged for their violent protest activity. Demonstrators on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) While there are both legal and ethical questions raised by the presidents decision to single out antifa, a move that could squelch legitimate speech by labeling it as a terrorism related speech, those questions fall far outside the Defense Intelligence Agencys purview, Rasmussen told Yahoo News. DIA would be nowhere near that, he said. Meanwhile, according to an internal situation report obtained by the Nation magazine, the FBI Washington Field Office concluded that it has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence surrounding the violence and destruction that occurred during Sunday evenings protests. In a new development on Thursday afternoon, Barr said that a witches brew of individuals and organizations, including some foreign, have been responsible for instigating violence amid the protests. We are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides, he said, without elaborating. Housed within the Pentagon, DIA is primarily responsible for collecting military intelligence. Like the CIA, it can operate within a limited sphere domestically such as by recruiting traveling American businesspeople as assets, coordinating with the FBI on potential U.S.-based counterintelligence targets or tracking border-crossing terrorists. But DIA lacks law enforcement authority and has no known history of surveilling or tracking domestic political protests. Kudla, the DIA spokesman, said, As a Defense Department combat-support agency that works with other parts of DoD and the intelligence community, our capabilities are focused squarely on foreign threats to the nation. According to former intelligence officials, for DIA to be turned inward at Americans, its personnel would need to either be detailed to another agency or supporting a separate lead agency, such as the FBI. Intelligence agencies are prohibited from spying against American citizens, wrote Andrew Bakaj, a founding partner at the legal firm Compass Rose Legal Group, in a message to Yahoo News. Bakaj, a former CIA officer who represented the still anonymous CIA whistleblower who sparked the impeachment proceedings against Trump, said there are cases when law enforcement needs an assist or support from intelligence agencies, such as a task force. That being said, the administration looking to have DIA military intelligence conduct intelligence operations against American citizens engaging in protests is, optically, a huge problem, he wrote. Regardless of the need to arrest violent offenders, he continued, turning the military intelligence against American citizens is an affront to the Constitution. Irvin McCullough, national security analyst for the whistleblower nonprofit Government Accountability Project, said that when employees, such as those at DIA, question the legality of government-sanctioned actions, thats a call for effective oversight alongside those activities. If whistleblowers come forward with concerns of illegality or abuses of authority, they should be welcomed with open arms and shielded from retaliation, he wrote in an email to Yahoo News. Jamil N. Jaffer, a former associate counsel to President George W. Bush who also served as a senior counsel on the Republican staff of the House Intelligence Committee, also expressed concerns about the possible role of a military intelligence agency in any domestic surveillance. The role of our intelligence agencies when it comes to looking at foreign intelligence threats domestically is carefully circumscribed and operates under specific laws and regulations including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and for good reasons, going back [to] the abuses of the 1960s and 1970s relating to domestic protests, among other things, wrote Jaffer, now the executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia Law School, in an email to Yahoo News. It is somewhat ironic that the very President whose tweets have resulted [in] Americans being less safe against terrorist and other foreign intelligence threats because the post-9/11 surveillance authorities have expired on his watch, now may be seeking to conduct the very type of surveillance he has previously railed against, Jaffer continued. Former intelligence officials expressed surprise that DIA employees would be asked to support domestic monitoring efforts. DIA is an organization chartered for foreign intelligence, said one former senior intelligence official. Not spying on our neighbors. Larry Pfeiffer, the director of George Mason Universitys Michael V. Hayden Center and a former senior CIA and NSA official, said he found it encouraging at least that DIA employees were expressing their concerns to the agencys leadership. Im heartened and not surprised to hear that the men and women of DIA would object to such a possibility, he said. They serve the American people and the Constitution and know better than to break such an honored compact and the law. _____ Read more: A Northern Ireland virologist has said the level of the coronavirus infection in the community may be too high for effective contact tracing. Dr Connor Bamford from Queen's University said contact tracing is needed to progress out of lockdown but the highly skilled practice was more practical when fewer people were suffering from Covid-19. Health Minister Robin Swann has said Northern Irelands Covid-19 tracing programme is designed for long-term use and he favours the adoption of a single contact tracing app to cover cross-border movement around the UK and Ireland. But Dr Bamford told the Belfast Telegraph's Coronavirus podcast that although he thinks it's the right time to plan the exit out of lockdown, Northern Ireland could see an uptick in the number of cases and the R value as restrictions lift. "After a couple of months [of lockdown] we have mostly controlled the virus," he said. "I'm a bit worried about lifting [lockdown] too soon because even though it did work, there is still a significant amount of virus still out there in the community in Northern Ireland, in Ireland and across the UK and it's just looking for an opportunity to come back. "We're going to need some form of contact tracing because the lockdown did work, but it didn't work as well as we had hoped because there is still virus out there and the all-important R number is floating around 0.8 and it's only going to get higher when we relieve aspects of lockdown," he said. Actively going after the virus with testing, contact tracing and then asking people to isolate has been highlighted as a really good strategy for eliminating the virus in the community, said Dr Bamford. But contact tracing is challenging in itself, he said. "You need a lot of really highly trained people to do it right and at the minute there might be even too many cases out there to be really effective. These digital apps could be effective if we got around these privacy concerns," he said. "At the moment in Northern Ireland [contact tracing] is done manually over the phone so that really requires you to know who your contacts are and contact details for them. So you can imagine with public transport or even as non-essential shopping becomes a bit more frequent, that's going to be even more difficult to do. This is why we really hope that this app will help us out." Dr Bamford said the key was to slowly and moderately exit lockdown and adjust timelines for opening hotels and shops according to the rate of infection in the community, as well as increasing contact tracing. "We might have to bring back some aspects of lockdown so I do think there will be an aspect of trial and error," he added. "The Covid-19 issue is not going away anytime soon and I think in the next couple of years we'll be hearing about it until we get this vaccine. "We're in a critical moment in what will be the history of our response to Covid-19. We really don't want to waste all that effort." Scientists and doctors are working on a combination of drugs that will eventually treat the virus directly to address the risk coronavirus might become immune to whatever treatment is found. "One day your drug worked really well and the next day it doesn't work so well," Dr Bamford said, highlighting how drugs for the flu were no longer effective. "We do recognise that it's difficult getting one antiviral treatment so getting two or even three might be a challenge." The Belfast Telegraph Coronavirus podcast is available on Spotify and Soundcloud. India on Thursday pledged $15 million to the international vaccine alliance Gavi, the Prime Minister's Office said. The amount was pledged as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which over 50 countries, business leaders, United Nations agencies, civil society, government ministers, heads of state and country leaders participated. In his address, Modi said India stands in solidarity with the world in these challenging times, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office. He said the COVID-19 pandemic, in someways, has 'exposed the limitations of global cooperation and that for the first time in recent history, the human kind faces a clear common enemy'. Referring to Gavi, he said it is not just a global alliance but also a symbol of global solidarity and a reminder that by helping others we can also help ourselves, according to the statement. Modi said India has a vast population and limited health facilities and that it understands the importance of immunisation. India's civilisation teaches to see the world as one family and that during this pandemic it had tried to live up to this teaching. He said India did it so by sharing the country's available stocks of medicines with over 120 countries, by forging a common response strategy in its immediate neighbourhood. Modi said New Delhi also provided specific support to countries that sought it, while also protecting India's own vast population. He said one of the first programmes launched by his government was Mission Indradhanush, which aims to ensure full vaccination of the country's children and pregnant women, including those in the remote parts of the vast nation. He said in order to expand protection, India has added six new vaccines to its National Immunisation Programme. The prime minister elaborated that India had digitised its entire vaccine supply line and developed an electronic vaccine intelligence network to monitor the integrity of its cold chain. These innovations are ensuring the availability of safe and potent vaccines in the right quantities at the right time till the last mile, he said. India is also the world's foremost producer of vaccines and that it is fortunate to contribute to the immunization of about 60 per cent of the world's children, he pointed out. Modi said India recognises and values the work of Gavi, that is why it became a donor to Gavi while still being eligible for Gavi support. He said India's support to Gavi is not only financial. India's huge demand also brings down the global price of vaccines for all, saving almost $400 million for GAVI over the past five years. He reiterated that India stands in solidarity with the world along with its proven capacity to produce quality medicines and vaccines at low cost. India not only has the capacity to contribute to the global health efforts, but also has the will to do so in a spirit of sharing and caring, the prime minister noted. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, helps vaccinate half the world's children against deadly and debilitating diseases, according to its Twitter handle. In a tweet, the alliance thanked Modi and the people of India for pledging $15 million. iStock/AndreyPopov(MINNEAPOLIS) -- BY: IVAN PEREIRA A Minneapolis judge remanded three of the four former officers involved in George Floyd's death on a million dollars bail during their first court appearance Thursday afternoon. Kiernan Lane, Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were all charged with second-degree aiding and abetting felony murder and second-degree aiding and abetting manslaughter in the death of the 46-year-old man. Former officer Derek Chauvin was arrested last week and initially charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, but those charges were upgraded to second-degree murder Wednesday. He is currently in jail on a $500,000 bond. Judge Paul Scoggin ordered the defendants could be released on a lower bail amount of $750,000 if they followed specific conditions: Work in no law enforcement capacity, surrender firearms, void firearm permits, no contact with the victim's family and agree to waive extradition should they leave the state. The former officers didn't enter pleas, but their attorneys each made a case for a lighter bail sentence, citing their ties to the community and cooperation with the investigation. Kuengs attorney offered his condolences to Floyds family. Their next court appearance is June 29. The cops arrested Floyd outside a convenience store on Memorial Day, which was captured on several cameras. Chauvin, 44, placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd said "I can't breathe," before he was killed, according to the criminal complaint. Lane, 37, allegedly held Floyd's legs down while Kueng, 26 allegedly held Floyd's back as Chauvin placed his knee, the criminal complaint said. Thao, 34, allegedly watched the entire incident with his hands in his pockets, according to the complaint. Earl Gray, Lane's attorney, said his client was a rookie officer on his fourth day on the force while Chauvin was a training officer. Kueng was also a rookie officer, according to Minneapolis police department records. Gray said his client asked Chuavin if it was OK to roll Floyd over. Chauvin, allegedly, refused to do so, according to the criminal complaint. "What is my client supposed to do other than follow what the training officer said?" Gray asked the judge. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, however, contended that Lane held down Floyd during the arrest. "That is the role of an aider and abettor," he said. ABC News' Whitney T. Lloyd contributed to this report. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. New Delhi, June 4 : The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that healthcare workers using appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) stand adequately protected against any potential exposure and subsequent infection due to Covid-19. In an affidavit, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said: "A healthcare worker properly protected by PPEs in workplace settings carries no additional risk to their families or children, as suggested or otherwise." The Centre said the number of Covid-19 cases is constantly increasing and at some point in time in the near future, apart from existing hospitals, a large number of temporary make-shift hospitals will have to be created. Therefore, conserving the healthcare workforce is needed in order to cater to the anticipated patient load. A petition filed by a doctor, Arushi Jain, stating that resident doctors in government hospitals, after they complete 7/14 days on duty, are supposed to be quarantined, but currently doctors are being quarantined in places where they share room and bathrooms. Jain's counsel insisted that the Centre must change this arrangement and instead ensure they are accommodated where social distancing is feasible. Jain also pointed out that proper PPEs are not available for the doctors involved in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. "The petitioner has not placed even an iota of evidence, whatsoever, that the doctors are being diagnosed positive for Covid-19 even after using adequate PPE, appropriately", said the Centre, insisting that in the absence of any empirical evidence, the contentions of the petitioner cannot be considered. The Centre informed the apex court that experts have declined to entertain suggestions/grievances made by the petitioner. The affidavit said its risk assessment approach is also in line with guidelines issued by Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, US that only high- risk exposure needs to be quarantined for 14 days. "Hence, mandatory quarantine of 14 days, after rostering duty of healthcare workers for 7/14 days is therefore not justified", added the affidavit. "It is submitted that as on date 99.34 lakh PPEs have been distributed by the Centre/states/UTs/Central institutions. Similarly, a total of 123.08 lakh N95 masks have been distributed by the Centre as on June 1. "All PPEs being procured are quality certified from nine designated labs of the Ministry of Textiles and Defence". The affidavit said the Health Ministry's advisory of May 15 for managing healthcare workers working in Covid and non-Covid areas of hospitals has been a step in the right direction. The Health Ministry said the petition deserves to be disposed of in view of the protocols which are already in place. The Health Ministry insisted that India being a member of WHO, it is obligatory on its part to consult WHO before promulgating any nationally applicable protocol/guidelines. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) T his summers music festival season has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, and organisers are facing an uncertain future. But the managing director of Festival Republic, Melvin Benn, has revealed his idea for helping the industry run "as normal" when events resume. The plan? Introduce compulsory coronavirus testing for prospective festival-goers. Speaking to the BBCs Newsbeat, Benn said that rather than imposing social distancing at festivals something which would make it "impossible for us to operate our businesses he believes events could operate if all attendees test negative for Covid-19 beforehand. "With that incentive, I think people will be really happy to start being tested. At the moment there is no incentive, he said. Festival Republic is responsible for some of the most popular music festivals in the UK, including Reading and Leeds, Wireless, Latitude and Download. More than half a million people normally attend the groups events throughout the year. Benn went on to say that under his proposals, people would be tested "within either seven or 14 days" before the event or "whichever length of time... the government determines is safe". Cancelled UK music festivals: All the new dates for postponed events 1 /34 Cancelled UK music festivals: All the new dates for postponed events Re-Textured, April 2-5 - POSTPONED New dates: 2021, exact dates TBC Mike Portlock Brixton Disco Festival, May 2 - RESCHEDULED New dates: October 10, 2020 The Great Escape, May 13-16 - RESCHEDULED New dates: May 12-15, 2021 Getty Images for Fender Musical We Are FSTVL, May 23-24 - RESCHEDULED New dates: September 12-13, 2020 Carolina Faruolo Love Saves the Day, May 23-24 - RESCHEDULED New dates: September 5-6, 2020 AFP/Getty Images Gala, May 23-24 - POSTPONED New dates: Organisers are "looking to move Gala 2020 towards the tail end of summer", exact dates TBC Khris Cowley All Points East, May 22-24 and 29-31 - POSTPONED New dates: 2021, exact dates TBC Junction 2, June 5-6 - RESCHEDULED New dates: June 4-5, 2021 Sam Neill Mighty Hoopla, June 6 - RESCHEDULED New date: June 5, 2021 Luke Dyson Cross The Tracks, June 7 - RESCHEDULED New date: June 6, 2021 Getty Images for Lung Transplant Isle of Wight , June 11-14 - RESCHEDULED New dates: June 17-20, 2021 Getty Images Gottwood, June 11-15 - POSTPONED New dates: June 2021, exact dates TBC Jake Davis for Here & Now Download , June 12-14 - RESCHEDULED New dates: June 4-6, 2021 PA Archive/PA Images Lovebox, June 12-14 - RESCHEDULED New dates: June 11-13, 2021 Getty Images Parklife, June 13-14 - RESCHEDULED New dates: June 12-13, 2021 PA Archive/PA Images Hampton Court Palace Festival, June 5-19 - POSTPONED New dates: June 2021, exact dates TBC Glastonbury, June 24-28 - POSTPONED New dates: 2021, exact dates TBC Getty Images British Summer Time at Hyde Park, various dates in July - POSTPONED New dates: 2021, exact dates TBC Getty Images for iHeartMedia Wireless , July 3-5 - RESCHEDULED New dates: July 2-4, 2021 Getty Images Love Supreme , July 3-5 - RESCHEDULED New dates: July 2-4, 2021 TRNSMT, July 10-12 - RESCHEDULED New dates: July 9-11, 2021 Getty Images Latitude, July 16-19 - POSTPONED New dates: July 2021, exact dates TBC Getty Images WOMAD, July 23-26 - POSTPONED New dates: July 2021, exact dates TBC AFP via Getty Images Naked City, July 25 - RESCHEDULED New date: July 24, 2021 Boomtown, August 12-16 - RESCHEDULED New dates: August 11-15, 2021 Scott Salt Reading and Leeds - RESCHEDULED New dates: August bank holiday, 2021 Charles Reagan Hackleman The idea would be dependent on changes to government guidelines and significant support with regard to home testing. Tests are currently only available to people showing symptoms, while social distancing regulations stipulate that people cannot gather in groups of more than six. The organisation has had no formal talks with the government about the suggested measures, and Benn said "there's no indication yet of a willingness to accept the plan". Meanwhile, a recent study found that more than 80 per cent of fans would feel comfortable attending a music festival within six months of lockdown being lifted. The city of Midland Health Department is currently conducting its investigation on five new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Midland County, bringing the overall case count to 146. With these five cases, 17 have been confirmed since Monday, according to information from the city. For the 145th and 146th confirmed cases, source of exposure was travel to New Braunfels. The patients both females in their 30s -- were tested by private provider and are isolating at home. One of the women is an employee at Midland Health and last worked on Wednesday. Employee Health is following up and monitoring employees with known contact. No patients were exposed, according to a press release from the city. KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A lot of powerful images coming out of the recent protests in Kansas City. One of them came Monday night, when a young man dressed as Spider-Man made an impassioned plea to Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Quinton Lucas, to join them and march. WHOs chief scientist said We owe it to patients to have a definitive answer on whether or not a drug works.' The World Health Organization will resume its trial of hydroxychloroquine for potential use against the coronavirus, its chief said on Wednesday, after those running the study briefly stopped giving it to new patients over health concerns. The U.N. agency last month paused the part of its large study of treatments against COVID-19 in which newly enrolled patients were getting the anti-malarial drug to treat COVID-19 due to fears it increased death rates and irregular heartbeats. The study continued with other medicines. But the WHOs director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said its experts had advised the continuation of all trials including hydroxychloroquine, whose highest-profile backer for use against the coronavirus is US President Donald Trump. The executive group will communicate with the principal investigators in the trial about resuming the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial, Tedros told an online media briefing, referring to WHOs initiative to hold clinical tests of potential COVID-19 treatments on some 3,500 patients in 35 countries. The WHOs decision to suspend its trial prompted others to follow suit, including Sanofi, which said on 29 May it was suspending recruitment for its trials. A Sanofi spokesman said the company would review available information and run consultations in the coming days to reassess its position following the WHOs latest decision on Wednesday. The WHOs chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, called for other trials of the drug to proceed. We owe it to patients to have a definitive answer on whether or not a drug works, she said, adding that safety monitoring should also continue. Swaminathan said the WHO would be keen to see more results of clinical trials of Avifavir, a drug she said would be used to treat COVID-19 in Russian hospitals very soon. In the same virtual briefing, WHO officials said they were especially worried about outbreaks in Latin America and in Haiti, one of the worlds poorest nations, where infections have been spreading rapidly. The coronavirus has infected almost 3 million people in the Americas and more than 6.43 million worldwide. Also Read: Hydroxychloroquine sustained dose and PPE can reduce COVID-19 risk in healthcare workers, ICMR study says Two studies that showed Hydroxychloroquine's negative effects on COVID-19 patients are being called into question Victorias high-flying former aviation minister Gordon Rich-Phillips repeatedly took to the skies during the pandemic lockdown, travelling more than 3000 kilometres while the rest of the state was ordered to stay home. Mr Rich-Phillips, a keen pilot and proud owner of a Beechcraft F33A light plane, has defended his conduct, saying all of his flights were either taken for work or consistent with health department advice on the use of "hobby planes". Liberal MP Gordon Rich-Phillips, who has flown through the COVID-19 lockdown, pictured here in a flight simulator in 2012. Credit:John Woudstra "As the shadow minister for aviation it's my job to visit regional airports and all trips have been consistent with the COVID directions," he said. The Department of Health and Human Services last night said the hobby plane guidelines were intended to cover remote-control or toy planes, not private or commercial aircraft. New results from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope suggest the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the early Universe took place sooner than previously thought. A European team of astronomers have found no evidence of the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, when the Universe was less than one billion years old.This artist's impression presents the early Universe. Credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser. New results from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope suggest the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the early Universe took place sooner than previously thought. A European team of astronomers have found no evidence of the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, as far back as when the Universe was just 500 million years old. The exploration of the very first galaxies remains a significant challenge in modern astronomy. We do not know when or how the first stars and galaxies in the Universe formed. These questions can be addressed with the Hubble Space Telescope through deep imaging observations. Hubble allows astronomers to view the Universe back to within 500 million years of the Big Bang. A team of European researchers, led by Rachana Bhatawdekar of the European Space Agency, set out to study the first generation of stars in the early Universe. Known as Population III stars, these stars were forged from the primordial material that emerged from the Big Bang. Population III stars must have been made solely out of hydrogen, helium and lithium, the only elements that existed before processes in the cores of these stars could create heavier elements, such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and iron. Bhatawdekar and her team probed the early Universe from about 500 million to 1 billion years after the Big Bang by studying the cluster MACSJ0416 and its parallel field with the Hubble Space Telescope (with supporting data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory). "We found no evidence of these first-generation Population III stars in this cosmic time interval" said Bhatawdekar of the new results. The result was achieved using the Hubble's Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, as part of the Hubble Frontier Fields programme. This programme (which observed six distant galaxy clusters from 2012 to 2017) produced the deepest observations ever made of galaxy clusters and the galaxies located behind them which were magnified by the gravitational lensing effect, thereby revealing galaxies 10 to 100 times fainter than any previously observed. The masses of foreground galaxy clusters are large enough to bend and magnify the light from the more distant objects behind them. This allows Hubble to use these cosmic magnifying glasses to study objects that are beyond its nominal operational capabilities. Bhatawdekar and her team developed a new technique that removes the light from the bright foreground galaxies that constitute these gravitational lenses. This allowed them to discover galaxies with lower masses than ever previously observed with Hubble, at a distance corresponding to when the Universe was less than a billion years old. At this point in cosmic time, the lack of evidence for exotic stellar populations and the identification of many low-mass galaxies supports the suggestion that these galaxies are the most likely candidates for the reionisation of the Universe. This period of reionisation in the early Universe is when the neutral intergalactic medium was ionised by the first stars and galaxies. "These results have profound astrophysical consequences as they show that galaxies must have formed much earlier than we thought," said Bhatawdekar. "This also strongly supports the idea that low-mass/faint galaxies in the early Universe are responsible for reionisation." These results also suggest that the earliest formation of stars and galaxies occurred much earlier than can be probed with the Hubble Space Telescope. This leaves an exciting area of further research for the upcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescopeto study the Universe's earliest galaxies. Explore further Hubble captures a dozen Sunburst Arc doppelgangers More information: These results are based on a previous 2019 paper by Bhatawdekar et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS). Journal information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society These results are based on a previous 2019 paper by Bhatawdekar et al. doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz866 (Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/1807.07580 ) and a paper that will appear in an upcoming issue of the). Two teenage girls have been charged in connection with the murder of an Irish teenager who fell to his death from a balcony in Australia. Cian English, 19, originally from, Bullock Park, Carlow Town but who was living with his parents Siobhan and Vinny and older brother Dylan, in the eastern Brisbane suburb of Hawthorne, suffered traumatic injuries when he fell from a balcony at the View Pacific resort in Surfer's Paradise at around 3.15am on Saturday, May 23. The teenager fell to his death when he was allegedly being robbed at knifepoint following an apartment party where it is alleged three men, already charged with his murder, were high on drugs. He attempted to escape but tragically fell from the fourth-floor balcony. Australian media is reporting that Queensland Police announced that two teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, face charges in connection with the young mans death due what they describe as being, actively at the scene. Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith said mobile phone footage had led them to arrest the two teenage girls. We have a 19-year-old male who has died tragically and we have people who don't seem to care, Mr Smith explained The investigations this week have led to additional video on a phone belonging to some of the offenders which clearly show there is no remorse. Some of the post-offence conduct is reprehensible. Police are alleging the group stole from an unconscious person at the scene. Det Supt Smith added: It is about time everyone in the community said enough is enough and we pull these people up about their behaviour and their attitudes. Three men are already charged with Mr Englishs murder, Jason Ryan Knowles, 22, Hayden Paul Kratzmann, 20, and Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 18, and have been remanded in custody until August 4 when their cases will be mentioned in court. They also face two charges of armed robbery and two counts of deprivation of liberty, on the Gold Coast located 74kms away from Brisbane. The girls were arrested this morning and have also been charged with armed robbery, deprivation of liberty, torture and stealing. Det Supt Smith said police would allege the two girls were aiding or encouraging an offence. (Police allege) it is clear they were actively encouraging. I think the community would expect people that encourage this sort of behaviour are held to task and that is what we are doing today. We will be alleging (the group) have seen him go over the verandah. They have looked down and saw he is obviously deceased and then they have stolen clothing off this unconscious male on the verandah. It really is ... it is beyond belief these people behave like this. This gangster attitude has to stop. "For some reason, they (young people) think it is cool to have that gangster mindset and they have got to carry a knife to be cool. Cian English was cremated following a ceremony in Brisbane on Wednesday. An additional service will be held in the Cathedral of the Assumption Carlow at a later date when his ashes are brought back to Ireland. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 23:45:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW YORK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer was stabbed and two other officers shot in Brooklyn borough late Wednesday night, and the authorities are investigating whether it's a terrorism-incited attack, local media reported on Thursday. The suspect, a 20-year-old man from Brooklyn, slashed an officer in the neck at around 11:45 p.m. (0345 GMT on Thursday) when two officers were patrolling in a police car as the city was in the third night of curfew. Several officers responded to the scene and found the suspect had grabbed a gun from an officer. During a scuffle for the gun, two officers were shot in the hand. The suspect was eventually struck by a sergeant who arrived later. It's currently unclear whether the two officers were shot by the suspect or by friendly fire during the chaos. The three injured officers were rushed to a nearby hospital and in stable condition, authorities said, while the suspect was in critical condition. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea called the incident "a complete cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer," at a press conference early Thursday. Local news channel ABC 7 reported that the NYPD and the FBI are working to determine whether the incident is linked to home-grown terrorism or another case of street violence that erupted in recent nights of protests over George Floyd's death. The suspect had no prior criminal record, while a source with NYPD told local channel NBC4 that he shared anti-police sentiments on social media accounts recently. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) New York office said on Twitter Thursday morning that they are "fully engaged." "We respond as if one of our own was attacked, and we will use every federal statute available to hold the perpetrator accountable," said FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney. Enditem PM Modi holds first-ever virtual summit with Australia PM; Focus on closer bond India oi-Briti Roy Barman New Delhi, June 04: Prime Minister of India on Thursday held first-ever virtual summit with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison where the two leaders have discussed the broad framework of bilateral strategic ties and exploring ways to expand cooperation in areas of trade and defence. This is the first time that Modi is holding a "bilateral" virtual summit with a foreign leader. During the virtual conversation, PM Modi conveyed his condolences to the COVID-19 affected people in Australia. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News "On behalf of the whole of India, I express my condolences to the COVID-19 affected people in Australia", PM Modi told Morrison. Coronavirus: India reports 9,304 new COVID-19 cases; 260 deaths in the last 24 hours While talking about the Indo-Aussie tie PM Modi said, "This is perfect time to further strengthen relations between India and Australia. There are endless opportunities to strengthen our friendship, it also brings with it challenges to turn this potential into reality, how our relation becomes a factor of stability for the region". PM Modi also assured Morrison that our country is committed to strengthening its relations with Australia. PM said, "India is committed to strengthening its relations with Australia, it is not only important for our two nations but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the whole world". "We share an ocean & we share responsibility for that ocean as well, its health, well being & security. The relationship we are forming around those issues on our maritime domain, I think is the platform for so many other things between our countries", said Scott Morrison. Meanwhile, a list of nine documents have been signed during the meet. Nine documents have been announced/signed during India- Australia Virtual Summit today attended by PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Scott Morrison. pic.twitter.com/NsWaYoP3Qb ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020 While about discussing the coronavirus pandemic Modi said, "Our govt has taken the decision to view this COVID19 crisis as an opportunity. In India, a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all areas. Very soon its result will be seen at the ground level". Referring to the health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan's taking charge as WHO's executive board Morrison said, "I commend India on its leadership on taking Chair of WHO's executive board. This is a very important time to be chairing that board & I have no doubt that India's leadership will be critical in dealing with difficult problems globally particularly in the health area". In 2009, the relationship between the two nations was upgraded to a strategic partnership level and since the time both countries have expanded their cooperation in a range of key areas. Australia recognised India as the "pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries" and a "front-rank partner of Australia", in its White Paper on Foreign Policy on 2017. The crowd assembles, waiting for others to arrive before the start of a protest march from Galvez Plaza to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge on Sunday, May 31, 2020, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Dept. officer. Gateway's legacy of addressing SDoH, which refers to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, can be traced back to the start of the company more than 27 years ago. The new Wholecare brand platform fully embraces this commitment to whole person care. The new brand features a modern visual style, a warm color palette, refreshed logo and more vibrant imagery that complement the mission-driven messaging. "Taking a holistic approach to our members' care continues to be at the core of who we are at Gateway Health. Given the health and economic impact of COVID-19, we believe now is the right time when the community needs us the most to bring our new brand to life. The events of the past week have also brought critical racial equality issues to the forefront of the national discussion. Driven by our mission, we will continue to play a leading role in improving health and socioeconomic equality in the communities we serve," said Cain Hayes, President & CEO of Gateway Health. "For many years now, we have carefully considered members' physical, mental and socioeconomic health while coordinating their personalized care. Whether it's providing them with assistance for housing, food, employment, or transportation, we're here to guide them every step of the way of their healthcare journey. Our new Wholecare brand identity proudly reflects this promise in both our external marketing materials and internal company culture." New Culture Platform Provides a Roadmap for Associates Gateway's efforts to redefine its new brand include the unveiling of a new mission, vision and values for its more than 1,000 associates. Mission: Our mission is to care for the whole person in all communities where the need is greatest Our mission is to care for the whole person in all communities where the need is greatest Vision: We see a future in which everyone has equal opportunity to achieve their best health We see a future in which everyone has equal opportunity to achieve their best health Values: Embrace Challenges, Be Accountable, Have Heart, Do Good and Celebrate Differences "In a rapidly changing healthcare marketplace, it's essential that Gateway has a set of values that truly reflects our unique culture and increases associate engagement," said Phil Barr, Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer at Gateway Health. "In building our new brand identity from the ground up, we wanted to ensure our associates have a roadmap about the types of behaviors that will help us provide best-in-class service to our members, providers and the community. With our new mission, vision and values as our north star, we are confident that we have the right tools in place to deliver on our brand promise and achieve our strategic priorities." To learn more about Gateway's new Wholecare brand platform, mission, vision and values, go to https://www.gatewayhealthplan.com/about-gateway-health and watch the new "Business of Caring" video here. Committing Over $1 Million to Address SDoH and Support Community Partnerships As part of its commitment to caring for the "total health" of the community, Gateway Health today announced its plan to commit more than $1 million to support non-profit organizations, community partners and SDoH causes in 2020. In a recent contribution, Gateway Health made a significant donation to the American Heart Association's (AHA) Emergency Healthy Food Access Program, a key initiative of the AHA's COVID-19 response efforts. Recent statistics from the American College of Cardiology show that 40 percent of people hospitalized with COVID-19 had cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease (stroke). According to the American Heart Association, "Access to healthy food is the basis of health, cardiovascular disease prevention and healthy life expectancy." Many of the areas where Gateway Health members live have been hit especially hard by the economic challenges associated with COVID-19, including food insecurities. Gateway Health's donation to this important relief effort will assist communities across Pennsylvania. They will be able to expand access to much needed healthy food options in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The donation also supports ongoing nutrition education and resources in these areas. "Protecting the most vulnerable members of the neighborhoods where we live and work has never been more important," said Mr. Hayes. "Our donation to the American Heart Association will directly help low-income seniors and other vulnerable individuals in the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Central Pennsylvania communities get the food options they need to stay healthy during these uncertain times." Additionally, Gateway Health is pleased to support other SDoH causes, such as job training opportunities and education. Gateway Health continues to help to break the cycle of poverty while setting individuals on a path to greater financial freedom by recently making a donation to the A. Philip Randolph Institute, which specializes in providing valuable employment training to the community. Gateway Health's donation covered salaries for the organization's community outreach staff. The company also made a donation to Project Destiny on the North Side of Pittsburgh to provide childcare for parents attending the Community College of Allegheny County. About Gateway Health At Gateway Health, we believe in caring for the whole person in all communities where the need is greatest. We see a future in which everyone has equal opportunity to achieve their best health. Through our leading Medicaid and Medicare programs, Gateway Health is coordinating healthcare that goes beyond doctors and medicine that helps members achieve not just physical health, but also delivers whole person care. Our associates are helping to drive this new kind of healthcare in collaboration with a network of 29,000 primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, and other ancillary providers. Gateway Health is also committed to supporting our neighbors through our many community outreach and engagement programs. SOURCE Gateway Health Plan Related Links http://gatewayhealthplan.com/ Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I have never felt less qualified to write a Daily Article than I do this morning. I am a white person who has never faced a single moment of racial discrimination in my 61 years of life. As a result, I cannot pretend to understand what it is like to be unfairly treated because of the color of my skin. I grew up in a middle-class community. As a result, I cannot understand what it is like to despair of a better financial future. I have never been treated unfairly by the criminal justice system. As a result, I cannot understand what it is like to fear the police and the courts. I do not own or work at a business affected by the violence of recent days. As a result, I cannot understand what it is like to see my dreams and future destroyed in response to a tragic death in Minneapolis for which I am not at fault. Fortunately, I do not write the Daily Article to offer my personal opinions. My mission is to help us interpret the news of the day in cultural and biblical context. This morning, I will draw on expert guides to help us do both. Three explanations As I wrote last month, the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day was a horrible tragedy. Our Father hates racism and demands that we value each other as he loves us (Genesis 1:28; Galatians 3:28). Cities across America have seen mass demonstrations following Mr. Floyds death. The entire Washington, D.C., National Guard was called in to respond to protests outside the White House and elsewhere in the nations capital. In New York, six rioters repeatedly beat a woman with metal pipes, 2x4 planks and metal ladder as she tried to protect a business downstairs. At least 40 cities have imposed curfews. Writing for Bloomberg Opinion, John Authers examines the way Americans are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I believe his insights apply just as perceptively to the crisis unfolding across our country after George Floyds tragic death. Authers utilizes the work of British political philosopher Steven Lukes to describe three schools of thought at work in our society. Each of them helps explain the unrest embroiling our cities. Utilitarians seek the greatest good for the greatest number. This is the impulse behind majority-rule democracy. However, this approach can put minority populations at risk, a fact experienced by many racial minorities across our nations history. Communitarians want us to do what advances the common good within our community. But when your communitys common good conflicts with mine, what do we do? Some are justifying the violence of recent days as necessary to effect change, even if minority-owned and operated businesses are among the victims of such violence. In this view, previous calls for change have gone unheeded, requiring an escalating response that causes majority populations to feel the pain of minority victims. Libertarians insist that individual freedom is paramount. But as Authers notes, when citizens are left alone, many are left to sleep on the street, city centers are full of sleaze, and a few rich people benefit from gambling. Each of these viewpoints is foundational to American society. Can they be reconciled? According to Isaiah Berlin, the twentieth-century British philosopher and essayist, the answer is no. Responses to George Floyds death are making his point. Some minorities feel they must demonstrate in large numbers to bring about change with the utilitarian majority. Some are willing to march (and some even to perpetuate violence) in other communities to make themselves heard. Many are protesting the libertarian lack of resources and compassion for people in need. Jesus solution I began todays Daily Article by admitting that I do not know what it is like to experience racial discrimination, face systemic poverty, encounter injustice, or suffer as an innocent victim of violence. But Jesus does. He lived his life as a Jew under Roman occupation. He was so impoverished that he had nowhere to lay his head (Luke 9:58). After his arrest, he was subjected to what has been called the most unjust trial in human history. He suffered and died in innocence (Isaiah 53:9; Hebrews 4:15), atoning for sins he did not commit to purchase our salvation (Romans 5:8). As a result, Jesus has the moral authority to speak to this crisis in a way I do not. For the next few days, well discuss his example and teachings as we seek his guidance together. For today, lets consider the single sentence that is often considered his foundational ethical principle: Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12). This one maxim provides a way forward through the scourge of racism and violence in our day. And it reconciles the utilitarian, communitarian, and libertarian conflicts so endemic to our culture. Consider: If every person did to others what they would want to be done to them, would racial prejudice exist? Or police brutality? Or violent responses? Would a single person have ever been enslaved in this land or any other? Would even one of the 40.3 million people enslaved in the world today be victims? Would the majority oppress the minority? Would members of one community oppress members of another? Would a single individual be left to face our fallen world alone? This piece was originally published at the Denison Forum T om Bradby has reported from war zones, conducted sensitive and seismic interviews with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and as well as presenting ITVs News at Ten for five years, hosted its election night show, which today was nominated for a Bafta. He speaks so openly about the three months in 2018 when he was signed off work with insomnia, that people come up to him in the street asking him for advice about their own mental health. The only time Bradby, 53, is flustered during our interview is when he is talking about writing the sex scenes in his new novel, Double Agent, the second in a trilogy. It is told from the point of view of Kate, an MI6 officer who is told the prime minister is a Russian agent. Its definitely interesting writing a sex scene from a female point of view as a man, he says warily. You think, erm OK, this could go wrong. Right on cue his wife Claudia, a jewellery designer, comes in to their Hampshire home and waves in the background of our FaceTime call. My wife would have a view on whether it was cringeworthy and tell me, Woah, theres no way youre writing that. Bradby is dressed down in a navy T-shirt. His wife has cut his hair, which attracted a lot of comments on Twitter. Is it better than his colleague Robert Pestons? Thats a whole other story. But Ive found doing my own make-up hilarious. I dont have a future as a make-up artist. Hes finding socially distant work challenging. Presenting the first Brexit story in months he realised he was even nostalgic for the time that was all we had to worry about. You cant have a laugh with a colleague at two metres distance. Being distanced is just not how weve been brought up to behave. At the same time his job has never mattered more. In the 30 years Ive been at ITN its never felt so important. There are the usual things, holding the Government to account, telling the truth, trying to give context and analysis. You have a lot of people at home, anxious, wanting information. It matters that its not relentless doom and gloom. This is the greatest crisis of my lifetime but if there is potential for something hopeful we want to let people know. It has even changed how we see the royal family. The Queen nailed the mood at the beginning with her address to the nation, but this isnt a crisis where people are thinking about the royals theyre thinking about not getting ill, keeping their jobs. We just want to know what the hell we should do. The royal family have been remarkably open with Bradby since he interviewed an 18-year-old Harry about his mother. Bradby was a guest at his wedding to Meghan, although he forgot the second anniversary of that lovely day last month. Getty Images The clip of Meghan saying Im not OK in his 2019 documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey was viewed more than 23 million times. He says his mental health problems changed how he approached speaking to them. His wife advised him on the tone when he was struggling with it; she told him to just be human. Harry and Meghan have had a tumultuous time, he says. Everyone needs a break, including me. It was a psychologically complex journey making the documentary. I hope they are fine. I know a fair amount of people involved and it wasnt easy for them. Theyve taken a big step and made it clear they want a different life. Good luck to them. Hes writing the third book in the trilogy at the moment and its such lovely escapism. Writing a female character came easily. I was very close to my mother. Im an only child and my father was away a lot, so the female perspective felt natural. And the story seemed more interesting told by a woman Kate is in that squeezed generation, looking after her mother and her teenage children but also doing this epically important job dealing with national security. Shes pulled in different directions. He acknowledges that I couldnt have had the career Ive had if my wife hadnt been willing to allow me to disappear at the drop of a hat and pick up the domestic slack. What does he think can be done to support women at work? Were heading to a world thats essentially the Danish model, he says, adding a caveat, I havent spent that much time in Denmark but everything will be easier when it is 50/50 in the workplace. The MeToo backlash made me angry people said things were different then and I thought, no, thats absolute bollocks. Its just that men got away with more and were in a more dominant position. We as a sex are getting our comeuppance finally. Bradby wrote the first book about Kate, Secret Service, in that frenetic period before he was signed off work. Reading it now its clear to me that Kate then had a fevered state of mind and is heading for a dangerous cliff edge. That was happening in my life but I didnt have the self-knowledge to see Id effectively created an alter ego with Kate. He went through three months of hard work seeing his psychiatrist every week. You go into it spectacularly ignorant otherwise you wouldnt have had the crisis and you have to shut down some of your operating systems and reboot them, totally transforming your life. You come out very different. Online yoga classes with YouTube phenomenon Adriene five times a day brought my body down from its permanent state of high alert. I was flooded with adrenaline and cortisone, so depleted and with a sense of nameless dread I couldnt shake. Id come out of a session and feel that high agitation had gone. Lets say you have a boss you dont get on with, youll pump yourself full of chemicals as if youre dealing with a threat but there is no physical threat. Thats where yoga helps. The clip of Meghan saying Im not OK in his 2019 documentary has been seen more than 23 million times It was the death of his mother, a teacher, of liver cancer in 2012, and then his father in 2016 of a heart attack, that triggered his insomnia. I dont know if its because Im an only child but I was wrestling with the big questions of life and if you spend your whole life worrying about what threat is going to come tomorrow, you cant. He draws a parallel with Covid. This pandemic has stripped our collective sense of security. We all want to feel physically, emotionally and financially secure; this is a big hammer blow to that. Before he was signed off, his achievements never felt enough. You sweat massively that your book is on the bestseller list, then the next time you sweat that its going to be number one. You spend most of your life thinking about outcomes rather than the journey. Bradby faced risk daily as a foreign correspondent and was injured in the leg by a rocket flare while covering riots in Jakarta in 1999 just like in my favourite film about journalism, The Year of Living Dangerously, which made me decide to be a foreign correspondent. I remember thinking, why is Mel Gibsons journalist character leaving Jakarta, hes getting to the key, then when I was shot I understood. Bradby realises that it was hard on his wife and three children. I had a family and I couldnt sell running off to dangerous places as responsible. There are seven in the household, including two of his childrens partners, and they have a strict cooking and cleaning rota. Bradby is a newly enthusiastic chef and trying Ottolenghi recipes. Every morning since he became ill hes drunk goats milk kefir. Im not saying its the elixir of life and I wont get Covid, he smiles. But the biome of your stomach matters and I havent had any physical illness since I was off. He tries not to drink alcohol on days hes working, its easier if you just have a rule that you dont even if youre tempted by a whisky, then I tend to slightly overdo it on days Im off. Being in lockdown with his family has been one good thing about the pandemic. I feel for my children who are back from university, their lives are on hold indefinitely. I think Ive enjoyed being locked down with my children more than they have. My life isnt that different, I still go to work. New Delhi : Central government employees can claim LTC if they travel to Jammu & Kashmir by any airline for two more years till September 25, 2018. To boost tourism in Jammu & Kashmir, the government has decided to extend the facility to travel by any airline to visit Jammu & Kashmir on LTC under the Special Dispensation Scheme for central government employees for a period of two years beyond September 25, 2016, an official statement said. Earlier in June, the government had permitted its employees to travel to Jammu & Kashmir by private airlines till September 2016. Rules till then allowed government employees to travel by Air India only. A government employee gets to and fro journey cost reimbursed when he avails of LTC. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Albany, N.Y. Insurers must act on claims from looted New York businesses faster than usual, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. Cuomo said hes directing insurers to expedite resolution and repayment of all claims from looted businesses and to provide free mediation of any disputes. Insurers must also accept photos as reasonable proof of loss, Cuomo said. That means businesses wont have to wait for police reports to file claims. Businesses will also be allowed to make immediate repairs if needed to protect health or safety. Businesses across the state have been looted in recent days amid widespread unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, a black man, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder. Three other officers have also been charged in connection with the death. Floyds death set off protests against police violence across the country. While most have been peaceful, looting and vandalism has taken place in multiple areas, including New York City. Several people were charged in connection with looting and property damage that took place in downtown Syracuse on Saturday. Protests in the city since then have been peaceful. Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 An Indian-American businessman, who opened the doors of his home here to over 70 people demonstrating against the custodial killing of George Floyd, has emerged as a hero after he rescued the strangers from the clutches of the police, fed them and made sure they were safe in his house, PTI reported citing US media. The death of 46-year-old African-American George Floyd last week in Minneapolis has led to one of the biggest civic unrest in the history of America. Rahul Dubey, who has been living in Washington DC for the last 17 years, accommodated a large number of people in his ... New Yorkers arrested by police during the George Floyd protests say the NYPD have packed them into holding cells without masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. The concerns come as critics have blasted the NYPD's decision to detain persons arrested for misdemeanor offenses during the protests, rather than issue them summonses. Among the people arrested in New York City, since protests broke out across the country over the police-related slaying of Floyd on Memorial Day, was Marti Gould Cumming. Gould, who said he was protesting peacefully, posted on Instagram that he was held overnight after the Tuesday arrest, saying there were 'no clean masks' and that police also were not wearing facial covering. New Yorkers like Marti Gould Cumming say they were arrested by police during the George Floyd protests and placed close together without masks, and that holding cells provided little room for social distancing to protect against the spread of the coronavirus Pictured are cops in an image caught on video taken by an observer when officers moved in to arrest Cummings and others during a George Floyd protest on Tuesday In another image caught on video taken by an observer cops swarm over the protesters Gould posted on Instagram that he was held overnight after the Tuesday arrest, saying there were 'no clean masks' and that police also were not wearing facial covering In an interview with CBS 2, Gould provided more details. He explained that he was in a peaceful protest along Manhattan's Westside Highway when cops came and made their arrests. 'We were then put in a hallway, about 100 of us at a time, shoulder to shoulder with no mask, no social distancing, Gould Cummings told the news outlet. 'They are putting the public at risk, says Gould, a drag queen, comedian and activist who is running for city council. 'Not only for their brutality, he adds, referring to police, 'but their lack of compassion and understanding that there is a pandemic out there happening.' An NYPD spokesperson was not immediately available when DailyMail.com reached out for comment. Critics say the NYPD's handling of arrests could have potentially deadly consequences. 'Our clients are very worried about that. We have seen that jails have been incubators and epicenters of this virus,' attorney Corey Stoughton with the Legal Aid Society tells CBS 2. Critics say the NYPD's handling of arrests could have potentially deadly consequences. 'Our clients are very worried about that. We have seen that jails have been incubators and epicenters of this virus,' says attorney Corey Stoughton with the Legal Aid Society (pictured) So far, there have been more than 201,800 confirmed cases in New York City of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 16,933 deaths and another 4,755 probably deaths. Across the US, there have been 1,852,561 confirmed cases and more than 107,000 deaths. More than 13,000 people have been arrested while protesting around the nation this week, which experts warn could trigger a second wave of COVID-19. Many protestors have been seen ignoring social distancing guidelines and not wearing protective gear such as masks. Experts warn that the shouting and running around that occurs at many demonstrations could lead to even greater virus transmission. 'We know that shouting, yelling projects respiratory droplets much farther than just talking, and these people are of course less than six feet away from each other. And so, my concern is yes, there's going to be a tremendous amount of transmission,' Dr. Len Horovitz of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York says. Experts warn that the shouting and running around that occurs at many demonstrations could lead to even greater virus transmission. 'We know that shouting, yelling projects respiratory droplets much farther than just talking, and these people are of course less than six feet away from each other,' says Dr. Len Horovitz (pictured) of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York Additionally, many people attending these protests are people of color, minorities who have been disproportionately affected by COVID, noted Dr William Schaefer, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told DailyMail.com. 'That puts those populations at greater risk and those people can bring the virus home with them,' Schaefer said. 'There's no doubt that we are concerned that this may contribute to spikes of increased infections here and there because it comes at the time when we are all 'opening our society' as we are going out. On Saturday, in Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti, warned the protests could become 'super-spreading events' if people don't practice social distancing or take other preventive measures such as wearing masks. Protesters are pictured in a huge crowd near City Hall in Los Angeles this week. Mayor Eric Garcetti, warned the protests could become 'super-spreading events' if people don't practice social distancing or take other preventive measures such as wearing masks These events occur when a single person, who sheds a great deal of the virus for unknown reasons, infects several people at one time. Schaffner says there have been 'super-spreading' events during the pandemic after large groups of people have come together. One example is in South Korea, where a woman went to China, came back infected and then attended a large event at her church. 'There was a huge gathering at this religious service where social distancing was not observed even though it was already recommended,' he said. 'And she was indeed a super-spreader and spread it to a large number of people, creating the first major introduction of COVID into South Korea.' In another instance in Washington state, after someone ill attended choir practice, 52 of the 61 people there became sick. According to Skagit County Public Health, 32 were confirmed to have COVID-19 and 20 had symptoms consistent with the virus. Schaffner says a super-spreader might not know they're infected and think their coughing is from the protest. 'If you suddenly start coughing, and you've been exposed to tear gas and pepper spray, you may just ascribe your cough to those kinds of exposures rather than attributing them to perhaps COVID infection,' he said. 'So they could easily put themselves in a position where they infect a large number of people.' MISSING: One of the last pictures taken of toddler Madeleine McCann A spokesperson for the German police involved in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has said: "We are assuming that the girl is dead". Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutors Office, said: In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on May 3 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder. With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and hes already serving a long sentence. He said the suspect was regularly living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, where he worked jobs in the gastronomy business, but funded his lifestyle by committing crimes, including thefts in hotel complexes and apartments, as well as drug dealing. Read More He added: The Braunschweig prosecution is now concerned because before going abroad he last had his residence in Braunschweig. Other people may have concrete knowledge of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, German police said as they revealed a child sex offender is the prime suspect. The man, who has been partially identified by German media, was described as white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft with a slim build at the time she vanished on May 3 2007. Expand Close File photo dated 3/5/2008 of Kate and Gerry McCann leave St. Mary & St. John Rothley Parish Church, Rothley, Leicestershire, after a service to mark the first anniversary of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance in Praia Da Luz, Portugal: Rui Vieira/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp File photo dated 3/5/2008 of Kate and Gerry McCann leave St. Mary & St. John Rothley Parish Church, Rothley, Leicestershire, after a service to mark the first anniversary of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance in Praia Da Luz, Portugal: Rui Vieira/PA Wire Christian Hoppe, from Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told the countrys ZDF television channel the 43-year-old is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for sexual contact with girls. German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported the suspect was carrying out a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005. The newspaper said he was convicted of the offence in Braunschweig district court in December last year. German magazine Der Spiegel reported he was extradited from Portugal in 2017 and initially convicted of drug trafficking. Mr Hoppe said German police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine, which is being treated as murder by the BKA. He added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie before spontaneously kidnapping her. Expand Close Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed. PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed. PA Wire A BKA appeal said: There is reason to assume that there are other persons, apart from the suspect, who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left. The German national is known to have been in and around the area on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine went missing shortly before her fourth birthday. A half-hour phone call was made to his Portuguese mobile phone around an hour before Madeleine is believed to have gone missing. The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007. Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleines disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after May 3. He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007. The day after Madeleine went missing, the suspect had the car re-registered in Germany under someone elses name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal. Both vehicles have been seized by German police, who said there is information to suggest the suspect may have used one of them in an offence. The BKA is also appealing for other potential victims to come forward. Scotland Yard is launching a joint appeal with the BKA and the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria (PJ), including a 20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible of Madeleines disappearance. Expand Close Gerry and Kate McCann hold an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl Photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gerry and Kate McCann hold an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl Photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire Read More The Mets investigation has identified more than 600 people as potentially significant and were tipped off about the German national, already known to detectives, following a 2017 appeal 10 years after she went missing. She vanished shortly before her fourth birthday and would have turned 17 last month. German police are treating her disappearance as a murder investigation but the Mets Operation Grange, launched in 2013, has always considered the case a missing person inquiry. A statement from Madeleines parents, read by Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, said: We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter Madeleine. We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine. All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. We will be making no further comment in relation to the appeal today. We would like to thank the general public for their ongoing support and encourage anyone who has information directly related to the appeal to contact police. Mr Cranwell told reporters on Wednesday that he was taking the really unusual step of releasing two mobile phone numbers as part of the appeal. The first, (+351) 912 730 680, is believed to have been used by the suspect and received a call from another Portuguese mobile, (+351) 916 510 683, while in the Praia da Luz area, starting at 7.32pm and ending at 8.02pm on the night of May 3 2007. Madeleine is believed to have disappeared between 9.10pm and 10pm that evening. The caller, who is not thought to have been in the Praia da Luz area, is not being treated as a suspect, but is said to be a key witness. Any information in relation to these mobile numbers during the spring and summer of 2007 could be critical to this investigation, said Mr Cranwell. Some people will know the man we are describing today, the suspect in our investigation. Im appealing to you directly. You may know, you may be aware of some of the things he has done. He may have confided in you about the disappearance of Madeleine. More than 13 years have passed and your loyalties may have changed. This individual is in prison and we are conscious that some people may have been concerned about contacting police in the past. Now is the time to come forward. Im appealing to you to contact us, or the German authorities or the Portuguese authorities. I should be very, very clear on this while this male is a suspect, we retain an open mind as to his involvement. The suspect is known to have been linked to the Praia da Luz area between 1995 and 2007, with some short spells in Germany, and is described as having a transient lifestyle, living in his camper van for days at a time. An appeal on German Crimewatch-style programme XY said he is thought to have worked odd jobs, including as a waiter, but also committed burglaries in hotels and holiday resorts and dealt drugs. He was also linked to two houses in Portugal one between Praia da Luz and Lagos and a second inland, according to the appeal. Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the camper van in or around Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine went missing, or in the days before or weeks after. Detectives also want to speak with anyone who saw the van together with the Jaguar, or individually, during the spring and summer of 2007. The Operation Grange incident room can be contacted on 0207 321 9251 or operation.grange@met.police.uk. Google has a little-known feature inside Google Maps called "Plus Codes" that lets you share your exact location with someone. And it recently started to roll out an easier way to share exactly where you are using those codes on Android. You can also do it on iPhone, although it's a little more complex. Plus Codes are digital addresses, sort of like Google's own interpretation of latitude and longitude coordinates, just shorter. They serve a different function than the "Share Location" feature in Google Maps, which follows you as you move. Plus Codes are more about sharing a static, specific location on a map that someone can find from any computer at any time. The Plus Code for Lac-Normand, an unorganized territory in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada, for example, is "87V86JV5+32." If you search that code in Google Search, the Chrome web browser, or in Google Maps, it'll show you that location in Lac-Normand. If you see a six-digit code, you also have to share the city or region it's in. For example, "P2X7+9Q New York" will show you the Empire State Building. Normally, if you're in a city, you might just share your address or a nearby point of interest. But, if you're in a specific place inside a national park, you may want to share your Plus Code so someone can find you. Or maybe you're out on a hike and want to share your campsite location, or the location of a car. You can do that with a Plus Code before you begin hiking. The feature is rolling out now, so you may not see it yet, but I noticed it on my Android phone. If you don't see it, keep checking back over the coming weeks as it rolls out. WEST NORRITON At Tuesdays West Norriton Commissioners meeting the board discussed creating a formal letter to be sent to the Montgomery County Commissioners, expressing outrage at the recent statement by county Commissioner Joseph Gale on regional protests against the death of George Floyd. Our board is going to draft a resolution condemning what Commissioner Gale said and make sure that it is delivered to all of the County Commissioners, noted president Marty Miller, referring to Gales press release concerning Black Lives Matter. As the leadership of all our area councils and boards we wanted to be sure that we got something out quickly because we dont ordinarily meet from all of those groups but our board discussed it. I added it to our agenda to produce a document for our approval as a resolution, Miller added. Gale released a statement on the County letterhead on social media decrying Black Lives Matter as a terrorist group and it was just appalling to me. Our board was sickened and repulsed by it and were going to take appropriate action to ensure that our community doesnt agree with this and our community officials are in total opposition to these baseless and racist statements. Signed by Miller, President of Norristown Area School Board Shae Ashe, East Norriton Supervisors Chairman Kevin McDevitt, and Norristown Council President Derrick Perry, the letter reads: Our communities have faced some of the toughest obstacles the last several months that have tested the resiliency and strength of our constituents. We continue to fight a pandemic impacting the black and brown community residents are asked to make significant sacrifices to flatten the curve. Just as things are beginning to return to a new normal, our countrys history of racism showed its ugly face with the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. As the country marches to end racism in America, our own community must do their part to put an end to the bigotry and racism. The Republican County Commissioners statement on rioting & looting in Philadelphia is dangerous and harmful to our community. While this is sadly still something that needs to be done all too frequently, this time it comes from an elected official who represents a county that, by itself, is more populous than four states. We write this in regard to a statement, issued on county letterhead, by the Republican County Commissioner. There are too many instances of racism and bigotry to name specifically, from a person who usually uses the word Philadelphia with intent as racist shorthand for a place where people with dark skin live. We denounce every word of this screed and stand with Commissioners Arkoosh and Lawrence in their call for unity. The first step towards moving towards a more united county, he must resign immediately. The leadership of the Norristown Area School District, Norristown Borough, East Norriton Township, and West Norriton Township are united in the following beliefs: Chennai, June 4 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has written to the global heads of 11 automobile manufacturers urging them to invest in the state. In a statement issued here, the government said due to the impact caused by Covid-19 to the world economy, many overseas industries are likely to exit from certain countries and relocate their manufacturing activities in countries like India. In order to attract such potential investments to Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami has written to the head honchos of 11 automobile makers across the globe. The government said Palaniswami has sent letters to: the Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Herbert Diess, Chief Executive Officer of Skoda Bernhard Maier, Chairman of Mercedes-Benz Ola Kallenius, Chief Executive Officer of Audi Markus Duesmann, President of Honda Takahiro Hachigo, President of Toyota Akio Toyoda, Chairman of BMW, Oliver Zipse, Chief Executive officer of Luxgen Taoyuan Motor Co. Ltd Hu Kai-Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover Ltd Ralph D. Speth, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors and Chevrolet Mary T. Barra and Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Elon Musk. The letter outlines the investment potential and inherent advantages of Tamil Nadu which offers excellent support for business and industry to further their growth and promises a customised incentive package as per their requirement. Interestingly, many of the global automotive companies are already present in India and also in Tamil Nadu. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A U.S. military plane carrying a second batch of ventilators to Russia landed in Moscow on June 4, as part of a $5.6 million humanitarian donation to help the country cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, said the shipment contained 150 ventilators made in the United States. iStock/Rawf8(BRUNSWICK, Georgia) -- BY: BILL HUTCHINSON Saying the evidence shows three white suspects "chased, hunted down and ultimately executed" Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, a prosecutor on Thursday laid out in detail how the 25-year-old black victim tried to run for his life before he was struck by a vehicle and called a racial slur by one of the suspects after being gunned down. The preliminary hearing for Gregory McMichaels, his son Travis McMichaels and William "Roddie" Bryan unfolded with graphic details describing the last moments of Arbery's life. At one point, testimony from the lead investigator in the case became so graphic Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper, walked out of the courtroom. After hearing hours of evidence from the prosecution, Glynn County Chief Magistrate Judge Wallace E. Harrell rejected requests from the defendants' attorneys to dismiss the charges. Harrell ordered the McMichaels and Bryan to stand trial on the charges in superior court. Travis and Gregory McMichael were arrested on May 8, about three months after the killing, and charged with murder and aggravated assault. Bryan, 50, who claimed through his attorney in media interviews that he had no involvement in the incident, was arrested on May 22 and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. All three have pleaded not guilty. Thursday's hearing occurred at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Georgia. Present in the courtroom was Gregory McMichael, 64, a former Georgia police officer, and Travis McMichael, 34. Bryan was not in the courtroom during the hearing. "We're here essentially on behalf of the citizens of Glenn County to talk about the fatal shooting of the Feb. 23 incident involving victim Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased, hunted down and ultimately executed we believe the evidence will show based on what's about to be presented to the court," said Jesse Evans, an assistant district attorney for the Cobb County District Attorney's Office, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case. The only witness called on Thursday was Richard Dial, a special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who cited video and direct statements from the suspects in the presentation of the case to the court. Under direct examination from Evans, Dial said that Bryan told investigators that during the fatal confrontation, he heard Travis McMichael, who allegedly fired the three shots that killed Arbery, yell a racial slur to the victim as he lay dying on the ground. Dial said that the investigation uncovered other instances in which Travis McMichael used racial slurs in social media posts and in text messages to describe black people. Arbery was out for an afternoon jog through the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick when he stopped and went into a house under construction, Dial said. He said a surveillance video showed Arbery, who lived in another neighborhood of Brunswick, inside the unsecured house looking around, possibly for a water source and then leaving. Dial said Arbery continued jogging past the McMichaels' home, where Gregory McMichael, who was in front of his residence working on his boat, spotted him and believed he matched the description of a burglary suspect seen on a surveillance video posted online by his neighborhood association. The investigator said Gregory McMichaels armed himself with a .357 Magnum revolver, which had been issued to him when he worked for the Glynn County Police Department, and called his son, who armed himself with a pump-action shotgun. Dial said the father and son got into a pickup truck and chased after Arbery, initially stopping him in front of Bryan's home in the same neighborhood. The McMichaels ordered Arbery to stop, but the victim kept running, Dial said. The father and son chased after him in their truck as Arbery tried to evade them, Dial said. Bryan also got into his vehicle and attempted to use it to block Arbery's path several times, Dial said. He said Bryan allegedly struck Arbery during the pursuit hard enough that it left a dent in his vehicle. Eventually, Arbery found himself trapped between the McMichaels' truck and Bryan's vehicle, Dial said. He said Travis McMichael got out of the truck with his shotgun and that he and Arbery began to fight in the street. Part of the confrontation was caught on a cellphone video taken by Bryan. The footage showed the first shotgun blast hitting Arbery in the chest and showing Arbery's white T-shirt immediately soaked in blood. Arbery was shot two additional times, once in the upper left chest and in the right wrist. After being shot, Arbery attempted to run but collapsed and died at the scene. In their closing arguments to Harrell, the suspects' defense attorneys asked that the charges be dismissed. Travis McMichael's attorney, Jason Sheffield, said his client only wanted to speak to Arbery about the burglaries in the neighborhood. "That escalated and Mr. Arbery attacked him in an aggressive way that caused Travis McMichael to fear for his safety," Sheffield said. Mr. Travis McMichael used self-defense when he was attacked by Mr. Arbery." Franklin Hogue, Gregory McMichael's attorney, argued that his client should not be charged with murder since he didn't shoot Arbery. And Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, said his client did not know the McMichaels were allegedly "acting unlawful" when he saw them chasing Arbery and decided to help out. "He does, with all due respect, what any patriotic American citizen would have done under the same circumstance," Gough said of Bryan. The fact that Mr. Bryan does not know what's going on is his legal defense." Evans bristled at Gough's comments, describing them as "asinine assertions." "Any American would have picked up the phone and called 911, Evans said. As for Gregory and Travis McMichael's requests for charges to be dropped, he said, "The blood of that man is on two of these defendants hands." Evans added, "But for the actions of Gregory McMichael walking into this home and asking his son to arm-up with him, Ahmaud Arbery might very well be alive today." ABC News' Rachel Katz contributed to this report. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has announced that the treatment for COVID-19 in private hospitals will be covered under the Chief Ministers Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS). This means those covered under this scheme can avail treatment for COVID-19 in private hospitals that are empanelled under the scheme without making any payment, according to the government statement. A statement from the health minister C Vijaya Baskar on Thursday said that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has issued an order in this regard. The statement said, The Health Department constituted a committee to work on package rate for private hospitals. The committee submitted its report with certain conditions. After careful analysis the government fixed the fee. For asymptomatic and mild cases in Grade A1 to A4 multi speciality hospitals, the rate will be Rs 5,000 per day in the general ward. For Intensive Care Unit with all facilities, it will be Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 in Grade AI and A2 hospitals and Rs 9,000 to 13,500 in Grade A3 and A4 hospitals. The grading is given by the government based on the infrastructure, bed strength and other facilities at the hospital. The government also laid out a few conditions. The empanelled hospitals should allot 25 percent of their total bed strength to patients covered under the CMCHIS. Beneficiaries of the CMCHIS need not pay any money to the hospitals. Hospitals which charge more than the rate fixed by the government will be suspended from the empanelled hospital list under the CMCHIS. For further details and complaints, people can contact the toll free number 18004253993. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association's Tamil Nadu branch welcomed the move and said it was one of their long pending demands to cover the cost of the treatment under CMCHIS. Residents of Tamil Nadu whose annual income is less than Rs 72,000 are eligible for the scheme. It may be noted that the Tamil Nadu government hiked the health insurance cover from Rs two lakh to Rs five lakh. However, the state is yet to make an official announcement on fixing the cost of treatment for COVID-19 in private hospitals. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Predictmedix Inc. (PMED.CN) (PMEDF) ("Predictmedix" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the execution of a sales contract for its COVID-19 screening technology for the Caribbean region along with key partnerships and appointments to further bolster its position as being the provider of novel artificial intelligence ("AI") based solutions for workplace health, safety and compliance. Sales Agreement for COVID-19 Screening - Caribbean Predictmedix is pleased to announce the execution of a sales contract with Caribbean Digital Media Academy (CDMA), a services integrator company registered in Jamaica that commenced operations in 2015. CDMA specializes in; development, deployment and management of highly immersive joint smart IT solutions. Predictmedix is also pleased to announce strategic developments for the development of its mental health screening technologies. CDMA will act as a distributor for Predictmedix technology for the Caribbean with a specific focus on government and hospitality sectors. Predictmedix technology will be deployed using a software as a service ("SaaS") model whereby for every camera or scanner installation, there will be an upfront customization fee followed by a monthly subscription fee model based on the number of screenings contributing to recurring revenue on a monthly basis. The recurring revenue will be shared between Predictmedix and CDMA. Some of the projects successfully implemented by CDMA in their short history include: designed and implemented exclusive encrypted wireless island wide network for the Jamaica Earthquake unit that involved connecting wirelessly over 80 remote seismic solar powered devices for real time monitoring and information by the central unit at University of the West Indies (UWI); designed and implemented real time smart video monitoring by police, government departments and authorized private sector organizations of highly sensitive scrap metal sites in Jamaica. The contract included designing and integrating an exclusive wireless network, artificial intelligence (AI) security software and IP CCTV camera systems. Story continues Havian Harris, head of customer relations at CDMA said, "we are elated to work with Predictmedix as their COVID-19 detection fits in with our sweet spot of successfully promoting and integrating highly sensitive video solutions with their AI software". She further went on to state, "Our Caribbean nations are highly dependent on tourism and the Predictmedix solution will allow us to participate in opening back up our hospitality and transportation industries that are so crucial to our economies". Key appointment - Business Development and Strategy Predictmedix is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Prabhakar Srivastava, a Senior Healthcare Executive with over 38+ years' experience including being the CEO of an Indo-Israel Venture and more than a decade as an independent consultant & mentor. Mr Srivastava will be playing a pivotal role in business development, deployment and strategic partnerships in Asia Pacific and Africa for all the technologies developed and being developed by Predictmedix. Mr Srivastava has been pivotal in launching state-of-the-art innovative solutions for indigenous production through Transfer of Technology in healthcare & environment fields from companies including Phillips Medical Systems, Picker International Inc, Elscint Ltd., Medison Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation. Additionally, he has served as advisor to several African Countries viz. Uganda, Republic of Burundi & Federal Republic of Nigeria along with the government of India. Partnership - Mental Health Screening Technology Predictmedix is developing AI powered technologies to assist with diagnosis and management of mental health disorders such as depression, autism, ADHD and dementia. Predictmedix is pleased to announce a partnership with Max Healthcare for facial technologies leading to neurological diagnostics for mental health disorders. Max Healthcare is one of the largest healthcare groups in South Asia, encompassing 14 hospitals with over 3000 doctors. Max Healthcare will be assisting Predictmedix with data collection for the mental health screening technology and will also be piloting the technology. Key appointment - Healthcare Predictmedix is pleased to welcome, Dr. Deepu Banerji, a neurosurgeon with more than 34 years' experience in microscopic and minimal invasive neurosurgery. He is a 'Sugita Fellow' from Nagoya University, Japan for microneuro-surgical training and has been consistently ranked amongst the top 5 neurosurgeons in India. Dr. Banerji will play a key role in assisting Predictmedix with the development of AI technologies to screen for mental health disorders using patient data. Dr. Banerji has performed over 8,000 surgeries and has served as a board member for several prominent Neurology societies in Asia. He is a Member Editorial Board of Surgical Neurology International and has been conferred Honorary Member of Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa. "In addition to progressing with deployment of our COVID-19 technology we are actively working on development and deployment of impairment and mental health screening technologies. The current developments are the key in positioning us not only at the forefront of healthcare technologies but also in positioning Predictmedix as the go-to-company for enterprise solutions for workplace health, safety and compliance", commented Dr. Rahul Kushwah, COO of Predictmedix. For more details on this release please click on the following video interview: https://youtu.be/QyovCh0Lauc About Max Healthcare Max Healthcare is one of South Asia's leading comprehensive provider of standardized, seamless and international-class healthcare services. It is committed to the highest standards of medical and service excellence, patient care, scientific and medical education. Max Healthcare has 14 hospitals in India, offering services in over 30 medical disciplines. Max Healthcare has a base of over 3,000 doctors, 10,000 employees and over 2.2 million patients from over 80 countries, across its network of 14 hospitals. Max Healthcare is controlled by Max Group. The Max Group is a leading Indian multi-business conglomerate with a commanding presence in the Life Insurance and Healthcare industry. It has ventured into high potential sectors - Senior Living and Real Estate. In FY2019, the Group recorded consolidated revenue of approximately $4 billion CAD. It has a total customer base of 11 million, over 350 offices spread across India and employee strength of more than 27,500 as on 31st March 2019. The Group's investor base includes marquee global financial institutions such as New York Life, KKR, IFC Washington, Vanguard, Ward Ferry, Briarwood Capital, Nomura, Aberdeen, First State Investments, First Voyager, Eastspring, Target Asset Management, Baron, Jupiter and Doric Capital. For additional information, visit the company's website at www.maxhealthcare.in. About Predictmedix Inc. Predictmedix Inc. is an artificial intelligence ("AI") company developing disruptive tools for impairment testing and healthcare. It is intended that the Company's cannabis and alcohol impairment detection tools will be used across various workplaces and by law enforcement agents. Its technology uses facial and voice recognition to identify both cannabis and alcohol impairment by utilizing multiple features along with numerous different data points. Testing does not require any body fluids or human intervention, thereby helping to remove human error and the potential for discrimination and prejudice. The Company has partnered with Tech Mahindra and Hindalco to help expedite the launch of its impairment technology, as well as the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology. The Company is also developing AI based screening for the healthcare industry. The recent advent of COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented stress on the global economy and highlights the need for tools to help screen mass populations for infectious diseases, with the hope of preventing pandemics in the future. In turn, Predictmedix Inc. is expanding its proprietary AI technology to screen for infectious diseases such as influenza and coronaviruses (COVID-19). Our current partners along with advisory board members have played a key role in gathering data pertaining to COVID-19, which has allowed us to develop a predictive mass screening tool for COVID-19. The technology is for mass screening and is to be used to predict and identify individuals who have the highest likelihood of being infected with COVID-19. Additionally, psychiatric disorders such as depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease can carry a significant burden and early identification is the key to better management. To help address this, the Company is also expanding its proprietary AI technology to screen for psychiatric and/or brain disorders such as depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. To find out more visit us at www.predictmedix.com Disclaimer: "The Company is not making any express or implied claims that its mass screening product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the Covid-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus) at this time". For further information, please contact: Dr. Rahul Kushwah, Chief Operating Officer Tel: 647 889-6916 Email: rahul@predictmedix.com Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information: THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED NOR DOES IT 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 of the Company. 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. 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 Regulations 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, such as, but not limited to dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; the ability to obtain intellectual property rights related to its technology; limited operating history; general business, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties, and in particular, uncertainties related to COVID-19; risks related to factors beyond the control of the company, including risks related to COVID-19; risks related to the Company's shares, including price volatility due to events that may or may not be within such party's control; reliance on management; and the emergency of additional competitors in the industry. 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. SOURCE: Predictmedix Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/592734/Predictmedix-Inc-Announces-Sales-Contract-for-the-Caribbean-Region-Along-with-Strategic-Appointments-and-Key-Partnership North Korean leader's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong is seated across from President Moon Jae-in during a lunch at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 11, 2018. Yonhap By Do Je-hae North Korea threatened to scrap the 2018 inter-Korean agreement Thursday if Seoul did not act quickly to stop anti-Pyongyang leaflets being sent over the two countries' border by defectors' groups based in South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong said in a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency that the North could consider not only scrapping the pact, but also terminating exchange projects with the South if the latter did not stop the "hostile activities." "If the South Korean authorities fail to come up with proper measures, they will have to be fully ready to face the consequences, whether it be the abolition of the Mount Geumgang tour program, a complete removal of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a closure of the inter-Korean liaison office or the scrapping of the North-South military agreement," she said in the statement. Kim Yo-jong, who serves as first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, claimed that the floating of balloons containing anti-North Korea leaflets over the border by civic groups who promote North Korean defectors' rights were in violation of the Panmunjeom Declaration signed during the first summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un on April 27, 2018. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and his sister Kim Yo-jong prepare to take a seat at the Peace House at the South's side of Panmunjeom during a summit with President Moon Jae-in on April 27, 2018. The crowd marched from downtown Grayslake to the College of Lake County, where they occupied the intersection at the entrance, and observed eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence in recognition of the time that a Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyds neck, leading to his death. AstraZeneca has taken the next steps in its commitment to broad and equitable global access to the University of Oxfords COVID-19 vaccine, following landmark agreements with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Serum Institute of India (SII). The Company today reached a $750m agreement with CEPI and Gavi to support the manufacturing, procurement and distribution of 300 million doses of the vaccine, with delivery starting by the end of the year. In addition, AstraZeneca reached a licensing agreement with SII to supply one billion doses for low and middle-income countries, with a commitment to provide 400 million before the end of 2020. Together, the agreements mark the latest commitments to enable global access to the vaccine, including to low and middle-income countries, beyond AstraZenecas recent partnerships with the UK and US. The Company is building a number of supply chains in parallel across the world to support global access at no profit during the pandemic and has so far secured manufacturing capacity for two billion doses of the vaccine. The agreement with CEPI and Gavi also represents the first advanced market commitment through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global collaboration of philanthropic, multilateral, private sector and civil society partners. The mechanism will work to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to the new COVID-19 tools across the world including in low and middle-income nations. CEPI will lead vaccine development and manufacturing and Gavi will lead the procurement within the global mechanism. Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said: We are working tirelessly to honour our commitment to ensure broad and equitable access to Oxfords vaccine across the globe and at no profit. Today marks an important step in helping us supply hundreds of millions of people around the world, including to those in countries with the lowest means. I am deeply grateful for everyones commitment to this cause and for their work in bringing this together in such a short time. Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer, CEPI, said: AstraZeneca and our other industry partners have a critical role to play in rapidly developing safe and effective vaccines and manufacturing the billions of doses needed to put a permanent end to the COVID-19 pandemic. AstraZeneca is admirably committed to equitable global access for this vaccine, and this partnership demonstrates how the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility will bring the private, public and third sectors together to make COVID-19 vaccines available to those who need them most, for the benefit of all. Dr Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer, Gavi, said: Today we have seen tremendous willingness from donor governments to support equitable access, particularly to developing countries and it is incredibly heartening to see the private sector join in this effort. We encourage other vaccine manufacturers to work with us towards the shared global goal of finding solutions for this unprecedented pandemic. Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, SII, said: Serum Institute of India is delighted to partner with AstraZeneca in bringing this vaccine to India as well as low and middle-income countries. Over the past 50 years SII has built significant capability in vaccine manufacturing and supply globally. We will work closely with AstraZeneca to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine in these countries. AstraZeneca recently agreed to supply 400 million doses to the US and UK after reaching a licence agreement with Oxford University for its recombinant adenovirus vaccine, formerly ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and now known as AZD1222. Oxford University recently announced the start of a Phase II/III trial of AZD1222 in about 10,000 adult volunteers. Other late-stage trials are due to begin in a number of countries. AstraZeneca recognises that the vaccine may not work but is committed to progressing the clinical programme with speed and scaling up manufacturing at risk. The Companys comprehensive pandemic response also includes rapid mobilisation of AstraZenecas global research efforts to discover novel coronavirus-neutralising antibodies to prevent and treat progression of the COVID-19 disease, with the aim of reaching clinical trials in the next three to five months. Additionally, the Company has quickly moved into testing of new and existing medicines to treat the infection, including the CALAVI and ACCORD trials underway for Calquence (acalabrutinib) and the DARE-19 trial for Farxiga (dapagliflozin) in COVID-19 patients. AZD1222 ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, now known as AZD1222, was developed by Oxford Universitys Jenner Institute, working with the Oxford Vaccine Group. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold (adenovirus) virus that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack COVID-19 if it later infects the body. The recombinant adenovirus vector (ChAdOx1) was chosen to generate a strong immune response from a single dose and it is not replicating, so cannot cause an ongoing infection in the vaccinated individual. Vaccines made from the ChAdOx1 virus have been given to more than 320 people to date and have been shown to be safe and well tolerated, although they can cause temporary side effects such as a temperature, influenza-like symptoms, headache or a sore arm. AstraZeneca AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visit astrazeneca.com and follow the Company on Twitter @ AstraZeneca . Contacts For details on how to contact the Investor Relations Team, please click here. For Media contacts, click here. A striking federal report that said eight workers at Oregon nursing homes had died of the coronavirus is almost certainly wrong, state officials said. But Oregon leaders so far cant say for sure and have repeatedly refused to distinguish between residents and employees when theyve previously released information about the COVID-19 toll at senior care homes in the state. In a separate spot check, The Oregonian/OregonLive couldnt independently confirm the eight deaths included in a report published Monday by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency had ordered nursing homes to report their coronavirus deaths and cases. The industrys main Oregon trade association, the states long-term care ombudsman and a union representing more than 4,000 nursing home workers all said they havent heard of any nursing home employee deaths. The co-owner of Benicia Senior Living, which manages a Southeast Portland nursing home connected to at least 30 coronavirus deaths, said no workers there have died. Neither have any staff at the eight Avamere Family of Companies homes that have had coronavirus cases, the companys chief medical officer said. Mike McCormick, the Oregons top official overseeing senior care homes for the Department of Human Services, said at a legislative hearing Wednesday the state has an overwhelming reason to believe that the data reported is inaccurate. State analysts believe a facility reported the eight deaths in error and is now trying to track down which one before saying definitively that the number is wrong, McCormick said. If the fatalities did actually occur, then so be it, McCormick said. Thats a very, very serious issue that we need to address. State Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, who initially expressed shock at the federal report, said the apparent error highlights why state public health officials should release a staff-resident case, hospitalization and death breakdown for senior care homes. That keeps everything more correct and transparent, Dembrow said. Throughout the outbreak, Oregon has taken pains to conceal health information from the public. The states continued refusal to say if any caregivers, nurses, nursing assistants, medication aides, physicians or support staff in long-term care or any health care workers in general have died is part of that pattern. The health authority has said it doesnt have the staff resources to find out how many senior care home workers have died because the agencys epidemiologists are currently committed to supporting the states response to the outbreak. McCormick still didnt say how many, if any, senior care home workers have actually died. But, McCormick said, he and other state officials recognize that the information should be public. The Oregon Health Authority has been hampered by strict confidentiality laws, which McCormick said the agency is trying to work through with the Oregon Department of Justice. They recognize the need, but we havent figured out the solution yet, McCormick said. But we continue to have conversations with them. Data specialist David Cansler contributed to this report. -- Fedor Zarkhin fzarkhin@oregonian.com desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin COC Beauty School is set to officially launch their anticipated beauty and lifestyle magazine, COC Beauty. The virtual launch event will be hosted by Nigerian-American beauty enthusiast and Big Brother Nigeria alum, Anto Lecky. It will hold live on fashion blog, Style Vitaes Instagram page on the 6th of June,2020. Editor-in-Chief at COC Beauty, Ayo Bassey said the magazine was prompted by the success of its beauty content and the need to create a resource for beauty product enthusiasts to get the most trusted information. "We've been working on COC Beauty Magazine since November 2019, and it's been a fun ride all the way she said. With the magazine, we hope to create a source for quality information, trends, and more. We aim to achieve a great community of like minds with which we can share industry secrets, ideas, and more through the magazine. A community that we can inspire to think outside of the box so they are empowered to do more." "The cosmetic product formulation industry is one that is fast growing, yet overlooked. The magazine is also a platform to celebrate our beauty school graduates who are making great strides, putting the knowledge acquired to work with results to show. Most importantly, we plan to raise a standard for the beauty and cosmetics formulation industry. We are delighted to be able to host the launch of the magazine at Style Vitae, seeing as it aligns with what we do as a fashion & lifestyle brand. said Noble Igwe, renowned influencer & creative director of Style Vitae. COC Beauty Magazine is a collector's item and when I was first introduced to it, I didnt know it was going to act as reference for most of daily lifestyle decisions. According to the organizers, the COC Beauty Magazine launch will be a networking mixer with fun activities and chats planned over the 1-hour period. The event will see people connect from across Africa, Europe, America and other parts of the world. From the 6th of June, readers will be able to download the magazine from http://www.cocbeautyschoolonline.com/magazine at no cost. Details Date Saturday June 6, 2020 Time 3pm (Nigerian time) Host Anto Lecky Venue Instagram Live - @stylevitae ABOUT COC BEAUTY COC Beauty Magazine is an imprint of COC Beauty School- a Nigerian based institute where the best of cosmetics production is tutored. COC Beauty School is known for its groundbreaking achievements in fashion and cosmetic product formulation ranging across skincare, haircare, makeup and perfumery. Having raised over 100 beauty entrepreneurs in 10 countries and counting, COC Beauty School teaches students cosmetics formulation skills and exposes them to practical business insights on how to launch their beauty businesses and sell the products they learn to make. This time, the institute is bringing all that knowledge and more to the general public with new magazine, COC Beauty. A US judge has set bail of $US1 million ($A1.4 million) for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of George Floyd. Bail for the three defendants, who made their first court appearance on Thursday, would be lowered to $US750,000 ($A1.1 million) if they agreed to certain conditions, including forfeiting any personal firearms. Judge Paul Scoggin set each man's next court appearance for June 29. The four former officers charged over George Floyd's death: (from left) Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Credit:Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Williamstown Police Hold Community Dialogue on Racial Justice Drea Finley of Williams College's office of Institutional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion speaks during Wednesday's video conference. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Police Department on Wednesday listened to input from residents about how it can do more to reach out to people of color at a time when violent, racist actions by police in other parts of the country dominate the national conversation. "I want you to know there are people of color in this community who are hurting," said Drea Finley, the dialogue facilitator for Williams College's office of Institutional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. "Even though I'm new to the community and have had nothing but positive experiences, that does not eradicate the fear in my heart. I was nervous getting on this call this morning. I'm nervous as I articulate these thoughts that this is the first impression you have of me. But I will stand in the gap and continue to show up. I believe in building community, and it matters." Finley, who identified as a "newer face and a black face" in town, spoke in an hourlong, Zoom-based community dialogue, the first virtual version of the WPD's "Coffee with a Cop" initiative. Chief Kyle Johnson and Lt. Mike Ziemba talked about the local police force's efforts to police the town of 7,700 and how police across the commonwealth participate in in-service training, including on topics like de-escalation intervention. Johnson and Ziemba also were clear in their condemnation of the police actions that led to the death of George Floyd. "There was no justification," Johnson said of the actions depicted on video in the moments before Floyd's death. "If he resisted getting in the cruiser getting on his neck? I can't speak for all other parts of the country, but Massachusetts doesn't have that in the training. "Even in the heat of the moment, if he's fighting, they get him on on the ground and he's secure. That's what? Thirty seconds? And they had enough manpower there. Nine minutes? God, no." Johnson was speaking in response to Select Board member Jeffrey Thomas, who asked the officers to give some insight into what might have led to the tragedy in Minneapolis. "I'm not asking you to defend them," Thomas said. "And I won't," Johnson answered. "My mind is as blown as everyone else's." Ziemba acknowledged that the death of Floyd and other victims of police brutality apparently tied to racial animus is a blight on the profession. "It's embarrassing to us when something like this happens," Ziemba said. "That Minnesota officer is representing all of us to an extent. Everyone who is good at this job shakes their head." "And not just that officer but the officers who stood by and watched," Johnson added. "There's no excuse for that." Ziemba and Johnson contended that their 12-person force has an advantage over big city police departments because the officers are not just numbers. Johnson and his first lieutenant have regular interactions with all of the department's personnel. Ziemba speculated that an officer like Minneapolis' Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder in Floyd's death, might never even meet the chief of police in a big city department. "Supervisors [in a big city department] may not know they have a problem child like that," Ziemba said. "If we ever had an issue like that, we'd know because we're so small, and an officer like that would never be allowed to continue to work here. We'd say, 'This is not the place for you, and you're gone.' "We have the luxury of being small. In a bigger department like that, a rogue officer might be able to survive like that for 15 years without being detected." Police Chief Kyle Johnson participates in Wednesday morning's Coffee with a Cop event. Several residents on Wednesday morning's video conference, including Finley, wanted the officers to know that while their department may be different, instances of racial insensitivity or worse are still very much possible. "Instead of hearing a story like Drea's about being fearful of police as an exception or a one-off I think it's a safe assumption that every person of color in this community is going to feel a visceral, deep-seated fear in any encounter with a policeman in uniform," Williams' Assistant Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Molly Magavern said. "That's an assumption that might help police in a more positive interaction and a less confrontational one." Johnson said he agreed but pointed out that the WPD's interactions with the public are few and far between, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he hopes to have more meetings like Wednesday's preferably in person when social distancing restrictions end. Mount Greylock Regional School graduate Margot Besnard encouraged the police department to be proactive in its outreach to diverse members of the community. "You guys could go into Mount Greylock or Williams College without your uniforms on and have a discussion with students of color or faculty of color that might be more informal," she said. "You might get more ideas creative solutions that you or your police force never came up with. "Actively seek out more conversations, not once a year but once a month with people who look and sound really different than you guys." Town Manager Jason Hoch said late Wednesday that while the WPD had tried some in-person Coffee with a Cop events in the past, the online version Wednesday a little more than a week after Floyd's death on Memorial Day was significantly better attended, with more than a dozen participants. "We scheduled this one at the beginning of the week, recognizing that an opportunity for dialogue right now could be potentially more meaningful than issuing a statement," Hoch said. Mount Greylock teacher Tom Ostheimer said some of the most powerful images of the past week have been when police officers are captured communing with protesters and asked whether Williamstown Police officers might join with a demonstration being planned Friday evening at Field Park. "That certainly is possible," Johnson said. "This is the first I'm hearing about this. We are all in this together. So, yes, that is good to know. I understand your concern and share it with you." Hoch, who is responsible for overseeing the Police Department, pointed out that while the small-town force has the advantage of knowing all its members and having officers who live in and around the town, there is a flip side to that coin. "When Mike [Ziemba] talked about the advantage of our department being of here and from here, there are many ways that helps us, but it also means the experience we bring does not at all prepare us to understand and be ready to engage with the lived experience that other people are bringing to some interaction," Hoch said. "Kyle [Johnson] and I have talked about this. There are things we do, things we say that are received very differently just because it's an experience that we have not lived ourselves. "I think what I offer is we know that, and we're working on it." The head of Alabamas Democratic Party is the latest to call for the end to the state holiday honoring Confederate leader Jefferson Davis. In a June 3 letter to Gov. Kay Ivey, Rep. Chris England asked that Ivey include the issue in any upcoming special session. The Legislature would have to repeal the portion of the state code that authorizes the holiday, celebrated on the first Monday of every June. We should not give Davis, a traitor and racist who lived in our state for less than a year his own state holiday, England wrote. This is an honor not even his adopted home state of Mississippi bestows. I have faith in both you and my Republican colleagues can see the wisdom of this position Obviously, repealing the Jefferson Davis holiday will not be the end of the process of racial reconciliation for Alabamians. We have a lot more work to do. But doing the next right thing to help heal these wounds for all people of this great state is far superior to doing nothing. This years Davis holiday fell as unrest rocked the state and country amid protests over the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Alabama Congresswoman Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Selma, also recently called for the end of the holiday. The Davis holiday is one of three in Alabama that honors Confederate leaders: Robert E. Lee's birthday, which is marked in January on the same day as Martin Luther King Day; Confederate Memorial Day in April; and Davis' birthday in June. Alabama is the last state to have a legal holiday set aside solely to commemorate the birth of Davis. Mississippi marks Davis birthday but includes it in the Memorial Day celebration. In Texas, Davis birthday is part of Confederate Heroes Day while other Southern states, including Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee, have a holiday for Davis on the books but do not give employees a day off. TORONTO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Reuters (TSX /NYSE: TRI) today announced the voting results from the election of the company's Board of Directors at its annual meeting of shareholders held virtually yesterday. All 12 nominees were elected to the Thomson Reuters Board, and all of the nominees were previously directors of the company. Each director elected will continue to hold office until Thomson Reuters next annual meeting of shareholders, or until the director resigns or a successor is elected or appointed. The results were as follows: Nominee Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld David Thomson 435,895,384 98.94% 4,662,432 1.06% Steve Hasker 437,303,286 99.26% 3,254,118 0.74% Kirk E. Arnold 433,610,790 98.42% 6,946,634 1.58% David W. Binet 411,656,085 93.44% 28,901,388 6.56% W. Edmund Clark, C.M. 408,680,562 92.76% 31,876,724 7.24% Michael E. Daniels 418,211,730 94.93% 22,345,204 5.07% Kirk Koenigsbauer 440,068,651 99.89% 488,275 0.11% Vance K. Opperman 414,377,329 94.06% 26,179,585 5.94% Kim M. Rivera 439,755,753 99.82% 799,472 0.18% Barry Salzberg 427,554,657 97.05% 12,999,042 2.95% Peter J. Thomson 420,676,362 95.49% 19,877,501 4.51% Wulf von Schimmelmann 433,009,133 98.29% 7,544,489 1.71% Thomson Reuters thanks its two outgoing directors for their significant contributions to the company. Sheila Bair served on the Board since 2014 and was Chair of the Risk Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. Kristin Peck served on the Board since 2016 and was a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and Human Resources Committee. In connection with Ms. Bair's retirement from the Board, Kirk Arnold was appointed as the new Chair of the Risk Committee. For the other items of business at the annual meeting, shareholders re-appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's auditor, approved an advisory resolution on executive compensation and did not approve the shareholder proposal set out in the management proxy circular. A final report on voting results has been filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the world's most global news service Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com. CONTACTS MEDIA INVESTORS David Crundwell Frank J. Golden Head of Corporate Affairs Head of Investor Relations +44 79 0989 8605 +1 646 223 5288 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Thomson Reuters Related Links thomsonreuters.com (Natural News) Today Natural News has learned that Antifa operatives are organizing a plan to bus large numbers of Antifa terrorists to the vicinity of Sparta, Illinois, where they will be directed to target rural white Americans by burning farm houses and killing livestock. The purpose of the attack, according to sources, is so that Antifa can send a message to white America that not even rural whites are safe from the reach of Antifa, and that if their radical left-wing demands are not yet, all of America will burn (not just the cities). Sources tell Natural News that Antifa terrorists are currently expected to move along state routes 154 and 4, seeking out rural targets including isolated homes and farms to cause maximum mayhem and property destruction. Although our sources did not specifically mention the methods by which killing livestock would be accomplished, it seems almost certain that firearms would be the most effective way for Antifa terrorists to achieve that morbid goal. Note: Facebook will not allow you to share this story from NaturalNews.com, as Facebook has blacklisted this entire website in order to censor reporting that exposes Antifa and other criminals operating in America. To share this story, look for it on Trump.news and share from there. Note it is possible that Antifa may alter its planned routes of destruction based on the appearance of this report. Although our sources are highly reliable individuals, the information / disinformation warfare tactics of Antifa are incredibly advanced, and part of the Art of War is to make your enemy think youre in one place while youre actually attacking another. We are told that the timing of this attack is this coming weekend, which could indicate Friday, Saturday or Sunday night. Today we are urging the citizens of Sparta to prepare for the possibility of Antifa terrorism activities in their area. We are especially urging individuals who have houses located near the major highways to be on alert for attempted arson, property destruction, shootings or the killing of livestock. About Sparta, Illinois Sparta, Illinois is a small town of just 4,300 people according to the 2010 census. It is located in Randolph County and is roughly 45 miles southeast of St. Louis, the regional home of the Ferguson, Missouri riots of 2014. Rural towns around Sparta include Blair, Tilden, Coulterville, Baldwin, Cutler, Willisville, Bremen and Chester. Illinois, dominate by anti-gun Democrats, is a state where citizens are not allowed to defend themselves with firearms. This is likely why Antifa is targeting Illinois for the kind of destruction that would be immediately halted by a barrage of return gunfire in states like Texas, Florida or Tennessee. In Illinois, Antifa terrorists practically have their own shooting gallery of unarmed civilians who have been forcibly disarmed by the corrupt anti-Second Amendment politicians in Chicago. By turning Illinois into a gun-free zone, Chicago lawmakers have transformed the state into a shooting gallery for Antifa terrorists. We encourage all law enforcement in Randolph County to be on high alert this coming weekend. This will not be your normal weekend of dragging overdosed methed-up, heroin-addicted white boys to the emergency rooms in Chester and Waterloo. This is going to be something on an entirely different level, if Antifa makes good on its current plans. Antifa has been labeled a terrorist organization by President Trump, and the actions of Antifa property destruction, arson, looting, attempted murder of police officers and extreme violence toward innocent people reveals the terrorism goals of the radical left-wing organization. With this tactic of moving into rural America, Antifa seems to be deciding that burning down left-wing cities isnt having the fear effect they hope to achieve. For many nights, Antifa groups have been threatening to fan out to the suburbs and start targeting white America. Now, it seems they are planning to expand into rural America, at least in gun-free areas where the citizens cant shoot back. Targeting infrastructure is the next escalation of Antifa terrorists Over the last 10 days, Natural News has learned from multiple intelligence sources that Antifas next escalation will target U.S. infrastructure such as water, power and telecommunications. Although not specifically mentioned by our sources in Illinois, we anticipate a very high probability that Antifa terrorists, if they carry out their planned mayhem in the rural areas surrounding Sparta, will likely target water towers with gunfire. Water towers can be very easily destroyed with gunfire, as bullet holes can often cause structural instability, leading to catastrophic collapse of the containment structure. Even when bullets dont achieve the total destruction of the tower, bullets are rapidly stopped by the water inside the tower, causing those bullets usually made out of lead to saturate the water with lead, a toxic heavy metal. (Even high-velocity rifle rounds barely penetrate more than 3 feet into water.) This means that Antifa has a readily available means to poison the water supplies of rural towns in Illinois and elsewhere, while causing high repair costs for local infrastructure. As we have repeatedly warned in previous articles, much of Americas infrastructure is shockingly vulnerable to bad faith actors and terrorists who are willing to cause mass poisonings, mayhem and destruction in order to achieve their twisted political goals (which, in this case, are the rise of communism and the total genocide against whites, a goal that most of the Big Tech industry seems to openly support). Prepare to secure your farms, your homes and your towns against Antifa terrorism actions, and DEMAND an end to restrictions on your Second Amendment rights We strongly advise citizens of Randolph County, Illinois to ready whatever legal weapons you may still have in your possession and to prepare to support your local law enforcement in defending your homes, farms and towns against this potential Antifa terrorism invasion. We were warned in publishing this article that Antifa would simply move their target to another town in Illinois, but we decided to move ahead with publishing this anyway, as refraining from publishing this intel would be irresponsible. We further urge all citizens of Illinois to demand an end to restrictions on your Second Amendment rights, as these Antifa riots have made it abundantly clear that the police cannot protect you (or have been ordered not to protect you, in many cities). This means that, especially for rural Americans, your personal security is now up to you. The Randolph County Sheriffs deputies cant be everywhere at once. If you want to be safe in rural Illinois, you need to first defeat Antifa terrorists, and then secondly call for the arrest of Chicago lawmakers who have committed treason against this nation by suppressing your right to self-defense. The Second Amendment debate is now over. Anyone who wants to survive the Antifa uprisings is getting armed. Any state where self-defense rights are restricted is a state that effectively sides with the terrorists. The towns where Antifa is failing to cause mayhem are the towns where local citizens are walking around with AR-15 rifles slung across their chests. Tonight we pray for all the citizens of rural Illinois who are about to be targeted by unbridled left-wing violence and mayhem. They will kill your cattle, set fire to your homes and terrorize your towns. And the left-wing media will defend these terrorists and them peaceful protests. Prepare to defend your communities or watch them burn to the ground. Gap is being sued for refusing to pay rent for stores temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic, after nearly half of American retailers skipped rent in April and May, triggering fears of dire economic ripple effects. Mall owner Simon Property Group said in a lawsuit filed this week that the clothing retailer owes three months of rent, totaling $65.9 million. Gap Inc. has more than 390 stores at Indianapolis-based Simon's malls, including its namesake brand as well as Old Navy and Banana Republic. Gap and other major retailers, including sneaker seller Foot Locker, have said they wouldn't pay rent for stores that were forced to close due to the pandemic. An exterior view of a closed GAP store in New York City is seen in May. Gap is being sued for refusing to pay rent for stores temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic Looters steal items from a Gap store Sunday in Santa Monica, California during unrest and protests over the death of George Floyd In April, Gap warned that it may be sued by its landlords and that a dispute could be costly and have 'an uncertain outcome.' San Francisco-based Gap did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Gap is not alone in skipping rent payments, with industry data showing nearly half of all retailers did not pay rent in April and May, according to the Washington Post. Bed Bath & Beyond, Famous Footwear, H&M, AMC and Regal movie theaters, and 24 Hour Fitness gyms all stopped paying rent entirely in May. Starbucks paid May rent but also sent a letter to property managers requesting landlords to make concessions starting June 1 and continuing for 12 months. A closed Starbucks is seen on the lower level of the Lenox Mall in Georgia in April Industry watchers fear that the situation is a ticking time bomb that could spread wider economic misery, as property management companies face a wave of bankruptcies and financing for commercial construction becomes difficult to obtain. 'Social distancing means financial Armageddon for commercial real estate and municipalities in coming months,' warned R. Christopher Whalen, head of Whalen Global Advisors, on his blog for investors. He predicted defaults could be worse than the peak losses of the early 1990s commercial real estate bust 'by a wide margin.' The problem may even be more dire for small and independent business, who don't have the clout and resources of big chains to try to negotiate concessions from landlords. Ticket machines are seen at a closed AMC Theater at NorthPark Center mall in Dallas on May 1 Making matters worse, the chain of ownership for commercial properties is often complex, making it difficult for small businesses to know who to call to reach an agreement. 'It's not just the landlord and the tenant that have to talk. Many properties are owned by a number of investors,' David Ling, a real estate professor at University of Florida, told the Post. 'A lot of this is going to have to be sorted out via lawsuits and the courts.' For the past week, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets -- in the U.S. and all over the world -- to voice their anger over the tragic death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody with a white officer's knee on his neck. In several U.S. cities -- Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Los Angeles -- peaceful demonstrations descended into violence, with some rioters hurling rocks, bricks, glass bottles or Molotov cocktails at police, and setting police cars on fire. Vandals shattered storefront windows and looted stores. In turn, police reacted aggressively, firing tear gas and stun grenades into crowds, while city and state officials deployed thousands of National Guard members and implemented curfews. However, in some of New Jersey's larger cities, like Newark and Camden, demonstrations have remained relatively peaceful. MORE: Charges against former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's death City officials and residents attribute this to improved community and police relations, political and activist leadership and, for some, the still-traumatic memories of the riots of 1967. Further, the organizers of the protests have been able to keep the focus of the protests on larger issues -- systemic racism and injustice. PHOTO: Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Newark, N.J., May 30, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) In Newark, civic leaders, police and mayors from surrounding cities in New Jersey participated alongside residents in peaceful protests on Saturday, while members of People's Organization for Progress circulated throughout the crowd, encouraging orderliness, social distancing and handing out water. Newark is a city that, for decades, has been haunted by simmering racial tensions. The infamous 1967 Newark riots, five days of violent unrest, happened after a black cab driver was arrested for a minor traffic violation and badly beaten by two white officers. Thousands of residents took to the streets, protesting police brutality. The situation quickly escalated, leading to looting and destruction -- 26 people died, scores were injured and property damaged totaled tens of millions of dollars. Story continues "This city went up in flames, and we are still trying to recover from that 50 years later," Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said during a speech to about 3,500 protesters. "My father was beat in the head in the rebellion in 1967. This story is not just a history lesson for me, it is very personal for my family in this community because we were injured in this rebellion." MORE: Trump denies ordering protesters forcibly removed for church photo op Lawrence Hamm, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and longtime civil rights activist, and the chairman of the People's Organization for Progress, which organized the event in Newark, credits the relative peacefulness of the protests in Newark to the demonstrators themselves. "I don't know if 'peaceful' is really the right word," he told ABC News. "People say 'peaceful protest,' but a protest is a disturbance of the peace." "If I had to boil it down to one factor," Hamm added, "I would say that one of the reasons that the protest has not been destructive is because people want to keep the narrative about the protest, on the issues of justice." PHOTO: Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Newark, N.J., May 30, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) When Hamm spoke to the crowd on Saturday, he pointedly asked, "What do we want the narrative to be tomorrow, about what we did today? ... We are here to march and protest the death of George Floyd. If you're here to do something different, you're not with us." The death of Floyd incited tremendous anger because "people saw his death in real time. It was almost as if it was a public execution," Hamm explained. "People are outraged. People should be outraged. But we should let outrage move us to action for justice. And that is what we are trying to do in New Jersey." MORE: US diplomats struggle to navigate racial protests, Trump's messages, charges of hypocrisy Newark native Bill Davis, a professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University, attended the protest on Saturday. He agreed with Hamm, adding, "The shop owners in downtown Newark are not doing anything to cause issues with people that were involved in the march, so there was no reason to vent our rage toward them. Our rage needs to be channeled toward the systemic racism that we're there to protest." Davis, who witnessed the 1967 rebellion, called the protests in memory of Floyd one of "the most historic moments in the history of the country." PHOTO: Lawrence Hamm, founder and current Chairman of the People's Organization for Progress and candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks at a protest and march for the death of George Floyd, in Newark, May 30, 2020. (Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com via USA Today Network) According to Hamm, another factor in the peaceful protests was the attitude of the police, who didn't show up in riot gear, instead setting a relatively passive tone. Overall, he said, because of Baraka's anti-police brutality policies, "The police have not been that aggressive." And for the last three years, his organization has frequently protested outside the federal building in Newark. "We've had a lot of interaction with the police," he added. "So when we marched on Saturday, the interaction with police was almost routine." MORE: Former President Barack Obama to young people of color: 'Your lives matter. Your dreams matter.' Demonstrations also were peaceful in Camden, where the city's white police chief joined with demonstrators. "It's not us policing the city -- it's us together. It's community policing," Camden County Police Chief Joseph Wysocki told ABC News. "I ask my officers every day, with our use-of-force policy, like it mandates de-escalation. Marching with the protesters is a form of de-escalation. It's a partnership with the community -- they have to see that I stand with them. And I do." "We developed a very progressive the use-of-force policy that mandates the same sanctity of life. Force is a last resort. De-escalation has been mandated, the duty to intervene is a must. We practice what we preach, but it's not just a policy. We train with it every day," he added. "I love the relentless commitment to struggle, and to protest and to push and to fight through hell, and at the same time demand that we do better," Sen. Cory Booker said, in reference to the protests in his home state, during an appearance on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" on Tuesday. However, Davis noted, although peaceful protests are positive, there must be continued action, constructive engagement and organizational changes because "there are so many of these police brutality cases and far too many instances the police are never held accountable." Peaceful protests for George Floyd prevail in New Jersey, despite history of racial tensions with police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com FLINT, MI -- The Ruth Mott Foundation has awarded $100,000 to help black-owned businesses in north Flint that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The programs next application deadline is June 7. The funding was provided to the Genesee Chamber Foundation, a supporting organization of the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce. Eligible applicants can apply for grants of up to $5,000. Raquel Thueme, president of the Ruth Mott Foundation and member of the Greater Flint Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Inequities, said the funds will provide urgent relief to help black-owned businesses begin to safely reopen. Small businesses are the building blocks of our neighborhoods and now theyre facing a crisis that is unprecedented in our lifetime. This hardship is particularly felt in north Flint among businesses in the black community, which has been disproportionately affected by coronavirus, Thueme said. The funding adds support to the chambers Restart Flint & Genesee Grant Program, which helps small businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic recover financially. The program was established on May 7 using a $200,000 grant from Consumers Energy. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation granted $262,500 to the Genesee Chamber Foundation on May 13 to support black-owned businesses applying for funding through the program. Businesses such as salons, child care facilities and stores will be given priority because they have been hit the hardest. Business owners must also show they have endured economic hardship by providing a narrative that describes the challenges they have faced. They should be able to explain what the funding will be used for and why its critical to sustaining the business. Small businesses are often the hardest hit in times of economic shock and disruption and they struggle to access resources in the aftermath, said Tim Herman, CEO of the Flint & Genesee Chamber. As a place-based philanthropic organization, the Ruth Mott Foundation recognizes that support for small businesses is critical to the health of our local economy. These funds will help the Chamber assist some of the businesses that need it the most. Businesses that were operating before the state shut down, are locally owned by black Americans, are an LLC or S-Corp within Flint and have no more than 50 employees are eligible for grant funding. Their operation must also have been significantly impacted by the state shutting down. North Flint business owners made an outstanding commitment to this community by opening and maintaining small business operations no easy feat under normal circumstances, said Lawrence E. Moon, Ruth Mott Foundation trustee and owner of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in north Flint. Now theyve been hit by a global pandemic that upended their lives, both personally and professionally. These much-needed funds will help them protect their patrons, their workers, and their neighborhoods. To be considered for grant funding, a business must be located in the foundations focus area of north Flint, defined as the area north of Flushing Road, 5th Avenue and the Robert T. Longway Boulevard corridor. The Restart Flint & Genesee Grant Program application can be accessed here, along with FAQs and previously recorded webinars. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has slammed Turkey for sending foreign fighters from Syria to Libya. In a video address on Thursday at a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Shoukry warned that the success over the foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq achieved by the coalition is threatened by the role the Turkish government is currently playing in terms of recruiting, training and transferring thousands of foreign fighters from Syria to Libya. The Turkish practices are a clear violation of international law, of the UN Security Councils resolutions, and of the goals the coalition seeks, Shoukry said, adding that the coalition and the Security Council must make Turkey, which is a member of the anti-ISIS coalition, stop these practices and must hold it accountable. According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, Shoukry also said that while the global community was busy dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts, the coalition must continue in its efforts to curb ISISs hopes to use the health crisis in order to organise terrorist attacks and to create safe havens. He hinted that the coalition must give its top priority and attention to the growing threat of ISIS in West Africa and must stop any attempts by the terrorist organisation to re-organise itself after its defeat in Iraq and Syria, with total respect for the sovereignty, united and regional safety of the two countries. The Egyptian government welcomes the joint efforts of the coalition and the Iraqi government to boost cooperation on counter-terrorism and to support stability in Iraq, he said, adding that the coalition must at the same time stand with the Syrian people by supporting a sustainable political reconciliation. Egypt is fully committed to the goals of the coalition and is continuing to fight at the forefront of the coalition, not only versus ISIS but against all terrorist organisations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and what those organisations represent in terms of a threat to international security and peace. Search Keywords: Short link: Health Ministry releases SOPs for restaurants, hotels India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, June 04: The Health Ministry on Thursday released the standard operating procedure for restaurants and hotels which included measures like allowing only asymptomatic staff and guests inside the premises and proper crowd management. The ministry asked employees who are at higher risk -- like older staff members or those who are pregnant or have underlying medical conditions -- to take extra precautions. Vijay Mallya may not be extradietd to India soon, another legal hurdle in way | Oneindia News "They should preferably not be exposed to any front-line work requiring direct contact with the public. Proper crowd management in the parking lots and outside the premises duly following social distancing norms shall be ensured," it said. "Preferably separate entry and exits for patrons, staff and goods/supplies shall be organised," it said. Hotels, hospitality units to open amidst tight norms: Full list of SOPs The ministry also asked hotels and restaurant owners to encourage contactless mode of ordering and digital payments (using e-wallets). For hotels and hospitality services, it asked them to ensure a proper record of the guest's travel history and medical condition, along with ID and self-declaration form. "Luggage should be disinfected before sending the luggage to rooms. For room service, communication between guests and in-house staff should be through intercom/ mobile phone and room service (if any) should be provided while maintaining adequate social distance," it said. "Gaming arcades/children play areas (wherever applicable) shall remain closed," it said. In SOPs released for restaurants, the ministry has curtailed the seating capacity to 50 per cent. Disposable menus are advised to be used. Instead of cloth napkins, use of disposable paper napkins should be encouraged. Restaurants have been asked to encourage takeaways instead of dine-in. "Food delivery personnel should leave the packet at the customer's door. Do not handover the food packet directly to the customer," it said. The ministry also said that the staff for home deliveries shall be screened thermally by the restaurant authorities prior to allowing home deliveries. "Entrance to have mandatory hand hygiene (sanitizer dispenser) and thermal screening provisions and only asymptomatic staff and patrons shall be allowed," it said. Staggering of patrons to be done, if possible. Adequate manpower should be deployed by restaurant management for ensuring social-distancing norms, it said. Unlock-1: SOPs for malls mandates 6-ft distance, face masks; Cinema halls and gaming arcades to remain shut 'Specific markings may be made with sufficient distance to manage the queue and ensure social distancing in the premises. Maintaining physical distancing of a minimum of 6 feet, when queuing up for entry and inside the restaurant as far as feasible. For air-conditioning and ventilation, the ministry said the guidelines of CPWD shall be followed which inter alia emphasises that the temperature setting of all air conditioning devices should be in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius, relative humidity should be in the range of 40-70 per cent and intake of fresh air should be as much as possible and cross ventilation should be adequate. Egypt has financed 2,176 projects in 27 governorates since 2013 through a Saudi Arabian grant worth $200 million. The projects have generated 12,000 jobs in the Egyptian market, Minister of International Cooperation Rania El-Mashat said on Thursday. El-Mashat made her comments during an online meeting with the director-general of operation and head of the Saudi Grant Management Committee at the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) Hassan Al-Attas. El-Mashat said the committees projects in Egypt have helped in achieving the sustainable development goals, asserting the necessity of the funds extended by the committee to finance the small and medium-sized projects in Egypt over the coming period. She also stressed the promising future of the projects in light of the People, Projects, and Purpose narrative that the ministry has launched recently with the aim of shedding light on developmental partnership. The committees future funds are expected to focus on small projects and innovative enterprises in the neediest governorates in Upper Egypt, according to El-Mashat. Al-Attas said the Saudis SFD projects will increase in the coming period as the committee plays a role in enhancing developmental cooperation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Grant Committee Management is affiliated to the SFD and is a managing committee for financing small and medium-sized projects in Egypt in 2013. The SFDs capital is worth $31 billion, introducing total funding of $61 billion to 83 beneficiary countries, including Egypt. Amid the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent implications on the global economy, Egypt has expanded its partnerships and cooperation with global and regional institutions to receive facilities and loans to deal with the likely impacts of the pandemic on its economy and to maintain the gains of its economic reform programme. Saudi Arabias direct investment in Egypt witnessed a drop by 43.3 percent during the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2019/2020, recording $69.3 million, down from $122.4 million during the same period of FY 2018/2019, according to the Central Bank of Egypt's latest data announced in January 2020. Search Keywords: Short link: Thousands have marched in Detroit since Friday as part of a spreading effort to reform policing and demand accountability, especially in regard to police brutality involving people of color. Three organizations, Michigan Liberation, the National Lawyers Guild and the Detroit Justice Center issued a joint statement Wednesday claiming Detroit police are committing some of the same abuses protesters hope to end. Four of five protests have begun peacefully and concluded with Detroit police using force to arrest protesters -- over 300 arrests in total -- in some cases after having objects thrown at them by demonstrators. The most recent arrests were in part based on noncompliance with an emergency 8 p.m. curfew instituted by Detroit beginning Sunday. Detroit Police Chief James Craig on Wednesday evening, following the arrests of three more Minneapolis police officer involved in the detention that led to George Floyds death, called it a day of unity and celebration. Related: Protesters celebrate victory after police chief eases curfew enforcement Craig on Wednesday night said his officers wouldnt enforce the 8 p.m. curfew so long as the protests remain peaceful. He said there are still issues, but wouldnt set a threshold for how long he would allow the protests to last. While the Detroit Police Department and Mayor Duggan applauded a night of peaceful protests two nights ago, Michigan Liberation is compelled to share stories from those on the ground over the last five nights of protests, the joint statement said. " Consistently, peaceful protesters have been met with aggressive tactics and unnecessary force." Some Detroit police misconduct or police brutality the organization claims: Police issued insufficient or unclear dispersal orders that included no clear safe path to disperse and followed up by teargassing and escalating nonviolent but angry crowds. Witnesses reported police hitting people with batons," committing unwarranted serious assaults on peaceful protesters and beating protesters on the ground. Police injured protesters while firing rubber bullets and aimed tear canisters at protesters, rather than lobbing them in the air, an illegal practice that has previously resulted in deaths. Police assaulted and arrested members of the National Legal Guild Police have arrested protesters in the process of leaving the protests, some being pulled from their cars. Officers failing to where Covid-compliant masks. Holding arrested protesters in non-Covid compliant, unsafe conditions. Officer intentionally covered badges to prevent accountability for unlawful actions. Protesters march through Detroit again for second day of protesting police brutality and justice for George Floyd Saturday May 30, 2020 in Detroit. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com Detroit police on Tuesday reported the arrests of 127 people, including Tristan A. Taylor, one of the organizers who was initially held on suspicion of inciting a riot. He was released Wednesday afternoon and the charge was reduced to misdemeanor resisting a police officer, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. What was the foremost in my mind, we have a curfew, Craig said on Wednesday in defense of the mass arrest, despite evidence of violence committed by protesters. Craig said some protesters embedded with the march were believed to have other agendas. This is about keeping our city safe, reducing the likelihood of property damage, Craig said " ... We responded appropriately ... Its not my goal to arrest, but they violated the curfew." Protests continued in Detroit on Wednesday night. More on MLive: Detroit protest organizer arrested Detroit police arrest protesters on fifth night of marching Curfews set in 3 Michigan cities Protesters clash with police in Kalamazoo Detroit protests turn violent Detroit protests end peacefully Grand Rapids protesters scatter Lansing protesters riot on Sunday During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has fired or pushed aside a total of five inspectors general. In addition to Atkinson and Linick, he has pushed out Glenn Fine, chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee his administrations management of the governments $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. He removed Christi Grimm as principal deputy inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, after Grimms office criticized the administrations response to the pandemic. And he replaced the acting inspector general at the Department of Transportation. According to enikos.gr, the plan elaborated by the General Staff of the Greek Army for the gradual replacement of the old M113 APCs indicates a will to run the procedures very quickly so that it can bring to Greece not only 1,200 M1117 Guardians, also designated Armored Security Vehicles (based on the Cadillac Gage V-100 and V-150 Commandos), but also 350 M2A2 Bradleys at the same time. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link M2A2 Bradley IFV in ODS (Operation Desert Storm) version (Picture source: U.S. Army) The Greek team that will go to the United States for the selection of vehicles from the surplus stock of the U.S. Army and the National Guards has already been selected. The Bradley M2A2s will bring much-desired support to the fleet of Leopard 2HEL (Hellenic, Greek) MBTs. This variant was developed on the basis of experience gained by the U.S. Army from Operation Desert Storm (ODS) in the Gulf, in 1993. According to information from enikos.gr, the finalization of the departure date of the Greek team to the United States is considered a matter of weeks. The reason for not already set a firm date is linked to reasons of protection against the covid-19. Let us remind that, un December 2019, the U.S. Government planned to donate almost 60 Bradley M2A2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles in ODS (Operation Desert Storm) configuration to Croatia, according to a statement issued by Croatian Defense Minister Damir Krsticevic, Kamenjar.com reports. The Greek Bradleys will obviously come from the same stock. In 2017 and 2018, Lebanon also received M2A2 Bradleys from the same stock. The M2A2 Bradley AIFV (Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle) was introduced in the U.S. Army in 1988, it's an improved version of the standard vehicle Bradley M2A1. The M2A2 Bradley has exactly the same armament as the previous version Bradley M2A1. The M2A2 Bradley is armed with an ATK Gun Systems Company M242 25 mm Bushmaster Chain Gun with a 7.62 mm M240C machine gun mounted coaxially to the right of the main armament. The layout of the M2A2 Bradley is similar to the standard version of Bradley M2A1. The Bradley M2A2 is fitted with new additional armour. Armor plates have been added to the front and the side of the hull. The ASV M1117 is designed and manufactured by the American Company Textron Marine & Land Systems. The ASV M1117 Guardian provides greater ballistic protection than any other wheeled vehicle of its size in the world. The external modular expandable armor system of ceramic composite material provides ballistic protection for the crew, ammunition, fuel tanks, and storage areas against 12.7mm armor-piercing ammunition. It has a crew of four. The ASV's M1117 Guardian firepower consists of a one-person, non-stabilized, turreted primary weapons station with a mounted 40mm automatic grenade launcher (MK19 MOD 3) and .50-caliber machine gun (M2/M48). The turret traverses 360 and allows for elevation of 45. LANSING, MI Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Wednesday, June 3, testified remotely before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on protecting voting rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. During her testimony, Benson spoke of the constitutional amendment Michigan voters passed in November 2018, which granted every voter the right to vote by mail, and said evidence of mail-in voter fraud is infinitesimal in Michigan and many other states. The hearing comes a couple weeks after Benson announced that all registered Michigan voters may vote by mail in the upcoming August and November elections. Registered voters will receive absentee ballot applications by mail for submission to their local clerks. The application is also available online to download at Michigan.gov/Vote. President Donald Trump responded to Bensons announcement by issuing tweets threatening to withhold funding from the state and raising concerns about voter fraud. As we collectively endure this moment of great uncertainty, caused by a global pandemic that has taken the lives of 100,000 Americans and many more worldwide, it is within both my authority and my responsibility as Michigans chief election officer to ensure every voter knows that they do not need to risk their health to cast a ballot, Benson said. This year, perhaps more than any other, Americans will be inundated by efforts to confuse them about the election process, their rights, the issues at stake, and whether the elections will be held at all, she continued. These efforts foreign, domestic, partisan or simply malicious are designed to foster mistrust in our elections process, depress turnout and erode confidence in the election results and the sanctity of our democracy. We need cannot let misinformation sow seeds of doubt in our elections. Facts must prevail over fear. Here are some of the questions committee members asked Benson Wednesday and her responses: Chairman U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, said Trump falsely accused Benson of illegally sending millions of mail-in ballots to Michigan voters. He asked her to explain what Michigan actually did and whether, in her opinion, this is a partisan issue. Thank you for the question and the opportunity to, again, restate and clarify exactly what we did in Michigan. One, we feel that educating voters about their choices and rights in the midst of this pandemic is exactly the job of secretaries of state, chief election officers, right now. What I did in Michigan, as several of my colleagues in West Virginia and Iowa and Nebraska and Georgia have also done, is simply mail an application to every registered voter for them to request to vote by mail and receive a ballot through the mail in August, in our August primary, and in our November election, Benson said. This is something Michigan voters specifically called for in 2018, Benson said, when they voted to amend the states constitution to ensure every citizens right to vote by mail. In my view, this is not nearly a partisan issue, it certainly shouldnt be one. Its a responsibility and authority that secretaries of state have to educate and inform citizens about their rights, particularly in this time of great uncertainty. Benson said theres also a lot of misinformation about what happens when voters receive such an application in the mail, which is different from a ballot. An application simply enables the voter to affirmatively request that theyd like to vote by mail and confirm their identity when they do so. It actually enables us to clarify and clean our list in a way that ensures were accurately delivering the vote by mail to our citizens who are rightfully registered to vote and addressing issues as they may arise, such as removing recently deceased voters from the list, thereby improving the integrity and accuracy of the election system. Cohen also asked about the possibility of delays with the U.S. Postal Service and what happens if a voter does not receive their ballot on time. If, for whatever reason, you havent received or have just chosen not to return your ballot prior to the election, you will always have in Michigan the option to show up in person, surrender your ballot, if you have it, and vote in person, Benson said. U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, asked Benson about voter fraud and what Michigan is doing to ensure mail-in ballots are legitimate. The term ballot harvesting does not appear in Michigan law, but, you know, the question is about whether a person can drop off another persons ballot. There are really only limited circumstances in which that is allowed and generally only by an immediate family member, someone who the voter shares a home with. But, importantly, the signature check is, on multiple levels, a confirmation that the only person voting a ballot, returning a ballot, is the voter themselves. The signature check takes place both when the application is returned and the voter requests the ballot to be sent to them. That signature on that application is matched to their voter registration signature. And then, secondly, when the ballot is ultimately returned, the voter must sign the outside of the envelope and that signature is then matched to all the other signatures that we have on file. She noted that checking signatures is a time-tested method that has been in place in states for decades to ensure that people returning ballots are the voters themselves. Evidence of fraud is infinitesimal in Michigan and in many other states, some that have been doing vote-by-mail for decades and others around the country, she said. In rare times when it does occur, we catch it and we prosecute it. Nadler also asked about U.S. Attorney General William Barrs concerns about foreign governments sending fake mail-in ballots to manipulate our elections. Does it seem plausible that a foreign government could mail in counterfeit ballots in Michigan? No, it does not. And, to me, that more strikes to what is a bigger issue facing our elections and our electorate this year, which is the effort to sow seeds of doubt in the integrity of the process and, in that way, harm voters confidence in the elections and in their results," Benson said. "That effort to push back against misinformation, false information, about our elections process is our most important effort we ought to be engaged in across party lines. U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania, asked Benson in what areas of election administration in Michigan has she felt a lack of resources. Its hard to adapt a system that previously was primarily in-person to a system that is predominately voting by mail, quickly. Now, we were able to do that in Michigan, she said, pointing to the voter-approved constitutional amendment passed in November 2018, which granted every voter in Michigan the right to vote by mail. So, like many other states, we saw a significant influx in our March 10 presidential primary and are anticipating another influx in the fall of people voting by mail. But the benefit that we and Pennsylvania and other states have is that states like Colorado, Washington, as was mentioned earlier, Oregon, and even to a certain extent California, have been doing this work, have been allowing vote-by-mail, robust systems in their states for decades. And so we have an opportunity to learn both from their mistakes and their best practices and, with appropriate resources, import a lot of the systems theyve developed, the technology that they use. Dean also asked what are some of the challenges related to voting access in communities of color or economically disadvantaged communities, such as Detroit and Flint? The difficulties are both expounded by inequality and access to resources but also historical disenfranchisement, historical disconnect and lack of responsiveness from the government officials and systems that are meant to serve and protect these residents and so were fighting decades, generations, of trauma and, as were seeing across this country now, the need to effectively do more to better serve communicates of color and historically marginalized and disenfranchised communities also is underscored at the ballot box. And its why this has been at the heart of my work and so many others in the voting rights arena. Recognizing that has been mentioned in many different ways today, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring every vote is counted and every voice is heard. It takes every one of us working together at the local level at the state level, community leaders, other voices, trusted voices, to educate voters about their rights and to ensure they know the choices. It takes election officials, administrators, preparing an infrastructure that can embrace and serve, meeting voters where theyre at. Read a full copy of Bensons testimony here. Watch a recording of the hearing here. Find more Michigan coronavirus coverage here. RELATED STORIES: Wednesday, June 3: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Michigan Secretary of State dumbfounded by Trump comments, criticism of absentee voter application mailings Jocelyn Benson: Michigans Democracy is stronger than coronavirus Michigan Secretary of State says all voters may submit ballots by mail this year New Delhi, June 4 : Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed planned three vehicle-borne bomb blasts in the Kashmir Valley, as per central intelligence agencies' alerts to the security establishment. Out of three, one attack was attempted but foiled because of alert security forces. The agencies also said that the failed car bomb blast in Pulwama on May 28 was one attack out of the three planned by the terror group. Security forces were alerted that a group of JeM terrorists is likely to carry out "Vehicle-based IED attack on security force installations at Nowgam, Srinagar and Kulgam". Agencies further alerted security establishments that a group of unidentified terrorists is planning to kidnap Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel in Shopian. On May 28, Jammu and Kashmir Police averted a major terror attack when they chased and seized a car laden with about 45 kg of explosives in the south Kashmir district. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar had stated that there was intelligence inputs about plans of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group to repeat an attack similar to last year's February 14 strike on a CRPF convoy that left 40 personnel dead. In evening, a suspected car was spotted approaching a check post and it was signalled to stop. However, its driver turned the car in a different direction and fled from the scene before being trapped at another check post. At another check post, the forces fired some warning shots and the terrorist fled from the spot, taking advantage of darkness, leaving the car behind. The forces checked the vehicle from a distance and found it was laden with explosives. The bomb disposal squad reached the spot and carried out controlled explosion of the car. Within a week, the security forces identified the terrorists behind the act and on June 3, one of the main conspirators was killed during an encounter with security forces. Three JeM terrorists, including it self-styled top commander Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bayi, were killed in an gunfight with security forces at Kangan village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district. Fauji Bayi hailed from Multan in Pakistan and was an IED expert. The ultra was active in Kashmir since 2017. He was the mastermind of a car bomb that was detected by the security forces and destroyed through controlled explosion. (Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in) Report: Black COVID-19 Patients in California Hospitalized 2.7 More Times Than The cost of unequal healthcare is measured in human life, says Dr. Stephen Lockhart, the African American chief medical officer at Sutter Health, a non-profit healthcare network with 24 hospitals located across Northern California. Lockhart made this chilling observation while talking about the growing body of evidence that is confirming that more minorities and disadvantaged people are getting infected, being hospitalized and dying from COVID-19 than White, middle class and wealthier Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic has ripped a Band-Aid off of the structural inequities that exist within our society. We must address these disparities right away, Lockhart explains, adding We have a moral obligation to do so. ADVERTISEMENT Last month, Sutter Healths Advancing Equity Team released a report in the journal Health Affairs, a publication that focuses on health policy. The study found that Black COVID-19 patients in California are 2.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than their Non-Hispanic, White counterparts. It also reported that they tend to arrive at Sutter healthcare facilities sicker and with more severe symptoms. Based in Sacramento, Sutter Health serves more than three million people across 22 California counties. Even when Blacks in California have health insurance, the study revealed that African Americans may not seek testing and care until their illnesses become emergencies when the likelihood of dying is highest. The report focused its research on areas in Northern California including neighborhoods with historical African American enclaves like Hunters Point Bay View in San Francisco and East Oakland in Alameda County. Lockhart and the researchers at Sutter say the study points to how socioeconomic variables can factor into the high rates of African American infection, hospitalizations and death. For example, African Americans tend to go farther away to seek care hospital through emergency rooms than to visit health care centers located closer to their homes. And because a large number of Blacks work in essential jobs, they may not be able to get excused from work to get testing when they first start to experience COVID-19 symptoms. For the study, Sutter collected data from patients ages 18 or older who had visited or been treated at Sutter Health facilities. Then, using its electronic health record (EHR) system, Sutter scientists broke the studys subjects into two groups suspected cases and confirmed cases. The researchers also applied the data to its Health Equity Index, a metric Sutter Health has used in a similar study on Asthma, to come up with the findings of the COVID-19 report. The asthma study, much like this one, crystallizes the stubborn racial health gap that persists in California and around the country. Across the United States, there have been a total of 1.7 confirmed million COVID-19 cases and over 100,000 deaths. ADVERTISEMENT Black Americans represent nearly 13% of the total population. Yet, African Americans living in counties across the United States where the Black population ranges between 13% and 85%, account for more than half of all COVID-19 infections, and they make up almost 60% of deaths. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, the University of Mississippi, and Emory University released those numbers earlier this month. So far, in California, there have been 110,583 confirmed cases and 4,213 deaths as of May 31. Blacks make up about six percent of the state population but account for more than 10 percent of all deaths. The majority of the deaths have been in Los Angeles County, where there have been 53,627 cases and 2,338 deaths. The Black death rate in Los Angeles county hovers around 12 percent. The real value of the study lies not in the disparities it reveals but in its utility to inform our work to develop solutions that will address the equity gaps we are seeing with programs such as community outreach and engagement in at-risk neighborhoods, said Kristen M.J. Azar, a registered nurse, public health professional, lead author of the study and a research scientist at the Sutter Health Center for Health Systems Research. According to Sutter, expanding health care coverage alone is not enough to close the health gaps in California between Blacks and Whites and between the people at the bottom and at the top of our economic spectrum. Health care institutions, the organizations leadership believes, would have to rely on community-based outreach and access to culturally competent care within the African American community to arrest the problem. Additional research is needed to understand where healthcare disparities exist, what drives them, and what targeted interventions work best to address them. Sutter remains committed to continued advancement and leadership in this field, the organization said in a statement. This pandemic underscores the need to develop innovative solutions that are specifically tailored to address the unmet needs of those at highest risk, Azar concluded. MINNEAPOLIS - Two of three Minneapolis police officers accused of aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd were rookies barely off probation when a more senior white officer ignored the black mans cries for help and pressed a knee into his neck, defence attorneys said Thursday. Earl Gray said his client, former Officer Thomas Lane, had no choice but to follow the instructions of Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with second-degree murder in Floyds May 25 death. Gray called the case against his client extremely weak. A judge set bail at $750,000 apiece for Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, when they made their first appearances in Hennepin County District Court Thursday. Simultaneously, and just blocks away , celebrities, friends and relatives gathered to memorialize Floyd at a Bible college. The Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers last week and charged Chauvin initially with third-degree murder the following day. But protests that began on the streets of Minneapolis quickly spread across the nation, calling for justice for Floyd and other African Americans who were killed by police. On Wednesday, the three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. If convicted, they potentially face the same penalty as Chauvin: up to 40 years in prison. Gray said Thursday that all Lane did was hold Floyds feet so he couldnt kick, and he underlined that the criminal complaint says Lane asked Chauvin twice if they should roll Floyd over and expressed concern that Floyd might be in delirium. He said Lane performed CPR in the ambulance. What was my client supposed to do but follow what his training officer said? Is that aiding and abetting a crime? Gray asked. Gray and Kuengs defence attorney, Tom Plunkett, asked the court for lower bail, saying their clients had been police officers for just four days when Floyd was killed. Police records indicate that while the men were rookies, they had more experience than a handful of days on the force. According to their records, they joined the department in February 2019 and became full officers in December. Minneapolis officers must serve a year on probation and spend time in field training with a more senior officer before they are fully qualified. Kueng, who is black, became a police officer because he wanted to make his community a better place, Plunkett said. He said Kueng was raised by his single mother on Minneapolis predominantly black north side. Plunkett and Thaos attorney, Robert Paule, did not address the merits of the charges in court and declined to comment after the hearing out of respect for Floyds family during the memorial. Judge Paul Scoggin set their next court dates for June 29. Gray said he plans to renew his arguments for lower bail then, saying it could take more than a year for Lanes case to go to trial. A date for Chauvins first court appearance has not been set, and his attorney has not publicly commented on the case. The latest criminal complaint says his actions were a substantial causal factor in Mr. Floyd losing consciousness, constituting substantial bodily harm, and Mr. Floyds death as well. The complaint against Lane, 37, notes that while he suggested to Chauvin that Floyd should be rolled over he took no actions to assist Mr. Floyd, to change his position, or to reduce the force the officers were using against Mr. Floyd. Kuengs complaint says the 26-year-old was positioned between Chauvin and Lane and could hear their comments. Thao, 34, was seen in the cellphone video standing near a crowd of bystanders, and his complaint says although he fetched a hobble restraint designed to restrict the movement of a person in custody from the squad car, the officers decided not to use it and maintained their positions. Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights have ordered a civil rights investigation of the police department to determine how to address racial discrimination and create systemic change. OnePlus wants to create a jacket for its brand, and it wants the community to design it. To that end, its holding a contest that it just announced over on the OnePlus forums. The contest tasks community members with designing a OnePlus jacket and then sending in those submissions. OnePlus will then narrow down which designs it likes best, and pick a couple of winners out of the top choices. Initially, OnePlus will internally decide which designs deserve to move forward, narrowing things down to eight potential final winners. Advertisement Once the company finds the eight it likes best internally, itll turn votes over to the community. The winners will then be chosen based on who gets the most votes out of those eight entrants. Each of the two winners will get a OnePlus Jacket of their very own The best part perhaps of this contest, for those that want one, is that the winners will each get a jacket. While the overall goal is to have a jacket designed for the brand, winners receiving one is part of the incentive to participate in the contest. Whats more is that OnePlus may end up selling them down the road. Advertisement In the contest description the company says only its core users will get to own one. Its not exactly clear what means. OnePlus could have plans to only make them available for sale to anyone who participates in the design contest. OnePlus specifically says core users so that could mean only the people that submit designs or both those users and the ones that vote. In either case, it may never properly go on sale for anyone that wants to buy one like the companys phones and accessories. Winners will also get a trip to the next physical OnePlus event A special edition of the community jacket is only one part of the rewards for the winners. Advertisement In addition to that, the two people that OnePlus chooses will also get a trip to the next physical company launch event. This will include a VIP ticket to get in, as well as a return flight and a one-night accommodation for a hotel. OnePlus doesnt make this very clear, but since its not mentioned, the winners may have to supply their own airfare tickets to the event. With the company only covering the return flights. Even if thats the case, airfare out to the event would still be cheaper since the return wouldnt have to paid for. And if winners are only staying for one night then they wont have to pay for the hotel room either. Which sounds like a pretty sweet deal for hardcore OnePlus fans. WASHINGTON Attorney General William Barr on Thursday defended the deployment of black-clad federal law enforcement officers who wear neither badges nor any other visible identification in response to protests in Washington, D.C. Barr and Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal said at a Thursday press conference that the officers were from the Bureau of Prisons Special Operations Response Team (SORT). We normally operate within the confines of our institution, and we dont need to identify ourselves. Most of our identification is institution-specific and probably wouldnt mean a whole lot to people in D.C., Carvajal said. I probably should have done a better job of marking them nationally as the agency. Point is well taken. But I assure you that no one was specifically told in my knowledge not to identify themselves. On Thursday, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, along with House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, wrote to Barr about the the use of federal security forces to oversee protests without specific agency identifiers or badge numbers. Krishnamoorthi is chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. The presence of these unidentifiable officials raises concerns that peaceful protesters might not be able to identify them as legitimate law enforcement officers, that law enforcement officers might not be able to identify each other, or that it might allow for other civilians that are self-appointed assistants to police to falsely identify themselves as legitimate law enforcement officials, their letter reads. Members of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and other law enforcement personnel block a street near the White House. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) The letter also asks why they were instructed not to disclose what agency they were from. Barr defended the decision to deploy SORT teams on the streets of D.C., saying that they are among the federal units best trained to deal with civil unrest. SORT teams are highly trained units that typically focus on handling emergency situations and potential violence in prisons, including quelling riots, thwarting escapes and conducting cell extractions. They use a variety of equipment including nonlethal munitions and firearms. Story continues In the Department of Justice we do not really have large numbers of units that are trained to deal with civil disturbances, Barr said. Our Marshals response force is approximately 100 U.S. Marshals. And so, historically, when there have been emergencies where we have to respond with people who do have experience in these kinds of emergencies who are highly trained people, we use what are called SORT teams, response teams from the Bureau of Prisons. Barr did not apologize for the officers lack of recognizable marking or badges. In the federal system we dont wear badges with our name. Agents dont wear badges with their names and stuff like that, which many ... non-federal police agencies do, Barr said. And I could understand why some of these individuals simply wouldnt want to talk to people about who they were if that in fact was the case. The Democrats letter requests that the government make the necessary alterations to the uniforms of [Justice Department] personnel deployed to crowd response to provide for their identification in the event of misconduct, and asks for a response by June 10. The letter is the latest salvo from Democrats on Capitol Hill in their dispute with Barr over the use of force to combat protesters in the nations capital. Barr has become a lightning rod for criticism of the governments handling of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Democrats have called for a special prosecutor into Barrs handling of law enforcements attack on protesters in Washington on Monday night. Democratic chairs of key committees in the House of Representatives have sent letters to the Secret Service seeking information about the events of that evening as well. Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators next to St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House on Monday. (Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images) Barr took control of the federal governments response that day, seeking to coordinate the patchwork of federal agencies operating on the streets of D.C. since the protests began. Mondays move against protesters situated outside the White House came after three days of demonstrations that were accompanied by violence and looting in Washington and other cities. Barr said his priority on Monday was to protect nonviolent protesters while bringing the city under control. If you use insufficient resources its dangerous for everybody, he said Thursday. Things could easily get out of control. ... The way to address it is to make sure the resources are there and people understand the resources are there to deal with that kind of violence. Barr defended his decision to order federal law enforcement officers to charge the protesters on Monday, saying it was necessary to extend the security perimeter around the White House and give law enforcement enough space to avoid injuries from thrown projectiles. He said there were 115 injuries to law enforcement in D.C. this past weekend, including 22 hospitalizations. Most of those were serious head injuries or concussions that required monitoring and treatment, he said. There have been reports of protesters throwing projectiles at officers before police charged the crowd on Monday, but most accounts from the scene indicated that the majority of people in the crowd were protesting peacefully. Barr and the White House have said the protesters were given three warnings on Monday night. Those in the crowd said they heard no such warnings. In addition, law enforcement personnel is seen in multiple video accounts punching or shoving protesters and members of the press who did not appear to be doing anything provocative. There have been conflicting reports about whether Barrs decision to extend the security perimeter was to create space for the president to make the short, one-block walk from the White House to St. Johns Church. The church, which was built in 1816 and has hosted every president since then, was damaged by protesters last weekend. Protesters in Washington, D.C., were penned in by police before being cleared out so President Trump could walk through for a photo opportunity in front of St. John's Episcopal Church. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters) Trump arrived at the church Monday for a much-criticized photo op in which he held up a Bible. Justice Department officials have said that the decision to extend the perimeter was made Sunday night or Monday morning, and when Barr arrived on the scene late Monday afternoon he was surprised it had not been done yet. He then ordered law enforcement to quickly extend the perimeter. Law enforcement personnel charged into the crowd of protesters between the White House and St. Johns less roughly 20 minutes before Trump walked to the church. The law enforcement units deployed tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. There were also military helicopters that hovered low to the ground over protesters to intimidate and disperse them on Monday night. That too has drawn questions about whether it was a legal and appropriate use of federal power, and both the commander of the D.C. National Guard and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper have said investigations will be launched into the matter. Barr said the overwhelming show of force on Monday was responsible for calming the situation and preventing additional violence in the city. I think once that occurred it provided an environment where things could quiet down, and they did quiet down and hopefully they will stay quieted down, Barr said. Cover thumbnail photo: William Barr; members of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and other law enforcement personnel. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP, Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) _____ Read more: I was trying to get out with my hands up. They continue to break the window, and before you know it I was being pulled out of the vehicle, pulled by my hair, Wright said, crying. The officer grabbed me. I had my hair tied in a bun. He grabbed me by the top of my bun and pulled me out of the vehicle. And that is when they threw me on the ground, and he proceeded to put his knee in my neck. Assemblymember Mike A. Gipsons Statement on the Death of George Floyd Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) released the following statement on the recent murder of George Floyd: As a Black man who watched the George Floyd take his last breath while the 200 lb. weight of a police officer was leveraged on his neck for 8 minutes, I was overwhelmed with pain and anger. George repeatedly pleaded that he could not breathe as two other officers held him down in that fatal position. Another Minneapolis officer watched as his body succumbed to the attack and went limp. As a former police officer, I adamantly denounce the actions of these four murderers. Each of them should have been immediately fired, arrested and charged with murder. People are not in the streets because they are criminals; people are in the streets because criminals who were sworn to protect the public, executed a man in broad daylight with no real consequence. ADVERTISEMENT As a legislator and elected official, we have to do better. We have to hold those in authority accountable. Last year, I co-authored AB 392 with Assemblymember Shirley Weber that mandated restrictions on the use of lethal force. We need more. As a father, I dont know what more I can tell my sons and grandchildren to protect them. I want to give them tools to fight this racism. Although the solutions escape me, I am willing to continue to fight, work for justice and against what Dr. King described as the appalling silence of good people. As a community member, we have to plan, strategize and protect our message. We cannot let others hijack our peaceful demonstrations instigators, provocateurs, White Supremacists and those with their own agendas. Its up to us to control the protests. Yesterday, in Santa Monica, brave young Black men and community residents blocked the entrances of stores against looters. They held signs and told crowds this is not our message. It was exactly the right action. My family and I will continue to pray for the Floyd family and all of the other families who have lost loved ones to criminal police actions. The pain is real and palpable. Justice must prevail. Born and raised in Watts, Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson served as councilmember for the City of Carson for nearly a decade before transitioning to the California State Assembly. Asm.Gipson currently serves as Assembly Democratic Caucus Chair, responsible for driving the legislative decision making process for the majority caucus, address statewide issues, and hold weekly meetings to discuss and set the caucus priorities. Senate Republicans on Thursday authorized a key committee chairman to issue a wide range of subpoenas as part of an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe and allegations of wrongdoing by top Obama administration officials. The party-line vote in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee represented a significant escalation of the GOP-led investigation, which has come at the urging of President Donald Trump and his allies. The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote to authorize a similar subpoena, but the vote was postponed to next week as senators sought additional time to debate and offer amendments. The Judiciary Committees inquiry focuses on the genesis of the counterintelligence investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, in addition to alleged abuses of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act and the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. The Homeland Security panels investigation centers on the presidential transition period, during which Obama administration officials unmasked the name of incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn from intelligence intercepts. Unmasking refers to the common practice by national security officials to reveal the identity of individuals involved in conversations subject to surveillance by the government. It is our job to investigate and provide the American people a complete accounting of what happened during the last transition, said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Homeland Security panel. The subpoena authority I am requesting today will help us gather the necessary information. While the two committees areas of inquiry are certain to overlap, Johnson and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have said they intend to work closely together and share information with each other as necessary. Graham said on Thursday that he does not expect to examine activities that took place during the presidential transition period, leaving that review to Johnson. Story continues The measures authorize both chairmen to issue subpoenas to several executive branch agencies and departments, in addition to a slew of high-level Obama administration officials including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan. Trump has alleged that top Obama White House officials and even the former president himself tried to undermine him and his incoming administration by improperly targeting his associates and advisers. Senate Republicans have mostly echoed those claims, heeding Trumps calls to launch wide-ranging investigations, including into Hunter Biden, the son of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Democrats, meanwhile, have said the probes are a misuse of the Senates oversight authority and simply intended to boost the presidents reelection bid, given the backdrop of the 2020 presidential election and the likelihood that the probes will ensnare Joe Biden. Senate Republicans are intent on pressing this investigation, and not the serious challenges facing our country that this committee has a responsibility to address, said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security panel, referring to the coronavirus pandemic and other issues. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Judiciary Committees top Democrat, said the subpoena authorization Graham is seeking was unprecedented and would give him unbridled authority to go after Obama-era officials in pursuit of politically motivated investigations. Johnson said on Wednesday that he intends to issue a report on his committees investigation in the fall, before the November election prompting Democrats to renew their assertions that the probe is political in nature. Johnson is also leading the investigation into Hunter Biden, and has said he plans to issue a report on that probe over the summer. At least one Republican echoed those concerns. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, says he continues to be concerned that this is politically motivated. But he said he will not stand in the way of Johnsons effort to pursue additional information, and ended up supporting the subpoena authorization after securing a commitment to drop inspectors general from the list of possible subpoena targets. The Judiciary Committees meeting became heated as senators went back and forth over the merits of the GOP-led probe. At one point, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) interjected and urged a swift committee vote. Ninety percent of our committees are about trolling for soundbites, Sasse remarked, saying he had other committee meetings to attend. Both committees probes are expected to be laser-focused on a Justice Department inspector generals report that found several significant errors in the applications for surveillance warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. The report was a stinging rebuke of the FBI in particular though it found that the counterintelligence investigation was properly initiated, a conclusion that Attorney General William Barr and the president have openly challenged. The Judiciary Committee officially kicked off its investigation on Wednesday when former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appeared before the panel to testify about his appointment of Mueller as special counsel in addition to his sign-off of the fourth and final FISA application for a warrant on Page. Rosenstein largely blamed the FBI for the alleged mishaps with the FISA applications, as Republicans urged accountability for Rosenstein and other officials involved in crafting the surveillance applications. Marianne LeVine contributed to this report. Over 1.07 lakh stranded Indians have returned to the country from abroad since the government launched the 'Vande Bharat' evacuation mission on May 7, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. It said the government has started preparation for the third phase of the mission after completion of the second phase of the evacuation on June 13. "Around 38,000 persons are expected to be repatriated under this phase in 337 international flights from 31 countries," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. In the first phase of the mission from May 7 to 15, the government evacuated around 15,000 people from 12 countries. The second phase of the evacuation mission was scheduled from May 17 to 22. However, the government has extended it till June 13. Air India has operated 103 flights under the second phase to bring back stranded Indian nationals from abroad, Srivastava said, adding the Indian Navy has also made sorties to bring back Indians from Sri Lanka and the Maldives. "After the commencement of the Vande Bharat mission on May 7, a total of 454 flights, including foreign carriers, have brought back stranded Indians. As of date, 1,07,123 Indians have returned," he said. Those who have returned to India included 17,485 migrant workers, 11,511 students and 8,633 professionals. He said over 32,000 Indians have returned through land border checkpoints from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. A total of 3,48,565 people registered requests with Indian missions for repatriation to India on compelling grounds. As per the government's policy for evacuation, Indians having "compelling reasons" to return like pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing the prospect of deportation are being brought back home. The MEA spokesperson said the third phase will cover more sectors and will create additional hubs in remote regions. (Photo Credit: PTI) Hyderabad, June 4 : Coming down heavily on those selling spurious seeds, Telagana Police have booked cases against 13 people under the Preventive Detention Act. Director General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy on Thursday asked all field level police officers to show zero tolerance against offenders involved in production, distribution and sale of spurious seeds by filing cases under the act. He along with Secretary, Agriculture, B. Janardhan Reddy held a meeting, via video conference with all District Superintendents of Police, Commissioners of Police and District Agriculture Officers. The meeting was held on the direction of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao to take measures to control sale of spurious seeds with the onset of monsoon. The DGP directed the officials to take strong legal action with immediate effect to contain the menace of spurious seeds. "So far 13 cases under PD Act have been initiated against spurious seed offenders in Telangana. The Field Police Officers have been instructed to develop a system of sources for identification of the activities of spurious seed offenders in real time and initiate legal action against each and every such offenders by invoking strong legal provisions," an official release said. Police officers at each police station level were asked to open history sheets for all spurious seed offenders and mount surveillance on a regular basis. They were also directed to take legal action against the entire network of offenders involved in the financing/manufacturing/distribution/transport/sale of spurious seeds in each case. The databases of the criminal networks involved in spurious seeds activity will be maintained at district and state levels. Janardhan Reddy instructed agriculture officers to take the help of police department in fighting the menace of spurious seeds. Dr.Keshavulu, Director Seed Certification, Telangana, sensitised all the police officers about the legal provisions for identification of genuine and spurious seeds. It was resolved that the Police, Agriculture and Intelligence Departments will work together to eradicate the menace of spurious seeds. The results achieved by all SPs and Commissioners will be monitored on a daily basis by the DGP. Originally live streamed on June 3rd, 2020 at 10am PST. www.twitter.com/soarfinancial make sure to follow us & click on the https://twitter.com/soarfinancial/status/1268224876587782144?s=20 #Gold #Royalty #Stream #askMTA || Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. (TSX.v: MTA) Guest: Brett Heath, President & CEO Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. is a royalty and streaming company focussed on assets primarily in North America. The company recently acquired royalties on assets in Nevada. We caught up with President & CEO Brett Heath to discuss how the industry is evolving, new entrants to the sector and how the gold price is affecting the due diligence process and potential opportunities. More info at www.metallaroyalty.com Follow Us! Twitter: http://twitter.com/soarfinancial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soarfinancial/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soarfinancial/ Website: http://www.soarfinancial.com SF Live is a new format by Soar Financial Partners. The goal is give short company updates and more importantly get investors engaged directly with the companies. Intro Music: Endless Motion by Bensound.com Disclaimer: This video is for informational purposes only and not to be regarded as investment advice whatsoever. Maritime Resources Corp. is a client of Soar Financial Partners. We hold stock and options in the company. Do your own due diligence! #mining #exploration #debt #financing #investing #investment #stocks #goldprice #goldmine #inflation B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research And Information Network AG / Key word(s): Capital Increase B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG resolves on a cash capital increase from authorised capital. Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. NOT FOR DIRECT OR INDIRECT PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND JAPAN OR ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH OFFERS OR SALES OF THE SECURITIES WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG resolves on a cash capital increase from authorised capital. Zwingenberg, Germany, 3 June, 2020. The Management Board of B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG ("BRAIN", or the "Company") has resolved, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, to increase the Company's share capital against cash contribution by issuing new registered shares with no par value with targeted proceeds of approximately EUR 13 million. Each such share has a notional value of EUR 1.00 of the Company's share capital (the "New Shares"). The share capital is to be increased through partial utilization of the existing authorized capital pursuant to to Section 5(2) of the Company's Articles of Association (the "Capital Increase"). The statutory subscription rights of the Company's shareholders were excluded pursuant to Sections 203 (1), 186 (3) sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG). The New Shares will carry full dividend rights for the fiscal year 2019/2020 beginning on October 1, 2019. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Capital Increase (i) to finance capital expenditures intended to increase the efficiency of the Company's production process in the enzymes area; (ii) to accelerate R&D for product development; (iii) for opportunistic bolt-on acquisitions; (iv) for the buy-out of certain minority shareholders in the Company's subsidiaries; and (v) for general corporate purposes. BRAIN's main shareholder has also announced its intention to participate in the Capital Increase. The New Shares will be offered for purchase in a private placement by way of an accelerated bookbuilding. The private placement will commence immediately after the publication of this announcement. The final offer price of the New Shares will be announced upon completion of the bookbuilding process expected to be on 4 June 2020. The New Shares are expected to be admitted to trading without a prospectus on 9 June 2020, and on 11 June 2020, included in the quotation of the existing shares on the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard). Following the transaction, the Company will be subject to a lock-up period, with market standard exceptions, ending 180 calendar days after the Closing Date. Notifying person: Michael Schneiders Head of Investor Relations Tel.: +49-(0)-6251-9331-86 E-Mail: mis@brain-biotech.com B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research And Information Network AG Darmstadter Str. 34-36 64673 Zwingenberg, Germany Information and Explanation of the Issuer to this News: ABOUT BRAIN. B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG (BRAIN AG; ISIN DE0005203947 / WKN 520394) is one of Europe's leading technology companies in the field of industrial biotechnology, the core discipline of Bioeconomy. As such, BRAIN identifies previously untapped, efficient enzymes, microbial producer organisms or natural substances from complex biological systems that can be put to industrial use. The innovative solutions and products developed through the help of this 'Toolbox of Nature' are successfully applied in the chemistry, the cosmetics and food industries. BRAIN's business model is based on two pillars: the BioScience and the BioIndustrial segment. The BioScience segment is mainly comprised of the research and development business with industrial partners (the 'Tailor-Made Solutions' cooperation business), and the company's own research and development. The BioIndustrial segment consists mainly of the industrially scalable products business. Further information is available at www.brain-biotech.com. DISCLAIMER. B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG takes sole responsibility for the contents of this announcement. This announcement does not contain or constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, an offer or invitation to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, any securities of B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG. In connection with this transaction there has not been, nor will there be, any public offering of the New Shares. The distribution of this announcement and the offer and sale of the securities referred to herein may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons reading this announcement should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. 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Archive at www.dgap.de As China tightens its control over Hong Kong, activists in the city defied a police ban and broke through barricades Thursday evening to mark the 31st anniversary of the crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijings Tiananmen Square. With democracy all but snuffed out in mainland China, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown. Police cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak and barricaded sprawling Victoria Park to prevent people from gathering there. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the citys rights and liberties. We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really dont want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park, said Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the governments most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago, Wuer told the AP in Taiwan, where he lives. But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government ... doing the same in Hong Kong. China did not intervene directly in last years protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government. It then announced last month at the annual meeting of its ceremonial legislature that it would impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the citys legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents. Beijings Tiananmen Square, where thousands of students had gathered in 1989, was quiet and largely empty on Thursday. Police and armored vehicles stood guard on the vast space. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints where they must show IDs to be allowed through as part of mass surveillance nationwide to prevent any commemoration of the event. As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered the governments standard defense of the 1989 crackdown. The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s, Zhao Lijian said. The great achievements that we have achieved ... have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to Chinas national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people. Despite the ban on the candlelight vigil, Hong Kong was bracing for possible pop-up protests of the type that raged around the city last year and often led to violent confrontations between police and demonstrators. Thousands have been arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by proposed legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China that organizes the annual vigil called on people to light candles at 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) and planned to livestream the commemorations on its website. Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and several other members of the Hong Kong Alliance gathered at Victoria Park at 6:30 p.m. (1030 GMT, 6:30 a.m. EDT), dressed in black shirts with the Chinese characters for truth emblazoned on the front. They lit candles and urged the public to do the same later on to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. Lee then led the group of about 15 members in a candlelit procession around the park, shouting slogans including, Stand with Hong Kong. We have been doing this for 30 years, we have the right to do this, this is a peaceful procession, he said, stating that it would be absurd if this behavior is criminalized. The group later removed one of the barricades surrounding the park, and entered it to continue their procession. On Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect Chinas national anthem. The pro-democracy opposition, which sees the law as an infringement of freedom of expression, boycotted the vote. The Hong Kong government tried to please or show loyalty to Beijing and ban our gathering even before the national security law comes in. But we are determined, Lee said at a kiosk set up by the group to distribute flyers in the busy Causeway Bay shopping district near the park. The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law, Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were planned elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted criticism of China and Hong Kong for banning the vigil earlier this week before meeting with a group of Tiananmen Square survivors at the State Department. Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, We urge the US to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs in any form. China has released the last of those arrested for directly taking part in the Tiananmen demonstrations, but others who seek to commemorate them have been rearrested for continuing their activism. They include Huang Qi, founder of the website 64 Tianwang that sought to expose official wrongdoing. Reportedly in failing health, he is serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted of leaking state secrets abroad. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to remarks by settler leader David Elhayani that US President Donald Trump and his senior adviser Jared Kushner are not true friends of the State of Israel. In a June 3 statement, Netanyahu strongly condemned Elhayani's words, saying, President Trump is a great friend of the State of Israel. He has led historical moves for the State of Israel, including: Recognizing Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital, moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the legality of settlements in Judea and Samaria," referring to the West Bank. Earlier in the day, Elhayani, head of the umbrella settler body called the Yesha Council, said, Trump and Kushner had shown through the proposal that they are not friends of the State of Israel and do not consider the security and settlement interests of the State of Israel." The comment reflects an escalation in settler rhetoric vis-a-vis the Trump administration and its peace plan. Several leaders of the settlers believe that Trumps plan and the annexation advanced by Netanyahu will eventually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, to which they object. Now it seems that parallel to campaigning against Netanyahus annexation plan, some settlers intend to campaign against the American plan and perhaps even against Trump himself. Elhayanis statement evidently vexed the Trump administration. Senior US officials reportedly sent a message to Yesha Council members, saying their opposition to the Trump administration's peace plan showed ingratitude and that they would be well advised to reread it. The front opened by some of the settler leadership against the American administration worries Netanyahu as well as senior politicians within the pro-settler Yamina party. Yamina chair Naftali Bennett tweeted immediately after Elhayanis remarks, "President Trump is a huge friend of the State of Israel, and we are all grateful for his support in the fight against Iranian aggression, moving the embassy, recognizing the Golan Heights and much more." Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of Yamina tweeted, President @realDonaldTrump is a true friend of Israel!" Still, the criticism by right-wing leaders did not appear to deter the settler leadership, at least not Elhayani. Speaking June 4 on the morning program of Israels Kan public radio, Elhayani said he had heard from a senior Likud member that the Americans have set a new condition for their consent to implementing Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank: a "broad national consensus." "I haven't forgotten the past US president, but with regard to the Trump outline of establishing a Palestinian terror state in the heart of Israel, maybe someone misled him," said Elhayani, adding fuel to the fire. New Delhi: The death of the pregnant elephant in Kerala's Palakkad district after eating a pineapple filled with firecrackers, offered to her allegedly by some locals, has sparked a big debate on animal abuse and animal cruelty. The news has affected all and sundry, leading to a massive uproar in social media. A campaign started by Zee News has garnered immense support across all the sections of society. Join ZEE NEWS campaign to bring Kerala elephant's barbaric killers to book by tweeting #JusticeForElephant to us. As per details provided by the forest officer, the pregnant wild elephant came out of the forest, meandering into a nearby village in search of food. As she walked on the streets, locals gave her the cracker-laden pineapple to eat and the fruit exploded in her mouth thus killing her. Maneka Gandhi flays Kerala government over the case BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday (June 3) flayed the CPM-led Kerala government for the tragic death of a pregnant elephant. The former union minister further said that Forest Secretary should be removed, and also sought the resignation of the state's minister for wildlife protection. She has also questioned Rahul Gandhi for his silence on the elephant's death. Prakash Javadekar seeks report from Kerala government Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has also sought a report from the state government in this matter. "Environment Ministry has taken a serious note of the death of an elephant in Kerala. Has sought a complete report on the incident. Stern action will be taken against the culprit(s)," Prakash Javadekar said in New Delhi on Wednesday. Bollywood expresses shock over the incident Actress Anushka Sharma, Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Athiya Shetty, Mouni Roy, Sonali Bendre, John Abraham, and TV stars such as Dipika Kakar, Sayantani Ghosh, Rohit Roy, Ravi Dubey have taken to Twitter and Instagram to express shock over the incident and are demanding stricter laws against animal cruelty. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata took to social media to express his grief and tweeted, "I am grieved and shocked to know that a group of people caused the death of an innocent, passive, pregnant elephant by feeding the elephant with a pineapple filled with firecrackers." Sports personalities condemn the killing Indian skipper Virat Kohli and star opener Rohit Sharma have expressed shock over the tragic killing of a pregnant elephant. Condemning the act, Kohli took to his official Twitter handle and expressed grief over the inhuman treatment meted out to the animal while also urging everyone to bring an end to these cowardly acts. Rohit Sharma said that he was heartbroken to hear the news and said that no animal deserves to be treated with cruelty. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has dragged the Federal Government before the United Nations over the plans to cut the budgetary allocation to education and health care. The group, in its petition, also urged the UN to prevail upon the Federal Government to drop the plan to spend N27bn on the renovation of the National Assembly complex. SERAPs Deputy Director, Kolawole Oludare, said the petition was sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Ms. Koumbou Boly Barry; UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Mr Dainius Puras; and the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Mr Olivier De Schutter. It said, The budget cuts show failure to address the growing economic and social inequality in the country, and to genuinely address the consequences of Covid-19 on the poor and marginalised groups. Nigerias budget deficits are caused by excessive expenditures on politicians allowances and mismanagement. Nigerian authorities would only be able to commit to fiscal discipline if they prioritise cutting the allowances of lawmakers and the costs of governance in general, rather than cutting critical funding for healthcare and education. This would have been a more appropriate solution to addressing budget deficits, as this would increase the available resources for health care and education, which in turn would contribute to reducing socio-economic inequality. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates As covid-19 cases rise unabated in the national capital, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday advised the Delhi government to ramp up testing, surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control. He was chairing a meeting via video conferencing to review the preparedness for prevention and control in Delhi. As all districts of union territory of Delhi are now affected by covid-19, the rising cases, high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts are worrisome," he said. While the average testing per million population in Delhi was 2,018, some districts, such as north-east, was at 517 tests per million population, and south-east at 506. The national testing rate is 3,098 per million. India has so far recorded 214,811 cases with 6,030 fatalities as on Thursday. While the UTs positivity rate of last week was 25.7%, several districts reported figures above 38%," Harsh Vardhan said. The high rate of infection in healthcare workers was also serious. It indicates poor infection prevention control practices in healthcare settings and needs to be attended to on priority." Till Wednesday, Delhi had reported 23,645 cases and 606 deaths. The health minister said the fatality rate is also high and asked the UT to enhance the health infrastructure along with better clinical management of covid-19 cases for effective case management and reduction of fatality rate. District magistrates, commissioners and mayors of Delhi said that density of population in many containment zones posed a serious challenge. They added that people seem to be getting complacent about physical distancing during Unlock 1, and this was a major factor contributing to the new surge. In the past 24 hours,3,804 covid-19 patients recovered pan-India. So far, 104,107 patients have been cured. As on Thursday, there were 106,737 active cases, all of whom were under active medical supervision. 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 This graph on the hospital patient census in Erie County for COVID-19 demonstrates how closely the data (in blue) followed the predictions (in gold) of the UB biomedical informatics researchers. Credit: University at Buffalo In a few short months, an interdisciplinary team of University at Buffalo researchers has reoriented its focus from academic pursuits in order to model the local transmission of COVID-19 cases. Now, with the first wave of cases subsiding, they are turning their attention to modeling the effects of reopening the local economy. Their early experience with the models has continued to be instructive. As they refined their early models, which were then presented to local providers and the Erie County Department of Health (DOH), they began to realize that the initial fears that local hospitals could be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases would not be realized. "We were lucky in the fact that we didn't have as many cases as New York City did by the time Erie County closed businesses and schools," said Gabriel Anaya, MD, a clinical informatics fellow in the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. Anaya and Sarah G. Mullin, a doctoral student in biomedical informatics are playing crucial roles in developing the models. "That had a big effect on us, a big plus in Erie County." "We are very lucky to live in a place where we are going through phases," Mullin agreed. "We've been in a state of government mitigation since almost the beginning of the pandemic in the county." Peter L. Elkin, MD, chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, who is supervising Mullins and Anaya, added: "The self-quarantining and social distancing measures we took meant we had only about 40% of the hospitalizations and deaths we would have had otherwise. But that advantage also shows the downside of what will happen if we reopen too quickly." Modeling interventions Anaya and Mullin are modeling how different interventions will affect the local spread of the virus. "We know that if half the population uses face masks we can mitigate increasing cases," Anaya said. "But it depends on how consistent people are with face mask use." Statistics they are incorporating into their models will reflect changing realities on the ground, such as the reduction in social distancing. That, in turn, allows them to give more accurate information to hospitals and the DOH, which will then be used to develop policies. As the team did beforewhen cases and hospitalizations increased locallythey will again look to other countries that have already begun to reopen their economies to see what might be in store for Erie County. "For example, South Korea had another spike in cases, so we are looking to see how they deal with it to inform how we might deal with a future spike in cases as we reopen," said Mullin. "It's this continual consumption of information that we then incorporate into our models. That will probably continue until we have a vaccine or a drug." Real data According to Elkin, a key advantage of the models that Mullin, Anaya and their colleagues have developed is that the models include not just the predicted curve of cases or hospitalizations, but also social distancing, infected but asymptomatic individuals and people transferred to the ICU. Understanding the features of the pandemic leads to higher predictive accuracy of the models. For example, he said, the graph above demonstrates how closely the data (in blue) followed their prediction (in gold). It shows how well our predicted curve matched what happened," he said. The intense effort to get all hands on deck started with a simple email between Anaya and Mullin back in early March. "How busy are you?" was the urgent question. Mullin responded: "Well Gabe, you know I'm busy. But we're in a pandemic. Let me know what you need." Within hours, Elkin had redistributed some of Mullin's work so that she and Anaya could start collaborating to develop and adapt existing epidemiological models to the local COVID-19 epidemic. The collaboration between Anaya and Mullin has continued to be productive, with Mullin's expertise in using ontology, the study of organizing and categorizing knowledge, to provide more accurate predictive analytics complementing Anaya's expertise in clinical informatics, which leverages health care data from hospitals with new techniques to improve health care delivery. That simple exchange expanded into a wide-ranging collaboration that continues to the present, with researchers throughout the department, the Jacobs School and the School of Public Health and Health Professions. All are working to gather and analyze data to reflect and forecast how the local COVID-19 epidemic will unfold. "We never expected we'd be needed to this degree," Anaya said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak A healthcare worker attends to a foreign worker at a dormitory in Singapore. (PHOTO: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images) SINGAPORE Proactive COVID-19 testing and screening of labour workers in dormitories may take up to September before they are completed, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong. Gan was responding to a supplementary question in Parliament on Thursday (4 June) by Murali Pillai, Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok. Pillai had asked how long it will take to complete the screening of migrant workers in the dormitories, and whether it will impact the timelines of Phase 2 or Phase 3 of Singapores reopening of the economy. In his reply, Gan said that the proactive screening will take some time, as the government has to do it systematically and carefully. (The screenings) may take up to August, or even September, he said in Parliament. But as we do so, when the workers have been cleared through this process, they will then be able to start work. Therefore we want to make sure that those who are able to start work are safe in the community, and that will allow us to continue the process of opening our economy. If we remain safe in Phase 1, we will then be able to proceed to Phase 2, hopefully before the end of the month. About 40,000 migrant workers cleared of infection so far Manpower Minister Josephine Teo had said in a media conference on 1 June that some 40,000 migrant workers who live in dormitories have been cleared of the COVID-19 infection to date. This includes 12,000 essential workers who were moved out of dormitories into short-term accommodation. Another 8,000 who were living in the dormitories have either tested negative or tested positive but have since recovered and been discharged. These workers are now living in dormitories with fellow workers who have also been cleared of the virus. The remaining 20,000 workers have recovered and have been rehoused at other temporary sites. There are about 400,000 foreign workers who are housed in various dormitories in Singapore. As of 1 June, the Ministry of Health has conducted 408,495 swab tests, of which 264,393 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 71,700 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 46,400 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population. Story continues Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Related story: COVID-19: 40,000 migrant workers who live in dormitories cleared of virus Josephine Teo Government asks Singaporeans to reject NIMBY mindset as it overhauls foreign worker housing Harry Sentoso in front of a waterfall during a 2016 family trip back to his hometown of Malang, Indonesia. (Evan Sentoso) When Harry Sentoso got called back to work at an Amazon delivery center in Irvine in late March, he was excited. He had been working in Amazon warehouses on and off for two years, always hoping to get a full-time position but always laid off after seasonal demand died down. Just a few weeks earlier, at the beginning of March, his bosses had told him they didnt need him anymore. He had spent most of the month cooped up at home in Walnut, looking for other work. Sentoso saw the warehouse job as a last chance to earn some cash before settling down to retirement. A small business he had started with a friend a few years earlier selling forklift tires hadnt taken off, and he didnt want to touch his savings if he didnt have to. He had applied to dozens of jobs in recent years, but Amazon was the best the 63-year-old could find. Before dawn on March 29, he left home in his Honda Civic, radio tuned to classic rock, and made the drive down to Orange County to work the early morning shift hauling and sorting packages before they went out to customers homes. Two weeks later, in the early morning hours of April 12 his 27th wedding anniversary Harry Sentoso would be dead. Sentoso's return to work was part of a massive wave of hiring that Amazon has undertaken in response to the coronavirus crisis. In mid-March, the company announced plans to hire 100,000 new workers to deal with a surge in online orders. In April, it began hiring 75,000 more to keep up with demand as it resumed shipping more nonessential items to customers. With that human wave came the virus. The same week that Sentoso was called back to work, new cases of COVID-19 were reported at six warehouses across Southern California. Until now, no cases at the Irvine facility, known as DLA9, have been made public, and Sentoso's death had gone unreported. Across the country, Amazon workers have documented more than 1,000 cases among warehouse workers as of May 20, and seven deaths. Sentoso is the eighth. Story continues Thousands of businesses have had to close and more than 38 million Americans have lost their jobs since the lockdowns began. But Amazon is hiring. The company has put new measures in place to make its warehouses safer for employees, but the number of cases at its facilities keeps rising. As consumers continue to minimize their own risk by shopping from their couches, workers have to decide: Is working for Amazon a lifeline, or a life-threatening risk? Harry Sentoso moved to Southern California in the 1970s, fleeing anti-leftist violence and persecution in his native Indonesia that targeted his family for their Chinese ancestry. His legal name was Sukoyo, but he chose to go by the short version of his middle name, Hariyadi, in his new home. After a few hard years scraping by in downtown L.A., he worked in sales for a doll company, then started his own small business, an import-export operation moving construction materials between California and Indonesia. Along the way, he earned a bachelors degree in chemical engineering and an MBA from Cal Poly Pomona, met his wife, Endang, and started a family. In his 40s, he landed a steady job as the warehouse supervisor at an oxygen sensor manufacturer, and worked there for over a decade. By the end of his career, he had socked away a healthy retirement fund, bought a house in Walnut, raised two sons, and taken up day trading as a hobby and a passion. He was devoted to his family, gracious and kind former co-workers recall his upbeat attitude and insistence on paying for lunch. He loved good food, dad jokes, and, according to his 20-year-old son Evan, Mini Coopers. In short, Harry Sentoso had lived the kind of life that can flourish for immigrants and refugees, if everything goes right, in Southern Californias sun-baked suburban soil. But things began to go wrong after Sentoso returned to work in late March. He worked from Sunday to Thursday, then started to feel a little under the weather on Friday, the first of his two days off. (The median incubation time for coronavirus infections is five days.) On Sunday, April 5, he went back to work, anxious not to miss a shift so soon after getting his job back and convinced he could shake what he thought was a cold, or maybe just bad indigestion. He liked to tell his sons, and the co-workers he befriended who were his sons' age, that working at Amazon was great for his health long days on the warehouse floor meant he always got in all his steps. But on the same day, his wife started feeling sick. Sentoso worked four more days, hauling and sorting boxes for delivery to their final destination, but then started to feel worse: shortness of breath, cough, fever. His wife, a pharmacy technician who made sure he brought and wore a mask to work every day, got tested at her workplace on Wednesday. Her results came back positive, and the family doctor said it was safe to assume her husband was too. They both began to quarantine. Three days later, close to midnight on April 11, Sentoso was having trouble getting any oxygen at all. His wife and older son Dylan, 22, tried to get him to the car to take him to the hospital, but Harry fell unconscious on his driveway. She called an ambulance, and called her other son. Harry Sentoso poses with his son Evan on a family trip in the early 2000s (Evan Sentoso) Evan, a student at UCLA, borrowed a classmates car and raced across the empty freeways from Westwood to Walnut alone, hoping he might be able to see his dad before things got worse. But he was too late. The EMTs had managed to briefly raise a pulse on the way to the hospital, but it had disappeared again by the time they arrived. His father was gone. Hospital staff allowed Evan 10 minutes in the ICU, standing a few feet away from his father's body, to cry and say his last goodbyes. In a statement, Lisa Levandowski, a spokesperson for Amazon, said: "We are mourning the loss of an associate at our site in Irvine, California. His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues in the days ahead." Evan moved back in with his older brother and his mother after his fathers death. The family was forced to mourn behind masks in their own home, the two sons watching and waiting as their mother got sicker, their fathers ashes still in their urn. Evan started getting calls from Amazon HR. There was someone from the Leave of Absence team, asking where Harry Sentoso was. After Evan told them that his father had died from complications of the coronavirus, he got a call from the companys Employee Resource Center, asking to confirm that his father had died. Then someone from Amazons Global Security Operations called to confirm that his father had died. An Amazon employee called from Chile for the same reason. Finally, the local HR team finished up the phone chain. That same week, Amazon announced that it was going to expand shipments of nonessential items, and was hiring a second wave of 75,000 new workers to process the flood of orders (up until that point, they had been prioritizing orders that they deemed essential). Amazon also fired two tech workers who had publicly criticized safety and working conditions at the company's warehouses. His outrage growing, Evan called the local HR rep back to ask some questions. Why are you hiring people if youre shipping out nonessential goods?" Evan asked. Someones life is not worth less than some persons board game. He wants to know why Amazon isn't being more transparent with its workers and the public. The company's official policy states that it informs all employees who have come in contact with an infected worker, but Amazon refuses to release official numbers of cases or deaths among its workforce. Reached for comment, Amazon said that it never received confirmation that Sentoso's death was linked to COVID-19, so it did not send out a mass notification, and only informed his co-workers verbally of his passing. When Evan first spoke with multiple Amazon representatives, he and his family had not yet received the postmortem test results from the hospital confirming that his father had been infected with the virus. But he told Amazon how his father died, that his mother had tested positive, and that a doctor had told the family to assume his father had the virus. Once the results, which have been reviewed by The Times, came in, Evan says he tried calling Amazon twice to inform the company, but was never called back. Soon after, Evan's family retained a lawyer to file a worker's compensation claim with the state, which listed the coronavirus as his father's cause of death. He wants to know why the company was planning to stop allowing workers to take unlimited unpaid time off if they're afraid to go in to work, and why Amazon is ending its $2 pay bump for workers if the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. shows few signs of slowing down. On the call, Evan said, the company ran through the litany of safety procedures that it put in place since the virus began to spread. The week before Sentoso died, the company began requiring employees to wear masks on site, and started checking the temperature of workers before they could enter. It began requiring employees to stay six feet apart in late March, and staggered shifts and canceled in-person meetings to make that easier. The company has increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting in warehouses as well, and began spraying down whole facilities with disinfectant fogs in mid-April. But Evan, and a contingent of Amazon workers across the country, don't think that those measures are enough. Hundreds of workers at Amazon's facilities in Hawthorne and Eastvale, in Riverside County, have signed and submitted petitions asking the company to close the facilities for two weeks after infections for thorough cleaning and send workers home with quarantine pay. Following worker complaints compiled by the Warehouse Workers Resource Center, Cal/OSHA has also launched investigations into both facilities. The call for a shutdown has been especially loud at warehouses in Pennsylvania and New York that have become coronavirus hot spots, with more than 60 reported cases at each before the company stopped updating the tally even to local employees. Other countries facing coronavirus outbreaks show how things could be different here. In India, factories where workers test positive are forced to shut down. In China, people who have come into contact with anyone who tests positive are required to undergo strictly enforced seven- or 14-day quarantines. Even after the number of new cases in the country dwindled to single digits in April, Chinese factory owners worried that a single infected worker could force the entire workforce into isolation. Foxconn, the million-employee company that builds the iPhone and many other electronic devices, created 20-person teams of workers and required them to work, travel, eat and sleep together in company dormitories to ensure that any infected workers could be quickly traced and quarantined. In France, a court ruled that Amazon had to restrict its activities to only shipping essential items or face serious fines. The company shut down all six of its large fulfillment centers in the country in response, but kept paying all workers their full salaries. Earlier this week, Amazon reached a deal with the court and the labor unions that brought the case in the first place: Starting June 2, the company will spread out shifts and run its warehouses at only half capacity, to increase social distancing, while continuing to pay the full salaries of the remaining workers left at home. In California, brick-and-mortar retailers of nonessential goods were required to shut their doors from March 19 until early May to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but delivery warehouses remained open. Amazon has been working to create its own infrastructure in order to test all workers regularly, but no state in the U.S. has the available capacity to test at the scale necessary to detect carriers of the virus across the workforce. Evan and his family are still reeling from his father's death, but he says he draws on his father's memory for strength. "He wouldn't have wanted me to give up, say this isn't fair and cuss my life out," Evan said. And he hopes that in sharing it, he can save other families from his own grief. "The last thing I want is for another family of another worker to go through what we have," he added. "If there's anything I can do to prevent another illness, another death, that's my goal." DECATUR, Ga. - Around 1,500 protesters gathered outside a Confederate monument in Decatur, Georgia, Wednesday as demonstrations continued throughout the state against racism, police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. The march started Wednesday afternoon in Decatur Square, home to a Confederate monument built in 1908 and a contextualized marker explaining the racist history of the monument and the Civil War. The marker reads, This monument and similar ones ... were created to intimidate African Americans and limit their full participation in the social and political life of their communities. The protesters in the square echoed that sentiment. Enough is enough, Georgia State University student Chaleah Head said. Im the mother of a young black man. How do I tell him he has to put his hand on the steering wheel when a cop comes by because he doesnt know whether they are going to shoot him or not? Head called for the Decatur rally on social media, stating she knew residents in her hometown would remain peaceful, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The crowd moved through the streets of Decatur, marching through town and stopping traffic at intersections as police and sheriffs deputies looked on. They read the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans who they say have recently been killed unjustly by police. Protests in neighbouring Atlanta, meanwhile, continued for the sixth consecutive day. Organizers said they would sit down in the intersection of Marietta Street and Centennial Olympic Park Drive at 8:50 p.m and demand an audience with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Bottoms earlier announced that curfews would start at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and then at 8 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All of the curfews end at sunrise. Nearly everyone in the crowd downtown dispersed ahead of Wednesdays curfew, and police and National Guard troops did not advance in a phalanx the way they did the night before. They say theyre extending curfew because were throwing bottles. Tonight, were not throwing no bottles. Were just sitting peacefully and asking the mayor to come talk to us, Jay Jarns told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The city experienced widespread vandalism and looting after a peaceful demonstration on Friday. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp authorized up to 3,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to cities across the state, and sent state police to reinforce law enforcement in Atlanta. ___ Mathurin reported from Atlanta. Fong said the family often receive "dirty looks" when in public. She said Kanuta is frequently subjected to adversity and racial profiling based on his Maori heritage and distinctive ta moko tattoo. "He experiences adversity based on his appearance regularly. He only got the tattoo a few months ago. We'll often face discrimination when we're out walking - we'll get stared at, people's eyes follow us. We feel we have to smile and openly acknowledge the dirty looks. Sometimes if we're out for a drink someone will shout out a racial slur," she explained. Kanuta is now trying to focus on the positive outcomes of the online attack, including the outpouring of support and the undeniable proof that racial profiling very much exists in New Zealand. He says the outraged response to Booth's tweet - which has been condemned as "racist" by other social media users - has been empowering. "The response to the accusation has been very mana uplifting," he told Newshub. "It makes me proud to see people stand up against him." He expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the support from friends, whanau and strangers alike, who have rallied behind him in the aftermath of the defamatory tweet. "There needs to be a change," Fong pitched in. "If anything, we hope this post will act as proof to open people's eyes and show them that racism is very much still around." Kanuta agreed, saying he hopes the tweet will "lift a hood" on discrimination in New Zealand. "I usually don't respond to these kinds of incidents. Instead I choose to share it with my friends and whanau to expose discrimination. These kind of people that formulate opinions with no understanding of the culture [they are criticising] - they will not listen. "I could tell them to read a book, to watch a documentary - even ask them to get a coffee with me and meet me in person. Who knows, if they had taken the time to get to know me for who I am, maybe they'd have more empathy and wouldn't be so quick to pass judgement." Newshub attempted to contact Booth for his side of the story. He did not respond to the request for comment and instead shared a screenshot of the reporter's message and labelled her "a parasitic media bastard". "I never singled out any individual but was talking about the crowd in general of which there is criminals among the good folk & is why [the Government Communciations Security Bureau] were there [sic]," Booth captioned the post. [June 04, 2020] Camillo Martino Succeeds Nader Tavakoli as Chairman of the Board of MagnaChip Semiconductor SEOUL, South Korea, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation ("MagnaChip" or "Company") (NYSE: MX) today announced the appointment of Camillo Martino as its new non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective June 11, 2020, immediately following MagnaChip's upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Mr. Martino succeeds Nader Tavakoli as the Company's Chairman. Mr. Tavakoli will remain a director on the Company's Board and continue to serve as a member of the Audit, Compensation and Risk Committees. Mr. Tavakoli joined MagnaChip's Board in 2009 and has served as its non-executive Chairman since late 2018, shortly before the Company's announcement that it would undertake a strategic review. The strategic review process was successfully completed with the Company's announcement in March 2020 of a definitive agreement to sell its Foundry business and Fab 4 to a special purpose company in South Korea established by Alchemist Capital Partners Korea Co., Ltd. and Credian Partners, Inc. for a transaction value of approximately $435 million. Following the completion of the sale, MagnaChip will be a pure-play products company focused on the attractive high-growth opportunities in the Display and Power market segments. "It was an honor to have served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of MagnaChip," said Mr. Tavakoli. "When I assumed the role, my goal was to help unlock the significant shareholder value at the Company and position it for future success by deleveraging the balance sheet, while at the same time making it a more streamlined pure-play product company. The announced transaction is expected to close in the September-October timeframe and will fully achieve that objective. I firmly believe Camillo is the right person to be appointed as the new Chairman, allowing me to devote more of my time to new initiatives and opportunities related to the current business environment in corporate credit and restructurings." "The Board thanks Nader for his leadership as Chairman," said Mr. Martino. "I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as Chairman and look forward to working with the entire Board of Directors and the management team to transform MagnaChip into a pure-play producs company to drive sustainable and profitable growth." "The Company and the management team would like to express their appreciation to Nader for his dedicated service as Chairman and for his leadership during the important strategic review process," said YJ Kim, MagnaChip's Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. "I also look forward to working with Camillo and drawing upon his vast knowledge and experience in the semiconductor industry. His decades of expertise, particularly in semiconductor products, will play a vital role as we enter an exciting new chapter." Mr. Martino has served on MagnaChip's Board since 2016 and is also currently serving on the board of directors of Sensera Limited. Mr. Martino also serves on the board of directors of several privately held companies, including VVDN Technologies, Keracel and CyberForza. Mr. Martino previously served as a director of Cypress Semiconductor until the closing of its sale to Infineon in April 2020 and was also the Chief Executive Officer and director of Silicon Image until it was acquired by Lattice Semiconductor in 2015. His semiconductor experience also includes the position of Chief Operating Officer at Zoran Corporation, and earlier in his career, he served at National Semiconductor in four different countries including Japan and China over a nearly 14-year period. Mr. Tavakoli has served as an investor, executive and advisor in complex corporate financial and operational restructurings for more than 30 years. Over the last year, Mr. Tavakoli has been engaged in senior executive and consulting roles in a number of large restructurings, including Cobalt International Energy, MF Global Inc., Sears and Toys "R" Us. Mr. Tavakoli is the Founder and CEO of EagleRock Capital Management and has recently formed Global Restructuring Advisors to assist creditors and boards of directors with the restructuring and wind-down of unprofitable businesses. The following link provides additional information on each of the directors who serve on the Company's Board of Directors: http://investors.magnachip.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors. About MagnaChip Semiconductor MagnaChip is a designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platform solutions for communications, IoT, consumer, industrial and automotive applications. The Company's Standard Products Group and Foundry Services Group provide a broad range of standard products and manufacturing services to customers worldwide. MagnaChip, with more than 40 years of operating history, owns a portfolio of approximately 2,950 registered patents and pending applications, and has extensive engineering, design and manufacturing process expertise. For more information, please visit www.magnachip.com. Information on or accessible through MagnaChip's website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this release. CONTACTS: In the United States: So-Yeon Jeong Investor Relations Tel: +1.408-712-6151 [email protected] In Korea: Chankeun Park Director, Public Relations Tel. +82.2.6903.3195 [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/camillo-martino-succeeds-nader-tavakoli-as-chairman-of-the-board-of-magnachip-semiconductor-301070513.html SOURCE MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) speaks at the start of a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on the governments response to the CCP virus outbreak in Washington on March 5, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Senate Panel Authorizes Subpoenas for Inquiry Into Crossfire Hurricane The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted on June 4 to authorize its chairman to issue subpoenas as part of an inquiry into the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign, which eventually evolved into the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. The subpoena authorizations cover an extensive list of people connected to Crossfire Hurricane, the FBIs code name for the investigation of the Trump campaign. Prior to the vote, the committee canceled authorizations to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general (IG). Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Homeland Security panelthe chief oversight committee of the Senatesaid those subpoenas were rescinded to ensure that inspectors general can carry out investigations without concern from witnesses that their testimony may eventually be obtained by Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which was scheduled to vote on a separate set of subpoenas as part of its own inquiry into the matter, delayed its vote until next week. The Judiciary Committee will lead the way in the dual effort, while the oversight committee will call witnesses for follow-up questioning and further inquiries, Johnson has said. The oversight committee will focus on the transition period between the election and inauguration of President Donald Trump. The Judiciary Committee kicked off its inquiry a day earlier, with the interview of former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who played a crucial role in the events that led up to the appointment of Mueller as special counsel. Rosenstein told lawmakers that he wasnt aware of a number of exculpatory details about the targets of Crossfire Hurricane at the time he authorized the renewal of an application for a warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign associate. Rosenstein also revealed that then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe kept him in the dark for a week about a series of consequential memoranda drafted by then-recently-fired FBI Director James Comey. Rosenstein said that McCabe also failed to brief him about internal FBI discussions regarding the investigation of high-profile officials, an apparent reference to McCabes opening a formal investigation into the president himself. Democrats on both committees opposed the inquiries, arguing that the efforts are a political errand for Trump. The Democrats say the efforts are redundant, considering the extensive inquiry completed by the DOJs inspector general, Michael Horowitz. The IG found that the FBIs applications to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page contained 17 significant errors or omissions. While Horowitz detailed extensive evidence of bias among the key officials who conducted the investigation, he found insufficient evidence to establish that the bias played a role in any of the investigative decisions. Horowitz has said that its inexplicable that such a large volume of errors or omissions could have been made by three separate, handpicked FBI teams conducting the highest-profile FBI investigation in years. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Page are one part of a broader pattern of questionable activities by senior law enforcement and intelligence officials. The committees will also look into the rampant unmasking requests targeting people affiliated with the Trump campaign. The Director of National Intelligence recently declassified a list of dozens of unmasking requests targeting then-incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn during the transition period. Those making the requests included top law enforcement and intelligence officials in the Obama administration, including CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, DNI James Clapper, and Vice President Joe Biden. Lawmakers will also look into the FBI investigation of Flynn. Recently declassified documents show that Comey authorized the closing of the case against Flynn days before the FBI intervened to keep the case open. The intervention took place one day before President Barack Obama personally discussed the Flynn case with key officials in the White House. I want to find out why they kept going after Flynn when everybody whod looked at Flynn said he shouldnt be part of Crossfire Hurricane, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Were going to go where the evidence takes us, and Im going to try to answer some basic questions about how it got so off the rails and try to explain to the public why the FISA court was so upset. I dont know if anybody is going to go to jail. People went to jail in the Mueller investigation. Well, I think there are some people who are really good candidates for going to jail for manipulating the FISA application process and abusing the rule of law. The United States said Wednesday it was waiting to build an "empowered" UN mission for Libya, frustrating France and Germany which say the delay in approving an envoy is jeopardizing momentum to end the conflict. The position of UN envoy for Libya has been vacant for three months, even with calls intensifying for a return to negotiations as the UN-recognized government beats back a rebel offensive. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Ghana's former foreign minister, was proposed for the role weeks ago by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres but has not been confirmed, with diplomats pointing to US opposition. "It's really urgent now. The situation in Libya is really bad," said the French ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Riviere, as he went public with concerns Monday alongside his counterpart from Germany. Christoph Heusgen, the German ambassador, said there needed to be a political rather than military solution. "By withholding the agreement to a proposal by the secretary general with regard to the special envoy, those responsible... carry a very heavy responsibility," he said. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, who has been proposed as UN envoy on Libya, delivers a speech in Nairobi in 2018 / AFP/File Neither envoy explicitly named the United States. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States also sought Libyan negotiations soon but added: "We want an empowered UN mission that can accomplish this goal." "This will require speedy action to appoint a UN special envoy who has the senior diplomatic clout and personal standing to make that engagement meaningful," the State Department official said. The official said the envoy should "focus exclusively on negotiation" while a special representative of the secretary general would focus on running the UN mission in Libya. Ghassan Salame of Lebanon quit as envoy on March 2 citing health reasons. Guterres first proposed as his successor Ramtane Lamamra, a former Algerian foreign minister, but that choice was vetoed by the United States, leading the UN chief to name Tetteh, who since 2018 has served as the UN representative to the African Union. The United Nations has long had dual, complementary roles of special envoy and special representative in Cyprus and Western Sahara, but some countries see little to show from the model as both conflicts have been in stalemate for decades. Libya has been in chaos since 2011 when a Western-backed uprising overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Since last year, warlord Khalifa Haftar -- supported by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russian elements -- has been fighting to topple the UN-recognized Government of National Unity. The Tripoli government, backed by Turkey, has made strong gains in recent weeks, including recapturing Tripoli's international airport on Wednesday. The Iranian government has freed a U.S. Navy veteran after detaining him for nearly two years, according to his family. Michael White departed the country Thursday on a Swiss government aircraft, according to President Donald Trump, who welcomed the news in a tweet. "For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC and I have been living a nightmare," his mother Joanne White said in a statement to ABC News. "I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home." MORE: Hope for prisoner swap fades as US deports Iranian scientist, but no Americans freed White's release comes just days after an Iranian professor was released from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement custody and returned to Iran. Sirous Asgari, an Iranian professor working at Case Western Reserve University, had been charged with stealing trade secrets, but a federal judge dismissed the case against him last fall, citing a lack of evidence. He remained in U.S. custody because of an expired visa. PHOTO: Michael White, an American Navy veteran released from prison in Iran on medical furlough, is pictured in a March 25, 2020, photo released by his family. (Courtesy White Family) Both countries have denied that Asgari was part of a prisoner exchange. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told ABC News Tuesday that Asgari "is not and has never been a participant in any prisoner swap with Iran." The Trump administration had been trying to deport Asgari since December, she added, "but the Iranian government repeatedly has held up the process." There are at least three American citizens that remain imprisoned by the Iranian government, an adversary of the U.S. for decades known for taking westerners hostage: Siamak Namazi, a businessman held since October 2015; his father, Baquer Namazi, an 83-year old former United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) official and Iranian provincial governor; and Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian environmentalist with U.S. and British citizenship. MORE: American held by Iran hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms amid worsening outbreak Story continues "My prayers are with the Namazi and Tahbaz families and the families of so many other wrongfully detained Americans around the world," Joanne White said Thursday. White was first detained in July 2018 while visiting an Iranian girlfriend on his third trip to the country. He was represented in Iranian court by a government-appointed lawyer who did not speak English, convicted of insulting the country's supreme leader and posting on social media, and sentenced to a combined 12 years in prison. 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. Concern about White's case had grown in recent months. A cancer patient, he contracted the novel coronavirus while in Iranian custody, was released on medical furlough, and at one point hospitalized because of the virus. The family spokesperson started a GoFundMe page for him last May. PHOTO: Iranian Revolutionary Guard and paramilitary Basij force members disinfect cars to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in downtown Tehran, Iran, March 25, 2020. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP) "Our response will be decisive," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned in March, if White or any other American died while in a foreign government's custody. Trump heralded White's release, tweeting, "I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas!" It's unclear if White is headed directly to the U.S. or first stopping somewhere in Europe. He was evacuated from Iran on a Swiss government aircraft because Switzerland is the United States' protecting power in Iran, looking after American citizens and interests in the absence of a U.S. diplomatic mission. Joanne White thanked the Swiss government, along with the State Department and its Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who has acted as an interlocutor with the Iranian government. 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 Iran frees US Navy veteran held for nearly 2 years originally appeared on abcnews.go.com TORO Cloud has once again been successfully recognized by APAC CIOoutlook in one of its Top 10 awards this time in providing digital transformation solutions. In its May 21, 2020 release, APAC CIOoutlook magazine hailed TORO Cloud as one of the Top 10 Digital Transformation Solution companies in 2020. This award is hot on the heels of last years recognition by the same publication as one of the top cloud solution companies of 2019, starting off a streak for the Hong Kong-based software development company. According to TORO Cloud CEO David Brown, the award stands as a testament to the companys goal which is to make enterprise application integration and business process automation accessible to businesses of all sizes. We are truly honored to be recognized for the second time by APAC CIOoutlook. The team at TORO Cloud would definitely take this success to heart as we continuously strive to deliver better, faster, and more efficient solutions for businesses trying to find success in this increasingly competitive digital landscape. Davids company is known for its flagship API platform Martini which provides an accessible enterprise application integration solution to integrate legacy and cloud-based applications, consume and publish APIs, log transactions, and create reports in a low-code and developer-friendly environment. This falls right in line with APAC CIOoutlooks objective in building this top 10 list that is, looking for organizations that are stepping up to face the challenges of digitalization. This particularly concerns well-established companies that are not primarily structured around or operating in the digital economy, and thus do not have native digital structures, yet whose future will depend on successful digital transformation, says APAC CIOoutlook in its release. ABOUT APAC CIOoutlook APAC CIOoutlook is a print magazine that aims to provide a platform for CIOs, CTOs and other senior level IT buyers and decision makers along with CXOs of solution providers to share their experiences, wisdom, and advice with the enterprise IT community of APAC countries. About TORO Cloud TORO Limited was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2014 by Australian founder and CEO, David Brown, with operations in the Philippines. TORO employs around 50 people. The company was funded with seed capital in excess of USD $1M by its founder and has bootstrapped its operations since that time. TORO's mission is to offer our customers a dramatically easier way to build, manage, and deploy enterprise-class software. TORO Cloud enables the digital transformation of an enterprise with solutions that provide an API-centric approach to application development, integration, and workflow automation. More information can be found at https://www.torocloud.com/ CLEVELAND, Ohio An attorneys fight to stop a series of curfews in Cleveland ended Thursday, as the city plans to move away from the sanctions. Attorney Mark Ondrejech filed a request for an injunction late Wednesday night that said blanket curfews had violated residents rights and were based on the whim of the mayor. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson enacted the first civil emergency Saturday after peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd turned violent, and vandals trashed stores and the Justice Center and set police cars on fire. Jackson continued the curfews through the week. The legal fight ended Thursday, after the city told a federal judge that it would no longer impose any more curfews. The last one was to run from 8 p.m. Thursday through 6 a.m. Friday. But the case underscores a much broader issue the reach that mayors across the country have in dealing with increasingly violent protests. Legal experts said Jackson and other mayors were correct in imposing curfews right after ugly protests, saying the leaders had broad police powers that extend during emergencies. The question becomes how long after an event those powers should continue. The citys first responsibility is to protect the lives and property of its residents, said Lewis Katz, a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University. I dont think there would have been any additional problems if it had been rescinded earlier, but I dont have the responsibility of protecting residents and their property. Katz said issues of curfews must be balanced with residents First Amendment rights to assemble. The issue can become quite murky, especially the longer a curfew continues. Considering what is going on in other cities, I doubt a judge would second-guess a mayors decision right now, he said. In documents filed Wednesday night, attorneys for Cleveland claimed that the curfews were needed to calm the city and prevent a further outbreak of problems. U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan spoke with attorneys for the city and Ondrejech on Thursday morning. She later filed an order that said, assuming the status quo, the city will not extend the curfew beyond 6 a.m. Friday. If new information is presented to the City of Cleveland, a new declaration of curfew may be ordered by the city within appropriate legal confines, the order said. Ondrejech said the city would need to provide new information as to why a curfew is needed and not rely on issues from the protests last Saturday. He also stressed that the curfew must be in the least restrictive means possible. On Saturday, more than 3,000 protesters crowded into downtown. A peaceful protest soon became violent, and police used rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas near the Justice Center. Officers arrested 99 people, and they have since made several more for curfew violations. The issue became more unclear Monday, when police officers turned away thousands of commuters seeking to drive to work. In his original filings Wednesday night, Ondrejech said the blanket curfews violated residents rights, and they were not determined by any objective criteria but under the arbitrary and capricious whim of the mayor. He said Jackson has failed to show that there is clear and present danger to the city, its business district and the area near the West Side Market sufficient to justify the infringements on the rights of residents. Elena Boop, Clevelands chief assistant law director, handled the case in federal court. She declined to comment, referring a reporter to a spokesperson. In a release, the city said it will continue to evaluate conditions in the city and will address them accordingly. The citys number one priority is to keep Clevelanders safe. J. Dean Carro, a retired faculty member at the University of Akrons School of Law, said the need for curfews can continue, based on cities monitoring social media. But he stressed that the further from an incident of violence takes place, the less authority a mayor has to limit residents. In these times, you have to protect your residents, Carro said. Violent protests are not protected by the constitution. Regulatory News: MedinCell (Paris:MEDCL): Strong consolidated financial position as at March 31, 2020 and strengthened since year-end 12.4 M in cash and cash equivalents in cash and cash equivalents 3.6 M of risk-free financial assets (0.4 M current 3.3 M non-current) of risk-free financial assets (0.4 M current 3.3 M non-current) 10.9 M of additional non-dilutive financing (PGE) - Post-closing of additional non-dilutive financing (PGE) - 3.1 M of CIR collected in May 2020 - Post closing of CIR collected in May 2020 - 5.0 M to be received from the EIB under conditions Consolidated financial results: Income from ordinary activities: 6.O M (+48% compared to the previous year) Cash consumption linked to the activity: 12.5 M (in line with expectations) Evolution of the product portfolio in line with expectations Progress in clinical development: Phase 3 of mdc-IRM (antipsychotic) , led and funded by Teva Pharmaceuticals and mdc-CWM ( post-operative pain and inflammation ), funded by AIC Phase 3 of mdc-IRM , led and funded by Teva Pharmaceuticals and mdc-CWM ( ), funded by AIC A third product in clinical development: start of Phase 1 of the mdc-TJK (antipsychotic) product led and financed by Teva Pharmaceuticals start of Phase 1 of the mdc-TJK (antipsychotic) product led and financed by Teva Pharmaceuticals Two new products in regulatory preclinical studies: mdc-ANG (antipsychotic) and mdc-WWM (contraception) , the latter benefiting from a new four-year 19 M$ grant from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation mdc-ANG (antipsychotic) and mdc-WWM , the latter benefiting from a new four-year 19 M$ grant from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation Three programs close to formulation selection that paves the way for preclinical development: mdc-GRT (organ transplantation), mdc-NVA (pain) and mdc-KPT (animal health New program launches: mdc-STM: formulation of a 3-month active injectable of Ivermectin to neutralize the vector of malaria transmission, the program received a 6.4 M$ grant over three years from Unitaid mdc-STG: new internal program in formulation Feasibility study of an injectable long-acting HIV prevention treatment (PrEP) funded by the Gates Foundation Significant post-closing events related to the product portfolio: Recruitment completed for the mdc-IRM Phase 3 clinical study, interim analysis expected before the end of 2020 Completion of the mdc-CWM Phase 2 clinical study, Phase 3 is scheduled to begin by the end of 2020 Launch of a research program for Covid-19 prevention (prophylaxis) Key events of the year July 2019 - Launch of preclinical development of a third long-acting injectable antipsychotic, mdc-ANG, funded and led by Teva Pharmaceuticals. August 2019 - Launch of animal health activities with an attractive risk profile and significant financial potential. Products can be tested in the target species during the lead formulation selection, with shorter development times and lower costs compared to human health. September 2019 - New grant from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a best-in-class long-acting injectable product for HIV PrEP. September 2019 - The MedinCell General Meeting votes to include the "Raison d'etre" of the Company in its articles of association: "Our mission is to contribute to the improvement and protection of the health of populations across the world. The fair sharing of the value created with all our employees is the foundation of our business model. The sustainability of MedinCell is an essential condition for achieving our objectives" November 2019 Additional $19 M grant from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation over 4 years to fund preclinical activities and a phase 1 clinical trial for the programme mdc-WWM. December 2019 - Announcement of the launch of the TEVA-funded and TEVA-led U.S. Phase 1 study of the mdc-TJK antipsychotic program. January 2020 - US Pharma Development Veteran Dr. Richard Malamut Joins the Medical Advisory Board of MedinCell. March 2020 - 6.4 M$ grant over three years with global health agency Unitaid, to fund the formulation and preclinical activities of a 3-month acting injectable ivermectin a drug used to treat many types of parasitic infections to neutralize the transmission vector of Malaria. Post-Closing: Launch of a research program for Covid-19 prevention (prophylaxis) MedinCell announced on April 6, 2020, its Covid-19 project (mdc-TTG) that aims at developping a long-acting injectable Ivermectin formulation for several months to protect people who are not infected with Covid-19 in order to break the virus chain of transmission. Such a tool could play a decisive role in the management of Covid-19 pandemic, by enabling many people around the world, especially those most exposed and at risk, to protect themselves. In addition to curative treatments and vaccines, Medincell would open a third path based on Ivermectin. In the event that no vaccine is found or if it is several years away, such treatment could reduce the impact of confinement with serious social and economic consequences. The third path to fight Covid-19: Ivermectin Ivermectin has shown its efficacy in a large number of diseases for more than 30 years. Several tens of millions of human beings have been treated with very few side effects. Ivermectin has also demonstrated its effectiveness in vitro or in vivo in the past on viruses such as dengue fever, West Nile, rabies, HIV, etc. A first study published in March 2020 showed in vitro efficacy against Covid-19.1 An observational study from the University of Utah and Brigham Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School has shown the potential benefits of Ivermectin in reducing inpatient and intensive care mortality.2 Numerous studies using Ivermectin are underway around the world. Their results could also support our project. The research on the prophylactic effect of Ivermectin is also based on the recent work on the potential prophylactic effect of nicotine against Covid-19, described in the publication by Dr. Zahir Amoura (La Pitie Salpetriere) and Jean-Pierre Changeux (Institut Pasteur)3, one of the leading French neuroscientists, who collaborate on our project. Indeed, Ivermectin is one of the most powerful modulators of the "nicotinic" acetylcholine receptor known, as had shown Jean Pierre Changeux and his team4, and also has the advantage of not having addictive properties such as nicotine. MedinCell published last January data showing that Ivermectin can be formulated with BEPO technology as a long-acting for varying doses and durations of up to several months5 The third path to fight Covid-19: long-acting injection As in HIV, oral prophylaxis only protects when patients strictly adhere to their treatment. A long-acting injectable becomes necessary to ensure permanent protection. The third path to fight Covid-19: strategy The program is advancing on three fronts in parallel to optimize deadlines, in collaboration with renowned scientists and institutes: In vitro validation of the protective effect of Ivermectin on Covid-19 cell strains. Results expected for 2020 Phase 1/2 clinical studies in preparation with oral Ivermectin for potential initiation in the coming weeks with objectives to validate safety and activity in regular dosage for prophylaxis. These studies could be carried out on different populations, especially those most at risk, in areas where the outbreak is active. Results expected by the end of 2020 depending on the evolution of the pandemic. In vitro and in vivo development and validation of 1-month and 3-month formulations of Ivermectin. The first candidate formulations could be ready in early 2021 for regulatory development. The objective is to be able to carry out a phase 3 in 2021 in the event of a rebound of the epidemic. The third path to fight Covid-19: financing MedinCell is working on the different funding tools that have been created to support research programs related to Covid-19. Details of the product portfolio As of March 31, 2020, the portfolio consisted of 3 products in clinical development and 8 product candidates in the formulation or preclinical phase. Among its products and product candidates, 6 are developed through industrial partnerships or with the financial support of foundations or health agencies, 5 are directly funded by MedinCell. 10 products or candidate products are intended for human health, 1 for animal health. PROGRAMS AT CLINICAL STAGE Subcutaneous injection mdc-IRM Treatment of schizophrenia Partner: Teva Pharmaceuticals Recruitment completed for the on-going Phase 3 clinical study (post-closing). Interim analysis expected before the end of 2020 upon patient relapse events. mdc-TJK Antipsychotic Partner: Teva Pharmaceuticals The first-in-human study for the investigational long-acting injectable antipsychotic mdc-TJK has started in Q4 2019. The results of this study, expected during 2021, will inform future development. Intraarticular injection mdc-CWM Post-operative pain and inflammation Partner: AIC The Phase 2 clinical study in the United States has been completed (announced in April 2020 post-closing). AIC, which plans to launch a Phase 3 clinical trial directly before the end of 2020, plans to meet with the FDA in the summer of 2020 to confirm its clinical strategy. The results of the Phase 2 study will not be released for the time being for strategic and competitive reasons. NEXT POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT Subcutaneous injection mdc-ANG Antipsychotic Partner: Teva Pharmaceuticals Status as of March 31, 2020: Preclinical Preclinical work continues to progress and will inform a decision on further development expected in the second half of 2020. mdc-GRT Organ transplant MedinCell program Status as of March 31, 2020: Formulation Full results of ongoing studies should make it possible to select the candidate formulation in 2020. mdc-WWM Contraception Partner: Bill Melinda Gates Foundation Status as of March 31, 2020: Formulation selection Preclinical Following the selection of the candidate formulation, the program moved into regulatory preclinical development. mdc-STM Malaria Partner: Unitaid Current status: Formulation mdc-STG Indication: confidential MedinCell program Current status: Formulation mdc-KPT (animal health) Pain MedinCell program Current status: Formulation Full results of ongoing studies should make it possible to select the candidate formulation in 2020. Perineural injection The two products are the first in MedinCell's portfolio with perineural administration mdc-CMV Pain MedinCell program Current status: Preclinical The results of the first preclinical studies do not make it possible to envisage going into the clinic now. Further investigations are underway to determine the strategy. mdc-NVA Pain MedinCell program Current status: Formulation Full results of ongoing studies should make it possible to select the candidate formulation in 2020. Financial information for the financial year 2019/2020 Strong and enhanced financial visibility since the end of the financial year, at least until the end of 2021 in most scenarios At March 31, 2020, MedinCell had 12.4 M in cash and cash equivalents and 0.4 M in short-term investments (compared to respectively 21.3 M and 0.8 M a year ago). The Company also had 3.3 M in non-current and risk-free financial assets. In addition to these resources as of March 31, 2020, MedinCell secured in May 2020 a State Guaranteed Loan (PGE) of 10.9 M from Banque Populaire du Sud and BNP Paribas. In May, the Company also received the 2019 research tax credit for an amount of 3.1 M. Furthermore, the Company may also receive, under certain conditions, the final tranche of 5.0 M of the European Investment Bank's (EIB) loan. These financial resources, together with the expected revenues from existing and future partnerships, provide MedinCell with the necessary means to further advance its product portfolio. Cash flow statement ( thousands) 2019/2020 12 months 2018/2019 12 months A Net cash flow from (used in) operations (12 539) (15 932) B Net cash flow from investing activities 72 (832) C Net cash flow from financing activities 3 563 29 240 Net Change in cash cash equivalent position (8 907) 12 493 Cash and cash equivalents opening balance 21 284 8 791 Cash and cash equivalents closing balance 12 377 21 284 A- Net cash flow used in operations During the year, the Company reduced its cash burn from operations compared to the previous year due to increased milestone and partner services revenues as well as the payment of an initial $4.75 M in grants from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation. Over the same period, operating expenses increased from 19.6 M to 25.2 M, primarily due to increased R&D expenses. In addition, the Company has limited or postponed certain activities from March 2020 to deal with the Covid-19 crisis. The impact of these budget reviews remains limited for the 2019-2020 financial year but could be more significant for the following financial year depending on the extent and duration of the Covid-19 crisis. The Company points out that the first revenue from product sales are expected to be royalties from the marketing of products developed with Teva Pharmaceuticals. Until then, due to the product development cycle and depending on the financial terms of partnerships (which may or may not include elements such as services fees, milestone payments, royalties, cost sharing, profit sharing, etc.), its revenue may vary significantly from one year to year. B- Net cash flow from investing activities The net flow linked to investment operations of 72 K is due to i) 0.9 M due to the release of financial assets given as collateral, offset by ii) the Company's investments that correspond to the acquisition of machinery and fixed assets for 0.6 M and intangible assets for 0.3 M, related to intellectual property. C- Net cash flow from financing activities In July 2019, the Company cashed the second tranche of the EIB loan for an amount of 7.5 M. This loan, for a total amount of 20 M, of which 15 M has already been received, aims to finance the formulation research and development phases proprietary products of the Company. The payment of the final tranche is subject to certain targets. During the period, the Company also reimbursed a loan of $1.0 M to a former industrial partner. Taking into account (i) the available cash, (ii) the expense reductions implemented in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, and (iii) the additional financing put in place since the closing of the fiscal year, the Company benefits from a solid financial visibility. In addition, Medincell should continue to benefit from revenues from existing or future partnerships, such as revenues from services and milestone payments and the Research Tax Credit. Income Statement A- Income from ordinary activities: 6.0 M Income from ordinary activities for the period came to 6.0 M, an increase of 48% compared with the previous financial year, and is divided as follows: Revenues of 2.9 M, up 98% compared with the previous year, including (i) formulation activities invoiced to industrial partners or subsidized by the Gates Foundation and (ii) milestones received from products in partnership with Teva Pharmaceuticals at key development stages. The remainder of income from ordinary activities corresponds to the Research Tax Credit (CIR) of 3.1 M. The increase of 21% compared with the previous year reflects the intensification of research and development activities. This CIR was received by the Company in May 2020 (post-closing). B- Recurring operating expenses under control and in line with Company's expectations: 25.2 M Recurring operating expenses increased by 29% compared with the previous year. 95% of the additional spending were related to R&D, of which the budget increased by 45% this year and totaled 17.2 M. Other support expenses increased by a limited extent by 5%. In line with the Company's strategy of expanding its product portfolio, these R&D investments thus enabled the Company to: Finance CRO and CMO services for ongoing formulation research and preclinical development programs, notably mdc-CMV (anesthesia and postoperative pain) and mdc-NVA (pain management) and mdc-GRT (organ transplantation). Strengthen its scientific teams, whose workforce has risen from 90 to 101 employees, and notably the team dedicated to the analysis, evaluation and initial validation of the compatibility of new molecules with BEPO technology. The Company has also strengthened its expertise necessary for more advanced development of products at the end of the formulation and preclinical stages. Despite the strengthening of the Business Development team in charge of the development and management of partnerships, marketing and selling expenses decreased by 12% to 2.4 M. To support the Company's operations, General and Administrative expenses increased by 14%. The increase is due in part to the training of the teams required to support the Company's development as well as the intensification of investor relations and communication activities. They also include the implementation of stock option and Free Share programs aimed at developing employee ownership and thus continuing to share with employees the value created while protecting the interests of all shareholders. C- Financial expenses: (2.1) M The financial result improved by 49% compared with the previous year. As a reminder, at the time of the IPO in October 2018, financial expenses of 2.2 M were amounted. These expenses included the fair value of bonds redeemable in shares (non-cash expense) as well as the partial repayment premium on Teva Pharmaceuticals' debt due to its participation in the IPO. D- Financial debt: 32.7 M At March 31, 2020, the gross financial debt amounted to 32.7 M and the net financial debt to 16.7 M vs. 27.0 M and 1.1 M the year before. It should be noted that 84% of the current debt is repayable beyond April 1st, 2023. At this time MedinCell should already receive royalty revenues from the sale of the first products based on its proprietary technology. Consolidated income statement ( thousands) 31/03/2020 31/03/2019 12 months 12 months Evolution Product sales, Royalties Income from development services 1 520 1 375 145 11% Licences, Milestones 1 332 na Income from polymer sales 68 (68) (100%) Revenue 2 852 1 442 1 410 98% Other income from continuing operations 3 148 2 605 543 21% Income from ordinary activities 6 000 4 047 1 953 48% Cost of goods services sold (79) 79 (100%) Research Development costs (17 214) (11 900) (5 314) 45% Sales Marketing costs (2 362) (2 676) 314 (12%) General Administrative costs (5 599) (4 899) (700) 14% Total operating expenses (25 175) (19 554) (5 621) 29% Recurring operating income (expense) (19 175) (15 507) (3 668) 24% Other operating expenses/income (150) (9) (141) na Operating income (expense) (19 324) (15 516) (3 808) 25% Gross financial debt income (expense) (2 049) (2 036) (13) 1% Other financial income (expense) (69) (2 157) 2 088 (97%) Financial income (expense) (2 118) (4 193) 2 075 (49%) Income (Loss) before tax (21 442) (19 710) (1 732) 9% Tax income (expense) (2 473) 28 (2 501) na Net income (loss) (23 915) (19 682) (4 233) 22% Attributable to owners of MedinCell (23 915) (19 687) (4 228) 21% Attributable to non-controlling interests 5 (5) (100%) Balance sheet summary ( thousands) 31/03/2020 31/03/2019 Total non-current assets 9 573 11 962 Total current assets 17 734 26 020 Total assets 27 307 37 982 Consolidated shareholder's equity (15 958) 6 243 Total non-current liabilities 36 663 23 968 Total current liabilities 6 602 7 771 Total liabilities 27 307 37 982 About MedinCell MedinCell is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company that develops a portfolio of long-acting injectable products in various therapeutic areas by combining its proprietary BEPO technology with active ingredients already known and marketed. Through the controlled and extended release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, MedinCell makes medical treatments more efficient, particularly thanks to improved compliance, i.e. compliance with medical prescriptions, and to a significant reduction in the quantity of medication required as part of a one-off or chronic treatment. The BEPO technology makes it possible to control and guarantee the regular delivery of a drug at the optimal therapeutic dose for several days, weeks or months starting from the subcutaneous or local injection of a simple deposit of a few millimeters, fully bioresorbable. Based in Montpellier, MedinCell currently employs more than 130 people representing over 25 different nationalities. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, especially on the Company's progress of its clinical trials. Although the Company believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any statements other than statements of historical facts that may be contained in this press release relating to future events are subject to change without notice, factors beyond the Company's control and the Company's financial capabilities. These statements may include, but are not limited to, any statement beginning with, followed by or including words or phrases such as "objective", "believe", "anticipate", "foresee", "aim", "intend", "may", "anticipate", "estimate", "plan", "project", "will", "may", "probably", "should", "could" and other words and phrases of the same meaning or used in negative form. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that may, if any, cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated or expressed explicitly or implicitly by such forward-looking statements. A list and description of these risks, contingencies and uncertainties can be found in the documents filed by the Company with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) pursuant to its regulatory obligations, including the Company's registration document, registered with the AMF on September 4, 2018 under number I. 18-062, as well as in the documents and reports to be published subsequently by the Company. In addition, these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including in the event that new information becomes available. The Company's update of one or more forward-looking statements does not imply that the Company will make any further updates to such forward-looking statements or other forward-looking statements. This press release is for information purposes only. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for the Company's shares in any jurisdiction, in particular in France. Similarly, this press release does not constitute investment advice and should not be treated as such. It is not related to the investment objectives, financial situation or specific needs of any recipient. It should not deprive the recipients of the opportunity to exercise their own judgment. All opinions expressed in this document are subject to change without notice. The distribution of this press release may be subject to legal restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Persons who come to know about this press release are required to inquire about and comply with these restrictions. 1 The FDA-approved Drug Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro Leon Caly, Julian D. Druce, Mike G. Catton, David A. Jans, Kylie M. Wagstaff Antiviral Research, 3 April 2020 2 Usefulness of Ivermectin in COVID-19 Illnes Amit N. Patel MD, MS; Sapan S. Desai MD PhD MBA; David W. Grainger PhD; Mandeep R. Mehra,MD, MSc 19 avril 2020 3 Changeux JP, Amoura Z, Rey F, Miyara M A nicotinic hypothesis for Covid-19 with preventive and therapeutic implications Compte Rendus Biologies 343 1-7 May 2020 4 Krause R, Buisson B, Bertrand S, Corringer PJ, Galzi JL, Changeux JP, Bertrand D, Ivermectin: a positive allosteric effector of the alpha7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, Mol Pharmacol 53 283-294 1998; Changeux JP, The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: a typical 'allosteric machine'. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 373: 20170174 2018 5 BEPO: Bioresorbable diblock mPEG-PDLLA and triblock PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA based in situ forming depots with flexible drug delivery kinetics modulation Christophe Roberge, Jean-Manuel Cros, Juliette Serindoux, Marie-Emerentienne Cagnon, Remi Samuel, Tjasa Vrlinic, Pierre Berto, Anthony Rech, Joel Richard, Adolfo Lopez-Noriega Journal of Controlled Release, Volume 319, 10 March 2020, Pages 416-427 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005561/en/ Contacts: MedinCell David Heuze Communication leader david.heuze@medincell.com +33 (0)6 83 25 21 86 NewCap Louis-Victor Delouvrier Relations investisseurs medincell@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53 NewCap Nicolas Merigeau Relations medias medincell@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98 "Getting to meet them, and hear their stories, is just something super special. I know from speaking with other people that they enjoyed our presence just as much as we enjoyed theirs, and they inspire us to be better." Cadet... New Delhi, June 4 : The Delhi Congress has alleged that the "Delhi Corona" app is a betrayal and hospitals are not admitting patients despite it showing availability of beds. Addressing the media via video link, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Kumar said the "Delhi Corona" app had turned out to be a non-starter as despite availability of beds in hospitals, earmarked exclusively for Covid-19 patients, they were not admitting coronavirus cases. Kejriwal had claimed the bed's status in those hospitals would be updated on app twice a day -- at 10 a.m, and 6 p.m, but that was not helping Covid-19 patients, he added. He said Delhi was now third in the number of Covid-19 patients with 23,645 cases and 606 deaths as on June 3. In the last one week alone, there had been 35 per cent rise in Covid-19 patients in Delhi, he added. Citing one Amarpreet's case, Kumar said she had been tweeting since 8 a.m. on Thursday, seeking help from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and others in the government for getting her corona-patient father admitted to a hospital. "Amarpreet said she was standing outside the LNJP Hospital, but it refused to admit him, though the Delhi Corona App was showing availability of more than 1,100 beds," Kumar said. Her father died without getting proper treatment, he added. The Congress leader said when he himself visited Max Hospital, Patparganj, at night in a bid to help one Shankar Mehrolia's unwell aunt get admitted, the hospital refused to entertain the patient saying all beds were occupied. At the same time, the government app was showingd availability of 80 beds at the hospital, he added. A crisis of rules, procedures and performance of testing centres has put the government, labs and hospitals in Delhi on a collision course and led to a substantial setback to the national capitals capacity to diagnose patients and check the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) The crisis came to a peak on Thursday when eight labs were banned from carrying out tests after the government pulled them up for not following protocols, and, according to the health minister, taking too long to report results. Some labs were giving reports very late.If someone has taken a test for the coronavirus, the reports should be ready in 24 hours. At times, some have not given results for 5-6 days. This leads to a delay in hospitalisations because the special corona facilities say they will accept only patients who have a positive test. Other hospitals refuse to admit unless someone is confirmed to be corona-free, health minister Satyender Jain told reporters. The government also believes that the labs, by testing asymptomatic and low-risk individuals in violation of the testing guidelines, are effectively creating a bottleneck where people who desperately need to be tested have to wait. The counter argument is that testing of asymptomatic low-risk individuals was not resulting in any reduction in overall positivity rates (proportion of positives to tests) in the state, setting alarm bells ringing about the magnitude of the problem. In all, eight laboratories are now under investigation for not adhering to the protocols defined by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) before allowing people to take Covid-19 tests. A show-cause notice sent to them said: ...data submitted by you in the ICMR portal and to the health and family welfare department in which it has been observed that a large number of asymptomatic patients were tested without following ICMR testing protocol. The eight labs together were able to carry out 4,000 tests a day, according to figures they shared with HT. The government initiated a similar enquiry over discrepancy in data against another laboratory, Dr Lal Path Labs, in early May. The largest chain of private laboratories in India, Lal Path Labs alone had the capacity to test 4,000 samples. According to officials who asked not to be named, the lab is yet to be allowed to resume tests. The controversy around testing comes at a time when the national capital has been recording an increasing number of new cases. On Wednesday, the city crossed the 1,500 mark for single-day infections. On Thursday, this number was 1,359. The Delhi government issued fresh orders to hospitals on Thursday to discharge any mild on asymptomatic Covid-19 patient they may have, and said that facilities that have been approved for treating Covid and well as non-Covid patients should turn away any patients. We already have our dedicated COVID-19 facilities. Three more private hospitals were added yesterday (Wednesday). And if those private hospitals with mixed use (20 per cent reserved beds) are facing logistics issues, then they will be fully converted into dedicated Covid-19 facilities, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, adding that the focus is to save lives. Experts and doctors have said that widespread testing is the most crucial strategy for identification and containment of the outbreak. Anyone who can afford to get tested should be able to get tested by a private laboratory. For testing in a public health setting, they still need to follow some norms to rationally use their resources. Those tested positive and symptomatic should be isolated, says Dr Giridhara Babu, head, lifecourse epidemiology, Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India. ICMR has approved 16 government and 22 private laboratories in Delhi for Covid-19 testing. Of the seven private laboratories, five have refused to comment on the matter. Fortis hospital, which outsources all its tests to SRL diagnostics, said: We have been following ICMR protocols or guidelines and we conduct tests only after receiving all the relevant documents from a patient. There have been some queries raised on sample assigned to OTHERS category as per the ICMR form. We are responding to these with further details on the same. SRL is actively engaging with the MoHFW (Health and Family welfare department) and DGHS (Directorate General of Health Services) to understand the gaps. As an organisation that is at the forefront of fighting this pandemic with the government, SRL understands the sensitivity and seriousness of our business and is keen to fight the Covid battle along with the administration, said Arindam Haldar, chief executive officer of SRL in a statement through Fortis representatives. The other laboratories include: City X-Ray and Scan clinic, Prognosis Lab, Pathkind Diagnostics and Star Imaging. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, too, joined the issue on Thursday, saying there was a need to ramp up testing as well as surveillance, contact tracing and containment in Delhi. Rising cases, high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts are worrisome, Harsh Vardhan was quoted as saying in a health ministry statement. To be sure, Delhi tests the most people in the country per million population. On Wednesday night, this number stood at 11,615, at least 50% higher than Andhra Pradesh that comes second. The national average is 3,183 per million. Experts say that while the idea of putting an end to frivolous testing is all well, Delhi is also excluding high-risk individuals. Our (Indias) condition is probably worse than Italy, but we dont know since we arent testing enough. We dont acknowledge our real status in terms of disease spread because it seems our focus is largely on proving we are doing better than other countries in managing the disease. We have tested about 3.9 million people from a population of 1.3 billion, which is roughly about 0.3% of the population. How can you plan how to control a pandemic for the rest of the 99.7% of the population by merely looking at the results in 0.3% of the population? said Dr T Jacob John, former virology head, Christian Medical College, Vellore John. On Wednesday, the Delhi government tightened its testing criteria to exclude any asymptomatic person without known co-morbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. ICMR guidelines allow for the testing of asymptomatic direct contacts such as those living in the same household on the fifth and 10th day. After a meeting with representatives of the laboratories, an internal communication from the Delhi government on Thursday read, Enquiry is on against these labs for taking samples against the protocols of ICMR. All the CDMOs are requested to suspend the registration of all the phlebotomists of all these labs Also pl ensure that no samples are sent to this wef (with effect from) today. The Delhi government currently registers all the phlebotomists or laboratory technicians who collect the throat and nasal swabs with the district authorities, without which the samples cannot be collected. In addition to Fortis, which used SRL, testing has also been stopped at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as per the Delhi government directions. Both hospitals treat Covid-19 patients. On Wednesday, the government declared Sir Ganga Ram hospital as an entirely Covid-19 hospital. When asked about the testing controversy, Dr Rajeev Garg, director general of health services, Government of India, said: Today the health minister had a review meeting with the Delhi Govt in which the matter was discussed and resolved. There have been no wrongdoings from our side and it was clarified. There is no problem, After the change in testing protocol an official from one of Delhis government laboratory, on condition of anonymity had told HT, The earlier category allowed for the testing of family members living in the same house or doctors and health care workers exposed to a Covid-19 patient even if they were asymptomatic. Most of the cases around 70% -- were picked up in family members tested. Now, the government is allowing the testing of only those who have symptoms. (With inputs from Rhythma Kaul) Remember all the hype about so-called "immunity passports" getting the travel world back on track? Governments are still exploring whether certificates, wristbands or mobile apps could get those who have recovered from Covid-19 working and traveling again. But the notion that immunity passport holders would be able to travel the world carte blanche, going mask-free on airplanes and touring empty museums and amusement parks with no fear of infection, was short-lived. Immunity passports may appear a good plan in principle, but experts are now sounding the alarm against them. Antibody testing is surprisingly inaccurate Much ado was made when air carrier Emirates began trialing antibody finger-prick tests to a small subset of passengers in March. But when accuracy rates were found to be around 30%, the Dubai Health Authority, which had been administering the tests, banned the testing altogether. Think 30% is low? It gets worse. A report by more than 50 scientists found that of 14 antibody tests on the market, only three provided consistently reliable results (and even those three had issues). The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a global nonprofit diagnostics organization, estimates over 250 antibody tests have been commercialized to date, with more than 30 currently in development. A nurse in Rome shows a rapid Covid-19 antibody test kit. TIZIANA FABI/AFP Following criticism that it allowed a glut of dubious antibody tests to flood the market, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in early May that antibody test makers had 10 days to provide accuracy results or face removal from the market. On May 21, the FDA removed some 31 antibody tests from the agency's official "notification list," a decision lauded by FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn as "an important step the agency has taken to ensure that Americans have access to trustworthy tests." Even with reputable test kits, one may not be enough. The FDA states that a single antibody test isn't likely to be sufficiently accurate to be able to tell whether members of the general population have Covid-19 antibodies. It recommends a second test ideally one that assesses antibodies to a different viral protein to increase the accuracy of the results. If the tests become more reliable, immunity passports may become reality. But it is more likely that we will have to wait until we have a vaccine. Dr. Sharona Hoffman Bioethics professor at Case Western Reserve University Unsurprisingly, erroneous results can have profound ramifications. An article published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on April 22 states: "A false negative may prevent an individual from returning to work; a false positive might lead to an epidemic chain." Noting these inaccuracies, the eight contributing authors of the article concluded that immunity certificates are "not a justifiable step at this time." The presence of antibodies doesn't mean much yet Assuming testing accuracy improves, immunity passports have another huge hurdle to surmount, and that is understanding what the results actually mean. While some antibodies confer decades of immunity to viruses (measles and chickenpox, for instance), this isn't the case for coronaviruses, due in part to their ability to mutate over time. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a brief in late April stating there is no evidence that those infected with Covid-19 are protected against a second infection. Two days later, however, it clarified in a tweet that it expects antibodies to provide "some level of protection." The WHO also cautioned that antibody tests must be able to distinguish between past infections from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and the other set of six human coronaviruses, two of which are MERS and SARS (of which antibodies convey immunity on average for one and two years, respectively). The other four cause the common cold; those who recover from those more mild coronaviruses can expect little immunity to subsequent infections. In the end, Covid-19 antibodies likely do convey some protection against reinfection, but to what extent and for how long is still unknown. This makes the prospect of widespread use of immunity passports "not very likely," says Dr. Sharona Hoffman, a bioethics professor at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine. "If the tests become more reliable, immunity passports may become reality," said Hoffman. "But it is more likely that we will have to wait until we have a vaccine." Dr. Peter Gulick, an infectious disease expert at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine, agrees. "At this point in time, we don't know how long these antibodies last, whether a few months or a year," he said. "Once we have a vaccine, requiring proof of vaccination, as well as proof of a protective antibody, will be much more meaningful and safer for travel." The travel industry is moving forward While medical studies continue, the travel industry isn't standing idly on the sidelines. Eager to get planes in the air and hotels opened, the travel industry is formulating novel ways to entice travelers back, walking the line between ensuring customers' safety and unnecessarily inconveniencing their trips. Rather than courting those with positive antibody test results, some are opting for more accurate nose swab molecular tests, also known as PCR tests, which detect active Covid-19 infections. The Telegraph reported last week that the Maldives plans to reopen to tourists in July with plans to make molecular Covid-19 tests compulsory for all tourists. Sha Wellness Clinic, a medical clinic and hotel in southeastern Spain, is requiring all guests to provide two negative tests one taken several days before arriving and another upon checking in. Socially-distanced travelers wait for saliva sample results in a coronavirus testing facility at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Laurel Chor/Bloomberg Most countries and companies that are reopening for summer travel are opting for less invasive options, such as health screenings, increased cleaning and social distancing guidelines. Notably though, travel is marching on, and the absence of immunity passports doesn't seem to be holding airlines, cruise companies or hotels back. Ethical, legal and public policy concerns Immunity passports are attractive for anyone who yearns to get back to life as usual (i.e. all of us), but consider the ramifications of a certain sector of society being able to move, congregate, travel and work freely while the other cannot. This was the subject of an article in the respected medical journal "The Lancet." Vulnerable populations, such as those unable to afford extended periods of time without work, might be motivated to seek out infections, which could exacerbate existing racial and gender inequities, not to mention infection rates. Proof of immunity could become a condition for hiring, and a black market for fraudulent immunity documents could develop. In addition to discrimination concerns, author Alexandra L. Phelan distinguishes between the WHO's Carte Jaune, or Yellow Cards (which show proof of vaccinations), and immunity passports by stating: "Vaccination certificates incentivise individuals to obtain vaccination against the virus, which is a social good. By contrast, immunity passports incentivise infection." Experts dispute comparisons between immunity passports and the World Health Organization's "Yellow Card" vaccination certificates. Thomas Trutschel/Photothek Similar situations developed during yellow fever outbreaks in the U.S. during the 19th century, which resulted in those who had not been exposed to the illness being denied employment and housing. "City residents in that era did try to prove that they had been exposed to yellow fever in order to get jobs," said Hoffman. "People sought exposure and hoped to live through it to be deemed acclimated and have work opportunities. But a lot of them died after being exposed." The U.K. is piloting a passport program that uses testing and facial biometrics to identify those with Covid-19 antibodies (though the emphasis appears to be on working, not traveling), while Germany decided to seek advice from its national ethics council before using millions of antibody tests it purchased from Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche. If immunity passports are issued, there may be populations who do not have access to antibody tests or the means to pay for them, said Hoffman. "Hopefully, we will have a program that would make antibody tests very accessible, perhaps even free to people who do not have health insurance." Not enough potential passport holders yet For immunity passports to work, there have to be enough people who have them to make a meaningful effect on the travel industry. While the countries with the highest Covid-19 infection rates namely, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Peru, India and parts of western Europe may have the best reason to create immunity passports, the number of those who have recovered in those countries may not be enough to make the development of a program worthwhile. Over 6.3 million people have been infected with Covid-19 worldwide, a substantially smaller number than the estimated 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals in 2018. d3sign Though this varies by region, it's estimated that no more than 5% of these populations have antibodies (by contrast, around 70% of the population needs to have antibodies, either through recovered infections or vaccinations for herd immunity to kick in). Countries that have successfully "flattened the curve" such as Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan have even fewer cases, and thus less incentive to create an immunity passport program. What are antibody tests good for then? Though they may not be a golden ticket to travel the world, antibody testing is critical for other reasons. It can track the extent of the pandemic in certain regions, improve modeling data and (eventually) determine which front-line workers can work alongside infected people. Singapore has effectively used antibody tests to trace Covid-19 clusters. People with antibodies can donate plasma to help those currently fighting the disease and be prioritized later for vaccinations if it's determined they already have some level of immunity. If immunity passports won't work, what will? It was perhaps not until the COVID-19 pandemic hit the planet that most of us had ever heard or uttered the phrase supply chain. But in a global economy that had become drunk and lazy on "just in time ordering" and similar, the threat to supply chains of things like, oh, food, from that pesky virus has become real and visceral. That's why automation of "the supply chain" has become such a huge issue. So its not a huge surprise that startups aimed at tackling this are suddenly thrust into the limelight. Step forward, Cork, Ireland-based Keelvar, strategic sourcing software company, which today announces that it has raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Elephant Ventures and Mosaic Ventures, with participation from Paua Ventures, enabling the company to further expand into enterprise markets. The investment will support Keelvars expansion plans for Europe and the U.S., amid the rapidly growing need for supply chain automation solutions, which has been further accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Keelvar provides large enterprises with "Advanced Sourcing Optimization" software and "Intelligent Sourcing Automation" that uses AI to fully automate tactical buying processes. It competes with Coupa and Jaggaer in terms of all three offering sophisticated e-sourcing software. Keelvar says its key competitive advantage is that it provides intelligent bots to autopilot the sourcing projects, thus making the whole process easier, faster and cheaper. It also currently manages more than $90 billion in spend annually for enterprises in all major industries. Customers include Siemens, Coca-Cola, Novartis, BMW and Samsung. With COVID-19 disrupting supply chains globally, Keelvar expects the demand for automation to further increase. In a statement, Alan Holland, CEO of Keelvar, said: "The Future of Work in procurement is changing quickly, with COVID19 acting as a catalyst. We have witnessed an escalation in demand from enterprises seeking intelligent systems to automate complex processes as teams became overburdened with disrupted supply chains. Keelvar has proven that Sourcing Bots can relieve that burden enormously. Now its time to hit the accelerator and scale-up. Story continues Speaking about the investment, Peter Fallon, partner at Elephant noted: Keelvars sourcing optimization and automation software delivers meaningful ROI to enterprise sourcing and procurement organizations globally. We are excited to partner with Alan Holland and the team at Keelvar as the company continues to emerge as a leader in this market. Private sector companies alone spend trillions annually buying from third-party suppliers. External sourcing is usually the largest expense category and on average it is 43% of total costs (Bain & Company). The global procurement software market is currently growing at a CAGR of 9.1%, and expected to reach $7.3 billion by 2022 (IDC). Speaking about the funding, Toby Coppel, co-founder, and partner at Mosaic Ventures said: Keelvar is a brilliant example of machine learning in action, giving superpower to procurement teams in every large enterprise. With COVID-19 pushing businesses to embrace these new technologies, we're excited to partner with Keelvar on the next phase of growth. China Southern Airlines flight CZ3001 takes off at the Daxing International Airport in Beijing, Sept. 25, 2019. Photo:Xinhua Even as they face pressure from domestic companies to resume travel to China, US officials on Wednesday announced they would suspend the only passenger air services remaining between the two countries, in what, analysts say, could be more of a punishment for US businesses eyeing to restart operations in China rather than Chinese airlines as Washington intends. In a statement, the US Department of Transportation said that it was suspending scheduled passenger operations of all Chinese carriers to and from the US starting June 16. The move was in response to China's "failure" to allow US carriers to resume flights to and from China, the statement said. The move, which targeted several Chinese airlines, including Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, would cut off all air services between the world's two biggest economies and further exacerbate already-escalating bilateral tensions. It also deals a major below to airlines and all types of other businesses on both sides that rely on the air services to maintain operations. "Washington has shut the door for negotiations ofair routes between China and the US. And he did not give US companies that need air services with China any benefit," an industry insider told the Global Times Wednesday night. The insider, who asked to be named Li, noted that the US move will impact many parties, including US airlines and other businesses that are seeking to resume business operations following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Times reported earlier that US corporations such as Apple and Qualcomm might have become an important driving force in pushing for the resumption of flights to China, as they rely heavily on the Chinese market. US airlines first suspended services to China in late January when China was struggling to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic, while Chinese airlines maintained operations. The US government was also the first to institute travel bans on China, which is still often boasted by Trump as an example of his swift response to the COVID-19. But with the spread of the virus and the US seeing its worst epidemic, Chinese officials have also adopted what's known as a "five one" policy that allows each airline to service only one country with no more than one flight a week to prevent an influx of the epidemic, while ensuring essential travels. The Chinese policy was not targeted at the US but applies to all airlines. Many governments around the world have also adopted various travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Li said those restrictions will unlikely be lifted until after the end of the epidemic regardless of the US actions on Wednesday. "There is no hope that it could be resolved. Only after the epidemic ends will there be any possibility to have the issue further discussed," he said. Zhang Baoxin, an civil aviation industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the US pressuring tactic was driven by its urgency to help US airlines to resume China operations, which had been a main profit generator for US carriers. "This epidemic has impacted US airlines and caused massive losses for the US economy. It is out of consideration for economic recovery that the Trump administration is constantly asking China to resume flights," Zhang said. But the matter should be handled through dialogue rather than pressuring and retaliation, he added, noting that China has started to launch "green channel" for travels with countries with better anti-epidemic control. You aren't the only one who needs a caffeine boostchances are, your house could use one, too. Adding a coffee bar to your home can elevate your morning, just like a trip to your favorite coffee shop. But this way, there's no need to change out of your pajamas to be served (and no need to pay a pretty penny for a latte). "I believe everybody deserves great coffee, and its not complicated to create your own space, where you can celebrate the ritual of brewing coffee for yourself and your loved ones," says Emily McIntyre, founder of Catalyst Coffee Consulting. Setting up an at-home coffee bar isn't difficult, but it does require some basic equipment and planning. The first step? Choosing the perfect spot for coffee central. How to set up a coffee bar in your home McIntyre says the kitchen is usually the ideal spot for a coffee bar, mainly because of the availability of fresh water. "If you want to keep it simple, just pick a corner to keep your gear and store your coffee," she says. "If you want to make it more elaborate, I advise you pick a spot in an area of the house where you either entertain a lot or spend a lot of time." She also explains that the tools you choose to include will have an impact on your choice of location. "If you want to plumb in an espresso machine, youll definitely need to position your coffee bar near your water lines," says McIntyre. Photo by Dura Supreme Cabinetry If you plan something simple, like a pour-over bar, a drip coffee machine, or a single-serve capsule coffee maker, you can get your water at the sink and take it where you need it. Just remember that the farther you have to travel with a full pitcher of water, the quicker you'll lose interest in the processand the higher the chance of a spill. Designer Julie Arnold of J. Raine Design in Detroit says you should make sure your coffee bar is in a defined space, away from the rest of your workspaces. "Allowing this space to serve only one purpose eliminates clutter and makes it feel special," she says. "This space should coordinate with the rest of your kitchen and home, but don't be afraid to add special decor that makes you feel happy," Arnold adds. "Vintage mugs are always my go-to, as they can add color and a great energy to your day. Drinking coffee is an experience, and making it should be as well." Don't think you have to give up precious counter space. If you have room, a bar cart or buffet can work as a fabulously functional coffee bar. What you'll need to stock the perfect coffee bar Your choices of brewing systems are nearly endless, and the decision comes down to your personal preference (and budget). Do you like to take your time with a French press, or do you appreciate the simplicity of a Keurig brewer? Maybe you like your old-school drip machine because it brews a giant pot of coffee that can caffeinate your whole household in one go. No matter which option you choose, you're not done. It takes a lot more than a brewing system to create the perfect coffee bar. You need accessories, tools, and coffee-add-ins to make this special section of your kitchen complete. Here's what the experts say you'll need. Coffee grinder Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee grinder Amazon "The single most important piece of equipment for your home coffee bar is the best grinder ($139, Amazon) your budget can allow for," says John Bedford of Viva Flavor. "It should cater for a wide range of grind settingsto accommodate everything from espresso to cold brewand use burr grinders, not blade [grinders]. Burr grinders are more consistent, and introduce less heat during the grinding process. Both these aspects will help you achieve a more aromatic and flavorful brew." Storage containers Airscape Ceramic Coffee and Food Storage Canister Amazon "Consider getting a coffee storage container ($28, Amazon) to keep your coffee fresh," suggests Shabbir Nooruddin of Coffee in My Veins. "It will add a nice element to your coffee bar, by replacing the paper bag packaging that most coffee beans come in, and as an added bonus, it will keep your beans fresher for longer." Of course, coffee isn't all you need to store. Grab multiple containers that can hold sugar, teabags, and all your other coffee bar essentials. Choose something with an airtight seal that blocks the light, to keep your coffee as fresh as possible. Electric kettle COSORI Electric Gooseneck Kettle Amazon Depending on your choice of brewers, you may need an electric kettle ($70, Amazon)and you're going to want to choose one that's not only fast (because who wants to wait for coffee?) but also aesthetically pleasing. It will take up a lot of space in your coffee bar, after all, so it might as well be nice to look at! Serving tray Display your fresh-baked goods on a serving tray on your coffee bar. Amazon Nothing goes better with coffee than a scone or muffin. "When I have fresh pastries, I like to keep them near my coffee station," says Arnold. Keep them fresh with a lidded serving tray ($28, Amazon). Of course, these tools don't cover everything you'll need to keep your coffee bar fully stocked and functional. Other key tools to ensure that your coffee bar is fully stocked and functional include: Mugs Spoons or stir sticks Sweeteners Cream (if you have a way to keep it cool) Think of everything you use when you enjoy your coffee or tea, and make sure it has a home in your coffee bar. You'll be enjoying cafe-quality coffee in the comfort of your own home in no time. The post This One Change to Your Kitchen Will Significantly Improve Your MorningNo Renovation Required appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. SPRINGFIELD Mayor Domenic J. Sarnos withdrawal from a digital Town Hall discussion tonight organized by the Greater Springfield chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Color People and the Pioneer Valley Project sends the wrong message, said the Rev. Jason Seymour, president of the Interfaith Council of Greater Springfield. Organizers have said the 7 p.m. virtual meeting looks to address local police-community issues following the May 25 police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old African American man accused of passing a counterfeit $20, that has sparked protests across the world. I write to express my deep concern shared by many fellow clergy and communities of faith at the Mayors sudden decision not to participate in Thursdays town hall dialog on police accountability in Springfield, co-sponsored by the NAACP, said Seymour, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield, in a statement. "Many people these days are making public appeals to the moral voice of religion. But these times call for more than lip service and good publicity. " He added that to rescind participation in such a meeting at this time seems to send the wrong message. We need to stand with our siblings of all races and identities in calling for greater accountability and justice, Seymour said. We do this because we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We do this because people of color are being treated unfairly, and because we must do better not only somewhere else but also right here in Springfield. We do this because we long for a community in which everyone is valued, and we demand leadership that does the same. Mayor Sarno, please commit to listen. If not now, then soon. Commit to build and maintain the trust on which Springfields residents and officers depend. Please, for all of our sake. In an apparent reference to President Donald Trumps photo op before an Episcopal church in Washington, D.C., as well as Sarnos participation in a City Hall prayer vigil, Seymour said, A Bible held aloft in front of a church, prayer on the steps of City Hall however genuine these actions may be, they will not change the circumstances of those who cry out righteously in our streets for justice and mercy. They will not enfranchise those who have been systematically disenfranchised here for decades, Seymour said. We need to deepen our commitment to create lasting change on behalf of those among us who are suffering most. Through a spokesman, Sarno said earlier this week that a last-minute change in his ever-busy schedule reversed his decision to participate and that he plans a future round-table discussion. Bishop Talbert W. Swan, II, local president of the NAACP, said the digital meeting was an important opportunity for Sarno and Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood, to engage the community regarding concerns with police brutality, misconduct, and relations with the public. Access to tonights digital Town Hall on Zoom or Facebook can be made by texting (413) 214-5100. A 40p indigestion pill may help ease Covid-19 symptoms and speed up recovery, a study has claimed. Famotidine - branded as Pepcid AC - is an over-the-counter drug taken by millions of people to relieve heartburn and acid reflux. Researchers in the US looked at ten people who started taking the medication each day while they had the coronavirus. Some reported their cough and shortness of breath had faded after 24 hours. And every patient improved within 48 hours, doctors said. It's not currently clear how famotidine might work - experts say it may directly stop the virus functioning or boost the immune system. All of the patients had mild symptoms, suggesting it could benefit thousands who escape a severe bout of Covid-19 and stop them ending up in hospital. The researchers have now called for further trials into the indigestion drug, as the race for a cure to halt the pandemic continues. A 40p indigestion pill sold as Pepcid AC in the UK could help ease Covid-19 symptoms and speed up recovery, a study claims Some patients reported a significant change in their symptoms of a cough and shortness of breath after 24 hours, and every patient had improved within 48 hours. All were better within 14 days Pepcid AC is the UK brand name for famotidine, a generic drug which can relieve the symptoms of indigestion. The medicine belongs to a class of drugs known as histamine-2 receptor antagonists which help get rid of stomach acid. Famotidine can be taken in doses of 20-160mg, up to four times every day, to treat acid reflux and heartburn. Scientists at US healthcare provider Northwell Health recruited ten participants of a mixed ethnicity, aged 23 to 71, mostly in the US. They included six men and four women, who began taking the medicine when they became very unwell with Covid-19. WHAT DRUGS ARE THE LEADING CONTENDERS FOR A COVID-19 CURE? Remdesivir Remdesivir, an experimental Ebola drug, was thrust into the limelight in January when the WHO listed it as 'the most promising candidate' for a COVID-19 therapy. Trials have shown the medication can fight against SARS and MERS, cousins of the new coronavirus, in the lab and on animals. It is now in global trials, with the largest study findings of 1,000 patients suggesting it reduced time to recovery by around four days. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said giving the green light for its use in the UK was the 'biggest step forward' in the pandemic. It can also be used in the US. Hydroxychloroquine The anti-malarial drug has been given its fair share of publicity during the pandemic having been touted as a wonder drug by Donald Trump, who even admitted to taking it to prevent catching the coronavirus. There have been completely contrasting findings so far, with some studies finding no benefit of the drug at all, and others showing it may cause heart problems. It has been shrouded in controversy in recent weeks because a study of almost 100,000 people suggested it may increase the risk of Covid-19 deaths. The findings prompted some of the almost 200 global trials to be halted - but there are serious questions over the validity of the study which was published in The Lancet. Lopinavir-Ritonavir Lopinavir is an HIV drug which has shown in vitro to have an anti-viral effect against the coronavirus, which prompted clinical trials. Ritonavir, commonly used for hepatitis C, can be combined with lopinavir to increase its benefit. A recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine suggested Lopinavir-ritonavir treatment did not show any observable benefit for patients with severe Covid-19 beyond standard care. But a study of a similar size published in the Lancet suggested that when a triple combination was used - with multiple sclerosis drug Interferon beta 1b - hospital stays and recovery time shortened. Advertisement Their symptoms had been going on for up to 26 days at the point they started using the pills but none had been so unwell they needed hospital care. The severity of five symptoms - cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, headache and loss of taste/smell as well as general sickness - was measured over the course of the study using a four-point scale. All 10 patients said symptoms quickly improved within 24-48 hours of starting famotidine and had mostly cleared up after 14 days. The most frequently used dose was 80mg taken three times a day, with the average treatment period lasting 11 days, but ranging from five to 21 days. There was evidence all symptoms eased to some extent, but respiratory symptoms, such as cough and shortness of breath, improved more rapidly. If famotidine is, as the findings suggest, improving symptoms, it's not clear if it is directly attacking the virus or altering a person's immune response to it. In a large number of serious Covid-19 cases, patients go downhill because their immune system over-reacts to the infection. Famotidine is thought to potentially block the action of the 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), an enzyme which is used by the coronavirus to replicate. Therefore 3CLpro has become a drug target in order to halt the virus replicating. Seven of the patients didn't experience any side effects while on famotidine. In the three who did, the symptoms of dizziness, insomnia and a racing heartbeat were a well-known side effect of the drug and were only mild. One person had temporary forgetfulness which has not been recognised as a side effect of famotidine, according to the study in the journal Gut. The researchers, led by Dr Tobias Janowitz, admitted their findings may have been affected by 'the placebo effect' - a phenomenon in which a sick person feels like they have got better because psychologically, they believe the drug is working. Some of the patients had pre-existing health conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity which would affect the severity of the disease, the researchers said. And the Covid-19 symptoms may have just got better by chance because the researchers did not compare the indigestion pill with another drug in a gold standard clinical trial. But the team, which also included scientists from the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory in New York, said their findings warrant further investigation. Huge sums of cash have been funnelled into the race to find a vaccine and a drug that can stop people dying from Covid-19 in hospital. However, to reduce the burden of the virus entirely, it is important to also look at drugs which halt symptoms in mild cases. The team cautioned their research only suggested 'but does not establish a benefit from famotidine treatment in outpatients with Covid-19'. The researchers wrote: 'Our findings support the rigorous evaluation of famotidine as a potential therapy and of the use of symptom tracking for non-hospitalised patients with Covid-19.' 'Clinically, we unreservedly share the opinion that well designed and informative studies of efficacy are required to evaluate candidate medications for COVID-19 as for other diseases.' A clinical trial testing the effects of famotidine in combination with the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is already under way at hospitals in New York. Dozens of bottles of high-end alcohol were seized, along with documentation, devices and 30,000 in cash A north Dublin-based crime gang which is heavily involved in organised prostitution and thefts, as well as internet and Covid-19 payment scams, was targeted by gardai in a major search operation yesterday. Five male Romanian criminals aged in their 20s and 30s were being quizzed last night at various northside garda stations after detectives seized documentation, devices and 30,000 in cash during nine planned searches. Properties including business units and residences in Malahide, Fairview and Blanchardstown were targeted by detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), assisted by Romanian-speaking gardai and officers seconded to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Vodka The targeted gang is suspected of laundering 1.5m in 70 different back accounts and has been operational in Ireland for up to eight years, according to a senior source. Detectives also identified at least 23 fraudulent Covid-19 payment claims, worth almost 100,000 in total, which have often been set up in false names. Expand Close Documentation, devices and 30,000 in cash / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Documentation, devices and 30,000 in cash Gardai also seized dozens of bottles of high-end booze - including expensive vodka, brandy and champagne - which they believe were either stolen or bought with the gang's ill-gotten gains. The ringleader of the gang - a 28-year-old man who is already facing serious charges in relation to ATM frauds - was one of the five arrested and he was being questioned under anti-gangland legislation along with another of his associates. Two others were being quizzed for money laundering and another for obstructing officers during the searches. "The 28-year-old has been based here since at least 2013 and he is a big target for gardai - he is being questioned about directing a criminal organisation," a senior source said last night. A Malahide-based woman, suspected of being a "key gang member", was not arrested in this phase of the GNECB probe but senior sources said she is suspected of operating a number of brothels in the capital's northside in recent years. "Investigations have established that cash ranging from large five-figure sums to small sums such as 200 have been lodged into the dozens of accounts used to launder the money," a senior source said. "The modus operandi of this criminal network was to set up bogus companies in an attempt to evade suspicion on the large amount of transactions that were going through the accounts of the fake companies. "Five of the locations searched yesterday in north Dublin were business units, while the other four were homes of suspected gang members. "What is unusual about this crew compared to other Romanian gangs operating here is that they are committing the crimes here, not just using our banks for money laundering. "Apart from organised prostitution racket, this is a gang heavily involved in thefts - everything from basic shoplifting and pickpocketing to organised nationwide robberies of commercial businesses. "Investigations have established that around one-third of their income has also come from internet scams, with the majority of their victims being Irish people." Gardai yesterday announced details of the GNECB's latest crackdown on organised fraud gangs operating in the capital. "Gardai identified a number of bogus companies established by a criminal organisation and a large number of bank accounts set up in both false names and money mules," a spokeswoman said. "Gardai have established that about 1.5m was laundered through these accounts. "This money is the proceeds of various cyber-enabled frauds like 'smishing' and 'vishing', organised prostitution and thefts. Bogus "Documentation pertaining to these companies and these bank accounts, along with identifications, cash and phones, were seized and are being examined." The cyber scams the gang is involved in involve extracting money from victims' payment cards by sending bogus text messages or making deception-based phone calls to people - crimes which have increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Gardai have also advised the public to be vigilant about the activities of gangs like the mob busted yesterday. "Gardai continue to advise people to always protect their data, passwords, user names and pin numbers when doing any financial transactions," a spokeswoman said. VENICE, Fla., June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CyberloQ Technologies Inc. ("CyberloQ" or the "Company") (OTC: CLOQ), a provider of advanced authentication algorithms and geofencing capabilities for data control, today provides details of its licensing revenue model created through the Companys collaboration with Transact Payments Malta Ltd. (TPML), a division of Transact Payments Ltd . (TPL) located in Europe. CyberloQs strategic partnership with TPL integrates CyberloQs customizable data security, which includes geofencing protection, to provide an additional layer of security to TPML partners. This collaboration provides CyberloQ new revenue channels that leverage TPLs vast, existing network of program managers, processors and clients of the companys custom card program. The models below demonstrate how CyberloQ will generate revenues through the licensing of its services to TPL clients. In turn, TPL clients and their customers have access to innovative technology that enables the prevention of online payment fraud within multiple card networks. The Wholesale Revenue Model: TPL clients purchase/obtain licensing to integrate the CyberloQ App into its existing card platform. The client (licensee) absorbs the licensing fees, providing CyberloQ as a free value-added service to its customers. Many larger Program Managers with existing clients with extensive customer bases may pursue this preferred route, maintaining their brand and protecting their clients is beneficial from a marketing perspective and a ROI. The Retail Revenue Model: TPL clients license the CyberloQ App, passing the licensing costs to their customers. Commonly, the client (licensee) will markup the cost and use CyberloQ as a profit center. The crypto, pre-paid, and online gaming spaces are more accommodating to this method as end users are willing and expect fees for these types of services. Regardless of how our suite of services is licensed, CyberloQ achieves sales. The wholesale and retail channels provide revenue streams back to CyberloQ. We have diligently worked to establish a network affiliated with TPL, which equates to millions of cards and/or users. This structure enables us to receive payment per user, on a monthly basis in perpetuity, as long as this network is utilized. The payment industry needs to be uber-vigilant in protecting client assets, personal information, while simultaneously offering a seamless user experience. The same can be said domestically, the ( www.pinnacledebitcard.com ) Pinnacle Platform is a Pre-Paid platform, our clients pay $0.50 per month for CyberloQ and the geo-fencing option. Each vertical has a slightly different revenue opportunity. Our licensing model provides the TPL and Pinnacle networks this opportunity, while advancing our revenue strategies and overall valuation, stated Chris Jackson, president of CyberloQ. Story continues About CyberloQ Technologies Inc. CyberloQ Technologies Inc. (CLOQ) secures clients sensitive data and valuable information with a patented, aggressive and proactive approach. CyberloQ's advanced authentication algorithms, private blockchain and industry-leading geofencing capabilities give clients complete control of their data for real-time authentication and dedicated fraud protection. CyberloQ is a proactive, multi-factor authentication application for smartphones, tablets and laptops. The collaboration with TPML integrates CyberloQs customizable approach to data security, including geofencing protection, to provide an additional layer of security to TPML partners. E-commerce merchants are expected to lose $25 billion to online payment fraud by 2024, according to Juniper Research . The COVID-19 global pandemic continues to fuel the popularity of e-commerce, in turn driving heightened demand for technologies to eliminate fraud and enable secure transactions. For consumers and merchants, secure online payments are vital for the success of e-commerce. For more information, visit https://cyberloq.com/ . Safe Harbor: From time to time, the Company may issue news releases that contain "forward-looking statements" 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 may contain statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statement provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any amendments thereto. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals, assumptions, or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." "Forward-looking statements" are based upon expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated. The Company discourages any and all promotional activity by non-Company actors, and encourages investors and potential investors to review the Company's public filings, its website and its press releases, and to discuss these matters with their personal legal and financial advisors. Non-Company newsletters/recommendations, websites or general stock symbols/classifications or other identifiers regarding our securities, whether positive or negative, should not be relied on because these items are simply opinions/policies of a third party. These third parties are, in many instances, paid by the publisher or other third parties and the Company believes that they profit from the publication of this literature and the results on the market. These materials should not be a substitute for investors' research and/or independent decision-making. Contact: Chris Jackson 612.961.4536 Chris@CyberloQ.com The name of the German paedophile suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann was held back by detectives because of German privacy laws which protect the rights of suspects and even criminals. The restrictions mean that people in Britain, Germany and Portugal were initially asked to come forward with tips without knowing his full name or what he looks like. However, media reports today identified him as Christian Bruckner. Guarding privacy rights is a highly sensitive subject in Germany because of the history of surveillance by the Nazis and more recently the Stasi in East Germany. Naming criminal suspects is seen in German law as a 'profound intrusion' into their privacy rights which is only justifiable in exceptional cases. In some cases the restrictions do not end when a person is convicted, and giving their name is thought to wreck their chances of a successful rehabilitation. The Madeleine suspect was not named in German media reports even when he was convicted of rape last December, with an appeals process still ahead of him. People in Britain, Germany and Portugal are being asked to come forward with tips about a man suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann (pictured) - but authorities have not revealed his name or what he looks like During a trial, German media typically gives a defendant's first name and only the first letter of their surname - even in notorious cases such as Austrian sex abuser Josef Fritzl, who was jailed in 2009. Some German media identified him merely as Josef F, despite his full name being widely known and reported around the world. Similarly, the perpetrator of the Berlin Christmas market truck attack in 2016 was identified only as Anis A in many reports despite an ongoing manhunt. That investigation also suffered from a lack of CCTV cameras, another product of Germany's deep-seated suspicion of surveillance. While criminal trials are held in public, recordings are not allowed and defendants sometimes appear with their faces covered. The legal restrictions are derived from the German constitution which guarantees 'human dignity' and 'the right to free development of personality'. There is no single, comprehensive statute on the subject, but German courts will weigh up constitutional privacy rights against the public interest in reporting crime. One factor mentioned by lawyers is that media reports about a suspect can lead the public to regard them as guilty even if they later turn out to be innocent. Media organisations could have to pay damages if they connect someone to a crime which they did not commit. In Britain, criminal suspects are not usually named before they are charged, and Scotland Yard followed Germany's lead by providing no name last night. However, defendants in England and Wales can usually be named and pictured during their trial and anonymity is the exception rather than the rule. Till Heinrich, an attorney at German law firm VPMK, wrote in 2017 that 'identification by name is a profound intrusion into general privacy rights'. Heinrich said that 'this is permissible when the public interest in identifying the affected person outweighs their general privacy rights.' However, 'because privacy rights are one of the highest items in our constitution, a small or probable public interest will not be enough,' he said. 'Identifying people who are not high-profile or otherwise known to the public should only be permissible in exceptional cases.' The suspect, who is in prison in Germany for rape, has been linked to an early 1980s camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal Even convicted defendants still have privacy rights, and German media did not name the Madeleine suspect even after his conviction on rape charges last December. Although there is no longer any danger of giving a false impression of guilt at that stage, the restrictions do not automatically disappear. German media referred to the Germanwings pilot who brought down a passenger jet in 2015 as Andreas L, even though he died in the crash. However, some reports did name Josef Fritzl in full after he pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial. Fritzl repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, and fathered seven children by her while keeping her imprisoned in his cellar for 24 years. As time passes, the criminal's 'right to be rehabilitated' will also come into play - meaning it may not be permissible to name them again later. Gulden Rottger, a German media law firm, says that 'the legal legitimacy of coverage that identifies people is highly controversial'. Defendants at criminal trials should not be paraded as 'display objects', the firm says. 'The privacy rights of the affected person always have to be weighed up against the public interest in comprehensive coverage.' In addition to the legal restrictions, the voluntary ethics code used by German media says that suspects should not generally be identified in criminal cases. Pictures and identifying details should only be published when the public interest outweighs the defendant's interest 'in that particular instance', the code says. German police received their first tip-off about the new suspect after Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) appeared on a German Crimewatch-style show in 2013 One such case might be when police are hunting for a suspect, but Madeleine's alleged kidnapper is already in prison. The restrictions might also be lifted if the crime is 'exceptionally severe' or if it occurred in full public view. Despite not giving the Madeleine suspect's name, German police have invited potential sex abuse victims to come forward if they suspect that he was the culprit. Police say he has a string of offences to his name including sex crimes, burglary and drugs offences. An e-fit of a potential suspect was released in 2013 and police have 'not ruled out' that the person depicted is the same man, but have not confirmed it either. They have also revealed pictures of a Jaguar car and a Volkswagen campervan which the suspect is known to have used in Portugal. Detectives have asked people to search their old family photos for any trace of the vehicles, which could have been used to abduct Madeleine. German police say they know where the cars are now and have spoken to the owner of the campervan, who is not a suspect. Police have also given out a phone number which the suspect used in Praia da Luz and another number of someone who spoke to him on the day Madeleine vanished. This second person is not being treated as a suspect but is regarded as a 'key witness' to the alleged kidnapper's whereabouts. Many of our countrys local government buildings and services are now closed to the public. Some have shut down entirely. Unfortunately, many are finding that they are not equipped to serve their constituents during this time.The private sector has long recognized that digital initiatives are critical to survival. Eighty-nine percent of all companies have already adopted a digital-first business strategy or plan to do so, and 55 percent of companies without a digital transformation believe they have less than a year before they start to lose market share. These efforts pay off: A study by Adobe found that companies that prioritize digital initiatives are 64 percent more likely than their peers to achieve their business goals.Business continuity plans are just as vital to the public sector as they are to the private sector. Today, its a pandemic; tomorrow, it might be a hurricane or a fire. At the center of these continuity plans is a digital strategy. Unfortunately, however, many local and state governments lag behind the private sector in digitization.I have been working with governments for over 25 years to formulate these digital strategies, and Ive seen that the ones that have adopted significant digital initiatives have found the current crisis much more navigable than those that havent. For example, homeowners in counties that have digitized and who are looking to take advantage of low refinance rates are able to access the deed to their property from home.But this isnt just a matter of convenience or improving a utility, and its not just a matter of making a crisis more manageable. Governments that are behind in these endeavors should be thinking now about how they can continue to offer residents essential services remotely or with reduced staffing for future crises. This means employing a system to provide constituents with low-cost digital access to documents, replacing trips to government offices to find paper documents. These initiatives protect vital records and boost the efficiency of the government workforce. They bring in revenue, as a government can charge a fee to access these records without the workforce costs to physically find the record.Local governments have reams of paper records that span decades or even centuries past everything from land records and court records to birth certificates and maps. These physical documents are difficult to search and expensive to store. It can often take days to track down a physical file.When physical documents are digitized and a records management system is put in place, information gathering becomes much simpler. Judges, attorneys and law enforcement officials can log into the system, run a search and download digitized copies of the records they need. Citizens can find required documents online or on their phone in a matter of seconds, and they can be alerted about potential fraud activity involving their records.Once files are scanned into a digital format typically starting with present-day files and moving backward in time they can be searched, managed and instantly retrieved when using a records management, court or jury system. The end result is a faster, more efficient and mobile-friendly process for both government staff and the public.Cloud-hosted storage solutions are often the best choice. Theyre flexible and mobile-friendly, theyre inexpensive, and theyre easy to scale; computing and storage capacity usually can be added for a fraction of the cost of purchasing new physical servers and deploying them onsite.Local and state officials who digitize also provide an invaluable historical service that will benefit their constituents descendants far into the future. Plymouth, Mass., for example, has indexed more than 1 million documents and land records, beginning from 1620, including a document drafted on the Mayflower. They have also transcribed original handwritten documents from the Plymouth Registry, all written in 17th-century cursive. The preservation of these documents for future generations is vital to the preservation of the American historical legacy.It is best to start the digitization process by scanning every incoming document from the present forward, and then, based on available funds, work backward in time to scan files in 10- to 20-year increments.In todays digital world, we are fortunate to have the technology to protect our countrys records and make them quickly accessible to those who need them. Local governments of the future will serve their constituents through simple, streamlined and user-friendly tools, eliminating the public stigma of red tape and making the experience for both sides easier and more pleasant. By PTI LONDON: Britain's Indian-origin Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, has been tested for the novel coronavirus after feeling unwell at the despatch box in the House of Commons. Sharma, 52, was seen feeling uneasy and sweating during a debate on the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill in Parliament on Wednesday. "Alok Sharma began feeling unwell when in the Chamber delivering the second reading of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill," a spokesperson for the minister said. "In line with guidance he has been tested for coronavirus and is returning home to self isolate," the spokesperson said. Shadow business secretary, Labour's Ed Miliband, was seen passing the minister a glass of water as he looked visibly unwell. If Sharma tests positive for the coronavirus, anyone in his proximity within two metres for more than 15 minutes would have to self isolate for two weeks as per the current UK government guidelines. As a senior member of the Cabinet who has been a regular at all meetings, his illness will raise concerns over the impact a positive test would have within the top rung of the government. The minister was among hundreds of MPs seen queuing for hours on Tuesday to cast their votes under new social distance rules as Parliament returned to a physical setting after a hybrid version, which involved remote attendance by MPs via screens set up in the chamber. Sharma's illness will renew concerns expressed by several MPs over the return of physical voting after digital voting was discontinued. While only a limited number of MPs are allowed to sit within the Commons chamber at any given point, Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg had stipulated the return of all parliamentarians to the Palace of Westminster in central London. He has faced backlash from all sides of the House over the decision to abandon digital voting options, including from MPs with health conditions who are unable to participate in proceedings. Lisa Nandy, Labour's Indian-origin shadow foreign secretary, was among those who expressed concern following Sharma's illness. "The government stopped MPs from working from home and asked us to return to a building where social distancing is impossible. MPs are travelling home to every part of the country tonight. Reckless doesn't even begin to describe it." Many of the MPs had posted images on social media of the long snaking queue across the Parliament complex on Tuesday as they lined up to cast their vote while trying to maintain the requisite two-metre distance to prevent the transmission of the deadly virus. A House of Commons spokesperson said: "The House's priority is to ensure that those on the estate are safe while business is facilitated. We have closely followed guidance from PHE (Public Health England) on action to take following a suspected case of COVID on-site, including additional cleaning. Our risk assessment outlines the measures we have already put in place to reduce the risk of transmission in Parliament." The United States and Italy convened a virtual ministerial meeting with members of the defeat-Islamic State (IS) coalition to discuss progress on the campaign. During the meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged member countries to pledge money to the coalitions goal of more than $700 million in funding for 2020, while acknowledging the enormous pressure the coronavirus pandemic has placed on state budgets. The US is leading the investment in our shared mission by continuing its role as the military backbone of the [defeat IS] effort, and were sharing the financial burden of Iraqs immediate recovery, said Pompeo, adding, Just last year, the United States pledged more than $100 million for the coalitions main stabilization program for liberated areas. Why it matters: The coalition also released a joint communique that further stressed the need to allocate adequate resources to sustain coalition and legitimate partner forces efforts against [IS] in Iraq and Syria, including stabilization support to liberated areas, to safeguard our collective security interests. Pompeo also called on members to fund the secure and humane detention of the thousands of foreign terrorist fighters still in custody inside of Syria and in Iraq," urging them to follow Italys example on repatriation and Germanys example on holding [IS] fighters and facilitators accountable. Finally, the communique thanked Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for his address to the coalition and acknowledged with deepest respect the extraordinary efforts and huge sacrifices made by Iraq against [IS], while welcoming Baghdads new government. Whats next: Washington and Baghdad are scheduled to convene a strategic dialogue later this month to hammer out the future US force posture in Iraq. The Iraqi parliament passed nonbinding legislation to expel US troops in January following President Donald Trumps strike on Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Units leader Abu Madhi al-Muhandis. Know more: Shelly Kittleson reports on Iraqs new operation to root out IS sleeper cells near Kirkuk after an uptick in terrorist attacks. Members of the Federation of Muslim Womens Associations of Nigeria stand in solidarity with Nigerias frontline healthcare workers. Credit: Muibat Abdulrazaq/FOMWAN Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, African feminists have been essential in responding with care to the challenges facing their communities. COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Africa, but not at the exponential rate experienced in other parts of the world, suggesting the success of early prevention measures. Yet, grassroots feminists also point out that the pandemic has laid bare inequalities that have long been a realityunderscoring the urgent need for an approach to peace and security that is inclusive and broad in its scope. In a series of webinars, the Women, Peace and Security program has convened grassroots women's organizations from Lesotho, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo, to discuss their work in the context of COVID-19. On a recent call, these organizations, which are participating in the Peace and Social Change Fellowship, exchanged their strategies for addressing the impacts that the ongoing pandemic has had in their communities. In the face of layered challenges in their communities, grassroots activists are engaged in developing new strategies and practices to forward and sustain peacefrom advocating for attention to the gendered impacts of the crisis, to leveraging networks of mutual aid and digital activism to respond where government efforts fall short. Using media as a mobilization tool Women's organizations participating in the call cited digital activism as an increasingly useful tool during the pandemic. Several organizations have found innovative means to connect and organize across distances through media and technology. The Federation of Muslim Women's Associations (Nigeria) and the Suubi Center (Uganda) has used radio and social media to spread awareness about COVID-19 prevention, promote compliance with social distancing measures, and highlight the pandemic's impacts on women's rights. In Sudan, activists from MANSAM, in addition to using traditional outreach methods, such as workshops and community dialogswhere permittedalso discussed the use of media to share drama and music containing health-related messages. In eastern DRC, the REFEADES team indicated that creating local digital platforms such as WhatsApp groups to communicate with other human rights activists has been critical. Mamello Makhele, a midwife and advocate with the Barali Foundation in Lesotho, shared that that due to limited mobility, women and girls face increased difficulty in accessing healthcare and justice. In response, the Barali Foundation has used social media to connect with women and girls in need of a safe space. They initiated a Facebook campaign to amplify women's stories related to sexual violence and reproductive health. Leveraging strategic partnerships Facing challenges such as limited mobility, grassroots organizations have found that leveraging strategic partnerships is increasingly important to deliver essential services. For example, leaders from the Suubi Center in Uganda mentioned that the government's ban on motorbike driversa primary source of transport in the regionfrom taking passengers has made women's access to health centers more difficult and dangerous. Sylvia Katooko, executive director of the Suubi Center in Uganda, is leveraging her position on local COVID-19 taskforce to draw attention to the particular gendered impacts of the crisis. Meanwhile, other organizations built on their relationships with local stakeholders in order to sustain their activism. The Federation of Muslim Women's Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), for example, partners directly with religious leaders to connect more deeply with community members and raise awareness. The Barali Foundation is working with a collective of other local youth-led organizations to deliver needed items like children's clothes and menstrual hygiene products to families across the country. To do so, they partnered with organizations with essential services licenses to conduct the distribution. Connecting structural issues: Climate change, health, and gender inequality Grassroots activists also point to the intersections of the pandemic with structural issues such as climate change, healthcare inequities, and gender-based violence. A locust outbreak and recent floodingboth consequences of climate changealong with COVID-19 have presented a "triple threat" in several regions of the continent. Activists from Kenya, Uganda, and eastern DRC each cited recent episodes of flooding, resulting in displacement, food shortages, and increased burdens on women and girls. "The [pandemic] has caused many problems [related to] poverty and hunger, and climate change aggravated the situation People who are suffering in particular are women and girls," said Rose Faida, of REFEADES in eastern DRC. "Women who are producers and the pillars of the society find it difficult to work in that situation. A lot of women and girls turned to prostitution to cover their daily needs." Activists also highlighted that some policies enacted by governments in response to COVID-19 often have had negative impacts on women's lives and health. The diversion of resources toward the virus, for example, has in some cases led to the de-prioritization of sexual and reproductive health, making access to these services more difficult to obtain. Another common concern that grassroots activists expressed was the rise in cases of domestic violence in their communities, exacerbated by lockdown and shelter-in-place measures. In response, activists collectively discussed how to use this moment to advocate for more inclusive policies that prioritize gendered violence, expand women's economic power, and center women and girls' voices in decision-making. Collective movement building across issues, localities and borders emerged as a primary means to achieve these goals. Sharing strategies and stories, and building opportunities for transnational collaboration, can pave a path toward a more just and peaceful post-pandemic future. As Ruth Ochieng, a co-facilitator of the fellowship program, said, "We need to rethink our strategies. Building cross-border collaboration as networks could be one of the ways. The more we are making noise, giving cross-country data, collaborating on campaigns, [we] will make an impact Strength is in our numbers." Explore further Centring sexual and reproductive health and justice in the global COVID-19 response This story is republished courtesy of Earth Institute, Columbia University http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu. A Pakistani man has been arrested by the central GST intelligence officials for illegally selling pan masala worth crores of rupees in parts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and neighbouring states even during the lockdown period, officials said on Thursday. The accused, who had a long-term visa, was arrested on Wednesday by the officials of Directorate General of Goods and Services Intelligence (DGGI) in Indore, about 195-kms from here, they said. The arrest came after the DGGI officers conducted simultaneous search operations at five godowns controlled and operated by the accused as well as his residence in Indore on Saturday and Sunday. "Unaccounted stock of pan masala / tobacco having total estimated value of about Rs 2.25 crore was seized during the search operation," a statement issued by the Additional Director General, DGGI, Bhopal zone, said. Pan masala/tobacco was found to be stored in the godowns clandestinely for its distribution in various districts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other neighbouring states, the statement said. During the search at the residential premises, Rs 66.47 lakh unaccounted cash amount was also seized, it said. In his statement given to the officers, the accused confessed that the seized cash was the sale proceeds of the pan masala/tobacco supplied without issuing invoice and without payment of GST, the statement said. Based on preliminary investigations by the DGGI, it has been estimated that the accused person and his associates have evaded GST of around Rs 18.80 crore on the goods, valued at about Rs 40 crore, sold illicitly for cash during the period from April 2019 to May 2020, it said. Considering the huge scale of tax evasion, in order to protect revenue, procedure of provisional attachment of immovable properties and bank accounts of the accused was initiated. "Under this process three immovable properties and five bank accounts belonging to the accused and his associate were provisionally attached on Wednesday," the statement said. The accused was arrested on Wednesday and produced before an Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Court in Indore that has remanded him to 14 days judicial custody up to June 17, it said. "Investigations by DGGI have also revealed that the arrested person is a Pakistan Passport holder," the statement said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been informed about his arrest, an official said. The arrested person, aged 33 years, is a native of Jacobabad city under Sindh province of Pakistan, the official said. Guthkha sale and consumption is banned across most Indian states. The sale and distribution of pan masala and chewing tobacco had also been completely banned across India due to the pandemic-induced lockdown implemented from March 25, considering its risk in spreading COVID-19 infection. "This detection and evidence collected by DGGI indicates that some unscrupulous dealers may have, unfortunately, taken undue benefit of this emergent situation," the DGGI statement said. The market information suggests that these banned goods were being sold and consumed in some places within Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the lockdown period, at 4-5 times their usual market rates, it said. "This case has highlighted the risks involving illicit sale and consumption of products like pan masala, tobacco, especially during the pandemic," the statement said. In view of the pandemic situation, all officers of the DGGI strictly followed and enforced social distancing norms and took appropriate precautions during the searches, it said. The University of Utah congratulates more than 7,500 students who were named to the spring 2020 dean's list. Jay Jindeel of Gladwin, who is majoring in Asian studies and Japanese, was among the students honored. In 1988, a group of South Fork naturalists formed a membership organization called the South Fork Natural History Society, better known as SOFO. The objective of this organization was to increase public awareness about the past, present, and future of eastern Long Islands natural history and to share their joyful experiences of exploring and learning with others in the community. SOFO used to operate out of a small building referred to as the Nature Clubhouse where children gathered to examine different species, research for school projects, and just hang out. The Clubhouse served as a prototype... Trump and his administration have come under scrutiny for their handling of protests, not just in Washington, but across the country in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Nationwide protests erupted last week, after Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after an officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. "I am writing to request a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating in the city," Pelosi wrote. "Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital." Pelosi, in a letter to the president, said she also wanted to know the responsibilities of all the agencies involved in the effort, including the Bureau of Prisons. Some of the unidentified and unmarked personnel have, at times, used force to push protesters out of certain areas of the city. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on President Donald Trump to provide a list of federal agencies that have been staffing the effort to police the ongoing protests in the nation's capital. Trump was blasted by Democrats and some Republicans after federal officers forced out peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square, only to then walk from the White House to nearby St. John's Church for a photo opportunity. One of the issues during the protests has been that security personnel have sometimes not had clear identification showing what agency they're from. Beyond the Bureau of Prisons, other groups involved with pushing back the protests include the Secret Service, National Guard and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Attorney General William Barr addressed these concerns at a press conference on Thursday. "I could say a number of, out of the federal system, we don't wear badges with our name, the agents don't wear badges and their names and stuff like that, which many civilian police agencies, not federal police agencies do, and I hadn't, I could understand why some of these individuals suddenly wouldn't want to talk to people about who they are. If that was the case," Barr said. The attorney general later put out a statement noting many of the organizations involved with acting as security during the protests. "We have deployed all the major law-enforcement components of the department in this mission, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Marshals Service," Barr said. The director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons said he didn't know of any prison guard who had been asked to conceal their identity. "I'm not aware of any specific Bureau of Prisons personnel being told not to identify themselves. What I attribute that to is probably the fact that we normally operate within the confines of our institution and we don't need to identify ourselves," Michael Carvajal, the head of the Bureau of Prisons, said at the same press conference. CNBC's Amanda Macias contributed to this report. The British Army has created a new military cyber unit to protect forces in the modern era. The 13th Signal Regiment was formally launched on Monday. It will be based at Blandford Forum in Dorset but operate where needed around the world. It was described by a defence source as a "restructuring of existing capabilities", bringing together various individuals who currently work across many units into one dedicated regiment. "This is a step-change in the modernisation of the UK Armed Forces for information warfare," defence secretary Ben Wallace said. "Cyber-attacks are every bit as deadly as those faced on the physical battlefield, so we must prepare to defend ourselves from all those who would do us harm. 13th Signal Regiment is a vital addition to that defence." Although the regiment will formally come under Army command, it will work with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to secure communications networks on the battlefield overseas and at home. 13th Signal Regiment brings together personnel from all three armed services and will be built around a core of 250 specialist servicemen and women. It will work alongside other UK cyber agencies, GCHQ and the NCSC, although only in a defensive capacity, described as a "digital armour around personnel" - 13th Signal Regiment will not carry out offensive attacks on enemies. The regiment will consist of several Cyber Protection Teams as well as technical staff who will secure the cyber domain for troops deployed on military operations. 13th Signal Regiment previously existed during World War Two as 1st Special Wireless Group, and helped to pioneer the use of wireless technology and high frequency wireless radios. Renamed 13th (Radio) Signal Regiment in 1959, it had operators stationed in Berlin throughout the Cold War. The unit was disbanded in 1994, when its role in Germany was no longer required. "The re-formation of 13th Signal Regiment is an exciting step forward as the Royal Signals, Army and wider Defence rapidly drives up their potency and resilience in the information environment and cyber domain," said Brigadier John Collyer, the Commander 1st Signal Brigade. "The stakes are high and our success is increasingly and critically reliant on focusing our brightest men and women onto the opportunities and risks that underpin our operations - both home and away." 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... ALBANY New York's and local government agencies are continuing to hope for financial relief from Congress, but local officials are warning state lawmakers that any cut to state aid would only deepen the deficits communities are facing. Peter Baynes, executive director of the New York Conference of Mayors, said municipalities already have significant budget holes because of the coronavirus pandemic and further cuts are not sustainable. They also want to make sure that legislators know that if, on top of that, there are cuts in state aid to municipalities, there is going to be a dramatic impact on public safety services, he said. In the Southern Tier, Binghamton has taken proactive steps to curb expenses including voluntary furloughs of employees, hiring freezes, dipping into the citys fund balance and working with labor unions on concessions, Mayor Richard David said Thursday. But Binghamton and many other municipalities still face millions in lost revenue, which David said includes at least $3 million in lost sales tax revenues. Should New York not come through with state aid that loss could increase to nearly $6 million, the Binghamton mayor said. For any municipality, you cant tax your way out of it, David said. You cant cut your way out of it without having massive, devastating impacts on essential services. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has said he wants to avoid any layoffs of state employees despite facing what state budget officials at one point estimated was an at least $13 billion deficit. But final budget figures usually released by mid-May remain a mystery for local governments and schools that rely on state aid to balance their budgets. The state already was facing a $6 billion deficit before the pandemic struck, mostly due to costs associated with Medicaid. The state is working to ensure we have enough cash-on-hand to support services as we contend with the federal decision to delay income tax payments to July and other revenue resources decline, said Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state Division of the Budget. The measures to stave off cash shortages include a 90-day delay on pay raises for 80,000 state workers, a hiring freeze and a halt on new contracts, Klopott said. As a result, over the past three months, we have reduced cash outlays by nearly $4 billion, he said. The cash controls will turn to permanent reductions if there is no federal aid to offset the states revenue losses, which amount to $61 billion over four years. New York also borrowed $1 billion in short-term notes in May to meet cash flow needs, which Klopott said are expected to be paid off by the end of the year. So far, the federal government has provided funding that helps New York and local governments cover expenses directly related to responding to the coronavirus pandemic, a cost that New York expects will reach $5 billion by the end of 2020. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. New York received $1.5 billion for the enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rate. Another $5.2 billion to the state is earmarked for coronavirus-related expenses only, and $744 million will go to testing and contact-tracing efforts. About $1.7 billion has been distributed to school districts as well as SUNY and CUNY colleges, according to the state budget office. Local and state government officials have urged federal lawmakers to pass a stimulus bill that would provide relief directly to communities that have been crippled by the business restrictions and other measures taken to reduce the spread of the virus. Businesses were shuttered - some permanently - when Cuomo ordered the state to pause, limiting the operation of only essential services since March. It has left millions across the country, and over 2 million people in New York, out of work. The city of Albany, which relies on other state payments beyond the aid to municipalities to balance its budget, is facing up to a $20 million revenue shortfall from the pandemics impact. Last month, city leadership laid off employees who were sent home when the pandemic started and had not been working. Additional cuts in staffing, salaries and services for all departments may also be necessary, Mayor Kathy Sheehan has cautioned. Albany Treasurer Darius Shahinfar said the city received the first of two payments from the state in 19-a money, a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) that was established to help compensate Albany for Empire State Plaza being off the tax rolls. However, he said whether Albany will receive the $12 million in "Capital City Funding" and its share of AIM funding (aid to municipalities) is still unknown. The Binghamton mayor said without federal and state funding, more drastic measures will have to be taken by all municipalities. David added the economic effects of the pandemic will be felt in future years, too. What were trying to do is do all the things we can in advance to minimize the impact, so you dont have to do layoffs, he said. If there is no direct aid from the federal government there are going to be deep cuts, and if theres no state aid, there will be even deeper cuts. A 20-something paramedic offers comfort to a patient with a heart condition in a touching moment in tonight's episode of BBC's Ambulance. Paramedic Emma and her crewmate Paul, of Mersyside's North West Ambulance Service, are dispatched to a female patient, who was not named, who is struggling with chest pain. In a preview clip shared ahead of tonight's episode, which was filmed in March, Emma is seen bonding with the woman in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital. In a preview clip shared ahead of tonight's episode of BBC Ambulance, paramedic Emma (pictured) is seen bonding with a patient in the back of the ambulance The paramedic, originally from Limerick, shares part of her life story with the patient (pictured) and discovers that they were both born in Ireland but settled in Liverpool after falling in love The paramedic, originally from Limerick, shares part of her life story with the patient and discovers that they were both born in Ireland but settled in Liverpool after falling in love. She later reveals that she often talks to patients as a way to provide comfort, even when she is feeling 'helpless'. After the patient asks where she is from, Emma responds: 'I came here and I was only meant to be here for a year but I fell in love with the place. I will have been here for three years in August.' Despite being in obvious pain, the woman appears pleased to hear and shares: 'I was born in Ireland... In Belfast. My Mum and my Dad decided to come here. I was 14 and I hated it.' But she then fell in love with a man and made the city home. As they approach the hospital Emma tells the patient it has been 'lovely' meeting her and that it has gotten her overnight shift off to a positive start. Pictured, Emma and the patient Emma adds: 'So it's the ongoing story of the Irish coming over to Liverpool and meeting a Scouser and then deciding to stay.' As they approach the hospital Emma tells the patient it has been 'lovely' meeting her and that it has gotten her overnight shift off to a positive start. It is not known what happens to the patient once she arrives in hospital. Speaking off camera, Emma adds: 'It's hard being away from home. I came over when I was 19. I drove my car from Limerick on my own. Emma and her crewmate Paul arrive at the hospital with the patient on BBC's Ambulance 'I was so scared. I often doubt myself and feel out of my depth. Often we go to these jobs and I feel helpless. I'm learning that just talking to somebody helps.' The full story will be broadcast on tonight's episode of BBC1's Ambulance, which follows ambulance teams attending to the 1.4 million people of Merseyside on St Patrick's Day weekend. Ambulance airs on 9pm tonight on BBC1. On top of everything else, add cybersecurity threats to the list of things the UK's National Health Service (NHS) has had to contend with during the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with the Cheltenham Science Festival, Jeremy Fleming, the head of the countrys GCHQ security and intelligence agency, said hackers have repeatedly targeted the healthcare system since the start of the outbreak. "The reality is that we are seeing attacks on the health infrastructure," he said. "We do know that, whether it's states or criminals, they are going after things which are sensitive to us in this regard." Fleming didn't say explicitly the attacks were state-sponsored, but The Guardian reports the agency believes China may have been involved. The hackers attempted to access sensitive data related to the UK's coronavirus response, including work that the country has done to develop a vaccine. The hacking attempts weren't overly sophisticated. In most instances, the hackers tried to phish people with misleading links and take advantage of weak passwords. However, they were serious enough that the agency's cybersecurity arm, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has been working with hospitals and research labs to protect them. The agency has also been helping NHS make its contact-tracing app "as secure as possible." While were mostly used to seeing hackers doing their best to upset elections, its easy to imagine why they would also be interested in a countrys coronavirus efforts. Theres a lot to gain both financially and politically for any power that can get ahead in the vaccine race. Former Minneapolis policeman, Derek Chauvin, who was filmed pressing his knee into George Floyds neck, was on Wednesday hit with an upgraded murder charge of second-degree murder. Minnesota attorney-general Keith Ellison announced the new charges saying, I believe the evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge of second-degree murder. His colleagues Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane , all whites, who were caught in the the racially charged killing were also charged with aiding and abetting murder, CNN said, citing court documents filed. All four former officers have now been remanded in custody, each with a bail term of $1 million. Chauvin, who has been in custody since last week, will appear before the jury June 8. All three others are billed to have their days in court on Thursday afternoon local time, court records cited by CNN say. But attorney-general Keith Ellison warned the Minneapolis community bringing a case against a police officer is always challenging. Trying this case will not be an easy thing, Ellison said at a news conference. Winning a conviction will be hard. But he maintained that his partner in the prosecution, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, is the only Minnesota prosecutor who has ever successfully prosecuted a police officer for murder. Were confident in what were doing, but history does show that there are clear challenges here, Ellison said. Since George Floyd, an unarmed black man seen in a video being pinned to death by three white former police officers nine days ago, died, protests have swept across major cities in America, despite curfews and the spread of COVID-19. Thousands have been arrested and dozens of protesters and police injured. Some journalists have also been attacked. Cases of vandalism and looting have also been reported. Although this week, demonstrations have largely being peaceful, with fewer arrests and violent confrontations compared to last week. Nonetheless, there were clashes between protesters and police, in New York for instance, but authorities say the city was still quieter than before, with no reported instances of looting. The excellent results of the phase III international paediatric study, Inter-B-NHL ritux 2010, have been published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. This academic trial involved two international cooperative groupsthe European Intergroup for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (EICNHL) and the Children's Oncology Group (COG). It establishes a new standard treatment with an improved cure rate for children with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma, mainly Burkitt lymphoma. It supports the value of an immunotherapeutic agent, which was authorised in March 2020 by the European Commission for the treatment of a rare childhood cancer. "With a three-year survival rate exceeding 95%, these results are outstanding. This study changes the international treatment bench-mark in young patients with advanced B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma," said Dr. Veronique Minard-Colin, paediatrician at the Gustave Roussy Department of Child and Adolescent Oncology in France who coordinated this major international trial with Dr. Thomas G. Gross currently at Children's Hospital Colorado in the United States. The management of children with Burkitt lymphoma has improved considerably over recent decades. Cure rates have risen from 30% in the 1980s to higher than 85% with chemotherapy alone (LMB protocol) with no major late sequelae associated with the medication or the disease. This conventional LMB treatment was established more than 30 years ago by Dr. Catherine Patte, paediatric oncologist at Gustave Roussy and her French collaborators. However, despite this advance, about 15% of children continued to die of this condition. Rituximab is a monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody directed against lymphoma cells. This immunotherapeutic agent, developed by Roche, is indicated in combination with chemotherapy as a treatment for adults with malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The international Inter-B-NHL-ritux 2010 clinical trial evaluated rituximab in children and adolescents by means of a Paediatric Investigation Plan in the context of European Paediatric Regulation. As Burkitt lymphoma is a rare disease (~1000/1200 new cases/year in Europe and in the US), 12 countries collaborated to address the question as to whether rituximab would increase survival of children and young adults. The Inter-B-NHL ritux 2010 phase III randomised trial was conducted between December 2011 and November 2015 and involved 328 patients age 2-18 years, treated in 176 centres distributed over four continents (Europe, North America, Australia and Asia). It assessed the effects of addition of rituximab to standard LMB chemotherapy in high-risk B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (the majority with Burkitt lymphoma). When rituximab is administered with chemotherapy, more than 95% of children and adolescents with advanced Burkitt lymphoma remain alive and disease-free after more than three years of follow-up. This new combined therapy increases overall survival by around 10% and reduces the rate of occurrence of an event (death, relapse, tumour progression, second cancer, etc.) by 70%. Aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer which develops in the lymphatic system, carrier of immune cells throughout the body. It can develop in any part of the body. It is most frequently seen in the abdomen and neck, areas which harbour many lymph nodes. It is one of the most aggressive cancers and grows very rapidly although it is rare and affects both children and adults. It is the most common lymphoma in children, accounting for more than 60% of paediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancers are fortunately rare in childhood, but this means that the development of new drugs to treat them must be conducted internationally. The Inter-B-NHL ritux 2010 trial is an excellent example of an international cooperation of academic clinical research in childhood cancer and of the importance of public-private collaborations with the pharmaceutical industry, so that positive findings result in marketing authorisation. The trial was run as part of a Paediatric Investigation Plan. Rituximab (MabThera) has been authorised in Europe since March 2020 for the treatment of children with high-risk B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It will be available for all children and costs will be reimbursed through the health systems of member states and beyond. Explore further Phase III results show rituximab excels against pediatric Burkitt lymphoma More information: Veronique Minard-Colin et al, Rituximab for High-Risk, Mature B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Children, New England Journal of Medicine (2020). Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine Veronique Minard-Colin et al, Rituximab for High-Risk, Mature B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Children,(2020). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1915315 Provided by Comprehensive Cancer Centre Gustave Roussy Gov. Kate Brown has ordered all state flags at Oregon public institutions to be flown at half-staff in honor of George Floyd. A memorial service will be held Thursday for Floyd, a black man killed by police in Minneapolis. Brown said in a statement that Oregon state flags should be lowered to half-staff from 11 a.m. to sunset that day. We lower the Oregon flag to half-staff to recognize a profound loss of life, one that affects us all, Brown said in a statement. As we mourn the loss of George Floyd, let us remember the many Black lives that have been taken by unnecessary violence. And let us commit ourselves, and our country, to fundamental change. Floyd died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Three other officers stood nearby as Floyd pleaded for air. Prosecutors in Minnesota announced this week that all four officers would face charges. The officer who knelt on Floyd had already been charged but now faces a more severe accusation of second-degree murder. A massive wave of protests has swept the nation after Floyds death. In Portland, where protesters have gathered for seven consecutive days, demonstrations demanding systemic change have continued to grow. Protesters have also gathered in Eugene, Salem and other Oregon cities. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. S Lalitha By Express News Service BENGALURU: Close on the heels of Indian staffers of a ship stuck in a port in Italy, 162 Indians stranded for nearly three months inside a ship in Essex, UK, are pleading to return home. Hailing from Goa, Kerala, New Delhi and Mumbai, they have been inside MV Astoria at Tilbery port since March 9. The ship docked there after it began its journey from Mexico on February 11. With UK faring badly in managing the Covid crisis, they are keen to leave its shores at the earliest. David Pereira, a security guard from Varca town in Goa, told The New Indian Express over phone, On board, we are employed as receptionists, cooks, security and bartending staff. We have not been allowed to step off the ship. Our families are extremely distressed. There is no clue when they would be repatriated home. The ship owner (Cruise and Maritime Voyages) is trying to help us out. There is no information and we require help. We are also worried about being in UK, he said. Clifford, a Goan who works on the front desk, said, We were told there were some problems from the Indian government side. Its been months since I met my family in Marmagao, he said. There is no problem regarding food or anything else, but we just want to go home, he added. Glenn Ebnett, social activist in Mumbai who is trying to help them, said, There are 105 Goans, 33 Keralites, 20 from Mumbai and 4 from Delhi. They are being checked on a daily basis. [June 04, 2020] Wintershall Dea Working With Cognite to Scale Digitalization Efforts Globally In a commitment to continue to drive value through digital, Wintershall Dea has entered a four year contract with Cognite and will use their flagship Software as a service (SaaS (News - Alert)) product Cognite Data Fusion (CDF), to scale digitalization solutions across assets. Wintershall Dea leads the way by incorporating digital collaboration throughout their efforts and will deploy the Cognite SaaS and applications to an increasing number of assets long term. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005300/en/ Wintershall Dea Working With Cognite to Scale Digitalization Efforts Globally (Photo: Business Wire) As Europe's leading independent gas and oil company, Wintershall Dea's deep commitment to remain agile while empowering teams byexploring new technologies has established them as a leader in digital transformation efforts. They will use CDF for data contextualization and AI enablement, connecting a number of data types together, from sensor data to maintenance logs to 3D drawings to address optimization and enable advanced visualizations. Wintershall Dea will further build upon their digital portfolio through utilization of a number of tools and Cognite business applications, to provide data insights and analytics empowering colleagues in the office and in the field. Low code capabilities will be used by Wintershall Dea employees enabling rapid development and scaling of their own applications, leveraging domain experts with liberated data. "We are excited to enter this strategic partnership with Wintershall Dea as they lead the sector in digital maturity with their focus on user empowerment," says Dr. John Markus Lervik, CEO and co-founder of Cognite. "We will be equipping Wintershall Dea's domain experts with applications that will give them instant access to data, helping to improve maintenance and production optimization. We will also provide their IT department with a number of building blocks and tools, which will enable them to scale and sustain digital solutions across assets." "We strive to make smart investments through developing digital products and scaling them up to deliver the highest returns to our E&P business as measured by gains in safety, sustainability, operational and financial performance," says Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea's Chief Technology Officer (CTO). "In order to scale a solution up and to replicate it across the company, a robust data architecture and foundation is a prerequisite. Based on the positive results and impact we had at our Mittelplate oil field, we are pleased to deepen our digitalization activities with Cognite to provide foundations to scale solutions across our assets." About Wintershall Dea Wintershall Dea is Europe's leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,800 people worldwide from over 60 nations. About Cognite Cognite is a global industrial software-as-a-service (SaaS) company supporting the full-scale digital transformation of heavy-asset industries around the world. Their key product, Cognite Data Fusion (CDF), empowers companies with contextualized OT/IT data to drive industrial applications that increase safety, sustainability, and efficiency, and drive revenue. Visit us at www.cognite.com and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @CogniteData or at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognitedata View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005300/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tina Lawson took to Instagram with kind words to everyone who made their voice heard in the nine days since the death of an unarmed black man named George Floyd in an exchange with police in Minneapolis. The 66-year-old mother of Beyonce and Solange Knowles cited a number of different ways people spread resources and awareness to the cause after prosecutors in Minnesota charged the officer primarily involved, Derek Chauvin, with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. In addition, the three police officers he was with faced new charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the deadly incident. The latest: Tina Lawson, 66, took to Instagram with kind words to everyone who made their voice heard in the eight says since the death of an unarmed black man named George Floyd in an exchange with police in Minneapolis 'Thank you to All who Contributed to the outcome which was successful, to get these guys at least arrested and charged,' said the Texas native. 'Now we have the task ahead of us to get them convicted. She said, 'We must have the same diligence to get this done.' The Miss Tina fashion designer, who made the costumes for Destiny's Child, hailed 'all the people who played a part in this victory,' reminding her 2.5 million followers that 'no one has a monopoly on how to be an activist. 'Whether you were physically on the front lines protesting ... getting shot by rubber bullets and tear gas .... shouting at the top of your lungs. Or you joined a peaceful protest!' Thorough: The mom of Beyonce and Solange made sure to mention all of the ways people helped Demonstrating: People gathered Tuesday in Houston to protest the death of Floyd Tina, who once owned a Houston salon called Headliners, also thanked people who had 'signed petitions,' 'got your friends or family to sign it' and 'got your non-black friends to sign one or speak up!' She added: 'For our non black friends who joined ... the cause and were brave enough to speak up!' Tina made clear her support for 'the brave police that had the guts and stood up and admitted this was wrong what the police were doing.' She also thanked newscasters, TV crews, organizers and people keeping others abreast of developments in the case. She commended 'celebrities who spoke up' and made moves at the risk of their lives, careers, as well as becoming a 'target of the right wing organizations, and sometimes shamefully your own people.' 'In this victory lets not forget that we dont have the right to judge anyone for how they choose to protest,' said Tina, who parted ways with Bey's father Mathew Knowles in 2011 after 31 years of marriage, and wed Poltergeist actor Richard Lawson in 2015. 'Or dictate how they should protest, theyre all equally important and contributed to this outcome!' Time's up: Tina has used her platform to speak out on the issues at hand The national unrest began last week in Minneapolis when Floyd, a 46-year-old security guard, died after Chauvin kneeled on the back of his neck while he was handcuffed, rendering him unable to breathe in a horrifying incident that was caught on camera. In the incident, arresting officers said Floyd matched the description of a forgery suspect, and subsequently resisted them when they took him into custody. In an accompanying clip, Chauvin was seen pinning his knee into the back of Floyd's neck as Floyd pleaded with him to relent. 'Please, please, please, I can't breathe ... please, man ... my stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts ... I can't breathe,' said Floyd, who later died in police custody. All four of the officers were fired from the police department last week. The incident has drawn parallels to the Los Angeles riots of 1992 which broke out after police were acquitted in their trial over the beating of Rodney King, which was caught on video camera. In the five days of rioting, more than 60 people died, 2,000-plus were hurt and damages to destroyed property topped $1 billion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police . In an interview with national broadcaster ZDF, Mrs Merkel said: 'This murder of George Floyd is very terrible. Racism is something terrible. Society in the United States is very polarised.' Four police officers have been charged in connection with Mr Floyd's death, which has led to world wide protests after video of his final moments was shared across the globe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 which has led to mass protests across the globe George Floyd, pictured with his daughter Gianna, was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis. Four police officers have been charged in connection with his death Floyd, who was black, died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck while Floyd was handcuffed for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. Commenting on the controversy, Mrs Merkel said: 'What I demand of politics is that it tries to bring people together and to reconcile.' Asked if U.S. President Donald Trump played a role in polarisation, she said his political style was controversial, adding: 'I work with elected presidents around the world and of course with the American president and I hope that we can bring peace to this country.' Since his death, Floyd's name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people and empowered a movement. Violent encounters between police, protesters, and observers have inflamed a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. US President Donald Trump, who has already faced heavy criticism over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, has been condemned across the world over his response to Floyd's death. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was 'appalled and sickened' to see what happened to Mr Floyd, while chief constables from across the UK issued a joint statement saying they 'stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified'. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with Floyd's murder Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said ''sometimes it's hard not to conclude' Donald Trump is racist as a result of the controversy. . In a special interview airing across the Hits Radio Network on Friday morning, the Scottish First Minister was asked if Mr Trump was a racist. She responded: 'I think sometimes it's hard to not conclude that, and what I always say when I'm asked questions that that is I can't see inside his head. 'I've been asked that question before about comments Boris Johnson made about Muslims and "do I think he's a racist". 'It's not an unwillingness to confront the issue, it's I don't know what goes on inside Donald Trump's head - maybe that's a good thing - but I do know that the language you use and how you express yourself matters and if you don't want to be accused of racism then don't use racist language. 'Don't sound as if you are equating people who protest against racism with people who take to the streets in order to try to perpetrate racist values and attitudes. We've all got to take a responsibility for that. 'I think at moments like this, whether it's America or any other country, you need a leader - difficult though it is and none of us are perfect in any of these situations - that tries to bring people together and heal divides and address underlying issues and not one that seems to want to further polarise and provoke and force people into on two different sides. Chauvin's colleagues Tou Thao, left, J. Alexander Kueng, centre, and Thomas Kiernan Lane, right, have also been sacked by the police department and charged in connection with Floyd's death after video of the incident showed they failed to intervene to stop Chauvin 'I don't know, I say this with with no malice or relish. I don't know whether Donald Trump is capable of that kind of leadership, but if there's ever a moment for him to prove that he is then surely that moment is now.' A YouGov poll of 5,146 British adults conducted on Thursday found that 44 per cent respondents thought the UK was a 'fairly racist' society. In response to the question 'to what extent, if at all, do you think the UK is a racist society?', some 36 per cent said 'not very racist' while 8 per cent responded 'very racist'. Some 6 per cent responded it was 'not racist at all'. 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Furthermore, the first two rounds of relaxed business restrictions on May 1 and May 15 dont appear to have resulted in a surge of new cases. The biggest blemish in recent days is an outbreak among state inmates and federal detainees in Otero County, state officials said. Just Thursday, the state announced that testing had confirmed 110 new cases of the disease at the Otero County prison. We are happy with our progress in all other areas of the state and are pleased that we have not had to use the room in the (health care) delivery system that was built in to the gating criteria for an increase in cases, Human Services Secretary David Scrase said Thursday. New Mexicos overall spread rate demonstrates the level of improvement. The effective rate of disease transmission stood at roughly 2.0 in late March, meaning each person infected with COVID-19 would generally spread the virus to two others, based on state data. But the rate fell to 1.07 at the beginning of June, the states modeling shows. The improvement hasnt been as dramatic recently, but even in late May, New Mexicans whittled down the transmission rate from 1.09 to 1.07 over roughly a weeks time. Small improvements in the rate can have a dramatic impact on the number of people who end up infected a result of the exponential growth in how the disease spreads. Since late March, the starkest change has come in northwestern New Mexico, where the Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest-hit communities in the country. The spread rate in San Juan, McKinley and Cibola counties the states northwest region exceeded 2.5 in late March but is now down to 1.08, according to the states modeling. But a new trouble spot is emerging. The state has seen an explosion of cases including one death among the population at the Otero County prison, which holds state inmates and federal detainees. Through Thursday, the state reported 249 cases of COVID-19 among federal detainees and 206 among state inmates at two separate facilities in Otero County, which is in southern New Mexico. The numbers reflect a sharp increase Thursday, when the state announced that 66 more federal detainees and 44 more state inmates tested positive. Altogether, testing has confirmed 363 cases at the Otero County Prison Facility, which has a capacity for 647 people. The prison holds people in state and federal custody. At a separate processing center, there have been 92 cases. The detention environment presents its own challenges, of course, for containing the disease. The state Department of Health has been working with corrections officials on isolation and sanitization procedures intended to limit the spread of the disease both within the prison and outside its walls. 8 deaths, 218 new cases Altogether, the state on Thursday reported eight more coronavirus deaths and 218 more cases. The additional deaths adults ranging in age from their 40s to their 90s, all with underlying medical conditions pushed the statewide death toll to 383. Five of the deaths were people from McKinley County, two were from San Juan and one was from Bernalillo County. The state has now confirmed 8,353 cases of the virus since it was first detected March 11. The Department of Health designates 3,115 people as having recovered from the disease, and 170 virus patients are in the hospital. Not safe to fully reopen The modeling report showing improvement in the transmission rate was issued earlier this week. Its too soon to say whether the latest round of reopenings issued Monday, allowing indoor restaurants, gyms and salons to operate at partial capacity will affect the transmission rate. The modeling report was issued by the state Department of Health, Presbyterian and Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. State health officials continue to urge New Mexicans to stay home for all but essential outings and to wear cloth masks in public, except when eating, drinking or exercising. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and top health officials say New Mexicans willingness to engage in social distancing has helped drive down the transmission rate. But it isnt safe yet, they say, to fully reopen. New Delhi, June 4 : Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raaj Kumar Anand from Delhi's Patel Nagar along with his brother tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. According to party sources, the MLA is an asymptomatic case and has been home-quarantined. "The MLA tested positive on Thursday. He and his brother have been home- quarantined," a party leader told IANS. On May 1, Vishesh Ravi, Aam Aadmi Party MLA from the Karol Bagh constituency here, tested COVID positive along with his brother. Ravi was also an asymptomatic case and was advised to stay at home. On May 24, Ravi tested negative for the infection. The doctors took blood samples from 1,610 patients who needed an oxygen supply or had to go on a ventilator. Dr. Franke and his colleagues extracted DNA from the samples and scanned it using a rapid technique called genotyping. The researchers did not sequence all three billion genetic letters in the genome of each patient. Instead, they looked at nine million letters. Then the researchers carried out the same genetic survey on 2,205 blood donors with no evidence of Covid-19. The scientists were looking for spots in the genome, called loci, where an unusually high number of the severely ill patients shared the same variants, compared with those who were not ill. Two loci turned up. In one of these sites is the gene that determines our blood type. That gene directs production of a protein that places molecules on the surface of blood cells. Its not the first time Type A blood has turned up as a possible risk. Chinese scientists who examined patient blood types also found that those with Type A were more likely to develop a serious case of Covid-19. No one knows why. While Dr. Franke was comforted by the support from the Chinese study, he could only speculate how blood types might affect the disease. That is haunting me, quite honestly, he said. He also noted that the locus where the blood-type gene is situated also contains a stretch of DNA that acts as an on-off switch for a gene producing a protein that triggers strong immune responses. In brief: Kitty Hawk Corporation, the electric personal aircraft manufacturer based out of Palo Alto, recently announced that it is winding down one of its earliest projects after learning everything it needed. Flyer was one of the more ambitious flying vehicle projects to emerge in recent memory. Work on the craft started nearly five years ago with Kitty Hawk first sharing it with the public in mid-2017. Over its lifetime, Kitty Hawk built 111 examples that were flown by more than 75 people. In total, the company said it conducted more than 25,000 successful flights, crewed and uncrewed. In an exchange with TechCrunch, Kitty Hawk CEO Sebastian Thrun noted that no matter how hard they looked, they could not find a path to a viable business for Flyer. As such, the team will be doubling down on Heaviside as its primary platform. Announced late last year, Heaviside is a more powerful vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle that can reach speeds of up to 180 mph and has a range of around 100 miles. It is 100 times quieter than a traditional helicopter, can be flown manually or autonomously and can even be piloted over cities. According to the company, it can fly from San Jose to San Francisco in just 15 minutes. Despite being diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer, Highlands High School senior Gabriel Gutierrez didn't lose sight of his No. 1 goal: graduation. "I didn't want to give up," he told mySA.com. "I worked too hard and I wanted to walk the stage with my friends." Gutierrez was first diagnosed with stage 1 testicular cancer two weeks after his 19th birthday in October of last year, his mother Patricia Solis said. However, the diagnosis worsened to stage 3 one week later after the cancer spread to his lungs. On Express-News.com: Northside will schedule graduation walks across campus stages; San Antonio ISD will space grads out in Alamo Stadium Solis said her son was in the hospital for months and wasn't released until New Year's Eve and missed about a month of school. When he returned after the holidays, Solis said it was a tough time for her son to get his school work done because he was still receiving chemotherapy treatment. For help, Solis turned to Texans Can Academies, a program at Highlands that offers assistance to students who are struggling in a traditional high school setting. Through the program, Gutierrez received a laptop so he could get his schoolwork done online, which was the preferred method doctors recommended, especially after COVID-19 became a threat. The program also helped Gutierrez stay on top of his schoolwork by checking in with him regularly, said Lisa Olivarez, special education assistant for Texans Can Academies. READ ALSO: NISD shares heartwarming photos of teachers, seniors during curbside cap and gown pickup "I'm just amazed at how determined he was," Olivarez said. "His main focus was graduation. He constantly said 'I'm not going to let this stop me.' He had his moments where the chemotherapy really affected him, but he battled through it and did the work." Gutierrez is still battling cancer but is excited to graduate, which will be on June 12 at Alamo Stadium. "He has made us all proud," his mother said. "He never gave up. Even when he was at chemo, he was telling the nurses he wanted to get back to his schoolwork and that he needed to do this or that. We are just so proud of him." Although Gutierrez is still being monitored by doctors to make sure he is cancer free, the soon-to-be graduate said he is excited about his future and hopes to be a firefighter one day. Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre Obama did not weigh in on the political tensions of the moment or the White Houses response to the protests. The closest he came was at the end of the event, when he said that those criticizing the protests should remember that the United States was founded on protest. DOJ Has Evidence That Antifa, Other Similar Groups Have Instigated Violent Activity: Barr The Department of Justice has evidence that the far-left extremist organization Antifa and other similar groups have been behind the recent riots in order to fuel their own violent agenda, according to Attorney General William Barr. Barr told reporters at a June 4 presser that there are three different sets of actors involved, including peaceful demonstrators, opportunistic looters, and extremist agitators. Foreign actors have also played a role in the violence, he said. We have evidence that Antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions, have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity, he said. We are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides to exacerbate the violence. While most have peacefully demonstrated, Barr said, some have hijacked protests to engage in lawlessness, violent rioting, arson, looting of businesses, and public property assaults on law enforcement officers and innocent people, and even the murder of a federal agent. There are extremist agitators who are hijacking the protests to pursue their own separate and violent agenda, he said. So far, the government has made 51 arrests for federal crimes in connection with the rioting. On May 31, President Donald Trump announced that his administration would designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. The FBI has also directed 200 joint terrorism task forces from across the country to help law enforcement with apprehending and charging violent agitators. What started as peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd on May 25, who said multiple times he couldnt breathe and became nonresponsive while a police officer knelt on his neck, has been exploited and turned into violent chaos. At the same presser, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that anarchists like Antifa and other agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue violent, extremist agendas. These individuals have set out to sow discord and upheaval rather than join in the righteous pursuit of equality and justice, Wray said. The violence has sprung up in many states. As of June 3, the U.S. Marshals Service has reported damage and vandalism to 21 federal courthouses located in 15 different states and the District of Colombia, according to U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald W. Washington. There has been damage and vandalism to many other federal properties, he added. While it is their absolute duty to protect people exercising constitutional rights, this doesnt apply to rioters, arsonists, thieves, looters, and their protagonists [who] are criminals, said Washington. During a question-and-answer segment, Barr also pointed out the witches brew that we have of extremists, individuals, and groups that are involved. He noted the disinformation on this front in that there have been members posing as different groups. The intelligence being collected by our U.S. attorneys office, particularly integrated by the FBI from multiple different sources is building up, he said. There are some specific cases against individuals, some Antifa-related. There are some groups that dont have a particular ideology other than anarchy, Barr said. Theres some groups that want to bring about a civil warthe boogaloo group, that has been on the margin on this as well, trying to exacerbate the violence. Police departments in several states in recent days have warned of materials being purposely planted in certain locations so as to fuel rioting. The Kansas City Police Department in Missouri stated on Twitter that it learned of & discovered stashes of bricks and rocks in some areas to be used during a riot, and asked people to report such cases to authorities to be removed. Days later, the Minneapolis Police Department warned of incendiary materials and accelerants such as water bottles filled with gasoline found hidden in bushes and neighborhoods. The FBI has quite a number of ongoing investigations against violent anarchists extremists according to Wray, including what he described as those motivated by Antifa, or an Antifa-like ideology. We categorize and treat those as domestic terrorism investigations and are actively pursuing them through our joint terrorism task forces, he said. What tactics they use varies widely sometimes from city to city, sometimes even from night to night. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 06/03/2020 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. star Varya Malina has revealed behind-the-scenes details of her surprise visit to Geoffrey in the United States, claiming she decided to make the trip because Geoffrey had said he still loved her."I received so many messages -- bad and good -- with hate and with support that I decided to tell my side of the story, and you can draw your own conclusions," Varya told fans this past weekend in a 10-minute video on her YouTube channel, which she posted following last week's episode of : Before the 90 Days.: Before the 90 Days' fourth season showed Varya traveling to Geoffrey's home in Tennessee three months after Geoffrey left Russia and dumped her because Varya had rejected his marriage proposal."First of all, I want to [clarify] timelines. I came to the U.S. three months after Geoffrey left Russia, and at least for a month, we were constantly in touch," Varya claimed in the video.When Varya arrived on Geoffrey's doorstep without any notice, Geoffrey's best friend Mary -- with whom Geoffrey was trying to spark a romantic connection -- was inside after apparently spending the night with Geoffrey following their date at a restaurant.Varya's decision to travel to America to win Geoffrey back seemed totally spontaneous and almost reckless because Geoffrey had insisted he was over Varya and had moved on. Geoffrey also claimed he ignored the majority of Varya's text messages and essentially ghosted her.But according to Varya, Geoffrey gave her every reason to believe there was still hope for their relationship, and she didn't seem to think she was taking that much of a risk."Of course he was upset with my decision not to accept his proposal, but he told me he loved me, and I knew my feelings were mutual," Varya continued."I said, 'Come to Russia again without cameras. Let's spend more time together. You can get along with my friends and my family.' And he said, 'I can't. I have to work. I have my custody battles. I have other court stuff.' Only then, I came up with a brilliant idea to surprise Geoffrey and visit him in America."Varya then detailed how her trip came about and how : Before the 90 Days' production got involved."I reached out to producers and asked them to follow my trip because it would be easier for me to organize this surprise with native speakers. If they said 'no,' I would have told Geoffrey about my visit, of course. I'm not that crazy," Varya insisted."But they said, 'Yes! We're going to follow you, Varya.' And I was, 'Woohoo! Woopee! Crazy adventure!' Then I started all preparations. I got my visa approved, I saved my money for the trip -- because who paid for my tickets and the hotel? Myself! Yes, folks. It's true."Varya admitted the trip was "very expensive" for her, but she clearly thought getting back together with Geoffrey was worth the price and the risk of her leaving America with a broken heart.On her "epic appearance," Varya explained Geoffrey's dogs didn't bark because they knew the crew, which filmed Geoffrey two days before."You think it was staged, but neither Geoffrey or Mary were mic'd and nobody [knew] what was coming," Varya said. "It was a total surprise for all of us -- for me, for Geoffrey, for Mary, for the crew. It was crazy."Varya added, "I even looked back several times at the crew and was like, 'Are you serious, guys?! Did you just throw me under the train?! Did you know that [Mary was there?]'"Varya said when she saw Mary inside Geoffrey's home in the morning, she felt "lost, shocked" and even forgot some of her English.Varya and Mary's meeting was immediately hostile, with Varya calling Mary "irritating" as well as "a b-tch," and Mary questioned Varya's motive and cried to the cameras about how she felt foolish and betrayed by Geoffrey.Before Mary left the scene, she grabbed something in Geoffrey's house and Varya snapped at her, "Leave your panties there?"Varya recalled, "The only idea in my head was, 'This woman is trying to steal my man!' I knew about her existence because she constantly texted Geoffrey while he was in Russia. I saw her messages pop up on his phone, and I even asked him, 'Who is that?' And Geoffrey said, 'Don't worry it is just my friend.' [So I said], 'Okay.'"Varya said she had seen a photo of Mary and Geoffrey together on Instagram and so she couldn't believe it when she saw Mary inside Geoffrey's house that day.Varya cursed at and flipped out on Mary, and Varya didn't even want to recall some of the things she had said in her YouTube video."It was horrible. I agree, I was trashy. But you haven't seen the whole picture. When Mary left Geoffrey's house, he messaged her, he called her, and of course he apologized," Varya explained."And he even said, 'Varya overreacted and she wants to apologize,' which I wasn't ready to do at that moment, but I was pushed by everyone around because it was [near] Mary's birthday. I felt so much [guilt] and kind of said, 'We need to calm down and we need to talk if she's comfortable.'"Varya admitted she was mad at Geoffrey as well but pounded him with her thoughts later on when cameras weren't rolling.In Sunday night's episode of : Before the 90 Days, Mary showed up at a bar where Geoffrey and Varya were hanging out with Geoffrey and Mary's mutual friends."In the bar, I kind of knew Mary could come, but I swear I hoped it wouldn't happen. But it happened," Varya said."Before she came, I had fun with Geoffrey's friends. They weren't as mean as you saw [on TV]. They asked me questions and were interested in my story [and] who I am... It was nice to talk to them."But Varya said "the fun was over" when Mary appeared again, and her "heart fell down.""I was like, 'Okay, we need to talk seriously, and again, I need to apologize,' but I always have a plan and something ruined my plan. Don't mess with Russians and don't poke the bear in us," Varya shared.When Mary and Varya met face to face again at the bar, Mary asked Varya, "Why the f-ck are you here?!" And Varya said she wouldn't put up with that type of treatment.Varya demanded that Mary stay away from Geoffrey because he didn't love her, but Mary insisted Varya didn't know Geoffrey like she did, which resulted in Varya calling her arrogant.Also during her YouTube video, Varya apologized for how she had treated Mary during their confrontations, admitting she had been "cruel" and "rude." Sunday night's finale episode of : Before the 90 Days' fourth season ended with Geoffrey proposing marriage to Varya again before she had to return to Russia.Varya accepted the engagement ring Geoffrey had bought for her this time around, and the couple planned to continue a long-distance relationship until Varya could come back to the United States on a K-1 visa and they could get married. Click here to read spoilers on Varya and Geoffrey's relationship and whether they're still together.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage! BENTON Five conservation groups are suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claiming the agency is wreaking havoc with the Mississippi River. The National Wildlife Federation, American Rivers, Prairie Rivers Network, Missouri Coalition for the Environment and Great Rivers Habitat Alliance filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The lawsuit challenges the Corps environmental impact statement for the Regulating Works Project, which guides the agencys management of a southern Illinois section of the Mississippi River. The Army Corps of Engineers has constructed hundreds of miles of river training structures that alter the rivers flow. The lawsuit contends the structures, which include wing dikes, bendway weirs and chevrons, have increased flood height by up to 15 feet in some locations and 6 to 8 feet in broad sections of the middle Mississippi River. Olivia Dorothy, a director with American Rivers, said the plans were not thought through. In April her organization declared the Upper Mississippi River, starting at St. Louis, as Americas most endangered river. We are demanding the Corps of Engineers develop an adequate Environmental Impact Statement and do mitigation for their operations and maintenance on the river, she said. The conservation groups claim the agency failed to properly evaluate the risk of increased flooding from the additional river training structures and it did not adequately consider the effects of altering the river on fish, birds and other wildlife. The Army Corps of Engineers declined to comment on the matter, citing pending litigation. We need doctors right now. My God, we need doctors: to evaluate the coronaviruss assault, assess the bodys response and figure out where, in that potentially deadly tumble of events, theres a chance to intervene. We need research scientists. It falls to them to map every last wrinkle of this invader and find its Achilles heel. But we also need Achilles. We need Homer. We need writers, philosophers, historians. Theyll be the ones to chart the social, cultural and political challenges of this pandemic and of all the other dynamics that have pushed the United States so harrowingly close to the edge. In terms of restoring faith in the American project and reseeding common ground, theyre beyond essential. And Im not sure we get that. Colleges and universities are in trouble serious trouble. Theyre agonizing over whether they can safely welcome students back to campus in the fall or must try to replicate the educational experience imperfectly online. Theyre confronting sharply reduced revenue, severe budget cuts, warfare between administrators and faculty, and even lawsuits from students who want refunds for a derailed spring semester. And a devastated economy leaves their very missions and identities in limbo, all but guaranteeing that more students will approach higher education in a brutally practical fashion, as an on-ramp to employment and nothing more. Cotton's op-ed was eviscerated on Twitter by the New York Times community and many readers declared their intent to stop reading the publication Writers and staff at the New York Times have issued a rare but grating criticism for the publication after Senator Tom Cotton wrote an incendiary and 'fascist' op-ed calling for the use of military force against protesters. The Republican senator from Arkansas took to his op-ed on Wednesday to call for the 'overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers' from the various protests that have spawned across the United States following the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Cotton claimed that the Insurrection Act authorizes the president to 'employ the military "or any other means" in "cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws."' The Republican senator from Arkansas took to his op-ed on Wednesday to call for the 'overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers' Tom Cotton's op-ed was eviscerated on Twitter by the New York Times community and many readers declared their intent to stop reading the publication altogether Op-ed contributor and author Roxane Gay declared that the op-ed but black staff at the New York Times in danger. 'Throughout our history, presidents have exercised this authority on dozens of occasions to protect law-abiding citizens from disorder,' Cotton claimed. 'Nor does it violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which constrains the militarys role in law enforcement but expressly excepts statutes such as the Insurrection Act.' Cotton's op-ed was eviscerated on Twitter by the New York Times community and many readers declared their intent to stop reading the publication altogether. Op-ed contributor and author Roxane Gay declared that the op-ed but black staff at the New York Times in danger. Gay continued: 'As a NYT writer I absolutely stand in opposition to that Tom Cotton editorial. We are well served by robust and ideologically diverse public discourse that includes radical, liberal, and conservative voices. 'This is not that. His piece was inflammatory and endorsing military occupation as if the constitution doesnt exist.' Many pointed out that the op-ed was released on the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 when Chinese troops killed thousands of young protesters who they claimed had been 'rioting.' 'The decision to publish @SenTomCotton calling for troop deployments to quell unrest falls short of sound journalistic practice,' said former NYT's Op-Ed Editor Sewell Chan. Gay continued: 'As a NYT writer I absolutely stand in opposition to that Tom Cotton editorial. We are well served by robust and ideologically diverse public discourse that includes radical, liberal, and conservative voices 'This is not that. His piece was inflammatory and endorsing military occupation as if the constitution doesnt exist' Many pointed out that the op-ed was released on the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 when Chinese troops killed protesters 'It calls for an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers but offers no evidence that existing law enforcement effortsby National Guard troops, county sheriffs, city police departmentsis failing,' Chan continued. 'As @EsperDoD said today: The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resortand only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."' Chan said that the NYT has published controversial and provocative perspectives in the past - and especially during his time as editor. But he asserted that Cotton's piece was not 'original' or 'timely.' 'The decision to publish @SenTomCotton calling for troop deployments to quell unrest falls short of sound journalistic practice,' said former NYT's Op-Ed Editor Sewell Chan 'It might have been 2 days ago, but Pentagon, @EsperDoD and Mattis have been clearly pushing back,' he added. 'The governors haven't asked for military deploymentsin fact, several told Trump it would make things much worse'. '#TruthMatters, and I will always read @nytimes. But the richest, largest and most powerful newspaper in America needs to exercise discretion and prudence in the use of its platform. This fell far short.' Brian Schatz, a Senator from Hawaii, shared that he had sent numerous 'non-fascist opinion pieces to the Times,' calling Cotton's piece 'sour grapes.' He shared that he had done one on climate, one for medicaid and one for debt free college. Others rebuked the Times leadership for running the piece at all. Brian Schatz, a Senator from Hawaii, shared that he had sent numerous 'non-fascist opinion pieces to the Times,' calling Cotton's piece 'sour grapes' 'You think that Cotton is using the Times' neutered bothsidesism to call for domestic massacres but in fact the Times ownership and leadership are using Tom Cotton to launder their own desire for and advocacy of domestic massacres in the name of order and getting back to Cipriani,' stated author Jacob Bacharach. A.G. Sulzberger, publisher for the New York Times, sent a letter to the company saying that while he stood behind the publishing of the piece, he was listening to black employees at the company. 'It is clear many believed this piece fell outside the realm of acceptability, representing dangerous commentary in an explosive moment that should not have been found in The Times,' he said. 'Even as a counterpoint to our own institutional view. He added: 'It's essential that we listen to and reflect on the concerns we're hearing, as we would with any piece that is subject of significant criticism. I will do so with an open mind.' 'Our journalistic mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world could not be more important than it is in this moment of upheaval.' Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, 41, (pictured) died after he was coward punched by Joseph Esmaili, 24, in the foyer of the Box Hill Hospital in May 2017. Now his widow is suing Eastern Health over his death The devastated wife of a heart surgeon killed in a one-punch attack at a Melbourne hospital is suing its operator for allegedly failing to keep her husband safe. Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, 41, was leaving work when Joseph Esmaili punched him in the jaw after being told to stop smoking at the Box Hill Hospital in May 2017. Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann died from catastrophic head injuries one month later after his life support was switched off and Esmaili was last year jailed for manslaughter. The surgeon's widow, Christine Baumberg, is now suing Eastern Health claiming it was negligent in its duty to provide a safe workplace for Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann. In a writ, obtained by the Herald Sun, Ms Baumberg is seeking damages from Eastern Health for herself and the couple's eight-year-old twin daughters. In documents filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Ms Baumberg wants the hospital to pay up for her family's mental anguish and the loss of her husband's $700,000 yearly salary. Ms Baumberg has mental health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder and her ability to work has suffered, the documents say. Her eight-year-old twin daughters have depression and anxiety. Ms Baumberg had previously made clear her intentions to hold the health department partially responsible for her husband's death. 'I call on the Victorian government and the management of all Victorian hospitals to properly enforce hospital smoking bans and to provide a safe workplace for all hospital staff,' she said. 'The federal government needs to help fund this.' In a writ submitted to the Supreme Court Ms Baumberg (pictured) said she is seeking damages from Eastern Health for herself and the couple's eight-year-old twin daughters Ms Baumberg launched the legal action against Box Hill Hospital claiming they failed to provide a safe work space for her husband (memorial at entrance to Box Hill Hospital) In a statement, Eastern Health said it was reviewing the legal material and would respond via its usual process. "The tragic death of Patrick deeply impacted many of the people here at Eastern Health and the wider community," chief executive David Plunkett said. "This was a terrible incident and we again extend our deepest condolences to his wife and family." Esmaili was the first person to receive a mandatory minimum decade-long prison term under Victoria's 'coward punch' laws. Following the sentencing, Melbourne neurosurgeon Michael Wong said changes to hospital security were needed to deter violence and avoid similar tragedies in the future. Dr Wong nearly died after being stabbed 14 times by a mentally ill patient at Melbourne's Western Private Hospital in 2014. He wants entrances for hospital staff, restricted access to wards and regular patrols of public areas. 'Changes need to be made to protect those that are saving lives,' Dr Wong said. The state's Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said hospital workers are not punching bags and abuse will not be tolerated. The government has tipped $40 million into a hospital violence prevention fund and improved response procedures for when a patient or visitor is violent and aggressive. Uttar Pradesh witnessed the highest single-day spike in the number of COVID-19 fatalities with 15 deaths taking the toll to 245 even as the tally of cases crossed the 9,000-mark on Thursday. A total of 15 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state in the last 24 hours, a senior state health department official said, adding that this is the highest single-day spike in the number of casualties. With 367 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the number of COVID-19 patients went up to 9,237 in the state, Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said. The number of those recovered and discharged from hospitals stood at 5,439, while the number of active cases in the state was 3,553, he added. According to a health department bulletin, three deaths each were reported from Meerut and Firozabad, two each from Agra, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr and one each from Azamgarh, Pratapgarh and Balrampur in the last 24 hours. Of the 245 COVID-19 deaths reported so far in the state, Agra tops the chart with 47, followed by Meerut (32), Firozabad and Aligarh (16 each), Kanpur Nagar (13) and Moradabad (10), the bulletin said. Of the fresh cases, Gautam Buddh Nagar accounted for 31, followed by Kanpur Nagar (29), Baghpat (18), Meerut (17), Ghaziabad (16), Lucknow and Jaunpur (14 each), Sant Kabirnagar and Varanasi (13 each), Chitrakoot (12), Basti, Ayodhya, Deoria and Hardoi (11 each) and Agra (10) among others, it added. Prasad said the capacity for sampling and testing was being increased continuously. On Wednesday, 10,563 samples were tested for coronavirus in various laboratories of the state, he said, adding, "It is our effort to further increase this number to 15,000 by June 15." Six per cent of those infected with the deadly virus are above 60 years of age while 32.5 per cent in this age group have died, Prasad said. He added that those in the 51-60 age group also need to be careful. This age group accounts for 8.8 per cent of the number of people infected with the virus in the state and 31.5 per cent of the deaths. Prasad said 12,39,380 workers have been contacted by the ASHA workers so far by visiting their homes, the swab samples of 80,960 people have been tested, of which 2,583 have been found to be COVID-19 positive. Migrant workers who returned to the state recently account for 28 per cent of the coronavirus cases, he said. Prasad appealed to the aged people, pregnant women and those having co-morbidities to take utmost care and all necessary precautions to safeguard themselves from the infection. Credit: CC0 Public Domain If you remember being online in the late 1990s, then you recall when playing a video in those pre-YouTube days, you had to choose between Real Player or the competing Windows Media Player. Cut to today, and Real, which has been relatively quiet over the last decade, is back with what it says is its latest video viewing innovation: a facial recognition tool that can identity well-known people who appear in a video. This time around, the tool is via an extension for the Chrome browser, and a new updated media player, Real 20/20. The extension is available for Windows and Apple computers, but the player is Windows only. The extension, "StarSearch by Real," identifies celebrities streaming on YouTube and Netflix. Who needs this, when clips are already clearly defined with names and cast? Browser extensions have become popular as an alternative to running apps, and having the software on at all times, mostly dealing with e-commerce. One of the most popular, Honey, was recently sold to PayPal for $4 billion. Glaser put the features into a chrome extension instead of an external player, because he knew it would be an easier sell for consumers to try. "Our goal is not to fight City Hall," he says. "They click on because someone is in it, but how do they find other videos with them as well?" asks Dan Rayburn, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan. "On YouTube, if you watch a clip that may feature your favorite actor in it, but when you're done with the clip, they may not give me other suggestions to watch that actor or others in the clip in other videos. What Star Search is saying, if you want to find a specific person, here's a way to easily find it." Beyond the extension, Real's new RealPlayer 20/20 offers the facial recognition and the ability to download YouTube videos. It also provides media management, a way for people to organize their home videos. The player is free, and available only to Windows consumers. How will Real make money from the new product? By bringing attention to other Real properties, like Napster, the music subscription service that used to be known as Rhapsody, or Real's gaming services. "If we make it really popular, it will become a media platform," and attractive to advertisers, he says. Rayburn says Glaser deserves credit for being a pioneer in the distribution of audio and video on the Internet. "He was a great innovator," he says. "How many other companies can you look at from 25 years ago that changed their business strategy and has the same CEO? You've got to give him credit for what he's accomplished." Explore further YouTube offers small businesses a free tool to create videos (c)2020 U.S. Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This partnership will further position both companies as trusted digital platforms across their respective areas in the industry. The move is part of PayCargo's continued focus on open collaboration and adds to the growing list of partnerships it has entered into with other supply chain stakeholders. For IBS Software, the partnership is part of its ongoing initiatives to enable rapid adoption of digitalization for its customers, including many of the world's largest airlines and cargo ground handlers. The capability to offer integrated digital payments out of the iCargo platform which powers cargo operations at some of the world's largest air freight hubs, will greatly improve operational efficiency and customer experience. It will also help reduce bottlenecks and waiting times at busy terminals, where traffic congestions and delays are becoming a major cause for concern for airlines, terminal operators and customers. "The integration with IBS Software continues our philosophy of collaborating with industry partners to facilitate the expeditious release of shipments," said Lionel van der Walt, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Americas, PayCargo. "Integration with our airline and ground handler vendors' operational system partners makes sense as it enables their staff to expedite the release of cargo without the need for accessing multiple systems and automates data flows to save time and avoid costly human errors." This has become even more relevant as the global cargo and shipping supply chain has had to rethink the way it does business in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority of employees now working from home and demand soaring for a reliable online freight payment platform solution. As social distancing has become part of the global policy to halt the spread of COVID-19, it is clear how unsuitable using cash, checks, vouchers and traditional POS terminals are, and the value and need for contactless processes such as digital payments has become essential. "COVID-19 is expediting digital transformation across the air cargo industry and PayCargo is working with partners such as IBS Software to lead the delivery of meaningful solutions to help the industry weather the storm," said van der Walt. "Our online payment platform is proving to be valuable to stakeholders as it is helping drive transparency, cost efficiency and boosting operational performance." "PayCargo is pleased to collaborate with IBS Software to drive such digital change in the air cargo industry. This is much needed and critical to the success of the transformation that is essential to secure the future of the industry." "The air cargo industry has traditionally been seen as a laggard in the adoption of innovative technology, but this is poised to change significantly. The demand for faster, more reliable and more transparent supply chains is increasing at a pace never seen before and digitalization is the key to unlocking the huge potential for everyone in the supply chain," said Ashok Rajan, Senior Vice President & Head of Cargo & Logistics, IBS Software. "IBS software has been working towards this by investing in the iCargo platform to create an 'ecosystem of digital extensions' by partnering with specialist providers to enable our customers to seamlessly adopt digital processes and capabilities into their businesses." "Digitalization in the payments and settlement process will enable cargo carriers, cargo ground handling companies as well as freight forwarders to improve cash collection, reduce manual effort and make the overall process more transparent and streamlined." "This is proving to be a major enabler in the context of COVID-19, as it has required companies to think outside the box and make their process 'touch-free' - a trend, which will accelerate adoption of innovative technology." "We are very happy to partner with PayCargo in the area of digital payments and settlements to make such capabilities easily accessible to our customers," continued Ashok Rajan. Visit paycargo.com and ibsplc.com for more details. About PayCargo PayCargo is the number one financial platform for moving money and vital remittance information between Payers and Vendors. PayCargo's online solution allows you to move cargo quicker and reduce payment costs more than any other platform available. Our patented technology effortlessly registers your company so that you can immediately start making payments to your freight Vendors. We have over 4,000 Vendors in our network including major ocean carriers, air cargo providers, and hundreds of terminals and CFS stations. Over 1,000 of these Vendors release the cargo within an hour after receiving the "Payment Approval" alert from PayCargo. All other Vendors release cargo no later than the next morning. PayCargo makes it as easy as Ship, Click, and Pay. For more information about PayCargo, visit paycargo.com Media - please contact Meantime Communications, Emma Murray- [email protected] About IBS Software IBS Software is a leading SaaS solutions provider to the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations for customers in the aviation, tour & cruise and hospitality segments. IBS's solutions for the aviation industry cover fleet and crew operations, aircraft maintenance, passenger services, loyalty programs, staff travel & air-cargo management, making it the enterprise with the widest range of offerings for the aviation industry. IBS also runs Demand Gateway - the world's largest distribution network for leisure hotels. For the tour and cruise industry, IBS provides a comprehensive guest centric, digital platform that covers onshore, online, and onboard solutions for the modern tour and cruise provider. IBS Software is a Blackstone portfolio company and operates from 11 offices across the world. Further information can be found at ibsplc.com. Media - please contact [email protected] SOURCE IBS Software Italy reopens for travelers from some countries, but few pass through on first day FIUMICINO, Italy, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Nearly three months after closing its border to all but essential travel, Italy partially reopened Wednesday. But few took advantage of the eased travel restrictions on the first day. Italy announced last month it would lift travel restrictions for travelers from the visa-free Schengen area, as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland. Additionally, people were allowed to move freely within Italy. The step is part of a wider strategy to help restart the Italian tourism industry, which was shuttered along with the rest of the Italian economy at the start of the national coronavirus lockdown March 10. According to officials from the Rome airport operating group, ADR, the airport based in the town of Fiumicino, west of Rome, is expected to host around 10,000 travelers on Wednesday. That compares to around 110,000 for a typical mid-week day in June a year ago. Officials said the airport expects to see around 100 flights take off or land Wednesday, compared to around 1,000 flights on a typical day a year ago. Assaeroporti, an industry group, estimated that at least 45 million fewer passengers arrived in Italian airports between March and May than would have arrived if the coronavirus pandemic had never happened. One piece of positive news for those hoping for an uptick in arrivals in the coming days and weeks: none of those arriving at Fiumicino Airport Wednesday said they were nervous about the coronavirus. "I have wanted to come back to see my family since this started and today was the first day I could do it without having to spend my entire two-week visit under quarantine," Camilla Giorgio, an Italian working for the Red Cross in Switzerland, told Xinhua. Jesse Hanich, a Swiss student who had been home during a study-abroad program in Rome when the lockdown went into effect, told a similar story. "I've come back to collect the belongings I left behind in Rome," Hanich said in an interview, adding that he still has nearly two months left on his apartment contract. "I didn't schedule a return flight yet. I'll stick around for a while to see how it goes." Giulia Cutili, who was passing through Rome on an itinerary between Sicily and Munich, Germany, said she'd made several attempts to visit her parents who were working in Munich. "I tried twice in April but both times they sent me back home from the airport in Sicily," Cutili told Xinhua. "I still don't know if I will make it all the way through, but this is the first time I made it as far as Rome." According to Ivan Bassato, operating director for ADR, easing restrictions for travelers to and from Italy has an important symbolic value for the country, even if the number of travelers starts out small. "Having a working system for air travel is an essential part of a modern economy," Bassato said in an interview. "We were open during the entire lockdown, though there were very few flights. Now there are more, and we hope the numbers will rise and things will slowly get back to normal." The relationship between faith and science has faced some questions during the spread of the coronavirus. But for some leading American scientists, the two have a partnership. The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, started an organization that looks at the harmony between science and biblical faith. Anthony Fauci is NIHs senior infectious disease specialist. He has said he is not active in organized religion. However, Fauci says his involvement in Catholic schools run by Jesuits helped him form the values that drive his public service today. Robert Redfield is the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says his personal faith and public health work support each other. One of the greatest things about faith is, you can approach life with a sense of hope -- no matter what the challenges youre dealing with -- that theres a path forward, Redfield told The Associated Press. The influence of faith on these top coronavirus fighters demonstrates its complex relationship with science. However, the personal religious beliefs of some scientific leaders have clearly guided them through the U.S. fight against coronavirus. Redfield said his faith has helped him see the greater good in times of tragedy or crisis. For example, he noted that his faith had provided strength after the death of his son and during his involvement in the response to Haitis 2010 earthquake. Redfield says that for him, faith and science are not in conflict. A longtime friend of Redfield, William Blattner, told the AP that Redfields faith is also evident in his public persona. Redfield was not seen as often as Fauci at televised White House briefings on the coronavirus crises in recent months. Blattner said his friend is not a seeker of such public attention.You dont see him jumping up to the microphone. You see him speaking as hes required. He added that Redfield sees people of faith as not holier than anybody were just who we are. Blattner co-founded the University of Marylands Institute of Human Virology with Redfield and another well-known AIDS researcher in the 1990s. Collins and Fauci were government scientists before Donald Trump became president. Redfield was asked by Trump to join the government. Collins has spoken openly about his view that religious belief and science can be in agreement. In 2006, Collins wrote a book about how he changed from a young man with no faith to a man with a deep belief in God. Later, he started the BioLogos Foundation to help further discussion about religions relationship to science. Last month, Collins received a major international religion prize for demonstrating how religious faith can motivate scientific research. I see science as the most reliable way to study nature and that includes this virus, Collins wrote in an email to the AP. But science doesnt help me with deeper questions like why suffering exists, what we are supposed to learn from it, what is the meaning of life, and whether there is a loving God he added. To deal with those questions, Collins said, he depends on what I have learned as a person of faith. Faucis faith has changed from his Catholic childhood to what he has described as a humanist belief system. The longtime chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in 2015 that he wasnt involved with an organized religion. He said he was interested in goodness to mankind and doing the best that you can. Im Susan Shand. The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words In This Story harmony n. a pleasing combination or arrangement of different things faith n. religious belief approach v. to get near or to undertake challenge n. a difficult task or problem persona n. the image or personality that a person presents to other people motivate v. to give someone a reason for doing something reliable adj. able to be trusted to do or provide what is needed Congress leaders on Thursday met governor Bandaru Dattatreya and submitted a memorandum demanding the resignation of chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on moral grounds. Congress through memorandum also has demanded the governor to order the state government to conduct an investigation of corruption in the state health department by a sitting judge of the high court and to issue white paper regarding purchases of equipment etc, made by the department during coronavirus pandemic. Congress leaders said that CM has to resign as he is having charge of the health department and he cannot escape from his moral responsibilities. Resignation of Rajiv Bindal as state BJP president is proof that BJP leaders are involved in this scam, they alleged. They said that Congress has extended full support to present state government in fighting Covid-19 but the state government has betrayed them and the people of the state and these scams need to be investigated impartially. Congress leaders have alleged that there are many more cases of corruption against senior leaders of BJP in which most of the cases have been withdrawn from the court or investigations are not being expedited. State Congress president Kuldeep Rathore, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, Congress Legislators Vikramaditya Singh, Ashish Butaip, Dr Dhani Ram Shandil, Mohan Lal Bragta, and others were also present on the occasion. Microsoft is preparing several new features for its Your Phone app. An upcoming update for the app will bring pop-out conversation windows and call button for messages, and support for text recognition in images. The Your Phone app can already mirror text messages from an Android phone to your Windows computer. Now, with a new update, the app will allow conversations to be split into a separate window. Microsoft is also adding a call button within the conversations. Advertisement This is a handy addition if you usually have conversations going on throughout the day. You can continue with your work on your computer while having your favorite conversation always floating on top. The fact that you can move this pop-out window around your desktop and resize it at will adds another layer of convenience. Next up, the Your Phone app is also getting support for text recognition in images. Once this feature goes live, you will be able to copy text from an image with a simple right-click on it. Advertisement This would make it easy to copy phone numbers or addresses from an image sent to your device. Microsoft adding new features to the Your Phone app Microsofts Your Phone app is a handy tool for Android users with a Windows computer. This app allows you to mirror your phones screen to the desktop. Advertisement You can see and reply to text and MMS messages, move files to and from your computer, make or receive phone calls, and view photos from your phone directly on your desktop. Now, the addition of pop-out conversations, call button within messages, and text recognition in images makes this app even more useful. It remains to be seen if the new features will be available for all Android smartphones or will be limited to certain models. Although the ability to view photos and messages is available for all devices, features such as call support and screen mirroring are currently only available on select Android devices. Advertisement There are also some features that are exclusive to Samsung smartphones, thanks to a partnership between the two companies. The Your Phone app comes integrated with Samsungs One UI on its smartphones. Its unclear when Microsoft plans to roll out these new features to the Your Phone app. According to Windows Latest, they should arrive in the beta versions of the app in the coming weeks. General availability may still be a couple of months away. Healthcare Global Enterprises has signed an Investment Agreement (Agreement) by and between Aceso Company, Singapore (Investor) and Dr. B. S. Ajaikumar, (Promoter) on 04 June 2020. As per the Agreement, the Investor shall, subject to, amongst other conditions, the approval of the shareholders of the Company, and other applicable law, subscribe to 2,95,16,260 Equity Shares and 18,560,663 warrants (convertible to equal number of equity shares) of the Company, in tranches, at Rs 130 per equity share, aggregating to Rs 625 crore. The Company has also received the Public Announcement from JM Financial, Manager to the Open Offer made by the Investor for the acquisition of up to 32,613,192 fully paid-up equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each (Equity Shares) from the Public Shareholders of the Company, representing 26% of the Expanded Voting Share Capital, at a price of Rs 130/- per Equity Share (the Offer Price) aggregating to total consideration of Rs 4,239,714,960 payable in cash. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Boris Johnson escalates interventionist policy in Hong Kong Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 6:06 PM After weeks of posturing by the British government, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has come out to publicly endorse the plan to grant British citizenship to potentially millions of HongKongers. Writing in the Times newspaper today, the PM pledged that the UK will meet its "obligations" on Hong Kong. Johnson's strident position, as expressed in today's commentary, comes in the wake of plans by the British government to intervene even more forcefully in Hong Kong. Only five days ago the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced that the UK was considering giving British National (Overseas) or BNO passport holders in Hong Kong a path to full British citizenship. There are believed to be around 300,000 passport holders in Hong Kong. But since Raab's announcement multiple messaging from the government appears to indicate the UK is prepared to potentially grant British citizenship to millions more Hong Kong residents. That extraordinary position now appears to have the backing of the PM, as expressed in his commentary in the Times. The British government escalated its interventionist policy in Hong Kong after the Chinese Parliament approved a new national security law which would enable Beijing to directly apply anti-sedition powers to the special administrative region. The move by the Chinese National People's Congress came after more than a year of intermittent violent protests in Hong Kong aimed at undermining Beijing's sovereignty over the former British colony. Johnson has come under increasing pressure in recent months by an anti-China faction in the ruling Conservative party to downgrade ties with Beijing. The intense lobbying by the anti-China faction in the Tory party is believed to have played a part in Johnson's decision to cancel the Chinese technology giant Huawei's contribution to the development of Britain's 5G network. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address If you happen to see an orange rock along the Rail Trail or in a random flower bed in the neighborhood, its part of a national initiative to help bring attention to gun violence. Members of the Great Lakes Bay Region group of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday. Shannon Watts founded Moms Demand Action immediately after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012, with the intent of reducing gun violence. Since then, the organization has expanded into all 50 states and branched into local groups, including the Great Lakes Bay Region group, led by Carol Sullivan of Midland. Started in 2015 by a young mom in Bay City, this group covers Midland, Saginaw, Isabella and Bay counties. America doesnt have a gun violence problem. It has many of them, Sullivan said. The majority of our members are concerned citizens who believe there are responsible ways to address gun violence. Moms Demand Action focuses its efforts to empower, educate and advocate. The organization supports the strengthening of gun laws in the United States. The empower approach is achieved by encouraging individuals to share their experience with gun violence, whether through domestic violence, the suicide of a loved one, unintentional shootings or even public incidents. The element of education is enabled by public demonstrations, including wearing orange on National Gun Violence Awareness Day and encouraging conversations within the community. Weve got to take the taboo out of gun violence conversation, Sullivan said. The tradition of wearing orange on National Gun Violence Awareness Day honors Chicago teenager Hadiya Pendleton, who was a victim of gun violence in 2013. After her death, her friends wore orange, the color that hunters wear to be seen and avoid being mistakenly shot. Wear Orange this year is trying to focus on local organizations in black and brown communities who have been doing this sort of work before Moms Demand Action have come along, Sullivan said. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Moms Demand Action chapters to rethink how they will mark National Gun Violence Awareness Day, they are eager to get the word out. One way is painting rocks orange with encouraging messages and directing people to www.wearorange.org for more information. The rocks will then be subtly placed in locations around the community or handed out to local organizations that work with victims of gun violence. If they just get the hopeful message, thats an accomplishment, Sullivan said. To learn more about Moms Demand Action, email glbrmomsdemand@gmail.com or visit www.momsdemandaction.org. Mumbai: Actress Nora Fatehi has joined Vidya Balan in urging people to donate PPE kits to help our medical fraternity in these tough times. Recently, Vidya Balan stepped forward and requested the citizens to donate PPE kits for our nation's heroes. Now, Nora Fatehi makes her sincere appeals to everyone to come forward and support our medicos at the time when they need us the most. The deadly novel coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire and the medical fraternity is at high risk of contracting this contiguous infection as they have been relentlessly serving the people and curing them and we all are by now aware about the widespread lack of PPE kits and at this hour each donation counts. Moroccan beauty Nora Fatehi appealed to the citizens to donate PPE kits to help the medical fraternity to combat COVID-19. Nora went on saying, "Namaste! The world is battling a global pandemic and there are people who go out daily basis and are our frontline heroes and these people have been curing people and therefore they need these PPE kits as they are at high risk of contracting the disease and this thought is risky. So I request everyone to do their bit and donate PPE kits at for them. Jai hind!" Nora has emerged as a social media queen and we all know how her videos are always trending be it on Instagram, Tiktok or Twitter and we hope her this earnest appeal will reach millions of people and successfully help our medical fraternity with PPE kits. Jim Cramer says this is how to profit from stocks in the pandemic They couldn't have picked a better name for Mad Money, CNBC's popular early evening show starring the animated, tireless and always entertaining Jim Cramer. Like a kind of financial markets Mad Hatter, he runs around, flails his arms and rings bells all while providing market analysis backed by his many years watching and working on Wall Street. Lately, Cramer has been trying to help established and new investors cope with and even capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic, which he has referred to as "a brilliant enemy that invades our bodies and robs us of our resilience." Take a look at six of his tips on how to get the most from stocks during these challenging times. 1. Don't expect the market to have a conscience katjen / Shutterstock Cramer says the stock can seem heartless. Any investor who thinks Wall Street ought to have a heart just doesn't understand how the stock market works, Cramer says. It's his way of explaining why the stock market rallied immediately following protests and violent unrest over the first weekend of June. At the end of the day, the market has no conscience, he said on his show. Investors are simply trying to make money, and thats why theyre crowding into the stay-at-home economy stocks because the stay-at-home economy just got a major extension." The Mad Money host said he worried that the demonstrations and clashes would bring a huge wave of new COVID-19 infections. And apparently, many investors were thinking the same thing, because "stay at home" stocks including Netflix, Amazon and Zoom were all part of the rally. Cramer says few people invest because they want to make the world a better place. If that's something you're determined to do, you still have ways of investing and saving that reflect your values. 2. Focus on 'COVID stocks' Sundry Photography / Shutterstock Beyond Meat is on Cramer's COVID-19 index. "Stay-at-home stocks" are part of the TV host's creation, the Cramer COVID-19 Index of 100 or so stocks that he picked as likely winners during the pandemic. Story continues He recently reshuffled the list. The current lineup includes: Target, whose stores have remained open during the lockdowns; Peloton, the maker of fitness bikes and other at-home workout gear; and Beyond Meat, which Cramer says cut its prices to take advantage of meat shortages. "If the reopening goes smoothly and the economy comes roaring back, were going to need to abandon this whole index and swap into a totally different cohort of recovery stocks," Cramer said. "I dont think were there yet." If you have friends who are afraid of the stock market and have shied away from investing, one way to get them started is by encouraging them to use an app that allows you to invest using just your spare change. 3. Take it slow when stocks have bad days The World in HDR / Shutterstock Cramer says when stocks go into a sell-off, take your time before wading back in. The stock market has been plodding its way higher from its March lows, and there have been occasional setbacks along the way. One sell-off came in mid-May after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell first warned of the risk of a drawn-out recession and urged Congress to provide more relief. Cramer said on his show that when stocks have gone through rough spots lately, they usually last three days and then investors can get back in slowly, and start picking up shares at bargain prices. But he said to be careful with some stocks, including the airlines and oil companies. "You know what would save all of these troubled stocks? Bingo. A vaccine," Cramer said. In these tough times, it might help to have your very own financial adviser to keep you focused on your investing goals. Financial planning services are available online now, and are more affordable than ever. 4. Know that COVID-19 is great for RV and camping stocks Arina P Habich / Shutterstock Cramer says the pandemic will make winners out of camping and RV companies. The coronavirus crisis has hurt hotels, cruise lines and airlines (Warren Buffett's company recently sold off its airline stocks), but Cramer says some travel-related businesses are thriving. In particular, he means companies that sell recreational vehicles and camping supplies. He calls camping "the perfect COVID vacation." "You can still practice social distancing, especially if youve got an RV, Cramer said on a recent edition of Mad Money. One of these things lets you shelter in place and travel at the same time." Shares of outdoor gear retailer Camping World are up roughly 600% since March, and Winnebago has rallied about 275%. If you're persuaded to get an RV or your own, be sure to get a cash-back card for the gas station, because the fill-ups can be expensive. 5. Invest in 'the big guys' Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock When retail giants including Walmart and Home Depot recently announced big quarterly sales numbers, Cramer called them "great American companies that are on fire." "You have them basically cordoned off as essential services," Cramer said on CNBC. "So many other companies, little companies, medium, small, just couldnt compete," he says. The coronavirus has given us a "survival of the fittest economy," Cramer says, and the big guys all won. He says if you're an investor who doesn't mind seeing the big guys triumph, you can make money. The pandemic has presented lots of financial opportunities for Americans willing to go after them. For example, mortgage rates have been pushed down to lows that were unimaginable not long ago. If you're a homeowner, have you refinanced yet? 6. Hope Congress does more to help the market Alex Millauer / Shutterstock The government so far hasn't approved another round of stimulus checks. Stocks have made a major comeback since March 23, when the S&P 500 closed 34% below the all-time high it had reached just weeks earlier. But Cramer says the market can't keep going unless Congress provides more economic relief. Without another package, I know its trillions of dollars, were just going to kind of sputter out, he said on CNBC's Squawk Box. "I get worried. Its just too many people that dont have jobs, and its eventually going to catch up to the market." Congress has stalled on whether to provide Americans with more $1,200 stimulus checks and other assistance. The U.S. House has passed a new $3 trillion relief bill, but the Senate has been slow to get on board. If you worry that your investments could be in for another skid, try a robo-advisor. The technology automatically adjusts your portfolio to give your money some protection from market turmoil. On occasion, Dr. Jane Philpott has been appalled. When she became Canadas minister of health in 2015, it wasnt just that the path of opioid overdoses was hard to follow; the federal government couldnt even track how many people were dying. And when Philpott rushed to Participation House in Markham in April, when the home for adults with severe disabilities was being overrun by COVID-19, she found 90 of 100 staff missing, and people were just trying to survive. Patients had fear in their eyes; staff were trying to soldier on. And as residents who had lived there for decades died, staff had to scrawl information on handwritten spreadsheets to track the outbreaks day after day, until the paper curled at the corners, before faxing them to public health. It was a small, broken thing in a place where people dying felt like family. The trauma on those workers was tremendous, and it will take them a long time to unpack the emotions that had to be set aside to do the job each day, says Philpott. Its a huge burden. Thursday, Philpott was announced as the lead on the Ontario governments effort to fix its endemic health information problems. She will serve as the special adviser on the governments Ontario Health Data Platform, a would-be Rosetta stone for medical data in a province that is absurdly antiquated and fragmented. And she will chair a distinguished 15-person panel that will give advice to Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and Treasury Board president Peter Bethlenfalvy. The province still lacks a single credible and clear voice on public health and epidemic response, and it is unclear how the advice of the provinces health command group and this advisory group will fit. But at least Ontario is trying to put puzzle pieces together. As testing lagged, Ontario Health CEO Matt Anderson was tasked with fixing that system; it took until the start of June for Ontario testing centres to finally be told not to turn away people with possible COVID symptoms. And now Philpott will tackle data, and hopefully add good advice. The former Liberal cabinet minister will become dean of Queens Universitys faculty of health sciences in July; she was defenestrated for standing on principle but feels she can work with a Conservative provincial government that hasnt always valued good public health. I know that they are very serious about wanting to get things under control as far as the pandemic goes, says Philpott. I think its been a big wake-up call to everyone, and I believe that they asked me to do this job with the very best interest of the public in mind. And I hope that they have figured me out well enough to know that I will push them, and give advice fearlessly, and if Ive been asked to do the job I will not hesitate to speak up about where we can do better. Our data system has been shown to be a broken, wooden thing: pages of faxes with thousands of names sent to Toronto Public Health so they can be contact-traced; no easy and direct link between front-line doctors and public health, which has been starved of resources. Those are front lines, and thats part of why Ontario is still chasing Quebec as Canadas worst-performing province against COVID-19. Data released by Toronto Public Health last week shows it is disproportionately affecting the working poor, the homeless, new Canadians. Which means Canadians of colour are being hit the hardest, in a province that still doesnt collect health data by race, but which recently allowed local public health units to do so. She was proactive on data while minister of health, and Philpott has always cared about vulnerable populations. Its one way her appointment on this two-year unpaid contract could matter. Our failure to measure has been the wilful blindness to the racial and social pathologies that we have allowed to persist, says Dr. Andrew Boozary, the executive director of social medicine at University Health Network, a son of Iranian immigrants who grew up in St. James Town apartment buildings. Sometimes its easier to say were not the U.S., were a universal health-care system, nobodys being turned away at the hospital based on race or income. But we have to dive deeper and realize that there are very complex and multiple factors in how one accesses the health-care system, and more importantly, how one attains health. COVID has ripped back the curtain, but none of this data was surprising. We cant manage what we cant see, says Dr. Sacha Bhatia, the chief innovation officer at Womens College Hospital, and its chief of cardiology. And its been the same thing when you talk about testing for COVID, and deaths in long-term care, or in fighting other infectious diseases. The thing that always helped us was always knowing what we were fighting against, and this data is no different. This pandemic is an infectious disease that whether its in the Black community, the homeless community, it still affects the rich, says epidemiologist Dr. Nitin Mohan, who teaches public and global health at Western University, and who co-founded a public health consulting firm called ETIO. Without knowing, everyone is at risk: the well-to-do, business owners. To us, that was the tipping point. It wasnt because oh, we need to help these people; its without this we cant move forward economically. The people who have been asked to restart the economy are essential workers, and theyre the most vulnerable workers out there. And the economy isnt benefiting everyone: its hurting those who are most vulnerable. It absolutely matters to me, says Philpott, because the reality is that whether we were ready for it or not, if we dont focus our attention on vulnerable populations, they will be the worst hit, and everybody suffers. So the data is one of the good ways to be able to focus on those issues: socio-economic data, race-based data, geographic data, in as granular a format as possible, is critical. And some of that is happening, but it is patchy. Well see how this latest kingdom is allowed to work. What governments do with better data will be a long-term question; better data to help fight the coronavirus was a short-term necessity three months ago. It cant be done immediately, but at least the work is starting. We will be in and out of this pandemic for at least the next two years, says Philpott, and while theres some urgency for better systems to be built immediately, what gets built now has to get built properly, so that it will actually be functional. Dr. Philpott is in. Shes not in charge of everything, and maybe she should be. But she knows what we dont know, and thats something we need. Read more about: Canberra, June 4 : Australian airport workers held demonstrations on Thursday, demanding access to COVID-19 welfare payments as well as a national recovery plan to help revive their devastated industry. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) called for more action from the government, including to support the bankrupted Virgin Australia airline and reverse a decision to exclude workers at foreign-owned companies from the "JobKeeper" subsidy, reports Xinhua news agency. According to a recent survey of over 1,000 aviation workers in Australia, almost 40 per cent said they have no income at all since being temporarily stood down from their job, and 70 per cent said they were worried about losing their position permanently. On top of that, 30 per cent had been forced to use their superannuation to cover living expenses and 20 per cent worried they may lose their house. TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said the survey served as a reminder for the federal government to take action on behalf of aviation workers, some of whom have had no income for months since the COVID-19 crisis began. "Workers are protesting at airports and at the offices of federal government ministers to highlight the struggles they face. "They want the government to hear their stories and to act to save their jobs and their industry," Kaine said. "Governments around the world are stepping in and supporting their aviation sectors. Air travel is of particular importance in Australia yet the government is utterly directionless, with no plan and no policy." On Thursday morning, the day after cyclone Nisarga hit the Maharashtra coast at Alibag in Raigad district, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel said the uprooted trees are blocking access to the areas worst-hit by the natural disaster. So far, the NDRF personnel have not been able to reach the cylone-affected areas of Raigad district, where two deaths and destruction to properties have been reported. A man (58) died after an electric pole fell on him at Umte village in Alibag, while a boy (10) was killed in a wall collapse at Shrivardhan taluka in Raigad district on Wednesday afternoon after the cyclone made landfall, the district authorities said. The areas, where the two deaths have been reported in Raigad district, are still inaccessible. So far, weve nt been able to identify the extent of the damage in those areas, said Mahesh Kumar, inspector, NDRF. Its been difficult to proceed towards the south of Alibag, which has been worst-affected by cyclone Nisarga. Though were equipped with mechanical tree cutters, its difficult to cut big tree trunks and remove them from the road that is hindering our movement. We worked through the night to clear blockages on major roads in the district, where fallen trees, had disrupted traffic, he added Large parts of Raigad district were devastated on Wednesday afternoon after cyclone Nisarga made landfall. Trees and electric poles were uprooted, communication lines snapped and damages caused to thatched and kutcha houses. Also read: Mumbai records its cleanest air in 2020 thanks to Cyclone Nisarga An NDRF team, which was deployed at Thane district, has been diverted to Srivardhan in the south of Raigad to carry out an assessment of the damages caused by the cyclone. Major state and national highways such as Alibag-Pen, Alibag-Revas, the road to Goa via Sukeli and Poladpur, Murud to Majgaon, and to Uran, Karjat, and Pen are operational since Thursday morning, as fallen trees and communication cables were cleared by the NDRF personnel through the night. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Violence and injustice meet Black people in every sector of life; the food and cooking arenas are not exempt. Black people experience racism and exploitation on farms, in restaurants, and in grocery stores. This racism is systematic, ingrained in centuries of discrimination and disempowerment. Black people also experience racism in food media; here, Epicurious is culpable on many levels. We are a majority-white staff with 25 years of problematic recipes and articles in our archive. We have failed to lift up, hire, and promote Black voices. We have changes to make, and we have begun to make those changes; the events of the last few days have shined a light on just how much work there is for us to do. This week many people and publications have circulated reading lists that peopleespecially white peoplecan use to educate themselves on anti-Black racism in America. As part of the work we need to do to make Epicurious a truly inclusive publication, my colleagues and I are using these lists to educate ourselves on racism broadly. We also want to educate ourselves specifically about anti-Black racism in the food space, so weve sought out books that cover the intersection of race and food. A list of these books is below. At the end of the list, weve added some cookbooks we love by Black authors, in the hopes that youll add some of these to your shopping cart as well.David Tamarkin, Digital Director Books About the History of Black Cuisine and Racism as it Relates to Food Building Houses out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power, by Psyche A. Williams-Forson Chicken has been a low-cost food source and source of income for Black families from times of slavery to the present. Chicken imagery has also long been associated with racist interpretations of Black culture. Psyche A. Williams-Forson looks at the ways in which Black women define themselves, achieve self-reliance, and even subvert expectations of blackness using this particular food. Story continues BUY IT: Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power, $35 at The Lit. Bar The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, by Michael Twitty Michael Twitty won the 2018 James Beard Award for Book of the Year for this tome. Twitty is a lauded historian, and in addition to tracing the culinary history of Southern food, the book is also a memoir that digs into his own family history. At the core is a question, given Southern food's place in American culinary history, of who 'owns' this cuisine and who has been given credit for it. BUY IT: The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, $16 at The Lit. Bar Racial Indigestion: Eating Bodies in the 19th Century, by Kyla Wazana Tompkins Author Kyla Wazana Tompkins studies the way that food is tied to race and class inequality, and also explores the very idea of appetite and its links to vice, virtue and an ever-expanding commodity culture. BUY IT: Racial Indigestion: Eating Bodies in the 19th Century, $28 at The Lit. Bar Burgers in Blackface: Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now by Naa Oyo A. Kwate A historical account, reaching as far back as the 1800s, of restaurants that use racist themes, architecture, and logos as marketing schemes to invoke nostalgia for a historically racist nation. BUY IT: Burgers in Blackface: Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now, $12 at The Lit. Bar Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America by Frederick Douglass Opie Hog and Hominy looks at soul food's "relationship to people of African descent and their food within an Atlantic world context." In particular, Opie studies the cuisine's relationship to the concept of soul itself in the Black community. BUY IT: Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America, $18 at Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin Toni Tipton-Martin has gathered one of the worlds largest private collections of cookbooks published by African American authors. In this book, she presents excerpts from150 of those books, charting a path of Black cooking from the time of an 1827 house servants manual to modern classics from Edna Lewis. Through it all, Tipton-Martin demonstrates the way that women of African descent have contributed to culinary culture, often creating masterpieces with meager means, without getting the credit they deserve. BUY IT: The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, $40 at Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, by Marcia Chatelain Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University, explores Black America's relationship to fast food. While fast food is often characterized as representative of capitalism's destructive impact on our food systems and the obesity epidemic, Chatelain shows how fast food franchises have also been a force of Black economic opportunity and political power. BUY IT: Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, $26 at Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, by Jessica B. Harris, Harris, a legendary cookbook author and food historian, tracks the origins and development of African-American cuisine: from its journey over the Atlantic on slave ships, all the way through emancipation and the Civil Rights movement. BUY IT: High on the Hog, $18 at Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery Other notable books in this category: Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, by Adrian Miller, Cooking in Other Womens Kitchens: Domestic Workers in the South, 1865-1960 by Rebecca Sharpless, Black Hunger: Food and the Politics of U.S. Identity by Doris Witt, Slave in A Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima, by Maurice M. Manring Books About Food Justice and Race Black Food Geographies, by Ashante M. Reese Ashante M. Reese uses ethnographic fieldwork in the historically black neighborhood of Deanwood, Washington D.C., to look at the way that corporations have determined food access in citiesoften leaving Black neighborhoods with an unequal food supply. Reese also highlights how members of the community autonomously work around these injustices and shortcomings, and how working around failed systems such as these shapes Black life. Read her interview with Julia Turshen on Epicurious here. BUY IT: Black Food Geographies, $23 at Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery Freedom Farmers, by Monica M. White Freedom Farmers subverts the typical narrative of agriculture as historically a place of oppression and exploitation of Black people, providing an account of the activist Fannie Lou Hamer, who launched a cooperative on land she purchased in the Mississippi Delta in 1967. It was a space where local farmers and domestic workers could be self reliant even while they stayed in the South, without following the second wave of northern migration for African Americans. BUY IT: Freedom Farmers, $28 at Cultured Books Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land, by Leah Penniman Farming While Black functions as a guide for African Americans to reclaim the power of their heritage in agriculture. Leah Penniman gives comprehensive advice about all aspects of small-scale farming, using history and real life examples to demonstrate how to achieve the overall goal of revolution through land ownership and cultivation. BUY IT: Farming While Black, $31 at Cultured Books Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability, by Alison Hope Alkon and Julian Agyeman This book addresses the injustice of the current sustainable food movement, which urges the eating of fresh food produced by local farms, which low-income neighborhoods and communities of color have historically been deprived of. Authors Alison Hope Alkon and Julian Agyeman envision a socially-just food system that addresses healthful, environmental food options available to low-income communities of color. BUY IT: Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability, $35 at The Lit. Bar Food Justice, by Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi Similarly, this book addresses the current effort to transform food systems from seed to table, and advocates for equitable systems of food production, transportation, distribution, and consumption. BUY IT: Food Justice, $22 at Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery Other notable books in this category: Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society by A. Breeze Harper, More Than Just Food by Garrett Broad Cookbooks by Black Chefs The Taste of Country Cooking, by Edna Lewis Lewiss 1976 cookbook highlights the value of cooking with local, seasonal foods, a topic that would later be taken up by Michael Pollan and Alice Waters. Read culinary historian Jessica B. Harris's tribute to Edna Lewis here and buy this essential cookbook, organized by season, to recreate the dishes Lewis grew up eating in a Virginia Piedmont farming community settled by freed slaves. BUY IT: The Taste of Country Cooking, $24 at Cultured Books (Note: upon writing this, this book is temporarily out of stock.) Vibration Cooking: or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor When I cook, I never measure or weigh anything, writes Smart-Grosvenor. I cook by vibration." This famous book, which was first published around the time that the term 'soul food' gained traction, is part cookbook and part culinary memoir. Above all, the book demonstrates how food is a source of pride and validation of Black womanhood. Smart-Grosvenor recounts her early life at home in North Carolina, her time living in Europe, her life as a dancer, costume designer, and more. And she tells you how to cook all the food she ate along the way. BUY IT: Vibration Cooking: or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl, $22 at Cultured Books Meals, Music, and Muses by Alexander Smalls My colleague Lauren Joseph said of this cookbook in the Epicurious Spring Cookbook Roundup: "Smalls writes with simultaneous levity and reverence for his community, and with great knowledge about Americas culinary and musical roots. An opera singer and owner of Harlems jazz bar Mintons and steakhouse The Cecil, Smalls has made it his lifes work to champion the artistic contributions of African Americans...Each chapter, beginning with Hoppin John Cakes and ending with Icebox Lemon Pie and Bourbon Chocolate Praline Truffles, is named after a different style of African American music. The third chapter is all about gospel, gardens and greens, writes Smalls. 'Gospel music is all about finding the good and praising it...these recipes are joyful vegetable-forward dishes that taste good and make you feel good.' BUY IT: Meals, Music, and Muses, $31 at Cultured Books Zoe's Ghana Kitchen by Zoe Adjonyoh In 2010, Zoe Adjonyoh decided to sell peanut butter stew out of her front door during an East London arts festival. From there blossomed a culinary journey of supper clubs, pop-up restaurants and kitchen residencies around the world, through which she shared traditional and modern takes on Ghanaian cuisine with throngs of eager diners. Through her cookbook, Zoes Ghana Kitchen, Adjonyoh is able to share Ghanaian food more broadly, with recipes for classics like jollof rice and groundnut stew among modern adaptations of regional specialties. BUY IT: Zoe's Ghana Kitchen, 27$ at Cultured Books Mama Dip's Kitchen by Mildred Council Mildred Council, who was better known by her nickname Mama Dip, was the granddaughter of a slave and the chef and owner of Mama Dip's Kitchen, a beloved institution in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Council passed away in 2018, but through her cookbook you can make many of the restaurants best dishes: chicken pie, country-style pork chops, fresh corn casserole, and pound cake, to name a few. BUY IT: Mama Dip's Kitchen by Mildred Council, $19 at Cultured Books Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Bryant Terry In his introduction, Bryant Terry, the author of 2014s popular cookbook Afro Vegan, describes bringing home fennel and dreaming about making a dish through the lens of the African Diaspora. Terry goes on to describe the result: a pan-seared bulb tossed with a mojo-inspired garlic and herb sauce and plantain chip crumbles. The description alone will make you want to skip to the index and find that fennel recipe, but dont let that deter you from some of the other recipes, like the Smashed Peas and Creamy Cauliflower. Lauren Joseph BUY IT: Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes, $27 at Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking by by Toni Tipton-Martin "Jubilee celebrates African-American food in recipes from trained chefs and home cooks alike. The result: just like in her earlier James Beard Award-winning book, The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, Tipton-Martin tells a story much larger than the small confines of 'soul food' we've written African American food into." Lauren Joseph BUY IT: Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking, $31 at Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way: Smokin' Joe Butter Beans, Ol' 'Fuskie Fried Crab Rice, Sticky-Bush Blackberry Dumpling, and Other Sea Island Favorites by Sallie Ann Robinson Sallie Ann Robinson offers recipes from her home: the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. She showcases the flavors of West African-influenced Gullah culture that are core to the cuisine of the region. BUY IT: Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way, $20 at Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books The Dooky Chase Cookbook, by Leah Chase Chef Leah Chase offers Creole recipes from her renowned New Orleans restaurant, Dooky Chase, and also her home kitchenas well as the recipes histories and origin stories. BUY IT: The Dooky Chase Cookbook, $22 at Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books SOUL: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes, by Todd Richard In SOUL, Todd Richard plays with the boundaries of soul food; he provides recipes for things like Collard Greens with Ham Hocks, sure, but he also reinterprets many of the classic dishes of the genre (as when he uses those same collard greens in a ramen dish). BUY IT: SOUL: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes, $31 at Cultured Books Red Rooster Cover The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem, by Marcus Samuelsson Marcus Samuelsson's James Beard Award-winning restaurant, the Red Rooster, takes on the legacy of its Harlem neighborhood: It aims to showcase the cuisine of Spanish, African, and Caribbean cultures that mingle in the historic place. His cookbook does the same, allowing you to experience the way these cultures work together in Black cuisine as you cook your way through the restaurant's Jerk Bacon and Baked Beans and Ethiopian Spice-Crusted Lamb. BUY IT: The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem, $34 at Cultured Books Other notable books in this category: Sylvia's Soul Food, by Sylvia Woods, The Up South Cookbook: Chasing Dixie in a Brooklyn Kitchen, by Nicole A. Taylor, Black Girl Baking: Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing, by Jerrelle Guy, Son of a Southern Chef: Cook with Soul, by Lazarus Lynch, Cooking Solo, by Klancy Miller, Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, by Carla Hall Originally Appeared on Epicurious The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been urged to stop campaigning against the compilation of the new voters' register and rather focus on the way forward. According to Sammi Awuku whether the NDC likes it or not the Electoral Commission will go ahead with the exercise and the earlier they psych their members to take part the better. The National Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) was reacting to news report that some members of the opposition NDC took part in the Electoral Commission's pilot voter registration exercise. NDC Participation Subsequently, the NDC issued a statement indicating that they gave directives to their members to take part in the exercise. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is participating in the Electoral Commission's (EC) pilot voter registration exercise which commenced on June 2, 2020. In the statement signed by its Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, the NDC directed five persons including two Regional Executives, two persons of the Regional directorate and an IT personnel to attend. Attendants are to observe the following: the time it takes for a voter to go through the registration process, the process of guarantorships and the time it takes, it further directed. Speaking to Maame Biamah Kwafo on Neat FM's 'Me Man Nti' programme, Sammy Awuku said: "my fear for the NDC is how they can turn back the hands of time; time is not on their side and the earlier they join this course the better for them..." Listen to him in the video below Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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 death of George Floyd, a black man who died on Memorial Day after he was pinned down by a white Minnesota police officer, has sparked outrage and protests in Minneapolis and across the United States. Second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter charges have been filed against Derek Chauvin, the officer who prosecutors say held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. The three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting manslaughter. All four officers have been fired. Governors in 32 states and Washington, D.C., have activated more than 32,400 members of the National Guard. Today's biggest developments: This story is being updated throughout the day. Please check back for updates. All times Eastern. 11:19 p.m.: Video shows Buffalo police pushing man during protest Graphic footage of a 75-year-old man being pushed to the ground by police at a protest in Buffalo has now led the Buffalo Police Department to open an investigation into the incident. Commissioner Byron C. Lockwood has ordered the immediate suspension of two officers involved. Mike DeGeorge, a spokesperson for the Buffalo Police Department told ABC News that while an initial statement said the man tripped and fell, "once the department became aware of additional video from the scene, they immediately opened an investigation." In the video, the injured man can be seen lying flat on the ground, bleeding from his ear, as protesters around him call for help. He is currently in stable but serious condition at Erie County Medical Center. Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown addressed the incident in a statement Thursday night. "Tonight, after a physical altercation between two separate groups of protesters participating in an illegal demonstration beyond the curfew, two Buffalo Police officers knocked down a 75-year-old man," he said. "The victim is in stable but serious condition at ECMC. I was deeply disturbed by the video, as was Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood. He directed an immediate investigation into the matter, and the two officers have been suspended without pay. After days of peaceful protests and several meetings between myself, Police leadership and members of the community, tonight's event is disheartening. I hope to continue to build on the progress we have achieved as we work together to address racial injustice and inequity in the City of Buffalo. My thoughts are with the victim tonight." Story continues 7:29 p.m.: Feds charge Buffalo protesters Federal prosecutors are charging a Buffalo man in connection with an arson attack at City Hall. Courtland Renford, 20, allegedly threw a lit object into the building on May 30, according to U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy. Federal prosecutors are also charging three Buffalo residents with gun possession after allegedly finding a weapon in a car that they say struck two police officers. Deyanna Davis, 30, Semaj Pigram, 25, and Walter Stewart, 28, were all in the vehicle that allegedly struck a Buffalo police officer and a New York state trooper in the vicinity of Bailey Avenue on June 1, according to Kennedy. 6:46 p.m.: ACLU sues Trump over tear gas use on protesters The American Civil Liberties Union and protesters from Washington, D.C., announced they have filed a lawsuit against the president, Attorney General Bill Barr and other federal officials for using tear gas, flash-bangs and other weapons to disperse the crowd outside the White House Monday. The police, at the direction of Barr, dispersed the peaceful crowd minutes before Trump gave a speech about the protests and had a photo op outside St. John's Episcopal Church. MORE: Trump calls tear gas reports 'fake news,' but protesters' eyes burned just the same "The president's shameless, unconstitutional, unprovoked, and frankly criminal attack on protesters because he disagreed with their views shakes the foundation of our nation's constitutional order," Scott Michelman, legal director, ACLU of the District of Columbia, said in a statement. The White House has disputed police used tear gas, saying only smoke grenades were used. The suit details injuries allegedly sustained by several people who attended, including cuts, scrapes and bruises. 5:26 p.m.: Jake Paul arrested for looting Social media influencer Jake Paul was hit with a summons in Scottsdale, Arizona, after he and others were caught on film allegedly looting stores during a protest last weekend. Paul, 23, was charged with criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly, both misdemeanors, and ordered to appear in court in a month. Cops allege he and a group were "present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by police," and unlawfully entered a mall. Paul filmed his participation in the protest throughout the night and officers said they have other videos allegedly showing him breaking into the mall. 4 p.m.: DC bracing for large protest on Saturday More than 5,000 protesters were in the streets of Washington, D.C., Wednesday night, with no arrests or property damage reported, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said Thursday. PHOTO: National Guard vehicles are used to block 16th Street near Lafayette Park and the White House as Demonstrators participate in a peaceful protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, on June 3, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) PHOTO: Police face off with demonstrators near the White House during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) But D.C. is bracing for what "may be one of the largest" protests in the city on Saturday, said Newsham. MORE: George Floyd memorial updates: Floyd's brother says 'he touched so many people's hearts' The demonstration is expected to be peaceful, he noted. PHOTO: Demonstrators lay down at 15th St. and Pennsylvania Avenue during a peaceful protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, on June 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) After four nights of curfews, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she does not plan to implement a curfew for Thursday night. Bowser also criticized the fencing erected around the White House. "That's the people's house. It's a sad commentary that the house and its inhabitants have to be walled off," she said. PHOTO: A locked padlock keeps a metal fence recently erected in front of the White House and meant to keep protestors at bay closed on June 2, 2020. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) 3:20 p.m.: LAPD: Come forward if you experienced officer misconduct Los Angeles police say people have posted videos online "depicting encounters with the police, that they believe constitutes excessive force or misconduct" during protests. The LAPD vowed to investigate each report and hold officers accountable if they violated department policy. MORE: How viral videos of killings of black men take a toll on black male mental health The LAPD urged anyone "who believes they were wrongfully accused of a crimes, unjustly, injured, or experienced misconduct on the part of an officer" to make a complaint. Officers have also been attacked during protests, with rocks, bottles and other items thrown at them, the LAPD said. Los Angeles protests have resulted in car and structure fires, destruction and widespread looting, police said. But Mayor Eric Garcetti on Thursday called the rallies "powerful and peaceful" and said he's lifting the city's curfew, beginning tonight. PHOTO: Protesters rally during a demonstration with thousands of people near City Hall over the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Los Angeles, June 3, 2020. (Etienne Laurent/EPA via Shutterstock) "Angelenos are rallying around powerful and peaceful demonstrations against racial injustice," Garcetti tweeted. "We remain committed to protecting the right of all people to make their voices heard and ensuring the safety of protesters, businesses, residents, families, and our entire community." 2:50 p.m.: Minnesota AG visits site of George Floyd's death Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison visited the site of George Floyd's death on Thursday, alongside other officials including Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. PHOTO: Sate Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks with Rep. Ilhan Omar and members of the United States Congressional Black Caucus as they visited the site of George Floyd's death, June 4, 2020 in south Minneapolis. (Anthony Souffle/AP) As the public surrounded the officials in an intimate prayer circle, Ellison called for reform at the congressional level. Ellison told "Good Morning America" earlier Thursday that his team will charge the four former officers involved in Floyd's death with anything the law allows. "If the facts show premeditation and deliberation and we can present that in front of a jury in good faith, we absolutely will charge that particular count," Ellison said. PHOTO: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announces charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter had been filed against former Minneapolis officers on June 3, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Floyd's autopsy report concluded that he had heart disease and high blood pressure. He also had intoxication from the opioid fentanyl and recent methamphetamine use. Ellison said he does not believe this poses a challenge to the case. "You take your victim as you find them," said Ellison. "You can't say, 'Well, the person who I victimized was not in the very perfect picture of health so it's their fault that they died at my hands.' You take your victim as you find them and I believe that that is a factor that should not weigh." PHOTO: George Floyd is pictured in an undated photo released by the office of Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump. (Courtesy Ben Crump Law) Regarding the other three officers at the scene charged with aiding and abetting, Ellison said he has to prove that they helped cause Floyd's death. "You can look at the tape and see who is sitting where and see the assistance that was given, important assistance to what Chauvin was doing, so we believe -- we can also see what was not done," Ellison explained. "That even despite the pleas and the cries, there was no assistance rendered. So we believe that they were culpable, they assisted in the commission of this offense and that is why we charged them." 1:10 p.m.: Richmond's Robert E. Lee statue to be removed The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia -- which was the capital of the Confederacy -- will be removed, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Thursday. PHOTO: FILE - This Tuesday June 27, 2017 file photo shows the Statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that stands in the middle of a traffic circle on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., June 27, 2017. (Steve Helber/AP, File) "We're here to be honest about our past and talk about our future," the governor said. Almost 130 years to the day in #RVA (May 29, 1890 - June 3, 2020) pic.twitter.com/L5B5Qk2TWx Shawn Cox (@ShawnCoxRTD) June 4, 2020 "The legacy of racism continues not just in isolated incidents" like Floyd's death, Northam said. "The legacy of racism also continues as part of a system that touches every person and every aspect of our lives." Civil rights activists have called for the removal of the Robert E. Lee monument for years. Those protesting Floyd's death and police brutality gathered at the statue this week, chanting, "Tear it down." PHOTO: Protesters sit near the statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, June 3, 2020. (Bob Brown/AP) Northam said the statue's size and prominence in the city "sends a message" to young children who visit Richmond and ask about the towering monument. "We can no longer honor a system that was based on the buying and selling of enslaved people," he said. PHOTO: Protesters hold signs around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue, June 2, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The crowd protesting police brutality chanted 'Tear it down.' (Steve Helber/AP) Northam acknowledged that some residents will protest the removal of the statue, adding, "I believe in a Virginia that studies its past in an honest way." "When we learn more, when we take that honest look at our past, we must do more than just talk about the future -- we must take action," he said. PHOTO: Protesters hold signs while walking away from the Lee statue on Monument Avenue, in Richmond, Va., June 3, 2020. (Dean Hoffmeyer/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP) The Rev. Robert Wright Lee, a descendent of Robert E. Lee, also spoke at Thursday's news conference and said he fully supports the monument's removal. "To those of you who might be doubting" its removal, Lee asked, "when will be the right time?" "We have a chance here today ... to say this will indeed not be our final moment and our final stand," Lee said. "There are more important things to address than just a statue but this statue is a symbol of oppression." MORE: How parents can talk to their kids about racism, George Floyd protests Unlike most other statues, Lee's monument is owned by the state, Northam noted. He said its removal will be done soon as possible. The monument will go into storage and the community will be involved in determining its future, Northam said. Meanwhile, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett on Thursday said a monument dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at a prison camp in the city will be removed from a local park. MORE: Timeline: The impact of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis and beyond The monument, initially in a cemetery, was put in "Garfield Park in 1928 following efforts by public officials, active in the KKK, who sought to 'make the monument more visible to the public,'" Hogsett tweeted. "Whatever original purpose this grave marker might once have had, for far too long it has served as nothing more than a painful reminder of our state's horrific embrace of the Ku Klux Klan a century ago," he went on. "For some time, we have urged that this grave monument belongs in a museum, not in a park, but no organization has stepped forward to assume that responsibility. Time is up, and this grave marker will come down." 12:30 p.m.: Cuomo urges protesters to get a COVID-19 test New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday urged protesters to get a COVID-19 test, warning that the protests could cause a spike in cases because one person could infect hundreds. PHOTO: People gather for a protest outside the mayor's residence amid a nationwide outcry in response to the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while in the custody of the Minneapolis police, in New York City, June 3, 2020. (Alba Vigaray/EPA via Shutterstock) PHOTO: Protesters kneel and hold signs as they take part in a Black Lives Matter vigil, on June 3, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York City. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images) Someone infected today could be hospitalized in 8 to 12 days if seriously ill, Cuomo said. In Los Angeles, health officials on Thursday encouraged protesters "who have had close contact with non-household members not wearing face coverings" to self-quarantine at home for two weeks. MORE: Mass protests could lead to another wave of coronavirus infections New York City -- which has the highest number of protesters -- is entering "phase one" of its reopening on Monday, he said. New York will hold a statewide moment of silence for George Floyd at 2 p.m., coinciding with the start of the memorial service in Minnesota. A memorial will also be held Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn, where Floyd's brother, Terrence Floyd, will be among the speakers. 10 a.m.: Senate holds moment of silence for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor U.S. Senate Democrats gathered in the Capitol Thursday morning for moment of silence in honor of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. PHOTO: Senate Democrats, including Sen. Kamala Harris, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Cory Booker, participate in a moment of silence to honor George Floyd at the U.S. Capitol, on June 4, 2020, in Washington. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) Taylor, a young black woman, was shot dead by police when they served a no-knock warrant in her Louisville, Kentucky, home in March. Arbery, a young black man from Georgia, was jogging in February when he was shot dead by two white men. The men have been arrested in Arbery's case. Officers have not been charged in Taylor's death. The moment of silence lasted 8 minutes and 46 seconds -- the length of time officer Derek Chauvin allegedly had Floyd pinned to the ground with his knee. PHOTO: Senators kneel during a moment of silence with Senate Democrats to protest the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other victims of racial injustice in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall, June 4, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom) 9:40 a.m.: New Orleans police use tear gas to disperse protesters Police in New Orleans used tear gas to disperse protesters overnight. PHOTO: Protesters clash with police after a tear-gas canister was lobbed into the crowd gathered on Highway 90 in New Orleans to protest the death of George Floyd, June 3, 2020. (J Keaton/REX via Shutterstock) PHOTO: Protesters retreat from tear gas Wednesday, June 3, 2020, after breaching a line of police atop the Crescent City Connection bridge, which spans the Mississippi River in New Orleans. (Gerald Herbert/AP) Video from the scene showed chaos and pushing among demonstrators once the tear gas was deployed. The police said the tear gas was used because "the crowd refused to comply with three orders" to avoid walking across the Crescent City Connection bridge. PHOTO: Protesters take over the Crescent City Connection bridge, which spans the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, during a protest over the death of George Floyd. (Gerald Herbert/AP) "Escalation and confrontation hurts us all," the police department tweeted. "NOPD [The New Orleans Police Department] is committed to respectful protection of our residents' First Amendment rights. However, tonight we were compelled to deploy gas on the CCC [Crescent City Connection] in response to escalating, physical confrontation with our officers." New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell tweeted overnight, "We must hold on to what has gotten us this far peaceful protest, restraint and respect." "None of us wants this to escalate," she said. "Please, go home, be safe." 8:30 a.m.: NYPD officer stabbed in neck while working anti-looting patrol In New York City, police made about 180 arrests Wednesday night as they dispersed protesters in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demonstrating after the 8 p.m. curfew. PHOTO: Police arrest protesters for breaking an imposed curfew by marching through Manhattan, June 3, 2020, in New York. (Wong Maye-e/AP) The night saw little looting or violence in the city, and the decision to disperse the otherwise orderly crowd drew criticism from the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams. "The force used on nonviolent protestors was disgusting," Williams tweeted. "No looting/no fires. Chants of "peaceful protest" @NYPDnews was simply enforcing an ill advised curfew." PHOTO: Protesters kneel in front of New York City Police Department officers before being arrested for violating curfew beside the iconic Plaza Hotel on 59th Street, June 3, 2020, in New York. (John Minchillo/AP) "What happened was completely avoidable," Williams said. One NYPD officer, however, was stabbed in the neck. The officer was working an anti-looting patrol when attacked in what NYPD Police Commissioner Demot Shea called a "cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack against a defenseless police officer." PHOTO: NYPD officers move in to arrest protesters for violating curfew beside the iconic Plaza Hotel on 59th Street, June 3, 2020, in the Manhattan borough of New York City. (John Minchillo/AP) "Thank God we are not planning a funeral right now," Shea said. After the stabbing, shots rang out and more officers arrived at the scene. Twenty-two shots were fired and two officers were struck in the hand, officials said. It wasn't immediately clear if the shots were friendly fire or fired by the stabbing suspect. MORE: Peaceful protests for George Floyd prevail in New Jersey, despite history of racial tensions with police The suspect, who was armed with a hunting knife, was shot by responding officers and is in critical condition, officials said. William Sweeney, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office, said the FBI "is fully engaged." "We respond as if one of our own was attacked, and we will use every federal statue available to hold the perpetrator accountable," he said. 5:08 a.m.: Millions of dollars raised to help businesses and organizations affected by looting in Minneapolis More than $4.5 million has been raised to help businesses and organizations along Minneapolis' Lake Street rebound after being impacted by looting and vandalism. So far, tens of thousands of people have chipped in to to raise millions of dollars. Wednesday, the Minnesota Transitions Charter School held a donations drive for families, students and others in need. "Look at all the people coming together and meeting those needs, today feels great it's uplifting to the soul," said Brian Erlandson, superintendent of Minnesota Transitions Charter School. Less than a week ago, their school suffered property and water damage from the riots. "We didn't know whether or not to cry, express our rage or what. We looked inside and it was so painful," Erlandson said. But somehow, they're able to move forward and give back even at a time when they're down. "Even when tragedy strikes us we're here for our kids and we always have been and we always will be," said Shawn Fondow, principal at MTS Secondary. That is just one example of how the community is stepping up for each other. The Lake Street Council organized a fund called "We Love Lake Street." So far, over 50,000 people have donated more than $4 million. "The $4 million is just a start, we will need a lot more to rebuild," said ZoeAna Martinez, Lake Street Council community engagement manager. Martinez said a committee is working on how the funds will be distributed and they want to assure everyone the process will be transparent. "Those businesses know that we're here for them, I'm here for them," Martinez said. During times like these, generosity is contagious. "It's just beautiful, I mean, I'm shedding a tear right now as we talk," said Frederick Joyce, who lives in Robbinsdale. While it will take time to heal, those who work near Lake Street and call this place home aren't about to give up. "We're going to make a comeback, we're going to do it here and it's going to be better than ever," Erlandson said. 9:39 p.m.: LA announces police reforms Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city's police commission board announced new reforms for the Los Angeles Police Department. The department's budget won't be raised and they will begin to find $150 million in cuts, he announced. The decision comes amid calls from protesters to defund the police -- a popular chant outside City Hall in recent days. The $150 million in policing cuts will come from a total shift of $250 million from the proposed budget to instead be reallocated to minority communities, he said. "Today President [Barack] Obama challenged mayors to sign a pledge to recognize that there are things that are still not right. I was proud to be one of the first mayors in America to sign that pledge," Garcetti said at a press conference. "Tonight I want to announce that we aren't just putting the work of moving forward on the shoulders of activists or of African Americans or police officers. It's on those of us who you've elected." "Our city identified $250 million in cuts so we can invest in jobs, in health, in education and in healing and those dollars need to be focused on our black community here in Los Angeles," he added. The department will also be instructed to invest in more implicit bias training, youth programs and oversight programs, according to the mayor. ABC News' Dee Carden, Mark Crudele, Jack Date, Will Gretzky, Ahmad Hemingway, Aaron Katersky, Rachel Katz, Whitney Lloyd and Josh Margolin contributed to this report. Graphic video shows Buffalo police pushing man to ground during George Floyd protest originally appeared on abcnews.go.com THE SEDUCTION by Joanna Briscoe (Bloomsbury 16.99, 384 pp) THE SEDUCTION by Joanna Briscoe (Bloomsbury 16.99, 384 pp) As fans might expect, Briscoes new novel is a page-turning psycho sexual romp in which a bout of midlife hanky-panky unpacks some deeply-stowed emotional baggage. It follows Beth, an artist anxiously snooping on the alarmingly breathy messages pinging on her daughters phone. Her husband tells her to chill out and speak to a doctor about her sense of childhood abandonment, which he reckons is the issue thats really bugging her. But thats where the trouble starts, as Beth takes his advice only to fall for her therapist, Tamara, who seems not a little in need of help herself. As Briscoe folds generous swirls of melodrama into the mix, the novels temperature rises from feverish to volcanic if youre likely to get hung up on plausibility, this probably isnt the novel for you. But leave your pedantry at the door and youre free to enjoy the helter-skelter ride, yelling at Beth and Tamara for their terrible decision-making... THIS HAPPY by Niamh Campbell (W&N 14.99, 320 pp) THIS HAPPY by Niamh Campbell (W&N 14.99, 320 pp) Campbells engaging debut is the latest in a wave of Irish fiction about alienated young women coming of age after the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. Its told by Alannah, an arts graduate who broke off from postgraduate research in London to live in rural Ireland with Harry, a married screenwriter, in a heady affair that didnt last. Now, six years later not yet 30 shes the wife of another older man (unnamed), who has two children from past liaisons. In Alannahs telling, the relationships merge as she cuts between them in a nervy monologue that veers from scathing to self-pitying not least when it comes to the cosseted upbringing of her well-to-do husband, who eyes a job as a government speechwriter. Plot isnt the point here; rather, the novel gets its energy from the sour kick to its intelligently disaffected narration, as Campbell pins down fleeting impressions from a life textured by memory. THE BLIND LIGHT by Stuart Evers (Picador 18.99, 544 pp) THE BLIND LIGHT by Stuart Evers (Picador 18.99, 544 pp) Everss book is a widescreen family saga that examines, among other things, the effect of the nuclear threat during the Cold War on the British psyche. Its pegged to a cross-class friendship between two men, Carter and Drum, who meet up on national service in 1959 before making a rash agreement involving Carters land. The narrative splinters to follow a range of stories against a smoothly unscrolling backdrop of Britain down the decades. When Drum, under Carters spell, persuades his family to relocate to his friends nuclear shelter, the fallout affects everyone, not least Drums troubled daughter, Neka. Everss style channels the repetitive rhythms of David Peace, while seeking the sweep of Alan Hollinghurst. His short scenes are efficient, almost dutiful, in a character-driven novel that doesnt always let us spend as long as wed like with the characters. Still, its absorbing and uncannily timed in its perversely consoling sense of how crises come and go. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 10:24:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Yermukhamet Ertysbayev, an ex-advisor to Kazakh president speaks in an interview with Xinhua in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, May 25, 2020.(Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua) NUR-SULTAN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- "The Hong Kong national security legislation is purely China's internal affairs," Yermukhamet Ertysbayev, an ex-advisor to Kazakh president, has told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. Ertysbayev, who had also served as Kazakhstan's culture and information minister and ambassador to Belarus, said on Sunday that the national security legislation for Hong Kong is essentially aimed at preserving and cementing China's sovereignty. No country would allow any activity that endangers its national security on its own territory, said Ertysbayev, and "this is an absolutely clear and transparent logic." For months, rioters in Hong Kong, encouraged by foreign forces, have blocked roads, vandalized public facilities, set fires, and beaten up innocent people. Those secessionist and terrorist behaviors have taken a heavy toll on the Hong Kong economy, caused severe personal injuries and property damages, and endangered the rule of law. Ertysbayev said that the Hong Kong issue is a culmination of geopolitical struggle, with western forces using Hong Kong as a tool to corner China. "China's rise as a new polar in the international system violates the U.S. hegemony that came into being after the fall of the Soviet Union ... It is time for the U.S. to accept the fact that the world is polycentric and stop viewing the world as a big brother. There should be no more world gendarmerie," said Ertysbayev. On May 28, China's National People's Congress adopted a decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security, with the aim of preventing, stoping and punishing acts and activities that endanger national security. Enditem Raytheons recent adjustment, which analysts say is rare, reveals the leeway that companies have to shift the goal posts when setting compensation. More than a decade ago, the backdating of stock options at certain companies when executives picked earlier dates for the price at which their options could be exercised, making then more valuable created a corporate scandal and led to penalties. Raytheon representatives say they made the adjustment for the sake of fairness. However, the timing, when a majority of the companys work force is being called on to make sacrifices, highlights the different standards that can apply to certain employees and top executives. In addition to pay cuts of 10 percent, Raytheon is furloughing many of its 195,000 employees and cutting billions of dollars in costs, after the pandemic brought global air travel to a near standstill. Mr. Hayes has also volunteered to take a 20 percent pay cut but to his $1.6 million salary, which is a small part of his pay package. Companies use a variety of stock compensation as part of the pay of senior employees, and these so-called equity awards are usually worth far more than the base salary. Mr. Hayess compensation at United Technologies included performance and restricted stock units, which typically give the holder the right to get shares after certain operating and stock return targets are met, and stock appreciation rights, which are similar to stock options. If, at the time of vesting, the price of the stock is below the price at which the option or appreciation right is set, those awards are considered to be underwater. That is not expected to happen in Raytheons case, because many believe the newly merged defense and aerospace giant will capitalize on its dominant position and do well as the economy recovers. Analysts forecast that earnings at Raytheon will surge 25 percent in 2021 from this years level and that its stock will go up 17 percent. In fact, Raytheons stock price jumped 30 percent in the first few days of trading in April. Normally, a rising stock is an unalloyed benefit for executives earning share-based compensation, but because of the intricacies of the United Technologies merger, it left Mr. Hayes and others with less than they hoped to get. As part of the merger, Raytheon had to recalculate how the United Technologies stock-related awards given to Mr. Hayes and others since 2018 would convert into stock units and appreciation rights issued by the new company. To do that, the United Technologies board initially decided it would base a stock price for the conversion on the fourth and fifth days of trading of the new company under the assumption that any volatility associated with a new stock would settle by then. The death of a black man who yelled 'I can't breathe' while handcuffed and restrained by cops has been ruled a homicide. Manuel Ellis, 33, - father to an 11-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter - died on March 3 when he was arrested by Tacoma Police Department officers for allegedly harassing women. Officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, Masyih Ford and Timothy Rankine, who are now on administrative leave, said they intervened when they saw Ellis harassing a woman by banging on her car window. According to police, Ellis started hitting their patrol car and asking to speak them about outstanding warrants against him. Cops say he then picked up one of the officers by the vest and threw him on the ground. They then tried to restrain him when he got combative on the floor, shortly before he died. It is unclear how he was restrained, and how long he was restrained for before he died. On Wednesday, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Ellis died of respiratory arrest due to hypoxia due to physical restraint. Manuel Ellis, 33, yelled 'I can't breathe' as Tacoma Police Department officers restrained him on the ground while he was handcuffed on March 3. Cops said he was harassing women in Washington State when they approached him and that he banged on their car and slammed an officer to the ground Masyih Ford (left) and Timothy Rankine (right), are two of the four officers involved. They were not wearing body cameras but there is footage of the incident that has been submitted. The four officers were initially placed on paid leave, returned to the force, then placed on administrative leave again Wednesday after the homicide ruling Hypoxia describes how not enough oxygen can reach the lungs. Cops initially said they believed Ellis died from excited delirium which can result in overwhelming strength, an overheated body and attempts at violence. The findings came back on May 11. It's unclear why they were not announced until June 3. The full details of how he was restrained were not available Wednesday but a detective said they didn't believe officers used a knee to the neck or a choke hold. The officers involved were also not wearing their bodycams, by Tacoma Police Department suggested there is a video that has been entered into evidence. The announcement came as Americans across all 50 states were marching in protest of police brutality against African Americans and racial inequality. There are similarities in the deaths of Ellis and George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis last week after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes and others held his torso and lower body down to the ground. On the night Ellis died, police encountered him at 11.22pm as he was walking home and paramedics were called three minutes later. Police said he was harassing a woman at an intersection when two officers in the area asked what he was doing. Police say Ellis said he had warrants and wanted to talk to them, police said. Officers claim Ellis then repeatedly banged on their patrol car and the two officers inside called for backup then got out of the vehicle. Ed Troyer, spokesman of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the incident, said: 'He picked up the officer by his vest and slam-dunked him on the ground.' According to the cops, there was a struggle before police got Ellis handcuffed on the ground and continued to be combative. Officers called for paramedics at 11.25pm. During the call, cops are heard asking for hobbles and telling dispatch that Ellis will need to be strapped down. At one point Ellis his heard saying 'can't breathe'. Within a minute of firefighters arriving, Ellis stopped breathing and lost consciousness. First responders removed the cuffs and worked on him for 40 minutes. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Cops said initially the father to an 11-year-old and 18-month-old might have experienced excited delirium, which can result in overwhelming strength, an overheated body and attempts at violence Contributing factors included methamphetamine intoxication and dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly known as an enlarged heart, the Medical Examiner said. Ellis was living at a clean-and-sober home His cause of death was initially listed as pending while medical examiners ran toxicology tests. This week, Tacoma police identified the four officers involved in restraining Ellis. Burbank, 34, and Collins, 37, are white and have been on the force four and a half years, and five years, respectively. Ford, 28, is black and Rankine, 31, is Asian. They have been on the force two years and two months, and one year and 10 months respectively. All four were placed on paid administrative leave after the incident. They then returned to duty but were placed on administrative leave again Wednesday. Contributing factors included methamphetamine intoxication and dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly known as an enlarged heart, the Medical Examiner said. Police Chief Don Ramsdell said he is awaiting investigators' final report on Ellis' death. The case is expected to be forwarded to the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office by next week. 'The information is all being put together,' Pierce County Detective Troyer said. 'We expect to present it to the prosecutor at the end of this week or early next week.' People are seen gathering Wednesday at the cross section where Ellis was killed on March 3 A photo of Manuel Ellis, a black man whose March death while in Tacoma Police custody was recently found to be a homicide, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiners Office, is seen near the site of his death during a vigil for him on Wednesday in Tacoma, Washington Marcia Carter-Patterson (left) speaks during a vigil at the intersection where her son, Ellis, died. Matthew Ellis (right) speaks while holding a Bible on Wednesday People held signs during a vigil for Manuel Ellis. Protests and other events sparked by the death of George Floyd have continued in the Tacoma area He said the officers rolled Ellis onto his side when he said he 'can't breathe' and that he doesn't believe they used a choke hold or knee in the neck. Eric Garner died after cops put him in a choke hold for allegedly illegally selling cigarettes and George Floyd died under the pressure of a knee to his neck while suspected of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Both black men cried to the cops: 'I can't breathe.' 'The main reason why he was restrained was so he wouldn't hurt himself or them,' Detective Troyer said. 'As soon as he said he couldn't breathe, they requested medical aid.' Ellis' sister, whose children he helped look after, 'There's a lot of questions that still need to be answered,' Ellis' sister Monet Carter-Mixon said. 'My heart literally hurts. It's painful. My brother was my best friend.' A vigil took place Wednesday night in Tacoma. We will learn the results of that investigation even as our country reels from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others,' Mayor Woodards said Mayor Woodards Press Conference-June 3, 2020 Watch LIVE Mayor Victoria Woodardss press conference on June 3 at 3:30 p.m. as she provides remarks following up on the statement issued this morning regarding the death of Manuel Ellis. Posted by City of Tacoma Government on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 A close friend of Ellis' said they had enjoyed a video call two hours before the incident. They spoke about how excited he was to have attended a church service where he played the drums. 'He was always uplifting,' Brian Giordano told the New York Times. 'He was always on the up-and-up about taking care of people.' He said Ellis was living in a clean-and-sober home and was getting his life together. A GoFundMe page explained: 'His father died from stomach cancer when he was 2 months old, and a difficult childhood led to struggles with addiction and mental health needs, undiagnosed for many years.' The page added that he had warned the children in his family of the dangers that come with growing up black in America. A detective said police did not use a knee to the neck like in the death of George Floyd (pictured). They said cops didn't use a choke hold like in the case of Eric Garner's death It adds they never expected him to die at the hands of law enforcement. 'He raised his daughter and his nieces and nephews with the understanding that because they were Black their conduct must reflect the understanding that being killed by police was a very real possibility for them and would always be justified by the broader society... 'Still, we never thought we would see him dead at the hands of the police. We are heartbroken and angry that his life was taken by unaccountable officers of the state.' The family now needs help with legal fees to bring charges to the officers. 'The harshest of realities is George Floyd is right here in Tacoma, and his name is Manny,' attorney James Bible, who is representing Ellis' family, told The News Tribune. Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday that he and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards 'will be pushing to make sure there is a full and complete investigation of that incident'. 'We will learn the results of that investigation even as our country reels from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others,' Ms. Woodards said. She urged protesters not to let their emotions overcome them. 'While Tacoma has come together peacefully to have hard conversations about the change that needs to happen to save African-American lives, we have seen how the tension of this issue and these lost lives have spilled over into more violence,' Woodards said. 'We will not sit back and allow national tensions to bleed into the progress we are striving to achieve. Together, we will serve as an example that we can move forward as a community if we are united in purpose and love.' On Oct. 7, 2019 I spoke the following words to Bamberg County Council. I wish I could say my words seemed to matter to them, but except for Sharon Hammond and Clint Carter, they did not. It is time for a new county council that will work together and treat the citizens of the county with respect. Being an elected council member does not mean that a few of you were given the rights to ramrod your ideas, your agendas over everyone in the county. There is a serious divide between the citizens of the county and the council because the actions of most of you sitting in front of me have caused great distrust. People want to see their elected leaders display humility, to have freedom from pride and arrogance. We are living in a time when it is hard to trust what our leaders are saying is truthful. It is important that our elected officials are honest, to know that it is OK to be wrong. To have the strength to just say, I blew it. Now lets try to figure out a better way to accomplish our goals together. My questions to each of you on the council: Are you, each of you, able to say you are an elected council member that displays the characteristics of having grace, displaying humility and have the ability to speak with clarity? Have each of you worked together as a council to create a government that is financially stable and fiscally responsible? Finally we, the citizens, want each of you to be aware that you sit in those chairs because the citizens of this county voted you in as elected members of the council and you were elected because the citizens trusted each of you to represent the will of those who elected you to office. Listening and learning from your constituents during public comment is an important part of your responsibility as an elected official. So please listen and learn what the citizens are asking you to do, please acknowledge when you are wrong. Finally, if you are not willing to do what is best for the citizens of Bamberg County. please leave, please quit. This is not a kingdom where the council rules, but a democracy where we should be working together. I went to my first county council meeting in July 2018, curious because I heard rumblings about the council and I went with an open mind and a hopeful heart. But after seeing then-Chairman Trent Kinard treat the citizens with such disrespect, I knew there must be something wrong. He, that night, loudly yelled at a citizen and called her a bald-faced liar, drowning out her words he obviously did not want spoken. On the same night as citizens expressed their concerns, he became so angry that he said aloud, "I really don't give a shit," turned his chair away from the citizens and faced the wall behind him. Going to subsequent meetings, I saw Kinard continue to yell, scream, belittle citizens, and also people on the council that did not agree with him. He wildly banged his gavel if something was said that he did not agree with so the sound of his gavel would drown out the words before others could hear what he did not want spoken. Yet if the citizens of Bamberg County never came to a meeting, they would be like I was before I attended thinking, Surely, this cannot be true. The Times and Democrat and The Advertizer-Herald always report the meetings as if Kinard, or County Administrator Joey Preston, were given the opportunity to proofread as to how the facts of the meeting should be stated, leaving heads shaking and wondering why the truth was not reported. A person who chooses to run for office should have the qualities of being a good citizen and if you look up these qualities listed in the top five are: advocate for equal human rights for all, treat others courteously, never bully, communicate clearly and respectfully and with empathy. I have not seen these qualities in Mr. Kinard when he was our council chairman. Author Elizabeth Gilbert, stated, The most powerful person in any situation is the most relaxed person in the room. When a person wildly bangs a gavel, when a person belittles persons speaking their minds, when a person turns their back to the citizens that elected him to the position, he is not the most relaxed person nor the most powerful person in the room. If you were wondering why we should elect a new council, I hope you read this and understand that Bamberg County Council meetings presently are not meetings of citizens and council. It is time to vote for new voices that want to hear the concerns of those electing them to office. Rhonda Brummel of Bamberg is a retired teacher, having taught in Aiken, Edisto and Bamberg. Love 18 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 5 Chinese Troops Carry Out Infiltration Drills in Tibet Amid India Border Dispute Sputnik News 20:18 GMT 03.06.2020 Chinese forces in Tibet are practicing their night infiltration abilities amid the ongoing border dispute with India along eastern Jammu and Kashmir. According to a China Central Television (CCTV) report on Monday viewed by the South China Morning Post, the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Tibet Military Command carried out the nighttime drills, which involved live ammunition, in central Tibet's Tanggula Mountains. Last month, a shootout on the disputed border between China and India left several soldiers wounded on both sides, prompting Beijing and New Delhi each to rush more forces to the region. The region in dispute sits on the border between China's Tibet and India's section of Jammu and Kashmir, a mountainous stretch of land that Beijing claims is part of Tibet, but fell under British control as a result of a cartography error when London ruled India as a colony. "Regardless of whether the relationship between China and India is tense or not, it is necessary for the PLA to train troops and prepare for war," Hong Kong-based military affairs commentator Song Zhongping told the Post. "It is more urgent to boost combat missions in mountain plateaus, especially in all-weather combat capabilities," he said, noting that "in light of the tension between China and India, the PLA has to strengthen military training." A May 31 report by the Chinese Communist Party-connected paper The Global Times noted that the 2017 standoff between India and China on the Doklam Plateau opened Beijing's eyes to the need for more military equipment specialized for the extreme conditions of the high-altitude region. The recent drills took place at an altitude of 15,500 feet. The paper notes that some of this new weaponry includes the ZTQ-15 "Type 15" light tank, the Z-20 multi-purpose helicopter, the PCL-181 self-propelled howitzer and the GJ-2 Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicle. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The government of the United Arab Emirates said on Thursday the Gulf state would resume transit flights after suspending them in March, Trend reports with reference to Reuters. The government did not say exactly when transit flights would resume in its announcement on Twitter. His style has drawn praise and criticism. Some marchers disagreed with Andersons coordination with police. He said he was not trying to tell them how to protest, but rather working to keep them safe. He confronted white protesters as they spray-painted All cops are bastards on a wall, and he urged everyone to get tested for the coronavirus. Gov. Jared Polis (D) thanked Anderson for helping to distribute masks at the events, saying he has lost sleep worrying that the protests will lead to a second surge in covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has assured he will provide suitable employment to all migrant labourers according to their skills in the state itself and appealed to them to stay back and contribute to Bihars development. But will Kumars promise of providing employment to the huge migrant labour force be fulfilled before the upcoming assembly elections and will he be able to reap political benefit out of it? Or, it is just a long-term promise which he would possibly fulfil only after he returns to power after the polls. Going by the present employment capacity of Bihar, it is a tall order to be achieved before the upcoming state assembly elections due in October-November. Any measure, long-term or short term, to provide employment to nearly 30 lakh migrant force will need some time to be implemented even if the government sets it as its top agenda. Given that some concrete measures are launched before the enforcement of the model code of conduct expected in mid-September, if the polls have to be held on schedule, Bihar will not be able to absorb such a huge work force. After initial flip-flop on bringing them back to the state, Kumar allowed the migrant labourers to return and now the government is conducting a profiling of their skills. The unskilled work force had migrated to other states in search of jobs and now most of them have returned with certain skills acquired during their on-the-job-training in the industries or units they worked to earn their livelihood. With nearly one-third of the total population living below poverty line and lack of employment opportunities, a large section of Bihars young population was forced to move out for livelihood. As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey, nearly 40 per cent youth had no jobs and the unemployment rate had jumped to 7.2 per cent in 2017-18 from 2.5 per cent in 2011-12. The employment scenario earlier was also not rosy at all. The state government is preparing a data base of skilled and unskilled labourers in order to create employment for them. Nearly 2.5 lakh migrant labourers have been surveyed for their skills. The profiling is being done into 79 skill heads and most of them have skills in construction sector as masons, tailoring and painting works. The major work force among the returnees is daily-wage earners, who worked in construction sector in big cities and farms in Punjab and Haryana. Besides, semi-skilled and skilled workers were employed with medium and small industries, hotels and garment industry. As an initial response to deal with the migrants crisis, the Nitish Kumar government has so far spent over Rs 6,000 crore and major part of this amount has been directly credited to the bank accounts of different groups of beneficiaries. An average of over Rs 3,500 has been credited to each beneficiary. Kumar has set up a Task Force comprising senior officers headed by Development Commissioner for economic rehabilitation of the migrants. He has also urged industrialists especially those from Bihar to set up units in the state and assured them every possible government support. The chief minister claimed that there are ample opportunities in textiles, shoe, bag, furniture besides bicycle industries and the world-famous silk industry. As Bihar is a huge consumer market, setting up industries will spur growth and development of market. Therefore, businessmen of the state and outside should favourably consider it, he said. As a short-term measure, the government has been trying to explore jobs in earth works in irrigation projects, Jal Jivan Hariyali scheme, Saat Nischay scheme for urban and semi-urban areas, bridge construction and others. The government has also urged the National Highways Authorities of India, which is executing several mega bridge projects in Bihar, to employ the migrant workers. But these projects will cater only to the unskilled workers though their number is huge. The bigger challenge is to absorb the semi-skilled and skilled workers in industrial and manufacturing sector and construction activities. The bulk of these workers need a well-laid industrial set-up where they could earn their livelihood according to the skills they have acquired. However, the potential of heavy industries in Bihar is comparatively less as major mineral-rich areas have gone to Jharkhand after bifurcation of the state. Since then, the industrial sector in the state has been suffering from low investment, low capital formation and low return on investment. The comparison of the contribution of the industrial sector to the Gross State Value Added (GSVD) across states suggests that it was the lowest in Bihar among other states and it stood at merely 20 per cent in 2017-18. Within the secondary sector, the size of manufacturing sector is very small in the state. Bihars per capita GDP stands at Rs 47,541 at current prices, which is three times less than the national average of Rs 1, 42,719. As per Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) index of NITI Aayog of 2019-20, the scorecard of Bihar has fallen from 45 in 2018 to 33 in 2019. The total employment capacity of trade and industries in Bihar at present is approximately 1.50 lakh personnel. In Bihar, major employment-generating industries for working males are agriculture, forestry and fishing which engaged 44.6 per cent, construction 17.1 per cent, wholesale and retail trade and repair of vehicles 12.3 per cent and manufacturing 9.3 per cent. Hence, only medium scale industries in agro-sector are possible in the state besides maize-based industries. The condition of medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME) is poor. The state government is trying to woo MSMEs from other states where the migrants used to work. We are reaching out to these companies asking them to come to Bihar and set up industrial units in Bihar itself, said Bihar deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Modi said the economic stimulus package unveiled by the Centre would benefit over 5,000 MSMEs. The EPF contribution of employees from April to June will now be paid by the Centre. The concept of MSMEs has also changed now with the investment limit of Rs 20 crore and turnover of Rs 100 crore, he said. The Bihar government is also exploring the possibilities of entering into agreements with developed states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and others to ensure that the workers from Bihar get their dues like insurance cover as per wage rules. The major agro-based industries which Bihar once boasted of were sugar industries mostly in private sector. As Bihar accounts for 3.5 per cent sugarcane production in the country, it has huge potential for employment generation especially in north-eastern part of the state. At present, altogether 11 sugar mills across six districts are operational in private sector. But at one point of time, it has altogether 15 sugar mills which were taken over by the government under the Bihar State Sugar Corporation. Admittedly, the remittances from the migrants have positive impact on consumption demand, but it has failed to add to the production capacity of the states economy. The most sustainable solution to this problem is rapid industrialization. Given the large size of working population, Bihar would require a kind of industrialization that is broadly labour-intensive and also leads to large-scale capital formation within the state and thereby expanding the base of non-agricultural economy. But all talks of migrants and their employment is aimed at reaping benefits in polls. While the ruling alliance claims to have done the best so far, the opposition keeps on lambasting the government for its abject failure. Lopez-Gatell fears regrowth once public mobility is relaxed around the country Mexico City, Mexico The sub-secretary of Health for Mexico, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, says he fears that there will be a regrowth of the virus during the first days of the countrys reopening when mobility in public spaces are relaxed. Lopez-Gatell warns that the coronavirus pandemic has not been tamed in Mexico, despite the end of the Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia. Regarding control of the virus, Lopez-Gatell said not yet, in Mexico or in the world. He says that there is no projection that includes the entire country, however in Mexico City, the epicenter of the pandemic in Mexico, has been stable for at least 10 days, although it is too early to ensure that the pandemic has been controlled. Right now we have CDMX, which has approximately 10 days of stable trend and five of a decreasing trend in the number of daily cases, although it is still very early, but there is already a trend. On the other hand, Veracruz is in the middle of its epidemic curve. Puebla is at the beginning of its epidemic curve. In the same state (BC), Tijuana is already two thirds of the way out, while Mexicali is in a zone of ascent and has not reached its peak, explained the undersecretary. On the other hand, the undersecretarys worst forecasts are directed to Guadalajara, Jalisco, where the epidemic is expected to last until September, while in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, it is likely to last until the third week of October. The state of Quintana Roo remains in the red, as does the rest of the country. This week, Lopez-Gatell said in Cancun the contagion curve has been prolonged beyond what was expected, but at least it maintains a tendency to stabilize cases. He added that mobility restrictions have not stopped with the end of National Sanitary Distance, which is simply no longer national, noting that state health authorities will decide when to open according to the recommendations. [June 04, 2020] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, a National Class Action Law Firm, Announces Investigation of Carnival Corporation (CCL) on Behalf of Investors Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM"), a national investor rights law firm, today announced that it has commenced an investigation on behalf of Carnival Corporation ("Carnival" or the "Company") (NYSE: CCL) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of the federal securities laws. If you suffered a loss on your Carnival investments or would like to inquire about potentially pursuing claims to recover your loss under the federal securities laws, you can submit your contact information at https://www.glancylaw.com/cases/carnival-corporation/. You can also contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or via email at [email protected] to learn more about your rights. On April 16, 2020, when the Company still had at sea two of its cruise ships, Bloomberg (News - Alert) Businessweek published an article titled "Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going." The article stated that Carnival may have failed to effectively protect its passengers from COVID-19 on a series of cruise voyages, and indeed continued to operate new cruise departures despite its knowledge that the threat posed by COVID-19 had materialized on its ships and was likely to proliferate further. On tis news, the Company's share price fell $0.53 per share, or over 4%, to close at $11.85 per share on April 16, 2020. Then, on May 1, 2020, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Cruise Ships Set Sail Knowing the Deadly Risk to Passengers and Crew." The article detailed how cruise ships, particularly Carnival ships, facilitated the spread of COVID-19, and provided new facts on early warning signs Carnival and its affiliated cruise lines possessed and the Company's disclosure failures. Further, the article also noted that The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure had requested documents from Carnival related "to Covid-19 or other infectious disease outbreaks aboard cruise ships" and that testimony from a different investigation in Australia exposed that Carnival and its affiliated cruise lines may have misled shore officials by concealing those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms before docking. On this news, the Company's share price fell $1.97 per share, or over 12%, to close at $13.93 per share, thereby injuring investors. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Whistleblower Notice: Persons with non-public information regarding Carnival should consider their options to aid the investigation or take advantage of the SEC (News - Alert) Whistleblower Program. Under the program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Charles H. Linehan at 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224 or email [email protected]. About GPM Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP is a premier law firm representing investors and consumers in securities litigation and other complex class action litigation. ISS Securities Class Action Services has consistently ranked GPM in its annual SCAS Top 50 Report. In 2018, GPM was ranked a top five law firm in number of securities class action settlements, and a top six law firm for total dollar size of settlements. With four offices across the country, GPM's nearly 40 attorneys have won groundbreaking rulings and recovered billions of dollars for investors and consumers in securities, antitrust, consumer, and employment class actions. GPM's lawyers have handled cases covering a wide spectrum of corporate misconduct including cases involving financial restatements, internal control weaknesses, earnings management, fraudulent earnings guidance and forward looking statements, auditor misconduct, insider trading, violations of FDA regulations, actions resulting in FDA and DOJ investigations, and many other forms of corporate misconduct. GPM's attorneys have worked on securities cases relating to nearly all industries and sectors in the financial markets, including, energy, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, real estate and REITs, financial, insurance, information technology, health care, biotech, cryptocurrency, medical devices, and many more. GPM's past successes have been widely covered by leading news and industry publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times (News - Alert), Bloomberg Businessweek, Reuters, the Associated Press, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, Forbes, and Money. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005196/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] President Trump is confronting the most dire political environment of his presidency, with his support dropping fast from Texas to Wisconsin, even among his base of religious and older voters. Why it matters: Top Republicans tell Axios that Trump's handling of the nation's civil unrest, including his hasty photo op at St. John's Church after the violent clearing of Lafayette Park, make them much more worried about his chance of re-election than they were one week ago. Yesterday, advisers admit, was inarguably brutal: His current defense secretary, Mark Esper, caught the White House off-guard by breaking with Trump at a press briefing where he said he doesn't currently support invoking the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that permits the president to use active-duty troops on U.S. soil. Trump was especially infuriated that Esper read his remarks, proving he didn't misspeak. Trump thought Esper was trying to curry favor with the media. His former defense secretary, retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, torched him as a bad, divisive leader tearing America apart. "I have watched this weeks unfolding events, angry and appalled," Mattis wrote in a statement to The Atlantic. "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution." At the same time, Trump's polling has turned from mixed to bleak: In Texas, a Republican stronghold that Trump won by nine points in 2016, a Quinnipiac Poll out yesterday showed Trump in a statistical tie with Joe Biden, 44% to 43%. Fox News polls out yesterday showed Trump down badly in Wisconsin (Biden 49%, Trump 40%) and statistically tied in Ohio (Biden 45%, Trump 43%) two must-wins. In Arizona, a 2020 swing state which Trump won by three points in 2016, a Fox News poll showed Biden with an edge (46% to 42%). Between the lines: Trump is furious at Esper. But the president's most trusted advisers are telling him it would be foolish to fire him. They dont think he will, even though the president has vented and asked for "names" to replace him. The bottom line: Trumpworld people aren't panicked, but they definitely are concerned and hope that a "Nixon '68" dynamic will kick in, and a public desire for law and order will ultimately reward Trump. With jaunts to St Tropez and the Amalfi coast potentially off the cards this summer, the super-rich will have to look closer to home when it comes to choosing a holiday destination. Fortunately there are a string of luxe 'glamping' options available right here in the UK - and Tatler picked out the ones most likely to appeal to the society beauties used to the finer things in life. Among them is a safari tent in Kittisford Barton, Somerset, which costs 668 for a three-night stay and sleeps up to six people - making it, as the publication points out - ideal for the current social distancing rules. Elsewhere, a jaw-dropping treehouse complete with slide, rope bridge, hot tub nestling in the tree tops and a rotating fire in the luxury round living room brings a whole new meaning to the word camping - but costs 990 for two nights or 1,485 at weekends. Tatler adds: Of course, shared facilities in camping will be a problem, which is why when it comes to camping, advocates glamping every time'. Meadow yurt in Wales Tatler has revealed the high society hangouts that will be graced by the rich and famous during the lockdown across Britain this summer. Butterfly Meadow yurt in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, boasts a 'unique and luxurious wilderness camping experience' With a rustic theme, free-standing bath, skylight in the roof and even an outside hot tub, it certainly wouldn't breach any social distancing rules - but costs 700 for seven nights Butterfly Meadow yurt in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, boasts a 'unique and luxurious wilderness camping experience'. With a rustic theme, free-standing bath, skylight in the roof and even an outside hot tub, it certainly wouldn't breach any social distancing rules. But with prices at around 700 for seven nights, we can't say the same for your purse strings. Welsh dome This 200-acre farm which borders on a nature reserve in Wales and Japanese forest, plans to reopen in July Boasting stunning country views, private swimming spots and a king size bed with feathersoft duvet and pillows, it couldn't be further from your collapsible tent. However it will cost you 619 for three nights stay in July, and sleeps up to four This 200-acre farm which borders on a nature reserve in Wales and Japanese forest, plans to reopen in July. Boasting stunning country views, private swimming spots and a king size bed with feathersoft duvet and pillows, it couldn't be further from your collapsible tent. However it will cost you 619 to book with Fforest for three nights stay in July, and sleeps up to four. Pop-up hotel The traveling pop-up hotel suites are ideal for when festivals reopen, allowing the cream of revelers to experience five star luxury among the masses But be prepared to splash the cash, as rooms range from 2,500 for up to four guests, to 25,000 for a 10-person suite complete with rugs, a fire, spa treatments and room service The traveling pop-up hotel suites are ideal for when festivals reopen, allowing the cream of revelers to experience five star luxury among the masses. The Tenthouse suite offers an expansive dining room fit for a banquet, and they come with four poster beds and luxury toiletries. But be prepared to splash the cash, as rooms range from 2,500 for up to four guests, to 25,000 for a 10-person suite complete with rugs, a fire, spa treatments and room service. Cotswold farm Perfect to get the kids unplugged from the world, the dog-friendly Feather Down Farm in the Cotswolds offers a Dutch concept of family friendly camping With hot tubs, animal and pizza evenings and horse riding, prices start from a more reasonable 240 for two nights Perfect to get the kids unplugged from the world, the dog-friendly Feather Down Farm in the Cotswolds offers a Dutch concept of family friendly camping. With hot tubs, animal and pizza evenings and horse riding, prices start from a more reasonable 240 for two nights. And once the little ones have gone to sleep you can slip outside and unwind with a glass on the terrace, looking up at the stars. Dorset treehouse Perhaps one of the most spectacular of all is the Woodman's Treeshouse in Dorset Boasting stunning architecture, it comes complete with slide, rope bridge, hot tub nestling in the tree tops and a rotating fire in the luxury round living room brings a whole new meaning to the word camping However this gem will cost you 990 for two nights or 1,485 at weekends Perhaps one of the most spectacular of all is the Woodman's Treeshouse in Dorset. Boasting stunning architecture, it comes complete with slide, rope bridge, hot tub nestling in the tree tops and a rotating fire in the luxury round living room brings a whole new meaning to the word camping. However this gem will cost you 990 for two nights or 1,485 at weekends. Somerset safari tent Elsewhere you can get in touch with your bohemian side by staying in a safari tent in Kittisford Barton, Somerset A three-night stay will costs 668 for up to six people - making it, as the publication points out - ideal for the current social distancing rules Elsewhere you can get in touch with your bohemian side by staying in a safari tent in Kittisford Barton, Somerset. Boasting a light and airy rustic feel, the decor includes hanging rugs, built-in-wardrobes and a porch, lit up by a fire. A three-night stay will costs 668 for up to six people - making it, as the publication points out - ideal for the current social distancing rules. Myth: Treatment/drug for COVID-19 exists | Fact: While several drug trials are ongoing, there is currently no proof that hydroxychloroquine or any other drug can cure or prevent COVID-19. In fact, the misuse of hydroxychloroquine can cause serious side effects and illness and even lead to death. WHO is coordinating efforts to develop and evaluate medicines to treat COVID-19. (Image: Reuters) The Lancet journal has issued a statement of concern after over 100 scientists from across the world flagged discrepancies in its recent study linking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine with increased death risk during COVID-19 treatment. "We are issuing an Expression of Concern to alert readers to the fact that serious scientific questions have been brought to our attention. We will update this notice as soon as we have further information," the editors of the journal said. The statement has come after more than 100 scientists from across the globe wrote an open letter to the editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton, questioning the validity of the study which assessed the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in COVID-19 treatment. The research, which was published on May 22, was an observational study of 96,032 hospitalised COVID-19 patients from six continents that reported substantially increased deaths, and incidences of heartbeat rhythm changes associated with the use of the drugs HCQ and closely related chloroquine. Based on the study, the scientists had concluded that the drugs are "associated with decrease in-hospital survival and an increased frequency of ventricular arrhythmias when used for treatment of COVID-19." COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Soon after the study was published, the World Health Organisation (WHO) paused recruitment of patients to the HCQ arm in their SOLIDARITY clinical trial, which they resumed on Wednesday after the scientists questioned the study. "If we don't have a double blind randomised controlled trial (RCT), where the neither the doctors nor the patients know what drug they are on, conclusions are always subject to bias, and The Lancet study was not and RCT," explained Ram Vishwakarma, Director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) in Jammu. Vishwakarma told PTI that the ethical process in publishing scientific studies is to disclose the database being used in any study, which he said was not followed in The Lancet research. "Important scientific questions have been raised about data reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra et al -- Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis -- published in The Lancet on May 22, 2020," said the editors of The Lancet in their statement expressing concern. The research was based on a database from a company based in Illinois, US called Surgisphere Corporation, which according to the study contains COVID-19 patient data from hundreds of hospitals around the world. From this database, the study assessed data from 96,032 patients admitted to 671 hospitals across six continents by April 14, of whom, 10,698 had died in hospital by April 21, according to the research. However, in the open letter, the researchers flagged several points of concern about the validity of this data, and the kind of analysis done in the study with it. Among the major issues cited in the Lancet study by the scientists, are concerns that there was no mention of the countries or hospitals that contributed to the data source and no acknowledgments of their contributions. The data reported in the study from Australia, for instance, the open letter said, was not compatible with government reports from the country. Data from Africa, for instance, indicated that nearly 25 per cent of all COVID-19 cases and 40 per cent of all deaths in the continent occurred in "Surgisphere-associated hospitals" which had patient monitoring facilities that could detect and record "nonsustained or sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation". "Both the numbers of cases and deaths, and the details provided, seem unlikely," the scientists flagged in the open letter. Scientists also noted that the mean daily doses of HCQ reported in the Lancet study are 100 milligrames (mg) higher than US Food and Drug Administration recommendations, while as much as 66 per cent of the data are noted from North American hospitals. In the expression of concern raised by The Lancet on Wednesday, they said "an independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere and is ongoing." "The expression of concern means that no scientist or doctor should be biased from the study," Vishwakarma explained. "But that doesn't mean the study is wrong. Now the author's replies need to come and if they have all the evidence supported, then the study will stand, otherwise this paper will have to be retracted," he said. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here V Nilesh By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The initial genome sequencing data of the novel Coronavirus by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has revealed a commonality between the virus that was first detected in Telangana in an Indonesian national and subsequent samples collected from infected persons until last month. The commonality with the viral genetic makeup of the virus detected from the Indonesian national, who had arrived at Karimnagar in March, is not restricted to samples collected from Telangana alone, but also with those from other South Indian States, apart from Maharashtra and Delhi. These novel Coronavirus genomes, sharing common characteristics between themselves, have been put under the same group, technically known as a clade, named I/A3i. It was found to be the second most prevalent clade of virus in the country, among 213 virus genome sequences analysed so far. As the scientists sequenced more and more genomes, they came across a group of novel Coronavirus that did not fall under any known clade and named it I/A3i. CCMB Director Dr Rakesh Mishra said this clade is related to the one reported from Southeast Asian countries such as Philippines and Singapore. It is prominent in South India, he said. Scientists can now study this unique clade and see if there is a relationship between the symptoms and the efficiency of its spread, among other factors. They can also compare it with other clades. However, its uniqueness need not be feared. Researchers report that the Nucleotide Substitution Rate of the I/A3i clade is lower than the first most prevalent clade in India, known as A2a. This, in simple terms, means that the mutation rate of the virus being commonly detected in Telangana is lower than other clades, making it easy for healthcare workers to fight it. The findings have been reported in a pre-print paper, A distinct phylogenetic cluster of Indian SARS-CoV-2 isolates, authored by researchers from the CCMB and the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. More genomes of the novel coronavirus would be sequenced and scientists say it might give more new results. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg offered a small answer to a big question this week when Australians saw official confirmation of the economic slump from the coronavirus crisis. The first recession in three decades is no surprise but it has finally arrived after years of sunny Australian optimism in the country's ability to shrug off every global shock. The government offered $25,000 to home owners who wanted to build new homes or renovate existing ones. Credit:Stocksy Frydenberg was sensible to acknowledge on Thursday the nation was in a recession because the 0.3 per cent contraction in the March quarter would be followed by much worse. There was no point waiting for the June quarter results to confirm the obvious. The policy response offered $25,000 to home owners who wanted to build new homes or renovate existing ones, in a package totalling $688 million. This looked like smart politics because it meant the Prime Minister and Treasurer had the new HomeBuilder assistance package to talk about on radio and television in the wake of bad economic news. If only the policy lived up to the politics. Following the recent guidelines of the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), the state education department has sought opinion of stakeholders on reopening of educational and training institutes in the second phase of unlock. The director of secondary education Giriwar Dayal Thursday issued letters to all the district education officers (DEOs) to consult stakeholders, including students, teachers, guardians, school and college administration and solicit their feedback on reopening of the educational institutions. He has also suggested a 10-point query, including suggestion on date of reopening of institutions, commencement of admissions for new academic session, maximum number of students in a class, duration of class and prayer assembly. DEOs of all 38 districts have been instructed to seek suggestions from stakeholders through email or WhatsApp and send a compiled report by June 7. Private Schools and Welfare Association, which is a coalition of 25,000 private schools in Bihar, has welcomed the step. National president of the association, Shamael Ahmad, said Schools should be opened in a phased manner. In first phase, senior secondary sections should be reopened followed by secondary sections and so on. Seating arrangement should be planned to ensure minimal physical contact among students. Ahmad said that carrying academic classes should be the first priority and extracurricular events can be done away for now. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON TORONTO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN) is pleased to announce that the hydrogeologic model developed by Petrotek Corporation ("Petrotek"), for the high-grade Phoenix uranium deposit ("Phoenix), produced demonstration of "proof of concept" for the application of the In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") mining method at Phoenix, with respect to potential operational extraction and injection rates. The hydrogeologic model was developed based on the data collected from the ISR field test completed in 2019 ("2019 Field Test") (see press release dated December 18, 2019). Based on the positive results from the hydrogeologic model, Denison is also pleased to announce the details of its plans for the continuation of ISR field testing in 2020, within Phoenix, at the Company's 90% owned Wheeler River Uranium Project ("Wheeler River"), located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. View PDF version. David Bronkhorst, Denison's Vice President Operations, commented, "Petrotek applied a rigorous process of calibration to several numerical models developed based on hydrogeologic data collected from 19 test wells installed into the Phoenix deposit during the 2019 Field Test. Based on this site-specific data, the hydrogeologic model allowed for the simulation of an ISR wellfield including a total of 18 extraction wells and 33 injection wells across Test Area 1 and Test Area 2 of Phoenix. Based on these simulations, Petrotek concluded that the results demonstrated 'proof of concept' for the use of ISR mining at Phoenix. This result represents a significant milestone in the ongoing de-risking of the use of the ISR mining method at Phoenix. Our plans for additional field testing in 2020 are expected to build on our success from 2019, further confirm the hydrogeological model completed by Petrotek, and prepare for field tests in future years, which are expected to support a feasibility study including a potential in-ground lixiviant test or ISR demonstration." Hydrogeologic Modeling Denison engaged Petrotek to facilitate the design and implementation of ISR field testing at Phoenix in 2019. Petrotek is an independent qualified technical specialist firm with unique expertise in the evaluation and field operations of subsurface fluid flow and injection projects, with experience ranging from feasibility studies to facility operation. The firm has more than 20 years of experience in the ISR uranium mining industry and has provided consulting services to each of the ISR uranium miners in the United States. Petrotek and Denison designed the 2019 Field Test for the unique geological characteristics of Phoenix. The testing program aimed to collect hydrogeological data in Test Area 1 and Test Area 2 of Zone A at Phoenix. Data acquired from the 2019 Field Test was collected and analyzed to support the development of an integrated hydrogeological model to better define areas of the deposit contributing to fluid flows and ultimately to facilitate future ISR wellfield designs necessary to support a Feasibility Study ("FS") and the Environmental Assessment ("EA") process. Highlights of the hydrogeologic modeling completed by Petrotek include the following: Numerical groundwater flow models were developed using site-specific data to evaluate the hydraulic responses of the ore zone aquifer observed during hydrogeologic field testing conducted at Phoenix in 2019; in 2019; Multiple models were constructed to address the lateral and vertical variability in hydraulic conductivity (a measure of permeability) observed at the site; Modeling was limited to the physical flow of water through the groundwater system and did not address any geochemical reactions of injected fluids within the aquifer matrix or native groundwater; The hydrogeologic model developed for Phoenix consisted of five layers, including one layer for the overlying Athabasca sandstone above the ore zone, one layer for the underlying paleo weathered unmineralized basement below the ore zone, and three subdivided layers within the ore zone; consisted of five layers, including one layer for the overlying sandstone above the ore zone, one layer for the underlying paleo weathered unmineralized basement below the ore zone, and three subdivided layers within the ore zone; The uppermost layer of the ore zone represents the upper clay unit, the middle layer represents the more permeable friable unit, and the lower layer represents the lower clay unit. The combined thickness of the three layers is six metres with the thickness of the middle layer simulated in multiple models. A two metre interval was assumed to be the most representative of the overall in-situ conditions of the deposit, with the resultant model being referred to as the " 2M " model.; " model.; Each model was calibrated to the actual test results from the 2019 Field Test, such that the "head" (defined as a specific measurement of liquid pressure vertically above a reference point) changes resulting from simulations in the models were similar to the observed changes in the actual tests; The calibrated numerical models were then used to estimate hydraulic responses of the ore zone aquifer under conditions representative of ISR operations. Single well pattern simulations were run under a variety of scenarios, including typical 5-spot and 7-spot well patterns, variable distances between wells (5 to 15 metres), and variable pumping and injection rates; Results of the single well pattern simulations were used to further investigate the feasibility of ISR for uranium extraction by developing a wellfield simulation using the 2M model and 5-spot well patterns placed across Test Area 1 and Test Area 2 of Phoenix at approximate 10 metre spacings between wells including a total of 18 extraction / recovery wells and 33 injection wells; model and 5-spot well patterns placed across Test Area 1 and Test Area 2 of at approximate 10 metre spacings between wells including a total of 18 extraction / recovery wells and 33 injection wells; Test Area 1 extraction wells were simulated at 5 gallons per minute ("GPM") or less, and Test Area 2 extraction wells were simulated at 7.5 GPM or less, with total extraction for the simulation at 105.5 GPM and total injection of 105.4 GPM for a nearly balanced operational flow; The simulation was carried out within test area boundaries, reflecting the proposed freeze walls that are planned to encapsulate the ISR wellfield. No attempts were made to optimize operational rates with respect to sweep efficiency or simulated lixiviant travel time; As expected, there was large variability in travel times from injection well to extraction well, with the average flow path travel time estimated at 55 days, with 71% of flow paths being completed in fewer than 55 days; A 180-day simulation was completed with approximately 80% of the injected fluids estimated to be captured during the simulation period. While the results of these simulations (including well patterns, spacing and flow rates) should be viewed as preliminary, and should not be considered wellfield plans or projections of actual operations, Petrotek's Interim Hydrogeologic Report has drawn the following important conclusions: The modelling results generally provide a demonstration of "proof of concept" for application of ISR to the Phoenix ore body, with respect to potential operational extraction and injection rates; and ore body, with respect to potential operational extraction and injection rates; and With positive results associated with the various permeability measures and models reported to date, the further adjustment of operational parameters (e.g. well spacing, injection pressures, uranium recoveries), along with the engineered enhancement of in-situ permeability (such as MaxPERF drilling - see press release dated December 18, 2019 ), should allow for potentially significant optimization of the hydrogeologic model in the future. 2020 ISR Field Test Program During the summer and fall months of 2020, Denison plans to collect additional hydrogeological data as part of an ISR field test program ("the 2020 Field Test") at Phoenix. The 2020 Field Test is designed to further evaluate and de-risk the ISR mining conditions present at Phoenix, by supplementing the extensive dataset acquired as part of the 2019 Field Test. Hydrogeological data collected as part of the 2020 Field Test is expected to build additional confidence in the Company's understanding of the fluid pathways within Test Area 1 and Test Area 2, to further validate the hydrogeological model completed by Petrotek, and to prepare for field tests in future years, which are expected to support a FS including a potential in-ground lixiviant test or ISR demonstration. The 2020 Field Test is expected to utilize existing Commercial Scale Wells ("CSWs") and Small Monitoring Wells ("SMWs"), installed as part of the 2019 Field Test, as well as mineralized and non-mineralized drill core recovered from the 2019 Field Test. Key elements of the 2020 Field Test include: Additional pump/injection tests within Test Area 1 and Test Area 2 of the Phoenix deposit To confirm the long-term stability of engineered permeability enhancement tunnels; and Collection of data from additional injection points not previously tested. Groundwater sampling Collection of data from various horizons within and above the Phoenix ore zone to characterize the baseline hydrogeochemistry in the deposit area. Understanding of the hydrogeochemistry is expected to be necessary to support the planning and permitting of a potential field test in future years for an in-ground lixiviant test or ISR demonstration; ore zone to characterize the baseline hydrogeochemistry in the deposit area. Understanding of the hydrogeochemistry is expected to be necessary to support the planning and permitting of a potential field test in future years for an in-ground lixiviant test or ISR demonstration; Groundwater sampling, in conjunction with future column leach test work, is expected to provide data needed to conduct reactive transport models (i.e. models that involve kinetically dissolving a mineral in a groundwater system). These models may be used to determine the overall dissolution rate of the ore (primarily uraninite) and the flow of the lixiviant through the formation, including residence time, to estimate overall mill feed rate. Permeameter analysis Collection of additional matrix permeability data from drill core previously recovered from within Test Area 1 and Test Area 2, to support further refinement of hydrogeological models with an enhanced understanding of both large- and small-scale fluid flow pathways. Rock mechanics tests Collection of data to aid in evaluating the potential utility of certain permeability enhancement techniques. The Company previously announced a decision to temporarily suspend the environmental assessment process for the Wheeler River project and other discretionary activities due to the significant social and economic disruption that has emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Company's commitment to ensure employee safety, support public health efforts to limit transmission of COVID-19, and exercise prudent financial discipline. The work related to the 2020 Field Test is not part of the suspended activities, and is included in the Company's evaluation budget contained within the current outlook and operating plan for 2020 (see the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the period ended March 31, 2020). The Company previously indicated that field activities in 2020 could include the expansion of ISR field test work into Test Area 3 and Test Area 4 of Phoenix Zone A; however, since then, field testing of the MaxPERF Drilling Tool validated the potential to normalize the impact of geologic variations throughout the orebody by mechanically increasing access to existing permeability through the installation of lateral penetration tunnels from a CSW. Based on this success, the Company has decided to focus its testing efforts on Test Area 1 and Test Area 2 with the potential to carry out, in future years, an in-ground lixiviant test or ISR demonstration within the existing test areas (rather than expanding testing efforts to Test Area 3 and Test Area 4). This approach is expected to substantially de-risk the application of the ISR mining method at Phoenix and to support a future FS. Operational planning for the 2020 Field Test is currently in progress, with significant consideration being given to public health guidelines and industry best practices associated with operating a remote mining camp site in northern Saskatchewan amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to camp operating procedures and physical distancing protocols, transportation and travel protocols are being developed in consultation with various Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities situated between the Wheeler River project site and Saskatoon. The Company is committed to ensuring that the site is a safe operating environment for its staff and contractors and that the Company's field activities do not compromise the health and safety of the residents of northern Saskatchewan. Despite the Company's current intentions, it is possible that the program may not advance as planned, or as described above, owing to the social and economic disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which are outside of the control of the Company for example, the availability of Company or contractor staff to attend to the site, Provincial or local travel restrictions, and changing public health guidelines. In-Situ Recovery Mining Method Denison selected the ISR mining method for the future mining of Phoenix in the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") completed for Wheeler River in 2018 (see press release dated October 30, 2018). In an ISR mining operation, a mining solution is injected into the ore zone through a series of injection wells, and then dissolves the uranium as it travels through the ore zone, before the uranium bearing solution ("UBS") is then pumped back to surface via a series of recovery wells. Once on surface, the UBS is sent to a surface processing plant for the chemical separation of the uranium. Following the uranium removal, the mining solution is reconditioned and returned to the wellfield for further production. The ISR mining method accounts for a significant portion of uranium mine production globally and is generally considered the lowest cost uranium mining method in the world owing to the fact that the method eliminates the surface disturbances and costs associated with physically removing ore and waste from the ground, as well as the tailings treatment and storage, that are normally associated with underground or open pit mining operations. The geologic setting of the uranium ore body and the ability of the mining solution to travel through the orebody (permeability) is an important element of an ISR mining operation. Accordingly, much of Denison's work in 2019 was focused on enhancing its assessment of the permeability of Phoenix through the completion of a series of ISR field tests the positive preliminary results of which have been previously released (see press releases dated December 18, 2019 and February 24, 2020), and the data from which was incorporated into the hydrogeologic modelling described above. About Wheeler River Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, in northern Saskatchewan including combined Indicated Mineral Resources of 132.1 million pounds U 3 O 8 (1,809,000 tonnes at an average grade of 3.3% U 3 O 8 ), plus combined Inferred Mineral Resources of 3.0 million pounds U 3 O 8 (82,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.7% U 3 O 8 ). The project is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, discovered by Denison in 2008 and 2014, respectively, and is a joint venture between Denison (90% and operator) and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited (10%). A PFS was completed for Wheeler River in late 2018, considering the potential economic merit of developing the Phoenix deposit as an ISR operation and the Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation. Taken together, the project is estimated to have mine production of 109.4 million pounds U 3 O 8 over a 14-year mine life, with a base case pre-tax NPV of $1.31 billion (8% discount rate), Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 38.7%, and initial pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million. The Phoenix ISR operation is estimated to have a stand-alone base case pre-tax NPV of $930.4 million (8% discount rate), IRR of 43.3%, initial pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million, and industry leading average operating costs of US$3.33/lb U 3 O 8 . The PFS is prepared on a project (100% ownership) and pre-tax basis, as each of the partners to the Wheeler River Joint Venture are subject to different tax and other obligations. Further details regarding the PFS, including additional scientific and technical information, as well as after-tax results attributable to Denison's ownership interest, are described in greater detail in the NI 43-101 Technical Report titled "Pre-feasibility Study for the Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated October 30, 2018 with an effective date of September 24, 2018. A copy of this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. About Denison Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to the Wheeler River project, Denison's Athabasca Basin exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering over 250,000 hectares. Denison's interests in the Athabasca Basin also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture ("MLJV"), which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest and Midwest A deposits, and a 66.57% interest in the J Zone and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake property. Each of Midwest, Midwest A, J Zone and Huskie are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Closed Mines group (formerly Denison Environmental Services), which manages Denison's Elliot Lake reclamation projects and provides post-closure mine care and maintenance services to a variety of industry and government clients. Denison is also the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride. Qualified Persons The results and interpretations contained in this release related to the hydrogeological model for Phoenix were prepared by Mr. Errol Lawrence, PG (Senior Hydrogeologist), and Mr. Aaron Payne, PG (Senior Hydrogeologist), at Petrotek, each of whom is an independent Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101. The other technical information contained in this release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. David Bronkhorst, P.Eng, Denison's Vice President, Operations, or Mr. Dale Verran, MSc, P.Geo, Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, each of whom is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained in this news release constitutes 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of the applicable United States and Canadian legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'plans', 'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken', 'occur', 'be achieved' or 'has the potential to'. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: the results of the 2019 Field Test; the hydrogeologic model and its underlying assumptions; the 2020 Field Test, including its intended scope and timing, objectives and evaluation interpretations; the duration and scope of impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and affiliated operational adjustments; the current and continued use and availability of third party technologies for testing; the results of the PFS and expectations with respect thereto; development and expansion plans and objectives, including plans for a feasibility study; and expectations regarding its joint venture ownership interests and the continuity of its agreements with its partners. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For example, the results of the 2019 Field Test, hydrogeologic model and/or 2020 Field Test discussed herein may not be maintained after further testing or be representative of actual conditions within the Phoenix deposit. In addition, Denison may decide or otherwise be required to discontinue the 2020 Field Test or other testing, evaluation and development work at Wheeler River if it is unable to maintain or otherwise secure the necessary resources (such as testing facilities, capital funding, regulatory approvals, etc.) or operations are otherwise affected by COVID-19 and its potentially far-reaching impacts. Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and results may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the factors discussed in Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 13, 2020 or subsequent quarterly financial reports under the heading 'Risk Factors'. These factors are not, and should not be construed as being exhaustive. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of this news release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this news release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation. Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources and Probable Mineral Reserves: This press release may use the terms 'measured', 'indicated' and 'inferred' mineral resources. United States investors are advised that while such terms have been prepared in accordance with the definition standards on mineral reserves of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Mineral Disclosure Standards ('NI 43-101') and are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, these terms are not defined under Industry Guide 7 under the United States Securities Act and, until recently, have not been permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC'). 'Inferred mineral resources' have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. In addition, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve" and "probable mineral reserve" for the purposes of NI 43-101 differ from the definitions and allowable usage in Industry Guide 7. Effective February 2019, the SEC adopted amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the Exchange Act and as a result, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources". In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" to be "substantially similar" to the corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, as required under NI 43-101. However, information regarding mineral resources or mineral reserves in Denison's disclosure may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies. SOURCE Denison Mines Corp. Related Links http://denisonmines.com/s/Home.asp Ivanka Trump, delivering a virtual commencement address to WSU Tech in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday, will say: "You are a wartime graduate." "Our entire society is engaged in a national endeavor to defeat the virus, protect our fellow citizens, and open up America again to rebuild our economy," the presidential adviser says in prepared remarks. "Amidst the uncertainty, your training ... has prepared you for exactly this moment." The big picture: Trump paid a visit in October to WSU Tech, which says it works with employers to determine their job needs now and into the future so our students graduate with the right skills. Trump said in an announcement of the address to 750+ graduates: "The relevant and in-demand training they have obtained is critical to rebuilding our economy for the long term." Dr. Sheree Utash, president of WSU Tech, said: "From my work with Ms. Trump, serving on the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board over this last year, I know how passionate she is about reshaping the United States education and job-training landscape." A 27-year-old Massachusetts man is facing civil rights violation and assault charges after police in Fall River say he attacked an 82-year-old man holding a sign showing his support for President Donald Trump this week. On Tuesday, Fall River Police Officer Charles OGara was sent to the area of North Main Street and Airport Road for report that an elderly male that had been violently targeted for his political views and was violently assaulted, police said. The 82-year-old man said he was standing on the grass area of the rotary at North Main Street and Airport Road holding a Trump sign when a man parked his car and got out. The man, later identified as Aidan Courtright, of Fall River, allegedly walked toward the 82-year-old man and screamed, Give me the f------ sign, according to a police statement. Courtright then forcefully ripped the sign out of the victims hands, ripped it in half, and threw it on the ground. Courtright then went after the victim, grabbing him by his shirt, knocking his hat off, and throwing him violently to the ground, police said. While the victim was on the ground, Courtright continued the attack by kicking him in his ribs and legs. Fall River police said Courtright wore leather pointed shoes while violently kicking the alleged victim. Courtright then got back in his vehicle and drove off. The 82-year-old man was taken to a nearby hospital. He had visible bruising on his lower back, police said. Officers also spoke to two witnesses who saw the incident unfold. The victim stated that he believed that he was targeted and attacked because of his political beliefs and the Trump hat that he was wearing, police said. Courtright was contacted by police and later turned himself into authorities at the Fall River police station. Courtright was charged with civil rights violation with injury, assault and battery on a person over 60, vandalism of personal property and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. One of the questions I have to be really clear about is why I was hired. Wasnt it to ensure the sustaining and future of this theater? said Sharif, who came to the Rep in 2019 after a career at Center Stage and Hartford Stage. In that case, we have to talk about relevancy, who we are serving who is going to be here 10 years from now. That is really a question of shifting theaters from where you just see pretty art to where theaters become a haven for social and civic engagement, for us to engage with each other. Debjani Dutta By Express News Service PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao on Wednesday called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at his office, for resolving interstate issues concerning Yanam region of the Union territory. Speaking over the phone, Rao said that in a discussion that lasted 2 hours 27 minutes, he had urged the Chief Minister to provide an incentive for paddy cultivation to farmers of Yanam, who are cultivating paddy in their agricultural land in the adjoining East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Around 544 farmers from Yanam have land measuring two to five acres in Andhra Pradesh, said Rao who hails from the same region. But the AP government has not given the incentive of Rs 13,500 per ace to these farmers from Yanam since their Aadhar card has been issued from Puducherry. Following discussion, AP Chief Minister has assured to consider this as a special case and would be discussed in the cabinet, said Rao. Further, Rao raised the dispute over land between AP and UT of Puducherry, where pattas for housing has been issued to Schedules caste(SC) people of Yanam by Puducherry government. He said that farmers from East Godavari district has been claiming the land and moved court. After the Yanam court, Puducherry District Court and High Court of Madras ruled in favour of Puducherry government, the government had given patta to SC people in 2010. However, the farmers again appealed in the High Court in Hyderabad. Rao said that he requested the AP Chief Minister to take up a joint survey of the disputed land by AP and Puducherry governments to settle the issue. AP Chief Minister has assured him that he would arrange a survey sometime after July 15, Rao said. Another issue arising out of non-availability of sand for construction in Yanam which has resulted in halting of all construction activity. Rao said that already East Godavari District collector had given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for transportation of sand from AP to Yanam. However, despite this sand was not allowed to be transported. Rao urged the AP CM to permit sand transportation from AP to Yanam to facilitate construction activities. Nordstrom is taking steps to keep customers and employees safe after several of its stores were damaged during a series of protests over the death of George Floyd. In a candid letter posted to the brand's website on Monday, the retail giant announced that it will be temporarily closing all of its store locations and and also shared a much-needed message of hope. "Some of our stores were impacted by gatherings in our cities this weekend, and we wanted to take the time to assess the damage, repair and reopen those stores so we can continue serving customers as soon as possible," the statement reads. "We can fix the damage to our stores. Windows and merchandise can be replaced. We continue to believe as strongly as ever that tremendous change is needed to address the issues facing Black people in our country today. We strive to be a positive force for change in every community we serve." Like other retailers, Nordstrom recently began the process of reopening some of its stores across the country after closing them for several weeks during the coronavirus pandemic. And the company was quick to assure its employees that they would be taken care of during this new set of store closures: "We'll also pay employees for any shifts they may have missed as a result of these unexpected closures." Over the weekend, protesters looted Nordstrom stores in Seattle and Los Angeles. Luckily, no employees were injured. Although the company offered no specific timeline on how long temporary store closures will last, it said the "situation is evolving quickly" and encouraged shoppers to monitor its website for information. Nordstrom addressed the events of the past week in an open letter to its team, sharing the following statement: "We owe it to our employees, our customers and our communities to be very clear in condemning these acts of violence. They represent a disregard for basic human rights that has no place in our communities or country, and certainly not at Nordstrom." Story continues This is a painful time for our country and for us. The events going on around all of us are heartbreaking and we want to share a few thoughts with you in this open letter to our employees. Pete & Erik Nordstrom https://t.co/X2FLobAq9n#BlackLivesMatter #NspireChange pic.twitter.com/Y0CQPpP5eu Nordstrom (@Nordstrom) May 31, 2020 The company also shared its commitment to diversity and applauded its Black Employee Network for running a "Courageous Conversation" forum that allows team members to discuss important, and sometimes difficult, topics. We need change. As a company, we know we have the opportunity to make things better. We're grateful for the courage of our employees as they share their stories. We are proud to stand with them. #BlackLivesMatter #NspireChange https://t.co/HmosK86nk7 Nordstrom (@Nordstrom) May 31, 2020 "These conversations aren't easy, but they've never been more important. We're grateful for the courage of our employees as they share their stories. We are proud to stand with them. We welcome your feedback as we work to make meaningful change together." Company proactively takes actions to address COVID-19 crisis E-commerce revenues grow during the quarter Balance sheet remains strong FORT WAYNE, Ind., June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vera Bradley, Inc. (VRA) (the Company) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended May 2, 2020 and provided an update on the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 Pandemic "The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every family and business throughout the country over the last three months. Undoubtedly this has been one of the most disruptive and challenging periods in the Companys history, but our strong culture and innovation are leading us through this period, noted Chief Executive Officer Rob Wallstrom. We have worked to minimize the pandemics impact on our Associates, shareholders, and other stakeholders. The well-being and safety of our Associates and customers remain our top priorities in every decision we make, including decisions on how and when to reopen our stores," continued Wallstrom. "It will take time for consumer confidence, customer traffic, and shopping activity to return to pre-pandemic levels, but I am confident the actions we have taken will allow us to manage through this challenge and position us to emerge a stronger company and thrive over the long term. I am so proud of how our organization has responded to this unprecedented crisis. Even while working remotely, our teams have been collaborative and demonstrated focused and thoughtful decision making, innovation, tenacity, and flexibility. Our extraordinary culture has allowed us to not only persevere through the crisis, but it has made us stronger. With adversity comes opportunity, Wallstrom added. We know that this crisis will have a lasting effect on consumers and transform the way they shop. Our 2019 acquisition of Pura Vida has resulted in e-commerce being a larger share of our total company revenues, and the digital skills of both companies will be even more critical in this new environment. We are moving ahead with the innovation that will enhance the consumer experience and propel us forward innovation in product, marketing, and technology. Story continues Vision 20/20 Wallstrom continued, Over two years ago, we embarked on Vision 20/20 our aggressive three-year plan to restore the Vera Bradley brand and business to a healthy foundation and to return our Company to solid growth. Through Fiscal 2020, we made tremendous progress on strengthening our foundation, growing our Vera Bradley brand business, and accelerating our revenue and earnings growth with the acquisition of Pura Vida. Our Fiscal 2021 goal was to drive more robust growth, but the COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected that goal. However, despite the COVID-19 situation, we remain focused on our core Vision 20/20 strategies of enhancing our brands and long-term growth through heightened customer engagement and continued product innovation while navigating through the crisis. COVID-19 Actions Taken Beginning in mid-March, the Company began taking several actions to navigate the COVID-19 crisis, protect its financial position, maximize liquidity, and to position the Company for a strong reopening and future. Those actions included: Temporarily closing all of its Vera Bradley store locations on March 19. Temporarily furloughing approximately 80% of its workforce mid-quarter. Temporarily reducing base compensation for remaining salaried Associates, with reductions on a graduated scale ranging from 15% to 30%, and 75% for the Chief Executive Officer. Temporarily suspending cash compensation to the board of directors. Temporarily suspending its share buyback program. Drawing $60 million from its previously unused $75 million revolving credit agreement. Temporarily eliminating the Company 401(k) and Associate charitable donation matches. Tightly managing inventory levels through the cancellation of orders, delay of receipts, or seeking price concessions where possible. Actively working with landlords on addressing rent abatement, payment terms, accelerating store closures, and delaying or cancelling certain planned new store openings. Reducing non-payroll operating expenses, including but not limited to, marketing and travel. Extending vendor payment terms. In addition, the Company is leveraging elements of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to enhance the financial well-being of Associates and to maximize the financial health of the Company. Reopening Vera Bradley Stores Wallstrom said, Many states are restarting their economies, and we have begun to open Vera Bradley stores in locations where regulations allow, following guidance from local governments and health authorities, and after assessing consumer sentiment, store readiness, and our Associates willingness and ability to return to work. We are taking a prudent and measured approach to reopening our stores, ensuring that we have taken necessary precautions to protect the health and safety of our Associates, customers, and communities. On May 5, 2020, the Company began reopening its Vera Bradley stores in a phased approach, with 18 out of 83 full-line stores and 40 of 64 factory stores opened as of the end of May. The Company anticipates the majority of the store base will be open by the end of June. As Vera Bradley stores reopen, the Company is implementing several procedures and precautions to keep customers and Associates safe and secure. The vast majority of Associates invited back to Vera Bradley as stores re-open have returned. Currently, approximately 65% of the Companys Associates remain on furlough. While the Company is making no assumptions of future performance based upon a limited number of days of sales data, the 27 stores that have been opened for two weeks or more since May 5th have generated revenues, in the aggregate, of approximately 75% of the prior years sales while operating at reduced staffing and hours. While traffic is typically down, conversion and units per transaction are up. Wallstrom noted, We are excited to welcome customers back into our stores, and we believe there is some degree of pent up demand. As more retailers open and consumers feel more comfortable shopping, we believe Vera Bradleys store traffic and sales will improve. Wallstrom added, Many of our customers were anxious to shop even as our stores were closed. Our e-commerce business (Vera Bradley and Pura Vida combined), which represents about a third of our total company revenues on a normalized basis, was strong in the first quarter and continues to exceed last years performance into the second quarter. At both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida, customers are responding to new product launches and new marketing initiatives, and at Vera Bradley, sales of cotton masks are also driving revenue. We are grateful to our customers for their continued loyalty and especially thankful for our many distribution center, e-commerce, customer service, and other Associates who have tirelessly worked to keep our e-commerce businesses operating smoothly during this time. Health Care Efforts VB Cares Wallstrom continued, We are doing all that we can to help in this unprecedented time, which includes utilizing our facilities and global supply chain to get critical in-demand supplies to those in need nationwide. Our approach is three-pronged: Initiative #1 We have tapped into our global supply chain to procure and distribute the most in-demand personal protective equipment, including millions of medical masks, to support the nurses, doctors and first responders bravely taking care of all of us. Initiative # 2 We have ramped up distribution of our Vera Bradley Healthcare Professional Collection, which includes medical scrubs, other wearables, and bags. These items are available on verabradley.com. Initiative #3 We converted our Vera Bradley Fort Wayne sewing facilities and utilized our global supply chain to manufacture and sew hundreds of thousands of cotton face masks for the general public. These masks, along with filters, are available on verabradley.com and in our stores. With the CDCs recommendation that everyone now use cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19, we are seeing a huge customer response for these items. We are supporting the nurses working tirelessly and bravely on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis by contributing a percentage of each cotton mask sold to the Coronavirus Response Fund for Nurses. We are proud of our Associates commitment to and execution of all of these efforts, Wallstrom added. Pura Vida Acquisition and Accounting In the Companys prior year second fiscal quarter (on July 16, 2019), Vera Bradley acquired a 75% interest in Creative Genius, Inc., which also operates under the name Pura Vida Bracelets (Pura Vida). Financial results for Pura Vida have been consolidated beginning July 17, 2019, the first full day following the acquisition. Prior period numbers have not been restated. Any reference to the results of Vera Bradley in this release is to results of the stand-alone Vera Bradley business (comprised of the Vera Bradley Direct and Indirect segments) and excludes Pura Vida. Any reference to the results of Vera Bradley, Inc. is to the combined results of Vera Bradley and Pura Vida. Summary of Financial Performance for the First Quarter Consolidated net revenues totaled $69.3 million for the current year first quarter (which included $21.2 million of net revenues from Pura Vida), a decrease of 23.9% over the prior year. Excluding Pura Vida, Vera Bradley net revenues totaled $48.1 million, a 47.2% decrease from $91.0 million in the prior year first quarter. Vera Bradley stores were closed approximately half of the first quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the current year first quarter, Vera Bradley, Inc.s consolidated net loss totaled ($15.3) million, or ($0.66) per diluted share. These results included $5.1 million of net after tax charges, comprised of $2.2 million of impairment charges, $1.1 million of intangible asset amortization, $0.8 million of expenses related to the re-platforming of Vera Bradleys information technology systems, $0.8 million of charges related to the cancellation of certain purchase orders as a result of COVID-19, a $0.1 million adjustment to the Pura Vida earn-out liability, and $0.1 million in certain department store exist costs resulting from COVID-19. In addition, the Company recorded an Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) 480 measurement adjustment to increase the redeemable noncontrolling interest to its redemption value, which exceeded its fair value by $6.8 million. This excess portion of the adjustment increased the Vera Bradley, Inc. loss utilized in the numerator of the earnings per share calculation by $6.8 million, which resulted in a $0.20 negative impact to diluted earnings per share for the current year first quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding these charges, Vera Bradley, Inc.s consolidated first quarter net loss totaled ($10.2) million, or ($0.31) per diluted share. This non-GAAP performance included $0.02 of diluted earnings per share attributable to Pura Vida. For the prior year first quarter, the Company posted a net loss of ($2.4) million, or ($0.07) per diluted share. These results included $0.6 million of net after tax Pura Vida transaction charges. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding these charges, the Company posted a net loss of ($1.8) million, or ($0.05) per diluted share, in the prior year first quarter. Non-GAAP Numbers The current year non-GAAP first quarter income statement numbers referenced below exclude the previously outlined impairment charges, intangible asset amortization, information technology re-platforming expenses, charges related to the cancellation of certain purchase orders resulting from COVID-19, an adjustment to the Pura Vida earn-out liability, and certain department store exit costs resulting from COVID-19. The current year income statement numbers for the first quarter discussed below include the additional activity related to Pura Vida. The prior year non-GAAP first quarter income statement numbers referenced below exclude the previously outlined Pura Vida transaction charges. First Quarter Details Current year first quarter Vera Bradley Direct segment revenues totaled $36.8 million, a 48.2% decrease from $71.1 million in the prior year first quarter. The decline primarily resulted from the Companys stores that were temporarily closed as a result of COVID-19. First quarter e-commerce sales included in Direct segment revenues increased 20.5% over last year. The Company closed 14 full-line stores and opened one factory outlet store in the last twelve months. Vera Bradley Indirect segment revenues totaled $11.2 million, a 43.5% decrease from $19.9 million in the prior year first quarter. The decline was primarily due to a reduction in orders from specialty and department stores as well as other key accounts, largely related to COVID-19, as well as a reduction in the number of specialty and department store accounts. Pura Vida segment revenues totaled $21.2 million. First quarter consolidated gross profit totaled $34.2 million, or 49.3% of net revenues. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding charges for the cancellation of certain purchase orders resulting from COVID-19, gross profit totaled $35.5 million, or 51.2% of net revenues, compared to $50.5 million, or 55.5% of net revenues, in the prior year first quarter. Consolidated SG&A expense totaled $59.8 million, or 86.3% of net revenues, for the quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the previously outlined impairment charges, intangible asset amortization, information technology re-platforming charges, an adjustment to the Pura Vida earn-out liability, and certain department store exit costs, consolidated SG&A expense totaled $51.6 million, or 74.5% of net revenues for the quarter. Pura Vida added a total of $10.2 million of SG&A expenses, excluding the aforementioned intangible asset amortization. In the prior year first quarter, consolidated SG&A expense totaled $54.3 million, or 59.7% of net revenues. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding Pura Vida transaction costs, prior year first quarter consolidated SG&A expenses totaled $53.5 million, or 58.7% of net revenues. The Companys first quarter consolidated operating loss totaled ($25.6) million, or (36.9%) of net revenues, compared to an operating loss of ($3.6) million, or (4.0%) of net revenues, in the prior year first quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the previously disclosed impairment charges, intangible asset amortization, information technology re-platforming expenses, charges related to the cancellation of certain purchase orders, an adjustment to the Pura Vida earn-out liability, and certain department store exit costs, the current year consolidated operating loss totaled ($16.1) million, or (23.2%) of net revenues. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the previously disclosed Pura Vida transaction costs, the prior year first quarter operating loss totaled ($2.8) million, or (3.1%) of net revenues. By segment: Vera Bradley Directs first quarter operating loss was ($11.0) million, or (29.8%) of Direct net revenues, compared to operating income of $8.4 million, or 11.8% of Direct net revenues, in the prior year. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding impairment charges, a portion of the charges for the cancellation of purchase orders, and a portion of the information technology re-platforming charges, the current year Direct operating loss totaled ($5.1) million, or (13.8%) of Direct net revenues. Vera Bradley Indirects first quarter operating income was $2.8 million, or 24.5% of Indirect net revenues, compared to $7.7 million, or 38.8% of Indirect net revenues, in the prior year. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding certain department store exit costs and a portion of the charges for the cancellation of purchase orders, current year Indirect operating income totaled $3.1 million, or 28.0% of Indirect net revenues. Pura Vidas current year first quarter operating loss was ($0.8) million, or (3.8%) of Pura Vida net revenues. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the intangible asset amortization, Pura Vidas operating income was $1.6 million, or 7.7% of Pura Vida net revenues, for the current year. Balance Sheet Net capital spending for the first quarter totaled $2.2 million. Capital expenditures are expected to total approximately $8 to $10 million for the year. During the first quarter, prior to the Boards action to temporarily suspend share repurchases, the Company repurchased approximately $2.9 million of its common stock (approximately 382,000 shares at an average price of $7.60). At quarter end, the Company had approximately $32.9 million remaining under its $50 million share repurchase authorization. Cash, cash equivalents, and investments as of May 2, 2020 totaled $85.1 million compared to $144.2 million at the end of last years first quarter. The reduction from the prior year reflects the $95.2 million Pura Vida purchase price and earn-out payment netted against the $60.0 million drawn on the Companys $75 million revolving credit facility at quarter end. Quarter-end inventory was $132.9 million, which included $15.9 million of inventory related to Pura Vida. Inventory was $90.1 million at the end of the first quarter last year. Forward-Looking Guidance The uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 make Fiscal 2021 financial performance extremely difficult to predict. As a result, the Company is not providing forward-looking guidance. Disclosure Regarding Non-GAAP Measures The Company's management does not, nor does it suggest that investors should, consider the supplemental non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP). Further, the non-GAAP measures utilized by the Company may be unique to the Company, as they may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. The Company believes that the non-GAAP measures presented in this earnings release, including gross profit; selling, general, and administrative expenses; operating loss; net loss; net loss attributable and available to Vera Bradley, Inc.; and diluted net loss per share available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders, along with the associated percentages of net revenues, are helpful to investors because they allow for a more direct comparison of the Companys year-over-year performance and are consistent with managements evaluation of business performance. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the Companys supplemental schedules included in this earnings release. Call Information A conference call to discuss results for the first quarter is scheduled for today, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. A broadcast of the call will be available via Vera Bradleys Investor Relations section of its website, www.verabradley.com . Alternatively, interested parties may dial into the call at (800) 458-4121, and enter the access code 6868520. A replay will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and remain available through June 17, 2020. To access the recording, listeners should dial (844) 512-2921, and enter the access code 6868520. About Vera Bradley, Inc. Vera Bradley, Inc. operates two unique lifestyle brands Vera Bradley and Pura Vida. Vera Bradley and Pura Vida are complementary businesses, both with devoted, emotionally-connected, and multi-generational female customer bases; alignment as causal, comfortable, affordable, and fun brands; positioning as gifting and socially-connected brands; strong, entrepreneurial cultures; a keen focus on community, charity, and social consciousness; multi-channel distribution strategies; and talented leadership teams aligned and committed to the long-term success of their brands. Vera Bradley, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a leading designer of womens handbags, luggage and other travel items, fashion and home accessories, and unique gifts. Founded in 1982 by friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller, the brand is known for its innovative designs, iconic patterns, and brilliant colors that inspire and connect women unlike any other brand in the global marketplace. In July 2019, Vera Bradley, Inc. acquired a 75% interest in Creative Genius, Inc., which also operates under the name Pura Vida Bracelets (Pura Vida). Pura Vida, based in La Jolla, California, is a rapidly growing, digitally native, and highly engaging lifestyle brand founded in 2010 by friends Paul Goodman and Griffin Thall. Pura Vida has a differentiated and expanding offering of bracelets, jewelry, and other lifestyle accessories. The Company has three reportable segments: Vera Bradley Direct (VB Direct), Vera Bradley Indirect (VB Indirect), and Pura Vida. The VB Direct business consists of sales of Vera Bradley products through Vera Bradley full-line and factory outlet stores in the United States, verabradley.com, the Vera Bradley online outlet site, and the Vera Bradley annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The VB Indirect business consists of sales of Vera Bradley products to approximately 2,100 specialty retail locations throughout the United States, as well as select department stores, national accounts, third party e-commerce sites, and third-party inventory liquidators, and royalties recognized through licensing agreements related to the Vera Bradley brand. The Pura Vida segment consists of sales of Pura Vida products through the Pura Vida websites, www.puravidabracelets.com , www.puravidabracelets.eu , and www.puravidabracelets.ca , and through the distribution of its products to wholesale retailers. Website Information We routinely post important information for investors on our website www.verabradley.com in the "Investor Relations" section. We intend to use this webpage as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investor Relations section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our webpage is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document. Investors and other interested parties may also access the Companys most recent Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report outlining its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives at https://www.verabradley.com/us/static/customerservice/corporateresponsibility . Vera Bradley Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations or beliefs concerning future events and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected, including: possible adverse changes in general economic conditions and their impact on consumer confidence and spending; possible inability to predict and respond in a timely manner to changes in consumer demand; possible loss of key management or design associates or inability to attract and retain the talent required for our business; possible inability to maintain and enhance our brand; possible inability to successfully implement Vision 20/20; possible inability to successfully implement our long-term strategic plan; possible inability to successfully open new stores, close targeted stores, and/or operate current stores as planned; incremental tariffs or adverse changes in the cost of raw materials and labor used to manufacture our products; possible adverse effects resulting from a significant disruption in our single distribution facility; or business disruption caused by COVID-19. Risks, uncertainties, and assumptions also include the possibility that Pura Vida acquisition benefits may not materialize as expected; that Pura Vidas business may not perform as expected; and that the Company is unable to successfully implement integration strategies related to the acquisition. More information on potential factors that could affect the Companys financial results is included from time to time in the Risk Factors and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of the Companys public reports filed with the SEC, including the Companys Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2020. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Financial schedules are attached to this release. CONTACTS: Investors: Julia Bentley, VP of Investor Relations and Communications jbentley@verabradley.com (260) 207-5116 Media: mediacontact@verabradley.com 877-708-VERA (8372) Vera Bradley, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands) (unaudited) May 2, 2020 February 1, 2020 May 4, 2019 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 82,286 $ 49,917 $ 99,800 Short-term investments 499 8,977 13,853 Accounts receivable, net 20,559 24,290 16,660 Inventories 132,855 123,606 90,093 Income taxes receivable 10,913 1,043 2,844 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 14,610 10,956 8,004 Total current assets 261,722 218,789 231,254 Operating right-of-use assets 106,430 114,790 118,243 Property, plant, and equipment, net 69,669 73,027 76,607 Intangible assets, net 53,865 56,305 - Goodwill 44,254 44,254 - Long-term investments 2,271 14,912 30,596 Deferred income taxes 6,919 7,656 6,690 Other assets 6,267 5,328 1,034 Total assets $ 551,397 $ 535,061 $ 464,424 Liabilities, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest, and Shareholders' Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 23,735 $ 20,235 $ 15,084 Accrued employment costs 5,660 11,412 6,421 Short-term operating lease liabilities 27,048 21,347 21,445 Earn-out liability - 18,448 - Other accrued liabilities 12,644 13,850 12,370 Income taxes payable 90 2,113 425 Total current liabilities 69,177 87,405 55,745 Long-term operating lease liabilities 107,699 113,775 118,816 Long-term debt 60,000 - - Other long-term liabilities 89 62 89 Total liabilities 236,965 201,242 174,650 Redeemable noncontrolling interest 38,858 30,049 - Shareholders' equity: Additional paid-in-capital 99,879 100,357 96,019 Retained earnings 282,772 307,414 289,393 Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income (17 ) 158 109 Treasury stock (107,060 ) (104,159 ) (95,747 ) Total shareholders' equity of Vera Bradley, Inc. 275,574 303,770 289,774 Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, and shareholders' equity $ 551,397 $ 535,061 $ 464,424 Vera Bradley, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited) Thirteen Weeks Ended May 2, 2020 May 4, 2019 Net revenues $ 69,284 $ 91,003 Cost of sales 35,096 40,535 Gross profit 34,188 50,468 Selling, general, and administrative expenses 59,782 54,297 Other income 20 184 Operating loss (25,574 ) (3,645 ) Interest expense (income), net 72 (447 ) Loss before income taxes (25,646 ) (3,198 ) Income tax benefit (10,109 ) (793 ) Net loss (15,537 ) (2,405 ) Less: Net loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest (200 ) - Net loss attributable to Vera Bradley, Inc. $ (15,337 ) $ (2,405 ) Basic weighted-average shares outstanding 33,330 34,228 Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding 33,330 34,228 Basic net loss per share available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders $ (0.66 ) $ (0.07 ) Diluted net loss per share available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders $ (0.66 ) $ (0.07 ) Reconciliation of net loss available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders Net loss attributable to Vera Bradley, Inc. $ (15,337 ) $ (2,405 ) Excess portion of redeemable noncontrolling interest redemption value adjustment (6,800 ) - Net loss available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders $ (22,137 ) $ (2,405 ) Vera Bradley, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (in thousands) (unaudited) Thirteen Weeks Ended May 2, 2020 May 4, 2019 Cash flows from operating activities Net loss $ (15,537 ) $ (2,405 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Depreciation of property, plant, and equipment 4,353 4,170 Impairment charges 3,806 - Amortization of operating right-of-use assets 5,563 5,471 Amortization of intangible assets 2,440 - Provision for doubtful accounts 497 38 Stock-based compensation 59 1,238 Deferred income taxes 737 102 Loss on investments 20 - Adjustment of earn-out liability 229 - Other non-cash (gain) charges, net (23 ) 11 Changes in assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable 2,241 (1,934 ) Inventories (9,249 ) 1,488 Prepaid expenses and other assets (4,593 ) 3,427 Accounts payable 3,780 1,273 Income taxes (11,893 ) (3,773 ) Operating lease liabilities, net (384 ) (8,926 ) Accrued and other liabilities (6,792 ) (5,395 ) Net cash used in operating activities (24,746 ) (5,215 ) Cash flows from investing activities Purchases of property, plant, and equipment (2,238 ) (3,421 ) Purchases of investments (851 ) (9,615 ) Proceeds from maturities and sales of investments 21,788 8,403 Cash received for business acquisition 993 - Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 19,692 (4,633 ) Cash flows from financing activities Tax withholdings for equity compensation (537 ) (791 ) Repurchase of common stock (3,077 ) (3,055 ) Distributions to redeemable noncontrolling interest (296 ) - Borrowings under asset-based revolving credit agreement 60,000 - Payment of contingent consideration for business acquisition (18,677 ) - Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 37,413 (3,846 ) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 10 1 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $ 32,369 $ (13,693 ) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 49,917 113,493 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 82,286 $ 99,800 Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information Cash paid for income taxes, net $ 1,045 $ 2,878 Supplemental disclosure of non-cash activity Non-cash operating, investing, and financing activities Repurchase of common stock Expenditures incurred but not yet paid as of May 2, 2020 and May 4, 2019 $ - $ 50 Expenditures incurred but not yet paid as of February 1, 2020 and February 2, 2019 $ 176 $ 197 Purchases of property, plant, and equipment Expenditures incurred but not yet paid as of May 2, 2020 and May 4, 2019 $ 316 $ 470 Expenditures incurred but not yet paid as of February 1, 2020 and February 2, 2019 $ 559 $ 1,065 Vera Bradley, Inc. First Quarter Fiscal 2021 GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliation Thirteen Weeks Ended May 2, 2020 (in thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited) Thirteen Weeks Ended As Reported Redemption Value Adjustment8 Other Items Non-GAAP (Excluding Items) Gross profit (loss) $ 34,188 $ - $ (1,320 ) 1 $ 35,508 Selling, general, and administrative expenses 59,782 - 8,148 2 51,634 Operating loss (25,574 ) - (9,468 ) (16,106 ) Loss before income taxes (25,646 ) - (9,468 ) (16,178 ) Income tax benefit (10,109 ) - (3,730 ) 3 (6,379 ) Net loss (15,537 ) - (5,738 ) (9,799 ) Less: Net (loss) income attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest (200 ) - (610 ) 410 Net loss attributable to Vera Bradley, Inc. (15,337 ) - (5,128 ) (10,209 ) Diluted net loss per share available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders $ (0.66 ) $ (0.20 ) $ (0.15 ) $ (0.31 ) Vera Bradley Direct segment operating loss $ (10,965 ) $ - $ (5,872 ) 4 $ (5,093 ) Vera Bradley Indirect segment operating income (loss) $ 2,756 $ - $ (387 ) 5 $ 3,143 Pura Vida segment operating (loss) income $ (801 ) $ - $ (2,440 ) 6 $ 1,639 Unallocated corporate expenses $ (16,564 ) $ - $ (769 ) 7 $ (15,795 ) 1Related to charges for the cancellation of certain purchase orders as a result of COVID-19 2Items include $3,806 for store impairment charges; $2,440 for the amortization of definite-lived intangible assets; $1,460 for technology-related re-platforming charges including certain professional fees and accelerated depreciation; $229 for an adjustment upon payment of the earn-out liability; and $213 in certain department store exit costs as a result of COVID-19 3Related to the tax impact of the charges mentioned above 4Related to $3,806 for impairment charges; $1,146 for an allocation of charges for the cancellation of purchase orders; and $920 for technology re-platforming charges 5Related to $213 in certain department store exit costs and $174 for an allocation of charges for the cancellation of purchase orders 6Related to the amortization of definite-lived intangible assets 7Related to $540 for technology re-platforming charges and $229 for an adjustment upon payment of the earn-out liability 8Related to a $6.8 million increase in the loss available to Vera Bradley, Inc. common shareholders associated with the excess portion of the ASC 480 adjustment for the redeemable noncontrolling interest of Pura Vida; this adjustment impacts the Companys net loss per share calculations only Echelon are in the early stages of drawing up a proposal for a data centre at the Kish Industrial Park in Arklow Plans are being drawn up for a second data centre in Arklow. The developer of the data centre at the former IFI site in the Avoca River Business Park, Echelon Data Centres is in the early stages of drawing up proposals for a data centre facility in Kish Business Park on the south side of Arklow. The Irish data centre developer was given the go-ahead for a proposed 100MW data centre at the former IFI site last year. A spokesperson for Echelon Data Centres told this paper that the development on the Kish site would be of a similar size to the one planned for the Avoca River Business Park. However, the project is at a very early stage and an application for planning permission has yet to be submitted to the local authority. The company confirmed it had acquired a site in the Kish Business Park in January, but at the time did not reveal its plans for the site. Local public representatives were broadly in favour of the proposal and its potential to bring needed employment to the area. Councillor Pat Fitzgerald, Cathaoirleach of Arklow Municipal District, said he would 'fully support' any proposal for a second data centre though he acknowledged some people have have reservations about the idea. 'It would be great for the area. We need more employment in the area as we are facing a difficult few years. I'd say there are other small towns around the country who would love to have the same facilities.' Cllr Miriam Murphy said, 'it'll be brilliant to have these two areas on both sides of the town. It will encourage people to work locally and give back to the local community which has been affected in the last two months.' Cllr Tommy Annesley said he woud 'welcome any development in the area, particularly in these trying times.' Cllr Pat Kennedy said, 'it is potentially great news as it would mean more jobs during its construction and when it is up and running. Arklow was once an employment hotspot for the county but no more. A huge effort has to made to bring jobs to the entire county, particularly for south Wicklow.' Cllr Kennedy added that he hoped IDA and other agencies could come up with a strategy to bring jobs to the Arklow and Rathdrum areas. Cllr Sylvester Bourke sounded a note of caution as 'it's very early days. It has to get through planning. I would like to see the sod turned and construction started on the first one before I get excited about a second.' Cllr Peir Leonard said she welcomed 'any investor who will provide sustainable employment' to Arklow. However, she said it was important that any potential development was powered using sustainable renewable energy. 'With the capacity that these centres bring for virtual storage, Arklow will have endless opportunity to provide small virtual working hubs throughout the town centre. It's not many towns can say they can facilitate a walk in the forest, a boat trip, beach trip, row on the river all with a fifteen minute parameter of the town centre.' Senator Pat Casey said he 'welcomed Echelon's further commitment to Arklow with the proposed development of a second data centre at the Kish site and the announcement of funding for the build at the old IFI site. It sends a strong signal that Arklow is open for business.' On Tuesday last, the developer confirmed that it had secured construction funding to begin work on its proposed data centres at the former IFI site in Arklow and in Clondalkin. A spokesperson for Echelon confirmed that site clearing and preparation is expected to get underway as soon as possible. The 500 million investment is expected to create up to 450 construction during its 18-month build and up to 90 full-time jobs once it is operational. Echelon was granted planning permission for the project at the former IFI site in February 2019. but this was subject to an appeal which was dismissed by An Bord Pleanala last July. Counterpoint has released its report on smartphone sales in Europe in Q1 this year, and it seems like COVID-19 took its toll. It caused a 7-percent market decline in Europe, compared to Q1 2019. Xiaomi managed to flourish, though, the company managed to grow 145% in Europe. More on that later. Compared to the last quarter (Q4 2019), the difference is even bigger, 23-percent. Western Europe was hit the hardest, with 9-percent on average. Eastern Europe, on the other hand, experienced a 5-percent fall. Italy was hit the hardest, with a 21-percent decline YoY. That was to be expected, as the European COVID-19 crisis basically started in Italy. The country has been hit hard by it. Advertisement Online retailers managed to offset the negative impact to a degree, with aggressive online sales. Russia has seen the smallest decline, of only 1-percent, as it was not hit by COVID-19 as much as other countries. That being said, one company flourished during this period, Xiaomi. That is the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer in Europe, by the way. The companys market share increased by 7-percent YoY. Advertisement Xiaomi is fourth-placed smartphone OEM in Europe, and it managed to grow 145% YoY Xiaomi held 4-percent of the market in Q1 2019, and it increased that to 11-percent in Q1 2020. In other words, Xiaomi grew 145% in Europe YoY. Samsung is still number one, with 29-percent of the market. The company did experience a 2-percent decrease YoY. Apple is in second place with 22-percent of the market. The company grew 1-percent YoY, by the way. Huawei is third-place, and has experienced a huge decrease. The company dropped from 23-percent to only 16-percent YoY. Advertisement Based on Xiaomis increase, its possible that most of those users switched over to Xiaomi, though were only guessing. OPPO also managed to grow, as the fifth-largest smartphone manufacturer in Europe. The company held 1-percent of the market back in Q1 2019. At the moment, OPPO has 3-percent of the market. It will be interesting to see if OPPO will be able to grow further in 2020. All other smartphone manufacturers are left with 19-percent of the market. They had that amount in Q1 2019, and nothing changed in Q1 2020. Counterpoint released information for the top 5 smartphone OEMs only. Advertisement Huaweis market share decreased the most So, Huaweis market share managed to decrease the most YoY. It will be interesting to see how will the company do in the rest of 2020. The US ban is surely not playing in Huaweis favor, but the company is doing everything it can to counter it. Samsung is still untouchable as the number 1 smartphone OEMs, though Apple may close the gap by the end of 2020. The companys iPhone 12 series will be competitively-priced, according to reports, and that could affect things. France sees no reasons for the return of G8 format with Russias participation as Reuters reported. France believes that reasons for exclusion of Russia from G7 did not disappear and doubt the will of Moscow to join the group of seven economic states, the message said. It is noted that earlier the particular reasons existed for the exclusion of Moscow out of G8. The situation has not changed as France stated. However, it is necessary to look for other ways for dialogue with Russia. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump stood for the presence of Russia at G7. He underlined that half of the topics of G7 meetings should be also discussed with Russia. That is why the summit without Vladimir Putin is a waste of time. However, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell also stood against the return of Russia to G7. Russia was expelled from what was then the G8 in 2014 when Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, was U.S. president after Moscow annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine. Russia still holds the territory, and various G7 governments have rebuffed previous calls from Trump to readmit Moscow. As we continuously evolve to meet the growing needs of our online learners, Frost provides tools that support our vision to rapidly innovate to meet, or exceed, student and faculty needs. LearningMate, an education technology company, and Colorado State University Global (CSU Global), a premier provider of innovative, higher learning opportunities for nontraditional students in Colorado and beyond, today announced that CSU Global has selected LearningMates Frost Learning Content Management System (LCMS) with a built-in Learning Object Repository (LOR) as their next-generation digital enterprise infrastructure. Transitioning from a legacy content management system (CMS), CSU Global selected Frost LOR to provide a seamless way to search and manage digital content, data, and learning objects across numerous delivery channels, including LMSs, mobile apps, ebooks, and more. LearningMates Frost provides the technology to continue our commitment to providing access to dynamic degree programs characterized, in part, by innovative delivery technologies, says Dr. Karen Ferguson, Provost at CSU Global. As we continuously evolve to meet the growing needs of our online learners, Frost provides tools that support our vision to rapidly innovate to meet, or exceed, student and faculty needs. We are excited to partner with and support CSU Global as they innovate to advance student success, says Nachiket Paratkar, SVP & Business Unit Head of Higher Education at LearningMate. Implementing Frost as a core digital infrastructure will enable CSU Global to manage their digital content from end-to-end while supporting the latest personalized, adaptive, modular, and competency-based learning models. About LearningMate Solutions, Inc. LearningMate is focused on the needs of the next generation of teachers and learners. The company builds on a strong foundation of learning design with progressive technology, digital media and engineering solutions to connect todays learners, educators, administrators, policymakers and content creators with the information, tools, and solutions they need to be successful. With six consulting offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and India, LearningMate serves a global clientele of education publishers, traditional and nontraditional EdTech companies, K-20 schools, universities and career colleges, government agencies, non-profits, corporate learning departments and education consortia. For more information, visit learningmate.com. About Colorado State University Global. Colorado State University Global (CSU Global) offers career-relevant programs for modern 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. ### If you would like more information about this release or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Taya Bures at 605.838.8108 or via email at taya.bures@learningmate.com or Andrew Dixon with Colorado State University Global at 720-897-8368 or via email at Andrew.Dixon@CSUGlobal.edu. A Queensland doctor has revealed what must happen before Annastacia Palaszczuk will reopen the state borders. Gold Coast Primary Health Networks board chairman Dr Roger Halliwell believes not enough people are being tested for coronavirus each day in the region for officials to justify opening the border. 'Theres a lot of pressure on the government to open the borders, but until everyone with respiratory symptoms is tested and levels hit 1,000 a day, they are not going to open the borders,' he told Courier Mail. There were 3,291 people for tested for coronavirus in Queensland in the past 24 hours, with around 400 of them on the Gold Coast. Police officers stand guard at the Queensland border check point in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast on May 22 Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles watches Janice Geary perform a mock coronavirus examination on a patient in the fever clinic at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane in March The Primary Health Network on Wednesday posted flyers to 146,000 residences on the Gold Coast to remind locals to be tested if they have respiratory symptoms. Dr Halliwell said the more people who are tested means the more likely the borders will be reopened, with social distancing measures and practicing good hygiene still of utmost importance. Dr Roger Halliwell said 1,000 people must be tested each day on the Gold Coast before the borders will open 'The people who dont want to get swabbed or dont want their children to get swabbed, they are the people delaying a decision about reopening the border,' he said. Health experts fear residents have become complacent with the disease, with Gold Coast COVID-19 clinics recording dwindling numbers of coronavirus tests. Dr Sonu Haikerwal from Haan Health in Upper Coomera said the coronavirus clinic at her facility is not seeing enough patients and stressed the importance of getting tested. 'People are slipping through the net and the best policing system is educating the public about the important of testing and stay at home if theyre sick,' she said. Interstate travel is slated to begin again on July 10, but Premier Palaszczuk has warned her state's border closure could be in place until September at the earliest. Despite building pressure, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has held firm to keep the state borders closed Gold Coast tourism leaders have predicted an economic loss of $500million should borders stay closed for that long. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Queensland is ignoring an earlier agreement to open to interstate travel in July. 'When we set out the three-step process together, July was the time when interstate travel was supposed to be up and running again,' he told 2GB on Thursday. He said there was no medical advice to support their extended closure. 'That was never the health advice, it was never the agreement. That that was something they came up with on their own.' A group of women enjoy a picnic in New farm Park in Brisbane as coronavirus restrictions eased to allow gatherings of 10 people However, Queensland's Deputy Premier Steven Miles stood firm on the ban, saying: 'We're not going to be bullied by Scott Morrison into putting the lives of Queenslanders at risk.' 'We know that southerners want to come to Queensland for our fantastic climate, great beaches and national parks,' he said. 'We want them to come here too, but we want them to come here when it's safe for them and safe for us.' Dr Miles, who announced Queensland had recorded zero COVID-19 cases again overnight, said they would not open until other states had their infections under control. Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the state won't be bulled into opening its borders earlier The state government has previously said the borders may not open until September, but the closure is being reviewed each month. Mr Morrison said keeping the borders shut meant tourism operators risked losing vital dollars from interstate travellers, who were already starting to book their winter holidays. 'If they leave it to announcing it in July, it means that people who might book a holiday for July will have already booked it somewhere else, and they may be booking it in New Zealand,' he said. DES MOINES -- Outside the Iowa Capitol, Yena Balekyani, a black woman from Des Moines who has been participating in the protests for racial justice, had a message as she called for new state laws to address the issue. I am holding you guys accountable. I will be here, Balekyani said. And if this is not passed, I will be in the streets, we will be out here every single night until black lives matter again. Inside the Iowa Capitol, when asked how important it is for her to sign racial justice legislation into law this session which likely will end within the next couple of weeks Gov. Kim Reynolds touted some criminal justice reform measures her administration has undertaken and is currently working on, but seemed to manage expectations for any new laws this year. Weve made some significant steps. But we have a ways to go. And its going to be important that we have meaningful and thoughtful conversations, that we continue to look at what we have done, (and) where do the gaps continue to exist, Reynolds said. Were not going to fix this overnight. But we need to listen, we need to understand, and we need to demonstrate that we are making progress along the way. Balekyani spoke about her experiences during a press conference hosted by statehouse Democrats on Thursday morning on the western steps of the Capitol, the site of multiple protests over the past week. Nightly protests have broken out across Iowa and the country after George Floyd, a black Minnesota man, died after a white police officer held him in a choke hold by kneeling on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. Democrats introduced a package of legislative proposals to begin addressing the racial justice issues being raised by the protestors: a ban on police use of choke holds or neck restraints, making it illegal to rehire law enforcement officers who were previously fired for misconduct or using excessive force, and giving the state attorney general and local county attorneys the authority to investigate police misconduct. Rep. Ras Smith, a black state lawmaker from Waterloo, said Democrats in the Iowa House have presented the proposals to Republicans who are in the majority and thus set the policy agenda. We have had conversation, and our goal is to continue to push forward with pressure to make sure that those conversations manifest themselves in to real action, Smith said. Later Thursday morning, at her press conference inside the Iowa Capitol, Reynolds noted the work done by her administrations task force on criminal justice reform, and that group will continue to meet. She has also championed a proposal to amend the state constitution to automatically restore the voting rights of felons who complete their sentence. That proposal has been amended to require felons pay fines before having their rights restored, a stipulation that advocates decry and equate to a poll tax. But that task forces work is focused on criminal justice reform, not other issues of racial equality that protestors want addressed. We must work hard to identify the cracks in the system that perpetuate practices that continually victimize black communities and brown communities as well from any form of police violence and brutality, Balekyani said. Everyone has a part in this change, and our lawmakers here have the responsibility to make sure that legislation represents and protects groups that for years have not had the privilege of protection. On Wednesday, Democrats in the Iowa Senate pressed majority Republicans in that chamber whether they plan to advance racial justice legislation. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Ankeny, noted the felon voting legislation and said he welcomes the introduction of any proposals, but that none have been brought to him and none were in the works. Any of the members who are interested in this, I am happy to look at any specific proposals you bring forward. I have not seen any of those yet, Whitver said. Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said she would be willing to work with Whitver on legislation. Legislators just resumed the session Wednesday after an 11-week break during the COVID-19 pandemic. They expect to finish the session within the next couple of weeks. During Thursdays press conference, held as a bright sun shined on the state Capitol, Smith who represents the Iowa city with the largest share of black residents in the state said legislative action this session is critical. The sweat of my brow is not because of this heat, its because of the anger that I have inside because of a lack of action, Smith said. No legislation is going to bring back George Floyd. Thats hard for me, because I want to fix it. But this is where we start. This is where we start to turn that apathy of the some in to the action of the many. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Thursday. Web links to longer stories if available. This file is no longer being updated. Read Fridays coverage here. 5 p.m. Ontario health units report 31,153 cases of COVID-19, up 346, and that 2,419 people have died, which is an increase of 46, the highest total of deaths since May 20; 38 of these were in Toronto. With 183 new COVID-19 cases, the city also accounted for more than half the provinces of total cases today. 4.42 p.m. There are 93,702 cases of COVID-19 in Canada, according to The Canadian Press, including 7,636 deaths, and 51,455 resolved. This breaks down as follows (NOTE: The Star does its own count for Ontario, see entries in this file): Quebec: 52,143 confirmed (including 4,885 deaths, 17,098 resolved) Ontario: 29,403 confirmed (including 2,357 deaths, 23,208 resolved) Alberta: 7,076 confirmed (including 145 deaths, 6,587 resolved) British Columbia: 2,623 confirmed (including 166 deaths, 2,243 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,058 confirmed (including 61 deaths, 995 resolved) Saskatchewan: 648 confirmed (including 11 deaths, 608 resolved) Manitoba: 287 confirmed (including seven deaths, 284 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including three deaths, 256 resolved) New Brunswick: 136 confirmed (including one death, 120 resolved) Prince Edward Island: 27 confirmed, all of which have been resolved Repatriated Canadians account for 13 confirmed cases, all of which have been resolved Yukon: 11 confirmed, all of which have been resolved Northwest Territories: five confirmed, all of which have been resolved Nunavut reports no confirmed cases. 2:45 p.m.: The Pittsburgh Penguins announce that one of their players has tested positive for COVID-19. The player, who wasnt identified, is recovering and doing well, the team said. Hes isolating himself at home. The NHL is working toward a plan to resume the 2019-20 season with 24 teams playing out of two hub cities. The league has said it plans to test players on a daily basis if play resumes. 2:30 p.m.: Once again, Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no change in its COVID-19 case numbers. There are 261 confirmed cases in the province, including 256 recoveries and three deaths. A Thursday news release says one person is still in the hospital with the illness. 2 p.m.: Canadas top doctor says the country has been successful at slowing the spread of COVID-19 but is warning that relaxing public health restrictions too quickly or too soon could lead to a rampant resurgence of the disease. Dr. Theresa Tam presented a new report on the novel coronavirus in Canada, including new short-term projections that say between 157 and 1,857 more Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the next 11 days. The projections, based on recent trends, estimate in the best-case scenario at least another 4,459 people will be diagnosed with COVID-19 by June 15, and in the worst-case scenario there will be more than 14,000 new cases by then. As Canada has experienced these outbreaks a lot has been learned, said Tam. She said initial models were partly based on knowledge of how the virus spreads and what the known incubation period is, while these numbers are now based more on actual case data in Canada. 1:56 p.m. (updated): The Raptors will have a chance to defend their NBA title as the long-delayed 2019-20 season resumes this summer. The leagues board of governors on Thursday approved a return-to-play plan for 22 of the 30 NBA teams. It will include eight games as a warmup to determine playoff seeding, the usual four rounds of playoffs and will begin in late July at the Disney-ESPN complex in Orlando. There are still details to be finalized, chief among them the health protocols that will be in place for the more than 1,000 players, coaches and officials wholl be essentially sequestered in the Orlando complex for up to three months. The Stars Doug Smith has the story. 1:55 p.m.: Ontario is taking over management of another long-term-care home because it has struggled to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The province has appointed a hospital to manage Woodbridge Vista Care Community in Vaughan. William Osler Health System in Brampton will serve as the interim manager of the long-term-care home. Ministry data shows that 17 residents at the home have died of the virus. Sixty-five residents and 20 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. 1:30 p.m. (updated): Ontario government announces $1.5 million in funding to organizations that support Black families and youth in immediate support to help Black communities recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Premier Doug Ford says there is lot of pain right now and it must be acknowledged, saying that starts with giving young people opportunities. The province is also launching a new equality of opportunity advisory group chaired by headed by Jamil Jivani, a lawyer and community builder. 1:20 p.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting one new death as a result of COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the province since the pandemic began to 61. Health officials say the newest victim was a man in his 70s with underlying medical conditions in the provinces central health zone. The province is also reporting no new cases of COVID-19, keeping the total number of confirmed cases in Nova Scotia at 1,058. Three people are currently in hospital, with one of those in intensive care. Health officials say 995 people have now recovered and their cases of COVID-19 are considered resolved. 1:18 p.m.: The Japanese public is being prepared for the reality of next years postponed Olympics, where athletes are likely to face quarantines, spectators will be fewer, and the delay will cost taxpayers billions of dollars. In the last several weeks, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has given selected interviews outside Japan and hinted at empty stadiums, quarantines and virus testing. IOC member John Coates, who oversees Tokyo preparations, said a few weeks ago in Australia that the Tokyo Olympics face real problems, partially because of the numbers involved: 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes to start with, and then staff, officials, media and up to 80,000 volunteers. 1:15 p.m.: The City of Brampton says it will begin to lift COVID-19 measures on its transit system starting next month. Starting July 2, the city will reinstate front boarding and begin charging fares again which have been suspended since March. Transit riders and operators will also be required to wear non-medical masks on the citys buses after Canada Day, July 1. There will be some exceptions to the new rules, with children under the age of two and those with disabilities or relevant medical conditions exempt from the mask requirements. Also, while front-boarding will be reintroduced in order to facilitate the collection of fares, passengers will be required to exit buses using the rear doors only. 12:40 p.m. (updated): In a letter sent to employees Wednesday, Bombardier, which operates GO Transit and UP Express trains under contract to Metrolinx, said it was temporarily laying off 196 employees. That represents more than a quarter of the the companys rail operations workforce in the Toronto area. The letter said that while Bombardier had attempted to keep its workers employed during the crisis, ridership on GO and UP has fallen by about 90 per cent since the pandemic began and we must now reduce our service levels as well. The layoffs will begin June 21 and last an unspecified period of time. 12:15 p.m.: Quebec is reporting 91 additional deaths from COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 4,885. The province also reports 259 additional COVID-19 cases for a total of 52,143 since the pandemic began. Nearly half of all the cases and over 60 per cent of the deaths are in the Montreal area. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has decreased for the second straight day for a total of 1,076. Of those, 146 people are in intensive care. 12 p.m.: Theres a growing constellation of symptoms from strokes to blood clots to heart attacks that have mystified doctors treating COVID-19 who originally thought of it as a respiratory condition affecting the lungs. At the beginning of the pandemic, health officials werent even recognizing symptoms like COVID toes as part of the disease. Guidance from public health officials advised that cough, fever and shortness of breath were its hallmarks. But a growing body of research suggests COVID-19 may be a vascular disease affecting the blood vessels, an important part of the puzzle that could change how its treated. Read the full story from the Stars May Warren. 11:48 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a special one-time payment for seniors will go out the week of July 6. The COVID-19-related aid will come in the form of $300 payments to the more than six million people who receive old-age security benefits, and an additional $200 for the 2.2 million who also receive the guaranteed income supplement. Seniors who already receive benefits wont have to apply for the special payment. Those who reside in the country can expect to receive payment by direct deposits or cheques that week. Anyone living outside the country should expect delays if they receive cheques in the mail given international postal disruptions. The parliamentary budget officer has estimated the overall cost of the measure at almost $2.5 billion this fiscal year. 11:30 a.m.: As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Ontarios regional public health units are reporting a total of 30,841 confirmed and probable cases, including 2,371 deaths. After two days that saw a large number of new cases reported in southwestern Ontario, the case growth reported since Wednesday morning was once again focused in the GTA; the majority of 360 new cases in the last 24 hours were reported in Toronto and Peel Region. According to a provincial database of cases, more than three-quarters of the 3,838 Ontarians with an active case of COVID-19 reside in the GTA, with nearly 85 per cent of those in living in Toronto or Peel. Meanwhile, the 15 fatal cases reported in the province since Wednesday morning was in line with a recent falling trend. The rate of deaths is down considerably since peaking at more than 90 deaths in a day earlier this month, about two weeks after the daily case totals hit a first peak in mid-April. Earlier Thursday, the province reported that testing labs had completed nearly 21,000 tests the day prior, near the provinces full testing capacity up more than 3,000 from the previous day. Premier Doug Ford, who has called for widespread testing as a key part of Ontarios response to the pandemic, faced criticism last month after the labs reported daily totals far below target for 10 straight days. The province also reported 776 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 121 in intensive care, of whom 94 are on a ventilator numbers that have fallen sharply since early May. The province also says more than 23,000 patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus have now recovered from the disease more than three-quarters of the total infected. The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of total deaths 2,357 may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date. The Stars count includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test. 11:20 p.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says new federal modelling shows that COVID-19 is in decline across Canada but the country is not out of the woods. He says the continuing threat means that as more people start working in public, adhering to physical distancing measures and wearing masks remains very important. And he says the country will have to do better at testing and tracing contacts of people who contract the novel coronavirus to stamp out flare-ups. 11:07 a.m.: Trudeau says a COVID-19 vaccine must be shared by the world in order to eradicate the disease. Trudeau delivered that message today in his third international summit in a week. Canada is campaigning for a coveted seat on the UNs Security Council on a platform of helping to rebuild the post-pandemic world. Todays summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is aimed at ensuring poor countries will have ready access to an eventual vaccine for the deadly coronavirus that causes COVID-19. 11 a.m.: Ontario is reporting that 20,822 tests were completed the previous day, more than the 20,000-per-day goal the province has pledged earlier in the pandemic. Premier Doug Ford, who has called for widespread testing as a key part of Ontarios response to the pandemic, faced criticism last month after the labs reported daily totals far below target for 10 straight days. 10:38 a.m.: New Brunswick public health officials are reporting the provinces first death from COVID-19. In social media posts, the family of a man in his 80s who had been living in the Manoir de la Vallee in Atholville, N.B., said he died from the virus this morning. The long-term-care home in northern New Brunswick has experienced an outbreak and as of Wednesday had been linked to eight COVID-19 cases. 10:30 a.m.: The Ontario government has made former federal health minister Jane Philpott an adviser. Philpott, a physician, will help with the design and implementation on a new health-data platform. The government says the platform will assist researchers and health-system workers as they access anonymized data. The information will be used to help research and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Philpott served as minister in the federal government until she was ejected from the Liberal caucus in 2019. She was defeated in the last federal election and took a new role at Queens University earlier this year. Read the full story from the Stars Rob Ferguson. 10:10 a.m. (updated): Toronto is ready to help bars and restaurants open existing patios and new patio space on sidewalks and parklet space, as soon as dine-in service can safely resume. Mayor John Tory announced a new program on Thursday called CafeTO that will let businesses quickly open patios with a streamlined approval process and with public space normally not available for patios. Read the full story from the Stars Francine Kopun. 9:45 a.m.: Mayor John Tory and deputy mayor Michael Thompson is expected to announce a plan to provide outdoor space for local restaurants and bars at a 10 a.m. news conference. There has been suggestions that the city might close down adjacent road lanes to allow adequate space for restaurants and bars to configure their seating in accordance to physical distancing guidelines to allow for sitting customers. 8:50 a.m.: Ontario went into lockdown in mid-March to make sure COVID-19 cases did not overwhelm hospitals. But do we still need to be locked down? Provincial officials, who have extended Ontarios emergency orders until June 30, would say yes. Some public health physicians, epidemiologists and economists would say no. Many worry the cure may now be worse than the disease. I dont question the need for a lockdown in March, said epidemiologist Martha Fulford, chief of medicine for the McMaster University Medical Centre. But now we have more information. And two months in, we are at a stage where the harm from lockdown is starting to look like it is going to be greater than the harm from COVID. And that is the conversation I think we should be having. Read the full story from the Stars Laurie Monsebraaten. 8:30 a.m.: Premier Doug Ford says hes keeping secret the list of code red nursing homes struggling most with COVID-19, leaving worried families in the dark and standing in the way of volunteers who might step up to help, critics charge. Revealing the names of those nursing homes 19 by the governments latest admission would tip them off that they could face unexpected inspections, Ford said Wednesday as the death toll in long-term care rose by nine to 1,661. Read the full story from the Stars Rob Ferguson. 7:05 a.m.: The Toronto Wolfpack are looking at providing fans with disposable tracking bracelets/wristbands during games to allow for contact-tracing in case of COVID-19 once the team returns to play. The transatlantic rugby league team has struck a deal with TraceSafe Technologies to use its wearable tracking products and services to help in safely reopening Lamport Stadium for training, any games played behind closed doors, and games with fans during this time of social distancing. The Wolfpack say they are the first pro sports team in the world to embrace the use of wearable tracking products and services for staff and fans. Still Wolfpack CEO Bob Hunter says the team is still in the very very early stages of the concept. While the pandemic is forcing most sports to resume play with no fans in the stands, the hope is they will be able to progress to having some on hand with physical distancing and that fans can eventually return en masse once a COVID vaccine is discovered. 4:43 a.m.: The United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are urging that governments and others unite in developing a peoples vaccine to protect everyone against the coronavirus. Their appeal came ahead of a vaccine summit in London organized by the Global Vaccine Alliance that is seeking to mobilize billions of dollars of funding for a COVID-19 vaccine. The peoples vaccine should protect the affluent, the poor, the old and young, said a statement by the U.N. and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. That is a moral imperative that brings us all together in our shared humanity, it said. It said the pandemic is also raising risks of other diseases as it disrupts childhood immunization programs, leaving at least 80 million children under the age of one at risk of diseases like measles, diphtheria and polio. The urgency of finding a way to stem outbreaks was evident as India on Thursday reported yet another record number of new infections, at 9,304, with 260 deaths in the previous 24 hours. Indias tally of COVID-19 fatalities surpassed 6,000 and its number of infections has risen to nearly 217,000, the Health Ministry said. That makes India the seventh worst hit by the pandemic. Neighbouring Pakistan reported over 4,000 new cases and said 82 more people had died, raising its death toll to 1,770. On Thursday, as many as 901 COVID-19 patients were listed in critical condition in Pakistan hospitals. 4 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking part in his third international summit in a week as Canada campaigns for a coveted United Nations Security Council seat on a platform of helping to rebuild the post-pandemic world. Thursdays summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is aimed at ensuring poor countries will have ready access to an eventual vaccine for the deadly coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Trudeau will join leaders from 50 countries and major organizations, including philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, at the international pledging conference, which hopes to raise nearly $10 billion for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance the leading agency for distributing vaccines to less-developed countries. He has already announced Canadas five-year, $600-million pledge to GAVI, which has immunized 760 million children and prevented 13 million deaths in the worlds poorest countries since 2000. Trudeaus participation in the virtual conference comes one day after he delivered an address to a virtual summit of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States. He told members that Canada is committed to helping developing countries hardest hit by the pandemic to survive the crisis. His remarks underlined a message he delivered last week when he co-hosted a UN-sponsored conference aimed at developing a co-ordinated global recovery plan that leaves no country behind. 4 a.m.: Federal prison chaplains say the spiritual needs of inmates have become an unnecessary casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when offenders are feeling particularly vulnerable and alone. The Correctional Service of Canada is allowing only emergency in-person visits from chaplains to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The correctional service says it is ensuring inmates have access to spiritual guidance from chaplains via telephone or other technology as a temporary alternative. Wednesday 9 p.m.: The coronavirus toll in Mexico soared to a new daily high Wednesday, with the health department reporting 1,092 test-confirmed deaths more than double the previous one-day record and in line with numbers in the United States and Brazil. The announcement was an embarrassment for officials, who have consistently predicted cases in Mexico were about to start levelling off. The country began a gradual reopening of industrial and business activity Monday. Officials rushed to say that many of the new confirmed deaths had occurred days or even weeks ago and were being announced now because of delays in processing tests or other reasons. Mexico has largely seen daily death tolls of 300 to 400, after seeing the previous one-day high of 501 deaths May 26. The number of new confirmed cases rose by 3,912, pushing Mexicos total for the pandemic into six figures, at 101,238. But Mexico has performed very little testing about 250,000 tests in a country 125 million people and officials acknowledge that the actual number of cases is probably many times higher. 7 p.m.: The damage done by keeping children out of school might outweigh the risks of COVID-19 transmission, a group of U.S. pediatricians said Tuesday, pushing back against educators who have cautioned against reopening campuses too soon. The Southern California chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents about 1,500 doctors, issued a statement pointing to research suggesting the risks of COVID-19 transmission among children are lower than for adults, but that keeping children away from in-person instruction for longer will have negative consequences. - Read Wednesdays rolling file here Read more about: Rajiv Bajaj (REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee) The way India has been locked down is draconian, said industrialist Rajiv Bajaj in conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his series of dialogues on the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, on June 4. Im not hearing about this kind of lockdown from anywhere else. All my friends and family from across the world have always been free to step out, said Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto. In the dialogue with Bajaj, the former Congress president said that a lot of people said that they had lost confidence and he thought that was a very sad thing, and dangerous for the country. On this, Bajaj said that he did not understand how despite being an Asian country, India sought not to look East, but looked at Italy, France, Spain, the UK and the US. These are not right benchmarks in any sense be it in terms of inherent immunity, temperature, demography etc, said Bajaj. 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 Talking further about the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, Rahul said in its early days, an expert told him that the moment full lockdown is applied, it changes the nature of disease. You are making this non-fatal disease a fatal disease in minds of the people with a lockdown. Once you have moved into a lockdown, switching it off again is not going to be easy. It is going to be extremely complicated. I liked your point about, we look West and not East, he said. Adding further, Bajaj said there were certain options in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic, like the choice of an airtight, impervious lockdown or business as usual. Everybody is trying to find a middle path between these two extremes. I think unfortunately, India not only looked west, but it also went to the wild West. We stayed more towards the impervious side. We tried to implement a hard lockdown which was still porous. So I think we have ended up with the worst of both worlds, added Bajaj. Bajaj further highlighted the dangers of arbitrary regulations and its impact on the ability of Indian companies to be competitive. Commenting on the GDP, Bajaj said that the wrong curve has been flattened ... the GDP curve has been flattened. It was a failed lockdown said Rahul Gandhi, adding that it was apparent that the disease was increasing after easing the restrictions. The first such dialogue was held on April 30 when Gandhi discussed the coronavirus pandemic and its economic implications with former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan. He then held a conversation with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee who had said India should come out with a large enough stimulus package to revive demand. The former Congress chief last week spoke to globally renowned public health experts -- Professor Ashish Jha of Harvard Global Health Institute and Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 04:30:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Video: Protests and subsequent arrests still haunt New York City on June 2, 2020. (Xinhua) "Last night we took a step forward in moving out of this difficult period we've had the last few days and moving to a better time," says Mayor Bill de Blasio at his daily briefing, adding that the measures are effective. NEW YORK, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Protesters defied a curfew in New York City on Tuesday night to keep protesting the death of African American George Floyd, but the night was largely peaceful with only sporadic reports of looting and violence citywide. Tuesday's curfew, the second since 1943, started earlier than Monday at 8 p.m. local time and ended at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, during which vehicle traffic below 96th street in Manhattan was limited. Hundreds of protesters refused to leave after 8 p.m. on Tuesday and kept marching across the Manhattan Bridge. Police tried to block them but failed. Police officers monitor a protest over the death of George Floyd in New York, the United States, June 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) However, it was still a relief for city officials and police as the night was much more peaceful and quieter than previous ones. Around 200 people were arrested, mostly for minor violations. Very few incidents of looting, violence or vandalism were reported, according to the New York City Police Department (NYPD). "Last night we took a step forward in moving out of this difficult period we've had the last few days and moving to a better time," said Mayor Bill de Blasio at his daily briefing, adding that the measures were effective. He said the curfew would remain for the rest of the week till the morning of June 8, the day when New York City is scheduled to enter phase one of reopening. Demonstrators protest over the death of George Floyd in New York, the United States, June 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Wednesday that officers across the country are facing orchestrated attacks from criminals. "We are seeing it, unfortunately, alive and well in New York City," said Shea, who joined the mayor's briefing through phone, adding that some bottles thrown to the police during the turmoils in previous days were filled with cement rather than water. He also retweeted a video on Wednesday showing officers confiscating boxes of pre-staged bricks left on a street corner in Brooklyn. "This is what our cops are up against: Organized looters, strategically placing caches of bricks & rocks at locations throughout NYC," he said. Demonstrators protest over the death of George Floyd in New York, the United States, June 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) On the first night of curfew in New York City, dozens of shops were looted hours before the curfew began at 11 p.m. and over 700 people arrested. Wednesday's protests in New York City are scheduled to start around 4 p.m., according to organizers. Burma Myanmar Government Cuts 25% Off Yangons Budgetary Request Yangon in 2018 / Kyaw Phyo Tha / The Irrawaddy YANGON The Union Government has cut more than a quarter of an additional expenditure of 181.2 billion kyats (US$129 million) requested by the Yangon regional government for the remaining four months of the 2019-20 fiscal year. The Yangon government sought supplementary budgetary approval for the additional spending from the Union government. But the financial commission chaired by President U Win Myint has released 131.8 billion kyats ($94 million), cutting 49.4 billion kyats ($35 million) after a review, according to the Yangon Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The supplementary budget is requested when the original budget is insufficient. Requests by states and regions are initially scrutinized by the Vice President U Henry Van Thio and the Ministry of Planning and Finance. Daw Thet Htar Nwe Win, PAC secretary and a Yangon lawmaker, told The Irrawaddy that it was the largest cut to a supplementary budget request in five years. She told lawmakers on Tuesday that extended funding was rejected for new projects, including the construction of roads and buildings and major renovations which could not be finished before October, especially during the rainy season. The cut also included spending on hiring new staff, land and furniture purchases and electricity projects, she added. The PAC urged the regional government to follow financial rules and tender regulations in budget requests. U Win Myint said the supplementary budget should be for ongoing infrastructural projects and essential projects that must be completed this fiscal year. Regional lawmakers questioned a 5-million kyats ($3,600) fuel bill for two road department officials, 2.8 billion kyats ($2 million) for a centers renovation and 1 billion kyats ($713 million) for upgrades to the citys two disposal sites. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Parliament Approves $700-Million IMF Loan for COVID-19 Spending Myanmar Parliament Slashes Militarys Budget Request for First Time Sumi Sukanya dutta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The results of the first randomised control trial to assess whether anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 in those who may have already been exposed to the virus could dash the hopes of health policymakers pinning too much hope on the medicine. The findings of the high-quality trial carried out in the USA and published in the New England Medical Journal has shown that coronavirus infection rate was same in two control groupsone taking HCQ and the other under placebo. These results have major implications for India as in the country, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on the advice of the Indian Council of Medical Research has recommended HCQ prophylaxis for healthcare workers treating infected patients and household contacts of positive cases, exposed to the virus. ALSO READ | WHO to resume anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine's coronavirus trials Additionally, all healthcare workers not directly treating COVID-19 patients, field workers engaged in containment measures and police and security personnel have also been recommended the prescribed doses of the drug with the belief that it will help them avoid contracting the infection. The latest research by infectious disease experts in the University of Minnenosta followed 821 adults who described a high-risk or moderate-risk exposure to someone with Covid-19 in their household or an occupational setting. They were then were provided HCQ or placebo within 4 days after the reported exposure, and before symptoms would be expected to develop. The incidence of a new illness compatible with COVID-19 did not differ significantly between participants receiving hydroxychloroquine 49 of 414 (11.8%) and those receiving placebo -58 of 407 (14.3%). In fact, participant-reported side effects were significantly more common in those receiving hydroxychloroquine (40.1%) than in those receiving placebo (16.8%) but no serious adverse reactions were reported- said the research findings. Back home, the ICMR has been under constant fire for recommending HCQ prophylaxis for Covid 19 without any evidence. Just a few days back, it had published findings of a case-control study, not considered very highly scientifically, in its own journal which said that healthcare workers who take at least six or more doses HCQ are better placed to avoid contracting COVID-19 than those who take none or lesser doses. The Council, however, had drawn more flak for not coming clean on the issue of conflict of interest as two of the papers authors included senior ICMR office bearers who were also responsible for writing advisories on prophylaxis even without any evidence. [June 04, 2020] KBRA Assigns Ratings to WFCM 2020-C56 Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) is pleased to announce the assignment of ratings to 17 classes of WFCM 2020-C56, a $731.1 million CMBS conduit transaction collateralized by 44 commercial mortgage loans secured by 64 properties. The collateral properties are located throughout 30 MSAs, the largest three of which are New York (16.4%), East Bay (11.7%), and Dallas - Fort Worth (8.8%). The pool has exposure to all of the major property types, with two types representing more than 10.0% of the pool balance: multifamily (43.2%) and office (23.1%). The loans have principal balances ranging from $2.2 million to $52.7 million for the largest loan in the pool, Supor Industrial Portfolio (7.2%), is comprised of 27.1 acres of land underlying two industrial warehouses located in Harrison, New Jersey, approximately two miles northeast of the Newark CBD and 10 miles west of Manhattan. The assets together comprise 610,650 sf. The five largest loans, which also include The Grid (7.2%), KPMG Plaza at Hall Arts (6.0%), Panoramic Berkeley (5.7%), and Solitude at Centennial (4.9%), represent 30.9% of the initial pool balance, while the top 10 loans represent 51.4%. KBRA's analysis of the transaction incorporated our multi-borrower rating process that begins with our analysts' evaluation of the underlying collateral properties' financial and operating performance, which determine KBRA's estimate of sustainable net cash flow (KNCF) and KBRA value using our U.S. CMBS Property Evaluation Methodology. On an aggregate basis, KNCF was 8.4% less than the issuer cash flow. KBRA capitalization rates were applied to each asset's KNCF to derive values that were, on an aggregate basis, 42.3% less than third party appraisal values. The pool has an in-trust KLTV of 101.4% and an all-in KLTV of 111.1%. The model deploys rent and occupancy stresses, probability of default regressions, and loss given default calculations to determine losses for each collateral loan that are then used to assign our credit ratings. Click here to view the report. To access ratings and relevant documents, click here. Related Publications WFCM 2020-C56 KBRA Conduit KCAT U.S. CMBS Multi-Borrower Rating Methodology U.S. CMBS Property Evaluation Methodology Methodology for Rating Interest-Only Certificates in CMBS Transactions Global Structured Finance Counterparty Methodology Disclosures Further information on key credit considerations, sensitivity analyses that consider what factors can affect these credit ratings and how they could lead to an upgrade or a downgrade, and ESG factors (where they are a key driver behind the change to the credit rating or rating outlook) can be found in the full rating report referenced above. A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the U.S. Information Disclosure Form located here. Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here. Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the U.S. Information Disclosure Form referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com. About KBRA KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered as an NRSRO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005715/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] An ongoing, massive overhaul of the Defense Health System that will send some non-military patients to civilian providers is built on incomplete or faulty data that could leave beneficiaries without access to quality care, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. As part of an effort to improve health care for military beneficiaries and eliminate redundant programs across the armed services' medical commands, the Defense Department is transferring management of military hospitals and clinics to the centralized Defense Health Agency and focusing its efforts on caring for and training active-duty personnel. Read More: Mattis Breaks Silence on Trump, Denounces Divisiveness as Protests Rage The plan calls for shifting at least 200,000 beneficiaries to Tricare network providers and downsizing 43 military health facilities, as well as closing five. But in a report released May 29, GAO analysts said the DoD's assessments of the availability and quality of the providers needed to make the plan work in the Tricare networks are based on "incomplete and inaccurate information." The DoD's conclusions on the cost-effectiveness of the reforms may also be incorrect, not taking into account any future need to increase Tricare reimbursement rates, according to the GAO. "Until DoD resolves methodology gaps by using more complete and accurate information about civilian health care quality, access and cost-effectiveness, DoD leaders may not fully understand risks to their objectives in restructuring future military treatment facilities (MTFs)," the report states. To understand whether communities near military bases could support an influx of new patients into the Tricare health program, the GAO looked at the quality and availability of providers near 11 installations. It found that, in many cases, the DoD simply assumed that the providers identified as potential candidates for serving new Tricare patients were of "sufficient quality." It did not look at quality at 10 of the 11 bases reviewed. Only at Fort Polk, Louisiana, did DoD assessors consider the quality of providers, and there, they concluded that health services would not be sufficient to care for civilian beneficiaries. According to the GAO, military health officials they interviewed at the bases expressed concerns over the quality of care in their communities. Military families also have reported that they often face problems accessing good medical care in the Tricare network at some locations. The DoD also didn't factor in the number of providers in communities and included providers who didn't meet the department's access standards for appointment wait times or drive times. According to the GAO, in the 11 communities examined, about 56% of primary care and 42% of specialty care physicians identified by the DoD as potential new providers were outside its drive time standards. "Including such providers in its assessments means that DoD could have overestimated the adequacy of civilian health care providers in proximity to some MTFs," GAO analysts wrote. Finally, the DoD concluded that civilian health care was more cost-effective than care at MTFs without including several assumptions the GAO said are important, such as the salaries of military personnel and their workloads, as well as Tricare reimbursement rates. The DoD based its calculations on current Tricare reimbursement rates, even though military health system officials have said those may need to increase to attract quality providers, the GAO noted. The GAO found that at two of seven facilities it evaluated "in detail," if the DoD had subtracted the military personnel salaries from its calculations, care at the MTFs was less expensive than care in the community. If those salaries were factored with any increases in Tricare reimbursement rates, then three of the seven MTFs would be more cost-effective than purchased care. Military advocates said Thursday that the GAO report is "extremely concerning," adding that its conclusions, when paired with the complexities of the reform efforts, as well as unknowns over the future of health care in communities following the novel coronavirus pandemic, are reasons for caution. "We are concerned there is not enough information out there for DoD to assess the risk of moving people out of MTFs and into the surrounding civilian community for care, if they are not exactly sure how many providers are out there and what quality of providers there are," said Karen Ruedisueli, director of health affairs at the Military Officers Association of America. "And how many providers will actually take new Tricare providers?" Ruedisueli added. "There may be providers out there, but how many will take new patients? How many will take new Tricare patients? It doesn't look like any of those things were examined in detail." Others agreed that questions need to be answered. "We don't object to a system that has family members and retirees accessing care in the civilian community, as long as there are assurances that the network is robust. But it's incumbent upon DoD to make sure the health care benefit is commensurate with service," said Eileen Huck, deputy director for health care at the National Military Family Association. "Something else we need to keep in mind is that we don't know what the medium- and long-term impact in the civilian health care system from this national emergency is going to be. We know lots of practices have suffered financially because people have not been seeking elective medical care, so that's another thing that really gives us pause," Huck added. The GAO made several recommendations for improving data collection and assessing availability to care, to include using more complete and accurate information and establishing goals and thresholds for MTFs to meet before transition. In response, DoD officials partially concurred with some of the GAO's recommendations but added that some of the suggested data collection would "require substantial resources to accomplish on a routine basis." They added that data collection will be more accurate as it becomes more standardized under the Defense Health Agency. The DoD refuted the GAO's statements on its assessments about meeting DoD access standards, saying that as it moves toward a centralized appointment system, it will have a clearer picture of wait times at both military treatment facilities and in the Tricare network. The DoD also pointed out that its assessors used drive times from patient homes rather than the military hospital, which it called a "more accurate assessment of availability and convenience." Some members of Congress have called for more details on the military health reform efforts and may include requests for information or changes to the plans in the annual national defense policy bill. The Senate is set to begin deliberations on its version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization legislation next week. The House has not announced when it plans to introduce its version, but that is expected later this month. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Troops, Families Say They are Worried About Planned Changes to the Military Health System Study led by CHOP physicians found half of pediatric patients who were screened had no symptoms, and infection rates among children varied greatly Philadelphia, June 4, 2020--Universally screening pediatric patients for COVID-19 before they undergo surgical procedures has allowed hospitals to improve safety by identifying all patients who test positive for the virus, half of whom have no symptoms, according to new research led by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The study, which analyzed universal screening procedures at CHOP and two other major children's hospitals, found that screening patients for COVID-19 allowed hospitals to ensure patients and physicians were not exposed to the virus. The findings were published today in JAMA Surgery. "CHOP's commitment to screening every patient preoperatively has significantly improved patient safety," said lead author Apurva Shah, MD, MBA, an orthopaedic surgeon in CHOP's Division of Orthopaedics. "Our study shows that many pediatric patients who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic, even though the overall number of positive cases is small, so parents can feel reassured that their children and other children undergoing procedures have been screened for the virus." The research team, which consisted of physicians from CHOP, Seattle Children's Hospital, and Texas Children's Hospital, gathered COVID-19 screening data on preoperative pediatric patients for one month, from late March to late April 2020. CHOP had begun screening all preoperative patients for COVID-19 on March 26, 2020, as part of its hospital-wide safety procedures. Each of the three hospitals used an in-house, lab-developed reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay to detect COVID-19 in patients with scheduled surgical procedures. Of the 1,295 patients included in the study, the overall incidence of COVID-19 was 0.93%. However, the researchers found significant variation across hospitals, ranging from 0.22% to 2.65%. Even more striking, at CHOP, 55.56% of positive patients were from a single township, indicating that the incidence in children may vary depending on COVID-19 infection rates in the patients' communities. Among those pediatric patients who tested positive for COVID-19, half had no symptoms. Of those who did have symptoms, the most common were fever and a runny nose. Nevertheless, the researchers noted symptoms were not useful in differentiating those who tested positive for COVID-19 and those who tested negative. Given that the study covered a time period when all three hospitals had cancelled elective surgeries, the data reflect pediatric patients who required time-sensitive surgery and thus may not represent the incidence in children undergoing elective surgery. However, the authors say the findings show the value of universal screening in protecting both patients and physicians from COVID-19 exposure in all types of surgery at times when the SARS-CoV-2 virus is actively circulating in a community. "If a patient tests positive for COVID-19, and the procedure doesn't need to happen immediately, providers can reschedule surgery for a time when the patient has recovered," Shah said. "But in some cases, surgery cannot wait, and in that situation, knowing a patient is positive for COVID-19 allows staff to protect themselves with appropriate personal protective equipment and prevent that patient from coming into contact with other patients and families." "As we start to relax social distancing measures, and children return to their 'new normal' with exposure to the community, universal testing for children undergoing surgery will be even more important," said first author Elaina E. Lin, MD, an anesthesiologist in CHOP's Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. "As an anesthesiologist that performs many procedures with the highest risk of respiratory virus transmission, I appreciate patients and families partnering with us to keep everyone safe." ### Lin et al. "Incidence of COVID-19 in Pediatric Surgical Patients Among 3 US Children's Hospitals," JAMA Surgery, published online June 4, 2020. DOI:10.1001/jamasurg.2020.2588 About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 564-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu Global floating PV installations are set to jump by 143% from 2019 to hit more than 900 MW of annual capacity additions this year, according to IHS Markit's Floating PV Report - 2020. Growth has been driven in recent years by a surge in the number of floating PV systems installed in countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands, with total global installed capacity reaching about 1.5 GW at the end of 2019. IHS Markit Research Manager Cormac Gilligan and Senior Analyst Chris Beadle examine how these countries have taken the lead, with developers building large quantities of ... 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. NEW YORK, NY New York students who've been in limbo this spring waiting to learn whether they'll have a graduation ceremony got their answer Thursday. New York will allow drive-in and drive-thru graduation ceremonies as the number of coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations continue to trend downward, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. In response to a reporter's question about allowing students to have in-person ceremonies, Cuomo said he can't risk people dying. "Yeah, I know everybody wants to go to a high school graduation," he said. " I get it. Not if they're going to die." At his daily briefing, the governor said New York City will begin phase one of reopening businesses Monday, while the Hudson Valley and Long Island begin the second phase Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Cuomo said recent tests showed that just 2 percent of Long Islanders are testing positive for the COVID-19 disease. That's down from 4 percent two weeks ago and 20 percent six weeks ago. In New York City, 2 percent of people are testing positive now, down from 5 percent two weeks ago and 26 percent six weeks ago. Graphic courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. While Cuomo said he stands with the protesters, he warned that having 30,000 people standing in close proximity could result in a spike in infections. He urged protesters to act as if they've been infected, and encouraged them to get tested. The state is expanding testing criteria to include all people who've joined protests in recent days. On Wednesday, 52 people died of COVID-19, including 38 in hospitals and 14 in nursing homes. There were just 135 new hospitalizations as well. Graphic courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. Cuomo urged prosecutors to seek monetary bail conditions against looters who break into businesses using "dangerous instruments" such as rocks, bricks and crowbars. "It would be nonsensical if police were arresting looters and they were released on the street to return and loot again," Cuomo said. Story continues He stressed that prosecutors should not "up-charge," but rather "charge appropriately." "Don't feel there's a political environment where, 'I don't want to charge because it's not political to hold people accountable for crimes,'" he said. "The law is the law." The governor also said he will direct insurers Thursday to expedite claims for looted businesses and provide those businesses with free mediation of disputes. Furthermore, insurers will have to accept photos as reasonable proof of loss, rather than wait for police reports. This article originally appeared on the Long Island Patch Deputy Communications Director of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mame Yaa Aboagye has described the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama as a damaged commodity. According to her, Mr. Mahama has dented his image before Ghanaians. She said John Mahama has lost credibility and integrity due to the numerous scandals that have characterized him and his regime. To her, Mr. Mahama and the NDC are doing their best possible to pump fear in Ghanaians and instigate them against the Electoral Commission because that is the only option available to them. Mame Yaa Aboagye, in an interview with Peacefmonline.com after former NDC Member of Parliament for North Dayi George Loh participated in the EC pilot registration exercise, wondered why the NDC has been misleading their party members concerning the new voters registration. I dont understand why they are telling their supporters not to go and write their names whiles they (NDC leadership) are busy registering. In one breath they accused President Akufo-Addo and the EC of rigging 2020 elections through the new voters register, on another breath they are saying they sent their members to monitor ECs process . . . Why must you care about something you so much disregard? . . its like telling your members to look up whiles you (leadership) are all looking down, thats hypocrisy at its best . . . confused party with damaged commodity leader, she further stated. a She urged all Ghanaians to go and register their names when exercise commences because those who have been agitating against it has set the ball rolling. Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[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 The virus has been slowing down for some time now, thanks to stringent restrictions imposed by the government and the compliance of the nation as a whole since Covid-19 arrived in Ireland earlier this year. And, with Ireland due to enter phase two of the five-phase roadmap to reopen the country next week, things are looking far more hopeful than they were a couple of months ago. There are currently only 754 active cases of coronavirus in Ireland, according to global statistic website, Worldometer, which has been monitoring the spread of the virus since it first emerged in China. That's 754 cases of the 25,111 total confirmed cases the country has had since March, meaning there have been 22,698 recoveries from the virus since it arrived in Ireland. Ireland's death toll, since the pandemic began, has reached 1,659, with three new deaths announced on Wednesday evening, June 3. 47 new confirmed cases were also announced. The 754 active cases is a significant drop on Tuesday's figure, which stood at over 1,300. Of those 754, a total of 36 are believed to be in a serious or critical state, with the remaining 718 considered not serious. The Centre is committed to restarting industries and reviving the economy, the central governments top law officer, attorney general (AG) KK Venugopal, told the Supreme Court on Thursday during the hearing of a case challenging the home ministrys March 29 directive to employers to pay workers in full for the lockdown period. The directive had been intended to alleviate human suffering and will not come in the way of employers and employees negotiating the payment terms, the AG said. Government of India is interested in economy restarting, industries restarting. It is for employers to negotiate with employees as to how much wage could be paid for lockdown period, we will not interfere, Venugopal said. Industries, traders and their associations, which are the petitioners before the apex court in the case, countered by arguing that workers will not come to the negotiating table as long as the government notification mandating payment of full wages is in operation. With the March 29 notification in place, no negotiation will be possible since workers will not come to negotiating table. We are as much citizens as the workers are, senior counsel KV Viswanathan, who was appearing for the company B4S Solution Ltd, told the bench headed by justice Ashok Bhushan. The bench also seemed to share the concerns of the employers, stating that mandating payment of full wages during the lockdown could have an adverse impact on the industries. The notification directs payment of 100% of salaries. It could have been around 50 to 75%. Do you have the power to ask them to pay 100%, justice Bhushan asked. The bench, which also comprised justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah, reserved its verdict, which will be delivered on June 12. The court also granted interim protection to employers directing that no coercive action be taken against them until the court delivers its verdict. List for orders on June 12. In the meantime, no coercive action, against the employers shall be taken pursuant to notification dated March 29, the order said. The contentious notification issued by the ministry of home affairs on March 29 stated that employers must pay wages in full to all their employees even if their establishments are closed because of the lockdown. All the employers, be it in the industry or in the shops and commercial establishment, shall make payment of wages of their workers, at their work places on due date, without any deduction for the period their establishments are under closure during the lockdown, clause (iii) of the MHA order said. Companies and associations approached the Supreme Court ,stating that the obligation to pay employees arises only when work is actually done. An employer and employee have reciprocal promises whereby the right of an employee to demand salary is reciprocal to performance of work by such employee. The employer has a right to not pay if no work is done, the plea by Hand Tool Manufacturers Association, an association of around 52 firms based out of Punjab, said. The AG told the bench that the directive was to ensure that workers in industries stayed put instead of migrating to their home towns/ villages during the lockdown. The humanitarian grounds on which this order was issued should be considered. People were migrating in crores. They would have stayed put only if they were paid, he said in defence of the government notification. Senior counsel Indira Jaising, who appeared for Angmenhanti Kashtakari Sangarsh Samiti, an umbrella coalition of informal workers, also supported the government directive, arguing that it was intended to protect workers who had been prevented from going to work by the authorities because of the pandemic. If an authority prevents me from going to work, then that authority should ensure that I am protected. We have honoured the lockdown, she said. North Korea on Thursday said the United States is in no position to criticise China over Hong Kong or human rights when Washington threatens to unleash dogs to suppress anti-racism protests at home. In an article carried by one of North Koreas main state-run newspapers, an unnamed spokesman for the international affairs department of the ruling Workers Party of Korea (WPK) criticised recent comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Pompeo said recent actions by the Chinese Communist Party suggest it is intent upon the destruction of Western ideas, Western democracies, Western values and puts Americans at risk. Pompeos remarks on Hong Kong, Taiwan, human rights and trade disputes were nonsense that slandered the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the WPK spokesman said. Pompeo, who has been deeply engrossed in espionage and plot-breeding against other countries, has become too ignorant to discern where the sun rises and where it sets, the spokesman said. Such statements by American leaders are a sign of their concerns about a declining United States, he said, citing the ongoing protests against police brutality. Demonstrators enraged by the extreme racists throng even to the White House, the spokesman said. This is the reality in the US today. American liberalism and democracy put the cap of leftist on the demonstrators and threaten to unleash even dogs for suppression. South Koreas Yonhap news agency said it was the first time the WPK international affairs department had issued a statement of its own since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011. Coronavirus in India live updates: The number of coronavirus cases continue to grow in the country as India reports 2.16 lakh cases.The number of active cases in the country has increased to over 1.06 lakh cases. So far, over 1 lakh people have been discharged and 6,075 have died from coronavirus. Maharashtra is the worst-affected with 74,860 cases. On Wednesday, the state reported the highest single-day spike in fatalities at 122. Delhi has reported 23,645 cases so far. Additionally, India's Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar has tested positive. The defence ministry carried out a massive contact-tracing exercise, official sources said. Kumar is stable and is under home quarantine. Also read: Coronavirus update: Maharashtra reports highest single-day spike in deaths; COVID-19 cases tally at 72,300 Check out all the latest updates on coronavirus pandemic in India on BusinessToday.In live blog: 4.20 pm: No coercive action against employers over wage payment The Supreme Court on Thursday extended till June 12 the operation of its May 15 order asking the government not to take any coercive action against companies and employers for violation of its March 29 circular on payment of full wages to employees for the lockdown period. 4.00 pm: Himachal has successfully checked coronavirus: CM The Himachal Pradesh government has succeeded in checking community spread of coronavirus by ensuring institutional quarantine for returnees to the state from various red zones across the country, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Thursday. He said there was only one active case during the first week of May which has now risen to 206 after the return of 1.70 lakh state natives. 3:30 pm: People with medical emergencies can enter Delhi with e-pass The Delhi High Court was informed by the AAP government that its guidelines for COVID-19 lockdown allow people with medical emergencies to enter the national capital by applying for an e-pass which will be made available to them. The Delhi government said its Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has issued an order on June 1 with regard to prohibited and permitted activities, during the phased reopening - unlock 1, and the guidelines permit entry into the national capital from neighbouring states in case of medical emergencies. 3:00 pm: UP plans to relax curbs Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday asked officials to make preparations for unlocking the state, starting June 8, as per the Centre's guidelines. "The unlock arrangements starting from June 8 should be followed as per the Centre's guidelines. The relaxations should be studied and implemented accordingly," an official statement quoted the chief minister. 2:30 pm: Ashok Chavan recovers from coronavirus Maharashtra PWD Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan, who tested positive for coronavirus last month, was discharged from a hospital here on Thursday after recovering from the disease. After being discharged, the former chief minister reached his home to a warm welcome from his family members. 2:00 pm: Lawyer deposits Rs 15 lakh for migrant crisis The Supreme Court directed a Mumbai-based lawyer to deposit Rs 25 lakh with the apex court registry, which he has offered for the travel of migrant workers from Mumbai to their native places in Uttar Pradesh amid Covid-19 pandemic. During the hearing, conducted via video conferencing, Khan told the top court that he has a bona fide concern for the migrant workers and wanted to deposit Rs 25 lakh with the apex court for their travel to native places and the amount can be used as train fare. 1:40 pm: Coronavirus testing in Mizoram The Mizoram government has decided to test the samples of people returning to the state from containment zones in other parts of the country using Real- time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines. "Samples of all the stranded persons returning to the state from containment zones those who have already reached Mizoram and those who are on their way -- will be tested in laboratories for COVID-19. Those currently housed in quarantine centres, whom we earlier felt did not require laboratory testing, will also be tested," said Health and Family Welfare Board Vice-chairman Dr Z R Thiamsanga. 1:15 pm: Chhattisgarh coronavirus cases As many as 52 more people, including a government doctor, tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, taking the state's COVID-19 tally to 680, a health official said on Thursday. "It is the biggest spike in a single day since the first positive case was detected in the state in mid-March," the official said. 1:00 pm: Centre asks private companies to pay up The Centre has said that private establishments must pay full wages to workers. Employers claiming incapacity in paying salaries must be directed to furnish their audited balance sheets and accounts in the court, it said. The government has said the March 29 directive was a "temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship" of employees and workers. 12:30 pm: AAP asks for power bill waiver from govt The Maharashtra unit of Aam Aadmi Party has demanded that the state government waive off electricity bills of up to 200 units for people who have suffered economically due to the lockdown. "It is thus extremely important that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government immediately take measures to alleviate the economic crisis that has gripped the aam aadmi (common man)," it said. 12:15pm: Coronavirus Rajasthan updates: Rajasthan reports 68 new coronavirus positive cases till 10:30 AM today, taking the total number of cases 9720. Number of active cases stand at 2692. 12:00pm: Assam coronavius updates: Assam, on Thursday reported 47 new coronavirus cases. With this, the state has reported 1,877 COVID-19 cases as of today. Of the 1,877 cases, 1,457 are active, while 413 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals, four persons have died and three have migrated out of the state. Assam has recorded a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases since inter-state movement began. However, with increased testing facilities, the state government's aim now is for reduced institutional quarantine and increased home quarantine. Assam reports 47 new #COVID positive cases till 11:47 am today, taking the total number of positive cases to 1877. Number of active cases stand at 1457: State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pic.twitter.com/cvMQcudcI6 - ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020 11:45am: Delhi coronavirus updates: A record single-day spike of 1,513 cases took the COVID-19 tally in Delhi past the 23,000-mark on Wednesday. The previous highest single-day spike of 1,298 cases was recorded on Tuesday. The death count in the national capital has surged to 606, in the last 24-hour. 11:30am: Coronavirus Indore updates: The number of COVID-19 cases in Indore rose to 3,633 after 36 more people tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours. Besides, the death toll also went up to 145 as four more people, including a 75-year-old man, succumbed to the viral infection in different hospitals here in the last two day. Till now, 2,184 people have been discharged from hospitals here after recovery. The COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in Indore on March 24, when four people tested positive for it. 11:15am: India's COVID-19 recoveries cross 1-lakh mark According to Union Health Ministry data, number of cured/discharched/migrated COVID patients have crossed the one-lakh mark on Wednesday. At least 1,00,302 COVID-19 patients have recovered already giving an overall recovery rate of over 48 per cent in the country, as of June 4. 11:00am: India-origin minister Alok Sharma tested for coronavirus in UK Britain's Indian-origin Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, has been tested for the novel coronavirus. Sharma, 52, was seen feeling uneasy and sweating during a debate on the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill in Parliament on Wednesday. Sharma will now be returning home to self isolate, the spokesperson said. The minister was among hundreds of MPs seen queuing for hours on Tuesday to cast their votes under new social distance rules as Parliament returned to a physical setting after a hybrid version, which involved remote attendance by MPs via screens set up in the chamber. 10:45am: DDMA issues directives for management of COVID patients The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has issued directives for the management of bodies of coronavirus positive/suspected people at mortuaries oh hospital in the national capital. According to DDMA, "The hospitals must fix the date and time in such a way that an effective notice of at least 24-hour is available to the family/ relatives. If family or relatives contact mortuary themselves, within 12 hours of death, the hospital shall schedule cremation/ burial in consultation with the family/relatives and concerned municipal body within next 24 hours". It further added, "In case of unidentified abandoned dead bodies of COVID-19positive/suspect person Delhi Police shall complete all legal formalities within 72 hours of death and shall dispose of the dead body in the next 24 hours as per the protocol". 10:30 am: Two more coronavirus cases in Meghalaya Two more persons who had recently returned to Meghalaya from other states have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the northeastern state's tally to 33, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has said.The two persons, who had returned from Goa and Maharashtra, tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday night, hours after an Uttar Pradesh returnee was found to be infected with the deadly virus. 10:15 am: India reports 9,304 cases in a day Coronavirus cases in India saw a record single-day jump of 9,304 cases on Thursday pushing the total tally to 2,16,919, while the death toll climbed to 6,075 with 260 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry. India stood seventh among the nations worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. 10:00 am: George Floyd was tested positive for corona A full autopsy of George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police, states that he had tested positive for COVID-19. The 20-page report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office came with the family's permission and after the coroner's office released summary findings Monday that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers, and classified his May 25 death as a homicide. 9:45 am: 7 days of home quarantine for travellers in Delhi All asymptomatic traveller arriving in Delhi through flights, trains or roads will have to undergo mandatory seven days of home quarantine. The earlier mandate for asymptotic travellers was to undergo 14 days of home quarantine. According to DDMA chairman Vijay Dev, the concerned airport, railways, and other transport authorities will submit passenger manifests to the office of the principal secretary of revenue department on a daily basis to keep a tab on arrivals. 9:30 am: HCQ can't prevent coronavirus The much-touted malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has proven to be ineffective in preventing coronavirus infection, according to a widely anticipated clinical trial. The new trial found no serious side effects or heart problems from use of hydroxychloroquine. 9:15 am: UK Business Secy tests positive Business Secretary in UK Alok Sharma has tested positive for coronavirus. He was tested after he reported feeling unwell. Alok Sharma began feeling unwell when in the Chamber delivering the second reading of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, a spokesperson for the minister said. In line with guidance he has been tested for coronavirus and is returning home to self isolate, the spokesperson said. 9:00 am: Defence Secretary tests positive Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tested positive for COVID-19. The defence ministry carried out a massive contact-tracing exercise follow the confirmation. Kumar's condition is stable and he is currently under home-quarantine. At least 35 officials working at the ministry's headquarters in South Block in the Raisina Hills have been sent on home quarantine. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- Although it had been downgraded to a depression by Thursday afternoon, forecasters expect Cristobal to move back into the Gulf of Mexico and return to tropical storm strength before making landfall on the Louisiana coast. The impact to the Mississippi coast would come in the form of heavy rainfall, localized flooding and a 4-6 foot storm surge. With that in mind, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors Thursday morning declared a state of local emergency in anticipation of potentially heavy rainfall and flooding. The countys four municipalities soon followed suit with their own declarations, which allow for the sharing of resources between the various government agencies. Jackson County Emergency Services Director Earl Etheridge said Thursday afternoon there are still a number of unknowns surrounding Cristobal. If it doesnt dissipate over the Yucatan Peninsula -- which it could do -- and if it comes back into the Gulf, and if it maintains the track theyre predicting -- going into the middle of southern Louisiana -- and if it builds back up into a tropical storm, Im looking at 6-8 inches of rain and maybe 4-6 foot of storm surge along the Mississippi coast, Etheridge said. Thats a lot of ifs. Self-serve sandbags are available for residents at the following locations (residents should bring their own shovels): ST. MARTIN -- West Division Roads Department, 6900 N. Washington Ave. VANCLEAVE -- Central Road Department, 8500 Jim Ramsay Rd. MOSS POINT -- East Division Roads Department, 10825 Hwy. 63 MOSS POINT -- Forts Lake Fire Department, 10701 Forts Lake Rd. MOSS POINT -- Escatawpa VFD, 3801 Sentinel Dr. OCEAN SPRINGS -- Fontainebleau Fire Department, 3901 Hwy. 57 south OCEAN SPRINGS -- St. Andrews Fire Department, 1401 Elm St. GAUTIER -- Behind City Hall, U.S. 90 west MOSS POINT -- New Central Fire Station, 4204 Bellview St. OCEAN SPRINGS -- Public Works Department, 712 Pine Dr. PASCAGOULA -- Jackson County Fairgrounds, 2902 Shortcut Rd. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch effective through Tuesday. Cristobal was slowly drifting east southeast as of Thursday afternoon and was causing flooding through parts of Mexico. NWS forecasters expect the storm to turn north, move back over the Gulf of Mexico and re-intensify as it moves towards the Gulf Coast by the weekend. The storms slow movement was resulting in torrential rainfall in Central America, where some areas could see rainfall measured in feet, rather than inches. Forecasters note warm water temperatures in the Gulf support the expectation that Cristobal will strengthen once it moves out over open water. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle defended the repeated use of police gas by law enforcement officials Wednesday night to end a protest rally for the second time in three days. In a statement issued Thursday morning, Battle also said that people "not from our community" led an impromptu protest that followed the organized NAACP "police brutality" protest at which the mayor spoke. Police similarly defended the use of tear gas following Mondays protest and police have scheduled a news conference Thursday to discuss last nights protest. Police were clear in their instructions and worked with the remaining protesters for more than an hour before using non-lethal irritants, Battle said in the statement. The protesters had every opportunity to peacefully leave and they chose otherwise. The leadership of this second group is not our community. Related: Alabama unrest: Huntsville police again gas and scatter protesters; arrests in Birmingham; crowds elsewhere Multiple rounds of tear gas were deployed on the courthouse square in downtown Huntsville as well as in Big Spring Park to disperse protesters between 8-9 p.m. Wednesday. At least one child who was not with the protesters appeared to have been affected by the tear gas while standing on the sidewalk in Big Spring Park along Church Street. A young child, appeared to be about 3-4 years old, began screaming about the time the tear gas carried across Church Street. Paul Gattis (@paul_gattis) June 4, 2020 A small girl, maybe three years old , was just enveloped in a cloud of tear gas. She screamed while her dad ran away with her. Ian Hoppe (@IanHoppe) June 4, 2020 A woman also said she was injured by rubber bullets fired by police. Woman hit by rubber bullets in nearby parking garage. pic.twitter.com/BMTpyxWecg Ian Hoppe (@IanHoppe) June 4, 2020 The events began with a rally sponsored by the Huntsville-Madison County chapter of the NAACP in Big Spring Park, which began at 5 p.m. and ended shortly before a scheduled 6:30 p.m. conclusion. The protested consisted of a series of speakers, including Battle and Alabama House Minority Leader Rep. Anthony Daniels of Huntsville and city councilmen Devyn Keith and Will Culver. When the rally ended with what appeared to be more than 1,000 people in attendance -- a speaker told the crowd that there would be no march and that the protest was over. Protesters were asked to leave through Big Spring Park and by walking away from the adjacent courthouse square. Several hundred protesters soon gathered on the square and the scene was much like Monday's protest. Protesters chanted and screamed at police which stood guard outside the courthouse in larger numbers than Monday. The first order to disperse came about 7:10 p.m. and the first tear gas was deployed about an hour later. What occurred after the NAACP event was disheartening," Battle's statement said. "A second event occurred, structured by people who were not part of our community. They gathered at the courthouse to block the square and protest. This was not part of a permitted event, and there were no local organizers in charge, which becomes a public safety issue. Even so, police allowed the protestors time to express themselves before asking everyone to leave. Most complied, but others did not." Daniels, the House minority leader from Huntsville, criticized the response by law enforcement in an interview Wednesday with AL.com news partner WHNT-Channel 19. "I am very surprised at the actions that have taken place, Daniels told the television station. The individuals during the time of the protest were very cordial, very peaceful. I was just very surprised that things escalated to the point where tear gas is being thrown and aggression had taken place. I am very disappointed in the actions. I have called for our local and county leaders to explain to me why in the world would the State Troopers be in Huntsville, Alabama. This is not Selma on Bloody Sunday! We have the manpower locally to deal with this. They dealt with this locally on Monday. I didnt see the type of behavior that one may have described as aggressive from the protesters to warrant this action. Huntsville police said Thursday morning that 24 people were arrested at the protest: One on a firearms charge, three for receiving stolen property after being detained with fire extinguishers taken from a downtown parking garage and the remainder on disorderly conduct charges. Police said Wednesday night one officer received minor injury after being hit in the head by an unknown object that was thrown. The only property damage observed after the protest was a broken window at The Kaffeeklastsch, a longtime Huntsville coffee roaster a block north of the courthouse square. Battle also attended Monday's protest and talked with a small group, promising that the change sought by protesters would be achieved going forward. He then sat on the courthouse steps talking to protesters before being escorted away just before police began dispersing the crowd. It is a hard thing for us to see in Huntsville, but weve worked too hard to grow this city as a place of respect and opportunity," Battle said in his statement. Let us turn pain into purpose and do the hard work to create meaningful change. We wont let people and organizations from outside our community turn us against each other. This is a time for us to unite, to protect the city we love and to move forward in a way that is more equitable and just. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has inaugurated several new projects in Aghjabadi, presidents official website reported on June 3. First, Aliyev attended the opening of the "ASAN Service center in Aghjabadi. Presidential aide, Head of the Department for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies of the Presidential Administration Fuad Alasgarov and Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan Ulvi Mehdiyev informed Aliyev about the center. The head of state launched the center. After viewing the center, President Ilham Aliyev met with the ASAN volunteers. The head of state made a speech at the meeting. - We are celebrating the opening of another "ASAN Hyat" Center. Congratulations on this occasion! Following my instructions, a modern and beautiful "ASAN Hyat" Center has been established in Aghjabadi district and is being commissioned today. The center makes a very pleasant impression. Both its appearance and the interior design are beautiful. And most importantly, a total of 320 service types will be provided to our citizens here. Eight hundred thousand people living in this region can take advantage of this opportunity. The opening of yet another "ASAN xidmt" Center is a very significant event because we have increased the number of ASAN xidmt centers to 19 in a short period of time, and this process continues. The construction of eight more centers is envisaged at the present time. Some of them are practically ready and work is still underway in others. Thus, "ASAN xidmt" centers will cover our entire country. In fact, our plans were precisely that. When we came up with this initiative, I firmly decided that if this experience is positive, of which I had no doubt whatsoever, then it is necessary to create "ASAN xidmt" centers throughout the country and provide high-quality services to all our citizens. We are doing this work consistently. When inaugurating this center today, I saw that approximately 38 million requests have been received since the launch of "ASAN xidmt" centers. The work of ASAN xidmt is best illustrated in the fact that its popular approval rating is 99.4 percent. It is possible to say that our citizens are 100 percent satisfied with "ASAN xidmt" centers. And this is natural. In fact, our intention and desire has been to create excellent, convenient and transparent services for people. We have managed to achieve this. "ASAN xidmt" is an intellectual product of our country today. I have already said this but I want to say it again: we are already exporting this intellectual product. Agreements have been signed with several countries on the establishment of our "ASAN xidmt" centers there. In some countries, these centers are already in operation. This is our national brand. The launch and the successful operation of "ASAN xidmt" is an excellent result of the policy pursued in this area. "ASAN xidmt" is an innovation. At the opening of each new center, I am familiarized with new innovative projects, including today. After that, the vast majority of these projects are implemented. The activities of "ASAN xidmt" have given a powerful impetus to the development of innovations in Azerbaijan. I am glad that it is young people who introduce and make these innovations. Thus, revolutionary changes have occurred in the field of public services in our country in a short time. Perhaps 10 years ago no-one could have imagined that 320 services could be provided in one center. These services have a high innovation factor. At the same time, transparency is mandatory in these centers. In other words, one of the key features of "ASAN xidmt" is that it has been able to protect people from bribery and corruption in the field of public services. Public services were, one might say, one of the most corrupt areas. People spent weeks, sometimes months knocking on doors for a document that was supposed to be issued to them by law, asking officials for help and often having to pay a bribe. But for many years now, this practice has been completely eliminated in Azerbaijan. This also suggests that where there is a strong will, a sound policy and advanced execution mechanisms, there will always be a result. As you know, "ASAN xidmt" was established on my initiative and expanded its activities based on my instructions. But "ASAN xidmt" was actually created by you, the youth leaders, personnel and employees of "ASAN xidmt". We have created such a perfect system that we can be rightfully proud of it. We have provided convenience, justice and transparency to people. Therefore, "ASAN xidmt" is not just a service center. It is a demonstration of a completely new way of thinking, the application of a completely new philosophy in public relations. This is an initiative, a major project fully consistent with the modern development of our country. It has great public significance. Of course, "ASAN xidmt" has been raised to such a high level by the people working here, by their merits and deeds. After all, even the best project and initiative may fail if it is executed incorrectly. I am very glad that the absolute majority, perhaps even all employees of "ASAN xidmt" centers are young people, including the volunteers working in all the centers. I am told that more than 200 employees and 45 volunteers will work in the "ASAN xidmt" center in Agjabadi. As a matter of fact, the volunteer movement in Azerbaijan began with "ASAN xidmt". Prior to this, there was no such movement in Azerbaijan. After "ASAN xidmt", volunteers began to work in other areas. Volunteers have also contributed a lot to the international sports competitions held in our country the European Games and the Games of Islamic Solidarity. Without volunteers, we would not be able to host these major competitions. Today, on my instructions, volunteers work in other areas as well. I have issued instructions on attracting volunteers to work in state organizations, ministries and state companies so that they undergo hands-on training. After all, today's volunteers are the leaders of tomorrow. It is no coincidence that on my order this year has been declared a "Year of Volunteers". This once again reflects our attention and attitude to the activities of volunteers. So by working in the "ASAN Hyat" and "ASAN xidmt" centers, young people provide a great help to their homeland. Of course, there is a high level of professionalism. In general, as I said, a completely new form of public relations is being applied in Azerbaijan, because earlier, in addition to corruption and bribery in the field of public services, I would say that rudeness and indifference were commonplace. At "ASAN xidmt" centers, everyone coming here is treated with respect, peoples problems are resolved promptly and in a transparent manner. Therefore, we can rightfully be proud that "ASAN xidmt" is the national brand of Azerbaijan. It is no coincidence that the UN has praised the work of "ASAN xidmt" centers and presented a special award to them. Of course, the promotion of this service on an international plane also plays a role in shaping the correct picture of our country. We are open to cooperation. As I said, we have already done work with several countries to set up such centers there and have taken appropriate steps. At the next stage, both this year and next one, there are plans to open new centers in the regions and in the city of Baku. Currently, there are five centers in Baku but as far as I know, there is a high density of visitors in some centers, primarily because the number of services has increased. When "ASAN xidmt" started to operate, the number of services was about 100, if I am not mistaken, and today it has reached 320. Thus, the population and the number of requests have increased. Therefore, the decision was made to set up two more centers in Baku. At the same time, there are plans to open two centers in Sumgayit and Ganja each, as well as in other cities. Considering that there are 10 "ASAN xidmt" buses in operation as well, I think that we will cover all regions of our country and provide excellent services to our people in the next two to three years. When each new center opens, I also see innovations, because "ASAN xidmt" is expanding its activities. A brand such as "ABAD" is already in operation. State support plays a special role in the development of family farms. Family farms operating in various parts of the country are already supplying their products to the market and are also starting to export them. This is also a major contribution to the overall economic development. As you know, we are currently paying serious attention to the self-employment program. This year, at least 10,000 people will be involved in the program. Great support for the self-employment program is provided by small production sites created through "ABAD". I know that following my call, private companies also entered into agreements with "ABAD" and allocated funds so that work in this area could gain momentum. This center will become a new center of services, leisure and entertainment for Aghjabadi district. There are two cinemas here. As far as I know, there is no other cinema in the city of Aghjabadi. There are opportunities for young people to spend their leisure here. The "ABAD" shopping center is also in operation. Therefore, this center will attract people. Aghjabadi youth is provided with jobs here. As I have already noted, more than 200 jobs have been created here and young people will work in them. The creation of this center in Aghjabadi district is no coincidence. Aghjabadi is one of the largest districts of our country in terms of population. Aghjabadi is located on Karabakh land, and a lot has been done to develop the district in recent years. This is my seventh visit to Aghjabadi as president, and a lot of work has been done over the years. The infrastructure in Aghjabadi is fully updated. In previous years, there were problems with electricity. These issues are now being fixed. The new substation opening in Aghjabadi today will uninterruptedly supply the district with energy. The level of gasification in Aghjabadi exceeds 90 percent. Just a few years ago, people had completely forgot about the existence of gas. The city and villages had not gas supply. Today, gas supply exceeds 90 percent. New roads are built. My further order provide for the allocation of additional funds for the creation of a new road infrastructure. I am told that 60 percent of urban and rural roads of Aghjabadi district are being reconstructed. We have programs for the remaining 40 percent. This is enshrined in the state program on the socioeconomic development of the regions. We will improve all the roads. A drinking water project is being completed. Today we will celebrate the supply of drinking water to the city of Aghjabadi. This is also a major project because drinking water has always been a major problem in Aghjabadi. This issue is about to be resolved as well. On my instruction, 115 sub-artesian wells have been drilled to provide irrigation water. Thirty more will be drilled because water is one of the main contributors to the development of agriculture. A central district hospital has been built. This is one of the largest hospitals in the districts of our country. It is fitted with equipment that meets modern standards. The Olympic Sports Center, the Karabakh Muhgam Center, the "ASAN Hyat" complex all this work has been done on my initiative and at the expense of the state. Major funds have been invested in infrastructure and social facilities of Aghjabadi district, in projects that are intended to resolve issues of concern to the people. This shows again that work should be carried out at this level, according to plan, consistently and with correct prioritization throughout our country. We did it. If infrastructure projects had not been implemented, other projects would have no meaning at all. We have laid this foundation. Therefore, economic development should go at a faster pace. We have fully provided agriculture with machinery. The harvesting season started in Aghjabadi today. We have fully provided not only Aghjabadi district but also our entire country with grain and cotton harvesters, with harvesters manufactured by the most advanced companies in the world. Our villagers and farmers had not seen this before. They were barely able to repair the failed harvesters left over from the Soviet era and tried to service them. Those constantly broke and failed. For several years, there was no equipment at all. Therefore, the land remained unattended and was not cultivated. We resolved that too. This is a great foundation. Today, the entire infrastructure has been created. There is a supply of equipment. The ball is in the court of entrepreneurs now. Four large farms have been established in Aghjabadi. The peculiarity of grain growing farms is that their productivity is much higher than the average yield in the country, for cotton growing as well. In this way, we will achieve the development of the country and ensure diversification of the economy. Of course, going back to the activities of "ASAN xidmt", I want to say once again that our modern approach is visible on the example of this service. We see and prove that we can not only fight corruption and bribery but also succeed in doing that. We use all means. Of course, I think that the key role here is played by systemic measures. We can see in the example of "ASAN xidmt" that this is possible. Therefore, by taking institutional measures of systemic nature we have narrowed the scope for corruption and the shadow economy. At the same time, administrative and punitive measures are and will continue to be taken. The people of Azerbaijan are updated about this. I can say that the thousands of letters addressed to me appreciate our fight against corruption and bribery. Our citizens approve of this, and we see that signals are already beginning to arrive from the ground. I want to repeat: public oversight is necessary. Each signal associated with bureaucratic arbitrariness will be investigated. Of course, these signals must be fair. Here, too, we cannot allow for any vilifying campaigns and spontaneous approaches. Each signal will be seriously examined, because it is possible that someone can throw up false information, someone may not like someone else, can write something about them there is such a thing. Therefore, in the first place, justice and public oversight must be ensured. I am sure that we will get the upper hand in the fight against corruption and bribery. It is no coincidence that the World Health Organization, praising the work in the field of combating the pandemic, has described Azerbaijan as an exemplary country. Similar thoughts may have been voiced in relation to other countries, but I did not hear. As for Azerbaijan, the World Health Organization, the organization that manages the work in the entire healthcare sector on a global scale and coordinates this work, has described Azerbaijan as an exemplary country. All this shows again that, first of all, Azerbaijan is a strong state, and secondly, that the people of Azerbaijan and their health are at the center of our policy. This proves that our measures are focused and effective, and these are timely and courageous steps. To protect the lives of people, we deliberately went into recession and economic losses. Billions of manats have been spent and are still being spent, despite the fact that the oil price has dropped. Health comes first. This indicates that in the most difficult and critical moments, we can take the right steps and show a strong will. I receive hundreds of letters of appreciation from people every day. Only a part of them is published. In these letters, people express their gratitude. For me, the highest assessment of the work done is the attitude of citizens towards it. I want to warmly congratulate you on this wonderful event again. I want to wish you success in your activities. I am sure that you, "ASAN xidmt" employees and volunteers, will contribute to the overall development of our country with your hard work. Congratulations again! Thank you! The president also attended a ceremony to launch drinking water supply and sewerage systems in the city of Aghjabadi. Furthermore, he attended a ceremony to launch grain harvest in farmer Nizami Huseynov`s planting area in Hindarkh settlement of Aghjabadi region. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Promotions like the one at Acadia Yurts which create goodwill locally and keep cash coming in at a time when travel restrictions reduce the number of out-of-state visitors are among the many tactics that tourism-reliant businesses have adopted as they struggle to navigate the first phase of reopening. Pay-what-you-can is a creative business practice for gradually reopening lodging and travel businesses, said Larry Yu, a professor of Hospitality Management and Tourism Studies at George Washington Universitys School of Business. It also makes sense to forge relationships with locals at a time when more people will be vacationing close to home, he said. Press Release 4 June 2020 MIAMI, FL. - Florida International University's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management projects five dining-out trends affecting restaurants, bars and consumers that are emerging in a post-pandemic world. The trends were presented by Michael Cheng, dean of the Chaplin School--one of the top 50 hospitality schools in the world, and the culinary and academic professional who created the world's only curriculum blending the Culinary Arts with Food Science, Culinology. Advertisements "The abruptness of COVID-19 has caused many of us in the food and beverage industry to stop in our tracks and pause for a minute," said Cheng. "At first, we thought it was a temporary pause on life as we know it, on the way we socialize outside our home with friends and family over drinks and dinner. We thought that something as simple as after-work drinks or weekend get-togethers would be put on pause for a couple weeks. But as the layoffs and furloughs started mounting in the hospitality industry, we began to realize this didn't resemble anything normal." Cheng continued, "at the same time, restaurants and bars were trying to determine their next move. Some were hesitant and closed initially, while others started expanding their services to include deliveries, take-outs, mini-groceries and meal-kits. As the weeks became months, it was evident that new health and safety protocols were going to be implemented when the economy re-opened, and there was a new need to address and allay consumers fears over dining out." Top Dining-Out Trends in a post-pandemic society: Dining-Out Trend #1 Transparency and Communication There will be a hyper-awareness of safety and sanitation on the part of consumers in the post pandemic world. The key will be to actively demonstrate adaptation to new safety and sanitation protocols and simultaneously communicate this to customers at all times. It will be crucial to ensure that staff teams feel safe returning to work, and customers feel safe frequenting a dining establishment. A recent webinar hosted by a trend software, predictive analytics, and consumer insights firm casts consumer doubt on businesses acting responsibly when non-essentials reopen, which includes restaurants and bars. Cleaning should be highly visible at all times, and protocols should be clearly posted on the website and within a place of business for all to see. "Invite social media influencers to do a vlog of your new safety and sanitation protocols in your restaurant," says Cheng. "Better yet, invite your local municipal officials to tour your establishment unannounced." Dining-Out Trend #2 Innovation and Creativity Many restaurants and bars have introduced service extensions such as delivery and take-out options as well as pop-up grocery stores during this time, and there is no reason for that to stop once businesses reopen. In fact, research shows that these new off-premise eating habits have been widely adopted by consumers with the majority of Americans saying they will likely continue to order a family meal bundle, subscribe to a regular meal kit service, order restaurant food for delivery, purchase alcoholic beverages for delivery using an online service (where legal), and shop for groceries using an online app. Of note are the restaurateurs who have paid it forward by providing meals to essentials workers during this time. Will this continue and will it pivot towards a different demographic of interest after the pandemic is over? Only time will tell. Other creative endeavors that have surfaced during the pandemic are the rise in subscription services, such as Seattle's Pike Place Market, where customers can order an Iconic Market Box that includes a variety of items from the vendors for pick-up or delivery. In spite or perhaps because of the pandemic, innovation has soared. Dining-Out Trend #3 Contactless Technology and Virtual Presence Contactless ordering, payment and pickup will continue on in the foreseeable future, as consumers continue to practice social distancing. In the meantime, the need to have contactless-everything has intensified all of our virtual presence. From virtual happy hours to virtual team meetings, many restaurants and bars have resorted to establishing virtual tip jars to help garner some relief for their employees during this time. The New York City Wine & Food Festival (NYCWFF) launched "At Home", virtual cooking with your favorite NYCWFF chefs with the proceeds benefiting NYCWFF Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, and numerous cities have also launched virtual restaurant weeks to boost delivery and takeout support of local businesses. The use of advanced analytics and Internet of Things or IoT technology will also reveal more robust data about consumers, allowing restaurants to tailor marketing strategies and offerings, targeting different segments of the business day and different demographics. Robotics and labor automation will become commonplace in restaurants as the need to adhere to safe distances and contactless capabilities continues. Dining-Out Trend #4 A Collaborative Community The restaurant and bar community is tight-knit. During these uncertain times, many restaurant and bar owners have been sharing their playbook with each other. From launching relief funds within days of closure, such as the SOBEWFF & FIU Chaplin School Hospitality Industry Relief Fund, to sharing best practices for packaging and deliveries, they have all banded together to help each other out. Some have even recommended their own laid-off or furloughed employees to others who needed help setting up their technology to take online orders or increase their social media presence. Others have come together to collaborate on special events, such as a recent Cinco de Mayo collaboration between Temple Street Eatery of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Taquiza Tacos of Miami Beach, Florida. As more and more cities set reopening dates, they have collaborated together on drafting reopening guidelines and providing feedback to local authorities on what works and what doesn't. This collaborative bond that is created today will continue on in various neighborhood restaurant and bar communities. Dining-Out Trend #5 Reset! This is a chance for a reset in the restaurant and bar industry. We all know the margins are notoriously small, and many owners usually have one month or less of cash reserves in the bank. When a disruption of this magnitude hits our industry, there likely will be many closures, with some estimating that 1 in 5 restaurants won't reopen. Yes, the dining landscape may be vastly different from now on, and sharing menus and communal tables may very well disappear. Some have questioned the longevity of the buffet, but with proper safeguards and elimination of self-service options while maintaining ample choices, the buffet may be modified to survive in the future, potentially leading to healthy lifestyle choices. Dining out will continue to be a desired experience, but how that experience is consumed by different demographics will vary. The physical lay-out of the restaurant will have to be redesigned to emphasize more social distancing, and outdoor dining with fresh air could be the norm, along with take-outs and deliveries. This could reduce the physical footprint needed by each restaurant or bar, and the eating area could become a shared space, like a food hall. A larger, more ambitious outcome could be a total reset of wages and rents in this industry. This will include a fight for fair wages, reliable benefits, and workplace democracy for all who are involved in the food chain, from the field to the table. The existing business model for restaurants and bars will have to be closely scrutinized, as many will not be able to afford to pay their leases in the current conditions with a reduced seating capacity and social distancing requirements. In Conclusion "While these are signs that we see today, the next 12 months will give us better clarity of the way forward," said Cheng. "Whether or not we can secure herd immunity or provide a vaccine for everyone will determine if we can return to dining and drinking the way we've been accustomed to. We may not, however, want to give up some of these new learned behaviors." Click here to read the full article. The fashion community has responded to the death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis at the hands of police officers in multiple ways: supporting social justice, helping community organizers in their fight against racial inequality and offering solidarity to the black community. Floyds death has ignited a wave of widespread Black Lives Matter protests across the country and the world. Below is a list of what some of the leading fashion companies are doing to support their black employees, learn more about systemic racism and recognize the losses of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and all victims of racism in the U.S. and Target The Minneapolis-based retailer said it would invest $10 million in its long-time partners including the National Urban League and the African American Leadership Forum, along with new partners in our hometown and across the country. The store will provide 10,000 hours of probono consulting services for black- and people of colorowned small businesses, to help with their rebuilding efforts. Were continuing to provide essentials like baby formula, diapers and medicine to communities most in need, the company said. Well offer our guests, through Target Circle, our loyalty program, the option to direct Target funds to local non-profits and include organizations supporting social justice. Well continue to work with our team, communities and partners to address longstanding systemic issues, to promote equity that enables shared prosperity and opportunity for all. And thats just the start, the company continued. In the weeks and months ahead, well continue to listen and learn from our communities and non-profit partners to better understand how Target can support their longerterm needs. Goat Goat is establishing a $1 million fund to support social justice efforts, with the first $100,000 going to The Underground Museum and The Bail Project. Story continues The sneaker and streetwear resale app is one of many companies that were affected last weekend when the Flight Club store in Los Angeles, which Goat owns, was looted. Goat said in a statement: Over the last week, weve taken a step back from our business to reflect on the role we play in the fight against social and racial injustices. We looked closely at what it means to be truly and actively supportive of the black community, and the real steps necessary to impact change. Today, were establishing a $1 million fund to support social justice efforts and plan to contribute to this fund over time. These proceeds will be used to support national organizations and local causes in our community. The first $100,000 donation has been made to The Underground Museum in Los Angeles to support black artists and to The Bail Project to support protesters demanding change. As a company, we have the privilege and responsibility to be a part of the solution. We must continue to advocate and move forward in this fight, devoting our time, energy and resources to support change. We will show up, speak up and encourage dialogue, and we will keep our ears and our hearts open to our employees as well as to our community. Nike Inc. The sporting goods brand on Friday said it would commit $40 million over the next four years to support the black community in the U.S. on behalf of its Nike, Jordan Brand and Converse labels. The funds will be earmarked to support organizations focused on social justice, education and addressing racial inequality in America, Nike Inc. chief executive officer John Donahoe said in a message to the companys staff. Craig Williams, president of Jordan Brand, will head up the initiative with a small task force that will report back to Donahoe. Internally, Donahoe said, the priority is to get our own house in order. Simply put, we must continue to foster and grow a culture where diversity, inclusion and belonging is valued and is real. Nike needs to be better than society as a whole. Our aspiration is to be a leader. He added: Systemic racism and the events that have unfolded across America over the past few weeks serve as an urgent reminder of the continued change needed in our society. We know Black Lives Matter. We must educate ourselves more deeply on the issues faced by black communities and understand the enormous suffering and senseless tragedy racial bigotry creates. Greg Uzzell, president and ceo of Converse, Inc., said the brand has already identified the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative as among the charities it will support. On top of that, he said Converse will work to provide more opportunity, inclusion, belonging, representation and equity for current and future black teammates at all levels. And the brand will use our platforms to amplify the voices of black youth around the world and will fund a dedicated community of emerging global leaders creating progress together. Jordan Brand also committed even further to the cause. Through our Jordan Wings Program, we have been focused on providing access to education, mentorship and opportunity for black youth facing the obstacles of systemic racism, Williams said. But we know we can do more. In addition to the investment from Nike Inc., we are announcing a joint commitment from Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand to donate $100 million over the next 10 years. We must join forces with the community, government and civic leaders to create a lasting impact together. There is still more work for us to do to drive real impact for the black community. We embrace the responsibility. Proenza Schouler Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, founders and creative directors of Proenza Schouler said Friday in a statement, We unequivocally believe any form of racism or discrimination has no place in our word and we proudly stand with the entire Black Lives Matter movement. We affirm our commitment to supporting the entire Black community, both in terms of what we share with the world externally and how our organization is operated internally. The designers said they are supporting blacklivesmatter.com, naacpldf.org, blackvisionsmn.org, joincampaignzero.org, libertyfund.nyc, and brooklynbailfund.org/donate. PVH Corp. On Thursday, PVH took part in the National Day of Mourning, which coincides with the memorial services for Floyd. PVH North America associates from its retail stores, offices and warehouses are invited to observe eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence Thursday at 2 p.m. ET during Floyds memorial service. In partnership with BRAAVE (Building Resources for African American Voices and Empowerment), PVH has created a task force inclusive of leadership, HR, Inclusion & Diversity, The PVH Foundation, legal and corporate responsibility teams to ensure they are taking the right steps to make the most impact. The PVH Foundation is donating $100,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, which supports racial justice through advocacy, impact litigation and education and seeks to achieve structural changes to advance democracy, eliminate disparities and achieve racial justice. It is also donating $100,000 to The National Urban League. Beginning Monday, throughout the month of June, The PVH Foundation will match 100 percent of North America corporate associate charitable donations. The company has also compiled resources to help educate itself about racism and bias and will be sharing it with its employees. This includes an Anti-Racism Resource Guide, Associate Check-in Guide, PVH U course offerings, videos, podcasts and articles. Columbia Sportswear The outdoors brand temporarily close 95 of its reopened retail stores Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. CDT during the memorial for George Floyd. We stand against racism in all its forms, but in this moment, we want to be clear that we are proud to say black lives matter. George Floyds life mattered, the company said in an internal memo from the companys executive team provided to WWD. The brands e-commerce site will continue to operate while the stores are closed and will post a statement on Floyds death and the steps the company is taking to fight racism, a spokesman said. The site showed a black screen with white lettering that read: We Are Taking Action and a line about the closure of the stores followed by the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. In addition, Columbia said it will make donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Marshall Project to advance our countrys understanding of racism and its root causes and to promote equal justice and opportunity. It did not disclose the amount. It also said it will double match employee donations to any non-profits focusing on addressing racism, up to $1,000 through July 31. It then provided a list of organizations such as Black Lives Matter, Color of Change, Equal Justice Initiative and the National Urban League. Tory Burch Tory Burch plans to launch a program for its employees that will train them to be facilitators of difficult conversations in their families and circles. The company will provide small counseling sessions for African American employees to help them deal with their grief and feelings. Tory Burchs chief people officer, Keisha Smith-Jeremie, shared her personal journey as a black in America in an e-mail to its U.S. team, including links to actions people could take to help make a difference. She is also leading efforts with employees that will include counseling for black employees and workshops on discussing race and bias for all employees. The company provided a list of resources to help employees educate themselves and their children about race in our society. The company will also work with outside facilitators and continue its public work through the Tory Burch Foundation on unconscious bias. The companys Embrace Ambition Summit focuses on shattering stereotypes and combatting bias in all of its forms, including racial discrimination, by looking at the impact of unconscious bias. Kering Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Queelin, Ulysse Nardin, Girard-Perregaux and Kering Eyewear have contributed to organizations focused on combating systemic racism and ending police violence toward the black community in the U.S. Kering has made a donation to the NAACP and Campaign Zero, an organization that aims to reduce police violence in the U.S. Rag & Bone Rag & Bone has committed $5 for every mask sold on rag-bone.com to Campaign Zero, an organization that aims to put an end to police brutality. In addition, employees will be given the opportunity to participate in a company-wide conversation around institutional bias and its impact on communities. Education tools will be provided to employees to learn more about how they can support communities and organizations in the continued fight against racial injustice G-III Apparel Group We at G-III maintain a zero tolerance position against racism inequality and injustices of any kind. We strongly believe that we all need to do our part to make a difference, both internally in our company and externally in our communities. We are committing our support to UNCF [United Negro College Fund] and other organizations in the effort to help eradicate social and racial injustice, said Morris Goldfarb, chairman and chief executive officer of G-III. H&M Group H&M Group pledged to donated $500,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Color of Change and the ACLU. The company is also providing its colleagues with additional resources to further educate them around implicit bias. Further, in the U.S., it will develop stronger relationships with historically black colleges and universities and increase community events that continue to empower the black community. It also plans to mobilize efforts to increase voter registration. It is also assembling a task force of black leaders to help apprise the company on further work. Banana Republic Banana Republic, along with Gap Inc. brands Athleta, Gap and Old Navy have come together to donate $250,000 to support the NAACP and EmbraceRace to fight for equal rights. In addition, Banana Republic will donate more than $20 million of new clothing to those in need, including millions of unemployed Americans who need support getting back to work and on their feet. Teaming up with Delivering Good, a nonprofit that supports Americans affected by poverty and tragedy, Banana Republic will donate clothing to a variety of partnership organizations in states most impacted, including Hour Working Women Program in New York and Central City Neighborhood Partners in Los Angeles. The Gap Foundation also revealed a $1 million donation to local, state, national and internal nonprofit organizations to support underserved families during the coronavirus crisis. Rachel Comey The company is participating in peaceful protests and making that time available for anyone on the team who wishes to do so. It is also supporting organizations working for voting rights initiatives, signing and sharing petitions to support Black Lives Matter and other action groups and joining the virtual Town Hall Thursday night. For the month of June, the company will be donating 10 percent of all profits to the NAACP. Matchesfashion.com After consulting with its black colleagues, the company is establishing a Black Employees Forum to put into action a racial equality learning program across the business. The company plans to step up efforts to achieve greater diversity among the designers they carry and starting in late August, will publish an annual breakdown of the designers they support by ethnic background. They will also work harder to get better representation of different communities at every level of their business and have committed to publishing an annual breakdown of colleagues at different levels of seniority by ethnic breakdown. Totokaelo The company is donating to the Northwest Community Bail Fund, Black Lives Matter Seattle, Communities United for Police Reform and Until Freedom. It is closing its site for 24 hours, and encouraging its customers to support the organizations it supports in its stories. Willy Chavarria The designer pledged to donate a percentage of the profits from all sales this month to the Brooklyn Bail Fund, a non-profit organization that fights racism, inequality and injustice in the criminal legal system. We stand with the black community in demanding justice for the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, and the countless others who have not risen to mass public attention, Chavarria said in an e-mail to customers on Thursday. The plan is to donate 100 percent of profits through June to the cause, according to a spokesman, as long as the company can continue to cover its operating expenses. Skims Skims is donating to several organizations focused on making change and fighting racial justice. They are NCAAP Legal Defense Fund, National Urban League, Color of Change, and Black Lives Matter. Andie The New York-based swim brand has developed a set of company-wide key performance indicators for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and with contractors. The company has made a donation to Campaign Zero, which seeks to end police violence in America, and the donation was matched by the companys founder and chief executive officer Melanie Travis. The company will continue to support black-focused organizations. When producing for its channels, the company has pledged to have diverse representation among models, influencers, makeup artists, photographers and all who contribute. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Transparency is a powerful force, rewarding the good, punishing the bad, and holding accountable those who foster injustice. In recent days we have seen tensions develop between police and the public south of the border and even in our own backyard as a result of police interactions. Now, more than ever, we need to take action to preserve the public trust, while at the same time allowing police to do their jobs effectively. Accountability and excellence of our police force must be our guiding principles. In an era where everyone has a cellphone and videos of police interactions are shared widely on social media, it is important that the justice system and the public have a full video of every interaction the police have. Body Worn Cameras (BWC) save lives and increase accountability of our police officers. They are an important tool in modern policing and it is time our police forces are given the resources to use them. These cameras will not fix all our problems, but they are another effective tool that can be employed to modernize policing. Studies have shown that used properly, BWCs improve transparency, improve civility, lead to quicker resolutions, corroborate evidence, and provide training opportunities to police forces on de-escalation tactics and how to deal with persons experiencing mental health crisis. In trials at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the number of officers with at least one complaint of misconduct decreased 30 per cent for officers with BWC, but had decreased only 5 per cent for those not assigned cameras. Similarly, the number of officers with at least one use of force incident had decreased 37 per cent for officers with BWC, but incidents increased 4 per cent for those without. BWCs were also associated with more citations issued (an increase of 8 per cent) and more arrests (an increase of 6 per cent). A Canadian study on BWC use demonstrated that in police interactions citizens reported more positive perceptions of police when they interacted with an officer wearing a BWC. Implementation will require robust policies, training, and working with the privacy commissioner in their use. In Peel Region, we believe the time has come for BWCs to be used by our officers and that is why at the next Peel Police Services Board meeting, we will be moving a motion to direct Peel Police to begin the process of sourcing these cameras. This is one piece of the puzzle when it comes to addressing systemic racism. But we know that this is a first step in a process of many changes required to build accountability, trust, and equity in the policing system. The history of policing has not been one focused on diversity and Incidents in the United States, the GTA and Peel have disproportionately affected members of the Black community. They have shared with us their grief, frustration, anger, and deep sense of injustice. Stories have been shared around the country of individuals who have had their own experiences, never brought to justice, and often hidden and unseen. Those of us in positions of privilege have been asked to take this moment in history to first listen to their voices, include them in the decisions that most impact their lives, and then use our privilege to bring about change. As members of the Peel Police Services Board, we will be moving a motion to implement BWCs. We will also partner with our Chief, Nishan Duraiappah, and Black African and Caribbean community organizations on a series of in-depth consultations focused on allowing the voices of the Black community to be heard and to direct us on how we can do the important work of dismantling anti-black racism. We will work to build equity and justice into the framework of our police institutions so that each member of our community feels they are protected and served. We encourage members of the community to share deputations to the board to have their voices included in this process. We can do better and we will do better, but only by working together. Building trust and increasing accountability and transparency in our police force is a job that is never done. Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in a region of Siberia after an estimated 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled from a power plant storage facility and fouled waterways. The spill took place on Friday at a power plant in an outlying section of the city of Norilsk, 2900 kilometres north-east of Moscow. Booms were laid in the Ambarnaya River to block the fuel; the river feeds a lake from which springs another river that leads to the environmentally delicate Arctic Ocean. Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit:Alexei Nikolsky Putin on Wednesday ordered officials to minimise the consequences of the spill. Ursula von Rydingsvard in her Williamsburg studio in 2002 with cedar casts of "Katul Katul." (Daniel Traub) In just under an hour, Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own manages to cover nearly 80 years in the life of the vibrant sculptor whose work-intensive art draws directly from nature and is then forged into almost mythological creations. While director Daniel Traub has little time to dive too deeply, the documentary serves as a fascinating glimpse into an artists work, inspirations and process. Born in Germany in 1942, the daughter of an abusive Ukrainian father and a loving Polish mother, Von Rydingsvard spent five years in camps for displaced persons before the large family immigrated to working-class Plainview, Conn. As a young woman, she worked as a teacher but eventually found herself as a single mother in 1970s New York City, an especially fertile place and time to be an artist. This background proves intrinsic to Von Rydingsvard's work. The nearly all-wood environment of the camps informed her use of timber as a primary material (cedar is a favorite). A later in life visit to Poland and its forests suggest an even deeper connection. Her fathers cruelty fueled her ambition and a shared work ethic (he often held down two factory jobs), as she overcame a hardscrabble start, earned an MFA from Columbia and established herself in the art world. Much of Von Rydingsvards work is on a massive, primal scale, requiring collaboration with her team of assistants who appear devoted to their craft, even sharing family-style meals with their boss. (In a quirk of timing, the fact that Von Rydingsvard and her team often wear masks while working makes even the archival footage feel eerily contemporary.) While we hear from a variety of people, including Von Rydingsvards brother Stas Karoliszyn, her daughter Ursie, her second husband, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Paul Greengard (who died in 2019), fellow artists Judy Pfaff and Elka Krajewska, curators and arts patrons, the films real strength is that so much of it is in the artists own voice. Traub (director of the 2014 documentary The Barefoot Artist on Lily Yeh) also serves as cinematographer and was previously commissioned by Von Rydingsvard for a short film. Here, he allows his camera to carefully survey the work, especially in sequences documenting a large-scale commission from Princeton that witness the artist working with a new medium hand-pounded copper with the help of metals fabricator Richard Webber. Whether distressing materials, wielding a tool or caressing a finished work (she invariably uses female pronouns when referring to her pieces), Von Rydingsvard reveals its intimacy and tactility regardless of the scale. This is work you want to touch, and despite that being one of the less cinematic senses, Ursula Von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own evokes that quality to a surprising degree. Advertisement These shocking images show the catastrophic scale of an Arctic diesel spill that has turned rivers red after 20,000 tonnes of fuel leaked from a Russian power station. Shocking overhead videos reveal the horror unfolding in the Ambarnaya River near Norilsk in the Russian Arctic as one expert forecast the clean-up cost will reach 1.16 billion. There are fears the pollution could spread to the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve, the largest nature reserve in both Russia and the Eurasian continent, and damage fish stocks for generations. A diesel reservoir collapsed at a power station outside the northern Siberian city of Norilsk on Friday, releasing vast quantities of fuel into the river and surrounding soil, according to Russia's state environmental watchdog. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a state of emergency to deal with the disaster. Putin was furious that he was not informed of the spill earlier, and on Wednesday he publicly scolded officials and oil managers over a video conference call for having to hear about the spill on social media, and for their handling of the crisis. The scale of the spill has been compared to the Exxon Valdez accident near Alaska in 1989, in which an oil tanker spilled 10.8 million US gallons of crude oil into the ocean The damage to the Ambarnaya River near Norilsk in the Russian Arctic, pictured, could be so severe it could take over a decade and over a billion pounds to clean up Satellite images shared from over the area show the true scale of the crisis, with the diesel stretching up the river for miles Videos from the scene highlight how the river is now covered in a crimson-coloured toxic layer of diesel, some 1,860 miles northeast of Moscow. Officials now fear the only way to clear the pollution is to set it ablaze, which would cause a second environmental horror. While Putin expressed outrage at the slow response to the crisis, the leak is believed to have been caused by melting permafrost causing major subsidence, damaging the giant power station tank containing the poisonous diesel, which then caught fire and spewed into local rivers. Pictured: Satellite images show the diesel spill stretching up the river for miles. Environmentalists fear the pollution could spread to the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve, the largest nature reserve in both Russia and the Eurasian continent, and damage fish stocks for generations An aerial image of the river that has turned red due to the diesel that has spilled into it from a nearby power station's oil tank in Russia. The leak happened on May 29, 2020 Emergency marine rescue workers are battling to control the spill by blocking the river to stop the flow of the diesel. Pictured: A barrier in the water that crosses from one side of the river to the other has for now stopped the crimson diesel from spreading further down river Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 3 ordered a state of emergency and criticised a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel after a massive diesel spill into the river. The spill of over 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel took place on May 29 2020 This is seen as the result of polar warming and poses major questions for Russia's oil and gas operations across a vast swathe of the Arctic. 'It will take more than ten years to reach an acceptable level of recovery,' warned Greenpeace Climate and Energy Project Coordinator Vasily Yablokov. Former deputy head of environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, Oleg Mitvol, said: 'The spill of diesel fuel is significantly different from the spill of oil. Oil goes on the surface of the water, (but) diesel is immersed in the upper layers until it settles to the bottom.' He forecast a 1.16 billion clean up bill. A fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant near the city of Norilsk, located above the Arctic Circle, and leaked into the nearby Ambarnaya River The leak is believed to have been caused by melting permafrost causing major subsidence, damaging the giant power station tank containing the poisonous diesel, which then caught fire and spewed into local rivers. Pictured: Emergency vehicles past the power station near the city of Norilsk, around 1,800 miles away from Moscow on June 3 2020 Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in a region of Siberia after an estimated 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled from a power plant storage facility, pictured from above on June 3, and fouled waterways Russia is said to be throwing huge resources at the spill in an attempt to limit the impact on the Arctic environment, which President Putin has worked to clean up during his time as Prime Minister. One official suggested setting the diesel alight, but could cause another crisis Russia was today throwing huge resources into seeking to limit the damage to the pristine Arctic tundra. Emergencies minister Yevgeny Zinichev said the first he knew about the catastrophe was on 31 May - two days after it occurred. Sergey Lipin the technocrat in charge of the leaking diesel container, told President Putin that normal procedures had been used to notify the authorities. The governor of vast Krasnoyarsk region, Alexander Uss claimed it was 'only after the appearance of disturbing information on social networks and persistent questions (that) the real picture was clarified on Sunday morning'. The scale of the spill has been compared to the Exxon Valdez accident near Alaska in 1989, in which an oil tanker spilled 10.8 million US gallons of crude oil into the ocean. In a tense televised conference call on the mounting crisis near Norilsk the angry Kremlin leader demanded: 'Why did the authorities learn about it only two days later? 'Are we to learn about emergencies from social media?' With officials and oil executives squirming in fear, he sarcastically berated Lipin, saying: 'Are you all right health-wise? Please, explain, Sergey,' before demanding why why the authorities were not notified 'immediately'. On a video conference call on June 3 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) gave a public dressing down of local officials, and was said to turn 'pale' with fury during the exchanges where he questioned local officials over their handling of the crisis Lipin insisted they were, claiming he stuck to an existing 'oil spill response plan', but this was contradicted by senior officials. Putin also laid into Uss, for not having a clear strategy to deal with the pollution. The nervous looking 65 year old told Putin they may have to collect and incinerate the diesel. 'We have no experience in burning such a volume of fuel, at least in Krasnoyarsk region, so I can't predict that this will be successful My report is over.' The Russian president, 67, shot back: 'What do you mean your report is over what is to be done? You are the governor.' Putin - who declared a federal state of emergency over the leak - was described as turning 'pale' with fury during the exchanges. Putin uses public dressing downs of officials to show his authority but he appeared especially irked over the languid response to damage in the Arctic which he has sought to clean up during his presidency. The private plane of pro-Putin oligarch Vladimir Potanin - who controls giant Norilsk Nickel which owns the company responsible for the leak - was reported to be flying back to Russia from Berlin today. BOSTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With the next generation release of the Propertybase GO real estate platform, brokerages and teams can now pivot their strategy to include simplified software aimed at further enabling agent action and productivity. Aptly named to reflect its turnkey approach, Propertybase GO puts improved user experiences at the forefront comprising a dynamic dashboard, real estate CRM, website builder, listings management, email marketing, and more. Propertybase GO Homepage Dashboard Experience "We developed the Propertybase GO platform for nearly a year and feel it's important to bring it to market now because better technology is needed," stated Tim Fessenden, President of Propertybase. "We took the time to truly understand the challenges that face real estate and given the market conditions set out to deliver a platform that not only helps to increase productivity but creates a sense of community for a brokerage and its agents." Ideal for brokerages or teams, the latest Propertybase GO has a number of out-of-the-box offerings to drive long-term adoption: An action-oriented homepage dashboard that visualizes key information across contact activity, listings, and also active transactions Embedded brokerage announcements and social media feeds to foster engagement Simplified navigation and mobile responsive for better user experience Streamlined database management with lead scoring, quick actions such as SMS, email marketing, and more Propertybase's award-winning website builder with industry-best MLS and IDX integration Integrated with Propertybase Back Office's compliance-driven transaction management, vendor marketplace, and print marketing Propertybase GO also features action plans, market trends, seller reports, listings boost capability, and third-party application integrations. "It's imperative that technology partners provide the utmost lifelong value. This certainly isn't the time for stopgap solutions. Propertybase GO not only allows for quick user adoption and connectivity but will ultimately help agents better serve their clients now and in the future," continued Fessenden. About Propertybase Propertybase is the leading global real estate platform for franchises, brokerages and teams looking to showcase their brand and drive more business through extraordinary digital experiences, collaboration and automation. The Propertybase platform includes lead generation, IDX-integrated luxury websites, two real estate CRM options, and compliance-driven transaction management and back-office tools. Propertybase powers over 200,000 users at 4,500+ real estate businesses in over 70 countries worldwide, including Hawai'i Life, Red Oak Realty, Harry Norman REALTORS, McEnearney and Associates, ONE Sotheby's, Jack Conway REALTOR, Surterre Properties, and Coldwell Banker Mason Morse. The company is funded by Providence Equity. For more information, visit www.propertybase.com . Media Contact: John Voigt Director Marketing Communications 2038567331 [email protected] SOURCE Propertybase Related Links http://www.propertybase.com tvN's recently aired drama "My Unfamiliar Family" has shared its behind-the-scenes video of what is happening with the cast when they are not filming. The video starts with Kim Ji Suk and Han Ye Ri, reading their scripts and practicing their lines together before shooting the scene. Both the actors try their best to be professional on the set. However, external factors such as strong, loud winds, barking dogs, and the sun setting interrupt them. After finally completing the scene they were filming outdoors, they move on to shoot in a place that should supposedly be Kim Ji Suk's office. Han Ye Ri jokes around saying to Kim Ji Suk that he must have saved a lot of money while Kim Ji Suk answers about a billion won, which, if we convert, comes close to USD 822,335. Kim Ji Suk then asks if Han Ye Ri was able to memorize all of her lines and add that they have a very long day ahead of them. In the following scene that they had to shoot, Han Ye Ri is joined together with actors Chu Ja Hyun, Won Mi Kyung, and Shin Jae Ha. They perfectly embody a family while they make jokes and argue with each other. Shin Jae Ha then sees a hair roller on Han Ye Ri's hair and decides to pint it out. Han Ye Ri becomes embarrassed and immediately gets the hair roller off her hair. Chu Ja Hyun smacks Shin Jae Ha asking, "why did she tell her?" while Han Ye Ri laughs. Shin Jae Ha defends herself by saying that she is nice. Won Mi Kyung is very amused, seeing them interact with chemistry and also adds that they are delighted when they are all together. The behind-the-scenes video became even more fun when Shin Dong Wook shot a sweet scene with Han Ye Ri. While filming, Shin Dong Wook was worried that he might shock Han Ye Ri if he was too fast with the mug, so he decided to do it slowly. While he gives her the tea with his hands around her, he warns her not to drink it in one shot because the drink is very hot, and Han Ye Ri smiles. When the director gives the queue, Shin Dong Wook skyrockets towards Han Ye Ri. The director is shocked by Shin Dong Wook's speed, so he stops the filming process and jokes by asking Shin Dong Wook what is wrong with him. While laughing, he reminds everyone in a friendly manner that they are making a family drama leading everyone to burst out of laughter. Showing trials and hardships that a family experiences. It tells the story of strangers who act like family and families who act like strangers. "My Unfamiliar Family" is available on Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. KST. WATCH THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO BELOW: A new study has found that an anti-malaria drug lauded by President Donald Trump as a potentially effective therapy for the coronavirus does little-to-nothing to prevent illness associated with the deadly respiratory infection. Since the early onset of the COVID-19 public health crisis, Trump has praised hydroxychloroquine as a possible breakthrough drug in the fight against the outbreak. The president even announced in May he was taking the anti-malaria medication, despite warnings from his own government not to do so. Several studies have cast doubt on the drugs usefulness in preventing or treating the virus, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, previously said research on the drug is vague and data is required. The medication has also proven to cause major, potentially lethal side effects, including heart rhythm problems, among some individuals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration months ago told health professionals not to use the drug to treat the disease outside of hospital or research settings. A study published in April found that more coronavirus patients died who were being treated with hydroxychloroquine than those who were not taking the drug. Researchers also found the medication showed virtually no health benefits. To date, no recommended treatment or vaccine for the coronavirus exists, and a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine further showed the apparent ineffectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis, a term meaning a measure taken to prevent a disease. This randomized trial did not demonstrate a significant benefit of hydroxychloroquine as post-exposure prophylaxis for Covid-19, the study said. Whether preexposure prophylaxis would be effective in high-risk populations is a separate question, with trials ongoing. "In order to end the pandemic, a reduction in community transmission is needed. As part of the study, researchers conducted randomized trials across the United States and Canada on 821 asymptomatic adults who had been in proximity to COVID-19 patients at work or in their homes, according to the study. All the subjects had to have come less than 6 feet in contact with an infected person for more than 10 minutes while not wearing a face covering or eye shield, thus putting themselves at a high risk of exposure, the study said. Within four days of being exposed to the coronavirus patient, those conducting the study randomly assigned participants to receive either a placebo or hydroxychloroquine. Eight-hundred milligrams was administered at first, followed by 600 milligrams in six to eight hours and 600 milligrams for four more days, researchers wrote. The primary outcome was the incidence of either laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 or illness compatible with Covid-19 within 14 days, the study said. Researchers noted that the numbers of patients who were reportedly ill due to the virus did not differ significantly between participants receiving hydroxychloroquine and those taking the placebo. Side effects were more common among individuals getting the anti-malaria drug, though, with 40.1% of those taking the drug reporting some type of reaction. No serious adverse effects were identified, however, according to the study. ABC News reported that the reactions reported were mostly mild stomach problems. In an interview with ABC News, Dr. David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota and leader of the study, told the news outlet that he and the other researchers were disappointed by the outcome. We would have liked for this to work, he told ABC News. But our objective was to answer the question and to conduct a high-quality study." Related Content: [June 04, 2020] CIC expands its offering for corporates and investors via a cooperation agreement with M.M.Warburg & CO CIC, a subsidiary of Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale, has announced a cooperation with private bank M.M. Warburg & CO in investment banking. This long term cooperation will begin by the distribution in France, the US and Canada of the research produced by M.M. Warburg. CIC and M.M. Warburg's offers have significant market share in their respective countries, in particular on the segment of medium-sized companies. The partnership will provide both companies with access to a broader investor base. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005390/en/ The cooperation agreement also covers equity capital markets and brokerage activities. In the near term, M.M. Warburg & CO and CIC intend to broaden their collaboration to debt capital markets and structured products. Banque Europeenne du Credit Mutuel (BECM), the subsidiary of Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale in charge of commercial banking activity for companies in Germany, will support this cooperation. "The strategic cooperation with CIC will particularly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises, which will be able to seize a wider range of opportunities with our offering, and gain access to a broader investor base," says Dr. Peter Rentrop-Schmid, Partner at M.M. Warburg & CO. "This is where our offer begins," Dr. Rentrop-Schmid adds, "For these companies, it is essential to have broader access to capital markets." "The cooperation with M.M. Warburg & CO is an important step for CIC. In addition to what we offer in the United States through our subsidiary CIC Market Solutions, this cooperation expands our service offering to companies and investors in a demanding environment. Indeed, Germany is Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale's second domestic market thanks to TargoBank and BECM, and German Mittelstand companies lie at the heart of our business strategy," says Philippe Vidal, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CIC. About CIC CIC is a leading bank in France and internationally, and the bank for one outof every three companies in France. It provides its clients with a French network of close to 1,900 branches and 20 000 employees, as well as international offices in 34 countries. In order to meet the needs of all economic agents, it combines finance, insurance, telephony and cutting-edge technological services with considerable financial strength supported by that of its parent company Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale. For more information: www.cic.fr CIC Market Solutions is the division of CIC dealing with financial market activities for all of Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale's customers. About Banque Europeenne du Credit Mutuel (BECM) A subsidiary of Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale, BECM is a bank on a human scale that is decentralised to a large extent. Specialised in relations with property companies and professionals in France and Germany, BECM assists German family SMBs "Mittelstand" and businesses with a French parent company. Its Corporate Banking activity covers all Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale's business lines dedicated to this customer base. BECM's second business line in Germany entails financing property portfolios held by professionals. For more information: www.becm.fr About Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale A leading bancassureur in France, present through almost 4,400 points of sale and serving 26.3 million customers, Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale provides a diverse range of services to retail customers, local professionals and companies of all sizes. For more information: www.creditmutuel.fr Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale comprises the following federations: Centre Eastern Europe (Strasbourg), South West (Lyon), Ile-de-France (Paris), Savoy-Mont Blanc (Annecy), Midi-Atlantic (Toulouse), Loire-Atlantic and Centre-West (Nantes), Centre (Orleans), Normandy (Caen), Dauphine-Vivarais (Valence), Mediterranean (Marseille), Anjou (Angers), Massif Central (Clermont-Ferrand) and West Indies-Guyana (Fort de France). Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale also encompasses the Caisse Federale de Credit Mutuel, the Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel (BFCM) and all of its subsidiaries, in particular CIC, EuroInformation, Assurances du Credit Mutuel (ACM), Targobank, Cofidis, Banque Europeenne du Credit Mutuel (BECM), Banque Transatlantique, Homiris and CIC Iberbanco. About M.M. Warburg & CO M.M. Warburg & CO is an independent private bank headquartered in Hamburg. It has nine offices in Germany. As a universal bank, M.M. Warburg & CO is active in private banking, asset management and business financing. The bank is a specialist in German equities, and its sales teams have deep expertise in small and mid-caps. Working closely with research and execution teams, they stand out owing to their strong placement capacity with a large number of institutional clients, including insurance companies, pension funds, asset managers and wealth management companies. In February Warburg Bank also concluded a partnership with the main Polish bank, PKO, and opened access to its research services, which specialise in Germany, to Polish, Czech and Hungarian investors. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005390/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A discarded coronavirus face mask has helped police to arrest a man wanted for child molestation in California. Leonardo Ramirez, 28, was arrested Monday on charges of rape by force and lewd or lascivious acts with a child, kiro7 reported. Police collected a DNA sample from a juvenile who had been sexually assaulted two years ago but didn't know the suspect's identity. The case remained cold for some months but earlier this year, the Major Crimes Unit and King City Police Department began to suspect Ramirez. DNA swabbed from Leonardo Ramirez's (pictured) face mask, which he was wearing to protect himself from the coronavirus, has led to his arrest in connection with a 2018 child rape Police called the 28-year-old into the station, posing the meeting as unrelated to the assault. He was offered a face mask to wear during questioning to comply with ongoing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Police said that on being handed the new mask, he chucked the one he had been wearing in the trash, which was later collected by a member of MCU staff once he had left. The suspect confessed to the crimes during interview, police said. King City police Capt. Keith Boyd told KSBW that the cunning tactics used by the MCU officers were warranted to get the predator off the streets. 'Sneaky, creative, yeah, but that's our job to try and find ways to make the community safer, and by doing this we were able to take someone who really is a predator off the street,' he said. The Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested 24 people after the death of a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Khandwa district, 271 kilometres south west of capital Bhopal. The 28-year-old succumbed to his injuries sustained in a clash on May 28, in a hospital in Indore on Sunday, said the police. According to police, all the accused in the case have been arrested and sent to jail. The worker has been identified as Rajesh Phulmali, a resident of village Hapla Deepla. Additional Superintendent of Police Seema Alawa claimed that Phulmali had posted a message on social media which led to a clash with members of another community. She said people from both the groups sustained injuries in the violence. The deceased was working for the RSS. Since he had sustained serious injuries he was referred to Indore where he died on Sunday. FIRs had been lodged from both the sides, she said. Alawa said the accused were booked under sections 147, 148, 188 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of Disaster Management Act. After Phulmalis death, Section 302 of IPC was added to the FIR. Superintendent of Police, Khandwa, Vivek Singh said, It was not a case of mob lynching. The both sides were engaged in feuds for a long time. A heavy police force has been deployed in the village and the situation is under control. A woman checks her money in front of a currency exchange in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, in this March 23 file photo. / Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwon Regulations on FX transactions to be eased for investors, tourists By Park Jae-hyuk Korea will ease its regulations on foreign currency transactions to encourage competition among foreign exchange service providers and provide consumers with convenient services, the government said Thursday. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, consumers will be allowed to exchange currencies through various platforms, including financial services firms, air carriers, duty free shops and parcel delivery service providers. Until now, customers have had to visit banks or currency exchange businesses to change their currencies, due to strict regulations. "Banks will be allowed to hand over foreign currencies to their customers at airline offices or parking lots in airports, or through parcel deliveries to their homes," Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during a meeting at the Government Complex Seoul. "In addition, remittance service providers will be able to transfer foreign currencies to their customers via automated teller machines (ATMs)." The ministry expects the deregulatory measures will enable foreign tourists here to conduct foreign currency transactions conveniently. According to the ministry, foreign tourists will be able to sign contracts with online money exchange firms before their arrival and then receive Korean won at airports here. Those who sent their money to remittance service providers here before their arrival will also be able to receive Korean won through bank ATMs here. "The deregulation will support the tourism and e-commerce industries as foreign tourists and foreign consumers doing online shopping will have better access to foreign exchange services," a finance ministry official said. The ministry is also planning to encourage currency transactions via securities firms, because most foreigners investing in the domestic stock market have still preferred to change their currencies through foreign banks where they opened their accounts. The Korean law has allowed securities firms to offer foreign exchange services, but not many foreign investors or brokerages were aware of this, according to the finance ministry. In this regard, the ministry vowed to clarify its authoritative interpretation of the rules, so as to enhance the profits of local brokerages and attract more foreign investors to the domestic stock market with simplified procedures for foreign currency transactions. "Foreign investors are able to change their currencies and make investments in the domestic stock market without opening their accounts at banks," the ministry official said. The ministry added it will also allow card issuers and fintech firms to offer a broader range of foreign exchange services to spur competition. "The government will revise laws and ordinances by the end of September," Hong said. In another effort to create a new growth engine, Hong said the government will discuss the commercialization of urban air mobility (UAM) services by 2025, given that the size of global UAM services market is expected to reach 730 trillion won ($608 billion) by 2040. Even before the pandemic accelerated the process, the digitization of the economy was well underway. This trend has not gone unnoticed by revenue-needy budget planners in other countries, and even some American states. Yet while the coronavirus has slowed international and domestic efforts to enact new taxes that exclusively target digital goods and services, evidence continues to pile up that digital taxes are legally dubious. One of the first countries to pursue targeted taxation of digital goods was France. After passing a 3 percent tax on digital services revenue collected in the country in July of 2019, the country agreed tosuspend the tax until the end of 2020 in response to threatened American tariffs. Yet it is not just the usual retaliatory mechanisms that France should fear. A recent analysis from Georgetown University, in partnership with the Tax Foundation and Tradelab, determined that the countrys digital services tax could face serious challenges in three legal areas: bilateral tax treaties, international trade law, and European Union law. And thats not the only example of digital taxes suffering from severe legal deficiencies. Here in the U.S., Marylands legislature passed a digital advertising tax at the beginning of the year, only for Governor Larry Hogan to wisely veto the law due to concerns about its ability to stand up to legal challenges. The Maryland law likely would not (or will not, should the legislature override Hogans veto) survive legal challenges on multiple counts. The law directly conflicts with the federal Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, which prevents states from levying taxes that discriminate against internet commerce the state does not tax traditional advertising. In terms of constitutional issues, Marylands tax would seem to represent an undue burden on interstate commerce, as it would primarily fall on businesses outside the state. The tax would even face serious First Amendment challenges, as taxes that target a primary revenue source for news outlets could be seen to violate press freedom protections. Another state that has flirted with digital taxation is New York, a government that never turns down an opportunity to squeeze non-residents for tax revenue (even if they are volunteers helping with the states severe coronavirus outbreak). Companion legislation introduced in each of the state legislatures houses would impose a five percent gross receipts tax on any business that derives income from the data individuals of this state share with such corporations. Such vague wording opens the door to all kinds of businesses being taxed that are not thought of as digital firms, as nearly all businesses process consumer data in some form as part of normal business operations. Examples of businesses that could be affected by New Yorks proposal include restaurants, businesses with reward programs, insurance companies, and any business that offers free wifi access. Such a broad and significant tax would not only be devastating to New Yorks economy, but would also likely violate the dormant Commerce Clause. Its not a coincidence that digital taxes often run afoul of the law as they are structured. Though their advocates claim that they address a disparity created by outdated tax laws, this is false there is no significant difference between effective tax rates paid by digital vs. traditional firms. Rather, digital taxes create the disparity they claim to address by targeting a growing sector of the economy that budget planners view as a potential cash cow. The temptation to hop on the bandwagon created by countries like France, as well as states like Maryland and New York, certainly exists for state legislators. However, if their concern is a fair and equitable tax code, they will resist this impulse. Not only are digital taxes bad tax policy, but they suffer from fatal legal flaws. Linda Yeakles father was Arnold Cromllish. He was the fourth generation of men who lived a life filled with hard work, doing without and making the best of the situation. Part of Lindas story is the story of her father, and well begin there. Arnolds great-grandfather was John Cromlish, born in 1827 in Augsburg, Germany, and a glassblower by profession. He came to America in 1847, meeting the woman who would become his wife who was also emigrating to America. Her name was Mary Eva Annsmen, born in 1820 in Hanover, Germany. John and Mary Eva settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but in 1853, they moved to Gallipolis, Ohio which would become the family ancestral home from then on. They had three children. Joseph was born in 1853 in Pittsburgh. In 1855, William Henry was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, and in 1859, Mary Louise was born there, too. In 1862, John Cromlish died at the age of 35. In 1870, Mary died at the age of 50. The three children were sent to an orphanage. Gallipolis, Ohio was settled in 1790 by French citizens who fled France during the turmoil of the French Revolution, which began in 1787. Their land grant was by the beautiful Ohio River and they named their village Gallipolis. Galli is Latin for French and polis is Greek for city. Arnolds grandfather was William Cromlish, who married Mary Belle Houck in 1882. That marriage produced six children: Harry Max (Arnolds father), William, Elmer, Gideon, Mary Elizabeth and Edith Irene. Harry Max, born in 1883, married Ora Edna Lanthorn in 1910. A painter by trade, he rode a bike to work every day, five miles each way. Harry Max and Ora Edna lived on Shoe String Ridge in Gallipolis and had nine children. William Henry was the first born in 1910 followed in 1913 by Arnold Cromlish (Lindas father). Sometime after Arnolds birth, his mother contracted typhoid fever and Arnold and William were sent to stay with their maternal grandparents, William and Jeanette Lanthorn. After Ora Edna recovered, the two boys returned home. In 1915, Howard was born, followed by Anna Belle in 1916. Arnold, now 4 years old, decided he wanted to live with his grandparents. He put his belongings in a little wagon and trudged up the hill to their home where he was greeted with open arms. Arnold was raised as an only son by William and Jeanette Lanthorn. After Arnold left to live with his grandparents, Harry Max and Ora Edna had five more children: Ernest, who died at a year old, Hilda, Mary, Emily and Kenneth. Hilda died when she was 16 years old and Mary died when she was 15 years old. Jeanette Cromlish, Arnolds maternal grandmother, was a great influence in his life. He attended the Church of God with her and his grandfather. Jeanette read him the Gospel Trumpet each month and he attended Sunday School. Even as a young boy, he would stand on a tree stump, wave his arms around and pretend that he was preaching. While Arnolds grandmother Jeanette was the inspiration to become a minister, his grandfather, William, was influential in teaching his grandson the skill of painting. As a teenager, Arnold learned how to paint and it was a skill that lasted him his entire life. In the early years when he was pastoring at small churches, he sometimes had to resort to painting to put food on the table and pay the rent. Arnold met Reva Moore in 1930 at a Christmas play practice. They dated for three and a half years, marrying June 2, 1934. Arnold had graduated May 31, 1934, from Gallia Academy High School. Eager to begin his life preaching the word of God, Arnold accepted a call to a place called Kaw, Oklahoma. In the heart of the Dust Bowl, it was a disappointment for the young couple. A farm house was provided, wood for heating and potatoes, pinto beans and flour. Arnold did farm work for money. The wind blew constantly, blowing dust everywhere. In a letter, Reva wrote that she wanted to cut her hair because it was constantly dirty from the sand being blown, but the church women wanted her to keep her long hair. Even her bobby pins were rusty and she was tired of eating pinto beans. Indians and oil wells were constant sights and people dragged their mattresses outside, poured water on them to make them cool enough to sleep on. That fall, Arnold and Reva returned to Gallipolis. Arnold got a job painting. On Feb. 24, 1935, a stillborn son was born. On May 11, 1936, a daughter they named Dorothy was born. And that December Arnold got a call to preach at Shanesville, Ohio at Barrs Mills. In October 1937, Arnold received a call to preach in New Springfield, Ohio at a salary of $15 per week. On April 21, 1938, he was ordained at the Ohio Ministerial Convention in Toledo, Ohio. His goal to be a minister had been achieved. On May 17, 1940, a daughter they named Linda Marlene was added to the family in New Springfield, Ohio. In 1943, Arnold accepted a preaching position in the little coal mining ghost town of Corning, Ohio. The family bought a two-story house in Buckingham, nearby, and on Feb. 14, 1944, David was born there. In January 1947, a call came from the Floyd Church of God near Midland, Michigan, and the Cromlish family moved there. The pastoral years at Floyd were filled with 10 years of achievements. Rollin Yeakle, Arnolds son-in-law, remembered the Christmas Eve when he was at the Cromlish home and Arnold took a letter down from the Christmas tree and showed it to him. It was a $5,000 check from the Dow Foundation for the Floyd Church of God. In 1957, Arnold accepted a call at St. Paul, Minnesota. He was now 44 years old and he made the decision to leave the full-time ministry and do interim preaching. He and Reva moved back to Gallipolis, Ohio, and bought a home on Shoe String Ridge. In between preaching positions, he continued painting. On Feb. 4, 1990, he received a certificate of recognition for 50 years of service in the ministry. On July 14, 2000, Arnold Cromlish died, and on July 18, he was laid to rest in the Gallipolis, Ohio cemetery beside his wife, Reva; and his maternal grandparents, William and Jeanette Lanthorn. He had spent his life in service to God and now he lay, A hunter home from the hill. (Robert Louis Stevenson, Requiem) See Part II of Linda Cromlish Yeakle in the June 19 Midland Remembers in the Midland Daily News. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Thu, June 4, 2020 11:45 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc0d547 2 World Brazil,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-infection,coronavirus-restrictions,coronavirus-prevention,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus,curfew Free Authorities imposed curfews Wednesday across a swathe of territory in the Brazilian state of Bahia in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the country's hard-hit northeast. With the virus still spreading fast in Brazil -- the country with the second-highest caseload, after the United States -- Bahia Governor Rui Costa decreed a 6:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew for the state's 19 southernmost municipalities, effective until June 9. He also ordered the closure of all but essential businesses and services in the same zone, the state government said. "It is necessary and urgent to impose greater restrictions, after recording extremely high [infection] rates" in the area, Costa said in announcing the measures. "If we don't act, we could see an explosion of cases and an explosion in demand for beds in intensive care units, which we won't be able to meet." The alternative, he said, was "a large number of deaths" in Bahia, which has registered more than 21,000 cases and 700 deaths so far. The area affected by the decree sits at the border between the two Brazilian regions hit hardest by the novel coronavirus: the southeast and northeast. The outbreak in Brazil started in the southeast, the country's wealthy business and industrial corridor. That region, which includes Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, remains the hardest hit, with more than 200,000 cases and nearly 15,000 deaths. But the northeast, Brazil's poorest region, has emerged as the second-hardest hit, with nearly 195,000 cases and 10,000 deaths. Health officials believe the outbreak in the northeast is being driven partly by poor migrant workers from the region who have returned home after losing their jobs in the southeast because of virus-related business closures and stay-at-home measures. Brazil as a whole has now registered more than 555,000 cases and 31,000 deaths. Experts say under-testing means the real numbers are probably much higher. President Jair Bolsonaro is a vocal critic of stay-at-home measures, arguing they are needlessly hurting Latin America's biggest economy. The far-right leader has urged businesses to wage "war" on such measures from state authorities. NASA is set to pay the Russian space agency, Roscomos, $90 million to send American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) this fall. The payment was negotiated two weeks before the initial mission of spacex's Falcon 9 launched a team to the ISS from US soil a feat that was set to end the need for purchasing seats on foreign rockets. However, the deal was completed on May 12 and intended to 'ensure the agency keeps its commitment for safe operations via a continuous US presence' on the space ship until commercial crew vehicles became regular services. The seat is for NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who will spend six-months on the ISS as a flight engineer and become a member of the Expedition 63/64 crew. Scroll down for video NASA is set to pay the Russian space agency, Roscomos, $90 million to send one of its astronauts to the International Space Station this fall NASA and SpaceX joined forces with the goal of returning spaceflight back to US soil. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley took off from Kennedy Space Center on May 30 inside the Crew Dragon capsule atop Falcon 9. After 19 hours in space, the pair reached the ISS where they are now members of Expedition 63 Crew. The idea of the Launch America mission was to eliminate the need of foreign space agencies to send NASA astronauts to the ship. The seat is for NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who will spend six-months on the ISS as a flight engineer and become a member of the Expedition 63/64 crew (pictured is Rubin on the ISS in 2016) The payment was negotiated two weeks before the initial mission of SpaceX's Falcon 9 (pictured) launched a team to the ISS from US soil a feat that was set to end the need for purchasing seats on foreign rockets However, last fall NASA revealed it had plans to purchase at least one more Soyuz seat as a backup plan should the Falcon 9 launch experience any delays, SpaceNews reported. In a media briefing after a visit to SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, October 10, 2019 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said 'We need to make sure that we do not have a day where don't have American astronauts on the International Space Station, so we will be continuing to work with Roscosmos, which is the space agency of Russia, to ensure that we do have American astronauts on the International Space Station as an insurance policy for commercial crew.' If everything goes according to plan, we may not need additional Soyuz seats.' 'But here's something else we know: usually things don't go according to plan when it comes to these new development capabilities.' NASA had originally targeted 2017 for when commercial flights would begin, but both SpaceX and Boeing, which is also developing rockets for NASA, experienced numerous production delays. Bridenstine, at the briefing, said the agency hadn't decided if it would need yet another Soyuz seat, for a launch in spring of 2021. 'We want to see the level of risk that we need to accept' he said in referring to commercial vehicles like the Falcon 9. 'When Demo-2 comes home and we evaluate how it did, and we're looking at Crew-1, we're going to look at where we are and then make a determination if we might need a second Soyuz [seat], and then begin negotiations at that point,' he explained. After 19 hours in space, Bob Behnken (second from right) and Doug Hurley (right) reached the ISS where they are now members of Expedition 63 Crew. The idea of the Launch America mission was to eliminate the need of foreign space agencies to send NASA astronauts to the ship Rubins is set to launch October 14 on the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. She will conduct research using the Cold Atom Lab to study the use of laser-cooled atoms for future quantum sensors, and will work on a cardiovascular experiment that builds on an investigation she completed during her previous mission in 2016. During her first stay on the space station, Rubins became the first person to sequence DNA in space. A beach in Palma de Mallorca on the first day of Phase 2 of the deescalation plan. The German government on Wednesday agreed to lift its coronavirus-related travel warnings against European Union states, with the exceptions of Spain and Norway. This decision will be effective on June 15, said Germanys Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. The warnings are being eased for countries that do not maintain their own entry bans or large-scale lockdowns which is still the case in Spain. Spain and Norway will presumably allow tourist entry somewhat later. Once they make that decision, we will apply it [lifting the warning] immediately, said Maas. Germany is one of the main sources of tourism to Spain The recommendation against travel to Spain will end when the country is no longer under a state of alarm or imposing quarantines on international travelers. A few specific regions with very low Covid-19 incidence could reopen sooner, however. Maas noted that Spanish Congress was on Wednesday debating a new extension to the state of alarm that was first introduced in mid-March to fight the spread of the coronavirus. The extension was approved on Wednesday evening, pushing the emergency measures to June 21. Germany is planning to replace its travel warnings with softer, country-specific guidelines that will be modified on the basis of how the pandemic evolves. The announcement comes at a time when Spain is accelerating talks to reopen safe travel corridors between Germany and Spanish island destinations in the Balearics and the Canaries, where the impact of Covid-19 has been low. Germany is one of the main sources of tourism to Spain, and the Spanish tourism industry is keen to reactivate the sector as soon as possible in a bid to save the summer season following three devastating months. English version by Susana Urra. Ranchi, June 4 : Driven by love, a Maoist 'commander' carrying Rs 2 lakh reward surrendered before the police along with his lover in Jharkhand's Saraikela district on Thursday. Rakesh Munda alias Sukra Munda carrying Rs 2 lakh reward on Thursday surrendered before the district Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohammad Arsi along with his lover Chandani alias Budhani. Both were part of the banned Maoist group (CPI-Maoist). They were working under Maoist leader carrying Rs 50 lakh reward Mahraja Parmanik. Rakesh Munda was in love with Chandani. They decided to get married and lead a family life. They escaped from Maoist group and surrendered before police, sources said. According to police, the surrendered Maoist will be given benefits under the surrender policy and will also be encouraged to lead a happy married life in the mainstream society. The Saraikela police handed over Rs 1 lakh cheque to each of the surrendered Maoists. In coming days, they will get additional Rs 2 lakh and some land. Major Hydroxychloroquine Study Retracted: We Deeply Apologize A top journal retracted a study on hydroxychloroquine that attracted worldwide attentionprompting the suspension of multiple trialsafter three researchers admitted they couldnt vouch for the data used. Researchers conducting the observational study claimed to have medical records of nearly 100,000 patients who took hydroxychloroquine or the closely related chloroquine. The four researchers said their analysis showed a higher mortality rate in COVID-19 patients who took the drug when compared with those who didnt. But Surgisphere, a little known Chicago-based company where one of the authors works, refused to share the dataset allegedly containing the records, prompting the other three authors to request a retraction. Our independent peer reviewers informed us that Surgisphere would not transfer relevant information including the full dataset to their servers for analysis as such transfer would violate client agreements and confidentiality requirements, the researchers wrote in a June 4 statement (pdf). As such, our reviewers were not able to conduct an independent and private peer review and therefore notified us of their withdrawal from the peer-review process. Based on this development, we can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources. Due to this unfortunate development, the authors request that the paper be retracted, they added later. We all entered this collaboration to contribute in good faith and at a time of great need during the COVID-19 pandemic. We deeply apologize to you, the editors, and the journal readership for any embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused. A pharmacy tech pours out pills of hydroxychloroquine at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 20, 2020. (George Frey/AFP via Getty Images) The original study shook the scientific world, prompting World Health Organization (WHO) and French authorities to suspend clinical trials testing hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19, the new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. But over 100 medical professionals raised 10 major issues with the study, culminating with the retraction a few days after The Lancet, which published the paper, said there were serious concerns with the data. The Lancet said Thursday in announcing the retraction that it takes issues of scientific integrity extremely seriously, and there are many outstanding questions about Surgisphere and the data that were allegedly included in this study. It retracted the paper on the request of three of the authors: Mandeep Mehra of Harvard Medical School, Frank Ruschitzka of University Heart Center at the University Hospital Zurich, and Amit Patel of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah. Sapan Desai of the Surgisphere was the fourth researcher listed in the original paper, which was funded by the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. While some studies have shown COVID-19 patients experiencing heart issues when taking hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, the drugs were approved decades ago and have been used by hundreds of thousands of people against malaria and other ailments with little concern. The drugs have shown efficacy against COVID-19 in some studies, including in India and the United States. Large clinical trials are underway in America, Britain, and elsewhere examining their safety and effectiveness when used to combat the new disease. WHO officials said earlier this week its trial of hydroxychloroquine was restarting based on advice from experts. Some groups, including researchers heading a trial expected to involve tens of thousands of healthcare workers, never paused their work. San Francisco, June 4 : Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced to give $12 million in funding to organisations working to address racial inequities amid nationwide protests against the death of African-American George Floyd. The company would also offer $25 million in Ad Grants to help organisations fighting racial injustice provide critical information on its platforms. "Our first grants of $1 million each will go to our long-term partners at the Center for Policing Equity and the Equal Justice Initiative. And we'll be providing technical support through our Google.org Fellows programme," Pichai said in a statement late Wednesday. Goggle has so far donated $32 million towards efforts related to racial justice over the past five years. "Our Black community is hurting, and many of us are searching for ways to stand up for what we believe, and reach out to people we love to show solidarity," said Pichai. Googlers also observed an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence to honour the memories of Black lives lost. "The length of the moment of silence represents the amount of time George Floyd suffered before he was killed. It's meant to serve as a visceral reminder of the injustice inflicted on Floyd and so many others," Pichai noted. Google employees have contributed an additional $2.5 million in donations that the company would match. "This represents the largest Googler giving campaign in our company's history, with both the largest amount raised by employees and the broadest participation," said Pichai. He said the company would work closely with the Black community to develop initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions. Google and YouTube earlier put a black ribbon on its home page in the US, showing solidarity for protests against the death of Floyd. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova From May 9 till September 9 2020, PostEurop is proud to present the most beautiful 2020 EUROPA stamps entries for the theme "Ancient Postal Routes". Azerbaijna is participating in the competition with Shah Ismail post stamp. Produced by Azermarka LLC, the stamp is dedicated to the messenger service established by Shah Ismail Khatai in 1501. At the compeition, the post stamp is presented by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies. Shah Ismail has left a deep mark in the Azerbaijan's rich history. He declared Azerbaijani as the state language, and wrote beautiful epic poems under the name Khatai. Ismail was only a year old when his father was killed by the Aq Qoyunlu. For six years Ismail was hiding from his enemies in the palace of Mirza Ali, who was faithful to Safavids. Ruler of Aq Qoyunlu Rustam urgently requires the issuance of Ismail, and sent threatening letters to Mirza Ali. Making sure in their futility, he sent 300 horsemen to the palace. Within years of hiding, Ismail studied science and military affairs before emerging at the age of 12 years to take over Azerbaijan. Soon young Ismail took under control the territories of today's Iran, as well as Iraq, the Caucasus, parts of Central Asia, and western Afghanistan. During his rule the state became to be called Azerbaijan and Turkish for almost a century remained the state language. Appointment 4 June 2020 Iain, who has more than 20 years of international hospitality experience, has spent most of his career at Louvre Hotels Group, a subsidiary of Jin Jiang Hotels. He first joined that company in September 2008 as Senior Regional General Manager before being promoted in 2014 to Director of International Operations. Iain worked in that position for eight months and then joined Damac Hotels & Resorts in Dubai as Corporate Director of Operations, before returning to Louvre Hotels Group in 2017 as COO and Head of Development Asia Pacific. Based in Belmond's regional headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Iain will manage the regional operations, finance, sales and marketing, and development teams across six countries in the region. At the start of a silent vigil outside the New York City mayor's mansion Wednesday night, one of the organizers called out a few ground rules to the thousands who had gathered. One of the most important, he said, Keep masks on. Few have forgotten the past few months: New York City, ground zero in the United States for the coronavirus pandemic that killed more than 20,000 of its residents, shut down as residents stayed inside as much as possible. Perhaps as a result, it was difficult to find a protester without a mask Wednesday. Throughout the week, organizers have pushed for everyone present at demonstrations to wear face coverings and volunteers have handed out small bundles of masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and water. The biggest challenge, however, is that social distancing is nearly impossible when thousands are packed shoulder-to-shoulder on city streets to decry racism and police brutality. We have reached a crux where we must choose between potentially losing our lives at the hands of the police or the pandemic, said Chelsea Miller, a leading organizer in the city who heads up Freedom March NYC. In many ways were choosing between the lives of our unborn sons and those of our parents. Many protesters in New York City say they feel adding their voices to the outrage over the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis far outweighs the risk of contracting the coronavirus. Some people whose roommates have gone to live with parents because of the spread of the virus feel more comfortable going out because they dont risk infecting those they live with. But thats not the case for all. Samantha Isom, 49, a black photographer, said that she knew that one of her six roommates was worried about her coming to the vigil Wednesday. But after largely avoiding the protests, Isom said she felt her presence was necessary especially once she reflected on the death of her uncle who was shot and killed by a police officer in the 1970s. Story continues Full coverage of George Floyds death and protests around the country I was crying about it earlier, but the thing is, its not just my uncle, she said. Ask any black person here. They have a story, a family member that was affected by police. Theres a reason this is happening. Its also notable that the pandemic and the police violence have an outsize effect on communities of color. New York City began sharing data in April that showed black and Hispanic people made up the majority of the COVID-19 deaths in the city. That trend continued through May and into June. It has not been lost on demonstrators that those most affected by the pandemic have largely been minorities, as well. COVID-19 is a very real thing that is disproportionately impacting black and brown bodies, Miller said. Were not blind to the lack of leadership on that either. Some protesters have said they are now fighting two deadly pandemics: COVID-19 and racism. Medical workers have said the same, and some joined those in the streets this week while carrying signs that read, for example, Nurses fought COVID, now well fight the police. Demonstrations for health care workers at hospitals throughout the city were planned for Thursday. Some doctors and nurses have also stood at the doors of their city medical centers this week and applauded the marchers, who often cheered them right back. Image: People hold a vigil near Gracie Mansion as protests against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd continue, in New York City (Andrew Kelly / Reuters) But the two-fold challenge is also evident now in how the police have still not amended their tactics to deal with the marches and the virus, protest organizers said. Many have pointed to instances in which officers have pulled peoples masks down, removed the face coverings when making arrests and refused to provide masks at precincts or jail cells. In one case, police trapped tightly-packed marchers on the Manhattan Bridge for hours. Its those situations and the dense crowds that still have some wary about participating. David Levine, 21, came back from school at Syracuse University to live with his mom in Manhattan. He said he has had family who already caught COVID-19 and were in intense pain because of it. While Levine has come out to a few protests, he is worried that he could bring the disease home. Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts on this story For me its 50/50 right now, between the importance of the moment and the risk of coronavirus, he said. My mom has a pre-existing condition, so Im trying to be really careful about what crowds I walk in. Most people are wearing masks, but its kind of amazing how people maybe forgot about COVID. Some people who arent comfortable being in the crowd also bring supplies to support the edges of protests and vigils. Maya Lansky, 22, and her boyfriend drive around in a Volkswagen station wagon that theyve stuffed to the gills with personal protective equipment, or PPE, hand sanitizer, snacks and water. Lansky said that, as a black woman, the Black Lives Matter movement is incredibly important to her, but she said she wasnt comfortable walking in the crowd with others. I knew that I might have a panic attack, she said, as she handed out bottled water half a block from the edge of the protest. We have masks and gloves. Were just trying to help people because we want them to be able to stay out safely and as long as possible. We want them to be able to have stamina to stick up for whats right. Thousands did Wednesday and thousands more were on the streets again Thursday during a series of memorial services for Floyd. Wednesdays vigil was the first protest that Susan Eastwood, 45, joined this week, but she said she felt compelled to do so after thinking of her two young sons. As she reflected on that at the beginning of the vigil, tears formed in her eyes. This moment is too important, she said, as she began to cry. How can we not show up? Pentagon chief breaks with Trump on using military to crush protests Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 4:37 PM US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has broken with President Donald Trump on using the country's military forces to crush protests, seeking justice for George Floyd, an African American killed by a white police officer recently. The Pentagon chief said Wednesday that he would not invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow Trump to use the National Guard against protesters. "I say this not only as secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, the option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations," Esper said. "We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act." Twenty-eight US states, as well as the District of Columbia, have activated their National Guards to help with crowd control. "I've always believed and continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations in support of local law enforcement," Esper said at a news conference Wednesday. Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement Tuesday night that some forces "postured on military bases in the National Capital Region but are not in Washington DC," rocked by protests against police brutality and killing of black people. The combined 1,600 troops "are on heightened alert status but remain under Title X authority and are not participating in defense support to civil authority operations," he added. Floyd was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck, and video images of his killing have sparked demonstrations in hundreds of US cities against police brutality and racism. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 05:24:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Turkey's iconic Grand Bazaar in Istanbul reopened its doors on Monday as part of the government's normalization process after being closed for more than two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A humble ceremony was held at one of the historic entrances of the bazaar with the participation of Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya and local authorities. Photo: The Canadian Press RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell, left, and Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman arrive at an media update of the investigation of the Nova Scotia shootings at RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth, N.S., Thursday, June 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan The gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage was described by police Thursday as an "injustice collector" whose grudges built up over time and eventually exploded in horrific violence. RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell told a briefing that a behavioural analysis of the killer determined he targeted some victims for perceived slights, though many others were chosen at random. Citing preliminary work from RCMP profilers and a forensic psychologist, Campbell described the shooter as "one who held onto conflict or differences with others, turning them inward until they boiled over in rage." He said a so-called psychological autopsy, which is in the works, will help police better understand the contributing factors behind one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history. Injustice collectors "are individuals who may have felt slighted or cheated or disrespected at any point in their lives ... (and) these injustices are held onto," said Campbell, the Nova Scotia RCMP's officer in charge of support services. The senior Mountie's description of Gabriel Wortman's psychological profile was as close as police have come to describing a motive. And it falls in line with what some of his neighbours in Portapique, N.S., have said about the otherwise talkative and gregarious 51-year-old denturist. One neighbour in particular, John Hudson, has said the man he knew for 18 years was sometimes obsessed with petty jealousies and grievances about the look of his neighbours' homes, past transgressions of relatives or the behaviour of his longtime common-law wife. Thursday's RCMP briefing, the first about the case in more than a month, also disclosed a number of police findings that contradicted earlier versions of what happened on April 18-19. After killing 13 people in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, the killer disguised as an RCMP officer murdered another nine people in five communities the following day. One of his victims was RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, whose cruiser collided with Wortman's replica police car near Shubenacadie, N.S. In late April, the union that represents RCMP officers said Stevenson had rammed her vehicle into the suspect's oncoming car, but Campbell said a reconstruction of the crash revealed that wasn't the case. Campbell said the killer drove his vehicle the wrong way on a one-way street to purposely crash into Stevenson's marked car. However, Campbell confirmed that Stevenson exchanged gunfire with the gunman before she was killed. "She bravely engaged the gunman," he said, noting that Stevenson was wearing what he described as soft and hard body armour. As well, Campbell said earlier witness reports suggesting the gunman used his fake police cruiser to pull over vehicles and kill the drivers were untrue. Campbell also took exception to reports suggesting the RCMP failed to communicate or co-operate with other police forces when the killer was still at large. "There is detailed information that refutes those claims," he said. "I can confirm that the RCMP was in contact with other Nova Scotia police agencies several times throughout the incident and that information was communicated to all police agencies as it became known." The RCMP has said it is contemplating a comprehensive internal review of the case. As for the firearms used by the gunman, Campbell confirmed three of the five weapons he had with him on April 19 were obtained illegally in the United States, one was obtained illegally in Canada and the fifth was taken from Const. Stevenson. Police are aware of where the illegal firearms came from, but Campbell did not release details. Police had earlier confirmed the killer's firearms included two semi-automatic handguns and two semi-automatic rifles, though they have said nothing about the type or calibre of the weapons. Gun control advocates say details about the firearms used are important to the discussion surrounding the federal government's recent move to ban 1,500 military-style assault firearms. A Mountie fatally shot the gunman at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., about 90 kilometres south of Portapique on the morning of April 19. In addition to Stevenson, Wortman's victims included two nurses, two correctional officers, a family of three, a teacher and several of his neighbours in Portapique. Campbell said even though the chief suspect in the case is dead, police would continue with their investigation as if they were pursuing a criminal case. Police have interviewed more than 600 witnesses in five provinces and the United States, he said. Campbell was also asked about allegations made in 2013 by the gunman's Portapique neighbour Brenda Forbes, who told the Mounties about reports that Wortman had held down and beaten his common-law spouse behind one of the properties he owned. The Mounties had said they were searching for records of that complaint. Campbell confirmed Thursday the RCMP had found two officers who had contact with Forbes in 2013, and they were reviewing their notes and files. He did not provide further details, but made a point of noting that Forbes' account was secondhand. The RCMP has faced intense criticism for failing to use a provincewide alert system to warn people that an active shooter was on the loose on April 19. Instead, the force issued a series of messages on Twitter. The national Alert Ready system can be used to send alerts through television, radio and wireless devices, including cellphones. Chief Supt. Chris Leather, the Nova Scotia RCMP's criminal operations officer, said the system had been used for the first time in the province only a few weeks earlier to provide information about the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was not aware that it has ever been used by police in Canada for an active shooter situation. More importantly, he described the major problems that ensued when he ordered an alert on April 24 after police received word about shots being fired in a densely populated are of Halifax a report that turned out to be false. He said the province's 911 call centre was jammed with calls from people asking what they should do, where they should hide or if they should pick up their children. "This had a negative impact on public safety," he said, adding that the RCMP is now working on a national Alert Ready policy. The 90-minute news conference included other new information, including an admission that the Mounties thought at one point they had the gunman cornered at a residence in Glenholme, N.S., only to discover he had fled before police arrived. "We actually missed the gunman by minutes," Campbell said, responding to a question about an internal email that suggested police were sure they were closing in on the suspect. "There were clear indications we had the gunman pinned down." The senior Mounties made it clear they are still investigating whether anyone helped the killer or knew of his plans. They said they had contacted two of Wortman's relatives, both of whom have retired from the RCMP, and determined neither one had any role in the crimes. Click here to read the full article. TOKYO After its original April planned opening date was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic, a new mixed-use complex will open its doors Friday, directly across from the Japanese capitals busy Harajuku station. Anchored by Japans first city-center Ikea store and one of the largest Uniqlo stores in the world, the complex is also home to luxury residences. Other tenants include Shiseido Parlour, Oshmans, Dr. Martens, local outdoor lifestyle brand Snow Peak, Seiko, and a multibrand cosmetics store, hair and makeup salon called Beauty Square. More from WWD The Uniqlo store represents something of a homecoming for the brand, as Harajuku was home to its very first urban location some 22 years ago. After closing its UT store in the neighborhood eight years ago, Uniqlo was absent from the area until now. Its new digs have a sales floor area of over 21,300 square feet and a separate section where customers can shop via its own StyleHint smartphone app. This store is the continuation of something that began with Uniqlo Park in Yokohama, said Uniqlos chief executive officer in Japan Maki Akaida, referencing another store that opened recently outside of Tokyo. It is a place for the birth of new culture, and a store that embodies the LifeWear concept. When customers enter Uniqlo Harajuku from the street level, they find themselves in the UT section of the store. In addition to displays showcasing some of the many T-shirt collaborations the brand undertakes, the current display includes a 10-foot-tall sculpture of Billie Eilish by artist Takashi Murakami, created specifically for the store to commemorate the designs the two made for UT. The store also sells some of the first lifestyle merchandise under the UT brand, including ceramic dishes, notebooks and other stationery items. A central staircase under a large screen at the back of the store leads to the lower level, which houses a large collection of Uniqlos LifeWear collection for men and women. The styling of the mannequins reflects the youthful vibe and clientele that frequent the area. Story continues Some unique aspects of this particular Uniqlo store include displays of books some of which are for sale that reference Tokyo and Harajukus unique history and culture, a listening corner in collaboration with Spotify and young, local musicians and bands, a flower stand, and a sustainability corner with clothing recycle bins and displays illustrating Uniqlos environmental efforts. At the moment the display explains how plastic drink bottles are recycled to become the fiber used in the brands Airism line of inner wear. But perhaps the most interesting section of the store is StyleHint Harajuku, located a few steps from the main store on the lower level. The back wall is lined with 240 touchscreen displays where customers can use Uniqlos StyleHint app to create outfits, get style inspiration, view the stores stock in real time, find items on the stores floor plan, and more. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, staff at the store will be wearing masks, and will monitor the number of customers, limiting how many can enter the store at once if necessary. Upon entering the StyleHint store, customers will be asked to sanitize their hands and to use a pre-sanitized stylus rather than their fingers on the touchscreens. When finished, the used styluses are returned to a separate container to be re-sanitized before being used by subsequent shoppers. On the eighth floor of the With Harajuku building is Shiseido Parlour The Harajuku, a restaurant and lounge with sweeping views of the lush forest that surrounds Meiji Shrine, just behind Harajuku station. Makoto Suzuki, president of Shiseido Parlour, said that the restaurants location means that it will naturally cater to a slightly different demographic than is representative of its customers in other locations, such as Ginza. At our Ginza location we get a lot of customers in their forties and fifties who are out shopping with their families, Suzuki said. But their children want to go shopping in Harajuku, so this gives them a place to have a meal when they do that. We also expect to have many customers who are visiting Meiji Shrine. The design of the restaurant incorporates rich textures and deep shades of blue and green to complement the trees outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Starting from Friday, it will be open for lunch only, with its official grand opening planned for June 16. In accordance with virus-spread prevention measures outlined by the Tokyo metropolitan government, it will operate at only a third of its capacity for the time being, and all staff will wear face masks. 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. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits protesters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 3, 2020, to show solidarity with demonstrations following the death of George Floyd while in police custody. (CNN) Nancy Pelosi Visits Protesters Outside US Capitol House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited protesters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, ignoring CCP virus rules. Pelosi, wearing a mask and a light blue suit and accompanied by security, greeted some protesters and stopped to pose for pictures. Pelosi received applause for her appearance but some protesters challenged her motivation for appearing. Jizelle Hudgens, a college student, told CNN, Shes not here for the right reasons. Another protester alleged the top Democrat was only present for publicity. A third, though, told the outlet that Pelosi was showing solidarity, trying to lend her support, encouragement to the crowd. Pelosi told a CNN reporter on the scene that she supported Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a former Democratic U.S. representative, upgrading the murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Demonstrators sing Lean On Me during a protest near the White House in Washington on June 3, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on Memorial Day after Chauvin knelt on his neck. Autopsies said Floyd died from being deprived of oxygen while in police custody. Ellison also charged the other three officers who were involved in Floyds arrest. Floyds death sparked protests and riots across the nation, which continue over a week later. Pelosi said on MSNBCs Morning Joe earlier Wednesday that her daughter, Alexandra, who she described as a filmmaker journalist, was at the protest in Washington near the White House Monday night when officers fired smoke canisters and pepper ballsnot tear gas, according to officialsto disperse the crowd, which had begun hurling projectiles at officers. These people were demonstrating peacefully and, all of a sudden, this barrage of security came through, using clubs to beat people and these explosivelittle bullets that explode into stuff that burns your eyes, Pelosi said. Maybe they didnt have tear gas, I dont know, but they had the elements of it for peaceful demonstrators to make way, make way for the president to walk through. What is this, a banana republic? Police move demonstrators away from St. Johns Church across Lafayette Park from the White House in Washington on June 1, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo) President Donald Trump, a Republican, walked from the White House through the area where the protesters had been to St. Johns Church to survey damage inflicted previously by rioters. Pelosi said its heartwarming to see the number of protesters, calling it a pivotal moment where people see real opportunity. I see every crisis, every challenge as an opportunity. An opportunity now to address some of those grievances. And what is interesting about those crowds is theyre largely white. I think that thatwell, my district, we have such beautiful diversity, every gathering is beautifully diverse. But, across the country, its bringing people together, community with unity. And hopefully that gives us a stronger chance in the United States Senate to get some of this legislation passed and sent on to the president, she added later. Other lawmakers have recently visited with protesters in Washington, including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). President Donald Trump walks with Attorney General William Barr (L), Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (C), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley (R), and others from the White House to visit St. Johns Church in Washington on June 1, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) The protesters have been violating COVID-19-pandemic-fueled mandates in many areas, including Washington. Under Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowsers rules, public events are capped at 10 people, and those events can only take place if social distancing, or maintaining 6 feet of distance from non-household members, takes place. Thousands of protesters have gathered, often in close quarters, but the pandemic rules havent been applied. Health experts say the protests could lead to a spike in cases of COVID-19, the new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Pelosi said she was concerned about that possibility. I am indeed concerned about that because it is true that wearing a mask and social distancing are very important to stopping the spread. It is frightening, actually, she said. The mandate that the people have put forward is that the status quo has to change, and we refuse the slow incremental steps of so-called reform, Pulley said. None of that has worked, and at this point we need radical change. We need a radical redesigning of our social relations in this country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding India-Australia Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia on Thursday - the first-ever "Bilateral Virtual Summit by PM Modi. This bilateral virtual summit signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and an upward trajectory in the bilateral relations, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. The Australian PM was to visit India this year which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. PM Modi and Scott Morrison have met four times during the last one and a half years -- on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore in November 2018, on the sidelines of G20 in Osaka in June 2019, on the margins of G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019 and on the margins of East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019. READ | Congress MLAs Meet Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, DyCM Ahead Of Rajya Sabha Polls READ | Coronavirus Live Updates: Cases In India At 2,07,615 - 1,01,497 Active & 1,00,302 Cured "The focus would be on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations during discussions between the two Prime Ministers, who have already met on four occasions on the sidelines of multilateral meetings," sources said. "The virtual summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship in the context of their growing ties. It will also be an opportunity to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of MoUs and announcements are being discussed by the officials," they added. "The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was strengthened in 2014 - with the visit of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India in September 2014, and the visit of PM Modi to Australia in November 2014. Framework for Security Cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of PM Modi to Australia laid the foundation for intensified foreign, defence and security policy exchanges between the two countries. Since then, regular meetings of the institutional dialogues have been taking place," MEA said. READ | Centre Assures Action, Seeks Report On Killing Of Pregnant Elephant In Kerala's Malappuram READ | AIIMS Nurses' Union Threatens Indefinite Strike Over Lack Of Facilities Amid COVID Crisis In 2018-19, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion. Australia's cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas India's total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion, MEA added. Australia has supported Indias global initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), CDRI and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI). Australia supports Indias membership of an expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In the recent past, Australia supported our membership for Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement and favours Indias membership of NSG. The Virtual Summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship, in the context of growing ties between India and Australia, and to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the lead-up to the summit, PM Modi and Scott Morrison had engaged in 'Samosa diplomacy' with the latter cooking samosas and expressing how he'd have liked to have shared them with his Indian counterpart. Connected by the Indian Ocean, united by the Indian Samosa! Looks delicious, PM @ScottMorrisonMP! Once we achieve a decisive victory against COVID-19, we will enjoy the Samosas together. Looking forward to our video meet on the 4th. https://t.co/vbRLbVQuL1 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2020 (With ANI inputs) It begins with shortness of breath. And for approximately one third of patients, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, ends in death. For those who survive, their lives are often turned upside-down. Michigan Medicine researchers have been investigating the downstream effects of ARDS for years. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, their work has relevance for hundreds of thousands of new patients. "The way COVID-19 kills patients is by depriving them from oxygen," says Theodore (Jack) Iwashyna, M.D., professor of critical care medicine. "But only a third or fewer of COVID-19 patients who develop respiratory failure die. Most survive, and we need research that helps them not just survive but really heal." A team led by Iwashyna wanted to look more closely at how being hospitalized for ARDS affected people months after they were discharged. They interviewed dozens of patients from around the nation. "As we knew from past research, people had new disabilities ranging from general fatigue and weakness to where they couldn't remember things," says Katrina Hauschildt of the U-M department of sociology and first author on the study. "A lot of people had emotional difficulties coming to terms with just how sick they had been -- a kind of PTSD from being in the ICU." "What I didn't expect," says Iwashyna, "was the lasting chaos into which surviving respiratory failure threw some of our patients and their families. Patients described problems coming not just from medical bills -- although there were plenty of those -- but also from losing their jobs and losing their insurance." Given the magnitude of recession hitting at the same time as patients are trying to recover from COVID-19, Iwashyna and Hauschildt are worried this could be devastating for many families. One 55-year old man described having to give up his small business because he could not work after getting out of the intensive care unit (ICU). "I had to sell my business. I'm on disability now...I owned a fire prevention company...We used to clean the kitchen exhaust systems in restaurants throughout the state. Degreased the restaurants, like their exhaust hoods in the kitchen and on the roof...Yeah, I sold everything." The team found that many respiratory failure patients experience what is known as financial toxicity, defined as the financial burdens and related distress of medical care. In turn, this financial toxicity led to additional negative effects on their physical and emotional recovery. advertisement With hospitalization for ARDS often resulting in weeks of high intensity care, patients end up with medical bills ranging from tens of thousands to, in some cases, millions of dollars, and the proportion covered by insurance varied substantially. One 49-year old male survivor of ARDS told the study team "I barely make it, or my bills are pending like electricity, things and other stuff." Said another 55-year old woman "I had to pay my rent, my food and medicines and all that so I was a little bit short ... They were kind of difficult to pay after the hospital ... Because I had to get more medicines and all that." The team reported several consequences of hospitalization including emotional distress related to insurance issues and unpaid bills, reduced physical well-being due to the inability to receive follow-up care due to cost, an increased reliance on family and friends to help cover expenses and other material hardships. Said one patient: "In the next couple of months, I may end up being homeless because of the financial aspect of it." While these cases may seem extreme, they were not rare. And many patients described having to make hard choices about whether they could afford rehabilitation -- and stopping early when their coverage ran out, even though they were not yet recovered. A 51-year old man told the study team "[Physical therapy] was very short, a couple weeks maybe; then it was over, and I just laid around basically. My insurance did not cover any more, so they had to cut me." Another patient, a 61-year-old woman, described not having the equipment when she tried to go home: "I could pick one item that I wanted," of the hospital bed, wheelchair, and walker she needed, "because the insurance would only pay for one item." Hauschildt says the study outlines the need for doctors to be more aware of the financial toxicity faced by survivors of ARDS, including those recovering from COVID-19. "One of the biggest things any doctor involved in follow up care can do is anticipate that patients might have real financial burdens and know what resources are available so they can help," she adds. However, she notes, what's available is really up to policy makers. For example, the study found that patients who were already on public insurance before their illness reported less of an out-of-pocket financial impact. "Communities that put a safety net in place for ARDS and COVID-19 survivors will ultimately have better healing and recovery. People who heal are able to return to work and care for others and their communities; people who don't aren't." This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as part of the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Network. The patients who participated in these interviews gave their consent for their words to be quoted, and were all about nine months after having had moderate to severe ARDS. Tensions between police and a small number of protesters led to a number of violent incidents on Wednesday in Stockholm. More than a thousand people took part in demonstrations throughout the day in the Swedish captial as people shared their support with protesters in the US over the death of George Floyd. In the evening a couple of hundred protesters gathered in front of the Royal Palace where sporadic tensions erupted between demonstrators and police. At least one woman was taken away after hitting a police van. . A ban is currently in place in the country on gatherings of over 50 people due to the coronavirus. (Representative Image) Buyers must consider a developers prestige, financial capacity, and the legal status of each project. Photo: Thanh Nguyen A recent conflict between Thanh Do Investment Development and Construction JSC (Empire Group) and buyers of Cocobay Danang project has become an example of the problem at hand, with a solution required in order to ensure the rights of both developers and buyers. Last week, 400 buyers from Cocobay Danang gathered to express their disagreement about the options Empire Group offered them to solve the dispute. At the end of 2019, Empire Group refused to pay a committed rental yield of 12 per cent to its buyers starting from January 1, claiming a low occupancy of visitors. Developers of Cocobay Danang are not expected be able to hand over units to buyers at the committed deadline, which was set to the end of 2020, blaming the delayed process and refusal of rental yield on the current global health crisis. Empire Group had created a fever in the market in 2016 when it announced a decision to pay a rental yield of 12 per cent in the first eight years for its condotel buyers. Cocobay is one of the biggest condotel projects in Vietnam, located across 31 hectares of land in Danang with investment capital declared at VND11 trillion ($480 million). This project has been mired in difficulties since the end of 2017 when a range of construction processes was pushed behind schedule and the handover deadline was delayed. After that, Empire Group surprisingly announced a U-turn on paying the committed yield. While many options were offered to buyers, none were satisfactory and the dispute continues to rumble on. The case of Empire Group is only one among many different issues in the real estate market due to the lack of regulations and overlapping laws. The biggest obstacle currently, according to industry insiders, is the requirement for completing the legal framework for holiday property, especially for condotels. The key factor of holiday property was benefit-sharing, with buyers mostly considering holiday property to benefit when taking the property into lease, and keeping it as an asset. However many buyers have fallen on hard times after paying the whole value but being refused access to the property, along with rental yields not being paid as committed. Experts warned that before investing into holiday projects, buyers must be careful in developers prestige and financial capacity, as well as the legal status of each project. With more than 30,000 condotel units in the nation excluding thousands of resort villas and officetels, holiday property has much room for growth in line with the development strategy for tourism of Vietnam. According to lawyer Nguyen Thanh Ha from SBLaw, to wipe out disputes in the real estate market in general and in holiday property in particular, it needs to improve the legal framework covering this segment. We know that the regulations for condotels were mentioned in the legal framework; however, we need more detail in order to avoid any disputes raised later, Ha said. Ha pointed to regulations on sharing benefits between developers and buyers, the fines if one side breaks the commitment, and the methods in place to force them to obey regulations. Chau Viet Bac, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) commented that refusal to pay committed rental yield and delay in house handovers are two most common issues in the real estate market. Also at play are a range of battles caused by developers who had delayed the handover deadline, and the quality of property as previously committed in the contracts. Over recent years many strikes have occurred in both pipelined and operated projects between developers, management boards, and their residents. Figures from the VIAC said that 45 dispute dossiers were submitted to the organisation in the first nine months of 2019, four times higher than the previous year. Disputes related to real estate market started mostly from the lack of legal regulations and the overlapping between laws and decrees, as well as the refusal to commitment from both developers and buyers, Bac said. (Newser) James Mattis pulled no punches Wednesday in a statement blasting President Trump for his response to the George Floyd protests, calling Trump "the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people." Trump fired back at his ex-defense secretary later that evening, per the Hill. "Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world's most overrated General," he tweeted. Trump also claimed he came up with the nickname "Mad Dog" for Mattis; and "gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win." Trump added Mattis "seldom 'brought home the bacon.' I didnt like his 'leadership' style or much else about him, and many others agree." Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany piled on in a tweet, calling Mattis' remarks "little more than a self-promotional stunt to appease the DC elite." story continues below "President @realDonaldTrump is the law and order President that has restored peace to our nation's streets," she continued. "Mattis' small words pale in comparison to @POTUS' strong action." Meanwhile, CNN reports that Mattis, who resigned in December 2018, wasn't the only military bigwig going after Trump's actions on the protesters. In an op-ed in Foreign Policy, retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, who was the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, described a "moment of national shame and peril" and wrote that we may be seeing "the beginning of the end of the American experiment." But Allen is hopeful "there is still a way to stop the descent," though "it will have to come from the bottom up," he writes. "For at the White House, there is no one home." (More from Allen here.) TANZANIA, Tanzania - The United Nations said its top envoy in Libya held talks Wednesday with a delegation from Khalifa Hifters eastern-based forces to follow up on the agreement by the countrys warring parties to resume cease-fire negotiations, calling it a positive step. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said acting special representative Stephanie Williams would hold a similar video meeting with a delegation from the U.N.-supported government in the capital of Tripoli in the coming days. 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 and foreign governments. Eastern-based forces under Hifter launched an offensive trying to take Tripoli in April 2019, and the turmoil in the oil-rich country has steadily worsened as foreign backers increasingly intervened despite pledges to the contrary at a high-profile peace summit in Berlin earlier this year. Dujarric called the meetings with the two delegations first steps ... in the right direction. We will continue pushing and working with the parties ... to alleviate some of the suffering of the Libyan people, he said. To say that the situation on the ground, the violence and the political situation, is complex would be the understatement of the year. Dujarric said negotiations on a cease-fire agreement and technical arrangement will continue on the basis of a draft presented to both sides by Libyas U.N. Mission on Feb. 23. Hifters offensive is supported by France, Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other key Arab countries. The government in Tripoli is backed by Turkey, which deployed troops and mercenaries to help defend the capital in January, as well as by Italy and Qatar. Mercenaries, mainly from the Syria battlefield, are now fighting on both sides and complicating the already complex proxy war, according to U.N. experts. U.S. and Libyan officials have accused Russia of deploying fighters from the Wagner Group in key battleground areas in Libya. Last month, the U.S. military accused Russia of deploying 14 aircraft to eastern Libya to help Hifters forces, saying the move was part of Moscows longer term goal to establish a foothold in the region that could threaten NATO allies. Russia dismissed those claims as stupidity and has repeatedly denied playing any role in Libyas fighting. Dujarric said the United Nations reiterates its concern at the persistent violations of the arms embargo on Libya and calls on all countries to strictly enforce it. The U.N. Mission in Libya announced the agreement on a new round of cease-fire talks late Monday, expressing hope they would mark the beginning of calm on the ground and allow the countrys war-scarred health system to cope with the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The virus has infected at least 168 people in Libya, but testing is extremely limited. The impact of a large outbreak would likely be severe given the continued fighting and the state of the countrys health system. Frances foreign ministry welcomed the agreement and said it intends to do everything in its power to bring about an immediate resumption of discussions and the swift signing of a ceasefire agreement. The worst scenario would be a Turkey-Russia deal imposing their conditions, said a top French official, speaking anonymously under the French presidencys customary practices. What we seek is not the victory of one side over another, but political negotiations and resource sharing. The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is heartened at the agreement and urged the parties to relaunch U.N.-led political talks toward a solution as soon as possible. The secretary-generals special representative for Libya, Ghassan Salame, resigned in March and diplomats say the U.S. has blocked two candidates to replace him. A replacement needs U.N. Security Council approval. The State Department said Wednesday that the Trump administration wants the job split in two, with a U.N. special envoy who has senior diplomatic clout and personal standing focusing exclusively on negotiating a political solution and a separate special representative running the U.N. mission. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations have been private, say other Security Council members want one person to fill both roles. The announcement of talks came as the foreign-fueled proxy war teeters on the edge of a major escalation and signalled that both sides, and their foreign backers, might prefer to pull back. On Sunday, Hifters forces said they recaptured a strategic town after staging airstrikes on militias in the area southeast of the capital. Hifters gain more broadly reflects the seesawing nature of the war, which in recent weeks had turned dramatically in favour of rival Turkish-backed Tripoli militias that ousted Hifters forces from a key western airbase and several towns. ___ Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Precinct Properties New Zealand (Precinct) (NZX: PCT ) is pleased to announce today it will shortly be commencing construction of the Bowen Campus Stage Two office development in Wellington. The project will be undertaken on a pre-committed basis with leasing to EY and Fujitsu secured totalling 4,093 square metres of office space on a weighted average lease term (WALT) of 9 years. The new building will be situated at 40 Bowen Street and will be the first of a pair of buildings planned for the site. The building will total 10,049 square metres and consist of 1,200 1,700 square metre office floorplates across 6 levels. A Generator facility will also be provided over the ground and first floor, comprising a meeting suite and private offices accommodating circa 300 desks, with EY committing to a portion of the Generator private office desks. Pre-committed leasing currently represents 72% of the buildings office NLA (net lettable area) by income. The development project has an expected total project cost of $90.2 million and is expected to generate a yield on cost of 6.6%, once fully leased. Completion of the project is scheduled for late 2022. Scott Pritchard, Precinct's Chief Executive, said, Following the successful delivery of Bowen Campus Stage One, we are very pleased to be progressing the development of the second stage of Bowen Campus. Being able to advance one of the two new office buildings at Bowen Campus is a great result amidst the challenging environment we have been presented with over the last few months. We believe the prime office market in Wellington remains strong and well positioned locally. Having secured quality occupiers as pre-commitments reinforces the demand for quality office space in the Wellington city centre. With discussions currently underway with potential occupiers for the balance of space available, we expect the remaining 2,700 sqm to be fully leased prior to the projects completion. While we recognise the uncertainty which remains within the New Zealand economy, Precincts well located buildings, high quality client base, high occupancy and long weighted average lease term gives us confidence that our strategy will continue to deliver in more challenging times. Source: Precinct Properties New Zealand (Precinct) (NZX: PCT ) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. 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Related News: ArborGen Holdings Limited (NZX: ARB) Updates Market on FY22 Guidance My Food Bag Group Limited (NZX: MFB) Q3 FY22 Trading Update ikeGPS Group Limited (NZX: IKE) signs $0.9m deal with tier-1 electric utility Tower Limited (NZX: TWR) Update on Tonga Volcanic Eruption and Tsunami Event 21st January 2022 Morning Report Trade Window Holdings Limited (NZX: TWL) TradeWindow and Mastercard teams up Genesis Energy Limited (NZX: GNE) FY22 Q2 Performance Report Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Seeka announces dividend of 13 cents per share 20th January 2022 Morning Report Z Energy Limited (NZX: ZEL) Q3FY33 Operating Data Crude oil futures declined to Rs 2,769 per barrel on June 4 as participants increased their short positions. Uncertainty around OPEC production cut deal also weighed on crude prices. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories fell by 2.08 million barrels for the week ended May 29. Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities said Crude oil prices gave up the gains on uncertainties over extension of output cut deal from OPEC plus nations. The OPEC and other members are struggling to get a common consent to extend the output cut. However, Saudi Arabia and Russia has agreed to extend output cuts in July. Crude oil prices declined on bearish weekly inventory data with rise in product inventories. In the futures market, crude oil for June delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 2,791 and an intraday low of Rs 2,751 per barrel on MCX. So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 1,361 and a high of Rs 4,415. Crude oil delivery for June decreased Rs 12, or 0.43 percent, to Rs 2,768 per barrel at 15:10 hours IST with a business turnover of 5,500 lots. Crude oil delivery for July eased Rs 10, or 0.35 percent, to Rs 2,810 per barrel with a business volume of 243 lots. The value of June and July contracts traded so far is Rs 918.54 crore and Rs 5.11 crore, respectively. Patel expects oil prices to trade lower for the day with support at $34 and resistance at $38. MCX Crude oil June futures has support at Rs 2710 with resistance at Rs 2830. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 1.98 percent at $36.55 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark was down 1.31 percent to $39.27 per barrel. Turkeys parliament stripped three opposition lawmakers of their parliamentary status in a stormy session today after their convictions on assorted terror charges were upheld by an appeals court. Leyla Guven and Musa Farisogllulari of the Kurdish-friendly People's Democratic Party (HDP) and Enis Berberoglu of the main secular opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) lost their seats in the 600-seat legislature. Hours later Farisogllulari was detained as he set out for Ankara from the mainly Kurdish southeast province of Diyarbakir. There followed news that Guven was detained as well. The moves are widely seen as part of the governments ongoing efforts to divide and neuter the opposition. Human Rights Watch Turkey director Emma Sinclair-Webb described it on Twitter as another sign of the relentless assault on elected opposition parties and said the three had been subjected to politically motivated trials in which legal activities were criminalized. The chamber is dominated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) and his far-right allies from the Nationalist Action Party, which together command 340 seats, giving them a simple majority. The chambers power has ebbed ever since Turkeys executive presidency concentrating power in the hands of Erdogan came into effect in 2017. But changes to the constitution, for example, still require the approval of a two-thirds majority in the parliament. Hence, the opposition still has some teeth and Erdogan appears bent on removing them. Human rights lawyer Erdal Dogan noted in a telephone interview with Al-Monitor, In so far as the parliament exists to represent the will of the people, it could have waited for the appeals process to fully play out that is, for the constitutional court, which also reflects the will of the people, to deliver its verdict on the lawmakers before stripping them of their immunity. The fact that the AKP and its nationalist allies had not done so amounted to a rape of justice, charged CHP lawmaker Engin Altay as the chamber erupted in howls of protest, with opposition deputies banging on their lecterns and shouting Down with fascism. Altay was referring in particular to Berberoglu, who was tried and has already served time for espionage for allegedly leaking images to an opposition newspaper that showed Turkeys national intelligence agency smuggling weapons to Syrian rebels. His case is being reviewed by the constitutional court. The HDP lawmakers, from the partys more Kurdish nationalist wing, are accused of membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. The militants are waging an armed campaign for self-rule against the Turkish state. The HDP's moderate co-chair Mithat Sincar lambasted the stripping of their seats as a "palace coup against the popular will" and vowed to pursue our "struggle for freer tomorrows and our democratic future." The ejection from the parliament provides further ammunition to HDP hard-liners who say the party should walk out of the parliament altogether. They oppose the partys efforts under its jailed former leader Selahattin Demirtas to expand from its narrow focus on Kurdish rights to responding to the needs all Turkish citizens. The change allowed the HDP to broaden its voter base and helped to catapult it over the minimum 10% of national votes needed to win seats in the parliament in June 2015, denting the AKPs majority for the first time. The elections had to be repeated after Erdogan torpedoed his own partys efforts to form a coalition with the CHP. The government has since determinedly criminalized the HDP, sending scores of lawmakers and democratically elected mayors to jail on thinly evidenced terror charges. Erdogan now wants to shatter the new and fragile alliance that emerged last year when the CHP joined forces with the HDP, the right-wing nationalist Iyi Party and the pro-Islamic Saadet to unseat long reigning AKP mayors in Ankara and Istanbul. Kurdish votes proved critical in tipping the balance in the oppositions favor. The more radical the HDP grows, the harder it gets for the mainstream opposition to justify cooperating with the Kurdish-led group. And that is what Erdogan is betting on. At the same time, Erdogan is seeking ways to subvert any further broadening of the alliance through the addition of two new parties that broke away from his own led by the former economy czar, Ali Babacan and former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. I believe we have entered a new phase in the consolidation of the one-man regime, said Nesrin Nas, an economist and former leader of the center-right Motherland Party. Nas told Al-Monitor in emailed comments, All the institutions that form the backbone of a representative democracy, be they to advance civil rights, womens rights, voters rights or labor rights, are perceived by the government as directly challenging its authority. As such, its main imperative is not to manufacture public consensus but to bring any public resistance under control," Nas contended. As matters currently stand, remaining in the Turkish Parliament serves only to legitimize the regime the government wants to install. DENVER, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE: AM) ("Antero Midstream" or the "Company") today announced a change in the format of its Annual Meeting of Shareholders ("Annual Meeting") from in-person to virtual only, via a live audio webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/AM2020. The change is due to the continuing impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and to support the health and well-being of Antero Midstream's stockholders, employees and their families. As previously announced, the Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 8:00 A.M., Mountain Time. For additional information regarding how stockholders may access, vote and participate in the virtual Annual Meeting, please refer to the Company's supplemental proxy materials filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Antero Midstream Corporation is a Delaware corporation that owns, operates and develops midstream gathering, compression, processing and fractionation assets located in West Virginia and Ohio, as well as integrated water assets that primarily service Antero Resources Corporation's properties. The Company's website is located at www.anteromidstream.com. SOURCE Antero Midstream Related Links http://www.anteromidstream.com Denmark plans to block the websites of Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers if they dont do more to stop the sale of dangerous products on their platforms. The Danish Parliament passed legislation on Thursday making it possible to lock out the retailers if they fail to abide by product safety rules in the European Union. The first course of action would be fines, before blocking websites; the new legislation allows for larger penalties than previously. There simply cannot be an opportunity to earn money on selling life-threatening goods, Business Minister Simon Kollerup said in a statement. Denmark is cracking down on the sale of dangerous products such as mobile phone chargers that can explode into flames after an investigation found such items were easy to get. Denmarks Chamber of Commerce found 42 of 50 products purchased on the platforms Wish, Amazon and AliExpress were so unsafe that authorities had put out warnings on them. Read more about: My African Brothers and Sisters, today we commemorate the establishment, on 25 May 1963, here in Addis Ababa, of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). It will be exactly 57 years to the day. This date, which is considered as Africa Day, is, like all important celebrations, a moment not only of joy, but also of pride, reflection and meditation. 57 years ago, Africa laid the foundations for its unity that had been undermined by colonization, by establishing a common organization, the OAU, which became the African Union in 2002. Fifty-Seven years after this founding act, Africa liberated itself from the colonial presence and from apartheid. It initiated its political unity, and made significant economic, social and cultural progress. However, such progress cannot conceal the sometimes-flagrant shortcomings and delays. We are constantly plagued, not without anguish, by many questions. Has Africa become the continent of freedom, peace, prosperity, and success that our Founding Fathers dreamt of? Are Africans united, interdependent and thriving? Has Africa gained a place commensurate with its immense potential and legitimate ambition in the international arena? The scorecard of the continents half a century of independence and freedom leaves one in doubt. In spite of its huge economic potential, and its rich, young and dynamic human capital, most African States have difficulties in ensuring the welfare of their populations. Key sectors such as education, health and security are largely dependent on foreign aid. Communitarianism and tribalism have become more marked due to multiparty systems and democratic principles that have oftentimes been perverted. Ranging from open crises, caused by terrorism and inter-tribal or inter-religious conflicts to post-electoral crises, Africa is constantly beset, here and there, by scenes of violence, fragility and uncertainty over the future. As Chairperson of the African Union Commission, one of whose key commitments is to silence the guns on the Continent, I am deeply touched by the sight of the current events in Libya, one of the founding members of the OAU, and the principal initiator and proponent of the African Union. The tragedy being played out in this country is of profound concern to us all. No-one is blameless in the failure, neither is any segment of the international community, which has a great responsibility in the persistence or even escalation of the conflict. My African Brothers and Sisters, Friends of Africa worldwide, against this mixed backdrop, there are some glimmers of hope, insofar as there is great determination to overcome the odds, and immense resources to break the cycle of dependency and poverty. Free trade area Positive developments and new impetus, as well as fierce determination, and spectacular results, have continued to emerge and pave the way forward. Regional organisations are being established, while continental flagship projects such as the AfCFTA are on the right track. The Continents economic integration, another founding aspiration of our peoples, is now within reach. The emergence of the Continent is certainly feasible. However, the ardent wish of the peoples of Africa, particularly the youth, is that leadership and governance invest greater efforts to ensure that Africa gives and avails itself of its best. A more Africanist vision of this leadership, focusing on common and binding strategic objectives, will be required if we are to pursue the legitimate aspirations of our youth and our Founding Fathers. The reform of the African Union is intended to provide the Commission with appropriate legal and policy resources to become an effective instrument for the achievement of priority actions, the essence of which is reflected in Agenda 2063. Our common ambition, that of our leaders and hundreds of millions of Africans, is to advance with greater force and resolve towards this horizon. Brothers and Sisters of the continent, the Coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging the entire world as has rarely been seen, has destroyed certainties, undermined assurances, and shattered most of our beliefs. Never before has humanity appeared so fragile and impotent. Perhaps the time has come for humanity to reflect on its vanities and limitations, in order to re-think universal civilization. Right from the onset the pandemic, much to the surprise of those who have always belittled the Continent, Africa mobilized itself. A continental response strategy was developed and implemented promptly. I would like to pay a well-deserved tribute to the specialized organs of the Union in charge of this implementation, as well as to the current Chairperson of our Union, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, for the pertinent initiatives taken. My tribute also goes to all our Member States, which in a remarkable manner, promptly took appropriate measures, consistent with the continental strategy. We should however redouble efforts, determination and perseverance in strictly implementing the pillars of the strategy. We should go beyond the present situation, by preparing for post-pandemic conditions in the world. There is an urgent need for Africa to develop new forms of resilience. In a world in which multilateralism is sorely tested, Africa must stop expecting solutions from others. Africa should no longer be satisfied with this role of never-ending reservoir for some, and dumping ground for others. There is an urgent need for Africa to chart its own course. Its food dependency and insecurity are unacceptable and intolerable, as is the state of its road, port, health and educational infrastructure. Africas land, forests, rich fauna, mines, energy potential, and maritime and inland waterways, hold the necessary resources to provide an adequate response to the needs of its peoples. We should, in full lucidity, boldly opt for an innovative approach that is inward-looking rather than outward-looking. Let us live on what we have, using what we have, in other words let us live within our means! As we embark on this path, our leaders will be closer to our citizens, and our nations will become stronger. In my opinion, this inward-looking and self-reliance approach, will be a catalyst for the renaissance of our Nations. It is only when they are tested, that nations and states truly emerge. We are now at that point in history. Coronavirus The COVID-19 pandemic brutally reminds us of a major issue, which is the imperative need to put a stop to dependency on the exterior. This can be achieved through the twofold objective of living on our own resources, and resolutely focusing on our industrialization process. Other entities with less resource than we have, were able to achieve this in record time. I strongly urge women, youth, intellectuals, academics, politicians, entrepreneurs, and civil society activists, to engage in fruitful and active discussions on the issue, which is key to our material survival, our independence, our freedom and our dignity. The only way to contain COVID-19 and its disastrous effects, is to ensure our food sufficiency, create millions of jobs, and save hundreds of millions of African citizens, who are currently seriously exposed to pandemics and various other hazards. This entails a real outpouring of solidarity for a truly strong and lasting African resilience. There is no nobler manner of celebrating Africa Day than by initiating this intellectual, moral and political venture, which is essential for the genuine renaissance of our dear continent. For more information on COVID-19, visit www.un.org/coronavirus Africa Renewal New Delhi, June 4 : In an interview with IANS, Sandeep Kataria, CEO, Bata India said that the demand has been rising for the last three weeks and the trend is expected to continue as consumers start feeling more confident. "We are expecting a revival in demand by September with the onset of festival season," he said. The company is working on various cost-optimisation measures including rental renegotiation, closure of unviable stores and digitalisation drive across the organisation, etc to eliminate redundancies, he added. Kataria said that in tandem with the ongoing market trends, Bata has shifted its focus towards driving online sales and expanding its ecommerce footprint by ramping up presence in online marketplaces, rolling its omnichannel home delivery offerings through 900+ stores, increasing its pan-India footprints in order to meet customer demands. "After grappling with severe business disruptions, we are back with safety and hygiene as our top priority. We are also recalibrating business operations with a strengthened product portfolio, a steady focus on cash conservation in the company and better online presence and services to ensure seamless shopping experiences for our consumers," Bata India CEO said. "Change in consumer behaviour is bound to be a natural fallout of the on-going crisis. There will be a new order in place in the post Covid world, and health & safety will assume paramount importance for everyone," he said on the changing consumer behavior patterns. Bata India is increasing the focus on our omnichannel approach where the online and offline stores are integrated seamlessly to be present at all customer touchpoints. "We are offering contactless home delivery services for the customers along with our delivery partners. We see demand picking up in Tier3-5 towns, where stores have opened earlier than in metros," he added. Q: What is the Bata strategy to reopen the stores? A: We are approaching our store re-opening with utmost care as safety of our Customers, Store Teams and Retail Operations is of paramount importance. Basis various directives received from the concerned Government authorities & learning from the best industry practices from various retailers across the world, we have created a detailed Store Re-Opening Checklist. This instruction manual has been translated into 11 regional languages so that it's understood by our own and franchisee store teams. We have created an on-line training module & it has helped train over 6,000 retail staff via our e-learning platform. We have sanitizers, gloves, masks, dispensers, quarantine boxes for tried shoes for all our stores.We have completed our entire drill of deep cleaning & sanitization and are welcoming customers back following best practices. We would be using easy to understand marketing collaterals which enable the customer to know what steps we are taking to make their shopping experience safer & what care they need to take while they are in a Bata store. We are encouraging customers to try shoes themselves, make contact-less payments and insist on an e-invoice. Our contact centre is keeping customers informed about which stores have re-opened. While, half of our physical stores are already open, our online store www.bata.in is already offering consumers essential collections ranging from Work from Home, Fitness, Washable and more comfortable range of shoes. Q: What will be the company strategy to evolve a portfolio of products in the current environment? A: Change in consumer behaviour is bound to be a natural fallout of the on-going crisis. There will be a new order in place in the post Covid world, and health & safety will assume paramount importance for everyone. Keeping the current situation in mind, we at Bata India, have curated a special range of Easy wash footwear, Work from home range, Back to Work and Fitness at Home collections for our customers. We are also rolling out sanitizing wipes, sprays for footwear and other protective equipment like masks and others as part of our bouquet of offerings. Bata already has a range of anti-bacterial school shoes in market and we are looking to extend the same anti-bacterial properties to more of our products. Q: What are the upcoming cost-optimization measures on rentals and unviable stores? A: The company is working on various cost-optimisation measures, including rental renegotiation, closure of unviable stores and digitalisation drive across the organisation, etc to eliminate redundancies. Q: How will the neighbourhood stores (In-stores) stay relevant? A: Being aIndia's leading & most trusted footwear brand, Bata caters to varied needs and requirements of customers of all age groups through company owned stores, franchise stores and multi brandoutlets. Bata has 1,600+ stores reaching consumers in more than 600 towns. We understand that consumers might feel apprehensive in stepping out to shop for a while. That's why we are following 20+ point checklist to ensure safety of our customers, staff and stores. As more than half of our stores are open now for different days of the week as per local state government guidelines, we are ensuring that we are communicating the store operations times to our customers alongwith store manager's number. Customers can call and request information about products, choose products by going over product pictures received from store manager over popular chat services and get home delivery of the chosen products. Neighborhood stores are also able to offer quick delivery on same day in most cases. Q: How is Bata expanding the ecommerce footprint due to the pandemic? A: In tandem with the ongoing market trends, Bata has shifted its focus towards driving online sales and expanding its ecommerce footprint by ramping up presence in online marketplaces, rolling its omnichannel home delivery offerings through 900+ stores, increasing its pan-India footprints in order to meet customer demands. In addition, consumers are shopping from our existing online store www.bata.in that offers a wide product assortment, free home delivery, and multiple payment options. The delivery can happen in over 1,300 cities and towns. Q: What in your estimate will be the impact of the pandemic on consumer behaviour and demand and how will Bata navigate this? A: Change in consumer behaviour is bound to be a natural. There will be a new order in place in the post Covid world, and health and safety will assume paramount importance for everyone. Brands that employ the best of safety measures, right from the production stage to, the final delivery of the product are certainly going to be in vogue and find more takers. Consumption through online channel will increase as some consumers will be wary of stepping out of their homes. They will prefer shopping from neighbourhood stores also. We have always banked on our resilience to navigate through trying times and emerge stronger. As an organization, we remain empathetic towards all our stakeholders and strongly hold on to our inherent values of putting people first, something that has always helped us make a strong comeback amidst unprecedented situations and this time too, it is no different. After grappling with severe business disruptions, we are back with safety and hygiene as our top priority. We are also recalibrating business operations with a strengthened product portfolio, a steady focus on cash conservation in the company and better online presence and services to ensure seamless shopping experiences for our consumers. Q: What is the Bata growth strategy post lockdown? A: We are increasing our focus on our omnichannel approach where the online and offline stores are integrated seamlessly to be present at all customer touchpoints. We are offering contactless home delivery services for the customers along with our delivery partners. We see demand picking up in Tier3-5 towns, where stores have opened earlier than in metros. The demand has been rising for the last three weeks and the trend is expected to continue as consumers start feeling more confident. We are expecting a revival in demand by September with the onset of festival season. (Sanjeev Sharma can be contacted at sanjeev.s@ians.in) Assistant Secretary for Health admiral Brett Giroir speaks as US President Donald Trump listens during a news conference on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on April 27, 2020. The U.S. needs to ramp up coronavirus testing to ensure everyone has "equitable access," especially in underserved minority communities, the government's top testing official said Thursday. Adm. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services who is running the government's testing response, said data shows black Americans have been disproportionately hit hard by the pandemic. HHS will now require laboratories to report the age, race, ethnicity, sex, zip code and type of test performed on patients when reporting data to state and local health departments, he told reporters on a conference call. He said labs will have 24 hours to report that data, which local health officials then send to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a daily basis. "This is only one small component of my office's efforts to combat health disparities that have plagued our nation for decades, but it is an important foundational component related to Covid-19 that we will continue to build on in the future," Giroir said. He added that it's "critical" to the country's Covid-19 response that underserved communities receive testing and proper follow-up care. The new reporting requirements will help the federal government understand how Covid-19 has impacted different communities, he said, and allow the federal government to target its response to particularly hard hit areas. CDC data has shown that black Americans have accounted for a disproportionate share of Covid-19 fatalities, but the data is incomplete because many local health officials don't report race and other demographic data. "You look at the African-Americans hospitalization rate and mortality rate being 3, 4, 6 times that of white Americans, depending on the studies that you read and really understanding who's being tested, the results of those tested and the demographics are just critical to our public health response," he said. "We take this deadly seriously." Giroir began the call by expressing "personal sadness" over the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, who was killed after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd's death ignited mass protests across the country over police brutality and systemic racism throughout America. "As public health officials, we cannot be silent," he said on the call. "We must and will continue to acknowledge and address the racial disparities faced by minority communities." About 12 million coronavirus tests were processed in the U.S. in May, Giroir said, calling it a "tremendous success" even though it falls short of the 12.9 million tests officials had hoped to run for the month. Most states have met their targets as well as goals set by the federal government, Giroir said. Some states have lagged, he admitted, without identifying which ones. U.S. labs are currently running between 400,000 and 500,000 tests per day, he said, adding that capacity is "steadily" increasing. That figure falls far short of what some public health specialists and economists have called for. Harvard University published a report in April that said the U.S. would need to ramp up testing capacity to at least 5 million tests a day by early June, and 20 million per day by late July, in order to reopen the economy. Giroir previously characterized that assessment as "an Ivory Tower, unreasonable benchmark." The U.S. has struggled to increase its testing capabilities since the very beginning of the outbreak. Early missteps at the CDC caused the agency to distribute faulty test kits to local health officials. CDC officials also set stringent requirements for testing that prevented clinicians from diagnosing some of the first patients. Shortages in supplies of the materials needed to process tests, such as nasal swabs for sample collection and chemicals needed to analyze results, have also handicapped the country's ability to test people who don't yet have symptoms. Giroir said he believes the U.S. currently has enough testing materials to start testing asymptomatic people, but added that state and local officials will determine who's eligible to get tested. An Alaska man accused of laundering $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran funneled nearly all the money through the United Arab Emirates, U.S. federal court documents released early Thursday show. The court documents, filed as part of a U.S. asset seizure effort, shed further light on how Kenneth Zong allegedly created fake invoices to help Iran draw cash held by South Korea in lieu of payment for oil shipments. It also renewed questions about financial transparency in the UAE, as the order sought to seize $20 million held by one of the country's seven emirates. Zong helped Iran by creating fake invoices for construction material, using them to convince South Korean banks and regulators to release the money, federal prosecutors said. In April, the Industrial Bank of Korea agreed to pay $86 million in fines over failing to stop the laundering, federal prosecutors in New York said. Zong, earlier convicted of criminal charges in South Korea over the scheme, was due to be released from prison in March, though U.S. federal prosecutors said it was likely he'd be held there until he paid a fine of millions of dollars. No lawyer was listed for Zong in the U.S. court filings. Federal prosecutors want to extradite him to stand trial in the U.S. as well. Of the money laundered, nearly all of it flowed into the United Arab Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. While saying efforts have been made to improve the UAE's financial controls, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in April warned that the country's limited number of money laundering prosecutions and convictions, particularly in Dubai, are a concern given the countrys risk profile. In announcing the forfeiture effort, U.S. federal prosecutors thanked authorities in Dubai and in Ras al-Khaimah, another emirate whose sovereign wealth fund holds the sought-after $20 million. That money ended up there as part of a plan by three Iranians later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury to buy a hotel owned by the fund in the nation of Georgia. That deal was Officials in Ras al-Khaimah did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle ONeill visits Belfasts International Wall to see the newly painted mural to George Floyd. Mr Floyd died after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck last Monday. The mural was commissioned by Feile an Phobail and Failte Feirste Thiar, and painted by Marty Lyons and Mickey Doherty. PA Photo. Picture date: Thursday June 024 2020. See PA story POLICE Floyd Belfast. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Stormonts leaders have urged those gathering to protest against George Floyds death to find another way to vent their anger. Police have decided to take no further action in relation to a Black Lives Matter demonstration that saw around 2,000 assemble outside Belfast City Hall on Wednesday. Northern Irelands Chief Constable stood by the handling of the event when quizzed by members of his oversight body, the Policing Board, on Thursday. The Public Health Agency has expressed concern at the protest over Mr Floyds death in US police custody, highlighting the coronavirus transmission risks associated with such gatherings. At Thursdays daily Covid-19 briefing, First Minister Arlene Foster made clear the event had broken coronavirus lockdown laws and warned against a repeat. At the rally, which last over two hours, there were calls for participants to gather again in the city centre on Saturday. There is relief that we are emerging slowly but surely from lockdown. However, the need for social distancing remains and mass gatherings are dangerous, however laudable the aim may be. pic.twitter.com/5HoPR8kC9H Arlene Foster #ProudofNI. (@ArleneFosterUK) June 4, 2020 Mrs Foster urged them to find other ways to express their feelings, suggesting the use of online books of condolences or even individual protests at front doors. I think that from now on the police will be watching very carefully what happens in relation to mass gatherings, she said. Mass gatherings such as we saw in front of Belfast City Hall are a breach of the law, they are a breach of the law, and therefore everybody should be aware of that now and there should not be a repeat of that. Expand Close Around 2,000 took part in the rally at City Hall (David Young/PA). PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Around 2,000 took part in the rally at City Hall (David Young/PA). Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said she was fully supportive of the Black Lives Matter campaign. However, she urged protesters not to assemble together to express their views. We have to send a message very clearly that by gathering in such a big crowds were actually spreading the virus, and ultimately thats killing people, said Ms ONeill, who later visited a new mural of George Floyd in west Belfast. So were asking people to protest in a different way. Please find another avenue to vent your feelings and your views, which I know are very strongly held. Health Minister Robin Swann added: No matter how just your cause is, no matter how just your protest is, at this moment in time it should not cost or threaten someone elses lives. I ask those people who are protesting to find another way. People were packed tightly together at the centre of the City Hall protest, with others observing social distancing at the fringes of the rally. Expand Close PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne said the police had to walk a fine line in how they handled such events (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne said the police had to walk a fine line in how they handled such events (Liam McBurney/PA) The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) maintained a low-key presence at the event, with officers observing from a distance. Chief Constable Simon Byrne said public protests at this time amid the pandemic will endanger lives. Appearing before the Northern Ireland Policing Board, he defended the police response. Sometimes its getting that fine line right because what to one person is strong enforcement and being robust to other people is aggressive and oppressive, and its difficult to make these decisions real time, he said. Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd, who has responsibility for the enforcement of the Covid-19 regulations, said the approach to policing the next planned protest on Saturday is being developed. I would fully accept that through various lens policing often gets accused of an inconsistent approach and that is an inevitable consequence of what you ask us to do which is to police every set to circumstances on its own merits, he said. Mr Todd later explained why police were taking no further action against the organisers. In balancing the rights of lawful assembly and lawful protest and understanding that the organiser did not intend or anticipate such a large number of attendees which ultimately led to the social distancing problem it is our current view that the expenditure of thousands of hours of police time in seeking to put these matters before the PPS is unlikely to be proportionate in all the circumstances, he said. This does not mean in any sense that this would be our position moving forward in other circumstances. Earlier, the Public Health Agencys head of health protection Dr Gerry Waldron warned public gatherings increased the risk to the population from coronavirus. Weve got to bear in mind that the virus hasnt got any conscience and doesnt recognise good causes, he told the BBC. Unfortunately, people that congregate in large groups, even if theyre trying to maintain social distancing, put themselves and others in that group at risk. Jolene Francis, who helped to organise the Belfast rally, defended the gathering, pointing out that many were wearing masks and using sanitisers. I would say that racial injustice and discrimination have been a health crisis since the beginning of time, and while I understand where the people are coming from, the government advice has also advised people to behave at their discretion, and that is also the message we pushed, to come down and act responsibly, she told the BBC. William Luther, Staff / Staff More than 106,000 workers in Texas filed for unemployment last week as total claims have topped 2.3 million throughout the state since mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic forced mass business closures and spurred an economic crash. New unemployment claims have steadily declined since peaking in mid-April. Even so, more than 129,000 total workers in Bexar County have filed for unemployment between mid-March and the week ending May 23 or roughly 14 percent of all workers in the county. OMCs' Digital India move is likely to have an impact on more than 80.3 million Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana consumers, majority of whom are not exposed to digital transactions. The Union government has asked oil marketing companies (OMCs) to go for around 100 per cent digitalisation on payments for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by March 2021. Though a step towards Digital India, the move is likely to have an impact on more than 80.3 million Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) consumers, majority of whom are not exposed to digital transactions. According to multiple sources, among the three companies Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, HPCL has already initiated steps towards achieving this target by asking distributors for compulsory digital transactions. "Though 100 per cent seems to be unrealistic, companies aim to touch around 60-70 per cent, said a top official from an OMC. The government has directed us to do it in a phased manner starting from June. At present, digital payment for cooking gas is around 18-21 per cent, we have asked the distributors to increase it to 25 per cent with immediate effect and then a phase-wise increase to 100 per cent by March 2021, said a senior official from an oil marketing company. The three oil marketing companies together have 278.7 million LPG customers, being served by 24,670 LPG distributors. There is a revised target for cashless/digital payment for LPG refill delivery. Hence, your revised target of cashless/digital transaction is 100 per cent for FY 2020-21. Currently this month's target is 25 per cent, HPCL informed its distributors. HPCL has a total of 7.7 million LPG consumers, while IndianOil has 13.1 million and BPCL has 7.1 million as of April, according to the data available with the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. Cashless payments are safe, convenient and transparent. In current pandemic times, it solves problems associated with carrying and exchanging currency which passes through multiple unknown hands. "Even for digital transactions, contact less devices and methods are being encouraged, HPCL said in response to Business Standard queries. Neither the petroleum ministry, nor the other two OMCs responded to questions. HPCL has always been at forefront of adopting new technologies to improve customer experience. "The cashless payment methods were included at our retail outlets and LPG refill, many years ago. In the current situation, HPCL is proactively providing solutions, creating awareness and encouraging customers to use cashless mode of payments for LPG refills and at retail outlets, HPCL added. State-run OMCs sold nearly 23.1 million tonne packed domestic LPG during 201920 and 16.1 million new domestic customers were enrolled too. When asked how distributors are adopting the new directive, Pawan Soni, general secretary, Federation of LPG Distributors of India, said, Conversion from cash to digital/cashless payment mode will require a major behavioral change in the age-old habits of the customers. "Things, like customer awareness, ease of making digital/cashless payment, incentive schemes for both the customers and delivery personals and innovative ideas like pre-delivery digital payments, QR Codes printed on refills will play the key role in encouraging contactless digital payment as the option of payment remains with the customer. HPCL dealers, however, are under greater pressure. We are under pressure to accept digital payments and our agency has reached 91 per cent mark. "People in a small city, like ours, is using online medium like GooglePay, PhonePay and Paytm, said Papu Kumar Saoo, Pappu HP, Gas Gramin Vithrak, a distributor from Jharkhand, who has done maximum online transaction for HPCL. Bibb County Commissioner, Joe Allen (pictured), is facing calls to resign for saying that police should 'shoot to kill' George Floyd protesters in Wisconsin A Georgia official is facing calls to resign for saying that police should 'shoot to kill' George Floyd protesters in Wisconsin. Bibb County Commissioner, Joe Allen, who represents District 6, made the comment under Fox 6 Milwaukee's live stream on Monday. 'It's now time to SHOOT to KILL them if they continue to destroy,' Allen wrote under the live stream. His comment has since been deleted. Following the comment, several people took to Twitter demanding he resign. 'Don't be a coward now!! Own what you said!' on Twitter user wrote. Allen responded to that comment, saying: 'I'm not that. I said it. And I replied to you why . And I stand by that. If my family or myself were confronted . And if it's my family or myself or even you. Saving lives are my business.' Another user then replied: 'But you weren't referring to saving lives. You were referring to shooting and killing people. That is what you said.' A third Twitter user tweeted: '@BibbJoe I demand your immediate resignation for incendiary, divisive comments on an article about racial unrest in Minneapolis [sic]. 'These thoughtless words stoke the violence and support police brutality. We have no room for either in Bibb County.' 'It's now time to SHOOT to KILL them if they continue to destroy,' Allen wrote (pictured) under the live stream. His comment has since been deleted Allen later issued an apology to the Macon Telegraph. 'I regret my choice of words in the online comments and what it means to people,' he said. 'It was a poor choice, and I'm sincerely sorry for these hurtful comments. We should be working to help all people and making sure we are together.' Allen's comments came just days after President Donald Trump publicly said 'when looting starts, shootings starts' as he assured Minnesota Gov Tim Walz that the military was on his side. At least 9,300 people have been arrested across the United States since protests erupted following the killing of George Floyd. While the majority of the protests have been peaceful, some have turned violent in cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. At least 9,300 people have been arrested across the United States since protests erupted following the killing of George Floyd While the majority of the protests have been peaceful, some have turned violent in cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. A protester is seen demonstrating in Atlanta on Wednesday At least 11 people have been killed since the protests began. Floyd, 46, died after Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, 44, kneeled on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds on May 25 while three other cops stood by and did nothing. Chauvin was arrested and charged on Friday with third-degree murder. His charge has been upgraded to second-degree unintentional murder. He still faces third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. As of Wednesday, the other three cops, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng, have been arrested and are all facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Thiruvananthapuram, June 4 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that a joint probe by forest and police officials to track down the killers of the pregnant elephant in Palakkad is on and three persons are on their radar. Vijayan also took strong exceptions to the manner in which some Union ministers and some other leaders in Delhi have given a different colour to the killing of the elephant. "This incident occurred in Palakkad district and not like what these leaders have said this incident occurred at Malappurram district. This we feel is a purposeful attempt to degrade Malappurram district and Kerala. This is not acceptable at all. The environment is made up of man, animals, trees and rivers. Yes, there have been man-animal conflict and we are all working towards bringing this to the lowest. But if anyone tries to spread canards, it will not be taken lightly," said Vijayan. Vijayan was responding to strong remarks made by BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, when she said " Malappurram is known for its intense criminal activity specially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it." Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan tweeted, "I have already taken up the matter with State Govt expressing my anguish. Govt of Kerala is taking adequate strong actions those responsible for this abominable act will be brought to justice." In an earlier development, a Kerala forest department team probing the killing of the pregnant elephant is leant to have taken two persons into custody. The forest officials are tight-lipped on the progress of their investigation. The elephant's habitat was in the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad district. The local Manarakadu police station on Wednesday registered a case in the gruesome incident. "The forest department and the police are probing the incident and we are confident of finding the villains behind this crime," said Sub Inspector of Police T.K. Ramachandran. According to veterinarians who treated the 15-year-old pregnant elephant, some miscreants while chasing away the elephants who occasionally stray into the agricultural land had kept fire crackers inside a pineapple. When the elephant started eating it, the crackers burst, seriously injuring its upper and lower jaw and tongue. The injured elephant, according to forest officials, was first spotted by locals near a water source on May 23. Two days later an elephant expert after a medical assessment said things were bad for the animal. On May 25, the elephant was found dead in slushy water. "Despite our best efforts to get the elephant out of water, it did not come out and died," said a local villager. A post-mortem conducted on the elephant two days later revealed that the elephant was two-months pregnant. Experts pointed out that this was the elephant's first pregnancy. On Thursday, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar took to Twitter to show his displeasure. "The government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Malappurram, Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate it properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill," he wrote. On Wednesday, the Environment Minister sought a report on the death of the elephant and said stern action would be taken against the culprits. Russia and Syria have conducted airstrikes against Islamic groups in Lattakia and Hama, who they claim should have been removed by Turkey. The Syrian Air Force, alongside their Russian counterparts, carried out a half dozen airstrikes over the Lattakia and Hama governorates. According to a field source, the Syrian Air Force was responsible for the attack on the foreign jihadist positions in the key town of Kabani, while both air forces launched strikes on the northern part of the al-Ghab Plain region. The source stated that the airstrikes primarily targeted the positions of the Turkistan Islamic Party and Hurras al-Deen group, two foreigner-led groups that carried out attacks against the Syrian Arab Army last month. Despite repeated calls by the Russian Ministry of Defense to expel these jihadists from northwestern Syria, Turkey has been reluctant to clear them the M4 highway. Turkeys reluctance has caused some friction in northwestern Syria, as both the Russian and Syrian armed forces believe these foreign jihadist groups should have no future in the countrys political settlement. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Seventy-eight years ago (on June 47, 1942), the United States Navy fought and won the Battle of Midway. Courageous American warriors defeated a powerful Japanese invasion fleet and, in the process, sank of four of Japan's six largest aircraft carriers for the loss of one American carrier. One of the tragic features of this battle is that, in the early stages of the fighting, wave after wave of attacking American aircraft were shot from the sky, their valiant pilots and gunners slaughtered, in what some have compared to the charge of the Light Brigade and the famous poem written about it. How ironic it must have been the many American pilots who died that day, mostly well educated, had surely read that poem, without premonition that it would someday serve as their symbolic epitaph. Significant to this commentary's theme, that poem includes these words: "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered. Indeed, on the American side, despite the brilliant victory, "someone had blundered," and more than one person. That fact is rarely given prominent mention, but those mistakes yield important lessons that remain valuable today. After the battle had ended, and the victory was won, American leadership chose not to mar the accounts of triumph by censuring those whose blunders had added many avoidable deaths to the casualty list. That is why you may never have heard of the dark clouds that, to this day, still hover over the "Incredible Victory." Mistakes in war are inevitable. Both the Japanese and the Americans certainly made many of them in that battle, and the fog of war is a valid excuse for most of them. All that having been said, not every mistake on the American side was excusable. That is because some of them were made not on the basis of tactics and prudent risks, but on the basis of personal, and sometimes petty, motives. Perhaps the most consequential of the failures is alleged, by many who have studied the battle, to have been brought about by Commander Stanhope Ring, leader of the USS Hornet's Air Group. Here are some of those allegations. Ring rejected the advice of Lieutenant Commander John Waldron, the leader of the Hornet's torpedo-bomber Squadron 8. Waldron accurately predicted the location of the enemy fleet and, disobeying the orders of Ring, turned off course and led his flight to it. The pilots who instead followed Ring flew to the wrong location, found empty ocean, and therefore played no further role in the actions of that day. Two of them died when they ran out of fuel and ditched in the water. Waldron's entire squadron, attacking alone, without support from Ring, was annihilated but for one survivor. The Valley of Death had been reprised. Waldron and his men died, but not in vain. Their attack was one of several that kept the Japanese fleet dodging and weaving, thereby delaying its attack on the American aircraft carriers. The resulting inability of the Japanese to follow the battle doctrine of "strike first" doomed them. Had the Hornet's air group followed Waldron, according to one historian, "all 4 Jap carriers would most likely have been sunk [or disabled] in the morning and the last surviving carrier, Imperial Japanese Ship Hiryu, would not have been able to launch a fatal air strike on the USS Yorktown in the afternoon." Waldron was part American Indian, and his race is thought to have been a factor in the decision made by his commander to discredit his advice. In any case, Ring reportedly had a reputation among his men for disdaining the advice of his subordinates. His orders, right or wrong, were not to be questioned. In Ring's defense, his boss, Admiral Marc Mitscher, may have misdirected the Hornet's air group, but Mitscher's records are not clear on this. As the historian says, there "are still questions that need to be answered. Many good men died because of this. Their service and sacrifice need to be emphasized and honored. And perhaps the bureaucratic, careerist mentality of the Navy needs to be re-examined." Only with such brutal honesty can we avoid future blunders that will otherwise create American widows and orphans. Chinese and Iranian hackers targeted Biden and Trump campaigns, Google says FILE PHOTO: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at event in Philadelphia By Christopher Bing WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State-backed hackers from China have targeted staffers working on the U.S. presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden, a senior Google security official said on Thursday. The same official said Iranian hackers had recently targeted email accounts belonging to Republican President Donald Trump's campaign staff. The announcement, made on Twitter by the head of Google's Threat Analysis Group, Shane Huntley, is the latest indication of the digital spying routinely aimed at top politicians. Huntley said there was "no sign of compromise" of either campaign. Iranian attempts to break into Trump campaign officials' emails have been documented before. Last year, Microsoft Corp announced that a group often nicknamed Charming Kitten had tried to break into email accounts belonging to an unnamed U.S. presidential campaign, which sources identified as Trump's. Earlier this year, the threat intelligence company Area 1 Security said Russian hackers had targeted companies tied to a Ukrainian gas firm where Biden's son once served on the board. Google declined to offer details beyond Huntley's tweets, but the unusually public attribution is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at political campaigns. "We sent the targeted users our standard government-backed attack warning and we referred this information to federal law enforcement," a Google representative said. Hacking to interfere in elections has become a concern for governments, especially since U.S intelligence agencies concluded that Russia ran a hacking and propaganda operation to disrupt the American democratic process in 2016 to help then-candidate Trump become president. Among the targets was digital infrastructure used by 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign https://in.reuters.com/article/usa-cyber-democrats-investigation-idINKCN10B033. Story continues Moscow has denied any meddling. Attempts by foreign adversaries to break into presidential campaigns are commonplace but the unusually public attribution offered by Google is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at candidates. "We are aware of reports from Google that a foreign actor has made unsuccessful attempts to access the personal email accounts of campaign staff," a Biden campaign spokesman said. "We have known from the beginning of our campaign that we would be subject to such attacks and we are prepared for them." The Trump campaign, the Chinese Embassy in Washington and the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Charming Kitten, the group identified by Google as being responsible for the targeting of the Trump campaign, has also recently hit the headlines over other exploits, including the targeting of the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc . Earlier this year, Reuters tied the group to attempts to impersonate high-profile media figures and journalists. John Hultquist, senior director of intelligence analysis with U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc , described the two hacking groups as "espionage actors" and said they were likely attempting to collect intelligence rather than steal material to leak online. The FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence both declined to comment. (Reporting by Christopher Bing; Additional reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington and Jack Stubbs in London; Editing by Chris Sanders, Lisa Shumaker and Leslie Adler) GRAND ISLAND A largely peaceful demonstration Tuesday night deteriorated, as protesters threw rocks at passing motorists, and Grand Island police and officers used tear gas-like chemicals, pepper balls and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. The violence occurred in the old Dodge School parking lot. Grand Island police were assisted by the Hall County Sheriffs Department and the Nebraska State Patrol. In response to escalating violence, officers began trying to disperse the crowd just before midnight. The scene was not cleared until about 1:30 a.m., said Grand Island Police Capt. Jim Duering. At the height of the activity, at least 20 law enforcement officers were on the scene, Duering said. Demonstrators marched twice through the downtown area, beginning and ending at the Dodge lot. The first march began at about 7 p.m. At least one of routes took the protesters to the Hall County Courthouse. Most of the protesters were not involved in the rock throwing, Duering said. Two officers and a police dog were struck by rocks. So were three patrol cars, two of which sustained damage. Samsung Galaxy A31 is set to launch in India later today. Here are expected specifications, features, and price of the phone. Samsung will launch a new smartphone in India today. Dubbed as Galaxy A31, Samsung has been teasing the phone on social networking platforms for quite some time. The smartphone is already listed on the companys website and is accepting notify me registrations. Samsung had first showcased the Galaxy A31 in March this year. Then, the phone was just listed on the companys website with no price and release date information. According to the updated webpage, Samsung Galaxy A31 has a 5,000mAh battery with 15W charging support. It has a 6.4-inch full HD+ sAMOLED Infinity-U display. The phone has four rear cameras including a 48-megapixel primary sensor, 5-megapixel depth sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. At the front, it has a 20-megapixel camera for selfies. It's just round the corner now! Prepare yourself for a new level of #Awesomeness. The all-new #GalaxyA31 launches tomorrow. Don't forget to join us for the launch event. Know more: https://t.co/MtsxcoccXI #Samsung pic.twitter.com/Y140gwESNr Samsung India (@SamsungIndia) June 3, 2020 Samsung Galaxy A31 comes in two variants 4GB of RAM with 64GB built-in storage and 6GB of RAM with 128GB of built-in storage. The phone supports expandable storage up to 512B via a microSD card. The smartphone features an in-display fingerprint sensor and comes with support for Samsung Pay. The phone comes in four colour options - 'Prism Black', 'Prism Blue', 'Prism Red' and 'Prism White'. As said earlier, Samsung has not yet disclosed the price of the phone. The phone recently went on sale in Thailand where it is priced at 8,999 Baht which translates to roughly 21,300. In India, its likely to be priced under 20,000 as well. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan continues to post on his Facebook page photos that he receives from Facebook users who take photos of citizens violating anti-epidemic rules. The following are the photos and the Prime Ministers captions: Western customs house: Not many people will be infected, only one or two people, and the rest will be infected through geometric progression. Irresponsible citizens will suffer the consequences. I wish the newlyweds happiness, but what will happen to their grandparents? The photo was taken today near Saghmosavank Monastery. Unibank in Sevan: People are semi-organized in a city that is in a grave epidemiological situation. ACBA Bank in Vanadzor: There is a line-marking, but only to take a photo. This is how the graduates of School #114 of Yerevan celebrated their graduation on May 25. P.S.: It turns out that the dancing woman is the schools principal. Yerevan Municipality: One window, common virus. Ardshinbank in Abovyan: Irresponsibility. According to the Facebook user, the situation in front of Ijevan VTB Bank, right now. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- The Mississippi Department of Health this week released details on Mississippi long term care facilities where outbreaks of COVID-19 have been found, including two in Jackson County. A Hattiesburg newspaper filed suit in Hinds County chancery court seeking the release of the information. A judge ruled May 26 that the MDH would be required to release the information under the states Public Records Act -- unless the department could provide a specific exemption allowing the information to be withheld from the public. The health department has been for some time releasing information on the number of cases in LTCs, but had not identified the facilities nor given information on the number of cases in each individual facility, but Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the states health officer, had said previously the department would not release the names of the LTCs with outbreaks, fearing the release of some information would create a stigma around those facilities, making it difficult for them to attract employees. A news release from the health department earlier this week said the new information would only include the name and county of each facility, but no data on the number of cases in each. However, by Thursday morning, the MDH website listed not only the name of each facility, but provided data showing the number of cases among employees, residents and the number of resident deaths attributed to COVID-19. Five LTCs along the Mississippi coast are listed, including two in Jackson County, both of which are listed among those facilities with active outbreaks. One, Singing River Health and Rehabilitation Center in Moss Point, has accounted for 53 of Jackson Countys 314 cases -- 15 cases among employees; 38 among residents. Two residents there have died from the coronavirus. The second Ocean Springs facility, Sunplex Subacute Center, has had one employee with a confirmed case of COVID-19, with no cases reported among residents. Three other LTCs in Harrison and Hancock counties have totaled three employee cases, three resident cases and no deaths. Statewide, there have been 1,993 cases reported in LTCs, with 406 deaths representing more than half of the state total of 794 as of Thursday afternoon. The death rate among LTC cases of COVID-19 is 20.4 percent -- more than four times the statewide rate of 4.8 percent. Other data in Thursdays update from the MDH reported 238 new cases of COVID-19 statewide, with nine new deaths and an additional three deaths from April 21-26 not previously reported. One of those previously unreported deaths was, for the second straight day, from Jackson County, bringing the countys total number of deaths to 14. There were also five new cases reported, bringing that total to 314. Singing River Hospital System also reported its average cases per day over the past seven days had risen to 2.14 -- more than double the one case per day average from the prior seven days. Harrison County reported four new cases and no deaths, while Hancock County had no new cases or deaths. The Mississippi coast totals now stand at 673 cases and 34 deaths. Those age 60+ continue to comprise the vast majority of deaths statewide -- 85.9 percent -- as well as 60.7 of all cases requiring hospitalization. The death rate among those 60-and-above who contract COVID-19 is 15 percent. Among the individual age groups, those age 18-29 have the largest number of cases at 2,916. The breakdown of cases/deaths for each age group: Under-18 : 1061/0 18-29 : 2916/3 30-39 : 2570/12 40-49 : 2733/29 50-59 : 2502/56 60-69 : 2066/173 70-79 : 1262/213 80-89 : 860/192 90 and above: 349/104 The health department also reported that 11,203 Mississippians -- 67.7 percent of all cases -- are now presumed recovered from the virus. In addition, there have now been 192,362 tests administered, with a positive rate of 8.6 percent. African-Americans continue to comprise the majority of cases, 59.6 percent compared to 42.7 percent among whites; and deaths at 52.3 percent, compared to 30.1 percent among whites. Females have comprised 58.7 percent of all cases. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)'s newly appointed president and top banker Uday Kotak on Thursday said that the country needs to maintain financial and fiscal stability even as fiscal deficit rises in the future. Terming India's sovereign rating downgrade by Moody's as 'a warning shot', Kotak said that the government needs to maintain fiscal stability by boldly spending to mitigate the economic impact of coronavirus-led crisis on individuals, businesses and the financial sector. India ended financial year 2019-20 with a fiscal deficit of 4.59 per cent of the GDP against the target of 3.8 per cent. Data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA) shows that the fiscal deficit, excess of expenditure over receipts, was to the tune of Rs 9.35 lakh crore against the target of Rs 7.66 lakh crore. In wake of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic stimulus package to support the economy, analysts estimate India's fiscal deficit to spike to 11.5 per cent of GDP in FY21, up from just 6.5 per cent before the virus outbreak. The increase will amount to a revenue loss of Rs 10 lakh crore for the government, Business Standard quoted Kotak as saying. Also Read: Kotak CEO Uday Kotak takes over as CII president "While ratings are a matter of opinion, what is contained in the ratings is something we need to keep in mind, so that we don't have a sharp increase in cost of borrowing by Indians or Indian companies from the overseas markets, as also a sharp withdrawal of money should there be a significant drop in financial stability parameters," the banker told the leading daily. On Monday, Moody's Investors Service downgraded India's rating to BAA3 and maintained the negative outlook, citing tardy implementation of key policy reforms along with the coronavirus pandemic. Moody's rating action was in line with other agencies such as S&P and Fitch, which expect prolonged period of slow growth to continue well beyond the pandemic. Also Read: GST collections down 70% in April Veteran banker Uday Kotak assumed office as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry for 2020-21 on Wednesday. Kotak, managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, takes over from Vikram Kirloskar, chairman and managing director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd and vice chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Kotak has been associated with CII for over two decades and has served in many capacities in the chamber. Governor Roy Cooper Announced NC Will Receive $6 Million Federal Grant for Employees Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19 Updates: Staying Informed & Prepared Governor Roy Cooper Honors the Day of Mourning for COVID-19 Victims Get All of the Latest Information in Spanish Tweet of the Week Right now we need leaders of strength who can be peacemakers. pic.twitter.com/KzNRwurV0m Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) June 2, 2020 Governor Cooper discussed the recent killing of George Floyd and the call for justice that has again spread across our country and state. Thousands of North Carolinians have joined peaceful demonstrations to speak out against injustices disproportionately affecting black people and communities of color. He acknowledged the need to create a space where people can make their voices heard, and pledged to listen to those sharing urgent messages for change.said Governor Cooper.added Governor Cooper.Read the Governors full remarks from Sunday on his Medium page It's important to rely on trusted sources of information about COVID-19. Keep up with the latest information on Coronavirus in North Carolina HERE Texttoto receive general information and updates about COVID-19 and North Carolina's response. Dial 2-1-1 provides free, confidential information and is available 24 hours a day to help you find resources within your community. They can connect you with people and groups that can help with questions about access to food, shelter, health care, employment and child care.Families who need food assistance for their children can texttoto find free meal sites in their communities.Make sure to prioritize your overall wellness and don't hesitate to seek additional help. Optum has a toll-free 24-hour Emotional Support Help Line atfor people who may be experiencing anxiety or stress due to Coronavirus.You can track the disease in real time through the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' COVID-19 NC Dashboard . It includes detailed information about the state's COVID-19 confirmed cases, hospital capacity and more.On Wednesday, Governor Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen teamed up to answer questions from North Carolinas young people about the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch the Kids Q&A Across the nation, faith-based organizations led a moment of silence at noon on Monday to grieve the 100,000 people in America who died from COVID-19, including almost 1,000 in North Carolina.Governor Cooper ordered all state flags to be lowered to half-staff in their memory.See the Press Release During this time it is imperative that everyone is informed about what is going on in our state. Governor Cooper's administration has been working to get information and resources translated for the Spanish speaking population in our state. Many of the Governor's press conferences press releases , and executive orders are available in Spanish. Resources are also available in Spanish on the DHHS website. Echoing US protests, people call for justice for Adama Traore, who died in 2016 in police custody. Thousands of people have joined protests in France over the 2016 death of a black man in police custody, defying police orders not to assemble due to coronavirus restrictions. The death of Adama Traore, 24, has been likened to the killing of George Floyd in the US, whose death has sparked protests across the country. Police clashed with protesters in the Paris suburbs on Tuesday. The Paris police chief has rejected charges of racism against his force. About 20,000 people defied the order on mass gatherings to join the protest. Initially peaceful, the march turned violent, with stones thrown at police and tear gas fired back. There were also demonstrations in other cities, including Marseille, Lyon and Lille. Some of the demonstrators carried Black Lives Matter placards - the movement that began in the US and has spread internationally. Mr Traore died in a police station after being apprehended by officers in the Paris suburbs and losing consciousness in their vehicle. One of the officers told investigators that he and two colleagues pinned down Mr Traore using their bodyweight. Official reports indicate he died of heart failure, possibly due to an underlying health condition. Last Thursday, the officers who detained Mr Traore were exonerated by a police investigation. Following his death in 2016, violent protests were seen in Paris for several days. His case has become a rallying cry against police brutality in France, which young ethnic minority communities say targets them. On Tuesday campaigners defied authorities, after their request for permission to protest was denied by police. Public gatherings are limited to 10 people to control the spread of coronavirus. Video showed police firing tear gas at crowds in Paris, as well as several fires and blocked roads. "Today we are not just talking about the fight of the Traore family. It is the fight for everyone. When we fight for George Floyd, we fight for Adama Traore," his sister, Assa, told the protest, according to AFP. Paris police chief Didier Lallement defended his force against allegations of brutality and racism. In a letter to police officers, he said he sympathised with the "pain" they must feel "faced with accusations of violence and racism, repeated endlessly by social networks and certain activist groups". BBC Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary. (PA) Ryanairs chief executive has stepped up his attack on the UK government over its 14-day travel quarantine plans to curb the coronavirus, dubbing them useless and ineffective. The government faces a revolt from airlines, airports and other travel firms over the strict rules for new arrivals in Britain, with leading UK business groups and many Conservative MPs weighing in behind them this week. There are fears it will worsen the severe crisis already facing many UK firms reliant on tourism and business travel to and from the UK. Prime minister Boris Johnson warned on Wednesday (3 June) Britain risked a second peak from imported cases without the measures, and ministers highlight public support for such restrictions. But the announcement of fresh details over how the scheme will work has sparked a fresh tirade from Ryanairs (RYA.L) CEO Michael OLeary, one of its most vocal critics. OLeary tore into the proposals, which come into force on Monday (8 June), in a series of broadcast interviews. He accused the government on ITVs Peston programme on Wednesday night of one shambles after another of mismanagement, making it up as they go along. He pointed out the quarantine form for travellers was not yet available on the governments website. READ MORE: Tory MPs revolt over blunt 14-day quarantine rules On Thursday morning he then told BBC Breakfast: You don't have a quarantine, people are going to be allowed to come in next week through Heathrow and Gatwick, they then get on the London Underground, the trains, the buses, the taxis, to get to their destination. This is going to do untold damage to British tourism the thousands of hotels and restaurants and guesthouses all over the UK that depend on European visitors who will be deterred by this useless and ineffective quarantine. OLeary said the measures made little sense when some countries had lower infection rates than Britain, claiming flights were perfectly okay if passengers wore masks. Story continues But Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Thursday that the government was working on travel corridors and other measures to facilitate travel to countries with COVID-19 under control. It comes after prime minister Boris Johnson had sought earlier this week to defend only imposing the policy many weeks after the crisis began. READ MORE: Hotels and travel firms slam 14-day quarantine rules Once community transmission was widespread within the UK, cases from abroad made up a tiny proportion of the total, he said in Downing Streets daily coronavirus briefing. International travel plummeted as countries around the world went into lockdown. As a result measures at the border were halted because they made little difference at the time in our fight against the virus. Now that were getting the virus under control in the UK, there is a risk that cases from abroad begin once again to make up a greater proportion of overall cases. Leading business groups also warned this week the policy risked hammering the UK travel sector, making many other firms less competitive and sending the message the UK is closed for business. North Korean children in Pyongyang have their temperatures checked as they arrive at a primary school in Pyongyang AFP/KIM Won Jin Pyongyang has not confirmed a single case of the deadly disease that swept the world after first emerging in neighbouring China, but has imposed strict rules, including closing its borders and putting thousands of its people into isolation. The new school term was originally scheduled to start in early April but was repeatedly postponed. Some universities and high schools were allowed to resume classes in mid-April. Uniformed students made their way to their schools on Wednesday morning, all wearing red commemorative flowers and face masks. Some used disposable surgical coverings while others wore pastel-shaded cloth masks, some featuring animal characters. At an elementary school in Pyongyang pupils wearing backpacks had their temperatures checked as they arrived for lessons. In the classroom they lined up to wash their hands using water from red buckets before taking their seats. "You have to rub your hands," the teacher told them. Students wore their masks in class but sat close together as they diligently listened to their teacher - also wearing a face covering - talk about the North's leadership, maths and other topics. Portraits of the country's founder Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il - grandfather and father of the current leader Kim Jong Un - gaze down from the wall of every classroom in the country and "Revolutionary studies" is a key part of the school curriculum. Analysts say the North is unlikely to have avoided infections from the virus, and that its ramshackle health system could struggle to cope with a major outbreak. The number of coronavirus infections worldwide has risen to more than 6.3 million, with around 380,000 dead across 196 countries and territories. Roberto Schmidt/Getty You really can believe your own eyes. A reporter from the Washington, D.C. TV station WUSA 9 shared images on Twitter of tear gas canisters he and a colleague collected near the White House on Mondaycontradicting claims from the White House and U.S. Park Police that authorities did not deploy the weapon against peaceful protesters to clear the way for President Donald Trumps photo-op. The photographs show spent CM Spede Heat CS and CM Skat Shell OC short-range rounds, both produced by the firm Defense Technology as a crowd management tool for the rapid and broad deployment of chemical agent, as described on the companys website. While OC stands for oleoresin capsicum, a chile-pepper-derived substance, CS is an industry abbreviation for 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrilethe key ingredient in tear gas. The effects, according to the vendor: burning sensation, heavy flow of tears, involuntary closing of eyes. Trump, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany, and right-wing media have bitterly denied that tear gas was used to clear anti-racism demonstrators from Lafayette Park so Trump could walk to St. Johns Episcopal Church. Trump posed with a Bible in front of the historic structure, which sustained minor fire damage the night before, after a speech in which he threatened to place U.S. troops on the streets of cities across the country to quash unrest. Park Police in Washington have said they deployed Pepperballs, a different brand of eye-watering munition, and used irritant-free smoke canisters on Monday. But WUSA 9s discovery backs up the experiences and observations of eyewitnesses who said they were sure tear gas was in the air. I was literally helping wipe away tears in peoples eyes and tried to tend to them and help them on the grounds and suddenly the police were pushing us back, former St. Johns rector Rev. Gini Gerbasi told CNN on Tuesday. The White House declined a request for comment on WUSAs report. The Park Police maintained it does not carry the CM Skat Shell OC canisters. A spokesman was not immediately able to say whether the agency had any stockpile of CM Spede Heat CS devices. Story continues 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. China will ease its ban on foreign airlines starting June 8, changing course a day after the Trump administration demanded the country reopen to U.S. airlines or face curbs on its own carriers flying passengers to America. Foreign airlines excluded from an earlier pact will be able to operate one commercial passenger flight to China a week, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said. It didn't name any countries or carriers, but the move opens up a chance for U.S. airlines to return for the first time in four months. While the timing may have been coincidental, it appeared as a concession from China just as tensions between the superpowers intensify. The nations are locked in a tussle that began over trade but escalated to include Beijing's handling of the coronavirus and its treatment of Hong Kong. The friction puts the phase one trade deal signed on Jan. 15 in jeopardy, along with billions of dollars in Boeing aircraft sales. "China and the U.S. should use this opportunity to restore high-level and diplomatic communications as soon as possible," said Zhu Feng, director of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University. "Both sides should cut short the hawkish and emotional rhetoric, as they're against the business interests of both." Flights can land in 37 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, where covid-19 first emerged. That list could change in the future, CAAC said. If no passengers on a particular route test positive for coronavirus for three consecutive weeks, the operating airline can increase services to twice a week, CAAC said. However, a route would be suspended for a week if five passengers on the same flight tested positive. If 10 test positive, the route will be halted for four weeks. China already allowed flights from some foreign airlines under a policy introduced in March that limited them to one trip a week and didn't allow them to operate more services than they had scheduled on March 12. U.S. carriers missed out because they'd suspended passenger services to and from China because of the coronavirus pandemic, which devastated the global aviation industry as countries imposed travel restrictions and demand disappeared. Washington's order on Wednesday would stop passenger services by Chinese airlines starting June 16, though President Donald Trump could impose the ban sooner if he chooses. The order stops short of an outright ban, allowing Chinese carriers to operate one flight to the U.S. for each flight that China grants to American carriers. By Thursday afternoon, flights between China and the U.S. was one of the most popular topics on China's Twitter-like site Weibo, as users debated whether CAAC's announcement was yielding to Washington's threats or was a sign of Beijing taking back control and incentivizing airlines to control virus risks. The U.S. Department of Transportation said last month that China violated a bilateral agreement because it didn't respond to requests by Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to resume flights. Four Chinese carriers have maintained flights to and from U.S. airports. "The Chinese government's failure to approve their requests is a violation of our Air Transport Agreement," the DOT said Wednesday. It also accused China of being "unable to communicate definitively" about when it will allow U.S. carriers to resume flights. At a briefing in Beijing on Thursday afternoon, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China has been in close communication with the DOT, and the two sides made progress. China hoped the U.S. wouldn't "create obstacles" to resolving the issue, he said. A U.S. ban on flights wouldn't hurt Air China Ltd. too badly given its limited exposure to the market, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Te said, noting that only 6.5% of the carrier's 2019 revenue came from North American routes. China Eastern Airlines Corp. and China Southern Airlines Co. also get the bulk of their revenue from the domestic market, and even more so now that international routes are restricted. The "Big Three" Chinese carriers all rebounded from losses of about 2% Thursday morning to close higher in Hong Kong, led by China Eastern with a 1.8% gain. In early January, there were about 325 scheduled flights a week between China and the U.S., but that slid to only 20 a week by four Chinese carriers by mid-February, according to the DOT. Delta is seeking to restart flights to Shanghai on June 11 from Detroit and Seattle, while United also plans to resume three routes this month, pending approval. American Airlines Inc. plans to resume flights to China in October. U.S. airline shares rose Wednesday amid a broad market rally and signs that travel demand is starting to rebound. A Standard & Poor's index of major carriers rose 7.6% to the highest since March 27, with United leading the gains with a 13% jump. Boeing also climbed 13% after the International Air Transport Association indicated a recovery was underway for global airlines. Still, the tension between the U.S. and China adds to the risk and uncertainty for Boeing's 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner, two aircraft that are critical to its recovery from the worst downturn in aviation history. While China was the largest customer of the 737 jetliner before Trump was elected, its airlines last ordered the Max in September 2016, according to Boeing's website. The country hasn't bought any planes from the Chicago-based manufacturer in more than two years. Airlines for America, a trade group that represents large U.S. carriers, applauded Wednesday's announcement on the restrictions for Chinese carriers. "We believe DOT's order will ensure fair and equal opportunity for passenger airlines with respect to service to and from China," it said in a statement. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Four current and former senior executives from two major broiler chicken producers, including Pilgrim's Pride CEO Jayson Penn, have been indicted for price fixing. The other executives allegedly involved in the price fixing include former Pilgrim's Pride vice president Roger Austin, Claxton Poultry Farms President Mikell Fries and Scott Brady, a former Pilgrim's Pride executive and current Vice President of Claxton. Meanwhile, Pilgrim's Pride confirmed that the Justice Department informed the company about the indictment against a current executive and two former employees. The company will cooperate with the department in their investigation. According to the indictment, the Pilgrim's Pride and Claxton executives conspired to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chickens across the United States, from 2012 until at least early 2017. The Justice Department said that the criminal investigation into price fixing is still ongoing, and the four men are the first to be charged. The offense carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims if either amount is greater than $1 million, the Department said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. An asteroid about the size of a stadium is headed toward Earth Saturday. Fear not: It will only come within 3.16 million miles, according to NASA-linked Jet Propulsion Laboratory. LONDON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, the World Bank announced it is offering the Commonwealth of Dominica US$13 million to enhance its air travel connectivity and facilities. A week earlier, the Dominican Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, acknowledged the valuable partnership the small Caribbean island has with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, but also with foreign investors. On May 21st, PM Skerrit took part in a ceremony with AID Bank announcing the facilitation of generous loans for small businesses impacted by the pandemic. A welcome move by the business environment, the measure is complemented by several initiatives aimed at supporting all the affected segments of society, starting with the most vulnerable. "I want to place on record also the extraordinarily good relationship with the World Bank. The World Bank continues to be a very strong partner of Dominica," PM Skerrit said. "I want to let them know that I am personally very grateful for their continued partnership. I also want to thank the IMF for some of the funds that you have been made available to us. Some US$14 million in a very rapid manner and those funds have been utilised to assist our response to COVID-19." Dominica also attracts the most reputable foreign investors and convinces them to become its economic citizens. The legal process in Dominica, known as the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme, is deemed the very best in the world. It stands out for its brilliant reputation, far-reaching impact of CBI funds on the native population and economic development, reliable due diligence, affordable investment requirements, and streamlined processing. The Prime Minister told Khaleej Times last Wednesday that Dominica prides itself on transparency and accountability. "We have a very transparent way of spending our CBI funds," he said. "If you go to the Parliament and look at the budgetary estimates, you will see where we clearly indicate how these funds are being spent." He reiterated Dominica's stance on investing CBI funds for a longer-lasting impact: "We have decided to use the CBI funds in a sustainable way." There are two ways foreign investors and their families can obtain second citizenship from Dominica. One can either contribute at least US$100,000 to the Economic Diversification Fund, or invest US$200,000 in pre-approved luxury and eco-conscious hotels. Contact: [email protected] www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners Related Links https://csglobalpartners.com Syrian forces have started to carry out missions on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighters which they received from Russia a few days ago. Confirming the delivery of the MiG-29s, the Russian Embassy in Syria on Wednesday (June 3, 2020) tweeted that the second batch of the combat aircraft had joined the Arab country's military. #SYRIA | Syrian Arab Army received the second batch of advanced MiG-29 fighter jets from #Russia - in the framework of military & technical cooperation between our countries. Syrian already begin to carry out missions on those planes | https://t.co/APPLjGzRAU | #SAA # # pic.twitter.com/QJOmyqO2WS Russian Embassy, Syria (@RusEmbSyria) June 3, 2020 The MiG-29s, which will help Syria in countering the threat posed by F-16 Fighting Falcons of Israel, were delivered "in the framework of military and technical cooperation between our countries", said the Russian Embassy. Russia-operated Hmeymim airbase in Lattakia was the venue of the handover ceremony where the Syrian Arab Air Force took the delivery of the MiG-29s. But the number of jets delivered has not been disclosed by either Russia or Syria. Following the handover ceremony, the jets were deployed at different Syrian airbases. Russia's confirmation on the MiG-29s delivery comes just four days after Syrian news agency SANA reported that the Mikoyan-Gurevich combat aircraft had joined the Syrian Arab Air Force. Russian defence officials claim the MiG-29s supplied to Syria have several advanced capabilities making them more than a match for Israel's F-16 Fighting Falcons. Initially developed and designed for aerial combat, the MiG-29 has over the years incorporated several advanced capabilities to become a multirole fighter. Apart from Syria, air forces of over 30 countries operate the MiG-29s including the Russian Aerospace Forces, Indian Air Force (IAF), Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces and Polish Air Force. The development also comes days after the United States of America accused Russia of sending its fighter jets including MiG-29s to Libya, another civil-war torn Arab country. According to the United States Africa Command, Russia sent at least 14 MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-24s to Libya following a stopover at Syria's Hmeimim airbase. Russia has been backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the ongoing civil war in the country with military hardware. Russian forces have been accused by the US and it allies of targeting Bashar al-Assad's opponents using indiscriminate force. The music industry is calling for a "Blackout Tuesday" in response to George Floyd's death. All three major record labels have shared a message on social media promising "a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community". Interscope vowed not to release new music this week, while Apple Music's Ebro Darden cancelled his radio shows. Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, prompting protests in the US and UK. Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin has been sacked and charged with third-degree murder. He is due to appear in court on Monday. Taking to Instagram, Rihanna spoke of the "devastation, anger [and] sadness" she has felt since Floyd's death. "Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart," she wrote. Beyonce filmed an Instagram video urging fans to sign a petition seeking "justice for George Floyd". "We all witnessed his murder in broad daylightWe're broken and we're disgusted. We cannot normalise this pain". View this post on Instagram #TheShowMustBePaused A post shared by Universal Music Group (@universalmusicgroup) on May 31, 2020 at 6:42pm PDT View this post on Instagram Say my name. A post shared by Warner Music (@warnermusic) on May 29, 2020 at 9:46am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ron Perry (@theronperry) on May 28, 2020 at 10:24pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sony Music (@sonymusic) on May 31, 2020 at 12:07pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sony Music (@sonymusic) on May 31, 2020 at 12:07pm PDT Dr Dre also called for action, saying his "heart is still aching"."It felt like that cop had his knee on all of our necks, meaning black men," he said on Apple Music's Young Money Radio."It's extremely painful because it keeps going on. It continues to go on and it's like, 'What can we do? Or what do we need to do to make this thing stop?'"Other pop stars, including Ariana Grande, J Cole, Tinashe, Nick Cannon, Yungblud, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, joined protestors across the US over the weekend.Ariana Grande is one of the biggest artists in the world. Not only did she use her platform to express her anger and pain towards whats going on she also participated in the streets with the rest of the protesters pic.twitter.com/XWgayEgfTV anth (@anthspears) May 31, 2020Halsey, who took to the streets in Los Angeles, told fans that she and other protestors had been fired upon by police."We were peaceful, hands up, not moving, not breaching the line," she captioned a photograph of police in protective gear."They opened fire of rubber bullets and tear gas multiple times on us. citizens who were not provoking them."fired rubber bullets at us. we did not breach the line. hands were up. unmoving. and they gassed and fired. pic.twitter.com/K8YauF0APnAdvertisement h (@halsey) May 31, 2020As anger spread through the music community, a message spread on social media calling on the industry to "take an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change"."As gatekeepers of the culture, it's our responsibility to not only come together to celebrate the wins, but also hold each other up during loss," reads the statement, which circulated under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused.Among those reposting the message were Warner Music Group, Sony/ATV, Universal Music, Motown, Capitol Records, British label Dirty Hit, Eminem's Shady Records and legendary producer Quincy Jones."All of my shows are cancelled," wrote Apple's Ebro Darden on his Instagram feed. "I will air replays of conversations with community activists, politicians and revolutionary music."Taskforce"We stand together with the black community against all forms of racism, bigotry, and violence," said Columbia Records, which is home to Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Lil Nas X, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Adele."Now, more than ever, we must use our voices to speak up and challenge the injustices all around us.""In the words of Dr King, 'There comes a time when silence is betrayal.' When you have a responsibility to raise your voice for change. That time has come," added Universal Music Group on social media.Univeral's chairman, Sir Lucian Grainge, also issued a memo to staff laying out plans for a task force, headed by chief counsel Jeff Harleston, to "accelerate our efforts in areas such as inclusion and social justice"."We must do more and now is the time to do it - and to do it with an unprecedented sense of urgency," he wrote."Even more importantly, we must commit ourselves not merely for this week, but we must continue that commitment - without let-up - in the months and years ahead." 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 Covid-19 presents many unknowns and why the populations of 11 wealthy developed countries in Western Europe and North America experience the worlds deadliest mortality rates remains a mystery. In the absence of a widely available vaccine, resolving that mystery may prove instructive on deciding how best to address this pandemic and those likely to occur in the future. Just five countries account for nearly two-thirds of all Covid-19 deaths: the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain. The coronavirus experience of the United States, particularly noteworthy, is worthy of in-depth analysis. The United States, representing 4 percent of the worlds population, accounts for 28 percent of global Covid-19 deaths and 29 percent of reported coronavirus cases. In striking contrast, China and India, each representing 18 percent of the worlds population, account, for 1 percent each of all Covid-19 deaths worldwide and 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively, of reported cases. Hunt for patterns: Countries that otherwise achieve comparatively low overall mortality rates report high Covid-19 death rates, a fluid situation as the toll climbs (Source: Worldometer as of 31 May 2020) An initial explanation for the large differentials in Covid-19 mortality rates among countries emphasized differences in sampling and national reporting. Some public-health analysts initially suspected that many governments underreported and undercounted deaths. Some governments may have deliberately underreported Covid-19 deaths for political reasons. For example, while its neighbors report thousands of coronavirus infections and hundreds of resulting deaths, North Korea reports zero cases. In Belarus, the countrys president declared at the end of April that his country had no confirmed cases and, unlike neighboring governments, imposed no restrictions on the population. By the end of May, Belarus reported about 43,000 confirmed cases and 235 deaths. In other countries, undercounting of Covid-19 deaths was largely a combination of misdiagnosis, testing shortages and shortcomings in the collection and reporting of vital statistics. Most countries, with Belgium the notable exception, report only those Covid-19 deaths that take place in hospitals or when a test confirms coronavirus infection. One analysis of 25 countries covering recent months found at least 87,000 more people died during the coronavirus pandemic than the official Covid-19 death counts report. In many countries, including the United States, Indonesia and Mexico, deaths and burials proceed with no testing of the deceased to determine infection. Most observers conclude that Covid-19 deaths have indeed been underreported. However, comparative analyses of available data suggest that this is an unlikely explanation for the deadliest Covid-19 rates. Surprisingly, in contrast to their high Covid-19 death rates, the top 11 countries have achieved comparatively low overall mortality rates. Life expectancies at birth are about 10 years higher than those of less developed countries and nearly 5 years higher at age 60. Covid-19 deaths are heavily concentrated among the elderly, especially those in long-term care facilities. In the United States and Sweden, for example, those over age 65 account for no less than 80 percent of the coronavirus deaths. With this in mind, public health analysts initially theorized that comparatively older age structures of countries offered an explanation. Reported data, however, are not consistent with that explanation. A simple comparison of Italy and Japan, two countries with similar age structures and high life expectancies, finds Italys Covid-19 death rate close to 80 times greater than Japans, 551 versus 7 deaths per million, respectively. Another proposed explanation for deadliest Covid-19 rates targeted high levels of population density and urbanization. Again, available data do not support that proposition. Countries with similar or higher population densities, such as Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore, have substantially lower Covid-19 death rates than the countries with the deadliest rates. Similarly, while New York, Paris and London are devastated, other large metropolitan areas such as Bangkok, Baghdad, New Delhi and Lagos are substantially less affected. (Source: Worldometer as of 31 May 2020) Comparisons among neighboring countries with similar climate conditions also provide little insight to explain differences in Covid-19 death rates. Germanys death rate, for example, is about a quarter of the rate of France and the Netherlands. The death rate in Iran is nearly 20 times larger than Iraqs rate, 93 versus 5 per million population. Lockdowns, social-distancing, facemasks, tracing contacts, case isolation and related measures have reportedly been effective in reducing Covid-19 death rates in many countries. However, some countries that avoided nationwide lockdowns and social-distancing requirements, such as Myanmar and Cambodia, report comparatively low death rates. One possible explanation is that the coronavirus arrived in those places at a later date and death rates may still rise. In addition, several European countries, such as Sweden and to a lesser extent the Netherlands, perhaps aiming to achieve herd immunity, minimized restrictions, banning gatherings of 50 or more, yet permitting restaurants and bars to remain open while relying on citizens to self-regulate. To date, those countries have achieved lower Covid-19 death rates than countries with more stringent lockdowns and social-distancing measures, such as Belgium, Italy and Spain. Related: What's Next For Hong Kong? In addition, Sweden reports that by the beginning of May more than a quarter of the 2 million people residing in the countrys capital, Stockholm, had been infected by the coronavirus. The Swedes and the Dutch argue that their decisions on how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic are preferable to the policies of nearby European countries whose governments now struggle on how to maintain safety while reducing restrictions, transition from lockdowns and restart depressed economies. The experiences of Denmark, Finland and Norway suggest that early lockdowns may have prevented excess deaths. Those three Scandinavian countries announced nationwide lockdowns in early March before registering any coronavirus deaths. Consequently, at the end of May their numbers of coronavirus deaths per million were a fraction of the comparatively high death rates in Sweden and the Netherlands. Comparing approaches: A complex combination of factors may contribute to Covid-19 death rates (Source: Worldometer and the UN Population Division, as of 31 May 2020) Public health experts propose various explanations for the enormous differences in Covid-19 death rates. Virtually all of them come with cautions, provisos and puzzling counterevidence that undermine their soundness. Cursory analysis suggests there may be no simple, single explanation for why the populations of wealthy developed countries in Western Europe and North America experience the worlds highest Covid-19 mortality rates. Instead, the answer to that mystery is likely a complex combination of critical factors, with the most prominent as follows: Demographics, including age structure, density, urbanization, mobility, migration, morbidity and health; Environment, including location, climate, temperature and sunshine; Culture, including social distance, contacts, physical interactions such as handshakes and hugs, nutrition and obesity rates, and hygiene; Society, solidarity, cooperation, responsibility and adaptability; Government, speed/type of responses, unified messaging, leadership, credibility, prevention and healthcare systems. In addition to the enormous country differences in Covid-19 death rates, the numbers of deaths, approaching 400,000, continue to mount daily as the disease spreads around the planet. In the absence of a worldwide available vaccine, for which many countries race to discover, a significant proportion of world population could become infected up to 70 percent to achieve herd immunity, which is unlikely to be achieved any time soon and more than 50 million could succumb to Covid-19. Unfortunately, the worst of the pandemic may be ahead. Most countries are relaxing policies of lockdowns and social isolation, understandably trying to revitalize depressed economies and return to normal lifestyles. Without use of social distancing, facemasks and other safeguards, however, public health experts anticipate a resurgence later this year, as was tragically experienced in the deadly 1918 influenza pandemic. Without question, Covid-19 is exacting heavy demographic, social and economic tolls worldwide. Perhaps the only consolation emerging from the current pandemic is that it has made the worlds population of men, women and children considerably more cognizant and sensitive to the value of good health, the precariousness of human life, the essentiality of social and communal interactions, the capriciousness of death, and the interconnectedness of humanity. By Joseph Chamie via Yale Global More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Amazon is set to reopen two of its warehouses in the Midwest after it temporarily closed the facilities due to escalating civil unrest in the area. On Tuesday, Amazon temporarily shuttered two delivery stations in Chicago, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana, as protests erupted nationwide over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. The anger in response to Floyd's killing resulted in clashes with police and looting in several cities. Amazon moved to close the Gary facility, known as DIN2, after it received reports that trailers were damaged outside of the building late Monday night, an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. It's unclear if any merchandise was stolen from the trailers or if any arrests were made as a result of the damaged trailers. There was no damage to the Chicago facility, known as DCH1. Both were closed to protect employees and partners, the company said. The facilities will reopen Wednesday in time for the night shift to begin at 8 p.m. CT. "We are monitoring the situation closely and have adjusted routes or scaled back typical delivery operations in the affected areas to ensure the safety of our teams," the spokesperson said. The company's delivery stations are smaller than its fulfillment centers, and are solely responsible for sorting and preparing packages for the last-mile delivery. Unlike fulfillment centers, which employ thousands of people, delivery stations may have hundreds of employees. On Sunday, Amazon sent a notice to its network of Flex drivers and delivery service providers advising them to stop delivering packages "immediately." The notices went out to drivers in more than a dozen cities, including Minneapolis, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami. Many of the cities announced curfews as a result of growing civil unrest. In that notice, Amazon said it had closed delivery locations "near the activity" and would reopen those locations when it has confirmed it is safe to do so. Additionally, some cities have tailored shifts available to Flex drivers around curfew times, so as to give drivers enough time to return home before curfews begin. Courtney Act brought a touch of fabulous to Ramsey Street this week. The world-renowned drag queen, real name Shane Jenek , 38, shared a promo video of her Neighbours appearance to celebrate Pride month, which is this June. 'Prides around the world might be cancelled, but not at Lassiters! 'Pride's not cancelled at Lassiters!' Drag queen Courtney Act added a touch of fabulous to Neighbours this week in celebration of Pride month 'Australia, tune into to see the confused look on Paul Robinsons face as I swan into Erinsborough. UK you will have to wait a few weeks,' she wrote in the caption of her Instagram post on Tuesday. The clip showed her being introduced by Paul Robinson (played by Stefan Dennis) as an 'international superstar' to a 'rainbow bingo night'. She also performed on stage in an eye-catching outfit at another Erinsborough pride event. Bringing star power to Erinsborough: Courtney shared a promo video on Tuesday that showed her being introduced by Paul Robinson (played by Stefan Dennis, pictured) Loud and proud: Courtney will have a four-episode arc on the long-running soap. One of the episodes will see her perform on stage in an eye-catching outfit at an Erinsborough pride event Shane recently applauded the long-running soap's effort to depict a reflection of modern Australian society on TV. 'I know when I was growing up there was very little visibility for the queer community, for people of colour and even women performing non-traditional women's roles,' he recently told the Herald Sun. 'Drama and shows like Neighbours can inform society how to act,' he added. Visibility: Shane (left in drag as Courtney Act) recently applauded the long-running soap's making an effort to showing a reflection of Australian society on TV Courtney's four-episode arc this week will cause confusion for Paul Robinson who doesn't realise that Shane and Courtney are the same person. 'It is kind of fun because that scenario does happen in real life,' Shane added. Neighbours airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 10 Peach Columbia-Greene Media has recently teamed up with the US Postal Service to provide same-day delivery of your local newspaper with your mail. Our expanded daily delivery of your local news reaches into the following areas: Disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic is set to hinder and delay the Democratic Republic of Congos response to its new Ebola outbreak, humanitarian groups have warned, with authorities facing a race against the clock to contain the countrys latest epidemic. The ministry of health declared a new Ebola outbreak in the western city of Mbandaka on Monday DRCs 11th since the virus was first discovered in 1976 reporting four deaths and two infections. Mbandaka, a trading hub of 1.5 million people on the Congo River, is 620 miles from an ongoing outbreak that has killed over 2,200 people in North Kivu province by the Ugandan border, where containment efforts have been hampered by armed conflict. This latest outbreak adds to what the Red Cross has called a perfect storm of crises, with the countrys limited health services already struggling to combat Covid-19, which has infected more than 3,000 people and left 71 dead, and the worlds largest measles epidemic, which has killed more than 6,000 to date. Authorities have noted that the eastern epidemic in North Kivu, which has been raging since early 2018, began only one week after an initial outbreak in Mbandaka, which, as a major transport and commercial centre, has the potential to once again spread the disease beyond the city. A fast and efficient containment programme is crucial for suppressing this outbreak, and health workers from the government, the World Health Organisation and Unicef have already kickstarted Mbandakas Ebola response, with 20 more experts from the three bodies due to be flown in to the city this week. However, disruption from coronavirus restrictions is set to complicate procedures and the time frame in which authorities react. Covid-19 has a far-reaching and very serious impact, Robert Ghosn, head of emergency operations in DRC for the Red Cross, told The Independent. In countries as fragile as DRC, the impact is magnified. Under the pandemic regulations, specific government authorisation is required to travel to Mbandaka, and already Unicef has reported delays in transferring additional staff to the city. I need to move the team from Goma and elsewhere to Mbandaka, but you need to get approval from the specialisation committee on Covid to let you go there, Edouard Beigbeder, Unicefs DRC representative, told The Independent. And then you need to have authorisation from the internal customs as the president has closed the province. Mr Beigbeder also warned that the requirement to test arrivals into the city for Covid-19, although necessary, would further hinder the response of humanitarian and health workers. To test the people who will be sent to Mbandaka, this will take a few days, he said. I think these protocols should be put in place for the new people who are coming. But this is restraining our movements, and the more the restrain your movements the more difficult it is to be able to act quickly. Concern has similarly been raised over the impact of Covid-19 on the countrys supply chain, with flights in and out of DRC all but suspended to limit the transmission of the deadly virus. 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 Mbandaka itself was resupplied with 64 cubic metres worth of personal protective equipment, disinfectant and tents last Friday as part of the coronavirus response, meaning authorities will be able to divert these supplies to fighting Ebola. But with the scale of the citys outbreak not yet known, local authorities must be prepared and able to look outwards, the Red Cross warned. The supply chain is definitely going to be a challenge, Mr Ghosn said. We have prepared for it to a certain extent; we have some supplies in the country already. But my call is for the country and organisations not to turn inwards. This is a global challenge. Unicef said it has already begun retraining and refreshing its field workers in Mbandaka, many of whom were present in the city during the 2018 outbreak and have the expertise to deliver a localised response. Mr Beigbeder said these individuals would be sent out into the community to raise awareness and spread messaging around Ebola via radio, megaphones and posters. Despite the diseases higher fatality rate compared with Covid-19 Ebola kills roughly 50 per cent of people it infects recent research from the Red Cross found that the coronavirus was eliciting far greater levels of fear among certain populations in the DRC. As such, humanitarian groups have insisted that education will be half the fight in tackling the outbreak. Its a bit of a race against the clock, said Mr Beigbeder. I think if were quick enough and if we have the full access and full participation of the community we could kill it immediately. The danger would be that it starts to spread in different areas of the town and if it goes to the villages outside. This is why the next two weeks are so important, that we are to suppress it immediately. Mr Ghosn said: Outbreaks start and finish with the communities. The idea wed stop an outbreak in a community against the will of the people does not work. We need to talk to the people in Mbandaka, engage with them. If they need food and work to sustain their lives from day to day, how do we adapt this message? Precaution measures need to be adapted to their reality. Health workers inside the red zone of an Ebola treatment centre in DRC (AFP via Getty Images) The extent to which the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the countrys handling of its other health crises has already been demonstrated in the Ebola epidemic in North Kivu. In April, the DRC recorded a new Ebola case just 48 hours before it was set to officially declare the end of the North Kivu outbreak. According to the International Rescue Committee, which leads the countrys infection and prevention response against the virus, this setback can partly be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. The whole Ebola response was very challenged by Covid starting, Kate Moger, the IRCs regional vice-president for Africa, told The Independent. We were two days away from the declaration that should have been made [of] the end of that outbreak, but then there was a new confirmed case which revealed some weakness in the surveillance over the previous weeks. That can be attributed to the fact the coronavirus has very different protocols about how you bring people together, how you train people, how you do awareness-raising and the [Ebola] vaccination has been affected as they cant get as many people through the process. Borry Jatta, Ebola response director at the IRC, added: The DRC is facing a triple emergency: the rapid spread of Covid-19, an ongoing Ebola epidemic in North Kivu and a new Ebola outbreak in Mbandaka, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. The international community must work with agencies on the ground and the DRC government to double efforts and increase support to these disease outbreaks, and reach those in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Ebola can spread quickly, and the last thing the DRC needs is another major outbreak on top of the disease outbreaks it is already working to end. Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger 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 St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson issued a swift condemnation of the Minneapolis police action that led to George Floyds death, where four officers held him in a prone restraint position while he was handcuffed, and one officer placed his knee on Floyds neck for almost 9 minutes. What happened to George Floyd is unfathomable and can not be defended in any way, she tweeted on May 30. Shes right, of course. But Krewsons city counselor disagrees with her. In a case with remarkable similarities to Floyds death, the city defended several police officers who were accused in a civil lawsuit of using a similar technique to subdue a man in police custody in 2015. There is no specific policy forbidding prone restraint, in the city of St. Louis, wrote City Counselor Julian Bush in a brief on the case when it went before appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Published materials on the issue cite a risk of asphyxiation from prolonged prone restraint, but the literature indicates that opinion is divided . No court has held that placing a resisting prisoner in a prone position while restrained is per se unreasonable. The Eighth Circuit agreed with Bush. About a month before Floyd died, the court issued an opinion that would likely have a bearing on any civil case brought by Floyds family, because Minnesota, like Missouri, is in the Eighth Circuit. We find that the Officers actions did not amount to constitutionally excessive force, the court wrote in a case involving the death of Nicholas Gilbert in a holding cell in a St. Louis police station. The undisputed facts show that the Officers held Gilbert in the prone position only until he stopped actively fighting against his restraints. Nicholas Gilbert was a 27-year-old who was homeless at the time. Gilbert, who was white, had a methamphetamine addiction. He was arrested by St. Louis police for allegedly squatting in a vacant downtown building. Police took him to the precinct on Jefferson Avenue and put him in a holding cell while they processed the arrest. At some point, he was seen taking off his sweatpants, and a clerk at the police station thought he was going to try to hang himself. Several police officers rushed to the cell to subdue him and prevent a suicide attempt, according to court documents. Gilbert thrashed about and hit his head on a concrete bench. Heres how Gilberts lawyers, in their appeal of the case, described what happened next: Ten officers held Mr. Gilbert prone on the ground for fifteen minutes after he was handcuffed and leg shackled inside a secure holding cell. They pushed Mr. Gilbert down by his back, torso, shoulders and biceps, and lean[ed] over the top of him until he stopped breathing. The case is strikingly similar, to what happened to Floyd, says Kevin Carnie, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Gilberts parents. Multiple officers took turns holding him down. The primary difference in the cases? Video. Prosecutors, mayors, activists, all of us, have seen with our own eyes how Floyd died. There was no video in the cell where Gilbert died. The original judge in the case dismissed the lawsuit over the issue of qualified immunity, which is a standard by which police are protected from liability in civil lawsuits if there has been no previous court decision at the time of a disputed incident that specifically finds certain type of actions such as prone restraint to be an unconstitutional use of excessive force. In light of the Floyd case, the concept of qualified immunity is receiving criticism from both the left and the right, as it makes it next to impossible to hold police officers and their departments accountable. But the Eighth Circuit went further in Gilberts case. It found explicitly that the prone restraint used in Gilberts case, even if he was held down for 15 minutes until he could no longer breathe, not to be excessive as a matter of law. That means that despite 25-year-old guidance from the Department of Justice that says as soon as a detainee is handcuffed while in the prone position he should be rolled over to his side, police officers are protected from civil liability if they perform the technique that led to the deaths of both Floyd and Gilbert. The Eighth Circuit opinion is a green light for this kind of police action, Carnie says. He and his colleagues at the Simon Law Firm are considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But as it stands, the very police technique that led to Floyds death is not considered unlawful because of a case defended by the city that Krewson leads. Gilbert died while Francis Slay was mayor, and the lack of video in police holding cells has been remedied since Gilberts death. It hurts, Gilbert reportedly said, as he was cuffed and shackled and held to the floor. Stop. I cant breathe, Floyd pleaded with the police officers now charged in his death. Both men died face down, hands cuffed behind their backs, with police officers holding them to the ground. Too bad, says the Eighth Circuit. Prone restraint is legal, the judges have determined. Is it unfathomable? Only when theres video. From City Hall to the Capitol, metro columnist Tony Messenger shines light on what public officials are doing, tells stories of the disaffected, and brings voice to the issues that matter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. George Floyd Funeral, Memorial Services Details Emerge Multiple memorial services have been scheduled to honor George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officernow fired and criminally chargedknelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes and whose death sparked the biggest protests and civil unrest since the Vietnam War era. Expected to stretch across six days and three states, Floyds memorial services were due to begin on Thursday in Minneapolis, the attorney for Floyds family told media. The first memorial is scheduled to take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at North Central University. As a Christian university situated in the heart of Minneapolis, we strive to be good citizens and good neighbors. Our hope is that our sanctuary will provide a space of welcome and warmth for Mr. Floyds loved ones and their guests during this time of remembrance and worship, the university said in a statement, adding that the Reverend Al Sharpton, a television political commentator and civil rights activist, will give the eulogy. For Sharpton, this moment holds a lot of potential for change. The remaining three officers involved the killing of George Floyd were arrested yesterday, a statement said on the website of the National Action Network, an organization founded by Sharpton. Services will also be held Saturday in Hoke County, North Carolina, where Floyds sister lives, and in Houston on Monday, near where Floyd lived, media said. A public viewing is scheduled for June 8 at The Fountain of Praise Church near Houston, from noon to 6 p.m., Click2Houston reported. A funeral service is planned for 11 a.m. the next day at the church, which will be followed by a burial. Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to attend next weeks funeral, according to a Latorria Lemon, a spokesperson for Fort Bend Memorial Planning Center, USA TODAY reported. Arrangements are being handled by the Fort Bend Memorial Planning Center, whose owner, Bobby Swearington, told Click2Houston that the family requested that the funeral service be grand. Not an easy thing to do with the magnitude and the amount of visitors that we are expecting to embark upon Houston when his services commence. Its just so much that we are having to put together, we want to make sure that we are able to exercise social distancing so we had to find a facility, Swearington said, according to the report. An investigation into Floyds death led to second-degree manslaughter and murder charges against Derek Chauvin, the disgraced officer caught on camera kneeling on Floyd as he gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, Please, I cant breathe. The video recording of the disturbing incident immediately went viral, igniting the nationwide protest and civil strife. Three fellow officers fired from the Minneapolis police department along with Chauvin the next day were charged on Wednesdayeach with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyds official cause of death, according to the full 20-page report made public on Wednesday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office, was cardiopulmonary arrest while Floyd was being restrained by police. The autopsy also cited complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. The manner of death was listed as homicide. Reuters contributed to this report. While the investment amount could not be immediately ascertained, a report pegged it at about $2 billion. E-commerce giant Amazon is in exploratory discussions with telecom operator Bharti Airtel for a possible investment, according to sources. While the investment amount could not be immediately ascertained, a report pegged it at about $2 billion. When contacted, a Bharti spokesperson said, "We routinely work with all digital and OTT players and have deep engagement with them to bring their products, content and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that there is no other activity to report." An Amazon India spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation about what it may or may not do in future. The latest buzz comes at a time when Indian telecom companies seem to be on the radar of global investors and tech giants. Over the past few weeks, Reliance Industries' digital unit Jio Platforms has raised billions of dollars from marquee technology investors including Facebook, KKR, Silver Lake Partners, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic. Market sources said talks are on between Amazon and Airtel for a possible investment and equity buy, but the discussions are at a "very initial stage". An industry watcher who did not wish to be identified said more deals may be in the offing as global tech companies eye a bigger slice of the Indian market, working in tandem with the telecom operators. At 574 million, India boasts of the world's second largest base of internet users. Last week, there were reports that Alphabet Inc's Google is eyeing about 5 per cent stake in Vodafone Idea, although the telecom operator clarified that it constantly evaluates various opportunities and there is no proposal before the board of the firm as yet. On May 26, Airtel's promoter firm Bharti Telecom sold 2.75 per cent stake in the company to institutional investors in the secondary market, raising over Rs 8,433 crore. The sale proceeds will be fully utilised to repay debt at Bharti Telecom and will make the promoter holding firm a 'debt free company'. Amazon, which has pumped billions of dollars into its Indian e-commerce operations, is looking at strengthening its foothold in the local market. A potential investment will provide it greater firepower to take on Walmart-backed Flipkart as well as recently launched JioMart, following Facebook's $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms. JioMart -- a new Reliance Retail Ltd commerce marketplace which connects customers with kirana stores and other small and micro-local Indian businesses -- plans to leverage the huge reach that Facebook's WhatsApp has in the country. Apart from investing in e-commerce and food retail businesses, Amazon has also picked up stake in various offline retail chains in India. In 2017, retail major Shoppers Stop had announced raising Rs 179.26 crore from Amazon.com Investment Holdings LLC through an issue of equity shares, which translated to just over 5 per cent shareholding. In September 2018, Amazon said it had co-invested in Witzig Advisory Services, the entity which had acquired Aditya Birla Retail's More chain of stores in India. In August last year, Future Retail had informed stock exchanges that Amazon.Com NV Investment Holdings LLC would acquire 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Ltd from the promoters, led by Kishore Biyani, for an undisclosed amount. At that time, Future Coupons held 7.3 per cent stake in Future Retail. Photograph: Sivaram V/Reuters VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diversified Royalty Corp. (TSX: DIV and DIV.DB) (the Corporation or DIV) is pleased to announce that its board of directors has approved a cash dividend of $0.01667 per common share for the period of June 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, which is equal to $0.20 per common share on an annualized basis. The dividend will be paid on June 30, 2020 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 15, 2020. Re-Opening of Certain Mr. Mikes Dining Rooms and Bars DIV is pleased to announce that Mr. Mikes Restaurants Corporation (Mr. Mikes) has advised DIV that 33 of 45 Mr. Mikes restaurants are currently open for in-restaurant or patio dining at reduced capacity. Mr. Mikes has advised DIV that it and its franchisees are following the regulations and recommendations of health officials to ensure that a strict regime of property sanitizing and physical distancing measures are met. Notwithstanding the partial re-opening of such Mr. Mikes restaurants, DIV continues to expect that Mr. Mikes will experience a slow recovery and constrained cash flows. Accordingly, as previously disclosed, DIV anticipates that Mr. Mikes will require royalty relief for an extended period of time. DIV is continuing its discussions with its lenders and Mr. Mikes in this regard. About Diversified Royalty Corp. DIV is a multi-royalty corporation, engaged in the business of acquiring top-line royalties from well-managed multi-location businesses and franchisors in North America. DIVs objective is to acquire predictable, growing royalty streams from a diverse group of multi-location businesses and franchisors. DIV currently owns the Mr. Lube, AIR MILES, Sutton, Mr. Mikes, Nurse Next Door and Oxford Learning Centres trademarks. Mr. Lube is the leading quick lube service business in Canada, with locations across Canada. AIR MILES is Canadas largest coalition loyalty program with approximately two-thirds of Canadian households actively participating in the AIR MILES Program. Sutton is among the leading residential real estate brokerage franchisor businesses in Canada. Mr. Mikes operates casual steakhouse restaurants primarily in western Canadian communities. Nurse Next Door is one of North Americas fastest growing home care providers with locations across Canada and the United States as well as in Australia. Oxford Learning Centres is one of Canadas leading franchised supplemental education services in Canada and the United States. Story continues DIV intends to increase cash flow per share by making accretive royalty purchases and through the growth of purchased royalties. DIV intends to pay a monthly dividend to shareholders and increase the dividend as cash flow per share increases allow. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The use of any of the words anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, intend, may, will, project, should, believe, confident, plan and intends and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information contains these identifying words. Specifically, forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements made in relation to: the amount and timing of the June 2020 dividend to be paid to DIVs shareholders; DIVs expectation that Mr. Mikes will experience a slow recovery and constrained cash flows; DIV anticipating that Mr. Mikes will require royalty relief for an extended period of time; DIV continuing its discussions with its lenders and Mr. Mikes in this regard; DIVs intention to pay monthly dividends to shareholders; and DIVs corporate objectives. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events, performance, or achievements of DIV to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking information. DIV believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In particular there can be no assurance that: DIV will be able to make monthly dividend payments to the holders of its common shares; Mr. Mikes may not make its fixed royalty payments to DIV, in whole or in part; or DIV will achieve any of its corporate objectives. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned that forward-looking information included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance, and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. More information about the risks and uncertainties affecting DIVs business and the businesses of its royalty partners can be found in the Risk Factors section of its Annual Information Form dated March 18, 2020 and in its most recent Managements Discussion and Analysis, copies of each of which are available under DIVs profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . In formulating the forward-looking information contained herein, management has assumed that DIV will generate sufficient cash flows from its royalties to service its debt and pay dividends to shareholders; lenders will provide any necessary waivers required in order to allow DIV to continue to pay dividends; the impacts of COVID-19 on DIV and its royalty partners will be consistent with DIVs expectations and the expectations of management of each of its Royalty Partners, both in extent and duration; DIV and its royalty partners will be able to reasonably manage the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on their respective businesses. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, DIV. The forward-looking information included in this news release is presented as of the date of this news release and DIV assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law. THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR THE ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Additional Information Additional information relating to the Corporation and other public filings, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Contact: Sean Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer Diversified Royalty Corp. (604) 235-3146 Greg Gutmanis, Chief Financial Officer and VP Acquisitions Diversified Royalty Corp. (604) 235-3146 [June 04, 2020] Litmus Announces Integration with SAP Marketing Cloud to Optimize Email Testing, Streamline Email Production Litmus, a leader in email marketing, today announces the launch of its integration with SAP Marketing Cloud, a multi-channel marketing platform delivering comprehensive data management, intelligent orchestration, and closed-loop measurement to optimize marketing and drive revenue. The integration of the Litmus Email Previews application with SAP (News - Alert) Marketing Cloud allows for streamlined collaboration across the marketing team, and all other teams involved in the approval process, to test emails as they are built, saving time, and streamlining email production processes. Campaign success is further optimized by leveraging engagement insights into content and tactics that will resonate with audiences. "Every minute matters when creating a great email campaign. Email marketers often find themselves wasting time and effort because of lack of collaboration between platforms and the inability to test early and often," said Erik Nierenberg, CEO of Litmus. "The integration of our solution with SAP Marketing Cloud enables marketers to optimize their email testing and development processes by leveraging the customer data SAP provides to truly understand what customers want out of a marketing email. Not only will internal teams save time, frustration, and effort, but email campaigns will better resonate with customers." Through the Litmus Email Previews application, businesses using SAP Marketing Cloud can access real-time previews directly inside the email editor for SAP Marketing Cloud. This enables creators to catch errors earlier, reducing the time spent on the review process. Emails can be previewed in real-time for more than ninety popular email clients and devices. Businesses using SAP solutions now have access to the Litmus checklist and proof tools to help ensure their emails have all the recommended components. Additionally, due to this itegration, Litmus users now have access to deeper customer analytics and insights. "When it comes to simplifying the email process-from ideation through building, testing, sending, and beyond-few tools have made more of an impact on our process than Litmus," said Conor Snell, social media and content strategist at Altos, a Litmus customer. The integration with SAP Marketing Cloud is immediately available to all enterprise-level Litmus customers. For businesses using SAP Marketing Cloud interested in trialing Litmus, please visit litmus.com/solutions/esp/sap-marketing-cloud/ for a 7-day free trial. For more information on the work Litmus is doing, please visit litmus.com. About Litmus: Litmus provides the leading email optimization and collaboration solution for marketers. From Pre-Send campaign development and testing to Post-Send insights for future content optimization, Litmus improves marketing performance and strategy, delivering increased subscriber engagement. With offices in Boston, San Mateo and London and backed by Spectrum (News - Alert) Equity, Litmus is used by major global brands across every industry, including 80% of the Fortune 100, the top 10 retailers, 9 of the top 10 ecommerce brands and U.S. banks, and 23 of the top 25 U. S. advertising agencies. Learn more about Litmus at litmus.com, subscribe to the Litmus bldg, or follow us on social media - Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005173/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The regions petro-states shipped about one in every three of their crude exports last month to the Asian country. China is an ever-more important customer for Middle Eastern oil producers as they scramble to find buyers in the wake of the coronavirus. The regions petro-states shipped about one in every three of their crude exports last month to the Asian country. Thats the biggest proportion in at least 2-1/2 years, tanker tracking from six Persian Gulf nations show. Their push into China comes with its oil demand having all-but recovered from the pandemic. Consumption in swaths of Europe and the U.S. normally the other key importers is still down sharply. Chinas heightened clout will be an important subplot in the coming days, when many of the largest producers are set to discuss whether to maintain their deepest-ever output curbs at an OPEC meeting. Middle Eastern producers dont have much choice now other than to direct their oil to China, said Carole Nakhle, chief executive of London-based consultancy Crystol Energy. Its still risky because anything that derails Chinas economic recovery from the virus could sap oil demand, she said. In absolute terms, flows to China were almost unchanged in May even as total shipments slumped by about 4.5 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, the worlds top exporter, sold almost a third of its crude exports to China in May. The regions next-biggest producer, Iraq, sent around half its shipments to the country, a record. China, where the virus emerged, is regaining its thirst for energy even while the pandemic continues to throttle consumption elsewhere. With the International Energy Agency predicting global crude demand will fall by about a tenth this year, Saudi Arabia and Russia corraled other members of OPEC into the most drastic output cuts in history. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners are debating whether to extend their nearly 10 million barrels a day of cuts beyond June. A proposal to meet as early as Thursday has run into difficulty amid haggling over compliance with the cuts. Increased Chinese purchases are helping push prices higher. Brent crude traded above $40 a barrel on Wednesday, double its level in late April, before slipping back as OPEC continued to deliberate over meeting dates. Omans main grade traded over $40 a barrel this week for the first time in almost three months. The Chinese have been buying a lot of physical Oman crude, due to fact that it is highly blend-able, and Iraqs Basra Light, said Ahmed Mehdi, a research associate at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. The Saudis, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all shipped more crude than ever to China in April, when they were pumping record or near-record amounts. A month later supplies to China were almost as large, despite the unprecedented reductions overall. Saudi Arabias lead over Iraq for Gulf sales to China slipped in May, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Iraq, the Saudis biggest Persian Gulf rival for exports to China and India, pumped more than it pledged under the OPEC deal, according to Bloomberg data. The Saudis largely made their promised reductions and said theyll cut even more than agreed in June. The export picture for June could show another decline in overall flows and theres no guarantee China will be immune. State oil producer Saudi Aramco has already indicated it will trim shipments to Asia as well as to the U.S. and Europe. Oil pricing for July, which Aramco may release this week, will indicate which markets the company is targeting for sales. Tanker-tracking data are subject to change as vessels can switch locations and loadings can be canceled. Revisions in Iraqs exports to China now show it gaining ground on Saudi Arabia in April, a different picture than the data showed a month ago. The family of a mother-of-six who was murdered by her husband have said his actions later caused the deaths of their two eldest sons and he will have to face his own God some day to account for his actions. Colleen Pollock was strangled by her husband Anton Mulder in their rented home in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, shortly before Christmas 2004. He was found guilty of murder and spent 15 years behind bars before being released in March. Yesterday he said he was remorseful for what he had done. Expand Close Anton Mulder / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anton Mulder "I have to live with that every day," the now 60-year-old told Independent.ie as he walked through Dublin city centre. It is understood the former South African traffic policeman had been serving his time in the Training Unit at Mountjoy Prison in the months before his release, having been locked up since February 2005. During his two trials, the court heard Mulder had told a colleague it would be easy to kill his wife in Ireland as he would get only a few years for manslaughter. He was found guilty of murder after a five-day trial in May 2006 but this verdict was overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal, which ordered a retrial. It gave the reason as inappropriate interaction with the jury by Colleen's brother William Pollock, who was banned from attending the next case. However, in January 2008, in the retrial, a jury convicted Mulder by a majority of ten to two of the murder. Expand Close Kristofer Mulder, son of Anton Mulder, accompanied by his aunt, Ann Czserepowicz, sister of the victim Colleen Mulder. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kristofer Mulder, son of Anton Mulder, accompanied by his aunt, Ann Czserepowicz, sister of the victim Colleen Mulder. Mr Pollock (52) told Independent.ie that he had to learn to forgive Mulder, but said the killer will have to live with his actions for the rest of his life and face his own God at the end of it. The Pollocks now largely live back in Northern Ireland, where they had emigrated from as children to South Africa. It was in South Africa that Colleen had met Mulder. "As long as he keeps his distance from our family he will have no effect on my life," Mr Pollock said. "I have forgiven him and put it to the back of my mind, but I don't know what a face-to-face encounter would be like. "As much as everyone would like a killer to stay behind bars, life isn't like that. "You have to grin and bear it. He has his God to face." Asked if he found it easy to forgive Mulder, Mr Pollock said: "I have to forgive for my creator in heaven, in a spiritual sense rather than a religious one." He said Mulder's actions had a bad effect on the children he had with Colleen. The two eldest boys, Clinton and Kristofer, who were young adults at the time of the murder, have died in recent years after their own battles with mental health. "What Anton did had a domino effect on the family, and for some it was the start of a downward spiral," said Mr Pollock. "Kristofer had his own mental health battles and passed away first, in around 2017, and then Clinton died a year later." After Mulder was convicted of Colleen's murder an emotional Kristofer said he was glad justice had been done. "If he did walk, I would have taken justice into my own hands," he said at the time. "I'm glad he's going to jail for life. I'm glad justice has been done. Hopefully we can make a fresh start and get on with our lives. She was my mum and I loved her. She was a kind-hearted, easygoing, soft and intelligent person." During the trial, Clinton said there were frequent rows between his parents, often about the custody of the younger children. He said he had never seen his father hit his mother but "she was scared of him". William Pollock said his memories of Colleen were strong and affectionate. "She was the best mother in the world to her children. Even though there were six kids she was so laid-back," he said. Mr Pollock said he was around seven years younger than Colleen and Anton, and he had felt for a long time there was something dubious about their relationship. "We grew up together, and he wasn't very kind-hearted toward my sister," he told Independent.ie. Asked if he accepted Mulder's assertion that he was remorseful for his actions, he said: "If that is true then that's his punishment. "He has to think about his sons too. He has come out of prison to nothing." Mulder and Colleen came to Ireland with their family for economic reasons and he found work with Kentucky Fried Chicken. By 2002 he had been promoted to regional manager for Dublin and the family moved to a rented house in Dunshaughlin. By this time the couple had six children. Colleen worked part-time for Kentucky Fried Chicken, as did Clinton and Kristofer. In July 2004, Colleen suffered a miscarriage and the marriage started to deteriorate. She became depressed and the couple started sleeping in separate bedrooms. Kristofer told the court he had never seen his father hit his mother "with my own eyes", but he frequently lashed out and had, in the past, "destroyed the whole house". The jury also heard that Mulder had told a South African friend of his: "I am going to kill her. In this country it's easy. Five or six years' jail and I'm still young when I'm out then." Reuters Snap Inc said it would no longer promote US President Donald Trump's account in Snapchat's Discover section, saying his inflammatory comments last week made the account ineligible for the curated section where users explore new content. "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover," the company said in a statement. "Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America." Shares fell 2.4 percent after the announcement. Trump's Snapchat account, which consists mostly of campaign content and does not contain the informal rhetoric he regularly uses on his favored platform Twitter, will remain public and accessible to people who follow it or search for it, Snap said. Twitter ignited a furor last week by placing labels on several of Trump's tweets that it said violated its rules on misleading information and glorifying violence. Facebook declined to take any action on the same posts, prompting an employee protest on Monday. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel told staffers in a memo on Sunday that Snap would "walk the talk" on divisive content, noting that the Discover section is "a curated platform, where we decide what we promote." The company said its decision to remove the president's content from Discover was made over the weekend. 'Gun control' activists don't really see the point of guns, at least for the most part. Quite a few will work to curtail your ability to purchase a gun but have no qualms about owning them themselves. It's different when they buy guns, after all, because they're all good and pure and stuff. However, they will often question you about why you have a gun, whether you're carrying at the moment or whether it's your AR-15 at home in the safe. "Why do you think you need something like that?" they ask. Well, because stuff like this can happen (some might find the following video disturbing): A mob of rioters just murdered a man in cold blood in Dallas. He was defending his store. Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 31, 2020 I've personally seen this video, which comes from a riot in Dallas over the weekend, from a couple of different angles. ..... Health Minister Simon Harris was in self-isolation for a number of days last week over fears he had been infected with Covid-19. However, test results showed he did not have the virus and he has since returned to work. Mr Harris took the decision to quarantine after he began displaying symptoms of the virus last week. He was in self-isolation for a number of days and dialled into last Friday's Cabinet meeting as he did not want to put his colleagues at risk. The minister's spokesperson said Mr Harris was referred for a test by his GP after he began felling unwell. It is understood it took him three days to get his test results. "He followed his doctor's instructions and self-isolated at home for a number of days. "The test result was negative and he is delighted to be back at work, and wishes to thank all the staff in the testing centre and those who work on Ireland's Covid-19 response. The minister does not intend to make any further comment on this matter," she added. The minister held a press conference where he warned against complacency in the battle against the virus. Speaking outside the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, Mr Harris said he was concerned some people were not wearing face coverings while shopping or on public transport. "We have been good with a lot of the measures, but I think there is room for improvement on wearing face masks," he said. He is the second member of Cabinet who is known to have been tested for the virus. Tanaiste Simon Coveney was also tested for the virus after he appeared on RTE with Claire Byrne, who had become infected with Covid-19. "Like thousands of people across the country, I was contacted in recent days by a member of the HSE contact tracing team to say I had been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for Covid-19," Mr Coveney previously said. "Testing is going to be a reality for tens of thousands of people and it is vitally important we all follow HSE direction." By the time the coronavirus pandemic spiraled out of control in Ecuador, misinformation was already spreading on the internet with reports of corpses being thrown into the sea, bodies washing up on beaches and miracle cures aplenty. Misinformation was already propagating in Latin America several weeks before the virus itself. By late January, videos were being shared widely on social media purportedly showing the live animal market that was the focus of the Chinese outbreak late last year. However, the images were not of Wuhan but of Indonesia, 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) away. Then conspiracy theorists across Latin America accused Bill Gates and US scientists of being behind the coronavirus outbreak. By the time China registered 80,000 infections and 250 deaths on February 29, Ecuador was reporting its first case, Brazil still had only one and Mexico three. A month later, Ecuador's caseload had exploded to 2,800. Health services, morgues and funeral homes collapsed under the strain, and misinformation spread like wildfire, with tangible consequences for Ecuadorans. - Scenes of horror - "Don't buy fish! Coronavirus dead are thrown into the sea in Ecuador and Peru," said the caption on two videos shared tens of thousands of times on social networks. Factcheckers revealed that one video was of the bodies of migrants washed ashore on a beach in Libya in 2014. The other featured the transfer by boat of a corpse that the victim's family said had not been taken from the sea. "I'm a seafood merchant. The lies and false videos have affected my sales," a trader from Ecuador told AFP Factual via WhatsApp. Legitimate stories about Ecuador's crisis proliferated, including reporting on the authorities' very real problem of how to dispose of an increasing number of dead in Guayaquil while the city's morgues and funeral services were overwhelmed during a 15-hour daily curfew. But the real story quickly became clouded by misinformation, as photos of mass graves dug in open countryside were frantically shared on social media. However, of those checked by AFP Factual, one photo was taken in Mexico in 2018 and the other -- while taken in Ecuador -- dated from 2016 and had no link to the pandemic. "All the attacks were aimed at destabilizing the government," the Ecuador presidency's communications office told AFP. It gave as an example "the supposed burning of bodies in the streets of Guayaquil, which was taken up by news services all over the world, when in reality the images were of burning furniture or tyres." Fake stories snowballed on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. The government said it identified 25 groups spreading misinformation via Telegram and WhatsApp, with hundreds of users. The government began a campaign to clamp down on fake stories and expand corroborated information on the virus and its true effects on the country. Among other things, it used federal departments to debunk more than 300 pieces of false information since March. The government also used Facebook and Google to publicize its own health information and ensure it remained on top of search engine results. - Disinformation Peak - "During the COVID-19 health emergency, this disinformation campaign grew," the government communications service said. According to data from the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), nearly 1,000 false stories circulating in Latin America have been debunked since January 24 -- especially stories from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. "The two categories of falsehoods that attract the most attention are about 'authorities' -- that is, disinformation of a political nature -- with 230, and those about false cures, with 181 cases," the IFCN said. - Deadly remedies - Relatives of a possible victim of the coronavirus at a funeral at the Angel Maria Canals cemetery in Guayaquil, Ecuador / AFP/File As in other regions, misinformation about home remedies flourished online, with posts prescribing cures including eating garlic and gargling salt water and vinegar, all widely debunked. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro published such a remedy in March. Twitter took it down. Health authorities and experts agree: these remedies at best can relieve symptoms but are no cure for the coronavirus, nor will they prevent its spread. They warn that ingesting any of these products in large quantities can be harmful to health, even fatal. Injecting sea-water -- as hundreds have done in Ecuador -- can be harmful "because the body is going to draw water from the tissues to lower the level of salt in the body," Juan Jose Yunis, professor of genetics and immunology at the National University of Colombia, told AFP. Brazil, Peru and Mexico have since displaced Ecuador, with its 40,000 cases and 3,400 deaths, from the top of the chart of South America's worst-affected countries. But the dramatic pictures from Guayaquil -- the real ones -- continue to be confused in the public mind with misinformation, illustrating the size of the task facing fact-checkers. Nevada District Court Three Nevada men with prior U.S. military experience and links to a right-wing extremist group conspired to set off explosives at a recent protest against police brutality to create civil unrest and rioting and spark violence between police and protesters, federal prosecutors say. Stephen Parshall, alias Kiwi, Andrew Lynam, and William Loomis are each being held on a $1 million bond for terrorism-related charges. According to a complaint filed by the Nevada U.S. Attorneys Office, the group was potentially planning terroristic activity when they brought Molotov cocktail materials to a Las Vegas protest over the death of George Floyd. All three have identified themselves as members of the Boogaloo movement, an extremist group that dreams of sowing discord to spark a violent uprising and government overthrow, according to prosecutors. The group also boasts military training: Lynam is described as a member of the Army Reserves, Parshall was a Navy sailor, and Loomis was an enlisted member of the Air Force. All three face both federal and state charges. On the federal level, they are charged with conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire, and explosive and possession of unregistered firearms. In Nevada, they face charges of felony conspiracy, terrorism and explosives possession. Lynam and Parshall had initially set their sights on a protest against Nevadas shelter-in-place orders, allegedly attending one such rally in early April while armed with pistols and assault rifles and scoping it out for possible disruption, prosecutors said. It was there that they allegedly told an FBI informant of their desire to topple the government. The two met Loomis at the demonstration and inducted him into their group. On a hike in late April, the trio allegedly discussed a plan to incinerate a Forest Ranger station near Lake Mead as a trial run for an eventual plot that would prove so burdensome and costly to the government as to dismantle it entirely. The complaint states the extremists hoped to detonate explosives at power stations along the border between Arizona and Nevada and that they even scouted one owned by NV Energy as a possible target in addition to a specific Ranger station. Story continues Parshall and Lynam allegedly hatched a plan to detonate fireworks, smoke bombs, and noise makers at another demonstration against Nevadas coronavirus precautions to confuse police and panic the public, though Parshall called off the plot just a few days before the gathering. Parshall, Lynam, and Loomis turned their attention to the riots and protests that erupted in May after the alleged murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. They attended the demonstrations while armed, taunting police, according to the FBI. The complaint states that Parshall became upset when no violence occurred, as he felt he needed physical conflict to enact the plan. Prosecutors say they planned to execute their plans against the backdrop of widespread protests to create civil unrest and rioting. They wanted to use the momentum of the George Floyd death in police custody in the City of Minneapolis to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement, that others see the two explosions and police presence and begin to riot in the streets out of anger, the complaint states. They allegedly brought Molotov cocktail materialsgasoline in glass Calypso lemonade bottles and ripped rags. Law enforcement found shotguns, fireworks, assault rifles, extra ammunition magazines, and flammable hairspray in their vehicles. They had intended to target police and protesters. 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. Demonstrators take part in the Take A Knee for George Floyd protest in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA) A man has been charged in connection with a social media image that referenced the death of George Floyd in the US. Police Scotland said the 26-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday and has now been charged. Mr Floyd, 46, died in police custody after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, sparking international protests as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Officers in Fife have arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with an image relating to the death of George Floyd in the United States which has been circulating on social media Police Scotland He could be heard pleading for air in videos filmed by onlookers. One of the officers involved, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder while three other officers at the scene have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: Officers in Fife have arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with an image relating to the death of George Floyd in the United States which has been circulating on social media. She added: The man has now been charged and is due at Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday June 4. As the insurance industry faces litigation and questions over virus-related claim denials, it could soon be dealing with another business income hurdle due to the civil unrest that has taken place in many U.S. cities following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. This comes as insurance professionals say revenue benchmarks for business income claims due to riots and civil unrest will be adjusted to reflect income loss from virus-related business shutdowns, which could leave some business owners feeling unfairly compensated. I think that all business owners are going to feel that the amount reimbursed is insufficient for their losses, partly because of the COVID-19 situation and partly because BI is such an ill-defined and hard to understand concept, said Mike Vitulli, director of Risk Management Services at Boston, Mass.-based brokerage, Risk Strategies. Most businesses did not consider what it meant to have the coverage, simply assuming that if their business shut for any reason, they would be reimbursed. Riots in Wake of Floyds Death Could Become Most Costly Civil Disorder for Insurers While the industry expects a significant event, it is premature to determine the volume of property loss since it is an ongoing event. Insurers Prepare for Claims as East States See Property Damage from Civil Unrest The industry has already labeled the riots as a national catastrophe since insured damage will meet $25 million. Approximately 40 percent of small to mid-sized business owners, which are typically defined as companies with fewer than 100 employees and annual revenues of up to $5 million, have opted to purchase business interruption (BI) coverage, according to Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications at the Insurance Information Institute. It will usually cover any losses incurred as a result of a riot, civil commotion and vandalism, which have been occurring in various U.S. cities as peaceful protests by day over the death of George Floyd have led to violence by night. Property Damage Demonstrations over police brutality and racial inequality began in Minneapolis, where police officers May 25 arrest of Floyd turned fatal, and quickly spread to other U.S. cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C. Criminal activity including looting, arson and vandalism in the wake of the protests, however, has caused property damage and led to officials imposing curfews in some cities, raising questions of how business income loss will be calculated for business owners still reeling from the COVID-19 shutdowns. Insurers determine BI loss based on a 12-month assessment of a business income beginning from the date of loss, Friedlander said. This means a business that has been shut down or operating at a limited capacity due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may see a lower payout for any business income claims due to the recent civil unrest, Dan Corbin, director of research at insurance industry trade association, Professional Insurance Agents, explained. The insurers obligation is to put the business back where it would have been with the income profit (or loss) that would have occurred during the period of restoration, Corbin said. If the business would have been operating at a loss, the recovery of continuing expenses would be adjusted to reflect that loss. Larry P. Schiffer, senior partner at the New York office of the Squire Patton Boggs law firm, has a similar view. Business interruption provisions have very specific valuation requirements for determining what the loss of income was. Those provisions will have to be followed. If a business was not open and the looting and vandalism took place, the loss of income will be calculated per the policy formula, which might result in a reduction of income depending on the formula in the policy, Schiffer told Insurance Journal. Schiffer said the majority of the claims arising from the civil unrest will be actual property damage or loss of personal property claims that will be covered based on the value of the property and the business interruption claims should be much smaller compared to the actual damage claims. Peter Halprin, partner in Pasichs New York office, said all of this could lead to even more pushback from business owners, some of whom are already frustrated by COVID-19-related claim denials under their business interruption policies. Given the stance that insurers have taken on COVID-19, I think that they may have burned some bridges with their policyholders and fractured some trust, Halprin said. Policyholders may be more willing now to be aggressive and file lawsuits. PPP Question Another lingering question regarding the convergence of the pandemic with the riots in many cities, Vitulli said, is how the federal Paycheck Protection Program will factor into revenue calculations for BI claims. The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 crisis. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities, according to the SBA website. There is not a lot of precedent for this situation in terms of how BI would be calculated, Vitulli said. While we believe these (PPP loans) should be treated as loans, not as income, and that payroll would be a covered expense under most property policy BI forms, it is certainly a debatable point. Despite questions that remain, insurance professionals are confident that the industry is equipped to handle these two emergencies at once, for now. It is my opinion that the resulting property damage from the protests is manageable today for most insurers, but if it were to continue unabated for weeks or months, the cost could be staggering and may impact their short term results, Vitulli said. Fortunately, property damage is relatively quantifiable and not a long-tailed liability, which would impact them for years to come. David T. MacLachlan, agent at Syracuse, New York-based The Dominick Falcone Agency Inc. and chair of the board for Big I New York, agreed. Im very confident that the industry nationwide is prepared because were in the business of dealing with really intense, unusual physical events, he said. Theres some new challenges, but were several months into the pandemic, so Im very confident that insurance companies will be prepared to address the claims as they come in. For business owners, however, it could be a different story, Halprin added. Stores that probably were planning to open in the near futurenow are faced with shuttering their doors for property damage, he said. These businesses are facing a double whammy, and its tragic. Topics Carriers Claims USA Profit Loss New York Property KIIS FM host Katie 'Monty' Dimond broke down in tears on Tuesday when she spoke about her lack of education when it comes to racism. Speaking to her 3PM Pick-Up co-host Yumi Stynes, Monty revealed she was 'overwhelmed' by the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests in America. 'I'm embarrassed, and I am confronted. I've never felt more out of control in my whole life,' she began. 'I'm sorry': KIIS 106.5's Katie 'Monty' Dimond (pictured) broke down in tears on-air and apologised to her co-host, Yumi Stynes, for being uneducated about racism 'I don't think I've ever been affected more by anything than what is happening in the world right now.' She also said that she had started educating herself on racism because she was 'uneducated on everything outside my own world'. Monty explained that she was disappointed with herself that it had taken her so long to realise that 'white privilege' isn't just related to black people - and that it also applies to her co-host Yumi, whose mother is Japanese. 'You and I have spoken over several times. You know, you'll pull me up sometimes you go, ''Monty, that's really hurtful, what you said.''' Emotional: Monty (center) explained she was disappointed with herself that it had taken so long to realise that 'white privilege' also affects her co-host Yumi Stynes (left). Pictured with co-host Rebecca Judd Monty said Yumi has called her out for her problematic remarks in the past and but at the time didn't understand what it meant by having 'white privilege'. Apologising to Yumi, she said: 'I'm sorry.. I've been thinking about you so much for how often you're in a room feeling unrepresented, how often you open a website, turn on the TV or open a magazine and see no one like you.' To which Yumi replied: 'I can see you struggling and I know a lot of people are struggling, but I'm okay. You're okay.' Monty said Yumi has called out for her racist remarks in the past and but she didn't understand what it meant by having 'white privilege' 'We need to look after people who aren't okay, which is for one, closer to us as indigenous people here in Australia.' Yumi then explained that Australians should look at Americans as a way of working with and protecting indigenous Australians and that learning was the first step. On Monday, Monty penned a lengthy post to her Instagram, where she said she was 'hidden behind overwhelm' and avoided having a talk about racism with her children. The eruption across the United States of mass multiracial, multiethnic protests against racist police violence and the Trump administrations incitement of a vicious military-police crackdown have shaken Canadas ruling elite. While glossing over the dangerous implications of Trumps shredding of constitutional prohibitions on the deployment of the military against the American people, the comments of Canadas political leaders and corporate media underscore that their greatest fear is that the demonstrations now sweeping the United States will trigger an explosive upsurge of the class struggle in Canada. Mimicking the Democratic Partys fecklessness, no political leader in Canada has directly criticized Trumps decision Mondayin what amounts to a bid to establish a presidential dictatorshipto arrogate the power to unleash the military against peaceful protesters. Asked at his daily coronavirus briefing Tuesday for his opinion of the Trump-incited police rampages against demonstrators, the Presidents smearing of the protesters as terrorists, and his vow to dominate the street with the military, all Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could muster, after a lengthy 21-second pause, was: We all watch in horror and consternation at what is going on in the United States. Pressed by a reporter to condemn Trumps use of heavily armed police to expel peaceful protesters from a park near the White House, Trudeau deliberately avoided doing so. Canadians, he answered, need a government that will be there for them, that will support them and that will move us forward in the right direction, and I will do that. There was one grain of truth in Trudeaus response: the ruling elite is horrified by the emergence of a mass working class movement in opposition to police violence, state repression, and social inequality. It is terrified that the political and social destabilization of its key military strategic partner will undermine Canadian imperialist interests around the world, and that the wave of protests in the US, the largest since the 1960s, will fan social opposition in Canada, demonstrating the class unity of workers on both sides of 49th parallel. To conceal the class character and significance of the protests, Trudeau, together with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, have portrayed them as being almost entirely about race relations. Singh, who described Trumps role as reprehensible, avoided any reference to Trumps move towards authoritarian forms of rule. Instead, he accused people in general of being passive bystanders to hatred and racism. The protests, which have been overwhelmingly working class and multiracial, were triggered by the brutal police murder of George Floyd, an African American worker. But they are being fueled by mass anger over decades of savage austerity, endless wars, and the looting of society by the financial oligarchy, as exemplified by the rise of Donald Trump to the presidency and US capitalisms catastrophic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While tens of millions have been deprived of their jobs and income, the US has become the center of the pandemic with more than 100,000 acknowledged COVID-19 deaths. As they do whenever confronted with a crisis, Canadas political leaders and corporate media have responded to the explosion of working class opposition in the US by brandishing their principal ideological weaponCanadian nationalism. Desperate to insulate and inoculate Canada from the social contagion of class struggle, they relentlessly promote the lie that Canadian capitalism is a more humane and just society, qualitatively different from the rapacious dollar republic to the south. Susan Delacourt in the Toronto Star observed, While Donald Trump was lashing out over mass civil unrest in his country on Monday, Canadians were getting practical protest advice from top-level government officials. Another variant on this theme was provided by the Globe and Mail s Gary Mason, who placed all the blame for the social convulsions shaking the US on the figure of Trump, who has apparently descended from the sky to infect an otherwise healthy social and political order. The US president, wrote Mason, is the embodiment of white privilege. At a moment in the countrys history that cries out for leadership, that yearns for someone to speak to a country that is hurting and frightened and doesnt know what tomorrow will bring, he is incapable of such empathy. He is devoid of anything that even slightly resembles the common touch While left unsaid, the implication was clear, Canadas ruling elite has such a leader in Trudeau. The shambolic state of Canadian democracy The Canadian bourgeoisies refusal to publicly acknowledge the class character and social grievances animating the US protests says more about that state of Canadian society than it cares to admit. Over the past four decades Canada, like the US, has witnessed a massive growth in social inequality and brutalization of society. For the better part of a quarter century, it has been almost perpetually at war, and the ruling elite has increasingly sought to criminalize social opposition. The solidarity protests that have been joined by tens of thousands in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax and other cities in recent days underscore that a process of political radicalization among workers and young people is well under way. This has no doubt been further fueled by the ruling elites response to the pandemic, which has been to bail out the banks and big business to the tune of $650 billion while placing workers on rations. More than 7,000 Canadians have perished from COVID-19, and 25 percent of the labour force has lost their jobs. As in the US, democracy in Canada is in shambles. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the ruling elite enthusiastically joined George W. Bushs war on terror, including the deployment of military forces to Afghanistan and the erection of a police state infrastructure. Both Liberal and Conservative governments have instituted legislation attacking basic democratic rights and have used the same concept of domestic terrorism now invoked by Trump to justify his military crackdown to intimidate and suppress protests. In 2016, a Liberal government minister told big business at a closed-door meeting that the government was prepared to deploy the army against anti-pipeline protests. This discussion was given new life earlier this year during the railway blockades in support of the Wetsuweten land rights protest. The blockades were ultimately broken up by the police, but only after substantial sections of the ruling class clamoured for the army to be sent in. The ruling elites readiness to abrogate democratic forms of rule has been proven time and again. It was Trudeaus own father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who seized on two kidnappings by the FLQ in 1970 to invoke the War Measures Act and deploy troops on the streets of Canadian cities amid an upsurge of militant working class struggles. Trudeau continues to defend his fathers political legacy, including the detention without charge of hundreds of leftists in Quebec. In the midst of the 2008 economic crisis, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was strongly supported by the ruling elite when he shut down parliament to prevent the fall of his government, using the anti-democratic powers of the unelected Governor General in what amounted to a constitutional coup. This manoeuvre enabled his right-wing government to cling to power for a further seven years and launch a devastating onslaught on the working class, including the virtual abolition of the right to strike, sweeping social spending cuts, the promotion of Canada as a warrior nation, and the whipping up of Islamophobia. Harpers willingness to ride roughshod over democratic rights was enthusiastically applauded by the Globe, which hailed him during the 2011 election campaign for his bullheadedness. Trudeaus trade union-backed Liberals have picked up where Harper left off in 2015, persisting with austerity, accelerating the buildup of the military, and expanding the powers of the national security apparatus. As in the US, the ruling elite is increasingly promoting the far right. Police and the management of FCL, one of the largest companies in Western Canada, have collaborated with the anti-immigrant, ultraright United We Roll Group in violent attacks against 750 locked out oil refinery workers in Regina. Trudeau, his Liberals, and the dominant sections of the Canadian bourgeoisie were undoubtedly taken aback by Trumps election in 2016. Subsequently, they lent support to the anti-Russia campaign that was spearheaded by the US intelligence agencies and promoted by the Democrats, with the aim of removing Trump by methods of intrigue and palace coup. Now they fear that Trumps provocative actions could trigger a social explosion that could threaten capitalist rule. But their opposition is of a tactical rather than a principled character. Like the faction of the US oligarchy aligned with the Democratic Party, the Canadian bourgeoisie fears a mass popular upsurge of the working class against Trump, far more than it does the US Presidents turn to authoritarian forms of rule. This is demonstrated by the Trudeau governments record of close cooperation with Trump and his administration. Within days of Trumps election, the Liberals agreed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had been one of Trumps main campaign pledges. Ultimately this resulted in USMCA or NAFTA 2.0, a trade war bloc aimed at the global rivals of US and Canadian imperialism, above all China. In keeping with the orders of Canadas newspaper of record, the Globe and Mail, which insisted Canada must be inside Trumps walls, the Liberal government has worked with Trumps fascistic thugs in Immigration and Customs Enforcement to persecute and deport immigrants. The Trudeau government has also expanded Canadas role in Washingtons three principal military-strategic offensives against China and Russia, and in the oil-rich Middle East, and assisted US imperialism in its intrigues and aggression in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America. The military strategic partnership between Canadian and US imperialism Whilst Canadas ruling elite has bristled at the adverse impacts some of Trumps America First policies have had on their wallets and geostrategic interests, they have egged on the purported human rights advocate and progressive Trudeau in his pursuit of closer ties with Trump-led Washington. In her speech on the release of the Liberals national defence policy in June 2017, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland hailed the outsized role US imperialism has played since the Second World War in creating and sustaining an international rules-based order, that is, in defending and stabilizing world capitalism under US economic and geopolitical dominance. She reaffirmed Ottawas commitment to the Canada-US military security partnership that has formed the cornerstone of Canadian imperialist strategy since 1940, and which saw Canada serve as a key US ally throughout the Cold War, and join a never-ending series of US-led wars, including in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq over the past quarter century. But Freeland had to acknowledge that the US-led postwar order was unravelling. Canada, she declared, would therefore need to do more to assist its strategic partner in upholding North American global dominance, including through hard power, i.e., the waging of war. The deepening social crisis in the United States and its precipitous global economic decline, processes which have accelerated dramatically over the intervening three years, are rapidly eroding the material and ideological foundation of Canadian imperialisms predatory partnership with Washington and Wall Street. The United States is no longer a force for global capitalist stability, but a source of increased conflict and friction, as it pursues aggression and unilateralism around the world in a desperate attempt to reverse its decline and beat back rivals. Washington no longer has the economic heft or inclination to enforce a rules-based order; it has, in fact, played the leading role in tearing it down. And how can Canadas progressive politicians cloak the pursuit of profits and strategic advantage in human rights and democratic rhetoric when its closest ally embraces dictatorial forms of rule and launches brutal military police crackdowns on peaceful protesters producing popular revulsion around the world? For the Canadian ruling elite, which has always benefited from a close partnership with the dominant imperialist power of the day, this has created an unprecedented crisis with no obvious solution. Notwithstanding Trudeaus desire to accommodate himself to Trump, powerful sections of the ruling circles are increasingly hostile to his strategy, arguing that Canada must pursue an even more aggressive policy. Foreign policy experts are openly discussing the outdated character of the Liberals 2017 defence policy statement, since no rules-based order to speak of exists. One faction is pushing for an even closer alliance with Trump. In an editorial Monday, the Toronto Sun assailed Trudeau for making political sideswipes at Trump on the issue of racism and not denouncing the protesters for violence and riots. Just two weeks earlier, the Sun suggested that Trudeaus ouster would be warranted if he fails to take a harder line towards China. While the Liberals have lined up behind Trumps aggressive moves against Beijing, the Sun and other right-wing forces are angered by Trudeaus hesitation over excluding Chinese tech giant Huawei from Canadas 5G network, among other issues. Trumps shift in the direction of a presidential dictatorship will only throw fuel on the fire of these factional disputes. But whatever their disagreements, all sections of the ruling class are implacably hostile to the working class and, as demonstrated in their response to the events in the US, complicit in the assault on democratic rights. Their principal concern is how best to advance the global interests and ambitions of Canadian imperialism under conditions of the deepest crisis of world capitalism since the Great Depression. In the final analysis, this means escalating military violence abroad and ratcheting up the exploitation of the working class at home. In opposition to this, workers and young people in Canada must unify their struggles with their class brothers and sisters in the United States to beat back Trumps presidential dictatorship and the turn towards authoritarianism and war that is supported by the ruling elites of both countries. This requires building the Socialist Equality Parties of Canada and the United States to provide the mass struggles now erupting with a socialist and internationalist program and perspective. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 07:25 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbeff33 2 World Donald-Trump,Twitter,social-media,social-media-post,racist,Racism,racist-statement Free US President Donald Trump appears as the first result of suggested accounts when users type "racist" into Twitter's people search, it emerged Wednesday. The result, reported by the British news outlet The Independent and verified by AFP, highlights the intense discord around the president. Trump has more than 80 million followers, although there is much dispute about how many of them are genuine, active human Twitter users. Analysts said the news suggests Trump opponents, more than critics of any other Twitter account, have been labeling him as racist, although the social media giant itself did not confirm this was the case. Trump has been facing heightened criticism for his comments during protests over police brutality but has always dismissed suggestions that he is racist. Twitter offered little in the way of explanation, pointing out only that its search algorithms may reflect what is happening on the platform. Trump, in the midst of a heated war with social media over what he claims is bias, recently signed an executive order calling for more oversight of internet platforms, a move which could prove difficult to enforce. Greg Sterling, a contributing editor at the website Search Engine Land, said the result suggests that "so many people are using the words 'racist' or 'racism' to respond to or describe Donald Trump, or there's a concerted effort to associate Trump's account with those terms." Evidently, it is also possible that a large number of supporters defending Trump from charges of racism would also use the word 'racist' in their replies. Sterling said Twitter's ranking algorithm for individual tweets "uses a variety of signals, including how recently the tweet was published, its relevance (personalization), user engagement with the tweet, the presence of rich media (such as video or images) and several other variables." The analyst noted however that in 2007, a concerted effort known as "Google bombing" was able to manipulate search results for then-president George W. Bush to associate him with the term "miserable failure" on the search engine until the flaw was corrected. Kjerstin Thorson, a Michigan State University politics and social media professor, said it would require a detailed analysis to understand the reasons for the association of Trump and racism. But Thorson said "it's not unlikely this could be an accurate representation of what people are saying" on Twitter and that bias is probably not a factor. "The platforms have gone out of their way to avoid any appearance of bias," she said. Black Youth Are Central Force in California George Floyd Protests There are many aspects to the protests occurring in cities and towns up and down the state of California. One that stands out is the participation of young, Black people. Outspoken, courageous, and committed, these young African Americans have become, by default, the anchors in a mass movement sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. Although they are diverse group of Black youth by political identification, education, where they are from in the state, and more they are all uniquely equipped to articulate and bear witness to the racial and economic injustices that a multiracial coalition of Californians have now made their cause. At the end of the day everybody here is united, and we all want justice for George Floyd. Period, said Jamier Sale, 28, co-founder of Cell Block By Cell Block, a community-based organization in Sacramento that focuses on criminal justice reform. ADVERTISEMENT Across California, Latinos, Asians, Arab Americans, and Whites Christian, Jewish, Muslim, et al have jumped into action with passion. But the presence of Black youth, millennials between the ages of 25 and 39 and the Generation Z crowd born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, has become central to holding down the coalition of people raising their voices and fists in unified condemnation of police violence and discrimination. Sale, who is also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a progressive political action organization, attended a demonstration at the State Capitol in Sacramento this past weekend. Thousands of people gathered at the rally to protest Floyds murder. Sale and other members of the youth-led movement met officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) at the steps on the east side of the state building adjacent to California State Capitol Park. You can name the names (of all the people who experienced police brutality) because everybody comes with their own history, but this is about George Floyd, Sale told California Black Media (CBM). On Memorial Day, Floyd, 46, died in police custody after a White Minneapolis Police Deparment officer pinned him down and pressed his knee into the African American mans neck for nearly eight minutes. A cellphone video showed Floyd telling the cops, I cant breathe. Like Sacramento, at demonstrations in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, Modesto and more Golden State cities, youthful Black faces have become conspicuous in the crowds of activists and citizens calling for justice as well as peace. ADVERTISEMENT The Floyd tragedy shifted the countrys consciousness from the COVID-19 pandemic to the fraught and distrustful relationship, rooted in a well-documented history of violence, that persists between African Americans and law enforcement. Most of the demonstrations across the country started as peaceful marches, but, for days now, they have escalated into violent rioting and rebellions that have rocked every major city in the United States as well as in California. The riots have resulted in several deaths, mass looting, arson, vandalism, and billions of dollars in property loss. For instance, in Sacramento the movement began peacefully in the citys oldest suburban neighborhood Oak Park on the night of May 29. Thousands of protesters, the majority of them young people, gathered to kick off the protests organized by Black Lives Sacramento (BLMS). The CHP officers expected the crowd to attempt a march down one of the nearby Highway 99 off-ramps. The north-south interstate is a major California intra-state freeway that runs through the San Joaquin valley. But, according to Tanya Faison, founder of BLMS, that was not a part of the groups protest plan. Just to let you know, CHP is deep on the other side of that bridge. They are not going to let us get on that freeway, Faison said, speaking into a bullhorn to the large crowd. But one of the police stations is right around the corner. The protestors marched a little more than a mile to the Joseph E. Rooney Police facility of the Sacramento Police Department, a substation in South Sacramento. When they arrived, a few Sacramento Police officers emerged from the facility in riot gear toting rifles that shoot rubber bullets. The confrontation between the young people and the police was contentious, but it did not get physical. Stevante Clark, the older brother of Stephon Clark, who was killed by two Sacramento police officers in March 2018, described how he felt about the march. This all brought me back to my brother and Eric Garner, said Clark, 27. Were hurt and we all feel the same way, though a cop has been charged. As for George Floyd, justice is still being denied. There are still killer cops on the streets. Garner, the man who Clark was referring to, died after New York City cops held him in a chokehold in 2014. The incident happened on Staten Island, one of the citys five boroughs. He was also African American. The next day, Clark participated in a demonstration at the State Capitol where he and other activists met CHP officers who had formed a perimeter around the building where Californias laws are made. Grace Swint, 29, from the San Francisco Bay Area, was one of the young protesters that helped lead the rally that went on for hours. Swint told CBM that she appreciated non-Black people participating in the movement, but she had to ask them what they would do once the rallies subsided. Personally, Im just out here to make sure they are focusing that energy in the right place and that they know what to do when they go home, Swint said. This is good but it is not enough. I know for a fact that media and propaganda they feed off of our emotions. Its a good outlet to let those emotions and opinions out. But what are you going to do when you leave here? I need to make sure that they understand that. Since the demonstrations began in the state capital, there have been some non-fatal casualties. Late night on May 30, two protestors, one female the other male, were hit by rubber bullets when a deputy from the Sacramento County Sheriffs Department shot them in downtown Sacramento, according to several local news reports. The female, struck in the face during the peaceful protest, is 18 years old and the male is 19. The Sheriffs office had a different take on the situation and released a statement telling its version of the events. The initial investigation indicates the subject was throwing objects at the offices and deputies prior to being struck by a less than lethal weapon that was utilized by a few of the officers to stop the assault, the Sheriffs office said in a written statement. The protests continued through Sunday in Sacramento with the youth still leading the way. There were reports of store break-ins and property damage around the city that increased after nightfall. Sale said that society must begin to understand how people between the ages of 13 and 39 think. Its a generation that must be reckoned with and they bounce their energy off of each others energy, Sale said. Between each other, they have so many forms of communications that older people dont know about. (If society) doesnt absorb the energy of the youth, the youth are going to create their own organizations to replace the current organizations. File Photo New Delhi: The Delhi government has changed the rules for all domestic travellers coming to Delhi from outside. The Delhi government has issued an order in this regard. Now any asymptomatic traveller entering Delhi will have to quarantine himself for seven days. Earlier, the Delhi government had only advised such passengers to monitor themselves for the next 14 days on arrival in Delhi and if any symptoms were found, they would call the District Monitoring Officer or the National Call Center. Advertisement File PhotoThis order of Delhi Government will be applicable to all domestic passengers (Air/Rail/ Bus). The district magistrate of the area will ensure that the passengers remain home quarantined for 7 days. In an order, the Delhi government has directed all district collectors to monitor the implementation of the rules. An order issued by Vijay Dev, Chief Secretary, Delhi and Chairman, Executive Committee, Delhi Disaster Management Authority, said that the Airports, Railways and Transport Departments would submit daily passenger information to the Principal Secretary, Revenue. CoronavirusThe order said all asymptomatic passengers entering the National Capital Region of Delhi would have to stay alone in their homes for seven days instead of 14 days of self-health monitoring. Advertisement The order came on a day when a record 1513 cases of corona virus were reported in Delhi. Prime Minister Modi and his Australian counterpart PM Scott Morrison are taking part in the first-ever virtual bilateral summit. The event signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory, the MEA stated in a release on Wednesday. The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday issued a press release on the event, stating that the virtual summit is being held as PM Morrisons visit to India could not take place amid the Covid-19 pandemic. -| Starting 11 am today, PM @narendramodi will hold Indias first ever virtual bilateral summit with Australian PM @ScottMorrisonMP. pic.twitter.com/5u5vmywmdr Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) June 4, 2020 The agenda Several agreements, including one on mutual sharing of military logistics facilities, are expected to be signed during the summit on June 4, people familiar with development said. Both leaders will review the broad framework of the relationship between India and Australia in the context of growing bilateral ties and will also discuss their respective responses to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Also read: Looks delicious - PM Modi responds to Australian counterparts ScoMosa offer Both (Prime Minister Modi and PM Morrison) are people person; theyll be talking about how to work together to improve the lives of people. Both believe that the government is not about the number of agreements signed but improving the lives of citizens and generating jobs, Australian high commissioner Barry OFarrell has said earlier in the week. OFarrell said the summit will be like a virtual interview between two friends. They may share commentary on the hard task of how to ease restrictions, he stated. Over the last year and a half, both leaders have met four times. Their first meet was in the year 2018, on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore, followed by the G20 in Osaka in June 2019, then during the G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019. The leaders last met during the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019. We are excited to bring to life our vision for Micromobility 2.0. I believe there remains a significant opportunity to improve the consumer experience and the relationship with the communities we serve, and to deliver a world-class solution anchored in safety and compliance. Edison Partners, the growth equity firm, announced today the sale of substantially all of the assets of portfolio company Zagster, the shared micromobility and fleet operations management company, to Superpedestrian, the Boston-based mobility engineering and technology company founded by urban transport experts from MIT. Edison Partners also announced leading a new $15 million investment in Superpedestrian, joined by existing investors Spark Capital and General Catalyst. The new growth capital adds to the $20 million in financing announced by Superpedestrian in November 2019 to support the roll out of its scooter fleet. The combination of Superpedestrian with Zagster creates the first fully integrated micromobility company. One that includes product, manufacturing and supply chain as well as professional fleet operations, government and community relations, said Daniel Herscovici, Partner, Edison Partners, who led the investment and joins Superpedestrians board. We are excited to bring to life our vision for Micromobility 2.0. I believe there remains a significant opportunity to improve the consumer experience and the relationship with the communities we serve, and to deliver a world-class solution anchored in safety and compliance. Superpedestrians LINK scooter share will have the benefit of owner economics for the entire platform from the micromobility vehicle to on the ground operations. For Herscovici, Micromobility 2.0 also includes key tenets such as: A scalable platform to meet higher anticipated rider demand post-COVID Purpose-built vehicles for fleet operations, community and consumer requirements Vehicle design and a tech platform enabling safer rides End-to-end supply-chain control. End-to-end control over ground operations Engaging and proactive collaboration with government and local communities Zagsters fleet operations business and unique experience running a complex micromobility network across top cities is a natural complement to our mission to make cities safer and more productive with intelligent e-scooters and shared micromobility vehicles, said Superpedestrian CEO Assaf Biderman. Were thrilled to have the backing of Edison Partners, who shares our vision for the next generation of personal mass transit. Since December 2019, Superpedestrian, through its shared micromobility division LINK, and Zagster have partnered on a U.S e-scooter share program in Fort Pierce, Fla. The new capital will enable Superpedestrian to launch LINK across new local markets. This is the fourth investment for Daniel Herscovici since joining Edison Partners in 2018. Superpedestrian follows Herscovicis recent investments in data privacy and enablement technology platform Anonos, on-demand outdoor home service provider LawnStarter, and data intelligence and legal technology platform Bodhala. In all, Edison Partners has financed and guided more than 235 private companies since 1986. About Zagster Zagster is the nationwide leader in micromobility fleet management anchored in the belief that operational excellence is the most important variable to ensure the long-term success of micromobility programs. Zagster provides fleet management capabilities as a service to mobility brands and host partners (cities, universities, and real estate companies) in over 200 markets nationwide. The companys fleet management software platform is purpose-built to pair with an in-market staffing model to deliver best in class unit economics for mobility brands and a high level of quality for host partners. Visit http://www.zagster.com. About Superpedestrian and LINK Superpedestrian is a mobility engineering and technology company that develops and launches urban transport solutions. LINK is the companys shared micromobility platform and the first operator to offer electric vehicles with self-diagnostic technology, enabling safe and profitable shared fleets. About Edison Partners For more than 30 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams grow and scale successful companies. The firms investment team brings extensive investing and operating experience to each investment. Through a unique combination of growth capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of operating centers of excellence, the Edison Director Network, and executive education programs, Edison employs a truly integrated approach to accelerating growth and creating value for businesses. A team of experts in financial technology, healthcare IT and enterprise solution sectors, Edison targets high-growth companies with $5 to $25 million in revenue; investments also include buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts, and secondary stock purchases. Edisons active portfolio has created an aggregated market value exceeding $10 billion. Edison Partners is based in Princeton, NJ and manages more than $1.4 billion in assets throughout the eastern United States. China said Thursday foreign airlines blocked from operating in the country over virus fears would be allowed to resume limited flights, apparently de-escalating a row with Washington following US plans to ban Chinese carriers. Beijing's announcement comes as tensions between the world's two superpowers are sent soaring by a series of issues including Donald Trump's accusations over China's handling of the pandemic, Hong Kong and Huawei. The latest spat was rooted in the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) deciding to impose a limit on foreign airlines based on their activity as of March 12. Because US carriers had suspended all flights by that date their cap was set at zero, while Chinese carriers' flights to the US continued. On Wednesday the US said it would block Chinese passenger flights from June 16, raising concerns of another front being opened up in the economic titans' standoff. But the CAAC on Thursday said all foreign airlines not listed in the March 12 schedule would now be able to operate one international route into China each week. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian expressed regret over the US decision, adding that the CAAC is making "solemn representations" over the matter. Asked if the latest CAAC notice means the US will be able to file applications for flight resumption, Zhao said the Chinese aviation authority and US Department of Transportation have maintained close communication over flight arrangements between the two countries. "Originally, both sides had made some progress," he said at a regular briefing, adding that China hopes the US will not "create obstacles" for both parties' work to solve the problem. - Spats on many fronts - Relations between Washington and Beijing have become increasingly strained in recent months after Trump accused China of causing the virus intentionally, while a plan to impose a strict security law on Hong Kong has increased tensions substantially. The US has also imposed restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei and ordered a probe into the actions of Chinese companies listed on American financial markets. For its part, Beijing has mocked the US stance on Hong Kong in light of civil rights protests across the US following the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man. At the same time, China has gradually relaxed strict air travel caps on some foreign firms as the coronavirus outbreak in the country appears to be under control. China has set up fast-track entry procedures for business travellers from several other countries, including Singapore and South Korea. Hundreds of Germans have also been able to return. Beijing said last week it would almost triple the number of permitted flights to and from China in June following an outcry from Chinese stranded abroad. Passengers must be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival in the country. The CAAC said Thursday that routes whose passengers all test negative for three consecutive weeks will be allowed to operate an additional flight each week. Routes with five or more passengers testing positive will be suspended for at least one week, CAAC said. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More State Bank of India (SBI) plans to raise upto $ 1.5 billion to in fiscal year 2020-21, the bank said in a notification to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on June 4. The executive committee of the central board will meet on June 11 to consider the proposal of "long-term fund raising in single/multiple tranches through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US dollar or any other convertible currency during FY20-21", the bank said. The government has not allocated any capital to state-run banks in this year's Budget. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said banks will be encouraged to tap markets to raise capital on their own. Public sector banks will need significant capital in view of the likely pressure on asset quality. Banks will need capital also to resume lending to productive sectors. (This is a developing story) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 07:14 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbeedb6 2 World Hydroxychloroquine,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-drugs,virus-corona,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,novel-coronavirus Free Taking hydroxychloroquine shortly after being exposed to COVID-19 does not help prevent infection in a statistically meaningful way, scientists reported Wednesday following a clinical trial. The medicine has been touted by US President Donald Trump, who has said he used it as a prophylaxis against the novel coronavirus. But an experiment involving 821 people across the United States and Canada showed it did not work significantly better than a placebo for this purpose. The study was led by a team at the University of Minnesota, and their paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers enrolled adults who had come into contact with someone who had a confirmed case of COVID-19 for more than 10 minutes at a distance of six feet (about two meters) or less. The majority of them -- 719 -- were deemed to have had "high-risk" exposure because they wore neither a face mask nor an eye shield at the time, while the rest were "moderate-risk" because they covered their face but did not have goggles. All participants were randomly assigned to receive either hydroxychloroquine -- which is certified for use against malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus -- or a placebo, within four days. The researchers then looked at how many patients went on to develop COVID-19 over the next two weeks, which was confirmed either by a laboratory test or by clinical signs. They found that 49 of the 414 given the medicine got the disease caused by the coronavirus, compared to 58 of the 407 on the placebo. This translates to 11.83 percent on the drug were infected, versus 14.25 percent on the placebo. The absolute difference of about 2.4 percentage points in favor of the medicine was not considered statistically significant given the sample size, meaning it could have occurred because of chance. Side effects were more common with hydroxychloroquine than with the placebo -- 40.1 percent versus 16.8 percent -- but no serious adverse reactions were reported. "This randomized trial did not demonstrate a significant benefit of hydroxychloroquine as postexposure prophylaxis for COVID-19," wrote the authors. The results of the study were eagerly awaited because it was a randomized controlled trial (RCT), a carefully designed experiment that is considered the gold standard for investigating clinical outcomes. Several previous studies on the drug that have made headlines were "observational," meaning they looked back at what had already happened. As such, more variables are left to chance and it is generally harder to draw firm conclusions. Nevertheless, Martin Landray, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Oxford, said more research was needed to know for sure whether hydroxychloroquine might have a moderately positive effect. "The study is too small to be definitive," said Landray, who was not involved in the trial. The results "makes it very unlikely that there is a large effect [e.g. a halving in the risk of infection) but cannot rule out a more modest difference (e.g. a reduction of one-quarter or one-third] which would still be very valuable," he added. The new novel coronavirus pandemic has affected at least 6.29 million people worldwide, making it the biggest health crisis in modern times. As India's numbers steeply continue to rise, its immediate neighbour, Pakistan, is also slowly inching towards the 1-lakh mark (Currently at 80,000-odd cases.) While we share many things with our neighbour besides the border, turns out, fake news in the time of a pandemic is also pretty common in both the places. To top it all, people with real powers have reinforced these fake beliefs. A Twitter user listed out, in a thread, all the fake news that have been propagated in Pakistan. In March, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that coronavirus is much like the flu and that you will get better. If you catch #coronavirsu, you will recover soon because it is like a flu, said PM of Pakistan Imran Khan. And world doesnt have vaccine coz it is just like flu. So, Imran Khan, return money to @WorldBank & AB; u collected in the name of Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/hhJHpaLDVR Veengas (@VeengasJ) March 22, 2020 Nope, the coronavirus is definitely not just like the flu. It's much, much worse, and proves to be deadly in about 3.5% of the cases. He also was hopeful that the hot and dry weather would mitigate the virus threat in Pakistan. 2/ Also @ImranKhanPTI : "Some doctors say that the type of heat Pakistan experiences, that makes the virus lose its effectiveness" To be fair, he did say "there is a difference of opinion", but it was still irresponsible for a head of govt to say thishttps://t.co/MJgfy4zDzQ pic.twitter.com/JAr3YBFczr Fahad Desmukh (@desmukh) June 3, 2020 Does hot and warm weather kill off the virus? No. While some studies show that the transmission rate does slightly slow down due to high temperatures, it does not kill off the virus completely. Pakistan's Information Minister, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the coronavirus is dangerous, but not deadly. Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan says #coronavirus is dangerous but not deadly. Around 15,000 #Coronavid19 victims have died and 350,000 are diagnosed worldwide. pic.twitter.com/1mXfshTU2V Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) March 23, 2020 The coronavirus has killed over 3,80,000 worldwide. The governor of Punjab also suggested drinking hot water will move the virus from your lungs to your stomach, where it would die. Governor punjab ch sarwar the corona killer pic.twitter.com/Pwok2gRdK5 Barfi (@sourvelvett) March 20, 2020 True? Of course not. Guzzling down hot water is unlikely to raise the temperature enough in your respiratory tract to kill any of the viruses inside the cells there. The temperature required to kill the coronavirus would result in scalding and you may seriously injure yourself. Pakistan's Sindh governor, Imran Ismail also called the coronavirus lockdown 'a fashion symbol.' . https://t.co/Ji1sVvAbxb pic.twitter.com/XWmy9QI7Lx (@Aadiiroy) June 1, 2020 Fashion symbol or not, lockdowns enforce social-distance, which limits the transmission rate of the virus and hence slows the spread of the pandemic. While Pakistan's fake news is pretty bad, India isn't much better off either. In fact, India's problem is so bad that scientists have had to form a team to dismiss the claims. No other country has observed a communal mourning for victims of the coronavirus for such a long period. In the United States, President Trump ordered flags on federal buildings and monuments lowered to half-staff for three days in May. In Spains own recent history, the event is unprecedented. The country observed three days of mourning in March 2004 for the nearly 200 victims of synchronized bomb attacks on Madrid commuter trains. Rajeev Topno, the 1996 batch IAS officer who has served as a key aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been appointed as senior advisor to the World Bank Executive Director. Topnos next assignment was cleared by the PM Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Thursday. The committee also cleared names of five other officers for foreign assignments. Topno, a Gujarat cadre Indian Administrative Service officer, had joined the Prime Ministers Office as a deputy secretary in 2009 when Manmohan Singh had just started his second term. He handled key portfolios such as telecom and ports at the PMO in the UPA-2 government. PM Modi handpicked Topno to his personal staff when he assumed power in 2014, appointing the Gujarat cadre officer as his private secretary. The prime minister, according to convention, has two private secretaries. One of them is an IAS officer, the second, Vivek Kumar, is an Indian Foreign Service officer. The ACC has also cleared the appointment of 1999 batch IAS officer Brajendra Navnit as Ambassador and Indias permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. Ravi Kota, a 1993 batch IAS officer, has been appointed Minister (Economic) at the Indian Embassy in Washington, Lekhan Thakkar, Central Secretariat Service as Counsellor Economic at the embassy in Beijing, H Atheli as advisor to ED, Asian Development Bank. Anwar Hussain Shaik, an Indian Railway Traffic Service officer, has been appointed Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India to WTO, Geneva. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Just a few moments after the success of SpaceX and NASA with their most recent launch sending astronauts into space, the unknown operators of the popular DopplePaymer ransomware suddenly announced that they had in fact infected the network of a single NASA's IT contractors giving them access to the servers. The notorious DopplePaymer ransomware gang suddenly revealed in a certain blog post that they had in fact successfully breached the protected network of Maryland-based Digital Management Inc. or otherwise known as DMI. This is the company that is responsible for providing managed IT along with cybersecurity for a number of the Fortune 100 companies and even a significant amount of government agencies, including NASA. DopplePaymer ransomware Currently, it is still quite unclear as to how far the hackers have gone into DMI's network and how was the DopplePaymer gang able to access the multiple customer networks that were breached. The company also still has to explain how the breach actually happened and give an official announcement on its website or in a certain press release. Currently, based on the strong evidence so far, it is definitely clear that these cybercriminals were in fact able to acquire particular NASA-related files from the DMI. Since NASA is a government agency, the situation is more delicate than it seems. Read Also: Why is Lenovo Ditching Microsoft and Going with the Linux Operating System? DMI breach The DopplePaymer gang has already posted 20 different archive files on a certain dark web portal that it operates in order to show the world that they are in no way joking around and that their claims to have at ransom the 2,583 different servers and workstations. Everything all the way down from the NASA HR documents up to the project plans is in fact included in the ransomed archives along with the employee details that were found in them that when researched, match up to their own public Linkedin records. In addition to the brach, the ransomware operator also posted a long list of the entire 2,583 servers and workstations that they claim are also part of DMI's own internal network. These particular servers and workstations have currently been encrypted and are now forcefully being held for ransom. The main reason that the DopplePaymer gang has already released the archives along with a list of servers and workstations is in order to intimidate DMI into giving in and pay the ransom. If the company refuses to do what is asked, the cybercriminals will then leak the rest of the files they currently hold as ransom. NASA and DMI NASA and DMI have not yet given an official statement regarding the recent hack or as to whether or not they will give into DopplePaymer's demands. Currently, DMI both of them remain silent but an answer can be expected very soon. So far, DopplePaymer is still holds the government agency NASA's data at ransom. Read Also: Apple Warning: Looters Will Eventually be Traced and Tracked Down Through Stolen iPhones Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stevie Emilia (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 12:43 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc13802 1 Environment #environment,#environmental-awareness,#profile,#people,#Indonesia,#hornbills,#HelmetedHornbill,#RangkongIndonesia,#WhitleyAward,#YokiHadiprakarsa Free The Dayak people of Kalimantan believe that helmeted hornbills are the guardian of life and will guide them to God. They also regard the majestic bird as a symbol of bravery for warriors. Despite its sacred status, the helmeted hornbills solid keratin casque the stunning red helmet-like protrusion on their beak is also the main reason they are a profitable target for poachers, who have sold the birds heads to collectors, including royalty, for centuries. Intricate carved ornaments made from their casques and bills have become highly coveted on the international black market, resulting in a sharp rise in hornbill poaching in recent years and making them the most hunted hornbill in the world. Indonesia is home to 13 of the worlds 62 hornbill species. Three of them the Sulawesi, knobbed and Sumba hornbill species are endemic to Indonesia. In 2013, some 6,000 helmeted hornbills were shot and decapitated in West Kalimantan alone. In Kapuas Hulu regency, a hotspot for poaching, local people kill the birds for economic gain. In 2015, 2,343 helmeted hornbill beaks were reportedly seized from illegal markets in Indonesia, China and the United States, and following investigations it was learned that all the beaks originated from Indonesia. Green champion: Yokyok Yoki Hadiprakarsa, founder and principal investigator for Rangkong Indonesia, also known as the Indonesia Hornbill Conservation Society, is working to save the critically endangered helmeted hornbill from extinction. (Courtesy of Aristyawan C.A/INFIS) Founder and principal investigator for Rangkong Indonesia, or the Indonesia Hornbill Conservation Society, Yokyok Yoki Hadiprakarsa plans to turn the table by bringing the worlds attention to the critically endangered birds and in the process save the bird from extinction. One of the saddest moments for me was seeing and holding some 300 casques when, in the past 20 years visiting forests throughout Kalimantan and Sumatra, I only saw 24 birds in one tree at the most, Yoki told The Jakarta Post. He was named in late April as one of six winners of the prestigious Whitley Awards often referred to as the Green Oscars which comes with 40,000 pounds (US$50,000) in project funding to allow him to expand his work to protect the critically endangered helmeted hornbill and other hornbills from extinction. The awards are handed out annually to individuals from the Global South by UK-based conservation charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN). While the winners, who were selected from 112 applications this year, have already received their funding, the award ceremony scheduled in London has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WFN founder Edward Whitley said in a statement that Yokis approach had encouraged people to value a species and its habitat, while allowing them to benefit economically from their areas rich ecological heritage. Yokis work shows us that conservation is about people, he said. Yoki, who has been involved in conservation for some 20 years, was inspired to take the green path by his idol, the legendary naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. During my undergraduate research in Sumatra, I heard the maniacal laugh of the helmeted hornbill for the first time as it flew over me, and it was love at first sight, said the 45-year-old from Bogor, West Java, where he lives, or in his words, is grounded during the pandemic. In the past seven years, Yoki said he seen the poaching and illegal trade of helmeted hornbills worsen. He said there was currently no data to estimate the helmeted hornbills population but that ongoing research, conducted for the past two to three years, was expected to come out with the number sometime this year. When conducting assessments in Kalimantan and Sumatra, I kept hearing similar stories from people who live near the forests that before 2012, whenever they went to the forests, they would hear or see [the birds], but following widespread poaching after 2013, even after being in the forest for a week, they no longer hear or see them. Sacred bird: An illustration shows a carving design of the Dayak people of Kalimantan that pays tribute to the hornbill. (Courtesy of Rangkong Indonesia/-) Despite being protected by law, the poaching of hornbills continues, while their natural habitat continues to be destroyed. The forests provide the hornbills with food and the tree cavities they need to make nests, while in turn hornbills play a role in forest regeneration and protection of the ecosystem by dispersing seeds. In Indonesia, hornbills are found throughout Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. With their wide-ranging distribution, Yoki said local communities could benefit from the beauty of the birds by attracting tourists to come and watch the birds in the wild. To fight poaching, he works closely with communities to provide them with the much-needed skills to earn an income through tourism, with the colorful hornbills as the drawcard. Yoki believes birdwatching and ecotourism would allow local people to benefit economically from the birds in a humane, sustainable way ensuring the hornbills are worth more alive than dead. With his Whitley Award, Yoki will scale up this approach, identifying ecotourism hotspots in the area that are well suited for this conservation model. He will also develop a five-year ecotourism plan to be applied in three villages, train 100 people in activities such as bird watching, and build capacity among locals to act as forest guardians and monitor hornbills and their nests to prevent poaching. The Whitley Award will allow us to continue to inspire communities to become hornbill guardians, Yoki said. The Archbishop of Tamale and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Philip Naameh, is saddened by the prevalence of corruption in the country when Christians are, in fact, the majority. English Africa Service - Vatican City Ghanas Radio Angelus says Archbishop Philip Naameh, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and Archbishop of Tamale is disturbed by the fact that even though the Christian population is the largest in the Ghanaian political setting, corruption has become the order of day. Ghana has a Christian population of more than 70% According to statistics available, Christianity is the largest religion in terms of numbers with approximately 71.2% of Ghanaians professing membership with various Christian denominations. Archbishop Naameh wonders why then corruption in government and political institutions is rife. If we take politics as an example, our political landscape is full of Christians. We say we are 71 per cent but who are those doing the bribery and the corruption and the stealing of state money either for our families or for our individual needs or wants? wondered Archbishop Naameh. Distinguish yourself from those who do not know Christ The Archbishop has challenged Catholics to be very clear and to distinguish ourselves from those who do not know Christ... Archbishop Naameh further made a passionate plea for Christians in government to bear faithful Christian witness in their places of work. He urged Christians to transform the face of doing politics in Ghana by living according to the tenets of Christianity. Ghana on the Corruption Perception Index In the 2019 worldwide Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released in January, this year, Ghana scored 41 out of a possible score of 100. Nevertheless, Ghana performed better than 37 other Sub-Saharan African countries. The Corruption Perception Index scores and ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of corruption. The Index put together by Transparency International (TI) ranks countries annually by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a local chapter of TI, which released the report recommended that Government must take a critical look at elements that promote public sector corruption including patronage, clientelism, nepotism and suspiciously close ties between politics and business. A key measure of carbon dioxide emissions in the Earth's atmosphere hit a record in May even as a global pandemic brought the world's economies to a virtual standstill this year, according to U.S. government data published on Thursday. Carbon dioxide recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reached 417 parts per million (ppm) in May, higher than the record of 414.8 ppm set last year, according to the announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. The drop in worldwide emissions due to the coronavirus outbreak -- estimated to be as much as 26 percent in some countries during the peak of government confinement orders -- fails to cancel out the large natural variations in carbon emissions caused by how plants and soils react to temperature, humidity and other factors, scientists said. It would take carbon dioxide reductions of 20% to 30% for six to 12 months to slow the rate of increase in the measurements at Mauna Loa, Scripps said in a statement. Last month, research published in the journal Nature Climate Change predicted that global emissions could fall by up to 7% this year. "It will decrease the rate of increase of CO2 by a little bit, but it will still be increasing," Pieter Tans, chief scientist at NOAA's greenhouse gas monitoring lab, said in an interview. "So a 10 percent change -- it's even hard for us to measure." May is the annual peak for the world's carbon dioxide emissions, which are at levels not experienced by the atmosphere in several million years. Carbon dioxide concentrations at Mauna Loa are documented in a graph known as the Keeling Curve, named for Charles Keeling, who began measurements there in 1958. 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 Corporate America's response to the protests over racial injustice and the killing of George Floyd has been about what you would expect: lots of black squares on Instagram, statements by CEOs decrying racism, some silence. Nike posted a video with a twist on its slogan: "For once, don't do it," the company urged, the "it" being choosing complacency or not "being part of the change." Standing out in this vanilla-bland crowd is ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, which posted a lengthy and pointed message on its website blaming Floyd's murder on "inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy." The company called for white America to "acknowledge its privilege" and for the need for action to "dismantle white supremacy." The frozen-dessert company's missive also distinguished itself with its specificity: the message expressed support for concrete policy steps, including the passage of Democratic-sponsored legislation creating a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination and to consider reparation proposals; and the establishment of a task force supported by Floyd's family's to draft "bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability." It also suggested the Department of Justice "reinvigorate" its civil rights division and for the restoration of consent decrees rolled back by the administration of President Donald Trump curbing police abuses. The company also took aim at Trump and his response to the protests. "Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protesters, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas," the statement read. Support for protest movements and progressive causes is in the Vermont-based company's DNA. The company supported the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016, decrying in a message "the systemic racism built into the fabric of our institutions at every level." Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were arrested at a Democracy Awakening protest at the Capitol in 2016 and served ice cream to Occupy D.C. protesters in 2011. And their opposition to Trump is long-standing. As they wrote in a 2017 open letter then President-elect Trump: "We stand with women, people of color, Muslims, migrants, refugees, the LGBTQ community, the poor, and others whose lives may be further compromised by the policies and rhetoric you espoused during your campaign." They have created whimsically named ice-cream flavors to support various causes, including "Save Our Swirled," in 2015 in support of the climate talks in Paris, "I Dough, I Dough" that same year for same-sex marriage, and "Yes Pecan," a riff on the campaign slogan of former president Barack Obama, in 2009. The company's political and social agenda wasn't muted when multinational giant Unilever acquired it in 2010. CEO Jostein Solheim explained how it has maintained its crunchy ethos and left-leaning mission in a 2016 interview, in which he said Unilever appoints just two of the 11 seats on the company's board. And as Ben & Jerry's most recent call to action this week has gotten attention, so have some companies' far more tepid reactions to the current climate. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Wednesday tweeted her dismay. "I see a lot of corporations releasing bland statements w a hashtag," she wrote. "No. This moment calls for transformation. Your statement should include your org's INTERNAL commitments to change, particularly if you've been called on it before. Give people change." WUXI, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / June 3, 2020 / Lisen Imprinting Diagnostics Inc. ("Lisen" or "the company"), a US company headquartered with main operations in Wuxi, China which specializes on tumor epigenetics research for advancing early-stage cancer detection, announces a new epigenetic-based cancer diagnostic method. The technology which innovatively applied visualized epigenetic imprinting biomarkers has been published in the open access journal Clinical Epigenetics on May 24. Lisen developed and patented the QCIGISH (Quantitative Chromogenic Imprinted Gene In-Situ Hybridization) technology - a novel approach in identifying, visualizing, and quantifying the biallelic and multiallelic expressions of an imprinted gene panel associated with cancer status. In a 1013-case clinical study involving ten different cancer types including bladder, breast, colorectal, esophageal, gastric, lung, pancreatic, prostate, skin and thyroid cancers, QCIGISH achieved 94% overall sensitivity and 92% overall specificity. Dr. Chunxue Bai, chief physician and professor of Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, one of the corresponding authors said, "Epigenetic alterations which occur prior to morphological changes are involved in most cancers, but its application in cancer diagnosis is still limited. More practical and intuitive methods to detect the aberrant expressions from clinical samples using highly sensitive biomarkers are needed." Using the QCIGISH technology, Dr. Bai and a group of researchers from Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Texas, Fudan University, Tongji University, Chinese Navy Medical University, Jiangsu Jiangyuan Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, evaluated the normal and aberrant expressions measured using the imprinted gene panel to formulate diagnostic models, which could accurately distinguish the imprinting differences of normal and benign cases from cancerous tissues. The new method proved effective for many different cancer types. Story continues "We believe that QCIGISH will become a practically useful and powerful clinical tool by effectively supplementing standard cytologic and histopathologic diagnosis for early-stage cancer detection", the paper's primary author Dr. Rulong Shen, a pathologist of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center remarked. Dr. Ning Zhou, Lisen's CEO and co-founder, and the paper's other corresponding author added, "We have barely scratched the surface. Our current research conceptually opens a new diagnostic area in epigenetics-based cancer detection and demonstrates strong potential for high throughput clinical application. We expect that this technology may go beyond a diagnostic technique to also provide information on prognostic and predictive markers of treatment response. We are excited to discover more imprinted gene cancer biomarkers, proceed with an even larger prospective validation and extend the capabilities of our technology to foster hope to cancer patients around the world." About Cancer Early Detection and Epigenetics The incidence of cancer is 18.1 million and the mortality is 9.6 million every year (GLOBOCAN 2018). The survival rate of cancer patients decreases dramatically from early to advanced stages. Therefore, early cancer detection plays a vital role in improving patients' long-term survival. However, this remains a huge clinical challenge due to the absence of sufficient morphological evidences to enable a definitive diagnosis. Epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, histone methylation and acetylation, and expression status of imprinting genes which all occur at precancerous stages and promote carcinogenesis, could serve as sensitive biomarkers for early cancer detection. About Lisen Imprinting Diagnostics, Inc. Lisen Imprinting Diagnostics, Inc. is a US company registered in Delaware dedicated to the accurate and early identification of cancers at their most curable stages. By developing advanced cancer detection technology, Lisen hopes to provide a personalized pathway for patients towards effective therapies while avoiding unnecessary, costly and potentially futile treatment. Collaborating with various medical centers from Shanghai, Nanjing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Wuxi, China, Lisen has studied 6500+ clinical cases involving 12 different cancer types. The company holds 20 Chinese and international intellectual properties on early cancer detection. For further information, contact: Ning Zhou | 001-8016990666| zhou.ning@lisenid.com Lisen, CEO Lisen Imprinting Diagnostics Inc. 66 Jinghui East Boulevard #5601 Wuxi, Jiangsu 214135 China SOURCE: Lisen Imprinting Diagnostics Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/592713/Lisen-Imprinting-Diagnostics-Inc-Announces-a-New-Innovative-and-Highly-Accurate-Epigenetic-Solution-for-Early-Cancer-Detection Thousands of Britons who have swabbed themselves for coronavirus will have been wrongly told they don't have Covid-19 because the tests don't go deep enough into the nose, leading experts fear. Anyone with symptoms of the virus - a fever, cough or lost sense of smell - can now book an appointment to get tested at a drive-through centre or have one posted. But even Brits going to the drive-through appointments are being given swabs to do themselves despite qualified medics being on hand to do them, it has emerged. Experts warn the self-tests are less accurate because they use shorter swabs and do not need to be inserted as deeply into the nose. Instructions for the tests say: 'No force is needed and you do not have to push far into your nostril.' However, professional-use swabs - which are much longer and are designed to take samples from the 'floor' of the nose - can make people gag, their eyes water or even trigger nosebleeds when carried out properly. Infectious disease specialists say letting people do swabs themselves - notoriously difficult even for trained medics - makes false negatives more likely. False negatives mean people who are infected with the virus are wrongly told they're in good health. Britain's current guidelines mean there is no rule to tell them to stay at home after a negative test, even if they have symptoms. Medics say Britain is out of step with other countries such as New Zealand - which contained its Covid-19 outbreak quickly, which place less importance on tests and do them multiple times. Professor Jon Deeks, a biostatistics expert at the University of Birmingham, said: 'A single negative test result doesn't exclude the disease. You can so easily miss the virus - they give a lot of false negatives.' Research suggests up to 30 per cent of professional swab tests return false negatives, meaning the number of positive cases may be underestimated by thousands. It is not clear how inaccurate self-swabs are, even though they are being carried out more than 60,000 times a day in the UK. The Department of Health will not release data about the false negative rates of its tests. Scientific studies have in the past, however, shown that self-swabbing can be effective if people are supervised by professionals. One small study on Covid-19 patients found that the success rate of self-swab tests was comparable with nasopharyngeal samples - which were found to produce false negatives 21 per cent of the time. And results showed the self-swabs were even slightly more accurate than the invasive procedure when the patient was supervised by a medical professional (10 per cent false negative). Professionally-done nasopharyngeal tests are known to be uncomfortable because the swab must go so far back into the person's nose (Pictured: A man getting tested in Surabaya, Indonesia) Professional-use tests are pushed considerably further back into the nostril to get a reliable sample. Paediatric nurse practitioner Jessica Peck shared a diagram of how the coronavirus test is carried out on Twitter and said: 'This is how far back we have to put the swab to test you for #COVID19z. You might want to follow medical recommendations and #StayAtHome' Coronavirus self-tests require the patient to put the swab into the back of their throat and then a short way into their nostril to try and pick up the viruses, which live in the airways People attending coronavirus drive-through testing centres say they are now being handed kits to do the swabs themselves, instead of having a medical professional do it themselves (Pictured: A testing centre in Harlow, Essex) Dr Andrew Preston, an infectious lung disease expert at the University of Bath, told MailOnline that shallower swabs in the nose and mouth were not as good. He said: 'Its clear the deeper into the nasopharynx, the better it is picking up the virus.' Dr Preston added: 'I work a lot with whooping cough, and we tilt the person's head right back. 'We consider it an unsuccessful swab unless the eyes water. We see real, real issues with the sensitivity of the swab if swabbing in nose. HOW TO USE A CORONAVIRUS SELF-TESTING SWAB Clean your hands with alcohol gel. Take a deep swab of your throat for five seconds on either side. When you open your mouth you should see an arch shape formed by the back of your mouth and tonsils. Rub all round the edges of this arch, and the back of your throat, several times. This may make you gag when done properly. Try to avoid swabbing your teeth or tongue on the way in or out. Use the same swab to collect a sample from one nostril, then the other. The nostril swab needs only for the tip to be inserted a short way into the nose, and for it to be gently rubbed around the inside of the nose a few times. It should not be uncomfortable and no force should be needed. This is different to professionally-done swab tests which are pushed further back into the base of the nostril. Without touching the end of the swab with any other part of your body, lower it into a sample container until it reaches a black line. This indicates where the swab is to be snapped against the side of the container. Once it snaps off, screw the test tube lid back on. Make sure the package is marked with your personal details and return it to a testing centre attendant or post it off if it is a home test. Advertisement 'The further back you go, the more chance youve got of getting the virus. 'I have been concerned about the tests being sent to homes. You have to be determined and resilient to do a self-swab. You would be tentative to do that with a child. 'I am surprised that they are telling people to self-administer swabs in their cars. I dont understand the rationale or how it speeds up the process if these testing centres are empty.' Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, said deciding someone's health status based on one test means it absolutely must be accurate. He said: 'You have to go deep into the nose... That's not happening [with the DIY tests]. 'If you're going to make judgements on one swab test you have to be very careful, especially if you are telling people if they can go back to work.' Speaking about incorrect test results, Professor Young added: 'False negatives happen for several reasons, but probably the main reason is a sampling error.' And Professor Jon Deeks warned that Britain was being too cavalier by not requiring people to stay at home if they test negative. He told this website: 'This is out of step with other guidance. In New Zealand you have to have three negatives and the WHO says wait until the symptoms are gone and then wait another three days. We just focus on the number of tests being done.' He added: 'A single negative test result doesn't exclude the disease if you've got symptoms. 'You can so easily miss the virus - they give a lot of false negatives. The process of doing a swab is something people get trained in doing and, what we've seen from the tests, is you actually need a lower respiratory swab which is quite hard to get.' Tests carried out by medical professionals are called nasopharyngeal swabs. A long flexible cotton bud is inserted deep into the nostril and along the 'floor' of the nose to collect a mucous sample. The aim is to reach the posterior nasopharynx, a cavity in the airways which consists of muscle and connective tissue, covered in cells and mucous. This area - known as a mucous membrane - is one of the areas where the coronavirus lives and multiplies. These swabs have become notorious for being uncomfortable because an extra-long cotton bud must be forced into the back of the nostril and rotated. They can make people gag, make their eyes water or even trigger nosebleeds - but they are considered the most accurate way of diagnosing Covid-19. But the tests people take themselves are far less invasive. They must still be rubbed around the back of the throat, which can make people feel sick, but only need to go a centimetre or so inside the nostril and be gently rubbed around. This means they may have less contact with the mucous membranes, which are areas of thin tissue inside the airways where most of the coronaviruses live. Claire Cox, an intensive care outreach nurse working in Brighton said in a blog on Patient Safety Learning: 'Swabbing patients using the correct technique is paramount in ensuring an accurate result. 'Nasal swabs need to be taken from far back in the nasal pharynx and is often uncomfortable for the patient. 'Simply swabbing the inside of the nasal passage is not deep enough to verify that the virus is present.' Somewhere between 60,000 and 94,000 self-tests were counted yesterday and they now make up a majority of all coronavirus tests being done in Britain. In its statistics showing the number of Pillar 2 tests - those given to the general public who feel unwell - the Department of Health revealed 60,209 were sent out to people's homes on Tuesday. A further 34,526 in-person tests - those done at drive-through centres - were carried out. And a majority of those are now believed to have been done by members of the public themselves. The Department of Health said: 'The tests at these regional test sites are designed to be self-swab and have clear instructions but if people need help, they can easily alert a member of staff who can assist. 'Hundreds of thousands of people have successfully used the drive through sites and it has always been the case that they can either be self-administered or carried out by a medical professional.' Fear about a drop in accuracy from self-tests adds to concerns that people are being dismissed after results from a single test, despite studies showing large margins of error. Speaking in Parliament's Health and Social Care Committee yesterday Baroness Dido Harding, chief of the NHS's test and trace scheme, acknowledged that studies show error rates of between two and 20 per cent for Covid-19 swab tests. Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, chair of the committee, said he was concerned that people were allowed to carry on with life as normal if they got a negative result. Mr Hunt said: 'Now the guidance, as I understand it at the moment, is that if you call in with symptoms and your test comes back negative, the guidance says that you and other household members no longer need to self-isolate. 'But we know from Bristol University and Johns Hopkins University that up to 20 per cent of test results are false negatives - so that people actually have Covid-19 but the test says they don't. 'Why does the guidance then not ask those people to have another test?' SELF-SWABS FOR COVID-19 DO WORK, STUDY SHOWS Despite the concerns, scientific studies have suggested that self-swab testing actually is accurate enough to diagnose viruses. A study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles said self-tests showed 'comparable sensitivity' when trying to diagnose Covid-19. This shows that both professionally done swabs and ones that people did themselves picked up about the same proportion of positive cases. That study, published online on April 15, was done on 45 people, of whom 29 were definitely infected with the coronavirus and had already been diagnosed. It found that the supervised self-collection tests detected 26 of those 29 patients, while unsupervised self-collection only found 19 out 29 (66 per cent). Meanwhile the tests done by medical professionals successfully found 23 out of 29 positive cases. In conclusion the scientists said: 'Supervised self-collected oral fluid and nasal swab specimens performed similarly to, if not better than clinician-collected nasopharyngeal swab specimens for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection.' Another study of generic infections in the airways found nasopharyngeal swabs were better performing than just a nasal swab. Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland tested the two types on 230 children with chest infections. They found that using both methods together - the deep nose and the nostril wipe - successfully detected 73 per cent of cases. The nasopharyngeal swab on its own found 19 per cent of cases, while just a nasal swab found only seven per cent. Their research was published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Advertisement Baroness Harding said: 'My understanding of the guidance is that, after having a negative test, you and your household are free to go back into normal life but if you do continue to feel unwell after a couple of days we would advise you to stay at home and take another test in a few days' time.' This is a concern that was echoed by Professor Paul Hunter, a medicine expert at the University of East Anglia, who warned reliance on self-swabs could be dangerous. He told MailOnline: 'What I'm worried about is if you've got symptoms, and the test comes back as negative, you can go out. 'I think it's dangerous and it will get more dangerous, if the government continues to rely on test results as cases decline.' Professor Hunter added that self-swabs produce 'a lot of false negatives', warning: 'A wrong result could lead to wider spread.' Despite the concerns, scientific studies have suggested that self-swab testing actually is accurate enough to diagnose viruses. A study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles said self-tests showed 'comparable sensitivity' when trying to diagnose Covid-19. This shows that both professionally done swabs and ones that people did themselves picked up about the same proportion of positive cases. That study, published online on April 15, was done on 45 people, of whom 29 were definitely infected with the coronavirus and had already been diagnosed. It found that the supervised self-collection tests detected 26 of those 29 patients, while unsupervised self-collection only found 19 out 29 (66 per cent). Meanwhile the tests done by medical professionals successfully found 23 out of 29 positive cases. In conclusion the scientists said: 'Supervised self-collected oral fluid and nasal swab specimens performed similarly to, if not better than clinician-collected nasopharyngeal swab specimens for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection.' Another study of generic infections in the airways found nasopharyngeal swabs were better performing than just a nasal swab. Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland tested the two types on 230 children with chest infections. They found that using both methods together - the deep nose and the nostril wipe - successfully detected 73 per cent of cases. The nasopharyngeal swab on its own found 19 per cent of cases, while just a nasal swab found only seven per cent. Their research was published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Three men allegedly belong to the boogaloo movement, which promotes a coming civil war and/or collapse of society. Three far-right followers have been arrested at Las Vegas protests over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by police and charged with inciting violence. The plot was reportedly foiled with help from an informant. Stephen Parshall, 35, Andrew Lynam, 23, and William Loomis, 40, who allegedly belong to the boogaloo movement, all live in Las Vegas where they were arrested on Saturday by an anti-terrorism unit headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They were in possession of Molotov cocktails when detained, prosecutor Nicholas Trutanich said. If convicted on federal charges, the men face up to 30 years in prison. They were also indicted on state conspiracy to commit terrorism and other charges, which carry heavier sentences. The boogaloo movement, which has adopted Hawaiian shirts as a uniform, promotes a coming civil war and/or collapse of society, said the Nevada US Attorneys Office on Wednesday. Violent instigators have hijacked peaceful protests and demonstrations across the country, including Nevada, exploiting the real and legitimate outrage over Mr Floyds death for their own radical agendas, Trutanich said. Reports of far-right activists, sometimes heavily armed, infiltrating the protests over the past week have included several claiming to be part of the boogaloo movement. Members were seen at demonstrations in states including Minnesota and Texas, as well as in the city of Philadelphia, NBC News reported. A charge sheet said the three mens initial plan was to firebomb a power station to distract authorities as they incited a riot. They also intended to take Molotov cocktails to a Black Lives Matter protest. They wanted to use the momentum of the George Floyd death to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement, that others see the two explosions and police presence and begin to riot in the streets out of anger, it said. According to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, the group wants a second civil war organised around the word boogaloo. The US has been roiled by nationwide protests over the killing of Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. The demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but many have broken down into violence and looting after nightfall. Unending protests Police and other law enforcement agencies have come under heavy criticism for the way they have responded to the protests. Thousands have been arrested and many injured. Law enforcement agencies have defended the crackdown, saying they are responding to violent demonstrators involved in looting, vandalism, and fires that have broken out. 200602162316383 US President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to use active-duty troops to disperse the protests, drawing criticism from across the political spectrum. Trumps former secretary of defence, James Mattis, slammed the president on Wednesday for trying to sow division, accusing him of setting up a false conflict between the military and civilians. The current defence chief, Mark Esper, has also said he opposed Trumps threat to send in the military to quell the unrest. QUEEN VALLEY, Ariz. An evacuation order was issued Tuesday for some residents of Queen Valley east of Phoenix as crews continued to battle a lightning-caused wildfire. Tonto National Forest officials said the fire had burned nearly 33 square miles (8,500 hectares) as of Tuesday with 8% containment. A precautionary order was issued for homes along Silver King and Williams roads starting at noon Tuesday as firefighters begin backburning operations to protect structures in the area. Forest officials said Queen Valley residents should be prepared to be out of their homes for a minimum of three days. The town is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Phoenix. The communities of Elephant Butte, Hardt Tank and Angel Basin were evacuated Monday by the growing wildfire that started Saturday night near the Peralta Trailhead. About 200 firefighters have battling the blaze, which is burning in the same area as a wildfire last year that charred about 195 square miles (50,500 hectares). Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) - Germany and three other European Union states are forging a new alliance aimed at securing access to coronavirus vaccines, once developed, and making sure they are distributed fairly around the world, business daily Handelsblatt reported. Handelsblatt quoted German Health Minister Jens Spahn and his colleagues from France, Italy and the Netherlands as writing in a letter to the EU Commission it had seen that access to vaccines is "one of the most urgent issues that the European Union has to address at present". Therefore, a core group of member states had joined up to "achieve the fastest and best possible outcome in negotiations with key players in the pharmaceutical industry". The four, acting on Berlin's initiative, want to prevent the EU from losing out to the United States and China in the race for a coronavirus vaccine, the paper reported. Efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to gain first access to vaccine candidates in return for billions of dollars invested in pharmaceutical companies are viewed with suspicion in Europe, Handelsblatt added. The United States has secured almost a third of the first 1 billion doses planned for AstraZeneca's experimental COVID-19 vaccine by pledging up to $1.2 billion, as world powers scramble for medicines to get their economies back to work. Handelsblatt cited government sources as saying Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands were talking to several pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, about government research funds and purchase guarantees. Europe must build up a "market power" in order to survive in the struggle for vaccines, Handelsblatt cited government sources in Berlin as saying. The four were also talking to Britain, Norway, Singapore and Japan about possible cooperation. (Writing by Paul Carrel; editing by John Stonestreet) As protests continued in New York City on Wednesday, officials were hopeful that an earlier curfew and refined police tactics will bring the city closer to restoring order after days of unrest over the death of George Floyd. Last night we took a step forward in moving out of this difficult period weve had the last few days and moving to a better time, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Demonstrators marched throughout the city in largely peaceful events, and like the previous night, were still on the streets when the curfew time arrived. At Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence on Manhattans upper east side, demonstrators were kneeling in a moment of silence when alarms rang on cellphones, warning that the curfew time was coming. Lisa Horton, 29, said charges announced Wednesday against three other Minneapolis police officers in connection to Floyds death were a step, but she was protesting near the citys mayoral mansion because she feels much more needs to change. Theres been progress, but are we at a point where we can all celebrate? No, the New Yorker said. Its going to take radical change in policing and the criminal justice system, she said. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was critical of the police response on prior nights, said the city Tuesday was much, much better than the night before. It worked. We got results, Cuomo said. Lets just remember what we did last night and keep that going. De Blasio rejected President Donald Trumps urging and Cuomos offer to send in the National Guard to quell the unrest, saying the NYPD was best suited for the task and fearing out-of-town Guardsmen unfamiliar with city dynamics could spark confrontations. Trump warned that if the city didnt maintain order, he would take the matter into his own hands, though he didnt say what action he might take. If they dont get their act straightened out, I will solve it. Ill solve it fast, he said on FOX News Radios The Brian Kilmeade Show. Hundreds of protesters were in Manhattans Washington Square Park when the charges against the other officers were announced. Its not enough, protester Jonathan Roldan said, contending all four officers shouldve been charged from the start. Right now, were still marching because its not enough that they got arrested. There needs to be systematic change. The curfew, barring people from streets citywide and nonessential vehicles from part of Manhattan from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., was imposed to prevent the nighttime chaos that followed peaceful protests for several days in a row. Around Manhattan, even in parts of the city that hadnt seen the damage and thefts, businesses had boarded up windows as precautions. Vandalism and pilfering didnt stop completely Tuesday. Some shops had windows smashed and merchandise taken. But it was a contrast from the previous two days, when several Manhattan shopping districts and one in the Bronx were overrun with people some with crowbars and clubs who ransacked numerous shops and set fires. Moving the curfew from 11 p.m., where it had been Monday, as well as blocking vehicles from entering Manhattan, allowed police to take control of city streets and remove troublemakers, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said. The curfew did not stop political demonstrations over police mistreatment of black Americans. Marchers chanted slogans as they wound through Manhattan and Brooklyn deep into the night Tuesday. The marches were part of a wave of protests across the country since the May 25 death of Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on Floyds neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The nightly curfews will remain in effect at least through Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of shutdowns because of the coronavirus. Police said they arrested about 280 people on Tuesday, compared with 700 the previous night. In all, more than 2,000 people have been arrested, the NYPD said. Wednesday, prosecutors also charged a man with shooting at an occupied police vehicle in Queens. Neither officer in the vehicle was wounded. No demonstration was underway in the area and the mans motive in shooting at the vehicle was unclear. City officials have said, without offering much evidence, that out-of-town agitators have been responsible for the majority of attacks on police officers seen over the last few days and that many involved in removing items from store shelves werent protesters, but organized groups that used vehicles to scout locations and remove stolen property. In a tweet Wednesday, Shea claimed organized looters had positioned bricks in plastic tubs around the city to use in their crimes. But City Councilman Mark Treyger noted the bricks in the video Shea tweeted were from a construction project far from where any protests or violence had occurred. Shea said some people are using the protests as cover and then peeling off and unfortunately running around and doing some looting. De Blasio condemned police for roughing up journalists covering the protests, including two from The Associated Press who were shoved, cursed at and told to go home by officers Tuesday night despite press being considered essential workers allowed to be on the streets. There should be no condition under which any journalist is detained by the police of this city or any city in the United States of America, period, de Blasio said, calling for an investigation. Shea said officers were doing the best we can under difficult circumstances, adding that some people stopped by police lied about being journalists. Sometimes these things take a second, maybe too long, to sort out, he said. Were not perfect, we do the best we can in a situation. The police commissioner had planned to appear together with Floyds brother Wednesday at a Brooklyn church, but Terrence Floyd decided shortly before the event began that he was too overcome to attend, organizers said. Shea said hed offered his condolences to Floyd on the phone. The police in Calabar have arrested a retired army captain, Bassey Ekanem, for allegedly defiling his four-year old niece. The incident happened at Ekanems residence at 12, Edim Ibangha Street, Big Qua Town, Calabar. According to a source, Ekanem, who is in his 60s, claimed he was under the influence of alcohol. A neighbour, who pleaded not to be named, revealed that Ekanem, had sent the lady living with him to the market; then he lured the little girl into his apartment and started fingering her and broke her hymen in the process. It was the victims younger brother who is about two years old who told their mother that grandpa put his hand inside her sisters bum-bum before their mother raised the alarm and the matter was reported to the police. The Principal Counsel, Basic Right Council Initiative, James Ibor, said, This particular matter cannot be swept under the carpet and the suspect must face the full wrath of the law even though they are related. The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo, said, The man is in our custody. I wont say much until we get the medical report on the incident. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Following the death of George Floyd while in custody in Minneapolis, protests have mushroomed around the U.S. to decry police violence, raising concerns among public health officials about the potential for further spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the economic toll of the continuing pandemic is prompting some states to cancel or scale back plans to expand health coverage to more of their residents. And President Donald Trump said he will withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. But it seems he lacks the legal authority to do that on his own. This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Mary Agnes Carey of KHN and Joanne Kenen of Politico. Among the takeaways from this week's podcast: Although public health officials are warning about the dangers of a resurgence of COVID-19 caused by the mass gatherings to protest Floyd's death, if cases do spike, it may be hard to separate out that effect from the general reopening of the economy occurring about the same time. The concerns about racial inequalities highlighted by the massive demonstrations include health disparities that have taken a big toll on minority communities. But fixing those inequities would be very expensive, and it's not clear given the current economic downturn how federal or state officials would come up with funding to tackle those issues. Also, as they observe the demonstrations, many experts are noting that racism and violence are public health issues, too. Trump's decision to pull out of the World Health Organization hampers U.S. efforts to play a role in pivotal decisions around the globe, especially on issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, flu and Ebola. Those are areas in which the WHO is seen as a leader on policy and research. The sudden slowdown in the economy is causing some states such as Kansas and California to put the brakes on plans to help more people get coverage, especially efforts to expand Medicaid programs that serve low-income residents. In a surprise opinion late last week, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with liberals on the Supreme Court to uphold California and Illinois regulations limiting church services to help curb the risk of COVID-19 infections. Roberts based his opinion on public health issues. Yet unknown is whether this signals how he might rule on a bigger case coming to the court in the fall over the fate of the Affordable Care Act. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jonathan Oberlander, professor of health policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and editor of the Journal of Health Policy, Politics and Law. The journal has released several articles examining the nexus between COVID-19, health inequities and social determinants of health. Those articles are temporarily free for the public to read, here. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too: Julie Rovner: The New York Times' "The C.D.C. Waited 'Its Entire Existence for This Moment.' What Went Wrong?" by Eric Lipton, Abby Goodnough, Michael D. Shear, Megan Twohey, Apoorva Mandavilli, Sheri Fink and Mark Walker Joanne Kenen: ProPublica's "Senior Citizens in Subsidized Housing Have Been Dying Alone at Home, Unnoticed Because of Coronavirus Distancing," by Mick Dumke and Haru Coryne Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico's "States Brace for Disasters As Pandemic Collides With Hurricane Season," by Dan Goldberg and Brianna Ehley Mary Agnes Carey: Kaiser Health News' "Police Using Rubber Bullets On Protesters That Can Kill, Blind Or Maim For Life," by Liz Szabo To hear all our podcasts, click here. And subscribe to What the Health? on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Pocket Casts. [June 04, 2020] MAS Financial Services Limited Results - 4th Quarter FY 20 - A Robust Financial Performance - 100 Quarters of Consistent Financial Performance AHMEDABAD, India, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of MAS Financial Services Limited in their meeting held today took on record the audited Financial Results of the company for the year and quarter ended 31 March 2020. The company completed 25th year of marching ahead towards accomplishing its vision of "Excellence through Endeavours" The consistent financial performance during all the past turbulent period is the testimony of the strong fundamentals of the company; which is being followed over two decades. With a Tier-1 capital adequacy ratio of 28.87%, sufficient liquidity due to very efficient liability management, excellent quality of portfolio of around 1.14% of net stage 3 assets and by creating additional provisioning buffer, should enable the company to navigate the current unprecedented situation successfully. As per IND-As MAS Financial Services Limited reports the Assets under Management (AUM) and Profit after Tax for the year ended 31 March 2020 of ? 5966.28 Crore and ? 178.21 Crore as compared to ? 5338.37 Crore and ? 152.12 Crore respectively for the year ended 31 March 2019. A Growth of 11.76% in AUM and 17.16% in PAT over the corresponding period of the previous year. The Company has made special contingent provision of ? 20.33 Crore due to Covid-19 for the total on book assets of ? 3325.49 Crore. (Excluding this special contingent provision the PAT stands at ? 193.43 Crore registering growth of 27.16% over the corresponding period of the previous year) The Profit after tax for the quarter ended 31 March 2020 is ? 35.69 Crore as compared to ? 41.61 Crore for the corresponding period. A contraction by 14.24 % over the corresponding period of the previous year on account of the special contingent provision of ? 20.33 Crore due to Covid-19. (Excluding this special contingent provision the PAT stands at ? 50.90 Crore registering growth of 22.32% over the corresponding period of the previous year) The portfolio quality remained stable at 1.14% net stage 3 assets of AUM as compared to 1.14% over the corresponding period of the previous year despite of the prolonged ongoing crisis followed by the unprecedented pandemic situation. Dividend The Board of Directors had declared second interim dividend of ? 6 per equity share of ? 10 was declared at its meeting held on 19 February 2020. The said dividend was subsequently paid on 6 March 2020. Performance Highlights: Disbursement (Net) made during FY 20 8.38 % to ? 5172.20 Crore from ? 4772.29 Crore in FY19 . to Crore from Crore in . Capital Adequacy Ratio (including Tier II capital) as of 31 March, 2020 stood at 30.96%. The Tier-I capital stood at 28.87%. (? in CR) Particulars Q4'20 Q4'19 QoQ FY'20 FY'19 YoY Assets Under Management 5966.28 5338.37 11.76% 5966.28 5338.37 11.76% Total Income 172.86 155.58 11.10% 683.12 572.58 19.30% Profit Before Tax 47.95 64.06 25.15% 234.48 233.93 0.23% Profit After Tax 35.69 41.61 14.24% 178.21 152.12 17.16% Profit After Tax (Without special contingent provision for Covid-19) 50.90 41.61 22.32% 193.43 152.12 27.16% Gross Stage 3 Assets % to AUM 1.42% 1.39% 0.03 bps 1.42% 1.39% 0.03 bps Net Stage 3 Assets % to AUM 1.14% 1.14% 0.00 bps 1.14% 1.14% 0.00 bps Note: The company has made special contingent provision of ? 20.33 Crore due to Covid-19.along with the policy of using the part of the tax benefit to further strengthen the quality of the portfolio by aggressively writing off the stage 3 Assets. (? in CR) Asset Under Management (AUM)* Mar-20 Mar-19 YoY Micro-Enterprise loans 3637.36 3364.27 8.12% SME loans 1773.97 1350.47 31.36% 2-Wheeler loans 400.26 465.43 14.00% Commercial Vehicle loans 154.69 158.21 2.23% TOTAL AUM 5966.28 5338.37 11.76% *Represents underlying assets in each of the category. As on 31 March, 2020 58.74% of the total underlying assets is through various NBFCs. Following information explains the net impact on income due to recognition of assigned portfolio based on INDAS: (? in CR) Sr. No. Particulars Q4 FY 20 Q4 FY 19 FY 20 FY 19 1 Upfront spread booked on present value basis on portfolio assigned during the year (based on INDAS) 28.86 28.23 107.49 94.14 2 Income booked on asset created out of spread receivable (based on INDAS) 1.71 1.46 6.39 4.96 3 Spread that would have been booked on assigned portfolio on amortization basis (based on I-GAAP) 28.98 24.22 107.56 85.26 4 Net Impact on income due to upfront booking of spread on the assigned portfolio (based on INDAS) (1+2-3) 1.59 5.46 6.32 13.84 Note on MAS Rural Housing and Mortgage Finance Limited (Subsidiary) The Board of Directors of MAS Rural Housing and Mortgage Finance Limited in their meeting held on 20th May 2020 took on record the audited Financial Results of the company for the year and quarter ended 31st March, 2020. As per IND-As MAS Rural Housing and Mortgage Finance Limited reports Assets under Management (AUM) of ?286.54 Crore and profit after tax of ? 3.23 Crore for the year ended 31 March 2020 from ?270.24 Crore and ? 2.65 Crore respectively for year ended 31 March 2019. - A Growth of 6.03% in AUM and 21.89% in PAT over the corresponding period of the previous year. - Further the company has made additional provision of ? 2.02 Crore on account of the special contingent provision due to Covid-19. (Excluding this special contingent provision the PAT stands at ? 4.75 Crore registering growth of 78.96% over the corresponding period of the previous year) The Profit after tax for quarter ended 31 March 2020 is ? 0.10 Crore as compared to ? 0.01 Crore for the corresponding period. - Further the company has made additional provision of ? 2.02 Crore on account of the special contingent provision due to Covid-19. (Excluding this special contingent provision the PAT stands at ? 1.61 Crore) Performance Highlights: The portfolio quality improved despite of the ongoing crisis followed by the unprecedented situation at 0.25% net stage 3 assets of AUM as compared to 0.26% over the corresponding period of the previous year. Capital Adequacy Ratio (including Tier II capital) as of 31 March 2020 stood at 40.69%. The Tier-I capital stood at 32.57%. Particulars Q4'20 Q4'19 QoQ FY'20 FY'19 YoY Assets Under Management 286.54 270.24 6.03% 286.54 270.24 6.03% Total Income 9.89 9.24 7.01% 39.88 32.41 23.06% Profit Before Tax 0.08 0.98 91.79% 4.25 4.24 0.16% Profit After Tax 0.10 0.01 884.21% 3.23 2.65 21.89% Profit After Tax (Without special contingent provision for Covid-19) *1.61 **0.83 94.44% *4.75 **3.41 39.32% Gross Stage 3 Assets % to AUM 0.34% 0.36% -0.02 bps 0.34% 0.36% -0.02 bps Net Stage 3 Assets % to AUM 0.25% 0.26% -0.01 bps 0.25% 0.26% -0.01 bps Note: * The company has made special contingent provision of ? 2.02 Crore due to Covid-19. ** Excluding the negative Deferred Tax Impact of ? 0.82 Crore due to conversion of OCPS in Q4 FY19 for better understanding of the comparative figures Dividend: The Board of Directors has proposed final dividend of ?0.048 per equity share of ?10 at its meeting held on 20 May 2020. For and on behalf of the Board of Directors Kamlesh C. Gandhi Chairman & Managing Director (DIN - 00044852) For more information, visit- https://www.mas.co.in/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The meeting of the world's self-styled elite in the Swiss town of Davos will go ahead next January despite the pandemic. Prince Charles, a long-time supporter of organiser the World Economic Forum (WEF), yesterday unveiled the lofty theme of the summit 'The Great Reset'. However, Standard Life Aberdeen, which usually spends around 3million on sending executives to Davos each year, and hosts a cafe renowned among delegates for its malt whisky has ruled out attending. Prince Charles, a long-time supporter of organiser the World Economic Forum, yesterday unveiled the lofty theme of the 2021 Davos summit 'The Great Reset' Chief executive, Keith Skeoch, told the Mail in April that it was 'divisive' at a time when the world was being ravaged by the coronavirus, and that the money could be better-spent. Founder Klaus Schwab said 'a great reset' was needed, and insisted the meeting could 'build a new social contract that honours the dignity of every human being'. He added: 'The global health crisis has laid bare the unsustainability of our old system in terms of social cohesion, the lack of equal opportunities and inclusiveness. Nor can we turn our backs on the evils of racism and discrimination.' Davos has gained a reputation for missing some of the most important issues of the day. The 2021 Davos summit will be held both in-person and online, and will focus on reducing humans' impact on the planet and how to move past the pandemic This year's summit at the end of January, when coronavirus was beginning to spread, saw very little time dedicated to discussing the possible ramifications. Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg was the star guest. In February, as the world began to pay more attention to virus, JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon joked it may have spread the virus. He said: 'The only good news from that is that it might just have killed the elite.' The 2021 summit will be held both in-person and online, and will focus on reducing humans' impact on the planet and how to move past the pandemic. NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Printing Paper Market is expected to grow from USD 56,123.13 Million in 2018 to USD 70,125.13 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.23%. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871272/?utm_source=PRN The positioning of the Global Printing Paper Market vendors in FPNV Positioning Matrix are determined by Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) and placed into four quadrants (F: Forefront, P: Pathfinders, N: Niche, and V: Vital). The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Printing Paper Market including are Great Little Box Company Ltd., International Paper, Oji Holdings Corporation, Pratt Industries, Inc., WestRock Company, DS Smith, Georgia-Pacific, NIPPON PAPER INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., Smurfit Kappa, and Sonoco Products Company. On the basis of Paper Type, the Global Printing Paper Market is studied across Coated and Uncoated Paper. On the basis of Application, the Global Printing Paper Market is studied across Books and Magazines, Commercial, Industrial, and Newspaper. On the basis of Distribution Channel, the Global Printing Paper Market is studied across Convenience Stores, E-commerce, Hypermarket, and Retail Stores. For the detailed coverage of the study, the market has been geographically divided into the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The report provides details of qualitative and quantitative insights about the major countries in the region and taps the major regional developments in detail. In the report, we have covered two proprietary models, the FPNV Positioning Matrix and Competitive Strategic Window. The FPNV Positioning Matrix analyses the competitive market place for the players in terms of product satisfaction and business strategy they adopt to sustain in the market. The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisitions strategies, geography expansion, research & development, new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth. Research Methodology: Our market forecasting is based on a market model derived from market connectivity, dynamics, and identified influential factors around which assumptions about the market are made. These assumptions are enlightened by fact-bases, put by primary and secondary research instruments, regressive analysis and an extensive connect with industry people. Market forecasting derived from in-depth understanding attained from future market spending patterns provides quantified insight to support your decision-making process. The interview is recorded, and the information gathered in put on the drawing board with the information collected through secondary research. The report provides insights on the following pointers: 1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players in the Global Printing Paper Market 2. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments in the Global Printing Paper Market 3. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets for the Global Printing Paper Market 4. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new products launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Global Printing Paper Market 5. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the Global Printing Paper Market The report answers questions such as: 1. What is the market size of Printing Paper market in the Global? 2. What are the factors that affect the growth in the Global Printing Paper Market over the forecast period? 3. What is the competitive position in the Global Printing Paper Market? 4. Which are the best product areas to be invested in over the forecast period in the Global Printing Paper Market? 5. What are the opportunities in the Global Printing Paper Market? 6. What are the modes of entering the Global Printing Paper Market? Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871272/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links www.reportlinker.com A semester which was spent largely in online learning was punctuated with an online commencement ceremony on Friday. Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest (COMP-NW) celebrated its sixth commencement with a virtual online gathering. The ceremony was highlighted by speeches by President Daniel R. Wilson, Dean Paula Crone and board member Gene Barduson, who gave the keynote address. Before the ceremonys official start, there was the opportunity to watch short video messages from members of this graduating class. These greetings were filled with thankfulness to family members, spouses, friends, and members of the Lebanon community who supported them over the past four years. Austin Layton thanked his parents and grandparents for the many sacrifices they made which allowed him to enter and then complete medical school. This day, this graduation is bittersweet that I cant be with those people to acknowledge the role they played, not only these last four years but in the years preceding that, Layton said. When the ceremony began, Crone also noted the unusual nature of this years commencement, made necessary by the social distancing rules put in place due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Today marks a very special day and represents a tremendous milestone for our graduates. Even though this is not how we were planning to celebrate it, and we miss not being able to be with you in person, we are still grateful that we had the opportunity to be part of your educational journey. We are very proud of you today, Crone said. Wilson asked the members of the graduating class to step back from the current situation and remember when they first understood that their lives would be devoted to medicine. This world crisis forces us to adapt to what I call a crack in time. Our future is not yet clear, but to make better sense of all this, graduates, please I ask each of you to think back to the very first moment you knew you were destined to be a health professional, Wilson said. You knew you were destined to be a healer, you were drawn to it, you felt a calling. Barduson was asked to give the main address both because of his years spent on the board and his experience as one of the pioneers in the field of health information systems. In addition to serving on the Western University of Health Sciences board, he is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Scripps Health, an integrated delivery network in Southern California. He recalled an experience 15 years ago when he was invited to attend a medical student memorial for those who had donated their bodies for the advancement of medicine and medical education. He was awestruck by the solemnity of the event. There on stage was a ceremony I will never forget, Barduson said. Something happened to me that day. I learned what humanism is. I witnessed what it meant to this group of men and women working so hard to master the skills to be a physician. They were also evidencing the compassion of what it is to be a humanistic physician. I learned that day what a special place Western University is. Barduson said this generation of physicians faces the task of re-imagining the role of doctors in our society and he looks forward to seeing them live up to this challenge. Every commencement speaker is supposed to say something to inspire the graduates. The more I thought about that, the more it became obvious to me thats backwards. It is you that are the inspiration. It is you who inspire us each and every day. It is your passion, your brilliance, your skill, your creativity and compassion that represent our future, Barduson said. Its you who will take the promise of technology and turn it into personalized medicine. It is you who will transform a health system that rewards itself by the number of procedures it performs, to a system that rewards itself by the health and wellness of the community it serves. As part of the ceremony, the newly minted doctors took part in the traditional hooding ceremony and took the Osteopathic Oath. There were 106 members of this class, bringing the total number of graduates from the Lebanon medical school campus to 607. 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. PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran told members of the media on Wednesday that he already informed the Prime Minister and Minister of TEATT that the Council of Ministers needs to call in the boards of GEBE to a shareholders meeting. Doran made the declaration when members of the media asked for clarification on the disconnection notice GEBE published on Tuesday. Doran explained that the shareholder was not informed of the measures GEBE has decided to take since there was an agreement made in March 2020 when the island was on lockdown. The Minister said had the management of GEBE consulted him then he would have advised the company to either hold a meeting or meet with clients to either clarify or rectify the bills consumers are complaining about. Asked if GEBE management is taking some sort of revenge on the community since the government requested that the company imposed the 12.5% cost-cutting measures as demanded by the Dutch Government Doran said he could not say because the government was not notified. Noteworthy to mention is a number of GEBE staff participated in the march in meeting last week Thursday with their union representatives. Besides that, there is a voice note circulating where a staff of GEBE powerplant said that the workers at the powerplant are willing to take drastic actions if their salaries and benefits are reduced. The employee in his voice note said St. Maarten should prepare for an island-wide blackout should cost-cutting measures be imposed. The voice note was sent to some Members of Parliament and Government while management discussed the voice note and other concerns GEBE workers have last week. Minister Doran said he was not aware of the voice note neither was he informed about the threats made by GEBE powerplant workers. The Minister promised to get more information on this matter which he will share with the public. Who Will Harness AI More Effectively in the New Decade: Cybercriminals or Cybersecurity Professionals? There is little question that AI and machine learning will increasingly be deployed by enterprise security teams in the 2020s, and it will not be long before heavy reliance on AI for security purposes becomes mainstream. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are also well aware of the impact that AI can make, and they often prove to be ahead of the curve compared to the security teams. Who will harness AI more effectively in the new decade? Tap into this article from CSO Magazine to pick your side of the AI security battle: cybercriminals or cybersecurity professionals? [June 04, 2020] 7 Hills Pharma to Deliver Video Presentation At BIO Digital 2020 June 8 - 12 Company is leveraging its integrin platform technology to improve effectiveness of immunotherapies, including Covid-19 vaccines HOUSTON, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 7 Hills Pharma, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on the development of drugs for treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases, will be featured in the BIO Digital 2020 online international convention with a video presentation by President and CEO Upendra Marathi, Ph.D, MBA. Dr. Marathi will discuss the companys first-in-class, oral integrin activators that augment antigen-specific immune responses to improve the effectiveness of vaccines and immuno-oncology drugs. His participation is part of a partnership between the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) aimed at highlighting select emerging biomedical companies within an Innovation Zone of the BIO Digital online platform. The 7 Hills Pharma video can be viewed in the Available on Demand company presentation site of the digital convention. We want to thank BIO and the NIHs Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program for making it possible for 7 Hills Pharma to participate in this convention, Dr. Marathi said. Everyone is facing unique challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, and we appreciate BIOs efforts in transferring its annual convention online to give us an opportunity to reach an international audience during this difficult time. 7 Hills Pharma has developed a novel, systemic means of safely improving the immune system response of any immunotherapy. The companys patent-protected small molecule integrin activators significantly enhance cell adhesion, which is essential for producing an immune response. 7 Hills Pharmas Covid-19 vaccine adjuvant program specifically addresses at-risk older people. We expect our cell adhesion agents will greatly enhance the efficacy of emerging vaccines against this coronavirus, Dr. Marathi added. Although this approach is potentially applicable for all ages, older subjects have lower immune responses to vaccines, in general, and may respond particularly well. In addition to the Covid-19 program, 7 Hills Pharma is targeting its immune stimulating adjuvants for use with influenza vaccines and PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors in treatment of solid tumor cancers. Our small molecule compounds directly activate integrins to promote cell adhesion, explained Dr. Marathi. Immunotherapies indirectly activate integrins and in many instances do not independently promote adequate cell adhesion for a strong immune response. The resulting defective cell adhesion is why flu vaccines dont protect more than 50 percent of people over 65 and why immuno-oncology drugs fail in 70% of cancer patients. 7 Hills compounds may improve these ineffective vaccines and therapies About 7 Hills Pharma 7 Hills Pharma is focused on the development of novel and cost-efficient immunomodulatory agents that leverage well-known integrin biology to drive and enhance essential steps in the immune cycle. The companys lead programs are designed to improve the effectiveness of immuno-oncology therapies including checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, and cord blood transplantation in the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases. For more information, visit http://www.7hillspharma.com Media Contacts: Robert Williams [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] San Franciscos Gap Inc. is getting sued by one of the biggest mall owners in the country for failing to pay $65.9 million in rent during the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit filed by Simon Property Group in Delaware state court on Tuesday marks the increasing tension between retail tenants and landlords amid the pandemic. Nonessential stores, like clothing retailers, were forced to shut down in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, but the move has stifled revenue for shuttered businesses, leading to furloughs and job cuts. In April, Gap Inc. stopped paying rent for stores that were closed and will remain closed during the public health crisis. In doing so, the company said it saved about $115 million. The retailer said its negotiating lease terms with landlords and could close some stores permanently, and it did reopen some stores in May in areas that allowed it to resume operations. The nonpayment of rent did not sit well with Simon Property, with CEO David Simon telling analysts on an earnings call last month that, The bottom line is, we do have a contract and we do expect to get paid. The news was first reported by the Real Deal. Simon Property Group did not immediately respond to The Chronicles request for comment. In an email to The Chronicle, Gap said the impact from the closures has been profound, with many malls still closed to us and our customers for months. We remain committed to working directly with our landlords on mutually agreeable solutions and fair rent terms. We are pleased with the progress weve made with many landlords as were reopening stores across the country, moving forward together towards growth, Gap said. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Simon malls have 412 Gap stores, according to an analysis by CNBC, including its namesake stores and portfolio brands such as Banana Republic and Old Navy. This makes Gap one of Simons largest mall tenants. While stores are eager to reopen retail sales plunged by record levels in April, and there are signs that most shoppers continue to stay home. Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika Jeff Lowe and his wife Lauren are going to leave the zoo that was the subject of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Carole Baskin won the zoo owned by Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, in a court judgment. The Lowes will be okay because they already have plans for a new zoo. Jeff and Lauren Lowe | | Ruaridh Connellan/BarcroftImages / Barcroft Media via Getty Images RELATED: Tiger King: Jeff Lowe Thinks Carole Baskin Would Have Lost Her Case Against Joe Exotic If Joe Exotic Had Defended Himself The Lowes spoke with ET.com on June 2 about their reaction to Baskins legal victory and thoughts on the future of the zoo. Unfortunately, theyre skeptical about Baskins intentions. From Tiger King to The Graceland of Oklahoma Elvis Presleys home in Memphis, Tennessee has become a gaudy tourist museum. Lowe expects Baskin to have tasteless plans for the zoo. She accuses us of exploiting animals, Jeff said. My suspicion is shell come here and try to open up the Joe Exotic park and shell exploit the animals and sell tours. Shell turn this into the Graceland of Oklahoma. Jeff Lowe thinks Carole Baskin will be in over her head The Lowes have maintained the zoo since Maldonado-Passage went to prison. They are taking the tigers to their new facility. They have 120 days before Baskin takes over, and they believe she doesnt know what shes in for. Jeff Lowe | Netflix RELATED: Tiger King: Jeff Lowe Says Producers Have Apologized and Begged Him to Come Back [Its going to be] complete hell because Im not taking care of it as we leave, Jeff said. The bamboo is about taking this place over. She has no idea the amount of work it is to keep this park up. Thats how much we just dont care about this place. I dont have any concerns that Caroles coming in here. Were going to giftwrap it for her before we leave. Lauren took a shot at Baskin not paying her workers. Maybe shell find free volunteers, she said. Joe Exotics zoo will be better for Carole Baskins tigers The whole case revolved around trademark infringement on Baskins Big Cat Rescue logo. Lowe said she is inheriting a better facility for her rescue operation. Unfortunately, he does not expect her to use it for the good of her tigers. Carole Baskin | Netflix RELATED: Tiger King: Why the Carole Baskin Ruling Is Devastating For the Animals at Joe Exotics Zoo May 29, 2020: Message to the campus community on the shocking events in Minnesota Dear Spartans: We are living during a time of profound hurt, anger, frustration and, for many, a time of deep disappointment and despair regarding the recent high-profile violent events targeting Black Americans the most recent being the inescapable images of George Floyd, dying while a police officer knelt on his neck. The shocking events in Minnesota, as well as too many other similar killings in communities including Ahmaud Arbery, killed while jogging, and Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police raiding her home, bring much pain, anger and trauma to many members of our community, and we cannot let them go unnoticed or unacknowledged. They are incomprehensible. Unjust. Inhumane. First and foremost, as leaders of this university, it is important that we speak out against these atrocities. To our Black students, faculty and staff, know that we both stand with you. The university stands with you. It is important, as Spartans, that we collectively understand and acknowledge the impact of racism and that the Black community is under attack in many ways right now. In addition to the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many others who are targeted because of their skin color, we have a global health pandemic that is powerfully and incontrovertibly revealing the inequities in our society. All of this is taking a heavy emotional toll on many of our friends, families and fellow Spartans. These events remind us that we have a responsibility to engage in the work necessary to understand we live in a diverse world and a diverse campus community, and by virtue of this we also have a responsibility to each other to respond to these injustices acknowledge them, empathize with one another and accept each other. We are committed to building an inclusive environment here at MSU, one that recognizes and respects people of all backgrounds and experiences. However, this commitment must be manifested in ways that extend well beyond words. We hope you will do what you can as students, faculty and staff at MSU to fight racism, disrupt injustice and actively support each other. The next several months will test our resolve, our community and our nation. Sincerely, Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. Teresa A. Sullivan President Interim Provost LANSDALE Dozens of families remained displaced on Thursday from the Crossing at Stanbridge apartment building on Jenkins Avenue that was damaged by heavy storms on Wednesday afternoon. Borough officials said Thursday a total of 265 occupants live in about 150 apartment units within the damaged building, with none hurt but all still displaced as of Thursday afternoon. Those residents who were home when the incident occurred were evacuated from the building and many are staying with friends and family or in local hotels, said a statement from borough Fire Marshal Rick Lesniak. Those without transportation or alternative housing were transported by North Penn School District buses to Penndale Middle School, where the American Red Cross and property management worked together to assist approximately 30 families, he said. No injuries were reported among residents or emergency personnel, and in addition to the roof damage, about a dozen apartments suffered water damage from exposure to the heavy rains, Lesniak said Thursday. The building will remain evacuated until the property owner can confirm that all building safety and mechanical systems are properly operating, he said. On Wednesday night the American Red Crosss Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter provided temporary housing for 13 units totaling 36 residents displaced by the storm, according to Regional Communications Director Dave Skutnik, with more possible Thursday as the roof repairs continue. The Red Cross also responded to incidents in Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties caused by Wednesdays storms, giving recovery assistance to a handful of people, with several more in Philadelphia. Safety tips for power outages from the Red Cross include using flashlights instead of candles in the dark, keeping generators outdoors in a well-ventilated area, turning off and unplugging all unnecessary electrical equipment including sensitive electronics, and keeping your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. The Red Cross also encourages those who suffer from power outages to throw away any food, particularly meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers, that is exposed to temperatures above 40 degrees for two hours or more. A full freezer will keep low temperatures for about 48 hours without power, while a half-full will keep cold for about 24 hours if the door remains cold, and if food is colder than 40 degrees and still has ice crystals on it, it can be safely refrozen. Lesniak added that residents are encouraged to prepare themselves for more severe weather by securing loose objects on their property to prevent damage during strong winds, using surge protectors on home appliances, fully charging all electronics when possible, and testing smoke detectors regularly and replacing them every ten years. Staff Writer Bob Keeler contributed information to this report. Oh, I didn't know cops only killed black ppl who didn't know their rights and didn't have insurance! Well why didn't she just tell us all this BEFORE?? Reply Thread Link People who victim blame really thing that if they "act right" they'll be protected and it won't happen to them when the entire point is that you're NEVER sheltered from an abusive system that will always protect the perpetrators at the victims' expense. There is no right clothing, right attitude, correct magical formula to unlock the "safe and sound" option without fail. Countless """"respectable""" people have been killed by the police, and even if they weren't that by society's standards, I wasn't aware that not having your registration and license was a death sentence that justified a police officer killing you. Thanks for the wisdom girl. Reply Parent Thread Link "The MTV Sucker Free Summit Awards nominee" aaaaaaah I cackled Reply Thread Link Damn, she's the Diamond AND Silk Princess. Reply Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link underrated comment Reply Parent Thread Link ugh. also What's Kid Fury going to say about this lol Reply Thread Link First thing I thought lmaaaaooo Reply Parent Thread Link Im obviously very disappointed and disgusted with Trinas remarks. It hurts, but I dont love a single celebrity more than Black life and the preservation of it. Im removing my stan card and getting back to focusing on what matters. Small Freedia (@KidFury) June 3, 2020 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link damn good for him though. Reply Parent Thread Link i thought of him immediately and felt so bad :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Poor KidFury. Reply Parent Thread Link Period! I feel for him though. Reply Parent Thread Link he was the first person i thought of when i saw the post, i feel for him but im glad he came to this conclusion Reply Parent Thread Link It's in the post sis. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Funnily enough when I logged onto Twitter and saw Trina trending it was his statement I saw on my timeline LOL Reply Parent Thread Link Coon Chip Activated. I'M CRYING. Reply Thread Link This Bossip ass headline lmao. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao RIGHT?! Reply Parent Thread Link she's not afraid of cops because she knows her rights and has a license, registration and insurance - do the cops know about this as well, because that might help. Reply Thread Link one thing that has pissed me off about this is all the rich success black peoples who majority of fan/income comes from the black community showing their ass. It seem that once they becoming successful, they throwing their own people under the bus. Then dont even wanna help the ones below them because they see them as competition. This include diddy, oprah etc. Fuck them Reply Thread Link Rich Black people stay putting their class status first so they can keep those checks coming in. Its really sad. Reply Parent Thread Link the number of black rappers , who literally make their coinz off of talking about street life, being so blinded by their wealth that they buy into white supremacist talking points and have been showing their whole asses this last week... unbelievable Reply Thread Link omg fuck her. not a stan but loved some of her hits. not anymore. Reply Thread Link 1.4 million streams on Spotify and 1.399 of them came from black people. But disparage not only your fanbase but youre community. I hope she loses her job over this. Reply Thread Link Because it ain't like the cops ain't never shot people with all their papers in order. Cops absolutely put away their weapon the minute you go "But wait, I've got an insurance card!!" She don't cracked the code. Reply Thread Link I know Trick is about to start referring to her as 'Co-star'. Damnit, had a typo and can't edit because i done responded to myself. Edited at 2020-06-04 05:22 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I'm not sure how I feel about the increased use of "coon" on this site. First of all, it is like you all just discovered it and are going over use it as with everything else. Secondly, we won't know who is black, masquerading as black or not black at all, but using it because. Edited at 2020-06-04 05:18 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link I agree. I dont like this term being used on a site with mostly white users Reply Parent Thread Link pic.twitter.com/bVUftcf5dM Out Of Context Dr Umar Johnson (@NoContextDrUJ) April 20, 2020 Edited at 2020-06-04 06:00 pm (UTC) That's fair. I used it because "coon chip activated" is a meme on Black twitter rn thanks to Dr. Umar. Reply Parent Thread Link lol - I figured you were black since you are posting about Trina. But, also couldn't help but notice the uptick in use of the word round these very white parts. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Oh man. Dr. Umar is unintentionally hilarious, but Im worried that people are laughing him into legitimacy. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link IAWTC so hard. People are getting a little too comfortable with how they talk about Black people online and IRL, and some conversations should be strictly FUBU Reply Parent Thread Link I've been guilty of using it, and you're right we should be more mindful of these white users on here who would not think twice about going & using it other places. It's not always easy to remember in the moment when I see something so ignorant that I'm just enraged by it and lashing out. It's not a word I use in "mixed company" in real life and so I shouldn't do it on here. Reply Parent Thread Link Imma try to limit my use of it too. Because you know when pressed about it the whites and non blacks on here will say they saw us using it and thought it was okay. Reply Parent Thread Link can we just make a black ontd at this point *remake it black i should say... Edited at 2020-06-07 02:55 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link How is your licence gonna protect you when the cops have been caught destroying inanimate objects and property? Reply Thread Link smh I made this post at like 8 last night. Now I have to go search to see what she said today and update the post. Reply Thread Link MINNEAPOLIS All protest movements have slogans. George Floyds has a number: 8:46 Eight minutes, 46 seconds is the length of time prosecutors say Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was pinned to the ground under a white Minneapolis police officers knee before he died last week. In the days since, outraged protesters, politicians and mourners have seized on the detail as a quiet way to honor Floyd at a time of angry and sometimes violent clashes with police. Even as prosecutors have said little about how they arrived at the precise number, it has fast grown into a potent symbol of the suffering Floyd and many other black men have experienced at the hands of police. In Boston and Tacoma, Washington, demonstrators this week lay down on streets staging die-ins for precisely 8 minutes, 46 seconds. Companies, including ViacomCBS and Google, used the time span in their shows of solidarity. In Washington, Democratic senators on Thursday gathered in the U.S. Capitols Emancipation Hall, some standing, some kneeling on the marbled floor for the nearly nine minutes of silence. Mourners at a memorial service for Floyd in Minneapolis on Thursday stood in silence for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, asked by the Rev. Al Sharpton to think about what George was going through, laying there for those eight minutes, begging for his life. We cant let this go, he said. We cant keep living like this. Pausing for a full 8 minutes, 46 seconds helps turn the abstract into a reality, said Monica Cannon-Grant, the founder of Violence in Boston Inc., which organized a Tuesday protest that included the minutes of silence. You find that thats an extremely long time to have someone have their knee in the side of your neck, Cannon-Grant said. As she observed the silence, she said found herself thinking about the safety of her family. All kinds of things were going through my head, she said. Mainly that I was the mom of four black sons and Im married to a black man. Some of the power in the number comes from its striking specificity. In a criminal complaint charging Officer Derek Chauvin in Floyds murder, prosecutors say they know precisely how long Floyd was pinned to the ground. The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyds neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive, the complaint concludes. Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous. But the timestamps cited in the documents description of the incident, much of which is caught on video, indicate a different tally. Using those, Chauvin had his knee on Floyd for 7 minutes, 46 seconds, including 1 minute, 53 seconds after Floyd appeared to stop breathing. Prosecutors involved in the case have not responded to questions about the discrepancy. On Thursday, John Stiles, a spokesman for the attorney generals office which is leading the prosecution in the case said the office has reviewed additional video footage since the original complaint was filed. There is more evidence to review and the attorney generals office is continuing to review it, he said. Prosecutors repeated their timeline and the 8 minutes, 46 seconds detail in charges filed Wednesday against other officers involved. In this case, one minute is unlikely to have a major legal significance. Seven minutes is a long time to have a knee on someones neck regardless, said Jared Fishman, a former federal civil rights prosecutor. That said, Fishman said its a detail defense lawyers will scrutinize in court. For those who hold up the number as part of a peaceful call for change, the precise length of time is beside the point: It should never have happened to begin with, Cannon-Grant said. It would not be the first time that a detail takes on a life of its own. After the 2014 death of Michael Brown, word spread in the community that the black 18-year-old had his hands up in surrender when he was shot by a white police officer. The chant Hands up. Dont shoot! quickly became a rallying cry for protesters both in the St. Louis suburb and across the country. But it never was clear whether Brown actually raised his hands. There were no videos or photos of the shooting. Some witnesses swore to a grand jury that his hands were raised while others swore they were not. Officer Darren Wilson testified to grand jurors that Brown was charging at him, with one hand clenched at his side and the other under his shirt, when Wilson fired the fatal shots. Several protesters said it didnt matter if Browns hands literally were raised, because his death remained symbolic of wider racial injustices at the hands of police. ___ Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed from Washington. LeBlanc reported from Boston. At least 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Springfield Wednesday afternoon and marched on police headquarters, joining waves of similar Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Springfield police, state police, members of the Hampden County Sheriffs Department and the National Guard met the large presence in full force. Hundreds of officers, guardsmen and troopers with dogs were positioned at the Pearl Street headquarters and throughout the nearby downtown. Protests in other major cities including Minneapolis, Los Angeles and closer to home in Boston and Worcester have ended in rioting, violence and looting. Two rows of temporary fences were placed in front of the Pearl Street station and officers not wearing tactical gear were standing outside the building as demonstrators chanted no justice, no peace and keep it peaceful. Eventually, some Black Lives Matter protesters moved portions of the outer barrier and demonstrated closer to the station, prompting officers in riot gear to go onto Pearl Street. After a few minutes, those officers returned to inside the building. By 7 p.m., much of the crowd had dispersed, though hundreds of protesters remained on Pearl Street. The Springfield march kicked off at Central High School on Roosevelt Avenue at 4 p.m. A motorcade of police in cars, motorcycles and on foot assembled just after 3:30 p.m., with some troopers posted up on the roof, seemingly as sentries. The co-organizers of the march were two Central High School graduates Valery Franco, now a freshman at Boston University, and Rachel Boudreau, a recent graduate. Franco said the march the citys first came together in about three days and primarily through social media. Franco said the core organizers planned to distance themselves from any disruptive or violent factions. We were in touch with the police, who cautioned us that this is a lot of responsibility and could be dangerous," said Franco, 19. But we are here not to destroy Springfield, but to destroy institutional racism. Hundreds of people mustered in the high schools parking lot carrying signs with messages including I cant breathe, the tragic tagline of George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25. Four officers involved in Floyds arrest on a misdemeanor charge were fired after video surfaced of one kneeling on Floyds neck until he died. Floyd, 47, could be heard repeatedly protesting that he couldnt breathe and calling out for his mother. The former cop who knelt on his neck, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The other ex-officers were charged Wednesday in connection with his death. Wednesdays march was the third large-scale showing of demonstrators in Springfield this week. On Tuesday, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood decried Floyds death at a prayer vigil outside City Hall. Those officers belong in jail. And those are hard words for me to say after 41 years in law enforcement, she told a crowd of more than 300. Boudreau said she hopes others of their generation continue to continue activism beyond hashtags and fundraisers. Were the future of this country and we need to start to raise our voices now, Boudreau said. Terrence Floyd pleads for riots to stop: My family is a peaceful family, my family is God-fearing Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Hours after Terrence Floyd urged protesters in Minneapolis to channel their anger over police brutality and the killing of his older brother, George Floyd, into activism in the form of peaceful demonstrations and voting, violence escalated in cities throughout the country. Floyd implored those gathered at the memorial site where his older brother was killed a week earlier to stop vandalizing and tearing down the community. I know he would not want yall to be doing this, Floyd said, recounting that his brother had moved to the Twin Cities from Houston and loved the city. I Understand yall upset, but I doubt yall half as upset as I am, Floyd said. So if Im not over here wilding out, if Im not over here blowing up stuff, if Im not over here messing up my community, then what are yall doing? What are yall doing? Yall doing nothing! Because thats not going to bring my brother back, at all. It may feel good for the moment, just like when you drink. But when it comes down, youre going to wonder what you did. My family is a peaceful family. My family is God-fearing. Were upset, but were not going to take it. In every case of police brutality, the same thing has been happening: yall protest, yall destroy stuff. And if they dont move, you know why they dont move? Because its not their stuff, its our stuff. So they want us to destroy our stuff. Were not going to move! So lets do this another way. Lets stop thinking that our place doesnt matter, and vote. Not just vote for the president vote for everybody. Educate yourself. Dont wait for somebody else to tell you whos who. Educate yourself and who youre voting for. And thats how were going to hit them. And were still going to do this peacefully. Those gathered around Floyd were move by his words and raised their voices with him as he led them in chanting for peace and justice. Nationwide, however, lawlessness and mayhem ensued Monday night. In St. Louis, Missouri, four police officers were shot last night after protests turned violent near the Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Fox News affiliate KTVI reported Tuesday, adding that the injuries were not life-threatening. Two of the officers were shot in the leg, one in the foot, and one in the arm. All were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. An officer in Las Vegas, Nevada, was shot on the Strip Monday night after attempting to make arrests as people threw rocks and bottles at him before he was gunned down. Hes now in grave condition and on life support, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said, according to Fox News affiliate KVVU. The suspect was apprehended and taken into custody. In Buffalo, New York, the driver of an SUV sped up his vehicle and plowed through a group of law enforcement officers and their dogs Monday night, injuring two officers. A man caught the incident on video from the balcony of his apartment, Syracuse.com reports. Earlier on Monday, Floyd spoke to ABCs Good Morning America about his plans to visit the location where brother took his last breath and died. Floyd said he wanted to connect with his spirit and connect with him again, even though he was still in a state of shock and felt numb. The younger Floyd said the looting, riots and ensuing violence are overshadowing his brothers life and the circumstances surrounding his death. He was about peace, he was about unity. But the things that are transpiring now, they may call it unity but its destructive unity. Its not what he was about. Thats not what my brother was about," he said. "If youre angry, its OK to be angry. But channel your anger to do something positive or make a change another way. Weve been down this road already. Hed want us to seek justice. Damaging your hometown is not what hed want. Floyd's minister, the Rev. Kevin McCall of Brooklyn, New York, said during the interview that the country needs peace and unity, and Americans need to get on their knees and pray to God to "heal our pride." We need the peace of God that passes all understanding. The Bible says, be angry but sin not. Its good to protest, and we want to continue to protest while we continue to call for justice. But we need peace, we dont need looters, McCall said. Nobody is more angry than the family, so you should respect the familys wishes. Its not about you looting and its not about violence. Its about the family and the justice that they want to see happen. George Floyd, who had moved to Minnesota to start a new life following a felony conviction for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in Texas, died in Minneapolis on Memorial Day while in police custody. He was arrested for allegedly buying cigarettes using a counterfeit $20 bill at Cup Foods convenience store where the clerk reported the incident to 911 and described Floyd as intoxicated. Video footage from the incident was caught on cellphone cameras and police body cameras. After Floyd was handcuffed he refused to get into the squad car, "stiffened up, fell to the ground, and told the officers he was claustrophobic." One video showed former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck as other officers held onto his back and feet while he was handcuffed. Officer Thomas Lane asked whether they should roll Floyd on his side after he said he was struggling to breathe. The final time the officer asked that question Floyd was already unresponsive. Further details of Floyd's arrest and the events that transpired are listed chronologically in the criminal complaint against Chauvin. Last Friday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman charged Chauvin with third-degree murder and manslaughter. He and three other officers who responded to the call Lane, J.A. Kueng, and Tou Thoa were fired from the police department following Floyd's death. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office on Monday ruled George Floyd's manner of death was a homicide and stated that he suffered "a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)." The medical examiner's office listed "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease," "fentanyl intoxication" and "recent methamphetamine use" as "other significant conditions." Toronto police say they need help finding a woman who poses a public health safety risk. Edyta Sclachta was last seen on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the citys west end in the Brookfield Street and Queen Street West area. Investigators say the 34-year-old is five-foot-five tall, 130 pounds, with dark shoulder-length brown hair. She was last seen wearing a blue open-back hospital gown, black sports bra, blue hospital pants, and blue booties. Police say theyre concerned for her safety. Theyre asking the public to call 911 if shes found and say she shouldnt be approached. June 7, 2020 Editors note: Police reported that Edyta Sclachta was located on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The Shanghai, China-based solar panel maker JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (JKS) said Thursday that U.S. International Trade Commission issued a favorable final determination after it found that JinkoSolar's product does not infringe on Hanwha Q CELLS' patent. Earlier in March 2019, Hanwha had initiated an investigation with the U.S. International Trade Commission against JinkoSolar, LONGi Solar, and REC Group, asserting that the companies infringe U.S. Patent. On June 3, 2020, the Commission issued its final determination in JinkoSolar's favor, based on analysis of detailed and expert testimony. The final determination was issued after the affirmation of Administrative Law Judge or ALJ in April. 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. Steinbach city council has approved a drive-thru lane for a new tenant coming to the Clearspring Centre campus, but those involved are keeping tight-lipped about the name of the establishment. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Steinbach city council has approved a drive-thru lane for a new tenant coming to the Clearspring Centre campus, but those involved are keeping tight-lipped about the name of the establishment. Applicant Elliot Katz of Shelter Canadian Properties Ltd. is seeking to situate a new commercial retail unit at 178 Highway 12 North, between McDonalds and Boston Pizza. Len Neufeld of Three Way Builders represented Katz at a public hearing held Tuesday at city hall. Standing before council, Neufeld declined to disclose the name of the business. Reached Wednesday by phone, Katz said, "It relates to a proposed new tenant whose name I cant divulge." He allowed construction will begin "later this summer." 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. "We were never given the name. I dont know what business this is," Mayor Earl Funk told The Carillon. A preliminary site plan presented to council shows a drive-thru lane wrapping around the west, south, and east sides of a new 3,200-sq-ft. building, designated as a franchise. The building will have space for 72 seats plus a small outdoor patio. Seeing no objections, council unanimously approved a variance to allow the drive-thru lane within the front yard setback of the commercial-zoned property. The drive-thru cant be located elsewhere on the site, Katz explained in his variance application. Council approved a similar variance for the nearby Starbucks last year, city administrators noted in a report. India insisted on 'complete disengagement' in all its talks with China on eastern Ladakh row: Govt India to make opening statement during crucial talks with China on June 6 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: Ahead of the Lt General level talks amidst the standoff with China, India would propose for the restoration of status quo ante in the contested areas. Lt General Harinder Singh would lead the Indian delegation for the talks to be held on June 6. Lt General Singh would make the opening statement at the talks that would be held at the Chinese Border Personnel Meeting hut in Chushul Moldo. The primary objective would be to restore status quo ante in the disputed areas, both at Pangong Tso and in the Hot Spring sector. A source familiar with the developments tells OneIndia that both sides should go back to their deployment prior to the arising of this situation. India to bring specific proposals to military talks with China on June 6: Report India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News The talks would be progressive in nature and the idea would be to build mutual trust and also reduce tensions between the two sides. A proposal for the withdrawal of artillery guns and talks from the rear areas by both sides would also be put forth. Lt General Singh will be accompanied by the chief of the 3rd Infantry Division, a brigade commander, the commanding officers of a local battalion and a translator. Although it remains unclear as of now, the source cited above said that the talks could also figure the north bank of Pangong Tso and the area to its north till the Galwan Valley, where tensions have been high. In the wake of the federal governments recent guns ban, outrage has come from Canadian gun owners, including a Virden man taking it into his own hands to strike it down. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us John Hipwell, pictured here with a non-restricted firearm, has launched a judicial challenge of the federal government's recent gun ban. (Submitted) In the wake of the federal governments recent guns ban, outrage has come from Canadian gun owners, including a Virden man taking it into his own hands to strike it down. John Hipwell, the mostly retired founder of Westman firearms and accessories retailer Wolverine Supplies, has launched one of several legal challenges to the gun ban making their way through Canadian courts. The challenge has been filed against the attorney general, the RCMP and the Registrar of Firearms in the Federal Court of Canada in Toronto. To help pay for the legal costs, Hipwell launched a GoFundMe campaign on May 25 that has already raised $38,335 from more than 500 donors as of Wednesday afternoon. Wolverine Supplies, which is now run by Hipwells son, Matthew, is participating in another judicial challenge of the ban put forth by the Canadian Council for Firearm Rights as a witness. There are also campaigns being run by Calgary-based firearms store The Shooting Edge, Canadas National Firearm Association and Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply. The federal governments ban targets hundreds of firearms and their derivatives described in the order-in-council prohibiting their ownership, use and sale as "assault-style." A ban on weapons with muzzle energy of more than 10,000 joules and bore diameters of greater than 20 millimetres are also included. "Canada has experienced mass shootings in rural and urban areas such as in Nova Scotia, city of Quebec, Montreal and Toronto," the order-in-council reads. "Whether at home or abroad, the deadliest mass shootings are commonly perpetrated with assault-style firearms. Given these events, the growing concern for public safety, the increasing public demand for measures to address gun violence and mass shootings and, in particular, the concern resulting from the inherent deadliness of assault-style firearms that are not suitable for civilian use, these firearms must be prohibited in Canada." Hipwell told the Sun on Tuesday that he believes the order is too vague, too expansive and theres nothing in the order thats worth salvaging. "Theres nothing to improve border security, to stop the smuggling of firearms," he said. "Nothing to strengthen the police forces. Theres nothing to address mental-health issues. All this does is go after legal gun owners." He also believes a gun ban should be done through an act of Parliament, not through an order-in-council. "This order-in-council was done in secrecy," Hipwell said. "It was written up, signed behind closed doors, announced midday on a Friday, effective midnight the day before." Another element of the gun ban Hipwell disagrees with is the exemption for Indigenous people, which he characterizes as "discrimination." "If this gun is not suitable for hunting, why are they using it in the first place?" he said. Earlier this week, Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire told the Sun he believes the ban should have been run through Parliament instead of an order-in-council. "This has been in the middle of a pandemic, after the most violent slaying of persons in Canadian history, the government walks in with an order-in-council, which means there was no debate at all in the House of Commons on this issue," Maguire said. "And really, no reason (was) given other than the guns look harmful opposed to the function of the firearm." Maguire said he is in favour of the judicial challenges against the ban going forward and hopes the matter will come up for debate in the House. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats, powered by the Congressional Black Caucus, are preparing a sweeping package of police reforms as pressure builds on the federal government to respond to the death of George Floyd and others in law enforcement interactions. With the urgency of mass protests outside their doors, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working furiously to draft what could become one of the most ambitious efforts in years to oversee the way law enforcement works. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, both former presidential candidates, are expected to announce a package in coming days, with a House bill coming soon and a House Judiciary Committee hearing next week. Both the House and Senate efforts are expected to include changes to police accountability laws, such as revising immunity provisions and creating a database of police use-of-force incidents. Revamped training requirements are planned, too, among them a ban on the use of choke holds. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has endorsed such a ban. We have a moral moment in our country, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the CBC, said on a conference call Wednesday. The political stakes of any police reform effort are high, amplified in an election year by President Donald Trumps law and order stance, including his threats to call in the U.S. military to clamp down on protesters. With mass unrest now entering a second week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to shift the national tone Wednesday by walking and talking with protesters outside the Capitol. The House is expected to vote by months end. With Democrats in the majority, the bills will almost certainly pass the House. But the outcome in the Senate is less certain. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the chamber would take a look at the issues, but he has not endorsed any particular legislation. On Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer pointedly called on McConnell to commit to considering the bills this summer. Will our Republican colleagues ever join us in this effort? Schumer asked from the Senate floor, after Democrats held a 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence for Floyd and others at the Capitols Emancipation Hall. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, tweeted earlier that his panel will conduct a hearing to shine a bright light on the problems associated with Mr. Floyds death, with the goal of finding a better way forward for our nation. But much like efforts to stem gun violence after mass shootings, the political momentum for changes to policing procedures could ebb as the protests and images of those who have died fade from public view. For example, a long-sought federal anti-lynching bill has languished in Congress. Words of kindness and grace are essential to America, but theyre not enough right now, Booker said during a Senate floor speech this week. Its on us in this body to do something to change the law. Lawmakers are looking at proposing other measures. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is considering an upcoming defence bill provision that would ban the transfer of military equipment, including armour and tanks, to police and sheriffs departments. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., is proposing a national commission on the status of young black men and boys, and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., has legislation to establish a national truth and reconciliation commission on black Americans. Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., will convene next weeks hearing to review options. This is just one thing we can do, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is introducing a bill in the Senate similar to one in the House that seeks to make choke-hold suffocation a federal crime. This is a moment that demands leadership, it demands a reckoning. Its not clear whether law enforcement will back the changes. Many of the efforts will likely be supported by other minority lawmakers. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus, convened the call Wednesday with the leaders of the Black, Hispanic and Native American caucuses. We stand together, she said. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., is among several members of the black caucus who will be attending memorial or funeral services for Floyd on Thursday in Minnesota and Texas. She acknowledged the opposition the bills will likely face, but called on fellow lawmakers to consider the option of doing nothing. Its very hard to watch that video and go back in your corner, Lawrence said. 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Flickr Premier John Horgan speaks Wednesday. UPDATE 6:10 p.m. In an update Wednesday afternoon, the BC Centre for Disease Control says there are now zero active COVID-19 cases being tracked in the Interior Health region. ORIGINAL 2:55 p.m. There remains just one active case of COVID-19 in the entire Interior Health region, but don't expect any regional differences when it comes to lifting provincial measures to help contain the spread of the virus. On Wednesday, Premier John Horgan said the province has no plans to expedite the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions in areas where the virus is less prevalent. The virus is everywhere in British Columbia, there is not one part of the province that is less susceptible to outbreak if we don't follow the directions that have been laid out by public health officials, he said. Currently, there remains 214 active cases of the virus across B.C., the large majority of which are in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health regions. The B.C. government continues to not encourage travel within the province, but Horgan said that could change in the coming weeks. We're going to do everything we can with an aggressive promotion campaign in the days ahead to encourage people to visit every part of B.C. if they have the time to do so, he said. We have had success in B.C. because people have done this together. While I absolutely understand that people are going to want to go and move around and while I understand that tourism operators want to see that happen, it wasn't that long ago that leaders in tourism-dependant communities were saying stay home. So we can't lose sight of the road we've travelled. We can't just flick a switch and get back to normal. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said she expects a move to Phase 3 of loosening restrictions in B.C. by mid-June, and Horgan reiterated this Wednesday. I would expect in the middle of June, we're going to be looking at further easing of restrictions and starting into Phase 3 of the restart, he said. But I don't want to give people false hope, anything can happen, this is a dynamic virus that has affected different parts of the world differently. But when it comes international visitors supporting B.C.'s tourism industry, Horgan says that could be a long ways off. International travel is going to be a challenge and we need to get our heads around that, industry is going to need to get their heads around that, he said. Having different rules in the north or on the Island or in the Kootenays is not going to change the fact that ... international travel restrictions are going to keep people away from British Columbia. RESTON, Va., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SOC Telemed (SOC), the leader in acute care telemedicine and Beauregard Health System, a rural acute hospital in DeRidder, Louisiana today announced a partnership to deliver scalable, flexible telemedicine services across five key specialties including the first SOC deployment of teleCardiology services. By partnering with SOC, Beauregard gains access to specialists and care that might otherwise be unavailable to the rural Louisiana community. Beauregard implemented SOC's Telemed IQ telemedicine platform to provide psychiatry, critical care, inpatient neurology, emergency neurology and most recently, cardiology via telemedicine. The teleNeurology program is staffed by SOC neurologists while their telePsychiatry, teleICU, and teleCardiology programs are staffed by existing members of Beauregard's Medical Staff who live and operate locally or in regional city centers like Alexandria and Lake Charles. The 49-bed not-for-profit hospital system at Beauregard is the first to utilize SOC Telemed's platform for teleCardiology services. After the departure of the community's sole full-time cardiologist in April 2019, Beauregard was forced to transfer an average of 30 monthly cardiology cases to other hospital systems. "Our community was vulnerable without a full-time local cardiologist," said Traci Thibodeaux, chief operating officer for Beauregard Health System. "We wanted to partner with a cardiology group in Lake Charles, but knew they couldn't meet our needs for an onsite full-time physician. Luckily, we'd already deployed SOC's platform in other hospital departments. By pairing the Telemed IQ platform with a regional cardiology group out of Lake Charles, we were able to close the care gap and improve access to cardiac care for our community." Dr. Raman Saharan, an internist and hospitalist at Beauregard, noted an additional benefit of acute telemedicine in their ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic, "Unlike some rural hospitals which had to close their doors due to this pandemic, we not only kept our hospital running but also were able to provide a higher level of care including transfusion of Convalescent plasma." With SOC Telemed in place, the hospital already reports a higher case mix index, fewer transfers and broad patient satisfaction thanks to improved access to cardiologists as well as the specialists in the other four telemedicine-enabled departments. "Across the nation, rural hospitals struggle to staff specialists in key areas like neurology and stroke care, psychiatry and even cardiology. However Beauregard, although rural, is ahead of many other hospitals by not allowing clinical care to be constrained due to its location or the artificial walls of the hospital that existed before telemedicine," said Jason Hallock, MD, chief medical officer for SOC Telemed. "Whether the doctors who ultimately provide the care are based in Lake Charles, New Orleans or anywhere else in the country, the SOC Telemed platform stands ready to deliver flexible solutions that connect communities in need with specialized medicine, on demand." About SOC Telemed SOC Telemed (SOC) is the largest national provider of telemedicine technology and solutions to hospitals, health systems, post-acute providers, physician networks, and value-based care organizations. Built on proven and scalable infrastructure as an enterprise-wide solution, SOC's technology platform, Telemed IQ, rapidly deploys and seamlessly optimizes telemedicine programs across the continuum of care. SOC virtually delivers clinicians to patients through teleNeurology, telePsychiatry and teleICU, as well as enables healthcare organizations to build sustainable telemedicine programs in any clinical specialty. SOC helps organizations to enrich their care models and touch more lives by supplying healthcare teams with industry-leading solutions that drive improved clinical care, patient outcomes, and organizational health. Media Contact: Lauren Shankman Trevelino/Keller (404) 214-0722 ext. 121 [email protected] SOURCE SOC Telemed Related Links http://www.soctelemed.com Four of the five men arrested by Gardai attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) and Gardai seconded to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) during searches carried out in North and West Dublin on Wednesday, remain in Garda custody. All four continue to be detained for questioning at Ballymun, Clontarf, Store Street and Irishtown Garda Stations. A fifth man arrested in the operation has been charged with Obstruction contrary to Sec 10(4) of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1997 and released to appear before a sitting of Swords District Court next month. In excess of 65k in 14 different bank accounts associated with this group has now been frozen under money laundering legislation. Cash up to 31k has been seized along with alcohol estimated to be valued at 2,784. Investigations are ongoing and further updates will follow. Gardai carried out a number of searches Dublin and identified a number of bogus companies established by a criminal organisation and a large number of bank accounts set up in both false names and money mules. Gardai continue to advise people to always protect their data, passwords, user names and pins when doing any financial transactions. A Garda spokesperson said:"Never reply to unsolicited emails, do not click onto links or attachments, keep anti-virus software up to date and always keep in mind, that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is." For a better experience on our website and avoid any trouble, we strongly recommand to activate Javascript ( click here ). Hello and welcome to Journal des Palaces You are a communication or the PR manager? Click here You are an applicant? Check out our questions and answers here ! June 04 : Producer Shashwat Joshi, who earlier backed award-winning short film, The Wallet is all set with his next offering Kalabai From Byculla, helmed by Saumitra Singh. The film stars Sharib Hashmi, who plays the role of a struggling artist also features Shruti Bapna and Padmini Sardesai in the lead roles. Actors Nanda Yadav, Rajat Arora, Simran Kaur Suri, Girish Sharma and Ritik Ghanshani will be seen in the pivotal roles alongside. Shashwat said that he was fascinated by the story. When I heard the title for the first time, I was so fascinated and since I was looking for a good story to produce when I was in Lucknow, I decided to make it. This film is my first movie as an individual producer. Saumitra Singh, with whom I already worked in his short film The Wallet and co-produced it, contacted me for this project. I still remember that I immediately said yes to start this project as soon as possible. It was a pleasure working with him in this project as he is an amazing filmmaker, which reflects in his previous works also. Said the producer. The story is written by Himan Joshi. Then, Namneesh Sharma jotted down the script. Padmini Sardesai Sharib Hashmi and Shruti Bapna did justice to their characters. This film was executed by Hasan Khan (Executive Producer) and with the help of assistants and other departments, this film was shot in one day. It was a hassle-free project, as the environment Wits thanks SA Post Office for delivering laptops to students SA Post Office enables online learning through the delivery of almost 5 000 laptops to Wits students across the country. The Speed Services Courier Unit of the South African Post Office (SAPO) delivered almost 5 000 laptops to the homes of disadvantaged Wits students across South Africa including in rural areas, thereby allowing these students to continue with their studies online. The University suspended contact teaching due to the national COVID-19 lockdown and commenced with emergency remote teaching and learning on 20 April 2020. In its transition to online learning, Wits established a Mobile Computing Bank that granted qualifying students access to a mobile device for online learning purposes. A partnership with the SAPO ensured that students who needed mobile devices could continue learning during the lockdown. SAPO successfully delivered these devices to the homes of students. SAPO Acting CEO, Ivumile Nongogo hailed the sterling service of the SAPO staff who ensured the seamless delivery of mobile devices to Wits students. I want to commend our drivers and other employees for their dedication during this time when regular transport connections were not available. This is another example of the role that the Post Office plays in making South Africas infrastructure work and bringing services to the people, he said. Professor Adam Habib, Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal expressed his deep gratitude towards the SAPO. All devices were delivered promptly by SAPO employees to students at various locations across the country (including many rural areas), thus enabling the students to participate in the Universitys online academic programme. This project is an exemplar of how public institutions can work together efficiently to achieve a common good that benefits society, he said. We are appreciative of the SAPO and its efficient delivery of services that has positively impacted on the lives of thousands of students. This mutually beneficial relationship has benefitted students, Wits and the SAPO and we look forward to partnering on similar projects in the future. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 09:00 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbf6710 2 World US,US-China,Tiananmen-Square,HumanRights,HumanRightsAbuse Free The United States on Wednesday saluted the protesters of Tiananmen Square and pressed China for a full account of the dead from its 1989 crackdown, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting survivors. The United States issues a similar statement for each anniversary but the timing this year was awkward as President Donald Trump has threatened military force against nationwide protests over racial injustice. Pompeo released a photo of himself meeting four figures from Tiananmen Square including Wang Dan, perhaps the most prominent of the student leaders behind the massive demonstrations for democratic reforms. "We reiterate our call for a full, public accounting of those killed or missing," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. "We mourn the victims of June 4, 1989, and we stand with the people of China who continue to aspire to a government that protects human rights, fundamental freedoms and basic human dignity," she said. China's leadership has never provided a death toll from the crackdown, in which hundreds if not thousands are believed to have been killed, and has sought to suppress all public mention of the episode. The anniversary comes several days after US federal police fired smoke bombs and pepper balls, a projectile that releases a chemical irritant, to break up a peaceful protest outside the White House so Trump could walk through to take a picture outside a nearby church. The historic St. John's Episcopal Church had suffered fire damage as nationwide protests gave way to riots over the killing by Minneapolis police of an unarmed African-American man, George Floyd. While the non-lethal force in Washington's Lafayette Park was a far cry from Tiananmen Square, Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader has accused the United States of double standards in criticizing the city's own clampdown on protesters demanding preservation of autonomy. Pompeo earlier denounced China for preventing an annual Tiananmen commemoration in Hong Kong on the grounds that mass gatherings went against guidelines in fighting the coronavirus. Trump in 1990 said that China's leaders "almost blew it" in Tiananmen Square but ultimately showed "the power of strength," comments on which the real-estate tycoon faced criticism as he ran for president. The second series of the hit Netflix show dropped last month. And Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn spoke about her role on the LA-based real estate programme on Thursday's This Morning. The feisty television personality, 31, said that she 'embraces' being the show's villain and that working at The Oppenheim Group can be 'vicious and cut-throat'. Scroll down for video Selling Sunset! Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn spoke about her role on the LA-based real estate programme on Thursday's This Morning Christine also claimed that co-star and colleague Mary Fitzgerald 'amped up' the drama surrounding her millionaire tech husband Christian Richard. Mary suggested that Christine and Richard had started dating while he was still with his ex, something they both denied and caused explosive drama on the show. Talking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield via video from her home in Los Angeles, the feisty real estate agent was asked about her 'villain' status, she said: 'I don't think villain is a bad word, I've learned to embrace it. 'It's fun to portray and have a fun character but I have different sides to me.' Show villain: The feisty television personality, 31, said that she 'embraces' being the show's villain and that working at The Oppenheim Group can be 'vicious and cut-throat' Drama: Christine also claimed that co-star and colleague Mary Fitzgerald 'amped up' the drama surrounding her millionaire tech husband Christian Richard (pictured with her The Oppenheim Group colleagues) Talking about working in the LA real estate market and The Oppenheim Group, run by brothers Jason and Brett - they sell multimillion dollar properties to the rich and famous of California, she said: 'It is vicious and cut-throat, I'm not going to lie! 'In our brokerage, it's definitely amped up because we are women. I think we do a good job of balancing it, it's fun nonetheless. 'You have to do your best to work with your clients and set yourself apart. You really have to make your mark. Realtors are a dime a dozen and it's all about what you can do to set yourself apart and prove you can sell a home like that.' The second series kicked off with Christine returning to The Oppenheim Group after travelling around the world and she made an explosive comeback with a fiance. Gossip: Mary (pictured with husband Romain) suggested to her fellow colleagues that Christine and Richard had started dating while he was still with his ex, which led to an angry denial from Christine and explosive drama on the show 'Amped up': Talking about the allegation, Christine said: ' The funny thing is that was amped up a little bit, I'm not gonna lie. I actually met him through a girlfriend of mine and Mary spun this story that he was a client of mine.' Back and she's ENGAGED! The second series kicked off with Christine returning to The Oppenheim Group after travelling around the world and she made an explosive comeback with a fiance (Christine and her husband pictured at their lavish engagement party) Christine shocked her colleagues as she revealed that she was secretly engaged to millionaire businessman Christian Richard, after a whirlwind romance. This led to her stunned co-stars, especially former BFF Mary, who found out over text, speculating about their romance. Mary suggested to her fellow colleagues that Christine and Richard had started dating while he was still with his ex, which led to an angry denial from Christine and explosive drama on the show. Talking about the allegation, Christine said: 'The funny thing is that was amped up a little bit, I'm not gonna lie. Embracing it! Talking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield via video from her home in Los Angeles, the feisty real estate agent was asked about her 'villain' status, she said: 'I don't think villain is a bad word, I've learned to embrace it.' 'It's vicious!': Talking about working in the LA real estate market and The Oppenheim Group, run by brothers Jason and Brett - they sell multimillion dollar properties to the rich and famous of California, she said: 'It is vicious and cut-throat, I'm not going to lie!' Talented ladies: 'You have to do your best to work with your clients and set yourself apart. You really have to make your mark,' she said (pictured with her colleagues and co-stars) 'I actually met him through a girlfriend of mine and Mary spun this story that he was a client of mine. 'No, we were dating for three months and then we bought a house together but television is fun.' A big focus on the show was Christine and Richard's engagement party, with the 'low-key' event turning into an extravaganza with a zebra, firedancer and Cirque du Soleil performers. She said of the lavish bash: 'I wanted to do something small and intimate but then we had firedancers. We did something really over the top and people who watch the show seemed to love it and that made me really happy.' Wow: A big focus on the show was Christine and Richard's engagement party, with the 'low-key' event turning into an extravaganza with a zebra, she said: 'I wanted to do something small and intimate but then we had firedancers.' Amazing: Christine tied the knot with Richard in December 2019 at Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, downtown Los Angeles, and wore a black wedding dress. It will be featured on series three Dream home: Prior to their wedding, Richard, 41, who is said to have a net worth of $20 million and retired at 40 from the tech world, bought Christine her $5 million dream home for them to live in. It earned her a staggering $150,000 commission Christine tied the knot with Richard in December 2019 at Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, downtown Los Angeles, and wore a black wedding dress. It will be featured on series three. Chrishell Stause's shock split and divorce from husband Justin Hartley will also feature on the third season. Prior to their wedding, Richard, 41, who is said to have a net worth of $20 million and retired at 40 from the tech world, bought Christine her $5 million dream home for them to live in. It earned her a staggering $150,000 commission. Shocking: Chrishell Stause's shock split and divorce from husband Justin Hartley will also feature on the third season (pictured in June 2019) Christine recently joked that she wants to join the cast of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. The 31-year-old realtor dished to Page Six: 'This quarantine, I'm telling you really turned a h** into a housewife because I find myself going on Williams Sonoma.' She shared: 'I got a bread maker, I got a pasta maker. I'm really relating more and more to these ladies every day and I'm loving it.' HSBC and other British firms are facing a growing backlash for supporting Chinese national security laws in Hong Kong that critics have warned will erode the city's freedoms. Banking groups HSBC and Standard Chartered and trading houses Swire and Jardine Matheson have publicly declared their backing for the draconian legislation. But numerous MPs have now lashed out at the firms for seemingly siding with Beijing. In a barbed comment directed at HSBC, leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested the bank may be 'more closely aligned to the Chinese government than Her Majesty's Government'. Meanwhile, Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, asked why companies were 'choosing to back an authoritarian state's repression of liberties'. Question of allegiance: Banking group HSBC has publicly declared its backing for the draconian legislation in Hong Kong Founded in Hong Kong in 1865, HSBC has had a fractious relationship with the UK since moving its headquarters to London with the takeover of Midland Bank in 1993. Several times since then, it has been perceived to have dangled the threat of its relocation back to Hong Kong which would mean the UK missing out on the 2billion of taxes it pays each year in front of the Government in order to win concessions. Although HSBC has said all conversations about moving its headquarters out of London are off the table, its stance on Hong Kong could further sour relations with the UK. Boris Johnson this week condemned the Chinese legislation as 'dramatically eroding the autonomy' of Hong Kong. And in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Rees-Mogg said: 'The behaviour of [HSBC] is of course a matter for that corporation, but it may be that it is more closely aligned to the Chinese government than Her Majesty's Government.' MPs and campaigners have lined up to criticise British companies for siding with Beijing. Mr Tugendhat said: 'I wonder why HSBC and [Standard Chartered] are choosing to back an authoritarian state's repression of liberties and undermining of the rule of law?' Labour's shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy claimed HSBC had 'folded to obvious pressure from the Chinese administration and issued a direct challenge to the position taken by the UK government'. Labour peer and former minister Lord Adonis said: 'Utterly disgraceful action by HSBC, apparently supporting Xi Jinping's suppression of Hong Kong. 'I intend to take this up with the chairman and chief executive of HSBC in London. And with HSBC's major shareholders.' Tory MP Neil O'Brien said: 'If you bank with HSBC you are with a bank that is backing Beijing's repressive new security laws, designed to snuff out freedom in Hong Kong,' adding that: 'Other banks are available.' Matthew Henderson, Asia Studies director at foreign policy think tank, the Henry Jackson Society, said: 'It is disappointing that an international institution that throughout its existence has benefited from Hong Kong's freedoms and opportunities, now feels obliged to collaborate with forces that are bent on the destruction of those same freedoms. Firms' support for the Beijing-backed legislation puts them at odds with the UK Government, which has offered almost 3m Hong Kong citizens visas to the UK so they can escape the national security laws, seen by many as the most serious threat to the 'one country, two systems' agreement that has insulated Hong Kong from Beijing interference since Britain returned the territory to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. But both HSBC and Standard Chartered said they were supporting the law, which will drastically broaden China's power over the territory, in order to help retain economic stability in Hong Kong and ensure its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts said the banks did not want to lose access to Asia, where they make a large portion of revenue, by angering the region's superpower of Beijing. HSBC said: 'We respect and support laws and regulations that will enable [Hong Kong] to recover and rebuild the economy and, at the same time, maintain the principle of 'one country two systems'.' Standard Chartered believes 'the national security law can help maintain the long-term economic and social stability of Hong Kong. 'The 'one country, two systems' principle is core to the future success of Hong Kong and has always been the bedrock of the business community's confidence'. SEATTLE A black man who called out I cant breathe before dying in police custody in Tacoma, Washington, was killed as a result of oxygen deprivation and the physical restraint that was used on him, according to details of a medical examiners report released Wednesday. The Pierce County Medical Examiners Office concluded that the death of the man, Manuel Ellis, 33, was a homicide. Investigators with the Pierce County Sheriffs Department were in the process of preparing a report about the March death, which occurred shortly after an arrest by officers from the Tacoma Police Department, said the sheriffs spokesman, Ed Troyer. The information is all being put together, Troyer said. We expect to present it to the prosecutor at the end of this week or early next week. Ellis died from respiratory arrest, hypoxia and physical restraint, according to the medical examiners office. The report listed methamphetamine intoxication and heart disease as contributing factors. Police officers encountered Ellis on the night of March 3 as they were stopped at an intersection. They saw him banging on the window of another vehicle, Troyer said. Ellis approached the officers, Troyer said, and then threw an officer to the ground when the officer got out of the vehicle. The two officers and two backup officers who joined two of them white, one black and one Asian handcuffed him. Mr. Ellis was physically restrained as he continued to be combative, the Tacoma Police Department said in a statement Wednesday. Troyer said he did not know all the details of the restraint the officers used they were not wearing body cameras but said he did not believe they used a chokehold or a knee on Ellis neck. They rolled him on his side after he called out, I cant breathe. The main reason why he was restrained was so he wouldnt hurt himself or them, Troyer said. As soon as he said he couldnt breathe, they requested medical aid. Troyer said the call for aid came four minutes after the officers encountered Ellis. Ellis was still breathing when medical personnel arrived, Troyer said. He was removed from handcuffs while personnel worked on him for about 40 minutes, Troyer said. He was then pronounced dead. Family members said Ellis was the father of an 11-year-old son and a 18-month-old daughter. He was a talented musician at his church. The family said it was heartbroken and angry by his death. While we are in immense pain, we rest our hope in the community of committed freedom fighters that we are now joining, the family said. They held a vigil for Ellis on Wednesday night. The death comes as protests have spread around the nation over the case of George Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police last week. Minnesota officials have charged all four officers in that case, including Derek Chauvin, who kept his knee on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes during the arrest. Forensics experts who conducted a private autopsy for Floyds family concluded that another officers knees on Floyds back contributed to making it impossible for his lungs to take in sufficient air. Mayor Victoria Woodards of Tacoma said Wednesday that she would take appropriate steps based on the findings of the sheriffs investigation. We will learn the results of that investigation even as our country reels from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others, Woodards said. Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington said the issue was a top priority for him. We will be pushing to make sure there is a full and complete investigation of that incident, Inslee said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Representative Image The government has extended anti-dumping duty on certain variety of steel products till December 4 this year with a view to guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports coming from China, Malaysia and Korea. The duty on imports of 'hot rolled flat products of stainless steel 304 series' from the said countries was first imposed by the finance ministry on June 5, 2015, for five years. The duty was imposed in the range of $180-316 per tonne. "The anti-dumping duty imposed...shall remain in force up to and inclusive of 4th December, 2020, unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier," Department of Revenue said in a notification. The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended extension of the duty for six months from these countries, after concluding a probe. While DGTR recommends the duty to be levied, the finance ministry imposes it. Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime. Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products. India has initiated maximum anti-dumping cases against "below-cost" imports from China. Along with the invisible invader aka the coronavirus, several countries in South and Central Asia are also under a vicious attack by swarms of locusts. The locusts first spread across East Africa in 2018 and hordes of them also made their way to Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iraq before heading eastward into Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. And lately -- due to optimal weather conditions for massive breeding -- locusts in the north have brought their voracious appetites to parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan in what is being called the worst plague of the pests in two decades. As they devour vegetation along their journey, crops in the regions that the locusts have infested are suffering immeasurably. The damage done by the pests combined with reductions in food production and global trade due to the coronavirus pandemic have sparked concerns that there could be food shortages in some parts of the world this winter. These are desert locusts, described by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as "one of the most voracious insects, which...can eat all type of vegetation that it comes across." Also according to FAO, a swarm covering 1 square kilometer of land can contain about 40 million locusts, which eat the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people. Additionally, once they grow wings they can "fly up to 150 kilometers per day and may travel nearly 2,000 kilometers in their lifetime to find a favorable environment for breeding." They originated in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula after heavy rains caused by a series of cyclones in the Indian Ocean in 2018 and 2019 produced conditions for locusts to greatly multiply. Early spring rains in Iran hatched the local population that was quickly augmented by more desert locusts blown in from Africa and the Arabic countries. By February 2020, Iran was battling swarms of the ravenous insects. Officials said locusts had invaded seven southern provinces -- Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchistan, Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan, South Khorasan, and Kerman. Mohammad Reza Mir, a spokesman for the Iranian Agricultural Ministrys Plant Protection Organization, said at the start of May that the density of locusts in the swarms is so high that a 10-15 centimeter layer of dead locusts forms on the ground after spraying pesticides." Mir said on May 15 that locusts had devoured fields and orchards over some 200,000 hectares in the seven southern provinces and that Irans military had offered to help battle the pests. Pakistani National Emergency Pakistan had already declared a national emergency at the start of February as locusts stripped fields and orchards as swarms from last summers breeding made their way through the Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. A June 1 report from Nikkei Asian Review said the locusts had already devoured considerable quantities of crops in over 60 districts in provinces throughout Pakistan. The same report noted that locusts had crossed into India and were in northwestern Rajasthan, northern Punjab, western Gujarat, and central Madhya Pradesh. Many agricultural specialists are predicting a second wave of locusts to start making their way from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula toward Iran, Pakistan, and India at the beginning of the summer. Locusts have been destroying crops in eastern Turkmenistan and western Uzbekistan in recent weeks, although officials there have not commented on it very much. Turkmen authorities have not mentioned the locusts at all, though RFERLs Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, reported that locusts had spread over some 35,000 hectares of land in the Kerki district of Turkmenistans eastern Lebap Province, devastating crops. RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, reported that Uzbekistans Emergency Situations Ministry announced on May 25 it was already taking measures to battle an invasion of locusts from Turkmenistan. There were reports of swarms of locusts appearing in the Kashkadarya, Surhandarya, Namangan, and Ferghana provinces. But the locusts in Central Asia do not appear to be the same desert locusts plaguing Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. Moroccan Locusts On May 19, Uzbekistans Agriculture Ministry denied that the locusts eating crops in Uzbekistan had come from Turkmenistan, but in explaining where they did originate from, the ministry noted "there are more than 150 types of locusts in the country, 10 of which can cause serious damage to crops, pastures, and other plants." The most common of these 10 types is the Moroccan locust, which is found throughout Central Asia and Afghanistan. At a May 29 briefing, Almabek Mars, the chairman of the state inspection committee of Kazakhstans Agriculture Ministry, said that according to projected data for 2020, swarms of locusts are expected to cover an area of 554 hectares, naming three types: the Italian prus, the Asian, and the Moroccan, as being the invaders. WATCH: Locust Swarms Devour Swaths Of Pakistan's Crops He confirmed that Moroccan locusts had already been found in 150,000 hectares of land in the Zhambyl Province, which borders Kyrgyzstan, and in Turkestan Province, which borders Uzbekistan, including the Syrhandarya Province that Uzbekistans Agriculture Ministry said locusts were present. Mars said some $3.6 million was earmarked to battle locusts in Kazakhstan this year. The FAO promised to provide technical support to Kyrgyzstan to combat the locusts, predicting that without such help some 120,000 hectares of crops and pastureland could fall victim to the insects So far, Kyrgyz authorities have not reported any major problems with locusts, but the pests are reported in parts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that border Kyrgyzstan. RFE/RLs Tajik Service, known locally as Ozodi, reported locusts have already devoured crops in southern Tajikistans Khatlon region, one of the country's main agricultural areas. Farmers in the Khatlon regions Vakhsh district say locusts have stripped their grapevines of their fruit and complain they have received little help from the state while the price of insecticide to fight the pests is prohibitively high. The battle against the locust plague is something that none of these countries can afford to lose as their full harvests will be particularly needed this year amid the problems caused by the spread of the coronavirus. Many of the governments in these countries told people weeks ago to grow as much food as they could at home to offset expected shortages at the end of the year and first quarter of 2021. RFE/RL's Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Afghan services as well as Radio Mashaal and Radio Farda contributed to this report. Amazon AMZN extends its partnership with Air Transport Services Group ATSG to lease 12 additional Boeing 767-300 converted cargo aircraft. Notably, out of these 12 new cargo planes, one has already joined Amazons air fleet operations last month and the rest is expected to join by 2021. The latest move is in sync with the companys deepening focus on expanding its air cargo operations in a bid to ensure timely delivery of rising number of ordered goods. Prior to the announcement, Amazons air fleet operations had a total of 70 aircraft in use, which will exceed 80 after the new ones get delivered. This move is another step taken by the e-commerce giant to strengthen its in-house shipping and logistics service to support its Prime-based ultrafast delivery services and expand its fulfillment network. Additionally, the latest announcement holds promise for the company during this coronavirus-led crisis, due to which consumers are afraid of stepping out of their houses and hence ordering every item online. The company has been witnessing a flurry of orders since the onset of the pandemic-led lockdown. Expanding fleet operations will add strength to the companys existing delivery capacity, which in turn will help it enhance the shopping experience of customers during this unprecedented time. This will continue to instill investor optimism in the stock. Coming to the price performance, Amazon has returned 34.2% on a year-to-date basis, outperforming the industrys growth of 24.6%. Strong Efforts to Expand Air Fleet The latest move is likely to aid the performance of Amazon Global Air in the near term. Apart from the recent deal, Amazon teamed up with a low-cost carrier, Sun Country Airlines, in December 2019 for flying a fleet of 10 converted Boeing 737-800 freighters. Per the deal, these 10 cargo jets are meant for shuttle packages in a bid to bolster Amazons shipping services. The deal added Sun Country to Amazons existing domestic cargo partner base. Further, Amazons previously expanded partnership with Air Transport Services Group to lease an additional 10 aircraft is noteworthy. Additionally, the companys partnership with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings AAWW to expand its domestic air network is a positive. The e-commerce giants tie-up with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) to increase the number of aircraft is another positive. Per the deal, Amazon has leased 15 Boeing 737-800 aircraft from GECAS. As part of the Amazon Air network, these cargo aircraft are expected to be fully operational by 2021. Strengthening Freight Services Amazons expanding aircraft portfolio bodes well for its ongoing work and investments to strengthen its air facilities at various airports. The company joined forces with Woolpert for the development of its airport project, Amazon CVG Air Cargo Hub, at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Notably, the hub, which will start operating in 2021, will include several parking positions, huge airfield pavement, support facilities and various platform levels on completion. Further, the company is gearing up to open Regional Air Hub at San Bernardino International Airport next year. Another Regional Air Hub is likely to open later this summer at Lakeland Linder International Airport. Story continues Amazon.com, Inc. Revenue (TTM) Amazon.com, Inc. Revenue (TTM) Amazon.com, Inc. revenue-ttm | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote Wrapping Up All the above mentioned strong endeavors are in sync with the companys customer-oriented focus. It is leaving no stone unturned to enhance its delivery services further in order to sustain its customer and Prime momentum. Therefore, we believe that the company is moving in the right direction by gaining control over the delivery services network, which is likely to continue providing it a competitive edge against retailers like Walmart WMT, Target and Kroger, among others, who are also making efforts to strengthen their delivery network to gain customer momentum. Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Air Transport Services Group, Inc (ATSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 14:20 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc1d6fc 1 National theft,palm-plantation,Riau,court-ruling,Court Free A 31-year-old woman in Tandun district, Rokan Hulu regency, Riau was sentenced to seven days in jail and a two-month probation period after having been found guilty of stealing palm fruits to feed her family. The mother of three identified only as RMS was charged under Article 364 of the Criminal Code on minor offenses, also known as tipiring, during a trial held at the Pasir Pengaraian District Court on Tuesday. The ruling is [not yet legally binding] unless the court gives an official verdict for another crime that takes place within the two-month probation period, said Raharjo Budi Kisnanto, the assistant for intelligence at the Riau Prosecutors Office, as quoted by kompas.com. Three bunches of palm fruits previously submitted as court evidence have since been returned to state-owned plantation PTPN V Sei Rokan, he said. The palm plantation had only recorded Rp 76,500 (US$5.39) in losses due to the theft, he added. A security officer working for the palm plantation previously saw RMS and two other women during a regular patrol in the area, Rokan Hulu Police spokesperson Second Insp. Ferry Fadly testified in a hearing. The witness then stalked [the women] and found that they were trying to take the companys palm fruits, Ferry said. He went on to say that the security officer then went after the women and only managed to secure RMS. Another company employee, Arison Simbolon, later reported the case to the Tandun Police, he added. RMS told the police that she had no other choice but to sell the palm fruits and buy rice to feed her three young children because she had run out of food supplies, Ferry said. But thats only the perpetrators excuse. Seeing as how the perpetrator carried a sickle, it means that she had come prepared. She was caught red-handed while trying to steal three bunches of palm fruits, he said. (rfa) Queensland and Tasmania have intervened in businessman and former politician Clive Palmer's High Court challenge to Western Australia's border restrictions, which is expected to be heard as early as the first week of July. Mr Palmer lodged documents in the High Court on May 25 to challenge Western Australia's border restrictions on constitutional grounds, while One Nation leader and Queensland senator Pauline Hanson is supporting a similar challenge to her home state's border controls. Clive Palmer at a previous Queensland Nickel court hearing. Credit:Jono Searle/AAP Mr Palmer subsequently added Queensland's border restrictions to his case. It is not yet clear if the dispute will be resolved before border restrictions are relaxed. Lawyers acting in both the Palmer and Hanson-backed cases appeared in the High Court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing. [June 04, 2020] Mark Farrah Associates Assessed the Medicare Supplement Market In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA (News - Alert)), www.markfarrah.com, reported Medicare Supplement membership experienced a year-over-year increase of 3.33%. Medicare Supplement plans, also known as Medigap or Med Supp plans, covered over 14 million seniors as of December 31, 2019. Many leading managed care organizations, Blues plans, regional plans, and multiline carriers compete in the Medicare Supplement space. Medicare Supplement plans collectively earned approximately $32.9 billion in premiums and paid out $26.5 billion in claims during 2019. The aggregate loss ratio (incurred claims as a percent of earned premiums) was 80.5%. MFA's assessment of standardized plan type preferences for 2019 found Plan F, the most comprehensive design, enrolled almost 6.8 million members. Enrollment gains were also significant in standardized plan type G with a year-over-year increase of 761,500 new members. To read the FREE full text of "Continued Year-Over-Year Growth for Medicare Supplement Plans", visit the MFA Brifs on Mark Farrah Associates' website. You can also follow us on LinkedIn. About Med Supp Market Data Med Supp Market Data, a Health Coverage Portal option offered by Mark Farrah Associates, presents the latest market share and financial performance data for Medicare Supplement plans. The product includes state-by-state membership, premiums, claims and loss ratios for plans nationwide. Online tables also include claims contacts as reported in the financial statements as filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). California managed care plans do not file financial statements with the NAIC and are not included in this analysis. For more information about Med Supp Market Data, please visit our website (www.markfarrah.com) or call 724.338.4100. About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal, County Health Coverage, 5500 Employer Health Plus, Medicare Business Online, Medicare Benefits Analyzer, and Health Plans USA. For more information about these products, refer to the informational videos and brochures available under the Our, Products section of the website or call 724-338-4100. Healthcare Business Strategy is a FREE monthly brief that presents analysis of important issues and developments affecting healthcare business today. If you would like to be added to our email distribution list, please submit your email to the "Subscribe to MFA Briefs" section at the bottom of this page. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005373/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] There is no sound more endearing than that of a giggling baby. A childs very first laugh will occur anywhere between a few weeks to four or five months of age. Once they get going, babies laugh a lot more than adults because laughter is inextricably linked with their development. Curiosity and glee are what drives them forward. As a developmental psychologist, I have studied baby laughter for eight years and found the roots of laughter are planted deep by evolution. I dont have children but I have studied thousands of babies, with parents from around the world sending in their data, photos or videos of their infants. In my new book, The Laughing Baby, I examine the extraordinary science behind what makes babies happy. Here, I explain why giggling babies are a serious business. . . The very first smile Is it possible for a 14-week-old foetus to feel happiness? In March 2015, Jen Martin and her husband went for their 14-week ultrasound scan with their doctor. In what has become a much-viewed YouTube clip, during the scan the foetus clapped her hands together. The doctor suggested they sang If youre happy and you know it while the foetus clapped. Did it show the unborn baby was indeed happy? A single fertilised egg, a zygote, cannot know or show happiness. Nor can the little ball of cells in the blastocyst or even the yawning strawberry-sized embryo. So when exactly do the lights come on? When is a smile really a smile? Skin-to-skin contact with their parents is essential for newborn babies those who have more contact do much better than those who have less [File photo] No research exists on foetal pleasure. But foetal pain is a good guide because both are supported by similar circuits in the brain. For anyone to experience pain, nerve signals from the unpleasant stimulus must reach a cortex (the wrinkly, thinking part) capable of processing them. If the signal from some part of the body doesnt reach the brain, we will only experience numbness. If the signals reach the brainstem and thalamus (a kind of junction box between brain and body), but arent passed upwards to the cortex, we wont feel anything. This is how general anaesthetic works: by blocking all signals from the brainstem to the cortex. Before 24 weeks, a foetus cannot experience pain because the brain is not fully connected. An 18-week-old foetus moves away from a needle prick and even releases stress hormones, but it doesnt feel pain. By 24 weeks nerve signals start to get through to the cortex. From this point the brain begins connecting itself up in earnest and the foetus can begin to exert voluntary control over their womb-world. Studies looking for changes in foetal heart rate have found that, from 26 weeks, a foetus can respond to changes in levels of external light, to hearing their mothers voice and to feeling her touch through the walls of the womb. Anecdotal reports of babies smiling in ultrasounds have been around since 2000, when the scans resolution became good enough to show facial expressions. The psychologist Nadja Reissland at the University of Durham identified seven foetal facial expressions and confirmed that both crying and laughing are practised in the womb. One mystery of the milk-drunk baby is what is so enjoyable for her. We know she is eating to grow and that as she eats she is growing emotionally, too [File photo] Using modern 4D ultrasound, Reisslands team scanned two female foetuses on multiple occasions between 24 and 35 weeks. They recorded ten minutes of facial expressions on each occasion and used a standard coding scheme to objectively classify what they saw. Facial expressions can be broken down into their component micro-expressions (pursed lips or raised cheeks). The coding scheme designed for very young babies was adapted to define sets of expressions that went together to form a cry face and a laughter face. Some, like a wrinkling of the nose, were common to both. Others defined just laughter (tongue sticking out and lips pulling back) or crying (pulled down lower lip and furrowed brow). Combining data on both foetuses, they found the crying expression increased from 0 per cent to 42 per cent occurrence, while laughing faces increased from 0 to 35 per cent between the 24th and 35th week respectively. Pleasant expressions were as common as expressions of distress, and both gradually appear as the foetus itself slowly gains awareness. There is a much-repeated myth that all smiles before six weeks old are merely trapped wind rather than a true expression of contentment. This is a notion I completely reject because, as weve seen, even the smiles seen in the womb from 25 weeks are real. So the first smile on your newborns face will be real, too; an indication your baby is genuinely happy. A cuddle with mum is vital Overwhelmed by the confusing sights and sounds of their new world, very young babies rely heavily on the simpler signals of touch and smell. Light touches on their cheek provoke them to turn their head, rooting out a nipple. Sucking on the fingers can soothe them when not nursing. Mouthing at objects remains the favoured method of exploration for most of the first six months. Skin-to-skin contact with their parents is essential for newborn babies those who have more contact do much better than those who have less. For all the advanced care and monitoring of a state-of-the-art intensive care unit, it seems a cuddle from mother can do it better. Overwhelmed by the confusing sights and sounds of their new world, very young babies rely heavily on the simpler signals of touch and smell. Light touches on their cheek provoke them to turn their head, rooting out a nipple That is the wonderfully simple idea behind kangaroo care developed by Professor Edgar Rey Sanabria in 1978. He worked on a newborn intensive care unit in Colombia where there were not enough incubators for all the premature and low-birthweight babies. Professor Sanabria suggested if the babies were able to breathe on their own they should be given to their mothers to be cared for. He recommended direct skin-on-skin contact to keep the infants warm in the absence of incubators and to allow mothers to breastfeed at will. Amazingly, this worked better than incubators alone. Faking it There is a well-established difference between pleasure smiles and social smiles. The genuine smile is known as the Duchenne smile after the person who described it, Guillaume Duchenne. Non-Duchenne, social smiles have the grin, but the smile stops at our eyes. Duchenne smiles light up a whole face. Not only is there a big grin, additional muscles around the eye socket called the orbicularis oculi cause the crinkles at the sides of our eyes. A social smile is harder because it is a voluntary action, something we must choose to do. Brand-new babies dont have a way to do this Although it takes 12 muscles to create a real smile and only ten muscles for a social smile, a real smile is easier and earlier. A real smile is spontaneous and involuntary. A social smile is harder because it is a voluntary action, something we must choose to do. Brand-new babies dont have a way to do this. They dont do social niceties. Advertisement Whos a cheeky monkey! One mystery of the milk-drunk baby is what is so enjoyable for her. We know she is eating to grow and that as she eats she is growing emotionally, too. We know these chemical changes will prompt her body to digest dinner and send the baby off into happy milk-drunk sleep. But we still dont know what pleasure is. Ask a brain scientist and the answer is sometimes dopamine-based reward circuits. Ask a psychoanalyst and they might say that pleasure is fulfilled desire. Individually these answers are not wrong, but they dont add much to our understanding. Why do we enjoy what we enjoy? Why does this baby laugh when carried downstairs, while this one is inseparable from Sophie the Giraffe? Most research into pleasure is done on food, not least because food rewards work superbly in animal experiments. Its hard to ask a mouse or monkey for their favourite song but they are very forthcoming about their food preferences. The same is true for babies. Once a baby graduates to solid foods, parents can expect years of tantrums and stand-offs when their child is given food they dislike. For every face of food disgust theres another display of delight. Those vegetable rebellions contrast with the ice-cream smiles. Amazingly, the faces pulled to convey these preferences are universal across our wider monkey family. We know this thanks to an unusual experiment performed by Berridge and colleagues in 2001. First they gave sweetened water (with sucrose) and bitter water (with quinine) to newborn babies and filmed the faces they pulled. Then they did the same with a barrel-load of our monkey cousins. They tested 11 other species, including the great apes (gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees). The basic finding was not too surprising: all 11 other species preferred sweet to bitter. The remarkable thing was their facial expressions were almost identical. Baby humans and monkeys would all squinch their eyes and wrinkle their noses at the bitter tonic, and they would stick their tongue out when given what was effectively lemonade. And when analysed in slow motion, the expressions spread at similar rates across their faces once you adjusted for their size. Only humans and the other great apes smiled. The conclusion is not only that all monkey babies love lemonade, it is our pleasure responses are millions of years old. The miracle of touch Babies dont purr but they would if they could. Caressing a baby has a lot in common with stroking a cat or dog. After 30 years of searching, scientists have finally found nerve cells that respond specifically to stroking. They found them in mice, but it was quickly confirmed that humans have similar receptors. Other research has looked at so-called affective touch and found that as far as the brain is concerned there is no such thing as a simple touch; the identity and relation of the person touching you always matter. Every touch is laden with emotion. Skin is remarkable: a flexible, stretchy, waterproof coating that helps keep your insides in and bugs and parasites out. It helps with temperature regulation, aiding both insulation and heat dissipation. The skin is also your largest sensory organ. It has a wide range of specialist receptors for touch, pressure, pain, heat, cold, itch and injury. Most of these have been known for years and years. Imagine, therefore, everyones surprise when in 2013 researchers discovered a new type of receptor cell in the skin that responded exclusively to stroking. The new neuron goes by the name of MRGPRB4+. When researchers labelled it with fluorescent markers to observe its action in live mice, they discovered MRGPRB4+ responded exclusively to stroking. If they stroked the mice, the cells would light up; if they poked them, nothing happened. Whats more, mice preferred a chemical that stimulated the nerve to one that did nothing, proving the sensation was pleasurable. All mammals have a version of MRGPRB4+, so stroking a baby makes them as happy as a tabby. Laugh and the world laughs with you... On an individual level laughter does not seem essential to our existence, but across all cultures and communities it is universal. You never find a community without laughter. When something is universal, thats a big clue it is important to our species. The other big clue is that laughter is so enjoyable. Things that are fun usually have some evolutionary benefit behind them, sex being the most obvious example. Therefore it seems that laughter has been favoured by evolution but, if so, what is laughters purpose and how did it evolve? Laughter comes before language. You do not need language to laugh or make someone laugh. Communal laughter is both a highly contagious and a highly social activity. And it triggers the release of endorphins, the brains pleasure chemical. Babies laugh and make us laugh far more than adults do. There is a huge pressure for us to connect with (and bond with and cope with) our babies laughter gets us through. A friend of mine puts it very succinctly: If my baby had not made me laugh, I might have thrown him out of the window by now. Advertisement Tickles, giggles & the joy of a joke The delight babies find in tickling and other simple physical activities, such as splashing in the bath, is intrinsic to them becoming aware of their bodies and of how this makes them part of a wider world. When I ran a global survey of baby laughter I asked parents: What one thing is guaranteed to make your baby laugh? The results could not have been clearer: tickling came out top. Natural history suggests tickling is in our genes. Plenty of other animals love it, too including our pet cats and dogs. A video of Cookie the penguin from Cincinnati Zoo in the U.S. chasing his keepers hand for more and more tickles has more than 15 million views on YouTube. Meanwhile, tickling even provokes laughter in chimps, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. In the 1970s, baby chimpanzees were observed requesting tickles. Baby rats also love being tickled and microphones picked up their giggles of delight in a research project into tickling. Rodents vocalisations are ultrasonic, far beyond the range humans can hear. But sensitive microphones (and cats) hear them. Remarkably, their slowed-down squeaks sounded a lot like human laughter. Babies rapidly realise what is coming next when we approach to tickle them and start to laugh in anticipation. Their laughter is no longer happening as a direct physical response to tickling. It is now cognitive. It is a laugh about an idea. Their very first joke. When I ran a global survey of baby laughter I asked parents: What one thing is guaranteed to make your baby laugh? The results could not have been clearer: tickling came out top [File photo] The baby zen masters Babies laugh a lot because their life is full of surprises and discoveries every new thing they learn is a Eureka moment. They are also little Zen masters, always present, experiencing the world as fresh and vivid. They live in the moment and make the most of it. They wake up happy and take pleasure in simple things, never in such a rush that they miss the magic of right now. Through laughter they share their happiness with their families, their friends and with the world. Laughter makes life worth living. It connects us. It consoles us. It elates us. Its contagious. When you are happy, make the most of it. Slow down and enjoy life you will be glad you did. If you are not sure quite how, ask a baby. Babies laugh a lot because their life is full of surprises and discoveries every new thing they learn is a Eureka moment [File photo] Caspar Addyman is director of the InfantLab at Goldsmiths, University of London. Adapted from The Laughing Baby: The Extraordinary Science Behind What Makes Babies Happy by Caspar Addyman, published by Unbound at 16.99. Caspar Addyman 2020. [June 04, 2020] Code42 Pledges Support for Racial Justice, Equity and Inclusion Code42, the leader in insider risk detection, investigation and response, releases the following statement addressing the issue of racism and systemic inequities. "At Code42, we are heartbroken over another senseless death of an unarmed person of color at the hands of law enforcement. As a society, we must acknowledge the daily and systemic racism that black people have experienced in America for almost 400 years. To stay silent is to be complicit. We want to engage in the conversation and hear the voices from people of color, women, the LGBTQ community and people of all beliefs. At Code42, we are committed to a regular dialogue with these communities. "As many protesters have impassionedly stated, we need meaningful, systemic change. This crisis gives us the determination to try harder and take action now." In addition to lending our voice to those directly affected by racism, Code42 plans to take the following steps: Set concrete goals for a more equitable organization with a workforce that more closely reflects the demographics of the communities where our offices are located. We also want to ensure those team members have a voice that is heard. Hire an expert in inclusion to counsel us on how to make our culture more inclusive for historically oppressed people. Ask each employee to devote half of their volunteer time off (VTO) days per year to support communities of color. Raise additional funds through the Code42 Foundation to support the immediate needs of the Black community in Minneapolis as the city is rebuilt. Created in 2016, the foundation's mission is to disrupt the systems that perpetuate inequities, to maximize opportunities for communities that have historiclly lacked equal opportunities, and for every person to be accepted as a whole human. Engage in the conversation about race on an ongoing basis through quarterly company meetings and identify ways we can do better for the under-represented and under-privileged in our organization. About The Code42 Foundation The Code42 Foundation distributes funds to organizations whose mission is to address systemic inequities and strive to make lasting, impactful change. A mission of the Code42 Foundation is to end racial inequity. Donations to the foundation are tax-deductible and can be made using the instructions found here: https://bit.ly/36Vxuru. Contributions are processed by the Minneapolis Foundation, which administers the Code42 Foundation Fund. About Code42 Code42 is the leader in insider risk detection, investigation and response. Native to the cloud, Code42 rapidly detects data loss, leak, theft and sabotage as well as speeds incident response - all without lengthy deployments, complex policy management or blocking employee productivity. With Code42, security professionals can protect corporate data and reduce insider risk while fostering an open and collaborative culture for employees. Backed by security best practices and control requirements, Code42's insider risk solution can be configured for GDPR, HIPAA, PCI (News - Alert) and other regulatory frameworks. More than 50,000 organizations worldwide, including the most recognized brands in business and education, rely on Code42 to safeguard their ideas. Founded in 2001, the company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and backed by Accel Partners, JMI Equity, NEA and Split Rock Partners (News - Alert). Code42 was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of America's best workplaces in 2020. For more information, visit code42.com, read Code42's blog or follow the company on Twitter. 2020 Code42 Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Code42 and the Code42 logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Code42 Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks are properties of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005455/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 04, 2020] Draganfly Inc. Announces Launch of Global Dealer Network Vancouver, British Columbia, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Draganfly Inc. (CSE: DFLY) (OTCQB: DFLYF) (FSE: 3U8) (Draganfly or the Company), an award-winning, industry-leading manufacturer within the commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), and unmanned vehicle sector (UVS), is pleased to announce the launching of its global dealer network for sales and service of Draganfly technology solutions including its secure, North American made drones. Draganflys global dealer network offers professional dealers who commit to purchase, represent, and support Draganflys products in the territories they do business, two levels of representation. Tier 1 and Tier 2 level dealers receive procurement, marketing, and pre and post-sales support corresponding to their service and sales commitments. Draganfly has already welcomed a number of U.S. and Canadian dealers to the network and is actively reviewing interest from entities in Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Thanks to our recent teaming agreement for exclusive worldwide distribution of AeroVironments Quantix Mapper hybrid VTOL systems, and the ongoing updates to our Draganfly product line, the time is right for us to increase our distribution and product support through the launch of a global dealer network, said Patrick Imbasciani, Draganflys Chief Operating Officer. In addition to sales, Draganflys global dealers are uniquely positioned to offer demos, training, and post-sales support to new and existing customers within their territories. This move should expand Draganflys brand, service capabilities, and sales reach exponentially across new markets and industries, said Imbasciani. James McKay, former City of San Luis Obispo Police Officer and current owner of NorCal Aerials who operates in the western United States, is the most recent dealer to join the Draganfly global dealer network at the distinguished Tier 2 level. "We've already been very successful selling Quantix Mapper to a variety of our customers with mapping needs including those working in agrculture, land management, and infrastructure. Thanks to its performance, ease of use, and reliability, the product just about sells itself every time I demonstrate it" said McKay. McKay who has recently placed an order for Draganfly's multipurpose multi-rotor Commander drone, feels a key differentiator and important factor for many of NorCal's customers, will be that Quantix and Commander are both North American made. Said McKay "I personally know many police departments in my region that are under pressure to update their drone fleet to non-Chinese systems. I'm proud to be able to offer public agencies and my clients, the military-grade Quantix Mapper and the versatile, multiple payload carrying Commander, as two secure new options to consider." About Draganfly Draganfly Inc. (CSE: DFLY; OTCQB: DFLYF; FSE: 3U8) is the creator of quality, cutting-edge UVS and software that revolutionize the way people do business. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 22 years, Draganfly is an award-winning, industry-leading manufacturer within the commercial UAV and UVS space, serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections and mapping and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money and lives. For more information on Draganfly, please visit us at www.draganfly.com . For additional investor information, visit https://www.thecse.com/en/listings/technology/draganfly-inc , https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/DFLYF/overview or https://www.boerse-frankfurt.de/aktie/draganfly-inc . Media Contact Arian Hopkins email: [email protected] Company Contact Email: info @draganfly.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Data centre services company Ascenty has reached an agreement to build two new data facilities in the state of Queretaro, North-Central Mexico. Digital Realty, a provider of data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions, and Ascenty, a Digital Realty and Brookfield Infrastructure joint venture company, announced the agreement earlier this week. Both initial phases are scheduled for delivery in 2021, and the two new facilities combined are expected to deliver up to 36 megawatts of total IT capacity upon full buildout. The new data centres will be interconnected via an underground dark fibre-optic network, providing access to networks, cloud, and connectivity providers in a single, secure environment. The partners say that the expansion of PlatformDIGITAL, a solution built to enable the changing data, control and networking demands of global enterprises across Latin America, will enable customers to rapidly scale digital transformation by deploying critical infrastructure with a leading global data centre provider at the heart of a growing community of interest in Mexico. Ascentys dedicated 4,500-kilometre fibre optic network connects the company's facilities in major cities in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza to leading global cloud providers, delivering a wide-ranging and secure interconnection platform. Mexico and Mexico City represent Digital Realtys 21st country and 45th metropolitan area and are also among the biggest areas it serves. As Ascentys chief executive officer Chris Torto points out: "Mexico City is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, while Mexico is the second-largest country in Latin America with a population of over 120 million, and the percentage of population using the internet is growing steadily. Gordon Ramsay has confirmed he will reopen a second London restaurant for takeaway service, days after reopening another Ramsay owned business on the River Thames. Speaking from his second home in Cornwall on Wednesday evening, the under-fire chef confirmed popular gastro pub York & Albany will serve up takeaway meals and alcoholic beverages from Thursday evening. Addressing Instagram followers, he said: 'First of all, last weekend The Narrow down on the river Thames was a huge success. Good news: Gordon Ramsay has confirmed he will reopen a second London restaurant for takeaway service, days after reopening another Ramsay owned business on the River Thames 'Thursday evening were going to be opening the York & Albany, just opposite Regents Park on the edge of Camden. And guess what? Were going to be doing amazing pizza to go. So how about pizza in the park? 'From amazing pizza and great burgers, to cocktails and some amazing ciders. The York and Albany is opening its doors. Cant wait to see you there. 'More importantly the pizzas are delicious, the burgers are second to none. The cocktails? Yeah, I think not only do you deserve them but lets lighten the load, lets gets some air in our lungs, lets have some fun.' Open for business: Speaking from his second home in Cornwall, the under-fire chef confirmed popular gastro pub York & Albany will serve up takeaway meals and alcoholic beverages from Thursday evening Listen up: 'Guess what? Were going to be doing amazing pizza to go. So how about pizza in the park?' he told Instagram followers on Wednesday evening The move comes just days after The Narrow, located in London's Limehouse, reopened as a barbecue takeaway service over the weekend. Confirming the news on May 29th, Ramsay - who has been repeatedly slammed for flouting lockdown laws in Cornwall - admitted the current health crisis has been an 'absolute nightmare for all of us.' He said: 'I've got some really exciting news. I know this lockdown has been an absolute nightmare for all of us but tomorrow at midday we're going to open for an amazing barbecue down on The Thames at The Narrow. 'It's in the Limehouse Link, a beautiful setting but more importantly, honestly, a long time coming.' Doing it for you: 'I think not only do you deserve them but lets lighten the load, lets gets some air in our lungs, lets have some fun,' he added Step by step: The move comes just days after The Narrow, a Michelin starred restaurant located in London's Limehouse, reopened as a barbecue takeaway service over the weekend Tough times: Confirming the news on May 29th, Ramsay - who has been repeatedly slammed for flouting lockdown laws in Cornwall - admitted the current health crisis has been an 'absolute nightmare for all of us' The reopening comes after Ramsay prompted outrage by reportedly using the government's taxpayer funded furlough scheme to pay 500 workers sacked from his restaurants in March as the hospitality industry ground to a halt. It's understood that some of the workers made redundant by Ramsay are being paid via the furlough scheme that is estimated to cost the government around 80bn of taxpayers' money. An email seen by the Sun On Sunday from Gordon Ramsay Restaurants' HR Director Sarah Anderson to a London-based worker read: 'Should you not wish to apply for a new role, you will remain on the furlough scheme for the duration of your notice.' Popular: Gastro pub York & Albany (pictured) occupies space opposite London's Regents Park A source told The Sun: 'The furlough scheme is called the job retention scheme - but that is not what he seems to be using it for. They are sacking people anyway.' The same source went on to claim senior members of staff in Ramsay's restaurants were being offered lower-paid jobs, including telling a supervisor to become a bartender. Ramsay, who is thought to be worth close to 200million, has restaurants across London, including in Mayfair and The Strand. Come dine with me: The Narrow, located in London's Limehouse, reopened as a barbecue takeaway service over the weekend Alec Shelbrooke said there were questions over whether Ramsay had exploited taxpayers, adding: 'It will have to be carefully looked at whether the scheme was used to increase the profits of the company.' The lockdown led Ramsay 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 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 lavish home. MailOnline has approached Gordon Ramsay Restaurants for a comment. The United Nations is among organizations urging companies to create a peoples vaccine for COVID-19 that would be free to everyone once one is developed. Meanwhile, in Europe, German auto sales are slumping and France is changing its traditional Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue to a ceremony honoring health care workers as well. Thousands of participants and guests at the July 14 ceremony on the Place de la Concorde square will be requested to keep physical distance from one another. ___ Here are some of APs top stories Thursday on the worlds coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities. WHATS HAPPENING TODAY: There were no additional cases of the new coronavirus reported from the crowded pool parties at Missouris Lake of the Ozarks over the Memorial Day weekend, according to the state director of the Department of Health and Senior Services. The gathering drew attention because of many people close together in a small space. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked the country to remain calm a day after health officials announced more than 1,000 new COVID-19 deaths, a figure that was more than double the previous toll reported in a single day. A malaria drug President Donald Trump took to try to prevent COVID-19 proved ineffective for that in the first large, high-quality study to test it in people in close contact with someone with the disease. Results published by the New England Journal of Medicine show that hydroxychloroquine was no better than placebo pills at preventing illness from the coronavirus. Nearly 1.9 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, the ninth straight decline since applications spiked in mid-March, a sign that the gradual reopening of businesses has slowed the pace of layoffs. Emergency room visits in the U.S. for chest pain and heart attacks fell early this spring, according to a study that supports fears that the coronavirus outbreak scared away people from going to the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports visits were up for respiratory illnesses and pneumonia, but were down for nearly every other kind of injury or ailment. In Nevada, the casino coronavirus closure has ended. Cards are being dealt, dice are rolling and slot machines flashed and jingled for the first customers who started gambling again early Thursday in Las Vegas and throughout the state. Hotel-casinos in suburban areas were first to open, followed later by a restart of the iconic Bellagio fountain and reopenings of several resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. ___ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: 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. Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu. One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off. You should wash your phone, too. Heres how. TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people youre worried about live. ___ ONE NUMBER: 168,000: Thats how many cars were registered in Germany last month, down 50% from a year earlier, according the German Association of the Automotive Industry. IN OTHER NEWS: DONT FLUSH: Around the country, officials are warning people to be careful not to flush COVID-19 protective items like masks, wipes and gloves because they can clog wastewater pumping facilities. Philadelphia issued such a notice this week, following other cities and communities and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. HELPY HOUR: Belgium is introducing Helpy Hour when its bars and restaurants reopen next week following their closure 2 1/2 months ago when the pandemic hit. Belgian beer lovers are being asked to buy one drink for the price of two to support those establishments. ___ Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Witness in car says George Floyd did not resist arrest; complaint alleges struggle Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment George Floyd tried to show that he wasnt resisting arrest before he stopped breathing in the custody of Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day with the knee of officer Derek Chauvin still resting on his neck, according to a friend and witness who was with Floyd when officers detained him. He was, from the beginning, trying in his humblest form to show he was not resisting in no form or way, Floyds friend, Maurice Lester Hall, 42, told The New York Times on Wednesday night. Floyds friend, who was arrested Monday in Houston on three outstanding felony warrants, was interviewed by Minnesota state investigators after he initially gave a false name to officers at the scene of Floyd's arrest on May 25, the newspaper reported. I could hear him pleading, Please, officer, whats all this for? Hall said. The interview with Hall comes in the wake of the arrest of all four fired officers involved in the tragedy Wednesday. Chauvin, 44, who was previously charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter for Floyds death, had his charge upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday by the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. Meanwhile, the three other former officers 26-year-old J. Alexander Kueng, 37-year-old Thomas Lane and 34-year-old Tou Thao were all charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Charging documents state that while the initial encounter between Floyd and the officers started without much hassle, things took a dark turn when Floyd asked not to be put inside the back of a squad car because he was claustrophobic. They struggled to put him there anyway. According to the prosecution document, someone called 911 and reported that a man bought merchandise from Cup Foods at 3759 Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis with a counterfeit $20 bill. At 8:08 p.m., officers Lane and Kueng arrived with their body cameras activated and running. The officers learned from store personnel that the man who passed the counterfeit currency was parked in a car around the corner from the store on 38th Street. Footage from the body cameras shows that the officers approached the car. Lane approached on the drivers side and Kueng on the passengers side. Three people were in the car. Floyd was in the drivers seat. A known adult male, now identified as Hall, was in the passenger seat. An adult female was sitting in the backseat. Officer Lane pulled his gun and pointed it at Floyds open window as he began speaking with him and directed him to show his hands. When Floyd put his hands on the steering wheel, Lane put his gun back in its holster. Lane eventually ordered Floyd out of the car as Kueng spoke with the passenger in the front seat. He then put his hands on Floyd, pulling him out of the car and handcuffing him. Once handcuffed, Floyd walked with Lane to the sidewalk and sat on the ground as directed by Lane. When Floyd sat down, he said thank you man and was calm, the charging document stated. After about two minutes of conversation, Lane asked Floyd for his name and identification. Lane then asked Floyd if he was on anything, noting there was foam on the edges of his mouth. Lane then told Floyd he was being arrested for passing counterfeit currency. At 8:14 p.m., Kueng and Lane stood Floyd up and attempted to walk him to their squad car. As they tried to put him in the car, however, Floyd stiffened up and fell to the ground. According to the document, Floyd explained that he was not resisting arrest but didnt want to travel in the back seat because he was claustrophobic. It was at this point that Chauvin and Thao arrived in a separate squad car. The officers made several attempts to get Floyd in the backseat of the squad car by pushing him from the drivers side. Floyd repeatedly told the officers that he could not breathe and refused to willingly sit in the backseat as the officers struggled to get him there. Chauvin then went to the passenger side of the squad car and tried to get Floyd in the car from that side while Lane and Kueng assisted. At about 8:19 p.m., Chauvin pulled Floyd out of the passenger side of the squad car and Floyd went to the ground face down while still handcuffed. Kueng held Floyds back while Lane held his legs and Chauvin placed his knee in the area of Floyds head and neck, according to the document. After telling the officers multiple times that he couldnt breathe and saying that he was about to die, one of the officers said, You are talking fine. Lane then asked, Should we roll him on his side? Chauvin said, No, staying put where we got him. Lane said, Im worried about excited delirium or whatever. Chauvin replied, Thats why we have him on his stomach. At about 8:24 p.m., Floyd stopped moving. About a minute later, he appeared to stop breathing or speaking. Lane said, [I] want to roll him on his side. Kueng checked Floyds right wrist for a pulse and said, I couldnt find one. Chauvin removed his knee from Floyds neck at approximately 8:27 p.m. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on May 26 that found no physical evidence supporting death due to mechanical asphyxia. It was noted that Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officers. The autopsy showed that Floyd had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease. Toxicology testing revealed fentanyl and evidence of recent methamphetamine use. The medical examiner said the effects of the officers restraint of Floyd combined with his health and the presence of drugs in his body contributed to his death. Floyds death was ruled a homicide caused by [c]ardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. An independent autopsy performed by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson "found the manner of Mr. Floyds death was homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain. Sustained pressure on the right side of Mr. Floyds carotid artery impeded blood flow to the brain, and weight on his back impeded his ability to breathe, according to a statement released Monday by the office of attorney Ben Crump, co-counsels and Floyds family. The defendant [Chauvin] and Officers Lange [sic] and Kueng subdued Mr. Floyd prone to the ground in this manner for nearly 9 minutes. During this time, Mr. Floyd repeatedly stated he could not breathe and his physical condition continued to deteriorate such that force was no longer necessary to control him, the criminal complaint against Chauvin reads. The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyds neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive. Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous. Officer Chauvins restraint of Mr. Floyd in this manner for a prolonged period was a substantial causal factor in Mr. Floyd losing consciousness, constituting substantial bodily harm and Mr. Floyds death as well. You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person. Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else. Oregon State dismissed redshirt freshman tight end Rocco Carley after a recording of Carley making racist and bigoted remarks became public Wednesday evening. Coach Jonathan Smith made the announcement of Carleys dismissal late Wednesday night. I became aware of the comments made by Rocco Carley earlier this evening, Smith said. I immediately shared the audio with [athletic director] Scott Barnes. We both agreed this language and attitude is entirely unacceptable, regardless of circumstance or environment. I spoke with Rocco and dismissed him from the team. I will not tolerate racism or hate speech. Carley apologizes, says video is satire Carley received swift condemnation across social media when the audio became public. In it, he uses the N-word and makes derogatory comments about gay people and Muslims with a fake southern accent. He quickly apologized for what he said in the recording and said he made the comments three years ago in an attempt at satire. To my family, my community, and everyone I have associated with, I am sorry, Carley wrote. This video was taken about three years ago in a groupchat where me and my friends were saying stupid things. This does not condone anything of what I have said but I promise you all that this video does not represent me. I was doing an accent of a southern man and giving a very satire example of what we all thought would be funny. This is no way shape or form makes what I said right. I am truthfully sorry to everyone I have hurt and offended and I understand that I have not represented me or my family in any positive way during this situation. To all of my brothers, teammates and everyone of color that I have associated with, I hope that you know me well enough to know I am in no way shape or form a racist. Again I apologize and I could not be more ashamed of my actions. Story continues Smiths decision to dismiss Carley was met with approval by linebacker and leading tackler Avery Roberts. Carley redshirted in 2019. This is how you lead https://t.co/KHrZwaZ4Jt Avery Roberts (@AveryLB11) June 4, 2020 The university itself also condemned Carleys comments. We prohibit discrimination in any form. The comments referred to in this post are not in keeping with the university's commitment to a safe, welcoming and inclusive community. Action will be taken immediately. https://t.co/v18HLqdjJD Oregon State University (@OregonState) June 4, 2020 Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. More from Yahoo Sports: In a year when the coronavirus robbed students of learning time, educators and policymakers are particularly worried that theyve lost academic ground. But as this school year winds down, only one-quarter of the nations school district leaders say they have fully developed plans to offer summer school. In a nationally representative survey of district leaders, conducted May 20-28 by the EdWeek Research Center, 24 percent said theyve finalized plans for summer learning. Thirty-eight percent described their plans as in progress, and 11 percent said they hadnt begun planning for summer learning. Twenty-seven percent said that either they never offer summer school or had decided not to offer it this year. Its really disappointing to know that so few folks are able to execute programs right now, said Aaron Dworkin, the CEO of the National Summer Learning Association. Hes also concerned, he said, that more than a quarter of district leaders decided not to offer summer school, or never do. See Also: Summer Programs Struggle to Keep Learning Fun From a Distance Theres a great need for summer learning this year, but districts have been running behind the eight ball since March, and now its like the exhausted runner: They have to run the next leg and they cant catch their breath, said Nat Malkus, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute whos following districts responses to COVID-19 . Districts are faced with the challenge of building a high-quality summer program at the same time as theyre trying to navigate the enormous uncertainties surrounding reopening schools in the fall, including possible budget cuts and layoffs, Malkus said. Clearly, districts are concerned about the learning their students have lost this past spring, as tens of thousands of students wrestled with balky internetor no internetto connect with their classes, or just didnt show up at all. In a recent survey by the EdWeek Research Center , administrators said the help they need most from curriculum providers is support for learning loss. But planning for summer school is particularly challenging this year. Experts and district leaders told Education Week that a constantly shifting picture of budget cuts, virus spread, and program logistics make it tough to develop a steady plan for summer learning. So it isnt surprising, they said, that nearly 4 in 10 district leaders reported that, at the end of May, theyre still in the planning phase for summer school. Some experts held out hope that many of those districts would complete their plans and offer summer learning for their students. But to some, still planning meant only one thing. If you dont have a fully formed plan by the end of May, it aint gonna happen, said Mary Hahn, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Goleta Union School District, a Southern California district that decided against summer school this year. A Missed Opportunity An analysis of districts summer offerings, released June 3 by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington, found that even when districts are offering summer school, its a slimmed-down version. CPRE found that for elementary schools, districts are typically offering programs that last 30 to 90 minutes a day. Summer remains a missed opportunity, Bree Dusseault and two colleagues wrote in a post about their analysis . The decision about whether to hold summer school is typically made at the district level, although states have been issuing guidance, and, in some cases, setting parameters. Nebraska, for instance, decided that all summer school classes should be conducted remotely, while Hawaii permitted districts to hold in-person sessions if they wish. Texas told districts they could offer, but couldnt require , summer school. Dworkin advised districts that are planning summer school to base their programming on what research says works best : A combination of academics and enrichment leads to higher academic performance, he said, and making programs voluntary avoids stigmatizing or punishing students who are mandated to attend. Summer is a particularly good time to focus on groups of students with particular needs, Dworkin said. Most of the district leaders who responded to the EdWeek Resesarch Center survey plan to target students who are struggling academically. Fifty-one percent said their programs would be required, but only for students who are behind academically. Forty-eight percent said their summer learning programs are required of students who are behind, but offered to all students. Miami-Dade has drawn notice for its detailed, phased approach to summer school , targeting what Superintendent Alberto Carvalho calls academically fragile students: those with multi-year performance deficits. In phase one of its plan, June 8 to July 10, Miami will conduct virtual sessions for students with disabilities and students who often failed to log in to instruction during the spring. Then it will hold sessions focusing on 9th grade algebra and 10th grade English/language arts, since those students will take rescheduled state exams in the fall and must pass in order to graduate. Finally, in late July, Miami plans to conduct intensive instruction in core subjects for low-performing students, and those with disabilities or learning English, before school reopens in the fall. In a small school district in Missouri, leaders opted against an approach that focused on particular groups of students. The Dunklin R-5 district, in Herculaneum, Mo., will offer full-day summer school for all its K-5 students from July 13 to Aug. 7, with academics in the morning and enrichment in the afternoon, said deputy superintendent Clint Freeman. Teachers and administrators are using the month of June to plan for those optional programs, and which courses theyll offer online for middle and high school students. The current plan is to bring the K-5 students into their school buildings for summer school with social-distancing protocols, he said, unless local patterns of COVID-19 contagion change and make face-to-face instruction impossible. There is a huge need for our students to get back [to school], he said. Our families have been under a lot of strain, trying to navigate schooling from home, and work. Wed like to provide all-day services for our kids. Balancing Need and Timing In other districts, leaders weighed the need for academic catch-up against many other factors. Telena Wright, the superintendent of Texas Argyle Independent School District, 30 miles northeast of Forth Worth, said that her district would normally hold summer school for 5th and 8th graders whose state test scores showed they needed support. But this year, she and her staff agreed that its best to focus their resources on the fall. We surveyed parents, and there just werent enough who wanted to participate, she said. We felt that its best to have a short break, and then meet students where they are in August. Kahn, the assistant superintendent in Goleta, Calif., said her district decided to reallocate the $175,000 projected cost of summer school to additional intervention to support students in the fall. That plan would let the district hire two additional intervention teachers andif local health data support itconduct in-person interventions with students one-on-one or in small groups, Kahn said. During virtual learning, intervention teachers were reporting a lot of difficulty keeping their students on task and getting completed work from them, Kahn said. They feared that more online instruction in the summer would feel just as ineffective. Concerned their students will have a rough time when school starts in the fall, some teachers are creating their own personal summer support sessions. Kelly Carver, who teaches 2nd grade in Ralston, Neb., said she plans to work individually with one student whos learning English. She cant do that with all of her students, but most dont need it, since they have parents or siblings who will help them learn over the summer. But this one little boy, whos been gaining ground with his English, worries her. I dont want him to lose what hes gained, Carver said. By drawing inspiration from the structures and functionalities of squid skin cells, a team of researchers designed and engineered human cells that contain stimuli-responsive photonic architectures and, as a consequence, possess the ability to change their appearance and transmission of light. Our project which is decidedly in the realm of science centers on designing and engineering cellular systems and tissues with controllable properties for transmitting, reflecting and absorbing light, said first author Atrouli Chatterjee, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. For the study, Chatterjee and colleagues drew inspiration from the way females of a squid species called Doryteuthis opalescens can evade predators by dynamically switching a stripe on their mantle from nearly transparent to opaque white. The researchers then borrowed some of the intercellular protein-based particles involved in this biological cloaking technique and found a way to introduce them into human cells to test whether the light-scattering powers are transferable to other animals. Doryteuthis opalescens have light-scattering cells called leucophores. Within these cells are leucosomes, membrane-bound particles which are composed of proteins known as reflectins, which can produce iridescent camouflage. In their experiments, the scientists cultured human embryonic kidney cells and genetically engineered them to express reflectin. They found that the protein would assemble into particles in the cells cytoplasm in a disordered arrangement. They also saw through optical microscopy and spectroscopy that the introduced reflectin-based structures caused the cells to change their scattering of light. We were amazed to find that the cells not only expressed reflectin but also packaged the protein in spheroidal nanostructures and distributed them throughout the cells bodies, said senior author Dr. Alon Gorodetsky, a researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. Through quantitative phase microscopy, we were able to determine that the protein structures had different optical characteristics when compared to the cytoplasm inside the cells. In other words, they optically behaved almost as they do in their native cephalopod leucophores. The team also tested whether the reflectance could potentially be toggled on and off through external stimuli. The authors sandwiched cells in between coated glass plates and applied different concentrations of sodium chloride. Measuring the amount of light that was transmitted by the cells, they found that the ones exposed to higher sodium levels scattered more light and stood out more from the surroundings. Our experiments showed that these effects appeared in the engineered cells but not in cells that lacked the reflectin particles, demonstrating a potential valuable method for tuning light-scattering properties in human cells, Chatterjee said. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications. _____ A. Chatterjee et al. 2020. Cephalopod-inspired optical engineering of human cells. Nat Commun 11, 2708; doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16151-6 The big picture: Businesses that cater to large groups of people were arguably hit the hardest during the pandemic and AMC is no exception. The chain theater operator this week released preliminary results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2020, and it isnt looking good. AMC said it is expecting a net loss of between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion. In comparison, AMC lost just $130.2 million during the same three-month period in 2019. AMC has been struggling for a while now but appeared to have found some traction in recent memory with its Stubs A-List subscription service. When the pandemic hit and the company was forced to close down all of its theaters in the US, that momentum went out the window. In a filing with the SEC this week, AMC said it believes they have the cash resources to reopen theaters and resume operations this summer or later. We cannot assure you that our assumptions used to estimate our liquidity requirements will be correct because we have never previously experienced a complete cessation of our operations, and as a consequence, our ability to be predictive is uncertain. If we do not recommence operations within our estimated timeline, we will require additional capital and may also require additional financing if, for example, our operations do not generate the expected revenues or a recurrence of COVID-19 were to cause another suspension of operations. Such additional financing may not be available on favorable terms or at all. Due to these factors, substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. In other words, if things dont improve, AMC may be forced into bankruptcy. Worse yet, the matter is likely only going to get worse in the second quarter. AMC shut down its theaters in mid-March and plans to keep them closed through June at the earliest. That'll be a full quarter in which AMC will generate "effectively no revenue." AMC is expected to share its full earnings report on June 9. Masthead credit: Syda Productions Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:37:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HOHHOT, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A renowned agronomist and his team began a trial of rice planting in saline-alkali soil in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday. The trial focuses on growing rice on more than 66 hectares of saline-alkali land in Hangjin Banner. It is being conducted by a rice research center based in Qingdao and led by Yuan Longping, an agronomist known for developing the first hybrid rice strains. The center experimented on 181 different strains of rice and eventually found a strain suitable to grow in the region's heavy saline-alkali soil. This laid the foundation for possible mass plantation. Hangjin Banner has at his disposal 26,667 hectares of saline-alkali soil along the Yellow River, which has restricted agricultural benefits and hampered efforts to increase plantation and yields so far. Local authorities have joined hands with the center and plan to plant 6,667 hectares of seawater rice. The project is expected to be completed by 2025. Rice is a staple food in China, as well as in many other Asian countries. China has about 100 million hectares of saline-alkali soil, of which about one-fifth could be ameliorated to arable soil. Enditem Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. New York City, United States -- The change during the COVID-19 pandemic has overhauled our dependence on pattern setting developments, for instance, expanded reality, computer generated reality, and the Healthcare web of things. The unfulfilled cash related targets are persuading the relationship to grasp robotization and forefront advancements to stay ahead in the market competition. Associations are utilizing this open entryway by recognizing step by step operational needs and showing robotization in it to make an automated structure as far as might be feasible. In addition to rapid expansion of bone marrow donor registry, increasing commercialization of cellular therapy and tissue engineering, increased survival rate post bone marrow transplant procedures, and easier access to treatment will be some of the most prominent factors driving the bone marrow transplantation market. According to the latest research by Persistence Market Research, the global bone marrow transplantation market is expected to exceed US$ 12 Bn by the end of 2028. The bone marrow transplantation market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% through the forecast period 2018-2028. Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4288 Company Profile Merck Millipore Corporation Sanofi-Aventis LLC. STEMCELL Technologies. American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) Inc ReeLabs Pvt. Ltd. HemaCare North America Will Continue to Lead the Pack in Bone Marrow Transplantation Market Increasing per-capita healthcare and private insurance expenditure is a major factor that is expected to maintain the high demand for technologically advanced treatment procedures, such as bone marrow transplantation, over the forecast period. Increasing blood cancer cases and geriatric population are among the key factors expected to boost the demand for bone marrow transplantation in North America. The increasing prevalence of myeloma in the region is leading to an increase in the execution of bone marrow transplantation procedures through the allogeneic method. Companies engaged in stem cell therapies are expanding their product portfolio to offer sound treatment solutions for diseases caused while undergoing the allogeneic transplant method. The availability of more than 90% unrelated donors and high healthcare expenditure are among the factors driving the overall bone marrow transplantation market in North America at present. The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplant reported an increasing prevalence of leukemia and lymphoma in patients aged 65 years and above, and this age group constituted 25-30% of the total number of bone marrow transplantation recipients in 2014. In 2015, the Senate and House of Representatives of the US reauthorized the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, which led to an increase in the US unrelated donors registry to 200,000 donors. Germany Will Steer Europes Market for Bone Marrow Transplantation Rise in per capita GDP is expected to improve the healthcare expenditure in countries such as Germany and Spain. Government policymakers are forcing healthcare providers and public payers to disclose the cost charged and reimbursed to maintain price transparency. Healthcare organizations in Germany spend most of their research funding on adult stem cell research. Furthermore, Germany spends 11.3% of its GDP on healthcare, which is above the global average. This, in turn, has led to the presence of better healthcare facilities and more advanced research findings on various healthcare issues such as bone marrow transplantation. Among the 680 centers throughout the Europe, 226 (35%) centers are dedicated to autologous bone marrow transplantation in 2014, with most of the transplants intended for non-malignant disorders. These factors are expected to drive the bone marrow transplantation market in Europe. Get To Know Methodology of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/4288 APAC Reflects Lucrative Potential for Penetration of Bone Marrow Transplantation Procedures Rise in the number of bone marrow transplantation centers and expanding donor registry are among the factors expected to reduce the gap between bone marrow transplantation providers and recipients in the Asia Pacific bone marrow transplantation market. The availability of modern healthcare amenities, along with the presence of several companies engaged in stem cell therapies in China, Australia, and Japan, is expected to be a key factor driving the overall bone marrow transplantation market in Asia Pacific. After the introduction of alleviating procedures for Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) transplant, there has been an increase in the number of allogeneic HSCT procedures using PBSC (64% of the total HSCT) in Australia & New Zealand, which is another factor contributing to the growth of the bone marrow transplantation market in the region. A survey by the Eastern Mediterranean Blood and Marrow Transplant (EMBMT) Group suggests that non-malignant indications accounted for a 36.5% share of the total bone marrow transplantation activities carried out in the MEA region. Countries such as Dubai and Qatar are undertaking initiatives to develop national bone marrow registries to enhance bone marrow transplantation rates. New Delhi: Days after the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir found an IED-laden car in south Kashmirs Pulwama district which was a part of a terrorist attack plan, Intelligence sources said that Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists are planning to conduct another Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attack on security forces in Kashmir valley. Security forces have been put on high alert to foil any such attack by Pakistan-based terror group. On May 28, a joint team of forces recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) from a Santro car in Ayengund area of Rajpora in south Kashmirs Pulwama district. The IED was defused successfully by the bomb disposal squad and a major attack was averted. A Jammu and Kashmir Police officer had told Zee News that security forces had received inputs 4-5 days ago about the movement of the vehicle carrying IED. He said a bomb disposal squad was called to the spot as soon as the IED-laden car was spotted. The search was conducted by a joint team which included 44 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and Pulwama Police. The owner of the car, affiliated with terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist, was detained and interrogated further. Meanwhile, three Jaish terrorists were killed by security forces after an encounter in Kangan area of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. According to Jammu and Kashmir police, huge amount of arms and ammunition were recovered from the killed terrorists. A top commander of Jaish, Abdul Rehman alias Fouji Bhia, was among the three terrorists eliminated in the encounter. Rehman, who was an Afghanistan war participant, was an IED expert and was also the mastermind of the recent failed car bomb attempt in Pulwama Jaish terrorists are reportedly on the backfoot due to large-scale operations being carried put by the security forces. CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africas worst hotspot for the coronavirus is no longer testing most people under age 55 as it tries to clear a backlog of 27,000 tests amid a shortage of kits. Western Cape province, centred on the city of Cape Town, will test people under 55 only if they have serious health conditions, have been admitted to a hospital or are a front-line health worker, Premier Alan Winde said. If youre younger than 55 and you have symptoms, assume you have COVID-19 ... After 14 days, youll be fine. Theres no purpose in getting a test, Western Cape head of health Keith Cloete told radio station Cape Talk this week. People who are younger than 55 and generally healthy are advised to isolate themselves if they show symptoms. We want to preserve tests for where it makes the most difference, Cloete said. The province continues to see a worrying increase in infections that has made it the epicenter of the outbreak in Africa. The Western Cape has a population of around 6 million and more than 24,000 of South Africas 35,725 confirmed cases. The province alone has more confirmed cases than any other country on the 54-nation continent except Egypt. South Africa has the most cases in Africa, where overall cases have surpassed 162,000. The Western Capes testing problems are part of a countrywide issue. South Africa has a national backlog of nearly 100,000 tests, although it has also conducted the most tests in Africa. The Western Cape, one of Africas most popular tourist destinations before the pandemic, is bracing for a peak in COVID-19 infections and deaths in the next few months. It already has 597 of South Africas 792 deaths. Cape Town announced a fatalities management plan last month and said the number of people dying in the city from COVID-19 could reach around 4,000 per month. Testing materials remain in short supply across Africa, but the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a new platform to pool the continents purchasing powers has obtained about 15 million coronavirus testing kits for the next six months. John Nkengasong on Thursday told reporters that the continent is still far behind the goal of conducting at least 10,000 tests per 1 million people. He said just about 1,700 tests are being carried out per million compared to about 37,000 per million in Italy and 30,000 per million in the UK. Nkengasong said 3.4 million tests have been conducted so far across Africa, which has a population of 1.3 billion people, and testing capacity is increasing very, very rapidly. Africas numbers are rising steadily as testing improves, with a 31% increase in new cases since last week. The continents cases represent less than 3% of the global total. ___ Cara Anna in Johannesburg contributed. Bayer AG has been blocked from selling its dicamba-based weedkiller in the United States after an appeals court rejected a federal regulators permit for the product. A three-judge panel ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) substantially understated the risks related to the use of dicamba which is found in herbicides made by Bayer and its rivals. Environmental groups, which filed a lawsuit in 2018, wanted the court to force the EPA to cancel its approval of Monsantos dicamba-based XtendiMax product, arguing it not only harms nearby crops and plants but wildlife as well. Bayer inherited this and other lawsuits two years ago as a result of its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto. The ruling also blocks the selling of other dicamba-based herbicides such as BASFs Engenia and Corteva Agrisciences FeXapan. Both Bayer and BASF said they did not agree with the judgment issued on Wednesday. Bayer said the ruling relates to the EPAs 2018 registration decision, which expires in December and it was working to obtain a new EPA registration for the weedkiller for 2021 and beyond. Depending upon actions by the EPA and whether the ruling is successfully challenged, we will work quickly to minimize any impact on our customers this season, Bayer said. The EPA had imposed restrictions on the use of dicamba in November 2018 due to concerns about the potential damage to crops surrounding those it was being applied to. In February, Bayer had said it would appeal a U.S. jurys $265 million damages award against it and BASF in favor of a Missouri farmer who said the companys dicamba herbicide had destroyed his peach orchards. The latest ruling comes days after a California appeals court heard arguments in the first case that went to trial over allegations that Bayers glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, resulting in an initial $289 million judgment against the company, later reduced to $78 million. Monsanto had dominated soybean sales since the 1990s with Roundup Ready, modified to withstand the weedkiller glyphosate. Some weeds have since developed resistance to glyphosate due to overuse, however, raising the need for soy that can resist alternative herbicides. The latest analyst coverage could presage a bad day for Ted Baker Plc (LON:TED), with the analysts making across-the-board cuts to their statutory estimates that might leave shareholders a little shell-shocked. Revenue estimates were cut sharply as analysts signalled a weaker outlook - perhaps a sign that investors should temper their expectations as well. After the downgrade, the consensus from Ted Baker's seven analysts is for revenues of UK389m in 2021, which would reflect a substantial 37% decline in sales compared to the last year of performance. Per-share earnings are expected to leap 747% to UK0.22. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of UK447m and earnings per share (EPS) of UK0.26 in 2021. Indeed, we can see that the analysts are a lot more bearish about Ted Baker's prospects, administering a measurable cut to revenue estimates and slashing their EPS estimates to boot. See our latest analysis for Ted Baker LSE:TED Past and Future Earnings June 4th 2020 The consensus price target fell 23% to UK2.28, with the weaker earnings outlook clearly leading analyst valuation estimates. 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 Ted Baker, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at UK3.60 and the most bearish at UK1.30 per share. As you can see the range of estimates is wide, with the lowest valuation coming in at less than half the most bullish estimate, suggesting there are some strongly diverging views on how think this business will perform. As a result it might not be possible to derive much meaning from the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates. Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that sales are expected to reverse, with the forecast 37% revenue decline a notable change from historical growth of 11% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 5.7% annually for the foreseeable future. It's pretty clear that Ted Baker's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry. Story continues The Bottom Line The most important thing to take away is that analysts cut their earnings per share estimates, expecting a clear decline in business conditions. Unfortunately analysts also downgraded their revenue estimates, and industry data suggests that Ted Baker's revenues are expected to grow slower than the wider market. Furthermore, there was a cut to the price target, suggesting that the latest news has led to more pessimism about the intrinsic value of the business. Often, one downgrade can set off a daisy-chain of cuts, especially if an industry is in decline. So we wouldn't be surprised if the market became a lot more cautious on Ted Baker after today. So things certainly aren't looking great, and you should also know that we've spotted some potential warning signs with Ted Baker, including its declining profit margins. Learn more, and discover the 5 other flags we've identified, for free on our platform here. Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here. 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. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) play the title characters in Judy & Punch, married puppeteers who share the names and a few personality traits of their most famous creations: the hapless marionette Judy and her abusive, slapstick-wielding husband Punch, whose shows always end with the former getting smacked over the head by the latter. But the titular reversal of the names we know from the traditional Punch and Judy performances, which date to the 17th century, suggests a #MeToo update by Australian filmmaker Mirrah Foulkes, who has turned the tale into a much more darkly comic and at times shockingly violent revenge fantasia. Set in the fictional English town of Seaside (which on-screen titles tell us is nowhere near the sea), the story gets underway after the alcoholic, philandering Punch, who does not share his wifes talent, accidentally kills their baby and, in a fit of guilty rage, beats Judy to a pulp, leaving her for dead. Nursed back to health by a matriarchal community of outcasts who have been ostracized for witchcraft, Judy hatches a way to punish and/or teach Punch a lesson. Foulkes brings the atmosphere of a puppet show to Seaside, which is a place caught somewhere between Shakespearean times and the 20th century. Her command of the films tonal plate tectonics is sure, even when the film is shifting abruptly from the death of a toddler to broad comedy. Unrated. Available June 5 on various streaming platforms. Contains violence (both puppet and human), strong language and brief partial nudity. 116 minutes. By Philip Blenkinsop and Andreas Mortensen BRUSSELS/COPENHAGEN, June 4 (Reuters) - As bars across Europe gradually reopen, up to a million free or pre-paid beers are waiting to lure back wary consumers. Beer makers from global giant Anheuser-Busch InBev to smaller craft brewers have set up schemes for consumers to buy drinks in advance to support shuttered bars with, in some cases, the reward of free beer when the doors reopen. AB InBev launched its first scheme "Cafe Courage" in Belgium and has since sold over 200,000 Stella Artois, Jupiler and other brands. It also started similar schemes in 20 other markets across Europe and from Brazil to Hong Kong, raising over $6 million for pubs, bars and restaurants. World number two Heineken put the number of drinks sold through its various voucher schemes at 270,000. Now the bars are opening, consumers have had their first chance to redeem coupons or vouchers. Danish friends Arendse Rohland and Thomas Hoffner Lovgren were among those to profit from free beers after bars re-opened there on May 18. Danish brewer Carlsberg offered lagers in a bar to consumers who bought bottles or cans from stores in its "Adopt a Keg" scheme. The idea was to lure drinkers back with free drinks and hope that they would then buy more. Hoffner Lovgren and Rohland both seemed willing to do so. "I rarely only drink one beer," Roland said after collecting a free drink at Carl's Ol & Spisehus in a Copenhagen suburb. Drinkers elsewhere are now in line. France became the latest country on Tuesday to allow bars and restaurants to operate after the Netherlands on Monday. Ireland and Belgium are expected to follow later this month, with Britain in July. Julian Marsili, Carlsberg global brand director, said its campaign would even continue into the summer. "Travel will not be massive, at least outside Denmark, so we are encouraging people who want to adopt kegs to explore Denmark further in bars in the tourist places," he said. Story continues The schemes have helped, but not made up the shortfall. In Britain, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said pubs could have recorded their best April in a decade, selling 745 million pints in unseasonably warm and sunny weather. The issue is acute for brewers, with about a third of beer typically consumed in pubs, bars or cafes. In value terms, that can rise to 60-65%, according to Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, secretary general of the Brewers of Europe. Beer sales in stores have risen, but well below the rate of wine and spirits and not enough to make up for the loss of on-premise drinking, according to U.S. data from marketing research firm Nielsen. WILL THEY COME? Reopened bars and restaurants will clearly not operate as they did before the coronavirus closures, with limited time at the bar or table service, shorter hours and measures to minimise contact between staff and customers and to keep customers apart. Emma McClarkin, BBPA chief executive, said the social distancing gap made a big difference. Two metres, currently used in Britain, might only allow only a third of Britain's 47,000 pubs to reopen while a one-metre rule, deemed safe by the World Health Organization, would allow 75% to operate, she said. Brewers have also been helping with some of the new hardware involved and learning from China, where restaurants and bars reopened from March. Jan Craps, chief executive of Budweiser Brewing Co APAC, said the AB InBev Asian subsidiary had sent "welcome kits" including hand sanitizer, gloves, masks and advice to 50,000 bars and restaurants across China and 1,000 plastic screens to help smaller venues separate groups of customers. Craps said the kits were being replicated in many other countries, such as the Americas where the brewer has its largest markets. A study for the brewer of British pub-goers found 93% were keen to revisit their local and over a third intend to visit within a week of reopening. A majority also wanted to keep 2 metres away from strangers. Business will not resume as before. Belgian cafe and restaurant owners expect on average 45% fewer customers as a result of social distancing measures and consumer wariness. "It's not a back to normal situation... establishments now reopening will be reopening under pretty special conditions," Bergeron said. (Writing by Philip Blenkinsop Editing by Alexandra Hudson) TEL AVIV, Israel, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha Tau Medical, the developer of breakthrough alpha-radiation cancer therapy Alpha DaRT, is pleased to announce the closing of a Series B equity financing of $26 million. Investors in the round included a mix of existing investors from previous rounds, such as Shavit Capital, Medison Ventures, and OurCrowd, who continue to demonstrate support for the clinical development of Alpha DaRT, as well as a number of new private and family office investors primarily from Israel and North America. During the last year, Alpha Tau successfully completed its first-in-human clinical trial of Alpha DaRT with squamous cell carcinoma patients from Italy and Israel. The impressive results from this study, published in the prestigious International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (known as the "Red Journal") were subsequently applauded in this recent editorial in the same journal. The Company is now conducting clinical trials in multiple clinical indications across the world, including its first US trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a pancreatic cancer trial at CHUM in Montreal, and trials at three academic institutions in Japan. The Company is also establishing new global manufacturing facilities in Israel and elsewhere, and is in the middle of a process for CE marking for its first indication. These activities and others will be supported by the proceeds of this financing. CEO Uzi Sofer commented, "We are humbled by the groundswell of continued support we've seen from both existing and new investors. This will enable us to push forward our mission to help cancer patients across the world, even during these challenging times in which COVID-19 is the focus of everyone's health concerns." CFO Raphi Levy added, "We have been very fortunate to continue our progress at full speed across all fronts, including R&D, clinical and operations, and now financing as well, even during a period of global turmoil. As concerns associated with systemic cancer therapies that affect the immune system have become more salient, we see strong interest in our trials from clinicians, patients, and investors who recognize the advantages of a focused and highly potent cancer therapy." About AlphaDaRT Alpha DaRT (Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy) enables highly potent and conformal alpha-irradiation of solid tumors. The treatment is delivered by intratumoral insertion of radium-224 impregnated seeds. When the radium decays, its short-lived daughters are released from the seed, and disperse while emitting high-energy alpha particles that destroy the tumor. Since the alpha-emitting atoms diffuse only a short distance, Alpha DaRT mainly affects the tumor, sparing the healthy tissue around it. About Alpha Tau Medical, Ltd. Founded in 2016, Alpha Tau Medical Ltd, is an Israeli medical device company that focuses on research, development, and commercialization of the Alpha DaRT for treatment of solid tumors. The technology was initially developed by Prof. Itzhak Kelson and Prof. Yona Keisari from Tel Aviv University. Media Package: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4wtkdggbyatxyly/AACobJHTz_OD2dNE3Z0cYKc1a?dl=0 Contact: Amnon Gat Tel: +1 833-455-3278 [email protected] SOURCE Alpha Tau Medical Related Links https://www.alphatau.com/ NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OakNorth, the next-generation credit and monitoring platform, today announces the signing of a commercial agreement with PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), one of the leading credit providers to middle market companies across the country. The unprecedented scale and rapid escalation of this crisis has created unimaginable impact on the economy. As a result, commercial lenders need to be able to: Quickly determine the subsector-specific impact of COVID-19 on their portfolio using forward-looking scenarios; Follow through on stress scenarios on a granular, loan-by-loan basis, rather than just at the portfolio level; Re-underwrite loans to businesses that are vulnerable, and all loans at annual review; and Monitor all credits more closely as sectors have become more volatile post-COVID-19. This assessment requires a fundamentally different approach to credit analysis and monitoring. So, to support these lenders, OakNorth has developed a "COVID Vulnerability Rating" (CVR) Framework, which integrates over 130 proprietary subsector-specific COVID-19 stress scenarios with regional overlays, incorporating assumptions for impacts on key financial metrics such as revenue, operating costs, working capital and capex. The Framework enables commercial lenders to re-underwrite loans and bring consistency to their credit approach through the crisis, running risk analysis on a consistent basis. PNC is deploying OakNorth across its C&I and CRE portfolio, mapping individual borrowers to 130 domains. PNC and OakNorth will run portfolio diagnostics on a periodic basis to factor the rapidly evolving scenarios of COVID-19 across subsectors and regions. Rishi Khosla, co-founder of OakNorth, commented: "Never has the need for enriched underwriting, credit science and a forward-looking approach been more important in commercial lending than it is right now with the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19. Instead of a playing for defence, spending time trying to figure out where their current books stand, running scenarios based on financial models that are no longer relevant, and trying to minimise the downside, we are working with lenders to enable them to get on the offensive, focusing on growing their business and orchestrating a consistent customer financing strategy." Media Contacts: Valentina Kristensen, Director Growth & Communications [email protected] / [email protected] +44 (0)757-234-9009 SOURCE OakNorth Related Links https://www.oaknorth.com In a major decision, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), on Thursday, has blacklisted 2200 foreigners who attended the Nizamuddin Markaz event, as per sources. The Centre has been in touch with envoys of different countries from where pilgrims travelled to India for the event, deciding on the action to be taken on these attendees. Moreover, the Centre has also sought deportation of the Markaz attendees, if they test negative for Coronavirus. COVID-19: Govt seeks deportation of foreign Markaz attendees if found negative for COVID Delhi police files chargesheet against 526 Markaz attendees On May 28, the Delhi Police filed 12 charge sheets against 536 Tablighi Jamaat members from three countries. Till now, the police has already filed charge sheets against 374 foreigners from 32 countries. The officials said the charges against the Tablighi Jamaat members pertain to violation of visa rules, government guidelines regarding the Epidemic Disease Act and acting negligently in a way that was likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life. Centre contacts foreign envoys to seek info about Markaz attendees; action likely: Sources Health minister : 'Enough discussion & debate' Previously Union Minister Harsh Vardhan stated that there was no need to discuss and bring up the Tablighi Jamaat event in relation to Coronavirus anymore since 'a lot' had already been said and discussed on it. While answering a question posed by BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao on whether the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi was a 'take-off' point for Coronavirus in the country, Harsh Vardhan stated that he 'feels bad' to raise the issue every time. The Centre had initially stated that 30% of the cases in India were due to the Markaz event. Delhi govt orders release of 4000 Tablighi members who completed quarantine: Sources What is the Nizamuddin COVID-19 scare? On March 30, sources reported that a religious programme was organised at Tablighi Jamaat's headquarters Markaz Nizamuddin mosque between 13-15 March which had over 3400 attendees from Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan and from several states in India. After attending the meeting, prior to the nationwide lockdown, 1500 of these attendees returned to several parts of the country, possibly spreading the COVID-19 virus. The mosque has claimed that while they were letting small groups of attendees leave from the venue prior to the Janta Curfew, several were stuck in the area owing to the nationwide lockdown. All 2631 occupants have been evacuated and the building has been sanitised. The Delhi Crime Branch which has booked the Markaz chief Maulana Saad for violating lockdown, who is still in self-isolation but aiding with the police investigation. Delhi Police to file chargesheets against 536 Tablighi Jamaat members from three nations Nam Y. Huh | AP Attorney General Kwame Raoul is urging Congress to expand federal law to give state attorneys general authority to investigate patterns or practices of unconstitutional policing. Raoul and New York Attorney General Letitia James are leading a coalition of 18 attorneys general in calling for clear statutory authority on patterns of policing. The coalition issued a letter to congressional leadership asking to expand the law enforcement misconduct section of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. They believe attorneys general should have this authority especially in cases in which they believe the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to act. The New Patriotic Party's parliamentary primaries is expected to take off at 7am on June 20. The primaries will end at 12 noon on the same date. Accordingly, counting of ballots will be done simultaneously at all polling stations. The highest decision-making body of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Council yesterday, June 3, 2020, settled on Saturday June 20, 2020 to hold its suspended parliamentary primaries for constituencies with sitting MPs. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra. A statement issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the General Secretary John Boadu, indicated that NPP has scheduled June 20, 2020, to hold its Parliamentary Primaries in the 168 Constituencies where the Party has sitting MPs to elect its Parliamentary Candidates for the 2020 General Elections. According to the statement President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is going unopposed for December presidential polls. The Party has also resolved to acclaim the sole candidate who had filed his nomination to contest in the Presidential Primaries, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Party's 2020 Presidential Candidate, it said. These critical decisions the statement explained were taken by the party at a National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Council meetings jointly held on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra. It said the date for the acclamation of the Presidential Candidate and his Running Mate will soon be communicated to the general public. Equally, the Party will soon issue guidelines for the conduct of the Parliamentary Primaries it stated. The NPP had scheduled the parliamentary primaries for April 25, 2020, but was forced to postpone it indefinitely due to the ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The meeting chaired by the National Chairman, Freddie Blay was attended by President Akufo-Addo, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, General Secretary, John Boadu, and leading members of the party across the country. ---Daily Guide The easing of restrictions follows an announcement by the US that it is banning all Chinese airlines, starting from June 16. From Monday, foreign airlines can once again fly into China. Beijing had refused to let in American passenger flights due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the easing of restrictions follows an announcement by the US that it is banning all Chinese airlines, starting from June 16. Al Jazeeras Katrina Yu reports from Beijing. 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 BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 4 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: A total of 30 more coronavirus cases have been confirmed among the staff of Kazakhstans Tengiz oil and gas field, bringing a total to 1,006 people, Trend reports with reference to the Operative Headquarters of Atyrau region. The report said that these cases were detected as a result of a screening. One more coronavirus-related death was also reported at the field, bringing the total number of deaths among Tengiz staff to two. On May 20, 2020 Kazakhstans Chief Sanitary Doctor Aizhan Yesmagambetova said that operations at TCO-operated Tengiz oil and gas field may be suspended if number COVID-19 cases among fields staff continues to increase. The first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020. The total number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Kazakhstan since the virus was first confirmed in the country amounted to 12,067 cases. This includes 6,240 people who recovered from the coronavirus, and 48 patients who passed away. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh First Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters arrives for a press conference on the Madeleine McCann case at the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, Germany - AP Christian Bruckner, the new German suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, may be the most compelling lead in the case in 13 years. But there is still a long way to go before he faces prosecution. So far the 43-year-old has not been charged in connection with Madeleines case. All that has happened is that German police and prosecutors have opened an investigation into his possible involvement, and appealed for anyone with information to come forward. The next step will be for prosecutors to decide whether to bring charges. In most cases, Bruckner would remain at liberty during this process, and prosecutors would face the real risk he could attempt to flee Germany before charges could be brought. But in this case they have a little more time at their disposal, because Bruckner is already serving a 15-month sentence for drug offences. He also faces a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same town where Maddie disappeared, if it is upheld on appeal. Bruckner's appeal centres on the argument that his rape trial should have been dealt with by the Portuguese authorities. The matter has been referred to the European Court of Justice according to The Times. German national Christian Brueckner, who has been named as the suspect in the murder of Madeleine McCann, seen in a Hannover bar in 2011 If prosecutors decide to bring charges against Bruckner, he will be formally arrested and brought before a judge, who must decide if there is a case to answer. If he rules there is, Bruckner can be held in pre-trial detention for up to six months before his case reaches the court, or longer in exceptional circumstances. The likelihood is that he will be tried in Germany, although Portugal could make a claim as the country where the crime was committed. In general, Germany does not extradite its own nationals as it is forbidden under the countrys constitution. The one exception is extradition to other European Union members, and Portugal could request Bruckners extradition by issuing a European arrest warrant. It is highly unlikely he will be tried in the UK. Trials are rarely held in the home country of a victim of crime abroad, and Germany has made clear it will not extradite its nationals to the UK following Brexit. Story continues A German trial would be held under a very different legal system from the UKs. There are no juries in Germany. Instead a serious case like this would be likely to be held before a panel of three to five judges. There are no pleas in the German justice system: the accused do not have to plead guilty or not guilty. They are entitled to remain silent,, but can make a statement at the outset if they wish. The German system is inquisitorial, with the judges leading questioning of witnesses. Prosecution and defence lawyers are also allowed to ask questions, but there is no formal cross-examination. The judges will deliver both the verdict and the sentence. German prosecutors have said they believe Maddie is dead, and Bruckner is currently being investigated on suspicion of murder. Madeleine McCann, - PA If found guilty of murder, he would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. He would become eligible for parole after 15 years but there would be no guarantee it would be granted. German parole boards can and do refuse to release prisoners early, and in theory he could be held for life. If he were found guilty of the lesser offence of sexually abusing a child, he would face up to ten years in prison with the possibility of parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence. If found guilty of causing death by sexual assault, the maxmium sentence is life imprisonment. Even those who have served their complete sentences can be kept in prison in Germany if they are deemed a danger to society. A court can order that they remain in preventive detention for an unlimited period. In May and June 1939, 81 years ago, a drama between the ports in Hamburg, Havana and Miami played out with tragic consequences as 937 passengers aboard the MS St. Louis, almost all Jewish refugees, sought refuge in Cuba or the United States. They did not get it. The ships captain, Gustav Schroeder, was forced to make the return trip to Western Europe. Researchers know that of the returning passengers, 254 perished in the Holocaust, most in the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor. It was the voyage of the damned. The United States could have saved those refugees at the port in Miami, but it chose not to. The St. Louis set sail on May 13, 1939. By all accounts, Schroeder was an admirable German sea captain. He instructed his crew to treat the passengers with respect and dignity. He allowed Jewish religious services on board, permitted kosher food to be served, provided child care, had swimming lessons in the pool and covered a bust of Adolf Hitler with a tablecloth. When it became obvious that hope was lost and the St. Louis had to return, Schroeder, knowing his passengers would be arrested in Germany, made a slow journey back until a safe haven for the refugees could be found. Eventually, the ship docked on June 17 at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium. The United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to take the passengers. The Nazi government gave Schroeder a desk job, and he never sailed again. He died in 1959, and 24 years later, he was named as one of the Righteous Among the Nations at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel. For many returning passengers in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, the Nazi occupation of Western Europe sealed their fate. Of the 620 passengers who ended up in continental Europe upon return, 41 percent died in the Holocaust. It could have been different. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt could have issued an executive order to admit the refugees. He didnt. Congress could have relaxed immigration laws and passed the Wagner-Rogers Bill, which would have admitted 20,000 more Jewish children from Germany than allowed by the existing quota. It didnt. The public could have been less anti-Semitic and less resentful of immigrants and demanded their government act more humanely. They didnt. Recently, the Canadian Jewish Congress (whose government had been asked for passenger refuge and refused) produced a Wheel of Conscience memorial monument with four gears, each with a word describing the legacy of the St. Louis: anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism and hatred. If it had two additional gears, they could have added nativism and intolerance. The governments of the United States and Canada have formally apologized for their lack of action in 1939, when both could have given sanctuary to the refugees and saved lives. But neither government rushed into those apologies. The United States didnt do it until 2012, and Canada did not get around to it until 2018. I teach a course on the social history of the Holocaust and when the story of the St. Louis is addressed, most students are appalled the U.S. showed such indifference to the plight of the refugees. We could have taken them! is a typical response. How could we be so inhumane? is another. And this gets us to today. In 2017, a Twitter account listed the names of all the St. Louis passengers who died during the Holocaust. The account was created the day before President Donald Trump issued an executive order that stopped immigration from specific Muslim countries. But the administration did not stop at that. The Southern Poverty Law Center notes: The Trump administration has enacted policy after policy aimed at eviscerating the legal rights of people seeking asylum and creating the harshest conditions possible for them. The U.S. has more than 200 immigrant prisons and jails, more than any other country. Between 40,000 and 50,000 children and adults are in detention. We separate families and often deny them access to an attorney. Many are subjected to medical neglect and physical abuse. And a recent Human Rights Watch report noted that since 2013, some 138 Salvadorans have been killed since their repatriation. They fled violence in El Salvador, and the U.S. returned them right back to it. The 2020 war on asylum-seekers has created a huge humanitarian crisis that looks like another version of the St. Louis. Roger C. Barnes is chair of the Sociology Department at the University of the Incarnate Word. BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks fell on profit taking Thursday after recent strong gains on hopes of an economic recovery and expectations of more stimulus. Late Wednesday, the German coalition government agreed to a 130 billion ($211 billion) stimulus package to help Europe's biggest economy recover from the coronavirus crisis. The European Central Bank is expected to ramp up emergency bond purchases when it reviews its monetary policy later today. The benchmark CAC 40 was down 15 points, or 0.29 percent, at 5,007 after rising as much as 3.4 percent the previous day. Banks were moving lower, with BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale falling between 0.6 percent and 1.6 percent. Automaker Renault fell 1.2 percent and Peugeot declined 1.4 percent. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton shares fell 1 percent. The luxury products maker confirmed that it is not considering buying Tiffany & Co. shares on the market. Spirits company Remy Cointreau jumped 9 percent after it predicted a strong recovery in the second half, driven by China and the United States. 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. After June 2 Primary Results, Democrats and Republicans to Compete for 8 Congressional Seats Seven states held primaries on Tuesday, with some results setting the stage for critical competitions in Novembers Senate and House races. Based on Tuesdays outcomes, the states with the most potential to shift power on Capitol Hill are Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. Republican candidate Victoria Spartz won Indianas district 5. Compared to other candidates she raised and spent the most, getting the backing of the Club for Growth and local GOP business owners. Club for Growth is a national network of over 250,000 members who advocate for limited government and believe that prosperity and opportunity come from economic freedom. Former Democratic State Rep. Christina Hale won her respective House primary in Indianas 5th district on Tuesday. She along with Spartz and will face off in November in the race to replace retiring Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.). Both Hale and Spartz received nearly 70 percent of votes according to The Associated Press. President Trump took the 5th district in 2016. Indiana Democrat Frank Mrvan and Republican Mark Leyva won their House primaries in Indianas 1st Congressional District on Tuesday and will face off against each other to replace retiring Rep. Pete Visclosky (D) in November. This district went to Hillary Clinton with 54 percent of the vote in 2016. The Cook Political Report lists it as lean Republican. I am honored to receive the endorsement of Congressman Pete Visclosky and the United Steelworkers. I will do my very best to build on the successes of Congressman Visclosky and be a champion for all steelworkers and the domestic steel and manufacturing industries, said Mrvan. In Iowa, Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) won district 2. Miller-Meeks got the backing of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst, as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. She will face Democrat Rita Hart in the general election. Miller Meeks received 48 percent of votes on Tuesday. Miller-Meeks is a doctor who previously directed the Iowa Department of Public Health and served for 24 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. In 2018, she won the Iowa Senate District 41 seat. @millermeeks is a strong, conservative leader and veteran who will do great things for the people of IA02. I congratulate her on tonights primary victory, and look forward to working with her in Congress this fall once she flips this seat! wrote Rep. Steve Scalise. Meanwhile, Theresa Greenfield a Democrat took the Iowa Senate nomination. She raised $7.1 million and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee backed the real estate executive, who will face Republican Senator Joni Ernst in November. Thank you, Iowa, Im honored to be your Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Were one step closer to flipping this #IASen seat. Help send this scrappy farm kid to the Senate. Chip in right now, said Greenfield. In the race for Montanas Senate seat, Montanas Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is giving incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines a run for his money. Since deciding to challenge Daines for the Senate seat, Bullock has left Republicans scrambling for financial resources and has put a spotlight on this race. Bullock is expected to win, having raised more than 10 times what Daines has. Republican, Yvette Herrell took New Mexicos second congressional district. Sitting in the southern portion of the state, it is a highly competitive swing district that Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres-Small won back in the 2018 midterms. Herrell, a member of the state House, got 72 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press, and will face Torres for the second time. Thank you to New Mexicos Second District Republicans for your tremendous vote of confidence tonight! Together we are going to take back our district and turn New Mexico red! she wrote on Twitter Wednesday. The vote count is incomplete but it looks like Pennsylvanias first district will go to Democrat Christina Finello, who focused her campaign on backing unions and protecting the Affordable Care Act. She will face a Republican challenger in November. The Pennsylvania fifth district has two Republicans running a close race to try to unseat a Democrat. The Republican National Campaign Committee has targeted Pennsylvanias seventh congressional district as an opportunity to flip in November. The GOP are also targeting Pennsylvanias eight congressional district, and incumbent Democratic Rep. Mike Cartwright has held on to the seat even though Trump won the district in 2016. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D) won New Hampshires district 3, which is being vacated by Ben Ray Lujan. Leger Fernandez secured endorsements, from EMILYs List, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the Latino Victory Fund, and raised nearly $1.3 million. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) kept his nomination for Marylands 5th district. Hoyer has been in Congress for 40 years and has the backing of the Democratic establishment. Sir Keir Starmer will become the first leader of the opposition to host a regular half-hour phone-in on radio next week. The Labour leader will join LBC for Call Keir, which will air during the stations biggest programme, Nick Ferrari at Breakfast. Sir Keir will be challenged and questioned by listeners across the UK about political issues of the day. The first call-in will take place monthly and will begin next Monday at 9am. Sir Keir said: Im very conscious that one of my first jobs is to rebuild trust in the Labour Party with the public. The best way of doing that is to listen to the public and to LBCs listeners and hear what theyve got to say. What I always get from these phone-ins is a real sense of what matters to people. Having people on, telling me what they think, is the only way to gauge what people think and to hear what their real concerns are. Im looking forward to it. Several politicians have held phone-in shows on LBC in the past, including Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London and Nick Clegg when he was deputy prime minister. On Wednesday, Sir Keir accused the government of winging its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and told Mr Johnson to get a grip. Recommended Keir Starmer says Boris Johnson ignored his offer to work together In an interview with The Guardian, he said: I am putting the prime minister on notice that he has got to get a grip and restore public confidence in the governments handling of the epidemic. If we see a sharp rise in the R rate, the infection rate, or a swathe of local lockdowns, responsibility for that falls squarely at the door of No 10. We all know the public have made huge sacrifices. This mismanagement of the last few weeks is the responsibility of the government. Sir Keir added: My (worry) is that after a week or more of mismanagement, Im deeply concerned the government has made a difficult situation 10 times worse. There is a growing concern the government is now winging it. At precisely the time when there should have been maximum trust in the government, confidence has collapsed. The Minnesota attorney general filed new charges Wednesday in the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, adding a second-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin and charging the other three officers involved in the arrest with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin has already been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The additional charges arrived days after the states attorney general, Keith Ellison, at the urging of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, took over the prosecution of the case from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. Each of the four officers now faces up to 40 years in prison, according to the criminal complaint. Advertisement The elevated charge against Chauvin, who knelt on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes before his death, accuses the 44-year-old white officer of committing murder without intent to do so. First-degree murder charges in Minnesota require premeditation, Ellison said Wednesday, MPR reports. Second-degree murder charges involve unintentional killing while committing a felony. Ellison said in this case the felony was an assault on Floyd. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The three other officers on the sceneThomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thaowere fired along with Chauvin in the immediate aftermath of the killing, and faced their first criminal charges Wednesday of aiding and abetting Chauvins alleged murder of Floyd. All three officers were taken into custody Wednesday and are being held on $1 million bail. Chauvin was arrested last week and is currently being held in a state corrections facility. Advertisement Advertisement Representatives for Floyds family welcomed the news, but noted that charges were not the same as convictions. Ellison said he is confident that he can gain convictions of the charged officers, but prosecuting police officers for killings on duty has historically been difficult. Charges against officers are rare, and convictions even rarer, the Washington Post notes. Since 2005, 110 nonfederal law enforcement officers in the United States have been arrested for murder or manslaughter for shooting someone on duty, according to a tally kept by Philip Stinson, a Bowling Green State University professor. From those ranks, five have been convicted of murder, five of homicide and another 22 of manslaughter. Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 04.06.2020: Armenia has confirmed a record of 697 new cases, bringing the total number to 11,221 cases. In total, 176 patientsan increase by 6have died thus far. Health minister Arsen Torosyan has presented the COVID-19 new data during the government's meeting. He noted that 391 people are in serious condition, 59 people are in critical condition, 15 people are connected to artificial ventilators. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan continues to post on his Facebook photos that he receives from Facebook users of citizens violating anti-epidemic rules. According to PM, "the situation is getting worse" in Armenia. "This means that we are in a situation where our medical facilities are in a state that there are people who already need to be hospitalized, whom we are not able to hospitalize in time," he added. Given the situation created, wearing masks in all public open spaces will be mandatory in Armenia, said Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan on Wednesday. According to him, they consider some extreme measures, including the restrictions on movement, bans on economic activity, as well as declaring a curfew. Armenian State Revenue Committee's head Davit Ananyan has submitted his resignation. He took to his Facebook to share the news to "dispel the news in the press." Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has filed a lawsuit against the Penitentiary Service with the demand to lift the restrictions on visits, Kocharyans attorney Hayk Alumyan noted. The lawsuit was filed yesterday and has been inscribed to Judge Artsrun Mirzoyan. Armenias ex-minister of finance Gagik Khachatryan and his sons have sued PM Nikol Pashinyan, his spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan, and the PM's Office. The Khachatryans demand them to apologize for an offensive statement and refute defamatory news. The Armenian government approved Thursday the letter-agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the use of reserve program funds and the receiving of additional loans. This letter-agreement, however, still has to be endorsed by the Constitutional Court and the National Assembly. As a result of this agreement, about $280mn of budget funds are currently available for Armenia, and another about $35mn will be available as a result of the third revision of the program. French-Armenian director Nora Martirosyans film Should the Wind Fall has been selected for the 73rd Cannes Film Festival. The film has been produced by France, Belgium, and Armenia. This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays. Weve gotten used to thinking of the internet as a unified language across the world. Whether we live in Mumbai or Miami, we have Facebook and YouTube in common. Spotify, Netflix, TikTok and Uber are popular in many countries. But as the internet morphs from a nice-to-have luxury into an essential service for billions of people, its becoming less like an online Esperanto and more like the cacophony of languages in the real world. As the already popular (and mostly American or Chinese) digital powers like Google and Alibaba try to expand their reach to nearly every corner of the globe, theyre competing more and more particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America with powerful local or regional companies. That competition boils down to a question: Will the internet be one world, or will it have borders? Having totally different online hangouts in different countries could be messy. Will the world become more fractured if we dont even share a love of the same app? New Delhi: The police on Thursday filed three more charge sheets in as many cases related to the February communal riots in a Delhi court, which posted the matter for June 18, when it is likely to take cognisance of the charge sheets. Two cases were related to the alleged murder of two brothers Hashim Ali and Amir Ali and the third pertained to the murder of a restaurant waiter, Dilbar Negi, whose charred body with his arms severed was found in the eatery that was torched during the riots on February 26. The charge sheet in Hashims murder case named nine people; 11 people were booked for his brother Amirs murder. All 20 people have been charged with rioting, unlawful assembly and murder. A total of 12 people have been charged with allegedly murdered Negi. At least 53 people died and more than 400 were injured in the rioting in northeast Delhi in February that started as clashes between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA. The charge sheets on Thursday were filed before duty magistrate Richa Parihar. None of the suspects arrested in the three cases have received bail, senior crime branch officers associated with the cases said. The police, in a statement released on Thursday, said the rioting in the two cases involving the two brothers had taken place in Bhagirathi Vihar, Johripur area on February 25 and 26. Four bodies were recovered after the violence following which four separate first information reports were filed in the case, the statement said. During the investigation, the police said, it was found that a WhatsApp group had been created on the intervening night that had 125 members. Two active members of this WhatsApp group were located and joined in the investigation. During the investigation, their mobile phones were scanned and the specific WhatsApp group created on February 25 was also identified. It was revealed that while some members of these groups were only sending and receiving chats, a few others were involved in active rioting. the police said. Of the four slain people, the two brothers were allegedly beaten to death by a mob when they were returning to their house in the area on the night of February 26, the police said. The charge sheets were filed under sections 147 and 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. The offences entail a maximum punishment of death. The police identified some of the active members of the WhatsApp group as Himanshu Thakur, Jatin Chaudhary, Prince Chaudhary and Ankit. The police also said they recovered a stolen phone belonging to one of the dead. Negis burnt body was found in one of the properties set on fire by a mob, the warehouse of a restaurant where he had come for lunch and rest, crime branch officers said.The police said the mob engaged in violence until late in the night, targeting and torching properties. A man identified as Rahul Solanki of Mahalaxmi Enclave was also shot dead in the late evening, following which case was registered against 12 people. The 12 persons charged in Negis murder case included Shahnawaz, Salman and Sonu Saifi. All of them have been charged with f murder, rioting, promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion and criminal conspiracy, and are in judicial custody. Waking up to depressing statistics has become the new normal of our life amid the lockdown. But amidst this negative chaos, we must not forget to take a break and look up some happy content. In todays edition of happy content, we have the furry Australian wildlife, reminding us of more relaxed and laidback times. As we sit back and dream of splendid vacations in Australia, these furry animals are chilling in their natural habitat with no worry in the world. From baby koalas to kangaroos, pick your spirit animal for the week and channel their Zen mode at home. Be This Contented Koala Meet Wolverine the koala, who lives at Queenslands Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. All he needs is a nice, long belly scratch and he is happy as a bear (literally). His hakuna matata (no worries) lifestyle is something we really aspire to have. Hit Snooze This sleepy quokka on Western Australias Rottnest Island is definitely our lockdown spirit animal. His snooze mood is just the reminder we needed to enjoy life at a slower pace. All You Need Is Love (Or Kangaroo Cuddles) The Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs rescues and rehabilitates dozens of orphaned kangaroos. And they are always looking for some tender love and care, and not to forget some cuddles too! Slow Down And Relax Nothing calms your mind like slowing down. And watching this gentle serene sea turtle floating away in the calm ocean current is just the kind of blue we need. Sea turtles are found in abundance in Australia and their morning swimming spots include the 17 different beaches surrounding the Great Keppel Island in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. This is How You Hang Out Weve been doing it wrong all along! This koala at the Australia Reptile Park in New South Wales Central Coast teaches us how to hangout the Aussie style. Bring Out The Antics Like This Sea Lion There are plenty of playful sea lions clowning around South Australias Port Lincoln. You can swim around these mushy sea lions at the Eyre Peninsula, but until then take a cue and bring out your crazy fun side at home. The sleepy quokka is clearly my spirit animal (what about you?) and Im about to hit snooze to dream about my pending Aussie vacation. The D stands for Day, according to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit educational foundation established to maintain a memorial to the valor, fidelity and sacrifice of the Allied Armed Forces who landed in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. According to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, The terms D-Day and H-Hour are used for the day and hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. They designate day and hour for an operation when the actual day and hour have not yet been determined, or where secrecy is essential. Plans for large-scale operations are made long before specific dates are set, the site explains. Thus, orders are issued for the various steps to be carried out on the D-day or H-hour minus or plus a certain number or days, hours or minutes. At the appropriate time, a subsequent order is issued that states the actual day and times. The terms are sometimes used in combination with other numbers and plus or minus signs to indicate time before or after the specific action, such as H-3 meaning three hours before the action and D+3 meaning three days after it. 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 Former Pentagon chief Jim Mattis issued a stinging rebuke of his erstwhile boss Donald Trump on Wednesday, accusing the president of trying to "divide" America and failing to provide "mature leadership" as the country reels from days of protests. Mattis, who resigned in December 2018 over Trump's ordering of a full troop withdrawal from Syria, also voiced support for the demonstrators whose anti-racism rallies have roiled the country. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people -- does not even pretend to try," Mattis wrote in a blistering statement posted online by The Atlantic. "Instead, he tries to divide us," added the retired Marine general, who had previously argued it would be inappropriate for him to criticize a sitting president. "We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," he stated. Mattis described himself as "angry and appalled" after witnessing events of the last week, which saw Trump threaten a military crackdown on American citizens as nationwide protests turned violent in some cities. The fury was ignited by the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a black man who suffocated beneath the knee of a white police officer, and whose agonizing death was filmed by bystanders. The demonstrations have mostly been peaceful, but some have degenerated into violence and looting as night falls. Mattis wrote that the protesters' call for equal justice was a "wholesome and unifying demand." And he slammed the decision to use force to clear peaceful protesters from near the White House on Monday to allow Trump to pose for photographs at a nearby damaged church, calling it an "abuse of executive authority." The photo op has become a lightning rod for criticism of Trump's handling of the crisis, with religious leaders, politicians, and onlookers around the country expressing outrage. "When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution," Mattis stated. "Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens -- much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside." Trump dismissed Mattis with a tweet, rehashing his claim that he "essentially" fired his Pentagon chief. "Probably the only thing Barack Obama and I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world's most overrated General," the president wrote. Mattis was head of US Central Command when Obama fired him in 2013 over his hawkish views on Iran. - 'We can unite without him' - For months after Mattis resigned, he refused to criticize Trump publicly, insisting the military must remain apolitical. Wednesday's statement appeared to signaled he no longer felt bound by that sentiment, as he called for solidarity -- with or without the president. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society," Mattis wrote. Retired Marine Corps General John Allen echoed Mattis' criticism of Trump after his speech threatening to deploy the US military against American citizens. "To even the casual observer, Monday was awful for the United States and its democracy," the former commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan wrote in Foreign Policy. "The president's speech was calculated to project his abject and arbitrary power, but he failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment." Allen, president of the Brookings Institution, also took aim at the president's church photo-op. "Donald Trump isn't religious, has no need of religion, and doesn't care about the devout, except insofar as they serve his political needs," he wrote. A man police say went limp and died while resisting arrest in a gated community near The Broadmoor has been identified as 49-year-old Chad Bur THE pharmacy of the future has arrived and it's not in downtown Kyoto. It's Conaty's CarePlus in Dunboyne. "If you wanted to build a pharmacy to trade in a post-pandemic world, this is what you'd build," Eoin McCormack says as he shows off the newest addition to the 60-strong CarePlus chain. McCormack is a retail veteran who's taken over as managing director of Navi Retail and its rapidly expanding CarePlus brand. Arriving at the Co Meath shop, customers are greeted by a pharmacist at a welcome counter, where they're advised to have their temperature taken by facial scan. Inside, the wide-open layout looks almost nothing like a traditional pharmacy. There's little merchandise on display, and no shelves on the shop floor. The interior is dominated by seven 55-inch video screens. Touch one - after using the adjacent disinfectant gel - and the beaming CarePlus brand is replaced by virtual shelves in high definition. The screens allow customers to browse stock, research products and read recommendations. The open plan leaves plenty of space to talk with the pharmacist, who is based firmly front of shop. Once you've made your choices, the machine prints a ticket with a scannable code. All the while, on another video screen above the payment counter, a green cartoon creature snores in its bed. Once you scan your code, the animated Bobbie the Robot awakens to 'take your order'. A real-life robotic sorting machine behind a glass wall whirrs into life to collect your goods, and slides it within seconds down a corkscrew delivery chute right in front of you. While Bobbie the Robot may seem gimmicky, the automated order filling system is seriously slick. It has been designed over two years using CarePlus owner Navi's own touch-screen retail software paired with robotics by German mechanical engineering firm Gollmann. CarePlus didn't develop the automation-heavy design with Covid-19 in mind, but eliminating clutter and minimising the need for humans to do routine hands-on tasks feels prescient. The Dunboyne shop is first to relaunch as a so-called 'Gen 2' facility. McCormack says the next, in Loughrea, Co Galway, "won't have any shelves at all". He expects CarePlus to double its outlets to 120 by the end of 2021. Its biggest franchisee owns five pharmacies. The 'Gen 2' system has both novelty and commercial appeal, because it frees up so much floorspace. The design could prove particularly useful for pharmacies with a neglected floor above the shop, where the Gollmann stock dispenser could be positioned. The greatest surprise may be that this high-tech retailing is designed for small owner-operators. CarePlus runs a franchise model, one of McCormack's areas of expertise from his two decades working in the Musgrave Group. There he oversaw absorption of Superquinn into the SuperValu network. In the past year he led Donnybrook Fair following Musgraves' purchase of that high-end Dublin food and grocery chain. He's now taken the helm of retail operations at the Navi Group, including responsibility for the CarePlus brand, which was founded five years ago and is better known than the parent company. As he shows off the Dunboyne fit-out, McCormack says the chain is reshaping how pharmacies operate. It's not cheap. Pharmacies joining CarePlus may invest 100,000 or more in transforming their premises. But he says independents have little choice but to invest in new technology in an ultra-competitive sector. "It takes a little bit of bravery but right now is a great time to invest," he says. "Retailers and corporates that are going to win right now are the ones looking at the crisis and saying: where is the resurgence coming from and how do we get ready?" Navi expects to win converts to the new CarePlus design in part because 500 pharmacies nationwide are already clients of Navi's bulk purchasing platform, Axiom. It sources goods primarily from pharma wholesaler Uniphar and directly from manufacturers. Despite being new to the pharmacy business, McCormack says he's managed rapid retail change for decades. From Dundrum, Co Dublin, he trained as an accountant after school at St Benildus College in nearby Kilmacud. He joined Musgrave in 2000 after three-year spells as a graduate trainee at pallet maker Chep and as finance director of Colgate's Irish operations. Initially he was commercial director of Musgrave's wholesale division, overseeing buying and marketing for cash-and-carry units and supplying corner shops. His next task was to turn around Musgrave's food services unit supplying hotels, restaurants, pubs and caterers. "In the space of four years, we took that business from being declining and loss-making to being very rapidly growing and profitable," he says. "We didn't sufficiently understand what the customers really wanted. We had to simplify and improve efficiency throughout our offering. It involved lots of restructuring of the distribution network, and improvements in how we managed relationships with customers and understood what was important to them. "Once we got that right, the business turned around quickly," he says, noting it went from losing 2m a year to a 4m gain in his final year. Next came promotion to be marketing and trading director of Musgrave's 2011 acquisition Superquinn and, a year later, its managing director as Superquinn stores formally joined the SuperValu brand. "Superquinn had lost its way a little bit. They had run out of cash so there was limited capital investment ability in the business. We were able to keep the fantastic quality associated with Superquinn, but we brought the power of Musgrave and the SuperValu brand behind that to deliver much better value. The consumer who had felt, 'Superquinn's stuff is great but I can't afford it' - we made it affordable." Over the past year, as managing director of Donnybrook Fair, McCormack focused on harnessing the quality of its 100-chef food production unit in Clondalkin. As a result, he expects Donnybrook Fair-branded goods to appear soon in other Musgrave chains, including Frank & Honest coffee houses. But when Navi Group CEO Simon Healy sounded him out for a move, McCormack says he saw "a chance not just to work with a brand, but to transform an industry". He says automation and efficiency are essential "to make sure those community pharmacists have a successful and viable future. If you don't invest in your business and adapt, your business is going to die. "Our job is to help independents survive - exactly what Musgrave did. All those independent food retailers, what are they now? They're SuperValus and Centras. They're still independent but part of a bigger team. They're successful because they work with a partner that's thinking about the future and working collaboratively. "We want to do the same thing with CarePlus. All those community pharmacies out there - we don't want to put them out of business. We want to give them a solution that protects their future. But will they need to invest? Yeah, they will. Because in retail, you can never save your way to success." June 3, 2020 Ottawa, Ontario, National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Through Canadas defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, our government is providing the women and men of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) with the modern equipment it needs to support its maritime operational capabilities. As part of this investment for the RCN, a contract valued at $35 million was awarded to Zodiac Hurricane Technologies of Delta, B.C. for the acquisition of 30 new multi-role boats. These new boats will replace the rigid hull inflatable boats currently used on the RCNs fleet of Halifax-class frigates with a more modern and operationally flexible design. This contract will result in creating or sustaining an estimated 25 jobs in Canada. Multi-role boats are small, fast, and maneuverable vessels used by RCN ships to conduct a wide range of tasks at sea, including, search and rescue, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and marine interdiction operations in which Canada has become a world leader. These boats will also help with improved dive support, cargo and personnel transfers, and can provide support to other Canadian Armed Forces elements. All 30 of the new boats are expected to be delivered to the RCN by spring 2024. Neureka! brain health research is leaving the lab and coming to your smartphone The COVID-19 pandemic has made many aspects of face-to-face research impossible for the foreseeable future, pushing scientists to explore remote ways of continuing their research and collecting data. But even before the pandemic, a seismic shift in this direction was already taking place in the field of brain health. Traditional methods in mental health and dementia research would normally see research participants visit a lab to perform tests, however this method has historically led to difficulties in enrolling large enough samples of people to yield compelling and reproducible datasets. While numbers in the hundreds might be enough to show if a drug can have a significant effect on a brain function such as memory, when researchers are trying to identify what predisposes the brain to develop depression or dementia and how and why the brain changes in these disorders, thousands of participants may be needed to yield conclusive results. Now scientists at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at Trinity College Dublin hope to tackle this problem using a new smartphone app to carry out a range of major research projects designed to tackle the brain basis of disorders of the mind - from the most widespread mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, to dementia, a problem of increasing global concern as our populations live longer. The new smartphone app, called neureka, launched today ( Tuesday, June 2nd) is a collection of research studies delivered through brain games and self-reflection challenges that allows users to have fun and learn about themselves, while also playing a major part in cutting edge scientific research. Among several research studies delivered through the app, one will help the team at GBHI to identify modifiable risk factors for disorders of the mind - things that individuals and policy-makers can do to prevent people from developing these potentially devastating conditions. neureka is a nod to that indescribable "eureka!" moment that comes with new scientific discovery, but also the 86 billion neurons in our brains that inspired the creation of the app. Dr Claire Gillan, GBHI Faculty, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Trinity and Principal Investigator said: "One of the really unique aspects of this project is that we are trying to make participating in science fun - we've hidden the things we are testing inside games that we hope the public will want to play. If this works, there is huge potential for studying cognition on a whole new scale. Imagine if Pokemon Go or Candy Crush weren't just games? If at the same time, players were helping researchers to understand how the brain works and how we can develop new ways to prevent mental health conditions and dementia." For example, if scientists want to understand whether having the odd glass of red wine protects us from getting dementia, we need to estimate the influence of wealth, culture, climate, and a myriad of other contributing factors before they can arrive at a conclusion. This means it takes thousands of people to come together so the scientists can answer some of the most important questions in brain health today! Considering these limitations; this vital research simply cannot move as fast as we need it to. In the era of data science, the field is crying out for richer and more complex datasets that permit us to develop individualised understanding of brain health. This data can capture not just the complexity of the brain, but also its moment-by-moment interaction with the environment, and how these conspire to make someone feel acutely unwell. Dr Gillan continued: "We simply cannot have 20,000 people come into our lab to do an experiment - it's not feasible, let alone have them come in once a week for several months. This new technology allows us to track, for the first time, how cognition evolves over time and in concert with changes in life circumstances and one's mental health. It's these time courses that are going to allow us to ask the most important, but difficult to address, questions around cause and effect." Now, by simply using their smartphone to complete challenges, users can play brain games and anonymously and confidentially share their personal experience of mental health with the GBHI research team. By using the app, they can play an enormous part in fighting disorders of the brain. The more people that engage with the app; the more scientists will learn about what causes dementia and mental health problems - and how we can intervene before people get sick. Speaking on the potential reach of the neureka app, Professor Brian Lawlor, Deputy Executive Director of GBHI and Conolly Norman Chair in Old Age Psychiatry at Trinity said: "Here at GBHI we are very excited about the release of neureka. By moving research in brain health from the lab to the smartphone, Dr Gillan is addressing the important issue of inequity of access to research participation. neureka can potentially reach and benefit much larger numbers of people, including marginalised groups. GBHI believes very strongly that we need to include these vulnerable groups in research as they are particularly at risk from threats to brain health." Dr Claire Gillan concluded: "The goal here is to understand all the different ways people keep their brains healthy. The app is for everyone - those who personally struggle with their mental health, have family risk, or have no problems whatsoever. Whoever you are, your data is a crucial part of the puzzle and will help us build the most detailed models possible of what we can and cannot control in the fight against disorders of the mind." ### This story has been published on: 2020-06-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Laois cannot be left again in plans to compensate workers and communities for the rapid chopping of peat production according to a Laois Offaly TD who is a former Bord na Mona employee and who has also demanded action for the entire Midlands region. Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley said Laois has already lost out but not compensated. He said the Just Transition process must deliver for a county that was part of Bord na Mona's business through its Coolnamona plant. "Laois cannot be left out of the just transition process. It has gone through a transition but there was no just transition for Laois. I say this as a former Bord na Mona worker in Laois. The Coolnamona site at Portlaoise offers an excellent opportunity. I have spoken to Bord na Mona management and Minister Bruton, about the development of new industry there on a number of occasions, because of the size of that site and its location, which is at the crossroads of Ireland. The M7, M8 and N80 are all within half a mile and is also adjacent to a main rail line," he said. The TD who also represents Offaly called for action across the Midlands. "We need to take advantage of the strategic location of the three Midlands power plants in Lough Ree, West Offaly and Edenderry, and use them as energy hubs. Bord na Mona should continue to operate the Edenderry plant and convert from 42% biomass to 100% biomass. The Shannonbridge and Lough Ree plants must be retained in ESB ownership and move to biomass or biogas and, crucially, be used as energy connection points for solar, wind and other sources of energy. They are strategically located on the national grid and those sites need to be retained in Bord na Mona and ESB ownership," he said. Dep Stanley hit out at what he called a "failure" to deal with the ending of peat production by successive Governments. workers and communities in the Midlands now have just ten months. He said the transition in the Midlands from brown to green energy was supposed to take place over ten years. For years Sinn Fein has called for the Midlands to become the heart of renewable energy production. I welcome the plans put forward by Kieran Mulvey (Just Transition Commissioner). The Midlands urgently needs an ambitious plan to be put in place and a major stimulus package to reboot the economy. "I welcome the Commissioner's report but the scale of the transition facing the Midlands deserves a commission on a firmer footing, not a part-time commissioner. There is no new money with the report launched recently. There is only the money that was announced last autumn, and the 5 million from the ESB. That is all welcome but it is not enough. We need to access finance from the European Investment Bank's, the just transition fund and the low carbon innovation fund. "The ESB and Bord na Mona are good, State-owned companies that have put huge money into the economy through income tax, dividends to the State each year and through numerous other sources. The companies have a proven track record of contributing to the local and national economy and they must be supported to be central to this just transition," concluded the TD. Representative Image Atlas Cycles has closed its manufacturing unit in Ghaziabad, leading to job losses of 700 employees. In the official letter announcing the decision, Atlas Cycles wrote: "Post lifting of lockdown with effect from June 1, 2020, Sahibabad Unit of the company is not in a position to resume manufacturing operations due to financial constraints. Hence, the workforce of Sahibabad Unit of the company will be laid off with effect from June 3, 2020, till adequate arrangement of funds is made." Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak The workers were in for a rude shock when they reached office on June 3 as the notice was reportedly pasted on the main gate of the production unit. Some workers have questioned the decision, claiming the companys production was on track. 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 February 2018, Atlas Cycles closed its manufacturing plant in Sonepat, Haryana while its Malanpur plant in Madhya Pradesh ceased operations in 2014. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak For the first time, over 9,000 COVID-19 cases and over 250 deaths were reported in India in a single day Despite stringent containment norms and contact tracing, the cases continue to increase in big numbers in India. For the first time, over 9,000 COVID-19 cases and over 250 deaths were reported in India in a single day on Thursday and Delhi fast becoming the city with highest cases, overtaking Mumbai. As per union health ministry, there were 9304 new cases and 260 deaths reported in last 23 hours taking countrys tally to 2,16,919 cases and 6,075 deaths. However, other agencies like tracking Indias COVID-19 figures put total to 2,17,967 and deaths to 6,093. At this speed India is set to overtake Italy in a couple of days to become 6th most affected country in terms of infections. According to union health ministry, during the last 24 hours, a total of 3,804 COVID-19 patients have been cured taking the total number of recovered persons 1,04,107. The recovery rate is 47.99%. At present, there are 1,06,737 active cases and all are under active medical supervision. Officials said ICMR has further ramped up the testing capacity for detecting the novel coronavirus in infected persons and in the last 24 hours, 1.39 lakh samples were tested. High number of cases continue to be reported from Maharashtra where 2560 new cases and 122 fresh deaths were reported taking its total to 74860 cases and 2587 deaths. Maharashtra government has now allowed inter-district movement of people in Mumbai region. Out of Tamil Nadus total 25, 872 cases, 1286 are new. The state saw 11 new deaths taking total fatality numbers to 208. Delhi once again recorded single-day spike of 1,513 fresh cases and 50 new deaths taking the COVID-19 tally to beyond 23,645 and the death toll to 606. There is a fear now that Delhi may soon become Mumbai that had highest infections among all Metro cities -- after the National Capital for the first time reported more fresh cases than Mumbai (1,276) in one day. Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar was among those who tested positive on Wednesday and at least 35 officials working at the Defence Ministry in South Block had to go on home quarantine ministry. Delhi has sealed its borders with neighbouring cities following surge in cases. The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to decide in week on a common policy for inter-state movement in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). Delhi has also made it mandatory for everyone entering the city by air, road or train has to mandatory go for 7 day home quarantine. The number of COVID-19 cases crossed the 9,000 mark in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday with 367 fresh infections being reported in last 24 hours, while the death toll rose by 15 to 245. The total number of COVID-19 cases went up to 9,237. - Appoints Paritosh Arora as Chief Commercial Officer for India and Robert Ratini as Chief Commercial Officer for International Business NEW DELHI and HECHINGEN, Germany, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Translumina, a global developer and manufacturer of innovative cardiovascular medical devices used in interventional cardiology and minimally invasive surgery, has augmented its leadership team with two key hires. Robert Ratini has been named as Chief Commercial Officer for Translumina's international business, based in Switzerland and Paritosh Arora as Chief Commercial Officer for the company's India operations, based in New Delhi, India. Paritosh has over two decades of experience in the medical device industry across intervention cardiology, ENT, medical aesthetics and ophthalmology. He was previously Managing Director of Widex, a global leader in hearing aids, where he had full P&L responsibility for India, building a sizeable commercial team and dealer network that resulted in substantial growth of the business over the past 5 years. Prior to this, Paritosh led the coronary business for Medtronic in India / South Asia where he propelled the company's performance through strong key opinion leader development and dealer management initiatives. Robert joins Translumina with over two decades of experience in intervention cardiology at senior leadership level. In his previous role as Vice President, Sales & Market Development at Celanova BioSciences, he led the ex-US launch of the company's flagship COBRA stent and coordinated sales and marketing efforts across Europe, Asia, Middle East and Latin America through direct and distribution channels. Prior to this, Robert led global marketing and EMEA sales for Biosensors, resulting in significant market share gains for the company across international markets and also served as General Manager France and Business Director for Southern Europe for Abbott Vascular. Founded in Hechingen, Germany, Translumina's technologies were developed in collaboration with the German Heart Centre and are endorsed by the European Society of Cardiology. Translumina combines the best of German engineering, intellectual property and high-quality standards with India's entrepreneurial culture and strong capabilities in manufacturing innovative products at affordable prices. "We are delighted to welcome exemplary professionals such as Robert and Paritosh into the Translumina family. Their presence will bolster the senior leadership and help Translumina achieve its ambitious growth objectives both in India as well as in international markets, which already account for a significant portion of our revenues today," said Gurmit Singh Chugh, Founder & Chairman of Translumina. Arjun Oberoi, Managing Director, Everstone Group, said, "Translumina is extremely well positioned to enter its next phase of growth and the commercial leadership that Robert and Paritosh will certainly bring a lot of value to the team in helping assimilate a broader product portfolio and build robust go-to-market strategies in key geographies." In August 2019, The Everstone Group, one of Asia's leading healthcare-focused investors, made a significant investment in Translumina to accelerate the company's growth and scale its operations globally. About Translumina Translumina is a global developer and manufacturer of innovative cardiovascular medical devices used in interventional cardiology and minimally invasive surgery. Its flagship products, YUKON Choice PC, YUKON Choice Flex, YUKON Chrome PC and VIVO ESAR represent the 3rd generation drug eluting stents systems. Translumina is the only company in the world that has published 10- year safety and efficacy data for its Yukon Choice PC stent in a head-to-head study against Xience, a market-leading stent from Abbott, as per the ISAR-TEST 4 study presented at the 2018 American Heart Association meeting. In addition, the company has partnered with companies such as Asahi Abiomed and Shockwave to introduce novel and disruptive technologies in India and also markets a wide range of cardiovascular devices including coronary angioplasty balloons, structural heart disease products and cardiac assist devices. For more information, visit www.translumina.in and www.translumina.de SOURCE Translumina Therapeutics LLP In his eulogy of George Floyd, the man killed by police last Monday during an arrest in Minneapolis, the Rev. Al Sharpton announced an August march on Washington to fight for federal action on policing reform. "We have specific policies that need to happen, Sharpton said, acknowledging the presence of Martin Luther King III. On August 28th, the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, were going back to Washington, Martin. Thats where your father stood in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial and said I have a dream. Well were going back this August 28th to restore and recommit that dream; to stand up because just like in one era we had to fight slavery, another era we have to fight Jim Crow, another era we dealt with voting rights, this is the era to deal with policing and criminal justice. We need to go back to Washington and stand-up, Black, White, Latino, Arab, in the shadows of Lincoln, and tell them this is the time to stop this. Floyd was killed last Monday when former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. Chauvin is now charged with second-degree murder, while former officers Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng and Tou Thao face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. All four officers were quickly fired after Floyds May 25 death. They appeared in court Thursday. At the memorial, Sharpton said the call for federal action was about more than just writing a new law. We are going to organize in the next couple months in every region, not only for a March, but for a new process, he said. And its going to be led by the Floyd family. And its going to be led by the (Eric) Garner family. And its going to be led by those families that have suffered this and knows the pain, and knows what it is to be neglected. The mother of Eric Garner, who was killed by police in New York during an arrest for suspicion of selling loose cigarettes, was in Minnesota with Sharpton for the memorial Floyds death was eerily reminiscent of Garners because among both mens final words was the phrase I cant breathe. The official autopsy said the restraint, combined with underlying health conditions and potential intoxication contributed to his death, but an independent autopsy ordered by Floyds family showed he died directly of asphyxiation as a result of pressure on his neck and back. Sharpton also stressed the need for the regional organization because, he said, its the local governments that set policy and oversight of police departments. Its going to be getting us ready to vote not just for whos going to be in the White House, but the state house, and the city councils that allow these policing measures to go unquestioned," Sharpton said. "We are going to change the time. Related Content: CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland City Council voted Wednesday to declare racism as a public health crisis, setting the stage for the city to tackle disparities that have led to poorer health outcomes for African Americans in Cleveland. Once signed by Mayor Frank Jackson, the city will be required under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take action to eliminate disparities causing the health issues, according to Councilman Blaine Griffin, one of the resolutions primary sponsors. Among the issues: Generational disparities in education, access to jobs, earning power, access to housing, access to health care, home environment and quality of life. Now that we understand that we have this public-health crisis, we have to do something about it, Griffin said during the council meeting. Whatever we do, we have to make sure that the citizens of this city touch, feel, hear and see real change. The legislation formally recognizes racism as a crisis that damages public health, as defined by the World Health Organization, through discrimination. The U.S. Office of Disease Prevention also has recognized that discrimination has a negative impact on health in a community. The disparities are tied historically to the impacts of slavery, Jim Crow laws and redlining in neighborhoods, leading to public health issues today. They have contributed to poorer health outcomes in the black population for conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and infant mortality. The coronavirus pandemic put those disparities, particularly access to health care, in the spotlight. But its an issue that many cities across the country already had been discussing, said Natoya Walker Minor, Mayor Frank Jacksons chief of public affairs. Franklin County recently made such a declaration. Akron and Columbus are currently considering similar legislation. The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus announced this week it, too, would introduce legislation at the state level. Cleveland introduced its resolution in early March. The timelines of this couldnt be more apropos, Walker Minor told City Council on Wednesday. "This allows us to take a deep dive into structural racism and its health consequences. The legislation requires that the city establish inclusive groups to develop strategies for promoting equity and tackling the structures that are causing racial disparities. Organizations such as the NAACP, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, United Way of Greater Cleveland, Birthing Beautiful Communities, the YWCA of Greater Cleveland and First Year Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Partnership have voiced their support. We live in a caring and compassionate community that for decades has worked to address each individual challenge before it. Racism is real and is harming all people in our community, the Greater Cleveland Partnerships board said in a letter Wednesday to City Council. We have a collective responsibility to facilitate change, the board said. The business community has an important role to play and we plan to be deeply engaged with city leaders in this work. Griffin said the work will require participation of people from throughout the community. This thing is massive. Its not like we can just put a seven-member committee in a room and make decision, Griffin said. Its going to take a community effort, and everyone is going to have to own it. More from Cleveland City Hall Cleveland should try small-scale recycling while it fixes its programs big problems, council members argue Cleveland clarifies restrictions on driving downtown and in Ohio City, urges businesses be closed through Tuesday Cleveland Hopkins International Airport trims $14 million in 2020 expenses as part of coping with coronavirus budget fallout According to a well-known analyst, the Motorola Razr 2 will include larger displays than its predecessor. This information comes from Ross Young, who already shared quite a bit of info regarding the Motorola Razr 2, Galaxy Fold 2, and Galaxy Note 20 series. The Motorola Razr 2 will include larger displays, its inner display will measure 6.7 inches The analyst says that both inner and outer displays on the Motorola Razr 2 will be larger. The inner display will measure 6.7 inches, the same as the one on the Galaxy Z Flip. The outer display will also be larger, but Mr. Young did not share the specifics. The Motorola Razr 2 is expected to launch in Q3 or Q4 this year. The Motorola Razr was announced in mid-November. The current global health crisis could affect the release of the Motorola Razr 2, even though one report suggested it may launch sooner than expected. Advertisement A general manager of Lenovo South Africa, Thibault Dousson, suggested that the device may launch as early as September. That is quite an optimistic prediction, and an unexpected one. The device will not include Ultra Thin Glass (UTG), though. Its display will be made out of plastic, it seems. That information came from Ross Young as well, last month. That means that the display on the Motorola Razr 2 will still feel mushier than the one on the Galaxy Z Flip. The Galaxy Z Flip does include UTG, despite the fact it has a plastic layer on top of it. Advertisement UTG makes the display feel a lot sturdier, and more similar to your regular smartphone The display does feel a bit sturdier, and more similar to your regular smartphone display. Both the Motorola Razr and Galaxy Z Flip displays scratch up quite easily, though. The Motorola Razr did deliver in terms of general looks, but it had several issues when it comes to its build. Motorola will surely look to improve the design of the follow-up. Consumers will also expect a more compelling spec sheet to be included in the second-gen model. The Motorola Razr was in development for quite a long time, which is why its specifications are a bit dated. Advertisement The Motorola Razr 2 is, without a doubt, one of the most anticipated foldable smartphones of the year. The Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to arrive in August, and the Motorola Razr 2 could follow in September. Were not sure if Motorola is planning to announce this phone at IFA or not, but its possible. IFA will take place this year, though it will be open only to journalists. It could be a perfect venue for Motorola to announce the Razr 2. All in all, well see. One thing is for sure, though, the second-gen Razr will include larger displays. That hopefully doesnt mean that the phone will be much larger, though. Brookwood Village has announced its reopening just as another long-time tenant is closing. On its website, the mall announced that it plans to reopen Friday with limited hours. External tenant hours may also vary. At the same time, another of the malls restaurants is shutting its doors. Cocina Superior will close on June 14, an employee confirmed by phone today. The Tex-Mex restaurant opened in 2006 and was known for its open kitchen and lively atmosphere. Its the second restaurant to close at the Mall since the coronavirus shutodwn, and yet another tenant leaving in the last two months. Brio Tuscan Grille, a fixture at Brookwood Village for almost two decades, closed back in March. Books-A-Million, an anchor tenant at the mall, has also closed its two-story location there. The mall closed March 18 due to the lockdown measures. Since then, restaurants and a few shops on the outside complex, along with Macys, have reopened, though as of last week entrances to the malls interior at Macys were closed. The Chick-fil-A inside the mall also offers curbside pickup and delivery. Corporate America's response to the protests over racial injustice and the killing of George Floyd has been about what you would expect: lots of black squares on Instagram, statements by CEOs decrying racism, some silence. Nike posted a video with a twist on its slogan: "For once, don't do it," the company urged, the "it" being choosing complacency or not "being part of the change." Standing out in this vanilla-bland crowd is ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, which posted a lengthy and pointed message on its website blaming Floyd's murder on "inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy." The company called for white America to "acknowledge its privilege" and for the need for action to "dismantle white supremacy." The frozen-dessert company's missive also distinguished itself with its specificity: the message expressed support for concrete policy steps, including the passage of Democratic-sponsored legislation creating a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination and to consider reparation proposals; and the establishment of a task force supported by Floyd's family's to draft "bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability." It also suggested the Department of Justice "reinvigorate" its civil rights division and for the restoration of consent decrees rolled back by the administration of President Donald Trump curbing police abuses. The company also took aim at Trump and his response to the protests. "Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protesters, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas," the statement read. Support for protest movements and progressive causes is in the Vermont-based company's DNA. The company supported the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016, decrying in a message "the systemic racism built into the fabric of our institutions at every level." Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were arrested at a Democracy Awakening protest at the Capitol in 2016 and served ice cream to Occupy D.C. protesters in 2011. And their opposition to Trump is long-standing. As they wrote in a 2017 open letter then President-elect Trump: "We stand with women, people of color, Muslims, migrants, refugees, the LGBTQ community, the poor, and others whose lives may be further compromised by the policies and rhetoric you espoused during your campaign." They have created whimsically named ice-cream flavors to support various causes, including "Save Our Swirled," in 2015 in support of the climate talks in Paris, "I Dough, I Dough" that same year for same-sex marriage, and "Yes Pecan," a riff on the campaign slogan of former president Barack Obama, in 2009. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The company's political and social agenda wasn't muted when multinational giant Unilever acquired it in 2010. CEO Jostein Solheim explained how it has maintained its crunchy ethos and left-leaning mission in a 2016 interview, in which he said Unilever appoints just two of the 11 seats on the company's board. And as Ben & Jerry's most recent call to action this week has gotten attention, so have some companies' far more tepid reactions to the current climate. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Wednesday tweeted her dismay. "I see a lot of corporations releasing bland statements w a hashtag," she wrote. "No. This moment calls for transformation. Your statement should include your org's INTERNAL commitments to change, particularly if you've been called on it before. Give people change." US President Donald Trump said the Republican Party would seek to pull its August nominating convention out of North Carolina after Democratic Governor Roy Cooper refused to heed a GOP demand that he pre-authorise a gathering of at least 19,000 people. "Governor Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised," Mr Trump tweeted. "We are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention." Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel had said earlier in the day that the party would begin exploring options outside of North Carolina. "We have an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out in recent days about hosting an historic event to show that America is open for business," she said. The announcement, nearly two years after Republicans began planning the event in Charlotte, marks the latest political confrontation over how to handle the pandemic. North Carolina Democrats say any convention has to depend on health conditions in the state, where coronavirus-related hospitalisations reached a peak in late May. Expand Close Caution: A voter wearing a mask leaves a booth at the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Caution: A voter wearing a mask leaves a booth at the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP "As much as we want the conditions surrounding Covid-19 to be favourable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely," Mr Cooper wrote in a letter to Republican leaders. "Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek." Mr Cooper said the GOP is demanding a packed arena for the convention, as well as full restaurants, hotels and bars. Given the uncertain situation, he wrote, a smaller event with social distancing and face coverings "is a necessity". The growing likelihood that at least part of the Republican National Convention, scheduled for August 24-27, will leave a Democratic-led state underscores the turmoil the pandemic has brought to the presidential contest. With about 150 days until the election, neither major candidate has been able to resume normal campaigning, with offices shut and staff working remotely. The Democratic convention is scheduled for the previous week in Milwaukee, and it is likely that the two events will showcase sharply contrasting approaches to the viral threat. While Mr Trump pushes for a massive rally and declines to wear a mask in public, Democrat Joe Biden has embraced wearing a facial covering and has emphasised following public health advice. For their convention, Democratic leaders have discussed allowing remote voting to cut crowd sizes and holding smaller satellite events in swing states to reduce travel. Because of contractual obligations with Charlotte, Republicans still expect to conduct much of the convention's official business in North Carolina, including votes on Mr Trump's formal nomination. But the event's televised centrepiece - including Mr Trump's speech to the large crowd he has insisted on - is now more likely to take place elsewhere. North Carolina, which has voted Republican in every presidential election but one since 1980, is expected to be heavily contested this year. Senator Thom Tillis, who is fighting to retain his seat, said he still expects the two sides to come to an agreement. If the GOP convention did leave North Carolina, he added, the exit would have more of an economic impact on the state than a political one. "The politics of conventions never really work out the way a lot of people think," Mr Tillis said. Republicans are exploring the possibility of moving the convention to multiple cities, according to two GOP officials, including Jacksonville and Orlando in Florida; Las Vegas; and Nashville, Tennessee. ( Washington Post) Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP The killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis was the latest tragedy illustrating a centuries-long history of racism in America, one so deeply ingrained that it endures despite the rights hard-won in the courts and Congress. Police brutality is, of course, just one of countless ways that African Americans and other people of color suffer from structural inequality and discrimination in America. Related: Trump has reached the 'mad emperor' stage, and it's terrifying to behold | Richard Wolffe Faced with massive protests against this racism, President Donald Trump has responded like an autocrat. Trump has repeatedly encouraged violence against protesters and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops on US soil. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Americas top military official stood next to Trump as he talked about deploying troops, then walked the streets of DC in his combat fatigues to survey the scene like an occupying general. The US secretary of defense told governors to dominate the battlespace the battlespace meaning the streets of American cities. The breadth and depth of the structural problems at play can be seen in police forces responses to protests, which often range from heavy-handed to outright dangerous. Police are shooting people with paint pellets and rubber bullets, running into protesters with cars, and shooting teargas and flash-bang canisters into crowds. A helicopter in Washington DC flew low over a crowd to disperse it with noise and wind, a tactic used in war zones against insurgents. And the police violently dispersed a group of peaceful protesters in front of the White House to clear a path for Trump to walk to a church for a photo op. If these events were taking place in any other country, a normal US government would express its outrage in statements and high-level phone calls and coordinate with allied countries and international organizations to pressure the offending government. From repression in the Soviet Union to the brutal suppression of protests in the Middle East during the Arab spring, the US has helped lead principled international responses to countries that violently oppress their citizens. Story continues America is, justifiably, the focus of intense anger, frustration, and disappointment from people across the world Today, in a truly sad state of affairs, dictatorships around the world systems built on the repression of their own citizens are able to give their propagandists a break from fabricating stories about America because they can just post pictures and videos of current events. While there is no legitimate comparison between these dictatorships and what is happening in America today, the USs actions undercut its ability to stand up for whats right abroad. In the same week that America is trying to pressure China over its repression in Hong Kong and commemorating the anniversary of Chinas violent crackdown against citizens in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the American government is threatening violence against peaceful protesters at home. America is, justifiably, the focus of intense anger, frustration and disappointment from people across the world. United Nations officials have spoken out about the murder of George Floyd. The pope called out racism in America. Australia launched an investigation into an incident in which a police officer attacked an Australian journalist covering the US protests. If the situation in America continues to escalate, one could easily imagine some of Americas closest democratic allies beginning to consider steps like offering protesters asylum, criticizing Americas state-sanctioned violence in international organizations, and even perhaps sanctioning US officials responsible. But something more is happening abroad something that speaks to the best of America as well. Protests from New Zealand to the Netherlands have shown an outpouring of support for Americans standing up against racism and police brutality. As flawed as they are, Americas democratic institutions are built to allow people to voice their opinions, vote out their elected leaders, take to the streets to protest peacefully, and improve policies. It is this capacity for change and improvement that has given inspiration to people across the world for decades. Today, Americas protesters are its ambassadors to the world, reminding everyone of the ideals the country strives to embody. And even in these dark times, people around the world still believe in the vision of America that the protesters are struggling to build. Like the protesters at home, those taking to the streets around the world to speak out against racism in America and to remember George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others understand what makes America great far better than Donald Trump. America On Fire God gave Noah the rainbow sign. No more water, the fire next time. ~Traditional Black spiritual All 50 of the United States have seen protests and more than 10,000 people have been arrested, cities have enacted curfews and several states and the District of Columbia have called up the National Guard following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of police [last Monday] in Minneapolis. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that Derek Chauvin, the officer accused of causing the death of George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes, has been charged with second-degree murder and three other former officers who were on the scene Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Chauvin was arrested last Tuesday and charged last Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter and his former colleagues were not charged at all, leading to the intensity of protests against Floyd in Minneapolis and elsewhere. Locally, Los Angeles enters its [Fourth] night of a county-wide curfew imposed after weekend protests in downtown and Beverly Hills turned violent with riot-clad police and sheriffs deputies firing rubber bullets at peaceful demonstrators. The 46-year-old Floyd died after his arrest on a charge of allegedly passing a counterfeit bill. In a now globally-seen video clip, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is kneeling on the neck of a prone and handcuffed Floyd for approximately eight minutes. ADVERTISEMENT Floyd can be heard telling the officers he cannot breathe and calling out for his mother before eventually becoming unresponsive. Dr. Michael Baden, well known forensic pathologist, ruled on Monday that Floyds death was homicide by asphyxia. Baden had been retained by Floyds family to conduct an independent autopsy following preliminary findings of the Hennepin County medical examiner that revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation. What we found is consistent with what people saw, Dr. Baden said in an emailed release. There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death. Police have this false impression that if you can talk, you can breathe. Thats not true. Dr. Baden continued, The autopsy shows that Mr. Floyd had no underlying medical problem that caused or contributed to his death, Dr. Baden was the chief medical examiner for the City of New York in the late 1970s. In one weeks time protests from Minneapolis to New York to Atlanta to Los Angeles, New Zealand, London, Iran and Berlin have turned out a diversity of thousands of people outraged at Floyds death. As reported by Al Jazeera news agency, The European Union is shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd in police custody, the blocs top diplomat said, calling it an abuse of power and warning against further excessive use of force. Like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd all societies must remain vigilant against the excessive use of force, Josep Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, told reporters. On Monday, Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressed Floyds killing via social media in a Facebook post. ADVERTISEMENT Black people, the world over, are shocked and distraught by the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in the United States of America. It carried with it an all too painful familiarity, and an ugly reminder. It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism. On behalf of the people of Ghana, I express my deep condolences to the family and loved ones of the late George Floyd. We stand with our kith and kin in America in these difficult and trying times, and we hope that the unfortunate, tragic death of George Floyd will inspire a lasting change in how America confronts head on the problems of hate and racism. Protesters also registered their anger over other deaths at the hands of current and former police such as Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky; Tony McDade in Tallahassee, Florida and Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia. Minneapolis protests over Floyds death began last Tuesday evening after police chief Medaria Arredondo fired Chauvin as well as three other officers who stood by without rendering aid to Floyd. Hundreds of people took to Minneapolis streets, including in front of the Third Precinct police station where Chauvin and the other fired officers were assigned. Patrol vehicles were damaged, the building defaced and eventually encircled and set on fire. Video footage shows police officers in formation abandoning the station just prior to its being set ablaze. A few businesses adjacent to the police station including a Target and an affordable housing complex nearby were also engulfed in flames. Protests of Floyds death and other African Americans spread to several cities where violence followed. Police, politicians and media have blamed organizers and outside agitators for creating the violence, on-the-ground organizers and observers countered that undercover police officers embedded in the crowds were the actual culprits. A Wednesday protest organized by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles begun in downtown Los Angeles called attention to District Attorney Jackie Laceys handling of shootings by law enforcement. Protestors marched from the Hall of Justice onto the 101-Hollywood Freeway where they encountered two CHP cruisers. Footage from the scene shows protestors surrounding one of the vehicles when it takes off, almost running people down. The car drives off with one protestor sitting atop the hood of the car, its back window smashed by a skateboard. The protestor fell from the cruiser and landed face first on the pavement where they were knocked unconscious. Angry protestors then attempted to protect the fallen man by swarming the second cruiser, also shattering its rear window. Disturbingly, much of the violence experienced throughout many protests came at the hands of visible, uniformed police officers. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 125 press freedom violations have been reported nationwide by journalists covering the demonstrations over Floyds death during a three-day window beginning May 29. In New York footage emerged of two NYPD cruisers ramming through a crowd of protestors; in another video, an NYPD officer pulls down the face mask of a young, an unarmed protestor who had his hands raised and pepper sprays him in the face. In Utah an elderly man with a cane walking in the area of a downtown Salt Lake City protest was knocked to ground by riot-clad officers for not moving fast enough. In Atlanta, a curfew was declared over the weekend as a peaceful protest made its way through the upscale Buckhead section of town and became violent. Saturday night police came under fire for encircling protestors, leaving them no way to exit, the arresting them for violating the curfew. Footage of a young Black couple being attacked, pepper-sprayed and dragged from their car by Atlanta officers who were subsequently fired. A Black congresswoman in Columbus, Ohio, was pepper-sprayed during a protest in that city. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, along with Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said they were talking with constituents during the protest when they were sprayed with mace or pepper spray by police. In Louisville, Kentucky, a journalist and photographer with the local NBC affiliate was fired on by police as she covered a Friday protest called to protest the deaths of both Floyd and 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed when the police raided her apartment in Louisville, Ky., in March. Officers entered Taylors residence without announcing themselves to execute a warrant. Kenneth Walker, Taylors boyfriend, opened fire on the intruders thinking there was a break-in. Police returned fire killing Taylor. Protestors returned to the streets of Louisville over the weekend where this time, police say they were fired upon by unknown protestors as they attempted to disperse a crowd early Monday morning. Police returned fire, killing restaurant owner David McAtee. Two officers, Kate Crews and Allen Austin, were confirmed to have been involved in the shooting and have been placed on administrative leave. By Monday evening Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad was fired from his position. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer fired Conrad, a 40-year veteran of the department who had been chief for eight years, after he learned that no police officers deployed to the protests had their mandated body cameras turned on. Locally, actor Kendrick Sampson of HBOs Insecure and Adolphi Guzman-Lopez, reporter for KPCC radio, were hit with rubber bullets during A protest in West LA that ended up in Beverly Hills. All of this has taken place in the midst of a still-deadly global pandemic that has thus far claimed more than 100,000 people. As of press time the curfew in Los Angeles, originally from 8 pm to 5:30 am on Saturday night, has now become to 6 pm to 6 am. No word on when or if the curfew will be lifted, as concerns for new Coronavirus cases rise along with attendance at the protests. From all indications, when or if the protests against police violence will subside are also unknown. CENTRAL, Hong Kong, June 2020 UNISERVE HONG KONG LTD., also known as Uniserve IT Solutions, is a leading IT Service company focused on creating the best solutions for businesses facing challenges with their IT, is proud to announce the launch of its newly redesigned website (https://www.uniserveit.com). The new site features a modern design with improved functionality and easy access to vital information to help businesses make a well-informed Fountain of Life Chapel International (FLCI) in Ho has supported the aged and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) with 110 bags of rice worth GHC 7,600.00. The beneficiary communities are Godokpoe, Ho-Dome, Ho-Bankoe, Heve, Avatidome and the Cured Lepers Village. The church made similar donations to the vulnerable in other parts of Ho, Mafi-Kumase in the Volta region and some communities in the Greater Accra Region. Apostle Mawufemor Senyo Kudjo, General Overseer of the Church said the aged and PWDs were most vulnerable in the wake of COVID-19 and needed to be supported and cared for. He noted that some aged and PWDs had been neglected by their families and found it difficult coping with life and needed a helping hand. It is time for churches to move from their comfort zones and open their storehouses to support especially in this pandemic season as a way of giving back to people and society, he said. Mr. Paul Kwame Kuhordzi, a beneficiary, commended the church for the support. 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 Tehran urges IMO to begin legal proceedings against US threat on Iranian tankers In a video conference with Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Kitack Lim, the CEO of Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Mohammad Rastad criticized US' threats against the Iranian oil tankers carrying gasoline to Venezuela and called for the international body to launch legal proceedings against the US over the case. Rastad who is also Iran's deputy minister of roads and urban development, in this conversation, also considered such US threats against the international trade regulation underlining that the safety of seafarers should not be threatened by any country. He urged the International Maritime Organization to take a serious measure against the said US threat and to launch legal proceedings against the case. "In the current situation, unfortunately, I must say that the Iranian navy is still being threatened by the United States," Rastad said. The IMO official, for his part, lamented that "even under the coronavirus pandemic which has made some difficulties to shipping across the globe, we are unfortunately coping with such technical issues." He hoped that Iran could continue its international shipping without any problems in the future. Iran has sent five tankers loaded with 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela to help jump-start the oil refineries in the Latin American state amid a fuel crisis. The fourth Iranian tanker FAXON, carrying gasoline, took berth at Venezuelan port last Friday. US had put some military threat on the tankers since Iran and Venezuela are both under its sanctions. The US sanctions on the two countries have so far had little impact on their policies, for Tehran and Caracas believe they have not violated any international regulations. Fari Kaur, a 12th grader, lives in perpetual fear of being targeted in a militant attack after she lost her father to one in eastern Afghanistan nearly two years ago. She was devastated by a more recent attack when scores of Sikhs were killed inside a temple in March. The ultra-radical Islamic State (IS) militants claimed attack for the March 25 attack on a Gurdwara or Sikh temple in Kabul. The group also owned the July 2018 attack that killed 17 people in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Our lives have completely changed. We are so terrified that we have stopped going out because we fear another attack, she told Radio Free Afghanistan. We cannot step outside our houses. Kaur is staying in Afghanistan to honor her late father Rahul Singhs wish to graduate from an Afghan high school. She hopes to join her mother, brother, and sister in India soon after graduation. My father wanted me to have an Afghan education so that wherever I live, I am remined that I am from Afghanistan, she said. Kaur says she is not the only one contemplating leaving Afghanistan. She says that most members of Afghanistans estimated 1,000-strong Hindu and Sikh minority are weighing leaving the country. Many Sikhs and Hindus have decided to leave Afghanistan once the travel restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic are over, she said. Harinder Singh lost his daughter, wife, and father in the March 25 attack on the Sikh temple called Gurdwara in Kabul. He used to persuade fellow Sikhs against leaving Afghanistan before the attack but is now eager to leave. I tell everyone to leave the country, including my fellow Muslim Afghans, Hindus, Sikhs, everyone should flee, he said in April. There is no humanity here. Ishwar Das, the head of an Afghan Sikh and Hindu association in Germany, says that the March 25 attack has deeply disappointed his community in Afghanistan. We had never imagined how someone can attack our Gurdwaras and Mandirs [Sinkh and Hindu temples], which are houses of peace, he said. Our hopes have been shattered. Now the Sikhs and Hindus are contemplating what to do. Diya Singh, an Afghan Sikh writer, lives in India like many of the tens of thousands of members of his community, who fled to the South Asian country since the early 1990s. He has not visited Afghanistan for more than five years but is eager to return. Many of use living in India want to visit Afghanistan, but the security conditions are not favorable, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Our hearts beat with our country despite living away from it. During the 1980s the Sikh and Hindu community was estimated to be more than 80,000. But most of them left the country after the collapse of the countrys socialist government in 1992. Those returning to Afghanistan after the demise of the Taliban regime in late 2001 found their properties captured and businesses ruined. Still many hoped that things would eventually improve if they stuck around. The Afghan government has encouraged their return and participation in their countrys reconstruction and rehabilitation. But the community has faced vicious attacks claimed by IS during the past couple years. Narender Singh Khalsa is Afghanistans only Sikh lawmaker. He says his community has endured unimaginable suffering because of the militant attacks. All Afghans live under threat, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Daesh has shown no mercy even for children and women, he added while referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. We hope for permanent peace to return to our homeland so we can live an emancipated life here. Since its emergence in eastern Afghanistan in 2015, IS has emerged as a lethal threat to religious minorities in particular and Afghans in general. Thousands of Afghans have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced because of the groups attacks or efforts to control territory. While Afghan, Western officials, and the Taliban claimed to have substantially diminished the groups overall strength, it still appears capable of mounting devastating attacks in many parts of Afghanistan. Davit Ananian, the head of Armenias State Revenue Committee (SRC), unexpectedly resigned on Thursday. Ananian gave no reasons for the resignation when he announced it on Facebook. In order to end rumors circulating in the media I want to inform that today I tendered my resignation to the prime minister of Armenia, he wrote. I want to thank everyone for effective and production cooperation and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for entrusting this important position to me for more than two years, he added without elaborating. Pashinian did not immediately accept the resignation or make statements on it. Ananian, 48, was appointed as head of the national tax and customs services in May 2018 shortly after the Velvet Revolution that brought Pashinian to power. He served as deputy finance minister in Armenias previous government. Former Prime Minister Karen Karapetian had appointed him to that post in 2016. According to his official biography, Ananian, 46, worked as a tax inspector in the 1990s and ran a private tax and accounting consultancy from 2006-2016. Ananian promised a tougher government crackdown on companies and individuals evading taxes when he took over the SRC. The current governments tax revenues have risen significantly since then, a fact regularly emphasized by Pashinian. OAKLAND, Calif. Police in a small San Francisco Bay Area community were about to help authorities in neighboring Oakland keep the peace during a protest when a more pressing crisis hit home: groups of thieves were pillaging malls, setting fire to a Walmart and storming a car dealership. By the time San Leandro officers arrived at the Dodge dealership, dozens of cars were gone and thieves were peeling out of the lot in $100,000 Challenger Hellcat muscle cars. Nearly 75 vehicles were stolen Sunday, including models driven through glass showroom doors to escape. It was very strategic, Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriffs Office said about the auto thefts and other recent heists. The brazen heist, carried out by well-coordinated criminals, was one of many thefts nationwide in the last week at big box electronics stores, jewelry shops and luxury designers. Many of the smash-and-grab thefts have happened during or following protests over the death of George Floyd, who struggled to breathe as his neck was pinned down by a white Minneapolis police officers knee. Caravans of burglars have capitalized on chaos, communicating with each other via messaging apps during heists and using both the protests and other tactics to throw police off their trail. While opportunists have sometimes joined the frenzy, police and experts say there is a sophistication that suggests a level of planning that goes beyond spontaneous acts. Its hardly the first time legitimate protest has been used as a cover for crime. But crime experts note the scale of the thefts, which have taken place coast-to-coast, in big and small cities and in suburbs. Ive been a student of these things. And I have never seen anything like it, said Neil Sullivan, a nationally recognized expert on mass-events security and retired Chicago Police Department commander. People who stole during civil-rights protests in the 1960s, he said, tended to be individuals who saw crimes of opportunity as demonstrations spun out of control. By contrast, many of the break-ins that have happened the last week appear to be meticulously planned and coordinated, he said. One of the first of these crimes unfolded Saturday in Emeryville, a tiny city of retail shopping centers next to Oakland, when a crowd showed up and broke into stores after an Instagram post said they would hit the Target and break every stores (sic). This wasnt the mafia and organized crime, but this wasnt individuals acting alone, said Mayor Christian Patz. There definitely was some organization. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week that some people stealing from stores were using encrypted messaging to communicate and posted lookouts to warn if police were coming. In the Southern California city of Long Beach, groups of thieves hit store after store Sunday as marchers demonstrated nearby. Mayor Robert Garcia said they went from protest to protest so they had cover to steal. Police in Los Angeles, which had widespread burglaries for several days, said the crimes didnt occur until a third night of protests and shifted from thieves on foot to those in cars able to haul more off. The arrival of more than 1,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles County to provide security freed up officers to more aggressively try to stop crimes. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his department was able to thwart a very significant operation to sack a large outlet mall in the nearby City of Commerce. Dozens were arrested. They were there for only one purpose and that was to loot, he said. In the San Francisco Bay Area, tweets warning of looting and rioting turned out to be false, though they led some businesses to close and may have been attempts to divert police elsewhere. Richmond police tweeted that a bogus rumor on social media of an officer being shot occurred around the time a pot shop was ransacked. Groups of thieves struck a series of big box stores on Chicagos South Side on Sunday while periodically calling 911 to falsely report that a mall several miles away was being ransacked, Alderman Ray Lopez said. By the time police rushed to the mall to find no one there, the thieves had moved on to another large store and phoned in additional false reports to again shake police off their trail. It was a game of whack-a-mole, Lopez said. In other instances, caravans of 10 or more cars would pull up to a store, smash the windows, then wait nearby to see if police would arrive. If they didnt, some of the same cars would return to load up with goods and speed off. A reluctance of officers to use force amid intensified scrutiny of police tactics has emboldened would-be thieves, said Eugene ODonnell, a professor of police studies at New Yorks John Jay College of Criminal Justice. All you have to tell police is to do nothing and they will do nothing, he said. And they are implicitly being told, Dont do anything.' Some shoplifters displayed surprising brazenness, walking out of stores with stolen goods. TV helicopters captured some people changing into their pilfered attire outside Long Beach shops and a thief struggling to close the trunk of a car stuffed with clothes at a Walnut Creek mall near Oakland. Kelly, from the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, said the county began to get a handle on things after imposing evening curfews on Monday. He noted there was a clear distinction between protesters who got out of hand while demonstrating for social justice and other people who seized on the uprising to steal. Some of the burning was done out of anger and that was understandable, he said. But the strategic looting was definitely for personal gain. It was not to push forward the community concerns around police brutality and reform. ___ Tarm reported from Chicago. Associated Press reporters Brian Melley and John Antczak in Los Angeles, and Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia contributed. I also imagine that they all sat around and were grateful to have gotten rid of all the people who werent OK with them being racist. I still think about it. You know what kills me the most? There is a black family from southeast Alabama who discovered that they were not welcome in a Christian church because of the color of their skin. I wonder who they blamed more? The people who did not want them there, or us, for having no idea that we were surrounded by racists? This was in 1998. Not 1950. Not 1963. Not 1970. We have not come as far as wed like to believe. I know that youd say that not all churches are like that, but I would argue that there are still people like that at many churches, as they worship a brown, Middle Eastern man that they wouldnt like if he were here today. Out of the millions of things of which I am grateful to my parents, one of them is that they never tolerated racism in their presence from anyone. It made racism a lot easier to recognize. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend: A mission of World Health Organization to Turkmenistan will be organized in the next two weeks, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenportal Information Portal. He added that the issue has been discussed with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Minister of Health Gurbanmammet Ylyasov. The necessary agreement has been reached, and arrangements are for the WHO representatives' visit to the country, Kluge said. The visit of the WHO mission to Turkmenistan was scheduled for early May, but it was postponed. Turkmenistan and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) discussed further measures to combat the coronavirus on May 26, 2020. Earlier, WHO has highly praised Turkmenistan for fighting infectious diseases in the country. During a meeting held via a videoconference, the WHO representative also noted the country's success in maintaining public health care services. The WHO Country Office in Turkmenistan was established in November 1995 in Ashgabat to assist the government in developing its health policy, health system and public health programs to address the main health needs of the country. The office is the focal point for WHO activities in Turkmenistan. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva HOUSTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Weatherford International plc (OTC Pink: WFTLF) today announced that in light of the ongoing outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) it will host a hybrid Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the "AGM") at 10:00 a.m. (Central Time) on June 12, 2020 at 2000 St, James Place, Houston Texas 77056 and virtually at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WFT2020. The Company considers the health of our shareholders, employees and other attendees at it AGM a top priority. As such, the Company is monitoring guidance issued by the U.S. and local governments, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (the "CDC") and the World Health Organization (the "WHO") and we have implemented, and will continue to implement, the measures advised by the CDC and the WHO to minimize the spread of COVID-19 at the AGM. In accordance with Irish law, Weatherford is required to have a principal meeting place, which is a physical location where shareholders may attend the AGM in person and vote thereat. However, in light of public health concerns and current local governmental emergency orders and recommendations, the Company strongly advises shareholders not to attend in person at the principal meeting place. We encourage shareholders who wish to hear the proceedings and ask questions, to do so virtually. Shareholders entitled to vote at the AGM may attend and participate in the webcast of the AGM via the Internet by following the instructions posted at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WFT2020 or www.proxyvote.com and entering your 16-digit control number included with the Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card. A link to the virtual meeting will also be available on www.weatherford.com. Shareholders are encouraged to log in to the website before the start time of the AGM. While shareholders will be able to vote their shares while virtually attending the AGM via the webcast, the Company encourages its shareholders to vote in advance by one of the methods described in its proxy statement by the proxy voting deadline at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 11, 2020. The AGM will be held in accordance with local governmental emergency orders, CDC and WHO guidance, therefore: during the AGM, presentation materials will be available to shareholders entitled to attend the AGM at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WFT2020 and will be available on our website shortly after the meeting; in-person attendance will be limited to 25% of the meeting room's maximum occupancy; social distancing and face masks will be required; persons attending the meeting will be subject to thermal scanning and other screening procedures please allow extra time in advance of the meeting to complete these procedures; and once the AGM has begun, no one will be admitted into the AGM. Due to local Irish COVID-19 restrictions, audio teleconference facilities to participate in the AGM will no longer be made available at the offices of the Company's Irish counsel, Matheson. However, in satisfaction of the requirements of Irish law, registered shareholders who wish to participate in the AGM without leaving Ireland may instead do so via the Internet by following the instructions for virtual attendance and participation at the AGM set out above. 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 Sebastian Pellizzer +1 713-836-6777 Senior Director, Investor Relations [email protected] SOURCE Weatherford International plc Related Links http://www.weatherford.com Demonstrators gathered in cities across California for a ninth night to protest racism and police brutality on the same day that officials in Minnesota announced new charges for the Minneapolis officers in the death of George Floyd. In Oakland, protesters defied a curfew they said was intended to silence them, while in Los Angeles, a weekly Black Lives Matter gathering swelled to thousands. All this makes it feel strange to think that just about a week ago, Californians were carefully tracking a complicated, fraught process for reopening restaurants, stores, salons and other businesses that make up the lifeblood of the states economy. And not long before that, as the realities of the pandemic became more clear, pollsters with the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California were taking the publics temperature on the state and federal governments response to the crisis in the institutes most recent statewide survey. Mark Baldassare, the organizations president and chief executive, told me that the results show the depth of the psychological impact of the crisis; almost half of Californians say the worst is yet to come in the pandemic but that number is much higher, 69%, among African-Americans, who have been disproportionately hurt both by the virus itself and economically in the crisis. Still, almost 6 in 10 Californians are more worried about the state reopening too quickly, rather than not quickly enough. People continue to put their faith in state leadership around the COVID crisis, Baldassare said. That extends to Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose approval rating increased to 65% of adults from 53% in February. President Donald Trumps approval rating, on the other hand, has stayed the same, 35% among adults, from February to May. And the ratings have been consistently divided along party lines. That his handling of the coronavirus crisis hasnt affected his ratings at all, Baldassare said, suggests that political polarization is deeply rooted. You could look at Donald Trumps ratings before the impeachment, he said. There is nothing to date that has moved his base. Newsom, on the other hand, could be benefiting from a rally around the flag, phenomenon but its a boost that may not last. The things that tend to make people disapprove of their governor is what our governor will be dealing with in the next few months, Baldassare said. State budget problems. And there are going to be a lot of them. Right now, the states $54.3 billion anticipated shortfall still feels abstract, Baldassare said. But as cuts to programs and services become real, Californians will almost certainly lay some blame at Newsoms feet. The survey showed that Californians have a dim view of both the state and national economies right now, amid huge job losses, Baldassare said. But he added that one reason the protests over the past week had gained such broad, multicultural support is that many Californians across race and geography are frustrated with economic inequality. That, coupled with what the survey found was overwhelming support for the states vote-by-mail expansion ahead of November, could point to a major mobilization of voters inspired by the protests to get more involved with local or state races. It will be people who are very upset about the status quo getting the chance to have their voice heard not just about the president or Congress, Baldassare said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Former president Barack Obama presented an optimistic take on the civil unrest that has griped the nation, urged mayors to enact policing reforms developed during his administration and spoke directly to young people of color, telling them "your lives matter." In his first public remarks since protests over the death of George Floyd alighted cities coast to coast, the nation's first African American president described the events of the last week "as profound as anything that I've seen in my lifetime." Yet, observing the protests, Obama said he sees an awakening in the country to the challenges and fears black Americans endure. The confluence of the coronavirus pandemic's disparate effect on black communities and the killing of Floyd, a black man, by a police officer, who is white, has exposed America's systemic racial injustices, he said. Obama said he's been heartened by the young people mobilizing these demonstrations, noting that youth have led nearly every major social change in the country. He noted that unlike the 1960s civil rights movement when African Americans mostly marched alone, the protesters now represent a cross section of races. And he said he's encouraged that a majority of Americans, despite the attention on "a tiny minority that engaged in violence" still believe the protesters are justified. "That wouldn't have existed 30, 40, 50 years ago. There is a change in mind-set that's taking place, a greater recognition that we can do better," Obama said. Obama made his remarks during a virtual town hall hosted by his nonprofit, My Brother's Keeper Alliance, created to address gaps in opportunity for young black men and boys. He focused most of his comments on the need for policing reforms, imploring local leaders to implement policies devised by a task force the Obama administration created after the unrest in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, after the killing of another black man, Michael Brown, by a white police officer. Obama did not weigh in on the political tensions of the moment or the current White House's response to the protests. The closest he came was at the end of the event when he said that those criticizing the protests should remember that America was founded on protest. "And every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals has won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable," he said. Shortly before Obama's event, former president Jimmy Carter released a statement on the "immorality of racial discrimination. "We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this," Carter said. Both former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have also put out statements. Obama also spoke directly to young black people, telling them, "I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter." "So I hope that you also feel hopeful, even as you may feel angry, because you have the power to make things better," Obama continued, "and you have helped to make the entire country feel as if this is something that's got to change." In reply to the Twitter account that posted the video, the Delta Chi fraternity at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater tweeted, We do not support racism and the controversy that has circulated is completely against our character and educational process. The member who has been involved has been put up for expulsion and will have consequences for his actions. Advertisement Press Statement The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the slashing of the 2020 budgetary allocations for basic health care from N44.4 billion to N25.5b, and the Universal Basic Education (UBE) budget from N111.7 billion to N51.1 billion, by Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing it as the height of insensitivity to the plights of Nigerians. The party charged President Buhari to immediately recall the budget rework the figures to reflect a 100% increase in the initial figures as a step forward towards meeting the needs of the citizens at these sub sectors. Advertisement The PDP insists that in slashing the budget for the primary health need of the people to N25.5 billion (a 42% cut) and UBE budget to N51.1 billion (a 54% cut), in a country of over 200 million people, who are already economically overburden, the APC and its administration have further exposed that they have never had the welfare of Nigerians at heart. The party said no government, which genuinely means well for its citizens, will vote a paltry N25.5 billion for basic health care for 200 million people in 774 local governments, particularly at this time our nation is facing huge health challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, while allocating a bigger sum of N27.7 billion for renovation of the National Assembly complex, which is not even in a distress state. While the PDP has nothing against any effort to improve on the working condition of our federal legislature, placing the renovation of the National Assembly complex above health care at this critical time is a scandalous misplacement of national priority by President Buhari and APC Presiding officers. Moreover, our party has been made aware that this development does not reflect the views of majority of the federal lawmakers. A critical analysis of the allocations indicates that with the N25.5 billion voted for primary health care in a country of over 200 million citizens, President Buhari and the APC plan to spend only about N125 per Nigerian at the primary health care level, within the 2020 fiscal year. In the same vein, with the N51.1 billion allocation for basic education in a country of estimated 43 million school-age children, the APC Federal Government is deeming it proper to spend only N1,186 per child at the UBE level in 2020 fiscal year. The PDP wonders if the APC government targets to achieve more out-of-school children as well as more health need deficit in our country. Our party therefore rejects this collusion by the APC-led Federal Executive and their presiding officers in the National Assembly to downgrade the health need of our people as well as the education necessity of our children. It is even more distressing that the APC administration would still cut the primary healthcare budget in spite of the recent confession by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, that our health sector had gone moribund despite claims of interventions by the current administration. Moreover, the slashing of the budget, for basic education despite the poor state of the sector since the last five years, shows that the APC administration has no value for education and prefers to draw our nation back in global competitiveness in critical sectors. The PDP therefore charges President Buhari to prioritize the welfare and development of Nigerians by cutting the size of his government, clipping its luxuries, curbing the unbridled corruption by APC leaders so as to make more resources available for the health and education need of our citizens. Signed: Kola Ologbondiyan National Publicity Secretary Disney and Pixar's "Soul" was originally scheduled to debut in theaters this month, and now it's confirmed that the film would have had its world premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. (Pixar / Disney) Its been a remarkable season of ups and downs for the worlds most prestigious film festival. The Festival de Cannes 2019 edition was hailed as one of its strongest in years, with the premieres of much-lauded titles including Pain and Glory, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, Atlantics and the South Korean thriller Parasite, which won the Palme dOr, the festivals top prize. Nine months later, Parasite clinched the Academy Award for best picture, becoming the first film to pull off that twofer since Marty (1955) and marking a rare symbolic convergence between Hollywood and the global film industry. Awards-season cachet isnt everything, but it was still a striking turnaround for Cannes, which many in the industry had begun to discount as a significant Oscar launchpad next to its better-positioned rival festivals like Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Anticipation was thus running higher than usual for Cannes 2020. That event was originally scheduled to take place May 12-23, with the director Spike Lee presiding over the competition jury. Wes Andersons The French Dispatch, Paul Verhoevens Benedetta, Sofia Coppolas On the Rocks and the Pixar animation Soul were among the major titles widely expected to premiere on the Croisette, the storied boulevard that runs along the beach through the French Riviera town. But then came a startling reversal of fortune, as the festival was forced to postpone and then finally cancel its 2020 edition in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first such major Cannes disruption since 1968, a year of sweeping political unrest that brought the festivities to a screeching halt. Under the artistic direction of its delegate general, Thierry Fremaux, Cannes deferred its cancellation announcement for as long as possible. Even as other major events like South by Southwest and Tribeca pulled the plug, Cannes organizers remained optimistic about hosting some version of the festival later in the summer. But as the pandemic worsened and the French government extended its ban on all large-scale gatherings, it became clear the show simply could not go on. Story continues Now, at least, we have an idea of what the show would have been. On Wednesday evening in Paris, Fremaux and the festivals president, Pierre Lescure, unveiled a list of 56 films that had been chosen for the events official selection (which encompasses films that play in competition as well as sidebar sections including Un Certain Regard, midnight screenings, special screenings and out of competition). It's not exactly a picture of what the festival would have looked like without COVID-19. Some titles that may have played Cannes this year have instead opted to wait until next year (with Verhoeven's film reportedly on that list), while others were removed from consideration as their backers set their sights on other events. However, in the absence of a physical gathering, all 56 films in the official selection will now receive a Cannes 2020 label, a badge of honor that will accompany them to their premieres at later dates and possibly other festivals partnering with Cannes, including Telluride, Toronto, San Sebastian and New York. Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Fisher Stevens and Griffin Dunne in Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch." (Searchlight Pictures) The first and least surprising title on Fremauxs list was The French Dispatch, Andersons ensemble comedy set in the French foreign bureau of a Kansas newspaper, which conceivably would have brought Benicio Del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Lea Seydoux, Bill Murray, Timothee Chalamet and other actors to the festivals red-carpeted steps. The Searchlight Pictures release was originally scheduled to open July 24 in the U.S. but will now be released Oct. 16. Another postponed title receiving the Cannes 2020 label is Pete Docters Soul, which features the voice of Jamie Foxx as a middle-school music teacher who has an out-of-body experience. Co-directed by Kemp Powers and originally due this month but now set to open Nov. 20 through Disney, Soul would have marked the third consecutive Cannes selection for Docter. His previous Pixar features, Up and Inside Out, launched to great success with out-of-competition premieres on the Croisette. One Cannes 2020 selection likely to stir considerable excitement wherever it ends up is Ammonite, a 19th-century love story starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Its the second feature and the second LGBT romance from the English director Francis Lee after his much-acclaimed debut, Gods Own Country. The Oscar-winning British filmmaker Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows) had a remarkable two new features selected for Cannes 2020, both titles from his BBC/Amazon anthology series. They are Lovers Rock, a love story set at a blues party in the early 1980s, and Mangrove, an account of the Mangrove Nine, a group of British black activists who were arrested in 1970 after demonstrating against police harassment. Letitia Wright in Steve McQueen's "Mangrove," part of an anthology series of films called "Small Axe," backed by the BBC and Amazon Studios. (BBC / Amazon) Fremaux acknowledged Mangroves particular resonance in light of recent headlines, and, in a statement released for the festival's announcement, McQueen dedicated both films to George Floyd and all the other black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are. Along with Anderson, Docter and McQueen, other Cannes alumni who would have returned to the festival this year included Frances Francois Ozon, with Ete 85, and Maiwenn, with DNA; Japans Naomi Kawase with True Mothers; Denmarks Thomas Vinterberg with Another Round; Spains Fernando Trueba with Forgotten Well Be; Lithuanias Sharunas Bartas with In the Dusk; Belgiums Lucas Belvaux with Home Front; Japans Koji Fukada with The Real Thing; and the U.S. Jonathan Nossiter with Last Words. Following the success of Parasite at a festival that has always paid strong attention to South Korean cinema, Fremaux also announced the selection of two Korean pictures: Im Sang-soos Heaven: To the Land of Happiness and Yeon Sang-hos Peninsula, a follow-up to his hit 2016 zombie thriller, Train to Busan. Under normal circumstances, the press conference announcing the Cannes official selection lineup is an exciting, noisy and sometimes contentious affair. Journalists usually pepper Fremaux with questions about the glaring omissions of any films from this or that country, and also about the conspicuous absence of titles that were widely expected to have made the cut. Wednesdays live-streamed announcement proved inevitably quieter and more bittersweet, partly because the lineup was a purely theoretical one and partly because of COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions. No reporters were in attendance, which meant there were none of the usual questions and criticisms that have consistently greeted the Cannes selection. Journalists have hammered Fremaux and his selection committee in recent years for the routinely low percentage of women directors who are chosen for the festivals main competition. Those criticisms have only grown in intensity with the rise of the #MeToo movement a movement that began partly in response to the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, a longtime regular at Cannes and the light it has shed on gender inequality throughout the film industry. (In 2018, Cannes committed to the 5050 x 2020 Pledge, promising to make strides for gender parity and greater transparency.) Kate Winslet, left, and Saoirse Ronan in the lesbian romance "Ammonite." (See-Saw Films / Neon) The number of women directors who would have had films in competition this year is unknown, but 13 of the 56 films listed, or about 23%, feature a woman director. That percentage falls to about 20% if you consider that there are 64 directors named in the official selection, and 51 of them are men. (The reason for the discrepancy is that several films have multiple directors, including the omnibus film Septet: The Story of Hong Kong, which is credited to six directors, only one of whom, Ann Hui, is a woman.) Cannes is also regularly criticized for its longtime loyalty to well-known "usual suspect" auteurs, sometimes at the expense of highlighting new talent. But the festival has made a strong effort to right that balance in recent years with a greater focus on younger, less established filmmakers, among them Mati Diop (Atlantics) and Ladj Ly (Les Miserables), who both won major prizes at Cannes last year. In keeping with that commitment, the festival will grant labels to 18 features from first-time directors, including Frances Charlene Favier (Slalom), Armenias Nora Martirosyan (Si le Vent Tombe (Should the Wind Fall)), the U.S. Pascual Sisto (John and the Hole), Chinas Wei Shujun (Striding Into the Wind) and Israels Dani Rosenberg (The Death of Cinema and My Father Too). A number of international directors who have other features under their belt, but who are appearing in the official selection for the first time, include Lebanons Danielle Arbid with Passion Simple, Egypts Ayten Amin with Souad, Bulgarias Kamen Kalev with February and Canadas Pascal Plante with Nadia, Butterfly. Cannes 2020 would have hosted the international premieres of Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaws well-regarded documentary, The Truffle Hunters, and Viggo Mortensens directing debut, Falling, in which he also stars. Both films premiered earlier this year at Sundance, one of the few 2020 festivals to go off without a hitch before the pandemic. Sundance documentary premiere "The Truffle Hunters" by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw would have also screened at Cannes. (Sundance Institute) Cannes' reluctance to cancel even in the wake of a global health crisis became its own magnet for ridicule in recent months, cited as the latest evidence that the festival is an arrogant monolith, stubbornly wedded to tradition and protocol in a fast-changing media environment. Well before the pandemic, industry observers took Cannes to task for its ongoing refusal to allow Netflix films to play in competition, due to rules requiring that competition titles play afterward in French theaters. (The streaming giant responded to the competition ban by skipping Cannes in 2018 and 2019. And though Fremaux recently told trade publication Screen International that Lee's upcoming Netflix film "Da 5 Bloods" would have been an out-of-competition premiere this year, it was not included in the official selection announcement.) While Cannes enormous film market is planning a virtual edition this year so as to keep business flowing during the pandemic, Fremaux has said that he never seriously considered the idea of taking the festival digital. That dogged commitment to the theatrical experience may mark Cannes as something of a dinosaur, but it has also marked it as one of the industrys last remaining cultural and technological standard bearers. And that still means something: While it remains to be seen how the Cannes 2020 films fare on their own, the label will almost certainly ensure more than the usual media and industry attention as these films make their way into the outside world. Fremaux noted on Wednesday that despite this year's unprecedented disappointment and upheaval, many had expressed gratitude that he and his organizers hadn't given up on Cannes so easily. Were very much touched by the signs of affection, he said before joking, Weve decided to call off next years festival. We get more compliments when we cancel. Here are the films announced in the Cannes 2020 official selection, along with their directors' names and nationalities. The section names were provided by the festival itself. THE FAITHFUL (or at least selected once before) The French Dispatch Wes Anderson (U.S.) Ete 85 Francois Ozon (France) Asa Ga Kuru (True Mothers) Naomi Kawase (Japan) Lovers Rock Steve McQueen (U.K.) Mangrove Steve McQueen (U.K.) Druk (Another Round) Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark) ADN (DNA) Maiwenn (France/Algeria) Last Words Jonathan Nossiter (U.S.) Heaven: To the Land of Happiness Im Sang-soo (South Korea) El Olvido Que Seremos (Forgotten Well Be) Fernando Trueba (Spain) Peninsula Yeon Sang-ho (South Korea) In the Dusk (Au Crepuscule) Sharunas Bartas (Lithuania) Des Hommes (Home Front) Lucas Belvaux (Belgium) The Real Thing Koji Fukada, Japan) THE NEWCOMERS Passion Simple Danielle Arbid (Lebanon) A Good Man Marie Castille Mention-Schaar (France) Les Choses Quon Dit, Les Choses Quon Fait Emmanuel Mouret (France) Souad Ayten Amin (Egypt) Limbo Ben Sharrock (U.K.) Rouge (Red Soil)" Farid Bentoumi (France) Sweat Magnus von Horn (Sweden) Teddy Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma (France) February (Fevrier) Kamen Kalev (Bulgaria) Ammonite Francis Lee (U.K.) Un Medecin de Nuit Elie Wajeman (France) Enfant Terrible Oskar Roehler (Germany) Nadia, Butterfly Pascal Plante (Canada) Here We Are Nir Bergman (Israel) AN OMNIBUS FILM Septet: The Story of Hong Kong Ann Hui, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo-ping and Patrick Tam (Hong Kong) THE FIRST FEATURES Falling Viggo Mortensen (U.S.) Pleasure Ninja Thyberg (Sweden) Slalom Charlene Favier (France) Casa de Antiguidades (Memory House) Joao Paulo Miranda Maria (Brazil) Broken Keys (Fausse Note) Jimmy Keyrouz (Lebanon) Ibrahim Samir Guesmi (France) Beginning Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia) Gagarine Fanny Liatard and Jeremy Trouilh (France) 16 Printemps Suzanne Lindon (France) Vaurien Peter Dourountzis (France) Garcon Chiffon Nicolas Maury (France) Si le Vent Tombe (Should the Wind Fall) Nora Martirosyan (Armenia) John and the Hole Pascual Sisto (U.S.) Striding Into the Wind Wei Shujun (China) The Death of Cinema and My Father Too Dani Rosenberg (Israel) THREE DOCUMENTARY FILMS En Route Pour Milliard (The Billion Road) Dieudo Hamadi (Democratic Republic of Congo) The Truffle Hunters Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (U.S.) 9 Jours a Raqqa Xavier de Lauzanne (France) FIVE COMEDY FILMS Antoinette Dans les Cevennes Caroline Vignal (France) Les Deux Alfred Bruno Podalydes (France) Un Triomphe (The Big Hit) Emmanuel Courcol (France) LOrigine du Monde Laurent Lafitte (France) a first film Le Discours Laurent Tirard (France) FOUR ANIMATED FILMS Aya To Majo (Earwig and the Witch) Goro Miyazaki (Japan) Flee Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark) Josep Aurel (France) a first film Soul Pete Docter (U.S.) When someone dies in the grip of rage, a new curse is born! And the ones who encounter this evil, are consumed by its fury and met with a violent fate. From the producer of Dont Breathe and Evil Dead - Sam Raimicomes the untold chapter of the horror classic witha twisted new vision. &flix brings the reboot of the ultimate J-horror franchise laden with jump-scares and peekaboo screams with the Flix First World Television Premiere of The Grudge this Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 1 PM, 7 PM & 9 PM. #LeapForth into the horrors unknown and witness a sinister story come alive starring Andrea Riseborough, Academy Award-nominee Demian Bichir, John Cho and Betty Gilpin with horror movie legend Lin Shayeand Jacki Weaver. Available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, the chilling tale also airs as a part of Club Prive on Sunday, at 3PM and 11 PM on &PriveHD and at 2 pm on Zee Cafe. Layered with constant spooks and screams that are chilling to the bone, this 2020 sequel of the classic paranormal franchise The Grudge, unearths the dark and dreadful horrors that lurk behind the shadows.The film centres around a gruesome murder that takes place in a small town in Pennsylvania. A young housewife, upon her return from Japan,bludgeons and drowns her two young ones to death before committing suicide herself,creating a stir across the community. And thus, kickstarts a series of ghastly occurrences in this humble neighbourhood where a vengeful spirit dooms those who enter the haunted house. With rookie detective and single mother Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) now on to the case, what follows is the unleashing of all hell upon the mother-son duo as they run to save their lives from the demonic forces that follow their trail. Amidst the creaks, croaks and shadows, will the two ward-off the ancient curse and survive the horrors? Only one way to find out! Available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, the chilling tale also airs as a part of Club Prive on Sunday, at 3PM and 11PM on &PriveHD and at 2 PM on Zee Cafe What species are more Canadian than moose or beavers? We now have an answer. A new report has catalogued 308 species, sub-species and varieties of plants and animals found in Canada and nowhere else on the planet. They include mammals such as the eastern wolf, Vancouver Island marmot, wood bison and Peary caribou; birds such as the Pacific Steller's jay; and fish such as the Banff longnose dace, Atlantic whitefish and Vancouver lamprey. But 80 per cent of them are plants and insects ones you probably haven't heard of, like the Maritime ringlet butterfly and the Yukon goldenweed. "Really, I mean, these are the most Canadian species because they are uniquely Canadian they only live here," said Dan Kraus, senior conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and a lead author of the report on endemic species released Thursday. Most have small ranges and populations, making them vulnerable to extinction. Only 10 per cent are considered "globally secure." Colin Jones/iNaturalist/Nature Conservancy of Canada Nevertheless only 20 per cent have been assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada to determine just how threatened they are. But they're species that only Canadians can protect, Kraus said. "It's sometimes easy to kind of think that there's nothing we can do about the global extinction crisis, as Canadians," he added. "But these are species where their fate is directly in our hands. And if only Canadians will decide if they go extinct or if they survive in the future." Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada is a non-profit organization whose goal is to protect natural areas that sustain plants and wildlife and, in looking for areas to protect, it prioritizes endemic species. It decided to compile a list of such species after realizing that no such comprehensive list existed, Kraus said. It partnered with the NatureServe Canada, part of an international network that collects and distributes conservation data. By comparing Canadian and U.S. data, Kraus and NatureServe Canada's Amie Enns came up with a list of species that exist in Canada and not the U.S. They then checked to make sure none of them were found in places like other parts of the Arctic, and consulted with dozens experts across the country. Story continues In the process, Kraus was surprised to discover how many endemic species live in northern parts of Canada and how many we know very little about. In fact, new endemic species were discovered over the course of the two-year study, including a beetle in the Yukon and a new species of quillwort (a type of aquatic or semi-aquiatic plant) in the freshwater estuary of the St. Lawrence. Bruce Bennett/Nature Conservancy of Canada Both were found in "hotspots" with lots of endemic species. "It may be that some of those hotspots are much larger than what we've mapped or there may be additional endemic species in Canada," said Kraus, adding that excites him as a Canadian biologist. "There's all these new discoveries that are still waiting to happen in our own country." Nature Conservancy of Canada Most hotspots are in unique ecosystems, such as the Athabasca sand dunes of Alberta or the Great Northern and Avalon peninsulas of Newfoundland, along with isolated islands such as Vancouver Island, Sable Island or Haida Gwaii, and the few areas of Canada that weren't covered in ice during the last ice age. Many are already known as hotspots for biodiversity in general, and some are protected. B.C., Quebec, Alberta and Yukon had the highest numbers of endemic plants and animals. Kraus hopes the list of endemic species will help prioritize species and habitats for conservation and raise awareness about what Canadians can do about the global extinction crisis. "But these are species where it's our piece of that problem and we can we alone are the ones that can solve it," he said. But that can be good thing, he suggests: "There's no reason why we need to lose any of these species in the future." Fangliang He is a professor at the University of Alberta who holds a Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and Landscape Modelling and wasn't involved in the study. He said he wasn't aware of any other projects like this cataloguing endemic species in Canada. He noted that there aren't very many, compared to the overall number of species, as many tend to cross the border into the U.S., either to the south or in Alaska. For example, the new report found 64 endemic plant species (not including mosses and liverworts) or 109 species, subspecies and varieties, while He estimates there are about 4,000 plant species in Canada. But he said studies like this are useful. "It's fundamental information very important, critical for conservation," he said, adding that especially when resources are limited, "Endemic [plants and animals] in general should really be the priority in terms of conservation." The United States has allocated $5.4 million in fresh assistance to Armenia designed to combat the coronavirus epidemic, U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy said on Thursday. In an interview with RFE/RLs Armenian service, Tracy also voiced concern over the growing number of coronavirus cases in the country while praising the Armenian governments intensifying efforts to get people to practice social distancing, wear face masks and wash hands. Those are things that all of us can do and that I think can help turn around the situation were seeing right now, she said. Obviously these high numbers that we are seeing now are of concern, but its really the effort of all of us, a unified effort, that I think is going to make a difference in fighting COVID-19. Im also happy to say that the United States has been doing its best to contribute and assist the government, Tracy went on. We have obtained $5.4 million of new assistance money thats going in a number of directions to help the government. We are also redirecting some of our existing money to help small and medium businesses. So I have still some optimism that we can recover and be in a better place. But its going to take a lot of work, I think, from everybody. In the envoys words, much of the fresh U.S. assistance will be channeled into Armenian laboratories and healthcare services dealing with the most severe cases of COVID-19. We are continuing to talk to the [Armenian] government about the needs that they have, and we are looking at what we have within the U.S. capacity to help, she said. Washington announced its first coronavirus-related aid package for Armenia, worth $1.1 million, in late March shortly after the Armenian government imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain the first major outbreaks of the disease. The government began easing those restrictions in mid-April and lifted virtually all of them by the beginning of May. The number of coronavirus cases in the country has increased sharply since then. Critics say that the government never properly enforced the lockdown and ended it too soon. Asked to commenting on that criticism, Tracy said: The prime minister [Nikol Pashinian] has been talking about some of the issues that hes been trying to balance, trying to balance protecting public health while also paying attention to the fundamentals of the economy. Its a tough balance to strike. This is something that we are facing in the United States as well and in many places around the world, she said. ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The Canadian government is moving ahead with new rules it says will speed up approvals for exploratory oil and gas drilling off the east coast of Newfoundland, but conservation groups are warning the changes undermine environmental protections. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Tuesday, February 4, 2020 in Ottawa. The Canadian government says it is moving ahead with new rules that will speed up approvals for exploratory oil and gas drilling off the east coast of Newfoundland. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The Canadian government is moving ahead with new rules it says will speed up approvals for exploratory oil and gas drilling off the east coast of Newfoundland, but conservation groups are warning the changes undermine environmental protections. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan issued a statement Thursday saying the new regulation will improve the efficiency of assessments while upholding the "highest standards" of environmental protection. "Our government recognizes that Newfoundland and Labrador's ability to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic will depend largely on a strong, resilient and innovative offshore," O'Regan said. Three environmental groups have launched a federal court challenge, arguing exploratory drilling off Newfoundland will now be green-lit without proper environmental assessments. The Ecology Action Centre, Sierra Club Canada Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada argued earlier this month that the science behind the new "regional assessment" or RA process is flawed. Lawyer James Gunvaldsen-Klaassen, whose firm Ecojustice is representing the groups, argued that the regulation "flies in the face" of the purpose of environmental scrutiny under the new Impact Assessment Act. The court later decided the case can proceed to a judicial review, but denied the group's request for an injunction. "The federal government stated that it intended to use the flawed RA and a loophole in the ... legislation to allow for a broad exemption of all future offshore exploratory drilling in the region," the groups said in a statement Thursday. "Left unchallenged, this would set a poor and dangerous precedent for regional assessments, which could otherwise be a promising new mechanism under the Impact Assessment Act." O'Regan said the new regulation will help the oil and gas industry remain competitive because it will provide investors with "more predictability and certainty." As well, O'Regan said the regulation strengthens conditions to ensure projects adhere to environmental protection standards. The Newfoundland and Labrador government said the new assessment process will shorten timelines to as little as 90 days. The province said the existing process can take up to 900 days. "This is a significant improvement over the previous process which caused considerable delays," the province said in a statement. Siobhan Coady, Newfoundland and Labrador's natural resources minister, said the province can now "explore its offshore and hopefully make some great discoveries." Provincial officials say the delays started in 2010 when the responsibility for offshore environmental assessments were shifted from the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, environmental assessments for exploratory wells in other countries take far less time to complete: 44 days in Australia; 96 days in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico; 79 days in Norway; and 18 days in the U.K. During a recent industry conference in St. John's, Coady warned that with oil prices plummeting, companies are closing and jobs are being lost. In mid-March, Equinor and Husky Energy announced the decision to defer the Bay du Nord offshore development project due to falling oil prices and the economic downturn as countries responded to the novel coronavirus. In addition, Hibernia has recently suspended its drilling program, the Terra Nova refit for May has been suspended and the West White Rose project has been deferred. The Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association has said in order to remain competitive with Norway, the United Kingdom and Australia, the federal government needs to provide a renewed program of "incentives for offshore exploration." The offshore industry accounts for close to one third of the province's GDP, 13 per cent of wages and 10 per cent of all jobs. by Michael MacDonald in Halifax, with files from Holly McKenzie-Sutter This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 18:18:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A Palestinian young man harvests wheat in a field near the border with Israel in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, June 4, 2020. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) by Sanaa Kamal GAZA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Wesam Abu Musabeh, a 26-year-old young man, cultivates lands along Gaza's eastern border with Israel to make a living, with 44 unemployed graduates from the Gaza Strip. "The eastern border between Gaza and Israel has changed my life," Abu Musabeh from Khan Younis city in the south of the coastal enclave told Xinhua. Over two years, Abu Musabeh used to take part in the weekly protests joined by thousands of Palestinians who lost hope in life. The protestors demanded Israel to end its blockade that has been imposing against them since 2007 following Hamas' seizure of power, causing harsh living conditions. After few weeks of demonstrations, Israeli soldiers stationed on the border shot Abu Musabeh twice, leaving him disabled on the left foot. For Abu Musabeh, who was his 10-member family's only breadwinner, the injury was a severe blow. The young man has tried to find a job on a number of occasions but has repeatedly failed. "The situation went from worse to worst," Abu Musabeh said, adding that "there were no jobs, no security, no food and no hope for a better future." Pushed into poverty, Abu Musabeh was desperately looking for a solution. Together with other 44 unemployed graduates, he went again to the border areas to cultivate lands. Alaa Abu Tair, who has been unemployed since he graduated in 2009, was one of the young people who joined Abu Musabeh. "It is not what I had dreamt of. I spent some 12,000 U.S. dollars on education, but I had no job after completing my studies," the 31-year-old father of three told Xinhua. "Now, we work eight hours a day to earn 15 dollars only, but we simply don't have any other choice," the man said. However, cultivating the lands has proven to be difficult as the young men often face the shooting of Israeli soldiers if they approach the fence. Israel imposed a security buffer zone of 300 meters along the Gaza Strip's eastern border, making agricultural areas challenging to approach. Israel claims that the move was necessary to prevent Palestinian armed factions from launching attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel's southern communities. However, Palestinians believe that it is just another means that tightens the loss of Gazans. Mohammed Abu Lahia, from the town of al-Qarara, is another young man who takes the risk by cultivating the lands close to the border. He walks about five km a day to reach his team before heading towards the eastern areas where they work under the hot summer sun. Graduating from the College of Sharia and Fundamentals of Religion, Abu Lahia has been unemployed since 2017, struggling to feed his family. "There is an army of unemployed graduates who had lost any hope," Abu Lahia said. "Since there is a lack of justice, it is us, the ordinary Palestinians, who end up paying the price," he complained. Nevertheless, the young people who joined in the cultivation of lands believed that the Palestinian youths in the impoverished coastal enclave can overcome the worst circumstances to earn a living and feed their families. The unemployment in Gaza has reached unprecedented heights after Hamas seized power in 2007 and Israel's subsequent decision to impose a full blockade of the coastal enclave. According to estimates, more than 80 percent of Gazans are unemployed, of whom many are educated young people. A local Gaza-based committee resisting the Israeli blockade has warned in January that Israel's embargo has led to a severe humanitarian deterioration in all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip. New Delhi: The AAP government has called a one-day special session of Delhi Assembly on September 9 over a number of issues concerning the national capital. The decision was taken today at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Cabinet has decided to convene a one-day Special Session of Delhi Assembly on September 9 to discuss a range of issues including governance in the national capital, a senior government official said. Last month, the Kejriwal-led government had also called a four-day session during which the Assembly ratified Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, becoming the third non-BJP-ruled state to do so. The House had also passed Luxury Tax Amendment Bill under which there will be no tax on hotel room rent up to Rs 1,500. China continues investigation into sea burials of Indonesian fishermen: Foreign Affairs Ministry by NUR YASMIN June 04,2020 | Source: Jakarta Globe The Foreign Affairs Ministry said Chinese authorities are continuing investigation into the sea burials of Indonesian crew workers on Chinese fishing vessels last month. "Our embassy in Beijing sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on May 19. They informed us the investigation was still ongoing," the ministry's citizen protection director Judha Nugraha said on Wednesday. A video posted on Facebook by Suwarno Cano Swe on May 15 showed the dead body of another Indonesian fisherman, identified by his initial H., being dumped into the sea from a different Chinese fishing boat. H. died after allegedly being physically abused on the boat, where the working condition was described as slave-like. Suwarno said H. was repeatedly hit with wood planks, steel rods, glass bottles and electrocuted. "He died on Jan. 16 and was dumped overboard in Somali territorial waters," Judha said. At least three other Indonesian crew workers had died on Chinese fishing vessels after receiving inhuman treatment and had their bodies thrown into the sea. Around 50 other Indonesian crew workers have been forced to work in slave-like conditions on other Chinese fishing vessels. Judha said the ministry is having trouble tracking Indonesian crew workers on foreign fishing boats since many of them are undocumented. "Many of these migrant workers are not documented in our database. They don't know how to register in the system when they work abroad," he said. Migrant Care Executive Director Wahyu Susilo said many agencies send these crew workers to work on boats all over the world without going through the official red tapes. The procedure to earn a permit to work abroad from the Indonesian government is complicated. Applicants must submit multiple documents to the Workforce Ministry, the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) and the Transportation Ministry. "The bureaucracy is complicated and many workers don't have the required documents. They look for a shortcut and often fall prey to human trafficking," Wahyu said. Wahyu said Indonesia should issue a government regulation to protect migrant workers in the maritime sector. Currently, a total of 2.9 million Indonesians work abroad, of which 9,404 are documented ship crew workers. 2020 JAKARTA GLOBE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Theme(s): Others. Tripoli, June 4 (IANS) Libya's UN-backed government forces announced that have taken control of the Tripoli international airport from the rival eastern-based army, as the armed conflict between the two parties continued. The UN-backed government's forces on Wednesday launched an operation to "free Tripoli International Airport", reports Xinhua news agency. "Our brave forces completely freed the Tripoli International Airport and are now pursuing the fleeing forces of Haftar (commander of eastern-based army) towards Qasr bin Ghashir in the east of the airport," Mohamed Gonono, spokesman of the Government of National Accord (GNA), said in a statement. The spokesman added that the UN-backed government's forces had launched 10 airstrikes on the eastern-based army in the airport. The airport had been closed since 2014 and was held by the eastern-based army commander Khalifa Haftar since last year. Since 2014, Libya has been split between rival factions based in Tripoli and in the east. The fighting has killed and injured hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 150,000 others, despite repeated international calls for ceasefire. --IANS ksk/ Nancy Gray passed the broken windows of the First Midwest Bank in downtown Aurora as she ran to join her husband, who was already guarding her mothers store while vandals ransacked nearby businesses. She felt the sting of tear gas in her eyes as she approached her husband, who had taken tear gas to his face and was begging her to please come get him, he couldnt see. 4 Jun Arnold Vegafria, the national director of Miss World Philippines, recently expressed his frustration over Maureen Montagne's decision not to succeed Suheyn Cipriani as Miss Eco International 2019. In a statement he released on social media on 3 June, Vegafria stated that Montagne was automatically qualified to replace the Peruvian beauty after the latter was dethroned due to her pregnancy, which would mean that they would have made pageant history by winning Miss Eco International back-to-back for 2018 and 2019. "What disappointed me even more was that she chose to join another local pageant instead--without even according proper courtesy to the Miss World Philippines and Miss Eco International organizations. This is a clear violation of the prestigious international pageant's rules and regulations since her tenure has not formally ended," he said, referring to Montagne's participation in Binibining Pilipinas. Vegafria stated that according to Miss Eco International founder Dr. Amaal Rezk, Maureen could've still accepted the crown and waited until September when she can formally relinquish her title, but refused to do so. "Her conduct unbecoming of pageant queen is a clear deterrent to her loftier aspirations for yet another crown. Despite all these, I still send her my blessings and wish her luck in all her future endeavours," he added. Cipriani has recently been replaced by the fourth runner-up Amy Tinie from Malaysia. (Photo Source: Arnold Vegafria Instagram) P rotesters defied curfews and returned to the streets for a ninth consecutive night as civil unrest sparked by death of George Floyd continued to sweep across the US. Cheers erupted in Minneapolis, the epicentre of clashes, when news broke that three further police officers had been charged in connection with Mr Floyds death. A charge of third-degree murder against former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin has been upgraded to second-degree murder, while three others have now been charged with aiding and abetting a murder. Mr Floyd, 46, an unarmed black man, died on May 25 after his Chauvin was filmed kneeling on his neck almost nine minutes during an arrest. George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' 1 /16 George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' AFP via Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA Getty Images The development also calmed protesters in Atlanta, Seattle and Washington DC. In the nations capital, demonstrators held up their phone torches in Lafayette Square, blocks from the White House, past 2am, despite the 11pm curfew. It came as former US president Barack Obama praised the protesters at a virtual town hall on Wednesday for capturing the public mood of America. Protests over the death of George Floyd were mostly peaceful last night in Washington DC / Getty Images "I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter," he said. "Just remember, this country was founded on protest," he added. Yesterday thousands of people flocked to London's Hyde Park and marched on Parliament Square for a London Black Lives Matter protest. Activists, several wearing masks, waved placards and chanted "Black Lives Matter and no justice, no peace as the demonstration got under way. Other signs read: UK arent innocent. Star Wars actor John Boyega, who was born in south London, made an emotional address to the crowd using a megaphone. A largely peaceful protest was marred by pockets of violence later in the day as some demonstrators hurled temporary barriers and glass bottles at the gates of Downing Street, and riot police were deployed amid skirmishes. George Floyd Hyde Park Protest - In pictures 1 /106 George Floyd Hyde Park Protest - In pictures People climb on the Winston Churchill statue during a Black Lives Matter protest march in London Jeremy Selwyn People march holding banners during a "Black Lives Matter" protest following the death of George Floyd AP Protesters kneel as they stop briefly in Parliament Square AP Protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest march in London Jeremy Selwyn Protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest in London Nigel Howard Protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Nigel Howard Protesters are accompanied by police officers as they march during a demonstration AP Protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest march in London Jeremy Selwyn People march holding banners during a "Black Lives Matter" protest following the death of George Floyd AP Protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest march in London Jeremy Selwyn Protesters shout during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images People climb on the Winston Churchill statue during a Black Lives Matter protest march in London Jeremy Selwyn Black Lives Matter protest march Jeremy Selwyn People march holding banners during a "Black Lives Matter" protest following the death of George Floyd Reuters Protestors march during an anti-racism demonstration in London AFP via Getty Images Black Lives Matter protest Nigel Howard Black Lives Matter protest Nigel Howard Black Lives Matter protest Nigel Howard Black Lives Matter protest Nigel Howard Black Lives Matter protest march Jeremy Selwyn People wearing face masks march with banners in Park Lane during a Black Lives Matter protest Reuters Aerial of Black Lives Matter protest march to Parliament Square Protestors march during an anti-racism demonstration AFP via Getty Images Protestors march during an anti-racism demonstration AFP via Getty Images Protestors march during an anti-racism demonstration in London AFP via Getty Images Protesters march as they take part in a London demonstration AP People wearing face masks march with banners in Park Lane during a "Black Lives Matter" protest following the death of George Floyd Reuters Protesters wearing face masks hold up signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Protestors wearing face masks as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, march during an anti-racism demonstration in London AFP via Getty Images Protestors, some wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) including face masks as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, hold placards during an anti-racism demonstration in London AFP via Getty Images John Boyega speaks during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Aerial view of protest at Hyde Park Sky News A man and a woman hold hands aloft in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter" protest REUTERS People hold banners in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd Reuters A woman reacts in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd Reuters People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park, London Nigel Howard People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park, London PA REUTERS Protesters adjust a face mask ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Jeremy Selwyn People hold banners in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis Reuters Aerial view of protest at Hyde Park Sky News Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Jeremy Selwyn People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park PA Protesters wearing face masks hold up signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images A person shouts into a megaphone in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest Reuters Protesters wearing face masks hold up signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park PA People observe social distancing as they participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park PA People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park, London PA Protesters wearing face masks hold up signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park PA Protesters hold up placards AP People hold banners in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd Reuters Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Nigel Howard People gather ahead of the Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park, London, in memory of George Floyd PA Stewards direct people as they begin to gather ahead of the Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park, London PA Protesters wear face masks as they hold up signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Protesters wear face masks and observe social distancing during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Radhika Aligh Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd John Dunne People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Hyde Park PA A protester wears a face mask displaying the words "I can't breathe" during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images People wearing face masks hold banners in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest Reuters Protesters gather AP Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Radhika Aligh Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Jeremy Selwyn People wearing face masks and holding banners march in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd Reuters A protester wearing a face mask holds a sign saying 'I can't breathe' during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Protesters take part in a demonstration at Hyde Park AP People wearing a face mask hold banners in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest Reuters Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Jeremy Selwyn Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Jeremy Selwyn Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Radhika Aligh Protesters hold up placards as people gather AP A woman wearing a face mask with a "Justice For Belly Mujinga" message is seen in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest Reuter Protesters hold up signs during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park Getty Images Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Jeremy Selwyn Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Radhika Aligh Protestors at Hyde Park protest for George Floyd Radhika Aligh The anger over Mr Floyds death once again spilled over into riots and violence in some US cities following days of clashes between police and activists. In New York, a confrontation in Brooklyn late on Wednesday left one police officer stabbed in the neck, two officers with gunshot wounds to their hands and another man shot by police, the citys police department said. The officers were taken to a hospital with wounds that were not thought to be life-threatening, the department said. The condition of the man shot by police was not immediately released. Meanwhile in New Orleans, police fired tear gas to disperse protestors after escalating, physical confrontation on officers. At least 200 National Guard troops are also being drafted in across San Diego County in southern California to stop looting and arson, the sheriffs department announced last night. The bloodshed continued in Brooklyn, New York, where two police officers were rushed to hospital / Getty Images The latest night of civil unrest came as memorial services to honour George Floyd were announced across three cities, representing places where he was born, grew up and died. The first service will be Thursday afternoon at North Central University in Minneapolis. Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, and Floyd family attorney Ben Crump will speak. "It would be inadequate if you did not regard the life and love and celebration the family wants," said Rev. Sharpton, the civil rights leader who will eulogize Floyd in two cities. "But it would also be inadequate ... if you acted as though we're at a funeral that happened under natural circumstances." Mr Floyd's body will then go to his birthplace of Raeford, North Carolina, for a two-hour public viewing and private service for the family on Saturday. Finally, a public viewing will be held Monday in Houston, where he was raised and lived most of his life. Demonstrators marched away from the White House last night, ignoring the curfew / Getty Images A 500-person service on Tuesday will take place at The Fountain of Praise church. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, may attend alongside other political figures and celebrities are expected as well. A private burial will follow. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. A detailed analysis report of the Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments. Drivers AUVs meeting the specifications for carrying out active and vigorous research Rising importance of more reliable security measures across the globe Restraints Stringent government regulations The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities. The report classifies the market into different segments based on type, technology and application. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market. Leading Segment in this market: By Type - Large AUVs By Application - Military & Defense By Geography - North America Browse the complete Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Research Report - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/11405-autonomous-underwater-vehicles-market-report The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market with company profiles of key players such as: Atlas Elekronik Group GmbH Bluefin Robotics Corporation Boston Engineering Corporation ECA Group Fugro N.V. International Submarine Engineering (ISE) Ltd. Oceanserver Technology, Inc. SAAB Group Teledyne Gavia EHF. 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SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT: By Type: Shallow AUVs (Depth up to 100 meters) Medium AUVs (Depth up to 1,000 meters) Large AUVs (Depth Above 1,000 meters) By Technology: Collision Avoidance Sonar Communication Navigation Compass-Based Navigation Solution Inertial Navigation System Propulsion Fin Control Actuator Propulsion Motor Pump Motor Linear Electromechanical Actuator Imaging By Applications: Military & Defense Border Security and Surveillance Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Monitoring Smuggling of Illegal Goods Environmental Assessment Mine Countermeasures (MCMs) Oil & Gas Pipeline Survey Geophysical Survey Debris/Clearance Survey Baseline Environmental Assessment Environmental Protection and Monitoring Habitat Research Water Sampling Fishery Study Emergency Response Oceanography Archeology and Exploration Search and Salvage Operations By Geography: North America (NA) Europe (EU) Asia Pacific (APAC) Rest of the World (RoW) Download Free Sample Report of Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-11405 The Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters - Chapter 1 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Preface Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Industry Analysis Chapter 4 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Value Chain Analysis Chapter 5 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Analysis By Type Chapter 6 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Analysis By Technology Chapter 7 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Analysis By Applications Chapter 8 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Analysis By Geography Chapter 9 Competitive Landscape Of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Companies Chapter 10 Company Profiles Of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Industry Purchase the complete Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-11405 Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com: Global Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) Market Research Report - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 Global Recreational Vehicles Market Research Report - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 Global Armored Vehicles Market Research Report - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 About-Us: DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For more details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91 9028057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ A group of residents including children held rifles and other weapons as they blocked their road to 'guard it from looters'. Footage of the group, who were standing next to their cars to block the street, was posted on website LiveLeak. The residents were allegedly guarding their street to stop looters after stores in many parts of the country were raided during nationwide unrest caused by the death of black man George Floyd. A group of residents including children held rifles as they blocked their road to 'guard it from looters'. Footage of the group, who were standing next to their cars to block the street, was posted on website Liveleak The video of the guarding residents was filmed by a family in a passing car. They are seen driving past them before using a roundabout to drive back the other way. The group, who number at least 12, are standing next to their cars and some are holding rifles. One man is wearing a military-style helmet, combat boots and pants and is holding a rifle. As the family pass the residents, an older woman in the car says, 'he has a gun in the black shirt' as she refers to the man in the helmet. A girl in the car then adds: 'This is in Belleview.' The residents were allegedly guarding their street to stop looters after stores in many parts of the country were raided during nationwide unrest caused by the death of black man George Floyd As she turns the car back around, the older woman then says: 'Look at all these white people. Look at them with their guns.' Although it isn't clear from the video, she claims a teenage boy is also standing with a gun. 'Look at that little boy, he's a young man with a gun. He's like 16,' she says. The video was posted on LiveLeak on Tuesday as protesters gathered for a ninth straight day following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He was killed after white police officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck on Memorial Day. Floyd, who was in handcuffs at the time, died after Chauvin ignored bystander shouts to get off him and Floyd's cries that he couldn't breathe. The video of the guarding residents was filmed by a family in a passing car. They are seen driving past them before using a roundabout to drive back the other way His death, captured on citizen video, sparked days of protests in Minneapolis that quickly spread to cities across America. Tuesday's gatherings were quieter than previous nights which had seen looting in areas including Soho in Manhattan. Stores including Adidas and Verizon were ransacked in New York. Some demonstrators had also set fires, burning stores down in Minneapolis and elsewhere. There were also violent clashes with police, who were criticised for being heavy-handed after using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to break up crowds. United States government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and NASA, all have aircraft or spacecraft engaged in some form of electric propulsion that requires increased power levels while operating in harsh environments -- involving factors like temperature, vibration, and altitude -- for a variety of applications. Mona Ghassemi, assistant professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Program award, a three-year grant of $450,000, to study the fundamental roots of insulation breakdown caused by low pressure and harsh environments, an issue at the heart of work being done by the DOD and NASA. "Too little research has been dedicated to understanding insulation breakdown, and my approach is particularly novel in that it is aligned with national interest," said Ghassemi. "The project is designed to develop new research capabilities and broaden the research base in support of U.S. national defense." Ghassemi's study will use "theoretical"-based multiphysics modeling to understand phenomena behind partial discharge in solid dielectrics under low pressure; harsh temperatures in the -60C to +180C range; and humidity in the 0-100 percent range. Ghassemi will conduct experimental investigations to identify the critical frequency for various solid insulation systems with gas-filled cavities and electrode geometry in the air. The Young Investigator Research Program is a highly competitive program open to promising scientists and engineers at research institutions across the United States to foster creative research in science and engineering; enhance early career development of outstanding young researchers; and increase opportunities for young researchers to recognize the science and engineering challenges related to the United States Air Force mission. In addition to this award, Ghassemi recently received a five-year $500,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award to conduct research on accelerated aging of dielectrics used in power system components and develop thermo-electromagnetic transient models for power system apparatuses. Ghassemi earned her Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, in 2007 and 2012, respectively. Her professional involvement includes at-large member of the Administrative Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society for 2020-2023; corresponding member of the IEEE Conference Publication Committee of the IEEE Power & Energy Society; and active member of several CIGRE working groups and the IEEE Task Forces. She is also a senior member of IEEE; a registered professional engineer in the Province of Ontario, Canada; and an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IET High Voltage, and the International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education. ### Star Wars actor John Boyega gave an emotional speech at the Hyde Park Black Lives Matter demonstration after the death of George Floyd in the US. The 28-year-old teared up at several points during his speech which referenced police involvement in the deaths of George Floyd, Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin in the US and also the death of Stephen Lawrence in the UK. We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd, he told the demonstration. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence. He added: Im speaking to you from my heart. Look, I dont know if Im going to have a career after this, but f*** that. Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process, we dont know what George Floyd could have achieved, we dont know what Sandra Bland could have achieved, but today were going to make sure that wont be an alien thought to our young ones. He told the crowds: Every black person in here remembered when another person reminded you that you were black. So none of you out there, all those protesters on the other side, protesting against what we want to do, protesting against what we want to try and achieve, burn you, this is so vital. The actor continued: I need you to understand how painful this s**t is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isnt the case anymore, that was never the case anymore." Thousands of people descended on Hyde Park on Wednesday (3 June) to protest police brutality and systemic racism. A bartender performs at a night fair of Sinan Mansions in Shanghai, east China, May 24, 2020. A night fair of Sinan Mansions with food stalls, open air museum and art exhibitions etc., opened to boost Shanghai's nighttime economy. (Xinhua/Chen Fei) Shanghai will kick off a Night Festival on June 6 to boost the city's night economy, the authorities announced on Wednesday. A number of bars, museums, bookstores, shopping malls and landmark commercial complexes will join the festival with extended business hours and themed activities like night tours, shopping, dining, reading and live shows. The festival will integrate online and offline activities. Online platforms like TikTok, Meituan-Dianping, Didi Chuxing, Red, and Alibaba's Hema Fresh will join the festival with favorable discounts and a number of interactive activities. For instance, Hema will extend the opening hours of their Shanghai stores on June 6. It will also provide night delivery services for iced products like cold beer, soft drinks and watermelons, Chang Yubing, general manager of Shanghai Store Operation with Hema Fresh, told Global Times. Shanghai will also launch a festival targeting street fashion brands to attract the young generations, Liu Min, deputy director of the city's Commission of Commerce, said at a press conference on Wednesday. It will shed light on new product releases, Chinese street fashion brands and exhibitions on young fashion culture. Shanghai-based trendy-lifestyle platform DEWU App will provide 1 billion yuan ($140.7 million) in coupons in June to subsidize its consumers, covering more than 200 trendy domestic and overseas brands, Ding Zhixiong, DEWU's senior vice president told the Global Times on Wednesday. These festivals are part of the city's May 5 Festival, which encourages people to consume as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes in the country. The city's online sales reached 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) in May driven by the May 5 Shopping Festival. The offline consumption of physical goods reached 144.36 billion yuan, the same level as that in 2019, Liu said. The consumption in the country is seeing a recovery, interviewees reached by the Global Times said. DEWU's Ding said that the young generations, who are the main consumers on DEWU and also a main consumption force in the country, have shown a strong desire for consumption after the coronavirus. "Our sales in May have recovered to the historic peak level," Ding said. He predicted that, with the promotion activities, the platform's sales will boom in June. "Previously, there was usually only one family member who came to our store to buy vegetables; now we can see a family coming to our store to eat," Hema's Chang told the Global Times, noting that the number of Hema stores in China will increase from about 220 to 300 this year in China based on the promising trend. SPRINGFIELD As they crested a hill on State Street, an estimated 3,000 Black Lives Matter demonstrators collective voices could be heard nearly all the way to their destination in front of the Springfield Police Department a half-mile away. No justice, no peace. No racist police, was among the classic rally cries, along with: Say his name! George Floyd, an homage to the unarmed black man who died at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25, and who sparked a national movement in death. Protesters young and old, black, white, Latino and Asian, clogged the stretch in front of police headquarters on Pearl Street for hours on Wednesday afternoon. Despite their numbers and the heavy police response that met them outside the station, there was no violence and no arrests as of 9 p.m. Local police were more than 100 strong with back-up from Massachusetts State Police in riot gear, hundreds of National Guardsmen and members of the Hampden County Sheriffs Department. A drone hovered overhead as the crowd gained numbers in front of the police department. A state police helicopter could be seen in the skies for hours. While there were upticks in tension during the demonstration outside police headquarters particularly when police in riot gear emerged, then retreated and reemerged the crowd remained loudly vocal, but relatively passive. Initially, two rows of temporary fences were placed in front of the station and officers not wearing tactical gear stood outside the building as demonstrators alternatively chanted I cant breathe," a nod to Floyds last words caught on video, and "keep it peaceful. Protesters continued to press toward the phalanx of officers and troopers, but the law enforcement perimeter remained stoic, even as some demonstrators screamed obscenities in their faces. Those, however, were in the minority. Most seemed fulfilled by the sense of apparent community. Four police officers were fired after the video of Floyds death during an arrest on a misdemeanor charge became public. One, Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his neck until Floyd died, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Three others were charged on Wednesday in connection with Floyds death. Springfields march was largely the handiwork of two teens who graduated from Springfield Central High School, where the march began. Valery Franco, a young Puerto Rican woman who now attends Boston University, and Rachel Boudreau, her white classmate who just graduated this year, launched the march just three days ago over social media platforms. Did I envision organizing a march like this a month ago? No, I didnt see myself doing this even a week ago, Boudreau said at the staging area at Central High Wednesday afternoon. We wanted to do something more than hashtags, or online fundraisers." On Wednesday morning, Franco said she wasnt entirely sure how many people to expect. At 3 p.m., there were fewer than a dozen cars in the parking lot. By 4 p.m. there were hundreds, and still more came in droves. State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, joined the students, as did Springfield City Councilors Victor Davila, Jesse Lederman and Adam Gomez. By 4 p.m., thousands of protesters had joined the route that snaked through the city from Bay Street to the downtown. Also joining the Springfield-based electorate were City Councilors Marcus Williams, Tracye Whitfield and Malo Brown, in addition to State Representatives Bud Williams and Carlos Gonzalez. Davila lauded Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno for their plans to join the march, although the pair bailed out midway over safety concerns, sources told The Republican. Im going to hope and pray that nobody gets injured from our group, from our event, which had no particular affiliation but for like-minded students, Franco said. There is a nervousness, because of the tension you can see at events like these in other parts of the country. Kim Deuso, of Springfield, the mother of one of Francos friends, said she hadnt slept the night before as she prepared to join the march. Im nervous for Valery, of course. But Im also nervous for Springfield. I think if we can get through this better than other cities ... well be better as a city, Deuso said. Protests over Floyds death have begun peacefully, but erupted into riots, looting and violence in other cities including Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Brockton and Worcester. At one point during Springfields protests, demonstrators called on officers standing guard to take a knee, a gesture of solidarity with demonstrators. They didnt. Nows your moment, bro. Nows your moment, one man in the crowd urged the officer nearest him. That would really carry a lot of weight at this very moment. President Donald Trump and some of his supporters have claimed authorities did not use tear gas against people in a crackdown outside the White House this week. There is evidence they did, according to an Associated Press fact check. Law enforcement officials have shied away from describing crowd-dispersing chemical tools as tear gas; it evokes police gassing citizens or the horrors of war. But giving those tools a more antiseptic name does not change the reality on the ground. Federal institutions, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, have listed tear gas as the common term for riot-control agents. Whether the common or formal term is used, the effects on people are the same. Those effects were well documented when authorities forcefully cleared a crowd from outside the White House before Trump walked to St Johns Church across Lafayette Park on Monday to be photographed holding a Bible. They didnt use tear gas, Trump said Wednesday on Fox News Radio. The US Park Police denied using tear gas, yet acknowledged deploying a pepper compound, which the CDC and other scientific organisations list as one form of tear gas. Authorities, who came from more than a half-dozen agencies besides the Park Police, set loose several wafting compounds, causing people to cough and gag as they scattered, their eyes red and streaming in some cases. They displayed the results of exposure to tear gas tears, for example. Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators next to St Johns Episcopal Church outside of the White House [Jose Luis Magana/AFP] Tear gas is anything that makes you cry, said Dr Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, speaking of chemicals used in crowd dispersal. Pepper spray is a tear gas. But there are all kinds of other ones, too. Compounds that are listed as riot-control agents make people temporarily unable to function by irritating their eyes, mouth, throat, lungs and skin, the CDC said. They are sometimes referred to as tear gas,' according to a CDC fact sheet. The Handbook of Toxicology of Chemical Warfare Agents also uses tear gas as an informal umbrella term for riot-control agents and names pepper spray as one kind. In the unrest near the White House, officers shot plastic balls with pepper powder from what looked like modified paintball guns, and dispersed other compounds in a stinging fog. The handbook also said riot-control agents are popularly referred to as tear gas or pepper spray.' It said they may be combined with an explosive substance in grenades, released in a smoke of particles from handheld devices or sprayed in a solution. The disabling effects of tear gas are designed to be short-lived, but the CDC says prolonged exposure may lead to long-term effects such as eye problems, including scarring, glaucoma and cataracts, and may possibly cause breathing problems such as asthma. An Army research institute paper in 2009 cited riot-control agents and tear gas interchangeably. It said tear gas is something of a misnomer, because the agents tend not to be gaseous and modern compounds can affect a wider variety of organs as well as the eyes, lungs and digestive tract that are historically the targets of tear gas. Dr Sven-Eric Jordt researches tear gas agents and chemical exposure injuries in his lab at the Duke University School of Medicines Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program. He said newer compounds, which may have been used in the pepper ball projectiles deployed at the protest, might or might not fit a traditional definition of tear gas but are as potent and come with scant research on their safety. Any difference is semantic, he said. Theres been very little research on tear gas being done in the United States, he said, and no research backing up the use levels that are deployed now. Jordt said the two main categories of crowd-clearing irritants known as CS and OC both activate the pain-sensing nervous system sharply, which in turn can make the body more susceptible to a virus. Im just very concerned this might increase the likelihood of infection in the coronavirus pandemic, he said, or trigger more extreme reactions in people who have the virus but are not showing symptoms. To use these highly irritating agents on protesters is not a good idea, he said. Its really shocking that it is used to that extent. The NSW economy has just endured one of its weakest quarters in four decades after the double-punch of bushfire and pandemic. State final demand - a broad measure of spending across NSW fell by 1.5 per cent in the three months to March 31, Bureau of Statistics figures show. The NSW economy was hit especially hard in the March quarter. Credit:Louise Kennerley There have only been two quarters since records began in 1985 when state final demand has contracted more in 2000 following the introduction of the GST and in 1991 when Australia last experienced a major recession. The quarter decline in NSW was easily the biggest among the states. State final demand fell by much less in Victoria (-0.1) and Queensland (-0.3) and grew in Western Australia (+0.9) and Tasmania (+0.6). DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market - Analysis by Test Type (Molecular, Serology), End-User, by Region, by Country (2020 Edition): Market Insights, Competition and Forecast (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market is estimated to be valued at USD 44,481.8 million for the year 2020 owing to a rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases across the globe which boosts the demand for COVID-19 diagnostic tests. The COVID-19 diagnostic tests are critical in the management of the current pandemic for accurate diagnosis as well as to tackle the spread of the infection. Also, Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing market in terms of COVID-19 Tests is expected to reach the number of 329.17 million in the year 2020. In March 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the first POC test-Xpert Xpress test made by Cepheid-for COVID-19 analysis. Abbott and Chembio Diagnostics are among the dynamic market players working for the purpose of care commercial center. The WHO has encouraged healthcare organizations to focus on COVID-19 indicative testing in light of this emergency. The companies are also adopting profitable strategic moves to gain a competitive edge in the market. For example, in May 2020, Quest Diagnostics announced its collaboration with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics aimed at the expansion of COVID-19 antibody testing across more than 20 laboratories of Quest throughout U.S. The company applied VITROS Immunodiagnostic Products Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Test of Ortho to ramp up the coronavirus testing in patients. Among the Test Type segment in the COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing market (Molecular Tests, Serology Tests), Molecular Test type segment has been gaining popularity among other segments. Robust funding and speculations by public as well as private organizations are relied upon to impel molecular diagnostic organizations to create COVID-19 symptomatic products, in this way driving the market. Based on End-User segment, Private or Commercial labs segment holds the major share in the COVID-19 diagnostic testing market followed by Public health labs and hospitals. Due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases across the globe, it has become imperative for the government of the various countries to involve a greater number of private or commercial firms in providing diagnostic testing in order to enhance the testing capacity to detect the virus. Scope of the Report The report analyses the COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing market by Value and by COVID-19 Tests. The report analyses the COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market by Test Type (Molecular Tests, Serology Tests). The report assesses the COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing market by End-User (Public Health Labs, Private or Commercial Labs, Others). The Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market has been analysed by Region (Americas, Europe , Asia Pacific ) and by Country ( United States , Canada , Brazil , Germany , France , Italy , United Kingdom , Spain , Russia , China , Japan , India , South Korea , Singapore ) , ) and by Country ( , , , , , , , , , , , , , ) The major trends, drivers and challenges of the industry has been analysed in the report. The report tracks competitive developments, COVID-19 vaccine development. The companies analysed in the report include Biomerieux, Roche Holding AG, Siemens Healthineers, Abbott Laboratories, Becton Dickinson , Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cepheid, BGI Genomics, Seegene, PerkinElmer. , Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cepheid, BGI Genomics, Seegene, PerkinElmer. The report presents the analysis of COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing market for the forecast period of 2020-2025. Key Topics Covered 1. Report Scope and Methodology 1.1 Scope of the Report 1.2 Research Methodology 1.3 Executive Summary 2. Strategic Recommendations 3. Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market: Product Outlook 4. Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market: Sizing and Forecast 4.1 Market Size, by Value, Year 2020-2025 4.2 Market Size, by COVID-19 Tests, Year 2020-2025 5. Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market Segmentation by Test Type 5.1 Competitive Scenario of Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing: by Test Type 5.2 Molecular Tests-Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 5.3 Serology Tests-Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 6. Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market Segmentation by End-User 6.1 Competitive Scenario of Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing: by End-User 6.2 Public Health Labs-Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 6.3 Private or Commercial Labs-Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 6.4 Others-Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 7. Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market: Regional Analysis 7.1 Competitive Scenario of Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing: by Region, by Value 8. Americas COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market: Segmentation by Test Type, End-User (2020-2025) 9. Europe COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market: Segmentation by Test Type, End-User (2020-2025) 10. Asia Pacific COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market: Segmentation by Test Type, End-User (2020-2025) 11. Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market Dynamics 11.1 Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market Drivers 11.2 Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market Restraints 11.3 Global COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Market Trends 12. COVID-19 Vaccine Development 12.1 Overview of Vaccine Development 12.2 Overview of the leading vaccine candidates 13. Competitive Landscape 14. Company Profiles (Business Description, Financial Analysis, Business Strategy) 14.1 bioMerieux 14.2 Roche Holding AG 14.3 Siemens Healthineers 14.4 Abbott Laboratories 14.5 Becton Dickinson 14.6 Thermo Fisher Scientific 14.7 Cepheid 14.8 BGI Genomics 14.9 Seegene 14.10 PerkinElmer For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/60b30s Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com WATERLOO When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Black Hawk County in March, Jesse Henderson worried for the hundreds of clients at the Jesse Cosby Neighborhood Center in Waterloo who already were struggling. So he quickly organized more help for his clients as well as anyone struggling within the community. Staff and volunteers at the center, located at 1112 Mobile St., began organizing care packages that include masks, sanitizer, toilet paper, bleach and other items. Thats what were here for: to help people in our community, said Hendersons wife, Beverly Henderson, who organizes deliveries. Whoever needs a care package, were there. Their quick action was noticed. Local TV station KWWL aired a news segment on the centers efforts in April. Since word got out, the center has received about $15,000 in donations, including monetary gifts and essential items. It was very surprising. We decided to give as many care packages as we could, Henderson said. The additional funds allowed the center to reach 200 more homes, including those who had specific requests such as a refrigerator, bathroom essentials, a bed and transportation. Thats on top of the 100 meals delivered to homes each day. Donations of $50 to $1,000 were received from individuals and families, totaling more than $3,350. More than $8,000 was donated by businesses like CBE Companies and Midwest One Bank in Cedar Falls in Cedar Falls and Tyson Foods and Carpetland USA in Waterloo. The Waterloo Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority also donated significant time, money and materials. Henderson also is thankful for grants from the Otto Schoitz Foundation and Black Hawk County Gaming Commission. Gifts from the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and the Northeast Iowa Agency on Aging elped provide extra food during the coronovirus shutdown. We are so grateful. Without them, we could not have helped nearly as many people, Henderson said. The center has been a multicultural, multigenerational service provider in Black Hawk County for 50 years. With Henderson at the helm, the center provides services for the disabled, the sick, shut-ins, the homeless, and low-income households in crisis by providing connections to financial assistance programs and services. Day services at the center have been closed since March, but Henderson anticipates they will reopen this summer. Love 1 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. Virtually all the tools and equipment you need to cook efficiently in the kitchen. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) How to Boil Water With so many of you having to stay home and cook for the first time ever or more than you have in a long time we get that it can be overwhelming to have to cook all your meals from scratch. So, were here to get you started. Each day were going to post a new skill here and go in detail about how to do it a resource for cooking basics so you can get food on the table and get through this. Lesson 51: Essential Cooking Equipment When most people ask me what is the essential, basic equipment I recommend they keep in their kitchen, I typically tell them, You wont like the answer. Thats because theyre usually looking for the sleekest, coolest, most graphically stunning pieces, and well, thats just not my priority. After spending more than a decade cooking in restaurants and test kitchens where I tried out and used virtually everything there is that slices, sautes or snips, I prefer my equipment as bare-bones, utilitarian and easy to clean as possible. Aesthetics are for lamps, not vegetable peelers. Below are my brand-specific recommendations no endorsements, just ones that have stood the test of time and use in my kitchen, the majority of which are very inexpensive. Some of these might not seem right for you, but I encourage you to try them and let me prove to you that you don't need a lot of bells and whistles to get dinner on the table. Chef's knife and paring knife. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Knives (chefs, paring, serrated) The best way to find out which brand is best for you is to go to a cooking wares retailer and hold every type of knife in your hand, miming as if you were cutting something. Whichever is the most comfortable is the brand you buy, period. If you dont ever put it in the dishwasher and keep it sharp, itll last forever. I have a collection of 20 (yes, literally) knives that I keep on magnetic strips along the wall in my kitchen. I use some on occasion and some are sentimental but the ones I reach for every single day are my 8-inch chefs knife from Misen and my paring knife from Zwilling. The sloping hilt of both knives fits most comfortably in my hand. Story continues Whatever brand you choose, you need one chefs knife and one paring knife. If you want to buy a set, make sure it has a serrated knife too its not absolutely essential but comes in handy for slicing bread and chopping nuts or chocolate. Stainless 3-quart saucepan If youre only going to own one saucepan, make it this. I prefer the sturdy All-Clad d5 pot because the bottom is made of five layers of metal with an extra layer of stainless steel for even heat distribution. Its the Goldilocks of pans: you can boil pasta for one or two or make soup for four to six. This make of a 3-quart saucepan isnt cheap, but it will last you the rest of your life. 12-inch nonstick skillet. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Large nonstick skillet Even though I have lots of stainless steel skillets, I never use them I always grab a high-quality nonstick pan, whether I am searing steaks, stir-frying vegetables or gently scrambling eggs. Calphalons 12-inch skillet is the one I love bonus: Its also oven-safe but buy whatever model is comfortable in your hand and large enough for what you cook on a daily basis. Plastic cutting board, rimmed baking sheet and metal tongs. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Plastic cutting board Sure, wooden boards look great, are sturdy and are handy to keep out on your counter to use all the time. I have a couple, but honestly, theyre so clunky to clean and the thought of meat drippings and vegetable juices commingling in the absorbent material and feeding bacteria gives me the willies no matter how well I clean it. I keep a set of quality plastic boards from OXO to use on a daily basis. Theyre light, theyre easy to clean in my small apartment kitchen sink and the rubber bumpers keep them from sliding around on the counter. Rimmed baking sheets (half-sheet pans) Roasting might be the most common cooking technique in my kitchen its so easy to throw food on a baking sheet with some oil and seasonings and let the oven do the work. So, it makes sense that you keep a couple sturdy rimmed baking sheets on hand for those tasks. Chicago Metallics pans are the restaurant standard, and theyre very affordable I advise you buy three or four and use some for heavy-duty high-heat roasting while others are reserved for baking cookies. Tongs Whether you need to toss and serve salad greens or snatch mozzarella sticks from the deep fryer, youll want a simple pair of tongs for both jobs. Think of them as an extension of your fingers much easier to use than endlessly chasing food around hot water or oil with a spoon. I keep a basic stainless steel pair and use it for everything. I prefer ones without that pesky ring that keeps the arms closed, but if you like that feature, it's easy to find a pair with it. A set of graduated metal mixing bowls. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) A set of metal bowls Small, medium and large mixing bowls are called for a lot, whether theyre for mixing muffin batter, tossing greens with vinaigrette or making mayonnaise. You see a lot of glass bowls in photos, but I prefer metal because theyre lighter and easier to handle. They transfer heat quickly, so theyre better as the top of a double boiler for melting chocolate or to plunge into a larger bowl of ice water to quickly cool down a custard. Ive had my set from Winco for over a decade, and theyve been used virtually every time Im in the kitchen ever since. Sets of graduated dry measuring cups and spoons. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) A set of graduated dry measuring cups and spoons There are some things to spend a lot of money on, and then there are dry measuring cups and spoons. The simplest, plainest ones are best because theyll be easiest to clean and are most efficient at measuring dry ingredients, such as flour, sugar or even packed herb leaves. Sure, go ahead and buy the cheap plastic versions at the grocery store if you want, but I like the simple 4-piece metal cups and 4-piece spoons made by Vollrath. A glass Pyrex liquid measuring cup. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) 1-cup liquid measuring cup Liquid measuring cups come in all sorts of materials and measurements but Ive yet to find one that beats the practicality of the classic Pyrex 1-cup glass model. That standard size allows you to measure as little as 1/4-cup and you can refill it ad infinitum to make larger cup amounts. It can handle boiling hot liquids and freezing cold ones and you can even microwave it to melt butter or warm milk for making yeast breads. If you end up wanting the convenience of larger or smaller cups, buy them, but to start, you cant beat this size. Whisks, silicone spatulas and wooden spoons. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Wooden spoons Throw away those cheap plastic stirring spoons you bought at the grocery store right now and instead invest in some good ol wooden spoons. It really doesnt matter what brand; what matters is that you can use them for everything and in every pan without worrying about damaging nonstick, cast iron or enameled surfaces. I keep a couple around for stirring savory tomato sauces and spice-filled curries and soups and then a few for mixing bread dough and stirring sweets like pudding or jam. Wash them immediately after use and let them air dry completely before you put them away and theyll last for years to come. Whisks This is possibly my favorite piece of equipment. I have virtually every style of whisk, from large balloon styles, great for whipping cream, to a small coil I like to use to scrape the bits off the bottom of a pan when making pan sauces. But the one I reach for the most is OXOs 9-inch whisk. Its got the strongest wires that never bend or warp, and the ergonomic black rubber handle fits the best in my hand. Upgrade with several sizes once it becomes your kitchen fetish too. Silicone spatulas When it comes to scraping cake batter or sauces out of bowls, pots and measuring cups, I live and die by my silicone spatulas. I like the GIR brand mini spatula the most for getting into tight corners and its good-for-every-task size, but I also often use the larger spoonula for times when I want to scrape and scoop, like when serving mashed potatoes or pouring chunky fruit preserves into jars. Theyre made of one solid piece of material so theyre easy to clean and there are no annoying parts that fall off while using them. A digital instant-read thermometer. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Digital instant-read thermometer An instant-read thermometer may seem unnecessary or like a luxury piece of equipment, but having one will actually make your cooking life much less stressful. Much as a scale makes measuring ingredients in baking more efficient and precise, so does an instant-read thermometer, taking away any ambiguity about whether your steak or chicken breast is cooked through. Simply pierce the meat with the thermometer I prefer OXOs digital model to know for sure, instead of cutting into the meat while its in the skillet, spilling all the juice and cutting up the surface of your pan (dont act like I dont see that!). Kitchen shears and a Y-shaped vegetable peeler. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Kitchen shears One kitchen tool I take for granted is my pair of kitchen shears. I use them mostly for trimming off the top of potato chip bags but I also use them to break down a chicken into parts, snip kitchen twine for tying around pork roasts and even for cracking open in-shell nuts. Any job where youd need scissors, use these instead of trying to use that unsanitary pair from your craft table. I use this model from Wusthof (you have to buy it with a paring knife), but any pair that comes apart for cleaning and fits most comfortably in your hand is the one you want. Vegetable peeler The right vegetable peeler depends on highly individual preferences. I like the Y-shaped ones like the affordable plastic models from Kuhn Rikon, which are what I recommend for beginner cooks, although I use the harder-to-find classic French Castor model. Youll find yourself using whatever peeler you choose to do lots of tasks, from peeling potatoes and citrus skin to slicing off ribbons of carrot or zucchini for salads. A Microplane brand grater and citrus reamer. (Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times) Citrus reamer and Microplane These two arent absolutely essential, but judging by the amount of lemon I use in recipes, theyre pretty essential to me. A simple wooden citrus reamer will get the most juice out of your lemons, limes and oranges. And a Microplane grater I prefer the model without a handle will get all the zest off easily and efficiently. The Microplane grater also can be used to grate garlic or ginger or produce feather-fine shavings of Parmesan to rain down over your pasta. Who wants to live without one? Rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur region have attacked a camp of the Sudanese army in western Jebel Marra area, the army said in a statement Tuesday. "Groups belonging to the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Al Sahwa Revolutionary Council have attacked our forces in western Jebel Marra area," the statement noted. "The attack is a clear violation of the declared cease-fire and an attempt to drag Darfur back to the state of war and security chaos," it added. The Sudanese army said it maintains the right of defending its sites and protecting the citizens against terrorist and criminal acts by such groups. The army also has the right to respond to any aggression and take necessary measures to eliminate threats and prevent recurrence of these terrorist acts, the statement noted. On Oct. 16 last year, the Sudanese army declared a comprehensive cease-fire in Darfur region. Armed groups have been fighting the government since 2003. Since last October, South Sudan's capital Juba has been hosting peace talks between the Sudan government and armed groups from Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions. 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 Two AL.com reporters were taken into custody while working Wednesday night in Birmingham. Jonece Starr Dunigan and Howard Koplowitz were taken into custody at about 7:35 p.m. outside of Birmingham City Hall. Each were released shortly after arriving at the city jail and no charges were filed. Koplowitz, who was using his cell phone to video officers walking out of City Hall, was first approached by two male officers. You are under arrest, one said. Koplowitz, who has been with the company just over five years, told police he was with the press. Sir, I am with the media, he can be heard saying on video. One officer replied, Youre under arrest man. Put your hands behind your back. While Alabama Media Group has provided letters with proof of employment allowing reporters to be in the county past the 7 p.m. curfew, protocol required by the city of Birmingham, Koplowitz said officers would not allow him to pull the letter from the plastic casing around the lanyard hanging from his neck. His press badge was also visible in the lanyard, he said. Dunigan was taken into custody seconds after officers approached Koplowitz. She can be heard screaming, Why am I being arrested, at least three times in the video. She did not mention her employment or letter showing permission to be out past curfew. She has been with the company almost four years. The two were restrained using zip ties. Koplowitz and Dunigan were placed in a transport van and taken to the city jail along with several other protestors who had been arrested. According to Koplowitz, the entire group was taken out of the van and handcuffed to a bench when they arrived at the city jail. Dunigan said photographs were taken. Officers told them the photos were not mugshots. After about 10 minutes of being handcuffed to the bench, Koplowitz said Birmingham police Public Information Officer Sgt. Rod Mauldin appeared and had the reporters uncuffed. He then told Koplowitz and Dunigan the two were detained for their safety. He said officers received information that there could be potential danger in the group of people they were near. Dunigan and Koplowitz were freed, Koplowitz said, and Mauldin drove them back to City Hall. Koplowitz said when the two arrived, representatives from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfins office were outside and again said Dunigan and Koplowitz were taken into custody for their own safety. There were no details given about the potential for danger, Koplowitz said. According to Mauldin, he spoke with Koplowitz and a representative from Alabama Media Group after police told people they needed to clear the area to avoid being taken into custody. We gave them ample time, Mauldin said. He said Koplowitz stayed by City Hall to get a video and/or photograph after police said to clear the area. Mauldin said Koplowitz and Dunigan were in the street in front of City Hall when taken into custody. He said the officers were clearing everyone from the scene in order to avoid a situation like what happened on Sunday, when several reporters were attacked by rioters. Niu Lijuan, a rural resident in Gangu County, Gansu Province, looks at her family album with her son on May 26. [Xinhua] LANZHOU On a chilly winter's night in 2008, Niu Lijuan left her home. After kissing her four-month-old baby, the 24-year-old mother with tears running down her cheeks, set out on a journey to a city about 2,400 kilometers away to look for a decent job. "I of course preferred to stay at home with my child, but there were few factories and moneymaking opportunities in my hometown," recalls Niu, a rural resident in Gangu County, Northwest China's Gansu Province. "To live a better life, I had to leave home." Following in her footsteps one year later, Niu's husband also headed for Shenzhen, a coastal economic powerhouse in southern China. The couple were among the millions of parents who live in a poverty-stricken part of China and choose to leave their children behind and to find better paying jobs in larger cities. In recent years, as part of China's efforts to eliminate poverty, a large number of programs have been launched in impoverished regions across the country. Many poverty alleviation programs have become new power engines for local economic growth, created jobs for the local labor force and brought parental love to the children whose parents return to take up jobs in their hometown. In 2018, Niu became a benefactor of those poverty relief programs as she sought a job at a garment factory within a 10-minute drive from home. She can now work in her hometown while looking after her children. Niu (L) works at a local garment factory. [Xinhua] "Cooking, tutoring and accompanying my son as he grows up, I will not miss any family time," says Niu. Niu left her hometown in 2008, bound for a Shenzhen garment factory. "I put my son's photo under my pillow. I took it out when I felt homesick," Niu recalls. "I often spoke to the photo saying I would go back home once I had made enough money." As the days became years, the nostalgia only became more intense. During Spring Festival of 2011, Niu returned home for the holiday and noticed her son's reticence. "He talked little and even avoided me when I approached him. At that moment, I realized that things had to change and I needed to return home to raise my child myself," Niu says. Niu's son was not alone. As of August 2018, China had 6.97 million children left behind in rural homes by their parents working as migrants in large cities, down from 9.02 million in 2016. In Gansu province, there are still about 60,000 children left behind. For Niu, returning home was a tough decision. Niu and her family have lunch. [Xinhua] "In Shenzhen, factories are everywhere, locals can work and live with their families," she says. "I wished my hometown could be like this." In recent years, labor-intensive industries have begun to move west due to rising labor costs and industrial upgrades in eastern coastal areas. Gansu province took the opportunity to introduce labor-intensive industries, creating huge employment opportunities for locals. Supported by poverty alleviation policies, Gansu also opened "poverty-relief workshops" to help migrant workers work closer to home. Niu's dream of working on her doorstep came true in 2018 when a garment factory was established in her township. Sewing skills have long been her forte and Niu immediately applied for a job in the factory. "Those workshops enable women from rural areas to land a job near their homes, become a breadwinner, and take care of their children," says Zhang Weilin, owner of the workshop. So far, Gangu county has established 52 such workshops in the countryside, employing over 30,000 workers, including a poor population of nearly 1,000. Like Niu, 960 working mothers have returned from large cities to find jobs at these workshops, helping reduce the number of children left behind in the county by nearly 1,700. "Now I can also earn a high income on my doorstep," Niu says with a smile. "More importantly, I can spend more time with my children as they grow up. It is the happiest thing." (Source: Xinhua) The United States said Wednesday it was waiting to build an "empowered" UN mission for Libya, frustrating France and Germany which say the delay in approving an envoy is jeopardizing momentum to end the conflict. The position of UN envoy for Libya has been vacant for three months, even with calls intensifying for a return to negotiations as the UN-recognized government beats back a rebel offensive. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Ghana's former foreign minister, was proposed for the role weeks ago by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres but has not been confirmed, with diplomats pointing to US opposition. "It's really urgent now. The situation in Libya is really bad," said the French ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Riviere, as he went public with concerns Monday alongside his counterpart from Germany. Christoph Heusgen, the German ambassador, said there needed to be a political rather than military solution. "By withholding the agreement to a proposal by the secretary general with regard to the special envoy, those responsible... carry a very heavy responsibility," he said. Neither envoy explicitly named the United States. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States also sought Libyan negotiations soon but added: "We want an empowered UN mission that can accomplish this goal." "This will require speedy action to appoint a UN special envoy who has the senior diplomatic clout and personal standing to make that engagement meaningful," the State Department official said. The official said the envoy should "focus exclusively on negotiation" while a special representative of the secretary general would focus on running the UN mission in Libya. Ghassan Salame of Lebanon quit as envoy on March 2 citing health reasons. Guterres first proposed as his successor Ramtane Lamamra, a former Algerian foreign minister, but that choice was vetoed by the United States, leading the UN chief to name Tetteh, who since 2018 has served as the UN representative to the African Union. The United Nations has long had dual, complementary roles of special envoy and special representative in Cyprus and Western Sahara, but some countries see little to show from the model as both conflicts have been in stalemate for decades. Libya has been in chaos since 2011 when a Western-backed uprising overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Since last year, warlord Khalifa Haftar -- supported by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russian elements -- has been fighting to topple the UN-recognized Government of National Unity. The Tripoli government, backed by Turkey, has made strong gains in recent weeks, including recapturing Tripoli's international airport on Wednesday. Fighters loyal to the UN-recognized Libyan Government of National Accord recapture Tripoli International Airport after clashes with strongman Khalifa Haftar Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, who has been proposed as UN envoy on Libya, delivers a speech in Nairobi in 2018 A student who was suspended from the University of Queensland for two years after criticising its links to China has been banned from attending his own appeal hearing. Drew Pavlou was banned from completing his philosophy degree until 2022 on Friday after the university accused him of 11 cases of misconduct, which were detailed in a confidential 186-page document. The 21-year-old revealed he had been banned from the proceedings to review the penalty on Friday, and his lawyer planned to include proof from an alleged victims that one of the complaints against him was 'manufactured'. 'Despite being an elected representative to the UQ Senate, I've been barred from attending a meeting reviewing my expulsion. Kangaroo court!' he Tweeted. Drew Pavlou (pictured) was banned from completing his philosophy degree until 2022 on Friday after the university accused him of 11 cases of misconduct, which were detailed in a confidential 186-page document The 21-year-old revealed (pictured) he had been banned from the proceedings to review the penalty on Friday The UQ Senate is reviewing his suspension in an out-of-session meeting, and Mr Pavlou will be banned from accessing the minutes of the meeting as well, due to conflict of interest concerns. UQ vice-chancellor Peter Hoj, who was referenced in the complaints against the activist, will not attend for the same reason. 'I don't understand why, as a democratically elected representative of UQ students on the senate, I'm being barred from this meeting,' Mr Pavlou told the ABC. 'They are taking all these steps to ensure there is as murky a process as possible, that the Australian public does not know how they are making these decisions.' A spokewoman from the university told Daily Mail Australia that the meeting was to brief the Senate on the outcome of Mr Pavlou's disciplinary matter. 'It would be inconsistent with standard conflict of interest procedures if Mr Pavlou or Senate members directly involved in the appeal process were to attend,' she said. 'The Vice Chancellor will also not attend.' Mr Pavlou also revealed that his lawyer, Tony Morris QC, was contacted by one of students Mr Pavlou had allegedly 'harassed, bullied, threatened or abused' on social media. The student wrote that not only had he not made a formal complaint nor felt 'distressed' as written in the complaint, he had not been contacted by UQ. 'Apparently the complaint mentions that I was "distressed" which is from my point of view laughable,' the student wrote in an email viewed by the ABC. 'While I think it was characteristically crass of him to write to a female friend the way he did I feel this complaint has been largely manufactured.' Over the weekend the Chinese Communist Party-controlled tabloid Global Times rubbed salt in the wound of Mr Pavlou's suspension, citing anonymous students celebrating it. The article labelled Mr Pavlou an 'anti-Chinese rioter' while saying his peers were celebrating that 'justice finally came'. Four anonymous Chinese and Australian students were quoted in the piece accusing him of inciting violence and racism while smearing Chinese students. In response Mr Pavlou claimed Chinese state media had directed UQ to expel him, and said the university was dependent on income from Chinese students and donors. University of Queensland Vice Chancellor Peter Hoj (pictured) has also been barred from the meeting 'Chinese state media have just decided to go full mask off, endorsing my expulsion from UQ,' he wrote on Twitter. 'UQ relies on the Chinese market for 20 per cent of its income. Moral courage!' A statement from University of Queensland confirmed fees from Chinese students make up about 20 per cent of revenue. The campus has the fifth highest international student fee income in Australia, and about 18,000 of the 53,000 students enrolled are from overseas. Nine thousand of those students are from China. In 2018, international students contributed $570million in tuition fees, and the state of Queensland generates about $1million each year per three international students. A statement released by UQ explained it usually does not comment on individual disciplinary matters for confidentiality purposes. But it did state that it 'rejected recent unsubstantiated accusations about any political motivations' and revealed Mr Pavlou had been previously warned that he 'does not have the authority to speak on behalf of the University.' 'The University has directed Mr Pavlou to cease purporting to make statements on behalf of the University,' the statement read. UQ rejected claims by Mr Pavlou (pictured) that his suspension was politically motivated As justification for his suspension the university claimed Mr Pavlou breached integrity and harassment policies, though Chancellor Peter Varghese conceded aspects of the ruling 'concerned' him. 'There are aspects of the findings and the severity of the penalty which personally concern me,' Mr Varghese said in a statement after the ruling. Mr Pavlou will be able to continue his studies until the verdict of the appeal. He is due to complete his degree in six months, meaning he may graduate before his suspension begins. The politics student believes his university caved to pressure from Chinese influence to suspend him. He led a series of campus demonstrations last year, in support of Hong-Kong's pro-democracy movement. The activist also posted messages to social media criticising China's authoritarian regime and denounced the university's close financial ties with the Communist Party. Last month, the Trump administration completed a rollback of that Obama mercury rule that discounted such co-benefits. Now, Mr. Wheeler has proposed extending that measure by eliminating or reducing the emphasis on co-benefits across all new Clean Air Act regulations. This year, he is expected to propose a similar revamp of the cost-benefit formulas that govern clean water and chemical safety regulations. Mr. Wheeler said that the E.P.A. would still calculate the economic value of such co-benefits. But he said those calculation would no longer be used in defending rules. Co-benefits would not be used to justify the rule, he said in a telephone call with reporters, noting specifically that the change would mean that regulations like the Obama-era mercury rule would no longer be defensible. The way the Obama administration used co-benefits to calculate the mercury rule and other rules they were playing a shell game, he said. Historically, the economic costs of regulating pollutants such as mercury or planet-warming greenhouse gases often do outweigh the direct benefits. But such rules also tend to lower emissions of another deadly pollutant: fine industrial soot, also known as particulate matter. By reducing emissions of the tiny, lung damaging particles known as PM 2.5, clean air rules that are primarily aimed at controlling different pollutants can have the effect of saving thousands of lives by lowering rates of asthma and lung disease. And, last month, researchers at Harvard released the first nationwide study linking long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and Covid-19 death rates. At a time when more than 100,000 Americas have died from Covid and we know about this connection, the Trump administration is going to put in place some analytical techniques that will make it easier for them to kill more Americans, said Richard Revesz, an expert on environmental law at New York University. The Public Health Agency and the PSNI have said all those who gathered at Wednesdays Black Lives Matter protest at Belfast City Hall had endangered lives. Over a thousand people turned out at the rally, organised in support of similar rallies over the death of black African-American George Floyd in the USA. Dr Gerry Waldron from the PHA said protestors had put themselves and other at risk from Covid-19. Unfortunately, people that congregate in large groups, even if theyre trying to maintain social distancing, put themselves and others in that group at risk, he said. We are in very, very changed times now and weve got to keep remembering that. When you see crowds you ask yourself how can it be possible to maintain social distancing when in that kind of situation, even with the best in will in the world? So, thats why were saying complacency is a big danger now as were moving out of lockdown, as the restrictions are being eased. Read More PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne said he was appalled at actions of the former officers from Minneapolis PD, but public protests at this time will endanger lives. We must support Black Lives Matter, but also stop the spread of Covid-19, he said. 1/2 I outright condemn the murder of George Floyd, as a Police officer I am appalled at actions of the former officers from Minneapolis PD. However public protests at this time will endanger lives, we must support #BlackLivesMatter but also stop the spread of #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/FDKHTYPT5b Simon Byrne (@ChiefConPSNI) June 4, 2020 Justice Minister Naomi Long was another to question the wisdom of hundreds of people gathering in the centre of Belfast. We had a large group of people outside City Hall not at all social distancing and that is contrary to regulations, she said. To be clear, I support the cause they were there in favour of. Under normal circumstances I would have been there raising my voice in opposition to what happened to George Floyd, but in a pandemic I believe people need to find other ways of expressing their very valid concerns that don;t put people at risk. The police were there, speaking and engaging with people. People dispersed after a short period. On previous occasions the police have gathered evidence about breaches of the law, filed have been sent the prosecution service after that. I havent had the opportunity to talk to the Chief Constable about whether any evidence was gathered. Protest organiser Jolene Francis said that she regrets she was not able to enforce social distancing more, she remained proud of the efforts that were made. To be honest I was expecting to wake up to media reaction like this, were never going to be able to please everybody, she said. Were not a business, we dont have funding but we bought masks, we bought sanitiser and we handed them out. We encouraged people to social distance. While I understand where people are coming from, the government advice told people to behave at their discretion. Thats the message we pushed. Come down, act responsibly. I agree that the epicentre of the protest that there were people gathered together. They were wearing masks, using sanitisers. They were incredibly emotionally charged. Im not a political party, not an organisation. Im just one person who tried to rally some people together to voice our opinion and stand up. She said the numbers turning up has caught organisers unawares. We didnt realise how big the turnout would be, she said. We didnt go knocking on doors asking people to turn up. There were two days of preparation. I do regret not being able to enforce social distancing as heavily as it should have been but Im still very proud of the people who were there and made their voices heard. BAY CITY, MI - Downtown Bay City filled with several hundred people on Wednesday, who came to raise their voices in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Its beautiful. Change is coming and Im happy to see as many young people and as many non-people of color out here demanding justice and demanding change," said William Hystad, a Saginaw native and the main speaker for the event. The protest on Wednesday, June 3, was the second one held in Bay City within a week and was inspired by the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd after a police officer there kneeled on his neck. Protesters in Bay City shouted chants of I cant breathe," to Be unapologetic to Silence equals compliance while holding up homemade signs. Most signs contained phrases related to Black Lives Matter and the recent death of Floyd, making a calls for justice and an end to racism. One sign in particular had a local angle to it and said, Mayor Kathleen Newsham, whats your plan now? Black Lives Matter Protest in downtown Bay City on June, 3 Posted by The Bay City Times on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The first Bay City protest was held on Friday, May 29 and was similar in format - protesters started off hearing speakers in Wenonah Park before marching down to the Center and Washington four-way-stop intersection to chant and hold up their signs. The big difference Wednesday was the size of the crowd. The Friday protest was made up of a couple dozen protesters while Wednesdays event contained roughly 200 to 300 people. Both Bay City protests this week remained peaceful. No serious altercations were witnessed aside from a minor exchange of words that was quickly shut down between a driver of a pick-up and a group of protesters. No police intervention was needed at the protest, with Bay City Public Safety officers keeping a multi-block distance from the event. This is how protest is done, its been peaceful it continues to be peaceful. This disrupts the narrative, this is exactly what they dont want to see," said Hystad. "The systems that were fighting against, this is what they hate, they hate this because this breaks down their narrative that keeps the systemic problems in place. Drivers and passengers in vehicles working their way through the intersection often held up their fists in solidarity, with some passengers even hanging out of windows or sunroofs to hold up their own homemade signs. After protesting at Center and Washington, the protesters laid in the intersection at approximately 6:30 p.m. with their hands behind their back shouting, I cant breathe." Floyd said those words before he died. The protesters regrouped before marching down to the Bay City Public Safety and Bay County Sheriffs Office facility at 501 Third St. Protesters initially surrounded the building to chant and later congregated to hear another speech from Hystad, who urged the crowd to grow louder so that those inside the building could hear them. No officers or personnel engaged with protesters at the facility. The group then made its way back to Wenonah Park and stood along North Water Street at the parks entrance for a final leg of the protest. Related news: Minneapolis demonstrations spark Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Bay City, Flint mayor statement Here are the upcoming George Floyd protests around mid-Michigan 'Enough is enough: Hundreds march in Saginaw to demand justice for George Floyd Saginaw group spending 72 hours outside police department to protest George Floyd death in Minnesota Police brutality protests in Michigan: What you need to know from this weekends rallies, riots Flint-area police join protesters marching to seek justice for George Floyd Peaceful protest in Grand Rapids devolves into riot, looting and fires P iers Morgan has slammed Donald Trump's lawyer as "deranged" after the pair became embroiled in a bitter on-air row over the US President's handling of the George Floyd protests. The Good Morning Britain host labelled Rudy Giuliani "unhinged" after the latter lashed out at Mr Morgan for "misinterpreting on purpose" a recent tweet by the US President concerning the unrest. Mr Trump said in the post in question, published on May 29, that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" as protests raged throughout the US over Mr Floyd's death. Twitter later hid the post behind a warning that it glorifies violence while it also emerged the specific phrase Mr Trump used appeared to have origins in the civil rights era. Clashing over the incident on Thursday, Mr Morgan told Mr Giuliani the US President should "never have said it". He added: Youre so wound up in your support for Trump you cant see the wood from the trees. US needs law and order, says Trump Mr Giuliani hit back, accusing Mr Morgan of being a "failed journalist" and saying: You misinterpreted him. Youre misinterpreting him on purpose. The question is did he know that came from some racist 30 years ago? Well, he didnt know that." The two men then began shouting over each other, with Mr Morgan calling Mr Giuliani "mad" and "unhinged" over his "abusive" comments, and the latter branding the GMB host a "disgrace" and a "liar". Mr Giuliani, a once-popular Mayor of New York City, has repeatedly been marred in controversy in recent times amid revelations about his role in the Ukraine extortion scandal that saw Mr Trump impeached. Mr Morgan added: "When I used to interview you, you were an intelligent, reasonable man and youve gone completely mad and you sound abusive." Mr Guiliani meanwhile pushed back saying: "Everyone in America knows youre a failed journalist, so stop trying to recreate your career." George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' 1 /16 George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' AFP via Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA Getty Images Footage of the blazing row was subsequently circulated widely on social media, with several Twitter users expressing astonishment over the dramatic scenes. One said: "Have never seen such a deranged TV interview as Rudy Giuliani. The profanities, the uncouth behaviour, the rantings of a lunatic." Another took a different view: "How wonderful to hear Piers Morgan get a taste of his own medicine. Rudy didnt lose the plot though, he just wasnt going to let mad man Piers speak over him and have it all his own way." Mr Morgan, for his part, simply commented: "Well that went well". The incident came after continued protests against Mr Floyd's death rocked several US cities overnight on Wednesday. Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in custody last week in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin has had his murder charge upscaled from third-degree to the more severe second-degree over the incident, while three others have now been charged with aiding and abetting the killing. New Delhi, June 4 : In a relief for Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the review petition filed by CBI against the bail granted to him in the INX Media case. A bench comprising Justices R. Banumathi, A.S. Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy said: "We have perused the review petition and the connected papers carefully and are convinced that the order of which the review has been sought does not suffer from any error apparently warranting reconsideration." In October last year, the apex court had granted bail to Chidambaram in a case registered by CBI for alleged offences under Prevention of Corruption Act in the INX Media case. But, he could not get out of the jail then, as he was under custody in a case registered by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. In December 2019, the top court granted him bail in the ED case, and he was released after spending over 100 days in custody. It was only on December 4 that the SC granted him bail in the case registered by ED, paving the way for his release after 104 days of custody. In December, a bench headed by Justice R. Banumathi had said that the Congress leader will not make any public statements regarding the INX Media case, and also make no attempt to intimate the witnesses in the case. The apex court had also imposed conditions on the bail -- Chidambaram's passport will remain confiscated, and he will not be allowed to leave the country without permission; he would give no interviews to the press; and he will also make himself available for interrogation in the matter. The court directed Chidambaram to deposit bail bonds of Rs 2 lakh with two sureties subject to satisfaction of a special judge hearing the case. The top court observed that the bail order will not have any effect on action against other accused in the case. The apex court, observing the gravity of the economic offences, said the bail is the rule and jail the exception, and that Chidambaram had already spent many days in ED's custody. He was arrested by the CBI on August 21 last year in a case registered on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving Rs 305 crore overseas funds in 2007, when he was the Finance Minister. Beijing: China will ease coronavirus restrictions to allow more foreign carriers to fly to the mainland, shortly after Washington vowed to bar Chinese airlines from flying to the United States due to Beijing`s curbs on US airlines. Qualifying foreign carriers currently barred from operating flights to China will be allowed once-a-week flights into a city of their choosing starting on June 8, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on Thursday. The CAAC said all airlines will be allowed to increase the number of international flights involving China to two per week if no passengers on their flights test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, for three consecutive weeks. If five or more passengers on one flight test positive for COVID-19 upon arrival, the CAAC will bar the airline from services for a week. Airlines would be suspended for four weeks if 10 passengers or more test positive. The CAAC has slashed international flights since late March to allay concerns over rising coronavirus infections brought by arriving passengers. Mainland carriers are limited to one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines are allowed to operate just one flight a week to a city in China. Carriers could also fly no more than the number of flights in a weekly schedule approved by the CAAC on March 12. U.S. passenger airlines already stopped all flights to China at that time, meaning they were unable to resume flights to China. On Wednesday, the US government said it would bar Chinese passenger carriers starting from June 16, pressuring Beijing to let US airlines to resume flights. The US Department of Transportation could not be immediately reached for comment, though it has said it will reconsider the decision against Chinese airlines if the CAAC adjusts its policies affecting US airlines. Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said at a daily briefing on Thursday the CAAC is lodging a complaint with the US Department of Transportation for the ruling against Chinese air carriers. He said the CAAC is in close cooperation with its US counterpart about passenger flights. "We hope the US.side will not create obstacles for the resolution of this issue," Zhao said. China suspended the entry of most foreigners in late March, meaning only Chinese nationals can enter on commercial passenger flights. New Delhi, June 5 : The Delhi government has directed the hospitals here to provide a real-time update of daily admission of Coronavirus-positive patients, discharges and changes in bed availability status on their portal. In an order issued on Thursday, Padmini Singla, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, said the tracking and monitoring of every single Covid-19 positive patient is an exercise crucial towards the efforts to combat and curb the spread of the virus. "In addition to this, it is also important the government and general public must have knowledge about the hospital preparedness in terms of the infrastructure and bed availability. The effective tracking of this can be done only when all the hospitals (government and private) follow a standardized reporting format," the order said. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) - Delhi has shared a reporting format with all nodal officers of Covid hospitals responsible for sharing this information, it said. "The hospital must add its daily admissions of positive patients, discharges and changes in bed availability status on a real time basis on that reporting portal. Every single field mentioned on the portal is of utmost importance for the Department to have adequate information on each patient." The order also said the hospitals must also share details of test samples taken and results on the same day that the event takes place against each patient's details. "The data filled here (on the portal) will also be reflected on the Delhi Corona App launched by the Delhi government, hence it is very important that details regarding beds status is filled accurately and on a real time basis so that the general public and government administration is well aware of the status of beds in each Covid hospital." The reporting format, it added, must be strictly followed by all hospitals so as to ensure there are no discrepancies in the database management. "In addition, it must be noted that if there are any Covid suspect admissions in the hospital facility, they must be kept in separate ward and therefore the number of isolation beds dedicated for Covid patients must not be allocated to any suspect patients." The order also said that it has come to the notice of the government that many asymptomatic and mild symptom cases have been admitted in the hospital facilities. "Attention is invited to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India as well as this department which clearly state that asymptomatic and mild symptom cases do not need hospitalisation and are either recommended to be kept under home isolation, following the guidelines issued previously by the government for home Isolation or be sent to Covid Care Centres or Covid Hospital Centres if their houses are not suitable for home isolation." The order said any mild or asymptomatic patient has to be discharged by the hospital within 24 hours of admission and the concerned District Surveillance Officer (DSO) must be informed about the same. "All Hospitals are directed to strictly comply with the above directions. Non-compliance will be viewed seriously and action as per provisions of law will be initiated without further notice," the order added. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) "As part of Broden & Mickelsens, Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers commitment to the First Amendment and criminal justice issues, and subject to our review of the facts of individual cases, we will represent pro bono any persons in the Dallas area who, while exercising their First Amendment rights and responsibilities, were arrested for engaging in non-violent protests to effect social change and social justice." Broden & Mickelsen Dallas, Texas, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dallas, TX The criminal defense law firm of Broden & Mickelsen strongly support the First Amendment and the right to engage in protests and demonstrations in order to bring about social change and social justice. The late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once said, To protest against injustice is the foundation of all our American democracy. We completely agree. It has been reported that many non-violent protestors have been arrested in the Dallas area while exercising their First Amendment rights. This is a severe threat to American Democracy. Requiring those arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights to then have to pay for a lawyer further compounds the problem and stifles peaceful protests. As part of Broden & Mickelsens commitment to the First Amendment and criminal justice issues, we stand ready to do our part. We are, therefore, announcing that we will represent pro bono any persons in the Dallas area who, while exercising their First Amendment rights and responsibilities, were arrested for engaging in non-violent protests to affect social change and social justice. If you are in the Dallas area and were recently arrested while engaged in a non-violent protest, please call our office at 214-720-9552. Subject to our review of the facts of individual cases, we are prepared to represent you free of charge as an expression of our desire to truly make the United States a free country. About Clint Broden Clint Broden assisted in successfully changing the narrative of the Waco,TX, Twin Peaks incident. He was successful in coordinating the cooperation of more than 100 defense counsel over three years. His representation included the recusal of the justice of the peace and both district court judges, the recusal of the district attorneys office, three mandamuses to the court of appeals, twice overturning gag orders, the filing of numerous civil rights lawsuits, the initiation of a court of inquiry, and the filing of affidavits sexual assault of a childfrom various law enforcement officials and former DAs alleging corruption in McLennan County. Story continues Media Contact Attorney Clint Broden Call Dallas Criminal defense attorney in case of an emergency (214) 563-3154 (Attorney Clint Broden Mobile) (214) 563-3157 (Attorney Mick Mickelsen Mobile) https://www.brodenmickelsen.com clint@texascrimlaw.com https://www.facebook.com/DallasCriminalDefenseLawyersBrodenMickelsen/posts/2963262700454354 News Via: KISS PR - Submit your story FREE The White House sidestepped questions on whether President Donald Trump still has full confidence in Defense Secretary Mark Esper after he broke with the commander-in-chief on using active-duty troops to stop the violence marring protests over the death of George Floyd. "As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper and should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. Read Next: Esper Reverses Plan to Send Active-Duty Troops Home "With regard to whether the president has confidence -- if he loses confidence in Secretary Esper, I'm sure you all will be the first to know," McEnany said at a White House briefing. McEnany also declined to say whether Trump and his top advisers took exception to Esper's statement that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act at this time to allow Trump to order active-duty troops to assist with protest control. "I wouldn't get into private conversations that went on here at the White House," McEnany said, in what could be seen as a less-than-ringing endorsement of Esper. At a Pentagon briefing earlier, Esper said the Insurrection Act should only be used in dire emergencies, when order has completely broken down. "We are not in one of those situations now," Esper said. McEnany said use of the Insurrection Act was solely at the president's discretion. "If needed, he will use it," she said, but added that the president's current thinking was that National Guard troops under the control of state governors were adequate to back up local law enforcement. McEnany also addressed one of the issues that had been in question since federal law enforcement agencies, backed by the National Guard, moved forcefully against protesters to clear streets near the White House Monday evening before a 7 p.m. curfew went into effect. She confirmed it was Attorney General William Barr who gave the order to extend the perimeter around the White House Monday. When Barr arrived at the White House Monday morning, "he was surprised to see that the perimeter had not been moved. So he said that we needed to get going. That decision was made in the morning. So the appropriate action was taken," McEnany said. Trump himself confirmed Wednesday that he had entered the White House bunker on May 29, but not because protests outside had become unruly. In a Fox News Radio interview Wednesday, Trump said the visit to the underground bunker last Friday afternoon was only for an "inspection." He said the Secret Service had told him it would be a good time to look at the bunker because "maybe sometime you're going to need it." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Army, DC Guard Investigating After Military Helicopters Buzz Protesters Highlights Snapchat announced on Wednesday that it will not promote him in its Discover feed for inciting racial violence. Trumps content on Snapchat will now solely thrive on organic reach Snapchats move didnt go down well with Trumps campaign manager Brad Parscale alleged that the company is trying to rig the 2020 election. US President Donald Trump's battle with social media seems to be never-ending. Snapchat became the latest social media platform to take on Trump as the company announced on Wednesday that it will not promote him in its Discover feed for inciting "racial violence". The company said it will longer promote content by Donal Trump on its Discover feed but the users can still access his feed if they subscribe to it or specifically search for his account on the social media platform. Trump's content on Snapchat will now solely thrive on organic reach and will not get any promotion of sorts. "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America." a Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement. Snapchat's Discover feed which doesn't have a place for Trump anymore features the content that is recommended for first-time users. It is primarily a curated section in which the company decides what it wants to recommend to the users. "There are plenty of debates to be had about the future of our country and the world. But there is simply no room for debate in our country about the value of human life and the importance of a constant struggle for freedom, equality, and justice." Statement by Snapchat read. Snapchat's move didn't go down well with Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale alleged that the company is "trying to rig the 2020 election". "Snapchat hates that so many of their users watch the president's content and so they are actively engaging in voter suppression... If you're a conservative, they do not want to hear from you, they do not want you to vote. They view you as a deplorable and they do not want you to exist on their platform." Parscale said a statement. Snapchat's move to remove Trump from its Discover feed came days after Twitter flagged some of its tweets for violating Twitter rules. This was after Trump posted controversial tweets on the Minneapolis protest in the US. In one of the tweets he had said that if people are looting, they should be shot. The tweet read, "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!" Storm clouds rolled over Center City Philadelphia on Wednesday. A tornado warning had been issued for the area in the evening. Read more Despite tornado warnings Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service said Thursday that there was no indication that a tornado touched down in the Philadelphia region. The severe thunderstorms that blasted the region midday Wednesday killed at least three people and damaged homes and buildings all from collapsing trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, officials said. On Thursday, a chance of thunderstorms with damaging winds and heavy rainfall and a chance of hail was expected in the evening and could produce flooding, said Lee Robertson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. Wednesdays midday storm classified as a derecho, based on the speed of the wind and swath of damage caused two deaths in Lower Merion and one in Lower Moreland. And in South Jersey, a mother and daughter almost lost their lives when two massive oak trees toppled onto their two-story Haddonfield home. Ernie McNeely, Lower Merions township manager, said Thursday that a woman and a man died in separate incidents early Wednesday afternoon after trees fell on top of them while they were in their cars. The woman was driving alone on Belmont Avenue near Rock Hill Road, McNeely said. The man died after a tree fell on his car while he was parked in the driveway of his home on Medford Road. Township crews on Thursday were extremely busy dealing with all the outages and trees that fell, he said. We had 145 locations with trees or large branches blocking roads, many also taking down wires, McNeely said. In Lower Moreland Township, Police Chief David Scirrotto said Thursday that a 38-year-old man who was working in a shop at the Philmont Country Club on Tomlinson Road in Huntingdon Valley died after a large tree collapsed onto the building about 12:25 p.m. Wednesday. Haddonfield resident Brenda Zadjeika, 61, said Thursday, We missed getting killed by seconds. Early Wednesday afternoon, she said, she was on the front porch of her Colonial Avenue home when she saw a girl about 9 or 10 years old, with a pink bike, scared and screaming as the rains and winds suddenly raged. Zadjeika said that only by going out into the storm to help the girl did she fully realize the storms power and their peril, especially from an old oak just outside her home. Zadjeika huddled outside with the young girl on the side of the house away from the tree and told her 23-year-old daughter, studying for law school in their dining room, to come outside. The storm was over quickly, but Zadjeika said she then saw that the big oak across from her home the second-oldest black oak in New Jersey had toppled into another oak tree, crashing both on her home and into the dining room where her daughter had been sitting. Zadjeika called the girl a guardian angel" because if she hadnt been on the street, my daughter would have been dead. Zadjeika, a physical therapist with Jefferson Health in New Jersey now staying at a relatives home, said she had previously complained about the stability of both trees to Haddonfield authorities. She said both trees belonged to the borough and were its responsibility. Haddonfield Mayor Neal Rochford said Thursday he did not immediately know whether the black oak belonged to the borough or New Jersey American Water. He said he did not know what had happened to Zadjeikas complaints, saying the borough gets hundreds of requests per year concerning trees. In South Jersey, tens of thousands of customers were still without power about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, including about 41,000 in Burlington County, 29,000 in Camden County, and 1,300 in Gloucester County, according to PSE&G, which serves those counties. PECO spokesperson Greg Smore said about 2:30 p.m. Thursday that about 147,000 customers remained without power in the city and its four surrounding Pennsylvania counties. In total, 563,000 customers experienced power outages from the storm, he said. The Philadelphia-based electric company has added additional crews from its sister Exelon companies from other states as well as outside contractors to help restore downed wires and poles, he said. More than 90% of the customers who lost power should have it restored by the end of the day Friday, he said. The damage Wednesday resulted from winds with measured speeds of 60 to 93 mph, said Robertson of the National Weather Service. Convicted German man is under investigation in case of three-year-old British girl missing since 2007. German prosecutors have said they assume Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing while on holiday in Portugal with her parents in 2007, is dead. The prosecutors office in the northern German city of Braunschweig said on Thursday it was investigating a 43-year-old German man who has been convicted of multiple sexual offences as a murder suspect in the case that captured international headlines for more than 10 years. We assume the girl is dead, spokesman Hans Christian Wolters told journalists without taking questions. German law enforcement officers have not explained what led them to conclude the man was involved in Madeleines disappearance or why they believe she is dead. Police said the suspect, who they have not named, is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for another crime. They said the man, who has served multiple jail sentences for child sex abuse, had lived in southern Portugals Algarve region between 1995 and 2007 at regular intervals, including in a house that was between Lagos and the village of Praia da Luz for several years. They added there was information suggesting he committed criminal offences, such as burglaries at holiday flats, to earn his living. Never give up hope Madeleine, who was three years old at the time, vanished from her familys holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007 while her parents were having dinner at a nearby restaurant. The case made international headlines and, at one point, Portuguese police made her parents the suspects. After dropping the case in 2008, Portuguese officials reopened the investigation in October 2013 due to the presence of new leads. In Britain, Madeleines parents thanked police for their investigation and said they will never give up hope of finding her alive. Parents Kate and Gerry McCann believed the identification of the German suspect on Wednesday was potentially very significant, Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the couple, told the BBC. Of all the thousands of leads and potential suspects that have been mentioned in the past, there has never been something as clear cut as that, Mitchell said. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who leads an investigation by Londons Metropolitan Police, appealed for more witnesses to come forward, saying he retains an open mind as to [the German suspects] involvement, and this remains a missing person inquiry. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace, the BBC quoted them as saying in a statement. Your browser does not support the audio element. Over the last 30 years, Ho De, an 82-year-old man living in Ward 7 of Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City has committed efforts to various philanthropic causes, including welcoming people to live on his property, waiving rent, and funding a financial safety net to protect working-class people who have none. At the moment, the apartments are a little cramped, yet I am still hesitating whether or not I should renovate them since the renovation would force those poor people [that I host] out on the street, De explained as he toured the lodging of some 30 residents, most of whom are college students and needy people. The philanthropic landlord Des block of flats is built on a 140-square-meter lot on Tran Ke Xuong Street, Phu Nhuan District and is subdivided into 24 housing units, providing all the basic facilities for its residents. He is more than happy to waive the rent for anyone having it hard in life, from dishwashers to students, from the sick to the elderly. He is always busy exerting himself in various tasks to maintain living standards for the residents, from obtaining a fridge for community use to fixing the leaky roof. His story of aid started 30 years ago, around the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday during the spring of 1986, when he visited a relative at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital. In the drafty hallway of the hospital, he encountered a woman lying on the ground, shivering from the chilly breezes. He found out she was a cancer patient undergoing radiation therapy, but she could not afford lodging in the city. A surge of compassion led him to offer the women a place to stay at his home for free. In 1990, he met Nguyen Thuan and his family of seven who had sheltered under the stairway of the shabby Ngo Gia Tu apartment building in District 10 for years. He found out the whole family, including the five children, had to sell lottery tickets to survive, while Thuan had also lost function in one of his arms. He invited the family over to his home and took no rent until they could buy a house and move out. De also paid for the education of Thuans children. After 20 years, the family finally accumulated some savings and bought a house of their own. De offers free living spaces to college students and waives rent for those in deep struggle. Living with De, the students have the chance to practice English and receive IT training from the proprietor. He jokingly said that in order to enter the house, students have to pass a little English-speaking test from him, which has proved effective in finding good candidates. At the end of the school year, students with good marks are not only entitled to a rent waiver but also receive a special gift from De; it can be an English book collection or even a personal computer. A tenant at a housing block run by Ho De, a philanthropist in Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Hoang An / Tuoi Tre Emergency fund for working-class occupants Des charitable work does not simply stop at providing shelter. During his time helping the underprivileged, he became aware of all the times people were not able to respond to lifes adversities due to their financial restraints, from students approaching tuition deadlines to unofficial workers unable to afford tickets back home to visit sick relatives. In an effort to help people avoid these issues, he established an 'emergency fund' available for any occupant in his building to take as a loan at any time with no interest. Borrowers can pay back later, though people never see De solicit the amount he has originally lent. Pham Thi Tam, a dishwasher at a street stall, has taken refuge in Des lodging for the last three years. She makes VND5 million (US$215) per month to live in the city and support her two children back in her hometown. During the COVID-19 crisis, she was unable to earn any money. The sole lifeline for her at the time was the charitable aid from De. When I had nothing on me except for the rent waiver, he pressed some money in my hands so I could afford food, Tam recalled. Tam was not the only one receiving aid from De at the time. On top of rent and bill waivers for occupants on his property, he distributed a total of VND43 million ($1,850) to affected workers in COVID-19 and people in the Mekong Delta hit hard by saltwater intrusion. De takes pride in the fact that he has been able to pay for ten weddings using the emergency fund. The cost of a wedding might be overwhelming to people in need. Many of [my tenants] pick me to be their surrogate parent as they do not have a supportive family, so I use the emergency fund to help them, De said. The emergency fund has also provided assistance for countless students preparing for university entrance exams far from home. Each summer, De stocks essentials including rice, instant noodles, and spices in his house to welcome some ten students in for a free stay during their preparation for the once-in-a-lifetime tests. When the occasion calls, De does not hesitate to reach out and seek solidarity in his community. Residents of Civil Group 102 from Ward 7 in Phu Nhuan occasionally remind one another of the flooding that happened there a few years ago: water levels rose as much as half a meter, obstructing peoples daily lives. After reporting to the ward leaders, De went around the neighborhood to solicit donations and pooled a total of VND100 million ($4,308) for sewage system renovation, putting an end to the issue. He is also a regular financial backer for the Association for Promoting Education, the Womens Union, the Red Cross Society, and other local humanitarian causes. De gained respect and trust from the local community over his tireless dedication to solve public issues. I only know one thing for sure: what I do makes others happy, so I feel blessed too, De said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! HARBIN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Heihe Customs in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has supervised the importation of 1.58 billion cubic meters of natural gas via the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline over the past six months. The cross-border gas pipeline has a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China. On Dec. 2, 2019, a 1,067-km section of the northern part of the pipeline was officially put into operation, marking the start of a new era in bilateral energy cooperation. Entering China via the border city of Heihe and running through nine provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, the pipeline has also been connected with existing natural gas networks in China to allow the Russian natural gas supply to reach China's northeast, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta region. The pipeline is scheduled to provide China with 5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in 2020 and the amount is expected to increase to 38 billion cubic meters annually from 2024, under a 30-year contract worth 400 billion U.S. dollars signed between the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Russian gas giant Gazprom in May 2014. YEREVAN. The 79 MPs who voted for the adoption of the convention, and the President who signed it and became a participant in the conspiracy behind the nation, must definitely resign. Aram Khanzadyan, a member of the Public Initiative for the Preservation of Armenian Values, stated this Thursday outside the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia where, along with some fellow activists, he is staging a protest against the NAs passing of the Lanzarote Convention, which refers to the sexual education of children. According Khanzadyan, this convention is against the culture and traditions of Armenia, and its adoption is an unacceptable and anti-Armenian move. "Our demand is that the National Assembly-adopted Lanzarote Conventionwhich will bring sex education to the education environment, thus an attempt will be made to give sex education to our children without asking us, without discussing with usbe canceled," the activist added. According to him, there is an international experience that the adoption of such conventions has led to an increase in sexual violence against children. Former New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia is never afraid to share whats on his mind. So what you are about to see below shouldnt come as a great surprise. Sabathia posted a cartoon to his Instagram account, in which the death of George Floyd is compared to the lynching of African Americans. Warning: the image is graphic and could be upsetting to some readers. The picture shows Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee onto Floyds neck, which he did for almost nine minutes last week, ending the 46-year-olds life. That image is juxtaposed to the hanging of a black man with a crowd of white men and women watching. Based on the clothing in the picture, the lynching appears to be in the early 20th century. The caption over the two images reads Same story, different time." The Yankees released a statement Tuesday in support of the George Floyd protests by quoting Nelson Mandela. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Floyd died last week in police custody and the four officers involved have been fired. They also face criminal charges, including Chauvin, whos accused of second-degree murder. 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. REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ivalua, a leading provider of global Spend Management Cloud solutions, today announced that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is piloting with Ivalua to digitize supplier submission of bid submittals in the solicitation processes. Ivaluas pilot solution was successfully deployed in 1 week with over 150 vendors successfully registered in the first hour after go-live. LADWP is the largest municipal water and power utility in the United States, serving over four million residents. LADWP was accepting bids via mailed or in-person drop-off at its Vendor Liaison Center. The COVID-19 crisis disrupted their ability to accept in-person submittals due to the health and safety controls and security required so the department needed to rapidly digitize their submission processes. Ivalua was selected due to its deep understanding of public procurement, demonstrated success digitizing procurement at other public sector clients and ability to deliver robust capabilities rapidly. LADWP faced significant time pressure and required a rapid deployment without delays or unexpected complications. Within a single week, Ivalua delivered a streamlined supplier account request process, supported the creation of a solicitation bid / shell, and the ability to upload secure, sealed bid packages. The deployment was achieved on budget and ahead of schedule. In recent years Ivalua has become the technology of choice for public sector procurement leaders throughout North America. Customers span all levels of government and include the State of Ohio, State of Arizona, State of Maryland, State of Vermont, City of New York, Shared Services Canada, British Columbia and many others. "Digitization of public sector procurement has become a necessity," said Mike Cook, Head of Public Sector at Ivalua. "We are proud to be the technology partner of choice, as LADWP accelerates its digital procurement transformation, helping them to continue to prioritize the health and safety of their customers, employees and vendors, and providing a solution with the compliance and transparency required in public sector procurement." About Ivalua Ivalua is a leading provider of cloud-based Spend Management solutions. Our complete, unified platform empowers organizations to effectively manage all categories of spend and all suppliers, increasing profitability, lowering risk and improving employee productivity. Trusted by hundreds of the world's most admired brands and public sector leaders, and recognized as a leader by Gartner and other analysts, Ivalua maintains the industry's leading 98%+ customer retention rate. Learn more at www.ivalua.com. Media Contact Michael Gallo Lumina Communications for Ivalua 212-239-8594 [email protected] SOURCE Ivalua Related Links https://www.ivalua.com Turkey's parliament stripped two pro-Kurdish lawmakers and one MP from the main opposition party of their parliamentary status on Thursday after convictions against them became final, drawing sharp criticism from their parties. Those stripped of their status were Leyla Guven and Musa Farisogullari from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People's Party's (CHP) Enis Berberoglu. The decisions were announced in parliament after appeals courts upheld Berberoglu's conviction for disclosing government secrets and the convictions of Guven and Farisogullari for being members of a terrorist organisation. "This disregards the national will. We will continue the democratic fight to obtain justice, rights and law," CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu wrote on Twitter. "This is the trampling and theft of the will of the voters and the Kurdish people," HDP deputy Saruhan Oluc said in a speech in parliament. The government has repeatedly accused the HDP of ties to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought against the state in the largely Kurdish southeast since 1984 and is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union. The HDP denies such links. The prosecutor's office in eastern province of Diyarbakir ordered arrest of Guven and Farisogullari following the decision for the lawmakers. The HDP said Farisogullari has already been taken into custody by the authorities. President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party has 291 deputies in the 600-seat assembly, while the CHP now has 138 seats and the HDP has 58 seats, keeping it as the second biggest opposition party. The AKP is planning to push measures through parliament with its nationalist MHP allies that affect how political groups may contest elections and could hamper new opposition parties taking part in any snap elections. Those plans would not be affected by Thursday's removal of the three politicians' parliamentary status. Search Keywords: Short link: B usiness Secretary Alok Sharma has received a negative test result after being tested for coronavirus, his spokeswoman said. Mr Sharma was self-isolating after becoming unwell while addressing Parliament on Wednesday. She said: Business Secretary Alok Sharma has received a negative result after being tested for coronavirus yesterday. Mr Sharma would like to thank the parliamentary authorities and Speaker and also for the kind words from parliamentary colleagues and others who have expressed their well wishes over the last 24 hours. The Cabinet member will be able to stop his period of self-isolation as he is no longer showing symptoms, she added. Downing Street has said the Government was not planning to review its move to end virtual voting in the Commons after the incident. Feeling unwell: Business Secretary Alok Sharma wipes his face during a speech in the House of Commons / PA However, had Mr Sharma tested positive for coronavirus Prime Minister Boris Johnson may have had to self-isolate as they held a meeting in No 10 this week. Before the result was announced Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Mr Sharma was "doing fine and still working". UK returns to work as Coronavirus restrictions are eased - In pictures 1 /38 UK returns to work as Coronavirus restrictions are eased - In pictures Londoners returning to work near London Bridge Jeremy Selwyn Emergency as Lockdown is slowly lifted at Victoria Station Nigel Howard Cyclists travel in central London AFP via Getty Images Emergency as Lockdown is slowly lifted at Victoria Station Nigel Howard Alan Price on his Penny Farthing this morning on Battersea Bridge Jeremy Selwyn Delivery men are seen outside a reopened McDonald's with take-out only deliveries in Dalston Reuters Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Worlds End Nurseries in Chelsea opens for business. Customer Nika Kucifer is shown flowers by Janson Lotery Nigel Howard Londoners going back to work at Waterloo Jeremy Selwyn People ride bicycles in a cycle lane in Chelsea PA Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases Nigel Howard Jubilee Line tube commuters as lockdown eases. Nigel Howard Matt Writtle Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Vehicles are seen on the M56 motorway near Manchester, Reuters Londoners going back to work at Waterloo Jeremy Selwyn Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Monty's first day back. West Highland Terrier Monty commutes to work on his bike on his first day back with owner Darragh McElroy. Monty, who's Instagram account is @monty_whitehall_westie, works at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall with his owner Darragh who is Deputy Director of Coronavirus Communications at the Cabinet Office Matt Writtle Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn A commuter wears a mask at Canning Town station Reuters Rush hour on the M6 at the junction for Birmingham/Walsall on the first morning of the eased Coronavirus lockdown PA Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Commuters, some wearing masks are seen on a London Underground tube, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease Reuters Londoners going back to work at Vauxhall Jeremy Selwyn Commuters, some wearing masks are seen at Stratford station, Reuters Cyclists in Chelsea today. Nigel Howard Mr Shapps told the Downing Street press conference: I have spoken to Alok within the last hour hes doing fine, actually hes working today just working from home as usual, hes awaiting his test results. The Transport Secretary defended the decision to require MPs to return to Westminster rather than continue to work remotely. Loading.... He said dozens of pieces of legislation including laws to combat coronavirus needed to be considered by MPs. We simply havent been able to Parliament has not been able to pass that legislation, and that in turn, puts the whole country at risk, he said. But he added that there were strict social distancing measures in place and the Prime Minister had always been two metres apart from Alok Sharma. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / In an ever-growing competitive world, establishing one's brand can be more complicated than it seems. Figuring out how to become a cut above the rest is one of the things Landon Marsh had to go through as well. Before he was able to reach his success, it took him some time to have his talent and passion realized and recognized by other people. Landon Marsh, a seventeen-year-old and upcoming Senior from Kentucky, is the person behind the aesthetically pleasing home decor Instagram page, Most Glam Homes of Insta. You read it right! Landon has been in the interior design industry for two years. He started when he was a ninth-grader, a fourteen-year-old who knew he had to do something about his passion and interest in interior design. Landon is currently the youngest Instagram Home Decor influencer. And he could not have gotten that title if he did not do something and instead wallow in fear of fading in the background. Landon's hometown was, in fact, not the most welcoming when it comes to the idea of glamorous homes. From where he lives, most people prefer homes with exuding the style of a rustic look. For them, a glamorous home meant flashy and tacky designs. But Landon was dedicated to changing that perception. For him, glam means elegance and taste. It was only a matter of doing it right. As a young dreamer, Landon pushed his luck and started his own Instagram page. He featured not only his work on renovating his home but also shows off other beautiful homes! He believed that beautiful homes deserve to be in the spotlight, much as those who should take credit for it. Landon did not let setbacks hinder him from growing his audience. He dedicated himself to pursuing more knowledge in the latest trends and thereby creating his own trend through his unique style. Over time, people have taken notice. Even several major companies have collaborated with him to help renovate his home. From zero followers, Landon grew his Instagram page to over seventy-seven thousand followers and an average of one million viewers every month. He is dedicated to inspiring other people through his work. Despite his young age, Landon is already able to help people design their homes. He also ensures to give back by helping other small businesses grow by giving them tips and tricks. After all, the blessing he received is meant to be shared. It took him a while, but Landon was able to find his edge in the business-his age and unique style. What was once only his passion for beautiful homes, turned out to be something more significant. Not only is he able to inspire people to take their homes to the next level, but he also encouraged people not to let their age hinder them but use it as an advantage. Young entrepreneur Landon Marsh attributes his success to people who believed in him. As such, he aspires to influence others to the best of his abilities. He believes that he is only starting and that there is much more to learn. Get inspiration for your next house renovation from Landon's works here. If you would like to know how he can help you turn your house to glam, contact him at athomewithlandon@gmail.com or at 859-553-3051. SOURCE: Landon Marsh View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592720/Landon-Marsh-Took-His-Passion-For-Glamorous-Homes-To-The-Next-Level New Delhi: Irrfan Khans wife Sutapa Sikdar remembered the late star with an emotional post on her Facebook page. Sharing an old picture of Irrfan swimming in a lake, along with posts on rains, Sutapa gave a poetic touch to her note for Irrfan and said that the rains connect them. Thank you soooo much I hear you ...yes I know its from you to me and it touched my body and soul.. Between the two realms we have the rain connecting us, read her post. Take a look: Irrfan died on April 29 in Mumbai after battling cancer for two years. He is survived by Sutapa and two sons Babil and Ayaan. The family often shares posts dedicated to the actor on their respective social media accounts. Just some days ago, Sutapa shared a heartwarming note for Irrfan in which she quoted Rumi and said, ''Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about. It's just a matter of time...milenge baaten karenge.... Till we meet again. In their farewell note for Irrfan, Sutapa said that he has spoiled me for life while Babil and Ayaan shared the teachings of their father. Sutapa also changed her Facebook profile picture and said, I have not lost I have gained in every which way.... In his illustrious showbiz career, Irrfan Khan was applauded for several of his notable works. He was last seen in Angrezi Medium. After almost three months of COVID-19 restrictions during which Manitobans died in hospital without family members present, and patients communicated with loved ones via telephone or tablets only the province will reopen health centre doors to visitors. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. After almost three months of COVID-19 restrictions during which Manitobans died in hospital without family members present, and patients communicated with loved ones via telephone or tablets only the province will reopen health centre doors to visitors. Health-care facilities will begin gradually easing visitor restrictions Friday after a successful trial earlier this week at Victoria General Hospital in Winnipeg. All sites are expected to have new visitation measures in place by June 8. Different numbers of visitors will be allowed depending on what type of ward the patient is on, said Lanette Siragusa, Shared Health chief nursing officer. "We know the last few months have been incredibly difficult for patients and their families. The new visitor guidelines will allow most in-patients to identify a single, designated support person who may visit them once a day," Siragusa said Wednesday. "This will be another evolution, as we learn and adapt through this pandemic. We believe these new guidelines strike a balance between protecting staff and patients, minimizing the spread of COVID, as well as ensuring that those vital connections with loved ones helps to promote health and healing." In-patients who have been in hospital for more than 14 days will be allowed to identify a second support person to visit for the duration of their stay, she said. "Most visitors will be restricted to visiting one at a time, though exceptions will be made for children under 14 who need to be accompanied by an adult," she said. CP In-patients who have been in a Manitoba hospital for more than 14 days will be allowed to identify a second support person to visit for the duration of their stay. (Andre Penner / The Associated Press files) The changes come after weeks of complaints levelled at provincial public health officials. Jack Wiens, 67, died March 22, days after a cancerous lung was removed. Prior to his death, his family tried for three days to convince staff at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre to let them visit, but to no avail. After he died, they were allowed into the hospital. "Nobody ever called me they only called me when he was gone," said Wiens' wife, Mary Lou. "When the doctor called and told me, I said, 'How dare you call me now?' If our story is what it takes to open their eyes that even in a pandemic there has to be compassion, let it be... No family should have to go through this." Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Wiens, who spent decades working with the City of Winnipeg as driver for its mayors (including Robert Steen and Susan Thompson) and police chiefs, had surgery at HSC on March 16 prior to any COVID-19 visitor restrictions. Three days later, while his family was visiting, hospital staff told them they had to leave because officials were now restricting visitors due to the coronavirus. As Wiens' condition spiralled down, his wife called numerous times over the next few days to ask for updates and inquire if she could visit. On March 22, she was told he had been moved to intensive care; another call said doctors were with him; a few minutes later, a doctor called to say her husband had died. "We were then allowed to see him, which is so confusing as we were allowed to march through the ICU where other patients were," daughter Cheryl said, adding the family has submitted a complaint to the hospital. "We were allowed to stay with him as long as we needed, and other family members were allowed as well, so why not when he was alive?" kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca African Americans point to their history as proof of their undeniable right to partake in all the greatness this nation has to offer. The horrific struggle black people have endured for centuries did not yield the progress we had hoped to achieve by now. Floyds killing by police proves that much work is left to be done. Nothing to add to this memo or the doctors memo on hydroxychloroquine, he said. Historically, presidential checkups tend to buoy whatever image the commander in chief wishes to present about his health, and presidents can decide how little or how much information to release, like any other medical patient. A review of medical records dating back to President Jimmy Carter shows that there is no template for how a report is released, and the amount of information presidents have chosen to share varies. This year, the decision to publish the results came after Mr. Trump weathered scrutiny over taking a drug more commonly used to treat arthritis and malaria to treat a virus that has killed more than 107,000 Americans. Dr. Conley said that Mr. Trumps weight was 244 pounds, a one-pound increase from last year. At 6 feet 3 inches tall, the president has a body mass index of 30.5. Anyone with a B.M.I. over 30 is considered obese. Mr. Trump, a longtime fan of junk food, has not succeeded in losing the 10 to 15 pounds he was said to want to lose after earlier checkups by Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the former White House physician, who at the time had enthusiastically declared his patient in excellent health. Dr. Jackson, who is now running for Congress from Texas, said then that Mr. Trumps wife, Melania Trump, and his daughter, Ivanka, would help the then-239-pound president lower the fat and carbohydrate content of his diet and get exercise. On Wednesday, Dr. Conley did not address how that program was going, or say whether he had made any recommendations about losing weight to the president. Losing weight would be to his advantage, said Dr. Richard Chazal, the medical director of the Lee Health Heart and Vascular Institute in Fort Myers, Fla., and a former president of the American College of Cardiology. But the flip side is he hasnt gained a lot in his job where hes exposed to high-calorie meals. Click here to read the full article. Bowen Yang misses everything about the live aspect of Saturday Night Live. For the first at home show, everyone in the cast was texting each other, and I sent pictures of the Saratoga Springs bottles that the pages have at their desks, the 29-year-old comedian recalled recently over (what else?) Zoom from (where else?) his Brooklyn apartment. Its all the little things I took for granted I would give anything to experience all that, safely, again. Until then, hes dreaming in little Zoom boxes, trying to stay creative and connected. Though he feels nothing but lucky these days, sitting at home is a strange mode for Yang, whos barely stopped moving over the past couple years. While writing for SNL in 2018, he was also shooting Awkwafinas Comedy Central series (Nora From Queens), touring the country with his popular podcast (Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers) and writing for an upcoming Apple TV Plus musical comedy starring his SNL coworker Cecily Strong. Video: How Asian representation in movies and TV has changed More from Variety By the time his promotion to cast member was announced in fall 2019, Yang was almost too exhausted to absorb it. I was fully burnt out and in some ways I think that was good, he says, because I was just fully numb. He then booked himself a solo vacation that let him take a beat and absorb it all, for better and for worse. I just decompressed and let it all hit me, he says, with the careful consideration of someone who knows when he needs to thread a verbal needle. It gave me the perspective I could not confer upon myself for the 12 months leading up to that point. Story continues Adding to the pressure were the unavoidable facts that Yang is one of the casts first openly gay men to star on the show, and its first Chinese-American star, period. Neither fact escapes Yang, but he approaches his place in comedy with enthusiastic opportunism. After auditioning for SNL a few times, he says he actually felt freer to do his own thing after he ran out of famous Asian figures to impersonate. I really enjoyed the challenge of working around what might have been perceived as this handicap, he says. I could just have fun with it, put on a wig and pretend to be [former New York Times book critic] Michiko Kakutani. I was like, No one else can do this. Since then, Yangs had more surreal moments on SNL than he can count. Hes tackled breakout impressions of presidential hopeful Andrew Yang and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, as no one else could. Hes slapped RuPaul across the face in a Dynasty parody set in a coal mine and lectured Harry Styles about using a corporate Instagram to promote his sad thirst traps. Characters from his initial auditions including a manic SoulCycle instructor and the man from the ubiquitous choking poster who bears more than a passing resemblance to Yang made it onto the show, a fact that still blows his mind. No matter the role, Yangs delivery somehow bone dry and histrionic all at once makes him stand out on a legendary show that once taught him the basics of American pop culture when he and his family first moved from Canada to the United States. I was 8, and I was probably too young for it, but thats when I started to watch SNL, Yang says. Thats when I got a sense of what American humor was. He remembers sitting down in 2000 to watch his first episode, which was hosted by Charlize Theron, and thinking that she must be important if she got to host SNL. At that point, he says, the show opened all these doors in the scope of my pop culture knowledge. While Yang originally went to NYU for its med school, improv and pop culture quickly became cornerstones of his life before taking it over completely. Yangs acidic, pithy takes on pop culture and celebrity are now his bread and butter. (Look up his lip sync performances of famous monologues from Sandra Oh pleading on Greys Anatomy to Meryl Streep drawling disdain in The Devil Wears Prada and thank us later.) It even forms the backbone of Las Culturistas, in which he and Rogers trade thoughts on their current obsessions and ask their guest a deceptively simple question: What was the first piece of culture that made you say culture was for you? For Yang, its a tricky one. Finding culture that spoke to him, a gay Chinese-American boy growing up in Colorado, meant excavating his own confusing wants and needs. Like many queer people, hes still discovering pivotal influences with a jolt of, Oh, thats what that was self-awareness. Most recently, he remembered how Michelle Branchs album The Spirit Room inspired daydreaming fantasies he misunderstood. I kind of imprinted onto Michelle this diva worship that I didnt recognize, he says. It was really one of the few times that female idol worship intersected with sexual reckoning, and being in a liminal space where Id conflate the two. I thought I was in love with her! Yang doesnt remember a specific time when he had a lightbulb over the head Im gay moment. What he does remember is others pointing it out for him with mocking sneers, which made it all too easy to internalize the idea that he was messing up just by being himself. The way I see queerness now is that, best case scenario, another queer person reflects it back at you, he explains. Worst case scenario, which is what happened to me, is having people say, Well, you like Michelle Branch, so you must be gay. Someone points out how theres something about you thats unusual, and you go through some Kubler-Ross grief stages with it. Twenty years later, Yang is rising exactly because of that unusual quality that once haunted him, embracing comedy and a collaborative community thats specifically, loudly queer. Hes eager to look forward to a future in which a kid like him wouldnt have the same experience, but also careful to remain conscious of the history and activists that would make it possible. Even this year, staring down a Pride season in which he cant march or hit up some lowkey hedonistic bar party, Yang is sure to keep perspective. As he explains: Pride events have been canceled, but were not calling it an injustice, because we know what injustice looks like. Now, with the twin benefits of hindsight and foresight, Yang has nothing but compassion for the kid who stole a copy of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants from his sister and hid it under his bed in case someone might clock it as too gay or feminine for a boy to read. I smile very fondly, very wistfully when I think about it, he says. Just like, Oh, thats cute. Look how far weve come. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. INDIANAPOLIS - The largest study to date of electronic dental records delves into both previously inaccessible data and data from understudied populations with the ultimate goal of improving oral treatment outcomes. The work presents a learning health system - a mechanism for dentists to learn from their own experience and the experiences of fellow practitioners. Researchers led by Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Thankam Thyvalikakath, DMD, PhD, associate professor and director of the Dental Informatics Core at Indiana University School of Dentistry, evaluated de-identified data from the electronic dental records (EDRs) of 217,887 patients of 99 solo or small dental practices across the United States. These EDRs contained more than 11 million observations, with observation periods as long as 37 years. The study determined that it is feasible to mine and utilize enormous amounts of EDR data to learn which dental therapies work and which do not, empowering quality improvement by individual dentists. EDR data is sufficiently reliable for purposes beyond the clinical care of individual patients. Learning from aggregating data across practices gives each dental practitioner the opportunity to acquire knowledge not only from his or her own patient data but also the opportunity to compare their practice with their peers. Information obtained during each patient's visit thus contributes to improved care for all, creating a true learning health system. Now that the they have completed the proof of concept; the researchers will use the data to evaluate of the long-term effectiveness of two common dental procedures performed on permanent teeth -- root canal therapy and tooth-colored fillings in rear teeth. Data analysis for that portion of the study, which will determine how well and how long root canal treated teeth and back teeth filled with tooth-colored fillings continue to function, will help both dentists and the patients make evidence-based care decisions. Data analysis is currently nearing completion and the findings will be published in the future. "Here in the real world of the dentist's office we are seeing patients with all kinds of real-world conditions - pain, underlying medical conditions, lack of adequate past oral health care -- so this large data set provides a unique insight into the treatments offered in the type of dental offices where most Americans receive care," said Dr. Thyvalikakath, the founding director of Regenstrief-IU School of Dentistry dental informatics program. Information on demographics, reason for visit, medical and dental history, social history, tooth characteristics and treatment, as well as practice and practitioner characteristics was collected for each patient visit. Dr. Thyvalikakath describes the work as groundbreaking in four areas: 1. Dentists were able to share their data for research in an anonymized process with their EDR vendors' help, because a typical solo dentist or even small practice does not have dedicated IT staff. 2. Data from two electronic dental record systems with varying formats and operating systems were combined. Interoperability has proved difficult with data from electronic medical record systems. 3. It is the largest study to evaluate data quality in a regular patient setting. 4. It looked at the oral health and treatment options of both insured and uninsured patients. Past studies have relied on insurance records and thus have provided no information on uninsured patients. "Findings derived from patient data in real-world conditions is typically less difficult for clinicians to translate at the point of care than studies performed in large health systems which often represent a patient population that does not mirror the community dentists see in their practices," said Dr. Thyvalikakath. "We are presenting a mechanism for dentists, many of whom practice by themselves or with only one or two others, to learn from their own experience and from the experiences of their peers to assist in improving skills and facing problems." ### "Leveraging Electronic Dental Record Data for Clinical Research in the National Dental PBRN Practices" is published in the peer-reviewed journal, Applied Clinical Informatics. Authors of the study, in addition to Dr. Thyvalikakath, who is the corresponding author, are Regenstrief Institute and IU School of Medicine Research Scientist Titus Schleyer; William D. Duncan of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Zasim Siddiqui, Michelle LaPradd and George Eckert of Indiana University; Donald Brad Rindal, Mark Jurkovich and Tracy Shea of Health Partners Institute; Gregg H. Gilbert of University of Alabama and the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network Collaborative Group. The study was supported by a three-year $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research's National Dental Practice-Based Research Network. About Regenstrief Institute Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. The Regenstrief Institute, a key research partner to Indiana University, and its researchers are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe. Regenstrief Institute is celebrating 50 years of healthcare innovation. Sam Regenstrief, a successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute's research mission. About Indiana University School of Dentistry The only dental school in the Hoosier state, Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) offers an extraordinary learning environment in which teaching, research and community service come together in the best way possible for the preparation of tomorrow's dental professionals. About 80 percent of the dentists practicing in the state of Indiana are alumni of the school. Founded in 1879 in Indianapolis, IUSD is located on the health sciences campus of IUPUI, one of the outstanding urban universities in the United States with a recognized commitment to community engagement. IUSD capitalizes on the campus's central location in the state and its position in the research corridor that links IUPUI, Purdue University West Lafayette, and Indiana University Bloomington. IUSD faculty conduct world-class interdisciplinary research in collaboration with the other IU health science schools and the Purdue Schools of Engineering and Technology and Science. Regenstrief-IU School of Dentistry program in dental informatics Established in 2019 with the goal of improving oral health for better overall physical and emotional health, the Regenstrief-IUSD program in dental informatics is among the first dental informatics programs in the country and is thought to be the only program linked to a clinical data repository managed by a regional health information exchange. About Thankam Thyvalikakath, DMD, PhD In addition to her roles as a Regenstrief Institute research scientist and founding director of the Regenstrief-IU School of Dentistry program in dental informatics, Dr. Thyvalikakath is the director of the Dental Informatics Core, an associate professor at IU School of Dentistry and an adjunct associate professor in the IUPUI School of Informatics and Computing. The two local players may break out of obscurity by teaming up Photo: Le Toan Nguyen Huu Tuat, CEO of the local ride-hailing company FastGo, last week shared his views about a possible partnership with be Group in a Facebook status titled If be and FastGo merged, what would be their name? The status immediately caused a stir, with many speculating that that FastGo intends to reach a merger with be. However the two sides have remained silent about any such plans. Regarding the issue, Nguyen Viet Hung, a consultant for several local technology startups, told VIR that as Grab is dominating the market, a merger between FastGo and be may create a big counterbalance against the Singaporean firm. In 2018, in the same year that Grab acquired the local branch of Uber to reign supreme in Southeast Asia, FastGo and be were launched with high expectations to be the local David taking down the Singaporean Goliath. However, over the past two years, the market also saw the new Indonesian rival Go-Jek entering Vietnam with its app Go-Viet. During the ensuing tough competition with the experienced overseas players, FastGo and be have remained inferior in the local market. According to Hung, despite getting great financial support from an alliance of banks, be has soon revealed inadequacies in its operation. Similar to Uber and Grab, the local firm has applied an aggressive penetration strategy to quickly scale up its presence in the market instead of methodically developing and diversifying its services. Meanwhile, after four years of operation, Grab has successfully created an entire ecosystem including ride-hailing, e-payment, food delivery, and other services. Go-Viet, despite only jumping on the bandwagon in 2018, has carried out the same strategy with decent success. As a result, be, which only focuses on ride-hailing without added functionalities, might be left behind if it does not change its business focus. Meanwhile, FastGo also seems to be worn-out from an unsuccessful business strategy. The firm chose to directly confront Grab in Vietnam while aggressively expanding to foreign markets, following the same blueprint Uber used five years ago. The strategy has spread FastGo too thin, putting it at large risk as it has been steadily losing momentum in Vietnam. The strategies of be and FastGo are different and be has the upper hand, said Hung. FastGo may fail in the next two years if it does not alter its course. According to US-based market research company ABI Research, Grab commands about 73 per cent of the local ride-hailing sector. be, with 16 per cent, ranked second, while FastGo only holds a single per cent. Grab is also leading the market with about 146 million rides carried out in total. Meanwhile, be comes second with 31 million rides, and FastGo last with just two million. With such dreary prospects in Vietnam, a merger might not be an idea either ride-hailing platforms would scoff at. Ride-hailing is still a relatively new business area and companies have been racking up great deficits. Grab, after nearly 10 years of operations in Vietnam, also reported that it has not turned a single dime of profit yet. As such, Grab Vietnams accumulated losses as of 2018 were about VND2.6 trillion ($113 million). Meanwhile, Go-Viet and be saw deficits of VND500 billion ($21.4 million) and VND100 billion ($4.34 million), respectively. Reaching an alliance could also benefit these companies in the area of capital mobilisation. Last January, a mysterious investor from the British Virgin Islands poured nearly VND881 million ($38,300 million) into FastGo and acquired an ownership rate of 25.23 per cent. The remaining shares are split between other parties, including FastGos CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat (41.62 per cent). Elsewhere, be has been supported by some shareholders of VPBank who have constantly invested in the firm, according to Dealstreet Asia. Throughout their time in the market, both FastGo and be have been constantly mobilising capital to maintain operations. Thus, reaching an alliance could make the two firms more attractive in the eyes of future investors. Cole Sprouse once 'slapped a white boy' for 'groping' a black woman at a college party, a Twitter user has revealed - days after the Riverdale star was arrested while taking part in a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. Posting on the social media platform, New York-based jeweler Channy Dang recalled an incident at a party at New York University in which she says Cole, 27, stepped in to defend her friend against a man who groped her. 'I remember I went to a NYU party and he slapped fire out of this white boy for groping my homegirl,' she wrote, while sharing a link to an article about Cole's arrest. Speaking out: Twitter user Channy Dang recalled how Riverdale star Cole Sprouse once hit a white man for groping a black woman at a New York University party Memories: Riverdale star Cole (left) and his twin brother Dylan, now 27, both graduated from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in May 2015 She added: 'I always knew he was with the s***s!!' Although Channy did not specify when the party took place, it's likely that it was some time between 2011 and 2015 - when Cole attended the college. Cole and his twin brother Dylan both graduated from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in May 2015; while Cole was an archeology major, his sibling's focus was video game design. Sharing: New York-based jeweler Channy praised Cole's actions, sharing her story after he was arrested for taking part in a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest But it was the timing of the tweet, not the party, that made it resonate so strongly with Channy's followers, and dozens of other Twitter users. The post racked up a staggering 1.2 million likes in just two days, and has been retweeted more than 212,000 times. Many users also responded to the tweet in order to praise Cole and his actions. 'Jughead a G forreal,' one person wrote - referring to the name of Cole's character in Riverdale. 'Cole Sprouse will forever be the reason why my standards are as high as they are,' another chimed in. Many people confessed that Channy's tweet reaffirmed their childhood crushes on the star, who first shot to fame while starring alongside his brother in hit comedy movie Big Daddy, before going on to earn roles in Friends and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. 'Damn im feeling so validated about my childhood crush on him,' one Twitter user remarked, prompting another to note: 'I knew I loved this man for more than just his looks.' Channy, who is the CEO of jewelry company KZMT & Co, used the viral frenzy surrounding her tweet to spread awareness about important causes, tweeting out links to the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, The Liberty Fund, and a GoFundMe page for the family of George Floyd, a black man who was killed while in police custody last week. On Monday, Cole, pictured in February, revealed he was taken into custody while peacefully protesting racial injustice following the death of George Floyd Her story about Cole was shared just one day after the Riverdale star was arrested while peacefully protesting racial injustice at a Santa Monica march, following Floyd's tragic death. Cole revealed on Instagram on Monday that he was detained while participating in a protest on Sunday, an experience that he shared with his followers in order to raise awareness about the Black Lives Matter movement. 'A group of peaceful protesters, myself included, were arrested yesterday in Santa Monica,' he wrote. 'So before the voracious horde of media sensationalism decides to somehow turn it about me, there's a clear need to speak about the circumstances: Black Lives Matter. 'Peace, riots, looting, are an absolutely legitimate form of protest. the media is by nature only going to show the most sensational, which only proves a long standing racist agenda. 'I was detained when standing in solidarity, as were many of the final vanguard within Santa Monica. We were given the option to leave, and were informed that if we did not retreat, we would be arrested. Taking action: The Riverdale actor revealed on instagram that he was detained while participating in Sunday's protest in Santa Monica 'When many did turn to leave, we found another line of police officers blocking our route, at which point, they started zip tying us. It needs to be stated that as a straight white man, and a public figure, the institutional consequences of my detainment are nothing in comparison to others within the movement. 'This is ABSOLUTELY not a narrative about me, and I hope the media doesn't make it such. This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing. 'This is precisely the time to contemplate what it means to stand as an ally. I hope others in my position do as well. 'I noticed that there are cameras that roll within the police cruisers during the entirety of our detainment, hope it helps. I'll speak no more on the subject, as I'm (1) not well versed enough to do so, (2) not the subject of the movement, and (3) uninterested in drawing attention away from the leaders of the #BLM movement. I will be, again, posting the link in my story to a comprehensive document for donations and support.' The Santa Monica Jail administrator has no record of Sprouse's May 31st arrest, it confirmed to The Sun. The administrator added it was likely the actor was taken in, and not fingerprinted or booked. Doing his part: Cole, pictured in July 2019, stressed that the narrative should not focus on his participation in the protests Demonstrations have occurred nationwide in response to the death of Floyd, a black man who died after since-fired police officer Derek Chauvin held him down with a knee to the back of his neck. Chauvin has since been arrested; he was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, however on Wednesday afternoon the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder. The three cops who took part in the arrest alongside him have also been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Santa Monica, where Cole had been protesting, has been under a curfew since various stores were damaged and looted as part of riots. A number of celebrities have turned out to protest racial injustice at various rallies. Ariana Grande, Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, and Nina Dobrev are just a few of the stars showing their support for the cause at various protests. Many other stars have used their platform to speak out against racial injustice on social media. "Our expansion into Latin America marks a significant milestone for Active Navigation as we introduce our world-class software to a new audience." Active Navigation, the data privacy and governance software provider, today announced a strategic business partnership with LinkIT LATAM, an international business development consulting firm, to strengthen its presence in Latin America. Active Navigations expansion comes as countries in Latin America continue to invest in data privacy solutions. Many countries in Latin America are adjusting their existing data protection regulations to align with the new international legislative context ushered in by the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This includes Brazils Lei Geral de Protecao de Dados (LGPD), modelled after the GDPR, and Colombias Data Protection Law. "Our expansion into Latin America marks a significant milestone for Active Navigation as we introduce our world-class software to a new audience," said Active Navigations Chief Executive Officer Peter Baumann. LinkIT LATAM offers expert guidance and extensive international business development support. They will play a key role introducing our flagship product, Discovery Center, to the Latin American market. With a steady uptick in global data protection laws there is a compelling need for regulatory compliance. We look forward to supporting our international customers and their growing data privacy requirements with LinkIT LATAM. "Active Navigation is well-positioned for explosive growth internationally, and we are excited to lead their development efforts in LATAM," said Juan Carlos Cerrutti, CEO and LinkIT LATAM Co-Founder. Data privacy requirements and regulations are expected to grow exponentially in LATAM. This partnership will help thousands of Brazilian companies that need to comply with the LGPD before May of 2021. We are thrilled to be working with Active Navigation. As data privacy laws proliferate, companies need a clear understanding of what data they are collecting, storing, and managing. By partnering, Active Navigation and LinkIT LATAM will make it easier for companies to gain visibility and actionable insights into their digital footprint. About Active Navigation Active Navigation is a data privacy and governance software company. Its flagship product, Discovery Center, enables enterprises and government entities to map, clean, classify, quarantine and delete redundant, obsolete and trivial data. Hundreds of companies and government agencies trust Active Navigation to help them control sensitive data and support compliance with various data privacy regulations such as CCPA and GDPR. Active Navigation Inc. is headquartered in the DC metro area and has offices in Europe and Australia. For more information, please visit ActiveNavigation.com or follow the company on Twitter and LinkedIn. About LinkIT LATAM LinkIT LATAM is a business development consulting firm that provides Information Technology vendors advice on their internationalization processes. LinkIT LATAM sound business decision making and flexible commercial capabilities generate revenues faster with low cost and risk for our clients. LinkIT LATAM regional focus is Latin America and has Digital Transformation and Technology practices. What just happened? Google at any given time offers a variety of perks to Chromebook owners and a couple of the latest additions may be too sweet to pass up, especially if you are a fan of id Software's Doom franchise. For a limited time, Chromebook owners can score complimentary copies of the original Doom and Doom II. Each is valued at $4.99, but youll pay nothing. Its unclear how long these offers will stand so if you qualify and are interested, itd be best to claim the perks ASAP. These arent the only offers worth checking into for gamers. Google is also offering up a free in-app item pack for Fallout Shelter and a complimentary story expansion for The Elder Scrolls: Legends, each of which is valued at $19.99. Whats more, you can score a copy of Stardew Valley on the house (a $7.99 value) in addition to free item packs for Fishdom and Lineage 2. Outside of the gaming realm, Chromebook owners can also nab a copy of Duet Display and claim Google One with 100 GB of storage for 12 months. A full year membership to VSCO is also up for grabs, as is a six month membership to Squid Premium, the paid tier of note-taking app Squid. Nab these offers and more over on Googles Chromebook perks page. Masthead credit: CC Photo Labs Trevor Milton, the 38-year-old founder of Nikola, became an instant multibillionaire Thursday with the company's successful IPO. Nikola, which makes electric- and hydrogen-powered trucks, saw its share price briefly top $37 after going public, giving Milton a net worth of nearly $5 billion based on his share ownership. The stock later settled back around $34, putting his net worth at about $4.6 billion. Before the IPO, his stake in Nikola had been valued at around $1 billion. Milton's newfound fortune is the latest vindication for the Utah-born college dropout, who founded Nikola at the age of 29 after talking to truckers in the North Dakota oil fields. Milton, who friends describe as a born entrepreneur, launched five other businesses before Nikola, two of which failed but, he said, taught him valuable lessons. "I lost everything I had, twice," he told CNBC in April. "Nobody has gone through five companies at my age and lost two." Milton and Nikola declined to comment on his net worth. But in an interview with CNBC's David Faber on Thursday, Milton said he doesn't have any plans to sell his shares, since they are locked up for about a year. "My number one goal right now is to execute this vision," he said. "It's hard. It's going to take a good five years." Milton grew up in Utah, and his family struggled after his mother died from cancer when he was young. His entrepreneurial drive started early. In school, he resold candy to other kids for a profit. He tried college, but dropped out after a year. He started his first company, an alarm and surveillance company, in 2003 and sold it a few years later. He then launched a retail company that failed before eventually launching Nikola. Last November, Milton paid $32.5 million for a 2,670-acre luxury ranch in Utah, which set a new price record for the state. The property has a 16,800-square-foot riverfront mansion with eight bedrooms, 8.5 baths, a lofted billiards room, movie theater, wine cellar and gym. "I feel like my generation is asset light, wants smaller everything and is moving to cities, which is the opposite of what I wanted in life," Milton told the Wall Street Journal after the purchase. "I enjoy the country, space, privacy and wildlife rather than skylights. ... I wanted to create a sanctuary where I could live off the land." As CNBC first reported, Nikola received $4 million in April from the Paycheck Protection Program, a loan from the Small Business Administration that is aimed at helping small businesses retain workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Milton said the government funding was necessary to help the company meet its payroll during an uncertain period before its initial public offering. He also said that while both he and the company had high valuations, they had little cash. "We're a small business," he said in April. Mary McKenzie, DO, is moving to CHI Integrative Medicine Associates Signal Mountain office. Dr. McKenzie joined CHI Memorial Medical Group in August 2015. She received her medical degree from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Athens, Oh. and completed her residency at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. Dr. McKenzie welcomes patients age five and up."CHI Memorial Integrative Medicine Associates is a primary care practice focused on health promotion and illness prevention," officials said. "The practice defines integrative medicine as healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between the medical provider and patient, is informed by evidence and makes use of all appropriate therapies.The practice offers a range of services to supplement primary care, including nutritional counseling, clinical counseling, acupuncture, physical therapy, integrative soft tissue therapy, hormone replacement therapy and more."Dr. McKenzie joins Chelsea Ryan, DO, and Maggie Greene, FNP-BC, at the Signal Mountain Office. In addition, Liza Mercado, MSOM, Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM), L. Ac., and Patrick Wortman, MS, RD, LDN, NSCA, are offering acupuncture and nutrition services, respectively. CHI Memorial Integrative Medicine Associates Signal Mountain office is located at 1238 Taft Highway, Suite 170, Signal Mountain, Tn. 37377. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 423-886-2004. Office hours are Monday Thursday 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and Friday 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Same day appointments and virtual visits are available. New patients ages five and up are welcome.Melanie Blake, MD, Jeffery Jump, MD, Jordan Kim, MD, Franklin Baker, PA-C, and Amber Smith, APRN, are primary care providers at CHI Memorial Integrative Medicine Associates Chattanooga office located at 320 E. Main St., Suite 200, Chattanooga, Tn. 37408. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 423-643-2246. Office hours are Monday Friday, 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. New patients are welcome. Virtual visits are available. Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, today announced details of a new grant scheme aimed at supporting the production of vital medicines and medical equipment in Ireland. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation received approval for the scheme from the European Commission today. The COVID Products Scheme has been developed under a new European Commission Temporary Framework that allows additional aid to be granted by EU Member States to companies that are developing or producing medicinal products used in the fight against Covid-19. The scheme will be delivered through IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland under the terms of the Temporary Framework, which is aimed at supporting the research, development, and production of Covid-19 related products in Ireland. The scheme allows for up to 200m in targeted State support to facilitate the research and development of COVID products, to enable the construction or upgrading of testing and upscaling infrastructures that contribute to the development Covid-19 relevant products, as well as to support the production of products needed to respond to the outbreak. Minister Humphreys said: The challenge of Covid-19 is first and foremost a health emergency and we will continue to prioritise the medical response to the pandemic. The intention of this new scheme is to accelerate the production of vital medicines and potential vaccines, along with essential equipment, used in the fight against Covid-19. Minister Humphreys continued: The life sciences sector directly employs over 60,000 people right around the country and virtually all of the worlds top companies have chosen Ireland as a manufacturing base. This new scheme aims to capitalise on that hard-earned reputation and the positive effects of this additional investment will be felt not only in additional direct employment, but also throughout the economy, as many companies based in Ireland are an integral part of the materials and services supply chain. The introduction of the scheme will allow IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to generate significant additional capital investment from firms in the life sciences sector, thereby helping the national economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. Companies in the pharmaceutical sector, including a number of existing IDA clients, are currently engaged in developing both Covid-19 treatments and vaccines. Companies are also seeking to increase manufacturing capacity to meet intense global demand for treatments found to be effective. CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan, said: This new State Aid Framework sanctioned for Ireland by the EU and targeted at Medicinal products for Covid-19 is a significant step forward. The Life Sciences sector will be central to creating an environment where human health is protected and economic life can begin to return to normal and this will allow us to support the sector. The size and breadth of Irelands Life Sciences industry makes us well placed to leverage the Framework to support the industry to quickly respond to Covid-19 demand and form a key pillar in Irelands comprehensive economic recovery plan. CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon, said: Enterprise Ireland very much welcomes the announcement of this new scheme. We have a fantastic cluster of Irish companies in the medtech, engineering, consumer and digital technology sectors in Ireland who have demonstrated the strength of their innovative capabilities in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. "Driven by the increased demand for lifesaving solutions their response to Covid-19 has positioned the country 6th in the world for Covid19 innovations and will see growth opportunities for this cohort across the globe. The Commissions approval of this new scheme will allow us to further support this sector in driving increased innovation and production of products, supporting research and development of Covid-19 products, and enabling the construction or upgrading of testing and manufacturing facilities in Ireland. The scheme allows for grant aid of up to 50% of eligible capital investment. This will ensure that the intervention will have a substantial impact on COVID-19 related production and will drive a significant return for the State. Details on the opening of the scheme will be made available in the coming days. Applications for aid under the scheme must be approved no later than December 31, 2020. The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to set up a uniform system for hassle-free movement within the National Capital Region (NCR), stepping in to clear up widespread confusion among thousands of commuters who have been facing difficulties at borders due to state-specific travel restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. A three-judge bench headed by justice Ashok Bhushan asked the central government to convene a meeting of officials from the three states all part of NCR within a week and come up with a common portal to facilitate interstate travel such as the one between Delhi and Noida or Delhi and Gurugram. The court fixed June 12 as the next date of hearing. ...the Government of India shall convene a meeting of concerned state officials/UTs and endeavour to find out a common programme, common portal for easing the interstate movement on all state borders in the National Capital Region. Needful be done within a week, the bench, which also comprised justices SK Kaul and MR Shah, ordered. Formed in 1985, NCR, which spans 55,083 square kilometres and also includes parts of Rajasthan, was envisaged as a composite area for coordinated urban planning and development, but the lack of coordination among member states have time and again been exposed over the years in critical areas such a pollution control and mobility. In fact, experts blamed officials in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for not working in tandem to prevent the border mess during the lockdown. The idea [of NCR] was to decongest Delhi and allow integrated development in Delhi and neighbouring cities. Integration of transport was an important component. Instead of taking decisions considering NCR as a whole unit, the district administrations in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana are working in silos, AK Jain, former planning commissioner, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), said. State authorities welcomed the Supreme Court directive. We will implement the orders of the Supreme Court through complete collaboration with our sister states under the aegis of the Union ministry of home affairs, Delhi chief secretary Vijay Dev said. Amit Arya, media adviser to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said: We will work with the other state governments on the modalities, and find out a way forward... While Ajay Shankar Pandey, the Ghaziabad district magistrate, said relevant directions on the issue will come from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, authorities in Noida did not immediately react to the issue. ...Let us go through the observations/orders... [and] let the Centre convene the meeting first..., a senior government official said in Lucknow on the condition of anonymity. Strict border curbs have hindered movement of commuters in the NCR region ever since the lockdown was first imposed on March 25. What added to the confusion were state-specific rules that, in turn, led to serpentine queues at Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad borders as the police turned away scores of commuters who did not have necessary permits. For example, Delhi announced sealing its border for at least a week on June 1, two days after the central guidelines on a phased reopening green-lighted interstate travel but pointed out at the same time that state-specific curbs are allowed based on assessment of the ground situation. Though Haryana decided lifting of border restrictions after the Centres guidelines, commuters travelling from the national capital to Gurugram and Faridabad were back to square one with Delhi imposing stringent restrictions. In Thursdays hearing, the petitioner, Rohit Bhalla, a resident of Gurugram, pointed out the troubles commuters were facing at the borders and the confusion among them. He said measures adopted by states were disproportionately impacting citizens in NCR and violating their fundamental rights, including the right to movement under Article 19(1)(d) and the right to carry on with trade or occupation under Article 19(1)(g). Specifically, Bhalla challenged the orders passed by officials in Haryana on April 29 and Uttar Pradesh on May 3. In the April 29 notification, the Gurugram and Sonepat administrations directed residents of these two districts who cross interstate borders to arrange for accommodation outside Haryana, Bhalla said. He also pointed out that the Gautam Budh Nagar administration announced sealing of the Noida border on May 3. Restricting movement and activities to different extents in different areas falling within the NCR is in complete violation of the Union of Indias new guidelines dated May 1, 2020 which in fact allows movement for permissible activities [such as essential services], the petitioner said. The absence of a common pass system was another aspect Bhalla pointed out in his petition filed on May 11. Commuters in NCR have to apply for e-passes in state-specific portals. A person residing in one State, working for gain in another state and falling within permissible limits of the New Guidelines [of May 1], has to apply for passes in both the States and may get accepted by one and rejected in the other due to a complete lack of co-ordination in the said state departments, preventing his fundamental right to practice his profession or commerce in spite of the same being allowed by the New Guidelines, the petition said. (with inputs from HTC in Noida and Gurugram) Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) The Nigerian Armed Forces on Thursday said that 392 bandits were killed in the northwest and north-central parts of the country since the commencement of military operations more than three weeks ago Estate planning is planning for what you want to happen to you and your assets at the end of your life. Many people think that estate planning just means preparing a will, but this type of planning actually covers much more. You need to decide who will manage your assets and medical care if you lose the capacity to make these decisions, plus what type of medical care you will consent to. Deciding what kind of life insurance you need is also essential. You need to consider whether to build a trust, which is a legal agreement specifying how the assets in the trust will be distributed. A trust also designates a person, called the trustee, who will manage the distribution. Who needs an estate plan? The easy answer is everyone. Of course, hiring an attorney and creating an estate plan may not be an option for everyone. There are online basic estate plans if you need a more affordable option than an attorney. But if you have children or other dependents, or you have substantial assets, stick with an attorney. Even if you don't fall into any of those categories, you should still consider working on an estate plan. It's impossible to know when you may become incapacitated, and some pieces of the plan can take a long time to come together. What are the benefits of creating an estate plan? Here are a few key benefits of creating an estate plan now: You make the decisions about your medical care and assets: If you die or become incapacitated before you put your desires on paper, a court will decide what happens. This means a government-appointed guardian may make medical decisions for you, including whether you should be moved to a nursing home (with your assets sold to pay for it). And probate court will divide up many of your assets. If you die or become incapacitated before you put your desires on paper, a court will decide what happens. This means a government-appointed guardian may make medical decisions for you, including whether you should be moved to a nursing home (with your assets sold to pay for it). And probate court will divide up many of your assets. You can minimize tax: In 2021, the first $11.7 million of a single person's estate is exempt from federal estate tax. For married couples, the first $23.4 million is shielded.. That may seem like a high bar now, but there is no guarantee that number won't go down in the future. Putting assets in a trust, choosing how to determine value, or leaving all assets to a spouse who then claims an exemption can all reduce estate tax. There are also fees for probate and other estate management items that you can reduce or eliminate with proper planning. In 2021, the first $11.7 million of a single person's estate is exempt from federal estate tax. For married couples, the first $23.4 million is shielded.. That may seem like a high bar now, but there is no guarantee that number won't go down in the future. Putting assets in a trust, choosing how to determine value, or leaving all assets to a spouse who then claims an exemption can all reduce estate tax. There are also fees for probate and other estate management items that you can reduce or eliminate with proper planning. You can plan for dependents: Even if you don't have a lot of assets yet, you can work on a life insurance plan to temporarily support your dependents in a worst-case scenario. You also want to decide who will have custody of your minor children and how many pets will be cared for. 8 steps to creating an estate plan Here are the steps to creating and maintaining an estate plan: Make your medical decisions: This includes deciding when and if you will move into a nursing home, how much and what kind of care you wish to receive, and who can make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated. Choose a trusted person: You'll need to choose the person, known as a healthcare proxy, who will make medical decisions if you're unable to do so. You'll also want to designate someone as power of attorney to manage your financial affairs and property if you can no longer do so. This person is often a child or spouse, but it can be anyone you choose. Update your paperwork: Make sure the beneficiaries on any life insurance policies and retirement accounts are updated. Beneficiary designations supersede your will instructions. That means that even if you leave all your assets to someone in your will, the person listed as the beneficiary will receive the policy or retirement account. You don't want a death benefit to go to an ex-spouse because the forms were never updated. Value your assets: Put together a personal balance sheet that includes real estate, stock, bank balances, vehicles, collectibles, and all liabilities. Keep these values updated. If you set up a trust and then accumulate new assets, you could add years to the process. Decide how the assets will be divided: Unless you set up an irrevocable trust, these decisions can be changed. After you do this, make your bank account payable on death. This will make it so the money avoids probate and goes directly to the beneficiary. Make a succession plan for your business: If you own and run a business, you probably have an idea how difficult it would be to adjust operations if you weren't there. Put a plan together for future ownership and who will manage the company. Engage an attorney: No matter what size your estate is, you'll benefit from working with a professional. You can also disregard the order of this list if you're having problems and engage an attorney for help at any time. Decide what type of life insurance and long-term care insurance you need: Life insurance will support your dependents, and long-term care insurance can save your assets from being used to reimburse Medicaid. Estate planning tools you may need The following tools can help you in estate planning: A will: A will determines who inherits which assets. Any assets in a will do go through probate. A will determines who inherits which assets. Any assets in a will do go through probate. Trust: You transfer your larger assets into the trust's name. There are all kinds of different trusts for people with different asset levels and goals. Work with an attorney to determine which is the best for you. You'll need to decide whether to use a revocable trust or an irrevocable trust. Revocable trusts allow you to make changes at any time, while irrevocable trusts are basically set in stone. The upside of using an irrevocable trust is that it can't be touched by creditors (or the IRS). You transfer your larger assets into the trust's name. There are all kinds of different trusts for people with different asset levels and goals. Work with an attorney to determine which is the best for you. You'll need to decide whether to use a revocable trust or an irrevocable trust. Revocable trusts allow you to make changes at any time, while irrevocable trusts are basically set in stone. The upside of using an irrevocable trust is that it can't be touched by creditors (or the IRS). Pour-over will: Many people put the biggest and most important assets into a trust and use a pour-over will for everything else. A pour-over will is used to transfer any remaining assets into the trust after you die to be distributed by the trustee. Many people put the biggest and most important assets into a trust and use a pour-over will for everything else. A pour-over will is used to transfer any remaining assets into the trust after you die to be distributed by the trustee. Advance directives : Advance directives will determine your future medical care. There are typically three types: A living will spells out what type of medical care and medical decisions you want made for you. A healthcare proxy makes decisions if you are incapacitated. And power of attorney is granted to someone to maintain your finances if you are incapacitated. : Advance directives will determine your future medical care. There are typically three types: A living will spells out what type of medical care and medical decisions you want made for you. A healthcare proxy makes decisions if you are incapacitated. And power of attorney is granted to someone to maintain your finances if you are incapacitated. Limited liability company: If you own a business as a sole proprietor, consider converting it to a limited liability company. This will make the future transfer a lot easier. If you own a business as a sole proprietor, consider converting it to a limited liability company. This will make the future transfer a lot easier. Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship : For many assets, such as real estate and brokerage accounts, , you can change the structure to make the property jointly owned with rights of survivorship. This will guarantee that it automatically transfers to the other joint owner. You should be armed now with enough information to begin your estate planning. Even if you're young and your assets are limited, it's essential to start making a plan. Emirates airline will offer flights for passengers to Bahrain, in addition to 15 other cities, on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from June 15, following the UAE Federal Government's announcement to lift restrictions on transit passengers services. With travel restrictions remaining in place in most countries, customers are reminded to check entry and exit requirements before their journeys, the airline said. Emirates will operate seven weekly flights from Bahrain to Dubai utilising its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Emirates flight EK 840 will depart Manama at 17:50 pm local time and arrive in Dubai at 20:00 pm local time. The return flight, EK 839 will depart Dubai at 16:10 pm and arrive in Manama at 16:30 pm local time. Flights to and from Bahrain will be available for booking on emirates.com or via travel agents. Customers can book to fly between destinations in the Asia Pacific and Europe or the Americas, with a convenient connection in Dubai, as long as they meet travel and immigration entry requirements of their destination country. Working closely with the UAE authorities, Emirates continues to take a measured and phased approach to flight resumption and rebuilding connections between Dubai and the world, it said. In addition to Bahrain, Emirates will also be offering flights for passengers on the back of its scheduled cargo operations from Dubai to the following 15 cities: Manchester, Zurich, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Dublin, New York JFK, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong, Perth and Brisbane taking its network to 29 cities, including existing flights to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Manila (from 11 June), Chicago, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne. Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes to all customers. Customers are reminded that travel restrictions remain in place, and travellers will only be accepted on flights if they comply with the eligibility and entry criteria requirements of their destination countries, it said. - TradeArabia News Service RICHMOND, Va. The statue of Robert E. Lee has towered over Richmond for more than 100 years. In recent days, though, it's been conveying a different message - words like "Black lives matter" are covering its stone pedestal. At least a hundred people gathered on a muggy Thursday afternoon near the monument to the Confederate commander after Gov. Ralph Northam announced it was to come down "as soon as possible." Protesters on Monument Avenue have circled the Lee statue and four others also soon to be removed in recent days as demonstrations have erupted around the United States over racial inequality, police brutality and the deaths of many black Americans, including George Floyd. He was killed after a white police officer held his knee to Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, as other officers stood by. James Kelley, 29, has been attending the protests in Richmond. "I think also just being that we were the capital of the Confederacy, if anyone's going to lead by example, it needs to be us," said Kelley, wearing a bright yellow bicycle vest with the words "Justice for George Floyd." Demonstrators spray painted the Lee statue and the others of J.E.B. Stuart, Jefferson Davis, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Matthew Fontaine Maury. They wanted to see them come down after years of the monuments being protected by state law, despite being "racist symbols of oppression and inequality," as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney put it. James Kelley, 29, of Richmond, Virginia, attends a protest at the Robert E. Lee statue wearing a vest marked with the words Justice for George Floyd "I've looked at (the monument), and I've been like, 'Why do I live here. Why do I look at this every day? Why is that there?'" said Jessica Phelps, 26, a California transplant who lives on Monument Avenue half a block from the Lee statue. Lifelong city resident Reggie Meyers brought his teenage son Thursday night to see the statue covered in graffiti. "A lot of the time, people don't get to understand the magnitude of something without seeing it," Meyers said. "They read about it, they hear about it, but they don't get to experience it. When you get to experience something like this, then it's on your front door, and you have to ask yourself, 'What do I have to do, to make it better?'" Story continues Richmond isn't alone. Around the U.S, demonstrations over the death of Floyd and racial inequality have sparked both protesters and city officials to remove, deface or announce plans to take down many Confederate memorials. While the decision in Richmond signals a positive step for those who want to see the monuments removed, experts warn that the push to take them down and address what sparked them to be erected still has a long way to go. Among the locations where mayors, protesters and even groups dedicated to Confederate history have taken down statues or announced plans: In Montgomery, Alabama, on Monday, another statue of Lee was toppled in front of its namesake high school. Cheers went up among a small crowd gathered to watch the fallen general as cars circled the area and honked. In Birmingham, Alabama, Mayor Randall Woodfin ordered workers to take down a 50-foot-tall Confederate obelisk on Monday night after a group of protesters failed to knock it down. The night before, the group dismantled the brass cast of Charles Linn, a captain in the Confederate Navy, from its base. The city of Mobile, Alabama, removed a bronze figure of Admiral Raphael Semmes early Friday, without making any public announcement. Semmes was a Confederate commerce raider, sinking Union-allied ships during the Civil War, and the statue had become a flashpoint in the city. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Thursday that a monument dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at a Union prison camp in the city will be removed from a park. A statue outside the Tennessee State Capitol of Edward Carmack, a controversial former lawmaker and newspaper publisher who espoused racist views, was torn down Saturday. The United Daughters of the Confederacy removed a statue of a soldier gazing south in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday. The Arkansas division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy also announced that a Confederate soldier monument in Bentonville will be removed from the downtown square and relocated to a private park. "We've seen an increasing number of these statues being taken down," said Sara Bronin, a University of Connecticut law professor who focuses on land use and historic preservation. "You are seeing an increasing number of instances where local leaders are assessing what these statutes were intended to convey and determining that that's not something they want to see in their cities anymore." The memorials' removals come after yearslong battles in some cases to see the markers taken down. For those who want to see the memorials gone, the statues are seen as symbols of racism that prop up and honor not only the slave-holding men they depict but also a system of racial inequality. Defenders of the memorials say they symbolize American values and Confederate history. In recent years, debates around the statues have become rallying points for some white nationalist organizations. In Charlottesville, Virginia, the deadly 2017 rally was prompted by the city's plan to remove Confederate statues. After the nine black members of a bible study group in Charleston, South Carolina, were killed by a white supremacist previously seen photographed with a Confederate battle flag, a renewed interest in the memorials spread around the country. According to a February 2019 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 100 Confederate symbols around the country have been removed since the Charleston attack. In South Carolina, legislation was passed to remove Confederate flags from the statehouse. New Orleans removed its last Confederate-era monument by May 2017. However, more than 770 Confederate monuments are currently standing across the U.S. and nearly 1,800 Confederate symbols or names are emblazoned on government buildings, schools and parks, among other infrastructure, according to Lecia Brooks, spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center. If more cities and counties try to remove the memorials, there will be continued challenges, Bronin said. In Alabama, for example, Attorney General Steve Marshall has already filed a lawsuit against Birmingham's Woodfin, seeking $25,000 from the city as a violation of a state law protecting like monuments. Similarly, in Montgomery, police said the group that knocked down the Lee statue had been arrested. At least six states, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, have laws that protect the monuments, Brooks said. "Because of those preservation laws, many Confederate symbols stand for now," she added. "But the fight to remove them never stopped and those who want these symbols of white supremacy removed from their public spaces will continue to press forward." Walter D. Kennedy, chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said his group has pushed to keep these laws in place in some states in order to protect "traditional American values." "When you attack a Confederate solider, you're attacking family . . . it's not some esoteric, academic discussion," said Kennedy, whose great grandfather's tombstone marks the Confederate States of America. Kennedy said it's not that he is opposed to the removal of these monuments in communities where people want them taken down. It's their destruction that he fears. "Let's see if we can work together. If the community has changed . . . if they don't like what's there, then let's work together," he said. Representatives for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, another group that works to protect the monuments, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. Northam said the statue of Lee would be held in storage until further discussions can determine its future. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax told USA TODAY at the site of the statue Thursday that he had no timetable for the statue's immediate removal, but that it could happen before July 1. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax speaks next to the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, on June 4, 2020. Asked about defenders' argument of the history of the statue, Fairfax, only the second African American elected to statewide office in Virginia, said: "We don't need to be bound by history, we should know it, but we don't need to be bound by it and this history is a history of oppression is a history of excluding people from the promise that America makes to all its citizens." The decision to take down the statues of Lee and other Confederate veterans on Monument Avenue in Richmond is long overdue, said Northam. "From the beginning, there was no secret about what the statue meant," he said. When the Lee statue was erected in 1890, Lee had been dead for 20 years. More than 150,000 people gathered in Richmond as thousands of others worked to put the statue up, Northam said. Most people attending the event were waving the Confederate flag, even though the Civil War had been over for 25 years, he added. "Instead of choosing to heal the wounds of the American Civil War, they chose to keep them right here in Richmond," said Northam, who was embroiled in scandal last year over a racist yearbook photo showing blackface. Northam apologized but defied calls to step down, vowing instead to address racial inequities in Virginia during the remainder of his term. Bronin said that the arguments by supporters of the statues fall short in that the memorials themselves are not historic. While some were erected shortly after the war, it took decades for others to rise. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center report, a spike in the number of Confederate memorials came around 1900 and lasted into the 1920s, a period that saw the establishment of Jim Crow laws and a revival of the Ku Klux Klan. Then, in the 1950s and '60s, more monuments were erected during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. "The statues are not history. They are meant to commemorate one history," Bronin said. "White leaders wanted to build white supremacy." For the Lee statue in Richmond, Northam acknowledged a similar motivation. Five Confederate statues dot Monument Avenue. While four are owned by the city of Richmond, the largest and most grand, the statue of Lee, is state-owned. Lawmakers who called for it to be built wanted it to last forever, Northam noted. "They needed the statues to remain forever because they helped keep the system in place," he said. University of Richmond historian Julian Hayter said the history of the statues in Richmond cannot be divorced from other systems that propped up racial inequality in the city for years. The four other statues on Monument Avenue were erected in the early 1900s, during a period when African Americans had their voting rights suppressed and Virginia had one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the United States, Hayter said. "It's impossible to separate the Confederate situates in Commonwealth and Richmond from Jim Crow era segregation," Hayter said. During its last legislative session, however, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill allowing localities to determine whether to keep memorials. Previous state law prevented cities like Richmond and Charlottesville, which had strong local support for their removal, from taking them down. Hayter said years of Republican control in the state general assembly prevented the laws from being overturned. Once Democrats took control, it became clear that the statues were likely to come down, he said. The law goes into effect July 1, and its how Stoney, the city's mayor, plans for the other four Confederate statues on Monument Avenue to be removed. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time. It's time. It's time to put an end to the lost cause and fully embraced the righteous cause," Stoney said at a news conference Thursday. The law is one of a number of measures taken by Northam and other Democrats in Virginia to address racial inequality in the state. Other measures include setting up a commission to strike racist laws still on the books in Virginia and the removal of Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday. Northam said taking down the statue of Lee would signal a new day in Virginia. "The legacy of racism also continues as part of a system that touches every person and every aspect of our lives whether we know it or not," Northam said. "So it's time to acknowledge the reality of institutional racism, even if you can't see it." For Hayter, it's not enough just to remove the statues. For years, narratives around the Civil War and the Confederacy have been baked into state education systems, and the effects of segregation-era policies can still be felt in Richmond's schools and housing, he said. "If these monuments are taken down and there is no attempt to correct this narrative, then this is a squandered opportunity," Hayter said. Contributing: Sean Jones, The Progress-Index; Brad Zinn, The News Leader; Melissa Brown, Kirsten Fiscus and Krista Johnson, Montgomery Advertiser; Justin L. Mack, Indianapolis Star; Adam Tamburin and Natalie Allison, Nashville Tennessean; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Confederate statues in Richmond to be removed. Are other states next? Carlton Webb, an organizer with the Richmond Transparency Accountability Project, said removing the monuments is a step forward but not sufficient. This was embedded in this society for one reason: to continue the narrative and to show their control over us. It should have been done 50 years ago, he said. A lot of people have given lip service and a lot of politicians do. The only way they do what they say is if we make them. Nothing happens without us at the table. As protesters celebrated Wednesday, state Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield and a candidate for governor, started a petition to save the Lee statue. They must be stopped, the petition says. Northam is giving into looters and domestic terrorists instead of defending the historical monuments owned by all Virginians, the petition continues. Two protest onlookers who live on Monument Avenue, Don and Nancy Baker, disagreed. The two have lived in the same house on the street for 35 years, and were shocked to learn of Northams plans. A sign in their yard reads: Take them down. Investigators who have made a jailed German sexual predator their main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann believe the young girl, who vanished while on holiday in Portugal with her parents in 2007, is dead. The prosecutor's office in the northern German city of Braunschweig said it was investigating a 43-year-old German man who has been convicted of multiple sexual offences as a murder suspect in the case that captured the public's attention. You can infer from that we assume the girl is dead, spokesman Hans Christian Wolters told journalists on Thursday without taking questions. Madeleine was three years old at the time of her disappearance. Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007 while holidaying in Portugal with her family. Source: Met Police With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and hes already serving a long sentence, Wolters said. After more than a decade of investigations, German law enforcement have yet to explain what led them to conclude the man was involved in Madeleine's disappearance or why they believe she is dead. Police said the suspect, who they have not named, is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for a sexual crime. The development, though grim, raised hopes that the mystery surrounding the case might finally be resolved. Authorities have never before given so much detailed information about any suspect during the years of investigating the child's disappearance, which received worldwide attention. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said on their website www.findmadeleine.com that their hope of seeing their daughter again had not faded. All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice, the couple, who live in the UK, wrote. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. Story continues British media ID suspect German tabloid Bild has identified the suspect as Christian B, while British media has published his surname and pictured him. German police said the suspect, described as white with short, blond hair and a slim build, was linked to a camper van seen in Portugals Algarve region in 2007. A blurred image of the suspect being pictured in British and German media. Source: Bild Portuguese, British and German police appealed for the publics help in building their case against the suspect, asking people if they remembered seeing him in or around Praia da Luz 13 years ago. Her parents say Madeleine disappeared after they left her and her twin siblings asleep in their holiday complex while they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Christian Hoppe of Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office told German public broadcaster ZDF that police arent ruling out a sexual motive. He said whoever abducted the girl may have broken into the holiday apartment and then spontaneously committed the kidnapping. Hoppe said the suspect in the McCann case lived between Lagos and nearby Praia da Luz, and was regularly in the Algarve region from 1995 to 2007. Suspects long criminal history The suspects description fits that of a 43-year-old man who was convicted in December of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in her apartment in Portugal, local German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported. The newspaper said the physical description provided by German authorities and other details match the defendant in the 2005 rape attack, who recently was linked to the case by DNA. The suspect denied the charges during his trial and has appealed his conviction. A witness who gave evidence at the rape trial said he had seen him climb through open windows in one or another holiday flat, The Guardian reported. According to a copy of the rape verdict sent by the court in response to an AP question about the suspect's December trial, his other convictions were for the sexual abuse of a child in 1994 and a case in 2016 when he was convicted of possessing child pornography. The VW campervan the man is understood to have driven around Portugal. Source: Met Police The Jaguar which was transferred out of the suspect's name the day after McCann's disappearance. Source: Met Police Other convictions include drug trafficking, burglary and weapons violations. Police from Britain, Germany and Portugal asked for anyone to come forward if they had seen two vehicles linked to the suspect a Volkswagen camper van and a Jaguar. They also sought information on two Portuguese phone numbers, including one believed to have been used by the suspect on the day of Madeleines disappearance. Portuguese police declined to comment because the countrys judicial secrecy law forbids revealing details of open investigations. with AP 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 Jorge G. Castaneda MEXICO CITY The wave of anger and indignation sweeping the United States in response to George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman exposes the myriad contradictions of American society. With a presidential election less than six months away, the U.S. is gripped by despair and violent polarization. Yet if one looks through the triple crisis of COVID-19, economic depression, and mass protests and rioting, one can glimpse enormous potential opportunities. As I show in my new book, "America Through Foreign Eyes," since the U.S. ceased to be a middle-class society, starting in the early 1980s, it has been incapable of thriving. Without a full-fledged welfare state, it has consistently failed to adapt to a fundamental shift in its founding paradigm. Its Athenian-inspired political system was built for a society that treated everyone within the circle of enfranchisement as roughly equal, while excluding many others whom it deemed "less equal" (to borrow from George Orwell's biting description of Bolshevism). The out-groups included women, Native Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and many others. As a result of these founding conditions, the U.S. political system has long proved ill-equipped to retool its safety net, let alone its broader social contract. To take the most recent example, consider then-President Barack Obama's attempts to fix the U.S.' deeply flawed and dysfunctional health-care system. Though the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, it contained many loopholes and half-measures, and has since been systematically undermined by Donald Trump's administration. Race is a central flashpoint in America's political evolution. Racial disparities have always underscored why the social contract needs to be expanded to beyond the fully employed white males of yesteryear. But the persistence of these disparities indicates that there are immense hurdles standing in the way of change. Trump's cynical effort to stoke racial resentment in response to the current protests is emblematic of the deeper problem. But so, too, was the Democratic Party's primary, which quickly winnowed out all candidates of color. Race is a key factor not just in demands for reparations for slavery, but also in debates about universal health insurance and childcare, tuition-free public higher education, the minimum wage, immigration, gun control, and Electoral College reform. All of these issues touch on the fundamental question at the heart of America's political identity: Can the country's original sin (slavery, followed by Jim Crow) be expiated without a proper welfare state? The outpouring of frustration and anger following Floyd's death has once again brought these questions into sharper focus. Over the past year, polls have consistently shown that Americans support proposals to expand the safety net, tighten gun control, and provide tuition-free college. The public also increasingly accepts the idea that African-Americans continue to bear the costs of systemic racism, from red-lining of neighborhoods and workplace discrimination to mass incarceration and abuse at the hands of police. The current explosion of rage will solidify these shifts in sentiment, whatever the electoral consequences. The same is true of the COVID-19 pandemic and the broader economic collapse. The racial and socioeconomic disparities revealed by both crises have led political leaders, experts, and commentators from left to moderate right to agree that America's safety net is in tatters. From insufficient testing and inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment to the disproportionately higher mortality rate among African-Americans, the pandemic has laid bare the weaknesses of the U.S. health-care system. And at the same time, the economic debacle has highlighted the shortcomings of U.S. unemployment insurance and other social programs, as well as a lack of coordination between federal, state, and local governments. Just as the pandemic has demonstrated the efficiency of the German, Scandinavian, and even French safety nets, it has exposed the gaping holes in the U.S. system. Owing to the triple crisis posed by the pandemic, depression, and civil unrest, there is a growing awareness among Democrats that beating Trump in November will not be enough. The focus groups that Joe Biden, the party's presumptive nominee, has set up, and his campaign's ongoing discussions with potential running mates, all point to a realization that the crisis is even deeper than originally anticipated, and will require radical change. Biden may not be the ideal candidate to mobilize and excite young black and Hispanic voters, but he is certainly capable of leading the kind of coalition needed to defeat Trump and launch a New Deal-like overhaul of U.S. social, economic, and political structures. Americans may not want "socialism," but they will no longer be content with a "return to normalcy" (Biden's primary-season slogan, which he will now have to discard). Winston Churchill's aphorism about not letting a good crisis go to waste is relevant once again. With the COVID-19 death toll above 100,000, 40 million unemployed, and another black man killed by a white cop, America's crises are multiplying. For now, the country is beset not just by protests and rioting over police abuses, but also by a resurgent white-supremacist "alt-right." The underlying crises will come to a head politically on Election Day. Not since 1932 has America been more in need of radical change and sound leadership than it is today. Jorge G. Castaneda, a former foreign minister of Mexico, is a professor at New York University and author of the forthcoming "America Through Foreign Eyes." His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed on Tuesday the importance of achieving a "comprehensive and just" solution to the Palestinian issue "by supporting all endeavours aiming to revive the peace process", Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in a statement. The foreign minister's remarks came during his video conference meeting with the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), a 15-member committee that serves as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the occupied Palestinian territory. Shoukry warned during the meeting of any unilateral measures that undermine the chances of achieving the desired peaceful settlement within the framework of the two-state solution, including any step to annex lands in the West Bank. The Egyptian minister moreover stressed the need to maintain the Palestinian Authority's stability and supporting its financial position in facing of the existing challenges especially in dealing with the economic and social repercussions of coronavirus pandemic, Hafez added. "Egypt is committed to supporting AHLC activities since its establishment in order to alleviate the effects of difficult economic conditions inside the Palestinian territories," Shoukry said, reviewing Egypt's continuing efforts to back the Palestinian people and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The AHLC was established in November 1993 by the Multilateral Steering Group of the multilateral talks on Middle East peace in the context of the Washington Conference that followed the signing of the Declaration of Principles in Oslo by Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in the same year. It is chaired by Norway and co-sponsored by the EU and the US, and seeks to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel. Search Keywords: Short link: Nail salons and tattoo shops in New Jersey will be part of Stage 2 of the states coronavirus reopening plan, joining hair salons and barber shops as personal care businesses that will soon be allowed to operate, officials said. Barber shops and hair salons will be allowed to reopen on June 22. A specific date for nail and tattoo shops has not yet been set. Murphys office said the openings will be part of a gradual phase-in," and not all Stage 2 activities will be permitted to resume at once. The second stage is set to begin on June 15. "Decisions will be based on inherent risks and the ability to safeguard public health, Jerrel Harvey, a Murphy spokesman, told NJ Advance Media. Most personal care services, including barbershops and hair salons, spas, nail and eyelash salons, and tattoo parlors have been closed since March 19, when Murphy ordered them closed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Its not clear if hair salons will be able to offer other services when they open later this month; the governors office did not respond to a request for clarification. Business owners say the openings are not coming fast enough, and theyve been frustrated by the lack of clarity on when theyll be allowed to open and what will be expected of them when they can. Alla Shapiro, who owns The Woodhouse Day Spa in Montclair and Red Bank, said her salon would be ready to open today if it was allowed. There is absolutely no difference between us doing salon services and cutting hair, Shapiro said. Although her salons received money under the Paycheck Protection Program, those funds were set to run out this Wednesday, she said. We will lose our employees if we dont open up, Shapiro said, adding that high-cost rents, utilities, and insurance bills without income has put a strain on the business. At ReNew Salon and Spa in Gillette, safety preparations are already underway, despite not having official guidance from the state. Owner Jeanine Laviola said shes basing her measures on guidance in states that have already opened up their salons. All employees and guests will be asked to wear masks, and plastic barriers will be placed between manicurists and clients, Laviola said. Hair dressers will skip out on blow dries for now, and shell ask customers to wait outside before a chair opens up for them. Im very disappointed in how they kept the salons not open for so long. Youre safer in my environment than when you run to Home Depot, Laviola said, citing the infection control trailing all licensed cosmetologists in the state must have. Rorschach Gallery tattoo shop owner Brian Mahovetz said it made sense tattoo shops would be included in stage two, given the intense sanitation requirements. Distance wise, its essentially the same as a barber shop. Unless were tattooing a neck, face area or head were the same distance as a hair stylist or barber. But if youre doing a leg youre 3 or 4 feet apart from the client, Mahovetz said. Much like the salons, clients and artists in the shop will be required to wear masks, and Plexiglas barriers will be put in place at the front desk, Mahovetz said. The shop, which has locations in Edison and Hillsborough, will operate on an appointment-only basis, and clients wont be allowed to bring friends with them. Were ready to open. We dont want to go against the governor, we want to comply as best as possible. We sat here and stayed home like they wanted, so its like, a little bit of notice, and were ready to go, Mahovetz said. NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. An SDLP MLA and Sinn Fein MLA exchanged words at Stormont yesterday over the issue of the Magee Medical School. Foyle MLA Sinead Mclaughlin voiced the need for urgency to get the project over the line for a 2021 start date while Upper Bann MLA John ODowd accused her of playing party politics and the Derry media of writing negative headlines. Approval for the Medical School was announced on May 18 by Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill but 'funding decisions' have to be made by mid-June in order for it to open in September 2021. To gain full accreditation with the General Medical Council (GMC) Stage 5 of the process has to be completed. Before progression to Stage 6 a funding decision must be confirmed, an Ulster University spokesperson told the Derry News. UU previously said that to complete the next stages with the GMC in preparation in readiness for a 2021 intake of students, confirmation of a funding commitment is required by the end of May. However, its understood that date was extended to June 12. A meeting of the Economy Committee was held at Stormont yesterday, June 3. On the issue of the Medical School, the committee referred to a letter received from Health Minister Robin Swann who provided an update on the project. SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin said it was noteworthy that the project is time-defined and needs sign-off in the next week and therefore a reply should be sent emphasising the need for urgency. And the other unmovable date, she said, is that students hoping to enrol in 2021 have to sit a Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) exam by mid-July. In response to those comments, Sinn Fein MLA John ODowd said: I have slight concerns about the motivation sometimes of the Magee school being raised in the committee. It ends up as negative press in the Derry media suggesting that the Executive commitment to building and installing the medical school at Magee is not honourable. And its quite clear now that the Executive and The Executive Office have taken responsibility for delivering this project. Quite rightly committees will scrutinise and ask questions, that is their duty, and individual members will do that, but if the committee is going to be used in a way which is party political then I do have concerns about. Because unless Sinead has definitive evidence that the Executive commitment is not honourable then Im not sure committees should get into this ping-ponging around this matter which then allows for headlines in some of the Derry press that Magee is not going ahead or Magee is under threat or the intention is not honourable. I havent been presented with any evidence that has backed that case up. The Foyle MLA then pointed out that she is a member of the committee and was responding to a paper presented to the committee. Whether the public out there who are listening to this Economy Committee choose to write something about it, I have no responsibility after that, she said. But I do have a responsibility to the constituents that I represent and this is a major, major project for the North West and I will not budge from my responsibility of critiquing and asking questions. This is a time-defined project that requires urgent sign-off and I make no apologies for what I said and what I will continue to do. And Ill do it next week probably, and Ill probably do it the week after that because its that important. And Im sorry if that is making you uncomfortable, John. A back and forth ensued in which both MLAs defended their points, John ODowd maintained that it was party political while Sinead McLaughlin insisted it was not. Their interaction was cut short because of sound difficulties at the meeting which they were attending remotely by way of video link. MIXED MESSAGES Derry campaigners have fought for meaningful university expansion at Magee for 60 years and the medical school has been talked about since 2003. Student numbers at the campus have dropped from 5,098 (3,833 full-time) in 2014/15 to 4,237 (3,456 full-time) this year a drop of 861 overall. The long-term goal is 10,000 students. The medical school will train 110 students at a cost of 27m per year when fully operational, according to UU. The Graduate Entry Medical School will offer a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) medical degree programme that is unique in this country. The programme will address modern day healthcare issues, such as chronic disease management, mental health, and care of older people. On May 18, 2020, Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill announced that a Medical School at Magee had been agreed by the Executive with an anticipated September 2021 opening. A short time later The Executive Office or office of the First and Deputy First Minister said further work was needed and the Executive will consider this issue again in June. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood sought more detail saying student intake next year was far from certain and DUP MLA for Foyle Gary Middleton welcomed the news and said he hoped students would start in 2021. On May 20 Economy Minister Dianne Dodds said the Magee medical school was a good announcement but she added: Im not pretending that the path ahead is easy, there is a significant amount of work to do in relation to the issues around capacity of Ulster University and the financial position of Ulster University. The Derry News has also asked the Department for the Economy, Department of Finance, and The Executive Office what conditions are attached to the 126m loan being given to Ulster University for its vastly over-budget Belfast campus. It is widely speculated that this could hamper Magee expansion beyond the medical school. The Department for the Economy which is accountable for oversight of that loan refused to provide any details stating: The provisional loan conditions are commercial in confidence. Last week DUP MLA Mervyn Storey questioned why the medical school was being funded ahead of policing. He added that 15m has been allocated to the medical facility when its estimated to cost in excess of 30m per year. [June 04, 2020] Global Survey Finds Nearly Half of Physicians Who Have Seen Children with Suspected Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Have Seen These Cases in Past Week In Week 10 (May 22 to May 24) of Sermo's COVID-19 Real Time Barometer, an ongoing opinion survey of thousands of physicians worldwide, respondents shared experiences treating multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). According to the Barometer, in the past three months, 12% of physicians (N = 4,154) saw at least one child age 12 and under with suspected MIS-C, and among those doctors (N = 506), nearly half (49%) saw young patients with possible MIS-C in just the past week. Complete data published to date and study methodology can be found here. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005441/en/ (Graphic by Sermo) According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with MIS-C, different body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs, can become inflamed. Although the cause is unknown, it is believed many children with MIS-C had coronavirus or had been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Suspected cases of MIS-C should be referred immediately to a tertiary care center "Our survey shows physicians in the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and other parts of the world have been seeing a higher frequency of MIS-C than we have in the U.S.," said Peter Kirk, CEO of Sermo. Based on experiences in other countries, it's possible there could be a surge among American children, particularly as activities reopen and families return to socializing. Recently the CDC provided the following diagnostic criteria for MIS-C: fever of at least 100.4 degrees for at least 24 hours; confirmed evidence of inflammation; need for hospitalization; problems with at least two organs (i.e., lungs, heart or kidneys); and no alternative plausible diagnoses. The patient also must test positive for the coronavirus or its antibodies, or have been exposed to COVID-19 within the last four weeks. Other reported symptoms include vomiting, upset stomach, red eyes, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes and a rash. Most children diagnosed with the condition have improved with medical care; however, according to the survey, doctors are using a wide range of treatments to manage MIS-C, with no one particular approach being substantially more common. Also, few are utilizing common treatments for adult COVID-19 patients, such as Remdesivir and plasma. MIS-C can be serious, even deadly. Sermo found 41% of physicians who had seen young MIS-C patients reported they progressed to life threatening symptoms. Furthermore, 29% of these same physicians have seen young patients die. Physicians are noting the condition with higher frequency in certain U.S. cities, and state health departments are slowly documenting an increase in MIS-C cases. Children should continue wearing masks, practice social distancing, and interact with peers outside, whenever possible, and parents should be on the lookout for signs of infection, such as fever, inflammation and exposure to people who have COVID-19. About the Real Time Barometer The Real Time Barometer is an observational study of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak as reported by physicians with firsthand experience of treating COVID-19 patients. Each week, thousands of physicians provide insights on topics regarding the global health crisis. To date, 51,300 interviews with doctors in 31 countries, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Russia, China, Japan and Australia, have participated in the Barometer. About Sermo Sermo is the largest healthcare data collection company and social platform for physicians, reaching 1.3MM healthcare professionals across 150 countries. The platform enables doctors to anonymously talk real-world medicine, review treatment options via our proprietary Drug Ratings platform, collectively solve patient cases, and participate in medical market research. For more information, visit sermo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005441/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] China shut down 48 churches after lifting lockdown Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment After easing the COVID-19 lockdown, the communist government of China has intensified its crackdown on state-controlled churches, removing crosses from their rooftops and closing them down in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, according to a report. In Yugan county, authorities shut down at least 48 Three-Self churches and meeting venues between April 18 and 30, according to Bitter Winter, an Italy-based online magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China, published by the Center for Studies on New Religions. Of the more than 1 million people who live in Yugan county, over 10 percent are Protestants who attend over 300 officially registered Three-Self churches. A member of a local Three-Self church, who was not identified, said that officials, including the mayor, of the Shegeng town stormed the church in April and forcibly removed its podium, cross and all other religious symbols. Some congregation members wept in distress, the believer said. If you try to protest, they will accuse you of fighting against the Communist Party and the central government. A believer in Yugans Daxi township told the magazine that a village Party secretary told area Christians that authorities wanted to shut down churches and demolish crosses because there were too many believers in the county. When so many believe in God, who will listen to the Communist Party? There is no other choice but to remove crosses from your churches, he quoted the secretary as saying. On Open Doors USAs World Watch List, China is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to persecution of Christians. The organization notes that all churches are perceived as a threat if they become too large, too political, or invite foreign guests. Bitter Winter reported that countless number of churches were ordered to remove their crosses in Jiujiang, Fuzhou, Fengcheng, Shangrao, and a few other cities in the province in April. A believer in the Yangbu town said local authorities in mid-April demolished the cross of a Three-Self church, with plans to convert the 300-square-meter church into a facility for the elderly. The churches that are outside of the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement are considered illegal by the Chinese Communist Party, and are, therefore, persecuted more severely. Gina Goh, a regional manager for Southeast Asia at International Christian Concern, recently said that China has clearly resumed its crackdown on Christianity after the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic has reduced. In recent weeks, we have seen an increased number of church demolitions and cross removals on state-sanctioned churches across China, as house church gatherings continue to face interruption and harassment. It is deplorable that the local authorities not only conducted this raid without proper procedure but deployed excessive use of force against church members and bystanders, she said. The crackdown on churches has been underway since before the pandemic began. David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA who was in China on a fact-finding trip days before COVID-19 emerged from Wuhan province, witnessed firsthand how the Chinese government is using mass surveillance and data modeling to monitor and punish citizens who choose to attend church or share religious material. The forced closure of thousands of churches and the removal of crosses from buildings are now-commonplace tactics by the Chinese government in order to limit, if not extinguish, Christian practice, Curry wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post. Even charitable coronavirus relief provided by people of faith is strongly discouraged by the regime. Last December, at the height of the coronavirus epidemic, numerous crosses were removed from Three-Self churches in Hegang, a prefecture-level city in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. In November, government officials ordered the removal of the cross from the Ranfang Church in Gushi county in the central province of Henan, telling believers that its the Communist Party that gives you food and money, not God. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a visionary leader and lauded him for playing a constructive and very positive role in these very difficult times. Morrison thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending an invite for the virtual bilateral meet and said PM Modis leadership is laudable not just within India but broadly throughout G20 and the Indo-Pacific. Morrisons comments came during his first-ever virtual bilateral summit with PM Modi on Thursday. He commended India on its leadership on taking Chair of WHOs executive board. This is a very important time to be chairing that board and I have no doubt that Indias leadership will be critical in dealing with difficult problems globally particularly in the health area, he said. Also read: Our ties are deep with shared values - PM Modi during virtual summit with Australian PM #WATCH: Australian PM Scott Morrison says, "I wish I could be there for what has become the famous 'Modi hug' & share my samosas. Next time, it will have to be the Gujarati Khichdi. I will try that in the kitchen before next time we meet in person." pic.twitter.com/d6Ikxhd7nc ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020 The Australian PM said that his administration is committed to an open, inclusive, and prosperous Indo-Pacific and Indias role in that region, our region will be critical in the years ahead. The Australian Prime Minister said the idea of holding a virtual bilateral meet doesnt come as a surprise to him during the prevailing circumstances. It doesnt surprise me, this is how (virtually) wed continue to meet in these circumstances, he said and described PM Modi as a pioneer in the area of technology in India. On a lighter note, Morrison said he wish he could be in India for the famous Modi hug and share samosas. Also read: Next time it will be Gujarati Khichdi: Australian PM tells PM Modi during virtual summit I wish I could be there for what has become the famous Modi hug & share my samosas. Next time, it will have to be the Gujarati Khichdi. I will try that in the kitchen before next time we meet in person, PM Morrison said. Before todays virtual summit, both leaders have met four times. Their first meet was in the year 2018, on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore, followed by the G20 in Osaka in June 2019, then during the G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019. The leaders last met during the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019. By Kaniehtonkie When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross, this oft-quoted line of uncertain origin is very popular right now. On Monday, June 1, 2020 U.S. president Donald Trump, with four US flags... WASHINGTON A longtime friend of George Floyds who was in the passenger seat of Floyds car during his fatal encounter with a Minneapolis police officer said Wednesday night that Floyd tried to defuse the tensions with police and in no way resisted arrest. He was, from the beginning, trying in his humblest form to show he was not resisting in no form or way, said the friend, Maurice Lester Hall, 42, who was tracked down Monday in Houston, arrested on outstanding warrants and interviewed by Minnesota state investigators. I could hear him pleading, Please, officer, whats all this for? Hall said in an interview Wednesday night with The New York Times. Hall recounted the last moments with Floyd on Memorial Day, May 25, after they had spent part of the day together. He was just crying out at that time for anyone to help because he was dying, Hall said. Im going to always remember seeing the fear in Floyds face because hes such a king. Thats what sticks with me, seeing a grown man cry, before seeing a grown man die. Hall is a key witness in the states investigation into the four officers who apprehended Floyd, including Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes, even after he became unresponsive. But Hall who had outstanding warrants for his arrest on felony possession of a firearm, felony domestic assault and felony drug possession provided a false name to officers at the scene of Floyds arrest, according to a Minnesota official. Hall left Minneapolis and hitchhiked to Houston two days later, after visiting a memorial at the site of the police encounter. When the whole world was finding out that they murdered George Floyd, he said, I went and said a prayer where I witnessed him take his last breath, and I left. Hall said he had left dinner with his family late Monday evening when their car was surrounded by at least a dozen law enforcement officers. After his arrest, he was questioned for hours by a Minnesota state investigator about Floyds death not about his warrants. Hall was then transferred to the Harris County Jail in Houston, and Tuesday, he returned to his home in the city, after his lawyers fought for his release. When Halls family found us, he had been isolated in jail for 10 hours after being interrogated until 3 a.m., said Ashlee C. McFarlane, a partner at Gerger Khalil Hennessy & McFarlane, who is representing Hall. This is not how you treat a key witness, especially one that had just seen his friend murdered by police. Even with outstanding warrants, this should have been done another way. I knew what was happening, that they were coming. It was inevitable, Hall said in the interview with the Times. Im a key witness to the cops murdering George Floyd, and they want to know my side. Whatever Ive been through, its all over with now. Its not about me. Hall and Floyd, both Houston natives, had connected in Minneapolis through a pastor and had been in touch every day since 2016. Hall said that he considered Floyd a confidant and a mentor, like many in the community, and that he went back to Houston because the only ties I had in Minnesota that had me Houston-rooted was George. Agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is building the states case against Chauvin and the three other officers involved in the Floyd case, attempted to contact Hall numerous times to no avail, said Bruce Gordon, a spokesman for the bureau. Hall said that he was distraught and working through his trauma with his family and was not taking phone calls in the days immediately after. The bureau asked law enforcement agents in Texas to arrest Hall because it believed he was not cooperating with its investigation. Hall and McFarlane, his lawyer, said that he cooperated fully with the Minnesota officials interview. They got a testimony, and thats what they were after, Hall added. They came and saw, and left me to fighting for my freedom. Passengers in the car with Floyd, a man and a woman, had remained unidentified until Hall spoke with The Times on Wednesday. Hall said that he did not know the womans name. Minnesota officials said Wednesday that the state had upgraded the charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder from third-degree murder and manslaughter. They also charged the other three officers who took part in the fatal arrest Thomas Lane, 37; J. Alexander Kueng, 26; and Tou Thao, 34 with aiding and abetting murder. All four officers were fired the day after Floyd died and video of his death went viral online. I walk with Floyd, Hall said. I know that Im going to be his voice. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. BEIJING - A school security guard injured at least 39 people in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southern China on Thursday morning, state media reported. The motive remains unknown. The attack was an eerie throwback to deadly attacks at schools in China over past years that prompted security upgrades and that authorities have blamed largely on people bearing grudges or who had unidentified mental illnesses. The local government in the Guangxi regions Cangwu county said 37 students and two adults suffered injuries of varying degrees in the attack. Chinese state media identified the attacker as a security guard at the school surnamed Li. The suspect had been detained while an investigation was underway, they said. State broadcaster CCTV said 40 had been injured, three seriously, including the head of the school, another security guard and a student. In earlier attacks, a woman wielding a knife injured 14 children at a kindergarten in the western city of Chongqing in October 2018. Almost 20 children were killed in school attacks in 2010, prompting a response from top government officials and leading many schools to add gates and security guards. Chinese law restricts the sale and possession of firearms, and mass attacks are generally carried out with knives or homemade explosives. BP Plc began turning off production at three platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico and evacuating workers because of the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal, forecast to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend, the company said. Norwegian state-oil company Equinor ASA began evacuating non-essential workers on Wednesday and plans to shut production on Friday at its Titan oil platform if the storm continues along its projected path, spokesman Hasting Stewart said. Occidental Petroleum Corp. also began flying non-essential workers to shore from central Gulf of Mexico operations, but production was continuing uninterrupted, the company said on Wednesday. BP is reducing production at its Thunder Horse, Atlantis and Na Kika platforms, the company said. Non-essential workers are being pulled from the Mad Dog platform, but production is not being cut back. Other Gulf of Mexico operators, including Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., BHP Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and Hess Corp. said on Wednesday they are monitoring the storm but have not evacuated workers so far. Cristobal made landfall on the coast of Mexico on Wednesday and is moving inland over eastern Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. The storm is expected to re-emerge over the southern Gulf of Mexico on Friday and move north, threatening the U.S. Gulf Coast. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the Gulf of Mexico to account for 15% of total U.S. crude oil production in 2020, compared with 23% of total U.S. crude oil production in 2011, as onshore production growth continues to outpace offshore production growth. (Reporting by Jennifer Hiller and Erwin Seba in Houston Editing by Diane Craft, Will Dunham and Richard Chang) Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Windstorm Energy Oil Gas Mexico V irgin Atlantic is to restart flights at the end of July as the airline industry emerges from coronavirus lockdown. The airline said services to Orlando and Hong Kong from Heathrow would resume on July 20, with flights to New York JFK, Los Angeles, and Shanghai set to restart on July 21. It hopes to announce more routes that could restart in August over the next two weeks. Our planned first flights will be to Orlando and Hong Kong on the 20th July, however, we are monitoring external conditions extremely closely, in particular the travel restrictions many countries have in place including the 14-day quarantine policy for travellers entering the UK, said Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic. Jarvinen said Virgin was calling for carefully targeted public health and screening measures, which will allow for a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses. It has warned that Britains decision to introduce a quarantine for all international arrivals will hinder its return to flying. The airline will enhance its cleaning practices at check-in and onboard, and provide medical-grade face masks for passengers to wear onboard. Virgin Atlantic did not provide an update on talks with private investors and the government on support for the airline to withstand the coronavirus crisis. Founder Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group owns 51% of Virgin Atlantic alongside US airline Delta with 49%, said in April the airline will only survive the impact of COVID-19 if it gets government support. Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, son of the late activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and Bankole Wellington have reacted to the Federal Governments approv... @*$&$;@&@,@,!,!*#&\??!!! At a time when most Nigerians are seriously struggling with being able to afford everything from FOOD to Healthcare, our National Assembly is going to spend N27 BILLION on "renovations"!@*$&$;@&@,@,!,!*#&\??!!! https://t.co/iOouk48KiH June 3, 2020 Same they did in 1999 ( and forever ), they fought for furniture allowances 25m each instead of making healthcare , education,electricity, roads their priority ,what they were voted to do. https://t.co/WJ1Tpn0QFC June 3, 2020 The Federal Government had earlier approved the sum of N27 billion for the National Assembly.This development, however, did not go down well with the two music entrepreneurs.In reaction to the news, Banky W, a politician himself wrote on his Twitter timeline; At a time when most Nigerians are seriously struggling with being able to afford everything from FOOD to Healthcare, our National Assembly is going to spend N27 billion on renovations!Femi responded to the tweet saying; Same they did in 1999 (and forever), they fought for furniture allowances 25m each instead of making healthcare, education electricity, roads their priority, what they were voted to do. FP Trending A team of scientists led by the University of Arizona has discovered that the shape and hydration levels of asteroids named Bennu and Ryugu provide clues regarding their origins and shape. Bennu is the target asteroid for NASA's first asteroid sample return mission OSIRIS-REx. Ryugu, on the other hand, is said to be the target of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission. Both Bennu and Ryugu are made of fragments of larger bodies that shattered upon colliding with other objects. According to a report in Asteroid Mission, both Bennu and Ryugu are small fragments re-accumulated to form an aggregate body and may actually have formed from the same original shattered parent body. While both celestial bodies are classified as 'spinning top' asteroids, until now, scientists thought that their shape was a result of thermal forces called the YORP effect. The report mentions that the YORP effect increases the speed of the asteroid's spin and over millions of years, material near the poles could have migrated towards the equator, leading to the formation of a spinning-top shape. However, the results of the study, published in the journal Nature Communications see scientists from NASAs OSIRIS-REx and JAXA's Hayabusa2 teams argue that the YORP effect may not explain the shape of either Bennu or Ryugu. Researchers argue that both asteroids have large impact craters on their equators and their size suggests that these craters are some of Bennu's oldest surface features. Since the craters cover the equatorial ridges, their spinning-top shapes must also have been formed much earlier. Speaking about the study, co-author Ronald Ballouz said that using computer simulations that model the impact that broke Bennu's parent body, they were able to show that the asteroids either formed directly as top-shapes, or achieved the shape early after their formation in the main asteroid belt. According to Ballouz, presence of the equatorial craters rules out any possibility that the asteroids experienced a recent re-shaping due to the YORP effect. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With 1004 more deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United States rose to 107,175. An additional 19,699 new cases took the total number of infections in the country to 1,851,520, with 34 states and jurisdictions reporting more than 10,000 cases. Nearly one third of the global cases are reported in the United States. The worldwide Covid-19 death toll is now above 386,000, and confirmed cases crossed 6.5 million, as per John Hopkins University's 9:00 a.m. ET update Thursday. In the worst-hit state of New York, the death toll topped 30000, and infection cases crossed 374,000. New Jersey (11880 deaths, 162068 infections), (Michigan (5570 deaths, 58035 infections), Massachusetts (7152 deaths, 101592 infections), Louisiana (2870 deaths, 41133 infections), Illinois (5621 deaths, 123830 infections), Pennsylvania (5742 deaths, 77780 infections), California (4374 deaths, 119348 infections), Connecticut (3989 deaths, 43091 infections), Texas (1744 deaths, 68877 infections), Georgia (2123 deaths, 48894 infections), Virginia (1428 deaths, 46905 infections), Maryland (2641 deaths, 54982 infections), Florida (2566 deaths, 58764 infections), Indiana (2207 deaths, 35712 infections), Ohio (2300 deaths, 36792 infections), Colorado (1494 deaths, 27046 infections), Minnesota (1097 deaths, 25870 infections), and Washington (1135 deaths, 22484 infections) are the other worst-affected states. The number of confirmed cases is reportedly rising in 16 U.S. states. The White House short listed five companies as candidates to produce a vaccine for coronavirus. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported quoting the Hennepin County medical examiner's autopsy report that George Floyd, who died in police custody, had tested positive for coronavirus on April 3. The 46-year-old black man died on Memorial Day after he was pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis for more than 8 minutes. Floyd's death sparked outrage and protests in Minneapolis and across the United States, prompting several city authorities to declare curfew. 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. Tens of Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon gathered in front of the Ethiopian consulate on Thursday after some of them were abandoned by their Lebanese employers, who said they could no longer afford to pay for their salaries. Others were there inquiring about flights out of the country. Some 180,000 domestic workers in Lebanon, most of them women from Ethiopia, are growing more desperate as a crippling economic and financial crisis sets in, coupled with coronavirus restrictions. On Wednesday night, dozens of Ethiopian workers abandoned by their employers were transported to a hotel by the Labor Ministry where they could stay until they could be flown out of the country, after chaotic scenes outside the consulate. Lebanon's unprecedented foreign currency crisis has meant that many workers from abroad have not been paid for months or that the value of their salaries is down by more than half. Others have lost their jobs after employers dumped them on the streets or outside their embassies. Many of the workers are trapped and unable to go home because of the absence of flights or the lack of money to pay for tickets. Thiruvananthapuram, June 4 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that he has held detailed discussions, via video conferencing, with heads of various religious organisations with regards to the Centre's decision on reopening places of places of worship but they are awaiting the detailed guidelines. "The Centre has already said places of worship can be opened from Monday, but the guidelines and directions are yet to come. I spoke to religious heads of Hindus, Christians and Muslims. I appreciated the steps that they took to follow the guidelines when directions were given to close down all places of worship. I have said to them that once the new guidelines of the Centre come, they should take appropriate steps in that regard," he said. "All of them have agreed to the fact that given the present situation when Covid-19 is spreading, there have to be some sort of restrictions. There has to be caution with regards to the participation of the elderly in places of worships, as if this does not happen, it could lead to more serious issues. The religious heads have agreed to cooperate with the state government to strictly follow the guidelines, when these are announced," Vijayan added. APsystems Responds to Lawsuit Filed by Tigo APsystems has issued the following statement in response to the Tigo lawsuit filing: APsystems has always worked diligently to conceive and develop its own proprietary intellectual property. Like many industry firms, APsystems' rapid shutdown product complies with the industry standard protocol which is not exclusive to Tigo. APsystems is confident there is no infringement on any Tigo IP and will vigorously defend its intellectual property rights and the business of its customers. There is no substance to Tigo's allegations and APsystems looks forward to the opportunity to prove that. About APsystems APsystems is the #1 global multi-platform MLPE solution provider, offering both AC and DC MLPE power conversion products as well as energy storage and rapid shutdown devics for the global solar PV industry. APsystems microinverters are intelligent, innovative, and the best-selling multi-module microinverters in the world. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2010, APsystems encompasses 4 global business units serving customers in more than 80 countries. With millions of units sold producing more than 300 GWh of clean, renewable energy, APsystems continues to be a leader in the ever-growing solar MLPE segment. Information on APsystems can be found at https://APsystems.com. Information on APsmart Rapid Shutdown Devices can be found at https://apsmartglobal.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005964/en/ In March, clinical psychologist Tal Schlosser started experiencing a bizarre shift in her therapeutic sessions which shed rarely seen in her 20-year-long career. Were sort of going through the same crises as our clients, and that just would only happen in unusual circumstances for most of us to really be in our clients shoes, says Schlosser, noting COVID-19-related stresses, including juggling homeschooling with her work, and having to suddenly conduct her work, like so many others, including her patients, over a video conferencing platform. Mental health care workers, including psychologists and psychiatrists, have been experiencing a wide range of unique stresses during COVID-19. Credit:Getty Shes far from the only mental healthcare professional for whom COVID-19 has meant a whole new tangle of stress. I know one colleague whose partner recently recovered from an illness, and has had treatment, is vulnerable, says Schlosser, who practices in Sydney. She made the choice to stop seeing clients face to face. That was really hard for her, to do that, because it was in her familys interest rather than necessarily in what was in the clients interest. The Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament has, by a 12-9 majority decision, recommended to Parliament to accept its report on the Electoral Commissions (ECs) Constitutional Instrument (CI 126). The vote means that the report will be presented to the Plenary for a full debate prior to the instrument coming into force on June 10. A source close to the committee, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the Daily Graphic that after the consideration of the CI, the Minority refused to accept the report, which necessitating the need for a vote. We the Majority accepted the report, but the Minority rejected it and we had to vote on it, leading to a 12-9 majority decision, it said. We have accepted the ECs CI; we are just waiting for it to mature and come into force, it added. The CI 126, which seeks to make the Ghana Card and the Ghanaian passport the only legal identification documents for registering people in the new biometric voters register, was first laid before the House on March 16, this year but was withdrawn and re-laid on two occasions after the Subsidiary Legislation Committee detected some defects in the instrument on those occasions. The last time it was re-laid in Parliament was on March 31, this year. As of yesterday, June 3, the CI had spent 16 sitting days in the House after it was laid for the third time. New voters register The EC postponed plans to compile a new voters register, which was scheduled to begin on April 18, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission had said it was collaborating with health experts to decide on a more favourable date, depending on the prevalence rate of the disease. New instrument Per the CI, those who do not have either of the national identification documents can go ahead to register, on condition that they can be backed by two persons who have already registered. The CI, which will amend the relevant law or CI 91, was signed by the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, and laid before the House by the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu. A person who applies for registration as a voter shall provide, as evidence of identification, one of the following: a passport, a national identification card or one voter registration identification guarantee form as set out in Form One of the schedule that has been completed and signed by two registered voters, it said. It said a registered voter shall not guarantee the identity of more than 10 persons. 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 BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Eurozone retail sales declined sharply for the second straight month in April as coronavirus containment measures weighed on consumer spending, data from Eurostat showed Thursday. Retail sales decreased 11.7 percent month-on-month, following an 11.1 percent drop in March. Economists had forecast a monthly decrease of 15 percent. This was the second consecutive fall in sales volume. Sales of food, drinks and tobacco were down 5.5 percent. At the same time, automotive fuel sales decreased 27.7 percent and non-food product sales plunged 17 percent largely reflecting weak clothing and footwear sales. On a yearly basis, retail sales volume was down 19.6 percent after declining 8.8 percent a month ago. Sales were expected to fall 22.3 percent in April. In the EU27, retail sales volume decreased 11.1 percent from the previous month and declined 18 percent on a yearly basis in April. 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. Another day and yet another lawsuit against Google for breaking privacy laws in the USA. Googles parent company, Alphabet is being sued for nearly $5 billion in the San Jose Federal Court, California for collecting data from users. Google has denied the claims and has stated that they will vigorously defend themselves in court. The lawsuit claims that Google was violating user trust by continuing to collect information about the users online habits even if the user had turned on incognito mode. Specifically, the lawsuit mentions that Google collects data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager and other applications and website plug-ins. Google outright denies the claims of having broken user trust. A spokesperson from Google stated, we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity,. They will fight the lawsuit that wishes to fine Google at least $5,000 in damages per user for violating federal wiretapping and California privacy laws. In the recent past, an increasing amount of companies have been accused of breaking user privacy and trust. In May, 2020, researchers at Forbes claimed to discover Xiaomis hidden practice of collecting personally identifiable user information, even when the browsers incognito mode was turned on. Xiaomi had since denied the claims and updated their browser to give users a toggle to turn off aggregated data collection in incognito mode. Source My name is Sandra Walton, and I am a room attendant at the Hilton Hotel in Hartford. My hotel has stayed open for essential workers during the COVID-19 crisis, but at very limited capacity. Now, Gov. Lamont is planning to reopen hotels to the general public on June 20. Hotel workers across the state are calling on him to enact stronger health and safety measures, and he has refused. I want hotels to open. My coworkers and I count on our wages and health insurance, which weve fought hard for, and Im proud to welcome guests from all over the U.S. and the world to Connecticut. But I dont want travelers to infect workers at our hotel, and if one of us gets sick, I dont want us to bring COVID-19 into our communities. We have seen firsthand what happens to front-line workers in this pandemic. As my community has worked tirelessly to keep Connecticut running, the virus has taken a disproportionate toll: friends and neighbors, mostly people of color like me, are getting sick and dying. Im scared for my health. Im scared that our employers are so desperate that theyll trade away the health of Connecticuts communities of color to make a few extra dollars. And Im scared that Gov. Lamont doesnt get it. Everyone agrees that hotels need to be cleaned and sanitized thoroughly and frequently to keep the public safe. But the hotel industry association wants to make one major exception: they say guest rooms should only be cleaned after a guest checks out. This leaves rooms in filthy conditions, increasing our workload and exposing workers like me to harsh cleaning chemicals. Under COVID-19, it also risks lives. Think of all the surfaces in a hotel room that you touch and I clean knobs, light switches, TV remotes, lamps, faucets and toilets, among others. Moreover, guests often bring family members, friends, conference attendees and even strangers into their hotel rooms without alerting staff. I see it all the time. At any one hotel, thats potentially hundreds of people who could spread COVID-19. Thats probably why government entities in Hong Kong, Singapore, France and other countries advise daily room cleaning for non-quarantine guests. New Jersey just passed a law requiring daily room cleaning and disinfecting. Even the World Health Organization recommends ending programs that incentivize guests to refuse daily housekeeping. In Connecticut, however, Gov. Lamont seems to prefer to check boxes for his friends in the hotel industry rather than prioritize keeping workers and residents safe. Cutting daily housekeeping is part of a longstanding strategy to profit at the expense of room attendants, who are mostly women of color. Before COVID-19, this strategy was often sold as a green choice for consumers, but room attendants know what it actually means: we get fewer hours and clean dirtier rooms. We lose money and hurt our bodies while hotel operators and private equity firms profit. The industrys cover for their greed used to be the environment; now, its COVID-19. Polices like these put lives at risk: my life, my coworkers lives, guests lives and the lives of Connecticut residents. We should all be afraid and angry. But I am especially afraid and angry because I know that if these standards do not improve, the lives we lose will be disproportionately black. This week, I have watched as grief in black communities across the country has built up and overflowed into waves of protest. The death and devastation wrought by COVID-19 in black and brown neighborhoods in the past three months has been punctuated by the racist murders of black individuals. It hurts more to know it did not have to be this way. It was not chance that allowed COVID-19 to disproportionately devastate black and brown communities. It was the inaction of people in power. Now, Gov. Lamont faces a choice. He goes on TV and says black lives matter. Workers of color are calling on him to protect us and protect our communities. Will he step up, the way we have when weve been called on as front-line workers? Or will he follow his friends in the hotel industry and hedge funds and allow a new wave of devastation of communities of color? Im scared, furious, and grieving. Im tired of risking my life, and Im tired of watching black people die. But Governor Lamont has a real chance to do the right thing. Through my anger and grief, I still hope he takes it. Sandra Walton is a room attendant at the Hilton Hotel in Hartford. She is a member of Local 217-UNITE HERE, which represents workers in the Hartford Hilton, the Omni Hotel New Haven and others around the state. Vladimir Putin has announced a state of emergency in the region around the Arctic city of Norilsk after a massive fuel leak left two rivers with a bloody red tinge. At least 21,000 tonnes of diesel is understood to have leaked from a local power plant on Friday. Initial reports suggested a car had crashed into one of the plants storage towers, but it transpired the tower first decompressed and then ruptured, resulting in a fire and further spillage. Remarkably, news of the accident took several days to reach the authorities. Over two increasingly desperate days, officials in the power plant tried to deal with the problem themselves. By the time things were eventually referred higher up the chain, and Mr Putin was informed, over 100,000sq metres of land had been affected. Russias longtime leader made his displeasure known on Wednesday afternoon in a video audience with Aleksandr Uss, the local governor. In a short dispatch, Mr Uss insisted he too had only found out about the disaster from social media, but promised to resolve the situation within two weeks. Report over, the official concluded. What do you mean, report over? said Mr Putin, cutting off his governor as he attempted to respond. What are you going to do about it? Youre the governor arent you? Recommended Green snow falls on polluted Russian city Later on Wednesday, the general prosecutors office announced it would be opening a criminal case on two counts: damage to land and water and violating environmental protection rules. The manager of the power plant has also been arrested. Ivan Blokov, campaign director at Greenpeace Russia, described the situation in Norilsk as very, very bad, and compared it to some of the worlds worst fuel leaks. We are talking about half the damage caused by the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989, he said. Norilsk, an isolated nickel-mining hub in the far north of Russia, is already well known for its environmental problems. Until very recently the city of 180,000 inhabitants was considered the most polluted in Russia. Dirty water and foul rivers are certainly not a new phenomenon. But the scale of this leak is set to leave another scar on the local environment for many generations to come. It will take a lot of effort and several billions of roubles to clean things up, Mr Blokov said. The rivers will be polluted and you can expect anything to grow in the contaminated areas for decades, perhaps hundreds of years. Officials have yet to present a clear plan about how they intend to deal with the problem. In his painful conversation with Mr Putin, governor Uss said authorities might be left with no choice but to burn the fuel an idea with obvious and concerning climatic consequences. He admitted the idea had not been tried before and there was no guarantee of success. More senior government officials later played down such a prospect. Dmitry Kobylkin, Russias resources and environment minister, said he didnt understand the logic of burning huge quantities of fuel in an Arctic region: A huge fire over a huge area, with a huge quantity of fuel is a huge problem. Greenpeaces Blokov said Mr Usss alarming comments demonstrated the extent to which the problem had got out of hand. The immediate task was stopping the leak, he added, only then could emergency teams think about next steps. In an ideal world, that would be to pump and separate the contaminated water, but how possible that was no one knows. Its one of those cases that there is no obvious good solution, he said. By Liu Tian ISLAMABAD, June 4 -- Pakistani President Arif Alvi met with the Chinese military medical expert team at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, or the President House, in Islamabad on June 3. Mr. Alvi appreciated China's providing substantial anti-pandemic assistance and support to Pakistan and spoke highly of China's contributions to the global fight against COVID-19. Mr. Alvi said that China had taken decisive measures, which yielded major and positive results in controlling the pandemic. He also pointed out that some countries are politicizing the pandemic and exerting unwarranted pressure on China. Pakistan is firmly opposed to this, and stands firmly with the Chinese government and people. He said the military medical expert team has been working hard in Pakistan. They visited local hospitals to guide medical staff to treat the infected, and made unremitting efforts to Pakistan's anti-pandemic fight, showing the rock-solid friendship between the two countries. During the meeting, Major General Zhou Feihu, head of the Chinese medical team, briefed Mr. Alvi and other Pakistani officials their work, and shared Chinese experience in countering the virus and exchanged views on further cooperation to curb the spread of the pandemic. Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge, and China will continuously provide support to Pakistan. China is willing to work with Pakistan for international anti-pandemic cooperation, said Ambassador Yao. Italy ends travel restrictions almost three months after lockdown measures began. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte offered a hopeful message as the country moved to its final stage in easing lockdown restrictions. "We deserve to smile, to be cheerful, after weeks of great sacrifice," he said on Wednesday. He added that now was the time for the country to enact economic reforms. With more than 33,600 fatalities and almost 234,000 cases since the coronavirus outbreak began, Italy has been one of the hardest-hit countries. Only the US and the UK have recorded higher death tolls. Mr Conte's comments came the same day as the country entered its final phase in easing lockdown restrictions, allowing domestic travel between regions and opening its international borders. "This crisis must be an opportunity to overcome structural problems and redesign the country," Mr Conte said. "We have to deal with the economic and social emergency." The prime minister said the government was working to speed up social payments and pledged "a serious tax reform". Italian PM Giuseppe Conte told the BBC in April how the lockdown could be eased But he also continued to urge caution amid the pandemic, noting that "the only effective measures [against the virus] are physical distancing and the use, if necessary, of masks. Abandoning these precautions is seriously thoughtless." On the eve of the lifting of restrictions, Italy's President Sergio Mattarella had also warned that the threat posed by coronavirus had not ended. "The crisis is not over and institutions and citizens alike will still have to face its consequences and trauma," he said. What can Italians do now? Domestic travel was banned when Italy's lockdown came into effect in early March, with only a small number of exceptions allowed. Tourism was also prohibited and those entering Italy faced a 14-day quarantine. But with Wednesday's changes, Italians are now able to move between regions. Travel to and from other European countries is also permitted - depending on the rules in the destination country - but non-European travel remains off-limits. Shops, cafes and restaurants had already opened their doors again, and tourist sites including the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum have begun welcoming tourists in recent days. What's happening elsewhere in Europe? While Italy has now opened its international borders, not all of its neighbours have reciprocated. Austria will reopen its borders to all of its neighbours from Thursday - with the sole exception of Italy. Switzerland, meanwhile, has agreed to lift restrictions with Germany, Austria and France from 15 June, but the government says it is "too early" to introduce similar changes on its border with Italy. They are not the only European countries exercising caution. Last week, Norway and Denmark announced they would allow travel between the two countries, but excluded Swedes from the deal. Sweden, which did not impose a strict lockdown, has suffered a far higher mortality rate than its Nordic neighbours, and the man behind the policy now says the decision led to too many deaths. A similar "bubble" has been introduced between three Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - which became the first countries in Europe to allow free movement again, but only with each other. Other countries - including the UK and Spain - have introduced a quarantine period for travellers entering the country. BBC Prison visitation will be suspended until the entire state is in phase three of reopening, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision recently announced. New York City will likely be the last region to begin that process, as it is slated to enter phase one on June 8. With approximately 14 days between phases as long as all COVID-19 testing and equipment criteria is met, that means that incarcerated people wouldn't be able to receive visitors until at least July 6. According to the statement, the suspension on visitation is subject to change as NYSDOCCS continues to reevaluate based on regional reopening. The Family Reunion Program, which allows for extended visits with family members, will continue to be suspended until further notice. DOCCS will periodically reevaluate whether that program can continue. "While we understand the importance of family and visitation, we need to ensure that we continue to protect the staff and incarcerated population within our facilities," the statement reads. The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association said in an emailed statement on Friday that it would support an extension of the suspension. Any further actions that DOCCS will take to ensure the health and safety of the membership as we navigate through this pandemic, would certainly be embraced, including the extension of the inmate visitation suspension, James Miller, NYSCOPBA public relations director, said. The executive director of an NYC-based oversight agency that has surveyed Auburn Correctional Facility in the past said more of the incarcerated population should be tested to know the extent to which visitation suspension is necessary. I think there likely are safe ways to conduct visits during a pandemic that would include testing incarcerated people, screening visitors for symptoms, Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, said. She also suggested giving incarcerated people personal protective equipment and creating plexiglass barriers in the visiting areas. While contact visiting is a key, important feature of maintaining family bonds, I think the next best thing would be to speak through a thin plastic shield, she said. In its full statement on gradual reopening, DOCCS also announced changes to the procedure and physical space where visitations take place. The rooms will be reconfigured so that the capacity will fit half the amount of people it did previously, in order to address social distancing guidelines, the statement reads. Facilities with outside visiting areas will be able to use them. The visits will have a limit of two hours with no more than two visitors at a time. Visitors will have to pre-register and get a confirmation of the scheduled visit prior to arriving at the correctional facility. People visiting, as well as prison staff, will also be required to wear face masks and will be screened with a questionnaire and a temperature check before the visit. At least one carrier will be in each facility's visiting area to disinfect the tables and vending machines. Child areas are to remain closed once visiting reopens, a decision DOCCS said it will reevaluate after 30 days. "All movement in the visiting area will be controlled by staff to ensure social distancing," the statement reads. It also said visits will be portioned by name or identification number "to ensure access" to visitations for the entire population. Staff writer Mary Catalfamo can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or mary.catalfamo@lee.net. Find her on Twitter @mrycatalfamo. 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. (CNN) The cast of the television show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has made a 100,000 donation to the National Bail Fund Network. Dan Goor, co-creator of the show, took to Twitter to make the announcement and to "condemn" the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. "The cast and showrunner of 'Brooklyn 99' condemn the murder of George Floyd and support the many people who are protesting police brutality nationally. Together we have made a $100,000 donation to The National Bail Fund Network. We encourage you to look up your local bail fund: the National Bail Fund Network is an organization that can lead you to them. #blacklivesmatter." Stephanie Beatriz, who stars on the show as Det. Rosa Diaz, made a personal donation to the fund as well. She also urged any actors who portray police officers on television to do the same. "I'm an actor who plays a detective on tv," she tweeted. "If you currently play a cop? If you make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in residuals from playing a cop? I'll let you do the math." The show is produced by Universal Television and it also stars Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Terry Crews, and Melissa Fumero, among others. The series was canceled by Fox in 2018 but shortly thereafter NBC picked it up. This story was first published on CNN.com, "'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' cast donates $100,000 to bail relief fund for protesters." Australian prankster Luke Erwin has been slammed by hundreds of his Instagram followers for using the Black Lives Matter protests to promote his OnlyFans account. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old YouTuber shared a widely-circulated video of an Aboriginal teenager being arrested by a police officer in Sydney this week. 'This s**t needs to stop,' he wrote alongside the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and then invited fans to follow his private adult website. Scroll down for video Backlash: Australian prankster Luke Erwin (pictured with his girlfriend, Vanessa Sierra) has been slammed by hundreds of his Instagram followers for using the Black Lives Matter protests to promote his OnlyFans account Bad timing: On Wednesday, the 25-year-old YouTuber shared a widely-circulated video of an Aboriginal teenager being arrested by a police officer in Sydney this week. He used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and then invited fans to follow his private adult website OnlyFans is a UK-based website, popular among reality stars Instagram influencers, that allows users to sell adult content to paying subscribers. Luke's post outraged his social media followers, with some labelling him 'desperate' while others called for him to be 'cancelled'. 'Your acting like you give a s**t about the hashtag. You're just out there trying to promote your OnlyFans,' one person wrote. Not happy: Luke's post outraged his social media followers, with some labelling him 'desperate' while others called for him to be 'cancelled' One angry fan commented: 'Don't be promoting your website taking advantage of videos like this.' 'That's desperate you have to use OnlyFans to pay for your rent. Good job mate,' another wrote. The footage Luke posted showed a teenage boy having his legs kicked out from underneath him and being restrained on the ground after he threatened a police officer in Surry Hills. 'Don't be promoting your website taking advantage of videos like this,' one angry fan wrote Adult: OnlyFans is a UK-based website, popular among reality stars Instagram influencers, that allows users to sell adult content to paying subscribers. Pictured: Luke in a prank video On Wednesday, Luke's girlfriend, Vanessa Sierra, who rose to fame on Love Island Australia last year, said she was 'disgusted' by the arrest footage. 'Over 400 Aboriginals have died in police custody without justice and we need to tackle this unfair system now,' she wrote. According to data from Amnesty International, more than 420 Indigenous Australians have died in police custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991. 'For anyone wanting to help in AUSTRALIA these are the charities we would love for you to support,' Vanessa added, listing the National Justice Project, Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) and Sisters Inside. For a good cause: Vanessa and Luke have promised that anyone who donates a minimum of $15 to the Black Lives Matter movement will be given free access to their OnlyFans page Her post came as race riots continue to grip the U.S., with protesters flocking to the streets in the beleaguered nation following the death of African American man George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis last week. Vanessa and Luke have promised that anyone who donates a minimum of US$10 or AUD$15 will be given free access to their OnlyFans page 'as a thank you'. Luke declined to comment on the backlash to his use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, but confirmed they had raised more than AUD$10,000 in donations. "We are extremely grateful for the community members that remained committed to our Walk for Amazing fundraiser after we changed the event in response to COVID-19," said Jennifer Soderholm, president of the Children's Minnesota Foundation. "During this challenging time, it was amazing and heart-warming to see the photos of children, parents and employees staying creatively active in an effort to raise money on behalf of our organization." View photos from Virtual Walk for Amazing Families and individuals who registered for the Virtual Walk for Amazing were encouraged to do one activity each day beginning May 4. Each week featured a theme and challenges from various Minnesota personalities, including Paul Fletcher of Cities 97.1, Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild, Olympian Carrie Tollefson and Dr. Marc Gorelick, president and CEO of Children's Minnesota. Participants shared their activities, photos and words of encouragement with others on a special group Facebook page. The event culminated Saturday, May 30 with a virtual celebration on the Children's Minnesota social media channels. Children's Minnesota would like to thank the sponsors of Virtual Walk for Amazing: Cities 97.1, Prime Therapeutics, Imprint Engine, Abbott, Colliers, Fidelity Investments, GoGo SqueeZ, Ronald McDonald House CharitiesUpper Midwest, JonnyPops and Priority Courier Experts. The support of these companies was vital as the event transitioned to virtual. About Children's Minnesota Children's Minnesota is the seventh largest pediatric health system in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's Minnesota serves kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, 12 primary and specialty care clinics and six rehabilitation sites. Children's Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital. Find us on Facebook @childrensminnesota or on Twitter and Instagram @childrensmn. Please visit childrensMN.org. SOURCE Children's Minnesota Related Links www.childrensmn.org OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau says a COVID-19 vaccine must be shared by the world in order to eradicate the disease. Trudeau delivered that message Thursday in his third international summit in a week. Canada is campaigning for a coveted seat on the UNs Security Council on a platform of helping to rebuild the post-pandemic world. Thursdays summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is aimed at ensuring poor countries will have ready access to an eventual vaccine for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. As a global community, we must work together to make sure that people around the world have access to vaccinations especially the most vulnerable, Trudeau said. So, it should come as no shock to anyone that the health of our citizens depends on the health of everyone, everywhere. Trudeau joined leaders from 50 countries and major organizations, including philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, at the international pledging conference, which hopes to raise nearly $10 billion for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance the leading agency for distributing vaccines to less-developed countries. He has already announced Canadas five-year, $600-million pledge to GAVI, which has immunized 760 million children and prevented 13 million deaths in the worlds poorest countries since 2000. Vaccines work, and 86 per cent of the worlds children have been reached by routine immunization. And in the midst of a global pandemic, it has never been more important to build capacity to respond to disease outbreaks and work with organizations to develop and deliver vaccines, Trudeau said. Trudeaus participation in Thursdays virtual conference comes one day after he delivered an address to a virtual summit of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States. He told that summit Canada is committed to helping developing countries, hardest hit by the pandemic, to survive the crisis underlining a message he delivered last week when he co-hosted a United Nations-sponsored conference aimed at developing a co-ordinated global recovery plan that leaves no country behind. Without a global plan, the UN estimates the pandemic could slash nearly $8.5 trillion (U.S.) from the world economy over the next two years, forcing 34.3 million people into extreme poverty this year and potentially 130 million more over the course of the decade. Trudeaus leading role in a series of international conferences comes two weeks before the UNs 193 ambassadors are to start voting by secret ballot to fill two non-permanent seats on the Security Council. Canada is competing against Norway and Ireland. The June 17 vote is to be conducted without a full meeting of the General Assembly because of physical distancing requirements to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Read more about: So Ji Sub became the head of the family when he tied the knot with former newscaster Jo Eun Jung last April 7. They didn't hold a wedding ceremony because of the pandemic. So Ji Sub recently released his first photos since his marriage. His latest photoshoot was for the travel bag brand Samsonite. Upon seeing the pictures, one can see the glow in the actor's aura, which tells us that he is currently happy being married. In the photos, although the actor is just wearing a white shirt partnered with black jeans, he is totally rocking it, looking gorgeous as he has always been. Indeed, So Ji Sub is aging like a fine wine. He totally knows how to pose like a professional model. You can see him carrying two different styles of Samsonite bags with a royal blue background that makes him stand out just by wearing his plain shirt. When his agency announced that he was and he will be busy with various schedules and filming, the actor kept his word. Married or not, he will continue what he loves doing. Samsonite had only praises for So Ji Sub. They are looking forward to a lot of things as they continued their partnership into the new year. Samsonite even released a statement, saying, "Ever since 2019, our brand ambassador So Ji Sub has perfected each photoshoot with incredible focus and ability to own the concepts as if it were a movie." Samsonite International S.A. is a luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. This brand is famous because of the quality of the bags they manufacture, and you pay your money's worth when buying the product. So Ji Sub will star in a new movie this year, while his other upcoming film "Alien" is to be announced. Despite the couple's seventeen-year age gap, they did not mind it, and they quietly tied the knot. They also did not hold a ceremony, and donated KRW 50 billion instead, which is approximately equivalent to $41 million, to those in need. Such a generous couple! Both first met in an interview for his film "Be With You" the prior year. Afterward, both bumped into each other once again through acquaintances, and the rest is history. 51K did not deny the rumor and revealed that both are in a serious relationship and could not confirm as to how long they have been together. This multi-awarded actor began in the industry as a jeans model, before becoming a household name because of his superb performances. he won the best actor awards in several dramas, namely Rough Cut, Always, Phantom, Oh My Venus, and My Secret, Terrius. He tried out modeling because he wanted to pose alongside hip-hop artist Kim Sung-Jae. He never expected to become a celebrity. And to those of you who dream of becoming a celebrity, be driven, passionate, and love what you do. Besides, it is only us who puts a limit on what we can do. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Meghan Markle spoke out about the killing of George Floyd to the graduating class of her alma mater in Los Angeles Wednesday, telling the students, Im so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present. The Duchess of Sussexs comments were part of a surprise speech she gave during Immaculate Heart High Schools virtual commencement ceremony. "George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered." Duchess Meghan has shared a powerful video with @IHPandas Immaculate Heart High Schools class of 2020 for their graduation.#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/BzUmfnKICb Omid Scobie (@scobie) June 4, 2020 For the past couple of weeks, Ive been planning on saying a few words to you for your graduation and as we all have seen over the past few weeks, what is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of L.A. has been absolutely devastating, she said in the video, which was posted by Harpar Bazaar. And I wasnt sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing. And I was really nervous that I wouldnt, or that it would get picked apart and I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyds life mattered, and Breonna Taylors life mattered, and Philando Castiles life mattered and Tamir Rices life mattered," she continued. And so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we dont know. Stephon Clark. His life mattered. Markle, who is married to Prince Harry, also recalled living through the Rodney King riots, which devastated her hometown when she was 11 years old. I cant imagine at 17 or 18 years old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that type of experience, the Class of 1999 graduate said. Thats something you should have an understanding of, but an understanding of as a history lesson, not as your reality. So Im sorry that in a way we have not gotten the world to the place you deserve it to be. The Duchess moved back to Los Angeles along with Harry and their son Archie in March following a split from the British Royal Family. She ended the speech by challenging the new graduates to channel everything theyve learned over the last four years to participate in the rebuilding of the country. We are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we, Markle said. Bonnie Wright has said that she thinks the coronavirus pandemic will empower people to take action on climate change. The actress, who starred as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films and campaigns on environmental issues, said that going back to normal is quite clearly not what anyone wants. The virus has heightened peoples understanding of the fact that what they do effects others, she said, adding: I think it will empower people. Individuals may start to realise that they are actually very important, she told the PA news agency. The pandemic may also force people to shop locally more and support small businesses, which she said would help combat climate change. Expand Close Bonnie Wright uses her platform to campaign on environmental issues (Dominic Lipinski/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bonnie Wright uses her platform to campaign on environmental issues (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Wright, 29, who campaigns on behalf of the NGO Rainforest Alliance, added that the fandom surrounding Harry Potter gives her a platform to speak to a really nice age spectrum of people about environmental issues. Wright, who is currently living in California, said that she feels as though there is a shift happening in the country because of the protests happening in response to the death of George Floyd. She said that she had attended protests herself, adding: It has been really good to feel uncomfortable. Most of the time we just shy away from that uncomfortableness and just put it in a box, but that has been the issue. Video of the Day Wright said that she feels like we are living at the epicentre of an important period, adding: I do think we are living in a time that will be in the history books. On Wednesday Wright is appearing in a virtual Rainforest Alliance gala called Global House Party, which is raising funds for the organisation. Thirty-four of China's central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) signed contracts for 72 projects worth 327.73 billion yuan (about 46.1 billion U.S. dollars) with central China's Hubei Province Wednesday to help it recover from the COVID-19 outbreak. Among them are 48 projects with an investment of more than 1 billion yuan and nine projects with an investment of more than 10 billion yuan. This is according to a video teleconference jointly held by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and the Hubei provincial government. The projects will focus on fields such as new energy, ecological and environmental protection, intelligent manufacturing and infrastructure construction. At present, among the 97 central SOEs in China, 56 have signed strategic cooperation framework agreements with Hubei, and nearly 80 have invested projects in the province. An Australian model who was forced to barricade herself in her bathroom with her dog Auzwald when ten male rioters stormed her New York apartment block says she 'completely supports' the George Floyd protests. Georgina Burke feared the worst when she woke at 4am on Monday to the sound of looters smashing through the doors of her apartment block. The 28-year-old has worked as a model for a decade in New York City, the coronavirus epicentre of America. Despite shuddering in fear on the bathroom floor as violent protesters tried to ransack the block of units, she said she supports the Black Lives Matter protests. The model (pictured) is seen in the bathroom she was forced to barricade in with her dog during the terrifying riot Ms Burke (pictured) rides around New York city in a scooter with her wheaten terrier Auzwald - who was with her when she barricaded herself in the bathroom 'I support the protests 100 per cent but unfortunately there are many people who are using the protests as cover for looting, senseless acts of violence and theft,' she told news.com.au. 'It's a tragedy that this has happened because it's taking away from the message of the protests.' George Floyd, 46, died on May 25 when a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes during an arrest, after a service station attendant accused the black man of paying for cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. It sparked widespread protests across America - with some turning violent, prompting curfews in several major cities, including New York. Ms Burke, who is originally from Brisbane and lives alone in her New York apartment, described the frightening ordeal to Daily Mail Australia, saying 'every outcome ran through my head'. The model (pictured) has since helped a neighbour fix the broken glass at the entrance to her apartment block Ms Burke said the sound of banging metal was 'scary' - as looters broke through the entrance to her apartment (pictured) 'The noise alone was scary - it was the loudest banging on metal. My whole building was vibrating.' She ran into the bathroom with her wheaten terrier Auzwald and sat behind the door. Terrified, the model made three calls - one to her neighbour downstairs who gave her a blow-by-blow of what was going on, one to police, and one to her parents in Australia on Facetime. It was only when she heard the sirens of five fire trucks that she felt it was safe enough to run for help. 'I grabbed my passports and dog thinking we were going to go up in flames.' Ms Burke (pictured), who lives alone, locked herself in the bathroom, shuddering at the prospect of hoards of strangers bursting into her home Black Lives Matter protesters are seen on June 3 in New York City (pictured) outside Madison Square Garden Glamorous model Georgina Burke (pictured) is originally from Brisbane and said the incident on Monday wasn't the first time she had barricaded herself in the bathroom When she asked if a police car could stay out the front of the building as a precaution, she said officers laughed in her face. 'This isn't Australia darling, get upstairs and barricade yourself in your apartment,' she said they told her. 'I was more shocked than surprised. It's hard to explain the sense of helplessness I felt in that moment. The lack of empathy was cold,' she told news.com.au. Ms Burke has been staying with friends while she recovers from the break-in. She also told the publication that her grandmother, who is Chinese, struggled with racism when she migrated to Australia. Ms Burke (pictured) said living in New York - the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic - was terrifying enough without having to endure violent protests Ms Burke, 28, poses in New York (pictured). Despite fearing for her life on Monday night, Ms Burke said she supports the protests but doesn't condone violence 'As an Australian immigrant my grandmother had a very hard life. It wasn't until my grandmother was on her death bed that she shared some of her worst stories of survival with us as a family.' Ms Burke said living in New York - America's epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic - was terrifying enough without having to endure violent protests. She described horror scenes on the streets of the city where refrigerators holding the dead bodies of coronavirus victims were in one direction, and the skeletons of burnt businesses were in the other, The Courier-Mail reported. The United States has entered its ninth night of widespread outrage, with thousands of people protesting George Floyd's death in cities across the country. Black Lives Matter protests have since emerged across the globe, with marches also held in France, Australia and New Zealand. Police and fireman inspect a looted Nordstrom store during a night of looting and vandalism over the death of George Floyd on June 1 (pictured) Georgina Burke, 28, (pictured) has been working as a model in New York City for a decade Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 3, 2020) - Grande Portage Resources Ltd. (TSXV: GPG) (OTCQB: GPTRF) (FSE: GPB) ("Grande Portage" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has commenced drill and crew mobilization and expects to commence drilling ahead of schedule on its 100% controlled Herbert Gold project located in SE Alaska. Grande Portage intends to drill approximately 15-20 holes from up to four different platforms which will test up to four separate major veins and their satellitic structures. The upcoming drill program is a continuation of previous drilling which successfully tested multiple gold-quartz veins of the Herbert mesothermal vein system with very encouraging results. The current program will further test targets primarily focusing on expansion of the gold bearing Goat, Main, Deep Trench veins and will also test the Elusive vein which has only recently been identified from the Company's LiDAR survey. Ian Klassen, Grande Portage's CEO commented, "Our geological team has outlined an ambitious program for 2020. This will involve drilling, surface channel sampling and more metallurgical study. Our project is well situated in a historically proven and prolific gold belt. We look forward to building upon the Herbert resource, a high-grade gold asset that has a current NI compliant mineral resource of 606,500 ounces (Indicated) of gold at an average grade of 10.03 g/t Au (1,880,500 tonnes); and an inferred resource of 251,700 ounces of gold at an average grade of 14.15 g/t Au (553,429 tonnes). Past drilling has yielded very encouraging results including numerous multi ounce assays on several veins including those listed below:" 37.07 g/t Au over 15.27 meters (Deep Trench vein) 59.91 g/t Au over 8.08 meters (Deep Trench vein) 30.24 g/t Au over 9.08 meters (Goat Creek vein) 28.41 g/t Au over 11.58 meters (Deep Trench vein) 21.55 g/t Au over 6.46 meters (Main vein) 15.76 g/t Au over 2.81 meters (Goat Creek vein) 21.22 g/t Au over 2.25 meters (Main vein) 13.91 g/t Au over 3.12 meters (Main vein) Story continues ***the above mentioned are reported as true widths*** Investors are encouraged to visit our website and corporate presentation for a more detailed summary of past drill results. Please visit our website at www.grandeportage.com Impact of COVID-19 Grande Portage is carefully monitoring the public health impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on a daily basis. Our first priority is the health and safety of our communities, shareholders, contractors, employees and other stakeholders. The Grande Portage team has been working closely to ensure all the correct protocols and safety precautions are in place. The Company will continue to monitor the evolving COVID-19 situation and will continue to act proactively to protect the health of its workforce. This news release has been prepared and approved by Carl Hale, CPG, a geologist with more than 40 years of experience and a Qualified Person as defined under NI #43-101. About Grande Portage: Grande Portage Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the Herbert Gold discovery situated approximately 25 km north of Juneau, Alaska. The Company holds a 100% interest in the Herbert property. The Herbert Gold property system is open to length and depth and is host to at least six main composite vein-fault structures that contain ribbon structure quartz-sulfide veins. The project lies prominently within the 160km long Juneau Gold Belt, which has produced nearly seven million ounces of gold. The Company's recent Mineral Resource estimate is quoted at a base case mineral resources cut-off grade of 2.50 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) and consists of: An indicated resource of 606,500 ounces of gold at an average grade of 10.03 g/t Au (1,880,500 tonnes); and an inferred resource of 251,700 ounces of gold at an average grade of 14.15 g/t Au (553,429 tonnes). ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Ian Klassen" Ian M. Klassen President & Chief Executive Officer Tel: (604) 899-0106 Email: Ian@grandeportage.com www.grandeportage.com Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties as described in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking 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, other than as required by law. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICE PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED UNDER THE POLICIES OF THE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57116 Mosaic MSC releases worship album to remind humanity what we all have in common Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Mosaic MSC released their latest album HUMANwith a message of hope and unity amid the global coronavirus pandemic, which has been followed by nationwide protests in the wake of the death of Gorge Floyd. The group, which is comprised of worship leaders from Mosaic church in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Pastor Erwin McManus. Mosaic MSC includes individuals from different backgrounds and aims to bring all people together in a musical think-tank that "promotes creativity and individuality," a press release states. Their lead single, "Fountain (I Am Good)," has received over a million streams and the album has received over a million streams worldwide in the first week of its release. They're looking to follow the success of their breakout anthem "Tremble," which spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart with over 100 million streams across digital platforms. The following is an edited transcript of The Christian Post's interview with Mosaic MSC member Brooke Figueroa where she shares more details about their new album and how the group is staying encouraged in the midst of uncertainty. CP: How has it been having to navigate an album release in the midst of a worldwide pandemic? Figueroa: We wish we could come together in person to celebrate because we're so excited for this record. But the beautiful thing about music is that it can reach anyone, anywhere. A pandemic won't stop people from worshiping wherever they are. CP: What led you to name the album HUMAN? Figueroa: We did our best to make each track sound "human" themes that are relatable, language that's easily understandable. We asked, "what do all of us as humans have in common?" CP: "Fountain (I Am Good)" is a declaration of identity. Will you talk about the importance of making a declaration like that? Figueroa: For too long, for too many people, the scriptures have been misinterpreted to mean we should exist in an endless cycle of self-hatred. That to believe we are loved and worthy of love is somehow a negative reflection on Jesus. We want to reaffirm in others that God called us good, that He sent His son because He loves us. We aren't worthy of what Jesus did on the cross, but God believes we deserve His love. Knowing and singing those words with truth can change your life. CP: How have you been able to encourage yourself during such times of uncertainty, especially for musicians and artists? Figueroa: We have an MSC Bible study that we use as a time to re-center and open up about what has been hard for us during this time. We've also been doing the MSC Human devotional on YouVersion together, and drawing comfort from the scriptures and God's words to us. CP: What would you like for people to know about the heartbeat of Mosaic MSC worship? Figueroa: Our heart beats for people; everything we do is to bring people closer to Jesus. CP: Which song on the album would you like to highlight for people right now and why? Figueroa: These lines from "Close to You": "You've been faithful over and over / I will trust you over and over." They're a powerful affirmation of faith in a time filled with uncertainty. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, under request of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, has sent back a draft of government's activity program for the Cabinet of Ministers to improve it. A total of 245 MPs voted for the corresponding draft resolution on June 4. Introducing the program, Shmyhal noted that the goal of the program was to overcome the risks to the life and health of citizens, to resume economic growth, to ensure material well-being and well-being of Ukrainians by building an effective economic system of the country, developing entrepreneurial activities, creating new jobs, providing equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs adherence to high social standards, development of education, science, culture and the system of public services, protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and the safe reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine with a constant course towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. Representatives of deputy factions and groups took part in the discussion of the draft program of government activities. Based on the results of the discussion, the parliament decided to send the government's activity program for revision taking into account the proposals made during the discussion. New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil leaked into a river within the Arctic Circle, said a BBC report adding that the spill took place when a fuel tank at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk collapsed on May 29. President Putin expressed anger over this incident and in a televised video conference reportedly lambasted the head of the company over its response. The plant is owned by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, which is the world`s leading nickel and palladium producer. "Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact?" "Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?" Putin reportedly asked the subsidiary`s chief, Sergei Lipin. The spill has contaminated a 350 sq km area, the BBC quoted state media reports as saying. President Putin has ordered a probe into the accident. According to the reports, the accident took place when the pillars supporting a fuel tank at a power plant began to sink. The area is built on permafrost which has been melting as the climate warms. The leaked oil drifted some 12 km from the accident site, turning long stretches of the Ambarnaya river crimson red. Norilsk Nickel, however, stated that the incident had been reported in a "timely and proper" way. The power plant's director Vyacheslav Starostin has been taken into custody until 31 July. The Russian Investigative Committee (SK) has launched a criminal case over the pollution and alleged negligence, said the report. The leaked oil has reportedly drifted some 12km from the accident site, turning long stretches of the Ambarnaya river crimson red. The spill has contaminated a 350 sq km (135 sq mile) area, according to state media report. The oil spill accident is stated to be the second largest in modern Russian history in terms of volume. Dozens of former employees of Facebook blasted Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook in an open letter for the way it handles (or doesn't handle) political speech that is inaccurate and damaging. "Facebook's leadership must reconsider their policies regarding political speech, beginning by fact-checking politicians and explicitly labeling harmful posts," the letter begins. And later: Facebook "is a betrayal of the ideals Facebook claims." The letter is in reaction to Trump's recent misinformed and hostile posts about both the George Floyd protests and his warning last week that mail-in ballots will rig the election. Twitter did something about them while Facebook did not. From The New York Times: Mr. Zuckerberg has since faced strong internal pushback for the inaction. The dissent has spilled out across internal message boards, with some Facebook employees resigning in protest, while others staged a virtual "walkout" this week and refused to work. On Tuesday, Mr. Zuckerberg defended his position, saying Mr. Trump's posts did not violate Facebook's policies and reiterated that he supported free speech. Facebook has taken no action on posts in which Mr. Trump made inaccurate statements about mail-in ballots in the November election or his aggressive messages about protesters after the death of George Floyd, an African-American man killed in police custody in Minneapolis. Mr. Zuckerberg has been under fire since Twitter added labels to several of Mr. Trump's tweets last week for the first time to indicate they were inaccurate or glorified violence. On Wednesday, Snap, which makes the Snapchat app, said it would stop promoting Mr. Trump's Snapchat account after determining that his public comments off the site could incite violence. Here is the open letter in full: Facebook's leadership must reconsider their policies regarding political speech, beginning by fact-checking politicians and explicitly labeling harmful posts. As early employees on teams across the company, we authored the original Community Standards, contributed code to products that gave voice to people and public figures, and helped to create a company culture around connection and freedom of expression. We grew up at Facebook, but it is no longer ours. The Facebook we joined designed products to empower people and policies to protect them. The goal was to allow as much expression as possible unless it would explicitly do harm. We disagreed often, but we all understood that keeping people safe was the right thing to do. Now, it seems, that commitment has changed. We no longer work at Facebook, but we do not disclaim it. We also no longer recognize it. We remain proud of what we built, grateful for the opportunity, and hopeful for the positive force it can become. But none of that means we have to be quiet. In fact, we have a responsibility to speak up. Today, Facebook's leadership interprets freedom of expression to mean that they should do nothing or very nearly nothing to interfere in political discourse. They have decided that elected officials should be held to a lower standard than those they govern. One set of rules for you, and another for any politician, from your local mayor to the President of the United States. This exposes two fundamental problems: First, Facebook's behavior doesn't match the stated goal of avoiding any political censorship. Facebook already is acting, as Mark Zuckerberg put it on Friday, as the "arbiter of truth." It monitors speech all the time when it adds warnings to links, downranks content to reduce its spread, and fact checks political speech from non-politicians. This is a betrayal of the ideals Facebook claims. The company we joined valued giving individuals a voice as loud as their government's protecting the powerless rather than the powerful. Facebook now turns that goal on its head. It claims that providing warnings about a politician's speech is inappropriate, but removing content from citizens is acceptable, even if both are saying the same thing. That is not a noble stand for freedom. It is incoherent, and worse, it is cowardly. Facebook should be holding politicians to a higher standard than their constituents. Second, since Facebook's inception, researchers have learned a lot more about group psychology and the dynamics of mass persuasion. Thanks to work done by the Dangerous Speech Project and many others, we understand the power words have to increase the likelihood of violence. We know the speech of the powerful matters most of all. It establishes norms, creates a permission structure, and implicitly authorizes violence, all of which is made worse by algorithmic amplification. Facebook's leadership has spoken with these experts, with advocates, and with organizers, yet they still seem committed to granting the powerful free rein. So what do we make of this? If all speech by politicians is newsworthy and all newsworthy speech is inviolable, then there is no line the most powerful people in the world cannot cross on the largest platform in the world or at least none that the platform is willing to enforce. President Trump's post on Friday not only threatens violence by the state against its citizens, it also sends a signal to millions who take cues from the President. Facebook's policy allows that post to stand alone. In an age of live-streamed shootings, Facebook should know the danger of this better than most. Trump's rhetoric, steeped in the history of American racism, targeted people whom Facebook would not allow to repeat his words back to him. It is our shared heartbreak that motivates this letter. We are devastated to see something we built and something we believed would make the world a better place lose its way so profoundly. We understand it is hard to answer these questions at scale, but it was also hard to build the platform that created these problems. There is a responsibility to solve them, and solving hard problems is what Facebook is good at. To current employees who are speaking up: we see you, we support you, and we want to help. We hope you will continue to ask yourselves the question that hangs on posters in each of Facebook's offices: "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" To Mark: we know that you think deeply about these issues, but we also know that Facebook must work to regain the public's trust. Facebook isn't neutral, and it never has been. Making the world more open and connected, strengthening communities, giving everyone a voice these are not neutral ideas. Fact-checking is not censorship. Labeling a call to violence is not authoritarianism. Please reconsider your position. Proceed and be bold. Sincerely, some of your earliest employees: Meredith Chin, Adam Conner, Natalie Ponte, Jon Warman, Dave Willner, on behalf of Ezra Callahan, Chris Putnam, Bob Trahan, Natalie Trahan, Ben Blumenrose, Jocelyn Blumenrose, Bobby Goodlatte, Simon Axten, Brandee Barker, Doug Fraser, Krista Kobeski, Warren Hanes, Caitlin O'Farrell Gallagher, Jake Brill, Carolyn Abram, Jamie Patterson, Abdus-Salam DeVaul, Scott Fortin, Bobby Kellogg, Tanja Balde, Alex Vichinsky, Matt Fernandez, Elizabeth Linder, Mike Ferrier, Jamie Patterson, Brian Sutorius, Amy Karasavas, Kathleen Estreich, Claudia Park Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Drivers naturally become concerned about reliability as a car ages, because the risk of inconvenience and unexpected expenses rises while the miles rack up. Most modern cars can make it to 200,000 miles with little more than routine maintenance and minor repairs for worn components. But Consumer Reports surveys show that some models carry a significantly greater failure rate than their peers. To understand how often such problems occur, we analyzed data on older models from our Annual Auto Surveys to see which major systems can lead to expensive repairs and identify the models that have a significant risk. Three problems areas stood out: engines, head gaskets, and transmissions. On some models, these problems occur with surprising frequency at a certain age and mileage. Transmission problems can lead to a range of issues such as overheating, slipping gears, and holding on to a gear for too long, says John Ibbotson, Consumer Reports chief mechanic. Ultimately, minor concerns can lead to catastrophic failure, leaving the car undrivable. A transmission rebuild or replacement is an expensive project that takes time, and not every repair shop will be experienced to tackle this job, adding to the inconvenience. Several Nissans stood out for the frequency that their continuously variable transmission needed to be replaced. Some members reported that the work was covered under warranty or that the transmission was replaced under a special Nissan extended warranty program, the type of customer service support that manufacturers sometimes extend to address common problems. Numerous Nissan cars and SUVs were caught up with transmission problems from the 2012 to 2015 model years. One Murano owner reported that the work cost him $5,000. Pain can be felt in comments from Ford Focus and Kia Forte owners, in particular, who experienced problems with relatively few miles on their vehicles. Some Focus owners said the work was done under warranty. One Forte owner said that their transmission went out at just 4,300 miles and that it took 44 days for the transmission to be replaced, underscoring that such major problems can be expensive and/or highly inconvenient. Story continues To help warn both current owners and used-car shoppers, we have collected 10 models that stood out as having the most severe problems, as determined by frequency and cost. We focused on models from the past decade. Looking just a bit further, there are several vehicles that have a disproportionate frequency of transmission issues, including, in rank order: the 2013 Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan, 2012 Buick Enclave, 2013 Cadillac SRX, and 2013 Fiat 500. The 10 highlighted models are presented below in rank order, starting with the one with the greatest problem rate among CR members. We spotlight the model year with the greatest problems (and when applicable, list a range of years affected by this problem) and the typical mileage range when the problem occurs. We then recommend similar alternative cars that dont have this problem. In cases where there are no alternatives presented, it means there are no similar cars that werent found to have the same issue or another significant problem. The journey to 200,000 miles can be a bumpy one, but it can be smoother if you have a good, reliable car and properly maintain it, per the directions in the owners manual. Consumer Reports always recommends that shoppers consult our reliability ratings, based on our large-scale member surveys, to predict the models that have better odds of being trouble free. This detailed data can be found on the car model pages. 2013 Nissan Sentra 2013 Nissan Sentra Model years affected: 2012-2013, 2015 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 77,000-123,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2011-2015 Honda Civic, 2011-2015 Toyota Corolla, 2013-2015 Mazda3 2014 Nissan Pathfinder 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Model years affected: 2013-2014 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 58,000-108,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2012-2016 Toyota Highlander 2014 Ford Focus 2014 Ford Focus Model years affected: 2012-2017 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 31,000-60,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2013-2015 Mazda3, 2012-2015 Honda Civic 2019 Kia Forte 2019 Kia Forte Typical mileage when problem occurs: 12,000-23,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2017-2018, 2020 Toyota Corolla, 2017-2019 Kia Soul 2013 Nissan Murano 2013 Nissan Murano Model years affected: 2011, 2013 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 84,000-119,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2015 Ford Edge, 2012-2016 Toyota Highlander 2011 Ford Fiesta 2011 Ford Fiesta Model years affected: 2011, 2014 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 115,000-145,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2011-2013 Honda Fit, 2012-2013 Hyundai Accent 2014 Infiniti QX60 2014 Infiniti QX60 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 92,000-95,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2012-2016 Lexus RX 2011 Nissan Rogue 2011 Nissan Rogue Model years affected: 2011-2012 Typical mileage when problem occurs: 94,000-150,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2011-2013 Honda CR-V, 2011 Toyota RAV4 2016 Nissan Altima 2016 Nissan Altima Typical mileage when problem occurs: 42,000-77,000 Alternatives without this problem: 2016-2017 Volkswagen Passat, 2015-2017 Toyota Camry 2013 Chevrolet Traverse 2013 Chevrolet Traverse Typical mileage when problem occurs: 110,000-135,500 Alternatives without this problem: None Subscriber content preview The Seattle Times reported last weekend that its landlord, H5 Capital, has sued Onni Group in federal court for backing out of a deal to buy 121 Boren Ave. N. in South Lake Union. That's the vacant former 13 Coins restaurant site, for which VIA Architecture has designed a 41-story, 432-unit residential tower. The plan received its master use permit in early 2019. The property went on the market in 2018. Directly east of the site, on land it acquired from the Times several years ago, Onni is now building two residential high rises and planning two office towers. During the past two years, it's also invested $195 million for big sites in Belltown now under construction and downtown Bellevue (still in planning). . . . US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback speaks with RFA Tibetan Service reporter Tashi Wangchuk at the State Department, Nov. 21, 2019. U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback on Wednesday pledged Washingtons assistance to Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in returning from exile to a Tibet with greater autonomy, in his latest salvo against Beijing for its persecution of ethnic groups in China. Speaking after taking part in an online forum for Tibetan American Youth, organized by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), the top U.S. religious official told RFAs Tibetan Service that advocacy for Tibet is now more crucial than ever. Tibets issue needs to be raised and highlighted where Tibet needs more autonomy, Tibetans should be able to practice their faith freely and the Dalai Lama must be able to return to Tibet if he chooses to, said Brownback, a former U.S. senator and state governor. China denies all these, yet with bipartisan support in Congress, we will make these things possible and bring the Tibetan issue in the forefront. U.S. Representative Jim McGovern, who also spoke at ICTs event, told RFA that the human rights situation in Tibet had continued to worsen amidst restrictions on teaching the Tibetan language, culture, natural resources, and religious freedom. The chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) also slammed Beijing over its insistence that it select the reincarnation of Tibets religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama, as well as its policies he said are part of a bid to eliminate the distinct Tibetan identity. We are criticizing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and not the Chinese people, who are also suffering under Chinas repression, he said. We stand in solidarity with the Tibetan people and revere His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We all are in this together and we expect the President to sign the Tibet Policy and Support Act into law soon. Tibet acts In January, a bill to strengthen U.S. policy in support of Tibet won strong approval by the House of Representatives. The Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) was passed by a vote of 392 to 22, and now requires a vote in the Senate, which is also reviewing a companion bill. Co-sponsored by McGovern and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the TPSA when signed into law will require China to allow the opening of a U.S. consulate in Tibets regional capital Lhasa before any new Chinese consulate can open in the United States. It will also establish a U.S. policy that the selection of Tibetan religious leaders, including future successors to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is a decision to be made by Tibetans free from Chinese government interference. The Chinese government is not respecting the diplomatic principle of reciprocity, McGovern said. When we passed the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, it was not just a statement. China basically doesnt want the world to see whats happening inside Tibethow the Tibetans are repressed and have no religious freedom. In a move pushing for greater U.S. access to Tibet, now largely closed by China to American diplomats and journalists, President Donald Trump in December 2018 signed into law a bill denying visas to Chinese officials responsible for blocking entry to the Beijing-ruled Himalayan region. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 requires the U.S. Secretary of State to identify Chinese officials responsible for excluding U.S. citizens, including Americans of Tibetan ethnic origin, from Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and then ban them from entering the United States. The law also requires the State Department to provide to the Congress each year a list of U.S. citizens blocked from entry to Tibet. Earlier, during the ICT forum, both Brownback and McGovern had encouraged young Tibetan Americans to advocate for Tibet by applying for internships in U.S. government offices and become active in campaigns for their ancestral homeland. Series of measures The TPSA is the latest in a series of measures Congress has taken to hold China accountable for rights abuses in Tibet and in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), where authorities are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of some 1,300 internment camps since April 2017. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 413-1 via proxy to approve the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 following the bills passage in the Senate in mid-May, marking the first legislation by any government to target China for its persecution of Uyghurs in the XUAR. The act would sanction Chinese government officials responsible for arbitrary incarceration, forced labor and other abuses in the region, condemn the CCP for the camp system, and require regular monitoring of the situation in the region by U.S. government bodies for the application of sanctions once signed into law by Trump. Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Britain's AstraZeneca will be able to deliver 2 billion doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine this year and next, double the previous numbers, thanks to deals with the Serum Institute of India and two Bill Gates-backed global health organisations. The company, which has already agreed to supply 400 million doses to the United States and British governments, said on Thursday it had agreed terms with the Indian company, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, to supply one billion doses for low and middle-income countries. AstraZeneca's partnership with Oxford University has garnered international attention as one of the leading coronavirus vaccine candidates, sealing more than $1 billion in U.S. government funding last month as it ramps up testing of the vaccine and manufacturing capacity. It said it had also signed an agreement worth $750 million with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and GAVI vaccines alliance, both founded by Microsoft-founder Gates and his wife, to produce 300 million doses of the vaccine. GAVI said on Thursday it had raised $2 billion from international donors for an Advanced Market Commitment to buy future COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries, including a $100 million commitment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The United States Department of Justice has ended its investigation into three senators for insider trading accusations related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday. What Happened Republican senators Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler and James Inhofe, along with Democrat Dianne Feinstein, were all reported to have sold off a significant chunk of their stock holdings ahead of the coronavirus-related market selloffs, allegedly after they received privileged information related to the pandemic. The defense attorneys for Loeffler, Inhofe, and Feinstein were informed by the prosecutors on Tuesday that the probe into the insider trading allegations against them had ended, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Investigations into Senator Burr, who was the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time, is continuing, the Journal has learned. The North Carolina senator was involved in making more direct trades, while the trades for others were executed by third-party agents. Burr had earlier suggested that he acted based on the information coming out of Asia, where the pandemic hit first, rather than the privileged briefings he received as the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman. Why It Matters The Justice Department dropping the probe comes at a specially critical time for Loeffler, who is running for reelection as a Georgia senator later this year. The spouse of the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Sprecher is looking to complete the term she took over from retiring senator Johnny Isakson earlier this year. "Today's clear exoneration by the Department of Justice affirms what Senator Loeffler has said all alongshe did nothing wrong," a spokesperson for the former Bakkt CEO told the Journal. See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. The Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) in partnership with the World Education Incorporated (WEI) has donated to some communities in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abbremin in the Central Region. The donation, meant to support the communities in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 included 40 Veronica Buckets and stands, 220 rechargeable radio sets, hand sanitizers, and a quantity facemasks amounting to the sum of GHC 7,500.00. It also through the Leave No Girl Behind project which seeks to improve learning opportunities for marginalized adolescent girls provided vocational training on soap making for over 100 girls so that they could produce and support regular handwashing campaigns in their respective communities. The beneficiary communities included Amisano, Ntranoa, Abrobiano and Aburansa all in the KEEA municipality. Mr John Ekow Aidoo, the Regional Manager of GRCS, said their key objective was to implement communication strategies for reaching high risk and vulnerable populace in the municipality. Outlining the essence of the items donated, he said the radio sets would help dispel misconceptions surrounding COVID-19, discourage stigmatization and discrimination, Veronica Bucket would also help improve regular hand washing, whiles face masks and hand sanitizers would help in the fight against the virus. The Regional Manager said his outfit was also partnering with the Municipal Health Directorate for media engagement and social mobilization to strengthen the systems and structures that support effective and well-coordinated communication to communities. Receiving the items, Nana Kwamina Anobil II, the chief of Aburansa, expressed gratitude to the GRCS for the decision and expressed the hope that other institutions would emulate such generous acts. 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 Indian fugitive business tycoon and founder of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya can be extradited to India "anytime in the coming days" as all the legal process has been completed, top sources in the government said on Wednesday. The development comes in the wake of Mallya losing his appeal in the UK top court on May 14 against his extradition to India. A top Enforcement Department source related to the development told IANS: "We will soon bring back Mallya to India anytime in the coming days." However, he remained tight-lipped on the exact date of the extradition. He said: "As he has lost his appeal in the UK Supreme Court there, we have completed all the legal process for his extradition." The teams of CBI and the ED are already working on the process of extradition to India. A CBI source related to the development said that after Mallya's extradition, they wil take his custody first as they were the first agency to file a case against him. A major roadblock in the extradition was cleared on May 14 when Mallya lost the case. Now the Narendra Modi government will have to bring him back in the next 28 days. Since May 14, it has already been more than 20 days since the UK court rejected his plea. The former parliamentarian, who ran India's largest spirits company, United Spirits, and founded the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, faces charges of fraud and money laundering worth Rs 9,000 crore. He left India in March 2016 under the pretext of personal reasons. Mallya is accused of defrauding at least 17 Indian banks, drawing loans which he allegedly routed to gain full or partial stake in about 40 companies abroad. After losing an appeal in the London High Court on April 20 against an extradition order to India, he had filed an appeal in the UK Supreme Court last month. On May 14, after the court ruling, Mallya once again made an offer to the Indian government that he will repay 100 per cent of his loan dues provided the case against him was closed. Mallya, however, said that his repeated offers to repay his dues have been ignored by the Modi government. Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a statement had said that the UK High Court order to extradite Mallya was a "milestone" in the agency's quest for excellence and a reminder that economic offenders facing probes in large value frauds cannot consider themselves above the process merely because they have changed jurisdictions. A CBI spokesperson said in a statement: "The decision of the UK High Court to order extradition of Mallya is a milestone in CBI's quest for excellence and a reminder that economic offenders, facing probes in large value frauds, cannot consider themselves above the process merely because they have changed jurisdictions." The spokesperson said the judgement also vindicated the "painstaking investigation" by the CBI, especially since Mallya had raised various issues with regard to the admissibility of evidence, the fairness of the investigation itself and extraneous consideration with a view to "divert attention" from his own acts. The CBI official further said that the extradition of Mallya was sought so he could face trial for offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy and abuse of official position by public servants, wherein Mallya faced allegations of conspiring with public servants and dishonestly defrauding the IDBI Bank to the extent of Rs 900 crore. The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Mallya and others on January 24, 2017 which was followed by a request for his extradition on January 31 in the same year. Based on the request, Mallya was arrested by the UK authorities on April 20, 2017. Greif, Inc. GEF reported adjusted earnings per share of 95 cents for second-quarter fiscal 2020 (ended Apr 30, 2020), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents. The bottom-line figure also increased 17.3% year on year. Including one-time items, earnings per share declined to 19 cents per share from the year-ago quarters 23 cents per share. Operational Update Sales were down 4.5% year over year to $1,158 million. The top line was hurt by the dismal volume of primary products sold, product mix and unfavorable currency-translation impact. In addition, the reported figure lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,188 million. Cost of sales went down 4.8% year over year to $918 million. Gross profit came in at $241 million, suggesting a 3.2% decline from the prior-year quarter. Gross margin came in at 20.8% compared with the year-ago quarters 20.5%. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses slid 13.6% year over year to $121 million. Operating profit fell 20.8% year over year to $72 million. Operating margin was 6.2% in the reported quarter compared with the 7.5% recorded in the year-earlier period. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 12% year over year to $181.3 million in the fiscal second quarter. Segmental Performance Sales in the Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services declined 4.5% year over year to roughly $603 million. The segments adjusted EBITDA increased to $92 million from the year-ago quarters $69 million. The Paper Packaging segment sales fell 3.2%, year over year, to $482 million in the fiscal second quarter on lower published containerboard and boxboard prices as well as the divestment of the Consumer Packaging Business. These were offset by the companys 11-day additional ownership period of Caraustar in the fiscal second quarter. The company took 24,000 tons of containerboard economic downtime during this period. The segments adjusted EBITDA dropped to $79 million from the $82 million reported in the comparable period last year. Sales in the Flexible Products & Services segment declined 11.7% year over year to $68 million. The segment reported adjusted EBITDA of $7 million compared with the $8 million recorded in the year-earlier quarter. The Land Management segments sales came in at $6.7 million, slightly down from the year-ago quarters $7.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $3.1 million compared with the prior-year quarters $3.3 million. Financials Greif reported cash and cash equivalents of $72.4 million as of Apr 30, 2020, compared with the $77.3 million as of Oct 31, 2019. Cash flow from operating activities came in at $99.8 million in the reported quarter compared with the $62.2 million witnessed in the prior-year quarter. Long-term debt came in at $2,595 million as of Apr 30, 2020 compared with the $2,659 million as of Oct 31, 2019. The company had availability of $690.3 million borrowing capacity under its revolving credit facility of $800 million. On Jun 2, Greifs board of directors announced a quarterly cash dividend of 44 cents per share of Class A Common Stock and 66 cents per share of Class B Common Stock. The dividend payout will be made on Jul 1, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Jun 18, 2020. Strategic Actions Greif divested the Consumer Packaging Business to Graphic Packaging Holding Company GPK for cash proceeds of $85 million in the fiscal second quarter. The company has permanently closed Mobile, Alabama Uncoated Recycled Board Mill (URB) to support its commitment in a bid to optimize the URB mill network. Moreover, Greif registered record intermediate bulk container (IBC) volume during the quarter and acquired a minority stake in Centurion Container LLC to further expand its IBC reconditioning network in North America. Outlook Greif has withdrawn the adjusted earnings and free cash flow guidance for fiscal 2020 due to end-market uncertainty due to concerns over the duration and impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business for the remainder of the fiscal year. Price Performance Over the past year, Greifs shares have lost 7.5% compared with the industrys decline of 35.4%. Story continues Zacks Rank & Key Picks Greif currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) Some better-ranked stocks in the Industrial Products sector are Broadwind Energy, Inc. BWEN and Axon Enterprise, Inc. AAXN, both carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Broadwind Energy has an expected earnings growth rate of 174% for 2020. The stock has appreciated 6% over the past three months. Axon has an estimated earnings growth rate of 14.4% for the ongoing year. The companys shares have rallied 21.3% in three months time. These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Greif, Inc. (GEF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Broadwind Energy, Inc. (BWEN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Axon Enterprise, Inc (AAXN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. A New America Stands Up Against Racism A new multi-cultural America spoke out and stood up against over 400 years of systematic racism against African Americans and in response to the killing of George Floyd; included in the long list of Blacks being murdered by the hands of police officers or entitled citizens. But, on Saturday, May 5, on the corner of Beverly Blvd. and Fairfax Ave., an intense standoff between LAPD and a united front of mostly millennial-based protestors, painted an unfamiliar picture of racial solidarity for Black lives, even as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd of peaceful demonstrators. Video footage shows Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee onto the back of Floyds neck, pinning him down and constraining his airway for approximately nine minutes, while Floyd begged for his life. It is alleged that Floyd ultimately died of asphyxiation. The four Minneapolis police officers involved were fired but not charged with a crime, while Chauvin was arrested and charged with 3rd-degree murder. Young America felt enough was enough. Protests erupted throughout the country as George Floyds senseless murder came on the heels of Amaud Abreys recent killing. While protests for Black lives are nothing new, and African Americans mostly fight their battles for justice alone, this cause has united people from all walks of life. This new America seems fed up with a current system that sweeps the ugly truth about its bigotry under the rug. 2020 ushers in a new era, where all Americans support true equality for Black people for all people. The protestors bring a new-found hope and pride in America. They are conscious, defiant and unafraid. The following are community comments, either from the event or from social media: Revolution and pragmatism can never exist together. Thats why the 40 and over folks basically stayed home. This is a young, fearless group heading this shift in America. Protestor There is a lot of sarcasm about the Millennials but we are the leaders of this revolution. Protestor You see them shooting at us? Im here supporting the cause for everybody, man. You know, if you have Black friends or family members, this is your battle too. Im not out here terrorizing anything Im out here for you, to make a difference. And if youre silent at home, you should be here, right now. You should be supporting us, right now. We are tired of this! When Colin Kaepernick took a knee, no one listened to him but now you want to listen; now we have your attention. And now that we have your attention, do something about it, because we want to live with you; we want to love you. Protestor Yall see this? I dont know how to feel. They killed George Floyd when we said he couldnt breathe! How am I supposed to feel? Protestor ADVERTISEMENT They out here shooting us! I got shot; my [wrist] is broken but rubber bullets dont stop nothin! The system is not broken; its working just as it was designed. Protestor We have no peace, no justice for Amaud Armory, j for Brianna Taylor. Were not giving up! We arent letting up until you put those four officers in jail. I wish it didnt have to be this way but from what weve seen statistic wise, this is the only way they are going to listen to us. And they still might not listen but no justice, no peace. Protestor Im tired of this; we are past the [sync] edge! Why did I get shot today; I have no weapons on me? Protestor They tried to shoot us with pellet guns, trying to shoot my car too! We aint taking this no more! Thats it! Thats out! Protestor Im here for you and everybody else who feels this is a problem! What the (obscenity) does racism mean? Racism for what?! There is just no place for it. Protestor George Floyds Dying words Let Me Stand Up. Irene R. Fight the power! Mike F. ADVERTISEMENT White people dont have the right to decide how Black folks protest and express pain and anger! Karen M. Four simple arrests may have prevented all this mess. Tony G If there was justice in the US for people of color this would not be happening. Why cant people understand equal justice under the law means everyone? Theresa G. Call it all u want, but these [looters] are not protesting; its called rioting. They are thieves, burning, destroying property. My skin might be brown but I am not one of them. Sal S.E. You have a legitimate right to protest injustice and criminal behavior of the police. Ted E. The more things change the more they remain the same. No justice, no peace! Stand down slave patrol. Cheryl B. Listen to this younger generation! Michelle T. Black people do matter and we are tired of being murdered and prosecuted without a judge or lawyer. We get killed on the spot. Why is that, just because I was dark? But White folks get away with murder they just get a slap on the wrist and keep on ticking. You know, I dont understand all of this but God knows and hes watching and hes going to take care of all this. Teresa B. This is crazy; Black lives do matter. We need the police to stop killing us for no reason. Thalia age, 13 I think, no justice, no peace. I think Black lives do matter but if we keep protesting with no action, it isnt going to change a thing. So, I think violence should be treated with violence. If they kill us, we kill them. Isaiah age, 15 I brought my grandbabies are here to join the cause, to help stop police violence against African Americans, and people of color. I drove from Lancaster, which is 60 miles away, to show my support not only for police brutality but the Floyd family as well. Danita G. Im here to support the cause. However, many bodies are needed, there is power in numbers. Protestor As soon as a Black man showed up with a camera, they started shooting [rubber bullets] at him. Thats why we are here. Thats why Colin Kaepernick took a knee and thats why our people need to stand up and fight against injustices like this. Its no point in being afraid; Im willing to die for my people. Im afraid of COVID-19, not the police. Protestor The system is rigged. George Floyd, my spirit is with you, man. Protestors Im here because what they did to George Floyd was ridiculous, man. African American women and men have been wrongly killed and justified by the police. So, were out here to make out voices heard. We are here to show we are serious and arent going to take this anymore. [Getting to this point] It didnt take much; all it took was having to wake up the millennials because we were asleep but now, were awake and we are here. We need to fight back; we have to! These entertainers, artists, and actors, they need to speak up; they have a bigger platform than I have. They have to speak up. Cassiphias G. Im here to fight for all people of color, whether peaceful or vigilant, it doesnt matter. As long as we assemble as one, it doesnt matter. Get into the voting booths. Protestor On Wednesday, two new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the Wyoming Department of Health's daily update. The department announced one new probable case. Ten new confirmed recoveries were announced. Twelve new probable recoveries were announced. There are now 703 confirmed cases, 212 probable cases, 544 confirmed recoveries and 170 probable recoveries in Wyoming. Seventeen Wyomingites have died after contracting COVID-19. Sixty-five confirmed cases and 14 probable cases have been confirmed in Natrona County. 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. Officials have cautioned that the reported numbers are low because of testing limitations, though the availability of testing has increased. 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. The symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, fever and shortness of breath. Symptoms appear within two weeks. Health officials recommend self-isolating for two weeks if you have contact with a person who has the illness. While disappointed with the panels decision, Hinojosa said the issue has galvanized voters who want to vote by mail this year in a way that is likely to benefit Democrats at the polls in November. A new Quinnipiac poll showed that Trump is in a tight race against former vice president Joe Biden in the state, and that 6 out of 10 voters support letting all voters cast ballots by mail during the pandemic. The Utah National Guard deployed teams of Green Berets to Washington, D.C., this week to join thousands of Guard members from 10 states converging on the nation's capital in response to civil unrest near the White House. Demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, have spread across the country and essentially shut down the District of Columbia during the evening hours. Read Next: Lawmaker Wants US Attorney General to Intervene in Suspicious VA Deaths Probe The D.C. National Guard has activated about 1,200 personnel, and about 3,300 Guard members from Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah have been ordered to D.C. at the request of President Donald Trump. While some are military police, many other Guard members, with job specialties ranging from aircraft maintainers to supply specialists, now man roadblocks and stand guard at the Lincoln Memorial and other key sites in the city while assisting law enforcement. Utah sent about 200 soldiers, including Green Berets from the 19th Special Forces Group who were already postured for a deployment and were quickly reassigned after the president's request for support, National Guard officials said. They flew on a KC-135R aircraft from Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday, according to Guard officials. "The Utah Army National Guard sent a number of Special Forces Guardsmen to support civil authority in Washington, D.C.," Master. Sgt. Michael Houk, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement. But Guard officials maintain that the Green Berets were simply available and are supporting the effort in D.C. where they are needed, rather than conducting their traditional unconventional warfare mission. "They are going to send us what they have available," Capt. Kyle Sullivan, spokesman for the D.C. National Guard, told Military.com. Houk agreed that the Guard mission in D.C. does not require elite specialties for supporting law enforcement. "The reason they were selected and sent is because they were already prepared for deployment," Houk said. So far, about 32,400 Guard troops have been activated in 32 states and in D.C. to support the civil unrest response. In addition, the Pentagon on Monday ordered about 1,600 active-duty soldiers from the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps to deploy to the region in case they are needed to support Guard forces in D.C. The deployment included an infantry battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division and the 16th Military Police Brigade headquarters out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as well as the 91st MP Battalion from Fort Drum, New York. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: These Are the Active-Duty Units Deployed to DC Region for Protests U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood to discuss challenges facing Illinois, nation by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood will discuss the long-term challenges facing Illinois and the nation as part of a virtual discussion next week hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondales Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. The online talk with John T. Shaw, Institute director, will also examine Congress response to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to reopen Illinois in the coming weeks. The discussion begins at noon, Monday, June 8. The free event is open to the public but registration is required and closes when the event starts. Congressman LaHood is one of the most energetic and interesting young political leaders in Illinois politics, Shaw said. He has worked effectively and creatively in Springfield as a state senator and now in Washington as a congressman representing one of Illinois most storied legislative districts. Continuing series of conversations The discussion with LaHood is part of the Institutes series called Understanding Our New World with historians, political analysts, and state and national leaders discussing how the pandemic is reshaping the world. This is the sixth in the series, which began in late April, and has featured speakers including author and historian David M. Kennedy; former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson; Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor, U.S. Congressman and White House adviser. In Congress since 2015 LaHood, R-Peoria, represents Illinois 18th District, which extends over 19 counties in central and west-central Illinois from Bloomington-Normal to Quincy. Prior to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, LaHood served in the Illinois State Senate for four years beginning in 2011. He also spent more than nine years as a state and federal prosecutor. Among his assignments in Congress is a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. Joint Economic Committee. The Peoria native earned his law degree from The John Marshall Law School and a bachelors degree from Loras College. Registration open for LaHoods conversation Registration for the free ZOOM meeting is available in advance. After completing registration, participants will receive an email confirmation with information about joining the meeting, along with the meeting ID and password. Participants have an opportunity when they register to submit a question to LaHood by email at paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu or by including it in the Questions and Comments section on the registration form. Upcoming discussions The Institute will host conversations with Illinois State Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch at 1 p.m., Thursday, June 11, on the political and social unrest in Illinois and the United States and the reforms necessary for the state and country. Welch, D-Westchester, has represented Illinoiss 7th District since 2013 and chairs the powerful House Executive Committee. He is the former chair of the House Higher Education Committee. The Institute will also host former U.S. deputy secretary of state and U.S. Ambassador to Russia William J. Burns at 1 p.m., June 18. Burns is now the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. More information on the Institutes events is available at paulsimoninstitute.siu.edu/event-information/. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 17:51:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities seized 4.092 kg of heroin in Sagaing Region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Thursday. Acting on tip-offs, the anti-narcotic police force stoped and searched a car in Khampat township on Tuesday. Heroin worth over 245 million kyats (over 175,371 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from the car. The township police filed a case against four suspects in connection with the case and further investigation is underway under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said. On the same day, a total of 202,000 stimulants worth 202 million kyats (144,285 U.S. dollars) were seized in Tachileik township of the Shan state. According to a latest release issued by the President's Office on Monday, a total of 1,156 drug-related cases were registered across Myanmar while 1,790 were charged in connection with the cases as of May 30 this year, since the formation of the Drug Activity Special Complaint Department on June 26, 2018. Enditem The Supreme Court Thursday sought finance ministry's reply on waiver of interest on loans during the moratorium period after the RBI said it would not be prudent to go for a "forced waiver of interest" risking financial viability of the banks. The top court said there are two aspects under consideration in this matter - no interest payment on loans during the moratorium period and no interest to be charged on interest. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M R Shah said that these are challenging times and it is a serious issue as on one hand moratorium is granted and on other hand interest is charged on loans. The bench was hearing a plea, filed by Gajendra Sharma, in which he has sought a direction to declare the portion of RBI's March 27 notification "as ultra vires to the extent it charges interest on the loan amount during the moratorium period, which create hardship to the petitioner being borrower and creates hindrance and obstruction in 'right to life' guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India". Sharma, a resident of Agra, has also sought a direction to the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide relief in re-payment of loan by not charging interest during the moratorium period. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that he would like to file the reply of finance ministry on the issue and sought time. Senior advocate Rajeev Dutta, appearing for petitioner Gajendra Sharma, said that now the cat is out of the bag as RBI is saying profitability of the banks is primary. He referred to the recent order of the apex court in the Air India matter on booking of middle seats on the non-scheduled flights to bring the stranded Indians from abroad. The court had said that economic interest is not higher than the health of people. Dutta said that by the submission of the RBI, it means that only banks should earn profit while rest of the country goes down during the pandemic. He said the petitioner would like to file a rejoinder to the reply filed by the RBI. Mehta said he would consult the finance ministry and try to find out a solution to both the questions asked by the bench and file a response to them. The top court asked the Solicitor General to file the response by June 12 and allowed the petitioner and other parties to file rejoinder by then. At the outset, the top court took note of the fact that RBI's reply was leaked to the media before the matter was taken up before the court. "Is RBI filing the reply first in media and then in court?" Dutta said this was a move to sensationalise the issue. The bench said that it highly deprecates this practice and this should not happen again. On May 26, the top court had asked the Centre and the RBI to respond to the plea challenging levy of interest on loans during the moratorium period. The RBI in its reply has told the top court that it is taking all possible measures to provide relief with regard to debt repayments on account of the fallout of Covid-19 but it does not consider it prudent to go for a "forced waiver of interest, risking the financial viability of the banks it is mandated to regulate, and putting the interests of the depositors in jeopardy". In its reply, to the plea the RBI said that regulatory package is, in its essence, in the nature of a moratorium/deferment and "cannot be construed to be a waiver". "While the Reserve Bank is taking all possible measures to provide relief to the real sector with regard to debt repayments on account of the fallout of Covid-19, it does not consider it prudent or appropriate to go for a forced waiver of interest, risking the financial viability of the banks it is mandated to regulate, and putting the interests of the depositors in jeopardy," the Reserve Bank has said in its affidavit. It said the mandate of the Reserve Bank as far as regulation of banks is concerned draws upon the considerations of protection of depositors' interest and maintenance of financial stability, which also require that the banks remain financially sound and profitable. The RBI has said that the March 27 circular announcing moratorium was later modified on April 17 and May 23 by which the moratorium period was extended by another three months that is from June 1 to August 31, 2020 on payment of all installments in respect of term loans (including agricultural term loans, retail and crop loans). "It is submitted that the regulatory dispensations permitted by the Reserve Bank of India vide the aforesaid circulars dated March 27, 2020 which subsequently stood modified on April 17, 2020 and May 23, 2020 were with the objective of mitigating the burden of debt servicing brought about by disruptions on account of Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure the continuity of viable businesses. "Therefore, the regulatory package is, in its essence, in the nature of a moratorium/deferment and cannot be construed to be a waiver," it has said. The RBI said that in order to ameliorate the difficulties faced by borrowers in repaying the accumulated interest for the moratorium period, on May 23 it had announced that in respect of working capital facilities, lending institutions may, at their discretion, convert the accumulated interest for the deferment period up to August 31, 2020, into a funded interest term loan (FITL) which shall be repayable not later than March 31, 2021. Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: Haryana reopens all border points between Gurugram, Delhi Nokia launched the 2V smartphone in the summer of 2019 as a rebranded Nokia 2.1 for Verizon. It ran Android Pie (Go Edition) on its limited 1GB RAM. Now the phone might get a successor as a phone called Nokia 2V Tella has been spotted on Geekbench. Nokia 2V Tella on Geekbench The device by HMD Global is running Android 10 OS and has an MT6761 chipset, which is better known as Helio A22 by Mediatek. We are also looking at 2GB RAM, which might allow it to boot the fully-fledged Android OS, instead of having the basic Go version for lower-performing phones. The Nokia 2V Tella doesnt surprise us with its scores on Geekbench 4.0 at all - 829 for a single core and 2,422 for multiple cores is close to what we reached 1.5 years ago when the Redmi 6A, powered by the same chip, was in our hands. Source | Via Porposed electoral boundaries overlaid on top of an existing constituency map for Northern Ireland Proposals for redrawing electoral constituencies in Northern Ireland are to be quashed, the Court of Appeal ruled today. Senior judges identified a legal failure to fully consider all responses before the Boundary Commission for NI published its final recommendations. They also said inadequate reasons were given for using a rule which allowed the body to shift away from electoral quota requirements. The verdict represents a further victory for west Belfast man Patrick Lynch, who brought the challenge to the Commission's proposals. Plans published in September 2018 involved cutting the number of parliamentary seats from 18 to 17, as part of a wider move to reduce MPs at Westminister from 650 to 600. But unlike earlier proposals which would have meant Belfast dropping to three constituencies, the city retained four seats under the final recommendations. The wider planned constituency shakeup provoked political controversy, with Sinn Fein criticising changes they claimed would leave a number of constituencies without any nationalist representation. Central to the legal challenge is a rule within the relevant legislation which allows the Commision to deviate from a 5% range of the UK electoral quota when considering constituency size. Lawyers for Mr Lynch claimed the Commission acted unlawfully and unfairly. They argued that the authority had shifted away from its provisional recommendations by relying on the rule without a proper legal basis. It was claimed the Commission had suddenly and radically changed direction in its Final Recommendations Report (FRR). Lawyers for the body under challenge insisted changes to the initial proposals were in response to "a healthy and procedurally correct consultation process". In May last year the High Court held that the Commission had fettered its discretion by failing to fully consider consultation responses received in the final stage of the statutory. Despite that ruling, Mr Lynch appealed in a bid to have the report quashed. With a new bill on UK parliamentary boundaries now tabled at Westminster, the Commission contended that the case could be rendered academic. However, Mr Justice Horner stressed the public interest and importance of the issues. "This task has the potential to affect how the population of Northern Ireland is represented at Westminster, and as a consequence to some extent how it is governed for some years," he said. Dealing with the appeal, the judge said the Commission had inadvertently "taken a wrong turn" in consideration of written representations following a Revised Proposals Report (RPR). He stated: "It is our view that the barriers unnecessarily erected by the Commission after the RPR to representations from members of the public as part of the statutory scheme of consultation subverted the process and unlawfully impugned the FRR and its final recommendations." The final report was "vitiated by procedural unfairness", the court affirmed. Mr Justice Horner concluded: "Our decision on the error of law issue only serves to reinforce our conclusion that the proper course is to quash the FRR and send it back to the Commission for lawful reconsideration." No such reassessment will be required, however, if new legislation is passed which ensures the Boundary Review is abandoned and the final recommendations unimplemented. Following the verdict Mr Lynch's lawyer, Eoin Murphy of O Muirigh Solicitors, said: "Given the very significant effects of any legal error on the part of the Commission, and the essentially irreparable nature of those errors, the Court quite correctly exercised an intense level of scrutiny and arrived at the correct conclusion to quash this report. "This affirmation from the Court of Appeal will go a long way to clarifying the obligations imposed upon this or any future Boundary Commission." [June 04, 2020] Manufacturing Institute Sees Demand for Reskilled Workers as US Manufacturers Bring Jobs Home During its 8-week shutdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, two students enrolled in the eKentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute (eKAMI) secured CNC machining jobs with leading manufacturers, with other companies calling the school with plans to hire new graduates in the coming weeks. Director Kathy Walker sees this interest as an indication that US manufacturing will see a resurgence, with recent surveys showing nearly two-thirds of manufacturers in North America plan to hire domestically instead of sending jobs overseas. "There remains a strong demand for high-skilled positions in advanced manufacturing, particularly in automation and robotics," said Walker, who founded the eKAMI Haas Center along with the Gene Haas organization in 2017 to reskill displaced coal miners and other workers to build the quality workforce needed to attract manufacturing jobs to the region. Students are trained for high-tech positions in CNC machining on the latest, state-of-the-art Haas equipment in 16- and 36-week immersive courses. eKAMI graduates have been hired by companies such as AutoGuide Mobile Robots, Heartland Automation, Roush Yates Engines, Lockheed Martin (News - Alert) and Catepillar's Progress Rail. "The Covid-19 situation revealed serious deficiencies in our domestic supply chain," Walker said. "As a result, we are already seeing signs of a resurgence in US manufacturing, as an increasing number of manufacturers prepare to reshore jobs. Unfortunately, the skills gap remains for higher-level trades, driving the urgent need for automation. Our goal is to respond to industry demand by providing our workforce with the necessary tools to meet that challenge. Keeping Busy During the Pandemic: Printing and Donating 3D Masks eKAMI practices what it teaches in terms of responding to market needs with advanced manufacturing techniques. When the school first cosed its doors to students in mid-March, staff members suggested putting their advanced manufacturing skills-and the 3D printers-to work. After designing face shields themselves, they have made and donated thousands to rural frontline medical facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes, fire departments, police departments and even correctional facilities, funded in partnership with Pop's Chevrolet and Citizens Bank of Kentucky. According to Walker, the demand hasn't waned, so they will continue making and donating the shields, even with their students now back in the classroom. "Our staff teaches students how to adapt to rapidly changing environments utilizing innovation to solve manufacturing needs," Walker said. "Using technology skills, but quickly switching gears to mass produce on the 3D printers to create much-needed masks, is one example our students can follow as they return to class to complete their certifications before heading out into the workforce." Healthcare facilities in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, benefited from eKAMI's innovations. "eKAMI stepped up, responded to an urgent need, and fulfilled it beyond anyone's expectations," said Mayor Les Stapleton. "They rapidly transitioned from producing precision parts to producing medical face shields. When the shortage of quality shields was noted, within days they were producing PPE to be used by our region's front line EMS and Healthcare workers." Highlands Appalachian Regional Healthcare Medical Center in Prestonburg was one of the first recipients. "ARH is proud to have a community partner like eKAMI to support our system," said Tim Hatfield, Community Chief Executive Officer. "Over the past several weeks, eKAMI has worked to produce 1,750 face shields for our front-line staff. We are truly blessed with Kathy Walker, her team, and her vision of training local folks to meet an industry demand." "I am so thankful to eKAMI for the design and production of face shields," said Dr. Andy Keaton, of Keaton Orthodontics in Pikeville, Kentucky. "I could not obtain face shields through any of the national dental suppliers. The quality of the face shields was consistent with any I might have purchased from a national supply company." About Eastern Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute (eKAMI) The Haas eKentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute (eKAMI) launched in 2017 with the goal of building the skilled workforce needed to attract quality, high-paying jobs in manufacturing to the region. Students 18 years and up participate in 16- and 36-week accelerated programs in computer numerical control (CNC) machinery, for the aerospace, robotics, medical and other advanced manufacturing industries. eKAMI was initially funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Gene Haas Foundation, the owner of CNC machine tools manufacturer Haas Automation. For more information, visit www.ekyami.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005621/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Those of you who read what I write know what I have written about the political conundrum in Malaysia these last many months. You know I have written not... 5 months ago By Laman Ismayilova Icherisheher State Historical-Architectural Reserve has launched a special campaign in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. The Reserve provides all its visitors with medical face masks. In addition, all employees of the Reserve and security guards of the Maiden Tower are supplied with special masks in order to provide maximum security for all visitors. In order to ease the restrictions imposed under the quarantine regime, thee employees of the museums operating under Icherisheher State Historical-Architectural Reserve as well as waiters at restaurants located along the castle walls are also provided with special face masks. With its majestic buildings and ruins, Icherisheher hides a centuries-old history. The city, built on a high hill in the form of an amphitheatre, is exposed to the sea in the lower part, and is surrounded by the Caucasus Mountains in the upper part. With its triple row of fortress walls, the Maiden Tower and other fortification facilities, Icherisheher appeared to be an impressive stronghold. Large squares and wide streets gradually narrowed and shrank into a geometric design fascinate Baku residents and city's guests. Numerous unique monuments, including the Shirvanshakh Palace complex, mosques and minarets, the ruins of caravanserais and bathhouses make this place one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. Old City became the first location in Azerbaijan to be classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In 2000, the Old City of Baku, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower, became the first location in Azerbaijan to be classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz N.B. to welcome Canadians with immediate family, property in province New Brunswick plans to open its borders to Canadians who have immediate family in the province or who own property, starting June 19, provided they self-isolate for 14 days, Premier Blaine Higgs announced Thursday. Cabinet and the all-party COVD-19 committee have also deemed attending funerals and burials for an immediate family member in New Brunswick essential travel, he told reporters during a news conference in Fredericton. The decision to loosen restrictions comes the same day New Brunswick had its first COVID-19-related death and a new confirmed case both linked to a long-term care facility in the Campbellton region, where there is an outbreak. Daniel Ouellette, 84, who tested positive for COVID-19 at the Manoir de la Vallee in Atholville last week, died Thursday morning at the Campbellton Regional Hospital. Four other elderly residents and four employees have also tested positive for the respiratory disease, including the latest case, a health-care worker in their 20s. They are among a cluster of 15 active cases now in the Campbellton region, also known as Zone 5. A 16th person, case, one of the infected health-care workers, lives in Quebec. Four people remain in hospital, including one in intensive care. Officials have linked the outbreak that started May 21 to a medical professional who travelled to Quebec for personal reasons and returned to work without self-isolating for the required 14 days. Submitted by Michel Ouellette Higgs said he, like all New Brunswickers, received the news of the first death "with a heavy heart" and offered his condolences. But the rest of the province will move forward with the next phase of the yellow level of the COVID-19 recovery plan Friday, as scheduled, after being delayed by a week, he said. The Campbellton region will remain under the stricter orange phase. "It's a combination of sadness and hope," said Higgs. 'It's contained' The premier noted that Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell had cautioned New Brunswick would see COVID-19 related deaths. Story continues "So unfortunately that day did come," Higgs said. About 4,000 COVID-19 tests were completed last weekend in the Campbellton region over 72 hours. "It is contained and we need to move on," he said. "You know we've seen a lot of anxiousness a lot of pent-up emotion that's related to the restrictions that we've had to put on our province." More than 300 people are self-isolating as a result of contact tracing, including six health-care workers, said Russell. She added most of the people self-isolating are in the Campbellton region, with "only a handful" elsewhere in the province. Russell said it has been difficult to witness the unfolding outbreak. "It has gripped the community in stress and worry, and now, in grief," she said. What's allowed Friday? Starting Friday, indoor gatherings of up to 10 people in private homes will be permitted across the province, except for the Campbellton region. Outdoor gatherings of up to 50 people, and religious services, including wedding and funerals, of up to 50 people will also be permitted, indoors or outdoors, with physical distancing. Residents in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, special-care homes, adult residential facilities and hospitals, will be allowed to have up to two visitors outdoors, with physical distancing. "We recognize that not every facility will be able to do this, but we want to be able to give them the option to do so if they can," said Higgs, adding he realizes it has been difficult on family and friends who have not been able to visit their loved ones. Elective surgeries and other non-emergency health-care services will increase. And low-contact team sports will be permitted. "Sports may operate as per the guidance provided by their respective national or provincial organizations if they identify means to limit the number and intensity of close contact during play," the province said in a statement. In addition, the following will be allowed to open: Swimming pools, saunas and waterparks, with a limit of 50 people in each activity area. Gyms, yoga and dance studios. Rinks and indoor recreational facilities, with a limit of 50 people in each activity area, and limit of 50 spectators. Pool halls and bowling alleys. If all goes well, starting June 19, long-term care facility residents will be allowed to have indoor visits with one visitor at a time, unless the visitor requires support, in which case, two visitors will be allowed. Overnight camps will also be allowed to open. The reopening of other sectors remains to be determined, based on how the province is managing a resurgence of the virus. These include casinos, amusement centres, bingo halls, arcades, cinemas, bars without seating, trade shows and conferences, large live performance venues and larger public gatherings. Higgs said he understands remaining in the orange phase of recovery is "frustrating" to those who live and work in the Campbellton region. "But taking the proper precautions in the short-term will have positive long-term impacts in our province," he said. "Working together, we will get through this challenging time." Higgs noted it might be possible to have a tourism bubble with P.E.I. by "early summer." Plans were put on hold amid the outbreak, but Higgs said he will have discussions with the Atlantic premiers about the possibility of allowing travel between provinces. "The next couple weeks will be telling, however, because we are watching closely what unfolds for us here in the province," he said, referring to the incubation period of the virus. New Brunswick has recorded 136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March. To date, 120 people have recovered. As of Thursday, 32,299 tests have been conducted. Doctor may have made 'error in judgment' The doctor at the centre of the outbreak, Dr. Jean Robert Ngola, told Radio-Canada's program La Matinale on Tuesday he's not sure whether he picked up the coronavirus during the trip to Quebec or from a patient he saw in his office on May 19 who later tested positive. Ngola, who has been suspended and is under investigation by the RCMP, said he made an overnight return trip to Quebec to pick up his four-year-old daughter because her mother had to travel to Africa for her own father's funeral. He drove straight there and back with no stops and had no contact with anyone, he said, and none of his family members had any COVID-19 symptoms at the time. He did not self-isolate upon returning, he said. He went to work at the Campbellton Regional Hospital the next day. "Maybe it was an error in judgment," said Ngola, pointing out that workers, including nurses who live in Quebec, cross the border each day with no isolation required. Minister defends northern border crossing The province's public safety minister is defending a border crossing that residents of a small village near Campbellton fear is letting in too many people from out of the province. On Tuesday, Tide Head Mayor Randy Hunter said there were more vehicles with Quebec licence plates in the area than there should be considering COVID-19 restrictions and that the province is giving the wrong impression about how much traffic there is at the crossing. "The premier's reporting and the news is reporting perhaps 60 to 70 cars a day, well that is not factual," said Hunter. Google Maps "I know people that work for public safety there and the average [number of cars] on that bridge is about 200 a day." The checkpoint is located on the New Brunswick side of the border, a short distance from the bridge to Matapedia, Que. But Public Safety Minister Carl Urquhart said there was a bit missing in that interpretation. There are about 200 vehicles making that crossing every day, but only 65 of them would be private vehicles. "Approximately 65 [private vehicles] the other day and then 130 commercial. So you're looking at approximately 200 all together," said Urquhart. CBC Urquhart said public safety officers are the ones that determine whether someone can come into the province or not, but that commercial vehicles are checked to make sure they're actually making deliveries. Urquhart said he's convinced there isn't a security issue at the border, and while he would love to send more public safety officers up there, they're needed elsewhere. "If I had a lot more people I could put them all over the province," said Urquhart. "You have to work with all you have." What to do if you have symptoms People concerned they might have COVID-19 can take a self-assessment on the government website at gnb.ca. Public Health says symptoms shown by people with COVID-19 have included: a fever above 38 C, a new cough or worsening chronic cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, new onset of fatigue, new onset of muscle pain, diarrhea, loss of sense of taste or smell, and difficulty breathing. In children, symptoms have also included purple markings on the fingers and toes. People with two of those symptoms are asked to: Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Seoul, South Korea Thu, June 4, 2020 12:45 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc13de8 2 World North-Korea,South-Korea,bilateral-spat,military-cooperation Free North Korea threatened Thursday to scrap a military agreement with the South and close down a cross-border liaison office unless Seoul stops activists from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. The statement issued by the powerful younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un comes amid a deep freeze in inter-Korean ties, despite three summits between Kim and the South's President Moon Jae-in in 2018. North Korean defectors and other activists have long flown balloons across the border carrying leaflets that criticize Kim over human rights abuses and his nuclear ambitions. "The South Korean authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making all sort of excuses," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. Calling the defectors "human scum" and "rubbish-like mongrel dogs" who betrayed their homeland, she said it was "time to bring their owners to account" in a reference to the South Korean government. She threatened to scrap a military pact signed during Moon's visit to Pyongyang in 2018 aimed at easing border tensions, and shut down a cross-border liaison office. But most of the deals agreed at that meeting have not been acted on, with Pyongyang largely cutting off contact with Seoul following the collapse of a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi last year that left nuclear talks at a standstill. Operations at the liaison office have already been suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the North has carried out dozens of weapons tests since the military agreement was signed. Kim Yo Jong also threatened to pull out permanently from joint projects with the South including the Kaesong Industrial Park and Mount Kumgang tours -- both of them money-spinners for the North that have been suspended for years due to sanctions over its weapons programs. The second-gen Motorola Razr is expected to arrive in September and while Motorola hasn't revealed any details about the Razr 2 (unofficial name) yet, new information coming our way reveals the foldable smartphone will sport displays bigger than its predecessor's. Motorola Razr 2019 According to Display Supply Chain Consultants' (DSCC) CEO Ross Young, the Razr 2 will come with a 6.7" main display, which is 0.5" larger than the current Razr. Young claims that the secondary external screen on the Razr 2 will also have a larger diagonal, but doesn't reveal the exact size. The current Razr comes with a 2.7" secondary display, and Motorola will be looking to maximize the available area on the cover better this time around. The Motorola Razr 2 screen size will increase to the same size as the Galaxy Z Flip, 6.7. The front display will also increase in size. Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) June 3, 2020 The Motorola Razr doesn't support 5G, but rumors have it that Razr 2 will support the next-gen networks - thanks to the Snapdragon 765 SoC at the helm. Other rumored specs include 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, Android 10, 48MP main camera, and 20MP selfie camera. Disney has pledged to donate $5 million dollars on the ninth straight day of worldwide protests, in response to the murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day. 'We stand against racism,' the company announced on their social media. 'We stand for inclusion. We stand with our fellow Black employees, storytellers, creators and the entire Black community. We must unite and speak out.' The group added that $2 million of that donation will go to the NAACP to 'further their longstanding work promoting social justice by eliminating disparities and racial discrimination through their advocacy.' Disney has pledged to donate $5 million dollars on the ninth straight day of worldwide protests, in response to the murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day Previously, Disney promised to match employee donations to organizations through the Disney Employee Matching Gifts program. The Walt Disney Company's CEO Bob Chapek released a statement about how George Floyd's death 'forced our nation to once again confront the long history of injustice that black people in America.' 'It is critical that we stand together, speak out and do everything in our power to ensure that acts of racism and violence are never tolerated,' Chapek continued. 'We stand against racism. We stand for inclusion. We stand with our fellow Black employees, storytellers, creators and the entire Black community. We must unite and speak out,' the company stated social media He added: 'This $5 million pledge will continue to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations such as the NAACP that have worked tirelessly to ensure equality and justice.' Meanwhile, there is still no firm date for when Disneyland will reopen, after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March; Walt Disney World is scheduled to open July 11. Last week, Chapek told the NY Times they not rushing to reopen to prevent 'going too far, too fast' and then having to 'backtrack.' Still closed: There is still no firm date for when Disneyland will reopen, after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March; Walt Disney World is scheduled to re-open July 11 On the Disney World website, information has been provided as to what the reopening process for the park will look like. According to the site, 'Upon reopening, theme parks, Disney Resort hotels, restaurants, attractions, experiences and other offerings may be modified and will be limited in capacity and subject to limited availability or closure, based on direction from health experts and government officials to promote physical distancing.' The company also explained that 'attractions, experiences, services and amenities may have limited availability or may remain closed.' Finance and medical education minister Suresh Khanna quarantined himself at his official residence here on Thursday and said he would get himself tested on the fifth day of his Monday visit to the Meerut medical college where three patients tested positive a day later. Similarly, state labour welfare board chairman Sunil Bharala, whose post is akin to that of a minister of state, has decided to quarantine himself in Meerut. Bharala had visited the Meerut medical college with Khanna. I have quarantined myself at my residence and I am discharging all my official responsibilities from there, Khanna said in a press note a day after HT reported his plan to get himself tested for the coronavirus infection. A day after my visit, positive cases were reported from the emergency ward of Meerut medical college. I had visited the place to ensure that non-Covid patients too get emergency facilities, he said. Khanna said he had inspected King Georges Medical University, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) in Lucknow and later visited medical colleges in Kanpur, Jhansi, Saharanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad and Moradabad. I had visited these colleges to check if emergency services were being given to people, Khanna said. Bharala was upset that officials didnt forewarn them about the presence of suspected Covid-19 patients in the emergency ward. Officials, including Meerut medical college principal SK Garg, however, said that social distancing was ensured during the ministers visit. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Faisal Al Mutar was at his home in New York City when he saw the first hints of what would become a tidal wave of Arabic-language coronavirus conspiracy content spreading online. It was mid-February and while the virus was starting to appear in Iran, there was yet to be a serious outbreak in an Arab country the rampant misinformation had arrived in the Arab world before the virus. Al Mutar, 28, watched videos suggesting the pandemic was part of a biological war between the United States and China. Homespun articles claimed that eating garlic was enough to ward off the virus. Religious authorities argued the disease was a punishment for Chinas treatment of the Uighur Muslims. The most dangerous misinformation I saw is the claim that because we are Muslims, the virus is not going to affect us, he said. Al Mutar decided then that such misinformation had the potential to get people killed and redirected his organization, Ideas Beyond Borders, to join the fight against coronavirus falsehoods. Al Mutar founded the group in 2017, four years after he arrived in the U.S. as a refugee from Iraq. Its mission was to provide a positive alternative to extremism, authoritarianism and censorship by creating online content in Arabic that encourages free expression and critical thinking. He has his own painful history with extremism. During his teenage years in west Baghdad, both his brother and his cousin were killed by al Qaeda. Their killings, in the midst of widespread sectarian bloodshed in Iraq, motivated him to set up the group and begin establishing a network of young, like-minded Arab liberals. Their goal is to vastly expand the amount of information available in their mother tongue. Arabic is one of the worlds most-spoken languages but only 3 percent of internet content is available in the language, according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, governments across the Arab world heavily censor the internet. The result is a scarcity of reliable information during the pandemic. Story continues The information that's available to an Arabic-language audience is quite limited, particularly when it comes again to credible reporting or investigative types of reporting, said Allison McManus, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy, a U.S. foreign policy think tank focused on the Islamic world. You simply don't have as diverse streams of accurate information. So a lot of folks turn to social media in Arabic to try to gain information. By the beginning of March, many of Ideas Beyond Borders 120 translators and content creators across the Middle East had set aside their anti-extremism work to focus full time on creating information resources about the pandemic. The group formed teams in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon. Their focus has been on translating Wikipedia articles about the pandemic to bolster the relatively sparse Arabic edition of the online encyclopedia. They have translated more than 90,000 words so far, according to the group. Image: Ideas Beyond Borders (Courtesy of Faisal Al Mutar) One of the young translators in Syria said she was convinced they were making a positive difference. At first, I was really scared and really feeling like this is something global and we are just a bunch of young people who cannot stand against it, she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of security concerns. But when I started translating and my articles started being published, and I spoke about them on my social media, people started believing the facts, the accurate facts about the virus. The group is also creating its own video content to counter viral disinformation videos. It publishes them on an Arabic Facebook page titled House of Wisdom 2.0 a reference to the famed eighth-century Baghdad library the Bayt al-Hikma, or House of Wisdom. The page has nearly 400,000 followers and a recent Arabic video debunking the claim that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was involved in the start of the coronavirus has been viewed 423,000 times. Russian and Chinese state media have used their Arabic channels to spread their own narratives on the coronavirus. A Russia Today Arabic video where a guest argues that the virus was created in a U.S. lab in Asia has been viewed more than 1 million times. Al Mutar said he hopes his groups work will save lives during the pandemic but that in the long term, he aims to arm young Arabic speakers with the tools they need to ward off misinformation by themselves. On an average day, for an average young person looking at their cellphone right now, much of the information they see is really nonfactual. My goal and my inspiration is for there to be actual sources of information and make that information accessible to those who need it. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Taking the logistical facilities to the next level, Uttar Pradesh has ramped up the COVID-19 sample testing to over 10,000 per day. During the last 24 hours, 10,563 samples of suspected COVID-19 patients were tested across 31 laboratories of the state. However, UP CM Yogi Aditynath has issued directives to the authorities concerned to raise the number of sample testing to 15,000 by next week and 20,000 by this month-end. Meanwhile, with 371 fresh COVID-19 positive cases during the last 24 hours, the state tally hit 8992. While 78 patients were on oxygen support, six were on life support systems across the state. The state death toll stood at 245. According to the study on the pattern of infection in the state, 83 per cent of the total patients those with one or more comorbid conditions. So it is imperative that people with comorbidities must take special caution to keep the virus away as they are at the higher risk, said Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad here on Thursday. He claimed that as per the studies, while the rate of infection among the elderly (60 years and above) was just 6 per cent of the total infliction, the rate of fatality among them had been 32% of the total number of deaths. Similarly, the studies show that in the age group of 51-60 years, the rate of infection has been 8.8 per cent of the total cases but the rate of fatality has been 31.5 per cent. Given the huge influx of migrants the tally of COVID-19 cases has witnessed a surge, the principal secretary said. So far, 80960 samples of migrants were sent for testing of which 2583 were found positive. This makes around 28 per cent of the total number of positive cases of corona virus in Uttar Pradesh, he said. Over 32 lakh migrants have returned to the state by 1682 trains, 10,000 buses and private vehicles. According to Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi, the state has ramped up the number of beds to over 1 lakh across three-tier system of hospitals in the state. There are 1,01,236 beds in 52 dedicated Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 COVID-19 hospitals in the state, he said. So far, 3.15 lakh tests have been conducted in the state, added Awasthi. A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail application of student activist Safoora Zargar, arrested in connection with the the north-east Delhi riots of February, and charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Zargar, a member of the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), was arrested on April 12. She was accused of organising anti-Ciitizenship (Amendment) protests that led to clashes between opponents and supporters of the law that acquired a communal colour in February, degenerating into riots that left 53 people dead. Right of speech and expression and for that matter, protest or demonstration is not an absolute right and subject to reasonable restrictions under the Indian Constitution. the court stated. Special judge Dharmendra Rana said that there is prima facie evidence to show that there was a conspiracy to at least blockade the roads (chakka jam). It also said the police had rightly invoked the UAPA and it can be proved from the material on record. From the material available on record, one cannot ignore the case of the prosecution that the accused persons have conspired to cause disruption of such an extent and such a magnitude that it would lead to disorderliness and disturbance of law and order at an unprecedented scale. Therefore, I cannot but disagree with the defence counsel that the provisions of UAPA could not have been validly invoked, the judge said. The judge also said that a larger conspiracy was discernible and a second investigation by way of a separate first information report to unravel the conspiracy, as contended by public prosecutor Irfan Ahmed, sounded not only logical but is perfectly legal. The courts order came on a plea by Zargar, through her counsel, who had contended that the investigating agency (special cell) was creating a false narrative to implicate innocent students who do not back the governments policy or legislation. Advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Zargar, told the court that his client was present at the protest site but did not make any inflammatory speeches which had led to violence and subsequently the riots. He also contended that the mere presence of a person at the site of the riots one day prior does not mean that she can be accused for the riots. The judge, while rejecting bail plea, said he did not agree that the accused was only liable for her own individual speeches and that the acts of other members of the group cannot be read against her. In my considered opinion, if there is prima facie evidence of existence of conspiracy, the evidence of acts and statements made by anyone of the conspirators in furtherance of the common object is admissible against all. Therefore mere absence at the spot or absence of any overt act would not help the cause of the accused (Safoora), the court said. It also said that even if no direct violence is attributable to the accused, she cannot shy away from her liability under the provisions of UAPA. When you choose to play with embers, you cannot blame the wind to have carried the spark a bit too far and spread the fire. The acts and inflammatory speeches of the co-conspirators are admissible under the Indian Evidence Act even against the accused, the court said. LANSING, MI The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association has a new website, carryoutmichigan.com, to help consumers find up-to-date information about eateries across the state. Users can search by location or their favorite fare to find restaurants offering curbside, delivery, pick-up and more. We are working around the clock to provide as many resources as possible to support Michigans hospitality industry, which has taken the brunt of this pandemic, Justin Winslow, president and CEO of MRLA, said in a statement. While there is tremendous excitement about restaurants being able to reopen on June 8 with limited capacity, we understand that take out will still play a role in operations and will still be widely used by consumers. Carry Out Michigan is the newest resource we can provide, offering a centralized online hub for the general public to support their favorite restaurant by ordering a meal to go. Restaurant owners can add their businesses to the directory at no cost by visiting the website and creating an account, according to an MRLA news release. Business owners have the option to provide hours of operation, food offerings, location and other information consumers may want to know. Restaurant listings will appear on the website once they are approved by the association. MRLA was founded in 1921 and represents more than 5,000 Michigan food service and lodging establishments. The industry plays an integral role in Michigans economy, employing nearly 600,000 people and creating $40 billion in annual revenue, according to the association. 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. More Michigan coronavirus coverage: Whats allowed to reopen in Michigan and what isnt? Thursday, June 4: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan From hair salons to gyms, experts rank 36 activities by coronavirus risk level 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the phone during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin via teleconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on June 2, 2020. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russia Redesigns Nuclear Deterrent Policy Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 2 approved Russias nuclear deterrent policy, which allows the country to use atomic weapons in response to a nuclear attack or a conventional strike targeting the nations critical government and military infrastructure. There are two new situations in which Russia can use nuclear weapons to respond, according to the new document. The first is when nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction are used against Russia or its allies; the second scenario is an enemy attack with conventional weapons that threatens the very existence of the state. In addition, the document states that Russia could use its nuclear arsenals if it gets reliable information about a launch of ballistic missiles targeting its territory or allies and also in the case of enemy impact on critically important government or military facilities of the Russian Federation, the incapacitating of which could result in the failure of retaliatory action of nuclear forces. The document considers the buildup of conventional forces near Russias borders a threat that can require nuclear deterrence. Among other potential threats that can trigger nuclear retaliation are the deployment of missile shield systems and capabilities, intermediate- and shorter-range cruise and ballistic missiles, precision non-nuclear and hypersonic weapons, strike drones and directed-energy weapons by the states that view the Russian Federation as a potential enemy, the document states, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS. An intercontinental ballistic missile lifts off from a truck-mounted launcher in Russia in a file photo. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) Arms Control Treaties In August 2019, the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia because it failed to comply with the treaty, including failing to comply with requests to destroy its 9M729 ballistic missiles. U.S. officials started to raise concerns about Russias noncompliance with the treaty in 2013. Both the United States and Russia suspended their obligations under the INF Treaty in February after months of failed talks and years of attempts by Washington to bring Moscow into compliance with the landmark arms pact. After the formal withdrawal from the INF Treaty, the United States started testing a medium-range ground-launched cruise missile that would have been banned under the treaty. The only U.S.Russia nuclear arms control agreement still standing and binding the two countries is the New START Treaty, which was signed in 2010 and is set to expire in February 2021. Trump administration officials have suggested that China should be brought into any future renegotiation of the New START. Moscow has described that idea as unfeasible, pointing to Beijings refusal to negotiate any deal that would reduce its much smaller nuclear arsenal. China doesnt seem interested in negotiating, Patty-Jane Geller, a policy analyst in nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation, told The Epoch Times. Geller believes that if the United States puts missiles in the Pacific, especially hypersonic ones, it could bring China to the negotiating table. The United States recently submitted a notice to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, citing Russias violations of the treaty, according to a statement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The treaty permits its participants to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over the others territories. Should Russia return to full compliance with the treaty, the United States will reconsider its participation in the Open Skies, the statement said. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced on June 2 two new bills aimed to constrain both Russia and China in their efforts to develop and modernize their strategic nuclear arsenals. Without a firm foundation that constrains our adversaries nuclear arsenals, the United States may once again find itself in a costly arms race with little opportunity to reduce nuclear risks with both Russia and China, Menendez said. The first bill, Future of Arms Control Act calls for the immediate extension of New START and prevents the president from taking any action against the treaty if no decision is made on its extension, Menendez said in the statement. The second bill, the Arms Control with China Policy Act, mandates secretaries of state and defense to present to Congress a report on methods to engage China on arms control. Ivan Pentchoukov, Zachary Stieber, Simon Veazey, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Hong Kong, June 4 : Hong Kong lawmakers debate on the national anthem bill was once again suspended on Thursday after an opposition legislator emptied a bottle of foul-smelling liquid in the Legislative Council chamber. A vote on the controversial law, which will outlaw insulting the Chinese national anthem, "March of the Volunteers", was expected on Thursday evening, reports the South China Morning Post newspaper. Under the bill, anyone found guilty of misusing or insulting the national anthem could be fined up to HK$50,000 ($6,450) and jailed for three years. At about 1 p.m., pan-democrats Eddie Chu and Raymond Chan rushed out from their seats, and the former emptied the bottle of brown-coloured liquid. House Committee chairwoman Starry Lee, who was presiding over the meeting, ordered the two men to leave the chamber, and they were forcibly removed by security guards. Addressing the media outside the chamber, Chu said the substance used was a bio-fertiliser. He said it was similar to what Democratic Party's Ted Hui dropped in the chamber last week, even though the lawmaker said the substance was a container of rotten plants. Chu said his action was to protest against the national anthem bill, as well as to remember the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. Before the meeting was suspended, pro-establishment lawmakers voted down 21 amendments put forward by the opposition to reduce or eliminate the criminal liability of offenders. The Limited Edition BTS Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are on the way, and you can check them out down below. Evan Blass and Max Weinbach shared the design of these earbuds from various angles. These renders reveal pretty much everything. This design was to be expected, as these are basically regular Galaxy Buds+ in a new color, with a BTS logo below Samsung branding. These special edition BTS Galaxy Buds+ have BTS logo, and are purple These earbuds are purple, and other than that, and the logo, they look the same as the regular pair. Those of you who dont know, BTS is a Korean Pop band, an extremely popular one. Advertisement Samsung will probably refer to this color option as Mirror Purple, as it did that in the past, for its smartphones. Max Weinbach says that these earbuds will launch on July 9, by the way. These earbuds will, allegedly, become available in Europe, were not sure for the US. Rumors are saying that they will be available in France, and that probably means the rest of Europe as well. Considering that BTS is a Korean band, its safe to assume that these special edition Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are on the way to Korea as well. In fact, they will probably launch in Korea first. Advertisement These area TWS (True Wireless) earbuds, and theyre actually quite good. We reviewed these earbuds back in February, and were quite impressed with what they have to offer. The earbuds are quite comfortable, and rather small, so they wont look that odd in your ears. They do offer impressive battery life, and the audio is really, really good. The do not offer noise cancellation, though The downside is the fact that they dont offer noise cancellation, though that rubber seal will help with outside noise. The battery case will provide you with enough juice for one use only, but considering how good the battery life is on each earbud, that wont be an issue. Advertisement Those are basically the only downsides here. The charging case does support wireless charging, so youll be able to recharge it by using a Qi charger. The charging case is quite small, and thats something youll certainly appreciate. It is made out of plastic, as are the earbuds, but everything feels quite sturdy. An LED indicator is included on the inside of the case, to indicate battery life. Samsung also indicates which earbud is for your left, and which for the right ear. Advertisement You can take calls by using these earbuds, as microphones are included. Those microphones actually do a good job of conveying your voice to the other side as well. That is not something that can be said for many TWS earbuds out there. Samoas new parliamentary building plan overlooks including a press gallery. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expresses deep concern about the construction and opening of the Samoa Parliament without giving full consideration to adequate media access and reporting facilities. Following journalists restricted access to Samoas recent tabling of the next financial years budget in parliament, plans revealed Samoas new parliament would not include a press gallery. According to the Journalist Association of Samoa (JAWS), years of planning and Australian aid dollars went into Samoas new parliament, and it is surprising the government is excluding a press gallery. Earlier when parliament tabled the budget for the 2019/20, media were given a tent to listen to proceedings without a television for visuals. JAWS president Rudy Bartley said the use of tents outside the building presents a significant obstacle to the medias ability to complete their work. Bartley suggested Samoa could ask Fiji to assist with setting up a press gallery. The IFJ said: A press gallery and media access for reporting on parliament proceedings is a standard set around the world and considered a fundamental component to a strong and functioning democracy. To do otherwise is to disregard this critical pillar the fourth estate but also to disregard the needs of the nations citizens for a watchdog on their democracy. Samoas media must urgently be given full and appropriate access to parliament to record and report debate and discussions in the national interest. We urge the government of Samoa to make critical interventions to rectify this worrying situation. In a joint press briefing on the prevailing coronavirus situation in the national capital, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that five government and three private hospitals have been solely dedicated for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in Delhi. An order has also been issued to reserve 20% beds of the remaining hospitals for Covid-19 patients, Sisodia told media in the presence of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Sisodia said that in the wake of the rising number of Covid-19 cases, it is important to save the lives of those who get infected. Also read: Delhis Covid-19 containment zones double up in 15 days We want to ensure that those who visit hospitals should receive all facilities, get admitted easily and face no hassle, he said, adding that the administration is focussing on creating more Covid-19-dedicated facilities in the Delhi. The minister said that while most hospitals have been able to follow the directive of reserving 20 percent of their hospitals for Covid-19 patients, some are facing logistical issues. We have decided to turn all such hospitals into full coronavirus dedicated facilities. So far, Moolchand Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital and Saroj Hospital in Pitampura have been converted into dedicated Covid-19 facilities, Sisodia said. Important press conference by Hon'ble Dy. CM Shri @msisodia and Hon'ble Health Minister Shri @SatyendarJain https://t.co/RWQl9s4x3r AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 4, 2020 We want to ensure that people living in Delhi get timely hospital beds and treatment for Covid-19, he added. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain explained the various categories of Covid-19 patients ranging from asymptomatic patients to severely infected. Fever and coughing would fall under mild symptoms. If a persons breathing rate is more than 15 counts in a minute, it indicates moderate Covid-19 infection whereas over 30 breathing counts in a minute would fall into the severe category, the minister explained. Jain emphasised that only those with moderate to severe symptoms with difficulty in breathing and drop in oxygen levels are required to be admitted in hospitals. Others can easily be treated at home, he said. Delhi has witnessed over 23,000 coronavirus cases till date. While the Covid-19 death toll in the national capital has jumped to 606, 9,542 patients have recovered from the deadly contagion here. Leslie Jones urged Americans to vote if they truly want change, they have to vote, adding, 'It's just the only way.' The 52-year-old Saturday Night Live star recently posted an Instagram video about her response to the George Floyd protests, and she spoke about it on Late Night with Seth Meyers. The comedienne, who herself had taken part in the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles in 1992, said that the protests won't work, and people have to vote if they want change. Vote: Leslie Jones urged Americans to vote if they truly want change, they have to vote, adding, 'It's just the only way' Response: The 52-year-old Saturday Night Live star recently posted an Instagram video about her response to the George Floyd protests, and she spoke about it on Late Night with Seth Meyers 'I feel saddened,' she began. 'I always tell everybody I'm 52 and I've seen a lot of stuff. I was in the riots 30 years ago,' she said, referring to the Rodney King riots. 'It makes me sad because I'm looking at this and I'm knowing that this is not going to work,' Jones added of the current protests. She added that President Donald Trump is 'calling us thugs and sending out National Guard' and he won't listen to anyone. Riots: 'I feel saddened,' she began. 'I always tell everybody I'm 52 and I've seen a lot of stuff. I was in the riots 30 years ago,' she said, referring to the Rodney King riots Thugs: She added that President Donald Trump is 'calling us thugs and sending out National Guard' and he won't listen to anyone 'I think the only thing he's gonna listen to is votes,' she added. 'If you're gonna change something, you have to fight the fight they're fighting and you have to vote.' She added it makes her mad because there are 'black businesses getting messed up and people are getting hurt out there.' Jones said she hears the protesters, but, 'I know they're not being heard,' adding that she was 22 years old when she took part in the Rodney King riots. Listen: 'I think the only thing he's gonna listen to is votes,' she added. 'If you're gonna change something, you have to fight the fight they're fighting and you have to vote' Riots: Jones said she hears the protesters, but, 'I know they're not being heard,' adding that she was 22 years old when she took part in the Rodney King riots She added that she understands the protesters and she understands, 'there's nothing you can say to them right now that's gonna make them not want to protest.' Jones said that when she was 22 during the Rodney King riots, and there was 'nothing you could say to me' to get her to stop either, adding, 'I was ready to burn it down.' 'At that time, we really thought we were doing something. We're gonna tear this up, they're gonna pay attention, and nothing happened,' she added. Leslie understands: She added that she understands the protesters and she understands, 'there's nothing you can say to them right now that's gonna make them not want to protest' She added that the saddest part about the Rodney King riots were the black businesses were torn down, 'never came back,' and were taken over by other businesses. 'It feels like we're burning down our own house,' Jones added, when Meyers asked if she can use her bigger profile to 'get a message through.' 'Man, I don't give a damn. I'm gonna use my black forum to make sure everyone understands the importance of voting. When you don't vote, you're voting for him. A non-vote is a vote for Trump,' she said. Torn down: She added that the saddest part about the Rodney King riots were the black businesses were torn down, 'never came back,' and were taken over by other businesses The rules for front-line workers to receive a monetary reward for putting themselves at risk during the pandemic may change, Manitoba's premier says. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The rules for front-line workers to receive a monetary reward for putting themselves at risk during the pandemic may change, Manitoba's premier says. When he announced the $120-million Manitoba risk recognition program for low-income workers Tuesday, Premier Brian Pallister said an estimated 100,000 workers, making $2,500 a month or less, would be eligible for the taxable benefit. "If there are fewer applicants, there will be a bigger cheque per applicant." On Wednesday, Pallister said hed consider expanding the program to include higher-wage earners, such as nurses, but "only if theres insufficient take-up by the middle- and low-income earners would that be done." "I want to encourage all Manitobans who'd like to apply for the recognition to do so." Premier Brian Pallister When asked to clarify whether a lower number of workers applying for the benefit would get bigger cheques or if not enough apply the threshold will then be raised to include higher-income earners, Pallister said it would be "speculation." "We'd have to wait and see what the number of applicants were," he said. The online application process began Wednesday; the deadline to apply is June 18. Premier says he meant no harm by 'all lives matter' comment Click to Expand Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister Posted: 5:36 PM Jun. 3, 2020 Premier Brian Pallister said he meant no offence earlier this week when he uttered the phrase "all lives matter" while referring to an upcoming rally at the legislature. Social media commenters quickly seized upon the remark, which has been linked to criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement. Read Full Story "I want to encourage all Manitobans who'd like to apply for the recognition to do so," Pallister said. "Then we'll deal with the issue with more knowledge in our hands." The federal-provincial program was announced in April by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to top-up the wages of low-income Canadians working in essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ottawa will provide up to $3 billion, with the provinces and territories offering $1 billion. It was left to the provinces to decide how to administer it. Before rolling out Manitoba's program, the premier said he consulted twice with 15 unions, business leaders and critical service providers, who voted and arrived at a consensus on the parameters. The province included in the consultations health-care unions whose members earn more than $2,500 a month or $14.42 an hour, too much to be eligible for the benefit. The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals said it shouldn't have been asked to participate in a process that didn't affect their members. Group president Bob Moroz said it was included so the premier could declare he had a consensus in the rollout of the risk recognition program. "People are not happy about this. They're asking, 'Why? Am I not at risk?'... They're quite upset." Bob Moroz "It just goes to show the entire process itself was conceived as a low-wage program initially, then he brought unions like ourselves in to proudly boast about consensus," said Moroz, whose union declined to participate. Pallister admitted Wednesday he was wrong to say there was a "consensus" among the working group. "I asked for advice. I got the advice. We're acting on the advice, and most certainly it won't please everybody," the premier said. "People are not happy about this," said Moroz, adding union officials have been hearing from some of its 6,500 members in 160 disciplines. "They're asking, 'Why? Am I not at risk?'... They're quite upset." It shouldn't be called a "risk recognition" program if front-line health-care workers are excluded, said Moroz. The Manitoba Nurses Union had wondered from the start why it was invited by the province to join the working group for the $120-million program, said president Darlene Jackson. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES The Manitoba Nurses Union had wondered from the start why it was invited by the province to join the working group for the $120-million program, said president Darlene Jackson. 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. "My first comment on our first call was: 'Is this about risk or is this about low income?'" she said Wednesday. "They would not give us a clear answer." The union, with 12,000 members, didn't want to be part of a process that pitted front-line workers against one another, and declined to vote on who should receive the benefit. The nurses are not against a program recognizing low-income workers on the front lines of the pandemic, Jackson said. "I really hope it's successful, and everyone eligible for the benefit applies and gets it. There other ways to recognize nurses." A new contract would be the best form of recognition, she said. "Bring us back to the bargaining table. It's been three years since our collective agreement expired." carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Ukraine should compete for tourists, president believes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will propose that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs liberalize the country's travel regime with China and a number of other countries, whose citizens seek to come to Ukraine for tourist purposes. "I'll instruct the Foreign Ministry because it is my vertical. My proposal for visa liberalization, especially today, is to lift visa requirements for the list of countries whose citizens are willing to visit us," Zelensky said, He speaking at a meeting with tour operators in Kamyanets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytsky region. The president says the move will apply to a number of Arab countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, India, and China. "Most importantly, it's China because there's a stunning number of tourists who'd like to come to Ukraine," the president said. Read alsoEU not to revise conditions of visa-free travel with Ukraine He recalled that Ukraine's visa policy provides for canceling visas for citizens of countries where governments cancel visas for Ukrainians. "Now, probably, is not the time. We need to compete for tourists, so I think we need to lift [visas] and I think a lot of people will be coming to us, especially Chinese or Indians who wish to visit Ukraine," said Zelensky. As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expects the arrival of an assessment mission from Canada to study the possibility of liberalizing the visa regime between the two countries. A callous gang of brothers, the Emmanuels, have been arrested by the Nigerian police, after they gruesomely killed a 55 year-old woman, buried her in a tank and then demanded ransom for the body. The brothers, born by same parents, were arrested by police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force. They were identified as Johnson Emmanuel, 38; Gideon Emmanuel, 31 and Success Emmanuel, 27years old. According to the police, the three men kidnapped and killed Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya, a widow and mother of five children in Abuja. They were arrested in their home town of Isiekenesi, Ideato LGA of Imo State, where they had taken refuge from the long hands of the law. Investigations that led to the arrest of the suspects was sequel to complaints received from one of the children of the woman, Chinedu. He told the police that his mother, from Ozuitem in Bende LGA of Abia State had been kidnapped and a 5-Million naira ransom demanded before she could be released. A comprehensive and painstaking investigation by the police operatives resulted in the arrest of the three suspects. Then they made the confession that Janet had long been murdered and buried. Further findings revealed that Janet, a Facebook friend of the principal suspect Johnson Emmanuel, was lured from her home in Gwagwalada to visit the suspect. The suspect thereafter took advantage of the visit, served her yoghurt laced with drugs and subsequently had her murdered. The suspect having killed the victim and buried her remains in a septic tank, went ahead to reach out to the family of the victim using her phone and demanded 5-Million naira ransom as pre-condition for her release. Police said the suspects led a team of investigators alongside pathologists to a residence at Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja where the victims decomposing body was exhumed from a septic tank. The exhumed body has been taken to the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja for forensic examination, the police said. A Toyota Highlander Jeep belonging to the deceased has also been recovered by Police operatives at a mechanic workshop in Apo where it had been repainted into a different colour. The vehicle documents had also been fraudulently changed and ownership of the stolen vehicle transferred to Johnson Emmanuel, the mastermind of the crime. Investigations also revealed that the house where the deceased was killed and buried originally belonged to one of the suspects. The house was hurriedly sold-off to a third party apparently to obliterate evidence. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, commended the operatives for cracking the case. He also gave an assurance that perpetrators of any form of crimes in the country will not go undetected and unpunished. He however enjoined citizens to be more security conscious and report any suspicious activities within their neighbourhood to the nearest police station. Related In the context of the Cold War and with post-colonial independence movements spreading across Africa and Asia American leaders took seriously the devastating effect racism had on international opinion. Henry Cabot Lodge, the ambassador to the United Nations at the time, told Eisenhower that he could see clearly the harm that the riots in Little Rock are doing to our foreign relations and that we lost several votes because of it. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles thought it was ruining our foreign policy and would have a more serious impact on relations in Asia and Africa than the Soviet Union experienced from its brutal crackdown on Hungary a year earlier. As mob violence escalated, Eisenhower stepped in. He ordered 1,000 armed paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock. They surrounded the school and escorted the black students into the building. In a televised address to the country, Eisenhower said he had done this to protect the rule of law, and also because it would be difficult to exaggerate the harm that is being done to the prestige and influence, and indeed to the safety, of our nation and the world. The address was lauded in much of the foreign press and later used in Cold War propaganda to show that the American form of government protected individual rights. Eisenhowers deployment of troops in an American city in opposition to a governor may have appeared authoritarian, but it was an effort to enforce a court order protecting individual rights, which a governor had defied. Arkansas schools were shuttered the next year. When they reopened, the states approach to segregation was more subtle, provoking attention from neither the federal courts nor the worlds press. Ultimately, Eisenhowers drastic action may have been more effective at protecting the nations image than desegregating the schools. Civil rights protest in the United States kept international attention on American racism during the Kennedy administration. Police violence against peaceful demonstrators in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 is now remembered for its role in prompting the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the brutality also generated a crisis in American international relations, as leaders of newly independent African nations debated whether they should break with the United States. Although efforts to quell violent opposition to civil rights were important, the most effective response to international criticism was ultimately concrete change, like the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. This week, an audience around the world watched the shocking display of American troops at the Lincoln Memorial and in American cities for the purpose of squelching democratic rights, rather than protecting them. While Eisenhower proclaimed thus will be restored the image of America and of all its parts as one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, Mr. Trumps explanation was stark: I am your president of law and order. HISTORY Asperger s Children : The Origins of Autism In Nazi Vienna By Edith Sheffer (W.W. Norton 13.99, 317 pp) Early in 1939, German farm workers Richard and Lina Kretschmar wrote to Adolf Hitler asking for permission to kill their son. Severely disabled, Gerhard was, they said, a monster. Hitler sent his personal physician to examine the child. Five-month-old Gerhard died a few days later, most likely from barbiturate poisoning. He was, as Edith Sheffer highlights in her powerful, disturbing book, the first recorded victim of the Nazi child euthanasia programme. Over the next few years, hospitals and asylums all across the Third Reich requested and received licence to kill children. Death had become a treatment option. Those deemed unfit for the master race could be eliminated: they were unworthy of life. Influential: Hans Asperger at the childrens clinic in Vienna. Today, as Sheffer points out, his name is part of our daily lives One of the death institutions was Spiegelgrund, a childrens clinic in Vienna, where nearly 800 children are known to have been murdered during the war years. Hans Asperger was a young paediatrician working in Vienna at the time. Today, as Sheffer points out, his name is part of our daily lives. Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, is a familiar diagnosis, yet Asperger was little known throughout his life. In 1944, he published a doctoral thesis in which he wrote about what he called autistic psychopathy. It was only in 1981, a year after he died, that a British psychiatrist named Lorna Wing rediscovered the thesis and publicised his diagnosis as Aspergers Syndrome. Over the past 40 years, Aspergers work has become mainstream. Just as his name has become well-known, so the rates at which children have been diagnosed with some kind of disorder on the autism spectrum have shot up. In the U.S. in 1985, one in 2,500 children was so classified. In 2016, it was one in 68. So, should we be lionising Asperger as a heroic visionary? A man ahead of his time? Edith Sheffer does not think so. Quite the reverse. His legacy is irredeemably tainted by his association with ideas and actions from the Nazi era but, unlike some of his Viennese colleagues, Asperger did not face criminal charges after the end of the war. His career flourished. Unlike some of his Viennese colleagues, Hans Asperger did not face criminal charges after the end of the war. His career flourished He was a devout Catholic and he had never joined the Nazi party. However, Sheffer makes it clear that he knew about the child euthanasia programme. Ordinary Viennese citizens heard rumours of it so, as a doctor working in a childrens hospital, Asperger was certainly aware of it. And yet Asperger encouraged other doctors to refer children to Spiegelgrund and he even sent patients there directly from his own clinic. He was a close colleague of Erwin Jekelius, who began the war as director of the Steinhof asylum, where he oversaw the deaths of around 4,000 adults judged superfluous to Nazi requirements. Jekeliuss activities were notorious. In October 1940, a demonstration outside the Steinhof was broken up by the police and the SS. Even the British knew what he was doing. The RAF dropped leaflets on Vienna in September 1941, warning citizens: Jekelius haunts the corridors of Steinhof in a white doctors coat with his syringe. He does not bring new life to the ill, but death. Edith Sheffer's book is a terrifying expose of how doctors and psychiatrists cruelly abused the powers they had over troubled children Jekelius, described by one man who knew him as a satanic figure, was so active in the Nazi regime that he even became engaged to Hitlers sister, Paula. The Fuhrer disapproved of the match and it was broken off. In autumn 1940, Jekelius also became director of Spiegelgrund. Some of what happened in Spiegelgrund is scarcely credible and makes for painful reading. Children could end up there for the most trivial of reasons. Ernst Pacher was eight years old when he found himself taken into care after waving at an enemy airplane. He was later moved to Spiegelgrund. Punishments were frequent, cruel and humiliating. Staff gave children so-called vomit shots which induced hours of stomach pain and throwing up. At other times, they were injected with the sulphur cure which caused temporary paralysis. Friedrich Zawrel, a Spiegelgrund survivor, recalled how, at the age of 14, he was displayed naked in front of 30 female nursing students. A doctor used a baton to point out the physical defects which made him genetically inferior. Many of the students laughed, as if they were attending a circus performance. Individual buildings at Spiegelgrund were known as pavilions. Pavilion 17 was a place of observation but could all too easily become an antechamber to death. Pavilion 15 was where children were killed. The usual method was to grind up Luminal or Veronal tablets and put them in food. This was mixed with sugar or syrup to disguise the bad taste. The Spiegelgrund inmates were only too aware of what might happen to them. Doctors conducted regular selection processes. As one survivor later testified: The first children they selected were the bedwetters, or harelips, or the slow thinkers We did not dare ask where they were taken. We never saw them again. Handcarts trundled across the grounds carrying corpses. A boy named Alois Kaufman summoned up sufficient courage to peek inside one when it was temporarily untended. He saw little Karl W. who was lying in this green cart. He was dead. He had just been sitting at the desk behind me at school. This was the regime in which Asperger was implicated. He had a hand in the transfer of dozens of children to what he knew was likely to be their death. However, Aspergers Children is not just the record of one individuals weak-willed acquiescence in evil. Its also a chilling indictment of an entire system. The mission to eliminate undesirable children, Sheffer writes, mirrored the Reichs ambition to eliminate undesirable populations. Her book is a terrifying expose of how doctors and psychiatrists cruelly abused the powers they had over troubled children. Three white men have been charged in a murder case that caused a national outcry after video of the shooting leaked. One of the white men charged in the Georgia killing of Ahmaud Arbery used a racial slur after shooting the unarmed Black man, an investigator for the prosecution said in court on Thursday, an explosive new allegation in one of the cases roiling race relations in the United States. Special Agent Richard Dial of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said William Bryan told his office in an interview last month that Travis McMichael uttered the slur after shooting Arbery. Bryan and McMichael are both defendants in the case. Mr Bryan said that after the shooting took place before police arrival, while Mr Arbery was on the ground, that he heard Travis McMichael make the statement: f****** n*****, Dial said in testimony. The Arbery case triggered a national outcry after cellphone video footage of the February 23 shooting was leaked on social media. Thursdays hearing was to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. The hearing in Glynn County follows more than a week of demonstrations across the US over the May 25 death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, also an African American. Four officers have been charged in that case. Dial said he had evidence from social media and elsewhere that Travis McMichael had used racial slurs in the past. McMichael, a former US Coast Guard boarding officer, once told a friend that he loved his job because he was on a boat and there werent any n-words anywhere, Dial testified. Dial said the three defendants Bryan, 50, Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Gregory McMichael, 64 chased Arbery in pick-up trucks and sought to box him in as he was jogging in their neighbourhood. Both McMichaels have been charged with murder and aggravated assault. Bryan, their neighbour who took the cellphone video, was charged with murder and attempting to illegally detain and confine. Jason Sheffield, a lawyer for Travis McMichael, pressed Dial on whether Bryan was promised leniency for possible cooperation with prosecutors when he cited the alleged slur and whether he had evidence his client acted in self-defence. Dial said he was unaware of any leniency offer and that it was Arbery, not McMichael, who was defending himself. I believe Mr Arberys decision was to just try to get away and when he felt like he could not escape, he chose to fight, Dial said. Dial also testified that investigators found several texts on Bryans phone that contained racially derogatory comments, and that he believed racial bias played a role in Bryans decision to join the pursuit of Arbery. The three defendants were not charged until more than two months after the shooting. State police stepped in to investigate after the video circulated widely and Glynn County police took no action. Police say Gregory McMichael saw Arbery running in his neighbourhood and believed he looked like a burglary suspect. The elder McMichael called his son and the two armed themselves and gave chase in a pick-up truck, police say. Dial said video and other evidence showed that the first of three shots from Travis McMichaels 12-gauge Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun was to Arberys chest. You see the front of his shirt is saturated with blood, Dial said. The second shot is off-camera as well but you do see the blood mist come into the camera screen. The Presbyterian Church of Ghana has commended health workers in the country for all the efforts and sacrifice they had made to help contain the spread of the coronavirus to save the lives of people. Reverend (Dr) Kofi Amfo-Akonnor, Rev Minister in-charge of the Koforidua District of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, made the statement at the presentation of items from various branches of the church in the New Juaben North and South Municipality to the Koforidua Regional Hospital to support the efforts of staff of the hospital in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. He said government is doing a lot to help contain the spread of the coronavirus its efforts alone would not be enough hence the decision of the church to complement the efforts of government with the donation. Rev Amfo-Akonnor said with the easing of church activities, the church would reorganize and mobilize more resources to support the hospital. He said the current donation was a joint contribution of the Adweso, Koforidua, Nsukwao and Effiduase districts of the church all in the New Juaben North and South Municipality in the Eastern Region. The items donated include gallons of liquid soap, boxes of tissue papers, packs of toilet rolls and a truck load of packs of sachet water and cartons of bottled water produced by the Presbyterian Church. The items were received on behalf of the hospital by Mrs Philomina Mreku, a Senior Nursing Officer, who thanked the church for the donation and assured that the items would be given to the patients of the hospital to help in their recovery. 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 Alex Jones, 31, and his girlfriend, Maya Johnson, 18, shown at a homeless encampment near 1st and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles, were both cited by Los Angeles police Saturday morning during a protest against police brutality. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Last Friday, Maya Johnson, 18, and her boyfriend Alex Jones, 31, were returning from a late-night run for burritos to their home a tent on 1st Street between Spring and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Protests had grown outside of City Hall and the couple, who had not heard about the killing of George Floyd, decided to check out the commotion. Around 9:30 p.m. the Los Angeles Police Department declared an unlawful assembly for much of downtown and began pushing the crowd south, away from the City Hall steps. That's when Johnson and Jones, who have both been homeless for about two years, were arrested and cited for "failure to obey a lawful order from a peace officer," according to a ticket Johnson received. Jones said they sat zip-tied on the pavement and then on a bus for two hours before being booked shortly after midnight and then released. They stayed in their tent as fireworks went off all night nearby and protesters and looters passed. "I ... just went to go see [the commotion]," Jones said. "The last few days have been very chaotic." Isaac D., right, watches as protestors in the 2nd Street Tunnel in Los Angeles. Homeless are exempt from the curfew in place for the protesters. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said Thursday that it didn't plan another countywide curfew as protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue across Southern California. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said there would be no curfew in the city of Los Angeles either. But for several days, homeless people throughout the region were put in the uncomfortable position of obeying a curfew when their home is, at best, a tent. Living on the street during a pandemic had already been hard with social distancing continuing to be a challenge and the lack of access to healthcare ever present. But Johnson and Jones, along with other homeless people, outreach workers and lawyers, all said the civil unrest of the last week, which triggered curfews throughout the county, made bedding down outside at night even harder. In Hollywood, the curfews and looting forced stores to close for several days making it more difficult for homeless people in that neighborhood to buy food, according to Heidi Marston, interim director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. She had been out talking to homeless people and outreach workers earlier this week. Story continues Los Angeles police officers rush to arrest dozens of protesters who were violating curfew laws on Broadway on Tuesday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) "It has hurt their ability to access food," Marston told The Times earlier this week. "People who would go get food or have it brought to them now cant. So we're trying to give out extra meals. The county didnt think about that as we thought about curfew and the ending of access to resources." Similarly, Melissa Acedera distributes meals to homeless people and is able to source her supplies from supermarkets who give her unsold food. But she can only pick that stuff up when she gets off work after 6 p.m. The curfews threw her organization into a state of chaos, although her brother was able to pick up the food on Monday. "I didnt want to risk it. I just wasnt sure what was going on," she said. "There's just been so much unrest that I wasnt sure how the police were going to deal with essential workers. I hate thinking any of them will go hungry. I always promise I will come through with a meal." This week she wasn't able to. Alerts about the curfews sowed confusion among Angelenos as overlapping jurisdictions gave what seemed like contradictory information about who could still be out after curfew. Many homeless people don't have phones and had no way of knowing if law enforcement would arrest them. In any case, they had nowhere to go. Eleanor Altamira, right, who is homeless, waits to get back to her tent while two protestors video a protestor who was briefly detained and let go by LAPD. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times) It is not clear how many homeless people may have been arrested for allegedly violating the curfew. Both the city and county curfews exempted the homeless, although that wasn't necessarily clear in the alerts. For example, on Monday, the county's notice explicitly exempted the homeless, but the city only specified exemptions for people "traveling to and from work, seeking or giving emergency care, and emergency responders." Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles attorney Shayla Myers said there was a several-hour period Monday when it was not clear whether homeless people were allowed to stay on the streets in Los Angeles. She said there were tens of thousands of people who were affected by the curfew, but may not have been notified, and would have had no way to adhere to it if it hadn't exempted people living on the streets. "I think it is enraging and incredibly problematic that all of the stated exemptions are not included in the public notice," Myers said. Johnson has no phone, and she and Jones made sure to not leave their tents as day turned to night last weekend and during this week. A couple of tents down, Karl Hamilton received the push alert on his phone and made sure to get food for himself well in advance of the 6 p.m. curfew. For people with homes, staying indoors is an easier proposition. Hamilton worries that if he went out even for a moment, the LAPD might arrest him. "It's going down right now. I'm obeying the rules and staying in this tent." Tasha Tinsley, 41, sits next to a friend's tent at an encampment near 3rd and Main streets in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) A couple of blocks away at a large, tightly packed encampment in a plaza at 3rd and Main streets, Tasha Tinsley, 41, found a sliver of shade to smoke a cigarette in on Wednesday. Her boyfriend is currently in jail, and she's been sleeping on the streets for several months since coming to Los Angeles from Missouri. During the unrest over the week, her tent was damaged the poles that keep it upright were snapped. She recalled how in recent days, LAPD officers would come by to tell the people in the encampment not to leave their tents after curfew. She has hepatitis C and has been waiting three weeks to get into a hotel room that the county is providing to medically vulnerable and elderly homeless people. Each day she hopes that will come through. For two nights, she was able to stay with a friend in Long Beach, but is now back on the street. "I am trying to get my business done during the day," she said, "because at night I'm not leaving my tent." KYODO NEWS - Jun 4, 2020 - 18:37 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Foreign residents of Japan who should be allowed back into the country on humanitarian grounds will be exempt from the country's entry ban, the Justice Ministry has said. The move comes amid confusion among Japan's international community regarding travel restrictions put in place to prevent the novel coronavirus from being brought in from overseas. Permission to enter Japan may be granted "depending on the individual situation if there are special exceptional circumstances, particularly such as when there are circumstances that require humanitarian consideration," reads a notice added to the ministry's website on May 27. An official of the Immigration Services Agency said Thursday such cases include those in which a family member has died overseas or a foreign resident requires medical treatment that cannot be received in Japan. Foreign residents can contact the agency, the nearest regional immigration bureau or their home country's embassy in Japan to confirm whether they qualify, the official said. Japan has banned entry from 111 countries and regions, including the United States, most of Asia including China and South Korea, and all of Europe. Foreign nationals who have been to any of those areas in the last two weeks are being turned away at the border. UPDATE! Specific examples of cases where permission for re-entry may be granted (Ministry of Justice, as of June 12) Related coverage: Japan eyes easing ban on entry from Thailand, Australia, 2 others Hotels, university offer free stays for foreigners stranded in Japan Q&A: Japan's coronavirus-related border controls More than 1,000 protestors marched from the police headquarters to Travis Park on Wednesday, advocating for change following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed last week while in Minneapolis police custody. The demonstrators showed up at San Antonio Public Safety Headquarters asking for police reform and better communication with authorities before heading to the downtown park, where they they allowed protestors to speak in what turned out to be a peaceful gathering. The protestors were joined by dozens of local churches, which held prayer services. We live in San Antonio, we love this city and the only way that these things continue is if good people do nothing. So, we couldnt just let this continue, said Charles Flowers, a senior pastor at Faith Outreach. Katrina Gilmeneses' 5-year-old son's father is African American and said she is concerned he will be in danger of being attacked as he gets older because of the color of his skin. But it is encouraging to see so many people out here trying to work for change," Gilmeneses said. "I want awareness so we can spark that conversation about the injustices and treatment of people of color." About 100 remained at Travis Park past the 9 p.m. curfew set for downtown. Some were warning others about turning the protests violent. ON EXPRESSNEWS.COM: San Antonio marches on, leaders reiterate goals during fifth day of protests "Breaking stuff, that is what they done in other places, but we don't do that here," one man said to the crowd. "We are San Antonio, what we need to do is go out and vote." "There are some people here that are not on the same page as us, and what do we do when we see an antagonizer? We point them out," he added. "If you are here to party or are just looking for something to do, then go home." Around 9:30 p.m., SAPD officers met with the group to remind them of the curfew and to talk with protesters. Deputy Chief Gus Guzman was handed a megaphone to answer questions. "This is one of the best groups we have had all week and I wanted to thank you," Guzman told the crowd. "We just want to make sure we keep you safe as you get your message out and we hope that we have done that tonight." Though the crowd quizzed Guzman on the recent clashes with police, they remained friendly and cheered the officer on, asking him to join them in their cause. While Guzman declined to walk with protesters, saying he had to act as supervisor for the other officers, he told the crowd he was excited to see them back the next day. RELATED: Throwing urine, breaking windows some of acts that led to 16 arrests in San Antonio after protests "The police officers working tonight are here to support their right to be here and to keep them safe and this is an excellent group that I have talked to," Guzman later told reporters. "They are very supportive of the police surprisingly, and I appreciate that." Though Guzman reminded the crowd of the curfew, police didn't enforce it, instead allowing protesters to mingle at Travis Park. It wasn't until almost midnight when the group started to disperse. No violence, destruction or arrests related to the protested were reported for the first time since Saturday. Two people unrelated to the protests were arrested downtown after officers were made aware of a man, later identified as 27-year-old Andre Hogan, who was possibly armed and bragging about wanting to kill the police, SAPD said. Police detained Hogan for being in violation of the city curfew ordinance and upon searching him, officers found a handgun and a bottle of ecstasy. Hogan was arrested in connection with unlawfully carrying a gun, possession with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana and city ordinance violations. Payton Kirkham, 24, who was with Hogan, was also arrested in connection with a warrant, possession of marijuana and city ordinance violations. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced that six leading international utility project developers have been prequalified to bid for Madinah 3, a key independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) coming up in the Saudi city. These include consortiums led by Spanish groups Acciona Agua (with partner International Water Distribution Company {Tawzea}); FCC Aqualia (with partners Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies and Alfanar Company); and G S Inima Environment (with Al Jomaih Energy and Water Company). The other prequalified bidders are Marubeni Corporation, a leading developer and operator of international power projects; Metito Utilities, a leader in total intelligent water management solutions in emerging markets and Veolia Middle East, a specialist in optimised resource management. A major ISTP, Madinah 3 will have a total treatment capacity of 375,000 cu m per day. The project is part of the government's programme to commission a further round of new ISTPs in the kingdom, said SWPC, which had invited expressions of interest (EOIs) for the mega project in January this year. Under a 25-year sewage treatment agreement with SWPC, a project company is to be incorporated to develop the project and it will treat the entire sewage capacity supplied by SWPC. The Saudi utility firm said the winning developer/developer consortium would be responsible for the financing, engineering, procurement, construction, implementation, ownership, operation, maintenance and transfer of the project, together with associated infrastructure and facilities. SWPC is being advised by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (DIFC Branch Dubai) as lead and financial adviser; DLA Piper as legal adviser; and WS Atkins & Partners Overseas Engineering Consultants as technical adviser for the Madinah 3 project.-TradeArabia News Service New normal: A restaurant in Belgium uses perspex barriers for social distancing One in five food businesses here say the market outlook has improved as a result of Covid-19, according to a report from Grant Thornton. As government restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the deadly virus turn the food sector on its head, some companies feel they will experience a positive impact. Among the factors contributing to this view is the prospect of a renegotiation of business terms, which could provide greater long-term opportunities. In addition, efficiencies realised within business operations may be sustained post Covid-19 and result in increased margins, the report suggests. Padraig Ryan, director in Grant Thornton's Business Consulting team, said: "The food industry has shown great resilience to recover from initial Covid-19 shockwaves. "Unsurprisingly the industry has placed a real focus on curtailing costs and driving increased revenues and, where possible, increased margins." The pandemic has resulted in changing consumer behaviours as increasing numbers of people work from home. Hundreds of restaurants and cafes are operating at a significantly reduced capacity due to the restrictions, and fewer employees are purchasing food-to-go items. Over 80pc of the businesses surveyed indicated that they forecast a decline in revenue as a result of Covid-19. Two thirds of those expecting a decline in income said that this fall was "significant". In addition to declining revenues, supply chain and people- management issues have challenged businesses in the industry. The primary challenges for food companies in the short term include human resources, the inbound and outbound supply chain and operational efficiency. Sourcing raw materials, particularly those coming from abroad, and operating a production facility at reduced capacity have also impacted the industry. In order to manage rising costs, over 50pc of respondents said they had delayed or postponed internal improvement projects as a result of the pandemic, while a similar number had been forced to reduce staffing levels in order to lower their cost base. Meanwhile, some 43pc of businesses expect the virus to have a long-term negative impact on operational efficiency, as social distancing requirements are maintained and there is a reduced demand for certain products. Almost two thirds of companies said Covid-19 would hamper their long-term capital expenditure plans, meaning a loss of efficiency and a failure to innovate, according to the report. Representatives of China and Laos attend a ceremony marking the handover of medical supplies in Lao capital Vientiane on June 2, 2020. The second batch of medical supplies, provided by China's Ministry of National Defense to its Lao counterpart for the fight against COVID-19, was handed over in Vientiane on Tuesday. (Chinese Embassy in Laos/Handout via Xinhua) VIENTIANE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of medical supplies, provided by China's Ministry of National Defense to its Lao counterpart for the fight against COVID-19, was handed over in the Wattay International Airport of Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday. Chen Yongjing, military attache of the Chinese Embassy in Laos, said at the handover ceremony that China sincerely thanks Laos for its valuable support and assistance in China's fight against COVID-19. With the worldwide spread of COVID-19, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has actively carried out international cooperation to combat the virus, he said. Chen noted that in late April, a team of Chinese army medical experts came to Laos, bringing with them the first batch of donated medical supplies, to join Laos' efforts in fight against COVID-19. "Today, the Chinese air force aircraft brought the second batch of medical supplies including ventilators, monitors and other medical aid to meet the urgent needs of the Lao army," Chen said. "We believe that the joint efforts of the two armies, as an important part of the two countries' joint efforts to fight the epidemic, will contribute to the building of China-Laos community with a shared future," Chen added. Vongkham Phommakone, directer general of the General Logistics Department of the Lao People's Army, spoke highly of China's contribution to the global fight against COVID-19, and expressed Lao army's heartfelt thanks to the Chinese army for the support and assistance. Lao soldiers unload medical supplies from the Chinese air force aircraft in Lao capital Vientiane on June 2, 2020. The second batch of medical supplies, provided by China's Ministry of National Defense to its Lao counterpart for the fight against COVID-19, was handed over in Vientiane on Tuesday. (Chinese Embassy in Laos/Handout via Xinhua) Washington: The malaria drug promoted by US President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 is ineffective in preventing infection in people exposed to the coronavirus, according to a widely anticipated clinical trial released on Wednesday. The new trial found no serious side effects or heart problems from use of hydroxychloroquine, contrary to previous studies. A pharmacist holds a bottle of the drug hydroxychloroquine in Oakland, California. Credit:AP Vocal support from Trump kicked off a heated debate and raised expectations for the decades-old drug that could be a cheap and widely available tool in fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 6.4 million people and killed more than 382,000 worldwide. In the first major study comparing hydroxychloroquine to a placebo to gauge its effect against the new coronavirus, University of Minnesota researchers tested 821 people who had recently been exposed to the virus or lived in a high-risk household. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Chinese fashion leader aims to grow sales with innovative virtual buying session solution CAMPBELL, Calif., June 4, 2020 Urban Revivo (UR), the Chinese fast luxury fashion brand, has chosen to implement Centric Softwares Digital Buying Board. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury, consumer goods and home decor companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals. Established in 2006, UR pioneered the worlds first fast luxury fashion business model. Currently, UR has 6,300 employees, a creative design center in London and 290 stores worldwide. UR has expanded its overseas business into Singapore, Thailand, the UK and the Middle East. UR successfully implemented Centrics flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution, Centric PLMTM, in 2017. UR has now selected Centrics Digital Buying Board from the Centric Visual Innovation Platform (Centric VIP) family of visual innovation boards in order to drive team collaboration and decision-making, in-person or remotely, and promote value maximization through product portfolio strategies. The Centric Digital Buying Board is an easy to use, highly visual and collaborative board planners, designers, developers, buyers, sales teams, retailers and other parties to hold collaborative buying sessions online. The Digital Buying Board optimizes the procurement process, facilitates better decision-making early in the assortment development phase by sales channel, store and cluster to reduce time to market, capture buyer commitments in real time and adjust the product offer to maximize sales. Centrics Digital Buying Board can make our product mix richer and more strategic, improve the accuracy of our merchandising and assortment structure and help the buying team to make better decisions, says the Head of Operations, Design Center at UR. The Digital Buying Board provides reports and analytical views that offer comprehensive information to drive our buying work. It mobilizes the creativity of our management teams and leads to more precise business decision-making. We are delighted that UR is strengthening their partnership with Centric, and they will be the first customer in China to implement a Centrics Digital Buying Board, says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. The Digital Buying Board will transform how URs teams work, enabling UR to grow sales and realize their international expansion strategy. Learn more about Centric VIP Digital Boards Request a Demo Urban Revivo (UR) (www.ur.cn) Urban Revivo (UR) uses fast fashion business models to lead operations. Since its establishment in 2006, the business has made rapid progress, becoming the creator of the world's first fast luxury fashion business model. With fashion UR, technology UR as the strategic core, UR adheres to fashion at its root but is technology-based. UR continues to increase investment in product design and technology, create the latest fashion trend products for customers, and use technology to enable management to reduce costs, make more efficient and more accurate decisions, realize the transformation from traditional enterprises to innovative intelligent business enterprises, and realize the dream of making the world more fashionable. UR's mission is to improve the quality of people's fashion life, and its goal is to become the world's largest fashion group and Chinas first transformed fashion brand. Currently, it has 6,300 employees worldwide, a creative design center in London, and 290 physical stores worldwide. Starting to expand its overseas business in 2016, it has now developed to Singapore, Thailand, London and Middle East markets. Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com) From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, consumer goods and home decor. Centrics flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB provides innovative PLM technology and key industry learnings for emerging brands. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) offers a new fully visual and digital experience for collaboration and decision-making and includes the Centric Buying Board to transform internal buying sessions and maximize retail value and the Centric Concept Board for driving creativity and evolving product concepts. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs. Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and PLM solutions. Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016 and 2018. Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contacts: Centric Software Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe@centricsoftware.com EMEAR: Kristen Salaun-Batby, ksalaun-batby@centricsoftware.com APAC: Lily Dong, lily.dong@centricsoftware.com Leading global smart device brand, OPPO partnered with renowned actor Eddie Redmayne, rock climber Alex Honnold and technology reviewer Marques Brownlee to inspire people to continue pushing their boundaries and strive for better. Conveying the spirit to explore more possibilities, OPPOs latest Finder Campaign salutes these explorers who have pushed themselves to achieve new heights in their respective fields. With the aim to inspire and empower people with explorer stories to find their own X factor, like the explorers did, OPPOs Finder Campaign is a unique campaign that urges people take a step further to explore the ultimate with their capabilities. From the beginning, exploration has been embedded in OPPOs DNA and the Find series signifies the spirit of exploration. Committed to offering a true premium smartphone experience to its consumers, OPPO will launch its much-awaited premium flagship series Find X2 series in India on 17th May 2020. OPPOs Find X2 has enabled the Explorers to constantly create new possibilities for themselves and strive to achieve more. Earlier this year, OPPO also announced the British actor, Eddie Redmayne, as its global brand ambassador. Eddies deep devotion to the performing art and courage to explore more echoes with OPPOs relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of innovation. In his video talking about the Find X2, Eddie says, Every time we play someone else, we find out something new about ourselves. Every time we use the Find X2, we find more. Watch the video here. For Alex Honnold, the famous American Rock climber, the use of OPPO Find X2, is based on an infatuation with self-improvement. The Find X2 is there for Alex as a climbing companion, for all his endeavours in reaching new heights. OPPO Find series is the symbol of OPPOs exploration spiritand each product embodies OPPO's thinking of the future. Featuring the best in class display with 120 Hz refresh rate for ultimate viewing experience, an advanced image technology and ultimate charging technology with SuperVOOC 2.0, OPPOs latest flagship Find X2 series strives to bring out the best. Venkatesha Babu and Smriti Kak Ramachndran With four members of the Rajya Sabha retiring this month, the race to replace them has intensified in Karnataka. Potential candidates from both national parties the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-- are lobbying their party leaderships for nominations to the Upper house Two Congress members B K Hariprasad and Prof M V Rajeev Gowda -- are due to retire on June 25 along with the BJPs Prabhakar Kore and D Kupendra Reddy of the Janata Dal (Secular) when their terms end. Given the current composition in the 224-member Karnataka assembly, where the BJP has 117 MLAs, the Congress 68 , JDS 34 and independents three (two seats are vacant), the BJP can have two Rajya Sabha MPs elected and the Congress one but with extra votes to spare -- and the JDS, if it manages additional votes, one. For election to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, a member would require 44 votes. So the BJP can comfortably have t two members elected, with votes to spare. Kore, an education baron, is keen for another term, but the BJP is unlikely to nominate him, given that he has already has served two consecutive terms. Tejaswini, the wife of late former Union minister Ananth Kumar who narrowly missed out on the Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat won by her husband for six consecutive terms, is considered to be a key contender. Ramesh Katti, the brother of BJPs eight-term MLA Umesh Katti, has publicly declared that chief minister BS Yediyurappa should keep his promise of sending him to the Upper house. I have urged the CM to fulfil his promise of (sending me to the RS) he made last year when I was denied the Chikkodi Lok Sabha ticket, Katti told HT. A lesser known name doing the rounds as a potential candidate is of Prof M Nagaraj, known as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) ideologue from the northern Karnataka stronghold of the BJP. The BJP state-in-charge Muralidhara Rao himself is seen as a contender for one of the Rajya Sabha seats. Industrialist and media baron Vijay Sankeshwar, a former three-term Lok Sabha member, is also seen to be in the running. Two surprising names doing the rounds as potential BJP nominees are of Sudha Murthy philanthropist and the wife of Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy -- and K V Kamath, former chief of ICICI Bank. A senior BJP leader who did not want to be identified told HT: Ultimately it will be a call of the party high command in consultation with the chief minister, so all the names doing rounds, while they might have aspirations, only the core committee will ultimately decide. For the lone seat the Congress can win, former leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge is seen as the front-runner. The other names being mentioned are of former union ministers K H Muniyappa and Veerpa Moily. Muniyappa, a seven-term MP, told HT: I am not an aspirant and would gladly support any choice made by the high command. I am ready to work in the organization to bring the party back to power in the state. My only desire is that those who have stabbed the party in the back and helped BJP come to power should not get rewarded. His remarks indicate lingering divisions within the party, which experienced a rebellion last that year that enabled the BJP under Yediyurappa to come back to power in Karnataka. The Congress would have nearly 24 votes to spare and is likely to support JDS supremo and former PM HD Deve Gowda if he decides to contest. Political analyst Prof Harish Ramaswamy said Yediyurappa will have to do a tightrope walk to ensure that he keeps all sections in the party happy while choosing the RS candidates. Congress and JDS are likely to reach an understanding as it will also enhance further ties between the two parties to jointly take on the BJP in the state, Ramaswamy said. A late night meeting last week of over a dozen MLAs from North Karnataka was perceived to be a sign of a brewing rebellion against the Yeddiyurappa government, which is also preparing for the legislative council elections. According to reports, these MLAs met at senior legislator Umesh Kattis residence. Katti himself has been eyeing a place in the state cabinet, and has also not shied away from seeking a Rajya Sabha berth for his brother. In Delhi, BJP leaders are not pleased. Everyone has aspiration to either become a minister or get a ticket to contest. These decisions cannot be taken on the basis of arm twisting. There is a system of the parliamentary board taking decision and that will be followed in every state, said a BJP functionary in Delhi. Discord has also been brewing over candidate selection for assembly bypolls in the party units in Madhya Pradesh and over the selection of a new party president in Himachal Pradesh to replace Rajeev Bindal, who stepped down in May after his name was indirectly dragged into a corruption case involving the state health department. In Madhya Pradesh, where the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government made a comeback in March after being out of power for 15 months; disquiet prevails over the possibility of 22 rebel MLAs being selected to contest the bypolls. There are a couple of contenders for the presidents post {in HP}; and as is natural, their support groups have been holding meetings. There is however no threat to the state government, said a BJP leader requesting anonymity. Political analyst Shirish Kashikar said the disagreements within the BJP were not serious enough to destabilise the partys state governments. Each state unit has its own dynamics, and it is obvious that there will be friction if old party workers are made to compete for positions or tickets with their erstwhile opponents, he said. Having said that, in each of these cases the disagreements are not so intense or deep that the opposition can instigate defections or cause the government to fall, as it had happened when the BJP engineered the fall of the Kamal Nath government in MP. Reuters Donald Trumps defence secretary has announced his opposition to using the 19-century Insurrection Act to allow the US military onto the street to counter looting and riots in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mark Esper spoke on Wednesday following reports the White House was softening its stance on the plan. Also on Wednesday, the administration moved to block Chinese airlines from flying into the US in retaliation for a similar move made by Beijing, continuing the trade spat between the two countries. The president attacked his old foe, the lamestream media, for covering the demonstrations and told New Yorks governor he should use the National Guard to PUT DOWN RIOTING NOW. He further claimed that THE BEST IS YET TO COME for black Americans, after anointing himself the spiritual heir to Abraham Lincoln in an earlier message. T hirteen people were arrested during a London Black Lives Matter protest sparked by the death of George Floyd, the Metropolitan Police has said. Thousands of people descended upon central London on Wednesday to take part in demonstrations, which saw crowds flock to Hyde Park at lunchtime before later marching towards Parliament. But after a peaceful start to the day, physical altercations broke out as tensions bubbled over outside Prime Minister Boris Johnson's residence. Anti-racism protesters hurled temporary barriers and glass bottles at the gates of Downing Street and riot police were deployed as chaos broke out after dusk. Police scuffle with anti-racism protesters in Westminster 1 /32 Police scuffle with anti-racism protesters in Westminster A protestor kneels in front of police officers in riot hemlets as he appeals for calm to his fellow protestors AFP via Getty Images Police officers in riot helmets walk along Whitehall AFP via Getty Images Police officers in riot helmets walk along Whitehall AFP via Getty Images Police officers in riot helmets reacts as protestors attempt to stop a police van leaving AFP via Getty Images Police officers in riot helmets reacts as protestors attempt to stop a police van leaving AFP via Getty Images Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Protestors scuffle with Police officers near the entrance to Downing Street AFP via Getty Images Protesters and police officers clash near Downing Street Reuters Police officers react after protestors pushed through barriers AFP via Getty Images Officers attempt to detain a protester AFP via Getty Images Protesters interact with police officers near Downing Street in London AP Protesters sit on what appears to be a vandalised van next to the Cenotaph Getty Images Police officers detain a protester following a clash near Downing Street during a "Black Lives Matter" protes Reuters Police officers detain a protester following a clash near Downing Street during a "Black Lives Matter" protes Reuters Officers attempt to detain a protester AFP via Getty Images Protesters are held back by police Getty Images Police officers react as an orange peel is thrown at them AFP via Getty Images Protesters are faced by a line of police AP A protester wearing a t-shirt with fake blood Getty Images Officers attempt to detain protesters AFP via Getty Images Footage from the scene showed objects, including signs and a traffic cone, being thrown at officers and at least one protester being wrestled to the ground and restrained by police. A number of police vans were seen descending on the area, where protesters had earlier climbed up onto window sills on the outside of the Treasury building and gathered outside the Cabinet Office, which had been daubed with BLM in black paint. Despite rumours circulating on social media that The Cenotaph had been vandalised during the protests, police said they were not aware of any damage of the monument. Some protestors threw barriers towards the gates of Downing Street ( AFP via Getty Images) The developments came after thousands of protesters peacefully "took the knee" together and raised their fists to the sky at 6pm to honour Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in custody last week in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Some police officers were seen taking a knee earlier in the day outside Downing Street, however, as those demonstrating knelt for the mass gesture, none of the officers appeared to join them. Brits who wanted to support the Black Lives Matter campaign and Wednesday's protests from home had been urged to observe the gesture , organised by Stand Up to Racism (SUTR), from their doorstep at 6pm. Protesters clash with police in London Earlier in the day, Star Wars actor John Boyega delivered an impassioned speech in Hyde Park about the death of Mr Floyd. Mr Boyega, 28, became tearful at points and referenced two other black Americans who controversially died in the US and the murder of Stephen Lawrence in the UK. We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd," he said. "We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence. John Boyega makes emotional speech at Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park He added: Im speaking to you from my heart. Look, I dont know if Im going to have a career after this, but f*** that. Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process, we dont know what George Floyd could have achieved, we dont know what Sandra Bland could have achieved, but today were going to make sure that wont be an alien thought to our young ones. The actor continued: I need you to understand how painful this s**t is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isnt the case anymore, that was never the case. Mr Johnson meanwhile said he was appalled and sickened to see what happened to Mr Floyd, while chief constables from across the UK issued a joint statement saying they stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified" by Mr Floyd's death. Chief constables issued a joint statement on Wednesday saying they 'stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified' over Mr Floyd's death / Getty Images In their joint statement, the National Police Chiefs Council said: "We stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified by the way George Floyd lost his life. Justice and accountability should follow." They said officers in the UK were "trained to use force proportionately, lawfully and only when absolutely necessary". However, they added: "We strive to continuously learn and improve. We will tackle bias, racism or discrimination wherever we find it." The Council said officers "uphold and facilitate" the right to lawful protest, adding that police "know people want to make their voices heard". But the body's statement also stressed that restrictions on gatherings rolled out in response to the coronavirus pandemic were still in place and urged people to "continue to work with officers at this challenging time". I Can't Breathe I'm angry! I'm so angry, I can't breathe; but I will. I will breathe for George Floyd. I will breathe for Eric Garner, for Breonna Taylor, for David McAtee, for all those affected by police brutality and were never heard; I will breathe for all those I marched with during the civil rights protest and who are no longer with us. It is my duty to breathe. Like many of you, I watched the horrific murder of George Floyd, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. As my wife and I sat there heartbroken watching George Floyd call out to his mother, we knew what he was saying. His cries of help meant one thing. He was saying please God, don't let this happen to me. Today, we are seeing the horrific ghosts of our past permeate all across this nation. Fifty-five years earlier, in Marion, Al., Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed while protecting his mother from being attacked by the police. His death led to the 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery. That Sunday, March 7, 1965, three hundred protestors gathered outside of the Brown Chapel A.M.E Church in Selma, Al., to peacefully protest police brutality and our most basic human rights. As the protestors began to leave the town of Selma and cross the Alabama River, they could read Edmund Pettus's name, a Confederate General and Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, decorated across the bridge's crossbeam. Once reaching the other side of the bridge, they met with a barricade of state troopers and Major John Cloud. Major Cloud's infamous words rang out from his bullhorn, "THIS MARCH WILL NOT CONTINUE," before ordering the troopers to disperse the crowd with clubs and tear gas. Those events directly parallel what has been happening this past week, except, every day is Bloody Sunday. Right now, there is a question as to whether or not black lives matter. When we say that black lives matter, we are not detracting from the fact that all lives matter, they do. I believe all lives matter, but we all need to look through the eyes of the people being victimized. I genuinely believe that more and more average citizens around the country are doing this, and they believe a change must take place. I think now more than ever, we need to ask ourselves, are we content with the status quo and hollow words, or are we inclined to make a positive change. It starts at the voting booth. This is an opportunity to channel generations of pain and frustration. Now is the time to pray, organize, strategize, and mobilize. To my fellow legislators, we need to start having real discussions about criminal justice reform and how we train our police officers. Over the past year, I introduced several bills addressing these very same issues: HB0321, HB0323, and HB0424. However, each bill met resistance. I was told now is not the right time to address these issues and that we need to wait and see the governor's criminal justice reform package first. We can no longer afford to wait! The time to do something meaningful and necessary is now more than ever. If we do not put an end to this, we will never progress. This progression is needed for the survival of all Americans and for the continued sustainability of our country. However, there are glimmers of what could be and what we should strive for, nationally here in Tennessee. I was extremely pleased to see Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy quickly and strongly denounce the horrific use of excessive force used against George Floyd. His words "if you wear a badge and you don't have an issue with thisturn it in," came as a sigh of relief for many Chattanoogans. In Nashville, peaceful protestors at our state's capital were met with armed members of the national guard. In a show of unexpected solidarity, the national guard laid down their riot shields. Together we will stand; we will breathe; we will be heard. New COVID-19 Testing Sites in Chattanooga On May 21, the Hamilton County Health Department announced the opening up four new COVID-19 testing sites located at Brainerd High School, East Lake Academy, Hardy Elementary, and Orchard Knob Elementary. The announcement comes after the Health Department's decision to no longer continue COVID-19 testing at that Bonnyshire Emissions Testing Center due to vehicle emission testing returning in certain parts of the state. It is important to note that testing will not occur inside the school building. These testing centers were strategically placed within the most populated areas of the county to ensure easy accessibility by everyone and maximum testing. All testing at these locations will be performed in a drive-through and walk-in tents around the school's parking lots. Testing at all four sites will take place between 7-11 a.m. Physician referrals, appointments, and present symptoms are not required to get tested. All COVID-19 testing is free. The new COVID-19 testing sites will operate through July. For questions about COVID-19 testing and information, call the COVID-19 hotline at 209-8383. Testing Dates Monday-Sunday Hardy Elementary School - 2100 Glass St, Chattanooga, TN 37406 May 26-31 June 8-14 June 22-28 July 6-12 July 20-26 East Lake Academy of Fine Arts - 2700 E 34th St, Chattanooga, TN 37407 May 26-29 June 8-12 June 22-26 July 6-10 July 20-24 Brainerd High School - 1020 N Moore Road, Chattanooga, TN 37411 June 1-7 June 15-21 June 29-July 5 July 13-19 July 27-Aug. 2 Orchard Knob Elementary School - 2000 E 3rd St, Chattanooga, TN 37404 June 1-5 June 15-19 June 29-July 3 July 13-17 July 27-31 Tips on How to Wear a Mask and Social Distancing To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends wearing a cloth face mask. To properly wear a face mask, the mask should fully cover the nose and mouth. Wearing a cloth face mask over the nose and mouth prevents a person who may not be aware that they have COVID-19 from spreading the virus. Face masks should not be placed on kids younger than age 2, or on people who have a hard time breathing or can not remove the mask themselves. Caution should be taken if you choose to wear a mask during any physical activity. If you choose to leave your home, it is imperative that you practice social distancing, follow good hygiene practices, and wear a face mask. COVID-19 most commonly enters our system when we touch our eyes, nose, and mouth after touching infected surfaces. Because of this, it is crucial to avoid touching shared surfaces as well as your face and to wash your hands frequently. Department of Labor: Unemployment If a Tennessee business closes to help slow down the spread of the COVID-19 and has to lay off employees temporarily, those workers can collect unemployment benefits, if they meet other eligibility requirements. For more detailed information on unemployment, please copy and paste the link provided. https://www.tn.gov/workforce The rumblings of dissent have grown in the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Karnataka unit over the nominations for the two of the states four vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha (RS), which goes to the polls on June 19. Though senior party leaders in Delhi have downplayed the friction, the opposition in Karnataka is using the opportunity to corner the BS Yediyurappa-led government. On Wednesday, opposition leader Siddaramaiah claimed on social media that disgruntled BJP leaders had met him to express their displeasure with the party. Of the four RS vacant seats in Karnataka, the BJP is expecting to win two and the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) are likely to fight it out for the other two. Last week, a late-night meeting was attended by over a dozen BJP members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) from north Karnataka. The meeting is being perceived as a mark of rebellion against the Yediyurappa government, which is also preparing for the upcoming state legislative council elections. Reports suggested that the BJP lawmakers from north Karnataka met at senior party MLA Umesh Kattis residence. Katti himself is eyeing a place in the state cabinet, while also seeking an Upper House berth for his brother. The murmurs of dissent have not gone down well with the party brass in the national capital. Everyone has an aspiration to either become a minister or get a ticket to contest an election. These decisions cannot be taken on the basis of arm-twisting. There is a system in place, where the parliamentary board takes its decision that needs to be followed in every state, said a BJP functionary in Delhi, requesting anonymity. Discord is brewing over the distribution of 24 by-poll tickets in the BJPs Madhya Pradesh (MP) unit and also over the selection of a new party president in Himachal Pradesh (HP). In MP, where the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government made a comeback after being out of power for 15 months; there is disquiet over the possibility of 22 rebel MLAs being given tickets for the by-poll to 24 assembly constituencies, whenever the Election Commission of India (ECI) announces the dates. Earlier, state unit president VD Sharma had told HT that the sacrifices made by the Congress MLAs, who broke away from the party that led to the ouster of the Kamal Nath government, would have to be taken into consideration. Several leaders in MP, who are aspiring for by-poll tickets, have also raised the issue with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJPs ideological brain trust. These leaders had pointed out that overlooking its own party cadre would not incentivise party discipline, according to a BJP leader from MP, who is privy to the development. HP is the latest state to report dissent in the BJPs ranks after Rajeev Bindal stepped down as the party president because his name figured, albeit in an oblique manner, in a corruption scandal of the health department. There are a couple of contenders for the presidents post; and as is natural, their support groups have been holding meetings. There is, however, no threat to the Jairam Thakur-led state government. The resignation in itself was an internal course correction and this is not an issue that can be politicised (by the opposition), said a BJP leader. Theres no threat to any of the state governments. All decisions will be made by the high command after following the due process, said a third leader, who declined to be named. Earlier in February, BJP leader from Maharashtra Eknath Khadse had accused the party of sidelining senior other backward class (OBC) leaders after his name did not figure in the list of candidates for the member of legislative council (MLC) elections. Former Maharashtra ministers such as Pankaja Munde and Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who were also overlooked, have refrained from making any comment in public, but have made their displeasures known for the party snub. Political analyst Shirish Kashikar said the BJP has been following the model of further weakening the opposition wherever it is on a weak wicket. Each state unit has its own dynamics, and it is obvious that there will be friction if old party workers are made to compete for posts or tickets with their erstwhile opponents. In each of these cases, the disagreements are not so intense or deep that the opposition can instigate defection or cause the government to fall, as it had happened when the BJP engineered the fall of the Kamal Nath government in MP, said Kashikar. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON He said that 12 times in the few minutes before he died. No, thats not the transcript of what happened to George Floyd in the United States but the last conversation David Dungay jnr had only a few minutes before he died with five men on top of him inside a cell in a jail in Sydney, a few days after Christmas in 2015. The brouhaha that led to his death didnt kick off because he had attacked another inmate or a guard, but because Dungay was eating a biscuit and was told to stop. So tell me again how all lives matter. Explain to me why come to Australia is trending on Twitter when an Aboriginal man can die because he was eating a biscuit when he wasnt supposed to be. Today reporter and Gamilaroi woman Brooke Boney has set a challenge for her fellow Australians. Credit:Wolter Peeters When we saw that awful video of George Floyd being restrained by those officers in Minneapolis, black mothers in Australia saw the faces of their sons beneath that knee. When he cried out for his dead mother with his last breath, he may as well have been calling their names because they, too, are scared this is what will happen to their babies in Australia. Weve watched on in horror, clutching our pearls at the sight of the destruction, rioting and looting. But like Bob Dylan says, when you aint got nothing, you got nothing to lose. What hope do you have of a prosperous future when theres 20 per cent unemployment, 100,000 people around you have died from COVID-19 and police are killing your brothers and sisters for no good reason? Not that there is ever a good reason. 3 1 of 3 Top row: The black-legged/deer tick familyMiddle row: Poppy seeds Bottom row: Nymph and adult longhorned ticksSource: New York State Department of Health Researchers are inviting New Yorkers who develop a circular rash following a tick bite this summer to consider donating their blood. The above rash is an example of what to watch for. Provided FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, a carrier of Lyme disease. (CDC via AP, File) James Gathany LAKE GEORGE Anaplasmosis, a tick-borne illness with symptoms similar to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is on the rise in the Adirondacks and upstate New York. Its a concern for state health officials as more people go outside to fight cabin fever amid a wider focus on the pandemic. Some of the symptoms include fever, muscle aches and even respiratory failure, all similar signs of the infectious COVID-19 disease that has killed more than 100,000 people in the United States this year. Anaplasmosis, if left untreated, can also be fatal. The carriers are usually the Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the deer tick or black-legged tick. Its a little challenging to cut through COVID (19) news, said Byron Backenson, deputy director of the state Health Departments Bureau of Communicable Disease Control. He and other officials are reminding healthcare providers about tick-borne illnesses, something that might get forgotten with coronavirus on everyones minds. While Lyme disease tends to get the spotlight and is still the most prevalent tick-borne illness in the state with more than 5,500 new cases each year, local researchers are seeing a trend in more cases of anaplasmosis. Thats one thats really on the rise, particularly in the northeastern part of New York, Backenson said, specifically highlighting Washington, Warren, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties. The state collects data from county health departments and healthcare providers about what tick-borne diseases people are getting, and it also collects ticks to see what bacteria theyre carrying that cause the diseases. We can sort of compare what we see in ticks, and what we see in people, and see if that matches up, Backenson said. What we do know, there are areas of the state where we see ticks that are much more infected with the bacteria that cause anaplasmosis. What we see in that particular neck of the woods (northeastern New York) is real, so its definitely something. Not including New York City, the state saw about 300 human cases of anaplasmosis in 2009 but by 2018, records show cases more than tripled. In 2018, nearly 20% of the ticks researchers collected and tested carried the anaplasmosis-associated bacterium in Warren County, home of Lake George. Thats compared to 2009, when no tested ticks carried the bacterium. Ticks typically thrive in warm, low-elevation woods and fields, but researchers are seeing more in the Adirondacks and at higher elevations. In Essex County, home of many of the popular Adirondack High Peaks, Paul Smiths College Professor Lee Ann Sporn said there were more than 50 human cases of anaplasmosis last year. That was a real heads up because its easy to miss, Sporn said of the disease. Theres no rash. Its just a fever and feeling unwell. Unlike the unpredictable and often inaccurate test for Lyme disease, Sporn said the test for anaplasmosis is easy. It is often treated with antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control. While the density of ticks is still low in the North Country compared to other parts of the state, Sporns research is showing higher rates of exposure to tick-borne diseases. Shes not sure why, but its something Sporn hopes to continue examining. Its possible, she said, that the ticks in the Adirondacks are somehow better at transmitting diseases. Backenson said the health department is also working with Vermont health officials on the outbreak. Sporn and Backenson are continuing their tick collection studies this summer, though without students and at a slower pace, due to the pandemic. Theres also very little funding in the state budget to study ticks this year. After a number of schools and organizations requested $1.5 million for tick-related studies, the state budgeted $250,000 to be split among them. Sporn is unsure if any will go toward Paul Smiths College. The Cloudsplitter Foundation has stepped up, Sporn said, and will fund her research for this summer. Backenson and Sporn are also worried that unseasoned hikers looking to get out of the house during the pandemic will be unprepared and more likely to get bit by a tick. Ticks are especially a problem from late May through early July, when baby ticks are out. Theyre called nymphs, and are difficult to see at about the size of a poppy seed. Dogs also tend to pick up ticks easily and can transfer them to their owners. Backenson recommended consulting with your veterinarian for the best way to protect pets from ticks. A version of this article first appeared on AdirondackExplorer.org, a nonprofit news magazine covering the Adirondack Park. BOSTON - Like George Floyd, he was black, in his mid-40s, and died at the hands of a white man. And like Floyd, he may have helped touch off a revolution. Many in the Black Lives Matter movement are invoking Crispus Attucks an African American gunned down by a British soldier in the Boston Massacre of 1770 as a symbol of entrenched white-on-black violence and oppression. Attucks is widely seen as the first casualty of the American Revolution, and 250 years after his death, hes become a rallying figure for a nation battling old demons. Crispus Attucks was a black man and the first person killed during the Boston Massacre that started the Revolutionary War, said Jeff Nadeau, 45, a health care industry worker in Los Angeles County. George Floyd was another black man killed who started this revolution. History does repeat itself, he said. To be sure, the circumstances of each mans death are starkly different. Attucks, 47, died in a confrontation with occupying forces. Floyd, 46, died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into the handcuffed mans neck, ignoring cries that he couldnt breathe. But in memes on social media and in commentary on the airwaves, theyve become inextricably linked by those who see troubling parallels in the two and a half centuries that separate them. Poignantly, if somewhat improbably, Crispus Attucks was trending on Twitter this week. Attucks, of African and Native American descent, and four other men died on March 5, 1770, after British soldiers opened fire on an unruly crowd. The victims were posthumously hailed as heroes, with thousands turning out for their funeral procession and their burial together, and their deaths stoked anti-British sentiment throughout the colonies, leading a few years later to the war for independence from Britain. Two years ago, a grassroots movement was launched to push Bostons leaders to honour Attucks by renaming the citys famed Faneuil Hall which bears the name of a wealthy 18th-century slave owner in Attucks honour. That campaign continues. Attucks story has been retold at critical moments in the nations history. In the 1850s, black abolitionists in Boston marked each massacre anniversary as Crispus Attucks Day, using the memory of his sacrifice to mobilize support for efforts to end slavery. They presented Attucks as the first martyr of the Revolution who died fighting for liberty. The image resonated powerfully in a nation that placed millions of African Americans in bondage despite its stated ideal of freedom, reads a new exhibit by Revolutionary Spaces, Reflecting Attucks, in Bostons Old State House. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned Attucks in his 1964 book, Why We Cant Wait, noting that the first American to shed blood in the revolution that freed his country from British oppression was a black seaman. Adding to the injustice of Attucks death, founding father John Adams a lawyer publicly defended the British soldier who shot him while privately praising Attucks courage. Our country was literally founded on the death of a black man, tweeted Chris Echols, 37, an insurance company employee from Glendale, Arizona. Miranda Adekoje, a Boston writer whos working on a new play about Attucks, cautions that his indigenous roots and the parallel suffering of native peoples today shouldnt be ignored. He represented two groups that were incredibly brutalized and still are, she said. The message of this play will resonate even stronger than it would have had George Floyds death not happened. These themes are centuries old. And Adekoje points to one way history isnt repeating itself in 2020: The revolution that began with Crispus Attucks murder had no real regard for the lives of African and indigenous people, she said. The revolution that has begun as a result of George Floyds murder is for the sole purpose of making America inhabitable for all people. ___ Follow AP New England editor Bill Kole on Twitter at http://twitter.com/billkole Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters are now facing an expected five-figure legal bill after the High Court ruled they must pay the costs of their failed attempt to challenge the Covid-19 laws. In a ruling this morning, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said the pair should pay the legal costs of both the State respondents and the notice parties, the Dail, Seanad and the Ceann Comhairle. The legal costs bill is expected to be a five-figure sum. The judge said that the costs should be limited to the two-day hearing of their application only. Last month the court refused to grant the pair permission to have their judicial review challenge against the laws go to a full hearing. Mr Waters and Ms O'Doherty, who claimed the laws are unconstitutional, are appealing the dismissal of their action to the Court of Appeal. Mr Justice Meenan said Mr Waters and Ms ODoherty did not engage with the case being made by the respondents and the Oireachtas in any meaningful way". "Rather, they proceeded with the application on the basis that as they were of the opinion they had an arguable case, this, of itself, was sufficient for the court to grant them leave," the judge said. "There is no doubt but that issues raised by the widespread restrictions imposed by the legislation and regulations in question are important matters of public interest However, the manner in which Mr Waters and Ms ODoherty conducted their proceedings, their failure to consider or answer the case being made against them and to only have regard to their own opinions meant that these proceedings were far from being in the public interest. Last month, the court refused to grant the pair permission to have their judicial review challenge against the laws go to a full hearing. On that occasion dismissing their application, the judge said they had not provided the court with any expert evidence or facts to support their view that the laws challenged by the applicants were disproportionate or unconstitutional. The laws brought in by the State to help deal with the pandemic, he said in his judgment, were constitutionally permissible. He also found the case was unstateable. The applicants, he said, who had no medical or scientific qualifications or expertise relied on their own unsubstantiated views, gave speeches, engaged in empty rhetoric and sought to draw parallels to Nazi Germany which is both absurd and offensive. Unsubstantiated opinions, speeches, empty rhetoric and a bogus historical parallel are not a substitute for facts, he added. Agreement executed to settle all Vertex Notes for US$1m in cash First quarter revenue doubles year over year The State of California accesses Intermap's NEXTMap One through data-as-service subscription Intermap selected to support NOAA to protect the nation's coasts DENVER, June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Intermap Technologies ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions, today announced an Amended Settlement Agreement, covering all the outstanding Vertex Notes, has been executed with Pender Funds. Under the terms of the Settlement, all of the outstanding Notes totalling US$33.9 million shall be settled for US$1 million in cash. Upon the delivery of a US$1m cash payment, Vertex/Pender shall release liens, extinguish the Notes, and the parties shall provide for a general release from all claims associated with the Vertex financings. In addition, the Company announced preliminary, unaudited results for the first quarter of 2020 and an update on its data services business. Intermap also announced today it was selected by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a member of the Dewberry team for the agency's Shoreline Mapping Services contract. The five-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a ceiling of $40 million and will enable Intermap to provide SAR and IFSAR services for NOAA's National Geodetic Survey initiative to protect the nation's coasts. Dewberry is one of four prime contractors and completed 30 task orders during the previous shoreline mapping services contract for NOAA. Intermap is the sole SAR and IFSAR provider on the Dewberry team and has supported the team for over 10 years on other programs such as U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Mapping Initiative (AMI) and 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). Further, the State of California signed a subscription for Intermap's NEXTMap One terrain data-as-a-service, becoming Intermap's first government customer subscriber. The State of California can now access the world's most complete and highest-accuracy, contiguous global 1m dataset. Intermap leverages its patented IRIS platform to generate and update high-resolution datasets around the world which support world-class digital infrastructure. By subscribing to the Company's unique data-as-a-service program, California is able to access 1m resolution surface and terrain models for all state users and use cases, as needed. To purchase the data outright for future use, at the level of accuracy and acuity required to solve modern data challenges, would be prohibitively expensive. In contrast, Intermap's subscription model ensures that the state's entire strategic data infrastructure is affordably maintained and always current, complete and available where it's needed. In commercial markets, Intermap signed an initial contract with Jeppesen, a leading provider of airspace solutions, to support their digital infrastructure with orthorectification of satellite imagery as-a-service, covering 200 airports. Leveraging the NEXTMap One global terrain data and Intermap's cost-effective as-a-service model for delivery directly into their workflow, Jeppesen receives unparalleled Ortho accuracies suitable for commercial air safety, produced in near real-time, and delivered at a fraction of the cost typically offered by commercial satellite and other vendors. "Intermap's data-as-a-service business provisions products to support real-time, actionable decision-making, for expert and non-expert users alike, at the edge, where and when reliable data is most needed, with continually updated data delivered seamlessly and directly into client workflows," commented Patrick A. Blott, Chairman and CEO of Intermap Technologies. "Intermap's debt restructuring and repositioning for growth reflect continued success targeting the Company's traditional terrain data markets with innovative new products and services, including: InsitePro for Insurance; NEXTView for Aviation; NEXTMap One for Government; and dual-use services such as IRIS multi-source data fusion, triple-canopy FOPEN for cloud-belt collection, and GPS restricted or denied Data and Ortho provisioning in austere environments. We are pleased with the progress in development of the upcoming NEXTWave applications suite, which will support the Defense, Finance, Railway and Telco sectors. These new products and services leverage and complement Intermap's traditional special mission collection and digital infrastructure offerings, and provide customers with greater value for less cost, while generating predictable, recurring-revenue from both our government and commercial clients." Consolidated revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 totaled $1.6 million, compared with $0.8 million for the same period in 2019. Approximately 69% of consolidated revenue was generated outside the United States, compared with 53% for 2019. Acquisition services revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 totaled $0.8 million, compared with $Nil million for the same period in 2019. The increase is due to the nature and timing of government contracting. Value-added data revenue remained steady at $0.2 million for both quarters ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. Software and solutions revenue also remained flat at $0.6 million for both quarters ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. The Company recognized a 11% increase in subscription-based revenue, which was offset by the intentional cancellation of customers using our products in competing markets. The following table sets forth selected financial information for the periods indicated. U.S. $ millions, except per share data March 31, 2020 March 31, 2019 Revenue: Acquisition services $ 0.8 $ - Value-added data 0.2 0.2 Software and solutions 0.6 0.6 Total revenue $ 1.6 $ 0.8 Operating loss $ (1.0) $ (2.2) Financing costs $ (0.8) $ (0.7) Net loss $ (1.8) $ (2.9) EPS basic and diluted $ (0.10) $ (0.17) Adjusted EBITDA $ (0.6) $ (1.8) Assets: Cash, trade receivables, unbilled revenue $ 1.9 $ 3.1 Total assets $ 7.3 $ 8.6 Liabilities: Long-term liabilities (including lease obligations) $ 0.2 $ 30.1 Total liabilities $ 38.1 $ 36.0 The Company's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis will be filed on SEDAR at: www.sedar.com. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 was negative $0.6 million, compared with negative $1.8 million for the same period in 2019. The improvement in adjusted EBITDA is primarily attributable to the increase in revenue. Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized performance measure under IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. The term EBITDA consists of net income (loss) and excludes interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is included as a supplemental disclosure because management believes that such measurement provides a better assessment of the Company's operations on a continuing basis by eliminating certain non-cash charges and charges that are nonrecurring. The most directly comparable measure to adjusted EBITDA calculated in accordance with IFRS is net loss. A reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA is provided in the table below. Three months ended March 31, U.S. $ millions 2020 2019 Net loss $ (1.8) $ (2.9) Financing costs 0.8 0.7 Depreciation of property and equipment 0.3 0.3 Depreciation of right of use assets 0.1 0.1 Adjusted EBITDA $ (0.6) $ (1.8) Intermap Reader Advisory Certain information provided in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast", "will be", "will consider", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although Intermap believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Intermap's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to, among other things, cash available to fund operations, availability of capital, revenue fluctuations, nature of government contracts, economic conditions, loss of key customers, retention and availability of executive talent, competing technologies, common share price volatility, loss of proprietary information, software functionality, internet and system infrastructure functionality, information technology security, breakdown of strategic alliances, and international and political considerations, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed Intermap's Annual Information Form and other securities filings. While the Company makes these forward-looking statements in good faith, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that the Company will derive therefrom. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Intermap or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities law. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) is not a recognized performance measure under IFRS. The term EBITDA consists of net income (loss) and excludes interest (financing costs), taxes, and depreciation. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes share-based compensation, restructuring costs and related non-recurring payments supporting the corporate restructuring, and other non-operating gains or losses. Adjusted EBITDA is included as a supplemental disclosure because Management believes that such measurement provides a better assessment of the Company's operations on a continuing basis by eliminating certain non-cash charges or gains that are nonrecurring. The most directly comparable measure to Adjusted EBITDA calculated in accordance with IFRS is net income (loss). About Intermap Technologies Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap (TSX: IMP) (ITMSF: BB) is a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions. The Company's proprietary NEXTMap database and value-added geospatial data management, processing, analytics, fusion and orthorectification software and solutions are utilized across a range of industries that rely on accurate, high-resolution elevation data, including aviation, engineering, environmental planning, government markets, hydrology, insurance, land management, law enforcement and patrol, oil and gas, renewable energy, telecommunications, transportation and utilities. Intermap's commercial applications include location-based intelligence, risk assessment, geographic information systems, global positioning systems and 3D visualization. For more information, please visit www.intermap.com. SOURCE Intermap Technologies Corporation Related Links www.intermap.com A Melbourne builder who also heads a construction lobby group says there is no need for the grants package announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stimulate the industry because there is so much work on. And the group representing apartment builders say the Morrison governments HomeBuilder grant scheme, offering $25,000 towards a new home or for a renovation, offers little to the unit and townhouse market. Mr Morrison released details of the $680 million package on Thursday, saying it would "keep the dream alive" for those wanting to build a home. "And the dream alive of the jobs for the builders, the apprentices and the tradies who depend on this critical industry right across the country." By Aaron Kesel We have seen a lot of police brutality and crazy rioting over the past week. As a sign of potential escalation, video has emerged of Humvees with machine gun turrets mounted on the top driving down the streets of DC, while a black red cross medical helicopter was used by the National Guard to show force against protesters at the capitol. And if thats not enough, there is news of protesters disappearing in Chicago. U.S. President Trump vowed to use force against protesters and to deploy the U.S. military to DC, the nations capital. He also expressed he would do the same elsewhere if the protests didnt die down and rioters didnt stop the vandalism and looting that occurred in some places. Trump also said he had dispatched thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to Washington, D.C. A former Marine, Luke Thomas, commented on the video asking Why HMMWVs rolling through DC city streets with their gun turrets mounted? Why are the HMMWV's rolling through DC city streets with their gun turrets mounted? https://t.co/Dh10FY5X9X Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) June 2, 2020 Although we can speculate whats going on here with these Humvees and the horrible things they could be used for, its best to instead deal with the facts as they stand. The Associated Press reports that approximately 200 active duty troops that were brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nations capital will return to their home base. However, we have no way of knowing whether or not these troops returning home are the same that were seen driving down D.C. streets with turrets attached to their Humvees. The official who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press, also noted that there were a total of 1,300 troops in the capitol region early this week as protests turned violent. Protests became violent in the aftermath of the death in Minnesota of a black man, George Floyd, who died after a white police officer pressed his knee to Floyds neck for several minutes causing asphyxiation. If Humvees with mounted turrets wasnt enough to wet your police state whistle, a medical military helicopter was used to disperse protesters in D.C. as well, while the police on the ground kettled them and beat them. Even a CNN journalist was beat up by brutal riot cops. This all showcases that our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly is being threatened in many cases. The incident occurred on Monday night after protesters failed to disperse during the curfew at the capitol at 7 p.m. EST. The helicopter flew low to the ground and was positioned just above those violating the curfew. The chopper sent gusts of dust and trash into the air near the demonstrators seen in the video below. Since the event, it was announced today that the District of Columbia National Guard launched an investigation into the low-flying maneuver by one of its helicopters over protesters, CBS reported. I hold all members of the District of Columbia National Guard to the highest of standards, Major General William Walker said in a statement Wednesday. We live and work in the district, and we are dedicated to the service of our nation. Thus far there has been no investigation announced for why U.S. military were driving around Humvees with gun turrets still attached to the top. It was also just reported by the Associated Press that the previous call by the Pentagon to have some of the troops return to home base has now been abruptly reversed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper in what they are calling a dynamic situation. Shortly after, buses arrived with military personnel: BREAKING: > 10 Buses carrying US Military Forces descended on #WashingtonDC near White House pic.twitter.com/cd6shGAax8 Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) June 3, 2020 If all of that wasnt bizarre enough, Chicago is being accused of disappearing protesters, Vice reported. Chicago, Illinois is the same state that had a CIA-like black site torture prison at Homan Square. This is the same black site that The Anti-Media previously reported had detained thousands of Americans illegally. With that said, are they back to being operational? It seems very strange that protesters are vanishing again in Chicago. What does all this highlight? As Jeremiah Mostelle wrote for the Charles Koch Institute, the increased use of military equipment has coincided with an increased use of military tactics, such as SWAT teams and no-knock raids. As a result of all these actions and the various videos being seen online of police using excessive force against innocent unarmed protesters, we can surely expect massive lawsuits, maybe even class action lawsuits to commence. Activist Post colleague Derrick Broze, in fact, was among those arrested last night in Houston while he was covering the protest as media. He stated that he will be fighting the charges. In the video below, Derrick provides more details of the arrest and the police behavior that he witnessed. **By [@An0nkn0wledge](https://hive.blog/@an0nkn0wledge)** Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Atlantic City Superintendent Barry Caldwell to retire next spring ATLANTIC CITY After 27 years in the district, Superintendent Barry Caldwell announced he p You see what happens when you have a mayor and his administration, the state and a council that work hard together, Tibbitt said Thursday. This is great news for the City of Atlantic City. Its something that the citizens, the taxpayers, the whole load of small businesses really deserve. The positive announcement of a tax decrease was accompanied by the sobering reality of the citys long-term financial picture: Atlantic City remains one of the states most indebted municipalities, with an outstanding obligation of roughly $566 million. Small said if the city did nothing else other than make required debt payments, the total would not be paid off until 2043. We didnt get this debt overnight, and its not going away overnight, so please be patient with this, the mayor said. Atlantic City relies heavily on state aid to support its annual budget, and Small said the administration is confident that, despite New Jerseys own revenue-generating issues as a result of the novel coronavirus impact on the economy, the money would be forthcoming. In 2019, Atlantic City received $62 million in aid from New Jersey. Were well aware of whats going on, we know what pitfalls are out there, Small said. (State leadership) knows how important the City of Atlantic City is, and Im sure that there will be no hiccups in the form of state aid. 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. At least 60 Chicago-area pharmacies have been damaged or closed in recent days, according to one estimate from the Illinois Pharmacists Association. CVS Health said at least 42 of its Chicago-area stores were closed in recent days, though that number was down to 30 by Wednesday. Many of them are in the Loop and South Side. SPRINGFIELD Illinois attorney general asked Congress in a letter Thursday to grant his office the power to investigate practices of unconstitutional policing. After Rodney King was beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991, federal lawmakers established the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. It allowed the Department of Justice to investigate alleged police wrongdoings. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and 17 other attorneys general who signed on to the letter requested that authority as well due to the federal governments refusal to confront the problem of police misconduct. The violent death of George Floyd at the hands of police has rightfully shocked and outraged a nation, Raoul said in a statement. But the truth is that George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are two of the latest in a long line of African Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of police using excessive force. Floyd, an unarmed black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis after being pinned to the ground for nearly nine minutes with a white police officers knee on his neck. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice launched 69 investigations between 1994, when the act took effect, and 2017, according to its website. Those inquiries resulted in 40 court orders for police departments to make changes. But in a 2018 memo, former U.S. attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote state and local governments have the responsibility to hold their law enforcement departments accountable, not the federal government. The Department of Justice has not opened any such investigations since. That decision has left local communities without critical protections for their civil rights, the state attorneys general wrote. Allowing their offices to undertake such analyses as well as to access statistics about police departments use of excessive force would allow much more to be done to combat an issue thousands of Americans are protesting across the country. One thing is certain: If US DOJ continues to abdicate its responsibility to pursue police reform, someone has to take action. We stand ready to do so, the attorneys wrote. ...Our country cannot move ahead indeed our country will not heal unless we ensure constitutional policing throughout our nation and accountability for police officers who fail to follow our most fundamental law. They noted police officers take a tremendous risk daily to protect citizens, but added communities will continue to treat them with mistrust if those who break the law are not held accountable. The letter was also signed by attorneys general from California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Volcanic eruptions and human-caused changes to the atmosphere strongly influence the rate at which the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, says a new study. The ocean is so sensitive to changes such as declining greenhouse gas emissions that it immediately responds by taking up less carbon dioxide. The authors say we may soon see this play out due to the COVID-19 pandemic lessening global fuel consumption; they predict the ocean will not continue its recent historic pattern of absorbing more carbon dioxide each year than the year before, and could even take up less in 2020 than in 2019. "We didn't realize until we did this work that these external forcings, like changes in the growth of atmospheric carbon dioxide, dominate the variability in the global ocean on year-to-year timescales. That's a real surprise," said lead author Galen McKinley, a carbon cycle scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "As we reduce our emissions and the growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide slows down, it's important to realize that the ocean carbon sink will respond by slowing down." The paper, published today in the journal AGU Advances, largely resolves the uncertainty about what caused the ocean to take up varying amounts of carbon over the last 30 years. The findings will enable more accurate measurements and projections of how much the planet might warm, and how much the ocean might offset climate change in the future. A carbon sink is a natural system that absorbs excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it away. Earth's largest carbon sink is the ocean. As a result, it plays a fundamental role in curbing the effects of human-caused climate change. Nearly 40 percent of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning since the dawn of the industrial era has been taken up by the ocean. There's variability in the rate at which the ocean takes up carbon dioxide, which isn't fully understood. In particular, the scientific community has puzzled over why the ocean briefly absorbed more carbon dioxide in the early 1990s and then slowly took up less until 2001, a phenomenon verified by numerous ocean observations and models. advertisement McKinley and her coauthors addressed this question by using a diagnostic model to visualize and analyze different scenarios that could have driven greater and lesser ocean carbon uptake between 1980 and 2017. They found the reduced ocean carbon sink of the 1990s can be explained by the slowed growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide early in the decade. Efficiency improvements and the economic collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries are thought to be among the causes of this slowdown. But another event also affected the carbon sink: The massive eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 caused the sink to temporarily become much larger coincident with the eruption. "One of the key findings of this work is that the climate effects of volcanic eruptions such as those of Mount Pinatubo can play important roles in driving the variability of the ocean carbon sink," said coauthor Yassir Eddebbar, a postdoctoral scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Pinatubo was the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. The estimated 20 million tons of ash and gases it spewed high into the atmosphere had a significant impact on climate and the ocean carbon sink. The researchers found that Pinatubo's emissions caused the ocean to take up more carbon in 1992 and 1993. The carbon sink slowly declined until 2001, when human activity began pumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The ocean responded by absorbing these excess emissions. "This study is important for a number of reasons, but I'm most interested in what it means for our ability to predict the near-term, one to ten years out, future for the ocean carbon sink," said coauthor said Nicole Lovenduski, an oceanographer at the University of Colorado Boulder. "The future external forcing is unknown. We don't know when the next big volcanic eruption will occur, for example. And the COVID-19-driven carbon dioxide emissions reduction was certainly not anticipated very far in advance." Investigating how the Pinatubo eruption impacted global climate, and thus the ocean carbon sink, and whether the drop in emissions due to COVID-19 is reflected in the ocean are among the research team's next plans. advertisement By understanding variability in the ocean carbon sink, the scientists can continue to refine projections of how the ocean system will slow down. McKinley cautions that as global emissions are cut, there will be an interim phase where the ocean carbon sink will slow down and not offset climate change as much as in the past. That extra carbon dioxide will remain in the atmosphere and contribute to additional warming, which may surprise some people, she said. "We need to discuss this coming feedback. We want people to understand that there will be a time when the ocean will limit the effectiveness of mitigation actions, and this should also be accounted for in policymaking," she said. The study was coauthored by Amanda Fay and Lucas Gloege of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The National Health Mission, under the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and IBM announced today that a virtual agent that provides COVID-19-related information for citizens on the response efforts and measures by the Andhra Pradesh Government has been launched at the Andhra Pradesh National Health Mission portal ofDepartment of Health, Medical and Family Welfare http://covid19.ap.gov.in/covid19/ a website under the auspices of the Andhra Pradesh Government. The Watson virtual agent (called Watson Assistant for Citizens) on the IBM public cloud brings together Watson Assistant, Natural Language Processing capabilities from IBM Research, and state-of-art enterprise AI search capabilities with Watson Discovery, to understand and respond to common questions about COVID-19 in English, Telugu and Hindi. Shri Bhaskar Kattamneni, Mission Director, National Health Mission and Commissioner of Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh said, IBM has been a trusted partner to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for a long period of time in enabling better delivery of citizen services. I appreciate the collaborative efforts of IBM in disseminating meaningful information to citizens of Andhra Pradesh in this pandemic situation. While the government is putting all resources available at its disposal to use, efforts like these go a long way in helping citizens meet their information needs. I also appreciate the quick turnaround time of the IBM team to include Telugu, the official language of state, into the Watson virtual agent. Commenting on the announcement, Sandip Patel, General Manager, IBM India/South Asia said, In these unprecedented times, access to accurate information plays a critical role in allaying fears, dispelling myths and building trust among citizens. We are honoured to collaborate with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and to contribute to the prompt measures they have taken to provide their citizens with easy access to relevant information from reliable sources in local language. IBM is the innovation partner to businesses, governments and citizens across the world, and is committed to marshalling its resources, technology and expertise towards initiatives that help to manage COVID-19 outbreak. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the police helplines and call centers of other relevant bodies have received a large number of calls from citizens asking to be informed on matters relating to COVID-19. In order to reach as many citizens as possible and meet their information needs, the National Health Mission, under the Government of Andhra Pradesh has collaborated with IBM to set up a Watson based virtual agent that has been designed and trained to understand natural language and interact with users. Based on the information provided by all the relevant ministries of the Central Government and the Andhra Pradesh Government for the prevention & treatment related guidance, citizen welfare schemes and consolidated at the main portal of the Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh. The virtual agent can answer citizens questions, asking for clarification or redirecting the user to specific information on the portal or to other websites of related ministries and official bodies. The virtual agent is deployed in a web browser and it is built in a way that it safeguards the privacy of the users. The objective of this type of advanced technologies (chatbots or virtual agents) is to help reduce the waiting times for calls that users make to the telephone lines of state services relating to the novel coronavirus with an aim to best serve them. Everyone in the public and private sector needs to prepare for a new normal. The First Minister, Arlene Foster, couldnt be clearer. With working patterns transformed, consumer behaviour reshaped, and everyday norms disrupted by social distancing, leaders need to look at technologies enabling them to adjust and thrive in a changed society. Connectivity is already playing a pivotal role in helping Northern Irelands enterprises and public sector organisations bounce back from the social and economic upheaval brought by Covid-19 and its importance will only grow in the months and years ahead. Foundations for success Ultrafast digital infrastructure has already played a vital role in providing Northern Ireland with the foundations for success. Connectivity has allowed organisations to respond to the pandemic and shift operations online quickly and securely, getting people connected and ready to work from home. One example of this is Virgin Medias 100 million investment in the region since 2015, bringing ultrafast broadband to 375,000 premises across Northern Ireland, unlocking new possibilities for businesses and public sector organisations alike. Our Project Lightning programme has connected more than 150,000 homes and businesses across the country, bringing life-changing connectivity to towns and villages across the province. This has been so important during the current pandemic not just in terms of supporting businesses and public sector organisations, but in helping create a sense of togetherness during uncertainty. Elsewhere, in Belfast, a project is underway to expand the citys local full fibre network, which will see local businesses, public services and residents benefit. As the capital reaps the rewards of superfast connectivity, there is no doubt that other cities, towns and villages across Northern Ireland will follow. These investments have contributed to the region being able to rapidly adjust to remote working in many cases doing so with great success. PWC research found that over half of employees in Northern Ireland have felt more productive when working from home, with one in five stating theyre able to work fewer hours to get the same amount done. This is welcome news because remote working is here to stay well beyond the loosening of lockdown. As we move into the new normal, business and public sector leaders will need to remember that networks are the fundamental ingredient, allowing businesses to adapt and giving staff what they need to excel. Without them, staff simply wouldnt be able to hold video calls, screen-sharing sessions and the conference calls that have replaced office interactions so successfully. Clearly, connectivity infrastructure has already helped prepare enterprise and public sector organisations for the disruption of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland. If the region is to recover socially and economically, though, and support new normal practices such as universal remote working over the long term, further investment in infrastructure will be crucial. Looking ahead Promisingly, Northern Irish decision-makers are stepping up their investment in infrastructure. Fibre NI, an exciting initiative designed to transform regional connectivity, is just one example of this growing ambition and optimism. It will be vital in giving organisations the infrastructure they need to continue with their digital transformations supporting remote working for employees and delivering innovative public services for local people. Crucially, as weve seen with other projects so far, there will be a knock-on effect for Northern Irish businesses. Private industry will ultimately reap the rewards from the ultrafast connectivity provided by new fibre optic lines. Ultrafast networks will support remote working for employees, powering seamless online services for customers and unlock new possibilities across Northern Ireland. Ultimately, what Northern Irish decision-makers are recognising is that everyone benefits from upgraded connectivity residents, public services and businesses alike. The opportunities are endless. Ultrafast digital infrastructure wont just fuel the comeback from Covid-19, but will establish Northern Ireland as an innovation hub, with world-class public services and transformative businesses. Limitless potential There is no end to connectivitys potential to transform working life and create opportunities for Northern Irelands public sector and business community alike. The pandemic has reaffirmed the role of technology in transforming working patterns, empowering public sector employees and bringing communities closer together. In a post-Covid-19 landscape, its clear we need to harness the power of connectivity more than ever before. Abonnez-vous ! Soutenez le travail d'une redaction engagee et rejoignez notre communaute de 200 000 abonnes. Profitez de l'offre 1 pour 3 mois avec Google En choisissant ce parcours dabonnement promotionnel, vous acceptez le depot dun cookie danalyse par Google. George Floyd, aka Big Floyd , a 46-year-old African-American father of two went to buy a pack of cigarettes on May 25 in Minneapolis. With a twenty dollar bill, which the grocer took for a fake. On the ground, his neck crushed by the knee of a policeman, suffocated, asphyxiated, George Floyd is dead. For nothing. A surge of indignation, natural and obvious, seized crowds all over the world. I walked for George Floyd in the United States. The name of George Floyd had many others echoing in my head. That of Adama Traore, in France. A human tide invaded the surroundings of the Paris court on June 2, rallies were held in several cities in France. The death of Adama Traore is as unjust and unworthy as that of George Floyd. I am delighted that we are aware of this today, I am delighted to see tens of thousands of people from all walks of life surrounding Adama Traore, his brothers, his sister, Assa, to hear their supporters coming from all over the world. For four years, this family has shown unrelenting, daily determination that is matched only by its endless grief. For four years, this family resisted in too great a solitude, in the face of injustice, in the face of the inertia of the judiciary system, in the face of the indifference of the public authorities. She bravely stood firm. But how many other families, less numerous, less supported, have collapsed under the blows of a deaf justice at their requests, flouting the rights which it is supposed to represent ? Let us remember their names: Malik Oussekine, Makome, Lamine Dieng, Babacar Gaye, Gaye Camara, Ibrahima Ba, Remy Fraisse, Angelo Garant, Sabri Choubi, Cedric Chouviat, Ali Ziri, Hakim Ajimi, Gabriel ... the list goes on and on. Lets wake up. Adama Traore, a resident of Beaumont-sur-Oise, who was celebrating his 24th birthday on July 19, 2016. He rode a bike, Bermuda shorts, bob on his head, smiling, quiet, in the streets of his city, accompanied by his brother, Bagui. French gendarmes controled him. Adama Traore did not have his ID. He ran away. The police caught up with him. Crushed, asphyxiated, embarked. Adama Traore died a few hours later, on the floor of the Persian gendarmerie. For nothing. To him, as to George Floyd, justice has invented a heart disease , failing hearts. But I have only one question, and it is the only one that counts : Would these men have died if they had not crossed the path of the police? Lets wake up. Lets hold on in our turn, lets arm ourselves with courage, be vigilant, let no more pass four years to demand accountability. The death of a man in the context of a disproportionate and excessive use of force must be punished. George Floyd and Adama Traore had one thing in common: They were both black and large, their lives turned into horror in a matter of hours. For nothing. Im 1.92, Im black, I look like them. Can the same thing happen to me ? Is this likely to happen to my children tomorrow? To your children? This nameless fear, this unjustified fear, which swells in our lives must disappear. I know this feeling that eats away from the inside, I have seen in my life dramas related to the intervention of the police, at the time when I was an anomyme. Like Adama Traore, like Zied and Bouna, who died at the age of 15 and 17 in Clichy-sous-Bois in 2005, I ran when I crossed the path of the police. I didnt have an open microphone to say how real this fear is. That of dying in the hands of the police. I affirm today that it has existed for too many years, and this fear is transmitted from generation to generation. No matter what threats or pressures come back, you should never be quiet again. No word should be isolated when it carries a speech of justice. Our leaders must hear, understand, act to change this, it is a disease that is eating away at our country, and it does not bode well for our future. Lets wake up. Look ahead, have the courage to denounce the police violence that is committed in France. Let us commit to remedy it. Lets no longer be spectators of a violent system, which buries the memories of these dead in oblivion, which systematically throws their names in the pit of dismissals. We must take advantage of this momentum created by the Floyd affair to refuse this coarse cleavage, which consists in sorting out among us, the bad guys and the good guys. There is only one camp, that of justice. We all aspire to a police force worthy of our democracy, a police force which protects its population, regardless of skin color or social origin, the same for everyone, whether they live in downtown or in working-class neighborhoods. Police capable, as we have seen in recent days in the United States, of joining the demonstrators, of kneeling on the ground to denounce the violence that soiled their uniforms. In France too, it seems obvious to me that the majority of police officers do not condone these violent acts. I invite them to break the silence. Lets wake up. The massive support given to the family of Adama Traore, four years after the facts, is a necessity. It is the springboard of our united, determined, reasoned commitments for a fight that in reality does not suffer any debate: that of our rights to all. The cause is just, I guarantee you that joining it is full of fervor. We will all sleep better. I call for change, for a challenge to a system that cannot claim justice without ending the organized impunity that has plagued it for decades. This established order is no longer tenable. Be together. Sign here the petition on Change.org (click here for the french version) By Nadine Schimroszik and Mathieu Rosemain BERLIN/PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) - France and Germany threw their weight on Thursday behind plans to create a cloud computing ecosystem that seeks to reduce Europe's dependence on Silicon Valley giants Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The project, dubbed Gaia-X, will establish common standards for storing and processing data on servers that are sited locally and comply with the European Union's strict laws on data privacy. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, speaking in Berlin, described Gaia-X as a "moonshot" that would help reassert Europe's technological sovereignty, and invited other countries and companies to join. We are not China, we are not the United States, we are European countries with our own values and with our own economic interest that we want to defend," his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire said in Paris in a joint video news conference. The initiative comes as France and Germany step up economic cooperation to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Both have backed an EU-wide recovery plan while Berlin has just announced a major fiscal stimulus. In an initial step, 22 French and German companies will set up a non-profit foundation to run Gaia-X, which is not conceived as a direct rival to the "hyperscale" U.S. cloud providers but would instead referee a common set of European rules. Building a European-based alternative is possible only if we play collectively," said Michel Paulin, CEO of independent French cloud service provider OVHcloud. One important concept underpinning Gaia-X is "reversibility", a principle that would allow users to easily switch providers. First services are due to be offered in 2021. That is already far too late, according to analysts at Gartner, who forecast that the global market for public cloud services will grow by 17% to $228 billion this year. "The leading cloud providers have already moved quickly to build up this market," said Gartner analyst Rene Buest. (Writing by Douglas Busvine Editing by Frances Kerry) Former Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis is keen to leave her feud with Jessika Power behind. When asked about the pair's fight, which saw both Jessika and co-star Ines Basic accuse Martha of cheating on boyfriend Michael Brunelli, the influencer appeared to come down with a sudden bout of amnesia. 'I dont even remember that,' she told Who magazine, before moving on to a different topic. 'I dont even remember that': Former Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis (pictured) refused to discuss her feud with Jessika Power this week Back in March, Jessika told Hit Mid North Coast's Krysti & Bodge that Ines had 'text messages' to support her allegations that Martha once cheated on Michael. 'Ines is going to kill me because she just said to leave it, but it's true!' she said. Jessika claimed there 'was a lot of cheating going on' around Christmas 2018, after the MAFS cast had finished filming the sixth season. Her allegations should be taken with a grain of salt, however. Scandal: Back in March, Jessika (pictured) claimed that Ines Basic had 'text messages' to support her allegations that Martha once cheated on boyfriend Michael Brunelli Not only has she not provided specific details, but she doesn't even have access to the text messages that supposedly corroborate her claims. 'There is text messages that I've read. But Ines won't give them to me,' she said. When contacted by Daily Mail Australia at the time, Martha denied the cheating allegations but refused to comment further. Denied: Martha has denied the allegations that she cheated on Michael The saga began in early March when Martha slammed her former friends in an Instagram video, telling fans she'd rather undergo 'root canal surgery' than speak to them again. Hitting back at the snub, Jessika claimed on Instagram that Martha had cheated on Michael at the start of their relationship, and wanted to leave him for a richer man who could 'take her shopping at Gucci'. Jessika alleged Martha was 'sleeping with her ex-boyfriend' over Christmas in 2018, after she'd left the show with Michael but before the cast reunion in January 2019. At a time when her kingdom is in an unprecedented state of chaos, how reassuring to see the Queen back in the saddle, quite literally. Over the weekend, Her Majesty was photographed for the first time since leaving Buckingham Palace for lockdown at Windsor Castle riding Balmoral Fern, a 14-year-old fell pony, while sporting jodhpurs, a green blazer and a headscarf decorated in racing silk colours. Here's hoping she was watching as horse racing became the first UK sport to return after the coronavirus crisis yesterday, with a 10-race card at Newcastle Racecourse. The Queen may have been riding on a flat, neatly manicured lawn in Windsor Home Park, but how many other 94-year-olds are still riding at all, let alone in a marvellously devil-may-care headscarf rather than a helmet? Queen Elizabeth II rides Balmoral Fern, a 14-year-old Fell Pony, in Windsor Home Park. Credit:Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images "It was remarkable to see her looking so well," says Hugo Vickers, biographer of the Queen Mother, the Duchess of Windsor and Queen Mary. "Her daily riding is her main exercise, though she also walks her dogs. I think the nation needs reminders that the Queen is fit and well during these strange times." As throughout her life, horses have proved tremendous consolation to the Queen during lockdown at Windsor Castle, where she has been isolating with the Duke of Edinburgh since March 19 the longest time the couple have spent together, without royal duties intervening, for many years, and her longest absence from said duties throughout her 68-year reign. Irish Rural Link is leading an appeal to ensure Irelands Meals on Wheels volunteers have masks and gloves to wear and protect the people they help across the country. This basic level of PPE is vital to ensuring the service is maintained as Ireland travels along the road out of coronavirus restrictions. For this new appeal, driven by Cork consultancy firm 3SIXTY, businesses stocking up on PPE for workers are being asked to order a little extra, which they can then donate to the Meals on Wheels cause. Managing Partner at 3SIXTY Brian Cremin says, This is our second drive to help Meals on Wheels and follows an earlier drive to source gels and sanitisers. The response weve got so far has been wonderful. Its so inspiring to see businesses making a small investment that makes a huge difference to Meals on Wheels. Demand for Meals on Wheels services has spiked during the pandemic. Restrictions on overall travel and on the movements of people over 70 have forced the closure of the social settings like cafes, pubs, hotels and more, where people, especially older men living alone, would have enjoyed their meals, so theyve been turning to Meals on Wheels for support. Irish Rural Link represents more than 200 of the 300 HSE-registered Meals on Wheels organisations across Ireland, and every one of those has reported increased demand in recent months. The team currently coordinates the delivery of around 200,000 meals every week. Seamus Boland is Irish Rural Links CEO - he says its vital the service is maintained: Covid-19 has hit our users so hard - theyre missing their families, theyre missing their friends - Meals on Wheels is one thing in their lives that hasnt been taken away by this pandemic and we need these supplies to make sure it stays that way. Business group IBEC is also lending its support to the scheme - CEO Danny McCoy says, Irish businesses are delighted to support this great initiative, at a time of national solidarity its important to pull together to support all our communities. Any business looking to support the initiative is being asked to get in touch via email through this address: hello@your3SIXTY.com Former Los Angeles Dodger Carl Crawford has been arrested on a domestic violence charge. He was booked into the Harris County Jail Thursday, according to a sheriffs spokesman. He is being held on a $10,000 bond, and prosecutors sought an emergency protective order forbidding Crawford from contacting the victim of the alleged abuse. Court documents filed June 3 show Crawford was charged related to an incident in early May, where investigators say he choked his ex-girlfriend in front of her young daughter. According to the records, the couple had broken up in February. Crawford texted the woman on May 7, telling her he wanted to talk. Crawford drove to her apartment the next day, where he began berating her and threatening her with a gun and asking her how long she'd been seeing someone else. He began choking her, and repeated the question, according to the court documents, and when she denied seeing anyone else, slammed her head into a wall multiple times. The woman told investigators "she felt like she was about to pass out." She managed to escape after her daughter walked over to her, and then called 911, at which point Crawford fled, according to the record. The woman said the abuse left her feeling like her throat "had a hole in it," according to the documents. After the encounter, Crawford texted the woman, threatening her, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case. Crawfords lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said: We strongly disagree with the charges and allegations as to Carls conduct. He does not and would not intentionally harm any woman and we look forward to showing he is not guilty. Crawford is a Houston native who went to Davis High School. The incident occurred just a week before a woman and a 5-year-old boy died in Crawfords pool after the child began to struggle and the woman went in the water to try to save him. MEXICO CITY Weeks ago, civil defense officials in Mexicos Tabasco state, one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and now Tropical Storm Cristobal, asked health authorities for daily lists of infections in vulnerable communities. State civil defense chief Jorge Mier y Teran designated a shelter in each township for people infected with the virus, but not hospitalized. His office advised Tabasco residents that during this hurricane season they should try to stay with relatives if rising waters forced them to leave their homes so as to avoid big gatherings in shelters, a recommendation shared by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Now authorities from Mexicos Gulf coast to El Salvador in Central America are putting their storm season plans into action as the temporarily weakened Cristobal drops dangerous heavy rains while the pandemic reaches new heights in Mexico. The virus poses an additional risk for rescuers and evacuees and will make it harder to persuade people to leave their homes, experts say. When Cristobal made landfall Wednesday as a tropical storm, Mier y Teran preventively evacuated 75 people from two communities. Their temperatures were checked and they were screened for symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The mix of the pandemic and what is expected to be a busy hurricane season has officials throughout the region worried about simultaneously managing multiple emergencies. COVID without a doubt complicates the operational logistics, Mier y Teran said. Cristobal weakened to a tropical depression Thursday with sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) after it moved inland. The storm emerged this week in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had formed in the Pacific and pounded El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Together the storms have caused at least 30 deaths in El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. Late Thursday, the storm was moving east at 3 mph (5 kph), about 145 miles (235 kilometers) south of the Gulf coast city of Campeche, capital of the state of the same name. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Cristobal was expected to begin strengthening once it moves back over the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and become a tropical storm again. The storm is forecast to be out in the central Gulf on Sunday and could be nearing the U.S. Gulf Coast by late Sunday or Monday. El Salvador has reported 27 deaths from the two storms and more than 11,000 people evacuated to more than 200 shelters. The development of the storm emergency in some way is going to influence the development of the illness, said the countrys health minister, Francisco Alabi. He said infections could rise because people are more exposed when their homes are destroyed or damaged. Cristobal is expected to leave more than a foot of water along Mexicos Gulf coast over the course of the week. As it sits nearly stationary, the concern grows that the regions rivers will spill over their banks potentially forcing thousands from their homes. Many people in the poorer parts of Central America and southern Mexico often resist evacuations because they fear their belongings will be stolen, a situation aggravated now because of fears of the virus. The pandemic also increases risks for rescue crews like the one working to save a family from the rubble of their home on the outskirts of San Salvador on Thursday. So far, only a couple hundred people had been evacuated along Mexicos Gulf coast and none reported suspected virus infections. Overall, Mexico has more than 101,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with nearly 12,000 dead. David Leon, Mexicos national civil defense director, appeared beside President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday morning in Palenque in Chiapas state. He explained the governments emergency response, but never referred to the pandemic. Asked for comment, his agency shared a link to recommendations and protocols for managing disasters during the pandemic that was shared with authorities around Mexico. Carlos Valdes, former director of Mexicos National Disaster Prevention Center and part of Mexicos National Autonomous Universitys program in Costa Rica, said there is consensus among disaster officials that the key will be identifying confirmed and suspected cases and then separating them from others. Having smaller shelters that still allow safe spacing of evacuees along with strict hygiene measures will also be important, he said. The obvious challenge is people who are infected but asymptomatic, because testing everyone before evacuating them to a shelter is not viable, he said. El Salvador has adopted among the strictest measures to combat the virus. In evacuating people from floodwaters and areas at risk of landslides, it screened them for COVID-19 symptoms, took their temperature and gave them masks when they arrived at shelters. Some shelters held as many as 300 people but mats were spaced at least six feet (two meters) apart. Families were grouped and separated from others. Alabi, the health minister, said that so far none had tested positive for the virus in the 210 shelters. On Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the rains which forced nearly 30,000 Salvadorans from their homes were also making conditions worse for those already displaced internally by violence. Valdes lauded El Salvadors response. He said it would not be possible to talk of returning to normalcy during hurricane season. In Mexico, the National Water Commission, which issues weather alerts, has forecast 15 to 18 named storms in the eastern Pacific and 15 to 19 in the Atlantic, where the average is usually a dozen. Valdes said the confluence of tropical weather and pandemic ultimately will mean that the novel coronavirus will be a problem for longer and will change the way it is spread. It will be important to educate people about how the rain can lead to a rise in illnesses. People will have the idea that the water cleanses the virus, but we forget its water and soap. Water alone wont get rid of it, he said. ___ Associated Press writer Maria Verza reported this story in Mexico City and AP writer Marcos Aleman reported from San Salvador, El Salvador. Hundreds of combat soldiers with the 82nd Airborne were ordered to leave Washington, D.C, Thursday after retired generals and the nation's top officer rebuked Donald Trump over his use of the military. Members of the elite unit had been deployed to the nation's capital to back up National Guard soldiers ordered onto the streets by Attorney General Bill Barr in a show of force. The active duty soldiers will head back to base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a senior Defense official told NBC News, after Army General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley publicly told the nation's troops to 'uphold the Constitution' and said that the National Guard was under governors' control - pointedly not the president's. The troops spent a week at bases near the city on standby as peaceful protests turned violent in the nations capital with instances of looting, arson and destruction but they were never called into D.C. to respond to the civil unrest. While the capital is under federal control, the removal of hundreds of combat troops was a highly-visible sign that Trump had been forced into retreat on his threat to deploy soldiers under his control in protest-hit cities. The about 200 members of the Army's 82nd Airborne division who were sent to the capital city were supposed to leave the region Wednesday night. Soldiers with the 82nd Airbone division of the Army were ordered out of Washington, D.C. and back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Thursday night even though they were only on standby and never called into the city to backup the National Guard (pictured) The order was suddenly reversed, however, after Defense Secretary Mark Esper made a visit to the White House Wednesday morning following a press conference where he attempted to distance himself from the infamous church photo-op. The change also followed internal discussions Esper conducted at the Pentagon, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press. It also followed a 10:00 a.m. order on Wednesday to draw down some of the 1,600 forces including infantry members who had been positioned outside Washington, D.C. Trump is facing backlash for his decision to use the U.S. Military as backup against protesters following the death of George Floyd. General Milley put himself at odds with the president in a Thursday memo where he told troops to 'defend the Constitution. He also asserted that the National Guard was not under federal control - as retired generals including former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis denounced the president's handling of the George Floyd protests. Milley said in a letter to top military leaders that armed forces will continue to protect Americans right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, as the president has called in troops to defend Washington, D.C. 'We all committed our lives to the idea that is America,' Milley hand-wrote in as an addition to the bottom of the letter. 'We will stay true to that and the American people.' The letter represented an extraordinary public statement from the most senior U.S. military officer and was clearly directed at the Commander-in-Chief. Coming after the words of Mattis, and two other former chairmen of the joint chiefs, it suggested serious misgivings by the military about Trump himself. Milley's attempt to distance himself from the president comes as the general was recently rebuked by retired generals after he marched out of the White House as part of Trump's entourage for a photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church while dressed in his combat uniform. Some asserted if he was going to participate in the stunt, he should have worn his service or greens uniform. Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended Milley's uniform choice, saying it was 'appropriate,' after a series of former military leaders voiced anger at both men's conduct and warned they were politicizing the military. The most searing condemnation of Trump came from former Defense Secretary James Mattis, the four-star Marine general and Iraq hero, who issued his first ever open criticism of Trump in an opinion piece published in The Atlantic on Wednesday. 'Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,' Mattis said. Mattis also likened Trump's actions to the rhetoric used by Nazis to 'divide and conquer' - saying he was the first president in his lifetime not to seek to unite Americans. His lengthy condemnation of the president caused one Republican senator Lisa Murkowski to break ranks with Trump and say Mattis' statement was 'honest and necessary and overdue.' When asked if she can still show support for the president, she said: 'I'm struggling with it.' Despite the president insisting that a 'show of force' must be exhibited in Washington, D.C. to quell rioters and violent protesters, the scene was much more tame Tuesday and Wednesday night than previously, with more peaceful protests taking place across the nation. In D.C., local police said there were no arrests. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley issued a public rebuke of Donald Trump in a Thursday memo where the told troops to 'uphold the Constitution' as the president called the military to defend Washington D.C. against George Floyd rioters In a handwritten note at the bottom of the memo, Milley reminded military leaders: 'We all committed our lives to the idea that is America' after he defended protesters' right to assemble Milley faced backlash from retired generals for marching out of the White House in his combat uniform rather than his service or greens uniform meant for more formal settings like the White House or Capitol Hill His letter came after General John Allen (left) and former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (right), both retired four-star Marine generals, denounced the president's decision to call in the U.S. Military to assist with rioters Despite the president's steadily increasing demand for force to quell demonstrators, Wednesday night's protests across the country were widely peaceful, with few to no instances of violence, looting, rioting or arson, which riddled other days of protests Retired Marine Corp four-star General John Allen lashed out at Trump in an op-ed Wednesday claiming his actions in the midst of violent nationwide riots over the death of George Floyd are 'shameful.' Allen, who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan then was an envoy in the international effort against ISIS, insisted Trump's presidency could be the 'beginning of the end of American democracy.' 'The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020,' Allen wrote in an op-ed published to ForeignPolicy.com. 'Remember the date. It may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment.' The retired general is referencing the Monday, June 1 outing when Trump stepped outside the White House with an entourage of Secret Service, administration officials, aides and media, walked across Lafayette Park, which was clear of protesters minutes earlier by use of tear gas and rubber bullets, and arrived at St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op with his bible. The stunt came in the midst of days-long peaceful and violent protests across the nation over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white cop in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Memorial Day. Milley asserted in the memo that only the National Guard, a reservist unit of the Army, is responding to the riots at the activation of governors and not the federal government. 'As members of the Joint Force comprised of all races, colors, and creeds you embody the ideals of our Constitution,' Milley wrote in the letter the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Space Force and Commandants of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as to the Commanders of the Combatant Commands. Retired four-star Marine General John Allen (pictured with an Iraqi tribal leader in 2007) denounced Donald Trump's actions in the midst of nationwide unrest, claiming his presidency could be the 'beginning of the end of the American experiment' 'Please remind all of your troops and leaders that we will uphold the values of our nation, and operate consistent with national laws and out own high standards of conduct at all times,' he concluded. Trump's Senate ally Lindsey Graham accused Mattis Thursday morning of 'buying into' the 'liberal media' narrative. 'To General Mattis, I think you're missing something here, my friend,' the senator from South Carolina told Fox & Friends 'You're missing the fact that the liberal media has taken every event in the last three and a half years and laid it at the presidency.' 'I'm not saying he's blameless,' Graham continued in rare partial criticism of Trump, 'but I am saying you're buying into a narrative that I think is quite frankly unfair.' He conceded, however, that 'Mattis has the right to express himself because of his military service. 'General Mattis has the right to express himself because he's served the country over a long period of time put himself at risk for the nation,' Graham said. 'But the one thing I would tell General Mattis that from the time President Trump wakes up, to go to bed there's an effort to destroy his presidency.' He also called out Trump's Monday walk from the White House, across Lafayette Park to St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op with his bible, claiming: 'The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020' '[T]he president proclaimed himself the 'ally of peaceful protesters.' But, at that very moment, just a few hundred feet away across Lafayette Park, fully equipped riot police and troops violently, and without provocation, set upon the peaceful demonstrators there, manhandling and beating many of them, employing flash-bangs, riot-control agents, and pepper spray throughout,' Allen wrote The scene in Washington, D.C. was filled with peaceful protests on Wednesday a break from days prior High five: Here a D.C. resident high-fives a three-year-old present at the protests as a police barricade blocks a street leading to the White House In Atlanta, police knelt in the street with peaceful protesters Peaceful demonstrators gathered to chant, march and hold signs calling for justice for black people near City Hall in Los Angeles Thousands of noisy but still peaceful protesters also marched the streets of New York City to call for justice for George Floyd, a black man who was killed during an arrest by a white cop Former Defense Secretary James Mattis broke his silence on Trump's leadership and revealed he is 'angry and appalled' at his handling of the George Floyd protests Utah National Guard soldiers stand on a police line as demonstrators gathered to protest the death of George Floyd in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night Members of the DC National Guard remained on guard outside the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday after keeping watch through the night despite an easing of tensions between demonstrators and law enforcement A man yells at soldiers at sunrise outside the White House on Thursday morning. The protests in D.C. remained peaceful throughout Wednesday and Wednesday night Members of the D.C. National Guard gear-up after a short rest from standing guard at the Lincoln Memorial Thursday on what will be the seventh day of protests in DC over the death of George Floyd. Demonstrations remained peaceful Wednesday Hundreds of demonstrators stayed as close to the White House as they could get as the 11pm curfew approached and continued to chant until the early hours of Thursday morning A soldier keeps watch at the Lincoln Memorial as thousands of peaceful demonstrators were met with a huge military presence Wednesday following a week of tenses clashes in the capital Allen, who has also spent his life in public service, expressed in his op-ed his opposition to the president's mobilization of the U.S. Military to ward off and quell rioters and condemned Trump's comparison of the violent protesters ravaging cities to 'domestic terrorists.' Mostly, however, the president of the Brookings Institute often referred to as a liberal-centrist think tank was disappointed in the use of force to clear the way for a presidential photo-op. '[T]he president proclaimed himself the 'ally of peaceful protesters.' But, at that very moment, just a few hundred feet away across Lafayette Park, fully equipped riot police and troops violently, and without provocation, set upon the peaceful demonstrators there, manhandling and beating many of them, employing flash-bangs, riot-control agents, and pepper spray throughout,' Allen wrote. On Monday, law enforcement forced peaceful demonstrators from the park ahead of Trump's short visit to the church across Pennsylvania Avenue from the North Lawn of the White House. They used tear gas and nonlethal rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Senior defense officials told reporters the two were not aware that the Park Police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square or that Trump intended to visit the church. They had been in Washington to coordinate with federal law enforcement officials but were diverted to the White House to brief Trump on military preparations, the officials said. Administration officials privately acknowledged Monday's events did not do the administration any justice. Even some Republican lawmakers who are typically in sync with the president said Trump went too far in using force to clear the way for his less than five-minute visit to the church. On Tuesday, a senior White House official said the president wanted to make the aggressive action an example for the rest of the country. Trump pushed back against Mattis' comments on Wednesday, claiming he is the 'world's most overrated general' after the Marine veteran denounced the president's leadership in the face of the nationwide protests. Mattis spoke out for the first time publicly since his acrimonious December 2018 exit from the White House by blasting Trump as making a 'mockery of the Constitution' in a fiery statement shared Wednesday. Although Mattis has alluded to criticism of his former boss in the past, he has never been this forthcoming with his disappointment in the president. Trump was quick to fire back to fire back in a two-part tweet with some key false facts. 'Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world's most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about it,' Trump tweeted Wednesday evening. 'His nickname was 'Chaos', which I didn't like, & changed to 'Mad Dog,' Trump added. While Trump claimed that he fired Mattis, the general had submitted his resignation after he disagreed with Trump's decision to pull US forces out of Syria. Donald Trump was quick to fire back against his former Defense secretary, claiming he is the 'world's most overrated general' after the official published a scalding op-ed denouncing the president's leadership on Wednesday His military call sign was 'Chaos' which stands for 'Colonel Has Another Outstanding Suggestion'. He was given his nickname 'Mad Dog', which Mattis reportedly does not like, years before Trump came into office. 'His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom 'brought home the bacon'. I didn't like his 'leadership' style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!' Trump added. Mattis' op-ed was his first time publicly castigating the president, condemning the flexing of military might against George Floyd protests, which he calls a legitimate response to demands for equal justice. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president and criticized Mattis as ineffectual. 'Former Secretary Mattis' 'article' is little more than a self-promotional stunt to appease the DC elite. President Donald Trump is the law and order President that has restored peace to our nation's streets. Mattis' small words pale in comparison to POTUS' strong action.' In his statement Mattis likened Trump's tactics of seeking to 'divide' the nation to that of the Nazis. 'Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that 'The Nazi slogan for destroying us was 'Divide and Conquer,' he writes. 'Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.' We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis - confident that we are better than our politics.' White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany condemned Mattis' article, calling it 'a self-promotional stunt to appease the DC elite' 60 Minutes Correspondent John Dickerson said that he wrote a profile on Mattis 11 years ago, noting that Mattis' had the nickname 'Mad Dog' years before Trump was in office, and it was a nickname he disliked Law enforcement fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters gathered in Lafayette Park to disperse the crowd for the president's photo-op in front of the church, which was set on fire in Sunday riots outside the White House His statement about Trump seeking to divide the nation immediately follows. 'We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society,' he continues. He pointedly takes on Trump's photo-op Monday, writing that he us 'angry and appalled' by the unfolding events. 'We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln's 'better angels,' and listen to them, as we work to unite,' Mattis wrote. He called for unity and calm. 'This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.' His blistering article comes as other former military officials, including former head of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen, blasted Trump for seeking to 'politicize' the military. READ MARINE GENERAL JIM MATTIS' FULL CONDEMNATION OF DONALD TRUMP I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words 'Equal Justice Under Law' are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand -one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values - our values as people and our values as a nation. When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens -much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate.' At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict -a false conflict -between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them. James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that 'America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.' We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law. Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that 'The Nazi slogan for destroying uswas 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.' We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis -confident that we are better than our politics. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children. We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln's 'better angels,' and listen to them, as we work to unite. Only by adopting a new path - which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals- will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad. Advertisement He also blasts a comment by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, whose job is already in jeopardy, for his comment calling for governors to 'dominate the battlespace' in U.S. cities. 'We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate.' At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society,' he writes. 'It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.' Mattis also joined Allen in denouncing the 'bizarre photo-up' that Trump ordered up, as federal police backed up by the National Guard cleared away peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park. 'When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution,' writes Mattis. 'Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizensmuch less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.' Mattis indicated when he resigned his post that he felt an obligation to keep comments to himself. 'There is a period in which I owe my silence. It's not eternal. It's not going to be forever,' he said at the time. While he was in office, Mattis stood out among other cabinet officials for failing to shower the president with over-the-top praise at public events. Behind the scenes, there were clashes and Mattis even told aides he would rather 'swallow acid' than allow Trump to throw a $50 million 'Victory Parade' in the nation's capital. Esper was fighting for his job Wednesday even as authorities seek to gain control of the nation's streets as he contradicted President Donald Trump on use of a special military authority and the Army announced a sudden reversal on a plan to start withdrawing active duty troops from around Washington. The day featured sudden turnarounds and contradicting explanations about the photo-op that both Esper and the president joined in on Monday, with no clear plan about how regular military, National Guard forces, local police, and outside forces are coalescing to attempt to maintain order. About 200 members of the Army's 82nd Airborne division were to have departed the D.C. region on Wednesday only to have the order suddenly reversed after Esper paid a visit to the White House following a morning press conference where he tried to distance himself from the infamous photo-op at St. John's church Monday. The change followed Esper's White House meeting and internal discussions at the Pentagon, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press in an on-record statement. It also came hours after a 10:00 a.m. order to draw down some of the 1,600 forces including infantry members who had been positioned outside Washington, D.C., and after the White House declined to say Trump had confidence in Esper, who succeeded 'acting' secretaries and who himself filled such a role after the departure of Mattis. Esper told reporters Wednesday he was opposed to invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to send the U.S. military to impose control of cities even as the president talked tough on Twitter and ordered an infantry battalion to Washington, D.C. It was a statement that caught the White House off guard at a time President Trump is brandishing his maximum authority and could put Esper's job in jeopardy. Esper made the public statement of opposition to the idea after the White House publicly floated it on Monday. The decision to maintain the force that had been flown into the region comes even as protests overnight Tuesday were calmer then they were the night of the Lafayette Park incident. It came as it was revealed that Maryland and Virginia governors had refused to send their national groups to the nation's capital, which has a longstanding struggle over home-rule with federal authorities. Trump loyalist Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would send 500 guard troops. Esper also sought to back away from the photo-op itself, saying that while he knew he would be going to the church, he thought he would be visiting troops. He ended up posing with Trump and officials including Attorney General Bill Barr, who the White House said ordered the action Monday morning, only to discover it hadn't occurred hours later. 'What I was not aware of was exactly where we were going when we arrived at the church and what the plans were once we got there,' Esper said. He also tried to walk-back a comment that referred to U.S. cities as 'battle-space.' 'In retrospect I would use different wording' he said of his conference call with Trump and governors,' he said. Just hours after he spoke at the Pentagon, Defense officials said some of the active duty military troops flown into the Washington region to deal with civil unrest were being sent home. About 200 members of the 82nd Airborne were to depart the region Wednesday, officials told the Associated Press. They are among a group of 1,600 infantry and military police being held at basis in Maryland and Virginia outside Washington, after President Trump repeatedly urged use of military force to regain control of city streets across the country. 'I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act,' said Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who said active duty forces should only be used for law enforcement in the homeland as a 'last resort' Esper made his public comments while facing ratcheting political pressure. 'I say this not only as secretary of defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard,' Esper told reporters at a Pentagon press conference as he announced his position. 'The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations,' he said. 'We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act,' he added. Esper's public rebellion raised immediate questions inside the White House over how long he can survive. 'As of right now secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, and should the president lose faith we will all learn about that in the future,' white House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said when asked if Trump still has confidence in him. McEnany was asked if Esper had made his views on the Insurrection Act known to the president before his public statement, as well as whether Trump had confidence in him. 'As of right now secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper,' said White House press secretary Keyleigh McEnany 'Not that I'm aware of in terms of expressing his opinion,' she responded. 'And I wouldn't get into the private conversations that went on here in the White House. And with regard to whether the president has confidence, I would say if he loses confidence in Secretary Esper I'm sure you all will be the first to know,' she said. McEnany referred to the Insurrection Act which Esper argued publicly against as a 'tool' the president could use. I was just INSPECTING the bunker under the White House when I went there 'two and a half' or three times during protests claims Donald Trump President Donald Trump said he went down to the White House bunker during the protests in Washington D.C. to inspect it and not because of any possible threat. He denied a report he was taken into the secure shelter by Secret Service agents on Friday night out of concerns for his safety. 'I go down, I've gone down two or three times - all for inspection - and you go there, some day you may need it,' he said Wednesday on Brian Kilmeade's FOX News Radio show. 'I went down. I looked at it. It was during the day, it was not a problem.' The president reportedly spent an hour there Friday night as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House, some of them throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades. Trump was said to be furious at the image of himself in the underground bolt hole, which was designed for use in emergencies like a terrorist attack. His tough crack down on protesters and march to St. John's Church across from the White House on Monday - where police used gas and rubber bullets to clear peaceful demonstrators from the area to make way for the president - was, in part, a response to the bunker reports. He described his time in the underground room as 'more for an inspection.' 'I was there for a tiny, short little period of time,' he told Kilmeade in a 30-minute interview on Wednesday morning. 'A whole group of people went with me as an inspecting factor.' 'They said it would be a good time to go down and take a look because maybe sometime you're going to need it,' he noted. 'I've been down - that'd be number two, so two and half sort of, because I've done different things, but two and a half.' 'But I looked I was down for a very very short period of time, a very very short period of time, I can't tell you who went with me but a whole group of people went with me,' Trump added. - By Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com Advertisement 'The president has the sole authority to invoke the Insurrection Act. It is definitely a tool within his power. This president has one singular aim, it is protecting america's streets. We cannot have burning churches,' she said, referencing the damage to St. John's on Sunday night. 'The Insurrection Act is a tool available,' she said. Esper, a former member of the D.C. National Guard, spoke hours after the Pentagon announced the composition of active-duty forces being dispatched to Washington, D.C. - but just after he spoke, some of those federal troops were ordered home amid signs of mounting concern inside the senior military ranks at their involvement in the capital. A total of 1,600 forces were moved to bases in the area as a 'prudent planning measure in response to ongoing support to civil authorities operations,' the Pentagon said. 'The Department of Defense moved multiple active duty Army units into the National Capitol Region as a The Secretary of Defense authorized the movement of an infantry battalion designated Task Force 504, assigned to the Army's Immediate Response Force based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina,' it said in a statement. His public statement comes despite a report by the New York Times that Esper favored use of the Act, as did Vice President Mike Pence. The paper reported that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley was against the idea, believing he had enough Guard troops in place to provide support. Attorney General Bill Barr, who reportedly authorized the clearing of the park, favored deferring to states' rights on the issue, the paper reported. Esper made the statement at a press conference where he also claimed he had no idea where he was going when Trump led members of his administration on a walk to St. John's Episcopal Church for a controversial photo shoot. He also insisted he had 'no idea' that force would be used to clear out peaceful protesters ahead of the staged trip. The performance may not have gone over well at the White House. President Trump was 'not happy' with it, CNN reported after Esper put distance between himself and the White House both on the photo-op and on the Insurrection Act. Trump demanded Wednesday that police 'get tough' after a sixth night of nation-wide protests but privately, the president is backing off his plan to send in federal troops to stifle rioters. While President Trump launched a more than 35-tweet tirade Wednesday morning, in part claiming that the violent protesters are 'domestic terrorists,' he also abandoned his idea to dispatch the military after officials claimed local governments should take charge, the Associated Press reported. Trump told members of his cabinet over the last week that he wants to send the military into American cities a proposal that led to a heated yelling-match between those supporting the notion and those opposed. Despite his decision not to deploy the military, Trump continued to insist that 'The National Guard is ready!.' He has continuously urged governors to activate the National Guard in their states so cities destroyed by rioters could be policed by the Army reservist unit. Defense officials revealed that Trump considered using 'tanks' or other armored military vehicles to help restore order, and threatened to deploy active duty military across the country to quell the unrest. On Monday night, military helicopters also hovered over demonstrators in a tactic to disperse the crowds. Two Pentagon officials said the president was the one who ordered military aircraft to fly above the capital as a 'show of force' against violent protesters. The District of Columbia's federal status gives the president outsized authority to act, allowing him to direct the deployment of the National Guard. He authorized Attorney General William Barr to oversee a surge in the deployment of federal law enforcement officers, including the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team and agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency. Officials claim the president wanted to make Washington, D.C. an example of the 'show of force' other cities should implement to quell the violence ALBANY The state district attorneys association said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and members of his administration are wrong on the law and should not be saying as they have this week that prosecutors could be charging looters with second-degree burglary, a felony that after July 2 would allow judges to set bail on the offense. "Look at the facts. Look at what they did and charge appropriately, that's what I'm saying," Cuomo said Thursday during his daily coronavirus task force briefing. "Don't feel, 'Well, there's a political environment where I don't want to charge because it's not political to hold people account for crimes.' The law is the law. ... District attorneys have to do their jobs. Enforce the law. I'm not interested in a political enforcement of law." As protests have erupted across the state and nation over the past 10 days, prosecutors in New York have been charging alleged looters with third-degree burglary, a low-level felony. Under bail reform laws that took effect in January, judges cannot set bail for people charged with that offense. A change in the bail laws that the Legislature and Cuomo enacted in the recent state budget, however, will after July 2 enable judges to set bail for a defendant charged with second-degree burglary. Earlier this week, amid outcries that looters and others arrested for violence were not having bail set or issued appearance tickets members of Cuomo's administration erroneously said that judges could set bail for some looters if prosecutors had charged them with second-degree burglary. At Thursday's briefing, the governor's secretary, Melissa DeRosa, said that the charge of second-degree burglary "applies directly to looting." "This has always been the law. It wasnt changed in the budget," DeRosa said. "It says that bail can be set if a person is ... carrying a dangerous instrument, which includes a rock ... (and) uses a rock, brick or the like to break the window to gain entry, or ... another participant acting with the defendant, that did (carry a dangerous instrument) or use something like a rock to break a window." "So, I understand some of the district attorneys may feel uncomfortable charging that as burglary two because traditionally they charge that as burglary three," DeRosa said. "But they have the tools available to them, and I think what the governor is saying they should use them." Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, president of the state district attorneys association, said the governor is mistaken. "The notion that district attorneys can charge burglary two in cases where individuals throw rocks through windows of closed businesses to loot is not supported by New York state's penal law," Hoovler said in a statement. "If the premises are not directly shared with a dwelling, this action alone simply does not arise to burglary two. The law that would allow for bail for a burglary of a dwelling or shared dwelling does not go into effect until July 1 and even then the facts would have to also support entry into the dwelling portion of the premises." Hoovler said that using a rock or brick to smash a window also does not qualify as a "dangerous instrument" unless it could cause serious physical injury to someone inside. "For an overwhelming majority of these cases, the facts do not justify charges that would be bail eligible under New York state's current laws. That is why we are seeing these looters immediately released upon arraignment or given a desk appearance ticket," he said. "Any suggestion that prosecutors should knowingly charge an offense that the facts and circumstances do not support, or to put another way, 'overcharge,' would run afoul of the ethical obligations prosecutors are sworn to uphold." The district attorneys association statement cited a recent Court of Appeals decision which threw out a second-degree burglary conviction for a defendant who broke into the basement of a deli that had six floors of apartments above it. The decision said that since the residential floors were not accessible from the deli it was not appropriate to charge the defendant with second-degree burglary. The court upheld the person's conviction for third-degree burglary. In an interview, Hoovler said the association issued the statement, in part, to back Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., whose office is handling hundreds of arrests of alleged looters over the past week by the New York Police Department. Cuomo "made a comment that wasnt complete and I wanted to make sure that a complete statement was made," Hoovler said. "Cy Vance was right on the law and the association had to back him." Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who has been critical of many elements of the initial criminal justice reforms, was even more pointed in his response to Cuomo's remarks. "He wants us to violate our code of ethics, Soares said. They basically wrote laws that could not have come at a worse time for our country and now business owners are suffering for it. Its not just business owners: Its anyone who has been assaulted, who gets to feel a perpetrator assault them and then watch them get an appearance ticket. WASHINGTON A top Senate Republican said Thursday he would block two of President Donald Trump's high-level nominees until the White House gave him a legitimate reason for firing two federal watchdogs. By preventing a vote on the nominees, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, significantly escalated his feud with Trump over the president's decision to remove Steve Linick, the State Department's inspector general, and Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community. IGs are charged with ferreting out corruption, waste and fraud inside federal agencies. Democrats in Congress are investigating Linick's ouster. So far, Grassley usually a staunch Trump ally is the only Republican publicly demanding an accounting. The Iowa Republican slammed the White House last week for failing to justify the Linick and Atkinson firings, suggesting the vague rationale would fuel speculation that "political" motivations are at play. Grassley noted the White House is required by law to provide Congress with a rationale for such removals. "All I want is a reason 4 firing these (people)," Grassley tweeted on Thursday. "CHECKS&BALANCES." Im placing holds on 2 Trump Admin noms until I get reasons 4firing 2 agency watchdogs as required by law Not 1st time ive raised alarm when admins flout IG protection law Obama did same& got same earfull from me All I want is a reason 4 firing these ppl CHECKS&BALANCES ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 4, 2020 Grassley's spokesman said the two nominees he will block are Christopher C. Miller, who Trump tapped to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Marshall Billingslea, nominated to be undersecretary of State for arms control and international security. Trump notified lawmakers on May 15 that he was going to fire Linick; Trump later said he did so at the urging of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Earlier this year, the president also removed Atkinson, who had informed congressional leaders about a whistleblower complaint that led to the president's impeachment. Story continues In a May 26 letter to Grassley, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone asserted Trump's "constitutional right" to remove the two inspector generals. Grassley said that explanation was not adequate. "Without sufficient explanation, its fair to question the presidents rationale for removing an inspector general," Grassley said in a statement last week. Democrats have accused Pompeo of pushing for Linick's removal to shield himself from scrutiny. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, joined at left by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, deals with objections from Democratic members of the panel as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh waits to testify before on the third day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 6, 2018. Linick's office is investigating two highly contentious matters that touch directly on Pompeo's actions: allegations that he used a State Department employee to run personal errands for himself and his wife, and questions about the State Department's decision to greenlight a highly controversial $8 billion weapons sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Pompeo has defended his push for Linick's ouster. "All weve done is simply make sure that in respect to the inspector general that we had an inspector general that was working towards the mission of the United States Department of State and the foreign policy of Donald Trump," he said Sunday during an interview with Fox News. On Wednesday, Linick testified behind closed doors before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Oversight panel as part of their probe into his removal. In a statement after the session, Democrats said Linick told them that a top adviser to Pompeo tried to interfere with the probe into the Saudi weapons sale. "Mr. Linick testified that Mr. Bulatao pressured him to act in ways that Mr. Linick felt were inappropriate including Bulatao telling Linick that the investigation into weapons sales to Saudi Arabia was not a matter for the IG to investigate," Democrats said in a statement after Linick's closed-door testimony. More: Pompeo aide tried to 'bully' ex-State Department watchdog and stop probe in Saudi arms deal, Dems say 'Lapdog' or watchdog? The State Department's new inspector general under fire for conflicts of interest, inexperience This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chuck Grassley blocked two Trump nominees in clash over watchdogs L abour leader Sir Keir Starmer has written to Boris Johnson asking him to urge Donald Trump to "respect human rights" following the death of George Floyd. Sir Keir said the United Kingdom had a moral obligation to speak out and that the death of George Floyd had justifiably prompted anger. He wrote: "In the House of Commons yesterday, I raised my shock and anger at the killing of George Floyd and the response of US authorities to the peaceful protests. "This has shone a spotlight on the racism, discrimination and injustice experienced by those from black and minority ethnic communities in the US and across the world. President Donald Trump / AP "I welcome that you shared some of the concerns I raised with you and want to use this opportunity to explore what the British government is doing to urge the United States and President Trump to respect human rights and the fundamental democratic right to peaceful protest. "I am sure that you share my strongly held belief that the UK has a moral obligation to speak out in defence of these values, no matter where in the world they are challenged." He said the UK "must be clear in showing that we understand this frustration and that we are ready to stand together with those who seek to tackle the injustice and inequality that remains within all our societies". He also asked a series of questions including whether the UK has raised any concerns with the US yet and what steps the government was taking to reassure black communities in the UK. Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: Boris Johnson has a moral obligation to urge Donald Trump to respect human rights and the fundamental democratic right to peaceful protest. During yesterday's Downing Street daily briefing, Boris Johnson said his message to Donald Trump is that "racism and racist violence has no place in our society" when questioned by journalists. He said: We mourn George Floyd and I was appalled and sickened to see what happened to him. "My message to President Trump, to everybody in the United States, from the UK is that I dont think that racism and its an opinion Im sure shared by the overwhelming majority of people around the world racism and racist violence has no place in our society. Boris Johnson said he was "sickened" by George Floyd's death / via REUTERS The Prime Minister made the comments just a few hours after Sir Keir called on him during Prime Minister's Questions to speak to President Trump about Mr Floyds death. Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, was filmed gasping and pleading I cant breathe as a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Thousands of people have been marching across the globe as outrage continues to grow over the death of Mr Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis last week. Thirteen people were arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest in London yesterday the Metropolitan Police said. After a peaceful start to the day, physical altercations broke out as tensions bubbled over outside Mr Johnson's residence at Number 10 Downing Street. A British pilot Vietnams most critical COVID-19 patient has been taken off ECMO life support after nearly two months, as doctors had noted gradual improvements in his recovery. Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday gave the green light to disconnect the Briton from ECMO after having used the machine to provide cardiac and respiratory support for him for the past 57 days. The Briton is now awake, responds well to doctors, and has a stable pulse and blood pressure. He can move his head and hold a cup of water with assistance from hospital staff. More than half of his left lung has recovered, while his right lung also appears to be improving slowly. The patients renal function is also recovering. He is expected to remain on a ventilator for a few more weeks, according to the National Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. ECMO withdrawal is an important milestone in the Britons treatment as it was previously vital in keeping him alive. On May 13, a CT scan revealed that only 10 percent of his lungs were functional, with doctors and experts believing that a lung transplant was the only way to save him. About 70 people in the country had volunteered to donate parts of their lungs for the procedure, but finding a brain-dead registered donor was a priority. Doctors also needed to fully treat his lung infection before performing the surgery on the patient. However, his lung capacity increased to about 30 percent a week later and to 40 percent last week. If his lung and renal functions continue to improve, he will have a chance to survive without a lung or kidney transplant, according to doctors. Medical practitioners from major hospitals across Vietnam are expected to convene their fourth teleconference on Thursday to discuss the best treatment course for the Briton. Vietnams COVID-19 tally remained at 328 as of Thursday morning, with 302 having recovered. Among the 26 active patients, 13 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus at least once since receiving treatment. No community spread has been detected in the country for nearly 50 days. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! WORKS ON the $398 million Tema to Mpakadan Railway Project will resume this week, after the construction work was put on hold in March 2020. The construction of the 91km project was halted after mass testing of workers for the Covid-19, throwing the workers into disarray. This follows the 100% recovery rate of all the 70 railway workers at the Kpong Afcons B Camp, in the Lower Manya-Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region who have contracted the novel coronavirus. The staff of Afcons Camp B at Kpong who were tested positive of the novel Covid-19 have all been declared negative after two consecutive testing. The Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, announced this when he stormed the camp after commissioning a 40-bed Isolation Center at the Atua Government Hospital. He said acting on the advice of the Eastern Regional Public Health Emergency Committee and National Response Team against COVID-19, he ordered Afcons constructions to continue their operations. The Minister advised the workers to continue to adhere to the Health protocols given by the Government to prevent further spread of the virus. Simon Kweku Tetteh, MCE for Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, on his side cautioned the workers not to lose their guard since the pandemic is not over yet and its a must to wear face masks when going around with your daily activities in the Municipality. Health Director The Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Alberta Biritwum-Nyarko said all the 82 workers who were infected have been treated and fully recovered to do their work. She also encouraged them to continue to adhere to the set protocols outline to contain the virus. Dr Biritwum-Nyarko said after a second successful test of the 70 affected railway workers and their other colleagues who were not affected by the virus at the Afcons Camp B at Kpong, she was glad to announce that the camp B is totally free of the pandemic. She said the Region had recorded 134 confirmed cases with 95 persons fully recovered. Stated that 21 of the confirmed cases are health workers with seven of them fully recovered. She further appealed to the gathering to continue to adhere strictly to the laid down public health protocols, social distancing and the compulsory wearing of face masks to protect themselves and others. The Deputy General Manager of the company, Korimilli VSN Murthy on behalf of the company thanked the Government and the Ghana Health Service for their support during the difficult times. Attached Images: The Regional Minister and his team in an engagement with the Railway Workers. Source: Daily Guide 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 Alexander Winning and Promit Mukherjee JOHANNESBURG - World-leading renewables companies are lining up to invest in South Africa's energy sector and help remedy a chronic generation shortfall that pushed the continent's most advanced economy into recession even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. But their investment proposals are on hold as red tape and political considerations delay procurement, undermining a government pledge to prioritise wind and solar generation. Indebted state utility Eskom's coal-fired stations, which produce more than 80% of South Africa's electricity, have long struggled to meet demand, culminating in rolling blackouts that last year hobbled industries central to the economy. Power experts say adding renewables would be one of the quickest and cheapest ways to end outages and reverse years of economic decline. Based on the government's plan to add 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of as yet unprocured wind and solar capacity in 2022, the next auction could attract more than $2 billion in investment, a Reuters analysis of industry estimates found. Billions more could flow if procurements happen regularly, contributing to much-needed economic development when the new coronavirus has exacerbated budget constraints. "South Africa has a brilliant solar resource, and there is a lot of international and local interest," said Wido Schnabel of Canadian Solar, which hopes to supply new projects. "Why are we still waiting?" When it launched its first renewables auction in 2011, South Africa was at the vanguard of clean energy converts, Anton Eberhard, a University of Cape Town professor, said. Six years after the last procurement round, "South Africa is falling behind," said Eberhard, who has advised President Cyril Ramaphosa on reforming Eskom. (Graphic: South Africa's renewable energy https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/jbyprlmlype/eikon.png) "There is no question. Engie would bid for both solar and wind," said Mohamed Hoosen, chief Africa power and gas officer for the French power company. Story continues Italy's Enel Green Power will also consider bidding if tender and market conditions are as favourable as in the past, a spokesman said. TENDER DELAYS In an energy plan in October, the government aimed to increase installed wind and solar capacity roughly sixfold to more than 26 GW by 2030. More than seven months on, none of the new capacity has gone out to tender. Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said in February he was seeking the agreement of energy regulator Nersa for procurements. But in March, Nersa said it needed around six months for its electricity subcommittee to make a submission and to consult the public before it could make a decision. Even 2,000 megawatts (MW) of "emergency procurement" identified as a priority and given a green light by Nersa last month has yet to happen. The energy ministry told Reuters the law was clear on how procurements should take place and it was following established procedure. A spokeswoman declined comment when asked whether red tape was holding up procurement, while a Nersa spokesman said its rules were designed to ensure installations were safe. Mining companies, as major energy users and a plank of South Africa's economy, have been lobbying the government via an industry association to ease regulations so they can build their own large solar plants. These could greatly ease the strain by ensuring power for their own operations, as well as generating surplus supplies for the grid, while appeasing shareholders concerned about the miners' carbon footprint. But companies, including Sibanye-Stillwater and Gold Fields, say regulations and uncertainty over costs are delaying their plans. Although the energy ministry tweaked the rules for small generators in March, it maintained strict licensing requirements for plants over 1 MW. Sibanye wants to add up to 150 MW of solar capacity, while Gold Fields is aiming for 40 MW. The energy ministry told Reuters the rules "effectively enable companies to generate their own power". A spokesman for industry group the Minerals Council said the March amendment "was not intended to deal with self-generation on the scale that mines are seeking". KILLING COAL Not all the obstacles are bureaucratic. Analysts blame the governing African National Congress' (ANC) close ties with organised labour for its reluctance to unleash renewables. Unions - heavily represented at Eskom and in the coal mines that fuel its power plants - have resisted renewables because they fear they could cost coal miners their jobs. With unemployment at 30% even before COVID-19, the ANC is alive to those concerns. "The renewable energy sector is allowed space as well to grow. But it's allowed space to grow without killing coal," Sello Helepi, a senior advisor to the energy minister, told Reuters. Helepi noted there had been few renewables projects in Mpumalanga province, the country's coal-mining heartland and an ANC stronghold. "Let's say hypothetically we switch off coal-fired power stations, what are we saying to the people of Mpumalanga?" he asked. An ANC spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking comment. Proponents of renewables say additional clean energy capacity would not threaten coal jobs directly and that the government's reticence could stifle employment in a new sector. Max Bogl, a German construction firm that manufactures wind towers, told Reuters it was interested in establishing production in South Africa that could create around 400 direct jobs. But it awaits the government's next move, said Bruno Geadas, a company official who visited South Africa several times last year to evaluate investment prospects. "We are waiting for another level of commitment," he said. (Graphic: South Africa's renewable energy (interactive) https://tmsnrt.rs/3gNKYKs) (Reporting by Alexander Winning and Promit Mukherjee; graphic by Promit Mukherjee; additional reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; editing by Joe Bavier and Barbara Lewis) Attorney General Bill Barr said at a press conference Thursday that there was "no correlation" between his decision to order police to forcibly remove protesters from Lafayette Park and President Trump's subsequent visit to St. John's Episcopal Church earlier this week. Driving the news: Barr was asked to respond to comments from Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who said Tuesday that he "did not know a photo op was happening" and that he does everything he can to "try and stay out of situations that may appear political." What he's saying: "My interest was to carry out the law enforcement functions of the federal government and to protect federal facilities and federal personnel, and also to address the rioting that was interfering with the governments' function. That was what we were doing," Barr said. "I think the president is the head of the executive branch and the chief executive of the nation and should be able to walk outside the White House and walk across the street to the 'church of presidents.' I don't necessarily view that as a political act," he continued. "I think it was entirely appropriate for him to do. I did not know that he was going to do that until later in the day after our plans were well underway to move the perimeter." The big picture: Barr said that authorities have made 51 arrests for federal crimes related to rioting, and that the Justice Department has evidence that "antifa and other similar extremist groups" have been involved in attempts to incite violence. SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (dpa-AFX) - Swiss drug maker Roche (RHHBY) announced Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorisation or EUA for the Elecsys IL-6 test to help in identifying patients at high risk of severe inflammatory response. Roche noted that the test can support physicians, in combination with other examinations and vital signs, to decide early on if a patient with confirmed COVID-19 disease requires mechanical ventilation. This test measures levels of the biomarker interleukin 6 or IL-6, an early indicator for acute inflammation to aid in the management of critically ill patients. Hospitals and reference laboratories can run the Elecsys IL-6 test on Roche's cobas e analysers which are widely available around the world. These fully-automated systems can provide test results in approximately 18 minutes, with a test throughput of up to 300 tests/hour, depending on the analyser. Thomas Schinecker, CEO Roche Diagnostics, said, 'In the current situation, time is specifically critical. The test could help physicians in the quick identification of severe inflammatory response in patients infected with the SARS CoV-2 virus.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. An app tracking people's coronavirus symptoms has suggested fewer than 10,000 Britons are now being infected every day. Data from the COVID Symptom Tracker, created by scientists at King's College London, suggests there are currently 9,400 new daily cases across Britain. But the app does not include care homes, where the virus is still thought to be rife meaning the true infection rate could be significantly higher. The figures were based on nearly 20,000 swabs taken between May 17 and May 30 and extrapolated to the wider population. They suggest that 7,400 people per day catch the virus in England, along with a further 2,000 across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. King's College's app works by asking people to self-report each day whether they have symptoms of the coronavirus and whether they have been tested. Its statistics add to growing evidence that the UKs crisis is petering out and is largely in line with Government estimates, which suggest there are 8,000 new infections every day. But some of the countrys top scientists believe there are still too many new cases to ease lockdown. Data from King's College London's app suggests that the number of people catching the coronavirus each day in England has dropped from almost 10,000 in the middle of May to around 7,400 each day now In England, the number of new daily cases has fallen 11 per cent in the last seven days, from 8,262 cases to 7,381 cases, according to the app. All areas of England are seeing new cases fall, but northern regions appear to still be bearing the brunt of the crisis. The North East and Yorkshire are recording the most new daily infections, with 1,965 people getting infected each day. This is closely followed by the neighbouring North West, where there are 1,608 daily new cases. This contrasts with the South West region, where the infection rate is more like 300 per day. In London, formerly the epicentre of the UK's crisis, the researchers predict there are around 1,100 new cases per day. Data from the app is used to make the calculations by considering the proportion of people who use the app who report symptoms that match Covid-19, and who report having received positive or negative tests. It has tracked these measures over time. One of its developers, Professor Tim Spector, said: 'We are now able to provide a reasonable estimate of the number of new infections within the population based on swab testing. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE CATCHING THE VIRUS IN EACH REGION? The COVID Symptom Tracker team have used their data to estimate how many people in each region of the UK are catching the coronavirus on a daily basis. These are their estimates. All figures are mid-range estimates and have ranges of up to 700 higher or lower. England: 7,400 cases per day Scotland: 650 Wales: 900 Northern Ireland: 800 English regions: North East & Yorks: 2,000 North West: 1,600 Midlands: 1,450 London: 1,100 East of England: 1,000 South East: 650 South West: 300 Advertisement 'This means we can keep a close eye on the numbers to help us spot any sudden rises or falls. 'From the latest data, we can see that there are still a lot of new cases in the community, particularly in the north of the country, although rates are declining. 'In London where numbers are lower, we are seeing little change over the last fortnight, which suggests we need to watch this carefully, especially as we continue to see lockdown measures eased and children head back to school across the UK. 'The more people that use the app, the more accurate our predictions are for each region' The Kings College results are based on a sub-group of 1,030,000 people using the COVID Symptom Study, of whom 13,464 carried out swab tests after feeling unwell. These figures give a real-time view of COVID infection rates, unlike the Department of Health's count of deaths, which lag by about two weeks or more. The UK figure of 9,400 was calculated using swab testing and app symptom data collected over the period 17-30 May, from users of all ages and spread throughout England. The data for Scotland and Wales were indirectly estimated using country-wide averages. These are less accurate and have wider intervals of error. Best estimates for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are 650 new cases per day, 900 cases per day, and 800 cases per day, respectively. Health data from the approximately 2.5million users was combined with physical COVID swab tests to create an accurate view of what COVID looks like in the population on a day-by-day basis. The daily new cases estimate does not account for those in the population who have no symptoms at all or are living in care homes. Jonathan Wolf, CEO of ZOE said: 'By combining physical swab testing with daily digital health reporting we are now able to understand the daily new cases of infection. 'We will be updating this regularly, which will provide vital information to the NHS, local authorities and government as we all look to ease our way out of lockdown.' The app update comes after data from the Office for National Statistics last week suggested that 8,000 people per day are still becoming infected with the virus. It said the progress of the outbreak shrinking is slow and the presence of the virus in the community had dropped only 0.01 per cent in the past week. The ONS described the outbreak as 'relatively stable'. There are still 54,000 new infections happening each week - down from 61,000 per week at the start of May - and 133,000 people are thought to currently have the virus, down from 137,000. This means one in 1,000 people catch it each week. Explaining that 8,000 people per day are still catching the infection, the UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said: 'That is not a low number. 'So it's worth remembering that we still have a significant burden of infection. We are still seeing new infections every day at quite a significant rate, and the R is close to 1. 'That means there is not a lot of room to do things and things need to be done cautiously, step-by-step, and monitored.' Video footage posted to social media by two teenage girls arrested over the death of 19-year-old Cian English shows they had "no remorse" after he fell to his death from a fourth-floor Gold Coast balcony last month, police say. A passerby discovered Mr English's body at the base of an apartment complex at View Avenue in Surfers Paradise early on May 23, after he had allegedly tried to escape a lengthy knifepoint robbery ordeal. Brisbane man Cian English, 19, who died in a fall from a Surfers Paradise balcony during the early hours of Saturday. The girls, both aged 16 and from Coomera, have been charged with one count each of murder and stealing, as well as two counts each of robbery, torture and deprivation of liberty. They appeared in Southport Childrens Court on Thursday afternoon. Jason Ryan Knowles, 22, Hayden Paul Kratzmann, 20, and Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 18, have also been charged with murder, after allegedly using prescription drugs with Mr English and a friend before demanding property. A terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday, sources said. The Army and police launched a cordon and search operation in Kalakote belt of the district on Thursday following specific information about the presence of infiltrating terrorists there, they said. As per the reports, two-three terrorists are likely trapped, the sources said. One of them has been reportedly killed in the encounter, they said, adding the operation is on. Alabama Spanish Fort: A city worker who accused the mayor of slapping her last year has been fired after refusing to perform temperature checks on people at City Hall, her lawyer said. Lyndsey Cooper was dismissed Monday for insubordination by the coastal town of Spanish Fort, said her attorney, Ed Smith. Cooper has no medical training and refused to take the temperatures of people entering City Hall, Smith told WALA-TV. Such screenings, typically performed with an electronic sensor held near the face, are being used to detect people who might be sick from the new coronavirus. The firing came eight months after Cooper accused Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan of slapping her at City Hall. A misdemeanor harassment case against the mayor is pending, and Smith said he believes Coopers removal was in retaliation for her filing charges against the mayor. Alaska Anchorage: An annual extreme mountain race has been postponed until next year over coronavirus concerns, organizers said. The committee that oversees the Mount Marathon Race in Seward announced that the 93rd running of the Fourth of July event would be postponed until July 2021 after failing to find another appropriate date this year. The race of about 3 miles up and back down Mount Marathon to the finish line in Seward began in 1915 and was last canceled in 1942 because of World War II. No races were held between 1932 and 1938, or between 1920 and 1924, during railroad construction. The committee considered an alternate date of Sept. 6, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced officials to cancel, Race Director Matias Saari said. Not having Mount Marathon in 2020 is a great disappointment and a decision the committee took very seriously, Saari said in a post on the events website. Arizona Phoenix: The number of patients hospitalized with positive or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the state has reached an all-time high, according to state figures. The Department of Health Services says hospitals reported a total of 1,009 hospitalizations Monday, marking the first time the daily number has reached 1,000. The agency has been disclosing hospitalization data since April 9. Health officials reported an additional 1,127 COVID-19 cases Tuesday as well as 24 deaths. Including those findings, the total number of cases in Arizona now stands at 21,250 and the number of deaths at 941. The increases are being reported in the wake of more testing and of Gov. Doug Duceys lifting of some lockdown orders that closed many businesses and other establishments. Ducey has said Arizonas health care system can care for any coronavirus patients and has enough hospital beds and ventilators available. Story continues Arkansas Little Rock: The state on Tuesday marked another one-day record for new coronavirus cases, and the governor said plans to further loosen restrictions on businesses remained on hold because of the spike. The Health Department said at least 7,818 people have tested positive for the virus, an increase of 375 over the 7,443 reported Monday. The department said it marked the biggest one-day increase in cases among non-incarcerated people, as only one of the new cases was somebody who was incarcerated. The number of people in the state who were reported to have died from COVID-19 reached 136. Officials said 132 people are hospitalized, a new high for the state. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has been rolling back restrictions in recent weeks but said moving the state into phase 2, where those limits can be further loosened, is on pause for now. California Sacramento: A Chinese company paid by California to manufacture hundreds of millions of protective masks missed a Sunday deadline for federal certification, marking the second time its shipments to the state will be delayed. State officials are deciding whether to give manufacturer BYD more time or seek a refund for about a quarter-billion dollars it already paid up front for the masks, said Brian Ferguson, spokesman for the Office of Emergency Services. The contract requires BYD to repay the money by Friday unless it can reach an agreement with the state. Its the latest setback in the contract Gov. Gavin Newsom announced with fanfare on a nightly cable news show in early April, calling it a bold and big expression of Californias economic power. California signed a nearly $1 billion contract to manufacture 200 million masks a month. The company has already sent more than 60 million looser-fitting surgical masks to the state. Colorado Colorado Gov. Jared Polis puts on his face mask after a news conference May 28 in Denver about the states efforts against the new coronavirus. Denver: The state is adding more than 800 new contact tracers to quickly identify coronavirus outbreaks as it gradually reopens its economy, Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday. The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency dedicated to enlisting people in public service, will supply AmeriCorps and Senior Corp members to support Colorados pandemic response through tracing, which involves identifying, notifying, testing and, if necessary, quarantining any exposed individuals, the Democratic governor told a news briefing. With hundreds of contract tracers working in the state, we will have a much better response to the virus, and well be able to address outbreaks more quickly, which will reduce infections, save lives and allow us to be more open with our interactions, Polis said. Connecticut Hartford: When determining eligibility for unemployment benefits, the state Department of Labor is now allowed to consider whether returning to work during the cononavirus pandemic would pose an unreasonable risk to a persons health or the health of their household. The latest executive order, signed by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday evening, pertains to claims covering May 17 through July 25. According to the order, when theres an unreasonable risk to the individuals health or, due to COVID-19, the health of a member of that individuals household is established, the commissioner will determine that returning to work is unsuitable for the individual. Lamont said Tuesday that his administration is trying to get people back to work safely, but he understands some may need more time. Its unclear how many workers might be affected. Delaware Dover: Democratic Gov. John Carney plans to back off restrictions he imposed on church worship to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday. Carney planned to issue new guidance regarding communities of worship either later Tuesday or Wednesday that could narrow, or even resolve, issues raised in a lawsuit challenging his restrictions as unconstitutional, attorneys said. The lawsuit argues that houses of worship are being treated differently from other essential businesses in Delaware and that they have been subjected to restrictions on religious practices including how a baptism can be conducted that are not neutrally and generally applicable to secular entities. The facts and circumstances are going to change significantly, state solicitor Aaron Goldstein told U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly. District of Columbia Washington: D.C. reported just one new coronavirus death Wednesday, WUSA-TV reports. Thats the lowest daily number since April 5. The district has now had more than 9,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. D.C.s seven-day average for new cases has now declined to where it was in early April. Its seven-day average for percent positivity in coronavirus tests is now under 10%. D.C. Health reported 130 new cases and one new death Wednesday, bringing its totals to 9,016 and 473, respectively. Florida Tallahassee: The states largest association of educators called Tuesday for changing how schools operate in the era of the coronavirus including staggering school schedules, suspending active-shooting drills, and imposing social distancing rules on buses and campuses. The discussions come amid preparations for the states 2.9 million public schoolchildren to return this fall after being shut out of classrooms nearly three months ago by the pandemic. In a 17-page document released Tuesday, the Florida Education Association called on the Department of Education to suspend standardized tests for students and key performance evaluations for teachers and schools proposals that are sure to garner skepticism among adherents of accountability metrics. The plan also called on schools to test students for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and put procedures in place to isolate infected students to prevent the virus from spreading across campus. Georgia Savannah: The states confirmed-case count for COVID-19 rose to 48,894 by Wednesday afternoon, while the statewide death toll reached 2,123, according to figures posted by the Georgia Department of Public Health. As of Tuesday the first day the DPH began issuing a single daily afternoon update for COVID-19 statistics Georgias total case count was 48,207, while the statewide death toll was 2,102. Hawaii Honolulu: Coronavirus information from state health officials presents an incomplete story of the pandemics impact on racial and ethnic communities, some critics said. The state Department of Health continues to gather data on the pandemics impact on residents, Hawaii Public Radio reports. State health authorities collect data on race and ethnicity using federal forms provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which some say highlight deficiencies in identifying cultural backgrounds. Health officials continue to deal with a flood of information about COVID-19 but face a challenge making sure the data is complete and clean, state Epidemiologist Sarah Park said. Officials are attempting to divide the categories of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders into more specific designations, Park said. Until recently, health authorities did not have time to take a second pass at data to make more focused breakdowns such as whether people in the two larger categories were of Filipino, Korean, Japanese or Chinese descent. Idaho A bicyclist looks at an I cant breathe sign in the window of an office building Tuesday in downtown Moscow, Idaho. Boise: Thousands of people attended a vigil in front of the Statehouse to protest the killing of George Floyd in a largely peaceful demonstration. Organizers of the Black Lives Matter Candlelight Vigil on Tuesday evening said the intention was to remember black Americans killed in recent years, many by police. If your intention is not one of reflection and not one of mourning, this is not the space for you, co-organizer Jessie Levin told the crowd. Boise Mayor Lauren McLean and acting Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar had earlier asked that people taking part in the event remain peaceful. Similar but smaller gatherings took place in other parts of the state, including Ketchum, Hailey, Twin Falls, Sandpoint, Idaho Falls and Rexburg. Illinois Chicago: Ten state-run testing sites for the coronavirus reopened Wednesday after state officials shut them down Sunday in response to unrest following protests over the death of George Floyd. An 11th testing site at a vehicle emissions facility in Waukegan is relocating and will reopen Thursday, officials said in a statement. Illinois officials have encouraged anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 to get tested for the virus and expanded eligibility last month to people working in health care and at other essential jobs, along with anyone who has been exposed to a confirmed case. On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced 1,614 new cases of COVID-19 and 113 deaths, bringing statewide totals since the start of the pandemic to 122,848 cases and 5,525 deaths. State health officials estimate that 92% of those with the virus have recovered. Indiana Indianapolis: An apparent slowdown of coronavirus-related deaths is continuing in the state, as figures released Wednesday by health officials show it has been more than a week since more than 20 people per day died with infections. That level is down from the period between early April and mid-May when more than 30 COVID-19 deaths were recorded most days, with the deadliest day on April 22 with 50 fatalities, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. The agency reported 10 additional COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, giving the state a total of 2,207 confirmed or presumed infection-related fatalities. The newly recorded deaths occurred between Friday and Tuesday. May 25 was the last day for which as many as 20 coronavirus deaths were reported, according to health department data Wednesday. Indiana hospitals, however, still had 357 COVID-19 patients in their intensive care units Tuesday. Iowa Des Moines: Coronavirus tests have revealed that 224 employees of a Tyson beef and pork processing plant in Council Bluffs have tested positive for the virus, company officials said Tuesday. The company said 103 workers stayed home the required quarantine time and have returned to work. The company has 1,483 employees at the plant. More than half of individuals who tested positive did not show any symptoms and otherwise would not have been identified, the company said in a statement. Some were tested by the state and some through their own health care providers. The company tested 145 workers at the plant May 14-16. Tyson also reported testing at its pork processing plant in Storm Lake indicated 591 positive cases out of 2,303 workers. More than 75% did not show symptoms and otherwise would not have been identified, the company said. Kansas Wichita: Health officials want to randomly test Sedgwick County residents to determine the spread of coronavirus in the area. KSNW-TV reports the local health department will offer testing to 1,600 random residents next week. Residents who get a call from the health department will be offered testing regardless of whether they have symptoms of COVID-19. Testing in Sedgwick County will be held June 18-20. Health officials are planning another round of random testing in mid-July to see if the virus spreads. Kansas has continued to see coronavirus cases and COVID-19-related deaths increase. The state Department of Health and Environment reported Monday that the number of cases had reached 10,011, up 292 or 3% since Friday, and the number of deaths jumped 4.5%, up nine to a total of 217 since the pandemic hit the state in early March. Kentucky Winchester: Day-use recreation sites at Daniel Boone National Forest are reopening after being temporarily shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Picnic areas, shooting ranges and White Sulphur Off-Highway Vehicle Trail System were among the sites scheduled to reopen Wednesday, forest officials said in a news release. The openings will be site-by-site, with assessment of facility cleanliness, maintenance status, and health and safety of recreation areas. The forest reopened the Redbird Crest Off-Highway Vehicle Trail System and the Red River Gorge on May 22. Developed campgrounds will reopen June 11. Any changes will be sent via text or email to those with campground reservations. Projected opening dates may vary depending on circumstances, the release said. Louisiana New Orleans: State health officials reported more than 400 newly confirmed cases of the new coronavirus Tuesday and 34 more deaths related to the disease caused by the virus. With the total number of tests in the state surpassing 393,000, the number of positive cases hit 40,746. The death toll was 2,724. The number of current cases resulting in hospitalization continues to fall. It was 639 in the midday Tuesday figures, down from 661 on Monday. Thats a trend that contributed to the states decision to allow reopenings Friday of bars, massage facilities, bowling alleys and some other businesses closed when the state was a COVID-19 hot spot with more than 2,000 hospitalized. Maine A man walks along the shore Wednesday in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. State leaders are considering a new approach to the current executive order requiring out-of-state visitors to quarantine for 14 days. Portland: State leaders are considering a layered approach instead of a 14-day quarantine for tourists who might be bringing the coronavirus to Maine, its top economic official said. Lifting the quarantine order will probably require a blend of testing, symptom checks, public education, and adherence to industry-specific guidelines and protocols, Heather Johnson, the states commissioner of economic and community development, told the Bangor Daily News. When you layer all of those together, you create a mesh that is intended to capture and really mitigate that risk, she said. The administration of Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is working on a plan that incorporates several elements because there is no single answer to keeping residents healthy when you go from 1.3 million people to 10 million people in a summer in Maine. Maryland Snow Hill: At least four correctional officers at the Worcester County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, county officials confirmed Tuesday evening. The number of cases could grow, as results for the rest of the staff and inmate population are pending. The four cases of COVID-19 were confirmed by Worcester County, which said in a statement that the testing was ordered to comply with Gov. Larry Hogans recommendation that detention facilities test their populations for the novel coronavirus. An outbreak of COVID-19 in the Worcester County Jail has been a possibility for months. As part of a federal lawsuit, lawyers with the ACLU of Maryland revealed that in late March and early April at least three ICE detainees held at the Worcester County Jail were labeled by jail personnel as patient monitoring for confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Massachusetts Boston: People with family members in nursing homes and some other long-term care facilities were allowed to start to visit their loved ones again starting Wednesday, according to new state guidelines meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Visits have been limited since mid-March to help protect a particularly vulnerable population. Still, more than 60% of the states coronavirus-related deaths have been in nursing home residents, according to state data. Under the guidelines, visits must be scheduled in advance and take place in designated outdoor areas, with the exception of end-of-life situations. Nursing home residents are allowed only two visitors at a time, and everyone must wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet apart. Residents with confirmed or possible cases of the disease cannot have visitors, although those who have recovered can. Visitors will have their temperature taken and be screened for symptoms of COVID-19. Michigan Lansing: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told Congress on Tuesday that Michigan still lacks enough supplies to fully ramp up testing for the coronavirus and said it is difficult to determine what the U.S. government is shipping. Whitmer said while the state is appreciative for the federal assistance, information about the types of swabs and other testing supplies being delivered is sometimes inaccurate. Its made our planning very difficult, the governor testified remotely to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Supplies could be allocated more quickly. If we had a detailed breakdown of what was actually in the shipment, we could mobilize and ensure that we can make the best use of the supplies and hit our capacity. As of Sunday, about 13,400 COVID-19 diagnostic tests were conducted per day over the prior week. That is near Whitmers short-term goal of 15,000 a day but short of the 25,000 she said could be done with additional supplies across at least 67 labs in the state. Minnesota St. Cloud: A judge on Tuesday blocked a chain of central Minnesota bars and restaurants from offering sit-down dining in violation of Gov. Tim Walzs peacetime emergency order during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Stearns County judge issued a temporary injunction sought by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison against the owner of the Shadys chain. Shadys owner Kris Schiffler earlier had planned to reopen a bar in Albany last month, but he announced he was not reopening after he was blocked by a court order. All Minnesotans especially the folks who live in and near Stearns County can be relieved that the Court has put their health first by granting this temporary injunction, Ellison said in a statement. Walz has since allowed bars and restaurants to offer outdoor dining. Schiffler also has Shadys taverns in Burtrum, Cold Spring, New Munich, Rice and St. Martin all in or near Stearns County, a COVID-19 hot spot. Mississippi Vicksburg: Distance learning within the local school district has allowed construction workers to get ahead on several school renovation projects, according to the projects manager. Vicksburg Warren School District buildings have been without students, teachers and staff since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Vicksburg Post reports. Work is ahead of schedule at both high schools and two middle schools, according to Gary Bailey, project manager with Dale Bailey Architects of Ridgeland. But other projects have had setbacks due to contractors affected by COVID-19, Bailey said. A pair of issues at Bowmar Elementary, built in 1939, were awaiting approval from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History because the school is listed as a Mississippi Historic Landmark, Bailey said. Missouri A motorist gets a fist bump from a passing protester as a demonstration shuts down a highway Wednesday in St. Charles, Mo. St. Louis: St. Louis County Executive Sam Page on Wednesday asked protesters who didnt wear masks or socially distance themselves during protests over the death of George Floyd to quarantine. Page said hes concerned days of protests over Floyds death in Minneapolis police custody might reverse progress made in the county to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The county has confirmed more than 400 deaths and 6,000 cases of COVID-19. Page said the county is making progress and is now able to test more than 1,000 people a day and with a positive test result rate reduced to 4.2%. The unrest could, unfortunately, result in a bump in these numbers, Page said. Thats why Im asking everyone whos participated in a march or protest to quarantine themselves for two weeks unless they were able to wear a mask or to be socially distance from others. Montana West Glacier: Glacier National Park will start a limited reopening for visitors next week following the northern Montana parks closure in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The park will reopen its west gate entrance at West Glacier next Monday and will be open until 4:30 p.m. each day, according to a statement Tuesday from Jeff Mow, the parks superintendent. Visitors will be able to access Apgar and Going-to-the-Sun Road as far as Lake McDonald Lodge. Hikers and bikers will have additional access as road conditions allow. Visitors will also be able to use restrooms and trails that are accessible from open park roads. Visitor centers, ranger stations and overnight accommodations will remain closed, and no backcountry permits will be issued. Hotels, full-service dining, commercial tour buses and ranger programs will reopen when health conditions allow, park officials said. Nebraska Omaha: Eleven employees and one patient have tested positive for the coronavirus at the state-run psychiatric hospital in Lincoln. Officials with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said they expect to confirm more cases as testing continues with patients and staff at the Lincoln Regional Center. Other state facilities have seen similar outbreaks, including the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney, a treatment center for juvenile offenders. Six workers and three teenage boys tested positive for the virus in April. Some Nebraska prison workers have been confirmed infected as well, as have seven inmates from the Community Corrections Center in Omaha. Nebraska had confirmed 14,611 coronavirus cases as of Wednesday morning, including 181 deaths. More than 110,000 people have been tested. Hospital capacity is relatively stable, with 42% of hospital beds, 42% of intensive care unit beds and 73% of ventilators available. Nevada Carson City: The number of Nevadans who have tested positive for COVID-19 has increased by 101, bringing the statewide total of known infections to 8,931 people, according to new numbers posted to the Nevada Health Alliance dashboard. The 101 new cases came from 3,976 people tested Tuesday. The statewide number of deaths has been adjusted upward to 429, with four previously unannounced deaths announced for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. No deaths were announced for Tuesday. The positive test rate has decreased to 5.7%. Hospitalization rates increased by 1.9%; there are now 188 hospitalized patients known to have COVID-19 and an additional 104 suspected to have COVID-19. New Hampshire Concord: Candidates were permitted to start signing up for the Sept. 8 state primary Wednesday, but theyre being encouraged to do so by mail because of concerns about the coronavirus. New Hampshire election officials encouraged candidates to file their paperwork by mail instead of in person to get on the primary ballot because of concerns about spreading the virus. The filing period opened Wednesday and runs through June 12. Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan told WMUR-TV that safety procedures are in place for candidates filing in person. There will be a table outside the Statehouse where paperwork can be collected, and those who want to come inside can do so but with restrictions. Each candidate can be accompanied by no more than five supporters, and they will be screened for fevers and asked to wear face masks. New Jersey Trenton: The average number of people who become infected with coronavirus from another infected person has fallen below one in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy and health officials said Tuesday. The data point, called the rate of reproduction, indicates how many people one infected person goes on to infect, the Democratic governor said. Before Murphys stay-home order went into effect in March, the rate was above five, he said. The governor and the head of the states communicable disease service, Dr. Edward Lifshitz, credited public adherence to social distancing guidelines with having brought down the number. Murphy also reported that about 700 more people tested positive overnight, increasing the total to 161,000. There were 51 deaths reported overnight, raising the death toll to 11,770. New Mexico Santa Fe: State health officials on Tuesday reported an additional 227 coronavirus cases, with just over half of those among inmates at a detention center in southern New Mexico. The figures released Tuesday include 116 new cases among inmates in the custody of the New Mexico Corrections Department who are being housed at a lockup in Otero County. That comes after officials announced a day earlier that a male inmate in his 30s there had died after being infected. The inmate had preexisting conditions. His death marked the first COVID-19 inmate fatality for the facility. State officials also reported that 92 detainees at a federal processing center in Otero County also have tested positive, along with 66 inmates in federal custody at the facility. There are also confirmed cases among federal inmates at correction centers in Torrance and Cibola counties. New York A New York Metropolitan Transportation authority worker disinfects a subway train at the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Terminal, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York: City buses and subways should look different when the city begins to ease coronavirus restrictions next week, with hand sanitizer in the stations and social distancing markers in place, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. I want to see that everywhere you go whether it is in a subway station, on the platform, or on the train or on a bus, there are markings telling you exactly where to be, de Blasio said at his daily briefing. Ridership on subways and buses is expected to increase when the city enters the first phase of New York states region-by-region, four-step reopening process Monday, and transit officials say they are taking steps to prevent a flare-up of the virus. Officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a letter to de Blasios administration Tuesday that theyre asking employers to stagger shifts and continue to allow for remote work. North Carolina Raleigh: State legislators want to make available another $300 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to Gov. Roy Coopers administration to cover additional government expenses incurred due to the virus. The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday for the measure, which would raise the amount distributed from North Carolinas share of federal funds to Coopers state budget office for government operations to $370 million. They could be used in part to pay overtime at state institutions and purchase personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing at state prisons. The measure now moves to the House. Last month, the Legislature approved distributing close to half of the states $3.5 billion allocation from Congress for things like schools, hospitals, local governments and researchers. North Dakota Bismarck: Another person has died from COVID-19 in the state, bringing the total number of deaths to 66, health officials said Wednesday. The victim was a Cass County man in his 70s with underlying health conditions. The Department of Health said another 33 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,679. Cass County, which remains the epicenter of the states coronavirus outbreak, has 21 additional cases. The county, which includes Fargo, has recorded a total of 1,783 cases. Health officials say 71,823 people so far have tested negative for the virus. Thirty-four people are currently hospitalized with the virus, the same as on Tuesday. The actual number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected without feeling sick. Ohio Columbus: Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday that the state fully intends for schools to reopen this fall in an announcement coming almost exactly two months after he shut down schools for what turned out to be the remainder of the spring semester. The goal is to have kids back in the classroom, the governor said at a news briefing that covered both the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and protests across the state over racism and police violence against minorities. DeWines comment didnt order schools to reopen, and he also said the date for starting was entirely up to local education boards. The state will provide districts with broad health guidelines ahead of time, fully recognizing that over 600 school districts are very different, and have very different needs and very different situations, the governor said. He also said Tuesday that health care providers can resume all procedures and surgeries postponed during the coronavirus pandemic. Oklahoma Oklahoma City: The State Department of Education released guidance Wednesday for how public schools could reopen in the fall that includes recommending the use of masks for staff and students to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The departments Return to Learn Oklahoma framework for reopening schools lists several factors for individual districts to consider as they reopen. The State Board of Education moved to shut down schools March 16 amid the coronavirus outbreak, and schools then began implementing distance-learning plans to finish the school year. Educators know students will experience greater learning losses this year, given that the summer slide has been compounded by the unconventional ending of the spring term, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said in a statement. Oregon Agate Beach, like many reopened state parks sites, has seen overflowing garbage due to cutbacks within the state parks department. Portland: State parks have started to reopen, but the agency that manages them is facing an estimated $22 million budget shortfall between now and next June amid the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said Tuesday that it will lay off 47 full-time employees by June 30. Thats in addition to the 338 seasonal staff that will not be rehired this year, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports. Only 77 of 415 seasonal positions have been filled for 2020. Unlike other state agencies, the parks department is not funded by tax dollars but by Oregon Lottery funds, camping and parking fees, and RV registration fees. Oregon state parks closed to the public in late March, just before Gov. Kate Brown announced a stay-home order that closed most businesses across the state. Lottery funds subsequently shrunk, while park fees were zero. Pennsylvania Harrisburg: Elementary and secondary schools inside the states less restrictive reopening zones can resume teaching in person and other activities at the end of June, the Education Department announced Wednesday. The guidance issued by the department says school boards in the green and yellow zones under the stoplight-colored reopening system must first adopt health and safety procedures that meet federal and state guidelines. The more than 300 colleges and other post-secondary institutions can restart Friday if they have a plan to keep students and teachers safe, the agency announced. The reopening details follow a spring in which buildings were closed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, sending students home for distance learning to complete the school year, and more recently virtual graduation ceremonies. Signs the pandemic is easing have prompted officials to implement gradual reopening of many functions. Rhode Island Newport: The City Council has passed a resolution that requires pedestrians to wear face coverings on the citys busiest streets for a large portion of the day to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The resolution passed 6-1 on Tuesday night will be imposed through an executive order from City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. and take effect Friday, The Newport Daily News reports. Pedestrians will be required to wear a face covering from noon until 10 p.m. daily, with exceptions for very young children and people with certain medical conditions. First-time offenders will be told of the requirement and given a mask, but subsequent offenses could lead to a $100 fine. Gov. Gina Raimondo has issued an executive order requiring face masks in all public places when people cannot maintain 6 feet of social distancing. Council Vice Chairwoman Susan Taylor said social distancing is not possible on Newports narrow sidewalks. South Carolina Columbia: A week into the summer season that typically drives the states robust tourism economy, finding ways to safely draw visitors amid the coronavirus outbreak is top-of-mind for officials discussing the states reopening. For the tourism industry, it is certainly a depression, Helen Hill, CEO of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Tuesday of the overall economic downturn spawned by the outbreak. It has been really difficult. Hill spoke during a meeting of a state Senate committee studying the best way to revamp South Carolinas economy in the wake of the outbreak, during which more than 12,000 people have been infected in the state and 500 have died. Hill stressed a need to harness interest from what she called the drive market, or tourists who would be driving to the state instead of using air travel, which is still dramatically down. South Dakota Sioux Falls: The South Dakota Board of Regents announced Wednesday morning that once students break for the Thanksgiving holiday this fall, they wont be returning to campus for the rest of the semester. Instead, students will complete their final exams remotely, according to a press release by the regents. The goal is to maintain the academic calendar while being mindful of public health, Regents President John W. Bastian said. Our university presidents recommended this adjustment to reduce student travel to and from campus. Everyone is looking for ways to successfully operate during a global pandemic and avoid the spread of this coronavirus wherever possible. Regents announced last month that on-campus studies would continue this fall, but they decided Wednesday that instruction would begin Aug. 19, three days earlier than originally scheduled. And Thanksgiving recess will last Nov. 25-29, the release says. Tennessee Nashville: A small county in the northwest corner of Tennessee is once again leading the nation in active coronavirus cases per capita after an outbreak at a state prison. An analysis by the Associated Press on Wednesday shows Lake County, with a population of just over 7,500, has reported 352 new cases over the past seven days. Online records posted by the state showed Lake with 360 active cases Wednesday morning. Health Department spokesperson Shelley Walker said in an email that the high case count is attributable to an outbreak at the Northwest Correctional Complex there, although online records for the prison show only 230 inmates as positive for the virus. Walker and a spokesperson for the Correction Department were not able to immediately explain the discrepancy. Texas Corpus Christi: The United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday received 10,000 face masks from the UniFirst Corp. to help local small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karl Granato, UniFirsts general manager, said the delivery was part of a corporate-wide initiative for the uniform rental company. UniFirst Corp. is partnering with 10 chambers across the country to deliver a total of 100,000 face masks. Granato said when restrictions were lifted and the economy started to rise, the company realized small businesses were adversely affected by the pandemic that has infected more than 66,000 people in Texas. This is our (way) of helping the small business community get back on their feet, Granato said. We know that they are going to be on the front lines in helping this local economy begin to recover. Utah People ride the Cannibal at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah, on May 23. The state is seeing a spike in new COVID-19 cases about a month after many businesses were allowed to reopen. Salt Lake City: The state is seeing a spike in new COVID-19 cases about a month after many businesses were allowed to reopen, leading state health officials to issue renewed pleas for people to maintain social distancing. Recent protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis have brought hundreds of people together in downtown Salt Lake City, adding to concerns about a rise in cases in the coming days and weeks. The state recorded an average of about 200 cases a day last week by far the highest weekly average since the pandemic began, state figures show. The average rate of positive tests had crept up to 4.6% as of Monday, after hovering closer to 4.3% in May. The most recently available seven-day rate of positive tests jumped to 5.2% for the week of May 19. State health officials acknowledge that the caseload appears to be growing across the state, Utah Health Department spokesman Tom Hudachko said. Vermont Marshfield: Gov. Phil Scott hopes to announce in two days that restaurants may reopen for indoor dining, with physical distancing a high priority, he said Wednesday. We still have a very long way to go to help our restaurants get back up on their feet, but weve got to start somewhere, he said at a news briefing. The state is also working on a plan to allow visitors from certain states, or possibly regions of those states, without requiring them to quarantine, he said. He plans to discuss the approach Friday. There are some areas throughout the Northeast that have low positive case rates like we do, and so were looking at how do we open the doors so that we can continue to get back to some sort of normal and be able to move freely, he said. The administration is also weighing raising the capacity at hotels, inns and campgrounds. Virginia Richmond: Gov. Ralph Northam said most of the state will start its second phase of reopening Friday as Virginias key health metrics continue to show positive trends amid the coronavirus pandemic. The governor said Tuesday that restaurants can start serving customers inside, gyms can reopen indoor areas at limited capacity, and museums and zoos can reopen all with certain restrictions under Phase 2 of reopening. Northam said the number of tests performed and the percent positive of those tested, along with other metrics, are heading in the right direction. Based on that data, I feel comfortable allowing most of Virginia to move into Phase 2, Northam said. The governor said Northern Virginia and Richmond will not enter Phase 2 on Friday, as they delayed the first phase of their reopening. Accomack County on the Eastern Shore, which also delayed its reopening, will move ahead. Washington Olympia: Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday extended the states eviction moratorium through Aug. 1, saying the intent of his order was to prevent an increase in homelessness during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Seattle Times reports that the moratorium in place since March and extended once was scheduled to expire this week. It prohibits, with limited exceptions, residential evictions and late fees on unpaid rent. It also requires landlords to offer residents a repayment plan on unpaid rent. The states unemployment rate jumped to a record 15.4% last month after businesses closed or reduced operations under a stay-at-home order that expired Sunday night. Counties can apply to move through a four-stage reopening plan based on virus benchmarks in their area, including number of new cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period. So far, more than two dozen of the states 39 counties have been approved to the second stage. West Virginia Huntington: Marshall University is offering a virtual program for people who want to learn about jazz improvisation and traditions. The program runs next week, Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. each day. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the program will be livestreamed through the Marshall University Jazz Facebook page. The virtual camp is being offered in place of the School of Musics Jazz Studies programs usual Jazz-MU-Tazz jazz camp, The Herald-Dispatch reports. The program will be free and open to all music students ages 13 to adult, music teachers and band directors. Registration is required in advance by clicking the registration link on the Jazz-MU-Tazz page at https://www.marshall.edu/music/jazz/jmt. Wisconsin Madison: The Wisconsin man whose criminal case was featured in Netflixs Making a Murderer documentary has contracted COVID-19 in prison, his attorney said Wednesday. Kathleen Zellner tweeted that Steven Avery has the disease but is expected to fully recover. Avery, 57, is serving a life sentence for the 2005 killing of photographer Teresa Halbach. Offender records show Avery is incarcerated at Waupun Correctional Institution. The DOC announced Friday that 184 inmates there have tested positive for COVID-19. State health officials said that as of Wednesday the state has seen 19,400 cases of COVID-19, an increase of nearly 500 cases since Tuesday, with 616 deaths. The percentage of positive tests stood at 2.9%, however the second-lowest percentage of positives over the past two weeks. Wyoming Laramie: University of Wyoming officials have drafted a plan to resume classes on campus with a modified schedule next school year, provided the state helps with funding. Under the proposal, classes would begin Aug. 24 and end Dec. 4. But students wouldnt return to campus after Thanksgiving. Courses would shift entirely online after Nov. 23. Final exams would be given remotely. The spring semester would start Jan. 25, a week later than planned, and spring break would be eliminated, the Laramie Boomerang reports. Students and employees would need to be tested for the coronavirus and get results within 14 days of returning to campus in Laramie or Casper. A phone app would monitor employee and student body temperature and health symptoms daily. Face coverings and social distancing would be required in public spaces. From USA TODAY Network and wire reports This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Subway changes, school schedules: News from around our 50 states First Lady Margaret Kenyattas Beyond Zero initiative has teamed up with the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) to train 5100 community health volunteers to boost the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The one-month Covid-19 training for community health volunteers in Nairobi county sponsored by Beyond Zero at a cost of Kshs 4.5 million will be delivered virtually by AMREF through a digital learning platform called Leap. Speaking Tuesday during the launch of the virtual training at the AMREF International University in Nairobi, Beyond Zero Coordinator Ms Angella Langat said the training comes at the right time when community health volunteers who are at the forefront of the Covid-19 response efforts require accurate information. This Covid-19 training is especially timely, as the world and Kenya grapple with the disease, Ms Langat said. She expressed hope that the training will equip the community health volunteers with the necessary information and skills to help combat the spread of the virus. Her Excellency the First Ladys Beyond Zero Initiative is honoured to be part of this process through the funding of the first cohort of community health volunteers. I thank the Ministry of Health, AMREF and respective teams for their commitment towards the development of this training curriculum, Ms Langat said. Ms Langat pointed out that Beyond Zeros interventions in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is aligned to complement government efforts in promoting the health and wellbeing of Kenyans. AMREF Enterprise CEO Caroline Mbindyo praised the partnership between Beyond Zero and her organization especially in the training of the community health volunteers, saying it will go a long way in scaling up efforts geared towards curbing the spread of Coronavirus in the countrys informal settlements. Ms Mbindyo said AMREF has in collaboration with the Ministry of Health developed the curriculum for the training of community health workers, adding that the volunteers will access the training through their mobile phones free of charge. Noting that there are about 70,000 community health volunteers in the country, Ms Mbindyo called on other organizations to emulate Beyond Zero and provide sponsorship for the training of the critical health providers across the country. On her part, AMREFs Community Training Liaison Officer Carolyne Wanyonyi said the training will enhance the awareness of the community health volunteers on Covid-19 and empower them with skills to help in the containment of the virus in their communities. The training will facilitate community health volunteers to be able to do risk assessment and they will also be able to know what needs to be done if an individual has been infected with the Coronavirus or is a suspected case, Ms Wanyonyi said. Ms Wanyonyi said the training has four modules with the first module focusing on what coronavirus is, its prevention, risks and transmission modes. The second module will cover what the community health volunteers need to do in suspected Covid-19 cases. The third module will look at the risks involved and the stigma associated with the disease in order to enable them counsel community members effectively. The final module of the training will focus on community disease surveillance where the community health volunteers will learn about how to protect themselves from contracting Covid-19 in the course of their service delivery. The Trump administration had asked the court for a stay of the ruling, and to take up the issue itself. But Sotomayors brief order said only that the stay would be in place until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit had a chance to weigh in. Arguments are scheduled in that court for Friday. By ANI NEW DELHI: Hours before the world observes World Environment Day, people across the world have expressed their outrage through a petition platform over inhumane killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala. In less than 24 hours, as many as 927 petitions have been filed on the petition website Change.org and over 13 lakh people have signed these demanding the perpetrators of this cruel act be punished. "Perhaps a more important question to ask right now is why we hear news about so many voiceless deaths and not enough about prosecutions? The law in India does not give long prison sentences for wildlife crimes. A sense of fear should be spread amongst people who might become killers of these innocent living beings. Convictions for wildlife killing must receive rigorous sentencing with hefty fines," said Kamal Ganatra, a citizen of Oman, in his petition. The petition has been supported by 5.6 lakh people in a day. Thane resident Nikhil Suryawanshi, another petitioner on the platform, demanded that a murder charge be slapped against the perpetrators of the gruesome crime. "I was deeply hurt and angry when I read about the pregnant elephant brutally killed in Kerala. As I wanted to do something about this and wanted the offenders to get punished, I shared my thoughts with my sister who is an advocate. She told me to create a petition on Change.org," said Suryawanshi, whose petition has been signed by over 2.30 lakh people. Echoing similar sentiments, Bangalore-based Aparajita said in her petition that the incident broke her heart. "It broke my heart...the innocent animal fell victim to an act of human cruelty. As she bit into the pineapple, it exploded in her mouth. We cannot let these voiceless animals suffer like this anymore. Strict action should be taken against the culprits," she wrote. A petition by Meera Kant, seeking criminal charges against those who killed the pregnant elephant, has been signed by over three lakh people. Some of these petitions have drawn social media support from celebrities including Shraddha Kapoor, Diana Penty, and Kapil Sharma. The number of petitions and the signatures supporting them are increasing by the second. According to official figures presented by the Central government in the Parliament, 373 elephants died of unnatural causes, such as electrocution and poaching between 2015-2018. People in the US, UK, France, and Australia, have started petitions on the issue. The elephant had died in Palakkad district on May 27 after it ate a pineapple stuffed with crackers and forest officials said that it died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw. The elephant was seen standing in the river with its mouth and trunk in the water for some relief from the pain after the explosive-filled fruit exploded in its mouth. Union human resource development (HRD) minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and minister of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday jointly inaugurated The Urban Learning Internship Programme (TULIP) to provide internship opportunities to thousands of fresh graduates and engineers of the county under the Smart City projects. The TULIP portal has been developed by AICTE. Under the internship programme students will get to work for 100 smart cities under ministry of housing and urban development. According to the TULIP portal, there are a total of 295,200 internships under 23,970 companies. We expect that around 25,000 fresh graduates will be enrolled in its first year. This will help curb the unemployment as well. The interns will be selected for a period of one year, said housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Currently, there are 80 lakh students studying in various engineering colleges of India. These engineering graduates will get internship opportunities in various departments under the housing and urban development ministry. In near future, we will provide opportunities to over 1 crore students. I suggest other ministries also to come forward and collaborate with TULIP to provide internship in their departments, said HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Who are eligible: Students having a degree of B. Tech, B planning, B. Arch, BA, BSc, BCom, LLB can register for internships as per their interest. Salient Feature of TULIP: Applicants will be able to : Share credentials Broadcast interests Showcase diverse skills Choose roles to be offered Decide stipend and logistics Decide terms of engagement OBJECTIVE: TULIP interns would get exposure in a large number of areas including but not limited to urban planning, urban design, different branches of engineering, information and technology, mobility, finance, social sector issues and environmental issues. The program will provide them with insight into policy formulation and implementation. On a day-to-day basis, they will interact with city officials/ members of the civil society. They will be oriented towards best practices, knowledge sharing and project implementation on ground. The interns will carry with them a rich experience in urban governance which will help them in their future endeavours. How to register for Urban Local Bodies under TULIP portal Visit https://internship.aicte-india.org/ Direct link to TULIP registration portal Click on the Register button on the top right corner of the screen. Click on the Register option under Government Agency tab displayed on the screen. Fill the details in the form and upload the logo (ULB/ smart city) and appointment certificate (of concerned authority). Click on the Register tab at the end of the form to complete the registration process on the portal. Click here for TULIP Brochure BENEFITS Short-term exposure to fresh graduates to enhance their professional development through experiential learning with ULBs and smart cities. Harnessing fresh energy and ideas towards ULBs and smart cities endeavours to solve critical challenges. Eligibility Conditions Open only to Indian citizens. Not more than 18 months should have passed from the date of declaration of final year results to the date from which the internship is sought. Duration and extension of engagement The duration of the internship will be a minimum of 8 weeks up to 1 year. Stipend and other Allowances Amount of stipend/subsistence allowance/expenses would be payable at the discretion of the ULB/ smart city and there shall be no liability of providing any employment on the ULB or smart city, whatsoever. Logistics: Interns shall bring laptops/ mobile internet connectivity/ other devices etc. as needed by them. The interns shall normally arrange their own boarding/lodging/ transport to and from their place of stay to the place of internship. However, the ULB/smart city may reimburse transport/travel expenses incurred by the intern during the course of any assignment, which shall be at the sole discretion of the ULB/smart city. The ULB/smart city may, however if they so decide, support the interns, in whatever way they may deem fit, with resources essential for completion of the assignment as per their discretion. Certificate of Internship A digitally signed and shareable certificate regarding successful completion of internship shall be issued jointly by MoHUA, State Government, AICTE and the ULB/smart city. Mumbai, June 4 : Terming it as a 'blot' on humanity, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad on Thursday urged the Kerala Government to initiate stringent legal action against those involved in the killing of a pregnant elephant. In a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Awhad sought strong legal action to book the culprits "who committed this heinous murder" under the Cruelty to Animals Act and ensure strictest punishment to them. "As an animal lover, I feel this is a blot on humanity, ironically, in a state where elephants are worshipped," Awhad pointed out. He said all look up to Kerala as an epitome of social justice and equality, and also studied how these virtues have been further strengthened under Vijayan's leadership. The letter by the minister -- who is a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader -- came against the backdrop of the barbaric killing of a pregnant pachyderm in a Kerala village recently. Citing reports, Awhad said that a few days ago, the famished elephant had gone to a village hoping to get some food, but the villagers served her live firecrackers hidden inside pineapples, which burst in her mouth, grievously injuring her tongue and mouth. Though she did not become violent, she displayed the presence of mind to rush to a nearby pond hoping the water would heal her injuries and remained there for around three days. However, she succumbed on May 27 after a long battle of struggle with her agony, stunning animal lovers around the country. Union Minister of Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar said in a tweet: "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Malappuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Actor Sargun Mehta has lost her abs during quarantine, and she blames home-cooked pizza, pasta for it. She posted pictures of herself, while making this claim. Iss quarantine ne mujhse mere abs cheen liye...Mujhe bola tha ghar ke khaane se mote nahi hote .. toh ghar pe banayi ice cream, aur cake aur pasta aur pizza .. Jiss jiss ne mujhe yeh kaha tha unki ab khair nahi, Sargun quipped. In the pictures she posted she can be seen flaunting her figure in workout outfit. Also read: When Mahesh Bhatt wanted to name Ranbir Kapoors biopic Ladies Man, had said no one should think of dating Alia Seeing the pictures, fans still praised her for maintaining a good physique during the lockdown. A user commented: hahaha still you look stunning. Another one wrote: Even without abs you look so gorgeous and fit. On the work front, Sargun recently featured in Badshah and Payal Devs song Toxic along with her husband, actor Ravi Dubey. She has plenty of Punjabi films in her kitty too. Follow @htshowbiz for more Photo: Allie Caulfield/Flickr Missed the most recent top news in Sacramento? Read on for everything you need to know. CHP: Driver shot, hit by vehicle on I-5 in Sacramento Read the full story on KCRA 3. Sacramento County releases COVID-19 safety guidelines for district schools Read the full story on FOX40. Large fire near old Campbell Soup plant in south Sacramento wipes out multiple immigrant-owned businesses Read the full story on ABC10. Sacramento curfew will continue through weekend 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 person was shot and run over by a vehicle on Interstate 5 in Sacramento on Tuesday night, the California Highway Patrol said. School districts throughout Sacramento County are getting parents and students ready for big changes when classes start up again in August. A massive five-alarm fire in South Sacramento that required resources from across the region wiped out multiple family-owned businesses on Monday night. New Delhi, June 4 : After oil and power sectors, the government now plans to create a public sector consultancy giant by bringing together about half a dozen smaller engineering companies and merging it with much larger and profitable Engineers India Ltd (EIL). There are close to a dozen public sector undertakings (PSUs) that provide a range of consultancy services -- from education, water services to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). EIL is the biggest state-owned PSU which provides turn-key engineering solutions to projects in India and abroad. Government sources said that now discussions would be initiated to explore if merger of engineering and consultancies PSUs working in similar areas such as Engineering Projects (India) Ltd, MECON Ltd, Telecommunications Consultants (India Ltd) and WAPCOS could bring about operational synergies that could create a PSUs consultancy giant that can take on competition worldwide and establish India's footprint in the global business of project consultancy. Merger of Projects and Development India Ltd (PDIL) could also be considered but EIL last year has dropped its plan to acquire 100 per cent government equity in the company. "This is an idea that is being considered as government also wants to limit its presence through PSEs to just core areas while privatise or merge entities in others," said the government sources quoted earlier. Sources in EIL said that they are yet to receive any blueprint on proposed consolidation exercise from the government. As part of Rs 20 lakh crore economic package, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that a new PSE policy is being finalised where the number of enterprises in strategic sectors will ordinarily be only one to four, while others will be privatized/merged/brought under holding companies. It would be a step forward in the direction of bringing about consolidation in the public sector. We feel there should be one mega-consultancy company providing services across portfolios, said an official in the oil ministry privy to the development. While the plan to merge entities and consolidate consultancy operations under one entity would be worked out by disinvestment department DIPAM, government proposes to hold inter-ministerial talks first to bring about clarity on entities participating in this consolidation drive which are under administrative control of different ministries. It is not clear whether railways consultancy arms Ircon and RITES would also be included in the proposed merger. The merger would create an entity with capacity to bear higher risks, create more value for the stakeholders and take on the might of global giants like Bechtel and domestic majors like Larsen & Toubro (L&T), ABB with a stronger bargaining power for projects. Among the initial list of entities under consolidation plan, Engineering Projects (India) provides turnkey execution of projects in the infrastructure space while Telecommunications Consultants (India) does similar work in the telecom industry at home and abroad. Similarly, WAPCOS gives consultancy in water, power and infrastructure related projects. MECON provides technical consultancy and project implementation services in the infrastructure sector. Former finance minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget for 2017-18 had spoken about mergers and consolidation in the public sector. In this line he had also talked about merging oil companies. Government has already completed merger of HPCL with ONGC, REC with PFC and NEEPCO and THDC with NTPC. More such exercise would be pursued this year. The proposal to merge consultancy and EPC firms was also taken up by the last UPA government. But the proposal did not move forward as EIL, where government holds 51.5 per cent stake, was reluctant for a merger. It is rather looking at diversifying and expanding portfolio of services on its own. (Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in) 100 years ago Gambling fears in Spa City Gov. Alfred E. Smith announced that he had received reports that Saratoga was being turned into a wide-open gambling resort, "and that the whirl of roulette wheels and rattle of poker chips" were particularly evident during the horse racing season in August. He sent a letter to the sheriff and district attorney of Saratoga County and the public safety commissioner of Saratoga Springs, declaring that if upon his return from the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco there was any evidence of a renewal of the activities of gambling houses he would feel compelled to relieve them all from duty and "police the city with the state troopers." From the Times Union, June 4, 1920 50 years ago Family of doctors to serve in Nepal An Albany couple, both physicians, would begin a lifetime of service as medical missionaries in foreign countries starting in July. Their total income would be $44 a month for the rest of their lives. Dr. Thomas Hale Jr., a surgeon, and Dr. Cynthia Hale, a pediatrician, were living at Sandia Base in New Mexico, where he was a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. They would take with them their two sons, Tommy, 4, and Christopher, 1, and enough food, clothing and household supplies to last four years. They would practice medicine in a remote village in Nepal. Tom had attended Arizona State and Cynthia the University of Rochester for premed studies and had met during their first year at Albany Medical College. He was the son of Dr. Thomas Hale, executive vice president of Albany Med for many years, and Mrs. Hale, residents of Delmar. Cynthia was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Dicran Berberian of Loudonville. From the Times Union, June 4, 1970 Looking Back is compiled by C.J. Lais Jr. and Azra Haqqie. For questions about this feature or to submit information about historic events, contact Tim Blydenburgh, 518-454-5421 or tblydenburgh@timesunion.com. An explosion in the number and types of immune cells in the lungs of newborn mice likely helps them adapt to breathing and protects them from infection, says a new study published today in eLife. The findings, from Stanford University and Stanford School of Medicine, US, provide detailed information about dramatic shifts in the immune cells in the lungs of mice from just before birth through the first weeks of life. This insight may help scientists learn more about how problems in early development can lead to breathing problems such as asthma later in life. "At birth, the lung undergoes marked physiological changes as it changes from a fluid-filled, low-oxygen environment to an air-filled, oxygen-rich environment," says co-lead author Racquel Domingo-Gonzalez, who was a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, when the study was carried out. "How these changes affect immune cell populations during this transition and the ensuing rapid lung growth after birth is unclear." To learn more, Domingo-Gonzalez and her collaborators used a technique called single-cell transcriptomics to track gene expression in individual immune cells in the lungs of mice just before birth and through the first three weeks of life. This allowed them to create an atlas of all the immune cells in the mouse lung during early life. The team found that, just before birth, immune cells called macrophages encircle the small blood vessels in the lungs, likely stimulating them to grow. After birth, a large number of many different types of immune cells appear, including those needed for blood-vessel growth, lung development and to fight off infections. These discoveries may help explain why disruptions to the immune system early in life caused by infections, excessive levels of oxygen, or steroid drugs may lead to life-long lung problems. "Injuries to the immature lung can have profound, life-long consequences since a significant component of lung development occurs during late pregnancy and the first few years of postnatal life," explains co-lead author Fabio Zanini, who was a postdoctoral fellow in Stephen Quake's lab at Stanford University when the study was initiated and has since transitioned to Senior Researcher at UNSW Sydney, Australia. "Our work lays the foundation for further studies on the diversity of immune cells and their roles during this important window of lung development," adds senior author Cristina Alvira, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. "This could ultimately lead to new therapies to preserve or enhance lung development in infants and young children." By Timothy Gardner and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators announced a bill on Thursday expanding sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and targeting the project Washington says will boost Moscow's economic and political influence in Germany and other European countries. The Protecting Europe's Energy Security Clarification Act follows legislation signed by President Donald Trump last year, which prompted Swiss-Dutch company Allseas to halt undersea work, delaying the project. Two Russian-owned pipe-laying vessels may now finish the remaining 100 miles (160 km) of the project, which is led by state-run Gazprom. The pipeline could be launched by late 2020 or early next year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. The new legislation, spearheaded by Senators Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, could stop the project by expanding sanctions to include penalties on parties involved in pipe-laying activities and parties providing underwriting services, insurance or reinsurance on the project. Cruz said it "makes clear those involved with vessels installing the pipeline will face crippling and immediate sanctions." Shaheen said the pipeline threatens Ukraine and Europes energy independence and "gives Russia an opening to exploit our allies." The bill must be passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by Trump. It adds sanctions on companies providing services or facilities for the vessels, including welding equipment, retrofitting or tethering of the ships. Many politicians and energy companies in Germany support Nord Stream 2 as Europe's biggest economy seeks to end the use of coal and nuclear power. The Trump administration has touted exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to Russian supplies, calling it "freedom gas." U.S. LNG producers are struggling due to sagging global demand. Nord Stream 2 spokesperson Jens Mueller said European households and industries will pay "billions more" for gas if the pipeline is not built. "Decisions about European Union energy policy should be left to Europeans," Mueller said. Story continues German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier criticized Washington last week for "escalating this sanctions threat, which is extraterritorial and thus in conflict with international law." The pipe-laying ship Academic Cherskiy, which Moscow could use to finish Nord Stream 2, changed ownership from Gazprom Fleet to regional firm STIF, a Russian registry showed this week. STIF was linked to a group of Gazprom companies as of April 1 but there was no data on STIF's ownership since then, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told Reuters. The Academic Cherskiy is moored near Germany's Mukran port in the Baltic, the staging area for the pipeline's construction, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Vera Eckert in Frankfurt and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Writing by Timothy Gardner and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Peter Cooney, Edmund Blair, Tom Brown and Marguerita Choy) We begin with those Americans across our country who so beautifully and courageously are speaking out about racial injustice, and, in so doing, are speaking to our highest moral selves. People like Lexi Qaiyyim of Black Lives Matter San Antonio, who led many others in peacefully taking a knee outside San Antonio Police Department headquarters Wednesday, raising fists in the air. Whats important for me and everybody here is that we see action. We hear those words all the time Were with you, we stand by you, but thats not good enough, Qaiyyim told a reporter. When she was told of anti-fascists circulating leaflets, she said to the crowd: We are not here to be anarchists, we are not here to destroy or loot or do any of that damage to this community. We are here to march, we are here to chant, and we are here to protest. And that is it. People like Trevor Taylor, a teacher at Judson Independent School Districts Wagner High School, who told the crowd, As a teacher, Im supposed to encourage, as a teacher Im supposed to motivate. But its hard because I cant sit here and lie in their face. Theres no point for me to tell them that their color doesnt matter thats a damn lie. To protest is to exercise ones freedom of speech and to participate in our democracy. The vast majority of protesters across this nation and in this city are demanding wholesome and equitable change in policing and our legal system, and with it attention to the inherent inequalities that narrow and reduce so many lives. We have no patience or tolerance for those seeking to exploit and distort these protests. As former Defense Secretary James Mattis said, We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values our values as people and our values as a nation. The sight of a Minneapolis police officer applying a knee to the neck of George Floyd, who could not breathe, is appalling. And so is the indifference displayed by the other officers in that video. The protesters are demanding action to reduce violence in policing, to bring fairness to our criminal justice system and address greater inequities and divisions. This brings us to the heartbreaking chaos of Tuesday night when San Antonio police fired nonlethal weapons into a crowd of agitated but seemingly peaceful protesters downtown near Alamo Plaza. One of those nonlethal projectiles struck an Express-News reporter in the leg. We have many questions. Why were rubber and wooden bullets fired? Did the presence of SWAT police further agitate the crowd? Were glass bottles thrown at officers? Was the use of tear gas and wooden and rubber bullets acceptable? Videos are incomplete. But when a San Antonio police officer fires into the crowd, we see and hear terror. To what end? It is also distressing to see little or no coordination between the city and Gov. Greg Abbott, who deployed National Guard troops and Department of Public Safety officers. A spokesman for Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Tuesday no one at the mayors office was aware of Abbotts order. This is unacceptable. Weve seen stunning images of police kneeling with protesters. And there are times when police must control crowds. The looting we saw late Saturday night, following peaceful protests, was heartbreaking. But police presence at these protests should maintain order to preserve peaceful demonstrations and speech. Done right, it is an opportunity to reflect and amplify American values, and a starting point for meaningful dialogue and reform so urgently needed. Genetic information is exchanged between maternal and paternal chromosomes through meiotic recombination. Sperm and eggs receive chromosomes with mixed genetic information, providing genetic diversity in the next generations. Credit: Dr. Kei-ichiro Ishiguro A research group from the Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG) at Kumamoto University, Japan has discovered that the gene C19ORF57 plays a critical role in meiosis. The gene appears to be related to the cause of male infertility and could be a big step forward for reproductive medicine. Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division that generates sperm or eggs. During Meiosis, genetic information is exchanged between maternal and paternal chromosomes through meiotic recombination. This process introduces genetic differences to the next generation. Normally, meiotic recombination is initiated by introducing breaks in the DNA. However, this process is nothing less than DNA damage that is a threat to the cell. Although introduction of DNA breaks is a normal and necessary process to trigger meiotic recombination, these breaks must be repaired immediately. In this study, Drs. Ishiguro and Takemoto discovered a novel gene that plays a crucial role in repairing DNA damage during meiotic recombination. Previously, the same group discovered the Meiosin gene which acts as a switch to turn on meiosis as well as hundreds of other genes in the process. However, the functions of all the other genes have not yet been fully elucidated. The C19ORF57 gene is one of those controlled by MEIOSIN and its function was unknown until now. Normally, DNA breaks are introduced at the beginning of meiotic recombination. However, such DNA breaks are a threat to a cell and must be repaired immediately. The newly identified C19ORF57 gene mediates binding of BRCA2 to damaged DNA sites for repair. Credit: Dr. Kei-ichiro Ishiguro Reproductive medicine researchers from Kumamoto University (Japan) performed genome editing experiments to verify that the C19ORF57 gene was indeed required for male fertility. When they removed the gene in a murine experimental model, testis were smaller compared to those of normal males, and sperm were not produced in testis tubules, making them infertile. Credit: Dr. Kei-ichiro Ishiguro The researchers set out to clarify the role of C19ORF57 in meiosis. Using mass spectrometry, the group found that it binds to breast cancer suppressor BRCA2, a protein that is known to play a role in repairing damaged DNA. This data suggests that C19ORF57 and BRCA2 function together in germ cells. Further evidence showing cooperation between C19ORF57 and BRCA2 was found through microscopic imaging. The researchers discovered that C19ORF57 goes first to damaged DNA sites and then recruits BRCA2 to the same position on the chromosomes. Using genome editing technology to artificially inhibit the C19orf57 gene in mice, researchers found that the male animals became infertile because meiotic recombination did not complete and sperm were not produced. Further analysis of male gonads revealed that the gene plays an essential role in repairing damaged DNA. There are many unknown causes of human male infertility and this finding potentially reveals a new pathology. Even though these experiments were performed on animal models, the C19ORF57 gene is present in humans. Therapies and diagnostics developed from this research could ensure meiosis quality and decrease the instances of complications. Explore further Discovery of genes involved in infertility mechanism More information: Kazumasa Takemoto et al, Meiosis-Specific C19orf57/4930432K21Rik/BRME1 Modulates Localization of RAD51 and DMC1 to DSBs in Mouse Meiotic Recombination, Cell Reports (2020). Journal information: Cell Reports Kazumasa Takemoto et al, Meiosis-Specific C19orf57/4930432K21Rik/BRME1 Modulates Localization of RAD51 and DMC1 to DSBs in Mouse Meiotic Recombination,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107686 Governor Andrew Cuomo (seen above in Albany on Wednesday) spoke out in support of the New York Police Department on Thursday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday praised the New York Police Department hours after two officers were shot and one was stabbed in an ambush attack in Brooklyn while they were on anti-looting patrol. The comments from the governor came just days after he apologized to the NYPD for criticizing their failure to stop looting in Manhattan. Cuomo made the remarks after it was reported that the suspect is being probed for possible links to terrorism. Cuomo says the ambush shows the difficult balance police must strike in keeping the peace. 'They have an impossible job, and they need support,' Cuomo told Long Island News Radio. 'They're out there, they're getting hurt, last night again, they are the best, they are the best. God bless them because I don't know that I would want to do the job that they're doing now.' Cuomo's comments came days after he drew some criticism for saying some NYPD officers had exacerbated tensions during recent George Floyd protests with 'very disturbing actions.' On Tuesday, the governor privately apologized to the NYPD's senior leadership for describing the force's response to the rioting in New York City as a 'disgrace.' During his daily coronavirus press briefing on Tuesday, Cuomo was asked about the scenes of mass looting in parts of Manhattan from the night before. The governor urged the NYPD to 'do your job' and to put a stop to the unrest. 'The police must stop the looting and the criminal activity,' the governor said. 'That is the essence of the police force. They are supposed to protect the community, protect the property. Cuomo added that he was 'disappointed and outraged.' Earlier on Thursday, it was learned that the 20-year-old Brooklyn man who stabbed an officer in the neck and then stole his handgun before he was shot eight times by nearby cops is an immigrant from the Balkan region who is being investigated for ties to terrorism. Two other police officers were shot in the hand during the incident late on Wednesday, though it is unclear if they were shot by the suspect with the gun he stole from the ambushed cop or if they were hit by gunfire from responding officers. The suspect has been identified as Dzenan Camovic, a Bosnian immigrant. The FBI announced on Thursday that it is taking part in the investigation. The incident took place late Wednesday near the intersection of Church Street and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, where officers were patrolling the area to prevent looting. According to police, one officer was ambushed by a man who walked up behind him and stabbed him in the neck. The New York Police Department on Thursday released an image of a knife that investigators claim was used to stab a police officer in Brooklyn late on Wednesday night The man then took the policemans handgun. Officers who were on duty nearby rushed to the scene and found the suspect with the gun. A total of 22 shots were fired, according to authorities. Two police officers were shot in the hand, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. All three officers are recovering from non-life threatening injuries at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. Camovic, was shot eight times by officers who responded to the scene. He is listed in critical condition. Now authorities are looking into whether Camovic may have ties to terrorism, WNBC-TV is reporting. Camovic posted several anti-police messages on his social media, according to investigators. Sources told WNBC-TV that Camovic, who has no criminal record, may have been associated with individuals of concern. Shea said that local investigators are working with state and federal authorities. 'Last night's cowardly attack on the NYPD left one officer stabbed and two shot,' the FBI said in a statement. 'The FBI New York office is fully engaged. We respond as if one of our own was attacked, and we will use every federal statue available to hold the perpetrator accountable.' The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has also joined the probe, according to WNBC-TV. The bloodshed happened just before midnight in the hours after an 8pm curfew that was intended to quell unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. 'What we know at this point and time is that it appears to be a completely, cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer and thank God we aren't planning a funeral right now,' said Shea. Police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot and another stabbed in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City An ambulance drives through the scene where two NYPD cops were shot and another stabbed in Brooklyn last night NYPS cops swarm the scene in Brooklyn last night, after two of their colleagues were shot and another stabbed in the neck The FBI announced on Thursday that it is 'fully engaged' in the investigation Shea noted that it was one of several attacks on police officers in recent days, including one in which a driver plowed into a police sergeant who was trying to stop looting in the Bronx and a lieutenant who was struck in the helmet by a brick during a brawl with protesters in Manhattan. There were peaceful marches and protests throughout the day Wednesday, but police moved in to break them up when the city's curfew took effect at 8pm. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who appeared with Shea outside the hospital where the officers were being treated, called it a 'very tough night' and lauded the officers for their bravery. Police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City Police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City A couple watch as police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City Shea didn't speculate on the motive of the stabber, who was not identified, but Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch blamed anti-police rhetoric during the protests. 'Are we surprised? Are we surprised we're here in the hospital again. Did we doubt because of the rhetoric we're hearing, the anti-police rhetoric that's storming our streets, are we surprised that we got this call? I'm not. We said it's going to happen,' he said. A witness said he saw police 'hiding behind their vehicle' as the shooting unfolded last night. The bloodshed last night happened a block away from a place where demonstrators and police engaged over the weekend in an hours-long standoff, during which a police car was burned and protesters beaten with batons. (Pictured: Protesters gather outside the NYC mayor's residence yesterday) Many took to social media to condemn police officers' heavy handed tactics on peaceful protesters on Wednesday A spokesperson for the mayor's office said Bill de Blasio was on his way to Kings `County Hospital to visit the officers injured last night 'I saw them shooting and then two those officers started hiding behind their vehicle, like they were trying to avoid being shot,' Jean Jones, a resident of Flatbush, told the Post. 'I just heard gunshots, at least 16 if I was being conservative.' New York City has been roiled by days of protests over police brutality, and the spot where the shooting took place is just a block away from a place where demonstrators and police engaged over the weekend in an hours-long standoff, during which a police car was burned and protesters beaten with batons. A neighborhood resident, though, said there was no protest in the area at the time of the shooting, and it wasn't clear if there was any connection to the unrest. The area was filled with police personnel and vehicles in the hour after the shooting. For the family of Barakat Bello, Monday would be remembered as a day when rapists cut short the life of their daughter, a student of Department of Science Laboratory Technology (SLT), Federal College of Animal Health and Production in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The 18-year-old was attacked by some hoodlums who raped, then stabbed her to death at Akinyele Kara Market along Old Oyo Road, Ibadan. The yet to be identified attackers arrived at the home of the deceased possibly to rob them of their possessions. Upon seeing her at the bathroom, they raped the young lady and also macheted her till she gave up the ghost, PREMIUM TIMES gathered. According to her father, Kasimu Bello, the incident occurred when all other members of the family were not around. The only person at home at the time of the attack was her younger sister. Barakats younger sister who came back from Ile Kewu (Quaranic lessons) was the first to detect the sad incident. She was lying in the pool of blood with different marks on her body. Her sister had just been raped. Not just that but brutalised till point of death, the traumatised father said. Mr Bello returned home after he got a call from other residents in the community that his attention was urgently needed. The person that called me on the phone did not tell me the exact thing that happened but I knew it was something bad when I heard his voice on the phone. I left where I was quickly only to find the body of my daughter, he told PREMIUM TIMES. Police react According to the father of the deceased, police officers in Kara police station arrived that same Monday evening for investigation. They collected the corpse. Barakats body was returned to her family hours after inspection for burial in accordance to Islamic rites. When contacted, the Oyo State Police Command spokesperson, Gbenga Fadeyi, said the command has been informed about the incident and would issue a statement regarding the incident upon completion of investigation. Uproar Following the incident, many Nigerians stormed social media to demand justice for late Barakat with the #JusticeForBarakat. Barakat Bello The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Oyo State Area Unit, in a statement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES said while the allegation of gang rape is still under investigation we want to join the rest of the world in condemning the recent attack on women. Violence against women in any form is against Islamic Injunctions and as such it must stop. The case of Uwavera Omozuma (also recently raped and killed) is still fresh in our memory and we also stand to condemn the attack. While we enjoin all our members to keep promoting the hashtag #JusticeforBarakat till all authorities take action, we ask Allah to forgive Barakat and accept her demise as that of a martyr, MSSN said in a statement signed by its Chairman, Abdkabir Alamal-Yekeen. Enraged Senate Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday said it is only through effective administration of stricter punishment to sex offenders that cases of rape would reduce in Nigeria. The Nigerian Senate [PHOTO CREDIT: @NGRSenate] It urged the security agencies to employ strategies to check the rising cases of rape while also enforcing the Child Rights Act which prohibits forced marriage. State Houses of Assembly were also advised to amend their laws on rape to make the crime more punishable. Grab food delivery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (PHOTO: Getty Commercial) By Yoolim Lee (Bloomberg) -- Grab Holdings Inc., Southeast Asias ride-hailing giant, is expanding delivery services from convenience stores and supermarkets across 50 cities in the region. The Singapore-based startup said it has teamed up with 3,000 stores as it accelerates delivery of groceries, toilet paper, packaged snacks and beverages to cater to consumers mostly stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Grab provided the service in two countries before the Covid-19 outbreak, and its now available in eight, adding the likes of Myanmar and Cambodia. Ride-hailing businesses were hammered globally during the pandemic as people stopped going to work and eliminated unnecessary socialisation. While Grab is private and doesnt disclose financial data, Uber Technologies Inc. said its global rides business is down 70% from last year. To combat the downturn, ride-hailing companies have pivoted to expand their drivers delivery of food and other goods. Demi Yu, regional head of GrabFood and GrabMart, said the company is boosting investment in deliveries this year to meet rising consumer demand. In the U.S., DoorDash, the biggest food-delivery app in the country, started delivering goods from convenience stores in April. In Southeast Asia, e-commerce operators such as Qoo10 and Shopee have started delivering daily essentials, while Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s Southeast Asian arm Lazada Group and Amazon.com Inc.s Prime Now are seeking to meet demand for fresh groceries. How Alibabas Lazada Turned Discarded Vegetables Into a Business Grab is gearing up to expand into grocery services. In Singapore and Indonesia, consumers can now order fresh produce and premium meats from urban farmers and local suppliers. Its also working with traditional market operators in Indonesia and Malaysia. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. There are just three weeks to finalise plans at ports for Brexit checks, an official has warned a Stormont committee (NI Assembly/PA) A senior official has warned that there are just three weeks to finalise plans for post Brexit checks at Northern Ireland ports. Measures must be in place to carry out checks on goods moving between the region and Great Britain after the UK leaves the EU to comply with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Northern Irelands chief vet Robert Huey told Stormonts agriculture committee that in order to secure approvals for border check processes by the end of the transition period, the application needs to be completed by June 24, 2020. Expand Close Northern Irelands chief vet Robert Huey. (NI Assembly/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Northern Irelands chief vet Robert Huey. (NI Assembly/PA) He told MLAs he wanted to set expectations, adding that a smooth end to transition is no longer possible that cant be delivered. Lets start with that realisation. What we are trying to deliver is a minimal viable product to keep product moving, to keep food on shelves on January 1, 2021 thats how serious it is, he said. The last date to go to the European Commission to expect them to do the work they need to do to designate border control posts was March 31, but theyve given us an extension through to the end of June. That work has to be done in effect by June 23/24. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Permanent Secretary Denis McMahon told MLAs there are around 200 lorries entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain every day. Expand Close DAERA permanent secretary Denis McMahon has warned / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DAERA permanent secretary Denis McMahon has warned He explained officials are working on plans to extend current facilities at ports into EU approved border control posts. Dr McMahon said officials have met with Larne, Belfast, Warrenpoint, Foyle sea ports and the two main airports, and are working seven days a week on the application. We have a lot of work to do and a very short amount of time to do it in, he said. He said a paper was published by the UK government on May 20 was the first clear mandate and clarity of the UK governments position. Were now moving from information gathering to active delivery planning in anticipation we will need to move quickly, he said. Basically the simpler the processes while maintaining biosecurity, promoting public health and complying with the law, the more likely we will be able to succeed in our aim of reducing trade friction Denis McMahon Dr McMahon said officials need support from both the UK Government and EU to make this work. The UK Government has confirmed it will provide the Northern Ireland Executive with support and expertise to deliver the project but this is not the only support we need, he said. Importantly the success of this project is not entirely within our control. We will need the help of both the UK Government and the EU to make this work, and they will need to help us work through these issues over the coming weeks and months. Basically the simpler the processes while maintaining biosecurity, promoting public health and complying with the law, the more likely we will be able to succeed in our aim of reducing trade friction. Dr McMahon said 60% of UK food imports are from the EU and 70% of the retail food supply to Northern Ireland comes from Great Britain, adding to put it bluntly, we all need to make this work. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Iran's ambassador in Kiev, Manouchehr Moradi during a meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Yenin denied media reports about Tehran's alleged refusal to hand over to Kiev the flight recorders retrieved from a crashed Ukrainian passenger plane KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2020) The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Iran's ambassador in Kiev, Manouchehr Moradi during a meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Yenin denied media reports about Tehran's alleged refusal to hand over to Kiev the flight recorders retrieved from a crashed Ukrainian passenger plane. On May 31, the Iranian ISNA news agency reported that Ukraine was too slow in responding to Iran's offer to give it the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the Ukrainian Boeing that crashed in Tehran in January. It added that the devices would be sent to a third country, likely France. "The ambassador ... noted that the information circulated by some Iranian media about the intentions of the Iranian government to transfer the black boxes for decryption to France, taking into account the 'holdup' of the negotiation process by the Ukrainian side, does not correspond to reality and does not reflect Tehran's official position," the ministry said. According to the statement, the Iranian diplomat assured the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister that Tehran was ready to cooperate with Ukraine to settle the issues related to the plane crash. The Ukraine International Airlines' flight to Kiev with 176 people aboard crashed on January 8 shortly after taking off in Tehran. No one survived. Iran initially blamed the crash on a technical failure but eventually admitted to having shot the jet down by mistake. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has indulged in a major land scam in the name of providing houses to the poor. Naidu said the YSR Congress Party-led dispensation is looting the public by spending crores to buy land. He said a fact-finding committee has found that funds worth Rs 400 crore were embezzled in the name of land acquisition. The ruling camp collected money from the poor people and promised to provide them houses, but indulged in corruption instead, the TDP president said. Naidu added that the ruling camp is denying a lot of beneficiaries their houses due to their allegiance towards TDP, adding that the government is now using houses built during his regime. The previous TDP government had sanctioned 29.52 lakh houses for the poor in Vishakhapatnam, north Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. Of these, 9.10 lakh were completed. Eight lakh beneficiaries have already been given keys of their units, while another 20.41 lakh house are under construction units are under construction. A new alliance of legislators from around the globe is seeking both to unite international efforts against the Chinese Communist Partys (CPP) attempts to reshape the world order, and to pressure their own governments to adopt new policies on China. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) includes Irwin Cotler, a former attorney general of Canada, Liberal MP John McKay, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, and notable lawmakers from eight countries and the European Parliament. We need collective engagement and collective action around the challenge to human rights and to the international rules-based order that is being presented by the Chinese government, Genuis told the Star. We dont want to be in a situation where individual countries are targeted and isolated one at time. The move by legislators is the latest development in a growing international pushback against Beijing, under scrutiny for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly aggressive international diplomacy. In 2019, the CCP imposed restrictions on some Canadian goods and detained Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig after Canada arrested the CFO of Chinas Huawei in Vancouver on a request from U.S. authorities wishing to extradite her on fraud charges. Australia has also recently seen Chinese tariffs on some of its goods rise, following its choice to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. Such examples of Beijings hardball diplomacy requires a tougher approach internationally, the alliance argues. Also on IPAC is United States Sen. Marco Rubio, United Kingdom human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy, former Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani and Reinhard Butikofer, the chair of the European Parliaments delegation for relations with the Peoples Republic of China. The group said it wants to push for policy changes in five areas: safeguarding the international rules-based order, protecting human rights, trade fairness, strengthening security and protecting national integrity. Genuis said the committee will serve to discuss the issues as well as bring ideas back to their respective governments. Some of those conversations have already started, but now were going to be picking up the pace, the Alberta MP said. According to IPACs inaugural release, governments are not doing enough to counter Beijings actions against human rights and aggressive diplomacy, pointing to its imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong as one of the latest examples. IPAC, which said it gets no external funding, said one of its first projects will push for legislation aimed at applying pressure to stop mainland Chinas appalling treatment of its Uighur people. The ethnic group largely inhabits Chinas far western Xinjiang Autonomous Region and it is estimated more than one million Uighurs have been sent to internment camps the CCP refers to as vocational training centres. The IPAC release also condemns racism, stressing that the Chinese people are the greatest sufferers at the hands of the CCP and calling them innocent parties in disputes between Beijing and governments around the world. It said the aim is to de-escalate tension between China and the world, cautioning that ignoring Chinas behaviour only increase the chance of armed conflict. Genuis said he expects more legislators to join the alliance, including in Canada, and the alliance is meant to work across party lines. He said such an alliance reaching across international lines is becoming more common. Rubio said the nature of the challenge Chinas moves on an international state present requires a co-ordination response from countries around the world. How we respond to the Peoples Republic of China and the Communist Partys attempt to reshape the globe is the defining foreign policy question of our time, Rubio said in a statement to the Star. This challenge is much greater than any individual country, administration, or political party, which is why democracies worldwide need to come together as we are doing today. IPAC said it expects to announce more members in the coming days. Read more about: In an interview with French publication Le Monde, AXA chief executive Thomas Buberl was quoted by Reuters as saying: We have 20,000 contracts with restaurants, the vast majority of which do not cover operating losses in the event of pandemic. There is some debate only for 1,700 of them because they are not clear. From the start, Ive asked our teams to focus on these contracts and we started talks with the restaurants concerned. According to the CEO, 200 restaurants have agreed to receive AXAs offered compensation, which is designed to cover a substantial portion of the losses. Meanwhile, in a separate development, it was announced that the companys board has decided to reduce its dividend proposal from 1.43 to 0.73 per share. The decision comes following communications from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the Autorite de Controle Prudentiel et de Resolution regarding the adoption of a prudent approach towards dividend payments during the crisis. AXA added: The board may consider proposing an additional payment to shareholders in 4Q 2020, up to 0.70 per share, as an exceptional distribution of reserves, subject to favorable market and regulatory conditions at that time. In the event that the board decides to propose an additional payment, the proposal would then be subject to approval by shareholders at an adhoc general meeting. The insurance groups current best estimate, as far as coronavirus-related property and casualty claims are concerned, stands at an overall cost of approximately 1.2 billion post-tax and net of reinsurance. Re-imagine Serving and Protecting with Barack Obama; Discussing New Opportunities in Public Safety. Washington Post live streamed a virtual town hall meeting that was entitled, Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence with President Obama. The Conversation drew a focal point to the possibility of equality in protection and the relationship between policy and protest. Listening to the 44th President share steps to move forward in protecting all those who inhabit a community was a breath of fresh air among the smog. Political leaders alongside the former president discussed the possibilities of a new way of protecting and how to grow from this moment. Hosting the Broadcast was Michael Smith, Executive Director of My Brothers Keeper Alliance created by the Obama Foundation. My Brothers Keeper was launched by President Obama in response to the lack of opportunity found among boys and men of color throughout the nation. Through this task force, there is a network with 250 different communities to connect young people to mentoring, support networks, and skills they will need to find a career and continual educational development. Playon Patrick, an 18-year old future college student of Ohio State University commenced the town hall meeting by sharing his gift of spoken word, 2020 Quarantine Killings signified the passion behind the movement that is happening today. Patrick raised his voice and spoke boldly about the pile of bodies this country was built on. He spoke powerfully about this land never feeling like home, but as a collective community we figured out what to do with our hands. Playon looked directly into the camera as if they were into the eyes of the oppressor and declared, Tonight, a riot is the language of the unheard. Inspired by the passion of Playons words, Obama brought a focus to the power of young people. Previous change came from young men and women, the former president explained, young people are making the movement clear. Seeing the peace in all protest coming from diverse groups from all spectrums of society is a sign of hope, and an indication that the mindset is shifting. Obama shared his grievances over the spirits fallen due to institutionalized racism; he explained everything happening today are the outcomes of a long history of inequity. However, the 44th president sees this moment of upheaval and uncomfortable energy as a grand opportunity for reform and real change. He spoke about the marriage of protest and policy, communities can both highlight the problem and translate it into legislation. ADVERTISEMENT Obama continues to use his platform to seek a solution to the imbalance in the police force structure on a national scale, but also within local government. President Barack along with his administration is orchestrating a commit to action for all mayors, city councils, and police oversight bodies to address police use of force. The Mayors pledge highlights four benchmarks; Review of police and policies, Community Engagement by including diverse input, Data and Research, and finally to reform based off the results of previous benchmarks listed. It is an open invitation for Mayors across the nation to commit to, they have 90 days to pledge before the names who have participated will be released. For the community member who is asking themselves, What can I do the acknowledgment that something needs to be done is the first step. Alongside the Mayors Pledge, a community member can donate to the Leadership Conference Education Fund. The change in society is going to have to come from each and every member in society. Bringing all the panelists to question was Brittney Packnett Cunningham, American Activist and founder of Campaign Zero. Through her platform, she and her team created #8cantwait a movement to take action now. Through this action, data has revealed with eight protocols that can be immediately put into practice, police can decrease violence by more than 70%. The eight de-escalation moves that can be practiced right now by the police include: Banning choke holds and strangle holds, required de-escalating tactics, required warning before shooting, exhausting all other means before shooting, Duty to intervene, Ban shooting at moving vehicles, required use of force continuum, and required comprehensive reporting. Brittney shared her involvement to this townhall meeting is like having a family conversation, everyone looking for common ground and healing. Her efforts have gone to police violence reform and eradicating systematic racism, Brittney was joined by General Attorney Eric Holder, Council member Phillipe Cunningham, and Color of Change Spokesperson Rashad Robinson. Phillipe Cunningham is one out of four openly transgender men to be elected to public office in the United States. As part of the Minnesota Democratic Party, he is on the stage where the murder of George Floyd took place. He spoke of the difference of what mass media is projecting in comparison to what is happening in Minnesota, specifically within Northern Minnesota where it is historically and predominantly black. Council member Phillipe explained his nights are long because he is building and organizing with his community, safety measures for black owned businesses since the National Guard has not been in position to protect those businesses. People of radical racial beliefs have been threatening and targeting black communities, which has been under-reported within the mass media news. Phillipe stated, What we are seeing right now from folks on the ground in Minneapolis and across the country, is generations of trauma and rage at the violence bestowed on the black community and disinvestment by the state at every single level of government. Barack Obama Closed the virtual sit down with sharing his admiration for the young and diverse groups. In comparison to other monumental movements, in this moment we are seeing unlikely allies show up and speak out, the former president shared that is a direct result of the mindset in the world is changing. Obama stated, As I listen, I am feeling once again inspired and what has particularly inspired me is the degree in which folks are thinking. Theyre thinking strategically, practically, at a very detailed level, about the places where you can make change. It appears the Pallister government will fall well short of spending the $240 million it earmarked for two COVID-19 relief programs; one designed to help struggling businesses survive the pandemic-ravaged economy, the other to provide summer jobs for students. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It appears the Pallister government will fall well short of spending the $240 million it earmarked for two COVID-19 relief programs; one designed to help struggling businesses survive the pandemic-ravaged economy, the other to provide summer jobs for students. The Manitoba Gap Protection Plan (MGPP), introduced in April, provides forgivable loans of up to $6,000 to small and medium-sized companies. Government budgeted $120 million for the program. But so far, only $29 million has been spent, with grants going to about 4,700 recipients. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister said a Manitoba plan to help businesses was designed fill in the gaps around a federal plan. The Summer Student Recovery Jobs Program also has a budget of $120 million. The program provides wage subsidies to companies that hire summer students, up to a maximum of $5,000 per job. Only a fraction of that about $10.5 million has been committed. Business groups say its unlikely that amount will grow significantly in the coming weeks as many companies expect to operate at reduced capacity. 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 of the reasons for the MGPPs low take-up is that businesses are ineligible for the benefit if they receive federal grants. Premier Brian Pallister has said the MGPP is designed to "fill in the gaps" where federal support falls short. He says the province shouldnt duplicate what Ottawa is doing. However, by making the programs mutually exclusive, the province is forcing companies to choose between provincial and federal assistance. That may help Pallister limit his governments financial exposure in the short term (it appears its doing just that). But it could also prove fateful in the long run, since many companies will need both federal and provincial support to avoid bankruptcy. Drawing from a federal program, such as Ottawas 75 per cent wage subsidy, shouldnt disqualify a business from accessing provincial support. It should not be either-or. Companies, especially those mandated by government to close their doors for the past two months, have a multitude of fixed costs and expenditures related to reopening that a single federal or provincial program cant cover. The two levels of government should be working in tandem to provide the required assistance, not cancelling out each others programs. Business groups have already called on the province to redirect some of the unspent money to broaden support for companies in need. Funding for personal protective equipment, and other costs related to maintaining safe workplaces, have been cited as possible areas where those funds could be repurposed. One immediate step the Pallister government could take is to change the MGPPs eligibility to allow all businesses in need to access the program, whether theyre receiving federal assistance or not. One immediate step the Pallister government could take is to change the MGPPs eligibility to allow all businesses in need to access the program, whether theyre receiving federal assistance or not. As Phase 2 of the reopening gets underway this week, many companies are still struggling to pay their rent and cover other fixed costs. A federal rent assist program (funded in part by the provinces) for commercial property was rolled out last week. However, many companies have been excluded because their landlord has either declined to participate, or they dont meet the eligibility requirements. Making the MGPP available to all would help some companies pay their rent, or cover other critical costs. The $240 million from the MGPP and the student job program has already been allocated. The Pallister government should ensure all of those funds get into the hands of struggling businesses as quickly as possible. BANGALORE, India, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Electric Vehicle Market Size was estimated at USD 162.34 Billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 802.81 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 22.6 percent. An automobile with a large battery to store energy and propelled by one or more electric motors is known as an electric vehicle. Some of these vehicles also come with an additional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Such vehicles are called Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). When a hybrid electric vehicle is provided with a plug-in function for directly recharging the battery, it is known as a Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV). The difference between a HEV and a PHEV is their battery capacity and the ability to charge the battery via a direct power source. The global electric-vehicle (EV) industry is expanding rapidly. The regional output differs, with some EV markets reaching near-mainstream status, while others remain neutrally stuck. However, the Global EV sales are getting big enough to create substantial profit pools for well-positioned suppliers and other upstream players. This report presents the analytical depiction of the global EV, HEV and PHEV market analysis along with the current trends and future estimations to depict imminent investment pockets. Inquire For Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Manu-1Y14/Electric_Vehicle_Market TRENDS INFLUENCING THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MARKET SIZE: Stringent restrictions on automotive emissions have contributed to the growth of electric vehicles' market size. The European Union, for example, has set itself a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050. Electric vehicles produce lower emissions as compared to conventional vehicles. This has led governments around the world to raise awareness and promote the use of EVs to reduce oil consumption, air pollution, and associated emissions. With new inventions coming up on a regular basis, major changes have been brought into EV batteries. The average energy density of batteries is predicted to increase at 4-5 percent each year. Furthermore, the maximum EV charging velocities are also increasing. This raise in technological advancements is expected to increase the electric vehicles market size during the forecast period. As part of their long-term climate commitments, automakers and large fleet operators are accelerating their investments in electrification and meeting short-term policy requirements. It is expected that strong investments by automakers will meet the increasing demand for EVs and play a major role in the growth of electric vehicles market size. OEMs are selling electric vehicles in different sizes, from small hatchbacks such as Nissan Leaf to high-end sedans such as Tesla Model 3. The wide product range has attracted many consumers and led to a growing electric vehicle market. ICE vehicles are emitting high GHG concentrations into the atmosphere. To curb that, several-countries have taken initiatives to deploy EVs. These initiatives would help to enhance air quality. This growing concern about the environment is expected to increase the electric vehicle market size. Lack of charging infrastructure is expected to impede the electric vehicles market during the forecast period. Charging load variations and a lack of standardization are major market drawbacks. Various countries have their own standards, such as CCS ( Europe , the United States , and Korea), CHAdeMO ( Japan ), and GB / T ( China ). However, some electric producers like Tesla, Inc., focus on overcoming this obstacle by having their own charging network. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-1Y14/electric-vehicle ELECTRIC VEHICLE MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS It is expected the Asia Pacific market will witness the fastest growth followed by Europe and North America . In countries like China , Japan , and South Korea , the automobile industry is inclined towards innovation, technology, and advanced electric vehicle development. market will witness the fastest growth followed by and . In countries like , , and , the automobile industry is inclined towards innovation, technology, and advanced electric vehicle development. Asia-Pacific was the highest revenue contributor, accounting for $84.84 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach $357.81 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 20.1%. Asia-Pacific and Europe collectively accounted for around 74.8% share in 2019, with the former constituting around 52.3% share. was the highest revenue contributor, accounting for in 2019, and is estimated to reach by 2027, with a CAGR of 20.1%. and collectively accounted for around 74.8% share in 2019, with the former constituting around 52.3% share. North America is estimated to reach $194.20 billion by 2027, at a significant CAGR of 27.5%. Elon Musk -led Tesla, Inc. continues to dominate the U.S. market for electric vehicles. KEY MARKET SEGMENTS By Type Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) By Vehicle Class Mid-Priced Luxury By Vehicle Type Two-wheelers Passenger Cars Commercial Vehicles By Region North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany France UK Netherlands Norway Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan Singapore South Korea Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEA Latin America Middle East Africa Inquire For Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/ALLI-Manu-1Y14/Electric_Vehicle_Market Key Players Tesla BMW Group Nissan Motor Corporation Toyota Motor Corporation Volkswagen AG General Motors Daimler AG Energica Motor Company S.p.A. BYD Company Motors Ford Motor Company Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Manu-1Y14&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise Licence: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Manu-1Y14&lic=enterprise-license SIMILAR REPORTS Electric Car Market Report Global Electric Car Market Size is Projected to Reach USD 1438.8 Billion by 2025 with a CAGR of 19.40%. Some of the major factors driving the growth of Electric car market size are, fuel-efficiency, high-performance, stringent government rules and regulations toward car emission. Electric cars are getting close to the sales price of gasoline and diesel-powered cars. This, in turn, is expected to fuel the adoption of electric cars during the forecast period. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-3Z153/electric-car Low-Speed Electric Vehicle Market Report The global low-speed electric vehicle market size was valued at USD 2.3958 Billion in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 7.6173 Billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2018 to 2025. The growth of Low-Speed Electric Vehicle Market size is powered by strict government legislation and restrictions on vehicle emissions and an increase in fuel cost. In addition, the rise in pollution, technological advances, and the decrease in fossil fuel reserves have fuelled the growth in low-speed electric vehicle development and production. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-3Y360/low-speed-electric-vehicle Electric Vehicle Battery Market Report The global Electric Vehicle Battery Market size was valued at USD 23 Billion in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 84 Billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 17.2 percent from 2018 to 2025. Over the last two decades, the emergence of Lithium-ion technology has fuelled the growth rate of batteries. High-energy density, charging retention capacity, and low maintenance are some of the advantages that accelerated Li-ion 's growth as battery technology. Automotive manufacturers introducing BEVs and PHEVs into the EV battery market are further enhancing the technology and are expected to offer Li-ion powered solutions as their vehicle's primary power source. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-2O266/electric-vehicle-battery Electric Truck Market Report View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-3X24/electric-truck Electric Vehicle Charging System Market Report The global electric vehicle charging system market size was valued at USD 3.18 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 66.27 Billion by 2026, at a 45.6 percent CAGR from 2019 to 2026. An electric vehicle charging system is an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the charging of plug-in electric vehicles, including electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Electric vehicles are gaining a lot of traction in the developed regions, namely North America and Europe, making them the industry-leading revenue drivers for electric vehicle charging systems. Asia-Pacific is a lucrative market with a high potential for growth due to the fast-growing number of electric vehicles in countries such as China and Japan. Japan has the highest density of fast electric-vehicle charging stations within the Asia-Pacific region. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-1Y57/electric-vehicle-charging-system Electric Vehicle Charger Market Report The electric vehicle charger market size was estimated at USD 3.8 Billion in 2019 and is expected to hit USD 25.5 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 26.8 percent between 2020 and 2027. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-1K15/electric-vehicle-charger Electric Vehicle (EV) Transmission Market Report The global transmission of electric vehicles ( EV) market size was valued at USD 2.52 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 15.38 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 25.8 percent from 2019 to 2026. This study presents the analytical representation of the global market analysis for transmission of electric vehicles ( EV) along with current trends and future estimates to depict the imminent pockets of investment. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-3Z25/electric-vehicle-transmission ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources. CONTACT US: Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll Free Call +1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp : +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports/ SOURCE Valuates Reports Israel suspended parliament sessions after a legislator tested positive for coronavirus amid concerns about new outbreaks in the country. All non-essential Knesset staff were instructed to stay home, and all of Thursdays committee meetings were postponed pending an investigation of the ramifications of MP Sami Abu Shehadeh having contracted COVID-19. I appeal to all of those who have been in my immediate vicinity to self-isolate and get tested, Abu Shehadeh, a member of the Arab Joint List party, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday night. The virus is still among us, and a return to so-called routine helps the virus spread with greater magnitude and speed, he added. The Knesset director-general was set to hold consultations about the pandemic with health ministry representatives to discuss how to proceed. Abu Shehadehs driver had previously been diagnosed with coronavirus, according to Israeli media. In an interview with public broadcaster Kan on Thursday, Abu Shehadeh said he had met thousands of people in the past two weeks. Israel reacted quickly to the coronavirus crisis with stringent measures and, so far, the pandemic has been relatively mild in the country compared with others around the world. Israeli schools reopened last month, but worries have grown some children are infecting others despite a slew of precautionary measures. Israeli media reported on Thursday as many as 42 schools closed over new outbreaks. The education ministry did not immediately confirm that figure. Any educational institution in which there is morbidity will be shut, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday, adding school staff would continue seeking ways to protect and distance students from one another. Israel, which has a population of nine million, has reported 17,343 coronavirus cases and 290 deaths. More than 593,000 people in the country have been tested for the virus, according to the health ministry. Justin Howell, the 20-year-old who was shot by the Austin Police Department during protests against police brutality on Sunday, is a San Antonio high school graduate. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley discussed the shooting of "less-lethal" ammunition in a briefing on Monday. He said the victim is in critical condition after it "appears" he was struck in the head by a beanbag. Manley said the person standing beside Howell, who allegedly threw a water bottle and backpack at officers, was the target, but Howell was struck instead. RELATED: Live updates: Day five of George Floyd protests in San Antonio Brad Ayala, 16, was also critically injured the day before Howell when he was struck by police in the head by a beanbag round, according to the Austin American Statesman. The chief said an investigation is ongoing and offered prayers for the family. Howell's older brother, Joshua Howell, is the opinion editor of The Battalion, the student newspaper at Texas A&M University. He wrote a column this week, identifying his younger brother and rebuking Manley's response. "Its also notable in his briefing how little effort Manley puts into taking responsibility for what happened," Joshua Howell writes. "No, reader, I havent omitted the part of Manleys statement where he seems contrite. There was no apology. Instead, he sat at his desk for three full minutes, gave us the details above and at no point apologized to my brother, my family or the five brave protesters who carried Justin to police headquarters under fire." Northside Independent School District confirmed Howell graduated from Communication Arts High School in 2018. Texas State University, where Justin Howell now attends college, identified him on Wednesday as a student. University President Denise Trauth said finding the words to share about Justin Howell's critical injuries were "difficult." "What was already a heartbreaking situation has hit painfully close to home," her statement reads. "Black Lives Matter," she said "It is not debatable at Texas State. Justin Howell's life matters. Black lives matter in our classrooms, on our campuses, and in the streets during tumultuous protests. They matter every moment of every day, no exceptions, no debate." Joshua Howell says his family does not want the police department's prayers. He said his younger brother has a fractured skull and brain damage. A video, showing Justin Howell's limp body being carried to officers for help while still being shot at with beanbags, is trending nationally on Twitter with the hashtag #HisNameIsJustinHowell. A GoFundMe campaign that was set up on behalf of the Howell family and has raised $110,000 from nearly 4,500 donors Friday morning, easily surpassing its $65,000 goal. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye Houston police arrested more than 200 people at Tuesdays protests honoring George Floyd, a number they called extremely small considering the 60,000-plus people who marched against police brutality. Authorities reported no significant damage or injuries in the demonstration, by far the largest here since the former Houston resident died last week after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck. Between eight and 12 police cars were damaged at the rally, which began at Discovery Green and drew throngs of protesters downtown throughout the afternoon. City and police officials added that most participants were peaceful, although Houston police said on Twitter Wednesday morning that some protesters engaged in criminal conduct, including throwing rocks and bottles at officers. Others, they said, refused orders to clear the streets were taken into custody. Police have not released information on what charges those protesters face and how many people were arrested on each charge. While city officials assured that police used great restraint in their arrests, some protesters countered on social media that they were unfairly treated. The Houston Protestors Defense Team, a group of defense attorneys representing arrested protesters, alleged that the most violence seen at the event stemmed from police officers. They used batons, pepper spray and rubber bullets, and strategically surrounded protesters and ultimately enclosed them within a fenced-in area for hours, the team said in a news release. Police spokesman Kese Smith disputed the defense teams accusations and said that authorities only moved to detain protesters if they failed to follow repeated instructions, or if they were displaying violence. We give multiple warnings about obstructing roadways and what they need to do, Smith said. If they continue to be in the group or continue not to listen to instructions, they are warned they are subject to arrest. In instances of blocking a roadway, officers give protesters multiple commands to move, and protesters always have some means of egress, Smith said. If warnings are not followed or groups become disruptive, he said, then officers would announce their intention for arrests. Before Tuesdays rally, hundreds of others were arrested in rallies over the weekend. Defense attorney Randall Kallinen pointed to videos from those rallies, some of which have circulated on Tik Tok and Twitter, that appeared to show Houston police moving protesters into a confined space before rushing in and arresting them. Kallinen said he is now beginning to represent people who were arrested . Some of his clients have brought him videos leading up to or showing their arrests, leading him to believe that many people are being arrested unlawfully. I believe that the city of Houston is employing a tactic where they arrest people whether theyve done something or not to get them off the street, Kallinen said. Houston has no curfew during the protests, unlike other major U.S. cities. Kallinen is also representing a man who was arrested Friday night, 38-year-old Domingo Herrera. He said he was arrested downtown and charged with blocking a highway and passageway after officers pushed him and a group of protesters down the sidewalk, where they were met with another line of officers. Herrera, a rapper known as Candyman, took a video of his experience and panned his camera to show the two walls of officers in front of and behind him. A building sat on one side of him and a row of hedges sat on the other, blocking his group in entirely. Some of the officers said they would let people go if they showed their IDs, but Herrera could be heard saying he didnt need to show his ID, as he wasnt under arrest. After a few minutes of Herrera questioning what what was happening, an officer arrested him, the video shows. Im trying to figure out, how was I blocking a passageway if you were blocking us? he said on Wednesday. Herreras video does not show what occurred prior to being stuck in the blocked-off area. Smith said Houston police has an ultimate goal of helping everyone demonstrate peacefully. We will do everything we can to facilitate that, Smith said. But at a certain point in time everyone involved needs to heed the instructions of those officers. That can be everything from not going onto a freeway or no longer demonstrating in the public roadway. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Market Overview: The industrial Ethernet switch is a low port count, industrially hardened, a DIN-rail device for factory data procurement. These switches aid in continually broadening the variety of applications and end-user industries, the industrial Ethernet has emerged as a key platform of choice in both infrastructure architectures and automation. The market is anticipated to grow significantly over the forecast period owing realization by industries that using this will reduce the business downtime, availability of information at every location fast exchange of data between the selected sections and automation help in improving the productivity. Global Industrial Ethernet switch marketwas valued, in 2017 USD XX million and in 2027 is expected to reach at USD XX million with growing CAGR of XX%. Market Dynamics: Improvement of data center capacities and increase in deployment of Ethernet-based solution in industries are primarily driving the market. The increase in dependency of organizations on data centers, demand for high speed data services, and need for automatic switching devices are fuelling the market growth. The high cost associated with instalment of managed industrial Ethernet switches and lack of expertise are hindering the market growth. Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3318 Market Players: Video servers market consist of various players, few key players of the market areJuniper, Cisco, HP, Aruba, Polycom, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft, Check Point, IBM, Brocade, and Siemens. Market Segmentation: The industrial Ethernet switch market is segmented on the basis of end user,industry verticals and geography. By industry vertical, the market is classified into aerospace & defense,manufacturing, electric and power, oil & gas, automotive and transportation, and others. By organization size, it is divided into large scale enterprise, medium scale enterprise, and small scale enterprise. Further, on the basis of region the market is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America and Middle East & Africa.North America is anticipated to hold significant growth rate through the forecast period due to the deployment of data centers and need for components assisting data centers, presence of large manufacturing industries, and deployment of smart grids are driving the market for industrial Ethernet switch market in this region. Get Request for Table of Contents: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/requesttoc/3318 Market segmented based on end user: Large Scale Enterprise Medium Scale Enterprise Small Scale Enterprise Market segmented based on vertical: Manufacturing Aerospace & Defense Electric and Power Oil & Gas Automotive and Transportation Others Market segmented based on region: North America US Canada Mexico Europe UK Germany France Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China Japan India Australia Rest of Asia-Pacific Latin America Brazil Rest of Latin America Middle East and Africa (MEA) South Africa Saudi Arabia Rest of MEA Make an Inquiry before Buying: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3318/Single San Francisco, June 4 : Several former influential Facebook employees have written an open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, criticizing his inaction over controversial posts from US President Donald Trump on glorifying violence and calling him to start fact-checking world leaders and labeling harmful posts. In the letter which was first reported by The New York Times, nearly three dozen top ex-staffers some of whom wrote Facebook's first community guidelines said that the policy of allowing political speech to go largely unchecked was a "betrayal of the ideals Facebook claims," asking Zuckerberg to reconsider his position. The letter comes at a time when current Facebook employees have slammed Zuckerberg for not taking action on posts by Trump in the wake of the death of African-American George Floyd. There have been some resignations too at the company over the inaction. "They have decided that elected officials should be held to a lower standard than those they govern. One set of rules for you, and another for any politician, from your local mayor to the President of the United States. Facebook should be holding politicians to a higher standard than their constituents," read the open letter. "Facebook's leadership interprets freedom of expression to mean that they should do nothing -or very nearly nothing - to interfere in political discourse". While Twitter put out a "public interest notice" on Trump tweet for violating the platform's policies about glorifying violence, Facebook refused to take action when the tweet was cross-posted to its platform. Even photo-messaging app Snapchat has decided not to promote US President Donald Trump's account on its Discover page of curated content. What makes the Snapchat decision significant is that Trump posted or tweeted controversial content on Twitter and Facebook and not Snapchat. The open letter by former Facebook employees made another point: "We know the speech of the powerful matters most of all. It establishes norms, creates a permission structure, and implicitly authorises violence, all of which is made worse by algorithmic amplification". In a virtual town hall with employees this week, Zuckerberg said that Trump post "did not constitute a policy violation". Zuckerberg, however, said he will begin to review moderation processes and change the way the company deals with such harmful content. While Covid-19 cases in India seem to rise unabated, more and more patients are getting cured from the deadly infection and are being discharged from the hospitals across India. As per the Ministry of Health, the number of Covid-19 patients who have recovered from the deadly infection has touched 104,106. The highest number of recovered patients come from states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi which also top the national tally with a high incidence of coronavirus cases. The ICMR and the health ministry experts on Tuesday said that a good rate recovery rate in India is a positive sign in Indias fight against Covid-19. As of Thursday, India has reported 216,919 coronavirus cases of which 6,075 have lost their lives. Also read: With 9,304 cases in 24 hrs, Indias Covid-19 tally crosses 2.1 lakh Heres a look at the Covid-19 state tally: On Thursday, Maharashtras tally rose to 74,860 Covid-19 cases. As many as 2,587 people have died of coronavirus in Maharashtra - highest in the country - while 32,329 have recovered. Tamil Nadu has seen 25,872 coronavirus cases till date. Two hundred and eight people have died of Covid-19 in the state, more than 14,316 people have recovered. Delhis Covid-19 tally rose to 23,645 on Thursday, 9,542 patients have recovered here while 606 died due to Covid-19. Gujarat Covid-19 cases jumped to 18,100 on Thursday. The state has seen 12,212 people recover from coronavirus while 1,122 people have died. Rising cases Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh are states where the Covid-19 cases are rapidly inching toward the 10,000 mark. Rajasthan has reported 9,652 cases of coronavirus so far while 6,744 people have recovered. The death toll in the state stands at 209. Coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh have jumped to 8,588. Three hundred and seventy-one people have died from Covid-19 in the state while 5445 have recovered. The number of Covid-19 positive cases has jumped to 8,729 in Uttar Pradesh. While 5,176 people have recovered from coronavirus in the state, 229 have died from the infection here. Other states In West Bengal, Covid-19 cases have jumped to 6,508 while 345 people have died from the deadly contagion, 2,580 have recovered. Covid-19 cases in Bihar stand at 4,390; death toll in the state has jumped to 25. More than 2,000 people have recovered from the deadly contagion in the state. Andhra Pradesh has reported 4,080 Covid-19 cases till date. While 68 people have died in the state, 2,466 people have recovered from the deadly contagion. Karnataka and Telangana have reported over 4,000 coronavirus cases till date. Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Assam and Haryana are states where Covid-19 cases are under the 3,000-mark. Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura have reported around 500 Covid-19 cases or less. Goa, Puducherry, Meghalaya, Ladakh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram have less than 100 Covid-19 cases. All coronavirus patients in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have recovered. Note: Figures are from official data released by the Ministry of Health, and may differ from realtime numbers released by various state governments subject to confirmation from the Centre. Ukraine suggests establishing a working subgroup at the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on border issues and calls for the creation of a security zone in the border areas of Ukraine and Russia under OSCE monitoring and verification. "Restoring border control remains a key element of the conflict settlement process. Establishing a security zone in the border areas of both countries under OSCEs constant monitoring and verification on the border, as provided for in the Minsk Protocol, would be a step in the right direction. Ukraine suggests creating a working group on border issues within the TCG," Ihor Lossovskyi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna said during an online meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation on Wednesday, June 3. The Ukrainian diplomat underscored the need to implement the results of the Normandy summit in Paris, which Russia continues to ignore. Ukraine adheres to security-first approach in peaceful settlement, supports the elaboration of a new comprehensive ceasefire regime, and calls on Russia to hold constructive talks within the TCG on this issue, he stated. In addition, Ukraine is ready to discuss compromises within the TCG on a package solution, which concerns three new areas of disengagement of forces and hardware in Donbas. The Ukrainian side also calls on Russia to fulfill the commitments on opening Zolote entry-exit checkpoint on the contact line, which was made at the summit in Berlin in 2016. "Ukraine offers a draft roadmap involving a mirror approach towards opening new checkpoints in Zolote (previously agreed) and Shchastia (not yet agreed) at the same time," Lossovskyi said. In addition, Ukraine calls on Russia to demonstrate constructiveness in agreeing on a mine action plan within the TCG as the Russian side has blocked Ukrainian initiatives three times already. ol Tamir Kalifa/NYT Oil retreated from a three-month high as OPEC+ unity was threatened by a long-running feud over complying with production cutbacks, while U.S. data cast doubt on the strength of the demand recovery. Futures in New York fell 1.9% to below $37 a barrel after closing at the highest since March 6. Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached a preliminary deal to extend output curbs for an extra month, but its conditional on other members making deeper cuts in the months ahead to make up for past non-compliance, people familiar with the matter said. The two leading producers have lost patience with the errant behavior of the next-biggest member, Iraq. The Supreme Court on Thursday (June 4) directed Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to decide on a common pass for inter-state movement in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) within a week. The SC also asked the Centre to call a meeting of the representatives of these states and decide on a common portal to make the common pass. The three-Judge Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and MR Shah also directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to take instructions on the issue of difficulties faced by the people of NCR region, including Noida and Gurgaon, owing to restrictions in inter-state movement. The order was passed by the apex court while hearing a PIL highlighting the problems faced by thousands of people during with interstate movement. Referring to the travel restrictions put in place between the states and Delhi, Centre has told the SC that it is the decision of the states and the Centre cannot suggest solutions to interstate movement. The SC then ordered the Centre to states to convene a meeting and resolve the matter by reaching an agreement. On Monday (June 1), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered to seal elhi borders for a week due to rising coronavirus COVID-19 cases in the national capital. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had restricted the movement of traffic from Delhi to Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and other adjoining regions due to rising coronavirus cases. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal had also expressed fear that people from other states will come to Delhi to avail "best health services" amid the coronavirus pandemic if borders are kept open and this will lead to a shortage of beds for Delhiites. Many Montanans have heard talk of coal miners finding new jobs installing rooftop solar panels. It seems just as likely that at least some will transition to new jobs in the metals mining basic to building those solar panels. Batteries for storing solar energy are also central to transition from fossil fuels to solar. Additional mining will be basic to metals required for the batteries industry. This comes as a reckoning for all concerned. The fossil fuel industry and allied utilities have long feared and fought this reckoning. Writing for the April 10, 2013 issue of Grist magazine, David Roberts reported on the electric power industrys open admission that competition from renewables is a direct threat to its business. So a war against renewable energy began at once, and hasnt stopped. As of Feb. 19, 2019, the Energy and Policy Institute reported on direct attacks being led by coal and gas industries that fear competition from the booming renewable energy industry. Count me and many other environmentally concerned Montanans caught in a similar reckoning. Im among the supporters of renewables, but I worry as much as anyone about the scale of mining essential to building a large-scale renewable infrastructure. I support the renewables because we plainly need to get serious about keeping as much fossil fuel in the ground as we can. Failure to do that can amount to torturous lives and deaths for many millions and plausibly billions of people. Renewables are imperative to placing real limits on the scale of human tragedy in the years and decades ahead. That said, I worry because the sheer scale of mining necessary to scaling up the renewables will cause yet more damage to an already damaged world. Just in Montana alone, the necessary transition from fossil to renewable energy will put legs under proposals for mining associated with the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, the Smith River, and Copper Mountain in the Potomac area. In a nutshell, renewable technology cant possibly be as clean and green as its so often seen. Nor will it be enough. Imperative, yes. But not enough. Their biggest problem is that too many of us are demanding too much of it. The most penetrating criticism Ive seen of renewable tech is that its being promoted at massive scale to reassure us that we can go on as before, with little if any reduction of our demand for energy, no change of lifestyle, no movement beyond what Greta Thunberg calls our comfort zones. This is a comforting view, one that wed all love to be true. But it means relying on a massive scale of mining. The more things change, the more they stay the same. As Greta Thunberg told us not so long ago, many of our problems are traceable back to, as she puts it, the way we live. Whether its consumer demand to mine for coal, drill for oil and gas, or mine, baby, mine for the necessary transition to alternative energy, a common routine of comfortably consumptive and demanding lifestyles is at the heart of a painful and all-too depressing dilemma. And, in an economically polarized world like ours, many consumers just arent in position to be responsible for demanding much in the first place, given their relative lack of money. Asking them to reduce demand would be futile even cruel. The great bulk of responsibility unavoidably rests on those with the luxury of more opportunities for reduction. Lance Olsen of Missoula has managed a restricted listserv on climate-related issues for about 18 years. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 DECATUR The pastor of a Decatur church where the sanctuary and interior were desecrated and trashed said Thursday he forgives the man accused of carrying out the rampage. And the Rev. Paul Alf, lead pastor of Moundford Free Methodist Church, says he wants to find out more about that jailed man, identified by Decatur Police as 19-year-old Brandon L. Underwood, and to try to help him. Underwood is being held in the Macon County Jail on preliminary charges of committing criminal damage and burglary to the church Monday night. He also faces similar charges for wrecking the interior of a Lutheran School Association school bus that was parked nearby the church. I called the Macon County Jail but they are not letting anybody come in for a visit with the COVID-19 situation, said Alf, 41. But there is a way that I could possibly do a phone video visit with him, so I am kind of looking into that to see how it can work. What God laid on my heart is that this is an individual who was really hurting and he was just kind of crying out; he was not in his right mind. He had no connection with our church and the only message he left indicated he was angry at one of his own family members. Watch now: Police chief, sheriff determined to stop looters, but praise peaceful Decatur protest march Police made multiple arrests after a night of sporadic looting, criminal damage and fires of suspicious origin across Decatur late Monday and into the early hours of Tuesday. But, even with forgiveness in his soul, the pastor said it was heart-rending to see what had been done to his church. A police report filed by Decatur police Officer Jordan Jinks described Underwood, captured on surveillance tape, smashing windows, furniture, electronics and anything else he could lay his hands on. Televisions were off the wall, doors were ripped off the oven, holes made in the drywall and nearly everything of value had been damaged, Jinks said in a sworn affidavit. DPD officers observed nearly the entire church to be ransacked. Alf said the surveillance footage showed Underwood was in the building for some 45 minutes. And it wasnt just destruction: Alf said Underwood cut himself severely breaking into the church through a glass door and great quantities of his blood were spattered throughout the interior. I will just say he lost a lot of blood and any place he was we knew because there is blood on everything he touched, said Alf. Underwoods blood loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the church because he was bleeding so much, the pastor says, he finally had to stop his rampage. He called 911 to ask for help from one of our phones inside the church, Alf said. Otherwise, who knows how long he would have been in there causing damage. Alf said Underwood needed immediate hospital treatment and police reports show that while patrol officers were alerted to the church at 9:22 p.m. Monday, Underwood was not arrested until 6 p.m. Tuesday at Decatur Memorial Hospital before being taken to jail. As for the cost of fixing his church, the pastor said that is still being figured out. Asked if the final bill would be in the many thousands of dollars, he replied: Oh yes, absolutely. The church is insured but he isnt sure yet whether all the damage done will be covered by the churchs policy. In the meantime, Alf said well-wishers have been calling with messages of support. He said one businessman, who does not attend the church, stopped by to write a check to help out and almost had tears in his eyes as he did it. The pastor said the service schedule for the churchs 160-strong congregation won't be disrupted too badly because, due to the virus emergency, they had been meeting outside anyway, allowed to assemble in the parking lot of the nearby Lutheran School Association. Alf said there was no evidence connecting the damage done to Moundford Free Methodist with other acts of vandalism associated with protests over the police custody death of George Floyd. And, in a Facebook message to his congregation, he said now was not the time to worry about vandalism to a building, but to concentrate on praying for the healing of a hurting nation. After all, we are the church, these walls around us are not the church, and we are still lucky to be able to worship together, Alf said. Now we need to forgive and love and reach out to bring healing, not just to this one individual but to our community because of all the things happening. PHOTOS: Scenes from Decatur on Monday night, Tuesday morning Mug shots from the Herald & Review Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on cyclone Amphan that hit eastern India last month, conveying his condolence and solidarity in the aftermath of the cyclone. According to French diplomatic sources, Macron "offered to extend any support that India might consider necessary to come to the aid of those directly affected." Notably, Cyclone Amphan was the first super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal since 1999 Odisha cyclone. On the 31st of March, both leaders had spoken to each other on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. French Development Agency will be giving a concessional loan of 200 million euros to India to deal with the crisis. "I am very proud to announce the French development agency, AFD is going to provide a special loan of 200 million euro to finance and support some health programmes for the most vulnerable population in India", French envoy Emmanuel Lenain had told WION in an interview last month. Meanwhile, France continues to top foreign investment inflows in Europe according to Business Frances 2019 Annual Report on Foreign Investment in France. The report was discussed in a video conference by French PM Edouard Philippe, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. In attendance were a select group of CEOs including Chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, from India. A pupil sits at a separate desk, as all students use social distancing at Hiltingbury Infant School in Chandler's Ford, England. Pupils return to school as part of a wider easing of lockdown measures in England. The British government has lifted some lockdown restrictions to restart social life, education, and activate the economy while still endeavouring to limit the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 coronavirus. (Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP) Credit: CC0 Public Domain Brazil reported a record 1,349 coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period Wednesday, the health ministry said, as the pandemic continued to take a grim toll on Latin America's hardest-hit country. The figure brought the total death toll from the new coronavirus in Brazil to 32,548, with 584,016 confirmed infectionsthe second-highest caseload worldwide, after the United States. Brazil's death toll, which has doubled in 17 days, is currently the fourth-highest worldwide, after the US, Britain and Italy. Experts say under-testing in the country of 210 million people means the real numbers are probably much higher. President Jair Bolsonaro has fiercely criticized coronavirus isolation measures, even as the number of infections and deaths continues to soar in Brazil. The far-right leader has urged business leaders to wage "war" on state governors who order stay-at-home measures, arguing they are needlessly hurting Latin America's biggest economy. Bolsonaro, who famously compared the virus to a "little flu," appears to have pinned his hopes on the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to stop it. He has gone through two health ministers since the pandemic began, firing one and reportedly falling out with the other over his insistence on recommending hydroxychloroquine despite a lack of scientific consensus on its safety and effectiveness against COVID-19. The former number two under ousted health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, Joao Gabbardo, told AFP that Brazil was now facing a complex scenario with different trajectories of infection in different regions. "We have several curves," Gabbardo said, adding Brazil could face a similar situation to Italy, "which had a large number of deaths in the north and not in the south." Brazil has been hardest hit so far in the southeastthe business and industrial corridor that includes Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeirothe impoverished northeast, and the north, including the Amazon region with its vulnerable indigenous population. The impact has been felt less in the south of the country so far. However, Gabbardo warned that if the coronavirus starts to spread rapidly in the south, which is about to hit cold winter temperatures and peak season for respiratory infections, "there could be very high pressure on the health system." Mexico death toll surges Underlining the pandemic's new epicenter in Latin America, Mexico meanwhile reported more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths in a 24-hour period for the first time. The daily death toll of 1,092 was more than double the 470 fatalities reported the day before. Health undersecretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell explained the stark jump by saying that some of the deaths recorded on Wednesday had occurred more than two weeks earlier. The country of more than 120 million people has now recorded 11,729 deathsthe second-highest toll in Latin America, after Braziland 101,238 cases, the office said. Despite the rapid rise in cases, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government began gradually reopening the economy this week, in what he called a transition to "the new normal." The Pan American Health Organization warned Tuesday of a possible jump in infections in Latin America after some countries, including Mexico, started relaxing stay-at-home measures. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP A Bihar police party was attacked by a mob of local villagers in Vaishali district on Wednesday evening while it was raiding a hideout of alleged liquor smugglers. 10 police personnel including a station house officer (SHO) and a female constable were injured in the attack at Bijhrauli village of the district. The mob also damaged police vehicles. The SHO of Tisiauta police station Nityanand Prasad and a constable were released from Patepur primary health centre after treatment. For Coronavirus Live Updates According to police officials, the raiding party had gone to nab Karpoori Paswan and Satyajit Paswan following information that they were illegally manufacturing liquor in their houses. When the police team was taking away the two, it came under attack by the villagers, they said, and added that the police team had to retreat after the attack and the mob managed to free the two suspects. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 Later, villagers alleged that the police team had fired at them, causing bullet injuries to one Munni Devi, wife of Ranjit Paswan. Another resident, Krishna Paswan said the police team was asking for money from liquor smugglers and baton-charged and fired at them when they refused. Vaishalis superintendent of police (SP) Dr Gaurav Mangla denied the allegation of police firing. Mangla said the SHO and the constable received injuries on their heads, hands and legs while other police personnel suffered minor injuries. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 12:30 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc115c4 2 World US-China,bilateral-spat,bilateral-relation,Airlines Free Washington on Wednesday ordered the suspension of all flights by Chinese airlines into and out of the United States after Beijing failed to allow American carriers to resume services to China. The move adds to a growing friction between the world's two largest economies amid the coronavirus crisis and in the wake of a two-year trade war that has not been fully resolved. The US action takes effect June 16 but could be implemented sooner if President Donald Trump orders it, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said. The suspension applies to seven Chinese civilian carriers, although only four currently are running services to US cities, including Air China and China Eastern Airlines, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said. "US carriers have asked to resume passenger service, beginning June 1st. The Chinese government's failure to approve their requests is a violation of our Air Transport Agreement," the department said in a statement. US air carriers had sharply reduced or suspended service to China amid the COVID-19 pandemic. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines submitted applications at the beginning of May to resume flights but have been unable to receive authorization from Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), the DOT said. The latest spat between Washington and Beijing centers partially on the CAAC deciding to determine the flight limit for foreign airlines based on their activity as of March 12. But US carriers had suspended all flights by that date due to the pandemic -- meaning their cap was calculated to be zero -- while Chinese-flagged flights continued. The "arbitrary 'baseline' date... effectively precludes US carriers from reinstating scheduled passenger flights to and from China," the US order says. The department also said there are indications Chinese airlines are using charter flights to get around the limit of one flight a week to increase their advantage over US carriers. "Our overriding goal is not the perpetuation of this situation, but rather an improved environment wherein the carriers of both parties will be able to exercise fully their bilateral rights," the order said. Downgrade for American In early January 2020, before the pandemic struck, US and Chinese carriers operated approximately 325 weekly flights between the two countries. US carriers praised the administration's move "We support and appreciate the US government's actions to enforce our rights and ensure fairness," Delta spokesperson Lisa Hanna said. And Katherine Estep of industry trade group Airlines for America said the order should "ensure fair and equal opportunity for passenger airlines with respect to service to and from China." Airline shares jump on Wall Street, with United gaining 12.5 percent in an upbeat market. The fight over air travel comes after the US imposed restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei and ordered a probe into the actions of Chinese companies listed on American financial markets. Trump also has blamed China for the US coronavirus outbreak and blasted the country in a fiery speech last week over a new security law in Hong Kong. China mocked the US stance on Hong Kong in light of civil rights protests across the US following the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man. "Racism against ethnic minorities in the US is a chronic disease of American society," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said earlier this week. Meanwhile, American Airlines, which is not planning to resume service to mainland China until late October, saw its debt downgraded Wednesday by S&P Global Ratings due to the company's precarious situation. Airlines have been among the hardest hit by the global pandemic as air transport has been virtually shut down, forcing many to announce massive layoffs. S&P lowered American's debt grade a notch to "B-" saying the cost-savings measures it has taken "will be insufficient to offset the effects of sharply lower demand from the impact of the virus on the company's credit metrics." American is a beneficiary of the government's Payroll Support Program, under which it will receive $5.8 billion through July 2020, but S&P said the carrier still has a cash shortage. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nina Larson (Agence France-Presse) Geneva, Switzerland Thu, June 4, 2020 09:20 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbfe3c4 2 World UN,UN-Human-Rights-Council,Michelle-Bachelet,US,Racism,racial-discrimination,racial-issues,racial-tension,racial-violence,George-Floyd,black-lives-matter Free The UN rights chief on Wednesday decried "structural racism" in the United States, and voiced alarm at the "unprecedented assault" on journalists covering protests across the country after George Floyd's death in custody. Michelle Bachelet insisted that the grievances at the heart of the protests that have erupted in hundreds of US cities needed to be heard and addressed if the country was to move forward. "The voices calling for an end to the killings of unarmed African Americans need to be heard," she said in a statement. "The voices calling for an end to police violence need to be heard. And the voices calling for an end to the endemic and structural racism that blights US society need to be heard." Her comments came as thousands across the United States defied curfews for another night of rallies against police racism following the death of Floyd, an unarmed African American who stopped breathing as a police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck. Bachelet stressed the need for clear and constructive leadership to bring the country through the crisis. "Especially during a crisis, a country needs its leaders to condemn racism unequivocally; for them to reflect on what has driven people to boiling point; to listen and learn; and to take actions that truly tackle inequalities," she said. US President Donald Trump has meanwhile rejected the traditional presidential role of healer in the crisis. He has vowed to order a military crackdown on the once-in-a-generation widespread violent protests and has rejected criticism over his use of force to break up a peaceful rally. The statement from the UN rights office Wednesday pointed to "credible reports of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officers" during the protests. 'Unprecedented assault on journalists' Tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as pepper balls have been fired at demonstrators and journalists "who did not pose an imminent threat of serious injury", it said. Bachelet voiced particular alarm at reports that at least 200 journalists had been attacked or arrested while covering the protests, despite having press credentials clearly visible. "What has been happening is an unprecedented assault on journalists," she said, pointing out that "in some cases they have been attacked or even arrested while on air." "It is all the more shocking given that freedom of expression and of the media are fundamental principles in the US, central to the country's identity," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said. "Reporters must be able to do their important work free from attacks or repression." Bachelet also called on the protesters to refrain from violence, lamenting that several people, including a federal law enforcement agent, had died in the unrest, while dozens had been injured and numerous properties destroyed. "Violence, looting and the destruction of property and neighborhoods won't solve the problem of police brutality and entrenched discrimination," she said. And she voiced deep concern at statements seeking to label protesters as terrorists. "There can be no doubt as to what or who is 'behind' these protests," Bachelet said, pointing out that "we have seen thousands upon thousands of peaceful protesters, of diverse backgrounds, taking to the streets to demand their rights and to call for change." She acknowledged that "structural racism and police violence" are found across the world. But she warned that "the anger we have seen in the US, erupting as COVID-19 exposes glaring inequalities in society, shows why far-reaching reforms and inclusive dialogue are needed there to break the cycle of impunity for unlawful killings by police and racial bias in policing." A publican was stunned after discovering a rare and endangered northern quoll was repeatedly breaking into his bottle shop in the middle of the night. CCTV footage from Cairns' Bungalow Hotel in far north Queensland showed the creature scurrying around the bar's liquor store. The hotel's director Stewart Gibson said each night for the past week he had been woken up in the early hours of the morning by the store's security alarm. CCTV footage from Cairns' Bungalow Hotel in far north Queensland showed the creature scurrying around the bar's liquor store 'To my amazement [there was] nothing... lights were off, no fans moving, I couldn't pinpoint it,' he told 9News. 'It happened again Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night.' It was only after close examination of the shop's security video that he discovered the alarm was being triggered by the rare native cat. 'I think he's living in the ceiling at the moment. Hopefully soon we can get him down, humanely, remove him and put him back out to his own habitat,' he said. Mr Gibson said he contacted authorities who told him the quoll would be moved to a more suitable location. 'I'm sure he'll be much happier in the bush,' Mr Gibson told ABC News. 'There's better food there than chips and gravy.' Queen Elizabeth II's reign seems to be coming to an end soon, as she is slowly stepping down from the throne due to her very risky condition. Last month, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 94th birthday, making her the oldest-living and longest-serving monarch. Though she pledged to offer her entire life working for the monarchy, Her Majesty looks like she is slowly giving up her throne due to her age and health condition. According to royal researcher Bob Morris, the Queen has been allowing Prince Charles and Prince William to cover her royal duties not only because of the coronavirus pandemic but also because of her risky health condition. "They've all been doing it for some time. Because of the Queen's age, she has an inability to travel long distances," Morris told Express U.K. "Just as Prince Edward has taken on some of the Duke of Edinburgh's former patronages." The royal researcher claimed that Queen Elizabeth II's body will not be able to handle long trips as part of her royal tours anymore. The spread of COVID-19 also prevents her from seeing the royal watchers and doing her job as the current monarch. Since such cases are no longer inevitable, Morris expects that Her Majesty will not be able to work as effectively as before. Despite his claims and concerns over her overall health, the Queen has been recently seen riding a horse on the grounds of Windsor Castle. It was her first appearance since the coronavirus lockdown began. Currently, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are still staying at Windsor Castle together due to the heightened number of coronavirus cases in the U.K. If prolonged, Prince Charles, as the heir to the throne, might wholly take the spotlight from his mother. Queen Not Giving Up? Queen Elizabeth II has been facing a lot of health concerns since the beginning of this year, but it did not stop her from creating her plans for the monarchy once she returns to the palace. Speaking to Vanity Fair, palace aides revealed that Queen Elizabeth II does not plan to step down anytime soon despite staying in quarantine for an indefinite period. "She can't be seen to be going against official government advice, but it's fair to say she's looking forward to getting back to normal," the insider said. "It's a delicate line but I think we will see her doing private audiences again and more of the work we are used to seeing her do in public at some point in the future." Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace has not released an official statement about the return of Her Majesty. However, Queen Elizabeth II is said to have finalized her plans for post-lockdown life already, making it clear that she will come back as soon as it is safe for her to do so. She also reportedly expressed her intention to work "harder than ever" while still observing lockdown and social-distancing measures once she is back at the Buckingham Palace. Gulf Cooperation Council has experienced rocky relations before, but none as severe as the three-year blockade on Qatar. As fighting raged during the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, neighbouring countries of the Gulf region decided it was time to organise militarily and economically to ensure strength in numbers. Thirty-nine years later, the union that became known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is in tatters because of a blockade imposed on one of its members, the natural gas-rich nation of Qatar. The GCC was fractured on June 5, 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, along with Egpyt, a non-council member, severed all ties with Qatar and blocked air, land, and sea routes to and from the country. Three years later, with the blockade still in full force, the fate of what once represented Gulf-Arab unity is now in question. Bringing together Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, the GCC faces unprecedented challenges including the repercussions from the coronavirus pandemic and the diplomatic crisis caused by the siege, Secretary-General Nayef al-Hajraf said in a statement marking the blocs 39th anniversary last month. The beginning The GCC was formed on May 25, 1981, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as the bloody war between Iraq and Iran was at its peak and the region was still reeling from the Islamic Revolution in Iran two years earlier. The goals were lofty. The GCCs aim was to coordinate resistance to outside intervention in the Gulf, and a Unified Economic Agreement was signed in November 1981 and ratified in 1982. One of its goals was to include free trade among member states in all agricultural, animal, industrial, and natural resource products of national origin. It also sought to strengthen cooperation among its six member states and regulate areas such as economic affairs, commerce, customs and communications, education and culture, social and health affairs, information and tourism, and legislative and administrative protocols. The GCC a region with a population of about 50 million people, half of those expatriate workers also aimed to stimulate scientific and technological progress, establish scientific research centres, and encourage cooperation with the private sector. With its headquarters in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the GCC allowed the free movement of citizens and capital, but restrictions on some economic activities were left in place. Military cooperation The GCC formed a joint military ground force known as the Peninsula Shield in 1984 to rapidly deploy if any of the members were attacked. 181209185745664 In 1987, GCC nations declared any assault on a member state tantamount to an attack on the entire group. Despite these moves, however, the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Husseins Iraq in 1990 was not met with Gulf troops. The Middle East pro-democracy protests that erupted in 2011, known as the Arab Spring, were largely avoided in the GCC with the exception of Bahrain. In March 2011, about 1,000 Saudi soldiers entered the country to protect government facilities at Bahrains request, in line with the GCC defence pact. Dozens of protesters were killed, many arrested, and the uprising was put down. Economics Fossil fuels are the main driver of the GCCs economic engine, accounting for about 90 percent of government revenues. The GCC nations are facing their worst economic crisis in history amid the double shock of plunging oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) noted this week. Overall gross domestic product (GDP) will contract 4.4 percent this year, despite indications the coronavirus spread has been successfully contained. Saudi Arabia, the regions largest economy, could see its real GDP shrink 4 percent this year and its deficit widen to 13 percent. Qatar, the worlds largest producer of liquefied natural gas, will also suffer from low energy prices, but it continues to develop its share of the North Field, the worlds biggest gas deposit. 191117130706801 Because of the air, sea, and land blockade, Qatar has been forced to seek out new trade routes and partners, and opened up its $74bn Hamad Port. Business between Oman and Qatar is booming since the siege was imposed. Over the past three years, Qatar has also developed stronger economic relations with Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. Reports have emerged that Qatar, Oman and Kuwait may establish a free-trade zone independent of the GCC. GCC Secretary-General al-Hajraf, Kuwaits former finance minister, said last week the Gulf crisis and the pandemic represent a common concern for all countries of the council. This matter makes it imperative for all of us as the GCC system to enhance joint action and collective preparedness to deal with the post-coronavirus world with its economic, health, security, and labour dimensions in order to protect our people and preserve their gains, he said in a statement marking the GCCs 39th anniversary. Ostracising Qatar The blockade was not the first time Qatar faced internal GCC sanction. In 2014, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors to Qatar over concerns about Dohas independent foreign policy. Efforts to resolve the current crisis are reportedly continuing, with Kuwait acting as the main mediator since the beginning of the crisis in June 2017. 180212075226584 Three months after the blockade was imposed, Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah told a press conference with US President Donald Trump: What is important is that we have stopped any military action. The blockading nations immediately denied a military incursion had been planned. James M Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, wrote in Modern Diplomacy that some Qatari officials believe gaining control of Qatari gas reserves was a main objective of the Saudi-UAE boycott. Analysts have suggested the severe shift in GCC cooperation and solidarity occurred following the rise to power by Saudi Arabias current Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, after his father became king in January 2015. In tandem with the UAEs Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed, the two countries moved to dominate the political agenda of the Gulf grouping. The organisation has been usurped by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to coerce the smaller states into followership, said Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor at Kings College London. GCC break-up? Speculation has been rife that Doha may split with the GCC, though a Qatari official denied such a move was imminent. Reports claiming that Qatar is considering leaving the GCC are wholly incorrect and baseless, Deputy Foreign Minister Lolwah al-Khater said last week. 170707094554748 Such rumours must have originated from peoples despair and disappointment with a fractured GCC, which used to be a source of hope and aspiration for the people of the six member countries. As we are reaching the third year of the illegal blockade on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, there is no wonder why the people of the GCC are doubting and questioning the GCC as an institution. Qatar hopes the GCC will once again be a platform of cooperation and coordination. An effective GCC is needed now more than ever, given the challenges facing our region, al-Khater said. With discussions continuing, Kuwaits Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Khaled said on Wednesday hopes are bigger than before of ending the Gulf crisis. We used to move one step ahead and return two steps backwards. But now if we move forward a step, it is followed by another step, Al Khaled told local media. But one Western official in the Gulf, quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, was far less optimistic. The regional conditions arent really there for some big rapprochement at the moment. My sense is this is the same old merry-go-round. As Spain urges tourists to return to the land of 11am beers and 4pm cafe con leches, Sicily offers to pay for half your flights, Iceland tries to make virus testing easier than a summer breeze and Greece proposes a quarantine free trip for Australian travellers, many have questioned whether we should slurp the deals on offer. But might they be spiked? Not exactly but the reservations, some which stem from travel insurance, others which stem from the legality of leaving Australia right now, make for a bitter beverage. Particularly with regards to insurance, as we reported last week, insurance companies will not cover you for any pandemic related expenses right now, and most appear poised to maintain that stance. So if you fancy a jaunt to Europe, even once restrictions lift, you could find yourself in Budget Bother should you be hospitalised for The Bat Kiss, or if any of your travel plans are affected by a pandemic related incident. That said, risk comes with opportunity. And sometimes the biggest leaps come with the biggest payoffs. Enter: your (hypothetical) Euro Trip 2020. This trip, though risky, if it were to be pulled off without incident, could see you traversing some of Europes hottest destinations, sans crowds. Just think about it: its been decades since international travel dipped so hard. As Bloomberg reported in April, during the peak of The Pandemic, the number of passenger jets in service dropped to the lowest levels in 26 years. Though the industry is now making a comeback, and though you might argue part of Europes attraction is its laissez-faire attitude to life (which, as The French Riviera last week showed, is now being impacted by safety restrictions) this remains a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Europes top tourist hotspots without the masses, if you can get there. It could also be your chance to meet more receptive locals. Though residents of tourist traps like Barcelona and San Sebastian have become known for their go home tourist graffiti in recent years, now that ~wanderlust~ revenue has been abruptly cut off, locals may start to realise tourists are as important as they are pesky. In any case, as The Old World recovers from the pandemic, this is an excellent chance for nations to discuss and plan how they better want to manage tourism in the future. While this might still mean reducing tourism (or luring a different breed of travellers, a la Amsterdam), its hard to imagine European authorities and those that live in the cities they govern wont come out of 2020 without a renewed appreciation for The Tourist Dollar. Of course, this whole conversation is academic if Europe decides to enact a European travel bubble and not permit visitors from Asia or the Middle East (two regions the vast majority of Aussie flights have to go through), which is the catch with Greeces quarantine free offer to Australians right now. But should these restrictions lift, this is why 2020 could be the best time in history to check out the following tourist traps. Barcelona View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bojan Stojanovski (@bojans88) on Jun 1, 2020 at 2:51pm PDT Though Barcelona, which normally gets 27 million visitors a year, is renowned for being a tourist trap, wed wager in the coming months, as Spain unleashes all its pent up lockdown energy, its going to be the place to be. While, in recent years, we might have recommended more offbeat places like the Basque Country, The Algarve or Cadiz, to discerning beach lovers, this year wed recommend Barcelona to get the best of both worlds, without the usual frustrations. Head up to Bunkers Del Carmel for the best view over the city, Razamataz or El Row to get weird, and the Beach clubs if you are looking for a classier good time. In terms of bars, youll be spoilt for choice. Literary lovers will probably also like to visit where Ernest Hemmingway and Salvador Dali composed their works of genius drank absinthe. If thats you: Bar Marsella calls. Paris View this post on Instagram A post shared by DUE B (@duebconcierge) on Feb 23, 2018 at 3:07am PST From melt-in-mouth croissants to the world-beating coffee, Paris would be to die (or spend an ungodly amount on an Airbnb) for even if it was historically void. When you factor in the cultural capital the place has though, and the fact officials have slated the Louvre to reopen on July the 6th (with the slight tweak that you now have to wear a mask and book your time slot in advance), then the city of light becomes (almost) a no brainer for those willing to throw their leave to the wind this year. Though you might not be alone, its sure to be a far cry from the 40 million-odd visitors a year Paris is known for receiving. Rome View this post on Instagram A post shared by Linda (@lindaseverini) on Jun 2, 2020 at 10:53am PDT Though Rome, which typically receives over 20 million visitors a year, has had Venice-like issues with overcrowding and Australians making an embarrassing coffee faux pas, its now much in the same boat as Barcelona and Paris epic if you can (and are willing) to get there, and want to see the sites without feeling like one of a million. Mykonos View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cavo Tagoo Mykonos (@cavotagoomykonos) on May 21, 2020 at 3:51am PDT Greece usually gets about 22 million tourists a year, and if Instagram is anything to go by, 21.9 of them can be found on Santorini and Mykonos at any one time, leaving selfie sticks and pink inflatable flamingos in their wake. This year wed imagine it will be rather different. Again: if you can get there. Put another way: its a jealous elitists dream come true: no drop-dead influencers making you feel bad about your dad bod, friendlier (probably) locals and more villas available to book. Thats what you call a triple win. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Breathtaking travel videos (@adventurousclips) on May 26, 2020 at 2:42am PDT Read Next Mr Selormey Adukpo Dogbey, the Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), has said expectations for piloting the new Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kit and processes had been successful. Our expectations have largely been met,'' he said, and that the EC would be better placed to configure the BVR machine in readiness for the country-wide mass registration exercise. Mr Selormey said this at the end of the two-day pilot exercise ahead of the mass voters' registration scheduled for June ending. The exercise attracted district electoral officers, political party representatives and agents, the media, the public and security agencies. He said a total of 102 people were registered on Wednesday while some 36 others registered on Tuesday before the machine broke down temporarily. Mr Selormey said all teething problems reported by the Region to the National Technical Section of EC had been resolved guaranteeing the efficiency of the new equipment. The new BVR worked faster, was more sensitive and efficient, he said. Mr Selormey said the Volta Region would have a total of 2,111 registration centres for the mass registration out of 33,367 centres nationwide. The Regional EC Director said officials of the Commission would work in clusters for each centre for six days and move to another centre to cover five other centres for 30 days. Meanwhile, the Volta Regional branch of the National Democratic Congress, in a press statement read by Mr James Gunu, the Regional Secretary, said the Party's stance on the compilation of a new voter register remained unchanged. He insisted that what was needed was limited registration "as required by law," considering time exigencies, lack of resources, weather conditions and other factors. Mr Gunu noted that the final ID card issued in the pilot exercise was not serially numbered compared to the form A, leaving the suspicion for manipulation, with low battery strength of the machines and the challenge of spending 25 to 30 minutes to register one person. He said the use of the same ink pad could spread COVID-19 and that the technical challenges meant the EC was not prepared to effectively compile a new voter register for the December polls. ''We, thus, charge the EC to conduct a character and credibility audit to rid it of all deficits that has dogged its activities in recent times.'' GNA At a symposium held on May 30, Chinese science and technology professionals discussed how to implement the instructions embodied in a letter sent by President Xi Jinping in reply to 25 representatives of the sector's professionals, on the occasion of China's fourth National Science and Technology Workers' Day. In the letter, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, encouraged science and technology workers to make greater contribution to building China into a global sci-tech power. He called on them to carry forward fine traditions, maintain confidence to promote innovation, seek breakthroughs in key and core technologies, and create synergy between enterprises, universities and research institutes. At the symposium organized by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), Ye Peijian, a researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), emphasized the importance of self-reliance in achieving scientific and technological innovations. Ye explained that while learning from other countries, Chinese scientists need to remember that China can only develop and master key technologies by relying on its own initiative. "Past experience has taught us that high-end space technologies cannot be bought from outside," said Ye, who has worked in China's space sector for several decades. "Science has a powerful force. In an effort to realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, we are confident that through unity and the coordination of the whole of society, China will achieve innovations at a faster speed and scale the heights of science and technology," Ye added. Breakthroughs cannot be achieved without long-term research. Since the coronavirus broke out in China, Chen Wei, researcher at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, has devoted herself to vaccine development. Her team's adenovirus vector vaccine is the first COVID-19 vaccine anywhere in the world to enter the second phase of clinical trials. Based on the contingency scientific research conducted during epidemic, Chen, who is also a CAS academician, proposed various scientific and technological innovations for biosecurity in China. "Long-term and stable mechanisms need to be established to support programs and teams dedicated to biosecurity research in order to advance breakthroughs in key technologies," Chen explained. She also proposed enhancing collaboration between enterprises and research institutes, and building interdisciplinary platforms to facilitate the commercialization of R&D results. Whether breakthroughs can be achieved in core technologies is dependent upon the level of basic research and original innovation. Xue Qikun, vice president of Tsinghua University and a CAS academician, called for stronger support of innovative basic research conducive to major national needs and capacity-building at this critical time in China's development. During his closing remarks, Wan Gang, president of the CAST, said that the important letter from General Secretary Xi Jinping has provided guidelines for science, technology and innovation in China, calling for efforts to build the country into a global sci-tech power. Wan added that all science and technology professionals in China should advance the application of more R&D results to help modernize the country, and develop synergy between industries, universities and research institutes, thus making a greater contribution to high-quality socio-economic development. Content created in partnership with Science and Technology Daily. EagleView has processed its 100 millionth image through the first six months of 2020, more than doubling the amount of images processed in all of 2019. EagleView, a leading technology provider of aerial imagery and data analytics, today achieved a key milestone when it processed its 100 millionth image so far this year. During 2019, EagleView processed 45,341,999 images. EagleView has more than doubled that figure in just the first six months of 2020. This represents a 95% increase in the number of images processed year-to-date compared to 2019, said Jay Martin, COO of EagleView. This was accomplished despite unexpectedly needing to move all operations to remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite flight disruptions due to rolling shutdowns nationwide. EagleViews ultra-high-resolution aerial imagery is 16x higher resolution than satellite images and gives organizations the finest level of detail to rapidly make crucial everyday decisions. EagleView imagery (formerly Pictometry) is captured with patented proprietary camera systems that enable customers to see the world from multiple perspectives, and covers 98% of the United States population. As weve worked with customers, including county governments across the country, to capture and process aerial imagery, weve discovered the key to delivering the most accurate, high-resolution images available anywhere is a relentless attention to detail, said Rishi Daga, CEO of EagleView. We are completely focused on helping our customers by providing the most accurate and detailed aerial imagery available anywhere. Find out more about EagleView Technologies, the team, technology, and career opportunities at http://www.eagleview.com or email info@eagleview.com. About EagleView EagleView is a leader in aerial imagery, machine learning-derived data analytics and software, helping customers in different industries use property insights for smarter planning, building, and living. With more than 200 patents, EagleView pioneered the field of aerial property measurements and has the largest multi-modal image database in history, covering 98 percent of the U.S. population. Flying over 9.5 million linear miles every year, EagleViews coverage is the most extensive and up to date, enabling local government and business customers to use the most accurate data to make timely and informed decisions. For more information, call (866) 659-8439, visit http://www.eagleview.com and follow @EagleViewTech. Media Contact Information EagleView Media Relations Annette Hamilton mediarelations@eagleview.com YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan received today Mayor of Stepanakert Davit Sargsyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The process of renovation works of apartments for families of fallen heroes, military disabled were discussed. The President said the program is under his direct spotlight, and all efforts must be made to complete it within the set timetable. President Harutyunyan was also interested in the process of house building in Stepanakert by private investors. At the meeting the Mayor of Stepanakert reported the President on the urban economy issues, as well as the actions aimed at fighting the novel coronavirus. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan DALLAS, June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the "Company") today announced that it has priced its underwritten public offering of $1.8 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes, consisting of $500 million aggregate principal amount of 4.750% Notes due 2023 (the "2023 Notes") and $1.3 billion aggregate principal amount of 5.125% Notes due 2027 (the "2027 Notes," and, collectively with the 2023 Notes, the "Notes"). The 2023 Notes will be issued at 102.725% of par and the 2027 Notes will be issued at par. The 2023 Notes are being offered as an additional issuance of the Company's 4.750% Notes due 2023, of which the Company issued $750 million aggregate principal amount on May 4, 2020. The 2023 Notes are part of the same class as the initial notes of that series and have identical terms, other than the issue date and issue price, as the initial notes of that series. The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay all of the outstanding borrowings under its Amended and Restated 364-Day Credit Agreement and for general corporate purposes. The Company also intends to terminate the Amended and Restated 364-Day Credit Agreement upon repayment. The offering is expected to close on or about June 8, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. Citigroup, BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. A shelf registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and has become effective. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and an accompanying base prospectus. The preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering have been filed, and a final prospectus supplement will be filed, with the SEC and will be available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from (1) Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone: 1-800-831-9146 or by email: [email protected], (2) BNP Paribas Securities Corp., 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, or by telephone: 1-800-854-5674 or by email: [email protected], (3) BofA Securities, Inc., NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte NC 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, or via email: [email protected], (4) J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or via telephone: 1-866-803-9204 and (5) Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, Attention: Prospectus Department. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes or any other securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration and qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. About Southwest Airlines Co. In its 49th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 60,000 Employees to a Customer base topping 130 million passengers in 2019. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. In peak travel seasons during 2019, Southwest operated more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 101 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements related to the proposed terms of the offering described herein, the completion, timing, and size of the proposed offering, and the anticipated use of proceeds from the offering. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the duration, spread, severity, and any recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the duration and scope of related government orders and restrictions, and the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overall demand for air travel and the Company's access to capital; (ii) the impact of fears or actual outbreaks of infectious disease, economic conditions, governmental actions, extreme or severe weather and natural disasters, fears of terrorism or war, actions of competitors, fuel prices, consumer perception, and other factors beyond the Company's control, on consumer behavior and the Company's results of operations and business decisions, plans, strategies, and results; and (iii) other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as supplemented in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2020. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements, which represent the Company's views only as of the date this report is filed. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange rules, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to disseminate, after the date of this press release, any updates or revisions to any such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in expectations or events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links https://www.southwest.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:17:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The support for the Finnish Social Democratic Party (SDP) rose to 23.2 percent, showed a poll commissioned by the national broadcaster Yle and published on Thursday. In the poll, the support for SDP rose by 1.1 percentage points, while support for the Center Party went down by 1.5 percentage points to 10.7 percent, which means SDP has further increased its lead over its main partner, the Center, in the current five-party coalition cabinet. The Green Leagues, also in the cabinet, surpassed the Center as well in the poll. Tuomo Turja, research director of the Taloustutkimus, one of Finland's leading market research companies, noted on Yle that the speed of the ten percentage point increase in the popularity of the SDP since last December is unprecedented. Local commentators have noted that the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis has increased its popularity on the whole. However, the Center has not benefited from it. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin represents the SDP, while Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni is chairman of the Center party. The poll led to an open statement by the centrist parliamentary leader that the party could leave the cabinet. Antti Kurvinen, chairman of the Center Party Parliamentary Group, said on Yle that the party must get its policy goals through in the autumn, otherwise it may not continue. Kurvinen insisted that the government must agree on the "renewal of the labour market" to increase employment. In the meantime, support for the Finns Party rose to 18 percent, surpassing the conservative National Coalition Party. Enditem The Shia community in Tamale has indicated that it is ready to observe the Jumah prayers on Friday after some months of closure of mosques. This follows the easing of restrictions on religious activities in the country by President Akufo-Addo in his 10th address on COVID-19. The president on Sunday May 31 in a televised address to the nation which outlined the roadmap aimed at relaxing restrictions instituted to control the spread of the novel Coronavirus, announced an abridged format of religious services can commence. While some religious groups welcome the announcement to start worshipping in congregation with strict adherence to the safety precautions against the pandemic, some Churches and Mosques, have issued statements informing members that they remain closed to the general public. Notable among them were the Ahmadiya Muslim Mission in Ghana, Victory Bible Church International among others. The Shia community is one of the largest Muslim groups in Tamale. Its leader in the Northern Region, Sheikh Dalhu Abdul Mumin says the Shia community welcomes the announcement by the President and will observe the Jumah prayers on Friday, June 5. He revealed, the leadership of Shia in the region have so far made provisions for Veronica buckets, soap, hand sanitizers and other materials to observe the safety protocols. He said his outfit will strictly ensure all protocols especially on social distancing and wearing of nose masks. The gradual relaxation of the restrictions is in our interest and we will abide by it, he said Sheikh Dalhu added, the hundred congregants at a time announced by the President is to ensure proper social distancing . He thanked government and all stakeholders in the fight for their relentless efforts to bring the country this far. He was happy the recoveries keep rising. Some members who were at the mosque in the Tamale Metropolis to clean ahead of Friday service shared their views on the easing of restrictions by government. They promised to abide by all protocols Source: 3news 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 high-end dress boutique from Amazon Prime's reality series Gown and Out in Beverly Hills suffered nearly a half a million dollars in damages during riots in Los Angeles. The stars of the series, Pol Atteu and Patrik Simpson shared devastating images of their trashed store and told TMZ that looters pilfered over 100 custom dressed on Saturday. Riots broke out in Los Angeles over the weekend after a small group of agitators disrupted otherwise peaceful protests over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in police custody. Looted: The high-end dress boutique from Amazon Prime's reality series Gown and Out in Beverly Hills suffered nearly a half a million dollars in damages during riots in Los Angeles according to TMZ Pol and Patrik told TMZ that they had just re-stocked their luxury gown shop, Pol Atteu Couture, when looters started reeking havoc in Beverly Hills. The pair estimated that over 100 dresses were looted, 'including custom wedding dresses waiting to be shipped to brides and some gowns intended for the Daytime Emmys.' Due to the coronavirus, the store had been shuttered for months and was gearing up for a big reopening now that Los Angeles is slowing turning their economy back on. Pol actually hand sews all of their incredible creations and Patrik told TMZ that he will now have 'hours of work ahead of him' in order to replenish the stolen stock. Destruction: The stars of the series, Pol Atteu and Patrik Simpson shared devastating images of their trashed store and told TMZ that looters pilfered over 100 custom dressed on Saturday Stolen: The gowns were hand-sewn by designer Pol and included 'custom wedding dresses waiting to be shipped to brides and some gowns intended for the Daytime Emmys' Terrible timing: Due to the coronavirus, the Gown and Out store had been shuttered for months and was gearing up for a big reopening now when looters ravaged the store During the pandemic, Pol had switched gears from crafting couture gowns to sewing protective masks for the public. Images of the destruction smashed windows, broken glass strewn on the floor and debris scattered haphazardly. Racks of gowns were overturned and the shop gave the overall impression that a cyclone had hit it. Gown and Out in Beverly Hills premiered in 2017 on Amazon Prime and stars Patrik, Pol and SnowWhite90210 as they dress the well-heeled out of their boutique. Claim to fame: Gown and Out in Beverly Hills premiered in 2017 on Amazon Prime and stars Patrik, Pol and SnowWhite90210 as they dress the well-heeled out of their boutique Patrik wrote on social media in all caps: 'WE ARE LITERALLY IN TEARS AT THE DAMAGE DESTRUCTION AND THEFT AT OUR @polatteu BEVERLY HILLS BOUTIQUE DURING THE RIOTS AND PROTESTS LAST NIGHT!' 'AND RODEO DRIVE IS GUTTED! WHEN THE HELL DOES THE INJUSTICE THAT HAPPENED TO GEORGE FLOYD BECOME A TICKET TO DESECRATE WHAT WE AND SO MANY OTHERS HAVE WORKED SO HARD FOR? THIS IS NOT OK!' The boutique, located in the heart of the luxury shopping district in Beverly hills, is usually pristine with sparking couture hanging from carefully curated racks. Patrik expressed his horror at the site of the trashed shop on social media where she shared photos of the mess. He wrote in all caps: 'WE ARE LITERALLY IN TEARS AT THE DAMAGE DESTRUCTION AND THEFT AT OUR @polatteu BEVERLY HILLS BOUTIQUE DURING THE RIOTS AND PROTESTS LAST NIGHT!' 'AND RODEO DRIVE IS GUTTED! WHEN THE HELL DOES THE INJUSTICE THAT HAPPENED TO GEORGE FLOYD BECOME A TICKET TO DESECRATE WHAT WE AND SO MANY OTHERS HAVE WORKED SO HARD FOR? THIS IS NOT OK!' In the news: Riots broke out in Los Angeles over the weekend after a small group of agitators disrupted otherwise peaceful protests over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in police custody The road to justice: All four officers involved in Floyd's death have now been charged with crimes connected to his killing including former Officer Derek Chauvin who kneeled on Floyd neck for nearly nine minutes Riots have broken out in cities across the U.S. turning peaceful protests against racism and police brutality violent. Activists have been fervent in their message that agitators are not part of the movement. The riots lead to a city wide curfew implemented in Los Angeles, as well as several other metropolitan areas. As of Thursday, the curfew in L.A. had been lifted. At the end of May, George Floyd died after a police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes as he cried out that he couldn't breathe. Before: The shop, located in the heart of the luxury shopping district in Beverly hills, is usually pristine with sparking couture hanging from carefully curated racks Twice the work: Pol actually hand sews all of their incredible creations and Patrik told TMZ that he will now have 'hours of work ahead of him' in order to replenish the stolen stock Doing good: During the pandemic, Pol had switched gears from crafting couture gowns to sewing protective masks for the public Floyd was unarmed and had been detained over suspicion that he had used a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Chauvin was fired and later arrested and charged with Floyd's killing. He faces charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and a second-degree murder charge was added on Wednesday. Additionally, the three other officers who were on the scene, J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were also charged Wednesday with unintentional aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Federal officers block 16th Street near the White House on Wednesday, many wearing uniforms that don't show any identification. Read more After more than a week of unrest, tensions in a number of major U.S. cities has eased. The vandalism and looting that had often used large, peaceful protests as cover has faded; the eruption of violence at protests appears to be less common. The Associated Press reports that active-duty members of the military who were moved into Washington to help keep order would be moved back out, though that decision was later reversed. But it wasnt only components of the Defense Department that had been brought to the nations capital to help with the domination that President Donald Trump sought to display in the wake of the turmoil. Washington residents have also been confronted with a number of other heavily armed law enforcement officers who share an unexpected characteristic: Neither their affiliation nor their personal identities are discernible. On Tuesday, Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedan encountered such individuals, who gave no more specific identification than that they were associated with the Justice Department. Near the White House on Wednesday, MSNBCs Garrett Haake had a similar encounter. So did the New Republics Matt Ford. When he asked the armed men whether they were associated with the Bureau of Prisons based on an acronym on their uniforms, Ford was simply told, Maybe. As it turns out, each of these encounters was apparently with elements of the Bureau of Prisons, called to the region by Attorney General William Barr this week. Friedman confirmed with the BOP that the men he encountered were with the agency; Haakes Twitter followers picked out the BOP insignia on their clothing. The idea that the federal government is putting law enforcement personnel on the line without appropriate designation of agency, name, etc. thats a direct contradiction of the oversight that theyve been providing for many years to local police and demanding in all of their various monitorships and accreditation, former New York City police commissioner William Bratton said in a phone interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday. The prospect of government agencies involved in policing the city seeking to obscure their identities, Bratton said, was very concerning. The vagueness of their identity and their disinterest in identifying themselves introduce specific challenges and risks, as former Army officer and FBI special agent Clint Watts explained in a phone interview with The Post. READ MORE: Pentagon-Trump clash breaks open over military and protests For one thing, Watts pointed out, a civilian might refuse to respond to an order from a law enforcement official who doesnt identify themselves in that way. If I go out and I pull out a gun and I say, Freeze, and they say why, I would have to say, Im an FBI agent or law enforcement officer or whatever, he said, because otherwise they would be totally in the right to defend themselves potentially. He imagined his own reaction if he was on the street in New York or Washington and an unidentified officer pushed him with a shield: His instinct would be to fight back. The added danger, particularly given the influx of officials in the area, is that law enforcement officers wouldnt recognize one another. Bratton noted that one reason for identifiers is that officers would be able to recognize one another. Riot helmets often have identifying numbers on their backs in part for that purpose. Watts described an incident shortly after he began at the FBI when an undercover agent whod drawn his weapon was killed by another bureau employee who confused him with a suspect. Introduce scores of officers without identification into a volatile scenario and its easy to see similar (if less deadly) mistakes being common. Its not uncommon for civilians to dress in paramilitary gear and show up at the protests, often doing so as self-appointed assistants to police and other law enforcement officials. You can have this weird thing where you have these militia group guys just dressed up in their gear, which they like to do anyway, show up and just start pushing protesters around, Watts said. And if youre a protester, you dont know if you have to respond to this person. READ MORE: Floyd protests cross the city for a fifth day as Philadelphians say theyre hopeful for lasting change Granting unidentifiable law enforcement officials the ability to engage with and confront protesters functionally allows any unidentifiable individual to more easily pretend to be law enforcement. It introduces an opportunity for those looking to take advantage of the situation to target protesters or to cause disruptions. The problem extends further. Consider the security hired to defend Saks Fifth Avenues flagship store in Manhattan. Its easy to envision a scenario in which protesters are confronted by other hired security agents and forced to determine in real time whether they constitute an official arm of law enforcement or if theyre simply hired muscle. There are widely divergent ramifications for a protesters potential responses to such confrontations, depending on who the other person is. And theres an overarching question here: Why? Why are these officers unwilling to identify themselves or their organization? Theres some power dynamic at play, as demonstrated in the maybe Ford was offered. But it also inhibits accountability. If those officers engage in any type of misbehavior during the time that they are there representing the federal government, how are you to identify them? Bratton said. What is the need for anonymity in controlling crowd demonstrations? Such anonymity echoes the way in which enforcers in autocratic regimes have worked to avoid accountability. If you believe that you were unlawfully detained or assaulted by a law enforcement official, you can try to hold them to account. (Of course, the extent to which youll be able to do so is another question, one at the heart of the current protests.) But how do you hold someone accountable when you dont know who they are or even who they work for? READ MORE: Frank Rizzo leaves a legacy of unchecked police brutality and division in Philadelphia Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University and an expert on authoritarianism, noted the lack of accountability introduced by the government of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for the actions of loyalist forces. The government passed laws that allowed the service records of military men and police who had been involved in torture and abuses to be destroyed so that their records were swept clean, she said. Many authoritarian leaders issue amnesty that free service people, clean up their records so that their abuses are never known. The point isnt necessarily that the lack of identification offered by the men in Washington is intended to facilitate abuse. Its that it hampers accountability, intentionally or not, which itself makes abuse more likely to go unchecked. Officers of the law are accountable to the public, something thats harder to achieve if you dont know who they are. What the current situation demands is clarity. Given the tension between law enforcement and the protesters and given the existence of those looking to amplify that tension either as cover for illegal looting or to commit vandalism against the state, it seems more important now than it normally is that the enforcement arm of the government be identified by agency and individually. The idea of having no identification whatsoever as to the agency that you belong to, Bratton said, is highly unusual and, from my perspective, not professional at all. Pat Sullivan / Associated Press Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling has been using the 15 months since his release from federal prison to pull together a new energy marketplace and is soliciting investors, according to Reuters. Skilling's wife incorporated the firm, called Veld LLC, in late 2018. It aims to sell stakes in operating oil and gas wells and offer data to investors who may want to buy into them, Reuters reports, citing four people familiar with Skilling's plans. JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Noted Jacksonville trial law firm Spohrer Dodd has often been recognized for a powerful tradition of success, which includes over $1 billion recovered on behalf of injury victims across the country. Now, the firm is once again pleased to share that founding partner Robert Spohrer and senior partner Roger Dodd have both been selected to the 2020 Super Lawyers list for another consecutive year. Using a rigorous multiphase selection process, the Super Lawyers team takes peer nominations and evaluations along with 12 different indicators of professional success into account when selecting the Super Lawyers lists in each practice area and region. Those who qualify are considered by Super Lawyers to be "outstanding" within their fields and to enjoy a strong reputation with their peers and clients. Selected for the Jacksonville, Florida region, Attorney Spohrer has been recognized for his work in general personal injury, product liability, and aviation and aerospace law, while Attorney Dodd has been chosen for transportation and maritime law, general personal injury, and aviation and aerospace law. For Robert Spohrer, who has been selected to the Super Lawyers list every year since 2006, and for Roger Dodd, who has been chosen since 2009, this is only the latest in a series of awards and accolades recognizing their incredible work for injury victims and consumers. Both are considered to be leading trial attorneys in their fields, receiving honors from the Best Lawyers in America, Martindale-Hubbell, and many other prestigious organizations in the legal community. The team at Spohrer Dodd would like to congratulate both partners on this significant accomplishment. The firm will look to continue their tradition of excellence and commit to serving injury victims with top-quality legal representation. Contact Spohrer Dodd online at https://www.sdlitigation.com/ for press inquiries or questions about these awards. SOURCE Spohrer Dodd Related Links https://www.sdlitigation.com The Latest on the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck: TOP OF THE HOUR: Seattle ends city-wide curfew ahead of schedule. Demonstrators march to U.S. Capitol during peaceful protests in Washington amid show of force from federal law enforcement agencies. Autopsy reveals George Floyd tested positive for COVID-19 in April. Civil rights organizations call for resignation of Kansas City police chief. Suspect fatally shot by officers in San Francisco Bay area. ___ SEATTLE Leaders in Seattle seeking to address concerns raised by protesters have abruptly ended a city-wide curfew in place for days amid massive demonstrations against the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota. Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday evening on Twitter that she was ending the curfew, which had been scheduled to last until Saturday, after she and Police Chief Carmen Best met with community members. Chief Best believes we can balance public safety and ensure peaceful protests can continue without a curfew, Durkan said. For those peacefully demonstrating tonight, please know you can continue to demonstrate. We want you to continue making your voice heard. Thousands of protesters remained in the citys Capitol Hill neighborhood well after the abolished 9 p.m. curfew Wednesday. Demonstrators carried Black Lives Matter signs, called for cutting the police departments budget and shifting the money to social programs, and chanted for officers to remove their riot gear. Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib tweeted that he was pleased Seattle had listened and reversed course. Preemptive curfews were only making things worse. Other cities should do likewise, he posted. ___ WASHINGTON Demonstrators marched to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday night, protesting the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and demanding that laws be changed to prevent more like it. Along their route from near the White House, there were troops in fatigues and officers from federal agencies keeping watch on the crowd. Barricades were put up around the Capitol, and the Capitol Police stood guard behind them. We came here because they make laws here and we want the laws to change, said Mohammed Wagdy, 26, of nearby Prince Georges County. As an 11 p.m. curfew in Washington neared, community activists urged the demonstrators to head home. Some did, but others said they were returning to the White House. ___ MINNEAPOLIS A full autopsy of George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police, provides several clinical details including that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19. The 20-page report released Wednesday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office came with the familys permission and after the coroners office released summary findings Monday that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers, and classified his May 25 death as a homicide. The report by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker spelled out clinical details, including that Floyd tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3 but appeared asymptomatic. The report also noted Floyds lungs appeared healthy but he had some narrowing of arteries in the heart. The countys earlier summary report listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under other significant conditions but not under cause of death. The full reports footnotes noted that signs of fentanyl toxicity can include severe respiratory depression and seizures. ___ WASHINGTON As the National Guard and law enforcement officers stood guard near the White House, surveillance planes kept watch on protesters in the nations capital from the air. At one point Wednesday night, an FBI plane, an Army surveillance plane and a Park Police helicopter were circling overhead. The demonstrators broke up into two groups; one stayed at the White House, the other marched to the Capitol. Protesters held signs and chanted, but there were no indications of any confrontations with law enforcement. Hundreds of protesters stood face to face with military and federal officers who had formed a perimeter around Lafayette Park across from the White House. Military vehicles were parked on nearby streets, also blocking access. The demonstration was held to protest the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota. Military police and law enforcement officers from a variety of federal agencies were out in force. A senior Defense official said at least 2,200 Guard members would be on the streets Wednesday. The South Carolina and Utah National Guards had forces in place. Bureau of Prisons personnel wore blue uniforms. There were also agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI hostage rescue team and the Secret Service. Washingtons mayor set an 11 p.m. curfew in the city after earlier restrictions the previous two nights. ___ LIBERTY, Mo. Civil rights organizations on Wednesday called for the resignation of Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, hours after a group of mostly black pastors demanded changes to improve relations between police and the citys minority community. The Urban League of Greater Kansas City, the NAACPs Kansas City, Missouri branch, and More2 said in a statement that Smith should resign because of his handling of excessive force complaints and officer-involved shootings of black men. Since November 2019, our Civil Rights organizations, in collaboration with faith and community leaders, have become increasingly appalled and very much concerned about Chief Smiths questionable leadership of the Kansas City Police Department, the coalition said in a statement. The group also criticized the citys Board of Police Commissioners for allowing Smith to conduct internal investigations of officer-involved shootings and complaints of excessive force rather than calling in independent investigators. The police department should be under local control, officers must be required to wear body cameras and the city must dismantle the Office of Community Complaints, which has been criticized as ineffectual, the coalition said. A group of mostly black religious leaders made similar demands earlier Wednesday, but without calling for Smiths resignation. Emanual Cleaver III, pastor at St. James United Methodist Church, said the pastors believed it was necessary to seek change because: What happened to George Floyd was nothing new. He said pastors will take action if the city doesnt respond, though he declined to elaborate. Public relations officers for the department did not immediately respond to the demand that Smith resign. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said her office was reviewing video of Kansas City police officers who pepper-sprayed two protesters and arrested one who was yelling at police during protests Monday night. Mayor Quinton Lucas said Tuesday that he reviewed videos that had been sent to him from people concerned about police actions, and asked the FBI and federal prosecutors to review any that might violate procedures or show misconduct. Kansas City has endured five days of protests over Floyds death while in police custody May 25 in Minneapolis. Peaceful daytime demonstrations devolved into violence. Police used tear gas on protesters for the first four nights before relative calm returned Tuesday night. ___ CANBERRA, Australia Australias prime minister has urged Australians involved in George Floyd-related anti-racism protests around the world to be extremely cautious. Prime Minister Scott Morrison was commenting Thursday after Australian journalists came under attack while covering protests in Washington and London. In terms of some of the violence that were seeing around the world today, for those Australians who find themselves in those situations, I would urge them to show great caution, Morrison told reporters. I would urge people to be extremely cautious. These are dangerous situations, people should exercise great care in where theyre placing themselves, he added. Australias ambassador to the United States has complained about two police officers in riot gear lashing Channel 7 journalist Amelia Brace and camera operator Timothy Meyers with a shield and baton on Monday. The networks news director, Craig McPherson, described the attack as nothing short of wanton thuggery. The officers have been placed on administrative leave while their conduct is investigated. Two Nine Network television crews also came under attack from crowd members while reporting Wednesday on protests in London, the network reported. ___ CHARLOTTE, N.C. The police department in North Carolinas largest city is coming under criticism after a video posted to social media appeared to show officers using chemical agents on demonstrators who were boxed in while protesting the death of George Floyd. The video was recorded Tuesday night by Justin LaFrancois, co-founder and publisher of the alternative Charlotte newspaper Queen City Nerve. He said officers fired tear gas and flash-bangs from behind the protesters, and in front of them as well. He also said officers perched on top of buildings were firing pepper balls down on the crowd. We were completely trapped, LaFrancois said. There was one way to get out, and half of the group did go out that way through the tear gas and through the pepper balls. But for the rest of us, the only route of escape was to pull up a gate on the parking structure that we were pressed up against. LaFrancois said people tried to squeeze under the 6-inch opening in the gate and find safety. But as those people looked for an exit from the parking deck, he said officers began firing pepper balls after they entered the deck from the other side. They were relentless in not allowing us to leave the area that they were trying to get us to leave, LaFrancois said. It was the most extreme action that I had seen taken. It was the first time that I was actually in fear for my life. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said on Twitter they are looking into the incident. We are internally reviewing the circumstances that developed this evening on 4th Street to ensure policy and protocol were followed, the police department tweeted Tuesday. ___ SAN FRANCISCO A man suspected of robbing a pharmacy in the San Francisco Bay area was fatally shot by officers who thought a hammer he was carrying in his waistband was a firearm, police said Wednesday. Details of the shooting were revealed even as some California counties and cities began plans to end curfews after days of largely peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. Sean Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco is the first confirmed death at the hands of law enforcement related to smash-and-grabs and protests in California since Floyds death. Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams said officers were responding to calls of looting at a Walgreens early Tuesday when the shooting occurred. Officers said Monterrosa began running toward a car when he suddenly stopped, got on his knees and placed his hands above his waist, revealing what appeared to be the butt of a firearm in his waistband. An officer shot five times through a car window, striking him once. The intent was to stop the looting and arrest any perpetrators if necessary. The officers reacted to a perceived threat, Williams said. John Burris, an attorney for the family, said he is appalled police would shoot at a person who was on his knees with his hands raised. ___ OGDEN, Utah A criminal justice professor who wrote an inflammatory series of tweets during the nationwide protests said Wednesday he has resigned. Scott Senjo told The Associated Press in an email that he agrees his tweets were simply wrong and his resignation from Weber State University would be effective immediately. Last weekend, he tweeted at a black reporter who said he had been hit by New York City police: Excellent. If I was the cop, you wouldnt be able to tweet. He also expressed support for damage done to CNN headquarters in Atlanta. In response to another tweet showing a New York City police car driving into people, Senjo commented: Thats not how I would have driven the car into the crowd. Senjo said his posts were part of the oftentimes vulgar, extreme back-and-forth that can occur on Twitter, but he now realizes they were far beyond the realm of acceptable university policy as well as acceptable social norms. Weber State University has condemned the messages as abhorrent and opened an investigation to determine if other measures would be taken to ensure campus safety. The school had placed him on paid leave Tuesday to conduct a review and did not ask him to resign, officials said in a statement. Senjo had been a professor at the college in Ogden since 2000. ___ CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro railed against President Donald Trump while expressing solidarity with the family of George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis has sparked protests and street violence across the United States. Maduro on Wednesday accused Trump of turning the U.S. military against his own people. He spoke on state TV at a ceremony decorating Venezuelan soldiers credited with fending off a recent attack that the socialist leader blames on Trump. Maduro also extended Venezuelas solidarity with blacks and young people in the U.S. He says they are taking to the streets demanding an end to racism and police violence. The White House has launched a campaign to oust Maduro. The U.S. and other nations as well as human rights groups condemn Maduro for employing brutal force and torture to silence Venezuelans who oppose the socialist government. ___ MINNEAPOLIS The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has sent a national response team to Minneapolis and St. Paul to help investigate fires set during unrest following the death of George Floyd. Local and state authorities requested the teams help in investigating about 100 business fires in Minneapolis and about 35 in St. Paul. Special Agent in Charge William Henderson of the ATFs St. Paul Field Division said in a statement Wednesday the cause of these fires is quite obvious. The task at hand now is to determine who is responsible. The team arrived earlier this week. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. A set of state-level polls released on Wednesday by Fox News found Mr. Biden leading Mr. Trump in Arizona by four percentage points, and slightly ahead of Mr. Trump in Ohio as well. The former vice president held a nine-point lead in Wisconsin, where Mr. Trump eked out a win over Mrs. Clinton in 2016. Aaron Pickrell, a Democratic strategist in Ohio who helped steer former President Barack Obamas campaigns there, said Mr. Trumps decision to shift money into the state suggested just how precarious his overall position was. Mr. Pickrell said there were now conversations among national Democrats about whether to commit resources to contesting a state that most effectively gave up on after Mrs. Clintons thumping defeat there. I dont think anybody will dispute the fact that if Trump loses Ohio, theres no path at all, Mr. Pickrell said. Were not going to be a tipping-point state this time, but I think Joe Biden can win here and I think the Trump campaign sees that. Polls released on Wednesday show another troubling sign for Mr. Trump: His numbers have flagged recently among white voters, driven by a continued erosion of support from those with college degrees. The latest Monmouth survey found Mr. Trump with the support of just 52 percent of white voters nationwide five percentage points lower than his share in 2016, according to exit polls. There are also at least faint signs of renewed discomfort with Mr. Trump among a sliver of suburban Republican primary voters who could doom him altogether if they were to shift to Mr. Biden in November. In a few states with primary elections this week, a smattering of suburban counties registered substantial, though far from strong, protest votes against the president from his fellow Republicans. In Maryland, for instance, more than a tenth of Republican primary voters cast their ballots for Bill Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts who ended his quixotic campaign in March after registering in the low single digits in a string of primaries. With most precincts reporting, Mr. Weld was drawing more than 20 percent of the primary vote in two populous and diverse suburban counties outside Washington, D.C., that are rich with racially diverse and highly educated voters who have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the G.O.P. under Mr. Trump. By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijans and South Caucasus' only satellite operator Azercosmos OJSC has signed a cooperation agreement with Space Engineering, a provider of telecommunications and Internet services in the African region, the companys press service reported on June 3. As part of this partnership, Mwangaza TV and radio channels will be broadcast via Azerspace-1 satellite by means of Space Engineering provider. Mwangaza Channel, which broadcasts in the Republic of Kenya and has an audience of about 50 million viewers and listeners, broadcasts daily news and socio-economic programs in English. In addition, Space Engineering will provide its customers with data transmission services via Azerspace-1 satellite resources in East Africa region. At the same time, commercial director of Azercosmos Mark Gusrieu and CEO of Space Engineering expressed their mutual gratitude of this joint cooperation. Earlier, Azercosmos reported that it ended 2019 with a net profit of $2,13 million (AZN3.62 million), while the total profit was $8,27 million (AZN14.04 million), and the revenues are forecasted to increase further in the coming years. Moreover, according to the results of 2019, Azercosmos ranks first among state and non-state exporters in terms of exports in the service sector. The company's export portfolio consists mainly of leading companies in the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany and Malaysia. Formerly, Azercosmos OJSC signed a cooperation agreement with TheAngle, a company providing satellite network service in the United Arab Emirates. According to the agreement, the parties will jointly provide reliable communication services in the regions of the Middle East and Europe. Established in 2010, Azercosmos OJSC is the first and only satellite operator in the South Caucasus, which provides high-quality satellite services for telecommunications and geographic intelligence. Launched in February 2013 and operated by Azercosmos, Azerspace-1 is located in an orbital position of 46 degrees east longitude and covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Russia has confirmed the delivery of more MiG-29 fighter jets to Syria, just days after the U.S. military accused Moscow of using Syria to transfer warplanes to Libya. The Russian Embassy in Damascus said on Twitter on June 3 that a "second batch" of advanced MiG-29 fighter jets were handed over to the Syrian military "within the framework of defense cooperation" and were already flying missions. Syria's SANA news agency reported on May 30 that a handover ceremony for "advanced and modernized MiG-29 fighter jets" was held at Russia's Hmeimim air base in western Latakia Province and the planes would fly missions over Syria starting on June 1. Russia, which has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with air power, and the Syrian government, have been accused by Western states, UN investigators, and human rights groups of indiscriminate bombing of civilians and possible war crimes during the country's nine-year civil war. The delivery comes after the U.S. military in late May accused Moscow of deploying military aircraft to Libya to provide support for Russian mercenaries helping a local warlord battle the North African country's internationally recognized government. U.S. Africa Command said 14 MiG-29 fighter jets and Su-24 fighter bombers were flown to Libya via Syria, where they were repainted at Hmeimim air base to disguise their identity. Vagner Group, a private military contractor believed to be close to the Kremlin, has been helping Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east of the country in their fight against the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital, Tripoli. A UN report earlier this month estimated the number of Russian mercenaries at between 800 and 1,200. Moscow has denied the Russian state is responsible for any deployments of the Vagner group and denied sending aircraft to Libya. The LNA has denied links to the aircraft, although it says it has refurbished some old Libyan planes and is preparing a new air campaign. But on June 3, an LNA military source told Reuters that warplanes had struck near Gharyan, south of Tripoli, in the first acknowledged use of warplanes by eastern forces since Washington said Russia had supplied the new MiG-29 and Su-24 jets. Libya has been torn by civil war since a NATO-backed popular uprising ousted and killed the North African country's longtime dictator, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, in 2011. The conflict has drawn in multiple regional actors, with Russia, France, Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates backing Haftar's command. Turkey, which deployed troops, drones, and Syrian rebel mercenaries to Libya in January, supports the government in Tripoli, alongside Qatar and Italy. With reporting by Reuters New Delhi, June 4 : As people are finding ways to live through the pandemic, where technology is likely to play a major role for enhanced hygiene measures, Indian entrepreneurs and companies seem to be taking a lead in the new normal. Rising to the need of the hour, Faridabad-based APL Machinery Private Ltd has recently launched a range of UV disinfection machines -- APL UV Disinfection Systems. Speaking to IANS, C.P. Paul, Chief Managing Director, APL Machinery Pvt Ltd, said the company has launched 5 products ranging from a hand-held device to disinfect files and papers, a household UV sanitisation box for groceries, vegetables and packaged food to bigger devices for hotels and airports. He said that APL is also making disinfecting tunnels. The APL Chief Managing Director told IANS that the devices have gone through all the required tests and were also tested upon novel coronavirus. Paul said the company plans to sell 25,000 units of the 35-litre disinfection box for household usage. The company plans to sell the disinfecting products in India only initially and would take to exports only after some time. Saying the company's first target is to supply for the needs within the country, he said: "At the moment we will not export even a single product." APL currently has three facilities in Faridabad. Similarly, The Messy Corner, an e-commerce site, which used to create niche travel accessories, has switched to manufacturing portable 'UV Care Sterilizer'. This smart and multi-functional UV Sterilizer can kill germs that live on the surface of your phones, earphones, watches, and other daily accessories and gadgets, according to the company. Aanchal Poddar, Co-founder, and Creative Head, The Messy Corner, said the idea behind creating this UV sterilizer came at a time when the importance of health, safety, and hygiene has becomethe utmost priority in every household. "COVID-19 has pushed everyone to think beyond oneself. This prompted us to do something for the society in such dire times and we decided to shift our focus from travel to hygiene," Poddar said. The device can also sterilise rings, keys, masks, sunglasses, wallets, pens and currency. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a self-reliant India -- "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" -- Indian entrepreneurs in the technology and manufacturing field are indeed walking the talk and coming up as torchbearers in the new normal. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:27:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- In a residential community in Beijing's northern suburbs, Cui Zhanxia was busy checking garbage bags before residents put them into different bins. Cui is one of the community workers who help with garbage sorting after Beijing began to implement the mandatory practice on May 1. "Waste sorting is not difficult. It should be a normal part of people's lifestyles," said Cui. "Residents have recently paid much more attention to garbage sorting. Our efforts are not in vain." Garbage sorting has become a hot topic in China. The Chinese leadership underlined efforts to cultivate the habit of garbage classification to improve the living environment and contribute to green and sustainable development. A total of 237 Chinese cities have started to practice garbage sorting, data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development showed in January. Of 46 large cities, 30 have issued regulations on the classification of household garbage. "It is a good way to purify the environment. We are delighted to make ecological progress," Cui said. PROGRESS MADE The appropriate classification of domestic kitchen garbage is one of the challenges to promote waste sorting. In 2019, Beijing produced more than 10.11 million tonnes of residential waste, including 194,900 tonnes from household kitchens. Since May, the daily average amount of sorted domestic kitchen waste in the city has reached 740 tonnes, up 159 percent month on month and a year-on-year increase of 37 percent, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management. Before Beijing introduced the mandatory practice, the Lujiashan waste treatment plant in suburban Mentougou District processed about 100 tonnes of domestic kitchen waste every day, but the daily disposal volume has increased by half since late May. "Garbage classification has brought a rather positive effect," said Zhao Xiaodong, deputy general manager of Beijing Shougang Ecological Technology Co., Ltd., which runs the plant. Meanwhile, Beijing law enforcement officers have investigated more than 500 residential compounds since May and most of the communities were found to have conducted promotion of garbage sorting. "Recently, there has been an obvious increase in the number of people willing to learn about and take part in garbage sorting," said a garbage classification volunteer surnamed Chen in a residential community in Haidian District. Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, Beijing shifted its focus to online channels including livestreaming sessions and online classes to popularize garbage sorting knowledge among residents. The urban management commission has also launched a "Beijing garbage sorting" program on social media platform WeChat. Smartphone users can input the name of a waste item or upload a photo of it on the program to inquire which category it should be classified into. "Waste management is the responsibility of the whole society. Everyone is obligated to play a role," said a cleaner in Haidian District surnamed Guo. CHALLENGES REMAIN Beijing has launched a three-month law enforcement campaign since May to guide and monitor household garbage sorting. About 64,500 neighborhoods, restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, supermarkets and scenic spots were inspected last month and more than 9,900 were found to have not strictly followed the garbage sorting regulations. Violations mainly included failing to install garbage bins for the four types of classified waste and transporting mixed refuse. Although garbage classification is accelerating in China, the practice is still in its initial stage and has yet to be widely adopted by the whole society, according to Liu Jianguo, a professor with the School of Environment, Tsinghua University. "We need to take more specific measures to strengthen people's awareness and spur them to take the initiative," said Sun Xinjun, director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management. Enditem Victims Mother Monitored by 8 People While Burying Her Daughter Honest News Straight to Your Home. Try the Epoch Times yourself, and get a free gift. Ms. Yangs 24-year-old daughter Tian Yuxi contracted the CCP virus when she visited Wuhan Union Hospital on January 16 to get treated for another illness. On the 19th, Tian developed a fever and later died on February 6. Ms. Yang went to the local government to seek justice for her daughter, demanding those officials involved in the cover-up be punished. Consequently, she was forbidden to leave her residential compound. On May 19, when Yang needed to go to the cemetery to place her daughters urns in her final resting place, she was allowed to leave her community, but local authorities dispatched eight people to monitor her during the whole process. Yang spoke to the Chinese-language Epoch Times on WeChat to reveal what had happened to her. Guidewire Cloud will allow the insurer in Italy to draw on new system features continuously, increase business agility, and serve customers better Aviva Italia S.p.A., part of the leading insurance company in the UK and a top player in Italy, and Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), provider of the industry platform general insurers rely upon, today announced that Aviva Italy has selected Guidewire InsuranceSuite Cloud to accelerate innovation, maintain technical currency, and empower its employees. Aviva Italy has also selected Guidewire EnterpriseEngage to deliver omnichannel experiences to all its stakeholders. Aviva Italy is already using Guidewire Core and Digital products that were deployed in an OOTB six month's implementation and plans to further advance its business and technological transformation by moving these core systems to Guidewire Cloud, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), to be followed by all of its business in the future. "Innovation is obviously one of the pillars of the Aviva strategy for the future, and technology is increasingly the key," said Lorenzo Chiofalo, Head of Innovation, Aviva in Italy. "We decided to adopt Guidewire Cloud as the enabler of our business and operations, to improve time to market, customer experience, digital capabilities, and excellent quality of services. We believe the choice of Guidewire Cloud will be highly beneficial for all the main elements in our ecosystems: customers will get clearer, faster and seamless service; agents and partners will be supported better; and our people will be working with the best of breed technology." Guidewire InsuranceSuite Cloud and EnterpriseEngage will enable Aviva Italy to: Realise high levels of security and operational effectiveness, supported by structured rules, greater control, and continuous improvements with the cloud service operating model; Optimise commercial performance by managing core business through technological and functional best of breed capability; Deliver excellent service levels to customers and partners through dynamic workload management, supported by enhanced systems availability and performance; and Provide customers, agents, and brokers with omnichannel products that are more flexible, accurate, tailored, and responsive. In collaboration with Aviva Legal Office represented by General Counsel Luca Gentile, BonelliErede with its Digital InnovationFocus Team assisted Aviva in Italy in the contract for the cloud service subscription for Guidewire InsuranceSuite Cloud. "We are delighted that Aviva Italy have chosen InsuranceSuite Cloud as they continue to focus on delivering high quality insurance products and services using the most advanced technology available," said Keith Stonell, managing director, EMEA, Guidewire Software. "We appreciate the trust Aviva is placing in our cloud capabilities and look forward to supporting them as they enhance their business agility and boost their stakeholder engagement, while transferring IT risk to Guidewire." About Aviva Aviva, with 33.4 million customers worldwide, is a leading international savings, retirement, and insurance business. Aviva has been taking care of people for more than 320 years, in line with the purpose of being 'alongside its customers today, for a better tomorrow'. In 2019, the Company paid a total of 37.8 billion euros in claims and benefits. In Italy since 1921, Aviva has more than 550 employees in the country and 2019 operating profit's growth stood at +11%. Aviva has a widespread presence in Italy, thanks to agreements with leading banking groups, cooperation with several financial advisory's networks, multi-firm agents and brokers. About Guidewire Software Guidewire delivers the industry platform that general 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 are 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/20200604005089/en/ Contacts: Giovanni Fabbri Community Group +39 346 325 5638 giovanni.fabbri@communitygroup.it Daniel Couzens Allison Partners +44(0)203 971 4308 guidewire@allisonpr.com Louise Bradley PR Communications EMEA, Guidewire +44(0)7474 837 860 lbradley@guidewire.com We are excited to help all small businesses on the front supply lines of getting summer goods in stores and returning closer to normal lives. When a West Coast privately owned apparel manufacturer sought funding for their 2020 summer orders, they choose Republic Business Credit to finance their supplier payments. Republic approved a flexible, scalable and growth orientated facility to supply large retailers with summer style fashion in anticipation of the reopening of stores. Republic provided credit protection on their receivables and concentration limits for approved customers giving the company the comfort to fulfill the purchase orders in the midst of difficult market conditions caused by Covid-19. The company CEO said, We are excited about showcasing our summer fashion line in time for the reopening of retailers and wanted a factoring partner that could help us fulfill our initial purchase orders. The Pandemic has caused postponements in order shipment dates and Republic will support the client in the event the current orders are delayed or postponed. Republic Business Credit provides manufacturers with the support to adapt or pivot as the needs of their customers to evolve during the staggered reopening. The company is a distributor of knitted and woven fabric into the apparel manufacturing community. The company typically finds itself selling into US apparel manufacturers across summer women casual fashion, ranging from skirts, jumpsuits, dresses and tops. The company finds its fabric being used across natural, relaxed and form-fitting California casual wear segment. The company is well-positioned for the post Covid-19 store re-openings as they had no debt entering the 2nd quarter of 2020. While the orders are scheduled to ship in June, the company wanted the confidence provided by Republics credit protection ensuring they would get paid for the goods no matter what happened over the summer. Republic provided a $1.75m non-recourse factoring facility with credit protection and extended customer payment terms eligibility to a West coast based apparel importer. Republics funding will eliminate the cashflow gap from when their suppliers need to be paid and when they are paid 120 days later for the goods. The company is unsure what the fall season will bring, but it is confident they have a partner during all of the return to work stages. Republics COO, Matt Begley said, We believe our factoring and lending products will be even more necessary as states reopen in 2020. He further added, We are excited to help all small businesses on the front supply lines of getting summer goods in stores and returning closer to normal lives. Republic Business Credit provides factoring, asset-based lending and direct to consumer facilities up to $10,000,000 across the United States. Republic Business Credit partners with banks, accountants, sponsors, lawyers and investment banks to collaboratively support entrepreneurs across the United States, to create value, by enabling them to focus on growing successful businesses. ---About Republic Business Credit--- Republic Business Credit provides fast and flexible working capital solutions to help rapidly growing businesses, start-ups, and companies in turnaround or recoverable distressed situations. Winner of the Emerging Growth Company of the Year award from the Louisiana Chapter of the ACG, and the FactoringClubs Best Factoring Company Award for 2018, the Republic Business Credit team has the expertise necessary to meet the nuanced financial needs of companies across a wide variety of industries. It provides asset-based loans, ledgered lines of credit, non-recourse factoring, factoring and direct to consumer loans including e-commerce working capital. Since its founding in 2011, Republic Business Credit has provided over $10 billion in working capital. Inventus Power, a global designer and manufacturer of battery packs, chargers and power supplies for a broad range of markets and applications today announced that Michael Grundke, Oliver Bald, and Andreas Paul have joined Inventus Power to support the companys sales and business development efforts across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Michael Grundke has taken on the role of Managing Director, Sales & Business Development, EMEA and will oversee Oliver Bald and Andreas Paul, both Senior Business Development Managers for EMEA. All three gentleman most recently worked at Trojan Battery Company and have significant knowledge and expertise in the motive and stationary battery markets across the EMEA region. Inventus Powers existing European sales and program management team members will also be reporting into Michael. I am very excited to welcome Michael, Oliver and Andreas into the Inventus Power family. I am extremely confident that Michael and the team will leverage their deep expertise from the battery and solar industries, as well as, their passion and drive to contribute significantly to Inventus Powers continued growth in the EMEA region, says Michael Stuart, Chief Commercial Officer. This hiring initiative further supports Inventus Powers strategy to accelerate international expansion in coordination with the companys joint venture with Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA) announced late last year. We are quite happy to join Inventus Power, a well-established and leading manufacturer of Li-ion battery solutions with an impressive 60 year history, says Michael Grundke. I look forward to leading the Inventus Power EMEA team and facilitating the adoption of standard and custom lithium-ion solutions within new and emerging markets. About Inventus Power: Inventus Power, founded in 1960, is the leading provider of advanced battery systems for global OEMs. We specialize in the design and manufacture of battery packs, chargers, and power supplies across a broad range of portable, motive & stationary applications. With multi-country locations across four continents and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, China, & Malaysia, we are strategically positioned to support the needs of global brands. From design & engineering to performance testing & mass production, Inventus Power provides accelerated end-to-end solutions. Our broad market/application expertise, technology agnostic approach, global footprint, and vertical integration allow us to deliver safe, reliable & innovative power solutions at an exceptional speed to market. For more information about Inventus Power, please visit http://www.inventuspower.com and follow @inventuspower. ### Libya's U.N.-backed prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj met on Thursday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. Sarraj's trip comes after forces loyal to his government captured a key airport in Tripoli from rival forces based in the east of the country. The development came two days after the U.N. announced Libya's warring parties had agreed to resume cease-fire talks following weeks of heavy fighting. 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 and foreign governments. Sarraj's government has been backed by Italy, Turkey and Qatar, while the rival army has been supported by France and some key Arab countries, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Sarraj's government signed a security arrangement and maritime deal with the Turkish government last year. MERIDIAN, Idaho, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Company Alarm, the nationwide leader in business identity theft protection , announced today that national cybersecurity expert Chuck Brooks has joined the company's Board of Advisors. A former vice president of Homeland Security for Xerox, Brooks was named a top tech person to follow by LinkedIn. Thomson Reuters calls him one of the top 50 social influencers on risk and compliance. IFSEC says he's the No. 2 "cybersecurity influencer" in the world. "Chuck is one of the biggest names in cybersecurity," said Company Alarm founder Andy Pham. "His depth of knowledge is unsurpassed. Company Alarm will benefit greatly from his expertise as we expand our monitoring services nationwide." Brooks' experience is deep and diverse. He's worked in media, as a Reagan appointee to Voice of America, as executive editor of the Newsweek Media Group and as a visiting editor for Homeland Security Today Magazine. He's worked in government relations marketing for SRA International, Keane Inc. and Sutherland. He's worked in the federal government for the Department of Homeland Security and in the office of former U.S. Senator Arlen Spector. And he's served as a teacher, advisor and cybersecurity subject matter expert for multitude of organizations and think tanks, including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Washington Post, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, PCi Tec, AppGuard, The Homeland Defense and Security Information Analysis Center, Bravatek Solutions, VIBE Cybersecurity International and CyberTECH. "I'm excited to be joining Company Alarm in its battle against business identity theft," Brooks said. "Company Alarm offers a unique solution to a growing, national problem and I'm happy to help the organization as it builds to a prosperous future." About Company Alarm Company Alarm combats business identity theft by offering businesses 24-hour monitoring of their information on file with the local government. If any of that information is ever changed, which could be a sign of business identity theft, business owners receive an immediate text alerting them to exactly what changed. Company Alarm was founded by serial entrepreneur Andy Pham after a holding company he used to house a $5 million piece of land was hijacked by identity thieves. For more information, visit www.companyalarm.com . SOURCE Company Alarm Related Links https://www.companyalarm.com It is now official. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said an estimated Rs 38.68 lakh crore of the total Rs 100 lakh crore worth of loan outstanding in the banking system are now under the six month moratorium as part of COVID-19 relief package. The figure has been arrived at by taking into consideration an average 65 per cent loan moratorium requests from corporate and retail borrowers from their outstanding loan book of Rs 60 lakh crore as on December 31, 2019. This Rs 60 lakh crore outstanding loan excludes the working capital loans and the loans disbursed between January to March of 2020. While most of the PSBs are yet to declare percentage of moratorium book, the two big banks recently announced a higher percentage share of loans under moratorium. Bank of Baroda has declared that roughly 65 per cent of its loan book by value term is under moratorium. Similarly, IDBI Bank, which was till recently a public sector bank before insurance giant LIC's takeover, has also declared a high moratorium book share of 65-70 per cent. Small finance banks and those dealing with micro lending like Bandhan Bank have seen more than 90 per cent of their micro loan book come under moratorium. Old private sector banks are also likely to see a very high number of borrowers by value opting for moratorium. The private sector banks' 30 per cent moratorium book share was announced in April and May as there was no deadline or last date for seeking moratorium. The banks also gave a flexibility to borrowers to change their request or even ask for repayment of March instalment where it was paid. The second extension of moratorium till August this year is likely to increase their moratorium book. As part of the coronavirus related relief to borrowers, banks are losing monthly cash inflows of Rs 33,500 crore in deferred interest. Cash flow hit for six months would be Rs 2 lakh crore. This accrued interest (not a waiver) would be added to the outstanding loan for recovering it over the remaining tenure of the loan. The RBI has disclosed this Rs 2 lakh crore interest loss in its response to a public interest litigation filed for complete waiver of interest in the Supreme Court. The RBI has said that any waiver of interest would have huge consequences for stability of the entire financial system. Also read: Rs 2 lakh crore blow to banks if interest during loan moratorium waived, RBI cautions SC Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: India's growth story for 2021 will be driven by Bharat A few months after the release of the Realme X50 5G, the company announced the Realme X50m 5G - a slightly different version of the phone with a downgraded camera setup. Now according to a reputable leakster Digital Chat Station, Realme is going to launch a handset that's similar to the X50m 5G and will be called X50t 5G. The launch is in just two days. The X50t is believed to be a bit heavier at 202g and also thicker - 9.3mm, but it's uncertain what caused the increase. A bigger battery is one possible explanation, although that wasn't explicitly confirmed. The supported 5G bands will also change. Instead of the 7 frequency bands that the X50m works on, the X50t will settle for three - n41, n78 and n79. The phone will debut in China with global availability yet to be confirmed. The tipster also confirmed the Snapdragon 765G chipset, 120Hz LCD, 48MP main camera and 30W fast charging support for the X50t. Source | Via Surgeon General Warns of Virus Outbreaks From George Floyd Protests U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said to expect new outbreaks of the CCP virus resulting from the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd that have seen thousands of people gather in close proximity. While a majority of protesters nationwide have worn masks and face coverings as they demand justice for Floyd, a black man who died last week while in police custody, the large crowds have made it difficult to social distance. Based on the way the disease spreads, there is every reason to expect that we will see new clusters and potentially new outbreaks moving forward, he added. Adams is the latest government leader to express concern over whether the protests could spread the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. Many of the protests broke out in places where the virus is still circulating widely in the population. In fact, an Associated Press review found that demonstrations have taken place in every one of the 25 U.S. communities with the highest concentrations of new cases. Some have seen major protests over multiple days, including Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago, Washington, and Los Angeles. The protests have come just as communities across the nation loosen restrictions on businesses and public life that have helped slow the spread of the virus, deepening concern that the two factors taken together could create a national resurgence in cases. As a nation, we have to be concerned about a rebound, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser warned Sunday after days of protests rocked the nations capital. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo bemoaned the crowds, saying that hundreds could potentially have been infected, undoing months of social distancing. A fresh outbreak in the places where protesters gathered could lead to reinstituting shutdowns. The APs review focused on large metro countiesthe central counties within metro areas with more than 1 million peoplethat showed the highest rates of new cases per capita over the past 14 days. While case numbers and deaths have been trending down in several of the cities where the largest protests have occurred, the number of people in those places infected with the virusand with the ability to spread itremains high. And in some of the communities, such as Minneapolis, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has been rising. Floyd died May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes, even as he pleaded that he couldnt breathe. Minneapolis has been ground zero for the sprawling protests, which have crossed the Mississippi River into neighboring St. Paul. The unrest has coincided with the very worst days of the pandemic so far in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Our ICU bed care is at its all-time high and is really on the edge, he said. Ramsey and Hennepin counties, home to the Twin Cities, ranked seventh and eighth for the highest per capita new cases in the AP analysis. Each has seen more than 250 cases per 100,000 population in the past two weeks, together reporting nearly 2,000 new cases in the last week alone. Experts point out that other factors associated with protests could accelerate the spread of the virus. For instance, tear gas can cause people to cough and sneeze, as can the smoke from fires set by people bent on destruction. And both also prompt protesters to remove their masks. Crowding protesters who have been arrested into jail cells can also increase the risk of contagion. An AP tally found that, thus far, more than 5,600 people have been taken into custody. Protesters and police shouting at one another nose-to-nose also is raising alarms. Osterholm and other public health experts note, however, that the protests arent necessarily as alarming as other events that could fuel new cases because they take place outside and many people are wearing masks. In some cases, hand sanitizer also is being informally distributed. Public health experts said it will take two to three weeks to know whether the protests cause a surge in virus cases. And even then, they cant definitively tie it to the demonstrations. The unrest is happening in tandem with the reopening of gyms, hair salons, restaurants, parks, and beaches. It also comes on the heels of the Memorial Day weekend, when many people attended large gatherings, so experts already were bracing for a case increase, said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University. In Los Angeles, barbershops and in-person dining were allowed to resume last weekend, just as protests descended into destruction and more than 1,000 people were arrested. Nearly 10,000 new cases have been reported in Los Angeles County in the past week. Hundreds of people also were arrested in Chicago, where Cook County has had among the highest per capita rates of new cases of any large county in the nation, with 283 new cases per 100,000 population in the past two weeks. The absolute number of cases is still high. We feel good about the fact that weve established a decreasing incidence, but we have a ways to go, said Dr. Ronald Hershow the director of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The Associated Press, The CNN Wire, and Epoch Times staff contributed to this report Anuraag Singh By Express News Service BHOPAL: An unforgettable sprint behind a speeding train to render a bottle of milk to the hungry three-month-old daughter of a migrant woman has fetched a Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan Inder Singh Yadav posted in Bhopal, cash prize from the minister of railways Piyush Goyal. But the migrant woman Saifiya Hashmi, who along with her baby daughter reached home in Eastern UPs Baharaich district on Wednesday, isnt satisfied with cash prize for the RPF jawan Inder Singh Yadav, but wants departmental promotion for him. The inspiring episode which was caught on CCTV cameras at Bhopal Railway Station happened on Tuesday night, when the Shramik Express train boarding migrants from Karnatakas Belgaum to East UPs Gorakhpur arrived at Bhopal railway station. Commendable Deed by Rail Parivar: RPF Constable Inder Singh Yadav demonstrated an exemplary sense of duty when he ran behind a train to deliver milk for a 4-year-old child. Expressing pride, I have announced a cash award to honour the Good Samaritan. pic.twitter.com/qtR3qitnfG Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) June 4, 2020 I was on duty on Platform No. 1 of Bhopal railway station, when the Shramik Express from Belgaum to Gorakhpur arrived. A woman seated in the train asked me for help, as she desperately wanted milk for her infant daughter, but was unable to get it despite asking for help at many stations between Belgaum and Bhopal, recounted Inder Singh Yadav. I assured her full help and searched for a shop to get milk for the baby girl from the stations platform, but no shops were open. I immediately ran out of the station and arranged a bottle of milk and return to the station premises. But just when I reached the platform, the train had started chugging and was slowly gathering speed. I sprinted behind the train with the bottle of milk and my service rifle and managed to give the milk to the desperate mom, recalled Yadav. On reaching Gorakhpur, Saifiya Hashmi, the young mom of the three-month-old baby girl, thanked the RPF jawan through a video message over phone. The RPF jawan Inder Yadav was an angel sent to me by the Almighty. No one except him came to the help of my hungry daughter between Belgaum and Bhopal. He deserves to get departmental promotion, said Saifiya. Impressed by the inspiring tale of Inder Singh Yadav, the minister of railways Piyush Goyal tweeted on Thursday, Commendable deed by Rail Parivar: RPF constable Inder Singh Yadav demonstrated an exemplary sense of duty, when he ran behind a train to deliver milk to the child. Expressing pride, Ive announced a cash award to honour the Good Samaritan. In a peer-reviewed commentary published in npj Digital Medicine, experts from Regenstrief Institute, Mayo Clinic and The Pew Charitable Trusts write that matching patient records from disparate sources is not only achievable, but fundamental to stem the tide of the current pandemic and allow for fast action for future highly contagious viruses. Specifically, rapid identification of COVID-19 infected and at-risk individuals and the success of future large-scale vaccination efforts in the United States will depend, in part, on how effectively an individual's electronic health data is securely shared among healthcare providers, care settings including hospitals and pharmacies, and other systems used to track the illness and immunization. For data sharing to be effective, electronic health records (EHRs) -- both those held within a single facility and those in different healthcare organizations -- must correctly refer to a specific individual. Is Billy Jones known at a different doctor's office as William Jones and are all his health records linked? To which Maria Garcia do lab test results belong? Which John Smith was referred to during contact tracing? Unfortunately, the commentary notes, patient matching rates vary widely, with healthcare facilities failing to link records for the same patient as often as half the time. Authors Shaun Grannis, M.D., vice president for data and analytics at Regenstrief Institute and Regenstrief Professor of Medical Informatics at Indiana University School of Medicine; John D. Halamka, M.D., president of Mayo Clinic Platform and Ben Moscovitch, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts' health information technology initiative, call for stakeholders to urgently address the patient matching conundrum. Otherwise, the commentary says, efforts to curtail the current pandemic and future ones will be ill-advisedly delayed. ." ..the sharing of more data and use of standards -- reflect near-term opportunities that government and health care organizations can implement to respond to the current pandemic and prepare for future ones. In the longer term, there may be other opportunities -- such as use of biometrics, unique identifiers, or multi-factor authentication -- that could further enhance patient identification and matching, including for routine care. However, those options -- and the associated standards that underlie their success -- while worthwhile to examine, cannot be designed, deployed, and implemented in a near-term manner that could help mitigate the effects of this pandemic," the commentary states. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: Judging by how situation is developing, it is important to toughen measures related to preventing the spread of the coronavirus, Rashad Mahmudov vice-chairman of the committee on health of the Azerbaijani Parliament told Trend. The MP said it was necessary considering the data on the infection in the last 10 days and the easing of the quarantine regime in the country overall. According to Mahmudov, the increase in the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients, the degree of complications, the increase in the ratio of the number of tests to the number of infected people and other factors make it necessary to apply strict quarantine regime on weekends. "A number necessary steps must be taken to protect the safety of every citizen, and as well as to prevent the next wave from spiraling out of control, he said. HOMEBODY Hilarie Burton Morgan was an actor, producer and host of MTVs Total Request Live before she became the co-owner of Mischief Farm in New Yorks Hudson Valley and author of The Rural Diaries, which just spent three weeks on the hardcover nonfiction list. Before that, she was a cheerleader and a tortured poet growing up in Sterling Park, Va., which she describes in her book as a pastoral community that is, until Amazon opened a huge headquarters in Northern Virginia, right in my little town, and suddenly an influx of 2,000 people completely erased the childhood that I had grown up with. As a result, Morgan is fiercely protective of the small-town vibe of her adopted community, Rhinebeck, N.Y., where she lives with her husband, the actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, their two children and a menagerie that includes chickens, ducks, donkeys, cows, alpaca and an emu. In this spirit of neighborhood preservation, Morgan asked followers on social media to order copies of The Rural Diaries from her local independent bookseller, Oblong Books. She explains, I had agreed to sign 1,000 books for Oblong and they sold out quickly in pre-orders. I said, Ill do another 1,000 and those sold out quickly too. And then I said, Look, as long as you keep selling books, Ill sign every single one of them because its keeping your lights on at a time when no one can come in and shop. Oblong became the epicenter of The Rural Diaries. Theyve been shipping books all over the world. Suzanna Hermans, who co-owns the 47-year-old store with her father, Dick, says, Were very proud of this campaign and immensely grateful to Hilarie for her support and generosity. By the end of May, Oblong had sold 7,355 copies of The Rural Diaries an impressive number even in ordinary times. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will not accept the Republican nomination for president in Charlotte, the Republican National Committee said Wednesday, saying North Carolina officials could not guarantee full use of their facilities in late August over concerns about the coronavirus. More: Trump wants to know 'within a week' if North Carolina will host Republican convention Due to the directive from the governor that our convention cannot go on as planned as required by our rules, the celebration of the presidents acceptance of the Republican nomination will be held in another city," the RNC said in a statement. "Should the governor allow more than 10 people in a room, we still hope to conduct the official business of the convention in Charlotte. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has said the state will maintain the ban on large gatherings until it is safe, and that he could not guarantee anyone what the situation might look like in late August. Communication Director for the RNC, Michael Ahrens, released a statement that confirmed official GOP business would be in Charlotte, but Trump's acceptance speech likely would be elsewhere. Related Video: President Donald Trump Formally Cuts Ties With WHO "The RNCs Executive Committee has voted unanimously to allow the official business of the national convention to continue in Charlotte, he said. "Many other cities are eager to host the presidents acceptance of the nomination, and we are currently in talks with several of them to host that celebration." Governors in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and other states lobbied to host the Republican National Convention in the wake of Trump's complaints over the restrictions. RNC officials were expected to tour a Nashville site Thursday. In a Tuesday letter to Republican officials, Cooper said a full meeting in Charlotte's 19,000-seat arena is highly unlikely, and "neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek." Story continues The governor said he was still willing to speak with Republican officials about a scaled- -back convention, but the Republicans decided to look elsewhere. President Donald Trump Party leaders scouted out possible alternative sites for their convention. They looked at facilities in Nashville, Las Vegas, South Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville, and the state of Georgia. The RNC had penned a letter to Cooper last week, outlining safety procedures they wished to enact to host the convention in Charlotte. There was no mention of wearing face masks or social distancing in the letter, which are both currently the state's guidelines. 2020 Republican convention: RNC sends Gov. Roy Cooper 'safety protocols' for Charlotte event Trump himself is one of the most prolific users of Twitter, building up a following of more than 80 million and using the site as a campaign vehicle in both 2016 and 2020. Trump's declaration ended a series of letters between Cooper and the Republican National Committee over how to make the Charlotte plan work. Late last month, Cooper had said he was working with Republican officials and hoped to find a "reasonable accommodation." But he added that "were not going to sacrifice the health and safety of North Carolinians, and that's the bottom line." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republican convention: RNC says they are leaving Charlotte New Hartford, N.Y. Officials in the New Hartford school district in Oneida County tried to get creative and go ahead with a small in-person graduation diploma ceremony but they got shut down, twice. The high school seniors were walking the stage at the Stanley Theatre in Utica to get their diplomas when the ceremony was abruptly shut down by Oneida County. They got through two days of the small ceremonies before the shutdown. With two-thirds of the graduates receiving diplomas, the district tried to finish the small ceremony at the high school Wednesday afternoon. A call from Gov. Andrew Cuomos office shut that down, said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente. "I feel bad for the kids,'' Picente said, but that theater was under state order to be closed, and we had turned other districts down for the same thing. And they werent allowed to hold the ceremony anyway. Picente said he had talked with area school superintendents the previous week and advised them to sit tight until there was more guidance from the state. New Hartford School Superintendent Robert Nole said the intent wasnt to be disrespectful of the rules, but to be creative. The guidelines on what to do or not do havent been clear, and are often left to interpretation, he said. "We were under the impression we could do that,'' he said. Students were told they could bring six family members with them, who were socially distanced and told to wear masks, to watch each senior cross the stage and get his or her diploma. They were spaced apart in five-minute increments, and the district was filming each day to piece together a virtual full graduation ceremony June 27, Nole said. Nole said it was an opportunity for students to walk across the stage. "We were being creative,'' he said. Its really all about honoring and saluting our seniors. Picente said there needs to be more guidelines from the state on graduations. Cuomo said today at his daily briefing that the state will allow drive-in and drive-through graduation ceremonies. But anything beyond a drive-in or drive-through ceremony is just too risky, Cuomo said. The issue is a public health issue and you dont want people sick and dead, he said. Thats the issue. Its about death. Its about balancing the risk versus the reward. School districts in Central New York have already been making plans for graduation. There has been some confusion over whether the Onondaga County Health Department will have to approve those plans. 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 The City of Philadelphia announced that the Family Health Care Center #5 at 20th and Berks Sts. will begin to do COVID-19 testing. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley made the announcement at a press conference on May 26, 2020. The facilities staff are shown in the background. Read more Philadelphias retailers, day care centers, and offices will be allowed to reopen on a limited basis Friday for the first time in about 10 weeks, as authorities said the coronavirus was finally loosening its grip on the city. Weve gone through some pretty tough times on the COVID, said Thomas Farley, the citys health commissioner. It does look like the epidemic is fading. Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties on Friday will also all move to yellow status from the states current red phase, the most restricted set of conditions aimed at containing the virus. These counties join 57 others in Pennsylvania in the yellow or green phases of reopening, so as of Friday every county in the state will be at some stage of reopening. The state has reported 73,942 cases and 5,817 deaths during the pandemic. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday detailed plans for restaurants resuming outdoor service and nonessential retail opening at 50% capacity beginning June 15. Restaurant tables must be at least six feet apart with no more than eight people per table. Masks are required of all shoppers and workers at stores. Businesses must erect barriers between shoppers and cashiers, regularly sanitize supplies used by staff, and establish special shopping hours for vulnerable populations. Barber shops and salons are expected to reopen June 22, and youth summer camps can resume July 6. We have all waited for this, Murphy said at a news conference Thursday. So long as we continue practicing social distancing, and so long as retailers do all we are requiring of them to protect their stores and customers, we will take a big step forward in our restart and recovery. Close proximity In Philadelphia, protests that have roiled the city since Saturday did not alter plans to begin loosening restrictions, though medical experts have cautioned they could contribute to a comeback for the coronavirus. Being in a large group outdoors is safer than an indoor activity, but the proximity of protesters to each other and police, arrests that confine people in small spaces, and the effects of tear gas, which causes coughing, worry physicians and scientists. The coronavirus is spread most efficiently via respiratory droplets expelled particularly while coughing, shouting, or singing. Farley said he was optimistic that crowds protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer, though they numbered at times in the thousands, wont spur a resurgence of the virus in the city. We do have concerns about that, he said. However, I have noticed in the protests many protesters were wearing masks, in many cases they were keeping their distance from other people. READ MORE: What's allowed to be open in Pa.'s red, yellow, and green phases? The city is recommending that anyone who participated in protests should keep a distance from others, monitor themself for symptoms, and be tested for COVID-19 seven days after the event they attended. City testing staff will not ask people whether they attended any demonstrations. While protests could contribute to an uptick in COVID-19 cases, that shouldnt necessarily preclude the region from moving to a yellow reopening phase, said Lawrence Livornese, chairman of medicine for Main Line Health and an infectious disease specialist. The longer we wait to make this move and the longer we isolate, the better chance we have of decreasing the epidemic. On the other hand is the mounting pressure of the economic and psychological burden of isolation. How do you balance those two? Livornese said. Farley said data on positive test results will indicate whether the weeks events led to significantly more cases of the virus. He also noted that the crowds that surged to the Jersey Shore for Memorial Day weekend not quite two weeks ago have so far not appeared to cause a significant increase in COVID-19 cases. Parameters of progress Among the measures used to determine when a county can shift to yellow: the number of available hospital beds, the ability to test for new cases, and health departments capacity for contact tracing the process of identifying and warning others who may have been in contact with a person testing positive for COVID-19. Area hospitals appear to have adequate capacity for now. Philadelphia and its four suburban Pennsylvania counties have about 450 available intensive-care beds, according to a data dashboard maintained by the state Department of Health. The citys hospitals have the capacity to handle twice as many COVID-19 patients as they are now treating, Farley said. But with the city still seeing more than 100 new cases a day, contact tracing may be a challenge, said Alison M. Buttenheim, associate professor of nursing and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. The city has launched a tracing program, but it is just getting started. Were not at the point where every positive case triggers a full contact tracing, Buttenheim said. Were less able to nip these new chains of transmission in the bud. Safe social gatherings The citys shift to the yellow phase is largely in step with Gov. Tom Wolfs plan for reopening Pennsylvania, with one big exception. The states guidelines say gatherings of up to 25 people are acceptable. The city says that still isnt safe. Were not recommending social gatherings of people outside the household at all, Farley said. Some city offices wont reopen until Monday, officials said, and authorization for outdoor dining has been postponed until next weekend. The protests delayed the citys plans to provide restaurants that dont typically have outdoor seating with recommendations to open safely. The yellow phase requires retail businesses to limit occupancy to no more than five customers per 1,000-square feet of space, and ensure both customers and employees are wearing masks. The city is encouraging retailers to offer curbside pickup. Child care facilities are also reopening in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs. They must follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, including carefully coordinated drop-off and pickup procedures that allow for social distancing; health screening with temperature checks on arrival; lots of extra hand-washing and sanitizing; spacing out cribs and cots; and restrictions on what children may bring from home. All child care workers will wear masks. Masks are not appropriate for children under age 2 because of the risk of suffocation, and Pennsylvania health officials are not recommending face coverings for older children. Masks slip, kids touch it more often, and adults have to touch it to put it back in place, Tracy Campanini, deputy secretary of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, said at a news conference this week. Officials in Pennsylvania and New Jersey still recommend people work from home if possible. Employees who must return to their workplace and think their employer isnt properly following safety protocols can call the city, but officials acknowledged they have little ability to intervene if the employer is taking recommended precautions. If we do see a big increase in the spread of the virus, we may have to backtrack, Farley said. None of us want to see that happen, and the way to have that not happen is for people to take the safety checklist, the safety guidelines, seriously. City officials reported 121 new COVID-19 cases since Wednesday, far fewer than the 500 to 600-a-day the city was seeing in mid-April. That makes a total of 23,281 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of the people being tested, only 7% are now coming back positive for the virus compared with 40% during the peak of the virus. There have been 1,394 deaths in Philadelphia as a result of COVID-19. A little more than half of those were among nursing home residents. READ MORE: Pennsylvania says in-class teaching can resume July 1, but schools still have issues to resolve The virus continues to take its toll. Managing Director Brian Abernathy announced Thursday a 62-year-old city police officer, Jose Novoa, died Wednesday of COVID-19 symptoms. The 27-year veteran assigned to the Ninth District is survived by his wife, two daughters, and two grandchildren. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said Novoas immense dedication and full sacrifice will forever be honored. In Delaware County, officials urged residents to continue with social distancing precautions as businesses reopen. Its important to stress that this is such a crucial period during the fight of this virus, said County Council Member Kevin Madden. This isnt a one-way street. It would be so easy for us to lower our guards, stop taking precautions, and cause a spike. That has happened elsewhere. Staff writers Tom Avril, Vinny Vella, Laura McCrystal, and Marie McCullough contributed to this article. Germany is to advise its citizens against all travel to the UK because of its government's quarantine regulations. Angela Merkel's government announced that it will lift its general warning against all international travel for much of Europe from June 15, when Germany's borders are set to reopen. But it will issue special advice that travel to the UK is "strongly discouraged" because of the British requirement that all international arrivals self-isolate for 14 days. "This applies to the UK, as long as there is a 14-day quarantine requirement for all entering the country," said German foreign minister Heiko Maas. The move will come as a blow to the UK government as it seeks to negotiate "air bridge" agreements to enable quarantine-free travel with countries deemed at low risk. Talks have so far opened with Portugal, France, Greece and Spain, but the German foreign ministry said yesterday it was "not aware of any discussions with the UK about an air bridge". Germany is widely seen as among the most successful at containing the virus. Ms Merkel's government has previously rebuffed overtures to agree bilateral travel deals. Under the measures announced by Mr Maas, Germany will lift its warning against travel to the EU and Schengen Area from June 15, when borders with France, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark are due to reopen. The warning will also be lifted for the UK - but will be replaced with the new advice. Germany will also continue to advise against travel to Spain and Norway as they are yet to reopen their borders. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Trump signs order allocating $50M for international religious freedom programs Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday instructing the U.S. State Department to prioritize international religious freedom in its implementation of foreign policy and budget $50 million per year toward the advancement of religious freedom. The new order on advancing international religious freedom contains a number of instructions for the State Department and federal agency heads when it comes to promoting religious freedom abroad. Religious freedom, Americas first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative, the executive order reads. Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom. Among other things, the order gives Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 180 days to consult with the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop a plan to prioritize international religious freedom in the planning and implementation of U.S. foreign policy and in the foreign assistance programs of the Department of State and USAID. The order also states that Pompeo will direct chiefs of missions in countries that are included on the State Departments list of countries of particular concern for international religious freedom violations and the religious freedom special watch list, to develop comprehensive action plans to inform and support the efforts of the U.S. government to encourage the host governments to make progress in eliminating violations of religious freedom. The order calls for the State Department to work with the Department of the Treasury to develop recommendations to prioritize the appropriate use of economic tools to advance religious freedom in countries of particular concern or on the special watch list. Such economic tools can include increasing religious freedom programming, realigning foreign assistance to better reflect country circumstances, or restricting the issuance of visas. The tools can also include sanctions under the Global Magnitzky Act, which allows the U.S. to target perpetrators of human rights abuses through the seizure of U.S. assets or travel bans. As religious freedom advocates have long called for State Department officers to take religious freedom concerns more seriously, the president is ordering that all State Department foreign affairs civil service employees go through training every three years on international religious freedom, as described in the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016. Within 90 days of the date of this order, the heads of all agencies that assign personnel to positions overseas shall submit plans to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, detailing how their agencies will incorporate the type of training, the orders read. Under Section 3, Trumps order stipulates that the State Department and USAID need to budget at least $50 million per fiscal year for programs that advance international religious freedom, to the extent feasible and permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations. According to the order, such programs should include those that anticipate, prevent, and respond to attacks against individuals and groups on the basis of their religion, as well as programs that help ensure that such groups can persevere as distinct communities. The programs should ensure equal rights and legal protections for individuals and groups regardless of belief, improve the safety and security of houses of worship and public spaces for all faiths and preserve the cultural heritages of religious communities. Executive departments and agencies that fund foreign assistance programs shall ensure that faith-based and religious entities, including eligible entities in foreign countries, are not discriminated against on the basis of religious identity or religious belief when competing for federal funding, to the extent permitted by law, the order explains. Trumps signing of the order follows the presidents visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., earlier in the day. Pope John Paul II was a vigorous defender of religious freedom. On Monday evening, Trump visited and took photos outside the historic St. Johns Church, which was burned by rioters earlier. Johnnie Moore, an evangelical communications executive who has served as an informal adviser to the administration and as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, called the order historic and partly meant to confront a resurgent communism typified by Chinas Communist Party. Sean Nelson, lead counsel for the international religious freedom advocacy group ADF International, called the order huge. A lot of great things in the #InternationalReligiousFreedom exec order, Nelson tweeted. Greater flexibility for using econ tools, like sanctions & realignment of foreign assistance $50 million for #IRF programming Chiefs of Missions have to develop #IRF plans for their countries, greater training. USCIRF Vice Chair Gayle Manchin, the wife of Democrat West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, said in a statement that the bipartisan commission has long called on the U.S. government to develop an "overall strategy for promoting religious freedom abroad" and "country-specific action plans." "[W]e welcome the fact that this Executive Order requires the State Department and USAID to do exactly that, Manchin said. We also appreciate the express reference to U.S. officials working for the release of religious prisoners of conscience, which is a high priority for USCIRF. Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy, subscribe for or otherwise acquire any new ordinary shares of Mainstay Medical International plc in any jurisdiction Terms used and not otherwise defined in this announcement have the meaning given to such terms in the circular published by Mainstay Medical International plc on 14 April 2020 Regulatory News: On 7 April 2020, Mainstay Medical International plc (the "Company" or "Mainstay") announced that it intended to establish a new Irish holding company for the Mainstay group (the "Mainstay Group"), Mainstay Medical Holdings plc ("Mainstay Holdings") and to delist Mainstay's ordinary shares from Euronext Paris and the Euronext Growth market operated by Euronext Dublin (the "Delisting"). It is intended that this new corporate structure will be a corporate reorganization implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement under Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Companies Act 2014 (the "Scheme", and, together with the Delisting, the "Reorganization Mainstay is pleased to announce that today, 4 June 2020, the High Court sanctioned the Scheme on the basis of the terms set out in the Circular (without modification). A formal order confirming the decision of the High Court is expected to be issued shortly (the "Court Order"). The Scheme will become effective immediately upon the filing of the Court Order with the Companies Registration Office, which is expected to occur on Friday, 5 June 2020. Suspension of Trading and Delisting Applications have been made by Mainstay for the delisting of the Company's ordinary shares from Euronext Paris and the Euronext Growth market of Euronext Dublin ("Euronext Growth"). Trading in the Company's ordinary shares on Euronext Growth and Euronext Paris will be suspended with effect from 7.30 a.m. (Irish time) on 5 June 2020. It is expected that delisting of the ordinary shares from Euronext Growth and Euronext Paris will occur with effect from 7.00 a.m. (Irish time) on 8 June 2020. About Mainstay Mainstay is a medical device company focused on commercializing an innovative implantable restorative neurostimulation system, ReActiv8, for people with disabling Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP). The Company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It has subsidiaries operating in Ireland, the United States, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, and is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Paris (MSTY.PA) and Euronext Growth operated by Euronext Dublin (MSTY.IE). About Chronic Low Back Pain One of the root causes of CLBP is impaired control by the nervous system of the muscles that dynamically stabilize the spine. ReActiv8 is designed to electrically stimulate the nerves responsible for contracting these muscles to improve dynamic spine stability, allowing the body to recover from CLBP. People with CLBP usually have a greatly reduced quality of life and score significantly higher on scales for pain, disability, depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. Their pain and disability can persist despite the best available medical treatments, and only a small percentage of cases result from an identified pathological condition or anatomical defect that may be correctable with spine surgery. Their ability to work or be productive is seriously affected by the condition and the resulting days lost from work, disability benefits and health resource utilization put a significant burden on individuals, families, communities, industry and governments. Further information can be found at www.mainstay-medical.com CAUTION in the United States, ReActiv8 is limited by federal law to investigational use only. Forward looking statements This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. These forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology, including the terms "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "intends", "may", "plans", "projects", "should", "will", or "explore" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, goals, future events or intentions. These forward looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear throughout this announcement and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the establishment of a new holding company of the Mainstay Group and the delisting of the Company's ordinary shares from Euronext Paris and the Euronext Growth market of Euronext Dublin. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances. Forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the actual results of the Company's operations, the development of its main product, and the markets and the industry in which the Company operates may differ materially from those described in, or suggested by, the forward looking statements contained in this announcement. In addition, even if the Company's results of operations, financial position and growth, and the development of its main product and the markets and the industry in which the Company operates are consistent with the forward looking statements contained in this announcement, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods. A number of factors could cause results and developments of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements, including, without limitation, the outcome of the Company's interactions with the FDA on a PMA application for ReActiv8 and the successful launch and commercialization of ReActiv8. As a result, investors should not rely on such forward-looking statements in making their investment decisions. No representation or warranty is made as to the achievement or reasonableness of, and no reliance should be placed on, such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements herein speak only at the date of this announcement. None of Mainstay, the Mainstay Board, Mainstay Holdings or the Mainstay Holdings Board assume any obligation to update or correct the information contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required. Nothing contained in this announcement shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of the Mainstay Group except where expressly stated. Important Notices The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness or completeness. The contents of this announcement are not to be construed as legal, financial or tax advice. Each prospective investor should consult his own legal adviser, financial adviser or tax adviser for legal, financial or tax advice, respectively. Disclaimers This announcement and the information it contains does not constitute and shall not be considered as constituting a public offer, an offer to subscribe or an intention to solicit the interest of the public for a public offering of Mainstay's securities in Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, the United States or any other jurisdiction. This announcement does not comprise a prospectus or a prospectus equivalent document. With respect to Member States of the European Economic Area, no action has been taken or will be taken to permit a public offering of the securities referred to in this announcement which would require the publication of a prospectus in any Member State. There will be no offer to the public of Mainstay Holdings Shares in any Member State of the European Economic Area and no prospectus or other offering document has been or will be prepared in connection with the issue of Mainstay Holdings Shares. J&E Davy, trading as Davy, which is authorised and regulated in Ireland by the Central Bank of Ireland, is acting exclusively for the Company and Mainstay Holdings and no one else in connection with the Reorganization and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company and Mainstay Holdings for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing any advice in relation to the Reorganization or any matter referred to herein. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement and the documents referred to herein in jurisdictions other than Ireland, France and the United Kingdom may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession any of this announcement and the documents referred to herein come should inform themselves about, and observe, any applicable restrictions or requirements. Any failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Mainstay and Mainstay Holdings disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of such requirements by any person. Notice to investors in the United States The Reorganization relates to the shares of an Irish company (a "foreign private issuer" as defined under Rule 3b-4 under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act")) and is proposed to be made by means of a scheme of arrangement provided for under, and governed by, Irish law (the "Scheme"). Neither the proxy solicitation rules nor the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act will apply to the Scheme. Accordingly, the Mainstay Holdings Shares to be issued pursuant to the Scheme have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") or under the relevant securities laws of any State or territory or other jurisdiction of the United States, and are expected to be offered in the United States in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act provided by section 3(a)(10) thereof and exemptions provided under the laws of the States of the United States in which eligible Scheme Shareholders may reside. For the purpose of qualifying for the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act provided by section 3(a)(10) thereof with respect to the Mainstay Holdings Shares issued pursuant to the Scheme, Mainstay will advise the Court that its sanctioning of the Scheme will be relied upon by Mainstay Holdings as an approval of the Scheme, following a hearing on its fairness to Scheme Shareholders at which hearing all Scheme Shareholders are entitled to attend in person or through counsel to support or oppose the sanctioning of the Scheme and with respect to which notification has been given to all such Scheme Shareholders. The Mainstay Holdings Shares to be issued under or in connection with the Scheme to a Scheme Shareholder who is neither an affiliate, for the purpose of the Securities Act, of Mainstay or Mainstay Holdings on or prior to the time the Scheme becomes effective nor an affiliate of Mainstay Holdings at the time the Scheme becomes effective (the "Scheme Effective Time") would not be "restricted securities" under the Securities Act. Scheme Shareholders who are affiliates of Mainstay or Mainstay Holdings on or prior to the Scheme Effective Time or affiliates of Mainstay Holdings after the Scheme Effective Time may, under Rule 145(d) under the Securities Act, be subject to timing, manner of sale and volume restrictions on the sale of Mainstay Holdings Shares received in connection with the Scheme. For the purpose of the Securities Act, an affiliate of either Mainstay or Mainstay Holdings is any person who directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with Mainstay or Mainstay Holdings respectively. Whether a person is an affiliate of either Mainstay or Mainstay Holdings for the purpose of the Securities Act depends on the circumstances. Persons who believe that they may be affiliates of either Mainstay or, after the Scheme Effective Time, Mainstay Holdings should consult their own legal advisers prior to any sale of the Mainstay Holdings Shares received upon the implementation of the Scheme. The Scheme is subject to the disclosure requirements and practices applicable in Ireland to schemes of arrangement, which differ from the disclosure and other requirements of U.S. securities laws. Mainstay and Mainstay Holdings are both incorporated under the laws of Ireland. Some or all of the officers and directors of Mainstay and Mainstay Holdings may be residents of countries other than the United States. It may not be possible to sue Mainstay and Mainstay Holdings in a non-U.S. court for violations of U.S. securities laws. It may be difficult to compel Mainstay, Mainstay Holdings and their respective affiliates to subject themselves to the jurisdiction and judgment of a U.S. court. It may not be possible to enforce in Ireland a judgment of a U.S. court in respect of violations of U.S. securities law. None of the securities referred to in this announcement have been approved or disapproved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any state securities commission in the United States or any other U.S. regulatory authority, nor have such authorities passed upon or determined the adequacy or accuracy of the information contained in this announcement. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005463/en/ Contacts: PR and IR Enquiries: LifeSci Advisors, LLC Brian Ritchie Tel: 1 (212) 915-2578 Email: britchie@lifesciadvisors.com FTI Consulting (for Ireland) Jonathan Neilan or Patrick Berkery Tel.: +353 1 765 0886 Email: mainstay@fticonsulting.com Euronext Advisers: Davy Fergal Meegan or Barry Murphy Tel: +353 1 679 6363 Email: fergal.meegan@davy.ie or barry.murphy2@davy.ie Citing a decline of 79% in the sale of diesel last month, automobile fuel dealers on Thursday urged chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to roll back the 30% VAT on diesel and petrol, imposed by the Delhi government from May 5. The Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) on Thursday wrote to Kejriwal and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia requesting them to reduce the VAT on petroleum products stating that the wide price disparity with the neighbouring states has given rise to smuggling of diesel into Delhi from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Anil Bijlani, DPDA president, said the sales drop in the month of April was around 84% for diesel as compared to historical sales. Even with partial unlocking of the state in May, the sales drop in diesel is still at 79% compared to the national average (-31%) in the month of May. The calculations show a loss of revenue to the tune of 58 crore a month due to higher taxes. Neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, have recovered most of their diesel sales, he said. Nischal Singhania, former president, DPDA, said the primary reason for minimal recovery in diesel sales is the rate difference of around 7/litre with neighbouring states, resulting in Delhi losing out on sales and revenue. The vehicles bringing in essential commodities to Delhi were refuelling from Delhi till May 5. But, with such a rate difference, these vehicles are now refuelling from neighbouring states. A small city like Delhi is immediately affected by the price disparity. Delhi is giving away the VAT revenue on petroleum products in a platter to these states by keeping higher VAT rates, Singhania said. When asked for a response on the matter, the Delhi government refused comment. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals will livestream oral arguments for the first time on Tuesday through the TNCourts.gov YouTube page. The intermediate appellate court will hold in-person proceedings on four cases in Nashville. Under the judicial emergency currently in effect, access to the courthouse will be limited, but proceedings will be livestreamed and available through video or call-in. This will be the first time any in-person appellate proceeding in the state has been livestreamed. The Court of Criminal Appeals is excited to invite the public and media into the courtroom via livestream and audio, Presiding Judge John Everett Williams said. The Court of Criminal Appeals is the final opportunity to be heard in the vast majority of criminal cases in Tennessee. Our doors always have been, and always will be, open, even if we have to do things a little differently during a public crisis. The Court of Criminal Appeals will hear four cases on Tuesday at 9 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:15 p.m CDT. Abu-Ali AbdurRahman v. State of Tennessee This case focuses on whether a trial court had the authority to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment. It originated in Davidson County. State of Tennessee v. Quantorius Rankins This Rutherford County case reviews a judges authority to deny judicial diversion and require sex offender registration in a statutory rape case. State of Tennessee v. Willie Nathan Jones This second-degree murder case reviews the sufficiency of evidence and admission of the defendants statements into the record. It is from Putnam County. State of Tennessee v. Demarius Jerome Pitts This Williamson County case reviews the denial of judicial diversion for a drug charge when the defendant has no previous felony or Class A misdemeanors, but a long list of prior arrests and charges. Judge Thomas T. Woodall, Judge Robert L. Holloway, Jr. and Judge Timothy L. Easter will hear the cases. The cases will be livestreamed to: https://www.youtube.com/user/TNCourts/videos To listen only, please dial (312) 626-6799. The meeting ID is 92947132377, and the password is 419113. If asked for a participant ID, press pound. [June 04, 2020] EHS Experts Share Post-Pandemic Best Practices at VelocityEHS Virtual Conference - On-Demand Sessions Available Now CHICAGO, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VelocityEHS , the global leader in cloud-based environment, health, safety (EHS) and sustainability solutions, hosted its first ever virtual conference The Short Conference on May 21, 2020 to connect the EHS community and discuss the key issues most affecting them during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of EHS professionals registered for the conference to gain actionable knowledge and best-practice advice during interactive speaking sessions and expert panels. On-demand video recordings of the sessions and accompanying resources are currently available at www.EHS.com/covid-info With businesses disrupted around the globe, VelocityEHS organized the virtual conference to connect EHS professionals who are feeling particularly isolated and under pressure at this time. And respecting the extraordinary financial and time constraints safety professionals face, the conference was provided at no cost while packing in six sessions in under six hours two of which were made available for continuing education units (CEUs). Among the biggest concerns expressed by EHS professionals and covered by the conference were new rules around restarting work, employee screenings (e.g. taking temperatures), mask and respirator use, safety training under social distancing rules, and maintaining compliance with evolving regulations. Surveys of attendees found that 60 percent of their workers are experiencing more stress and muscular discomfort or pain since COVID-19 struck. For safety folks with peopl restarting work, 50 percent expect musculoskeletal disorders to increase. The Short Conference was an example of making lemonade out of lemons. People in the EHS community are working on the frontlines for their businesses, but they also need support. Its a challenging situation, said Matt Airhart, president and COO of VelocityEHS and a panel moderator. The number of people who turned out for it, and the positive feedback weve received, speaks to the need we all have for greater connection and interaction. We will use the insights gained from the conference to develop resources to help EHS professionals through this moment and beyond. Those unable to attend The Short Conference live can visit www.EHS.com/covid-info to view on-demand video recordings of the sessions, and access additional resources related to the event. EHS professionals are also encouraged to visit the VelocityEHS COVID-19 Resource Site for additional complimentary services and resources to help them prepare, prevent and protect workers from exposure to COVID-19. With free access to key components of its EHS software platform, VelocityEHS is arming employers, health care workers, first responders and more with industry-best tools to manage their chemical safety, respirator fit testing, and office ergonomics programs through this difficult time. Visit www.EHS.com/covid-info for more information. To learn more about VelocityEHS award-winning EHS solutions, visit www.EHS.com . About VelocityEHS Trusted by more than 18,000 customers worldwide, VelocityEHS helps you reach your EHS goals faster with quick implementations, affordable solutions, and unparalleled customer support. We deliver a comprehensive cloud-based environment, health and safety (EHS) software platform. Our easy-to-use software applications are designed based on industry best-practice principles to help you solve complex business challenges in simple ways. Recognized by the EHS industrys top independent analysts, including leading scores in the Verdantix 2019 Green Quadrant Analysis, VelocityEHS is the global leader in cloud EHS software solutions. VelocityEHS is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with locations in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Tampa, Florida; Oakville, Ontario; London, England; and Perth, Western Australia. For more information, visit www.EHS.com . Media Contact VelocityEHS Betsy Utley-Marin 312.881.2307 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent protests in the wake of George Floyds death while being arrested, Wieser said he predicted that voter turn out would be 20% to 25%. At 23.8%, Wieser said the turn out was not bad," though hed always like to see more people vote. First Minister Arlene Foster, Health Minister Robin Swann and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont on Thursday. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. The Executive has announced fines of 1,000 for those who breach new regulations around travel to Northern Ireland from outside the UK. The plans, which mean people travelling into NI will have to self isolate for 14 days, will come into play on Monday June 8 in line with plans in Great Britain. First Minister Arlene Foster said there was a "palpable sense of relief" as Northern Ireland slowly emerges from lockdown but warned "we musn't lose our sense of perspective". Further lockdown restrictions are to be eased across NI from Monday. Speaking at the Stormont press conference, Mrs Foster said she understood why crowds gathered at Belfast's City Hall on Wednesday to protest the "horrific" death of George Floyd in the US but appealed for them to find alternative ways to show their anger. "They need to think very carefully about whether there are other safer ways to protest," she said. "Many have cancelled mass gatherings for very good reasons," she added. "People have been denied the opportunity to attend the funerals of their family, friends and relatives." Health Minister Robin Swann added: "Don't let your anger risk you, your family's life or the safety of someone else." He told the press conference that 7,255 care home residents and almost 8,500 staff have now been tested for coronavirus so far in Northern Ireland. The Department of Health confirmed another single death on Thursday, bringing the toll to 535. A further 33 tests returned positive of the 1,856 conducted. Seven people remain in intensive care and 68 care homes are dealing with an outbreak. The R rate - the reproductive rate of the virus - is currently between 0.7 and 0.9. From Monday, people shielding from the virus will be able to go outside with people from their own household or one person from another household, provided social distancing measures are followed. Read More Outdoor sports facilities will be allowed to reopen, as will "outdoor non-food retailers", including car showrooms, and retail outlets with low customer numbers that have direct street access or direct access within a retail park. Outdoors weddings can also go ahead, with a limited of 10 people. People will also be able to leave their homes to tend to the needs or welfare of animals. Read More Here's how Thursday unfolded: US President Donald Trump on June 3 said that it is common sense to invite Russia back into the G7. According to reports, Trump has stated that it would make solving various issues much easier if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to rejoin the group. Russia was expelled from G7 in 2014 after its forceful annexation Crimea. Read: Russia Positive On Expanding G7, But Says It Might Not Mean 'true Representation' Trump: Easier to solve problems if 'Russia is included' Trump, in addition to inviting Russia, has also extended the invitation to Australia, South Korea and India. While Canada has vehemently objected to Russia's return to the group, nations such as Japan have steered clear of the topic and not yet weighed in. Germany, on the other hand, has claimed that the current global climate is not the right time to change the meetings format. Even with the growing chorus of nations unwilling to expand the membership, Trump has stated that if the current members do not discuss the matter, he will be forced to postpone the upcoming meeting of the Group of Seven nations (G-7), international media reported. Read: Trump Wants India & Russia To Be Made Members Of 'outdated' G7; Postpones Scheduled Meet Canadas objection Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on June 1 that Russia will not be included in the upcoming meeting of Group of Seven nations (G-7), days after the US President Donald Trump revealed that he has plans to invite Russia. Its continued disrespect and flaunting of international rules and norms is why it remains outside of the G7 and why it will continue to remain out, Trudeau said. European Union leaders also disapproved of Russia's return to the G7. According to reports, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrellhas said that Russia must change its course to allow for the group to have a meaningful discussion before it can be allowed back. What is the G7 Summit? Often being looked at as the grouping of 'rich countries,' the G7 Summit is a platform for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss global economic policies. First created in 1975, the group included six countries, with Canada joining a year later. The US currently holds the annual presidency of G7 countries. (Image Credits - AP) Read: EU: Russia Should Not Yet Be Allowed To Rejoin G7 Read: Canada's Justin Trudeau Rejects Donald Trump's Demand To Invite Russia For G7 Summit Adam Walton, 40, was charged Wednesday with being a felon in possession of a handgun. According to a criminal complaint, Chicago police officers were in the area of 117th Street and South Marshfield Avenue shortly after midnight Monday when they saw Walton coming out of a store that had been broken into. By John Fensterwald and Daniel J. Willis EdSource State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and coalitions of labor and school district groups are asserting that California schools won't be able to open safely if Congress doesn't provide more aid to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Yet by one measure, school districts collectively would get nearly as much in already promised federal aid as their proposed state funding would be cut in 2020-21. And many districts may get more than they'll lose in state aid. Through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed in March, California's K-12 schools would receive enough to cover more than 90% of the $6.4 billion that Newsom is proposing to cut from school districts' and charter schools' funding in the next state budget to make up for a massive projected decline in tax revenue. Newsom is proposing a cut of approximately 8% of districts' general fund, known as the Local Control Funding Formula. It provides a base amount and additional funding for "high-needs" students: English learners, and low-income, homeless and foster students in every district. An EdSource analysis projects that of the 897 districts that receive their funding through the funding formula, 546 school districts and county offices of education - 60.4% of the total - would get more CARES Act funding than they'd lose in cuts to the funding formula. These numbers don't include the 100-plus mostly wealthy "basic aid" districts excluded from the Local Control Funding Formula because their property tax revenues exceed what they would get through the formula. The main factor for the wide differences in districts' CARES Act funding is the allocation formula that Newsom has chosen to address students' loss of learning as a result of pandemic-related school closures. He would direct $2.9 billion - about half of the CARES Act money going to K-12 - only to districts categorized as "concentration" districts under the funding formula. These are districts where at least 55% of students enrolled are high-needs. All districts, however, would still be entitled to the rest of the CARES Act money: an additional $1.5 billion to tackle learning needs of students with disabilities and $1.5 billion that Congress is dispersing based on the proportion of students in poverty in each district. Among those coming out ahead are the six large urban districts whose superintendents warned in a May 18 letter that they would have to delay the start of school without more state and federal funding to make up for "unreasonable" cuts they're facing. EdSource's analysis estimates that the combined federal aid proposed for those districts - plus San Francisco, Sacramento City and Oakland - would exceed the cuts to their general funds proposed in Newsom's budget by $490 million. Long Beach Unified would receive $69 million less next year from the Local Control Funding Formula under Newsom's proposed budget; it would receive $95 million in CARES Act funding. San Francisco Unified would lose $44 million in state funding and get $63 million from the CARES Act. With available student data from the California Department of Education, EdSource calculated the CARES Act funding for each district, using formulas that Newsom included in his budget revision this month and that Congress detailed in the CARES Act. Education groups say they appreciate that Newsom is willing to commit to K-12 schools nearly half of the $9.5 billion California will receive from the CARES Act that Newsom can distribute how he wants. But they dispute that the CARES Act will make up for the reduction in state funding. They cite three reasons: Because of the coronavirus, school districts will face unanticipated, unprecedented - and as yet unfunded - additional costs to restart schools. Newsom has designated a total of $4.4 billion from the CARES Act to help students who have fallen further behind academically since distance learning began in March, but districts can't use that money to replace budget cuts. And Congress is requiring that school districts spend CARES Act funding by Dec. 31. Those districts that haven't begun to focus on how to remedy learning loss will not have much time to spend a lot of money. Many districts would get a substantial funding increase from Newsom's method for distributing $2.9 billion of the $4.4 billion for learning loss, but those that aren't "concentration" districts would get no money. As a result, 351 districts and the majority of the state's 1,285 charter schools wouldn't get enough federal funding to make up for cuts to their general fund. On this last issue, Newsom is encountering considerable opposition among coalitions of school groups, and the Legislature may be poised to spread the money more evenly, creating more "winners" and fewer "losers." On Thursday, the Senate Budget Committee passed a formula to allocate the $2.9 billion in federal funds from the CARES Act based on a district's full Local Control Funding Formula allocation, including the base funding, instead of only to those with 55% or more high-needs students. Newsom had a strong rationale for wanting to target funds at those districts with the highest percentage of high-needs students. Based on standardized test scores, graduation and college-going rates, schools with predominately high-needs students have lagged behind wealthier schools with fewer of these students for decades. And there is good reason to worry that the gap has grown wider during distance learning over the past few months. English learners, low-income and special education generally faced more obstacles to learning because many didn't have access to a computer or internet at home. Others may have experienced turbulence in their home lives or were disadvantaged by their districts' slow or ineffective management of distance learning. Districts will be able to spend the $2.9 billion in federal funds on an early start to the school year, on instructional supports during the coming school year, extending the school year, providing intensive academic help, mental health services and counseling and teacher training in distance learning and in social-emotional learning. Because school closures probably set back most students to some degree, Newsom didn't restrict districts to using the learning loss money only on high-needs students; instead, he directed the funding to districts where they are concentrated. An arbitrary divide But critics say Newsom's 55% threshold for district funding for those who would and wouldn't get federal funding creates an arbitrary divide. Westside Union School District and East Whittier City Elementary School District in Los Angeles County illustrate how the 55% concentration threshold would affect small districts. Both would get more than $2 million in federal learning-loss aid for special education students. But Westside Union, where 50% of its 9,211 students qualify as high-needs, would get none of the federal learning loss aid. By contrast, East Whittier City, where 56% of its 8,300 students qualify as high-needs students, would get $6.3 million. "The governor and Department of Finance need to recognize that all districts are hurting," Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, stated during a May 18 Assembly Budget Committee hearing on education spending. "This is a survival budget. The stark differences in creating winners and losers is something that I cannot support." Muratsuchi is not alone in demanding changes to Newsom's formula. Where education groups disagree is to what extent the money should be directed to all students or high-needs students. EdSource's analysis of the net effect of CARES Act funding on districts' budgets in 2020-21 found that 546 districts would see an increase of about $492 per pupil, and 351 districts would see a budget cut of about $426 per pupil under Newsom's proposal. Under the Senate Budget Committee's proposal, which would eliminate the 55 percent "concentration" threshold, 598 districts would get enough federal funding to more than offset the loss in state funding for a net increase of $223 per student. The other 299 districts would see a net cut of about $56 per pupil. Advocacy groups for low-income students, collectively called the Education Equity Coalition, argue that the Senate Budget Committee plan would go too far in diluting Newsom's focus on the children most impacted by learning loss. This coalition, made up primarily of civil rights and student advocacy groups, proposes a middle ground, tying funding to the proportion of high-needs students without the concentration threshold. "The Senate approach gives all districts nearly the same amount of learning loss funds with only slight adjustments based on high need student population," said John Affeldt, managing attorney at Public Advocates, a public interest law firm, which is a member of the Equity Coalition. "As Gov. Brown said in introducing the funding formula (in 2013), 'Equal treatment for children in unequal situations is not justice.'" The Assembly has not yet taken up the issue of how to allocate CARES Act funding. Rising costs from the pandemic It's not clear to what extent some of the federal funding for learning could be used to defray the costs of reopening school, such as reducing class sizes to achieve social distancing or funding a new remote distance learning model that improves instruction. Education groups insist the new costs will be substantial. "Until we have a vaccine, there are many steps to safely reopen schools in person," said Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers during a press conference of the Education Coalition last week. The coalition includes the state's school employees unions, the California State PTA and organizations representing school boards, administrators and business officials. "We must continue social distancing. We need clean and safe environments. This all means smaller class sizes, which can only happen with more teachers. It means more bus runs, which can only happen with more bus drivers and buses. It means more cleaning, which can only happen with more custodians and cleaning supplies. It means more nurses and psychologists to help the physical and mental health concerns of our students." Steve Ward, legislative analyst for Clovis Unified, said, "Nothing in the state budget addresses these things. There's a need to get kids back on campus, but how much is that going to cost?" The district is active in the 50-district California School Funding Coalition, mostly made up of small and medium-size districts. Its position on the state budget can be found here. Districts like Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified warning that without more funding they may have to start school with distance learning may find this paradox: They may have substantial money to address learning loss while having to open school still relying largely on a form of instruction that contributed to that loss. "Distance learning is not a way to address learning loss; it exacerbates it," said Arun Ramanathan, CEO of Pivot Learning, an Oakland-based nonprofit that works with over 100 high-needs school districts in 16 states. 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. Tucker Carlsons monologue Monday night opened strong. The nation went up in flames this weekend. No one in charge stood up to save America. Our leaders dithered. They cowered. They openly sided with the destroyers. In many cases, they egged them on. Later, they will deny doing any of this. They are denying it now. But you know the truth because you saw it happen. During the monologue, Carlson paused to give five examples of conservative leaders who had illustrated his thesis. In each case, though, his description of what the target of criticism had said did not match up well with what he actually said. First up: On Friday, as American cities were being destroyed by mobs, the vice president [of the] United States refused to say anything specific about the riots we were watching on television. Instead, Mike Pence scolded America for its racism. (Im quoting the written adaptation of the monologue on FoxNews.com here and throughout.) What Pence said on Friday was that we have no tolerance for racism in America. We have no tolerance for violence inspired by racism in America. He immediately followed this comment by saying, Now, while we also believe in law and order in this country, and we while we condemn violence against property or persons, we we will also always stand for the right of Americans to peacefully protest and let their voice be heard. Perhaps the second part of that passage was insufficiently specific for Carlson, although it was no less so than what came before it. But nothing Pence said amounted to calling America racist or scolding America. If we is understood to mean the country, what he said was very nearly the opposite of that. Second: Carly Fiorina, once a leading Republican presidential candidate, tweeted that and were quoting, Its white America that now must see the truth, speak the truth and act on the truth. This is Carlsons best example of the five. The quote is accurate. Fiorina was referring to the systemic racism in this country. She didnt condemn riots and looting. But its still a leap to say she was encouraging it merely by saying that whites should recognize systemic racism. Story continues Third: Meanwhile, Kay Coles James, who is the president of the Heritage Foundation thats the largest conservative think tank in the country. You may have sent them money, hopefully for the last time. Kay Coles James wrote a long scream denouncing America as an irredeemably racist nation: How many times will protests have to occur? Got that? Have to occur. Like the rest of us caused this by our sinfulness. The message from our leaders on the right, as on the left, was unambiguous: Dont complain. You deserve whats happening to you. Jamess op-ed appeared on FoxNews.com. It would be pretty surprising if the head of a conservative think tank wrote on FoxNews.com that America is irredeemably racist or that Americans deserve to be victimized by violence. But she didnt say any of these things. Check out the second and third sentences of her op-ed: While I understand the frustration and anger, I do not condone the violence spreading across this country in response to Floyds horrific killing. Rioting tearing apart Minneapolis and cities coast-to-coast will never lead to anything but more suffering. Fourth: No one jumped in more forcefully or seemed angrier in America than former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Tonight I turned on the news and I am heartbroken, Haley wrote. Its important to understand that the death of George [Floyd] was personal and painful for many. In order to heal, it needs to be personal and painful for everyone. But wait a second, you may be wondering, how am I personally responsible for the behavior of a Minneapolis police officer? Ive never even been to Minneapolis, you may think to yourself. And why is some politician telling me Im required to be upset about it? Haley tweeted that all Americans should take the killing personally, not that all Americans are personally responsible for it. These are separate concepts. Whether the tweet seemed extremely angry as compared, for example, to a Fox News monologue Ill leave to the readers judgment. Carlson continues, During the 2016 campaign, [Haley] compared Donald Trump to the racist mass murderer, Dylann Roof. How is Donald Trump similar to a serial killer? Nikki Haley never explained that. She didnt say he was similar to a serial killer, and she explained exactly what she meant. The Associated Press summarized it accurately at the time: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday she wishes Donald Trump communicated differently because bad things result from divisive rhetoric, as evidenced by last Junes massacre in Charleston. In the same interview, she said that Trumps followers were angry at Washington and added, The way he communicates that, I wish were different. Not quite what she would say to a serial killer, I imagine. Carlson then said, She wasnt trying to educate anyone. Her only goal was political advantage. Nikki Haley is exceptionally good at getting what she wants. She is happy to denounce you as a racist in order to get it. She just did. In this case, Nikki Haleys wish came true. The riots were indeed personal and painful for everyone. And then the pain kept increasing. Two days after she wrote that, dozens of American cities had been thoroughly trashed, some destroyed. Again, this attack is based merely on Haleys having said that Americans should be pained by Floyds death. She didnt impute racism to America, Americans, or fans of Carlsons show. Fifth: National-security adviser Robert OBrien is in the dock because he said, Were with the peaceful protesters. Carlson comments: Really? Can you be more specific about that? Who are you talking about exactly? Is it the people spitting foam as they scream, F the police? Is it the one standing next to the arsonist doing nothing as they set fire to buildings? Is it the kids laughing as they film the looting and the beatings on their iPhones? Ummm . . . No? Im pretty sure the answer is no. More from National Review Black conservative activist Candace Owens was included in Vice President Mike Pence's roundtable on race relations Thursday, despite being criticized for calling George Floyd a 'horrible human being.' Pence tweeted out that he had met with some black Americans, explaining that the group had disussed ' how we can move our Nation forward in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd and the protests and rioting that have ensued.' Pence did not tag Owens in the picture, but did tag three black conservatives: Heritage Foundation President Kay Cole James, Center for Urban Renewal and Education founder Star Parker and Elroy Sailor, who previously served on the Trump transition team. A DailyMail.com request for comment and more details about the meeting went unreturned. Vice President Mike Pence (right) included black conservative activist Candace Owens (far left) to a discussion Thursday about the 'tragic death of George Floyd and the protests and rioting that have ensued' The vice president revealed the meeting attendees in a tweet, which included a number of prominent black conservatives Owens' meeting with Pence comes one day after a post of hers went viral in which she said that Floyd was a 'horrible human being' pointing to his criminal record and drug use Owens, the former communications director for Turning Point USA, a pro-Trump youth group, has become a household name on the right for her controversial takes A source close to Owens, 31, confirmed to DailyMail.com that she was present for the meeting and she's clearly visible in the photograph. On Wednesday, Owens appeared on Facebook Live and explained the problem she had with people holding up Floyd as a 'martyr.' On Wednesday, Owens appeared on Facebook Live and explained the problem she had with people holding up Floyd as a 'martyr' 'We are unique in that we are the only people that fight and scream and demand support and justice for the people in our community who are up to no good,' she said of black America. She said that no Jewish person, or Hispanic person, or white person would embrace someone who had done 'five stints in prison.' 'George Floyd was not an amazing person,' she told viewers. 'As soon as this video hit the internet, I did just basic searches,' Owens went on. What she found was Floyd's criminal record and his arrest and autopsy report. 'First and foremost George Floyd, at the time of his arrest, was high on fentanyl and methamphetamine,' Owens said. Owens also mentioned a 2007 robbery that Floyd was involved in that involved a pregnant victim and Floyd holding a gun to her abdomen. 'And this was the biggest instant I had that made me realize this is a horrible human being, that I'm not going to pretend is a good person,' she said. She said her criticism was in no way defending what the lead officer Derek Chauvin did, by kneeing Floyd in the neck, until he was unresponsive. 'But why are we pretending that this criminal should be upheld as a citizen, as a martyr, or black America?' she asked. Following her attendance at Thursday's White House round table, she sent out a tweet to her 2.2 million followers which stated: 'Black lives only matter to white liberals, every 4 years, ahead of an election. Im so sorry to those of you that thought otherwise.' George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on Memorial Day as he was arrested by four police officers over allegedly trying to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. He was seen in a video pleading that he couldn't breathe as white officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck Owens boast 2.2 million Twitter followers and is frequently in the headlines for her controversial opinions Owens (center) is a vocal Trump supporter, pictured with Donald Trump Jr (right) in 2018 Owens, the former communications director for Turning Point USA, a pro-Trump youth group led by Charlie Kirk, has become a household name on the right for her controversial takes. She's been utilized by Republicans on Capitol Hill as a witness on Democrat-led panels, like one in September 2019 on white supremacy. Back in April, the controversial pundit revealed she was considering running for office. 'I'm now honestly considering running for office. Never had any desire to previously, but something changed in me last night. Had a conversation with my husband and I think it's a plan,' she wrote on Twitter. She did not specify where and when she will run. Owens is pictured above with Donald Trump and her husband George Farmer Owens was born in Stamford, Connecticut and is a current resident of New York. She once interned at Vogue and dropped out of the University of Rhode Island, where she was studying journalism. The controversial pundit initially held liberal views and was critical of President Trump, before changing her political beliefs 'overnight'. 'I became a conservative overnight ... I realized that liberals were actually the racists. Liberals were actually the trolls,' she stated in 2018. Owens is married to Oxford graduate George Farmer, the son of Lord Farmer, a Baron and former treasurer of the British Conservative Party. Owens is married to Oxford graduate George Former, the son of Lord Farmer, a Baron and former treasurer of the British Conservative Party. They wed last year Owens is frequently in the headlines for insert herself in the culture wars. In 2018, she tried to give Kanye West too much credit for being part of her new 'Blexit' moment - the 'black exit' from the Democratic Party. Owens had announced at an event in Washington in October 2018 that West had designed the 'Blexit' t-shirts she was giving out. That boast pressured West - who had previously paid a trip to see Trump in the Oval Office - to back out of politics for awhile. 'I never wanted any association with Blexit,' West said in a tweet. 'I have nothing to do with it.' Meanwhile, she hit out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle last year, after the former Suits star broke down on trip to South Africa claiming she had found royal life difficult. 'Using African children as a backdrop to complain about your over-privileged life is offensive,' Owens said of the American-born Duchess. She also took aim at Prince Harry, saying: 'Invoking your own mother's tragic death to demand the press stop calling out your hypocritical wife is downright disgusting. WHO IS CANDACE OWENS? Owens, 31, is the former communications director for Turning Points USA, a conservative youth organization. She has made a name for herself by making controversial claims about race relations in the US and through an alliance with Kanye West. Owens' beliefs include that former president Barack Obama is to blame for disintegrating race relations in America and that Kanye West is one of the 'bravest men' in the country for lodging his support with Trump. She has appeared in the past on Fox and Friends where she shared her extreme belief that black Americans are being held down by the Democratic party. The young activist gained attention when Kanye West tweeted that he 'liked the way she thinks' last year. Owens grabbed attention last April when Kanye West tweeted his support of her She replied desperately asking him for a meeting and telling him how much he inspired her. In addition to her work with Turning Points, she runs a YouTube channel and show where she interviews guests and discusses national issues. Owens notoriously dislikes Black Lives Matter, which she labels as a group of 'whiny toddlers'. Advertisement 'We will not let you use George as a prop': Rev. Al Sharpton lays into Trump's bible photo-op 'agenda' at memorial for George Floyd as Minneapolis mayor sobs uncontrollably at gold coffin Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton attacked President Donald Trump's agenda, vowed not to let people use George Floyd as prop and declared it was time for black people to demand 'get your knee off our necks' during his fiery eulogy for the man whose death at the hands of police has sparked global protests. Hollywood celebrities, musicians and politicians gathered in front of the Floyd's golden casket on Thursday at a sanctuary at North Central University in the first of a series of memorials set for three cities over the next six days. The service took place as a judge less than a mile away set bail at $1 million each for three of the four fired Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Floyd's death. Floyd died on May 25 after white police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder, put his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes as he lay handcuffed on the pavement, gasping that he couldn't breathe. Floyd's memorial drew the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took a knee in front Floyd's casket and sobbed before the service got underway. Among the celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Marsai Martin. During his fierce eulogy, Rev Sharpton criticized President Trump's rhetoric and handling of the protests that have stemmed from Floyd's death, including how he staged a photo op outside a Washington DC church with a Bible earlier this week. 'I've never seen anyone hold a bible like that (and) I've been preaching since I was a little boy. If he's watching us today, I'd like him to open that Bible and reach Ecclesiastes 3: 'To every season, there is a time.' I'd like him to understand what time it is,' Sharpton said. 'We cannot use Bibles as a prop. For those that have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use George as a prop. Let us stand for what is right.' At one point during the service, mourners stood in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to mark the fatal length of time the officer held his knee to Floyd's neck. 'George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is because you kept your knee on our neck,' Sharpton said. 'What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services, and in every area of American life. It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks!' he added. The Rev. Al Sharpton delivers a passionate address at the memorial of George Floyd at the North Central University in Minneapolis on Thursday Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey kneels in front of George Floyd's gold casket and sobs FREDERICTONA 26-year-old Indigenous woman from British Columbia who was fatally shot by police in northwestern New Brunswick was remembered Friday as a caring person as questions were raised about police conduct of so-called wellness checks. Chantel Moore was killed early Thursday morning when police arrived at her home in response to a request to check on her well-being. Edmundston police say their officer encountered a woman with a knife making threats. She was shot and died at the scene despite attempts to resuscitate her. Moores grandmother, Grace Frank, said her granddaughter was tiny and she doesnt believe she could have attacked the officer. My granddaughter was the most beautiful person and the kindest person you could ever meet, she said from her home in Tofino, B.C. She was so lovable and caring. Frank said Moore had lived with her for a number of years as a teenager before moving in with other relatives and later settling in Campbell River, B.C., where she met her boyfriend and had a daughter named Gracie. Frank said her daughter Moores mother had been raising Gracie in New Brunswick, and Moore recently moved there to be with her mother and daughter and to go to college. She said she was not aware that Moore had any mental health issues. It is so difficult. Were in disbelief, Frank said crying. We cant believe it. Its not our girl. She would never attack anybody. Quebecs independent police investigation agency has begun investigating the Edmundston shooting at the request of the RCMP, which is providing forensic support. In a brief statement, the agency said its investigation will determine if the information provided by police is accurate. The City of Edmundston and the Edmundston Police Force said Friday they will make no further comment. In Ottawa Friday, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said the family deserves answers, quickly. It was a wellness check and someone died, he said. I cant process that. The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council in B.C. called for immediate action and for the independent investigation to be conducted in a timely way. The council represents 14 First Nations including the Tla-o-qui-aht, to which Moore belonged. Were very close-knit communities, council vice-president Mariah Charleson said. The whole Nuu-chah-nulth Nation is grieving. Charleson said Moore was a friendly face when she worked at the Tseshaht market and Fas Gas Plus gas station in Port Alberni and is being remembered by friends for her bubbly personality. Her death on the one-year anniversary of the release of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls highlights inaction to prevent avoidable deaths. Investigations can take years with no results, she said. For far too long, Indigenous people are left on the back burner and our families and communities are left waiting with no answers, she said. Archie Kaiser, a professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said there have been many examples of wellness checks going awry. In every major city, and in rural areas as well, there continue to be instances where the police fail to discharge their service obligations in terms of treating people compassionately, respecting their human rights, he said Friday. In the worst cases, that has resulted in a preventable death, and there continue to be such tragic outcomes. He said the 911 operator needs to gather as much information as possible and ensure that information is passed along to the responding officers. Officers need to be equipped to deal with the persons needs in a sensitive and respectful way, he said. A Halifax-based group Womens Wellness Within said it should not be the police who are sent to check on peoples well-being, noting that studies have shown that the victims of many such police shootings are in mental distress. The group is one of many calling for the defunding of police, and redirecting funding towards mental health services. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, said its unfortunate that police become first responders to people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. He was reacting to the death of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet. The Toronto woman fell to her death from her 24th-floor balcony during an interaction with police last Wednesday. Meanwhile Lorraine Witman, president of the Native Womens Association of Canada, called for federal action in light of Moores death, saying the government has yet to respond to the 231 calls for justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Witman said Indigenous women have been watching with interest what is happening in the United States, and in Canada, after police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd. We have seen the outrage and the protest. And we share those feelings. But we also wonder, where is the outrage when young First Nations women and girls die violently in Canada, year after year? she asked. An online petition calling for the Edmundston police officer to face criminal charges had collected about 6,400 names by mid-afternoon Friday, while a Go Fund Me page had raised about $80,000 for Moores family. With files from Liam Casey in Toronto and Amy Smart in Vancouver. Read more about: In 2018, energy firm DEA partnered with Cognite to put new technology into its Mittelplate oilfield in Germany to improve maintenance and boost efficiency. Now, one year old, newly formed Wintershall Dea is Europe's leading independent natural gas and oil company and supported by Cognite they invest in digitalization efforts globally. In a commitment to continue to drive value through digital, Wintershall Dea has entered a four year contract with Cognite and will use their flagship Software as a service (SaaS) product Cognite Data Fusion (CDF), to scale digitalization solutions across assets. Wintershall Dea leads the way by incorporating digital collaboration throughout their efforts and will deploy the Cognite SaaS and applications to an increasing number of assets long term. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005300/en/ Wintershall Dea Working With Cognite to Scale Digitalization Efforts Globally (Photo: Business Wire) As Europe's leading independent gas and oil company, Wintershall Dea's deep commitment to remain agile while empowering teams by exploring new technologies has established them as a leader in digital transformation efforts. They will use CDF for data contextualization and AI enablement, connecting a number of data types together, from sensor data to maintenance logs to 3D drawings to address optimization and enable advanced visualizations. Wintershall Dea will further build upon their digital portfolio through utilization of a number of tools and Cognite business applications, to provide data insights and analytics empowering colleagues in the office and in the field. Low code capabilities will be used by Wintershall Dea employees enabling rapid development and scaling of their own applications, leveraging domain experts with liberated data. "We are excited to enter this strategic partnership with Wintershall Dea as they lead the sector in digital maturity with their focus on user empowerment," says Dr. John Markus Lervik, CEO and co-founder of Cognite. "We will be equipping Wintershall Dea's domain experts with applications that will give them instant access to data, helping to improve maintenance and production optimization. We will also provide their IT department with a number of building blocks and tools, which will enable them to scale and sustain digital solutions across assets." "We strive to make smart investments through developing digital products and scaling them up to deliver the highest returns to our E&P business as measured by gains in safety, sustainability, operational and financial performance," says Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea's Chief Technology Officer (CTO). "In order to scale a solution up and to replicate it across the company, a robust data architecture and foundation is a prerequisite. Based on the positive results and impact we had at our Mittelplate oil field, we are pleased to deepen our digitalization activities with Cognite to provide foundations to scale solutions across our assets." About Wintershall Dea Wintershall Dea is Europe's leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,800 people worldwide from over 60 nations. About Cognite Cognite is a global industrial software-as-a-service (SaaS) company supporting the full-scale digital transformation of heavy-asset industries around the world. Their key product, Cognite Data Fusion (CDF), empowers companies with contextualized OT/IT data to drive industrial applications that increase safety, sustainability, and efficiency, and drive revenue. Visit us at www.cognite.com and follow us on Twitter @CogniteData or at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognitedata View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005300/en/ Contacts: Michelle Holford, Cognite (US) michelle.holford@cognite.com +1 512 744-3420 Recode transcribed the leaked audio of the tense meeting between the Facebook CEO and his employees where he was questioned about US president Donald Trumps controversial posts Things have not been great at Facebook. After CEO Mark Zuckerberg let US president Donald Trumps controversial posts remain on the platform, explaining that he felt that Facebook users should be allowed to see the posts for themselves, many employees staged a virtual walkout in protest. Reports have it that employees, on an internal workplace platform called Workspace, asked those posts to be pulled off earlier and had received no response from the senior management. Zuckerberg told employees, amid plenty of social backlash, that he and other members of the companys policy team couldnt justify saying that Trumps message clearly incited violence, which means it didnt break Facebooks rules. Essentially, since Facebook did not have an in-between solution of moderating posts, the platform was going to do nothing. Also Read: Heres why Mark Zuckerberg is criticising Twitter On Tuesday morning Zuckerberg held an 90-minute video call meeting with 25,000 of his employees to address these issues. Recode got hold of the leaked audio and transcribed it. In this meeting, Zuckerberg explained his process and rationale for leaving the post as is. Recode has published the whole transcript in its entirety after editing it for clarity and leaving out parts of the audio that were not audible. Recode mentions that their transcript does not include the first 10 minutes of the meeting where Zuckerberg called for unity, calmness and empathy. Here is the full transcript of the video call - Mark Zuckerberg speaking about how he decided what to do with Trumps posts: I do just want to acknowledge up front that, you know, this isnt like 100 percent clear-cut of a decision, even though I do think that the underlying principle of the platform and our policies and the evidence strongly weighed in one favor towards making the decision. So, this stuff is difficult. But let me go through quickly what the process is because I know a lot of people have asked questions about this. And some of the things that we weighed during this. Ill try to go through this quickly because I think I talked about this on Friday, and I know other people have done Q&As, and I have written about this as well. But the basic process was the president tweeted early in the morning on Friday, and I was asleep. The policy team saw it, started working across the East Coast and the London teams to pull together an analysis that would be in my inbox when I woke up in the morning. So I could see, basically, the analysis of the post and the policies that beared on the recommendation. And I got that when I woke up around 7:30 in the morning, and it basically outlines the three categories of how one might interpret this and what that would lead to. So, the first category would be this was a discussion of state use of force, which is something that we allow. States are legally allowed to use force, in many cases, and discussion about that and even threats around that are the things that we have policies that allow, and the team concluded that that was the most likely reading of this, the most reasonable reading. The second category would be a prediction of violence in the future. If someones saying, If this happens, then this will happen, not necessarily encouraging it or calling for it in any way. That also would be allowed across our services. And the team basically suggested that that would be the second most likely way to read this. And then theres a third category, which is incitement of violence, which is someone directly calling for violence, you know, and if we decided it was incitement of violence, then we would take it down. And just to be clear on this, there is no newsworthiness or politician exception to our policies on an incitement of violence. Well get into that in a little more detail in a minute. But this is kind of an important nuance because if anyone is calling for violence, you know, I dont its not clear what the right thing to do is put that behind a flag, but keep it up. You know, if somebody is actually going to encourage violence, I think in general, you just you just dont want that content up. But our policies around incitement of violence, you know, have pretty have some clear precedents right around if people have to be calling for violence or targeting specific individuals. There have been examples of government officials around the world, weve taken them down. There was a legislator in Hong Kong who called for the police to come in and clear out and kill the protesters to restore order in society. You know, that was thats obviously inciting and calling for violence. We took that down. And there have been cases in India, for example, where someone said, Hey, if the police dont take care of this, our supporters will get in there and clear the streets. That is kind of encouraging supporters to go do that in a more direct way, and we took that down. So we have a precedent for that. And by the way, while were on that, we also have a precedent for taking down Trumps stuff. You know, this is something that I think a lot of people havent necessarily really focused on, but earlier in the year he ran or his campaign a bunch of ads that we ruled were census misinformation and took them down. So this isnt a case where hes allowed to say anything he wants or that we let government officials or policymakers say anything they want. And we have rules around what is incitement of violence. We looked at both the basic interpretation was that this did not clearly fall into those rules. Zuckerberg speaking about why he believes that Trumps reference to looting and shooting has no history of being read as a dog whistle for vigilante violence So then after basically getting that, I spent the rest of the day talking to the team and talking to different people and getting different peoples opinions, including calling a diverse set of folks across the company and factoring in, you know, a lot of different peoples opinions went into the initial policy analysis. We can get into more detail on that in a minute. But, it was a discussion where, even if the initial assessment was we shouldnt take this down, I spent a lot of time trying to wrestle with, What are the best possible arguments for why this would be incitement to violence? So were getting into the history of the comment around when the looting starts, the shooting starts, and its clearly a troubling historical statement and reference, whether or not its inciting supporters to go to violence, and we basically concluded after the research and after everything Ive read and all the different folks that Ive talked to, that that reference is clearly to aggressive policing maybe excessive policing but has no history of being read as a dog whistle for vigilante supporters to take justice into their own hands. But I spent a lot of time basically going through all these different arguments about why this could potentially be over the line and thought very carefully about it and knew that the stakes were very high on this. And I knew that a lot of people would be upset if we made the decision to leave it up. But then after that period, basically, I couldnt get there. I couldnt get to that even with my personal feelings about the content and even knowing that a lot of employees would disagree with this. I think the principles that we have are and how we run the platform, the policies that we have in the evidence here, overall, on balance by quite a bit, would suggest that the right action for where we are right now is to leave this up. Zuckerberg addresses changing Facebooks policies Now that gets to this question, which is, well, are the policies correct? And how do we act on this going forward? And one of the things, by the way, that I explored is what a lot of other peoples first reaction is, which is, you know, Why does it have to be binary? Right? Why does this have to be, Take it down or leave it up there? In general, I dont think anyone else has taken it down. Twitter didnt take it down. Most people, I dont think, think that it should come down. About that call with Trump following the post And sorry, there was one other really important point on the process that I wanted to make sure that I talked through, which is that theres been a lot of talk and that there was some press around us reaching out to the White House. And I want to clarify what happened here. You know, earlier in the morning, our policy team reached out to make sure that the White House understood the policies and to express concern about the post and whether or not it violated our policies. What basically happened here was, they got escalated on their side and later in the day, after the decision had basically been made about how we should handle the content, the president called me. And I used that opportunity to make sure that he understood directly how I felt about the content. And that I felt that it was divisive and inflammatory and unhelpful and pushed on that. But I wanted to make sure that that detail of how the process worked was kind of addressed upfront in this and Im happy to talk about that more as well. What Zuckerberg intends to do moving forward So let me talk a bit about what I think we should do going forward. And I know that theres a lot of discussion around this, so dont consider what Im going to say here to be the final word by any means, but I just want to share some reflections on what Ive learned in terms of where our systems and processes can be better and areas for improvement. So, the first, and Im gonna go through seven things that I think we can improve, starting with things that were specific to this decision. And the second category is around how we can improve decision-making overall. And then the third is around proactive things that we can do to work on racial justice and civic discourse. So Im starting with kind of the most tactical things around this policy specifically. On Facebooks policies about use of state violence I know theres a real question that we need to address in our policies, which is that right now, you know, as I mentioned, discussion on state use of force is allowed in our policies. I know theres a lot of good reasons for that. But I think what were seeing right now is that excessive use of force, by police especially, is a huge part of the problem. And that I want to make sure that were not somehow creating an environment where the policies allow for discussion of police going in and taking an enforcement action, but not somehow unequally allowing people to talk about the other sides of that. I also want to make sure that we are balanced on the discussion around state use of force because clearly not all state use of force is legitimate. And I think that we need to make sure that, that there are policies around that, especially going into a period where there may be a somewhat prolonged period of civil unrest here in the US, that we can that either were basically forward-looking and can have the policies in place that reflect the fullness of where the country is right now. Zuckerberg addresses that Facebooks voter suppression policies arent ready for new challenges the pandemic has introduced to voting The second is kind of related to the fact that we is another policy question which is related to the fact that were kind of in a different situation now than just a few months ago before Covid, before these murders, before the protest. And this one, rather than being about violence, touches on another post that was controversial, which is around voting and the election. And I think at this point, its really clear that we still have a pandemic, and come November voting is going to have to look a little bit different this year, and we have done a huge amount of work on elections and election integrity over the last several years since 2016 to basically get to a much better place on this. Going into this election, I felt very good about where we are. But I think Covid really changes things. And it means that theres going to be new dynamics around how people are voting, and a lot of fear and uncertainty. And I just want to make sure that our voter suppression policies are fully up to date with the new reality that the world is in so we can make sure that our policies encompass all of the things that could be potentially harmful or suppressing voting during this somewhat extraordinary election. So thats the second area. Speaking about nonbinary labels on contentious posts from world leaders The third area which we talked about a bit is exploring nonbinary labels for content. I went through a bit why it wasnt obvious to me that this is the right thing to do. But I know that a lot of people theres a lot of energy around this internally. I know a lot of smart people are thinking about this, which means that well probably get some new ideas that we hadnt had before. That, to me, at least is a signal that I want to hear those ideas. And I want to have a chance to engage with them and see what people are thinking, to see if there may be a different way to look at this going forward than we have to date. And I want to be clear, I dont want to over-promise here because I do think that the current stance that we have is reasonable and principled. But I also know that theres a lot of smart people thinking about this right now and thats a good area to follow up on as well. Zuckerberg speaking on better decision-making In terms of improving decision-making, there are a few things that Ive heard pretty clearly through this process and that I think we can try to improve on going forward. The second is basically transparency and in making sure that the procedures are clear around decision-making. Right? So what goes into the briefing email that I get for escalations like this outlining basically outlining the different issues? What different groups are involved in that? I actually think internally, most people would feel pretty good if they understood what that process was, you know, like the outcome of the decisions. But we do incorporate a wide diversity of perspectives and roles into this. And a bunch of them I also generally seek out directly myself, but its also included in the process. And I think just making sure that that is codified and more transparent will be helpful. Zuckerberg addressing what he could have done differently For example, one thing that I wish I that I had done on Friday morning was just sending out a quick note to the company telling everyone that were looking at this, that they should expect to hear from me in five or six hours because I was going to take a bunch of time to think about this and make sure I understood all the arguments and read a bunch of historical context and get input from the external civil rights advisers and different folks like that, who were sending notes about how we should take this. So I think more transparency so that that way people can get a better sense of the procedural fairness on the specific decisions. Diverse set of opinions in process-making decisions The next one is more broadly than a specific decision itself, I think in some ways its even more important that we have the right structures around inclusion, to make sure that you know when the precedents are being set, that you have the right diversity, and everyone is helping to be involved in setting those precedents, so that when you come to a decision like this, its not just a matter of having diverse views in the room for this decision. Its we want to make sure that the org is set up and that we have the right points of view in every decision before this. So thats something that Im gonna follow up on as well. And there may be some org changes that we want to make around that. Just to elevate some of the work that were doing around inclusion, to make sure that its not just these decisions that they should be involved in it should be stuff more broadly. Now, again, I actually from a process perspective think we do pretty well on the process around that today. But I do think that there are probably going to be areas for improvement and areas where it may make sense to change some of the orgs around in some way to improve this and elevate inclusion a bit more. Zuckerberg addressing an employees question about being trust leadership Facebook employee Weve been told by internal PR that you have a call with Trump only after it was on the news, not before Fridays Q&A. On top of that we are getting PR-focused posts from Mark sharing the head of PR and director of PR, posts that say that youre listening to us but at the same time with no action. And more importantly, that you dont understand why it is not just about the events from last week but the everyday lives from people of color inside and outside this company. Very quick examples: Sheryl saying the meeting with civil rights [groups] went well, when they said the meeting was a disaster, and that Facebook doesnt understand the current situation. One of the directors of PR tried to show [its] like a positive thing that Facebook shows billions of African Americans being killed by police on our platform. Legit posts from black activists are being incorrectly flagged by Facebook. My question is, how can we trust Facebook leadership if you show us a lack of transparency and lack of understanding on the world outside of their privilege? Mark Zuckerberg Yeah, I understand this question. I mean, I, I mean, generally, what I would say I would say three things. One is: Were trying to be as transparent as possible. And the decision came up on Friday. It was a tough one. So I spent most of the day working on it. And then we made the decision and then worked on communicating it and writing up the explanation and getting in front of employees to talk about it by Friday afternoon. So I think on that, we tried to move as quickly as we can, but theres a tension between this being a difficult decision and being able to communicate what were thinking about it as quickly as possible. I think we could have done a little bit better. I could have been clearer that I was working on it, that Id address folks in a few hours. But we did that. Different leaders have tried to shop and do Q&As. Schrep [Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer] did a Q&A yesterday. Im doing this today. Im sure well continue the conversation. Were trying to be as transparent as possible here, even though I get that theres a lot of questions. And in terms of the decision-making process, I think thats one of the things that we want to follow up on to make sure that theres transparency about what goes into the policy briefings. Whose input is in that? Who is around when I make the decisions? Things like that. I generally think that when we provide more transparency, there will be its not that there wont be areas for improvement, but I think that people probably feel pretty good about some of those processes, even if the outcomes arent exactly what they want. Um sorry. So then you were asking about how can we trust the intent of leadership, and I mean, on this, I would, you know, I understand that a lot of people dont agree with this decision. And I think that I understand that. You know, Im not disappointed that not everyone agrees with the decision. I think people come at things with a somewhat different approach and could reasonably make different assessments. And I think that that is fine and good that theres a diversity of opinions. I also know that this isnt completely one-sided and that there are a lot of people who agree with the decision as well. Even if they dont feel like they want to express that loudly inside the company right now. In terms of the intent of leadership, I mean, look, I do think that its one thing for, youre kind of seeing like every corporate CEO across the country right now just stand up and say, All right, yeah, Black Lives Matter. We stand with our black community. And its like that stuff I think its important to say and remind people to say it, but I dont think it takes any particular courage to say those things, like, when theres a huge crisis. I think what I would hope that people would look at is the track record that I and the other leaders have of focusing on these issues before it was in the news and going from the day that I founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, justice and opportunity was one of the central pillars. And in terms of racial justice, I think the interactions with the criminal justice system are one of the areas where racism has the biggest disparate impact and desperately needs to be fixed. And theres so many aspects of that. And I do feel like theres something to that where, you know, the fact that this is a thing that I engage with a lot of people in the company and outside for a long period of time, there are a lot of conversations weve had. This is not the first policy decision that weve taken around this. And I think the overall impact that the company has had has been pretty positive for giving underrepresented groups a voice I think should give a hopefully should give people some context. And that its not like Im not new to this. I may not understand it as much as, you know, someone in one of the affected communities who lives it every day, but its not like I just showed up or started caring about this, either. So that is one piece just on people and how you think about leadership. And then in terms of how you think about the company and the values and the kind of overall moral impact of what were doing. I think a lot of people there are a lot of people who want to push on us to do more in different directions, and the reality here is that were an incredibly important communication platform. And the incentive for almost any community is going to be to push us to do to basically try to do as much as possible to help a cause. And thats good. And they should, they should be doing that, it makes sense. But it kind of sets us up in this dynamic where its very difficult for us to kind of ever do everything that anyone, that any specific party, wants. So basically, all different groups on all sides of issues end up being quite upset with us. And because of that, they air the things that are negative that we didnt do more than they celebrate the things that we did do. And I think weve seen an example of that this week, which Ive mentioned here a couple of times, which is, you know, its the discussion is overwhelmingly, even just in this set of episodes, has been about the impact of whether we added a flag to Trumps post. And while I get that thats obviously an important thing in the world. And I understand that its really important for employees and a lot of people in the community to understand, you know, whose side are we on? Taking this as a signal even I dont agree that thats how that should be interpreted. I actually think the fact that the video of the murder was posted through giving people a voice on our service, something that becomes enabled that way, has just had an immense impact. And I just I would urge people to not look at the moral impact of what we do just through the lens of harm and mitigation. Thats clearly thats a huge part of what we have to do. Im not downplaying that, and we spend massive resources, thousands of people working on this and billions of dollars a year. But its also good to remember the upside and the good and the giving people a voice who wouldnt have previously been able to get into the news and talk about stuff and having painful things be visible. And I think that matters, too. So I guess thats kind of, thats how I think about all that stuff. Employee asks - How many black and other people of color employees were involved in the decision around whether or not to take action on Trumps looting shooting post? I dont know the exact number. But I mean, heres what I can tell you. Theres the initial policy briefing. I know that there are several black employees who are part of the group that both just as black employees who happen to be doing a role and institutional roles around diversity and focusing on making sure that we institutionally are representing different perspectives and the process that goes into the initial process. Then when I get together the team, its a small group because were trying to have a productive conversation with, you know, eight or nine people. Maxine was there for hours as we worked through this, even before we got on that call. I personally care a lot about the opinion that she had and what she was hearing so I actually called her directly myself one on one, just to make sure that I had that view. And all the while we were also getting briefs and kind of people sending emails and opinions from the external civil rights advisers and folks like that which include a number of people of color so its, um, so its, I dont know the exact number but and there may be ways to improve this further. But I actually think if people had transparency into the process, I think that they wouldnt necessarily feel bad about that part of it. The part where I actually think that we might go to do somewhat better is there were clearly a set of precedents and decisions that were made that led to this being the right thing to do in this case. And while I believe that there were, Im sure that there were black employees and people representing specific institutional interests around diversity and things like that included in those policy-making efforts as well I just think that this whole set of events is a call to elevate that organization to work a little bit more and make sure that its really on all of the other things around this. So that way its not just by the time you get to the specific escalation question its kind of the framework of the infrastructure that youve built. That all is including inclusion at the appropriate level. Because like Im saying, I mean, giving people a voice is a huge priority and principle for us, but so is serving everyone. And thats really important. We take that very seriously, too. Employee asks about Facebook considering labeling posts like Trumps in the future and who decides this Facebook employee And you kind of already answered my question, which is like, why dont we have this why do we just like pick between this binary when we dont have anything in between? So I just want to confirm before moving on to my follow-up that you are considering all the informed treatments [such as Facebook labeling posts that contain violent state speech] that are going on right now that people have done and posted about. Mark Zuckerberg Yeah, and to be clear, what Ive heard so far is that a lot of thoughtful people are working on this. And Im planning time to go through those. So I dont want to say that Ive sat down and already looked at all the informed treatments and the ideas because I actually havent had a chance to do that yet. Right now, Im just going off with the fact that theres been a lot of energy around this, I think its a reasonable question. A lot of smart people are looking at it. So I am imagining that theyre going to be ideas that were going to want to consider and that I want to learn those things. Facebook employee Awesome. So my follow-up is kind of adjacent to how you made that decision. And kind of also ties into the previous question, where I still feel like youre being a little bit vague on who exactly was involved in this decision and whether or not youre the ultimate person making the decision. So I would love for you to say exactly which execs are involved in these meetings, the small circle that are composed of, which teams they come from, who they represent, and where they voted on this issue, because I would really love to hear exactly who is involved in this. And like you said, more transparency would be good for this process. So I think employees would love to hear that. Mark Zuckerberg Yeah, sure. Its, um, you know, I think its, its, its basically who youd expect, and Ill make sure Im not getting anyone wrong. Ill follow up if Im missing this. Its who you would expect: Its Sheryl. Its Nick. Its Maxine. Its Joel. On issues that are going to be sensitive for employees, its Laurie. On issues that might be sensitive legally, its Jennifer Newstead, who is the general counsel. You know, its and I dont know if Im missing anyone or Monika Bickert, who runs the actual team that sets the content policies. Facebook employee I dont know. Correct me if Im wrong. Besides Maxine, everyone youve listed is white, correct? Mark Zuckerberg Thats correct. Facebook employee And these are the small circle groups that are making the decisions, of which you only included one black woman, and that was it. And you also have spurred up such an amazing initiative to fund my work directly, which Im very proud to work on the integrity team and it doesnt seem like that team, which specifically works on voter suppression, societal violence, and ... Mark Zuckerberg Im sorry. I believe Guy was included, too. Sorry. I think thats it. Facebook employee So I attended Guys Q&A this morning ... Mark Zuckerberg Maybe he wasnt. I actually, Im not sure if he was. Facebook employee So I dont think its probably great that were not super clear on whether or not the VP of integrity was included on an integrity decision involving civic matters of voter suppression and societal violence, right? Mark Zuckerberg Um, yeah, I think you want to make sure that you have peoples viewpoints in this. I think I would say that his view, that his role is probably more to enforce like build these systems in place to make sure that we enforce this well than to specifically weigh in on a content policy decision. But I mean, Guy is a very thoughtful person and hes definitely someone whose opinion Id want to make sure is included in the process. Facebook employee Okay, so in the future with escalations like this, Guy would be more involved or someone representing from my team, or societal violence, or our misinformation, or our voter suppression orgs, would be more involved in a decision that directly affects this? Mark Zuckerberg Yeah, although what Id say is, I think [its] Monika Bickerts team that does the policy analysis. Sorry, I lost you there. I dont know if youre still on. But Monica Bickerts team is the one that basically is charged with defining the content policies that weigh these different equities, giving people a voice, preventing harm, and safety and all the different types of harm that we talked about, and making sure that we serve everyone. So that voice is certainly there. And then she also gets opinions from a lot of different sets of people, as do Sheryl or all the other folks who are in the room or soliciting a lot of opinions and bring them to the table when we talk about this. So I feel like I was able to hear all the different opinions. You know, the thing that I would look back and say, okay, we really didnt do the process correctly if this were the case would be if after the fact that I made a decision, someone raised some context or question where I thought, Hey, I hadnt considered that before. Or, Wow, if I considered that then maybe we would have made this decision differently. And thats certainly not how I felt here. I do feel like all the folks in the process were pretty rigorous. I feel like all the arguments were considered. Things that people are asking now are not I dont think theres been a whole lot of things where someone said, Wow, I really didnt consider that before. So I think in this case, the decision-making process was pretty rigorous. I think we could do better on the transparency around it and making sure that people have a sense of the procedures around this, but that part, I think, is different from kind of the judgment that people would make given all the information at the end. Questions about the limits of acceptable state violence per Facebooks rules Facebook employee Okay. Im super pleased to hear that theres room to review and revise this rule that posts by state actors about state-sponsored use of force should stay up. Im super curious about what you think the limit of this should be and how youre thinking about the global implications. For example, police are state actors. So under current rules, if police chiefs use their platform to, say, you know, send squads out into black neighborhoods to shoot them that would still under our rules be use of state force? Similarly, in Turkey, if Erdogan directed forces to go out and shoot Kurds, that would be a legitimate use of state force? And so it would stay up? So Im curious, given what we did in Myanmar, where we removed the generals from our platform, what you see the differences is there? And then finally, history shows that violence by state actors targeting vulnerable communities even if its directed to soldiers or police its always resulted in vigilante action because it creates a vulnerable group that everyone can act against. So from the Holocaust, Erdogan, to the genocide in Myanmar. So my secondary question is whether you think the amplified danger to vulnerable communities should inform a review of the rule. Mark Zuckerberg Yeah, those are good questions. So I think well need to think through. I want to be careful not to ... I think this is an area that we need to think through, especially given that a lot of the concerns here are around excessive policing. It just strikes me that this is an area that we may need I think there were actually two reasons why it makes sense to think about where we are here. One is because the concerns were about excessive policing. The second is that we have a somewhat different set of policies around countries like a number of the ones that you mentioned, that we view either at-risk or in conflict situations. And if we were entering a period where there may be a prolonged period of civil unrest, then that might suggest that we need different policies, even if just temporarily, in the United States for some period, compared to where we were before. And we have some precedents for what that might look like, from some of the places that youve mentioned around the world where there have been ongoing violent conflict. So clearly, were in a situation where there is an ongoing, violent conflict. That is certainly its more of a tinderbox and you know, the stakes are higher if people are circulating information that sort of like we saw with Covid, where its this, its this emergency situation. So theres more content that would be classified as harmful misinformation that we might want to take down. I think that there may be something like that here. Thats an analogy that we should consider. But part of why I just you know, I felt uncomfortable changing the policy of the lines on Friday given where we are, is one, the situation is fluid, and the civil unrest is continuing and escalating. But two, its that these policies have to be developed. And its just you mentioned a bunch of examples from a lot of countries around the world. And the cultural and historical context in all these places is so different. And you want to get perspectives, from lots of diverse groups and international and all of this. And theres just no way that we can do that on the fly and put something into place that is going to not have more downstream negative consequences than positive. So kind of the way that we handle this is we try to rigorously and continuously update the policies. But when something comes up, we try to enforce within the framework and the infrastructure that we have with a constant reevaluation and kind of enhancement of what we have. So thats, I guess thats kind of a long way of saying I dont actually know this is going to land. But this is why I think that this is the thing that needs to be reconsidered. At this point its how we would change this because I just think were moving into a new reality in the United States. Or sorry, let me clarify that. My last point is, I think one aspect of it potentially an ongoing conflict as a new reality. I think the excessive use of police force is unfortunately not a new reality. And something that our policies should probably is something that I want to make sure we have another think on. Employee asks why Facebook is contorting its policies to avoid antagonizing Trump Facebook employee The catalyst for the original Trump post was about who is eligible to get ballots in California. Ill try to keep it short, but I have some quotes from policy so it might go on a little bit. So a quote from policy is that we disallow misrepresentation of who can vote ... whether a vote will be counted and what information and or materials must be provided in order to vote. We also disallow misrepresentation of the methods for voting or voter registration. And then Trump posted on Facebook Im not sure if its on Twitter that the governor of California is sending ballots to millions of people, anyone living in the state, no matter who they are and how they got there, well get one. So to me, you know, it pretty plainly misrepresents methods for voting and who can vote because it indicates that anyone in the state can vote, regardless of their voter registration status. If Im a person thats on the fence about registering, I may not bother to register to vote since Trump says that anyone gets one anyway. So this can result in the harm of suppressing voter registration. So, all that being said, my question is, you know, why are the smartest people in the world focused on contorting or sort of twisting our policies to avoid antagonizing Trump instead of driving social issue progress? Mark Zuckerberg Well, Ill spend most the time addressing the policy question you have, which I think is thats a real question and why one of the things that I think we need to raise going forward is voting by mail is clearly going to be a more contentious and important thing, given the context that were in around having a pandemic. And if you predicted three months ago, given everything weve seen with different folks and elections integrity over the last several years, is the debate going to be around vote by mail? I think the answer would be no, thats not where most of the tactics from different folks were trying to interfere in the election would be focused. So now, given the new reality around the pandemic, I think we just need to be clear around it, given that there is going to be an unprecedented amount of fear about how to go vote because a lot of people are just gonna be worried that if they go to their polling place, theyre going to get sick. I think we should take another rev on the voter suppression policies. And there are kind of two cases that immediately come to mind that Im pretty focused on, but there may be others that we need to take into account, too. So one is basically the debate that youre flagging here. On the one hand, I think theres an ongoing political debate around what the vote-by-mail policies should be in different states. But its clearly varied by state today, everyone can have an absentee ballot, but the laws around how governors send them out or distribute them or how exactly it works in different places vary, and our current consideration would be that thats a political debate. And you can certainly engage in that. And if the president or anyone else is accusing a governor of doing the wrong thing, I mean, the politicians accuse each other of different things all the time, we generally try to not get into legislative like making a legal judgment on whether what hes saying is true or whether the governor actually is doing something illegal or not. And thats kind of one set of things. But anything that was said would sort of give people the impression that if they voted by mail they would be committing fraud, or they shouldnt vote, or they dont need to register. Like youre saying, then those are the things that wed look to and be worried about. I think given the heightened importance about vote-by-mail and the selection, it would be helpful to have specifically clear guidance on where the set of like what are the parameters on what were going to enable in terms of discourse around it? What is debate around the policy and where vote-by-mail should be applied? And where are you crossing the line into, No, now youre not having a conversation with the governor of California or debating about policy. Youre talking to individuals and potentially doing something that might confuse them. Our read on this, given where things currently stand in the context that weve had, is that this shouldnt be read as bearing on an individual decision was not likely to encourage anyone basically to not register or not vote. But the former was more about the policy decision. Sorry, how to vote by mail. But thats something that I think we should consider. The other thing on voter suppression Im somewhat worried about is just that as we get closer to the election, I worry that it may be hard to distinguish between folks who are writing about the health issues of Covid existing in November, or a big resurgence of it. Folks writing about that as a health concern versus folks writing about that to discourage specific populations and specific areas to not go to the polls. And I think that that is going to be a very difficult one where Im not sure whats going to be possible on the policy side in terms of distinguishing between those two cases. But its something that Im fairly worried about. That were basically going to have a somewhat targeted effort by different folks at different areas to be talking about, Hey, theres a big health risk if you go vote here. So Im not even talking Im not even encouraging or discouraging people to do something explicitly, but just by putting that confusion and fear out there, that would create concern. So again, I guess one final thing on this is were going to have, were going to revisit and have another thought on what the policy should be around that area. But I think equally as important, if not more, will be the voter hub that I think we should go build and that were currently working on scoping out, thats going to be sort of like the Covid hub that weve had for authoritative information to make sure that regardless of what people are saying, back and forth, that theres one place that people can trust and can go to to get really accurate information, to know how to register, to know whether they have registered, whatever were going to be able to do. We want to make the civic engagement as much as possible. Employee asks how they can show support for leadership without seeming insensitive to colleagues who disagree Facebook employee Hi, Mark. Im [redacted]. I wanted to thank you for everything. I also want to observe that theres a lot of turmoil in our workplace right now. And I wanted to ask, how can employees express that they stand with you and they stand with Sheryl and they stand by M-team and they stand by the incredibly difficult decisions that you have had to make, without seeming insensitive to the incredibly real concerns of our colleagues? Mark Zuckerberg I think this is a good question. Because, you know, this is clearly, I think, a moment where we should be focused on seeing what we can do to push forward the ... anything that we can do to advance the work on racial justice. But I also want people who think that were doing the right thing on voice and expression and balancing the equities in the right place to feel like this is a safe place for them, too, right. And they can, they can, they should be able to express those views because I do think that there are a lot of reasons why giving people a voice has been valuable and will continue to be valuable for a long time. And you know, its the, you know, over time in general, we just we tend to add more policies to restrict things more and more. And I think that this, while each one is thoughtful and good and were articulating specific harms and I think thats important I do think that expression and voice is also a thing that routinely needs to be stood up for because it has the property that, you know, when something is uniformly positive, no one argues for taking it down. Its always only when theres something thats controversial. Every time theres something thats controversial, your instinct is, Okay, lets restrict a lot, then you do end up restricting a lot of things that I think will be eventually good for everyone. So thanks. Thanks for raising this. Facebook employee Thank you, thank you. About polarisation Facebook employee Hi Mark, last question. You spoke a little about do no harm. And you also spoke about freedom of speech. I was wondering if you could speak about the intersection with a third vector, which is polarization on the platform. And specifically, what is your view, sort of competing goals around free speech combined with concerns about polarization, and what youve seen and what your position is on the intersection of the two? Mark Zuckerberg Yeah, so [redacted], thanks for raising this. I mean, this is ... youre right this is as central of a part of our mission as giving people a voice. I mean, I basically read our mission as theres three parts to the mission. Theres, you know, give people the power, right, which is basically about individual voice and empowerment of individuals to build communities, right, to bring groups of people together in ways that they care about on a day-to-day basis in order to bring the world closer together. So give people the power to build community and bringing the world closer together. And the last point bring the world closer together clearly bears on this point that youre talking about, which is reducing polarization. Right. And if people are super divided and very negative towards each other, and thats kind of the opposite of bringing the world closer together. And so thats clearly something that we care about. And it speaks to kind of the end state of what were trying to work on. And the reality is that theres a lot of work that were doing, I can give a kind of a longer answer to this question because I think its the last one. But its, um, but I know theres this article in the Wall Street Journal earlier last week saying that a bunch of internal researchers came up with some research showing some ways that our products might be increasing polarization. And we didnt do anything about it. And I just have to say, I think that piece of journalism is one that I just strongly disagree with. And we tried to give the reporter all the examples of things that weve done specifically to address polarization, the newsfeed ranking changes to make sure that the news that we showed was more broadly trusted to overall reduce the prevalence of kind of news because we found that news was driving polarization more than people connecting with each other. The work that we do on groups recommendations, to make sure that things that are fringe or conspiracy theories are not the things that we go recommend to people. If you, if something doesnt violate our policies, then you can go seek out that group, but were not going to try to grow it. I can go on and on. And weve heard the engagement of our products by taking these positions, but we care about this deeply. And we will continue studying it. And that doesnt mean, you know, that if youre an individual researcher and individual engineer that every idea or every issue that youve come up with, kind of every mitigation that you propose, that were going to conclude is the right one to do. You know, some of them are more effective than others and then have bad side effects. So well kind of prioritize them. But clearly, this is definitely a top priority. I think it might be worth just because this is a big question on everyones mind summarizing some of the research that weve seen recently. The first aspect of research is that there are different aspects of polarization. Some are actually kind of healthy and normal and some are the negative ones. Where healthy polarization would be okay you have a jury deliberating, and theyre deciding on something. And initially, what happens is you have the nine people and they all kind of have different views, and then they polarize into a couple of different views or a few different views. That kind of congeals and then they argue it out. And then hopefully theres a consensus and then thats kind of, its part of the normal process of coming together, as you have that kind of polarization before you have coming together. I think thats a normal thing that society does. And then all groups of all sizes do before finding a way to come together. And a lot of scholars who studied this dont necessarily think that thats negative. What they think is negative is basically when the groups polarized in such a way that they start hating each other, or having very negative feelings about each other. And that whats been measured there is this study. Theres this measure that academics call affective polarization, which is basically their negative feelings towards a different group, and academics measure this by having a measure of something like would you let your kid or be happy if your kid married someone of x group, right some a different race, a different gender, a different ethnicity or country. And a bunch of the research that weve seen on this internally has actually concluded that if anything, on a number of those fronts, usage of social media is positive, has correlated positively, with people being more tolerant and a number of dimensions. So that is not personally surprising to me. But its certainly counter to a lot of the narratives that people have externally. On a national scale, there is a piece of research that some Stanford researchers did recently, I think, Gentzkow and a couple of other folks that were at Stanford, that study on polarization by country. And what they basically found was that polarization was trending very differently in different countries. Across Europe, there were some countries that were flat, some that were down, the US is up, especially in political polarization. And one of the conclusions that they come to is that because social media and the internet are present in all these places, and the impact on all these places is different, it is highly unlikely that social media or the internet are the primary cause of that polarization regardless of what a lot of people have wanted to say over time. So all Im saying is just to go to this point of saying we care a lot about this. Our mission at the end of the day is to empower individuals to make your voice heard, to come together and community, is knit society together and ultimately bring the world closer together. So I really care about this and were going to work hard on it and we already have it, Im sure that there are areas in our products that have a more positive impact on this and other areas where we may be having a negative impact we should be working to mitigate. I really do care about that. Its even if the uniform or the overall effect is positive or neutral. So theres a lot more to do on that. But I dont know if I address the specific part of this that you wanted me to. But I appreciate the ability to talk about that part of the mission more broadly because I think its something that just a lot of people outside the company question right now. And, frankly, I think a lot of the narratives are not backed up by a lot of the research that Ive seen or the work that weve done. Facebook employee That answers my question. And I also appreciate the time that you share because over the weekend to discuss getting additional viewpoints into the room, which was one of the earlier questions, so thank you for that as well. Mark Zuckerberg All right. Well, thank you for all tuning in for like, an hour and a half. Im sure, I know were gonna keep talking about this. Some of the issues, theyre deep, and theyre not going to go away anytime soon. And we do have a big role to play. And I get that not everyone is going to agree with everything that we do. But there are a lot of things that I think we can do. And I hope that we can find ways to positively engage to make sure that even if every decision doesnt go in the way that everyone wants, which will be impossible, that we find ways to make sure that everyone, here and outside, it feels like the net impact of the different things that were doing in the world is positive. And I really believe it is. I believe that weve given a lot of people a voice today that they wouldnt have had otherwise. I think defending the ability to do that is often controversial and means standing up sometimes for things that you disagree with personally. But I do think, over time, its served our community well, and I appreciate all of you for the dialogue on this, and we will continue it. So Im thinking of all of you and I hope you all stay safe and I will see you soon. Those charges which an attorney for Floyds family called a source of peace came on a day when peace seemed to be making a comeback, at least tentatively. After a week of aggressive use of force by police amid looting and vandalism in some cities, the tone changed. Police in many cities hung back and even marched with demonstrators, while protesters expelled vandals themselves. Michael White, a U.S. Navy veteran who was imprisoned in Iran since 2018, was released on Thursday and is heading back to the United States, U.S. and Iranian officials said, with Switzerland acting as an intermediary. The release follows months of indirect communication between the United States and Iran over American prisoners via the Swiss government, NBC News previously reported. The Swiss have overseen U.S. interests in Tehran since diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran collapsed 40 years ago. The Swiss ambassador to Iran, Markus Leitner, has traveled to Washington periodically in recent months to convey information on the status of imprisoned Americans and relay messages from Tehran, NBC News reported. Image: Michael White (Courtesy of Joanne White) For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) and I have been living a nightmare, said Joanne White, mother of Michael White. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home. Whites mother expressed gratitude to the Trump administration, the State Department, the Swiss government that had relayed messages back and forth between Tehran and Washington, and to former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for working to secure her sons release. President Donald Trump hailed White's release in a tweet and expressed gratitude to Switzerland. "I am to happy announce that Navy Veteran, Michael White, who has been detained by Iran for 683 days, is on a Swiss plane that just left Iranian Airspace. We expect him to be home with his family in America very soon," Trump wrote. "I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! Thank you Switzerland for your great assistance." The U.S. special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, planned to greet White in Zurich and will accompany him back to the United States on an American plane, according to two U.S. officials. Story continues Hopes for Whites release were raised on Wednesday when the U.S. deported Iranian scientist Sirius Asgari after acquitting him of federal charges of trading secrets related to his research. In addition, Iranian-American Majid Taheri, who was imprisoned in the U.S. on sanctions charges, was also released, Irans Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in a tweet. Pleased that Dr. Majid Taheri and Mr. White will soon be joining their families, Zarif wrote, who also mentioned Asgaris case. This can happen for all prisoners. No need for cherry picking, Zarif wrote. Despite the auspicious timing, both U.S. and Iranian officials denied that Asgaris release was part of any prisoner swap. But this weeks events resembled a prisoner exchange in December between the two countries. Another American, Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang, was released in December at the same time U.S. authorities abruptly dropped charges against an Iranian academic, Masoud Soleimani, on sanctions-related charges. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on Thursday praised the news of prisoner releases and said his government stood ready to help as needed. I welcome the humanitarian gesture of Iran and the United States that led to the release of the American and Iranian citizen. We stand ready for further facilitation, in accordance with our long-lasting tradition of good offices, Cassis tweeted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for the release of other Americans still held in Iran, including Siamak Namazi, his father Baquer, and Morad Tahbaz. While we are pleased that Iran was constructive in this matter, there is more work to do, Pompeo said in a statement. The United States will not rest until we bring every American detained in Iran and around the world back home to their loved ones. Pompeo also called for a full accounting in the case of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and is now believed to be dead. Richardson and his associates were also engaged in discussions with Iran to try to win the release of White. According to Richardson, the talks dating back to last year were aimed at forging an agreement for a series of prisoner releases and humanitarian gestures on both sides. But those efforts were complicated by tensions that erupted in December culminating in a Jan. 3 U.S . drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. White, who was in fragile health and had been undergoing treatment for cancer before his detention in July 2018, was granted medical furlough in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. He had been arrested after visiting a girlfriend in Iran whom he had met online. White was sentenced to 13 years in prison after he was convicted of insulting the country's top leader and displaying a private photo publicly. This should have and could have been done earlier, but I am glad and relieved that Mike is on his way home to get treated and rejoin Joanne and his family, Richardson said in a statement. COVID-19 presents countries around the world, including our own, with an unprecedented challenge. The health and wellbeing of prisoners are the responsibility of the country holding them." Whites pre-existing medical conditions and compromised immune system made him vulnerable to COVID-19, Whites family had said. His mother had told NBC News she feared her son would die in Iran. After White was given a medical furlough, he was moved from a prison and transferred to a hotel, though he remained in Iranian custody, according to Richardsons statement. Eight minutes and 46 seconds seems long when people are asked to stand silent and motionless. Im sure a lot of people were wobbling at their knees and sore on their feet, Mike Silva said. We wanted people to feel and think about that, and thats the symbolic nature of what were doing here today. Silva was an organizer of a silent protest Wednesday afternoon in support of Black Lives Matter that drew about 200 people Downtown to Civic Plaza. There, they stood facing City Hall for 8 minutes and 46 seconds the length of time a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into George Floyds neck, killing him, despite Floyds pleas that he could not breathe. The Memorial Day death, recorded by a teen girl with a cellphone camera and posted online, triggered protests and violence in communities around the country, including Albuquerque. During a Wednesday night prayer service, the archbishop of Santa Fe, John C. Wester, addressed historic and contemporary racism in America. Silva, who owns Rude Boy Cookies and a sightseeing business, said the afternoon protest was a call to action. If youre going to sit and do nothing, just know that we see you and were moving on without you, he said. We wanted to rally the community to come together and do something peaceful, and show what Albuquerque is really about, Silva said. Many who participated in the silent protest stood with a fist held high or carried signs saying Justice, Peace, Our System Is Failing Us, Be the Change and Natives for Black Lives Matter. A co-organizer of the silent protest, Charles Ashley III, a technology company owner, said the manner of Floyds death was brutal. We dont want people to lose this moment, to look at it and then it just goes away. Things like this happen a lot and then we just forget about it, we stop talking about it. This time, were not going to stop talking about it and were going to continue doing things about it. And thats our ask of the community, to step up and be counted. Local actor Clifton Chadwick said he joined the silent protest because I just feel like time is running out on a lot of issues. We have to be able to stop cops from being able to kill without any retribution or justice. Steven Lucero, who owns a technology consulting company, said Floyds death and the deaths of others in the black community at the hands of police have been occurring for too long. This has to be solved and its incumbent on all of us to do so. Its a moral obligation, he said. Trish Lopez agreed. I was compelled to come out and show support for that which the black community has been telling us in every way for generations. Lopez, founder of the Teeniors program, which matches tech-savvy teens with seniors who want to learn about technology, said if anyone turned a blind eye to this before, I dont see how they can deny it in 2020. Brandon and Ashley Trebitowski came to the silent protest with their 11-year-old son, Cayden. I wanted to show him what civic responsibility looks like, and that his parents care and love people, Brandon said. The message was not lost on Cayden, who said what happened to Floyd at the hands of police officers was excessive. It makes me angry, he said. All people are the same, they are all equal and they all deserve life. MPs will resume discussing amendments to Public Enterprise Law 203/1991 on 7 June. Though the House of Representatives gave a preliminary nod to the amendments on 18 May, MPs are divided over the changes. Mohamed Wahba, a member of the Labour Committee and deputy chairman of the General Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (GEFTU), says the amendments undermine state-owned companies and the rights of their employees. The government says it wants to develop the industrial sector but this law does the opposite. It will allow publicly owned companies to be closed, said Wahba. MP Mustafa Bakri said the proposed changes constitute an attack on public sector companies and workers. The government sees the public sector as a burden, and sees privatisation as a way to offload the sector as quickly as possible. Former businessman and stock broker Hisham Tawfik, the public enterprise minister, is leading the moves against the public sector in order to promote private sector interests, argued Bakri. According to MP Osama Sharshar, Tawfik wants to disrupt the public sector and give private sector companies the upper hand in the industrial sector. MP Mohamed Fouad has argued that rather than reforming public companies in a manner that will enhance Egypts industrial capabilities, the law will result in the selling of public assets to businessmen at knockdown prices. Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal appeared to be taken aback by the array of attacks. The articles and provisions speak about liquidation [of public sector companies] as a last-ditch option, said Abdel-Aal. He argued that the law is tailored to reform public sector companies, and that only the most hopeless cases will be closed. The government is moving on multiple fronts to reform public companies in a number of strategic sectors, including spinning and weaving, steel and sugar, said Abdel-Aal. Abdel-Aal noted that Tawfik had made a lot of money from brokering on the stock exchange yet accepted the public sector portfolio so he could use his experience to reform and streamline public companies. Ahmed Samir, head of the Economic Affairs Committee, praised the amendments, saying they would help save the public industrial sector from financial and other mismanagement. The General Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (GEFTU) and the Labour Committee, however, announced their rejection of the government-drafted amendments and accused Tawfik of trying to assassinate the public sector in Egypt. After much discussion of the amendments, members agreed that they were not in the interest of workers and companies in the industrial sector, said Labour Committee head Gibali Al-Maraghi. Article 38 of the amended law states that a company incurring losses that exceed half its capital shall be liquidated. This would push 40 per cent of companies into liquidation, and consequently harm workers, said Al-Maraghi. MP Maysa Atwa noted that the amendments strip workers of representation on the boards and in assemblies of public companies, and argued the provision was an attempt to allow the liquidation of companies to go ahead without protests. The amendments clearly aim to marginalise trade unions and render them unable to defend the interests of workers in publicly-owned companies, said MP Sulaf Darwish. Al-Maraghi insisted that the aim of any changes to the current law should be to safeguard strategic industries against unfair competition, preserve the rights of workers and the public ownership of the companies, and attract investment to upgrade their performance. He argued that while the current public enterprise law, passed in 1991, was intended to modernise the public sector, it had instead been used by the government to kick off a massive privatization programme that resulted in the sale of two-thirds of publicly owned companies. The cabinet approved the amendments to the public enterprise law in a meeting on 26 February. Following the meeting the government issued a statement saying the amendments aim to update the legal rules regulating the performance of public sector companies and restructure their financial and administrative systems. Tawfik told MPs on 18 May the amendments seek to increase the contribution of public sector companies to the national economy. The changes oblige holding companies and their subsidiaries to fully abide by transparency and governance regulations. The public assemblies of companies will be required to improve governance, oversee company boards, and remove boards that deliver poor results and fail to secure profits. Tawfik argued the current composition of boards, which include both shareholders and workers representatives, undermines the performance of public sector companies. Shareholders who invest money should have the upper hand in selecting board members who will upgrade performance and boost production, said Tawfik. According to Tawfik, the amendments require any changes in public companies even the establishing of a new production line to be first approved by an investment committee which will review the economic feasibility of new projects. The aim of this amendment is to stem the tide of losses in public sector companies, he said. In fiscal year 2017-18, 48 companies affiliated with the public enterprise sector incurred LE16 billion in losses and amassed LE44 billion in debts, said Tawfik. This is no longer acceptable, and we need to act to end such losses as soon as possible. The 121 companies affiliated to the public enterprise sector employ an estimated 250,000 workers. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 June, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: NEW YORK - A dying Ponzi king Bernard Madoff lost his bid for early release from prison Thursday when the judge who sentenced him to 150 years behind bars said he intended for him to die there and nothing has happened in the last 11 years to change his mind. Judge Denny Chin, who now sits on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, noted the continuing suffering of Madoffs thousands of victims who lost $17.5 billion when a decades-long scheme that deceived them into thinking their money was invested properly was exposed in December 2008. I also believe that Mr. Madoff was never truly remorseful, and that he was only sorry that his life as he knew it was collapsing around him. Even at the end, he was trying to send more millions of his ill-gotten gains to family members, friends, and certain employees, Chin wrote. The judge said hed reviewed public statements made by Madoff, 82, and found they show that he has never fully accepted responsibility for his actions and that he even faults his victims. Madoff, housed at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, through his lawyers had requested compassionate release, which lets some prisoners go home if they are likely to die within 18 months. Attorney Brandon Sample, representing Madoff, said in a statement he was disappointed with the ruling. He said he now hopes President Donald Trump would consider commuting the sentence. We implore the President to personally consider Madoffs rapidly declining health, Sample said. Prison authorities had determined Madoff was likely to die within 18 months of kidney disease. Sample had argued that Madoff was confined to a wheelchair and wanted to contest claims by prosecutors that he has failed to show remorse. Prosecutors opposed the request, saying 500 victims opposed early release and only 20 letters were written by victims in support of release. A trustee has recovered roughly $14 billion for investors, but the damage to victims was worsened because Madoff created fraudulent statements to suggest their investments had grown enormously, authorities said. The fraud was exposed in December 2008 as the national economy collapsed. Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced by Chin in the summer of 2009. Chin said in his written decision Thursday that in 2009 it was fully my intent that he live out the rest of his life in prison. He noted that Madoffs lawyers then had asked for a sentence of as little as a dozen years, hoping their client would again see the light of day. I was not persuaded, Chin said. I did not believe that Mr. Madoff was deserving of that hope. Nothing has happened in the 11 years since to change my thinking. A man who allegedly ran over a toddler and killed her while she was playing in her driveway has been charged with careless driving. One-year-old Lilah Brooks died after being hit by a car in the driveway of her Hams Rd home in Ohaupo, New Zealand about 2.50pm on December 9. A 52-year-old man appeared in Hamilton District Court on Wednesday where he was charged with careless operation of a vehicle. He did not enter a plea and is due to reappear in court on June 18, Stuff reported. One-year-old Lilah Brooks died after being hit by a car in the driveway of her Hams Rd home in Ohaupo, New Zealand about 2.50pm on December 9 Lilah's heartbroken mother Brittany Hall described her as a 'beautiful soul' who had a love for dancing and music. 'She was such a cheeky girl with the most stubborn personality and would never let anyone feed her because she had to do it herself,' she said. 'I can not even begin to express the sadness and loss we are feeling.' 'Lilah will be so so dearly missed.' As part of efforts to enhance its national testing capacity, global diagnostics company Randox has announced an investment of 30m in a new specialised COVID-19 testing lab. The healthcare firm, which is currently conducting COVID-19 tests as part of the national testing programme, announced its investment in the new facilities based at the Randox Science Park in Antrim, Northern Ireland, during a visit yesterday by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE. The specialised laboratory, the development of which was fast-tracked over the space of four weeks, is the first step in a wider diagnostics investment programme from Randox. The opening of the new laboratory at the Randox Science Park follows the companys announcement that it is recruiting new staff across Science, Engineering and Manufacturing in support of its role within the national testing programme. The 200 new positions will be involved in the testing of potential COVID-19 samples, as well as the construction of 200 new state-of-the-art diagnostic analysers which will significantly increase Randoxs capacity for COVID-19 testing. Welcoming the investment, Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis MP said, "I was impressed during my visit with the dedication of staff and the top-class facilities at Randox. This investment will help support the UKs nationwide effort to fight the coronavirus and ultimately save lives." Source: www.businessworld.ie New Delhi, June 4 : Even as Covid cases are rising in the national capital, the Delhi government has issued an order directing that no emergency procedure should be delayed for the lack of a Covid-19 test. The new guidelines for testing of Covid-19 patients was issued on June 2 by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) and were based on the new guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research on May 18. The major difference in the order was while the ICMR allowed both asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case to be tested once between day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact, the DGHS says direct and high-risk contacts -- diabetic, hypertension, cancer patients and senior citizens -- of a confirmed case are to be tested once between day five and day 10 of coming into contact with a confirmed case. It has eliminated all those who are direct contacts of an infected person but do not have comorbidities or are not senior citizens. "No emergency procedure (including deliveries) should be delayed for lack of test," it said, adding samples can be sent for testing if any other criteria is fulfilled as per the order. The DGHS order says all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) individuals with history of international travel in the last 14 days, all symptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases, all symptomatic healthcare workers or frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of Covid-19, and all patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) are to be tested. Also, all symptomatic people within hotspots or containment zones, all hospitalised patients who develop ILI symptoms, all symptomatic among returnees and migrants within seven days of illness are to be tested, the order said. It says that the ILI case is defined as "one with acute respiratory infection with fever more than 38 degrees Celsius and cough". Similarly, SARI case is defined as "one with acute respiratory infection with fever more than 38 degrees Celsius and cough and requires hospitalisation". All testing in these categories have been recommended to be done by "real time RT-PCR tests only", the order said. The coronavirus cases in the national capital witnessed a jump of 1,359 cases in a day, taking the total tally to 25,004 while the death toll has reached 650, the Delhi Health Department said on Thursday. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone declared systemic racism a public safety and health emergency as he outlined 10 steps developed by Campaign Zero that will help address various issues surrounding police brutality. The plan includes demilitarizing police departments, creating civilian oversight committees sand implementing training for officers. No one should fear for their lives because of the color of their skin. No one should have to grieve the loss of a loved one, friend, or stranger who died because they were black. No one should have to fear those who are sworn to protect and serve, Curtatone said in a statement. We have long been striving to develop and uphold the highest standards of fair, safe, just, and compassionate community policing in Somerville. These initiatives are neither the beginning nor the end of this vital effort. The 10 steps are as follows: Declaring a local state of emergency officially deeming systemic racism a threat to public health and safety. Establishing an independent, civilian oversight structure of the Somerville Police Department with membership representative of the communitys diversity. Launching immediate efforts to eliminate the inherent conflicts of interest arising from police officers internally investigating allegations of misconduct by fellow officers: Somerville has filed a petition to remove the internal investigation oversight position from Somerville Police Superior Officers Association (one of two police unions). A call for the creation of an independent special prosecutor at the state level to review and where appropriate to prosecute cases of potentially criminal police misconduct rather than leaving this authority with county district attorneys. Submitting a resolution to the City Council reiterating the critical need to implement body-worn cameras in the Police Department, an initiative the City has been pursuing with police union leadership since 2015. Curtatone will submit a resolution next week reiterating the need for officers to wear and use body cameras. Instituting asset forfeiture funding policies that limit the use of these monies to two purposes. The first is to provide prevention and substance use recovery, mental and behavioral health, and other services and resources -- primarily through the Citys Community Outreach, Health and Recovery (COHR) Office -- to support residents and divert them from the criminal justice system. The second aspect included using funding for training Somerville police officers in implicit bias, de-escalation, crisis intervention, health and mental wellness, and other similar training. A call for statewide action to address the gaping deficiencies of the Civil Service system combined with local civilian review of whether the Somerville Police Department (SPD) should pursue legislative action to depart from the Civil Service system in order to ease the Citys ability to hire and promote officers who reflect the communitys values and diversity and who have the skills necessary for policing in the 21st century. A commitment to further demilitarization and an end to Somervilles participation in federal military weaponry distribution to local police departments, which the Somerville Police Department already significantly curtailed in recent years. A commitment to diligently and persistently pursue further reforms. We have been systematically transforming our approach to policing from an outdated model focused on arrests to one that acknowledges and responds to the needs of the community and is focused on compassion, de-escalation, and crisis intervention, Somerville Police Chief David Fallon said in a statement. Im proud that our officers are committed to continually evolving how we protect the health and welfare of our community. But we have more work to do. Curtatone said his office will include in its proposed fiscal year 2021 budget funding to hire an independent facilitator to help establish and lead a task force charged with developing recommendations for a civilian oversight and advisory structure for the Somerville Police Department. Responsibilities of the committee, Curtatone said, may include evaluating and recommending changes to the police departments use of force policies, investigating alleged officer misconduct, evaluating the hiring, promotion, internal investigation, and discipline policies of the department. We need to bring new voices and perspectives into the oversight and rank and file of the police department, Curtatone said in a release. This committee will play a critical role in establishing and maintaining trust between the community and the police. The funding is subject to City Council approval. Somerville officials said the city had already scaled back their participation in a Department of Defense program that provides military weaponry to local police departments. The city said the Somerville Police Department will now formally withdraw from the program. Our officers are not soldiers on a battlefield, and they should not be equipped with military-grade gear and weapons, Curtatone said. Militarizing the police makes it difficult for residents to feel safe approaching and interacting with officers, increases risk, and sets an overall hostile, confrontational tone. In the statement, Curtatone also emphasized the steps announced on Wednesday are the first and not the last in a movement to address systematic racism. Its time for sustained and responsive action, Curtatone said. We are listening. We are learning. We too are grieving. And we are committed to continuing this work. The fact that something is missing on todays list of new steps doesnt mean we arent looking at it. Were looking at everything. There is more to come. Related Content: E xtraordinary details of the impact of coronavirus on Londons biggest NHS hospital trust were revealed today. Barts Health said 621 patients with Covid-19, including four of its staff, had died but almost 2,000 lives had been saved. At the peak of the pandemic on April 8, the trust was treating 616 Covid-positive patients across four hospitals the Royal London, St Bartholomews, Whipps Cross and Newham of whom 135 required critical care. Thirty patients died that day. Forty per cent of all inpatient beds were taken by Covid patients. Its critical care units were operating at 110 per cent capacity. Plans were agreed to rapidly open 176 new critical care beds on two floors of the Royal London that had not been occupied since the new hospital opened in 2012. A week earlier, staff absences peaked at 2,287 off work, mostly self-isolating because they, or their households, had symptoms. The number of staff who fell sick with the virus increased to 3,436 by the end of April. A total of 500 were still shielding this week. The trust first realised the pandemic had reached east London when an elderly man with breathing difficulties tested positive after being admitted to the Royal London, in Whitechapel, at the start of March. A report to the Barts Health board reveals: Within hours, about 30 staff in contact with him were identified and sent home to self-isolate. "Another case was confirmed, and the numbers across the trust started doubling every few days. Within a week a staff member at Whipps Cross tested positive, and on March 12 a patient at St Bartholomews with underlying health conditions sadly died. The staff to die with Covid were Miharajiya Mohideen, a healthcare assistant at Newham hospital; Van Lang Hoang, a patient transport driver; Mark Woolcock, an ambulance care assistant; and Dr Habibhai Babu, a medic at Whipps Cross. More than 550 staff have sought psychological help for the mental strain they have suffered. The trust, which also includes Mile End hospital, serves east London communities that have been among the most affected in the UK by coronavirus. Loading.... As of yesterday morning, the number of Covid-positive patients across the trust had fallen to 89, with nine in intensive care. Hospital bosses are now attempting to restart as many non-Covid services as possible while preparing for a second wave. The report, by trust director of communications Jon Hibbs, said: In the face of the greatest public health challenge the NHS has faced in its history, our staff have worked selflessly and tirelessly to treat and care for our patients. Almost 2,000 people have recovered from serious respiratory illness as a result of their efforts. The number of new patients arriving in our hospitals for Covid-19 treatment has slowed to a trickle and the number of affected inpatients we are caring for has dropped below 100 for the first time in 10 weeks. Trust chiefs had the added responsibility of running the Nightingale field hospital, at the ExCeL conference centre. It opened on April 3, cost 5 million and treated 51 patients, of whom 18 died. It is now on standby and ready to be reactivated within 10 days. Between March 12 and May 14, there were 575 confirmed Covid-19 deaths across the trust. Whipps Cross had most, at 229. Three-quarters of the patients survived and no patient under 30 died. The taxes, managed by Israel under 1990s accords, make up over half of the budget of the Palestinian. The Palestinians said on Wednesday that they were rejecting taxes collected on their behalf by Israel, an escalation of measures in protest of Israels plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. The taxes, managed by Israel under 1990s accords, make up over half of the budget of the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians snubbed the handovers for several months last year after Israel trimmed the cash in retaliation for their funding for the families of jailed or slain fighters. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having last month secured a new government and annexing the West Banks Jewish settlements, and Jordan Valley on the agenda, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared bilateral deals null. Ibrahim Melhem, spokesman for the Palestinian government, said in a statement that it had rejected the May tax levies in compliance with the leadership decision to stop all forms of coordination with Israel. Israels Finance Ministry declined to comment. It was not immediately clear how the PA, its economy already hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, could function should it continue doing without the approximately $190m in monthly taxes. Abbas previously said his security forces would stop helping Israel stem violence in the West Bank, among territories where the Palestinians, with international support, seek statehood. Abbass peace talks with Israel stalled in 2014, and he is boycotting the Trump administration for perceived bias. Israel and the US have appeared to prefer to see the PA stay afloat rather than West Bank Palestinians revert to full Israeli rule. Georgia authorities say they have arrested a group of vandals accused of tracking two metro-Atlanta officers to their homes and trying to set their patrol cars on fire. Alvin Joseph, 21, Lakaila Mack, 20, and Ebuka Chike-Morah, 21, all face multiple charges, including first-degree arson, in the June 2 incident, according to police reports obtained by McClatchy News. Gwinnett County police received a report late Tuesday about a patrol car on fire at an officers home in Duluth. A witness who spoke with police said she noticed three black males fleeing the area and reported what sounded like gun shots, although one suspect was later identified as a female, according to the report. Authorities said the fire was put out by the time officers arrived, but there was noticeable damage. Gwinnett County police reported damage to one of its cruisers after a group of vandals reportedly tried setting it on fire. Pieces of glass, filled or coated with accelerant coupled with a wick, was thrown at the driver side window of the county vehicle, according to the police report. Another jar may have been placed on top ... just behind the light bar. A piece of burning cloth was recovered. Later, police got a similar call about someone trying to torch a patrol car at an officers home, this time in nearby Lawrenceville, according to the report. The blaze was started on the ground behind the car and officers noticed a pair of dents on the drivers side of the vehicle, the department said. Police arrested Joseph and Mack a short time later after tracking down their car, the police report states. Chike-Morahs car was located and the suspect was apprehended the following morning. Police conducted a search of both vehicles where they found an accelerant related to the crimes, according to the report. Authorities said the suspects used makeshift Molotov cocktails to target the officers cars. No injuries were reported. Enough is enough Atlanta suburb protest brings large crowd Chike-Morah attended a protest in honor of slain man George Floyd at the Sugarloaf Mills Mall days earlier and said he hoped things remained peaceful, local station WSB-TV reported. Story continues Were going to continue walking until we dont feel like walking no more, he told the news station. They unloaded the bus trying to catch us but Im not getting got. I can speak for myself. I dont know what they got going on. Im just trying to go home and go to work tomorrow, Chike-Morah added, WSB-TV reported. The suspect and his alleged accomplices now face several charges that include criminal trespass, possession and manufacturing of destructive device, and interference with government property a felony. Joseph went before a judge Wednesday, WSB-TV reported. Mack and Chike-Morah are expected in court Thursday. All three remain held at the Gwinnett County Jail without bond, police said. She tried to develop a peaceful dialogue with him, she said, but this man was trying to put words into our mouths. He started screaming that we think that all cops are bad and that we want to ruin the city." Enhanced Healthcare Partners , a leading New York-based private equity firm specializing in middle-market healthcare businesses, facilitated the business merger through a joint recapitalization to form a new company, EA-Synergy. EA-Synergy will offer clinical staffing and performance management services for emergency medicine, emergency department surgical services, and specialty physician on-call services. Its leadership team includes executives from both organizations and will be led by Chief Executive Officer Sriram Iyer, former CEO of EA Health. Industry veteran Bill Sanger, former chairman and CEO of Envision Healthcare, will become chairman of EA-Synergy. "There exists a tremendous opportunity for innovation in managing the complexities of today's emergency departments," said Sanger. "Our company will leverage significant leadership experience, analytics, and a 'physician-first' culture to drive results for our hospital clients." Synergy Surgicalists was founded in 2012 in Bozeman, Montana, and provides outsourced surgical staff (or "surgicalists") to approximately 50 hospitals across the U.S. in response to hospital systems who struggle to find doctors willing to do full-time on-call emergency room work, particularly in rural areas. EA Health was founded in 1992 in San Diego, California, and offers data analytics, revenue-cycle management services and physician staffing services to help hospitals and doctors manage emergency medical programs. In addition to providing outsourced emergency and surgical staffing, EA Health gathers data across a range of issues to help hospitals better coordinate their staffing and manage physician compensation costs. Driven by the belief that an integrated emergency medicine model offers greater efficiency and efficacy, EA-Synergy will leverage EA Health's technology, including its robust analytical tools, to offer physicians and hospitals valuable insight that will encourage modernization of emergency medicine. EA-Synergy will offer coordinated medical care to patients originating in the emergency department and delivered by front-line emergency physicians and call panel physiciansincluding surgicalists and specialty physiciansboth in-person and via telemedicine. About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on the global middle market. The firm advises private and public corporations and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, capital markets, financial restructurings, valuations and opinions, and other strategic matters. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, and San Antonio. The firm is also a founding member of Global M&A Partners, enabling BGL to service clients in more than 30 countries around the world. Securities transactions are conducted through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company Securities, Inc., an affiliate of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC and a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com. SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Related Links https://www.bglco.com US sanctions won't impact HK: Lam Global Times By Yang Sheng and Chen Qingqing Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/3 21:48:40 UK meddling in HK affairs could have 'serious consequences' Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she is committed to fully supporting and pushing forward the formulation of the national security law, and she condemned the US and the UK for their double-standards on the issue at a press briefing after she had met with senior central government officials in Beijing on Wednesday. The UK is closely following the US with further actions to meddle in China's national security legislation for HKSAR, and the UK foreign secretary even called on China to "step back from the brink" by threatening to form an international alliance to pressure China on Hong Kong affairs. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded, "We also advise the British side to step back from the brink." Lam arrived in Beijing together with Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng, Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force Chris Tang and Secretary for Security John Lee on Tuesday, and met with Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng and other senior officials of the central government, including State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi, and Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Xia Baolong on Wednesday. Han is now the head of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, and Zhao is the deputy head of the group. The Xinhua News Agency reported this is the first formal appearance of the group. After the meeting, Lam held a press conference at the Office of the HKSAR Government in Beijing with other senior Hong Kong officials, and said that "the meeting lasted three hours," during which Vice Premier Han pointed out the law won't affect the legitimate rights of the majority of Hong Kong people, as it only targets a very few people, behavior and activities endangering national security. From May 21 to 22, Lam went to Beijing for the "two sessions." Within two weeks, Lam returned to Beijing with major officials from the Hong Kong Disciplinary Services She claimed that both the HKSAR government and the central government won't be intimidated by growing external pressure. "I hope other countries would respect China's firm stance on the matter, and won't take unilateral measures that would lead to a negative influence," Lam said in response to pressures from countries like the US and the UK over the national security legislation for Hong Kong. Despite external pressures, the pace of formulating and enacting the national security law would further accelerate given the active attitude of the HKSAR government, Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong affairs at Nankai University in Tianjin, told the Global Times on Wednesday. "The meeting with senior central government officials also served as an opportunity to report public sentiment from Hong Kong, including those from the legal profession and other sectors, on this law to the top authority," Li said, noting that as the law would be introduced to Hong Kong through Annex III of the Basic Law, it also requires a full-fledged and dynamic coordination between central and local authorities. China's sovereignty issue is now being undermined in Hong Kong as forces advocating separatism and even terrorism are on the rise in HKSAR. The central government has no other alternative but to take stringent action to safeguard the "one country" of the "one country, two systems" policy, Lam said. Some foreign governments have been adopting latent double standards when dealing with and commenting on the national security legislation, Lam said. "It is within the legitimate jurisdiction of any country to enact the law. The US is no exception, and the UK is no exception," Lam said, asking why they oppose the legislation and even threatened to impose sanctions on the HKSAR and the People's Republic of China for taking similar action. Chinese mainland analysts said the Trump administration is ordering military and police forces to handle the nationwide riots in the US and even conduct law enforcement brutally, which led to casualties to protesters and the police. This is far worse than Hong Kong police's handling of the 2019 turmoil. So, the US and its allies are now even more unqualified and less convincing to make any comment on Hong Kong. "The special status of Hong Kong comes from the Basic Law, including the independent tariff zone, free port and global financial center. And the US sanctions, such as revoking its special treatment of Hong Kong, which gives the city favorable trade, won't have any impact on the HKSAR," Lam said at the press briefing. UK gets drunk Apart from the US, the UK is now making a new move to further interfere in China's national security legislation for Hong Kong. In a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a cross-party group of seven former foreign secretaries says that the UK government "must be seen to lead the international response" as China pushes for the national security legislation, BBC reported on Monday. The former cabinet members expressed their concern at what they call China's "flagrant breach" of Sino-British agreements, according to BBC. They urged Johnson to set up an "international contact group" of allies to coordinate any joint action, similar to that set up in 1994 to try to end the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that these UK politicians are making a serious mistake, as it seems like they are still living in their old dream of a Great British Empire. "China is much more powerful and united than the former Yugoslavia, and the West today is far weaker and less influential than it was in the 1990s, so if they use the approach for the Balkans in the 1990s to interfere in China's internal affairs, they will definitely receive disastrous and unbearable retaliation," he said. Many Chinese web users also mocked the move by UK politicians. "After Brexit, London is getting more and more drunk. It seems like they are addicted to the illusion of the 'empire on which the sun never sets'," read one comment that received hundreds of likes on guancha.cn, a Chinese news website. A Downing Street spokesman insisted that the UK government was already playing a leading role with international partners in urging China to "think again." Li Haidong said that after Brexit, the UK has decided to stand closer with the US under the Trump administration, so this time those UK politicians wanted to show how important they are to their biggest ally. He added that the UK has many hidden interests in Hong Kong, including intelligence, finance, and business. It can even intervene in the HKSAR's jurisdiction as it has special influence over the city's legal system. "If China finalized the national security legislation for the HKSAR, many of these hidden interests will disappear, and the UK and the US can no longer use Hong Kong to challenge and influence the Chinese mainland, and they will also be unable to conduct activities in the city to harm China's national security," Li Haidong said, " This is why they are getting nervous.". Step back from the brink A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy to Britain said on Tuesday that China expresses grave concern about and strong opposition to such flagrant interference in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs. "We urge the relevant UK politicians to accept the fact that Hong Kong is now part of China, to observe the principle of noninterference in other country's internal affairs, and to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs, in any form," said the spokesperson. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, "The UK would not turn a blind eye." He also said the new security legislation "very clearly violates" the autonomy that is guaranteed under Chinese law as well as that in the 1997 agreement, BBC reported on Monday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday, "China expresses strong dissatisfaction with this and firmly opposes it. We have made solemn representations to the British side." The Sino-British Joint Declaration does not contain any words or clauses that entrust the UK with any responsibility for Hong Kong after its return to China in 1997, and the UK has "no sovereignty, governance or supervision over the returned Hong Kong," Zhao said. Therefore, the British side has no right to use the "Sino-British Joint Statement" to make irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs and interfere in China's internal affairs, he remarked. Raab confirmed that the UK will allow those who hold British National (Overseas) (BNO) passports to come to the UK and apply to study and work for an extendable 12-month period. On this matter, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson said the UK had explicitly pledged in an MOU exchanged with China that BNO passport holders who are Chinese citizens residing in Hong Kong will not have the right of abode in the UK. "If the UK is bent on changing this unilaterally, it will not only go against its own position and promise, but also violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations," the Chinese Embassy spokesperson said. On the impact that the national security law will have on Hong Kong, Zhao said that the law only targeted very few acts that seriously endanger China's national security and will not affect Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. "Neither the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents nor the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong will be affected. The law is conducive to the better implementation of the 'one country, two systems' policy and to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability," Zhao noted. Raab said the UK's plan to build an international alliance is aimed at forcing China to "step back from the brink." Zhao responded, "We also advise the British side to step back from the brink, abandon its Cold War and colonial mentality, recognize and respect the fact that Hong Kong has returned to and is an SAR of China, abide by the basic principles of international law and international relations, and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs. Otherwise, the UK will lift the stone and hit its own feet." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The former boyfriend of a Colorado woman who vanished in 2016 has been indicted for her murder after being arrested in Russia, where he had been living with his new wife and child. The Arapahoe County Grand Jury issued its indictment charging Jeffrey Beier, 46, with first-degree murder and other counts in the disappearance of Charlene Voight, 36, back in August 2019, but it only announced on Monday following the suspect's arrest overseas. According to the indictment, Beier was in a relationship with Voight and she was living with him in Littleton, Colorado, at the time of her disappearance on June 30, 2016. Jeffrey Beier, 46 (left), has been indicted for murder, sexual assault and evidence tampering in disappearance of his girlfriend Charlene Voight, 36 (right) Voight vanished from Littleton, Colorado, in June 2016, and Beier later relocated to Russia and married another woman there Voight is presumed dead but her body has not been recovered. Her case was featured in Dateline NBC's Missing in America series in 2016. Beier is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation; first-degree felony murder; sexual assault; attempt to influence a public servant; tampering with evidence; aggravated animal cruelty, and third-degree assault. The animal cruelty count is related to the corpse of a beheaded dog, believed to be Voight's pet Chihuahua, Toby, which was discovered among her personal items that Beier had disposed of in a landfill just days after the woman's disappearance. The head of the decapitated dog was never found. 'I am proud to be able to tell the family of Miss Voight that the men and women of my department worked for four years to see this day,' stated Littleton Police Chief Doug Stephens. 'My heart goes out to them, knowing that they are mourning the loss of their sister and daughter. I hope this arrest is a step that will help them move toward healing.' Voight was last seen in Littleton on June 30, 2016. Her parents last heard from her on June 29, and reported her missing on July 8. Beier is suspected of killing Voight and beheading her Chihuahua, Toby. The animal's corpse was later found wrapped in his owner's sweater in a landfill Police later found the woman's car abandoned in a dirt lot, which Beier reportedly had purchased just days prior. When police searched an apartment located just steps away from the lot, they reportedly found blood spatter on the bed headboard, a mattress missing and a piece of carpet that had been cut out and removed, according to the indictment. Four days after Voight was reported missing, Beier was arrested for first-degree sexual assault and third-degree assault involving another woman. According to the indictment in that case, on the night of June 30, when Voight was last seen alive, she and her boyfriend had friends over to their apartment, where they drank alcohol and used cocaine. Witnesses allegedly stated that Beier invited one of the female guests into the bedroom to discuss a business matter, where he beat and raped her, leaving her bloodied. Voight moved to Colorado in 2015 to be with Beier after completing her studies in California Earlier in the evening, multiple witnesses reported seeing Beier hit Voight in the face and tell her to shut up. In September of that year, the charges against Beier were dropped after prosecutors concluded that pursuing the rape and assault charges against him would adversely affect their investigation into Voight's disappearance. According to the indictment, investigators looked into Beier's activities in the days following Voight's disappearance, and discovered he had withdrawn $7,000 in cash from his bank account, bought a gallon of lighter fluid, drove to an abandoned farm, and stopped by the landfill in Commerce City, where four months later police would find the woman's dead dog wrapped in her red sweater. Beier moved to Moscow, Russia, in November 2016, possibly after crossing the border into Canada, and married a woman there on Valentine's Day in 2017. The following year, the couple welcomed a baby daughter together. In July 2019, his new wife contacted police in Littleton, Colorado, and reported that Beier had repeatedly beaten her and strangled her, including while she was holding their infant in her arms, and had brought a new girlfriend to come live with them, which prompted her to file for divorce. '[Russian wife] stated that Jeff told her he came to Russia because he was told there is no extradition treaty,' according to the indictment. Records indicate that Beier and Voight had a history of domestic violence dating back to 2012 Voight had previously lived with Beier in San Clemente, California. In February 2012, she filed for a restraining order after he grabbed, slapped and choked her and dragged her around the house. Beier, who had a history of abuse dating back to 2007 involving his ex-wife, pleaded guilty in the domestic violence incident and served jail time for it in 2013. The couple later reconciled and moved to Colorado. Voight returned to her native California in 2015 to complete the final year of her degree in landscape architecture at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. After graduating in the spring of 2016, she returned to Colorado and moved in with Beier. If convicted of first-degree murder, Beier faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole under Colorado law. It is unclear when Beier will be returned to Colorado to face the charges against him; no court dates will be scheduled until he is physically present in the Arapahoe County Detention Center. 'Nobody should be able to walk away from murder,' stated District Attorney George Brauchler. 'I will do everything in my power to bring a perpetrator to justice. I am pleased that in the death of Charlene Voight, there is now a process in place to accomplish that.' A few Democratic senators took a knee at the Capitol Thursday during a more than eight-minute moment of silence for George Floyd, whose death at the hands of a white cop sparked widespread unrest. Following a prayer from New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, caucus members, each standing six from the next and wearing facial coverings, observed an eight minute and 46 second moment of silence the amount of time a video shows police officer Derek Chauvin's knee lodged on Floyd's neck. Senators Michael Bennet of Colorado, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland were the senators who knelt to the ground in solidarity with black people demanding justice. The rest remained standing with their heads lowered in silence. 'Today we gather here in solemn reverence to not just mark his tragic death but to give honor to his life,' Booker said. 'George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor. May we honor those dead by protecting all who are alive,' Booker said after the moment of silence. Five Democratic senators took a knee during an eight minute 46 second silence for George Floyd The caucus gathered in the Capitol on Thursday to have a moment of silence for Floyd after he was killed during an arrest on Memorial Day, sparking nationwide unrest, protests and riots This was the first time Democratic senators were all able to meet in-person after months due to the coronavirus pandemic The eight minutes 46 seconds was observed since that was the time period a white cop was shown kneeling on Floyd's (pictured) neck in a bystander video that went viral After a few minutes of Floyd complaining that he was in pain and could not breath with Derek Chauvin's (pictured) knee on his neck he went limp and became unresponsive A bystander filming the incident between Floyd and Chauvin and four other cops on Memorial Day shows the police officer kneeling on the victim's neck while he said he was in pain and could not breathe. After a few minutes, Floyd was rendered unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead after an ambulance took him away from the scene. Video of the incident, which went viral last week sparked riots and protests and civil unrest in cities all over the country, and while demonstrations became more civil in recent days, there were several nights of looting, arson and destruction. Chauvin is facing second-degree murder charges in Minnesota, an upgrade from the previous third-degree murder and manslaughter charges that were levied against the former police officer last week. The three other officers involved in the deadly arrest, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Tomas Lane, were charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting in second-degree murder. All four were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department the day after Floyd died. Law enforcement expressed their solidarity with protesters by kneeling on the streets. Here officers take a knee in San Francisco on Wednesday Some officers also knelt alongside demonstrators, who were levels more peaceful on Wednesday than in days past, which were riddled with riots, looting and arson Booker described the silence as a 'very painful moment' and said his fellow senators feel 'a deep level of anguish, actually, and anger and hurt.' 'They, like so many Americans, want to do something,' he told reporters on Capitol Hill of Democratic colleagues. 'And we all know we're all working on legislation but the conversations that led to this was because people feel, in my opinion, that we need to do more.' 'For all of us, this would be a moment of solidarity and sort of sharing common spirited grief so it was very moving to me to see everyone,' he added. The meeting Thursday was the first time the Senate Democratic Caucus has come together in-person in several months in light of the coronavirus pandemic limiting non-virtual or distanced gatherings. During their lunch meeting, senators also remained socially distanced and wore masks. The killing of a pregnant elephant in Keralas Mallapuram has angered the country with political leaders and eminent personalities condemning the heinous incident. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said that the Central government has taken a very serious note of the incident. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill, Javadekar said in a tweet. Watch: Kerala elephant killing | Will nab and punish the culprits: Prakash Javadekar Also read: Virat Kohli, Sunil Chhetri, Saina Nehwal speak out on death of pregnant elephant Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill.@moefcc @PIB_India @PIBHindi Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 4, 2020 The incident took place on May 27 when the pregnant elephant died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw. According to officials, the 15-year-old pregnant elephant died after consuming a pineapple laden with firecrackers. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi slammed the Kerala government for not taking animal cruelty seriously. Mallapuram is known for its intense criminal activity especially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it. I can only suggest that you call/email and ask for action, she tweeted. Mallapuram is know for its intense criminal activity specially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it. I can only suggest that you call/email and ask for action pic.twitter.com/ii09qmb7xW Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) June 3, 2020 Along with her tweet, Gandhi attached a document claiming that about 600 elephants are killed by the temples by breaking their legs, beating and starving them and otherwise by private owners by insuring them and then deliberately drowning them or giving them gangrene by putting rusted nails on them. I talk to the department almost every week about an elephant and they do absolutely nothing. She also asked for the removal of Keralas Forest Secretary. The minister (for wildlife protection), if he has any sense, should resign. Rahul Gandhi is from that area, why has he not taken action?, she told ANI. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 04:26:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addresses the guests at a campaign event for restarting the tourism sector in Athens, Greece, on June 4, 2020. Greece is gradually opening to tourists, with public health, the safety of foreign visitors and tourism staff at the core of the government's plan to restart the tourism industry, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Greece is gradually opening to tourists, with public health, the safety of foreign visitors and tourism staff at the core of the government's plan to restart the tourism industry, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday. Addressing a campaign event for restarting the tourism sector, Mitsotakis said this summer would be entirely different due to the pandemic and Greece would fall short of last year's record of 33 million arrivals. The tourism industry worldwide -- including the Greek one, which is a traditional pillar of the national economy -- has been hit hard by the pandemic, Mitsotakis noted. "We hope to welcome visitors above all in safety, which is our top priority," Mitsotakis said. He stressed that all necessary hygiene protocols will be applied to ensure that Greeks and foreign nationals will feel relaxed and safe while enjoying the Greek summer. As of June 15, Greece will be welcoming tourists from 29 countries with positive epidemiological data, including China, at the airports of Athens and Thessaloniki. The tourists will be subject only to sample testing for COVID-19 upon arrival, Greek authorities have announced. From June 15 until at least June 30, all other travelers arriving from an airport on the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) list of affected areas with a high risk of transmission of COVID-19 will be subject to obligatory testing. They will have to spend at least one night at a designated hotel at the Greek state's expenses. As of July 1, international flights will be allowed into all Greek airports and visitors will be subject to random tests. Greece was in full lockdown from March 23 until May 4. In the past few weeks, the government has been gradually lifting restrictions after viral curves flattened. The country has registered 2,952 infections, including 180 deaths, since the first case was confirmed on Feb. 26. When I called Dean Kyne, director of UT Rio Grande Valleys Disaster Studies Program, for tips on preparing for my first hurricane season, his thoughts on how people were getting ready for continual storms were pretty glum. What were seeing recently is more and more people now numb to natural disasters, Kyne told me. It is really alarming that disaster preparedness is really low. The to-do list he gave me scrambling together both a go-bag and shelter-in-place kit, setting up out-of-town emergency contacts, finding a safe place to travel inland felt overwhelming, more so because coronavirus had already exacerbated my anxiety. Preparing for a hurricane is no joke, which is why I made a list of what to put together before it starts storming. Hurricane season, which officially began June 1 and ends Nov. 30, is no joke in Houston. And just a few days into the wettest part of the year, Tropical Storm Cristobal has already formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico. More Information What is this? I'm Gwendolyn Wu, and I'm writing "Houston How To," a series on how to navigate the city and its complexities. Humans have an innate drive to improve themselves, and we're always striving to live better, smarter and more efficiently by throwing countless dollars and hours at our problems. The Houston Chronicle wants to simplify that for you. As a reporter, I usually ask the questions, but I can't be the only one wondering how something works. What are things you need to know how to do, Houston? You can find me on Twitter at @gwendolynawu or by email at gwendolyn.wu@chron.com. See More Collapse Heres what you need to know about getting ready to shelter in place, and preparing to evacuate in a major natural disaster. Whats in a kit? Before you make a pricey big-box retailer run, know that youre preparing for two different scenarios: hurricanes that do more damage with rain and those whose main threat is high wind. With the former, flooded neighborhoods can bring gross critters and chemicals into your home, and if you know thats likely, you should evacuate if you live in the southern reaches of the Greater Houston region. (Think Harvey.) But folks living in solid, stable structures should prepare to ride out storms with more powerful winds than torrential rains, such as Hurricane Ike. If you live in a mobile home, or another structure with shoddy construction, you should consider evacuating. Buy your supplies early, and make sure that you have the essentials to survive two weeks sheltering in place, said Jackie Drake, an American Red Cross spokeswoman for the Texas Gulf Coast region. Like the pandemic preparation of weeks past, youll want to have in your home: Food (non-perishable, shelf-stable, can be eaten without heating up) Water (a gallon per person, per day you plan to stay there) A first aid kit (bandaids, rubbing alcohol, gauze) Personal hygiene items (towels, soap, pads, tampons) Battery-powered radio and batteries (in case theres no electricity source) MORE HOW TO: Houstons restaurants need cash. Heres how to help. Should the National Weather Service forecast heavy rains and flooding, prepare to evacuate. Drake recommends three days worth of food, water, medicine and personal hygiene supplies in addition to: Cleaning supplies (disinfectant and paper towels) Chargers (phone and laptop) Cash (if power is out, credit systems are down) Important documents (copies of your birth certificate, Social Security card and passport) Clothes (dont forget clean underwear and socks) Evacuation prep should include food, water or necessary supplies for any babies or pets. You dont want to be stuck without formula, or be without a dog leash, if disaster strikes. Put these supplies into a plastic tote that is waterproof and airtight. If flood water batters the exterior, you want the things inside to be safe. Each person in the family should have their own go bag, Drake said. These are things you can pick up any time you go to a grocery or big-box store you dont have to wait and purchase them just before a storm is scheduled to hit. Plan on top of packing Register your phone number with the Houston Office of Emergency Management to get alerts for any warnings and advisories in the area. You can sign up at houstonemergency.org/alerts/. If you dont get information, you will be out of luck, Kyne said. Experts say the most prepared households are the ones who also coordinate a plan for communication and meet-ups if the power goes out. Some communities have a hurricane evacuation route; contact your homeowners association, if you belong to one, for details on yours. Coastal communities and ZIP codes at higher risk of flooding can consult the Houston-Galveston Area Councils evacuation map to see which highways to take out of disaster areas. In case cell phone towers are swamped after a disaster, plot a meeting point that is easy to get to in case your family is separated. And create a contact card with everyones cell phone numbers in case your phone dies, Drake said. One of the numbers should be for a point person who lives outside the hurricane zone so they can coordinate connections if youre unable to get hold of your family. Put that in a plastic bag, or if possible, find a way to laminate it so that it repels water. You should know if your plan is to go to a hotel or a shelter, Drake said. Whatever your hurricane evacuation plan is, do not drive into floodwaters. You dont know how deep it gets. If you plan to shelter in place, make sure youre outside the evacuation zone. Take refuge during bad windstorms in an interior room without windows to avoid breaking glass. (The lower to the ground the better.) Ensure that you have an escape route and access to your go-bag if you need to leave. Reach out to friends and family members nearby to set up an evacuation plan in case you, or someone else in your household, require help getting out. Preparing in a pandemic Yes, on top of a global coronavirus outbreak, you have to deal with getting ready for bad storms. (But at least youve had some preparation to shelter in place.) While COVID-19 might be the last thing on your brain if youre forced to leave your home or protect your family, youll want to make plans that can keep you and your loved ones safe. Hospitals could get flooded, so you want to avoid any situations that would leave you in urgent care. If you need to escape, look for private accommodations. Aid organizations like American Red Cross will be setting evacuees up in hotels and dorms, rather than shelters in large communal spaces, and you should do the same to avoid being in close proximity with others. Avoid going out and crowding stores in the days just before a storm hits. Now is the time to pack the canned food and toilet paper youve squirreled away during the pandemic. Use a delivery app to get food and water if you havent already prepared your kits. And dont count on big aid organizations if you need to seek help from one to have masks and gloves. If you do have to evacuate, make sure if that if you go to a hotel or shelter, that you bring all of your own protective equipment, Drake said. It may take longer to restore power and other services due to the pandemic. It may be worth your time and money to buy a generator (which you should not try to run in your house or in an enclosed garage to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning). Secure your home and property Kyne recommends collecting insurance documents, such as property insurance policies and health insurance cards, and scanning them to a cloud-based service like Google Drive or iCloud. If you lose the physical copies, or need to upload any for disaster applications and insurance claims, collecting them in internet form will smooth the process. Not only will government offices be closed in the days after a major storm, many already are due to public health stay-at-home orders. TROPICAL STORM CRISTOBAL: Storm most likely to reach coast by Sunday, forecasters say Long before storms make landfall, take a look at things around your house and see what could be picked up by hurricane-force gales or could damage your walls, said Mike Gulla, director of underwriting at Hippo Insurance, a property insurance company based in Palo Alto, Calif., which insures more than two dozen states, including Texas. Gasoline may be hard to come by, as Ike veterans will tell you, so make sure your vehicles tanks are full in advance. And speaking of filling - fill your bathtubs with water in advance for flushing and rinsing purposes. Its a lot more difficult for people to get contractors out there with pandemic public health guidelines, as many contractors have either reduced staff or are taking stricter precautions about entering homes, Gulla said. Prepare for long wait times to get someone to replace your glass panes with impact resistant windows, seal structural cracks or get rid of large debris that could become a hazard if the wind picks up. I always tell people to think about the things that your insurance policy really isnt meant to cover, Gulla said. That means putting family heirlooms and important mementos on the highest shelves in your home in case of a flood. If you plan to buy a flood insurance policy for your home, note that it can take a few weeks for the policy to go into effect. Any homeowners looking to get their property covered should buy a plan as soon as possible to get through most of Houstons hurricane season. gwendolyn.wu@chron.com twitter.com/gwendolynawu National Weather Service As forecasters continue to watch Cristobal's development near southern Mexico on Wednesday, Houston is in for another day of heat, according to the National Weather Service. Cristobal is expected to make landfall into southern Mexico in the next 24 hours, NWS Houston/Galveston reports this morning. The storm is expected to weaken, then move north toward the central Gulf on Friday. Lavell Ford, brother of Ezell Ford, at the site where his brother was killed at 65th Street and Broadway in South Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times) George Floyd, Jamar Clark, Philando Castile. Reading the names of African Americans killed by police in or near Minneapolis alone can boggle the mind, and of course these are only the names that made the national news. Like high-profile police killings in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Texas, the Southeast, the Northwest, the East Coast the manner of killing and the justifications offered vary, as do the consequences for the officers involved. But one common thread running through the many deadly incidents is that the victims are disproportionately black. Floyds life was snuffed out on May 25 as a police officer pinned him on the street for nearly nine minutes, the officers knee on the victims neck as Floyd protested, I cant breathe. Clark was pinned to the ground by a knee to his chest in 2015 when a Minneapolis police officer shot him to death. Castile was shot dead in his car in 2016 by a police officer in a suburban community outside Minneapolis. Other cities, other police killings. On May 6, Indianapolis police killed Dreasjon Sean Reed. On March 13, Louisville, Ky., police killed Breonna Taylor as she lay in her own bed. On Feb. 23, former Glynn County, Ga., Police Officer Gregory McMichael helped corner Ahmaud Arbery in an incident that ended with Arbery shot dead. Taylors killing recalls the horrific 2018 murder of Botham Jean in his own apartment by an off-duty officer whose gross negligence somehow led her to think she was encountering an intruder in her own home. Arberys death recalls the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, not by a working police officer but by a civilian wanna-be. When Martins killer was acquitted, outraged activists formed the Black Lives Matter movement, which has worked for change and has insisted that African Americans killed by police (or by those who take police powers on themselves) are not forgotten. In Los Angeles those names include Ezell Ford, a man reportedly suffering from mental illness, shot dead by police in 2014 shortly after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Browns killing and the examination of the once-obscure St. Louis suburb brought to light injustices previously unnoticed or ignored: Local government was funded by fines and fees imposed on the mostly African American population. The entire municipal structure had an incentive to oppress black residents. Story continues Fords killing underscored the mistreatment of mentally ill people not just on the street, at the hands of police, but in jail and at home, away from the community clinics that were promised but never built. And his death served as a reminder that Los Angeles, despite better police training, tactics and oversight, is not the shining example for the rest of the nation that we sometimes think it is. Police officers in Los Angeles and its smaller neighboring cities are prolific killers of black people. The names of the victims would go unsaid and unremembered outside their families and their communities but for Black Lives Matter, whose members demand that we keep saying them. Thats why we know names like Michelle Shirley, who like Ford was dealing with mental illness when shot to death by Torrance police in 2016. Or Redel Jones, shot dead in an alley by L.A. police in 2015, and Kenney Watkins, killed by L.A. police the same year. Not every police killing is straightforward, and not every victim was innocently eating or sleeping in their own home like Breonna Taylor or Botham Jean. Some of the victims cited by activists appear to have been armed, and the officers involved in such shootings invariably say that their lives were in jeopardy. But surely we can demand better of our police in incidents like the one that ended in the 2018 deadly shooting in Sacramento of Stephon Clark, whose cellphone officers mistook for a gun. And if 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was holding a knife as he walked down a Chicago street in 2014, surely police had options other than shooting him dead. The same goes for the officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland in 2014 as the boy held a toy gun. And if, that same year, Eric Garner was committing the crime of selling cigarettes, thats no excuse for the arresting officers deadly chokehold. I cant breathe, Garner repeatedly gasped while pinned by officers to the sidewalk, just like George Floyd six years later. At the time of Garners death and Michael Browns, Ezell Fords, Laquan McDonalds, Tamir Rices and many others police cautioned the public that what they saw or heard was not the whole story and that police were just doing their duty to protect the public. After Floyd's death, though, an astonishing number of law enforcement leaders described it as murder. That, at least, is some progress. An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2020 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam.... Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:28:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN Plus Three or APT) should strengthen cooperation in combating COVID-19 and promoting economic development, Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said Thursday. China is willing to share anti-epidemic experiences with countries in the region and will continue to support their commercial purchase of medical supplies in China, Zhong said at a video conference on COVID-19 control attended by ASEAN Plus Three trade and investment ministers. Countries in the region should step up trade and investment cooperation, stabilize and enhance regional industrial and supply chains and maintain smooth flow of people and logistics to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and restore regional economic growth at an early date, Zhong said. He also called on the countries to deepen regional economic integration and implement the consensus of the special summit of ASEAN Plus Three held in April on striving to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership this year. The parties agreed that deepening anti-epidemic and economic cooperation is of great importance to promoting regional economic integration and joint efforts should be taken to fight against the disease, stabilize regional industrial and supply chains and preserve a free, stable and fair trade and investment environment. It was also agreed that the parties should keep markets open, safeguard multilateral trade system, and enhance collaboration in trade and investment. The meeting was chaired by Vietnam, which holds the ASEAN presidency. After the meeting, a statement on mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on economy was issued. Enditem Covid-19 is disrupting immunisation campaigns and could cause many preventable deaths, experts warn. Services have been hit in Niger Image copyrightUnicef Millions of children could die from preventable disease because of severe disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus, experts warn. At least 68 countries have been affected - with some stopping vaccination campaigns completely. The World Health Organization advised many countries to suspend vaccinations to help slow the spread of coronavirus. But now it is one of several groups expressing concern about the long-term impact. United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance are also worried thousands of children every day could die needlessly. There are a number of reasons vaccination services have been so badly disrupted, including: "Measles is on the rise, diphtheria, cholera," United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) executive director Henrietta Fore says. "So this is going to be a real problem. "As a world, we had conquered many of these preventable diseases for children." Now, there are grave concerns these gains could be "wiped away". In a usually packed clinic in Niger's capital, Naimey, the waiting room is quiet. There have been almost 1,000 Covid-19 cases reported in the country. But polio, which can cause paralysis or even death, is also making a comeback - four new cases have been reported since February. Zeinabou Tahirou sits in a pink headscarf and a blue face mask, cradling her baby girl, Fadila. "I was so scared to come here, because of the coronavirus," she says. "But health workers have told me how important these immunisations are, and also what I need to do to stay safe - like washing my hands all the time." At least 80 million under the age of one are at risk Estimated number of babies missing routine vaccinations because of the coronavirus pandemic: South East Asia - 34.8 million Africa - 22.9 million Recent modelling by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests disruption to these kinds of crucial health services for women and children, could result in as many as 6,000 additional children dying every day. "What we fully expect is these diseases will come roaring back," WHO immunisation and vaccines department head Kate O'Brien says. "And what that means... is that we're going to see deaths of children in numbers that are unprecedented in recent times." But this potentially devastating situation can still be prevented, "if governments act now". The warnings come as global leaders meet virtually for the Global Vaccine Summit, on Thursday, hosted this year by the UK. Countries and donor organisations will asked to pledge $7.4bn (5.8bn) to ensure Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance can continue delivering lifesaving vaccines to some of the poorest communities in the world, both during the pandemic and beyond. Its leader, Dr Seth Berkley, says ensuring routine vaccination systems are up and running again as soon as possible, is crucial. "When you have a big effect on vaccine [services] like this, it takes some time to rebuild some of the systems around it," he says. "As we rapidly move towards having Covid-19 vaccines available, these are the same systems we will use to deliver those vaccines as well."BBC The Staysafe 2 face shield from the Staysafe collection. (PHOTO: Polaroid Eyewear) With more companies expecting some of the workforce to return since Phase 1 reopening measures were announced, most of us may experience uneasiness or anxiety of stepping out in public. Many of us are also worried about sending our children to school. With this issue on mind, some brands are meeting health needs by producing face masks or face shields, by using different materials and experimenting with production techniques. The Gill Mask Singaporean company Gill Lab, which is founded by partners Jean-Luc Fringeli, Veronica Chew, Cheong Siah Chong, Lim Eng Seng and Ken S K Chuang have created a face mask that is inspired by snorkelling masks. The idea was to create a mask that was both comfortable to wear for long periods and with an air-tight seal to ensure optimal protection, designer and co-founder Cheong added. Using their expertise in designing medical devices and user experience, the team went on to develop a safe, comfortable and sustainable respirator suitable for both professionals and the public. Gill mask. (PHOTO: Gill Lab) The product, named Gill Mask, works as an eco-friendly reusable silicon respirator with a detachable cartridge that allows for easy filter replacement, thus extending the life of a single-use mask by six times. The Gill Mask can be reused daily, and can last up to two years. To clean the mask, customers are advised to wash it with sterilised boiling water or household disinfectant. The masks come in three sizes: Regular and large for adults, and a junior size for children aged five to 13 years. During this global pandemic we saw how the shortage of masks was putting people at risk. We wanted to provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution to keep people safe and protected in Singapore and beyond, co-founder Chew shares. The Gill mask retails from S$28.50 (RM87) and is available to purchase online. The Staysafe collection Sunglasses and frames company Polaroid Eyewear pivoted to the pandemic by launching a collection designed for protection purposes that is made in Italy. Story continues The Staysafe 1 visor from the Staysafe collection. (PHOTO: Polaroid Eyewear) Staysafe 1 and Staysafe 2 are both PPE certified: Staysafe 1 visor is made from polycarbonate, while the nose pads are made of polyamide, and is suitable for adults and 10+ year old kids; while Staysafe 2 face shield is suited for professional use, as it not only protects the eyes but the whole face. Both Staysafe 1 and 2 retail from S$50 and is available online (delivery in Singapore only), and at selected retailer stores: W Optics, Jamco Optical, Clarity Eyecare, The Lens Men, My Eyeroom, Eyecare Studio, Eyecare 24/7 Punggol, The Sunglass Shop, Kwong Shin, Pearls Optical Peoples Park, Kovan & Tampines. Asics Runners Face Cover. (PHOTO: Asics) Apparel brand Asics launched the Asics Runners Face Cover today, specifically for runners of all levels to exercise without compromising performance or protection. The face cover comes with breathable air vents that provide unobstructed airflow while preventing the spread of droplets and it is also designed with a unique curved structure that creates more room inside the face cover to allow for easier breathing when running. Yasuhito Hirota, President & Chief Operating Officer, Asics, says: When I used to run with a normal mask it was hard to breathe, but with this mask I was able to run very comfortably. While other approaches rely solely on the breathability of materials, the face cover combines this with an innovative design that gives runners the space to breathe comfortably within the face cover. This groundbreaking approach means that runners of every level can strive for their best performance with the confidence that they are staying protected. The face cover will be available at https://www.asics.com/sg/en-sg from October at a retail price of S$55. Balancing the New Normal: INTERVIEW: Gibran Baydoun of Lucali BYGB The success of restaurants, I believe, comes down to intentionality FOOD REVIEW: Lumo - unfussy modern European fare meets familiarity and comfort COVID-19 closures: 3 lifestyle brands on closing down, shifting operations FOOD REVIEW: Firebake - quality bakehouse with a prawn capellini that is to die for Where to order affordable food during Circuit Breaker, including free meals for the needy Coronavirus: How to help children get used to wearing a face mask or covering This gadget will change your life and how you perform housework forever Shopping: Products for a happier and healthier furkid How to avoid post-lockdown burnout There is an upside to quarantining with your toddler, according to toddler whisperer Dr. Tovah Klein Why family rituals are so important (and 8 ideas for how to incorporate them at home) [June 03, 2020] Pepperstone Opens Dubai Office DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning online FX and CFD broker Pepperstone has announced the opening of its DFSA entity in Dubai, strengthening the broker's fintech offering globally in its 10th year of operation. Find out more about Pepperstone's range of instruments and markets available to traders in the Middle East at https://pepperstone.com/en-ae/ "We're entering the Middle East market with a truly exceptional offering, providing local investors with cost-effective and technology-driven solutions to master the trade," said Tarik Chebib, Head of Middle East. "We have a particularly experienced team here in Dubai and are united with the group's genuine commitment to helping our clients on their trading journeys." "This year marks the 10th anniversary of Pepperstone and we are excited to celebrate it with the opening of our new office in the DIFC." As one of the largest MetaTrader brokers in the world, Pepprstone's vision is a world of digitally-enabled trading for traders to embrace the challenge and opportunity of global markets. Pepperstone was first established in 2010 in Australia, where it has received multiple awards from the notable Investment Trends for customer service, spreads and support. In 2019, Pepperstone was rated number one for overall client satisfaction and platform features. Disruptive and agile, the financial technology company has more than doubled in size over the past two years as well as expanded and tailored its product offering into hundreds of new markets. The global expansion to DIFC ensures Pepperstone is well-positioned to offer more traders in the Middle East an unparalleled trading experience along with access to more of the world's markets at the best possible price. "Thanks to our presence in Dubai, Pepperstone can establish even closer ties with our clients in the Middle East. Dubai is a significant global financial hub and we look forward to bringing our expertise and technology to the local investors," said Tamas Szabo, Group CEO of Pepperstone. "The launch of our new office is a significant growth opportunity and we're excited about Pepperstone's future in the region." About Pepperstone Pepperstone is an award-winning online forex and CFD broker with thousands of clients around the world. Known for its exceptional client support and service, and regulated by ASIC, FCA and DFSA, Pepperstone prides itself on its commitment to continuous innovation and quality of trading products for all clients. It offers more than 150+ instruments across a range of asset classes, with low spreads, fast execution speeds and award-winning platform features. SOURCE Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Scuffles broke out between Madagascar police and protesters on Wednesday as citizens took to the streets in the eastern town of Toamasina to denounce anti-coronavirus lockdown measures. Tensions flared after a police officer allegedly beat a street vendor accused of breaching an afternoon ban on commercial activities, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. Pictures of the man lying on the ground were shared on social media, sparking anger among the towns residents. Protesters burned tyres, blocked roads and threw stones at security forces, who responded with rubber bullets. Police denied committing any form of violence and claim the street vendor had returned home after a brief hospital visit. The mobs are still continuing and security forces are restoring order, they said in a statement on Wednesday night. Madagascars government sent troops and doctors to Toamasina last week after two people died from coronavirus and the number of cases spiked. The Indian Ocean island nation has registered around 900 infections to date and six deaths all of which were recorded in Toamasina. The soldiers were dispatched to maintain order and enforce measures against coronavirus, such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distance. Coronavirus does not exist here, the state is manipulating us, the protesters shouted. We are going to show these soldiers from (the capital) Antananarivo what we are made of, they said. Hours before the clashes, a town collective took to social media to denounce President Andry Rajoelinas decision to send troops as well as his response to the pandemic demanding he step down within 12 hours. I do not understand, there is no war here, Toamasina waitress Teodety Raharimamy complained. We are fighting an invisible virus, and they are sending out the military rather than doctors. Rajoelina imposed a lockdown on Madagascars three main cities at the end of March to try and contain the spread of infection. Restrictions have been gradually lifted in Antananarivo and in the southeastern city of Fianarantsoa, but Toamasina residents remain under confinement. Meanwhile, authorities across the island have been handing out a herbal tea touted by the president as a powerful remedy against COVID-19. The potential benefits of the drink, called Covid-Organics, have not been validated by any scientific study. SOURCE: AFP State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday said that its board will meet on June 11 to consider raising funds in single or multiple tranches of up to $1.5 billion. India's biggest lender said it will raise the funds in FY21 through a public offer, a private placement of senior secured notes in the US dollar or any other convertible currency. "To examine the status and decide on long term fund raising in single/multiple to US$ 1.5 Billion (US$ One and a Half Billion) under Reg-S/144A, through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US Dollar or any other convertible currency during FY 2020-21," SBI said in the regulatory filing. On Tuesday, global ratings agency Moody's downgraded the long-term local and foreign currency deposit ratings of the state-owned lender to Baa3 from Baa2 citing economic disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. "Economic disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the downgrade of the sovereign rating are the key drivers for today's rating actions," Moody's said on Tuesday. The other ten banks on which the brokerage took rating action included HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and EXIM Bank. SBI is scheduled to report its March 2020 quarter result (Q4FY20) on Friday. So far in this fiscal, the public sector lender has underperformed the benchmark Nifty. Between April 1 and June 2, the scrip has fallen 13.5 per cent as against the 16 per cent rise in the benchmark Nifty. Shares of SBI ended the intraday trade at Rs 174.50, down 0.40 points, or 0.23 per cent on NSE today. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Renault India gives 15% hike, promotions to boost morale of staff Also read: Rs 2 lakh crore blow to banks if interest during loan moratorium waived, RBI cautions SC The bill, which has more than 200 co-sponsors in the House, is likely to pass but could put moderate Democrats in a tough spot before the November election, forcing them to vote on a bill that Republicans see as an effort by Democrats to expand their ranks in the Senate. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 02:04:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close AMMAN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Jordan said on Thursday the overwhelming majority of economic sectors would open as of June 6 following more than two months curfew to combat the coronavirus. The public will be allowed to move freely between 6 a.m. and midnight as of June 6, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said in a press conference in Amman. He added that mosques and churches would reopen for prayers as of Saturday. The Jordanian government has also canceled the odd-even traffic system for vehicles and permitted the public to commute between governorates and cities. He also declared the resumption of domestic flights and said tourist attractions would open in addition to hotels, restaurants, cafes, and nurseries. According to the minister, some sectors will remain closed, such as wedding halls, cinemas, public parks, and amusement parks. The decision comes after Jordan has been registering less new cases of coronavirus over the past few days, Health Minister Saad Jaber said during the conference. Jordan has entered the moderate risk level after registering less than ten local COVID-19 cases for seven consecutive days, he said, adding that eight cases of coronavirus were registered on Thursday, increasing the total cases to 765. Enditem West's offers to lure HKers help city drain 'bad blood' Global Times By Zhao Yusha and Wang Wenwen Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/3 21:08:40 Traitors' fleeing to help HK regain stability, energy: experts To further meddle in Hong Kong's affairs, US and UK politicians, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have jumped out to try to lure Hong Kong residents with relaxed immigration policies, a move which Chinese observers predicted will do nothing to affect the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong but actually helps the Chinese city drain out national traitors, who are "bad blood" poisoning Hong Kong. With the introduction of the national security law in Hong Kong, the city will embrace greater stability and vitality toward long term prosperity and the relaxed immigration policies may not be as attractive to a majority of Hong Kong people as expected, observers believed. The UK is prepared to change its immigration rules if China imposes a national security law on Hong Kong, Johnson said on Wednesday in an op-ed for the South China Morning Post. The British prime minister added that China's decision to impose a national security law on Hong Kong will "curtail its freedoms and dramatically erode its autonomy." His response came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that the US is considering welcoming people from Hong Kong in response to China's push for a national security legislation. Earlier Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed concern for 300,000 Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong but stopped short of committing to accept "asylum seekers." Trudeau said Canada welcomes people from around the world who flee "persecution and violence," and hinted Ottawa is looking at more. The attraction to relocate or migrate today in the UK is not like when there was so much political uncertainty in the 1980s when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed. In those days there was economic and political uncertainty in the Chinese mainland, Lawrence Ma, a Hong Kong barrister and chairman of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, told the Global Times on Wednesday. China's economy has rapidly picked up together with consolidation of internal political foundation and successful and effective anti-corruption campaigns, while the Western powers are declining in their influence, Ma said. "Hong Kong people have confidence in the Chinese system." He also said that no one in Hong Kong wants to become a second class citizen in those countries, such as the UK or the US. Fan Peng, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Political Sciences told the Global Times that the UK and the US intended to embarrass China by announcing such policies. "But if China revoked the citizenship to those Hong Kong people who immigrate to the US and the UK under such policies, few would respond to those Western countries' calls," Fan noted. The US and UK's announcement is only bluffing to undermine the outside world's confidence in Hong Kong, create the impression that the city is in chaos, and exert pressure on the central government to withdraw the national security law, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. Lau Siu-kai, a vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times previously that the UK won't have any real changes for Hong Kong rioters as immigration is one of the factors that propelled the UK's divorce from the EU. "Once it agreed to take Hong Kong BNO holders, the UK government will shoulder huge pressure from its society." Leung Chun-ying, the former top official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that Johnson's article in the South China Morning Post shows "parochial arrogance," and is again a play of the BNO visa card. "The UK has no choice but follow the US, but it has no influence at all," Leung said. The central government has already expected Western countries' reaction when they deliberated the move for the national security legislature in Hong Kong, said Fan. "A small group of people, such as prominent supporters of riots, including Jimmy Lai (a key anti-government figure in Hong Kong and founder of Apple Daily), may be glad as they fear they may be the first batch to be brought under legal punishment once the law is implemented. So they regard the UK and US policies as a retreat." Hong Kong used to witness an economic take-off, which was attributed to its stable financial system, clean political atmosphere and sufficient social guarantee measures. But those were marred by social unrest since the illegal "Occupy Central" movement in 2014. "So it is not a bad thing if people like Jimmy Lai leave Hong Kong," said Fan, comparing those rioters, traitors as "bad blood" of Hong Kong. Once they drain out, Hong Kong would get the chance to be stable and energetic, which would lead to long-term prosperity. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NEW DELHI : Australia on Thursday extended its support for India's candidacy for permanent membership of a reformed United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Australia extended its support at the first virtual summit with India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison jointly participated in the summit. During the meeting, the two countries elevated the bilateral Strategic Partnership concluded in 2009 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). "Australia reiterated its support for India's candidacy for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC) and India's candidature for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2021-22 term," read a joint statement on CSP between the two countries. Several countries have backed India to be a permanent member of the UNSC. The body has five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. "Both sides reiterated their support for continued bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and their commitment to further strengthen global non-proliferation. Australia expressed its strong support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," it said. The NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries that controls the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. Australia welcomed the International Energy Agency's (IEA) strategic partnership with India and looks forward to continuing to work closely on building stronger ties between India and the IEA community, the joint statement said. The two sides also unveiled a "shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo- Pacific" and signed seven agreements focused on crucial areas such as defence and rare earth minerals. In his remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is committed to expanding its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace. This is important not only for our two countries but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world, stressed Modi, adding further that Australia is one of India's friends. "So the criteria for the pace of development in our relations should also be ambitious," he said. In his remarks, Morrison also reflected on the joint declaration between Australia and India on a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific which looks forward to bring together scientists from the two countries. "We share an ocean. We share responsibilities for that ocean as well. It's health. It's well-being. It's security. The relationship we are forming around those issues on our maritime domain," the Australian Prime Minister stressed in the summit. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Update: As the investigation into the matter progresses, there's a growing sense that this may not have an intentional act as earlier reported. While the initial belief was that the elephant was fed the cracker-laden fruit, IFS Surendrakumar has claimed that that was highly unlikely. Reports also point to the fact that said incident occurred in Palakkad, Kerala, and not Malappuram as mentioned in earlier reports. The story will be updated as and when more information is received. There's been massive outrage against the tragic death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala. Many are demanding arrests while others want nothing less than a death penalty for those responsible for the pregnant elephant's "murder." Facebook Amid the growing chorus of punishment for the wrong-doers, Industrialist Ratan Tata reportedly condemned the killing of the pregnant elephant in Kerala in a post on Twitter and said that he was "shocked." Twitter/Ratan Tata Ratan Tata took to social media to express his grief and tweeted, "I am grieved and shocked to know that a group of people caused the death of an innocent, passive, pregnant elephant by feeding the elephant with a pineapple filled with firecrackers." "Such criminal acts against innocent animals are no different than acts of meditated murder against other humans. Justice needs to prevail," Tata added. The pregnant elephant was reportedly given fruit stuffed with firecrackers, in Keralas Malappuram, after which the poor animal suffered injures. In order to relieve her pain, she stood in the Velliyar river, where she later died standing. Forest officials noticed the elephant in the river and attempted to rescue her but it was too late by then. The killing of the elephant sparked massive outrage on social media as celebrities, as well as sportspersons, demanded stricter laws against animal cruelty. A pregnant elephant in India, Kerala was fed a pineapple stuffed with fire crackers. She tried to save her baby by drinking the river water but failed to, and ended up dying pic.twitter.com/5c2sSAHAnp z (@factsNotea) June 4, 2020 Animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi alleged, Its murder. Malappuram is famous for such incidents, its Indias most violent district. For instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300-400 birds and dogs die at one time. Kerala Government has not taken any action in Malappuram. It seems they are scared. An elephant is killed every three days in Kerala. We have less than 20,000 elephants left in India. They are rapidly declining. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan finally broke his silence told ANI, Strict action will be taken against those who are responsible for killing the pregnant elephant. Forest department is probing the case and the culprits will be brought to book. Strict action will be taken against those who are responsible for killing the pregnant elephant. Forest department is probing the case and the culprits will be brought to book: Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala CM on elephant's death in Malappuram after being fed cracker-stuffed pineapple pic.twitter.com/G6AoUtJNFS ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2020 The Kerala Forest department has launched a manhunt to track down the mastermind. In an interview with IANS, Samuel Pachuau, the Wildlife Warden of the Silent Valley National Park said, We are quite certain to find the perpetrators of this crime, which is in no way acceptable at all. It was on the 23rd of last month we came to know about this incident, when the elephant was spotted near a water source outside the National park. We summoned a veterinarian and later on the 25th an elephant expert David Abraham came and examined and explained to us the bad situation. Initial investigation into the brutal killing has hinted that the elephant could have accidentally bitten on the fruit that was laid as a trap for wild boars. Using firecrackers to keep wild animals from damaging their crops is a common practice among farmers. Pregnant elephant dies after eating cracker-stuffed pineapple. How tf can someone be this much cruel. pic.twitter.com/7SCAifZkqP Arman. (@AliArmanKhan69) June 3, 2020 The Wildlife Protection Act was enacted in 1972 for protection of animals and plant species. In the year 2002, the law was amended and came into force in 2003, making punishment and penalty for offences under the Act more stringent. Offences against wildlife draw a minimum imprisonment of three years which may extend to seven years and a maximum fine of Rs 25,000, depending upon the relevant section of offences. The Indian elephant is protected under Schedule one of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which affords maximum protection. It is listed as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The story was filed earlier today and has been updated since. WASHINGTON With the Supreme Court expected to decide the fates of more than 100,000 so-called Dreamers in Texas as soon as Monday, Democrats in Congress are pushing the Senate to vote on a bill the House passed a year ago to offer them a path to citizenship. Its almost certain to go nowhere, as Senate Republicans, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and President Donald Trumps administration have sought to roll protections for Dreamers into broader immigration bills with wider reforms and funding for the border wall. Still, the Democrats, led by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, say the coronavirus outbreak has shown how vital Dreamers are, as some 200,000 of them work in essential jobs across the country. In Texas, as many as 14,000 work in fields such as health care, food service, farming and transportation in 2017, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. IN UTTER LIMBO: Trumps decision to end DACA faces Supreme Court scrutiny Lets be clear, their future is at risk because of President Trump and his Republican enablers in the Senate, Castro said on Thursday, calling for maximum pressure on the Trump administration and Senate Republicans to strike a deal ahead of the Supreme Court ruling. Chip Somodevilla /TNS Trump in 2017 ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era initiative that gave certain young immigrants a work permit and temporary protection from deportation. The move sparked a long-running push-and-pull between the president, Congress and the courts over a group of more than 700,000 immigrants brought to the country illegally as children many of whom have only known the U.S. as home who most Americans agree deserve protections. As the Supreme Court heard arguments over the move last November, Trump, who has repeatedly said Congress should act to protect Dreamers, tweeted that he may strike a deal with Democrats to keep the Dreamers in the U.S. But no action followed, and a bill to put Dreamers on a path toward citizenship that passed the House last June remains stalled in the Senate. Dreamers only know America as their home and they are valued, contributing members of the Houston community and communities all across our great country, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat. It is time for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stop playing political games with the lives of Dreamers. Castro, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called it a manufactured crisis of cruelty, during a conference call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others. Congress does not need to wait for the Supreme Court to decide the fate of Dreamers, he said. AT ODDS: Cornyn, Cruz disagree on futher immigration restrictions The House bill would offer permanent residency for a decade to those who were younger than 18 when they came to the U.S., as long as they have an American high school diploma or GED and pass a background check. The bill also would extend permanent residency to some living in the U.S. with temporary protected status. Schumer said he believes the bill would pass if brought to the floor for a vote, but just seven House Republicans, including West Texas U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, supported it last summer. The White House, meanwhile, issued a veto threat against it last year, saying it would send a signal that will invite more people to illegally enter our country. The White House at the time called for a broader immigration bill that also included funding for the construction of the wall in priority locations identified by the Border Patrol to impede and deny the flows of illegal immigrants, drugs, and other illicit activities. Sen. Cornyn is a lead sponsor on legislation mirroring the White House proposal, which offers citizenship to DACA recipients, but also includes $25 billion for real border security such as physical and virtual fencing, radar and other technologies. The bill would also limit family-based immigration to the nuclear family and would grandfather-in all pending family-based visa applications, among other things. Senate Democrats blocked it in 2018. These are our neighbors, and they work alongside us in our community. They deserve a thoughtful and compassionate solution that I hope we deliver, Cornyn said in 2018. Its a precarious position, I'm sure, to live every day not quite sure of what the future will mean. ben.wermund@chron.com Shares of a cannabis company soared after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to submit an application for a clinical trial of a weed-derived drug to treat the novel coronavirus. The synthetic drug, known as ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide (micro PEA), mimics a molecule found in cannabis and is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists don't think the medication will kill the virus, but say it may quell a dangerous over-reaction of the immune system. Upon the news that FSD Pharma, a Philadelphia-based marijuana company, had received approval, shares rocketed by 324 percent on Wednesday morning. FSD Pharma received approval from the FDA to apply to run a clinical trial of a cannabis-derived drug on coronavirus patients (file image) The drug mimics molecules naturally found in marijuana that bind to receptors and play a role in mitigating pain and fighting inflammation. Pictured: Sailors assigned to the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) treat the first patient from Los Angeles medical facilities, March 29 Receiving approval to submit an application does not mean the application itself has been approved nor does it mean the drug will soon be available to the general public. 'The FDA is going to want to see any number of things before that happens,' Dan Hoffman, a pharmaceutical industry consultant, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. 'Everything from HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protections to what contractors and testing sites they're going to use.' The drug is currently sold in Italy as a prescription for chronic inflammation by pharmaceutical group Epitech Group SpA. According to The Inquirer, FSD Pharma bought the global license for the drug from Epitech earlier this year for $17.5 million. CEO Raza Bokhari rebranded the drug as FSD-201. 'We became aware of it because some Italian health-care providers were advocating the use of micro PEA to treat COVID-19 patients and they were discovering some success,' he told newspaper. FSD-201 mimics endocannabinoids, neurotransmitters found in marijuana that bind to CB2 receptors. These receptors play a large role in the body's immune system, particularly in mitigating pain and fighting inflammation. The hope its that FSD-201 could help mitigate a dangerous overreaction to the virus by the body's immune system called a cytokine storm. These so-called storms occur when the body doesn't just fight off the virus but also attacks its own cells and tissues. In cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, cytokine storms can trigger respiratory distress. This can lead to multi-system organ failure and cause the lungs' airs sacs to fill up with fluid, the result being pneumonia. 'Severe COVID-19 is characterized by an over-exuberant inflammatory response that may lead to a cytokine storm,' Bokhari told The Inquirer. '[FSD-201] is not a virus killer. But we believe it can mitigate that immune response, which can be fatal.' A Phase I clinical trial studying FSD-201 is currently being performed in Australia, with confirmed and suspected coronavirus patients patients receiving the drug. Halton Region Public Health responded to an inquiry from Inside Halton after speculation that at least one person at the Burlington Costco contracted coronavirus. The health department issued a statement regarding the Costco at 1225 Brant St. after Inside Halton received multiple inquiries and concerns from Costco shoppers. "Halton Region Public Health investigates any workplace exposures of COVID-19 in Halton and provides education about outbreak prevention and control measures the workplace can take," the statement to Inside Halton said. "Public Health has not been advised of any workplace exposure at the Costco located at 1225 Brant Street in Burlington." READ: I went to Costco in the age of COVID-19. Here's what it was like Inside Halton also reached out to Costco Tuesday, June 2 about the speculation, but has yet to receive a response. Other Costco locations in the GTA have had several cases of coronavirus. MORE: Heading out for groceries in Hamilton? Dont forget your mask Craig Jelinek, President and CEO of Costco Wholesale, said employees are working hard and the company has made "countless and extraordinary" changes to the way it does business to enhance health and safety of employees and customers. "The changes weve made to our business are too numerous to list, but some examples include: limits in our locations on the number of members; social distancing in lines; enhanced sanitation; limited services in certain businesses; modified weekday hours; plexiglass shields at checkstands; and special hours for seniors and high-risk groups," he said in a statement last week. "A few examples of how we are taking care of our employees include: premium pay; paid time off for higher-risk employees; protective masks and symptom screenings; and remote work for our office employees." Read more about: 2 1 of 2 Guy Wathen / The Chronicle 2017 Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Guy Wathen / The Chronicle 2017 Show More Show Less After spending 38 years in San Franciscos Inner Richmond neighborhood offering nostalgia and ice cream, Toy Boat Dessert Cafe is being sold. The business has been shut down since shelter-in-place orders began in March. A for sale sign hangs in the window, which caught the attention of social media on Wednesday afternoon and was first reported by SFGate. Co-owner Jesse Fink, who ran the business with his wife, Roberta, confirmed the pending sale in a recent Facebook post. In it, he said he and his wife are planning to retire. Businessman holding tablet and showing a growing virtual hologram of statistics, graph and chart with arrow up on dark background. Stock market. Business growth, planning and strategy concept The last decade saw the rise of technology by leaps and bounds. Those who invested early in tech stocks are now reaping the huge returns from their investments. Constellation Software (TSX:CSU) is one of the success stories of the last decade. In June 2010, if you had invested $10,000 in Constellation, your portfolio value after dividend reinvestment would be $436,000. Similarly, if you had invested $10,000 in Enghouse Systems, your portfolio value after dividend reinvestment would be $172,000. What drove Constellation stock in the last 10 years? Can the share replicate this growth in the next 10 years? Constellation grew through acquisitions in the last decade Constellations business model is to acquire small companies providing mission-critical software to one or two verticals. As these companies cater to niche markets, there is limited competition, especially from large, well-funded software companies. With these acquisitions, Constellation looks to improve profitability and recurring revenue rather than gain market share. Since its inception in 1995, Constellation has acquired over 260 vertical-specific software (VSS) providers, with 93 providers acquired in 2019. The acquired companies offer software that is critical to their customers operations, making it costly to replace. Moreover, because of limited competition, many customers continue to renew their maintenance contracts. Over the years, new acquisitions brought new contracts, increasing Constellations recurring revenue from maintenance contracts. In 2019, the company earned 69% of its revenue from maintenance, up from 54% in 2010. It has a retention rate of over 90%. Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Constellations YoY Revenue Growth 45% 22% 15% 36% 39% 10% 15% 17% 23% 14% Over the last 10 years, Constellations revenue rose 550%, and its stock price rose by 3,360%. Its revenue grew at a compound annual average growth rate (CAGR) of 18.5%, and almost all its growth came from acquisitions. Its organic growth stands at around 2%. Story continues As the company grew in size, its growth rate diminished. Its revenue CAGR slowed from 22% in the 2010-2014 period to 14% in the 2015-2019 period. This growth has made Constellation the biggest name in the Canadian software market, with US$3.5 billion in annual revenue and over $30 billion in market capitalization. The competition is rising in the vertical software market All these years, Constellation has been trying to avoid competition. But its growth-by-acquisition model attracted competition. Its rival Enghouse acquires VSS providers focused on customer engagement, logistics management, telecom services, and geographic information systems. It is a smaller player with US$2.7 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in market capitalization. In the wake of growing competition, Constellation cancelled its quarterly earnings calls in 2018 to maintain secrecy around its future acquisitions. How will the next 10 years be for Constellation? Until now, the companys average acquisition size was US$5- US$8 million and included a few larger deals of over US$100 million. Now, that the company has grown in size, it will require bigger acquisitions to make a material difference in its recurring revenue. Moreover, its 10-year old strategy can no longer deliver the same returns it did five years ago. It has to tweak its business model in such a way that it can leverage its large size and generate higher returns. In May, Constellation agreed to acquire Netherlands-based diversified VSS provider Topicus.com and combine it with its Total Specific Solutions Operating Group. It will rename the group as Topicus.com. Although Constellation did not disclose the deal amount, it is likely to be above US$200 million, given Topicus.coms annual revenue size of 100 million. The above deal gives Topicus.com the option of exploring opportunities to list its shares on the stock exchange sometime in the future. Constellation would remain a significant shareholder and benefit from the stock price movement. Public listing can also help the subsidiary raise capital for more significant acquisitions, thereby reducing the risk of leverage that comes along with big deals. If Constellation succeeds in generating higher returns, it could publicly list its other subsidiaries as well. Is Constellation a buy and hold? While Constellations growth rate will slow in the next 10 years, it will continue to give substantial returns because of its stable revenue base. If you are a risk-averse investor, it is a stock to buy and hold for long-term as it can outperform the market and give stable returns. The post Is Constellation Software (TSX:CSU) Stock a Buy and Hold? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading Fool contributor Puja Tayal has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Constellation Software. The Motley Fool recommends Enghouse Systems Ltd. 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 (Natural News) Italian doctors have claimed that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) which has killed more than 370,000 worldwide has weakened and become a shadow of its former self. The pronouncement comes after a number of weeks where infections and deaths from COVID-19 in Italy have continued to fall. Italy currently has 233,197 infections and 33,475 deaths from the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. For a time, the country was considered the epicenter of the ongoing pandemic in Europe. However, Italian medics are now saying that the virus is much less lethal than it was back then. (Related: Coronavirus loosens grip on Italy: Cases plunge to lowest since March, nationwide lockdown enters fifth week.) Tests show new cases in Italy have lower viral loads According to Alberto Zangrillo, head of the San Raffaele Hospital, a university hospital in Milan, the virus no longer exists in the country at least clinically. The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago, Zangrillo told RAI Television. A second doctor in northern Italy, where the country was hit hardest, also stated that he was seeing the coronavirus weaken to the national ANSA news agency. For Mario Bassetti, head of the infectious diseases clinic at Genoas San Martino Hospital, the current virulence of the virus is far weaker compared to two months ago. It is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different, he added. Other public health authorities in Italy and in the World Health Organization (WHO) have raised doubts about Zangrillos statements. Pending scientific evidence to support the thesis that the virus has disappeared I would invite those who say they are sure of it not to confuse Italians, stated Sandra Zampa, an undersecretary at the Ministry of Health. We should instead invite Italians to maintain the maximum caution, maintain physical distancing, avoid large groups, to frequently wash their hands and to wear masks, she added. Meanwhile, Maria van Kerkhove, the technical lead at WHO, stated that the coronavirus continues to infect people at the same rate as when the pandemic stated. She also mentioned that the same proportion of people who get infected about 20 percent develop severe illness. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHOs Health Emergencies Program also stated that its unlikely that the coronavirus mutated to become less dangerous. This is still a killer virus, Ryan said Monday. Alternate explanation for the observations exists An alternative explanation could exist for Zangrillos observation that Italian patients today have lower viral loads than those from two months ago. Viral load refers to how much of a virus is found in a sample taken from a patient. Two studies published in the journal The Lancet suggest that, on average, patients who developed more severe symptoms of COVID-19 had higher viral loads when they were admitted compared to people with mild cases. In a situation where the numbers of severe cases are falling, there may be time to start observing people with less severe symptoms giving the impression that the virus is changing, Martin Hibberd, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said to Italian news site The Local. During the height of the pandemic in March, Italys average number of new daily cases hovered at about 6,500. With the strain that this put on the countrys healthcare system, only patients with the most severe cases and most likely the highest viral load were admitted to hospitals. By the end of May, however, the country only averaged about 300 new cases a day. This meant that even those with milder cases were able to seek care. This could explain why the viral loads in swab tests taken recently were lower. Learn more about the coronavirus over at Pandemic.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Reuters.com BusinessInsider.com TheLancet.com 1 [PDF] TheLancet.com 2 [PDF] TheLocal.it Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has advised the Hausa tribe to join the Biafra and the Oduduwa Republi... Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has advised the Hausa tribe to join the Biafra and the Oduduwa Republic in the search of freedom from Nigeria. Its not only Biafraland and Oduduwa that need liberation, Hausa people need it too, Kanu wrote on Facebook. According to the secessionist leader, the greatest geo-political fraud in Nigeria is the tagging of the Hausa, who he described as noble race, to the Fulani to create the Hausa-Fulani ethnic group. The IPOB leader was reacting to the recent invasion of some communities in Southern Kaduna by suspected Fulani herdsmen and killing of women and children. He claimed that Fulani has been killing Hausa and other ethnic minorities in the far north since 1804 yet they (the Hausa) foolishly cling on to one Nigeria. This is Fulani Janjaweed atrocity at its inglorious best against peaceful indigenous Hausa and other ethnic groups that make up Southern Kaduna, Kanu said, wondering why the Fulani, allegedly always kill the Hausa if they actually belong to the same ethnic group. This is a lesson for all those, especially Yoruba and RUGA communities in Biafra, that think Fulani will ever stop slaughtering them. The same way Hausa peasants naively welcomed their Fulani visitors who later dominated and turned them into their slaves is how it shall be in the south in the next 47 years. Fulani loves killing people and they will never ever stop. Long-suffering Hausa people is a prime example. The time has come to expel bloodsucking Fulani Janjaweed from our lands, the IPOB said. World wide smartphone shipments are expected to drop down by 11.9% in 2020 according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). This comes as a direct result of the global Covid-19 pandemic which is greatly harming all industries. The smartphone industry looks as if it will not escape the impact also. What started off as a supply crisis is now quickly turning into a demand issue for the industry. National lockdowns are having a big impact on the distribution as well as the sale of the smartphone which is seeing their shipments decrease. Many technology companies are joining the race to fight the virus with the likes of Fitbit launching research into predicting symptoms of the disease. China set to recover whilst Europe suffers The prediction from the IDC make pretty grim reading across the globe but there is some hope in Asia. China was initially the epicentre of the outbreak but it appears to have recovered relatively well. Advertisement Generally, most factories have resumed operations in the region meaning that China should only expect a single-digit decline in 2020. Europe, however, is faring far worse as a result of the pandemic. Hardest hit countries such as Spain and Italy will receive drops well above 10% in what could be a hard year for the industry. With little signs of recovery yet to come out of Europe, there is little certain surrounding what will happen on the continent over the coming months. Advertisement Worldwide Picture going Forward The first quarter of 2020 saw the largest year-over-year decline in history. On top of this, smartphone shipments are expected to drop by 11.9% over the year and 18.2% in the first half of 2020. This does not make particular comfortable reading for any industry leader. However, growth may return to the sector by the first quarter of 2021. Additionally, the market shares of the industry should remain similar over the year. Forecasters expect this because of strategies such as higher flagship launches and forming stronger e-commerce footprints. Advertisement Overall it looks to be an unsettling few months for smartphone shipments and the industry as a whole. China looks to be recovering fairly well from the crisis which is a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. However, the economic hardship even in this region is over as the fall out continues. Europe is likely to be by far the worst by this crisis in many ways. However, it is not all bad news as the sale of smartwatches did grow in Q1 despite the crisis. Therefore, there is hope that the industry as a whole can find a way out of this but that may not be for some time. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Rohan Patil Since May 27, Nifty has witnessed an uninterrupted rally of almost 12 percent and is trading at a two-month high. On June 3, the benchmark index witnessed a gap-up opening again, following the global peers and held the gains during the day. However, we saw some profit-booking in the final trading hour. The index is trading in a rising channel pattern and is currently spotted above its upward rising trendline support on a monthly chart. On the monthly timeframe, Nifty is trading in a range between the 50 and 100-day exponential moving averages. When we observe volume activity, there has been an above-average volume setup for the last three months. For two consecutive months, we witnessed a strong decline in volatility as India VIX has drifted almost 4 percent for May. In March, we saw a strong rise in the India VIX index which almost equals the year 2008 level. The next resistance for Nifty is seen at 10,200 and 10,550, which happens to be 50- day exponential moving average and 61.80 percent retracements of the entire fall seen from January 2020 (12,430) to March 2020 (7,511). The breakout above 10,200 will open the gate for the 10,550 level. Meanwhile, 9,700 will act as strong support for the index, the breach of that level will be a breakdown of the trend line. Here are three buy recommendations for the next 3-4 weeks: Tech Mahindra | Buy | LTP: Rs 552 | Target price: Rs 610 | Stop loss: Rs 520 | Upside: 11% After a prolonged consolidation, Tech Mahindra has witnessed a Symmetrical Triangle pattern breakout on the daily timeframe. Currently, prices are trading above its smaller degree trendline support, looking to accelerate higher on the daily chart. Momentum oscillator RSI (14) is reading above 55 level on the daily chart with positive crossover on the cards. However, prices are trading above the four-week high, sustaining above the 21- day exponential moving average on the daily scale. Traders can accumulate the stock in a range of Rs 550 - 555. Mahanagar Gas (MGL) | Buy | LTP: Rs 1,014.95 | Target price: Rs 1,100 | Stop loss: Rs 950 | Upside: 8% MGL, on the daily chart, has witnessed Rectangle pattern breakout and is trading above its trendline support. Momentum oscillator RSI (14) is reading above 60 level on the daily chart with positive crossover on the cards. The recent spurts in prices were so strong that the stock closed above its 21 and 50-day exponential moving averages. The prices have taken support at 38.20 percent Fibonacci retracement at Rs 855.60 from its intermediate low of Rs 663.90 to its intermediate high of Rs 990. The overall chart structure on the daily and weekly timeframe looks promising to move higher. Traders can accumulate the stock in a range of Rs 1,000 -1,018. Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) | Buy | LTP: Rs 584.05 | Target price: Rs 655 | Stop loss: Rs 540 | Upside: 12% HAL, on the daily chart, has completed rounding bottom formation, looking to accelerate on the higher side. Momentum oscillator RSI (14) is reading above 60 level on the daily chart with positive crossover on the cards. However, for the last few days, prices have been consolidating within a range of 21 and 50 day exponential moving average that is placed in a range of Rs 555-525. In the previous two trading sessions, the stock has broken its moving average range on the higher side, which is positive for the counter. Traders can accumulate the stock in the range of Rs 582-587. (The author is Technical Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio) The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. A Billings man was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after agents found six pounds of methamphetamine and guns in a Billings motel room. Dameon Pierre Beasley, 41, pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court of Montana to a possession with intent to distribute meth charge and a possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking charge, according to press release from U.S. Attorney for Montana Kurt Alme. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided, and Beasley faces 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In court documents, Drug Enforcement Administration agents went to a Billings motel in July 2018 where they had observed a man and a woman known to be involved in drug trafficking enter the building. The man consented to a search after agents knocked on the door of his room. Agents found drug paraphernalia, and the woman said that they had returned from Missoula, where they had been helping Beasley transport drugs. Beasley was also staying at the motel in a different room, where co-defendant Jessica Lynn Denny answered the door. Agents secured the room after noticing movement as they spoke with Denny. They found Beasley and another co-defendant, David Lopez, in the room. A firearm was on the table, and agents executed a search warrant on the room and found six pounds of meth, two handguns and $11,190 in currency. Six pounds of meth is the equivalent of about 21,744 doses. Beasley admitted that he was selling meth and distributing to Denny and Lopez and that Lopez had brought one of the guns to trade for meth. Agents found out from text messages on phones seized from Denny and Beasley that Denny had brokered the gun trade and that she and Lopez were completing the deal when agents arrived. Denny pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to six years in prison. Lopez has pleaded guilty to charges and is awaiting sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Billings Police Department. This case is part of Project Guardian, the U.S. Department of Justices recent initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws, and Project Safe Neighborhoods, the USDOJs initiative to reduce violent crime. According to the FBIs Uniform Crime Reports, violent crime in Montana increased by 36% from 2013 through 2018. Through these initiatives, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 0 Three months after it had to close because of the coronavirus pandemic, Pasadena Little Theater is staging an affectionate family comedy called Our Lady of the Tortilla that the director says is appropriate for the times. The show is about a miracle, and the show is a miracle, that it is actually being performed, after three months of our theater being completely shut down, said director Crystal E. Mata. The show opens June 12 at the theater, 4318 Allen Genoa Rd., Pasadena. The miracle in the 1987 play by Luis Santeiro occurs when Dolores Cantu believes she sees the face of the Virgin Mary in one of the 1,000 tortillas she is making for a party. Virtual rehearsals and masks The family is volatile even in the best of times, but the miracle causes chaos, when strangers and reporters want to see the tortilla, Mata said. Auditions were held the weekend before COVID hit and there was a stay-at-home order, she said. I anticipated the show would probably be canceled, but the PLT board told us to keep rehearsing like we were going to open. For several weeks, Mata held virtual rehearsals. More Information Want to go? What: "Our Lady of the Tortilla" Where: Pasadena Little Theatre, 4318 Allen Genoa Rd., Pasadena When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, June 12-28 Cost: $12-15 (masks required for entry; up to 25 percent capacity) See More Collapse It was a lot of one-on-one work and character development, she said. Only recently did we start rehearsing onstage. We practiced physical distancing, cleaned excessively and wore masks. Stage directions call for the set to evoke a much-used kitchen and collectibles such as a prayer candle and a statue of the Virgin Mary, standing on top of the world and crushing a snakes head with her foot, she said. It looks like your grandmas house, said Mata, who also directed last years PLT hit comedy Real Women Have Curves. Her mother, Rose Mata, returned as the assistant director, along with Real Womens set designer, Ruben Freeman, and lighting designer Zack Varela. Kayla Wulf is the stage manager. The cast features Claire Orellana as Dolores, Adriana Rodriguez, Joan Alvarenga, Amanda Rawlings and Christian Blackshear, with guest appearances by Justin Cofield, Pierce Nguyen and Moe Mata. This show is for everyone, said the director. Every culture is represented: Latino, black, white and Asian. But its really about family and being there for each other even when it feels like the world is ending. Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be contacted at donmaines@att.net GLENDALE, Ariz. Arizonas Republican attorney general on Thursday called for a series of police reforms he said are needed in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Mark Brnovich sent a letter to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and GOP House and Senate leaders saying he reacted to the video of Floyds death at the hands of police with shock and outrage. As Arizonas top law enforcement official, I hope Mr. Floyds death will not be in vain but will serve as a catalyst for positive reforms, Brnovich wrote. Hundreds of people in Phoenix have been arrested during protests denouncing Floyds death in Minneapolis last week, and other cases of police brutality. Brnovich said all police officers in the state should receive regular deescalation and cultural diversity training so they can avoid or defuse situations. Agents in his office have been provided that training for several years but the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Board doesnt mandate the training. That should be a requirement, he wrote. He also wants all police shootings or excessive use of force allegations to be investigated by an outside agency. He suggested his office could handle that as California and New York currently do, but said there also are other viable options. Brnovich also said Arizona law enforcement agencies should pursue outreach programs, particularly focused on young people. Whether its a Know Your Rights campaign, or classroom presentations, it is clear that more needs to be done, he wrote. Our office has some compelling ideas on where Arizona should go from here, and we look forward to working with you to bring these programs to fruition. Brnovichs suggestions on diversity training and outside investigations were among the items the Legislatures minority Democrats called for in a letter to Ducey on Monday, where they requested he call lawmakers into a special session to enact police reforms. Democrats also want all police officers to wear body cameras, the creation of a statewide database of police officer disciplinary records so bad apple officers cant jump from agency to agency, and removal of lawsuit immunity for officers found to have acted unlawfully. The disparate treatment of people of color by law enforcement is a serious issue that will require hard work by all of us to overcome, they said. Brnovichs letter didnt mention the Democrats call for a special session. Goodness can come from even the worst situations, Brnovich wrote. Lets honor the sincere concerns of the people we serve and advance the cause of justice. Another longtime voice is gone from the Syracuse airwaves. Rich Lauber exited B104.7 (WBBS-FM) on Wednesday, after 35 years on Central New York radio. He spent the majority of his career as the afternoon host on B104.7, and had also served as operations manager for iHeartMedias Syracuse market, which also includes Y94FM (WYYY-FM), Hot 107.9 (WWHT-FM), NewsRadio 570 WSYR (106.9 FM, 570 AM) and Power 620 (WHEN-AM). Bob Morgan, president of the Upstate New York market for iHeartMedia, confirmed Laubers departure Thursday but did not provide any other details. Lauber, 60, graduated from Le Moyne College and started working at Y94FM in early 1985 as a music director and on-air personality. He also became assistant program director of WSYR in 1988, according to The Post-Standard archives, and was named the top DJ that fellow radio broadcasters "arent ashamed to listen to in a 1992 newspaper survey. "(WSYRs then morning show host Bill Baker) told me he likes to do a show that hes not ashamed to have his kids listen to, Lauber said in 1992. And so I try to do a show that Bills kids arent ashamed to listen to. Lauber was the first afternoon DJ on B104.7 when it first changed format to country music in 1993, back when its call letters were WKFM under NewCity Communications. He held the 3-7 p.m. shift for more than two decades while also serving as program director, during which B104.7 frequently dominated the radio ratings and was nominated multiple times for station of the year at the Country Music Association Awards. The B104.7 website now lists a DJ named Shanna as the afternoon host. Shanna, also known as Quinn, is a Buffalo native who previously co-hosted mornings on 99.5 The River in Albany; she appears to be recording her B104.7 show from another iHeartRadio station in Milwaukee. Laubers departure comes less than six months after hundreds were laid off at iHeartMedia stations nationwide, including in the Syracuse market. Local DJs axed in January include radio legend Dr. Rick Wright, The Gospel Powerhouse host Cora Thomas and program director Kenny Dees at Power 620; morning show host Pat McMahon at Y94FM; DJ/program director Cory Kobe Fargo at Hot 107.9; Big Jim Donovan (aka Jim Dunagan) at NewsRadio 570 WSYR and Y94FM; and Daryl Thomas Ledyard at B104.7 and Y94FM. Former iHeartMedia Syracuse market manager Rick Yacobush and B104.7 morning hosts Tom Owens and Becky Palmer retired in December. Few local voices remain on the five Syracuse radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, previously known as Clear Channel. Dave Allen continues to host weekday mornings on WSYR, but the rest of the time slots are almost entirely nationally syndicated shows like Ryan Seacrest or voice-tracked (pre-recorded) from other cities. MORE RADIO NEWS Does iHeartMedia have more radio stations than local DJs in Syracuse now? Rochester radio station fires hosts Kimberly & Beck for racist comments on air ESPN Radio Syracuse takes several shows off air during coronavirus pandemic CNY radio owner celebrates 30th anniversary: Weve made the area a better place to live Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 00:12:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW DELHI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The government of India Thursday released an amount of 36,400 crore Indian Rupees (around 4.8 billion U.S. dollars) to the states to help them meet regular expenditures, particularly paying salaries to states governments' employees, amid financial crisis due to COVID-19 lockdown. "Taking stock of the current situation due to COVID-19 where state governments need to undertake expenditure while their resources are adversely hit, the Central government has released the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation of 36,400 crore Indian Rupees to the states/union territories for the period from December 2019 to February 2020," said an official statement issued by the Ministry of Finance Thursday evening. Several state governments, including Delhi and Jharkhand, had in the past few weeks announced lack of funds even to pay salaries to their employees. India has been under lockdown since March 25. The process of reopening the economy began from June 1. Though several restrictions continue to remain in force, like shopping malls, clubs, gymnasiums, saloons, schools, colleges are still shut. According to the figures released by the federal health ministry on Thursday morning, total COVID-19 cases and deaths stand at 216,919 and 6,075, respectively, in the country. Enditem Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW is doing better than expected in terms of COVID-19 cases, with eight days passing without any community transmission. But Ms Berejiklian warned the next shock would be the economic downturn, with the June quarterly national account figures likely to show the full impact of the crisis. Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW is in a better position than expected in terms of COVID cases. Credit:Louie Douvis "I think what we haven't quite absorbed is the extent of the economic shock and please know that every decision our government makes won't be easy because we are staring down, literally, hundreds of thousands of extra people coming off JobKeeper and going straight onto the dole queue," she said. NSW recorded two new cases of the virus in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, with both overseas travellers who are quarantining in Sydney hotels. Protesters on Tuesday gathered around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. (Steve Helber / Associated Press) A racist civic sculpture celebrating white supremacy was taken down off its pedestal on Tuesday in Alexandria, Va. The action, dramatic and long overdue, represents a sliver of light piercing the current gloom. The bronze figure of a lone Confederate soldier, positioned to face due south, had stood for 131 years in the citys historic core, just seven short miles from the White House and eight from the U.S. Capitol dome. Beneath the now-banished statue, an inscription on the base declares: They died in the consciousness of duty faithfully performed. Consciousness. Duty. Faith. This civic salute to a gross perversion of human decency could hardly be more unashamed. Memorial sculptures like this one have a specific purpose. They cast institutional racism in bronze. A bronze statue of a Confederate soldier in downtown Alexandria, Va., looking south with his back to the nation's capital. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images) Alexandrias effigy of a Confederate warrior was erected in 1889 to tell white Virginians that they might have lost the Civil War, but they still held the reins of power. And it told black Virginians in no uncertain terms to know their place. Intimidation was one objective of every such sculpture or plaque, the assertion of white privilege another. Postwar Reconstruction, a tumultuous experiment in interracial democracy, had by then been effectively crushed. Civil rights continued to crumble under white rule. The production of hundreds of Confederate monuments gave visual form to Jim Crows rise. Those functions are not unrelated to the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American, in Minneapolis last week. The catalytic event in Minnesota triggered a wave of unrest across hundreds of cities, large and small, that has yet to subside. To police civil society, silently but inescapably, is such a sculptures job. A statue like Alexandrias marshals a symbolic eternity, signaled by enduring bronze. It is lifted onto an immovable soapbox, chiseled from stone or cast in concrete. It commands a public space, pressing a metaphorical knee into the back of any citizen who might dare to object. Story continues Hundreds of those sculptural knees remain in place today on streets, in parks and even on college campuses across the United States. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimated last year that more than 1,700 Confederate monuments still stand. Will Floyds legacy include their belated removal? We can hope. Graffiti referencing the March police killing of Breonna Taylor runs across the base of a 52-foot-tall obelisk that stood as a Confederate monument in Birmingham, Ala., until it was taken down Tuesday. (Jay Reeves/Associated Press) The removal of the Alexandria statue by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the group that erected this and scores of other such sculptures and memorials, followed on the heels of another tear-down in Birmingham, Ala. Workers there on Monday morning began to dismantle a 52-foot-tall sandstone obelisk constructed in 1905. The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in downtown Birminghams Linn Park, named for Confederate naval Capt. Charles Linn, had been the target of demonstrators during protests Sunday night against police brutality. In Richmond, 100 miles south of Alexandria, the mausoleum-like headquarters of the UDC was set on fire and tagged with abundant graffiti. Nearby Monument Avenue, which has a lineup of statues to Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart and other secessionists who fought to maintain chattel slavery, was the scene of a police assault with tear gas against peaceful protesters. (Richmond Police Chief Will Smith later apologized for what he called an unwarranted action.) Protesters set out to systematically deface the streets racist monuments. Kehinde Wiley's 2019 sculpture at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was unscathed at recent protests. (Associated Press ) Just as methodically, they also took steps to protect a monumental Kehinde Wiley sculpture of a dreadlocked African American youth on horseback, erected in December in front of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, stationing protesters nearby. The museum, which stands next door to UDC headquarters, is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shuttered inside the museum is Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop, a well-received survey exhibition of 15 early members of a black photographers collective, including Ming Smith and Roy DeCarava. Kamoinge launched in 1963 to cultivate self-representation among a largely voiceless minority, the camera becoming a visual microphone. The museum and the Wiley sculpture were unscathed while the righteous fury raged next door. More than a dozen statues and symbols of the Confederacy have reportedly been damaged or defaced in recent days in at least six states, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and North and South Carolina. In Florida, the Tampa chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans lowered its massive Stars and Bars flag, first raised above Interstate 4 in 2008 to honor Confederate President Davis 200th birthday. A terse and searing example took place in Charlottesville, an hour northeast of Richmond. The Lee equestrian statue there was one stimulus for the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, whom President Trump refused to condemn. Last weekend, the sculptures base was scrawled with paint. The pandemic, it said, an accusatory arrow pointing up at the bronze general astride his rearing horse. Lee was the infecting virus, the sculpture its cruel disease. Art is not supposed to be cruel, never mind a sickness. Confederate monuments are both. The only legitimate moral response to the growing iconoclasm toward them is: Good riddance. And the only justifiable question that remains is: What took so long? The answer is grim. Legislatures in most former Confederate states protect them. Birminghams Democratic mayor, Randall Woodfin, had to defy a statewide law, enacted in wake of Charlottesville, to take the obelisk down. The 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act prohibits local governments from removing, altering or renaming monuments more than 40 years old, like the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument, without state permission. The laws 40-year cutoff couldnt be more revealing. It shields anything erected before the combative end of the modern civil rights era. Birmingham, a relatively liberal, black-majority Southern city, wants the racist monument gone; but Alabama, a conservative, white-majority Southern state, wants it kept. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey described efforts to remove the states Confederate statues as "politically correct nonsense, but shes fooling no one. Woodfin engaged in a laudable act of peaceful civil disobedience. Confederate statues are the visible embodiment of systemic, institutionalized racism. Residents and visitors look over the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017. The statue was covered after a woman was killed while protesting a white nationalist rally. (Steve Helber / Associated Press) Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee all have so-called monument protection laws on the books, cementing cold-blooded cruelty in place. A judge has twice blocked efforts to remove or cover the Charlottesville statue of Lee, based on a Virginia historic preservation statute and despite votes by the city council. The heritage-versus-hate discussion is phony when the heritage is itself hate. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney now appears to agree: He announced Wednesday the city's intention to dismantle the Monument Avenue Confederate sculptures. Yet, even now, the website of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is a model of equivocation, filled with unctuous twaddle about ancestral bravery in war and not being judgmental now. Floyds killing resonated loudly in Alexandria, where the duty faithfully performed had been treason in taking up arms against the United States to preserve the practice of white people owning other human beings. Confederate sculptures police social mores in spiritual and psychological terms, so the statues removal this week is progress albeit of a costly kind. Now, just 1,700 more to go. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. WASHINGTON - A U.S. Navy veteran whose family said his only crime was falling in love left Iran on Thursday after nearly two years of detention, winning his freedom as part of a deal that spared an American-Iranian physician any more time behind American bars. Michael White flew from Tehran to Zurich, where he was met by diplomat Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran. Whites mother said the nightmare is over now that her son was out of Iranian hands. In Atlanta, a federal judge approved a sentencing agreement for Florida dermatologist Matteo Taerri, who had been charged with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran as well as banking laws. The developments capped months of quiet negotiations between countries that are at bitter odds over U.S. penalties imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal and over the killing by American forces of a top Iranian general in Iraq at the beginning of this year. White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with. He was convicted of insulting Irans supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely in American custody and on his way home, Whites mother, Joanne White, said in a statement. She thanked the State Department and Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and onetime New Mexico governor, for raising her sons case with the Iranians. As White flew to Switzerland, U.S. prosecutors completed the American part of the arrangement by asking a judge to sentence Taerri to time served on his conviction stemming from the 2018 charges. There are numerous foreign policy interests that are furthered by this particular sentence, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May said in granting the governments request. Taerri was charged with attempting to export a filter to Iran that he said was for vaccine research but that U.S. authorities said required a license because it could be used for chemical and biological warfare purposes. He was also accused of structuring a series of bank deposits below the $10,000 limit to evade reporting requirements under federal law. He pleaded guilty late last year and has already served months behind bars, but in April was permitted to be free on bond pending his sentence. The Justice Department in March withdrew its request to have him detained, citing what it said were significant foreign policy interests. The United States government and the government of Iran have been negotiating the release of a U.S. citizen held in Iranian custody, prosecutor Tracia King said at the hearing. This case, and more specifically the sentence recommendation, is directly related to these negotiations. A citizen of Iran and the United States, Taerri is permitted as part of his sentence to remain in America and to travel abroad. Whites release was cheered by Trump, whose administration has said it considers the release of detainees and hostages a priority. I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! he tweeted. A spokesman for the White family, Jon Franks, said in a statement that the charges against White were pretexts for a state-sponsored kidnap-for-ransom scheme. He added: The tragedy of this case is Michaels only only crime was falling in love with Iran and its people for whom he cares deeply. Despite widespread speculation, Whites release was not related to the deportation to Iran this week of Iranian scientist Sirios Asghari, the officials said. Whites release was linked instead to the Taerri case. Irans foreign minister, Javad Zarif, tweeted that such deals can happen for all prisoners. No need for cherry picking. Iranian hostages held in and on behalf of the US should come home. White was released from prison on a medical furlough in March as Iran struggled to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, and turned over to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. Richardson said in a statement that the release should have and could have been done earlier, but I am glad and relieved that Mike is on his way home to get treated. White was diagnosed with COVID-19, but has been recovering. Whites mother has told The Associated Press that she was especially concerned about her sons health because of his battles with cancer. Trump administration officials in recent months stepped up public pressure to release White. Last month, for instance, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned White by name and thanked Switzerland for its work on arranging the furlough. The U.S. has also urged Iran to release other Americans jailed in Iran. Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American, remains in Irans Evin prison after being convicted of collaborating with the United States charges a U.N. panel has said are bogus. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with U.S. and British citizenship, was part of a group of environmental activists sentenced on espionage charges and remains in custody. Namazis brother, Babak, said he was happy for the White family but distressed that his brother was not released. He also noted that his 84-year-old father, Baquer, who was also convicted, is out of prison but has not been permitted to leave Iran despite his poor health. In December, Iran released Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American Princeton University scholar held for three years on widely disputed espionage charges, in exchange for the release of a detained Iranian scientist. In March, the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran 13 years ago, said they had been informed that U.S. officials had determined that Levinson was probably dead. Flipkart and Nokia have launched the second Nokia branded Smart TV in India, as they had promised. The 43-inch 4K Ultra HD TV has narrow bezels offering infinity-edge viewing experience. It has MEMC technology, intelligent dimming, wide color gamut and Dolby Vision. The TV has built-in 24 watt speakers on the bottom with DTS TruSurround, Dolby Audio and audio optimizations from JBL for deep bass. It runs Android 9.0 with support for Google Assistant, Chromecast in-built and lets you download more apps via Googles Android Play Store. Nokia 43-inch Smart TV specifications 43-inch (3840 2160 pixels) display with 178-degree viewing angle, 400 nits brightness, 1200:1 (Static) contrast ratio, Dolby Vision, MEMC technology, Intelligent Dimming 1 GHz PureX quad-core Cortex A53 processor, Mali 450MP4 GPU 2.25GB RAM, 16GB storage Android TV 9.0 Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, 3x HDMI, 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, Ethernet 24w Bottom-firing speakers, Sound by JBL, Dolby Audio, DTS Trusurround The 43-inch Nokia Smart TV is priced at Rs. 31,999 and will go on sale on Flipkart starting from June 8th. Citi Credit and Debit card users get flat Rs. 1500 discount in the first sale. It was a perfect late-spring Saturday. Several members of my large extended family gathered at my parents house to trim hedges and plant flowers. The sun was out, the skies were brilliant blue and the temperature was perfect for yardwork. A wonderful old saying, many hands make light work, was certainly the case though we really didnt work. We gathered as a family, laughing, joking, catching up with each other, marveling at how fast the little ones are growing and paying homage to our shared heritage. Beautifying my parents yard reminded them how blessed they are for working so hard to raise good citizens, who love doing nice things for their elderly mom and dad. We savored every moment. And when it was time to leave, nobody really wanted to part. It wasnt until I left that I learned a peaceful protest in downtown Pittsburgh had gone violent. The Trib reported the planned peaceful protest was spurred by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Video of the incident showed at least one police officer kneeling on Floyds neck as he cried that he could not breathe. Floyd was black, and the officers involved were white. That video is difficult to watch. Why the barbaric tactic of kneeling on a mans throat, when he was clearly cuffed and already detained? Bystanders pleaded with the officer to remove his knee from Floyds neck as Floyd pleaded he could not breathe. Protesters have every right to demand answers to demand change and they were protesting peacefully in Pittsburgh until violence was sparked. The floodgates opened and protests turned violent about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, police said, indicating that it all started with the vandalism and ultimate burning of a marked Pittsburgh Police vehicle, according to the Trib. More specifically, a man dressed in all black began spray-painting the cruiser, then jumped on the hood and broke the windows. Who was he? A young white male from the suburbs allegedly, Brian Jordan Bartels, 20, of Shaler clearly more interested in wreaking havoc and creating mayhem than in calling attention to the protesters cause. The Trib reported that police wrote, A black female from the crowd stepping in front of Bartels and pleaded for him to stop. He gave her the finger and then jumped on the car hood and stomped the windshield. The little twit. It was young fellows just like him who caused violence at such protests across the country causing mass destruction and the death of at least one security guard. These young men could have done something positive last Saturday, such as helping their aging grandparents tend to their landscaping. They could have protested peacefully, written letters to the editor, informed friends on social media of things each of us can do to create needed change, or promoted political candidates who will work to prevent deaths like Floyds from ever occurring again. They could have done many positive things to effect change, but they did the opposite. Bringing many positive hands together is the way to make light work of effecting change that is where the focus should be. But as we saw in Pittsburgh last Saturday, all it takes is one negative hand to disrupt so many positive actions. Tom Purcell is a nationally syndicated Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster on Wednesday apologised for the vandalisation and desecration of a Mahatama Gandhi statue placed outside Embassy of India's office in Washington DC. The monument was allegedly damaged by unruly elements involved in the ongoing protests that are taking place all over the United States. The ambassador to India said in a tweet, "So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd and the awful violence and vandalism". So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd & the awful violence & vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover & be better. - Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) June 4, 2020 According to news agency ANI, the United States Park Police has launched an investigation into the matter. Locals have told the news agency that some unruly elements graffitied Gandhi's statue with curse words using spray paint. Authorities later covered the statue. The initial protests, following the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis, were peaceful. However, most cities in the US have been marred by violent protests as the movement gained steam. Also Read: Coronavirus pandemic: Investors bet on Mukesh Ambani's Jio and its giant-killer playbook Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Renault India gives 15% hike, promotions to boost morale of staff WASHINGTONOn 16th Street near the White House Wednesday evening, the largest crowd yet thousands of residents of the U.S. capital crowded into the streets protesting the policing of Black communities after the death last week in Minneapolis of George Floyd. As was the case in cities around the country, people had been marching and chanting all day in the full sun as the temperature passed 30 C. They lay down in front of the Capitol building in the morning, knelt in front of the Trump hotel in the afternoon, then paraded past monuments and storefronts as helicopters flew overhead and tour buses full of troops in battle armour were escorted by police cars with sirens wailing to locations around the city. Cries of, I cant breathe, the now-familiar plea, rang out. From the White House, visible behind the military trucks blocking the road and Lafayette Square park beyond them, there was news of apparent dissent from the Defense Department over President Donald Trumps approach to the protesters. Here at the edge of the newly expanded perimeter around the presidents house, where the line was marked with the bodies of paramilitary riot squads in desert camouflage rather than a fence, things seemed tense after the heat of the day as protesters stood mere feet away from the guards and shouted directly into their faces. But 100 metres north, a man with a microphone was quieting the crowd, setting a different tone. He asked the demonstrators to sit, and they did, in the street, down to the police line and well up into the next block, and around the corners on I St. As the demonstrators raised lighters and phone flashlights into the darkening night, he sang Lean On Me, and the crowd swayed and sang along: When youre not strong, Ill be your friend. Ill help you carry on... When the song was done, another man asked the crowd to go onto Instagram and post photos and videos. Show everyone that youre protesting peacefully, and that a young Black man is leading it. Shortly thereafter, he did lead them the bulk of the crowd, in a parade stretching for blocks on a march north, away from the White House, to the sound of N.W.A.s famously profane 1988 anti-police anthem, F - - - tha Police. They marched past the armoured Humvees and the boarded-up hotels, and into the underpass beneath Scott Circle. It took more than five minutes for the crowd to get through the underpass, and when the last protesters emerged on the north side, chanting Say his name! George Floyd! they were greeted by the ringing bells of Foundry United Methodist Church, where clergy stood on the street gazing out at the protest and holding signs that read Sacred resistance and Solidarity. From windows on the residential street, people banged pots and pans. The marchers replied, Out of your homes! Into the street! The multiracial, multi-generational group of demonstrators reached U Street and turned east, onto the commercial strip that was the historic Black cultural centre of the city the home of jazz clubs and African-American museums and restaurants that has been gentrifying for decades but remains home to Black-owned businesses and nightlife destinations, and many Black residents. As the crowd turned the corner, people sat out on stoops pumping their fists and cheering. Cars beeped their horns in a chorus of support. The demonstrators stopped at the corner of 14th Street, under the giant mural of Buck Hill playing his saxophone in his postal worker uniform. I know youre tired, said the man who had earlier led the singing. Im not tired! Im fired up, a man shouted from the back of the crowd. Heres a song, dedicated to everyone whos lost their life by police brutality, the man with the microphone said, and he crooned Boyz II Mens memorial anthem Its So Hard to Say Goodbye To Yesterday as the crowd resumed its march along U Street. They marched past businesses serving takeout, most of them not boarded up as they were downtown. A Black woman slept, a giant bundle of possessions beside her, in a lawn chair on the sidewalk. Customers and business owners rushed to the sidewalk and took photos and videos. Whos streets? Our streets! The crowd chanted, as they passed Bens Chili Bowl, whose variation on hot dogs is likely the closest thing Washington has to a signature food. Theres a mural on the side commemorating Prince and the Obamas and other Black cultural figures. Famously, the Black owners of Bens remained open as riots raged on U Street in the aftermath of Martin Luther Kings assassination in 1968. On a patio at one street corner, a family rushed to the edge of the street, arms raised, two children jumping up and down, shouting support. The man with the microphone began singing Stand By Me. By now, police on motorcycles were blocking traffic at each intersection to allow the march to safely pass. Dozens of horns beeped. A Black man in a white undershirt stood in the middle of one intersections pedestrian crossing, singing along mournfully in full voice: I wont cry, no I wont shed a tear, just as long as you stand, stand by me. Today, he shouted, is my daughters death day! You all are protesting for a reason! He pumped his fist in the air. The crowd turned back south into the Shaw neighbourhood, where African-American women on balconies held glasses in the air and chanted along with the crowd. People at patio tables in front of a seniors residence stood and clapped as the protest passed. In the lobby of one apartment building, a man with grey dreadlocks held one hand up, waving, and made a fist with his other hand to pound his chest. Black! Lives! Matter! the crowd chanted. In the lit-up apartment windows at one intersection, the faces of Black children looked down from four apartments on different floors. Here, miles from the White House and the armed forces guarding the area around it, the mood was not tense or fearful. It was possible to experience the atmosphere among the thousands of protesters and of the city watching them pass as hopeful, inspiring. The march turned back west, past the town houses on O Street. Residents white, Asian came to their front doors and applauded. A white man stood beside a Mini Cooper with its trunk open in front of one house, watching; when the crowd marching past became momentarily silent, he shouted, Black lives matter! The protesters picked up the chant. As the march passed another church, volunteers ran out to the sidewalk offering bottled water. Eventually the march turned back downtown, past the newly painted Guardians of the Four Directions mural at Thomas Circle; it shows women of colour standing watch with jewelry and spears, a tribute the artist said to strong women of colour and the Indigenous and their roles in just keeping things going. It was just past there that the crowd reached an armoured vehicle blocking cars from the road. Whose streets? the demonstrators shouted at desert-camouflaged occupants, Our streets! They marched near Macpherson Square, where some of the homeless people evicted from Lafayette Park by the expanded security perimeter had now taken up residence. When they had reached the White House perimeter at Vermont Ave., the march briefly stopped to chant at the heavily armed guards there. Take a knee! they shouted. After perhaps a minute of the crowd members kneeling and chanting while the troops stared at them impassively, a man in the centre of the crowd stood and shouted that they shouldnt bother. That dont mean s - - - to them! They take that knee and come back and f - - - us up right after that! The demonstrators, now just a few hundred, carried on to 16th Street, right back to where they began, where they joined a few hundred more who were still facing down the troops and the trucks and the fence blocking the view of the White House. Here, checking social media, there were widespread reports from New York City of police again violently cracking down on those breaking curfew, but also from Los Angeles of a move to cut the police budget and from Virginia of the plan to remove a statue of a Confederate army general. I dont see no riot here, the crowd shouted, Why you wearing riot gear? As the 11 p.m. curfew approached, things remained peaceful, but in view of the White House, as the movement through the city ceased and the demonstration stood still in proximity to authority, the sense of inspiration was again overwhelmed by a mood of confrontation. The young men in war uniforms stood and stared. The demonstrators stared back, shouting. So it continued, into the night. Read more about: Macquarie University Hospital's decision to order an external investigation to flush out the source of a leaked surgical list which raised concerns about alleged inappropriate surgery could be illegal under whistleblower legislation, a crossbench senator has warned. External investigators are interviewing medical staff over a leaked surgery list detailing procedures conducted during the national ban on non-essential elective surgeries from March 25 to April 27 and have demanded access to their phones, leaving clinicians fearing for their jobs. Private hospitals are being investigated over some elective surgery performed during the ban. Credit:Nicolas Walker Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick said state and Commonwealth whistleblower protections may apply and he would be "alarmed if hospital management sought to identify and discipline a medical professional for raising a concern about the hospital acting in breach of a government directive". Multiple staff members have contacted The Sydney Morning Herald to say they feel "threatened" by the crackdown, accusing the hospital administration of "bullying" by ordering an investigation "to hunt down a critic" when no patient information had been disclosed. Jaipur, June 4 : With the start of unlock phase-1, the economic activities suspended so far in Rajasthan due to the Covid-19 lockdown have resumed. According to Additional Chief Secretary Industries, Dr Subodh Agarwal, "Hero Motors has started manufacturing 600 vehicles per day in the state, whereas in Honda Group, production of 200 two-wheelers and 100 four-wheelers has started." The use of innovations by many MSME units of the state spells a good sign for the industrial scenario, while most of the large units of Kota, Bhilwara, Bharatpur, Bhiwadi, Bikaner, Chittodgarh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Ajmer etc have also started production. The production has also started in several large units including cement, textiles, stone, oil, food processing, fertilizer, chemical and glass, said Agarwal while addressing a review meet on Wednesday night through video-conference from the Secretariat. He said that industrial production has started in almost all major sectors in the state bringing the economic activities back on track with the coordinated efforts and participation of the state government. Agarwal said that the lockdown has changed the circumstances and directed officers to build entrepreneurs' confidence, cooperate in getting benefits of government packages and make coordinated efforts to better the industrial scenario of the state by having dialogue with them. He directed to ensure coordination between industries and local workers to solve labour problems. Managing Director of RIICO, Ashutosh Pednekar said that 45 per cent of the units in the RIICO industrial areas have started production with 28 per cent of the workforce. Industries Commissioner Muktanand Agrawal said that production has started in more than 80 per cent of the MSMEs, which is around 440 out of 547 units operating in the state. At the same time, about 30 per cent of MSME units have been engaged in production. He said that in the Japanese zone, production has started in 38 out of 45 units. Commissioner Agrawal informed that as the demand in the market increases, the production in mega and large scale units will also increase. Three now-former Minneapolis police officers had bail set at up to $1 million at their arraignment Thursday on charges of aiding and abetting a fourth cop in the alleged murder of George Floyd, a black man whose Memorial Day death while in their custody has led to more than a week of protests nationwide over police brutality. But with certain conditions, the three men could be released on bail of $750,000 apiece, Judge Paul Scoggin said, before ordering them to next appear in court on June 29. "I'm hard-pressed to come up with any comparisons in this case," Scoggin said, as he agreed with the recommendation by Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank that unconditional bail of $1 million apiece, and $750,000 bail apiece with conditions, was warranted. Those bail conditions include not working in any law enforcement capacity, surrendering any firearms, voiding their firearm permits, having no contact with Floyd's family and agreeing to waive extradition should they leave the state of Minnesota. The hearing in Hennepin County District Court came a day after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison charged the men:, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, Thomas Lane, 37, and 34-year-old Tou Thao, with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The trio had assisted another Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, in arresting the 46-year-old Floyd on May 25 on suspicion of making a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, during which Floyd said repeatedly, "I can't breathe." None of the three entered pleas to the charges after they were brought into Scoggin's courtroom to sit behind frosted glass facing the judge, out of view of others present in the room. Frank argued for the high bail amounts by citing widespread public knowledge of the case, and the risk that the defendants would flee to avoid the charges, which could result in long prison sentences if they are convicted. The murder-related charge carries a 40-year maximum sentence. Lawyers for each of the men had asked for much-lower bail amounts. At the same time as the hearing, a memorial for Floyd, one of several planned, was being held in downtown Minneapolis. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:51:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The Tungsten Explorer vessel, rented by the French company Total, anchors near the shore of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2020. Wissam Chbat, board member at the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) and head of LPA's Geology and Geophysics Unit, said that Total, French oil company, is expected to specify the location of the well to be drilled by its subcontractors in Block 9 of Lebanon's waters within six weeks. (Photo by Bilal Jawich/Xinhua) by Dana Halawi BEIRUT, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Wissam Chbat, board member at the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) and head of LPA's Geology and Geophysics Unit, said that Total, French oil company, is expected to specify the location of the well to be drilled by its subcontractors in Block 9 of Lebanon's waters within six weeks. "Total will keep in mind that it should complete its drilling of the well in Block 9 before the end of May 2021," Chbat told Xinhua in an interview. Total has already drilled a well in Block 4 earlier this year but it did not find sandstone reservoirs such as those found in Palestine and Cyprus. "The lithology Total found in block 4 exploration well had carbonated formation which could be a reservoir rock but these types of rocks need to be further evaluated since the drilling focused only on sandstone reservoirs," Chbat explained. Chbat added that commercial hydrocarbon accumulations may be present in Block 4 but in different locations of the block. "The block's size is around 1,900 square km while the drilling targeted an anticlinal trap about 35 square km to find that there is no sandstone reservoir. But if we drill in other areas of the same block or if we go deeper in the same well location we may find both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs that have similar geologic age encountered in Tamar gas field," he said. A consortium comprising the energy companies Total, Eni and Novatek was awarded contracts to drill in Block 4 and Block 9 by the Energy Ministry in 2018. Chbat noted that the first oil and gas exploration period extends from 2018 to 2021 for both blocks 4 and 9, and Lebanon is working according to the approved exploration plan. He explained that Total intends to continue its exploration activities in Lebanon for the time being and is preparing for drilling in Block 9. "The company will finish its environmental impact assessment which will require an approval by LPA, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of energy and Water while completing other required procedures and meeting with the energy ministry's officials and LPA representatives," he said. He noted that subcontractors working with Total may demobilize their equipment and personnel for the time being since they may have to work in other fields until the time for drilling in Block 9 arrives. "Total may want to re-tender some of the services to save money due to the difficult economic situation worldwide or it may convince its current subcontractors to lower their prices," he said. Chbat said that Total has placed a bank guarantee for the minimum work commitment (drilling one well) valued at 40 million U.S. dollars for each block which means that if they fail to complete the minimum work commitment, the Minister of Energy Water has the right to call the guarantee. He added that Total may chose to relinquish part or all the acreage of any of the two blocks at the end of the first exploration period (ending May 2021) after drilling the two wells or they may wish to continue drilling other wells in the same blocks by issuing another bank guarantee to cover the minimum work commitment for the second exploration period (3 years) in each block. In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production contracts for blocks 4 and 9 while Lebanon began drilling for oil and gas in its territorial waters on February 26, 2020. Lebanon launched in April 2019 the second licensing round for offshore oil and gas exploration in five blocks. However, it has postponed on May 31 the deadline for submitting offers for the country's second licensing round for offshore oil and gas exploration amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak of COVID-19 all over the world has devastating effects on the petroleum sector, leading to low demand for oil and gas and a sharp decline in the prices of these two commodities prompting oil-mining companies, to reduce their investments in such projects. The battle of influence between Russia and Iran is continuing with a meeting of notable from the coast reports The Levant. As implementation of the Caesar Act nears, changes on the map of Syrias political scene are beginning to appear. Iranian militias, already exhausted by economic sanctions and the coronavirus, are unable to drain their remaining energies for the Assad regime. And Russian domination of decision points, border crossings and airports after the regime spent years destroying infrastructure, has left the Syrian regime unable to leave Russias embrace and solve its problems without Moscow. This has been a stab in the back of Hezbollah, the worlds drug dealer. These developments have begun to cause cracks in the regime, including among senior military figures affiliated with Iran by virtue of the regimes sectarian makeup, as well as businessmen who are no-longer able to find protection from Russias hegemony over decision-making. Sources told The Levant that the dispute between Rami Makhlouf and Bashar al-Assad has reached a new level, wedging the Syrian people amid a crisis between the two sides over the case of Syriatel. Meanwhile, the Caesar Act is nearing implementation as the economic crisis continues to choke the country. Alawite clerics have received calls for help to soothe the situation. Bashar al-Assad requested the help of Alawite clerics, who held several meetings with the heads of security branches in Tartous and Lattakia to solve the crisis. The dispute is centered around the circles of Bashar al-Assad in Lattakia and its surroundings, and around the circles of Rami Makhlouf in Jableh and Qardaha, especially in the villages of Beit Yashout, al-Qaseilbiyeh, Zama, Ras al-Ayn and Ayn Shaqaq, where the latters supporters have gone out into the streets by night cursing Bashar al-Assad and the al-Akhras family. Russia has repeatedly tried to intervene to contain the situation and meet with Hemeimeem notables. The notable security heads in these areas are all allied with Rami Makhlouf and were receiving financial aid from him, a source told The Levant. Among them are ancient Alawite families aligned with the Makhlouf family against Assad, including the Jadid, Khudour, Hawash, Adra and Haidar families. The Levant has learned that, followers of Bashar al-Assad accuse his opponents of subordination to Iran, while they themselves are accused by the other side of subordination to Iran. Makhloufs followers meanwhile accuse Russia of igniting the crisis in the region. The Levant also obtained information that a meeting took place last week in Hemeimeem, where regional notables were informed that Syria is about to enter a new stage, and that they must persuade their sons, officials, generals and army members to do so in exchange for future Russian protection. The leaders of the Alawite tribes in Safita, Masyaf and the al-Sheikh Badr area are the most loyal to Iran, and reject the Russians. These families and their sheikhs also strongly support Rami Makhlouf and the Iranian wing in the regimes army. They also push their sons to join Shia militias and accuse the Russians of inflicting injustices on Rami Makhlouf. 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. Woman suffers life-threatening emergency at Ill. Planned Parenthood abortion clinic Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The pro-life organization Operation Rescue has raised concerns about the health and safety of women seeking abortions at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Flossmoor, Illinois, after two consecutive medical emergencies occurred there. Operation Rescue, one of the nations leading activist groups opposing abortion, reports that one of the two emergencies occurred when an abortionist tore a woman's uterus during an abortion. The life-threatening incident that occurred on May 8 resulted in a call to 911 and an ensuing dispatch of an ambulance to the clinic. Operation Rescue obtained the May 8 911 call recording and a document showing that it took an ambulance about seven minutes to arrive at the scene. According to the audio recording of the 911 call, a Planned Parenthood employee told a 911 dispatcher that the facility needed a medical transport for a woman with a possible uterine perforation. We have a patient during a procedure. Possible Perf, the employee told the dispatcher. Operation Rescue contends that the employees use of the slang term for the injury suggests that it might be a frequent occurrence. The use of the abbreviated term for perforation seems to imply that this kind of injury has happened often enough that a slang term was developed for it, Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said in a statement. In fact, I have seen this injury mentioned frequently in many 911 records that have crossed my desk. According to Operation Rescue, a uterine perforation is a life-threatening injury that occurs when the abortionist pushes abortion instruments through the womb and into the abdominal cavity, which causes a hole or tear in the uterus that needs surgical repair at a hospital. A perforation can result in hemorrhaging and damage to other organs, according to Operation Rescue. As for the reported emergency that occurred at the Flossmoor facility on May 7, a private ambulance service was called. Video provided to Operation Rescue by a local pro-life advocate shows a woman being removed from the clinics rear entrance on a gurney before being loaded into an ambulance operated by Buds Ambulance Services. No 911 records from the May 7 incident are available. Operation Rescue Senior Vice President Cheryl Sullenger believes that the lack of 911 records for the incident is probably because employees for the clinic likely called the private ambulance service directly. According to Operation Rescue, Buds Ambulance Services is located about 10 miles from Flossmoor. Normal driving time without lights and sirens, which appeared not to be in use during the emergency, is 22 minutes a long time to wait for help, Sullenger wrote in a report. The Flossmoor Planned Parenthood facility opened in January 2018. According to Operation Rescue, at least four emergencies have led to women being hospitalized since the clinic opened. Operation Rescue previously reported on emergencies that occurred on Nov. 12, 2019, and Dec. 14, 2018, in which two women suffered from hemorrhaging due to alleged botched abortions. No matter what Planned Parenthood says, abortions are not safe, Newman added in his statement. We have documented hundreds of life-threatening injuries at abortion facilities and dozens of maternal deaths that prove abortion is not safe for women. Planned Parenthood needs to stop lying about the dangers of abortion to the American people. Among women who have died from botched abortions include 24-year-old Cree Erwin Sheppard, a single mother who died in 2016 a few days after having an abortion in Michigan. Her family later said doctors failed to recognize or treat her perforated uterus. According to MLive, Erwin-Sheppard was sent home after her procedure with instructions to follow-up with a doctor or Planned Parenthood after a long weekend. However, she died before she could make it to an appointment. A study released in 2018 found that about 5,500 women are hospitalized each year or sent to emergency rooms after complications from an abortion. The study was led by Ushma D. Upadhyay, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Science, who's an advocate for abortion. The finding comes as hundreds of thousands of abortions are conducted each year in the U.S. despite falling abortion rates. While pro-life advocates contend that the study shows the dangers of abortions, the pro-choice researchers concluded that safety regulations on abortion are "unlikely to have any impact on women's health outcomes because the "rate of major incidents is very low." Pro-life advocates have urged some states to pass legislation that would require abortion doctors to have to admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and require abortion facilities meet the same health and safety standards as surgical centers. However, abortion-rights advocates often argue that abortion clinic owners should not be required to make changes to their facilities to meet code requirements, and note that many abortion doctors are not able to qualify for hospital admitting privileges. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against two similar provisions in Texas law. Deputy commissioner of Mohali Girish Dayalan on Thursday conducted a surprise check at Fortis Hospital during peak OPD hours. Seeing a large number of patients waiting in the OPD, the DC directed the hospital administration to stagger the patient inflow and regulate it through a token system in order to limit entry of people. Barring emergencies, the entire inflow of patients must be controlled via a token system, said Dayalan. The administration was suggested to propagate the appointment System so that people could come to the hospital only during the time slot given to them in the pre-fixed appointment. The DC said that any lapse in adhering to health protocols advised in the wake of Covid outbreak, especially non-wearing of masks or not maintaining social distancing, in such institutions could play havoc. The overall hygiene and sanitation at the hospital was found satisfactory, but some people were seen without masks and were challaned on the spot. The parking was found haphazard and the superintendent of police present on the occasion interacted with the parking contractor and guided him to regulate the patient drop-off and pick-up. Abhijit Singh, zonal director of Fortis Hospital, did not respond to repeated calls and messages. Courtesy of Live NationCo-founding Guess Who members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings had their plans for a 2020 North American tour "undun" by the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the trek's six previously announced U.S. dates have now been rescheduled for 2021. Those dates had been slated to kick off June 13 in Huber Heights, Ohio, and run through a June 21 concert in Prior Lake, Minnesota, and now will get underway on June 5, 2021, in Huber Heights and run through a June 13 show in Prior Lake. Meanwhile, 16 Canadian concerts, spanning from a June 11 performance in Windsor, Ontario, through a July 29 in Montreal, have been postponed and rescheduled dates will be announced soon. In addition, two 2020 Canadian festival appearances -- July 24 at the Kemptville Live Music Festival in Kemptville, Ontario, and August 8 at the Titans of Rock event in Grand Forks, British Columbia -- have been canceled. According to BachmanCummings.ca, more dates will be added to the 2021 tour. Visit that website and Cummings' official Facebook page for more information about the postponed and rescheduled concerts, as well as about refunds. As previously reported, the trek, dubbed Bachman Cummings: Together Again Live in Concert, will feature the veteran Canadian rockers performing Guess Who songs, as well as material from Randy's other famous band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and from Burton's solo career. Meanwhile, the previously announced limited-edition box set, The Bachman Cummings Collection, will be released soon. It'll feature five Guess Who albums spanning from 1969 through 1971, as well as highlights from the Bachman-Turner Overdrive catalog and Burton's solo career. By Matt Friedlander Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. HACKENSACK, N.J., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clinicians from Hackensack Meridian Health, the state's largest and most comprehensive health network, have published a list of papers in major journals based on experiences from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The publications include best-practice recommendations in the "new normal" of preventing new infections, perspectives on how some aspects of medicine are apt to change and also some case histories from patients infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus. "As one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, our clinicians have treated over 10,000 patients and have saved many lives. Along their journey in this pandemic, they are participating in many research trials that show promise in fighting this virus," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Now they are helping to advance the medical literature through their experiences and expertise." "This is a quickly growing literature, and we're gratified to be doing our part," said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, president of Hackensack Meridian Health's Northern Market, and the chief research officer of the network. "Our clinicians, research scientists, nurses, and academics are all contributing their own vital pieces to this enormous puzzle." Some of the most promising Hackensack Meridian Health publications from the first wave of this ongoing pandemic: Other papers, including those from the network's nursing personnel and the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation, are also at various stages of proofing, acceptance, and submission. 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. SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says he maintains the goal of raising the country's minimum wage, while taking into account the situations of small- and medium-sized companies reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Abe was speaking at a meeting on social security issues on Wednesday. Last year, the Cabinet approved the plan to raise the minimum hourly wage to 1,000 yen, or about nine dollars, at an early date. Abe said raising wages is important to keep a virtuous economic cycle going. But he noted that the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard Japan's economy and employment. He stressed that the government and the private sector should give the top priority to protecting jobs. Abe instructed the labor minister, Kato Katsunobu, to study how much the minimum wage should be raised, while considering the impact of the raise on small- and mid-sized businesses in difficulty. Washington A U.S. Navy veteran who was detained in Iran for nearly two years is returning to the U.S., Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. Michael White was imprisoned by Iranian authorities in July 2018 when he traveled to the country to visit his Iranian girlfriend. He was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison in March 2019 on charges that he had insulted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posted a private photo on social media. He was recently released from prison on medical furlough due to the coronavirus, but was required to stay in the country. "We are bringing another American home. Michael White, a U.S. Navy veteran who has been wrongfully jailed in Iran for nearly two years, has been released," Pompeo said in a statement. "He is now on his way back to the United States, where we look forward to reuniting him with his family. I commend U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook for negotiating Mr. White's release with the Iranians. I thank the Swiss government and the work of our diplomats for facilitating this successful diplomacy." President Trump tweeted about White's return, writing, "I just got off the phone with former American hostage Michael White, who is now in Zurich after being released from Iran. He will be on a U.S. plane shortly, and is COMING HOME to the UNITED STATES." ...to the UNITED STATES! We have now brought more than 40 American hostages and detainees back home since I took office. Thank you to Iran, it shows a deal is possible! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020 In a statement on Thursday, Joanne White, his mother, thanked the State Department and Swiss diplomats representing U.S. interests in Iran for helping to secure her son's return home, saying she owes them "a debt I can never repay." "For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC and I have been living a nightmare," Joanne White said. "I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home." Story continues White's family has maintained his innocence and raised concerns about his failing health during his detention, including a cancer scare. Joanne White told CBS News last September she was "really worried he'll die over there." In March, White was among thousands of prisoners who were granted medical furlough and released from prison to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which ravaged the country. He was released into the custody of the Swiss Embassy. Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who has negotiated the release of Americans held abroad for years, implored Iranian authorities at the time to allow White to return to the U.S. white-crop-img-2788.jpg Iran has granted a medical furlough to Michael White, a U.S. Navy veteran who was imprisoned in Iran. Michael White's Family / Handout On Thursday, U.S. officials told CBS News that Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, would accompany White on his flight home. White's return to the U.S. comes days after an Iranian scientist was freed from a U.S. prison and returned to the Islamic republic. Sirous Asgari was accused of stealing trade secrets and deported on Tuesday, the country's foreign minister said. Margaret Brennan, Christina Ruffini and Tucker Reals contributed reporting. Artists create 20-foot-wide mural to commemorate George Floyd 3 men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death appear in court Minnesota community leaders on George Floyd's death and systemic racism B lack Lives Matter activists across the UK today said the scale of protests in London proves this is something that people want. Further demonstrations are planned in the capital and around the country this weekend after thousands of people gathered in Hyde Park yesterday in the wake of George Floyds death. At Sunday's protests, demonstrators will kneel in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds the length of a video showing Mr Floyds fatal arrest in Minneapolis last month. All protests, which on Sunday are set to take place outside the US Embassy in London, in St Peters Square in Manchester, at Bristols College Green, and at locations spanning Edinburgh to Coventry, are being organised by local members of the Black Lives Matter movement. Placards at the Hyde Park protest demanded action as actor John Boyega gave an impassioned speech / Nigel Howard Liza, 21, is an activist involved in organising the Bristol demonstration. She told the Standard: "The Hyde Park protest was really moving. Seeing John Boyega's speech really brought a tear to my eye... The fact he put his career on the line, quite literally, was inspirational. "We have been cognisant to the fact that there is a global pandemic which means that a lot of people can't come out and show their support via the protest. But I think seeing how successful the protests have been in London and Manchester, and how many people came and showed up, I think really gave us the encouragement that we needed to know, 'this is something that people want'. People want to go out and protest. "The fact that people were coming out in droves also I think shows the point at which a lot of us are at when it comes to being exhausted with dealing with systematic racism. "Because there is so much going on, it does feel like a global movement at the moment. Cities across the US have been rocked by civil unrest for nine consecutive nights since footage emerged of Mr Floyds death on May 25. The 46-year-old African American was filmed pleading I cant breathe for almost nine minutes as a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneels on his neck. Chauvin, 44, has been charged with second degree murder. Three other police officers have been charged with aiding and abetting a murder. Black Lives Matter protests in London continue - In pictures 1 /12 Black Lives Matter protests in London continue - In pictures Black Lives Matter protesters descend on Londons streets Getty Images Protesters practice social distancing Getty Images Police detain a protester Getty Images Protesters practice social distancing Getty Images Protesters take part in a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration near Marble Arch on June 01 Getty Images The death of an African-American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis has sparked violent protests across the world Getty Images Protesters wearing masks at Marble Arch amid the coronavirus pandemic Getty Images Police detain a protester Getty Images Police detain a protester Getty Images Peaceful demonstrations in the US have been marred by pockets of violence and looting, while scuffles broke out between police and protesters and police outside Downing Street yesterday. Liza, who is expecting 3,000 to attend the Bristol event, said Black Lives Matter condemned violence at protests. She said: "I'd like to stress that this is a peaceful protest. We as organisers, and it's the same across the UK, are not condoning, encouraging or inviting any kind of violence whatsoever. Paddle out for Unity supporting George Floyd and Black Lives Matter 1 /13 Paddle out for Unity supporting George Floyd and Black Lives Matter Hundreds of surfers gather in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, as they spell "UNITY" with their boards before participating in a paddle out for unity at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California via Reuters Hundreds of surfers gather in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, as they participate in a paddle out for unity at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California via Reuters Sal Masekela, one of the organizers, reacts while standing above the crowd as they observe a moment of silence for the "Paddle out for Unity" event at Moonlight Beach in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California Reuters A sign lies on the sand as people and surfers gather at Moonlight Beach for the "Paddle out for Unity" event in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California Reuters People and surfers gather at Moonlight Beach for the "Paddle out for Unity" event in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, Californi Reuters People and surfers take a knee while gathering at Moonlight Beach for the "Paddle out for Unity" event in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California Reuters Surfers head out to sea as they participate in the "Paddle out for Unity" event in the waters off Moonlight Beach in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California Reuters A woman holds up a surfboard as people and surfers gather at Moonlight Beach for the "Paddle out for Unity" event in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California Reuters Surfers participate in the "Paddle out for Unity" event in the waters off Moonlight Beach in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California, Reuters Surfers participate in the "Paddle out for Unity" event in the waters off Moonlight Beach in support of Black Lives Matter, following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Encinitas, California Reuters Manchester Metropolitan University student Tyrek Morris said he is expecting around 1,000 people at the march in the city on Sunday. "We are doing it to stand in solidarity with the US, he said. [But] there is a lot of stuff going on in the UK that we hear about but we don't take action upon. "I feel bad that it's taken something happening in America to spark this off." The London protest in Hyde Park on Wednesday saw thousands protest in the rain / Getty Images Large gatherings are currently banned under social distancing rules, and the umbrella group Black Lives Matter UK has said it is not endorsing protests "due to the life-threatening reality of the pandemic. Organisers of the Bristol protest said social distancing would be encouraged, and activists would be handing out masks and gloves at the event. Mr Morris defended calling for protests mid-pandemic, adding: "There are so many times that there has been racial injustice and it will trend for all of five minutes and then everyone forgets about it. "And I know we are in a pandemic right now. But in the face of adversity, you always stand up." Star Wars actor John Boyega inspired thousands with a speech at yesterday's march / PA The Metropolitan Police has said its approach is to engage with protesters and encourage them to follow social distancing rules. A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: We are aware of planned protests in Manchester City Centre on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2020. "First and foremost, we stand alongside all those who are appalled and horrified by the way George Floyd lost his life - justice and accountability should follow. We know people want their voices heard and the right to peaceful protest is a key part of democracy, which UK police uphold. "GMP develops proportionate policing plans for protests, working with communities and engaging with those taking part wherever possible. Our officers will monitor the situation to maintain the safety of all involved. A top priority for us will be striking the balance and ensuring any response is both proportionate and fair. Police forces in Bristol have been approached for comment. They are fast becoming quite the royal double act, and now the Countess of Wessex, has submitted one of her own portraits for Kate Middleton's 'Hold Still' photography project to capture life in lockdown. To mark Volunteers' Week, Sophie, 55, took a picture of Ali Abbas, 26, one of a group of volunteers at the Shah Jahan Mosque's Covid-19 food bank in Woking, Surrey. Ali helps to run to food bank which was set up at the start of the outbreak to deliver food parcels to NHS workers, those self-isolating and vulnerable households in the local area. The royal, who snapped the shoot on her camera phone, named the photo 'Packed with love', writing of the image: 'Ali's smile captures the enthusiasm for helping others that is so evident amongst the volunteers at the Mosque.' The Countess of Wessex, 55, snapped a shot of fellow volunteers working to pack bags and has submitted it for Kate Middleton's Hold Still photography competition Sophie has privately joined volunteering teams like Ali's to support efforts in local communities in recent weeks. She said she'd was 'pleased to share her contribution as a tribute to all of the volunteers she has met over recent weeks who are working incredibly hard to help their local communities'. Last month, the Duchess of Cambridge, 38, joined forces with the National Portrait Gallery to launch the project, which is designed to capture the 'spirit, mood, hopes and fears' of the nation through the medium of photography. There are three themes: Helpers and Heroes - which the Countess's portrait has been entered into ; Your New Normal; and Acts of Kindness. To mark Volunteers' Week, Sophie took a picture of Ali Abbas, 26, one of a group of volunteers at the Shah Jahan Mosque's Covid-19 food bank in Woking, Surrey The Duchess will personally curate 100 photographs for the Hold Still exhibition. Kate - who spearheaded the campaign in her role as patron of the National Portrait Gallery and is a keen amateur photographer herself - aims to capture a snapshot of the UK at this time, with the help of the nation. She said last month she had been 'struck' by the many 'incredible' images seen already, 'which have given us an insight into the experiences and stories of people - some desperately sad images showing the human tragedy of this pandemic'. It emerged last week that, over the course of the competition, the Kensington Palace Instagram account has been spotted liking and commenting on several of the photos, with the Duchess signing off with the letter 'C'. Sophie has submitted the photograph into the Helpers and Heroes section of Kate's Hold Still competition (pictured, together in 2018) The Duchess, who is a passionate amateur photographer, launched the Hold Still campaign last month (pictured, during a photography workshop in July 2019) People from across the UK are invited to submit a photographic portrait which they have taken during these extraordinary times for the community project. Participants are also encouraged to provide a short written submission to outline the experiences and emotions of those depicted in their photograph. Hold Still is completely free and open to all ages and abilities. It's far from the first time that Sophie and Kate have teamed up, with the duo showcasing the closeness of their friendship on several occasions throughout lockdown. It's not the first time that the royal duo have linked up during lockdown, with the couple phoning hospitals in seven different countries last month to mark International Nurses Day Earlier this week, it emerged the duo, along with the Duchess of Cornwall, had been making phone calls to people who are elderly, self-isolating or vulnerable to check in on them during the coronavirus pandemic. According to People, the trio took part in the NHS Volunteer Responders programme, which is coordinated by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), and sees participants 'check-in and chat' with people. And last month, the Duchess of Cambridge and Sophie joined together to speak to nurses in seven different commonwealth countries, including Australia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Bahamas, Cyprus and the UK. Earlier this year, The Countess of Wessex celebrated her 55th birthday with Kate as she and Prince William hosted the UK-Africa investment summit at Buckingham Palace While speaking with nurses in Cyprus and hearing one of their ex-partners was a school teacher, Sophie joked she would be 'recruited' for Kate's homeschooling efforts, while the Duchess added: 'I would quite like her to come and help me with homeschooling.' They spoke to nurses via video call, with the chats being facilitated by Nursing Now, a global campaign to improve health by raising the status and profile of nursing of which The Duchess is Patron. And earlier this year, The Countess of Wessex celebrated her 55th birthday with Kate as she and Prince William hosted the UK-Africa investment summit at Buckingham Palace. Have uniform policy for travel across NCR says SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: Taking a dim view of the unilateral decisions being taken by each State in the National Capital Region, the Supreme Court said that an uniform police must be framed for inter-state movement of people. SC orders Delhi-UP-Haryana to frame common policy for travel in NCR | Oneindia News The court is hearing a batch of petitions that highlighted the difficulties faced by commuters on the borders of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the NCR. The court said that a consistent view was imperative. Over 1 lakh national IDs including Aadhaar, PAN card of Indians put on dark net for sale: Cyber The court said that there recommendation is that there should be one pass recognised in the NCR and this should be recognised by all States. The Bench said that there should be a One Policy, One Path and One Portal for allowing movement of people across borders in the NCR. All State officials shall endeavour to find out a common programme and portal for inter-state movement in the NCR. The court also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure a meeting by the officials of States involved within a week and decide on a common portal for inter-state movement in the NCR. The court asked the Centre, Delhi, UP and Haryana governments to come up with a uniform policy and regulations and submit the same before it by next week. A 37-year-old Northern California man was arrested on Monday afternoon after authorities caught him eating his 90-year-old grandmother's body, horrifying investigators. The suspect, who was identified as Dwayne Wallick, was caught after police responded to a 911 call about a man standing in the victim's home on the 1200 block of Club Court. Officers arrived at the scene shortly after 2 PM local time and found the suspect straddling the victim's bloody body while "digging in her flesh." According to reports, the officers ordered Wallick to stop. However, the suspect ignored them and continued to feast on his grandmother's body. The police successfully handcuffed and arrested the suspect after using a stun gun on him. Dwayne was sent to the hospital where he is being treated for unspecified physical injuries. The victim, who was identified as Ruby Wallick, was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have yet to release her exact cause of death. Authorities are still looking for a motive for the crime, but they are continuing to investigate whether drug use contributed to the disturbing incident. They are expected to turn the case over to the District Attorney and will likely file murder charges against the Dwayne Wallick. Austin Harrouff The recent incident echoes a gruesome crime committed by a 19-year-old in Florida on August 15, 2016. Austin Harrouff was known as a happy and popular college student when he was accused of murdering and cannibalizing a married couple. According to reports, deputies from the Martin County Sheriff's Office found the 19-year-old suspect sitting on top of 59-year-old John Stevens III, eating at his face while seemingly making growling sounds. Police officers ordered the teenager to step away from the victim. After refusing to listen, authorities were forced to pull Harrouff off of the victim's corpse. The suspect had to be neutralized with a stun gun several times as well as get bitten by a police dog before officers could successfully handcuff and arrest him. Investigators also found the body of 53-year-old Michelle Mishcon inside the couple's home on Southeast Kokomo Lane. Initial findings revealed both victims were beaten and left bloodied and unresponsive. Officers tried to talk to the suspect who proceeded to spit out a chunk of flesh and admit it was "human." After the incident, police officers interviewed the victim and were shocked when Harrouff claimed he had no memory of committing the murder and eating the victim's face. He also could not remember a motive. The teenager was later diagnosed with clinical lycanthropy delusions or werewolf syndrome. Sinc 1850, only 13 people were diagnosed with the syndrome. Patients suffering from clinical lycanthropy delusions often believe the had the ability to physically turn into a wolf. The condition is generally thought to be linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression. The now 23-year-old's double-murder trial, which was set on May 18, was cancelled after state prosecutors requested a second mental health evaluation. Harrouff was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, burglary with assault, and one count of attempted first-degree murder. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Dutch health officials have ordered the slaughter of around 10,000 mink to start Friday on farms where coronavirus outbreaks have been reported, possibly infecting at least two employees. The cleanup of the mink farms in southern Netherlands, the epicentre of the country's outbreak, is aimed at preventing further contamination, two senior Dutch ministers said. Health officials warned the "virus can continue to circulate on mink farms for a long time and therefore posed a risk to public and animal health," the ministers said in a letter to parliament. Around 10,000 mink are to be culled in the clean-up on the fur farms, agriculture department spokeswoman Elise van den Bosch said. The estimate did not take into account mink pups born in spring, with female animals giving birth to about four to six offspring, she told AFP Thursday. The ministers described it as a "difficult measure" adding that farmers would be financially compensated. An animal welfare committee would ensure that the animals would be culled in a "responsible way", the ministers said. Dutch authorities reported two possible cases in May where humans were believed to be infected with coronavirus by mink. The infections in the south of the Netherlands could be the "first known cases of animal-to-human transmission", the World Health Organization said late last month. The Dutch government has since banned the transportation of mink and made COVID-19 testing mandatory on all farms across the country. There have been more than 5,990 coronavirus deaths and almost 46,000 infections in the Netherlands, according to the latest official figures. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP Balloons near Tommy Trojan at USC's annual parents weekend in 2017. The university announced Tuesday that fall semester classes will be held on campus. (Los Angeles Times) After I transitioned to teaching online during the spring semester at USC, I admitted to my students that this was new territory for me. This was also the first time many of them had participated in distance learning, so we bonded over sharing a new experience in a drastically changed world. Wed already established a rapport in the physical classroom and were optimistic that we could make the best of the situation. Moving online did change the dynamic of the class and not for the better. When USC announced Tuesday that fall semester classes will be held on campus, the realist in me became nervous about the potential health consequences in the time of the coronavirus. But the teacher in me is relieved that students will be able to gain the enormous benefits derived from learning in a physical classroom. Yet many classes are expected to be a mix of online and in-person learning, so my virtual-teaching dilemma is not going to go away. This hybrid approach is supposed to offer students and faculty more flexibility. Adapting teaching skills to improve student participation online or to make sure no one gets lost is no guarantee that the benefits of a quality education will transition to an online platform even if students are sitting in a physical classroom part time. Its impossible to ignore the well-documented reality of high attrition rates for online or distance education. Researchers have long explored innovative ways to promote student success online, yet the dropout rates remain 10% to 20% higher than at four-year universities where about 60% of students graduate within six years. Even if you can get beyond the mundane challenges of online learning the muting and unmuting, the electronic hand-raising, asking questions by typing them into a box its disconcerting having your face fill everyones screen when you comment, as if you are making some brilliant contribution. Technology is the great inhibitor, making class interactions feel more performative instead of being a free-flowing exchange of ideas among equals. Story continues Socioeconomic disadvantages always present the biggest challenges to college success, and its no different when a course moves online. I get to know the students in my small classes, and when our courses shifted online, most students from more modest backgrounds kept their cameras off and transitioned to a name in a Zoom box. Others were in dark closets or tight corners of apartments where family members would sometimes meander into view usually to the students obvious embarrassment. These few were in stark contrast to the students lounging in bedrooms, by pools or against the lush green backdrop of backyards. Those who hid essentially ceased making any valuable verbal contributions to the class. They saw what I saw, and they chose to retreat. Online education also has disadvantages that affect all socioeconomic groups. One of the greatest benefits of attending college is entering a room where strangers from various backgrounds are encouraged to feel comfortable with intellectual risk-taking and having their beliefs challenged. But when youre back in your childhood bedroom or sitting at the kitchen table interacting with a screen, the ideas might not flow so easily. Or perhaps college has caused you to see things differently from your family, and it might be harder to articulate your convictions knowing that a relative in the next room might be outraged by your new perspectives. Even when Zooming from my home office with the door closed, Im distracted by my familys proximity (not to mention barking dogs and ringing phones). Online, Im also a prisoner of my computer screen and sometimes unreliable Wi-Fi. I cant move around the room the way I normally do, I cant make my usual asides, and I cant easily blend into the classroom milieu when a discussion among students takes off. It's simply harder to engage the class. So much subtle communication occurs in the physical classroom. I can see the student who looks like she has something to say and prod her to speak up, or I can see the student whos clearly irked by someone elses comment and ask if he wants to respond. Class after class, week after week, Ive watched students grow familiar just by being in each others presence. They might see the classmate with all the piercings and scarred wrists who has Christian tattooed on the back of her hand, they might notice the frat boy who wears rainbow socks on the last day of Pride Week, or they might soften up to the silent guy with the sour expression when they realize hes had the same breast cancer awareness pin in a prominent spot on his backpack all semester. The physical classroom provides a humanizing and unifying experience for everyone present that can help us not only to hone our skills of focus and observation but also to challenge our assumptions about people and become a little more open-minded, a little less isolated and a lot less egocentric. Awareness of each others strengths, vulnerabilities and individuality serves as a complement to the exchange of ideas and the intellectual development that a quality education provides. Research on college completion cites the importance of both academic success and social success for students. Online courses might deliver quality academic content, but they squelch opportunities to cultivate the subtle wisdom derived from sharing the same physical space with a diverse group of learners working toward a common goal. In person, I get to know all of my students, not just the most confident, motivated or outspoken ones. Those connections make me believe I can make an impact that might empower them as learners and as citizens of the increasingly challenging world theyll be navigating. Teaching them online, even part time, gets in the way of that. John R. Murray is an associate professor of teaching in the undergraduate writing program at USC. Kate Middleton remains 'hurt and upset' by an article published in society bible Tatler and 'never saw it coming' because the magazine's editor-in-chief is a 'close friend from the St Andrews set' who has holidayed with her twice, a report claims. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have filed legal action against the magazine after it published a 'string of lies' about Kate, 38, including claims she feels 'exhausted and trapped' in the Royal Family and fell out with Meghan Markle in a row over whether Princess Charlotte should wear tights as a bridesmaid at her wedding. The writer of the piece, journalist Anna Pasternak, described Kate as having 'an aura of blandness' and claimed she has developed a 'posher' accent after being born a commoner. In a highly unusual move, the couple sent legal letters to the magazine demanding its profile of the Duchess headlined 'Catherine the Great' be removed from the internet. Kate Middleton (pictured in Ireland in March) remains 'hurt and upset' by an article published in society bible Tatler and 'never saw it coming' because the magazine's editor-in-chief is a 'close friend from the St Andrews set' who has holidayed with her twice, a source claims According The Sun, Kate was 'shocked' by the 'unpleasant' article because Tatler's editor-in-chief Richard Dennen is an old friend of hers from St Andrews University. Chicago-born Dennen was on the same art history course as Kate and reportedly lived two streets away. The pair even went to France together in 2004, while Kate and William were on a break from their relationship. In 2015 Dennen shared a now-deleted candid photo of Kate eating a sandwich at an airport, which he posted with the caption: 'Before life got serious and we still ate wheat and flew economy,' and the hashtags #TheCourtJester and #TheKensingtonCrew. Although Dennen claims he has only met William twice, it is believed he was a guest at the 2011 Royal Wedding and both receptions. Chicago-born Tatler editor-in-chief Richard Dennen (pictured in 2015) was on the same art history course as Kate and reportedly lived two streets away. The pair even went to France together in 2004, while Kate and William were on a break from their relationship Although Dennen claims he has only met Prince William (pictured with Kate at St Andrews University) twice, it is believed he was a guest at the 2011 Royal Wedding and both receptions Dennen has previously described Kate as 'very measured, very controlled'. He told CNN in 2011: 'That is perfect because you don't want someone who's going to be falling out on the Kings Road face down, wasted after a boozy session. 'There was this nightclub that everyone went to called Boujis and she was famous for always nipping into the bathroom, checking her hair and make-up before she left because she knew there were photographers waiting outside.' Tatler has said it sticks by the reporting of journalist Anna Pasternak, who wrote the article A source told the publication the Duchess feels 'betrayed' and 'never saw this coming'. They added: 'There are a lot of unanswered questions, particularly who said these things to Tatler because her real friends would never talk that way about her.' In response to Kensington Palace's complaints, a spokesperson for Tatler said the complaint had 'no merit' and that 'Editor-in-chief Richard Dennen stands behind the reporting of Pasternak and her sources'. 'Kensington Palace knew we were running the "Catherine the Great" cover months ago and we asked them to work together on it,' they said. 'The fact they are denying they ever knew is categorically false.' The article makes reference to the eating disorders suffered by William's mother Princess Diana, saying: 'Kate has become perilously thin, just like some point out Princes Diana.' The palace is particularly 'furious' about claims that Kate feels 'exhausted and trapped' by the increased workload following Harry and Meghan's decision to step back. The profile takes aim at Kate's taste and her family, sneeringly describing the Cambridges' Anmer Hall home in Norfolk as 'very Buckinghamshire'. Dennen has previously described Kate as 'very measured, very controlled'. He added: 'That is perfect because you dont want someone who's going to be falling out on the Kings Road face down, wasted after a boozy session' 'Carole has put her stamp on Anmer decor-wise,' it claims. 'Far from being a typical aristo abode, with threadbare rugs and dog hair everywhere, like, say, Windsor and Balmoral, it is, according to a visitor, 'like a gleaming five-star hotel, with cushions plumped and candles lit'.' It also labels Mrs Middleton 'a terrible snob' and snipes at Kate's younger sister Pippa as 'too regal and try-hard... A bit lost now and is struggling to find her place'. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have filed legal action against the society magazine William is also believed to be upset by the suggestion that Carole Middleton has become 'the mummy he's always wanted', feeling it is incredibly disrespectful to his late mother. To the anger of Kensington Palace, Ms Pasternak asserts that the Cambridges feel very tired because they have been forced to take on more Royal duties after Megxit. The article cites a source as saying: 'Kate is furious about the larger workload She feels exhausted and trapped. She's working as hard as a top CEO, who has to be wheeled out all the time, without the benefits of boundaries and plenty of holidays.' But figures in the Court Circular, the official record of Royal engagements, suggest otherwise. The couple have done a similar number of jobs from January to March as they did over the same period last year. Kate has actually done less 29 this year against 35 in 2019. The Duke and Duchess are also said to be upset about criticism of her family and her children. A Royal source told The Mail on Sunday: 'That is such an extremely cruel and wounding barb. It's disgusting. It's sexist and woman-shaming at its very worst. Tatler also addressed one of the rumored feuds between Meghan and Kate, stemming from Meghan's wedding in May 2018. The magazine said the fight occurred at a rehearsal and was over whether Princess Charlotte and the other young bridesmaids should wear tights. A friend told DailyMail.com: 'Meghan was not about to make her god-kids, let alone the other little girls wear tights, it was too hot and sticky and there was just no need for it' 'The piece is full of lies. There is no truth to their claim that the Duchess feels overwhelmed with work, nor that the Duke is obsessed with Carole Middleton. It's preposterous and downright wrong. 'The whole thing is class snobbery at its very worst. The stuff about [Kate's sister] Pippa is horrible. Tatler may think it's immune from action as it's read by the Royals and on every coffee table in every smart home, but it makes no difference. 'It's ironic that the Royals' favourite magazine is being trashed by them. The Duchess is a naturally shy woman who is doing her best.' Earlier this week it emerged married mother-of-one Ms Pasternak is reportedly friends with former Tatler journalist Vanessa Mulroney, who is the sister-in-law of Meghan's best friend Jessica Mulroney. A source told the Sun: 'Pasternak's article caused immense unnecessary pain for Kate and its central claim that she felt trapped and unhappy was wildly untrue. 'Pasternak is sticking to her story and saying her sources are good. She is very well connected in the US. She is friends with Vanessa Mulroney who used to work at Tatler and now lives in Canada. 'And Vanessa's sister-in-law Jessica is Meghan's best friend. It's intriguing.' Oxford-educated Ms Pasternak, who lives in Oxfordshire with her husband Andrew and daughter Daisy, is a vastly experienced journalist who has written for every UK national newspaper. She wrote a recent book on Wallis Simpson called The American Duchess and 1994's Princess In Love about Princess Diana's affair with James Hewitt. The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Pikesville, MD During times of community crisis, its important for everyone to think about what is uniquely within their power to do to help More than 10,000 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Baltimore County and Baltimore City combined since the onset of the pandemic in March, taxing the healthcare system and putting unprecedented demand on the men and women who work on its frontlines. Nurses, physicians, and other medical personnel have come to the Baltimore metropolitan area from across the state and throughout the country to support their colleagues in managing the coronavirus pandemic, in many cases sacrificing their own comfort and well-being for the good of our community. DoubleTree by Hilton Baltimore North in Pikesville, Maryland wanted to show its support for the medical staff who have been caring for those with COVID-19 in local hospitals. According to Mark Mahoney, General Manager, the DoubleTree by Hilton has provided in excess of 500 room nights to frontline medical personnel at no charge. During times of community crisis, its important for everyone to think about what is uniquely within their power to do to help, said Mahoney. At DoubleTree by Hilton, our business is comfort. We wanted to provide a safe, comfortable place for medical staff working at the hospitals nearby to relax after or between shifts, or for those arriving from out of statesuch as traveling nurses or volunteering physicians from other parts of the country. Our donation is part of a larger commitment from Hilton and American Express to provide up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to frontline medical professionals through May 31. The DoubleTree by Hilton is located near many area hospitals, including The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Northwest Hospital, Sinai Hospital, and other affiliates of the LifeBridge and MedStar medical systems, making it an ideal location for frontline workers commuting to Emergency Departments, Intensive Care Units, and COVID-19 testing units in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Joelle Giron, a travel nurse who recently stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton, says she was grateful for the clean, comfortable, complimentary accommodations. The compassion of the staff was amazing, she said. I always had a group of staff members sending me off in the morning and welcoming me back at the end of my shiftalways observing social distancing and other indoor safety protocols. They even hand-delivered DoubleTrees signature chocolate chip cookies to my roomwarm, and fresh from the ovenand made sure I always had coffee to put in my thermos as I was running out the door! Diana Barron, another traveling nurse, also said staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton felt like her home away from home. I am very grateful for all the kindness and patience I received from the staff, she said. From the very first day, they welcomed me. They were professional, friendly, and caring, and they truly made an effort to get to know me. All of this is especially important during the pandemic, when everyone needs a little extra TLC. Thankfully, I found that in this wonderful hotel. About Blue Ocean: Founded in 2004, Blue Ocean is a real estate investment and management company headquartered in Baltimore, MD. Blue Ocean is active in a variety of sectors within the real estate industry including multi-family, office, retail, industrial, hospitality, and self-storage sectors. Today, the Blue Ocean portfolio consists of 23 properties valued at approximately $450,000,000. This portfolio consists of 3,000 apartment homes and almost 3,500,000 square feet of commercial space. Twitter users have gone into overdrive mocking Fox News host Brian Kilmeade for saying John Lennon wouldn't feel safe in New York City amid the George Floyd protests - 40 years after the star was shot dead at the entrance to his Upper West Side apartment. The Fox and Friends anchor made the baffling claim on live TV Thursday morning as he attempted to blast Mayor Bill de Blasio for saying he had been thinking about the lyrics of Lennon's song Imagine while the protests over Floyd's death continue across the city. 'He wants you to hum Imagine by John Lennon,' Kilmeade proclaimed. 'John Lennon wouldn't be safe in this city right now. He'd be hiding in his apartment.' His comments sparked a backlash on social media as amused listeners rushed to point out The Beatle was far from safe on the streets of New York. Fox and Friends anchor Brian Kilmeade made the baffling claim on live TV Thursday morning that John Lennon wouldn't feel safe in New York City amid the George Floyd protests - 40 years after the star was shot dead at the entrance to his Upper West Side apartment Lennon was murdered on the front steps of his Manhattan apartment the Dakota on December 8 1980 by Mark Chapman who had traveled to the Big Apple from Hawaii to assassinate him. Listeners took to Twitter to share the news of Lennon's passing with Kilmeade, with one writing: 'I've got some Lennon info to share with Brian that he's going to find very distressing.' Another Twitter user posted: 'Dude has like fifty pages of the Lennon biography left and he is in for a huge surprise.' 'I thought it would be impossible to make me laugh out loud at the assassination of John Lennon - but I stand corrected,' another added. Another person poked fun at the idea that Abraham Lincoln also wouldn't have been safe at a theater amid this week's protests outside the seat of US government, after the former president was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC back in 1865. 'If Lincoln tried to go to the theater last night in DC, he would not have been safe,' they posted. His comments sparked a backlash on social media as amused listeners rushed to point out The Beatle was far from safe on the streets of New York Other people pointed out the irony that Kilmeade thinks Lennon would be 'hiding in his apartment' during protests when he actively participated and held protests during his life. Lennon and wife Yoko Ono most famously hosted week-long bed-in protests, where they stayed in their room for days in protest against the Vietnam War and calling for world peace. He was also planing to join a workers' protest on 14 December, less than a week before he died. Other people pointed out the irony that Kilmeade thinks Lennon would be 'hiding in his apartment' during protests when he actively participated and held protests during his life Others pointed out that Lennon was killed by a 'white guy' - as tensions mount across America over the slaying of black man Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis last week John Lennon was murdered on the front steps of his Manhattan apartment the Dakota on December 8 1980 'Lennon would be out with the protesters leading them in that song,' one Twitter user posted Thursday. Another person agreed: 'And does someone want to tell him that Lennon would've never hid in his apartment? This is a man who immersed himself in NYC, led protests in Central Park.' Others pointed out that Lennon was killed by a 'white guy' - as tensions mount across America over the slaying of black man Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis last week. 'Lennon killed by a white, Southern evangelical who flew to NYC for the express purpose of killing Lennon,' one person tweeted. 'I can't get over this. This is hilariously dumb. Like, John Lennon was ruthlessly gunned down in 1980 by a white guy. In New York City. This isn't ancient history. You HAVE to know this. Yet, Brian Kilmeade going for the dunk and the ball bounced off the rim and broke his nose,' another wrote in a post. Kilmeade had made the amusing gaffe as he launched into an angry tirade aimed at NYC Mayor de Blasio. De Blasio said during a press conference Wednesday that he had been thinking about Lennon's music amid the ongoing civil unrest of the last week. 'I don't mean to make light of this, but I'm reminded of the song Imagine by John Lennon,' the NYC mayor had said. 'We played it at my inauguration. I think everyone who hears that song in its fullness thinks about what about a world where people got along differently About a world where we didn't live with a lot of the restrictions that we live with now' De Blasio said during a press conference Wednesday that he had been thinking about Lennon's music amid the ongoing civil unrest of the last week He added: 'But we're not there yet. 'We're making a lot of progress, I truly believe. I believe the protest movements themselves, the peaceful protest is the essence of how we make progress.' De Blasio also faced a backlash, with people slamming his comments on Twitter and arguing that the looting the city has faced is far from peaceful. One person posted: 'I'm reminded of the song 'Run for your life' by John Lennon...' 'His whole political ideology is based on a John Lennon song,' one person blasted. Another wrote: '@NYCMayor 'NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: 'I don't mean to make light of this but I'm reminded of the song 'Imagine' by John Lennon.' Yeah - them looters/arsonists/thugs sure do remind one of 'all the People living in peace'... Do you even listen to yourself?' Chaos erupted in the streets of New York over the last week following Floyd's slaying, after horrifying footage revealed the moments leading up to his death. The 46-year-old black man was killed last Monday when a white cop knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while he begged him to stop and said he couldn't breathe. Peaceful protests have taken place across all US states - as well as other parts of the globe - demanding an end to racism and police brutality against African-Americans. But some demonstrations have turned violent as night falls, when rioters and looters have taken to the streets and trashed businesses and stores. ~ Evers wanted payout totaling Naf 202.864 and become a contractor.~ PHILIPSBURG:--- President of the St. Maarten Communication Union Ludson Evers has been caught with his pants down when documents provided to SMN News shows that Evers tried to rip off TELEM by submitting a timesheet for overtime post-Irma. SMN News learned that Evers told management of TELEM that the Chamber of Labor Unions made an agreement with the Labor Department to pay employees overtime during working hours. SMN News learned that Evers was not successful in getting the overtime payment he requested since the union could not produce the written agreement between the unions and the Department of Labor. While Ludson along with other members of the Chamber of Labor Unions have been bashing TELEM for paying an excessive amount of money to contractors, he himself submitted a proposal to TELEM management for early retirement on March 19th and to then acquire a contract as a contractor for the company. Ludson wanted TELEM to pay him a total of NAF 202.864.00 which includes his social plan for an early retirement lump sum for 8 months NAF 65.440.00 and 24 months at 70% totaling NAF 137.424.00. According to documentation, SMN News obtained Management of TELEM rejected the proposal on May 27th. Details of the proposal Evers submitted: L.E ENGENIEER CONTRACTOR (L.E.C) proposal for technician power department and buildings maintenance Telem Group this proposal is for preventive maintenance, maintenance, restoration maintenance, and projects. under preventative maintenance falls the following: Preventative maintenance for the generator. 1. visiting the cell sides, substations, and measure GEBE AC voltage on the phases in the transfer switch if it has on at the location, measure the amperage the building is pulling on each phase. 2. check oil level in the engine, cooling water in the radiator, measure gen set battery voltage, and last running hours on the time display. 3. start gen set on test mode to exercise engine and transfer switch. 4. repeat step two but this time on the generator side. 5. check oil pressure, engine temperature, and measure battery to make sure alternator is charging battery. 6. run engine for half-hour and switch of engine by retransfer the transfer switch and engine turn off automatically. Preventative maintenance for the DC side, UPS at the cell sites, and sub-stations. 1. go through the event history of the DC power plant and or UPS to see the behavior of the equipment. 2. check all the rectifier units make sure they are working. 3. measure the total DCV on the batteries. 4. measure the DCV for each cell of the batteries bank. 5. a load test is recommended twice a year for the batteries. The grounding also will fall under the preventative maintenance, grounding has to be measured every time the technicians visit the cell sites and the sub stations. the lighting arrester must be checked as well when the technician visits the cites, as well the grounding network of each site. preventative maintenance for the buildings are the following: 1. check breaker boxes for loose connections. 2. measure ACV at the breaker boxes. 3. measure amperage at the breaker boxes. 4. make sure building ground is connected, measure it as well. 5. check all lights in and around the building. 6. check locks and electric locks from the buildings 7. check all air-conditions in the buildings and report to the if not working. 8. check all restrooms for water leaks. in principal the maintenance and the restoration maintenance can work under the same conditions of the preventative maintenance parties will agree before execution. All the above work executed will have a report with findings, and recommendations where is needed. I will also execute on-call service 24 hours 7 days a week My company can also provide projects: projects will be discussed and agree upon before executing, details of projects must be presented upfront for example scope of work in detail and my company will provide quotation base on the scope of work giving for the specific project. Any additional work that must be carryout on the specific project will be considered as additional work and will be charged for accordingly, after discussing and agree with the additional pricing. The projects prices can be reduced because of the retaining fee that is being paid per month Total amount per month for two teams of two technicians each with two trucks and one supervisor is NAF 85.000,00 Total amount per month two technician one truck and a supervisor is NAF 60.000,00. The proposal made by Evers and his statements regarding overpaying contractors clearly shows that Evers has been contradicting himself based on what he says as a union representative and what he does as an employee of TELEM. Noteworthy is also the fact that Evers requested overtime for himself post-Irma and did not do the same for union members even though citing the Chamber of Labor Unions have an agreement with the Labor Department, he did not make the same request for the members of SMCU. SMN News contacted TELEM CEO Kendall Dupersoy for a comment on the documents SMN News received and Dupersoy said that as CEO of TELEM he will not comment on matters relating to employees because it will be unethical. Click here to peruse proposals made by SMCU President Ludson Evers and response from TELEM CEO. As protests continue to take place throughout Indianapolis in response to the death of George Floyd, a younger much younger generation also is marching. Over the weekend in Indianapolis, children ranging from toddlers to teenagers walked with their parents, participating in the demonstrations by carrying signs and following along in chants. Terry Clayton, 19, participated in a demonstration at Monument Circle on May 29. After event organizer Lamari Edwards, 20, handed him her megaphone, Clayton read a poem describing the Black experience in America. In it, he described police brutality and judgment, and ended the poem by lying face down on the bricks surrounding the Circle with his hands behind his back, as other demonstrators chanted Its not a crime to be Black. It makes me feel scared when I come out of my house, Clayton said in an interview. I have to worry if Im safe in my own car, in my own neighborhood I might not even be safe in my own home, he added, seemingly referencing Breonna Taylor, 26, who was killed by police in her Louisville home after officers raided the wrong house. Cornelia Anderson, along with her teenage children Mya and Darius, also attended the same demonstration. Weve lost a lot of Black men, Anderson said, and we have to do something about it. As Anderson spoke, Mya, 15, nodded in agreement. Im here to show my support and show I care, too, Mya said. I know its not right, and its not fair. You dont see white people being shot like that. During one protest organizers urged demonstrators to remain peaceful to protect the children in the crowd after water was thrown on an officer and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officers responded by using pepper spray. Theres a little boy here tonight, Edwards said, gesturing toward a boy of about 5 years old. The police wouldnt hesitate to hurt him, she said. Quan Addison, a father of five, said he and his wife are often afraid for their sons. He and one of his toddler son arrived at Monument Circle about 15 minutes after pepper spray was deployed. You have to start them young, one protester told Addison as he walked closer to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, nodding toward the boy. The children and young adults involved in the protests were scared. Not about being at the demonstrations, but about the all too common viral videos of Black men killed by police. It hurts my heart, Edwards said. They could be my brother or my friend. It makes me sick to my stomach. Darryl Lockett, executive director of the Kennedy King Memorial Initiative, said while viral videos are common today, he never wants to get desensitized. It is no question traumatic, Lockett said. But its something that I want to maintain a sense of shock and awe. I dont want to become numb, because at that point, we become well adjusted to injustice, and we lose that spirit thats needed to fight against the forces that exist in society and to resist that which is creating that pain and that frustration. A teacher in the crowd, who wanted to only be identified as Ms. Felix, said she teaches sixth grade and sees firsthand the effects police brutality have on her students. Theyre scared, she said. We have conversations about police brutality, and things they hear in the news makes it hard for them to focus in school, because theyre afraid of what is going to happen to them when they leave the school. Felix said difficulties in academics creates a cyclical process that can lead to young Black men being victimized by police. Were messing up the next generation, and we need to fix it, Felix said. Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper. Cornelia Anderson and her children Maya and Darius. (Photo/Breanna Cooper) Seoul: South Korea plans to push new laws to ban activists from flying anti-Pyongyang balloons full of leaflets over the border after North Korea threatened to end an inter-Korean military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions if Seoul failed to prevent the protests. The South's desperate attempt to keep alive a faltering diplomacy will almost certainly trigger debates over freedom of speech in one of Asia's most vibrant democracies. A man watches a TV news program with a file image of Kim Yo-Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul. Credit:AP The balloons have been a common activist tactic for years, but North Korea considers it an attack on its government. Defectors and other activists in recent weeks have used the leaflets to criticise the North's authoritarian leader Kim Jong-un over his nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights record. While Seoul has sometimes sent police officers to block such activities during times of high tension, it had resisted the North's calls to fully ban them, saying the activists were exercising their freedoms. The 6th Cavalry Museum announces new Program Coordinator Molly Sampson. As program coordinator, Ms. Sampson will be in charge of the museums educational programming, including group and school tours, events and curriculum development. Originally from Ohio, Ms. Sampson has supported the museums Remembering Our Heroes WWII event and School Days program since 2014. We couldnt be happier to welcome Molly as our program coordinator, said museum Executive Director Chris McKeever. Her knowledge of the Womens Army Corps and WWII combined with her research skills and enthusiasm make her the perfect fit. Funding for the position was provided by the George R. Johnson Family Foundation. Ms. Sampson will take a leadership role in researching and developing the upcoming 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion exhibit, focusing on the only unit of African American WACs to be stationed overseas during World War II. The museum received a grant from the African American Civil Rights Grants Program in 2019 through the Historic Preservation Fund. Ms. Sampson also has tourism and museum experience as she previously worked as the visitor outreach coordinator at the Findlay-Hancock County Ohio Convention and Visitors Bureau, and as administrative assistant at the University of Findlays Mazza Museum. Beyond her professional background, Ms. Sampson has extensively researched the history of the Womens Army Corps during World War II, with special focus on the Third WAC Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe. She uses this expertise to participate in WWII living history programs. Ms. Sampson portrays a WAC officer, using historical interpretation to educate students on the experiences of WAC members during the war. The oil majors have made huge bets on plastics and petrochemicals in recent years, but those investments look increasingly shaky following the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn. Some economies are slowly rebounding from earlier shutdowns, and the oil and petrochemical industry succeeded in ramming through rollbacks of plastic bag bans in the wake of the pandemic. But the hit to the global economy could more than overwhelm those wins. The market for one of the main feedstocks for plastic polyethylene has fallen sharply over the past year, with a pronounced dip since the onset of the pandemic. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, we were already expecting to see various petrochemical value chains ... heading into an oversupply situation, Catherine Tan, principle analyst at Wood Mackenzie, told Reuters. The pandemic and the deep economic hole could lead to a contraction in U.S. polyethylene demand by 4 percent this year, compared to a dip of just 0.8 percent globally, according to IHS Markit. But the hit comes not only from weaker demand for plastic, but also the sharp decline in crude oil prices. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in oil prices created a perfect storm scenario for North American (NAM) polyethylene producers, IHS Markit wrote in a report late last month. The decline in Brent oil prices, which heavily influences feedstock costs for naptha in Asia (which competes against North American polyethylene), has brought costs down. U.S.-based petrochemicals are more heavily weighted towards ethane as a feedstock, which is linked to natural gas liquid prices, not crude oil. At the start of the year, with WTI trading at around $57.5 per barrel, the average U.S. Gulf Coast ethane-based producer had a cost advantage of roughly $481 per ton over a rival naptha-based producer in Asia, according to IHS. That margin collapsed to just $38/ton when WTI fell to $28.6. If WTI falls below $20, U.S. producers would be unable to compete in the Asian/European markets, IHS estimates. Plastic producers in North America for all practical purposes, lost most of the feedstock advantage that the shale gas revolution created over the past 10 years, the firm said. Related: What's Holding Natural Gas Prices Back? One should ask, what has been the financial result associated with all these billions of dollars invested in the North American assets? Sadly, the news has not been good so far, IHS concluded. Production of polyethylene has ramped up dramatically over the past decade, but margins continue to shrink. Indeed, the impact of lower oil prices and competitive [polyethylene] offerings from Europe and Asia in the export markets have already driven [polyethyelen] export prices to the point that some US production curtailment is already being curtailed, IHS said. North American polyethylene producers will see margins under pressure though 2021. The weakening market for polyethylene has already led to delays on new investments. For instance, PTTGC America and Daelim Chemical delayed a final investment decision on a massive ethane cracker in Ohio. Dow Inc. recently said that it would sideline three plants that produce polyethylene. One closely-watched project already under construction in western Pennsylvania faces heightened risk as well. Royal Dutch Shell is building a gargantuan ethane cracker in the heart of the Appalachian shale gas region, and the project is expected to come online in 2021 or 2022, entering a market that is more challenging than when the project was planned, according to a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The complex is likely to be less profitable than expected and face an extended period of financial distress. When Shell designed the project nearly a decade ago, the plastic pellets the plant plans on producing cost $1 per pound. But today, those pellets sell for between 40 and 60 cents per pound. Futures prices for 2021 are as low as 20 cents per pound, a sign that traders expect the market to continue to deteriorate. Shell will enter the market amidst a plastics price war among formidable corporations with existing client bases that are reducing their prices to maintain their position in a constricted market IEEFA analysts wrote. The state of Pennsylvania gave Shell a $1.65 billion subsidy to build the plant. Because of the public is on the hook, Shell owes a more complete explanation to shareholders and the people of Pennsylvania of how it is managing risk, IEEFA analysts said. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A staff member in the state Assembly accused of raping a female lobbyist is stepping down from his job after a multi-month internal investigation, sources close to the investigation said. No charges are expected to be filed against the man, however, after an internal investigation initiated by the state Legislature did not find enough evidence to prove the sexual assault claim, according to three sources with knowledge of the investigation. The alleged victim in the case has appealed the ruling and the case is ongoing. Two sources who know about the resignation did not say why the Assembly aide chose leave his job later this month. He was not employed by the Assembly when the alleged rape occurred. He was accused of sexually assaulting the lobbyist after the pair went out for drinks several years ago. The alleged victim recounted the incident in a Dec. 29 NJ Advance Media report on sexual harassment in New Jersey politics. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, placed the man on paid leave in January, shortly after the story was published, according to the three sources who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. An investigation by the nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services and an outside law firm ended last month without enough evidence to substantiate the sexual assault allegation, the three sources said. NJ Advance Media is not naming the man or his position in the Statehouse because he has not been publicly identified. The alleged victim also asked that she not be named. The Assembly staffer did not respond to a request to comment. The female lobbyist declined to comment. A spokesman for the Assembly Speakers office also declined to comment because he said he can not discuss personnel matters. In the Dec. 29 NJ Advance Media report, the 30-year-old lobbyist said she went out with the Assembly staffer several years ago and he suggested she sleep on his couch rather than drive home after a night of drinking. He raped her in the middle of the night, she said. Though she had bruises on her neck and limbs, the woman said she did not report the alleged assault to police because she feared how accusing a Statehouse employee would affect her career in Trenton. Once you complain ... youre the difficult woman,'" the lobbyist said in the NJ Advance Media report. The investigation into the womans claim began in the Legislature the same month a panel of top female lawmakers, lobbyists and political leaders separately started their own workgroup to study the toxic culture for women in New Jersey politics and government. The Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics was formed by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, in January in response to the NJ Advance Media story. The group recently held three public hearings and one private hearing to hear testimony about womens experiences in state and local politics. The group plans to eventually release its finding and its recommendations for policy changes. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Send it here. The second meeting of the China Vaccine Industry Technological Innovation Strategic Alliance (CVITISA) was held in Beijing on May 18, brought together 27 institutions and companies engaged in vaccine research and development, production, supervision, and application. The aim of the meeting was to speed up the development of COVID-19 vaccines and strengthen technological innovation and cooperation in the vaccine field. As chairman of the CVITISA and China National Biotech Group Co Ltd (CNBG), Yang Xiaoming acknowledged the achievements and expressed concerns about China's vaccine development. "Although China has been leading in the development of some types of COVID-19 vaccines globally, gaps still exist in the diversity of viral vector types, large scale mRNA production, delivery for nucleic acid vaccines, and protein structure design," said Yang. "China's research and development of COVID-19 vaccines keep in line with international standards, which lays the foundation for companies to carry out international cooperation in phase III clinical trials," Ying Bo, CEO of Suzhou Abogen Biotechnology Co., Ltd. said. "We have received cooperation proposals from nonprofit organizations at international conferences, but it is still relatively difficult to achieve cooperation on company level." Established in 2013, members of the Alliance include centers for disease control, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, universities and research institutes, vaccine companies, and other related units. Shen Xinliang, a researcher of CNBG, believes that the Alliance will facilitate information sharing within the industry and give full play to the advantages of all parties in the industry chain to jointly promote vaccine development. "Forming an industrial alliance will help promote cooperation with international organizations," he added. According to Ying Bo, collective efforts within the framework of the Alliance will also help the application of new vaccines. Currently, recombinant protein vaccines and nucleic acid-based vaccines account for a large portion of over 100 vaccines reportedly in development across the world. Still, China has not yet approved the clinical trials of these two new types of vaccines. "To make COVID-19 vaccines available requires the cooperation of multiple departments. Under the framework of the Alliance, if a regular mechanism is formed, the new vaccines will be recognized by vaccine manufacturers at a faster pace," Ying Bo said. At the meeting, the Alliance called for enhancing the construction of the entire vaccine industry chain, optimizing existing vaccine technologies and products, and improving international cooperation in vaccine research and development. International experts from organizations, including the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control and PATH, expressed their appreciation for China's efforts in pandemic control and vaccine development via recorded videos and called for further cooperation with China. At present, one recombinant adenovirus vector vaccine and four inactivated vaccines have been approved by China's Food and Drug Administration to carry out phase I or II clinical trials. Content in partnership with Science and Technology Daily. The Maharashtra government on Thursday early morning withdrew the alert message, which was issued to seven coastal districts in the state on Monday because of cyclone Nisarga that hit Alibag in Raigad district the previous afternoon. Officials, however, said heavy rains would continue in many parts of the state as an after-effect of the cyclone, which left four people dead and eight injured. The alert message was withdrawn around 6 am on Thursday. However, heavy rains are expected in many parts of the state, said Kishorraje Nimbalkar, secretary, relief, and rehabilitation. The state authorities have deployed 20 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for relief and rescue operations in the affected areas along the Maharashtra coast. Relief and rescue measures are on. Were assessing the damage and the report will be ready in another two-three days, Nimbalkar said. The cyclone has left behind a trail of destruction, especially in Raigad district, where power cables are snapped, trees and electric poles uprooted, thatched, kutcha and pucca houses destroyed or partially damaged and roads blocked. A preliminary assessment by the state authorities has revealed that 1,865 kutcha houses are fully damaged, 5,577 partially damaged, 108 pucca houses fully damaged and another 560 partially damaged. Besides, 1,375 hutments are damaged in the seven coastal districts, where the alert was sounded. Sachidanand Gawde, NDRF, Pune, said that relief and rescue operations are on. Two additional teams have been shifted to Raigad district, where cyclone Nisarga made landfall, from Mumbai and Thane. These teams are helping the district authorities in the restoration of essential services such as facilitating the movement of vehicular traffic that was disrupted due to road blockades and also the power supply. The teams will be stationed in the district until normalcy is restored, Gawde said. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the officials to assess the losses while focusing on relief and rescue measures. Cyclone Nisarga hit coastal Maharashtra while the state is battling the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) epidemic. The people of the state stood united to successfully face the challenge. Im sure a similar effort will help tide over the Covid-19 crisis as well, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Frozen 2 is finally landing on Disney+ in UK and Ireland next month on July 3 2020. Better yet, the animated movie is arriving on the streaming service a whole two weeks earlier than anticipated. The Disney film joins Disney Plus' lineup of blockbuster movies, original content, and classic titles from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and more. It will also accompany its predecessor movie Frozen, Into The Unknown: Making Frozen 2, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Frozen Fever and Lego Disney Frozen Northern Lights. Frozen 2 is finally landing on Disney+ in UK and Ireland next month on July 3, 2020 The hotly anticipated Disney movie launched much earlier for US Disney+ (March 22) and in other international locations, which left UK and Ireland Disney fans wondering when it would be available to stream here. But although we have had to wait a little longer for it to arrive on Disney+ UK, the film is probably a very welcome gift for families with small children. Frozen 2 follows Elsa, together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, on a remarkable and inspiring journey into the unknown to discover the source of her magical powers and save the kingdom of Arendelle. The Disney movie also features all-new belt-your-heart-out songs Into the Unknown and Show Yourself. Frozen 2 follows Elsa, together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven on a new adventure into the unknown The film comes from Walt Disney Animation Studios and the Academy Award-winning team of directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho, and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Frozen 2 also features the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad. But that's not all for Frozen fans. In addition to the movie, new Disney+ original documentary series Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 will premiere globally on Disney Plus on Friday June 26. This six-part series sees filmmakers, artists, songwriters and the cast open up the gates to cameras and reveal the hard work, heart, and collaboration behind the scenes, as well as the breakthroughs and challenges this animated movie faced. MailOnline may earn commission on sales from the links on this page. Coming out of COVID-19, we were worried it was never going to be the same, DiPrima said. Friday felt like we were going to get back to normal. Saturday night was decent. Then things changed. On Saturday night, several businesses, including nearby Js on Jackson, rushed to close and get workers out as protesters came downtown from 72nd and Dodge Streets the original epicenter of the protests. Some vandalized property, including smashing windows and tagging buildings with graffiti. Js on Jackson executive chef Zeb Rogers came back to work to find that someone had turned off power to the restaurant from outside the building overnight, flipping a switch that cost the business about $8,000 in food. Because of COVID-19-related stress on restaurant supply chains, including farmers markets, replacing that food could take days, which means a day or two with no sales, and puts the weekend in question. Most who spoke with The World-Herald said they were heartened by public support on Sunday from community members who came in droves to help clean up the mess. To access a PDF version of this newsletter, please click here http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Morning_News_Call/MNCGeneric_CA_06032020.pdf You can read Morning News Call Canada via TOPNEWS Canada page. If you would like to receive this newsletter through your email, please register at: http://solutions.refinitiv.com/MorningNewsCallENsubscriptionpage ECONOMIC EVENTS 0815 (approx.) Reserve assets total for May: Prior 87,322 mln 0830 Labor productivity rate for Q1: Expected 1.2%; Prior -0.1% 1000 BoC rate decision: Expected 0.25%; Prior 0.25% COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS June 3: AutoCanada Inc (ACQ). Expected Q1 loss of 1 Canadian cent per share Canaccord Genuity Group Inc (CF). Expected Q4 earnings of 15 Canadian cents per share Canada Goose Holdings Inc (GOOS). Expected Q4 loss of 12 Canadian cents per share Canopy Rivers Inc (RIV). Expected Q4 loss of 2 Canadian cents per share June 4: Enghouse Systems Ltd (ENGH). Expected Q2 earnings of 27 Canadian cents per share Major Drilling Group International Inc (MDI). Expected Q4 earnings of 1 Canadian cent per share Mimi's Rock Corp (MIMI). Expected Q4 earnings of break even per share Saputo Inc (SAP). Expected Q4 earnings of 34 Canadian cents per share Westport Fuel Systems Inc (WPRT). Expected Q1 loss of 5 cents per share CORPORATE EVENTS 0800 Canaccord Genuity Group Inc (CF). Q4 earnings conference call 0900 Canada Goose Holdings Inc (GOOS). Q4 earnings conference call 0900 Canopy Rivers Inc (RIV). Q4 earnings conference call 1000 Empire Industries Ltd (EIL). FY earnings conference call 1000 Genworth MI Canada Inc (MIC). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1200 Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1200 Touchstone Exploration Inc (TXP). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1600 Ballard Power Systems Inc (BLDP). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1700 Bear Creek Mining Corp (BCM). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1700 Mogo Finance Technology Inc (MOGO^F19). Q1 earnings conference call 1700 Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU). Annual Shareholders Meeting EX-DIVIDENDS Atco Ltd (ACOx). Amount C$0.43 Imperial Oil Ltd (IMO). Amount C$0.22 Suncor Energy Inc (SU). Amount C$0.21 For Morning News Call U.S. -- a preview of market-moving news for the trading day: - type US/MNC in a news browser if you are an Eikon user, or type RT/US/MNC in a news browser if you are a Thomson One user For The Day Ahead -- a recap of the day's events and preview of the next trading day: - type DAY/US in a news browser if you are an Eikon user or type RT/DAY/US in a news browser if you are a Thomson One user For an index of our newsletters click on In 1833 Beersheba Porter Cain discovered a chalybeate (mineral spring waters containing iron salts) spring in the mountainous region of Grundy County outside of Altamont, Tennessee. The little village that was above Collins River Valley would become incorporated in 1839 and would function as a summer hotel and included log cabins to escape the summer heat below and to avoid various diseases. The purchase of the property in 1854 by Louisiana slave trader Colonel John Armfield led to a period of development that included a luxurious hotel that would accommodate 400 guests. Armfield brought upwards of 100 slaves to upgrade the property and build the buildings. The resort added ice houses, billiard rooms, and bowling alleys. Armfield also planted many shade and fruit trees during this period and imported musicians from New Orleans to perform at the dances held on the premises. French chefs were also imported from Louisiana to provide fine cuisine for the guests. Armfield also tried to induce two Bishops in the Episcopal Church to consider the area as a possible location for the University of the South to educate Episcopal youth. During the Civil War the property was sold to Northern investors. From the wooden observatory at the front of the hotel skirmishes between Confederate and Union troops in the valley below could be observed. Two homes were built for Bishop James Otey and Leonidas Polk of Louisiana who would be instrumental in the selection of the site for the university. Unfortunately, the Sewanee Mining Company offered 10,000 free acres of land outside of Monteagle which was accepted in 1857 and the location was confirmed at a meeting of the Sewanee Board of Trustees in Beersheba. During the Civil War the residents were constantly harassed by federal forces and bushwhackers (homeless ex-soldiers) who plundered, pillaged, and robbed whenever they could. Surprisingly, all of the property remained intact in spite of raids by the federals and outlaws. On September 20, 1871, Armfield died and the resort went through many up and down periods. The isolation of the location and substandard roads was always a problem but the resort still remained an attractive destination because of its beauty. Various routes have been built to make the area more accessible. Roads to Chattanooga, Gruetli, and McMinnville were connected during the post-Civil War period. The Dixie Highway (U.S. 41) constructed during the 1920s from Chicago to Florida was one of the first steps to provide accessibility to the area. In 1926 Tennessee Highway 56 was built up the mountain to Beersheba. Unfortunately, the blasting put an end to the mineral springs which originally created the resort. The Great Depression and the loss of the springs negatively affected the property and it was bought and sold several times. Although better roads to the resort were now available, the post-Depression recovery in 1939-1941 did not revive Beersheba Springs. However, several additional famous visitors have stayed at the resort over the years. Prior to his presidency, Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth president of the United States, stayed at Beersheba Springs. In 1840 Tennessee Governor and future president James Polk held a political rally at the location. In 1934 an individual who identified himself as Boshee Bouch was a short time resident. In reality he was Public Enemy No. 1, John Dillinger. He got along with the residents who helped him dig a well on his property, which contained a simple cabin. Others sold him vegetables while he was at Beersheba Springs prior to Dillinger being shot and killed by the FBI in July of 1934 in Chicago. After years of neglect the property and facilities were bought for $3,000 by the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church to be used as retreat grounds in November 1941. The Methodists have maintained ownership since that time and have continuously upgraded and improved the premises. Over the years, all of the modern convenience of electricity, water, telephone, and even wireless access have been added as well as complete modernization of the buildings and cabins. In 1955 Beersheba Springs was incorporated as a town with 4.9 square miles of territory and a city manager-council form of government. Since 1967 the community has hosted the Beersheba Springs Arts and Craft Festival each year on the fourth weekend in August and it usually has over 200 vendors and is attended by thousands of visitors. In 1980 the historic district of the town was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The history of this quaint and beautiful place has been preserved by the combining of three articles by Herschel Gower, Carl Elkins, and Ann Hale Trout covering the earliest days of its existence through 2010. Googling Beersheba Springs on your computer will provide the reader with a wealth of data and inspire them to take a scenic trip to this historical part of Grundy County. * * * Jerry Summers (If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com In the midst of continuous controversy and protests regarding the of George Floyd is Derek Chauvin, the cop who pinned down Floyd on the neck using his knee while he was pleading that he couldn't breathe. Among the four officers who were involved in the arrest of Floyd, Chauvin was the most experienced in the field. During his time in service, the cop has received at least 17 complaints against him but also received several medals of valor. Last Wednesday, eyes were again set on Chauvin as the charge against him was upgraded to second-degree murder. Moreover, the three other cops who were present during the arrest were also charged with aiding and abetting murder as reported by Star Tribune. Based on the Chauvin's heavily redacted files, he has been in the police force for 19 years. It was stated on the files that 44-year-old Chauvin has been a police officer in Minneapolis since 2001. Moreover, it was also stated that he trained as a cook before he served as a military police officer in the Army. However, according to a report by Inquirer.net, it was very notable that the personnel files of Chauvin did not include many things about his career. They also stressed that out of the 17 complaints that have been filed against him only one was detailed on the files, which was the one where he pulled a woman out of a car after he stopped her of over speeding. Based on the investigation that was held after wars, it was found that that the action to remove the woman from her car was unnecessary. Read also: George Floyd Autopsy Shows He Had Coronavirus That May Aggravated His Maltreatment by Police Chauvin received medals for valor and bravery. Aside from the various complaints about him, his files also noted that Chauvin has been singled out for his brave acts as police. It was detailed how he was awarded medals of valor twice in his career. His first one was one 2006 where he was part of a group of police officers who shot at a stabbing perpetrator who had a shotgun pointed at them. In 2008, he also received a medal when he shot a suspect for domestic violence in the stomach after breaking down a bathroom door. In addition, he was also awarded medals of commendation in 2008 for taking down a suspect running away with a pistol on his hand, together with his partner; and for apprehending gang members while he was off-duty as a security guard in a night club in Minneapolis in 2009. The end of his career and the death of George Floyd. Chauvin's well-decorated career during his service in the police force ended after he became the subject of the people's outrage since the death of Floyd. Protests around the country and call for actions around the whole world have also directed their ire against Chauvin for the inhumane treatment of Floyd during the incident. Due to this, Chauvin's world turned. In a report by CNN, it was stated that his wife Kellie Chauvin has already filed for divorce and requested to change her last name after the divorce is finalized. Up to this day, the aftermath of Floyd's death still haunts the United States as rallies, protests, and riots spread in the country with people calling to end inequality, racism, and police brutality. Related article: Derek Chauvin's Wife Files for Divorce: Petitions to Change Her Last Name, Acquire Properties @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category By JeongWon Bourdais Park COVID-19 has killed nearly 386,100 people globally as of June 4. The World Bank estimates that global gross domestic product in 2020 will record a 3 percent contraction, in what could be the worst economic recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The comparison to the Great Depression in terms of economic devastation is an attempt to draw some useful lessons from previous experiences of resilience measures. But there has been rising reactionary skepticism to multilateral inter-governmental cooperation that sheds light on previously under-discussed aspects of the current crisis, which is "environmental security." Once the outbreak of the COVID-19 pathogen began, it spread rapidly to peak in February in South Korea. Many anticipated that the central government would implement strict measures such as an immediate full-scale border shut down. Border closure is undoubtedly a diplomatically delicate action, but nonetheless the first option that authorities would consider. However, even this straightforward policy requires efficient transnational information sharing to avoid a chaotic situation caused by the imposition of a unilateral measure. Simultaneously in Europe and in the U.S., a growing number of racist assaults against Asian-appearing citizens and visitors was seen, causing minority groups to suffer from social and psychological anxiety. Ultra-nationalist demagogues popped up and encouraged exclusive popular nationalism. History has shown that ultra-nationalism can escalate amid an economic downturn. The isolationist approach seemingly serves national solidarity but it will also soon divide society within the nation, ultimately destabilizing social cohesion both domestically and internationally. Anti-multilateralism, which has been a characteristic of the Trump administration, is not new, but it has been re-ignited by the U.S. president's ire towards the World Health Organization (WHO) in handling the global health crisis. Being accused for mishandling the coronavirus pandemic at home, President Trump began to antagonize the WHO for its "pro-Beijing" propensity, and finally announced plans to terminate Washington's relationship with the organization. The blame game started also on the origin of and in turn the liability for the virus. Under this current situation, the rationale of multilateral cooperation through international governmental organizations should be promoted to assist in coping with the multilayered disaster by coordinating multiple actors. Beyond that, the organizations have their own uses, for example, paying particular attention to marginalized communities in fragile states (e.g. people in Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and North Korea). Experts have already discussed COVID-19 and its environmental consequences such as lower pollution levels in large cities. However, such a phenomenon is only an incidental effect of a temporary lockdown. Pollution levels will return to usual or even higher levels during the period of economic recovery. Pollution is not the major tenor of the current pandemic, but rather biodiversity. One needs to be cautious when raising the question of the origin of COVID-19 as the discussion itself has become politically sensitive. Talking about certain animal species has become a highly politicized subject too. For example, inter alia, the pangolin, which is internationally protected under the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) is an endangered species. Its poaching/trading is banned according to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES). What we know clearly is that the virus was first "discovered" in Wuhan, China. The live animal markets there are allegedly under control according to the Chinese Ambassador to the U.K., in a recent interview with the BBC. National governments alone cannot effectively control people's lifestyle that is embedded within food, medicine and livelihoods. When a certain lifestyle is banned, the illegal market flourishes and the price for the banned animals rises, making the industry even more lucrative and globalized. The pandemic is not a single country's fault and the entire world is its victim. Nonetheless, environmentally-induced human health problems are complicatedly interlinked with human disruption in biophysical systems. No single national government can effectively handle novel crises. The demand of transparent investigation and cooperation should not serve to finger-pointing or to the ostracization of a country, but as a means to collaborate in managing disasters, beyond rivalry for leadership in a new field, and to prevent future mishaps. JeongWon Bourdais Park is currently serving as associate professor at the department of international relations and regional studies at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. They include more than 100 Drug Enforcement Administration agents who have been deployed to work alongside members of the National Guard at checkpoints that have been set up to help slow the numbers of vehicles coming into the area, which investigators suspect may be used to bring in projectiles to be thrown at police. Acting DEA Administrator Timothy Shea said they also serve a vital purpose by helping to relieve the Metropolitan Police Department so it can handle other emergencies. BEREA, Ohio Assault: East Bagley Road Workers at OhioGuidestone, 202 E. Bagley, called police May 30 after three residents of the behavioral health treatment center tried to escape. It happened at about 6:15 p.m. May 29. One resident, a 17-year-old girl, grabbed a workers arms, swung her around and snatched her keys. The 17-year-old and a second resident, 12, used the keys to unlock and hurry past a security door. The worker and a second worker then blocked a second security door. The 17-year-old tried to push one worker out of the way, and she and the 12-year-old punched the other worker several times. A third worker arrived, and the three workers forced the girls back into the secured part of the building. The workers hadnt decided whether to file assault charges at the time of the report. Operating a vehicle under the influence, driving without valid license: West Bagley Road An intoxicated Berea man, 54, was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. May 28 after the Buick Regal he was driving rear-ended a Cadillac on West Bagley at Barrett Road. The Cadillac was stopped at a red light at the time of the crash. When police arrived, the man was sitting in his Buick with the drivers door open. His legs hung outside the car, a slipper was on one foot and he was sweating profusely. He seemed to be dazed. The man smelled like alcohol, but denied drinking. He failed field sobriety tests. Police spotted a half-full bottle of liquor on the drivers-side floorboard of the car. At the police station, police learned that the man had been convicted of drunk driving three previous times over the past 10 years and eight previous times over the course of his life. His last OVI conviction was a felony in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Theft: Barrett Road Three pair of Air Jordan shoes, valued at $900, were stolen between 11 p.m. June 2 and 9:30 a.m. June 3 from a car parked outside Tower in the Park apartments, 55 Barrett. The victim said he had locked the car, but added that the drivers-side window can be pulled down manually. Indecent exposure: West Bagley Road A woman at Quarrytown apartments, 55 W. Bagley, told police May 29 that another Quarrytown tenant, a 58-year-old man, had exposed himself to her. The woman said she heard a knock on her door at about 6 p.m. When she opened the door, the man was standing there. He pulled down his pants, revealing his private parts, and asked the woman, Do you like it? The woman closed the door. Police questioned the man, who was intoxicated. He denied any contact with the woman or exposing his genitals to her. Police reported the incident to the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority. The woman said she would follow up with CMHA police. Noise disturbance: Prospect Street A Prospect woman, 26, was ticketed at about 1:15 a.m. May 31 for hosting a loud party and failing to quiet down. Someone called police about the party at about 12:40 a.m. When police arrived, they heard loud music and saw 20 to 30 people on the property. Police told the woman they could hear the music from several houses away and asked her to turn it down. They told the woman they would warn her this time, but if they were called back, they would give her a citation. The woman said she understood. Police parked on Crocker Street, behind the womans house. They still heard loud music and talking. Dispatchers received a second noise complaint at about 1:10 a.m. Police returned, and to them it seemed like the music was just as loud as before. After police issued the citation, the woman asked her guests to leave. Marijuana possession, driving without valid license: Ohio 237 Police warned a Garfield Heights man, 24, at about 1:30 p.m. May 30 after they caught him driving without a license and carrying marijuana. Police stopped the mans car on Ohio 237 near Sheldon Road after randomly checking his license plate number and learning that an arrest warrant had been issued for a man connected to the car. However, after further investigation, police determined that he was not the wanted man. Police smelled marijuana and saw two bags of the drug in the car. The man agreed to hand over both bags of marijuana to police. Criminal damaging: West Street Someone smashed the window of a backhoe parked overnight June 2-3 on West Street. The backhoe belonged to A & J Cement Contractors Inc. in Euclid. Police believe a BB or pellet gun might have been used to break the window. Marijuana possession: West Bagley Road Police warned a Lakewood man, 47, at about 4:30 a.m. June 3 after finding a plastic baggie of marijuana in his car and discovering that he was wanted in North Olmsted. Police stopped the mans car after seeing it veer out of its lane on Mulberry Street and make an improper turn onto West Bagley. The man was wanted in North Olmsted for driving with a suspended license, but North Olmsted police asked Berea police only to advise the man of the arrest warrant. Read more from the News Sun. 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While reports suggested that someone had intentionally offered the cracker-laden food to the elephant, Surendrakumar - IFS and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Officer - said that it is unlikely that someone will offer pineapples to a wild elephant. Surendrakumar added that it is possible that the animal ate the fruit or jaggery by mistake. Cracker-laden fruits like pineapple are kept by farmers to scare away animals from their fields. We are not sure how that blast has been caused. Investigation is on to find out whether it was caused by pineapple or jaggery-laden cracker and the samples are being tested, Surendrakumar told Moneycontrol. He explained that the preliminary report prior to the elephants post-mortem stated that there could have been a blast in the mouth that caused an injury. The elephant's death had sparked off sharp reactions, both in India and internationally, with people taking to social media platforms to comment. Well known personalities, including Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata and celebrities such as Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma and Randeep Hooda, had voiced their concern. Also Read: Pregnant elephant's killing no different than meditated murder, justice needs to prevail: Ratan Tata The video of the incident went viral on social media and showed the elephant standing in a river with her mouth and trunk in the water, possibly to get some relief from the burn caused by crackers. Lockdown effect? What would have possibly let the animal into this area? Though Surendrakumar said that elephant sightings were common in the area, he added that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown may have caused more wild animals to come out of the forests and explore their surroundings. Lesser number of humans being sighted would have caused wild animals like this elephant to come out more often. However, generally these wild elephants do not cause any damage except eating a few crops and leaving, he added. In the particular area of Mannarkkad where the incident occurred, Surendrakumar said that elephant sightings are common and typically the animals are given their space. Meanwhile, union minister of environment, forest and climate change Prakash Javadekar said that the central government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Kerala. Also Read: Kerala elephant death: Who said what about the tragedy "We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill," he added. On the contrary, wildlife experts are of the view that it would be tough to catch the culprits in incidents like this. Elephants walk up 150 kilometres per day and without any video evidence or close circuit cameras in these areas gathering evidence of possible suspects could be a challenge according to officials working in this field. Public awareness Forest authorities are taking efforts to ensure that there is no repeat of such incidents. Surendrakumar said that through public awareness sessions, information is being collected about how the animal could have consumed this food product and to make sure that locals are aware of the best practices. Also Read: Pregnant elephant killed in Kerala after eating explosive-laden food While he admitted that there has been a lot of human-animal conflicts in the area, the authorities are now trying to minimise conflicts. We have Jan Jagruta Samiti (public awareness committees) in Panchayats where we are having meetings. Even today (June 4), a meeting is being held in the area to collect further intelligence about the elephants death, he added. Data from the Kerala State Forest Department showed that in 2017-18, there were 7,229 reported incidents of human-animal conflict in the state. The state paid total compensation of Rs 10.2 crore to wildlife attack victims in 2017-18. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Cyclone Nisarga: Alert message withdrawn, heavy rains may continue in Maharashtra The Maharashtra government on Thursday early morning withdrew the alert message, which was issued to seven coastal districts in the state on Monday because of cyclone Nisarga that hit Alibag in Raigad district the previous afternoon. Read more India should have looked at Covid-19 response in East: Rajiv Bajaj to Rahul Gandhi Industrialist Rajiv Bajaj said on Thursday that India made a mistake by looking at the western world while preparing its response to the coronavirus crisis - in this case a lockdown. Read more Gandhis statue vandalised in US, Indian embassy registers complaint Unknown miscreants have vandalised a statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, prompting the mission officials to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies. Read more This librarian has a purr-fect idea to dress up her cat as literary icons Ever wondered if the perfect job exists in any part of the world? For me, it might one where Im always surrounded by books and all things literature, although, as I advance in age (even by days), I find myself wishing for a more cat-like life. Read more Covid-19: New quarantine rules for passengers coming to Delhi Hindustan Times National Political Editor, Sunetra Choudhury brings you the top stories you need to know. Sunetra talks about the number of covid-19 cases in India, new quarantine rules for passengers coming to Delhi, migrants travelling back for work, a study on the impact of lockdown and more. Read more TN SSLC: Tamil Nadu class 10th hall ticket 2020 to be released today at dge.tn.gov.in The directorate of government examination, Tamil Nadu is expected to release TN SSLC or class 10th board exam hall tickets today on its official website at dge.tn.gov.in.According to media reports, TN SSLC hall tickets will be released on June 4 at 2 pm. Read more Read the full transcript of Mark Zuckerbergs meeting with Facebook employees Things have not been great at Facebook. After CEO Mark Zuckerberg let US president Donald Trumps controversial posts remain on the platform, explaining that he felt that Facebook users should be allowed to see the posts for themselves, many employees staged a virtual walkout in protest. Read more LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (https://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that explains how the current COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the car insurance industry. For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-car-insurance-in-this-period-of-coronavirus-outbreak The effects of the coronavirus for the car insurance industry are already quite severe. Many drivers are quite concerned about their abilities to pay their next insurance bills. Fortunately, many providers have understood the severity of the current situation and are offering payment relief, halting insurance cancellations, and providing online claims processing. Some of them are even providing partial premium refunds because many consumers aren't driving very much due to the COVID-19 outbreak. No one could have anticipated the damages done by the current crisis. For his reason, the car insurance industry and the drivers are adapting and are making a few changes: Failure to pay insurance premiums on time no longer leads to policy cancelation . Insurance providers and their regulators realize these aren't normal times due to the coronavirus outbreak. Insurance companies are offering new programs and procedures to assist drivers who may have suffered a job loss, reduced hours, or medical issues. Drivers who need assistance should contact their insurers for help and guidance. . Insurance providers and their regulators realize these aren't normal times due to the coronavirus outbreak. Insurance companies are offering new programs and procedures to assist drivers who may have suffered a job loss, reduced hours, or medical issues. Drivers who need assistance should contact their insurers for help and guidance. Car Insurance companies are offering extended grace periods . Given the current situation, most insurance providers are extending grace periods and halting cancellations for customers who can't make their payments. Many car insurance providers have announced case-by-case programs to assist customers who have financial troubles. . Given the current situation, most insurance providers are extending grace periods and halting cancellations for customers who can't make their payments. Many car insurance providers have announced case-by-case programs to assist customers who have financial troubles. Switching to a new insurer is not recommended . Drivers can't just simply switch to a new insurer and obtain cheaper premiums. However, in this involuntarily pause caused by the coronavirus outbreak, drivers can research their insurance options and check if they need to make changes to their coverages, insurance company, or deductibles. . Drivers can't just simply switch to a new insurer and obtain cheaper premiums. However, in this involuntarily pause caused by the coronavirus outbreak, drivers can research their insurance options and check if they need to make changes to their coverages, insurance company, or deductibles. Drivers who are no longer using their cars to drive to work can get a discount. Drivers should contact their insurers to see if they can dial back the declared mileage until the crisis is over. Many insurance companies have already announced automatic premium rebate programs. Drivers should contact their insurers to see if they can dial back the declared mileage until the crisis is over. Many insurance companies have already announced automatic premium rebate programs. Canceling coverage during this time should be avoided . Most drivers still need to drive their cars to grocery stores or to medical appointments. Cars can still get stolen or damaged by natural events like storms, floods, or tornadoes. Also, insurance providers don't like to see lapses in coverage, and they can raise their premiums after the crisis is over. . Most drivers still need to drive their cars to grocery stores or to medical appointments. Cars can still get stolen or damaged by natural events like storms, floods, or tornadoes. Also, insurance providers don't like to see lapses in coverage, and they can raise their premiums after the crisis is over. The current crisis doesn't affect the ability to file a claim . While the coronavirus pandemic is no reason for affecting the driver's ability to file a claim and get the car repaired, this crisis can cause some delays. Most insurance providers are offering online claims portals where drivers can upload documents, photos of the vehicle, and any property damage. Also, claims adjusters may ask drivers to shoot videos that highlight vehicle damages, so they can appraise the damages remotely. . While the coronavirus pandemic is no reason for affecting the driver's ability to file a claim and get the car repaired, this crisis can cause some delays. Most insurance providers are offering online claims portals where drivers can upload documents, photos of the vehicle, and any property damage. Also, claims adjusters may ask drivers to shoot videos that highlight vehicle damages, so they can appraise the damages remotely. Dealing with a collision or with a police stop has changed. Drivers should perform all of the duties that are required to do by law while trying to put as much distance between themselves and the other driver as possible. They can do that by placing their documents - driver's licenses, registration, and insurance cards - on the hood of their cars, then letting the other party photograph them with their smartphone, then doing the same with their documents. While being stopped by the police, drivers should do exactly what they are told to do. 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. "The coronavirus outbreak has affected nearly every corner of American citizens' lives. The car insurance companies and drivers are facing new realities and they need to adjust", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing Company Person for contact: Gurgu C Phone Number: (818) 359-3898 Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.biz Website: https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ SOURCE: Internet Marketing Company View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592732/Car-Insurance-During-The-COVID-19-Pandemic Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Berlin Thu, June 4, 2020 12:05 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc0e3a5 2 News Germany,coronavirus,COVID-19,travel,travel-warning,tourism,Europe Free Germany will lift a blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday, as the continent further eases restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus. The Dutch government announced it will ease warnings against non-essential foreign travel from the same date. And Belgium said its borders will reopen to travelers from the rest of the European Union, Britain and members of Europe's passport-free travel Schengen zone on June 15. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said with summer holidays arriving, a dozen European countries would no longer advise against foreign travel. The Netherlands would urge travelers to "pay attention to safety risks", he told a press conference. He said he hoped Spain and France would accept foreign tourists from July 5. Germany introduced an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March. But with new infections sharply down, the government is looking for ways to restart the economy. "We have decided today that the travel warning for the named circle of countries will not be continued but replaced by travel advice," Maas said, referring to EU nations, other Schengen countries and Britain. The advice could still include warnings against travel to certain countries, such as Norway and Spain, which still have their own entry restrictions in place. Germany will be watching contagion data very carefully, Maas added, saying that warnings could be reintroduced if new infections were to reach 50 per 100,000 people in a week in the country concerned. Germany reported 342 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday -- down from more than 6,000 a day at the height of new infections in March. Phased restart The EU set out plans in May for a phased restart of travel this summer, with border controls eventually lifted and measures to minimize the risks of infection, like wearing face masks on shared transport. Some countries have already started reopening their borders in a bid to revive the embattled tourism industry. Italy reopened to travelers from Europe on Wednesday, and Austria is lifting restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. German tour operator TUI said it would resume flights to holiday destinations, with the first service scheduled for Portugal on June 17, according to news site Business Insider (BI). However, Maas continued to urge caution. "I know that this decision raises great hope and expectations but I want to say again: travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel," Maas said. He also warned Germany would not be repeating its costly effort to rescue stranded nationals from around the world in the first weeks of the pandemic. In Berlin, residents were divided over whether lifting the travel warning was a good idea. "If I fly somewhere, I will be afraid about coming back again because maybe it will get worse and they will close the borders again," said Berlin resident Regina. Germany still has a travel warning in place for Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans. The government will review this after an expected European Commission decision next week on whether to extend entry restrictions for citizens of third countries, Maas said. Former Polish President Lech Walesa has urged Belarusians not to give up on democracy and the rule of law as the country heads toward a presidential election in August. In an interview with RFE/RL on June 3, Walesa said changes were realistic even when the opposition is tightly controlled, and people should believe that a lot can be achieved without violence and bloodshed. "The only question is the time and the price we are ready to pay for freedom in Belarus," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said. "But this has to happen because there is no Europe without Belarus -- simply, there isn't -- so [changes] must happen." Walesa, co-founder of Poland's Solidarity movement and the country's first postcommunist president (1990-1995), said it's important for people to believe in democracy and the rule of law. When people believe in the rule of law and "make it right," they can enjoy democracy and progress, he said. Belarus is set to hold a presidential election on August 9, with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka widely expected to win a sixth term in office. None of the elections since the 65-year-old leader took power in 1994 has been deemed free or fair by Western standards. And Human Rights Watch has warned that Belarusian authorities have intensified their crackdown on government critics with a "new wave of arbitrary arrests" ahead of the vote this summer. Asked about the Belarusian police force and its role in suppressing dissent in the country, Walesa said it should support all Belarusians and not exist just to prop up Lukashenka, but he added that it took effort to achieve this. Walesa also took exception to suggestions that voters would be best served by sticking with Lukashenka, because otherwise they risk angering Russia as Ukraine did when protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war that has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths. That armed conflict continues to this day. "All this talk about invasions and conquering -- this is no longer the way" in the current era of technologies and open structures, Walesa said. "These are obsolete methods and old fears that do not fit our times anymore." In the current climate, politicians have to win people over through persuasion and put forward new solutions that appeal to the youngest generations, he added. Walesa, whose Solidarity movement is credited with inspiring a revolutionary wave in the late 1980s that toppled communist rule across Central and Eastern Europe, said his best advice for Belarusians is to believe in themselves and not to wait for anybody's help. A lack of unity and other problem have caused "such a mess" in Europe that it is too preoccupied to provide Belarus and Ukraine with the help they need so that all countries can progress, he said. "Be your own helping hand, then others will come to help you," he said. CCEDC has a revolving loan fund, loan program to qualifying small businesses. In addition, other local funding sources may be available for small, low interest loans to small business owners. Visit ccedc.com for more information. Additional business resource information links for WEDC, OSHA, CDC, and others can be found at the Columbia County Economic Development Corporation website. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In an open letter to the people of Staten Island, the NYPD borough commander sought to ease fears stemming from social media rumors regarding the potential for violent protests here. In the past few days we have seen a lot of rumors circulating on social media, reporting on riots that are planned for various neighborhoods and that certain homes will be targeted for violence, Assistant Chief Kenneth Corey wrote in the letter, posted on the NYPD Staten Island Twitter account. At this time, all of those rumors are COMPLETELY FALSE. We have no indication that any such things are planned. Continuing to spread such falsehoods does nothing but create unnecessary fear and anxiety, Corey said. Unlike images we have seen from other areas of the city & country, the protests in #StatenIsland have been peaceful. There is no room for hate here, no matter who it comes from, or who its directed towards. pic.twitter.com/gUKHpEqeVS NYPD Staten Island (@NYPDstatenIslnd) June 4, 2020 The Advance/SILive.com has posted on several of the rumors over the last few days, including anxiety over public garbage cans being removed from the borough and piles of bricks being discovered at locations on the South Shore. Corey said that while opportunists seeking to use protests to incite violence and fan the flames of division have wreaked havoc in other boroughs, our protesters have rejected these vultures, and made it clear that they are not welcome here. The borough commander commended demonstrators for their peaceful decorum on the Island thus far. I am in fact proud of the way the protests have been conducted, he said of the borough rallies. I am in constant communication with leaders of all communities in Staten Island, as well as our elected officials, all of whom continue to encourage the protesters to remain peaceful. In his letter, Corey called the actions of Minneapolis officers involved in George Floyds police custody death unjustifiable and inexcusable, and acknowledged the the anger of protesters goes far beyond this one incident. Corey has been present at all major protests on the borough since they began Saturday. He was involved in a poignant exchange Sunday after civil-rights demonstrators marched from Park Hill in Clifton to the 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George. Im not the problem, Im trying to bring about a solution, shouted one of the organizers, 21-year-old Isaiah Buffong. So lets work together and find a solution, Corey responded. He later walked over to the man and extended his hand, to the approval of the crowd. WASHINGTON The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a measure that would relax the terms of a federal loan program for small businesses struggling amid the pandemic, sending the bill to President Trumps desk for his signature. The legislation, approved overwhelmingly by the House last week to enact changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, would extend to 24 weeks from eight weeks the period that small businesses would have to spend the loan money. Without that change, the time for businesses to use the funds would have lapsed in only a few days. The measure passed unanimously on Wednesday evening without the full Senate present, marking a rare moment of bipartisanship during a fierce debate over the next round of federal coronavirus relief. Democrats have pushed for another swift injection of billions of dollars in spending, while Republicans have urged restraint with a far leaner package. Since its inception in the $2.2 trillion stimulus law passed in March, the program has been plagued by problems and controversy, but it remains popular among businesses and lawmakers. Facing a flood of requests for assistance, the program ran out of money, and Congress moved in April to inject an additional $320 billion into the initiative. Family, friends and public officials gathered Thursday to honor the life of George Floyd, the 46-year-old father who died in police custody in Minneapolis last week. Floyd, known by those close to him as a "gentle giant," was remembered as a loving father who made everyone feel welcome in his presence. The memorial, the first of four scheduled services, took place at North Central University campus, located about two miles from where Floyd lost his life. His death has reignited a nationwide movement against the police killings of black Americans. Mourners wore masks and bumped elbows, rather than hugging or shaking hands. The Reverend Jesse Jackson entered and prayed for several moments over Floyd's golden casket. Others followed his lead, including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Jackson and Klobuchar greeted each other and spoke for a few minutes before heading to their seats. Mourners pay respect to George Floyd during his memorial service in Minneapolis June 4, 2020. Mourners pay respect to George Floyd during his memorial service in Minneapolis June 4, 2020. Reuters/Lucas Jackson Floyd's family shared their gratitude for the outpouring of love from the public and marveled at the movement triggered by Floyd's death. "I wish he was in the presence, in the flesh, to see it, this great unity," his brother said. "He would stand up for any injustice anywhere." His sister said the thing she will miss most about him are his hugs, "because he was this big sweet giant." Floyd will be laid to rest in his hometown of Houston on Tuesday. Speaking at the service, Reverend Al Sharpton said now is the time to "deal with accountability in the criminal justice system." "When I look this time and saw marches where in some cases young whites outnumbered the blacks marching, I know that it is a different time and a different season," he said. "When I looked and saw people in Germany marching for George Floyd, it's a different time and a different season." Story continues Sharpton highlighted the national and international protests sparked by Floyd's death, and acknowledged that some in the United States have turned destructive. Sharpton said the family does not condone violence or looting. He also urged people to remember that "there's a difference between those calling for peace and those calling for quiet." "George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is you kept your knee on our neck," Sharpon said. "It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks!'" At one point, Sharpton asked attendees to stand for eight minutes, 46 seconds, the amount of time ex-officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd's neck. The extended moment of silence left many people in tears, including the attorney for the family, Benjamin Crump. Many people in the crowd held signs that said, "I can't breathe." Others wrote the phrase on their face masks. Floyd repeatedly told the arresting officers he couldn't breathe in the minutes before his death. Chauvin was charged Wednesday with an additional count of second-degree murder, on top of a third-degree murder charge. The three officers with him at the scene were also charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. All four of the officers involved have been arrested and are in jail. Jamie Yuccas contributed to this report. Obama calls for "real change" during George Floyd address Artists create 20-foot-wide mural to commemorate George Floyd 3 men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death appear in court A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) - Norway, which chairs a group of international donors to the Palestinians, urged Israel on Tuesday not to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. Norway heads the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which met on Tuesday, partly to discuss Israel's plan to extend its sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a state. "Any unilateral step would be detrimental to the (peace) process, and annexation would be in direct violation and contravention of international law," Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide told Reuters after the meeting. Norway helped to broker the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords, which provided for interim and limited Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories, and initiated a now-moribund long-term peace process. Soereide said she had spoken on Tuesday with her Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, to urge Israel to resume direct talks with the Palestinians and avoid unilateral moves. "It would undermine the potential for a two-state solution," she said. The AHLC meeting also urged donors to fulfil their financial commitments to the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency to help fight the spread of the new coronavirus. West Bank health authorities reported 388 cases of coronavirus with two deaths as of Monday, while in Gaza, 61 cases and one death were registered. (This story has been refiled to add word "partly" in second paragraph to show Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank was one of the topics discussed at Tuesday's meeting) (Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan) Five new active cases of the COVID-19 virus have been identified in British Columbia over the past 24 hours, but there have been no new virus-related deaths. In addition to the new cases, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also reported four new "epidemiology-linked" cases in the Vancouver Island and Vancouver Coastal Health regions. These people have since recovered from the virus, but had not been tested when they initially came down with the disease. The new cases bring the total cases in the province to 2,632, but just 201 active cases remain. No new cases have been identified in the Interior Health region, where 195 cases have been confirmed. As of Wednesday, there are no active cases of the virus in the entire region. Dr. Henry noted that a number of Wednesday's 22 new cases of the virus were related to an individual who attended a family gathering and inadvertently spread the disease to a number of family members. "Those closest to us are most at risk," she added. There are now 26 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province, six of whom are in ICU. There have been no new virus-related deaths in B.C., where a total of 166 people have died from the virus at this time. Dr. Henry also announced a new community outbreak at Burnaby's Beresford Warming Centre, a shelter where three people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. No new outbreaks at healthcare facilities have been identified. To date, 2,265 people have fully recovered from the virus in the province. Large protests over police treatment of black people arose in Pittsburgh and Bethlehem on Thursday, while Philadelphia braced for more marches and demonstrations on the night before some pandemic-related restrictions will end in the city. Marchers wove their way through Pittsburgh before they stopped for a die-in, when hundreds imitated dead bodies by laying down on a street outside the county jail. A thousand or more people packed a downtown area in Bethlehem, chanting black lives matter and hearing speakers urge them to continue to push for change. Protesters in Lebanon jeered when the police chief walked away from a large group that chanted for him to take a knee, then marched through the small city for hours. The widespread demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, pinned down by a now-former police officer with a knee to his throat, were expected to occur again in Philadelphia as well. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said protests will continue as long as they need to. This has been a long time coming in this country, said Kenney, a Democrat. National Guard troops were again stationed outside government buildings downtown, and Kenney said he was glad for their presence. They have helped free police for pressing matters of law enforcement, he said. A Pennsylvania National Guard spokesman said 2,500 guardsmen were activated under a disaster declaration by Gov. Tom Wolf five days ago. More than 2,000 are in the Philadelphia region. Were going around trying to reassure people were doing our best, and that we care about them and want to keep them safe, Kenney said as he toured a neighborhood with the police commissioner. He vowed to convene a group to address criminal justice improvements, focusing on reconciliation. In Harrisburg, Wolf announced a plan to address police misconduct, including the designation of a new deputy inspector general and appointment of an advisory commission to address problems within the law enforcement operations under his jurisdiction. The governor said he will direct police training academies to improve instruction about how force is used and how to interact with the people they protect. Wolf also wants lawmakers to pass laws to provide better access to police videos, improve police training and authorize special prosecutors for cases of deadly assault. Bills to improve police procedures, proposed after a Pittsburgh jury acquitted an officer of homicide last year in a black teenagers death, have languished in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Several Pittsburgh-area Democratic state lawmakers pressed House GOP leaders on Thursday to advance proposals on deadly force and on investigations and punishment of police. Floyd, a black man, was in handcuffs when a white police officer was caught on video pressing a knee into his neck even after he had stopped breathing. The now-fired officer, Derek Chauvin, faces a charge of second-degree murder, and three other officers are accused of aiding and abetting. Philadelphia is about to see the easing of some of the restrictions that have locked down the city for months. The city and surrounding counties are expected to be moved Friday from the most restrictive red guidelines including stay-at-home orders to yellow rules under the states stoplight-colored reopening system. In the yellow zone, many businesses can reopen and restaurants may offer takeout. But outdoor dining at restaurants will not be allowed, as is normally the case in yellow zones. Gatherings are limited to 25 people, and some personal care services, including hair care and gyms, are not allowed. In Erie, the FBI accused Melquan Barnett, 28, with setting fire to a downtown coffee shop. Barnett, of Erie, was taken into custody Wednesday. His lawyer said he was misidentified and is not guilty. In York, police investigated a report that one of their white colleagues reenacted the scene of Floyds death at a party while off duty, The York Dispatch reported. A man who was reported to have played the role of Floyd while an officer imitated Chauvin, said no such reenactment took place. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 When kindergartners showed up for school at Escondidos Central Elementary Wednesday, they encountered brand new classrooms at the districts oldest school. Built in 1935, Central Elementary sits in the citys historic district, surrounded by colorful Craftsman bungalows and elegant Victorians. As its student population and needs exceeded the original buildings, the 600-student campus added five kindergarten classrooms and five preschool classrooms, with separate play structures for those areas. Built with funds from Proposition E, Escondido Union School Districts $182.1 million bond measure, the new structures are part of plans to modernize aging facilities and make campuses safer. The construction projects at Central highlighted the bond spending and added an extra dose of excitement to the first day of school. It looks beautiful, said Andrea Cardenas as she waited for her son Saul to explore the new kindergarten playground, before walking him to his classroom. It looks immaculate. Its such an improvement over last year. Hes very excited for his new class. Advertisement The new classrooms feature high ceilings and natural light sources to conserve energy and create a bright, airy environment. Against the wall, a row of Apple computers and headphones sit on a table lined with tot-sized chairs. The room is wired for the iPads that students will share for lessons. And an AVer interactive panel a kind of high-tech whiteboard allows them to share their work wirelessly. Outside, a spacious playground features colorful plastic slides and climbing structures. The blacktop is painted with numbers and shapes that teachers will use for math lessons. A series of wide, low steps doubles as a miniature amphitheater for class performances. On the first day of school at Central Elementary School, Escondido Union School District Board Member Doug Paulson examines the new kindergarten playground (Charlie Neuman) Its way nicer than the previous kindergarten rooms, said Claudia Zavala, dropping off her daughter, Alexa Oregon. She was very excited. I have older kids who come here. Theyve been watching the construction to see how it came out. Across campus, the youngest students arrived at five new preschool classrooms four devoted to special education students and the fifth hosting a mix of general and special education children. Crews also constructed wide, wheelchair-accessible walkways and are installing black metal security fencing around the school. Thats been a culture change for the campus, where families and neighbors have enjoyed open access, said Principal Stephanie Rosson. Its a bit of a learning curve, because it has been such an open campus she said. Once they understand that were doing it not because we want to keep them out, but because we want to keep the kids safe, they work with us. The recent additions to Central Elementary are among a number of new facilities and programs that North County school districts are rolling out this year. Solana Beach School District is also renovating its oldest campus, the 60-year-old Skyline School. Funded with Measure JJ bond proceeds, the entire campus has been demolished and reconstructed and will be ready for students who return to class on Aug. 28, according to the district. They will return to a new building with classrooms, a science, technology and reading lab, library and media center, school office and other facilities, as well as a new play area and blacktop. Other facilities will be added in the fall. In Poway, Stone Ranch Elementary School in 4S Ranch also adapted to growing pains, said district spokeswoman Christine Paik. To accommodate its 1,200 students, the campus added a new building, with 19 classrooms and shared spaces, which replace the portable structures the school has used for several years. The building will be finished when students start school next week, on Aug. 22. Later, the campus will move out the portables and convert that area to a playground. Poway Unified School District is also launching a dual language immersion program in Mandarin, at Adobe Bluffs Elementary in Ranchos Penasquitos, where students will receive half their instruction in English and half in Mandarin. The district plans to add a pathway for middle and high school students who want to continue studying the language, Paik said. Oceanside High School, which has already adopted career pathways in health, justice, business and performing arts, is also adding new science pathways. In the environmental Science Academy, students will learn about renewable energy, environmental issues and careers in energy, according to the district website. Students in the Academy of Engineering will take classes on electric circuits and microcontrollers, computer programming and AP computer science. On the first day of school at Central Elementary School Principal Stephanie Rosson hugs second grader Maya Monclus as the schools front gate opened. (Charlie Neuman) For alumni of some of the regions older schools, recent renovations inspire a sense of both nostalgia and promise. At Central Elementary, Doug Paulson, a former student at the campus and current board member for Escondido Union School District, said the combination of instruction and facilities shapes students learning experiences. As a student at Central from 1969 to 1975, he said, he remembered hearing performances by chamber orchestras and big bands. This year, the new facilities will free up classroom space for students to engage in visual arts, dance and theater activities, said Rosson, the principal. Eventually, what every school comes down to is culture, and what goes on in the classroom, said Paulson, who also teaches at Orange Glen High School in Escondido. You can have the best school in the oldest facility. We want to have the best school in the newest facility. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan Farmers have enough worries - between bad weather, rising costs, and shifting market demands - without having to stress about the carbon footprint of their operations. But now a new set of projects by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) could make agriculture both more sustainable and more profitable. The three projects, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), leverage Berkeley Lab's strengths in artificial intelligence, sensors, and ecological biology. They aim to quantify and reduce the carbon intensity of agriculture, including the farming of biofuel feedstocks such as corn, soy, and sorghum, while also increasing yield. Crop-based biofuels have the potential to supply up to about 5% of U.S. energy demand, according to the DOE. Two of the new projects are part of the SMARTFARM program of DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). This initiative aspires to make the biofuel supply chain carbon negative - meaning it removes or sequesters more carbon than it emits - which would greatly improve biofuel's benefits to the broader economy and environment. Scientists also hope that the increased productivity will have the effect of lowering costs and increasing farmers' income. "How can we make this Earth work for 7 billion people?" said Michael Schuppenhauer, who is leading one of the projects for an industry partner, Arva Intelligence, a startup based in Park City, Utah. "If we can develop a pathway for farmers to have a better bottom line and help the environment, that's where everybody wins." A third project is supported by a DOE small business grant and is in partnership with Arva Intelligence. Gathering massive amounts of data In the first project, researchers led by Blake Simmons, director of Berkeley Lab's Biological & Systems Engineering (BSE) Division, working with project lead, Arva Intelligence, will monitor five commercial farms in California and Arkansas growing corn and crops for straw. The farms will be equipped with state-of-the-art sensors to assess fertilizer, water, energy use, and crop yield, while monitoring towers registered with DOE's AmeriFlux network will measure emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane at subsecond resolution. The environmental and emissions impacts of biofuel production -- one of the largest consumers of grain crops in the U.S. -- are well understood, but emissions and opportunities for improvements at the field-level remain unclear. The Arva/Berkeley Lab team is one of four selected by ARPA-E to establish validation sites to "ground truth" solutions for emissions monitoring, with a variety of crop species included across the teams. The Berkeley Lab team is considering anaerobic digestion of crop residues, which are the parts of the plants left on the field after the food crop has been harvested, to biogas as a viable pathway for farmers. "Crop residues are actually the largest pool of readily available sustainable biomass that you can efficiently convert into biofuels and bioproducts," Simmons said. "We can use that as the feedstock. So, you're producing food and fuel and fiber from the same field and maximizing the carbon conversion efficiency on a per-acre basis. That is the reason why, ultimately, we believe this pathway has a much better eco- and carbon-balance than other pathways." As part of the project, Berkeley Lab scientists will conduct atmospheric sensing of greenhouse gases, genomic analyses to characterize the soil microbiome, and life cycle analysis to determine the ratio of carbon input to output. The field experiments will generate massive amounts of data. Arva will use the data to build mathematical models and improve precision agriculture algorithms to help farms become carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative. "The end products aren't just looking at greenhouse gas emissions," said Schuppenhauer, the project's lead for Arva, who is also a BSE affiliate scientist. "The end products will be things such as: How much fertilizer do we really need? If we can reduce the amount of fertilizer use by half or a quarter, that has implications on fossil fuel use, as it is used in fertilizer production." ARPA-E awarded Arva $2.95 million for the project, of which $1.6 million will go to Berkeley Lab. In addition to Simmons, researchers from Berkeley Lab's Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, the DOE Joint Genome Institute, and the University of Arkansas are also involved. Making sense of all that data In the second project, also funded by ARPA-E, Berkeley Lab researchers led by Yuxin Wu will take in the data from the other ARPA-E SMARTFARM teams and develop a common standard for carbon accounting. Currently, established low-carbon fuel markets can confer sizable financial rewards to products that are produced with low greenhouse gas emissions, bringing farmers as much as $100 per acre in additional revenue. Yet farmers lack a way to measure their carbon footprint. "If you really want to put a price on carbon from biofuels production, you have to be able to accurately measure emissions of carbon and carbon-equivalents from each farm," said Wu, head of Berkeley Lab's Geophysics Department. "That could incentivize farmers to move away from resource-intensive farming, where they are driven to maximize yield by using more fertilizer." But carbon accounting is no easy task. "Greenhouse gases are released by plant and root respiration, by the soil, by fertilizer use, and when you pump water or use machinery. It's a complex equation," said Wu. "And each farm operates in their own way. How we put together these very different datasets is a challenge." ARPA-E awarded Berkeley Lab $1 million for the project. A software system for farmers Lastly, Berkeley Lab researchers, led by Nicola Falco and Haruko Wainwright, are partnering with Arva to develop machine-learning software to integrate DOE's environmental databases with local-scale monitoring and sensing. The DOE databases and facilities - such as AmeriFlux and ESS-DIVE, a repository for Earth and environmental science data - provide critical datasets for understanding agro-ecosystem functions on the regional and national scales. These functions include greenhouse gas fluxes, evapotranspiration, and soil biogeochemistry. In this project, the researchers will develop a scalable software system to couple the local-scale datasets - such as from sensors monitoring water, nutrients, and fertilizers - with the DOE datasets. "The DOE's databases and user facilities offer powerful assessments, yet they have been rarely used for ecosystem management," said Falco. The software will be able to, for example, couple evapotranspiration estimates derived from Ameriflux with local soil sensors and drone images to provide information on water management practices. DOE has awarded Arva a small business grant of up to $200,000 for this project. Berkeley Lab's efforts to leverage machine learning for sustainable agriculture started in 2018 on a farm in Arkansas. Falco and Wainwright have since developed a suite of algorithms, now available for licensing, to help farmers estimate sprout and plant density using images taken by drones. These estimates, in turn, enable real-time adjustments to boost productivity. "Berkeley Lab has extensive expertise characterizing soil-plant interactions and other terrestrial ecosystem properties across scales," said Wainwright. "By working with Arva and its machine-learning capabilities, we hope to transfer our tools and knowledge more quickly for operational management." ### Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab's facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. - Emily Scott contributed to this article. Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Tuesday that his office has received an outpouring of support from national and local leaders in Brnovich v. DNC and his defense of Arizonas authority to enact laws that prevent voter fraud and safeguard election integrity. In late April of this year, Attorney General Brnovich asked the Supreme Court of the United States to rule on Arizonas laws restricting ballot harvesting and out-of-precinct voting after the Ninth Circuit struck down the common sense election integrity measures. In February 2020, AG Brnovich obtained a stay of the Ninth Circuits decision, leaving Arizonas laws in place for the time being. With similar laws enacted in several other states, the Attorney Generals Office argues this case presents an opportunity to establish a clear rule of law for the country, and the Supreme Court can and should bring clarity to these important matters that are vital to our elections. Arizona, like every other state, must exercise the responsibility and authority to protect the integrity of the ballot box, said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. The legal challenge filed by outside groups seeking to undo Arizonas common sense election statutes has broad implications for the entire country. States need a clear rule of law from the Supreme Court so they may continue to ensure fair and equal voting for all . Fourteen amicus briefs were filed in support of the States position by the following groups and individuals, including: State Attorneys General led by Ohio AG Dave Yost United States Senators led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz Former Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell State Secretaries of State led by Kentucky SOS Michael Adams State Legislative Leaders led by Missouri Speaker of the House Elijah Haahr Honest Elections Project Governor Doug Ducey, President Karen Fann, and House Speaker Rusty Bowers Judicial Watch Pacific Legal Foundation American Constitutional Rights Union Republican State Leadership Committee Public Interest Legal Foundation Election Integrity Project Maricopa County From the State Secretaries of State brief led by Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams: Only this Court can resolve this conflict. The lower courts have had ample opportunity to weigh the text, history, and precedents of the Voting Rights Act, and they have reached two incompatible conclusions. Election laws that are legal in one state might be deemed illegal in others. As a result, election officials like the amici Secretaries lack the certainty needed to ensure that States administer fair, open, and lawful elections. This Court should grant certiorari to provide that certainty for these kinds of claims. From the Attorneys General brief led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost: Despite these efforts to make voting as easy as possible, the States face a steady barrage of lawsuits in which plaintiffs ask the federal courts to become entangled, as overseers and micromanagers, in the minutiae of state election processes. From the State legislator brief led by the Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr: DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenergo, the leading provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions (FIs), and Chartis Research, the leading provider of research and analysis on the global market for risk technology, have collaborated to create a focused return on investment (ROI) report and model for CLM solutions. The model demonstrates that FIs implementing the Fenergo solution can generate a ROI up to 700% over a four-year implementation period by reducing operating costs, accelerating client onboarding and achieving greater flexibility and regulatory control. Key Findings: Fenergo's CLM delivers an average ROI of 379% over four years Within the first year, financial institutions are seeing a ROI of up to 195%, in using Fenergo's CLM solution Challenger banks saw the highest ROI (704%) while using Fenergo's CLM solution over a four-year implementation period, due to these institutions' agility and modern infrastructures Fenergo's CLM solution provides a ROI of up to 106% for large complex global banks Regional universal retail banks can achieve ROI of up to 289% while private banking and asset management arms of global banks can achieve up to 309% over four years Erik van Gelein Vitringa, Lead Product Owner KYC/Client Acceptance ABN AMRO, said: "Regulatory compliance is still a priority for many financial institutions. By providing a group-wide end-state solution for our client lifecycle management processes, Fenergo helps us to achieve our goals. Obviously, the ability for us to be able to demonstrate compliancy to relevant laws and regulations contributes to cost control at bank level although that is hard to quantify. In addition, from a practical business value perspective, Fenergo is a vital part of our broader KYC framework. Not only are we harmonising processes across the bank, but we are also rationalising our IT landscape, embedding straight-through processing in client onboarding, and increasing operational efficiency in many ways. In that regard, the ROI is evident, and this is just the beginning." CLM solutions enable FIs to obtain a 360 client view, manage new and existing clients and related data, documentation, and regulatory requirements, ensuring full compliance with global and domestic regulatory obligations throughout the entire client lifecycle. ROI in this report was influenced by the structure of the institution, its overall size and operational agility, the number of employees in its CLM business unit and the extent to which it has a modern digital infrastructure. The model focuses on the benefits of the CLM processes rather than the evaded risks. "Consolidating cost metrics across the enterprise and business lines is a major focus for most financial institutions in today's climate. As the industry responds to the impact of the global health crisis, ROI that can be attributed to specific outcomes is crucial to the decision-making processes of any technology implementation," said Leonardo Lanzetta, Head of Data Management & Analytics Group, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc. Manual or semi-manual CLM processes are often undertaken by disparate business lines and technology systems causing many FIs to lack a comprehensive view of internal processes and associated cost structures. This can make calculating the ROI of CLM a major challenge. To address this issue, Fenergo in collaboration with Chartis Research, designed a model to specifically help financial institutions determine the value they can gain from digital CLM solutions. The model was applied to Fenergo's CLM software platform to determine how it can help FIs to increase productivity, accelerate time to revenue and lower costs associated with reducing regulatory risk. "As the COVID-19 impact continues, it's clear that the effectiveness of financial institutions' response will depend on governance and technology. To manage their risk exposure, all FIs need to develop new technology strategies and invest in systems and maintenance," said Sidhartha Dash, Research Director, Chartis Research. "How financial institutions act now could ultimately affect the reputation and resilience of the business in the long-term." The ROI model is based on detailed data sets, including C-suite interviews at nine different financial institution types. The report provides some indicative results, achieved by applying the model to Fenergo's customer base, and gives a high-level view of the potential outcomes and cost impacts. "It has never been more important for financial institutions to have the ability to quickly respond to rapidly changing economic conditions. Manual processes for Anti-money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance are hindering financial institutions in their ability to quickly onboard clients. The digital transformation of CLM is key to achieving the crucial 360-degree client view from front-to-back office connectivity across different business units, allowing for rapid onboarding and faster time to revenue. This research by Chartis offers a strong and compelling business case for implementing a CLM solution in today's challenging business environment," said Marc Murphy, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Fenergo. Fenergo's award winning platform is utilized by over 80 global banks including Danske Bank, ANZ, PNC, National Australia Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Anglo Gulf Trading Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mizuho. To view the full report please click here. Fenergo Fenergo is the leading provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions. Its software digitally transforms and streamlines end-to-end CLM processes - from regulatory onboarding, data integration, client and counterparty data management, client lifecycle reviews and remediation, all the way to client offboarding. Fenergo is recognised for its in-depth financial services and regulatory expertise (from a team of over 30 global regulatory specialists), community-based approach to product development and out-of-the-box rules engine which ensures financial institutions are future-proofed against evolving Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money-Laundering (AML), tax and OTC derivatives-based regulations across 100 jurisdictions. Fenergo recently expanded into new markets including asset and wealth management, private, retail, business and commercial banking and has over 80 global clients. The solution is underpinned by Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation and Machine Learning technologies, using advanced OCR and NLP capabilities to extract information, expedite compliance and improve operational efficiencies. CHARTIS RESEARCH Chartis is internationally recognised as the leading provider of research and advisory covering the $74bn global market for risk IT. Their team of ex-practitioners and research directors are engaged by financial institutions, central banks, technology vendors and consulting firms for strategic decision making, product selection and thought leadership. SOURCE Fenergo Related Links http://www.fenergo.com/ June 2 3 auction also set a new site bidder record, registering 11,600+ people from 68 countries FORT WORTH, Texas, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Ritchie Bros. conducted its largest ever Fort Worth, TX auction this week, selling close to 5,300 equipment items and trucks for US$81+ million. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the auction was held with online-bidding only and set a new site bidder record in the process, registering 11,600+ people from 68 countries. Approximately 93% of the equipment in the June 2 3, 2020 auction was sold to U.S. buyers, including 43% purchased by Texas buyers, while international buyers from such countries as Australia, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates purchased 7%. Mobile app purchases made up 17% of total sales. "We continue to break attendance records in 2020eclipsing 10,000 bidders for the first time in Texasresulting in solid pricing across most equipment categories and record GTV in this week's Fort Worth auction," said Neal Black, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "We want to thank all our consignors and buyers for putting their trust in Ritchie Bros. For anyone unable to purchase what they needed in Fort Worth, we have an IronPlanet online auction today and a site auction in Williston, NDwith online-bidding onlyon Friday. Get online and find the next addition to your fleet!" More than 20,000 PriorityBids were made in the Fort Worth auctionup 221% from the previous Fort Worth auction in March. A 2018 Freightliner CA126 Cascadia sleeper had more than 375 PriorityBids from 71 different bidders before it was sold by the live auctioneer. Sales highlights in the Fort Worth auction included a 2013 Grove TMS900E 110-ton T/A T/A hydraulic truck crane that sold for US$420,000 to a buyer from Oregon; a 2019 John Deere 9570RX quadtrac track tractor that sold for US$420,000 to a buyer from Texas; and a 2015 John Deere 1050K dozer that sold for US$355,000 to a buyer from New Mexico. On Day Two of the auction the company sold 800+ truck tractorsthe most ever in a single auction. All items were sold without minimum bids or reserve prices. AUCTION QUICK FACTS: FORT WORTH, TX (June 2020) Total gross transactional value (GTV) US$81+ million US$81+ million Total registered bidders 11,600+ 11,600+ Total lots sold 5,290+ 5,290+ Number of sellers 600+ Ritchie Bros. currently has more than 65,000 equipment items, trucks, and other assets listed for sale through its auctions and marketplaces. For a complete list of upcoming auctions and equipment available, visit rbauction.com and ironplanet.com About Ritchie Bros.: Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offers live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The company's suite of multichannel sales solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions, a complete end-to-end asset management and disposition system. Ritchie Bros. also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Kruse Energy, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com. Photos and video for embedding in media stories are available at rbauction.com/media. SOURCE Ritchie Bros. MPULUZI The Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, and some of his Cabinet members breached the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulations of 2020 yesterday. This happened at the Mhlambanyatsi Constituency, during a COVID-19 sensitisation exercise that was attended by over 100 people. In attendance were Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg, Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development David Cruiser Ngcamphalala and the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries Madze Bulunga. The Manzini Regional Administrator, Prince Chief Gija and Speaker in the House of Assembly Petros Mavimbela, were also present. According to Section 25 (1) of the COVID-19 regulations, in order to contain the spread of the virus, a gathering of more than 20 people is prohibited. Subsection (2) reads; The Prime Minister may from time to time vary and give direction on the maximum number of people who may be part of a gathering. (3) An enforcement officer shall, where a gathering takes place - (a) Order the persons at the gathering to disperse immediately; and (b) If they refuse to disperse, take appropriate action, which may, subject to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, include arrest and detention. All the above rules stipulated by the regulations were not followed during the gathering which was also attended by police and health workers. Justifying the violation of the regulations, the prime minister said police officers should be lenient and not arrest them as the meeting was aimed at raising awareness on COVID-19. We are way above the stipulated number allowed by the regulations, but because it is a sensitisation gathering, it may be allowed to proceed. Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi said she was informed about the breaching of the regulations by her boss and Cabinet members. Nkosi said she wanted to know how they would conduct the COVID-19 sensitisation exercise and whether they would be able to follow the precautionary measures. She was promised that the rules would be followed. However, she said she later received feedback from the PM that it became impossible to observe some of the rules. The minister said the regulations were breached, despite that social distancing and hand washing was considered and done. Discouraged She said the country discouraged such due to the situation (on the ground of COVID-19). The issue here is the mass gathering and the more people mingle is when the virus continues to spread, which is what is being controlled by government. Nkosi said while the country was trying to relax the regulations, they were careful how they would be implemented. She said other countries which increased the number of people at social gatherings realised their mistake and had to immediately withdraw the relaxation of their rules. Meanwhile, the PM said COVID-19 was an unusual ailment that had brought the world to a standstill ever since its outbreak. He said adjustments had to be made from the normal lifestyles, including social distancing, remaining at home and limiting movement. This, he said had never been experienced by mankind in the past, which went to show that it was a very unknown sickness. The PM said it was His Majesty King Mswati III who commanded government to declare a national emergency, which gave birth to the National Task Force that coordinates all the efforts to fight COVID-19. According to Dlamini, the National Task Force, working through many clusters including regional teams, had covered a lot of ground in educating emaSwati about the virus and easing the burden many citizens were carrying in the midst of the pandemic that has caused the closure of many small and medium sized businesses and others. He commended the countrys good leadership shown by His Majesty. Further, he thanked the nation for its cooperation and ensuring that they protected themselves at all times as they understood the seriousness of the virus. Dlamini mentioned that they were driving all their efforts as government through the Tinkhundla system. He said the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development was working with all the stakeholders in fighting the pandemic. This sensitisation exercise demonstrates the strength and relevance of the Tinkhundla system of governance, whose core mandate is grassroots development, said the PM. He said government was benefitting from the efficiency of the Tinkhundla system, which had a strong link with the people on the ground to ensure that COVID-19 messages were spread to more people. Meanwhile, he said using Tinkhundla structures, they had been able to spread COVID-19 information and health precaution messages that were crucial in equipping all the people at all levels on how to deal with the pandemic. Knowledge is power and government is confident that the sensitisation exercise has impacted adequate knowledge needed to fight the pandemic, he said. The PM said it was not yet time to relax and slow down in reaching more people. We expect community representatives to embark on a door-to-door sensitisation exercise of their own. Community leaders have a huge role to play in ensuring compliance with the COVID-19 regulations in their communities, the pm stated. He further acknowledged the partnership forged with Montigny relating to the provision of accommodation for employees posted at the newly-built inkhundla structure. He said the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development reached an agreement with Montigny to acquire the old inkhundla structure for its use in exchange of building staff houses for the workers. When reached for comment regarding the violation of the COVID-19 regulations, .. Close to half of all Frankie & Benny's restaurants will not reopen after the lockdown is lifted which will mean up to 3,000 job losses. Between 100 and 120 restaurants will close, with those on retail parks expected to be most vulnerable, insiders said. Owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) last year announced it would close 150 outlets by 2025, but the pandemic has meant much of that plan has been condensed into six weeks. Staying shut: Between 100 and 120 Frankie & Benny's restaurants will close, with those on retail parks expected to be most vulnerable, insiders said The group has 240 Frankie & Benny's, 140 Wagamamas, and 150 pubs and concessions among its 600 outlets but the lockdown has starved it of cash and it is feared that the shuttered restaurants will not be profitable for many years as social distancing limits the number of diners allowed. Bosses are also facing a big bill for personal protection equipment and screens to keep customers and staff safe. The pandemic struck as chief executive Andy Hornby battled to turn around ailing fortunes. An email to staff, leaked yesterday, said: 'The crisis has significantly impacted our ability to trade profitably, so we've taken the tough decision to close these restaurants.' TRG, which entered the crisis laden with debt from its acquisition of Wagamamas, has already placed 60 of its Tex-Mex dining chain Chiquito restaurants into administration, putting around 1,500 jobs at risk. It also appointed restructuring firm RSM as administrators to one of its pub businesses, Food & Fuel, which it bought for 15m in 2018. All Frankie & Benny's and seven Garfunkel's sites have been struggling from lack of investment for years, and less custom in retail parks. The shutdown has put Britain's hospitality industry in crisis and industry groups have warned that hundreds of thousands of jobs could be lost this year. In total TRG has 22,000 staff on furlough. Syracuse, N.Y. As protesters walked up Grant Boulevard, near Grant Middle School, they chanted, Hands up, dont shoot! A man, who appeared to be in front of his house, shouted back, Thats a lie, he never had his hands up," referencing the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. People have challenged the protests before but have rarely been so adamant. Leaders rushed to stand between the crowd and the man. Then they asked all the protesters to kneel and pray for him. The man kept shouting, so leaders hurried protesters down the streets. The leadership core of the protest, which includes, among others, Sakia Daye, Vay Riley, Kayla Johnson, Nathaniel Flagg, Kenzell Cooper and Curtis Chaplin, know how tenuous these protests are. They shut down streets with police help. They can march nearly everywhere they want when they want because theyve been nonviolent. Theyve marched for five straight days, drawing 100-plus people each time, and plan to march for 35 more days. A protester retaliating against the man could have stopped that. Thats not how we get progress, Johnson said. While the group started out protesting the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes, theyve started focusing more on issues in Syracuse. Again on Wednesday, well over 100 people showed up to protest. They no longer meet in front of the Justice Center, often meeting in a parking lot by the OnCenter or at Billings Park. The crowd always grows as it moves. And while the group has a consistent base of protesters, there are always new faces. On Wednesday, they marched up North Salina Street and up Buttnernut Street. At the first stop, 10-year-old Jamaica read off a poem. Were tired of being tired," Jamaica said. "Were tired of always losing our family members to a police officer. The protesters moved up Butternut Street and eventually turned on Grant Boulevard. Thats where the leaders of the group quickly ended the encounter with the man. Car horns blared, drowning him out. As they gathered behind Grant Middle School, a woman grabbed a mic. She told a story of when she was 5 or 6 years old and another child pointed at her and said, I dont like black people. The incident reminded her of that moment, she said. She told the crowd that she gathered strength from everyone who had come out to march. Then Chaplin grabbed the mic and instructed each of the protesters to talk to someone who they didnt previously know. The march continued from Grant Middle School to the corner of Kirkpatrick Street and North Salina Street. Protesters stopped in the intersection, blocking traffic. They did the same thing down the road, at the corner of North Salina and Butternut streets. Chaplin referred to each day of the protest as pieces to the puzzle. Theyve started dedicating each day of protesting to a different portion of the city. Wednesday was dedicated to the North Side. Thursday will take protesters to Forman Park. There, a forum will take place on section 50-a of the Civil Service Law, which shields police personnel records from public records laws. Those records include previous complaints against officers. Among other demands, protesters want a residency requirement for officers and for Civil Service Law 50-a to be rewritten. In the first week of marching, Chaplin said, we have the chance for one of our demands to be met. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter. Flash UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for solidarity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a "people's vaccine" against the virus. "The COVID-19 pandemic is causing enormous human suffering and economic hardship around the world. We need a much stronger response of unity and solidarity, if we are to get through this pandemic together and build a safer, more stable future," Guterres told an extraordinary inter-sessional summit of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). Economic stimulus in response to the pandemic must prioritize putting cash in the hands of those most badly affected, and increasing social protection for the vulnerable, he told the virtual event. "Looming crises could contribute to the deepest global depression since the 1930s. I welcome the debt relief initiatives by the G20 (Group of 20). But they are not enough," said Guterres. Small island developing countries face particular challenges. Many are heavily indebted, on the front lines of the climate crisis, and rely heavily on tourism and remittances -- sectors that are among the hardest hit, he noted. African countries' rapid and effective response to COVID-19 holds lessons for other countries and regions. However, much still lies in the balance. Without urgent action, economic recession could push millions of people across the continent into extreme poverty and hunger, he warned. "This cannot be allowed to happen. We are pushing hard for international action to support African countries, strengthen health systems, maintain food supplies, protect jobs and keep households and businesses afloat." Global, unifying solutions are lagging behind. One such solution would be a vaccine against COVID-19, he said. "I repeat my call for this to be made available quickly, affordably and equally. It must be seen as a global public good, as the people's vaccine." Regulatory News: ESI Group (FR0004110310 ESI) (Paris:ESI), leader and pioneer in Virtual Prototyping solutions, hereby releases the total number of shares making up the company's capital and the total number of voting rights in May 31, 2020, in accordance with articles 223-16 and 221-3 of the General Regulations of the "Autorite des Marches Financiers". Number of shares Number of theoretical voting rights * Number of voting rights ** 6,019,592 8,303,479 7,921,988 * The number of theoretical voting rights is calculated based on all shares eligible for voting right (single or double), including shares temporarily deprived of voting rights (treasury shares). ** All Group shares have equal right to vote, except treasury shares, which are deprived of the right to vote, and registered shares held for more than four years that are eligible for double voting rights. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005444/en/ Contacts: ESI Group Arizona News Tucson, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that his office has secured over $90,000 in restitution for consumers who were the victims of Dependable Auto, Inc., a Tucson-based used car dealer. The Attorney Generals Office (AGO) obtained the restitution as part of a consent judgment to resolve the States allegations that the dealership engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in the course of its sales. Auto dealerships cannot charge consumers for services and fail to provide those services or lie to customers about the terms of their contracts, said Attorney General Brnovich. Buying a car is a major investment for families and this office will step in and fight for buyers if a dealer defrauds the public. The AGO alleged that Dependable Auto engaged in multiple deceptive practices, including: Charging consumers for third-party service contracts, but failing to actually purchase the service contracts; Overcharging consumers for government and document prep fees; Requiring consumers to sign a disclaimer stating that their vehicles were sold AS-IS and had no warranty, even though Arizona law says otherwise; Failing to make repairs to vehicles it sold in accordance with the warranty required by Arizona law; Representing that consumers were receiving free labor maintenance when the sales contract required consumers to pay over $1,200 for a service contract; Misrepresenting the late fees it could charge consumers; and Failing to disclose salvage titles to consumers. Under the terms of the consent judgment, Dependable Autos owners are banned from engaging in these deceptive behaviors in the future. The owners of Dependable Auto have made the full restitution payment to the AGO and the funds will be returned directly to consumers. The AGO will begin contacting consumers who are owed money shortly. Consumers can also reach out to the AGO using the below contact information. Assistant Attorneys General Kaitlin Hollywood and Alyse Meislik handled this case. If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a consumer complaint by visiting the Attorney Generals website. If you need a complaint for sent to you, you can contact the Attorney General's Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431. 04.06.2020 LISTEN The Ghana Union of Traders Association, GUTA is appealing to government to speedily fix the challenges that have bedevilled the implementation of Ghana Revenue Authority's new Integrated Customs Management Systems, also known as UNIPASS. According to them, the existing difficulties with the system which is causing delays are pushing them to pay more for demurrage and rent, a cost they cannot bear. In a statement issued by the Association, President of the group, Dr. Joseph Obeng, stated that, prior to the introduction of the UNIPASS system, we were briefed on the efficiency that the new system would bring to bear on the clearing process at the ports. It is, therefore, a surprise to us that the system is fraught with challenges that cause delay, which eventually cost the importer, in terms of demurrage and rent charges. We want to know, who bears the cost of such demurrages and rent since the importer is not the cause of the problems in the implementation of the new system, Dr. Joseph Obeng added in the statement. The UNIPASS/ICUMS system The UNIPASS/ICUMS platform is a new port clearing system that processes documents and payments through one window; a departure from the previous system where valuation and classification and risk management and payment were handled by different entities. It is replacing the systems operated by West Blue Consulting and the Ghana Community Service Network Limited (GCNet). The system which will see all new transactions in respect to import and export processed only through the Ghana Revenue Authority's new Integrated Customs Management Systems, took full effect on Monday, June 1, 2020. But, the first and subsequent days of the system's roll-out has witnessed increased agitation from freight forwarders at the Tema and Takoradi Ports, as they complained of possible increase in demurrage, the fees paid to shipping lines when goods beat their clearing deadlines. However, the Public Relations Manager of Ghana Link, operators of UNIPASS, Norvan Acquah-Hayford, has already stated a technical team is on standby to address the concerns of freight forwarders. The Commissioner of Customs, Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, also said his outfit is working to address all the problems as soon as possible. Opposition Prior to the take-off of UNIPASS, Policy think-tank, IMANI Africa, petitioned government to temporarily suspend the operations of UNI-PASS and allow GCNET and West Blue to operate for the remainder of the year. According to them, this is to rake in revenue in excess of GHS10 billion for the country, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade activities. Also, the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders questioned the efficacy of system hours to the official outdooring of the system at the country's ports. They also predicted revenue losses if the concerns raised by stakeholders on the inefficiencies of the UNIPASS system are not addressed. ---citinewsroom Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Canadian Government had placed orders for tens of millions of masks from Medicom and that an agreement had been reached to support the opening of a manufacturing facility in Canada to help ensure ongoing supply for local demand. The same week, French President Emmanuel Macron toured Medicom's Kolmi-Hopen facility near Angers, France, to reassure French citizens that his government is working with that country's number one mask producer to maximize output for local critical care professionals. As a trusted manufacturer of personal protective equipment for over thirty years, Medicom has built long-standing relationships with governments and healthcare providers around the world. The company's expertise, along with significant experience navigating large contracts and establishing mass production capabilities, make the company an attractive partner for those seeking to secure local and international supply to meet both current and future needs. "One of our key strengths globally is our strong partnerships with local governments and healthcare stakeholders, established in Hong Kong, France, Canada and now Singapore," stated Global Chief Operating Officer Guillaume Laverdure. "Working with the Medicom Group is one of most efficient ways to ensure ongoing supply, which is vital during a pandemic, but our belief is that it is critically important at all times." With manufacturing operations strategically distributed across three continents and an extensive global network of raw materials suppliers, Medicom has been uniquely positioned to meet the exponential demand for personal protective products like face masks throughout the current crisis. The company's role, however, is expected to remain critical even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Both throughout the ongoing crisis and afterwards, Medicom remains committed to meeting the personal protective equipment needs of healthcare professionals across the globe, whether by opening local manufacturing facilities or through international supply agreements. About Medicom The Medicom Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of high-quality, single-use, preventive and infection control products for the medical, dental, industrial, animal health, laboratory, retail and health and wellness markets. Medicom distributes infection control products under the Medicom, Ritmed, Ocean Pacific, Kolmi and Hopen brands, as well as under the recently acquired Hedy brand. Medicom operates under the Kolmi-Hopen company in Angers, France, Medicom Asia in Hong Kong and KHM Engineering in Singapore. Medicom has extensive experience in responding to the demand for personal protective equipment in the event of a pandemic. Medicom was founded in 1988 in response to the urgent need for medical gloves for healthcare professionals during the global HIV crisis. Since then, the company has been a reliable supplier of infection control solutions during multiple epidemics, including avian flu, SARS, H1N1 and Ebola. For more information about Medicom and their comprehensive portfolio of infection control solutions, including an extensive range of medical face masks, please visit Medicom.com . Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176443/AMD_Medicom_Inc__Medicom_Announces_new_Mask_Production_Facility.jpg Media Contact: Gayle Padvaiskas, Vice President, Marketing, AMD Medicom Inc., [email protected] Related Links http://www.medicom.ca SOURCE AMD Medicom Inc. Embattled department store giant Debenhams has announced that 50 of its establishments will reopen on 15 June after more than two months of being shut as a result of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The reopening will take place a week after the retailer resumes trading at its three Northern Ireland stores. However, the number is lower than the 90 outlets the 207-year old company had initially planned to reopen in the middle of the month. Cambridge, Liverpool, Leeds, and Sheffield are among the cities that will see Debenhams stores restart trade. The firm says its remaining establishments will recommence business later in the week. Debenhams will reopen most of its stores on June 15, though not its Scottish and Welsh stores Its Oxford Street store, where Debenhams is headquartered, is also among the 50 outlets in England that will reopen to customers on June 15, though with strict health and safety measures in place. Its stores in Scotland and Wales will remain shut though until government restrictions are relaxed. Debenhams' Managing Director Stephen Cook stated: 'From the installation of perspex screens at till points to the roll-out of social distancing procedures and PPE, we have been working hard to ensure our colleagues and customers can work and shop with confidence. 'Our reopening plans follow the successful conclusion of lease negotiations on 120 stores, meaning that the vast majority of our stores will be reopening.' Since the Covid-19 pandemic forced all non-essential shops to close their doors to customers, Debenhams has permanently closed more than a dozen of its stores following its fall into administration for the second time in twelve months. In all, Debenhams will reopen 120 stores. It had 142 prior to the coronavirus lockdown The retailer has been struggling over the last few years due to declining footfall at its outlets, as well as the rise of online shopping and high business rates, among other factors that have in addition affected the wider high street. Back in January, Debenhams declared that it would shut down 19 stores in cities such as Canterbury. Three months later, it said that another seven would close for good, including one in Birmingham's Bullring Centre, with the loss of about 400 roles. In all, the firm will reopen 120 stores, down from the 142 it had prior to the Covid-19 lockdown. By contrast, John Lewis has not announced any store closures. Mike Ashley's Frasers Group tried to have a 'provisional liquidator' appointed to investigate the Debenham's financial affairs. A judge threw out Last week, the company survived an attempt by Mike Ashley's Frasers Group to force a review into its finances and subsequently revealed that it had made hundreds of its head office staff redundant. A judge refused Frasers Group's request to allow a 'provisional liquidator' to investigate the company's financial affairs, saying that such an appointment was not urgently needed and that Debenhams' other shareholders and creditors had not been informed of the application. Frasers Group was a part-owner of Debenhams before the store chain first went into administration. It is currently owned by a holding company called Celine UK Newco 1 Limited. MANILA President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines is expected to sign sweeping antiterrorism legislation that critics said on Thursday would allow the authorities to classify government opponents as terrorists and detain people for critical social media posts. The measure, which has passed both houses of Congress, neared finalization as the United Nations released a scathing report that cites widespread human rights violations under Mr. Duterte, including the extrajudicial killing of more than 8,000 people. Despite years of international and domestic criticism over rights abuses, Mr. Duterte appears eager to double down on his strategy of suppressing dissent and to give the police an even freer hand to crack down. Critics said the legislation was so broadly written that it would allow the arrest and detention of people without a warrant or a charge for criticizing the government or acts such as causing property damage or carrying a weapon. Timo Werner has agreed in principle to join Chelsea in a stunning deal worth 53million move on wages of 180,000-a-week. The Blues have capitalised on Liverpool going cold on the striker after an unwillingness on Merseyside to pay the RB Leipzig striker's full release clause. Sportsmail understands that Werner has accepted the deal on the table offered by the Stamford Bridge club worth around 180,000-a-week (9m-a-year). Timo Werner has agreed a deal to join Chelsea from RB Leipzig this summer in a huge move The German international has a release clause of 53million, which the Blues will trigger Werner has a 53m release clause but the Reds have been put off given the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis. The clause has to be triggered by June 15 and despite Liverpool previously being considered front-runners and Werner's repeated praise of Jurgen Klopp's team, he looks set to join their Premier League rivals. There is still room for Liverpool to come in for Werner but at present they are unwilling to match the offer. Werner's agent Karlheinz Forster is understood to have held advanced discussions on Thursday and the finer details of the deal are expected to be ironed out with Chelsea by the start of next week. It is understood that Jurgen Klopp made a video call to Werner a couple of months ago but the encouraging noises coming from Merseyside have since stopped. Frank Lampard's side have swooped for the striker after a reluctance from Liverpool to pay Chelsea have no such financial concerns concerns with the coffers full after their transfer ban and the sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid last summer. Though his release clause is due to drop to 36m next year, they have made their move now to fend off competition from other European sides with Manchester United also among his admirers. They want a top level striker to offer competition to Tammy Abraham and already have a good relationship with Leipzig as 19-year-old defender Ethan Ampadu is on loan at the Bundesliga club. Werner reportedly made up his mind to leave RB Leipzig in March and having not heard from Liverpool in weeks, he is now on the brink of confirming a move to Chelsea. Werner had been a target for Liverpool but he is now set to join their Premier League rivals Jurgen Klopp spoke to Werner a couple of months ago but interest has since cooled The Blues have long followed Werner and watched him closely last season. As Sportsmail reported in December, Chelsea scouts made favourable reports when they watched him and their other forward option Moussa Dembele during Red Bull Leipzig's Champions League encounter with Lyon. The striker has been an ever-present force in Julian Naglesmann's side this season with 31 goals in 30 competitive games and 12 assists. Inter Milan emerged as contenders to sign Werner in recent weeks but any move was contingent on Lautaro Martinez moving to Barcelona. It appears that Chelsea will capitalise on the reluctance of Liverpool and inability of other sides to stump up the release clause by moving to secure one of the most clinical finishers in Europe. Werner has a phenomenal goal-scoring record for Leipzig but is set to leave the club Leipzig had been desperate to hold onto their most dangerous player but Nagelsmann admitted there was nothing more he could do to convince Werner his future belonged with the team. After a 4-2 win over Cologne on Monday, in which Werner scored, the manager said: 'There is nothing we can do about it. He knows what he has in Leipzig and also what he has with me. 'A player has to feel that he can get better. If he doesn't feel that, it wouldn't do any good if I kept on telling him to stay here. 'In the end, it is his life, his career, he can decide that. I can't think of anything new to say to Timo.' RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann admitted defeat in persuading Werner to stay Werner has played for Germany at every age group level since he was 15 and established himself in the senior set up three years ago. He joined Leipzig from Stuttgart in 2016 and has since become one of the best strikers in the Bundesliga with 75 goals in 122 games. Chelsea have already added Hakim Ziyech from Ajax and want to add a left-back too with Leicester City's Ben Chilwell their prime target. Winger Pedro is expected to leave for Roma on a free while Willian has been offered new terms but is looking for a longer three year contract. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Smart Inhalers Market Share, Trends and Growth Analysis by Type (Dry Powder Inhaler and Metered Dose Inhaler), Application (Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and others), End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Respiratory Care Centers and others) and Region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa) - Forecast till 2025 Get Free Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2117 Global Smart Inhalers Market - Overview Smart Inhaler is a part of new age digital technology which is designed to improve the disease management in the respiratory diseases. Smart Inhalers are basically the respiratory inhalers equipped with a digital sensor. The sensor installed in the inhaler tracks the data such as the dosage timing, monitors the use of the inhaler, and schedules the next dosage. Smart Inhalers can generate alerts for the daily dosage for the user using the smart devices connected to the sensors via Bluetooth. Global Smart Inhalers Market - Competitive Analysis The Global Smart Inhalers Market for smart inhalers is characterised by the presence of several well-established and small players, the Global market of smart inhalers appears to be highly competitive and fragmented. Major players are increasingly expanding their footprint in the emerging nations, making it putting pressure on the regional players, especially in terms of features such as type, product portfolios, and pricing. The market is witnessing intensified competition which is expected to get more intensified further during the forecast period. There has been rise in number of companies that are adopting this digital technology and opting to use it to enhance the management of lung disorders such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), as well as improve the efficacy of the prescribed medications. For instance, Adheriums partnering and market expansion for the Rest of World territories, including countries in Asia Pacific and the Middle East where Adherium already has sanctions to market its Smartinhaler products in China, Australia and New Zealand. This will increase the companys strength in these countries. Moreover, AstraZeneca, multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical Company had recently started its expansion in respiratory business with the acquisition of respiratory business of Tadeka Pharmaceuticals in 2016, and also with partnership with Adherium, for the supplies of smart inhaler and sensors. In January 2017, AstraZeneca announced that on 25 January 2017 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted six months of paediatric exclusivity for Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol) Inhalation Aerosol. Symbicort is approved in the US to treat asthma in patients 12 years and older and for the maintenance and treatment of COPD in adults, the company is expecting larger market share with the product launch. Gecko Health Innovations, Inc., acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical in 2015, focusing on cloud-based solution to simplify chronic respiratory disease management, and connect patients and caregivers through remote monitoring and real-time tools. The major driving factors for the companys growth in the market are due to increasing technological advancements and need for integrated cloud based technologies in the treatment of respiratory diseases. Browse Full Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/smart-inhalers-market-2117 Related Reports Wearable Sensors Market by type nuclear medicine devices market Key Players: Adherium Limited (New Zealand), AstraZeneca (England), Cohero Health (USA), GlaxoSmithKline (U.K.), Gecko Health Innovations Inc (USA), Inspiro Medical Ltd., and Propeller Health (USA) are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Smart Inhalers Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis. RTHK: Kim Yo-jong warns against anti-DPRK leaflets The sister of North Koreas leader has warned South Korea to stop defectors from sending leaflets into the demilitarised zone separating the countries, saying it may cancel a recent bilateral military agreement if the activity persists. Kim Yo-jong, who serves unofficially as Kim Jong-un's chief of staff, issued the warning in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA on Thursday. She was referring to thousands of "anti-DPRK leaflets" recently dumped along the North's side of the heavily fortified DMZ titled "Defectors from the North". DPRK, or the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is the Norths official name. "If such an act of evil intention committed before our eyes is left to take its own course under the pretext of 'freedom of individuals' and 'freedom of expression', the south Korean authorities must face the worst phase shortly," the KCNA statement said. Kim Yo-jong warned of the possible scrapping of the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war as a result of the clandestine leafletting. The military pact reached in 2018 was "hardly of any value", she said. She also warned the North will completely withdraw from the Kaesong industrial project and shut down the joint liaison office in the Norths border city, unless Seoul stopped such actions. The KCNA report did not single out any individuals for blame in the leafletting. But Kim Yo-jong's comments come after a former North Korean diplomat and another North Korean defector won parliamentary seats in South Korea's general election in April. Kim Yo-jong has been the most visible presence around her brother in the past two years. She serves formally as a vice director of the ruling Workers Partys powerful Central Committee. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2020-06-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. BERLIN (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the German cabinet would on Wednesday discuss a resolution on downgrading the travel warnings currently in force for European Union countries and several other associated countries into softer guidelines. "We are preparing a resolution for the cabinet tomorrow, which is still being agreed within the government," Maas told reporters at a news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday. "This week we want to start by turning the travel warning we have for the European Union and the associated countries into travel guidelines," he added. (Reporting by Michelle Martin, editing by Thomas Escritt) Shimla, June 4 : The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet at a meeting held here on Thursday gave its consent to constitute sixth state Finance Commission. The commission will review the financial position of panchayats and urban local bodies and make recommendations to the Governor on measures needed to improve their financial position with determination of taxes, duties, tolls and fees and grants in aid. The Cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, also decided to increase the honorarium of Jal Rakshaks, Para Fitters and Para Pump Operators in Jal Shakti Vibhag by Rs 300 per month. With this increase, now Jal Rakshaks would get Rs 3,300 per month, while Para Fitters and Para Pump Operators would get an honorarium of Rs 4,300 per month. It accorded approval for procurement, supply and distribution of school bags under Atal School Vardi Yojna to school students of Class I, III, VI and IX on e-tender basis through Himachal Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd for the year 2020-21. This would benefit 256,514 students. It also decided to create a state disaster mitigation fund and approved the guidelines for the administration of the fund under Disaster Management Act, 2005, and Rules 2011 to meet the expenses on mitigation. Under this fund, 20 per cent of the state disaster risk management fund would be used for mitigation, which comes to Rs 90.80 crore for the current financial year. Besides, funds worth Rs 50 crore have also been recommended for managing seismic and landslide risks from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund to the state. It gave its consent to establish a Silkworm Seed Production Centre at Thunag in Mandi district along with creation and filling of four posts of different categories to man this Centre. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has said a government deal could be done within days. Negotiators from the Green Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail continue to meet this week as they try to finalise an agreement on forming a coalition government. It has been 117 days since the February 8 general election but Mr Martin said progress is being made. He told Newstalk FM he is hopeful a draft programme for government may be ready for next week. I think the outstanding issues can be dealt with, with a bit of common sense and with a will to get them resolved Micheal Martin Mr Martin said a government needs to be in place before June 30 in order for TDs to pass votes on key sections of the Offences Against the State Act or else it will lapse. He said: I think you do need a fully formed government with ministers who know they will be there for the next four to five years and who can start taking decisions that will have medium-term impact that will benefit the citizens of this country. The next couple of days are going to be absolutely crucial because that June deadline is a real deadline and that facilitates more momentum over the next day or two to get this over the line. I think the outstanding issues can be dealt with, with a bit of common sense and with a will to get them resolved. I certainly think if the will is there then it can certainly be achieved in the coming days. He said he remains confident that members of his party will back the deal when it is put to a postal vote. Mr Martin said: The end of June is the real deadline because we have to allow time to go to the parties for balance our national executive is to meet tomorrow to allow a rule change that will allow for a postal ballot of our members. The Green Party and Fine Gael also have to consult their members on how they will vote. Our nation is in a state of crisis. We are all facing a pandemic, the health and economic harms of which fall unevenly. We are all witnessing continued brutality against black Americans, an injustice that pains all people of conscience and a burden that again falls on us unequally. Imagine the consequences to families if thousands, if not millions, of Americans are evicted because they cannot pay their rent. Like the virus itself, such evictions would surely have a disproportionate impact on African Americans in our community. The pandemic has already necessitated various responses from the federal government as well as state and local officials. To date, Congress has passed four different recovery packages to alleviate the crisis. While much attention has focused on components such as the $1,200 economic impact payments, expanded unemployment benefits and small-business loans, less attention has been given to critical provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that affect rental housing. Passed in late March, the CARES Act created a 120-day federal eviction moratorium that protects tenants living in federally supported housing from lawsuits filed by landlords for nonpayment of rent. This means that during the moratorium, landlords cannot give tenants notices to vacate, file eviction lawsuits or impose late fees. In addition, after July 25 (when the moratorium ends), landlords must give tenants in protected properties a 30-day notice to vacate before they can file an eviction for nonpayment of rent. This moratorium is significant for individuals who are facing a loss of employment or related economic hardship due to the pandemic, and who might face homelessness without such protection. The federal acts tenant protections apply to a wide variety of rental housing, not just public housing or Section 8 housing, that the public may think of as subsidized housing. The protections also affect properties funded with low-income housing tax credits, project-based vouchers and properties with federally backed mortgages. Tenants can determine whether a landlord has federal financing through either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae by searching for the address in freddiemac.com and knowyouroptions.com databases. It is imperative that low-income tenants, as well as individuals and agencies working with them, become aware of these protections so that they are not illegally evicted during the moratorium. An essential concern is that this federal relief act is not self-enforcing, and neither tenants nor the courts have any simple way of knowing whether the property at issue is covered. The Missouri Housing Development Commission has provided guidance to state property owners with tax credits and project-based funding, instructing them to either ensure their tenants are notified of their rights under the act or certify to the housing development commission that the owners are complying. Similarly, courts in St. Louis County and the city have issued guidelines to reinforce the new tenant protections contained in the federal act. Judge Rex M. Burlison in St. Louis and Judge Michael D. Burton in St. Louis County recently required landlords to verify that their properties are not subject to the federal act before bringing actions against renters. Courts in Greene County and Kansas City have taken similar actions as have other courts across the country, including several state supreme courts. Such action ensures that tenants and the court will know whether a proposed eviction is legally permissible. As courts reopen and eviction filings are permitted, an unprecedented number of tenants may need legal help. It is critical that landlords work with tenants to create reasonable payment agreements and avoid unnecessary late fees that could extend and exacerbate the crisis for low-income families. The coronavirus relief acts tenant protections are an important step in ensuring that the pandemic and the resulting financial crisis do not increase homelessness or create new cycles of debt for the vulnerable families in our community. Joel Ferber is the director of advocacy for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. He can be reached at 314-256-8702 or jdferber@lsem.org. A shareholder of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, is suing the company for records and alleging that its bra and lingerie brand has had a "toxic culture of sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation" for years. According to the complaint filed Thursday, shareholder John Giarratano originally requested to see the company's books in mid-February after The New York Times reported a pattern of bullying and harassment at Victoria's Secret. Giarratano wanted to investigate potential wrongdoing by the company or its board. According to the lawsuit, the shareholder was troubled by reading about treatment of employees and models. "While the brand has come under scrutiny in recent years for its 'porny' image and portrayal of women as sex objects, the public could not have predicted the depths of wrongdoing at the Company," it said. Since then, the lawsuit said the company hasn't provided any documents and has ignored his messages following up. "This stonewalling is all the more disappointing given that recent reporting has made clear that Victoria's Secret is in urgent need of reform," the lawsuit said, adding that the deeply entrenched and toxic culture at the brand created an abusive and hostile work environment that was perpetuated and condoned by senior L Brands executives." A spokeswoman for L Brands did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Giarratano is the beneficial owner of about 216 shares of L Brands stock, according to the complaint. The lawsuit is the latest challenge for the struggling retailer. Victoria's Secret has lost ground as its brand long associated with sexy lingerie and skinny models fell out of favor with customers. It was tossed into the spotlight as L Brands' then-CEO Les Wexner was closely tied to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier accused of sex trafficking. And then, the pandemic hit and temporarily shuttered its stores. L Brands' deal to take the company private and sell the majority of the flagship brand to private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, fell apart in early May. In the first quarter, Victoria Secret's net sales dropped by 37% in the first quarter, compared with last year. In late May, L Brands said it's going to shut more than 200 stores this year and warned that more closures are coming. Shares of L Brands have fallen nearly 26% over the past year, and are valued at nearly $5 billion. Bloomberg Law reported the lawsuit earlier Thursday. Click here to read the full article. TOKYO Retailers in Japan continued to see very low sales levels in May as the countrys state of emergency remained in place for several areas well into the latter half of the month. Department stores in particular took a big hit, with some stores not reopening their doors until early June. Fast Retailing said same-store sales for its Uniqlo stores in Japan fell by 18.1 percent in May, and that customer numbers were down by 31.3 percent. The average purchase per customer grew by 19.1 percent. Same-store sales declined by a considerable 18.1 percent year-on-year in May as approximately 20 percent of our stores were closed temporarily on average across the month and we were unable to conduct our regular sales promotions for Japans annual Golden Week holiday and Uniqlo anniversaries, Fast Retailing said in a statement. However, sales of summer ranges proved strong and our stores that were open for business experienced many days when sales exceeded the previous years levels. In addition, e-commerce sales continued strong in May, rising considerably year-on-year. At its peak in May, 311 Uniqlo stores in Japan were temporarily closed due to the virus outbreak, and 354 stores operated with reduced hours. By the end of May following the lifting of the state of emergency, only 46 stores remained closed. After three permanent closures and one opening in May, Fast Retailing counted a total of 767 Uniqlo stores across Japan at the end of the month. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings said same-store sales among its five department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area plummeted by 90.2 percent last month compared with May 2019. The biggest decline for an individual store came from the Mitsukoshi store in Tokyos Ginza neighborhood, where sales were down by 95.4 percent year-on-year. Following the governments declaration of a state of emergency on April 8, some stores were closed, except for their food halls. But following the lifting of the measure in various regions, stores began to resume operations from May 16, Isetan Mitsukoshi said. The retailer added that after reopening its e-commerce site from May 7, sales via that platform were 1.4 times their levels in May 2019. Story continues Sales from Takashimayas 16 department stores in Japan fell by 63.1 percent in May, compared with the same month last year. Every single store saw sales fall double digits, with the smallest drop being 38 percent. All of the retailers stores that had been temporarily closed were reopened by May 27, but that wasnt enough time for sales to turn around. The company also said in a release that tax-free sales to shoppers from outside of Japan had plummeted by 98.7 percent year-on-year last month. H2O Retailing, which operates the Hankyu and Hanshin chains of department stores, said May same-store sales contracted by 69.5 percent on the year. It marked the eighth straight month of decline in comparable sales for the retailer, although the drop was less steep than in April, which may show signs of hope for the months to come. J. Front Retailing said sales from its 16 Daimaru and Matsuzakaya department stores in Japan were down by 73.2 percent last month compared with May 2019. Sales at the Daimaru Tokyo store slipped by 87.4 percent, the largest drop from any of the retailers individual stores. Until the middle of the month, almost all stores were either temporarily closed or only had their food halls operating, but as the state of emergency was gradually lifted stores were reopened little by little, while also taking measures to ensure the maximum safety and piece of mind of both staff and customers, J. Front said. By the 27th, all stores had completely reopened. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 01:49:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SKOPJE, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 120 new coronavirus cases were reported in North Macedonia on Thursday, the second consecutive day with over 100 new cases being reported, according to the country's health authorities. As of Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 2,612, with 1,621 recoveries and 147 fatalities, data from health authorities showed. To stem the virus spread, the government of North Macedonia has approved a decree to make wearing a mask, scarf or cloth to cover the mouth and nose as mandatory. According to the decree, any citizen who does not carry personal protective equipment in indoor public places will be fined 20 euros (around 22.5 U.S. dollars). Indoor public place include markets, shops, banks, post offices, health facilities and public transport. The Interior Ministry said in a press release on Thursday that North Macedonia's police caught 641 citizens without wearing face masks over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, police officers issued isolation orders to a total of 435 citizens. Enditem Growing up near Niagara Falls, Ont., Nathalie Bibeau was well familiar with the splashy spectacle of its zoo and amusement park Marineland. The director and producer from Welland, Ont., has photos of herself with her family petting animals at the popular tourist attraction, known for its aquarium shows and catchy theme-song chorus, Everyone loves Marineland. Her younger brothers friend, Phil Demers, began working there as an animal trainer in March 2000 and made international headlines for his strong bond with a walrus named Smooshi. When Demers left about 12 years later and became an outspoken critic of the company, Bibeau wanted to explore the complexities of our relationship with animals. The result is the new documentary The Walrus and the Whistleblower, available on the CBC Gem streaming service after its debut on the public broadcaster last week. Its also in the now-running online version of the Hot Docs documentary festival. What attracted me the most about this story was the human story behind it, Bibeau said, the characters inside of it, the emotional component of what it must be like to be in this kind of battle on all sides. Not just the activist side, but even inside Marineland what does it feel like to have the paradigm shift on you? ... I wanted to pierce the veneer of this public debate in a way that was different and nuanced and really looks at the humanity behind it. That debate is marine mammal captivity, which Demers has been publicly opposed to since he left Marineland in 2012. The film follows his activism and fame as a so-called walrus whisperer, his battle to fight a lawsuit launched against him by Marineland, and his journey to gain custody of Smooshi. Demers says litigation continues on the suit, which alleged that he trespassed on Marinelands property and schemed to steal Smooshi. Demers has denied the allegations. The doc also looks at the history of Marineland, which was founded by the late John Holer nearly 60 years ago. He moved to Canada from Slovenia where he used to train circus animals. In the film, Demers and several other former Marineland workers describe a family atmosphere for the most part, but say they grew concerned about the welfare of some animals. In a statement provided to The Canadian Press, Marineland said they have not seen the film, but they did visit its website and watched the trailer. Like all Canadians, Mr. Demers is entitled to express his opinions on whatever topics he chooses, even when those opinions may be inaccurate or unfair and despite the fact he resigned his employment at Marineland in 2012 and has not been in the park in 8.5 years, the company said. Regarding comments on any allegations levelled at Marineland in the documentary, we invite you to review your archives from 2012 and 2013 when they were originally shown to be false. The 2012/2013 time period was when Demers and other whistleblowers started levelling allegations of mistreatment of animals at Marineland. The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did not lay charges at the time but issued several orders, which Marineland complied with. Years later Marineland was charged with 11 counts of animal cruelty following an investigation by the OSPCA, but all of them were dropped by the Crown in 2017. In response, the theme park sued the OSPCA, alleging the organization targeted the theme park to boost fundraising and appease animal activists. In its statement of defence, the OSPCA denied Marinelands claims. The lawsuit is ongoing. Marineland has always denied all allegations against the park. The Montreal-based Bibeau started shooting the doc in 2018 and said she tried very hard to get a representative of Marineland on camera to understand their own human story. Ive written more than nine letters to Marineland over the last 18 months trying to get their participation in the film, said Bibeau, who added she didnt know Demers well or have a background in animal issues before this film. I didnt just want an interview; I actually wanted to get into a discussion with them about participation in a really meaningful way so that they could inform my own point of view as I was developing this story. But they never agreed. The film comes amid similar debate raised by the popular Netflix series Tiger King, which looks at big-cat conservationists and collectors in the United States. RELATED STORIES https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/marineland.html Bibeau said shes only seen a few episodes of that series but, like her doc, feels it shows the complexities of the human-animal bond. Bibeau pointed to a scientist she spoke with for a digital short film shes made to accompany The Walrus and the Whistleblower online. She said to me, At the end of the day, we all love animals, Bibeau said of the scientist, who works at an aquarium. People who work with animals whether it is in a captivity setting, whether its just somebody who has a cat or a dog, anyone who is involved in that world wherever you stand on the captivity debate, her opinion was that we all love animals, we just have a different way of expressing it. Bibeau said she thinks the stars of Tiger King love tigers. They just express it differently than somebody on the opposite side would, she said. That kind of questioning is really important. And it does reduce some of the polarization It was something I was trying to do in this film, is actually soften the edges of the battle a little bit and try to show that we actually have more things in common as humans than we have differences. Read more about: The ShopRite in Bayonne has boarded up some windows and will close at 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday likely as a precaution against vandalism and looting that has accompanied recent police brutality protests across the country. Shoppers entering the store are greeted by the sight of workers posting plywood over the store windows and signs advising them of the new store hours. A ShopRite employee said that he was not authorized to speak with the media and a supervisor did not return the call for comment. While there have been peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, demonstrations in New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, St.Louis and Minneapolis have turned violent. Hundreds of businesses have been vandalized, looted and destroyed. Bayonne Office of Emergency Management Director Junior Ferrante said he knows of no demonstrations or protests planned in the city, other than the event scheduled at Stephen Gregg Bayonne County Park Sunday. Mayor Jimmy Davis could not be reached for comment. Recent photos of Chinese units out on training exercises showed something new, several Dongfeng Mengshi (Hummer variant) 6x6 vehicles with box-like structures on the cargo bed that apparently contain electronic equipment and two 10 meter (32 foot) telescoping masts that, when extended, display a number of electronic monitoring devices. The configuration of the sensors indicates communications or radar signal monitoring and location finding. The vehicles were accompanying a combat brigade so it seems likely this was a test of this signal monitoring and location finding for Chinese troops in a combat situation. Chinese hummer-like vehicles are popular with Chinese and foreign special operations troops but are only occasionally used for special military tasks, like these electronic monitoring vehicles. These 6x6 trucks weigh six tons and can carry about 1.2 tons of cargo. The telescoping masts weigh about 100 kg (220 pounds) each and carry about as much at the top of the mast. Theres room in the box-like cargo compartment for at least one operator plus additional electronics. These 6x6 vehicles can generate enough electricity while stationary to power the electronics. Telescoping masts have been around since before World War II, mainly for obtaining longer range radio communications. During World War II some mobile military headquarters used the telescoping masts to maintain communications with distant sub-units. These mast vehicles could also be used as radio relay links or for intelligence work like radio direction finding to locate enemy units that were using radio communications. These uses of telescoping masts continued after World War II but in the 1990s the availability of powerful and sturdy digital video cameras enabled another use. Canada for example developed a recon (Coyote RVSS) version of its 17 ton LAV II 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle in the late 1990s that used the telescoping mast for video surveillance. These were used in Afghanistan since 2002 and proved enormously useful by doing long-range surveillance for Taliban and al Qaeda gunmen. The Coyote reconnaissance system was mounted on a wheeled armored vehicle. The recon gear consists of a nine meter (30 foot) telescoping mast that contains a Doppler radar, laser rangefinder, thermal imaging sensor, and video camera. The mast-mounted sensors can see clearly out to 15 kilometers and identify targets (day or night) for artillery or air attack. The radar can spot targets out to 24 kilometers but can only distinguish vehicle types (wheeled, tracked) beginning at about 12 kilometers. Other nations used similar systems. The Chinese found they could put such a telescoping EW (Electronic Warfare) system on an even smaller vehicle and choose one of a few locally produced hummer type vehicles that the Chinese military uses. The Chinese armed forces did not buy a lot of these vehicles, perhaps a few thousand or so a year at most. Civilian versions became popular with Chinese consumers and export customers. The most popular of these hummer clones come from Dongfeng, which initially produced some hummers under license. Dongfeng has since produced a number of hummer variants, including armored models equipped to handle RWS (remote weapons systems). These were nicknamed Mengshi (east wind warrior). The latest of these, the CSK-181 is an eight ton armored hummer design similar to the new American JLTV. One characteristic of the Chinese hummers are built-in night vision cameras (one in front and one in the back with a flat-screen display for the driver to use) and a satellite navigation system. A lighter, unarmored, hummer version of the CSK-181 was used for this new EW vehicle. China openly copies a lot of foreign military equipment designs, often in many variations because multiple manufacturers get involved. The Chinese military thought the American hummer (HMMWV) was a useful design but did not adopt it widely. Instead Chinese troops use a legal version (because of a joint manufacturing deal) of the Jeep Cherokee, but a bit larger. This BJ2022 vehicle comes in two versions, with one being a bit longer and serving as something similar to the old American ton truck. Most of the BJ2022 are basically much updated World War II American jeep designs that borrow much from SUV and four-wheel drive innovations. The basic version can carry a payload of 500 kg (half ton) and seats four. The longer version carries 750 kg and seats up to eight. These are four-wheel drive vehicles that have manual transmissions and are mainly used on roads or flat terrain. For jobs requiring slightly larger tactical vehicles with more carrying capacity, the Dongfeng hummer variants are preferred. Escorted by law enforcement, about 130 area residents Wednesday evening in Willis marched to City Hall protesting George Floyds death in police custody. A downpour and lightning delayed the march by only about half an hour. Demonstrators of all generations and racial backgrounds lifted signs as they chanted in unison, I cant breathe. Those were the words Floyd uttered Memorial Day on the Minneapolis pavement as a police officer pressed his knee on the Houston natives neck. Filmed by a teenage passerby, the kneeling officer was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and three officers at the scene were charged with aiding and abetting. Our lives do matter Among attendees at the rally were Montgomery County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack and Robert Morrison, a former principal at Montgomery High School. JUSTICE FOR GEORGE: New mural honoring George Floyd on display in Houston's Third Ward If you engage the people you dont see in your mirror, like the person you see in your mirror, you have an opportunity for learning, and loving and sharing. Morrison said from behind a lectern. I encourage you and I engage you and I plead for you to give these little kids that we see here the opportunity to grow up into a peaceful and beautiful world. New Waverly resident Ayesha Reeces voice trembled as she recounted the recent officer-involved shooting death of her cousin, Darius Tarver, a 23-year-old black senior at University of North Texas in Denton. Our lives do matter," the 33-year-old Reece said, echoing the rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement. When it was raining earlier, I got sad because I thought it was gonna cancel, but God moved. And were here and the sun is now shining, so I ask each and every one of you to keep it peaceful and continue to use your voice and go vote. Special responsibility It was Sunday morning when the idea to mount a march to alleviate pain and show unity came to Willis City Councilman William Brown and Sharon Lagway, a Montgomery County nurse. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Tens of thousands march on downtown Houston to memorialize George Floyd We, the city council board and the city police or officers that are here, we stand behind our citizens, said Brown, who was elected to position No. 5 in May 2019. Brown felt a special responsibility to organize the protest. As a city board member and also as an African American male, I want to be on the front line, saying that I am here, being your voice, Brown said. Lagway, the mother of a 20-year-old college sophomore, said she wanted to show Willis children their lives matters too. Lagways husband, John owns the long-running bail bonds office where the march began. Fostering awareness, empathy Willis Police Chief James Nowak heard of the event and approached Brown to help him flesh out logistics. More than 20 officers with the police department and the Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constables Office were on hand to stop vehicle traffic on intersections on the way to City Hall. TOP HITS: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox Shock came over Nowak when he saw Floyds death. The 15-year chief said people deserved answers on the matter. The Willis event, he thinks, could help foster awareness and empathy in the area. I think its a way for the community to come together in love, respect for their fellow man. I think it will be a cathartic event to get together and release some of these pent up emotions about it, Nowak said. Constable Philip Cash became involved to uphold the protesters First Amendment rights. We have a right in this country and the State of Texas to protest peacefully and get our voices heard as long as we do it within the law, Cash said. As police officers, we have a duty to protect the peaceful protesters from people that are not peaceful. When is enough? In the days after Floyds death, there have been a wave of intense protests across the country. Many have ended in violent confrontations between police and protesters, injuries, property damage and arrests. On Tuesday in Houston, an estimated 60,000 marched through the citys downtown. Also on Wednesday, a protest took shape in The Woodlands. Protesters on Sunday took to West Davis Street in Conroe. Lagway, who has been at HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe for the last 18 years, immigrated from Ethiopia as a 12-year-old in 1989. In all the years she has lived in the U.S., she said she has not seen race relations improve. When is enough? Lagway said. How is this gonna change if we dont do anything? Still, Brown remained hopeful. Weve always had a small-town feel, loving towards one another, looking out for one another and want to keep it that way. Thats my thing about stepping out in front of this. I didnt want nobody to come up to the city hall and protest rudely or have to be arrested, he said. jose.gonzalez@chron.com mellsworth@hcnonline.com One lucky Western Australia is a million dollars richer - but doesnt even know it yet. An unknown Lotto player who bought their Division One ticket in Northampton, 460km north of Perth, won the jackpot in Wednesday nights draw. It's now the third time in three years the Northampton Newsagency, in the heart of the remote farming town, has sold a winning ticket. The largely farming community has a population of just under 3,500, so having a new millionaire is a major news, the owner of the newsagency said. An unknown Lotto player who bought their Division One ticket in regional Western Australia is a million dollars richer - but doesnt even know it yet Amanda Fraser said locals are pretty excited about the mystery winner, especially with all the negative news surrounding the coronavirus. Farming life hasnt stopped here so everyone is just going about their days as usual, and being a small town its been a nice distraction, she told 7News. The last time we had a million-dollar winner was 2017 and the winner was one of our regulars. He was waiting out front at 7am as he couldnt wait to tell us. But this time, we have no idea who the winner is.' It's now the third time in three years the Northampton Newsagency in Western Australia has sold a winning ticket In 2018, Ms Fraser also sold a $50,000 ScratchnWin ticket to another lucky punter. Lotterywest spokesperson Hermione Coleman said 2020 has been very fortunate for West Australians. So far there have been 31 Division One winners. All the profits from the Lotterywest draw will go to the states COVID-19 Relief Fund. The initiative was set up to support those in the community impacted by coronavirus. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE It seems the 1st Judicial District Court will have a new leader with a familiar face after Tuesdays primary elections. Deputy District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies appears set to win the Democratic primary, holding a nearly 30-point lead over her opponent, attorney Scott Fuqua, on Wednesday morning. Carmack-Altwies campaign didnt declare victory until late into the night. She said her emphasis on the issues facing the DAs office ultimately delivered her the win. The 1st Judicial District is looking for a positive change and Im going to deliver on that, she said. Carmack-Altwies will have no opponent in the general election, all but guaranteeing her taking control of the District Attorneys Office next year. Her win comes as thousands of protests against police brutality have started in cities around the nation, sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last week, and has included criticism of the entire criminal justice system. Carmack-Altwies said reforming the criminal justice system in the district will be one her offices main priorities. Were going to hold all people accountable, whether theyre a police officer or citizen, she said. Fuqua did not return multiple requests for comment. Results for other Santa Fe County races, held up by delays in ballot processing, slowly came in early Wednesday morning. Unofficial results show Hank Hughes far ahead in his bid to replace the departing Ed Moreno on the Santa Fe County Commission. Hughes had earned 66% of the vote, according to results posted on the Secretary of States website, compared with 34% for Floyd Trujillo. The results dont become official until the state canvassing board certifies the election. Hughes said while he will have no opponent in the general election, he intends to remain communicative with constituents before November. What I really plan to do is learn as much about the issues facing the county right now, he said. Hughes ran on a platform primarily focused on affordable housing and renewable energy. He is currently executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. Out of a field of five candidates, Katharine Clark had garnered 53% of the vote for the position of county clerk by Wednesday morning, leaving little doubt she will emerge the winner. She prevailed over Letitia Montoya, who had 17% of the vote, Sarah Guzman and Richard A. Padilla, both with 13%, and Bryan Flores, 3%. Aware of the issues the county had with an overwhelming number of absentee ballots, Clark said it is important to increase the number of mail-out ballots by November. Particularly in the fall election, theres some question whether or not COVID is going to have a resurgence, she said. Clark also said she plans on launching a formal process review of past Santa Fe County elections once she takes office, in order to make them faster and more efficient. In the closest race of the night, Jennifer Manzanares had an eight-point advantage in the county treasurer race. She had received 49% of the vote, followed by Lucinda Marker (41%) and Robert Rubin (10%). Clark and Manzanares are also all but guaranteed election in November, as no other party entered a candidate in the race for county clerk or treasurer. Vallejo police revealed Wednesday that an officer-involved shooting a day earlier had resulted in the death of a 22-year-old Latino man, a suspected robber who had a hammer in his waistband amid a chaotic night of looting. The man, identified as Sean Monterrosa, was killed outside a Walgreens store by a Vallejo officer, whom police chief Shawny Williams declined to name, describing only as a veteran of the force. The shooting death could further inflame tensions in Vallejo, a city of 121,000 in the north bay region of the San Francisco Bay where there has been both peaceful protests and clashes with authorities. In a Wednesday press conference, Williams said police were first called to the Walgreens at about 10:17 on Monday night, but received a second call about possible looting of the pharmacy around 12:15 on Tuesday morning. A responding cruiser arrived minutes later to see about a dozen suspected looters in the parking lot, loading into a silver pickup truck and a black sedan. Williams said that as the vehicles fled the lot, the black sedan hit appeared to ram the cruiser, deploying its airbag and injuring the officer. A second responding unit that Williams described as unmarked but with two uniformed officers, also responded to the scene and noticed a "male dressed in black" running toward the black sedan. Williams said officers observed the man, Monterrosa, kneel down and raise his hands to his chest level "revealing what appeared to be the butt of a handgun." Later investigation revealed it was a 15-inch hammer tucked into the pocket of his sweatshirt, said Williams. Williams said one officer in the unmarked vehicle "perceived a threat" and fired five shots through the windshield, striking Monterossa once. Monterossa was transported to a hospital, where he later died, said Williams. Williams said that some elite officers are trained to shoot through windshields and that it is allowed in department policy. Civil rights attorney John Burris, who has been retained by the family, said he disputed that Monterossa posed a threat. "It's a pretty outrageous shooting," said Burris Wednesday. "The officer's life was not in danger." Burris said that he believes Monterossa was in the process of surrender, and that "there was a reckless disregard for this kid's life because there was tension in the air." "It appears that Shawn Monterossa had essentially surrendered," said Burris. "He went down voluntarily to his knees and was in the process of putting his hands up when the officer saw what he said appeared to be a gun and shot him. The officer was not out of the car, Shawn was not chasing him, not threatening him." "Looting is not a justification for the use of deadly force," he added. "It's just property." Burris said that Monterossa was a resident of San Francisco and the middle child of two immigrants, one from Puerto Rico and one from Guatemala. Monterossa was studying to be a cement mason and a carpenter and had previous run-ins with the law. Burris said Monterossa had never been convicted of a crime. Burris has sued Vallejo and other cities several times over police shootings. The department is also coming under scrutiny for its timing of the announcement of the fatal shooting more than 24 hours after it happened. The Vallejo police had previously announced Tuesday there had been an officer-involved shooting, but did not disclose that the shooting victim had died and the Solano County DA's office had announced previously it was investigating the shooting. Williams said that the department did not purposefully delay news of the officer-involved fatality because of violent protests in the city, but he acknowledged that Monday had been a "horrific night" for the department and an "orchestrated, organized assault on our city." Tuesday, the National Guard was deployed in Vallejo. Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Concord), was one of those raising questions about the delay in information. "I was shaken to learn that Sean Monterrosa, the man who was shot by officers, died. Regardless of circumstances, it is absolutely unacceptable that the public was forced to wait for over 24 hours to learn of the conditions of those involved in the shooting." The shooting death county further inflame tensions in Vallejo, a city of 121,000 in the north bay region of the San Francisco Bay. Williams said that the officer involved had 18 years of experience. Asked several times at a news conference if the officer had used excessive force, Williams declined to answer, saying the district attorney "will make the ultimate finding if the force was legal." That was not good enough for Grayson. "I believe an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting that occurred Tuesday must be conducted by the California Attorney General's office or a federal agency," the assemblyman said. "The family of Sean Monterrosa and our community in Vallejo deserve to have clear information about the events that occurred and the response from the Vallejo Police Department." Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], June 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): would now spin out the high-quality Australian sheep wool in the hills and cater to the country's textile industry that rely on the global market for the sheep wool. On May 27, the test report of the sheep wool quality compiled by the state animal husbandry department corroborated that the wool's quality is similar to what the famed Merino sheep gives in Australia. "We had imported the Australian Merino sheep last year and the purebred yielded the same quality and this month the quantity of wool in as in Australia," said Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, Dr R Meenakshi Sundaram. Sundaram added that the average fiber diameter is very impressive 16.88 microns which is the most sought after by the textile industry across the world. Under the national livestock scheme last year, over imported 250 Merino sheep valued Rs 8.5 crore, are housed at a farm in the Tehri Garhwal district for breeding and improving the quality of wool. How important is the development can be understood from the fact that the Indian textile industry imports 8000 MT - valued over Rs 2000 crore - of fine wool from the global market including Australia. "With very focused breeding programs for the next seven years in by linking it with the integrated livelihood projects, we can produce almost 50 per cent of the total requirement of the textile industry in India," said Sundaram. At the sheep farm, high-quality germplasm has been made to available sheep breeders through the use of modern artificial insemination in sheep and embryo transfer technology. The state government is aiming to offer sheep farming as a sustainable livelihood opportunity to the migrant population which has returned to Uttarakhand due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saregama India shares hit the upper circuit of 20 per cent for the second consecutive session on Thursday after the music company signed a global licensing deal with social media giant Facebook. The stock of the company rallied 44 per cent in the last two trading days from Rs 278 on Tuesday. Extending previous session rally, shares of Saregama India rose as much as 19.99 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 400.70 apiece on the BSE after opening higher at Rs 368 against previous close level of Rs 333.95. In a similar trend, Saregama India shares were locked in upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 401.55 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The scrip opened at Rs 358.05 against previous closing price of Rs 334.65. There was also spurt in volume trade as 23,000 shares changed hands over the counter as compared to two-week average volume of 1,784 shares. Saregama India shares has rallied as much as 116 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 185 touched on March 31, 2020. Despite rallying over 44 per cent in just two days, the stock was still nearly 45 per cent below its 52-week high of Rs 580 hit on June 6, 2019. Also Read: Saregama India share price closes 20% higher on licensing deal with Facebook The global licensing deal will allow Saregama to license its music for video and other social experiences across Facebook and its video-sharing app Instagram. "This partnership will allow users to choose from a wide variety of music to add to their social experiences such as videos, stories via music stickers and other creative content. People will also be able to add songs to their Facebook Profile," Saregama India said in the exchange filing. Formerly known as The Gramophone Company of India Ltd, Saregama owns the largest music archives in India, one of the biggest in the world. The Kolkata-based company, which sold vinyls and cassettes under household name HMV for decades, has a rich catalogue of over 100,000 songs across many different genres including film songs, devotional music, ghazals and indipop in more than 25 languages. Also Read: Titan Company share price falls 4%, top Sensex loser in early trade Saregama has also has expanded into other branches of entertainment - publishing, film production and digital content. The deal will "allow people on our platforms, globally, to use their favorite retro Indian music to further enrich their content," said Facebook India's director and head of partnerships, Manish Chopra. Saregama's deal with Facebook follows its licensing deal with Swedish music streaming service Spotify, announced earlier this month. The clear upward trend in the stock markets has investors in a buying mood. The reasons are varied, and sometimes hard to pin down; while were still stuck in the coronavirus inspired economic doldrum, at the state and local levels economies are starting to reopen. The civil unrest of the past week is worrisome, and the destruction in urban centers is serious, but the economic blow was softened by the shutdowns. The riots would have stopped normal activity but that was already slowed or halted, and had been for two months. The shutdowns were already baked into market sentiment. The upshot is, there is real hope of a turnaround in 2H20. And that makes the corporate insiders a most interesting group to follow. These company officers and board members are the ones at the helm of corporate America. Theyre watching the news, steering their companies, and are responsible to shareholders for corporate performance. So, when they start buying, investors should pay attention. TipRanks has a tool for that. The Insiders Hot Stocks shows which stocks top insiders are most active on, for both purchases and sales. You can sort insider trades by a variety of filters, including trading strategy. Weve done some of the legwork for you, and pulled up three stocks with recent informative buy-side transactions. Here are the results. Douglas Emmett (DEI) Well start with a real estate investment trust. REITs are popular in these pages; they hold a secure niche in the financial sector, and are well-liked by income-minded investors seeking a steady dividend stream. Douglas Emmett, which owns office and apartment properties in California and Hawaii, is typical of the species. The stock was hit hard by the market drop in February and is still underperforming, standing 26% below its February peak price. That said, DEI shows several strong attractors for investors. First, of course, is the insider signal. Yesterday, Director Christopher Anderson paid $1.3 million for a bloc of 42,800 shares. This informative purchase swung the insider sentiment on DEI into positive territory. Story continues In another point of interest to investors, DEI declared its regular quarterly dividend of 28 cents per share. This payment, which annualized to $1.12, gives a yield of 3.65%. The yield is low by the standards of REITs, but is significantly higher than the 2.16% found in the financial sector generally and it is reliable, as the company has maintained and grown the payments for the last 11 years. Covering the stock for Piper Sandler, analyst Alexander Goldfarb notes an important point that is easy to miss in the REIT landscape. He writes, What densification? DEI's small tenant focus (~200 sf pp) has meant its users never joined the open floor plan trend many large corporates did and thus management doesn't see the same reconfiguration need as larger CBD tenants. Goldfarb rates DEI a Buy, and sets a $35 price target that to imply 8% growth in the coming year. (To watch Goldfarbs track record, click here) Douglas Emmetts analyst reviews are split 5-4 between Buys and Holds, making the analyst consensus view a Moderate Buy. Shares are priced at $32.54, so the average price target of $35.56 suggests an 8% upside in the next 12 months. (See DEI stock analysis on TipRanks) Liquidity Services (LQDT) Next up is Liquidity Services, and e-commerce company. Liquidity operates a network of online auction marketplaces under seven different brand names. The company is based in Bethesda, Maryland, in the suburbs of Washington, DC, giving it quick access to one of the worlds major cities. Like many high-tech companies, LQDT has been operating at a net loss over a long term so investors were not phased by the 10-cent EPS loss reported in Q1. That number came in better than the 12-cent loss expected. Of greater concern, the $49.5 million in top-line revenue missed the forecast by more than 8%, and slipped 8.4% year-over-year. Clearly, the economic slowdowns of the quarter impacted sales. On major insider, CEO William Angrick has made four informative purchases in the past four weeks, totaling 196,932 shares for which he disclosed over $1 million in payment. Barringtons Gary Prestopino, rated 5-stars by TipRanks, sees LQDT as a Buy proposition. His $10 price target suggests the stock has room for 71% growth this year. (To watch Prestopinos track record, click here) Prestopino notes, Prior to the pandemic-related slowdown, LSI experienced strong volume in the RSCG segment from existing sellers and from the launch of new programs with both midsized and large retailers, augmented by strong buyer demand for retail goods in the Liquidation.com marketplace. Overall, with 1 Buy and 1 Hold rating set recently, LQDT shares get a Moderate Buy from the analyst consensus. The $8 average price target suggests a healthy one-year upside potential of 37%. (See Liquidity stock analysis on TipRanks) Wrap Technologies (WRTC) The last stock on our list is particularly interesting, especially in light of recent events. Wrap Technologies inhabits the police and security niche, where it specializes in less-than-lethal restraint devices for police use. The companys showcase product, the BolaWrap 100, is designed to halt and restrain individual subjects without lethal force at a range of 10 to 25 feet. The implications of such a product are obvious today. But its important to note that the companys CTO, Elwood Norris, just bought $500,000 worth of stock. This netted him 100,000 shares. Norris, who is also listed as a >10% owner of the company, has a total holding valued at $56.8 million. Also of note for investors, WRTC beat the forecast on Q1 earnings. The company showed an EPS loss of 8 cents, 20% better than the 10-cent loss which had been predicted. That was reported at the end of April, and the barely budged the share performance. In the past week, however, WRTC shares have spiked sharply, jumping 61% in since May 28. Once again, the connection to current events is clear, and investors believe that less-than-lethal policing tools will see a surge in demand in the near future. Jon Hickman, of Ladenburg Thalmann, writes of Wrap Technologies, Though the worldwide exposure to COVID-19 has caused a temporary slowdown in in-person sales-related meetings, the company's momentum from late 2019 and early in Q1 is resulting in orders and reorders from smaller agencies in the U.S The Los Angeles PD's 90-day field trial is underway and the feedback to date has been positive. Hickman puts a $9.75 price target on the stock, supporting his Buy rating and suggesting that WRTC has room for 16% growth this year. (To watch Hickmans track record, click here) Like LQDT above, WRTC has just two recent analyst reviews but both are Buys. The stock is priced at $8.44 after its recent surge in value. That share appreciation has pushed the stock price right up to the $8.38 average price target. Expect reviewers to adjust the price target higher in the near future, should police demand for non-lethal force alternatives increase due to social pressures. (See WRTC stock analysis at 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. T he mother of murdered fusilier Lee Rigby has called for people to stop using her sons memory to fuel arguments against the Black Lives Matter protests. In a post on the Lee Rigby Foundation Facebook page, Lyn Rigby said her family were aware of a number of posts using images of Lee and his murder in a divisive way. She said: Lee proudly served his country to protect the rights and freedoms of all members of this great melting pot of a nation. Seeing his image used to cause hate of any kind, especially for those exercising their freedoms in protest against this issue, hurts. Thousands of protesteres gathered in London yesterday in response to Mr Floyd's death / PA We find these posts extremely heartbreaking and distressing, and in complete opposition to what Lee stood for. Private Lee Rigby, 25, of the Royal Fusiliers, was attacked by two Islamic extremists in May 2013 as he walked off-duty near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south London. His killers, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, are both serving life sentences. This week detractors of the Black Lives Matter movement have posted details of Private Rigby's murder on social media alongside criticism of recent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The 46-year-old African American died on May 25 after white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest, as Mr Floyd gasped "I can't breathe". Thousands of anti-racism demonstrators gathered in Hyde Park yesterday in response to Mr Floyd's death, while the US has been rocked by the largest wave of civil unrest since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr in 1968. Mrs Rigby wrote: We ask you all to please stop using his image and memory in such posts as he was a lover of all of humanity. Every race, gender, creed, sexuality and colour. So seeing such use of his name harms not only his family but his legacy and memory. Our thoughts and support goes out to George Floyds friends and family at this tragic time. Los Angeles, June 4 : Authorities have extended a curfew imposed in the Los Angeles County for the fourth night in a row as protests over the death of African-American man George Floyd continued across the area. The curfew that started at 9 p.m. on Wednesday in the most populous county in the US with a population of over 10 million, will remain until 5 a.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. "Tonight's curfew will start later than the curfew in previous nights as the County assesses public safety needs on a daily basis. "Residents, unless otherwise noted, are asked to stay in their home during the curfew," Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying. Any violation of the order is a misdemeanour, punishable by a fine for upto $1,000 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both, according to the terms of the curfew. Kathryn Barger, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, thanked the local residents for their "continued patience and understanding as we support peaceful protesters" in a tweet. Some areas in the region, such as Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Culver City, also issued their curfew orders Wednesday in response to days of civil unrest. Protests were largely peaceful in the area on Tuesday as thousands of protesters took to the streets to express their anger over the killing of the Minneapolis unarmed black man in police custody on May 25. After four nights of protests across Massachusetts in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday addressed concerns that the large gatherings could trigger another outbreak of coronavirus. Following protests in Boston and Brockton on Tuesday, Baker praised the fact that many thousands of people are taking a stand against the violence and injustice that befalls the black community every day across this country," but noted that the circumstances are incredibly daunting" because they come during the ongoing pandemic. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, fighting a virus that is incredibly infectious through close contact, Baker said. And while the states efforts to protect residents by closing parts of the economy have been effective in containing the spread of the virus, Baker said those efforts are being challenged by nationwide demonstrations that began the wake of Floyds death at the hands of a former Minneapolis police officer. We understand this guidance is in conflict with assembling to exercise First Amendment rights, he said. We ask everyone to balance the fight against the virus with the fight for what we, as individuals, believe in. Baker did not elaborate on what exactly that balance looks like. Baker described the protests in Boston, which took place in Franklin Park, and Brockton as largely peaceful, but noted that there were moments of tension and raw emotion." People shared their pain and frustration; they shared their agony and their anger over the injustice that pervades our nation, he said. It was hard to watch at times. Tuesdays rallies come just over a week after Floyds death, and two days after protests in downtown Boston turned violent. Multiple protests were held throughout Boston on Sunday. But the largely peaceful protests turned violent at Winter and Washington streets by 9:30 p.m. and officers had frozen water bottles, bricks and rocks thrown at them, according to Boston police. Several police vehicles were reportedly damaged and at least one set on fire, according to an Associated Press photographer and a Boston TV station. Fifty-three people in total were arrested, and one summons was issued, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, who spoke at Mondays press conference. Baker described those who tried to injure police officers as cowards, noting that they will have their day in court. Rallies have also taken place in Northampton, Holyoke, Springfield and Worcester. Related Content: The oil and gas industry in the United States scored a big win this week after the EPA narrowed the focus of a rule that up until now, allowed states to refuse to grant pipeline permitsor stall them indefinitely. But under the Trump Administrations guidance, the EPA is saying no more shenanigans. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule narrowing the scope of review for proposed oil and gas pipelines that states should consider under a section of the Clean Water Act for energy infrastructure. Up until now, states have been using Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to deny permits to oil and gas pipeline projects. But this final rule makes it clear: under the Clean Water Act Section 401, states can look at the water issues onlynot larger issues such as climate change--when asked to review an energy infrastructure project. States will also be required to complete the review within one year of receiving a certification requesta rule that will surely cramp the styles of the anti-fossil fuel states. The process for pipeline approvals involves the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is tasked with interstate pipelines. This is a federal agency that regulates pipeline market entry. The agency awards a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing the construction or extension of natural gas facilities, according to an official permitting website for the U.S. Government. FERC requires environmental reviews for these projects. This would be for interstate natural gas pipelines. But the states get a say so, too, in the form of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Under the powers granted the states by the CWA, the states can use to deny any pipeline project a permiteven one that FERC has approvedif the pipeline, either the construction or operation of it, violates the states water quality standards. In this way, the states are able to override federal pipeline approvalsand potentially derail an multi-state pipeline project. This isnt inherently a bad idea, except the scope of the states power is supposed to be limited to the effects on water, with supposed to be being the operative phrase. The EPAs actions this week isnt so much a change in policy or intent of policy, but a clarification of the spirit of the existing Clean Water Act, which the EPA contends was never designed to blanketly oppose oil pipelines on broad climate change grounds, after the FERC had given a project a green light. This keeps the assessment of the broader environmental impact in the hands of the FERC, not each state. Related: Is This The Next Major Market For U.S. LNG? When states look at issues other than the impact on water quality, they go beyond the scope of the Clean Water Act, EPA said in a statement. EPA is returning the Clean Water Act certification process under Section 401 to its original purpose, which is to review potential impacts that discharges from federally permitted projects may have on water resources, not to indefinitely delay or block critically important infrastructure, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said. Today, we are following through on President Trumps Executive Order to curb abuses of the Clean Water Act that have held our nations energy infrastructure projects hostage, and to put in place clear guidelines that finally give these projects a path forward. While the Trump Administration and the oil and gas industry have been pushing for and proposing new energy infrastructure as the nation moves closer toward energy independence, some states such as New York have denied permits for such projects. Last month, New Yorks Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied a water permit for the required Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification of Williamss Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York City. Before that, the FERC approved certificates for three different interstate projects back in 2018and New York nixed all three. Some would argue that New York did so beyond their power, by analyzing the cumulative impact upon all environmental resources, instead of just water. But the EPA would no longer stand idly by. Oil industry associations supported EPAs proposed final rule in comments late last year. For those opposed to any oil or natural gas development, Americas energy infrastructure needs are viewed as little more than convenient opportunities to deploy regulatory strategies designed to delay needed projects and sever resources from markets. And increasingly, those regulatory tactics include use of the Section 401 certification process to attempt to delay, constrain, or altogether veto nationally important energy projects, associations including the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) said. Where the industry sees the states actions as a power grab, others see the EPAs ruling as the power grab. Commenting on EPAs final rule to limit the scope of Section 401 review of the Clean Water Act, NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement: This action is nothing short of a federal power grab that would strip New York and all states of our authority to protect clean water and public health. New York won't stand for it. We will continue to fight to protect our communities and defend our authority under the law. The fight over the CWA scope, or more specifically the fight over how much power the states have to derail pipeline projects, is far from over. Just over a month ago, the EPA and the Department of the Army issued another final rule on a separate aspect of the clean water act that redefined the waters of the United States. The EPAs move drew criticism from Democratic states and resulted in lawsuit filings. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: New-born piglets often die painfully from infection with an intestinal bacterium. A team of researchers from 3 faculties at the University of Bern has now discovered how the bacterium causes fatal intestinal bleeding. They have thus made a breakthrough in veterinary research. Promising prospects for vaccinations and medications for use in humans too have now opened up. The Clostridium perfringens bacterium is part of the large Clostridium genus which can cause various fatal illnesses in animals and humans. Clostridium infections are widespread. These bacteria are dangerous because they produce extremely strong poisons (toxins) which cause targeted damage to the host's cells. Dreaded diseases caused by Clostridium include botulism, tetanus, gas gangrene and intestinal infections, for example. Horst Posthaus's group in the Institute of Animal Pathology at the University of Bern is researching an intestinal infection in pigs which is caused by Clostridium perfringens. 10 years ago, they were already able to demonstrate that the toxin produced by the bacteria, the so-called beta toxin, kills vascular cells and thus causes bleeding in the piglet's intestine. Until now, however, it was unclear why the toxin attacked specifically these cells and not others. Julia Bruggisser, biochemist and doctoral student at the Institute of Animal Pathology, has now succeeded in solving the puzzle of this mechanism in an interdisciplinary collaboration between three faculties. The findings from the study have been published in the specialist journal Cell Host & Microbe. A key molecule Around five years ago, lab technician Marianne Wyder from the Institute of Animal Pathology came across a molecule called Platelet-Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (PECAM-1 or even CD31 for short). It is located on the surface of various cells and plays a central role in intestinal bleeding in piglets. The actual role of the CD31 molecule is to regulate the interaction between inflammatory cells and the blood vessels. It predominantly occurs on cells which are located on the inside of blood vessels (so-called endothelial cells). During experiments, it was noticed that CD31 and the beta toxin are distributed almost identically on these cells. "Our project resulted from this initial observation," says Horst Posthaus. Julia Bruggisser from the Institute of Animal Pathology discovered that the toxin released by the bacteria in the intestine attaches to the CD31. Since the beta toxin numbers among the pore-forming toxins, it thus perforates the cell membrane and kills the endothelial cells. This results in damage to the vessels and bleeding in the intestine. Researchers at the University of Bern join forces Collaboration between multiple research groups at the University of Bern was essential for the success of the project. "For my research, I work in three laboratories at the university. Although it's challenging, I learn a lot and above all, it's fun," says Julia Bruggisser. In addition to animal pathology, she also works with groups headed by Britta Engelhardt (Theodor-Kocher Institute) and Christoph von Ballmoos (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry). "They had the right questions and ideas. We were able to bring our know-how concerning CD31 and methods and reagents which we had developed into the study," says Britta Engelhardt. "It came together perfectly," adds Christoph von Ballmoos. Better prophylaxis and medications The discovery makes it possible to develop better vaccines in order to prevent the fatal disease in pigs. "But we also want to investigate whether the attachment of beta toxin to CD31 on the endothelial cells also allows for the development of new forms of therapy, for vascular disease in humans, for example. We have already started more collaborations within the University of Bern to this end," says Horst Posthaus. This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and by a grant for international students at the University of Bern. ### The last leg of Babydson and Jameskys journey to their new family in America was the long hallway at the Fort Lauderdale airport. The skinny-legged brothers, aged 8 and 7, were lugging big backpacks theyd packed at their orphanage in Haiti. They ambled timidly down the hallway until they were scooped up into Beau and Kari Coxs hugs. The Kansas couplewho felt called to adopt following a medical missions trip to Port-au-Princehad been in the process for nearly three years before Babydson and Jamesky arrived on May 14. The coronavirus pandemic halted the process for them - along with hundreds of American families - at a time when international adoptions had already fallen to historic lows. Even before the virus, adoption in Haiti was notoriously obstacle-ridden, delayed by political unrest, government corruption, incompetence, and lack of technology. Things got worse last year, sending the country in lockdown over violent protests and leading the US to advise against travel there. When the pandemic hit, we thought, Can we even get them on a flight and get them out? Kari Cox said. US embassies around the globe had either closed outright or continued operations with skeleton crews, and the Haitian government grounded nearly to a halt. To get the boys home now, the Coxes had to hope for a series of small miracles. A sign-off from Haiti. A passport and a visa from the US. A willing and dependable escort. A flight out. Image: Courtesy of the Cox Family Somehow it all lined up. The Haitian government signed the last piece of paper, after weeks of promising theyd do it soon. An administrator at the boys orphanage found an American missionary teacher outside Port Au Prince who was going home to Pennsylvania and could fly with them. The Coxes booked a flight to Fort Lauderdale, where Babydson and Jamesky were scheduled to land. They got on the plane without knowing whether the embassy had granted their sons visas and exit letters. The Coxes joined five other families at the airport, meeting their adopted children from Haiti. After years of worrying the constant holdups would stall the process indefinitely, that was kind of the first time we could breathe, Kari Cox said. When Babydson and Jamesky arrived a couple weeks ago in Florida, it had been nearly a year since the Coxes had seen the boys. In the cluster of kids, some younger ones ran to their families. Kari struggled to make out her boys faces, then suddenly, there they were. It felt like forever for them to get to us, to walk down that hallway, she said. It was really precious. The Cox familys story is one of the happy ones. Some families have been forced to call off adoptions from abroad due to procedural delays caused by the pandemic. The rest are left with unknown timelines in a process already made more complicated by increased regulation in recent years. Last year, fewer than 3,000 US families adopted a child from another country, the lowest in 50 years according to US State Department Data. (In 2018, it was 4,000. And at its peak in 2004, 22,000.) While foreign governments in more than a dozen countries limited or did away with international adoptions for a variety of reasons, the US State Department intensified its regulations a couple years ago, in the hopes of preventing unethical practices in adoption and providing greater transparency and follow-up. Those regulations have provided additional steps in what was already an arduous process. Now, the pandemic has stalled international adoptions nearly every stage, said Ryan Hanlon, a vice president at the National Council for Adoption (NCFA). Families waiting for approval to begin an adoption cant schedule their required fingerprinting appointment with the now-closed US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Families who have submitted paperwork are left waiting for document approval from a US embassy or a foreign embassy, many of which are also closed. Many countries require a court proceeding to finalize the adoption; courts are closed. And, of course, families cant readily travel overseas to either meet their adoptees (some countries, like Haiti, require a socialization visit before the legal process can begin) or to pick them up. Hanlon said NCFA is aware of roughly two dozen US families currently stuck overseas waiting to bring their adopted children home. Most are in Africa, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and Chad. Some are in Asia and Central America. Theyre not waiting for flights; theyre waiting for paperwork. The reality is these families traveled well before the pandemic struck, Hanlon said. Had the Department of State done their job in a timely manner, they wouldnt have been stuck. These hurdles are bound to affect the work of Christian adoption agencies and to come up in church prayer requests. Evangelicals are among the most avid supporters of adoption and are more than twice as likely than the general population to adopt a child, be involved with adoption-related causes, or know someone who has adopted from overseas. A State Department official told Christianity Today that intercountry adoptions remain a high priority, but that the department does not know when routine visa services will resume overseas. The official said the department is prioritizing helping families who had already had a visa appointment at the embassies before the shutdowns, but are also trying to grant emergency appointments as resources allow. The agency recommended families turn to USCIS. In cases where an embassy isnt open to grant an adoption visa, USCIS, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, could grant humanitarian parole as an exception. That would allow families to bring their kids home to the US and finish the visa process here. Just one family working through Nightlight Christian Adoptionsthe same agency that oversaw the Coxes adoption from Haitihas been granted humanitarian parole to return with their child, while many others applied but are still waiting. The [State Departments] Office of Childrens Issues said Please, tell us all your families that are stuck and well see what we can do, said Daniel Nehrbass, the president of Nightlight, and then the response we got was, Theres nothing we can do. In addition to the frustration and economic hardship of not being able to return to a job in the states, the stalls brought on by the pandemic can put an adoption in jeopardy. Many countries have an age limit on adoption eligibility. Nehrbass knows of at least one family waiting to adopt a child from Hong Kong who has turned 14, meaning he has aged out of the process while waiting for his adoptive family to pick him up. Because COVID travel restrictions kept the family from getting there, Nehrbass said officials in Hong Kong said theyd grant an extension. In a similar case in Honduras, the government wont. That adoptionprayed and planned for for yearscan no longer happen. That is a tragedy for those kids, Nehrbass said. Nehrbass speculated one reason the State Department has increased regulation and seemingly slowed the international adoption process in recent years is the growing concern over human trafficking. I think there is a narrative among some in the State Department that the risk of a child being trafficked, whether real or perceived, is such an injustice that it would be better to have no adoptions than to crack open the door slightly, he said. Still, Nehrbass said the COVID-impacted interruptions to foreign adoptions arent all attributable to the US State Department. He estimated half of Nightlights families stuck overseas are waiting on foreign courts, ministries or embassies. The Benik family flew from their home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Bogota, Colombia in early March with the expectation theyd be leaving a few weeks later with their newly adopted 15-year-old daughter, Laura. They were waiting for a sign-off from the Colombian court system when the pandemic prompted the country to shut down. The first couple weeks was such a roller coaster ride, R. P. Benik said. Someone would say, We expect to finish [your adoption] by the end of the week, and then you learn from someone else theres no way its going to happenat that point we were just kind of like, Were not going to worry about it anymore. Were just going to hunker down together. The Beniks lawyer said they could return to the US without Laura and try to come back later. Every time they advised us to go home we always tried to be wise and discuss it, but at the end of the day we were like, Were not leaving, Benik said. They stayed stuck in Colombia for two months. They celebrated their youngest biological daughters second birthday and Lauras 15th, her quinceanera, in lockdown together at a missionary house. They had groceries delivered. The Colombian government didnt allow walks in the neighborhood. They watched, via online alerts, as weekly evacuation flights came and went. At the direction of their lawyer, the Beniks sued the Colombian government to try to force them to hear their caseand it worked. The President of Colombia signed a decree allowing a government agency, instead of the closed court system, to sign off on the foreign adoptions of currently stranded families. After that, the US embassy granted Lauras Visa in a single day. Embassy officials even came to the Bogota airport to see Laura and her new family off on May 3. Benik said his family was in touch with South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott throughout the process, and the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed some congressional advocacy on behalf of families waiting to adopt overseas. In late April, the Congressional Adoption Caucus sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting information on how his department planned to help families caught overseas during the pandemic. The letter also urged the State Department to use all available resources to ensure intercountry adoptions proceed in a safe and timely manner. The State Department did not issue an official response. Its unclear what long-term impact the pandemic will have on international adoptions. The landscape was already in flux. In addition to the steep decline over the past 15 years, Bethany Christian Servicesthe largest adoption and foster agency in the USannounced earlier this year that it would end its international adoption program next year, and work with in-country partners to improve local child welfare systems instead. Its inevitable that the number of international adoptions in 2020 will fall below last years historic lowby how much, experts dont know. Nehrbass at Nightlight said when the shutdowns hit, he briefly hoped it would call attention to the dysfunction that already existed,but it just didnt work out that way, he said. Hes optimistic the crisis wont weaken families resolve, especially as deaths from the pandemic are likely to leave more children without parents across the globe. There are enough children, and there are enough families we just need to lower the hurdles along the way, Nehrbass said. One of those hurdles now requires a vaccine. Members of Nigerias House of Representatives have killed a motion seeking to recommend castration for rapists. The House, at the plenary on Thursday, rejected the motion which was recommended by Mr James Faleke. Faleke, representing Ikeja in Lagos had recommended that persons found guilty of r.a.p.e should be castrated. His motion came in the wake of rising cases of s.e.xual violence in Nigeria and the national outrage the phenomenon has caused. Faleke asked the Inspector General of Police to immediately probe r.a.p.e cases as all other reported cases of violence against women. The call was superfluous as the police had already taken up such investigations. The police have also announced measures to strengthen their desks dealing with domestic violence all over the country. In a statement Wednesday, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ordered the immediate transfer of the investigations into the s.e.xual assault and death of Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa from Benin to the Force headquarters, Abuja. The IGPs directive was sequel to the preliminary report from the team of investigators and forensic experts earlier deployed to assist the Edo State Police Command in the investigations into the unfortunate incident. The DIG in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), DIG Anthony Ogbizi Michael, will henceforth supervise the investigation of the case. In a similar vein, Adamu also ordered the immediate deployment of specialized investigators and additional investigation assets to all the Gender Desks Offices and the Juvenile Welfare Centres (JWC) across the country. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.) Total U.S. confirmed cases: 2,600,727 ( 2,557,980) Total U.S. deaths: 129,545 (125,864) Total global cases: 10,350,645 (10,189,350) Total global deaths: 506,827 (502,719) Los Angeles is the new epicenter Early in the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, New York City emerged as the epicenter of the virus while Los Angeles reported relatively few cases. Those roles have now reversed. The Los Angeles County Health Department reports more than 100,000 confirmed cases of the virus so far, with nearly 3,000 new cases a day. The largest number recorded so far among any age demographic is among young people between 18 and 40. Barbara Ferrer, the director of public health for Los Angeles County, calls the increase in cases and hospitalizations alarming. Younger patients occupying Houstons ICU Texas has experienced a huge increase in coronavirus cases during June, and intensive care units (ICU) in Houston hospitals are starting to fill up. But the patients are significantly younger than those who pushed New York hospitals to the tipping point in April. The New York Times reports that nearly one-third of the ICU patients in Houstons Methodist Hospital system are under the age of 50. Its a similar situation in nearby states. A significant number of new infections are of people in their 20s and 30s. An economic case for masks The idea of wearing a face-covering in public has become a contentious issue in some circles, infused with politics. But an economist at Goldman Sachs suggests that the economy would heal faster if everyone would wear a mask in public places. Jan Hatzius, the banks chief economist, worked with his team to probe the link between face masks and COVID-19 health and economic outcomes. They determined that a national requirement for everyone to wear a mask could cut the daily rate of infections by a full percentage point. That result, Hatzius said, could prevent another shutdown order that would eliminate more jobs and shave 5 percent off the nations economic growth rate. Fauci says follow strict guidelines critical to stopping the virus Health officials are testifying before a Senate committee today, providing updates on the coronavirus and the outlook for the next few weeks. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infection Diseases (NIAID), testified that municipalities that continue to follow safety rules will have the best chance of safely reopening schools this fall. If we adhere to guidelines that have been carefully laid out, that will help to keep the level of infection down and make it easier to get the children back to school, Fauci said. Fauci said the states where cases are surging may have reopened too quickly and may have needed to follow stricter rules as they reopened. What happens in Vegas Just two weeks after casinos on the Las Vegas strip reopened with social distancing rules in place, some casino employees have filed a lawsuit, saying their health and safety arent being protected. The suit was filed against the owners of Harrahs, MGM Grand, and Bellagio casinos. Specifically, the complaint alleges the casinos were slow to shut down food and beverage facilities on their premises after some employees tested positive for the coronavirus. The suit was filed in federal court by Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165. Around the nation Organizers of the Consumer Electronics Show announced the popular tech conference will be held 'both physically in Las Vegas and digitally' January 2021. A number of events and conferences have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is still sweeping the US, but the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) appears to be pushing forward with its plans. The group is set to implement safety measures for next year's event, including sanitation stations, contactless scans at entry points and on-site medical aid. The announcement comes just two months after a report surfaced claiming the 2020 conference played a key role in spreading the virus throughout the US. Scroll down for video Organizers of the Consumer Electronics Show announced the popular tech conference will be 'both physically in Las Vegas and digitally' January 2021 'You can expect to see a wider selection of livestreamed CES content, along with many other engaging digital and virtual opportunities, enabling you to connect with the world's leading technology innovators, thought leaders and policymakers,' reads the announcement. 'We will showcase our exhibitors' products, technology breakthroughs and ideas to the world, both physically in Las Vegas and digitally.' CTA explains that they are working 'closely' with the Las Vegas communities in order to develop the best practices to keep residents and those attending the conference safe. The group plans to add sanitizing stations throughout the venue and widen aisles to allow social distancing. A number of events and conferences have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is still sweeping the US, but the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) appears to be pushing ahead with its plans. The US has more than 1.8 million reported cases as of Wed Those attending will be asked to wear masks and avoid shaking hands with others, including exhibitors. Limit touch points will also be setup in the facility including cashless systems and contactless thermal scans at key entry points. The group also plans to have on-site access to health services and medical aid. The announcement comes after an April report that claims to have evidence that this year's CES may have played a key role in US coronavirus outbreak. The event had carried on amid the outbreak happening in China, which experts say created 'an ideal venue for transmission.' The announcement comes just two months after a report surfaced claiming to have evidence that the 2020 conference played a key role in spreading the virus throughout the US. Michael Webber (pictured) attended CES in Jan. and tested positive for antibodies for Covid-19 in April Multiple attendees became seriously ill following the days after CES, but were dismissed as have nothing more than the 'CES flu' that occurs every year. What alarmed some experts was that these individuals suffered different symptoms than previous years including fever, shortness of breath, dry cough, pains and body aches all of which are caused by COVID-19. A professor who attended the conference came down with a sickness after the event and recently tested positive for coronavirus antibodies making his case 'the first clear evidence that the virus was likely circulating at the conference.' The conference was attended by more than 180,000 people, many of whom were from outside of the US, and more than 100 of the people traveled from Wuhan, China where the coronavirus first began. The news comes from APM Reports, an investigative news publication, which spoke with one of the attendees who recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Michael Webber, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, tested positive for antibodies for Covid-19 in April and although CES was held months ago, he had fallen ill shortly after the conference ended. APM Reports says Webber's test results are 'the first clear evidence that the virus was likely circulating at the conference' Theories that the virus made landfall in the US during CES has been spreading around the web. But APM Reports says his test results are 'the first clear evidence that the virus was likely circulating at the conference.' Webber told the publication that his 'revelation comes at the same time that public health officials in Northern California, including Silicon Valley, reported three newly confirmed coronavirus deaths.' He also shared his struggle on Twitter, noting he felt swollen, had body aches, struggled to breath and had a fever for days. A tweet on January 18 read: 'I know in my brain I don't have this virus,' he wrote. 'But I spent last week in Las Vegas w/ my boss at #CES2020 w/ 170k people including many from China & we got a weird respiratory cold that made us sick for a week so my paranoid self is convinced that I have this new killer virus.' Not only did people from China and people from at least 63 other countries attended, but the setup of the event is a breeding ground for disease. Some attendees used Twitter to see if anyone else had fallen severely ill after the event This post went up a week after CES came to a close and on the same day the first Americans were tested for coronavirus. Others also shared their misery of an illness. NrPena wrote: 'OMG will this #CES2020 #flu/ #cold go away?! 10 days back in #ATX & still coughing.' 'The timing of CES, which was held January 7 through 10 and its attendees could be create a trail of how the virus spread through Silicon Valley at a time when the US was not aware of its implications,' said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert and professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. 'As a clinician, it was weird to be in the Bay Area to see Santa Clara County being the hotspot,' he said. 'You would think it would be San Francisco because there's tons of people going into [the airport] and a lot of Chinese population, but I think there has to be something else to this.' However, Chin-Hong also noted that more research needs to be done in order to link CES to the spreading of the virus. Not only did people from China and people from at least 63 other countries attend, but the setup of the event is a breeding ground for disease. Others also shared their misery of an illness. NrPena wrote: 'OMG will this #CES2020 #flu/ #cold go away?! 10 days back in #ATX & still coughing. CES organizers told APM Reports that they are not aware of any confirmed cases of the virus from the conference, but many attendees have come forward about being severely ill Convention halls and casinos are packed with people who are exchanging business cards with anyone and everyone they meet. This environment does spread an illness every year, which is known as the 'CES flu.' But this year's symptoms seemed to be a little different. Multiple people who left sick said they experienced fever, shortness of breath, dry cough, aches and pains all the symptoms reported by those with the coronavirus. CES organizers told APM Reports that they are not aware of any confirmed cases of the virus from the conference. They also have not been contacted by any health, government, or corporate officials who suspected someone who attended the conference was exposed to the virus. tech2 News Staff Nokia finally unveiled its yet another smart TV in India today at a price of Rs 31,999. This is the second smart TV that the company launched in the Indian market. The new 43-inch Nokia smart TV comes with JBL Audio, Dolby Vision support and built-in Chromecast. Nokia 43-inch Smart TV pricing, availability The 43-inch smart TV is priced at Rs 31,999 and will be available for purchase exclusively on Flipkart on 8 June at 12 pm. It comes in just one black colour option. As for the sale offers, you can get Rs 1,500 off on Citi Bank debit and credit cards, a 10 percent off on Axis Bank Buzz credit card. With the purchase of the TV, you will also be eligible to get six months of YouTube Premium trial. Nokia 43-inch Smart TV specifications The smart TV features a 43-inch 4K UHD LED flat-screen display that has a 60 Hz refresh rate, 16:9 aspect ratio and offers 300 nits brightness. It is powered by 2GHz CA53 quad-core chipset and offers 2.25 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The Nokia TV runs on Android V 9.0. The smart TV comes with support for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar, Google Play store and YouTube. In terms of audio, it comes with 24 W output, JBL Audio, Dolby Audio and DTS TruSurround support. You can also control TV functions by AI-based Google assistant feature. For connectivity, you will get three HDMI ports and two USB ports. Build It Green's workforce development program received the 2020 Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award this week. It was one of nine groups across the state chosen for the award, honoring its 12-week workforce development and leadership training. "Tennesseans continue to show their commitment to the environment in innovative ways, and we want to recognize their outstanding efforts, Governor Lee said. These awards show that responsible environmental stewardship is happening across our state. The Build it Green program is supported by Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, TVA and donations from the community. BIG aims to generate pathways out of poverty for young adults through job readiness training, community organizing and outreach training, and technical training in the green building field. Affordability of utilities is one of the greatest challenges to low income neighborhoods in Chattanooga. This program brings solutions to issues of energy efficiency in low income areas as well as a pipeline for employment into the green economy. BIG utilizes a unique blend of community outreach, personal development, and technical training to create workforce ready young adults. The 12 week program will prepare young adults from low-income communities for entry level jobs in the energy services field, while equipping them to engage low-income residents in sustainability practices and programs, particularly best practices in residential energy efficiency and weatherization programs, said officials. BIG participants will gain the following from the 12 week program: 6 weeks community engagement/personal development/job readiness training 6 weeks technical training in weatherization and community sustainability 3 days per week, 4 hours per day of training Weekly job shadowing & off site job training opportunities Paid training - $10/hour for 12 weeks Paid job shadowing opportunities Job placement assistance Base training in weatherization and basic home upgrades No GED or high school equivalency required BIG is based off Stan Johnsons workforce development program, Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, in Knoxville and Manitoba Green Retrofit in Alberta, Canada. (Alliance News) - Fevertree Drinks PLC on Thursday said that while bars and pubs remain shuttered due to Covid-19 lockdowns, off-trade sales surged, including a striking jump in the US. In the UK off-trade sales - meaning in shops and supermarkets - jumped 24% annually in the first full-month of lockdown, the carbonated drinks maker said, adding that the "positive momentum" has continued since. "The core tonic range has performed particularly well, and there has also been notable growth in the convenience channel as consumers increasingly supplement or substitute their trips to large grocery stores," Fevertree said. In the UK, on-trade sales - pubs, bars and restaurants - usually represent 50% of its revenue. In the US however, Fevertree is "naturally weighted" to off-trade, which is typically about 70% of its revenue in that country. Fevertree said: "Since the start of lockdown, while on-trade sales have been severely impacted, off-trade sales have grown extremely strongly." Nielsen data, which Fevertree said covers just under half of its off-trade sales in the US, reported it had a 98% year-on-year jump in the four weeks to April 18 and soared 96% in the four weeks to May 16. "The group's US pricing and format optimisation has been very well-received by distributors and retailers, with implementation beginning to be seen on-shelf between March and June 2020," Fevertree said. Elsewhere, trading in northern Europe has been "robust", because like the US it is more weighted towards off-trade. The same could not be said about southern Europe, which was more hurt by lockdown measures. "While on-trade challenges have also been evident across the rest of the world, we are delivering strong off-trade sales and continued distribution gains, most notably in Australia and Canada," the Fevertree added. "Given the uncertainty and dynamic nature of the situation, it continues to be hard to predict how sales will evolve both during and as we emerge from the lockdown period. The easing of restrictions and the pace at which the on-trade re-opens will vary between regions, but it is becoming increasingly likely that this process will be gradual and cautious, with social distancing measures remaining in place for some time." Shares in the company were 0.8% higher at 2,096.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. SACRAMENTO A panel of California legislators voted Wednesday to advance a pair of bills designed to combat racial inequities, following days of protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality. One proposal would ask voters whether they want to reinstate affirmative action in colleges and state agencies. Another would create a task force to recommend plans to grant reparations to African Americans to counteract enduring inequities stemming from slavery. Members of the California Legislative Black Caucus urged their colleagues to support both bills during an emotional news conference Tuesday. They said the events of recent days illustrate the states failure to address fundamental issues of racism, and how its responses to crises are often short-lived. Every incident brings me back to the same spot, said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, the San Diego Democrat who chairs the black caucus and is carrying both measures. This country has taught itself to hate African Americans and to deny the history that has brought us here. Weber, who led passage of a landmark bill last year to redefine when police can use deadly force, said Floyds killing by Minneapolis police shows that African Americans still face a pandemic of hate. The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to advance the bills, along with dozens of others, through a procedural bottleneck for legislation with significant fiscal impacts. They now go to the full Assembly for consideration, and if approved there would move on to the Senate. Among the bills that moved forward: ACA5, by Weber, would put a measure on the November ballot asking voters whether to repeal Proposition 209, the 1996 state constitutional amendment that banned affirmative action in public education and government. It would strip language prohibiting universities, schools and government agencies from using race or sex in their admissions criteria, hiring and contract decisions. Opponents of Prop. 209 said it has harmed women and people of color, particularly in college admissions. But past efforts to repeal the amendment have proved divisive. Lawmakers shelved a 2014 proposal after some Asian Americans said it could harm their childrens ability to get into universities or could hold them to higher academic standards. The Assembly and the Senate must pass the measure with a two-thirds vote by the end of June for it to qualify for the ballot. Voters could then repeal Prop. 209 by a simple majority. AB3121, by Weber, would create a state task force to create proposals to provide African Americans with reparations for slavery. The task force would study the legacy of slavery and recommend who might be eligible for reparations and the form of compensation. Any recommendations by the task force would return to the Legislature for consideration. The eight-member committee would also be charged with educating Californians about the legacy of slavery and how the state enabled it. AB1950, by Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles, would limit the duration of probation to no longer than two years for a felony offense and one year for a misdemeanor. Supporters say the bill would reduce excessive sentences that cause many rehabilitated offenders to return to prison for minor violations. About 20% of people jailed in California prisons are there for to probation violations, according to the Justice Center of the Council of State Governments. People typically serve three years of probation for misdemeanors and five years for felonies. The bill is opposed by the California District Attorneys Association, which says efforts to collect restitution for victims could be harmed if ex-offenders arent under supervision. On another front, the committee killed two high-profile bills intended to streamline construction of new housing: AB3155, by Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, would have eased local building approval requirements for medium-density housing projects with 10 or fewer units. Some labor unions and environmentalists opposed the bill over concerns about weakening permit reviews. AB2580, by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, would have required cities to create a faster process to convert vacant hotels and motels into permanent housing, eliminating a permit hurdle. It was opposed by some advocates of low-income housing who said it could displace families that use hotels as housing. Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner A heavily pregnant woman accused of killing her aunt has been charged with murder. Jessie Moore, 25, allegedly murdered Victorian greyhound trainer Karen Leek who was found in a pool of her own blood on Tuesday, May 26. Ms Moore and her five-year-old daughter had been living with Ms Ms Leek, who assisted with childcare. The young woman did not appear in court as she is just eight days away from giving birth and didn't want to come up from the cells, her lawyer told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday. She was interviewed over the woman's death a week ago but charged with murder on Thursday. Karen Leek, 69, was found dead at her home in Devons Meadow, south-east of Melbourne about 10am last Tuesday Homicide detectives spent more than 30 hours combing the home for clues and a police helicopter was also used to examine the property. At the time of her death, Ms Leek had been caring for her five-year-old great niece. It is not clear if the child was inside the home at the time. The 69-year-old was last seen alive about 5pm last Monday - 17 hours before her body was found. Police are probing the circumstances of Ms Leek's child care situation as part of their investigation into her death, The Herald Sun reported. The 69-year-old's family said they have been kept in the dark by Victoria Police about the investigation. 'We dont know what to do with it - we havent been told anything. Were grieving,' relative Codie Moore said. The 69-year-old was a pioneer in the racing industry and helped breed some of Australia's most successful greyhounds A Specialised Trauma Cleaning services van is pictured entering the Devon Meadows home the day after Ms Leek's body was discovered A friend of Ms Leek Angela Langton also said news of the murder charge was a relief because she 'hadn't heard anything' from police since her death. Ms Leek was introduced to greyhound training and racing when she was just 13 and went on to be a leading pioneer in the sport. She had helped breed some of Australia's superstar greyhounds including Bewildering, Moreira and Nolen. Ms Leek (pictured front) had been caring for the five-year-old great niece at the time of her death Ms Leek was introduced to greyhound training and racing when she was just 13 and went on to be a leading pioneer in the sport Another friend, who is also the chair of Greyhound Racing Victoria, said the industry had been 'rocked' by Ms Leek's death. 'She was an amazing person, it's such a massive loss for us,' Peita Duncan told Nine News. 'It's devastating for our industry and it has rocked us to our core.' BRIDGEPORT Tarek Sobh, interim provost at the University of Bridgeport and a longtime professor responsible for developing programs of innovation and bringing scores of international students to campus, announced Wednesday he is leaving the university. The announcement, made in an email to staff and alumni, said Sobh will continue in his capacity as executive vice president until Aug. 31. Sobh is to become provost of Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan. Sobh declined to immediately comment on his departure. UBs Interim President Stephen Healey called Sobh a friend and someone he grew to count on. He will be missed, Healey said.Tarek has my gratitude for stepping into this role and supporting UB during this time of transition. Healey took over after former UB President Laura Trombley abruptly quit this spring for a job in Texas. She had been with the university for a year and a half. UB, like higher education institutions across the country, moved all classes online this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before that, the university was losing international students due to new immigration restrictions and was rapidly eating through the $33 million endowment it had when Trombley arrived in July 2018. While many longtime staff members left over the past two years, Sobh remained. Sobh has been with UB for 25 years, starting as an associate professor of computer science. His expertise was in the fields of computer science and engineering, robotics, control theory, STEM education, automation, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and signal processing. He was the founding director of several interdisciplinary programs and centers, including the CTech IncUBator, the UB research division, the Bauer Hall Innovation Center, as well as the Interdisciplinary Robotics, Intelligent Sensing, and Control (RISC) laboratory. An internationally known researcher and scholar, Sobh received the American Society for Engineering Educations Northeastern U.S. Distinguished Engineering Professor of the Year award, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Northeast Technological Innovation Research Award, and an American Council on Education's Higher Education Award. On the Lawrence Technological University website, Sobh was described as an accomplished scientist and educator. In Dr. Sobh, we feel we have found an internationally recognized educational leader who will help us continue to improve Lawrence Techs strong academic programs, said LTU President Virinder Moudgil in a statement. LTU has about 4,500 students. UB had about the same the last time enrollments were reported to the state. At LTU, Sobh will oversee four colleges, its library, and offices of eLearning, Student Affairs, Enrollment Management, and Corporate and Community Partnerships. Professor Khaled Elleithy, who is UBs interim dean of the College of Engineering, Business and Education, said he has worked with Sobh for two decades in many capacities. In all these projects and initiatives Tarek demonstrated his leadership with a clear vision, and clear focus, Elleithy said. Together, the created new doctorate programs at UB that helped change its Carnegie classification. Elleithy said Sobhs commitment and passion will be missed. Healey said UB has benefited from Sobhs ingenuity and passion for scientific research, engineering, computer science, and STEM education. His ability to make industry connections on behalf of UB led to significant growth in the engineering program and in the College of Engineering, Business, and Education, resulting in countless academic and co-curricular opportunities for students, Healey said. Although Sobh was heavily involved in international recruitment, Healey said there is a recruitment funnel that is not over-reliant on international students. So too will UBs strong involvement in technological competitions. Tarek is off to his next opportunity, Healey said. We are ready to move forward. lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck Tembici, which says it owns 80% of the market share in Latin Americas micromobility space, now has $47 million more in capital to double down on its docked e-bike offering. The Series B round was led by Valor Capital and Redpoint eventures. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, and Joa Investimentos also participated in the round. The new funding marks IFC's entry into the micromobility market, a notable move that will allow Tembici to work more closely with city regulators as it expands its e-bike offering. During the pandemic, in which global funding into tech startups has declined by 20%, the $47 million will allow Tembici to double down on the rollout of more electric bikes, and increase access to bikes in the major cities where the service is operative. The capital will also be used to further invest in R&D. As Uber scraps thousands of JUMP bikes in San Francisco that sit unused during the pandemic, CEO Tomas Martins tells me that Tembici is seeing increased ridership in Sao Paulo and other Brazilian cities. He says 20 million rides were taken on Tembici bikes in the past year, with 2 million rides happening per month. Tembici riders are split into two categories, says the CEO. As delivery demand increases during the pandemic shelter in place lockdown, more couriers are using Tembicis bikes to circulate items and food. As Brazilians work from home, commuter rides are declining. But the people who are commuting around cities like Sao Paulo and Rio are choosing Tembici. Tembici co-founders Tomas Martins and Mauricio Villar Tembici was co-founded by Tomas Martins and Mauricio Villar in 2010 at the University of Sao Paulo, and scored an early sponsorship from Brazils largest private bank, Itau. Tembici uses a docking station (similar to Citi Bike in New York City) system for the return and removal of bikes. Tembici is operative in Latin Americas main urban capitals such as Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife and Porto Alegre in Brazil, as well as Buenos Aires in Argentina and Santiago in Chile. Story continues Bicycles will undoubtedly play an important role in the post-pandemic world because theyre being strongly recommended by public health agencies for safe, sustainable transportation for individuals. As more people change their habits, the new investment will help us meet the increasing demand, says CEO Martins. Tembici says it has learned tons from observing Chinas pioneering micromobility efforts -- but there are some key differences in the Latin America market. Asian mobility companies scaled the dockless solution, but Tembici thinks the docked business model will yield more success and win the favor of Latin American city regulators. E-bike and scooter makers like JUMP and Mobike became acquisition targets for companies like Uber and WeChat that are building the super app (although there have since been some issues here, as Mobike was removed from WeChats payments system and JUMP pulled its bikes from a handful of cities in the U.S.). However those issues dont seem to be happening in Latin America. While the region has seen consolidation in micromobility over the past few years with Yellow and Grin, micromobility companies have remained relatively independent compared to their foreign super-app owned counterparts. Scott Sobel, managing partner at Valor, is joining Tembicis board of directors, along with Redpoint managing partner Romero Rodrigues. Sobel says we can expect to see more government partnerships and eventually consolidation from micromobility companies in Latin America in the future. The Spanish government on Wednesday secured parliaments backing for a final extension to the state of emergency imposed to tackle the coronavirus epidemic and which will now last until June 21. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sought to extend the state of emergency, which grants his government exceptional powers, to allow greater control over peoples mobility as a lockdown that began in mid-March is phased out. His proposal was narrowly approved in the 350-seat lower house, garnering 177 votes in favour despite opposition from the conservative Peoples Party and the far-right Vox. Spain also registered its first death from the coronavirus since Sunday. Confirmed cases increased by 219 from the previous day to 240,326, while the cumulative death toll reached 27,128. Just a month ago Spain was logging more than 1,000 new cases and hundreds of deaths every day, overwhelming the health service. In recognition of their enormous personal sacrifice, front-line medical workers were awarded the prestigious Princess of Asturias Award on Wednesday. The coronavirus infected about 50,000 health workers. Data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed a 155% spike in mortality at the epidemics early-April peak, though not all excess deaths can be directly linked to the coronavirus. There are other possible reasons for excess deaths, Health Emergency Coordinator Fernando Simon said, naming seasonal flu as one of them. Or it could be because of an overloaded health system and delayed access to hospitals. Thanks to strict confinement measures the government believes the worst is now over, a claim borne out by the INE data, which shows mortality between May 18-24 was at roughly the same level as a year earlier. As restrictions on movement are eased Spain is evaluating how to restart its tourism industry, which accounts for 12% of economic output. On Wednesday the tourism ministry said it might open up some limited travel from June 22, despite earlier plans to reopen from July 1. Spain seeks to open up to some foreign tourism from late June Spain is working on plans to gradually open its borders to tourists from countries deemed more secure in the fight against the coronavirus, possibly starting from June 22, the tourism ministry said on Wednesday. After losing more than 27,000 people and months of economic activity to the epidemic, Spain had previously designated July 1 as the date to reopen to foreign tourism, which accounts for 12% of its output. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs government is due to lift a state of emergency on June 21, meaning that Spaniards will be able to start to move more freely again as the epeidemic recedes. A tourism ministry spokesman said it was likely the same would start to apply to some foreigners on Monday June 22 or possibly as early as Sunday June 21. We want to reactivate and accelerate international mobility but starting with areas in similar epidemiological situations, said the spokesman, whose ministry is also responsible for trade and industry. Separately, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said Germany would lift a recommendation to avoid travelling to Spain as soon as Spain lifts restrictions on visitors from abroad. Officials have said Spain is keen for travel protocols to be agreed on at the European level. The Balearic archipelago around the island of Ibiza and the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa are the most advanced in their preparations to be offered as a safe destination, the tourism ministry spokesman said. Spain has spoken to airlines and tour operators, primarily in Germany, which has reported many fewer deaths from the pandemic than those seen in smaller countries including Spain and Italy, he said. Spain has also discussed with Britains Jet2 how to re-start business, but is limited by the situation in Britain, where the COVID-19 death toll has passed 49,000, including suspected cases, according to a Reuters tally. SOURCE: REUTERS A mother-of-three care home worker has gone blind after suffering seizures during a seven-week hospital battle with coronavirus. Sarah Smith, 53, who worked at The Gables Care Home for 18 years, began self-isolating on April 2 and was admitted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, with Covid-19 two weeks later. The previously fit and healthy woman lost her sight after developing seizures from posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) syndrome, which is linked to sepsis - a condition that can be caused by coronavirus. Her daughter Rebecca Smith, 29, was able to briefly see her mother, who still remains at the hospital, on Tuesday for the first time in seven weeks. Sarah Smith, 53, in a hospital bed outside with her daughter Rebecca, 29, both wearing face masks (left) and the pair pictured before the care home worker's hospital battle (right) Rebecca has shared her family's devastating battle to show how 'the damage from coronavirus looks different for everyone'. Sarah, from Easterside, was placed on a CPAP machine and a hood ventilator to help breathe at the high dependency unit, but was moved to intensive care on April 22. Her condition worsened and she was placed into a coma, from which she awoke on May 14. Rebecca, a mother-of-two, explained: 'She then developed a secondary bacterial infection in her lungs. Coronavirus affects the body in so many ways. 'On May 6 she started having seizures which left swelling on her brain. 'Doctors are hoping the PRES syndrome brain swelling she has will resolve and she will regain her sight but there's a chance the damage will have been done and it won't. Sarah pictured with two of her grandchildren. She began self-isolating on April 2 and was rushed to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, two weeks later 'There's also the chance she had a stroke during her seizures and that has caused the vision loss. 'She has memory problems, still suffers from delirium, confusion and hallucinations. But there are brief moments of clarity.' But doctors are unsure when the grandmother-of-three actually lost her sight. Sarah, from Easterside, needs to see a neurologist for treatment. PRES syndrome: A condition that can be triggered by sepsis - which is linked to Covid-19 Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a condition characterised by headache, confusion, seizures and visual loss. If promptly recognised and treated, the syndrome usually resolves itself within one week. It is strongly linked with hypertension, vascular and autoimmune diseases, exposure to immunosuppressive drugs and organ transplantation. But it is also triggered by sepsis, a condition that can be caused by Covid-19. The effects of Covid-19 on the respiratory system are well-known, but virtually all other organs can be affected - consistent with sepsis. A study in Seattle, US, showed over 30 percent of Covid-19 cases had evidence of liver injury and 75 percent had evidence of a depressed immune response. Other research from the same region revealed acute kidney failure in 20 percent of the patients requiring ICU care, and both studies showed septic shock severe enough to need drugs to support the heart and circulation in nearly 70 percent of patients. Sources: Global Sepsis Alliance National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Advertisement But Rebecca says the hospital is having to adapt constantly to meet the individual needs around coronavirus restrictions. She said: 'The hospital is split into two sides - Covid-19 and non-Covid - but there aren't services across the board. She needs to be admitted onto the neurology ward for rehab. 'Mum needs to see a neurologist and will need rehabilitation to be able to learn to walk again. She's also got memory problems and sight problems. 'My mum is now testing negative for coronavirus so the policy needs to adapt.' Sarah - mother to Jessica, Paul and Rebecca - was moved out of ICU on Wednesday, but Jessica says 'it was a struggle to find a suitable ward for mum'. Rebecca captured the moment she was briefly reunited with her mother on Tuesday. Accompanied by a picture of Sarah in a hospital bed outside, she said: 'Here she is the absolute hero! 'She agreed to this photo and had just said, when the nurse asked if she wanted sun or shade, "oh yeah give me the sun baby!" 'This was her first taste of fresh air since she went in seven-weeks-ago, so was just a one off for 10 minutes. 'She's lost a lot of weight and has definitely looked better but I still think she's beautiful and this picture (which she agreed to) shows her strength.' Speaking about the affects of coronavirus, she added: 'Seeing people out and about today and pulling faces at me in my mask in Aldi afterwards I wish they could see the true extent of Covid. 'That it isn't just a case of a bad flu as people are still saying widely. The damage looks different for everyone and what it's done to my mum will change her life even in the best case scenario. But she will still have a good life, I'm sure.' Rebecca also praised the NHS staff at the Middlesbrough hospital for saving her mother's life. She added: 'I'm so extremely grateful to staff across all roles for everything they've done and saving my her life.' A fundraising page has been set up to help Sarah in her recovery against Covid-19. The Australian medical community has joined together to debunk Pete Evans' dangerous anti-vaxxer views. Over the weekend, the celebrity chef tried to bolster his unscientific theory that flu vaccines are 'unsafe' by uploading a letter to Instagram which explained how jabs are tested. The letter was written by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in response to a Freedom of Information request asking whether any safety testing for a 2020 flu jab called Fluad Quad had been independently funded. 'Enough is enough!' The Australian medical community has joined together to rip Pete Evans' dangerous anti-vaxxer views to shreds by exposing why his conspiracy theory is totally flawed The Therapeutic Goods Administration is responsible for approving vaccines for public use in Australia. The letter confirmed that all of the safety tests for Fluad Quad were funded by companies with a financial stake in the product. Pete, 47, clearly thought this was a 'gotcha' moment and gleefully highlighted the two paragraphs explaining that no such independent test exists. Sham science: Over the weekend, Pete tried to bolster his unscientific theory that flu vaccines are 'unsafe' by uploading a letter to Instagram which explained how jabs are tested Testing: The letter was written by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in response to a Freedom of Information request asking whether any safety testing for a 2020 flu jab called Fluad Quad had been independently funded. Pete gleefully highlighted two paragraphs explaining that no such independent test exists, clearly considering it a 'gotcha' moment 'Are there any other questions you would like answered after reading this?' Pete smugly wrote in his caption. However, if Pete had contacted the TGA himself, he would have learned that his conspiracy theory about vaccine safety doesn't hold up. Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail, a TGA spokesperson explained that Australia has laws in place to ensure vaccines are safe - regardless of who funds safety studies. WHY VACCINES ARE IMPORTANT Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them. Immunisation not only protects individuals, but also others in the community, by reducing the spread of preventable diseases. Research and testing is an essential part of developing safe and effective vaccines. In Australia, vaccines must pass strict safety testing before the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will register them for use. Approval of vaccines can take up to 10 years. Before vaccines become available to the public, large clinical trials test them on thousands of people. High-quality studies over many years have compared the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Medical information from nearly 1.5 million children around the world have confirmed that vaccination does not cause autism. People first became concerned about autism and immunisation after the medical journal The Lancet published a paper in 1998. This paper claimed there was a link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Since then, scientists have completely discredited this paper. The Lancet withdrew it in 2010 and printed an apology. The UK's General Medical Council struck the author off the medical register for misconduct and dishonesty. Source: Australian Department of Health Advertisement Irresponsible: However, if Pete had contacted the TGA himself, he would have learned that his conspiracy theory about vaccine safety doesn't hold up 'Irrespective of who funds the study, human studies should always involve independent Ethics Approval, and adherence to the principles of International Good Clinical Practice and human experimentation in the Declaration of Helsinki,' the spokesperson said. The TGA representative explained that the TGA has a rigorous process when it comes to assessing the results of clinical trials for all medicines - including Fluad Quad 'The TGA also scrutinises the way in which trials are conducted. We require well-designed trials of a sufficient length with a sufficient number of people who represent the people for whom the vaccine is intended,' they said. 'The TGA also scrutinises the way in which trials are conducted': Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail about Pete's post, a TGA spokesperson explained that Australia has laws in place to ensure vaccines are safe - regardless of who funds safety studies 'The results must demonstrate that the benefits of the vaccine greatly outweigh the risks,' they added. Additionally, when approving certain vaccines for public use, the TGA also works with an independent government committee of scientific, medical and public health experts. The spokesperson also explained the logical reason why most vaccine tests are funded by companies with a financial interest in them. 'What are the anti-vaxxers trying to achieve?' Meanwhile, Dr Harry Nespolon, the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, also blasted Pete's Instagram post on Wednesday Simply put, due to the large volume of vaccine tests - and the sheer cost of undertaking such safety studies - it's unlikely that companies with nothing to gain from the vaccine would have the incentive to fund them. Meanwhile, Dr Harry Nespolon, the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, also blasted Pete's Instagram post on Wednesday. 'The adjuvant over 65 influenza vaccination has been used for many years to help protect older people who are a vulnerable group when it comes to influenza disease. What are the anti-vaxxers trying to achieve?' the top doctor told Daily Mail Australia. 'Perhaps it is time that the companies responsible for these platforms enforced stronger measures to combat anti-vaxxer messaging': Dr Nespolon also called for social media platforms such as Instagram to take action against those who are using their accounts to spread dangerous messages 'Enough is enough. Celebrities with massive numbers of followers are exploiting community anxiety about COVID-19 to foster fear about vaccinations and spread conspiracy theories such as 5G compromising our immune systems,' he added. Dr Nespolon warned that if anti-vaxxers aren't stopped from spreading their harmful messages, the public trust in vaccinations and medical advice will be further eroded. He also called for social media platforms such as Instagram to take action against those who are using their accounts to spread dangerous messages. 'Perhaps it is time that the companies responsible for these platforms enforced stronger measures to combat anti-vaxxer messaging,' he said. Semantics: Pete insists that he is not an anti-vaxxer but instead 'pro-choice for medical freedom'. Many anti-vaccination campaigners are beginning to use the term 'pro-choice' - which is generally associated with abortion rights - instead of 'anti-vaxxer' in order to make their views seem more socially acceptable Pete was recently released from his contract with Channel Seven after making a series of unscientific and dangerous claims relating to COVID-19 and vaccines. He insists, however, that he is not an 'anti-vaxxer' but instead 'pro-choice' for medical freedom. Many anti-vaccination campaigners are beginning to use the term 'pro-choice' - which is most commonly associated with abortion rights - instead of 'anti-vaxxer' in order to make their views seem more socially acceptable. Vaccinations are a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them. The jabs protect individuals and others in the community by reducing the spread of preventable diseases. London, June 4 : Alok Sharma, the UK's Indian-origin Business Secretary, is self-isolating at home after becoming unwell in Parliament. Sharma looked uncomfortable while taking part in a debate on Wednesday, mopping his brow several times with his handkerchief while speaking, reports the BBC. During the debate, Sharma's opposite number, shadow business secretary Ed Miliband, passed him a glass of water at one point. "Alok Sharma began feeling unwell when in the Chamber delivering the second reading of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill," the Secretary's spokesman said on Wednesday. "In line with guidance he has been tested for coronavirus and is returning home to self isolate." His test results were awaited. Sharma was pictured in Downing Street on Tuesday, and took part in votes in the Commons later that day. On Wednesday, he was in the Commons chamber for nearly an hour while leading for the government on the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the BBC "we are a bit ahead of ourselves", as Mr Sharma's results have not come back yet. Meanwhile, the House of Commons authorities said "additional cleaning" had taken place, following the debate. FG Discharges Saudi Arabia Returnees The federal government on Wednesday, June 3, discharged 292 Nigerian returnees from Saudi Arabia who have been in isolation for about 15 days in an Abuja hotel. The isolation of these Nigerian returnees from the Arab nation was a necessary precautionary procedure stipulated by the government. However, after testing negation for the coronavirus upon expiration of their isolation, they were discharged from the hotel on Wednesday. According to a report by The Nation, most of the returnees are on their way to Lagos state. Meanwhile, it was reported that the federal government has evacuated 292 who were stranded in Saudi Arabia due to the lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. It was gathered that the flight conveying the evacuees arrived Nigeria on the night of Tuesday, May 19, at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja. Members of the House of Representatives urged the federal government to sponsor experts on a study trip to Madagascar and Senegal for possible indigenous COVID-19 cure. It was reported that Madagascar has claimed to have found a cure for the virus while Senegal has developed an inexpensive coronavirus diagnostic kit. The green chamber also asked the government to set aside a 15 billion emergency fund for tertiary institutions in the country as a response to the impact COVID-19 has had and will have on them. The House also resolved that part of the fund should be used to establish an infectious disease research institute in six selected universities across the six geopolitical zones of the country. These unanimous resolutions were adopted after a motion was moved by the minority leader, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta). A scathing UN investigation into the Philippines' drug war has lashed the regime of President Rodrigo Duterte, demanding an end to extra-judicial killings and arbitrary arrests, the persecution of civil society groups and drug law reform. The report stated "the drug campaign-related killings appear to have a widespread and systematic character. The most conservative figure, based on government data, suggests that since July 2016, 8663 people have been killed", but it noted the true total of deaths could be three times as high and that in many of these killings either police or vigilante groups had acted with impunity. Strongman Rodrigo Duterte has referred to journalists as "spies" and "sons of bitches". Credit:AP The UN Human Rights Office singled out Duterte's frequent public statements urging violence against drug dealers he has gone so far as to urge their execution as potentially "encouraging, backing or even ordering human rights violations with impunity", even though other government officials have subsequently argued the President should not be taken literally. The report found that while the Philippines had a long-standing tradition of human rights advocacy and civil society activism, attacks on human rights defenders were "pervasive". The Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday reported two new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the toll to 159 people, as cases climbed to 4,399. A 60-year-old Multnomah County man and a 68-year-old Washington County man were the latest people to succumb to the disease, health officials said. Both had underlying medical conditions. In the last 24 hours, the state also reported 65 new confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases. They were in 16 of Oregons 36 counties: Benton (1), Clackamas (7), Deschutes (1), Douglas (1), Hood River (6), Jackson (1), Jefferson (1), Lincoln (1), Linn (1), Marion (18), Multnomah (13), Polk (1), Umatilla (2), Wasco (2), Washington (5), Yamhill (4). Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter Death toll: At least 159 people have died from the virus. They are from 12 counties -- 62 people from Multnomah, 26 from Marion, 19 from Washington, 12 from Polk, 11 from Clackamas, nine from Linn, seven from Yamhill, five from Benton, three from Umatilla, three from Lane, one each from Josephine and Wasco. Their ages ranged from 36 to 100. Among them, 91 men have died and 68 women have died. All but three had underlying medical conditions. [Read about Oregon coronavirus deaths. Help us learn more.] Senior care homes: Nearly six out of 10 coronavirus deaths in Oregon at least 86 are associated with a care center, a newsroom analysis of state data shows. About 550 to 600 senior care home residents, staff and close contacts from 66 nursing, assisted and retirement homes have contracted the coronavirus. A federal report Monday said eight deaths were among workers at Oregon nursing homes. County case totals: Eight counties -- Multnomah, Marion, Washington, Clackamas, Deschutes, Linn, Umatilla and Polk -- have reported 100 coronavirus cases or more. Gilliam and Wheeler still have reported none. Heres the overall count -- confirmed and presumptive cases -- by county: Baker (1), Benton (57), Clackamas (324), Clatsop (45), Columbia (16), Coos (31), Crook (6), Curry (7), Deschutes (128), Douglas (28), Grant (1), Harney (1), Hood River, (28), Jackson (68), Jefferson (45), Josephine (23), Klamath (44), Lake (2), Lane (77), Lincoln (18), Linn (119), Malheur (32), Marion (999), Morrow (12), Multnomah (1,194), Polk (101), Sherman (1), Tillamook (6), Umatilla (123), Union (6), Wallowa (2), Wasco (28), Washington (752) and Yamhill (74). Testing: Another 2,455 people received coronavirus test results, down from the previous days 2,586, according to figures published on the health authoritys website. So far, 136,549 Oregonians have been tested for the illness since the state confirmed its first case on Feb. 28. Ages: Cases are so far spread relatively evenly among people in their 20s (16%), people in their 30s (17%), people in their 40s (17%) and people in their 50s (17%). The breakdown: 0-9 (68), ages 10-19 (185), ages 20-29 (710), ages 30-39 (758), ages 40-49 (761), ages 50-59 (748), ages 60-69 (566), ages 70-79 (359), ages 80-plus (244). Gender: Of the cases, 2,289 are among women, or 52%, and 2,106, or 48%, are among men. But more men have died: 89 compared to 65 women. Hospitalizations: At least 800 of the states COVID-19 patients, or 18%, have been hospitalized at some point during their illness, according to the health authority. Currently, 52 people with confirmed coronavirus cases are hospitalized, including 17 in intensive care and 8 on ventilators. Recoveries: At least 2,164 COVID-19 patients have recovered from the illness, the health authority said. Heres the list by county: Benton (36), Clackamas (168), Clatsop (7), Columbia (16), Coos (3), Crook (1), Curry (4), Deschutes (102), Douglas (25), Grant (1), Harney (1), Hood River (7), Jackson (52), Jefferson (22), Josephine (20), Klamath (37), Lane (61), Lincoln (8), Linn (73), Malheur (19), Marion (370), Morrow, (7), Multnomah (458), Polk (60), Sherman (1), Tillamook (6), Umatilla (101), Union (5), Wallowa (1), Wasco (15), Washington (473), Yamhill (40). Nationwide: Confirmed coronavirus cases stood at more than 1.8 million. The death toll climbed past 107,000. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories A federal watchdog estimates that 41 percent of school districts need to update or replace heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in at least half their schools, underscoring a significant infrastructure need for schools even as they prepare for the novel coronavirus when they reopen. In a report published Thursday, the Government Accountability Office said that several schools it visited had HVAC systems that leaked and caused damage, and that if not addressed, such problems can lead to indoor air quality problems and even force schools to temporarily close while the issues are fixed. In all, the GAO estimated that 36,000 schools need HVAC updates. The GAO report does not deal directly with the specific challenges posed by COVID-19; the report says that the hazardous conditions it refers to that can lead to school closures dont include the virus. However, while school infrastructure is regularly a focus of education legislation and lobbying on Capitol Hill, it could become more important during the pandemic. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released long-awaited guidance to help schools reopen , and among the recommendations is that schools should ensure that ventilation systems operate properly and should increase ventilation of outside air by opening windows and doors, unless it creates concerns for students with asthma. The additional health measures schools are considering or might feel are necessary for the next school year, and how much theyll cost, will be a major issue this summer as education officials prepare for the 2020-21 school year. Its one reason why they say they need additional financial resources, even as state budgets take a hit due to the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic. The CDC guidance also touches on potentially difficult spots with respect to coronavirus-related safety protocols like water fountains. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, outdated and hazardous school buildings were undermining the quality of public education and putting students and educators at risk, said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the chairman of the House education committee, in a statement responding to the GAO report. Now, the pandemic is exacerbating the consequences of our failure to make necessary investments in school infrastructure. Its still unclear to what extent school-age children can and do transmit the coronavirus, although they have mostly escaped major health problems associated with COVID-19. However, older school staff and those with chronic health conditions, to say nothing of others they might come into contact with, are at higher risk of COVID complications. In 2018, Sabrina Lee and Jake Varn wrote about school infrastructure for the Bipartisan Policy Center and stated that, Importantly, low-income communities and communities of color have been, and continue to be, disproportionately affected by poor school conditions. And black people in particular have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the CDC. The GAO found that the share of schools estimated to need major HVAC help, compared to the share needing significant upgrades for roofing and structural integrity, was the largest. The report also estimated that 21 percent of districts need key updates or replacements for indoor air quality monitoring in at least half their schools. Serious Consequences Remember that the CDC guidance we mentioned above recommends bringing in more outside air by opening windows and doors, in addition to ensuring that mechanical ventilation systems work well. Of course, in some schools, leaving windows and doors open for extended periods during the first few weeks of the school year could create an uncomfortably warm and humid environment for students, to say nothing of colder periods. A recent article posted by the CDC about a coronavirus outbreak linked to a restaurant in China notes that droplet transmission was prompted by air-conditioned ventilation. The piece recommended increasing distance between tables as well as improving ventilation. The CDC guidance recommends spacing students desk farther apart than normal, although that presents new challenges around classroom and school space. In the case of the restaurant in China, the problem was that the air-conditioning system functioned poorly and just moved the virus around the room, rather than properly diluting and moving the air out of the room, said Rick Hermans, whos in charge of school issues on the COVID-19 task force at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Yet schools often put off maintenance of HVAC systems that would address such problems, he said. Theres always difficulty certainly in staffing the schools themselves with what we refer to as engineers, people who are responsible for operating the systems within the buildings, said Hermans. Heres a portion of the GAO report that also highlights this issue: Officials in several school districts we visited said there are serious consequences to not maintaining or updating HVAC systems, including lost educational time due to school closings and the potential for mold and air quality issues ... For example, officials in a Michigan district said about 60 percent of their schools do not have air conditioning, and in 2019, some temporarily adjusted schedules due to extreme heat. Without air conditioning, schools relied on open windows and fans, which were not always effective at cooling buildings to safe temperatures for students and staff, according to district officials. ASHRAE said in April that, In general, disabling of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems is not a recommended measure to reduce the transmission of the virus. And the group recently released a pandemic-focused guide for schools looking to reopen . Among other things, that guide says to create a district-wide health and safety committee, and develop policies for staff and contractor use of personal protective equipment, often referred to as PPE; the CDC guidance for school reopening mentioned above says all school staff should wear face coverings. Hermans said that one temporary solution for schools is to buy portable HEPA filters and put them in classrooms to clean the air. However, he said, those devices can be noisy and distracting for students. And since a lot of classrooms dont have air conditioning, he noted, In a lot of schools, the open window is the only cooling that classroom gets and therefore can be helpful to a certain extent. The GAO report said some schools prioritize safety infrastructure over other building systems. It highlighted one school in Florida that bought new security cameras, even as a faulty HVAC system required maintenance workers to go up to the roof every day to address it. Its far from a sure thing that a new federal coronavirus relief package will include help for these areas. In early 2019, congressional Democrats introduced the Rebuild American Schools Act that would provide $100 billion for school infrastructure needs , including $70 billion in direct federal spending. However, that bill was not included in the coronavirus aid bill passed by the House last month. Images via Government Accountability Office, School Districts Frequently Identified Multiple Building Systems Needing Updates or Replacement. Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa . Shocking footage shows a tourist leaning out of a car window to stroke a lion sitting next to their car in a national park. The lion is facing away from the car when the tourist leans over her fellow passenger to touch the lion in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Maasai Sightings said that touching the lion was a very dumb thing to do and the tourists could have easily got themselves killed and banned from the national park. The tourists' car is pulled up right next to the lion and their window is open as the lion looks away from them In the footage shared by Maasai Sightings yesterday the lion turns around and both passengers squirm as they lean their bodies towards the back of the car and the man tries to close the window. The lion continues looking at them and leans towards the window and roars as the tourist tries to close it. The tourist manages to close the window most of the way and the lion hisses as the car drives away. One tourist reaches her arm out of the open window and touches the lion on its back The lion turns around and glares at the tourist through the open window of their vehicle The Serengeti National Park advises drivers don't approach animals too closely and that a good rule is to stay at least 25 metres away. They say that approaching too closely to animals such as lions may result in them altering their natural behaviour. Another rule says tourists are not allowed to disturb the natural wildlife in any way and that loud noises, throwing objects, loud music and imitating animal noises are strictly forbidden. The tourists move away from the window as the lion leans towards it and roars DOWNTOWN, MANHATTAN Even as they shut their doors for months as New York City fought the coronavirus pandemic, local Manhattan businesses resisted boarding up their stores in a symbolic message of hope to their neighborhoods. "Business Improvement Districts have been saying to stores: Please don't put plywood up because we're going to reopen soon," Borough President Gale Brewer said. "...There was so much effort to keep it upbeat." The few that did cover their windows painted murals, letting neighbors know they were still there. But that all changed this week, Brewer said, when looters capitalizing on peaceful police brutality protests began ravaging the storefronts. "Within 24 hours, everything became plywood," said Brewer, who toured the Meatpacking District and SoHo this week. (To keep up with news in the West Village, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.) (Courtesy of Manhattan Borough President's Office). The nights of violence, largely centered on the lower half of the borough, came just a week before many of the retail establishments were set to open their doors again. The city is slated to start phase one of reopening, including retail pick-ups, on June 8. In SoHo, just between Houston and Canal streets on Broadway, 37 retail spots had been damaged as of Wednesday, whether it be broken glass to a fully shattered storefront, according to the SoHo Broadway Initiative. 19 of those stores have had merchandise stolen at least once and 80 percent of all retail businesses on that stretch of the corridor are now boarded up, Executive Director Mark Dicus told Patch. (Courtesy of SoHo Broadway Initiative.) The damage is also extensive in other parts of SoHo, like Mercer, Prince, Greene, Spring and Grand streets, though the BID doesn't cover those areas, Dicus said. The looters also damaged more than 20 businesses just within the Meatpacking District, according to the BID there. Story continues Brewer said the looting attacks which both police and officials have confirmed are largely separate from peaceful protests spurred by the death of George Floyd have started to dwindle given an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew first imposed Tuesday. The curfew has created some of its own problems, including mass arrests of protesters out past the 8 p.m. cut-off and confusion about essential workers' ability to move around. But, Brewer said specifically its ban on most cars below 96th Street in Manhattan has at least helped in deterring looters from breaking into businesses. "There were still a couple of incidents, but still dramatically less than the night before," she said about Tuesday, the first night of the curfew. "Cars were a big problem. The ones who were looting were covering over license plates or found a way to make them impossible to read." Still, even for those not dealing with extensive repairs, the thousands of dollars to simply put up protective plywood has become yet another financial strain, Brewer said. "That cost is not insignificant for a mom and pop store that has been out for two and a half months," the borough president said. Brewer said the businesses are still navigating how their reopening might be altered given the repairs. Both BIDs told Patch that there aren't many details yet on how the damage might impact businesses' plans to reopen. Dicus added that discussing recovery is premature until the unrest fully subsides. On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio laid out at least one resource for the businesses to rebound. The city and SOMOS Community Care set up a $500,000 fund for business grants for repairs, security systems, locks and other help. Brewer added that, even with potential delays or altered plans, business owners are eager to find a way. "Merchants I spoke to absolutely want to get back in business," Brewer said. "They want to get going despite plywood, despite everything...they really want to open." This article originally appeared on the West Village Patch Probably the only thing Barack Obama and I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the worlds most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about. His nickname was Chaos, which I didnt like, & changed it to Mad Dog, Trump tweeted. His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom brought home the bacon. I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone! Cases jumped by 8,909 over the previous day in one of the highest single-day spikes, taking the tally to 2,07,615. Six other nations, from the United States, to Britain and Brazil, have a higher caseload. "We are very far away for the peak," said Dr Nivedita Gupta, of the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research. Government officials have previously said it could be later this month, or even July, before cases start to fall off. The death toll from the disease stood at 5,815. When the torrential rain started pouring Wednesday afternoon, it looked like the rally organized in The Woodlands to honor George Floyd might be canceled. But the crowd gathered at North Shore Park anyway and half an hour after the original start time, the rain still pouring, they started walking anyway. The organizer of the event, Hailey Rodee, never expected it to get as big as it did. She put out the invitation over social media, calling for a peaceful protest Fighting for justice, Black Lives Matter, For George Floyd, at 4 p.m. The plan was to walk from North Shore Park to Town Green Park on Lake Woodlands Drive. JUSTICE FOR GEORGE: New mural honoring George Floyd on display in Houston's Third Ward By 5 p.m., at least 200 people, many of them teenagers and young adults, were marching back and forth across the bridge over Lake Woodlands holding signs and chanting Say his name. George Floyd and No justice, no peace, prosecute the police. This march is one of thousands of others that have been organized across the country following the death of George Floyd, a black man, who died in Minneapolis police custody last week after an officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for around nine minutes. Video of Floyd being pinned to the ground by Chauvin went viral soon after. Chauvin was arrested and originally charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Announced today, those charges have been upgraded to second-degree murder, and the three other officers that were with him have been charged with aiding and abetting. All four officers were fired last week. Rodee, who is white, is a student at The Woodlands High School and is part of a political youth group, For a New Tomorrow, that she says has a mission to spread educated and effective advocacy. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Tens of thousands march on downtown Houston to memorialize George Floyd Our goal is to engage young people into the political scene and make them feel that they have the opportunity to change the country that they live in, she said. She put the call out on the Instagram page for the organization and it spread further than she had anticipated. Most of the people at the march, she said, were new to her. Vanessa Darko, a resident of The Woodlands, joined the event Wednesday afternoon to protest against racial injustice. Theres a lot of injustice taking place against people of color, Darko, a black woman, said. She never expected a protest of this kind to garner so much support in an area that is predominantly white. According to 2018 data (the most recent available) from the U.S. Census Bureau through the American Community Survey, the racial demographics of The Woodlands is 74 percent white, and 12 percent black or African American. Darko began to cry when talking about what it meant to her to see the turnout. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox To get here now and see what I see, its amazing and I love it, Im very happy, she said. I was expecting to see just a handful of people, honestly. When I saw it advertised online it was Avoid this area Dont go near that area, so I didnt expect to see the support that Im seeing today, especially in the rain. Chad Green got an invite to the protest over social media and decided to go because for him the issue is as personal as it gets. Because Im a young black male, we need justice, he said. Im a young black male. He and his friends said that they were angry, and felt like no one was doing anything about the injustice in the world. But they were happy to see that there were attendees of many different races at the march. Protesters lined up along Lake Woodlands Drive over the bridge and held up their signs declaring Black Likes Matter and I cant breathe, encouraging drivers to honk if they supported the cause. Many who passed by did. Eventually, as the crowd became smaller, marchers ended up making their way to Town Green Park without incident. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com Lucky Paras didn't have to live up to his name to get his money back from an airline. He just approached the problem from a different angle. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Lucky Paras didn't have to live up to his name to get his money back from an airline. He just approached the problem from a different angle. The 23-year-old University of Manitoba student had booked seats for himself and his girlfriend on a Swoop flight from Winnipeg to Las Vegas in May for a week-long trip with friends. But in March, the airline cancelled the flight along with thousands of others as border shutdowns and quarantine rules prompted carriers around the globe to ground most of their fleet amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lucky Paras is seen in New York in an undated handout photo. The 23-year-old University of Manitoba student had booked seats for himself and his girlfriend on a Swoop flight from Winnipeg to Las Vegas in May for a week-long trip with friends. But the airline cancelled the flight in March along with thousands of others as restrictions on travel ramped up due to COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Lucky Paras, *MANDATORY CREDIT* Instead of refunding his money, Swoop offered Paras a voucher valid for two years, worth $501.38, the total price of the round-trip tickets. I thought it was completely unfair and a little unethical, he said. Paras attempted to reach Swoop for a refund, but said he couldnt get through on the phone and didn't receive a response to a Facebook Messenger note for two weeks. So he found another way to reclaim his money. Paras initiated a chargeback through his Visa card provider, phoning Toronto-Dominion Bank and filing a dispute on March 31. On May 19, he got his money back. Its definitely a relief off my shoulders, he said, noting his part-time job at Bell MTS Place, home of the Winnipeg Jets, vanished after confinement measures set in. A customer can launch a plausible dispute if the carrier has cancelled a flight, but not if the passenger did so, said passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs. But before initiating a chargeback, consumers should request a refund directly from the ticket seller via telephone, email, social media or all three. If a response doesn't come within 15 days or is rebuffed, customers can call the payment card issuer and request a chargeback on the grounds that services they paid for were not rendered. The burden of proof is now on the carrier, Lukacs said. He recommends asking for a dispute adviser or an agent with a similar title in the credit card department. Clients should insist on a chargeback process even if the bank suggests the matter is between them and the airline or that the tickets were non-refundable an irrelevant point, Lukacs said. You need to be really very, very assertive. Credit cards spell out consumer rights in documents online. There is a chargeback right when services are not provided, including when they are cancelled by emergency due to government restrictions, insolvency or other exceptional circumstances," according to an online guide to dispute resolution Mastercard posted on May 1. Customers should be prepared with documents that show proof the flight was cancelled usually an email from the airline, but a public statement announcing a swathe of cancellations could also suffice and the date and amount of the credit card charge, Lukacs said. There is some variation between the various credit cards, he noted. And there are very few cases that have been decided with finality so far. Overall, of course the banks dont want to hold the bag for the airlines either. That may be a motivation for some Canadian credit card issuers to be less co-operative than others. Lukacs suggested clients record their calls with airlines and financial institutions for possible later reference. If the bank accepts a chargeback request, the merchant has 30 days to respond for a Visa payment and 45 days for Mastercard, said Eli Waldman of MyChargeBack, a global fund recovery firm based in New York City. "It's kind of like a ping-pong match and it goes back and forth," he said. Arbitration by the credit card company, though rare, is the potential final stage of a process that can take between one and four months, he said. "The dispute process unfortunately is very subjective, where it should be objective," Waldman said. "I often tell clients, 'Look, if you don't get the greatest outcome on the first try, hang up and call back.' As crazy as that sounds, that does happen." Customers faced with a refund denial by a Canadian airline can also complain to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which requires any airline that cancelled flights in or out of the country to offer passengers a refund. Trip cancellation insurance may be less reliable. I tried my private cancellation insurance and they denied the claim on the basis of the vouchers, said Air Transat customer Cathi Gibson-Gates. So she sought a chargeback from the Royal Bank of Canada on her Visa payment and received it last month. The airline has 10 weeks to dispute the repayment. 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. I really feel like I was being robbed by the airlines, she said. Back in Winnipeg, Paras agreed. It just doesnt make sense for us as consumers to be forced to travel as opposed to keeping that cash, because during these unprecedented times were definitely going to need this money for basic necessities, he said. We dont even know when were going to be able to travel next. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. Companies in this story: (TSX:TD, TSX:TRZ, TSX:RY) Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh has disclosed that the Government of Ghana will soon sign a contract with Open University, UK, to set up tertiary online programs in the country. This is aimed at improving the country's education sector following the Coronavirus pandemic. According to the Minister, the pandemic has transformed the education system and it is about time Ghana utilized online learning opportunities. He believed introducing the Open University approach will help improve the education sector. "The government and Open University, UK, are signing a contract to set up Open University, UK, in Ghana. All over the world, there are over 60 countries doing open University and it gives huge access. Britain did it since the 2nd World War to give access to tertiary education to the masses of the people when infrastructure was lagging. So, the experience is there and we have to buy into it that education will never be same again after this COVID-19," he said in an interview on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo'. Open University is known to be the largest University in the United Kingdom (UK) offering open entry for admissions through distance and online learning programs.It was established by Royal Charter on 23 April 1969 and is the leading University for flexible, innovative teaching and world-leading research in the UK and in 157 countries worldwide.The University undertakes principally study off-campus with many of its courses studied anywhere in the world. 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 Mumbai, June 4 : Bollywood took to social media all through Thursday to mourn the demise of filmmaker Basu Chatterjee. Amitabh Bachchan, who starred in Chatterjee's 1979 release "Manzil", tweeted: "Prayers and Condolences on the passing of Basu Chatterjee .. a quiet, soft spoken, gentle human .. his films reflected the lives of middle India .. did 'MANZIL' with him .. a sad loss ... in these climes often remembered for 'rim jhim gire saawan'." Lata Mangeshkar, who sang several popular numbers in Basu Chatterjee films, tweeted: "Mujhe abhi pata chala, Choti Si Baat, Baaton Baaton Mein, Rajnigandha aisi behtareen filmon ke pratibhashaali nirdeshak Basu Chatterjee ab hamare bich nahi rahe. Ye sunke mujhe bahut dukh hua. Maine unke saath bahut kaam kiya tha. Main unko vinamra shraddhanjali arpan karti hun." (I just come to know the gifted director of films such as Choti Si Baat, Baaton Baaton Mein and Rajnigandha is no more. I am deeply saddened hearing the news. I have had the opportunity to work with him. I pay my humble respect to his departed soul)." Shabana Azmi worked with Chatterjee in three movies. She shared: "Deeply saddened to hear about Basu Chatterjee's passing away.A prolific filmaker, he was the pioneer of what came to be regarded as middle of the road cinema. I was fortunate to have done 3 lovely films with him Swami, Apne Paraye and Jeena Yahan. All lifelike characters. RIP." "Basu da is no more.. Such a wonderful director with whom I've had the good fortune of working in my mother's productions 'Swami' and 'Ratnadeep'. He will be sorely missed by his many fans and also by the film industry of which he was an integral part. Rest in peace Basu da," shared Hema Malini. Anil Kapoor who starred in the 1986 comedy "Chameli Ki Shaadi" shared: "A director who was always ahead of his time.. Basu Chatterjee will be truly missed. He was an effortless genius and an amazing human being. May he rest in peace." Anupam Kher had a starring role in Chatterjee's last Bollywood directorial "Gudgudee" (1997), tweeted: "Basu da aapki yaad ayegi. We will miss you Basu Da! Your simplicity in your persona and in your cinema. Om Shanti. #BasuChatterjee." Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar: "My 1st job as an assistant director was with Basu Chatterjee for a Bengali tv serial shot in CR park, New Delhi.. May his soul Rest In Peace." Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee, who worked in Chatterjee's Bangla film, "Hochcheta Ki", expressed: "Trying to come to terms with the news that Basu da is no more. A legendary filmaker and a master story teller...I had the opportunity to work with him in Hochcheta Ki in 2008. This is indeed a great loss for Indian cinema." "Saddened by the demise of #BasuChatterjee... I had the good fortune to work with him in Hoccheta Ki. Even to this day, I turn to his films for solace and smiles. Thank you, sir, for gifting us a perspective that lets us find magic in the little big moments of everyday life," shared actress Paoli Dam, who was also a part of the cast of "Hochcheta Ki". Apart from those who have worked with him, several others of the film industry also expressed their condolences. "Never got tired of watching sir Basu Chatterjee' films over & over again , as a growing cinema lover in my teens & this love shall continue forever...a path-creator & an inspiration ! Rest in peace, Sir #Basuchatterjee," tweeted Yami Gautam. Riteish Deshmukh expressed: "No one did slice of life films better than you Basu Da, thank you for enriching our lives. RIP #BasuChatterjee" Manoj Bajpayee shared: "A master storyteller passed away today!! Learned the meaning of simple storytelling with fine nuances!! Thank you Basu Da for all the great stories!! Rest in peace sir!! #BasuChatterjee" Producer Boney Kapoor wrote: "Condolences on passing away of Basu Chatterjee. He leaves behind a unique legacy of films with stories of simple everyday characters told with mix of humour and emotion. #RIPBasuChatterjee" Producer Nikhil Dwivedi tweeted: "ThankYou #BASUCHATTERJEE. Your cinema was special. Because it was simple. Only u cud tell us how Grand and Big "Simple" cinema can be. In these times whn every aspect &part of our lives has to b advertised and displayed ur films ve a new found place in teaching us to be simple. #Legend." Farming union leaders slammed the government last night for being willing to accept chlorinated chicken from the US as part of a post-Brexit trade deal. National Farmers' Union President Minette Batters said the foods would 'not get on the lowest rung' of the UK's food-standards ladder. She spoke after it emerged ministers are planning to cave in to American pressures and allow chlorinated chicken and other low-quality imports on to UK supermarket shelves. They are said to be seeking a 'dual tariff' scheme that would see little or no import duties placed on food and produce that meets current high UK standards, but slap hefty tolls on poor quality items. It would allow things like the chemically treated poultry and hormone-fed beef to be imported to the UK but make them expensive and therefore make them less likely to appear. Opening up the UK to US agri-business has been the main source of divergence between the US and UK over the post-Brexit agreement. It comes as ministers led by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss seek a quick deal with the Trump administration, in order to have it completed before November's presidential election. 'The idea of a dual-tariff regime is that the upper band would remove any economic advantage that foreign producers would gain through lower animal welfare standards,' a Government source told the Telegraph. Ministers led by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss (left) want a quick deal with the Trump administration, but the NFU, led by Minette Batters (right) want an independent commission into imports Ms Truss and the US trade representative Robert Lighthizer formally begin the UK-US trade talks during a video conference a month ago 'British farmers would also have a competitive advantage, even with goods that are produced to high standards, because of the lower tariff regime applied to imports.' However the idea is still likely to face opposition from those who wish the produce - which would be banned if we were still in the EU - to enter the UK. A campaign by the NFU to ban low quality imports has attracted almost 400,000 signatures and attracted support from high profile figures including Jamie Oliver. Ms Batters said: 'It's a significant step forwards that the Government has recognised the damage it would do to our farmers, who have to abide by the highest rung of the ladder, if we import food that wouldn't even get on the lowest rung of the ladder when it comes to food standards. 'But we would call on the Government once again to accept the need for an independent food and farming standards commission to look at the proposals for trade deals. 'There has been an ongoing disagreement between Defra [the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and the Department of International Trade which is why we need a stand-alone bridge that can advise the Government.' The NFU President has condemned the possibility of low-quality trade imports from the US, saying it would undermine the UK's high standards of animal welfare and environmental protection. In a press statement, she said: 'For food and farming, we have the potential to be at the very top. 'We need a trade policy that safeguards our farmers and British food production from the damaging impact of importing food that would be illegal to produce here. 'Failure to do this would undermine our values of animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety, all of which are incredibly important to the public.' The threat of the products entering the UK has been used by those seeking to delay the UK's final split from the EU in December. They argue that the coronavirus pandemic, means that the transition period should be extended - which would delay the start of any trade regime with the US. Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Alistair Carmichael told the Commons today that despite the Government's public commitments, food produced to a lower standard - like chlorinated chicken - could end up on British supermarket shelves. He said: 'Now in fact we hear that as a consequence of the so-called dual tariff process it is quite possible we will see such products being imported to this country.' OTTAWASanjay Uppal wants to help. He really does. But he says the federal government isnt making it easy. Uppal, 47, describes himself as a small commercial landlord who co-owns storefront properties in Oakville and Cambridge. For more than a week, Uppal said he has been scrambling to gather all the required information and fill out all the paperwork so he can apply for the governments commercial rent subsidy on behalf of 11 business tenants who cant pay their rent. Along the way, he said he was forced to restart the process several times and faced constant technical glitches with the online portal for the program. And while all the applications were submitted Wednesday eight days after he started the process Uppal said he still hasnt received a penny from the subsidy that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in April but didnt open for applications until May 25. By now, Uppal said he and his business partner Perminder Dhaliwal are owed about $130,000 in unpaid rent going back to April and are pulling from lines of credit to keep up with their mortgage payments. Were trying to be good. Were trying to give everyone discounts, Uppal told the Star by phone Thursday. Were listening to the government, were listening to the programs, were listening to Doug Ford, and we got nothing in return nothing but debt ... They just made the program way too hard. The federal Liberals have touted the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program as a measure to help small and medium-sized businesses cover their rents during the nationwide lockdowns that have shuttered restaurants and shops for weeks this spring. If landlords agree to apply and forgo at least 25 per cent of the rent, the provincial and federal governments will cover half the rents for April, May and June through a forgivable loan from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. More than a week after the program opened, however, CMHC received only 16,000 applications, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneaus office told the Star Wednesday. As of December 2017, there were almost 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses in Canada, according to federal statistics. The dearth of applications prompted Premier Doug Ford to scold landlords for not applying with their tenants for the program, while Morneaus office says Ottawa is encouraging them to do so. On Thursday, Mayor John Tory added his voice to the fray, supporting Fords call to play hardball with landlords so they apply for the program. One organization of large commercial landlords, however, says its not fair for politicians to lambaste property owners. Michael Brooks is the chief executive officer of RealPAC, told the Star that members of his organization have reported obstacles in the application process. There have been technical problems and long wait times when landlords have tried calling CMHC, while these property owners are also responsible for corralling all the paperwork for an application loaded with onerous obligations, he said. Im a little pissed off with Doug Ford and others complaining that landlords arent applying, Brooks said, describing how one member of his organization has roughly 2,000 tenants. The administrative burden of this is crazy, he said. In an emailed response to questions from the Star on Thursday, CHMC spokesperson Leonard Catling said the online application portal is getting hit with very high demand and acknowledged many are still having technical issues and are frustrated with the call wait times, which can range between two and three hours. To address these problems, Catling said the CMHC is increasing capacity at its call centres, working on glitches on its website and provided tips and tricks to help applicants resolve technical issues themselves. We apologize and continue to work hard troubleshooting these challenges, he said. We know thousands of small business owners and commercial property owners are relying on this program to help them get through this pandemic. For Uppal, the ordeal has been a frustrating experience that has left him feeling like the government promised a major rent relief program long before it had worked out how to deliver it. Im just sitting here waiting, waiting, waiting and nothings coming, he said. Theyve over-promised to tenants and theyve under-delivered to the landlords. Read more about: HONG KONG, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Horrison Resources Inc. (OTC PINK:HRSR) confirms the condition of 1,000 Aquilaria (also known as Agarwood) trees acquired in March 1, 2020 to be healthy and strong. The Aquilaria trees are placed in a nursery facility situated in Penang, Malaysia to maintain their optimal condition and are well secured to prevent damage caused by illegal loggers or wild animals. Plantation managers and workers were hired to monitor the growth and health condition of the Aquilaria trees. The CEO of HRSR, Mr. Yap expressed his pleasure with the results from the acquisition of the Aquilaria trees thus far. The company is currently working on a comprehensive execution plan to materialize the commercialisation of Agarwoood in all its form and by-products. With skillful interventions of experienced managers, industry experts and farming technology, Mr. Yap is confident that the acquired Aquilaria trees will deliver strong and steady long term value and ultimate growth to the company and its shareholders. Mr. Yap will seek an independent valuation and assessment of the Aquilaria trees. The valuation aims to provide shareholders with comfort and confidence in the company's future. Disclaimer: The contents contained herein are for informational purposes only. This is not an investment advice nor should be treated as a substitute for services of a certified financial advisor. Any reliance placed upon the information provided in this document, and the appropriateness of opinions, assumptions and qualifications used, is a matter for the reader's own commercial judgement. The company is in no respects making any guarantee of profits or of protections against loss or realization of any gain from investment made with the company. The company currently does not have any profits or revenue nor can it confirm that it will have profits or revenue in the future. Website: www.hrsr.us SOURCE Horrison Resources Inc. Related Links http://www.hrsr.us/ A day after former Defense Secretary and retired Marine four-star General James Mattis issued a statement demolishing President Trumps presidency over the last three years. Another retired four-star Marine General Gen. John Allen excoriates President Trump. The sentiment is the same. A day after James Mad Dog Mattis issued a statement to The Atlanticsaying Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. Retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, the former commander of American forces in Afghanistan and former special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS under the Obama administration, wrote in an op-ed for Foreign Policy that "to even the casual observer, Monday was awful for the United States and its democracy." Gen. John Allen went on to excoriated President Donald Trump's threats to use the military on protesters and his controversial church photo-op on Monday, writing that his actions "May well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment." Allen wrote that Trump mentioned George Floyd, but he did not touch on long-standing societal problems at all. Allen added that Trump sees the crisis as a black problem, and an opportunity to use force to portray himself as a law and order president. Allens comments come after President Trump declared himself "your president of law and order" as military police dispersed peaceful protesters just outside the White House gates. White House releases security and even armed guards from federal prison with tear gas, concussion bombs, Calvary police, and rubber bullets, so Trump could visit a nearby church to take a photo opportunity after several minutes returned to the White House. General Allen in his op-ed for Foreign Policy "Donald Trump isn't religious, has no need of religion, and doesn't care about the devout, except insofar as they serve his political needs. The President failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment." "We know why he did all this on Monday. He even said so while holding the Bible and standing in front of the church. It was about MAGA'making America great again. " Allen's statement echos the message delivered by James Mattis, who said in a statement Wednesday also insisted "We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate." "At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society-" After the explosion of criticism over his Administrations full-blown violent attack on peaceful protesters Trump, his tone on Wednesday evening softened about sending the U.S. armed military into American cities, saying in an interview with his former press secretary Sean Spicer "I don't think we'll have to." Then shattered the statement by reiterating that he has "Very strong powers to do it." Allen, however, cast Trump's threats as a dangerous tipping point for the country and urged the American people to line up behind the message of George Floyd's brother, Terrence. The latter called for peaceful protests in his brother's name and encouraged people to vote. Allen wrote. "So, while June 1 could easily be confused with a day of shame and peril if we listen to Donald Trump, if instead we listen to Terrence Floyd, it is a day of hope. So mark your calendarsthis could be the beginning of the change of American democracy not to illiberalism, but to enlightenment." "But it will have to come from the bottom up. For at the White House, there is no one home." The U.S. Airline industry has been facing a major crisis for more than two months now, which continues to deepen due to the prolonged impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, the airline industry is the worst-hit as it had to deal with travel bans in the wake of lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of the virus. This resulted in a dismal first-quarter performance for most of U.S.-based airline companies. A Dismal Q1 Major U.S. airline companies saw staggering losses during the first quarter hit by the pandemic. American Airlines AAL reported a loss of $2.24 billion for the first quarter, its steepest loss since 2008. Delta Airlines DAL slipped into loss for the first time in five years of $534 million during the first quarter, down from a profit of $730 million reported a year ago. Joining these names, United Airlines UAL witnessed massive first-quarter losses of $1.7 billion while Alaska Air Group ALK and Hawaiian Holdings HA also reported losses in first-quarter 2020 results. Consequently, shares of the afore-mentioned airline stocks plunged significantly during the first quarter. Rising Layoffs Per a report by CNN Business, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines recently decided to furlough workforces through voluntary exit programs, buyout packages and layoffs, thanks to plummeting demand for air travel. American Airlines announced the need to eliminate about 30% of its management and support staff because of its shift to operate through a smaller structure. Meanwhile, Delta Airlines and United Airlines also chose to cut down employee count. Evidently, management at these airlines was compelled to take such drastic decisions to avoid bankruptcy. Financial Aid Amid the economic turmoil, the U.S. airline industry received a stimulus in April, when the Trump administration reached an agreement with airline companies for providing $25 billion in form of federal aid. Per the terms of the agreement, major U.S. airlines will receive 70% of the funds for payroll in cash assistance, which they wont have to pay back. Other airline companies receiving $100 million or less wont be required to pay back any amount either. What Lies Ahead? In April, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated global airline passenger revenue decline of approximately $314 billion during 2020, suggesting a 55% fall from 2019. With the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic still unclear, the projections seem reasonable. No wonder, carriers deem the pandemic as the worst-ever crisis for the industry with the anticipated to deepen going ahead. These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Director Resignation Sydney, June 4, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Regeneus Ltd ( ASX:RGS ), a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company, today announced that non-executive director Dr Glen Richards has resigned to allow him to focus on his other commitments.Dr Richards joined the board of Regeneus as non-executive director in April 2015.Regeneus' Independent Chairman Barry Sechos, thanked Dr Richards for his contribution."The Board would like to thank Glen for his tremendous efforts and deep business knowledge during his tenure as a Director. He has been an asset to Regeneus and we wish him all the best," said Mr Sechos.About Regeneus Ltd Regeneus Ltd (ASX:RGS) is a Sydney-based clinical-stage regenerative medicine company using stem cell technologies to develop a portfolio of novel cell-based therapies. The regenerative therapies seek to address unmet medical needs in human health markets, focusing on neuropathic pain, including osteoarthritis and various skin conditions, with its platform technologies Progenza(TM) and Sygenus. Visit www.regeneus.com.au for more information. The Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, has approved a replacement for Paul Ohonbamu, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation in Edo State, who has just resigned his appointment. A statement from the Secretary to the Edo State Government, Osarodion Ogie, said Stewart Efe is the new commissioner for communication. Mr. Efe, was the public relations officer, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin City, before his latest appointment, the statement said. He was said to have contested for the chairmanship election of Egor Local Government Area, in the last council elections, but had to step down because of party interest. It is unclear why Mr Ohonbamu resigned. In his destination letter reported by the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Ohonbamu told Mr Obaseki: I hereby tender my letter of resignation as a commissioner in Edo to His Excellency, Mr Godwin Obaseki this June 4, 2020. Without setting a precedent, I have decided to step aside as cabinet member and operate outside for the general good of Edo and pursuit of happiness for the citizens, he said. Mr Ohonbamu expressed gratitude to the governor for the opportunity given to him to serve the state. READ ALSO: I am particularly delighted that His Excellencys second term bid is firm and surefooted. Whether we shall meet again I know not, therefore our everlasting farewell take. If we do meet why we shall smile, if not it is true this parting was well made, he said. When contacted, Mr Ohonbamu confirmed his resignation but declined to make further comment. Mr Obasekis chief of staff, Taiwo Akerele, resigned his appointment in April, reportedly to join the opposition against the governors re-election. Mr Obaseki is facing stiff opposition from a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that is loyal to the party National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, who is bent on stopping the governor from getting a second term. A student activist who led protests against the Chinese Communist Party won't be allowed to attend a university meeting about his two-year suspension. Drew Pavlou has been highly critical of the University of Queensland's ties to Beijing and claims the institution is trying to silence him by finding him guilty of misconduct. Drew Pavlou (centre) at a protest in support of Hong Kong, outside the Chinese consulate in Brisbane, last week. Credit:Dan Peled/AAP The 20-year-old has already flagged plans for a legal challenge after last week learning he'd been banned from studying at the university for two years. UQ Chancellor Peter Varghese has expressed concern about aspects of the findings and the severity of Mr Pavlou's penalty. Seasoned journalist, Kweku Baako has reflected on his ugly past under the regime of Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings. Kweku Baako, who has been an instrumental figure so far as Ghana's liberation from the military rule of Mr. Rawlings is concerned, recounted the moments he was imprisoned for standing against the oppression of the Statesman. Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Kweku Baako sent Ghanaians down memory lane by touching on how he survived in prison. One thing that kept him busy in prison which he revealed to host Kwami Sefa Kayi was smoking marijuana. According to him, there were times he tore pages of the bible to roll up marijuana in prison. ''We used the bible to smoke wee. It's true'', he professed. 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 Crowds flock as several national beaches reopen THAILAND: Popular beaches were teeming with visitors on the first public holiday yesterday (June 3) since their closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic two months ago, with Bang Saen beach in Chon Buri almost bursting at the seams. CoronavirusCOVID-19natural-resources By Bangkok Post Thursday 4 June 2020, 08:04AM People grab their favourite spots on Bang Saen beach in Chon Buri as they enjoy the public holiday yesterday to mark Her Majesty the Queens birthday. Photo: Teeneechonburi Facebook Page A heavy build-up of traffic was seen heading to the beach yesterday morning, a public holiday to mark Her Majesty the Queens birthday. People seemed to be taking full advantage of the easing of inter-provincial travel restrictions that came into effect at the start of the week. By mid-afternoon yesterday, tailbacks extended more than two kilometres along roads leading to the beach prompting Saen Suk municipal mayor Narongchai Kunplome to order the roads temporarily closed to clear the backlog and regulate visitor numbers. On his Facebook, Mr Narongchai explained the beach was too packed, making it almost impossible for people to practise social distancing. The mayor also posted aerial pictures of the beach yesterday showing vehicles clogging the entire stretch of road adjacent to the beach. Three of the roads four lanes were occupied by parked cars. Insisting stringent rules must be laid down, Mr Narongchai said that from tomorrow vendors and food hawkers can resume trading along the beach. However, the sale of alcohol will be banned. Seven areas on the beach will be free of beach chairs. Where chairs are permitted, there must be plenty of space between each chair, while customers are required to wear a face mask. Those renting the chairs out are required to checks the body temperature of their customers and provide them with alcohol sanitiser gel. Bang Saen beach, which attracts a lot of weekenders because of its easy access and its close proximity to Bangkok, will also be closed on Mondays for cleaning. The municipal office said beach chairs may only be put up on the beach from Fridays to Sundays. At other times they must be removed for the sake of orderliness. Mr Naronchai said non-chair areas are being designated so people can enjoy wide open spaces on the beach. Under the new normal regulations, visitors must wear face masks at all times while on the beach and must leave it by 11pm. It was reported that at the busiest time yesterday, at least 5,000 visitors were on the beach and most had driven there. The mayor said authorities will block traffic on roads leading to it when necessary to control the number of people. Yesterday, the number of beach-goers sparked fears among municipal officials about a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections. Chon Buri has not reported a coronavirus infection in 40 days. Kittipong Traiboon, a member of the Chalarm Khao (While Sharks) lifeguard team at Bang Saen beach, said the crowds left municipal officials and resources overstretched trying to enforce the new normal. Jutharat Saensuk, 24, said she was pleased the beach was opening again and people had been looking forward to ending weeks of confining themselves at home by strolling along the beach. She travelled all the way to Bang Saen with seven members of her family from Nakhon Ratchasima. Elsewhere, beaches in Hua Hin of Prachuap Khiri Khan also came back to life as seaside vendors and restaurants welcomed back customers, although many of them were local residents. In the eastern province of Trat, ferries were back in business transferring tourists between the mainland and islands including the popular Koh Chang. Koh Samed in Rayong remains closed as it is located in a national park. Local tourism associations have appealed to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to reopen the island. Beaches in Phuket remain closed, as detailed in an official order published on Monday (June 1). There was no indication given as to when this order may be reversed and beaches here permitted to reopen. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 07:25 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbef75a 1 National military,politics,health,new-normal,COVID-19,dwifungsi,security,health-protocol,enforcement Free The governments decision to prepare hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Military (TNI) officers for deployment to help enforce pandemic health protocols has drawn criticism among defense analysts and human rights experts for its nod to past military practices. President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced last week that the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police would work together to guard crowded places in preparation for the so-called new normal of living alongside COVID-19. As many as 340,000 troops have been on stand-by to deploy across more than two dozen cities to oversee enforcement of measures aimed at curbing transmission of the disease, as the country gears up for the eventual easing of restrictions on movement and travel. Read also: COVID-19: Health minister issues new normal guidelines for workplaces But the move risks inviting people to rise up against a possible hard security approach to compliance, said security expert Anton Aliabbas, as the economy fumbles and incomes dissipate as a result of the viral outbreak and the ensuing restrictions. The problem is whether disciplining the public requires the TNI [to step in]. If people refuse to obey, will [troops] become coercive? asked Anton, who is a researcher from security reforms and human rights watchdog Imparsial. Taking a hard approach without discretion, he said, could trigger greater resistance amidst the surge of unemployment and peoples frustration. Such a move could also potentially undermine the militarys main duty to safeguard against national security threats or threats to territorial integrity, said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid. We do not need military personnel to remind the public to wash their hands properly or to practice strict social distancing we have health officers or the Public Order Agency [Satpol PP] to do that, Usman said in a statement to The Jakarta Post. Involving military personnel to enforce health protocols will in fact undermine their primary role to maintain security; we need to remember that this is a health emergency, not a civilian one. Read also: Civil emergency measures will not be implemented to fight COVID-19: Mahfud Jokowi floated the idea of declaring a civil emergency in March but backed off following pushback from critics. Many of them argued that imposing a civil emergency could undermine human rights and that was not suited to the current circumstances. Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 23/1959 on civil emergency stipulates that the President has the authority to declare a state of civil emergency, which would allow for the wider mobilization of security assets, among other things. Usman also expressed concerns over the implied return of Dwifungsi, a New Order-era policy under which the former Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) were allowed to take on civilian roles in government. Read also: Mixed response to new rules on TNI engagement The Jokowi administration has seen the return of more TNI officers and retired military generals to public office, facilitated in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 37/2019 on functional positions for TNI personnel. The Presidents flirtations with the nations security apparatuses have alarmed rights activists and victims of past trauma, many of whom fear a return to draconian New Order practices. Critics have also pushed back against the security approach that Jokowi seems to prefer when dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. The military deployment plan follows another plan to legally involve troops in the fight against terrorism, long considered to be the domain of the police as stipulated in the 2018 Terrorism Law. Read also: Plan to expand military role in fight against terrorism raises red flag, again Jokowi has also called for the active involvement of the TNI and Polri in the fight against forest fires, and had even gone on record to say that he would replace the top brass at the local and provincial levels if they could not quell the fires. Defense analysts have questioned the TNIs latest deployment plan, arguing that while the military could be involved in non-combat assignments, the executive order still lacked clear boundaries. Military operations other than war (MOOTW) are usually temporary in nature, experts insist. According to Paragraph 3, Article 7 of the 2004 TNI Law, the President holds the authority to use the militarys forces in war operations and MOOTW with approval from lawmakers. This [deployment order], meanwhile, is a decision that is conveyed verbally. Who can guarantee the limitations of the operation? said Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Diandra Megaputri Mengko. Diandra urged the government to follow existing regulations before deploying military forces as part of new normal protocol. Presidential spokesman Fadjroel Rachman did not immediately respond to the Posts inquiry about the policy. Last Tuesday, the President instructed the military and the police to guard public places in DKI Jakarta, West Java, West Sumatra and Gorontalo and 25 cities to get them to obey health protocols. Read also: Jokowi deploys TNI, police to enforce new normal TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said personnel from the joint TNI-Polri operations would guard 1,800 spots around the country, including in malls, traditional markets and tourist attractions, among other places. TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sisriadi said the military had 150,000 troops and the police had 190,000 officers on stand-by, although he insisted that only 20,000 military personnel had been deployed to select areas to enforce the rules. - President John Magufuli said neighbouring countries that imposed lockdown were in food crisis - He asked the business community to preserve their farm produce and sell expensively when they must - Uganda went into lockdown in mid March while Kenya closed its borders with Tanzania and Somalia on May 16 over coronavirus scare President John Pombe Magufuli has urged the Tanzanian business community to make use of the coronavirus pandemic to rake in huge profits. In a viral video, Magufuli particularly told the businessmen dealing in foodstuffs to identify customers from countries that had imposed lockdown and charge them exorbitantly. READ ALSO: Man marries secret lover after wife gets stuck at parent's home during COVID-19 lockdown President Magufuli present a peacock gift to retired president Benjamin Mkapa. He asked Tanzanians to overcharge foreigners from locked down countries. Photo: Swahili Times. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: ODM MP Abdulswamad opposes gov't directive to use SGR to ferry all cargo from Mombasa to Naivasha The Head of state claimed his neigbouring countries restricted inter-country movements at a time when Tanzanians were attending to farms. This, according him, explained why such countries were now experiencing a nationwide food shortage. "Waliji-lockdown wakati sisi tukiwa tunashughulika kulima. Sasa tutunze vyakula vyetu. Na kama tunaamua kuuza, tuuze kwa bei ya juu saaaana, watwangeni kweli, nasema watwangeni saaaana (They have food shortage because their governments imposed lockdown when we were busy in the farms. You must preserve your farm produce, and if you must sell, do it above the normal price. Charge them exorbitantly. I repeat, overcharge them)," he advised. READ ALSO: Busia: Lawyer disappears with woman's over KSh 1.6m accident compensation President Uhuru closed Kenyan borders with Tanzania and Somali. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Mke wa aliyekuwa waziri mkuu wa Lesotho akamatwa tena kwa tuhuma za mauaji Uganda went into lockdown in mid March while Kenya closed its borders with Tanzania and Somalia after statistics showed a number of cases were imported from other nations. Zambia also banned any movement across its borders with Tanzania. Kenyan traders import vegetables such as tomatoes, water melons among others from Tanzania. The president was speaking when he hosted his predecessors Benjamin Mkapa, Hassan Mwinyi and Jakaya Kikwete and former first lady Mariam Nyerere on Saturday, May 30. During the event, he said Tanzania had won the battle against coronavirus thanks to prayers and timely God intervention. "Even at this time when we are fighting coronavirus, God has helped us win. I don't see anyone wearing a face mask here, this is a clear indication Tanzania is safe," he told his guests. Though the country made its coronavirus data public in mid April, the United States recently claimed hospitals in Dar es Salaam were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. The US warned its citizens the risk of contracting COVID-19 in Dar es Salaam was "extremely high". "Despite limited reports, all evidence points to the exponential growth of the epidemic in Dar and other locations in Tanzania. "The embassy has strongly recommended that the US government has strongly recommended that its personnel and their families remain at home except for essential activities,"the US embassy said. 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. Why I beat my own mother- Lucy Nyawira | Tuko Talks | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke Why did it take Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 20 full seconds to respond to a media question about Donald Trumps turning on his own citizens? And then, when he finally did respond, he didnt even mention Trump, instead saying: We all watch in horror and consternation at what is going on in the United States. It is a time to pull people together ... It is a time to listen. It is a time to learn, when injustices continue despite progress over years and decades. Trudeaus diplomatic response displays hypocrisy, said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said Trudeau needs a spine for not calling out Trump more directly. Thats all fine. Thats why we have opposition leaders. But they are not the government, and not the leaders of the country. You might disagree. Certainly, we have used much stronger language about Trump, and will probably again. But we are not the government, either. Neither are you. Watch the video, which is on display on domestic and international news sites (Google Trudeau and speechless). You can very clearly see the PM was working at choosing his words carefully. His jaw was working. No one can know for sure, but it looks like he was biting his tongue figuratively, if not literally. And in the end, he delivered a strong statement of concern, later reminding the media and their audience that Canada has its share of problems with racism and needs to focus on that as well as the conflagration in America. But he chose not to dump on Trump. What would Singh have done if he was in Trudeaus shoes. Would he have shouted out that Trump is reprehensible (which he said)? And had he done so would Canadas relationship with the U.S. government been damaged as a result? Is that being a good prime minister and doing what is best for Canada? Trudeau knows that Trump is volatile and unstable. Perceived sleights in the past have resulted in punitive measures against Canada. Is it really wrong for him to refrain from a personal attack against the U.S. president? There is room for debate here. You could argue that this is a unique time and Trump is doing things that are so bad they transcend all diplomatic imperatives. You could also argue that a prime ministers job is above all else to maintain important relationships that Canada needs to survive and prosper. Both arguments are valid. From this perspective it seemed as if the prime minister was choosing his words carefully. We would rather deal with that than verbal carelessness that could cost Canada dearly. Could there be rays of hope in the darkness that covers the United States? The day after Trumps military histrionics ended with heavily armed police and troops assaulting unarmed protesters in Lafayette Square Park, other equally volatile situations in major cities ended peacefully. The family of George Floyd pleaded with protesters to remain peaceful. Although current military leaders lined up behind their president, retired military leaders spoke out. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, a former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote on Twitter that America is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said Wednesday that he does not think active-duty troops should confront protesters, just days after Trump said he was considering exactly that. And while most Republicans remained mute on Trumps atrocious behaviour, a small group of senators spoke out against his actions. So yes, there is hope, even if faint at this point. Read more about: By Hoda Emam Bay City News Foundation A San Francisco resident has renewed excitement for Secret Santa gift exchanges this spring in an effort to offset the dearth of human connection during the worldwide pandemic. In early January, Lorny Pfeifer, a VC investor and data scientist, had fallen ill with bronchitis and pneumonia while on a business trip to Switzerland. Pfeifer suffers from an autoimmune condition, so upon arriving back in the United States she began to self-quarantine. By mid-March when the shelter-in-place order was issued across California, Pfeifer was already three weeks into her quarantine. "I was going stir crazy, I had been making little art works for my neighbors and putting them on my windows," she said. "I thought, 'Why don't we do this for friends in Los Angeles, London, New York, and then why don't we do this globally?'" She created a Google questionnaire asking for people's interests and skills and shared it with her personal and professional network all over the world. "In a span of three days maybe 60 people signed up, and they spread the word via Twitter and LinkedIn," Pfeifer said. "We capped it at 100 people." She modeled the gift exchange on the popular Reddit Secret Santa and used a Secret Santa generator to match participants. With individuals from over 20 countries, a wide age range and no one allowed to exchange in person, Pfeifer said participants were very creative with their gifts. "One guy wrote a poem for his exchange ... another created a digital tour of hiking trails that only a native Idahoan would know about," she said. "There was even a medical doctor who could tell you anything and everything about the brain." Other exchanges included dance lessons, a class on artificial intelligence and a session on designing memes. One participant, Shay Bricker, was matched with a gifted pianist from Vietnam. "I have listened to her piano rendition of 'Ghen C Vy' several times and played it for friends and family as well who have all been so impressed with her talent," Bricker said. Pfeifer had planned to launch another gift exchange in early June but considering the tragic events surrounding the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week, she has decided to hold off for now. "It would just be disrespectful right now," she said, but added that eventually "I do think it would be awesome to do this again." This story was originally published by Bay City News Foundation. Please use the following link when sharing: https://localnewsmatters.org/2020/06/03/inspire-me-vc-investor-spreads-joy-through-global-secret-santa-gift-exchange/ 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. A gay high school senior was not allowed to walk in her graduation ceremony because she violated the school's dress code by wearing pants instead of a dress. Dynasia Clark, a 17-year-old student at Lamar High School in South Carolina, was told her she couldn't participate in the in-person ceremony on Tuesday after she arrived wearing a button-down shirt and dress pants. 'I was angry more than anything because we worked hard to even have a graduation, and then I can't walk because I don't got on a dress,' she told WPDE, a local ABC affiliate. Dress code: Dynasia Clark, 17, was barred from walking in her graduation ceremony at Lamar High School in South Carolina on Tuesday because she wore pants instead of a dress Lamar High School is in Darlington County, one of the several school districts in the state that chose to hold an in-person graduation ceremony amid the coronavirus pandemic. Graduates were allowed two tickets each for guests and seats were assigned six feet apart, WMBF reported. Attendees were encouraged to wear face masks, and the ceremony was livestreamed for those who were unable to attend. Clark was aware that the dress code for the event required women to wear dresses, but she wanted to graduate in attire that she felt most comfortable in. She told McClatchy News that when she arrived at Lamar High School on Tuesday morning, the principal walked up to her and said she was supposed to wear a dress 'The principal knew me personally so I didnt think she expected me to wear a dress,' Clark explained. Another missed moment: After being barred from the ceremony, Clark watched it from outside the gate to hear her name be called, but she said the school skipped over it Even though she couldn't participate in the ceremony, she chose to watch it from outside the gate to show support for her classmates and hear her name called to receive her diploma but it was never said. 'That was the part that made me more mad than anything because I was there you could have least called my name,' she told WPDE. 'It seems crazy to me. It seems stupid, like petty because it was just an outfit to me.' Clark is still stunned by what happened to her on her graduation day, a milestone she had spent most of her life working toward. 'It shouldn't have stopped me from doing something what I have been waiting on for 12 years I went to school,' she said. 'Everybody be happy for their graduation day and I couldn't even experience that.' The Darlington County School District issued a statement to WPDE saying the high school's graduation dress code has been in place for over 20 years and accommodations were made for students who took issue with it in the past. 'We welcome students or parents who have concerns with any policy or procedure to meet with administration and discuss those concerns,' she statement said. 'In the past, when a student raised concern with the administration about the dress code prior to graduation day, the issue was addressed.' A minister has admitted that a family from Spain can holiday in the Lake District while a family from the UK cannot under the new controversial quarantine rules . The travel quarantine rules are set to come into force on Monday despite opposition from Conservative MPs who claim it will ground the aviation industry. The regulations will require everyone coming into the UK to self-isolate for 14 days. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted it was the right time to bring in the rules as he did the media round this morning. BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt asked him: If you or I wanted to go for a two week break in the Lake District right now we cant do that can we? Were not allowed to do that. "If a family from Spain wants to come to the UK and spend two weeks in the Lake District next week can they do that? Mr Lewis replied: As long as they are following the guidance and doing the quarantine as outlined, and giving the details to Public Health England (PHE), somebody from abroad can come to the UK but they will have to quarantine for 14 days. Priti Patel has been forced to defend the Government's planned travel quarantine rules from Conservative MPs who claim such measures will ground the aviation industry. / PA Mr Stayt added: Can you not understand how that sounds utterly ridiculous? "So you or I - who we know have been following the guidelines - cannot go away and take a break for two nights or two weeks but other people coming in from the rest of Europe can come to this country and they can do exactly that. How does that make sense? Mr Lewis said they would have to quarantine and added: PHE will be checking up on this, there will be substantial fines for people who dont follow those guidelines, they will have to quarantine here within the UK we are gradually looking at how we can further ease the lockdown measures. UK Markets begin to reopen during Coronavirus lockdown ease 1 /24 UK Markets begin to reopen during Coronavirus lockdown ease PA AP Daniel Hambury AP Daniel Hambury Daniel Hambury Daniel Hambury Daniel Hambury Daniel Hambury AP AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Reuters Reuters Reuters We are very keen to ensure that people across the country, with a cautious approach, will be able to enjoy their summer, will be able to take those kind of trips. Weve got to do that in a very managed and cautious way. Government ministers have faced a grilling over the rules which are aimed at preventing new infections being brought in from abroad. Tory MP Dr Liam Fox, former International Trade Secretary, told the Commons yesterday that he could not get his head round the mental gymnastics of the policy. Home Secretary Priti Patel said: Travellers from overseas could become a higher proportion of the overall number of infections in the UK and increase the spread of the disease. "The Government is acting now by taking a proportionate and time-limited approach to protect the health of the British people. 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 Jimmy Kimmel helped share a powerful story about comedian Dave Chappelle educating a white woman about race during an impromptu stand-up show. The encounter happened over five years ago, but it was shared on Twitter Wednesday by comedian Kenny DeForrest, who was hosting Comedy At the Knit at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. The powerful story was retweeted by Kimmel on Wednesday night, stating, 'This thread is well worth your time.' Jimmy shares: Jimmy Kimmel helped share a powerful story about comedian Dave Chappelle educating a white woman about race during an impromptu stand-up show Chappelle story: The encounter happened over five years ago, but it was shared on Twitter Wednesday by comedian Kenny DeForrest, who was hosting Comedy At the Knit at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn DeForrest began by stating he knew Chappelle was in New York to support Kevin Hart hosting Saturday Night Live, and he texted Joyelle N Johnson to ask, 'any chance Dave wants to go up?' He added that they started the show thinking Chappelle 'might' come up and do a set, and sure enough, 'he sneaks in like a boxer with his hood up.' DeForrest added that they were joking around in the green room and, 'every topic that came up, he had something profound for.' Coolest night: DeForrest began by stating he knew Chappelle was in New York to support Kevin Hart hosting Saturday Night Live, and he texted Joyelle N Johnson to ask, 'any chance Dave wants to go up?' Crawford: Chappelle then started educating the crowd about, 'the history of black people and the police,' including Rodney King and Watts and Emmett Till and Black Wall Street. He talked about Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and he talked about John Crawford III. He added that they put Chappelle on last, and the crowd, 'LOSES it,' and just like in the green room, he had a 'perfect joke' for every topic, adding that, 'this was days after the cop that choked Eric Garner to death in Staten Island (you know, murder) was not indicted by a grand jury.' Someone asked him to talk about police brutality and he started talking about Eric Garner getting murdered, adding, 'I thought body cams would help, but what good is video evidence if yall dont care?' During his set, a, 'clearly privileged white girl (she had a wide brimmed felt hat for chrissakes) shouts Lifes hard, sorry bout it!' Brutality: Someone asked him to talk about police brutality and he started talking about Eric Garner getting murdered, adding, 'I thought body cams would help, but what good is video evidence if yall dont care?' Nervous: He said the cop seemed 'offended' that Chappelle was nervous, and that he knew who he was and let him off with a warning Changed: DeForest added that, 'He changed everyone in that room that night. 200+ people became part of the solution if they werent already. Even a privileged girl in a privileged hat with a privileged mindset. Point is, it doesnt matter what you thought before. You can always change' Chappelle then started educating the crowd about, 'the history of black people and the police,' including Rodney King and Watts and Emmett Till and Black Wall Street. He talked about Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and he talked about John Crawford III. Crawford was a black man who was looking at a BB gun in a Wal-Mart, which scared a white person enough to call the cops, and a cop, 'just guns him down' with no warning. Chappelle then told a story about how he got pulled over in Ohio where he lived, and how he was clearly nervous, telling the cop that he was not armed and he was reaching to get his license and registration. He said the cop seemed 'offended' that Chappelle was nervous, and that he knew who he was and let him off with a warning. Chappelle said that same cop who let him off with a warning is the cop who killed John Crawford III, as the comedian added, 'I shouldnt have to be Dave Chappelle to survive police encounters.' He then explained that one of his best friends was South African, and things changed in the country when the amount of 'people caring hit critical mass and there was nothing they could do to stop it.' 'The people had momentum and apartheid ended. Critical mass. Thats what we have to hit. Once enough of you care, there will be nothing they can do to stop the change,' Chappelle told the crowd, with DeForest adding the crowed was 'stunned and silent.' Losing it: He added that they put Chappelle on last, and the crowd, 'LOSES it,' and just like in the green room, he had a 'perfect joke' for every topic, adding that, 'this was days after the cop that choked Eric Garner to death in Staten Island (you know, murder) was not indicted by a grand jury' After the show, the white girl wanted to talk to him and Chappelle told her to come back, as she and her friend apologized and said he 'educated' her and that she wouldn't say things like that anymore. Chappelle told her, 'Youre ok. Thats all we can ask. Know better, do better. I want to thank YOU for hearing me and listening. Thats your role. And now you know. Now youre part of that critical mass we talked about and next time you hear a friend say some ignorant s**t like... you said, its your job to correct them and share with them what you learned tonight. THEN, youre no longer part of the problem, youre part of the solution.' DeForest added that, 'He changed everyone in that room that night. 200+ people became part of the solution if they werent already. Even a privileged girl in a privileged hat with a privileged mindset. Point is, it doesnt matter what you thought before. You can always change.' Black people: We have to take responsibility for our mental health and put our feelings first during these trying times. Here are some ways to do that. And for allies to support us in the struggle. Read more The horrific deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd didnt make me cry. Im past tears. Im hollow. Im afraid to leave my apartment because of a deadly virus. The twin demons of violence and racism are plundering through my city. My heart is afraid. My soul is angry. I feel hopeless. I hide my emotions so not to offend people especially white people. These are new emotions. Black people are experiencing unprecedented trauma, said Ebony White, an assistant clinical professor of counseling and family therapy at Drexel University, who is African American. When we see these injustices happen over and over again, we are seeing ourselves. Black men see themselves in George Floyd. Black mothers see their sons in Tamir Rice. Floyd died on Memorial Day when a Minneapolis police officer choked him by kneeling on his neck. Rice is the 12-year-old boy with a toy gun in his hand who was shot to death in 2014 by Cleveland police. We are on the brink of a fiery change, yes. But its a lot. Black people: We have to take responsibility for our mental health and put our feelings first in these trying times. Here are some ways to do that. And ways for allies to support us in the struggle. Know this is a unique time in history Black people have been living with this countrys unique brand of racism since we arrived here in 1619. Weve endured bondage, had our livelihoods destroyed during and after Reconstruction, and fought our way out of a segregated society. Clearly we are a tough people who can handle this upheaval, right? READ MORE: Its ironic that the Tulsa massacre that destroyed Black Wall Street happened 99 years ago this week | Jenice Armstrong Wrong, says Richard Orbe-Austin, a New York-based psychologist and black man. There are so many ways in this current moment that were fearing for our lives," Orbe-Austin said. Not to mention, we are feeling isolated with social distancing because of coronavirus that is killing black people at alarming rates. The way we celebrate, the way we bury our dead. This is how we have traditionally built our resilience. We havent been able to do that. We have to give ourselves a break, Orbe-Austin said. We dont know what to do because weve never done this before. Allies: You need to keep this in mind. You have to assume that your black friend or colleague is managing a lot and they are working through new pain points, White said. If you want to show empathy, tell your black friend that while you cant understand all they are going through, you know its real and you stand with them. Tell them what you are doing to support issues of injustice and ask them how you can support them. Required reading: The 1619 Project: The New York Times Understand the rage Black people understand the rage behind the destruction. That doesnt mean we condone it. We are not happy that grocery stores were destroyed, our pharmacies were cleaned out, or that clothing stores were looted. Still, black people dont have to apologize for being angry. We are taught from an early age that not only will we be subjected to racism, bias acts, and police brutality, but that we should get used to it, Orbe-Austin said. We are socialized to recognize that we have to tolerate being uncomfortable. That means swallowing our anger for our survival. But a kettle left on a raging fire will always boil over. Allies: Remind your white friends and family of the reasons behind the protests. When you point to the looting, you are in your own way discounting the rage because you are making it more about the looting than centuries of oppression White said. A better question to ask is: How did we get here? While we are on the subject, heres another question from which to steer your curious well-meaning white friends: Why is there no outrage regarding black-on-black crime? Because if they knew at least one black person, they would know there is plenty. Period. Required reading: Between The World And Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates Respect sadness There may be days when black people are going to feel so sad that we wont want to get out of bed, said Zakia Williams, cofounder of the Philadelphia-based nonprofit, Black Men Heal. Black people are rarely afforded the luxury of showing sadness. You may not have an answer for an ally who genuinely wants to know how you are doing and thats OK," Williams said. READ MORE: Weve offered free therapy to black men. The response has been overwhelming. | Opinion Sit in your emotion. Be with your pain. Dont try to get over it or distill it into inoffensive sound bites. And dont let white people off the hook. You dont have to have a quick answer just to make them feel comfortable, Williams said. This is about your pain. Allies: Dont secretly hope your black friend, coworker or family member will absolve you. Dont expect black people to do your emotional labor, said Vashti Dubois, founder of The Colored Girls Museum in Germantown. Do your own work. Reflect on your white privilege. You will intuitively know where you can do better. Required reading: In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, by Christina Sharpe and The Black Book with forward from Toni Morrison. Speak up Black people dont have to be quiet because we are afraid anymore, said Orbe-Austin. We can take agency in the process by calling local officials, voting, participating in peaceful demonstrations. And straight up telling people you refuse to tolerate their racism. Keep talking. Use your voice, tell people their behavior is unacceptable, Orbe-Austin said. Allies: We need you to use your voice. When you hear friends, family members or colleagues make blatantly racist comments, this is where we need you to speak up. Dont just speak up for black people, speak up for you. Dont work toward an antiracist world just for the benefit of black people, Dubois said. If you are doing it just for us, stop now; its not sustainable and its not real. Do it for yourselves. You should want to live in a world that makes people feel like human beings. Organizations where your voice as an ally is welcome: Black Lives Matter, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Philadelphia Bail Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center. Here is a comprehensive list of national and Pennsylvania-based social justice organizations. Get off social media/turn off the news The images of Floyd taking his last breaths are seared in our minds. We want to blame the media, but there was a part of us that couldnt stop watching because it was so unbelievable. Its important that black people turn away, Williams said. Seeing it happen over and over again causes a primary response trauma because we relate so deeply to the victim," Williams said. Reliving it over and over again is unhealthy. Allies: You may not want to watch the videos over and over again either, because those empathetic to the cause will be as equally jarred. But these videos can be useful to point out that racism exists to those in your life who try to explain it away. What to do when youre not scrolling: Read the trashy novel by your nightstand, meditate, go outside for a walk. Practice breathing exercises. READ MORE: Feeling pandemic stress? These easy breathing techniques can help. Get help Let go of the narrative that black people dont seek mental health. Its very important to our survival, said Williams. In recent weeks, through Black Men Heal, Williams has a virtual meet-up space for black men. Many therapists and psychologists are taking appointments through teledoc programs. If you fear a true mental health crisis is underway, call the citys 24-hour crisis hotline at 215-685-6440. You can also call the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Hot Line at 800-273-8255. Other helpful resources: The Association of Black Psychologists. Allies: The emotional toll is heavy for you, too. Not only are you empathizing with the palpable pain of black people in your social circle, you may be feeling a certain level of denial, guilt, or anger. The Anxiety and Depression Organization of America has resources to help people deal with the impact of racism on all of our lives. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 01:19:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAGHDAD, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 19 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft in northern Iraq, Iraqi military said on Thursday. The 19 extremists IS militants were killed when the coalition aircraft conducted 26 airstrikes and destroyed 46 IS hideouts in Qara-Chokh Mountain near the town of Makhmour, about 60 km southeast of Nineveh's provincial capital Mosul, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a statement. The airstrikes were based on information presented by the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), which was conducting an operation to hunt down IS militants in the area, the statement said. Separately, a CTS force carried out an operation in Wadi Hauran area in a desert in Iraq's western province of Anbar and destroyed three IS positions, the statement added. Also in the province, a CTS force captured two IS militants in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the capital Baghdad, the statement said without giving further details. The operations came as the extremist IS militants have intensified their attacks on the security forces, including Hashd Shaabi forces, and civilians in the formerly IS-controlled Sunni provinces, resulting in the killing and wounding of dozens. The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS militants across the country late in 2017. However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan for the month. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases, these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.] June 26-July 2 At least 49 pro-government forces and 40 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during the past week. The deadliest attack took place in Helmand Province, where several rounds of artillery landed in a livestock market in Sangin District, killing 23 civilians and wounding 40 others. Residents of the area, which is under Taliban control, blamed government forces for the incident, while government officials blame the insurgents. Later on, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the United Nations determined that government forces launched the mortars in response to a Taliban attack on their base. Earlier in the week, in Jowzjan Province, the Taliban attacked a military base in the Chokly Tapa area of Kham Aab District, killing seven soldiers and wounding two others. July 2 Nangarhar Province: one civilian killed A bomb attached to the vehicle of the chief executive of Sorkhroad District exploded in the Pashtunistan Wat area of Jalalabad city, the provincial capital, killing the district chief and wounding another civilian. July 2 Nangarhar Province: two soldiers killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in the Pakh Sangani area of Khogyani District, killing two soldiers and wounding 11 others. Local authorities claimed that 10 Taliban fighters were killed in the clash, and the insurgents captured two security outposts, seizing all of the weapons and equipment therein before burning down the outposts. July 1 Nangarhar Province: three security forces killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in the Lal Mandaye area of Naziyan District, killing three pro-government militia members and wounding five others. Local authorities claimed that three Taliban fighters were also killed. NEA officers conducting fogging at the Woodleigh Close dengue cluster. (PHOTO: National Environment Agency) SINGAPORE The National Environment Agency (NEA) has called for urgent community effort in prevention of dengue cases, as Singapore is facing the prospect of its biggest dengue outbreak in recent history. As of Tuesday (2 June), there have already 9,261 reported dengue cases this year. This is the highest for the same period of the year since 2013, when Singapore registered its largest dengue outbreak with 22,170 cases. NEA said that the number of dengue cases is expected to exceed the 15,998 cases in 2019, and may even surpass the 2013 peak. More worryingly, the number of dengue cases has risen sharply in the past four weeks, climbing from 300 to 400 cases from January to April, to 735 cases last week a figure not seen since the peak dengue years in 2013 and 2014. There were already 12 dengue-related deaths this year, 10 of whom worked or resided in active dengue cluster areas. They are aged between 56 and 80 years old. Last year, 20 people died of dengue. Circuit breaker measures exacerbated dengue situation NEA said that a combination of factors have contributed to the recent spike in dengue cases. Firstly, an increase in a less common dengue virus strain was reported since the start of the year. This virus strain was last dominant about 30 years ago, which means there is low immunity in the current population and a rapid disease transmission. Secondly, Singapore is entering the traditional dengue peak season, with warmer weather encouraging faster breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and the dengue virus. Thirdly, NEAs surveillance system has revealed more areas with high Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. Finally, the spike in dengue cases occurred over a short four-week period since early May, and coincided with the COVID-19 circuit breaker period. The Aedes aegypti mosquito dwells mainly indoors and primarily bites during the day, so with more people staying at home during the day, this has likely exacerbated the dengue situation. Story continues Efforts in dengue control stepped up NEA has stepped up efforts in dengue control this years, such as rolling out its surveillance system to landed estates, bringing forward its National Dengue Prevention Campaign from April to March, deploying more dengue alert banners and posters, and ramping up dengue prevention outreach via digital and mobile platforms. Last month, it has also worked with the Ministry of Health, polyclinics and general practitioners to provide over 300,000 bottles of mosquito repellent for distribution to patients who are suspected to have dengue. NEA has also stepped up its checks at construction sites, especially given their closure during the circuit breaker period, and has observed a two-fold increase in the detection of Aedes mosquito larvae at the sites. From January to May, 52 summonses and two Stop Work Orders were issued to construction sites, and two contractors will be charged in court for repeat offences. Urgent collective community effort needed The agency has called for urgent collective community effort to drastically reduce mosquito breeding habitats and slow down the rise in the number of dengue cases, especially since the traditional dengue peak season could last from June to October. It urged residents, contractors and business owners to help fight dengue by using its Check and Protect checklist that flags common mosquito breeding habitats, and doing the Mozzie Wipeout steps to get rid of stagnant water in the premises: Turn the pails Tip the vases Flip the flowerpot plate Loosen the hardened soil Clear the roof gutter and place Bti insecticide All residents living in dengue cluster areas are also strongly encouraged to cooperate with NEA officers, and facilitate their checks and indoor misting in their homes. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories: S'porean woman, 81, among 569 new COVID-19 cases; 2 more dorm clusters identified Far fewer new jobs likely to be created than lost over next year: Tharman More than 5,400 suspended residential renovation projects can resume: BCA Singaporeans can travel to parts of China soon for essential business, official trips FAQ: Your guide to Phase 1 reopening of Singapore after COVID-19 circuit breaker (CNN) Lea Michele has issued an apology after "Glee" costar Samantha Marie Ware accused her of creating a bad work environment on the set of the show. The exchange began after Michele posted a message on social media Friday, "George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end," she wrote. Michele included the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Ware responded to Michele's tweet and wrote she'll never forget the way she felt Michele treated her during their time working together on "Glee," calling it a "living hell." "Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I'll never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's--- in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood," Ware tweeted. Michele's partnership with HelloFresh was terminated by the company following Ware's comments "HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele," the company announced on social media. "What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people," Michele said in a statement posted on Instagram. "One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people's perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face." "When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time," Michele continued. "But the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them." Michele said she doesn't remember "ever making this specific statement." "Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused," she wrote. "We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings. I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me. I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience." Ware played a recurring role as Jane Hayward in the sixth season of the show, starting in 2015. She appeared in 11 episodes. Michele played main cast member Rachel Berry throughout all six seasons of "Glee." CNN has reached out to representatives for Michele and Ware for further comment. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Lea Michele apologizes after Samantha Marie Ware accuses her of making 'Glee' a 'living hell'." By Express News Service KOCHI: The sensational Edayar gold heist has once again come to the fore with an attempt to kidnap the eighth accused in the case, Jamal, a native of Thodupuzha, by a five-member gang in Aluva town in broad daylight on Wednesday. The entire episode unfolded like an action thriller, but the police foiled the kidnapping bid and arrested the gang.Vishnu, 26, of East Kaloor, Thodupuzha; Naufal, 23, of Thodupuzha; Shanu, 28, of Karikode, Thodupuzha; Raufel, 24, of Thodupuzha; and Avinash, 34, of Kumaramangalam, Thodupuzha were arrested and produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody. Jamal was on his way to appear before the police after being granted interim bail following Covid-19. Suddenly, the gang intercepted him and he was taken in an SUV on the ESI Road around 10.40am. However, the police were immediately alerted about the incident and messages were passed over wireless sets. Subsequently, squads across the area became vigilant following a direction from Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthik. The police team intercepted the vehicle of the gang just three kilometres away from the place where he was kidnapped and all were arrested, said an officer with Aluva police. Jamal along with two others had assaulted Vishnu, one of the accused, near his home in Thodupuzha earlier and the kidnapping operation was carried out in retaliation. The Thodupuzha police had registered a case against Jamal on charges of attempt to murder in this regard. Police have registered a case slapping Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons and means) and 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) of IPC.Jamal was handed over to Thodupuzha police later, said the police.The Edayar case pertains to the looting of 20kg gold from a car near Binanipuram in May last year after attacking the passengers. The Haryana government on Wednesday removed all curbs on interstate movement between Gurugram and Delhi, throwing open all 10 order points between the two cities. This included the Kapashera border, which had been entirely sealed for the past few weeks. The decision came a month after the District Magistrate prohibited cross-border travel, citing rising coronavirus cases. The curbs stood withdrawn from Tuesday following an order issued by Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri. Gurugram Police removed the barricades from all checkpoints between the two cities to let traffic move freely without showing any pass. This means the Delhi-Gurgaon border on the Expressway is open from June 3 onwards. Also Read: Delhi-Gurgaon border: Haryana govt seals border as coronavirus cases increase in capital "In view of the prevailing MHA and state government directions for phased reopening and unrestricted movement of goods and people, the order for restrictions has been withdrawn," Khatri announced. Haryana first sealed its borders on May 1, relaxing restrictions only post May 15 following Delhi High Court's order. Strict border checks were enforced again following an order by Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij to seal the state's periphery. The border was allowed to reopen again on Monday (June 1), permitting only pass holders. The Ministry of Home Affairs announced new guidelines on June 1 relaxing lockdown curbs across the country, including restrictions on inter, and intra-state travel. Also Read: Delhi-Gurgaon border sealed; only essential services, goods allowed as coronavirus cases rise The ministry came up with the first stage 'Unlock 1.0' of a three-phase-plan for elevating strict curbs imposed for over two months during the lockdown duration to stem the spread of coronavirus pandemic. Haryana witnessed the highest one-day jump in its COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, recording 302 new cases in the last 24 hours. Gurugram and Faridabad remained on edge with 132 and 69 fresh coronavirus cases. The state's total number of confirmed cases now stands at 2,954. Delhi remains the third worst-hit state in the country with a total of 23,645 COVID-19 cases. New Delhi, June 4 : Poaching incidents for consumption and local trade have more than doubled during the lockdown period, according to a recent study. A report published by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network with WWF India support, indicated that despite consistent efforts of the law enforcement agencies, wild animal populations in India are under "additional threat" during the lockdown period. The highest increase in poaching was reported to be of ungulates mainly for meat, and the percentage jumped from nearly eight out of 22 per cent pre-lockdown to 44 per cent during the lockdown period. The second group which showed a marked increase was poaching of 'small mammals', including hares, porcupines pangolins, giant squirrels, civets, monkeys, smaller wild cats. Although some have always been in high demand in the international markets, most hunting during the lockdown period is presumably for meat or for local trade. Cases for these rose from 17 per cent to 25 per cent between the pre-and lockdown periods. Among the big cats, leopard poaching showed an increase during the lockdown period as nine Leopards were reported to have been killed compared to four in the pre-lockdown period. A total of 222 persons were arrested in poaching related cases by various law enforcement agencies during the lockdown period across the country, significantly higher than the 85 suspects reported as arrested during the pre-lockdown phase, the report stated. Incidences related to wild pet-bird seizures, however, came down significantly from 14 per cent to 7 per cent between the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods, presumably due to a lack of transport and closed markets during the lockdown period. Larger birds such as Indian Peafowls and game birds such as Grey Francolins, which are popular for their meat, were reported to be targeted during the lockdown. There was less reporting of poaching and illegal trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles, with almost no seizures of these species during the lockdown period. Saket Badola, Head of TRAFFIC's India Office said, "The more than doubling of reported poaching cases, mainly of ungulates and small wild animals for meat is doubtless placing additional burdens on wildlife law enforcement agencies. Therefore, it is imperative that these agencies are supported adequately and in a timely manner so they can control the situation". Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India added, "If poaching of ungulates and small animals remains unchecked it will lead to depletion of prey base for big cats like Tigers and Leopards and a depletion of the ecosystems." He said that it will lead to higher incidences of human-wildlife conflicts and will undermine the significant successes that India has achieved in the field of wildlife conservation. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text There is no such thing as private web browsing. (Image: Getty) Google still tracks users browsing through incognito mode in Chrome, according to a class action lawsuit. The legal filing in the US is seeking at least US$5,000 (AU$7,236) per user or US$5 billion (AU$7.2 billion) for violation of state privacy and federal wiretapping laws. The case argues that Google is intentionally misleading customers by suggesting incognito mode in Chrome allows private web browsing. "Google tracks and collects consumer browsing history and other web activity data no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy," reads the lawsuit. A Google spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that the company would defend itself. "As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session," said the spokesperson. We strongly dispute these claims and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them. It was only last year when Google closed a loophole in Chrome that allowed third party websites to check whether a user was in incognito mode. Sign up to the newsletter for exclusive access. Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. 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. Stock Market Election Year Cycles What to Expect? Every election year over the past five US Presidential election cycles has presented a unique set of price rotation events. Particularly evident in strongly contested US Presidential candidate battles where the voters are consumed with pre-election rhetoric. The 2007-08 election cycle was, in our opinion, very similar to the current market cycle in terms of consumer sentiment and economic function. The 2015-16 election cycle was less similar yet still important for our researchers. The economic conditions of the US economy and the global economy were vastly different prior to each US Presidential election cycle and continue to evolve throughout the current 2020 election cycle. Yet, our researchers believe the correlation of price volatility and rotation combined with the distraction for consumers as the election process occupies the hearts and minds of almost everyone across the globe takes a toll on the markets. Prior to almost any US Presidential, price volatility and trends tend to become much more exaggerated and extended. Weve published research articles about this technical setup/pattern that occurs in the markets nearly 8 to 15+ months before the US Presidential election cycle before. The basic theory of the setup/pattern is as follows _ 12+ months prior to the election date, the parties consolidate around specific candidates where the first battles of the US presidential election cycle conclude. _ Over the next 12 months, the battle between the selected candidates becomes more heated and aggressive as voters are pushed information and disinformation related to their decisions. _ The process of the election and the decision-making process for consumers/voters is very stressful and distracts from the normal economic activity for many. This distraction translates into an indecisive market where future expectations (optimism and pessimism) greatly depend on the outcome of the election. Thus, the markets are stuck in a no mans land type of stasis waiting for the election event to conclude. Depending on the events that lead up to the election date, the stock market could be biased towards a bullish trend or a bearish trend which can have a big impact on the pre and post-election outcomes. Before we continue, be sure to opt-in to our free-market trend signals before closing this page, so you dont miss our next special report! S&P 500 Index 2006-09 US Presidential Election Cycle Lets start by taking a look at the 2006-09 (2008 US election cycle) data/chart. First, we can see the price trend in 2006-07 was moderately bullish within the early election cycle. The first real signs of a crisis in the markets took place in mid-2007 where a deep low price move setup a double-bottom. Near the end of 2007 and into very early 2008, the stock market collapsed below those lows and never really recovered. The real collapse in price began in June 2008 after a moderate price recovery from the new lows. Price continued to collapse more aggressively just prior to the election date and even after the election was completed. Yes, we know this collapse was related to the 2008-09 Housing/Credit market crisis and was not related to the directly related to the Presidential election event. Yet, we, as technicians, believe price translates all external factors into a form that we can use to derive future information from. The point we want to try to make is that election cycle years tend to be much more volatile and aggressive. The pre-election price declines appear to set up a bottom or double-bottom price level 12 to 15+ months prior to the election date. After that completes, the markets may attempt to rally above previous highs at some point, but will likely attempt to retest recent lows 4 to 12 months prior to the election date. As voters/consumers attention is consumed by the election process, news and rhetoric, consumers change their habits and become more protective of their assets and future expenses. The one thing to consider when reviewing this chart is that the uncertainty and indecision in the markets related to the Presidential election cycle were compounded by the collapse of the housing, financial, and credit markets. This event created additional price and economic concerns fairly early in 2008. Additionally, pay attention to the June 2008 change in price trend that sets up a deeper downside price collapse. S&P 500 Index 2014-2017 US Presidential Election Cycle This next chart is the 2014-2017 US Presidential Election cycle and this chart highlights a very different time in US history. There was no massive housing/credit crisis event. There was no massive implosion of the US or global markets taking place throughout this time. There was only a heated battle between two candidates. The chart shows how 2015, nearly 12 months prior to the election date, the market price collapsed twice to complete a double-bottom pattern. This pattern seems to set up prior to election cycles with fairly high consistency. As we progress to the 12 month period just before the election date (highlighted in CYAN), we can see the 2016 election year resulted in a moderate upside price bias after establishing a bottom very early in 2016. Still, there was a decent amount of volatility throughout the year particularly in June and the 60 days prior to the actual election date. Remember, other than political drama, this election cycle didnt include any massive economic crisis events which could have altered the direction of the markets closer to the election date. The deeper double-bottoms set up the price range headed into the election date and the lack of surprise/crisis events prompted a moderate upside price bias leading into the election event. S&P 500 Current 2017-2020 Presidential Election Cycle Now, we take a look at the current 2017-2020 setup. This time, because of the prior extended rally in the markets from 2017, weve seen a series of deeper price lows setups into an expanding bottom/downward sloping price trend. This is somewhat unusual and suggests volatility is excessive at this time in the markets. Weve also experienced the COVID-19 virus event occur, which is acting like the 2008 housing/financial crisis event. At this point, heading into early June 2020 and understanding that these Presidential election cycle events typically result in much greater volatility as we get closer to the election date, our research team believes the June through August period could prompt a broad market downside retracement which coincides with Q2 data/expectations. The month of June prior to the election date (Q2) appears to be a very instrumental period for the markets. The downward sloping lows on this chart suggest a deeper price rotation may occur as the markets move closer to the election date and continue to process the technical and economic data. The uncertainty related to Presidential election cycles is still at play in the markets. Should some type of crisis event unfold in the midst of the final 5 to 6 months prior to the election date, the risk of a downside price event would become much more excessive. GDP Based Recession Indicator Currently, the COVID-19 virus event has set up a critical price event headed into the 2020 Presidential election cycle which is somewhat similar to the 2008 election cycle. Pay attention to the GDP Based Recession Indicator chart below. Notice how the 2008 election cycle correlated with a massive increase in the GDP Based Recession Indicator? Now, see how the current GDP Based Recession Indicator has already begun to spike upward? Unlike what happened in 2016 where the GDP Based Recession Indicator stayed below 30, the current level of this indicator suggests a crisis event is beginning to unfold in 2020. If this crisis event continues, the process where the price will attempt to properly identify risks and valuation levels will likely take place over the next 8 to 12+ months which is very similar to what happened in 2008 and 2009. Our researchers believe June 2020 could become a critical month for price activity where the future price trends are established. Concluding Thoughts: Currently, we are urging our friends and followers to stay overly cautious of this upward price trend in the US stock markets. Even though we have seen the NQ and other sectors rally to near all-time highs, we believe the markets are still excessively volatile and the indecision leading up to a Presidential election cycle could prompt some really big price moves in the future. We are still trading the long side of the market and advising our clients to take very low-risk trades which have been properly sized. This is a traders market where skilled technical traders can find incredible gains. June through August will likely become critical in regards to the future price trends and will likely determine if the markets continue to push higher or rotate downward as concerns and potential crisis events continue to unfold. Historically, June through August prior to a Presidential election cycle are very important measures of what happens near and after the election event. 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. 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. In the wake of protests erupting across the country, Kristen Bell vowed to continue raising her and Dax Shepard's two daughters, Lincoln, seven, and Delta, five, as 'anti-racists.' 'When we send them into the world, they are going to be formidable, opinionated, kind, morally-compassed women, and I'm so grateful for that,' said the 39-year-old star of The Good Place in an interview with Channel Q on Wednesday. Bell also admitted that when it comes to her daughters' choices regarding careers or their sexual orientation, she does not care and, instead, wants to 'love them' as they are. A promise: In the wake of protests erupting across the country, Kristen Bell vowed to continue raising her two daughters, Lincoln, seven, and Delta, five, as 'anti-racists'; Kristen pictured in 2019 'I know that I don't care what my girls grow up to be in their career, what their sexual choices are going to be, what their love choices are going to be. I just want to love them,' explained Kristen. 'Because we have one ride on this planet and what is the friggin' point of spending it hating?' Bell stressed that she knows in her 'bones that human beings are human beings' and that love is love, and love is never something you challenge, and that you've got to look for sameness if you're to have any happiness in your life.' Job well done: 'When we send them into the world, they are going to be formidable, opinionated, kind, morally-compassed women, and I'm so grateful for that,' said the 39-year-old The Good Place star in an interview with Channel Q on Wednesday; Lincoln and Delta pictured on Kristen's Instagram on May 23 A-Team: Kristen shares Delta and Lincoln with her husband of seven-years Dax Shepard, 45; the pair pictured in 2019 She added: 'So why would I care who loves who? That's not my business.' As for raising 'anti-racist' children, Kristen explained that her and Dax are 'very opinionated and 'talk a lot' and that their critical thinking skills have rubbed off on their girls. 'I will raise anti-racists. My husband and I are very opinionated; we talk a lot. Our kids are a nightmare. They're a nightmare because they will tell you your opinion,' said the Frozen actress. All love: 'I know that I don't care what my girls grow up to be in their career, what their sexual choices are going to be, what their love choices are going to be. I just want to love them,' explained Kristen; Kristen and her daughters pictured on May 12 'We constantly joke about the fact that we're raising two girls that they're going to be a nightmare for 18 years.' But, despite the annoyances, Kristen emphasized how proud she was to have raised such strong-willed, opinionated young women. Kristen and Dax first met back in 2007 and, although Kristen admitted she felt 'no sparks whatsoever' at first, they would go on to marry and welcome their first child in 2013. Succeeded: Kristen emphasized how proud she was to have raised such strong-willed, opinionated young women; Kristen pictured on Instagram on May 4 Since the tragic killing of Minnesota resident George Floyd at the hands of police on May 25, Kristen has been using her Instagram to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement. On Monday, Kristen shared a powerful image of two cartoon hands making a 'pinky promise' with the phrase 'I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand' written over top. 'I stand with you. #demandchange #BlackLivesmatter,' captioned Bell on the post seen by her 14.3million followers. Citizens across the nation have taken to the streets to protest police brutality against African-Americans in wake of the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis. Solidarity: On Monday, Kristen shared a powerful image of two cartoon hands making a 'pinky promise' with the phrase 'I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand' written over top Banding together: Citizens across the nation have taken to the streets to protest police brutality against African-Americans in wake of the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis; protesters pictured in West Hollywood on June 3 In the horrifying video footage of Floyd's death, he is seen saying that he can not breathe as officer Derek Chauvin, 44, kneeled on his neck. On Wednesday, Chauvin's charges were upgraded from third-degree murder to second-degree murder. Three more officers, Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, were arrested and charged with 'aiding and abetting murder,' according to the New York Times. The Time is Now for a Public Reckoning on the Killing of Un-armed Black Men in America In the middle a global pandemic of unprecedented scale and disproportionate impact on the health and well-being of African Americans, the nation reckons with another. Last week, we all watched in sheer horror as George Floyd took his last breaths under the knee of an officer. Before then, Ahmaud Aubrey was murdered at the hands of two vigilantes for the crime of an afternoon run. Breonna Taylor killed in her own home in the middle of the night from police officer fire. Eric Garner, while, too, pleading for his last breaths. Michael Brown, days after his high school graduation. Tamir Rice, while playing in a neighborhood park. Trayvon Martin, for his choice of clothing while walking to get a snackiced tea and skittles. We say their names, honor their legacy, but these tragedies feel uncomfortably familiar their details have begun to echo each other. ADVERTISEMENT The epidemic of police killings of unarmed African Americans is an unrelenting outrage, and we all have every right to the anger and pain felt so deeply right now. And its not just the injustice of those that have fallen to their deaths. So many have privately talked about what they face each and every day, just by stepping outside their door. We cannot and will not accept this injustice. Such lawless acts of state violence should never be normalized, nor should discrimination of any kind. After the pain, after the anger, what are the next steps? Here, the history of the 92 uprisings loom large. We know the responsibilities government face in safeguarding justice, as well as the high costs when that trust is betrayed. There are no easy answers, the deep racist structural inequities in this country go as far back as the 1788 ratification of our constitution at Philadelphia Hall. ADVERTISEMENT While the past informs, we know that the future begins anew with all of us today. We only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love in the words of Dr. King. But our hearts and souls must be clear and focused on reform that is reflective of a 21st century reality. Reform of police misconduct has animated my career of public service for more than three decades. It was the guiding force for establishing the Civilian Oversight Commission, the Office of Inspector General and before then, a police commission with expanded authority on the City Council. However, as a father of two young black men, assessing the data, seeing the same videos, it tells us all what we need to know, and what so many of us have already known. More fundamental change is needed. No one is above the law, including the officials who are sworn to enforce our laws. At the very least, the four officers in Minneapolis involved in George Floyds death, should be arrested and each charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In Los Angeles, while we have fortunately come a long way since the racial sinkhole status of the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson verdicts, progress does not require perfection, but a real commitment to its pursuit, especially for the black lives that hang in the balance. We fail ourselves, and future generations if we only view this as a criminal justice issue. The events of this past weekend, and underlying tensions, have made the discussions of the economic recovery even more critical and more urgent. The COVID crisis has caused our regions unemployment rate to rise to more than 20%, and economists project that our unemployment rate could exceed 30%. That rate will surely be higher for African-Americans. This means we must intentionally and unabashedly focus our recovery strategies in ways that address the inequities that have been long endured by disadvantaged communities and communities of color. For instance, this was the underlying foundation on our work studying African Americans disproportionate representation among LA Countys homeless population through the Ad Hoc Committee on Black Homelessness. Now is the time to put these recommendations into motion. Or the recommendations made in the Beyond the Schoolhouse report, by a group of researchers led by Professor Tyrone Howard, Director of the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families and the Black Male Institute, that urge the development of a targeted Countywide strategic plan to address the needs of Black children, in response to an increased need for equity in our educational system. Providing a path forward also means meaningful business opportunities and family sustaining employment, are necessary if we are to be successful in the work that must be done at all levels. I am pleased to see that hair salons and barbershops were recently allowed to reopen. It makes a huge difference economically and culturally. Small. Business. Matters. We cannot bring George Floyd back, but for all of us who stand for justice, who value life, we must also stand for truth, honor and equity no matter the consequences. This will be the true manifestation of how we make sure this moment is enduring, and most important of all, honor the legacies of those gone too soon at the hands of unrepentant perpetrators of racialized violence. Rest in power. WASHINGTON - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in her latest break with party leaders, has endorsed a Democratic primary challenger to Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., a long-serving committee chairman who represents a district adjacent to hers. In a series of tweets, Ocasio-Cortez announced her support for Engel's leading challenger, middle-school principal Jamaal Bowman, whose message of generational change has echoed that of Ocasio-Cortez ahead of her 2018 upset of a long-serving Democratic incumbent. "This moment requires renewed and revitalized leadership across the country AND at the ballot box," Ocasio-Cortez wrote Wednesday night. "Not only is Jamaal a profound community leader, but I believe he'd make a fantastic colleague in the United States House of Representatives." Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is serving his 16th term in the House. He has reported raising more than $1.6 million through March - about three times as much as Bowman - but is facing a spirited June 23 primary amid criticism that he has not spent enough time in the district. On Tuesday, Engel generated headlines after he repeatedly asked to speak at a Bronx news conference on protests over the killing by Minneapolis police of George Floyd, then said near a live microphone, "If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care." Bowman, cited the statement as a sign that it's time for Engel to leave Congress. Engel sought to clarify his remarks later in the day, saying in a statement that he had wanted to convey that he cares "deeply about what's happening in this country" while he seeks reelection. Ocasio-Cortez, one of four minority freshman lawmakers known on Capitol Hill as "the Squad," has repeatedly made clear her willingness to buck party leaders since her arrival in Washington. Engel enjoys the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of the House Democratic caucus, in a heavily Democratic district in which the primary winner is all but assured of prevailing in the general election in November. At her weekly news conference Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she supports Ocasio-Cortez and Engel in their reelection bids and wishes them both well. She noted that Engel "has a unique privilege" in that he is both chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. "That wouldn't happen again - that's a lot of power," Pelosi said, praising Engel as a lawmaker who "does a great job for New York." Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed two other challengers to House Democrats in this year's elections. Business executive and activist Marie Newman defeated Rep. Daniel Lipinski in an Illinois district south of Chicago, while Rep. Henry Cuellar defeated Jessica Cisneros, an immigration attorney backed by Ocasio-Cortez. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: Joining the bandwagon of western countries, Belgium too expressed its interest in starting trading of Bihar's the most nutritious cash crop -makhana(fox nuts). The Embassy of Belgium through video conferencing discussed marketing and all commercial angels of makhana for different markets in the country. Belgium, which is one of the six founding countries of the European Union with its headquarters at Brusells, has a suitable market for the foods items like makhana because of its population's eating habits. Speaking to New Indian Express, Satyajit Singh, Bihar's one of the prominent exporter said, "The Embassy of Belgium discussed over the marketing and branding of makhana for its 12 million population through video conferencing". He said that the government of India has taken an initiative for global promotion of makhana through its all embassies on other countries. Singh runs a company known as '"Shakti-Sudha" in Patna and has been working an agricultural activist for the global promotion of makhana since 2006. Impressed at his initiative and others like him, Nitish Kumar led government has also intensified the efforts towards the cash crop's cultivation and its subsequent exports on a large scale. "Belgium govt has invited the Shakti Sudha to participate in its annual mega agriculture fair, which is held in the month of October every year, by putting a stall of makhana for the five days of fair. It's a great thing for the start like Bihar,which is the largest producer of makhana", Singh said. Quoting figures, Singh said that the cultivation of makhana in Bihar has increased from 2000 hectares in 2006 to 20000 hectares in 2020 with the production quantity of 2000 tonnes in 2006 to 20000 tonnes in 2020. "At present, one kg of makhana fetches Rs 400 growing ten times higher than it rate of Rs 40 per kg in 2006," he said. Almost 12000 farmers are associated with Singh's company. Subsequent to our release, and later as General Secretary of the party I had to visit the Uva province to revitalise political activities. It was during that time, I stayed at comrade Marshal Pereras house. by Lionel Bopage It is sad to hear about the passing away of comrade Marshal Perera, Presidents Counsel, former Governor of the Uva Province of Sri Lanka and the father of former Member of Parliament and Minister Dilan Perera. If my memory serves right, I met comrade Marshal Perera in Badulla, during the latter part of 1977. Comrade Marshal Perera with comrade Upali Rathnayake, the translator of the biography The political activities of the Movement (which later became the JVP) in Badulla district commenced towards the latter part of the sixties. Late comrade Sumith Athukorala was the first full-time activist of the Movement in Badulla. He was one of the first full-time political activists, who came out of Peradeniya University and the first member to be arrested sometime in 1969. He was arrested while staying at Muthiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya in Badulla. This happened prior to comrade Rohana Wijeweeras first arrest. Prior to April 71 Uprising, comrade Sunanda Deshapriya was responsible for the JVP activities in the Badulla district. At the time we were released from prison in November 1977, the JVP activities in the district had considerably weakened. During the seventies, when theJVP was under proscription, comrade Sumith Athukorala and several other comrades had been involved in rebuilding party organisations in the district. Subsequent to our release, and later as General Secretary of the party I had to visit the Uva province to revitalise political activities. During these visits to Badulla district, I had to stay over a couple of days to conduct JVP political activities. It was during that time, I stayed at comrade Marshal Pereras house. In the process, I came to know that he was a simple, down to earth person, despite being an attorney. I recollect the convivial mornings in which we had simple home cooked village breakfasts together at his house. He was very supportiveand interested in the political activities we conducted at the time. Some mornings I accidentally came across his son, Dilan Perera, who was on his way to attend classes. Since I left the JVP in 1984, I did not have the opportunity to associate with comrade Marshal Perera. However, when I visited Sri Lanka while in exile in the middle of the nineties, I had the occasion to meet up with Minister Dilan Perera,a couple of times. On one such occasion, I was able to talk to his father on the phone. When we were in Colombo last year, we invited comrade Marshal Perera to attend the launch of the Sinhala translation of my biography. He was extremely pleased to do so and kindly obliged. We did not get much time to talk, but during the short conversation I had with him, I came to understand that despite his many official governmental affiliations, he was the same simple person that I used to know during the 1980s. With those comradely memories of solidarity and convivialityfresh in our minds, we salute him in his last journey. She penned a heartfelt message on her social media accounts following the death of George Floyd, confessing she had 'lived in a bubble of privilege' and using it to protect her family. And Whitney Port was spotted without her husband, Tim Rosenman, 42, and son, Sonny, two, on Wednesday, when she was spotted picking up some drinks in Studio City. The 35-year-old reality star dressed casually and abided by face-mask orders. Whitney Port was spotted enjoying a solo coffee outing on Wednesday, after penning a post on social media about how she's only just realized the world's social injustices are her issue too. Whitney rocked a grey colored sweatshirt and a pair of loose fitting black trousers. She teamed the look with socks and slides and slicked her blonde hair back into a high bun. The Hills: New Beginnings star's appearance comes after she shared a post on social media admitting 'she needed to do more' when it came to fighting for equality. Following protocol: The 35-year-old reality star dressed casually and abided by face-mask orders Thoughts: The Hills: New Beginnings star's appearance comes after she shared a post on social media admitting 'she needed to do more' when it came to fighting for equality 'I imagine like a lot of you, I woke up this morning upset, afraid, confused, and not knowing what to do with any of those feelings,' she began. 'I live in a bubble of privilege. As a mother, my goal has been to make my family's world as safe as possible, but I'm beginning to realize that I made the bubble too small. I need to do more.' 'I do not want Sonny to come of age in the nation we live in now. I son't know what to to do precisely yet, but U'm going to figure it out. I want everyone to know that I stand behind those who have been victimized by our system.' Whitney went on to confess she wasn't worried about what her fans would think of her taking a stance. She ended with: 'I'll urge all of you who want to live in a better nation to use your platform as well.' Action: Whitney took to social media on Blackout Tuesday to share her plan of attack Whitney took to social media on Blackout Tuesday to share her plan of attack. 'It's taken me too long to figure this out, but that is because I built my bubble well,' she began. 'Honestly, it wasn't until the protest brought things to my front door that I realized this was my problem too.' Whitney has been spotted out and about over the past few weeks enjoying some alone time from her boys. The mom-of-one has also spent her time in isolation keeping fit with at home Instagram Live videos with her fans. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Whitney, sharing last month that she had been putting unnecessary pressure on herself. She's been in lockdown with her husband, Tim Rosenman, 42, and their son, Sonny Sanford, two, over the past few months (pictured February 2020) 'Today was not a good day,' she wrote on social media. 'I feel EXCEPTIONALLY guilty not having a good day considering we are all healthy, but the feelings of insecurity just wouldn't go away. I have had a lot of insecurities for a while and they have grown more since the quarantine.' She added: 'I try to lead a good example, which for me has always meant being real with you guys and hoping I've created a safe place for us to share our deepest, darkest secrets, but I haven't been totally honest about how much negative self-talk actually do.' Whitney announced her engagement to her former The City producer, Tim Rosenman, after they began dating in 2012. The pair married in November 2015 and they announced they were expecting their first child in February 2017. After welcoming Sonny in July 2017, she revealed she had suffered a miscarriage in July 2019. Willow Dunn was allegedly left to starve to death in her cot while her father and stepmother doted on their new baby. Mark James Dunn, 43, and his girlfriend Shannon White, 43, were both charged with murder after the four-year-old girl, who had Down syndrome, was found dead in a back room of their Brisbane home on Monday. But Daily Mail Australia can reveal their own son, born on August 30, 2018, and by all accounts a healthy and happy baby, was adored by both his parents. White posted numerous photos of herself and the little boy to Facebook including a recent video of him happily playing with toys on the floor. 'Running a muck (sic) has just learnt how to get in the sunroom lol,' she wrote, while Willow at the same time was allegedly being horrifically neglected. Shannon White, 43, holds her toddler son, born August 2018, whom she shares with her boyfriend Mark Dunn Willow Dunn, 4, was the daughter of Dunn and his deceased wife Naomi. In contrast to her baby half-brother, her body was found decomposing in her bed and police revealed she died of malnourishment and sustained neglect Photos from the birth of the now 10-month-old boy prompted friends to comment how much he looked like his father - Dunn. 'Definitely has Mark's ears, lips and nose,' White replied. Dunn and White posted numerous selfies of each other, tagged each other in couples' memes, and left gushing emotional comments with heart emojis. White was the best friend of Willow's biological mother Naomi Dunn, who died on November 5, 2015, from complications in giving birth to her. Little more than a year later in early 2017, White, who was Ms Dunn's bridesmaid at her wedding in 2014, moved from her home in Adelaide to Brisbane to shack up with Dunn. Little more than a year after Ms Dunn's death in early 2017, White (pictured, right) - her best friend of 20 years - moved from Adelaide to Brisbane to shack up with her husband (left) White (pictured, centre) was on Wednesday arrested and later charged with murder. Dunn had been slapped with the same charge a week earlier White (pictured, centre) was led away from the station in handcuffs looking worse for wear and wearing thongs and shabby clothes Their union appeared to have the blessing of White's family and friends, who often remarked how 'handsome' Dunn was. 'Perfect couple! Look so happy together and they both certainly deserve each other,' one of White's adult daughters wrote. Willow's seven-year-old brother was also well cared for and there appear to be no signs of mistreatment towards him. Meanwhile, Willow was allegedly left to lie in her own filth for days or weeks on end while they played with the new baby. They allegedly left the helpless little girl lying in her bed, starving to death, long enough for her to have infected sores on her hips down to the bone. White gushed over Willow (pictured) when she was born in late October 2015, when she posted this photo of the newborn infant 'My best mate's baby willow such a beautiful sole (sic) can't wait to meet her, so adorable,' she wrote White allegedly told police last week that caring for Willow was not her responsibility as she was not her biological daughter. She also gushed over Willow when she was born in late October 2015, when she posted a photo of the newborn infant. 'My best mate's baby willow such a beautiful sole (sic) can't wait to meet her, so adorable,' she wrote. 'Naomi u done a amazing job with such a roller coaster pregnancy ur such a great mum and an awesome friend love u babe.' Ms Dunn replied: 'Awwww you making me cry... Love you lots.' White responded with: 'Over 20 years of friendship and staying forever.' Three days later Ms Dunn was dead. White posted numerous photos of herself and the the little boy to Facebook including a recent video of him happily playing with toys on the floor Willow's body was found malnourished and decomposing in her bed at her home in Brisbane last Monday, her face partially eaten by rats, and her father Mark James Dunn (pictured) charged with murder Daily Mail Australia understands Willow was sent to live with an aunt and uncle after her mother's death. Their father up to a year later took her and her brother, who is now seven, back to live with him despite a custody attempt by the relatives. Dunn allegedly told police after his arrest he couldn't handle his daughter's condition and was depressed about his wife's death. Mark and Naomi Dunn (pictured) married in 2014, less than a year before her death from complications after giving birth to Willow White (pictured, second from left) was a bridesmaid at Ms Dunn's wedding in 2014 and was her friend for 19 years at the time For the past year the toddler is believed to have been solely in the care of her father, who allegedly left her in squalor. Police confirmed a post-mortem revealed the toddler died of malnourishment and sustained neglect. Detective Inspector Chris Knight would not rule out charging more people and said police were investigating the entire family in Queensland, NSW, and South Australia. 'Despite today's second arrest in this homicide, detectives are continuing to progress this investigation,' he said. Ms Dunn's adult son mourned his half-sister on Facebook in the days after her death. 'Rest in Peace Willow. It's so heartbreaking things have turned out this way, but you will forever be in our hearts. Fly high with mum,' her son wrote. Willow (pictured, left), who had Down Syndrome, and her brother who is now seven (right) was sent to live with an aunt and uncle after her mother's death Naomi Dunn (pictured) died on November 5, 2015, after giving birth to her daughter Willow, devastating her family A Facebook post from Ms White in 2014 claimed Ms Dunn was her best friend of 19 years (pictured) Inspector Knight said members of Willow's family moved to Queensland from South Australia in 2017 and police wanted to speak to anyone who knew of them and the family dynamic. 'We continue to obtain information from potential witnesses who are assisting us to build a clearer picture of the dynamics relating to Willow Dunn's family,' he said. 'Our investigative team are not yet satisfied that we've exhausted all inquiries and will continue to investigate and evaluate all information that we come by so that we can make better informed decisions in the future.' Detectives are investigating whether Willow spent the entirety of her four years on earth in squalor without adequate food or care. She was allegedly badly malnourished, and had bone-deep sores on her hips when she was found. Willow was not Down syndrome registered with the NDIS, leading detectives to allege she was not receiving the care she needed. A teddy bear wearing a Parramatta Eels jersey is seen in the bedroom of the Cannon Hill home on May 26 (pictured) just hours after little Willow was allegedly found in her cot Americas racial hang-up is black and white. And, as a Latino, Ive never been more grateful to not belong to either group. Because Im neither black nor white, I see things clearly. I dont play favorites. Both groups are whacked. I want everyone held accountable for their actions from police officers who abuse their authority to vandals who loot and destroy. And I see racism in all forms whether its coming from white conservatives who expect people of color to put up with so much, or from white liberals who have come to expect so little from them. White conservatives essentially tell black people: You can stand near me, just dont get angry, violent or destructive. White liberals tell them: You can get angry, violent and destructive, just dont do it near me. As long as protesters are rioting, looting and setting fires in black neighborhoods, city officials in Democratic cities like Los Angeles let the mayhem run its course. But the minute that protesters cross the freeway and break into the Gucci store on pricey Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, those same officials call out the National Guard. Once more, America has descended into madness. This black-and-white movie has played before in Watts 1965, Miami 1980, Crown Heights (New York) 1991, Los Angeles 1992. We know how it ends. There will be spilled blood, mutual distrust and hurt feelings but no solution. Yet, at the same time, so much of what were going through feels like uncharted territory. People have never been this angry, or this divided, since the Civil War. Everyone, it seems, hates everyone. One minute, were told by media liberals and do-gooder Democratic politicians that the riots and looting are understandable expressions of rage over centuries of African Americans being mistreated and then were being made to feel as if theyre crazy and imagining the whole thing. The next minute, a Seattle television station airs footage of a young white woman exiting a closed Cheesecake Factory that has been looted. She is holding an unboxed medium-sized cheesecake topped with strawberries in one hand and a Champagne flute in the other. What historical grievance does this woman have, I wonder. Or maybe she just has guests coming for brunch, and she needs dessert. Much of the outrage that African Americans feel over the killing of 46-year-old George Floyd by four former officers of the Minneapolis Police Department has been hijacked by young white kids who use the wheels of skateboards to break windows. Of course, white people are opportunistically appropriating the outrage of black America. Thats not new. For generations, white folks have shamelessly co-opted black folks music, fashion, food. But thats not the whole story. Bored young people from the suburbs some of them home from college because of COVID-19 are going to the downtown areas of major cities to wreak havoc and break things. These arent thugs. Theyre punks. And theyre angry. Theyve been angry for more than 20 years, dating back to the protests in Seattle in 1999 over the World Trade Organization. Interestingly enough, they dont seem angry at police except when police get in their way. Theyre angry at corporations particularly the companies theyve grown up with. Why else would they shatter the windows of so many Starbucks shops? To get inside and steal coffee? Wrong. Look at the companies whose offices and stores have been attacked. CNN. Apple. Chase Bank. The more familiar a brand is to young people, the more of a target it becomes. Google, watch your back. This mysterious white rage which is especially loud and violent, among young men has been there, and weve turned a blind eye. On Twitter, there are videos of black people pleading with white kids to not destroy stores in black neighborhoods. The kids ignore them. Meanwhile, in Oakland, Calif., someone fired a shot into the federal building and killed a law enforcement officer. The dead officer, 53-year-old Patrick Underwood, was black. To understand race in America, take a crayon box and empty out all the colors except for two. Just as it has been for 400 years, Americas dominant racial paradigm is still black and white. Asian Americans, Muslim Americans and Latinos, we all accept that as a fact of life. Some might think that ONWs (other nonwhites) want to horn in on that racial dynamic to get our share of attention. No thanks. You can have it. These crayons are poison. ruben@rubennavarrette.com Facing mounting criticism for their use of tear gas and other crowd control tactics, Portland police Wednesday night described what gear, munitions and weapons they carry and how they decide to use them. Lt. Franz Schoening, commander of the bureaus Rapid Response Team, said police try to isolate people who are throwing things at police, damaging property or acting aggressively. But when officers cant see disrupters in a dense crowd because theyre four to five rows back from officers and they wont comply with orders to leave the area, they use distraction devices or send smoke or gas into a crowd to disperse people without using physical force that would heighten the risk of injuries, he said. Unfortunately, we have other community members get caught up in the mix, Schoening said. Were struggling to deal with that. He spoke as thousands of peaceful demonstrators filled the citys streets for a seventh consecutive night, protesting last weeks killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to his neck for nearly nine minutes. Police also faced demands from city commissioners to leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon to ban the use of tear gas after video clips the night before captured gas-clouded streets with dozens of protesters running away or washing out their burning eyes. Schoening said police consider whether they can retreat from a disruptive crowd. If not and they declare a civil disturbance and protesters dont heed repeated orders to leave an area, officers are likely to first toss a distraction device to get a crowds attention, he said. Portland police use a SafariLand Stinger stun grenade that officers throw to pop and bang with the intent to startle a crowd, get people to stop what theyre doing thats dangerous and move way, he said. The grenade can deliver light, sound, rubber pellets, and an optional pepper spray. Former Police Chief Danielle Outlaw halted the use of an aerial distraction device thats fired in the air from a 40mm launcher to create a flash-bang effect after a demonstrator suffered a serious head injury during a 2018 protest. If the "pop and bang'' distraction device doesnt convince people to move, then police will turn to riot-control agents, either firing or throwing canisters of tear gas, pepper spray or smoke into a crowd. Police on the specialized crowd control team will use so-called impact munitions when someone in front of them is actively aggressive to change their behavior, Schoening said. Those are either foam-tipped projectiles fired from a 40mm launcher or a plastic projectile containing an inert powder and non-toxic chemical called bismuth thats fired from an FN 303 air-powered launcher. The riot-control agents tear gas, OC (the irritant Oleoresin Capsicum or pepper spray) pyrotechnic gas or smoke are either fired from a 40 mm launcher or thrown in canisters, Schoening said. Police are supposed to aim the launchers high. The canisters either smoke in place or separate into three pieces. We try to use the tools that get the job done with the least amount of injury and the shortest lasting effect, Schoening said. 5 Police lieutenant, fire medic describe protest gear Patrol officers who arent part of the specialized Rapid Response Team but are on mobile field forces are armed with batons or pepper spray. The Rapid Response Team members have the impact munitions and riot-control agents. The tactics have evolved each night. Police said theyve spotted cars carrying objects that people are delivering to demonstrators including bottles, sticks or bats that have been thrown or used against officers. Other cars have tried to block police vehicles downtown. Police decided to tag the cars with spray paint to identify them and potentially stop them at a future time, Schoening said. He acknowledged the tactic is kind of out there, its different, but he said he considered it a creative and safe solution to avoid having to chase cars through a crowded area filled with people. While hes aware city officials and others are questioning the tactics, Schoening said police are tired and frustrated, too. We are physically and emotionally exhausted. We are physically and emotionally in pain, he said. Every night we come into the precinct, were in emotional pain because were seeing a community divided like weve never seen before in our careers. "People have this sense that we enjoy what we have to do...theres nothing further from the truth.'' Fire Lt. Damon Simmons, one of the fire medics embedded with police Rapid Response Team squads, said the injuries theyve treated during the last week of protests have been demonstrators suffering from panic attacks, shortness of breath, heat exhaustion, bruises and the worst, a head injury. Simmons said hes unsure how the protester suffered the head injury but the person was conscious and alert. The medics ballistic vests say Medic on the back and theyre wearing gray sweaters and pants, with medic red patches on the shirt shoulders. Protesters should wave or shout, Hey, we need medical attention to get help, he said. If theyre not near a responder, they should call 911, he said. The medics are constantly scanning the crowd to see if anyones hurt, almost like a lifeguard keeps watch over swimmers, he said. Were there to deal with anything that comes up, he said. If people ask for help, well come and help them. -- 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 SRINAGAR: Days after an IED-laden car was found in south Kashmirs Pulwama district, which was part of a terrorist attack plan, the intelligence agencies have warned that Pakistan-backed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad is planning another vehicle-borne IED attack on the security forces. Fresh inputs gathered by the intelligence agencies suggest that the JeM terrorists had prepared three IEDs out of which only one was intercepted at Pulwama. The intelligence agencies have also warned that a group of JeM terrorists is likely to carry out a vehicle-borne IED attack on the security forces installations at Nowgam, Srinagar & Kulgam. On May 28, a joint team of forces recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) from a Santro car in Ayengund area of Rajpora in south Kashmirs Pulwama district. The IED was defused successfully by the bomb disposal squad and a major attack was averted. he vehicle was intercepted in a joint operation by 44 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and the Pulwama Police. The owner of the car, affiliated with terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist, was later detained by the security forces. Meanwhile, three Jaish terrorists were killed by security forces after an encounter in Kangan area of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. According to Jammu and Kashmir Police, a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists. Abdul Rehman alias Fouji Bhia, a top commander of Jaish, was among the three terrorists eliminated in the encounter. Rehman, who was an Afghanistan war participant, was an IED expert and was also the mastermind of the recent failed car bomb attempt in Pulwama. Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad is reportedly on the backfoot because of the heavy casualty suffered by it due to large-scale anti-terror operations being carried out by the security forces. The intelligence report also warned that some unidentified terrorists are planning to kidnap Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel posted in Shopian. Stacker consulted the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project to investigate COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons and jails across the country. This article was first published on Stacker The University of Miami initiative has been tracking public health policy response data to determine how swift or lax implementation of mitigation efforts have impacted the spread of the virus in Latin American countries. Brazil, which has followed the inept example of Mexico in failing to swiftly enact national public health policies to contain the coronavirus pandemic, has now become the world leader in terms of infections and daily deaths, according to the latest round of data provided by the Latin America COVID-19 Observatory. In a trilingual webinar Tuesday, members of the University of Miami-led initiative that provides timely data in an effort to improve government public health policy responses and save lives, along with a leading Brazilian epidemiologist, analyzed the observatory's study on Brazil. "This is a very timely discussion as Latin America has now become the world's hot spot for COVID-19 infections and deaths, accounting for 40 percent of the daily registered deaths globally, and Brazil has reached a critical phase in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said University of Miami President Julio Frenk, setting the context for the session. Frenk, a former health minister in Mexico and global public health expert, highlighted the "enormous expressions of solidarity, service, and sacrifice in the region, particularly on the part of frontline health workers and researchers" in seeking to combat the contagion. "In that spirit of solidarity, we are presenting this data," he said, "yet, sadly, we are witnessing the peril of delayed action by populist governments that tend to devalue science and evidence--and that has put millions of lives at risk." The Latin America COVID-19 Observatory was developed by the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, Miller School of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Communication, in collaboration with research partners throughout Latin America. A first round of data released several weeks ago focused on Mexico, and this second release centered on Brazil with a comparative regional data analysis. The observatory provides daily updates on public health and physical distancing policies--10 variables in total--implemented at the national and subnational level, the only consortium to offer state-level regional data of this scope, explained Felicia Marie Knaul, director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Miller School. Knaul noted that the observatory plans next to continue its assessment of other countries in the region and also to strengthen its collaboration with Brazil. She emphasized the value of providing state-level data that can be easily visualized on the website. "From a research point of view, we will be able to look at differences across states and countries to help us explain what works and what doesn't work in the face of a pandemic--and that should help with future preparedness and also what we might see in terms of second waves of the current pandemic," said Knaul, who has been instrumental in advancing the initiative. "Also," she continued, "what we've seen in Mexico, in Brazil, and other countries with major variance is that if you demonstrate that some states are performing better than others, you can encourage those states that have weak public policy or even those that have enacted strong policy, but are still seeing mobility, that they need to adjust their public policies." Such analysis, she said, can provide "an opportunity for an overall improvement at the national level by asking states to come together and do as well as the best-performing states." Knaul noted that Brazil, with now nearly 1,000 deaths a day and a trajectory that is on the upswing, is now the hot spot of the global pandemic. "Our hearts and souls go out to all living in Brazil at the epicenter and to see how this is evolving, and we are here to do whatever we can to be supportive," she said. Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair in Visual Journalism and associate professor with the School of Communication, moderated the webinar. Cairo formed part of a robust collaborative effort from the school that played a major role in translating--linguistically, textually, and visually--the website's data and display. In pre-release findings on Brazil, the consortium observed that the administration of Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro wasted valuable time while COVID-19 spread across the country, a delay that obligated state and local governments to fend for themselves. Michael Touchton, assistant professor of political science and the global health associate faculty lead for the institute with expertise in Brazil, highlighted the impact of the disparities in the differing responses of Brazilian states and other more recent trends in his presentation. The best state performers were not limited to the wealthiest states, nor to those that are often considered the best governed, Touchton noted. Instead, political explanations--whether the state governor opposed or supported the Brazilian president--were a better indicator of how well the state was in controlling the contagion. The relatively marginalized states of the northeast part of the country have responded more aggressively and have fared better, as have some northern states. And, governors from opposition parties lead these states and have imposed much stricter measures than what the Bolsonaro administration recommended, Touchton pointed out. Cesar Victora, Brazilian epidemiologist and lead of the International Center for Equity in Health at Universidade Federal de Pelotas, provided a detailed analysis based on household surveys of 133 sentinel cities in Brazil's 27 states. In response to an audience question, Frenk said that the common element for both controlling the pandemic and opening the economy in Latin America and elsewhere is to do testing, both for surveillance and diagnostic in nature. "It's not a trade-off--the two objectives of controlling and opening have to go hand in hand," Frenk said. "If you reopen the economy in an accelerated, reckless way, you will have a spike in cases. And, you may have to shut down the economy a second time." "And the third piece is clear, clear communication," Frenk continued. "Communicating to the people so that they adhere to the physical distancing, protection of personal space by using masks, and extensive measures of personal hygiene--that is the combination that allows you to open the economy safely and to control the pandemic." ### Visit the COVID-19 Observatory interactive platform here: http://observcovid.miami.edu/ - http://www.news.miami.edu - If theres been a disconnect between sharemarkets and the broader economic environment over the past 10 weeks, then that dissonance between the real world and investors has now become extreme. The US market has gained almost 38 per cent since its March 23 low and is now only 9 per cent below its record levels in February, before real awareness of the coronavirus outbreak hit. The Australian market is "only" up a bit over 28 per cent over that period. That surge on Wall Street has come despite a litany of developments that, individually, might have been expected to rattle investors and send them to the sidelines. Out on the street, there civil unrest on a scale not seen in America since the 1960s. But the stockmarket seems unfazed. Credit:AP The big one, of course, remains the coronavirus, and its devastating impact on the global economy. The grand alliance thats helped revive global oil markets is being rattled by a long-running feud over members breaking their promises. Just a day before a proposed gathering on Thursday, the OPEC+ coalition hurriedly backtracked from the meeting intended to green-light an extension of its deepest production cutbacks and prop up crude prices. Saudi Arabia and Russia -- the leading producers in the group -- have lost patience with the errant behavior of the next-biggest member, Iraq, according to people familiar with the matter. While most of the main players are delivering their agreed share of output curbs, Baghdad is once again reneging on its commitments. At stake is the unity of the 23-nation partnership, which has helped engineer a doubling in international oil prices following the battering meted out by the coronavirus crisis. If the Iraqis, and other delinquents such as Nigeria and Kazakhstan, dont shape up then Riyadh and Moscow are warning they will start to phase out the supply curbs that are putting a floor under the market. The kingdom and the Kremlin are pushing the stragglers hard -- not just demanding they implement the cuts already promised, but asking for deeper curbs in the coming months to compensate for their earlier failings. Riyadh and Moscow are not kidding about implementing some form of compliance-improvement mechanism, said Bob McNally, founder of consultant Rapidan Energy Group and a former White House official. Without it, they walk. Impossible Choice Such penance would be difficult for Iraq to accept. It made less than half of its assigned cutbacks last month, so compensating fully would require it to slash production by a further 24% to about 3.28 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg calculations. For a country still rebuilding its economy following decades of war, sanctions and Islamist insurgency, thats a tall order. Resisting the temptation of selling crude during the current market rebound, which has brought prices back to about $40 a barrel, may prove impossible. While Iraqi Finance Minister and Acting Oil Minister Ali Allawi did pledge to improve compliance with pledged cuts in an unusual Twitter post on Tuesday, he didnt go any further. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies pledged in April to slash oil output by 9.7 million barrels a day, or roughly 10% of global oil supplies, to offset the unprecedented collapse in demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns. A few weeks later, Saudi Arabia and its closest allies in the Persian Gulf pledged additional supply restraint of 1.2 million barrels a day in June. Riyadh and Moscow are aligned on continuing cuts at the current level for an extra month beyond July 1, according to people familiar with the matter. But if they dont receive assurances from Iraq and the other laggards at their next meeting -- currently scheduled for June 9-10 -- the groups daily supply curbs will ease to 7.7 million barrels for the rest of the year. Princes Priority Enforcing better compliance among OPEC+ nations has been a motif since Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was appointed. In his first public outing after becoming energy minister, in Abu Dhabi last September, bin Salman was literally applauded for securing loud pledges of atonement from Iraq and Nigeria. But his tenure has also been stormy, and the latest move has high stakes. In March, the princes attempt to force Russia to make deeper output reductions backfired spectacularly, splintering the entire alliance and igniting a destructive price war. Two months ago, bin Salmans achievement in successful restoring the OPEC+ coalition and forging an agreement for historic production cuts was delayed and ultimately overshadowed by a spat over Mexicos contribution to the deal. Consistent Laggard Iraqs recalcitrance is as old as the OPEC+ partnership itself, which was founded in 2016 to shore up oil prices against the onslaught of American shale. Baghdad argued that the exemption from cutbacks it had received since the conflicts of the 1990s should continue. The central government also has limited influence over about 500,000 barrels a day of production from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. At the critical meeting where OPEC+ was formed, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi had to leave the conference room and call his prime minister for approval to accept the new strictures. Nonetheless, recent history suggests the burden might not be as onerous as it appears, and that Iraqs resistance could be overcome. Last December, Baghdad was pressed to accept additional supply reductions, even though it had barely managed to cut output earlier in the year. Iraq knew it wasnt expected to implement the entire package, but rather consider the new target as a spur to improve its performance, analysts said at the time. It feels like Groundhog Day again as compliance issues complicate the effort to conclude a short roll-over agreement, said Helima Croft, head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets LLC. Nonetheless, we still think these issues will be resolved and that a short extension will be announced. Agra, June 4 : The recovery rate of patients suffering from coronavirus disease in Agra, Mathura and Firozabad has improved, the health officials said on Thursday, even as there was no decline in Braj Mandal's COVID-19 graph. With 45 deaths, the total count of cases till Thursday morning was 926 in Agra. Mathura reported 92 cases with 7 deaths, while Firozabad recoreded 288 cases with 14 deaths. Mainpuri confirmed 53 fatalities with three fresh deaths and Etah recorded 41 cases and two deaths. Agra District Magistrate P.N Singh said that the recovery rate of 88 per cent was encouraging. "Till now 799 patients had been discharged after recovery. For 12 days in a row, the number of new COVID-19 cases has remained below 10. A private hospital on Sikandra road, was sealed for 72 hours after an eminent senior neuro-surgeon tested positive for the coronavirus." "The first day of Unlock-1 witnessed a commotion among the people as shops were reopened after 70 days. Later, in the evening the police warned the crowd to adhere to safety precautions, adding that failing to do so would lead to another lockdown," he said. Singh added that it was seen that people were not sticking to the guidelines. The administration could review the overall situation and resort to drastic action to shut downs shops, officials said. Senior police officials were seen worried as they feared that the increased mobility and crowding could surge coronavirus infection spread. A set of new guidelines was issued for the police stations to protect the personnel from getting infected. Meanwhile, surge in suicide cases have also been in the city amid lockdown Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Guggenheim Bilbao reopened on June 1 and some of the safety measures taken may provide an inkling of things to come at L.A. museums. (Rafa Rivas/AFP/Getty Images) The Guggenheim Bilbao reopened Monday the first major cultural institution in Spain to do so since coronavirus closures in mid-March and the very first stop for the 80 visitors who came that day? Temperature checks upon arrival. With the coat check closed so as not to spread germs, mask-clad visitors carried their belongings on self-guided tours, using a Guggenheim app downloaded to their phones just a few of the new safety measures in place at the art museum. Its weird, in a way, were operating under these new circumstances, said museum Director Juan Ignacio Vidarte. But its a first step and were very excited about moving forward. The Frank Gehry-designed museum, in the Basque Country of northern Spain, is allowing a maximum of 400 visitors inside at any one time 25% of its capacity for timed visits. Guests are encouraged to reserve and pay for admission in advance online. Wearing masks indoors is mandatory. The flow of foot traffic has been revamped, charted as a single route through the museum from the top floor, down marked by graphic floor decals, like arrows, and wall signage. Similar measures have been taken at the first U.S. museums that have reopened recently, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on May 23 and the San Antonio Museum of Art on May 28. Most U.S. museums, however, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the biggest institutions in L.A. have yet to reopen. When they do, chances are, American Alliance of Museums President Laura Lott said, the museum-going experience will look similar throughout the U.S. The timing is different, Lott said of museum reopenings, but what [institutions] are doing in terms of reduced capacity and new safety measures that minimize or avoid person-to-person contact and enhanced sanitizing and cleaning protocols, that seems to be fairly consistent across museums opening now and in the coming weeks. Story continues At the Guggenheim Bilbao, a 15- to 20-person task force representing nearly every department at the museum began mulling reopening as soon as the museum closed March 14. The number of coronavirus cases in Spain is approaching 300,000, with more than 27,000 deaths. It's among the countries in western Europe hardest hit by the virus, second behind Britain in case count and second behind Italy in deaths. The museum worked with health authorities and local government officials on precautions, such as keeping visitors two meters (about 6 feet) apart, more frequent and rigorous cleaning and disinfectant protocols and providing hand sanitizer to guests. It also conducted a detailed analysis of the museums unique needs, Vidarte said. We had to go through a 360 exercise, Vidarte said, involving curators, conservation, security, human resources, legal, visitors services, marketing, to understand all the variables that needed to be addressed. The museum swapped out display touchscreens and headphones for speakers that play soundtracks out loud, on a loop. It imposed additional social distancing restrictions on immersive, interactive works, such as Richard Serras sculptural field titled "The Matter of Time," which viewers walk through and around, and artist Jenny Holzers granite benches, which visitors can no longer sit on. The museum is showing a retrospective of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The exhibition features several immersive, experimental installations. One is a room filled with dense fog that changes colors. Typically about 30 or more people would cram together inside. Now? One individual, or one so-called family unit, at a time. Which some visitors may see as an upside of the COVID 19-imposed circumstances, Vidarte said. Its a unique opportunity to experience the museum with much less people and see works of art more intimately," he said. Public programs are on hold until at least the fall. To enforce social distancing, the museums cafe and restaurant are closed for now. Privacy in the bathroom? Not a problem: Restrooms are restricted to one person at a time. Some social distancing measures such as timed visits and reduced visitor capacity, offset by extended operating hours may outlive the crisis, Vidarte said, as they improve the visitor experience. And during the closure, he added, the museum strengthened its digital presence. It was already a path we were going down, but its shown us that there are many ways we can use technology to enhance our mission and our mandate. The Guggenheim Bilbao typically receives about 1 million visitors a year, 70% of whom are tourists. This year its expecting 15% of its normal summer attendance a loss of about 3 million euros, or about $3.4 million in revenue. Vidarte said he expects summer visitors will be coming locally or from other areas in Spain or closer parts of Europe, like France. The museum is offering perks to locals. Members may invite a friend to attend for free. With the price of admission, non-members may become members for the summer. (Typically, membership is 40 euros, or about $45, for the year.) Were trying to lure them to come back, Vidarte said. People are afraid to be in enclosed spaces, surrounded by people, and we want them to recover confidence. When the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opened last week, nearly 500 visitors came the first day about 7% of its capacity. Director Gary Tinterow said he expected pushback from guests complaining about having to wear masks, get their temperatures checked upon entry or practice social distancing, but the opposite turned out to be true. Everyone was respectful and mindful of our safety requirements and almost everyone expressed gratitude, he said. Some people cried in the galleries; some wrote notes about how grateful they were to return to a place that was so meaningful to them. That response may be a harbinger of things to come elsewhere, Tinterow added. Museum-goers, for the most part, are respectful individuals, he said. Its not like a spring break party on the beach. Theres a particular code of behavior at museums and that happily facilitates proper health measures for COVID. No matter what safety measures individual museums take, reopening is a poignant moment, a moment of recovery, Vidarte said. Museums provide spaces for inspiration and enjoyment and healing and we are happy to be providing that right now. Berlin The mysterious disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann from a resort in Portugal 13 years ago gripped the world. Now the case has taken an unexpected turn, and for the first time there appears to be a solid lead, with the trail leading to Braunschweig, Germany. For more than a decade it has remained officially a missing person case in Britain, but on Thursday the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig said it had opened a murder investigation into a 43-year-old German man now considered a suspect in McCann's death. "We opened a murder investigation against the 43-year old German national, therefore you can conclude that we assume the girl is dead," a spokesman for the prosecutor's office told journalists. McCann was just three years old when she disappeared in May 2007 from a holiday resort in Portugal's popular Algarve region where she was staying with her mother, father and younger brother and sister. The parents had gone to a nearby tapas bar on the night she vanished, leaving both children sleeping in the rental property. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Public Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday that the suspect in question has a number of previous convictions for sexual offenses, including some involving children. He is currently serving a prison sentence for a crime unrelated to McCann. The prosecutor's office did not confirm the identity of the suspect on Thursday or say what he's currently in jail for, but the "Braunschweiger Zeitung" newspaper reported that "there are many indications" he's a man who was sentenced to seven years in prison at the end of 2019 for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman. The newspaper said that while the conviction was only handed down last year, the rape took place in the same place in Portugal where McCann went missing, but about one-and-a-half years before the McCanns were there. Story continues Information about the suspect had already been brought to the attention of authorities. They got tips in 2013 when the McCann case was featured on a German TV series on unsolved crimes, and British officers were tipped off about the German suspect following a 2017 appeal. But none of the information was sufficient to launch a formal investigation or make an arrest, German officials said. Kate and Gerry McCann hold an age-progressed police image of their daughter during a news conference to mark the 5th anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann Kate and Gerry McCann hold an age-progressed police image of their daughter during a news conference to mark the 5th anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, May 2, 2012 in London, England. Getty According to the BKA the suspect lived regularly in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, including several years in a house between Lagos and Praia da Luz, where the McCann family was staying in 2007. The suspect had several jobs during this period, including in the restaurant business. According to the authorities, there are also indications he was involved in burglaries targeting hotel resorts and holiday apartments in the region, as well as drug dealing. The BKA said Thursday that it was still hoping for further information on the case, and it published on its website, among other things, photos of a vehicle it said may have been used in the suspected murder, a Jaguar XJR 6 with German license plates. The day after McCann disappeared, the Jaguar was re-registered to a new owner. The investigators also referred to a VW T3 Westfalia van with Portuguese license plates, in which the suspect is said to have lived at times. Both vehicles were in police custody as of Thursday. Police in Britain, Portugal and across Europe have received innumerable tips over the years, and McCann's parents have turned to the public, and even the Pope at times, for support as they've come under suspicion themselves. But every new clue, mysterious photo or lead of any kind since 2007 has eventually fizzled, until now. Investigators said they believe the suspect abducted and killed McCann on May 3, 2007. Various German news outlets have identified him as "Christian B.," who was reportedly extradited to Germany from Portugal in 2017. The German investigators, who are working in conjunction with London's Metropolitan Police and the criminal investigation department in Portugal, said they're still hoping for new tips from the public. They've asked anyone who lived in the Algarve or was there on vacation at the time to upload photos and video to a BKA online portal. BKA lead investigator Christian Hoppe said it was still unclear how the abduction of McCann was carried out or where the child's body might be. He said it was possible the perpetrator broke into the McCann family's holiday apartment at the "Ocean Club" for a burglary and then spontaneously decided to abduct the girl. The prosecutor's office said the suspect took a call on his Portuguese cell phone from another Portuguese number very close to the time of the abduction, and they appealed for anyone with information on who owned a specific phone number at the time to come forward. They said the caller was not in Praia de Luz at the time of the call, but called them "a very, very important witness," nevertheless. Suspect ID'd in Madeleine McCann case 1.9 million more Americans apply for unemployment benefits History professor on how white backlash controls American progress SEVERAL solicitors have expressed strong concerns about plans to transfer cases listed before Newcastle West Court into Limerick city. It was confirmed this Tuesday that the Courts Service of Ireland has no plans at present to reopen Newcastle West Courthouse before September. While no formal assessment has been carried out, Judge Mary Larkin said she had been informed the capacity would be restricted to just eight people and that PPE and signage would have to be installed before the courthouse could reopen. There have been no court sittings in Newcastle West since March 13 and up to this Tuesday, all cases were adjourned en-masse to dates in October and November. At a sitting of the court, at Limerick Courthouse, Mulgrave Street, solicitor Michael ODonnell said he was concerned about the proposal to move cases into the city. Our clients dont want to be in the city, he said adding there are several issues such as the long distances people would have to travel. Its 55km from Newcastle West to Limerick and you will have people from Athea, Abbeyfeale and Listowel, he said. Solicitor Rossa McMahon, who revealed he couldnt get into the courtroom as it was locked when he arrived, said he too had concerns about the proposal. He added that the attitude of the Courts Service appears to be at odds with plans to reopen other courthouses across the country by the end of this month. He said he and his colleagues are anxious that Newcastle West Courthouse would not be neglected and sidelined going forward. I think there are ways around it, he added. Despite the concerns, Judge Larkin said she is available to hear cases and is legally entitled to transfer cases into the city. She insisted the current issue is one of public safety and that there is no threat to the future of the court in Newcastle West. Most of the more than 120 cases which were listed before the court this Tuesday were adjourned with just a handful being dealt with. In addition to legal practitioners who travelled from a number of towns and villages in West Limerick, a garda inspector and a sergeant from the Newcastle West district also attended to 90 minute court sitting. A small number of people who attended Limerick Courthouse on Tuesday were only allowed to enter Courtroom 1 once their case was called. Further sittings of Newcastle West court are set to take place in Limerick city later this month and in July. A number of contested cases have been listed for hearing before the summer vacation. Hospitalisations in Delhi during third Covid wave significantly lower than second India should have taken cue from the East for COVID-19: Rajiv Bajaj to Rahul Gandhi India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, June 04: Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj on Thursday said that India made a mistake by looking at the western countries while preparing its response to the coronavirus crisis with respect to the nationwide lockdown. Rajiv said that there are many countries in the East which have fared better and India could have taken a hint from them prior imposing a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News Coronavirus: Hydroxychloroquine fails to prevent COVID-19 in a meticulous study "I do not understand that despite being an Asian country, we sought not to look at what was happening in the East. We looked at the US, France, Italy, the UK etc. This is not a right benchmark in any sense," Bajaj said while having a conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "We all are aware that there cannot be any medical infrastructure that can be adequate to combat something like COVID-19," he added. The Bajaj Auto MD further explained why the West matters a lot. Speaking to Rahul Gandhi, Bajaj said, "I think the perception is that if a developed country - like the US - or a developed continent like Europe can be affected by COVID-19, everyone is threatened." COVID-19: Govt issues detailed advisory for safe ENT practice "When the rich and famous get affected, it makes headlines. Eight thousand children die of starvation in Africa every day, but who cares," Bajaj further added. Meanwhile, it can be seen that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held such dialogue on April 30 when he discussed the coronavirus pandemic and its economic implications with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. Coronavirus: Health Ministry issues memorandum for staff Gandhi also held a conversation with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee who had said India should come out with a large enough stimulus package to revive demand. Recently, Gandhi spoke to globally renowned public health experts Professor Ashish Jha of Harvard Global Health Institute and Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke. Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters are facing a significant legal bill after the High Court ruled they must pay the costs of their failed attempt to challenge laws brought in due to Covid-19. In a ruling this morning, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said the pair must pay the legal costs of both the state respondents and the notice parties, the Dail, Seanad and the Ceann Comhairle. The judge said that the costs, estimated to be a substantial five figure sum, should be limited to the two day hearing of their application only. Read More Last month the court refused to grant the pair permission to have their judicial review challenge against the laws go to a full hearing of the High Court. Mr Waters and Ms O'Doherty, who claim the laws are unconstitutional, are appealing the dismissal of their action, which they had claimed was brought in the public interest, to the Court of Appeal. The State, represented by Patrick McCann SC, and Gerard Meehan Bl and the notice parties represented by Francis Kieran Bl, who opposed the application, sought orders from the court directing the applicants to pay their costs of the High Court hearing. Both argued that there were no factors in the action that made it exceptional to the general rule that the losing parties should pay the legal costs of the action. Mr McCann said they were not entitled to invoke public interest as a reason for bringing their proceedings, while Mr Kieran relied on the court's finding that the case against the Oireachtas was unstateable. Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters said they should not have to pay the legal costs on several grounds. As well as claiming that the case was brought in the public interest, they also claimed they were entitled to a protective costs order. They further claimed it was unnecessary for the Oireachtas to be separately represented from the State in the proceedings. They also claimed that by being directed by the court that their application for permission to bring challenge should be notice to the other parties, they were presented with a legal hurdle which they ought not to have been. In his ruling on who should pay the legal costs on Thursday Mr Justice Meenan dismissed their arguments and that they must pay the others side's legal costs. He said that their contention that they ought not to be penalised by having to pay the costs because the action was brought in the public interest "does not stand up to much scrutiny." The applicants he said did not engage with the case being made by the respondents, including the legal principals being relied on to resist their challenge, "in any meaningful way." He said Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters proceeded with their application on the basis they were of the opinion that they had an arguable case, and that this in itself was sufficient for the court to grant them permission to bring their challenge. There is no doubt that the issues raised by the widespread Covid-19 restrictions "are important matters of public interest," he added. However "the manner in which the applicants conducted the proceedings, their failure to consider or answer the case being made against them and to only have regard to their own opinions meant that those proceedings were very far from being in the public interest," he said. In the circumstances the judge said that there was no reason for the court to depart from the normal rule that costs follow the event. The costs, he added, were limited to those associated with the two day hearing of the leave application. In his judgment earlier this month dismissing their application for leave the judge said they had not provided the court with any expert evidence or facts to support their view that the laws challenged by the applicants were disproportionate or unconstitutional. The laws brought in by the state to help deal with the pandemic he said in his judgment are "constitutionally permissible." The applicants he said who have "no medical of scientific qualifications or expertise relied on their own unsubstantiated views, gave speeches, engaged in empty rhetoric and sought to draw parallel to Nazi Germany which is both absurd and offensive." The judge also dismissed the applicant's claims against the manner in which the laws were voted on and passed by the houses of the Oireachtas. Ms O'Doherty and Mr Waters, who represented themselves, challenged legislation including the 2020 Health Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, the 2020 Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act Covid-19 Act, The 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order. Their proceedings were also aimed at striking down temporary restriction regulations brought due to Covid-19 under the 1947 Health Act. They claimed the laws, and the manner in which they were enacted, are repugnant to several articles of the constitution including rights to travel, bodily integrity and the family. Peterborough County council has voted to take more time to consider how councillors feel about Peterborough Public Healths position paper on the provinces plans to amalgamate health units. The paper that was published in January highlights the board of healths stance on Ontarios plan for merging health units. The board believes that a health unit with a population of 300,000 to 500,000, would be better for more rural areas rather than the one health unit per 1.5 million people that the province has alluded to. Different parts of the province are going to require different structures. There is a suite of activities that need to be kept at the local level, medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said during councils virtual meeting Wednesday morning. Andy Mitchell, mayor of Selwyn Township and chair of the board of health, told council the COVID-19 pandemic is an illustration of how important local, smaller health units are. Without them, things like drive-thru testing and in-house testing for COVID-19 wouldnt exist. However, council members had differing ideas about the paper. While North Kawartha Deputy Mayor Jim Whelan supported Mitchells thoughts on the importance of local health units, he believes the province should pay for all of it, as opposed to a 70/30 split. The health of Ontario is the Ontario governments responsibility. Weve been letting this slide now for years, along with other things, said Whelan. Cavan Monaghan Deputy Mayor Matthew Graham disagreed with Whelans comment. Theres more to lose than just paying more money. I would hate for the fiscal comments that is absolutely true and a real big part of our considerations, to be viewed as political criticism to the province, when we really need them to listen to the rural realities reflected in the report, said Graham. After a lengthy debate from council members, the motion to receive the presentation and accept the recommendation was tied and therefore lost. Following the first vote, Mitchell told council he was disappointed. The council has essentially said to the board of health that it does not support its view for reform. Thats what it said and thats what I conveyed from that and thats what I will convey to the board of health, he said. Council members had another vote which was lost again. However, a motion was then passed to defer the discussion until the next council meeting. I do think it needs to come back again, but later on when things get a little more settled. I think its going to be a slap in the face to bring this forward now to be honest with you, said Asphodel-Norwood Mayor Rodger Bonneau. Funded by the Government of Canada/Finance par le Gouvernement du Canada. Neil Bush Neil Bush understands the need for a global perspective to make an impactin a post pandemic world, said Co-Chairman John Price, also Presidentand CEO of Greffex. Mr. Bush will serve as an independentdirector of the company. Greffex, a pioneering vaccine and gene therapy company based in Houston, Texas, welcomes Mr. Neil Bush to its Board of Directors. Neil understands the need for a global perspective to make an impact in a post pandemic world, said Co-Chairman John Price, also President and CEO of Greffex. Mr. Bush will serve as an independent director of the company. The Greffex board is excited to have Neil as a part of the team. He has vast international experience with a history of knowing, and advising, the most powerful companies and leaders in the world. Neil will be a huge asset to drive our future growth and enable Greffexs mission to create innovative therapies that protect and heal mankind, said Price. Bush is an international businessman who operates through Neil Bush Global Advisers. He is Chairman of Singhaiyi, a Singapore publicly listed company; Co-Chairman of CIIC, a property development business in China; and, Chairman of A&A Consulting, a global platform that provides bridging services between the United States and Asia in health care, education, and technology in the USA. I can think of no better way to serve, said Bush. I am very excited to join the Greffex board to help advance the critically important work of implementing one of the worlds first universal vaccine platform to address the Covid-19 pandemic, and save lives, while enhancing the worlds capability to quickly respond to future pandemics. Based on testimonials of experts I am confident that Greffex will be successful we must be successful! Mr. Bush also serves as Chairman of the Points of Light Board of Directors and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Bush School of Government and Public Service. In these roles, Mr. Bush expands his fathers vision of inspiring, equipping and mobilizing volunteers to address serious social issues and training future generations of public and nonprofit leaders. Mr. Bush will join a Board that includes: John P Price, Greffex Co-Chairman, President and CEO Uwe D. Staerz, M.D., Ph.D., Greffex Chief Scientist & Co-Chairman Robert A. Eckels JD, Greffex Executive Vice President & General Counsel. Past Harris County Texas Judge William S. Connolly, Greffex Executive Vice President Sir Walter Bodmer, PhD, FRS, Head, Cancer & Immunogenetics Laboratory, University of Oxford Chase Untermeyer, Former US Ambassador to Qatar Jehan A. Al-Meer, MSC, PhD, MPA, MBA, Founder and CEO of Innovation Capital Qatar R. Phil Zobrist, Real Estate Management and Development Entrepreneur John D. White, JD., Chairman emeritus, Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Greffex, a leading genetic engineering company, is a leader in developing a plug and play vaccine platform that delivers unprecedented time-to-market, cost efficiency, efficacy and safety through the use of proprietary clean viral vectors. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a weekly news conference in Washington on June 4, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) Pelosi Denounces Chinas Record of Repression on Tiananmen Anniversary WASHINGTONHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on June 4 said three decades after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Beijings record of repression against its own citizens hasnt changed. June 4 this year marks the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. For me, today is a very sad and special day, she said at a press conference. Pelosi, who is a longtime critic of Chinas human rights record, visited Beijing two years after the crackdown to protest in memory of the victims of the massacre. In 1991, I stood in Tiananmen Square by members of Congress, bipartisan, and we unfurled the flag, reading, To those who died for democracy. We were chased by the police. It was a question of who could run faster, because they were after us with clubs, she said. Sadly, decades later, Chinas record of repression is unchanged. The protests, a youth-led movement advocating for democratic reforms in China, were forcibly suppressed 31 years ago after the communist regime declared martial law. Chinese troops opened fire on their own people on June 4, 1989, to end the protests around the square. To this day, the Chinese Communist regime hasnt disclosed the names or the number of those killed during the crackdown. Estimates of the death toll by human rights groups vary from several hundred to several thousand. If we refuse to condemn human rights violations in China because of economic concerns, then we lose all moral authority to criticize human rights violations any place in the world, Pelosi said. Thousands of people defied a police ban and staged a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong to commemorate the victims of the massacre on June 4. President Donald Trump last week ordered his administration to begin the process of revoking Hong Kongs preferential trading status after Beijing passed a controversial national security law that would erode the citys autonomy. In addition, the administration said it will take necessary steps to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials involved in curbing freedoms in the city. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on June 1 said the United States might open its doors to people from Hong Kong, a former British colony. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged on June 3 to allow more than 2.8 million people from the city to live and work in the UK if China implements the proposed national security law. Pelosi expressed concern when asked whether the United States should mirror UKs response and welcome Hongkongers to the United States. She replied by commenting on the UKs proposal to admit Hongkongers. This is consistent and a continuation of UK law vis-a-vis Hong Kong, she said. The concern I have about it is, though, as generous as that is, that would be a large percentage, maybe like 40 percent of the people of Hong Kong, and it would be a big brain drain on Hong Kong, Pelosi said. But I would hope that democratic freedoms could come to Hong Kong. Chinas controversial national security law in Hong Kong erodes the one country, two systems framework that by treaty governs the relationship between the territory and Beijing through 2047. The one country, two systems allows the city to retain extensive autonomy and freedoms, including a separate legal system and freedom of speech. This arrangement has enabled the United States to deal with Hong Kong as an entity separate from China in matters of economics and trade for more than two decades. Over the past year, U.S. lawmakers have passed legislation with a strong bipartisan vote in response to human rights issues in China, including the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, and the Tibet Policy and Support Act. At least 15,000 people protested in London yesterday over the death of George Floyd. People began to gather at Speakers Corner in Londons Hyde Park at 1 p.m., with many wearing masks, gloves and attempting to social distance. Some of the face masks worn by demonstrators read I cant breathe, in reference to Floyds last words as he was suffocated to death by his police killer. As thousands entered the park, traffic soon became blocked on adjacent streets. Participants chanted Say his name, George Floyd! and other slogans included No justice! No peace! No racist police! and The UK is not innocent. Protesters kneel as they stop briefly in Parliament Square during a demonstration on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in London, over the death of George Floyd (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) Sky News home affairs editor Jason Farrell wrote of the mood of the march, Its not the largest, but one of the most passionate marches Ive witnessed. There were no mass-produced placards just a multitude of messages on cardboard. Written on the home-made placards were slogans including Enough is Enough, Stop Murdering Us, Black Lives Matter, We stand together, Its Freedom for EVERYBODY or freedom for NOBODY, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice EVERYWHERE! and, Whos policing the police? Another read, Its not white vs black. Its everyone vs racism. A woman with a placard reading Its not white vs black. Its everyone vs racism. (credit: PoliticsJoe--twitter) Some protesters brought placards demanding Justice for Belly Mujinga. Mujinga was a black rail worker who was spat on while at work in the capitals Victoria rail station and later contracted, then died of COVID-19. British Transport Police have refused to prosecute the individual involved, despite over half a million people demanding justice in an online petition. Some protesters marched to Victoria Station where they hung a Justice for Belly Mujinga sign before joining other protesters assembled in Whitehall outside the Prime Ministers residence, Downing Street. The protests were marked by their multi-racial character, with the comments of those attending confirming that what was taking place in the United States was a common experience facing millions across the globe. The Evening Standard cited the comments of Gabriella Sanchez, a Spanish national, who said, This is an international issue. We are here to show that the word justice does mean something. German Markus Fischer said, Injustice needs to be fought everywhere. The march took place just days after footage emerged on twitter of six police officers pinning a black woman to the ground in Lewisham, south London. The attack occurred at around 11 p.m. on May 9. In harrowing scenes mirroring the videos showing Floyds murder, 28-year-old Kamyimsola Olatunjoye repeatedly yelled, I cant breathe! The demonstration took place at the same time as hundreds protested in the cities of Oxford and Southampton. These protests followed those held yesterday in Liverpool and Bournemouth. Hundreds gathered outside Liverpools St Georges Hall and in Bournemouth they assembled in the main town square and outside the town hall. Prior to yesterdays demonstration, chief constables of police forces across the UK released a joint statement saying, We stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified by the way George Floyd lost his life. The growing anger at police violence was reflected in the comments of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, who said on Wednesday that feelings are running higher in London and that police would continue with our tradition of policing using minimum force necessary. This is the same Metropolitan Police responsible for the deaths of 386 people in police custody or following contact with the police since 1990. Several of the placards on the London demonstration, Remember Smiley Culture and Remember Cherry Groce, referenced some of these deaths. One of those attending was 20-year old Dilan, who was holding a banner with the name of Mark Duggan. Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, was shot dead by an armed police unit in London in 2011, which led to rioting in London and throughout the UK. Dilan told the Guardian, This is also about people who are killed in the UK. It is not just the injustice in the US, it is worldwide. I do not like the way [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson has reacted. He has not been telling Trump what he is doing is wrong. No one in London is condemning his actions. After assembling in Hyde Park, protesters marched through central Londonforcing traffic to a haltwith further demonstrations held at Downing Street and Parliament Square. Protesters also went to the US embassy across the Thames in the Battersea area. Police gathered in numbers at the closed gates leading into Downing Street and surrounded the nearby Cenotaph monument. Police assaulted one of the protesters outside Downing Street, leading to scuffles breaking out. At 6 p.m., several hundred protesters gathered outside Lewisham police station in south London to protest both Floyds death and the police brutality against Kamyimsola Olatunjoye. SAN FRANCISCO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovaccer, Inc., a leading healthcare technology company, recently collaborated with CHI Texas Health Network, a Clinically Integrated Network (CIN) of health professionals. This partnership will enable CHI Texas Health Network to enhance its provider performance and deliver holistic care to patients. CHI Texas Health Network is a nonprofit, faith-based health system that strives to fulfill its mission each day by creating and nurturing healthy communities across the nation. The network's aim is to reduce medical expenses while providing improved care to patients and increasing patient satisfaction. CHI's expressed strategy is "to excel in clinical and operational performance while advancing personal and community health beyond a traditional acute care focus." CHI Texas Health Network operates numerous care sites across the state of Texas and manages the health of over 55,000 lives. Innovaccer's FHIR Data Activation Platform will enable CHI Texas Health Network to improve its physician performance and optimize utilization to enhance network integrity. By leveraging Innovaccer's Care as One framework, the health network will be able to access actionable insights into various facets of utilization such as emergency department visits, skilled nursing facilities operations, population health statistics, and more. In addition to that, their physicians will be equipped with unified patient records of all patients managed within their system, available right at the point of care without having to leave the EHR experience. Innovaccer will also deliver automated care management workflows and patient outreach strategies to care as one for their patients and keep them engaged, which will increase network integrity and patient satisfaction. "CHI Texas is passionate about creating a welcoming and caring environment for employees, patients, and families while serving the community. The role of technology in this endeavor cannot be overlooked," says Michael J. Camacho, Division Vice President of CHI Texas Health Network. "Partnering with Innovaccer will enable us to leverage our data for a deeper understanding of our network. We believe Innovaccer's FHIR Healthcare Data Platform will empower us with cost-effective solutions to manage our services and deliver efficient and timely healthcare to our patients." "The fact that CHI Texas Health Network endeavors to transform the value-based healthcare system is inspiring. We are proud to partner with them in establishing the next level of care delivery and population health management," says Abhinav Shashank, CEO at Innovaccer. "With our Data Activation Platform, we strive to introduce transparency in the healthcare system so that data accessibility is no longer a challenge, and healthcare providers can focus exclusively on caring as one." About the CHI Texas Division The CHI Texas Division, a member of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), is comprised of three marketsin Houston, CHI St. Luke's Health (CHI St. Luke's) is home to eight hospitals, eight emergency centers, Diagnostic & Treatment Center, Radiation & CyberKnife Center, and numerous Baylor St. Luke's Medical Group locations throughout Greater Houston; CHI St. Luke's Health Memorial (three hospitals and a long-term acute care facility in East Texas); and CHI St. Joseph Health (five hospitals and several St. Joseph Medical Group locations across Brazos Valley). In addition, CHI St. Luke's flagship hospital, Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in the Texas Medical Center, is a joint venture with Baylor College of Medicine. Together, CHI St. Luke's and Baylor College of Medicine are transforming healthcare delivery with a mission to usher in a new era of healthcare to create healthier communities. For more information, visit CHITX.org. About Innovaccer Innovaccer, Inc. is a leading San Francisco-based healthcare technology company committed to making a powerful and enduring difference in the way care is delivered. The company leverages artificial intelligence and analytics to automate routine workflows and reduce manual overhead to facilitate more person-centered care. Its KLAS-recognized products have been deployed all over the U.S. across more than 1,000 locations, enabling more than 25,000 providers to transform care delivery and work collaboratively with payers. Innovaccer's FHIR-Enabled Data Activation Platform has been successfully implemented with healthcare institutions, private health plans, and government organizations. By using the connected care framework, Innovaccer has unified more than 3.8 million patient records and generated more than $400M in savings. For more information, please visit innovaccer.com Press Contact: Sachin Saxena Innovaccer, Inc. 415-504-3851 Related Links Chi Texas Health Network Innovaccer Inc. SOURCE Innovaccer Inc. U.S Navy veteran Michael White has been freed by Iran and has left the country on a Swiss government aircraft, AP reports. Why it matters: White spent 683 days detained by the Iranian government. He was the first American known to be detained by Iran since President Trump took office. What they're saying: "For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC and I have been living a nightmare. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home. I am incredibly grateful to the Administration, especially the team at the State Department for their work on Michaels case and I owe the Swiss Diplomats who worked so hard to keep Michael safe a debt I can never repay. Outside of government, Id like to thank Gov. Bill Richardson for repeatedly raising Michaels case with Iranian officials and delivering my personal pleas for my sons freedom." Joanne White, Michael's mother White's release comes a day after the U.S. released Iranian scientist, the New York Times reports. American officials stated the two cases are not linked. Venezuela says needs more Iran fuel as US cranks up pressure Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 12:07 PM Venezuela says it plans to import more gasoline and additives from Iran after receiving five shipments of fuel from the Middle Eastern country in the face of US sanctions. The announcement by officials at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's office, quoted by price reporting agency Argus Media, came after Tehran said it would continue fuel shipments to Venezuela if Caracas requested more supplies. "Tehran yesterday offered to supply Venezuela with more gasoline and refinery additives. President Maduro very likely will accept the offer because we need the fuel," one official said Tuesday. Other officials said the government will ask Iran for further supplies in coming weeks to give state-run oil company PDVSA more time to revive part of its refining capacity. Maduro said on Tuesday he would visit Iran once health conditions resulting from the new coronavirus outbreak permit in order to thank the Iranian government and sign a "high-level bilateral agreement strengthening energy, financial and military ties". "I am obliged to go to personally thank the people," Maduro said in a state television address, without providing a date for the visit. Venezuela sits on the world's largest oil reserves. Its refineries also can produce more than 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of fuel, but they are working at less than 20% of their capacity mainly due to power outages and lack of spare parts amid US sanctions. "There are no guarantees that PDVSA will be able to restart gasoline production as quickly as the government would like," the source at President Maduro's office said. The sanctions are part of the US campaign to oust President Maduro, which has failed so far. However, they have limited the sources and types of products Venezuela can import, forcing it turn to Iran for refining parts and fuel. Last month, as Iran prepared to send five fuel tankers to Venezuela, the US navy dispatched warships to the Caribbean in an apparent bid to discourage the Islamic Republic, but Tehran's grave warning of retaliation forced the United States to stay clear of its vessels. The Iranian-flagged Clavel, the last of the five Iranian tankers, arrived at the El Palito terminal and started unloading over 300,000 barrels of gasoline early Tuesday, Argus quoted an oil union official at the refinery in Carabobo state as saying. The Trump administration has quietly warned foreign governments, seaports, shipping companies and insurers that they could face stiff US sanctions if they aided the Iranian tanker flotilla, Washington's special representative on Venezuela Elliott Abrams said on Friday. On Tuesday, the US announced sanctions on four shipping firms for transporting Venezuelan oil. The Treasury Department named Marshall Islands-based Afranav Maritime Ltd, Adamant Maritime Ltd and Sanibel Shiptrade Ltd, as well as Greece-based Seacomber Ltd, saying they all owned tankers that lifted Venezuelan oil between February and April of this year. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying he has a "criminal obsession" with Venezuela and that US moves to inhibit crude exports would complicate food and medicine imports. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Brazil is now at the centre of the pandemic with over 500,000 cases of Covid-19 The Microsoft founder had to deflect claims he will use vaccine to track people But the 'craziness' in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories might put some people off Bill Gates today warned anti-vaxxers could wreck attempts to develop a Covid-19 vaccine if they refuse to take it and reduce the level of herd immunity. Over 80 per cent of people may need to have the jab for it to work properly - but he feared anti-vaccine 'craziness' might put people off getting it. The billionaire founder of Microsoft, who now donates hundreds of millions of dollars to global health causes, said the prospect was 'worrying'. Vaccines can only be successful at stamping out a virus if so many people get them that a vast majority of the population is immune and the disease can no longer spread. Mr Gates's comments come as vaccine trials on humans are in full swing in the UK and the University of Oxford has announced it will test its candidate in Brazil now. Falling levels of the virus circulating in Britain, where the outbreak is fading, means it will be increasingly difficult to test the vaccine because there is nothing to test it against. In Brazil, however, Covid-19 cases are still rising rapidly and its outbreak is second only to the US, with 555,000 confirmed diagnoses. Mr Gates, whose foundation has donated $250million to the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine, said scientists would want more than 80 per cent of people to have the Covid-19 jab if one is developed Scientists around the world are scrambling to try and develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. A jab is seen as the only way of stamping out the virus for good, in the same way it did for measles and polio (stock image) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which Gates runs with his wife, has donated more than $250million (200million) to the search for a coronavirus vaccine. A vaccine is considered to be the only way to stamp out the virus because it is too deadly for countries to leave it to run unchecked. The widespread use of a vaccine would build up herd immunity to virus, meaning that so many people are immune to it that it doesn't have a big enough pool of potential victims to cause a proper outbreak. There will always be people who cannot have vaccines - those whose immune systems don't work, such as cancer patients, for example - so high uptake in the healthy population is crucial. Experts say at least two-thirds of people would need to be immune to Covid-19 to stop another epidemic. WHAT ARE BRITAIN'S BEST VACCINE HOPES? Vaccines being developed by Oxford University and Imperial College London are currently Britain's best hopes. Oxford's vaccine is already in safety trials in human patients around the UK, and Imperial intends to start soon. The science behind both vaccine attempts hinges on recreating the 'spike' proteins that are found all over the outside of the COVID-19 viruses. Both will attempt to recreate or mimic these spikes inside the body. The difference between the two is how they achieve this effect. Imperial College London will try to deliver genetic material (RNA) from the coronavirus which programs cells inside the patient's body to recreate the spike proteins. It will transport the RNA inside liquid droplets injected into the bloodstream. The team at the University of Oxford, on the other hand, will genetically engineer a virus to look like the coronavirus - to have the same spike proteins on the outside - but be unable to cause any infection inside a person. This virus, weakened by genetic engineering, is a type of virus called an adenovirus, the same as those which cause common colds, that has been taken from chimpanzees. If the vaccines can successfully mimic the spikes inside a person's bloodstream, and stimulate the immune system to create special antibodies to attack it, this could train the body to destroy the real coronavirus if they get infected with it in future. The same process is thought to happen in people who catch COVID-19 for real, but this is far more dangerous - a vaccine will have the same end-point but without causing illness in the process. Advertisement The higher the uptake of a vaccine, the better it works. For measles, the target is to vaccinate 95 per cent of the population. But anti-vaxxers refuse to have jabs or give them to their children because of conspiracy theories suggesting they are harmful or used only to make money. Mr Gates said on Radio 4 this morning: 'It is troubling that in times like that, and accelerated by digital tools, there is so much craziness. 'Eventually when we have the vaccine, we will want to develop the herd immunity to have over 80 per cent of the population taken. 'If they have heard that it is a plot, or vaccines in general are bad, and we don't have people willing to take the vaccine, then that will let the disease continue to kill people. 'So it is a bit worrying that there is some of that crazy stuff.' One bogus theory suggests Bill Gates, who made his fortune as a computer magnate, plans to use a vaccine to implant microchips in people, and that the global pandemic which has killed almost 400,000 people is a cover-up. The theory is based on a suggestion by Mr Gates that there would one day be 'digital certificates' to show who had been vaccinated or had Covid-19 already, like medical records, the BBC reported. The Foundation was forced to point out that claims it wanted to track people or use microchips were 'false'. Mr Gates added on Radio 4: 'I'm kind of surprised that some of that is focused on me. 'We are just giving money away to get there to be a tool. 'We just write cheques to pharma companies [and] we happen to have a lot of the smart pharmaceutical expertise in our foundation, and are considered a fair broker between governments and the companies to help pick the best approach.' One of the fastest moving candidates for a vaccine is that being developed by the University of Oxford, which is already in human trials in the UK. The vaccine has recruited thousands of people to test the safety of the jab, but testing whether it actually works will become a tall order now that the virus is fading out in Britain. As a result, the team are shipping it to Brazil, which is now in the grip of the world's fastest growing outbreak. There have been more than half a million people diagnosed there and more than 30,000 have died. The vaccine will be tested on 2,000 people working in healthcare environments between the ages of 18 and 55, said the Federal University of Sao Paulo, which is in charge of the study. The president of the university, Soraya Smaili, said the volunteers 'must be health professionals between 18 and 55 years old and be at high risk of infection, for example, cleaning and support staff in units treating COVID-19 patients'. Professor Smaili added the vaccine was being tested in Brazil 'ecause we are in the acceleration phase of the epidemiological curve'. Britain, on the other hand, is coming out the other side of its peak and case numbers are declining, meaning it will be hard to measure the effects of a vaccine because so few people are getting infected. New cases of coronavirus are soaring in Brazil, with tens of thousands of people being diagnosed with the virus every day there The current best estimate is that around 8,000 people per day are catching the virus, with around 54,000 infected at any given time. The university added: 'The results will be fundamental for the vaccine's approval in the United Kingdom, expected late this year'. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has agreed to mass-produce Oxford's vaccine and help to distribute it if it becomes successful. Hundreds join Lecrae, Christian pastors in calling for racial justice, unity in Atlanta OneRace Movement announces 'March on Atlanta' June 19 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment After a weekend of protests and riots sparked by the killing of George Floyd, hundreds of Christians and hip-hop artist Lecrae gathered in Atlanta to call on churches and government leaders to ensure fair treatment and an end to racially-motivated crimes. Additionally, leaders also announced plans for a March on Atlanta that will take place in just over two weeks. The OneRace Movement, a Christian coalition that exists to displace the spirit of racism and release a movement of racial reconciliation across Atlanta, the Southeast, and the nation, held a news conference at Liberty Plaza outside the state capitol building in downtown Atlanta Monday. Today, we are not here to talk about the protests," OneRace co-director Josh Clemons told the crowd. "We are not here to talk about the riots. We are not here to talk about the looting. What we are here to talk about today is the injustice in our land." The news conference, which was announced last week, drew hundreds following a weekend of protests, violence and destruction in the city and elsewhere in the country. Thousands demonstrated in the streets after the death of Floyd, 46, who was filmed with a white police officers knee on his neck as he died on a Minneapolis, Minnesota street on Memorial Day. Floyds death follows the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed in Georgia while jogging, and Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in Louisville, Kentucky. I think this is a moment for the Church, for you, for me to cry out: Enough is enough! Its time for a change. Its time for reform and it's time for the Church to lead the way. Led by several Christian leaders and pastors, the coalition released The OneRace Statement on Righteousness and Justice: A call to end Racial Violence. The Christian Community must engage this issue spiritually & civically, the document reads. This engagement must begin with understanding the deep history of racism in our nation, then owning that history as our collective spiritual responsibility, and then engaging in our spheres of influence constructively to change the story for future generations. Lecrae, a 40-year-old Christian hip-hop recording artist who resides in Atlanta, also spoke at the news conference. My burden [is] my mother marched in the 60s and 70s and protested these issues of systemic racism and injustice, he said. She took me to my first march after Rodney King was unjustly beaten. I marched and protested in Ferguson for Mike Brown, for Sandra Bland. Here we are four years later in the same situation doing the same thing. Something different has got to happen. There has to be a change. I am all for the idea that the Gospel is what changes hearts. But the Gospel is both explicit and implicit, Lecrae said. The Gospel is in the form of the cross. The cross is vertical but it is also horizontal. So there has got to be some horizontal implications in what you believe, taking action in your churches, in your communities and in your jobs. The new OneRace statement calls on Christians to work to end racially-motivated acts of violence by voting in local elections for candidates that uphold our values of equity and dignity toward all races and serving in our communities across racial lines. The statement also encourages believers to speak up and participate in nonviolent protest whenever we see the injustice that demands our attention. We all have varying degrees of power, position, and privilege, the statement reads. In following the example of our Savior as described in Philippians 2:3, we must count others as more important than ourselves, exercising our power, position, and privilege for the betterment of those not like us. The statement calls on elected officials to make changes to ensure that "laws are written and enforced in ways that are equitable towards all." "When legislation and enforcement enables one segment of the population to feel safe and another segment of the population to feel endangered, changes are necessary," the statement adds. Area pastors who spoke at the Monday event included: Crawford Loritts of the Fellowship Bible Church, Jeff Norris of Perimeter Church, Lee Jenkins of Eagles Nest Church, Dennis Rouse of Victory Church, and Arthur Breland of Woodland Hills Church. The OneRace Movement, which released the Atlanta Covenant signed by thousands of faith leaders in August 2018, also announced that tens of thousands of people will be invited to participate in a march in Atlanta on June 19 to call for changes that will ensure that there will be no more Arberys, Taylors or Floyds. In the news conference, Lecrae said the country needs to see prayer, policy, programs, publicity and protest. We need all of those pieces to that puzzle, Lecrae said. This is a system that has been set up from the inception for black people to fail. Black people cant tear down a system that we didnt build. So it is important for my brothers and sisters in Christ to use their power and privilege to help tear down these evil infrastructures that hold us back. Lecrae continued by calling for there to be more leaders of color within churches. It is one thing to have black friends. But do you have black leaders in your life who can guide you and lead you and inform you on how this should go? Lecrae asked. When you look around your Facebook pages or your jobs, who are your hiring? Are you hiring friends that look like you? Or are you hiring people that are qualified but do not come from the community that you come from? That is how you tear down the infrastructure of systemic justice, he continued. Those are the implications of the Gospel. If we truly believe that, it is going to make us uncomfortable. The Gospel makes us uncomfortable. If we are truly living out our faith, it should make us uncomfortable. We should look strange to people. As part of a 130 billion euro stimulus plan, Germany will require every gas station in the country to install electric vehicle charging stations. As reported by Reuters, this stimulus package includes subsidies for electric vehicle purchasers and taxes to penalize owning large, pollution-generating SUVs. According to Germanys Motor Transit Authority, out of 168,148 cars registered in May, only 3.3 percent were electric. In 2019, less than two percent of new cars registered in Germany were electric. Experts say low sales can be attributed to worries about keeping cars charged. Diego Biasi, chairman and co-founder of Quercus Real Assets told Reuters, We know that 97 percent of the reason why theyre not buying electric cars is range anxiety. The German move is a way to try and fix this range anxiety since it means you know a petrol station is always open. Last year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel set a goal of having a million electric charging stations across Germany by 2030. Guaranteeing that petrol stations can also supply electric vehicles moves the needle towards that goal, but it wont be enough; Germany only has about 15,000 petrol stations, down from about 40,000 in 1965. For electric cars to become the norm, Germany will need at least 70,000 charging stations and 7,000 fast charging stations. Germanys not alone in promoting EVs as part of their post-COVID economic strategies. In a press conference last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a similar 8 billion euro incentive package that aims to make France Europe's top producer of clean vehicles. Record number of Grade 4, 5 and 6 students shared what home means to them TORONTO, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Meaning of Home is a national writing contest in support of Habitat for Humanity Canada that asks students in Grade 4, 5 and 6 to share what home means to them. Over 10,200 students entered this years Meaning of Home contest, which sets a new record. There are three grand prize winners, one from each grade, who have won a $30,000 grant towards a local Habitat for Humanity build. Nine runners up have won a $10,000 grant towards their local Habitat. Each student entry also earned a $10 donation for their local Habitat. During a time when many local Habitats are struggling with the financial impact from COVID-19 on their operations, this contest helped raise over $280,000. These much-needed funds will go towards building homes for families in need of a safe and secure place to call home. Grand prize winners The Grade 6 grand prize winner is Nyra Calamiong, from Toronto, Ontario, who is directing her grant to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity GTA. Click here to read Nyras winning poem: My Home is the Most Important Place to Me. Nathan Papps is the Grade 5 grand prize winner, from Victoria, British Columbia. His grant will be directed to Habitat for Humanity Victoria. Click here to read Nathans winning poem: Where the Heart Lives. Ines Casanova, from Toronto, Ontario, is the Grade 4 grand prize winner and will be directing her $30,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity GTA. Click here to read Ines winning poem Home: The endless possibilities. Reading through these students entries about what home means to them is very inspiring, said Julia Deans, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada. A decent and affordable place to call home is something too many Canadians dont have. And the importance of being able to have a secure and safe home to live in has never been clearer as it is during these challenging times. Story continues The Meaning of Home contest would not be possible without the generous support of founding sponsor, Genworth Canada. Id like to congratulate each of the contest winners and thank all the students who submitted entries on what home means to them. Since 2007, the Meaning of Home contest has been empowering youth to become engaged and compassionate members of the community while educating them on the importance of affordable housing. Were proud to be a founding sponsor of this initiative, said Stuart Levings, President and CEO, Genworth Canada. In addition to the support of founding sponsor Genworth Canada, the Meaning of Home contest would not have been possible without the support of awards sponsor, Revera Inc. and judging sponsor, The Silver Hotel Group. To read all the winning entries, please visit meaningofhome.ca/winners-2020/ . Runners up - Grade 4 Tiana Sanko Gilbert Plains, Manitoba Habitat for Humanity Manitoba Lake Severin Kingsville, Ontario Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex Christopher Valdes Toronto, Ontario Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area Runners up - Grade 5 Mehtab Cheema Edmonton, Alberta Habitat for Humanity Edmonton Alice Hopkins Comox, British Columbia Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North Cortez Rivera Headingley, Manitoba Habitat for Humanity Manitoba Runners up - Grade 6 Siena Hopkins-Prest Peterborough, Ontario Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region Emily Phillips London, Ontario Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario Natalie Zhou Richmond Hill, Ontario Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area About founding sponsor: Genworth MI Canada Inc. Genworth MI Canada Inc. (MIC.TO) through its subsidiary, Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Company Canada ("Genworth Canada"), is the largest private residential mortgage insurer in Canada. The Company provides mortgage default insurance to Canadian residential mortgage lenders, making homeownership more accessible to first-time homebuyers. Genworth Canada differentiates itself through customer service excellence, innovative processing technology and a robust risk management framework. For more than two decades, Genworth Canada has supported the housing market by providing thought leadership and a focus on the safety and soundness of the mortgage finance system. As at March 31, 2020, Genworth Canada had $6.6 billion total assets and $3.4 billion total shareholders equity. Find out more at www.genworth.ca . About Habitat for Humanity Canada Founded in 1985, Habitat for Humanity Canada is a national charitable organization working toward a world where everyone has a decent and affordable place to call home. Habitat for Humanity brings communities together to help families build strength, stability and independence through affordable homeownership. With the help of volunteers, Habitat homeowners and 53 local Habitats working in every province and territory, we provide a solid foundation for better, healthier lives in Canada and around the world. For more information, please visit www.habitat.ca . For more information please contact: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) - The six-month delay in the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was well received by the American government, said the Philippine envoy to the United States. Right now, we all know that here in Washington D.C. it was very well received, said Ambassador Jose Romualdez in an interview with CNN Philippines. He said the surprising decision of the Philippine government has, in fact, stirred interest among some businesses in the U.S. One thing for sure, that the effect of that, of course, is extremely good and very high especially with U.S. businesses," he said. "There have been reports that many U.S. businesses are pulling out of China for many reasons, Romualdez continued. Right now, they are looking at the Philippines once again. In fact, I received several calls from some businessmen in Washington D.C. inquiring how do we see it, how do we proceed. Senate Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson Imee Marcos recently said the decision of the U.S. government to relocate a number of American factories from China to Indonesia confirms a growing economic trend favoring Southeast Asian countries as alternative sites for manufacturing. She said this trend is something that the Philippines should not blink an eye on. Despite the positive feedback and possible outcomes on the suspension of the termination, Romualdez said that President Rodrigo Duterte will have the final call on the fate of the agreement. I think the diplomatic note is very clear, we are suspending the termination," he said. "The suspension is very well in the hands of the President. The decision to continue with or terminate is the President's decision. We have to leave it like that." The VFA is an agreement between Manila and Washington signed in February 1998 which provides protocol on the treatment of American military personnel in the country. READ: EXPLAINER: The Visiting Forces Agreement Romualdez said the delay in the termination of the controversial pact, which was supposed to end on August 9, will give the Duterte administration more time to study the direction of its relationship with the U.S. in the wake of volatile global conditions. The six-month extension is basically just to give us a time to see where we want to go with the VFA, said Romualdez. He added, The President made it clear that he has never had any intention of abrogating the bigger treaty we had with the United States, which is the MDT [Mutual Defense Treaty] signed in 1951.The VFA is basically like the mechanism to be able to continue that relationship. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison signed a crucial defense agreement and upgraded ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as both nations navigate fraught relations with China. The agreement, confirmed by Morrison in his opening remarks of a virtual summit between the leaders on Thursday, may allow the two nations to access each other's bases and ports and strengthen their defense ties. The Mutual Logistics Support pact is similar to an agreement India signed with the U.S in 2016. "The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that we are forming today, going to a whole new level in the relationship, will continue to build the trust, because we want commercial and trading relationships that are built on trust," Morrison said. Both countries "share a view that many of the future challenges are likely to occur in, and emanate from, the maritime domain," according to a joint statement released after the meeting. The agreements on cyber, science and infrastructure signed today will help deepen trade, Morrison said. The two countries will also continue their meetings between foreign and defense ministers to strengthen ties. Australia's merchandise trade with India for the year ended June 2019 was A$21.1 billion ($14.6 billion), according to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "The trade and investment flows between our countries are not where you and I would both like them to be, but they are growing," Morrison said. Modi noted it was the "sacred responsibility" of India and Australia to uphold the global values of democracy, rule of law and respect of international institutions. "In this time of a global pandemic this partnership will play and important role." Australia is seeking to bolster ties in the Indo-Pacific region where it's feeling squeezed between its support of traditional ally the U.S. and its need to placate Beijing, its largest trading partner. India is looking to establish itself as a regional manufacturing hub and attract companies seeking to move their supply chains out of China. Both now are having prickly relations with Beijing. India's troops have been engaged in a weeks-long face-off with Chinese soldiers at the nations' Himalayan borders. Australia, the world's most China-dependent developed economy, has raised Beijing's ire by calling for an investigation into the origins of the pandemic, a sensitive topic for President Xi Jinping's government which has faced criticism for its managing of the initial stages of the outbreak in Wuhan. China barred meat imports from four Australian slaughterhouses for "technical" reasons, and slapped tariffs of more than 80% on Australian barley in May after a long-running inquiry. A "new cold war" between the U.S. and China also formed the backdrop of the virtual meeting. Worsening relations between the two countries since 2017 has jeopardized world trade. And rising global anger toward China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is further complicating global ties and economic recovery. While Morrison has good relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, he will be aware that the leader's "America First" rhetoric jeopardizes traditional alliances. Australia is also watching for signs that the U.S.-China trade deal could hit its own exports to China. "Australia and India have real concerns about U.S.-China tensions and the disruptions to global trade caused by that issue and by China's use or threats of sanctions against countries that criticize its behavior," said Ian Hall, professor in international relations at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, and author of "Modi and the Reinvention of Indian Foreign Policy." "They are looking to try to boost bilateral trade and investment between Australia and India as a result, to try to manage some of the risk inherent in dealing with a much more assertive China and an unpredictable U.S.," Hall said. India and Australia, along with the U.S. and Japan, are part of the so-called Quad collective of democracies that have started to present a united front on regional security issues, a move Beijing has criticized. The Quad talks were elevated to ministerial level last year. They're seeking more maritime engagement of their navies at a time when China began to more forcefully assert its presence in the South China and Indian Ocean. Australia, which has sought an independent enguiry into the coronavirus pandemic at the World Health Organization, believes India is taking over as the chair of the World Health Organization's executive board at a "very important time," Morrison said. China, where the virus was first reported, has been facing criticism for its handling of the pandemic. Australian flag carrier Qantas and its low-cost budget airline Jetstar were resuming domestic and regional flights in June and July as travel restrictions have started to ease across the country. Qantas announced on Thursday that more than 300 return flights would be back in operation by the end of June, an increase of 10 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels, reports Xinhua news agency. Additional flights will likely to operate during July depending on the travel demand and further relaxation of state borders. To ensure a safe environment at airports and onboard aircraft, Qantas and Jetstar will have a range of measures in place from June 12, including contact-less check-in, enhanced cleaning, as well as free masks and sanitising wipes for all passengers. "The 1 million people who work in tourism around Australia have been really hurting over the past few months," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. "These additional flights are an important first step to help get more people out into communities that rely on tourism and bring a much-needed boost to local businesses." Qantas cut down 20,000 staff in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As flight capacity increases, both airlines will need more employees to support these services, but the majority of the group's employees will remain unemployed. "No better item to be photographed in than a pair of Maynooth GAA shorts!" So said Paul Mescal, star of hit TV series Normal People when asked by Marty Morrissey about the fervour surrounding paparazzi pictures of him wearing a pair of O'Neills shorts. According to Google Trends, searches for 'O'Neills shorts' spiked on May 27, the day Mescal was pictured wearing them with a colourful tracksuit top, Stan Smiths and two cans of pink Gordon's gin and tonic. Read More Men's shorts have made their way back into wardrobes and catwalk collections, with particularly slight versions playing a starring role in the spring-summer shows from Versace, Fendi and Etro. In some cases, designers riffed on the 80s short-shorts iconised by Tom Selleck and Bjorn Borg, while others nodded to the mid-century-inspired pastel and printed versions worn by Jude Law's Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley. With nowhere to go but the park, you may be considering a pair. So how should you style yours this summer? Go short or go home They are called 'shorts' for a reason. You may not dare go as high as Mescal, but below-the-knee or three-quarter styles not only miss the point, they make your legs look shorter and end up becoming impractical too. "There's a lot of raised eyebrows when they go past the knee," says Andy Collins, owner of Dublin menswear boutique Indigo & Cloth. "We would always recommend a short that comes just above the knee - it means when you're actually moving, the fabric isn't going to sag and isn't going to be uncomfortable." Put down the jorts Jean shorts, aka jorts, are one of the most divisive items in menswear. Even a young David Beckham couldn't convincingly pull them off. "The thing with denim is they're not comfortable," says Alexander Fitzgerald, Editor of Menswear in Ireland. "By and large, denim is a bit unforgiving and a bit sweaty. If I'm sitting in the park, there's no way I'd be putting on denim shorts." On hot days, more lightweight natural fabrics will be breathable as well as flattering: try cotton, linen or a mix of the two for a more breezy alternative. Video of the Day Pay attention to fit All those floaty boxer-style shorts look fantastic on models with legs cut like a Michelangelo, but if you're feeling self-conscious, take comfort in structure. The above-knee length will help to define your legs and even out proportions, and good tailoring can create a streamlined silhouette. "You can get them anywhere - H&M, Zara, Dunnes, M&S. I've got great ones from Uniqlo which have a lovely stretch in them and a pleat, which makes it look a little bit more considered," says Fitzgerald. For more structure, he suggests accessorising with a braided leather, canvas or slim suede belt: "If your shorts have loops, the addition of a belt can just crank it up a notch. It looks more elegant, like you haven't just thrown it on." Keep it simple Back away from the cargo shorts. More often than not, they look sloppy and immature, and all those extra pockets only add unwanted bulk. The basic chino short is a favourite for many thanks to its uncomplicated two-pocket design, or try a minimal tailored pair in a block colour. Fitzgerald recommends muted shades such as grey, navy, beige and cream, or softer tones such as baby blue, powder pink or a seersucker. "Unless you're university age, anything too Hawaiian-style with floral prints and pineapples is a little bit too Love Island," he advises. But don't shy away from colour While patterns can be tricky, a vibrant colour can work well with an otherwise unfussy outfit. "Because a lot of men's wardrobes are focused around navies, blues, blacks and greys, we tend to buy shorts in brighter colours or something that's a little bit different, in contrast to what you'd be wearing on top and then socks and shoes," says Collins. Indigo & Cloth's popular styles vary from light mint to forest green to vivid orange. Think about footwear "One thing which can really determine the hit or miss of a pair of shorts is the footwear you wear it with," says Fitzgerald. Leave lace-up styles or anything you could wear to the office well alone, and stick to casual shoes such as trainers, moccasins, driving shoes or loafers. Collins adds that sandals, particularly Birkenstocks, are increasingly popular, but if you're wearing closed-toe shoes, don't forget your socks. "I think it's better to go with an ankle sock when you're wearing a high short, but with the amount of different socks you can pair with certain outfits, we wouldn't be against wearing [taller] socks with it either," he says. Don't be afraid to go retro The rolled-down O'Neills may be best left to the professionals, but if you prefer a streetwear look, keep it clean and lean. "If you want something a bit more stylised, Adidas Originals have their old-school shorts, and they are blatantly fashion, athletes don't wear those for playing sport," says Fitzgerald. "They can look really good, or even Kappa or Ellesse - something a bit retro can look good." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The Philippines may now include asymptomatic patients in the expanded targeted testing for the coronavirus disease, COVID-19 Response Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon announced Thursday. In a press briefing in Malacanang, Dizon said the government may now test patients showing mild or no symptoms of the disease, citing the country's increased testing capacity. "Dahil sa malaking capacity na natin nationwide lalo na po sa Visayas at Mindanao, pwede na po tayong lumampas pa sa mga may simtomas," he said. "At dapat po ang ating goal na ngayon sa expanded targeted testing ay paghanap at pag-test ng mga asymptomatics--yun pong mga kababayan natin na wala masyadong simtomas." [Translation: Because of our increased capacity nationwide, especially in Visayas and Mindanao, we may now extend our coverage from those who exhibit symptoms. By now, our goal should be to do an expanded targeted testing to locate and test the asymptomatics--those who show mild symptoms.] Dizon said testing must now be expanded to densely-populated areas such as Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Cebu, and Davao. Testing asymptomatics must also cover frontliners, especially health workers, transport workers, law enforcers, guards, and cashiers, among others. He noted that in the Philippines and elsewhere, almost 98 percent of COVID-19 cases have mild or no symptoms, while only 2 percent show critical conditions. Dizon said the COVID-19 testing capacity nationwide has reached 41,990, surpassing the government's goal of 30,000 by the end of May. The country now has 52 licensed testing laboratories, 33 of which are government-owned, while 19 are from the private sector, he added. The DOH said as of June 2, the country's rated testing capacity was at 34,000 per day. This refers to the number of tests that laboratories can conduct daily without taking into account other factors such as operational issues. Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said the asymptomatics fall under Subgroup D or the last priority, as they are categorized with no symptoms but have exposure to confirmed cases. "Our expanded testing protocol includes the Sub Group D who are those asymptomatics with exposure,and the protocol states that once we already have lab capacity,we may already include them in our targets for testing," Vergeire said. The department said actual testing capacity, based on the average daily testing output for the past two weeks, is 8,000 to 9,000 tests per day only. The DOH previously said that it is not cost-effective to test asymptomatic cases due to limited resources. By Akbar Mammadov The Azerbaijani Armys military servicemen will participate in the military parade dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War to be held in Moscow on June 24. According to the information provided on the website of the Ministry of Defense on 3 June, 75 military servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army will represent the country in this military parade. In the parade, Azerbaijani servicemen will have a solemn procession with weapons made in the country. A delegation led by the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov, will attend the ceremony as a guest. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz INDORE: The Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a racket which was illegally selling pan masala and tobacco products in Madhya Pradeshs Indore. The DRI officials also arrested a Pakistani national in this connection and recovered pan masala and tobacco products worth Rs 2.25 crore and Rs 67 lakh cash from him. DRI was constantly getting information that some people were illegally selling pan masala and tobacco products in Indore and the goods were being supplied in nearby states including Maharashtra. Along with the illegal trade, these items were being sold at much higher price due to which the government was incurring huge losses. Upon receiving the information, the DRI team raided five places in Indore and recovered goods worth Rs 2.25 crore and Rs 67 lakh cash. According to the DRI officials, this illegal business was going on for almost a year and till now the gang has sold about 40 crores of goods in the market, due to which the government also lost Rs 18.8 crores GST. Due to COVID19, pan spices and tobacco are banned in the country. Despite the ban, the gang was selling the goods illegally and at a price higher than its fixed market price. The DRI team arrested a man in this case from whom a Pakistani passport was recovered. Taking further action, the DRI team also attached 3 properties and 5 bank accounts. Phuket Bus terminal readies for relaunch PHUKET: Ahead of the reopening of Phuket Bus Terminal 2 tomorrow, Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) Chief Banyat Kantha has confirmed that public interprovincial buses are permitted to continue their journeys throughout the night curfew hours of 11pm to 3am. tourismtransportCOVID-19health By Eakkapop Thongtub Thursday 4 June 2020, 06:19PM Buses stand at the ready at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 today (June 4). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mr Banyat broke the news at the bus station, located in Rassada north of Phuket Town, at an event held today (June 4) during which the key transport facility underwent a major cleaning by staff and bus operators. Under the extension to the Emergency Decree, public buses travelling between provinces are allowed to continue travelling during the nightly curfew hours, Mr Banyat said. As such, buses to and from Phuket are allowed to continue their journeys through the night as long as the bus begins its transit before 11pm and arrives at its destination after 3am, he explained. The Department of Transport has set measures for public transport users, drivers and passengers in order to protect against the spread of COVID-19, Mr Banyat added. Passengers must wear face masks all the time, avoid using their phones while onboard and use alcohol gel to wash their hands, he said. Drivers, check yourselves. If you develop a fever, stop work. Wear a face mask at all times. If a passenger starts coughing while on the bus, turn off the air-conditioning and open the windows [if there any that can be opened], and arrange alcohol gel for passengers to use to cleanse their hands, he said. All vehicles must be cleaned after each service, especially frequently touched areas. Use cleansers with 70% alcohol and open the windows when finished cleaning, he added. Everyone has to maintain social distancing, both the bus terminals and onboard the buses, Mr Banyat said. Chop Puttasupa, chief of Phuket Bus Terminal 2, explained that about 30% of the full schedule of bus services will resume tomorrow. Operators have tried to make the traveling schedule for each route to arrive at their destinations before 3pm, so that passengers can reach their final destinations before the curfew begins, he said. Tomorrow, there will be buses to Hat Yai, Ranong, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Nong Khai. For buses to Bangkok, we have to wait for confirmation from operators again on Saturday, Mr Chop said today. However, he added, If anyone wants to go to Bangkok urgently, they can board the bus to Nong Khai, or any other buses passing through Bangkok, as they will stop there as well. Passengers should contact bus operators directly for booking and more information about bus services and times, he added. Also present to witness the major cleaning event today was Rassada Mayor Phudit Raksaraj. Any persons with a body temperature higher than 37.5C or not wearing a face mask will not be permitted to enter the bus terminal, Mayor Phudit said. If you see any bus drivers not following the regulations and ignoring social distancing, please inform the Passenger Protection and Complaint Center for Public Buses by calling 1584, open 24 hours, he said. Meanwhile, the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department earlier today issued a reminder that all people entering or leaving Phuket must register their travel details through the PhuketSmartCheck-In app. Bangkok warning In Bangkok today, Natapanu Nopakun, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Information and Deputy Spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, urged people to travel between provinces only when absolutely necessary. During his delivery of the national daily COVID- situation report at the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) at Government House, Mr Natapanu relayed the language national address delivered by CCSA Spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin. The spokesperson also mentioned in the press briefing about the certain images that we have seen in the past day of crowds gathering in beach resorts, particularly in Bang Saen. So we hope that that will not continue. We hope that although we have interprovincial travel now it will not be congested thus leading to the fourth phase which will be in place in the middle of June 2020. So even though the situation seems to be positive and travelling across provinces still needs to be regulated and kept to a minimum and such movement may cause the spread of the virus which will be difficult to control, Mr Natapanu explained. We have found examples of this in the past weeks and months when people traveling back to home provinces were found to be the main one of the main causes of the spread of the virus So the bottom line is to keep interprovincial travel to a minimum, and only when necessary, when absolutely necessary, he said. When traveling its important that everyone follows the health guidelines that were already announced, Mr Natapanu added. In the aftermath of a violent attack in his community, Chief Ken Chalmers is nursing two broken ribs and a banged-up head. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us In the aftermath of a violent attack in his community, Chief Ken Chalmers is nursing two broken ribs and a banged-up head. "Breathing and coughing is a killer. Coughing is agony, but you have to keep coughing to get the fluids out," Chalmers said, adding that at 62 he is no spring chicken, and pneumonia is a possibility in such a situation. Ken Chalmers The Birdtail Sioux First Nation chief agreed to speak with The Brandon Sun about what transpired but held back from speaking about the actual physical attack as the matter is now before the court. Manitoba First Nations Police Service issued a news release Tuesday, stating officers answered a call about an assault complaint at noon. A band member was charged with assault and assault causing bodily harm following the altercation with the chief. The band member allegedly attacked, punched and kicked Chalmers several times and fled the scene, according to that release. See Chalmers Page A2 First responders took Chalmers to the Hamiota Health Centre, which has an ambulance station. Chalmers will have to sleep in a recliner for the next two weeks. He nevertheless planned on going back to work today. Chalmers said he has known the 39-year-old man who allegedly assaulted him for 20 years or longer, adding hes a very frustrated individual with a range of grievances. "Each time Ive met him, hes yelling at me. Yelling and threatening," Chalmers said. "Ive always had to bring witnesses with me. Hes just very upset all the time." Chalmers said he met the man and his mother outside the band office, which is closed to the public due to COVID-19. In the past, when the man came around, Chalmers managed to handle the situation and get himself out of it. While he has had other band members "mad as hell" at him, Chalmers said he always tries to deescalate usually successfully but the man was having none of it on Monday. "No, not this time, man," Chalmers said. "And I just had two little secretaries with me, to witness, in case he said I did something. I couldnt get away from him. I could tell from the look in his eye I wasnt walking out of there." The scene became a blur and Chalmers was down. "It was overwhelming," he said. "It was about housing he hasnt had a house for 27 years." Over the years, the band has offered the man houses three times, Chalmers said, adding the man always turned them down. Recently, the band has been building additions to houses as an alternate solution to overcrowding. The man currently lives with his grandmother, who is 95, along with other adult male relatives. "So I said Ill put three extra bedrooms and a bathroom on there." The family agreed. But when the contractors showed up to start the work, the man came out and told them to get the (expletive) out, Chalmers said. That was approximately five months ago. "When he does that, he goes back to the end of the line. Theres other people waiting, too," Chalmers said. The matter goes deeper, the chief added, involving past wrongs, a community that has been on lockdown for many weeks due to COVID-19, along with loss of work also due to the pandemic. Chalmers has previously told The Sun that many Birdtail economic development plans, including developing its urban reserve at Foxwarren, had been put on hold because of COVID-19. For now, the community has taken down their check stops, meant to protect the community from coronavirus infection, but they will go back up in the event of a second wave. "Maybe it just blew him over," Chalmers said of the man. "Mental health is a huge issue out here. Im frustrated with this situation, too. My job is to try and solve things. I dont want any of this happening to us." According to Chalmers, the man who assaulted him is also racist. "Oh God, he hates white people. He called me a f---ing white man. Its skin colour. Hes an angry man. Very angry. He blames all problems of his on white people. I look white, I get it," Chalmers said, adding the man directed some of his insults toward his family, including his Sioux mother and white father. The man also has mixed blood. Police, with the help of a K-9 unit, found the suspect in the bush after two hours of searching. The man was released on conditions and is to attend court at a later date, but is not allowed near Chalmers. The police told Chalmers the man is staying in a Manitoba city approximately three hours away from Birdtail. mletourneau@brandonsun.com Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism. Founder and leader of Anointed Chapel Palace, Rev. Kweku Agyei Antwi (Rev. Obofuor) has been sued by a Ghanaian UK-based business man, Ohene Kwame Frimpong. In a suit filed by Charles Frimpong through his lawyers, Awoonor Law Consultancy, Ohene Kwame Frimpong who is the owner of Salt Media GH claimed that the defendant, Rev. Obofuor had failed to pay him for services he rendered after agreements between them. Mr Frimpong, according to the writ met the defendant through one of his employees who later informed him that the Plaintiff wanted to purchase a power plant for his use. The Plaintiff stated he delivered the Power Plant worth GHC70,000 to the defendant together with his cousin at the defendants church in Achimota, Accra. It went on further to explain that, after an assessment on the power plants, the defendant requested of the plaintiff to deliver another equipment at the same cost taking the total sum owed the plaintiff to GHC140,000. Frimpong averred that the defendant later requested to be supplied a transmitter at a cost of GHS 90,000 but paid GHC40,000 as part of the cost, leaving a balance of GHC50,000. However, all efforts to retrieve the rest of the money proved futile as the defendant denied transacting business with the Plaintiff, to the shock of Frimpong. The Plaintiff is therefore praying to the Accra High Court to assist him in retrieving GHS 190,000 owed him by the defendant, Rev. Obofuor. 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 Farmer Jairam Mandloi probably did not know about the Madhya Pradesh government's claim of a record crop procurement this year. His death stands testament to a dismal situation instead; he expired of a heart attack after standing for two days at the Dewas District's crop procurement centre. Kilometre-long queues dotted by farmers facing stalled payments at such centres are commonplace. Procured crops lying in the open amid showers add to the scenery. And Mandloi is not the only victim. Previously, a 45-year-old farmer had died in Agar Malwa of a heart attack, after standing in a queue at a wheat procurement centre for six long days. Mandloi's family seeks justice; they have alleged mismanagement at the centre he died at. Another farmer, Sriniwas Sarkar, 45, had hung himself at the Batkidoh village in Betul District a day ago. His family credits his death to the pressure of unpaid loans totalling Rs 40,000. The administration has ordered an inquiry into his death, and the report is awaited. Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath has regularly been alleging that hungry, thirsty farmers are forced to stand in long queues for abysmally longer hours at such centres, amid gross mismanagement by the authorities. He also claims that there is a dearth of sacks and proper weighing systems at procurement centres. Farmers continue to complain of delayed payments. Agricultural expert and Congress leader Kedar Sirohi says that instead of the administration fixing the numbers of farmers allowed at procurement centres, it should have fixed the amount of wheat to be procured. According to our information, around 33 lakh metric tonne wheat is lying at procurement centres established in farmlands and with delayed transportation, these grains worth Rs 7000 crore are at the mercy of the almighty amid pre-monsoon showers, claims Sirohi. In the absence of sale in open markets, farmers have to rely on government procurement, Sirohi says, adding that several districts had witnessed showers. If another shower lashes the grains, he says, they could germinate easily. But the state government tells another story - that of speedy payments to farmers and record procurements even amid a rigorous lockdown. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claims that over 1.20 lakh metric tonne wheat has been procured in time less than one-and-a-half months, in the state. Close to Rs 16,000 crore have been transferred in the accounts of farmers, and the remaining payments will be made shortly, said Principal Secretary Food and Civil Supplies Sheo Shekhar Shukla. He said 85% of procured wheat had been transported and shifted to storage facilities. Meanwhile, the threat of coronavirus and bad weather adds to the ailments of farmers in the state. Advisories were issued in light of the Cyclone Nisarga on Wednesday, even as the government attempts stricter implementation of social distancing at crop centres. Online safety and digital literacy must be introduced to the school curriculum, from pre-school to secondary level, to better protect and equip children to thrive in a digital world, politicians and NGOs have agreed. "We need to equip children to use the internet safely and for empowerment," Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore told a webinar about child safety online organised by the Children's Rights Alliance and youth organisations. Education and research should also be key to the new position of Online Safety Commissioner, a new role which NGOs have been calling for to specifically police and promote safety online, she said. Unequal access to the internet was raised as a major concern by all parties as the Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of access to reliable, fast internet for work, social connection and education. Labour senator Annie Hoey called for the State to take control of internet infrastructure as internet access is now "a rights issue" and has "been a lifeline" to so many people through the Covid-19 crisis. "It should be State-led, owned by the people, and rights based," said Ms Hoey. "If you can't access the internet due to your situation, you can't access education. If people can't access it they're being locked out of opportunities." Concerns were raised about children being targeted as consumers online, and all parties agreed that this "commercial exploitation" needed to stop. A new online safety commissioner should be given "the teeth" to compel tech giants into compliance and to prohibit online data collection from children, Ms Hoey said. Green Party TD Patrick Costello said the current data protection act already has teeth, but that the commission still needs investment to halt the "huge micro-targeting" of advertising online to both children and adults. He said an online safety commissioner should work closely with the Data Protection Commissioner to protect children's data online. Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell said an online safety commissioner would work to suppress cyber bullying and access to dangerous material on topics like self-harm and would strictly regulate children's advertising. He also raised concerns about automatic recommendations on platforms such as Youtube after he saw a child who had been watching the Disney cartoon Frozen be recommended a video promoting gun ownership by the blind algorithm. He intimated that Ireland could play a key role in internet regulation as it hosts two major social media platforms - Twitter and Facebook - while also being part of the EU and party to its rules and regulations. Aircraft seating manufacturer Thompson Aero Seating in Portadown is cutting up to 500 jobs as aviation is hit by falling demand due to Covid-19. And a manufacturing boss has warned that many more job losses are likely in the sector. Chinese-owned Thompson Aero had already cut around 350 agency roles at the outset of the pandemic and lockdown. It will be left with around 720 employees after the latest reduction in headcount - a 40% cut to its current 1,220 workforce. Thompson Aero specialises in business class seating for major airlines like Aer Lingus, American Airlines and Qantas. But the company said it was now facing market challenges, as many major airlines have grounded their fleets since lockdown. However, it also suffered a 27.7m loss in 2018, according to company accounts published in October, down from a 10.7m pre-tax profit a year earlier. A spokeswoman said: "The global airline and aviation industries are experiencing extreme challenges as a result of Covid-19 - unprecedented developments, which have significantly impacted and reduced global demand for aircraft seating. "As a result of these major market challenges, Thompson Aero Seating is announcing a redundancy programme with a proposed reduction of up to 500 jobs, which represents a 40% reduction and will bring the company's headcount back to the numbers employed in the business as recently as 2018." The company said it is now holding a consultation with employees and their union reps, with the jobs to go over the next few months. However, Kieran Ellison, Unite regional officer for Thompson Aero, said the union is seeking for workers to obtain furlough instead of being made redundant. He added: "If these workers can be furloughed instead of being made redundant it offers some hope to safeguard jobs until demand in the aerospace sector improves." The scheme closes to new applicant companies on June 10. Stephen Kelly, the chief executive of trade group Manufacturing NI, said more job losses were likely in the sector. He said: "The manufacturing sector is resilient and many will find a way out of the current crisis, but they need the support of the Executive through financial intervention, smart and brave policy making and quick decisions to give them a fighting chance." Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart said the job losses were also a "devastating blow" for the supply chain across Northern Ireland. She said: "The Government must look more strategically at the aerospace sector given the impact of Covid-19." The protesters didnt expect to be back on the streets so soon. Life in Hong Kong had only just started to resemble a new normal after the threat of the pandemic subsided. But there they were again on May 24, dressed in black, ready for the storm brewing. This is a fresh hell, says Sukie, 25, who asked to use only her nickname for safety reasons. After almost a year of widespread, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the former British colony, China had announced sweeping new security measures that will prevent and punish any secession, subversion, terrorism or foreign interference in Hong Kong. Successive city leaders refrained from passing such a law in fear of demonstrations, and so Beijing bypassed the legislature to impose the bill itself. In the rest of China, these kinds of measures are regularly leveled to stifle dissent. The intent is clear, says Willy Lam, a political analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Control is the No. 1 consideration. The law, which could be enacted by late June, is poised to curtail the liberties that set Hong Konglong a conduit between East and Westapart from the mainland; its free speech, free assembly and independent judiciary. It also opened another front in Chinas ongoing conflict with the U.S., after three years of bruising disputes on trade, espionage and intellectual property. In response, the Trump Administration announced Hong Kong was no longer a free city, and pledged to revoke its preferable exemptions on trading, customs, travel and more. The world once had a sense of optimism that Hong Kong was a glimpse into Chinas future, President Donald Trump said on May 29, not that Hong Kong would grow into a reflection of Chinas past. Police circle detainees near the citys legislature on May 27, as the debate over the national-security bill was set to resume | Miguel CandelaEPA-EFE/Shutterstock In the past few months, tensions between the U.S. and China have dramatically worsened. A relationship that has swung between outbreaks of hostility and grudging collaboration is now settling into long-term estrangement. At the end of May, Trump signed a major China policy document that argues 40 years of U.S. engagement with China has failed to produce the citizencentric, free and open rules-based order the U.S. hoped it would. The following week, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi fired back that it was wishful thinking for the U.S. to change China, and accused Washington of attempting to foment a new cold war. Story continues The pandemic is the backdrop to these tensions. While Chinas President Xi Jinping hopes to rile up nationalism at home to distract from the economic wreckage wrought by the coronavirus, Trump is turning to anti-China sentiment to shift focus from his own response to the outbreak. Hong Kong, about which the U.S. President has previously said little, offers a new line of attack. Trump is hardly a crusader for liberal democratic values, Orville Schell, the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, tells TIME. But he is dedicated to blaming China as a way to escape the burdens of his own irresponsibility. On one side is the worlds leading superpower, and on the other its rising challenger. Caught in the middle is Hong Kong, whose mostly young protesters have come to symbolize resistance to the Communist Party. The week Beijing announced plans to rein in the city, thousands defied social-distancing rules and police orders to disperse to take to the streets once again. Their chants of stand with Hong Kong and the answering cloud of bitter tear gas recalled the upheaval of last year. But no one could deny the stakes have dramatically increased. There is no middle ground anymore, says Chloe, 25, a teacher. Either we accept being integrated into China now, or we become independent. For more than half a century, observers have been pronouncing the end of Hong Kongmost recently, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on May 22 called the national-security law a death knell for the city. Local activists marked the handover from Britain with funeral rites back in 1997, when Hong Kong was grafted back onto China under a one country, two systems formula designed to preserve its legal and political systems within an authoritarian state. This arrangement was forged by the reform-minded leader Deng Xiaoping at a time when many believed China would eventually embrace democracy. The West has long seen Hong Kong, where English is widely spoken and Western ideals embraced, as a catalyst of democratic values in China, as President Bill Clinton put it in 1993. Hong Kong flourished as a gateway to Chinas growing economic engine, becoming a base for international and local companies wanting access to the worlds top trading nation without the party-controlled courts and bureaucratic red tape. By 2001, around a quarter of Chinas imports and 40% of its exports were handled through Hong Kong. Politically, Beijing promised the city a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the handover, until 2047. But the city has always been uneasy under the Communist Partys rule. Promised democratic reforms, including direct elections for the citys leader, were never realized, while the Hong Kong government aligned itself ever more closely with Beijing. An attempt to insert a national education into the school curriculum was jettisoned only after hunger strikes and demonstrations in 2012. Booksellers who published salacious tomes about the party leadership vanished in 2015, reappearing on staterun television issuing confessions. Things came to a head in 2019, when an extradition bill perceived to hand authority to Beijing inspired massive popular protests that flared into several months of violent unrest. The national-security law is just the latest milestone in a long erosion of freedoms, says Bao Pu, a Hong Kongbased publisher and political commentator. At present, even if they dont pass the security law, the old way of life, its over, its long been over, he says. Disillusionment with Beijing has calcified a distinct identity among Hong Kongers. This is particularly galling to Xi, who has pursued the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Hong Kong protesters have not only rejected this vision but also solicited assistance from the U.S. and the U.K. Few believe independence is feasible, but they see calling for it as a way to express their angst about the national-security law. The legislation will permit the mainlands feared security agencies to establish permanent operations in Hong Kong for the first time, instead of working secretly. Prominent protesters fear arrest by secret police and trial and imprisonment in Beijing. Many have started scouring their social-media accounts, deleting posts they fear could be incriminating once the law comes into force. Some in the city are eyeing the exits. Migration consultancies say they are overwhelmed by the sudden volume of inquiries. Taiwan has promised rescue and possibly residency for Hong Kongers escaping political oppression, while the U.K. has offered 2.9 million of its former subjects safe harbor. We will honor our obligations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in an oped on June 3. The Trump Administrations move was designed to hurt Chinese business. The enclaves special status allows Beijing to attract foreign funds. In the first eight months of 2019, China received $62.9 billion in foreign direct investment via Hong Kong, accounting for 70% of the total inflows. Any threat to such a vital financing channel risks destabilizing Chinas already slowing economy. A couple on the boardwalk of Victoria Harbour, where tourists enjoy a nightly light show, on May 28 | Roy LiuBloomberg/Getty Images But removing the citys special status could also diminish its attraction as a global hub. Analysts say companies may uproot from Hong Kong to Singapore or Vietnam. Sources within two major law firms and an international media company told TIME the situation has accelerated contingency planning to relocate, though executives at other firms voiced hopes the national-security law would return stability to Hong Kong and thus to inward investment. A survey of 180 companies by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong in early June found that almost 30% were considering moving business operations, capital or assets, but a majority of correspondents said they had no personal plans to leave the city. Experts say the Trump Administrations actions could ultimately accelerate Beijings ability to consolidate control over Hong Kong, while also hurting U.S. business interests. According to the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, 1,300 U.S. companies have offices in the city. Paradoxically, if we eliminate our special relationship with Hong Kong, it makes Hong Kong more integrated into the Chinese system, not less, says Susan Shirk, a former State Department official who chairs the 21st Century China Center at University of California, San Diego. For some of the more hawkish figures in Washington, that appears to be a regrettable side effect. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, acting chair of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, urged U.S. businesses to leave the territory, and said eventually Chinas interference will make it imperative. Alternatives exist all over the world from Taiwan and Malaysia to Ireland and Mexico. Supply chains can adjust, he said in a statement to TIME. When the [Communist Party of Chinas] vision of security is implemented, Hong Kong can no longer serve as a trusted intermediary between China and the world. While Beijings harder line toward Hong Kong reflects its impatience with the protest movement, it is also part of a pattern of aggression in the weeks after Chinas apparent recovery from the coronavirus. Chinese troops repeatedly crossed the contested border with India in May, and clashed with Indian troops. The Chinese navy has stepped up patrols in the South China Sea, and sank a fishing boat off the coast of Vietnam in April. The U.S. has responded in kind, deploying warships off Chinas southern coast and increasing naval exercises in disputed waters. The two powers have also engaged in a war of words over Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims is part of its territory. Chinas Ministry of Defense expressed strong dissatisfaction after Pompeo congratulated Taiwanese President Tsai Ingwen on her inauguration last month, and days later one of the countrys most senior generals explicitly threatened to absorb the island by force. Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical, Alice Wells, a senior U.S. diplomat, said during a recent press briefing. We continue to see provocations and disturbing behavior by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power. The 2020 U.S. election threatens to compound this new environment of uncertainty and belligerence, as President Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden trade attacks over who has been softer on China. Still, the talk of a new cold war, with its implication of a conventional or nuclear military confrontation, is overblown, current and former U.S. and other officials say. Todays battlefields are not literal but technological, its front lines 5G, AI and the supply chains along which trade and investment flow. The balance of power between Washington and Beijing today is also more level than the one between a booming U.S. and a fading USSR that had only military power. Another comparison might be the Great Game, the 19th century trade-oriented rivalry between Britain and Russia, the two superpowers at the time. The legacy of that dispute is still visible today in war-plagued Afghanistan and in the continuously disputed region of Kashmir. Whenever and however great powers clash, there are victims left behind. Hong Kong may yet be one of them. The pro-democracy activists here are trying to figure out their next moves. Years of peaceful demonstrations were ignored by the citys government. The increasingly violent iterations over the past year drew Beijings ire. Now, dissenters will have to shift to new tactics as they contend with the unyielding Chinese government rather than its local proxies. Many hope the U.S. and its allies will help them push back. I hope Western countries can see that sooner or later conflict with China is inevitable, says Cheung, a 50-year-old broadcast employee whose Sunday shopping was interrupted by police clearing a protest. Hong Kong stood up The rest of the world will have to stand up too at some point. With reporting by KIMBERLY DOZIER and JOHN WALCOTT/WASHINGTON; AMY GUNIA/HONG KONG; and CHARLIE CAMPBELL/SHANGHAI The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on this nation is more far-reaching than any single event Ive witnessed. Regardless of age, race, socioeconomic station or other demographic distinctions, Americans are feeling the effects and are being asked to take unusual or unprecedented measures that are reminiscent of wartime-like sacrifices. At the same time that the virus has affected all of us, it has struck a particular blow against our most vulnerable populations, especially our nations youth, by worsening the risk of food insecurity. This ongoing struggle with childhood malnutrition and food insecurity concerns me, not just as an American, but also as a retired military leader. The military has a deep and long-standing history of interest in the nutrition of our nations youth. Following World War II, when the armed forces had to reject as many as 40 percent of recruits due to malnutrition, military leaders urged Congress to create a national school lunch program. President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act into law in 1946 to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nations children, and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other foods. Prolonged food insecurity can have devastating consequences. One of the most common is obesity brought on by malnutritioneating unhealthy foods because healthy foods arent available. Today, obesity is the most frequent medical disqualifier for those seeking to serve in the military. In fact, as the retired admirals and generals I work with in the national nonprofit Mission: Readiness have been highlighting for a decade, 71 percent of recruiting-age Americans nationwide cant qualify for military service. Kitchen assistant Maria Cedillo makes sandwiches for lunch bags at Rockwood Elementry School, as the city public school district holds their first day of providing free meals to students at 42 sites around the district during the coronavirus pandemic, in Oklahoma City Monday, March 24, 2020. Students get free lunches every day when school is in session, this is first day of free meals since schools were closed. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) While the form that malnutrition takes is different today than it was in the 1940s, the role of schools in improving nutrition is just as crucial now as it was during the Truman administration. Schools are a key vector for providing nutrition and promoting the military readiness of our nations fighting forces because, for many of our nations children, school and summer meals are their only healthy, balanced, and nutritious meal of the day. Story continues But the closure of schools because of Covid-19 has exposed the vulnerability of this system. Schools throughout the United States are continuing to prepare and distribute food, but they are facing increased costs and other challenges because of the pandemic: the costs of additional protective gear for workers, additional packaging, and added costs and transportation limitations associated with distribution. And with summer beginning, the situation is about to get worse. In order to support children and families who depend on school meals, the United States Department of Agriculture funds federal summer nutrition programs, administered by designated agencies in each state. Most programs serve meals using the Summer Food Service Program. All children ages 18 and younger who visit an approved SFSP site can receive meals that meet federal nutrition standards. The program provides federal funding to schools and nonprofits to ensure children who live in low-income areas receive fresh and nutritious foods during school holidays, weekends, after school, and during the summer. Congress passed legislation earlier in the pandemic acknowledging the importance of school and summer food programs and providing some regulatory flexibility, but it did not increase funding. Meanwhile, the disruption to daily life caused by the pandemic has illuminated some of the existing, systemic shortcomings of the summer meal program. For example, many of these programs operate in congregate meal sites, which are meals served in a centralized group setting, such as a cafeteria or community center. The use of congregate meal sites can reduce access for children if there isnt also transportation provided to and from these sites. Even worse, current social distancing guidelines are likely to extend into summer in some areas, potentially reducing or eliminating the availability of congregate meal service. This reduced availability means that school lunch programs will seriously need to consider delivering meals to students' homes instead of relying on them to pick them up, which will increase program costs. An additional challenge in providing consistent access to nutritious food during the pandemic is that the usual supply of food available to federal meal programs has been interrupted. School food-service staff may be dealing with unfamiliar suppliers or foodstuffs and will need additional training in meal preparation to ensure that meals are nutritious and balanced. Finally, a lack of meals provided through these federal programs is impacting family finances at a time when budgets may already be stretched thin, further limiting access to fresh and nutritious foods. But these problems are fixable, and, whats more, offer an opportunity to upgrade and modernize the school and summer meals programs. Here are three things we can do to make that happen now: First, in the next emergency supplemental package, lawmakers should include funding that allows for increased reimbursements to school districts and summer meal providers for the additional costs for delivery of meals, safe packaging for pick up or delivery, and for additional safety and sanitation supplies and equipment to sustain operations. This will keep the program running in the short term. Next, the USDA should prioritize training and technical assistance to school and summer meal preparers. Our military is known for its responsive and continual training to be prepared to meet any challenge. Caring for our nations kids should be no exception. Assisting preparers to adapt to food supply constraints by learning to modify recipes with available ingredients will help them continue to provide nutritious balanced meals. Likewise, offering training to prepare hot meals for delivery and pic-up, or meals that can be reheated at home, will increase the number of kids able to eat at least one healthy, balanced meal a day. Finally, the USDA could also target additional commodities purchases to go to school and summer meal preparers to increase their access to a fresh and nutritious food supply, while continuing cash assistance and meal reimbursements to address the rising costs of serving meals during the pandemic. Simply put, costs for serving meals have outstripped the federal reimbursements. Through USDA food purchases, directing some of our nations stranded food supply to schools and summer meal programs will help programs keep operating. This step, too, during times of economic constraints, will support local preparers in consistently providing their communitys young people with meals that are balanced and nutrient rich. These immediate solutions will help our children emerge from this pandemic strong. But, we cant stop there. The current public health crisis has illuminated the systemic shortcomings in providing for our childrens nutritional needs in the summer. As less than 15 percent of children receiving free or reduced-price lunch during the school year receive summer meals, the need to modernize and adapt summer meal programs is paramount. As we see innovations in transportation, meal delivery and development of non-congregate meal sites come out of necessity during the pandemic, we need to apply these innovations to the program going forward so that our nations kids can access fresh and nutritious foods and grow up healthy and strong. Increased support for school and summer meal programs is vital to keeping our young people healthy during an extremely challenging time in our nations history. Given this situation, the youth of our nation can emerge from this crisis strongeror weaker. The choice is ours to make, and can, in turn, not only help America recover from this pandemic in the years to come, but also bolster our national security. In Basu Chatterjee's film Piya Ka Ghar, we meet a newly married couple, Malti (Jaya Bhaduri) and Ram (Anil Dhawan) who are struggling to find space for love in their small home at a Bombay chawl, where they live with Ram's entire family. The couple never seems to be alone to talk or make love as the house is always populated with Ram's many family members. 48 years later, the realities of living in Mumbai chawls are no different, although, the masterful chronicler of such urban lives, Basu Chatterjee, is no more. The filmmaker died in Mumbai on Thursday due to age-related problems. He was 93-years-old at the time of his death. One of Chatterjee's most significant contributions to Indian cinema is that he along with Mani Kaul, and Mrinal Sen, produced the famous triads of 1969 -- Sara Akash, Uski Roti, and Bhuvan Shome -- which formally ushered in the 'new wave' movement in Indian cinema. It was a year after Film Finance Corporation (FFC) decided to back new filmmakers with innovative ideas and experimental techniques. Although parallel cinema, which has existed from as early as 1925, was already gathering steam with Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy and Ritwik Ghatak in the 50s, and early 60s, these three films broke the mould of parochial storytelling and invented new grammar and style, introduced us to characters, not just heroes. One of the reasons Chatterjee's movies are so relatable is because they erased the line between fiction and realism. Markedly different from the (Italian) neoliberalism inspired Satyajit Ray's parallel films-- that were influenced by the films of Vittorio De Sica and Jean Renoir -- which often talked about the class warfare, the stories of the poor and the oppressed, most of Chatterjee's stories were unmistakably about the bourgeoisie. Read: A Look Back at Some Memorable Songs from Basu Chatterjee's Films Read: A Look At Some Of Masterpieces By Legendary Filmmaker Basu Chatterjee He populated his films with characters that closely resembled members of the middle class --- many of his female protagonists were working women, like Vidya Sinha in films like Chotti Si Baat and Rajnigandha. They dressed like average women did on the streets and did not resemble the glamorous Yash Chopra heroines who made waves for their fashion sense in Kabhi Kabhi during the 70s. The characters in Chatterjee's films were mostly urban, lived in big cities, in modest homes, and had access to the latest technology like the telephone. That is what made his films intimate and personal for many urban, middle-class movie lovers. The problems and aspirations of these characters were familiar too, and mostly there were no vicious villains stirring up troubles. His films presents the characters with various life choices, and problems --- how to win over a girl in Dillagi and Chotti Si Baat, or how to choose between two very different kinds of loves in Rajnigandha, or how to decide whether you want to marry someone you are just dating in Baton Baton Mein --- and handhold the audiences as they see these characters navigate the course of life. Characters in Chatterjee's films, much like real humans, also resolve their conflicts through internal dialogues, trying to understand their own selves, and the people they love which is perhaps the primary preoccupation of every human that ever existed. His movies also never came with neatly tied endings, or with an extreme climax where life and death hinged on a cliff. The climaxes of his films arrived, as any end in life does, gradually and irrespective of our preferences. In Rajnigandha, for instance, while Sinha's character waits desperately for her ex-lover to return her love through his letter, he doesn't. Chatterjee's films exude a certain warmth, a familiar feeling like the comfort of home-cooked meals, or the touch of mother's hand on the forehead. It is perhaps because it not only introduces us to our own problems, our kind of people onscreen but also because it takes us back to similar kinds of homes, and cities we inhabit. Chatterjee, in fact, shows an inordinate amount of love for the city of Bombay in many of his films, where it almost acts as a character. Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee enjoy the monsoon at the marine drive to the tunes of Rim Jhim Gire Sawan, in the film Manzil. When Vidya Sinha's character visits Mumbai for a job interview in Rajnigandha, Dinesh Thakur's character (who was her ex-boyfriend in the film)takes her out to eat at all iconic Mumbai restaurants, Tina Munim and Amol Palekar's characters meet in Bandra to Churchgate local in Baton Baton Mein. Chotti Si Baat too is crowded with scenes from everyday lives in the city. A classic case of Chatterjee's stories not working without its rooted realism is Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon, which was a remake of his popular movie, Chitchor. While a village couple trying to marry their beautiful daughter off to a city engineer seems like a familiar story of many middle-class homes, it doesn't take off at all when the same story is told with over-the-top acting of Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan, exotic foreign locales, and a talking bird. The beauty of Chatterjee's films lies in the simplicity with which he presents complex human dynamics and his ability to find the beauty of mundaneness. One of his many strengths as a filmmaker was his deep understanding of the middle-class psyche, which shines through films in which he navigates social issues. In Chameli Ki Shadi, he not only gives Bollywood a strong feminist character but also holds up a mirror at the deeply rooted caste system of India. In Kamla Ki Maut, the idea of moral, and societal judgment is so beautifully dealt with, as chawl members process the news of a 20-year-old's suicide because she became pregnant before marriage. Chatterjee, along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, also brought on Indian screens a gentle, and simple kind of comedy, that we have never had the privilege to experience ever again. If Bollywood was defined by an angry young man in the 70s, it was also significant for this rare brand of comedy that Chatterjee introduced. Follow @News18Movies for more In museums and galleries, Mr. Beloufa often presents his films within glitchy, cheaply constructed installations. The footage is broken into clips that play on multiple screens, sometimes mounted on motorized platforms, which have to be watched in a nonlinear fashion. Screen Talk, likewise, embeds the episodes within a purposely awkward interactive schema that takes its aesthetic cues from the doofiest days of the early web. The site heaves with slapdash pop-up notifications, featuring silly Clipart and tacky fonts and to see each episode you have to take a quiz that you would have to be dumb as a post to fail; one question explicitly recommends that you cheat and look up the answer on Wikipedia. Indeed the antic interface of Screen Talk, like the projection displays that Mr. Beloufa built at MoMA, underscores how far these videos lie from your average YouTube or Netflix mini-series. Brechtian is hardly a sufficient word for the deadpan accuracy of the amateur Canadian actors here, who speak directly in the camera with bottles of hand sanitizer and Vitamin Water at hand. The newscaster has trouble speaking English, and the doctors spew out pseudo-epidemiological statements like If my calculations are undistorted, and I think they are, then we will be in the 14th percentile of class structure. Watching Screen Talk is like being plunged into a bonkers, upside-down Zoom discussion without much of a destination. For ultimately what matters in Screen Talk isnt the future of Martin and Betsys relationship or even the epidemiological fate of the world. What matters are the technologies that the pandemic has forced them to rely on, and how they reprocess human life into mere data and human feelings into mere communication. While dealing with the ongoing pandemic, Maharashtra also had to face the raging Cyclone Nisarga yesterday. Mumbai Police, who is working relentlessly to deal with the adversities to keep people safe, has taken to Instagram to share a note of gratitude. In the post, they thanked their all weather friends the people of Mumbai. They expressed their appreciation towards Mumbaikars for following rules and regulations during the trying times. The department also shared a video with a positive caption that reads, Together, we can overcome any adversity! The video is a collection of different shots and images detailing the work done by Mumbai Police. It also shows how people of the city are helping police by following the rules. The video ends with, Thank you. You have made our being on duty worthy. Thank you Mumbai for weathering the storm together. Since being shared, the post has gathered close to 33,000 likes and counting. People flooded the posts comments section with all sorts of appreciative reactions. They lauded the department for doing an amazing job and some also called the cops the real heroes. Mumbai Police rocks! wrote an Instagram user. Hats off sir, no words can ever describe the tremendous work done by the police, expressed another. Mumbai is grateful for Mumbai Police, wrote a third and several others expressed the same notion. What do you think of the video? A structural engineer attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mike Addo, is warning of an impending collapse of Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). He said the edifice, which is a famous meeting venue and located in the Christiansborg district, has been derelict for 29 years and is in a state of serious disrepair. He has consequently called for immediate refurbishment of the edifice commissioned around 1991, saying thirty per cent of its columns and pillars have gone. According to him, some water was present at the base of the building at the time it was being commissioned in 1991 and that the degree of 'ingress of moisture on the concrete affected the maintenance regime', which he noted had not been adequate. The first report I saw on this was in 2014, and it was almost like this concretes of pillars and columns coming off, the engineer said, adding there was water on the floor when the building was being commissioned. Either there is some passage of water from external sources or there is ground water for which there has not been adequate sub-structural drainage. He said when you put up a concrete structure right from the concrete sets and hardens the atmosphere starts attacking, and there is nothing you can do about it, he told members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament yesterday. According to him, there was no provision for the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) because local engineers were not involved in the construction of the centre, which has six halls with a total capacity of 6,000 people; the largest hall seats for 1,600 people. The Chairman of the committee, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, said members had seen for themselves the structural defects of the national facility. This committee is surprised. Obviously, we are not in any attempt to point accusing fingers. We think that it is a genuine challenge that we all need to resolve if you listen to the professionals, he said. Mr. Annoh-Dompreh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, said even though the building looks beautiful from outside, the inner part relating to the basement is rotten with concrete and iron rods falling off. He appealed to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, to respond quickly by detailing out plans to refurbish the building. A member of the committee from the Minority group, Dr. Francis Dakura, called for a new conference centre to be built, while the country takes steps to refurbish the existing one. ---Daily Guide Children are not superspreaders of Covid-19 and they can return to school as they pose a low risk, research suggests. There is limited evidence of coronavirus transmission in school settings, say experts from Dublin's Health Service Executive. They found that nobody with the virus transmitted it to anyone else in a school setting prior to the lockdown. The researchers traced 1,000 close contacts of three children and three teachers from the Republic of Ireland who were later found to be infected with the virus before schools were shut. In a reception classroom, children sit apart from each other on a carpet where crosses have been marked out for them to sit on They contracted the virus not in the classroom but when travelling or due to a household outbreak. The youngsters were all aged ten to 15 with one in primary school and two in secondary school. There was no confirmed virus transmission in a school setting from the six cases to the 1,155 child and adult contacts, according to the research published in the journal Eurosurveillance. Even 'high risk' activities such as choir practice and playing woodwind instruments failed to cause a single transmitted case. Children are typically superspreaders of viruses but experts from the HSE believe that this is not the case with Covid-19. One single child with Covid-19 accounted for more than 500 contacts but they did not transmit the virus to a single person. Among the three teachers, there were two secondary cases but these transmissions did not occur at a school and did not involve anyone from the schools. There was no transmission from the adults to any children. More than two million pupils from reception, year one and year six have been allowed to go back to school. But older year groups, including those preparing for GCSEs and A-levels, have not been allowed to return yet. Among the three teachers studied by researchers, there were two secondary cases but these transmissions did not occur at a school and did not involve anyone from the schools Dr Geraldine Casey from the HSE said: 'The limited evidence of transmission in school settings supports the reopening of schools as part of the easing of current restrictions.' The University of Warwick has also suggested that sending children to school is low risk and would not risk a second wave of the virus. But this comes as new research, led by scientists at University College London who advise the Government, found that reopening schools will cause a second wave unless there are improvements to the test and trace system. The study warned that opening schools this summer will lead to a resurgence of the virus in December and this second wave risks being twice as deadly as the first. The report models that opening schools fully or in phases in June or July would create a second wave which would be around 2.2 to 2.5 times larger than the first. And reopening in September would produce a secondary wave around 1.3 times larger. To prevent this, the researchers said half of those with symptoms need to be tested. But currently under 2,000 of the estimated 8,000 new cases a day are tested. And the study says at least 40 per cent of people who have come into contact with anyone who tested positive would need to be contacted and told to self-isolate. But the contact tracing scheme has already been branded a 'shambles'. A leaked report said that in three days virus sufferers had provided details of 4,634 people they might have infected but just 1,749 were contacted. The Congress on Thursday accused the BJP of giving a "communal colour" to the killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala and said the saffron party leaders were deliberately spreading "false information" on the issue. The 15-year-old elephant is suspected to have consumed a pineapple filled with powerful firecrackers which exploded in the animal's mouth and it died in the Velliyar River about a week later. The opposition party said while the incident took place in Palakkad, BJP leaders and right-wing trolls were relating it to the neighbouring Malappuram district. Three suspects are under the scanner of teams probing the gory death of the pregnant wild elephant in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, as he alleged some people, including Union ministers, were using the incident to tarnish the image of the state. Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal demanded that the BJP must tender an unqualified and unconditional public apology for giving a communal colour to the "most unfortunate incident". The tragic and inhumane death of the pregnant elephant caused by biting a pineapple stuffed with explosives or fire crackers in Palakkad district in Kerala is a most cruel incident, he said in a statement. It invited condemnation and criticism across the world, Venugopal said, adding that any kind of mindless and unreasonable violence against wildlife was totally unacceptable and unjustifiable. "However, senior BJP leaders like Maneka Gandhi and Cabinet Ministers like Prakash Javadekar are deliberately spreading false information on this unfortunate tragedy," he said. Although the incident took place in Palakkad district, the ministers and right-wing trolls are relating the incident to the neighbouring Malappuram district, Venugopal said. "They are deliberately spreading communally motivated false information on the district. Furthermore, without any connection whatsoever, they even dragged the name of Rahul Gandhi in this diabolic incident," he alleged. Venugopal claimed that the "propaganda" has proven once again that the BJP would stoop to any level to twist facts for its narrow divisive political purposes. "They are shedding crocodile tears over the incident and this divisive propaganda has exposed the BJP's hypocrisy totally," he said. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said the climate in the country has become so bitter that even in the tragic death of an elephant, some were trying to misrepresent facts to twist it into an issue of one community versus another. Union Environment Minister Javadekar earlier said that it was not in Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill. Tweeting about the incident that has taken social media by storm, Javadekar said the government would not leave any stone unturned to bring the culprit to book. "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill (sic)," he said in a tweet. BJP MP and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi tweeted that Malappuram was known for "its intense criminal activity", specially "with regard to animals". "In spite of having clarified that the incident took place in Palakkad and not in Malappuram as being propagated, people including central ministers are still not willing to correct the mistake. It now looks like they are doing it deliberately. This is not acceptable and any efforts to spread hatred using this incident will not be tolerated," Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. Trump supports Global Coptic Day, stresses importance of religious freedom Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment President Donald Trump issued an official message in support of the second annual Global Coptic Day, expressing his support for the persecuted Christian denomination. In a message released Monday, Trump noted that his administration called the observance an opportunity for the world to mark the contributions, legacy, and ongoing challenges facing the largest Christian group in the Middle East. This year, as we celebrate the second annual Global Coptic Day, we recognize the vital role faith, prayer, and service have in our lives, especially as we continue to face the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic, stated Trump. We join with people of faith from every corner of the world in asking God to place his healing hand on those fighting the virus and to comfort those who are mourning the loss of a friend or a loved one. The president went on to focus on the importance of international religious freedom, saying that far too many people the world over face persecution on account of their faith. We must ensure that we are using every tool at our disposal to ensure that every man, woman, and child feels safe and secure to worship according to their conscience and beliefsno matter where they live, he continued. I hope todays observance is filled with prayer and joy, and provides those celebrating with a renewed sense of purpose and faith. May God bless each of you. The Global Coptic Day observance was founded in part by Egyptian-born Nader Anise, who launched the Coptic American Chamber of Commerce. A major goal of the observance is to spread awareness about the Coptic Church and contributions it has made to history and culture. In Coptic tradition, June 1 is the Flight of the Holy Family, referencing how Jesus, along with his parents Mary and Joseph, fled to Egypt to escape King Herod. A branch of the Orthodox Church largely based in Egypt, the Coptic Church has long experienced both state-sponsored repression and violence from Islamic extremists. In 2015, the Islamic State released a video online showing 20 Coptic Christian men and one Ghanaian Christian being decapitated on a beach in Libya for their beliefs. In February, a museum dedicated to that group of executed Christians was opened at the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland in the village of Al-Aour. For its part, in recent times the Egyptian government has granted legal status to a growing number of churches that have increased, with 70 being approved in May. Egypt was ranked number 16 on the Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors USAs list of worst persecutors of Christians in the world. There are violent attacks that make news headlines around the world, but there are also quieter, more subtle forms of duress that burden Egyptian believers, noted the organization. Particularly in rural areas in northern Egypt, Christians have been chased from villages, and subject to mob violence and intense familial and community pressure. This is even more pronounced for Christians who are converts from Islam. Scientists from Cardiff University have discovered specific conditions that occur along the ocean floor where two tectonic plates are more likely to slowly creep past one another as opposed to drastically slipping and creating catastrophic earthquakes. The team have shown that where fractures lie on the ocean floor, at the junction of two tectonic plates, sufficient water is able to enter those fractures and trigger the formation of weak minerals which in turn helps the two tectonic plates to slowly slide past one another. The new findings, which have been published in the journal Science Advances, could potentially help scientists understand the size of stresses at specific fault lines and whether or not the tectonic plates could possibly trigger an earthquake. This, in turn, could potentially contribute to solving one of the greatest challenges that faces seismologists, which is to be able to forecast earthquakes with enough precision to save lives and reduce the economic damage that is caused. Earth's outer layer, the lithosphere, is made up tectonic plates that shift over the underlying asthenosphere like floats on a swimming pool at rates of centimetres per year. Stresses begin to build up where these plates meet and are relieved at certain times either by earthquakes, where one plate catastrophically slips beneath the other at a rate of meters per second, or by creeping whereby the plates slip slowly past one another at a rate of centimetres per year. advertisement Scientists have for a long time been trying to work out what causes a particular plate boundary to either creep or to produce an earthquake. It is commonly believed that the slip of tectonic plates at the juncture of an oceanic and continental plate is caused by a weak layer of sedimentary rock on the top of the ocean floor; however, new evidence has suggested that the rocks deeper beneath the surface in the oceanic crust could also play a part and that they may be responsible for creep as opposed to earthquakes. In their study, the team from Cardiff University and Tsukuba University in Japan looked for geological evidence of creep in rocks along the Japan coast, specifically in rocks from oceanic crust that had been deeply buried in a subduction zone, but through uplift and erosion were now visible on the Earth's surface. Using state-of-the-art imaging techniques the team were able to observe the microscopic structure of the rocks within the oceanic crust and use them to estimate the amount of stress that was present at the tectonic plate boundary. Their results showed that the oceanic crust was in fact far weaker than previously assumed by scientists. "This means that, at least in the ancient Japanese subduction zone, slow creep within weak, wet oceanic crust could allow the ocean lithosphere to slip underneath the overlying continent without earthquakes being generated," said lead-author of the study Christopher Tulley, from Cardiff University's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences. "Our study therefore confirms that oceanic crust, typically thought to be strong and prone to deforming by earthquakes, may instead commonly deform by creep, providing it is sufficiently hydrated." Academics Nationwide Offer Aid, Support for Rioters University professors across the country have publicly expressed support for the rioters who have been terrorizing communities since graphic video of the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody was published. Floyd was a middle-aged black man who died after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a white man, pressed his knee into the suspects neck for almost nine minutes as he lay handcuffed on the ground. With its racial overtones, video of the incident quickly went viral and became a recruiting tool for left-wing agitators. Protests, rioting, and looting followed after news of Floyds death swept the country. As The Epoch Times has reported, a phalanx of leftist groups, including Antifa and Democratic Socialists of America, has been involved in generating civil unrest amid a depressed economy and as most Americans have been locked down as part of the effort to contain the spread of the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Academics have made public statements in recent days showing solidarity with the violent mobs that have attacked police and destroyed property while they cause mayhem. Northwestern University journalism professor Steven Thrasher hailed rioters for burning down a police station in Minneapolis, telling NPR it was a very proportionate response to whats happening. Thrasher asserted without proof that the violence is being done by the police themselves. He said the rebellion was justified because the police are the ones that are enforcing an extremely unfair social order. They lynched George Floyd in broad daylight on video. Kitty Eisele, a journalist and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, lamented that rioters hadnt attacked the Trump International Hotel in the nations capital, as the Washington Free Beacon reports. Shame they arent noticing the Trump Hotel which costs more and has a more problematic clientele, she wrote on Twitter. The hotel, a few blocks from the White House, is frequented by Trump administration officials and political allies. Syracuse University assistant professor of political science Jenn M. Jackson wrote on Twitter that the police are part of a racist system. [Cops] are employed in an institution meant to eradicate Blackness. The philosophical principles of being a police officer are racist and anti-Black. They are required to do terrible things. Anthropology professor Sarah Parcak of University of AlabamaBirmingham, wrote a Twitter thread on how to pull down an obelisk safely. The procedures might come in handy for anyone trying to topple racist monuments. Antifa sympathizer and Rutgers professor Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, railed against President Donald Trump in The Washington Post for identifying Antifa as a source of the current unrest. Trumps reckless accusations lack evidence But they also intentionally misrepresent the anti-fascist movement in the interest of delegitimizing militant protest and deflecting attention away from the white supremacy and police brutality that the protests oppose. Conservative activist and scholar Tina Trent, a former candidate for the Georgia General Assembly, told The Epoch Times that although the killing of Floyd was disturbing, these academics are operating on false assumptions about the racial makeup of crimes. Black males make up almost 50 percent of cop killers, she said in an interview. Cops have a lot more to fear from blacks than blacks have to fear from cops. The vast majority of black people murdered are murdered by other blacks. Professors who carry on about cop-on-black murders are not only intellectually dishonest but theyre speaking for a narrative that results in increased deaths for the very cohort that they pretend to protect. These academics dont care about what happens to communities, Trent said. None of this affects them personally. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, spoke out Wednesday about the "absolutely devastating" killing of George Floyd while addressing students at her former high school in Los Angeles in a surprise virtual graduation speech. Meghan spoke to students at the private, all-girls Immaculate Heart about the nationwide protests to bring attention to police brutality and ingrained racism in the United States. She revealed that it was difficult for her to find the words to express her feelings about the May 25 death of Floyd, a black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck in Minneapolis. "I wasn't sure what I could say to you," she said. "I wanted to say the right thing. And I was really nervous that I wouldn't, or that it would get picked apart, and I realized: The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing." "Because George Floyd's life mattered, and Breonna Taylor's life mattered, and Philando Castile's life mattered, and Tamir Rice's life mattered, and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we don't know." In her first public remarks on the unrest, the duchess recalled a teacher telling her, "Always remember to put others' needs before your own fears." "That has stuck with me through my entire life," she said, "and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before." The former "Suits" actress went on to share her own story as a biracial woman growing up in California. Meghan, who has a white father and a black mother, recalled being 11 in 1992 when her hometown of Los Angeles descended into similar riots after the acquittal of four LAPD officers who were videotaped violently beating Rodney King during his arrest the year before. "I remember the curfew, and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings, carrying bags and looting," she said. "And I remember seeing men in the back of a van holding guns and rifles, and I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don't go away.'' Meghan encouraged graduates to become leaders during this challenging time and to make their voices heard through voting. "You are going to lead with love. You are going to lead with compassion. You are going to use your voice," she said. "You are going to use your voice in a stronger way than you have ever been able to, because most of you are 18, or you're going to turn 18, so you're going to vote. You are going to have empathy for those who don't see the world through the same lens that you do - because with as diverse, vibrant and open-minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter." It comes as no surprise that Meghan spoke out about the current turmoil given her past racist experiences with the press. Her speech comes months after she and Prince Harry stepped back from their roles as full-time members of the British royal family and moved to Los Angeles with their son, Archie, in part due to the intense scrutiny of British tabloids. Since the news of their relationship broke nearly four years ago, British tabloid interest in the couple has been persistent and often malicious. In 2016, the Daily Mail published a story with the headline, "Harry's girl is (almost) straight outta Compton," portraying the L.A. neighborhood of Meghan's mother, Doria, as "run-down" and "gang-afflicted." Days later, Prince Harry issued an atypically blistering statement in which he called out racist media coverage of his then-girlfriend, though the biased media coverage did not end there. Soon after Archie's birth, British radio host Danny Baker was fired from the BBC for writing a tweet that compared the newborn to a chimpanzee. The tabloids continued to push negative stories, claiming Meghan and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, have a strained relationship which has caused a rift between Harry and his brother, Prince William. Other stories circulated about Meghan's alleged diva demands and mistreatment of Buckingham Palace staff as royal fans have blamed Meghan for the couple's more private approach to public life. The media's tireless personal attacks exhibit a conscious and unconscious bias that is not lost on the duchess. "I know sometimes people say, 'How many times do we need to rebuild?''' Meghan said in her graduation address. "Well, you know what? We are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we." Express News Service JAIPUR / GADAG / ADILABAD / MAHABUBNAGAR / NAGAPATTINAM / RANCHI: Ramavatar Singh, 35, stands out as the odd one out among the 100-plus labourers working on a well under an unrelenting summer sun in Jobner, 70 km from Jaipur. While the other labourers comprising mainly women and a handful of men appear rustic, under-fed, sporting rubber slippers and lungis, Singh is tall, well built, clad in a shirt and trouser and clearly not village-bred. Singh led a rather comfortable life, earning Rs 15,000 a month as a private school teacher in Jobner. That is, until Covid-19 struck and a lockdown was ordered on March 25. A postgraduate in political science, he was sacked from his job and has been unpaid since. At first, Singh managed with the meagre savings he had, but when the cash dried up and there was no one to borrow money from, he enrolled himself as a worker under the MGNREGA. After the lockdown, the school authorities refused to pay salary and dismissed me. With all factories and markets closed, I had no choice but to work under the MGNREGA to earn money, he said.Singh is not the only qualified worker forced into manual labour to make both ends meet. From Rajasthan and Jharkhand to Karnataka and Telangana, there are many like Singh toiling as labourers constructing roads, bridges, check dams and tilling land. Lumping their pride, they have no qualms about doing manual work to feed their hungry families. As the MGNREGA guarantees everyone holding a job card 100 days of work, the rural job scheme has come as a godsend for the newly-unemployed. Workers are paid Rs 202 a day, up from Rs 182 before the Covid19 lockdown. Giving Singh company is Sita Verma, a 30-year-old arts graduate whose postgraduate husband Shanker Lal was a school teacher. Lal lost his job and the desperate couple had no income. Sita finally turned to MGNREGA on May 16 to feed her little children. I am doing such manual labour for the first time in my life, that too in this heat. As my husband has not been paid since March, I had no choice but to get a job card made, she said. A few kilometres away at Aasalpur village is Sakaram Jat, 36, a double MA. He used to teach school students up to Class X but has been not been since March. He, too, has been reduced to becoming a manual labourer at an MGNREGA site. I have no other source of income as the school where I worked has not paid me a penny for three months, he said. Sadanand Mukkannavar in Karnatakas Gadag district was a maintenance engineer in Bengaluru, earning Rs 50,000 a month. When the virus struck, his company showed him the door, asking him to return only after the disease abates. Sadanand now works at a farm in the Kadadi gram panchayat limits under the MGNREGA. I cannot sit idle so I started working on a daily wage basis. It may take 4-5 months to rejoin duty so something is better than nothing, he said. S Thangapandiyan, 40, in Tamil Nadus Nagapattinam district was a sales representative-cum-supervisor at a popular textile shop in Tiruvarur. He was laid off when the shop closed on March 25. With a wife and two children to feed, he has turned to MGNREGA work to keep the home fires burning. I am educated up to Class X. I worked in a textile shop for over 20 years. My company terminated me recently citing loss of business due to the lockdown. I have a wife and two children to take care of so I have come for wages under the MGNREGA, he said. S Thangapandiyan, 40, in Tamil Nadus Nagapattinam district was a sales representative-cum-supervisor at a popular textile shop in Tiruvarur. He was laid off when the shop closed on March 25. With a wife and two children to feed, he has turned to MGNREGA work to keep the home fires burning. I am educated up to Class X. I worked in a textile shop for over 20 years. My company terminated me recently citing loss of business due to the lockdown. I have a wife and two children to take care of so I have come for wages under the MGNREGA, he said. Sirigiri Ravi of Adilabad in Telangana is a trained videographer. Wedding shoots used to keep him busy in the summer months and he would earn up to Rs 2 lakh. But not this season as the lockdown has led to many weddings being cancelled or postponed. He now ekes out a living doing odd jobs under the rural job scheme. My bad luck was that just before the lockdown, I purchased a new video camera worth Rs 1.5 lakh. I have not used it once, it has become a dead investment, he said. Hanumanthu in Mahabubnagar district has also been working as a labourer since the lockdown. He was a lecturer at a private college, earning Rs 10,000 monthly. But with the college shut, he found refuge in MGNREGA to survive. I came back to my native village as my college shut down. I could not get a job so I am doing manual work. I get Rs 202 per day but anything is better than nothing, he said. Santosh Kumar Ray, 30, of Jharkhands Giridih district finds himself in the same boat. Until the lockdown, he used to be a cook at Chennais Dialogue in the Dark, a multi-city chain of restaurants. With the restaurant shut he returned to his village and is now working as a labourer. I used to earn Rs 20,000 a month, besides getting free food and lodging in Chennai. I had to return home after the restaurant was closed. After remaining jobless for around a month, I had no option but to take up a job under the MGNREGA in my village, Rai said. No official data is available on the current rate of unemployment. But the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy, a private think-tank, has estimated it to be as high as 23.5% in May. Peaceful protest. I heard and read those words over and over recently. At first blush, those words just describe what happened: the protests were peaceful. We may have published those words in this newspaper. But, something kept gnawing at me the more I heard it. I realized why the phrase peaceful protest irked me so much is its reserved for Black people. I couldnt recall the phrase being used so ubiquitously a few weeks ago when white Americans were demanding government officials reopen the economy. Even when protesters were armed, news anchors and reporters didnt emphasize the events were peaceful as much as they do when the protesters are majority Black. One could say the emphasis is happening because many of the protests turned violent so journalists are simply trying to let the public know the rally was peaceful. Thats true on the surface, but I also know its coded language. Black people are violent so not erupting in violence is a surprise. Some think theyre being benevolent by letting Americans know we do know how to behave so dont be afraid. Its expected that well loot and destroy property. I watched a video of a white woman clearly looting and the white woman newscaster had the audacity to wonder if the woman was an employee. Really, lady! If the looter was Black, we know she wouldnt even utter those words. And that brings me to my point: racism exists in journalism. Stereotypically, journalists tend to be liberals who are above trotting out tired tropes about Black people. We know thats a lie. As Dr. King pointed out, the polite racism of white liberals is still racism. Id venture to say even conservative journalists would say theyre not racist since pretty much most of white America refuses to acknowledge racism exists. We see it in the way Black people are covered in the news. I cant even say my white colleagues dont realize how much they contribute to the narrative of the scary Black man, Black people as criminals or any other stereotypes about Black people. Its 2020 and this has been pointed out many times over, yet it still happens. Im forced to believe, like much of white America (and George Bush), many white journalists dont care about Black people. Weve pointed out the almost nonexistent coverage of Black women who are missing while we are inundated with almost nonstop coverage when a white woman is missing. Weve pointed it out when they automatically run with the narrative from the police even when journalists are taught to question everyone including your mother. Weve pointed it out when they turn the Black victim into the criminal. Weve pointed it out when white women accuse Black men of crimes. Many refuse to listen. I remember a conversation with a former colleague who I know considers himself to be a pretty liberal guy, and he is. Somehow we got on the subject of race and how he had Black friends because many of his regular sources were Black and he liked them. I told him they werent friends and asked had he ever been to their home or vice versa? Did their children play together? Did they go out to dinner together? Talk outside of work or have a conversation that wasnt transactional? You know, things friends do. When he said hed done none of those things, I told him he wasnt friends with any of those Black people and he didnt know those people. Their relationship was professional. He was offended. I didnt care. His surface-level relationship with Black people convinced him he had true friendships. I thought about this conversation as I watched coverage about the protests. The idea that Black people were looting, shooting and destroying was a foregone conclusion. We had to provide examples otherwise. Youd think people who are tasked with being unbiased would recognize their bias and work to correct it. For some that is the case. Others are purposely obtuse. As a Black woman journalist Im tired of watching journalists do mental gymnastics to give white people the benefit of the doubt but are too lazy to do so for Black people. Its time to do better. Archbishop of Santa Fe John Wester addressed the issue of contemporary and historic racism in America during a Wednesday night prayer service with the African American Catholic community of the archdiocese at St. Joseph on the Rio Grande Church. Mr. Floyds death and that of so many other black and brown men and women pains us, and it should, Wester said in a statement issued prior to the prayer service. Pain signals that something is not right in our relationships and community. The source of our pain is the sin of racism and violence. The Archbishop went on to say, While we pray for our first responders that they will be safe, at the same time I understand the frustration, pain and hurt of so many people of color in our country. We can no longer ignore the source of our pain. We cannot just stand by and do nothing. We cannot continue to live with so much hate and violence festering within our community. People, he said, should bear witness to what is happening in our community, and speak and act in love when we see racism around us. Worcester Police Chief Steven Sargent responded to Clark Universitys criticism of the departments response to the unrest that unfolded Monday night into Tuesday morning after a peaceful protest in the wake of George Floyds death had ended. Sargent highlighted the comment made by the universitys president and president-elect in a joint statement that they did not know the the full circumstances or details of these events. To act or make statements without facts is irresponsible and incendiary, Sargent said in a statement issued Wednesday. It is disappointing that Clark University would release a statement criticizing the way our officers handled the violent activity that happened hours after the peaceful rally in which I, along with members of our department and community, stood in solidarity. Four Clark University students were among the 19 people arrested in the unrest that unfolded in the Main South section of the city. University President David P. Angel and David B. Fithian, president-elect for the institution, announced in a statement that they were supporting those four students but did not say what measures they are taking to offer the support. Four Clark students were arrested, among others. We do not at this time know the full circumstances or details of these events, Angel and Fithian said in the statement. What we do know is that the police actions we have witnessed are unacceptable and a source of dismay to all within our community. We share the anger and concern over these actions. The university said it does not have a contractual relationship with the Worcester Police Department, but it will no longer hire off-duty Worcester police officers and is suspending the policy that requires a police officer in attendance at large student events. The university planned to review the events that unfolded as well. Worcester police plan to release video of the disorder, Sargent told MassLive. Sargent pointed out that members of Worcester police helped protesters organize their events to gather and march safely. Thousands of people attended a peaceful protest Monday. Police officers joined the peaceful protest and at one point took a knee. Sargent was one of the many officers who took a knee. Worcester police said the people who gathered for the peaceful protest went home around 8:30 p.m. It was around 9:45 p.m. when Worcester police said a separate group of 50 to 70 people gathered in the downtown area at Portland and Federal streets. Police called the group unruly. The group that assembled late into the evening on Monday put our citizens and officers at great risk through their violent actions, Sargent said. This group assaulted our officers with rocks, bottles and glass and were damaging property and lighting things on fire. Sargent said several police units responded while trying to keep the Main South neighborhood safe. Clark University is in the heart of Main South. Responding officers used their training and applied best practices to gain to control of the neighborhood and restore peace, the chief said. Our officers showed tremendous restraint and professionalism while being attacked. They successfully prevented residents from being injured by the violent group, and the situation could have escalated into something much worst if not for the actions of the officers." On Tuesday, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said he spoke with Angel and expressed his disappointment in the university for taking action without gathering all the details. I urged him to see the full breadth of information that was available," Augustus said. "In that statement, he didnt know all the details, and yet he still took action based on not knowing all the details, which I think is a mistake. A video shared on social media shows Clark University students live streaming the evenings events in Main South as police in riot gear responded to the group. The person posting was one of the 19 people arrested. I live here, Im going home, Im going home, the student tells officers just before screaming, I didnt do anything. While the video then goes dark, a person speaking to the student says, Hands on your back. The student claims police told the crowd they could go home without facing arrest. Police describe the scene that unfolded Monday night into Tuesday morning as violent and chaotic. Officers in riot gear blocked off sections of Main Street. Police said the group crowded around a cruiser parked at the intersection of Main and Hammond streets. The officer inside called for help and ran from the cruiser. The departments Tactical Patrol Force was called in. Officers with megaphones ordered the crowd many times to disperse, police said in a news release. Members of the crowd began throwing objects at the police. One officer was struck in the head with a piece of concrete, and others were struck with rocks. Other individuals starting shooting fireworks and Roman candles at the officers. An officer was struck in the chest by fireworks, which burned his uniform and skin. According to police, the Main South neighborhood was filled with smoke from fires intentionally set by some people. Authorities said several buildings were damaged and dumpsters were lit on fire. It was about an hour-and-a-half after the disturbance began when officers used less-lethal measures including smoke grenades and pepperball rounds to disperse the crowd and make arrests. Pepperball rounds dispense oleoresin capsicum, the same ingredient found in pepper spray. Augustus on Tuesday said he witnessed some people firing fireworks at police. Some people in the crowd carried gasoline and rags, the city manager said. One man in the group was trying to lite Molotov cocktails while standing on top of a market, according to police. Related Content: WASHINGTON, D.C. -- About a third (32%) of recent college graduates who completed their bachelor's degree from 2010-2019 strongly agree they are confident that, if they had raised an issue about sexual assault while on campus, their alma mater would have fully investigated it. Public college graduates are slightly more likely than private not-for-profit graduates to strongly agree that their institution would have investigated such a claim, and are much more likely than graduates from private for-profit institutions to say the same. U.S. Grads' Confidence That Their Alma Mater Would Have Fully Investigated a Report of Sexual Assault On a scale of 1 to 5, in which 1 means strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree, please rate your level of agreement with the following statement. If I had raised an issue about sexual assault on campus, I am confident [University name] would have fully investigated it. 5 Strongly agree 4 3 2 1 Strongly disagree Don't know % % % % % % All recent graduates 32 24 18 8 5 14 Public graduates 34 23 18 6 4 15 Private not-for-profit graduates 30 24 19 12 5 10 Private for-profit graduates 26 24 12 1 11 26 Gallup Alumni Survey, Oct. 24-Nov. 7, 2019 These results are based on interviews with more than 1,600 college graduates who completed their bachelor's degree from 2010-2019. Female and LGBT Grads Less Likely to Be Confident in Alma Mater Groups that experience higher rates of sexual assault on campus -- females and LGBT individuals -- are less likely than their peers to report they are confident their institution would have fully investigated a claim. Averaging the results across types of schools, 30% of recent female college graduates strongly agree that they are confident the institution would have fully investigated a claim, compared with 34% of male recent graduates. A higher percentage of male than female graduates report they are unsure whether their institution would have fully investigated a claim (17% vs. 11%, respectively). One-quarter of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender graduates strongly agree that their institution would have fully investigated their claim, compared with one-third of those who do not identify as LGBT. U.S. Grads' Confidence That Their Alma Mater Would Have Fully Investigated a Report of Sexual Assault, by Key Groups On a scale of 1 to 5, in which 1 means strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree, please rate your level of agreement with the following statement. If I had raised an issue about sexual assault on campus, I am confident [University name] would have fully investigated it. 5 Strongly agree 4 3 2 1 Strongly disagree Don't know % % % % % % All recent grads 32 24 18 8 5 14 Female grads 30 23 21 8 7 11 Male grads 34 24 14 8 3 17 LGBT grads 25 22 20 14 10 10 Non-LGBT grads 33 24 17 7 4 15 Gallup Alumni Survey, Oct. 24-Nov. 7, 2019 White graduates are also slightly more likely to strongly agree that their institution would have fully investigated a claim (33%), compared with their nonwhite peers (29%). Implications Gallup data confirm that organizations must give individuals three critical experiences if they are to be truly inclusive places: individuals must feel valued and respected; that their organization values their unique strengths; and, critically, that their organization would do the right thing if they reported an issue. For most, this belief that the organization would do the right thing means their organization would fully investigate a complaint. These data suggest that, on this final element of an inclusive environment, most college graduates lack full confidence in their alma mater. Extensive research demonstrates that issues of sexual assault are underreported because of a number of factors, including fear, shame, embarrassment and a lack of belief that reporting will make a difference. In order to increase reports and make universities a safer place for all students, it's crucial that students feel confident their institution would appropriately investigate these issues. That female and LGBT graduates are less confident is particularly concerning because these students are more frequently victims of nonconsensual contact. Creating a safe and inclusive campus requires that all students feel confident their institution would take any claim seriously and fully investigate it. In order to do so, institutions must implement robust policies and procedures, including reporting systems that allow for direct reporting by name, confidential reporting or anonymous reporting. This reporting system must also be supported by mental health counselors who are equipped to provide students with the critical support they need. Most importantly, university leaders must communicate the importance of inclusivity and safety, as no policies and procedures can be successful without the community's trust that the policies are core institutional values. Learn more about the Gallup Alumni Survey. Learn more about Gallup Education. Employees from Denroy Group are pictured assembling quantities of the Hero Shield visor at the factory in Bangor If youd told anyone, anywhere, two months ago, theyd see a top end gin brands hand sanitiser on the shelves of our supermarkets or in our hospitals and care homes, it would have been nothing but strange looks. But strange times have led to strange measures. With the ongoing coronavirus crisis affecting our day-to-day life, it was many of our manufacturers stepping up as the chaos began. Sportswear giant ONeills grabbed the headlines towards the start retooling and training staff to produce PPE for nurses and other key workers. Just a few days in, and more than 40 companies volunteered to assist in providing support to produce various PPE requirements. The situation also spurred on the creation of the Hero Shield project. It was the brainchild of Adam Murphy, who co-founded Newtownards-based company Shnuggle with his wife Sinead more than a decade ago following the birth of their first child. Since then it was worked with many major firms across Northern Ireland to roll out production of the equipment. That included Bangors Denroy. Our distilleries, big and small, also turned their attention from producing juniper-rich gin, and spirit which, after at least three years in barrels would end up as whiskey, to making hand sanitiser. Focusing first on frontline NHS workers, producers included Boatyard in Fermanagh, The Stillhouse in Moira and The Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee. Drinks giant Diageo was also one of the first to turn its attention to producing hand sanitiser for health services across the globe. That included up to eight million bottles being produced with around 500,000 litres of grain spirit (96% alcohol) for the UK and Ireland. But according to Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, while this resilience and ability is as awe-inspiring as it is impressive, that the global pandemic highlights that we are no longer equipped to be able to meet all the demands of those tacking this virus at home. Hundreds of our manufacturers are providing life sustaining, priority goods for consumption at home and as part of international supply chains, he said. I have spoken to businesses who send material to China which has come back as part of the critical protection for front line workers to keep them safe; another who works with people supplying oxygen masks and the new Covid-19 test to keep us healthy; another providing digital infrastructure that keeps us connected; another who provide the worlds best agricultural equipment to keep us fed and another who makes the packaging that means we can ship and consume goods in prime condition. In local manufacturing, we are proud of the place we have in not only in getting pay in to peoples pockets but helping people at home and abroad to keep us fed, connected and healthy. Yes, as our surveying demonstrated, around 600 manufacturers have repurposed or begun working collaboratively with others to meet the needs of those on the front line in tacking this Covid emergency. They of course need celebrated for the ingenuity, their endeavour and their community focus. However, we know now that there has not been sufficient attention to keeping or supporting firms who provide resilient supply chains for our front line and priority sectors at home. A lot has been written over the years about the critical importance energy security of supply but at the same time we largely allowed the security of supply of textiles and other items which have now come in to sharp focus as being equally critical. In some ways, we are lucky that ONeills, Randox, Huhtamaki, Bloc Blinds, Diamond Corrugated Cases, Armstrong Medical, Echlinville Distillery and hundreds of others have been able to quickly put their experience, equipment and people to productive use. But, equally we shouldnt have to require our firms to raid their stores looking for PPE or rolls of material to pass to our nurses. We shouldnt have to beg our international supply chains to get on to production schedules or to get the raw materials or get extra boxes on to aeroplanes from suppliers where demand outstrips supply many times over. He said this crisis should help government, and others, to help develop, equip and sustain local supply chain resilience. The Government as a buyer, committed to sourcing proven quality products here at home that we know will be there when it is needed and called upon must form part of our strategy to protect the health of our people, the wellbeing of front line workers and indeed part of the necessary rebuilding of our economy. Another of those firms stepping up to meet burgeoning demand is Aktivora NI. The company, based in Lisburn, says it has been inundated with orders for its super sanitiser. It says its the first sanitiser in the UK and Ireland to be certified to kill coronavirus. Aktivora said it is currently negotiating multi-million pound orders from governments around the world for the multi-purpose solution which can be diluted to varying strengths depending on whether it is used as a hand sanitiser, for cleaning buildings, floors and surfaces, or for mass sterilisation. The company has recently secured a contract to help sanitise The Principality Stadium in Wales, which has been converted into a 2,000-bed NHS hospital to care for Covid-19 patients. DALLAS, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Parks Associates, fielded nationwide between March 8th and April 3rd, finds 15% of US broadband households report their usage of telehealth/remote doctor services has increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research firm will feature new consumer and trending data at its 7th annual Connected Health Summit: Consumer Engagement and Innovation conference, now being hosted virtually September 1-3. Early sponsors include Alarm.com, Rapid Response Monitoring, Nortek Security & Control, and Sprosty Network. Parks Associates: Telehealth Service Usage The virtual conference will feature multiple research presentations and interactive sessions focused on the key topics in the connected health space, with special networking events where this online community of industry leaders can connect, share insights, and discuss the immediate, near-term, and long-term impact of COVID-19 on the consumer healthcare market. The event features the following key speakers: Richard Culberson , Executive Director, Cox Homelife Strategy & Operations, Cox Communications , Executive Director, Cox Homelife Strategy & Operations, Cox Communications Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi , Executive Director, Mind-Body Medicine, Blue Shield of California , Executive Director, Mind-Body Medicine, Blue Shield of Gene Wang , CEO, People Power "Deep analysis of these topics is critically important as service providers, insurers, health facilities, and consumers seek new strategies to deploy connected solutions in service of care delivery and wellness services," said Elizabeth Parks, President, Parks Associates. "We are excited to offer a virtual networking experience, with the best audience to examine recent shifts in the care delivery model and measure the long-term impact of these trends." Confirmed Advisory Board Members: Gil Adato , COO, Sleep Score Labs , COO, Sleep Score Labs Andrew Altorfer , Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CirrusMD , Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CirrusMD Tori Ames , Telehealth, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center , Telehealth, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Frances Ayalasomayajula , Head of Population, Health Portfolio, Worldwide Healthcare, HP , Head of Population, Health Portfolio, Worldwide Healthcare, HP Michael Farrell , Chief Revenue Officer, MDLIVE , Chief Revenue Officer, MDLIVE Florin Fortis , Director of Products and Partnerships Development, Humana Wellness Solutions, Humana , Director of Products and Partnerships Development, Humana Wellness Solutions, Humana Geoff Gross , CEO and Founder, Medical Guardian , CEO and Founder, Medical Guardian Dr. Shea Gregg , Founder, FallCall , Founder, FallCall Chuck Hector , Chief Revenue Officer, Papa , Chief Revenue Officer, Papa Sarah Jones , VP of Commercial Product, GreatCall , VP of Commercial Product, GreatCall Amber Kappa , Vice President of Platform Partnerships & Business Development, Samsung SmartThings , Vice President of Platform Partnerships & Business Development, Samsung SmartThings Lainie Muller , Director, Health & Wellness, Strategic Sales, Alarm.com , Director, Health & Wellness, Strategic Sales, Alarm.com Dr. Yuri Quintana , Chief, Division of Clinical Informatics, Beth Isreal Deaconness Medical Center, Harvard Medical Center, Boston, MA , USA , Chief, Division of Clinical Informatics, Beth Isreal Deaconness Medical Center, Harvard Medical Center, , USA Rob Schneider , Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Omron , Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Omron Nathan Treloar , President and Chief Operating Officer, Orbita , President and Chief Operating Officer, Orbita Gene Wang , CEO, People Power , CEO, People Power Emily Rowan Whitcomb , Digital Strategy, Partnerships & Innovation at CVS Health, CVS Topics: COVID-19: Transforming the Healthcare Ecosystem Telehealth and RPM: Moving to the Core of Healthcare Delivery COVID-19: Seniors, Caregiving, and Independent Living Solutions Home-centric Care: Activating the Ecosystem through Partnerships Staying Well at Home: New Approaches for Changing Consumer Behaviors Lessons Learned, New Innovations, and Privacy Protections Parks Associates is reviewing submissions to speak at www.parksassociates.com/chs-speak . Registration is open , and media are invited to attend at no cost. For information on Parks Associates data, please contact Rosey Ulpino, [email protected], 972.996.0233. About Connected Health Summit: Consumer Engagement and Innovation Parks Associates' Connected Health Summit is an executive conference focused on the impact of connected devices and IoT healthcare solutions on consumers at home. Connected Health Summit provides insights on consumer behaviors and changing demands driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and new business models, IoT technologies, and deployments emerging to target these new needs. www.connectedhealthsummit.com Follow the event on Twitter at @CONN_Health_Smt . Rosimely Ulpino Parks Associates 972.996.0233 [email protected] SOURCE Parks Associates EDWARDSVILLE Property tax bills have been printed and will start being sent out Friday, according to the Madison County Treasurers Office. Those who signed up for electronic delivery received their bills on Wednesday, June 3, while the remainder of bills will begin the mailing process on Friday, June 5, Madison County Treasurer Chris Slusser said. The first installment is due July 9. However for those who cannot make the first payment on time there will be a grace period of two months with no penalties. The grace period was approved at a special Madison County Board meeting on May 22. We understand there are people struggling, Slusser said. He added there are people who are temporarily unemployed and local businesses that are losing revenue, so the county looked for ways to give taxpayers a break. We cant discount or abate real estate taxes, he said But we can give people a little more time to pay if theyre facing a hardship. The grace period applies to individual property tax payments, but not escrow account payments. Payments made after Sept. 9 will include the full interest and penalties. Madison County is one of the few counties in Illinois that collects property taxes in four installments. In addition to July 9, due dates are Sept. 9, Oct. 9 and Dec. 9. Slusser encouraged property owners to make payments on time. He previously said he expects about half will. The county has already received its first property tax payment. Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler was the first property owner to pay taxes on Wednesday. He said when he was treasurer from 2010 to 2016 he learned the importance of the first tax payment, especially for school districts. School districts depend on that first installment to help with the cash flow at the start of the school year, Prenzler said. Anyone who isnt facing a hardship should make their first installment payment on time. I feel like Im doing my part. Slusser said before the county boards grace period approval he had informed school superintendents about the plan so they could prepare for the delay in receiving tax payments. Schools are the largest recipients of property tax revenue. Our school superintendents were understanding and supportive of the measure, he said. They understand were in unprecedented times, and they have time to prepare for the delay. Regional Superintendent Rob Werden agreed the first payment helps with a school districts cash flow, especially during the summer, as they are waiting for grants and other funding to come through. I want to thank Treasurer Slusser and the good communication between his office and the school districts, Werden said. We understand the seriousness of this issue and all the superintendents are appreciative that he reached out. Slusser said that, although the treasurers office serves as the countys tax collector, the office doesnt determine the amount that is billed. Property tax bills are determined by four factors: the assessment, the equalization factor or multiplier, the tax rate and any exemptions, he said. Slusser said his office mailed tax bills on the more than 135,000 parcels with 600 sent electronically. His office is encouraging taxpayers to avoid paying in person because of the pandemic. Although the public can pay in person, longer wait times should be expected and social distancing guidelines will remain in place. Other ways to pay include by mail, at local banks, or online at www.madcotreasurer.org. For questions or more information visit the treasurers website or call 618-692-6260. The London Irish Centre (LIC) is delighted to announce the London Irish Charity Night In on Thursday, June 11 at 8pm, with many Irish stars joining including Niall Horan, Dermot OLeary, Laura Whitmore, Imelda May, Robert Sheehan and many more. The event will be streamed online via the London Irish Centres Facebook and YouTube pages and the EPIC Museum Stay At Home Library page. Settle in for a fun night of music, interviews and conversation with Irish celebrities from across the UK and Ireland. The evening will also include a charity auction with the opportunity to win great prizes from Ed Sheeran and others, all for a good cause. The event is being produced with supporting partner The Lock Inn online events venue. I am very proud to be patron of The London Irish Centre. The LIC does amazing work across London, and right now, they need our support. As its not possible to run our usual fundraising events, Im thrilled that our friends and supporters are joining us for a little online fundraising adventure! - Dermot OLeary, London Irish Centre patron. The LIC has been providing community services and Irish culture to London since 1954 and the Covid-19 crisis has had a huge effect on its capacity to provide this support, especially to Londons large older Irish community, who are especially vulnerable and those more recently made vulnerable. The Centre closed its doors on Wednesday, March 18 and responded to the pandemic by reshaping its services; increasing web and telephone support to deliver over 1,100 advice sessions and 1,000 health check-in calls, training up over 30 telephone befrienders, engaging over 200 volunteers, and providing over 2,000 hot meals and food parcels to the community and becoming the first Centre shielding the vulnerable in Camden. They have also announced the SOLAS Season - a curated series of online culture and community to keep us all connected and inspired during challenging times. This includes concerts, storytelling, classes and talks. The closure of the Centre has resulted in a significant financial loss with the cancellation of several large fundraising events, and the necessity to raise funds for the LIC and its community is now more important than ever. Throughout the evening the LIC hope to raise 100,000 for the older Irish community it supports. Ellen Ryan, CEO at The London Irish Centre said: I am so proud of the way we have all pulled together as a community through this crisis. Staff, volunteers and our friends have worked hand in hand to ensure that we deliver the services and cultural output needed to enable the community to feel a sense of hope and resilience for the future. We have also received crucial support from the Irish Government and Irish Embassy, London, and our partners at Camden Council. This very special event is your opportunity to join us and support our essential work to enable us to continue our recovery into the future. Watch the event on www.facebook.com/ londonirishcentre or http:// youtube.com/londonirishcentre. Full line up. More guests to be announced: Dermot OLeary Niall Horan Angela Scanlon Laura Whitmore Imelda May Felispeaks Lisa Hannigan Loah Lisa Dwan Lorraine Maher Dara OBriain Richard Corrigan Gavin James Robert Sheehan Ciaran Cannon Jack Lukeman Mundy Liam OMaonlai Jarlath Regan The Blizzards Siobhan McSweeney Maverick Sabre People want to help each other, even when it costs them something, and even when the motivations to help don't always align, a new study suggests. In research published today in the journal Science Advances, sociologists found that people overwhelmingly chose to be generous to others -- even to strangers, and even when it seems one motivation to help might crowd out another. It is the first study to examine how all the established motivations to be generous interact with one another. "We wanted to do an exhaustive study to see what the effects of those motivations would be when combined -- because they are combined in the real world, where people are making choices about how generous or kind to be with one another," said David Melamed, lead author of the study and an associate professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. Melamed is also an affilialte of Ohio State's Translational Data Analytics Institute. The study involved more than 700 people, and was designed to help researchers understand prosocial behavior. "It means doing something for someone else at a cost to yourself," Melamed said. "So one example would be paying for the person behind you's order at the coffee shop. Or right now, wearing your mask in public. It's a cost to you; it's uncomfortable. But you contribute to the public good by wearing it and not spreading the virus." Scientists previously had determined that four motivators influenced people to behave in a way that benefited other people. advertisement One: The recipient of a kindness is inclined to do something nice for the giver in return. Two: A person is motivated to do something nice to someone that she saw be generous to a third person. Three: A person is likely to do good in the presence of people in their network who might reward their generosity. And four: A person is likely to "pay it forward" to someone else if someone has done something nice for her. Those four motivators had all been studied isolated from one another, and some had been studied as a pair. But until this experiment, scientists had not conducted a comprehensive study about how the four motivators might affect one another in the real world, where the motivation to be kind to others might be influenced by multiple factors. "In the real world, the conditions under which people are nice to each other are not isolated -- people are embedded in their networks, and they're going about their daily lives and coming into contact with things that will affect their decisions," Melamed said. "And these experiments show that all the motivations work. If you want to maximize prosocial behavior, it was a really great thing to see." For this study, which was done online, participants had to decide how much of a 10-point endowment to give to other people. The points had monetary value to the participants; giving cost them something. Then the researchers created different scenarios that combined one or all four of the potential motivators for giving. advertisement Melamed said that prior to the experiment, he thought the motivations for kindness might crowd one another out. For example, a person may be less apt to indirectly reward another's generosity toward a third person when he is focused on directly giving back help that he received. "People have a self-bias," he said. "If you do something nice for me, I may weigh that more than if I see you do something nice for someone else. But we found that all the motivators still show up as predictors of how much a person is willing to give to someone else, regardless of how the differing motivators are combined." This research helps us understand the remarkable quantity and diversity of prosocial behavior we see in humans, Melamed said. "From an evolutionary perspective, it's kind of perplexing that it even exists, because you're decreasing your own fitness on behalf of others," Melamed said. "And yet, we see it in bees and ants, and humans and throughout all of nature." As Louisiana lawmakers on June 2 resumed work on piecing together a budget, their biggest unresolved financial question centered not on the coronavirus pandemic, but on how much theyll want to give in tax breaks to help businesses recover from the outbreak. The majority-Republican House and Senate called themselves into a 30-day special session that began immediately after their regular session adjourned on June 1. The special session agenda was drafted in consultation with business lobbying groups. The session aims to finish crafting a $30 billion-plus operating budget for the financial year that starts July 1, but also consider tax credits, exemptions and suspensions for businesses that were shuttered or forced to reduce operations since March because of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. We have a plan to try to put Louisiana businesses back to work because, ultimately, government cant survive without a tax base, and so businesses provide that, said Senate President Page Cortez, a Lafayette Republican who owns a furniture sales business. If you dont get them back stronger than ever, were not going to have the tax base. Were going to be in problems and what we call `fiscal cliffs over and over. Rep. Ted James, who nearly died after being hospitalized with complications from COVID-19, panned the special session as a giveaway to business. He said business groups are seeking to tie a long-held wish list of tax proposals that failed in previous sessions to virus recovery in hopes of gaining traction for the ideas. They hijacked this whole pandemic. Pushing these in the name of COVID is shameful, said James, a Baton Rouge Democrat. Its just not honest to the people of our state. James said the agenda has nothing geared toward the workers who start these businesses up. Whatever tax breaks lawmakers decide to pass will lessen the states tax collections, at least in the short-term, requiring lawmakers to reduce spending to keep the budget in balance. The current version of the spending plan that the House Appropriations Committee began reviewing doesnt account for any tax cut proposals, including a few business tax breaks already approved by lawmakers in the regular session. The 2020-21 budget proposal would use federal coronavirus aid and some dollars from the states rainy day fund to keep most programs and services from cuts. Modest reductions would fall on the health department, public college campuses and other departments. Changes will have to be made to account for lawmakers passage in the regular session of a temporary suspension of the corporate franchise tax on some small businesses, estimated to cost $5.4 million in the upcoming budget year, and their creation of a new payroll subsidy for certain retailers and restaurants that could cost millions more. Additional tax proposals awaiting debate in the special session could have a larger impact on the state treasury. In addition to the tax measures, lawmakers already have passed a Republican-crafted plan that carves out $300 million for small business grants from $811 million in federal COVID-19 aid that Gov. John Bel Edwards wanted to steer to local government agencies for virus-related expenses. The Democratic governor hasnt said whether hell sign or veto the bill he opposed. If upheld, GOP Treasurer John Schroder will oversee the grant program under a plan that must first be approved by lawmakers. Cortez said he hopes grants will start going out to businesses within 30 days. More than 67,000 Louisiana companies have received approval for $7.2 billion in federal forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Louisiana MBABANE - We also need food. This was said by Chairperson of the Caregivers Association, Dumisile Simelane, yesterday. Simelane stated that some caregivers were also affected by COVID-19 hence the need for food aid. She was speaking on the morning national radio programme Letishisako yesterday. Currently, caregivers receive a monthly incentive of E350. The money (E350) is half the amount which is distributed to beneficiaries who have been hit hard by COVID-19. Most vulnerable households are receiving food parcels amounting to E700 or E700 cash in the ongoing distribution, which has covered more than 25 constituencies. Interestingly, the beneficiaries are identified and registered by the caregivers in most communities across the country. Simelane stated that they (caregivers) could not survive on E350 as they were equally affected by COVID-19. We have families to look after with the little that we have and we cannot survive on E350 only. It is unfortunate that we have been barred from registering for the food aid. We were told that we can survive because we get the monthly incentive. Some caregivers have been hit hard by COVID-19 and they need food aid, she said. Simelane decried the exclusion of caregivers in the identification and registration of people affected by the effects of COVID-19 in her constituency and other parts of the Lubombo Region. I am a caregiver under Gilgal Constituency. Caregivers were excluded in the ongoing registration in some parts of the region. Instead, the inner councils set up committees to deal with registration even before the COVID-19 outbreak. Registration The committees were also tasked with the registration of people who had been hit hard by COVID-19, she said. Simelane stated that caregivers were so touched when they heard the NDMA mentioning that they (caregivers) were part of the registration exercise. She claimed that caregivers had no peace of mind since people heard that they were part of the registration exercise. According to Simelane, they were accused of discriminating against other people during the registration process yet they were never involved. People want answers why they missed out on the ongoing food distribution. They sometimes demand masks from us, she said. In response, NDMA Director Programme Victor Mahlalela stated that all people who were hit hard by COVID-19 deserved to be registered for the food aid. Mahlalela said there was a verification process whereby the NDMA made final assessments before approving the lists of beneficiaries. Mahlalela emphasised that the NDMA was alive to the fact that many people had been registered for food aid, but that did not mean they would all qualify. The director mentioned that they had been made aware of an existing relief committee at Gilgal. He said there was nothing wrong about relief committees at chiefdom level. However, he said the NDMA was yet to ascertain the truth of the matter concerning the caregivers at Gilgal. He said, ideally, caregivers formed part of the relief committees, which included different stakeholders such as community police members, bucopho and inner council representatives. This, he said, was because the stakeholders knew the needy people from the community level. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 02:25:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOGADISHU, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Somali government announced on Thursday that domestic flights which were suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic will resume operations on June 8. The Ministry of Transport and Aviation of Somalia said it has reached an agreement with aviation companies to resume local flights with strict guidelines from the Health Ministry. Mohamed Omar, Somali Minister for Transport and Aviation said the Ministry of Health will offer personal protective equipment and other medical supplies to help curb the spread of respiratory disease. The ban has been in place for the past two months as part of a raft of measures imposed by Somalia to help contain the spread of the pandemic. Omar said in a meeting attended by aviation stakeholders that all passengers will be screened before entering the airport and after to ensure adherence to health guidelines. He said passengers and flight staff will be required to follow instructions on the prevention of coronavirus issued by the Ministry of Health. The minister said the government has put all mechanisms in place to ensure the smooth resumption of local flights but with strict rules which will apply to all aviation players. The ease of restrictions in the aviation sector comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Somalia which has so far reported 2,204 cases amid concern the cases are largely due to community transmission. Enditem Madeleine McCann German prosecutors have said they believe Madeleine McCann is dead after the prime suspect in her disappearance was named. Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said: "In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on May 3 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder. "We are assuming that the girl is dead. "With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence." He has been named as Christian Brueckner, sources in Portugal have told The Telegraph. A German prisoner was identified as a suspect by Scotland Yard in the case of the missing girl, who vanished from Praia da Luz in 2007. The 43-year-old was was initially convicted of drug trafficking and was found guilty in a German court last year of raping a pensioner in Portugal. Clarence Mitchell - who down the years has been a representative of the McCanns - has hinted this breakthrough is the most significant in 13 years. He told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that in his time involved in the case, he cannot recall such focus on one individual, and stressed that it is the family's belief that only "two or three people maximum on the planet" know what has happened to Madeleine. On Wednesday, Scotland Yard held a press briefing, giving the most significant update in more than a decade in one of Britain's biggest unsolved mysteries. 'We are assuming the girl is dead' Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said: "In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on May 3 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder. Story continues "We are assuming that the girl is dead. "With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence." He said the suspect was regularly living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, where he worked jobs in the gastronomy business, but funded his lifestyle by committing crimes, including thefts in hotel complexes and apartments, as well as drug dealing. He added: "The Braunschweig prosecution is now concerned because before going abroad he last had his residence in Braunschweig." German police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine, which is being treated as murder by the BKA. Christian Hoppe of the BKA added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz - where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie - before spontaneously kidnapping her. A BKA appeal said: "There is reason to assume that there are other persons, apart from the suspect, who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left." Mr Mitchell said: "The German police are classing it as a murder investigation in sharp contrast the British police are not saying that and are classing it as a missing person. "The British police have been at pains to say there is no evidence at all she has come to harm, is dead or indeed alive. "They are literally keeping an open mind about it." The prime suspect The man, who has not been named by police, is white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft tall with a slim build at the time she vanished on May 3, 2007. Mr Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told the country's ZDF television channel the 43-year-old is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls". German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported the suspect was carrying out a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005. He is known to have been in and around the area on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine went missing shortly before her fourth birthday. Mr Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "The police themselves have called it a significant part of the investigation. "It's the first time in 13 years that I can recall focusing on one individual, not named but clearly identifiable by them and the authorities, in terms of wanting to know extra detail about this movements and the vehicles he was using even down to the phone calls he was apparently receiving on the night where Maddy went missing." He added: "In my memory of being in the case, police have never been quite so specific about an individual as they have been about this individual. "They make the point that allegiances change. This man is in prison and if he is involved to the extent it appears, then people shouldn't be afraid to come forward now." The Jaguar and the camper van The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007. Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after May 3. He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007. The day after Madeleine went missing, the suspect had the car re-registered in Germany under someone else's name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal. Both vehicles - pictured below - have been seized by German police, who said there is information to suggest the suspect may have used one of them in an offence. The Jaguar linked to the prime suspect The camper van 'Only two or three people on the planet know what happened' Reporters on Wednesday were told that Scotland Yard were taking the "really unusual" step of releasing two mobile phone numbers as part of the appeal. The first, (+351) 912 730 680, is believed to have been used by the suspect and received a call from another Portuguese mobile, (+351) 916 510 683, while in the Praia da Luz area, starting at 7.32pm and ending at 8.02pm on the night of May 3 2007. Madeleine is believed to have disappeared between 9.10pm and 10pm that evening. The caller, who is not thought to have been in the Praia da Luz area, is not being treated as a suspect, but is said to be a "key witness". Mr Mitchell said: "The police and the private investigators brought in by the family have always thought that only two or three people maximum on the planet know what happened to Madeleine. "In this case the police are looking at a particular phone call that I understand was received by somebody else on a Portuguese number. "The German police and the British police have made it clear the person making the call is not a suspect but a material witness in this, which is why they've released those Portuguese numbers in the hope that they might jog somebody's memory. "Are they in their contacts? Were they ever phoned by these numbers? "And of course the distinctive vehicles - the camper van and the distinctive Jaguar - that he is said to have been using." The distinctive Jaguar The camper van He added: "It's 13 years on, but the police still feel it's important to bring these details out now in the hope that somebody out there can still come forward and make that call." Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the camper van in or around Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine went missing, or in the days before or weeks after. Detectives also want to speak with anyone who saw the van together with the Jaguar, or individually, during the spring and summer of 2007. The Operation Grange incident room can be contacted on 0207 321 9251 or operation.grange@met.police.uk. Is this where the suspect was living? The suspect is known to have been linked to the Praia da Luz area between 1995 and 2007, with some short spells in Germany, and is described as having a "transient lifestyle", living in his camper van for days at a time. Volkswagen (VW) T3 Westfalia camper van which police mention in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann An appeal on German Crimewatch-style programme XY said he is thought to have worked odd jobs, including as a waiter, but also committed burglaries in hotels and holiday resorts and dealt drugs. He was also linked to two houses in Portugal - one between Praia da Luz and Lagos and a second inland, according to the appeal. Pictures of the houses can be seen below. A house police mention in connection with the case A second house potentially connected to the suspect Interior of one of the houses A fireplace inside one of the houses McCanns think update is 'potentially very significant' A statement from Madeleine's parents, read by Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, said: "We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter Madeleine. "We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine. "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. "We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. "We will be making no further comment in relation to the appeal today. "We would like to thank the general public for their ongoing support and encourage anyone who has information directly related to the appeal to contact police." Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do feel it's potentially very significant. "They have welcomed the appeal, but they're not doing any interviews themselves because they wish the focus to remain on the police request rather than themselves. "But this is an important chapter in the search for their daughter. "They've never given up hope that she may still be alive, but they are realistic and they say whatever the outcome of this particular line of investigation, they do need to know what happened to their daughter to find peace and to bring whoever is responsible to justice." Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference following a National Cabinet meeting in Canberra, Australia, on May 15, 2020. (Rohan Thomson/Getty Images) Australian Prime Minister Urges Caution at Global Racism Protests Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians taking part in global anti-racism protests to exercise extreme caution. Two Nine News crews covering London protests over the death of African American man George Floyd were attacked in separate incidents on June 3. A reporter and cameraman from Seven News were bashed by police outside the White House in Washington earlier this week. In terms of some of the violence were seeing around the world today, for those Australians who find themselves in those situations, I would urge them to show great caution, Morrison said on Thursday. Already we have had to provide support for those in the media sector, for journalists who have found themselves in those situations, and of course we will continue to provide that support. But I would urge people to be extremely cautious. These are dangerous situations and people should exercise great care in where theyre placing themselves. Floyds death has renewed focus on Australias systemic mistreatment of Aboriginal people, including hundreds of deaths in custody and disproportionate prison rates. Australia has its own challenges when it comes to some of the issues that have been raised and well continue to work on those, the prime minister said. Ive met regularly with the peak indigenous groups in Australia and were making good progress. These are important issues that are taken seriously by my government and by governments all around the country. Daniel McCulloch The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced guidelines for the operation worship centres within the federal capital territory. The opening, which was directed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, was part of second phase of re-opening of the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus disease. In a statement signed by Anthony Ogunleye, chief press secretary to the FCT minister, Muhammad Bello, the administration said a committee established to come up with the modalities for the reopening has adopted the protocols outlined by the presidential committee. The presidential task force had on Monday released elaborate protocols to be followed by worshippers during the partial reopening. Read full text of the statement below: 1. The FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, on Wednesday June 3 2020, chaired a meeting of the FCT Administration and leadership of the FCT Christian Association of Nigeria and League of FCT Imams Initiative to review the guidelines issued by the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19 particularly as they concern places of worship. 2. While reviewing the guidelines, the meeting received briefings from the FCT COVID 19 Emergency Response Team on the situation of the pandemic in the FCT. 3. The report of the Committee set up by the Honourable Minister on May 19 2020, to draw up protocols to be adopted for possible re-opening of places of worship, was equally received at the meeting. READ ALSO: 4. After extensive deliberations, the meeting agreed to adopt the Guidelines as released by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with regards to the re-opening of places of worship in the FCT under the second phase of the ease of lockdown for the next four weeks. 5. The Minister expressed the appreciation of the FCT Administration to the religious leaders for their cooperation and commitment towards a safe re-opening of places of worship in the Territory. 6. He also urged residents to use the opportunity provided by the re-opening of Churches and Mosques to pray fervently for the early end to the Covid -19 pandemic. 7. The religious leaders expressed their appreciation to the FCT Administration for always consulting and taking into consideration the opinions of the religious organisations on important societal issues like the COVID-19 pandemic. 8. Following this consensus, between the FCT Administration and the religious leaders, the protocols guiding the re-opening of places of worship in the Territory are as follows: A. All places of worship must sign up to full compliance with all aspects of non- pharmaceutical interventions required to protect the public from COVID-19, including but not limited to: i. Ensuring the supply of running water and soap/alcohol sanitisers at entry and exit points and in all high-contact locations including bathrooms; ii. Worshippers must sanitise their hands before entry; iii. Provision of temperature checks before entry; iv. Mandatory use of face masks; v. Strongly discourage all close contact including shaking hands, hugging, kissing, handing out of materials and sharing of worship implements including prayer mats, musical organs, microphones etc; vi. Churches and mosques within the FCT must limit the capacity of their facilities to allow for physical distancing of at least 2 meters between persons. vii. Religious leaders are encouraged to consider the use of floor/surface markings to guide distancing and also encourage people from same household to stay together; viii. Volunteers providing support at places of worship should be limited to exact numbers needed and none should have an underlying medical condition or be above the age of 55 years; and ix. The leadership of the mosques/churches will be responsible for full compliance with these rules. Advertisements B. Limit congregational contact times, with places of worship only opening for regular church and mosque services; i. Churches are to open from 5am and close by 8pm and each service shall be for a maximum of 1 hour with an interval of 30 mins in between services to allow time for disinfection; ii. Mosques are to open 15 mins before Adhan and close 10 mins after prayers for the five prayers. Waiting period between Adhan and Iqamah should not be more than 10 minutes. Prayers are to be shortened to reduce duration of contact between congregations; iii. For Friday prayers, mosques in the FCT are to open 20 minutes before prayers and close 20 minutes after prayers. Total time for Friday prayers including sermons should not exceed 1 hour; iv. Islamiyah schools, All-Night Vigils, Sunday Schools and children activities are to remain suspended. For mosques, only the five daily prayers and Friday prayer services are allowed; v. Mass gatherings that make compliance with physical distancing impossible are not allowed. Prayer sessions should be staggered if necessary, to encourage greater opportunity for physical distancing. Worshippers are encouraged to sign up for preferred service time and virtual worship option should be made available; vi. Churches and mosques should make provisions for separate entry and exit points and measures should be taken to direct the flow of people to avoid crowding and breach of physical distancing rules; vii. There should be no social gatherings either before or after worship; and viii. Business outlets within the church or mosque premises should remain closed. C. Vulnerable individuals such as those aged 55 years and above, those with impaired immune systems (e.g. HIV, cancer treatment) and underlying co-morbidities such as diabetes and heart disease are hereby advised to stay at home and consider remote participation or non-contact attendance such as drive-in services. D. Improve environmental hygiene and avoid surface contamination; i. Churches and mosques are advised to make their premises free of carpets to allow easy and regular disinfection of floors and furniture; ii. All windows in churches and mosques should be kept open during services and the use of non-enclosed spaces/open air services are encouraged to be used as much as possible; iii. High-touch surfaces, high traffic areas, common areas, and bathrooms should be frequently cleaned and disinfected and iv. Those responsible for sanitation should use dilute bleach (1000ppm) to disinfect all surfaces after removal of visible dirt. infected persons should be kept out to reduce the risk of onward transmission. E. Public awareness campaign through effective messaging using conventional media and online outlets and placing of signages/notices at strategic locations. This should address common symptoms, risk of transmission, vulnerability to severe illness, etc; ii. Worshippers should be encouraged not to attend in person if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, cough, shortness of breath or have had close contact with an infected person in the last 14 days; iii. All worshippers noted to have a temperature or are symptomatic on arrival at the place of worship should be excluded from participation; iv. Up-to-date records of staffing including contact details and if possible, a full record of attendees at every service to enable contact tracing should be kept; and v. Religious visits to homes by religious clerics are hereby discouraged F. The FCT Administration has recognized the importance of places of worship in our social and cultural way of life. They have equally been proven to be major sources of easy spread of the disease. It is therefore imperative that all places of worship adhere very strictly to the guidelines enunciated above. G. The meeting also acknowledged that the situation of COVID-19 in the FCT is still at a very critical stage and recognizes that there is the danger that if the established protocols are not adhered to, the cases of those infected and fatalities will increase. It is therefore essential that all residents of the FCT take personal responsibility in ensuring strict compliance. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, June 5 2020 As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as well. The scene of Floyd being restrained by a cop employing a knee-to-neck hold is familiar for some, who compared the incident to the 2016 case of Obby Kogoya, a Papuan man whose head was reportedly stepped on by the police before he was arrested during the siege of a Papuan student dormitory in Yogyakarta. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which has accompanied a call for street rallies worldwide, has since been adapted into #PapuanLivesMatter, with many turning to social media to urge Indonesians to also speak up against the racial discrimination and violence that Papuans have long endured. 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 Using a unique combination of nanoscale imaging and chemical analysis, an international team of researchers has revealed a key step in the molecular mechanism behind the water splitting reaction of photosynthesis, a finding that could help inform the design of renewable energy technology. "Life depends on the oxygen that plants and algae split from water; how they do it is still a mystery, but scientists, including our team, are slowly peeling away the layers to get to the answer," said Vittal K. Yachandra, co-lead author of a new study published in PNAS and a chemist senior scientist at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). "If we can understand this step of natural photosynthesis, it would enable us to use those design principles for building artificial photosynthetic systems that produce clean and renewable energy from sunlight and water." With an instrument that the team designed and fabricated, they analyzed photosynthetic proteins using both X-ray crystallography and X-ray emission spectroscopy. This dual approach, which the team pioneered and have been refining for the past 10 years, generates chemical and protein structure information from the same sample at the same time. The imaging was performed with the X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the LCLS at SLAC National Laboratory, and at SACLA in Japan. "With this technique, we get the overall picture of how the entire protein structure dynamically changes and we see the chemical intricacies occurring at the reaction site," said co-lead author Junko Yano, a chemist senior scientist in Berkeley Lab's Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division. "The X-ray free electron laser produces extremely bright, short bursts of X-rays that allow us to not only analyze a protein at room temperature, which is how these reactions occur in nature, but also capture various moments over the reaction time scale." Traditional crystallography methods often require the sample proteins to be frozen; consequently, they can only generate snapshots of static proteins. This limitation makes it difficult for scientists to get a handle on how proteins actually behave in living organisms, because the molecules morph between different physical states during chemical reactions. "The water-splitting reaction in photosynthesis is a cyclical process that needs four photons and cycles between four stable 'states,'" said Yano. "Previously, we could only take pictures of these four states. But by taking multiple snapshots in time, we now can visualize how one state goes to the other." "We saw, really nicely, how the structure changes step-by-step as it transforms from one state to the next state," said Jan F. Kern, MBIB chemist and co-author. "It is pretty exciting, because we can see the 'cause and effect' and the role that each moving atom plays in this transition." Nicholas K. Sauter, co-author and MBIB computational senior scientist, added: "Essentially, we're trying to take a 'movie' of a chemical reaction. We made a lot of progress to get to this point, in terms of our technology and our computational analyses. The work of our co-author Paul Adams and others in MBIB was critical to interpreting the XFEL and X-ray data. But we still have to get the other frames to see how the reaction is completed and the enzyme is ready for the next cycle." The Berkeley Lab researchers hope to continue the project once the many research sites that the entire international team relies upon - located in the U.S., Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea - are operating normally following the COVID-19 pandemic. Kern concluded by noting that the technological milestone presented in this paper benefited greatly from the diverse expertise of the authors from SLAC, Uppsala and Umea Universities in Sweden, Humboldt University in Germany, and from the capabilities of five DOE Office of Science user facilities: the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource and LCLS at Stanford University, and the Advanced Light Source, Energy Sciences Network, and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Berkeley Lab. ### Other Berkeley Lab scientists who contributed to this work include: Ruchira Chatterjee, Louise Lassalle, Kyle D. Sutherlin, Iris D. Young, Sheraz Gul, In-Sik Kim, Philipp S. Simon, Isabel Bogacz, Cindy C. Pham, Nicholas Saichek, Trent Northen, Asmit Bhowmick, Robert Bolotovsky, Derek Mendez, Nigel W. Moriarty, James M. Holton, Aaron S. Brewster, and David Skinner. This research was supported primarily by the DOE Office of Science and grants from the National Institutes of Health. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab's facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. 321 Mexican nationals repatriated from Barbados to Mexico City, Cancun Mexico City, Mexico The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has coordinated the return of 321 Mexican people to national territory from Bridgetown, Barbados after being stranded due to airport restrictions. The returned countrymen were part of various international cruises of the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The nationals were repatriated to Mexico City and Cancun through two private charter flights contracted by the company. The Consulate General of Mexico in Miami maintained constant coordination with the US cruise line. The Embassy of Mexico in Trinidad and Tobago was also in permanent contact with the Mexican crew until their repatriation. Mexican nationals returned from Barbados The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its sincere thanks to the Barbadian authorities who authorized repatriation operations in an increasingly complex environment due to the global pandemic by COVID-19. Upon their arrival to Mexico, international health personnel applied and supervised the health protocol at the international airports of Mexico City and Cancun. In their press release, the Government of Mexico says they will continue to assist and support Mexican people abroad who are affected by current travel restrictions. Ousted State Department Inspector General Steve Linick has told members of three congressional committees that he was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's use of government resources before he was fired by President Trump. Linick, who was appointed to his position during the Obama administration, was dismissed on May 15. He is the fourth government watchdog fired by Trump in recent months. Linick told the three House and Senate committees on Wednesday that he was also looking into Pompeo's decision to approve a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Democrats are investigating President Donald Trump's firing of Linick and whether it was a retaliatory move. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Carolyn Maloney and New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said in a joint statement with other lawmakers that they still have many unanswered questions about the firing. 'Mr. Linick confirmed [to us] that at the time he was removed as IG, his office was looking into two matters that directly touched on Secretary Pompeo's conduct and that senior State Department officials were aware of his investigations,' the Democrats' statement said. They revealed that Linick had confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into 'allegations of misuse of government resources by Secretary Pompeo and his wife, Susan'. Ousted State Department Inspector General Steve Linick has told members of three congressional committees that he was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's use of government resources before he was fired by the President last month Linick told the committees that he had informed officials close to Pompeo of the investigation, including by requesting documents from his executive secretary. Pompeo, though, told reporters after Linick was fired last month that he was unaware of any investigation into allegations that he may have mistreated staffers by instructing them to run personal errands for him and his wife - such as walking his dog and picking up dry cleaning and takeout food. Thus, Pompeo said, the move could not have been retaliatory. Pompeo has said he recommended that the inspector general be terminated, but insisted it wasn't retribution. He told Fox News last week that Linick's office was leaking information. Pompeo did acknowledge then that he was aware of the probe into his decision last year to bypass congressional objections to approve a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia because he had answered written questions about it posed by Linicks office. Linick confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into 'allegations of misuse of government resources by Secretary Pompeo and his wife, Susan' (pictured) at the time he was fired Pompeo, though, told reporters after Linick was fired last month that he was unaware of any investigation into allegations that he may have mistreated staffers by instructing them to run personal errands for him and his wife - such as walking his dog and picking up dry cleaning However, he has maintained that he did not know the scope or scale of the investigation. Linick told the committees on Wednesday that his office had requested an interview with Pompeo but that the secretary had refused. The Democrats said Linick testified he had been pressured by Brian Bulatao, an undersecretary of State who is an old friend of Pompeo. 'Mr. Linick testified that Mr. Bulatao pressured him to act in ways that Mr. Linick felt were inappropriate - including Bulatao telling Linick that the investigation into weapons sales to Saudi Arabia was not a matter for the IG to investigate,' the committees said. Republicans questioned Linick on whether he had leaked information about sensitive investigations, which the administration has suggested played a part in his dismissal. In a letter to Engel this week, Bulato wrote that 'concern over Linick had grown' concerning the handling of an investigation that was leaked in the media and later reviewed. The Democrats said Linick rejected that explanation, saying it was 'either misplaced or unfounded.' In his opening statement, released before the interview and obtained by The Associated Press, Linick said he has 'served without regard to politics' in his nearly three-decade career in public service and has always been committed to independent oversight. The investigation is part of a larger congressional effort to find out more about Trump's recent moves to sideline several independent government watchdogs. Engel and Menendez have been demanding answers and documents from the State Department on other matters for months, to little avail, and are now teaming up to try to force a complete explanation from Pompeo and the White House as to why Trump fired Linick. Linick played a small role in Trumps impeachment last year, an involvement that has added fuel to Democratic suspicions of retaliation Linick played a small role in Trumps impeachment last year, an involvement that has added fuel to Democratic suspicions of retaliation. In October, Linick turned over documents to House investigators that he had received from a close Pompeo associate that contained information from debunked conspiracy theories about Ukraines role in the 2016 U.S. election. Democrats were probing Trumps pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political opponents. He is the second inspector general to be fired who was involved with the impeachment process. Michael Atkinson, the former inspector general for the intelligence community, triggered the impeachment probe when he alerted Congress about a whistleblower complaint that described a call between Trump and Ukraines president last summer. Trump fired Atkinson in April, saying he had lost confidence in him. Vietnam has great advantages over its rivals to attract foreign investors, including low costs, an advantageous position, and stable exchange rate and institutional mechanisms. Reports show positive signs in attracting FDI. The total newly registered and additional capital in the first four months of the year reached $9.8 billion, an increase of 32 percent over the same period in 2019. Song Than IZ The FDI increased most sharply, by 244 percent in Ba Ria Vung Tau, 65 percent in Long An, 60 percent in Binh Phuoc and 44 percent in Quang Ninh. Meanwhile, large industrial production centers witnessed an FDI decrease because Covid-19 made it impossible to carry out fieldwork and meetings with IZ developers. The 45 percent decrease has been reported for HCM City, 67 percent for Dong Nai, 49 percent for Binh Duong, 78 percent for Hanoi, 67 percent for Bac Ninh and 81 percent for Hai Duong. SSI Research, in its latest report, said Covid-19 has increased the need for diversifying production portfolio to avoid heavy reliance on one country, thus accelerating the process of relocating production from China to other countries. SSI Research, in its latest report, said Covid-19 has increased the need for diversifying production portfolio to avoid heavy reliance on one country, thus accelerating the process of relocating production from China to other countries. The other countries with this potential in the region include Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Vietnam has an advantage over Indonesia in geographical position. As Vietnam is near China, it would be easier to transport goods. Vietnam is a member of many FTAs, including EVFTA and CPTPP, while Indonesia is not. In terms of macroeconomic conditions, the Vietnam dong has been very stable in comparison with the Indonesian IDR. SSI Research cited the figures as showing that the land rent in IZs in Vietnam is very attractive with rent that is 45-50 percent lower than in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. A Jetro report released in 2019 also showed that labor costs in Vietnam were also lower than the three countries. Regarding the electricity price, according to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), it is equal to 80 percent of the electricity price in Indonesia, 42.1 percent in the Philippines, and 66.7 percent in Cambodia. Vietnam has budgeted $20 billion for public investment this year. Meanwhile, $9.5 billion worth of undisbursed capital will be carried forwards to 2020. This means that Vietnam would disburse a huge capital of $30 billion this year for public investment. A series of highways and other infrastructure projects, including the North-South Expressway, Bien Hoa-Vung Tau and Dau Giay-Phan Thiet Highway, will also help improve Vietnams competitiveness. A report found that Vietnam had 335 IZs by the end of Q1 2020, or five IZs higher than 2019. Of these, 260 IZs with total area of 68,700 hectares have become operational and 75 IZs with a total area of 29,200 hectares are under construction. Kim Chi Chance to boost FDI inflows to Vietnam With initial success in containing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and an advantage as a safe investment destination, Vietnam is attracting a shift of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. NEW DELHI: In a major decision, the Union Home Ministry on Thursday blacklisted at least 2000 foreign Tablighi Jamaat activists from traveling to India for ten years. According to the sources, the Home Ministry took the action against the foreign nationals for their alleged involvement in the activities of Tablighi Jamaat, which is headed by Maulana Saad. It may be noted that Maulana Saad, his sons and several Tablighi Jamaat members are under scanner for defying the government order on lockdown and organising a religious congregation at the outfit's Delhi headquarters - Nizamuddin Markaz in March this year The religious event organised by Maulana Saads outfit was held responsible for the spread of coronavirus cases in Delhi. The Home Ministry had last month blacklisted and cancelled visas of at least 960 foreign Tablighi Jamaat activists for attending the Markaz event defying the governments lockdown order. Four Americans, nine Britishers and six Chinese nationals were among those who were blacklisted by the MHA. Action against the foreign Tablighi Jamaat members was taken after over 2,300 activists, including 250 foreigners of the Islamic organisation, were found to be living at its headquarters located at Delhi's Nizamuddin despite the 21-day lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus. Hundreds of these Tablighi Jamaat activists had tested positive for Covid-19 and many of them were put in different quarantine centres. At least 9,000 people had participated at the congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz in March after which many have travelled to various parts of the country for missionary works. The Home Ministry had also directed the Delhi Police and police chiefs of other states, which these foreigners visited later, to take legal action under the Foreigners Act and the Disaster Management Act. Most of these foreigners came to India on a tourist visa, which prohibits involvement in any religious activities. The government later decided not to issue a tourist visa to any foreigner who wishes to visit India and take part in Tablighi activities. Meat processing plants had the highest number of Covid-19 cases out of a number of at-risk settings being monitored by health officials, figures furnished by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) show. A further three people have died from Covid-19, bringing the total number of fatalities across the country to 1,659, it was confirmed at the Wednesday briefing of NPHET. A further 47 cases of the infectious disease were also confirmed bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in Ireland to 25,111. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn further confirmed there were 1,048 Covid-19 cases in meat processing plants as of last Saturday, following an increase of 123 in the past week. Over that time, the number of cases in Direct Provision increased by three to 176, while the number of cases in homeless residential facilities rose by nine to 34, he confirmed. The number of cases among the Roma community increased by 8 to 30 and the number of cases among the Traveller community remained stable at 64. A total of 31 people were hospitalised across these settings in the past week. There were no new deaths across any of the 'at risk' settings being monitored, Dr Glynn said. On Thursday NPHET will meet to consider easing restrictions in the second phase of Covid-19 exit strategy next week, including easing restrictions impacting children and nursing homes. Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, stressed there were a number of days to go before NPHET will make recommendations: Week 3 in the three-week cycle is the important week and were keeping a very close eye on the figures. Meanwhile Inclusion Ireland has called for the introduction of a Covid-19 fund to support people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed that 14 people have died from Covid-19 in disability services. The virus caused outbreaks in 25% of disability services, with 650 people being identified with Covid-19 symptoms, of which 57% were staff and 43% were residents. Inclusion Ireland also called on the Department of Health to publish a Capacity Review into Disability Services. Technavio has been monitoring the condom market and it is poised to grow by USD 3.44 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 8% 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/20200603005606/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Condom Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is moderately fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Church Dwight Co. Inc., Cupid Ltd., Fuji Latex Co. Ltd., Guilin HBM Health protections Inc., Karex Bhd, LELOi AB, LifeStyles Healthcare Pte. Ltd., Okamoto Industries Inc., Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, and Veru Inc. are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Demand of female condoms has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Condom Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Condom Market is segmented as below: Material Latex Non-latex Distribution Channel Offline Online Gender Male Female Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40747 Condom 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 condom market report covers the following areas: Condom Market size Condom Market trends Condom Market industry analysis This study identifies increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases as one of the prime reasons driving the condom market growth during the next few years. Condom Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the condom market, including some of the vendors such as Church Dwight Co. Inc., Cupid Ltd., Fuji Latex Co. Ltd., Guilin HBM Health protections Inc., Karex Bhd, LELOi AB, LifeStyles Healthcare Pte. Ltd., Okamoto Industries Inc., Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, and Veru Inc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the condom 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 Condom Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist condom market growth during the next five years Estimation of the condom market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the condom market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of condom market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Value chain analysis Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2019 Market outlook Market size and forecast 2019-2024 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY MATERIAL Market segmentation by material Comparison by material Latex Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Non-latex Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by material PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL Market segmentation by distribution channel Comparison by distribution channel Offline Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Online Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by distribution channel PART 09: 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 MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024 South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 10: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY GENDER Market segmentation by gender Comparison by gender Male Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Female Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by gender PART 11: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 12: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 13: MARKET TRENDS Product premiumization due to product innovation and portfolio extension Growing trend of customization Increasing popularity of female condoms PART 14: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption Competitive scenario PART 15: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Church Dwight Co. Inc. Cupid Ltd. Fuji Latex Co. Ltd. Guilin HBM Health protections Inc. Karex Bhd LELOi AB LifeStyles Healthcare Pte. Ltd. Okamoto Industries Inc. Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc Veru Inc. PART 16: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations Definition of market positioning of vendors PART 17: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005606/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/ 13:10 The Supreme Court today sought finance ministry's reply on waiver of interest on loans during the moratorium period after the RBI said it would not be prudent to go for a "forced waiver of interest" risking financial viability of the banks. The top court said there are two aspects under consideration in this matter -- no interest payment on loans during the moratorium period and no interest to be charged on interest. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M R Shah said that these are challenging times and it is a serious issue as on one hand moratorium is granted and on other hand interest is charged on loans. The bench was hearing a plea, filed by Gajendra Sharma, in which he has sought a direction to declare the portion of RBI's March 27 notification "as ultra vires to the extent it charges interest on the loan amount during the moratorium period, which create hardship to the petitioner being borrower and creates hindrance and obstruction in 'right to life' guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India". Sharma, a resident of Agra, has also sought a direction to the government and the Reserve Bank of India to provide relief in re-payment of loan by not charging interest during the moratorium period. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that he would like to file the reply of finance ministry on the issue and sought time. Senior advocate Rajeev Dutta, appearing for petitioner Gajendra Sharma, said that now the cat is out of the bag as RBI is saying profitability of the banks is primary. He referred to the recent order of the apex court in the Air India matter on booking of middle seats on the non-scheduled flights to bring the stranded Indians from abroad. The court had said that economic interest is not higher than the health of people. Dutta said that by the submission of the RBI, it means that only banks should earn profit while rest of the country goes down during the pandemic. He said the petitioner would like to file a rejoinder to the reply filed by the RBI. Mehta said he would consult the finance ministry and try to find out a solution to both the questions asked by the bench and file a response to them. The top court asked the Solicitor General to file the response by June 12 and allowed the petitioner and other parties to file rejoinder by then. At the outset, the top court took note of the fact that RBI's reply was leaked to the media before the matter was taken up before the court. "Is RBI filing the reply first in media and then in court?" Dutta said this was a move to sensationalise the issue. The bench said that it highly deprecates this practice and this should not happen again. On May 26, the top court had asked the Centre and the RBI to respond to the plea challenging levy of interest on loans during the moratorium period. The RBI in its reply has told the top court that it is taking all possible measures to provide relief with regard to debt repayments on account of the fallout of Covid-19 but it does not consider it prudent to go for a "forced waiver of interest, risking the financial viability of the banks it is mandated to regulate, and putting the interests of the depositors in jeopardy". In its reply, to the plea the RBI said that regulatory package is, in its essence, in the nature of a moratorium/deferment and "cannot be construed to be a waiver". -- PTI Advertisement industry believes Government of India's new draft social media advertising policy contradicts its philosophy of Atma Nirbhar Bharat. The policy guidelines state that the government would advertise only on those social media platforms which have 25 million monthly unique users. This implies Centre would primarily advertise on US-owned and headquartered platforms such as Google, Facebook, Instagram or Youtube as few Indian platforms attract such high traffic. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued draft policy guidelines for empanelment of social media platforms with the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, keeping in mind the surge in social media usage during the coronavirus lockdown. ALSO READ: Coronavirus crisis: Why television industry is bleeding despite record consumption Already, over 85 per cent of online advertising in India goes to Google and Facebook. If the government puts all its social media spends on these platforms, not only would it further strengthen their duopoly, it would also be going against its policy of boosting homegrown, or Swadeshi businesses. "All the big social media platforms are foreign companies, so isn't advertising on them against the Atma Nirbhar Bharat philosophy," questions the CEO of a top-notch advertising agency. Facebook in India has 343 million active monthly users, while YouTube has 265 million users and Instagram has 94 million monthly users in India. Central government had always preferred traditional media platforms such as television, radio and print for its public interest messaging. ALSO READ: 'Advertising easiest to cut': Coronavirus wrecks ad industry "With the increasing number of people (especially youth) spending time on social media platforms, these platforms may provide avenue for communication and outreach. The social media platforms not only cater to an increasing number of people but also facilitate targeted approach which helps in reaching out to desired set of people in an efficient and cost-effective manner," says the policy guideline. A large segment of the advertising industry believes that the government's criterion of investing on platforms which attract 25 million monthly unique users is unfair and unhealthy, says the CEO of a leading digital advertising agency. He says that the government wants to advertise on these platforms so that they have better leverage on them and they are protected. He, however, adds that government's social media spends will never contribute huge amounts to the revenues of the social media giants. "It won't have too much impact on their revenue, but it's a matter of principle. I am more worried about the wrong signals that are being given to the industry." ALSO READ: Coronavirus fake news: Facebook removes pseudoscience category for advertisers TDT | Manama The number of new active cases being reported amongst Bahrainis infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19) has risen dramatically in just over a months time, Ministry of Health undersecretary Dr. Waleed Al Manea revealed yesterday. Dr. Al Manea said that on April 16, there were 26 new cases reported, but by June 2, the number surged to 179 Bahrainis. Dr. Al Manea said that among the reasons for the huge increase are reckless non-compliance to health guidelines, and a rise in family gatherings, as many of the new active cases are being detected within the same family. He emphasised the importance of ensuring that family gatherings are limited to individuals living in the same household, along with the other health guidelines such as leaving home only when necessary, wearing facemasks, and abiding by social distancing regulations. Dr. Al Manea was speaking at the National Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Press conference, held yesterday at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research at the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Hospital, where the latest developments in the Kingdoms COVID-19 fight were highlighted. Dr. Al Manea was joined by Infectious Disease consultant, BDF Hospital microbiologist and National Taskforce member Lt. Col. Dr. Manaf Al Qahtani, as well as Salmaniya Medical Complex Infectious and Internal Diseases consultant Dr. Jameela Al Salman. Dr. Al Manea emphasised the importance of following the new expanded facemask protocols recently announced by the National Taskforce. Face masks should be worn in public and when around the elderly or individuals with underlying health problems living in the same household. Individuals driving a car, or practising strenuous exercises such as running or swimming do not need to wear a face mask during those activities. Dr. Al Manea reiterated the Kingdoms continued commitment to ensuring all measures are taken to preserve the health and safety of the community. He underscored that, during the next phase of COVID-19 mitigation, adhering to all health and precautionary measures is the responsibility of every individual to ensure the safety of their families and the community. Dr. Al Manea revealed that the Kingdoms current isolation and treatment capacity has increased. It now stands at 7,187 beds, of which 4,884 were occupied at the time of the conference; while quarantine capacity has also gone up, with 3,410 beds, of which 599 are currently occupied. Meanwhile, Dr. Al Qahtani enumerated certain steps that must be followed to ensure the safety of individuals and families when returning home from outdoors. These include placing shoes outside the household as well as personal belongings in a box and disinfecting them, removing and disinfecting any bags brought from outside, changing ones clothes, and taking a shower. Dr. Al Qahtani also announced that the clinical trials using convalescent plasma to help treat patients suffering from COVID-19 have been completed and the results are now being analysed by specialists. He added that the trials involved 40 patients. On her part, Dr. Al Salman noted the commitment of the Ministry of Health to increase its daily testing capacity, saying that as of yesterday, more than 330,000 tests had been conducted. Dr. Al Salman highlighted that a large number of individuals in Bahrain have recovered thanks to the Kingdoms treatment protocol and the care being provided to active cases. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 18:30:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Unmanned aerial vehicles are poised to take off as powerful tools of scientific research on the "roof of the world." Chinese scientists have used a drone-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) relay system to achieve real-time environmental monitoring in remote areas where mobile networks are insufficient. The system was developed by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It mainly consists of drone-based relay equipment for data collection and IoT terminals on the ground, including devices for environmental monitoring and data transmission. Scientists used the drones as mobile relays to grab real-time data from monitoring devices deployed in hard-to-reach areas. After that, they flew the drones to areas with broader network coverage and forwarded data to scientific data centers, lead researcher Li Xin told Xinhua Thursday. According to an online article published by the journal IEEE Internet of Things, scientists have carried out several experimental flights in northwest China's Gansu Province, which showed the high feasibility of the system. Due to the remote and harsh environment, data sampling on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been infrequent for a long time. Chinese scientists have stepped up research efforts in the area in recent years, but current equipment and poor network coverage are unable to meet the growing research demand. "In many areas lacking network coverage, data have to be collected manually," said Li, adding that data collection on the plateau is time-consuming and costly. The drone-enabled IoT relay system can make up for the network deficiency and will help scientists achieve environmental monitoring in the plateau faster and more easily than before, according to researchers. Co-author Zhang Minghu said the research team is exploring ways to apply the system in wildlife monitoring. "Using the drone system to replace the manual observation of wildlife will be much safer, especially with large animals," Zhang said. Enditem ZoomInfo Technologies (ZI) debuts today on the Nasdaq after the business intelligence platform's initial public offering priced at $21 per share, above the expected range and valuing the company at more than $8 billion. (Reuters) The government said this morning that first-time jobless claims totaled nearly 1.9 million last week, in a sign both that the worst is over for the coronavirus-related jobs crisis but that the level of unemployment remains stubbornly high. The government reports its May employment report Friday, with nonfarm payrolls expected to decline by 8.3 million and the nation's unemployment rate expected to soar to 19.5%. (CNBC) Casinos in Las Vegas and all around Nevada reopen Thursday, under a number of coronavirus requirements, including 50% capacity in gaming areas. Hotels do not have to limit room capacity. Civil unrest in Vegas and around the country prompted tourism officials to pull a planned ad campaign to promote the reopening. (CNBC) American Airlines (AAL) plans to fly 55% of its domestic schedule in July, up dramatically from May when the airline flew 20% of its schedule from a year earlier. American is increasing flights at a more aggressive pace than its competitor United (UAL), which is ramping up its July schedule to 25% of what it flew during the same month in 2019. (CNBC) Hospitalizations due to the coronavirus are on the rise across the country, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC. He added that hospitalizations are a "lagging indicator" that represent infections that occurred weeks ago. Global leaders are set to pledge billions of dollars toward vaccination funding on Thursday at a U.K.-hosted summit that aims to raise at least $7.4 billion. The money raised go to global vaccine alliance Gavi, which will use the money to immunize 300 million children in the world's poorest countries by 2025. Gavi was set up in 1999 when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (CNBC) Hydroxychloroquine, the drug backed by Trump to combat Covid-19, is no better than a placebo in preventing infection from the coronavirus, according to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The president finished a regimen of the anti-malaria drug "without side effects," a White House doctor said Wednesday. The World Health Organization said Wednesday it's resuming its hydroxychloroquine trial after temporarily halting research over safety concerns. (CNBC) In Washington, a bill passed by the Senate and the House to give small businesses more flexibility in how they spend federal coronavirus loans through the Paycheck Protection Program heads to President Donald Trump for his signature. The PPP was created in March to support small businesses during the pandemic and to encourage them to retain employees. (CNBC) Former Defense Secretary James Mattis ripped into Trump, in a scathing statement Wednesday night published by The Atlantic, as protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police continued to sweep the nation. Mattis said the president "tries to divide us." The president hit back on Twitter, saying firing Mattis was something he has in common with Barack Obama. (CNBC) Mark Esper, the current Defense secretary, reversed a decision late Wednesday to withdraw active-duty army units from the Washington area. Esper told reporters that while he ordered the deployment of 1,600 troops to the region, he does not support using active-duty military to respond to civil unrest. (CNBC) Demonstrations in cities across the nation against racial injustices were more peaceful overnight, ahead of Thursday's memorial service for Floyd in Minneapolis, as prosecutors charged the three other fired officers at the scene with aiding and abetting. The fourth ex-officer, who knelt on Floyd's neck during a May 25 arrest, is now being charged with the more serious offense of second-degree murder. * Obama says protests across the country aren't like the 1968 riots, which some think helped elect Nixon (CNBC) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday to remove one of the country's most iconic monuments to the Confederacy, a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee along Richmond's Monument Avenue. The move would be an extraordinary victory for civil rights activists, whose calls for the removal of that monument and others in this former capital of the Confederacy have been resisted for years. (AP) Amazon (AMZN) is reopening two of its warehouses in the Midwest after it temporarily closed these delivery stations in Chicago and nearby Gary, Indiana due to escalating civil unrest in the area. The company's delivery stations are smaller than its fulfillment centers, and are solely responsible for sorting and preparing packages for the last mile of shipping. (CNBC) FedEx (FDX) is adding surcharges to some U.S. shipments, following a similar move by rival United Parcel Service (UPS). The move is designed to manage rising costs and a surge in package shipments amid the coronavirus pandemic. (WSJ) Simon Property Group (SPG) is suing apparel retailer Gap (GPS) over nearly $66 million in unpaid rent, according to online real estate publication The Real Deal. Gap is the largest tenant for the nation's largest mall operator. Costco (COST) reported a 5.4% increase in May comparable-store sales, compared to FactSet's estimate of a 0.3% decline. The warehouse retailer also saw e-commerce sales more than double compared to a year earlier. (CNBC) Carnival (CCL) extended the suspension of some voyages of its Princess Cruises brand that travel to Australia, Canada, and Taiwan. Many cruise ports around the world remain shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Reuters) There is nothing quite like teaching 30 students for eight straight hours online. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. There is nothing quite like teaching 30 students for eight straight hours online. Ive been instructing a course this week on Indigenous rights at the Canadian School of Peacebuilding, a summer program at Winnipeg-based Canadian Mennonite University. Ive tried to make it as "normal" (a.k.a. pre-pandemic) as possible, with class discussions, guest presentations and storytelling but its weird speaking to 30 face-boxes on a screen. Its fine when I lecture, but interaction is hard. I pose questions and theres a consistent series of 20-second lulls as students dont know who should respond. I end up cold-calling students to answer questions like some sort of educational interrogation. Classes end up as mini-talk shows with individuals, while everyone else wonders who Im going to invite on stage next. There are some cool parts like being able to share weblinks and videos quickly and efficiently but when the internet slows down, look out. Teaching is an exercise in frustration when you cant hear, understand a student or ask them to repeat something five times. Dont get me started on scheduling basic conversations via email, losing passwords and revamping what used to be simple topics into Powerpoint. Since Canadian School of Peacebuilding appeals to both local and international students (and out-of-towners were unable to come to Winnipeg) classes are truly remarkable. From my home on Treaty 1 land, I instruct a student sitting in his kitchen in Glasgow; another observes from her office in Ottawa; one shows me her view of the mountains in British Columbia; the rest join from random living rooms as their children, partners and pets roam in and out of my view. Meanwhile, every morning, I roll out of bed and walk the five metres to where my class awaits. TRIBUNE MEDIA TNS Teaching is an exercise in frustration when you cant hear, understand a student or ask them to repeat something five times. Then there is the problem of scheduling basic conversations via email or losing passwords. (Stepan Popov / Dreamstime files) This is the new normal of teaching literally the most abnormal way to instruct. Online educators may be used to it, but Im not there yet. Its not like I wasnt prepared. Ive been teaching all-online since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic started. By then though, I had spent two months with students. I knew them. We had relationships. In this class, I teach people I will never meet. Its all so distant, cold and sterile. Ive developed a whole new respect for my daughters junior high school teachers, who are some of the heroes of the pandemic. Nearly every day, I witness underpaid, over-demanded-upon educators reach out to students in small and big groups, spending hours upon hours online. They have been innovative, inspiring and remarkable. Take, for instance, my daughter's assignments. Shes done an obstacle course on a couch, interviewed me and her mother on our sexual histories, and shes taught me how to calculate the circumference of a round table. One day, she dressed up like famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Were lucky I can be with her and do most of my writing and work from home. Not all families can do that. Her education will be OK, while others dont have such privilege. Not all students have had a similar experience this pandemic. Success in education now depends solely on resources, opportunity and infrastructure. Children with these can emerge from this pandemic fine; those without dont have a chance. Sensitivity and awareness of this by those in power in education is key. CP With schools closed, teachers and students have had to adapt to a new way of doing things. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press files) On May 28, administrators at Southeast Collegiate in Winnipeg a high school that services northern First Nations students who dont have adequate schooling in their communities announced a new policy via social media: students who did not submit school work during the pandemic would be banned from enrolling next year. "We are looking at students who have chosen not to submit any homework," a posting on SECs Facebook account stated. "These students will NOT be welcomed back to SEC in September." The fact students who attend SEC have less access to internet, a library or school building, and have parents struggling with on-reserve poverty (all reasons they are attending SEC) seemed lost on school administrators. After public outcry, the statement was erased and an apology issued. Thats what happens when humanity is forgotten in education. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. I was reminded of this in April, when our family was feeling the anxiety and stress related to the pandemic. I recall one afternoon hearing my daughter laughing hysterically. Realizing I hadnt heard her laugh like that in quite some time, I went upstairs to find out what was so funny. It was her teacher, playing a game with her and her friends, during what would normally be homeroom time. "Sorry, Daddy," she said. "Were we being loud?" "No," I said. "Enjoy school." niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Tear gas being used amid protests sweeping the nation in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd could leave people more vulnerable to coronavirus infection, experts warn. And that risk compounds the heightened risk of exposure that comes with gathering in tightly-packed crowds in the first place. Tear gas is designed to irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and that irritation leads to coughing and other behaviors that spread the virus, and may leave the respiratory tract more vulnerable to infection. Some infectious disease experts are urging the discontinuation of tear gas use during protests amid the coronavirus pandemic via an online petition, but as looting and fires continue, police are likely to resort to the riot control method. Tear gas is being used on protestors in Minneapolis (pictured) and other cities across the US, and experts warn it could raise the risks of coronavirus spreading in the crowds Tear gas has been used to temporarily 'make people unable to function,' as described by the CDC, since World War I. Two American scientists, Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton, 'discovered' the chemical in 1928. Its alternative name, CS gas, comes from the respective last names. It was used first however by militaries World War I. Now it is primarily used in domestic conflicts, between protestors and police. CS gas is a chemical known as chlorobenzylidenemalonitrile. Some police forces us an alternative, chloroacetophenone (CN). Pressurized forms of these substances are put in canisters, combined with a liquid and aeorlized are sprayed into the air. The effects are instantaneous. The resulting irritant gets into the nose, throat and eyes. Eyes immediately sting and water, and people cough violently as their bodies try to to expel the chemical. This is a perfect storm for the transmission of viruses, like SARS-CoV-2, Dr Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) told DailyMail.com. 'There are two groups of people in terms of how it might increase covid transmission,' he said. Tear gas makes victims cough violently, potentially spreading viral particles. They also will likely - and should - take off their masks to rid their faces of the irritant (file) 'People who may have covid - maybe they know it, maybe they dont, if they are asymptomatic - when you use tear gras or pepper spray or an irritant designed to make people cough or sneeze, the droplets get super powers, and they're going to travel further.' People are already likely to be yelling at a protest, and when tear gas is sprayed, alarmed protesters loud voices may turn up to shouts or screams, propelling the virus even further. What would usually be a 'safe zone' of six feet apart - if that could be maintained in crowded streets - suddenly isn't, as droplets of spit and mucus are launched from coughing, gasping people's mouths and noses. And then they may reach the second group: people who are covid-negative. 'Now they're around all this stuff and they get sprayed, maybe they have on a mask' - as Dr Chin-Hong urges protestors to do - 'now they'll have to take off the mask, which is what we recommend, because otherwise it's going to continue to irritate their mouth and nose and eyes,' he said. 'Now their irritated and giong to be rubbing their face and eyes and note, and that's exactly what you're not supposed to do, we know now about covid.' Milk calms irritation from tear gas, but rubbing your face - or having it touched by others - adds to the risk of infection with coronavirus So their masks may be gone and no longer sealing irritant to their faces, but now these people are desperately trying to rub away the chemical, and potentially introducing viral particles coughed or screamed out by other tear gas victims into their airway or eyes. Although it hasn't been scientifically tested in the case of tear gas and SARS-CoV, irritation from tear gas may strip the body of its defenses against pathogens too. 'Usually the nose and mouth have mucus membranes built up to protect us from the environment,' explained Dr Chin-Hong. 'A little moisture and nose hairs and cilia beat rhythmically and throw this stuff out, and when you irritate them, it's almost lik a burn patient. 'When a burn patient is burned on the outside, they don't have skin, they're at risk for all these infections because they dave a barrier.' The same thing happens on the inside of the airway - including the nostrils, mouth, throat and lungs - when they're exposed to the noxious gas. Plus, it's already well known that prolonged exposure to tear gas raises the risk of cataracts, asthma and even respiratory failure and death from internal chemical burns, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr Chin-Hong helped draft a petition asking police forces to stop using tear gas amid the pandemic. Some health experts are petitioning police forces to stop using tear gas as a measure to help minimize its spread as people protest He says that the Bay Area is rumored to be considering stopping the use of pepper spray and tear gas, and a group of councilman in Oakland, California are 'getting together to try to petition to not use pepper spray or tear gas official as lawmakers.' Short of that, the only way to eliminate risk would be for people to stay home and not protest - but Dr Chin-Hong doesn't expect that. 'We support the right for people to be heard, and racism is a public health crisis,' he said. 'So we are meeting people where they are and trying not to be dogmatic or paternalistic.' His advice to protestors is to: Wear a mask and goggles and bring back-ups, in case you do come into contact with pepper spray or tear gas 'Be an ally,' and come protest with or set up a station to hand out extra masks Wear a face shield, which protects your eyes, nose and mouth Stay in the same group to limit exposure and ease contact tracing He and his colleagues would ask that police: Not use pepper spray or tear gas Wear masks to help reduce the spread, in case they may be infected Question people, if needed, outside rather in a car or closed room, where tramission risks are higher Have masks or face shields for people to wear while being questioned 'Be humane not only in meeting people and what they're doing but be humane and thoughtful around disease transmission and risk' He underscores that these risks are particularly poignant given that many of the protestors are black and minority people, who are already at greater risk of infection and severe illness from coronavirus. 'Minority populations are already going to be at risk of more serious outcomes, it behooves us all to engage in that conversation and dialogue,' Dr Chin-Hong said. But both preventing coronavirus transmission and addressing issues in the US that underlie poorer health in minority communities are important to many in the health care field, he added. 'Just like we think of gun violence as a public health problem, racism...leads to behaviors that increase disease risks in these populations.' The Duchess of York has recalled the time she slept rough and raided the dustbins outside McDonald's to find boxes to keep her warm at night during an experiment to understand homelessness. Speaking on Haircuts4Homeless's recent Hear Me, See Me Podcast, Sarah Ferguson, 60, told the charity's founder Stewart Roberts about a time where she slept rough at a train station in Bucharest and rummaged for cardboard to shelter under. 'I rough slept in Bucharest at a train station and I wrote about it with a charity called Medecins Sans Frontieres,' she explained. 'I decided I better go and see what it was like because I can't possibly do what I'm doing if I don't know what it feels like. 'I'll never forget it. I went into a train station and I found this fabulous little chap who was 15-years-old and he said, "don't worry come with me." 'We went and raided the dustbins of McDonald's and I was so grateful for the cardboard boxes that had been thrown out by McDonald's because they kept me warm all night. Sarah Ferguson, 60, spoke on Haircuts4Homeless's recent Hear Me, See Me Podcast about her new charity Sarah's Trust - before sharing a short video on Instagram (pictured) The Duchess of York, along with her daughters Princess Beatrice, 32, and Princess Eugenie, 30, has 'personally funded and donated' hundreds of items to NHS staff as she launches her new foundation, Sarah's Trust (pictured, Fergie with some of her deliveres) 'Eventually, I went to America, found Ronald McDonald's house charities and said, "I want to come and work for you because you kept me warm all night.' The royal, who is currently living with daughter Princess Eugenie, 30, at the Royal Lodge in Windsor while Princess Beatrice, 31, is staying with her fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 37, in Chipping Norton, went on to reveal how isolation has made her feel more humble and grateful. She also spoke of her love for the NHS, key workers and the unity of this country adding that seeing the love and kindness from people gives her strength each day. 'I think it makes me be more humble and more grateful and more loving,' she explained. 'I'm just so grateful to all of the NHS workers, and to all you workers, the key workers, local heroes, the people who are really out there driving buses or like you are, going round and supporting people who are rough sleeping.' 'It's shows the extreme unity of this country and I'm really excited to see the loving hand of friendship and kindness coming from people. The Duchess of York has kindly gifted Haircuts4Homeless kits via her new fund Sarah's Trust - each filled with a sleeping bag and essentials to help those on the streets. The royal penned: 'A message from me to mark the launch of my new charity' (pictured) Fergie has previously told how she was 'proud' of the family's efforts to support NHS workers during the coronavirus pandemic (pictured, Princess Eugenie donating pre-made lunches to NHS frontline staff in London) And in a new Instagram post, she explained: Sarah's Trust is about collaboration, unity and partnership. Its about the smile of a child, the help of a nation and it's from the heart. We're here to serve and we'r in service to make your life better.' Speaking on the Podcast, she added: 'It gives me strength every minute of the day to want to do more to make sure if I was a rough sleeper, what would I want? which is why we've done these bags.' 'I'd want to know someone had thought about whether we had something to lie on, or on a cold, rainy night that I had something to cover me with. 'That's really who I am and that's what I've been like all my life. My grandmother taught me that when you feel bad about yourself, give to others and you'll soon wake up. 'Also, one of my oldest friends died of cancer about three weeks ago and I longed to say goodbye to her. The foundation's Instagram page, which currently has just over 200 followers, launched seven days ago, sharing the logo for the Trust Another early project from the trust has seen bags of vital supplies donated to homeless people throughout the pandemic (pictured) 'There are many people all over the world that can't say their proper goodbyes to their loved ones. This is something Sarah's Trust is going to campaign for when lockdown finishes. 'It will be a fund to help so people can write in and we can help them pay for their funerals, or a loving moment they can say goodbye to their loved ones.' She added: 'I've got to find a way to make someone smile or to just bring the joy that I have in my heart. My girls are so superb. That's why Sarah Wade and I have done Sarah's Trust. I want 100% of the funds to go to the person.' The Duchess of York recently revealed that her new charity has made 150,000 donations to frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic and said hundreds were 'personally funded' by her daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. The Trust describes its work online as providing a 'vital bridge' between 'individuals with social responsibility and the financial ability' to give philanthropically with charities in need. Published on 2020/06/03 | Source "The World of the Married" received a warning from the broadcasting committee. Advertisement The broadcasting review subcommittee of the Korea Communications Standards Commission held a meeting at the broadcasting center in Mok-dong, Seoul on the 27th of last month, and decided on the administrative guidance 'recommendation' for the jTBC drama "The World of the Married", which aired scenes of husbands assaulting their wives, unidentified assailants attacking women, and women demanding luxury bags from married men in return for sex, and re-broadcasting the same content during the youth viewing protection period. 'Recommendations' or 'suggestions of opinions' are 'administrative guidance' given when the degree of violation of relevant regulations for broadcasting review is minor. A subcommittee consisting of five reviewers shall make a final decision, and no legal disadvantage shall be given to the broadcasting company concerned. ___________ "The World of the Married" is directed by Mo Wan-il, written by Joo Hyeon-I, and features Kim Hee-ae, Park Hae-joon, Han So-hee, Park Sun-young, Kim Young-min, Chae Gook-hee. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2020/03/27~2020/05/16, Fri, Sat 23:00 on jTBC. Shipping incidents on South Africas oceans keep SAMSA on its toes The stricken crude oil tanker, Yua Hua Hu, was expected to finally reach the port of Durban sometime on Tuesday, in the tow of a tug, after more than seven days of reporting problems while sailing through South Africas Wild Coast on the Indian Ocean, reportedly on its way from Singapore to Libya on the west coast of Africa. According to SAMSA in an update report, the vessel left Port St Johns coastline at about lunchtime on Saturday, under tow by the tug Pacific Dolphin, to the port of Durban and was expected to arrive at the port sometime on Tuesday. The China flagged tanker was not carrying any cargo when it began experiencing problems a week ago in the vicinity of a South African part of the Indian Ocean that is historically known for its Wild Coast which over years have claimed many a vessel. The tankers crew was reported to be safe. President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Roland Affail Monney, has expressed worry about low professional standards in journalism in Ghana. He said practitioners had become parochial and partisan at the expense of professionalism. Dr. Monney made the observation in Sunyani during a forum organized by the GJA Brong Ahafo Regional branch on the topic: No to Political Vigilantism and Electoral Violence in Ghana, with sponsorship from Star Ghana Foundation. It was also participated by representatives from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Health Service (GHS). The GHS took the opportunity to educate participants on the current situation on Covid-19 and the way forward. Dr. Monney said standards in journalism had been plummeting with time, saying that the clear disregard for ethical standards was a major cause. From Sunyani to other parts of the country, journalism is degenerating into a standard-less profession, he admitted, saying it is sad and dangerous. He said because the 1992 Constitution gives freedom to any person to practise or set up media organization, the GJA could only appeal to the sensibilities of journalists to let the national interest override their personal and parochial interests, especially as the country heads for the December polls. The only way to prevent this country from degenerating into chaos is for journalists to be professionals and report nothing but the truth. What is put out there must be based on strong factual foundation and must be fair, he stressed. He reminded editors of their crucial roles as referees, saying journalists must not show biases; they must not tell stories in conflicting ways. They must not insult on the airwaves or support one political party over the other. He warned media practitioners that the media profession is guided by rules and regulations which he referred to as 'landmines' and 'potholes', which he said could land any practitioner into trouble if they are not careful, adding we must learn from the Montie 3 saga. The Bono Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Stephen Tenkorang, speaking on behalf of the IGP, said the police needed to work hand-in-hand with the media to promote peaceful election. ---Daily Guide Construction of Hwangju Kindung Waterway Begins Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, June 3 (KCNA) -- A large-scale project has begun to build a waterway in Hwangju. The waterway, a project of important significance in decisively increasing grain production in North Hwanghae Province, is a gravity-fed waterway extending hundreds of miles. The grand nature-remaking project will ensure satisfactory supply of irrigation water to the wide Kindung Plain in Hwangju. The builders blew up 100 000 cubic meters of earth on Tuesday, announcing the groundbreaking. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tim Cook shared his letter on Apple's website. Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday penned a letter in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. In the post titled Speaking up on Racism which is available on the companys website, the Apple CEO said that the company must do more to combat racism. While our laws have changed, the reality is that their protections are still not universally applied. Weve seen progress since the America I grew up in, but it is similarly true that communities of color continue to endure discrimination and trauma, he wrote in the post. Cook, apart from expressing his support for the movement, committed to work to bring critical resources and technology to underserved school systems, to fight environmental injustice, racial injustice and mass incarceration. It is worth noting that Cooks letter comes in less than a week after Apple Music participated in the Black Out Tuesday. It also comes just days after the Apples top executive shared a memo with Apple employees on racial discrimination and inequality. Here is what Cook wrote in his post: Right now, there is a pain deeply etched in the soul of our nation and in the hearts of millions. To stand together, we must stand up for one another, and recognize the fear, hurt, and outrage rightly provoked by the senseless killing of George Floyd and a much longer history of racism. That painful past is still present today not only in the form of violence, but in the everyday experience of deeply rooted discrimination. We see it in our criminal justice system, in the disproportionate toll of disease on Black and Brown communities, in the inequalities in neighborhood services and the educations our children receive. While our laws have changed, the reality is that their protections are still not universally applied. Weve seen progress since the America I grew up in, but it is similarly true that communities of color continue to endure discrimination and trauma. I have heard from so many that you feel afraid afraid in your communities, afraid in your daily lives, and, most cruelly of all, afraid in your own skin. We can have no society worth celebrating unless we can guarantee freedom from fear for every person who gives this country their love, labor, and life. At Apple, our mission has been and always will be to create technology that empowers people to change the world for the better. Weve always drawn strength from diversity, welcomed people from every walk of life to our stores around the world, and strived to build an Apple that is inclusive of everyone. But we must do more. We commit to continuing our work to bring critical resources and technology to underserved school systems. We commit to continuing to fight the forces of environmental injustice like climate change which disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of color. We commit to looking inward and pushing progress forward on inclusion and diversity, so that every great idea can be heard. And were donating to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative, which challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration. To create change, we have to reexamine our own views and actions in light of a pain that is deeply felt but too often ignored. Issues of human dignity will not abide standing on the sidelines. To the Black community we see you. You matter and your lives matter. This is a moment when many people may want nothing more than a return to normalcy, or to a status quo that is only comfortable if we avert our gaze from injustice. As difficult as it may be to admit, that desire is itself a sign of privilege. George Floyds death is shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far higher than a normal future, and build one that lives up to the highest ideals of equality and justice. In the words of Martin Luther King, Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. With every breath we take, we must commit to being that change, and to creating a better, more just world for everyone. Bhubaneswar, June 3 (IANS) Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested for direct flights to Bhubaneswar from Gulf countries, the UK and Sri Lanka to bring back people from the state. In separate letters to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Pradhan urged for direct flights to Bhubaneswar from cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo and London. The letters were released to the media on Wednesday. "I have received several representations from Odia persons living abroad requesting for their repatriation directly to Bhubaneswar. The Odia community representatives living in the GCC countries, United Kingdom, and Sri Lanka have made specific requests to travel back from their respective capital cities to Bhubaneswar directly," informed the Minister. "Since they are in good numbers in these countries, point to point direct flights may be arranged from the cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo and London to Bhubaneswar, which would also make commercial sense for the airlines," Pradhan said. He said this would go a long way in helping them during this time of crisis. --IANS cd/dpb EDITORS NOTE: The story has been updated to include more information about the mans arrest. The Plainfield Police Department on Wednesday asked the county prosecutors office to investigate the use of force by one of their officers during the arrest of an 18-year-old male, who suffered an arm injury. The arrest occurred earlier Wednesday, in the 300 block of Liberty Street in the city. The man was charged with third-degree possession of cocaine and lesser offenses, including possession of marijuana, failure to disperse, resisting arrest, and criminal trespass, a Union County Prosecutors Office spokesman told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. He was released on his own recognizance pending a hearing that will place in Union County Superior Court. No other details of the incident that led to the arrest were made public, but the police department and Union County Prosecutors Office released a public statement about it. In order to maintain the trust the community has in the men and women of the Plainfield Police Division, our agencies felt it was appropriate to have this matter investigated directly by the Prosecutors Office during this tumultuous time, Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Plainfield Police Director Lisa Burgess said in a joint statement. The statement said that during the arrest, the suspect sustained an arm injury that required immediate medical attention." Typically, prosecutors offices investigate police officers use of force when it results in death or serious bodily injury, or when an officer fires their gun. Plainfield police said they made the normal use of force notifications both internally and to the prosecutors Professional Standards Unit, but added that it wanted the prosecutors office to review the incident further. New Jersey will soon launch a statewide database of police use of force and create a licensing system for police officers, and update its police use of force policy for the first time in nearly 20 years, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Tuesday. The announcement followed days of protests in New Jersey and around the country in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Such protests are ongoing. To the thousands of New Jerseyans who assembled peacefully this week, let me be clear: We hear you, we see you, we respect you, Grewal said at a Tuesday news briefing in Trenton. "We share your anger and we share your commitment to change. In late 2018, NJ Advance Media published The Force Report, a statewide database of police use of force records that showed major racial disparities in how and when New Jersey police officers used force against suspects. The state last updated its police use of force policy in 2001. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. June 04 : After playing a fearless cop in the Mardaani franchise, Rani Mukerji is now lauding the efforts of the Mumbai police in a motivational music video, 'Rakh Tu Hausla'. Written and directed by Pravin Talan, the song is out now. T-series head honcho Bhushan Kumar dropped the inspirational anthem on his social media profile. He captioned it, Celebrating their bravery. Celebrating them. #RakhTuHausla, jeet jayenge hum @MumbaiPolice @CPMumbaiPolice #MumbaiPoliceFoundation @TSeries #RaniMukerji @pravintalan #PravinTalanPhotography @Swaritnigam @rupalisaagar @nippuk #PoonamTalan Rani Mukerji was roped in by the Mumbai Police Foundation for the initiative urging people to remain calm amid the pandemic. The track has been composed by Nippu Khound and rendered by Swarit Nigam. Here's a teaser of the song shared by the Twitter handle of Mumbai Police. "Rakh Tu Hausla" is not just another video song but an inspiring story of human courage in these troubled times, journey into the heart and spirit of Mumbai city and its police force, shot during the dreaded lockdown. No war is ever fought without casualties and as of 31st May 2020, 1508 Mumbai Police personnel have been infected by the deadly virus and 16 have lost their lives. The war against COVID 19 continues but human spirit shall prevail over anything else, reads the official statement. Watch the song! As the world battles the virus, the frontline workers, including the medical personnel and the police force, are out there risking their lives to keep us safe and this song is a perfect ode to their selfless act of duty and social responsibility. Infiniti Research, a leading market intelligence solutions provider, has recently announced the completion of its latest success story on competitive intelligence solution for an IT services provider. This success story highlights how our competitive intelligence solution helped a company in the IT services industry to meet their immediate priorities and attain faster time to market. In addition, this article explains how the client was able to outpace their competitors and enhance market share by 22%. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005647/en/ Engagement Overview: Our client, an IT services provider, encountered a steady decline in profit margins for two consecutive years. In addition, they faced immense competition from local players in Germany. In order to enhance their market share, they wanted to gauge their competitors' strategies and understand their business models. In addition, the client wanted to understand how their company measured up against the top IT services companies in Germany. As such, they approached the experts at Infiniti Research to leverage their expertise in offering competitive intelligence solution. Objective 1: Identify technologies and processes leveraged by their competitors to tackle security threats in the industry Objective 2: Find the right business partners to outsource their projects at times of immediate requirements Objective 3: Identify how the top IT services providers implemented regulated privacy protection and ensured the safety of their user-data Infiniti's competitive intelligence solution helps IT companies stay agile and create differential go-forward strategies through in-depth competitor research and analysis. Request a complimentary proposal to leverage our competitive intelligence solution. Our Approach: Our experts conducted a competitive intelligence study of the German IT services industry. In the initial phase of the engagement, the experts conducted company profiling and analysis, where they analyzed the client's top ten competitors. The factors such as their current market position, end-users, and profit margins were analyzed. In the second phase, our experts conducted a risk assessment study of the German IT services industry, where they analyzed the operational and security risks facing companies in the German IT services industry. By analyzing risks in advance, the client was able to take risk management approaches to tackle them. The next phase involved a competitive benchmarking study, where the experts compared the client's service offerings with that of their competitors. This phase of the engagement helped the client to understand their strengths and weaknesses in comparison to their competitors. Additionally, the client was able to identify areas where their competitors were doing well and struggling. Business impact of the competitive intelligence solution for the IT services provider: The insights obtained from the competitive intelligence engagement helped the client to understand the competitive landscape in the German IT services industry. Also, they were able to identify technologies and processes leveraged by their competitors to tackle security and operational risks in the industry. Our experts also helped the client to identify the top IT outsourcing companies to help them at the time of immediate requirements. By partnering with Infiniti Research, the client was also able to: Implement an AI-based protection system to secure the company from new security threats Implement regulated privacy protection to protect user data and information Meet their immediate priorities and attain faster time to market Reduce operational cost by 13% and enhance market share by 22% How can companies in the IT industry prepare for the rebound and ensure business continuity amidst the COVID-19 crisis? Our business continuity support solutions can help IT companies to understand the change in volumes and values post the COVID-19 crisis. Contact us here. 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/20200604005647/en/ Contacts: Press Contact Infiniti Research Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 844 778 0600 UK: +44 203 893 3400 https://www.infinitiresearch.com/contact-us Breaking his silence over the nationwide protests in the US against the death of African-American George Floyd, former Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said that President Donald Trump "tries to divide" the American people, instead of uniting. Donald Trump is the first President in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people -- does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us," Mattis, who resigned as the Pentagon chief in December 2018 in protest against Trump's Syria policy, said on Wednesday in an article carried by the Atlantic magazine. "We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," he was quoted as saying in the article by Xinhua news agency. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. "This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children," he said. Mattis' excoriation came as Trump threatened to send in active-duty military forces to quell the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial discrimination that have spread to over 300 US cities and towns following the killing of Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, by white police officers. "We should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. "Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington D.C., sets up a conflict -- a false conflict -- between the military and civilian society," Mattis added. Meanwhile, incumbent Defence Secretary Mark Esper has also openly opposed Trump's suggestion to use the military to quell the disturbances. Esper said on Wednesday that the nation was not in a situation that would legally allow Trump to call out the troops for domestic operations. "The option to use active-duty forces in a law-enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. "We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," he added. "Our members want more information about healthcare and our providers want more actionable data that they can use to drive care decisions," said Dr. Thomas Diller, Blue Cross vice president of Population Health and Quality Transformation. "To continue being a market leader in sharing more data throughout our network, we are proud to partner with BHI and use their cutting-edge analytics tools to reinvent our provider reports, making them more useful to providers. This partnership represents our commitment to and investment in provider engagement. The reports will advance our work with provider partners around the state to drive meaningful changes that achieve higher-quality care and keep costs in line." Specifically, this partnership relies on BHI's analytic capabilities to bundle care for thousands of conditions and complex treatments into clinically meaningful units of analysis and use our scalable clinical quality rules engine that measures quality improvement initiatives. Together, these capabilities comprise BHI's Provider Index, a solution that enables stakeholders to assess the cost and quality of care delivered in different settings. By replicating and/or augmenting nationally recognized quality measurements, Blue Cross can engage providers in predicting and better managing their performance on these ratings. In addition, the Plan will use BHI's Provider Index to predict individuals with potential gaps in care. Blue Cross and its provider partners can then focus the right resources on closing these gaps while improving member engagement. While BHI's Provider Index generates benchmarked dashboards and standard reports, Blue Cross can work with its provider partners to create their own cost and quality metrics through the highly visual, intuitive interactive platform. The health plan is particularly interested in using BHI's provider benchmarking and reporting solution to enhance its Specialty Care Insight program further. In that program, Blue Cross shares data insights with certain types of specialists and primary care providers who participate in the Plan's value-based programs to help them identify effective strategies that reduce the use of low-value, high-cost services while assessing quality-of-care metrics. "BHI always has built solutions that remove black boxes from healthcare analytics and open up data-driven dialogues between stakeholders," said Swati Abbott, BHI's CEO. "With consumers, employers, and government payers feeling unprecedented cost pressures and seeking value for every healthcare dollar, health plans are in a unique position to provide unbiased insights about variability in the quality and costs of care. We are thrilled to help Blue Cross harness the tools needed to accomplish these goals within its provider and member community." Blue Cross plans to begin delivering the new reports to healthcare providers before the end of this year. In addition to using this information to share more information with providers in the Specialty Care Insights program, Blue Cross can use this information to refine its value-based care arrangements and better understand the impacts that COVID-19 has had on healthcare costs and quality. About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Founded in New Orleans in 1934, we are a tax-paying nonprofit health insurer with offices in every major region to serve our customers. We were recognized in 2019 as an honoree of The Civic 50, named by Points of Light as one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. We are a private mutual company, owned by our policyholders, with an independent Louisiana Board of Directors and no shareholders. We invite all Louisianians to visit our website at www.bcbsla.com or talk to us on social media. About Blue Health Intelligence Leveraging the power of medical and pharmacy claims data from more than 200 million Americans, Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) delivers insights that empower healthcare organizations to improve patient care, reduce costs, and optimize performance. With the largest, most up-to-date, and uniform data set in healthcare, BHI provides an accurate representation of the health profile of commercially insured Americans. Its team of data analysts, clinicians, IT experts, and epidemiologists provide analytics, software-as-a-service, and in-depth consulting to payers, providers, employers, medical device companies, and other healthcare stakeholders. BHI is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and carries the trade name of Health Intelligence Company, LLC. For more, visit bluehealthintelligence.com . SOURCE Blue Health Intelligence; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Related Links https://bluehealthintelligence.com/ New Delhi: An Assistant Sub-Inspector of Delhi Police was suspended for not wearing a mask and flouting social distancing norms recommended by the Centre to curb further spread of the deadly coronavirus infection. The ASI, who has been identified as Surendra Kumar, is posted with the 4th Battalion of Delhi Armed Police (DAP). This is the first such case where departmental action has been taken against a police officer for violating social distancing norms, the Delhi Police said. Sharing more information, Deputy Commissioner of Police (4th Battalion DAP) Satyavir Katara said the ASI was suspended for not wearing mask and violating social distancing norms. "After repeated directions as per SOP issued by the Government of India and briefed by the undersigned many times, today, on June 1, I checked the offices/ branches of 4th Battalion of DAP, and found that ASI Surrender is not wearing a mask and also not maintaining social distance in the office/ branches of 4th Bn DAP, Delhi. "Accordingly, he is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect, without prejudice to the departmental action to be initiated against him," the official order signed by DCP Satyavir Katara said. The ASI has been sent to the district line and a departmental inquiry is underway. Up to 129 inmates could be released from the Harris County Jail against a statewide emergency order that has kept some defendants in custody past early release dates earned from good time credits, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office. Already, judges have ordered the release of 37 of those qualified inmates, said sheriffs office spokesman Jason Spencer. Judges overseeing cases for the remainder of those people have been informed that they are eligible. The Sheriffs Office continues to process such release orders as they are received, Spencer said. The inmates sentences ended early using good time credits - commutations that the sheriffs office issues for displaying good conduct - as allowed by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. County jails can provide credit for up to one-third of a persons sentence, according to the state code. In an order to release the eligible inmates in his court, state District Judge Brian Warren noted that people regularly take plea deals understanding they could be released sooner if they accumulate enough credit. Some of those inmates recently found that their sentences had tripled in length, Warren said. That stemmed from an executive order Gov. Greg Abbott issued on March 29 in anticipation of Harris Countys plan to release some inmates from the jail, which was tagged early on as a potential hotspot for coronavirus spread. Abbotts directive widely prevented the release of dangerous criminals convicted or charged with violent crime though local officials had never suggested taking that course of action. In his order, Abbott suspended the statute that allows people to be released on good time credits if they have violent convictions. Those inmates are still able to accumulate good time credits during the course of the order, however. Warren is one of several judges who have requested that his inmates be released. In late May, he issued an order finding that Abbotts order exceeded his authority under the Texas Disaster Act of 1974 and violated separation of powers clauses under the state constitution. The sheriff shouldnt find the order to be binding, he said. Abbotts office has not returned requests for comment. The county attorney helped advise the sheriffs office in its decision to inform judges of inmates who qualify for early release, said Robert Soard, first assistant to county attorney. The office of the county attorney has worked with the sheriff, public defender and others on obtaining the release of as many inmates as we can during this COVID crisis, Soard said. samantha.ketterer@chron.com The commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have always been present in the Iranian Parliament (Majles) over the years,holding various positions. The IRGC presence in the Majles has been more eye-catching after the 1980s war with Iraq and from mid-1990s. Over the years, some well-known IRGC commanders including division commanders, provincial commanders, Basij militia commanders and members of the IRGC's intelligence service have served as members of the parliament. Most recently, during the 8th, 9th and 10th parliaments, most recent ending in May, Ali Larijani was the Speaker of the parliament. His previous positions included deputy IRGC commander for parliamentary affairs and the acting chief of staff of the IRGC. On his final day at the Majles, many IRGC commanders went to see him and thank him for supporting the IRGC and other armed forces during his 12 years in the Majles. With this background, there are a few points that make the IRGC's influence in the current 11th Majles even more significant: First, increased IRGC influence at the Majles can increase its lobbying power to allocate more money for the Corps. This advantage will put the IRGC in a better position in comparison with the conventional army, other organizations and ministries in terms of budget, particularly that the army does not have a noticeable present in parliament. Second, the presence of a network of IRGC and Basij officers at the Majles facilitates enacting more laws in the interest of IRGC and other outfits operating under its aegis. This makes it more difficult for the Majles to supervise the IRGC and conduct investigations about it. Third, for the first time a top commander, the former chief of its air force, is now the speaker of the Majles. He is the highest IRGC commander serving as an MP at the Majles. This also marks the rise in the significance of IRGC's influence at the Majles. Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is still part of a network of senior IRGC commanders who meet each other regularly and align their political positions. This IRGC network now has one of its members on top of the Majles as well as having other IRGC and Basij commanders as members of the parliament. Fourth, one of the members of the network of IRGC commanders is the head of one of the three branches of the government. Such a high-level position has a symbolic significance for the IRGC and the network of its commanders. But that is not its only significance. In recent years, meetings by the heads of the three branches of the state have occasionally replaced the Majles and the presidential administration as far as decision-making in key matters is concerned. Now, the IRGC has one of its commanders at such a high level of decision-making. The fifth point is Qalibaf's experience in suppressing protests in Iran. The Islamic Republic had to face popular protests in various parts of the country where the government had to suppress the disgruntled protesters in order to ensure its survival. Survival is the most important thing on many senior officials' minds. Qalibaf has always had a part in suppressing dissent and protests. He has played key parts in suppressions at least in three cases in 1999, 2003 and 2009. That no official evidence has been made public about his role in suppressing the November 2019 protests does not necessarily mean he was not involved in crackdowns. He was one of the commanders of the violent crackdown on the students protests in 1999. He has said that he and former IRGC Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani suppressed the students using clubs while riding motorcycles.Qalibaf and some other IRGC commanders said in 1999 that commanders were prepared to kill hundreds of demonstrators if they got close to Khamenei's office. He was also one of the signatories of a letter by 24 senior IRGC officers that threatened then President Mohammad Khatami with military intervention to suppress the students. Evidence including an audio recording of Qalibaf indicate that he has once again threatened to shoot the students in 2003 when he was the police chief. Meanwhile in the post-election unrests in 2009, Qalibaf who was then the Mayor of Tehran, put the municipality's equipment and capabilities at the disposal of his colleagues in the IRGC who were attacking the protesters. One IRGC commander at the time, Hossein Hamadani, said later that he had hired "thugs" released from prisons to beat the protesters and retained them for attack in cinemas and theaters in Tehran. With such a background, Qalibaf contributes to the empowering of the IRGC as part of the Islamic Republic's suppression apparatus. Sixth, and most important of all, is Qalibaf's views about foreign policy and particularly about challenging the United States in the Middle East. Qalibaf was a close friend of Qassem Soleimani who handled Iran's IRGC-centered foreign policy regarding the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. In his first speech as Majles Speaker Qalibaf vowed to follow the path of Soleimani and take revenge for his killing. Unlike his predecessor who supported Rouhani's foreign policy, Qalibaf is a hardliner and a staunch critic of Rouhani's foreign policy. However, the Majles is not a key player in this field, which is controlled by Khamenei and the IRGC's Qods Force commanders, superseding the Foreign Ministry. Overall, an IRGC brigadier general is leading the Majles who is obedient to Khamenei (like everyone else in the corps), is a member of the network of IRGC commanders, an advocate of enmity with America and a close friend of Qods Force Commander Esmail Qaani who comes from the same village as Qalibaf. During the war with Iraq, Qaani was Qalibaf's deputy. No Iranian official and IRGC commander has ever been closer to the former and current commanders of the Qods Force. Washington Former President Barack Obama is taking on an increasingly public role as the nation confronts a confluence of historic crises that has exposed deep racial and socioeconomic inequalities in America and reshaped the November election. In doing so, Obama is signaling a willingness to sharply critique his successor, President Donald Trump, and fill what many Democrats see as a national leadership void. On Wednesday, he held a virtual town hall event with young people to discuss policing and the civil unrest that has followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Obama rejected a debate he said he'd seen come up in a little bit of chatter on the internet" about voting versus protests, politics and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action. This is not an either-or. This is a both and to bring about real change, he said during the town hall hosted by his foundation's My Brother's Keeper Alliance, which supports young men of color. We both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable, but we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that could be implemented and monitored and make sure were following up on. Obama called for turning the protests over Floyds death into policy change to ensure safer policing and increased trust between communities and law enforcement. He urged every mayor in the country to review your use of force policies with their communities and commit to report on planned reforms before prioritizing their implementation. Were in a political season, but our country is also at an inflection point, said Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend and adviser to Obama. President Obama is not going to shy away from that dialogue simply because hes not in office anymore." During the roundtable, Obama drew parallels between the unrest sweeping America currently and protest movements of the 1960s. But he said polls show a majority of Americans supporting today's protesters and forming a broad coalition in a way much of the country didnt back then despite some of the recent protests "having been marred by the actions of a tiny minority that engaged in violence. Still, he warned, at some point, attention moves away and protests dwindle in size so its important to take that moment thats been created as a society, as a country, and say lets use this to finally have an impact. Obama was already beginning to emerge from political hibernation to endorse Joe Bidens Democratic presidential bid when the coronavirus pandemic swept across the U.S., killing more than 100,000 people, and the economy began to crater. The crises scrambled the Biden campaigns plans for how to begin deploying Obama as their chief surrogate ahead of the November election, but also gave the former president a clear opening to start publicly arguing what he has signaled to friends and associates privately for the past three years: that he does not believe Trump is up for the job. Addressing graduates of historically black colleges and universities last month, Obama said the pandemic had fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what theyre doing. And in a nationally televised broadcast celebrating graduating high school seniors, Obama said many so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, do only whats convenient and feels good. Floyds death, however, has drawn a more visceral and personal reaction from the nations first black president. Floyd, a black man, died after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. In a lengthy written statement last week, Obama said that while he understood that millions of Americans were eager to just get back to normal when the pandemic abates, it shouldnt be forgotten that normal life for people of color in the U.S. involves being treated differently on account of their race. This shouldnt be 'normal' in 2020 America. It cant be normal," Obama wrote. Tensions across the country have escalated further in the days since the former presidents statement. His town hall on Wednesday will mark his first in-person comments since law enforcement officers aggressively cleared peaceful protesters from a park outside the White House so Trump could walk across for a photo opportunity at a nearby church. Trump has cheered harsh crackdowns on the protests, some of which have turned violent, and threatened to deploy active-duty military to the states if local officials could not get the demonstrations under control. He appeared to be backing down from that position this week, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that he did not believe such action was warranted. Biden's campaign welcomed Obama stepping forward during this moment. President Obamas voice is a reminder that we used to have a president who sought to bridge our divides, and we can have one again if we elect Joe Biden, said TJ Ducklo, a campaign spokesman. Obama grappled with police brutality against minorities as president, including in Ferguson, Missouri, where clashes broke out after the death of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old. After Browns death, Obamas Justice Department moved to enact broad policing reforms, though most were halted under the Trump administration. Biden, who served as Obamas vice president, called this week for restoring some of the previous administrations actions in the wake of Floyds death and the killing of other black Americans. Biden also called for Congress to take immediate steps, including outlawing chokeholds. Jharkhand academic council (JAC) will declare Jharkhand Board Class 8th result 2020 today. Students who had appeared for the exam can check their results online at jac.jharkhand.gov.in. The JAC 8th result will be declared at 2 pm, JAC official said. JAC 8th exam was conducted in the month of January. Around 5 lakh candidates had taken JAC class 8th exam. Students will have to visit the official website at jac.jharkhand.gov.in and click on the Class 8th result link. A login page will appear. Students will have to enter their roll number , date of birth and other credentials as required to check their results. JAC has already declared Jharkhand Board class 9th result on Tuesday, June 2.State HRD minister Jagarnath Mahto had announced the JAC 9th result 2020. A total of 97.42% students have passed class 9th exam and have been promoted to class 10. This year a total of 97.59% boys and 97.27% girls have passed the Jharkhand board class 9th exam By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijan might impose a nationwide lockdown during weekends over the spread of COVID-19 in the country, local media reported. The head of associations for the management of medical territorial units (TABIB), Ramin Bayramli, made a relevant proposal during the briefing of the coronavirus task force under the Cabinet of Ministers on June 3. "Given the daily increase in the number of infected people, we have proposed to completely ban citizens from going out to the streets at weekends. This decision has been taken in view of the fact that the daily number of coronavirus-infected people has exceeded 200 people recently, Bayramli stated. Bayramli noted that the number of recovered patients outnumber that of infected people due to residents failure to comply by quarantine requirements. It is planned to ban citizens from leaving their homes on Saturday and Sundays in Baku, Sumgait, Ganja and Absheron regions, he said. "The period of restrictions may last for a month, and in case of deterioration of the situation for two months. It is assumed that on weekends the work of all commercial facilities, public transport will be completely suspended and the use of personal transport will be prohibited," said Bayramli. Moreover, he noted that during the weekends, residents will be required to obtain SMS permits to leave their homes. He stressed that the terms of the new SMS permit system will be stricter than the previous one imposed on April 4. Citizens will be allowed to go out only in connection with their health condition. It is also planned to completely ban public and private transport," he added. Furthermore, he stated that Prime Minister Ali Asadov will inform the public about the restrictions in details. "As for the fines, they will remain in force regardless of the restrictions. Any decision, restrictions in any direction will have nothing to do with the fines. All quarantine violators will be fined," Bayramli said. Ramin Bayramli also noted that after softening the quarantine regime, the operational headquarters did not expect such a sharp surge in the number of infections. Proposal to regulate work hours Furthermore, Bayramli said that he has submitted a proposal to the Operational Headquarter under the Cabinet of Ministers to regulate the number of employees coming to work in the morning and evening, to eliminate the density of passenger traffic in public transport. "We want to appeal to the enterprises to divide their employees into three groups to ensure that they arrive at work at different times. There are relevant proposals. If they are accepted, additional information will be provided tomorrow," Ramin Bayramli said. Borders to remain closed In the meantime, Azerbaijans borders will remain closed until June 15, press secretary of the Cabinet of Minister Ibrahim Mammadov said while addressing the briefing. "So far, experts have been making observations. If the situation develops under the current scenario, the opening of borders is not expected. It will be possible to talk about the decision of border opening at the next stage in accordance with the results of observations of experts," he said. Azerbaijan first introduced special quarantine regime on March 24 and the fourth stage of quarantine regime easing came into force on May 31. As of June 4, Azerbaijan has registered 6.260 COVID-19 cases and 76 coronavirus- related deaths. The total number of recovered patients is 3.665. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz T Muruganandham By Express News Service CHENNAI: Religious leaders expressed differing opinions on reopening places of worship from June 8, as the Centre has allowed it. Attending the meeting convened by Chief Secretary K Shanmugam at the Secretariat, some leaders urged the government to open the places of worship while many were of the view that this is not the time to do so since maintaining physical distance would be difficult. A few others suggested that the opening of places of worship in Chennai and its surrounding districts can be delayed but in other parts they can be allowed. The Chief Secretary said the government would take a decision after studying the suggestions made at the meeting. Representatives of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains and Sikhs offered their suggestions at the meeting. Many Muslim representatives left it to the discretion of the government whether to reopen the places of worship or not. Some said like foreign countries, people can be allowed after completing sanitising works in the places of worship. We did not demand immediate opening of the mosques but would abide by the decision of the government, a representative told Express. However, Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali said, The reopening of mosques should be delayed at least for one month because in Chennai the infection is spreading very fast. If the mosques are opened now, all people will rush to the mosques and there are chances of virus spreading there. Christian representatives urged the government to open the churches from June 8 and promised that they would ensure physical distancing and other restrictions to be followed. Rev. Fr AS Martin, Bishop, Evangelical Church of India told Express that We requested the government to reopen the churches and assured the government that we will maintain strictly physical distancing and other restrictions to be imposed. Rajednra Jain, Secretary, Nowcar Chetna Manch, Sowcarpet Jains Association said, It is better to delay the reopening of the places of worship for sometime since social distancing cannot be maintained. Swami Iswarananda of Suddhananda Ashram, Uthandi said, Places of worship should be opened because people of all faiths feel the need to offer prayers there seeking mental peace. However, while opening the temples, permission should not be given for large gatherings like car festivals, pradosha poojas and for mass bhajans. But just having the darshan the deities should be allowed. Prince of Arcot weighs in on the issue CHENNAI: Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, who attended and participated in the discussions with senior state government officials on reopening of religious places on Wednesday, said, let us wait and watch the prevailing condition of the spreading of the coronavirus for a month and decide on the reopening of mosques since the virus is rapidly spreading in the city of Chennai, compared to the other districts in the State. He also said, prevention is better than cure and he recalled the Prime Minister Narendra Modis advice to the people that Jaan hai to jahan hai (if life is there, world is there). He commended the Chief Minister, K Edappadi Palaniswami and his Government, police, doctors, nurses and other organisations in handling the Covid-19 in the best possible manner. COLUMBUS, OhioThe Ohio Senate on Wednesday voted down a House measure that would require local health officials to get written approval from contract-tracing participants, sending the bill to a conference committee. However, the Senate also passed a symbolic rebuke of the DeWine administrations actions to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Proponents of Senate Bill 31, which now heads to a conference committee of House and Senate members, have said the measure will help reassure Ohioans with the coronavirus about the states contact tracing program. Such programs aim to ask people with the virus about who they were in close contact with up until 2 days before they fell sick, so they can notify those contacts. Some public-health officials, however, say that requiring written consent would slow efforts to help limit the spread of the disease, which has infected about 34,000 Ohioans to date, killing more than 2,000. The final Senate vote was 12 in favor, 21 against. Several Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting to reject the contact-tracing measure, which was added by House Republicans to SB 31, originally introduced to prevent information about emergency service telecommunicators families and home addresses from being obtained from open-records requests. You do not have a right to infect your friends and neighbors with a disease simply because you want to exercise the ability to not sign a form for contact tracing, said state Sen. Dave Burke, a Republican pharmacist from Marysville. State Sen. Stephen Huffman, a Dayton-area Republican and an emergency room physician, spoke and voted against the bill. He laid out some scenarios under which it would be difficult to get written consent from coronavirus patients such as people who self-quarantine and go to a summer cabin. The Senate voted along party lines to pass Senate Concurrent Resolution 13, a non-binding measure stating that no state government official can take any action not expressly granted by the state and U.S. constitutions. Terry Johnson, a Scioto County Republican, said the resolution is meant to give voice to concerns expressed about government overreach by Gov. Mike DeWine in imposing stay-at-home" and business closure orders, as well as unilaterally postponing Ohios March 17 primary. In doing so, our state government decided whose businesses were essential, and whose were not, said Johnson, who sponsored the resolution. Livelihoods have been interfered with. Businesses have been wrecked. Jobs have been lost. Distrust in our government has soared. State Sen. John Eklund, a Geauga County Republican, voted for the resolution even though he criticized it at length. Eklund said hes concerned the resolution would actually increase peoples distrust of government. He also said the U.S. and state constitutions only give state lawmakers legislative authority and dont expressly grant legislators the right to do anything. However, Eklund said he would vote for the resolution because it has no consequences and is probably harmless. Read more Ohio politics and government stories: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says he wont volunteer state as alternate RNC site Ohio program to study sewage for coronavirus remains in development, eyeing expansion in July While Ohio waits on sports gambling, Pennsylvania, Michigan head into sports and more online Gov. Mike DeWine says state should review whether officers involved in police-related deaths should be fired Amid protests, Ohio changes whos teaching the states police training courses [June 04, 2020] Online Video Platforms and COVID-19 - Increasing Demand for OVPs in the Education Segment and Across all Enterprises DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Post-pandemic Growth Opportunity Analysis of the Online Video Platforms Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The outbreak of the coronavirus and its elevation to the status of a global pandemic has had ripple effects on all types of industries around the world. With many cities on lockdown, storefronts shuttered, and corporations enforcing work-from-home mandates, digital strategies have become more important than ever. For enterprises, publishers, and brands, video has come to the forefront as the most potent, business-critical tool driving all inbound and outbound communications with employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and resellers. Broadcasters, content owners, and video-on-demand providers are witnessig surges in the demand for engaging content that can be streamed on multiple devices and platforms. This study takes a look at the impact of COVID-19 on the global OVP market, examines how companies in the space have been responding in the light of this unprecedented crisis, and considers growth opportunities. This special re-forecast has a base year of 2019 and a forecast period from 2020 to 2025. Key Topics Covered 1. Growth Environment Revised State of the OVP Market Due to the Pandemic Key Forecast Criteria Scenario 1: Conservative Forecast Scenario 1: Conservative Forecast Discussion Scenario 2: Aspirational Forecast Scenario 2: Aspirational Forecast Discussion Other Forecast Trends OVP Market Future Outlook 2. Growth Opportunities Growth Opportunity 1: Increasing Demand for OVPs in the Education Segment and Across all Enterprises 3. Companies to Action For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5cxrr3 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 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/online-video-platforms-and-covid-19---increasing-demand-for-ovps-in-the-education-segment-and-across-all-enterprises-301070755.html SOURCE Research and Markets [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Government says it will relax dusk-to-dawn curfew and lift a ban on inter-regional travel after two nights of unrest. The Senegalese government has said it will it slightly ease a curfew and lift a ban on inter-regional travel after two nights of unrest against the curbs imposed in March to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Protesters in the capital, Dakar, set tyres on fire and threw rocks at security forces on Wednesday, a day after similar scenes in the city of Touba, some 200km (120 miles) further east. Demonstrators were dispersed by police and gendarmes using tear gas, while pictures posted on social media showed military vehicles in the street. Interior Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye told a news conference on Thursday the dusk-to-dawn curfew would be shortened by two hours to 11pm until 5am (local time), and that restrictions on travel between Senegals regions would be lifted. Gatherings in public or private places, restaurants, gyms, casinos will also benefit from these relaxation measures, he said. The lockdown curbs have had a significant effect on the countrys economy and have also been deeply felt on a personal level by many Senegalese who rely on day-by-day jobs. About 40 percent of the population live below the threshold of poverty, according to the World Bank. The measures announced by the interior minister are in hopes to quell all that pent-up anger among people who have been stuck indoors for so long waiting to go back out get back to work, Al Jazeeras Nicolas Haque, reporting from Dakar, said. [But] talking to people here about the new measures, they say theyre too little, too late, he added. Transport Minister Oumar Youm, meanwhile, said President Macky Sall would give three billion CFA francs ($5.17m) to sectors that had been hit particularly hard by the crisis, including taxi drivers. To date, Senegal has confirmed almost 4,000 cases of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, including 45 deaths. Dakar and Touba, which is both a trading hub and major pilgrimage destination, have been worst hit. The figures are low compared with countries in Europe and the United States, although experts caution that, as elsewhere in Africa, Senegal is vulnerable to the pandemic because of its weak healthcare system. Sall announced a first relaxation of measures on May 11, allowing places of worship and markets to reopen. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he signalled that further steps would follow, declaring the time had approached for a strategy of gradual easing. High schools had been due to reopen on Tuesday, but this step was delayed on the eleventh hour after 10 teachers in the southern region of Casamance tested positive for COVID-19. The Texas group that lobbies against vaccine mandates is now launching a campaign against COVID-19 contact tracing, the public health measure used for decades around the world to contain disease spread. Texans for Vaccine Choice this week called on its members to contact Gov. Greg Abbott and let him know they do not wish to be monitored or surveilled for any reason in response to a new state program hiring and training workers to identify people whove come into close contact with those who recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Such people are then asked to quarantine until testing shows they dont have the disease. The government should stop thinking its job is to keep everyone healthy and instead focus on protecting our rights, says a post on the organizations website. We here at TFVC will remain vigilant as our government expands greatly and the threats to our members grow. The campaign drew an immediate rebuke from Dr. Peter Hotez, the Baylor College of Medicine infectious disease specialist who has led public healths fight against the anti-vaccine movement, which he holds responsible for the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough. Thanks to the movements efforts, some 60,000 Texas parents currently obtain nonmedical exemptions for school vaccines, some 25 times higher than 2003, the first year such exemptions were allowed. A 2018 study by Hotez found Houston and three other Texas cities rank among the 15 metropolitan shot spots of such exemptions. Awful to see the #antivax lobby in Texas now going the extra measure to halt #COVID-19 prevention, Hotez tweeted Tuesday in reply to a Texans for Vaccine Choice tweet alerting people to the campaign. In the name of fake health freedoms slogans, they aspire to land thousands of Texans in our hospitals and ICUs. John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott, noted that a contact tracing program was part of the guidelines laid out by President Donald Trump in order to reopen the state and has been used in Texas and the country for decades. He said the program is completely voluntary and that the state health department has taken steps to ensure it protects individuals liberty and privacy. On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas pushes to double its force of coronavirus contact tracers by May 31 The contact tracing program became ensnared in controversy last month when the Houston Chronicle reported that the state awarded MTX Group, an inexperienced, little-known private technology company, up to $295 million to hire, train and manage tracers. State lawmakers subsequently questioned the lack of transparency and legislative input for such a large expenditure. This week some conservative legislators began raising some of the same privacy concerns as Texans for Vaccine Choice. Weve never done contact tracing on a statewide scale like this before, said Rep. Mayes Middleton, R-Wallisville, the chairman of the Texas Freedom Caucus. I have questions about the potential for abuse if any of that confidential information collected gets out and about informed consent. Will people feel pressured to participate? The caucus Tuesday called for an immediate end to the contract. The program, funded by federal coronavirus emergency dollars, would expand the contact tracing the state already conducts. The state conducts tracing in counties too small to have health departments and when a county requests assistance. In order to respond to the pandemic, we need to build a picture of whats happening on the ground, how the pieces fit together, said Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for the Texas health department. Are there places the illness is occurring where we as a public health agency need to respond to limit the spread? The health departments of Houston and Harris County also have expanded their contact tracing programs. Harris County added 300 tracers plus nearly 100 supervisors and support staff in May, and Houston is adding 300. Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health, said Thursday that his team asks only health-related questions and other details to protect the health and well-being of other individuals at potential risk for COVID-19. He said it is vital that we remain a trustworthy public health entity in our community therefore we take privacy very seriously. Texans for Vaccine Choice, whose website says members reached out to them concerned about the state program, posts a sample letter members can send asking the governor what assurances Texans have that additional contact tracing will not evolve into another overreaching state program that will ultimately threaten our privacy and consume valuable state resources. With so many Texans suffering financially, why are you spending $300 million on a temporary program aimed at alleviating this single outbreak that, according to your own data, is disappearing without any sort of surveilling intervention? asks the sample letter. In fact, the latest state data shows no such disappearance of COVID Tuesdays 1,809 additional cases were the states largest single-day increase since the pandemic began. In an article published in May in the journal Microbes and Infections, Hotez wrote that the anti-vaccine movement, fueled with fresh conspiracies and new alliances, has grown stronger because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those include outrageous claims that Bill Gates or others created COVID-19 as a means to create mandatory vaccines and that vaccines in the pipeline are devices to promote the establishment of a global surveillance network in which each of us would receive an electronic tattoo through injection of a vaccine data chip under the skin. As COVID-19 spread in the spring of 2020, my prediction was the American public would recognize the urgency of developing and administering a vaccine, causing the anti-vaccine movement to dissipate, Hotez wrote. Tragically, the opposite has happened and there is risk we might see yet again a surge in Americas anti-vaccine movement. todd.ackerman@chron.com Federal officials say an 18-year-old Worcester man is facing charges after making Molotov cocktails and bringing them out after thousands of people peacefully protested police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Vincent Eovacious was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with civil disorder. Federal officials said in a statement that Eovacious attempted to obstruct or interfere with law enforcement officers. He is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, namely a destructive device. On Monday evening, thousands marched around downtown Worcester in a peaceful protest after Floyd died last week. A video showed Floyd, who is black, being pinned down by former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white. The video showed Chauvins knee on Floyds neck. Floyd can be heard saying that he cant breathe. After that large group of protesters went home, a smaller group stayed out and clashed with police in the citys Main South neighborhood late Monday and into the early hours Tuesday. The right to protest is not the right to hurt police officers and destroy property, said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. According to the complaint, this self-proclaimed anarchist built Molotov cocktails homemade firebombs to use during a demonstration honoring George Floyd. We will aggressively prosecute anyone who pursues violence under cover of peaceful protest. The group in Main South threw objects at the police. One officer noticed a man dressed in a trench coat who was standing on top of a building that was marked no trespassing. the man was later identified as Eovacious, according to a news release from Lellings office. Eovacious, pacing on the rooftop, allegedly yelled for the crowd below to kill the police," the release said. The officer saw Eovacious take a bottle out of a satchel. The bottle appeared to contain liquid and the officer saw Eovacious try to stick a rag into the bottle and hold a silver object believed to be a lighter. A few minutes later, the officer saw Eovacious walking near May and Main streets with the satchel, officials said. Officers stopped Eovacious and searched the satchel, discovering three clear glass bottles with a slightly yellow liquid that smelled of gasoline, five white rags, one green lighter and one silver lighter, the release said. Eovacious said the liquid was gasoline, that he was with the anarchist group and was waiting for an opportunity," the news release read. This defendant was in possession of several Molotov Cocktails and appeared intent to use them as lethal devices against Police Officers while they were protecting the rights of protestors," said ATF Special Agent in Charge Kelly D. Brady. This violent act puts [our] entire community, protestors and first responders alike, at risk. Eovacious is also facing state charges of attempted arson of a dwelling, disturbing the peace and attempt to commit a crime. He was among 19 people arrested on Monday and Tuesday. Related Content: Only two states have done a worse job than Virginia in surveying skilled nursing homes to ensure that they have necessary infection-control measures in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the federal government. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services directed the states in March to survey all nursing homes for focused infection-control practices. Virginia had completed just 43 of 287 homes as of Monday. In a letter to the governors, CMS said it would reduce funds to states that do not survey all of their homes by July 31, and it will increase penalties to homes that fail to comply with longstanding infection-control procedures. Nationwide, 54% of homes have been surveyed. Admittedly our state agencies have had a lot on their hands in responding to this pandemic especially the devastating effects in our nursing homes. But in light of what weve seen in nursing homes that underscores the critical importance of identifying lapses in infection control, the lack of progress in Virginia on these focused surveys is surprising and alarming, said Joani Latimer, director of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Clawing back federal dollars wont fix the problem, she said. We need to know where the system breaks down and what is being done to turn that around. The announcements came as CMS began to share information gleaned from reports filed by the nursing homes with the federal Centers for Disease Control. Details on each home are expected to be made public Thursday at medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare. The homes were required to submit reports on COVID-19 cases in residents and staff beginning May 1. As of May 24, about 12,500 of the nations 15,400 homes had complied and reported 60,000 cases and nearly 26,000 deaths. Virginias nursing homes reported that 847 residents and 419 caregivers were infected with the coronavirus. Of them, 307 residents and nine staff members died. Only nursing homes are required to report to the federal government. As of Wednesday, 811 of Virginias 1,428 deaths were linked to long-term care outbreaks, according to health department data. It is not known how many occurred in assisted living facilities or group homes, as Virginia does not provide details and the facilities are under no public reporting mandates. They are licensed and inspected by the Department of Social Services, as they are not considered health care providers. The Northam administration, citing state code that grants health privacy rights to businesses, refuses to identify any of the long-term care facilities even by locality. It does not give any information regarding the peoples ages, gender, race or ethnicity. Gov. Ralph Northam used his Tuesday coronavirus briefing mostly to show support for social justice reform in light of protests that have erupted to rally against police killings of African Americans. A number of inequity issues were raised, including health disparities. When asked if he would reconsider and report more data on the homes that would include race and ethnicity to see if a disproportionate share of minorities are being affected, Northam passed the question off to Dr. Norman Oliver, the state health commissioner. At this time we are not reconsidering our policy, he said. In the event Northam and Oliver had not heard the question correctly, it was forwarded Tuesday afternoon to both their press offices, along with an additional question seeking an explanation as to why Virginia has completed only 15% of the required infection-control surveys. Northams office did not acknowledge the email. Olivers spokeswoman, Maria Reppas, was also asked to provide someone for an interview. She responded noon Wednesday by writing, Im working on getting a response to this. Will be in touch. I believe the administration has indicated it is looking at COVID-19 data from the perspective of disparate impacts. I have not specifically seen that data posted, Latimer said. I think it is terribly important that we carefully examine disparate effects of the pandemic. Health equity issues need to be on the front burner, and an important part of the painful lessons from COVID-19 no doubt relates to disparate impacts on our communities. Northam in April appointed a task force to curtail outbreaks in long-term care. The task force has not made a public presentation, and Northam rarely mentions these cases and deaths, although they account for 57% of the Virginians who have died from the virus. Dr. Laurie Forlano, who heads the task force, has said during the briefings that the department is doing what are called point prevalence surveys of long-term care facilities, schools, workplaces, communities, jails and prisons. The surveys help during an outbreak as everyone is tested at the same time to determine the extent of an infection. They can also show that there are no cases at a given time. She said May 20 that 43 long-term care facilities had been surveyed. The department has yet to respond to a request for information as to where these surveys occurred, how many residents and staff were tested, and the results of those tests. Also last month, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association posted a dashboard to its website to report on the number of COVID-19 cases in licensed nursing facilities. As of Wednesday, 1,676 residents either had confirmed cases or pending test results. Another 1,073 have recovered. The dashboard does not report deaths. It does, though, report the number of nursing homes having difficulties obtaining the personal protective equipment that is used to lessen the risk of spreading the virus. On Wednesday, 12 homes reported difficulty obtaining N95 masks; seven, surgical masks; five, gloves; eight, face shields; and 12, isolation gowns. Northam has said that the state is well stocked with personal protective equipment, and that homes are expected to go through their own supply chains first before requisitioning from the state supplies. Pets are amazing, until they start wreaking havoc all around them like little furry agents of chaos. And now some exasperated animal lovers from North America, Europe and Australia have shared hilarious snaps of their beloved four-legged friends with notes shaming them for their bad actions. In one snap, a hedgehog from Santa Barbara stands accused of having pooped in a slipper before running away. In another, a dog ate his owner's dentures after he had taken them out for a little while. In Australia, a jealous dog ate his owner's passport so she could not go on holiday without him. Here Femail reveals the best of the hilarious images, compiled in an online gallery for Bored Panda. Pet owners from around the world have 'shamed' their dogs with notes revealing their bad actions. While Hugo from London seems to be a model dog, his brother Huxley seems to be giving his owner a run for her money Shock duo! These two ferrets from Idaho wreaked havoc on their owner's house and even managed to buy electronic equipment from Amazon This pup did not want his owner to leave him for her holiday, and so ate her passport so she could not leave Australia This handsome fellow from Oregon was feeling festive and ate Christmas ornaments, with fabulous results This 'smiling' cat from Birmingham does not seem sorry to have relieved himself on his owner's hoodie This adorable hedgehog from Santa Barbara found a creative way to show its mischievous side This US-based duo were both shamed after the husband took his teeth out and did not put them away, and the dog ate them In Toronto, big boy Pan has gathered quite the reputation for begging for treats, so much so his owner had to warn neighbours In London, this 'loving' cat favourite new hobby is to torment his owner when she is on conference calls This little ball of fur from Virginia was shamed after begging for food one to many times, even if they were already fed Puddy, from Norway, panicked after doing his business outside his litter box and found the worst possible way to hide it Hunger strikes! This US-based pup had no regrets about stealing a stranger's hamburger from their hands after jumping into their car This Shibaru seems to have a taste for the dramatic, according to his New Mexico-based family In Melbourne, this very excited pup was happy to show no screen door would keep him away from his family That Ms. Bowser has to walk an extra-fine line with the White House because of the powers the federal government has over the District seems not to have occurred to her critics on social media who want her to be tougher. Never mind that she successfully pushed back on what seems to have been interest by the Trump administration in taking over the city police department as part of its effort to show force. Good, too, that she chided Arlington County police for its presence even if it said it was unwitting in Lafayette Square and for calling out states that, contrary to the citys wishes, have sent National Guard troops to Washington. The requirements of the countries with which Ukraine is going to resume air communication will be taken into account Ukraine's Healthcare Minister Maksym Stepanov Polygraf.net Ministry of Health of Ukraine plans to submit epidemiological safety rules by the end of this week amid the upcoming resumption of domestic air traffic. This was announced by Healthcare Minister Maksym Stepanov during an online briefing. "We are currently developing rules, taking into account the European experience and requirements that will be imposed by our European partners or other countries which have already been opened international air services," the minister said. Stepanov also said that the rules were being developed by those specialists with whom the Ministry of Health had been cooperating since the beginning of the epidemic. "This week we will formulate clear rules based on international experience and requirements," he said. As we reported earlier, as of the morning of June 4, 25,411 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection were recorded in Ukraine. 747 (+12) fatal cases have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic and 11,042 (+702) patients have recovered. 588 new cases have been registered over the last 24 hours. A Dublin publican suing insurer FBD is claiming losses of more than 3m on one bar as a result of having to temporarily close due to Covid-19. Chris Kelly, who runs the popular Sinnott's Bar in Dublin city centre, is one of four publicans who initiated legal action against FBD over its refusal to pay out on business interruption claims. Court documents seen by the Irish Independent outline estimated losses ranging from 754,000 to 3.14m across the four bars and provide an insight into the basis of the legal challenges. At the heart of the claims is what one of the publicans described as a "broken promise" by FBD. Expand Close Rob Kearney, Sean OBrien, Jamie Heaslip and Dave Kearney with Lemon & Duke managing director Noel Anderson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rob Kearney, Sean OBrien, Jamie Heaslip and Dave Kearney with Lemon & Duke managing director Noel Anderson Last week, the High Court heard how Lemon & Duke, which is co-owned by managing director Noel Anderson and current and former rugby stars Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip and brothers Rob and Dave Kearney, had scheduled mediation with FBD. An adjournment of two weeks was subsequently granted for the case. However, a source revealed yesterday that "mediation did not go very well" and the case is now due back before the Commercial Court on Monday. Court papers lodged on behalf of The Leopardstown Inn, which is owned by the Loyola Group, claim that FBD expressly acknowledged the pub was covered for the coronavirus. The pub's policy had a clause stating it was covered for closure caused by an infectious disease and in correspondence exchanged between March 12 and 17, FBD allegedly stated this extended to Covid-19. Yet the company then apparently changed its tune when business interruption claims were subsequently made. The Loyola Group and the Chris Kelly Group comprise more than 15 landmark pubs between them. In documents lodged by both, they are claiming that the losses suffered should be calculated and based on what they earned in the previous year under normal circumstances, and not on what they would have earned had they remained open during the pandemic. Kelly, who owns pubs across Dublin, including the Black Lion in Inchicore and the Gate Bar in Crumlin, is claiming losses of 3.14m on Sinnott's alone. The Loyola Group, which includes well-known Dublin bars such as The Bath, The Landmark and Baker's Corner, has a policy amounting to 3m on the Leopardstown Inn alone. In court papers submitted by Lemon & Duke, it is argued that before the company agreed to renew its insurance for 27,000, FBD "expressly and unambiguously represented and promised and agreed that they were providing cover for consequential loss" arising from the coronavirus. Lemon & Duke subsequently paid its premium in full, and on April 15, FBD "withdrew the representations and promises they had made". FBD provides cover to approximately 1,300 publicans. In a statement, the company said it was treating the action by the four publicans as a "test case" which would determine the outcome for its other customers. [June 04, 2020] HCL and Google Cloud Expand Partnership to Digitally Transform Commerce HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, and Google (News - Alert) Cloud today announced the expansion of their strategic partnership to bring HCL's software offerings, starting with HCL Commerce, to Google Cloud. Google Cloud will be the preferred cloud platform for HCL Commerce, providing global, secure and elastic infrastructure to power businesses' eCommerce strategies. Under this partnership, HCL also intends to leverage Anthos to enable multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud deployments of HCL Commerce. HCL Commerce is a leading, cloud-native Commerce platform used by innovative businesses across multiple industries and around the world to drive more than $100 billion in annual client revenues. With a strong track-record of delivering rock-solid performance, scalability and functionality, HCL Commerce today is at the forefront of many organizations' digital commerce strategies. It stretches far beyond an initial transaction and enables businesses to respond to evolving market conditions. It creates innovative merchandising strategies and rapidly launches new channels for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer use cases on the same platform. Bringing HCL Commerce to Google Cloud will enable businesses to maintain their investments in HCL's trusted Commerce platform while also taking advantage of the global reach, security, and elasticity of Google Cloud. In addition, businesses across industries will be able to develop positive, data-driven customer experiences online by leveraging Google Cloud's capabilities in artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics. "The collaboration between Google Cloud and HCL Commerce is helping customers rapidly execute their digital transformation strategy that is rooted in the new normal. With the support of our global implementation partner ecosystem, we can now deliver a proven, comprehensive commerce solution across all industries, handling the challenges of today and in the future," said Darren Oberst, Corporate Vice President and Head of HCL Software. "It is more important than ever for firms spanning all industries to deliver strong, customer-centric eCommerce experiences," said Kevin Ichhpurani, Corporate Vice President, Global Ecosystem at Google Cloud. "We're proud that Google Cloud infrastructure will power HCL Commerce, helping businesses leverage the elasticity and reliability of Google Cloud and ultimately delivering positive eCommerce experiences for customers around the world." "By partnering with Google Cloud as a preferred cloud provider for HCL Commerce, DFS has taken advantage of HCL Commerce's unique industry leading capabilities that support the dynamic business and volume scalability that is the new normal, reacting quickly by deploying functional changes with ease, while also significantly lowering our total cost of ownership" said Russ Harte, Chief Technology Officer at DFS, the UK-based furniture retailer. "Intertoys accelerated their digital transformation through this partnership by successfully going live in 15 weeks", said Robin Tichler at InterToys. "Not only were we able to go live so quickly, we were able to scale seamlessly to 3X transaction volumes, as families bought games and toys during the recent crisis." "The HCL Google Cloud Business Unit is enabling product collaboration across HCL Software and Google Cloud. The launch of HCL Commerce on Google Cloud is the first among a number of planned joint offerings built around application modernization, data center and database value unlock." said Kalyan Kumar, CTO and Corporate Vice President, HCL Technologies (News - Alert). This latest announcement from HCL and Google Cloud expands on a deep partnership between the two companies to help organizations digitally transform. In 2019, HCL and Google Cloud announced the launch of HCL's Google Cloud Business Unit to accelerate enterprise cloud adoption worldwide. To support customers, HCL has established three dedicated Google Cloud Native Labs in New York, London and the New Delhi area. These labs provide business-focused design workshops to engage customers and develop IP and MVPs on Google Cloud across industries effectively and efficiently. For more information on the HCL Commerce and Google Cloud Business Unit partnership, visit https://www.hcltechsw.com/wps/portal/products/commerce/google/ About HCL Technologies HCL Technologies (HCL) empowers global enterprises with technology for the next decade today. HCL's Mode 1-2-3 strategy, through its deep-domain industry expertise, customer-centricity and entrepreneurial culture of ideapreneurship enables businesses to transform into next-gen enterprises. HCL offers its services and products through three business units - IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and Products & Platforms (P&P). ITBS enables global enterprises to transform their businesses through offerings in areas of Applications, Infrastructure, Digital Process Operations and next generational digital transformation solutions. ERS offers engineering services and solutions in all aspects of product development and platform engineering. Under P&P, HCL provides modernized software products to global clients for their technology and industry-specific requirements. Through its cutting-edge co-innovation labs, global delivery capabilities and broad global network, HCL delivers holistic services in various industry verticals, categorized under Financial Services, Manufacturing, Technology & Services, Telecom & Media, Retail & CPG, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Public Services. As a leading global technology company, HCL takes pride in its diversity, social responsibility, sustainability and education initiatives. As of 12 months ended March 31, 2020, HCL has a consolidated revenue of US$ 9.94 billion and its 150,423 ideapreneurs operate out of 46 countries. For more information, visit www.hcltech.com Forward-looking Statements Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the statements containing the words 'planned', 'expects', 'believes',' strategy', 'opportunity', 'anticipates', 'hopes' or other similar words. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding impact of pending regulatory proceedings, fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services, business process outsourcing and consulting services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, customer acceptances of our services, products and fee structures, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, our ability to integrate acquired assets in a cost-effective and timely manner, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-timeframe contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, the success of our brand development efforts, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies /entities in which we have made strategic investments, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property, other risks, uncertainties and general economic conditions affecting our industry. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made herein will prove to be accurate, and issuance of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company, or any other person, that the objective and plans of the Company will be achieved. All forward-looking statements made herein are based on information presently available to the Management of the Company and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company. About Google Cloud Google Cloud provides organizations with leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, giving customers a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005482/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] As many as 180 migrant workers stranded in Bengaluru due to the COVID-19 lockdown flew to Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur on Thursday in a chartered flight, courtesy the alumni of the National Law School of India University here and a few generous donors. The flight was sponsored by Ajay Bahl, the managing partner of a leading law firm, whereas the NLS Alumni team liaised with the Chhattisgarh government to ensure that the workers could reach their homes from Raipur, said Vijay Grover, a journalist who has been working for the cause of migrant workers stranded in Karnataka. "The chartered flight left Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru for Raipur on Thursday morning. The check-in process was carried out around midnight," Grover told PTI. He said that former students of the National Law School of India under their initiative 'Mission Aahan Vaahan', with contributions from within the alumni network as well as sponsorship from generous donors, ferried more than 500 stranded workers by chartered flights to Jharkhand and Odisha from Mumbai since May 28. "This is the first flight out of Bengaluru under Mission Aahan Vahaan and the initiative has been managed primarily by some NLS Alumni members who are based in Bengaluru," Grover said. The NLS Alumni Bengaluru coordination team of Arvind, Talha Salarpuria, Nandakumar, Shreyas, Sheahan and Aarathi worked with several NGOs and volunteer teams to extend Mission Aahan Vaahan's reach to those who needed it most. They were supported by a team of volunteers from the NLS Alumni network spread out in different locations within and outside India. Mercy Mission, ILoveBlr trust, United Sikhs, Bangalore Media Foundation and several individuals volunteered to coordinate the mission, Grover said. Also read: Coronavirus update: Maharashtra reports highest single-day spike in deaths; COVID-19 cases tally at 72,300 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dan Williams and Rinat Harash (Reuters) Jerusalem Thu, June 4, 2020 07:05 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbee271 2 Science & Tech DNA,Science,science-and-technology,genetic-code,genetics,Dead-Sea,Dead-Sea-Scrolls,Jews,Christianity Free Genetic sampling of the Dead Sea Scrolls has tested understandings that the 2,000-year-old artifacts were the work of a fringe Jewish sect, and shed light on the drafting of scripture around the time of Christianity's birth. The research - which indicated some of the parchments' provenances by identifying animal hides used - may also help safeguard against forgeries of the prized biblical relics. The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of hundreds of manuscripts and thousands of fragments of ancient Jewish religious texts, were discovered in 1947 by local Bedouin in the cave-riddled desert crags of Qumran, some 20 km east of Jerusalem. Many scholars believed the scrolls originated with the reclusive Essenes, who had broken away from the Jewish mainstream. But some academics argue the Qumran trove had various authors and may have been brought from Jerusalem for safekeeping. DNA sequencing conducted by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority has allowed for finer matching or differentiation among the scrolls. While the sheepskin of some of the scrolls could be produced in the desert, cowskin - found in at least two samples - was more typical of cities like Jerusalem, where Jews, at the time, had their second temple and were under Roman rule. Read also: Holy smoke, researchers say cannabis used in ancient Israelite shrine "The very material, the biological material of which the scrolls are made, is as telling and as informative as the content of the text," Noam Mizrahi, Bible studies professor at Tel Aviv University, told Reuters. The Israeli researchers, assisted by a Swedish DNA lab, determined that two textually different copies of the Book of Jeremiah were brought to Qumran from the outside. Such findings, the researchers say, indicate that the wording of Jewish texts was subject to variation and interpretation - contrary to later views of holy writ as fixed. The lesson, Mizrahi said, is that "Second Temple Jewish society was much more plural and multifaceted than many of us tend to think". Tiny slivers of parchment - or just dust - were taken for testing. The process could prove a godsend for spotting counterfeits, such as five supposed Dead Sea Scrolls that were removed from the Museum of the Bible in Washington in 2018. "Since we can distinguish scrolls that originated from Qumran from other scrolls, we think that maybe in the future it could help identify real versus false scroll pieces, said Oded Rechavi, neurobiology professor at Tel Aviv University. Tectonic Gold Plc - Sale of Majority Interest in Tectonic South Africa 4 June 2020 TECTONIC GOLD PLC ("Tectonic Gold" or the "Company") SALE OF MAJORITY INTEREST IN TECTONIC SOUTH AFRICA, AUDIT UPDATE AND PLANNED REQUEST FOR RESUMPTION OF TRADING Tectonic Gold plc (TDIM: TTAU) is pleased to announce that it has sold a majority interest in the Company's South African projects to AIM listed Kazera Global Plc ("Kazera"). As announced on 18 December 2019, Tectonic will retain a non-diluting 10% interest in Tectonic South Africa Pty (rebranded Deep Blue Minerals Pty Ltd, "DBM") alongside the 26% holding of incoming Black Economic Empowerment ("BEE") partners. Kazera will hold a 64% interest and has raised 750,000 to fund the diamond mining project into production. In addition, Tectonic has incorporated a 100% owned South African subsidiary, Whale Head Minerals Pty Ltd, and submitted an application for a Mining Permit to mine Heavy Mineral Sands ("HMS") within the Alexkor/PSJV diamond mining area to mine ores with DBM for the dual commercialisation of diamonds and HMS from diamondiferous and mineralised alluvial beach sands. Kazera has committed to buying a majority interest in WHM also, with Tectonic retaining a non-diluting 10% interest, subject to the approval of the Mining Permit under application. Tectonic has received a 100,000 payment in fulfilment of the option terms. The project will continue to be managed by the existing Board and Management of DBM, with on-going oversight from Tectonic director Dennis Edmonds, who has also been appointed to the Board of Kazera to lead the development of these projects. Kazera operates a tantalite mining project at Tantalite Valley, approximately 250km east of Alexander Bay on the Namibian side of the Orange River. With an established regional base of operations and local management the two projects can be efficiently operated. With the transaction now completed, the remaining items in the Tectonic Gold Audit for the 2019 year end will be finished as a priority and after the filing of accounts a request will be made for lifting the suspension from trading on the AQSE Growth Market as soon as practicable. Signature Gold Pty Ltd, the Company's 100% owned Australian subsidiary has this week submitted an application to the Queensland Government for a grant to fund drilling expenses of up to A$200,000 at the Company's Mt Cassidy project. Mr. Brett Boynton, Managing Director - Tectonic Gold plc "We are very pleased to get this transaction closed, despite the delays due to COVID, and to see the South African projects funded for production. We remain a significant shareholder of Deep Blue and expect the remainder of the transaction with the sale of Whale Head to follow in due course. This will leave Tectonic with a sizeable economic interest in a funded diamond and heavy mineral sands project which will in turn be able to provide additional funding for our core gold exploration activities in Australia. We have recently put in an application for additional government funding and hope to be able to get back into the field and drill targets at our Mt Cassidy project in the second half of the year. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement." For further information, please contact: Tectonic Gold plc Brett Boynton Sam Quinn www.tectonicgold.com @tectonic_gold +61 2 9241 7665 AQSE Corporate Adviser and Broker Peterhouse Capital Limited Mark Anwyl +44 20 7469 0930 Financial Adviser and Broker VSA Capital Limited Andrew Raca - Corporate Finance Andrew Monk - Corporate Broking +44 20 3005 5004 Ends The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-25 23:15:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUDAPEST, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Hungary reopened its borders with Serbia on Monday and is making preparations to open them with Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, said the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto. "On Monday, from 10 a.m., citizens of the two countries can cross the border without restrictions," Szijjarto announced on his Facebook page. "Serbian citizens can enter Hungary without a quarantine obligation and Hungarian citizens can return from Serbia without quarantine obligations as well," he said. "The opening of the border provides an opportunity for families and communities living on both sides of the border to reunite, and also contributes to a new impetus for economic relations," the minister underlined. Szijjarto also spoke about preparations being made to reopen Hungary's borders with Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. "I discussed with my Austrian, Czech and Slovak counterparts in a video conference on the easing of border restrictions," Szijjarto said. The four countries have set on June 15 as the target date for starting to lift border restrictions, the minister said, adding that this depended greatly on the status of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Enditem The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Thursday, May 28 11:49 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to a Hope Township location in reference to a 73-year-old Saginaw woman who reported she was stuck on private property and was confused where she was. The deputy located the woman and discovered she was having diabetic issues. She was transported to the MidMichigan Medical Center emergency room by ambulance. 11:12 p.m. An unknown vehicle had struck and damaged a trash can on a Mount Haley Township Roadway. There are no suspects. 10:24 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to a Hope Township location in reference to a 22-year-old Hope Township man who reported a Chevrolet pickup doing burnouts in the roadway near his residence. The deputy checked the area and did not locate the truck. 10:09 p.m. A 43-year-old midland man was arrested at his residence on a probation violation warrant out of the Midland County courts. 9:36 p.m. Deputies assisted Department of Health and Human Services with the removal of a 1-year-old from an Edenville Township home. 7:46 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township residence in reference to a 37-year-old woman and her 25-year-old boyfriend having a verbal argument. The couple were arguing over an Xbox. There was no assault. The woman left for the rest of the night to cool down at a family member's Lee Township home. 7:29 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township residence in reference to a 13-year-old woman who stated she ingested 100 over-the-counter pain pills and was suicidal. She was transported to the ER by EMS. Her 37-year-old mother was contacted, who said she will be petitioning the 13-year-old for a mental health evaluation. 6:19 p.m. A deputy learned of a possible larceny of pop cans that had just taken place in Lincoln Township. The deputy located a 56-year-old male suspect on his bike nearby. The man denied his cans were stolen. The deputy made contact with the 29-year-old female complainant, who was running a can collection and advised her of the situation. The woman said she does not wish to pursue any charges, and the suspect was released. 6:02 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to a vehicle crash in Ingersoll Township. A Michigan State Police trooper arrived on scene prior to the deputies and handled the complaint. Minor injuries were sustained. 4:57 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Homer Township residential area for a report of a man sleeping at the wheel of his parked vehicle. The deputies found a 38-year-old homeless man who got stuck on a stump, so he decided to go to sleep until help arrived. The man was seen by EMS on-scene, and was transported to the hospital for further, unrelated medical treatment. 4:17 p.m. A citizen reported they hit a dog in Jerome Township. There was no damage to their vehicle, so they were advised to keep traveling due to traffic volume/congestion. A deputy checked the area, but the dog was gone and not a road hazard. The person who hit the dog said it had a collar, but no tags. 3:08 p.m. A deputy assisted the Michigan State Police with the investigation of a damage-to-property complaint in Larkin Township. 12:50 p.m. Officers responded to a complaint of malicious destruction of property in the 2300 block of Carolina Street. 12:09 a.m. A 62-year-old Jerome Township man reported the theft of a license plate from a 10-ft aluminum trailer that was parked in the storage area of the man's subdivision. This occurred sometime between January and now. There are no suspects at this time. 11:15 a.m. A 43-year-old Lincoln Township man called to report an unknown subject filed for unemployment in his name. This occurred within the last week. There are no suspects at this time. 11:13 a.m. A deputy was dispatched to a crash in Larkin Towsnship. An MSP trooper disregarded the deputy before arriving on scene and handled the complaint. 10:52 a.m. Animal Control was dispatched to Lee Township in reference to a dog bite. An isolation notice issued. 9:01 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Homer Township. NEW YORKThe 2019 film Just Mercy, which chronicles courtroom struggles against racial injustice and mass incarceration, will be made free on digital platforms throughout June in the wake of George Floyds death, Warner Bros. said Tuesday. In the film, Michael B. Jordan plays attorney Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, who helps a character played by Jamie Foxx. Its based on Stevensons 2014 memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, one of the books that has rocketed to the top of bestseller lists as protests have swept the country. We believe in the power of story, Warner Bros. said. Our film Just Mercy, based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are interested in learning more about the systemic racism that plagues our society. Just Mercy, released in December, was the first studio project made with the inclusion rider, the contractual provision mandating the consideration of people from under-represented groups for cast and crew positions. The rider was initiated as a way to change long-term underrepresentation of people of colour and women in Hollywood. Recent studies have shown that films like Just Mercy are starting to reshape the film industry. A postmortem nasal swab of George Floyd showed he tested positive for the novel coronavirus before he died, according to Hennepin Countys new autopsy report released Wednesday. The report said it found samples from Mr Floyd to be positive for 2019-nCoV RNA, another term for the type of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a deadly pneumonia-like infection that has affected over 6 million globally, the United States the most hit. Local media CNN reported chief medical examiner Andrew Baker to have said the type of test performed for the autopsy, called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), can show a positive result for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease. The autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent PCR positivity from previous infection, Mr Baker was quoted saying. He noted that there was no evidence the virus played a known role in Mr Floyds death, and being asymptomatic, he was unlikely to have been contagious. Rather, a final state autopsy released Wednesday says Mr Floyds death was due to cardiopulmonary arrest, which is the stopping of his heart. The report adds that while Mr Floyds neck was compressed by former officer Derek Chauvins knee for more than eight minutes, it does not conclude that it was the direct cause of his death. Also, the report says, while Mr Floyd had a number of bruises and cuts on his head, face, mouth, shoulders, arms and legs, it found no evidence that any of those injuries directly would have killed him. But a private autopsy launched by Mr Floyds family disagrees with the conclusion of the states result. It says Mr Floyds death was due to suffocation caused by the compression of his neck for minutes. He died from asphyxiation caused by sustained neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to his brain, the independent report finds. The cause of Mr Floyds death is still unravelling as local, state and federal authorities say they are investigating his racially-charged slaying. Already, all four former officers who had direct connection with his death have been remanded in custody, each with a bail term of $1 million. Former Minneapolis policeman, Derek Chauvin, whose knee pinned George Floyds neck to the ground in a viral video, was, on Wednesday, hit with an upgraded murder charge of second-degree murder. His colleagues Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were also charged with aiding and abetting murder, and are set to have their days in court Thursday. Protests against Mr Floyds death and police brutality are still ongoing across cities in America, despite curfews. Although, authorities said violence and looting as well as arrests have reduced. The protests have spilled over to Germany, England, New Zealand, Denmark and even Nigeria. In these places, even as they are still battling coronavirus, they want justice and equal rights for all races. Russia claims that current George Floyd protests in the United States is caused by the discrepancy of white and colored races, and insists they do not have a hand in these chaotic protests. Ongoing protests that are raging in American cities are going out of control. It all happened when police maltreated and harmed a defenceless black man, George Floyd, who died due to asphyxiation. But Russia denies any involvement in the protests, which are quickly turning out of control, according to Newsweek. Russia denies link to US turmoils Last Sunday, the national security adviser Robert O'Brien mentioned to ABC News there might be Russian meddling in US affairs, in the George Floyd protests in particular. They say that the Kremlin is using the protest through social media that should influence more violence in non-violent protests that is their usual strategy that was echoed by Susan Rice. Anatoly Antonov, a Russian diplomat, commented to the Rossiya-1 channel on Wednesday that Washington is looking for a link to that connects Russian to the turmoil caused by the protests in US cities. It is already a week of protests that had looting and rioting with other civil unrest as well which is giving the Trump administration major headaches, with the death of George Floyd in Minnesota last Monday. While the internal situation of the US is deteriorating, some are looking of a Russian link to blame it for starting trouble in US affairs. Allegedly, Russia has a hand to meddle and cause problems in US affairs, which was reported by the Russian News Agency TASS. Antonov added that everything that happens in the US is according to their policies that deal with race relations that has been the subject of controversies with many factors. The George Floyd riots are indicative of these tensions and everything pent up has come to fore with white cops killing a black or colored individual. "This is utterly wrong. Everything that is happening in the United States is a result of the policy that has been conducted in the US in the field of inter-ethnic and inter-racial relations. It is an explosion of the contradictions that have been simmering for a very long time," says Antonov. Also read: Spy Photos of Russian Jets Captured in Libya, US General Says Russia points at US' policies The protests and tension is not pleasant and the US turmoil caused by the intentional harming of a minority black man is not good to hear. It cannot be denied that many are dying, and these are caused by ill-intention individuals who will subvert any peaceful protests and turn it to looting and rioting. The Russian diplomat cited problems that have their origin in ethnic differences and how police treat colored or white people with violations in human rights, with double standards that ate fanning the flames of dissent. This does cause some worry for them in the US as the host country. Antonov stressed that the US recovery is a priority, with the restoration of order from its current chaos, the reinstatement of rights as bequeathed by the US constitution, and lastly the restoration for normal cooperation to return. Civil unrests during the post lockdown and reopening of the US economy will be stalled by the George Floyd protests that cause damage, making the road of recovery more difficult. Antonov's sentiments come at a time when Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina looks into Hurricane Crossfire, investigating Russian meddling and Trump's White House bid, but both Putin and Trump have denied working together to win the 2016 elections, confirmed by VOA News. The George Floyd protests have reached international attention, but the Kremlin called it a US affair and hands-off, but it cannot ignore it. The common claim is the US protests are boiling point of racial inequality, but Russian denied meddling to produce these results. Relate article: Donald Trump Martial Law Declaration: Will the George Floyd Protests Trigger Military Control? @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. When James Bond headed to Kazan in Russia, towards the end of Quantum of Solace, many people would have had but one thought: 'Erwhere?' Its a thought I shared before setting off to see what this provincial Russian city a would-be new player on the Russian tourism trail had to offer. Russia for most Brits has previously meant escorted tours of St Petersburg or perhaps a long weekend in Moscow, and whilst Kazan is a fairly established destination for its domestic market, it is now embarking on an ambitious drive towards international tourism. Pay attention heres the geography Kazan is around 400 miles east of Moscow. Sadly, there are no direct flights, and you travel there via Kaliningrad a strange little outpost of Russia thats separated from the mainland and surrounded by Europe. Here you have the pleasure of being shunted around a cowshed of an airport while low ranking officials bark at you for papers about every hundred yards. Im assuming Bond, J. skipped this bit. Its hardly Kazans fault, though, and I arrived in Russias eighth biggest city with an open mind. My first trip to the country may not have the glamour of Moscow or the historical heft of St Petersburg, but it would at least be an authentic experience. I didnt need to be an international spy to suspect this as the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan has been a cultural hub for a thousand years. And Ill answer your first question about the Tatars straight away. Friendly locals: A Tatar woman in Kazan No, they didnt invent the sauce. They did, however, exist as a tribe across large swathes of central and eastern Europe and Asia, and their influence in cities such as Kazan are obvious as soon as you arrive. A Muslim people, Tatar cities have beautiful mosques more of which later and distinctive traditional architecture, kind of rugged yet ornate and colourful wooden houses, some of which Id get to explore. The mix of Russians and Tatars is ostensibly a peaceful one, and the influences cohabit the city harmoniously. My first impression of Kazan was that it obviously had some wealth. Oil reserves and a propensity for public spending and large architectural statements (almost all of them built to celebrate the citys millennium in 2006) mean that much of the city looks spanking new, from the hulking hotels that stand out against the more prosaic residential buildings to the enormous hippodrome about as technologically advanced a place as youre going to get horses into. My hotel The Riviera looked like it had been transplanted from Las Vegas, and was kind of needlessly over the top, but had nice designer touches and a lobby that must breach the top five glitziest lobbies in Russia. All white: The historic Kazan Kremlin The more interesting sites, though, were more than two years old. The Kazan Kremlin (kremlin just means citadel in Russian) is a World Heritage Site and boasts the striking five domes and six columns of the Annunciation Cathedral. Next to it, as one cathedral is plainly never really enough, is the baroque St Peter and Paul cathedral. Plain isnt really a word that comes to mind at Russian Orthodox cathedrals if there was gold leaf to be had, it was slapped on a wall somewhere and if youre a fan of religious icons, then youre in the right place as theres more here than you could shake a thurible at. Also in the complex is the biggest mosque in Europe, the Qol-Sarif mosque, which may suffer from Plain Jane syndrome next to the bling of the cathedrals, but is still impressive in its scale and as a sign of the harmonious co-existence of the religions here. The citys sights are pleasant enough Baumans Street is the main commercial centre, and the Pyramid shopping centre is a good place to find retro-looking souvenirs. Although the days of Communism are still apparent in some of the architecture, much progress is being made, and a new metro is just one of the projects that are slowly transforming the city. Treat: Traditional Tatar food Another telling sign of progress is the fact that most young people seem to dress all day like theyre at a nightclub, scarcity of material and thigh boots very much the order of even the coldest day. The Tatar heritage is being conserved, though, especially through traditional restaurants where, under wooden roofs and with vodka flowing, you can chow down on some very tasty Tatar specialities. For a native Lancastrian such as myself, the belish (essentially a big, crusty pie) was heaven on a plate, while sweet-tooths would find it hard to resist the chak-chak, little domes of honey-sweetened dough balls. The best way to truly get an insight into the Tatars is to head out to the settlements on the fringes of the city. Visiting the Tatar villages can only really be done with a guide (easily arranged through the tourist office). As the minbus shakes off the suburbs and the trappings of the city fall away, the landscape opens out into farmland, though high-heel thigh-length boots are still noticeably favoured by females under 45. The houses become nearly all wooden almost Alpine in appearance, but brightly coloured and with ornate flourishes. As we get off the bus, a beaming gaggle of family members are there to welcome us into their home at least three generations, all in traditional Tatar dress. The villages are largely self-sufficient, and as well as milk fresh from the goats and honey straight form the hive, theres a wealth of vegetables, cakes (chak-chak, of course) and thank heavens still-warm belish on a table thats audibly groaning with the weight of the feast. As we eat, our guide translates our questions and the questions that the Tatars have about the UK. Many a glass is raised the honey vodka and plum brandies knocked back purely out of politeness of course and its a merry bunch we have by the time lunch is over and our hosts are playing us traditional music and singing haunting songs. Photo credit: JUSTIN TALLIS - Getty Images From House Beautiful Who says you need a passport to see art exhibits around the world? Below, House Beautiful has rounded up a variety of virtual exhibits you can visit right from home, with subjects ranging from Andy Warhols artwork to the Queen mother of Thailands custom wardrobedesigned by Pierre Balmainto the oldest surviving cello (which once belonged to the French monarchy), amongst others. The best part? You can see them all without moving from the sofa. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your virtual exhibit visits! Andy Warhol at Tate Modern, London, England Typically, you would have to visit a museum in a major city to see Andy Warhol artwork right before your eyes, but now, you can see his famed creations from your own home. In this virtual exhibitwhich had stints at the Whitney Museum in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago before heading abroadyou'll see Warhol works featuring the faces of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Andy Warhol himself. TOUR NOW Dale Chihuly, Merletto at the Traver Gallery in Seattle Photo credit: Scott Mitchell Leen The prolific glass blower Dale Chihuly unveils his latest body of work, Merletto, in his hometown of Seattle June 4. The exhibition's title comes from the Italian word for "lace" and refers to a new technique that the master of glass is incorporating into his work. The process involves blowing thin filaments of glass to create mesh-like patterns. Juxtaposed with Chihuly's organic, modern shapes, this intricate detail takes on a stunning effect. You can tour the show digitally on the gallery's website and observe the intense process behind the making of the pieces in a video here. TOUR NOW Fit For a Queen: Her Majesty Queen Sirikits Wardrobe Created by Pierre Balmain at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, Bangkok, Thailand The Queen mother of Thailand, Sirikit, has her own museum dedicated to textiles, located on the same grounds as the Grand Palace, inside a circa 1870 building that once housed the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Royal Ceremony. Fit For a Queen: Her Majesty Queen Sirikits Wardrobe Created by Pierre Balmain features extraordinary designs made specially for the Queen by Pierre Balmain. Story continues TOUR NOW Florentine Scagliola Photo credit: DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI - Getty Images Scagliola, a technique that originates from stucco and traces its roots back to the 1600s, is made using a combination of water, selenite, glue, and natural pigments. The Italian region of Emilia-Romagna has the oldest scagliola antiquities in all of Italy, which makes sense given the prominence of selenite in the Modena and Reggio Emilia Apennines. Explore the history and beauty of Florentine scagliola through this virtual exhibit. TOUR NOW The Art of Goldsmithery in Crotone If youre a connoisseur of opulent jewelry and the fascinating history of it all, The Art of Goldsmithery in Crotone virtual exhibit is right up your alley. This impressive art form began in 710 B.C. by Greek settlers, and, in the past 20 years, archaeologists have found Crotone creations made between 600 B.C. and 400 B.C., ranging from a golden tiara to a winged sphinx. TOUR NOW Ceramics in Messina Photo credit: Tim Graham - Getty Images Ceramics first gained popularity in Messina, Italy in the 1700s, when many palaces incorporated ceramic decor as part of the furnishing of the interior and exterior. In addition to gorgeously vibrant ceramic platesincluding a blue and white creation that evokes the Chinoiserie aestheticthis exhibit also features images of items like a delightful vassoio (Italian for tray) decorated with lemons against a blue backdrop and whimsical leaves. TOUR NOW The Chateau of Chambord Francis I of France was just 21 years old when he was appointed king in 1515, but he was not too young to have a palace constructed a few years later, in 1519. The Chateau de Chambord is the biggest chateau in the Loire Valley of France, with 426 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 77 staircases. To further explore the history of this grand chateau, visit its virtual exhibit from Google Arts & Culture. TOUR NOW Unveiling the Mysteries of the King Cello at the National Music Museum, University of South Dakota The oldest cello that is still in existence, known as King Cello, is believed to have been made in the mid-1500s by Andrea Amati, who created the first musical instruments from the violin family that we continue to play to this day. At some point between 1560 and 1574, a coat-of-arms, as well as a Latin adage that reads Pietate et Iustitia -- meaning piety and justice -- were painted onto King Cello. This remarkable instrument stayed in the French monarchy until the French Revolution, and it was previously on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015. TOUR NOW Apuan-Versilia Marble Apuan-Versilia marble is named for the Apuan Alps and the region of Versilia, both of which are located in Tuscany. Michelangelo himself used Apuan-Versilia marble, which he found after climbing and exploring the Apuan Alps for three years. Everything from ancient Roman monuments to aristocratic homes feature the highly coveted Apuan-Versilia marble, and we can certainly see why after visiting this virtual exhibit. TOUR NOW This story was originally published on 4/20/2020. It has been updated to reflect new information. Follow House Beautiful on Instagram. You Might Also Like The e-commerce market is looking at two high-calibre developments with the merger of Tiki and Sendo and the entry of heavyweight competitor Facebook. While the merger would consolidate the two parties into a major competitor, it may hit a roadblock by breaking antitrust regulations Facebooks entry, however, is sure to rearrange the landscape. After leaving the industry to stew for nearly a year, the two local e-commerce platforms of Tiki and Sendo finally agreed on a merger deal two weeks ago. A VIR source revealed that the two sides are finishing the last steps of the deal that is expected to be completed this July. According to local market research company Asia Plus, Shopee is leading the Vietnamese e-commerce playground with the market share of 35 per cent, while Lazada holds 20 per cent. Following them is Tiki with 17 per cent. The remaining 28 per cent is shared by the rest of the competitors, however, a long line-up of players including Leflair, Adayroi, and Lotte.vn have thrown in the towel, implying that a large portion of this is held by the fourth member of the Big Four, Sendo. If Sendos market share is similar to Tikis 17 per cent, they would hold about 34 per cent combined, which would make them a significant contender to both Shopee and Lazada. Thus, the two overseas rivals could see fierce competition in the coming time. However, the market share of the two local companies spells trouble, as even without getting a clear reading on Sendo, Tikis market share is more than triple of what is allowed for horizontal merger and acquisition (M&A) deals (5 per cent) essentially disqualifying it from any sort of merger. Neither party to the deal has replied to media queries regarding the issue and it remains to be seen how the two would go about justifying the economic concentration. One point in their favour though, with other players holding 35 and 20 per cent, the merger would not necessarily result in an overbearing force in the market that could batter down any opposition. New shopping competitor While it remains unclear whether the Tiki-Sendo alliance would be strong enough to beat Lazada and Shopee, Facebooks Shops appearing in the market promises to throw a titanic wrench into the works for the Big Four. The global social network Facebook in the middle May launched its new feature named Shops which is very similar to other e-commerce platforms. With 2.6 billion users globally and more than 60 million local users, Facebooks Shops will have a great competitive edge right from its launch. According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Shops will improve on the standard web commerce experience by storing user payment credentials in a single place that they can then use on any Facebook or Instagram storefront. There are currently more than 160 million small businesses using the companys apps. Additionally, Facebooks new e-commerce feature will be integrated into existing Facebook business profiles and Instagram profiles, and they can also appear in Stories or be promoted in adverts. Items that businesses have made available for purchase will appear within the shop, and users can either save items or place an order. Customers and sellers will be able to use Shops for free. Companies running business on the platform can adjust the layout and design of the store to promote the products they want to highlight. As of now, nearly one million companies registered to use the alpha version of Facebooks new service. Obviously making good use of its advertising prowess, sellers will be able to purchase advertisements for their virtual stores and products. At least initially, Facebook will not charge merchants for sales made on the platform unless they use the companys checkout process. In the latter case, sellers will pay 40 US cents for orders of up to $8 or 5 per cent for orders above $8. As a result, local sellers will have one more option to run business on e-commerce platforms. While the current e-commerce firms do not really sport advertisement features, Facebook will clearly use this advantage to gain a foothold. This could take a sizeable chunk out of the market shares of other e-commerce firms in the country. Hence, both Tiki and Sendo would see their slice of the pie diminish due to the appearance of Facebooks Shops along with Lazada and Shopee, and every other competitor small or large. Financial incapacity As e-commerce is still a new sector and all players in the race are rolling ahead tremendous losses, Tiki and Sendo have been constantly calling for investment, resulting in fragmented shareholder structures. As of now, overseas investors hold 65 per cent of Sendos shares. In addition to FPT, Sendos stakes have been picked up by SBI, Beenext, Econtext Asia, and Daiwa. Regarding Tiki, in addition to VNGs 24.6 per cent and JD.coms 22.2 per cent, Ubiquitous Traders Pte., Ltd., CyberAgent, STIC, and Sumitomo have all bought into the platform. As of the end of 2018, Tiki recorded VND1.4 trillion ($60.87 million) in accumulated deficit and Sendo reported VND1.3 trillion ($56.5 million) in losses. However, continually selling shares to gain more funding cannot be maintained forever. Breaking new ground on angling for finances, Tiki a few weeks ago announced plans to stage an initial public offering (IPO). Sendo, while not showing any wish to list on the stock exchange, could easily find itself pressed for money. Nevertheless, after the failure of WeWork, which received billion-dollar investment but went bankrupt last year due to the ineffective use of the capital, many investors are now focusing on the profitability of startups instead of their potential. Therefore, funnelling money into e-commerce may not be as appetising as in the past. Thus, forming alliances and proposing an IPO could both be meant as remedies for the financial conundrum. Facebooks Shops may find it hard to compete with e-commerce giant Amazon. Experts say that the playground seems too cramped to welcome any player, even one with 2.6 billion users. Success will not only be made through the large quantity of users, it also depends on the way Facebook satisfies customers, said Ngo The Vinh, an expert working in e-commerce for over a decade. According to the latest survey from US-based Peel Research Partners, nearly 40 per cent of US adults use Facebook to explore news and contact friends, but not for shopping. Amazon and eBay, in their minds, are the places for such a task. Also in the US, according to a survey by Minnesota Public Radio, around 55 per cent of total users access Amazon for searching goods, 28 per cent using Google, and only 17 per cent using other methods. That means a product showcased on Amazon can be sold out more easily, because users load up Amazon for shopping without being disturbed by social media. Moreover, advertisements on Amazon are one of the most efficient functions to bring in money, which has yet to be developed on Facebook. Users said that sponsored products on Amazon are of better quality than on Facebook, so merchants and their shops are visited much more. vir Anh Hara E-commerce a positive for VN retail sector Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the retail market in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year still recorded positive results from e-commerce, online shopping and delivery services. The lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India will have a lingering impact on lives, not just livelihoods, a working paper by two prominent economists has said, identifying violence, starvation, indebtedness and extreme stress as consequences of the shutdown that was in place in the last two months. The working paper titled Interim Report on Indias Lockdown, submitted to American non-profit research agency National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), analyses the philosophy of the lockdown in the Indian context, its impact, as well as the administrations response to mitigate these consequences Lockdowns, the authors contend, have been propelled across the world by the enormous visibility of Covid-19 fatalities. While in advanced economies, the cost of reducing these visible deaths is a dramatic reduction in overall economic activity, in India, a developing country with great sectoral and occupational vulnerabilities, this dramatic reduction is more than economic: it means lives lost, says the paper by professors Debraj Ray and S Subramanian. Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage The lives lost as a consequence of the lockdown will be invisible, the paper says, adding: It is this conjunction of visibility and invisibility that drives the Indian response. The lockdown meets all international standards so far; the relief package none. Ray teaches at the New York University while Subramanian, a retired professor from Madras Institute of Development Studies, is a former member of the advisory board of the World Banks Commission on Global Poverty. Indias nationwide lockdown was enforced first on March 25, before it was diluted in phases over the next three months. The period was marked by a widespread return of low-paid urban migrants, who undertook gruelling journeys by foot, on illegally running trucks and crammed into special trains to return to their villages and home towns after losing their jobs. Since June 1, India has been in the first phase of Unlock. Union government officials have said the lockdown was successful in slowing the spread of the disease and buying time to improve infrastructure. The government last month announced a 20 lakh crore relief package but analysts have said that the actual government spending in the package could be much lower. Lives lost through violence, starvation, indebtedness and extreme stress, are invisible, in the sense that they will diffuse through category and time. Someone will die of suicide. A woman will be killed in an episode of domestic violence. The police might beat a protestor to death. The deaths will occur not just now, but months and years from now, as mounting starvation and indebtedness and chronic illnesses take their collective toll, the authors write. The authors cite three structural features that makes the Indian population vulnerable to a lockdown in the absence of welfare relief measures. The first has to do with the ubiquity of casual labour, accounting for well over 20% of all Indian households such individuals are particularly vulnerable. The second is the preponderance of informal production well over half of Indias GDP is produced in the informal sector and these are activities which cannot be easily taken online... Third, median household savings are low, and inadequate to take an estimated 38% of all households through even a 21-day lockdown (we are currently on our way to two months) if all their employment dries up, the authors contend. As of Wednesday, India has 216,677 cases. On Tuesday, Indian Council of Medical Research scientist Nivedita Gupta said the country was still very far away from the peak. Public health experts have said that this could inevitably force federal and local authorities to bring back lockdown curbs, a measure that one of the authors of the NBER working paper described as an even worse idea compared to the first lockdown. A severely comprehensive and draconian lockdown, and furthermore one without compensating welfare measures in place, was never a good idea, and is an even worse idea now in the light of the costs of the lockdown till datecosts in terms of loss of lives, loss of employment, loss of incomes, and the neglect of other (non-Covid-related) morbidities, Subramanian said in an interview over email to HT. Subramanian added that the government will need to take a slew of measures if it is to consider such an intervention again. He divided these steps into five specific areas: (1) Adopt genuine fiscal policy measures such as spend substantially more on compensating relief measures, raise more resources through rudimentary taxation of the wealth of the super-rich, and not rely predominantly on supply-side strategies such as liquidity expansion involving the channelling of credit through banks; (2) Address supply-side constraints in the form of physical bottlenecksrestrictions on mobility, closed mandis, etc -- still waiting to be eased; (3) Deal with the states of the Union in a genuine spirit of partnership and assistance, beginning at least with settling their dues in terms of their share of revenue from GST; (4) See the wisdom of engaging a panel of public health specialists, epidemiologists, social workers, economists, other social scientists, trades unions, and opposition politicians who all have a stake in this country, and; (5) Address both the epidemiological and social security problems that are upon us in a spirit of openness, mutuality, and special respect for those rendered most vulnerable by both the material and social burdens imposed by the pandemic. The panel that Subramanian suggested in the fourth point should be in a position to advise on the merits of selective lockdown that discriminates both geographically and with respect to specific industries and economic activity. The panel can also assist with identifying and overseeing the implementation of key relief measuresboth cash and in-kindwhich have been suggested by several commentators, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jaipur, June 4 : A 28-year-old woman was arrested for killing her husband after he raped her minor sister in Rajasthan, police said on Thursday. The murder took place on the intervening night of June 1 and 2. The woman in her statement said that she was pregnant and so she had brought her 15-year-old sister along with her to lend a helping hand in post-delivery phase. However, the woman was quite aggrieved when her husband raped her sister and in a fit of rage, she hit him with an axe that lead to his death, police said. She will be produced before a local court on Thursday, Dhod police station SHO Amit Kumar Nagora told IANS. The accused kin has also been handed over to her family members after completion of her medical test, Nagora added. CAIRO - Forces allied with Libyas U.N.-supported government said Thursday they regained control of all of Tripolis entrance and exit points after taking back the airport, claiming that the siege by rival troops trying to capture the capital for over a year has effectively ended. The announcement marks another blow to the east-based Libyan Arab Armed Forces, led by commander Khalifa Hifter who has recently lost several strategic spots in western Libya. Late on Wednesday, the Tripoli-allied troops said they had retaken Tripoli International Airport, which fell to Hifters forces last year. In these historic moments, we announce that all municipal boundaries of Tripoli have been liberated, Mohamed Gnono, spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, said in a video posted on social media. Hifters military command said it was relocating forces out of Tripoli in response to calls for the resumption of the U.N.-brokered political process, but that the battle for the capital is not over. Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj vowed the Tripoli forces would press on, apparently spurning the cease-fire talks. We will in no way give him the opportunity for negotiations, Sarraj said of Hifter. We will continue this struggle until the enemy is totally removed, he added after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey. Erdogan said Turkey would step-up its co-operation with Sarrajs government, including to drill for natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean, based on an economic agreement signed last fall. We will never abandon our Libyan brothers, Erdogan said. The developments illustrate how much the tide of war has turned in Libya just months ago, Hifter was the one who had the upper hand and refused to sign a cease-fire agreement. Hifters campaign to capture Tripoli has morphed into an escalating proxy war between Turkey and Russia. Last month, the U.S. military accused Russia of deploying 14 fighter jets to eastern Libya to help Hifters forces, saying the move was part of Moscows goal of establishing a foothold in the region that could threaten NATO allies. U.S. and Libyan officials have also accused Russia of deploying mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked private company, in key Libyan battlegrounds. Russia has repeatedly denied playing any role in Libyas fighting. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland told reporters on Thursday that the recent manoeuvrs and weapons shipments by Turkey and Russia could set the stage for either a full-blown regional war or an opportunity to deescalate. He expressed hope that the intensified diplomatic activity and the case-fire talks, announced this week by the U.N., could help the sides reach an agreement. What makes it different now is that the escalation is in such a dangerous stage that cooler heads can and should prevail, he said. The U.N. spoke with Hifters military delegation on Wednesday and said it soon planned to speak with the Tripoli-based government. Our focus, the missions focus, is on the talks that have begun to re-establish the cease-fire, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric. In a sign that a broader diplomatic push was underway, Hifter and 13 of his close advisers left Cairo on Thursday, after two days of meetings with senior Egyptian and Libyan officials, according to Cairo airport officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Since 2015, Libya has been divided between two governments, one in the east and one in the west. Hifters campaign to capture Tripoli has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced over 150,000, by U.N. estimates. The Tripoli forces said two medics were killed Thursday near their field hospital close to the Libyan capital. Gnono, the spokesman, blamed Hifters fighters, saying they had booby trapped areas before pulling out. The U.N. had raised alarm last week about civilians being killed and wounded by improvised explosive devices left in residential areas of Tripoli. Tripolis International Airport was damaged by heavy fighting in 2014, forcing its closure. For years, flights were diverted to the Mitiga airport, which has repeatedly halted operations over the past year because of shelling blamed on Hifters forces. After Wednesdays recapture, photos of bombed-out Libyan commercial planes at the airport were posted on the official Facebook page of the Tripoli-allied forces. Videos of the government-affiliated militias celebrating outside the airport circulated online. The fall of Tripoli airport is a symbolic achievement, said Claudia Gazzini, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. It is the base of Hifters forces since more than a year and one of the main conflict lines in the capital. But Gazzini said it was too early to call Hifters offensive finished, given how the conflict has seesawed. There is still room for a continued offensive. It all depends on how much military backing Hifters backers are willing to give him. In recent months, the Tripoli militias, boosted primarily by Turkish drones and deployments of Syrian mercenaries, have retaken some key towns surrounding the capital. Hifters forces, supported by Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have responded with increased airstrikes. The escalation comes as Libyas coronavirus case count steadily increases, stoking fears a major outbreak would quickly overwhelm the war-scarred health system. Libya has about 170 confirmed cases but testing remains scarce. The North African country slid into chaos following the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. ___ Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Isabel DeBre contributed to this report. Panel of judges rules that poll fraud complaints by opposition leader Agathon Rwasa are null and void. Burundis constitutional court has rejected an opposition challenge seeking to overturn the results of the countrys presidential election, declaring the governing partys candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye the winner. The panel of judges on Thursday ruled that poll fraud complaints by main opposition leader Agathon Rwasa were null and void, validating Ndayishimiyes victory with 68 percent of the May 20 vote, as pronounced by the election commission. Rwasas share of the vote diminished further in the final results to 22.42 percent. Provisional results had given him 24 percent. The constitutional court which the opposition has accused of following the governing CNDD-FDD partys orders said Rwasas National Freedom Council (CNL) failed to provide sufficient proof of its claims. There was no immediate comment by the CNL, but Rwasa had earlier told The Associated Press news agency he would take the matter to the East African Court of Justice based in neighbouring Tanzania if he is not satisfied with the courts decision. Ndayishimiye, 52, a former army general who was handpicked by senior CNDD-FDD figures to succeed longtime President Pierre Nkurunziza, will be sworn in in August for a seven-year mandate. Nkurunziza will step aside after 15 years. His controversial bid for a third term in 2015 plunged the country into political and economic chaos. 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 previous poll five years ago. Following a tense campaign marred by inflammatory rhetoric and sporadic violence, Rwasas National Freedom Council had dismissed the vote as an electoral farce, citing intimidation of voters, the arrest of opposition polling agents, ballot stuffing and proxy voting. While the East African Community, a regional body, gave the election a clean bill of health on Tuesday, the Conference of Bishops of Burundi criticised the conduct during the polling, saying observers from some parties had been chased from polling stations. A joint statement issued by Western diplomats on Wednesday made no reference to any irregularities and urged the opposition to pursue legal paths to contest the election outcome. Five other candidates also stood in the polls, in which 5.11 million registered voters were eligible to participate. Mr Benjamin Barno-Bio, Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), has commended stakeholders for their contributions which had ensured the success of the pilot voter registration exercise in the region. He said through the cooperation of all the key stakeholders particularly, the political parties, everything has gone well since the start of the exercise yesterday. Speaking to journalists in Kumasi, he said, the machine had worked perfectly throughout the start of the exercise in the region. He said the EC were able to register 67 eligible voters on the first day, while 60 had been registered as the time he was talking to the media. Mr Barno-Bio said it took less than 10 minutes for a person to go through the registration process. All the preventive and restrictive protocols outlined by the government to fight the spread of the coronavirus were strictly followed during the exercise. He said representatives of political parties in the region were present to observe the process, adding that 35 people stood in as guarantors for people whose identities were in doubt. Mr Barno-Bio said the essence of this exercise was to identify problems associated with the new voters registration system and find ways of dealing with any problems before the actual exercise began at the end of this month. He said there are no major problems so far and expressed the hope that with the measures put in place, the exercise would go on smoothly during the main exercise. Mr Sam Pyne, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi that, the exercise had been very successful in the region. He said if the EC could follow all that was exhibited during the pilot exercise, then everything would go on well in the main registration exercise. However, Mr Kwame Zu, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the pilot registration, which was conducted in a controlled environment could not be used to determine what could happen in the actual exercise in a registration centre. He said though the outcome in the Ashanti Region has been successful, that could not be a representative of what happened in other regions where there are reports that the new voter registration machines stalled and prevented the exercise to continue on the second day. 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 You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa at this link, or on your favorite app including Alexa, Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Subscribe/follow and rate the podcast via your favorite app. Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | June 4, 2020 Governor Wolf joins protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. Meanwhile, public schools can reopen as early as July 1 and at least 50 ATMs have been the targets of explosions in Philadelphia. The state continues to ease up coronavirus restrictions, with dentists now being allowed to conduct routine cleanings once again. Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa, a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Julia Hatmaker. Today in Pa is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories in the state. Todays episode refers to the following articles: If you enjoy Today in Pa, consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, we like to know what you think of the program. 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. Cannes Lions has launched the Young Lions Live Award ahead of the Lions Live week. It is a global challenge that gives creatives from the age of 18-30-years-old the chance to answer a brief from the United Nations World Food Programme.The brief calls on extraordinary young talent for creative ideas to help rebalance the food waste-starvation equation.Participants have until 14 June to enter. Entries will be judged by Cannes Lions jurors and winners. Winners will be announced on 26 June and will receive a complimentary pass to Cannes Lions 2021. Washington: The United States is expected to designate at least four additional state-run Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies, increasing restrictions on their operations on American soil, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The action by the State Department, sure to further inflame US-China tensions, could come as soon as Thursday, the sources told Reuters. It follows President Donald Trump's announcement on Friday of retaliatory measures against Beijing over its tightened grip on Hong Kong. The designations are expected to include China Central Television (CCTV), the top state-owned network, and China News Service, the country's second-largest state-owned news agency, two sources said on condition of anonymity. They would be added to five Chinese outlets placed under restrictions in February over US allegations they were used by China and its Communist rulers to spread propaganda. Like the others, they will be required to register their employees and US properties with the State Department, similar to rules covering embassies and other diplomatic missions. Though three sources said the announcement was on track for as early as Thursday, a fourth did not rule out a delay. The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment. There also was no response from the Chinese embassy in Washington. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have spiked, as Trump and his aides have complained about China's early handling of the coronavirus outbreak and its treatment of Hong Kong, which has enjoyed special US treatment as a global financial center. Chinese state media has been reveling over chaotic race-related protests in the United States and highlighting Trump's threat to use troops, even as the anniversary looms of its own bloody military crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square 31 years ago. HONG KONG TENSIONS Trump on Friday ordered his administration to begin the process of eliminating special US treatment for Hong Kong on the grounds it no longer had enough autonomy, but stopped short of calling an immediate end to former British colony's privileges. China's state-run Global Times newspaper called Trump's announcement "recklessly arbitrary." The United States and China have clashed in recent months over journalists working in each other's countries. Michael McCaul, top Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said: These are Chinese Communist Party propaganda outlets that peddle dangerous information to grow the Partys power -- not report the news." In February, the Trump administration said it would treat five major media entities with US operations the same as embassies: Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corp. and Hai Tian Development USA, Inc. In March, Washington said it was slashing the number of journalists allowed to work at US offices of major Chinese media outlets to 100 from 160 due to Beijing's "long-standing intimidation and harassment of journalists." In response, China said it was revoking accreditations of American correspondents with the New York Times, News Corp's Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post whose credentials expire by the end of 2020. TOPS Weight Loss winners for 2019 were (Left to right): Cheryl Underwood, Wendy Edwards, Ellen Hendl (Area Advocate), Natalie Sutton, and Nancy Nelson. (Missing were Christie Davis and Darla Buckley). Local TOPS chapter members continue to drop weight TOPS Club Inc. ("Take Off Pounds Sensibly") is the original, nonprofit, weight-loss support and wellness education organization which has about 100,000 members throughout the United States and Canada. TOPS provides a caring, friendly environment for members with a philosophy that combines accountability (weigh-ins) and support from others at weekly chapter meetings, providing healthy eating, portion control, regular exercise, and wellness information. The Cathlamet (TOPS) chapter is a small group (15 members), which was started in 2017 and is associated with the international TOPS organization. They meet every Thursday evening from 6:00-7:00 in the Community Center (currently waiting for the "Stay at Home" guidance to be removed). The group supports each other in their journey to reaching their preferred weights. Local TOPS members had another successful year in 2019, averaging over 11 pounds weight lost per member. This was a 40 percent improvement in average annual loss compared to the award-winning eight pounds loss per member in 2018. As in 2018, several members of the local group were weight loss winners in 2019, according to national guidelines. Six members lost between 19 and 36 pounds last year. One new member has lost nearly 30 pounds just in 2020. Those interested in losing those holiday/sequestering pounds, may call 601-831-0360. Their meetings, when they resume, will be announced in The Wahkiakum County Eagle. (SCREENSHOT: Website of The Straits Times, one of the newspapers published by Singapore Press Holdings) SINGAPORE Singapore Press Holdings will lose its place on the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) with effect from 22 June, in yet another sign of the newspaper and property conglomerates flagging fortunes. The STI tracks the performance of Singapores 30 largest listed companies by market capitalisation, excluding those that have a main listing in another country or whose shares are tightly held. Being dropped from the STI will hurt SPHs share price since the stock will no longer be held by funds that track the blue-chip index. SPH slumped to its lowest closing level since 1992 last Friday as money managers sold off the stock after it was dropped from the MSCI Singapore Index, another widely followed stock benchmark. In a statement issued after the close of trading on Thursday (4 June), FTSE Russell, the index administrator, said SPH will be replaced by Mapletree Industrial Trust following a regular quarterly review. FTSE Russell has partnered SPH, publisher of the Straits Times newspaper, and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to jointly calculate the STI since 2008. The STI and its previous incarnation, the Straits Times Industrial Index, has been Singapores main stock market benchmark since 1966. Shares of SPH, which closed 0.7 per cent higher at S$1.37 on Thursday, have lost over 40 per cent of their value in the past year amid a slump in advertising and circulation revenue at its newspaper division. Besides the Straits Times, SPH also owns the Business Times and Chinese papers Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Other Singapore stories Drive-through testing may be set up at Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth and Parkway East hospitals Singaporeans to receive Care and Support Package payouts from 18 June COVID-19 testing at migrant worker dorms may take up to September: Gan Kim Yong COVID-19 economic recovery taskforce does not have enough women: Sylvia Lim While seasonal cottage owners are no longer a concern for the Municipality of Trent Lakes, those renting Airbnb cottages are. The Ontario government announced Thursday that short-term rentals including lodges, cabins, cottages, homes and condominiums will be allowed to resume operations starting Friday at 12:01 a.m. after being outlawed for the provinces COVID-19 state of emergency. But some have already been flocking to the Kawarthas to rent Airbnbs during the pandemic. Trent Lakes Mayor Janet Clarkson said she was recently contacted by a woman who cleans about six Airbnb cottages. She said they would come and there would be maybe four or five cars at a cottage. She said she told them that theyre not supposed to be doing this, and they said theyd do what they like, Clarkson said. Airbnb renters pay anywhere up to $1,000 a night and bring lots of people, Clarkson said. I think any of the cottage population thats going to come, they probably have a pretty good handle on whats required of them. But these people at the Airbnbs, they couldnt care less, she said. If youre paying $900 or $1,000 a night and youre coming in with five or six or, in some cases, 15 people, you have no responsibility or conscience toward the area. County Warden J. Murray Jones said social distancing is crucial. If people cant understand these basic rules, were all hitting our head against the wall for nothing, he said. Diane Kember who lives next to an Airbnb cottage on Mississauga Lake, said when the rental first opened for the 2020 season, she counted 15 people there in about five days. We saw that after one group left, the next came within two hours, Kember said. My husband and I take the rules regarding this pandemic very seriously. I am an ICU RN and lived through the SARS pandemic. Kember said she emailed Premier Doug Ford who referred her back to local police. She has also tried to contact Airbnb, but hasnt received a response, she said. According to Clarkson, unlike Kember, many local residents are afraid of the potential repercussions if they complain about these particular cottagers. After being contacted by a local resident residing near an Airbnb who told Clarkson about some ongoing issues, she told them she would call the police to inform them. He said, Im afraid. I complained last year and the vandalism on my place was terrible, she said. Another fella told me these renters have started to throw all their garbage into his yard when they leave. So its pretty nasty. One woman even sold her cottage due to harassment from those renting the Airbnb next door to her, Clarkson said. And it had been in the family for a couple of generations, she said. Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith said while Airbnbs can give individuals a place to stay during the pandemic if need be, people shouldnt be going to these rentals for a weekend getaway. No thats not supposed to be happening, and if thats the case, then they can reach out to Public Health and Public Health could investigate it, he said. According to an Airbnb spokesperson the company has reached out to Clarksons office directly. We have encouraged our host and guest community to follow all restrictions in regard to leisure travel, they told The Examiner on Tuesday. When Airbnb cottages initially opened in the municipality, Clarkson said they were generally rented for two to three weeks in the summer to help owners pay their property taxes. I have no problems with that. But it became very profitable. So what people started doing was buying places specifically to rent out. So the people who own the cottages, dont even live in the area, she said. These Airbnb renters are also in direct competition with local cottage resorts, Clarkson said. They pay no taxes, they have no health inspections, no business license, but theyre operating very, very expensive properties. And people buy one, and then they buy another one, and some people own three or four of them, she said. Before cottage resorts can open, theyve had to submit a detailed outline as to how theyre going to open and their regimes for cleaning, Clarkson said. And all of these things have to be accepted before they can open, she said. Prince Edward County and Muskoka are dealing with the same situation with Airbnb cottages and have spent a lot of money trying to get a handle on it, Clarkson said. So for somebody like us with our resources, we dont have a hope in hades, she said. So until the government steps in and actually gives us some teeth into this, were going to have to live with the repercussions. Peterborough County OPP has created a hotline for residents to call if there are any concerns with Airbnb cottage renters in the region, Clarkson said. At least when people call us, we can say call the OPP. What they will do is they will respond because of having more than five people, she said. Because of the virus, Clarkson said the current danger is the lack of responsibility from these Airbnb renters. Im not as concerned about cottage owners because if they come, and they will, for the most part, theyll maintain a degree of distancing, she said. Funded by the Government of Canada/Finance par le Gouvernement du Canada. Washington: In a blunt message, the US on Thursday told Pakistan it cannot pick and choose the terrorist groups it goes after and has to target militants who seek to harm its neighbours, taking refuge on its territory. The US also rejected 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeeds remarks that America and India have joined hands against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The remarks by Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner in his daily press briefing were in response to a question seeking his reaction on Saeeds remarks in the wake of India asking Pakistan to hand him over or do something about these attacks. ... I would dismiss it (Saeeds comments) outright. We have a strong bilateral relationship with Pakistan, but one that is premised on counterterrorism cooperation and as as part of that conversation, or that dialogue and that cooperation that we have on counterterrorism issues, we made it very clear that Pakistan cant pick and choose which terrorist groups it goes after and it has to go after those groups that seek to do harm to its neighbours and may seek refuge on Pakistani soil, he said. The US earlier said it is in constant conversation with the Pakistani leadership on the threats posed by terror organisations like the Haqqani network and LeT operating in the region. The dreaded Haqqani network, which is blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people, has also carried out a number of kidnappings and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan, the Afghan government and other civilian targets. US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter had refused to give the necessary Congressional certification to Pakistan and had blocked military aid worth USD 300 million to Islamabad for not taking sufficient action against the Haqqani network. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Amid ongoing speculation over extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, the British High Commissioner has reportedly said that there is a further legal issue that needs to be resolved before the beleaguered liquor baron sent back to India. "There is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mallya's extradition can be arranged. Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved," British High Commission spokesperson told CNBC-TV18. On being asked about when Vijay Mallya can be extradited, the spokesperson said that the matter is confidential and "we cannot go into any detail". "We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve. We are seeking to deal with this as quickly as possible," he added. The UK authority, however, maintained that there is no change in the extradition status as yet. The The deadline for the UK Home Office Secretary to sign extradition documents expires on June 11, 2020, as per the Extradition Act. Also Read: Vijay Mallya not returning right away, extradition yet to be signed Last month, Vijay Mallya lost his final extradition appeal against extradition in the UK courts and he has to be extradited within 28 days. As per the Extradition Act, the deadline for the UK Home Office Secretary to sign extradition documents expires on June 11, 2020. However, there has been no communication from UK authorities on this matter so far. On Wednesday, there was intense speculation said that the extradition documents of Mallya had been signed and the liquor baron may land in Mumbai anytime soon. However, government sources refuted the report, saying that India is yet to receive any official communication from the authorities in the United Kingdom. There is also a strong speculation that Mallya, wanted in India in the Rs 9,000 crore loan default case involving 17 banks, may have already applied for political asylum. But sources said that neither the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) nor the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had received any communication from the UK Home Office. The Indian High Commission in the UK hasn't received any concrete information either, the report said. Experts say that as Mallya has exhausted all legal options to avoid extradition, he's left with two options: he either gets asylum or approaches the European Human Rights Court. If Mallya gets asylum on political grounds, he can stay in the UK for as long as he wants - given the treaty between India and Britain doesn't change, or unless he flouts any conditions. By seeking asylum, the liquor baron can also delay the extradition further, since the UK Home Office won't take a decision on it until one is made on his asylum plea. PHILIPSBURG:--- On June 4th, 2020 The Windward Islands Bank Ltd. (WIB), made a donation of NAF 110,000.00 to the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten to support them in their mission to provide food to the needy within our communities. The Rotary plans to provide food baskets, clean water & essential items to those in need and to support various school meals programs when schools restart. WIB is very much aware of the devastating impact of COVID-19 to our economy and realizes that help from Corporate Sint Maarten is needed to mitigate the effects. In the upcoming months, much consideration must be given to the wellbeing of our citizens, especially the seniors and children. We cannot allow that people are going to bed hungry. WIB is therefore motivated and happy to provide ongoing support to our community in times of crisis, stated WIBs General Managing Director Mr. Derek Downes. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 BY Matanat Nasibova - Trend: Azerbaijans Elektrogas LLC, engaged in the production of heating equipment, has fully resumed its activity, and plans to increase its production capacity by the end of 2020, Director of the company Elnur Jamilli told Trend. At present, one of the priority tasks of the enterprise is increasing production volumes of the main products - combi devices. During the period of the forced suspension of the plants operation due to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the production volumes of the main products decreased significantly, Jamilli added. Currently, the enterprise plans to increase the production of six types of combi heating systems with a capacity from 24 to 52 kW. In the future, we are going to increase these indicators to 100 kW. In the medium term, we plan to bring our production volumes to 5,000 units per year. In 2019, this figure amounted to over 3,000 combi units, the director said. The cost for one system of combi in the domestic market is 450 manat ($264.7), with warranty period of 2 years. Local and Chinese investments in the amount of 2 million manat ($1.1 million) were made in the enterprise. In the future, it is planned to increase investment to 11 million manat ($6.4 million). Elektrogas plant is located in the Bakus Zabrat settlement and has been operating since April 2019. (1 USD = 1.7 manat on June 4) --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova An inflammatory syndrome in children and adolescents, believed to be linked to covid-19, seems to be more common among children of African ancestry, finds a small study from a hospital in Paris, published by The BMJ today. The syndrome has been compared with Kawasaki disease, a rare condition which mainly affects children under five. Experts have said that it may be an "antibody mediated or delayed response" to covid-19 that happens several weeks after infection. Cases have also been seen in Italy, the UK and the US. In this study, patients had characteristics that differ from those with classic Kawasaki disease. For example, an unusually high proportion had gastrointestinal symptoms (abdominal pain, often with vomiting and diarrhoea), unstable blood pressure, and inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis). The researchers say further studies are needed, but these findings "should prompt high vigilance" among doctors, particularly in countries with a high proportion of children of African ancestry. They describe 21 children and adolescents (average age 7.9 years) with features of Kawasaki disease who were admitted to a hospital in Paris between 27 April and 11 May 2020. Over half of the children (12; 57%) were of African ancestry. Twelve children presented with Kawasaki disease shock syndrome and 16 (76%) with myocarditis. Nineteen (90%) had evidence of recent covid-19 infection. All 21 patients had noticeable gastrointestinal symptoms during the early stage of illness and high levels of inflammatory markers in their bloodstream. Despite 17 patients (81%) needing intensive care support, all patients were discharged home by 15 May 2020, after an average of 8 days in hospital, with no serious complications. The researchers point to some limitations, such as the small number of patients, and stress that this is an observational study, so can't establish a causal link with covid-19 infection. Nevertheless, they say this Kawasaki-like multisystem inflammatory syndrome seems to be more common in children of African ancestry, suggesting an effect of either social and living conditions or genetic susceptibility, and shows different clinical symptoms to classic Kawasaki disease. "These clinical findings should prompt high vigilance among primary care and emergency doctors, and preparedness during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in countries with a high proportion of children of African ancestry and high levels of community transmission," they conclude. The researchers have added an important layer to the growing knowledge of this disorder, strengthening the connection between covid-19 infection and this condition, says Mary Beth Son at Boston Children's Hospital, in a linked editorial. She stresses that this condition is so far rare but potentially severe, and warrants surveillance as well as collaborative research. It seems highly likely that more reports will appear from around the globe, she warns, but says the rapid release of publications such as this, "is the first step in this critical process." Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory in the 1920 Trianon treaty and now aims to revive its past. The new Monument of National Solidarity is directly in line with the main entrance of parliament Image copyrightTamas Wachsler/Flickr Exactly 100 years ago, in the Trianon palace at Versailles, two medium-ranking Hungarian officials signed away two thirds of their country, and 3.3 million of their compatriots. A new monument has appeared in the past weeks in front of parliament in Budapest, among many already erected by Viktor Orban's government to Hungary's past glories. For Hungary the 1920 treaty was a national wound that still festers to this day. Mr Orban's message to the world is that Hungary must now be respected. For his critics, he has dug deeper into that wound. What Hungary lost in the Treaty of Trianon As the Austro-Hungarian empire fell apart at the end of World War One, historic Hungary was forced to cede what is now Slovakia, Vojvodina, Croatia, part of Slovenia, Ruthenia, the Burgenland and Transylvania to the new states of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, to a much-enlarged Romania, and even to Austria, a fellow loser in the war. US President Woodrow Wilson's proposal for the self-determination of all national minorities was valid for everyone, except Hungary. National groups, which had long felt oppressed by the Hungarians, claimed their own sovereignty while Hungarians found themselves suddenly divided among several states. Mainland Hungary was shaken from 1918 to 1921 by violence perpetrated both by occupying troops and by Hungarians against each other. Four months of communist "Red Terror" in 1919 was followed by the "White Terror", carried out by Adm Miklos Horthy's National Army militia. Horthy was regent from 1920-44 and later refused to apologise for the atrocities, arguing that "only an iron broom can sweep the country clean". Attempts to revise Trianon through the 1920s and 30s led directly to Hungarian participation in World War Two on the side of Nazi Germany. Hitler was the only European statesman who offered them the return of territory. What is the point of the new monument? A national trench, or tomb, shelves gently beneath street level directly in line with the main entrance of parliament in Budapest. Stainless steel letters depict the names of all the towns and villages of historic Hungary according to their size in the last, pre-war census in 1910. At the centre of the hard granite Monument of National Solidarity, is an eternal flame. The anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon is a difficult balancing act for the Orban government. By pursuing alliances with the governments of Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, Mr Orban is fond of saying that Hungary has broken out of its "hundred years of solitude". What do the neighbours think? But Romania, Ukraine, and to a certain extent Austria, watch his actions with distrust. Romania will this year celebrate the Trianon Treaty officially for the first time. "All these years we took note of the many political statements coming from Budapest, which were very offensive for Romania," former Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean told the BBC. He proposed the legislation, passed by the Romanian Parliament, to celebrate Trianon day. "I do not understand why the Romanians should be shy of marking what was fundamental for their history, because we don't want to offend anyone." Apart from the monument, the Hungarian parliament will hold a commemorative session. Church bells will be rung. And at 16:30 (14:30 GMT), at the request of liberal Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony - a fierce opponent of Viktor Orban - all transport will grind to a halt in the capital, as people observe a minute's silence. A new musical will be performed in the Operett theatre, entitled They Tore It Apart. Nationalist group "Our Homeland" will distribute black armbands. "We don't need to forget Trianon. That would be impossible," said the opposition Democratic Coalition party in a statement. "But mourning about Trianon can no longer be the focus of Hungarian politics, because, apart from the fact it leads nowhere, it paralyses, makes it incapable of action, it also consumes the moral and political power of the homeland." "No other nation or country could have survived what happened to us 100 years ago. And we should be really proud of our existence," government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told the BBC. BBC POlice officers stand guard in downtown Las Vegas on June 1, 2020, during a protest against the killing of George Floyd Three far-right extremists arrested by an anti-terror unit at Las Vegas protests over the killing of an African American man by police were charged Wednesday with inciting violence, officials said. The men allegedly belong to the "Boogaloo" movement, which has adopted Hawaiian shirts as a uniform and which promotes "a coming civil war and/or collapse of society," said a Nevada federal prosecutor. The US has been roiled by nationwide protests against the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. The demonstrations have been largely peaceful but many have broken down into violence and looting after nightfall. "Violent instigators have hijacked peaceful protests and demonstrations across the country, including Nevada, exploiting the real and legitimate outrage over Mr. Floyd's death for their own radical agendas," said the Nevada prosecutor, Nicholas Trutanich. Reports of far-right activists, sometimes heavily armed, infiltrating the protests over the past week have included several claiming to be part of the "Boogaloo" movement. Stephen Parshall, 35, Andrew Lynam, 23, and William Loomis, 40, all live in Las Vegas where they were arrested on Saturday by an anti-terror unit headed by the FBI. They were in possession of a Molotov cocktail when they were detained, Trutanich said. If convicted on federal charges the men face up to 30 years in prison. They were also indicted on terrorism conspiracy and other charges by state officials. 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 Gov. Tom Wolf will appoint a watchdog and create a commission to investigate alleged misconduct by the Pennsylvania State Police and other law enforcement agencies under his purview, he announced Thursday. But additional reform including changing when officers can use deadly force, improving access to body-camera footage, and strengthening oversight of hundreds of municipal departments statewide will need approval from the Republican-controlled legislature. The executive action comes in response to calls by legislative Democrats to adopt reforms after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Today, Im taking steps to address concerns about long-standing violence and oppression against Pennsylvanians of color, Wolf said at a news conference. This is a call for reflection, improvement, and most of all learning. We must rise to the challenge because too many people have lost faith in our public safety institutions and in our institutions, in general. The head of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association said in a statement that Wolfs Thursday announcement made it seem as if its members and all state law enforcement are no better than those charged with Mr. Floyds death. This is clear when he ignored his own order and marched in Harrisburg this week during a pandemic with people holding signs that read, Blue Lives Murder,' president David Kennedy said, referencing Wolfs participation in a march and demonstration Wednesday. Wolf told reporters that he did not condone the sign and that he thinks the State Police are doing a fine job. The order also applies to the Department of Corrections, the Capitol Police, and probation and parole officers. This is not an effort to point a finger, he said. Its an effort to build trust. Among the other actions announced Thursday, Wolf said he will direct all law enforcement academies to review curriculum and revise use-of-force training. He also backed the efforts of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, which earlier this week proposed dozens of changes to how law enforcement is trained, disciplined, and overseen. The proposed measures are similar to those introduced after a police officer outside Pittsburgh shot and killed Antwon Rose II, an unarmed teen, in 2018. Those bills have not been taken up by the GOP-majority House and Senate. Attorney General Josh Shapiro, with the heads of Philadelphia and Pittsburghs police departments as well as police union leaders, announced their support for legislation that would create a database of disciplinary actions that law enforcement agencies would access when making hiring decisions. Officers who engage in misconduct or use excessive force erode trust in law enforcement and make it harder for our communities to be and feel safe," the group which includes Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert, and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association said in a statement released by Shapiros office. When they leave an agency or retire in lieu of termination, that record needs to go with them. We stand united in calling for reform of the hiring process so that law enforcement agencies have the information to make informed decisions about the personnel they hire. Shapiro told Spotlight PA the endorsement is the result of months of bringing lawmakers of color and law enforcement representatives together to address reform. I realized they had never sat down and talked to one another, he said. It was really stunning to me that they had never sat down and had a real dialogue. ... As we discussed this idea of a registry, there seemed to be the seed of a possible agreement. The six months of work paid off Thursday, Shapiro said, when he called Roses mother. It was an incredibly emotional discussion, and I told her that I will never forget Antwon and that his legacy will lead to this reform, and he will always be remembered as having done something that helped others," Shapiro said. There are already proposals in the House and Senate to create such a database. The Senates version, introduced by Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny), has been sitting in committee since March 2019. The House measure, from Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia), has been waiting almost as long for consideration. Rabb said it will be politically hard for Republicans to back away from the measure now that it has been endorsed by the statewide and Philadelphia chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. If this leads to the enactment of a policy that can end the phenomena of police officers with checkered pasts taking the lives of black men and others, then this can create an opportunity for us to rebuild the public integrity of institutions that have been stained by indifference, he said. Mike Straub, a spokesperson for House Republicans, said lawmakers strongly condemn acts of racism and violence and thanked law enforcement. We are inspired by the conversations occurring between police officers, law enforcement leaders, and community members across our commonwealth, he said. In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre) said his caucus is "committed to engaging in a constructive conversation about how we move forward together. 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. Hong Kong riot police fire tear gas on protesters May 24 during a pro-democracy demonstration against Beijing's national security law. (Vincent Yu / Associated Press ) Thursday is the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protest. Chinas hostility to democracy along with Hong Kongs future is again under the international spotlight. The Beijing government last week approved a new national security law aimed at preventing any sedition, subversion, secession, treason and foreign interference in Hong Kong, a world financial hub. On Monday, the Hong Kong government for the first time banned the annual vigil to honor those killed at Tiananmen Square. The new security law has attracted widespread international condemnation. In response, President Trump has announced that he plans to revoke Hong Kongs special trade status, which has allowed the U.S. to treat Hong Kong separately from mainland China in terms of trade and financial transactions. Last year, Congress enacted the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, with the support of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, which requires the State Department to conduct annual reviews of the citys autonomous status to justify its special trading status. Last week, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo declared that Hong Kong no longer has a high degree of autonomy from China. But in truth, China has been gradually eroding the autonomy of Hong Kong over the last two decades, despite the "one country, two systems" structure. Thats why I do not believe that the new security law will necessarily result in more crackdowns by China on political dissenters and dissidents in Hong Kong. The new law largely formalizes Beijings already aggressive intervention in Hong Kongs political and economic affairs. It provides legal justifications for the repressive acts that were conducted covertly in the past, such as the mysterious disappearance of booksellers or the use of thugs and gangsters to attack pro-democracy activists. The Chinese national security agencies (the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security) may formally set up shop to exert direct control over Hong Kong rather than through ongoing behind-the-scenes collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force, or the Chinese Communist Partys ties with thuggish United Front organizations, which are grass-roots groups allied with the mainland. Covert actions that took place in the middle of the night or in dark alleys may now be conducted legally and in broad daylight. The tactics used may change with the new law, but the intensity of repression may not. Story continues What concerns me, however, is the laws deterrent effect on peoples behavior, rather than actual coercion by the government. The new law will rule by fear protesters are likely to think twice before going out to the streets. Already, there have been reports of young activists deleting social media accounts, corporations banning employees from taking part in any public assembly, and spikes in emigration inquiries. We should expect an exodus of talent from Hong Kong to safer environments where they will be better protected. In some ways, this will make Hong Kong look more like Singapore, where freedom of expression is largely curtailed because of self-censorship and draconian laws that punish fake-news spreaders and dissidents alike. Ironically, the Trump administrations revocation of Hong Kongs special trade status may deal a real blow to the city, but will not necessarily hurt Beijing. Revocation of special status works like sanctions, which can be a double-edged sword. The size of Hong Kongs economy as a portion of the mainlands has declined from 18% in 1997 to 3% today. Nonetheless, the city remains the preferred venue for mainland Chinese companies to raise capital, for Chinese multinationals to base their regional headquarters, and for American corporations to enter the Chinese market because of its favorable tariffs, better accounting and legal treatments and looser visa requirements. Instead of summarily revoking the trading status, the Trump administration would be wiser to make the withdrawal a perpetual threat, one that could make Beijing leaders think twice before strangling Hong Kong any further. A complete rescission now would make Hong Kong like any other Chinese city. How would that help to protect its autonomy and bring about greater democracy? Lynette H. Ong is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. @onglynette A plan offered by Gov. Phil Murphy for New Jerseys state government to make up for massive losses in tax revenue with up to $14 billion in borrowing passed the state Assembly on Thursday but still lacks support from state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. The measure cleared the lower house in a 51-28 vote along party lines, as Democrats said borrowing is needed to avert massive public worker layoffs and Republicans warned residents will face tax increases to support the new debt and Murphys administration should pursue deeper spending cuts. The state treasurer has lowered by $10 billion how much tax revenue the state may collect through next summer. The coronavirus pandemic crisis and business closures ordered to slow its spread have spurred an economic crisis thats slammed state tax collections, including personal income taxes, sales taxes and taxes on corporate income. State Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio projected the state will record about $2.7 billion in tax losses this year, a gap shes proposed to plug by cutting $1.3 billion in spending and tapping the states meager reserves. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The administration forecast also predicts tax collections will be $7.2 billion lower next year than the $41.2 billion included the budget Murphy proposed earlier this year. The gap is smaller by billions of dollars if the new estimate for next year is compared against this years $38.7 billion budget. Murphy, a Democrat, says the state would have to to make draconian cuts and historic layoffs if the Democratic-controlled state Legislature doesnt agree to its borrowing plan and the federal government doesnt come through with more aid. The governor pegs the number of public worker layoffs at 200,000 under the worst case scenario. Its as huge step forward, Murphy said of the Assembly vote during his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton. Bonding is not something we all wake up reflexively wanting to do. But the alternative is devastation for our front line workers, the very people we need at their positions and posts ... health care workers to firefighters, police, educators, EMS and everybody in between. Thats a big step in the right direction. The administration is seeking authorization to issue $5 billion in general obligation bonds in the public or private markets, and to have the ability to borrow up to $9 billion from the Federal Reserve. But officials say they dont anticipate borrowing the full amount. Muoio would not say during a hearing before the Assembly and Senate budget committees how much debt administration planned to take on, but that Our intention is to borrow only as much as absolutely necessary. Republicans on Thursday said they will sue or join a lawsuit to stop the borrowing if the plan is passed by the Senate and signed by Murphy. They warned the borrowing could spur a property tax increase or a wealth tax Murphy has long supported raising taxes on income over $1 million. Assembly Minority leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, who is considering a run for governor next year, said he believes Murphy is in a panic mode by presenting a $5 billion bonding proposal to the Legislature without really looking at the numbers and analyzing what other options are available. They want to take money from future generations to pay for ordinary expenses today, and to do that, theyre going to back that up with a property tax, added Assemblyman Jay Webber, R-Morris. Murphy later said its just the opposite. He said if the state does not borrow and the federal government does not come up with added aid, local governments would have no choice but to raise property taxes" to keep providing services. However, if the state borrows on behalf of municipalities and they are are required to reimburse the state to pay back the debt, they are allowed raise property taxes for that expenditure. The bill, which has not been taken up by the state Senate, would authorize Murphy to take out up to $9 billion in loans from the Federal Reserve for a term of up to three years for the state directly and also on behalf of local governments that cant access the lending program on their own. That would be in addition to the $5 billion in general obligation bonds. The state would pay the Federal Reserve 2.8 percent in interest, based on its credit rating and the Feds pricing grid. The bill permits the administration to refinance those bonds on the public or private markets before they come due. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, who called the vote on bill, said that while borrowing is not ideal, the state is in an economic tsunami that requires an extraordinary action. New Jersey is not alone in pursuing borrowing to close budget deficits. Illinois is taking out a one year, $1.2 billion loan from the Federal Reserve. The ratings houses have warned increasing the states debt load may worsen the credit outlook for New Jersey, which already has the fourth highest debt per capita among the states. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. NJ Advance Media staff writer Sophie Nieto-Munoz contributed to this report. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. New Delhi, June 4 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is thinking out of the box when it comes to politics. The party has begun the exercise of giving big responsibilities to its leaders through the process of interviews. It started with the appointment of Adesh Kumar Gupta as the Delhi unit president. Reliable sources in the party told IANS that in March, 15 leaders of Delhi had visited the party's national headquarter here for interviews. After the feedback from interviews, the BJP finally put the seal of approval on the name of Gupta. The BJP has devised this formula to choose the state president for the first time as part of a well thought out strategy. In fact, this exercise was carried out to instil confidence among grassroots leaders and activists associated with the party that it does not crown anyone with veto power but gives an equal chance to all to move ahead in the party hierarchy. With this intention, BJP"s national president J.P. Nadda gave the responsibility of conducting the interviews to general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao. Interviews were held for the Delhi party president from March 1 to 15 in the office of Rao at the BJP's national headquarters. Some interviews took place before Holi while some were held post Holi. All seven Lok Sabha MPs from Delhi were called first. After this, the MLAs were given a chance. Then state level vice-president, general secretary, secretary and spokesperson were called for interviews, scheduled for each level of the party post. A senior BJP leader who was involved in the whole exercise told IANS that P. Muralidhar Rao had given 15 minutes to each office bearer. First he asked about their opinion on the three-year term of Manoj Tiwari. Then he asked if there is a need for change of leadership in Delhi, if so then why? There was also a question of what qualities should the BJP's Delhi president have to face Arvind Kejriwal. After this, he asked who of the leaders of Delhi have the ability to become state president on the basis of these qualities. Rao during the whole exercise tried to gauge the mood of the leaders who gave the interview whether they want to become the state president. If someone expressed a wish, then he would ask him, what will you do if you become the state president? Party sources said that with this formula, Rao compiled a list of the names of the leaders suggested by everyone by delving into their hearts and minds. Sources say that most of the leaders of Delhi who came for the interview were of the opinion that some MPs, MLAs and senior leaders in the state unit are involved in factionalism. They suggested that a new face, who is not associated with any faction should be given the chance to lead the party in the national capital. Party sources said that the top leadership surprised everyone by brainstorming on the name of Adesh Gupta, former mayor of north Delhi, as Delhi Pradesh President. When IANS spoke to another leader of the BJP's Delhi unit, he said that the interview was an attempt to get the opinion of party leaders about the new Delhi state president. However, this leader also said that it cannot be said with one hundred per cent confidence that the name of Gupta emerged from the same interview process. Given the current pandemic situation, Kaspersky Lab will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan by providing its free cybersecurity solution to Kaspersky Small Office Security until September 2020, regional representative of Kaspersky Lab in Azerbaijan, Mushvig Mammadov told local media. The Kaspersky Lab is currently active in Azerbaijan in providing the most advanced solutions on cybersecurity to local companies operating in various fields - from SMEs to large industrial companies and financial organizations, said Mammadov. Besides, we provide a 50-percent discount on our Automated Security Awareness Platform (ASAP) online platform for training employees of companies in the field of cybersecurity, he added. Mammadov noted that other company programs are also operating in Azerbaijan to support medical, educational and scientific institutions. Kaspersky Lab is an international company working in the field of information security since 1997. In-depth expert knowledge and many years of experience of the company are the basis of new generation of protective solutions and services that ensure business security, critical infrastructure, the activities of government bodies and ordinary users. The comprehensive portfolio of Kaspersky Lab includes advanced products for protecting end devices, as well as a number of specialized solutions and services to deal with complex and constantly evolving cyber threats. The company's technologies protect the activities of more than 400 million users and 250,000 corporate customers worldwide. 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 A staff member at Deering Nursing and Rehabilitation tested positive for coronavirus, according to a press release from Ector County. The state-mandated testing occurred at Deering on May 19 and results came back May 21. Results showed 100 percent negative results from residents and staff. The nursing home is working with local health authorities to determine a re-testing plan to investigate the full spread of the outbreak, according to the release. In the meantime, residents are having their temperature checked three times a day and have been provided information on how to self-monitor then report symptoms to a nursing team member. Staff members are screened upon arrival for their shift. Durham, NC - In the search for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, mesenchymal stem cells and their derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) offer much promise, thanks to their protective and anti-inflammatory properties. The results from a new study done on mice, released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, strengthens this idea by showing for the first time that MSC-EVs delivered by way of the nasal passages reduce inflammation - believed to be a prime factor in Alzheimer's disease. They also trigger actions that guard the brain's neurons against further degenerative effects. The study, led by Silvia Coco, Ph.D., at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, lays the foundation for future studies that might point the way to a cure for this devastating disease. Alzheimer's is an irreversible degeneration of the brain that causes disruptions in memory, cognition, personality and other functions that eventually lead to death. Worldwide, 50 million people are believed to be living with Alzheimer's or other dementias, according to a 2018 report by Alzheimer's Disease International, with the cost of care estimated at over US $1 trillion. While abnormal protein buildups in the brain called amyloid plaques are thought to play a central role in Alzheimer's disease, mounting evidence suggests that inflammation is key to its development, too. This raises the need to target the brain's immune cells as a way to slow down the disease's progression. MSC-EVs' beneficial effects in regulating inflammation seen in Alzheimer's have already been reported in some different studies on mice. This is due to the ability of MSCs to modulate the body's immune system, which in turn is believed to result from the release of EVs. These nanosized, membrane-bound vesicles transport cargo -- including DNA, RNA, and proteins -- between cells as a form of intercellular communication. They also are thought to rid the cell of damaging substances. In the earlier studies, MSC-EVs were administered either intravenously or directly into the fluid within the chambers of the brain (cerebral ventricles) over an extended period of weeks or months. That is where this latest study differs. Administration of the MSC-EVs was done through the nasal passages, with dosing occurring over a much shorter period of time. "We believed that the possibility to administer MSC-EVs through a non-invasive route and the demonstration of their anti-inflammatory efficacy might accelerate the chance of exploiting MSC-EVs to treat Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Coco said. The team conducted their study both in vitro (outside a living organism) and in vivo (within a living organism). They began by collecting MSCs from the bone marrow of healthy human donors and preconditioning them with proteins called cytokines, to increase the MSCs' anti-inflammatory abilities and boost their release of EVs. For the in vitro segment of their study, they added the resulting MSC-EVs to microglia - cells that mediate immune responses in the central nervous system and, as such, are targets in Alzheimer's - isolated from newborn C57BL/6 mice. (These mice are specially bred to be used in studying diseases including Alzheimer's.) The applications were done at intervals of two and 24 hours. The results were then analyzed 48 hours after the final application. For the in vivo portion of the study, the research team administered two doses of MSC-EVs to a group of 7-month-old female mice with Alzheimer's. The applications were done through the nasal passages, with the second dose occurring just 18 hours after the first. When they assessed the results 21 days later, they found that, just as they had seen with the in vitro experiments, the MSC-EVs had dampened the activation of the microglia cells in the mice brains and increased the density of dendritic spines (structures in the brain that provide cognitive resilience). "We believe that the striking aspect of our study resides in the fact that the observed effects were achieved by only two intranasal injections of MSC-EVs delivered just hours apart," Dr. Coco said. "This might possibly have occurred because EVs delivered intranasally could reach higher levels than those delivered by other methods." "Our results strengthen the view that mechanisms of action other than removal of amyloid plaques from the brain should deserve a great attention when treating Alzheimer's," she added. "Undoubtedly, the possibility of obtaining greater effects by repeated intranasal injections has to be considered and will be a matter for future experiments." "There are several important findings from this study. In the attempt to find a possible cure for Alzheimer's disease, mesenchymal stem cells and their derived extracellular vesicles are being investigated for therapeutic purposes thanks to their protective and anti-inflammatory properties," said Anthony Atala, MD, Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. "The results from this study present an opportunity for potentially effective therapies to be tested by human pilot clinical trials. This work is worthy to progress forward." ### The full article, "Intranasal delivery of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles exerts immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects in a 3xTg model of Alzheimer's disease," can be accessed at https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sctm.19-0327. About STEM CELLS Translational Medicine: STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM), co-published by AlphaMed Press and Wiley, is a monthly peer-reviewed publication dedicated to significantly advancing the clinical utilization of stem cell molecular and cellular biology. By bridging stem cell research and clinical trials, SCTM will help move applications of these critical investigations closer to accepted best practices. SCTM is the official journal partner of Regenerative Medicine Foundation. About AlphaMed Press: Established in 1983, AlphaMed Press with offices in Durham, NC, San Francisco, CA, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, publishes two other internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals: STEM CELLS, celebrating its 38th year, is the world's first journal devoted to this fast paced field of research. The Oncologist, also a monthly peer-reviewed publication, entering its 25th year, is devoted to community and hospital-based oncologists and physicians entrusted with cancer patient care. All three journals are premier periodicals with globally recognized editorial boards dedicated to advancing knowledge and education in their focused disciplines. About Wiley: Wiley, a global company, helps people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Our online scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, combined with our digital learning, assessment and certification solutions, help universities, learned societies, businesses, governments and individuals increase the academic and professional impact of their work. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to our stakeholders. The company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. About Regenerative Medicine Foundation (RMF): The non-profit Regenerative Medicine Foundation fosters strategic collaborations to accelerate the development of regenerative medicine to improve health and deliver cures. RMF pursues its mission by producing its flagship World Stem Cell Summit, honouring leaders through the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Action Awards, and promoting educational initiatives. RJ Balaji on Thursday took to Twitter to share glimpses from the sets of his directorial debut Mookuthi Amman. The pictures feature South superstar Nayanthara, who is playing the titular role in the upcoming film. The movie was slated to release in the month of May but the same has been deferred due to the pandemic. Balaji is jointly directing the film with N J Saravanan. In the snaps, Nayanthara can be seen all-decked up as Goddess Amman as she poses for the lens with Bajali. The devotional film will see Balaji portray the character of a middle-class guy, who has three sisters. Sharing the pictures, RJ Balaji wrote, Working stills. The makers have resumed the post-production work for the film after getting a nod from the state government. In an interview with sify.com, Balaji told Mookuthi Amman will only be released in theaters once moviegoers are ready to visit cinema halls. Nayanthara was last seen in Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar. She will also be seen in romantic-comedy Kaathu Vaakula and Rendu Kadhal. The Vigensh Shivans directorial also features Samantha Akkineni and Vijay Sethupathi. The film will see Nayanthara and Samantha share the screen space for the first time. It is also for the second time where Vignesh, Vijay and Nayanthara are teaming up for a film. The trio had earlier worked together for 2015 released "Naanum Rowdy Dhaan". With four members of the Rajya Sabha retiring on June 25, the race to replace them has become hectic in Karnataka with lobbying in both national parties the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress intensifying. Two Congress members B K Hariprasad and Prof M V Rajeev Gowda are retiring, while BJPs Prabhakar Kore and Janata Dal (Secular)s D Kupendra Reddys term also ends. Given the current composition in the 224 member Karnataka assembly, where BJP has 117 MLAs while Congress has 68 and JD(S) has 34, with three independents and two seats being vacant, the BJP can elect two Rajya Sabha MPs while Congress can send one but with extra votes to spare and JD(S) - if it manages additional votes, can elect one person. For a member to be elected to the RS from Karnataka, they would require 44 votes. So, the BJP can comfortably elect two members, with votes to spare. While Prabhakar Kore an education baron, is keen for another term the BJP is unlikely to oblige given that he has already has served two consecutive terms. Tejaswini the wife of former union minister Anant Kumar who narrowly missed out the Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat won by her husband for six consecutive terms is considered to be a key contender. Ramesh Katti, the brother of BJPs eight-term MLA Umesh Katti has publicly declared that Chief Minister Yediyurappa should keep his promise of sending him to the upper house of parliament. I have urged the CM to fulfill his promise of (sending me to the RS) he made last year when I was denied the Chikkodi Lok Sabha ticket, Ramesh Katti told HT. Umesh Katti is said to be unhappy at not being inducted into the cabinet and a recent meeting he held with some of the other unhappy rebels in the party created ripples. So the party may seriously consider his brothers candidature to mollify the Kattis. Another lesser known name doing the rounds is of Prof M Nagaraj said to be a Sangh ideologue from the northern Karnataka stronghold of BJP. North Karnataka legislators of the party have complained that while the party won bulk of the seats from this part of the state, representation in power has not reflected this. The BJP state-in-charge Muralidhara Rao himself is seen as a contender for one of the Rajya Sabha seats. Industrialist and media baron Vijay Sankeshwar a former three-term Lok Sabha member is also seen to be in the running. However, two surprising names which are doing the rounds from the BJP quota include Sudha Murthy noted philanthrophist and the wife of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and that of K V Kamath the former ICICI bank honcho. A senior BJP leader who did not want to be identified told HT, Ultimately it will be a call of the party high command in consultation with the Chief Minister, so from all the names doing the rounds while they might have aspirations, only the core committee will ultimately decide. In the lone seat that Congress can win, former leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge is seen as the front runner. The other names being mentioned include former union ministers K H Muniyappa and Veerpa Moily. Even B K Hari Prasad is keen on returning to the upper house but given his frosty relations with former CM Siddaramiah who wields considerable influence in the state unit; this may not come to pass. Muniyappa a seven term Member of Parliament speaking to HT said, I am not an aspirant and would gladly support any choice made by the high command. I am ready to work in the organization to bring the party back to power in the state. My only desire is that those who have stabbed the party in the back and helped BJP come to power should not get rewarded, indicating the divisions in the party. The Congress will have nearly 24 votes to spare and is likely to support JD(S) supremo and former PM Deve Gowda if he decides to contest. JD(S) needs 10 more votes to elect a member and in turn Congress is likely to seek the support of the regional party to elect one more MLC the elections for which are also round the corner. Political analyst Prof Harish Ramaswamy said that Yediyurappa will have to do a tight rope walk to ensure that he keeps all sections in the party happy while choosing the RS candidates. Congress and JD(S) are likely to reach an understanding as it will also enhance further ties between the two parties to jointly take on the BJP in the state. Two retired judges have called for a section of the Australian Constitution called the 'Races Power' to be changed because it is dangerous and outdated. The section of the Constitution allows for laws to be made that apply to a particular race of people, which critics have said has no place in modern Australia. Retired New South Wales Chief Justice James Spegelman, QC said the section is a 'very dangerous power' when wielded by the Commonwealth government. 'It can be focused on particular groups by reason of their presumed characteristics, rather than what their behaviour is or what their needs are, but just because of who they are,' he told the ABC. The races power in the Constitution has been criticised but has also been used to help establish organisations for the benefit of Indigenous Australians such as community health centres in the Northern Territory (pictured) one expert said Retired High Court Chief Justice Robert French went further, saying the term 'race' was no longer needed in the constitution at all. 'I think the term 'race' itself is a cultural construct whose day has passed and has very little factual referent apart from what you find in so-called cultural realities. And I think we'd be better off without it,' he said. The races power was written into the constitution in 1901 to regulate the migration of certain races to Australia, particularly Chinese and other Asian immigrants that had flooded Down Under during the gold rush. The section originally excluded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, but they were included after a referendum in 1967. Indigenous barrister Tony McAvoy, SC, told the publication that since then the races power has sometimes been used to help establish organisations for the benefit of Indigenous Australians. A poster urging Australians to give Indigenous people rights in the 1967 referendum He said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services. the Aboriginal Medical Service, and Aboriginal Housing companies were formed using the power. He said the section had 'made a significant change to the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been able to access services, to participate in society.' However, the power was also used as the basis for the Northern Territory intervention in 2007 in which police and army were deployed into the region - acquiring townships on native land and establishing curfews and restrictions on alcohol. Welfare payments were also amended which some critics argued was unfair to those who had been using them responsibly. Justice French would like to see the Constitution changed to allow the government to make laws for the benefit of Indigenous Australians based on their 'antecedent ownership' of the country rather than their race. For the Constitution to be changed a referendum must be held in which the majority of Australians vote in favour of the amendment. Mr McAvoy would also support such a change, arguing that while there are some people who think 'we're all here and we're all equal now and we should get on with it' there are others who understand the injustices inflicted on Indigenous Australians in the past and the need to remedy them. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 15:20:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BISHKEK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan reported 28 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking its total number of infections to 1,899. The country's deputy health minister Nurbolot Usenbaev said at his daily news briefing that the majority of the newly confirmed patients are citizens already under medical observation, with seven cases of unknown sources. Among the newly infected cases, seven are medical workers, taking the total number of infections among medical workers to 372, including 270 recoveries, he said. Meanwhile, 27 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 1,292, the official added. There are currently 587 patients in the country hospitalized for COVID-19, with three in the intensive care unit. In total, 1,953 people who have had contact with infected cases are under medical observation, and another 7,905 people are in home quarantine under the supervision of doctors. No deaths were recorded in the country in the last 24 hours, while the total number of fatalities remains at 20. Enditem Are you sitting? Good, because what I'm about to tell you is a lot to take in. In fact, it's a headline so strange that even "Florida Man" after a full day of doing "Florida Things" would still not be able to contain his shock: No, this wasn't a printing error that accidentally published a mad-lib found in a 7th-grader's notebook. A Spanish porn star that is seriously known as Nacho Vidal was arrested for poisoning and killing fashion photographer Jose Luis Abad with psychedelic toad venom. It's a piece of news that is as sad as it is strange, and it's made no less odd than by the fact that this is what Nacho regularly posts on his social media. Sure, we all need a phallic candle ("A perfect replica of Nacho Vidal's penis available in black, white or cerise") or two for the occasional bachelorette party or the very occasional kinky Passover Seder, but there's something highly disturbing about watching that dong melt away in light of the allegations against this guy for manslaughter. According to a police statement, "The police operation began following the victim's death during the celebration of a mystic ritual based on the inhalation of venom of the bufo alvarius toad." The Times has reported that there have been heated arguments in the White House about whether to invoke an 1807 law called the Insurrection Act that on its face provides broad authority to deploy the military. Trump also declared, I am mobilizing all available federal resources civilian and military to stop the rioting and looting. Think of that phrase: all available resources. In this annus horribilis, the United States has endured more than 100,000 deaths and 40 million jobs lost from the coronavirus. In response to those cataclysms, Trump responded lethargically and ineffectively: The American death rate from the virus is three times Germanys and the unemployment rate roughly four times Germanys. But in response to a week of protests and looting, Trump seeks to send in the Army? According to the Daily Beast, he even inquired about sending in tanks. The impulse to call in the military is perhaps rooted not only in his authoritarian instincts but also in something more personal. Trump seemed mortified at disclosures that when protesters approached the White House on Friday night he was rushed to an underground bunker; on Wednesday, he claimed instead that he went down more for an inspection. Embarrassment at his inspection trip seems to have fueled his desire to project toughness by using the United States armed forces as a prop. Most shamefully, Trumps aides dispatched federal forces to use rubber bullets, chemical irritants and flash bang grenades to clear peaceful, lawful protesters so that the president could indulge in a photo op at a nearby church. The churchs leaders were outraged, for those protesters had as much moral right to be there as Trump did. General Milley and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper accompanied Trump on this stroll, and Esper spoke of American cities as a battlespace. I spoke to several retired American commanders who were deeply troubled by this. I cannot remain silent, Admiral Mike Mullen, a much-respected former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in The Atlantic. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so. Even during a pandemic and tension between Houston area citizens and law enforcement, the Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership and its stakeholders continue to work toward solving waste issues within one of the largest bodies of water in the Greater Houston area. Addressing fecal waste in Cypress Creek: Watershed Partnership begins search for water quality solutions The Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership a group of community stakeholders working to reduce waste in the waterway have been meeting since July 2019 to develop a Cypress Creek Watershed Protection Plan to improve the water quality, which does not meet the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualitys standards for contact recreation. During a remote meeting of the Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership on May 28, members of the group recommended solutions. Possible solutions include installing pet waste stations, as pet waste was found to be the largest source of waste in the waterway; improved water testing; and reducing urban stormwater with increased natural infrastructure. On HoustonChronicle.com: Silent Spills: In Houston and beyond, Harveys spills leave a toxic legacy Our stakeholders came right to us and they brought us some ideas for this project that we thought were novel, Justin Bower, CCWP member and senior planner with the Houston-Galveston Area Council, said. At the last meeting we kind of introduced ideas and talked through what is a solution, how we go about it, how we prioritize things. In the meantime, we had some work group meetings where we talked more in-depth about if (ideas) are something that could potentially work here, what we need consider, whats the relative priority. While none of the suggested ideas have become confirmed solutions, partnering with local groups and coordinating with already ongoing efforts will aid the CCWP and other stakeholders in accomplishing their goals, Bower said. CCWP has partnered with the Harris County Flood Control District to create an implementation budget for their waste management plans. During recent CCWP meetings, stake holders were encouraged to discuss as many viable solutions as possible. This is a long-term project so theres some things, like as new development happens in the Katy Prairie, were working with developers to look at preserving our riparian areas, Bower said. That isnt a right-now solution even though there are opportunities. Other recommended solutions for reducing the waste in the Cypress Creek Watershed include increased trapping and hunting of wild hogs, restoring habitat for other wildlife destroyed by said feral hogs and collaborating with landowners to initiate projects that local government can fund and focus on. The CCWP plans to discuss how to move forward with solutions during a July meeting, which had not yet been scheduled as of June 4. I think that as a project, were trying very hard to draw a good balance between not putting too much on our stakeholders are dealing with other things. Bower said. We all need to continue this coordination even understanding that theres some short-term stuff, both COVID-19 and the very understandable and long simmering outrage thats boiling over in a lot of cities. Theres definitely a lot tension but were going to need to think about the short-term features of this. Its kind of a hard balance. For more information, or to send suggestion to the Cypress Creek Watershed Partnership, visit https://cypresspartnership.weebly.com/. chevall.pryce@chron.com Like the rest of the country, my husband, kids and I are living in a cocoon, with time off for daily walks, occasional runs to the grocery store and, if we are feeling brave, to Costco. Who knew a global pandemic would consist of so much ordinary mundanity, the world stripped of the things that give it life and flavour? And by that, I mean other people. I. Am. So. Bored. The only thing that breaks the monotony are texts, phone calls, Zoom or FaceTime chats, which appear like messages in a bottle washed up on the shore of the Jalaluddin-Merchant Island of Social Distancing. My family and friends have embraced online video communication with great enthusiasm, arranging group calls on the regular. We Zoom, we FaceTime, we WhatsApp video, and our comfort with video-talking has grown with every passing lockdown day. Video-talk has also given me a bit of a complex surely I cant be the only one who finds it strange to talk to another person while simultaneously watching video of yourself talking? Also, I know the most flattering angle is to be filmed from above, but I dont have that kind of upper body strength. On the plus side, the low resolution does a great job hiding blemishes. Basically, were all social media mavens now. And if my family is any indication, we are all in desperate need of a tutorial on video conferencing. As someone who is not technologically savvy, Ive had to school myself, and fast. Over the past few months Ive learned how to Zoom/Google-meet in front of family, friends, and even during speaking engagements with university classes, a writers seminar, a virtual mosque, and my own students. Here are some practical tips from someone who has been there, done that, and remains aggressively mediocre: Tip 1: Put someone in charge. And maybe a second-in-command for good measure. What happens when you put a group of thirty Hyderabadi Indians in a virtual room together? Lots of noise, thats what. My family thought it would be a great idea to use the pandemic shutdown as an excuse to have a virtual family reunion, with cousins and aunts and uncles joining from across three continents and several time zones. The result was a lot of fun, and a lot of chaos, as we all spoke over each other, or didnt speak at all, or made faces at the screen, or laughed quietly to ourselves, and spoke in different languages, and tried to keep track of how we were all related, and the names of everyones kids. Do yourself a favour and appoint a moderator, a designated shusher, whose job it is to keep the conversation flowing, to mute/silence the big-talkers and let everyone have a turn All of this is based on the assumption that your family is the listening kind (were not, but best of luck to you). Tip 2: Keep it short Platforms like Zoom were developed as corporate and educational tools, designed for meetings and one-way teaching, not loud simultaneous talking. So when scheduling your Zoom meeting, focus on the meeting part. Besides, after months of social isolation, I find myself easily overstimulated by simple things like talking to anyone outside my immediate family, or direct sunlight so keep it short. Tip 3: Have a purpose The best Zoom hang I had was organized by a friend, who designed a slide show of pictures from happier days, and then we played a fun game called Psych on our phones. I generally hate games, but I enjoyed this one. Which just goes to show you the sort of far-reaching consequences long-term social isolation has had. The reason this meeting worked was because there was an agenda, a visual component, and an interactive part, on top of simply catching up. Tip 4: Be aware of the generational divide In my family, the limits to video conference have fallen along distinctly generational lines. As in, my kids want nothing to do with it, and my parents are still figuring out how to turn on the landscape mode on their cell phones. My sons would prefer to send funny memes to their friends instead of video conferencing, and my parents spent one Zoom meeting trying to figure out how to turn on their laptop camera. All of which is fine, because video-chatting is certainly not for everyone, regardless of age. Its simply another tool that many of us have been forced to become proficient at, in order to cope with the unexpected realities of living through a pandemic. I miss being able to talk to someone without worrying they might carry COVID-19, instead of just coffee breath. I miss being able to meet up FOR coffee, but with video-conferencing, at least were talking. No doubt this lockdown would have been even more difficult ten, or twenty years ago. So if youre having a hard day, pick up your phone or laptop and reach out for a quick chat to family or friends. Stay safe everyone were all in this together. Read more about: Click here to read the full article. In a moment defined by uncertainty, the search for innovative, efficient solutions seems to become more urgent than ever for fashion and luxury brands that want to safeguard and even grow their businesses during the global economic downturn caused by the coronavirus. When it comes to finding practical solutions to problems, digital start-ups are increasingly appearing to be the right partners to help established, in many cases very traditional, companies navigate the future. More from WWD In this period, Ive really seen that brands are actively looking for digital solutions, which a few months ago would have found many difficulties to be considered by the market, said Giusy Cannone, chief executive officer of Fashion Technology Accelerator. Companies have finally understood the potential of digital solutions, which have become a priority. Before the crisis, the problem was not technological, but cultural. The digital transformation of Italian companies has always been a weakness in the economic development of our country. In light of the expected and upcoming economic crisis, the current emergency has shown two main things: first of all, the digitalization of companies processes and operations is fundamental to face the fast global market, which is also richer than our domestic one; second, the start-ups leading the world economy were all born in countries which significantly invested in innovation and technology, noted Alessandro Sordi, cofounder of digital start-ups accelerator Nana Bianca. For this reason, we hope that, compatibly with the end of the health emergency, an important part of the investments will be destined to the sector of innovation, where start-ups are our bastions of hope. Matching heritage and innovation to become more contemporary is the goal that Stefania Lazzaroni, general manager of Italian luxury association Altagamma, believes should be a top priority for the countrys high-end companies. Because of the COVID-19 emergency, luxury brands will take three years to recover from the crisis, said Lazzaroni, during Startupbootcamps recent FashionTech Global Summit, held digitally in collaboration with several brands, including Prada and Stone Island. To face the crisis, they will have to focus on three main elements: investing in digitalization; learning more about consumers, which will be mostly come from China, and focus on environmental sustainability. Story continues In keeping with this, for example, the Salvatore Ferragamo company teamed up with Fashion Technology Accelerator on the Circularity Ideathon 2020, which gave 25 groups of students and young entrepreneurs the chance to attend workshops and develop projects offering solutions based on the circular economy. The five projects that made it to the finals were presented late last month during a virtual event. A jury that included Salvatore Ferragamo chief executive officer Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi, fashion designer Paula Cademartori and Matteo Ward, cofounder of sustainable fashion startup Wrad, named the Animo project, which focused on an innovative way to communicate sustainability with a focus on Gen Z, the winner of the program. The winning groups team leader, Giovanni Bertolini, will have the opportunity to do an internship at Salvatore Ferragamo. Because of the likely global recession, which will see reductions in budgets and travel, Luca Solca, senior research analyst, global luxury goods at Bernstein, highlighted the importance for brands to use technology not only to boost their online business but also to harness the power of data to find new ways to attack strategies. According to Cannone, currently the fashion world isnt that attractive for funds that want to invest in start-ups. Investors are now more attracted by innovative solutions in the fields of e-learning, smart working, health and wellness, as well as food delivery, she said. However, as a survey released by Deloitte highlighted, the world of luxury actually seems to be still highly appealing for investors, especially when it comes to digital luxury. In particular, the Global Fashion & Luxury Private Equity and Investors Survey 2020 showed that 57 percent of strategic and financial investors plan to make investments in disruptive technologies this year with a focus on IoT services, big data and analytics, as well as artificial intelligence. These financial injections would be crucial for the future of digital startups which, as Cannone highlighted, due to their small size in most cases suffer from a scarcity of liquidity. The world of start-ups is made of small companies, which are very flexible, and in several cases, during the emergency, managed to convert their business to meet the current needs of the market, said Cannone, pointing out that its not all fun and games in the world of tech innovation. But, not all that glitters is gold, and most of these digital start-ups have a problem of liquidity. During the first two or three years, they make no revenues and if in a moment like this they dont succeed at adjusting their business to the market, they go bankrupt. But what are the most imminent challenges that the fashion and luxury industry needs to face? Now more than ever, converting traffic on web sites and social media into actual sales seems a priority, as well as effectively engaging buyers and customers in the new virtual showroom and retail environments. In addition, companies are trying to rationalize production, costs and sourcing to decrease waste, be more efficient and promote more sustainable business models. Here, WWD offers a roundup of the most promising global startups offering concrete solutions to these priority issues. VIRTUAL SHOWROOMS Launched in 2018 by Aileen Carville, who cut her teeth in the sales and PR departments of global luxury brands, Skmmp offers a interactive wholesale ordering management system by building customized virtual showrooms for both fashion houses and multi-brand showrooms. Offering multiple currency interfaces and discounting functionality, Skmmp, in 2019, also introduced SMARTShowroom, guaranteeing a voice artificial intelligence order experience within the virtual showrooms. In order to offer buyers a more immersive, accurate experience, Skmmp employs holograms of models to show the fit and sizing of the collections. With a career background that includes stints in the engineering and product departments of Google and Vogue, Neha Singh launched Obsess with the goal of bringing the engaging experience of the physical world into the digital one. Using augmented and virtual reality technologies, Obsess is a software platform that enables brands and retailers to offer 3-D shopping experiences on the web sites, mobile apps and social media channels. With most buying appointments canceled due to the coronavirus emergency and the revisited structure of fashion weeks, Obsess now offers 360-degree immersive showrooms, which can be easily access through a phone or a computer with no extra tools. With the majority of trade shows canceled or postponed and travel significantly limited, Italian startup BSamply, founded by Andrea Fiume, becomes a useful tool for textile companies to showcase their collections to brands. An easy to approach, intuitive digital platform, BSamply enables weavers to upload up to 1,000 produces, which clients can analyze, order and buy. E-COMMERCE EXPERIENCE Founded in Barcelona by Silvia Bardani, Viume uses artificial intelligence technologies to offer software for commerce platforms enabling them to offer customers a selection of products based on individualized recommendations. Using image recognition and self-adaptive algorithms, Viume mainly offers a recommender system, automatic tagging and digital stylist services. Aiming at keeping return costs low and customer satisfaction high, EasySize is a Danish start-up founded by Gulnaz Khusainova. Helping brands and multibrand stores reduce overconsumption and overstocking items which wont sell or are destined to be returned, through sophisticated algorithms, EasySize which has already been adopted by a range of brands, including Am Paris and Freshcotton offers final customers accurate size and fit recommendations and gives online stores customer feedback metrics in real-time. EVENTS Believing that less is more, Penguinpass offers an easy to approach service for event management, enabling users to quickly create save the dates, collect confirmations and digitally execute the check-in phase. The service has been used by a range of leading institutions and companies, including trade shows Micam and Cosmoprof and luxury labels, such as Fendi and Moschino. During the COVID-19 emergency, Penguinpass launched the service for digital events, targeting those companies that need to organize virtual events. In addition, the Penguinpass app also traces the presence of guests at distance, enabling organizers to assure that the limits imposed by the authorities at events will be respected. MANUFACTURING Especially after the COVID-19 emergency, manufacturers will try to work more and more with established brands offering financial stability and guaranteeing big orders. In order to support small, independent labels and promoting the artisanal Made in Italy production, entrepreneur David Clementoni launched Italian Artisan, a start-up that connects skilled artisans with international brands. Through the digital platform, designers can easily upload their design, receive quotes for samples or production and connect directly with an Italian artisan and get the style produced. DIGITAL CLOTHING Digital clothing is becoming one of the hottest topics in the industry, especially because it seems to offer a fun, appealing option to fight overconsumption. Especially addressing those members of Gen Z who are particularly concerned about the fashion industrys environmental footprint, Erika Lamperti founded IL3X, a start-up which, through the use of augmented reality technologies, enables the creation of digital clothes which can be used on social media, also for viral marketing campaigns. Founded in India in 2015 by Shivang Desai and Chandralika Hazarika, start-up Bigthinx uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to create a wide range of products, including digital clothing and virtual avatars. Digitizing the human body with data on measurements, size and fit, Bighthinx applies to a wide range of business, from the creation of digital clothes for fashion brands games to the delivery of a customized shopping experience for e-commerce and the development of virtual runway shows, where holograms wear digital versions of the styles designed by brands. LOGISTICS Logistics costs account for a high percentage of the budgets of Western fashion companies. Through a proprietary system, start-up EBBI, which was established in Istanbul in 2018, enables companies to significantly reduce their logistics costs by increasing the shipping quantities, which are loaded into a single container. SAMPLE TRAFFICKING Fashion sample trafficking suffered a stall during the coronavirus emergency. With the business slowly restarting, start-up Bookalook enables brands to digitally manage sample trafficking, scheduling of send-out and returns and the creation of a performance report. The platform also allows brands to digitally interact with stylists and influencers who can make selections online instead of physically going to the showroom. CASTING With the whole fashion industry moving toward digitalization of the different processes, ICAST, which was founded by Giulio Aiello and Marco Pino, offers the chance to organize and execute castings with just a few clicks. Giving visibility to 60 bookers and 5,000 talents, ICAST offers brands and designers the chance to have access to a rich database of digitalized books and to make customized researches, significantly cutting times and costs. FASHION FORECASTING Founded by Andrei Makarov and Maria Makarova, GFaive is meant to enable brands to stay ahead of the competition. Adopting artificial intelligence technologies, GFaives offers fashion collection forecasts that are not only based on historical data but employ predictive analytic tools that give a clear picture of what to produce and support assortment optimization and demand forecasting. SUSTAINABILITY Based on the principles of sustainability and the circular economy, Milan-based start-up Swapush, founded by Serena Luglio, created a digital platform and an app where users can get hold of new products and get rid of things they dont want any longer with a barter system. Swapush organizes swipe parties for both individuals and companies and through the app give the chance to exchange items without using money. Based on three pillars style, sustainability and artificial intelligence Staiy was founded last November in Berlin by Adrian Leue, Alessandro Nora, Ludovico Durante and Chiara Latini. Staiy is a marketplace for sustainable fashion, gathering together eco-friendly brands and products. Using artificial intelligence technologies, Staiy is able to offer each user customized recommendations, making the experience highly personalized. Established by Iris Skrami and Gabriele Trapani, Renoon is a search platform for sustainable fashion. Renoon gathers together products and brands that meet a series of eco-friendly standards. No shopping transaction is finalized on the platform, in fact after selecting a product, shoppers are redirected to the wholesalers. DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER With international multibrand stores reducing their budgets allocated to emerging labels, it became crucial for new brands to embrace a direct-to-consumer approach in order to meet potential final customers. Founded in London in May 2018, Lone Design Club was established to give emerging labels the chance to show their collections with traveling pop-up shops. The temporary retail project kicked off in London and was then expanded globally. The company later invested in the development of experiences and events and shortly after launched its online store, carrying a selection of emerging labels sharing business practices focused on traceability and eco and social consciousness. During the lockdown, the start-up implemented its online activities, offering live streaming, workshops to teach how to make face masks at home and other content to entertain people at home. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department has opened an internal investigation into an officer who shot a woman in the head with a foam rubber bullet at a protest on Sunday, fracturing her eye socket and leaving her bloody and stunned. Shooting someone in the head with such a projectile can be deadly, according to manufacturer documents. This particular case, we felt from what we saw, could potentially be a violation of policy, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione said in an interview late Wednesday. A less lethal round striking someone around the head, neck or groin, you could hurt somebody. The officer has not been publicly identified or relieved of duty. The department had previously suggested it would not open an investigation without a formal complaint from the woman, LaToya Ratlieff whose eyes are so swollen she can barely read. That changed after days of outcry on social media and public political pressure from state Democrats. I am responsible for every single thing that my police department does, said Maglione, who added that he is asking those present at the anti-police brutality protest in downtown Fort Lauderdale to submit videos of the incident to an online portal. The chief said he had authorized officers to use less lethal munitions and tear gas in situations where officers or the general public were in immediate danger. #FLPD asks you to watch this video message from Chief Maglione. Do you have video/photos from Sundays protest? Upload them herehttps://t.co/C6itBXNks1 If you have additional information beyond video/photos, please contact the Office of Internal Affairs at (954) 828-6974. pic.twitter.com/cxZt8KXu3M Fort Lauderdale PD (@FLPD411) June 4, 2020 Ratlieff told the Miami Herald that she has not yet called back the internal affairs investigators who contacted her late Wednesday night. Story continues The past few days have been overwhelming, Ratlieff said. Im currently in pain, both emotionally and physically, and right now I need to focus first on my health and recovery. The 34-year-old, a grant writer for a non-profit organization, joined an estimated 2,000 marchers protesting the death of George Floyd, where violence erupted after an officer shoved a kneeling young woman. Water bottles were flung at the officer as he retreated. Police used tear gas and foam rubber bullets against protesters. Maglione said that before the officer waded into the crowd, protesters attacked a female officer in a vehicle, leading her to send out a distress call. Roughly 500 officers were on duty for the protest, according to the chief. Ratlieff never threw anything nor did she participate in any forms of violence, according to videos from the scene and Herald reporters who witnessed the incident. She was stumbling away from the crowd choking on tear gas around 7 p.m. when another officer fired at her from about 10 yards away. Reporters later found cartridges of foam batons at the scene, a type of less lethal munition shot from a rifle-barreled launcher at 280 feet per second and commonly referred to in the United States as rubber bullets. Herald reporters found discarded casings from foam batons littering the scene of a George Floyd protest in downtown Fort Lauderdale on May 31. A projectile of that type can be deadly when fired at the head and such a shot should only be taken in situations were deadly force would be warranted, according to department policy. Ratlieff had been on her knees, peacefully protesting and encouraging others to stay calm and join her when police launched tear gas. She was leaving the scene when she was shot. In videos of the incident, no officer came to her aid, although fellow protesters did. If things were done improperly, if things were done illegally, we need to get to the bottom of it, Mayor Dean Trantalis said in an interview. LaToya Ratlieff talks about her experience on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. after police shot her in the face with a foam projectile at an anti-police brutality protest in Fort Lauderdale. Ratlieff was choking from tear gas and trying to leave the area when she was shot on Sunday. Maglione and Trantalis both blamed outside agitators for the violence. They said a group of individuals not associated with the main protest came prepared to fight and had stashed bricks to throw at officers. A few individuals launched fireworks at police that the chief described as a quarter stick of dynamite. Trantalis said he had not yet watched videos of the Ratlieff incident, which were published by the Herald and have been circulating on social media this week. I honestly dont know how it happened, the mayor said. I dont know the circumstances. I dont think you do either. All I know is this woman was hurt. No one should be hurt during a demonstration. He said the city now wants to help make sure Ratlieff gets proper medical treatment. In a statement issued after this story was published, Trantalis called the shooting reprehensible. Broward Democratic leaders called for the city to take action at a virtual news press conference Wednesday. State Sen. Gary Farmer, the incoming Florida Senate Democratic leader, said the officer who shot Ratlieff should immediately be terminated and charged criminally. Maglione said that no criminal investigation could take place without Ratlieff giving a statement to police. Right now, theres nothing criminal to be looked at, the chief said. We need to talk to her. We need a victim. Thats the way to get this rolling. Once she tells us her side of the story, if it needs to be looked at criminally, absolutely [the Florida Department of Law Enforcement] will do that. LaToya Ratlieff was being led away from tear gas by another marcher at an anti-police brutality protest in Fort Lauderdale May 31. Moments after this photo was taken a police officer shot her in the face with a foam rubber bullet, fracturing her right eye socket. The department did relieve another officer, Steven Pohorence, from duty after video emerged of him shoving a kneeling woman in the face at the protest. Pohorence was removed from the scene by a black female officer, Krystle Smith, but his actions sparked an angry reaction from protesters. The ensuing violence lasted for two hours as officers fired tear gas and foam rubber bullets at attendees of a march that had been peaceful all afternoon. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating Pohorences conduct at the protest. City records show he has been reviewed by internal affairs 79 times for using force since he was hired in October 2016. He has never been found to have violated department policy, according to the records. For most of the day, officers had kept their distance from protesters. That was intentional on the part of both organizers and police. Both sides said they wanted to maintain peace. My direction was nobody in field in force gear that are visible. No special force vehicles, Maglione said. Sometimes that makes things worse. The chief said that he and most of his officers support the message that led marchers into the streets in peaceful protest. Rob has more than 38 years of experience dedicated to retail wealth management, where he served as a Financial Advisor, Trust Consultant, Sales Manager and Complex Director / Regional Director, with firms including Merrill Lynch, UBS, RBC and JPMorgan, in offices throughout the United States. Rob was also honored as one OnWallStreet's Top 100 Branch Managers of 2017. Just prior to joining Wedbush, Rob founded Stella Consulting, focusing on recruitment, organizational consulting and expert witness services. "Beyond the personal relationships, what attracted me to Wedbush are its formidable business lines, capabilities, and current expansion efforts within Wealth Management," stated Rob Spawn. "I am proud to be a part of Wedbush and its vision for the future." Don Gorsch adds, "Rob has spent the better part of the past four decades in service of clients and advisory teams. He is a proven leader and his vast recruiting experience is a complement for our growth initiatives and we are thrilled to have him as part of our Wealth Management field leadership team." Rob received his B.A. in Business Administration from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. He also holds a (California) Life and Health insurance License, he is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP), is an ABA Certified Trust Financial Advisor (CTFA), as well as being a FINRA Arbitrator. About Wedbush Securities Since our founding in 1955, Wedbush has been a leader in the financial services industry, providing our clients, both private and institutional, with a wide range of securities brokerage, wealth management, and investment banking services; Headquartered in Los Angeles, California with 100 registered offices and nearly 900 colleagues, the firm focuses on client service and financial safety, innovation, and the utilization of advanced technology. SOURCE Wedbush Securities Related Links http://www.wedbush.com Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday, June 3 and assured him of continued support from India, including medical assistance in the fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Modi also thanked the President of Mozambique in a tweet for taking care of the India diaspora in the country during this pandemic. Mozambique a 'Pillar' for India As per reports, Mozambique has reported 316 positive coronavirus cases and only 2 deaths. Filipe Nyusi has expressed his appreciation for India and Mozambique relationship, especially in the realm of healthcare and pharmaceutical supplies. The two leaders also discussed other vital topics like Indian investments and developmental projects in Mozambique. Read: Extremists Step Up Violence In Gas-rich Northern Mozambique Had an excellent talk with H.E. Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique on COVID-19 situation. I assured him of Indias continued support to Mozambique, including medical assistance to combat COVID-19. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 3, 2020 I also thanked him for taking care of the safety and security of the Indian community in Mozambique. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 3, 2020 According to reports, PM Modi noted that Mozambique is an important pillar for Indias continued overall partnership with Africa. He also mentioned that Indian companies had made large commitments in the coal and natural gas sectors of the African nation. Read: Over 60 Migrants Found Dead In Container In Mozambique: Report Coronavirus reaches every nation in Africa As per reports, the deadly coronavirus has reached every country in Africa, a continent that is populated by 1.2 billion people. The death toll on the continent currently stands at 4,508. Many high profile officials like President of the Republic of the Congo Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango and Somalia's former Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein have succumbed to the deadly virus. According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there are at least 158,318 reported cases of COVID-19 on the continent (With agency inputs: Image credit - ANI) Read: Mozambique Still Recovering From 2019 Cyclones Read: Virus Has Been 'very Devastating' For Many African Airlines A 'healthy' eight-year-old North Carolina girl has died from coronavirus complications - the first child to be killed by COVID-19 in the state. Aurea Soto Morales, fondly known as 'Yoshi' to her friends and family, died on Monday at UNC hospital in Durham, just one week after contracting the killer virus. She suffered a seizure and went into a coma Friday before dying three days later. The little girl is the youngest person and the only child in North Carolina to die from the virus, with her heartbroken family sending a warning to people to keep taking the pandemic seriously. Aurea Soto Morales (pictured), fondly known as 'Yoshi' to her friends and family, died on Monday at UNC hospital in Durham, just one week after contracting the killer virus Yoshi's distraught older sister Jennifer Morales told CBS17 that Yoshi was 'very healthy' and was a 'confident little girl' who 'would always love to go outside'. She said both she and the second grade pupil had started showing symptoms for the virus last Wednesday. Their parents had tested positive for coronavirus earlier in the week and by the end of the week, the two sisters had also tested positive. On Friday, Yoshi's condition deteriorated rapidly when she had a seizure and was rushed to hospital. 'On Saturday, her brain started to swell up and she went into a coma,' Morales said. Yoshi (pictured) is the youngest person and only child in North Carolina to die from COVID-19. The little girl started showing symptoms last week after her parents tested positive for the virus and she later tested positive Yoshi's distraught older sister Jennifer Morales told CBS17 (above) that Yoshi was 'very healthy' and was a 'confident little girl' who 'would always love to go outside' The little girl then died Monday from COVID-19 complications. Morales issued an emotional plea to people to keep taking the pandemic seriously as the 'healthy' little girl's death shows it's not just elderly people at risk of dying from the virus. 'Everyone associates it with old people, as they think they're the only ones who are going to get it, but that's not true,' Morales told CBS 17. She urged people to keep wearing face masks, stay home if they feel unwell and for businesses to wipe surfaces down and limit how many people they allow inside. 'Every little thing they do may save lives,' Morales said. 'We don't want other parents to suffer from what we are going through.' There are 32,076 confirmed cases of coronavirus in North Carolina, as of Thursday afternoon, after another 799 infections were recorded Wednesday. Another 14 people died from the virus Wednesday, taking the state's death toll to 1,013. The state entered phase two of its reopening plan back on May 22, allowing more businesses to reopen for commercial activities, retailers and restaurants to reopen at 50 percent capacity, barbers and salons to reopen at 50 percent capacity and gatherings of 10 people or less allowed indoors and 25 or less outdoors. This second phase will continue until at least June 26 when the state can enter the third and final phrase which includes increasing the number of people allowed at gatherings and lessening restrictions for vulnerable residents. A total of 107,191 Americans have been killed by the coronavirus pandemic and there are more than 1.85 million confirmed cases of the virus. Albany, N.Y. After nights of clashes between police and protesters in New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today defended officers. "The police are doing an impossible job," he said during a press conference in Albany. "They're trying to deal with the protesters. They're trying to stop looting. And they're trying to keep themselves safe." He said he had no tolerance for violence against police and was stunned by the lack of respect shown to officers. He spoke after someone stabbed an officer in the neck Wednesday night. A gunfight after the stabbing left two other cops wounded, according to The New York Times. But Cuomo also repeated that he shares protesters' outrage over police brutality. He said the majority of demonstrations were peaceful and separated protesters from criminals looting stores. Cuomo said he was not aware of an incident in Brooklyn in which police charged and beat a group of protesters with batons. The protesters were out after the citys 8 p.m. curfew, according to the New York Post. Any officer who used a baton against a protester who hadn't done anything would be wrong, Cuomo said. He described such an act as "reprehensible, if not criminal," but also said he doesn't believe that's what happened. He said police must enforce the law, including the city's curfew. "If you are violating the curfew and you refuse to leave, so you continue to violate the curfew, the police officers have to enforce the law, which is you are supposed to be off the street," he said. He urged protesters to respect the curfew so police could deal with looting and other criminal acts. The city has seen multiple protests in recent days, along with incidents of looting. The demonstrations were sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer knelt on his neck for several minutes in Minneapolis in May. After looting and vandalism in downtown Syracuse on Saturday, protests in Syracuse have been peaceful. Cuomo today called for a statewide moment of silence at 2 p.m., which will coincide with the start of a memorial service for Floyd in Minnesota. Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Denise Richards angrily stormed out of a barbecue party at Kyle Richards' house after fighting with her castmates on Wednesday's episode of RHOBH. The 49-year-old actress was furious because they seemed to attack her for not bringing her children, Sami, 16, Lola, 14, and Eloise, eight, to the event. But she'd earlier told them she didn't like the way they discussed salacious stories near her girls, and it upset her that they cited her history of sexy film roles as a reason she shouldn't mind. Early exit: Denise Richards angrily stormed out of a barbecue party at Kyle Richards' house along with Aaron Phyers after fighting with her castmates on Wednesday's episode of RHOBH Her husband Aaron Phypers, 47, tried to defend Denise to the women, but every word he said came off as tone-deaf and inflamed matters further. Denise decided to leave the lunch, clenching Aaron's hand and repeatedly telling him, 'Baby don't say a wordwe're on the camera. Don't say a f***ing word.' 'Don't tell me what to f***ing say,' Aaron muttered back at her through clenched teeth, as several of her castmates chased after them. 'I don't want you to leave my home like that,' yelled Kyle, 51, as Aaron replied, 'Well, s*** happens.' No talking: Aaron was repeatedly told by Denise to not say anything as cameras were recording As the show opened, it was clear that Denise had come to a breaking point with her pals. She attended a gala honoring Garcelle Beauvais, 53, for her work with the Los Angeles Mission, but left early, claiming she had to be back in the area at 6 a.m. for work. Her castmates suspected she was avoiding them following a group trip to Santa Barbara, California, where Denise reprimanded them for speaking about threesomes in front of her kids at her own dinner. Adults only: The 49-year-old actress was furious because they seemed to attack her for not bringing her children, Sami, 16, Lola, 14, and Eloise, eight, to the event 'Denise comes off as so sex-positive, and we celebrated her for thatno one was judging her,' Erika Girardi, 48, pointed out. 'So to flip on us, this says something about Denise.' At the gala, Garcelle made a speech that gave some insight into her own personal struggles. She thanked her 12-year-old twins Jax and Jaid for being part of her life, along with her son, Oliver, 28, who had struggled with drugs but 'was doing great now.' Philanthropy honor: Garcelle Beauvais, 53, was recognized for her work with the Los Angeles Mission In a confessional, she cried as she admitted, 'It was really, really difficult to watch him unravel. And being at the L.A. Mission, when I couldn't see him and I knew that he was having a hard timeit was like me feeding him without him being there.' In the speech, Garcelle also thanked her 'new best friends' in the RHOBH cast for their support, before adding, 'some of them not so much' and staring into Kyle's eyes. She told the cameras, 'I'm grateful she showed up tonight,' referring to Kyle. 'But in Beverly Hills, we show up for charities. So is it nice? Is it what she does? We'll never know.' New friends: In the speech, Garcelle also thanked her 'new best friends' in the RHOBH cast for their support, before adding, 'some of them not so much' and staring into Kyle's eyes Over cocktails, Garcelle told Kyle their conversations tended to be 'all surface,' noting, 'I feel like I'm much more interested in what you have to say than you are interested in what I have to say.' The next day, Denise shared dinner with Aaron after a long day of filming her CBS soap opera, The Bold And The Beautiful. She told Aaron that the cast didn't understand what she'd said about keeping sex talk private. Catching up: Denise shared dinner with Aaron after a long day of filming her CBS soap opera, The Bold And The Beautiful 'Being children of Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards already comes with a lot of baggage for our daughters,' she reflected. 'It's so out of line that these women think it's okay''Oh, don't worry, they'll get over it; they've heard way worse about their father and you.' It's like, I don't need my friends adding to the baggage'',' she said. Denise told Aaron she was most hurt by the fact that pal Lisa Rinna, 56, called her a 'hypocrite,' especially since Lisa knew 'so much more stuff about' her than the other women did. Supportive spouse: Aaron listened as Denise said she was most hurt by the fact that pal Lisa Rinna, 56, called her a 'hypocrite,' especially since Lisa knew 'so much more stuff about' her than the other women did 'She's never voiced this beforewhy now?' Denise wondered. 'If she's had all this built-up anger toward me all these years because I did Wild Things [her erotically charged 1998 film], why didn't she say anything?' The next time the whole cast met was at Kyle's barbecue, an event Denise didn't want to attend. Garcelle arrived first, to her dismay, but Sutton Stracke followed with her boyfriend Michael, a man she'd met on Match.com after getting over her fears of being sold into sex slavery. Reluctant guest: Denise did not want to attend the barbecue in the first place When Denise and Aaron arrived, Aaron gifted Kyle with 'a grounding bag for EMF and 5G network' encased 'in a Faraday cage,' promising her: 'Sleep with it. You'll see the difference.' The bag contained raw crystals, and Aaron told Kyle to place it on her liver whenever she had a headache so it could alleviate her pain. Denise had no intention of inviting her kids to the lunch, but excused their absence by telling Kyle they were at sleepovers and a playdate. No children: Aaron and Denise did not bring any of their three children to the family-friendly barbecue Then, over dinner, Kyle overheard her say she wouldn't ever bring them around the group. 'I am a mom who knows how to have a party with children and behave,' Kyle told the cameras, hurt by the inference that she was 'unsafe.' 'That is a slap in the face.' Teddi Mellencamp, 38, explained to Denise that not bringing her kids felt like an insult to them. Took offense: Teddi Mellencamp, 38, explained to Denise that not bringing her kids felt like an insult to them Only Garcelle stood up for Denise, saying it was 'her right' to feel however she did about her kids. Aaron suddenly spoke up, calling the whole affair 'ridiculous.' 'Everyone came over to our home, we shared bread with you,' he reminded them. 'All we said, it's so simple: ''Our kids, they're teenagers. Just please know that they're right there and they can hear you. Know your surroundings. That's it''.' Broke bread: 'Everyone came over to our home, we shared bread with you,' Aaron reminded the women 'You're making an issue out of nothing,' he continued, as Teddi sputtered. Lisa asked Denise what Sami had said to her about the threesome conversation, to which Denise replied, 'That's between me and Sami.' In a flashback, Sami was shown brushing it all off and declaring the threesome talk 'hilarious.' Good question: Lisa asked Denise what Sami had said to her about the threesome conversation, to which Denise replied, 'That's between me and Sami' 'They're gonna talk about this stuff, they're gonna go to Google and be even more curious about it,' Aaron explained to the cast. 'All we want to do is separate parties. That's all. No problem. So no issue, right ladies? Alright. Moving on, let's talk about something else. Thank you.' Kyle began to say that she just wanted clarification, and Aaron interrupted her, saying, 'Everybody, do you feel great right now? Let this f***ing go. It's ridiculous.' 'I feel amazing, 'cause I don't care!' Erika said, standing up and walking away. Moving on: 'I feel amazing, 'cause I don't care!' Erika said, standing up and walking away In a confessional, Teddi asked, 'Really big guy? Does this make you feel good? Do you feel powerful? Do you feel strong? Oh yeah, it's so sexy when you put women down. A**hole.' Dorit Kemsley, 43, told Garcelle that Denise's refusal to bring her children to the barbecue made the rest of them look bad, because their children were there. Kyle called it 'passive-aggressive mom-shaming,' and Aaron said, 'Passive-aggressive. Please define it for me who are you talking about? Preface it.' Mom shaming: Kyle called it 'passive-aggressive mom-shaming' As Kyle tried to explain, Denise unleashed in private, saying, 'I'm not mom-shaming. If anything, they're doing it to me. And now you're making it worse. Stop talking about my kids.' In her own confessional, Kyle doubled down, saying, 'That's mom-shaming. And I'm a really good mom. Probably the thing I'm best at in my life. And I'm offended by that.' Fed up with what she called 'a bunch of bulls***,' Lisa climbed into a nearby kids' bouncy house and slid down the slide. Good mom: The barbecue host doubled down in a confessional, saying, 'That's mom-shaming. And I'm a really good mom. Probably the thing I'm best at in my life. And I'm offended by that Kyle asked Denise if she was still upset about the talk in Santa Barbara, to which Denise replied that she 'wasn't upset with anyone at this table,' indicating she was mad at Lisa. As Kyle pressed, Denise said that actually, she'd first brought up the issue while having a 'f***Ing facial,' as Dorit's small daughter stood quietly behind her. 'She's throwing F-bombs in front of Dorit's kid right now,' Teddi said, calling her 'hypocritical.' Foul language: 'She's throwing F-bombs in front of Dorit's kid right now,' Teddi said, calling Denise 'hypocritical' 'It's so simple: Make up, who cares, and move forward with it,' Aaron said. 'When people win, also people engage because they want to see how those people won. Keep that in mind, ladies.' 'What the f*** is Aaron talking about?' Erika asked the cameras. 'Is Aaron a complete moron or is he on good drugs? I'm f***ing confused, man.' 'I think everybody puts their hand in the center, and does a ''hoorah'',' Aaron rambled. 'Put your hand in, seriously man, this is ridiculous. I'm just giving you a hint and a clue.' Confusing conversation: 'What the f*** is Aaron talking about?' Erika asked the cameras. 'Is Aaron a complete moron or is he on good drugs? I'm f***ing confused, man' 'Thank you,' Teddi snarked, and Denise said, 'Stop it. You are a f***ing s*** stirrer.' Teddi suggested that Denise was obviously not okay with the way things had gone in Santa Barbara, because she shut the conversation down, and Denise agreed she'd been tired of it. 'What did my movies have to do with conversations with my daughter?' Denise blurted, recalling that aspect of the conversation. 'Come on, you guys, Come on. There's a f***ing line. I'm done.' Sexy movies: 'What did my movies have to do with conversations with my daughter?' Denise blurted Denise barked at Aaron to get up and leave, and he told the cast, 'Look in the mirror. See what you do and own it.' In a confessional, Erika held up a mirror and cracked, 'Well, I'm looking in the mirror and not only do I like what I see, I'm owning it.' 'This is nice,' Aaron said as they walked off. 'They're off my f***ing Christmas card.' The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills will return next week on Bravo. HENDERSON The coronavirus pandemic will likely change farmers markets all over the state, and Hendersons is no exception. Fresh, local food was still on hand, from pie to farm eggs. However, this year, masks, pre-wrapped food, tables covered in plastic, social distancing and hand sanitizer are components intended to keep both shoppers and vendors safe. Besides the typical farmers market fare, many hungry customers played it safe, taking their pulled-pork meal home to eat, instead of eating at the park. Sellers of ready-to-eat meals still followed pre-coronavirus stringent health measures, with the addition of a mask. All of that has pretty much stayed the same, said Aubrey Saltus, executive director of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber organizes the popular Henderson event. Stacy Dick of Henderson was at the farmers market serving up pulled pork for a fundraiser. She said following the requirements of the market were easy to adopt. Its really not that hard, she said. Its common sense stuff. We can make it work. Shoppers have been advised to see, not touch, in order to avoid contaminating products. Were encouraging people to shop with their eyes, Saltus said. Self-service is unavailable for prepared food. Attorney General William Barr said Thursday that it was entirely appropriate to forcibly remove protesters from the area surrounding the White House ahead of President Trumps seemingly impromptu photo opportunity in front of St. Johns Church. I think the president is the head of the executive branch and the chief executive of the nation and should be able to walk outside the White House and walk across the street to the church of presidents, Barr said at a press conference when asked about regrets expressed Wednesday by Defense Secretary Mark Esper over the political implication of his appearance with the president at the church. National Guard troops and chemical agents cleared the protesters from the area between the White House and the church. I dont necessarily view that as a political act, Barr said. I think it was entirely appropriate for him to do. Barr said the president had asked him on Monday to coordinate the various law enforcement agencies to respond to violent protests, including a small fire in the basement of St. Johns Church over the weekend. He said he had already decided to expand the perimeter of the cleared zone by an additional block before he learned that the president planned to walk to the church of presidents to be photographed holding a Bible. I did not know he was going to do that until later in the day, after our plans were well underway to move the perimeter, so there is no correlation between our tactical plan of moving the perimeter out by one block and the presidents going out to the church, Barr said. Reporters covering Mondays protests said they were peaceful by comparison to previous nights. Trump and his family were rushed into a bunker beneath the White House on Friday night after protesters breached a barricade set up near the Treasury Department, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing arrest records and people familiar with the incident. President Trump walks with, from left, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley on Monday. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP) In a Wednesday radio interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Trump offered a different retelling of what transpired Friday. Story continues I went down during the day, and I was there for a tiny, little, short period of time, and it was much more for an inspection, the president said. On Wednesday, the White House spent much of the day disputing that law enforcement officers and National Guard troops had fired tear gas at protesters on Monday to clear a path for the president to walk to the church. Well, it wasnt tear gas, I would note, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a press briefing. And what they used was a way to target those that were being violent. The U.S. Park Police claimed Tuesday that its officers began clearing the park after demonstrators threw objects at law enforcement officers, and denied that tear gas had been fired at the protesters. As many of the protesters became more combative, continued to throw projectiles and attempted to grab officers weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls, Gregory Monahan, U.S. Park Police acting chief, said in a statement. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to clear the area of Lafayette Park. Pepper balls are projectiles similar to toy paint balls, but filled with a capsicum-based irritant. It is similar to the more familiar pepper spray used by law enforcement agencies, and the effect is similar to tear gas. Numerous journalists covering the rally, as well as video of the event, did not corroborate Monahans account of the protest, which was broadcast live on cable news networks. Bishop Mariann Budde lashed out at the president, saying everything he has said and done is to inflame violence, including the photo op in front of St. Johns. I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop. _____ Read more: According to the airline, the phishing emails are headlined, Your flight is cancelled: collect your refund, which, if opened, will likely seek to collect sensitive information or install malicious software onto their electronic device. The airline has warned people to not respond to or click on links if they receive such emails and has advised that official Emirates emails can be distinguished by either two email addresses - emirates@e.emirates.email or do-not-reply@emirates.email. This is not the first such incident to affect the aviation industry where criminals have attempted to exploit the coronavirus pandemic - particularly in the UAE. On 24 May, the Consulate General of India in Dubai issued a Public Notice, stating that certain people and travel agencies in UAE have been contacting Indian nationals to facilitate repatriation flights via charter operations to India, and requesting that they pay in advance for the airfare and quarantine charges. However, the Consulate has warned that no such flights had yet been arranged by the Indian government and any notice of chartered repatriation flights will be arranged through the Consulate in Dubai. Similarly, the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai announced on 26 May that it had received complaints from Pakistani nationals who have received telephone calls and messages online from individuals claiming to the be from the Consulate or travel agencies, requesting payment for repatriation flights. Reportedly, some individuals had arrived at airports in the UAE for repatriation flights unaware they had purchased a fraudulent ticket. The Consulate General has stated that the Consulate will contact individuals regarding repatriations flights; however, tickets can only be purchased in person at Pakistan International Airlines counters no payments are being made online. HOUSTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Weatherford International plc (OTC Pink: WFTLF) today announced that in light of the ongoing outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) it will host a hybrid Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the "AGM") at 10:00 a.m. (Central Time) on June 12, 2020 at 2000 St, James Place, Houston Texas 77056 and virtually at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WFT2020. The Company considers the health of our shareholders, employees and other attendees at it AGM a top priority. As such, the Company is monitoring guidance issued by the U.S. and local governments, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (the "CDC") and the World Health Organization (the "WHO") and we have implemented, and will continue to implement, the measures advised by the CDC and the WHO to minimize the spread of COVID-19 at the AGM. In accordance with Irish law, Weatherford is required to have a principal meeting place, which is a physical location where shareholders may attend the AGM in person and vote thereat. However, in light of public health concerns and current local governmental emergency orders and recommendations, the Company strongly advises shareholders not to attend in person at the principal meeting place. We encourage shareholders who wish to hear the proceedings and ask questions, to do so virtually. Shareholders entitled to vote at the AGM may attend and participate in the webcast of the AGM via the Internet by following the instructions posted at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WFT2020 or www.proxyvote.com and entering your 16-digit control number included with the Notice of Internet Availability or proxy card. A link to the virtual meeting will also be available on www.weatherford.com. Shareholders are encouraged to log in to the website before the start time of the AGM. While shareholders will be able to vote their shares while virtually attending the AGM via the webcast, the Company encourages its shareholders to vote in advance by one of the methods described in its proxy statement by the proxy voting deadline at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 11, 2020. The AGM will be held in accordance with local governmental emergency orders, CDC and WHO guidance, therefore: during the AGM, presentation materials will be available to shareholders entitled to attend the AGM at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WFT2020 and will be available on our website shortly after the meeting; in-person attendance will be limited to 25% of the meeting room's maximum occupancy; social distancing and face masks will be required; persons attending the meeting will be subject to thermal scanning and other screening procedures - please allow extra time in advance of the meeting to complete these procedures; and once the AGM has begun, no one will be admitted into the AGM. Due to local Irish COVID-19 restrictions, audio teleconference facilities to participate in the AGM will no longer be made available at the offices of the Company's Irish counsel, Matheson. However, in satisfaction of the requirements of Irish law, registered shareholders who wish to participate in the AGM without leaving Ireland may instead do so via the Internet by following the instructions for virtual attendance and participation at the AGM set out above. 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 Sebastian Pellizzer +1 713-836-6777 Senior Director, Investor Relations investor.relations@weatherford.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/73933/weatherford_international_logo.jpg Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Thu, June 4, 2020 12:15 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc10031 2 World George-Floyd,Jimmy-Carter,black-lives-matter,US-president,anti-racism,racial-discrimination,anti-racism-protests,racial-issues,racial-violence,racial-tension Free US ex-president Jimmy Carter said Wednesday he was pained by last week's police killing of an unarmed black man and urged authorities to end discriminatory policing and other systemic injustices that "undermine" American democracy. George Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer pressed his knee to the handcuffed man's neck for several minutes, pinning him down on a Minneapolis street. The killing has triggered days of often violent protests across the country. "People of power, privilege, and moral conscience must stand up and say 'no more' to a racially discriminatory police and justice system, immoral economic disparities between whites and blacks, and government actions that undermine our unified democracy," Carter said in a statement released by the Carter Center. Carter, 95, is the last of the four living ex-presidents to comment on Floyd's killing, the outbursts of unrest -- and violent police crackdowns on protesters. Carter said his and his wife's hearts are with Floyd and other victims of violence, but also with "all who feel hopeless in the face of pervasive racial discrimination and outright cruelty." "We all must shine a spotlight on the immorality of racial discrimination. But violence, whether spontaneous or consciously incited, is not a solution," he added. "We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this." Carter's four-year presidency ended in 1981. In the decades since he has been a champion of human rights, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts. Ravindra Rao COMEX gold trades in a narrow range above $1,700/oz after a sharp 1.7% decline on June 3. Gold fell as low as $1,690.3/oz in intraday trade on June 3 but managed to give a close above $1,700/oz. Gold corrected after failing to sustain above the $1,750/oz level. Price came under pressure as persistent strength in the US and global equity markets reduced its appeal as an alternative asset. Equity markets are on an up move amid expectations that lifting of virus related restrictions and government stimulus measures may revive economic activity. Risk sentiment improved further yesterday as US economic data came in better than expectations adding to hopes of economic recovery. US ADP jobs report, ISM services index and factory orders data released yesterday was better than expectations. However, supporting gold price is weakness in US dollar. The US dollar index has slumped to March lows amid reduced safe haven buying while euro has strengthened ahead of ECB meeting. Also supporting gold price is loose monetary policy stance of major central banks. Amid the latest, ECB, at its meeting today, is expected to boost its bond purchase program to support economic recovery. While market players have downplayed US-China tensions due to lack of any severe retaliation by US or countermeasures by China, tensions persist and this may keep concerns high about the partial trade deal as well. ETF inflows also show robust investor interest. Gold holdings with SPDR ETF rose by 4.09 tonnes to 1133.374 tonnes, highest since April 2013. Gold may remain under pressure until we see halt in the rally in equity markets however price may continue to hold near $1700/oz level amid global growth concerns and US-China tensions. NYMEX crude has slipped more than 1% to trade near $36.5/bbl after a 1.3% gain yesterday. Crude hit a high of $38.18/bbl in intraday trade yesterday, the highest level since early March, however failure to sustain above $38/bbl led to some correction. Also weighing on crude price is uncertainty about OPEC production cut deal. Crude rose in last few days amid expectations that OPEC and allies which are currently cutting output by 9.7 million barrels per day may extend the cuts for next few months. There were recommendations that OPEC and allies hold an early meeting on June 4 as against scheduled meeting for June 9-10. Concerns about OPECs production cut deal rose after Reuters quoted sources stating that Gulf OPEC producers Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have no plans to extend beyond June their voluntary additional oil cuts. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports noted that that Saudi Arabia and Russia are reluctant to extend output cuts without more compliance from the rest of the pact. While OPEC uncertainty has pressurized crude, supporting prices is EIA inventory report. EIA noted a 2.077 million barrels decline in US crude oil stocks as against market expectations of a 3 mn bbl increase and as against APIs 0.483 mn bbl decline. US crude production fell for the ninth consecutive week to 11.2 million barrels per day, lowest since October 2018. EIA however noted a bigger than expected rise in gasoline and distillate stocks. Crude is also supported by increased storm activity which has caused producers to cut production and evacuate personnel. Also supporting crude price is some upbeat economic data from US which improves demand outlook. US ADP jobs report, ISM services index and factory orders data released yesterday was better than expectations. Also supporting price is persistent strength in US equity market amid hopes that easing of virus related restrictions and government stimulus measures may help global economy recover. Crude oil has been on an up move for last few days but uncertainty about OPECs production cut deal has brought a halt to the momentum. However, price may benefit from decline in US crude stocks and general upbeat risk sentiment hence we maintain our buy on dips view for the commodity. (The author is VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities) : The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards national The global number of coronavirus cases surpassed 6.6 million, as the pandemic continues to sweep across the world. The death toll in Brazil surpassed that of Italy on Thursday. South America was recently declared a new epicenter in the outbreak. In the U.S., coronavirus hospitalizations are on the rise around the country, Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC, as states push forward with plans to reopen the economy and mass protests engulf the country. The convergence of events could become a problem in the fall, when hospitals around the country begin to fill with flu patients. As the two outbreaks coincide, health systems risk becoming strained. Meanwhile, the NBA announced it approved a plan that would resume its season on July 31 in Orlando, Florida. The coverage on this live blog has ended but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. Global cases: More than 6.6 million Global deaths: More than 389,620 U.S. cases: More than 1.8 million U.S. deaths: More than 108,208 The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Jim O'Neill says it is 'not impossible' for a usable coronavirus vaccine to be made available by September 10:25 a.m. London time Chatham House Chair Jim O'Neill believes it could be a matter of months before a vaccine for the coronavirus could be rolled out to a significant part of the world. Speaking to CNBC's "Street Signs" on Friday, the former Goldman Sachs chief economist said the speed and scale of cooperation that is going on in the pharmaceutical world to develop a vaccine is "extraordinary." O'Neill specifically referenced the latest developments from AstraZeneca, with the pharmaceutical company announcing that it plans to produce 2 billion does of a Covid-19 vaccine over the coming months. AstraZeneca's building in Luton, Britain. Tim Ireland | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soirot said on a call with reporters on Thursday that the company plans to start distributing the vaccine to the U.S. and U.K. in September or October, with the balance of deliveries likely to be made by early 2021. "It adds to my belief that it is not impossible that a usable vaccine could be available for a significant part of the world by this September. Obviously, they have got to get through some important tests in the coming weeks, but it sounds to me that it is quite possible and it is a fantastic development," O'Neill said. Sam Meredith Singapore plans wearable contact tracing device for all 1.20 p.m. Singapore time Singapore is developing a wearable contact tracing device that could be distributed to all its 5.7 million residents, Reuters reported, citing Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. Responding to a question in parliament about a smartphone app the city-state has launched for identifying those who have been in close contact with infected patients, Balakrishnan said there were technical issues due to the app's dependence on bluetooth technology. The device in development will not depend on the possession of a smartphone. "If this portable device works, we may then distribute it to everyone in Singapore," said Balakrishnan according to Reuters. Huileng Tan AstraZeneca aims to produce 2 billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine 12.10 p.m. Singapore time Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is aiming to produce 2 billion doses of a coronavirus vaccineand it could be ready by September. They include 400 million doses for the U.S. and U.K. and 1 billion for those in low- and middle-income countries. AstraZeneca plans to start distributing the vaccine to the U.S. and U.K. in September or October, with the balance of deliveries likely to be made by early 2021, said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot. Lucy Handley Brazil's death toll surpasses Italy's 9.30 a.m. Singapore time The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Brazil has exceeded the number in Italy, Reuters reported citing the Brazilian health ministry. On Thursday, the Brazilian authority reported 1,437 deaths, taking the toll to 34,021. Italy's death toll is 33,689. That means that Brazil now has the third highest number of deaths globally, after the U.S. and the U.K. Brazil on Thursday also reported 30,925 new coronavirus cases. The World Health Organization recently declared South America as a new epicenter of the pandemic. Huileng Tan Amwell confidentially files for IPO amid surging demand for telemedicine 7:45 p.m. ET Amwell, a provider of online health services, has confidentially filed to go public and hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead the offering, according to people familiar with the matter. The IPO could take place in September, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plans haven't been announced. Amwell is one of the leading players in a market that's exploding, because patients who need non-urgent care are trying to avoid hospitals, where they risk being exposed to Covid-19. Just last month, Amwell raised almost $200 million in private capital and said that it's seen a 1,000% increase in visits due to coronavirus, and closer to 3,000% to 4,000% in some places. Ari Levy, Christina Farr JC Penney announces 154 stores set to close this summer. Here's a map. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards 7:20 p.m. ET Bankrupted J.C. Penney announced the list of the 154 stores it plans to close this summer, with store closing sales kicking off June 12. "While closing stores is always an extremely difficult decision, our store optimization strategy is vital to ensuring we emerge from both Chapter 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic as a stronger retailer with greater financial flexibility to allow us to continue serving our loyal customers for decades to come," Chief Executive Jill Soltau said in a statement. Lauren Thomas Short-term rental hosts turn to longer-term guests 6:56 p.m. ET Zillow released data that shows hosts of Airbnb and other vacation properties have pivoted to the residential rental market as the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically curtailed travel. Listings for furnished rentals on Zillow from March to mid-May were up 44% compared to the same time last year. Additionally, listings for rentals of six months or less increased 23% March 1 to May 21. "With travel banned, vacation home owners may be looking to avoid the uncertainty of when the economy might open and look to get a longer-term renter in their home," Zillow economist Joshua Clark told CNBC. Sal Rodriguez U.S. cases slowly rise since the Memorial Day holiday The ICU department at Christ Hospital in Jersey City has been devoted mostly to Covid-19 patients during the pandemic. Christ Hospital/CarePoint Health 6:05 p.m. ET A CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University found that U.S. Covid-19 cases been slowly ticking up since the Memorial Day holiday. New cases hit a peak of 31,578, based on a seven-day average, on April 10 before steadily falling to an eight-week low of just over 20,600 a day on May 28 and have been rising ever since. While cases are slowing in hot spots such as New York state, cases are on the rise in places like Florida, Texas and Arizona. CDC Director Robert Redfield told lawmakers earlier today that he was worried Americans aren't following the agency's advice as states begin to reopen. Crowds of people have been seen in recent weeks at protests, over the Memorial Day holiday and, Redfield noted, at the SpaceX launch over the weekend. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. NBA approves plan to resume season on July 31 LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers passes the ball under the hoop against Al Horford #42 of the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Staples Center on March 03, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Katelyn Mulcahy | Getty Images 5:30 p.m. ET The National Basketball Association approved a plan that would resume its season on July 31 in Orlando, Florida. In a 29-1 vote, the NBA board of governors approved a format that would include 22 teams that each play eight regular season games before entering a full four-round playoff bracket, CNBC's Jabari Young reports. The season is set to end no later than Oct. 12. The proposal still needs approval from the National Basketball Players Association, which is negotiating details concerning safety protocol with the NBA. Hannah Miller Unemployment expected to surge to 20% as million more out of work People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at an Arkansas Workforce Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. April 6, 2020. Nick Oxford | Reuters 5 p.m. ET The May employment report is expected to show that 8.3 million more jobs were lost, and the unemployment rate rose to 20%. Economists say job losses have now likely peaked but the pain is not over since many jobs will not be quickly recovered. Bank of America expects the June employment report to show job gains, with more improvement through the summer, but the unemployment rate will still be about 13% by September. According to Dow Jones, unemployment is expected to rise to 19.5%, up from 14.7% in April. In April, there were 20.5 million jobs lost. Patti Domm National Association of Theatre Owners expects 90% of global theaters to be open in July 4:30 p.m. ET The National Association of Theatre Owners is feeling confident that the movie theater marketplace will be up and running in time for Warner Bros. "Tenet," which arrives in theaters July 17. The organization, which represents more than 35,000 movie screens in the U.S. and 33,000 internationally, confirmed to CNBC Thursday that it expects 90% of the world's movie theaters to be open in time for the release of the new Christopher Nolan feature. "Tenet" will be the first major film release since movie theaters were forced to shutter in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Industry experts remain divided on whether or not consumers will return to cinemas in droves once the majority of theaters do reopen to the public. Even the largest cinema chain the world, AMC, has said it has 'substantial doubt' that it can survive coronavirus outbreak shutdown. Sarah Whitten Lancet retracts hydroxychloroquine study A pharmacy tech holds a bottle and a pill of Hydroxychloroquine at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 20, 2020. George Frey | Getty Images 4:15 p.m. The Lancet has retracted a major study that sparked concern about the health effects of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as treatments for Covid-19, according to a report from STAT news. The prestigious medical journal retracted the study, which was published in May, at the request of the its authors. "We can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources," said authors Mandeep Mehra of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Frank Ruschitzka of University Hospital Zurich, and Amit Patel of University of Utah in a statement. The study reported that coronavirus patients treated with the antimalarial drugs saw no improved outcome and actually had a higher mortality risk. The claim fueled controversy when President Donald Trump said last month that he was taking hydroxychloroquine to keep himself from catching the virus. Hannah Miller 'Critical' that U.S. provide equitable access to testing, HHS official says Assistant Secretary for Health admiral Brett Giroir speaks as US President Donald Trump listens during a news conference on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on April 27, 2020. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images 4 p.m. ET It is "critical" that the U.S. ramp up testing to provide "equitable access," especially in underserved minority communities, which have been disproportionately affected by the outbreak, the country's top testing official said in a conference call with reporters. Adm. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services who is running the government's testing response, said black Americans have died from Covid-19 at a disproportionate rate compared to white Americans. HHS will now require laboratories to report the age, race, ethnicity, sex, ZIP code and type of test performed on patients when reporting data to state and local health departments, he said, so that the federal government can track disparities along those demographics."This is only one small component of my office's efforts to combat health disparities that have plagued our nation for decades, but it is an important foundational component related to Covid-19 that we will continue to build on in the future," Giroir said. William Feuer College officials say they won't bring students back to campus without expanded testing and tracing A general view of the campus of Stanford University including Hoover Tower and buildings of the Main Quadrangle. David Madison/Getty Images 3:30 p.m. ET College presidents told lawmakers on the U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that universities will remain closed until they can ensure it's safe to bring students back to campus, which will require extensive Covid-19 testing and contact tracing. Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told lawmakers that without adequate testing, universities "can't function at all," he said. Christina Paxson, president of Brown University in Rhode Island, said she's "cautiously optimistic" about students returning in the fall, although she said Brown won't open unless it's safe to do so. Any reopening plan would need to include, "testing and more testing, tracing, isolation, quarantine, social distancing, masks and hygiene measures," she said. Noah Higgins-Dunn Protests may spur more outbreaks, CDC says A demonstrator offers a protective face mask for protection from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to a law enforcement officer not wearing one as police face off with demonstrators while protests continue on the streets of near the White House over the death in police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, June 3, 2020. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters 3:17 p.m. ET CDC Director Robert Redfield said protests over the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police could be a "seeding event" for the coronavirus and urged people to get tested. "The way to minimize that is to have each individual to recognize it is an advantage of them to protect their loved ones, to [say] 'Hey, I was out, I need to go get tested,'" he told the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing on the virus. Earlier in the day, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state was expanding its testing facilities to the thousands of people who participated in the protests. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. Ford postpones return-to-work plans for salaried workers 3:12 p.m. ET Ford Motor is delaying plans for salaried workers to begin returning to offices in late June until September. The automaker said the move is to ensure that Ford has enough personal protection equipment for workers and time to modify facilities to allow for proper social distancing protocols to reduce the spread of Covid-19. About 12,000 of its 36,000 salaried nonmanufacturing employees have returned to work in the U.S., a spokesman said. Ford's 56,000 hourly U.S. employees started returning to work in mid-May. Limited North American production began on May 18. Ford's plants continue to gradually add shifts and production. Michael Wayland UK summit tackles potential worldwide Covid-19 vaccine distribution 3:10 p.m. ET At a summit hosted by the British government, leaders discussed potential ways to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine worldwide while raising money to inoculate children across the globe, the Associated Press reports. Summit participants discussed the likelihood that poorer, more vulnerable countries will not be able to obtain the vaccine as easily when it's available, according to the AP. "The key to that challenge is having scale and having factories all over the world that are making the vaccines," philanthropist Bill Gates said, according to the news service. The United States has already signed a contract with drugmaker AstraZeneca for 300 million doses, the news service reports. The $8.8 billion raised at the summit was for Gavi, a global vaccines alliance, which said the money will go towards vaccinating about 300 million children globally against diseases like malaria, pneumonia and HPV, according to the AP. Suzanne Blake CDC director fears Americans aren't following agency's advice as cases rise 2:08 p.m. ET With coronavirus cases rising across the U.S., the CDC is concerned that Americans are not taking its advice seriously. CDC Director Robert Redfield said he's seen "a lot of people" not wearing masks in Washington, D.C. and noted large crowds that gathered at events like last weekend's SpaceX launch, CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. reports. The U.S. is still seeing about 20,000 new cases of Covid-19 each day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Hannah Miller NY Gov. Cuomo says state will open coronavirus testing to all George Floyd protesters 1:50 p.m. ET New York is expanding testing to everyone who participated in recent George Floyd protests, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. The death of George Floyd while in Minnesota police custody has sparked demonstrations in cities across the U.S. and Europe. Cuomo said the protests drew about 20,000 people in New York City alone and 30,000 across the state in total. As heated protests continue to take over the city, the governor expressed concerns of a possible spike in the number of positive Covid-19 cases. He urged people to get tested, wear a mask and tell others that they have been exposed to the coronavirus. "If you were at a protest, go get a test, please. The protesters have a civic duty here also. Be responsible, get a test," Cuomo said. The total number of hospitalizations across New York continues to fall, with 52 deaths on June 3, up slightly from the day before. Jasmine Kim UK requiring face coverings on public transportation beginning June 15 A sign is seen on the London Underground, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, June 1, 2020. Toby Melville | Reuters 12:48 p.m. ET Riders of public transportation in the UK will be required to wear face masks beginning June 15, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said. The new requirement applies for trains, buses, trams, aircraft ferries and underground services. In his briefing, Shapps said other measures typically used to slow the spread of Covid-19 such as hand washing and social distancing are also important. "A face covering helps protect our fellow passengers," Shapps said. "It's something that we can each do to help each other." While certain groups, like people with breathing difficulties, are exempt, there is the possibility of fines and denied entry for those found violating the rules. Alex Harring Grocery shopping is 'much less of an experience' and that'll take time to return, former Whole Foods co-CEO says 11:41 a.m. ET Customers have sped up shopping trips and focused on buying what they need during the pandemic. Former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb said it may take a long time before delightful and leisurely shopping trips return because of the coronavirus. Robb said shopping at the store is "much less of an experience now," in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "You've got metering coming in," he said. "You've got plexiglass shields up. The heart of retail is really to have one-on-one connection with a customer and that just can't happen right now in exactly the same way. And it's going to be some time before all that stuff works itself out." Melissa Repko NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he expects phase two reopening in early July Face masked, red bears sit at the tables outside of the Nello Restaurant on the Upper East Side which is open for takeout and no contact delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic on May 20, 2020 in New York City. Ben Gabbe | Getty Images 11:34 a.m. ET New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a coronavirus press briefing that "phase two reopening could start as early as the beginning of July." "In phase 2, we will be able to move on to many types of businesses," de Blasio said. "That can also include reopening a number of restaurants with a focus on outdoors and that's the way we want to go." Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced in a press release that phase two of New York's reopening will allow outdoor dining. New York City is set to enter phase one reopening on Monday. Yelena Dzhanova Majority of Americans expect a second wave, poll finds 11:15 a.m. ET More than two-thirds, or 69%, of surveyed Americans believe there will be a second wave of the coronavirus, according to a new poll from Monmouth University. As multiple states prepare to reopen businesses and loosen shelter-in-place guidelines, 57% of people surveyed said they believe the federal government is not doing enough to help hard-hit states deal with the outbreak. The survey also indicates that respondents believe reopening decisions should be based more on health concerns rather than economic needs. More than half, or 54%, of respondents said it's important to make sure that fewer people contract the virus, while 36% said it's more important to prevent an economic downturn. The poll, conducted between May 28 and June 1, surveyed 807 adults in the United States, with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Yelena Dzhanova Las Vegas casinos reopen with new safety measures Gamblers celebrate a win while playing roulette during the reopening of The D hotel-casino, closed by the state since March 18, 2020 as part of steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, June 4, 2020. Steve Marcus | Reuters 10:20 a.m. ET Las Vegas casinos reopened with The D and Golden Gate welcoming gamblers just after midnight. Dealers are wearing masks; hand sanitizer is widely available; guests and workers are having their temperature checked. Steve Hill, president and COO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said demand is surprisingly strong with the city's overall occupancy at 20% in spite of a number of resorts remaining closed. MGM Resorts capped its hotel occupancy at 30%, but reservations came in so fast that it decided to open the MGM Grand, in addition to Bellagio and New York, New York. The Bellagio fountains will start up again at 9:30 a.m. PT. While most of the business is coming from tourists who can drive to Las Vegas, McCarren International Airport officials told CNBC they see 2,000 to 6,000 more airplane seats scheduled for this weekend compared with mid-May. Group business also looks to be on the rebound, with the Consumer Electronics Show confirming its January 2021 conference. "We have, interestingly, the largest book of conventions in our history for the next 12 months. They start right now. And toward the end of August, we are hopeful that in some way, we can start bringing conventions back to town," Hill said. Contessa Brewer CDC guidance against mass transit sparks concern over congestion and a carbon emissions surge Early morning traffic in the northbound lanes of Interstate 93 in Boston, MA on May 19, 2020. Gov. Baker announced phase one of reopening on May 18, including allowing manufacturing and construction to being. Craig F. Walker | Boston Globe | Getty Images 9:53 a.m. ET The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new recommendations for returning to work have raised concerns over unbearable congestion and a surge in carbon emissions. It's not yet clear what commuting will look like as more people return to offices during the coronavirus pandemic, but there are already signs that they are driving cars instead of using mass transit. "Promoting private vehicle use as public health strategy is like prescribing sugar to reduce tooth decay," said Lawrence Frank, a University of British Columbia urban planning and public health professor. "The level of vehicle dependence created by urban sprawl is a primary cause of [carbon] emissions and climate change, which has arguably even larger threats to life," Frank said. Emma Newburger Biggest U.S. mall owner Simon Property sues Gap over skipped rent Shoppers ascend and descend escalators at the King of Prussia Mall, owned by Simon Property Group, United State's largest retail shopping space, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Mark Makela | Reuters 9:43 a.m. ET Major U.S. mall owner Simon Property Group has sued apparel retail Gap for not paying rent, highlighting mounting tensions between landlords and their tenants during the coronavirus pandemic. Simon is asking the court to order Gap to pay up to $66 million, in addition to future rent payments, according to a lawsuit filed in Delaware state earlier this week. Many companies have either skipped paying rent or are paying less rent, as their stores were forced temporarily shut during the crisis. But Simon CEO David Simon has previously said: "The bottom line is, we do have a contract and we do expect to get paid." Real estate experts have said they expect more litigation to ensue. Gap is set to report quarterly earnings after the bell Thursday. Lauren Thomas Stocks slip as jobless claims rise more than expected 9:37 a.m. ET Stocks fell slightly as the Labor Department said 1.877 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 88 points lower, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.4% while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.3%. Read stock market activity updates from CNBC's Fred Imbert and Thomas Franck. Melodie Warner View of reported cases by region Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards American Airlines looks to fly 55% of scheduled flights in July Passengers board an American Airlines flight to Charlotte, North Carolina at San Diego International Airport on May 20, 2020 in San Diego, California. Sandy Huffaker | Getty Images 9:12 a.m. ET American Airlines is set to fly 55% of its scheduled domestic flights in July, as it has seen a steady rise in passengers since concerns of contracting or spreading Covid-19 diminished travel. In May, the airline flew 20% of its schedule from a year earlier. American has gone from averaging 32,154 passengers a day in April to 78,178 travelers in the first three weeks of May. The airline also reached an average of 110,330 passengers more than three times the number on a normal day in April from May 24 to May 29. American is restoring service at a faster pace than United Airlines, which will fly a quarter of the fights that it did during May 2019. OAG, which tracks the airline industry and flight schedules, says the four biggest U.S. carriers United, American, Delta and Southwest are boosting their June schedules by 27% from May, though most of this increase stems from additional domestic flights. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the number of passengers and airline crew members screened at U.S. airports is down more than 85% from a year earlier. Alex Harring Another 1.877 million Americans file for unemployment Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards 8:30 a.m. ET Another 1.877 million Americans filed initial jobless claims last week, according to data released from the Department of Labor, as coronavirus shutdowns continue to hamstring employment. Continuing claims, or those who have filed for unemployment for at least two weeks, totaled 21.5 million, a tick higher than the previous period. Last week's report from the Labor Department showed continuing claims decline for the first time since the economy shuttered. Read more on U.S. employment from CNBC's Jeff Cox. Sara Salinas European Central Bank ups pandemic bond buying European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a news conference on the outcome of the meeting of the Governing Council in Frankfurt, Germany, January 23, 2020. Ralph Orlowski | Reuters 8:07 a.m. ET The European Central Bank announced it will up its bond buying through the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme by 600 billion euros ($672 billion). That's on top of 750 billion euros in government bonds announced in March. The central bank will also extend its crisis bond-buying program, previously set to expire at the end of the year, until June 2021. Read more on the ECB's announcement from CNBC's Silvia Amaro. Sara Salinas Hospitalizations continue to rise, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says 7 a.m. ET Hospitalizations due to the coronavirus are on the rise across the country, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC. He added that hospitalizations are a "lagging indicator" that represent infections that occurred weeks ago, "but are more objective" than diagnosed cases, which are tied to how much testing is being done. "In fact, they're going up," he said of hospitalizations on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "Arizona hit 1,000 hospitalizations yesterday. Florida hit a high number of hospitalizations. They turned over about 1,400 cases, the highest number since April 17. We're seeing hospitalizations go up in Tennessee, in Texas, in Georgia, in North Carolina, Minnesota, obviously." Hospitalizations are increasing in Wisconsin and Ohio as well, he said. "We're heading into the fall with a lot of infection in this country," he said. "That's going to create risk to the fall and the winter." Will Feuer Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina. UK's FTSE 100 set for 'far-reaching' reshuffle due to virus crisis Members of media gather at the Diamond Princess cruise ship, operated by Carnival Corp., docked in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. Toru Hanai | Bloomberg Getty Images Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (19) A man previously described as the leader of the McCarthy-Dundon gang has appeared in court charged in relation to the attempted murder of a rival criminal. Larry McCarthy was one of two men who were brought before the Special Criminal Court yesterday after being arrested in separate parts of the country. Limerick gang boss figure Christy Keane (59) was injured after being shot a number of times on the grounds of University Limerick (UL) in 2015. Yesterday morning detectives, backed up by armed support units, arrested two men in relation to the investigation. John Costello (39), of Hennessy Avenue, Kileely, Co Limerick, is charged with knowledge of the existence of the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation and that he provided transport to a person with the intention of facilitating the commission of the attempted murder of Christy Keane at a UL car park on June 29, 2015. Gda Alan Harkin said the accused made no reply when the charge was put to him. No bail application was made on behalf of Mr Costello. Mr McCarthy (42) of Tower Lodge, Old Cork Road, Limerick City, also appeared charged with making a vehicle available to the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation in the attempted murder of Christy Keane, between June 27 and 29, 2015. Warrant Det-Gda Donnacha Coakley said he arrested Mr McCarthy at a location in Buncrana, Co Donegal, yesterday morning, and he was taken to Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick. He was detained in relation to a warrant issued by the Special Criminal Court on February 10 last. Det-Gda Coakley said he would be objecting to any bail application. Mr McCarthy appeared in court with a large patch over his right eye. His barrister, Marc Thompson BL, requested that his client receive appropriate medical attention for an eight-stitch injury while in custody. Mr Justice Tony Hunt remanded both men in custody to appear again in court on June 12. Mr McCarthy has previously been described during a bail hearing in the Special Criminal Court by detective gardai as the "head of the McCarthy-Dundon organisation" and as having "known links to criminals around the country and to criminals on an international level". Keane was shot in the grounds of UL at 6.35am, as he parked his car. He was seriously injured but survived. Gardai said at the time there had been no specific threat to his life in the lead-up to the shooting. Keane was part of the Keane-Collopy faction which was embroiled in a violent feud with the McCarthy-Dundons for several years. At least a dozen deaths were linked to the feud and inter-family disputes between gangs in the city, but others put the figure closer to 20. Keane was jailed for 10 years for cannabis offences. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Macarthur Minerals Limited (ASX: MIO) (MMS.V) (the Company or Macarthur) Joint Venture Partner, Fe Limited (FEL) has announced the completion of the sale of its Evanston royalty interest over a portion of the wider Koolyanobbing iron ore mine in the Southern Yilgarn region of Western Australia. TRR Services Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trident Resources PLC (TRR), has purchased the royalty for $7 million. FEL has received the first payment of $3.5 million with a further instalment of $3m payable in 12 months. FEL now has cash in the bank of $5.2 million and fully funded to commence exploration work at the Hillside Copper and Gold Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. FEL is currently finalising plans to conduct a Fixed Loop Electromagnetic Survey (FLEM) ground survey at the Hillside project. The survey will cover a section of the previously identified gossan line as well as a series of individual FELM surveys over previously identified high priority SkyTEM electromagnetic targets across the wider project area. Results are expected to better indicate any massive sulphide mineralisation which may exist to assist targeting the next drilling campaign which is expected to occur later this year. A copy of FELs full news release is available here . Cameron McCall, President and Executive Chairman of Macarthur Minerals commented: We are excited by the news that Fe Limited is adding $7 million to its bank balance and will be fully funded for further exploration activities on Macarthurs Pilbara tenements encompassing the Hillside, Panorama, and Strelley projects. All results so far have been very encouraging. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mr Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman For more information please contact: Joe Phillips CEO & Director +61 7 3221 1796 communications@macarthurminerals.com Investor Cubed Neil Simon, CEO 647-258-3310 info@investor3.ca Story continues Earn-in with Macarthur Macarthur Lithium Pty Ltd (MLi), a wholly owned subsidiary of Macarthur entered into an exclusive option agreement (Option Agreement) with FEL as announced on May 14, 2019, to earn up to 75% in its Pilbara lithium and gold projects in respect of eight tenements in the Pilbara. About Fe Limited FE Limited (ASX:FEL) is a listed mineral exploration Company that holds or has rights or interests in various projects and tenements prospective for battery metals, copper, iron ore, gold and base metals located in Australia. The Company is focused on the exploration of battery metal projects. In March 2019, FEL entered into an agreement to acquire the Pippingarra Lithium Project and the Marble Bar Lithium Project from Mercury Resources Group Pty Ltd. These areas complement the tenement portfolio of Macarthur Minerals, establishing an 1,242 square kilometer exploration footprint in the important Lithium and Gold region of Western Australia. Company profile Macarthur is an iron ore development, gold and lithium exploration company that is focused on bringing to production its Western Australia iron ore projects. The Lake Giles Iron Project mineral resources include the Ularring hematite resource (approved for development) comprising Indicated resources of 54.5 million tonnes at 47.2% Fe and Inferred resources of 26 million tonnes at 45.4% Fe; and the Moonshine magnetite resource of 710 million tonnes (Inferred). Macarthur has prominent (~721 square kilometer tenement area) gold, lithium and copper exploration interests in Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition, Macarthur has lithium brine Claims in the emerging Railroad Valley region in Nevada, USA. This news release is not for distribution to united states services or for dissemination in the United States Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including but limited to statements regarding: the proposed strategy regarding core mining, road and rail inputs at the Project; anticipated increases in annual production at the Project; anticipated decreases in Project costs; the possible reclassification of current inferred mineral resources on the Project as indicated mineral resources in the future; expected completion of the FS on the Project containing a new reserve calculation and a new economic assessment; the granting of a license for the Menzies rail siding; the status of the MRRT; and plans to secure mining approvals under the Mining Act, are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the reliability of information prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron or magnetite demand or substitution by other metals or materials; the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron magnetite; the general level of global economic activity; future changes in strategy regarding core mining, road and rail inputs with respect to the Project; final Project costs varying from those determined from the EOI program; failure to successfully negotiate a BOO arrangement for the Project; failure to complete the FS; failure of the FS to reflect currently anticipated increases annual production and decreases in expected costs at the Project; the results of infill drilling being insufficient to reclassify current inferred mineral resources on the Project as indicated mineral resources; failure to receive a license for the Menzies rail siding; failure to repeal the MRRT; and failure to obtain mining approvals under the Mining Act. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Fargo, ND Oral Surgeon, Dr. Michael Noffze Welcomes Patients for Safe and Trusted Care A dedicated and passionate oral surgeon, Dr. Michael Noffze is eager to announce that his practice has fully reopened to existing and new patients. With previously limited access during the coronavirus pandemic, this surgical team is excited to reopen their doors and continue to improve the health and lives of their patients. Emergency care, wisdom tooth extractions, and skilled dental implant surgery are all available. New measures and precautions have also been taken for the safety and comfort of their patients and their community. As a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon with over 14 years of training, Dr. Noffze received surgical training and a medical degree from the Mayo Clinic. As an authority in oral and maxillofacial surgery as well as treatments including wisdom teeth extractions and full mouth dental implants, he speaks for dental study clubs and symposiums across the nation and internationally. With a dedication to his profession as well as his patients, he treats more than just symptoms. Finding the root cause of a patients concern, he uses a broader perspective when developing treatment plans. For this reason, he also understands that if a dental concern is left unchecked or untreated, it can lead to lasting and more detrimental systemic conditions. Avoiding unnecessary stressors on patients health and protecting their immune system, he encourages those in need of a trusted oral surgeon, to visit his practice and receive the care they require for a healthy and functional life. From tooth extractions, oral pathology exams, and even facial cosmetic enhancements, to life-changing full mouth dental implants, Dr. Noffze and his team offer a patient-centered approach to care. Oral surgery is a unique profession because we get to see the direct benefit on a patients smile. Although its not usually a life-or-death situation, we are able to truly improve their lives. Thats a very rewarding thing. It allows me to come to work every day with a smile in my face, says Dr. Noffze. Additional safety measures have been taken including sanitizing patient rooms in between each visit and providing thorough and deep cleanings of the entire office more frequently. Personal protection equipment (PPE) will be worn by staff members when with patients. Dr. Noffze and his team will be closely monitoring updates and recommendations by the American Dental Association (ADA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as local and federal authorities. Using advanced training, a skilled and qualified staff, and minimally invasive technology, Dr. Noffze strives to offer care thats life changing. To learn more about this practice, their current safety guidelines, or to schedule a consultation with this trusted oral surgeon, call 701-232-9565. 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. To the editor: I was recently clearing out the basement of an elderly acquaintance who, like many, had lost much of her life's possessions from the flood. A group of about a dozen people had come, few who actually knew each other or the homeowner. In the woman's yard was a sign supporting President Donald Trump for re-election. One volunteer wore a T-shirt for the local WOMAN group, known for their left-leaning activism but also their volunteerism. Another worker wore a shirt celebrating the late free-market economist Milton Friedman (OK, that was me). Unilever owned Ben & Jerry's has issued a powerful statement through its independent board of directors to blast the 'inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy'. In a forceful note posted to their website Tuesday the ice cream giant called on President Donald Trump to not use Twitter to 'promote and normalize' white supremacists 'that support him'. Demonstrations continue across the U.S. to condemn racism and police abuses following the death of black man George Floyd after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. Ben & Jerry's statement marks a shift from what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday branded as 'bland statements w a hashtag'. She tweeted: 'No. This moment calls for transformation. Your statement should include your orgs INTERNAL commitments to change, particularly if youve been called on it before. Give people change.' Ben & Jerrys was founded in 1978 in a renovated gas station. It has been a unit of Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever since 2000. But the company has kept its political agenda after maintaining control over most board members; Unilever appoints two of the 11 seats. Ben Cohen, left, and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, stand outside the White House during a climate rally in Washington, DC in 2019 The company has kept its political agenda after maintaining control over most board members; Unilever appoints two of the 11 seats. The rebranded ice cream flavor Pecan Resist is pictured in 2018. Ben & Jerry's says it's taking a stand against what it calls the Trump administration's regressive policies with the ice cream flavor George Floyd (left) was accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store after he was laid off in the pandemic. Disturbing video showed him prone on the street, while a white police officer (Derek Chauvin, right) pressed his knee into Floyd's neck even as he cried he couldn't breathe The ice cream giant had already lent their support the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016 and its founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were arresting that same year at a Democracy Awakening protest. In their statement the company called out a 'culture of white supremacy', writing: 'The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy.' 'What happened to George Floyd was not the result of a bad apple; it was the predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated Black bodies as the enemy from the beginning', the brand added. 'George Floyd was a son, a brother, a father, and a friend. The police officer who put his knee on George Floyds neck and the police officers who stood by and watched didnt just murder George Floyd, they stole him. 'We want to be even more clear about the urgent need to take concrete steps to dismantle white supremacy in all its forms', the statement read. In a note posted to their website Tuesday the ice cream giant called on President Donald Trump to not use Twitter to 'promote and normalize' white supremacists 'that support him'. Addressing Trump the board said: 'The President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas.' Thy added: 'The DOJ must also reinstate policies rolled back under the Trump Administration, such as consent decrees to curb police abuses. 'Unless and until white America is willing to collectively acknowledge its privilege, take responsibility for its past and the impact it has on the present, and commit to creating a future steeped in justice, the list of names that George Floyd has been added to will never end.' Unilever CEO Alan Jope also tweeted: 'Systemic racism and social injustice have to be eradicated. Business has a critical role to play in creating an equitable society which is intolerant of intolerance.' Laval_news Report abuse NOW Vigilance in protecting children is everybody's business Quebec health authorities are urging Quebecers to act to protect youth now. Unprecedented preventive measures during the coronavirus pandemic have direct and profound impact on families, and can considerably weaken the safety net that protects the most vulnerable of our children, reads a statement. Home confinement can increase the danger of child abuse and neglect. While parents have primary responsibility for the protection of their children, abuse is a matter of concern for the entire family circle, and all members of the community. While all professionals working with children educators, police or health professionals are obliged to report if the security or development of a child or adolescent is or may be in danger, youth protection authorities say everyone must act. Chelsea is in her mid-50s and still remembers with crystalline clarity the abuse she endured as a child. Like many kids in her community, the Laval resident was on the receiving end of daily violence at the hands of a parent and other family members; violence, neglect and sexual abuse beginning as early as 5 years old, continuing unabated until her escape in her mid-teens. She says what also marked her was the complicity of those who remained silent. I remember lying on the floor and looking at other adults, and no one did anything. It was obvious what was going on. How could they not? All the signs were there. When should you report? Now! You dont need to be absolutely convinced that a child is being abused or neglected to report to Youth Protection (DYP), you just need reasonable suspicions based on your observations or something shared with you in confidence. Quebecs Youth Protection Act protects the identity of the person reporting. Chelsea says children cant protect themselves from abusers. We werent waiting for someone to come save us, because our abusers were supposed to be our protectors. As a child we still turned to them for security, and they used that against us and destroyed us for it. She says today the tools are there for people to step in and report it without fear. There are no more excuses. Call, email, for Gods sake do something. Call the DYP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In Montreal call 514-935-6196 (English-Batshaw) 514-896-3100 (French); in Laval, call 450-975-4150 or 888-975-4884 Other resources are also available: Info-Social 811 (option 2); Tel-Jeunes (1 800 263-2266); LigneParents (1 800 361-5085) and more at Quebec.ca/coordonneesDPJ. For any emergency call 911. California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference at Mustards Grill in Napa, Calif., on May 18, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo) Californias Mail-In Ballot Bill Passes a Vote, as Newsom Issues New Order Californias debate over sending mail-in ballots to all voters is heating up. Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a new executive order on the issue of ballots. And a related bill, AB 860, is making its way through the state legislature. Newsom released an executive order on June 3 mandating that mail-in ballots be sent to every registered voter for the Nov. 3 presidential elections. This echoed an order he had issued on May 8 to that effect, but it clarified a point of contention. The new order says ballots will not be sent to inactive registered voters. Watchdog groups and many state Republicans had expressed concern that sending ballots to all voters could pose a security threatbut especially if ballots were sent to inactive voters still on the roll. Another criticism of the May 8 order had been that rules around allocating in-person polling stations were unclear. One of the issues that the governor put in his executive order is he gets to decide where there are in-person polling places, unilaterallynot that the state or county officials would decide that, not the normal way that its decidedbut he would decide that, Harmeet Dhillon of the Republican National Committee told The Epoch Times on May 28. The concern is that polling places could be allocated to favor Democrat voters if the criteria is unclear, she explained. In his June 3 order, Newsom stated that one in-person polling place would be made available for every 10,000 voters in each county beginning Oct. 31. Mail-In Ballot Bill Newsoms order came one day after Assembly Bill 860 (AB 860) passed 41 in a Senate committee hearing. The bill will move on to the Senate Appropriations Committee in the coming weeks. AB 860 seeks to have mail-in ballots sent to all registered voters. It was based on Newsoms initial order on May 8 regarding sending out mail-in ballots. Newsom drew on his emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic to make the order. The extent of those emergency powers has been challenged in a lawsuit by Republican groups. AB 860 would legislate some of Newsoms changes to the election process, keeping them in place even if his order is invalidated. At the June 2 hearing, Democratic senators and watchdog group Election Integrity Project, California (EIPCa) squared off in a debate over the bill. A particular point of contention was the bills language, stating every registered voter would receive a mail-in ballot. Again, the call came for clarification that only active voters would be sent ballots. At the very least they should be able to close that loophole, EIPCas director of legislative oversight, Ruth Weiss, told The Epoch Times ahead of the hearing. A Raucous Hearing At the hearing, Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) told the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments that AB 860 is intended to protect people from the pandemic by promoting vote-by-mail options for voters who do not want to vote in-person at polling places. This will ensure that every California voter has the ability to vote from the safety of their own home, Berman said. He added that Californias current election laws clearly state inactive voters do not receive election materials, which includes ballots, and that in-person voting opportunities would remain. Unfortunately, opponents of this bill have argued that we are proposing to mail ballots to inactive voters. This obviously is not true, Berman said. EIPCa argued the state has failed to maintain accurate voter rolls and it would greatly increase the risk of voter fraud if the state sends vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter, rather than only active voters. Berman wanted to dispel the rumors that are being perpetrated, or perpetuated, by groups and individuals who seek to undermine Californians faith in the integrity of our elections, he said. He blasted EIPCa for a May 29 letter opposing AB 860 in which EIPCa President Linda Paine wrote, To maintain electoral integrity, there must be extra effort expended to assure the voters that the cure is not more lethal than the disease. I find that argument to be incredibly offensive and in poor taste, Berman told the committee. Voting by mail has never caused anyones hospitalization or death. He added that forcing voters into crowded polling booths during the pandemic might, however. Weiss testified at the hearing via teleconference. She felt Berman had misinterpreted the letters metaphorical intent, and said there was chaos and unreliability in the states voter rolls. In a recent analysis, EIPCa found 13 California counties have more than 100 percent of their eligible population numbers registered to vote. Los Angeles County has 114 percent of its eligible population registered to vote. According to Weiss, 27 more counties have an unrealistic voter registration of over 90 percent. Our conservative data show that we have 458,000 people still on the active list who are likely deceased or have been relocated to other states, and theyve not been removed to the inactive list, and they should not be sent a ballot unless they request it, she said. AB 860, she said, would flood California with hundreds of thousands of ballots addressed to people who are no longer there, making them available for opportunists and fraudsters. EIPCa also opposes extending the grace period for the state to receive vote-by-mail ballots by 20 more days, she said, suggesting the delay will only further increase the risk of voter fraud. We know how to not miss a plane, or how to not miss a bus or miss the beginning of a movie. We know how to not get our phone or our electric bill cut off. We meet a deadline, she said. The Lone Republican on the Committee Committee Chair Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) asked Weiss about the May 12 special elections, both won by Republicans. Mark Garcia won a congressional seat and Melissa Melendez was elected to the state Senate. If youre aware of voting improprieties do you advocate that we redo those two elections? he asked. Im not looking at past elections. Im looking at protecting future elections, Weiss responded. Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) asked for an amendment to the proposed legislation making it clear that only active voters would be sent vote-by-mail ballots. He said he has a great reservation about all the ballots floating out there now. Nielson is the lone Republican on the committee. He asked that except inactive voters be tacked onto the language of the bill after the text stating that vote-by-mail ballots would be sent to every voter in the state. We know there are a lot of them, Nielson said of inactive voters, adding that some deceased voters have been on the rolls for years. Nielsens proposed amendment was shot down in a 4-1 vote. The other committee membersSens. Umberg, Connie Leyva (D-Chino), Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), and Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys)all voted against it. Nielsen urged Californians to encourage their families and neighbors to vote. He cited the local polling place as the best way to determine whether someone is registered. After the Hearing Weiss told The Epoch Times that she was offended by the eye-roll attitude that Sens. Berman and Umberg displayed at the hearing. I found it insulting and condescending, Weiss said. EIPCa remains resolute in its fight to get the state to clean up its voter rolls, she added. They know that we are no longer asleep and that we will hold them accountable, she said later in a statement. I believe we have them rattled. Because Newsoms new order made the language change Nielsen had requested for AB 860, clarifying that inactive voters would not be included, Weiss is hopeful state legislators may be more willing to make the amendment. It will be interesting to see if they turn their attitude around, she said. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Wednesday has informed it that it cannot waive interest on loans for the six-month moratorium period, as it would jeopardise the financial stability and health of the banking sector. The apex bank told the court that it assessed the interest payable on these loans to be approximately Rs 2 lakh crore, which it would lose if it forgoes the interest amount on loan repayments. The RBI clarified to the top court that the moratorium period extension was only a deferral, not a waiver on loan repayments. Also Read: Interest or Interest-free? SC asks Centre, RBI on EMI moratorium SC will hear the matter on June 5, Friday, news agency ANI reported. The RBI filed the affidavit, responding to a court notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction from the SC to waive the interest on loans during the moratorium period in the wake of COVID-19 crisis. The RBI had on March 27 issued a circular permitting banks to grant a three-month moratorium to borrowers, giving them the option to defer their EMI payments. The decision was announced following Centre's directions to the apex bank to ease the financial burden on the debtors in the wake of coronavirus-induced lockdown. The moratorium period was further extended on May 22, making it a six-month moratorium. A division bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know from a government expert committee if Covid-19 could be transmitted through an inadvertent touch or is transmitted through droplets, while hearing a petition alleging violation of government mandated social distancing norms on flights operated by Air India to bring stranded Indians back under the Vande Bharat mission. The division bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and SP Tavade asked the expert committee, headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation for the clarification after taking note of the minutes of a meeting held by the expert committee on May 26 to review and further strengthen the public health related protocols of air travel. The minutes of the meeting which was present before the court read, The physical distance between two persons helps in minimising the transmission through an inadvertent touch. It was also suggested that if the person sitting adjacent to another person is provided with a protective suit (like a gown covering the upper part of the body and gloves), this can also be very good means of preventing the spread of virus either by droplets or by touch. The committees note further listed the benefits of protective gowns in minimising the risk of transmission through an inadvertent touch while in the aircraft or while boarding or alighting. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 The bench was hearing a petition filed by Air India pilot Deven Kanani who had complained that the national carrier had violated social distancing norms while repatriating stranded Indians on special Vande Bharat flights. In the last hearing, the court had asked the centre for data of international evacuees who were Coved-19 negative before boarding the flights but turned positive after alighting from the flight in India. The centre in its response submitted that only 227 passengers, out of the 58,867 flown in from abroad through the Vande Bharat special flights to 17 cities, tested positive for the virus, which is just .38 per cent. However, the data did not provide details of Covid positive passengers found at Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad airports, despite 18,896 passengers having landed in 162 flights at these airports. The centre on its part submitted that the 227 passengers, who were Covid negative before boarding the flights, had tested positive during institutional quarantine and hence there was no proof to corroborate if they had contracted the infection on the flight. For Coronavirus Live Updates The petitioners advocates Abhilash and Jyoti Panickar informed the court that the data provided by the centre proved that the petitioners apprehensions, on the possibility of the virus spreading on Vande Bharat flights due to non-maintenance of social distancing norms, were right. Panickar claimed that the lives of passengers had been put to risk by Air India by not keeping a seat vacant between two passengers. He said that the national average of Covid -19 infection was 0.16 per cent compared to 0.56 per cent among people who had travelled by Air India to 14 cities and had tested positive for the virus. On its part, Air India, through senior advocate Darius Khambatta, and advocates Dr Abhinav Chandrachud, Arsh Misra and Kavita Anchan informed the bench that the air quality within the aircrafts was similar to that in operation theatres as the air was filtered through Hepa Filters and hence the apprehensions of the petitioner were unfounded. The union of India through solicitor general Tushar Mehta and additional solicitor general Anil Singh submitted that the number of Covid positive passengers came to light after they were tested while in mandatory institutional quarantine, hence it was difficult to ascertain whether the virus was contracted on flight. They further reiterated the expert committee recommendation that if proper precautions were taken and the passenger on the middle seat was provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) like face shield and wrap around gown, it would negate the chances of the spread of the virus even through an inadvertent touch. The matter has been posted for further hearing on June 5. Kitty Hawks Flyer, the companys first flying car project, is no more. The company has announced that its shutting down the initiative in a blog post, where it has also revealed that itll focus on its Heaviside plane going forward. According to TechCrunch, Kitty Hawk is laying off most of Flyers 70-person team, though a few employees will be transferred to Heaviside. The original Flyer that debuted in 2017 was a one-seat, propeller-driven vehicle that looked like a flying motorcycle. Kitty Hawk introduced a new version one year later, and while it remained a singleseater, the updated 250-pound aircraft looked more like a mix of a drone and a stunt plane. The company put emphasis on how easy it is to pilot the Flyer it was, after all, designed to be flown by anyone so much so, that all it takes is two hours of training. Over the course of the projects lifetime, Kitty Hawk built 111 Flyer machines and conducted over 25,000 crewed and uncrewed flights. Unfortunately, it failed to find a way to turn the project into a viable business venture. No matter how hard we looked, we could not find a path to a viable business, Kitty Hawk CEO Sebastian Thrun told TechCrunch. The company had another project called Cora that developed two-seater autonomous taxis. Since that one evolved into a joint venture with Boeing, which will soon conduct passenger trials in New Zealand, Heaviside is its only known initiative at the moment. Kitty Hawk revealed Heaviside, its all-electric plane, in 2019. Like Flyer, its a one-seater vehicle thats capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) like a helicopter, though its supposed to be 100 times quieter. Going forward, we are doubling down on Heaviside as our primary platform, its announcement reads. But we would never have gotten here without launching and learning from Flyer, and the amazing team of people who built and operated it. Photo: Contributed The Okanagan region has seen 97 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. New data released by the B.C. government Thursday shows more detailed geographic data of COVID-19 cases around the province, but data showing numbers by city have still not been released. Since the outbreak began, the province has only been releasing data by health authority. As of Wednesday, there remains no active cases of the virus across the entire Interior Health region, but 196 people have been diagnosed since the pandemic began. Two people have died in the Interior due to the virus. While the 97 cases in the Okanagan region saw the rate of infection stay under 25 cases per 100,000 people, the Thompson-Caribou-Shuswap region's 65 confirmed cases made the area the highest infection rate in the Interior just over 29 cases per 100,000 people. Twelve people have been diagnosed with the virus in the Kootenay Boundary area, while 18 cases were identified in the East Kootenay area. The largest number of cases in the province were seen in the Fraser Valley and the Metro Vancouver area. Vancouver has seen 540 cases, 20.7 per cent of all the province's cases, while the Fraser South area has seen 523 cases, 20.1 per cent. Currently, the remaining cases in the province are largely centred around the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver, but Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reiterated she would not be lifting COVID-19 measures at different times for different regions. We know that people are still moving, there's still risk out there, Dr. Henry said Thursday. We're still seeing cases come in from Alberta related to other things, related to essential workers going back and forth from Alberta, from the United States and other places. We've done this in a co-ordinated way around the province. We all have the same low risk at the moment, because we've all been doing the right things and we need to continue doing them. The newly released data also shows that while the majority of infections have impacted British Columbians between the ages of 30 and 69, those 70 and over have suffered the worst. Of the 166 virus-related deaths in B.C., 143 have been people 70 and over, along with 84 of the province's 172 ICU hospitalizations. And while 52 per cent of the COVID-19 patients in B.C. have been females, men have been much more likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus. There have been 2,632 total confirmed cases across the province, but there remains just 201 active cases, largely centred around the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health authorities. But the data shows that states are processing claims at a faster pace now than at the beginning of the crisis. By the end of April about 47% of workers had their unemployment claims paid, up from just 14% at the end of March. The increase is a "big improvement, but still reflects major delays in payments that have bedeviled state agencies and frustrated millions of workers," says Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a leading unemployment expert. Ongoing research shows that many filing for unemployment have had to wait for weeks, if not a month or longer, to receive their benefits. Over 40 million Americans submitted unemployment claims since states began to issue stay-at-home orders and shut down businesses, according to data published by the Century Foundation . Of those, just under 27 million claims have been processed, with workers either already receiving or awaiting payment. For many Americans, the reason behind the "extraordinary food insecurity" in recent months is based, in part, on the fact that many have had their unemployment benefits delayed, Swonk says. "People don't go to a food bank for no reason. They go to a food bank when they've run out of food," Swonk, a trained labor economist, says. She adds that food insecurity is hitting children disproportionately hard. "Kids are skipping meals and not getting fed appropriate nutrition at a critical time in their lives." The number of people reporting that they're experiencing food insecurity , which is when you don't have reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable food, is extremely high, Diane Swonk , chief economist with Grant Thornton, tells CNBC Make It. That includes about 14% of adults who say they've cut down on the size of their meals or skipped them entirely because "there wasn't enough money for food," as well as 13% who report needing to visit a food bank or pantry for supplies. Since February, 26% of Americans report they or a member of their household have gone without meals or relied on charities or government programs to obtain groceries, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's May health tracking poll of over 1,100 U.S. adults. With tens of millions of Americans unemployed, it's no surprise that many are facing shortfalls when it comes to purchasing food for their families during the coronavirus pandemic. While unemployment benefits were processed faster in April than March, many Americans are still recovering. The Kaiser poll was fielded May 13 through May 18 and found that 13% of Americans say they've applied for or received SNAP benefits, also known as the food stamp program. Americans who qualify can apply for SNAP through their state agency and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress in March did make it easier for states to be more flexible in granting aid. Eligibility requirements do vary by state, but typically your household has to be at or below 130% of the poverty line. For a family of three, that's a gross income of about $27,700 a year. The program also takes into account the household net income, which is what you earn after taxes and any other deductions such as retirement contributions and health care have been taken out of your paycheck. To be eligible, a family of three typically can't have a net income above $1,778 a month, or about $21,300 a year. Additionally, SNAP eligibility also looks at whether you have any money in a bank account that can be used to buy food. To qualify, households should have less than $2,250, or up to $3,500 if a member of the family is elderly or disabled, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. If you have a young family, you may qualify for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, popularly known as WIC. The program provides assistance to expectant mothers, women who are breastfeeding, infants and children under age 5 and that includes access to food such as whole-grain bread, baby food, infant formula, and milk, as well as vouchers that can be used to purchase fruits and vegetables. To qualify, you generally need to have been deemed at "nutritional risk" and have a gross household income at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. That's just over $37,000 annually for a family of three. If you don't qualify for SNAP or other federal aid programs, and you're facing a food shortage, consider calling the USDA's National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479). Hotline staff can connect those who need food to resources in their community, as well as discuss government assistance programs. Many times, food pantries are a good option for families who have a temporary need, since they are generally set their own requirements and many provide assistance to those who assert that they have a genuine need for food assistance, no proof of income required. In many cases, you do not have to be eligible for SNAP in order to qualify for pantry services. Churches, synagogues and other religious organizations also frequently offer free food assistance to anyone in the community, regardless of religious beliefs or income. Plus, many of these programs may also provide assistance beyond just food, offering supplies such as personal care items, paper products, diapers and formula. And depending on the organization, you may be able to get assistance several times a month. Feeding America, which supplies 4.3 billion meals each year through food pantries, has a helpful lookup tool that shows their network of 200 food banks and 60,000 pantries and meal programs around the country. Meanwhile the Homeless Shelter Directory and FreeFood.org, both of which provide resources for those in need, also have addresses, websites and contact information of soup kitchens, food pantries and food banks by city and state. You can also check out Little Free Pantries, which is a grassroots mini pantry movement where neighbors stock pantry items for those in need to take. Keep in mind that many programs do require documentation to verify who you are and where you live. Generally, you need to bring a photo ID and a piece of mail that has your address, such as a utility bill. For some programs, however, you may need to complete paperwork regarding your household income, who lives with you and where your home is located. Call ahead or check out the organization's website ahead of time to determine exactly what is needed. Don't miss: Here are 8 steps to take if you can't make ends meet because of the coronavirus Savers using 401(k) plans may soon be able to invest their retirement money in private equity, long considered strictly the province of the well-to-do. The U.S. Labor Department issued guidance Wednesday stipulating that business owners with 401(k) plans can more safely offer certain funds with a private equity component to their employees. While some experts believe 401(k) savers could use those funds to get stronger returns, others believe doing so would expose them to high fees, more risk and predatory practices. The funds addressed by the Labor Department include popular types like target-date funds, which are comprised of several different underlying investments and which generally decrease investment risk as a saver's retirement date nears. More from Personal Finance: Here's what happens to your 401(k) loan if you're laid off Companies giving employees cash for working from home Most students probably can't afford college due to Covid-19 The guidance gives more legal protection to businesses whose 401(k) plans offer TDFs that bundle in private equity. However, the agency doesn't give the same blessing to those with a fund that invests solely in private equity, according to the guidance, which took the form of an information letter. The SEC proposed rules late last year that would loosen restrictions around access to risky investments, such as private equity and hedge funds, for retail investors. Such people, who invest money outside an institutional setting like a 401(k), need to be "accredited" to access these private investments, meaning they need at least $200,000 in annual income, a net worth exceeding $1 million (excluding the value of a home), or joint annual income with a spouse of more than $300,000. Graphics of CSAM sharing during pandemic Child Rescue Coalition (CRC), a nonprofit whose mission is to rescue children from sexual abuse by building technology for law enforcement to track, arrest, and prosecute child predators, announced today they have seen an increase in child predators sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in peer-to-peer file sharing networks in countries affected by COVID-19. According to COO Glen Pounder, Child Rescue Coalition initially saw a decrease in the sharing of CSAM material in countries which had gone into lockdown. This may be attributed to predators quarantined at home with other family members, hindering their ability to access CSAM without getting caught. Another concerned raised by this decrease in online sharing could be more hands-on abuse taking place in homes during quarantine periods associated with the pandemic. CRC expanded the research to include April and May 2020 and now the findings show an increase in the sharing of CSAM on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. This is assessed as being due to child abusers returning to their usual routine after the initial shock of COVID-19 reducing their online activity. Pounder added that child sexual abusers are humans and their behavior often does not fit into neat and easy to classify categories. It is important for families to understand that online offending has different characteristics and in order to find a cure for the pandemic of sexual abuse that takes place every day it takes a village, said Pounder. Child Rescue Coalition works with law enforcement all over the world to put a stop to child sexual abuse material which is being shared online but the physical abuse that is also happening to children every single day in the real world. During this time of increased screen time for children with online school and being home due to COVID-19 quarantine rules, it is more important than ever that parents are vigilant and educated on how to keep children safe from predators online. Child Rescue Coalition has a variety of educational materials available on their website for free, including a two-contract for families and tips for safety during school closures and Summer months. 9 Internet Safety Reminders for Parents During School Closures and Summer 1. Try not to allow children to have their phones, laptops, or tablets in their bedrooms. A connection to the internet not only gives your child access to adult content, but also allows others to contact your children through video game chats, social media apps, and chat rooms. Have your kids work or play near you, and if you are working, give your child or yourself headphones! 2. Always check your childrens devices, search history, what they are posting, as well as their emails, texts and social media direct messages daily. If its too much work and parents dont have time, then limit the apps your children have for you to manage. 3. Have the talk with your children about internet safety and online predators, and let them know that its not just stranger danger. 4. Always have social media accounts turned to private and turn off location tracking. Also, on an iPhone, make sure you set your camera to NEVER allow your childs location to be seen. To do this go to Settings>Privacy>Location Services (ON) >Camera set to NEVER. 5. Use an app like Bark to monitor your childrens devices. Let these apps do the work for you so you can focus on your family! 6. Do not feel guilty about screen time, but DO make sure you are paying attention. 7. Be on the lookout for signs your child might be a target of a predator. 8. Sign a contract with your kids so they understand the rules of the online road during this time away from school. 9. Dont forget to have fun with your kids and learn how to play some of their favorite games with them. When you show an interest, your kids will open up to you and be more willing to share! Child Rescue Coalitions CPS Technology works by monitoring peer-to-peer file sharing networks in real time. CRCs technology indexes 30 to 50 million reports of online users trading child sexual abuse material every day. This information allows Child Rescue Coalition to expose hidden networks of abusers and report their activity. The data is provided to local law enforcement agencies to help them protect children by tracking, arresting and prosecuting child predators worldwide often without having to put children through the trauma of testifying in court. For more information about Child Rescue Coalition, visit http://www.childrescuecoalition.org. About Child Rescue Coalition Child Rescue Coalition (CRC), a south Florida-based nonprofit organization with global reach, has spent the past decade building the worlds most sophisticated technology to hunt child predators. Through proactive partnerships with law enforcement, the nonprofits system has tracked 54 million offenders around the world in order to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. With a mission of protecting innocence through technology, the technology developed by CRC has aided in the arrest of more than 12,000 predators and rescued more than 2,700 abused children in the last six years. For more information, visit childrescuecoalition.org or call (561) 208-9000. New Delhi : Rajasthani folk songs, contemporary instrumental music from Brazil, African slave chants and tunes from communities of Croatia will be among the major highlights at the annual Jodhpur Riff festival this year. Scheduled to be held from October 13 to 17 at Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Fort, the festival will bring the rarest and best music of Rajasthan and from across the globe on a single platform. "We aim to showcase Rajasthan's amazing music and musicianship. Presenting the artistes with respect and dignity is a central aspect of the ethos of the festival. "While there is a lot that remains to be done in the villages of Rajasthan, we try to contribute to the general awareness of Rajasthani folk music, in order to positively impact the livelihood of some of the artists," says Divya Bhatia, festival director. The five-day-long festival which has previously hosted Grammy awardees like Wouter Kellerman, this year will showcase performances by over a hundred Rajasthani artistes including stalwarts like - Lakha Khan Mangainyar and Kadar Khan Langa (Sindhi Sarangi and vocals), Pempa Khan Manganiyar (Shehnai and Murli) and Sawan Khan Manganiyar (Sufi). Chiranji Lalji and Shamsuddin (Maand), vocalist Anwar Khan Manganiyar, master musicians of the Kamaycha Ghewar and Darra Khan Manganiyar will also be performing. Jodhpur RIFF, a not-for-profit project, seeks to offer patronage and encouragement to the often neglected Rajasthani Folk music. "Even though more and more people are now willing to pay to hear good traditional music, it is still not enough. Hence, there is a continued need for patronage for music that may be less in the pop mould," Bhatia says. Among the major attractions will be a mix of Australian and Rajasthani music where Jeff Lang and Bobby Singh from Australia will collaborate with Bhungar Manganiyar to belt out Rajasthani compositions on "love and loss." For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has highlighted the conditions to be met by churches before reopening. Recall that the Ni... The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has highlighted the conditions to be met by churches before reopening. Recall that the Nigerian Government finally lifted the ban placed on religious gatherings across the country to check the spread of coronavirus. This was made known at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday by the Chairman of the task force, Boss Mustapha, who announced that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the relaxation of the ban for four weeks. However, the president of CAN, Samson Ayokunle, in a statement released on Wednesday said churches were expected to start reopening in the first week of June after meeting the conditions. He also explained that the measures are put together to ensure the reopening of churches does not cause a spike in COVID-19 cases. The guidelines given by the national religious body are as follows: That each church premises will be properly and thoroughly disinfected. Each Church will make provision of alcohol-based sanitizers, soap and water for worshipers with the supervision by medical professionals. There should be a mandatory use of face masks in church premises. Worshipers are to adhere to strict social distancing rules; one-metre gap in the sitting arrangement. Every church should make provision for temperature readers to take the temperature of every worshiper before admission into the church. People with high temperature should not be allowed into the church but be advised to go and see their doctors. One and a half-hour service is enough for a start, with a gap of 25 or 30 minutes between one service and another where there are multiple services. Handshaking and hugging should be avoided before, during and after the service. Churches observing Holy Communion service are advised to use a separate cup for each participant. He also said that the CAN in each state and local government should constitute a committee together with law enforcement agencies in their area to enforce full compliance. Amid the outbreak of Corona, Indian custom clearing agents became angry at the permission to enter the Bhansar office in Belhia, Nepal. They stopped the movement of trucks while performing at Sonauli border. Later, after the initiative of the officials and public representatives of both the countries, they were considered as outrageous agents. After this, the movement of cargo trucks to Nepal started. Nepal Bhansar office was banned in Nepal for the entry of Indian Custom Clearing Agents to pass the Indian freight trucks. Due to which the angry clearing agents stopped work and went on strike. He said that until Nepal does not allow agents to enter the East, trucks will not be allowed to enter the Nepal-India border. The movement of custom clearing agents led to a long line of vehicles on the border. In the evening, four custom clearing agents went to Bhairahwa Bhansar office along with Sudhir Tripathi, president representative of Nagar Panchayat Sonauli. He held talks with Custom Chief Bhairahwan Kamal Rai Bhatrai and DSP Bhairahwan Man Bahadur Shahi and Bhairahwan MLA Santosh Pandey. After talks of both the parties, it was decided to operate the system as before. Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala arrived in Gorakhpur from Mumbai on a Spice Jet plane on Tuesday. She was supposed to go to Kathmandu. She remained at the airport for about 20 minutes after a safety and health check-up. During this, she shared a video on her Twitter handle praising the arrangements made to prevent corona infection. The actress filled the passenger declaration form herself after thermal scanning at the airport. Appreciating the cleanliness of the airport, the arrangements made to prevent infection, she said that the Gorakhpur airport administration has made better arrangements in less space. IAS rapes woman on pretext of work, administration came into action after allegations Know the result of new research related to dementia Kumar Vishwas tweeted, "Chunav Ke Pehle Kuch Bhi Karo, Ye Log Bhul Jate Hai" A special wedding was held in Zhenjiang, east China's Jiangsu province, on May 28. The bride and groom got to know each other and fell in love while fighting against the novel coronavirus in the frontline of Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. The bride, Xie Nianye, a nurse at the Zhenjiang Hospital of Chinese Traditional and Western Medicine, met Zhang Hongtao, also a nurse in Zhenjiang, when they set off for Wuhan on Feb. 9. During their 38 days combating the virus in Wuhan, they encouraged, helped and grew fond of each other. Now, they've decided to spend the rest of their lives together. "I thought he was handsome when I first saw him and later found he was also responsible and reliable," Xie noted. Zhang sees Xie as a sweet and thoughtful person. "She brought an electric rice cooker to Wuhan because she has a sensitive stomach and would heat up meals for other colleagues who were busy at work," Zhang said. On March 17, when they returned to Zhenjiang from Wuhan, the two officially began going out. They registered for a marriage certificate on May 12, International Nurses Day, and decided to hold the wedding on May 28. But Zhang insists that it wasn't quite a flash marriage, saying that every day facing life and death in the war against the virus is like a year. Local and statewide groups doing good deeds during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Duke Energy Foundation announced $340,000 in grants to support K-12 education programs in South Carolina, focused toward summer reading loss, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and experiential learning. Grantees will have an opportunity for additional flexibility with their programs as well as the option to use the funds to address unforeseen operational challenges. For example, the Darlington County School District received funding for a summer book mobile for students in Darlington, Lamar and Society Hill. Other grant recipients are Childrens Museum of the Upstate, Clarendon School District Two, Clemson University Foundation, Florence School District One, Girl Scouts of SC, SC Future Minds, South Carolina Ag in the Classroom, South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics, South Carolina Waterfowl Association, United Way of Pickens County, United Way of Anderson County, Upcountry History Museum - Furman University and Winthrop University Foundation. On April 22 and April 24, Raines Hospitality partnered with Feeding Our Heroes SC to distribute more than 100 meals to health care workers at Trident Health Medical Center and Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital, with containers and cutlery kits provided by Port City Paper and food prepared and provided by the Cambria hotels of Summerville and Mount Pleasant. We have long valued our relationship with Feeding Our Heroes SC, said Kate Neville, area senior director of sales and marketing with Cambria, and are so fortunate that our teams could come together during this time to prepare a meal and show our utmost appreciation to our essential health care workers. Raines offers hospitality management services to hotel owners, investors and associates. Feeding Our Heroes SC was founded by a group of mothers in Mount Pleasant to assist the local food and beverage and front-line medical communities by raising funds to purchase meals for hospital staff and administrators. On May 11, Middle Branch Roofing announced the winners of its Roofs for Responders campaign. Free roofs were given to a sheriffs deputy in Ladson, an MUSC nurse in Mount Pleasant and a firefighter/paramedic in West Ashley as a thank you for their service during the coronavirus pandemic. I was going to do one free roof, said owner JR Yarnall, but our partners all wanted to help out, so we are thrilled to be doing three roofs (as) a community effort to help our local heroes. Funds were granted from the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association, the SCDOI Safe Home program and INHS, with time and materials donated by CertainTeed, ABC Supply and Lifetime Tool, in addition to other local businesses. The roofs feature 50-year architectural shingles rated for 150 mph winds, certified as hurricane resistant by the Safe Home program and IBHS Fortified. Middle Branch is wrapping up installation just in time for hurricane season. In mid-April, the Charleston Chapter of Les Dames DEscoffier launched Vital Hospitality CHS, a fundraising and service program with a mission to feed health care workers and first responders while supporting the local restaurant community. Since the start of the program on April 15, almost 500 meals have been donated by Red Orchids China Bistro, Verde, Callies Hot Little Biscuit, Grey Ghost Bakery, The Macintosh, Wickliffe House, Salthouse Catering and Duvall Catering. Recipients are personnel with MUSC Health University Medical Center, Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Trident Health System. LDEI is a philanthropic society of professional women leaders in the field of food, fine beverage and hospitality. As a result of Vital Hospital CHS, $4000 has been reinvested into the local economy. On April 30, the GreaterGood organization awarded a COVID-19 grant to the Charleston Animal Society so it could assist other South Carolina shelters and rescue groups. GreaterGoods Rescue Bank truck was filled with 15 pallets of pet food and five pallets of cat litter, which amounts to 30,000 pounds of pet supplies. GreaterGood has been an amazing partner through the years, providing support to our state during hurricanes, said Charleston Animal Society Chief Strategy Officer Aldwin Roman. Now, in the middle of a national health emergency, they are once again partnering with us to help animals across South Carolina. Organizations that received supplies include Dorchester Paws, Berkeley County Animal Center, St. Frances Animal Center (Georgetown County), Marlboro County Animal Shelter, Hallie Hill Animal Sanctuary (Charleston County), Feline Refuge (Charleston County), Rainbows Edge Animal Refuge (Jasper County) and New Beginnings Shepherd Rescue (Orangeburg County). Mass protests in U.S. may speed up COVID-19 transmission, experts warn People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:17, June 03, 2020 The infection risk is even higher when demonstrators have been arrested. "Jails are crowded indoor spaces. The aggregation of protesters in jails will increase the risk for onward transmission of the virus," said Zhang Zuofeng, a professor of epidemiology. WASHINGTON, June 2 (Xinhua) -- As tens of thousands of demonstrators continue to take to the streets across the United States to protest the killing of George Floyd, an African American who died in police custody last week, health experts warned that mass gatherings may speed up COVID-19 transmission. "Mass gatherings occurred in many locations across the country, resulting in close contacts and lack of social distancing. Though many demonstrators wear masks, the chances of COVID-19 infections increase tremendously," Zhang Zuofeng, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research with the school of public health at University of California, Los Angeles, told Xinhua on Tuesday. Many of the weekend's protests culminated in police officers shooting tear gas and using pepper spray and protesters setting fire to cars and buildings. Smoke, tear gas and pepper spray cause coughing, and coughing aerosolizes the virus, increasing the risk that it will spread, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least a third of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic. The infection risk is even higher when demonstrators have been arrested, Zhang told Xinhua. "Jails are crowded indoor spaces. The aggregation of protesters in jails will increase the risk for onward transmission of the virus," Zhang said. More than 5,600 people have been arrested over days of nationwide protests, according to The Associated Press. On Monday, mayors and governors across the country urged demonstrators to stay home, and if they do go out, to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing. Although government officials have warned demonstrators about the health risks posed by protesting during a pandemic, only a few have offered actionable guidance about the role COVID-19 testing can play in preventing the virus from spreading, said a report by ABC News. Since most people who are infected with the coronavirus develop symptoms within 14 days of being infected and can spread the disease days before they feel sick, the window to get tested and avoid infecting others is small. "The impact of the ongoing protests on COVID-19 case counts may be revealed in about two weeks. Some testing sites have been closed due to demonstrations, which also affects timely diagnosis of COVID-19 cases," Zhang said. Protests over the death of Floyd entered the eighth day across the United States on Tuesday, with incidents of arson, vandalism and looting occurring in various places. Cities and states, including California, the District of Columbia, New York City and Cleveland, have extended curfews. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address By Oluwatope Lawanson/Lagos Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Wednesday joined the clamour for justice and an end to gender-based violence and abuse in the country. Enough is enough, tweeted the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is the latest of the political heavyweights to back the campaigns to protect women. President Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had similarly spoken. The APC leader described the acts of violence against women and young girls as inexcusable and indefensible. For far too long women and young girls in our nation have suffered the pain, hurt and stigma of gender-based violence and abuse. Too many have been hurt, intimidated and bullied. Too many have died; violence is inexcusable, he said. According to him, we are all born of woman and nurtured by woman. Vera Uwaila Omozuwa is the most recent name on a list, far too long, of women who have lost their lives at the hands of these vile criminals. Today, I rise in solidarity with women in Nigeria to say #enoughisenough, Tinubu said. He tweeted the hashtags: #JusticeforUwa, #JusticeforJennifer #JusticeforTina, #JUSTICE for all victims of gender based violence. On May 28, the 22-year-old student of the University of Benin, Uwaila Vera Omozuwa was raped and murdered in a church in the town. Similarly, an 18-year-old girl, identified as Jennifer, was gang-raped by five boys reported to be her friends in Kaduna state The incident happened in Narayi, a community in Kaduna South Local Government Area. The boys were said to have carried out the action on the teenager after giving her a liquid, said to be a mixture of alcohol and drugs. Also, a trigger-happy policeman on May 27 killed a 16-year-old teenager, Tina Ezekwe at Iyana-Oworo bus-stop in Lagos. The policeman was said to have fatally shot the girl while attempting to arrest a bus driver. The driver was alleged to have violated the nationwide curfew imposed by the Federal Government to check the spread of COVID-19. Related COLUMBUS, Ohio A wave of police killings of young black men in 2014 prompted 24 states to quickly pass some type of law enforcement reform, but many declined to address the most glaring issue: police use of force. Six years later, only about a third of states have passed laws on the question. The issue is at the heart of nationwide protests set off by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis pressed a knee into Floyd's neck for several minutes while he pleaded for air. Now, some lawmakers and governors are hoping to harness the renewed wave of anger to push through changes on the use of force they couldn't manage after 2014, a year that included the deaths at the hands of police of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner in New York and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland. Were absolutely at a point in time where we have to do more, said Maryland state Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, a Democrat who will chair a working group announced this week that will take up use-of-force standards for that state. Pushback from politically influential law enforcement unions prompted some states' use-of-force proposals to stall, while others have opted for voluntary programs to change policing practices. In some states, lawmakers have even broadened the powers of police, such as increasing penalties for those who attack officers or, as in Tennessee and Utah, limiting the power of independent review boards that investigate police conduct. As of August 2018, at least 16 states had passed use-of-force laws, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. A handful of those directly restricted what police could do. In Utah and Missouri, for example, force used by officers must be reasonable and necessary. Colorado has banned chokeholds, the maneuver used on Garner. Other laws created task forces to set new standards, boosted training or improved tracking of officers' use of guns and deadly force. In 2014, Republican-led Wisconsin became the first state in the country to enact a law requiring outside investigations when people die in police custody a law supported by the states largest police union. This week, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers asked the Legislature, still controlled by Republicans, to go further and pass a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to minimize the use of force and prioritize preserving life. In New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and the attorney general said they will update state guidelines governing police use of force for the first time in two decades. Democratic lawmakers in at least two states Arizona and Oregon said this week they want to reform their states' use-of-force policies in upcoming legislative sessions. A legislative caucus in Oregon representing people of color has asked for a bipartisan effort to recommend changes that can be included in legislation next year. The issue is simply two words: accountability and trust, state Sen. Lew Frederick, a Democrat from Portland, said in the group's statement. Both are broken. It will take a major effort to establish them in our society." In Colorado, Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that, among other things, would require departments to compile civilian demographic data in use-of-force cases and allow citizens to file lawsuits against police officers for misconduct. Colorado law currently grants them immunity. Despite the sense in many places that this moment could produce real change, challenges remain. Police unions have often resisted attempts to restrict officers' use of deadly force and are politically potent in most states. Paige Fernandez, a policing policy adviser at the ACLU, said many unions "have convinced themselves that police are unable to protect themselves if they value the bodily integrity and personal lives of the the people they are supposed to be serving. The National Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement acknowledging there is no doubt Floyds death has diminished public trust in police. Police officers need to treat all of our citizens with respect and understanding and should be held to the very highest standards for their conduct, the organization said. Since 2016, groups representing police nationwide have contributed $1.3 million directly to candidates for governor and attorney general and given at least another $1 million for independent expenditures that advocate for or against candidates for all state-level offices, according to an Associated Press analysis of data collected by the National Institute on Money in Politics. Much of that money has been spent in California, where unions initially defeated reforms before the state enacted a pair of laws last year. One allows police to use lethal force only when necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious injury to officers or bystanders. The second requires additional officer training. The California debate was driven in part by the fatal 2018 shooting by Sacramento police of 22-year-old Stephon Clark, who was clutching a cellphone that officers said they mistook for a weapon. The shooting in Ohio of Rice, whose toy Airsoft gun officers said they mistook for a real one, contributed to then-Gov. John Kasich creating the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board. In 2015, the board adopted statewide standards limiting use of deadly force by police officers to defending themselves or others from serious injury or death. The state's Republican-led Legislature opted against turning those recommendations into law, leaving police agencies to comply voluntarily. Karhlton Moore, who leads the Ohio Department of Public Safety division that oversees the standards, said roughly three-quarters of Ohio residents now live in areas covered by police agencies that are either certified or in the process of being certified as upholding the standards. But Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, a Democrat who is black, criticized Republican lawmakers this week for failing to enact laws recommended by Kasich's task force, saying their actions "show us time and time again that black lives do not matter. Ohio Democrats want immediate reforms addressing racism and inequality. But changing the law isn't enough, said Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, a chief sponsor of the bills who represents East Pittsburgh. Police around the nation have condemned the way Floyd was restrained. Inherent racism must be dealt with as well, said Lee, who is black. She said some lawmakers were paying lip service to the necessity of fighting racism but weren't taking action. We have bills we have tangible things the Legislature can do todPhotos: Solidarity With Black Lives Matter rally in Carlisle Wednesday Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The ban on alcohol sales was lifted on 1 June following South Africas move to level 3 of the lockdown, resulting in a remarkable increase in demand for liquor compared to pre-lockdown levels. MyBroadband visited Makro in Centurion 30 minutes before it was due to open, and experienced a queue of between 200 and 300 people waiting to purchase alcohol. Similar imagery was shared across social media as South Africans looked to stock their fridges and bars. MyBroadband asked liquor stores about their experiences since the lifting of the prohibition on alcohol sales. These companies said that demand for alcohol was exceptionally high as lockdown restrictions were eased, with some stores reporting more demand than they usually see on Black Friday. Pick n Pay Liquor Pick n Pay said that, as expected, demand for liquor was high during the first few days particularly on Monday. Our stores have remained busy, although they experienced less queuing from Tuesday, said Pick n Pay. It said that purchasing limits had been put in place and worked very well, helping it to serve as many customers as possible. Many customers also chose to shop online and placed pre-orders over the weekend to have their beverages delivered straight to their front door, said Pick n Pay. We are anticipating increased demand again on Thursday, before the weekend. Pick n Pay said that while all categories were fairly equal in popularity, spirits topped the list of most-bought products. It said it is working hard to ensure its shelves are well-stocked for customers. Our stores and online shop are being restocked daily to ensure customers favourite brands are available for them to buy. TOPS at Spar TOPS said that because of the period that liquor stores were closed, there was an inevitable and large increase in trade during the first two days of the lockdown. We foresee the steady flow of customers continuing throughout the week until Thursday, said TOPS. This may possibly decrease next week. TOPS said it should also be noted that daily store traffic will be different than pre-lockdown due to the four-day trading week imposed upon liquor stores. However, it said its stores have handled the increased demand very well. All the necessary COVID-19 protocols were in place and customers adhered to these, said TOPS. They have become accustomed to the queuing system and social distancing as we have been selling food from SPAR stores throughout the lockdown. Makro Makro said that the demand for alcohol was significantly higher than during high-visibility promotions such as Black Friday. It also said that online trade was exceptionally good and was enabled by its new partnership with OneCart and its investment in last-mile delivery service WumDrop. It said that there has been a degree of rush buying, which it believes is driven by a lack of customer confidence that government will allow the trade of liquor to continue, as well as due to the weekend trading restrictions. Our view is that these trading restrictions are counter-intuitive in that they time compress weekly demand into a four-day trading window, said Makro. However, Makro said its stores have been able to meet customer demand and remain well-stocked anyway. Makro said that its experience in other areas of the business has been that demand remains high for about three days following the lifting of trading restrictions, after which it settles into normal volumes. The unknown in the case of liquor is the impact that the weekend prohibition might have on Thursday buying behaviour, it added. It said it has prioritised the safety of staff and customers within its stores and has implemented additional measures to assist in the trading of liquor including increased security, the implementation of hand-held customer check-out devices to accelerate transaction processing, clearly communicating purchasing limits, and implementing a hard lock on its PoS system that prevents these limits from being breached. CyberCellar Online liquor retailer CyberCellar said that online traffic had been incredibly high in the 10-day period between the level 3 lockdown being announced, and the reopening of alcohol sales. Traffic has been highest through the last 10 days, but by far the biggest single spike was the day immediately after the announcement that were moving to level 3, the company told MyBroadband. It said that since 1 June, when physical liquor stores opened, it saw a significant increase in traffic relative to pre-lockdown figures. Even with the large influx of visitors over the past two weeks, it said its website has remained stable. The most strain is on our operations team in processing and dispatching all the orders, said CyberCellar. In this regard, increased demand has resulted in significant delays in the delivering of orders. Weve had to send out a notice to our customers saying that were working through a serious backlog, said CyberCellar. Some will already have received their orders but others will only get next week or after, so weve expanded our team and added delivery partners to help speed things up but still maintain safe work conditions. It added that restrictions around the days on alcohol can be sold also applies to its deliveries. All we want is everyone to get their orders as quickly as possible, but the Monday Thursday alcohol rule means we cant deliver on Friday or Saturday, CyberCellar said. That cuts out 33% of our usual time so it doesnt help things. I just think its so sad and heartbreaking that people cant just treat people like human beings. How could you not have a conscience or a heart? Anissa Rindfleish asked. And on the other aspect, what kind of people are taking advantage of the situation? The people out there looting are doing things not for the cause of George Floyd. Theyve gone beyond that. Its one thing to be angry, but its another thing to tear up your own community. Where are you going to shop tomorrow if you tear up your own stores? All asymptomatic travellers arriving in Delhi via flights, trains, or by roads will have to mandatorily undergo home quarantine for seven days, the state government said on Thursday. Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has made seven-day home quarantine for all asymptomatic passengers mandatory amid the lockdown. Also read: Coronavirus live updates: Defence Secy tests positive; Maharashtra records highest single-day spike in deaths According to DDMA chairman Vijay Dev, the concerned airport, railways, and other transport authorities will submit passenger manifests to the office of the principal secretary of revenue department on a daily basis. Later, the principal secretary (Revenue) will forward the passenger manifest to the respective Ditrict Magistrate (DMs). The DMs will then ensure that those entering the national capital undergo home quarantine for seven days. Earlier, Karnataka had also reduced the mandatory 14 days of quarantine period to seven days for asymptomatic travellers entering the state except for those coming from Maharashtra. On the other hand, Uttarakhand government has extended the 14-day quarantine period to 21 days for those returning from the country's 75 worst coronavirus-hit cities, which included Delhi, Noida, Agra, Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi, Chennai and Hyderabad. As of June 4, Delhi has registered a total of 23,645 cases of c oronavirus, including 13,947 active cases, 9,542 recovered, and 606 deaths, according to heath ministry data. Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: NLS alumni arrange chartered flight to ferry 180 migrant workers to Raipur Also read: Coronavirus update: Maharashtra reports highest single-day spike in deaths; COVID-19 cases tally at 72,300 By Associated Press DUBAI: An Alaska man accused of laundering $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran funneled nearly all the money through the United Arab Emirates, U.S. federal court documents released early Thursday show. The court documents, filed as part of a U.S. asset seizure effort, shed further light on how Kenneth Zong allegedly created fake invoices to help Iran draw cash held by South Korea in lieu of payment for oil shipments. It also renewed questions about financial transparency in the UAE, as the order sought to seize $20 million held by one of the country's seven emirates. Zong helped Iran by creating fake invoices for construction material, using them to convince South Korean banks and regulators to release the money, federal prosecutors said. In April, the Industrial Bank of Korea agreed to pay $86 million in fines over failing to stop the laundering, federal prosecutors in New York said. Zong, earlier convicted of criminal charges in South Korea over the scheme, was due to be released from prison in March, though U.S. federal prosecutors said it was likely he'd be held there until he paid a fine of millions of dollars. No lawyer was listed for Zong in the U.S. court filings. Federal prosecutors want to extradite him to stand trial in the U.S. as well. Of the money laundered, nearly all of it flowed into the United Arab Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. War profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubais real-estate market as a haven for their assets, one report found. While saying efforts have been made to improve the UAE's financial controls, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in April warned that the country's limited number of money laundering prosecutions and convictions, particularly in Dubai, are a concern given the countrys risk profile. In announcing the forfeiture effort, U.S. federal prosecutors thanked authorities in Dubai and in Ras al-Khaimah, another emirate whose sovereign wealth fund holds the sought-after $20 million. That money ended up there as part of a plan by three Iranians later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury to buy a hotel owned by the fund in the nation of Georgia. That deal was engineered by an Iranian-American gunrunner with ties to the CIA who was not named in the U.S. court documents. Officials in Ras al-Khaimah did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [June 04, 2020] ServerFarm Adds 14MW of New Critical Data Center Capacity to Keep Toronto Customers Online in Lockdown Sustainable Additional Capacity Brought on Stream for High Demand Data Center Market in Record Time Despite COVID-19 Conditions TORONTO, June 4, 2020 /CNW/ -- ServerFarm, the innovative data center developer and operator, completed a substantial project to provide vital and highly sustainable additional capacity to the Toronto data center market to help keep customers online in today's unique business challenges. The project to add 14MW of new critical capacity to ServerFarm's existing Toronto data center included a major construction phase, which was completed during the COVID-19 lockdown. The facility's utility power availability is now over 21MW, bringing much-needed high-quality capacity to the Toronto market. The project was executed with the outstanding support of TD Securities, Israel Discount Bank and others. ServerFarm wishes to offer its thanks to its teams of staff, partners and suppliers who worked safely, diligently and collaboratively to ensure the facility's new capacity was available for customers as soon as possible. "Data center capacity in the Toronto area is in tight supply, and our vision to develop new capacity within an existing facility started 10 months ago, long before the lobal shock of the pandemic," says Avner Papouchado, CEO of ServerFarm. "We're immensely proud of our teams for working so hard to make this capacity available so quickly. That this was achieved while maintaining worker safety despite having to work in lockdown conditions points to their professionalism and our ability to adapt to the rapidly changing conditions wrought by the COVID-19 threat." ServerFarm's data center customers continued to be served throughout this complex and challenging project, and additional capacity has already been delivered to new customers. Physical data centers continue to provide critical infrastructure foundations of cloud computing and vital communications. ServerFarm is proud that it continues to take the long view that data center infrastructure must be sustainable and will join the United Nations in celebrating World Environment Day on June 5. By extending the power capacity of the existing data center building and power infrastructure, the Toronto project delivered significant embodied carbon savings. The reuse of the existing 80,000-square-foot building shell of concrete, steel, metal panel and roofing systems cut embodied carbon by an estimated 75%. When compared to a new data center build, this is an equivalent reduction of over two and a half years of operational carbon for a typical 1MW enterprise IT deployment. Click here to read more about embodied carbon. To learn more about ServerFarm, visit www.serverfarmllc.com. About ServerFarm ServerFarm is a unique IT and data center developer and operator with a pioneering approach to accelerating digital transformation for service providers and enterprises. With InCommand Services, our integrated platform of real estate, data center and IT management solutions, we maximize our customers' infrastructure efficiencies, providing them with end-to-end visibility and control over their IT and data center environments. As a result, our customers and their teams gain agility, reliability and efficiencies, allowing them to focus on innovation. For more information, visit www.serverfarmllc.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/serverfarm-adds-14mw-of-new-critical-data-center-capacity-to-keep-toronto-customers-online-in-lockdown-301070589.html SOURCE ServerFarm [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] With the coronavirus changing life and eating and the restaurant business and with littering a relic from the age of tail fins is it time for Ridgefield to lift its ban on drive-thru food pickup? The argument against drive-thru food service was strongest in the 1970s when littering was rampant, Attorney Bob Jewel writes in a letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission which has scheduled a June 9 discussion of his suggestion that towns drive-thru food ban be reconsidered. I remember the debates about allowing drive-thrus when there was a rumor of McDonalds opening on Route 7. While every kid I knew at Farmingville School was strongly in favor of McDonalds, the adults were aghast. The main argument was litter, Jewell recalls. These were the days when all cars had eight cylinders, gasoline and paint were still full of lead, moms chain-smoked in the A&P and we had U.S. Ad-Council campaigns with a cliche faux Native American canoeing through trash-clogged rivers with a tear in his eye For some reason, back then, people loved hurling garbage from the windows of their speeding gas guzzlers. Forty-plus years, Jewell says, we live in a different world. Some bad-actors still litter, but they are the exception, not the rule. We just know better Jewells request that drive-thru food service be allowed has been scheduled for next Tuesdays Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as a pre-submission concept discussion for 896 Ethan Allen Highway a property on Route 7 a little south of the intersection of Route 35. The property owner potentially interested in making a submission on the Route 7 site is Bob Shoetz of Shoetz Real Estate. But Jewell says this request has much broader application and potential benefits. Age of virus In a three-page letter to the commission, Jewell makes the coming of the coronavirus and disease it causes, COVID-19, the focus of his argument for drive-thru food. As we are in the midst of a public health crisis that will likely transform our society on an even broader scale than the changes we saw to airline travel after 2001, it seems an appropriate time to re-examine this issue, he says. The main feature of these changes will be the permanent implementation of social distancing. Even if government relaxes rules, it is impossible to envision packed restaurants, movie theaters or hearing rooms ever again, he says. In fact one of the major features of both the current emergency measures and proposed re-opening plans is restaurants being for take-out and drive-thru only. With that in mind it seems like an appropriate time to revisit the ban on drive-thru food service under the Ridgefield Zoning Regulations. Jewell reviews the history of Ridgefield regulations that allow a drive through facility, but not permitting food service its been used by banks and pharmacies in the village Central Business District (CBD) as well as in the B-1 and B-2 business zones found mostly along parts of Route 7 and Route 35. Ridgefield has had drive-thru banking since at least the early 1960s, Jewell said, and the drive-thru pharmacies began about 15 years ago with the redevelopment of Copps Hill Plaza. The new pharmacy location was in a free-standing building, which gave them the opportunity to design a drive-though window for prescription pickup and consultation only, Jewell writes. This proposal was supported and approved by this commission based on the health, safety and welfare of pharmacy customers, many of whom were old, ill or injured. In approving this use for the first time, it was decided that accommodating these customers outweighed the historic concerns that limited drive-thrus to banks. It was a wise decision and looks especially brilliant this year. Currently, by government order, we are prevented from most of the things we took for granted only 10 weeks ago: going to work, walking into the town hall, going to church, seeing a movie at The Prospector, going out for a meal, etc. Basically anything that involves contact with other humans outside our immediate family is prohibited, he says. Even when these government orders are modified, we will never do any of these things quite the same ever again. Capacities will be limited and there will be an explosion of activities that allow people to experience many of the same things, but at a certain distance. Drive-in theaters are one example and drive-thru restaurants are another. It is time to update our zoning regulations to recognize this change not just for the business owners who are trying to keep restaurants in business during this crisis and into this new age, but for their customers as well. Macklin Reid photo / Hearst Connectictu Media Restrictions! Conditions! Jewell endeavors to make the idea attractive to the commissioners, who have an instinct for precise regulation and a long history of concerns about traffic and architectural aesthetics. We can impose restrictions and conditions, he says, including location, architectural review and traffic impact statements that demonstrate the business can be carried out safely and without unreasonable disruption to neighboring properties. Jewell proposes that drive-thru be allowed only in zones where restaurants are already permitted and even suggests a pilot program in the B-2 zone along Route 7, where his clients property is located. The location is busy during business hours as it is a major north-south commuter route, but since the area is mainly non-retail business uses, including a medical center, after business hours it is somewhat desolate. A drive-thru in this location would have minimal impact on anyone but would have an enormous benefit to the business owner and its prospective customers. he writes. Lifting the prohibition on drive-thru food is necessary to help our restaurants as well as our families still enjoy a meal prepared by professionals without unreasonably risking the transmission of disease, Jewell says. Our world is forever changed, he writes, and, whether we like it or not, we are never going back to the way things were even a few months ago. On June 8, the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar, leader of the current Fine Gael government, will instigate Phase Two of a five phase plan to exit from the coronavirus lockdown. Under Phase One, 1,500 retail shops reopened on May 18 along with outdoor workers, including construction workers, returning to sites. Varadkars government is planning to reopen further shops and businesses, with a full opening up of the economy in Phase Five of the plan by August 10. Schools and colleges will reopen in September. Varadkar told the Dail [parliament] last week that the governments mission was to get business open again and get the economy humming. But he is not moving quickly enough for business. The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) has insisted that the government bring forward the phases of reopening of the economy and scrap the two-week quarantine restrictions for people entering the country. There have been over 25,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Ireland, almost half in Dublin. Almost 8,000 have been among healthcare workers. Of the 1,650 deaths from the pandemic, one of the highest death-to-infection ratios globally, the old and infirm have suffered greatly with 62 percent of deaths occurring in nursing and residential homes. Northern Ireland has seen approaching 5,000 cases and over 500 deaths. Around half have been in care homes. The scandalous treatment of the old and infirm in nursing homes led Dr. Marcus De Brun to resign from the Irish Medical Council in late April. On May 30, it was widely reported that Dr. De Brun had released a memo from the Health Service Executive (HSE) showing that doctors in care homes were instructed that if one resident tested positive for the virus, others should not be tested as it was assumed they already had it. The decision not to test cost the deaths of 52 residents in the North Dublin nursing home to which he was attached. Dr. De Brun stated last week, Residents I had put on the list to be tested were being booted off the list without me being informed. To be denied the possibility of testing, to figure out if this COVID or not COVID, that created huge difficulties for the sector and certainly for the nursing staff and any hopes of isolation. Just two weeks ago, more than 600 coronavirus infections were reported in 12 meat processing plants across the country. Frigid temperatures, cramped conditions, and long hours put meat processing workers internationally in danger as the super-rich seek to rake in profits at any cost. The collaboration of Varadkars caretaker government with the bosses who own and control the meat plants came sharply into focus last week. Irish Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan revealed that the Health Service Executive (HSE) was running a practice whereby COVID-19 test results of workers were being given to the companies instead of to the workers concerned. In many cases the first time that workers heard of their positive diagnosis was from the company and not from the HSE. Even though this was condemned by the Data Protection Commission as not legitimate, Minister for Health Simon Harris condoned the arrangement stating baldly, It has been necessary in the interests of public health to give the results of confirmed cases of Covid-19 to the management of meat plants. There is widespread anger among working people at the callous indifference shown to workers and young people by the ruling elite. It is four months since the Irish general election on February 8 which resulted in Varadkars governing Fine Gael party coming third in the poll, both in seats and in first preference votes. Even before the pandemic, the vote reflected working peoples anger at a growing housing and homeless crisis, coupled with a deterioration of the health services and all aspects of social care. In response, the two main bourgeois nationalist parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, are posed to abandon their already nominal differencesresting on a historical division over the Irish border and Civil Warand concentrate on jointly implementing the dictates of the ruling elite. The Green Party are holding talks with both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and are seeking to enter government with them. Sinn Fein, who have no fundamental differences with the talks participants, won the election with some left posturing but have thus far been excluded. The talks between the three parties are to be concluded in two weeks. Varadkar and Simon Harris have set the agenda of future policies by scrapping the state takeover of private hospitals implemented at the start of the pandemic with the aim of returning the sector to private interests. A right-wing ideological barrage against workers opened last week when Varadkar outlined to the Dail an extension to the 350 COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment beyond June 8. The temporary payment, introduced in March, is paid weekly to laid off and self-employed workers. As of mid-May, around 585,000 were in receipt of it. In total, 1.26 million workers are relying on state support for all or part of their income through various similar schemes, including a wage subsidy scheme for which 54,000 employers registered. Varadkar insisted the 350 payment would be cut by the next incoming government because some workers were better off on the payment than when working. Varadkar sniped, I have heard stories of people who have asked their employers to lay them off, because they would be better off on the 350 payment. I would say to anyone who is thinking that, we are all in this together, and nobody in any walk of life should seek to be better off, or seek to make a profit out of this crisis. Varadkar was supported last Saturday by the Irish Independent newspaper which gave a two-page spread to Pat McDonagh, owner of Irish burger chain Supermacs. McDonagh, who spoke in opposition to the continued payment and whose estimated wealth is 117 million, compared the emergency pandemic payment of 350 for low paid workers during the pandemic to being like winning the lotto. The social policy of the Varadkar government, which is willing to dispose of the elderly, the sick, and the immune-compromised, while attacking workers conditions on behalf of the financial elite, will continue with the aid of the rest of the political establishmentlikely with the forming of the three party coalition government. An indication of any new governments agenda can be drawn out from the fact that talks with the Greens are reported to be dragging on over finance, levels of social protection, the state deficit, the pension age and carbon emissions. Last time the Greens were in power, they assisted Fianna Fail in launching billions of euros of austerity measures in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Workers in Ireland, North and South, find themselves irreconcilably opposed to the economic interests of the Irish capitalist class and the capitalist system. Fighting the pandemic and the assault on jobs, wages and benefits requires that Irish workers mobilize independently, form rank-and-file action committees in every workplace and seek to unite as a class in Ireland and internationally. Contact the Socialist Equality Group today. The court said that even if there was no direct act of violence attributable to the accused (Zargar), she cannot shy away from her liability under the provisions of the UAPA. A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of Jamia Coordination Committee member Safoora Zargar, booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in February When you choose to play with embers, you cannot blame the wind to have carried the spark a bit too far and spread the fire. The acts and inflammatory speeches of the co-conspirators are admissible under the Indian Evidence Act even against the accused," Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana observed. The judge said during the course of investigation, a larger conspiracy was discernible and if there was prima evidence of existence of a conspiracy, the evidence of acts and statements made by any one of the conspirators in furtherance of the common object is admissible against all The court said that even if there was no direct act of violence attributable to the accused (Zargar), she cannot shy away from her liability under the provisions of the UAPA. It further said that there was prima facie evidence to show there was a conspiracy to at least blockade the roads (chakka jaam). Keeping in mind her 'precarious medical condition' the court asked the Tihar Jail Superintendent to provide adequate medical aid and assistance to her. Zargar, an MPhil student of Jamia Millia Islamia University, is 21 weeks pregnant and currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the case. The court, said in its order, that 'any activity which has a tendency to create a disorder or disturbance of law and order to such an extent that the entire city is brought to its knees and the entire government machinery is brought to a grinding halt, would obviously be treated as an unlawful activity.' The court though concurred with Zargar's counsel that free flow of ideas and dissent through peaceful protests constituted the foundation of a strong and vibrant democracy, said that protests or demonstration was not an absolute right. "Exchange of ideas is in fact the stepping stone for human evolution. However, the right of speech and expression and for that matter, protest or demonstration is not an absolute right and is in fact subject to reasonable restrictions under the Constitution of India," it noted. The court said that from the material on record, one cannot ignore the case of the prosecution that the accused persons have conspired to cause disruption of such an extent and magnitude that it would lead to disorderliness and disturbance of law and order at an unprecedented scale. "I cannot also agree with the defence counsel that the accused (Zargar) is only liable for her individual acts and the speeches delivered or the acts of the other members of the group cannot be read against her. "In my considered opinion, if there was prima evidence of existence of a conspiracy, the evidence of acts and statements made by any one of the conspirators in furtherance of the common object is admissible against all," said the judge. During the hearing held through video conferencing, police told the court that she had allegedly given 'inflammatory speeches' to instigate a mob that led to the riots in February. The additional public prosecutor, appearing for the state, opposed the bail plea and argued that There was enough material to show that Zargar was involved in Delhi riots and the prosecution has rightfully invoked the provisions of UAPA. He further said that from the investigation, it was evident that the Delhi riots were the result of a larger conspiracy to disrupt the normal functioning of the city and to overawe the government machinery by resorting to force and violence. The police claimed that Zargar allegedly blocked a road near Jaffrabad metro station during the anti-CAA protests and instigated people that led to the riots in the area. Zargar's counsel claimed that she has been falsely implicated in the case and had no role in the alleged criminal conspiracy in the case. "Zargar is an absolutely innocent lady who simply holds a divergent view on the Citizenship Amendment Act. Merely holding a divergent view is no offence and by no stretch of imagination, she can be brandished as a terrorist or targeted as an anti-national," her lawyer said. He said that dissent cannot be stifled by resorting to state's coercive machinery. He further told the court that she was not present at the site of violence on February 24 which can be proven from her call details record. In her absence, the alleged violence, if any, cannot be attributed to the accused, her counsel said, adding that she did deliver a speech at Khureji Khas on February 23 but it was not provocative or inflammatory. The lawyer also said that Zargar deserved bail on humanitarian grounds as she is 21 weeks pregnant. She is also suffering from Poly Cystic Ovarian Disorder and has a reported history of urinary tract infection and her condition becomes all the more vulnerable due to the pandemic COVID-19 situation, he said. Monument Re announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Cattolica Life DAC from Cattolica Assicurazioni following receipt of regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland and no-objection from the Bermuda Monetary Authority. About Cattolica Assicurazioni. Cattolica Assicurazioni is one of the main players on the Italian insurance market and the only cooperative company in its industry to be listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, where it has been present since November 2000. With nearly 3.6 million customers who rely on the insurance solutions and products it distributes, the Group has total premiums of nearly 6 billion (2018). About Monument Re Monument Re Limited is a life Reinsurance and Insurance Holding Company with a presence in Bermuda, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Guernsey, with branches in Spain, Italy, France and Germany. Monument Re operates as a reinsurer and acquirer of European asset intensive portfolios. Through this strategy, Monument Re assumes asset-based risks within its risk appetite and efficiently operates these businesses or portfolios. Monument Re is subject to Group Supervision by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. To learn more, please visit www.monumentregroup.com or contact Manfred Maske, CEO, info@monumentregroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005696/en/ Contacts: Manfred Maske, CEO, info@monumentregroup.com New York, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Retail Industry in Thailand - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020 - 2025)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05903683/?utm_source=GNW The capital city of Bangkok is a social hub of Thailand, with a flourishing retail industry market. It fascinated not only Thai residents, but also many multinational retail companies to make investments in the country. Its retail market is evolving swiftly to meet the demands of the consumers with varying lifestyles, who are greatly motivated by the internet. The modern trade sector witnessed rapid expansion in Bangkok, as well as cities with higher urbanization levels, due to the continued growth of the tourism sector, and several government plans, such as opening the domestic market to foreign investors, along with advanced technologies to invest in retail business. Key Market Trends Growth of the Tourism Industry in Thailand is Driving the Market The tourism sector generates the majority of the revenue, and it plays a key role in driving the countrys economy. Tourists are augmenting the demand for products related to fashion, apparel, and electronics. Chinese tourists are the top customers of Thai stores. The most widely purchased product categories by Chinese consumers are health products, herbs, handicrafts, cosmetics, etc. The cosmetics products are popular in terms of purchasing for reselling, followed by clothing and herbs. The main groups of tourists visiting Thailand include China, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Laos, and Japan. Furthermore, the tourists from these six countries account for almost 60% of the total foreign tourists. Increase in Urban Population in Thailand Urban population comprises nearly half of the total population in Thailand, and these urban consumers are showing increasing propensity for convenience, high-quality brands frequenting smaller shops, stores and supermarkets near their workplaces or transportation routes, primarily to purchase daily necessities and meals rather than less-frequent, higher purchases at larger traditional markets. Over the past 30 years, in the country, urbanization has been a primary growth factor. The presence of a large young urban population is expected to augment the demand for retail sales of products, such as apparel, consumer electronics, fashion, and personal care. Competitive Landscape The report covers major international players operating in the Thailand retail industry. In terms of market share, some of the major players currently dominate the market. However, with technological advancement and product innovation, mid-size to smaller companies are increasing their market presence by securing new contracts and by tapping new markets. Reasons to Purchase this report: - The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format - 3 months of analyst support Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05903683/?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. __________________________ This article was published in partnership with the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for the Marshall Projects newsletter, or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. In the final moments of George Floyds life, as he lay face down and Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck, another officer asked Chauvin if they should roll Floyd onto his side. I am worried about excited delirium or whatever, the officer told Chauvin, according to authorities. Chauvin refused to turn over Floyd, who was pronounced dead shortly after. The officer, Thomas Lane, was talking about a controversial diagnosis often cited when people die in police custody. People with excited delirium are said to be aggressive and incoherent, and to have superhuman strength, often after taking stimulant drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine. Police groups and some experts say its a real condition, requiring immediate action and medical treatment. Advertisement But critics, including some medical experts, have attacked the condition as junk science and say its often used as a convenient excuse to justify excessive police force. The diagnosis has an especially contentious history in Minneapolis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now the controversy over excited delirium is likely to heat up, as some legal and policing observers are predicting it could become part of Chauvins defense against the charges he faces in Floyds death, including second-degree murder. Theres a high probability that one or more of the officers will assert excited delirium as a defense, said Geoff Henley, a Dallas lawyer who is representing the family of a man who died there at the hands of police in 2016, under circumstances similar to Floyds. When theres criminal charges against the police, they dont ever come empty handed. Advertisement Advertisement The Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office this week ruled Floyds death a homicide caused by cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. The report also cited coronary artery disease and hypertension as contributing factors, and revealed Floyd had the painkiller fentanyl in his system and had recently used meth. Authorities said he also tested positive for the coronavirus in early April, and again after his death, but appeared asymptomatic. An independent autopsy concluded he died when his breathing was obstructed by the pressure officers put on his neck and back. Neither report mentioned excited delirium. Advertisement Syndromes with similar characteristics but different names have appeared in scientific articles since the 1850s, according to the limited research available. Excited delirium didnt emerge as a common diagnosis until the 1980s, with the rise in cocaine use. Advertisement Some supporters of its use as a diagnosis say its a syndrome first responders must be trained to recognize, because it can cause people to die suddenly, leaving police wrongfully accused of excessive force. The people who say that its just a cover-up for excessive use of force, well, its not a cover-up. Its real, said John Peters Jr., who heads an organization that trains police departments on excited delirium. Advertisement Advertisement Peters said it was shocking that Chauvin dug his knee into Floyds neck in the first place, and even more concerning that the officer didnt remove it when Floyd said repeatedly that he couldnt breathe. That should have been the trigger to consider Mr. Floyd not a prisoner, but a patient, Peters said. Advertisement Advertisement Critics of excited delirium argue that its not a legitimate cause of death, and that police too often use it as an excuse after an arrest turns deadly. They note, for example, that its disproportionately cited in cases where black and Hispanic men die in custody. Advertisement Advertisement Excited delirium, which is not a medical diagnosis, has a long history of being used to absolve law enforcement of responsibility in the death of people, especially people of color, said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer of the New York City jail system. The National Association of Medical Examiners and the American College of Emergency Physicians consider excited delirium a medical condition. But several other groups, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and the World Health Organization, do not recognize it. Some medical-journal articles conclude its a real phenomenon with causes that are not completely understood. The diagnosis is used at times in cases not involving police, but much less frequently. Advertisement Minneapolis police have a controversial history involving excited delirium. An independent review commissioned by the city attorney found that between 2016 and 2018, officers were deciding that some people they encountered had excited delirium, apparently without consulting medical experts. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, police would ask that emergency medical personnel use the powerful sedative ketamine on peopleat times against their will and while they appeared to be restrained, or in some cases, when they were not accused of committing a crime. Some people stopped breathing after getting injected and had to be put on a ventilator. Advertisement Police would ask that emergency medical personnel use the powerful sedative ketamine on peopleat times against their will and while they appeared to be restrained. The scandal widened when the newspaper reported that people drugged were then enrolled, without their consent, in the Hennepin County Medical Centers study of ketamine. The lead researcher, Jeffrey Ho, was a part-time sheriffs deputy in rural Minnesota and also the head of paramedics at the Hennepin medical center, where he oversaw responses to 911 calls in Minneapolis. The Star Tribune reported that Ho was also a paid advocate for the Taser stun gun and testified in several lawsuits against Taser, saying it wasnt police use of the stun gun that was killing people, but rather, excited delirium. Advertisement Ho, through a hospital spokesperson, declined to comment Thursday. Police departments or other authorities have blamed excited delirium as a cause of death when people die after being tased. In 2017, West Milwaukee police used their stun guns more than a dozen times in less than 10 minutes against Adam Trammell, who died inside his own home. That same year, Oakland police restrained and tased Marcellus Toney, a 45-year-old truck driver, after he allegedly resisted arrest and attacked an officer. He also died. In 2019, a federal jury ruled that Honolulu officers did not use excessive force when they pepper-sprayed and used stun guns on Sheldon Haleck, who later died. Attorneys for the officers argued that Haleck died from excited delirium, and not because of the officers actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many other cases using it as a diagnosis do not involve Tasers. In the 2016 death of Tony Timpa, investigated by the Dallas Morning News, police officers responded after the 32-year-old man called 911 for help because he had schizophrenia and had recently gone off of his medication. According to video of the incident, officers pinned him facedown for at least 14 minutes. At one point, one officer asked if they should turn Timpa on his side, as in Floyds case, but that request was ignored. A medical examiner wrote Timpas death was caused by a combination of cocaine and stress from physical restraint, sometimes referred to as excited delirium syndrome. Advertisement Advertisement Henley, the lawyer for Timpas family in a civil lawsuit against the city, said hes noticed a lot of parallels between Timpas death and Floyds. Advertisement Police are trained across the nation that the most harmful restraint, especially for someone who may have used drugs or is in a mental health crisis, is the prone restraint, Henley said, describing a person being held face down on the ground. Cops are trained not to do this. And you damn sure dont get on top of them and push them into the ground. If the condition is raised as defense in the Floyd murder case, it will not work, said Glenn Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Excited delirium can only be used successfully in cases where the restraint was lawful, he said, but the restraint in Floyds case was unlawful. That makes the officers criminally liable, he said. Advertisement It will not be a winning defense. It will be a red herring, used largely to confuse jurors, he said. Despite the controversy surrounding excited delirium, there are best practices that police are supposed to follow in suspected cases, including that such people shouldnt be restrained on their stomachs the way Floyd was, because that makes it harder to breathe. In 2015, the International Association of Chiefs of Police put out a resolution encouraging departments to establish procedures for how to handle and treat excited delirium cases as medical emergencies. Medical examiners, coroners, and other officials who make rulings on causes of death are also divided about the concept. According to a 2019 investigation by the newspaper Florida Today, about two-thirds of medical examiner officers in Florida had mentioned excited or agitated delirium in autopsy reports. But several offices told the newspaper they avoid it because it doesnt have scientific value. Florida Todays review of 85 deaths attributed to excited delirium over a decade found that 62 percent involved use of force by law enforcement, and the remainder had no law enforcement actor or were unclear. Most cases involved stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine. But for people whose toxicology results came back negative, the newspaper found that the only common denominator in virtually every case was the involvement of law enforcement. By MARC LEVY Counting an avalanche of 1.4 million mail-in votes dragged into a third day in Pennsylvania on Thursday as some races from Tuesdays primary remained too close to call. The Associated Press has not yet called a number of races where the contest was close or had a large number of votes yet to be counted, or both. Those races included several where incumbent state lawmakers trailed in the count and the only competitive primary among the statewide races, a six-way Democratic primary contest for auditor general. It also included a closely watched Democratic primary contest between Eugene DePasquale, the outgoing state auditor general, and lawyer Tom Brier for the nomination to challenge four-term Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the Harrisburg-based 10th District. More than 1.8 million voters applied for a mail-in or absentee ballot, smashing expectations by state officials for the debut of the state's new vote-by-mail law and drawing warnings that many contest results would be delayed. Voters returned almost 1.4 million of them, or 75.5%, according to information from the state's elections office Thursday. Thus far, The AP has called four races in which incumbents lost, all of them in Democratic primaries for a state legislative seat. Lawmakers had voted to postpone the primary election from April 28 to avoid the height of Pennsylvania's spike in coronavirus cases, and candidates and political parties had urged voters to cast ballots by mail to protect themselves from getting infected. The lack of drama in the outcome of the presidential contests and the massive mail-in vote produced light in-person turnout throughout the state. Turnout passed 1.7 million, hitting 20% of Pennsylvania's 8.6 million registered voters. Meanwhile, deadlines to accept mailed ballots were extended into next week in Philadelphia and six counties that are home to a total of 3.8 million voters. A judge in Delaware County rejected a challenge by the county's Republicans to an order by Gov. Tom Wolf allowing the counting of mail-in ballots through next Tuesday as along as they were postmarked before the election. Wolf, a Democrat, issued the order Monday for Philadelphia, Delaware County and four other counties under an emergency declaration in areas experiencing demonstrations over George Floyds death. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. After the Justice Center and federal and county courthouses became vandalism targets during weekend protests, Portland Police Chief Jami Resch asked to use 14 city dump trucks to block traffic around 16 blocks in the downtown core. City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said no. I wasnt willing to support millions of dollars of my bureaus equipment being put at risk, she said Wednesday. Eudaly oversees the Portland Transportation Bureau and has been a frequent critic of police tactics. She said she also was concerned that granting use of the dump trucks would suggest she supported the Police Bureaus responses to the large-scale demonstrations. She has called for police to immediately halt their use of tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Eudaly said she didnt want the presence of her bureaus dump trucks to imply that I was a supporter because those trucks are emblazoned with PBOT logos. Protesters have pulsed through the city for six straight nights in outrage over the killing of George Floyd, a black man who was pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer who had a knee to his neck for nearly nine minutes. Some protesters described by police and city leaders as a small splinter group among thousands of peaceful demonstrators smashed windows and set a fire inside the Justice Center in downtown Portland and covered the adjacent Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse with graffiti. Eudaly, who is running for re-election, said she understood why police would want to block access to the buildings, particularly the Justice Center to protect jail inmates, Multnomah County sheriffs staff and law enforcement inside. But she said, I dont think that using valuable city property thats likely to be vandalized or destroyed is the only way to do that, particularly when the city faces coronavirus-driven budget cuts. Resch had made the request to Eudaly on a Monday afternoon conference call with Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner. Police have used city dump trucks in the past to block traffic and protect Pioneer Courthouse Square, for example, from potential runaway vehicles during the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony, police said. In the end, Resch turned to a private company to rent the fencing that was up Monday and Tuesday nights, blocking off blocks from Southwest Jefferson Street north to Taylor Street, and from Southwest First Avenue west to Fifth Avenue. The Police Bureau is renting the fencing from Superior Fencing & Construction in Southeast Portland. The companys employees have been putting it up, tearing it down and moving it around at the bureaus request, said owner Greg Heath. We are getting death threats because of it, Heath said, describing the threats as disturbing and unwarranted. They called and we are providing a service. The fencing was scaled back Wednesday to the streets around the Justice Center. Police said they hope to further separate agitators who might be drawn to the fence barricades from the bulk of peaceful protesters who have assembled at Pioneer Courthouse Square the past two nights. Heath didnt say how much the city is paying to rent the fencing but said the company generally charges about $3 for a foot of fencing, so 100 feet would cost $300. I guarantee you,'' Eudaly added, "its less than replacing 14 dump trucks. Eudaly said she wasnt sure of the value of the dump trucks but they can range from $40,000 for a used one to up to $150,000 for a new one. -- 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 ORANGE, Va., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Orange County Public Schools has signed an agreement with Secure Futures Solar of Staunton to install and operate solar panels at eight facilities across the school division. Together, solar arrays will generate a total capacity of 2.5 megawatts of power, providing nearly half of the total electricity for the facilities while generating enough clean energy to run the equivalent of 400 average homes and avoid more than 2,500 tons of carbon dioxide pollution per year. In addition to the planned solar panels, three school campuses have received roof restoration to make them ready to hold solar arrays. Restoration work allows the facilities to avoid replacing their roofs, which would have been required in the next few years whether they got solar panels or not. The school division will receive $11.5 million in economic benefits from avoided costs for roof replacements and reduced demand for utility power over the next 25 years. OCPS Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Cecil Snead, stated: "Orange County Public Schools is fortunate to engage in forward thinking about fiscally responsible energy consumption while also providing a rich learning opportunity for the students. I am excited about the myriad of possibilities that this partnership affords us as a school system." Orange County Public Schools will receive solar energy equipment and complete roof restoration work at no upfront capital cost through a 25-year Solar Self Generation Agreement with Secure Futures. Over that term, the company will operate and maintain the solar energy system, providing the capacity for the schools to generate electricity at a cost lower than typically available from the local electric utility. "Orange County Schools is leading the way in sustainability that's both environmental and financial," said Anthony "Tony" Smith, president and CEO of Secure Futures. "Rooftop solar will cut their electric bills while roof restoration will free up capital for other vital school improvements, thus providing relief to taxpayers while offering curriculum enhancements that will inspire students and teachers for years." A total of eight solar arrays will be installed at seven different campuses and facilities. Two arrays will be installed at Orange County High School, one array on the main building and another array on the field house. Then, one solar array will be installed at each of six other facilities: the Taylor Education Administration Complex, Prospect Heights Middle School, Orange Elementary School, Locust Grove Primary School, Locust Grove Elementary School and Locust Grove Middle School. With a capacity of 945 kilowatts, the solar panels installed at Locust Grove Middle School will be among the largest solar arrays placed on a rooftop in the state of Virginia and will generate approximately 90% of the electricity required by the school during the course of the year. The decision to add solar power is consistent with the commitment of Orange County Schools to green improvements that save money, including installation of energy efficient lighting, replacing windows in all older schools, and improved HVAC controls and equipment. About Orange County Public Schools Orange County Public Schools serves pre-K through Grade 12 students on 10 campuses throughout Orange County, Virginia. Our mission is to provide the highest quality education for all students in a safe and caring environment. Our graduates will master 21st Century skills necessary to work and live productively, with an emphasis on reading, writing, mathematics and reasoning. Our graduates will be health-conscious, life-long learners who demonstrate good character and productive citizenship. Learn more at http://www.ocss-va.org/. About Secure Futures, LLC As a market and policy leader, Secure Futures builds, owns, manages and funds affordable Resilient Solar Solutions for hospitals, schools and businesses. Headquartered in Staunton, Va., the company combines state-ofthe-art solar technology with an innovative business model to make commercial scale solar readily affordable in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, helping customers to realize the economic, environmental, and community benefits of solar energy. In 2017, Secure Futures became a Certified B Corporation, having met the exacting standards for social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability established by the nonprofit B Lab. For more information: www.securefutures.solar Media Contacts: Cecil C. Snead, II, Ed.D. Superintendent Orange County Public Schools 540-661-4550 (office) [email protected] Erik Curren Marketing Advisor Secure Futures Solar (540) 466-6128 [email protected] SOURCE Secure Futures, LLC The U.S. Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report has yet to reflect at least about half a million filings for a federal pandemic program, with data reporting lagging behind payouts. Florida, Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii and West Virginia were among 15 states that showed zero initial claims under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, in the Labor Department's latest weekly report on Thursday. But the same states have actually reported about half a million in combined claims through the program -- established by the CARES Act -- which is aimed at helping those typically not eligible for regular state benefits, including the self-employed and gig workers. The gulf between the Labor Department's data and state numbers -- compiled by Bloomberg through state press releases, comments by officials and related data -- indicates the labor-market hit from the coronavirus may be more widespread than thought. While it doesn't significantly alter the overall picture of mass unemployment as tens of millions of Americans have filed for benefits since mid-March, the undercounting further complicates closely watched data already beset by other errors and distortions. The weekly claims report "does give a pretty incomplete picture of exactly what unemployment looks like right now, and not even necessarily how many people have lost jobs, but how many people are just not earning an income that they were used to earning before," said Citigroup Inc. economist Veronica Clark. The figures out each week have gained renewed attention for showing the depth of the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as signs that a recovery is starting as business restrictions ease. The latest data -- ahead of the May payrolls report out Friday -- showed initial claims for regular state programs slowed to 1.88 million last week. "States have been focusing on implementing the new programs and working through unprecedented claims volumes and some of the newer reporting has been delayed by the efforts to get benefits to the claimants that need them," a spokesperson for the Labor Department said in an email Wednesday. The agency added that the abilities to report in the first few weeks and months of a new emergency program "typically vary across states and the current situation is no exception." Bloomberg's compilation of uncounted PUA claims is based in part on applications filed since the week ended May 30, which covered the most recent federal report issued Thursday. The Labor Department's weekly report tracks an overall figure of initial PUA claims filed in any given week, but it's based on incomplete data -- in fact, just 36 states in the latest report. Any state that doesn't report data for the week is labeled with a zero. The department said it's working with states to gather the missing figures to include in the weekly tally. The 623,073 unadjusted initial claims for PUA that the U.S. Labor Department reported as filed in the week ended May 30 are separate from the headline initial claims number, which reflects applications for regular state programs. When the CARES Act created the PUA program in late March, state unemployment offices often had to create entirely new systems and portals to accept and administer the benefits. Alaska, which has received more than 10,000 of these claims, approached the new program in three stages, according to Clifford Napier, assistant director of unemployment insurance at Alaska's Division of Employment and Training Services. The state has been accepting PUA applications, and paying them out, but just not reporting the activities yet, Napier said earlier this week. Alaska reported 1,571 initial claims for PUA in the week ended May 30 on the national report out Thursday, after prior weeks showed zero. A spokesperson for Alabama's Department of Labor said Tuesday the state has had some unspecified challenges reporting the figures to the U.S. Labor Department, but hopes to have the issues resolved this week. Over a six-week period, the state received more than 55,500 initial claims for PUA benefits. Another issue occurs when state numbers for PUA claims aren't readily available at the beginning of the week. That's what happened with Maine's figure in last week's report, according to Jessica Picard, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Labor. The result: the May 28 federal report showed zero initial PUA claims from Maine for the week ended May 23, even though Maine reported it had 20,500 for that week. The latest federal report did incorporate Maine's numbers, revising the prior week's zero to 20,577 and showing 13,487 PUA claims for the week ended May 30. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 15:51 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc2733d 1 Business Garuda-Indonesia,sukuk,payment,extension,COVID-19 Free National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has earned some breathing space as the majority of its sukuk (sharia-compliant bonds) holders approved the companys proposal to extend its US$500 million sukuk amid the companys financial struggle due to the pandemic. The company had proposed an amendment of the terms of its sukuk, which was set to mature on June 3, requesting a three-year maturity extension and a covenant holiday until the airlines operations return to the pre-COVID-19 level. According to an announcement made by the company on Tuesday, 89 percent of the airlines sukuk holders, who hold $444.9 million in principal of the bond, have agreed to the amendment proposal. Based on the valid electronic votes received to date, in favour of the proposal, extraordinary resolutions, which is the subject of the [upcoming] meeting, will be approved, reads the announcement signed by Garuda finance and risk management director Fuad Rizal. The meeting refers to the sukuk holders meeting to be held on June 10. Garuda claims that the number of electronic votes meets the required quorum for the meeting. Garuda Indonesia issued the global sukuk on June 3, 2015, with a five-year tenure and an annual return of 5.95 percent, according to the companys financial report released in September last year. The company struggled to repay the sukuk investors amid flights disruptions caused by the emergency measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. The airline has also laid off 180 contract pilots as well as hundreds of workers as a consequence of its ailing finances during the pandemic. The move followed a previous announcement from the airline that it had furloughed about 800 workers for three months starting on May 14. Garuda Indonesia has also taken several measures to maintain cash flow amid plummeting demand for air travel. The measures include cutting employee and executive salaries, cutting production costs for efficiency and renegotiating obligations to partners and aircraft lessors. Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra acknowledged the layoffs in a statement on Tuesday, noting that the company had fulfilled its obligations vis-a-vis the affected pilots. We have been forced to terminate the contracts of our workers to align our workforce with the demand for our flight operations, which are significantly affected by the pandemic, he said. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced Garuda to park 100 of its 142 aircraft as its daily flights dropped due to the governments large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). According to a letter available on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) website, Garudas flight traffic was down 83 percent year-on-year (yoy) in April. In the first quarter of 2020, the airline also recorded a 31.9 percent annual drop in passenger and cargo revenue. In an effort to keep Indonesias flag carrier afloat, the government is set to give Rp 8.5 trillion ($597.6 million) in a working capital guarantees for the airline as part of the economic recovery stimulus package to stave off the impact of the pandemic, including on ailing state-owned companies. Read also: Garuda lays off 180 contract pilots The union representing workers at oil and gas producer Santos' Pilbara operations has blasted the company for double standards after its chief executive was given an exemption from WA's hard border and mandatory quarantine to fly in and visit sites on Monday. Santos boss Kevin Gallagher visited Devil Creek and Varanus Island sites earlier this week and met with employees after WA Police granted him an exemption to enter the state and skip the 14-day quarantine period. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher (inset) visited Varanus Island on his trip. Australian Workers' Union WA secretary Brad Gandy said Mr Gallagher's visit left workers unimpressed, particularly interstate FIFO workers who were subject to WA's strict isolation and quarantine requirements. "It's a clear case of one rule for Kevin Gallagher and another for rank and file employees who haven't had the luxury of being exempt from the strict quarantine laws," Mr Gandy said. Shocking video has emerged of a looter walking through New York with an allegedly stolen iMac computer, only to have it snatched out of his hands by two thieves. The incident took place in New York on Tuesday amid George Floyd protests that saw some opportunistic looters break into stores like Apple, Gucci and Target and raid their shelves. A viral clip from the looting shows what appears to be a young person carrying an Apple iMac desktop computer, which costs between $1,000 and $2,300, down a street as people watch on. A man filming the looter says, 'Yo! Oh S***! N**** got the iMac! Bro!' Shocking video has emerged of a looter walking through New York with an allegedly stolen iMac computer, only to have it snatched out of his hands on Tuesday As he walked down the street carrying the packaged computer, that costs between $1,000 and $2,300, he was met by two assailants who started to punch him to take the pricey desktop for themselves But as the person walks down the street several people sitting nearby lunge towards the computer tying to snatch it away. 'Yo dont rob him!' the person behind the camera yells. As the person with the iMac struts off, two people approach him and start to punch him to take the computer for themselves. Eventually he puts down the computer to defend himself and punch his attackers, but one of the assailants runs off with the computer in their arms. However, the looters who made off with Apple products likely wont get much use out of them. 'Yo dont rob him!' the person behind the camera yelled as he was targeted by two thieves When the young man put down the Apple computer to defend himself, one of the thieves snatched it and ran off into the night On Tuesday it was revealed that Apple sent out messages via their security software onto a stolen phone, saying it was being tracked and asking for it to be returned. One image on social media showed how an iPhone from a branch in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania showed the message: 'Please return to Apple Walnut Street. This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.' It's unclear whether the device was stolen amid the recent looting. The image was uploaded on Twitter with the caption: 'Damn all those phones gotta go back,' followed by laughing emojis. Apple Stores across the country have been looted including ones in Portland, Salt Lake City, New York and Washington DC, but many people who took advantage of the opportunity to grab merchandise amid crowds of demonstrators were unable to get into the highly-secured stock area. Looters who stole Apple merchandise may not get much use out of them. One image on social media showed how an iPhone from the Walnut Street branch in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania displayed the message: 'This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted' Apple stores across the country have been looted after some protests turned into raids. Apple Stores have now boarded up their windows and set up temporary fencing, including New York's flagship (above) Much like purchased devices, stolen items are activation locked on iCloud. Devices are usually attached to toggles in store. However if they are ripped off, special software makes sure that Macs revert to their original state every time they reboot. Devices do not have the capability to set up passcode security and locking. The devices reportedly have a 'software kill' switch when they go out of range of a store. An iPhone goes into Find My iPhone mode and will ring until the battery dies, 9to5Mac reports. The device will reset when powered off and then plugged in. Many Apple Stores have now boarded up their windows and set up temporary fencing, including New York's flagship. New Delhi : Facing criticism, the railways on Thursday said that the decision to introduce dynamic surge pricing for premier train tickets has been done on an experimental basis and it will be reviewed after some time. The move to put in place the flexible fare system for premier trainsRajdhani, Duronto, and Shatabdifrom tomorrow has invited criticism from opposition parties. Passengers travelling by Rajdhani, Duronto, and Shatabdi trains will have to shell out between 10 and 50 percent more under a dynamic surge pricing system to be introduced from September 9, aimed at raking in Rs 500 crore more during the current financial year. We have introduced the dynamic fare system on an experimental basis. We will review it after some time and see what necessary measures can be taken further, Chairman Railway Board (CRB) A K Mital told PTI. He said the decision will impact fares of 81 trains. Defending the move, Railway Board Member (Traffic) Mohd Jamshed said train travel is still the cheaper mode of transport in the country compared to air or road. At present, we are facing the loss of Rs 33,000 crore in the passenger segment as we charge 36 paise for one km pf travel, Jamshed said. The passenger revenue target for the current fiscal is Rs 51,000 crore as against Rs 45,000 crore in the last fiscal, an increase of Rs 6000 crore for 2016-17. We are spending Rs 1,800 crore in passenger amenities by improving platform area, installing lifts, water vending machines, and much more such facilities, the Member (Traffic) said. All India Railway Federation General Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra said, The hike is not on Garib Rath or Jan Shatabdi trains which are used by the common man. Rajdhani or Shatabdi trains are generally patronised by those who can afford premier service. There will be no change in the existing fare First AC and Executive Class travel in premier trains as these have been exempted from the flexible fare system. The financial position of the railways is not very good and there is a need for some measures to improve the situation, Mishra added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Teenagers who were filmed engaging in a mass brawl on the southside of Cork city can expect a visit from gardai soon and may face criminal charges. That was the warning from Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin who said gardai are now satisfied they have identified the vast majority of those who were involved in what's believed to have been a planned fight in the Mount Oval estate in Rochestown almost two weeks ago. There were violent scenes when up to 70 teenagers clashed in the estate on May 23. Video clips of the incident were shared online, sparking outrage. Gardai have been examining CCTV and phone video footage of the incident and have been liaising with Bus Eireann to identify the travel patterns of certain groups of teenagers who used bus routes which serve the suburbs of Douglas and Rochestown. Chief Superintendent McPolin said gardai will be ready soon to call to the homes of a number of those who have been identified to discuss the findings of their investigation with them and with their parents. He said consideration is being given to the referral of certain cases to the Juvenile Diversion Programme, designed specifically for children under 18 which involves the young person receiving a caution from gardai against committing certain types of behaviour, and in some circumstances the child being placed under the supervision of a juvenile liaison officer. But he said some files could be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions where the possibility of criminal charges are considered. There will be serious repercussions for those involved in this incident. Significant garda resources were devoted to this investigation at a time when those resources could have been used elsewhere, he said. Video footage of the brawl was shared widely on various social media and messaging apps. Some clips show several young boys being punched and kicked in the head. Another clip recorded by a person involved in the fight features audio of a young girl laughing and encouraging those involved in the fighting to carry on. Chief Supt McPolin repeated his appeal to parents to take responsibility for knowing where their children are during the ongoing lockdown, who they are with, and to ask questions if their children arrive home under the influence of alcohol, or showing signs of an assault. Meanwhile, following residents' complaints about a string of parties around the university area of Cork City, many non-socially distant gatherings around the country over the bank holiday weekend and the thousands who gathered for the Black Lives Matter rallies in Dublin, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan has reiterated that mass gatherings should not be organised and should not be attended.] SINGAPORE Drive-through testing may soon be available at Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth and Parkway East hospitals, following the launch of the service at One Farrer Hotel. The three hospitals are operationally ready to begin drive-through swab testing, if required, said Temasek Foundation on Thursday (4 June), in response to media queries. The philanthropic arm of state investment firm Temasek Holdings is partnering private healthcare provider Parkway Pantai, which runs the three hospitals, on the initiative. One Farrer Hotel launched the drive-through swab testing facility in mid-May. The hotel also serves as a temporary hospital facility for COVID-19 patients in recovery. As part of swabbing operations, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has partnered Farrer Park Hospital to take on the re-swabbing for those who require re-testing. The drive-through facility at the One Farrer Hotel lobby has been set up by Farrer Park Hospital to perform these re-swabs, said an HPB spokesperson, in response to media queries. The swab testing facility operates seven days a week with hotel staff deployed as runners alongside doctors from Farrer Park Hospital to facilitate accurate registration and tracking of samples, said a spokesperson for One Farrer Hotel. Individuals assigned to undergo testing at the facility are selected at the discretion of healthcare authorities. The hotel spokesperson added that the Ministry of Health had identified One Farrer for such a purpose due to its proximity to critical care facilities at Farrer Park Hospital and well-ventilated sheltered driveway. Separately, mass screening swab booths, which cost around $30,000 each, are being trialed at Farrer Park Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and Tanjong Pagar Terminal. These booths, provided by Temasek Foundation and developed by Esco Aster, can test 12 to 15 patients per hour each and be easily deployed across different sites. People can get tested at swab booths, or while seated in their vehicles at One Farrer Hotel as part of a drive-through testing initiative. (PHOTO: Temasek Foundation) Everyone involved in the various swabbing exercises, from public sector agencies to staff from the private hospitals, has been working tirelessly and round the clock, said Temasek Foundations chief executive officer Ng Boon Heong. Story continues We hope that by supporting this initiative and making available supplies, coordinating through partners to share insights and experience from similar past exercises, we can together ensure the collective safety and health of our community. To date, Singapore has 36,922 cases of COVID-19, including 24 fatalities linked to the coronavirus. As of 1 June, the ministry has conducted 408,495 swab tests, of which 264,393 were done on unique individuals. This translates to around 71,700 swabs conducted per 1 million total population, and about 46,400 unique individuals swabbed per 1 million total population. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Related stories: Singaporeans to receive Care and Support Package payouts from 18 June COVID-19 testing at migrant worker dorms may take up to September: Gan Kim Yong COVID-19 economic recovery taskforce does not have enough women: Sylvia Lim When we actually made the switch from Mortgage Intelligence to Butler Mortgage is the one time we did send a blast email to our CRM, Butler says, referring to the Act system he had access to in 2011. That was the one and only time we used our CRM. Butlers avoidance of CRM wasnt the result of technophobia or hard-headedness. He was simply too busy. We would have loved to have hit our CRM to bring in more business, but the reality was, if we brought in more business, we would have absolutely toppled over, he says. You can only do so much as a human being, so if were already working 12- to 14-hour days, the idea of hitting our CRM to bring in more leads was just not something we did. In the minds of Butler and his business partner Dan Patton, the pair were in the trenches, battling it out each day, with CRM being the secret weapon theyd unleash when the steady flow of leads dried up. Only that didnt happen. Working successfully with real estate investors meant a ceaseless stream of referrals and multi-deal relationships that had the pipeline ready to burst. We made some really good relationships with realtor partners, and these realtor partners turned out to be future leaders of investment clubs, Butler says. We were always in the mix as one of the leading investor mortgage brokers out there. Every afternoon, I get a ping on my computer announcing the number of days since my hard drive was backed up in Paris, where I live part time. That ping means it has been 128 days since I was in Paris the longest Ive been away from that city and my friends in decades. One hundred and twenty-nine days since I had a haircut; I think the last time I had to push my hair out of my eyes, the Beatles were still together. And a record 122 dinners and counting that Ive cooked at home. (Ive subtracted the three meals we had in restaurants in February and the three at friends homes later that month.) Happily, I dont mind all that cooking. Im used to spending a lot of time in the kitchen my desk is there, and the floor between it and the oven is scuffed bare. Im also used to making meals from whats at hand. Because a quick round trip to the supermarket can take more than an hour from our Connecticut home, I became adept long ago at foraging in my pantry and shopping in my fridge. I think of the refrigerator as my supermarket, its door the specialty-foods section. That door is where I keep the transformers, ingredients that can change whatever dish theyre added to. There are nut oils to drizzle over warm vegetables; chile sauces, capers, anchovies and olives for salads, pastas and tuna-on-toast; hard-to-find yuzu kosho; easy-to-get soy sauce; and my homemade lemon goop, which is next to the lemon syrup, which comes along with the goop. (Theres also a vinaigrette that I make with both the syrup and the goop.) The first time I made the lemon concoction, I offhandedly dubbed it goop, and years later, I havent found a better name for it. Its like lemon marmalade, but not really sweet, though not not-sweet either. Its salty, and a touch tangy too. My inspiration was an offbeat lemon jam I had with fish in a Paris bistro. I think the fish was mackerel, but I know the jam thick, almost velvety, shiny and as yellow as goldenrod was distinctive because it was made with an ingredient I find hauntingly alluring: preserved lemons. If anyone still doubts whether Canada made the right choice in shutting down schools, daycares and most businesses to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, they need look no further than Sweden. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If anyone still doubts whether Canada made the right choice in shutting down schools, daycares and most businesses to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, they need look no further than Sweden. The Scandinavian country has one of the highest death rates from COVID-19 in the world, after keeping most of its schools and businesses open during the pandemic. Swedens chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, still supports the principle of avoiding a complete economic shutdown, but he now says the country could have done more to limit the spread of the disease. "If we were to run into the same disease, knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would end up doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done," Tegnell said in a recent interview. As of Tuesday, Sweden had set a pace of 443 confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. It is lower than the mortality rate in hard-hit countries such as Spain and Italy and the United Kingdom, but its still eighth-highest in the world. Meanwhile, Canadas COVID-19 death rate per million people was at 195. By keeping bars and restaurants open and allowing children to attend school, Sweden took a different approach than most countries. While social-distancing measures were recommended and large gatherings banned, life went on close to normal, even as the COVID-19 death toll mounted. Tegnell hoped by sheltering the most vulnerable from the virus, including the elderly, most of the economy could remain open (an approach espoused by some critics in Canada and many factions in the United States). It failed. It was a costly and dangerous experiment. About half of Sweden's deaths thus far were elderly people living in long-term care facilities. "We have to admit that when it comes to elderly care and the spread of infection, that has not worked," Tegnell said. "Too many old people have died here." "If we were to run into the same disease, knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would end up doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done." Anders Tegnell, Swedens chief epidemiologist Bjorn Olsen, professor of infectious medicine at Uppsala University, was more blunt, calling his countrys approach to the pandemic "one of Swedens biggest embarrassments and most tragic events." Most countries were not prepared to take such a gamble, even with the possibility a soft shutdown could help avoid economic ruin. Sweden didn't even benefit from that aspect. While its economic decline is expected to be slightly less severe than in neighbouring Norway and Finland (both of which implemented stricter lockdowns), Sweden is still projecting a seven per cent decline in GDP this year. Some areas of Canada have been harder hit by the COVID-19 outbreak than others, including Montreal and Toronto, where mortality rates from the disease are higher than the national average. But had Canada taken the same approach as Sweden, its death toll would probably have doubled (or worse). The success of the temporary shutdown is clearly evident in Manitoba. The province continues to see very low infection numbers, including a COVID-19 death rate of only 0.5 per 100,000 people. 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. Manitoba is an easier jurisdiction to manage than large, congested centres with incoming international flights, but actions taken by the province (and buy-in from the public) have also helped. Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, attributes the low numbers mostly to geography and timing (the virus arrived late in Manitoba). He doesn't take much credit himself, but his office deserves praise. The timing of when and what to shut down, including schools and daycares, and the focus on increased testing and contact tracing have been critical. When small outbreaks have occurred (such as a cluster in Brandon, or the handful linked to temporary foreign workers in the Southern Health region) testing and contact tracing have been swift and effective, stopping the virus in its tracks. Thats good public health. Locking down the economy for two months was extremely costly, but it was the right thing to do. The failed experiment in Sweden is strong evidence of that. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca Auto-injector devices are defined as the new injectable, with a user-centric design approach that automatically injects a needle and performs the surgical procedures in order to increase self-injectable devices and reduce dependence on healthcare professionals. These are specialized instruments that can be used to avoid needle stick injury and reduce needle phobia among patients. These are the revolutionary instruments which are invented to ensure complete dosage with painless drug delivery. Factors such as rising prevalence of anaphylaxis, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis is anticipate to increasethe consumption of auto-injectors over the forecast period. Factors like growing advancement in the drug delivery technology, growing patient preferences for Auto-injectorsin emergency care and increasing number of key participantsmanufacturing generic versions are anticipated to enhance the growth of global Auto-injectorsmarket over the forecast period. Request For Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3310 Sale of Auto-injectorsis relativelyhealthy in the U.S. market in the recent years, making North America the most lucrative region globally.North America Auto-injectorsmarketis estimated to value at US$ XX.XMn in 2016, with the U.S. accounting for majority of revenue share. By product, PrefilledAuto-injectorsaccounted for higher revenue share in global Auto-injectorsmarketas compared to other product segments.. By Indication type, anaphylaxis indication type segment accounted for highest revenue share and is expected to reflect CAGR the forecast period. The growing preference for injectable drug delivery is expected to fuel the market for sterile drugs globally. Self-administration of drugs through usage of pre-filled syringes is one such instance where patients can save on large caregiver fees. There is an increased demand for large molecule drugs in pre-filled syringes as compared to small molecule drugs in pre-filled syringes. By Distribution Channel, Online Pharmacies segmentaccount for higher demand for Auto-injectorsas compared to other end user segments such as Drug Stores, Hospital Pharmacies and Retail Pharmacies segment.PrefilledAuto-injectorscherishsupportable demand for Online Pharmacies owing to the fact that Epipen Auto Injector which is used in anaphylaxis is made mandatory at several public places along with the first aid. Get Complete TOC with Tables and Figures at : https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/requesttoc/3309 Moreover certain change in prices made by Mylan N.V. by launching a generic version of Epipen is expected to drastically affect the sales revenue of auto-injectors market in the near future. The prices are dropped down to nearly half of the initial prices that will affect the sales revenue but will eventually support to build a strong volume base for auto-injectors market. Key players in the global Auto-injectors market include Becton, Dickinson and Company, Sanofi, Pfizer, Inc., Mylan N.V., Novartis AG, Bayer AG, Janssen Global Services, LLC, Antares Pharma, Inc., Amgen Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company and others. Major market players are implementing different strategies and are focusing on product development through research. Many players have are yet to launch the auto injectors in the market and are soon expected to launch. Make an Inquiry before Buying@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3310/Single Las Vegas casinos threw open their doors Thursday after 11 weeks closed due to coronavirus, with downtown roulette wheels and slot machines whirring to life minutes after midnight. Large crowds flocked immediately to casinos such as The D, which had flown in gamblers from across the country on hundreds of free flights to boost the occasion. "We're fired up... You can see the smiles on everybody's faces," owner Derek Stevens told journalists. "Everybody's just excited." On the world-famous Strip, which has been almost deserted since mid-March, casinos and resort hotels began reopening more slowly after dawn. The Bellagio's fountains were switched back on shortly before its sprawling casino floors reopened, as dozens of curious locals and excited tourists lined up to enter at 10 am. The reopening is a major boost for the badly-hit Las Vegas economy, which depends heavily on tourism and has seen unemployment shoot as high as 33.5 percent in April. Inside the city's gaming rooms -- capped at half capacity -- strict restrictions were in place, with blackjack tables limited to three players in order to maintain social distancing, and fitted with plexiglass barriers between players and dealers. Staff were instructed to ensure crowds do not gather around players at craps tables, where a maximum six can stand at once. "Vegas is still Vegas," MGM Resorts CEO William Hornbuckle told AFP earlier. "Over time, we'll get fully back," he added. Guidelines for the company, which operates the Bellagio, MGM Grand, New York-New York and other casinos, require every other slot machine to be switched off. Guests are "strongly encouraged" to keep face coverings on while gambling, but drinks are once again being served on the casino floor. At nearby Treasure Island, 29-year-old Alecia Perez had driven up from Los Angeles on Thursday morning with her partner and young child. "We have a toddler so that's another reason we came now, we figured it'd be a little more empty," she told AFP. "It's a different type of vacation -- we're not looking to party." Nightclubs and giant Las Vegas shows remain closed for now. Many casinos are conducting temperature checks on entry. "It's gonna be a little scary at first of course. I'm not going to make as much money as I usually do," said Luis Rosales, preparing for his first shift back working as a server at the Venetian hotel. "But it's just going to take a little bit of time." He added: "I get to go to the bars now, to go gambling. That's what we've all been missing." As well as recovering from coronavirus, the city has been hit with tense protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose videotaped killing by police in Minnesota went viral and triggered demonstrations across the US. A Las Vegas officer was in "grave condition" after being shot during protests earlier this week, and an armed Hispanic man was shot and killed by police after raising his gun in a separate, nearby incident. Three far-right extremists were arrested and charged by anti-terror officials for inciting violence. The reopening is a major boost for the badly-hit Las Vegas economy, which depends heavily on tourism and has seen unemployment shoot as high as 33.5 percent in April The Bellagio's fountains were switched back on shortly before its sprawling casino floors reopened, as dozens of curious locals and excited tourists lined up to enter at 10 am Welcome to the new normal: a transparent partition separates players at a table game at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas On the world-famous Strip, which has been almost deserted since mid-March, casinos and resort hotels began reopening more slowly after dawn Coronavirus transmission is still too high in Britain to relax the social distancing two-metre rule, a government scientific advisor has said. Professor Catherine Noakes, part of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), rebutted claims that relaxing the rule is safe at this time. Official statistics estimate 8,000 people are still being infected every day but only a fraction - fewer than 2,000 - are formally diagnosed. Other countries have adopted a one-metre rule, which a World Health Organization-funded review found this week cuts the risk of catching Covid-19 by 80 per cent. The same study, published in The Lancet, also showed that it doubles the chances of being infected - but the risk is still only 2.6 per cent. Number 10 announced earlier this week decided to keep the two-metre rule in place, despite pleas to shorten the distance to kick-start the economy. Discussing the risks, Professor Noakes said you could catch the coronavirus even if someone is standing four metres away in a poorly ventilated room. It dashes hopes pubs, bars and restaurants will be able to open safely in the coming weeks, amid fears scores could go bust because of the lack of business. Experts have pleaded with the Prime Minister to change the government's stance in order to protect businesses and the livelihoods of those who work there. ofessor Catherine Noakes, who sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), rebutted any claims that relaxing the two-metre rule is safe at this time A major study showed one metre social distancing doubles the risk of being infected, but the risk is still only 2.6 per cent (pictured) Professor Noakes, an expert on airborne infection at University of Leeds, told The Times: 'There are too many cases in the community for us to consider going below two metres.' 'There is transmission happening already, when we've been applying the [two-metre] distancing. If we reduce it, essentially, you double the risk. 'Where you have a poorly-ventilated room and someone is four metres away - if there's a high viral shedder in that room, that could cause an infection.' What is the science behind two-metre social distancing rule? The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a one metre distance between two people from separate households. 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. 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 SO, WHAT HAVE THE STUDIES SHOWN? ONE METRE Number 10's chief scientific adviser - Sir Patrick Vallance - has said that the one metre rule is up to 30 times more risky than the two metre rule. He told MPs earlier this month the risk of spending a minute next to a Covid-19 patient for two minutes was 'about the same' as being within a metre of a Covid-19 case for six seconds. The latest evidence, published in The Lancet, found there was roughly a 2.6 per cent chance of catching the virus when one metre from a Covid patient. But doubling the gap cut the risk to only 1.3 per cent. TWO METRE One of the top scientific advisers to the British Government said the two metre social distancing rule is based on 'very fragile' evidence. Professor Robert Dingwall, a member of Nervtag, referred to it as a 'rule of thumb' rather than a scientifically proven measure. Other experts have said the distance may be a non-scientific estimate that just caught on in countries around the world. IS TWO METRES ENOUGH? The UK's coronavirus social distancing limit is four times too short and the gap should be 26 feet, said experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in March. They found viral droplets expelled in coughs and sneezes can travel in a moist, warm atmosphere at speeds of between 33 and 100ft per second. This creates a cloud in the atmosphere that can span approximately 23ft to 27ft (seven metres to eight metres) to neighbouring people, the team said. Another study by scientists in Cyprus, published a fortnight ago, added to the evidence when it found the two-metre rule may not be far enough. Researchers found even in winds of two miles per hour (mph) - the speed needed for smoke to drift - saliva can travel 18 feet in just five seconds. And scientists from the universities of California Santa Barbara and Stanford last week said the two metre rule may have to be trebled when winter strikes. They found droplets that carry SARS-CoV-2 - the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 - can travel up to 20feet (six metres) in cold and humid areas. Advertisement Professor Noakes referred to a recent major study, funded by the World Health Organization, which looked at the risk of transmission depending on social distancing lengths. It found that one metre reduces your risk of catching the virus, and a distance of two metres halves it again. There was roughly a 1.3 per cent chance of contracting the virus when standing two metres from an infected patient. One-metre increased the odds to 2.6 per cent - which is still very low, but double the risk of one metre. 'That really is showing two metres is a good distance,' Professor Noakes said. MPs have called for the distance to be loosened in line with other countries such as Germany, to save jobs and allow more businesses to reopen. If pubs, theatres and other hospitality venues have to abide by the two-metre rule, it would severely restrict how many could enter. Senior MPs say tens of thousands more pubs could reopen with less restrictive social distancing, which could avoid closures and staff losing work. Figures from the British Beer and Pub Association figures show that, with the current two metre rule, only 20 to 30 per cent of premises will be able to open at a sustainable level. However, if the rule was reduced to one metre, 70 per cent would be able to open. Meanwhile, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) stressed the 'vital' importance of the two-metre distance as more businesses prepare to open. The professional body, which represents those who work in environmental health roles such as in the food, housing and transport industries, urged the Government to maintain the two-metre guidance especially as 'riskier' businesses including pubs prepare to open. Mr Johnson said his 'own hope' was to reduce the two-metre rule as the spread of coronavirus slows. He told MPs on May 27 that he hopes to allow watering holes and restaurants to re-open earlier than July 4 - the date which has been set down in the government's roadmap out of lockdown. On Tuesday Number 10 said the Government believes the two-metre rule should remain in place after asking scientists to look over the evidence. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the matter is 'under review' but added: 'The current guidance is the two-metre rule should remain in place.' Scientists have questioned why Britain - with only Spain - is the only European country with the two-metre rule. The World Health Organisation advises that one metre is sufficient, and France, Sweden and Austria follow the UN's guidance. Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Australia all deem 1.5 metres as sufficient. Professor Noakes said almost every country that was below two metres had introduced other measures, such as mandatory facemasks on public transport. It is voluntary in the UK to wear a face mask, and this guidance was only updated in mid-April. Co-author of the WHO study Dr Derek Chu, from McMaster University, said: 'We believe that solutions should be found for making face masks available to the general public. However, people must be clear that wearing a mask is not an alternative to physical distancing, eye protection or basic measures such as hand hygiene, but might add an extra layer of protection.' Previously scientists have said the two-metre rule lacks any validity. Professor Robert Dingwall, who sits on the governments scientific advisory body New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, which feeds into SAGE, said the two metre rule 'has never had much of an evidence base', suggesting it is safe to stand closer to someone. Former chancellor Norman Lamont said halving the rule to one metre was 'the single most important measure we must take' to avoid 'devastating mass unemployment'. He said: 'The onus is on the (Government's) advisers to explain why it is that, while Britons must stay two metres apart, the World Health Organisation recommends one metre - as do many other European countries, acting on their scientists' advice.' Pubs bosses have called on the government to change the social distancing laws to lower the current two metre rule, which they say will stop them from opening their pubs Last Thursday, Mr Johnson reiterated his support for the two metre rule, saying: 'I must stress that to control the virus, everyone needs to stay alert, act responsibly, strictly observe social distancing rules, and stay two metres apart from those who you do not live with.' England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty says he believes social distancing - as well as hand washing, 'good cough etiquette', the use of face coverings - will be in place 'for as long as this epidemic continues'. Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, who said last Thursday there could be 8,000 new cases of coronavirus a day in the UK, said there was 'relatively little room for manoeuvre' in easing the lockdown measures. While the latest figures showed more than 1,800 a day had tested positive, data from the Office for National Statistics using surveillance testing of the population suggests the true figure was significantly higher. At the same time Sir Patrick said the R - the rate of transmission - was still close to 1 which means the numbers are not coming down quickly. The Government's current plan is to move into stage three of easing the lockdown no earlier than July 4. The ambition is to open at least some of pubs, restaurants, cinemas, hairdressers and beauty salons that have been shut since March 23 - if they abide by safety guidelines similarly set out for retail shops set to open on June 15. 'Some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to re-open safely at this point,' the roadmap says. The Government plans to pilot re-openings these venues to test their ability to adopt the safety guidelines. Pubs and restaurants have been closed across Britain since the government imposed the coronavirus lockdown at the end of March. Pictured: Staff at the Greenwich Tavern in London sell takeaway alcohol from a window to the street Prime Minister Scott Morrison has struck a new strategic partnership with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, promising closer cooperation on science and technology, defence and maritime security. Both countries are attempting to counter rising Chinese influence in the region, with New Delhi redoubling its foreign aid efforts in the Indian Ocean region amid China's growing influence through its expanding Belt and Road Initiative. Narendra Modi and Scott Morrison met in Bangkok last year. Credit:AAP Mr Morrison was forced to cancel a planned trip to India in January following the bushfire crisis and the global pandemic has since grounded world leaders. He said during his virtual summit with Mr Modi on Thursday the relationship was founded on the high level of trust between the democratic nations. We finally know what happened to Aunt Becky. The final few episodes of Netflixs Full House spinoff Fuller House dropped June 2, and they reveal the fate of Lori Loughlins character after she was written off the show in the wake of the college admissions scandal. Aunt Becky is in Nebraska Lori Loughlin as Aunt Becky in Fuller House |Netflix RELATED: Candace Cameron Bure Is Praying for Her Fuller House Co-Star Lori Loughlin After the College Admissions Scandal In the 15th episode of season 5, Be Yourself, Free Yourself, Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) and Aunt Beckys daughter Pamela is bitten at school. Jesse is attempting to use a playdate to investigate what really happened, and he turns to D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure) for advice. You dont think you should run this by Aunt Becky first? she asks. Becky is in Nebraska helping out her mother, Jesse replies. I dont want to bother her with a tiny little thing like this. In a June 2019 interview, Stamos said that figuring out how to handle the situation with Loughlin was difficult. Loughlin was fired from Fuller House in 2019 after she was arrested and charged for paying bribes to guarantee her daughters were admitted to the University of Southern California. She and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, who was also charged, initially pleaded not guilty. But in May 2020, they reached a plea agreement that will likely see Loughlin serve two months in prison and Giannulli serve five months. A similar explanation was offered for Loughlins disappearance from When Calls the Heart RELATED: Hearties May Miss Abigail, But When Calls the Heart Is Moving Forward Without Lori Loughlin In addition to Fuller House, Loughlin also had a major role on the Hallmark Channel drama When Calls the Heart. She was fired from that series as well, which was briefly pulled off the air so that new episodes could be reworked to remove her character. The explanation for the absence of Aunt Becky is similar to the one offered for the sudden disappearance of Abigail Stanton, the character played by Loughlin on When Calls the Heart. In that show, Abigail is said to have traveled back east to care for her sick mother. She hasnt been seen since. Lori Loughlin would like to return to TV Lori Loughlin | Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images With her firings from Fuller House, When Calls the Heart, and the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries series Garage Sale Mysteries, Loughlins career took an immediate hit as a result of the college admissions scandal. But the actress is apparently holding out hope shell eventually be able to return to work. A source told Us Weekly that Loughlin would love to return to TV someday. The actress is an eternal optimist and she would like to tell her side of the story. That return to television will likely have to wait, though. At the moment, Hollywood productions are shut down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She will also need to complete her prison sentence. While the actress and her fashion designer husband have pleaded guilty those pleas have not yet been accepted by a judge and she has not been sentenced. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! 'We are not going to be threatened by China neither are we going to threaten China.' Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images "The Union territory of Ladakh now has a 106 km border with Afghanistan in the Pamir mountains. Gilgit-Baltistan is also a part of Ladakh according to our new map. We should stick to it and push the Chinese out of Aksai Chin," says Ambassador Phunchok Stobdan, scholar and author of The Great Game in the Buddhist Himalayas: India and China's Quest for Strategic Dominance. The diplomat has served as India's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. In the concluding part of his interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih, Professor Stobdan explains the reasons for the longstanding hostility between India and China and how it is different from the hostility with Pakistan. You have said that China has been taking control of disputed land in Eastern Ladakh since the last 30 years. How did this come about? The local nomads of Changthang (home to the Changpa nomads and Pashmina goats) say that their local economy has been affected by the Chinese intrusion and also restrictions imposed by our security forces due to security concerns. The nomads say they cannot move freely. When nomads don't go out to graze their animals, you lose land. Nomads do natural patrolling of the land. They go into the mountains with their goats, sheep and yak and return every evening. But that has been stopped and they have been reduced to working as labourers in smaller towns of Ladakh. Meanwhile, the Chinese continue to allow the Tibetan nomads to move around and they continue to hold the ground. In Ladakh, the nomads are called Changpas. They move from one place to another and live in a Rebo (big tent). The Rebo culture has been affected on our side, while the Chinese could be using it as an instrument of military policy. The Chinese allow the nomads to go into the pasturelands. The PLA follows their routes and takes control of those lands. As a result, India has lost a large nomadic area which also served as its border defence. Do you think Ladakh's status as a Union territory has provoked China's present action? China said Ladakh's Union territory was unacceptable because India was violating its territorial sovereignty. China raised the issue of the abrogation of Article 370 at the UN Security Council on August 16, 2019. India dismissed those claims and said it had no bearing on India's external boundaries with China. The Chinese kept quiet for some time and now seem to be acting on the ground. Till August 5, Ladakh was part of J&K and China maintained that Kashmir was a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. Now that Ladakh is no longer part of J&K after the removal of Article 370, China may be thinking that it also has a stake. India unequivocally maintains that China has no business to interfere in Ladakh. Our own maps show that the whole of Aksai Chin belongs to India, but the Chinese have control of 37,000 square kms and the 500 square kms gifted to them by Pakistan in 1953. Aksai Chin is a part of Ladakh. India should tell China to get lost. We have the November 1 , 1962 unanimous parliamentary resolution that India will take back every inch of its territory from China. China is supporting the Pakistanis in a bigger way. Maybe they are also scared about their connectivity projects getting affected by India's recent moves. IMAGE: Indian soldiers stand guard as vehicles pass through the Zojila Pass on their way to the Ladakh frontier. Photograph: PTI Photo What is the geo-political dimension to the conflict? According to the new map, the Union territory of Ladakh now has a 106 km border with Afghanistan in the Pamir Mountain. Gilgit-Baltistan is also a part of Ladakh. Our map has changed. We should stick to it and push the Chinese out of Aksai Chin also. There is also a 1994 parliamentary resolution about PoK. The foreign secretary said a few months back that we will think about taking physical possession of PoK. There is also a geo-political dimension. Our intent to enhance connectivity projects in Ladakh should also have a forward objective to push for trade beyond the Karakoram Pass into the Mazar Valley in Xinjiang province and revive the old Leh-Kashgar Silk Road. Through Lepulekh, we should be asserting for reopening our traditional pilgrimage and border trade routes with Tibet. It is ironic that this transgression is happening on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India-China. Why are there peaks and troughs in this relationship in spite of India investing immense diplomatic efforts with China? The conflict between India and China is not a conflict of civilisations or ideology; it is a conflict of interests. We are not going to be threatened by China neither are we going to threaten China, but there is a longstanding hostility between the two countries. This hostility is different from what we have with Pakistan. There is a logical reason about the hostility between India and Pakistan. The country was carved out of India after a bloody Partition. There is an ideological war between us, and they use terrorism as a State policy. Our problems with China are a bit different, especially in terms of our unacceptability of China trying to dominate our region. Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com PITTSFILED TWP., MI The Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office is still considering whether or not to charge a black woman shown in a video being punched by a white police officer who was trying to arrest her. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is urging it not to do so. The ACLU sent a letter Wednesday, June 3, to the prosecutors office urging it not to pursue charges against ShaTeina Grady El who was recorded being hit three times by a Washtenaw County Sheriffs deputy on May 26, when she and her husband allegedly resisted arrest for obstructing a police investigation. In light of recent events throughout the country that have severely shaken community trust in law enforcement, we are concerned that the social harm of prosecuting Ms. Grady El will outweigh any benefits, ACLU attorney Mark Fancher wrote in the letter. Charging Ms. Grady El, an African American woman, for acts that were allegedly committed when she was physically attacked by a law enforcement officer in the midst of global upheaval regarding police misconduct serves no reasonable, useful purpose." Deputies had ordered Grady El and her husband, Daniyal Grady El, to leave the scene of a potential shooting in Ypsilanti Townships Apple Ridge neighborhood around midnight on Tuesday, May 26, said the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office. When officers tried to physically remove the two from the scene, they resisted and a deputy punched ShaTeina Grady El in the head before taking both into custody, police said. You cant do that.' Ypsilanti woman shown being punched by Washtenaw deputy speaks about altercation The Grady Els were trying to film the police forming a perimeter near their daughter Jaquisy Diggins home in the 2000 block of Peachcrest Street, Daniyal Grady El said. The police didnt try to explain the shooting situation to them before springing into action, he said. Deputies on the scene were investigating a house identified by the shooting victim as the potential location where the shooter fled, according to bodycam footage provided by the sheriffs office Friday, May 29. The command officer and deputies can be heard demanding the Grady Els keep their distance and film from one house over. No deputy on scene explicitly stated to the couple prior to the altercation that the perimeter they were setting was for a shooting, according to the footage. Sheriff Clayton delivering remarks related to the recent use of force incident that took place in our community earlier this week. Posted by Washtenaw Sheriff on Friday, May 29, 2020 Shortly after a cell phone video of the incident hit social media, several protests were organized demanding her release from jail with more than 300 protestors blocking streets surrounding the sheriffs office. Free ShaTeina: Continued incarceration of Ypsilanti woman leads 300 protesters to block streets again In tandem with the protests demanded her release, hundreds of protests erupted through the nation demanding justice for the death of George Floyd, condemning police brutality systemic racism in police work. The pre-existing tensions between police and the black community will likely prompt enhanced suspicion and questions about every issue in the case, Fancher said For example, even if a record establishes that Ms. Grady El committed aggressive acts, the public may forever have questions about whether, under the circumstances, the actions of the deputy were unlawful and she was within her rights to resist; or whether under any circumstances the response of the deputy was a disproportionate response to her actions. As of June 4, no charges appear to have been filed against ShaTeina Grady El. The Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office could not immediately be reached for comment. More from The Ann Arbor News: More bike lanes, fewer car lanes planned in downtown Ann Arbor as DDA reimagines streets Suspected drunk driver crashes into animal control vehicle after blowing through red light, police say Ypsilanti veterans group serves free food to community every Saturday Samsung Group, South Korea's top conglomerate, remained anxious Thursday over the possibility of its heir's return to jail, as prosecutors here sought an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong over his alleged involvement in a controversial merger between two affiliates a few years ago and fraudulent accounting, seen as aimed at smoothing out his succession. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said it requested arrest warrants for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee and two former executives as part of its investigation into the combination of the two Samsung affiliates -- Samsung C&T Corp. and Cheil Industries Inc. -- in 2015. Prosecutors suspect Lee and the group's top management were involved in a calibrated scheme to intentionally lower the value of Samsung C&T prior to its merger with Cheil Industries so as to facilitate Lee's managerial succession from his ailing father, Lee Kun-hee. If the warrant is approved, it will be the first time in 29 months that Lee will be arrested for criminal charges. In February 2017, Lee was arrested for allegedly offering bribes to a confidante of former President Park Geun-hye. He was initially sentenced to five years in prison, but he was freed a year later after the Seoul High Court reduced the sentence to 2 1/2 years, suspended for four years. Industry insiders said the prosecutors' latest move may deal a big blow to Samsung's push to overcome uncertainties caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic and renewed trade tensions between the United States and China. The group's crown jewel, Samsung Electronics Co., saw its sales rise 5.61 percent on-year to 55.3 trillion won ($45.3 billion) in the first quarter of the year, while its operating income increased 3.43 percent on-year to 6.4 trillion won in the January-March period. However, compared to the company's heyday in 2018, when it racked up an operating income of at least 10 trillion won in a quarter, its performance was mediocre. Samsung expected tepid performance under the current quarter as the pandemic will significantly impact its mobile business. Heir apparent Lee has been active in spearheading the tech giant's businesses strategy in recent years, focusing on its chip manufacturing business. In April 2019, the company announced a plan to become the world's No. 1 logic chip maker by 2030 by investing 133 trillion won. Last month, he inspected Samsung's chip plant in Xian, China, to check its expansion plan. The tech giant also announced the establishment of new foundry and NAND flash productions lines in South Korea. If Lee is arrested, it will also tarnish Samsung's efforts to improve its compliance culture and public image. Following Lee's bribery case, Samsung launched an independent compliance committee to better pursue law-abiding management in February. Taking the committee's advice, Lee made a rare apology last month, saying that he is sorry for controversies related to his succession issues. He also vowed to scrap the group's "no labor union" policy and promised to gain trust by improving communication with the public. (Yonhap) INNOVATION Ghost Road By Anthony Townsend (W.W Norton 21.99, 320 pp) Last year, in Providence, Rhode Island, a trial was held to see whether driverless buses might work on the citys streets. The vehicles were programmed with a set route but, unfortunately, the programming had taken place in winter, when the trees were bare. The experiment took place in summer, when leaves and foliage confused vehicles sensors and they were unable to navigate. Its just one of the many problems that AVs (autonomous vehicles) face if theyre to drive us literally into a sci-fi future. Anthony M. Townsend is honest enough to admit that predictions are risky. After all, the past is surprising enough: did you know that cruise control the feature that regulates your cars speed was patented as early as 1953? Last year, in Providence, Rhode Island, a trial was held to see whether driverless buses might work on the citys streets (pictured) The first job to fall to AVs, he argues, wont be moving people but moving stuff. Online shopping has been on the rise for years (especially during lockdown). The next step will be to eliminate the delivery driver. At the University of California, Berkeley, self-driving robots serve snacks to students around the campus. When a faulty battery caused one of them to burst into flames, the students held a candlelit vigil for it. But human cargo is on the agenda, too. Armies of AV taxis might wander the streets, waiting to be summoned by phone apps, much as we summon Uber cabs now. Even private cars are going to look very different. Kia has already built a car which uses facial scanning to read your emotions and match its content (what it plays on the radio, for instance) to your mood. Audis long distance lounge features a windscreen that displays content from your mobile device, overlaying it on your view of the outside world. In theory, this will let you work as you travel. But surveys have shown that what people really want to do is watch movies, surf the internet or even sleep. Dont you find that rather depressing? I actually like driving its the only area left in my life where I feel Ive got any control. But Im not from the generation that sees time at the wheel as time away from my iPhone. Ghost Road by Anthony Townsend assumes well either perfect self-driving technology, or there wont be an AV industry to speak of Passing your driving test used to be a rite of passage: in the 1980s, about 70 per cent of American 17-year-olds had a licence. Now fewer than half of them do. (The figures in Britain are similar.) According to a 2017 magazine article, teens today described getting their licence as something to be nagged into by their parents. There is little about safety in the book Townsend is confident its a red herring. He points out we happily fly on planes guided by autopilot (though surely we wouldnt if there wasnt a human in overall control?). Only this week, in Taiwan, a Tesla model 3, allegedly on autopilot assistance, crashed into an overturned truck blocking the lane. And the settings for the aggression level of Teslas computerised driver hardly inspire confidence. Theyre named mild, average and Mad Max. Only this week, in Taiwan, a Tesla model 3, allegedly on autopilot assistance, crashed into an overturned truck blocking the lane (file image) But, in fairness to the book, it assumes well either perfect self-driving technology, or there wont be an AV industry to speak of. As it happens my favourite fact was about the past. The first self-driving vehicles were ships. A rope connected the sail to the tiller, tied in such a way that whenever the wind blew the ship one way, the rope pulled the tiller and steered it back the opposite way. Isnt that wonderful? For the first time, George Floyd's brother, Terrence Floyd, is speaking out and calling for peaceful protests. As Terrence Floyd led the crowd in the chant of, "peace on the left and justice on the right, he exclaimed that people aren't protesting in a peaceful manner. Full of disappointment with looters and rioters, Terrence Floyd encourages others to be a peaceful protestant. "If I'm not over here wilding out, blowing up stuff, messing up my community, what are you guys doing? What are you guys doing! Ya'll doing nothing because that's not going to bring back my brother at all!" "When you come down, you're going to wonder what you did. My family is a peaceful family. My family is God-fearing. We are not going to be repetitions." "The same things have been happening, you guys are destroying stuff. Why are we destroying our own stuff?" Terrence Floyd called on people to stop looting and encouraged them to channel their frustration into voting at a makeshift memorial for his brother George Floyd As he implores the protestors. Protestors and police officers took Terrence's words to heart as he stated that looting is not something that George Floyd would have wanted. Tired of seeing destructions becoming demolished, Terrence sends out a clear message that our focus has landed somewhere else. ABC News stated that Floyd was so emotional that two unidentified men stood on either side of him, and at points kept him from falling. "Let's do this another way! Educate yourself and know who you're voting for." Floyd thanked the people around him for flowers, love, and support all around the world. Donald Trump Tensions between the US and China are not going away. In another major bitterness over China, US President Donald Trump has decided to ban Chinese flights to the United States from June 16. Donald TrumpFollowing Trump's decision, it is believed that US-China relations will deteriorate further in the midst of the Corona Crisis. The Trump administration on Wednesday barred Chinese airlines from flying to the United States, which could increase trade and travel tensions between the two countries. Advertisement Beijing has failed to resume services to US carriers in China after which US President Trump took action against China and ordered the cancellation of all flights of Chinese airlines. AirlinesThe U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement that the U.S. carrier called for the resumption of passenger service from June 1. The Chinese government's failure to accede to their requests is a violation of our air transport agreement. The Department of Transportation said that the suspension order on Chinese airlines is effective from June 16. Former Greens MP Lidia Thorpe with Members of the Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (L-R) Apryl Day, Tarneen Onus-Williams, Crystal McKinnon and Rosie Kalina. Credit:Luis Ascui Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance has told those attending the rally that they should wear masks, practise social distancing and self-quarantine for up to two weeks afterwards. Part of a wave of global protests sparked by the killing of African-American man George Floyd by a police officer in the US, the Melbourne event hopes to focus attention on Australia's own record of Indigenous deaths in custody; there have been 432 since 1991. The state government was accused of inconsistency by the opposition on Thursday, with Liberals accusing Mr Andrews of encouraging people to go to Saturdays rally after the hard line he had taken on social distancing throughout the pandemic. But Mr Andrews said on Thursday that people should stay away from the protest to protect their health and prevent any COVID-19 spread. Thousands marched through the streets of Melbourne to protest Australia Day. Organisers of this Saturday's rally expect a similar number. Credit:Chris Hopkins "Let's not do anything that potentially spreads the virus," he said. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton also made pleas on Thursday for people to avoid the protests and the risk of community outbreaks of COVID-19. Professor Sutton said while he understood that many people wanted to join the protest, he felt the danger was too great. Loading "Unfortunately, now is not the time for thousands of people to gather together, putting your and others health at risk," he said late on Thursday afternoon. "We are still in the middle of a pandemic and this protest carries real risks for all Victorians, particularly those in vulnerable groups. The restrictions are there to save lives I urge everyone to consider other ways to show support." Responding to questions about whether the event should be suppressed or the protesters fined for an illegal gathering, Mr Andrews said police had decided the safest option was to let it go ahead. "Do you lock people up, do you inflame what is, I think, a pretty volatile situation given the depth of feeling on these issues? the Premier asked. Or do you take a look and say it's by no means ideal, but it's certainly better than seeing that gathering on Saturday deteriorate into something like we've seen overseas." UNSW Professor Marylouise McLaws, an infection-control expert and adviser to the World Health Organisations COVID-19 preparedness group, said that standing close to people who were screaming and shouting was risky. Being outside didn't lower the risk, she said. A small breeze of up to 15km/h was enough to carry particles six metres in five seconds. "While they're shouting slogans of 'Black Lives Matter', those particles could have COVID-19 virus in them," she said. Professor McLaws also recommended that people wear perspex face shields if they can, instead of cloth masks, which can lose their effectiveness when they get wet while covering people's mouths. George Floyd's family and closest friends on Thursday demanded justice for their departed loved one, who was killed by the pandemic of racism and discrimination. Mourners paid tribute to Floyd inside a sanctuary at North Central University in Minneapolis, singing praises for their brother, father, uncle and dear friend who died at the age of 46. Floyd died after a policeman planted a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, a violent arrest that's all-too representative of African American life, according to a eulogy delivered by the Rev. Al Sharpton. "George Floyds story is the story of black folks," Sharpton told mourners. "Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being because you kept your knee on our necks." He added: "What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country in education, in health services and in every area of American life. Its time for us to stand up in Georges name, 'Get your knee off our necks.'" Floyd's younger brother, Philonise Floyd, said the family grew up poor but had everything they needed. They enjoyed banana and mayonnaise sandwiches made by their loving mother and washed clothes in a bathroom sink, before drying them over a hot water heater or oven. Everybody wants justice, we want justice for George, the younger Floyd told mourners. Hes going to get it, hes going to get it. Floyd tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, weeks before his death, according to an autopsy. But Floyd died from a much more deadly disease, family attorney Benjamin Crump said. It was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed George Floyd, Crump told spirited mourners. I want to make it clear, on the record the other pandemic that we are too familiar with in America the pandemic of racism and discrimination killed George Floyd." Floyd's death has sparked protests against systemic racism and Rev. Sharpton quoted from the Book of Ecclesiastes in predicting that a time for substantive change had arrived. Story continues "Im more hopeful today than ever," Sharpton said. "When I looked this time and saw marches where, in some cases, young whites outnumbered the blacks marching. I know its a different time and a different season." Al Sharpton arrives for George Floyd memorial service (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP/Getty Images) Thursdays service starts an extraordinary multi-city series of memorials so loved ones can honor Floyd in the communities where he was born, raised and died. The sanctuary at North Central University can seat 1,000 people, but only 500 were allowed inside as the school practices social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. Almost all the mourners inside, aside from musicians and the sign language interpreter, wore masks. Floyd's bright gold closed casket was adorned in white, purple and green flowers. A drawing of Floyd, with his name in bright yellow letters, topped the stage. Its been overwhelming," Adarryl Hunter, 45, a friend of Floyd's for more than 25 years, told NBC News before he entered the hall. "The magnitude and the response of what happened how I knew him kind of gets a little bit lost in there because the other stuff is more important. The scale of this is so big, that how I knew him and how we were friends, therere more important issues." U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Mayor Jacob Frey, Gov. Tim Walz, comedian Kevin Hart, actress Tiffany Haddish, rapper Ludacris and veteran civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson were among the mourners who attended services. North Central University President Scott Hagen told mourners hes already raised $53,000 for a scholarship for black students in Floyds name. He urged other universities to do the same. Its time to invest like never before in a new generation of young black Americans who are poised and ready to take leadership of our nation, he told cheering mourners. Outside the sanctuary, demonstrators including Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph and rapper Master P supported Floyd's grieving loved ones. Some of them wore facial coverings and donned T-shirts with the message, "We cant breathe, referencing the final words uttered by Floyd and Eric Garner, another black man who died in police custody. Kalin Jackson, 36, arrived at the university in the hopes of witnessing the memorial service with her 11-year-old daughter, Amira. She needs to see this historic moment, Jackson said. Ive been a victim of police brutality, Ive witnessed police brutality on several occasions. Right now I just feel like the events of the past 10 days are us finally tired. Were absolutely tired." Floyd died a week ago Monday after he was accused of passing a suspicious-looking $20 bill at a corner store and arrested by Minneapolis police. Minutes later, a handcuffed Floyd was facedown on the pavement with officer Derek Chauvin, who was later fired, pressing his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes. Passersby recorded the incident as Floyd begged for air and his mom. Chauvin was arrested Friday and originally charged with third-degree murder before that was upgraded on Wednesday to second-degree murder. The state of Minnesota has already launched a sweeping civil rights probe of the Minneapolis Police Department. After the North Central University memorial, Floyds remains are set to be transported to his birth city of Raeford, North Carolina, for a public viewing on Saturday. Then on Monday, another viewing is set to be held, this time in Houston, where Floyd was raised. And finally, on Tuesday, Floyds funeral is scheduled to be held at The Fountain of Praise Church in Houston, and former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to attend, the mans family said. When Biden first announced his candidacy, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said issues of racial inequality would be central to his campaign. Hes been highly critical of President Donald Trump, calling him a "threat" to the nation and noting that Trump said there were some "very fine people on both sides" in Charlottesville, where white nationalists were protesting the city's plan to take down a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general. Floyds death has sparked protests across America, with police at times clashing with demonstrators. Looters have moved in in the evening hours and destroyed retail stores in cities across the country. Trump has vowed to bring the clashes under control and even threatened to send military forces into U.S. cities, if necessary. Weekend chaos appeared to quell a bit by Wednesday night. Earlier that day, Chauvins charges were upgraded and three fellow police officers were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting in the alleged crime against Floyd. Yes, he really was that cool: Bruce Lee in Seattle before he became a star in the United States. (Bruce Lee Family Archives) "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water," said Bruce Lee of a revelation that unlocked a deeper, more spiritual level of martial arts for him. "Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." The new ESPN "30-for-30" documentary by Bao Nguyen, "Be Water," explores the changes Lee went through in the seemingly many lives he lived. Opening and closing with his triumphant return to Hong Kong, and charting the less-glorious stops between, the film benefits from the participation of those closest to Lee and unearths intriguing archival footage. Peeling back layers, "Be Water" examines the actor adapting to several different environments notably the extremely racially restrictive Hollywood of the '60s until his "flow" becomes a tidal wave of superstardom. The film seizes on the opportunity to reach ESPNs audience, providing context for America's treatment of Asians rarely addressed on the network. Given the time restrictions of a 96-minute documentary, Be Water does yeomans work in surveying the (gold) mountain Lee had to climb. Perhaps, given current events, viewers might be more open to understanding that struggle now. There are glimpses of his relentless training and the physical feats he reeled off as casually as most people walk. There are intimate views of his home life it's disarming to see this seemingly invincible fighting machine mooning over his kids. There are the obligatory frames of celebrities learning from him. But mostly, it's his incredible martial-arts prowess that never ceases to amaze. In an early screen test, his movements are too fast for the camera to capture: He's a literal blur of power and precision. Forever the dragon: Martial-arts legend Bruce Lee is profiled with intimate archival footage and interviews with those who knew him best in the ESPN documentary "Be Water." (Bruce Lee Family Archives) No remarkable life can be captured in just one film, and Nguyen is wise to focus on a few areas, but there are painful gaps. The essence of what made Lees creation, Jeet Kune Do, unique is barely touched on. The never-completed film that surely would have been his masterpiece, Game of Death, gets only a passing mention. (For viewers curious about Lee's artistic philosophy, the documentary Bruce Lee: A Warriors Journey attempts to reconstruct his epic vision of that film.) And "Be Water" ends without fully conveying his social impact. Story continues The doc is respectful, perhaps to a fault: It does include friends admitting Lee could be, to put it politely, difficult, but moves on without detail. It takes a similarly discreet step around at least one of his apparent relationships. But Nguyen assisted by the cooperation of Lee's widow, daughter and friends including Dan Inosanto and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar succeeds in going deeper where previous Lee profiles have trod only lightly: The context of his struggle against racism in America, and his emergence as a superstar in Hong Kong. For Lee fans, that makes "Be Water" a must-watch. For the curious, it's a fair introduction to the man who became a legend. For the record: 6:56 PM, Jun. 08, 2020: The article cites Bruce Lees familys claims that he created the concept for the series that became Kung Fu in 1972, which has been disputed. He did pitch Warner Bros. a similarly-themed western set in the 19th-century and reportedly auditioned for Kung Fu. His original idea later became the basis for the Cinemax series Warrior in 2019. Married At First Sight star KC Osborne has revealed she and boyfriend Michael Goonan are planning on having children. In an Instagram Q&A on Thursday, the 31-year-old revealed the news after being asked bluntly by a fan: 'Would you have kids with Michael?' 'If he keeps being a good boy, yes!' KC said, shooting the camera a cheeky smile. Baby joy! Married At First Sight star KC Osborne, 31, has revealed she and boyfriend Michael Goonan, 29, (both pictured) plan to have children during an Instagram Q&A on Thursday The couple have been going from strength to strength following their appearance on the Channel Nine reality dating show. KC and Michael began dating in late February, after filming for Married At First Sight had finished. In a recent Instagram post, KC gushed about their fairytale romance. Blunt: 'If he keeps being a good boy, yes!' KC said, shooting the camera a cheeky smile 'I moved back to Australia because I wanted love so bad. I craved a normal relationship and I knew I was not going to get that in LA,' KC wrote on Instagram. 'What people don't hear or read about Michael is his work ethic. 'Being around him inspires me to work harder and to go for all of my dreams without caring what people think. Strength to strength: In a recent Instagram post, KC gushed about their fairytale romance: 'I moved back to Australia because I wanted love so bad' 'I've seen this boy grow so much in such a short time as well as myself and that's what a partnership is about,' she concluded. KC revealed she met Michael's three-year-old son Connor in April. Responding to a fan's question on Michael's Instagram Stories, the professional dancer described the toddler as 'adorable'. Family first! KC revealed she met Michael's three-year-old son in April, while speaking about the couple's romance 'I have met little Connor, his son. He's adorable. It was fun to babysit, that's for sure,' KC said. The brunette bombshell praised Michael's parenting skills, adding: 'He's a good dad. Meanwhile, in their first joint media interview with New Idea in April, Michael and KC revealed that she has moved into Michael's Melbourne home. Doting father: Michael shares Connor, three, with an ex-girlfriend, and has chosen to keep his son away from the spotlight and 'all of this nonsense' Their friendship began a week after filming the MAFS reunion six-months-ago in January. They shared phone calls and texts before meeting in Melbourne for a date. Things gradually became romantic and by the time of the COVID-19 crisis, the pair had become inseparable and decided to self-quarantine together. While on the dating series, KC 'wed' Drew Brauer, while Michael had a tumultuous relationship with 'wife' Stacey Hampton. World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge expressed the belief on Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine were moving toward the stabilization of the COVID-19 situation MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2020) World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge expressed the belief on Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine were moving toward the stabilization of the COVID-19 situation. "We see gradual stabilization or reduction in new cases. The Russian Federation and Ukraine are getting on this path," Kluge said at a virtual WHO press conference. The COVID-19 pandemic caused an exogenous shock that tests the resilience of European integration. The European Union finds itself at a crossroads. National uncoordinated responses threaten core European institutions, yet the crisis is also an opportunity to advance integration and reinforce EU objectives. This calls for addressing public health governance failures, dealing with the economic and institutional fallout, protecting common institutions, building up new ones and using the Green Deal as a crisis exit strategy. The challenge comes at a time when the UK had all but monopolised the EUs attention and scarce resources with Brexit. This came at a high cost, as the Union was distracted from addressing common problems and neglected governance building. How did we arrive at the current situation? The world did not heed warnings (e.g. of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board report of September 2019) to think long term, prepare for a respiratory disease and cooperate on a global level for a coronavirus-type pandemic despite the many admonitions in this millennium alone (SARS, avian flu, swine flu, Ebola and Zika). In Europe, the pandemic crisis laid bare governance failures (lack of preparedness, slow responses). The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, created post-SARS in 2005 to assess and monitor diseases and coordinate national responses, underestimated the risk to the European population and all but disappeared from the public sphere. Although there are limits to EU public health competences (for supportive action and coordination, for proposing legally binding measures to cross-border threats on health), the Union has a broad margin of discretion on public health matters. The coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan had been widely televised, showing overstretched hospitals and high fatality rates and the drastic measures taken by China (lockdown, cancellation of the New Year festivities), but was met with complacency in Europe. Initial scattered outbreaks in Europe were said to be controllable and did not spark preventive measures (e.g. control of all flights into Europe). The chief preoccupation was to avoid alarming the population rather than to control the spread by informing the public about the perils of not adopting social distancing behaviour. The performance of (much poorer) Asian and African countries, which did significantly better in containing the pandemic, makes governance failures even more striking. The European Commission attempted to coordinate member states responses, aiming to find out about preparedness and promoting joint procurement of medical supplies and equipment. Yet, like member states, it did not grasp the scale of the challenge until Italy requested the activation of the EUs Civil Protection Mechanism of European solidarity in disasters and not a single member state came forward (instead, prioritising protecting national stocks, as little or nothing had been done to produce or import protective equipment). That said, member states such as Greece that acted earlier than others upon witnessing Italys plight, fared better. Having failed in terms of prevention, member states have since come to converge, in a non-coordinated fashion, by adopting a variety of confinement and containment strategies in an attempt to control exponentially rising infection numbers that risk outstripping healthcare capacities and reducing them to a level that would allow for following the World Health Organizations guidance of testing, tracing and isolating. There are limits to what decentralised action can achieve against a virus that respects no borders. Any action at a local, regional or national level, even if effective in terms of permitting a tailored approach to limiting contagion, is subject to spillovers. To prevent importing cases, member states cordoned off hotspots and discriminately closed internal Schengen borders. Countries can only open up if others have comparable performance and risk profiles. The coronavirus crisis illustrated the fragility of European common goods like the single market and the Schengen agreement and even the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) if national measures are incompatible or insufficiently coordinated. Proposed temporary remedies are also problematic. For example, although green corridors proposed by the European Commission have tried to safeguard the flow of vital goods (at the level of supply chains to limit the risk of disruptions), the free movement of people was suspended (with exceptions for some professions), which has high economic costs. Relaxing state aid rules in the crisis is not compatible with a level playing field if countries with deeper pockets support and give an unfair advantage to their own firms (thereby eroding trust in the single market). Electronic contact tracing apps hinge on public acceptance, which requires trust in data protection rules and interoperability. So what should the EU do? First, the EU should address the economic consequences of the current pandemic crisis through its eurozone framework to complete the economic side of the EMU and avoid negative spillovers to its monetary side. In fact, the immediate response to the economic impact of the crisis is largely being built on and developed within the governance structure of the eurozone through institutions put in place or envisaged at the time of the sovereign debt crisis: European Stability Mechanism, ECB measures, budgetary rules, the still incomplete banking union and the unemployment reinsurance scheme SURE. The proposed recovery fund is a tentative step in the right direction towards common bond issuance, which would also contribute to the EMUs sustainability. The EU budget should not merely be enlarged but should provide European public goods and objectives financed by own resources. Second, although it is a significant governance challenge, the EU should defend its interests and its own project rather than wasting time with Brexit and aligning with one side of the internal debate in the UK. Remainers favoured a different, much-diluted Union, essentially a free trade zone with some cooperation in domains where the UK wants to pursue its own objectives at the global level (trade, defence, intelligence, etc.), making use of EU infrastructure, explicitly stated in the 2016 new settlement for the UK within Europe. Rather than insisting on self-harming extensions, the EU should make sure that the transition period ends by 31 December 2020 and that any future agreement should there be one fully respects the integrity of its internal market, its common goods and European values. This is valid for all trade agreements. Third, the crisis has shown that the EU has got its priorities smart, social and sustainable development right. It brought home the importance of digital technologies and may prompt a general re-evaluation of the role of the state (welfare systems and regulation). In fact, the pandemic crisis is an acute crisis within a larger environment and climate crisis context. Health and the environment have public good characteristics, with potentially large longer-term damage costs that tend not to be factored in. Moreover, the degradation of the environment, loss of biodiversity and practices like intensive and factory farming are linked to new diseases. In the novel pandemic, decision-makers adopted science-based policymaking to an extent that unfortunately has not happened in the climate crisis. The crisis context is the right time to correct market failures and promote the shift to sustainable production and consumption patterns for the benefit of public health, the environment and sustainable development. The Green Deal already furnishes an adequate exit strategy. Calls for propping up unsustainable industries in the crisis should be resisted in order not to repeat the mistakes committed in the aftermath of the financial and sovereign debt crises. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates. Managed trade, ironically, is hard to manage. This is especially true when it is between the world's two largest economies trying to settle their trade and political disputes. The U.S.-China trade war entered a detente of sorts with the "Phase 1" trade deal signed on January 15, 2020. Between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, China is required to import more U.S. manufactured and agricultural goods, energy products and services (all identified in Annex 6.1 of the deal). This extra trade flow is required to exceed the 2017 baseline amount in these commodities by at least $200 billion. If this happens the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with China will fall all other things held constant, of course. For instance, China agreeing in principle to buy a further $32 billion of U.S. agricultural exports over two years remains to be seen due to the recent political posturing over COVID-19's cause and effect and the situation in Hong Kong. Cracks in the U.S.-China detente are starting to show. At any rate, this sort of managed trade means that China's import purchases are locked in no matter what future market conditions are. Not only is this not free trade, but this also is not even free enterprise. Managed trade is certainly not free trade because pre-existing trade restrictions are either in force or remain at the ready whenever one side pleases. In fact, the new deal employs a dispute resolution mechanism whereby a complaining party can institute a "counter-response" (e.g., countervailing trade duties). The other party's only recourse at that point is to withdraw from the agreement because no further tit-for-tat retaliations are allowed in this agreement. Time will tell if this method will incentivize both sides to work more closely or use the threat of withdrawal to force concessions. Story continues A Chinese container ship's cargo is unloaded. A Chinese container ship's cargo is unloaded. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Agricultural Trade With China Threatened? Consider soybeans, which were the most prominent U.S. agricultural export even before the new deal came into effect. Though there is a uniform world price for soybeans, China's imports from the U.S. and other sources in South America, for example, bring about different landed costs (i.e., the cost of a kilogram of soybeans, f.o.b. the port of entry). The world price of soybeans is benchmarked by U.S. production since it is the world's largest source. The world price is set every Friday in U.S. dollars per kilogram based on the monthly moving average of weekly prices for U.S. No. 1 Yellow soybeans, f.o.b. the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. It begs the question, if the U.S. has the lowest landed cost, would not China have bought more U.S. soybeans at the expense of other exporters already? If not, then trade will shift out of Brazil (the world's second-largest producer) to the U.S. Of course, if China already cost-effectively buys its fill of soybeans from the U.S. and other exporters, buying any more is a misallocation of resources pure and simple. So, managed trade's shifting of global supply chains without the disciplinary benefits of price signals serves to disincentivize cost control. But, then again, both the U.S. and China are currently practicing neo-mercantilist trade policies anyway. Of course, just like free trade agreements are not "free trade" in the literal sense, even they have elements of managed trade built within them. Rules of origin, for example, are subjective valuations concerning what percentage of the domestic value-add of an export makes it eligible for duty-free shipping between the free trade partners. These are spelled out in the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) and in its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A Chinese container ship at sea. A Chinese container ship at sea. (Photo credit: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Moving Complicated Supply Chains Larry Kudlow, Director of the White House's National Economic Council, made headlines in early April when he suggested that U.S. firms be granted "100% expensing" of the costs of moving their supply chains out of China and, presumably, to U.S. territory. He noted plant, equipment, intellectual property, structures and renovations as eligible items. Of course, this presumes that most of the U.S. presence in China is in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). Greenfield investment and purchasing of pre-existing infrastructure are both examples of FDI. Regarding the latter, however, the percentage stake in ownership can be as little as 10% to qualify. In 2018, U.S. FDI in China was about $117 billion. Of course, with only a 10% ownership threshold, many of the companies would not be considered true U.S. subsidiaries to begin with. Also, much of the U.S. supply chain presence in China is contracted with Chinese vendors rather than mergers and acquisitions. Indeed, the contracting model is one of the main reasons for the rapid growth of global supply chains running through China. In that regard, this means there is a lower level of tangible assets than meets the eye for U.S. firms to bring home from China. What of intellectual property (IP) as mentioned in Kudlow's list? IP is an intangible asset and if it is owned by a U.S. firm there is nothing to repatriate and expense. As an example, Apple's patents granted in the U.S. are either respected in China or they are not. Apple has a contractual relationship with vendors operating in China that leverage Apple's IP through licensing or other arrangements. Apple cannot leverage those vendors' tangible assets and ship them to the U.S. Despite repatriation generating catchy headlines, supply chains are simply too complicated. They resist the convenience of thinking of them in terms of simply packing them up and moving from one country to another. Firms and their vendors work best when clear price signals allow them to assess cost, risk and opportunity. From there each player can decide on how to build resiliency to COVID-19 as well as any other supply chain disruption that comes along. See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. EPA President Donald Trump hinted at a future pardon for Roger Stone, the conservative political operative known for pushing conspiracy theories, witness tampering and dressing like a steampunk villain. The nod to Stone - who was arrested in 2019 as part of the Mueller Investigation and charged with witness tampering, obstructing an official proceeding and five counts of making false statements - came on Twitter, when the president responded to a post by Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk. Mr Kirk - whose organisation has included individuals who've made white supremacist and anti-semitic comments - complained on Twitter that Stone would "serve more time in prison than 99% of these rioters destroying America." Mr Kirk's reference to "rioters" is to the series of protests responding to the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officers. The president shared Mr Kirk's tweet and suggested that Stone was a victim of corruption and was unfairly targeted. "No. Roger was a victim of a corrupt and illegal Witch Hunt, one which will go down as the greatest political crime in history," Mr Trump wrote. "He can sleep well at night!" Federal prosecutors recommended that Stone be imprisoned for seven to nine years for his charges, which Mr Trump called "horrible and very unfair." No. Roger was a victim of a corrupt and illegal Witch Hunt, one which will go down as the greatest political crime in history. He can sleep well at night! https://t.co/HHg24tcZrx Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020 Following Mr Trump's intervention, the US Justice Department amended its sentencing recommendation and changed its filing. Under the new filing, Stone was sentenced to no specific prison term. The move prompted all four of the attorneys involved in Stone's prosecution to resign or leave the case. Story continues Attorney General William Barr became the subject of a letter signed by around 2,000 former Justice Department officials calling on him to resign over his treatment of the Stone and Michael Flynn cases. Regarding Flynn - who pleaded guilty twice to lying to federal officials in connection with the Mueller investigation - the US Justice Department announced that his charges would be dropped last May. Mr Trump's list of pardons includes - but is not limited to - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of being in contempt of court for refusing to curb the department's racial profiling practices; Scooter Libby, who went to jail after revealing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame; Dinesh D'Souza, a disgraced political commentator who went to prison for making illegal campaign contributions and Dwight and Steven Hammond, who were imprisoned for arson on federal land that eventually led to the occupation of a federal nature refuge by the Bundy family. While most of Mr Trump's pardons have been signals to his base and to the Republican establishment to curry their favour, he also pardoned the legendary black boxer Jack Johnson, who was accused in 1912 of violating the Mann Act, also known as the "White-Slave Traffic Act." The act was used most frequently for punishing black men for having relationships with white women. Read more Disgraced Trump aide Roger Stone denied new trial 04.06.2020 LISTEN A decade ago a young rapper out of nowhere rapidly rose to the top of the ranks of the Ghanaian music industry spitting slick witty bars mainly in the English language. Very unheard of at the time, he attained the same level and maybe even bigger mainstream success than most of the local dialect rappers in Ghana were at the time, making jiggy danceable records with a blend of rap, hiplife and highlife music. It was unprecedented at the time. You couldnt be nominated for Artist of the Year or Song of the Year at the revered Ghana Music Awards rapping in English, or Most Influential Artist of the Year at their 4Syte MVAs with anglophone Hip-hop records. Who had done that before? No one. Hip-hop in English was for the underground and didnt go anywhere they all said a decade ago. That was the case until D-Black came on the scene in 2010 and did it all. He immediately hit the BET Awards scene as Best International Act (Africa) representing Ghana with his first album Music, Love & Life that same year, had arguably the years biggest song Vera with his next album The Revelation, in 2012 won The VGMAs Hip-hop/ Hiplife song of the year , won the Channel O Awards Best West African Act in 2014 with Falling, after multiple nominations beating Nigerias Wizkid, Dbanj and more. With multiple collaborations with Africas finest from Davido on Carry Go, Ice Prince on Get On Da Dancefloor Remix to M.I on Champ to HHP and Cassper Nyovest from South Africa to Navio from Uganda, Tay Grin from Malawi, Cleo Ice Queen from Zambia, D-Black has done it all and is about to do more. The young D-Black showed class and such business acumen you had to wonder. In 2015 after topping charts with his Castro collaborations Personal Person & Seihor and winning awards at Ghanas Music Awards and 4Syte Music Video Awards, D-Black took a brief hiatus. His success gave birth to the dawn of a new era of Hip-hop, a fusion of the Ghanaian sound and the western-influenced Hip-hop drum patterns over English and maybe pidgin vocals. Fast forward, in 2020 years almost a decade later, Forbes Africa magazine in their June 2019 cover edition called him The Creative in the numbers game. I want to put Ghanaian music on the forefront of the Afrobeats global wave and this is just the first step with Sony / ATV. This isnt just for me, Im in the process of finalizing a label deal with them for all my artists, producers and partners and also sharing information with other acts so together we could all move forward as a unit, as a collective from Ghana, Africa. Im excited to learn more and empower myself and my team to be a force to reckon with not only as an artist but as a music business executive and as an African label as a whole worldwide D-Black shared. The young enterprising D-Black hits his 10th year as a solo act in the music industry in July 2020 as he wraps up his 5th studio album in Los Angeles, California on the back of signing a global publishing deal with the worlds biggest publishing company Sony/ATV amidst the Corona Pandemic. D-Blacks skills and talents will be a great addition to the Sony/ATV family. We are excited to represent and partner with him in the next phase of his career said Rowlin Naicker MD of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. I sincerely hope this signing showcases to Ghana our commitment to prioritize and work with Ghanaian songwriters and producers. Chale I am excited for what the future holds for us said Munya Chanetsa the newly appointed A&R Manager: Africa. About Sony/ATV Music Publishing: Sony/ATV Music Publishing is the #1 global music publisher, which is home to world-class songwriters, legendary catalogs, and industry-leading synchronization licensing and production music businesses. With an international network of 38 offices, Sony/ATV represents many of the most iconic songs ever written by celebrated songwriters such as The Beatles, Bob. Dylan, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Queen, The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, as well as contemporary superstars such as Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, P!nk, and Sam Smith. Sony/ATV South African songwriters include Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Brenda Fassie, Mdu, DJ Maphorisa, Samthing Soweto, E Kelly, Freshlyground, Mafikizolo, Mi Casa, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Beatenberg, Celebration, JR, DBanj, Matthew Mole, Busiswa, Moonchild and Oskido. About D-Black The young artist / entrepreneur from Ghana, has taken his craft and hiphop- Afrobeats fusion style of music internationally and has performed headlining in London at the 02. He has also performed in numerous cities around the world including New York, Dubai, Toronto, Johannesburg, Capetown, Amsterdam, Coventry, Lagos, Brescia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and more. Hes collaborated with some of Africas most prolific acts including Davido, Mayorkun, M.I, Phyno, Ice Prince, Seyi Shay from Nigeria , Cassper Nyovest, Bucie, HHP from South Africa, Stanley Enow from Cameroon, Stella Mwangi from Kenya and Vanessa Mdee from Tanzania as well as Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, StoneBwoy, Castro, Bisa Kdei, Efya, King Promise, Kuami Eugene E.L, Kwabena Kwabena, VVIP and more from his homeland Ghana. D-Black has a catalogue of hit records including Somebody ft. Kwabena Kwabena, Get on the dancefloor, Kotomoshi ft. Zeal, Personal Person & Seihor with Castro, Badder ft. Kuami Eugene, Vera ft. Joey B, Dat Ting, Obiba ft. Kidi, Red Card, Ebaa Over Bo and more. With six singles released in the past 10 months, DatTing , Falaa and ObiBa featuring Kidi from Ghana as well as Heaven Or Hell ft. Sefa and Stay ft. Nigerian songbird Simi off his hip hop EP Smoke & Mirrors D-Black is currently on a worldwide media tour and just recently signed a global deal with SONY ATV as he readies his 5th studio album. D-Black is the founder and CEO of Black Avenue Muzik, an independent record label in Ghana home to chart-topping award-winning music producers DJ Breezy, Rony Turn Me Up and an all-female artist rooster including award-winning highlife & soul act Sefa, Rapper Nina Ricchie aka The African Tsoobi & guitar playing sensation Ms. Forson. D-Black has had an incredible career spanning almost a decade and has also been behind the emergence and success stories of a number of acts including VGMA Best New Act Winner 2013, Joey b, and 2014 VGMA Music Producer of the Year DJ Breezy through his Black AvenueMuzik label. D-Black has won 24 awards out of 59 nominations as an artist/entrepreneur in these 10 years. The Ghana Bwoy is set to drop his 5th body of work in 2020. WATCH 'SOMETIMES' (The Animated Video) BY D-BLACK here: [June 04, 2020] Cloud9 Completes $17.5M Series B Funding Round Led by Strategic Investment from UBS NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloud9 Technologies ("Cloud9"), a leader in cloud-based communications, has completed a $17.5 million Series B funding round led by a strategic investment from UBS, with participation from existing investors including J.P. Morgan and Barclays. Agility, mobility, and resilience have come into sharp focus at financial institutions, accelerating demand for flexible remote working tools on and off the trading floor and increasing the adoption of the industry's only fully cloud-based voice communications solution. Cloud9 has seen new business increase by over 50% since March, as it has onboarded several of the world's top global banks and investment management firms. The growing client demand reflects an increasing need for 'anytime, anywhere' access to a virtual trading floor and highlights the inherent benefits of an integrated, cloud-based environment. "Our decision to invest in and partner with Cloud9 makes sense for many reasons. Not only are we committed to equipping our own traders with tools for seamless and agile communications - even more relevant today during the current COVID-19 crisis - but also because we see many benefits to a cloud-based environment and the data insights that come with it," said Lee Fulmer, Global Head of Innovation Lab at UBS Investment Bank. Lee will join Cloud9's Board of Directors this year. Fulmer is responsible for UBS Investment Bank's innovation agenda, including the deployment of new third-party solutions that can enable enhanced performance through data and analytics. Michael Elanjian , Head of Digital Innovation, Corporate & Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan. "We're at a turning point in how technology is transforming trading floors and Cloud9 is playing a critical role in the evolution of voice trading." "Whether it's working from an office or from home, traders and financial institutions want optionality and that's what we're providing. The transition to a virtual, cloud-based trading floor is accelerating as the industry recognizes the importance of a more flexible and intelligent voice communications model," said Jerry Starr, Chief Executive Officer at Cloud9. Broadhaven Capital Partners served as financial advisor to Cloud9 and Kluk Farber Law served as legal counsel. Unlike providers of remote log-in services, which still rely on physical servers at key locations, Cloud9 is the only fully compliant and cloud-based voice communication system that meets the complex needs of users from the largest global banks and specialist trading firms. About Cloud9 Technologies Cloud9 Technologies is the leading voice communication and analytics platform designed for the unique needs of the financial markets. Cloud9 developed a solution that harnesses the voice communication talk path for the trading floor of the future offering more functionality and analytic insight than legacy hardware at a fraction of the cost. Cloud9 connects counterparties across all asset classes via a cloud-based communication platform that eliminates the infrastructure and expense associated with legacy hardware and telecommunication-based solutions, with front-office focused data and transcription, purpose-built for the financial markets. For more information, visit www.c9tec.com . View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cloud9-completes-17-5m-series-b-funding-round-led-by-strategic-investment-from-ubs-301070842.html SOURCE Cloud9 Technologies [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Companies have been engaged in preparations for the 127th China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, to be held online from June 15 to 24, Nanfang Daily reported. A staff member introduces products in live broadcasts. (Photo provided by interviewee) To suit the demand of the fair for live-streaming marketing, Primy Corporation Ltd., a leading manufacturer of stainless steel kitchen and bathroom products in China, has selected and trained employees to host live broadcasts in English. The appliance manufacturer Gree Electric Appliances Inc. has not only selected a batch of streamers for the event, who are familiar with the products, trade and languages, but equipped assistants and technological workers in a bid to form a professional streaming team. To provide the purchasers with more immersive experiences, Primy intends to host live broadcasts in the factories to showcase the production lines and manufacturing process, according to Nie Jing, deputy general manager at the company. VR exhibition halls, another highlight of the event, will also help connect the exhibitors and purchasers. By employing technologies such as VR and AR, Zhongshan Donlim Weili Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd. has filmed panoramic videos about the factories and production lines to bring better services to the purchasers, said Li Haofan, vice president of export sales at the enterprise. The company also plans to adjust the live broadcasts flexibly based on the time differences for the customers from various regions and arrange the working shifts to make sure streamers are always available for the clients. The activity has attracted 25,000 exhibitors and sent invitations to over 400,000 overseas purchasers that have attended the fair before. The online platform has facilitated the channels between purchasers and exhibitors and will help customers learn about the new products of the exhibitors amid the pandemic, Nie noted. WASHINGTON/CHICAGO The chief executive of Pilgrims Pride Corp, a major U.S. poultry company, was indicted along with three other current and former industry executives on charges of seeking to fix the price of chickens, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The charges are the first in a criminal probe of price-fixing and bid-rigging involving broiler birds, which account for most chicken meat sold in the United States. A grand jury in Denver indicted Jayson Penn, the president and CEO of Pilgrims Pride, which is mostly owned by Brazilian meat packer JBS SA, as well as a former executive at the Colorado-based chicken supplier, the Justice Department said in a statement. Two executives from a Georgia chicken producer were also indicted. The indictments come after grocers, retailers and consumers accused Pilgrims Pride, Tyson Foods Inc and other poultry processors in a lawsuit of conspiring since 2008 to inflate prices for broiler chickens. The companies have denied the allegations. Executives who cheat American consumers, restaurateurs, and grocers, and compromise the integrity of our food supply, will be held responsible for their actions, said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Departments Antitrust Division. Pilgrims Pride shares fell 12%, while shares for rivals Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms dropped about 4% and 6%, respectively. Pilgrims Pride said it would cooperate with the Justice Department in their investigation. The indictment says a conspiracy to fix chicken prices ran from 2012 until at least early 2017, and cites executives text messages and emails. In addition to Penn, the indicted executives were Roger Austin, a former Pilgrims vice president; the president of Claxton Poultry, Mikell Fries; and Scott Brady, a vice president at Claxton. A spokesman for Claxton, which says it supplies Chick-fil-A, declined to comment, and a lawyer for Claxton did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The indicted individuals could not immediately be reached. TAT Phuket launches push to boost domestic tourism PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office is inviting local hotels and tour operators to join its #PhuketGreatTime domestic tourism campaign to offer discounted tours and hotel stays to draw tourists back to the island. tourismCOVID-19economics By The Phuket News Thursday 4 June 2020, 03:47PM The new portal launched by TAT Phuket to boost domestic tourism to the island. Image: PhuketGreatTime.com TAT Phuket launched the campaign through its official Facebook page on Monday (June 1). The campaign is free to join. The objective of the campaign is to help the island recover from the impact the COVID-19 outbreak has had on the tourism industry, TAT Phuket explained in its launch announcement. All hotels, tour operators, restaurants, souvenir shops and other tourism businesses are welcome to take part by offering special-priced products, services and packages through the PhuketGreatTime.com website, which has been set up by the TAT. The special deals offered will be promoted throughout Thailand, TAT Phuket explained. The only conditions for registering to take part in the campaign is that the business is legally registered and currently holds the correct business permits and licence, the TAT Phuket notice added. Businesses can register through the PhuketGreatTime.com website, or through the online form available here. People with enquiries were asked to call 076-211036, 076-212213, 087-5139319 or 089-7578315. Alternatively people can email phuketgreattime@gmail.com of contact TAT Phuket through their Line account: @tatphuket Within this framework, the Head of State said that the key to reverting the situation is education, not only at schools, but also at homes. The top official noted that in the last national census 50% of the population responded that they had suffered some type of discrimination in the country. Likewise, the statesman lamented the death of African American citizen George Floyd in the United States in an incident involving the police which led to protests in different cities. "This is a current issue, and it is not only a remote problem, but also a domestic one," he added. The Peruvian leader indicated that in order to revert this situation everyone's commitment is needed to show that "we are all the same and that we are all worth the same." "We must be a more equitable and fair country, that is the effort that we must all make," he emphasized. El presidente @MartinVizcarraC informa sobre la situacion del Estado de Emergencia en el #Dia81 y las acciones que realiza el Gobierno para contener la propagacion del COVID-19. En vivo: https://t.co/SoFr4R0gsc https://t.co/dHT0xY79P2 From the steps of Mission High School in San Francisco, 17-year-old Simone Jacques addressed thousands of protesters in a crowd that stretched for blocks along Dolores Avenue and spilled across Dolores Park. Jacques and her friends organized the demonstration through an Instagram group called NoJusticeNoPeaceSF that now has nearly 10,000 followers. "My name is Simone," said Jacques, her voice booming through a microphone as she welcomed the mass of people holding signs and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Black Lives Matter." "I'm black and proud," she went on. "I'm Afrochicana and proud." Employees of Tata Steels Dutch asset in IJmiuden are ready to go on strikes if Tata Steel fails to comply with their demands, according to FNV.If the management of Tata Steel does not meet [our] requirements before Wednesday [June 10], we will prepare for actions, FNVs release reads.A representative of FNV told Fastmarkets its members voted on Thursday in favor of strike action. Of the main demands, FNV seeks from Tata Steels management guarantees that there will be no compulsory... A Black Lives Matter rally outside the US Embassy in Dublin following the death of George Floyd (Niall Carson/PA) Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has condemned an absence of moral leadership following the killing of George Floyd in the United States. Speaking in the Dail on Thursday, the premier said there had been an absence of words of understanding, comfort or healing. Mr Floyd was killed on May 25 while in police custody in the city of Minneapolis. We've witnessed the absence of moral leadership, or words of understanding, comfort or healing from whence they should have come Leo Varadkar He died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck, sparking days of protest. The Taoiseach said: We have also seen genuine revulsion at the heavy handed response in some instances, towards peaceful protesters and journalists. And weve witnessed the absence of moral leadership, or words of understanding, comfort or healing from whence they should have come. Racism is a virus that we have been fighting for millennia. Despite the progress we have made, it is no less virulent today and no less dangerous. We need to show solidarity as people of all races & backgrounds around the world come together to stop its spread and defeat it. Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) June 1, 2020 Mr Varadkar said the Ireland he grew up in was a very different place to the country today and said that it had been enriched by diversity in recent decades. But he said racism remained in Ireland, despite it being less overt. We dont need to look across the Atlantic to find racism. We have many examples in our own country, discrimination on the basis of skin colour is pernicious, he said. Sometimes its overt discrimination when it comes to getting a job or promotion or being treated less favourably by public authorities, including sometimes government officials. Sometimes it manifests itself in the form of hate speech online, bullying in school, name calling in the streets, or even acts of violence. Expand Close A Black Lives Matter protest rally outside the US Embassy in Dublin following the death of George Floyd (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Black Lives Matter protest rally outside the US Embassy in Dublin following the death of George Floyd (Niall Carson/PA) Mr Varadkar said some of the racist behaviour in Ireland was almost innocent and unknowing. It comes in the questions you are asked like being asked where you come from originally because your skin or surname looks out of place. How often you go back to the country that your mother or father was born in. Being spoken to more slowly cultural and character assumptions made based on your appearance and being made to feel just a little bit less Irish than everyone else, he said. Sadly, this is lived experience for many young people of colour growing up in Ireland today. Mr Varadkar told the Dail that comparisons between the Direct Provision system for asylum seekers and the killing of George Floyd were not accurate. He said: A lot of Direct Provision accommodation is substandard and that needs to change. Some of it is a good standard, with people being able to have their own door and catering some of it is of a bad standard and that needs to change. But I think we need to understand the difference between Direct Provision and a man who was killed by the police by having somebody step on his neck. Direct Provision ultimately is a service offered by the State it is not compulsory and it is not a form of detention it is a service provided for by the State and they are provided with free accommodation, food, heat, light, healthcare and education and also some spending money. It is not the same thing as a man being killed by the police. Health Minister Simon Harris said people are disgusted by what happened to Mr Floyd but protests and demonstrations are a health risk. It comes as a Black Lives Matter demonstration, which saw thousands of people march through Dublin, was held on Tuesday. Speaking in the Dail on Thursday, he said: What happened to George Floyd disgusts and repulses everybody in this country and people across the world. But at the same time, any gathering, no matter how worthy the cause is a danger to public health at the moment and we do have to be conscious of that. There are other ways we can make our voices heard. 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. Chef James Gaag What was your initial response to the crisis/lockdown and has your experience of it been different from what you expected? Comment on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the hospitality industry? How is La Colombe responding to the crisis and current lockdown? Comment on the challenges and opportunities. Executive chef James Gaag of the award-winning fine-dining restaurant, La Colombe, shares his lockdown lessons and how he and La Colombe are navigating and responding to the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown.To be honest, I never thought it would affect us as directly or as quickly as it has. We were travelling when we heard about the speed at which Covid-19 was spreading - returning home, shutting down the restaurant all happened very quickly and felt quite surreal. The fact that we had to be tested due to our recent travels also reiterated the severity of the circumstances.It has been absolutely devastating to the industry, not just locally but globally. South Africa was among the first to be locked down and will be one of the last to reopen. As many businesses depend on good summer tourism, which was cut incredibly short this year, we will likely need quite some time to recover. We really can't overstate how tough circumstances currently are, both for business owners and staff.We have launched the La Colombe Dine-In Experience, a nine-course tasting menu for diners to enjoy at home. This initiative was developed by our team, with all profits going towards trying to keep them afloat during this difficult time. It's also a chance for diners to enjoy a special meal that they could otherwise only experience in our restaurant - including the signature Tuna La Colombe. It was particularly challenging to create a fine-dining tasting menu that could not only withstand being transported but also delivers the taste, presentation and overall experience diners have come to expect from us. We are trying to create a memorable meal for our diners, that is as close to dining at the restaurant, in the comfort of your own home, which meant the skill and execution of each dish needed to be perfectly executed, as we dont have the dining room atmosphere or front of house team, which usually are huge contributing factors to the dining experience. How have you had to change the way you work? Has this global crisis changed your view of the future of the hospitality industry? Any trends youve seen emerge as a result of the crisis? Your top tip for staying sane during the lockdown? How do you hope restaurants and the hospitality industry and humanity, in general, can come out of this pandemic better and stronger? Apart from face masks and strict hygiene and sanitation protocols, we are still having loads of fun doing what we do. We havent changed much of how we work - the focus is still on serving the very best food we can, in the most creative and delicious way.I am optimistic the hospitality industry will bounce back and be even stronger than before.I think people are trying to stay true to their brands, at least, that is what we're trying to do at La Colombe.Find a hobby. Do all the things youve always wanted to do but have put off. Spend time with your loved ones, if possible.I hope that restaurants have taken the time to reassess their businesses, streamline them and reinvent themselves. Perhaps they are now discovering or being forced into new ways that they have not had the time or the opportunity to explore before. Many may find this is the new normal going forward and do incredibly well at it. I think we will all need to adapt and change to come out of it stronger. Prostesters rally at the Newport Beach Civic Center Park bridge in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) A series of peaceful protests over the police killing of George Floyd rolled through Newport Beach on Wednesday. Though the protests were calm, a television camera captured a scary scene on Balboa Boulevard when a vehicle zipped through a crowd of demonstrators eventually colliding with a bicyclist. No one was injured, and the driver stopped and is cooperating with the investigation, Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Heather Rangel said. This doesnt appear to have been a deliberate action, she added. Two other protests were scheduled in Newport Beach later in the evening, one on the pedestrian bridge over San Miguel Drive at Civic Center Park near City Hall, and another at the Back Bay. For Gale Oliver Jr., a pastor at the Greater Light Family Church in Santa Ana, a protest against racism and police brutality in one of Orange Countys wealthiest enclaves was a sign of the times. Its a blessing that this is going on in Newport Beach, said Oliver, who is black. I mean, this is going on in Newport Beach? I guess America is finally listening. Oliver said pastors in Santa Ana began meeting regularly with Orange County law enforcement officials about five years ago in hopes of ending policing from the point of view that theyre under attack. Hes seen progress, but more needs to be done, he said, here and throughout the country. Story continues Two men have said, I cant breathe. One said it eight times, one said it 11 times, Oliver said, referring to the deaths of Floyd and Eric Garner, who died in 2014 while being restrained in a chokehold by a New York City policeman. I cant breathe what that really means is theres things that will suffocate you. Racism will suffocate you. Hate will suffocate you. Kyle Scallon, 21, turned out Wednesday to protest not just Floyds death but also a discriminatory approach he believes law enforcement in Orange County has taken for too long. Driving in his hometown of Mission Viejo and elsewhere in the county, Scallon said, he has been pulled over by officers intent on questioning his girlfriend, who is Creole. They ask me for my license, he said, and they ask her where she lives, where shes going, what shes doing in the car." In his experience, Scallon said, the default view for police is to assume people of color are doing something wrong, no matter the circumstances of the encounter. Im here because I just want cops to realize not everyones bad, he said, standing with a group of protesters on the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway. Its become the system, but they need to realize not everyone they meet is bad. The chief executive of one of the countrys largest chicken producers was indicted on a price-fixing charge on Wednesday along with three other current and former executives at companies that supply chicken to groceries and restaurants across the United States. The indictment, by a federal grand jury in United States District Court in Denver, alleges that senior executives at Pilgrims Pride, based in Colorado, and Claxton Poultry Farms in Georgia fixed prices and rigged bids from 2012 to 2017. The charges are the first in a still-open Justice Department investigation involving several other major chicken producers. Jayson Penn, the Pilgrims Pride president and chief executive, and Roger Austin, the companys former vice president, were indicted. Pilgrims Pride is the countrys second-largest supplier of broiler chickens, which account for nearly all the chicken meat sold in the United States. The companys customers include the wholesaler Costco and the fast-food chain KFC. Tyson Foods is the top producer. Also indicted on Wednesday were Mikell Fries, the president of Claxton Poultry Farms, and Scott Brady, a vice president. Claxton supplies chicken to Chick-fil-A. Taking aim on citizens The Insurrection Act has been invoked occasionally in our history, either to enforce African-American rights or to restore order at the specific request of a state. President Thomas Jefferson first employed it on April 19, 1808, regarding violations of the Embargo Act. The last time: May 1, 1992, by President George H.W. Bush in the Los Angeles riots at the request of the state of California. Highlights: Lyndon Johnsons use of it involving the 1967 Detroit Riot, also known as the 12th Street Riot, bloodiest incident in the long, hot summer of 1967. Composed mainly of confrontations between black residents and the Detroit Police Department, it began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967. Again, this was undertaken at the request of the state of Michigan. Johnson approved its use again in the Washington, D.C., riots of 1968, a four-day period of civic uprising following the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. The unrest was part of the broader King-assassination riots impacting at least 110 U.S. cities. Those in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Baltimore involved the greatest numbers of participants. Protests have erupted in cities across the world in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the United States. The protests follow the death in police custody of George Floyd, a 46-year old black man, in Minneapolis last week. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, many protestors outside the U.S. say they see racial injustice in their own countries. VOA Khmer's Leakhena Sreng narrates. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during her weekly press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on June 4, 2020. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed Thursday for a robust coronavirus testing and tracing operation, along with sustained precautions such as wearing face coverings, as the U.S. reopens businesses during the pandemic. "Real men wear masks," the California Democrat told CNBC's Jim Cramer on "Mad Money," in response to a question about some men shunning face coverings in public. "And these masks are essentially important. And if you decide not to wear a mask, you're insulting anyone with whom you come in contact." U.S. health officials have said wearing masks reduces the chance of transmitting coronavirus when social distancing is not possible a priority as Americans start to increase their movement. President Donald Trump has faced backlash for going out in public without covering his face multiple times. As the economy restarts, unemployment insurance claims have started to slow though a whopping 21.5 million people are still filing continuing claims, the Labor Department said Thursday. Republicans and Democrats in Congress agree they need to improve the coronavirus testing infrastructure in order to safely reopen businesses, but they have failed to strike an accord on whether to offer more fiscal relief. On "Mad Money," Pelosi again pushed for aid for state and local governments so they do not have to cut essential services as they face budget shortfalls during the pandemic. Last month, the House passed a $3 trillion rescue package that included nearly $1 trillion for states and municipalities. She specified that she wants to approve money "strictly" for additional costs incurred and revenue lost because of the coronavirus. Republicans, in expressing skepticism about sending more money to states, have argued governments could use it to cover fiscal mismanagement that predates the pandemic. Pelosi added that she is "very concerned" about what would happen if Congress lets the extra $600 per week federal unemployment insurance benefit expire after July. The House bill would extend the provision through January. Barring a breakthrough on a coronavirus relief bill that could pass both chambers of Congress, the House is not set to return to Washington until the end of the month. Democrats and Republicans have managed to pass one recent bipartisan bill. The Senate approved legislation Wednesday to give small business owners more flexibility in how they can spend federal coronavirus aid and still get loans forgiven, sending it to Trump's desk. Infections continue to rise: the U.S. now has more than 1.85 million Covid-19 cases, and the disease has killed at least 107,000 people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Pelosi also said the U.S. could not settle for "incremental" change as millions across the country protest police brutality and systemic racism following a string of police-involved killings of black men and women. Earlier, she announced that her party plans to introduce a police reform bill on Monday. The keel-laying ceremony of 1st MILGEM Class Corvette for Pakistan Navy was held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard (INSY), Turkey. Chief Naval Overseas (Turkey), Commodore Syed Rizwan Khalid graced the occasion as Chief Guest. The keel-laying ceremony of 1st MILGEM Class Corvette for Pakistan Navy was held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard (INSY), Turkey. Chief Naval Overseas (Turkey), Commodore Syed Rizwan Khalid graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Ada Class ASW Corvette, TCG Heybeliada (Picture source: Turkish Defense Technology) For the record, the contract for four corvettes for Pakistan Navy with Transfer of Technology was signed with ASFAT. The PN is to receive its first two MILGEM ships in 2023, and the last two by 2025. Two of the ships will be built in Turkey, while the other two will be built in Pakistan by Karachi Shipyards & Engineering Works. Istanbul Shipyard cut the steel of the first PN MILGEM in September 2019. Speaking at the occasion, the Chief Guest highlighted that the project is the manifestation of strong relations between Pakistan and Turkey. He appreciated the MILGEM project for its construction standards, outfitting and performance. The ceremony was attended by officials of Pakistan Navy, dignities and representatives of ASFAT, Istanbul Naval Shipyard and Turkish Lloyd. Ada Class ASW Corvette, TCG Heybeliada (Picture source: Turkish Defense Technology) About MILGEM Class Corvettes: The MILGEM Class Corvettes will be state-of-the-art Surface platform equipped with a modern surface, subsurface and anti-air weapons, sensors and Combat Management System. These ships will be among the most technologically advanced platforms of Pakistan Navy and will significantly contribute in maintaining peace, stability and balance of power in the Indian Ocean Region. The corvettes are armed with a 76-millimeter gun, missiles and torpedoes. The ship is capable of carrying Sikorsky S-70 helicopter or unmanned aircraft, along with the associated armaments, 20 tons of JP-5 aircraft fuel, aerial refuelling systems and maintenance facilities. During AMAN-19, the Pakistan Navys biennial multi-national exercise, the PN Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, said that the PNs MILGEMs will be equipped with the Chinese HQ-16 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system through a 16-cell vertical launch system (VLS). In a sense, the MILGEM for Pakistan can be the fourth variant, though it is more of a side or lateral branch-out from the Ada-class than a vertical development like the Istanbul-class or TF-2000. In addition, the PNs MILGEMs will deploy a modified version of the GENESIS combat management system (CMS). A 37-year-old Dorchester man who was arrested when Sundays protests in Boston turned violent overnight is being held without bail because prosecutors believe he presents a danger to the public. John Boampong was arraigned on Wednesday in connection with an incident in which 21 Boston police officers were allegedly fired upon, prosecutors said. A Boston Municipal Court judge denied a motion by Boampongs attorneys to dismiss 21 counts of armed assault with intent to murder in connection the incident, which occurred in the area of Providence Street early Monday morning. Boston police have since arrested 53 people following the violence that sent dozens to the hospital and caused major damage to businesses and public spaces. The confrontation between police and the suspects followed a number of peaceful protests, which were spurred forward in the wake the police killing of George Floyd by a former Minneapolis police officer last week. Floyd was an unarmed black man who died after the former officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. Three others were arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Wednesday on charges connected to the violence in the aftermath of Sundays peaceful protests. One was charged and arraigned for possession of a firearm, prosecutors said. Two individuals were charged only with receiving stolen property, and those charges were dismissed by the judge. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh addressed the violence earlier this week. What happened in downtown after the protests ended was an attack on those values, and it was an attack on our city and its people, Walsh said, referring to the passionate" and peaceful" demonstrations meant to honor Floyd and other Black Americans killed at the hands of police while demanding change. Related Content: The fund will invest in entrepreneurs from communities that face systemic disadvantages, says Softbank CEO. SoftBank Group Corp is launching a $100m fund to invest in companies led by founders and entrepreneurs of colour, in the latest corporate action as protests roil the United States. Described as SoftBanks bid to improve diversity, we have to put money behind it, set plans, and hold ourselves accountable, SoftBanks Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure, who will head the fund, wrote in a letter to employees on Wednesday. Named the Opportunity Growth Fund and focused on African Americans and Latinos in the US, it is, SoftBank says, the largest fund of its kind. It will invest in entrepreneurs from communities that face systemic disadvantages in building and scaling their businesses, Claure wrote. SoftBank also runs the $100bn Vision Fund, which is headed by Rajeev Misra and invests amounts larger than the entire new fund in startups around the world. In addition to leading restructuring at floundering office space startup WeWork, Claure runs a fund investing in Latin America. He and Misra are seen as potential successors to Chief Executive Masayoshi Son. Racism is a lamentable thing, Son wrote on Twitter, ending his post with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. Claure wrote in his letter that Tokyo-headquartered SoftBank was also establishing a dedicated diversity and inclusion program. SoftBanks management is overwhelmingly male, with the company planning to nominate its first female board director at a shareholder meeting later this month. While spanning a wide range of nationalities, only four of 30 investors listed on Vision Funds website are female. Companies including foreign firms like SoftBank have made public statements following the worst US civil unrest in decades as the death of an unarmed Black man reignited the issue of police brutality against African Americans. Sony Corp this week pushed back an event for its upcoming PlayStation 5 console, saying we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard. Kumasi-based veteran gospel music producer, John Mensah Sarpong, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of JMS Music Productions, has stated that some gospel artistes in the country are ungrateful. According to him, gospel artistes whom the producers worked tirelessly to bring them into limelight, usually forget to acknowledge the efforts of those who helped them climb the ladder of success. Sarpong made the comments in support of concerns raised by a section of the gospel music producers that their long years of work with Ghanaian gospel artistes had proven most of them are very unappreciative. The producer, who was speaking on Onua FM said 90 per cent of Ghanaian gospel artistes are ungrateful, I am telling you. After working tirelessly in putting them out there, they will dump you because they have achieved their desired results, unlike the secular musicians who appreciate their producers. He hinted that gospel artistes showed respect to producers when not famous but immediately they came into limelight, the act of arrogance and ungratefulness was seen in all that they do. Sarpong stated that he had personally helped a number of gospel artistes in the country, who had refused to acknowledge his contribution to the progress of their musical career. He warned that until they changed their ungodly attitude towards their producers, the gospel music industry would continue to suffer. The music producer, who has produced the likes of Kwaku Gyasi, Stella Dugan, Ama Boahemaa and a host of others, however, urged music producers to continue helping gospel artistes in the country, despite the discouraging attitudes being put up by some of them. A politician in Abia state Mr. Okey Ezeala has been called out by social media users over a post on Facebook about ra.pe. Mr Okey Ezeala contested for a seat in Abia State House of Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 election, Read what he posted and peoples reaction below; Gods lookin out for me, said Gary Nickerson, watching his swamped sailboat gently rock in the Gulf of Mexico surf rolling onto the Fort Morgan beach Wednesday afternoon. Hes just not makin it easy for me. As AL.com reported Sunday, Nickerson, 60, is a former resident of Red Bay, Ala., who is making the move back home to his childhood home of Punta Gorda via sailboat. Late last week as he was finishing the freshwater half of his voyage, he lost his traveling companion, a young dog named Bumper who fell overboard and scampered into the woods somewhere north of Mobile. In retrospect, it seems like that might have been an omen. Hes between jobs, with a new one waiting in Punta Gorda, and it would be generous to say hes on shoestring budget. That hasnt stopped him from dreaming big -- He named his 26-foot Westerly Centaur the Tout ce quil faut, a reference in French to the title of the Imagine Dragons song Whatever it Takes. But he could only spare a couple of days waiting for word of Bumper, which never came, before he moved on. It was late afternoon Tuesday when he cleared the mouth of Mobile Bay and turned east toward Gulf Shores and everything went wrong. Nickerson said he later figured out that his anchor line had fallen overboard, tangling in his rudder and/or the propeller of his outboard. He had no idea of this as he eyeballed a nice stretch of sandy beach just east of Fort Morgan, figuring he could anchor offshore and maybe take his dinghy to the beach if he wanted. He moved in and dropped his sails. Then he went to toss out the anchor, only to find the rope was tangled under the boat. Now he was in a bind, the boat loose in the wind and close to shore. He scrambled to tie another line to the anchor and got it out, only to have it fail him. It just skidded across the bottom, it didnt bite, he said. Soon the boats keels were hitting sand. There were people on the beach, Nickerson said, and they tried to get the boat pointed back out to sea before the waves pushing it ashore made that a lost cause. But the Centaur weighs over three tons and once it was aground in the breakers, manpower wasnt going to budge it. Water started pouring over the railings faster than Nickerson could pump it out. It overtook the boat quick, he said. Nickerson has been a prolific poster of videos on his Facebook page, but by the time he revealed the latest twist to followers hed already spent his first night on the beach. Hed also gotten help from good Samaritans including a couple of local firefighters. And hed spent some time talking to authorities. Bailing and towing beached boats isnt part of the Coast Guards mission -- and Nickerson said he understands their position -- but a representative did give him the notice that because of a potential oil spill he could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Per day. As of Wednesday afternoon, that ominous advisory might well have been the only dry piece of paper Nickerson possessed. His wallet was still on the boat. His home was now a lean-to on the beach consisting of his upturned inflatable dinghy, flanked by motley piles of gear. Nonetheless his attitude was remarkably positive, as he contemplated a second night on the beach. I was having a good time, he said. I still am. Its just a big stumbling block. As for just how big, he was surprised to find a commercial towing service wanted more than $5,000 to pump out the boat and tow it clear. Thats far beyond his means. Hes started an emergency fundraising drive on Facebook. Its a legitimate please-help-me thing, he said. There are a couple of very small gleams of silver lining. The Westerly Centaur has unusual twin keels. It was designed for Englands tidal flats: When the water drains away at low tide, a Centaur can simply stand there until it comes back. While Nickersons boat is listing to starboard, the design has kept it from falling onto its side the way a boat with a single keel would have. Nickerson also had the fortune to come ashore right at the end of a walkway connecting to Burgoyne Road, a beach access point that provides easy access. His hope is that someone can help him get his hands on a pump big enough to clear the water out, and that someone will show up with a motorboat capable of towing him free. From there, he just wants to get the boat to the nearest marina so he can start cleaning her up. As of Wednesday afternoon, Nickerson was just hoping that a scanty network of local helpers and distant friends and relatives could help him salvage the situation. He had no plans to leave if he could help it. Thats my life right there, he said of the boat. Nickersons online fundraiser and updates on his situation can be found via his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/gary.nickerson.355. He can be reached by email at Grivis75@yahoo.com or Grivis75@icloud.con, or by phone or text at 256-460-8989. Police revealed Wednesday they have identified a new suspect in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in 2007, saying the 43-year-old German man with a history of child sex abuse may have killed her. The suspect, who was not named, is serving a "long prison sentence" for an unrelated matter, said Germany's federal criminal agency. He has previous convictions over child sexual abuse, the agency added. "In connection with the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann... the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office is investigating a 43-year-old German citizen on suspicion of murder," said federal police in a statement. On May 3, 2007, a few days before her fourth birthday, "Maddie" disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve village in Portugal as her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant, sparking one of the biggest searches of its kind in recent years. Despite a wide range of suspects and theories about what happened, no one has ever been convicted over her disappearance. Lead investigator Christian Hoppe told ZDF television that the inquiry had led police to suspect that the man had killed Madeleine. Described as white with short blond hair in 2007, the man was about six feet tall, with a slim build. He regularly lived between 1995 and 2007 in the Algarve, and did occasional jobs in the area, including in the gastronomy sector, police said. "There is information suggesting that he also earned his living by committing criminal offences, such as burglaries of hotel complexes and holiday flats as well as trafficking in narcotic drugs," added German police. Launching an appeal for information, police cited in particular two vehicles the suspect was known to have used as well as two phone numbers. The first is a dark coloured Jaguar XJR 6 which bore a German plate from the city of Augsburg. The second vehicle is a Volkswagen T3 Westfalia with a Portuguese plate. Of the phone numbers, one was known to have belonged to the suspect, while the other number belonged to someone who spoke with the man for 30 minutes, "just over an hour before Madeleine was last seen," said British police in a separate press briefing. Welcoming the appeal launched in conjunction with British police, the girl's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said in a statement that: "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. "We will never give up hope of finding Madeline alive. But whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace." - 'Somebody knows something' - After a huge manhunt at the time, Portuguese police closed their investigation in 2008 after 14 months, which at one point implicated her parents in her abduction before their names were cleared. British police opened their own inquiry in July 2013, but excavations in Praia da Luz yielded no evidence. The lead investigator in Britain, Mark Cranwell, said police were given a tip-off after the ten-year anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance about a German man who was known around the Praia da Luz area in Portugal. Joint investigations with Portuguese and German police have subsequently led to the suspect. British police said however that they were still treating the case as a "missing person inquiry". "I'm appealing to you directly: you may know, you may be aware, of some of the things that he has done," said Cranwell. "More than 13 years have passed, and your loyalties may have changed. This individual is in prison and we are conscious some people may have been concerned about contacting police in the past. Now is the time to come forward. "Somebody out there knows a lot more than they're letting on. Somebody knows something," said Cranwell. Lead investigator in Britain Mark Cranwell said police were given a tip-off after the ten-year anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance German police appealed for information about two vehicles including a Volkswagen T3 Westfalia with a Portuguese plate Madeleine McCann who disappeared on holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007 The other vehicle the suspect was known to have used was a dark coloured Jaguar XJR 6 which bore a German plate from the city of Augsburg An Atlanta protester was arrested June 1 and accused of being "in a roadway." She says she was protesting peacefully nowhere near a roadway. Courtesy of Vanessa Vigo Vanessa Vigo, an event production manager in Atlanta, was arrested while protesting peacefully near City Hall on June 1. She said law enforcement agencies closed in around her and a group of other people in front of a church, then arrested them for being in a roadway, though they weren't in a roadway. Vigo is one of more than 10,000 people who have been arrested across the country within the last week amid civil unrest over police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She described enduring chaos, disorganization, and callous treatment throughout her arrest, as well as a feeling of helplessness at the hands of authorities. Insider has lightly edited Vigo's story for clarity. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Anybody who goes to a protest to some extent accepts that an arrest could be an inevitable occurrence. But there's not a bone in my body that thought I would be getting arrested when I went to Atlanta's City Hall on Monday to peacefully protest. I headed over to the protests around maybe 3 or 3:30 p.m. on June 1. There were only two ways to enter the street where City Hall was: Washington Street and Central Avenue. But both were blocked off from entry by authorities. They had tanks, they had the National Guard, state police, they had the Atlanta Police Department there, as well. Anybody seeing that it's intimidating. We eventually ended up outside the church that's just across the street from City Hall. We were just standing there, chanting, showing solidarity. Maybe half an hour went by, and then we noticed that the police officers were now in a formation and migrating towards City Hall and closing in one of the two main entrances you can go in. When I turned to the other side, I saw that the other entrance was also being brought in closer and closer. Vanessa Vigo attended a protest on June 1 at Atlanta's City Hall, but she described a phalanx of law enforcement agencies blocking the way in. Courtesy of Vanessa Vigo 'It was frightening to see that the system can just do that to you' Story continues We were asking officers, "Where can we stand? What are we doing wrong?" They were not answering any of our questions. Then, they just started arresting all of us. My friend was thrown to the ground. A member of the National Guard yelled for us to get on our knees, I put my arms behind me, and she proceeded to arrest me. I'm definitely not the person that's out here to incite fights or riots; I don't yell at cops, because they are people, too. But how can you sit here and do this to me when I did nothing to you? And I'm doing nothing to any business, I'm not looting, I'm not saying anything negative, other than standing there in solidarity. It's hard to put into words the emotions and thoughts that go through your head as you realize how unjust all of this is. It was extremely frightening. It was frightening to see that the system can just do that to you. And there's nothing you can do about it you ask some questions, get no answers, and then they laugh in your face at the questions. I started asking people why I'm being arrested, just somebody, please read me my Miranda rights if I'm being arrested. And to this day, nobody has read my Miranda rights, nobody gave me a phone call. I wasn't told why I was being arrested until my paperwork was being put through, which is where I found out my charge was "Pedestrian in Roadway." I have video footage of me being arrested, and I am nowhere near a road. We actually overheard one of the troopers saying they were told to "grab and go." They had no idea why they were arresting people. They just know that they were supposed to grab and go. 'What is the correct way to do things if we're peaceful and still get tossed to the ground?' We were outside in the sun in Atlanta for three hours before they gave us any kind of water, any kind of care to that extent. They were very disorganized. There was a girl who had a panic attack she ended up fainting and she collapsed in the middle of the road as we were getting processed to get into the truck to be transported to the city jail down the street. We were in the truck for maybe another hour, and then once we were over at the jail, the processing took maybe another hour. Then, I was actually placed inside a jail cell and told I was going to be staying the night. I asked if they could do that lawfully, since the charge was for a traffic violation, and they said they could, because I had to appear in front of a judge and the judge wouldn't be in until 8 a.m. tomorrow. We don't know what happened, but after being inside and being processed, out of nowhere they came and opened my door and told me we will be released. We were released on self-bond and given an August court date, but we don't really know what any of it means. Police clear the street during a demonstration in Atlanta on June 1, 2020 over the death of George Floyd. Associated Press/John Bazemore It feels crippling, honestly, to think that you can't fight this in any way or protest peacefully without getting charges, or without getting beaten up, or without getting thrown to the floor. It's so emotionally tolling to go through that process. When I was in the jail cell and there's nobody to talk to me, you're by yourself, and you start going through your head I was like, "Wow, me as a Latin person, as a Latin female, this is the first time I felt this crippling effect of the justice system and how f---ed up it all is." All you can think is that I'm feeling what the black community feels constantly, feeling what a portion of what the mothers who have sons that have died at the hands of police officers feel. And I can't imagine never getting that conviction, never getting justice, never getting what they deserve. It was a reminder that this was why we're here and still, we're not being heard. When we do things the right way we're not being heard, and then when we do things the wrong way it's the wrong way. We get pushed to the side. What is the correct way to do things if we're peaceful and still get tossed to the ground? I want people to understand that we feel saddened that there is no "right way" right now. Because even when we are peaceful and even when we are thoughtful of the community that we're around, we are still being quieted. Read the original article on Insider In the fall of November 2015, daytime soap star, Nathaniel Marston, lost his life in a tragic accident that still echoes among the soap community. At just 40 years old, Marstons life and career ended abruptly, leaving friends, family, and fans, in mourning. Heres a look at exactly what happened. One Life to Live fired Nathaniel Marston after assault charges Nathaniel Marston | David Klein/Getty Images RELATED: What Was Chris Trousdales Net Worth at Time of His Death? One Life to Live and As the World Turns star, Nathaniel Marston, joined the Hollywood ranks in 1996 with his first role as Jack Tisdale in the TV series, Matt Waters. According to his website, a talent agent discovered the star while at a Beverly Hills bakery. The Sharon, Connecticut natives big break came in 1992 via the role of Al Holden on One Life to Live. Fans helped resurrect Marstons place on the soap as a spirit after hed been killed off. The former amateur boxer appeared in 195 episodes before a 2007 arrest on assault charges for attacking three men and resisting arrest. This led to his firing from the show, according to NY Daily News. Marston pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge against which resulted in an anger-management program and no jail time. Later, Marston scored the role of Eddie Silva on As the World Turns. He appeared in 11 episodes between 1998-1999 and earned a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer. How did Marston die? Nathaniel Marston | Karen Neal/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images RELATED: Lauren London Admits Her Faith Has Been Tested Following The Death Of Nipsey Hussle On Red Table Talk Following the One Life to Live actors alleged drug and alcohol addiction and treatment, he stepped away from the limelight to work on his mothers ranch in Nevada. There, however, things took a heartbreaking and unexpected turn. On the evening of Oct. 30, 2015, Marston was involved in a single-car crash. According to CNN, police suspected Marston may have fallen asleep while driving. His truck flipped several times and Marston was ejected from the vehicle. Marston was not wearing a seatbelt and no drugs or alcohol were found via the autopsy. The family released a statement days later saying the actor suffered critical injuries and had undergone surgery in a Reno hospital. Initially, Marston was assumed to pull through, albeit with the loss of his lower extremities as a quadriplegic. However, in the early morning hours of November 5, his heart stopped on two separate occasions requiring doctors to use an external pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat. He remains in critical condition, fighting pneumonia, a heart infection and irregular pulse, the statement read. Marston died on Nov. 11, 2015. Heres how friends and family remember the actor Actors Dick Latessa, Susan Lucci, Kathy Brier, and Nathaniel Marston | Evan Agostini/Getty Images RELATED: How Did Lauren Hollys Brother Die? Marstons mother, Elizabeth Jackson, shared the news on Facebook. It is with a heavy heart that I share this devastating news, she wrote. My beloved and cherished son who was putting up the good fight until last night was not able to continue due to the traumatic and devastating nature of his injuries. Nathaniel passed away peacefully as I held him in my arms. She continued: His injuries, which Dr.s did their best to heal were not responding to treatment and one after another his bodily functions failed to support his life. Had Nathaniel lived he would have required a ventilator and would never have been able to utter one more word and would have been sentenced to life as a quadriplegic. A condition that Nate would have never have been able to tolerate. By Gods love and mercy Nathaniel was spared this living hell and has traveled on to be with God, his cherished Grandmother Mary Jackson, Grandfather John Jackson, and my sister his Aunt Nora. Others in the industry tweeted their thoughts and condolences as well. I remember the love and warmth my former OLTL co-star showed me. Sending prayers to Nathaniel Marstons family. RIP, former co-star, Tika Sumpter, wrote. This is incredibly sad Life is fragile. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of #NathanielMarston RIP, The Young and the Restless and General Hospital actress Michelle Stafford added. My friend Nathaniel Marston will be missed, our memories together will never die! RIP my Brother, former co-star, Sean Ringgold, said. Boris Johnson told Italys prime minister he was aiming for herd immunity to defeat coronavirus, an explosive TV documentary has revealed, despite No 10 denying that was ever the policy. The Italian health minister has undermined the governments repeated denials by recounting a conversation between the two leaders on 13 March, as the pandemic neared its peak. I spoke with [Giuseppe] Conte to tell President Conte that Id tested positive [for coronavirus]. Pierpaolo Sileri told Channel 4s Dispatches - although Mr Conte is actually the prime minister. And he told me that hed spoken with Boris Johnson and that theyd also talked about the situation in Italy. I remember he said, He told me that he wants herd immunity. I remember that after hanging up, I said to myself that I hope Boris Johnson goes for a lockdown. The comments appear to torpedo the governments denials, which were already hotly disputed after the chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, spoke about it openly in interviews. The strategy was only abandoned in favour of the lockdown the week after Mr Johnson spoke with Mr Conte, when an Imperial College study warned it could lead to 250,000 deaths. Dispatches also quotes a member of the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) condemning ministers complacency in February. We already knew that this virus was going to cause an awful lot of death and disability and would require an awful lot of NHS resource, Professor Graham Medley tells the programme. So it was with some dismay that we were watching senior politicians behaving in a way that suggested that this was not something that was too serious. Prof Medley also confirmed reports that the government was told in late February long before the Imperial College study that half a million people could die in the UK without a lockdown. This is believed to be the projected figure if no restrictions were introduced, about double the death toll under the mitigation strategy only replaced by a full lockdown on 23 March. We had been saying it on Sage ... from the end of February, said Prof Medley at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It was a public perception that something changed on 16 March, but nothing changed within SPI-M [the scientific pandemic influenza modelling group] or within Sage other than a palpable relief that this was being seen as a very serious event. The revelations are likely to form a crucial part of any public inquiry into the Covid-19 response, although Mr Johnson has refused to confirm one will be held. A Downing Street readout of the 13 March call with Rome read: The two leaders discussed the importance of taking a transparent and science-led approach in response to the virus. They also agreed on the need for international coordination, including through the G7, and they agreed a call between G7 leaders would be a good opportunity to do that. Work environments may look dramatically different when the COVID-19 pandemic abates, and IT teams will have to continue to adjust technology services to meet the shifting needs of organizations. While much is still unknown, network pros can be learning new skills even during the pandemic, so they'll be better prepared for what comes next. "Coming out of this crisis, I think companies will be examining how they do networking," says Mark Leary, research director, network analytics, at research firm IDC. "What technologies to wind down? What technologies to accelerate? What projects to continue? What new ones to commence? What skills mattered during the crisis and what matters less?" Understanding which skills might be in greater demand can help network pros who want to advance in their current jobs and those who hope to find new hiring opportunities following the pandemic. READ MORE: Enterprises look to SASE to bolster security for remote workers "Solutions and skills that support the virtual business operating model that accelerates out of this pandemic will be winners," Leary says. These include software-driven technologies, cloud-based services, higher bandwidth connections such as 5G, pervasive security capabilities, automated management systems, edge computing, distributed data sourcing and storage, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These all "accelerate an organization's ability to provide a more flexible, agile, protective, proactive, virtual, and fast-moving technology infrastructure," Leary says. Vanuatu to take up the roles of MSG Chairman and Director General Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Thursday that the state will remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond's historic Monument Avenue. Why it matters: It's a watershed moment for Virginia, which has been at the center of a years-long national debate about whether Confederate monuments should be displayed publicly. That discussion reached a boiling point when protests about a statue of Lee in Charlottesville turned violent in 2017. The issue has been reignited after six days of protests in Virginia's capital over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd and broader issues of systemic racism. Northam said he will direct the Department of General Services to remove the statue and place it into storage "as soon as possible," and that the state will "work with the community to determine its future." What they're saying: "In 2020, we can no longer honor a system that was based on the buying and selling of enslaved people. Yes, that statue has been there for a long time. But it was wrong then, and it is wrong now. So were taking it down. I believe in a Virginia that studies its past in an honest way. I believe that when we learn more, we can do more. And I believe that when we learn more when we take that honest look at our past we must do more than just talk about the future." Gov. Northam The big picture: Civil rights activists in the state have said the statue, as well as other Confederate iconography, pays deference to America's legacy of slavery and racism. Others have argued they represent Southern history and heritage. In theory, right-wing paramilitaries are excluded from the transitional justice system stemming from the peace deal signed by the Colombian government and the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, because they were already subjected to another transitional justice mechanism a decade ago. But reality is fuzzier and, as two headline-grabbing cases in mid-May have shown, the special tribunal or JEP, as it is locally known still has to solve the dilemma of what to do with dozens of politicians and other civilians who aided the paramilitaries and have not faced justice. Two contested decisions In May, after the Inspector Generals Office lodged an appeal, JEP justices had to reconsider their acceptance of a powerful former senator who claimed the countrys second-highest vote tally in the 2014 legislative elections and was later arrested on corruption charges. Musa Besaile confessed to paying a prosecutor a 500,000-dollar bribe in a bid to stall a criminal inquiry against him over negotiating political support from the paramilitaries two decades ago. In January, the special tribunal decided to accept him as a non-military state actor who promised to acknowledge his role in serious crimes and who already admitted meeting with powerful paramilitary boss Salvatore Mancuso between 2002 and 2003. Colombias main institution in charge of government oversight objected to this decision, arguing that the corruption scheme by which Besaile funded his bribe which involved fake haemophilia patients had no relation to the armed conflict and was planned years before it was doled out. In the end, the JEP decided to accept him over his links to the paramilitaries but exclude the bribery inquiry, which will be tried in the ordinary criminal justice system. One day later, another contentious case came to light. The Supreme Court objected a JEP decision, setting up the first major clash of jurisdictions for the transitional justice system so far. The high court, which over the past decade convicted 60 former national lawmakers over political alliances with the paramilitaries, protested against the JEPs decision to accept one of the most notorious politicians involved in that same major scandal known by Colombians as parapolitics: Salvador Arana, a former state governor and diplomat, under investigation for diverting public funds to the paramilitaries. He had already been handed down two convictions, including a 40-year sentence for ordering the murder of a local mayor who had publicly accused him of being in cahoots with the paramilitaries. In a heavily-worded statement, the Supreme Court argued that Arana should not be considered as a state actor, but rather an active combatant a pure paramilitary in its words and that it should retain jurisdiction over his case. The JEP contends that Aranas crimes were committed while he was a public official and that the transitional justice supersedes other jurisdictions regarding crimes linked to the armed conflict. Their clash must now be resolved by the Constitutional Court, the countrys top court. In the end, the dilemma exists because Colombia has set up several transitional justice mechanisms in the past, but with porous and overlapping borders. What to do with the paramilitaries? Both cases show the complexity of decisions regarding the paramilitary, originally born to counter left-wing guerrillas in the 1980s and eventually responsible for thousands of homicides and massacres. In the end, the dilemma exists because Colombia has set up several transitional justice mechanisms in the past, but with porous and overlapping borders. More than 35.000 members of Colombias right-wing paramilitary groups demobilised between 2003 and 2007, under former President Alvaro Uribes administration. At the time, the Colombian Congress objected to the governments original bill that in practice granted them blanket pardons, significantly upgrading it and recognising victims rights to truth, justice, redress and non-recurrence for the first time. The result was a transitional justice special court, dubbed Justice and Peace, which convicted 195 former paramilitaries over a decade. Its hearings allowed the exhumation of the remains of more than 7.500 of their victims and helped researchers shed light on hundreds of human rights violations. One major grey area persisted though. This transitional justice mechanism prosecuted active combatants of the former United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) and other paramilitary groups, who were responsible for over 18.000 murders, according to the National Centre for Historical Memory. But, given that entry conditions were restricted to those who had been in arms and then demobilised, it fell short of identifying or prosecuting other persons who aided or abetted them. A few years later, the Supreme Court began filling in those gaps, opening criminal inquiries into politicians who like Arana benefitted from their armed support, eliminating political rivals or coercing citizens to vote for them. Most of their financiers and collaborators, however, remained unidentified, which is why the 2016 peace accord paved the way for members of the military and civilians who colluded with them to be prosecuted as either state agents or third party actors. The Constitutional Court overruled this in part, barring the JEP from actively seeking third parties, but allowing them to voluntarily seek admission. Recommended reading Political tussle over truth and memory in Colombia Scores of civilian requests The possibility of obtaining more lenient sanctions has meant that the JEP ended up facing a barrage of admission requests from dozens of former paramilitaries, politicians and public officials, many of whom are seeking better deals or a revision of their case. Some have done so while still insisting on their innocence and refusing to shed light on human rights violations, even though the JEPs non-prison sanctions are conditional to defendants acknowledging their responsibility, telling the truth, and personally helping redress victims. The tribunal has routinely denied former paramilitary bosses, although it did open the door for them to acknowledge other crimes committed either before or after they were active combatants. But civilians cases have proven more complex. Many politicians investigated, but not yet convicted, for their dealings with the paramilitaries have sought acceptance into the JEP. So have a number of persons investigated for crimes with no evident link to the armed conflict, including high-profile names such as former minister Sabas Pretelt, convicted of bribing lawmakers to ensure a favourable vote that would have allowed former President Uribe to run for an unprecedented third period in 2010. Or former Cucuta mayor Ramiro Suarez Corzo, who was convicted for the murder of the state comptroller and whose acceptance into the transitional justice was also questioned by the Inspector Generals Office. In total, the JEP is assessing the admission of 175 civilian state agents and of 766 non-state agents who aided and abetted illegal armed groups. So far, 13 civilians have been admitted. Besides, the JEP is currently studying the legal situation of 9.787 former FARC rebels and 2.680 military and policemen involved in serious crimes such as extrajudicial executions. A litmus test for civilians Paving the way for non-armed actors to benefit from the peace accord meant that the special tribunal had to design a way to gauge their commitment to redress victims and tell the truth. This need materialized when David Char, a little known former senator investigated for his links to the paramilitaries, was denied admission to the transitional justice and successfully appealed. Justices sitting on the appeals section not only reversed the original decision and accepted Char in April 2018, but also wrote an interpretative ruling laying down a procedure for all civilians. Since then, defendants must submit a proposed programme detailing specific contributions to redress, truth and non-recurrence, including a timeline and budget. Char vowed to fund a 159,000-dollar agricultural project and local school benefitting victims, to detail crimes committed by the paramilitaries in his region and to never run for office again. He has proven a compliant defendant so far, giving lengthy statements to the JEP and participating in spaces with victims. The Truth Commission also certified that his extrajudicial contributions had been deemed valuable and were corroborated by other witnesses. Another former lawmaker, Alvaro Ashton, has offered 60,000 dollars in scholarships for victims and psychological support programmes in two towns. Not only the JEP has had to grapple with the question of how much it should continue probing the role of paramilitaries in Colombias history of violence. As Justice Info told, under current President Ivan Duque, the National Centre for Historical Memory decided to stop funding investigations on violations committed by them, a decision that sparked outrage among many academics and universities. Colombias attempts to close its armed conflict by chapters mean its current transitional justice system will continue facing contentious questions into which defendants that aided and abetted paramilitary groups it decides to admit, while at the same time it advances in its core mission of prosecuting former FARC rebels and military who committed serious crimes. In practice, the question is whether the JEP can succeed in uncovering the roles played not only by direct perpetrators, but also by civilians in the concentric rings around them. Jessica Alba says she's talked with her young daughters about the ongoing racial issues at the heart of the nationwide unrest a week after a police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. 'When I see all of the hateful, racist activity that has been happening, you realize what really matters,' the Pomona, California native, 33, told People on Tuesday. 'Honor and Haven are online more than ever, so they're exposed to this. The mom-of-three - to daughters Honor, 12, and Haven, eight, and son Hayes, two, with husband Cash Warren, 41 - noted that the issues land especially close to home, as her 'kids are black and Mexican so there's a connection to what's happening.' Candid: Jessica Alba, 39, says she's talked with her young daughters about the ongoing racial issues at the heart of the nationwide unrest a week after a police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis The Sin City star took a realistic approach toward solving the ongoing racial, legal and socioeconomic issues that touch all aspect of American life. 'It's not happening any time soon and it's so devastating,' Alba said. 'It's a systemic racism that's in the veins of our criminal-justice system. It's just set up to oppress black and brown and "other" people.' Alba took into account her own good fortune as a wealthy Hollywood staple, admitting that she and her family are in 'the bubble ... which we talk to the kids about, as well.' The Dear Eleanor actress said that she's been well aware of cultural issues amid her decades in Hollywood, saying she always aimed to shatter long-established Tinseltown stereotypes that often marginalized minorities. Parenting: Alba said she had a frank exchange about current events with her daughters Honor, 12, (L) and Haven, eight No more: The actress and mogul declared she experienced 'tears and rage' learning about the death of George Floyd after a run-in with Minneapolis police 'I always fought against stigmas and stereotypes,' said Alba, who came to prominence playing the roles of Max Guevera, X5-452 and X5-453 on the James Cameron show Dark Angel. 'From day one, I wanted to prove that in Hollywood you can be a Mexican girl and you can be the girl next door.' The Flipper beauty, who parlayed her Hollywood career into her billion dollar business, The Honest Company, said that her travails in the business world have shown her 'that you can wear different hats and that women can be bosses and leaders' and 'create businesses that are good for people, good for the planet and can do good. And make money!' She said that in addition to the aforementioned societal ails, massive reform is concurrently needed in the business world, where she says 'corporate America is set up to oppress women.' Alba added: 'You're not being paid as much or given the same opportunities. Boardrooms aren't 50-50 and women aren't getting funding for companies.' Alba said she's also spoken with her daughters about the gender imbalance, saying parents 'have to have these conversations that feel difficult when it comes to equality and social justice. 'All these conversations can be had and you can start early with them. I did. Because that's how you're going to give them the fire to make sure that that isn't their reality.' The national unrest began a week ago in Minneapolis when Floyd, a 46-year-old security guard, died May 25 after police officer Derek Chauvin - who has since been fired and charged in the incident - kneeled on the back of his neck (while he was handcuffed), rendering him unable to breathe in a horrifying incident that was caught on camera. In the incident, arresting officers said Floyd matched the description of a forgery suspect, and subsequently resisted them when they took him into custody. Using her platform: Alba on Wednesday shared a clip about how systemic racism corrodes society Get to the polls: Alba encouraged her fans to make their voices heard in this election year In an accompanying clip, Chauvin was seen pinning his knee into the back of Floyd's neck as Floyd pleaded with him to relent. 'Please, please, please, I can't breathe ... please, man ... my stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts ... I can't breathe,' he said. Chauvin faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, while prosecutors on Wednesday announced that the trio of officers he was with - Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao - are stand accused of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the deadly incident. All four of the men were fired from the police department last week. The incident has drawn parallels to the Los Angeles riots of 1992 which broke out after police were acquitted in their trial over the beating of Rodney King, which was caught on video camera. In the five days of rioting, more than 60 people died, 2,000-plus were hurt and damages to destroyed property topped $1 billion. HARTFORD The state Judicial Branch is expanding operations previously shut down by the pandemic, reopening courts and lengthening court hours. Beginning June 29, the branch will be reopening courthouses in Danbury, Milford and Stamford. The Danbury and Stamford courts had been closed after employees there had tested positive for COVID-19. The Milford court was closed as a precaution. All criminal business from the Stamford and Milford courts was moved to the Fairfield County Courthouse in Bridgeport. The criminal court business in Danbury was moved to the Waterbury courthouse. The geographical area courts in Norwalk, Bridgeport and Derby will remain closed. Criminal business from Norwalk will go to the reopened Stamford court; the Derby court business will go to the reopened Milford court. This reopening will bring the number of open courthouses to 17. We continue to plan for increasing expansion of the branchs physical footprint and all business operations in a way that places personal safety of the public, the bar and employees at the forefront while also balancing the requirement to continue to provide expanded access, said Chief Court Administrator Patrick L. Carroll III. Beginning the week of June 15, courthouses will be operating Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Currently, courts are only open three days a week. Starting the week of July 6, courthouses will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Carroll said most work within the open court locations will continue to focus on criminal arraignments for defendants held on bond, domestic violence cases, restraining orders, emergency child custody matters, juvenile detention hearings, and all other emergency matters. In addition to expanding courthouse locations, business operations have rapidly expanded across all divisions by the use of remote technology, Carroll said. In just a few weeks time he said family court has held over 600 remote status or settlement conferences and disposed of more than 300 divorce cases remotely. Civil court has conducted close to 1,000 remote events and has ruled on more than 7,000 short calendar matters, Carroll continued. Juvenile Court is holding remote detention hearings each day of operation and reviewing permanency plans remotely. The Delhi government on Wednesday said it was unlikely to run any more Shramik Special trains for the time being, as most stranded migrant workers had left in the past month, while the others had decided to stay back as lockdown restrictions were slowly being eased and the economy was opening up, government officials said. The officials said there were too few requests from migrants now to run special trains. Following the uncertainty over the next Shramik Special from Delhi, the few remaining migrants wanting to return home are now pooling in their savings to hire private buses or taking help of NGOs. According to data shared by the Delhi government, of the 4,50,000 migrants who had applied, around 3,10,000 had been sent back free of cost to 16 states so far, in 237 special trains. The officials said 90% of these trains, which were run under a special arrangement between state governments, were bound for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The remaining were destined to Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Odisha. There was a train for Tamil Nadu as well. The government had also arranged 683 buses to send 12,804 migrants to their home states. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the government has sent all registered migrants and also those who had come to their screening centres without registration, to their home states in the trains. Confirming that there might be no more Shramik trains from Delhi now, he said, We may send more people only if they come forward. An Indian Railways ministry official also confirmed that the last Shramik special train from Delhi was for Bihar on Sunday. No Shramik trains are scheduled as of now from Delhi. There is no demand from the Delhi government as of now, the official said. A senior government official, however, said they might arrange buses for migrants willing to go back home next. Some migrants from different states are still willing to go home and have applied for Shramik trains. But it wont be possible to send them on trains since their number is too low and they are from different destinations. The most efficient way now will be to send them home on buses, the official said. Officials also said that a number of people who had applied for special trains had decided to stay back also . The government even tried to contact those who had registered and did not turn up for screening. Many said they had found work in Delhi and had decided to stay back, a senior official said. One such migrant who decided to stay back is Ranjeet Kumar (39), who used to work at a clothes and bags shop in Karol Bagh. He said he had registered for a Shramik train to Bihars Muzaffarpur, but last week got a call from his employer asking him to come back to work. I wanted to leave, as there was no work and I had no money to send home. I had planned to go back and become a labourer in my village. But my owner called me right before i left to say he is short staffed and promised to pay me extra. So, I changed my mind, he said. Also read: Documenting the story of Indias migrant distress | Analysis On Wednesday, groups of migrants could still be seen outside government screening centres and railway stations inquiring about Shramik trains. On Monday afternoon, Asif, 27, had reached a screening centre in Lajpat Nagar, along five others, to inquire about a train to Bihar. The group, Asif said, works at a construction site in Sarai Kale Khan. Work has resumed at the site but now the working hours are less and so is the income. We have spent whatever we had saved in the last two and a half months. We have now decided to go home. Someone told us that we can get a ticket from here, but we were told here that there are no more trains, he said. Meanwhile, around 260 migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and UP, are looking at NGOs to help arrange buses to take them home.. Sunil Kumar Aledia, founder, Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), an NGO that works for the homeless, said that they have arranged for seven buses to take 169 migrants to various districts of Bihar on Wednesday. We have been getting requests from a number of people from different parts of the city, who were still stuck and have no money to arrange for their travels. We sought help from south district authorities for thermal screening of these people at the Chhatarpur centre, after which they will be made to board the buses, he said. B M Mishra, district magistrate (South), said, All the stranded migrants from the district have been sent home. Some NGOs asked us for support for helping with the screening of migrants from different parts of the city and we will pitch in whatever ways we can. Many countries developing CBDC In a recent interview, Mr. Jerome Powell said that in addition to printing physical US dollars, the FED will also print electronic virtual US dollars as well. A number of US lawmakers have asked the FED to consider developing digital dollar currency because the nature of currency is now changing globally. Earlier in May, China officially tested the digital Chinese yuan (CNY) in four major cities, and some government officials received their wages in this currency too. There are many Chinese businesses that accept payments for goods and use of some services in the above currency, while some foreign companies in China are already accepting the digital CNY. According to an announcement made by Banque de France, France has become the first country to successfully test the digital EUR operating on the Blockchain of the Central Bank of France (BoF), and also for selling securities in digital currencies via the Central Bank. This signals the beginning of a strong possibility to a switch to digital currency in the near future. The Finance Minister in Germany also stated that he supports the digital EUR. Russia's Central Bank (CBR) is also considering issuing of the digital RUB, although the country is not well known for supporting cryptocurrencies in the past. Sweden is also testing the E-Krona digital currency issued by the Central Bank. Other Central Banks in Cambodia, the Bahamas, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Thailand are also considering a switch to cryptocurrency. The fact that many economies are now planning to move their national currency to cryptocurrency is a clear move towards the 4.0 era. It also shows that the challenges in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic will be directed towards securing the economy and the global financial markets. This is because businesses, people and the economic sectors have begun to change their way of working, living and consumption. Advantages of cryptocurrency China already had a long-term goal to move towards a digital CNY and planned to test it many times, but this move was postponed. The last time it was postponed was when the trade war agreement phase-1 with the US was signed. However, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out around the world, many countries demanded an investigation into the cause of the Coronavirus, with the US even threatening to cut ties and increase sanctions. This made China more determined to fight back. China Daily newspaper claims that a sovereign cryptocurrency can reduce the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion at both national and corporate level. Using cryptocurrency will also help the country to limit much of the negative impact from trade tariffs and even currency wars. When the exchange rate adjustment by the Central Bank of China (PboC) is opposed by the US and other countries who threaten to put China on the list of currency manipulators, China will be able to limit the onslaught by its use of cryptocurrency. The US, Europe and some other countries are moving with speed towards issuing a national cryptocurrency, mainly because of many other reasons. Especially with the FED announcing an increased and unlimited pumping into the economy until economic recovery is fully achieved. This will create a risk for Central Banks and bring an environment of widespread default. In April, the Bank of Korea (BOK) announced a pilot implementation of its digital currency program, to test its ability to issue cryptocurrency and evaluate assistive technology, as well as complete the legal framework to pave the way for the circulation of this currency in the future. BOK said it needs to prepare everything to be able to respond best in the context of rapidly changing domestic and foreign markets. BOK also wants to establish its own CBDC system to take steps to prepare for any change in situation, to optimize the country's economy, as well as minimize any adverse impacts. Although the approach is different from one country to another, the common point is that CBDC helps to improve the deficiencies of the fiat currency, enhance the convenience of using and improving payment efficiency, while ensuring the currency is located under the management of the Central Bank. CBDC is a fully digital version of fiat money (but not anchored in fiat money), which can contribute to hedge against speculation, limiting the explosion of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Since electronic money was first introduced ten years ago, it has seen many ups and downs in the various financial markets in the world. There has been a lot of support as well as rejections, but now even though the view is less opposed, the future of this kind of currency is still uncertain. However, this era has turned a new leaf with the participation of leading Central Banks, with weaknesses in traditional financial and economic markets becoming more apparent in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has dealt as a critical blow to the global economy. Therefore, sovereign cryptocurrency issued by the Central Banks looks like a viable solution for the future, though it's still quite early to talk about efficiency. Phan Dung Khanh Director, Investment Consulting Securities, Maybank Kim Eng The white man who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery allegedly called the young black man a racial slur after shooting him, according to a Georgia special prosecutor who said another suspect in the case heard the shooter say the racist epithet. Travis McMichael, 34, allegedly called Arbery a f***ing n***** after shooting the 25-year-old in the chest, causing him to stagger before falling down in the street and dying, Special Agent Richard Dial testified at a preliminary hearing Thursday morning. Dial said that information was relayed by William Roddie Bryan, 50, who was driving in another truck behind McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, 64, and recorded the viral video of the shooting. Arbery was shot and killed on February 23 as he went on a jog in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia. Footage of the incident shows Arbery jogging as a pickup truck blocks his way. He runs around the truck, and an apparent scuffle between Arbery and one of the men can be seen before gunshots are heard and Arbery falls to the ground. The McMichaels, who brought with them a .357 Magnum and a shotgun, claim they believed him to resemble a recent burglary suspect in the neighborhood. Arbery was recorded on a motion-activated camera walking through a private construction site minutes before the shooting. Gregory McMichael said he called to Arbery, Stop, stop, we want to talk to you, before pulling up to him in the truck. Attorneys for Arberys family said Arbery was unarmed. The McMichaels were taken into custody on May 7 and booked in the Glynn County Jail after the video of the Georgia shooting garnered national attention and outrage. The arrests came more than two months after the shooting and a day after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation began an investigation. Both men are charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. Bryan has been arrested and charged with felony murder and attempted false imprisonment. The autopsy report showed that Arbery was shot three times and did not have drugs or alcohol in his system. Story continues The preliminary hearing occurred as protests and riots continue across the country over the death of another black man, George Floyd, who died in police custody after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes until after he passed out. Riots have broken out in several metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, north of where Arbery was killed. More from National Review Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (29) 'In both cases, there is a sneering disregard for the established processes of law while dealing with what the American president and the junior Indian minister regard as unpardonable behaviour,' notes Amulya Ganguli. The similarity between United States President Donald J Trump's exhortation, 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts', and India's Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur's call for shooting the 'traitors' -- 'desh ke gaddaro ko... ' -- is too obvious to be stated. In both cases, there is a sneering disregard for the established processes of law while dealing with what the American president and the junior Indian minister regard as unpardonable behaviour. Not only that; there is also a sense of righteous elation in their orders for eliminating the suspected wrong-doers. In their views, the two men were doing no more than urge their followers to do their duty for the nation It is an attitude which comes naturally to dictators, to whom what is known as kangaroo justice is the right way to meet out punishment to the culprits. It is unacceptable in an open society Yet, if the leaders of the world's oldest and largest democracies can indulge in such rhetoric, the reason is their politics. The black-and-white world of the rightists comprises those who are on their side, the nationalists, and those who are not, the anti-nationals or traitors. Not surprisingly, the second epithet has been routinely levelled against the Opposition parties in India by Thakur's party although one of its senior-most leaders, the nonagenarian Lal Kishenchand Advani had disapproved of it. It isn't very different in the US though the differentiation is not made as often as in India. However, irrespective of the frequency with which the government's critics are stigmatised as unpatriotic, the objective is the same. It is to further consolidate the ruling party's base of support even though they have consistently been told that the Opposition, first, has done nothing for the nation in the period when it was in power and, secondly, that it is either in hand-in-glove with a hostile neighbouring country or with inimical elements within. The danger of peddling this narrative is that in the process of firming up its base, the rightists can bring into disrepute the existing system by the subterranean suggestion that the very presence of anti-nationals in the polity plus the fact that it sometime wins elections underlines the faillability of the present political/administrative set-up. The insidious propagation of such a standpoint by means of winks and nudges may not matter much in America. But it can posed a covert threat in a much younger democracy like India which has just transited from the post-Independence one-party rule of the Congress at the Centre to a coalition arrangement to the BJP's current dominance. The difference between the Congress's earlier hegemony and the BJP's present ascendancy is that whlle the Congress saw itself as the natural ruler of India because of its role in the Independence movement, the BJP places its legitimacy on its Hindu background which, according to its worldview, makes it the true heir of the country's historic, pre-Muslim and pre-British past by ending the 'slavery' of the last 1,200 years dating back to the entry of Muslims in the subcontinent in the 8thcentury and including the British and Congress periods. Therefore, so far as the BJP is concerned, India's true history started with the BJP's ascent to power in May 2014. Prior to that, it was the rule of the anti-naionals. One can understand, therefore, why the junior minister was so energetic in advocating the shooting of the traitors. Trump's, on the other hand, was no more than a routine response to a law and order situation in sync with America's trigger-happy culture. He was not carrying, as the BJP does, the civilisational burden of ridding the nation of those who have no right to be there. Despite the similarity, therefore, the import of the Indian minister's threat is more sinister. Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet certainly isnt afraid of controversy. His first marquee hire, Bret Stephens, debuted with a stunning display of climate denialism in which he was forced to correct the only line containing any actual science. Bennet has published the ravings of established conspiracy theorist Louise Mensch and allowed Blackwater founder Erik Prince to run what was essentially an advertisement for private war. However, Bennets latest misadventure seems to have finally pushed his frustrated colleagues to the breaking point. What else he could have expected when he decided to showcase Sen. Tom Cotton writing a column demanding a military crackdown on protesters, though, is unclear. Advertisement In the column, Cotton wrote: One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do whats necessary to uphold the rule of law. With protesters (lawbreaking and otherwise) already getting beaten senselessly by police daily, its hard to read Cottons reference to doing whats necessary as anything other than an incitement to mass murder or, at the very least, incitement to government violence against its own people, especially considering his tweet from several days ago essentially calling for just that: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantrywhatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters. https://t.co/OnNJmnDrYM Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 1, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Within hours after the column was first published, Times employees were already expressing disapproval in the papers #standards room in Slack, a group chat platform widely used by media companies. In response, a standards editor assured onlookers that things were being handled: James Bennet is talking with [senior vice president for corporate communications] Eileen Murphy now. [Standards editor] Phil [Corbett] also asked him to write a short statement for him or Jim to tweet. Bennet did indeed make a statement defending his choice to publish the column later that evening, writing in a tweet that Times Opinion owes it to our readers to show them counter-arguments, particularly those made by people in a position to set policy. Advertisement This did not, however, assuage employees concerns. Neither Bennet, [deputy editorial page editor James] Dao or [deputy editorial page editor Kathleen] Kingsbury are in this channel, wrote one employee. Yes, another added, please let us know where to direct our complaints! This is really affecting the work we have put in over the past few weeks and years. Advertisement In one Slack room, two employees who work in the Times customer service center were stunned by the rate of cancellations. Advertisement Advertisement Employee A: they have to first get aligned on what the company is going to say which is always tougher Employee B: 172 cancels so far for this every time I refresh it just grows faster and faster Employee A: 203 editorial cancellations between 4 - 5 = the highest hourly total ever in the data we have buckle up everyone! Elsewhere, in the newspapers #standards Slack room, one concerned employee voiced his own complaint: Employee C: I just want to emphasize, as the papers leadership processes all of this, that the serious concerns in the newsroom about pieces like this are not simply coming from some activist wing of young employees who dont grasp our standards and mission, or who think that the Op-Ed page as constructed should never publish anything that challenges readers. We care deeply about holding The Timess reputation. But to that point, as others have put it better than me, this does harm to our newsgathering right now, erodes trust with readers and will reflect poorly on us in the historical record. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Twenty-eight employees voiced their approval of the comment by responding with the plus emoji. Fifty minutes later, Phil Corbett, the Times standards editor, offered a semi-acknowledgment of the employees concerns: Phil Corbett: Thanks to all for the comments. I know you all understand that we try to maintain separation between the newsroom and opinion. But our colleagues in Opinion are definitely aware of the concerns being raised, both internally and externally, and I think they are planning to say more about the thinking behind the Cotton piece. Still, in yet another Slack room, some employees asked why comments hadnt been turned on for Cottons article. Id been wondering about this too, and a former employee on the opinion side of the paper told me the sections pieces almost always had open comments sections. After consulting with unnamed others, an employee with the Times reader center returned to the Slack room with little in the way of concrete answers. Apparently, the comments had been turned off and could not be turned on because of staffing issueswhich is to say, there werent enough people working to properly moderate what would have inevitably been an overwhelming influx of words from angry readers. At some point prior to 9 p.m., after repeated complaints from employees, the Times finally managed to locate some moderation help, according to a Slack message posted in #standards. At the time of publication, Cottons piece has received nearly 600 reader comments. Advertisement Advertisement Despite managements repeated requests that reporters not criticize the work of their opinion colleagues, news-side employees began to make their unhappiness known publicly. At first, they mostly tweeted in vague terms. I love how in this country your job is completely tied to your health insurance Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) June 3, 2020 Advertisement as if it werent already hard enough to be a black employee of the New York Times Jazmine Hughes (@jazzedloon) June 3, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement As more and more Times employees joined their colleagues in voicing their disapproval, the tweets started becoming bolder, calling out the column directly. Soon, seemingly countless Times employees on both the news and opinion sides were tweeting some variation of the following, directly criticizing their own paper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger. pic.twitter.com/u3btzGTJzi Caity Weaver (@caityweaver) June 3, 2020 Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger. pic.twitter.com/nI887cUYjQ Kwame Opam (@kwameopam) June 3, 2020 Advertisement Ill probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral. As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this. https://t.co/lU1KmhH2zH Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 4, 2020 Advertisement This sort of mass, public pushback from the Times own employees is wholly unprecedented. Previously, Times executive editor Dean Baquet had chastised reporters for so much as clicking like on a tweet that criticized a colleague. But after countless stories of unrest at the New York Times and complaints from younger reporters falling on deaf ears, it seemed Times reporters had reached a breaking point. Advertisement Multiple New York Times staffers are tweeting this. pic.twitter.com/yYyfk7uFlU Frank Pallotta (@frankpallotta) June 4, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Some current opinion employees, who are typically given a little more freedom in how much of their own viewpoints theyre allowed to express, were similarly scathing in their critiques. Advertisement i feel compelled to say that i disagree with every word in that Tom Cotton op-ed and it does not reflect my values. this piece does though https://t.co/Vrlw3NVtBH Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) June 3, 2020 Advertisement There are many disgusting things about that Cotton piece but one of the things thats stuck in my craw is his use of federal intervention for school desegregation as a precedent for deploying the military against protesters. b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) June 4, 2020 Advertisement A former opinion editor, current Los Angeles Times editorial page editor Sewell Chan, felt compelled to speak out against Bennets choice to publish the column. THREAD: As a former @nytimes Op-Ed editor I am reluctant to weigh in on my alma mater. But the decision to publish @SenTomCotton calling for troop deployments to quell unrest falls short of sound journalistic practice. pic.twitter.com/SgXSndkq8l Sewell Chan (@sewellchan) June 3, 2020 Advertisement Around 10 p.m., Times employees put out a public statement through their union excoriating management for its irresponsible choice in publishing the column and for promoting hate. The @nyguild and @NYTimesGuild issues the following statement in response to a clear threat to the health and safety of journalists we represent. New York Times employees will send a letter directly to Times management about their concerns. https://t.co/GRPpKYxM2p NYTimesGuild (@NYTimesGuild) June 4, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the Times was scrambling internally to try to contain any further damage. About an hour after the guilds statement went out, a social media editor popped into the #opinion Slack room to make sure no one was planning any further promotion. Employee D: Hey all, I wanted to check in about who is running Opinions Twitter tonight? just want to make sure we are careful about what is being tweeted so that we dont get another total media crisis Employee E: Hi [redacted] Im here. Weve had instructions not to social the Cotton piece any further so that shouldnt come up Finally, at 11:23 a.m. this morning, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger addressed the column in an email to the company with the subject line This moment: Advertisement Everyone at The Times should feel pride in the brave, rigorous and empathetic work weve published, day after day, through this historic moment of upheaval. This week alone, we reconstructed the killing of George Floyd, investigated the Presidents use of tear gas on peaceful protesters, exposed disproportionate police force against black people, and reported on-the-ground from Minneapolis about the citys history of racism. Im writing today because, for many, pride in this work has been overshadowed by the disappointment and hurt felt over an Op-Ed we published online yesterday afternoon. Ive already heard from many of you and will do more listening in the days ahead, starting with smaller groups of our black colleagues, who are covering this story and living it at the same time. I know James, Dean and other members of the journalistic leadership will do the same. And we have an employee town hall tomorrow, where leaders from news, Opinion and business will be available for questions, including about the Op-Ed. In the meantime, I want to say two things. The first is to acknowledge the broader concerns Ive heard, particularly from black colleagues for whom this moment feels both unprecedented and painfully familiar. The second is to make absolutely clear where The Times stands on the issue at the heart of this moment. Ive heard from journalists on the front lines of this story about the trauma of watching brutality replayed on endless loops on television and social media. About conversations with your children that have brought you to tears. About being afraid to walk down the street, get in your car, orparticularlyput your safety on the line reporting from inside the protests. Youve told me about boiling frustrations over entrenched inequalities that, as our colleagues have reported, are a matter of life and death. Throughout this crisis and over the last several days, the Editorial Board has used our institutional voice to tackle many of these issues. In powerful, unapologetic language, weve defended the protests, the urgency of the issues underlying them, and the First Amendment protections that should guarantee the protestors the right to share rage born of despair, as we put it, without the fear of retaliation. The Op-Ed page exists to offer views from across the spectrum, with a special focus on those that challenge the positions taken by our Editorial Board. We see that as a source of strength, allowing us to provide readers a diversity of perspectives that is all too rare in modern media. We dont publish just any argumentthey need to be accurate, good faith explorations of the issues of the dayand there are many reasons why Op-Eds are denied publication. It is clear many believe this piece fell outside of the realm of acceptability, representing dangerous commentary in an explosive moment that should not have found a home in The Times, even as a counterpoint to our own institutional view. I believe in the principle of openness to a range of opinions, even those we may disagree with, and this piece was published in that spirit. But its essential that we listen to and reflect on the concerns were hearing, as we would with any piece that is the subject of significant criticism. I will do so with an open mind. Our journalistic missionto seek the truth and help people understand the worldcould not be more important than it is in this moment of upheaval. But so is the work we must do among ourselves, to listen to each other, and support each other. One of my most important responsibilities as we do so is to protect your safety so that you can do your vital work. There is nothing this institution takes more seriously, and I believe our long track record shows that in moments of crisiswhether on the front lines or in an ICUThe Times will do whatever it takes to protect our journalists. That commitment is unwavering. I want to end by quoting from an editorial we wrote this week calling for sweeping police reforms. These are the words we stand behind as an institution. Justice is still being postponed, we wrote. Racial inequality remains rampant in wealth, housing, employment, educationand enforcement of the law. This is not news, but it is the responsibility of all those in power to recognize and fix it. I look forward to speaking with as many of you as possible in the days ahead. AG Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Sulzberger acknowledged that many of his employees believed the column fell outside of the realm of acceptability, he largely ignored any factual complaints. Those are due to be brought to him later today, in the following letter, which as of midday had been signed by nearly 500 New York Times employees: Dear James, Katie, Jim, Dean, A.G., Mark and Meredith, As employees, we write to express our deep concern about the publication of an Op-Ed piece from Senator Tom Cotton, titled Send In the Troops. The Op-Ed from Cotton calls for the military to be brought in as Americans are protesting racism and police brutality in the United States. We believe his message undermines the work we do, in the newsroom and in opinion, and violates our standards for ethical and accurate reporting for the publics interest. Although his piece specifically refers to looters as the targets of military action, his proposal would no doubt encourage further violence. Invariably, violence, official and unofficial, disproportionately hurts black and brown people. It also jeopardizes our journalists ability to work safely and effectively on the streets. As Dean and Joe wrote in a recent note to the newsroom staff, We are reporting on a story that does not have a direct precedent in our lifetimes. Our ability to rise to this occasion depends on values the paper has long espoused: a commitment to a balanced and factual report and a promise to readers that we will be there, on the ground, to bring them the unbiased news. We understand the Opinion departments commitment to publish a diversity of views, but editorial managements inadequate vetting of this view gravely undermines the work we do every day. If Cottons call to arms is to be conveyed to our readers at all, it should be subject to rigorous questioning and rebuttal of its shaky facts and gross assumptions. For instance, Cotton writes that Antifa has infiltrated protest marches to exploit Floyds death for their own anarchic purposes. In fact, we have reported that this is misinformation. Though Cotton claims protesters have been primarily responsible for violence, our own reporting shows that in many cities police have escalated violence. Other claims, like that the riots were carnivals for the thrill-seeking rich, are not backed up by fact. At one point, Cotton misquotes the U.S. Constitution. This is a particularly vulnerable moment in American history. Cottons Op-Ed pours gasoline on the fire. In publishing an Op-Ed that appears to call for violence, promotes hate, and rests its arguments on several factual inaccuracies while glossing over other matters that requireand were not met withexpert legal interpretation, we fail our readers. Choosing to present this point of view without added context leaves members of the American publicwhom our newspaper aims to serve and informvulnerable to harm. Heeding a call to send in the troops has historically resulted in harm to black and brown people, like the ones who are vital members of The New York Times family. We fail our sources and freelancersmany of whom expressed their unwillingness to further work with us because of this pieceby unfairly applying scrutiny to subjects we cover without applying the same rigorous interrogation of our own institution. And we jeopardize our reporters ability to work safely and effectively. A newsroom has a responsibility to hold power to account, not amplify powerful voices without context and caution. We ask that The Times take the following actions: A commitment to the thorough vetting, fact-checking, and real-time rebuttal of Opinion pieces, including seeking perspective and debate from across the desks diverse staff. An editors noteor ideally, a fully reported follow-upexamining the facts of Cottons Op-Ed. A commitment that Cottons Op-Ed not appear in any future print edition. Staff shortages on the Community team should be addressed immediately, as readers need an opportunity to express themselves. Not everyone agrees with what is published by The Times, and we expect that. We are not here to please but to inform, even of uncomfortable truths. Our standards cannot be bent to suit what is already published; we ask instead that everything The Times publishes, in News and Opinion, be held to evenly applied and rigorous standards across the paper. The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. Cottons Op-Ed falls far short. Still, even as the conflict raged, there were a few current Times opinion employees who remained proud of their papers call for the military to suppress domestic protests. I believe in democracy. I believe in a free press. I believe in open debate. I love it when my newspaper prints pieces I disagree with. It causes me to think. David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) June 4, 2020 And at least one other former opinion employee found a different sort of affirmation in Cottons words. Im fucking glad I quit, the former employee told me. And Im glad Im not remotely complicit in what amounts to inciting murder. For more of Slates politics coverage, listen to the Political Gabfest. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 19:33 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc352ff 1 Business diaspora-bonds,bond-market,government-bond,finance-ministry,Mandiri-Sekuritas,COVID-19,coronavirus,pandemic Free The government is considering whether to issue Indonesias first-ever diaspora bonds in November to raise money from nationals living abroad as it struggles to finance the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Finance Ministry's director for government debt securities Deni Ridwan said the government pushed back the date of issuing the diaspora bonds from August to November because of the pandemic, adding that it was currently assessing demand for such bonds. Read also: Bond financing to swell further as Finance Ministry plans to issue samurai bonds Almost all countries need additional financing but demand from the market is limited. Thus, we need creative financing sources including diaspora bonds, Deni told a discussion forum on Thursday. The issuance of diaspora bonds was aimed at widening the Indonesian investor base and diversifying existing instruments, Deni said. The target market could include foreign nationals with an Indonesian family background and Indonesians living abroad, among others, he added. The government is planning to issue a fixed rate three-year tranche of bonds with a minimum order of Rp 5 million (US$352.78) and with a maximum order of Rp 5 billion, he went on to say. Indonesias 2020 budget deficit is expected to swell to about Rp 1.03 quadrillion, 6.34 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as the government hikes spending on economic stimulus packages and disease prevention to Rp 677.2 trillion. Read also: Investors turn to government bonds amid market uncertainty Debt financing is expected to swell to Rp 1.22 quadrillion this year, versus an initially planned Rp 1 quadrillion, to cover the growing budget deficit. The country expects to raise Rp 989 trillion from bonds and loans in the remainder of 2020, according to estimates by Finance Ministry Financing and Risk Management Director-General Luky Alfirman in late May. This figure is likely to surge further to cover the growing deficit. The government also aims to sell samurai bonds, or yen-denominated bonds, in the second half of this year as part of efforts to fund the fiscal gap, Deni said. We have started to do the preparations for a samurai bond issuance in Japan, he added. Mandiri Sekuritas fixed-income analyst Handy Yunianto said the diaspora bonds would have a positive effect in widening the investor base, adding that several other countries such as India had set an example in issuing such bonds. We need to look at the potential investors including who could buy the bonds and how much funds they are willing to invest, Handy told The Jakarta Post. Expanding the investor base and adding more investment instruments is a good strategy to finance the growing deficit. Read also: Retail investors growing as brokerages intensify online access The number of retail investors in Indonesia is on the rise as a result of growing awareness about the importance of investing, despite the market consensus that volatility will continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mandiri Sekuritas, the countrys most active brokerage house by transaction value, booked 11,000 new customers in the retail segment during the first four months of this year. Indo Premier Sekuritas, which is also among the most active brokerages on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), is aiming for a 40 percent increase in customer numbers in the next year after seeing a monthly average of 200 to 300 new customers so far this year. Vandalism charges against a former Democratic aide accused of tagging the building of the Republican Party of New Mexico were dropped last week, according to court records. Records show the Bernalillo County District Attorneys Office dismissed charges against Cameron Chase McCall over a lack of evidence. He was charged in February with criminal damage to property after authorities compared video footage of the vandalism with a photo of him on his Facebook page. The footage showed the man spray-paint still traitors on the building. A criminal complaint said investigators compared the video footage with McCalls Facebook page after the Republican Party received an anonymous tip. But there were discrepancies involving the vehicle used and McCall had a credible alibi, prosecutors said. This arrest was not justified at any time, said Alexandra Jones, McCalls attorney. The arresting officer, relying on a supposed tip from an anonymous person, decided photos of Mr. McCall on Facebook looked like the guy in the fuzzy security camera. Thats the extent of the investigation leading to a physical apprehension and removal from his home. Republican Party of New Mexico spokesman Mike Curtis declined to comment. McCall was a congressional intern for Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham when she was a U.S. congresswoman. Photo illustration by Sarah Rogers/ Photos Getty As President Trump continues to try and drum up support for his call for states to dominate protesters and beef up police presence against them, Attorney General Bill Barr and a team of senior Justice Department officials have quietly taken the lead on disrupting the protests and going after the petty criminals who may be using the demonstrations as cover. Its been a controversial move, even within Barrs own department. One federal prosecutor called Barrs most high-profile effort to quell the unrest politically-charged [and] bogus. A senior law enforcement official called it a political ploy to make being anti-Trump look like terrorism. Until Thursday, the department had operated largely behind closed doors in carrying out its plan to take charge of the administrations response to the nationwide protests. But on Thursday afternoon, Barr, alongside FBI Director Chris Wray, and representatives from other leading law enforcement agencies, took the stage to discuss in detail the Department of Justices strategy in cracking down on extremists and agitators that hijack the protest. Barr said his department, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, are working with state and local officials to identify individuals who have looted storefronts and incited violence from the larger groups of peaceful protests. We understand the distinction between the three different sets of actors, Barr said. But, the attorney general said, President Trump pushed him to use all resources necessary to pursue individuals who engage in crimes to terrify citizens. Barr claimed that antifa and other such extremist groups were hijacking protests, looting, and setting police cars on fire. He acknowledged that groups with other political persuasions were also involved. But he failed to call out those individuals who, for example, were charged with similar crimes in Las Vegas and identified with the right-wing Boogooloo movement. Story continues When questioned by a reporter about his choice of words, Barr dodged and pointed to the fact that he had said that there were other groups involved in these crimes. Throughout the press conference both Barr and Wray continually used the word rioting to describe acts by extremists and agitators hijacking protests. The choice of words was unusual, given the fact that only two of the federal cases charged so far had anything to do with rioting, according to a data obtained by The Daily Beast. One senior justice official told The Daily Beast Wednesday that the rioting charge was overly broad and that it was important to note in reporting that the department was staying away from it. Of the 20 individuals brought up on federal charges since May 31, only two have been charged with crimes related to rioting. Both were charged under Title 18, section 2101 of the U.S. Code, which references riots. Carlos A. Matchett of Atlantic City was arrested Wednesday by the FBI and was charged with using a facility of interstate and foreign commerce, namely, a cellular telephone and the social media platform Facebook, Inc., with intent to participate in and carry on a riot, according to a DOJ news release. And in Eerie, Pennsylvania, Melquan Barnett was charged with malicious destruction of property using fire or explosives. He was charged under several federal statutes, including Title 18 USC 2101. The attorney generals efforts to crack down on individuals involved in the protests shows the extent to which the Department of Justice is playing a leading role in the administrations response to the chaos that has ensnared cities across the U.S. Meanwhile, Trump this week sheltered in a bunker as protests grew in Washington and posed for a photo op, with a bible, in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church, and said he would take any means necessary to stop acts of domestic terror. As the Pentagon has moved to distance itself from Trumps rhetoric about militarizing American cities, the Department of Justice appears to be using a different tactic: aggression. In the early hours following clashes between protesters and police in Minneapolis on May 26, Barr and senior officials at DOJ began holding meetings and calls, strategizing ways to clamp down, two senior officials in the department told The Daily Beast. Scenes of looters ransacking local shops and vandalizing police buildings unnerved Barr, those officials said, and the attorney general directed his team to find a framework to identify and arrest those individuals and charge them with federal crimes. The idea was to try and take control of the administrations response to the protests by relying on the FBIs regional counterterrorism hubs to share information with local law enforcement about, in Barrs own words, extremists. It wasnt immediately clear to senior justice officials working with Barr how the department would go about implementing an initiative focused on arresting and charging individuals with federal crimes on a nationwide scale. The fear was states would push back on Barrs intervention, just as they had with Trump demanding they accept assistance from the National Guard. A third justice official said there was additional concern that the plan would require rigorous investigative and surveillance efforts that could take away from other ongoing law enforcement matters. Thats when Barr turned to an existing counterterrorism networkJoint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) led by the FBI that unite federal, state and local law enforcement to monitor and pursue suspected terrorists. A few days later, Barr communicated his plans to the nations governors. The construction we are going to use is the JTTF. Its a tried and true system. It worked for domestic homegrown terrorists. Were going to apply that model, Barr said on the call. It already integrates your state and local people. Its intelligence driven. We want to lean forward and charge anyone who violates a federal law in connection with this rioting. President Trump technically ran the call with the governors, directing them to punch hashtag two to get on the line to ask questions. But the president repeatedly handed the reins over to Barr. We will activate Bill Barr and we will activate him strongly, Trump said. Barr, under questioning from Gov. Janet Mills of Maine, laid out his thinking on why states needed to dominate the streets. We need to have people in control of the streets so we can go out and work with law enforcement ... identify these people in the crowd, pull them out and prosecute them, Barr said. In the past week, federal officers have charged three individuals in New York and two in Minnesota for alleged involvement in Molotov cocktail attacks on municipal properties. And on Monday, following the presidents remarks in Lafayette Park in which he threatened states with sending in active military personnel to their cities, arrest numbers more than doubled in DC and New York City. Uncomfortable Mission: Pentagon Tries to Retreat From Trumps Call to Dominate Protests Barrs enthusiasm for the crackdown is conspicuous. It stands in marked contrast to the Pentagon, which is reeling from its leaderships decision to appear beside Trump after park police, supported by National Guardsmen, violently cleared Lafayette Park from peaceful protesters so the president could stage a photo op reportedly Barrs idea. Two days later, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, under withering criticism for his tacit endorsement of the action, publicly rejected Trumps threat to use the active-duty military against the protesters, something that has jeopardized Espers standing in the administration. To those close to Trump, it is no surprise that the president has given Barr such a broad professional mandate in imposing their particular mold of law and order as the civil unrest has spread. [For days], the president has [bragged to officials] how tough the attorney general is, and that if anyone can restore order, its this guy, according to a senior administration official. The president sees Barr as [the] bad cop he can unleash if states and cities dont get their act together. A senior official at the Department of Justice said there is a small team working to track the results of the attorney generals directive that more resources be put toward investigating and prosecuting agitators. In Washington, there have been a little over 100 arrests that went to the local U.S. attorneys office. Of those arrested, 75 were charged but only one person was charged with a federal crime for breaking into a bank, according to a senior justice official. There are eight federal charges pending in the city, that person said. None of the defendants were charged with rioting. According to multiple current and former Justice Department and law enforcement officials, Barr is misusing the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) in support of President Trumps insistence that antifascists are terrorists exploiting the nationwide protests. Antifa is not an organization, nor is there a domestic terrorism statute for designating them terrorists. The early federal charges emerging from Barrs crackdown concern crimes like arson, not terrorism-related offenses. And in Nevada, three men with ties to a right-wing extremists advocating for the overthrow of the U.S. government were arrested on terrorism-related charges for a conspiracy to carry out acts of violence during protests in Las Vegas. Veteran law enforcement officials point to the gulf between Barrs treatment of the left-wing protesters and far more violent right-wing elements whom the Justice Department has not prioritized. Barr Promises to Sic Terror-Hunters on Protesters A federal prosecutor who requested anonymity said the use of the JTTF against the protests revealed Barrs double standards, as right-wing violence aimed unlike the protesters against people, rather than property has yet to register as a priority. We didnt hear anything about the Justice Department calling on JTTFs after, say, a manifesto-writing lunatic murdered people in Wal-Mart, or another political-slogan-spouting crazy sent bombs to Soros house in New York, the prosecutor said. The prosecutor considered Barrs behavior over the protests to be a new low for the attorney general. He attributes all the violent, destructive activity in the protests to left-wing antifa elements. He has no evidence to back that up whatsoever, the prosecutor said. Another senior law enforcement official said that using the JTTF against the protesters is a political ploy to make being anti-Trump look like terrorism. Two officials familiar with JTTF operations described cases against protesters being turned over from counterterrorism-focused participants to federal prosecutors and FBI special agents to determine what activity violates existing federal statutes. The FBI portrayed its use of the JTTFs in relation to the protests as a repurposing of a network it already had in place to connect its agents to local police in the cities where the protests are occurring, rather than an indication that antifa or other protesters represented a terrorist threat. JTTFs are being utilized as an existing partnership of federal, state, and local law enforcement that is already in place. Their focus is on identifying and disrupting criminal activity and as such, the statutory limitations around domestic use of national security intelligence authorities apply, the FBI told the Daily Beast in a statement. Still, federal prosecutors and JTTF veterans expressed concern about the propriety of aiming a tool for counterterrorism at protesters, particularly when the FBI concedes that the JTTF focus is on criminal activity rather than terrorism. In other words, the JTTFs are a mechanism of convenience rather than an indication of any terrorist element within the protests: If we were invaded by Mars, wed use JTTFs, an existing partnership, for an anti-Martian task force, said the federal prosecutor. The greater issue, the prosecutor continued, is a politically-charged, bogus attempt to attribute all this to left-wing activity and the use of inappropriate means to respond. Civil society leaders everywhere are able to draw the distinction between peaceful protesters, property crimes and people throwing bricks at cops, and Barr is unable to make this distinction. Mystery Officers Patrolling D.C. Streets Are From Federal Prisons Barrs focus is also conspicuous for overlooking the most violent element in the protests: the police, whose slaying of George Floyd and thousands of African-American men, women and children before him sparked the nationwide protests. In New York City, videos surfaced on social media showing police officers plowing through protesters with their cars. In Atlanta, officers dragged college students from a car and shot them with stun guns. In Manhattan on Sunday night, a Daily Beast reporter saw at least three police officers take nightsticks to a protester who was already on the ground after he ran from an officer who had unholstered his gun. By contrast, dozens of individuals involved in protests throughout the countrymany of them whitehave smashed storefronts, stealing clothes and other merchandise, and some set fire to police cars. The Trump administration actively encourages police violence on people, while describing as terrorism crimes that are largely against property. Still, Barr is not without his high-profile supporters. Ever since his handling of the unveiling of the Mueller report, Barr has become not just a favorite of the presidents, but a folk hero throughout Trumpworld. Bill has tremendous insight and knowledge both of the applicable laws and the conditional implications of the current situation. The president made a wise choice in nominating Bill Barr to be attorney general, and he has served the country well and will continue to do so [in this crisis], said Jay Sekulow, a Trump attorney who has known Barr for years. Hes doing a phenomenal job. with additional reporting by Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng 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. According to the Moodys Analytics baseline economic forecast, real global GDP will fall by 4.5% this year as a result of COVID-19. Our base case for the US suggests that it will take until mid-decade for the economy to return to full-employment. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moodys Analytics, describes the outlook in a new paper, Handicapping the Paths for the Pandemic Economy. COVID-19 has caused massive damage to the global economy. Quickly reopening economies will boost growth by unleashing pent-up demand, but will also raise the specter of a re-intensification of COVID-19 and another economic downdraft, which could lead to a worldwide depression. We construct our economic forecasts to help market participants navigate this daunting uncertainty and make better decisions, said Mr. Zandi. The Moodys Analytics baseline economic forecast represents our view of the most likely trajectory for the global economy. The baseline forecast is part of a set of 12 forecast scenarios, updated monthly, that project alternative economic paths for more than 100 countries as well as sub-national regions in major markets. These scenarios are driven by different assumptions regarding the epidemiology of COVID-19, demand-side factors including monetary and fiscal policies, and longer-run structural forces such as sovereign debt loads and globalization. To help users, each scenario is assigned a probability based on its relative severity and our view of how likely it is to occur. Given the unprecedented uncertainty around the path of the virus and the policy response, we maintain several alternative scenarios that cover a range of possible outcomes to help users assess the impact on their businesses and portfolios, added Mr. Zandi. Our global team of economists is dedicated to developing scenarios that account for current conditions and the various risks facing economies that may impact their outlook. Forecasts are based on the Moodys Analytics Global Macroeconomic Model, which balances economic theory and empirical behavior and is fully documented and validated. In addition to the probability-weighted monthly scenarios, Moodys Analytics produces ad hoc thematic economic scenarios that forecast potential outcomes in the event of significant policy shifts or changes to economic fundamentals. Our new Global Debt Crisis thematic scenario examines the consequences of high and rising sovereign debt in the event that global growth slows and governments in both developed and emerging markets are unable to address their high and rising debt loads. Our economic forecast scenarios can be accessed and downloaded in a variety of formats through a standalone subscription or with our dedicated economic and credit risk modeling tools. The accuracy of our forecasting was recently recognized in the 2020 FocusEconomics Analyst Forecast Awards, where Moodys Analytics ranked #1 in 14 categories. Our economic forecast scenarios are one of a number of Moodys Analytics solutions that help leaders across industries make better decisions in the COVID-19 environment. About Moodys Analytics Moodys Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moodys Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn. Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moodys Corporation reported revenue of $4.8 billion in 2019, employs approximately 11,300 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 40 countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005227/en/ A vast majority of Italians have understood and approved the decision to cancel the traditional military parade at the Fori Imperiali on this past 2 June. The French have just decided to do the same on Bastille Day, the 14 July: the parade will be cancelled and only the Air Force acrobatic team will celebrate the National Day, like the Frecce Tricolori did in Rome. A bit to the east, there is a man that probably would like to imitate Presidents Mattarella and Macron, but he cant. That man is Vladimir Putin, the Russian President. The military parade to celebrate Victory in the Second World War (during which USSR had more dead than Britain and US combined) is a very emotional event and happens on the Red Square every 9 May. But that day the Coronavirus was so aggressive in Russia that Putin decided to postpone the event, accepting as a necessity the wave of criticism and of hurt feelings that followed. They are beautiful to watch, those very tight Russian military formations, but the price in terms of contagions seemed too high to the Kremlin. Now, under public opinion pressure, there is a new date for the parade: 24 June. But what if the covid-19 stays as strong as it is today in Russia? The answer is that on 1 July there will be a referendum that is crucial for Putin. Thats why, this time, the parade will go on, and the public opinion will be as always, proud of it. But secretly, Putin is dreaming of Mattarella and Macron. Ph: ID1974 / Shutterstock.com French English TORONTO, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AGF Management Limited (TSX: AGF.B) will release its financial results for Q2 2020 on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at approximately 8:00 a.m. ET. AGF will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss these results at 11:00 a.m. ET. The discussion will feature remarks by Kevin McCreadie, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, and Adrian Basaraba, Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Judy G. Goldring, President and Head of Global Distribution, will also be available for the question and answer period with investment analysts following the presentation. The live audio webcast with supporting materials will be available in the Investor Relations section of AGFs website at www.agf.com or at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/vhw8h994 . Alternatively, the call can be accessed toll-free in North America by dialing 1 (800) 708-4540 (Passcode #:49723956). A complete archive of this discussion along with supporting materials will be available at the same webcast address within 24 hours of the end of the conference call. About AGF Management Limited Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. AGF brings a disciplined approach to delivering excellence in investment management through its fundamental, quantitative, alternatives and high-net-worth businesses focused on providing an exceptional client experience. AGFs suite of investment solutions extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and individual investors to institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds and endowments and foundations. AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America, Europe and Asia. With over $36 billion in total assets under management, AGF serves more than one million investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B. AGF MANAGEMENT LIMITED SHAREHOLDERS, ANALYSTS AND MEDIA, PLEASE CONTACT: Adrian Basaraba Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer 416-865-4203, InvestorRelations@agf.com Seven months ago, on a muggy November day in 2019, Kolkata witnessed an uneasy calm at the city's iconic 6, Murlidhar Sen Lane at College Square, which houses the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office. To be precise, it was November 28, when the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won all three bye-elections to the West Bengal assembly, bagging two of the seats for the first time since the partys inception in 1998. The TMC managed to capture Kaliaganj, Kharagpur Sadar and Karimpur. Party supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee thanked the people for the victory and said that it was a mandate against the "BJPs arrogance" and its desperation to come to power in the name of the-then-proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Reacting to the Trinamool's victory, Kamal Chandra Sarkar, BJP candidate from Kaliaganj, blamed the party's stance on the citizenship issue as the reason for his defeat. A month later, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed by the Rajya Sabha with 125 votes in favour and 105 votes against it. Though there was a celebration at the BJP office, senior party leaders were aware of the challenges they would have to face after the bypoll debacle. With more than 31 per cent Muslim voters, who raised their voice against the saffron brigade's push for the citizenship law change, BJP leaders knew that the state polls, less than a year away, would be a steep challenge. While the BJP leadership was trying to find an answer to the fallout of the CAA, heart-wrenching pictures of thousands of migrants workers walking miles after miles to return to their home states during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown and some states diluting the existing labour laws added to its worries in Bengal. Reverse migration of distressed workers, having a significant vote share, could be a decisive factor that might jeopardise the BJP's game plan to oust the TMC government in Bengal, analysts say. A blame game has already started over the plight of migrant labourers as Mamata Banerjee blamed the Centre for their woes. She slammed the Narendra Modi government of not consulting the states before announcing the lockdown. Union home minister Amit Shah hit back and accused the CM of not allowing adequate trains to send back Bengali workers to their home state. We dont have any differences with Mamata ji. There is no clash between Bengal and the Centre. Dont you think it is the right of the mazdoors (labourers) to stay with their family members in this time of pandemic? But Mamataji is not allowing more trains to Bengal, Shah had said. The Trinamool chief, however, rubbished all allegations and claimed that her government had so far brought back 8.5 lakh people stuck in various parts of the country. "Some people are misleading people and lying that we are not accepting more trains and are not willing to accept migrant labourers. I would like to clarify that so far 8.5 lakh migrants were brought back to Bengal and by June 10 we will bring back around 10.5 lakh people. Not only that. We have paid the travel expenses of the migrant workers as well," she said. As per the 2011 Census, Bengal ranks fourth among states from where people migrate for employment. From 2001 to 2011, nearly 5.8 lakh people moved out of Bengal looking for work. Nearly, 75 per cent of India's migrants work for daily wages in factories and in the construction sector. After, nine years, the figures have gone up. The West Bengal Government has launched the scheme 'Sneher Porosh' to help migrant workers and 'Prochesta' for those who are employed in the unorganised sector. As per the programmes, the beneficiary will get Rs 1,000 as assistance from the state government. The Bengal government has also introduced 'Samajik Suraksha Yojana' (SSY) in this state budget for the unorganised sector workers, in construction, transport and other areas. Under the schemes, they will be given various free-of-cost benefits, like compensation for accidental death or disability, health facilities, grant for education of children, etc. Under SSY, they are also provided a provident fund, encashable on reaching the age of 60 or on death or discontinuation from the scheme, for which the beneficiary deposits Rs 25 per month and the state government deposits Rs 30. But, Mamata went a step ahead and decided to bear the entire funding (Rs 55) and the beneficiaries are no longer required to contribute. So far all the schemes have benefited nearly 1.50 crore families in the state and Rs 500 crore has already been allocated for this scheme in FY 2020-21, according to officials. Mamata on June 3 also urged the Centre for one-time financial assistance of Rs 10,000 each from the PM-CARES fund for migrant labourers as they are suffering from acute monetary distress. Political expert Kapil Thakur sees the migrant issue as the second big political point after CAA, which will have a significant impact on thepolls in Bengal. "There should not be any reason to believe that both the TMC and BJP are concerned over the migrant issue on humanitarian grounds. Both the parties are playing their cards to please these people who belong to the unorganised sector for their political agenda and votes. They were noticed because they revolted and clashed with the police in Mumbai and Gujarat out of hunger. They were noticed when they took the stand to walk miles to reach their homes. Otherwise, no one is bothered about them, he said. "In simple words, the BJP is presently in damage control mode when it comes to migrants. This is the reason they are trying to pass the blame on to states for their woes. But no one is questioning, why they announced the lockdown without thinking about its consequences on migrants, he added. Out of the nearly 9 crore population of the state, more than 3.5 crore people are migrants or work in the unorganised sector, Thakur said. "As per government statistics, 1.50 crore people (belonging to the unorganised sector) benefited from the state governments schemes (Sneher Porosh, Prochesta, Samajik Suraksha Yojana). As an average of three voters will be there in a family, the total voter strength will be around 4 crore. This figure is huge irrespective of caste, religion and sect. Even if the figure is two voters per family, then also it comes to around 3 crore. With almost one-third of the total electorate in a certain section, it is obvious that the ruling as well as the opposition parties will try to lure it, he said, while adding that "their voter strength can turn the tables for any political party. Analysts say a majority of migrants from Bengal belong to the Muslim community and they have already opposed the Centres stand over various issues like National Register of Citizens (NRC), CAA, triple talaq, Ayodhya, etc, and those from other communities are not pleased with the sudden announcement of lockdown. Already ruling party leaders have started a campaign at the block level over the issue. The BJP is yet to get off the mark, with some of its local leaders alleging that they are not being allowed to work for the people by the state administration. Many of them say they were put under house arrest. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha has accused Mamata Banerjee of being neglectful towards migrant workers who want to unite with their family members in Bengal. He also condemned Mamata for calling them "Corona Express". Responding to such comments, TMC MP Derek OBrien said the BJP's priority is the 2021 Bengal elections and not the Covid-19 crisis. Amit Shah Ji, thanks for confirming what your partys topmost priority today is the 2021 Bengal elections. Overcoming Covid challenge? No. Standing by those affected by Amphan? No. Keep doing your politics. Let Mamata Banerjee do what she does best stand by people," he tweeted. He added that migrant workers were given just a four-hour notice before a 21-day lockdown was first imposed and alleged that 80 lives had been lost because of the BJP's move. "You gave #MigrantWorkers just 4 hours notice before a 21day lockdown - abandoned them. Robbed them of their dignity. Packed them on trains like cattle 50 days later without any food. 80 precious lives have been lost because of your neglect. If it still didnt stir your conscience.. nothing will, the tweet said. CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Apple is tracking iPhones that were stolen from its retail stores in recent days during the civil unrest, according to reports citing a warning message popping up on the stolen iPhones. The warning message reportedly indicated the stolen phone was being tracked, amid global protests following the death of an unarmed black man, George Floyd at the hands of police. The alert message on an iPhone stolen from a Philadelphia store also reportedly reads, 'Please return to Apple Walnut Street. This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.' Apple stores reported vandalism and theft at several locations, including in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is disabling the stolen iPhones, leaving them inoperable, the reports said. Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook last week condemned the killing of George Floyd, and called for the creation of a 'better, more just world for everyone.' Fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death. Meanwhile, Apple, Amazon-owned Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, and other major retailers across the country had temporarily closed or adjusted store hours in areas hit hard with protests. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. A pregnant mother-of-three who died after suffering an epileptic seizure had been guzzling two litres of Coca-Cola and up to one litre of energy drinks a day. Amy Louise Thorpe, 34, was 15 weeks pregnant when she died at her home in Invercargill, New Zealand on December 4, 2018. Ms Thorpe's seizures had increased to once a week and she was also a heavy smoker, a coroner's report found. Her partner said she was 'addicted' to drinking Coke and had a history of epilepsy, depression and anxiety. Amy Louise Thorpe (was 15 weeks pregnant when she died at her home in Invercargill, New Zealand on December 4, 2018 In a coroner's report, it was found Ms Thorpe had consumed around 80g of tobacco a week, Stuff reported. Another friend told police Ms Thorpe 'had more energy drinks a day than people have coffee' and drank litres of V and Mother drinks. Ms Thorpe was referred to neurologist Graeme Hammond-Tooke in November 2018 due to her seizures increasing. He advised she change her epilepsy medication or go to hospital to have EEG monitoring,' The New Zealand Herald reported. But Ms Thorpe was reluctant to do so and was later found dead on her bed hanging over the bedside table. The mother-of-three (pictured) had a history of epilepsy and depression as well as being a heavy smoker Dr Hammond-Tooke said it was possible Ms Thorpe's caffeine addiction contributed to her death. He said some studies showed caffeine increased seizure susceptibility but in other cases it protected against seizures. Caffeine is also found to reduce the effects of some drugs. 'In the case of Ms Thorpe, I think it is possible that excessive caffeine contributed to poor seizure control,' he said. 'While, modest intake of caffeine contained in drinks is not likely to affect seizure control, large amounts probably do increase seizures, and may have other adverse effects on health'. Coroner Robinson said making Ms Thorpe's case public could help make people with epilepsy aware of the potential risks of drinking excessive amounts of caffeine. A pre-kindergarten teacher's list for children's books about race, racism, and diversity has gone viral as anti-racist titles top bestsellers charts this week amid nationwide protests over George Floyd's murder and police brutality. Brittany Smith, 27, from New Jersey started a helpful Twitter thread on Monday featuring some of her favorite books for kids at a time when white people across the country are trying to educate themselves and their children about race. 'Teacher in me had to do this.. CHILDRENS BOOKS THAT DISCUSS RACE & RACISM THREAD,' she tweeted, kicking off her list with a picture book biography of civil rights activist Malcolm X. Educating others: Brittany Smith, 27, from New Jersey, started a helpful Twitter thread on Monday featuring some of her favorite children's books about race, racism, and diversity Spreading the word: The pre-kindergarten teacher's list has gone viral after more than 194,000 people retweeted it Written by his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz, 'Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X' gives readers a look at his childhood and the hardships he overcame to become a prominent leader in the fight against racial injustice. A number of the books on Smith's list profile historical figures, including Andrea Davis Pinkney's 'Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters' and Carole Boston Weatherford's 'Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library.' One of the most timely titles on the list 'Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice,' by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard follows a white family and a black family as they discuss a police shooting of a black man in their community. Smith has included a variety of books featuring people of different races and religions that cover topics such as the Holocaust, deportation, poverty, and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Important read: Smith kicked off her list with 'Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X,' a picture book biography of the civil rights activist Real-life heroes: A number of the books on Smith's list profile historical figures Poignant pick: Another timely recommendation, 'Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice,' discusses a police shooting of a black man Another good one: Smith's tweet has inspired fans to share their own favorites in the comments, including Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry Thread: The teacher has been updating her list with recommendations she missed In just a few days, Smith's post has been retweeted more than 194,000 times and has inspired fans to share their own favorites in the comments, including Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry. 'This discusses our community and relationship with hair. Idk how I forgot to post this because I LOVE IT SO MUCH,' Smith responded. 'Thank you to whoever added this in a comment, I cant find your handle, Im sorry!' Smith later revealed that she plans on releasing her own children's book next year while seeking black illustrators to connect with. Her news was so well-received that she started a Go Fund Me page to finance the self-publication of her upcoming book. 'Ive gotten so much positive feedback, its been incredible,' she tweeted. 'Many of you have been DMing me asking how to send funds to help me publish my own book. I was convinced that this would be a good step for me.' Smith is among the many activists this week who have shared recommended reading lists about race for people of all ages. Not only have the lists been popping up online, but people seem to be taking them seriously. Future author: Smith has revealed that she is a budding children's book author herself 'Keep an eye out for me!': After the success of her list, she shared her plans to release her own book next year Crowdsourcing: Brittany used her platform to try and find a black illustrator for her book Next step: Her news was so well-received that she started a Go Fund Me page to finance the self-publication of her upcoming book Helping others: Smith said she is also working with her school to see if they can create additional funds for families who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic As of Wednesday, 15 of the top 20 bestselling books on Amazon are about race and racism in the U.S., CNN reported. 'White Fragility: Why Its So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism' by Robin DiAngelo and 'How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi' are currently Amazon's number one and two selling books, respectively. Many of the bestsellers are in such high demand that they are temporarily out of stock on Amazon and in stores across the country. 'Given todays climate and our fight for justice, I want parents, teachers, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and anyone who regularly comes in contact with children to be aware there are resources that can help start the conversations of race and racism,' Smith told BuzzFeed News of her curated list. 'Theres a misconception that theyre too young and dont understand, but they do! They just dont always have the tools to express it.' A third family has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs over the death of a veteran at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, as an investigation into as many as 11 suspicious deaths enters its second year. The children of John William Hallman filed the federal lawsuit Monday, according to The Associated Press. The suit seeks unspecified damages for the June 2018 death of Hallman, who died at the age of 87 of "unexplained hypoglycemia" two months after two other veterans died unexpectedly. Read Next: Veterans Affairs Lawmaker Calls for Gender-Neutral VA Motto Those deaths, in April 2018, were later determined to be homicide by insulin injection. The families of George Nelson Shaw, a former airman who died at age 81 at the hospital, and Felix Kirk McDermott, a former Army sergeant, have filed similar lawsuits. The VA's Office of Inspector General and the Justice Department have been investigating the circumstances surrounding the veterans' deaths. Investigators have told VA leadership and West Virginia lawmakers that they have been looking into a "person of interest," but no arrests have been made. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, said Wednesday that the lengthy review has put veteran patients at the facility and family members on edge, with rumors circulating that the suspect continues to work at the VA, either as an employee or a contractor. "It's a vicious rumor going around that is hurting an awful lot of families," Manchin said. "Do you see any end in sight?" VA officials said the rumor is "absolutely untrue" and the investigation remains in the hands of the IG and the Justice Department. "This is a disservice to the people of West Virginia," VA Secretary Robert Wilkie told Manchin at a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday, referring to the investigation's lengthy process. During the course of the investigation, federal law enforcement officials exhumed the bodies of Shaw and McDermott, and autopsies were conducted at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner's office. Shaw was found to have four injection sites -- three on his arms and one on his right leg -- that tested positive for insulin, even though he had no history of diabetes. McDermott's death was found to have been caused by an insulin injection to his abdomen. Dr. Richard Stone, executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, said that employees are cooperating with authorities and the VA looks forward to "resolution." Manchin said he plans to ask U.S. Attorney Gen. William Barr to intervene. He sent a letter last fall to Barr expressing concern over the pace of the investigation. "You can imagine what the families are going through. Why would you put anybody through this? We've got to get an answer," Manchin said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Wilkie Calls for Release of Information Into Suspicious Deaths in West Virginia The daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Armenia continued to rise on Thursday, with Health Minister Arsen Torosian warning that Armenian hospitals may soon be unable to admit all infected people in need of urgent treatment. The Ministry of Health said in the morning that 697 people tested positive for coronavirus in the past day, which raised to 11,221 the total number of cases registered in the country of about 3 million. The ministry also reported 6 new coronavirus deaths. The official death toll from the COVID-19 epidemic thus reached 176. The figure does not include the deaths of 68 other citizens also infected with the virus. The ministry claims that they died from other, pre-existing diseases. It recorded 9 such fatalities on Wednesday. Due to the accelerating spread of the virus the health authorities stopped late last month hospitalizing or isolating individuals showing mild symptoms of the disease or none at all. Only about 15-20 percent of the registered cases need hospitalization, while the rest stay at home under the surveillance of primary healthcare bodies, Torosian told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. On a daily basis, almost manually, so to speak, we accommodate patients on the existing hospital beds, he said. It is very important that we register a substantial decrease in [infection] numbers so that we can keep up this process. Or else, it will be very difficult to ensure all that, he added. Torosian earlier warned of an impending shortage of beds at the intensive care units of hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. He said on Monday that dozens of more such hospital beds will be made available in the coming days and weeks. According to the health minister, 450 patients are in a serious or critical condition at the moment. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian stated earlier in the day that there are already people in need of hospitalization whom we cannot hospitalize on time. Our healthcare system is already bending downwards, he said in a video message livestreamed on Facebook. During the ensuing cabinet meeting, Pashinian again complained about Armenians widespread noncompliance with safety rules. He singled out peoples failure to observe social distancing when lining up outside commercial bank or post offices. Central Bank Governor Artur Javadian and Minister of High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakian assured Pashinian that their respective agencies are taking effective measures to get customers to stand away from each other outside those offices. Torosian seemed more worried about COVID-19 infections reported among workers of manufacturing enterprises. He said they are fraught with big outbreaks of the disease in various parts of the country. Armenias largest textile factory located in the northern city of Vanadzor was forced to close for three days on Wednesday after at least 39 of its 2,600 employees tested positive for the virus. The worsening coronavirus crisis is fuelling growing calls for the Armenian government to re-impose a nationwide lockdown. Pashinian admitted earlier this week that the health authorities are also favoring such a drastic move. But he gave no indications on Thursday that it is imminent. Instead, the prime minister again urged Armenians to wear face masks, practice social distancing and frequently wash their hands. He reiterated that the success of his governments fight against the epidemic primarily depends on their responsible behavior. On Wednesday, the government decided to make it mandatory for every citizen to wear a face mask or a cloth covering their mouth and nose not only in enclosed spaces but also in the streets and all other public areas. Critics of the government are skeptical about the effectiveness of this strategy of containing the virus. They say that only a renewed lockdown can make a difference. The government had already issued stay-at-home orders, banned public transport and shut down most businesses in late March. But it began gradually easing those restrictions already in mid-April. The daily number of new coronavirus cases recorded by the Ministry of Health has skyrocketed since then. Critics say that the authorities never properly enforced the lockdown and lifted it too soon. The Schwarzschild-Couder telescope, located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Amado, Arizona, detected gamma-ray showers from the Crab Nebula in early 2020, proving the viability of the technology design for gamma-ray astrophysics. CREDIT Photo: Amy C. Oliver, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Scientists have detected gamma rays from the Crab Nebula, the most famous of supernova remnants, using a next-generation telescope that opens the door for astrophysicists to study some of the most energetic and unusual objects in the universe. The prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT)--developed by scientists at the Columbia University in collaboration with researchers from other institutions--is part of an international effort, known as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), which aims to construct the world's largest and most powerful gamma-ray observatory, with more than 100 similar telescopes in the northern and southern hemispheres. "That we were able to successfully detect the Crab Nebula demonstrates the viability of the novel Schwarzschild-Couder design," said Brian Humensky, associate professor of physics at Columbia, who worked with a team to design and build the telescope. "It's been a long journey, so it's enormously satisfying to see the telescope performing, and we're excited to see what we can do with it." The Crab Nebula, so named because of its tentacle-like structure that resembles a crustacean, is the remnant of a massive star that self-destructed almost a millennium ago in an enormous supernova explosion. The estimated distance to what's left of this star from Earth is about 6,500 light-years. Over time the light from the supernova faded away, leaving behind the remains of a powerful, rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that can still be seen within a cloud of gas, dust and highly energetic subatomic particles, which emit radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum. The most energetic of those particles radiate gamma rays. While scientists have been using the SCT technology to observe the Crab Nebula since January 2020, the project has been underway for nearly a decade. At its heart is a high-speed, high-resolution camera and a dual-mirror system--more intricate than the one-mirror design traditionally used in gamma-ray telescopes--that work together to enhance the quality of light for greater imaging detail over larger field of view across the sky. "The camera triggers upon bursts of light that occur when a gamma ray collides with an air molecule, and records these signals at a rate of a billion frames per second," said Humensky, who collaborated with colleagues at Barnard College to build major components of SCT's mirror alignment system and develop its control software. "This allows us to reconstruct the gamma rays with extraordinary precision." Humensky's involvement with the prototype SCT, unveiled last year at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona, began in 2012, when the National Science Foundation funded the project. The Columbia team, including Barnard College postdoctoral research associate Qi Feng, and Ari Brill and Deivid Ribeiro, Columbia doctoral students in physics, helped achieve the initial optical focus. Ribeiro has worked on the telescope since fall 2015, starting through Columbia's Bridge to the PhD program. "I've made seven trips to Arizona, beginning with a three-month stay to integrate the secondary mirror panels with the telescope structure," he said. "It's rewarding to be part of this team and to have collected some of the data that led to this first detection." The sighting of the Crab Nebula, announced at the 236th meeting of the American Astronomical Society June 1, lays the groundwork for the use of the SCT in the future Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory. Slated for completion in 2026, the observatory, with its configuration of 120 telescopes of varying sizes split between Chile and Spain's Canary Islands, will detect sources of gamma rays 100 times faster than current instruments. "The success of the prototype SCT creates an opportunity for the Cherenkov Telescope Array to address and hopefully answer some of the biggest questions in astronomy: What is dark matter? How are the most energetic cosmic rays created?" Humensky said. "It's exciting to look forward to." Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Acting tough, the home ministry has blacklisted 2,550 Tablighi Jamaat members from nearly 40 countries who were staying in India during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown and indulging in missionary activities in violation of visa rules, officials said on Thursday. These people would not be allowed to enter India for 10 years, they said. This is perhaps for the first time that the government has blacklisted a large number of people in one stroke and banned their entry into India for such a long duration under the Foreigners Act. The action has been taken by the home ministry after various state governments provided details of the foreigners who were found to be illegally living in mosques and religious seminaries across the country. "The home ministry has blacklisted 2,550 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members and banned their entry into India for 10 years," a home ministry official said. Almost all of these foreign Tablighi Jamaat activists had come to India on tourist visa but were engaged in missionary works, thus violating the visa conditions, the official said. Action against the foreign Tablighi Jamaat members was first taken after over 2,300 people, including 250 foreigners, belonging to the Islamic organisation were found to be living at its headquarters located at Delhi's Nizamuddin soon after the nation-wide lockdown was announced in March. Several of these members had tested positive for coronavirus. The lockdown from March 25 was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The Tablighi Jamaat members were blamed for the spread of coronavirus in more than 20 states and Union Territories with more than a thousand COVID-19 positive cases and over two dozen deaths traced to them. Among blacklisted members were nationals from nearly 40 nations. They are: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Russia, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Ukraine. The government has already decided not to issue tourist visa to any foreigner who wishes to visit India and take part in Tablighi activities. After finding about their illegal stay in India, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba had also told the states and UTs to take action against foreigners, who have participated in the missionary activities of the Tablighi Jamaat, for violation of visa conditions. In April, the home ministry had directed DGPs of all the states and UTs, and the Delhi Police Commissioner to take necessary legal action against all such violators, on priority, under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Disaster Management Act, 2005. Last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against the organisers of Tablighi Jamaat for alleged dubious cash transactions and hiding of foreign donations from authorities. The enquiry was registered on a complaint that the organisers of the Jamaat are indulging in dubious cash transactions through illegal and unfair means, the officials said. The Delhi Police has also registered a case against the Tablighi Jamaat and its office bearers. The head of the organisation, Maulana Saad, is still to be apprehended by police. 3 1 of 3 Courtesy photo /Texas Department of Public Safety Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy photo /U.S. Border Patrol Show More Show Less 3 of 3 The Texas Department of Public Safety was involved in a chase at approximately 12:43 a.m. Wednesday near the Family Dollar on South Ejido Avenue. A DPS trooper observed the driver of a Dodge Ram disregard a stop sign. The Dodge refused to stop and eluded the trooper. The chase ensued through several streets near the Santo Nino neighborhood and stopped in a caliche road near South Meadow Avenue. Documentary: Joanne Leess memory of some details was hazy A police report into the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian Outback concluded his girlfriend Joanne Lees was hiding the truth, a documentary will claim. In July 2001, Ms Lees told police that the couple had been flagged down by a truck driver on a remote highway. She said the man shot Mr Falconio and tied her up, before she escaped. Bradley Murdoch was convicted of murdering Mr Falconio, although a body was never found. A Channel 4 documentary, 'Murder In The Outback', casts doubt on the conviction and presents a police report that was not put before the jury at Murdoch's trial in 2005. In a Scientific Content Analysis (Scan) report, analysts looked at the statement Ms Lees gave to police the night after Mr Falconio disappeared. Ms Lees said she could not remember particular details or that her memory was hazy. The report said: "These statements are all indicative of a false account." Analysts said her habit of switching to the present tense when recounting events was a sign she was not telling the truth. The documentary shows Ms Lees being confronted with this information in a police interview. Asked what information was missing, Ms Lees replied: "I don't know." However, Scan analysis is controversial and a 2001 study commissioned by the UK Home Office concluded there was no clear evidence that it could significantly improve an experienced investigator's ability to determine truth. The film includes the verdict of Bill Beale, a Scan trainer who reassessed Ms Lees's statement and said he was satisfied she was telling the truth. He said it had been found that women often switch to the present tense when reliving a traumatic event. The lead detective says he is convinced of Murdoch's guilt and that Ms Lees was unfairly judged for being aloof and "had she cried, things would have been different". Ms Lees and the family of Mr Falconio declined to be interviewed for the documentary, which begins on Sunday. Poroshenko declares almost US$29 mln in 2019 income 12:50, 04.06.20 1148 Poroshenko is the ultimate beneficiary in 28 companies. Seasonal farmworkers in Fairview drove the single largest increase in identified coronavirus infections across Oregon last week, newly released statistics from the Oregon Health Authority show. The ZIP code 97024 in Fairview recorded 39 new infections in the week ending Sunday, raising the areas total to 72 since the pandemic began. (Click here for an interactive map). The health authority announced last week that an outbreak tied to Townsend Farms seasonal workers had infected dozens. The fruit company has properties in Fairview and Cornelius. At least 35 people have been infected in Fairview as part of that outbreak, according to the state report released Thursday. That figure does not include 51 earlier infections at the Fairview fruit plant or seven among its farmworkers in Cornelius. Seven other ZIP codes across Oregon recorded at least 10 new infections: two locations in Salem, one area of east Portland, one area of North Portland, part of Hillsboro, Warm Springs and Woodburn. The eight locations accounted for about 44% of the 294 new infections that can be tracked by ZIP code in the states latest weekly report. The report is based on 4,302 confirmed or presumed infections. State health officials do not disclose precise ZIP code tallies for areas with one to nine cases. The Oregon Health Authority first began publishing ZIP code breakdowns May 5. The mapping shows infections have so far often broken along socioeconomic lines, and officials have acknowledged disproportionate infection rates among people of color, particularly Hispanics. Heres a look at the areas that gained the most new infections: 97024, Fairview This ZIP code added the most new cases in Oregon, with 39. But it appears virtually all of those were among farmworkers who arrived in Fairview from out of state and were tested immediately. The huge weekly increased pushed the ZIP codes cumulative count to 72, the 13th highest in Oregon. It also increased the per capita ranking to the fourth highest in Oregon, even though many of the new cases are not among full-time residents. 97301, Salem A core Salem ZIP code, this area added 16 new cases, pushing the cumulative tally to 105. Its unclear what is driving the new cases, but its not because of the Oregon State Penitentiary. State officials are counting those infections in what amounts to an other ZIP code category. This ZIP code is tied for the fourth most in Oregon. But it has a relatively large population, making its per capita count the 26th highest. 97305, Salem This ZIP code stretches from northeastern Salem through rural farmland up to near Gervais. It added 15 new cases, increasing its total to 105, tied with its Salem neighbor for fourth most in Oregon. But it also has a large population, leaving it with the 14th highest per capita infection rate. 97266, Portland This east Portland ZIP code runs from along southeast 82nd Avenue to 122nd from Division Street south to the county line. Fifteen new infections were reported in this location, raising the total to 56. Thats the 17th most in Oregon, or the 32nd highest rate per population. 97761, Warm Springs This central Oregon ZIP code covers part of the Warm Springs Reservation. New infections grew by 14, pushing the total to 30. Thats the 49th most in Oregon. But with a very small population, its third most per capita across the state. 97123, Hillsboro The 97123 ZIP code runs mostly south of Main Street and Baseline Street in Hillsboro, extending south across miles of farmland almost to Newberg. This Hillsboro ZIP code recorded 11 new infections among residents. Its 113 cumulative infections remain third most in Oregon. (When Oregon first started releasing weekly counts in early May, this ZIP code began with the third most infections.) It has the 18th highest rate of infections among the population. 97071, Woodburn This ZIP code covering Woodburn continues to lead the state in infections, with 10 new cases pushing the overall total to 212. The area has been particularly hard hit, recording the second-highest infection rate per population. The health authority recently provided rapid testing kits to the area, making access easier. The 10 new cases are the second-lowest increase recorded for this ZIP code in a given week since reporting began, just above last weeks nine new cases. 97203, Portland This North Portland Zip code, generally running west of North Chautauqua Boulevard, reported 10 new cases. Its 55 total cases rank 18th statewide but 33rd on a per capita basis. Other ZIPs Parts of Portland are seeing an uptick in cases. The 97233, 97216, 97236, 97230 and 97220 ZIP codes in east Portland added a combined 32 infections. Meanwhile, 97206 in southeast Portland added eight infections, while 97212 finally crossed the measure for a precise tally. That ZIP code, which includes Irvington and Grant Park, has 12 total infections. Elsewhere, 97058 in The Dalles added six new cases, for a total of 23; 97756 in Redmond added five cases, raising the total to 32; and 97113 in Cornelius added nine, pushing the total to 60. Mark Friesen contributed to this report. -- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Irish Rural Link (IRL) the national network representing the interest of rural communities will be discussing Just Transition and the Funding opportunities available to communities across the wider Midlands. This conversation is one of a number of topical conversations being hosted by IRL as part of its webinar series. IRL will be hosting live webinars every Thursday morning throughout the month of June on different topics impacting rural communities, incorporating the impact of Covid 19 and discussing how all sectors can shape the new normal to the benefit all sections of society economically and socially. CEO, Seamus Boland will be speaking with; Kieran Mulvey, Just Transition Commissioner; Anna Marie Delaney, CEO Offaly Co. Co. and Robert Pollock, Senior Advisor with START Team, this Thursday 4th June at 10am, providing a unique opportunity to everybody with an interest in hearing at first hand, what the Just Transition will mean for the wider Midlands, the opportunities now open for funding opportunities and the type of community led proposals which are envisaged. With the recent publication of the first Just Transition Progress Report and the announcement of 11million in funding for the Midlands, we believe it is timely to have this conversation and hope that people will use this opportunity to engage and put their questions to the Just Transition team. Speaking about the upcoming event, CEO of IRL, Seamus Boland said There is confusion around what exactly a Just Transition will look like. We know that rural households will be impacted the most with the move away from fossil fuels to heat their homes and any increases in carbon tax. Retrofitting of homes is financially out of reach for many living in rural Ireland, so what are the alternatives being proposed? He went on to say Communities in the Midlands are being further impacted with the loss of jobs as peat cutting ceases and see the closure of the power stations. We need to ensure that these workers are reskilled and can access alternative sustainable employment and that no person is made worse off or put under financial pressure as a result of this transition. Community engagement is key to shaping a better future for the people who have been impacted most in the region. We are inviting people to really engage in this conversation to discuss how we can all collaborate in bringing forward proposals which will positively impact across the board and not just a select few. This needs to be a Fair Transition. The webinar on Just Transition will take place on Thursday, June 4 from 10am to 11am and you can register on www.irishrurallink.ie BOYNE CITY, MI A man is being charged with assault and attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his roommate during an argument over money. Boyne City police were called just before noon on June 2, to a home on Wilson Street, 9&10 News reports. Upon arrival, officers say the suspect still had the knife and was being physically restrained by other people. Officers also found a man with knife wounds, according to 9&10 News. Police say the man assaulted his roommate with the knife and caused damage to the building and vehicles. According to police, it started because of an argument over money and possible eviction. The suspect also is being charged as a repeat offender fourth offense. T he family of George Floyd and others including celebrities, civil rights activists and politicians gathered in Minneapolis for a memorial marking his death. Speaking in front of a huge crowd outside the event on Thursday, Mr Floyd's brother Philonise paid tribute to the man whose death at the hands of the police has sparked days of furious protests around the world. At the first service to be held over six days across three communities where Mr Floyd was born, grew up and died, Philonise recounted their childhoods and said: "I loved my brother, we had so many memories together... everybody loved George... he touched so many people's hearts." Mourners at the Frank J Lindquist sanctuary at North Central University wore masks and bumped elbows, rather than hug or shake hands at the event taking place in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. George Floyd Memorial - In pictures 1 /50 George Floyd Memorial - In pictures Courteney Ross, the fiancee of George Floyd reacts after a memorial service for Floyd at North Central University AP People attend a memorial service for George Floyd Reuters George Floyd's six-year-old daughter Gianna (right) arrives for the memorial service in honour of George Floyd AFP via Getty Images Entertainer Kevin Hart joins guests AP People stand outside during George Floyd's memorial service Reuters People attend a memorial service for George Floyd Reuters People stand outside during George Floyd's memorial service Reuters Actor Kevin Hart and musician Ludacris are seen during a memorial service for George Floyd Reuters Musician Ludacris attends the memorial service Reuters Producer Will Packer attends the memorial service Reuters Courtney Ross, George Floyd's girlfriend, pays respect during a memorial service for George Floyd Reuters Reverend Al Sharpton speaks during the memorial service Reuters Civil rights attorney Ben Crump Reuters Martin Luther King III Reuters Former NBA player Stephen Jackson AP Goerge Floyd's family speak during a memorial service AFP via Getty Images Philonise Floyd embraces cousin Shareeduh Tate AP Brandon Floyd speaks at the memorial service for his uncle AP George Floyd's nephew Brandon Williams Reuters Civil rights attorney Ben Crump Reuters George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd, right, and cousin Shareeduh Tate, left, share memories of George AP Reverend Al Sharpton speaking Reuters Film producer Will Packer, left, actor-comedian Kevin Hart, center, and rapper Ludicris applaud during a memorial service AP Tyrese Gibson and Tiffany Haddish AP Reverend Jesse Jackson Reuters Shareeduh Tate, family member of George Floyd, reacts during a memorial service for George Floyd Reuters George Floyd's casket on display during hismemorial service Reuters The casket of George Floyd is wheeled into a hearse outside the Trask Worship Center at North Central University Reuters Martin Luther King III pays his respects at a memorial service for George Floyd Reuters Tyrese Gibson, Tiffany Haddish, Will Packer, Kevin Hart, and Ludacris attend a memorial service for George Floyd Getty Images Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey kneels in front of George Floyd's coffin Reuters Tyrese Gibson, Tiffany Haddish, Will Packer, Kevin Hart, and Ludacris attend a memorial service for George Floyd Getty Images Courteney Ross, the fiancee of George Floyd, left, reacts after a memorial service for Floyd AP People attend a public memorial in New York Reuters Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity march over the Brooklyn Bridge after a memorial service for George Floyd Getty Images People attend a public memorial in New York Reuters Terrence Floyd, the brother of George Floyd speaks as he attends a public memorial in New York REUTERS People attend a public memorial in New York Reuters After the service, Mr Floyds body is going to Raeford, North Carolina, the state where he was born 46 years ago, for a two-hour public viewing and private service for the family on Saturday. A public viewing will be held on Monday in Houston, where he was raised and lived most of his life, and a 500-person service on Tuesday will take place at The Fountain of Praise church. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey at the memorial service / REUTERS Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, may attend the service, and other political figures and celebrities are expected as well. A private burial will follow. At the memorial on Thursday, a small band and choir sang the gospel classic Goin Up Yonder as mourners gathered, while Rev Jesse Jackson entered and prayed for several moments over Mr Floyds golden casket. George Floyd's girlfriend, Courtney Ross, attends the memorial service / REUTERS Others followed his lead, including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Among the celebrities in attendance were Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Marsai Martin. Projected above the pulpit inside the sanctuary was the blue and orange mural which has been painted at the site of a makeshift memorial in the neighbourhood where Mr Floyd died. Giving a eulogy, Rev Al Sharpton said: "George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is you kept your knee on our neck. "It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks!"' Politicians and family members gathered at the memorial / AP He added: "I want us to not sit here and act like we had a funeral on the schedule. George Floyd should not be among the deceased. He did not die of common health conditions." Mr Sharpton vowed that this will become a movement to "change the whole system of justice". He ended his eulogy with an eight minute and 46 second silence - the amount of time a white police officer pressed his knee on Mr Floyd's neck before he died on May 25. "Think about what George was going through for those eight minutes, begging for his life," he said. "We can't let these things go. We can't keep living like this." Outside, hundreds chanted Mr Floyd's name as a hearse prepared to carry him away. Artwork was projected behind the casket / AFP via Getty Images Mr Floyds final journey was designed with intention, Mr Sharpton said. Having left Houston for Minneapolis in 2014 in search of a job and a new life, Mr Floyd will retrace that path. They collectively said we need to make the first memorial statement from the city he chose to go to make a living, that ended his life, he said. The farewells for Mr Floyd, who was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store, come as demonstrations across the US and around the globe continue. Crowds gather outside the memorial / AP Relative quiet continued for a second night following a decision by prosecutors to charge Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao - the three other Minneapolis officers at the scene of Mr Floyds death with aiding and abetting a murder. The charge against Derek Chauvin, the officer at the centre of the case, was also upgraded to second-degree murder. The attorney for Mr Floyds family, Ben Crump, called the additional charges against the officers a bittersweet moment and a significant step forward on the road to justice. Mayor Jacob Frey, second from right, and First Lady Sarah Clarke, pause before George Floyd's casket / AP From Paris and London to Tel Aviv, Sydney, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro, Mr Floyds death has prompted demonstrations, with protesters decrying inequality, police brutality and other problems in their own countries. Minnesota governor Tim Walz, said Americans need to seize the moment and confront the effects of racism, including unequal educational and economic opportunities. I think this is probably our last shot, as a state and as a nation, to fix this systemic issue, he said. In Minneapolis alone, more than 220 buildings were damaged or burned during the protests, with damage topping $55 milion, city officials said. More than 10,000 people have been arrested across the US. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that India could launch a "false flag operation" against it and warned that Islamabad will respond with "full might" to any misadventure. Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Babar Iftikhar said any action by India "will create uncontrollable and unintended consequences". In order to divert attention from the internal issues, India is planning a "false flag operation against Pakistan" but "any such misadventure will be responded with full force", Iftikhar told Geo TV. He also rejected the allegations of "launch-pads and infiltration". Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in April said the Indian Army is carrying out targeted strikes on terror launch pads along the Line of Control (LoC) and eliminating the Pakistani infiltrators before they cross over to the Indian side. Iftikhar said Pakistan was ready to give access to the international media to the Line of Control (LoC) as it had done in the past. The ties between India and Pakistan strained following the Pulwama terror attack and the subsequent Balakot airstrikes by the Indian Air Force in February last year. The bilateral relations further nose-dived following the Indian goverment's abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August last that revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. The move angered Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties with India and expelled the Indian High Commissioner. Diamond Hill Capital recently released its Q1 2020 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download below. The Diamond Hill Small Cap Fund posted a return of -36.17% for the quarter, underperforming its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index which returned -30.61% in the same quarter. You should check out Diamond Hill Capital's top 5 stock picks for investors to buy right now, which could be the biggest winners of the stock market crash. There werent a lot of funds who could deliver these kinds of returns without shorting the market or using aggressive put options. In the said letter, Diamond Hill Capital highlighted a few stocks and American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) is one of them. American International Group is a finance and insurance company. Year-to-date, American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) stock lost 35.6% and on June 3rd it had a closing price of $33.25. Here is what Diamond Hill Capital said: "Property and casualty insurance company American International Group, Inc. outperformed after we initiated a position late in the quarter. The company is in the middle stages of a turnaround in its property and casualty insurance business that has shown significant progress recently. We believe the current valuation fails to reflect the strong improvements made thus far, the improved risk profile of the company, and the excellent management team executing the turnaround." In Q1 2020, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) stock decreased by about 17% from the previous quarter (see the chart here), so a number of other hedge fund managers don't seem to agree with AIG's growth potential. Our calculations showed that American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds. The top 10 stocks among hedge funds returned 185% since the end of 2014 and outperformed the S&P 500 Index ETFs by more than 109 percentage points. We know it sounds unbelievable. You have been dismissing our articles about top hedge fund stocks mostly because you were fed biased information by other media outlets about hedge funds' poor performance. You could have doubled the size of your nest egg by investing in the top hedge fund stocks instead of dumb S&P 500 ETFs. Below you can watch our video about the top 5 hedge fund stocks right now. All of these stocks had positive returns in 2020. Story continues Video: Top 5 Stocks Among Hedge Funds At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, 2020's unprecedented market conditions provide us with the highest number of trading opportunities in a decade. So we are checking out trades like this one. We interview hedge fund managers and ask them about their best ideas. If you want to find out the best healthcare stock to buy right now, you can watch our latest hedge fund manager interview here. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. Our best call in 2020 was shorting the market when the S&P 500 was trading at 3150 after realizing the coronavirus pandemics significance before most investors. You can subscribe to our free enewsletter below to receive our stories in your inbox: [daily-newsletter][/daily-newsletter] Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. 12 Shares Share Coronavirus has overwhelmed hospitals, staff, and supply chains, stripped many Americans of health care coverage along with their jobs, and affected billions of people worldwide with mounting fatalities. Despite its massive human toll, the pandemic offers the promise of a much-improved health care system for the future. Our response to this tragedy paves the way for integrated, value-based health care systems in which patients receive the care they need without exhausting resources; doctors practice medicine without borders via telemedicine; hospitals function without walls; and supply chains are redundant and function more reliably. By stressing known weaknesses in the United States health care system, the pandemic has forced health care and government leaders to make immediate changes that have spread best practices and promise long-term benefits. Alleviating cost concerns for both patients and providers In the U.S., already with the highest cost of care per capita, this pandemic has only exacerbated the cost divide such that, according to a recent poll, 1 in 7 Americans would not seek treatment because they fear they cannot afford it. Patients arent alone in suffering the economic impact. Physician groups whose revenues come from traditional private insurance which pays a fee for each service after it is provided experienced sharp drops in revenue as shelter-in-place orders halted office visits. Many primary care doctors subsequently urged the government and private health plans to advance monthly payments on their usual billings to bridge revenue gaps, and Medicare started offering the option to its providers. Some physician practices have called for advance payments to continue beyond the crisis. Such moves could accelerate a shift from traditional fee-for-service models to integrated, value-based care, which can include a monthly payment per member with a mechanism to reward better health outcomes. Should this shift succeed, it could reduce the overall cost of U.S. health care. It would also better position the country to survive this and future public health crises because integrated, value-based systems encourage providers and payers to work together to scale innovations that lower costs and improve health outcomes. Such innovations have included developing and investing in population health data systems that can be used to track patients at high risk for contracting emerging diseases. Doctors without state borders Similarly, telehealth originally was a value-based solution to provide care by phone or video to patients living in remote areas, and that quickly spread to urban areas. During the pandemic, telehealth allows physicians to transcend shelter-in-place orders and physical distancing boundaries to care for patients, who have embraced it. In recent weeks, telehealth visits have increased as much as fourfold in some health systems as patients turn to video and phone visits for conditions ranging from skin rashes to COVID-19 symptoms. To support and augment the physician workforce in a state, during the pandemic, many state governments issued emergency licenses and relaxed existing requirements, allowing qualified physicians to practice medicine virtually and in-person across state borders. Telehealth also turned home health care into a new front in the fight against COVID-19, freeing surge hospital capacity by enabling some patients to receive acute, hospital-level care at home. To augment hospital capacity for critical coronavirus patients, while giving uninfected patients the care they need, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in March released its waiver, Hospitals without Walls. The waiver allows hospitals to bill for services to patients who meet certain criteria and can be cared for in offsite facilities, including hotels or community facilities, by a virtual physician 24/7. The shift to providing care offsite, or in such alternative venues of care, in the post-COVID era likely will accelerate a decade-long trend of declines in hospital utilization. Advances in anesthesia and minimally invasive and robotic surgery minimize the risk of morbidity and mortality, reduce recovery times, and shift procedures and care into outpatient settings. For example, most ophthalmologic surgeries now occur in ambulatory settings. Future inpatient acute care will move in two directions: consolidation and specialization, in which hospitals care for sicker patients; and a shift of short-term acute care to less specialized settings closer to or where patients live, e.g., in their homes. In both or either, centralized hubs with virtualist physicians and clinicians monitor and provide virtual care throughout the system. This acute care ecosystem will be enabled by highly adaptable workforce of caregivers without borders, robust supply chain, technology, and agile federal and state regulations all of which must work to ensure safe, high-quality, affordable health care services. Building resilient supply chains and more The global need and utilization of testing supplies, ventilators, pharmaceuticals, and personal protective equipment in this pandemic has highlighted critical flaws in the U.S. and global supply chains. For example, many supplies N95s, gloves, swabs, testing reagents, to name a few came from a single source, often located in hotspots including Wuhan, China, and Northern Italy. In the future, the U.S. health care system needs more supply chain redundancy and stable stockpiles. We need systems and processes for flawless delivery of equipment and services where and when they are needed. Improving supply chains, leveraging telehealth, and creating more efficient and effective acute care ecosystems are among the many lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the time to turn those lessons into action and re-imagine, re-engineer, and rebuild our health care system to deliver safe, effective, and high-quality affordable care for our patients and communities. We must not waste the opportunity this crisis presents. Imelda Dacones is an internal medicine physician and can be reached on Twitter @ImeldaDaconesMD. Image credit: Shutterstock.com BURNABY, British Columbia, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 30% of independent Thomson Reuters shareholders voted in favour of a proposal asking for the company to investigate and report on potential human rights abuses enabled by contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. agency at the heart of the Trump administrations immigrant detention and deportation agenda. The proposal was presented by the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union , an institutional investor in Thomson Reuters. In response to the AGM results, BCGEU President Stephanie Smith released the following statement: Todays AGM vote sends a clear message: Thomson Reuters shareholders are concerned that their company is failing to tackle the very serious and concerning human rights risks related to its contracts with ICE. Our proposal has clearly resonated with investors. As we said at the AGM, we are not going away, and we intend to keep pushing Thomson Reuters to protect shareholder value. Thomson Reuters has received over US$70 million in ICE contracts to provide data brokerage services that help the U.S. agency target undocumented immigrants for detention and deportation. The company, via its CLEAR software, amasses data from private and public databases on individuals, like social media information, phone data, license plate scans, utility bills, financial information, arrest records, insurance information, employment records, and more. The software has also been used by Minnesota law enforcement for surveillance on the community, according to new reporting from Buzzfeed News . Minneapolis has been the centre of protests in the United States following the May 25 killing of 46-year-old George Floyd by police officers. Recent reports note that the company does not merely provide off the shelf software, Thomson Reuters employees fine-tune target lists and provide those lists to ICE with address changes, credit activities, location, and more. This technology has been directly linked to the deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States, potentially involving family separation and the detention of people in conditions that violate their human rights. Today, we asked a simple question: will Thomson Reuters address the troubling human rights issues related to how its software is being used, and to make sure it is living up to its obligations as a participant in the United Nations Global Compact? Todays strong vote shows that shareholders are worried about the current direction of the company, need more information, and deserve answers, said Smith. The proposal was endorsed by proxy firm Glass Lewis with a global client base of institutions that collectively manage more than $25 trillion in assets, in addition to other high-profile institutional investors, lawyers, and human rights experts. A non-profit agency that provides housing and programming for people with intellectual disabilities in Winnipeg is branching out, acquiring the Manitoba franchise of Nurse Next Door home care business. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A non-profit agency that provides housing and programming for people with intellectual disabilities in Winnipeg is branching out, acquiring the Manitoba franchise of Nurse Next Door home care business. The CEO of DASCH (Direct Action in Support of Community Homes Inc.), Karen Fonseth, said the organization is taking this action to help subsidize the cost of continuing to operate close to 60 homes for people with intellectual disabilities. Rising public sector expenditures to alleviate the effect COVID-19 is having on the economy is just another factor making social service funding that much more vulnerable. Fonseth said the hope is that its Nurse Next Door business will be able to grow enough to provide DASCH with greater financial security. Based out of Vancouver, Nurse Next Door Home Care Services is becoming one of the most successful franchise operations. It has more than 200 locations across North America. Founded in 2001, the company offers a full spectrum of in-home care services, from caring companionship to 24-hour palliative care and nursing support. Its tagline is Happier Aging. Some franchises have been operating for close to 20 years and have hundreds of clients and caregivers. Fonseth said DASCH has been investigating opportunities to diversify its funding base with an associated enterprise for about four years. DASCHs multimillion-dollar operation relies on the provincial government for the lions share of its funding. "Over the years it is getting very difficult for government to continue funding (social service organizations) at the level that they need to be funded," Fonseth said. "It has become very clear that social innovation will become more important." Nurse Next Door will be a distinct operation from DASCH with a separate board of directors and separate staff (other than Fonseth, who will head both operations). But the fact that DASCH has experience in providing quality care for a segment of the population with unique needs and an administrative infrastructure including a human resource department that is almost always in hiring mode makes Fonseth confident it can grow the Nurse Next Door operation in Manitoba. The home-care business requires specific expertise and sensitivity. Demand exists in cities and towns and across the socio-economic spectrum and it may also be recession-proof. "While virtually every industry has been affected drastically as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our franchise partners continue to be uniquely positioned to provide even greater support for our communities," says Nurse Next Door CEO Cathy Thorpe. The franchise fee is $65,000 and while there had previously been someone who held the rights in Manitoba, the business was not developed in the past. Nurse Next Door employs nurses, certified health-care aids as well as companions to deliver a wide range of services. At the heart of Nurse Next Doors "Happier Aging" philosophy is the notion that its service can help clients engage in the one thing they used to love to do, which they are no longer able to. Its services which cost $35 per hour and are booked with a minimum of three hours per day, three days per week range from companionship and general housekeeping and meals, to personal care, Alzheimers and dementia support, end-of-life care and in-home nursing care. Fonseth said while it is a private service that clients will be billed for, Manitoba home care clients can self-direct home-care funding to private options. 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. Fonseth said the DASCH board was careful in its analysis of the business proposition and was mindful that it would not compromise its standing with the province. Thorpe said most of its franchisees are individuals, but that DASCH was not the first organization of its type who have been awarded a franchise. "What we love about DASCH is the alignment between our organizations and how deeply we care for the communities we serve," she said. "DASCH is an expert in the residential supportive living sector this expertise will certainly be valuable as they build their Nurse Next Door operation in Winnipeg." Fonseth is not aware of any other social service organization like DASCH making this kind of commitment to establish an alternative revenue stream. The province recently established an office of social innovation and it has been encouraging. "We are aware we are blazing a trail and were proud of it," she said. "It is just not fair to rely on one source of funding these days. Thats when things can come crumbling down. It is about diversifying and caring for vulnerable individuals that we all care for." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca "Always remember to put others' needs above your own fears." Meghan Markle recalled the advice that she got from one of her teachers at Immaculate Heart High School and Middle School in Los Angeles during a virtual commencement address to her alma mater on Wednesday evening. "That has stuck with me through my entire life," Markle said, "and I've thought about it more in the last week than ever." Amid the nationwide protests against the treatment of black Americans and police brutality, Markle recalled being a child experiencing the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which were "also triggered by a senseless act of racism," she said. In 1991, a black man named Rodney King was violently beaten by members of the LAPD, and the incident was videotaped. Though four policemen were charged with excessive use of force in the case, they were later found not guilty, which ignited the riots. Markle was around 11 or 12 and about to begin middle school when she witnessed the riots in her neighborhood. "I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home, and on that drive home seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke," Markle said. "And seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out buildings and looting and seeing men in the back of the van just holding guns and rifles." A tree in her yard, "was completely charred," she said. The memories "don't go away," she said. Markle, now 38, drew parallels to the current protests in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. "The first thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry," Markle told the graduating students. "I am so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present." However, "the other thing though that I do remember about [the '92 riots] was how people came together," Markle said. And today "we are seeing people stand in solidarity, we're seeing communities come together and uplift," she said. "And you are going to be part of this movement." Markle encouraged the graduates to channel what they've learned into the current political climate. "Now all of that work gets activated; now you get to be part of rebuilding," she said. "You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice," she said. "I know you know that black lives matter," she said. "So I am already excited for what you are going to do in the world." Check out: The best credit cards of 2020 could earn you over $1,000 in 5 years Don't miss: PYONGYANG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has threatened to scrap the military agreement with South Korea unless Seoul stops sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the demilitarized zone, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday. Kim Yo Jong, sister of top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and the first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, on Thursday issued a statement warning against the senseless act of scattering anti-DPRK leaflets in the frontline areas by "defectors from the north," said the report. "On May 31 I heard a report that so-called "defectors from the north" scattered hundreds of thousands of anti-DPRK leaflets into the areas of our side..." Kim Yo Jong said in the statement. "The South Korean authorities must be aware of the articles of the Panmunjom Declaration and the agreement in the military field in which both sides agreed to ban all hostile acts, including leaflet-scattering in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line," said the statement. Before long the nation is to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration, it said, warning that "if such an act of evil intention committed before our eyes is left to take its own course under the pretext of 'freedom of individuals' and 'freedom of expression,' the South Korean authorities must face the worst phase shortly." The statement also warned that the North will completely withdraw from the Kaesong industrial project and shut down the joint liaison office in the North's border city, unless Seoul stopped such actions. The North-South relationship warmed up in 2018 when their leaders held three meetings on inter-Korean cooperation. But the cooperation stalled after Kim Jong Un failed to reach an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019. LOS ANGELES Those who remember the last time the Insurrection Act was used, during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, warn that President Donald Trump could undo decades of progress between police and the communities they serve if he invokes it now. Calling governors weak and urging them to "dominate" American cities, Trump threatened Monday to invoke the little-known law against people protesting the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. The Insurrection Act, which dates to 1807, allows the president to call up active-duty military units or federalize the National Guard under certain circumstances. "We don't need to be telling people that we're going to dominate them. That language doesn't work," said professor Erroll Southers, a former law enforcement officer who specializes in national and homeland security issues at the University of Southern California. "It just reinforces where we were decades ago." California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Defense Secretary Mark Esper both signaled distaste this week for using the Insurrection Act. Newsom said Wednesday that he would reject any attempt by Trump to militarize the response in California. "It won't happen," Newsom told reporters while visiting a cafe in South Los Angeles. "It's not going to happen. We would reject it." Esper said Wednesday that he believes the National Guard is "best suited for performing domestic support" for civil and local law enforcement. "I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," he said. "The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now." Image: Los Angeles protest (Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images) The last time the law was used, a city was burning. Citing the "urgent need to restore order," President George H.W. Bush mobilized federal troops and federal law enforcement officers to help quell the violent fervor that had overtaken parts of Los Angeles after four police officers accused of beating motorist Rodney King were found not guilty. Story continues The circumstances surrounding those riots differ greatly from those of the protests of today. In 1992, the riots weren't the peaceful protests seen recently throughout the country and around the world. People weren't urging police officers to march with them or to take a knee with them. Instead, the rioting was concentrated in Los Angeles neighborhoods targeted because of what they represented to marginalized and oppressed communities. "L.A. was the epicenter for the 1992 riots. Minneapolis might have been the epicenter for George Floyd protests, but this is now a national earthquake," Southers said. Looters zeroed in on Koreatown, in part, because a Korean business owner had killed a black teenager over a bottle of orange juice just two weeks after King was beaten in March 1991. Latasha Harlins, 15, didn't die in Koreatown, but the race of her killer fractured an already widening rift between black and Korean communities in Southern California. "They also took on businesses in their community that were not owned by black individuals," said Dr. Robert Tranquada, former dean of the Keck School of Medicine at USC, who was a member of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, which was formed in April 1991 after the beating of King. "That was a clear pattern. But this time we're not seeing that." By the time Bush invoked the Insurrection Act in May 1992, dozens of Angelenos had been killed. Businesses weren't just looted; they were burned to the ground. Entire city blocks had been reduced to rubble. Dusk-to-dawn curfews were in effect, and millions of residents were scared to leave their homes. Southers remembers watching people storm the former headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department and thinking the city was lost. It later came out that Mayor Tom Bradley hadn't spoken with Police Chief Daryl Gates for several months leading up to the riots. Their fractured relationship hampered the LAPD in its response to violence and looting. "No chief wants to say 'I need the [National Guard here].' When that decision comes, it's time to check your ego at the door," Southers said. "In 1992, Gates was like 'we got this covered,' and his troops got overrun." It didn't take long for that to happen. The riots erupted within hours of the four officers' being acquitted, largely because of ongoing distrust between police and the black community. Bradley, who was African American, told The Associated Press in 1991 that he hadn't been allowed to ride with a white officer in the 1940s even though he was a member of the force. The riots changed how the LAPD functioned. In the following decades, the department hired more people of color into its lower and upper ranks. Some officers turned into community liaisons and became more involved in the daily lives of residents. Police were encouraged to stop driving through neighborhoods and to learn the names of people who lived in them, instead. Southers worries that if a military response to the current unrest were to sour relations between communities and law enforcement, police officers would ultimately pay the price, not just in Los Angeles but also across the country. "When the National Guard leaves, the officers are still going to be there," he said. "Trust is going to disintegrate." Three days into the 1992 riots, Bush deployed 4,000 soldiers and Marines to Los Angeles to end what The Washington Post called "days of urban anarchy." Bush also mobilized 1,000 federal troops trained in urban policing. More than 4,000 National Guard members had already been in place by the time federal assistance arrived in Los Angeles. Seeing the armored vehicles roll in seemed to reassure law-abiding business owners and perhaps force potential looters to think twice. Full coverage of George Floyd's death and protests around the country Angelenos who remember the riots recall an almost deafening silence settling over the city as unrest wore on. Armed civilians flanked the rooftops of buildings to protect their businesses. In areas that weren't being looted, residents hid in their homes. The scene unfolding across the country today is demonstrably different. Protesters are young and old, men and women of all ages, races and incomes pouring into the streets in a show of solidarity for Floyd and others like him. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was seen demonstrating in Washington, D.C., with her husband and their golden retriever in tow. Eyewitness accounts suggest that some of the violence across the country was started by law enforcement. A crowd demonstrating outside the White House was hit with tear gas this week to facilitate a presidential photo opportunity, and journalists have been injured or arrested. It remains unclear what role the active military would play in quelling the unrest if it's deployed under the Insurrection Act. The federal communications department spent more than $99,000 seeking a second opinion on the state of Australia's struggling regional broadcasting sector after an initial report proposed regulatory reform. Advisory firm KordaMentha was hired by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communication last November to conduct 'independent research or assessment' on regional broadcasters, including WIN Corp, Prime Media Group and Southern Cross Austereo, three months after a report was completed by retired PwC partner and media and telecommunications industry leader Megan Brownlow. The Morrison government commissioned two reports on the regional broadcasting sector in six months. Credit:Jessica Hromas In her report, Ms Brownlow agreed with the view of regional broadcasting executives, laying out the dire state of the sector and a need for regulatory change to prevent closures in the near-term, which can be defined as the next 12-18 months. Sources familiar with the report's findings said Ms Brownlow, who was paid $11,200 for the research, set out a list of recommendations including the removal of media laws, which would allow for mergers and acquisitions in television, print and radio to salvage regional newsrooms. British Airways could be stripped of lucrative landing slots at Heathrow Airport after it was accused of abusing the Government's furloughing scheme. Britain's flag carrier is facing a growing backlash from MPs, ministers and union leaders after claiming taxpayer subsidies to pay the wages of 23,000 staff, shortly before announcing 12,000 job cuts. The move, which was criticised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week, could now prove costly for Britain's flag carrier. BA is facing a growing backlash from MPs, ministers and union leaders after claiming taxpayer subsidies to pay the wages of 23,000 staff, shortly before announcing 12,000 job cuts Aviation minister Kelly Tolhurst yesterday voiced concerns about BA's use of the Job Retention Scheme and pledged to review the allocation of landing slots at Heathrow, which has given it a stranglehold at Britain's busiest airport. Speaking on behalf of Chancellor Rishi Sunak, she said the scheme 'was not designed for taxpayers to fund the wages of employees, only for those companies to put the same staff on notice of redundancy during the furlough period'. Asked whether airline slots will be transferred to airlines that are taking on workers, Tolhurst replied: 'I want to ensure the slots allocation process encourages competition and provides connectivity, so this is something that I will be looking at.' The minister was responding to an urgent question in Parliament from Huw Merriman, a Tory MP and chairman of the House of Commons transport committee. Echoing concerns raised by the Unite and GMB unions, he accused the airline of 'effectively sacking' its entire workforce of 42,000 people and trying to rehire the 30,000 who survive the job cuts on 'inferior terms'. The airline has submitted notices to staff and unions, warning them that their pay, perks and benefits are under review. Merriman said: 'It's ethically outrageous that our national flag-carrier is doing this at a time when the nation is at its weakest and when we expect the country to do its bit.' The senior MP then urged the Government to 'use its full weight to stop unscrupulous employers from using this pandemic as a chance to slash terms and conditions'. He said the Department for Transport should ask the Civil Aviation Authority to launch an 'urgent review' into reallocating lucrative landing slots at Heathrow, and giving them to airlines that want to expand. And he called for a Government review into the Job Retention Scheme to stop employers furloughing staff at the expense of the taxpayer while simultaneously putting those same employees on redundancy notice. BA occupies just over half the landing slots at Heathrow. These slots, which give an airline the right to take off and land at a certain time, can be worth several millions of pounds at Heathrow. The aviation industry has been brought to its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has grounded planes and devastated the global tourism industry. A succession of major airlines, including Easyjet and Virgin Atlantic, have also announced mass redundancies shortly after furloughing thousands of jobs. When it announced the job cuts in April, BA warned it does not expect demand for air travel to return to 2019 levels before 2023. Calling for a review into BA's landing slots at Heathrow, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: 'No other employer has threatened to effectively fire and rehire its workforce.' But in a letter to staff, BA chief executive Alex Cruz hit back, stressing: 'I want to save as many jobs as possible.' He said the Government's decision to enforce a 14-day quarantine on anyone travelling to Britain from Monday has 'dealt another blow to our industry'. He added: 'Bizarrely, the unions are now campaigning to have Heathrow slots taken away from British Airways. 'I don't need to tell you that every slot lost will lead to jobs in BA being permanently lost.' This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Sanofi to launch Action 2020, a worldwide employee stock purchase plan A plan taking place in almost 75 countries Subscription per five shares entitle the employee to one matching share1 PARIS June 3, 2020 Sanofi announces the launch of Action 2020 on June 8, 2020, a worldwide stock purchase plan reserved for its employees, which should take place in almost 75 countries. Sanofis strategy aims at providing long-term growth and value for its stakeholders while turning innovation into transformative medicines for patients. By doing such a capital increase, Sanofi intends to better associate its employees who are key contributors in this value creation, to the future development and results of the company. On February 5, 2020 the Board of Directors authorized an issuance of ordinary shares of Sanofi for the benefit of employees participating in the Group Savings Plan. The subscription price is 70.67. It is equal to 80 % of the average of the opening price of the Sanofi share on Euronext Paris over the 20 stock exchange trading sessions preceding June 2, 2020. Any subscription per five shares as part of such issuance shall entitle the employee to one matching share. Subscriptions equal to or higher than 20 shares shall give right to 4 matching shares as an employer contribution. Employees may choose to subscribe a maximum of 1,500 shares within the limit of a maximum subscription amount which does not exceed 25% of their gross annual remuneration. An eligibility condition of three months of seniority as at the closing date of the subscription period will be applied. The subscription period will run from June 8, 2020 (inclusive) until June 26, 2020 (inclusive). The issuance of new shares and the share delivery process should occur at the end of July 2020. The total number of Sanofi shares that may be issued under the plan is limited to 6,269,231 shares (corresponding to a share capital increase in terms of par value of up to 12,538,461, representing 0.5 % of the share capital). Story continues The newly issued shares, including the matching shares (the Shares) will be subscribed (or delivered) either directly or through employee shareholding funds (FCPE), depending on the legal and/or tax regulations applicable in the various countries of residence of the beneficiaries of the capital increase. The Shares will be fully fungible with the existing ordinary shares of Sanofi and will be entitled to dividends distributed on benefits relating to the fiscal year starting as of January 1, 2020. The voting rights attached to the Shares subscribed will be directly exercised by the employees. The subscribers to the plan will be required to hold the Shares or the corresponding FCPE units during a period of approximately five years, i.e. until May 31, 2025, except upon the occurrence of an early exit event provided in Article R. 3324-22 of the French Labor Code and authorized in the country of the subscriber. The listing of the Shares on the Euronext Paris market (ISIN Code: FR0000120578) on the same listing line as the existing shares will be requested as soon as possible after the completion of the capital increase. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to purchase Sanofi shares. The offering of Sanofi shares reserved for employees will be conducted only in countries where such an offering has been registered or notified to the competent local authorities and/or following approval of a prospectus by the competent local authorities or in consideration of an exemption to prepare a prospectus or to make any registration or notification of the offering, when such a procedure is required. More generally, the offering will only be conducted in countries where all required filing procedures and/or notifications have been completed and the authorizations have been obtained, and procedures for consultation or information of staff representatives have been fulfilled. This press release is not intended for, and copies thereof should not be sent to, countries in which such a prospectus has been approved or such an exemption is not available or where all of the required filing procedures, notifications, consultation and/or information required have been completed or where the authorizations have been obtained. This applies in particular to Cameroon and Morocco, where the formalities are still pending with the authorities, but could also involve other countries. For any questions related to the following share capital increase, each beneficiary may consult the information booklet and all other documents made available and/or contact his/her human resources manager. This press release is made in reliance of the exemption from publishing a prospectus provided for in Article 1 4i) and 5h) of the Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 . It constitutes the document required to qualify for the exemption from the requirement to publish a prospectus as defined in the EU Prospectus Regulation About Sanofi Sanofi is dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges. We are a global biopharmaceutical company focused on human health. We prevent illness with vaccines, provide innovative treatments to fight pain and ease suffering. We stand by the few who suffer from rare diseases and the millions with long-term chronic conditions. With more than 100,000 people in 100 countries, Sanofi is transforming scientific innovation into healthcare solutions around the globe. Sanofi, Empowering Life Media Relations Contact Nicolas Kressmann Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 77 46 46 mr@sanofi.com Investor Relations Contact Felix Lauscher Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 77 45 45 ir@sanofi.com . We stand by the few who suffer from rare 1 Subscriptions equal to or higher than 20 shares shall give right to 4 matching shares as an employer contribution Attachment Hyderabad, June 4 : South stars Allu Arjun and Anushka Shetty, along with the team of the Telugu superhit "Vedam", celebrated 10 years of the film's release on a video call. Thanking the team, Arjun tweeted on Thursday: "A Decade of Vedam. I would Like to Thank each and everyone who is a part of this beautiful journey. I heart fully thank @dirkrish for his vision n passion . And I would like to thank @HeroManoj1 #Anushka @BajpayeeManoj Ji & many other actors & technicians for their support. Spl THANKS to MMKeeravani garu , gyanahekar garu & other technicians. I heart fully thank Arka Media for believing in us . #DECADEOFVEDAM." He also tweeted a shot of the video call and wrote: "Interacting with Vedam Team After a Decade again. The love and warmth is still the same #DecadeofVedam." Directed by Krish, the action drama revolves around five characters, and how their lives get entangled after a terrorist attack. Reasons for adoption In recent years, the threat of "DDoS attacks," which cause web services to stop functioning by placing a large amount of processing load on servers and networks, has been increasing. In the "Top 10 Information Security Threats 2019" released by the Information-Technology Processing Agency (IPA), DDoS attacks were ranked 6th in the list of information security incidents that had a significant social impact in 2018, up from 9th place in the previous year. In addition, in the financial industry, countermeasures against DDoS attacks have become particularly important, as many financial institutions fell victim to DDoS attacks in 2017 and there were large-scale incidents where attack groups demanded money in exchange for stopping the attacks. Furthermore, with the spread of 5G, IoT, and remote-work, the scale of DDoS attacks, which can cause significant damage to companies in a relatively simple manner, is expected to increase as the world goes more and more online in the future. Due to this, Ace Securities had already adopted Shadankun's DDoS Security-type unlimited website plan (previous version), but in order to protect websites from the threat of DDoS attacks on an even larger scale than before, Ace Securities decided to update its cloud-based WAF "Shadankun" to the new DDoS Security-type specification version. Comment from Mr. Kazuto Miki, System Planning Manager, Ace Securities Co., Ltd. In recent years, cybersecurity measures have become a major management issue in the financial sector, and society demands further strengthening of cybersecurity measures in the future due to social changes and further spread of IT. We are No. 1 in Japan in terms of IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) registrations, and our website is a very important information provision tool for IFAs and IFA clients and requires a stable operation. We are very encouraged to be able to work with Cyber Security Cloud, which has excellent technology and services, to strengthen cybersecurity in this field that has become a major social issue. About the new specification of "Shadankun" DDoS security-type unlimited website plan In order to counter the growing threat of DDoS attacks, Cyber Security Cloud has updated the anti-DDoS system of "Shadankun" DDoS security-type unlimited website plan, which enables companies with many websites and group companies to provide DDoS attack countermeasures and WAF countermeasures for a fixed price without limiting the number of websites. This makes it possible to respond to DDoS attacks on a much larger scale than ever before. About Shadankun Cloud-based WAF "Shadankun" is a web security service that detects and blocks cyber-attacks on websites and web servers. Utilizing Cyneural, an attack detection AI engine using deep learning, it detects general attacks as well as unknown attacks and false-positives at high speeds, while Cyhorus, one of the world's leading threat intelligence teams, quickly responds to the latest threats. Also, it has been ranked No. 1 in Japan in terms of adoption rate. *1 For more information, please visit https://www.shadan-kun.com/ About Cyber Security Cloud, Inc. With an aim to create a secure cyberspace that people around the world can use safely, Cyber Security Cloud provides web application security services worldwide using the worlds leading cyber threat intelligence and AI technology. CSC is also certified as the 7th AWS WAF Managed Rules Seller in the world by AWS (Amazon Web Service) which boasts a 47.8% global cloud market share. *2 As a leading cybersecurity company, CSC plans to continue to strive to improve and develop new technologies and aim to be a company that can deliver effective security solutions to contribute to the information revolution. For more information, please visit https://www.cscloud.co.jp/en/ 1 Market research on "cloud-based WAF services" (as of June 16, 2019) [Research by ESP Research Institute (May 2019 to June 2019)] 2 Gartner(July 2019)Worldwide Iaas Public Cloud Services Market Share, 2017-2018 (Millions of U.S. Dollars) The US Trade Representatives (USTR) office will also conduct the Section 301 probe against nine others, including Austria, Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic, the UK, and the EU, for levying or considering digital services taxes discriminating against US companies. Image used for representational purpose. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters. The United States has decided to launch an investigation against India for levying a 2 per cent digital tax on technology majors, to determine if it unfairly targets American companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook. The US Trade Representatives (USTR) office will also conduct the Section 301 probe against nine others, including Austria, Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic, the UK, and the EU, for levying or considering digital services taxes discriminating against US companies. Section 301 of the US Trade Act empowers the USTR to investigate a trading partner's policy action that may be deemed unfair or discriminatory and negatively affects US companies. New Delhi strongly opposed the move, arguing that its digital tax measures fell within its sovereign rights and were in no way designed to discriminate against US firms. The equalisation levy imposed by India does not violate World Trade Organization rules and we are well within our rights to impose digital tax. The policy is quite broad and in no way discriminates against US companies. The US should rather focus on arriving at a consensus solution to tax digital companies at the ongoing discussions under the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) framework, a government official said. India had through an amendment in the Finance Bill 2020-21 imposed a 2 per cent digital tax on trade and services by non-resident e-commerce operators with a turnover of over Rs 2 crore, expanding the scope of equalisation levy, which till last year only applied to digital advertising services. The new levy came into effect from April 1. E-commerce operators are obligated to pay the tax at the end of each quarter. The move had drawn sharp reactions from American tech giants, including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook, which wrote to the USTR in March, complaining that it was a highly discriminatory tax on foreign companies. India has a strong case here. There has to be some evidence to say the tax that you are levying will affect primarily US multinationals, said another official. The levy is very broad in scope and equally applies to all e-commerce players, be it Chinese, Swedish, or American. It no way was designed to target American e-commerce companies, but simply to tax income accruing to foreign e-commerce companies from India, the official added. E-commerce firms that fall under the equalisation levy scope include Adobe, Uber, Udemy, Zoom.us, Expedia, Alibaba, Ikea, LinkedIn, Spotify, and eBay. The US investigation initially will focus on whether digital services taxes discriminate against US companies, are retroactive, and reflect unreasonable tax policy. Public comments are invited till July 15. USTR Robert Lighthizer said, President Trump is concerned that many of our trading partners are adopting tax schemes designed to unfairly target our companies We are prepared to take all appropriate action to defend our businesses and workers against any such discrimination. Akhilesh Ranjan, former CBDT member and chief negotiator at OECD BEPS, said India was not alone and several jurisdictions had implemented digital tax or were planning to implement as the US had gone back on its proposal at the OECD BEPS to tax the digital economy. It is the US, which in December had decided to go back on its proposal and said we cannot depart from the arms length principle and cant agree to redefine nexus. The US is not fully participating in the discussions, so there is a reaction everywhere. It will be interesting to see how strongly the US can pursue this matter with nine different jurisdictions, said Ranjan. Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, partner, Nangia Andersen LLP, said the investigation had invited public comments and would primarily deal with issues like unreasonableness of tax policies, diverging provisions from US tax laws, extra-territorial rights, and whether the digital tax mechanism was being used to penalise technology giants for their atypical success graph or for being crisis-proof in current times. India is racing towards becoming a digital giant, and one needs to wait to see if the details of this new levy would be negotiated to avoid any hurdles in its implementation, he said. Tunisian Parliament blocks motion against Libya intervention Presented by Free Destourian party (PDL) (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, JUNE 4 - A motion brought before the Tunisian Parliament by the Free Destourian Party (PDL) on the declaration related to the refusal of any foreign intervention in Libya did not pass, garnering only 94 votes in favour instead of the required minimum of 109 needed for approval, with 68 votes against and seven abstentions. PDL is a secular political formation inspired by Bourguibism and led by Abir Moussi. The motion was presented to "oppose any foreign intervention in Libya and the creation of a logistical base on Tunisian soil" and was backed by Tahya Tounes, the modernist party that is part of the governing coalition; as well as the opposition parties Qalb Tounes, National Reform, and Al Mostakbal. The respective four parliamentary groups had sent a joint statement to the speaker of parliament to respect diplomatic practices and avoid interference of powers, as well as to respect the constant of Tunisian diplomacy of not interfering in foreign affairs. During a heated discussion in parliament, the focus was on attacks on the speaker of parliament and leader of the Tunisian Islamic party Ennhadha, Rached Ghannouchi, accused of having had "contacts without notice with foreign countries", in particular referring to a meeting with the Turkish head of state. During the incendiary speech by Abir Moussi, which was a de facto direct attack on Ghannouchi's behavior, the majority of MPs in the Islamic coalition Al Karama and those of Ennhadha left the chamber.(ANSAmed). FILE -- Dr. Paul Casey makes a video call at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on March 6, 2020. Amid the uncertainty swirling around the coronavirus pandemic some experts recommend that older adults at risk cancel nonessential doctors appointments, including wellness visits, instead to consider using Telemedicine sessions, if available, as a reasonable substitute. (Danielle Scruggs/The New York Times) Online doctor consultation provider DocsApp on June 4 said it has raised around $20 million in Series-B from venture capital (VC) investors in the US and Japan. This investment also includes last month's fundraising of $9.6 million. In the latest fundraise, Bessemer Venture Partners, Fusion Capital, Mitsui Sumitomo and Beyond Next Ventures have invested, along with existing investors Rebright Partners and Milliways Ventures. Bessemer Venture Partners and Fusion Capital pitched $5 million each in Series-B round of funding. "We will be using the funds to strengthen doctor base, expand patient reach and invest on technologies and services," said Satish Kannan, Co-founder & CEO, DocsApp. Kannan and Enbasekar Dinadayalane will maintain controlling stake post fundraising. 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 Merger with Medibuddy DocsApp announced a merger with cashless digital healthcare platform Medibuddy for an undisclosed amount. The merger will be in a cash-and-stock deal. Both brands will continue to exist independently. Kannan said the joint entity will cater to the needs of 3 crore consumers with 90,000 registered doctors, 7,000 hospitals, 3,000 labs and 2,500 pharmacies on the platform. Kannan said post-merger, they will be able to service 95 percent of pin-codes. Currently, 50 percent of customers of DocsApp are from small towns and rural areas. COVID-19 boost to telemedicine DocsApp is one of the big beneficiaries of COVID-19, as more people are consulting doctors online. Kannan said online consultations on his platform jumped 60 percent jump over the last two months. It's not just patients, even doctors and hospitals are now coming on board to make themselves accessible to patients. Kannan said the government announcement of telemedicine guidelines has given confidence to doctors and hospitals. Telemedicine guidelines have clarified on consent and technology applications that constitute telemedicine. Telemedicine includes video calling, chat platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, among others, or Mobile App or internet-based digital platforms like Skype, email and fax. Every day DocsApp does about 25,000 consults. The company says about 70 percent of the traffic on its platform is related to consultation and the rest is for medicines and diagnostics. Bengaluru-based DocsApp was established by IITians, Kannan and Dinadayalane in 2015. The new "Mars Conqueror Mk3 Fighter" watch points to the future hence its futuristic design, seasoned with a clearly tangible militaristic touch. The terrestrial time is supplemented in this watch by the 24-hour time zone indicator hand, while the Konstantin Chaykin-invented "Martian" wheel movement provides the precise indication of Martian time. A functional module entirely created in Russia by Konstantin Chaykin Manufactory. The complexities of the watch mechanics of the "Mars Conqueror Mk3 Fighter" are shown by the fact that the functional module is made up of 125 separate parts, each meticulously processed and finished by hand in full accordance with the traditions of haute horlogerie. The first Martian aviator watch in history The "Mars Conqueror Mk3 Fighter" watch looks to the future, which is why one can find in its design the futuristic forms of the Martian space fleet as imagined and designed by Konstantin Chaykin. In the brutal yet at the same time ergonomic case of a dynamic, trapezoidal design, which is dominated by triangular edges, there is a bezel fixed to the case by 24 functional screws, resembling the mooring lock of a spacecraft docking system. Watches of the first edition are made of titanium, traditionally perceived as an aircraft and space material, which is in the best way consistent with the purpose and functionality of the new watch. Only 8 pieces will be released. The "Mars Conqueror Mark3 Fighter" watch is equipped with automatic caliber K.15-0 with indicator of local Earth time; second time zone (UTC) indicator with central 24-hour hand; Mars time (MCT); mode indicator of the functional (winding) crown. There are two vertical crowns with unique functionality set on the titanium case invented by Konstantin Chaykin, with genuine black leather strap with orange stitching and orange lining. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1175930/Konstantin_Mars_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1175931/Konstantin_Mars_2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1175932/Konstantin_Mars_3.jpg Contact: Konstantin Chaykin [email protected] +7-(977)-800-02-88 SOURCE Konstantin Chaykin LLC Corey Shelton, an eighth grade science teacher in Jackson, Michigan, has earned a pension after more than 20 years on the job, but now hes concerned that the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic will threaten the monthly checks hes been counting on to fund his retirement. Were riding the first wave of a financial tsunami, says Shelton, 43, who expects to retire in four years. We dont know the financial devastation thats going to come out of this. Before this crisis even began, state pension plans across the country were already more than $1 trillion short of the funding needed to pay their future obligations to retirees, according to retirement experts at The Pew Charitable Trusts. Save better, spend better: Money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here Pensions typically receive funding from employer contributions that are invested in a wide range of assets, including stocks and bonds. Gains from those investments are designed to help reduce the amount the employer needs to add to the pension fund to make future payments to retirees. Now, with stocks well below recent highs and state and local government budgets crunched due to the coronavirus, public pensions are suddenly at risk of even greater shortfalls. Facing an immediate gap in state revenue of $650 billion over the next three years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, officials may postpone pension contributions and slash future benefits for teachers, police officers, firefighters and state workers. At the same time, the risk of bankruptcy has suddenly jumped for cash-strapped cities and counties throughout the country, raising the prospect of pension cuts for current retirees, like what happened after the City of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2013. After U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in April floated the possibility of allowing states to file for bankruptcy instead of providing them money to plug their budget deficits, state government retirees voiced concerns that such a process could jeopardize their pensions, too. Story continues When Arlene Buckley of New Jersey heard McConnell had proposed that option, she immediately feared the worst. Thats going to be horrendous for us if that happens, says Buckley, who has been collecting a state pension for 18 years since retiring from Rutgers University at 57. It makes me very nervous. Jackson, Michigan science teacher Corey Shelton, seen here with his son Logan, is concerned about how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's proposal to allow states to file for bankruptcy would affect his pension. Liquation sales: JCPenney, Pier 1 going-out-of-business sales are different now No match for my 401(k)? My company just stopped 401(k) matches. Now what? While only 13% of private-sector workers have a pension, 77% of state-and-local government workers have one, according to the Pension Rights Center. State and local pension funds made up 19% of Americans' retirement assets as of the third quarter of 2017, according to the Urban Institute. More than 14 million Americans had a state or local government pension with a median annual pension of $17,894 as of 2017, says the Pension Rights Center. McConnells comments came as lawmakers in Washington are debating whether to provide aid to state and local governments in their next coronavirus stimulus bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has proposed sending hundreds of billions to states to help cover their COVID-19 losses. While experts say that state bankruptcy is extremely unlikely due to constitutional law and political realities, the double-barreled crisis of market declines and budget deficits is expected to place additional pressure on states to make difficult decisions in the months and years ahead. The value of public pension funds fell by a median of 13.2% in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. That made for the worst quarter in the four decades since Wilshire TUCS began tracking the data. Although the market has recovered some of those losses since then, pension funds are still in crisis mode. Public pensions are at risk of their first full-year loss since 2009, says Greg Mennis, director of Pew Charitable Trusts' work on public sector retirement systems. 'It's really over': Corporate pensions head for extinction as nature of retirement plans changes Coronavirus fallout: Its damage assessment time for 401(k) investors In addition to investment earnings, governments fund their pensions by making annual payments based on estimates of long-term investment performance and when pension recipients will likely die. State and local pension plans would fall from 71% funded in the 2019 fiscal year to 62.7% in 2025 with a faster market recovery or 55.5% with a slower recovery, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College estimated in a May 2020 report. Experts say that the drop in revenue for state and local governments due to a decline in sources such as income taxes and sales taxes is likely to lead them to postpone contributions that could further hobble pension funds that were already shaky before this crisis began. Were now in that phase of 'what are we going to do to balance our budgets?' says Teryn Zmuda, chief economist for the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Counties, a group that represents the interest of counties. Governments will likely rely heavily on gimmicks to balance their budgets in the current situation, including short-term borrowing to cover deficits, drawing heavily on reserves, deferring certain costs until the next fiscal year or even extending the fiscal year, predicts Matt Fabian, partner at Municipal Market Analytics, which provides information on the health of municipalities and their debt. It worsens the long-term situation for pensions, Fabian says. Budget gimmicks are already happening, he says. For example, the state of New Jersey has already extended the end of its fiscal year from June 30 to Sept. 30 after the federal government extended its tax filing deadline to July 15, which affects state income tax receipts, whose revenue helps fund pensions. One strategy governments could take to fix their pension problems is to switch future workers from pensions to 401(k)-style plans. But that wont help them address current payment obligations tied to existing pension commitments, experts say. Fabian says more governments may consider issuing pension bonds, which is the equivalent of borrowing to pay the bills by adding future liabilities to pay current debts. In the early going of the pandemic, Riverside, California, issued about $727 million in pension obligation bonds to reduce its pension liabilities. A form of pension bonds played a key role in tipping Detroit into bankruptcy, in part, because the city could not afford the interest payments on the debt when its finances collapsed. Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey in trouble Pension funds in states like Illinois, New Jersey and Kentucky are in particularly rough shape, while cities like Chicago and Dallas have faced steep pension shortfalls for years. For state and local governments, the current economic crisis is wide-reaching. They are swamped by a sudden spike in public health costs, uncertainty about property tax collection in a bad economy, an abrupt decline in sales and income taxes, a drop in fee collection and a decline in pension assets. On average, state and local governments typically spent about 6% to 7% of their budget on pension contributions before the pandemic, though it varied up to about 20% in cash-strapped governments, Pews Mennis says. Those obligations are poised to increase due to the pandemic, as revenue is expected to decline while pension obligations persist. It is going to absolutely increase the amount of money that state and local governments are going to have to put in or contribute to their pension plans, says Tom Kozlik, head of municipal strategy and credit for Hilltop Securities. That could take money away from other things" because governments are legally obligated to fund pensions at certain levels. That doesnt necessarily mean states and cities will fail to send pension checks on time and in full to retirees. At least for now, pension insolvency risk is low, says Jim Van Horn, a bankruptcy attorney for Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg. But it stands to reason that states and cities will face difficult choices in terms of meeting their pension funding requirements without reducing resources for core government services. The National Association of Counties and other municipal funding advocates are calling on Washington to step in to help plug budget shortfalls caused by the pandemic. This is a critical need, Zmuda says. Its a human need, its serving residents, its keeping people healthy, its ensuring that people can keep their livelihoods and their jobs. Is bankruptcy next? Buckley, the Rutgers retiree and a resident of North Brunswick, New Jersey, says politicians need to keep the pension promises they made to retirees. I feel like I earned this, and I shouldnt have to take a cut because I think you should be managing the money I paid in taxes in a proper way, she says. Shelton, the Michigan teacher, was appalled at the prospect of allowing states to file for bankruptcy to reduce their pension obligations. Its insulting that the federal government can bail out banks and GM and airlines and cruise lines with a multitrillion-dollar bailout, but with a single news conference Mitch McConnell flippantly tells states that they can file bankruptcy and take it out on the middle class again, Shelton says. He is worried that bankruptcy would translate into pension cuts. In Sheltons state, as in dozens of others, public pensions are legally protected from cuts. But those protections have crumbled in bankruptcy cases like Detroit, where a judge ruled that pensions are contracts that can be cut under the bankruptcy process. All bets are off and my pension is now on a table if bankruptcy becomes a reality for states, Shelton says. To be sure, experts say that the prospect of bankruptcy for the states is extremely unlikely because Democrats, who oppose such a plan, control the House of Representatives and because state bankruptcy likely violates the U.S. Constitution. Its a scary thing that doesnt really exist, Fabian says. But municipal bankruptcy is a different story. The federal government allows cities, counties and other local government entities to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy if they obtain advance approval from state governments. If states dont get any or enough federal aid to plug their pandemic-caused shortfalls, they will likely cut back on revenue sharing with cities and counties, which need the cash to keep operating without massive deficits of their own, Fabian says. It is a fair expectation that well see more city bankruptcies and more payment defaults than weve seen before in the next few years, Fabian says. Yet filing for municipal bankruptcy wont necessarily solve the budget crisis for local governments given that their imminent challenge is a shortfall in revenue, Kozlik says. Bankruptcy is designed to slash debt, not boost income. Shelton says Washington needs to take action to help state and local governments preserve pensions. Nobodys downplaying the seriousness, but dont tell me you can give Carnival Cruise Line and JetBlue billions of dollars but we wont give you what we promised you for 30 years of service, Shelton said. Kozlik predicted that Congress would eventually provide hundreds of billions in aid. State and local governments are on the front lines of this health crisis, he said. I dont see how now could be the time to limit aid or relief for the entities that are on the front line. This is really a time where theyre going to need more resources, not less. Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pensions threatened: Coronavirus leads to market losses, budget crunch Retired police captain, David Dorn, was fatally shot during looting in St. Louis. The 77-year-old former police were killed after he responded to an alarm at a pawnshop on May 27, according to the St. Louis Police Department. Murder and looting According to John Hayden, the police chief of St. Louis, they have made 25 arrests throughout the night for various charges. There were also 55 businesses that were vandalized and damaged. One of the businesses that have been destroyed was defended by the retired captain David Dorn, who served the police force for 38 years. During the riot and looting, David Dorn was exercising law enforcement. Chief Hayden was a fine captain who had been well-liked and that they looked up to him and see him as a role model. KTVI reported that Dorn had been killed on May 27 at around 2:30 a.m. He laid dying on the sidewalk just in front of the pawnshop that he provided security for in the past. There is a reward offered by the St. Louis Regional Crimestoppers for $10,000 for anyone who can give information and can help them arrest the suspect behind the shooting. Brian Powell, Dorn's son, said that Dorn had been a father of five and is a grandfather to 10 children. He had also been passionate about helping young people and he believed that his father would have forgiven the person who committed the crime. Also Read: George Floyd GoFundMe: Who Will Benefit from the Over $10 Million Donations? Powell told KTVI that Dorn loves to talk to the youth and mentor them. He also addressed the person who killed his father, he said that for the person who pulled the trigger, he wanted the person to step back and know the real reason that the protest is happening. It should be done in a positive manner and that looting and vandalizing should not be done. Tributes for Dorn The reflections of Powell were backed by the tweet of the Ethical Society of Police. The tweet read that Dorn was murdered by looters at a pawnshop. Dorn was the type of person that would have given his life to save other people.The Ethical Society of Police added that violence is not the answer. President Donald Trump also paid tribute to the late captain. He tweeted that David Dorn is a great police captain from St. Louis and that he wanted to send his highest respect to the family. He also called out how he was shot and killed by despicable looters. Trump said that police officers should be honored more than ever before. However, Trump's tweet received criticism. Ava DuVernay, an award-winning filmmaker, tweeted that the public won't let Trump use Dorn for his political gain. She also added that she is hoping that the truth about Dorn's murder be brought to light and she wished that Dorn's name won't be dragged into Trump's "vicious, evil games." David Dorn retried in 2007 from the St. Louis City Police Department. He because the police chief at Moline Acres. The investigation for his murder is still ongoing. Related Article: Coronavirus Cases in US Surges to 19,000 in 24 Hours Amid Protests @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison (on the screen) during the first India-Australia virtual summit, Thursday, June 4, 2020. Photo: Youtube/PTI NEW DELHI (PTI): India and Australia on Thursday inked a landmark agreement for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support besides firming up six more pacts to further broadbase ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held an online summit. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation. India has already signed similar agreements with the US, France and Singapore. The other pacts will provide for bilateral cooperation in areas of cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology, mining and minerals, military technology, vocational education and water resources management. In the talks, the two sides also deliberated on a host of key issues including dealing with growing threat of terrorism, maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, reform in the World Trade Organisation and ways to deal with the coronavirus crisis. According to a joint statement issued after the Modi-Morrison talks, both sides discussed the issue of taxation of offshore income of Indian firms through the use of the India-Australia Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and sought early resolution of the issue. It said both sides also decided to re-engage on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) while suitably considering earlier bilateral discussions where a mutually agreed way forward can be found. The two countries recognised that terrorism remains a threat to peace and stability in the region and strongly condemned the menace in all its forms and manifestations, stressing that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. The joint statement said both sides support a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism, including by countering violent extremism, preventing radicalisation, disrupting financial support to terrorists and facilitating prosecution of those involved in acts of terror. The two sides also called for early adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). In his opening remarks, Modi also pitched for a coordinated and collaborative approach to come out of the adverse economic and social impact of the epidemic that has infected around 65 lakh people and killed 3.88 lakh globally. He said a process of comprehensive reforms covering almost all areas has been initiated in India as his government viewed the coronavirus crisis as an "opportunity". Referring to the virtual summit, the prime minister termed it "a new model of India-Australia partnership, a new model of conducting business". It was the first time that Modi held a "bilateral" virtual summit with a foreign leader. The prime minister described his talks with Morrison as "an outstanding discussion", covering the entire expanse of ties between the two strategic partners. "Our government has decided to view this crisis as an opportunity. In India, a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all areas. It will soon see results at the ground level," the prime minister said. Modi also conveyed his appreciation to Morrison for taking care of the Indian community in Australia, especially the students during the "difficult time". In his remarks, Morrison complemented Modi for his "constructive and very positive" role including at the G-20 role in pushing for a concerted global approach in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Modi said he believed that it is the "perfect time and perfect opportunity" to further strengthen the relationship between India and Australia. "We have immense possibilities to make our friendship stronger," Modi said, adding: "How our relations become a 'factor of stability' for our region and for the world, how we work together for global good, all these aspects need to be considered." The prime minister said India was committed to expand its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace, noting that it is important not only for the two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world. "The role of our comprehensive strategic partnership will be more important in this period of global epidemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to get out of the economic and social side effects of this epidemic," he said. LISLE, Ill., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) today announced a second quarter 2020 net loss of $38 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared to second quarter 2019 net loss of $48 million, or $0.48 per diluted share. Revenues in the quarter were $1.9 billion, down 36 percent from second quarter 2019. The decrease was primarily driven by the impact of COVID-19, resulting in lower volumes in the company's Core (Class 6-8 trucks and buses in the United States and Canada) market, with chargeouts being down nearly 40 percent compared to the same period one year ago. Second quarter 2020 EBITDA was $61 million, compared to $55 million in second quarter 2019. Adjusted EBITDA in second quarter 2020 was $88 million versus $224 million a year ago. Adjusted net income for the quarter was a loss of $10 million compared to income of $105 million in the second quarter last year. Navistar finished second quarter 2020 with $1.5 billion in consolidated cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, including $1.5 billion in manufacturing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. "Like a number of businesses, our company has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that is reflected in our results," said Troy A. Clarke, Navistar chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Our team has done a tremendous job managing the business throughout this challenging time, and we have taken a number of steps to position the company to weather this crisis." During the quarter, the company took several actions to position itself in response to the global pandemic. In April, the company announced a series of actions to conserve over $300 million of cash for the year, without jeopardizing its strategic plans. The actions include savings from provisions of the CARES Act, postponing capital expenditures and spending, and deferring the base salary of U.S. based exempt, non-represented employees. Also in April, the company completed the issuance of $600 million senior secured notes. "We are focused on preserving cash and reducing cost, but not at the risk of sacrificing our future," said Walter Borst, Navistar chief financial officer. "We remain steadfast in pursuing Navistar 4.0, and while some programs and expenditures have been delayed, they have not been cancelled. It's important that we continue to invest in our company, even in these difficult times, to ensure our long-term success." Additionally, the company and its facilities have largely remained in operation throughout the quarter. Its production facilities have experienced limited disruptions that can be measured in weeks as opposed to months due mostly to supplier work stoppages. Its parts distribution centers have remained open throughout the quarter with only minor changes to hours of operation. The company's dealer network has also continued to operate. In maintaining operation, the company has strictly followed CDC recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, taking extensive measures to ensure the health and safety of its employees and their communities. "As an essential business, we took early actions to protect our people so that we could fulfill our duty to keep our assembly plants running and parts distribution centers in operation to serve our customers and dealers who are keeping the economy moving by delivering essential goods and services to our communities," said Persio Lisboa, chief operating officer. "Throughout the quarter, we have worked closely with our suppliers to overcome significant disruptions to the flow of parts to our facilities and have been moderately successful in maintaining operations." The company also took several actions to support its customers and trucking professionals. Working with its partners, the company provided meals, coupons and personal protective equipment such as masks and hand sanitizer to trucking professionals in need. For its customers, the company launched International Cares, which offered no payments for six months, free access to International 360 and worry-free vehicle service coverage. "There are several theories as to the shape of economic recovery, but we have plans in place to respond accordingly," said Clarke. "Recovery will likely be gradual as businesses reassess operating plans to return to a 'new normal,' but this 'new normal' will still require trucks. The actions we've taken over the past few months have us in position to succeed, no mater the shape of recovery." SEGMENT REVIEW Summary of Financial Results: (Unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30, Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions, except per share data) 2020 2019 2020 2019 Sales and revenues, net $ 1,925 $ 2,996 $ 3,763 $ 5,429 Segment Results: Truck $ (51) $ (74) $ (109) $ 16 Parts 103 144 222 288 Global Operations (13) 3 (13) 9 Financial Services 24 32 41 63 Loss from continuing operations, net of tax(A) $ (38) $ (48) $ (74) $ (37) Net loss(A) (38) (48) (74) (37) Diluted loss per share(A) (0.38) (0.48) (0.74) (0.37) (A) Amounts attributable to Navistar International Corporation. Truck Segment In second quarter 2020, the Truck segment net sales were $1.4 billion, a decrease of $907 million compared to second quarter last year. The year-over-year decrease is primarily due to lower volumes in the company's Core markets attributable in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, lower Mexico volumes and a decrease in GM-branded units. The Truck segment incurred a net loss of $51 million in second quarter 2020 compared to a loss of $74 million in second quarter 2019. The year-over-year improvement was due to a non-recurring EGR settlement charge of $159 million recorded in the second quarter of 2019, offset by the impact of lower volumes in the company's Core markets attributable in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher used truck losses and lower Mexico volumes in the second quarter 2020. Parts Segment For second quarter 2020, the Parts segment net sales were $443 million, a 23 percent decrease from second quarter 2019. The decrease is primarily due to lower North America volumes due to the impact of COVID-19 and a decrease in Blue Diamond Parts (BDP) sales. The Parts segments saw a second quarter profit of $103 million, a 28 percent decrease from second quarter 2019. The decrease is primarily due to the impact of lower North America volumes related to COVID-19 and lower BDP sales, partially offset by lower intercompany access fees. Global Operations Segment In second quarter 2020, the Global Operations segment net sales decreased $36 million to $51 million. The decrease was primarily driven by a 21 percent year-over-year depreciation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar and lower volumes in our South America operations due to temporary production stoppages related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Operation segment recorded a loss of $13 million in the second quarter. The higher loss was primarily driven by the recognition of asset impairment charges of $12 million. Excluding this one-time item, results would have been near breakeven. Financial Services Segment In second quarter 2020, the Financial Services segment net revenues decreased to $64 million, a $14 million decrease from second quarter 2019. The decrease was primarily driven by lower average finance receivables and a reduction in finance fees. The Financial Services segment recorded a profit of $24 million in the quarter, an $8 million decrease from second quarter 2019. The decrease was primarily driven by lower revenues, partially offset by the results of an improved funding strategy. About Navistar Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International brand commercial trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus brand school and commercial buses. An affiliate also provides truck and diesel engine service parts. Another affiliate offers financing services. Additional information is available at www.Navistar.com. Forward-Looking Statement Information provided and statements contained in this report that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements only speak as of the date of this report and Navistar International Corporation assumes no obligation to update the information included in this report. Such forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," or similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of performance or results and they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. For a further description of these factors, see the risk factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019, which was filed on December 17, 2019, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended April 30, 2020. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are many factors that could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. All future written and oral forward-looking statements by us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to above. Except for our ongoing obligations to disclose material information as required by the federal securities laws, we do not have any obligations or intention to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances in the future or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Navistar International Corporation and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30, Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions, except per share data) 2020 2019 2020 2019 Sales and revenues Sales of manufactured products, net $ 1,877 $ 2,948 $ 3,671 $ 5,334 Finance revenues 48 48 92 95 Sales and revenues, net 1,925 2,996 3,763 5,429 Costs and expenses Costs of products sold 1,624 2,493 3,153 4,472 Restructuring charges 1 1 1 Asset impairment charges 13 1 13 3 Selling, general and administrative expenses 170 373 352 559 Engineering and product development costs 78 75 164 161 Interest expense 63 82 128 167 Other expense, net 2 18 13 115 Total costs and expenses 1,950 3,043 3,824 5,478 Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates (1) 3 (2) 3 Loss before income taxes (26) (44) (63) (46) Income tax benefit (expense) (7) 1 (2) 20 Net loss (33) (43) (65) (26) Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests 5 5 9 11 Net loss attributable to Navistar International Corporation $ (38) $ (48) $ (74) $ (37) Net loss per share attributable to Navistar International Corporate Basic: $ (0.38) $ (0.48) $ (0.74) $ (0.37) Diluted: (0.38) (0.48) (0.74) (0.37) Weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 99.7 99.2 99.6 99.2 Diluted 99.7 99.2 99.6 99.2 Navistar International Corporation and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets April 30, October 31, (in millions, except per share data) 2020 2019 ASSETS (Unaudited) Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,547 $ 1,370 Restricted cash and cash equivalents 60 133 Trade and other receivables, net 225 338 Finance receivables, net 1,416 1,923 Inventories, net 1,012 911 Other current assets 265 277 Total current assets 4,525 4,952 Restricted cash 71 54 Trade and other receivables, net 8 10 Finance receivables, net 204 274 Investments in non-consolidated affiliates 28 31 Property and equipment (net of accumulated depreciation and amortization of $2,333 and $2,488, respectively) 1,207 1,309 Operating lease right of use assets 121 Goodwill 38 38 Intangible assets (net of accumulated amortization of $138 and $142, respectively) 19 25 Deferred taxes, net 117 117 Other noncurrent assets 102 107 Total assets $ 6,440 $ 6,917 LIABILITIES and STOCKHOLDERS' DEFICIT Liabilities Current liabilities Notes payable and current maturities of long-term debt $ 570 $ 871 Accounts payable 1,038 1,341 Other current liabilities 1,075 1,363 Total current liabilities 2,683 3,575 Long-term debt 4,859 4,317 Postretirement benefits liabilities 2,032 2,103 Other noncurrent liabilities 722 645 Total liabilities 10,296 10,640 Stockholders' deficit Series D convertible junior preference stock 2 2 Common stock, $0.10 par value per share (103.1 shares issued and 220 shares authorized at both dates) 10 10 Additional paid-in capital 2,725 2,730 Accumulated deficit (4,296) (4,409) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (2,163) (1,912) Common stock held in treasury, at cost (3.6 and 3.9 shares, respectively) (136) (147) Total stockholders' deficit attributable to Navistar International Corporation (3,858) (3,726) Stockholders' equity attributable to non-controlling interests 2 3 Total stockholders' deficit (3,856) (3,723) Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit $ 6,440 $ 6,917 Navistar International Corporation and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions) 2020 2019 Cash flows from operating activities Net loss $ (65) $ (26) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 70 66 Depreciation of equipment leased to others 29 31 Deferred taxes, including change in valuation allowance (9) (41) Asset impairment charges 13 3 Gain on sales of investments and businesses, net (59) Amortization of debt issuance costs and discount 7 12 Stock-based compensation 13 14 Provision for doubtful accounts 9 6 Equity in income of non-consolidated affiliates, net of dividends 2 (2) Other non-cash operating activities (5) (4) Changes in other assets and liabilities, exclusive of the effects of businesses disposed (182) (190) Net cash used in operating activities (118) (190) Cash flows from investing activities Maturities of marketable securities 79 Capital expenditures (90) (66) Purchases of equipment leased to others (16) (76) Proceeds from sales of property and equipment 7 5 Proceeds from sales of investments and businesses 10 95 Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (89) 37 Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from issuance of securitized debt 16 Principal payments on securitized debt (30) (34) Net change in secured revolving credit facilities (167) 275 Proceeds from issuance of non-securitized debt 620 73 Principal payments on non-securitized debt (107) (508) Net change in notes and debt outstanding under revolving credit facilities 24 126 Debt issuance costs (10) (2) Proceeds from financed lease obligations 9 Proceeds from exercise of stock options 3 2 Dividends paid by subsidiaries to non-controlling interest (10) (13) Other financing activities (2) (2) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 337 (74) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (9) (10) Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 121 (237) Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of the period 1,557 1,445 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of the period $ 1,678 $ 1,208 Navistar International Corporation and Subsidiaries Segment Reporting (Unaudited) We define segment profit (loss) as net income (loss) attributable to Navistar International Corporation, excluding income tax expense. The following tables present selected financial information for our reporting segments: (in millions) Truck Parts Global Operations Financial Services(A) Corporate and Eliminations Total Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 External sales and revenues, net $ 1,385 $ 442 $ 47 $ 50 $ 1 $ 1,925 Intersegment sales and revenues 4 1 4 14 (23) Total sales and revenues, net $ 1,389 $ 443 $ 51 $ 64 $ (22) $ 1,925 Net income (loss) attributable to NIC $ (51) $ 103 $ (13) $ 24 $ (101) $ (38) Income tax expense (7) (7) Segment profit (loss) $ (51) $ 103 $ (13) $ 24 $ (94) $ (31) Depreciation and amortization $ 29 $ 2 $ 2 $ 15 $ 1 $ 49 Interest expense 20 43 63 Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates (2) 1 (1) Capital expenditures(B) 28 1 2 31 (in millions) Truck Parts Global Operations Financial Services(A) Corporate and Eliminations Total Three Months Ended April 30, 2019 External sales and revenues, net $ 2,287 $ 578 $ 80 $ 48 $ 3 $ 2,996 Intersegment sales and revenues 9 1 7 30 (47) Total sales and revenues, net $ 2,296 $ 579 $ 87 $ 78 $ (44) $ 2,996 Net income (loss) attributable NIC $ (74) $ 144 $ 3 $ 32 $ (153) $ (48) Income tax expense 1 1 Segment profit (loss) $ (74) $ 144 $ 3 $ 32 $ (154) $ (49) Depreciation and amortization $ 26 $ 2 $ 2 $ 16 $ 3 $ 49 Interest expense 27 55 82 Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates 2 1 3 Capital expenditures(B) 21 (1) 1 1 22 (in millions) Truck Parts Global Operations Financial Services(A) Corporate and Eliminations Total Six Months Ended April 30, 2020 External sales and revenues, net $ 2,623 $ 934 $ 108 $ 96 $ 2 $ 3,763 Intersegment sales and revenues 8 2 11 25 (46) Total sales and revenues, net $ 2,631 $ 936 $ 119 $ 121 $ (44) $ 3,763 Net income (loss) attributable to NIC $ (109) $ 222 $ (13) $ 41 $ (215) $ (74) Income tax expense (2) (2) Segment profit (loss) $ (109) $ 222 $ (13) $ 41 $ (213) $ (72) Depreciation and amortization $ 56 $ 4 $ 4 $ 32 $ 3 $ 99 Interest expense 39 89 128 Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates (3) 1 (2) Capital expenditures(B) 75 5 2 8 90 (in millions) Truck Parts Global Operations Financial Services(A) Corporate and Eliminations Total Six Months Ended April 30, 2019 External sales and revenues, net $ 4,063 $ 1,124 $ 141 $ 95 $ 6 $ 5,429 Intersegment sales and revenues 30 3 19 57 (109) Total sales and revenues, net $ 4,093 $ 1,127 $ 160 $ 152 $ (103) $ 5,429 Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to NIC, net of tax $ 16 $ 288 $ 9 $ 63 $ (413) $ (37) Income tax expense 20 20 Segment profit (loss) $ 16 $ 288 $ 9 $ 63 $ (433) $ (57) Depreciation and amortization $ 52 $ 3 $ 4 $ 32 $ 6 $ 97 Interest expense 56 111 167 Equity in income of non-consolidated affiliates 3 1 (1) 3 Capital expenditures(B) 52 1 1 2 10 66 (A) Total sales and revenues in the Financial Services segment include interest revenues of $40 million and $75 million for the three and six months ended April 30, 2020, respectively, and $55 million and $108 million for the three and six months ended April 30, 2019, respectively. (B) Exclusive of purchases of equipment leased to others. (in millions) Truck Parts Global Operations Financial Services Corporate and Eliminations Total Segment assets, as of: April 30, 2020 $ 1,840 $ 648 $ 186 $ 2,081 $ 1,685 $ 6,440 October 31, 2019 1,705 688 296 2,774 1,454 6,917 SEC Regulation G Non-GAAP Reconciliation The financial measures presented below are unaudited and not in accordance with, or an alternative for, financial measures presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). The non-GAAP financial information presented herein should be considered supplemental to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and are reconciled to the most appropriate GAAP number below. Earnings (loss) Before Interest, Income Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization ("EBITDA"): We define EBITDA as our consolidated net income (loss) attributable to Navistar International Corporation, net of tax, plus manufacturing interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. We believe EBITDA provides meaningful information to the performance of our business and therefore we use it to supplement our GAAP reporting. We have chosen to provide this supplemental information to investors, analysts and other interested parties to enable them to perform additional analyses of operating results. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (loss): We believe that adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (loss), which excludes certain identified items that we do not consider to be part of our ongoing business, improves the comparability of year to year results, and is representative of our underlying performance. Management uses this information to assess and measure the performance of our operating segments. We have chosen to provide this supplemental information to investors, analysts and other interested parties to enable them to perform additional analyses of operating results, to illustrate the results of operations giving effect to the non-GAAP adjustments shown in the below reconciliations, and to provide an additional measure of performance. Manufacturing Cash and, Cash Equivalents: Manufacturing cash and, cash equivalents represent the Company's consolidated cash and, cash equivalents excluding cash, cash equivalents of our financial services operations. We have chosen to provide this supplemental information to investors, analysts and other interested parties to enable them to perform additional analyses of our ability to meet our operating requirements, capital expenditures, equity investments, and financial obligations. Structural costs consist of Selling, general and administrative expenses and Engineering and product development costs. EBITDA reconciliation: Three Months Ended April 30, Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions) 2020 2019 2020 2019 Net loss attributable to NIC $ (38) $ (48) $ (74) $ (37) Plus: Depreciation and amortization expense 49 49 99 97 Manufacturing interest expense(A) 43 55 89 111 Less: Income tax (expense) benefit (7) 1 (2) 20 EBITDA $ 61 $ 55 $ 116 $ 151 (A) Manufacturing interest expense is the net interest expense primarily generated for borrowings that support the manufacturing and corporate operations, adjusted to eliminate intercompany interest expense with our Financial Services segment. The following table reconciles Manufacturing interest expense to the consolidated interest expense: Three Months Ended April 30, Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions) 2020 2019 2020 2019 Interest expense $ 63 $ 82 $ 128 $ 167 Less: Financial services interest expense 20 27 39 56 Manufacturing interest expense $ 43 $ 55 $ 89 $ 111 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation: Three Months Ended April 30, Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions) 2020 2019 2020 2019 EBITDA (reconciled above) $ 61 $ 55 $ 116 $ 151 Adjusted for significant items of: Adjustments to pre-existing warranties(A) 13 9 17 2 Asset impairment charges(B) 13 1 13 3 Restructuring of manufacturing operations(C) 1 1 1 MaxxForce Advanced EGR engine lawsuits(D) 1 159 1 159 Gain on sales(E) (59) Pension settlement(F) 142 Settlement gain(G) (1) (1) (2) Total adjustments 27 169 31 246 Adjusted EBITDA $ 88 $ 224 $ 147 $ 397 Adjusted Net Income (Loss) attributable to NIC: Three Months Ended April 30, Six Months Ended April 30, (in millions) 2020 2019 2020 2019 Net loss attributable to NIC $ (38) $ (48) $ (74) $ (37) Adjusted for significant items of: Adjustments to pre-existing warranties(A) 13 9 17 2 Asset impairment charges(B) 13 1 13 3 Restructuring of manufacturing operations(C) 1 1 1 MaxxForce Advanced EGR engine lawsuits(D) 1 159 1 159 Gain on sales(E) (59) Pension settlement(F) 142 Settlement gain(G) (1) (1) (2) Total adjustments 27 169 31 246 Tax effect (H) 1 (16) (47) Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to NIC $ (10) $ 105 $ (43) $ 162 (A) Adjustments to pre-existing warranties reflect changes in our estimate of warranty costs for products sold in prior periods. Such adjustments typically occur when claims experience deviates from historic and expected trends. Our warranty liability is generally affected by component failure rates, repair costs, and the timing of failures. Future events and circumstances related to these factors could materially change our estimates and require adjustments to our liability. In addition, new product launches require a greater use of judgment in developing estimates until historical experience becomes available. (B) In the second quarter and first half of 2020, we recorded $12 million of asset impairment charges related to long lived assets in our Brazil asset group in our Global Operations segment. In the second quarter of 2020, we recorded $1 million of asset impairment charges related to certain assets under operating leases in our Truck segment. In the second quarter and first half of 2019 we recorded $1 million and $3 million, respectively, of asset impairment charges related to certain assets under operating leases in our Truck segment. (C) In the first half of 2020, we recorded a restructuring charge of $1 million in our Truck segment. In the second quarter and first half of 2019 we recorded a restructuring charge of $1 million in our Truck segment. (D) In the second quarter and first half of 2020 and 2019, we recorded charges of $1 million and $159 million, respectively, related to the MaxxForce Advanced EGR engine class action settlement and related litigation in our Truck Segment. (E) In the first half of 2019, we recognized a gain of $54 million related to the sale of a majority interest in the Navistar Defense business in our Truck segment, and a gain of $5 million related to the sale of our joint venture in China with JAC in our Global Operations segment. (F) In the first half of 2019, we purchased group annuity contracts for certain retired pension plan participants resulting in plan remeasurements. As a result, we recorded pension settlement accounting charges of $142 million in Other expense, net in Corporate. (G) In the second quarter of 2019, we recorded interest income of $1 million, in Other expense, net derived from the prior year settlement of a business economic loss claim relating to our former Alabama engine manufacturing facility in Corporate. In the first half of 2020 and 2019, we recorded interest income of $1 million and $2 million, respectively, in Other expense, net derived from the prior year settlement of a business economic loss claim relating to our former Alabama engine manufacturing facility in Corporate. (H) Tax effect is calculated by excluding the impact of the non-GAAP adjustments from the interim period tax provision calculations. Manufacturing segment cash and, cash equivalents reconciliation: As of April 30, 2020 (in millions) Manufacturing Operations Financial Services Operations Consolidated Balance Sheet Total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities $ 1,497 $ 50 $ 1,547 SOURCE Navistar International Corporation Related Links http://www.navistar.com When pressed by Kilmeade if he was inspecting the bunker because the Secret Service expressed concern for his safety, the president insisted that wasnt the case. Nope, they didnt tell me that at all, he said. They said it would be a good time to go down, take a look, because maybe some time youre going to need it. By Gina Lee Investing.com Asian stocks were mostly down on Thursday morning, with investor sentiment soured by mounting tensions between the U.S. and China. Stocks had enjoyed an almost week-long rally, fueled by investor optimism over the global economic recovery from COVID-19. Tensions between the two countries rose overnight after the U.S. suspended flights into the U.S. by Chinese airlines effective from June 16, the latest tit-for-tat over China approved the enactment of national security laws in Hong Kong and Macau last month. The suspension was the U.S. response to an earlier Chinese move to bar American carriers from re-entering China. Chinas Shanghai Composite fell 0.35% by 11:12 PM ET (4:12 AM GMT). Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Component gained 0.11%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index lost 0.13%, with tension in the city rising ahead of the Legislative Councils passing of the National Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) bill later in the day. The city is also planning vigils to commemorate the Tiananmen Square (NYSE:SQ) crackdown. Japans Nikkei 225 was down 0.28%, reversing its earlier gains. South Koreas KOSPI was up 0.07%. Down Under, the ASX 200 rose 0.51%. The Bureau of Statistics said that retail sales for April plunged a seasonally adjusted 17.7% in April, a day after it said that GDP fell 0.3% during the first quarter of 2020. Related Articles Australia's Infigen Energy decries Ayala's $536 million bid as 'opportunistic' Amid pandemic, investors bet on India's Jio and its giant-killer playbook U.S. finalizes order allowing 15 passenger air carriers to suspend service to 75 airports Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 09:23 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbfeda0 1 National Nadiem-Makarim,Indonesia,COVID-19,Education,coronavirus,virus-corona,student,UKT Free Students nationwide have written an open letter to urge Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim to reduce the Single Tuition Fee (UKT) for university education, as they were studying at home amid the country's COVID-19 outbreak. The National Association of University Student Executive Bodies (BEM-SI) posted the open letter dated May 27 on its Twitter account @aliansibem_si. [ SERUAN AKSI MEDIA ] Kepada Yth, Seluruh rekan mahasiswa, media kampus BEM SELURUH INDONESIA dan Seluruh Elemen Masyarakat Indonesia. Aliansi BEM Seluruh Indonesia (@aliansibem_si) June 2, 2020 The letter invites Nadiem to a public meeting with student representatives to discuss the matter, and also calls on all universities to waive the UKT next semester for all students. [The ministry should] instruct all higher education institutions to freeze tuition fees next semester due to COVID-19, the association wrote, pointing out that the parents of most students had been affected financially as an impact of the pandemic. The BEM-SI added that all universities should support their students by providing free mobile data packages, supplies and medical assistance. It also urged the ministry to punish any institution that failed to provide students support during the health crisis. According to the BEM-SI's survey on the issue, around 83 percent of student respondents said that their parents incomes had declined as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Around 77 percent of respondents said they did not know whether they could pay next semester's tuition. Read also: Challenges of home learning during a pandemic through the eyes of a student The survey also showed that around 92 percent students at universities nationwide spent a maximum Rp 50,000 (US$3.53) per week on mobile data to study at home. Furthermore, it found that students who were unable to return to their hometowns due to the COVID-19 social and travel restrictions needed food aid. Nadiem issued a circular on March 17 that instructed higher education institutions to help their students by providing mobile data packages, supplies and medical care. The BEM-SI claimed, however, that a number of institutions had yet to comply with the minister's instructions. In a statement issued on Wednesday, higher education acting director general Nizam assured that neither universities nor colleges would increase their UKTs, stressing that any increases in the UKT had been decided prior to the pandemic. Any decisions on the UKT should not create problems for students, he added. (kuk) By Associated Press ISLAMABAD: Doctors at hospitals in Pakistan are bracing for a surge of COVID-19 patients as the country's total number of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed the number in neighbouring China. Pakistan's confirmed cases jumped to 85,264 on Thursday after officials reported 4,688 new infections during the previous 24 hours and 82 deaths, a single-day record for virus-related fatalities. The developments prompted the government to order the closure of all shopping malls and markets where social distancing regulations are being ignored. A medical team of Chinese doctors met with the countrys President Arif Ali in Islamabad to share their experience treating COVID-19 patients. Pakistan has witnessed a steady increase in infections and deaths since last month, when the government lifted a lockdown that was enforced in March to slow the spread of the new virus. A total of 1,770 people in Pakistan have died in the pandemic. A 'creepy' note left on a woman's car led her to organise for the man responsible to be brutally bashed, leaving him blind in one eye. Madison Rose Williams, 26, found the note on her car windshield outside of Helensvale shopping centre on the Gold Coast on August 3, 2018. 'Darling, if you want to earn some dollars, don't call, just text,' the note read, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin. Williams began texting the 48-year-old man the next day and arranged to meet him at night, telling her cousin to ambush him with a surprise attack. Her cousin obliged, hitting the man in the face with a pipe and leaving him with a large laceration and missing one eye. Williams was sentenced to three years in jail to be suspended after six months after she pleaded guilty to four charges in the Southport District Court on Wednesday. Madison Rose Williams, 26, found a 'creepy' note on her car windshield outside of Helensvale shopping centre (pictured) on the Gold Coast on August 3, 2018 Williams said her name was Emily when she replied to the 'creepy' note by texting the 48-year-old man on August 4, 2018. The man sent her some disturbing messages, saying he could see her house from where he was and that he drove past it 20 times a day. He also said he would pick Williams up and that he had seen her in Runaway Bay and Helensvale, which are both Gold Coast suburbs. Meanwhile, Williams texted her boyfriend 'let's set this c*** up'. She arranged to meet the man on the same day at night and messaged her male cousin, informing him that 'it's happening'. Williams got into the man's car when she met him that night. But her cousin came up to the driver's window and hit the man with a pipe. The 48-year-old told Williams' cousin to stop hitting him but he continued. Williams' cousin finally finished when a taxi parked nearby. Williams pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm, stealing, entering a premises to commit an indictable offence and supply dangerous drugs during her trial. A note left on the windshield of a car (stock image). 'Darling, if you want to earn some dollars, don't call, just text,' Williams' note read, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin During her sentencing in court on Wednesday, defence barrister Nick McGhee said Williams did not know her cousin was going to be armed with a pipe. He said she was scared because of the disturbing messages from the man that claimed to know where she lived and that she was being watched by him. The defence barrister explained that Williams got her cousin to bash the man because she felt like a victim. Williams was also in an abusive relationship at the time of the attack and is a domestic violence victim from past relationships, according to Mr McGhee. But Crown prosecutor Matt Hynes said Williams' highly aggressive response to the messages was concerning. '(Williams) was the architect of the plan, she came up with the idea and my concern is she joked about it with her partner she arranged to "teach him a lesson",' Mr Hynes said, according to The Gold Coast Bulletin. Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast, where a 48-year-old man said he had seen Williams. He also said he knew where she lived and drove past her house 20 times a day Judge Katherine McGinness accepted that the note was 'creepy' but said Williams' response was not warranted. 'Vigilante actions within the community cannot be tolerated and sentences have to be imposed,' Ms McGinness said. She sentenced Williams to three years in prison to be suspended after six months. The judge said Williams should stay away from drugs and bad relationships to not face the court again in the future. Williams was working at the Australian Tax Office at the time of the attack but lost her job and returned to the hospitality industry. The 26-year-old then became unemployed in February as the hospitality industry was devastated by the COVID-19 lockdown. Back in April, a slickly produced investigative documentary, Tracking Down The Origin Of The Wuhan Coronavirus, was released online. It claimed conclusive proof that the Covid-19 virus had been created as a biological 'weapon of mass destruction' in a Chinese lab. At first sight, it seemed a shockingly convincing piece of journalism. On behalf of this newspaper, I cross-checked every claim: The experts it cited and the factual evidence unearthed. I also researched the backgrounds of its makers. I then approached some of the world's best independent scientific authorities to ask their opinion. They all agreed this enticingly spicy story just didn't stand up. The Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province pictured above It had been produced by a US based anti-Chinese government media organisation called the Epoch Times. Its 'experts' were veteran hard-Rightists. Most damningly, its scientific 'facts' were twisted out of shape. So much, then, for the Chinese-manufactured coronavirus conspiracy... Well, not quite. Around the time I was researching the film, I became aware of rumours emerging about a 'blockbuster' piece of biological science by British and Norwegian investigators to be published in a reputable journal. Experts who were sent the paper for 'peer review' prior to publication were astounded because it claimed to have established 'beyond reasonable doubt that Covid-19 is an engineered virus'. The authors alleged the Covid-19 virus had 'unique fingerprints' that could not have evolved naturally, and were 'indicative of purposive manipulation'. In other words, someone had manufactured this virus. Who exactly? The paper reportedly concluded Covid-19 should correctly be called the 'Wuhan virus'. When the paper was finally published this week, it sparked global headlines, largely thanks to former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove. In a newspaper podcast interview he claimed the research was smoking-gun evidence the virus pandemic had 'started as an accident' when a man-made virus escaped from a Chinese lab. The paper co-authored by Professor Angus Dalgleish, a renowned oncologist and vaccine researcher who works at St George's Hospital, University of London, and Birger Sorensen, a Norwegian virologist contains none of the stark allegations that originally stunned its reviewers. The initial paper that triggered wild rumours failed stringent tests of verification and is understood to have been rejected in April by eminent international journals such as Nature and the Journal of Virology. Biomedical experts from the Francis Crick Institute and Imperial College London are said to have refuted its conclusions. Then one of the paper's co-authors, Dr John Fredrik Moxnes, chief scientific adviser to the Norwegian military, asked for his name to be withdrawn. This week, after numerous rewrites, the paper was published by the Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery. And those original world-shaking conclusions have now withered to innuendo. No accusation of Chinese manipulation appears. Bat soup (pictured) is a delicacy in China. None of this changes the fact that the overwhelming consensus is Covid-19 originated in nature, and most likely infected us through the cruel trade in live wild animals for the cooking pot The rewritten paper describes the virus as a 'chimera' this means it contains the viral genetic material of more than one virus. This may occur naturally when two viruses infect a living creature at the same time. It is the reason leading investigators believe that the Covid-19 virus acquired its pandemic powers by jumping between species. The other definition of a 'chimera virus' is one that has been created in a lab as a bioweapon, but the published paper only vaguely implies foul play. In conclusion, the paper argues that: 'A comprehensive analysis of the aetiology of the target virus is prerequisite, not optional'. 'Aetiology' is defined in medical terms as 'the cause or origin'. In other words, Professor Dalgleish and his colleague are demanding to know where Covid-19 came from. Well we'd all love to know the answer to that one. Certainly, the Chinese authorities have done plenty to arouse suspicion about the virus's origins. And they have form when it comes to poor biosecurity: they let a lethal Sars virus escape from a Beijing lab in April 2004, infecting nine people before the outbreak was contained. None of this changes the fact that the overwhelming consensus is Covid-19 originated in nature, and most likely infected us through the cruel trade in live wild animals for the cooking pot. What this furore does do, however, is distract us from the most truly explosive warning contained in Professor Dalgleish's paper. It is well established that the coronavirus invades our bodies via ACE2 receptor sites on cells in our noses and lungs. But his detailed study of the virus's make-up indicates that it can break in to the human body through a variety of other routes. An effective vaccine may have to 'educate' our bodies to block the virus from multiple points of entry. In this respect it shows many similarities with the Aids virus HIV. Prof Dalgleish's warning to those working to create a conventional vaccine against Covid-19 is this: 'The world was promised an HIV vaccine that would be ready in 18 months. That was 36 years ago.' Could coronavirus prove similarly immune to our best vaccine efforts? We can only hope the researchers' science on this question proves as thin as their Chinese conspiracy theory. Spy chief in coronavirus storm: Downing Street hits out at former MI6 boss Richard Dearlove's 'fanciful' claims that Covid-19 was made in a lab A former MI6 chief was yesterday accused by Government officials of peddling 'fanciful claims' that coronavirus was accidentally created in a Chinese laboratory. British security agencies believe Covid-19 is not a man-made virus and is 'highly likely' to have occurred naturally and spread to humans through animals. And Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said there is 'no evidence' to back up the theory that it originated in a laboratory. Sir Richard Dearlove was accused by Government officials of peddling 'fanciful claims' that coronavirus was accidentally created in a Chinese laboratory But Sir Richard Dearlove, who was head of the MI6 from 1999 to 2004, cited a recent report claiming the disease was accidentally manufactured by Chinese scientists. 'I do think that this started as an accident,' Sir Richard told The Daily Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast. 'It raises the issue: if China ever were to admit responsibility, does it pay reparations? I think it will make every country in the world rethink how it treats its relationship with China.' He added: 'Look at the stories... of attempts by the [Beijing] leadership to lock down any debate about the origins of the pandemic and the way people have been arrested or silenced.' The study claims to have identified 'inserted sections' on the surface of the Covid-19 virus that were 'significantly different' from any other similar bug they had studied. Pictured above, researchers in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Sir Richard cited a report by Professor Angus Dalgleish, from St George's Hospital, University of London, and Norwegian virologist Birger Sorensen, which claims the virus was manufactured in a laboratory, saying the study was a 'very important contribution to a debate which is now starting about how the virus evolved and how it got out and broke out as a pandemic.' The study claims to have identified 'inserted sections' on the surface of the Covid-19 virus that were 'significantly different' from any other similar bug they had studied. But the Prime Minister's spokesman slapped down Sir Richard's comments, saying: 'We've seen no evidence the virus is man-made.' And a Government official added: 'These are fanciful claims. World leading scientists in the UK, US and the World Health Organisation have said numerous times... the virus was natural in its origin and likely moved into the human population through natural transfer from animals not through a specific accident or man-made incident.' Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Geneva, Switzerland Thu, June 4, 2020 09:10 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbfab46 2 World WHO,Hydroxychloroquine,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-drugs,research Free The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that clinical trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine will resume as it searches for potential coronavirus treatments. On May 25, the WHO announced it had temporarily suspended the trials to conduct a safety review, which has now concluded there is "no reason" to change the way the trials are conducted. The UN health agency's decision came after a study published in The Lancet medical journal suggesting the drug could increase the risk of death among COVID-19 patients. The executive group of the so-called Solidarity Trial -- in which hundreds of hospitals across the world have enrolled patients to test several possible treatments for the novel coronavirus -- took the decision as a precaution. Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat arthritis but public figures including US President Donald Trump have backed the drug for COVID-19 prevention and treatment, prompting governments to bulk-buy. "Last week, the executive group of the Solidarity Trial decided to implement a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial, because of concerns raised about the safety of the drug," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news briefing. "This decision was taken as a precaution while the safety data were reviewed. "The data safety and monitoring committee of the Solidarity Trial has been reviewing the data. "On the basis of the available mortality data, the members of the committee recommended that there are no reasons to modify the trial protocol. "The executive group received this recommendation and endorsed continuation of all arms of the Solidarity Trial, including hydroxychloroquine. "The executive group will communicate with the principal investigators in the trial about resuming the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial. "The data safety and monitoring committee will continue to closely monitor the safety of all therapeutics being tested in the Solidarity Trial." More than 3,500 patients have been recruited across 35 countries to take part in the trials. Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill April 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. Facebook announced Thursday it will no longer allow state-controlled media outlets to run ads on its social networks, effective this summer. The move is part of its efforts to prevent foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election and follows massive criticism that it failed to do so in the 2016 election. "Later this summer we will begin blocking ads from these outlets in the US out of an abundance of caution to provide an extra layer of protection against various types of foreign influence in the public debate ahead of the November 2020 election in the U.S.," the company said in a blog post. Among the outlets that will receive labels are Russia Today and Sputnik from Russia, and China's CCTV and Xinhua News. Facebook generated nearly $70 billion in ad revenue in 2019, but the company said Thursday that state-controlled media rarely advertise in the United States. "A U.S. company long in bed with the U.S. establishment, telling the entire rest of the world what it can and cannot say, is the definition of a technological dictatorship and censorship," a spokeswoman for Russia Today told CNBC in a statement. "Labelling foreign editorially independent news outlets as anything but is, on top of fostering prejudice and xenophobia, a prime example of the very 'fake news' that Facebook is supposedly trying to combat." Additionally, Facebook on Thursday will start labeling pages and posts from state-controlled media outlets, giving users more information about who owns and runs those entities. Facebook announced in October that it was planning to roll out these labels to provide users with more transparency. Facebook's decision to apply these labels and block ads from state-controlled media comes after the company has faced a flurry of criticism from partners and employees for its refusal to moderate a post last week from President Donald Trump. That post addressed riots in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, saying that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The company said it would not moderate or take down Trump's post because Facebook supports freedom of speech and it does not believe it should be an arbiter of truth. Twitter flagged Trump's tweet about looting leading to shooting, saying it breached Twitter's policies on "glorifying violence." Trump has denied that he was intending to incite violence. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Indian businessman Vijay Mallyas extradition to India will have to wait till the resolution of a new legal issue that has surfaced, according to a spokesperson of the British high commission. The latest development follows recent media reports suggesting Mallyas extradition was due soon after the loss of his appeal in the UK High Court challenging a 2018 order of extradition on the request of Indian authorities. The spokesperson said the issue holding up Mallyas extradition was confidential and details could not be revealed. However, there is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mr Mallyas extradition can be arranged. Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved. The issue is confidential and we cannot go into any detail, a spokesperson for the British high commission said. Mallya is accused of defrauding a consortium of Indian banks by close to Rs 9,000 crore and faces charges of money laundering and criminal conspiracy among others. Mallya had availed loans from 17 Indian banks for the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines and is accused of diverting it to pay for other businesses including the formula 1 team he had bought. Indian courts have declared him a fugitive and authorities have attached his various properties in an effort to recover the money owed to the banks. Mallya had fled India on March 2, 2016. Mallya has been publicly offering to return the money he owes the banks and has continuously questioned the governments intent for allegedly refusing his offer. The last of such tweets was posted by him on May 14, in which he repeated his offer and said, Congratulations to the Government for a Covid 19 relief package. They can print as much currency as they want BUT should a small contributor like me who offers 100% payback of State owned Bank loans be constantly ignored? Please take my money unconditionally and close. A UK district judge Emma Arbuthnot had last year ruled that there was a prima facie case of fraud by false representation against Mallya, which was confirmed by the UK High Court. Mallya was also denied permission to challenge the high courts judgment in the Supreme Court. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON When the whole world was finding out that they murdered George Floyd, he said, I went and said a prayer where I witnessed him take his last breath, and I left. Mr. Hall said he had left dinner with his family late this Monday evening when their car was surrounded by at least a dozen law enforcement officers. After his arrest, he was questioned for hours by a Minnesota state investigator about Mr. Floyds death not about his warrants. Mr. Hall was then transferred to the Harris County Jail in Houston, and on Tuesday, he returned to his home in the city, after his lawyers fought for his release. When Mr. Halls family found us, he had been isolated in jail for 10 hours after being interrogated until 3 a.m., said Ashlee C. McFarlane, a partner at Gerger Khalil Hennessy & McFarlane, who is representing Mr. Hall. This is not how you treat a key witness, especially one that had just seen his friend murdered by police. Even with outstanding warrants, this should have been done another way. I knew what was happening, that they were coming. It was inevitable, Mr. Hall said in the interview with The Times. Im a key witness to the cops murdering George Floyd, and they want to know my side. Whatever Ive been through, its all over with now. Its not about me. Mr. Hall and Mr. Floyd, both Houston natives, had connected in Minneapolis through a pastor and had been in touch every day since 2016. Mr. Hall said that he considered Mr. Floyd a confidant and a mentor, like many in the community, and that he went back to Houston because the only ties I had in Minnesota that had me Houston-rooted was George. Agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is building the states case against Mr. Chauvin and the three other officers involved in the Floyd case, attempted to contact Mr. Hall numerous times to no avail, said Bruce Gordon, a spokesman for the bureau. Mr. Hall said that he was distraught and working through his trauma with his family, and was not taking phone calls in the days immediately after. A cardboard cutout of Jeff Brown is seen through the broken window of the ShopRite on Fox Street in Philadelphia on Monday. Read more Well, looks like social distancing has been called off. That is one thought among many after a week of justifiable protests and unjustifiable lootings and mob violence following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The video has haunting echoes of the Gestapo and so many other state actors that have behaved with violent impunity over the course of history, and who have no place in American life. Amidst the wreckage, and likely billions of dollars of damage to Philadelphia businesses already on the brink due to the pandemic, come horrific images of mobs pulling motorists out of cars and maiming them, beating and killing those protecting businesses, as in the case of a retired police officer in St. Louis, and mauling police officers who are outnumbered and, in many cases, advised not to respond with force. Add to this chaos the images of police cars driving through civilians and teargassing protestors on I-676. But there is one image, in particular, I cant get out of my head, and it is that of a middle-aged black woman sobbing to a local Minneapolis news station that the looters targeted the only stores she could go to: These people are tearing up our livelihoods, and now I dont have anywhere to go. This woman seemed completely ordinary to me and totally devastated. Her stores, OfficeMax and Dollar Store, may seem small, but they were what she had, and now she doesnt have them anymore. She and others like her will be forgotten when the dust settles. And that is a sickening thought. This week, regular peoples lives all over our country immigrant business owners, working people in everyday neighborhoods have been upended, and there is no excuse for it. No amount of coddling or justification But the police are brutal! But rioting is the language of the unheard! will get the injustice visited upon this woman and others like her out of my head. READ MORE: Live coverage of what's happening Thursday, June 4 In Philadelphia, the results of looting in places like the 52nd Street corridor will linger for years to come. Jeff Brown, the heroic entrepreneur who has brought grocery stores into food deserts, was thanked for his efforts with 15-hours straight of ransacking of his Parkside ShopRite. I have heard the laments from the peaceful protestors, that the rioters, brick throwers, and antifa militants will distract from their cause. They are right. Many Philadelphians will remember this as a week where violence, looting, and destruction reached them, dynamite sticks and police sirens blazing through the night. And then there is a certain cohort, vastly overrepresented among hyperactive, online progressives, who will not acknowledge the excesses of the mob, the attacks on the police and business owners. They will downplay the ravages of the average woman from Minneapolis to those in Philadelphia or blame somebody else, as Mayor Jim Kenney did when he declared, without justification, that right-wingers were among those responsible for the ransacking of Philadelphia. This is a group that I know well the check your privilege crowd, mostly white, upper-middle class, advocating for an end to the system from the comfort of their smartphones. They will show off their superior opinions online but can rest assured that violence and destruction will be passing over their doors. Philadelphia, we must be brave in our response. To those excusing the looting and the violence, say: Absolutely not. To our police commissioner, who arrived from Portland, Ore., this year, say: We do not want our city to be synonymous with political violence like your last one was. To Mayor Kenney, say: Lead, do not point the finger. And to our progressive district attorney, whose experiment in social justice prosecution coincides with a surging murder rate targeting the same people that the elite left claims to support when its politically convenient, say: It is time you actually prosecute. As our city and others around the country reinstall our collective storefronts, I will be remembering this crying woman. Will you? In the winter of 1968, a Boeing 707, heavy with American troops and body bags, took rounds of antiaircraft fire immediately upon takeoff from Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. At once, a right engine burst into flames. It was the middle of the Tet Offensive, when coordinated Viet Cong raids pounded American installations in South Vietnam. A GI sitting by the wing spotted the engine fire outside his window and caught the attention of one of the stewardesses, Gayle Larson, then 25 years old, who sped to the front to alert the cockpit crew of three. The flight engineer raced into the cabin to inspect. As Larson remembers, the planeload of GIs was unimpressed, "paying no attention to the disaster outside the cabin windows." The flight was redirected from its original destination - some holiday spot in the Pacific: maybe Hong Kong, Bangkok or Tokyo, no one remembers now - and instead flew to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. The 707 was a first-generation long-distance jet with four engines, but it could fly on just three. In an all-economy configuration, it could carry 180 GIs. Larson and her roommate, Susan Harris, who was also on the flight, secured the cabin for safety and fed the troops. "We were just trying to make sure everything was OK," Harris says. Now in their 70s, Larson, of Portland, Ore., and Harris, of Kingston, Wash., both remember that surviving a sniper attack and an engine failure was a moment of comic juxtapositions: The wing was on fire, but inside the smell of freshly baked Nestle Toll House cookies wafted through the cabin. During their years of service, it was a ritual for the roommates to mix up and freeze rolls of cookie dough at their home in Sausalito, Calif., for the trips to Vietnam. "The guys ate a lot of cookies" that day, Larson says. "They had probably seen far worse things on the ground fighting." A few nights later, while waiting for a new engine to arrive from Hong Kong, at a happy hour in the officers' club at Clark Air Base, Harris met a pilot for Braniff airlines who would become her husband. For a small and unrecognized group of women, now mostly in their 70s, such high-drama, meet-cute moments are the personal and pedestrian memories of a war that otherwise divided a nation. These Pan Am stewardesses (now an outdated term but common at the time) were volunteers and got no special training for flying into war, though their pilots were mostly World War II or Korean War vets. Their aircraft routinely took ground fire. The pilots, all male, received hazardous-duty pay for flights into the combat zone. The women aboard did not. For the Pan Am flight attendants, there were no parades after the war, nor much movement to celebrate their role or their place as accidental pioneers in military history. The U.S. Air Force gave the flight attendants a rank of second lieutenants; from the point of view of the Geneva Conventions, if they were captured they could claim protections of prisoners of war. But they were civilians. They wore uniforms but not jungle fatigues: wrist-length white gloves and a baby blue "overseas cap." In addition to serving as first aid and safety officers in flight, the women had to undergo girdle and weight checks. During the Vietnam War, Pan Am had an exclusive contract with the Department of Defense to run R&R (rest and recreation) flights for soldiers on leave throughout the Pacific. Rented to the nation for $1, it was effectively a military airline within the airline, starting with a fleet of six DC-6 propeller aircraft and, ultimately, 707 jets, calling daily at three air bases in the theater of combat. "We staff it with our best and most beautiful stewardesses, and the food and service are the finest," said the Pan Am vice president in 1966 to The Associated Press. Over the course of the war, some of the women would fly as many as 200 times into the combat zone. The Vietnam airlift crews got no medals or congressional citations for their work, though they were a necessary part of national security. There were no parades, nor much movement to celebrate their role or their place as accidental pioneers in military history. Where airlift crews for the 1991 Gulf War were celebrated with service medals from the Air Force, the pilots and flight attendants of the Vietnam War have not been similarly recognized. For more than 50 years, the stewardesses' war stories have mostly not been told. They are important battlefield stories, war narratives that just happen to belong to women. - - - The R&R flights were a key part of boosting troop morale for a rapidly unpopular war. The program aimed "to remove the individual from his normal duty environment in order to provide a respite from the rigors of a combat tour in Vietnam," according to a directive from the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Trips initially went to short-haul destinations in Asia such as Taipei or Bangkok. The Pan Am stewardesses served a military role during the Vietnam War some 30 years before the U.S. armed forces would revoke the combat exclusion policy for women. Of the 2.7 million American troops who saw active duty in the Vietnam War, 91% traveled to the war zone on one of 23 U.S. commercial air carriers, which hauled one-fourth of military cargo overseas. "It seems unreal," Patricia Ireland says of the notion that these flight attendants performed a key role in America's war footing. Ireland, past president of the National Organization for Women, is perhaps the best-known former Pan Am flight attendant of the '60s; seven years working for the airline helped inspire her feminist activism, which included campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment. "That just changes the nature of their job." The R&R flights were only one part of the total Vietnam airlift. For every conflict since World War II, America has moved its troops and cargo across the seas via airplane. By policy, the U.S. military does not maintain enough aircraft to perform that job; buying and servicing a large fleet of transport planes is expensive in peacetime. Instead, American forces rely on a partnership between the Pentagon and commercial airlines so in times of national emergency there is a set organization and command structure in place. By 1967, some 800 flight attendants were working in the combat zone, transporting about 2.5 million military passengers. For many young soldiers, the female crew members would be the last American women they would ever see. "We are war buddies," Helene Harper Shapiro of Potomac, Maryland, says of the friendship bonds with former colleagues that span half a century. It was a time in their lives marked by hard work but also by adventure. They signed on for around-the-world trips and exotic layovers with the United States' first global airline; Pan Am had only international routes, no domestic flights. "We were kind of the first women who were globalized, who lived a globalized existence long before anybody else did," says Helen Davey, who now lives in Los Angeles. It was easy to make friends at work, the former flight attendants remember, because everyone was about the same age, everyone had outgoing personalities, everyone had been to college at least two years and spoke a foreign language. They were predominantly white, though the Pacific routes employed women with Asian heritage, about 11% of the total stewardess corps. The uniform was a great equalizer. "We were clones of each other," says Marjorie Perry of Tucson. Flight attendants were among the largest group of American civilians in the combat theater. A typical soldier's tour was 12 months in country; the infamous "one and done" policy hampered the United States' ability to contest the war, but it was designed to quell anti-draft sentiment. These women, therefore, had an unmatched longitudinal vision of America's years in Vietnam. Some volunteered to staff the airlift through the duration of the conflict, from the troop buildup under President Lyndon B. Johnson to the last flights out of a surrendering Saigon in April 1975. No other women - and few men - can say they saw as much of the Vietnam War for as long. - - - Former stewardesses repeat the refrain: Despite the horrors of war, flights out of Vietnam were joyous, the happiest places in the Pacific; GIs often broke into applause on takeoff. Likewise, returning flights were somber. "You could hear a pin drop, not a word, not a peep out of them," recalls Jacqui Nolte of Granite Bay, Calif., among the women who flew through the Tet Offensive. "They knew where they were going." While the women were all young, most just out of college, they remember the troops were younger. Many were teenagers who read comic books throughout the flight. Flight attendants shepherding GIs overseas were trained to be first responders and safety officers in the sky, but they offered themselves up as therapists, big sisters and pen pals, too. It was an age before in-flight movies, and the women were extroverts and aimed to have fun with the troops, bringing not just cookies aboard but also Easter eggs, party hats, wigs and costumes for in-flight dress-up contests. They acted as unofficial tour guides for the exotic destinations ahead, recommending the right places to buy pearls, silks or perfume for some girlfriend or sister back home. Because of the duration of the flights, the women had time to get to know the troops. Some say they tried to keep up the friendships afterward, occasionally to sobering effect. "I started writing to different soldiers, being a pen pal to several of them, but they all got killed, and I felt like a jinx," remembers Helen Davey, who flew with Pan Am for 20 years. Stewardesses could be as bawdy as they were compassionate: Some cabin crews taped suggestive magazine ads to the tray tables, so when the trays were brought down for meal service, soldiers were greeted with images of scantily clad models in bikinis. On one flight, the purser announced a surprise: "Dessert is going to be served topless," recalls John Marshall, a former Pan Am flight engineer, now an aviation safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration in St. Louis. The cabin of GIs erupted in cheers and whistles. As the dessert cart rolled down the aisle, the flight engineer - a man - walked behind it with his shirt off, delivering ice cream to the troops. The meal service for military charters was first class, though cabins were configured in all economy seats: The troops got thick steaks prepared to order, ice cream and fresh milk. There was no alcohol service, but flight attendants would sometimes reach into the cocktail kit, pour milk into a martini glass, insert a swizzle stick, and add a few drops of maraschino cherry juice and a cherry to simulate a tropical drink. "We treated them like kings," says Jacqui Nolte, who flew with Pan Am for six years. "It was really an honor to be able to do that for them." - - - Even airplane landings were intense. Instead of a low and gentle approach, as at a modern airport, the aircraft came in high to the end of the airstrip. At the last possible moment, the captain would point the plane's nose at the ground and dive "practically straight down" to avoid antiaircraft fire, says Marshall. "It took a lot of skill to flare [a DC-6] at the last minute and get the airplane in a position to land on that runway." The former stewardesses still remember the blast of heat upon opening the aircraft door in Vietnam. They would change from flat-heeled cabin shoes - so as not to puncture an inflatable slide in an emergency - to mandatory stilettos. Their baby-blue wool skirts and blazers were alleged to be all-weather material, even in the tropics, but the regulation nylon stockings were intolerably hot for a jungle. The ground operation was quick. Aircraft were allowed no more than two hours to turn around and unload a full plane of GIs, refuel and reload. After landing, engineers checked the fuselage for bullet holes. In an era of hijackings, crews would get held hostage by Vietnamese dissidents and American soldiers. For security, cabin crews were often ordered to not leave the airplane once it was on the ground. A white passenger airplane with a big blue ball on its tail was a standing target, visible above the tree line. The airfield at Danang was littered on either side with downed military aircraft and blown-up trucks. "We dropped the guys off, and there were machine guns at the end of the ramp, and they were shooting at us at the end of the runway," says Nolte. As a new flight full of GIs would race up the stairs, men sometimes handed off pieces of fresh shrapnel to the women for souvenirs. Men who had families frequently chose to take leave in Honolulu if they could, meeting up with wives and small children. Those flights and the airport reunions stand out for the stewardesses. "I remember one little boy grasping the leg of his father, saying, 'Don't go! Don't go!' That really broke my heart," says Donna Igoe of Sherman Oaks, Calif. "That's what they were facing, and they were enormously courageous." For Thieu-Tra Duong Iwafuchi, Pan Am's first Vietnamese stewardess, who lives in San Francisco, the route was painful and personal. She was born in North Vietnam and fled south after French colonists killed her father. To visit her mother and sisters, who remained in Saigon, Duong Iwafuchi would bid for flight patterns that took her home. "I'm from a big family, and I got to see my family every month at least one or two times." When the city fell in April 1975, Duong Iwafuchi evacuated Saigon on the last commercial flight out, a "mercy flight" carrying the Vietnamese families of Pan Am personnel as well as Vietnamese orphans. Her five sisters escaped on that flight by wearing surplus Pan Am uniforms. - - - As jets came to dominate the R&R service, troops could take leave as far away as Australia and Hawaii. The destination list expanded alongside American commitment in Southeast Asia, with evermore cities absorbing the tens of thousands of GIs streaming into the region. At its peak in 1969, the R&R program flew to Bangkok, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Taipei, Tokyo and Sydney. Trips got dangled as an incentive for reenlistment: Soldiers who extended their tours could be eligible for a second leave after three months. By the latter half of 1970, about 17,000 soldiers would take R&R every month. Many of the women used layovers in Asia to visit wounded soldiers at military hospitals in Vietnam, Guam, Manila and Tokyo. "The kindness between some of these men was unbelievable," Ann Moon, in Santa Fe, N.M., remembers of her hospital visits. Moon flew with Pan Am for 24 years. "I'll never forget this man with a head wound helping a man without legs, amputated at the thighbone. And the man with no legs helping the man with [the head wound], without his faculties." "One [amputee] asked me, 'Is my wife going to accept me this way?' recalls Marjorie Perry. " 'Of course she will,' I said. Now I wonder, did he even live?" Former stewardesses say AWOL attempts grew more frequent, and the number of drugs found in the aircraft cabins increased. Smoking was still allowed on airplanes then, and flights were thick with marijuana smoke. "I had 19 heroin addicts I was bringing out of Vietnam, and they were going through withdrawal on the plane, and it was terrifying to watch," says Nancy Hult Ganis, a former flight attendant of eight years who lives in San Francisco and produced the short-lived television series "Pan Am" for ABC. "I felt really angry because I thought these were young kids put in a situation where they couldn't cope, and [drug use] was their method, and we have no means to handle this. I was mad at the whole situation, at realizing the insanity of war." The souring tenor of the war was impossible to miss, even for women who say they were nonpolitical. Helen Davey was in Danang on April 1, 1968, when she heard Johnson's famous Vietnam speech over the base loudspeakers. He announced a halt to naval and air attacks in Vietnam, an olive branch to the North Vietnamese. The GIs looked up from the tarmac as the president spoke. Stewardesses stood still. "With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office - the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." Afterward, "The soldiers came on board shocked," Davey says. - - - With jobs and pay that divided sharply along gender lines, the airline industry was among the first workplaces to face scrutiny under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Within a decade, courts would undo the industry's gender, age, marriage, race and pregnancy restrictions. In 1968, a mandatory retirement age between 30 and 35 for flight attendants was struck down. In 1971 the airlines' marriage ban was ruled illegal, as was the prohibition on male flight attendants. In 1974, courts ruled that men and women doing the same work should get equal pay. Marjorie Perry, like all women who flew to Vietnam, was required to get inoculations for tropical diseases such as yellow fever and cholera, from the company doctor. In 1969, she told the physician she wasn't feeling well. He diagnosed the flu and gave her the shots. After a few days, when she hadn't recovered, Perry returned to the clinic. As she remembers, the doctor told her, "Congratulations. You're pregnant. You're fired." In 1971 Perry joined a lawsuit filed in federal court challenging workplace discrimination against pregnancy and motherhood. The U.S. courts would soon make it clear: If fathers of small children were not getting fired on the spot, there was no reason mothers should not also be allowed to keep their jobs. It was possible to argue and enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in no small part because commercial carriers got so much federal money from the war. Perry won her suit, and she returned to Pan Am as a working mother in 1973. Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978, an amendment to Title VII, protecting working women's rights to maternity leave and benefits. "We changed the airlines," Perry says. - - - The stewardesses played a critical national defense role in the war. And though Pan Am no longer exists - the company folded in 1991 - its female crew members were eyewitnesses to history. The women who worked for the Vietnam airlift say that, by and large, they are not troubled that they have been left out of the United States' Vietnam chapter, or that the nation has barely recognized their place in the war. "The guys recognized it," Ann Moon says. "And that means a lot." - - - Rose is the author of "D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II" and "For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History." Advertisement At least 270 protesters were arrested across New York City on Thursday night after thousands remained on the streets and continued marching past the 8pm curfew for a fourth night in a row. NYPD officers were out in full force following a day of George Floyd demonstrations that continued well into the night in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. In some areas of the city, officers did not immediately move in on crowds as night fell, but in others they were seen swarming in on hundreds of people and blocking off streets before arresting them without warning. It comes after the NYPD was criticized for their tough crackdown on curfew-breakers the previous night, after many protesters were pepper sprayed or shoved as police tried to disperse crowds. The NYPD has also been slammed for their decision to arrest people for misdemeanor offenses during the protests, rather than issue them summonses. At least 270 protesters were arrested on Thursday night, down slightly on the 280 who were arrested on Wednesday, the Daily News reported. Hundreds of New Yorkers who were arrested at protests over the past week remain in custody and are yet to be arraigned after widespread policing on the streets has led to delays in processing. Scroll down for video A protester is arrested on Fifth Avenue by NYPD officers as they cracked down on people violating the 8pm curfew Police began to move in on crowds and carried out arrests after thousands remained on the streets Thousands continued marching across the city following a George Floyd vigil in Brooklyn that drew a crowd of 10,000 people Seven young protesters wearing protective masks were seen sitting on the sidewalk after being arrested Protesters detained with zip ties were seen sitting on the sidewalk as they waited to be taken away in police vans Tonight the NYPD hit a protester walking his bike and journalist @macfathom (also with a bike) with batons, knocking him over twice, completely unprovoked. The hoarse voice screaming hes press is me pic.twitter.com/TVAjawRIO3 johnknefel (@johnknefel) June 5, 2020 Protests over the death of George Floyd carried on after New York City's imposed 8pm curfew on Thursday The Legal Aid Society on Thursday filed an emergency petition to release those who have been held for more than 24 hours and are overdue for arraignment, but the request was denied by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge James Burke, The New York Daily News reported. 'To that end, the entire police department has been deployed and the entire Manhattan DA's office is all hands on deck and working to relieve the problems which we are currently addressing,' Burke said. Police continued carrying out dozens of arrests on Thursday night, still employing aggressive tactics, including kettling and charging towards crowds. In midtown Manhattan, several young protesters were seen restrained with zip ties as they sat on the sidewalk waiting to be taken away in a police van. Crowds of demonstrators march down 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan NYPD officers were out in full force following a day of George Floyd demonstrations that continued well into the night Protestors sit on the floor after they were arrrested by NYPD officers for breaking the 8pm curfew Cops arrest protestors for breaking the curfew as they continued to protest demanding an end to police brutality CNN reporter Shimon Prokupecz, who was on 57th Street when cops moved in on crowds, said he witnessed one police officer swing his baton before the captain pulled him back to stop him. 'They came east, they came west, and they just swarmed this area. It was clear that they wanted to move in and take these demonstrators off the street,' he said. In Brooklyn, hundreds of people were seen in a video marching down the street around 9pm before cops suddenly charged toward protesters without warning, prompting hundreds to take off running and disperse. In a shocking video uploaded by journalist John Knefel, an NYPD officer wearing a white shirt is seen beating a male cyclist with his baton, before two more cops come along and knock him to the ground and restrain him. The man, who had been walking along peacefully with his bike, is heard repeatedly shouting: 'What did I do?' as cops seize him. Police continued to carry out arrests after cracking down on curfew-breakers the previous night and taking in 180 people One man is seen being pinned to the ground as police handcuff him using zip ties Cyclists being tackled and arrested pic.twitter.com/CcmVnKd0vy Ben Verde (@verde_nyc) June 5, 2020 Protesters in Brooklyn take a knee on Flatbush Avenue in front of New York City police officers during a solidarity rally for George Floyd, Thursday The crackdown followed NYPD Chief Terence Monahan's warning on Wednesday saying there would be 'no tolerance' for anyone defying curfew And shit just changed. Cops charge the crowd, beating, arresting. Heres the moment. pic.twitter.com/jVOqkb4T5c Ben Verde (@verde_nyc) June 5, 2020 Over in the Bronx, police were seen using more aggressive tactics on protesters who had gathered earlier for a rally hosted by activist group Decolonize This Place. At one point officers began kettling, or closing in on hundreds of protesters and blocking off East 136th Street and Brook Avenue, before aggressively arresting people. Similar tactics were used on a group at Central Park West near 108th street where officers swarmed groups from all sides and began making arrests. 'They came from all sides. They kettled us. There was no warning,' one protester told the New York Post. The crackdown followed NYPD Chief Terence Monahan's warning on Wednesday saying there would be 'no tolerance' for anyone defying curfew. Earlier, Mayor Bill de Blasio was widely booed as he tried to deliver a speech at a George Floyd vigil in Brooklyn after videos on social media the night before showed NYPD officers using batons on peaceful demonstrators. De Blasio has come under fire by both citizens and public officials for supporting police officers' aggressive tactics but also for failing to prevent looters from damaging and vandalizing businesses earlier in the week. Demonstrators, among the several thousand in attendance, immediately booed de Blasio as he walked across the stage and chanted: 'De Blasio go home!' and 'Vote them out!' De Blasio kept his speech short, urging protesters that Floyd's death should not be in vain. 'We have too much to change in this city and this country,' he said. 'We will not be about words in this city; we will be about change.' Protesters were seen facing off with police officers after they continued marching on the streets Embattled Mayor Bill de Blasio was booed by protesters as he spoke at a George Floyd memorial in Brooklyn on Thursday Thousands turned out in support of Floyd and his family, including brother Terrence (pictured) who thanked the crowds for their demonstrations An estimated 10,000 people gathered in Brooklyn to pay their respects for Floyd and fight against police brutality on Thursday Two women are seen putting their hands up in a sign of solidarity Thursday's demonstration mark the seventh consecutive night of protests in New York City Terrence Floyd (center) led protesters across the Brooklyn Bridge following a memorial service for his brother George Several thousands marched along the bridge as they headed to lower Manhattan for another night of protests A group of protesters carried a banner reading: 'Justice for George Floyd', as they led crowds to Manhattan 'For all of us who have not walked a mile in the shoes of the black community, or communities of color, all of us who know white privilege, we need to do more, because we don't even fully recognize the daily pain that the racism in this society causes,' he added. As de Blasio struggled to be heard, many were seen turning their backs to him as he talked. Several others in attendance could be heard shouting for him to resign. The mayor left shortly after delivering his speech and later addressed New Yorkers again on Twitter. 'To George Floyd's brother, Terrence: thank you for inviting Chirlane and me today and for working to bring our city together. To my fellow New Yorkers, I hear your anger and your grief. And I promise you we won't let this moment pass without real reform,' he said. An estimated 10,000 people had gathered for the vigil at Cadman Plaza Park in support of Floyd and his family, including brother Terrence, who thanked the crowd for their demonstrations. 'You are not alone,' the large crowd chanted before an emotional Terrence Floyd, wearing a mask and a T-shirt bearing his brother's likeness, thanked them for their support. 'I thank God for you all showing love to my brother,' he said. Terrence, however, spoke out against the violence and chaos that has engulfed the city and the nation in the wake of George's death, saying his brother was about peace. 'I'm proud of the protests but I'm not proud of the destruction. My brother wasn't about that. The Floyds are a God-fearing family,' he said. 'Power to the people, all of us,' he added. Protests for George Floyd are still going strong across the city and the nation more than a week after his death by cops Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity march over the Brooklyn Bridge and hold their fists up in the air in solidarity Protesters shouted his name or chanted 'No justice, no peace,' as they walked over the bridge Following the speeches, the mass of protesters marched toward the Brooklyn Bridge behind the Floyd family As de Blasio struggled to be heard, others could be seen turning away from him as he talked The vigil was one of many memorial services for Floyd that took place on Thursday, with a formal one held at North Central University in Minneapolis, where a number of Hollywood celebrities and politicians including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley were in attendance. Among the celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Marsai Martin. The service took place as a judge less than a mile away set bail at $1million each for three of the four fired Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Floyd's death. It was the first of a series of memorials set for three cities over six days. Following the service in Brooklyn, thousands of protesters filed out of Cadman Plaza to march across the Brooklyn Bridge and headed for Foley Square in downtown Manhattan for a seventh night of demonstrations against police brutality. Demonstrators had also gathered in Cadman Plaza on Wednesday night, where videos were taken of officers using batons and pepper spray on nonviolent protesters who remained after the 8pm curfew. A protesters throws her fist in the air as she marches with thousands of George Floyd supporters Protests unfolded across the city for a seventh night and have remained mostly peaceful Harlem: Protesters in Harlem dressed formally before taking to the streets Harlem: Male protesters wore black suits, while some women wore formal attire as they marched Harlem: Protesters put their fists in the air in a show of support for Floyd and the black community It comes after 180 people were arrested across the city the previous night for violating curfew, despite the fact that demonstrations had remained largely peaceful in comparison to the violence that wreaked havoc in Manhattan and Brooklyn earlier this week. The NYPD has carried out more than 800 arrests since protests began, prompting critics to slam the department's decision to detain people arrested for misdemeanor offenses during the protests, rather than issue them summonses. Earlier the mayor said police have used 'a lot of restraint' overall, but also added: 'If at a certain point, officers say, "It's time, people need to go now," people need to listen to that.' Protesters cry and hug each other as they remember the life of Georger Floyd during the memorial Protesters crowded into Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn on Thursday for a memorial for George Floyd Of the demonstrations that have engulfed the city and the nation, and the violence that has taken place, he said, 'I'm proud of the protests but I'm not proud of the destruction. My brother wasn't about that. The Floyds are a God-fearing family' 'For all of us who have not walked a mile in the shoes of the black community, or communities of color, all of us who know white privilege, we need to do more, because we don't even fully recognize the daily pain that the racism in this society causes,' the mayor said Hollywood celebrities, musicians and politicians gathered in front of the Floyd's golden casket on Thursday at a sanctuary at North Central University in the first of a series of memorials set for three cities over six days American civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton (L) George Floyd's son Quincy Mason Floyd, arrive at the memorial service in Minneapolis The Rev. Jesse Jackson mingles with others during the memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis The governor and mayor said protesters should abide by the 8pm curfew put in place earlier this week to deter the violence, vandalism and destruction that followed protests Sunday and Monday nights. 'If you are violating the curfew and you refuse to leave so you continue to violate the curfew, the police officers have to enforce the law, which is: youre supposed to off the street,' Cuomo said. The citywide curfew, New York's first in decades, is set to remain in effect through at least Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of shutdowns because of the coronavirus. Wednesday night unfolded without the vandalism and smash-and-grab sprees that forced merchants around the city to board their stores up preemptively, but police said a man ambushed officers on an anti-looting patrol in Brooklyn shortly before midnight, stabbing him in the neck. The attacker was shot by responding officers and was in critical condition. Two officers suffered gunshot wounds to their hands in the chaos, but all three wounded officers were expected to recover. Officer Yayonfrant Jean Pierre, who was stabbed in the neck, and the other wounded officers, Randy Ramnarine and Dexter Chiu, were expected to recover. De Blasio said he was 'not going to theorize on' possible motives for the attack. Protests over Floyd's death were planned around the city for Thursday along with a statewide moment of silence at 2 p.m. to coincide with another memorial for Floyd taking place in Minneapolis. By Associated Press FLORENCE: The Uffizi Galleries, the most-visited museum in Italy, is open after three months of COVID-19 lockdown, delighting art lovers who dont have to jostle with throngs of tourists thanks to new social distancing rules. Uffizi director Eike Schmidt told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the government-ordered closure of museums during coronavirus containment measures meant 1 million fewer visitors and 12 million euros ($13.2 million) in less revenue for that period. Now, at most 450 people at one time are allowed in the Uffizis many galleries, chock full of some of the art worlds greatest masterpieces. That means visitors no longer have to elbow their way to admire such masterpieces as Botticelli's Birth of Venus." First in line to enter was Laura Ganino. She was studying in Florence when the lockdown was declared in early March and now was finally about to leave the Tuscan city, since Italy on Wednesday dropped restrictions on travel between regions in the country. Schmidt said tourists from overseas weren't expected to come to Italy in large numbers likely before 2021. Ganino took advantage of the smaller number of visitors. Crowds, she said, pose an obstacle between me and what I'm observing." Right behind her in line was Patrizia Spagnese, from Prato in Tuscany. With crowds, "I get distracted, I tend to tire easily,'' she said, so with her husband she was eager to savor the beauties inside the Uffizi, which she had never seen in its entirety despite many times being in Florence. Schmidt said social distancing heralds a new era in art experience. Without being surrounded by rushing crowds, art lovers can better feel these emotions that these works of art always transmit," he said. Visitors to the highly popular Vatican Museums, which reopened two days earlier after lockdown, similarly could appreciate opportunities rarely available in the past. These include enjoying Michelangelo's frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapels without many other tourists jockeying for a spot where they can crane their neck to observe the masterpiece overhead. As an added bonus, the Vatican Museums visitors can now see work by Raphael which had long been attributed to that of his artistic workshop but that after several years of delicate cleaning and restoration, experts decided were really painted by him shortly before his death in 1520. Two female figures, each with one breast bared and serving as allegorical representations of justice and friendship decorate one of the walls of the Hall of Constantine. The Vatican had planned to unveil the rediscovery" of Raphael's work at an international convention of art experts in April. But the coronavirus outbreak forced that plan to be scrapped. Instead, rank-and-file art lovers who visited the rooms of the Vatican decorated by Raphael, one of the highlights of the Museums tour before they reach the Sistine Chapel, can now admire the feminine figures. Raphael painted the figures with oil-based paint, very unusual for mural painting at the time. Vicky Pattison has paid tribute to her late best friend Paul Burns on the second anniversary of his death. The television personality, 32, took to Instagram on Wednesday to pen a touching tribute to the popular Newcastle bar boss who died, aged 37, on June 2, 2018. Vicky raised a glass as she shared a slew of throwback photos documenting their friendship over the years. Vicky Pattison has paid tribute to her late best friend Paul Burns on the second anniversary of his death In the lengthy post, Vicky wrote: 2 years ago yesterday the world got a little dimmer and heaven gained an angel... 'I wanted to post this yesterday, but for obvious reasons I couldnt- but I remembered you Paul, and honoured you in my own way, and I cried of course, because quite frankly I will never stop missing you. And I will never stop wishing things were different. And that you were still here. 'Mr Paul Burns you were my best friend, my biggest cheerleader and an all round geordie gentleman. The television personality, 32, took to Instagram on Wednesday to pen a touching tribute to the popular Newcastle bar boss who died, aged 37, on June 2, 2018 We love you!!! Vicky and boyfriend Ercan Ramadan raised a glass in memory of Paul 'You put everyone before yourself and always had time for everyone else. Your patience, kindness and endless generosity will always be forever missed- in fact your absence is palpable, and I feel it whenever I come up north more than ever. 'But I knew this was where I needed to be over the last couple days. With my family and people who understand how much losing you hurt. 'Because you werent meant to go, you were so happy, vibrant and full of life- you were meant to meet Mavie, to help me through my breakup and meet ercan, to be an usher at laura and Dannys wedding, you were meant to find happiness with your forever person... because you deserved it more than anyone. You just werent meant to go. In the lengthy post, Vicky wrote: 2 years ago yesterday the world got a little dimmer and heaven gained an angel... 'Your absence is palpable': 'You put everyone before yourself and always had time for everyone else. Your patience, kindness and endless generosity will always be forever missed' 'Rest in peace friend, you were too good for this world. And I know I speak for all of us; our Jackie, Your Victoria, Rod, Roberta John, us girls, bash, Martin, my mam, Laura, Emma, Lynds, Stephie, Kailee, nats, Kristina, Sarah, Rhys, Gemma, Becky 'Robbo and all of our Essex boys when I say: you will never be forgotten.' Vicky concluded: 'I love you'. Paul had finished his shift at The Botanist at around 11pm on June 1 2018, before going out with pals in the city centre, but an inquest heard that the evening ended in tragedy when the 37-year-old collapsed. Party girl: Vicky and Paul loved to go out partying during her wild days Coroner Karen Dilks said in the early hours of June 2 2018, Paul was seen by a member of the public 'sitting on a wall and appeared to be swaying with his head in his hands'. 'A short time later he was seen lying unresponsive on the pavement,' she said. Paramedics attended the scene and attempted to resuscitate him, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Ms Dilks said a post-mortem examination showed no obvious signs of natural disease. She said a toxicology report confirmed the presence of MDMA - also known as ecstasy - in his system. A former Bethlehem man admitted Thursday he raped a woman who was jogging along the Lehigh Canal in the city. Justo Effrain Garcia, 41, pleaded guilty in Northampton County Court to rape by forcible compulsion, a first-degree felony, according to county Chief Deputy District Attorney Tatum Wilson. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for Sept. 11, Wilson said. By virtue of the plea, he will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, the prosecutor told lehighvalleylive.com. The victim was running the afternoon of May 19, 2011, on the tow path near Bethlehems Charles A. Brown Ice House and listening to music through earphones. She had slowed to a fast walk when she felt a persons arms around her, authorities have said. Garcia held his arm around her with the knife in his hand as he pulled her through waist-high brush, before forcing her down and raping her, authorities said. He asked the victim if she was going to tell anyone, and when she said no, he said, Are you serious and I dont want to hurt you," according to police. She stayed down for about 10 or 15 minutes before heading to the hospital to report the attack. Police collected the womans clothing, and were able to recover DNA from her sweatpants. In October 2012, the DNA was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and matched to Garcias DNA, investigators said. Garcia was taken into custody a short time later in New Mexico on unrelated charges, including aggravated attempted battery with a deadly weapon and assault with attempt to commit a violent felony. Investigators in 2018 executed a search warrant for Garcias DNA, and found it matched the DNA on the victims clothing. Bethlehem police charged Garcia in June 2019. He was returned last October to Northampton County to face charges in the attack. He'd been serving a five-year prison term in Hobbs, New Mexico. He had been scheduled to face trial in the rape case June 15, though the date was pushed back to Aug. 3, before Thursdays plea, court records show. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. By Kim Hyun-bin Merck, a German-based tech company, is expanding its influence in the semiconductor industry through mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in hope of its top South Korean clients' prompt and continued recovery in the memory chip business segment. Merck has long been a "serious partner" with Samsung and LG tech affiliates including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display and LG Display, sharing patents crucial to manufacture advanced displays and high-end memory chips. Merck said it integrated its recently acquired Versum Materials and Intermolecular with its existing Semiconductor Solutions consisting of Semiconductor Materials and Delivery Systems & Services (DS&S). The integrated semiconductor unit, which the company says is more fully customer-centric, was launched Monday. The decision was widely interpreted as the company's reaffirmed commitment to its South Korean partners in the area of "performance materials." Merck has been operating its OLED application center in Pyeongtaek, where Samsung Electronics' advanced memory chip plant is located. "Through the integration of Versum Materials and Intermolecular, we have set the course for future growth. Our product and service portfolio is designed to enable technological progress in the face of increasing amounts of data," Kai Beckmann, a board member of the company who is also handling its performance materials unit, said in a statement. "We continue to make great progress with the integration. We are the company behind the companies advancing digital living." Merck completed its acquisition of Intermolecular, a California-based company for advanced materials innovation. The deal, valued at around $62 million, was aiming to accelerating moves to develop its "next products" particularly in the electronic materials industry. Its last first-quarter performance wasn't in good shape in terms of revenue hit by the spread of COVID-19 however Merck's semiconductor unit fared well. Merck identified fifth-generation (5G), big data, autonomous driving and the internet of things (loT) as its next business targets. Concerns over a potential second wave as health officials record 3,574 new infections in the past 24 hours. Iran marked its highest daily jump since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak with 3,574 coronavirus cases. The figures marked the third consecutive day that the country recorded more than 3,000 daily new infections. After two months of restrictions, mosques, churches, ports, business activities, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to re-open from Sunday. The coronavirus death tolls in Brazil and Mexico have soared to new daily records, with 1,349 and 1,092 confirmed fatalities, even as the countries begin to ease lockdown restrictions. Brazil now has more than 32,000 deaths, while Mexico has over 11,000. Around 6.5 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 388,000 people have died, including some 107,000 in the US. More than 2.7 million people have recovered from the disease. Here are the latest updates: Thursday, June 4 20:56 GMT Algeria to ease restrictions from Sunday Algeria will resume some economic activities and allow a number of businesses to reopen from Sunday as part of a plan to end the coronavirus lockdown. The prime ministers office said the government would allow the construction and public works sector to resume activity to help ease the impact of the restrictions imposed in March. The government will also permit the reopening of businesses such as home appliances, vegetable and fruit markets, pastries and mens barbershops. The second stage of the lockdown relaxation will start on June 14, allowing more businesses to resume, the government said, without giving details. A vendor wearing a protective face mask serves a customer inside her shop in Algiers, Algeria [Ramzi Boudina/Reuters] 20:09 GMT Iran braces for a potential second wave Iran recorded 3,574 coronavirus cases, a new daily record, bringing the total number of known infections to 164,270. The overall death toll stood at 8,071 after the recording of 59 new fatalities. The figures marked the third consecutive day that the country recorded more than 3,000 daily new infections, raising worries Iran could be on the verge of a second wave. So far, Irans previous high was on March 30 when it marked 3,186 new cases in 24 hours. Iran was the first country in the Middle East to be swept by the pandemic. More serious compliance with physical distancing and more serious and smarter use of masks is an absolute necessity in the days ahead, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on Wednesday in an interview with Iranian state TV news. Iranians wear protective face masks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as they drive with the metro in the Iranian capital Tehran [Ali Khara/WANA via Reuters] 19:22 GMT Authors retract hydroxychloroquine study that raised safety fears Three of the four authors behind a large-scale study in The Lancet that raised safety fears over the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 retracted their paper. The dataset used in the study, a retrospective analysis of patient records, had come under serious scrutiny in recent weeks, with dozens of scientists expressing concerns over its authenticity in an open letter. One of the authors, Sapan Desai, who heads a little-known firm called Surgisphere that supplied the data, did not join the retraction. 18:49 GMT British Airways, IAG no-show in meeting with UK interior minister British Airways and its parent company, IAG, did not attend a meeting with the United Kingdoms Home Secretary Priti Patel to discuss the countrys new quarantine plans. While an IAG spokesperson did not give an explanation on the reasons behind the companys absence, the BBC earlier reported that the operator was upset at what it saw as a lack of consultation over the quarantines introduction. The UK government imposed a 14-day quarantine to travellers entering the country 18:20 GMT Countries latest figures Spain: 287,740 cases (+195), 27,133 deaths (+5) Turkey: 167,410 cases (+988), 4,630 deaths (+21) France: 152,444 cases (+767), 26,065 deaths (+44) 17:43 GMT Jordan to lift most coronavirus restrictions After two months of restrictions, Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz announced a period of general easing of the lockdown starting from Saturday. The announcement comes amid a decline in confirmed new infections to less than 10 per day over the last week. Mosques, churches, ports, business activities, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to re-open and travel between cities will also be authorised. Tourism activities will also be permitted for Jordanian residents, with internal flights resuming and hotels re-opening. The Imam of a mosques puts foot print mats for social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Amman, Jordan [Muhammad Hamed/Reuters] 17:15 GMT US authorities urge protesters to get tested Protesters in the United States should highly consider getting tested for coronavirus, said Robert Redfield, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For several days, people across the US have taken to the streets to protest against police brutality and racial injustice following the killing of another Black man, George Floyd, at the hands of white officers. As the coronavirus is still spreading across USs cities, officials urge protesters to get tested [Angela Weiss/AFP] Those individuals that have partaken in these peaceful protests or have been out protesting, and particularly if theyre in metropolitan areas that really havent controlled the outbreak we really want those individuals to highly consider being evaluated and get tested, Redfield said before a House of Representatives committee. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made a similar appeal to demonstrators: Coronavirus tests are available to all protesters. We ask protesters to be responsible. Wear a mask. Get tested, he said on Twitter. Coronavirus tests are available to all protesters. We ask protesters to be responsible. Wear a mask. Get tested. Act as if you may have been exposed. Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 4, 2020 16:48 GMT AstraZeneca aims at 2bn doses with potential vaccine AstraZeneca will be able to deliver 2bn doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine this year and next, double the previous numbers, the company said during a vaccine summit hosted by the UK government. The British companys move will be possible thanks to deals with the Serum Institute of India and two Bill Gates-backed global health organisations. AstraZeneca, which has already agreed to supply 400m doses to the US and British governments, had agreed terms with the Indian company, the worlds largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, to supply one billion doses for low and middle-income countries. 16:23 GMT Qatar Airways rebuilds its network over 40 destinations Qatar Airways is gradually resuming flights to more than 40 designations, including Bangkok, Barcelona and several cities in Pakistan. The airline also announced in a statement the upcoming resumption of flights to other hubs including Berlin and New York. The company had to reduce some of its activities due to the coronavirus pandemic. 16:11 GMT UK to make face coverings compulsory on public transport Public transport users in the UK will have to wear face masks on public transportation starting from June 15. The evidence suggests that wearing face coverings offers some, albeit limited, protection, against the spread of the virus, said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. A woman wearing a protective face mask is seen at a bus stop with a public health campaign advertisement asking for passengers to wear masks on public transport [Toby Melville/Reuters] 15:47 GMT Curing flu and coronavirus could slam US health care system As this falls flu season approaches, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seeking emergency use authorization for a test to detect and differentiate flu from COVID-19. Fighting both the novel virus and the flu could put a tremendous burden on the health care system, said the agencys director Robert Redfield in prepared testimony before a House of Representatives committee. Redfield added that the agency was working with manufacturers to maximize the availability of the influenza vaccine. 15:22 GMT GAVI alliance raises $567m to buy COVID-19 vaccines for poor International donors have pledged $567 million for a financial instrument launched by the GAVI vaccines alliance set up to incentivising vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of eventual COVID-19 vaccines, and to ensure access for developing countries. Todays launch moves us one step closer to the essential vision of equitable access for all, said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Gavi Board. By de-risking the cost of investing in high volumes of manufacturing against an unknown outcome and making sure those investments are made now the Gavi Covax AMC increases the likelihood that when we have a successful vaccine or vaccines, it will be available in sufficient quantities and affordable to developing countries, he said. 14:57 GMT Ukraine may ease access to China, Australia, Arab states citizens As a new strategy to attract more tourists, Ukraine is considering cancelling its visa requirement for travellers coming from China, Australia, New Zealand and Arab states. It is necessary to liberalise the visa policy: if countries cancel visa requirements for Ukrainians who come to them, we will cancel for them too. We need to compete for tourists, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Increasing the flow of tourists would boost the countrys economy which is expected to shrink by 12 percent in the second quarter. 14:27 GMT T est, Trace, Treat: African countries set up new strategy In an effort to ramp up testing, African states rolled out the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT). The initiative is led by three pillars: test, trace, treat, John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Twitter. #PACT is a continental strategy to help Member States limit #COVID19 transmission by ensuring uninterrupted supply of diagnostics and medical supplies, as well as frontline personnel, needed to support response at the country level. #TestTraceTreat #Africa pic.twitter.com/GE7CCv3kEP John Nkengasong (@JNkengasong) June 4, 2020 PACT goals include conducting 10 million COVID19 tests over the next few months; deployment of 1 million community health workers to respond; and training 100,000 healthcare workers to support COVID-19 response, he added. Nkengasong also said that 3.4 million tests have been conducted in Africa so far, about 1,700 tests per 1 million people, compared to 37,000 tests per 1 million in Italy and 30,000 per 1 million in Britain. 13:54 GMT More EU countries reopening borders A number of European countries are gearing to up reopen their borders after months of closures due to the pandemic. The Czech government will further ease travel restrictions from and to Austria, Germany and Hungary starting on Friday. Slovenia will also open its border to Austria starting on Friday, while Croatian and Hungarian citizens are already allowed to travel to the country. Germany has said it will drop border restrictions on June 15. Sweden will ease its travel restrictions from June 13. A German police officer wearing a protective mask during a car control at the border crossing between Austria and Germany [Christof Stache/AFP] Hi, this is Virginia Pietromarchi in Doha, Qatar and I will now take over the live blog from my colleague Arwa Ibrahim. 13:09 GMT UK PM Johnson met business minister Sharma, shortly before Sharma taken ill British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a 45-minute meeting with business minister Alok Sharma on Wednesday, just hours before Sharma was taken ill and tested for the coronavirus, Johnsons spokesman said. The spokesman said the meeting, also attended by finance minister Rishi Sunak, was socially distanced throughout and that Johnson would follow medical advice if Sharmas COVID-19 test result came back positive. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he heard the messages from those protesting after the killing of Floyd [File:Reuters] 12:24 GMT Virgin Atlantic says to restart some flights on July 20 Virgin Atlantic said it would restart some flights that have been grounded by the COVID-19 pandemic on July 20 and aimed to restore further services in August. The airline said that services to Orlando and Hong Kong from London Heathrow would resume on July 20, with flights to New York JFK, Los Angeles, and Shanghai set to restart on July 21. Virgin Atlantic said that services to Orlando and Hong Kong from London Heathrow would resume on July 20 [File: Phil Noble/Reuters] 11:47 GMT China will promote resumption of tourism, culture and sports -state media China will promote the resumption of the tourism, culture and sports sectors, a top-level meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang said, state radio reported. Chinas aviation authority said that 95 foreign airlines that have suspended services to China can now apply to resume flights [File: Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press] 11:33 GMT Frances Bastille Day military parade replaced by ceremony in Paris Frances Bastille Day military parade marking its national day will be replaced by a ceremony on the Place de la Concorde square in central Paris, President Emmanuel Macrons office said. The ceremony, which will include the traditional fly-over by the French air force, will honour the militarys participation in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic as well as frontline health care workers, the Elysee Palace said in a statement. The Bastille Day ceremony will honour the militarys participation in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic [File: Anadolu] 11:08 GMT Malaysia reports 277 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths Malaysian health authorities reported 277 new coronavirus cases after infections were detected in an immigration detention centre. The rise in new cases pushed Malaysias cumulative total past the 8,000 mark to 8,247. The health ministry reported no new deaths, keeping total fatalities at 115. 10:47 GMT China says 95 foreign airlines can apply to resume flights Chinas aviation authority said that 95 foreign airlines that have suspended services to China can now apply to resume flights, according to the agencys official newspaper. It estimated the number of weekly international flights would increase by 50 from June 8, from 150 flights currently. The average of passengers arriving per day would rise to 4,700, up from around 3,000 now, said the website of caacnews, the official newspaper for the Civil Aviation Administration of China. 10:23 GMT Philippines reports 10 new coronavirus deaths, 634 more cases The Philippine health ministry confirmed 10 more deaths from the coronavirus and 634 new infections. In a bulletin, it said total deaths have increased to 984 while confirmed cases have reached 20,382, of which 4,248 have recovered. 10:03 GMT Indonesia reports 585 new coronavirus infections, 23 deaths Indonesia reported 585 new coronavirus infections, taking the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 28,818. There were 23 new deaths, with coronavirus fatalities now at 1,721 since the outbreak started, said Achmad Yurianto, a health ministry official. There are 8,892 people who have recovered and more than 251,000 have been tested. 9:43 GMT Spain to open land borders with Portugal, France from June 22 Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said that all restrictions to border crossings with France and Portugal will be lifted from June 22. The authorities closed the borders to everybody but Spaniards, cross-border workers and truck drivers from mid-March when the country went into lockdown to curb the coronavirus contagion. 9:20 GMT Hong Kong confirms five new coronavirus cases; Cable TV says residents evacuated Hong Kong confirmed five new cases of coronavirus, all imported, while Cable TV reported some residents of a housing estate were evacuated after a cluster of cases was reported. The city has 1,100 confirmed cases of the disease, including one probable infection. 8:46 GMT Russias coronavirus case tally edges past 440,000 Russia reported 8,831 new cases of the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of infections across the country to 441,108. The countrys coronavirus crisis response centre said 169 people had died from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 5,384. Russias nationwide death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 5,384 people.[File: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA] 8:13 GMT UKs useless and ineffective quarantine will hammer tourism, Ryanair boss says Britain does not have a proper plan for its 14-day international quarantine and the introduction of such a useless and ineffective scheme will do untold damage to the countrys tourism industry, the head of Ryanair said. Britain is due to introduce a 14-day quarantine for international arrivals from June 8 to prevent a second surge in the coronavirus pandemic. You dont have a quarantine, people are going to be allowed to come in next week through Heathrow and Gatwick, they then get on the London Underground, the trains, the busses, the taxis, to get to their destination. They can stop off at the supermarket, they can play a round of golf, Michael OLeary told BBC TV. This is going to do untold damage to British tourism, the thousands of hotels and restaurants and guest houses all over the UK that depend on European visitors will be deterred by this useless and ineffective quarantine. 7:56 GMT Armed men in PPE rob supermarket in South Africa A group of armed men, dressed as healthcare workers, took an undisclosed amount of money following a robbery at a pension point at the Scottsville Mall in Durban, South Africa on Wednesday morning. The men pretended to be Covid-19 health inspectors wearing PPE, lab coats, masks, face shields and gloves, reported local South African media. 7:45 GMT China reports one new COVID-19 case, four asymptomatic ones China reported one new coronavirus case and four new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases for June 3, the health commission said. The National Health Commission said all five of the cases were imported, involving travellers from overseas. For June 2, China reported one confirmed case and 4 asymptomatic cases. China does not count asymptomatic patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but do not exhibit symptoms, as confirmed cases. The total number of infections in China stands at 83,022. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634. 7:36 GMT US Senate passes bill lengthening coronavirus small business loan terms The US Senate approved legislation giving small businesses up to 24 weeks to use Paycheck Protection Program loans created during the coronavirus pandemic, up from the current eight-week deadline. The legislation, already passed by the House of Representatives, now goes to President Donald Trump to sign into law. The program was created in March to support small businesses during the pandemic and encourage them to retain their employees. 7:24 GMT Pakistan register more than four thousand new coronavirus cases Pakistan registered its highest single-day rise in coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, with 4,801 new cases taking the countrys total tally to 85,264. The countrys number of cases has now surpassed those officially reported in China, where the first outbreak of the novel coronavirus was reported, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. World health authorities have, however, cautioned that the Chinese governments official figures on infections and deaths from the coronavirus may not be accurate. At least 85 patients died in Pakistan on Wednesday, taking the total death toll since the countrys outbreak began in late February to 1,813. Among those who died on Wednesday were two provincial lawmakers Shaukat Manzoor Cheema of the opposition PML-N party in the central province of Punjab and Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel of the ruling PTI party in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their deaths came a day after Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, a minister in the Sindh provincial government, died after contracting the coronavirus. 7:00 GMT Thailand reports 17 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths Thailand reported 17 new coronavirus cases and no new deaths, taking the total number of infections to 3,101, of which 58 were fatalities. The new cases were Thai nationals in quarantine who recently returned from the Middle East, including 13 from Kuwait alone, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the governments COVID-19 Administration Centre. There are 2,968 patients in Thailand who have recovered since the outbreak started. [File: Diego Azubel/EPA] - Hello. Im Arwa Ibrahim in Doha, Qatar, taking over the blog from my colleague Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 05:00 GMT Australia airport opens register for travellers to New Zealand Canberra Airport has opened a register for travellers interested in flying from the Australian capital to New Zealand on July 1 in a proposed resumption of international travel, AP news agency reported. Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron said the proposal to restart travel between the two countries with flights connecting the capitals was under discussion between the two governments as well as Qantas and Air New Zealand. Under the proposal, the flights between Canberra and Wellington would not require the quarantine of passengers. Canberra Airport opened its register of interest on Thursday for the first flight on July 1 and 140 names were added within the first hour. 04:45 GMT ICRC: Protect jobs or risk a boom in aid dependency Economic hardships brought about by the coronavirus pandemic could increase aid dependency in countries in conflict without coordinated responses from governments and international institutions, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday. The ongoing economic and food security impact of COVID-19 is massive and appears likely to worsen over time, it added, after releasing a survey on the effects of the pandemic. In Nigeria, for example, 95 percent of people surveyed said their livelihoods had suffered because of the pandemic, resulting in reduced salaries or revenue. In Iraq the number was 83 percent, and 52 percent in Libya. 04:30 GMT Japan to explore simplified Olympic Games: Tokyo governor Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Thursday it may be necessary to a stage a simplified Olympics next year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and that organisers were already discussing possible changes. Holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games calls for sympathy and understanding of Tokyoites and the Japanese people, Koike told reporters. Koikes comments come after the Yomiuri newspaper reported that various options, such as mandatory coronavirus testing and having fewer spectators, were being considered by organisers. John Coates, the head of the International Olympic Committees (IOC) inspectorate for Tokyo, has said a lack of a defence against the new coronavirus threatened the games and organisers had to start planning for what could be a very different Olympics if there were no signs of COVID-19 being eradicated. 04:04 GMT North Macedonia reintroduces strict movement order North Macedonia has reintroduced stringent movement restrictions in the capital, Skopje, and another three parts of the country, after registering a record number of new COVID-19 infections, according to AP news agency. Health Minister Venko Filipce said an almost blanket curfew will be imposed from 9pm (local time) on Thursday till 5am (local time) on Monday in these areas. People will be allowed out to visit hospitals or pharmacies. The health ministry said 101 new infections a record since the countrys first case in late February and four deaths were recorded in the previous 24 hours. That brings the total of infections to 2,492, with 145 deaths. 03:43 GMT Philippines youngest coronavirus survivor dies An infant, who contracted the coronavirus disease and later recovered, has died in the Philippines. According to an ABS-CBN report on Thursday, Kobe Manjares became infected with the coronavirus five days after he was born on April 12. He had been released from hospital on April 8. He was later brought back to hospital due to complications, including blood infection and bloated stomach, ABS-CBN quoted his father as saying. The infant died early on Thursday. The Philippines has reported more than 19,000 coronavirus cases and 974 deaths as of Wednesday. The Philippines has reported more than 19,000 coronavirus cases and 974 deaths as of June 3 [Rolex dela Pena/EPA] 03:08 GMT South Korea reports 39 new coronavirus cases South Korea has confirmed 39 additional cases of the coronavirus, all but three of them reported in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, as authorities are struggling to contain a resurgence of COVID-19. AP news agency quoted the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying that the newly reported cases raised the countrys total to 11,629 with 273 deaths. The agency says 10,499 of them have recovered while 857 people are still being treated for the disease. 02:23 GMT Brazil looks to reopen despite record coronavirus deaths Brazil has registered a record number of daily deaths from the novel coronavirus for a second consecutive day, according to the latest data from the health ministry, even as city and state authorities move aggressively to reopen commerce. The nation recorded 1,349 new coronavirus deaths on Wednesday and 28,633 additional confirmed cases, the data showed. Brazil has now registered 32,548 deaths and 584,016 total confirmed cases. President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus, saying on Tuesday that death was everyones destiny. 02:08 GMT New Zealand on verge of eradicating coronavirus New Zealand is on the verge of eradicating the virus from its shores after it notched a 13th straight day with no reported new infections, the Associated Press news agecy reported. Only a single person in the nation of 5 million people is known to still have the virus, and that person is not hospitalised. However, it remains likely that the country will import new cases once it reopens its borders, and officials say their aim remains to stamp out new infections as they arise. The country has already lifted many of its virus restrictions and could remove most of those that remain, including limiting crowd sizes, next week. Just over 1,500 people contracted the virus during the outbreak, including 22 who died. 01:33 GMT Mexico reports new one-day high of 1,092 coronavirus deaths The coronavirus toll in Mexico has soared to a new daily high, with the health department reporting 1,092 test-confirmed deaths more than double the previous one-day record and in line with numbers in the United States and Brazil, according to AP news agency. The announcement was an embarrassment for officials, who have consistently predicted that cases in Mexico were about to start levelling off. The country began a gradual reopening of industrial and business activity on Monday. Mexico has at least 101,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 11,000 people in Mexico as of the end of Wednesday [File: Jorge Nunez/EPA] 01:03 GMT Baby among new fatalities of coronavirus in US A nine-month-old infant who tested positive for COVID-19 was among another eight people whose deaths were related to the coronavirus in the US state of Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear has announced. The latest deaths raised the statewide death toll to 450 since the pandemic began. There are more than 107,000 fatalities across the US. In announcing the infants death, Beshear said: Far too often, people think that its something that only happens to medically compromised seniors. This is a reminder of how deadly this virus can be. How precious all of our lives are. 00:20 GMT China reports new COVID-19 cases Students wearing masks to curb the spread of the new coronavirus leave after the end of a school day in Beijing on Wednesday [Ng Han Guan/AP] China reported on Thursday one new coronavirus case and four new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases as of the end of June 3, according to Reuters news agency quoting the health commission. The national health commission said all five of the cases were imported, involving travellers from overseas. For June 2, China reported one confirmed case and 4 asymptomatic cases. China does not count asymptomatic patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but do not exhibit symptoms, as confirmed cases. The total number of infections in China stands at 83,022. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634. 00:05 GMT Report raises coronavirus concerns about China, WHO; Beijing denies At least two US senators said that China hid data from the World Health Organization (WHO) that could have altered the course of the coronavirus outbreak, even as a Chinese official denied delays in sharing information and said the government acted openly and transparently. They were referring to an Associated Press investigation published this week that found China stalled on providing critical coronavirus information to WHO, which expressed considerable frustration in private even as it praised the country in public. Politicians said the report raised key questions and public health experts said it shed light on a story that has become highly politicised. At a press briefing on Wednesday, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the AP report seriously inconsistent with the facts. He read off a timeline of events that did not contradict the APs findings and added that China had always maintained close and good communication and cooperation with WHO. 00:01 GMT Malaria drug fails to prevent COVID-19 in a rigorous study A malaria drug US President Donald Trump took to try to prevent COVID-19 proved ineffective in the first large, high-quality study to test it in people in close contact with someone with the disease, AP news agency reported. Results published by the New England Journal of Medicine show that hydroxychloroquine was no better than placebo pills at preventing illness from the coronavirus. The drug did not seem to cause serious harm, though about 40 percent of people on it had few side effects, mostly mild stomach problems. We were disappointed. We would have liked for this to work, said the study leader, Dr David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota. But our objective was to answer the question and to conduct a high-quality study, because the evidence on the drug so far has been inconclusive, he said. ____________________________________________________________________ Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Im Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Read all the updates from yesterday (June 3) here. Thursday marks 12 months since Australian Federal Police raided the home of a News Corporation journalist, Annika Smethurst. One day later, the AFP also raided the Sydney offices of the ABC. Only last week, Smethurst learned she will not be charged for writing the news story that prompted the raid. Two ABC journalists are still waiting to learn their fate. News Corporation journalist Annika Smethurst's home was raided. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Those June 2019 raids grabbed global attention about the state of press freedom in Australia, not least because dawn raids of journalists are the type of thing you would expect from a despotic police state, not a country that prides itself on being a liberal democracy. Now, in the US this week, we see news media, including Australian television crews, targeted by law enforcement in assaults that can only be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and silence. Is this surprising in a country with a leader who has labelled the free press as the enemy of the people? US Press Freedom Tracker is investigating more than 200 violations during the past few days, most in the form of police assaults. American is Increasing flights at a more aggressive pace than United Airlines, which is ramping up its July schedule to 25% of what it flew during the same month in 2019. The optimistic outlook sent American shares surging Thursday. The carrier gained 41% to close at $16.72, the biggest one-day percentage jump since its merger with US Airways in December 2013. United gained 16% to $39.10, and Delta added nearly 14% to $32.38. "We're seeing a slow but steady rise in domestic demand. After a careful review of the data, we've built a July schedule to match," Vasu Raja, senior vice president of network strategy at American Airlines, said in a release announcing the airline's schedule. The latest is American Airlines , which says it plans to fly 55% of its domestic schedule in July, up dramatically from May when it flew 20% of its schedule from a year earlier. Slowly, the airline business is coming back to life as carriers set schedules for July that include more flights. Still, all U.S. airlines are cautiously optimistic more people will book flights this summer because passenger levels have been steadily increasing. In April, American averaged 32,154 passengers a day. From May 1 through May 23, its daily customer level more than doubled to 78,178, then jumped to 110,330 a day from May 24 to May 29. While the numbers are encouraging, passenger levels in the U.S. remain extremely depressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic prompting millions of Americans to cancel trips or avoiding booking flights. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the number of passengers and airline crew members screened at U.S. airports is down more than 85% from a year earlier Are airlines getting ahead of themselves and bringing back too many flights too soon? With carriers still burning through tens of millions of dollars every day, airline executives say they are being judicious in their planning. They are also quick to point out that more cities and states are opening up following Covid-19 lockdowns, so there is pent up demand to travel. OAG, which tracks the airline industry and flight schedules, says the four biggest U.S. carriers United, American, Delta and Southwest are boosting their schedules in June by 27% from May. Most of that increase is due to additional domestic flights. As for international routes, the growth in flights has been much more gradual due to depressed demand. "The industry is showing some signs of recovery, but there are noticeable changes in consumer behavior," said John Grant, OAG's senior aviation analyst. "People are booking later, seeking more flexibility in their travel bookings and not committing to payment until the last minute." Executives at the major airlines expect that demand below normal levels will force them to shrink. American is cutting about 30% of its officer ranks, or about 20 positions, from retirements and open posts that won't be filled, shuffling others, a spokesman said Thursday. The airline is offering early retirements and buyouts to management and administrative employees and last week said it would seek to reduce about 30% of those jobs, roughly 5,000 people. Airlines that took federal coronavirus aid are prohibited from laying off workers until Oct. 1. The move comes less than a week after United said it would eliminate 13 of 67 officer positions. NEW DELHI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved in Delhi High Court which seeks to bring the PM Cares Fund under the ambit of Right to Information Act and calls for more transparency in it. The petition stated that the PM CARES Fund is a public authority within the ambit of Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act and prayed for a direction to the trust to display the details of the fund collected and the purpose for which it is being utilized for on its website. The petition submitted that "Anybody that is "owned", "controlled" or "substantially financed" by the Government qualifies for a public authority under the RTI Act.." Petition insisted that the patients who have fallen victim to COVID-19 have the right to know about the fund collected for the very purpose of fighting the virus. It also maintained that the patients who need immediate financial assistance to fight the virus, "are not in a position to enforce their fundamental right of being treated and financially supported, by the use of funds collected in the PM CARES fund." The petitioner, through his petition, alleged that if the details of PM Cares Fund are not divulged or disclosed, it gives reasons for apprehensions. The petitioner also raised concern as to why should there be any secrecy, as the website also states that persons who manage PM Cares Fund shall have no personal interest. The petition argued that in 2 months, the amount collected in PM Cares Fund stands somewhere around Rs 10,000 crores. These donations have largely come from the Public Sector Undertakings, Central Ministries, salaries of armed forces personnel, civil servants and members of the judicial entities. These funds have been compulsorily donated into the PM Cares Fund, it stated. Two teenage girls are expected to be charged with murder over the death of a teen who fell from the balcony of a Gold Coast apartment. Cian English, 19, died after falling from a balcony on the fourth floor of the View Pacific resort in Surfers Paradise on May 23. Police allege the Brisbane teenager was fleeing after being assaulted and stabbed. The girls, aged 15 and 16 from Coomera, allegedly filmed and encouraged the assault and torture of Mr English and his friend. The girls are expected to be charged on Thursday with the murder, robbery, deprivation of liberty and torture. A group of young men - Jason Ryan Knowles, 22, Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 18, and Hayden Paul Kratzman, 20 - have been charged with murder and armed robbery. The trio has already faced court and all remain in custody. Cian English, 19, died after falling from a balcony on the fourth floor of the View Pacific resort in Surfers Paradise on May 23 A 16-year-old girl who tagged along with the three men, aged 18, 20 and 22, is accused of filming the alleged violent assault Police allege the group of three males and two females were staying at an apartment at the View Pacific resort when they met Mr English and his friend. Both groups were allegedly speaking over the balcony when Mr English and his friend were invited to join the party upstairs. It is alleged the gang used drugs with the Brisbane teen and his friend. Hours later the group returned to Mr English's apartment where they allegedly robbed Mr English and his friend. Police allege Mr English and his friend were tortured for up 30 minutes and filmed by the two girls, who uploaded the video to social media. Mr English allegedly had a knife held to his throat while his attackers demanded he and his friend hand over their phones and clothing. Cian English, 19, (right)was allegedly assaulted and tortured for up 30 minutes and filmed by the two girls, who uploaded the video to social media Cian English was found with a knife wound to his arm (pictured: Police at the scene) Police will allege Mr English feared for his life and fled on to the balcony when he fell. 'These girls were actively at the scene. Legislation allows people to be charged with being a party to an offence,' Detective Inspector Brendan Smith said. 'The girls videoed the incident and the torture on the boys, both English and his friend, and they took no active step. It's clear they were actively encouraging it,' he alleged. 'We will be alleging they have seen him go over the verandah. 'They have looked down and seen he is obviously deceased and then they have stolen clothing off another unconscious male on the verandah.' Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 18, (left) and Hayden Paul Kratzman (right) were charged with murder over Mr English's death Insp Smith challenged the mindset of some young people, particularly in regard to how they post on social media, saying attitudes need to change. 'It really is beyond belief these people behave like this,' he said. 'For some reason, they (young people) think it is cool to have that gangster mindset and they have got to carry a knife to be cool," he said. 'It takes other kids to go, ''Hey, don't do this. You are an idiot''. We need to change the mindset that it is cool to carry a knife.' The two girls were expected to appear in a children's court on Thursday. Police are investigating whether the alleged murder was linked to a series of break and enters at chemists in Logan and the northern Gold Coast where prescription drugs were stolen from the premises. Kentucky congressman against mandates says he has COVID-19 RENO, NV / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Magellan Gold Corporation (OTCQB:MAGE) ("Magellan" or "the Company"), announced today the redirecting its focus toward domestic United States precious metal opportunities as the best path forward to maximize shareholder value. As part of the new direction, effective May 31, 2020, David E. Drips has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, President, and Director of the Company. Going forward, Mr. Drips will continue to be an integral part of our technical advisory board. "We appreciate David's efforts and his service to the company," said John Power, a director of Magellan Gold Corp. "David did a tremendous job of right-sizing our operations in Mexico and we look forward to our continued relationship with him as a key technical advisor." As previously disclosed in our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has divested all of its Mexico operations through the sale of its subsidiary Magellan Acquisition Corp. "COVID-19 presented significant challenges in our efforts to manage and advance the company's Mexico assets and we quickly made the strategic decision to exit Mexico and focus on opportunities in the United States," Power said. "We already have an excellent advanced stage exploration project in the Silver District in Arizona and we look forward to adding at least one new domestic project this year." About Magellan Gold Corporation Magellan Gold Corporation (OTCQB:MAGE) is focused on the exploration and development of precious metals in the United States. Magellan owns an advanced silver exploration project located in Arizona. The Silver District Project in southwest Arizona comprises over 2,000 acres covering the heart of the historic Silver District. The property contains a near-surface historic resource of 16 million ounces of silver and exhibits advanced exploration promise. To learn more about Magellan Gold Corporation, visit www.magellangoldcorp.com. Cautionary Statement The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can legally extract or produce. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves. Currently we have not delineated "reserves" on any of our properties. We cannot be certain that any deposits at our properties will ever be confirmed or converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves." Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of any "resource" estimates will ever be confirmed or converted into reserves or that they can be economically or legally extracted. Forward Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that Magellan Gold Corporation believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in Magellan Gold Corporation's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contacts: Magellan Gold Corporation John Power: (707) 291-6198 SOURCE: Magellan Gold Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592775/Magellan-Gold-Corporation-Shareholder-Update HONG KONG - Thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of Chinas crushing of a democracy movement centred on Beijings Tiananmen Square. With democracy snuffed out in the mainland, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned the annual vigil that remembers victims of the 1989 crackdown. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the citys rights and liberties. Earlier Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect Chinas national anthem. Pro-democracy lawmakers had disrupted proceedings to try to prevent the vote. Despite the police ban, crowds poured into Victoria Park to light candles and observe a minute of silence at 8:09 p.m. (1209 GMT, 8:09 a.m. EDT). Many chanted Democracy nowand Stand for freedom, stand with Hong Kong. While police played recordings warning people not to participate in the unauthorized gathering, they did little to stop people from entering the park. Authorities had cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic in barricading the sprawling park, but activists saw the outbreak as a convenient excuse. If we dont come out today, we dont even know if we can still come out next year, said participant Serena Cheung. Police said they made arrests in the citys Mongkok district, where large crowds also rallied. When several protesters tried to block a road, officers rushed to detain them, using pepper spray and raising a blue flag to warn them to disperse or they would use force on the unauthorized gathering. On Twitter, they urged people not to gather in groups because of the coronavirus. After the vigil ended in Victoria Park, groups of protesters dressed in black carried flags that said, Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times as well as Hong Kong Independence. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on Tiananmen Square the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered the governments standard defence of the 1989 crackdown. The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s, Zhao Lijian said. The great achievements that we have achieved ... have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to Chinas national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people. On Thursday, the square where thousands of students had gathered in 1989 was quiet and largely empty. Police and armoured vehicles stood guard on the vast space. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints, where they had to show IDs to be allowed through as part of nationwide mass surveillance to prevent any commemoration of the event. As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups. We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really dont want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park, said Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the governments most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago, he told The Associated Press in Taiwan, where he lives. But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government ... doing the same in Hong Kong. China did not intervene directly in last years protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government. Thousands were arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by now-abandoned legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The cancellation of the vigil came amid a tightening of Beijings grip over Hong Kong. Chinas ceremonial legislature last month ratified a decision to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the citys legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents. The approval of the national anthem bill, viewed as an infringement on freedom of expression, followed the recent arrest of 15 veteran activists on charges of organizing and taking part in last years demonstrations. The moves are seen as part of a steady erosion of rights that Hong Kong was guaranteed when it was handed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997. The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law, Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. About 15 members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China, the group that organizes the annual vigil, gathered at Victoria Park at 6:30 p.m. (1030 GMT, 6:30 a.m. EDT). They wore black shirts with the Chinese characters for truth emblazoned on the front. The activists lit candles and urged the public to do the same later to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan then led the group of about 15 members in a candlelit procession around the perimeter of the park, shouting slogans including, Stand with Hong Kong. We have been doing this for 30 years, we have the right to do this, this is a peaceful procession, he said, stating that it would be absurd if this behaviour is criminalized. The group later removed one of the barricades surrounding the park, and entered. Eventually, thousands followed. Lee said that the danger in the national security law is that Beijing will define what is a crime. If we commemorate June 4th, condemn the massacre, (call for the) end of one-party rule, will this be labeled as subversion? We dont know, he said. Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were held elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted criticism of China and Hong Kong for banning the vigil earlier this week before meeting with a group of Tiananmen Square survivors at the State Department. Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, We urge the U.S. to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs in any form. - Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press videojournalists Alice Fung and Katie Tam in Hong Kong and Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed. - Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China: www.64live.org MEXICO CITY, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) ASUR, a leading international airport group with operations in Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia, today announced that total passenger traffic for May 2020 decreased 96.1% when compared to May 2019. Passenger traffic decreased 96.6% in Mexico, 89.7% in Puerto Rico and 99.8% in Colombia, impacted by severe downturns in business and leisure travel stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. This announcement reflects comparisons between May 1 through May 31, 2020 and from May 1 through May 31, 2019. Transit and general aviation passengers are excluded for Mexico and Colombia. As announced on March 23, 2020, neither Mexico nor Puerto Rico have issued flight restrictions, to date. In Puerto Rico, the FAA has accepted a request from the Governor of Puerto Rico that all flights bound to Puerto Rico land at LMM Airport, which is operated by ASUR's subsidiary Aerostar, and that all passengers be screened by representatives of the Puerto Rico Health Department. As a result, the LMM airport remains open and operating, albeit with substantially reduced flight and passenger volumes. Mexico and/or the United States may issue flight restrictions similar to those issued in other parts of the world, which would cause a significant further reduction in ASUR's operations. In addition, Decree 439, issued by the Government of Colombia on March 20, 2020, suspended all incoming international flights, including connecting flights in Colombia, for 30 days, starting March 23, 2020. Moreover, Decree 457, issued on March 22, 2020, mandated preventive isolation as well as the suspension of domestic air travel in Colombia from March 25 to April 13, 2020. On April 8, 2020, Decree 531 suspended domestic air travel starting April 13 until April 27, 2020. This order was subsequently extended in several instances through July 1, 2020, with the exception of humanitarian emergencies, transportation of cargo and goods, and fortuitous events or force majeure. Passenger Traffic Summary May % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 Mexico 2,848,990 96,777 (96.6) 14,563,229 8,246,437 (43.4) Domestic Traffic 1,466,844 88,253 (94.0) 6,477,882 3,745,362 (42.2) International Traffic 1,382,146 8,524 (99.4) 8,085,347 4,501,075 (44.3) San Juan, Puerto Rico 776,383 79,906 (89.7) 3,829,801 2,328,108 (39.2) Domestic Traffic 693,694 78,477 (88.7) 3,437,127 2,121,525 (38.3) International Traffic 82,689 1,429 (98.3) 392,674 206,583 (47.4) Colombia 941,985 1,779 (99.8) 4,578,218 2,672,506 (41.6) Domestic Traffic 798,142 875 (99.9) 3,898,187 2,273,180 (41.7) International Traffic 143,843 904 (99.4) 680,031 399,326 (41.3) Total Traffic 4,567,358 178,462 (96.1) 22,971,248 13,247,051 (42.3) Domestic Traffic 2,958,680 167,605 (94.3) 13,813,196 8,140,067 (41.1) International Traffic 1,608,678 10,857 (99.3) 9,158,052 5,106,984 (44.2) Mexico Passenger Traffic May % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 Domestic Traffic 1,466,844 88,253 (94.0) 6,477,882 3,745,362 (42.2) CUN Cancun 792,854 41,255 (94.8) 3,437,052 1,902,083 (44.7) CZM Cozumel 20,852 151 (99.3) 79,459 37,900 (52.3) HUX Huatulco 67,938 2 (100.0) 302,344 148,644 (50.8) MID Merida 226,763 13,808 (93.9) 1,017,510 616,337 (39.4) MTT Minatitlan 12,453 1,058 (91.5) 58,497 31,647 (45.9) OAX Oaxaca 83,500 6,002 (92.8) 385,773 275,758 (28.5) TAP Tapachula 31,163 5,551 (82.2) 150,177 110,371 (26.5) VER Veracruz 122,445 11,338 (90.7) 555,526 328,725 (40.8) VSA Villahermosa 108,876 9,088 (91.7) 491,544 293,897 (40.2) International Traffic 1,382,146 8,524 (99.4) 8,085,347 4,501,075 (44.3) CUN Cancun 1,327,014 7,355 (99.4) 7,594,936 4,165,482 (45.2) CZM Cozumel 19,919 167 (99.2) 202,711 128,789 (36.5) HUX Huatulco 2,891 - (100.0) 97,694 77,302 (20.9) MID Merida 13,645 191 (98.6) 90,278 61,361 (32.0) MTT Minatitlan 659 3 (99.5) 3,035 1,943 (36.0) OAX Oaxaca 9,737 79 (99.2) 56,587 40,255 (28.9) TAP Tapachula 914 73 (92.0) 5,156 3,546 (31.2) VER Veracruz 5,627 105 (98.1) 26,784 15,768 (41.1) VSA Villahermosa 1,740 551 (68.3) 8,166 6,629 (18.8) Traffic Total Mexico 2,848,990 96,777 (96.6) 14,563,229 8,246,437 (43.4) CUN Cancun 2,119,868 48,610 (97.7) 11,031,988 6,067,565 (45.0) CZM Cozumel 40,771 318 (99.2) 282,170 166,689 (40.9) HUX Huatulco 70,829 2 (100.0) 400,038 225,946 (43.5) MID Merida 240,408 13,999 (94.2) 1,107,788 677,698 (38.8) MTT Minatitlan 13,112 1,061 (91.9) 61,532 33,590 (45.4) OAX Oaxaca 93,237 6,081 (93.5) 442,360 316,013 (28.6) TAP Tapachula 32,077 5,624 (82.5) 155,333 113,917 (26.7) VER Veracruz 128,072 11,443 (91.1) 582,310 344,493 (40.8) VSA Villahermosa 110,616 9,639 (91.3) 499,710 300,526 (39.9) US Passenger Traffic, San Juan Airport (LMM) May % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 SJU Total 776,383 79,906 (89.7) 3,829,801 2,328,108 (39.2) Domestic Traffic 693,694 78,477 (88.7) 3,437,127 2,121,525 (38.3) International Traffic 82,689 1,429 (98.3) 392,674 206,583 (47.4) Colombia Passenger Traffic Airplan May % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 Domestic Traffic 798,142 875 (99.9) 3,898,187 2,273,180 (41.7) MDE Rionegro 578,881 153 (100.0) 2,817,461 1,623,314 (42.4) EOH Medellin 84,467 509 (99.4) 419,264 243,112 (42.0) MTR Monteria 78,531 101 (99.9) 390,782 259,479 (33.6) APO Carepa 19,407 5 (100.0) 85,495 50,421 (41.0) UIB Quibdo 29,960 98 (99.7) 147,174 83,585 (43.2) CZU Corozal 6,896 9 (99.9) 38,011 13,269 (65.1) International Traffic 143,843 904 (99.4) 680,031 399,326 (41.3) MDE Rionegro 143,843 904 (99.4) 680,031 399,326 (41.3) EOH Medellin - - - - MTR Monteria - - - - APO Carepa - - - - UIB Quibdo - - - - CZU Corozal - - - - Traffic Total Colombia 941,985 1,779 (99.8) 4,578,218 2,672,506 (41.6) MDE Rionegro 722,724 1,057 (99.9) 3,497,492 2,022,640 (42.2) EOH Medellin 84,467 509 (99.4) 419,264 243,112 (42.0) MTR Monteria 78,531 101 (99.9) 390,782 259,479 (33.6) APO Carepa 19,407 5 (100.0) 85,495 50,421 (41.0) UIB Quibdo 29,960 98 (99.7) 147,174 83,585 (43.2) CZU Corozal 6,896 9 (99.9) 38,011 13,269 (65.1) About ASUR Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a leading international airport operator with a portfolio of concessions to operate, maintain and develop 16 airports in the Americas. This comprises nine airports in southeast Mexico, including Cancun Airport, the most important tourist destination in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and six airports in northern Colombia, including Medellin international airport (Rio Negro), the second busiest in Colombia. ASUR is also a 60% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport serving the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan. San Juan's Airport is the island's primary gateway for international and mainland-US destinations and was the first, and currently the only major airport in the US to have successfully completed a publicprivate partnership under the FAA Pilot Program. Headquartered in Mexico, ASUR is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares. For more information, visit www.asur.com.mx SOURCE Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. Related Links http://www.asur.com.mx 76 Shares Share A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the signs have been everywhere celebrating the heroism of health care workers. Its a wonderful sentiment that as a physician personally makes me feel very good about our profession and what we do. Its also nice to hear people who know Im a doctor spontaneously say, thank you for your service. But what does being a hero during these extraordinarily unusual times really mean? The term hero is derived from the Greek heros, which literally means protector or defender. As commonly used, a hero is a person admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities, and their actions are considered to be acts of heroism. Although functioning as a protector and defender of patients is a core value to which each of us subscribes when entering medicine, I dont think most of us perceive caring for patients as being something that would be considered truly heroic. But in this time of medical crisis that has unexpectedly and profoundly stretched the very fabric of our society, it is clear that many on the receiving end of the care we provide do believe that what we do rises to that level, and it seems important that as physicians we also recognize the true heroism of our individual and collective actions. In thinking about what constitutes heroism in medicine in these times of pandemic, its easy to see the many acts of courage by those health care workers who place themselves directly in harms way when caring for an overwhelmingly large number of very sick patients afflicted by a new and poorly defined contagion. This is particularly striking because it is occurring in the context of a poorly organized national response to the outbreak and a woeful and unacceptable shortage of personal protective equipment needed to keep these individuals as safe as possible when doing this critical work. Yet each has assessed their own personal risk and the risks to their families and significant others against the commitment theyve made to serving the sick, and chosen to step-up and care for those in their charge despite the potentially cataclysmic implications for themselves and their loved ones. And in making this choice, multiple colleagues I know have become infected, and we are all aware of health care professionals who have died in this service to others. These individuals would be considered heroes by any definition. But in watching medicines response to this health emergency, Ive also witnessed countless acts by physicians (and many other health care professionals) that, while seemingly less dramatic or risky than direct care of patients with COVID-19, are nonetheless just as heroic. There are primary care physicians who have experienced the frighteningly rapid deconstruction of their practices due to the pandemic which, coupled with the underlying flawed structure of our health care system, threatens not only their current livelihood but also their longer-term ability to continue caring for patients once the infection is better controlled. Yet even with this existential threat and unknown future, they have rapidly shifted to other ways to make sure patients get the care they need despite the inherent risks of being exposed to the infection in either asymptomatic patients or those with vague complaints. And this is added to the complexities of managing the broader implications of the pandemic. These include addressing the fears of older, highly vulnerable patients who are rightfully terrified of contracting and dying of the disease, and dealing with the sad outcomes of the many who have been afflicted. As an example, Ive watched my wife, a primary care internist, spend hour after hour having truly gut-wrenching end-of-life discussions via telemedicine with the families of the nursing home patients for whom she cares, many, many of which eventually succumbed to the disease, often alone. There are the many different medical specialties that have abandoned the traditional professional boundaries that often separate and fragment us, and pulled together to do what has been necessary during the pandemic rapidly re-tooling to do things outside of their particular skill set and comfort zone, such as providing emergency and critical care or other essential activities such as screening potentially infected patients and calling them with their test results. And all of this is in addition to managing their own patients and practices. Then there are those in training. Residents and fellows often bear a disproportionate role in direct patient care during times such as these, and it has been heartening to watch them willingly rise to the challenge and accept the risks of caring for large numbers of very sick patients with an extremely contagious and potentially fatal disease. And this is despite sometimes massive disruptions in the normal educational processes that are essential to them at this stage of their careers. There are medical students who, in many ways, have been sidelined in their educational and clinical training by the pandemic. Yet, they also have stepped-up and contributed in extremely important ways, ranging from graduating early to join the ranks of resident caregivers, spending time talking to patients and families, and providing support for other medical professionals actively engaged in front-line care in any way they can, even if that is something as simple as providing child care. For anyone who has ever had concerns about the future of our profession, I truly believe the pandemic has demonstrated that medicine is in good hands going forward. And finally, there is the medical profession as a whole. Medicine has never seemed, at least in my career, to be as cohesive and able to take on the steady, stabilizing role it has over the past several months, serving as a collective source of reliable scientific evidence and practical guidance that individual patients and society trust and find reassuring. Few of us in medicine consider what we have committed ourselves to and been trained for to be heroic. But if heroes are those who seek to protect by selflessly serving others, defend the vulnerable by acting on their behalf, and choose to intervene during times of emergency to help people make it through extraordinarily difficult times, then perhaps by doing these things we are heroes, each in our own way. Heroes indeed. Philip A. Masters is vice-president, Membership and International Programs, American College of Physicians. His statements do not necessarily reflect official policies of ACP. Image credit: Shutterstock.com WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department said late Wednesday it granted final approval to 15 airlines to temporarily halt service to 75 U.S. airports because of a lack of demand stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Airlines must maintain minimum service levels in order to receive government assistance but many petitioned to stop service to airports with low passenger demand. Both United Airlines and Delta Air Lines won tentative approval to halt flights to 11 airports, while JetBlue Airways Corp, Alaska Airlines and Frontier Airlines were approved to stop flights to five airports each. The department said all airports would continue to be served by at least one air carrier. Despite some objections to the tentative list made public May 22, the department did not make any changes on the airports the airlines will be able to stop serving. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kim Coghill) Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 22:17:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a speech to the virtual Global Vaccine Summit at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, on June 4, 2020. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened the Global Vaccine Summit virtually on Thursday, urging countries and organizations to pledge funding for vaccinations to save millions of lives in the poorest countries and protect the world from future outbreaks of infectious diseases. (Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street/Handout via Xinhua) LONDON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened the Global Vaccine Summit virtually on Thursday, urging countries and organizations to pledge funding for vaccinations to save millions of lives in the poorest countries and protect the world from future outbreaks of infectious diseases. The summit hosted by Britain aims to mobilize at least 7.4 billion U.S. dollars for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in additional resources to protect the next generation with vaccines, reduce disease inequality and create a healthier, safer and more prosperous world. Addressing attendees from over 50 countries and organisations, Johnson said in his opening speech that the summit is a moment "when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against disease". "I urge you to join us to fortify this lifesaving alliance and inaugurate a new era of global health co-operation, which I believe is now the most essential shared endeavour of our lifetimes," he added. Britain is contributing 1.65 billion pounds (about 2.07 billion dollars) to Gavi over the next five years, according to Johnson. In specific, the summit is expected to raise money to immunize a further 300 million children in world's poorest countries by 2025, protecting them from deadly diseases like polio, diphtheria and measles, and also helping ensure the global recovery from COVID-19 pandemic. As the world focuses on tackling novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi have warned that the pandemic is disrupting routine immunization, affecting approximately 80 million children under the age of one across the world. Health experts have warned that if coronavirus is left to spread in developing countries, this could lead to future waves of infection reaching the developed countries including Britain. If a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine is developed, Gavi will have a role in its delivery around the world. Also on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China will provide support to relevant international organizations within its capacity and make contributions to vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. Zhao announced Wednesday that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang would deliver a speech at the virtual Global Vaccine Summit Thursday. Zhao said the Chinese government upholds the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and attaches great importance to the development of global public health security. China will offer support to international organizations including the WHO and Gavi within its capacity, and make contributions to boosting vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries, as well as the building of a community of health for all, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 03:43:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday highlighted the unity of the Palestinian people and the integrity of the Palestinian land as the priority of the Palestinian leadership. However, Abbas said the reconciliation between his Fatah party and Hamas, ruler of the Gaza Strip, must be based on the standards set by the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to his letter to the Arab Peace Group published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. "We are counting on support of the Arab peoples to the Palestinians' steadfastness against the aggressive Israeli measures," he said in the letter. The Palestinian president wrote the letter in reply to a letter by the Arab Peace Group, in which the group called for a unified Arab position to face the Israeli annexation plan, especially after the Palestinian decision to cut off ties with Israel and the United States. The Arab Peace Group is a think tank including former Arab presidents, prime ministers and ministers, as well as intellectual and cultural figures, that calls for Middle East peace. Enditem New Delhi [India], June 1 (ANI/NewsVoir): POSist, a leading cloud-based restaurant technology platform serving over 8,000 restaurants in 20 countries, today announced the release of its new technology stack. It features Digital Ordering and Industry-First Digital Postpaid Dining to help accelerate technology adoption in restaurants. The technology stack will assist restaurateurs to minimize physical interactions between patrons and the servers in a dine-in setup. The company has also announced a COVID-19 Waiver Package for the official period of the lockdown and an additional extension of product subscription for the equivalent number of days to its customers. A COVID-19 Waiver to Support the Community "At POSist we truly believe in keeping our restaurant community at the core of everything we do. We understand the next three months will be very crucial for restaurant owners and would require them to operate with minimum CAPEX. As a technology partner, we strive to support our community in the best of our capacity. To do our bit, we are waiving the product subscription fee for 75 days with effect from March 15, 2020, to May 31, 2020. This waiver will be in the form of a direct discount," said Ashish Tulsian, Co-founder and CEO, POSist Technologies. "Additionally, we will be offering an extension of the software license for the same duration of days to the customers who have already purchased our product by paying upfront for the full year," he said. "When we started working on the tech stack, we took into account the feedback received from our customers across regions. From the collective feedback, it was evident that the restaurant industry cannot be contactless, however, by using technology interventions at the right touchpoint, we can at least put 'less contact' in practice. That became the core essence of what we are releasing today as our technology suite for the new normal," Ashish added, commenting on the product release. Digital Ordering Using QR Code Using POSist's dashboard, restaurants will have an option to generate QR code assigned to a particular table number. This QR code will be on display, on the respective table, where the guest will be seated. Once the guest is ready to order, all they have to do is scan the QR code, enter their mobile number and the menu will appear on their mobile browser through which they can select the items and place the order in a seamless way. Wi-Fi Based Ordering The feature allows consumers to place an order from their phones by simply connecting to the restaurant's Wi-Fi at the property. Such Wi-Fi ordering makes the process much faster and secure as it is hosted on the restaurant's network without any dependency on the customer's mobile network. This feature can also work in offline mode in case of slower internet speed at the restaurant. Industry-First Digital Postpaid Dining In a dine-in environment, customers often repeat orders or make new ones for different courses. With the postpaid dining feature, guests can easily do that without the hassle of paying upfront every time a new order is placed. Once the repeat order is placed, the waiter will approach the table maintaining the prescribed social distance to confirm the order. On confirmation, the waiter shoots the order to KDS (Kitchen Display System) where the chef will receive a notification to start the preparation process. The guest can continue to reorder without any interruption just like they have been doing in the pre-COVID world. Digital Bill and Payments Bill settlement can be done without physically touching any bill book or receipt. Once the guest is through with the meal, they can request the bill directly from their mobile. The waiter assigned to the table will receive the notification and raise the bill. The same will appear on the customer's phone along with the payment gateway for online payment or cash option. On making the payment, the receipt is automatically generated on the phone and a digital copy will be sent to the customer on WhatsApp and via SMS. No Additional Burden on Restaurants In these difficult times, the last thing restaurants want is to take any hit to their revenues in the name of digital ordering or payment assistance. As a technology enabler, POSist will be available to restaurants without any additional burden on transaction charges. POSist will offer an open platform for restaurateurs to choose the payment processor and the fee they negotiate with them. POSist can be used by restaurants of all formats and sizes including, Fine-Dine Restaurants, Casual Dining Restaurants, QSRs, Hotel Restaurants, Food Courts, Bar and Breweries, and Cloud or Dark Kitchens. The company works with some of the leading brands across the world including Taco Bell, Jamie's Italian, UK based Millie's Cookies, Olive Bar & Kitchen among others. POSist is integrated with all the leading payment gateways such as Paytm, MobiKwik, PayU, PhonePe, EzeTap, CCAvenue, and VeriPay. The POS software also works with Amazon Pay, Paytm, and DotPe to facilitate digital ordering through their QR code reader. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Working with computer models to predict the likely impact of climate change on invasive weed propagation, Dr Farzin Shabani from Flinders University's Global Ecology Lab found a likely increase in areas of habitat suitability for the majority of invasive weed species in European countries, parts of the US and Australia, posing a great potential danger to global biodiversity. In predicting the impact of climate change on current and future global distributions of invasive weed species, Dr Shabani also found that existing attempts to eradicate invasive populations are inadequate. Dr Shabani and an international team of researchers investigated 32 globally important Invasive Weed Species to assess whether climate alteration may lead to spatial changes in the overlapping of specific IWS globally. "We aimed to evaluate the potential alterations -- whether that be a gain, loss or static -- in the number of potential ecoregion invasions by IWS, under climate change scenarios," says Dr Shabani. "We utilised all possible greenhouse gas concentration to examine a range of possible outcomes." The paper -- Invasive weed species' threats to global biodiversity: Future scenarios of changes in the number of invasive species in a changing climate, by Farzin Shabani, Mohsen Ahmadi, Lalit Kumar, Samaneh Solhjouy-fard, Mahyat Shafapour Tehrany, Fariborz Shabani, Bahareh Kalantar and Atefeh Esmaeili -- has been published in the journal Ecological Indicators. Initially, the researchers modelled the current climatic suitability of habitat for each of the weeds, identifying those with a common spatial range of suitability. They then modelled the suitability of all 32 species under the projected climate for 2050, incorporating different scenarios. The final methodological step compared the extent of overlaps and alterations of weed habitats under the current and future projected climates. "Under future climatic conditions, our results mainly predicted decrease on a global scale, with reduced areas of habitat suitable for most Invasive Weed Species -- but significantly this excluded European countries, northern Brazil, eastern US, and south-eastern Australia, which are all highly productive agricultural regions," says Dr Shabani. The study also revealed that Invasive Weed Species would most likely develop alterations in their habitat suitability in most parts of the world in the future. "Even though our future projections indicate a decreasing rate in threats from invasive weeds in extensive areas across the world, the current distributions of many species still have a potential for expansion," says Dr Shabani. "Many of these invasive weeds pose a threat in suitable habitats under both current and future climate conditions." Dr Shabani is concerned that Invasive Weed Species are rarely mentioned in biodiversity policy documents, except to focus on a few high-profile species. "There are no comprehensive national invasive species statutory controls, which is our concern," he says. "We believe that a national framework is needed for prevention and early detection, along with a coherent policy framework, a robust monitoring framework, a fund for strategic research, and a national training and action program." Prompt response key to Vietnams success in COVID-19 fight: expert One of the reasons for Vietnam's success in controlling COVID-19 is its speed of response, twitted Guy Thwaites, director of Oxford University clinical research unit in Ho Chi Minh City. The rapid case and contact tracing and quarantine since January when the first cases were reported in the country, as well as the prompt support for research and trials have contributed to the successful containment of the spread of the virus, he wrote. He noted that Vietnam's rich experience in dealing with infectious disease outbreaks, such as the SARS epidemic from 2002 to 2003 and the following avian influenza, had helped the government and the public to better prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam lifted its three-week social distancing measures in late April. No new infections have been recorded in the community for more than 40 days and zero death confirmed, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control./. Covid-19-infected British pilot may not need lung transplant The Covid-19-infected British pilot may not need a lung transplant as planned thanks to his ongoing recovery. Vietnam had no new COVID-19 cases to report this morning, June 4, and this was also the 49th straight day since April 16 morning without locally-infected cases in the country. Of the countrys 328 Covid-19 patients, only 26 cases are still being treated in hospital. Among those, 13 have tested negative for the virus 1-2 times. The most critical Covid-19 case, the 43-year-old British pilot has become totally conscious. He could do all of what doctors ask and smiled as they talked to him. He has stopped using the ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) system since Wednesday. Despite serious lung damage, around 40% of his lung has recovered. Head of the Health Ministry's Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Luong Ngoc Khue said despite no longer relying on the ECMO system, his condition remains complicated with the serious lung problems and antimicrobial resistance. It would also take him several weeks to end the reliance on the ventilator. Prof. Tran Binh Giang, Director of Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi, said that the pilot was expected not to undergo a lung transplant as his condition had continued to improve. Vietnam reports no new COVID-19 cases on June 4 morning Vietnam has gone 49 straight days without community transmission Vietnam reported no new COVID-19 cases on June 4 morning, marking the 49th straight day without community transmission, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases remained at 328, of whom 188 are imported cases and have been quarantined after their arrival. On June 3, four more COVID-19 patients were given the all-clear and discharged from the Thai Binh General Hospital, bringing the total number of recoveries to 302, equivalent to 92.1 percent. The remainders are being treated at provincial and central hospitals and have stable health condition. Among them, nine have tested negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once and four others tested negative at least twice./. Vietnamese citizens brought home from the UK Nearly 340 Vietnamese citizens have been brought home safely from the UK on a repatriation flight that touched down in Viet Nam on Thursday. The flight was arranged by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, the authorities in Viet Nam and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines. It left Heathrow Airport in London on Wednesday, landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City the following day. Onboard were children, students, the elderly and sick along with a number of tourists whose UK visas had expired but were previously unable to leave due to border closures. The Embassy of Viet Nam in London has instructed citizens to complete all required procedures and cooperate with local authorities to support them during their journey home. Upon landing, passengers and cabin crew members undertook medical checks and were quarantined in line with regulations. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Transport and other Governments agencies, Vietnam Airline will continue arranging flights to bring its citizens home depending on the COVID-19 pandemic's developments, quarantine capacity of Vietnamese localities, and the demand of Vietnamese citizens living overseas. Malaysia considers allowing foreign entries Malaysias Health Ministry is considering the possibility of allowing those who have been tested negative for COVID-19 for at least three days to enter Malaysia. Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah told the press on June 3 that the initiative is applied for Malaysians who want to return to the country and foreigners who want to come to Malaysia. Malaysia will allow the groups to enter if they have been tested negative at their respective countries, he added. The official said the ministry is also considering whether to quarantine Malaysians who returned to the country at quarantine centres or at home. All 35 local government officers, including Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who were ordered to undergo 14-day mandatory self-quarantine after they were found to be in close contact with an officer tested positive for COVID-19 were tested negative for the virus. They have been allowed to resume work on June 4. The country reported 93 new COVID-19 infections on June 3, of which two were Malaysians. This brought the total cases to 7,970, including 115 deaths and 6,531 healed patients./. Foreign experts, students to be permitted to enter Laos Foreign experts and students will be allowed to enter Laos as the country is further lifting social distancing measures after no new COVID-19 cases have been reported for 52 consecutive days. In its latest announcement which provides updates on entry and exit rules, the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Lao nationals in foreign countries who wish to come back home are required to register with the Lao embassy or consulate in the country of their residence to determine how their return can be facilitated. Lao state agencies wishing to bring in foreign experts or students for essential reasons must also submit a document to the Secretariat of the National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Individuals or legal entities wanting to bring in foreign investors or business people to explore investment opportunities need to follow the procedures outlined by relevant bodies before submitting an application to the Secretariat. The representative offices of foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations in Laos wanting to bring in diplomats and foreign staff are required to submit a document detailing their intentions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All incoming foreigners must be tested for COVID-19 and obtain a certificate indicating they have tested negative for the virus. This must be issued in the country from which they have departed and presented to authorities at the Lao border. The certificate must have been issued no less than 72 hours before the start of their journey. Anyone found to have COVID-19-like symptoms will be taken to a hospital where they will be isolated and tested for the virus. People who have no symptoms are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine period at a special centre or hotel and provide samples for testing./. Vietnam sends medical masks to Vietnamese community in central Russia The Vietnamese Government has sent medical masks to the Vietnamese community in central Russia to help them cope with complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. The masks were transported to Russia on a recent flight of the Vietnam Airlines to bring Vietnamese in Russia back to Vietnam. The Vietnam Consulate General in Ekaterinburg on June 3 handed over part of the masks to Vietnamese associations in the city. It will continue to distribute masks to Vietnamese living in other localities in the region. Vietnam arranged a Vietnam Airline flight to bring home more than 340 citizens from Russia in May. The flight, which departed from Moscow on May 12, carried children under the age of 18, students without a place to stay because of school and dormitory closures, the elderly, sick people, tourists and people whose visas had expired but could not leave the country./. Thailand allows migrant workers to work in Thailand until July 31 The Thai Cabinet has decided to allow migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work in Thailand until July 31, 2020, to help reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus disease 2019, and to maintain a workforce as the situation gradually improves. Previously, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Labour had allowed them to stay and work in the kingdom until May 31 this year. The Government Spokeswoman, Prof. Dr. Narumon Pinyosinwat, was quoted by the National News Bureau of Thailand as saying on June 3 that with disease-control measures still in force, the Ministry of Labour called a meeting of various units. They resolved that the migrant workers from the three neighbouring countries can stay and work in Thailand between June 1 and July 31. The migrant workers include two groups, one of which comprises Cambodian, Lao and Myanmar workers with work permits issued under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on labour issues. The second group is Cambodian and Myanmar workers carrying a border pass in accordance with Section 64 of the Thai law. NNT said the decision will reduce the risk of labourers contracting and spreading COVID-19, prevent later labour shortages and support economic restoration after the COVID-19 situation improves./. Four more COVID-19 patients given all clear Four more COVID-19 patients were given the all-clear on June 3, the treatment section under the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said. The patients, who were treated at the Thai Binh General Hospital, are in stable health condition without fever, cough or breathing difficulties. They will continue staying in quarantine for health monitoring for the next 14 days. Now the number of recovered COVID-19 patients in Vietnam has risen to 302 out of the total 328 cases. The country has gone through 48th straight day since April 16 morning without locally-infected cases in the country. Up to 188 of the 328 confirmed infections so far were imported and quarantined upon their arrival./. JICA helping Vietnamese hospitals improve infection control The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) handed over 2,000 handbooks on infection control practices to Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City on June 3, as part of its aid package to the hospital. In order to support Vietnam in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, JICA has decided to continue with aid packages of about 60 million JPY (551,000 USD) for the hospital and 20 million JPY (nearly 184,000 USD) for centres for disease control (CDCs) in Nam Dinh, Ha Giang, Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc, Kien Giang, and Tra Vinh provinces. The handbook was compiled by the infection control ward at the hospital with technical assistance from JICA experts. It is also hoped to improve infection control at the Cho Ray Vietnam-Japan Friendship Hospital, to be established in the time to come, as well as at 21 provincial-level hospitals in the south and the Mekong Delta. JICA is implementing a technical cooperation project to improve hospital management at Cho Ray Hospital through applying safety procedures for patients, coordinating between clinical procedures and multidisciplinary teams, and promoting measures to control hospital infections. In August last year, in a bid to strengthen infection control at Cho Ray and within the framework of the project, training courses on the use of protective equipment were held for the hospitals doctors and nurses. JICA has implemented non-refundable aid projects since 2006 to help improve the capacity of medical laboratory networks regarding biosafety and the examination of highly hazardous and infectious pathogens at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and the HCM City-based Pasteur Institute, in the context of Vietnam not having to deal with many infectious diseases in the past. JICA experts have also worked with NIHE and the Pasteur Institute to identify solutions to improve testing capacity for dangerous infectious diseases as well as COVID-19 in provincial-level CDCs in particular and in medical establishments around Vietnam in general./. EuroCham members raise US$100,000 to support Vietnam's Covid-19 fight The donations by EuroCham members shows both their support for the government in its fight against the virus and their dedication to Vietnams long-term health and prosperity. EuroCham Pharma Group members on June 3 handed over a total of US$100,000 (each contributing a minimum of US$5,000) to the Vietnam Fatherland Front in support of the national campaign on the prevention and treatment of Covid-19. Vice President of the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Truong Thi Ngoc Anh highly appreciated EuroCham Pharma Group members efforts in joining hands with the Vietnamese government to effectively combat the pandemic. The pharmaceutical industry in general and Pharma Group members specifically are making collaborative efforts in the research and trials of therapeutic solutions for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, said Dan Millard, co-chair of EuroCham Pharma Group. Roeland Roelofs, co-chair of EuroCham Pharma Group, said that in these challenging times, the group reaffirms its steadfast commitment to make practical and timely contributions to Vietnams efforts in fighting Covid-19. At the same time, we fulfill our mission to ensure fast and sustainable supply of and access to high quality and innovative medicines for Vietnamese patients not only for the treatment of Covid-19 and its symptoms, but also for patients with other acute or chronic diseases as well as prevention, he added. Nicolas Audier, chairman of EuroCham, said that its members donation to the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the national campaign on the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 shows both their support for the government in its fight against the virus and their dedication to Vietnams long-term health and prosperity. Forty-five days after the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front issued the call for All people to join in supporting the prevention and control of Covid-19, as of May 16, the amount contributed by agencies, units, organizations, businesses, individuals and overseas Vietnamese reached nearly VND2 trillion (US$85.6 million), according to Ngoc Anh. This largest ever aid amount has been possible thanks to the support from all sides towards the prevention and control of the pandemic. This indeed proves the trust and expectation of the public on the accountable and transparent allocation of support from the Vietnam Fatherland Front, she said. ROME (AP) Romes Leonardo da Vinci airport sprang back to life Wednesday as Italy opened regional and international borders in the final phase of easing its long coronavirus lockdown, but it was still an open question how other nations would accept Italian visitors. Families and loved ones separated by the global pandemic could finally reunite but normalcy was a long way off. Italy is the first European country to fully open its international borders, dropping the 14-day quarantine requirement for visitors. But most European nations see Italys move which aims to boost its collapsed yet critical tourism industry as premature. Many of them are moving to open only on June 15 and some even much later than that. Who gets to go where in Europe this summer is shaping up to be determined by where you live, what passport you carry and how hard hit your region has been during the pandemic. At Romes international airport, Andrea Monti embraced his girlfriend, Katherina Scherf, in an emotional reunion as she arrived from Duesseldorf, Germany. "We havent seen each other since before the pandemic, Monti said. Still, the airport remained lightly used even though Italys national holiday on Tuesday normally kicks off the summer domestic tourism season. It was scheduled to handle several thousand passengers on Wednesday, compared to 110,00 passengers on the same day last year. Italy also resumed high-speed train service between regions for the first time since the lockdown in early March, checking departing passengers temperatures as they accessed the tracks. Europe-wide, rules on cross-border travel were a patchwork of regulations if not a complete mishmash. Germany said Wednesday that it plans to lift a travel warning for European countries from June 15 but it may still advise against travel in some cases, for example to Britain if quarantine rules there remain. Germany issued a warning against all nonessential foreign travel in March. The aim is to change that for Germanys 26 European Union partners, other countries outside the EU that are part of Europes passport-free Schengen travel area, and Britain. Story continues Austria said it is ending border checks with all its neighbors except for Italy, due to lingering concerns about coronavirus infections there, particularly hard-hit Lombardy. Italys neighbor, France, also is looking at opening its borders on June 15 although French citizens who cross over in the meantime are no longer subject to quarantines upon their return. The British government was confirming plans Wednesday to impose a 14-day quarantine for people arriving in the country starting next week, despite pleas from the travel industry to drop the idea and criticism from others that the move comes way to late to tamp down the country's coronavirus outbreak. Britain has seen nearly 39,500 deaths linked to the virus, the highest death toll in Europe and second-highest in the world after the United States. Europe overall has seen 175,000 deaths in the pandemic. Britain is also talking to other countries about setting up air bridges that would allow certain countries or regions to be exempted from quarantine rules. British tourists make up a large portion of visitors to Spain and Portugal. Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told the BBC that diplomats from the U.K. and Portugal will work together in order to guarantee that British tourists coming to Portugal would not be subjected on their return to England to any kind of quarantine. ____ Barry reported from Soave, Italy and Lawless from London. Journalists from throughout Europe contributed. Brazil surpassed 30,000 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak as the disease continued to rip through Latin America, while Italy -- at one point the hardest-hit country -- prepared to reopen its borders in time for the European summer. After chalking up devastating human losses in Europe, the virus has now taken a firm grip in Latin America, where Brazil surpassed a chilling landmark late Tuesday. The latest official COVID-19 death toll of 31,199 is the fourth-highest in the world, after the US, Britain and Italy. The figures come as some Brazilian states began to emerge from weeks of economically-stifling quarantine measures despite warnings from the WHO and epidemiologists it is too much, too soon. "In the current situation, relaxing the measures is adding gasoline to the fire," Rafael Galliez, an infectious diseases expert at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, told AFP. - Surf's up again in Rio - Yet surfers and swimmers streamed back to the beach in Rio de Janeiro as the city started easing lockdown measures, allowing the reopening of places of worship and water sports. "I think that here, in the water, there is no risk. It's not like in the stores," said Cesar Calmon as he delighted in the waves off Ipanema beach. In Europe, most countries have flattened their initial infection curves and are gradually easing out of confinement as they try to curb the economic fallout of the shutdowns. Italy reopens its borders to travellers from Europe Wednesday, three months after the country went into lockdown, with hopes for economic revival pinned on reigniting its tourism industry. But there were fears many foreign tourists will be put off visiting a country where 33,000 people died of the disease. "Come to Calabria. There's only one risk: that you'll get fat," the southern region's governor Jole Santelli said as the race began to lure big-spenders -- or any spenders -- back to Italy's sandy shores. - Symbolic victory - In a symbolic victory in the French capital, Parisians reclaimed beloved cafe terraces that were allowed to sprawl across pavements to accommodate social distancing measures. "Coffee on a terrace, that's Paris!" said Martine Depagniat, among those enjoying the new freedom after 10 weeks of closures. Schools, swimming pools, pubs and tourist sites are steadily reopening across the continent to ease the economic pain, and stock markets rose on European optimism, despite fears of a second wave of infections. Greece suspended flights to and from Qatar on Tuesday after detecting multiple infections on a flight from Doha to Athens. The respiratory disease has claimed nearly 400,000 lives and infected more than 6.2 million in its rampage around the globe, upending life for billions since it first emerged in China late last year. The focus now falls on Latin America, which passed one million cases this week. Brazil has more than half of that caseload -- 555,383 -- making it the second most affected country after the United States, where experts fear mass demonstrations over the police killing of African American George Floyd could reignite the spread of COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned that healthcare systems could soon be overwhelmed with Peru, Chile and Mexico also seeing big daily increases in infections. Mexico has also started rebooting the economy after more than two months of shutdown, allowing activity in the car, mining and construction industries to resume. - Journalists die - In Venezuela the virus forced political rivals to come together, with the government of Nicolas Maduro striking a deal with opposition leader Juan Guaido, who claims the presidency, to seek resources to address the disease's spread, all parties confirmed Tuesday. Meanwhile at least 20 journalists have died from the coronavirus outbreak in Peru, most of them infected while reporting on the pandemic, often with little protection, the country's journalists' union said. Peru is Latin America's second worst-hit country after Brazil with more than 170,000 cases and 4,600 deaths. "As of June 1, the number of dead colleagues is 20 in all of the country," said Zuliana Lainez of the National Association of Journalists. Many of them contracted the disease while reporting from streets, markets and hospitals on the effects of the virus, without proper protective equipment, Lainez said. "They have gone to hospitals, which are foci of infection, with homemade masks," she said. Back where it all began in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus first emerged in December, officials touted another success after finding only 300 positive cases after testing nearly 10 million people over the past two weeks. "These numbers show that Wuhan is now the safest city," said Feng Zijian, deputy director of China's national Center for Disease Control and Prevention. burs/db/st A Georgia investigator alleged Thursday that a white man was heard using a racial slur after Ahmaud Arbery, who was black, was chased down and then shot and killed on a residential street in February. New details emerged Thursday about the shooting during a probable cause hearing, the first court appearance for white father and son Gregory, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, who are accused of shooting and killing Arbery while he was jogging through Satilla Shores, a neighborhood two miles from his home in Brunswick. A third white man, William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., 50, captured the killing on video. Arbery, 25, was shot three times on Feb. 23. The three men were arrested in May more than two months after the killing following a storm of public outcry after video of the incident was made public. Arbery's death has also motivated Georgia Democrats to push to repeal the state's citizens arrest law, used by Waycross District Attorney George Barnhill to justify the decision not to arrest the McMichaels following Arbery's death. House Democratic Leader Bob Trammell called the law "antiquated." "The existence of the citizens arrest law confers with some people in our state the notion that they can take the law into their own hands with sadly deadly and tragic consequences," Trammell said Thursday. "We cannot allow that to happen anymore." Richard Dial, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent and the lead investigator on the Arbery case, told investigators Thursday he heard Travis call Arbery a racial slur as he laid on the ground after the shooting and before police arrived. The McMichaels appeared in court from jail via video conferencing while Bryan waived his right. The hearing concluded late Thursday with the judge finding probable cause for the charges against the McMichaels and Bryan and bounding them over to the Superior Court of Glynn County. Arberys parents, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper, were present for the hearing, according to Kimberly Isaza, the public information officer for the Cobb County District Attorneys Office. Story continues Dial's testimony Dial testified that Bryan first mentioned the slur in a May 13 interview with GBI, and to Dial's knowledge, Bryan had not mentioned it during previous interviews. Dial alleges that McMichael used the same slur "numerous times" on social media and in messages. Body camera footage showed a Confederate flag sticker on the toolbox of his truck, Dial said. Dial also alleges that Bryan had several messages on his phone concerning race that Dial called "very concerning." "There's evidence of Mr. Bryan's racist attitude in his communications, and from that I extrapolate the reason why he made assumptions he did that day," Dial said. "He saw a man running down the road with a truck following him, and I believe he made certain assumptions that were, at least in part, based upon his racial bias." On Thursday, Dial described what happened leading up to the shooting, saying that when Bryan first saw the McMichaels pursuing the jogger, he yelled "Do you got him?" and then joined the chase. Dial said none of them had called 911 at this point. The McMichaels and Bryan pursued Arbery and at one point, they trapped him between their trucks as he repeatedly tried to change directions and escape. Bryan repeatedly tried to block Arbery's path and his truck "made contact," with Arbery leaving a dent in vehicle, Dial said. Bryan started recording and eventually captured video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times, Dial said. I dont think it was self-defense by Mr. McMichael. I think it was self-defense by Mr. Arbery, Dial said during cross-examination. "I believe Mr. Arbery was being pursued and he ran 'til he couldnt run anymore." Dial testified that Gregory McMichael, meanwhile, called 911 while he was sitting in the bed of the pick-up truck during the altercation between his son and Arbery. He was armed with the same weapon he carried when he was an officer with the Glynn County Police Department, Dial said. Dial said the McMichaels and Bryan pursued Arbery for about seven minutes from the time a neighbor called 911 about Arbery's presence in the neighborhood to the time Gregory McMichael called police to report the shooting. Gregory McMichael later told an officer responding to the scene that he had a "gut feeling" that Arbery was connected to burglaries in the area. Dial said he told police that during the shooting he said "don't shoot" to his son, "however the 911 call which recorded his statement does not reflect that." Video footage shows him "covering" his son with his weapon. Ahmaud Arbery: Man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery shooting arrested Details on the case The McMichaels were arrested in early May on murder and aggravated assault charges. Bryan was arrested weeks later on felony murder charges and with criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. After the McMichaels were arrested, Gregory McMichael made a call from jail in which he described Bryan as "an ally." Gregory McMichael, a retired police officer, told police that he and his son believed Arbery matched the description of a burglary suspect. They grabbed their guns when they saw him running in the neighborhood and told police they weren't sure whether Arbery was armed, he has said. Glynn County police told USA TODAY that they had no records of home break-ins or burglaries between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23 in that neighborhood. Local media reported one car burglary. Surveillance video shows Arbery stopping at a house under construction before the McMichaels pursued him. However, the owner of the property said nothing was taken and video shows several people had entered the construction site over the course of several months. A memo from a previous district attorney investigating the case says that Gregory McMichael told police that Bryan was involved in following Arbery before the events on the video unfold. According to an arrest warrant, Bryan "did attempt to confine and detain Ahmaud Arbery without legal authority." Before Ahmaud Arbery's death: Multiple people walked through construction site A woman holds a sign during a rally protesting the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes was appointed to lead the prosecution last month. Holmes replaced District Attorney Tom Durden as lead prosecutor, who took over after Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson and Ware County District Attorney George Barnhill recused themselves from the case because of their connections to Gregory McMichael, a former investigator with Johnson's office. Federal officials were also weighing the possibility of federal hate crime charges, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Justice said last month. Georgia is one of a handful of states in the U.S. that doesn't have a hate crime prevention law. Attorneys Frank and Laura Hogue, who are representing Gregory McMichael, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorneys Robert Rubin and Jason Sheffield, who are representing Travis McMichael, also did not respond. Contributing: Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ahmaud Arbery killing: Georgia investigator describes racial slur (Newser) The white dog walker who called police on a black birdwatcher who'd asked her to leash her dog in Central Park has been reunited with the dog. Though Amy Cooper surrendered her pooch to a rescue group in the aftermath of a viral video of the encounter, which some said showed Cooper choking the dog, the shelter says it has now returned the animal, per WABC. In a Wednesday Facebook post, Abandoned Angels said "the appropriate New York City law enforcement agencies" had "declined to examine the dog or take it into their custody" after a vet determined it was in good health. "Consistent with input received from law enforcement, we have now complied with the owner's request for return of the dog." story continues below The rescue group also expressed thanks "for the outpouring of support regarding the dog following release of a troubling video that was brought to our attention," per the New York Post. The video showed Cooper in confrontation with Christian Cooper (no relation) in the Ramble on Memorial Day. At one point, she threatened to tell police that an African-American man was threatening her life. She then called 911, though no arrests were made. Cooper was later fired from her job as an investment executive. There were also calls for her to be banned from Central Park for life. Christian Cooper says he's accepted her apology. (Barack Obama recently commented on the case.) The European Unions top diplomat criticized Turkey yesterday for what the EU views as an infringement upon Greek and Cypriot territory in the Mediterranean Sea, according to Greek media outlets. The EUs high representative for foreign affairs said Turkey should stop energy exploration in that part of the eastern Mediterranean, although Turkey disputes that the area belongs to Greece and Cyprus. We are calling on Turkey to stop drilling in the areas where there is the EEZ (exclusive economic zone) or territorial waters of Cyprus and Greece, said Josep Borrell, as reported by the Greek news outlet Kathimerini. Turkey began exploring off the coast of Libya in January for hydrocarbons. The area is west of Cyprus and southeast of the Greek island of Crete. Turkey has an agreement to operate there with Libyas UN-recognized Government of National Accord, which Ankara backs militarily. Greece and Cyprus consider the project to be in their territorial waters. Greece and Turkey have had a complicated relationship throughout history. The two countries had a population exchange following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, for example. With Cyprus, the island is divided into the Republic of Cyprus, which is predominantly ethnically Greek, and Northern Cyprus, which has mostly ethnic Turks and is only recognized by Turkey. The Turkish government released a statement Tuesday saying Turkey and Northern Cyprus have rights to drill in the waters. Protection of our country's rights and interests in land, sea, and air will continue without any compromise, read the statement, according to the pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah. Borrell said the EU is in close contact with Greece and Cyprus and that their complaints are of the utmost importance, according to Kathimerini. Opposition to Turkey on the issue is also related to international disagreements involving Libya. Last month, Greece, Cyprus, France, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt issued a joint statement condemning Turkeys maritime actions. Turkey in turn called the countries an alliance of evil. The United Arab Emirates and Egypt back Gen. Khalifa Hifters Libyan National Army against Turkeys ally, the Government of National Accord, in Libya. France has also reportedly supported Hifter clandestinely. HUNT VALLEY, Md., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Packaging, a leading provider of personal protective equipment (PPE), has long delivered solutions to companies requiring this important equipment. The company has ramped up its inventory to meet the needs of medical workers, first responders, and workers in essential businesses to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Their 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse is stocked and ready to deliver with same-day shipping available. Universal Packaging Universal Packaging has already delivered masks to hundreds of companies including first responders, manufacturers, medical and long-term care facilities, and is receiving new orders daily from across the U.S. "We rushed production to meet the country's growing need so we can help keep everyone safe while we face this horrible pandemic," said Ryan Rush, President, Universal Packaging. Serving the community is important to Universal Packaging. "The company has donated thousands of masks to local police to ensure our first responders are protected during this difficult time," said Rush. Universal Packaging's masks include an FDA-approved, 3-Ply Surgical Mask with flexible earloop bands that stretch to fit all sizes. The KN95 masks offer five layers of protection and a comfortable fit. The masks are available online for direct purchase at www.direct.univpack.com. For order inquiries over 50,000 masks, contact Ryan Rush directly at 410-905-3059 About Universal Packaging Universal Packaging is a leading packaging and protective solutions provider. Years of research and development have been dedicated to creating the best possible products for some of the most difficult applications and environments. Personal protective equipment (including surgical and KN95 masks), special-purpose pharmacy bags, gowns, and gloves have been developed to meet our customers' ever-evolving needs. Based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, we service the entire United States with distribution across the nation. For more information, visit www.UnivPack.com. Media Contact: Fred Almond Marketing and Communications Universal Packaging 410-825-8300 [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg 3-ply-surgical-masks.jpg 3-Ply Surgical Masks FDA Approved kn95-masks.jpg KN95 Masks 5 Layers of Protection SOURCE Universal Packaging Related Links http://www.UnivPack.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 Trend: The South Caucasus Pipeline Company (SCPC) announces that as from 20 March 2020 technical operatorship of the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) has been transferred from BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited to SOCAR Midstream Operations Limited, a fully-owned subsidiary of SOCAR, Trend reports citing BP and SOCAR. The South Caucasus Pipeline is one of the key sections of the Southern Gas Corridor. This is in accordance with the revised SCP Pipeline Owners Agreement, signed in December 2013 part of the final investment decision on the Shah Deniz Stage 2 and South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPX) projects. The agreement provides for SOCAR to become the technical operator of SCP on the first anniversary of the SCPX construction completion date. The transfer covers the operation of all dedicated SCP facilities in Azerbaijan and Georgia. The facilities that are common to both the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and SCP will continue to be operated by bp in its capacity as common operator. There is no change to the operatorship of the Sangachal Terminal, BTC or the Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP) which will all continue to be operated by bp. SOCAR and bp will continue to work together during 2020 to effectively implement all aspects of the transition process. Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, said: We have been the commercial operator of SCP since 2015, conducting all commercial operations of the pipeline on a high level. Now SOCAR takes over the technical operatorship of SCP as envisaged in the pipeline owners agreement. As an SCPC shareholder, we have always been pleased with the safety of SCP operations, which have been among the best in the industry. We would like to thank bp for their excellent partnership and operatorship. As the new technical operator we will use our successful international experience and work closely with all of our partners to sustain the high level of safety, reliability and environmental performance of SCP. Gary Jones, bps Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: We welcome SOCAR as the new technical operator of SCP. As the biggest shareholder in Shah Deniz and SCPC, we remain committed to working with SOCAR to ensure continued safe and reliable operation of the pipeline. We believe SOCAR has great experience of safe and efficient project delivery. This was demonstrated during the four years of successful construction followed by the safe operation of TANAP. In addition, SOCAR has been a very effective commercial operator of SCP for nearly five years now. We remain committed to helping SOCAR in the planned management of change process to ensure that the transition is completed safely and with no impact on the overall gas transportation operations. We are proud of our staff and workforce whose commitment and dedication have been key to the excellent safety performance of the entire export system. We are confident that with the transfer of operatorship the same level of commitment to safe operations and the high quality of capabilities of the staff will continue. The SCPC shareholders are: bp (28.8%), TPAO (19.0%), SOCAR (10.0%), SGC (6.7%), PETRONAS (15.5%), LUKOIL (10.0%) and NICO (10.0%). SCP is a world class system and has been operating safely, reliably and efficiently since 2006 delivering gas to the regional markets of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. To accommodate the incremental Shah Deniz 2 production, the SCP system has been further expanded to export Shah Deniz 2 volumes to Turkey (6 bcma) and Europe (10 bcma). The expanded section of the pipeline commenced commercial deliveries to Turkey in June 2018. Starting 2020, it will enable the export of Shah Deniz gas to Europe for the first time. During 2019, the daily average throughput of SCP was 29 million cubic metres of gas per day. The SCP export system includes 443 km of pipeline in Azerbaijan and 248 km of pipeline in Georgia. The system also includes two compressors at the Sangachal Terminal in Azerbaijan, and two compressor stations and two metering stations in Georgia. On June 3, Alexander Lukashenko decided to dismiss the government Roman Golovchenko Open source President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has appointed a new government headed by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko. Belarusian Telegraph Agency reported this. Lukashenko has appointed a new government, and Roman Golovchenko has become Prime Minister, the statement said. President of Belarus also stressed that it was very important for them that patriots and professionals came to power. On June 3, Alexander Lukashenko made the decision to dismiss the government. The presidential election will take place on August 9. Representatives of China and Laos attend a ceremony marking the handover of medical supplies in Lao capital Vientiane on June 2, 2020. The second batch of medical supplies, provided by China's Ministry of National Defense to its Lao counterpart for the fight against COVID-19, was handed over in Vientiane on Tuesday. (Chinese Embassy in Laos/Handout via Xinhua) VIENTIANE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of medical supplies, provided by China's Ministry of National Defense to its Lao counterpart for the fight against COVID-19, was handed over in the Wattay International Airport of Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday. Chen Yongjing, military attache of the Chinese Embassy in Laos, said at the handover ceremony that China sincerely thanks Laos for its valuable support and assistance in China's fight against COVID-19. With the worldwide spread of COVID-19, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has actively carried out international cooperation to combat the virus, he said. Chen noted that in late April, a team of Chinese army medical experts came to Laos, bringing with them the first batch of donated medical supplies, to join Laos' efforts in fight against COVID-19. "Today, the Chinese air force aircraft brought the second batch of medical supplies including ventilators, monitors and other medical aid to meet the urgent needs of the Lao army," Chen said. "We believe that the joint efforts of the two armies, as an important part of the two countries' joint efforts to fight the epidemic, will contribute to the building of China-Laos community with a shared future," Chen added. Vongkham Phommakone, directer general of the General Logistics Department of the Lao People's Army, spoke highly of China's contribution to the global fight against COVID-19, and expressed Lao army's heartfelt thanks to the Chinese army for the support and assistance. Samsung Group's heir-apparent Lee Jae-Yong (C) arrives at court for a hearing to review the issuing of his arrest warrant at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on January 18, 2017. South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant against Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee and two former company executives, they said on Thursday, in an investigation of a controversial 2015 merger and alleged accounting fraud. The move spells fresh legal trouble for Lee, who already faces trial on a charge of bribery aimed at winning support to succeed ailing group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, and which involved former President Park Geun-hye. Prosecutors said the warrant against Lee was sought on suspicions of stock price manipulation, among other offences. Samsung declined to comment. Lee, 51, spent a year in detention until the bribery case was suspended in 2018, but the possibility of a tougher sentence has emerged after the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling on the case last year. Prosecutors have been investigating suspected accounting fraud at drug company Samsung Biologics after the Korean financial watchdog complained the firm's value had been inflated by 4.5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in 2015. Last month, Lee was questioned by prosecutors investigating the accounting fraud accusation and a controversial 2015 merger they said may have helped him advance his succession-planning agenda at South Korea's top conglomerate. A Commonwealth Court panel issued an order Thursday that could allow Washington Township to secede from the Dover Area School District as early as the 2021-22 school year. That ruling, which follows a nine-year battle in and out of the courts, overturns the state Board of Educations refusal to sanction the transfer the townships roughly 250 students to the neighboring Northern York School District. The Commonwealth Court ruling, which could be appealed to the state Supreme Court, was penned by Judge P. Kevin Brobson. Brobson found that the Board of Educations rejection of the transfer, which the Washington Township Education Coalition A Commonwealth Court panel issued an order Thursday that could allow Washington Township to secede from the Dover Area School District as early as the 2021-22 school year. The Dover district would not face financial catastrophe because of the transfer, nor would Northern York be unable to accommodate the influx of Washington Township students, Brobson concluded. The Education coalition says in its Facebook site that the transfer is being sought because Northern remains closer, safer and better performing than Dover. The Northern York district does perform better than Dover, according to state rankings. Brobson also noted that 1,409 of the townships 1,929 taxpayers signed a petition supporting the shift. Dover school officials have fought the plan. Northern York leaders have remained neutral, Brobson noted. This is the second time Commonwealth Court has overridden a Board of Education rejection of the transfer. This time around, the judge concluded that, despite fears expressed by the state board, the shift of students would not overwhelm either district. The Washington Township pupils make up only 7 percent of the Dover districts student body, Brobson noted. The transfer would cost dover about $2.3 million in tax revenue, roughly 3 percent of its $75 million budget, he found. Both districts have between 3,000 and 3,500 students now. There is no evidence in the record, or finding by the board, that Dover SD cannot weather the financial consequences of the transfer, Brobson wrote. He said the facts show indisputably that Dover SD and Northern York SD can adapt, academically and financially, to the transfer and still meet the standards for school districts under the School Code and the boards regulations. So, he concluded, the transfer will not overwhelm Northern York SD with students that it cannot reasonably accommodate nor result in Dover SD being reduced to such a size that it cannot reasonably operate. He said delaying the shift to the 2021-2022 school year will give both districts a reasonable period of time to plan academically and financially for their new student populations. Brobson directed the Board of Education to approve the transfer and send the case on to York County Court to oversee its implementation, including the reassignments of debt and other financial considerations. The Washington Township case is similar to a proposal for Highspire to secede from the Steelton-Highspire School District in Dauphin County. That movement is not nearly so far along in the process as the York County case, however. Branden Mills remembers the shock he felt when first seeing video circulating social media showing the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd died on May 25 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee to Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd was accused of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin was initially charged third-degree murder and manslaughter, but the Star Tribune reported Wednesday that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison plans to elevate those charges to second-degree murder. The Star Tribune also reported that three other officers at the scene of Floyds death Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane will be charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. The death of Floyd was compounded for Mills because it followed the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old, unarmed black man who was killed by two white men while running down a road in February. I thought: Wow, to see something like that and with the death of (Ahmad Aubrey), it was hurting my heart pretty bad, Mills, 20, said. What a lot of people are going through is frustration and anger. Not even within a year weve had multiple unarmed black deaths. Mills frustration is a microcosm of the anger of many across the country regarding police brutality and inequality. Protests demanding justice for Floyds death and systematic changes to address police brutality have erupted in every state across the country. In Nebraska, protests in Lincoln and Omaha continue to draw large crowds. Mills said after seeing what was happening in the state and across the country, he knew he had to organize something in Fremont. I came up with the idea for the protests for the exact reason of there not being much going on, he said. I needed to spread awareness here and I needed to show love and peace. Mills is a Nebraska transplant. He grew up in Delaware before moving to Nebraska as a senior in high school to attend Millard North High School in Omaha. He is a senior at Midland University, majoring in psychology and sociology. Mills is also the president of the Black Student Union at Midland. Approximately 20 people attended the protest organized by Mills last Sunday at the intersection of 23rd and Bell streets. Mills said he contacted the Fremont Police Department ahead of time to inform them the protest would be taking place. He said the police department was supportive throughout. ... They did an amazing job of watching over us and were so supportive and spread their insight, he said. They were so compassionate. FPD officer Brianna Ryan said the protest went over well. It was super peaceful. It was great, she said. We had no problems. I didnt expect we would have any. Mills made it clear nobody at the protest is against the police. He said the goal of the protest was to share a larger message. We just want to show that this is for a bigger reason; to stop discrimination and prejudice that we dont like, he said. It was just an amazing moment. Mills said the Fremont community was supportive of the protest. While there are some people who voiced their disapproval of the protest, Mills said there were far more that would show their support of the message. We had a lot of people honk, wave, give a fist of justice or give high fives at stop lights, he said. It was jut amazingly supportive. Mills said it is important to be an example of change for younger students and community members in Fremont. There are people who are just coming into Midland trying to find themselves and there are a lot of people who are young and people need to see things like this, that it is OK to show love and empathy, he said. When people see things like this, they can see that Fremont isnt just a city, there are people who care out here. That inspires me to be a good person and that I stand for what I believe in. Lawrence Chatters, the vice president of student affairs at Midland, said the university as a whole is proud of Mills efforts to organize and peacefully protest. I think were really proud of all our student and as an institution we stand in solidarity with our students who peacefully protest, he said. We are hurting at this point in time, like our country, and we know our students are as well. We think what Branden is doing is admirable. Another protest is scheduled to take place this Sunday, beginning at the same location. Mills said he expects the number of those in attendance to grow. Mills said his goal is to spread awareness, peace, love and compassion. He said it is important to inform the community about the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. Sometimes the message of Black Lives Matter gets construed, he said. When a lot of people say all lives matter or things like that, its not about that. Mills said everybody knows that each persons life matters, but the movement is meant to show that black lives need specific attention. Were out here and are going through a crisis and we need attention, he said. Love 1 Funny 2 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. A couple from South Dakota have been arrested on more than a dozen criminal counts after officials say they drugged their four children with methamphetamine and marijuana, and disciplined them with cattle prods over the course of nearly three years. Lance Long, 36, and Crystallynn Long, 40, from Sioux Falls, were arrested after fleeing to Oklahoma and being brought back to South Dakota on Wednesday to face 14 counts, including aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon; distribution of marijuana to a minor; distributing a controlled substance to a minor and abuse or cruelty to a minor. Capt. Josh Phillips, with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office, told the Argus Leader the years-long abuse was directed at four children ages 11, 13, 15 and 17. Lance Long, 36 (left), and Crystallynn Long, 40 (right), have been charged with drugging their four children with meth and marijuana, and abusing them with cattle prods According to the captain, the parents drugged their children and shocked them with a 'hot shot cattle prod' to get them to obey orders, reported the station KELO. When interviewed by investigators, most of the children in the Long household reportedly said that the prod had been used on them 'numerous' times over the last three years. Law enforcement officials first learned of the allegations against the couple in mid-May after their eldest son, who had recently left home to join the Marine Corps, confided in his recruiter about his and his siblings' troubled home life. The recruiter then contacted a relative, who reported the alleged about to the sheriff's office, sparking an investigation. The 17-year-old boy told the authorities that Lance had given him and his siblings marijuana and methamphetamine for the last two and a half years, purportedly because it would 'help them learn about drugs, so that drugs wouldn't ruin their lives later on,' arrest affidavits stated. The young Marine claimed that Cyrstallynn never encouraged the children to use the drugs, but was present whenever they did. He also mentioned he has an older sister who had previously accused Lance of abusing her. The boy said those allegations were investigated but came to naught, so he and his siblings decided to keep quiet so as not to make things worse at home. According to the documents, deputies arrived at the Longs' house in the 6400 block of North 10th Avenue to perform a welfare check on the children. The children were asked about the abuse and initially denied it, as did Crystallynn. Capt. Josh Phillips, with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office, said the years-long abuse was directed at four children ages 11, 13, 15 and 17 But when the deputies privately interviewed the couple's 15-year-old daughter, with Crystallynn's consent, the teen allegedly corroborated everything her older brother had told his sergeant in the Marines. 'She said she is very worried about her two younger brothers, but she's happy that someone finally said something about Lance,' the document stated. When pressed about the allegations, Crystallynn allegedly admitted that her husband would 'sometimes chase their children with a hot-shot taser to intimidate them,' but she claimed he never shocked them. Additional interviews with the children revealed instances of beatings, abuse and molestation allegations related to the father. At least one of the children was reported to have been punched in the kidneys, while another was allegedly run over with a three-wheeler by Lance. The couple's older daughter, whom the Marine recruit brought up to the police, said of the father that he is a 'cruel and evil person.' When police reached Lance Long by phone and questioned him about the allegations, he denied giving the children drugs or physically abusing them. The Longs' children have been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services and are said to be in good health. The parents on Thursday remained in the county jail without bond. No coercive action against employers, says SC on Centres order on wages India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's March 29 order asking employers to pay full wages to employees for the lockdown period. The court said that no coercive action will be taken against any employer for violating the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Earlier the Centre told the Court that payment of wages to workers during the lockdown period is a matter between the employers and the employees. The Centre also said that it would not want to interfere in the matter. The submission comes days after the Centre had said that it had directed the full payment of wages during the lockdown. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News The Centre told the court that it had ordered the full payment of wages to stop the exodus of workers to their homes from their workplaces. We want the economy to restart and it is for employers to negotiate with employees as to how much wage could be paid during the lockdown period, the Centre represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court. 7th Pay Commission: How Code of Wages will impact salaries of CG employees Earlier the court pointed out that the March 29 notification wanted small industries to pay 100 per cent wages to workers during the lockdown period. You are trying put money in the hands of the industries for them to re-start, but you want them to pay workers 100 per cent wages too. Some negotiations need to be held, the court also observed. A balance has to be struck between wage payment to workers for the lockdown period and protecting industries period and protecting industries. State may have to give small industries owners a hand. Representing the industries, senior counsel, Vishanathan said that this is a global pandemic. It has affected all. Let this not be considered to be a bonanza for some ruin it for the others. Let the March 29 notification be quashed and the let the parties start the negotiations with a clean slate, he also submitted. Even though the US economy is gradually reopening, millions of Americans are still suffering financially, with more than 40 million people having filed for unemployment, and with the Fed estimating that the unemployment rate could top 30%. Now, many hopes are being pinned in a second stimulus check that may or may not be forthcoming. The stimulus checks that the government started sending in April are probably long gone and Americans would love to receive more financial help. In late March, lawmakers passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which included $290 billion in direct payments. The program allowed $1,200 for people making less than $75,000 and couples making less than $150,000. It also paid $500 per child. According to new research by a team of economists from four US and European universities, the majority of that COVID county was spent on rent and bill payments followed by food and personal care items. On the whole, households spent around one-quarter to one-third of their stimulus check money within 10 days of receipt. Those in the lowest income group, who earned less than $1,000 per month, spent about 40 percent of the checks in the first 10 days. However, people with more than $3,000 in liquidity simply deposited them for a rainy day. The results did surprise the researchers, as during the 2008 stimulus program passed by the George W Bush administration, which were less than current one, up to 90% of the money was spent on cars. Given the size of the 2020 stimulus checks, we might have expected large impacts on categories like automobile spending, electronics, appliances, and home furnishings, researchers said. In an early April survey, Bankrate found that less than 30% of Americans believe that one stimulus check wouldnt help their financial situation for more than a month. Another survey, this one by WalletHub, found that 84% are really hoping for another stimulus check. The survey also found that nearly 160 million Americans are less than three months away from running out of money--entirely. Related: COVID-19 Could Spark A Global Food Crisis So, what is the possibility of another stimulus check? Well all likely find out by the end of this month. In mid-May, the House Democrats introduced a new stimulus bill called the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or the "HEROES Act". This $3 trillion proposal far exceeds the cost of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. The bill would give $2,000 per month to people making under $120,000, plus $2,000 per child for up to three children. Also included in addition to extended unemployment benefits is a student loan forgiveness proposal to cancel student loan debt. The proposal is a starting point for negotiations with the Republican-led Senate, and could be subject to change. Optimism waned when President Donald Trump started his negotiation bid by calling the legislation dead on arrival. "DOA. Dead on arrival. Of course, Nancy Pelosi knows that, he told reporters. Still, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week that he would wait a month to see how the economy reopens before designing another stimulus bill. Some congressional Republicans have said they dont want to spend more money and add to the national deficit. Instead of checks, Republicans are more supportive of the idea of cutting the payroll taxes, the proposal initiated by the Trump administration back in March. However, that wouldnt be much help to the 40 million people who have lost their jobs, some of whom may never get them back. By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday assured that stringent action will be taken against those who are found guilty for the death of a pregnant elephant in Keralas Palakkad district. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday assured that stringent action will be taken against those who are found guilty for the death of a pregnant elephant in Keralas Palakkad district. People have expressed anger and grief after the visuals of the elephant, dead in Velliyar river, was shared by forest officials last week. The Chief Minister said that justice will prevail and that concerns of people will not go in vain. Vijayan said that investigation is underway, focusing on three suspects. The police and forest departments will jointly investigate the incident. The district police chief and the district forest officer visited the site today. We will do everything possible to bring the culprits to justice, he added. The CM said that Kerala respects the outrage against injustice. If there is any silver lining in this, it is that we now know that we can make our voices heard against injustice. Let us be that people who fight injustice in all its forms; everytime, everywhere, he added. He also assured that his government will look into the rise in number of incidences of human-wildlife conflict. Earlier in the day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the central government has taken a very serious note of the incident. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill, Javadekar tweeted. The pregnant elephant suffered an injury in her lower jaw after she ate a pineapple stuffed with crackers which exploded in her mouth on 27 May. She later died, while standing in the river Velliyar. File Photo Protests that began in the United States after the death of George Floyd, a black citizen, is not going away. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, some mischievous miscreants damaged a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. According to the sources, Washington police have launched an investigation against the accused. The United States has apologized to India in the matter. Advertisement Mahatama GandhiThe Indian embassy had raised the issue with the United States. The Indian embassy has also lodged a complaint with the metropolitan police. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on September 30, 2014 in Washington DC. Protesters have tampered with the statue. As a result, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has been criticized by critics for calling the streets full of protesters "military battlefields". Mahatama GandhiIn the days leading up to the violent protests that erupted after the killing of black man George Floyd in police custody in the United States, the streets are now relatively peaceful and the protests are becoming more peaceful. Advertisement In the United States, anger erupted after a video of a white officer kneading Floyd's neck went viral on May 25 in Minneapolis. 04.06.2020 LISTEN Further to my article, Namugongo martyrs were not really martyrs, It is generally accepted that a martyr is a person who sacrifices his or her life or their personal freedom in order to further a cause or belief for many. This cause or belief may be political, cultural or religious. Some of the historical political martyrs include the Manouchian Group (a group of foreign communists, heroes, and martyrs of the Resistance in France 1940-44). In Buganda culture, Kabaka was the law and everything he asked for had to be granted by his subjects. For example, If Kabaka was visiting somewhere in Buganda and fancied ones wife, one would let the wife go and it used to be an honor to do so. So, one could only imagine what the king would do to anybody who disobeyed him in the name of a religion, a tool he saw as intended to weaken his kingdom. Secondly, I wish someone could tell me the difference between Muslims who have died for their religion during the religious wars in Buganda and Namugongo x-tian martyrs, and why they cannot have a bank holiday, like the Christians, if Bank holidays is the only way of recognizing martyrdom. According to Amisa Kayondo, Around 2009, I had a chart with a Muslim leader about this topic and refurbishing of the Namugongo Muslim Mosque built in honor of the Muslims burnt by the then Government. To my surprise, he told me that it was Muslims who were killed first, and the number was much bigger around 78. He was kind of confused about whether they should be called Martyrs giving the same reasons as you, Abbey Semuwemba, as to whether they were killed for being Muslims or for disobeying government rules. The other point he raised was that people might be mistaken and start worshiping them as Christians do but he didnt close the door of having the place renovated. If we are to analyze the current Palestine Martyrs or sometimes called suicide bombers, they all go into some form of training to prepare themselves for the deadly cause ahead which is deaths. Historically, church martyrs also used to go into some form of training to prepare for martyrdom. They used to fast and intentionally harm their bodies in order to build perseverance in face of immanent persecution. In that sense, Namugongo martyrs were trained in scripture, church history, prayer and baptism and , probably it helped them to sustain the pain, but isnt this what is called the modern day brainwashing of people to die in the name of religion? So if the Namugongo Martys were brain washed to die for the Christ, what is the difference between them and those claiming to be dying for Islam in the new world order? (Source of reference: Maureen Tilley, The Ascetic Body and the (Un)Making of the World of the Martyr, Journal of the American Academy of Religion; for a similar insightful study on martyrdom and torture in antiquity). In addition, historically, Protestants and Catholics refused to recognize each other as martyrs. So why was it so important for these two religious sects to agree on the title martyr at that moment in time? Was it something done as an act to forge unity between the Christians and protestant? In the 16th century, both protestants and Catholics affirmed that it was not the punishment, but the cause that made one a martyr. Could Protestants killed for faith be called martyrs? The Catholics answered, No. On the other side, could Catholics killed for faith be called martyrs? The Protestants said, No. An example is when Puritan minister Giles Wigginton told catholic Margaret Clitherow, on trial for treason, that she was deceived if she thought that dying for catholic faith counted as martyrdom. What makes it worse is that even protestants did not affirm other protestants as martyrs as evidenced during the time of Luther. Luther thought the deaths of Zwinglis followers should not be compared to the holy martyrs and condemned people for making such a comparison. It was only during the reign of pope John Paul 11,particularly in 2001, when in Ukraine, that he tried to address this issue of division in opinion between Catholics and protestants- in regard to martyrs, when he gave an address to bless 27 Greek catholic martyrs. The wise pope recognized both sides as joint martyrs. He was doing the same thing that was done at Namugongo: to forge unity between the two sects (Catholics and protestants). My argument here only hinges on people having a day off work for questionable reasons. We should not start having bank holidays for whoever fights to change a bad system or culture in the country. For instance, there are bad things going on in the current political system and some people have lost their lives in the process of fighting for what is right but will it ,therefore, be justifiable to start having bank holidays just because so and so died for a political cause in Uganda? Because if we start recognizing all these deaths, then Uganda has got a lot of martyrs rather than the so called Namugongo Martyrs. According to Abbas Muluubya, For purposes of history, I guess this information should be available in the Hansard. The genesis of the current bank holiday for Martyrs in Uganda was as a result of possible nugu. The Late Abbey Kafumbe Mukasa (May Allah forgive his trespasses) moved a motion to officially grant holidays for Eid to parliament or NRC whatever it was called then. Prior to that holidays on Eid were at the discretion of the President- sometimes granted others not. Hon Mutebi Mulwanira proposed an amendment to include martyrs day which was opposed by among other historians, (PhD) Dr. Philimon Mateke, on the basis that the presumed martyrs were actually rebels. Eventually the motion was passed with a compromise amendment that came along with Martyrs day, Womens day, Heroes day etc. According to Beti Kamya, while still active on Ugandans At Heart forum(Shes now a minister in Musevenis government), It was all about politics, really, not religion, although the Bazungu managed to spin it their way and the gullible Africans, as usual, bought it all.Mwanga was not fighting religion, he was resisting colonialism. At first, he, too, converted to Christianity and was baptized Daniel, but he soon realized that the Mzungu agenda was far beyond religion, when they began to undermine his authority among his subjects, thats why he turned against them and became hostile, which anybody would do. They returned his hostility in the same currency . They fought him, not for religion but for his territory, which is why they had come to Buganda, in the first place remember, they were on a colonization spree in Africa, after they had lost America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc to self rule, after bitter struggles. Mwanga convicted them of treason when they refused to fight on his (Bugandas) side and sentenced them to death. Even today, the sentence for treason is death. We need to re-write (and re-read) history from the Ugandan, not British perspective, otherwise, we shall remain colonized for a very long time! By the way, when I write or make suggestions about stuff, it does not mean that I strive on being controversial. I just give people something to think about and leave the choice to them. Thats how society should be: free exchange of different ideas. If Kabaka Mwanga's side had been heard, we should not have possibly called 3rd June- MARTYRS DAY, or even celebrate it. The media rarely gives his side of the story, and only concentrates on the other side, and that is unfortunate. In these days of "spin", we should be allowed to hear "both sides and reach our own conclusions. Better yet if we could be made aware of all the actual facts, not just the opposing viewpoints they generate. What was it president Jefferson said about "a free people, fully informed"?. If I may add, the media hasn't been fair to Idi Amin and Mwanga! -- *Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba* Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates sees a way to ensure that poorer regions won't be left behind in the rush for COVID-19 vaccines: invest in factories all over the world to produce billions of doses. Gates is focusing on the most promising vaccine candidates, committing funds to help ensure production capacity is ready even before any have proven to work. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also helping purchase potential shots for low-income countries with $US100 million ($144 million) for an effort led by nonprofit Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Bill Gates says manufacturing mass doses quickly will be crucial when a COVID-19 vaccine comes out. Credit:Bloomberg The Microsoft co-founder stressed the significance of ramping up manufacturing as health officials and world leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet virtually Thursday in an international vaccine summit. At the top of the agenda is broadening access to potential COVID-19 vaccines, seen as the key to halting the pandemic and restarting seized-up economies. "There's a plan to have multiple factories in Asia, multiple factories in the Americas, multiple factories in Europe, and if we can make over 1 to 2 billion doses a year, then the allocation problem is not super-acute," Gates said on a call with reporters. "If you are only able to make, say, 100 million doses a year then you have an almost impossible problem." Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Capital & Risk Analyst in Regulatory Reporting wygaso z dniem 2020-06-25 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddzia w Polsce Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia ogoszenia to: oferta zozona przez pracodawce zostaa usunieta z naszej bazy rekruter zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc CV zleceniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc zlecenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem url dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych zy adres WWW ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Bankowosc / Leasing, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Bankowosc / Leasing Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Capital & Risk Analyst in Regulatory Reporting, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Capital & Risk Analyst in Regulatory Reporting Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Warszawa, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Warszawa Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne ogoszenia, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: EAST LYME A Bridgeport man has been identified as the victim of a homicide after his body was found on the side of the road late Tuesday night, according to police officials. At 10:26 p.m., the East Lyme police got a 911 call about an unresponsive individual on the side of the road on West Society Road near the Interstate 95 Exit 73 south off ramp, according to police. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 17:02:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Keren Setton JERUSALEM, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Top Israeli foreign ministry officials say that increasing efforts in social media targeting countries and audiences usually hostile to the Jewish state are increasingly bearing fruit. In a video briefing held on Wednesday by officials from the digital diplomacy department at the ministry, they described the efforts being made and the results they are increasingly seeing. The online platforms allow direct contact with citizens of neighboring countries which Israel does not have diplomatic relations with. "Digital activities have become a core activity of the ministry," said Yiftah Curiel, head of digital diplomacy department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The department was formed in 2011, when it was becoming increasingly evident that what was once a side task for a diplomat, online activity is now a major part of the job. Upon beginning their training, ministry cadets are immediately instructed to open and actively maintain Twitter accounts. The office operates five channels on the different online platforms in six languages with 80 accounts in total, all run by 25 staffers. According to the officials, they reach 12 million people every week through the various outlets. One of the concerted efforts undertaken by the ministry is the maintenance of a Persian language Instagram account targeted at bringing in Iranian audiences. Instagram is the only social media platform not banned in Iran. There is a concerted effort by diplomats to establish direct contact with Iranian citizens. The account has half a million followers, a milestone that was celebrated by the ministry earlier this week. "Our goal is not only to interact directly but also try to break stereotypes about Israel," said Mr. Yonathan Gonen, director of New Media in Arabic at the Israeli foreign ministry. There have also been several online exchanges between Israeli and Iranian officials, the only arena in which the two interact. Gonen and his staff also operate two virtual embassies, one for Iraq and one for the Gulf states. According to him, people are interested in the cultural and hi-tech scenes in Israel. The majority of comments on those pages are positive, Gonen said. The pages focus on "mutual interests and common values," with short movies being posted frequently. The recent hot topic is the global fight against the spread of COVID-19, which has further highlighted the commonalities between countries. According to ministry data, the number of followers on all platforms combined doubles every year. Polls conducted by the department annually demonstrate changes in public opinion towards Israel. They have seen improvement especially in Gulf states and in Iraq, with a slight improvement in attitudes in northern African countries. "It's not always about numbers though. People tell us in comments that they have changed their mind. This is a sign of success," said Gonen. But, he says, the change cannot be only attributed to social media activism. Other changes in the Arab world in recent years have also shifted opinions. While the pages attract many positive responses, the officials acknowledge there are still many negative comments on the pages. They try to answer as many as possible, both favorable and the less sympathetic ones. "It will take some years, perhaps not generations, before we see more positive than negative comments," he added. However, according to the ministry, the change is significant and must not be underestimated. "Israel is no longer seen as the big problem for their local issues. This is a big change we see," he said at the briefing, "We hope that we are planting the seeds for the future. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 17:28:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Governor of the U.S. state of Oregon Kate Brown on Wednesday announced details of Phase 2 of the state's social and economic reopening plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Today, 35 counties, home to roughly 80 percent of the state population, are in Phase 1 of our Safe and Strong Oregon Reopening Plan," she said during a news conference. There are 31 counties that can now apply to enter Phase 2 on Friday, June 5, according to Brown. Phase 2 continues the county-by-county approach to reopening. Counties may be approved to enter Phase 2 only if they have been in Phase 1 for at least 21 days and are succeeding in controlling the spread of the coronavirus. "Any reopening comes with risk. That's just a fact of life right now. So we need to reduce the risk that comes with the reopening," she noted. The Oregon Health Authority is reviewing COVID-19 metrics and data for counties that have applied for Phase 2, and on June 4 the Governor's Office will announce the initial counties entering Phase 2, the announcement said. During Phase 2, gathering limits will be raised to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Indoor and outdoor venues, including theaters and churches, may reach an occupancy of up to 250 with social distancing measures in place. Restaurants and bars will have curfews extended to midnight, according to the guidance. Enditem PSUs online RN to BSN program earns No. 1 ranking Monday, June 1, 2020 3:00 PM News, Academics Pittsburg, KS Nurse Shannon McCarty may live and work in Alaska, but she still was able to earn her BSN degree from Pittsburg State University this spring. "I had completed my associates degree in nursing at a community college, and I knew Id soon need a bachelors degree. Employers said they preferred it, and I wanted to stay competitive in the current job market, said McCarty, a nurse at Providence Alaska Medical Center. McCarty started her degree five years ago but dropped out when she got to her last few classes and it became impossible to complete them or so she thought. And then, Jan Schiefelbein, who has coordinated the on-campus RN to BSN program for 30 years in PSUs Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing, reached out to her last year with the option to finish online. McCarty was excited for the opportunity to finish what she started. I found all the classes to be engaging and easy to access, she said. All of the resources I needed for research was at my fingertips. All of the instructors are amazing and very invested in their students and having them be successful. Those attributes helped the PSU program recently earn the distinction from RegisteredNursing.org of being the No. 1 Online RN to BSN in the state. Its a well-deserved honor, students say. Paula Roberts, of Chanute, Kansas, lives much closer to Pittsburg than McCarty just an hour away but said that without the online option, she wouldnt have been able to pursue her BSN. I work for the Neosho County Health Department and enjoy online learning as its easy to fit it around my work schedule, she said. It was nurses like McCarty and Roberts that Schiefelbein had in mind when she set out on a mission to start the online option. I had worked for many years alongside RNs with associate degrees, and they talked about wanting bachelors degrees but that they just couldnt do it. They were working and they had families, she said. They inspired me. I thought, there ought to be a way. In 2016, Schiefelbein led the charge to create a program that students could complete from anywhere, at any time, virtually. She began in 2017 with four students. Today, there are more than 120. Why do it? The BSN degree opens doors to specialized nursing careers in surgery, emergency room, and pediatric nursing, said Gena Coomes, who is an assistant professor in the school and who helps to coordinate the online program. It prepares nurses to become shift leaders, nurse directors, and clinical managers. It also allows nurses to pursue an advanced degree after completing the BSN. It also gives nurses the chance to earn a higher salary: the median annual wage for RNs with a bachelors degree is $68,450, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment is expected to grow by 16 percent between now and 2024 much faster than the average of all occupations. The online option gives those juggling multiple responsibilities freedom and flexibility. How it works The program can be completed in as few as three semesters when taking courses fulltime. Nurses may choose to begin in either spring or fall and have a very high completion rate, Schiefelbein said. RN-BSN students at PSU are eligible for up to $9,000 in grant money to use as tuition through the federal Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention (NEPQR) Grant. The total cost of tuition for 30 online credit hours required for the degree is $9,060. Students also are eligible to receive tuition reimbursement from their employers. Its an honor to be recognized for this program, Schiefelbein said. Its also very fulfilling to know were helping to fill a need in the national push for nurses to have BSN degrees, and to ultimately help improve medical care in the communities in which our nurses serve. Learn more: www.pittstate.edu/nursing WASHINGTON - The teenager was standing in sight of the White House, a few yards from soldiers in an armored vehicle and a few feet from a line of Secret Service officers in riot gear, when he spotted the president in the distance. "Where are you going?" Adam Lenssa shouted as President Donald Trump walked through Lafayette Square, where the Secret Service, U.S. Park Police and National Guard had just used chemical gas, rubber bullets and batons to push back the peaceful protesters. "We're not violent. We just want to talk rational reform. Is that too much to ask for?" All around him, hundreds of protesters were demanding that federal law enforcement officers - and the president - acknowledge their outrage over the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck. Their efforts to be heard have fueled six days of protests in the nation's capital and other cities around the country. On Monday night, the president didn't stop. Instead, the Secret Service suddenly lurched forward, shoving protesters with their shields and swinging their batons. Lenssa nearly fell as he stepped back onto bottles of water and boxes of baking soda, used to flush tear gas from protesters' faces. With the president now out of sight, Lenssa turned his attention to the officers, who had stopped their advance. "One fist," the African American 18-year-old shouted at a black Secret Service member, raising his hand and asking the officer to do the same. "Is that too much to ask for? Do you have no heart? One fist! Please, one fist!" The teen sank to the ground, tears streaming down his face. "Please, I'm on my knees," he begged. "Please, one fist, bro. Just one." But the officer didn't move. Across the United States, the protests have filled parks and squares, led to curfews and looting and thousands of arrests, and reignited debate about systemic racism in America. It has also produced a drama that unfolds again and again as protesters - often young people of color - urge officers to lower their shields and show their understanding. In a country more divided than ever, these heated conversations - held inches apart across police lines and barricades - have led to remarkable moments of reconciliation. In Ferguson, Mo., where the fatal shooting of a black teen by a white police officer sparked nationwide protests in 2014, officers of color joined protesters in a moment of silence for Floyd on Saturday by taking a knee. Across the state, in Kansas City, Mo., two officers - one white, one black - held up a protester's sign that read "END Police Brutality!" In Atlanta, where six officers were charged for using excessive force on protesters over the weekend, a white officer in a gas mask and helmet hugged a black protester on Monday. And in Los Angeles, where police brutality sparked race riots in 1965 and 1992, a white highway patrolman shook hands with a black demonstrator. More often, however, the protesters' passionate, sometimes profane pleas are met with stony-faced silence. The images of protesters nose-to-nose with heavily armed police has evoked memories of the civil rights movement. But historians say there is a big difference between then and now. The "urban rebellions" that began in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 and peaked after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. occurred at a time when the federal government - under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson - intervened to protect protesters from brutal treatment by local police and passed sweeping civil rights legislation, said Donna Murch, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University. "They were called 'the riots of hope,' " she noted. Today, under a president who has deliberately inflamed rather than soothed racial tensions, there is a lot of anger but little chance for change anytime soon. "It's a politics of expression," said Murch, the author of "Living for the City," a history of the Black Panther Party. "I don't want to downplay it. What they are doing is incredibly important. But compared to '68 . . . they have no real hope of being heard at the federal level." When protesters marched from Howard University to Lafayette Square on Sunday, some were struck that the lights on the White House had been extinguished. "We're begging for us to be heard and for us to be seen," said Aly Conyers, a 17-year-old who led the march. "It's almost like leadership wasn't there and you can't hear us." Many police departments have worked to hire more minority officers and improve training but have yet to overcome structural racism in the criminal justice system, according to Cid Martinez, an associate professor of sociology at the University of San Diego. Still, officers embracing protesters or holding up anti-police brutality signs would have been hard to imagine when L.A. was on fire in 1992. "The public displays [of police solidarity with protesters] is something of a new ritual that is emerging," Martinez said. "Those instances are symbolically really important. They illustrate that police departments have evolved." Yet those same departments have also militarized since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. And their evolution has been uneven. On Monday, officers from various law enforcement agencies deployed around the nation's capital reacted in starkly different ways to protesters' calls for camaraderie. When Josh Ronan, a black protester from Alexandria, Va., spotted Homeland Security agents wielding plastic shields and wooden batons, the 25-year-old approached an African American officer to talk. "Show a little empathy," Ronan urged. "I'm just doing my job," the officer replied. That was more than most protesters got from the line of Secret Service, Park Police and National Guard members surrounding Lafayette Square. It was local police officers who were most likely to respond. When a crowd of several hundred protesters marched from the White House toward the Trump International Hotel, a dozen D.C. police officers on bicycles raced past, taking up positions behind a barrier surrounding the president's property. "Take a knee!" the protesters began to chant. A female African American police officer in a white bike helmet was the first to listen, sinking to her knee for only a second, but it was long enough to draw a roar. Attention then turned to a dozen other officers. "Officer, do you agree with us?" Leo West, a white 20-year-old college student from suburban Takoma Park, Md., wearing a Black Lives Matter face mask, asked an African American officer named P.D. Harris. Suddenly the police officer sank to his knee. "You're a good man, officer," West shouted. "All of you can do it. Be like Officer Harris." A half-dozen more officers sank to their knees. As protesters got to their feet and continued on toward the Capitol, Harris held up his hand and gave them fist-bumps. Twenty minutes later, however, a tense standoff took place as the protesters reached the statehouse. When a U.S. Capitol Police officer on a motorcycle wove his way through the crowd, a 22-year-old student protester from Maine took offense and sat down on the pavement, inches away from the officer's front wheel. The student sat there for 10 minutes as protesters began to argue around him and other officers arrived to figure out what was going on. "Officer, if he apologizes for riding through the crowd, and he goes the other way, I will get up," the student, who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation from authorities, told a second officer. "That was dangerous," he said to the motorcycle officer, comparing it to video footage of police in New York City driving through a dense crowd two days earlier. After staring silently at the student from behind tinted sunglasses, the motorcycle officer finally spoke. "I can't speak for the cops in New York City," Officer B. Kiely said. "I can only speak for the cops here." "But you were doing something similar," the student said. Kiely appeared to pause and collect himself. "It was dangerous," he said. "I apologize for coming close to hitting you guys." The student stood up and walked away. But as the sun set and the mayor's 7 p.m. curfew took effect, interactions between protesters and the D.C. police became tenser, too. As demonstrators walked through the streets of Dupont Circle, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by District police in riot gear. The officers refused to let them leave. Instead, as police vans arrived and onlookers gathered, the officers suddenly pressed forward, pushing the protesters with their shields and spraying tear gas. About 200 people were arrested. Dozens more would have been had they not fled into a nearby house on Swann Street. Krista Brown, 26, and Yinka Onayemi, 25, were watching the chaos from the corner when a black police sergeant told them to back up or they, too, would be detained. "I'm just trying to hold people accountable," said Brown, a nonprofit worker dressed in a Berklee College of Music hoodie, raising Floyd's death. "In 31 years, it has not happened in D.C.," replied Sgt. Johnny Tubbs. "I'm from Kansas, and if it was that bad here, I'd go right back to the farm. It's not that bad here. There are bad actors and bad apples, and then bad narratives get started and people make bad spin out it." "We're people, too," the officer added. "This uniform doesn't turn you into a different person. It's just hot and uncomfortable." As he spoke, a woman screamed as officers tackled a black protester in the street behind Tubbs. Among those arrested for violating curfew was Adam Lenssa, the 18-year-old who had stood outside the White House three hours earlier, begging the Secret Service officer to raise his fist. His parents had fled ethnic violence in Ethiopia before he was born. Yet it was in the D.C. suburbs that Lenssa's hands had shaken with fear when he was recently pulled over by police. "They wanted me to have a better life away from the war there," the college student from suburban Silver Spring, Md., had told the officer outside the White House. "And we're having a f------ war here, over our skin color." But the officer had remained unmoved. And now Lenssa's fists were clenched behind his back as he was put in the back of a police van and driven away. - - - The Washington Post's Rachel Chason and Samantha Schmidt contributed to this report. Researchers at Indiana Universitys School of Medicine are looking for volunteers to study immunity for COVID-19. Volunteers will provide blood samples several times over the next two years for the Development of Immunity after SARS-Cov2 Exposure and Recovery, or DISCOVER study, led by Drs. Chandy John and Alka Khaitan. Khaitan said some samples will be tested immediately for any antibodies that may support immunity against COVID-19 while other samples will be tested later on to gauge how immunity may change over time. Four different groups of people those who tested positive and were symptomatic, those who were positive but asymptomatic, people who did not have symptoms but were exposed to COVID-19, and those without symptoms and werent exposed will be tested. Khaitan said it is important to test those who dont believe they were exposed to the virus, and havent been tested because she believes some in the sample group likely will test positive for the disease. The immunity study, then, will help determine why they never developed symptoms. By comparing people who have varying levels of symptoms and exposure to COVID-19, well be able to get a better understanding of how immunity originates and how long it can last, John said in a statement. We want to look at immune responses in both children and adults, because understanding the development of immunity in both groups is important to guiding vaccine development, and to understanding how the virus spreads in the community, even in those without symptoms. This research could also be significant for Black Hoosiers. In Marion County, African Americans make up 26% of the 10,037 COVID-19 cases. So far, our prevalence data from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and other reports definitely show a disproportionate infection in African Americans and other minority groups, Khaitan said. One component is certainly structural racism in society that leads to disparities in living situations, disparities in jobs that are available to them and known disparities in the health care system. Its probably not attributed to one thing. Khaitan said higher mortality rates from COVID-19 in the Black community could also be related to a higher likelihood of comorbidities such as diabetes and high blood pressure or genetic differences. Khaitan urged African Americans and individuals from other minority groups to volunteer for the study to help researchers find an effective vaccine. We want a vaccine that works for everyone, Khaitan said. So if there are differences genetically, we need to know that. Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper. Volunteer! To learn more about how you can volunteer for the DISCOVER study, visit https://research.indianactsi.org/ Incidents of wildlife poaching in India have more than doubled during the COVID-19 lockdown with 88 animals being killed for meat and trade during this time compared to 35 in the pre-lockdown days in February, a new study has revealed. The study conducted by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network and an NGO working globally on trade in wild animals, said that between February 10 and 22, the number of animal poaching incidents was 35 while during the lockdown between March 23 and May 3, the number escalated to 88. TRAFFIC, which operates as a programme division of the WWF India, found a significant increase in reported poaching of wild animals in India during the lockdown period that is not restricted to any geographical region or state or to any specific wildlife area. Reported poaching incidents rose from 35 to 88, including nine leopards being killed during the lockdown compared to four killed in the pre-lockdown period, said the report Indian wildlife amidst the COVID-19 crisis: An analysis of poaching and illegal wildlife trade trends. Reports of poaching incidences for consumption and local trade have more than doubled during lockdown although there was no evidence of stockpiling of wildlife products for future trade, it said. The study indicates that despite consistent efforts by law enforcement agencies, wild animal populations in India are under additional threat during the lockdown period. Ravi Singh, CEO, WWF-India said, If poaching of ungulates and small animals remains unchecked it will lead to depletion of prey base for big cats like tigers and leopards and a depletion of the ecosystems. This in turn will lead to higher incidences of human-wildlife conflicts and will undermine the significant successes that India has achieved in the field of wildlife conservation. The highest increase in poaching was reported to be of ungulates mainly for their meat, and the percentage jumped from nearly 22 per cent (eight out of 35) total reported cases pre-lockdown, to 44 per cent (39 out of 88) during the lockdown period. The second group which showed a marked increase was poaching of small mammals including hares, porcupines, pangolins, giant squirrels, civets, monkeys, smaller wild cats. Although some have always been in high demand in international markets, most hunting during the lockdown period is presumably for meat or for local trade. Cases for these rose from 17 per cent to 25 per cent between the pre-and lockdown periods, the report said. It also said a total of 222 people were arrested in poaching-related cases by various law enforcement agencies during the lockdown period across the country, significantly higher than the 85 suspects reported as arrested during the pre-lockdown phase. However, there was less reporting of poaching and illegal trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles, with almost no seizures of these species during the lockdown period, the report said. Saket Badola, Head of TRAFFICs India Office said, The more than doubling of reported poaching cases, mainly of ungulates and small wild animals for meat is doubtless placing additional burdens on wildlife law enforcement agencies. Therefore, it is imperative that these agencies are supported adequately and in a timely manner so that they can control the situation. (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 By Ted Hesson, Mark Hosenball, Mica Rosenberg and Brad Heath WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has blamed leftwing extremist groups for instigating nights of looting and violence in cities across the United States, but an intelligence assessment offers limited evidence that organized extremists are behind the turmoil. In part of a June 1 internal intelligence assessment of the protests seen by Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said most of the violence appears to have been driven by opportunists. By Ted Hesson, Mark Hosenball, Mica Rosenberg and Brad Heath WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has blamed leftwing extremist groups for instigating nights of looting and violence in cities across the United States, but an intelligence assessment offers limited evidence that organized extremists are behind the turmoil. In part of a June 1 internal intelligence assessment of the protests seen by Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said most of the violence appears to have been driven by opportunists. The assessment, prepared by the department's intelligence and analysis unit, said there was some evidence based on open-source and DHS reporting that the anti-fascist movement Antifa may be contributing to the violence, a view shared by some local police departments in public statements and interviews with Reuters. Reuters reviewed only a portion of the document and could not determine if it addressed the tactics of the groups involved in the protests in greater detail elsewhere. The part of the document seen by Reuters did not provide any specific evidence of extremist-driven violence, but noted that white supremacists were working online to increase tensions between protesters and law enforcement by calling for acts of violence against both groups. There was no evidence, however, that white supremacists were causing violence at any of the protests, the document said. DHS spokesman Alexei Woltornist said the agency would "hold those responsible for the unrest accountable," but did not specifically comment on the intelligence assessment. The White House and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment. People took to the streets to protest the killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer who pinned Floyd's neck under a knee for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25. In the days that followed, protests in several U.S. cities descended into looting and clashes with police officers, who are using a variety of weapons https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-weapons-factbox/factbox-what-u-s-police-are-shooting-at-protesters-idUSKBN23A30U on protesters. Most protests have been peaceful, and on Tuesday night, there was less looting and vandalism and clashes were more sporadic even as crowds defied curfews. Trump has cast part of the blame for violence on Antifa, which is not an organization but rather an amorphous movement that opposes authoritarianism. ARREST RECORDS As protests intensified over the weekend, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said violence in Minneapolis and other cities was being driven by far-left extremist groups, echoing comments Trump had made earlier. Barr said those causing the violence were traveling to hotspots from out of state without elaborating further. Two Justice Department officials who declined to be identified told Reuters they had seen little evidence to support that claim. Court and police records from some of the cities where violence erupted - Baltimore, Minneapolis and Washington - show most of the people the police had charged with rioting, property damage and violent offenses over the weekend lived either in those cities or in nearby suburbs. In Minneapolis, records show 25 of the 312 people booked into the county jail since May 26 listed addresses outside the state. Still, some local and federal officials cited clear signs of organization behind clashes. A New York City Police Department official said protesters there prepared for a confrontation with police by using scouts, encrypted communications and arranging medical teams in advance. Were seeing a lot of outside and independent agitators connected with anarchist groups who are deliberately trying to provoke acts of violence, said John Miller, the head of the department's intelligence unit. One senior DHS official said there are incredibly strong indications that the violence in some cities was organized. The official cited allegations that New York City protesters tried to bring supplies of rocks, bottles and flammable liquids to protest areas and that protesters in at least two other cities tried to disrupt police radio transmissions. In Las Vegas, assistant sheriff Christopher Jones said much of the looting and destruction was being caused by people taking advantage of the chaos. However, he also said graffiti and property damage which he described as targeting "capitalist structures" suggested Antifa involvement. He added that social media posts showed people expressing views very consistent with white supremacist ideology had intermingled with the crowd. Federal authorities said they were beginning to identify people who helped turn the protests violent. The Justice Department filed charges against an Illinois man, Matthew Rupert, after authorities said he posted a Facebook video in which he passed out what appeared to be explosive devices to protesters in Minneapolis, proclaiming at one point: We came to riot." Prosecutors said police found more destructive devices in his car when he was arrested two days later in Chicago. They did not say whether he claimed to identify with any particular group, either right wing or left wing. Rupert's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In New York, prosecutors charged three people with trying to use homemade incendiaries to burn police vehicles, but again did not identify them as belonging to any group. SIGNS OF COORDINATION In addition to New York, police in other places said they saw signs that some of the attacks on officers and looting was more organized, though they stopped short of blaming particular groups. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said on Sunday that a portion of the damage in that city had been caused by people bent on further destruction, and that some of the looters targeting stores had by the weekend organized themselves into caravans of cars. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that while protesters there were well coordinated it was too early to tell whether specific groups were orchestrating any of the rioting there. Outlaw said police were looking into known agitators. (Reporting by Brad Heath and Ted Hesson in Washington; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New Yok; additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andy Sullivan; editing by Ross Colvin and Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The PM and Ms Symonds' son Wilfred was born six weeks later on April 29 Boris Johnson has been accused of hosting a baby shower for his fiancee Carrie Symonds at the Prime Minister's country retreat early in the coronavirus crisis and after it had struck his own Cabinet. He and Ms Symonds were joined at Chequers in Buckinghamshire by a dozen or so friends on Saturday March 14, six weeks before the birth of their son Wilfred, according to Private Eye magazine. This was the same week health minister Nadine Dorries revealed she was self-isolating after being diagnosed, just days after she attended a reception at No 10 with the PM. And on the Monday after the alleged party at the stately home, Mr Johnson told the nation that it should 'stop non-essential contact with others and stop all non-essential travel'. He told the nation: 'If necessary, you should ask for help from others for your daily necessities. If that is not possible, you should do what you can to limit your social contact when you leave the house to get supplies.' He and Ms Symond were joined at Chequers in Buckinghamshire on Saturday March 14 days before the PM tightened coronavirus restrictions Chequers is 41 miles from Downing Street and has been the PM's country retreat for more than a century 'Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others and stop all non-essential travel. 'We need people to start working from home where they possible can. You should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues.' Days later the lockdown was made compulsory as the seriousness of the pandemic became more apparent. Downing Street has so far declined to comment on the allegation in the political magazine. The PM and Ms Symonds' son Wilfred was born weeks later on April 29, shortly after the Prime Minister left hospital. It is the latest revelation about the Government's attitude to the coronavirus outbreak in recent weeks. Mr Johnson was flanked by Chief medical officer Chris Whitty (left) and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance (right) at the press conference in Downing Street on March 16 Health minister Nadine Dorries fell ill on Friday and was diagnosed with coronavirus on Tuesday evening Downing Street is still reeling from the impact of revelations that Mr Johnson's chief of staff Dominic Cummings breached lockdown rules the same month to visit his family's farm in Durham with his wife and son. And Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick, a key player in the Government's coronavirus response, claimed he had not flouted his own advice by travelling 150 miles to the Herefordshire property because it was the family home in early April. Ms Dorries, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, fell ill a week before Mr Johnson's party and later tested positive for the coronavirus. Before isolating she met hundreds of people, including a large number of MPs, and attended a conference outside Westminster. On March 12 she attended a Downing Street event hosted by Mr Johnson to mark International Women's Day. He would go on to self-isolate from March 27, sparking his own battle against the disease which saw him end up in intensive care. He later returned to Chequers to recuperate with Carrie at his side. Chequers was bequeathed to the nation in 1917 by Lord and Lady Lee of Fareham. The couple wanted the 16th century, 1,000-acre estate to be a 'place of rest and recreation for Prime Ministers' to help them cope with the pressures of government. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global phase change materials (PCM) market reached $681 million in 2015. This market is expected to increase from $810 million in 2016 to $2.0 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.1% for 2016-2021. Report Scope: This research report incorporates an in-depth analysis of the global PCM market, including market estimates and trends through 2021. This report analyzes market dynamics of such applications across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world. Major players, competitive intelligence, innovative technologies, market dynamics and geographic opportunities are discussed in detail. The global PCM market is analyzed for PCMs by type, application and region. The report also discusses recent corporate developments for the major players, as well as their product portfolios. Patent analysis provides trends over the past two to three years in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12314 Report Includes: - An overview of the global market for phase change materials (PCM), also known as latent heat storage materials, which store and release large amounts of heat or energy while maintaining a constant temperature. - Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2015, estimates for 2016, and projections of CAGRs through 2021. - Information on the architecture of the latent heat storage materials value chain. - Details of the drivers and restraints of the market, as well as opportunities in the latent heat storage materials industry. - Analysis surrounding the types and classifications of latent heat storage materials. - Profiles of leading companies in the field of phase change materials. Report Summary Increasing awareness about energy efficiency, strict government regulations for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing fuel prices and the need for reduced dependence on conventional resources have all led to increasing use of phase change materials (PCMs). The use of a latent heat storage system using PCMs is an efficient way of storing thermal energy and has the advantages of high-energy storage density and the isothermal nature of the storage process. PCMs, also called latent thermal storage materials, can store and release large amounts of heat/energy to maintain constant temperature. They differ from insulation materials because, upon reaching the melting point, they change phase. This can be from solid to liquid, in which case they absorb a large amount of energy; alternatively, they can change phase from liquid to solid, releasing energy in the process. The ability of PCMs to change phase at a given temperature is of tremendous benefit to the increasing demands for energy efficiency and energy savings. Various industries (such as building and construction, transportation and shipping, commercial refrigeration, textiles and packaging) require efficient heating and cooling: PCMs fulfill these requirements. Some PCMs are also biobased and therefore environmentally friendly, and global demand for them is expected to grow significantly. There is an ongoing effort to integrate PCMs in increasingly more energy-hungry applications. However, there is still a need to increase the knowledge of the efficacy of PCM products and the cost savings they bring when used efficiently. The greatest demand is expected to come from Asia-Pacific countries, but the challenge is their lack of awareness about PCM products. Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12314 This report discusses the technical and economic aspects of PCM products. These products are seeing increasing demand in various applications, because there is a worldwide conscious effort to save energy as fossil fuels are rapidly becoming depleted due to indiscriminate use. The nonrenewable fuels also harm the environment, and therefore PCMs are expected to be much in demand as they are environment-friendly and energy-efficient. The PCM products in this report comprise paraffin, salt hydrates and others (including fatty acids and eutectic salts). PCM products have various applications, but the major revenue-generating application at the global level is building and construction. However, shipping and transportation and textile sectors are expected to show significant growth in future. The main driver for the market for PCM products is the growing construction activities in the developing nations of China, India and Brazil. The governments in these countries are also framing environmentfriendly legislation. China passed the Environment Protection Law in Jan. 2015 that levies daily fines for companies and imposes environment impact assessment restrictions on regional governments. PCM products can store large amounts of heat, and therefore they are considered more effective than traditional materials such as water, plastic and wood. This has increased their use in textiles and packaging, where a controlled temperature environment is required. However, one major drawback of PCM products is their hazardous nature. More Info of Impact Covid19@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/12314 Siemens Energy, the global energy business of Siemens group, said it has reached an agreement with the Egyptian government for the electrification package for the expansion of Cairo Metros Line 3, which will connect the country's capital with Cairo International Airport. As per the deal, Siemens Energy will provide the complete electrification package, including a suite of comprehensive technologies, for Line 3 of Cairos metro expansion, a project that will ultimately link the heavily populated city with Cairo International Airport. Working with strong partners as the National Authority of Tunnels (NAT), Colas Rail, Orascom Constructions and Arab Contractors, Siemens Energy has been involved with providing power to Line 3 since its inception. The lines Phase 4-B expansion, expected to be completed by end of June this year, will include the companys state-of-the-art Gas Insulated Switchgear, which can run maintenance-free for 25 years. Siemens substations will provide power to the new stations along the expanded route. The new metro line will use Siemenss Simatic substation operating system and digital technology to enhance controllability and reliability, while optimizing operating costs, said the German technology giant in a statement. In addition, the scope of supply comprises automation, protection and telecommunication equipment to connect the control center of the Line 3 with Cairos regional control center. The electrification package also includes the installation of the companys digital power transformers (Siemens Sensformer). With the new Siemens Sensformer, operators will have access to a cloud-based platform application that visualizes the collected data and enables a comprehensive overview of all the power assets in real time, it stated. Mahmoud Hanafy, Senior Vice President, Siemens Energy Transmission Solutions, Middle East, said: "To keep a metro system running on time and efficiently, the system requires a reliable supply of energy. Thats why we have combined advanced power transmission and digitalization solutions for the electrification of Cairos new metro line." "Through these solutions, we will improve availability and reliability of power systems, and make sure they achieve greater efficiency, while ensuring environmental protection," noted Hanafy. The project is also a prime example of Siemens Energys focus on powering the transportation sector, and the new line is an important project that will enhance the lives of millions of Egyptians and help improve mobility in the capital city, he added. Salim Hellel, Egypt and Middle East, the managing director at Colas Rail, said that safe and reliable transportation systems were essential components for the happiness and productivity of all cities. "We believe this latest expansion will help ease commute times and increase the comfort for millions of residents and visitors in the city, while operating with high efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. To date, approximately 50% of Egypts substations are built by Siemens technology, improving national grid stability and responsiveness," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The criminalization of black males in America began a long time ago. Contempt, distrust, fear and sheer hatred for black people and particularly black males was tightly interwoven in the fabric of American society long before the birth of the republic. Policing in its earliest stage in America could be traced back to slave catchers known as paddy rollers. While the institution of law enforcement has undergone significant change over the last two centuries, the bedrock of its most basic principle the protection of white life and property has remained unchallenged because the vast majority of whites harbor the same racial attitudes as most white police officers. In other words, all whites in American society harbor, to some degree, racist sentiments. The socialization process in our society ensures this outcome. The socialization process also ensures that all men harbor, to some degree, sexist sentiments about women. Given the socialization process, one can clearly comprehend how law enforcement is merely a microcosm of the larger society. The socialization process has also implanted within blacks a false sense of inferiority. Thus, it should come as no surprise when a black officer engages in an act of police misconduct towards a black citizen. The devaluing of black life by the rogue black officer is consistent with his socialization. His quest to be accepted by his fellow white officers trumps any allegiance he may have to his community. In short, the black officer represents a microcosm of the broader black community a community where its members harbor, to varying degrees, feelings of self-hatred. Given the deeply entrenched racism within American society, it is imprudent, I dare say foolish, to expect members of the dominant culture to voluntarily abandon its inherent affinity for law enforcement as a means to addressing systemic racism in the ranks. It would be like asking the 1 percent to voluntarily agree to a redistribution of wealth to the American taxpayer. Its simply not going to happen. Any significant reform which leads to the eradication of systemic racism within the law enforcement community will only occur through the ballot or the bullet, as so eloquently stated by the late great black revolutionary leader Malcolm X. While neither option offers guaranteed success, the ballot serves as our best nonviolent option. However, it will require a drastic transformation of our approach to politics in the black community. For starters, there must be a massive voter education effort that teaches potential voters how to: (1) be independent thinkers; (2) properly vet candidates for political office; (3) study the political apparatus and the rules governing elections in their respective municipalities, states and the national government; (4) detect political hacks and mercenaries; (5) avoid seduction by candidates with the gift of gab; (6) organize politically; (7) avoid identity politics; and (8) understand the role that money plays in electoral politics. The Kiyama Movements Black Men Vote Too initiative offers a wealth of information in an effort to teach voters, particularly young voters, how to become more sophisticated in their approach to electoral politics. Secondly, black voters, particularly black males, must overcome their political apathy. Black males are the least likely to vote among all demographics. While low voter turnout is not confined to the black community alone, our communities can least afford a voluntary detachment from this significant civic responsibility. We must vote at all cost. Thirdly, those who are elected to serve and advance our interest must be women and men who are intelligent, principled, courageous, selfless and committed to a black agenda. All sellouts (misleaders ) must be identified. If such leaders are currently in office, they must be voted out. If such candidates are running for office, they must not be voted in. Whites who choose to become associated with this effort must refrain from supporting candidates that are merely palatable to their social/cultural tastes rather than candidates that have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing a black agenda. Sincere whites must be willing to look beyond those traits in candidates that might typically disturb their comfort zone. If a candidate presents as too radical but has demonstrated a genuine commitment to his/her community why not support him/her? To do otherwise undermines this effort and perpetuates the present political order. The black community must recognize the importance of political involvement at the local and state levels. While the policies enacted at the national level cannot be ignored, policies at the local and state level that impact education, criminal justice, employment, health, taxes, etc. must be made a priority. If the black community wants to see a change in the criminal justice system then we cannot ignore the boards and commissions or the appointing authorities of these entities. We must use our voting power to strategically influence who occupies seats on these powerful boards and commissions. This requires a spectacular commitment to political education and organization/mobilization. In the final analysis, should we fail to take advantage of our precious right to vote and forego this opportunity to become active in electoral politics, the current crisis in the criminal justice system will only escalate. This will lead to the gradual enhancement of the profiles of those on the political fringe. Such individuals will in all likelihood resort to more desperate measures, potentially culminating in social upheaval that will make the unrest of the 1960s and early 1970s look like a tea party. Time is not running out. Time has run out! Michael A. Jefferson is a local attorney and activist. (TNS) When the coronavirus pandemic began, restaurants were among the first to see the effects. Dining rooms initially were limited, and then shut down entirely. Laid-off service-industry workers flooded the unemployment rolls.Much less visible was the effect on how restaurants are regulated.Around that time, the health department suspended routine inspections of restaurants, due to the COVID-19 virus, said Gary Hagy, environmental health manager for the Peninsula public health district.As a matter of state policy, local health inspectors now avoid in-person inspections of restaurants whenever possible.While inspections have begun ramping back up in recent weeks, routine health inspections have been severely curtailed in Hampton Roads since the end of March. This is true even as customers health concerns about restaurants have intensified.Hagy acknowledges this apparent contradiction, but says health departments have had to protect their employees health, as well as prioritize as their responsibilities, which have multiplied during the pandemic.In one of the ironies that has come to characterize life during the pandemic, the process of certifying safety isnt as safe as it used to be. The traditional process involves surprise visits while restaurants are in operation, bringing inspectors into close contact with restaurant staff.Some employees have expressed a reluctance to go out, Hagy said. They say, I dont want to bring it back to my 85-year-old grandmother.He also stresses that the majority of restaurants show no major issues during routine inspections.Were mostly limiting our inspections to complaints and concerns that are called in, Hagy said. For the past month or so, its almost all been complaint-based. Were getting out there to look at a few, but were trying to do it in a way that is safe.Local health departments have also been wearing new hats during the pandemic, Hagy said. In coordination with police and the fire marshal, his department is tasked with enforcing a new and ever-changing set of rules surrounding sanitation, social distancing and patio dining.Weve got three staff members rotating through the call center taking all kinds of calls, especially any environmental calls about restaurants and pools, Hagy said. And weve also reassigned people to other areas. Other programs are inundated with issues.In Virginia Beach, restaurant inspection staffers have been tasked with contact tracing of coronavirus cases, said that districts environmental health supervisor, Tamara Hartless. Her department is working extra shifts during the pandemic to keep up with the workload.Basically we split our teams up. Some are doing contact monitoring, case monitoring, entering data, Hartless said. Were determining their contacts, contacting all the contacts, educating and informing them. The whole team has been tasked in doing this.With both limited resources and safety concerns, local health departments have had to learn to be flexible, and to prioritize crucial cases. This includes facilities such as adult-care centers that have an older clientele more vulnerable to coronavirus. It also includes restaurants with a greater number of risk factors.Were focusing on the important issues, Hagy said. Temperature control, employee hygiene, and cross-contamination.For less worrisome cases, Hagys department conducts what they call temporary inspections asking restaurant owners questions over the phone, and providing training for proper procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.But difficulties with inspections dont just apply to existing restaurants.Some restaurants, such as the Pink Dinghy in Virginia Beach , faced weeks of delays while waiting for the pre-opening health inspection they need to do business in Virginia.Here, too, local health agencies have had to change how they operate. For many new restaurants, health inspections have gone virtual. Sams Hot Dog Stand owner Grant Griswold has seen many health inspections over his 71 years. But hes never seen one quite like the one he got in May.For weeks during the pandemic, hed been waiting on his fire and health inspections so he could open his Newport News franchise of the popular West Virginia-style hot dog chain.But when Griswolds time came, the inspector didnt even have to come to his restaurant.We did it on FaceTime, Griswold said. I walked through the store, showed him the walls, the bathrooms, everything. He told me,I want to test the temps of the cooler and freezer. Id take a bottle of water and stick a thermometer in it, turn on the button, and it would show him the temperature reading.In all, Griswold said, the process took about an hour and a half. Using his camera phone, he walked his inspector through all critical areas of his restaurant.He told me I needed to have a napkin dispenser here, I needed a no-smoking sign there. They did a lot of teaching, going over proper procedures.As of May 21, Griswold is now open for business serving chili-sauce dogs and slathered pork barbecue out of his restaurants service window at 880 J. Clyde Morris Blvd.Hagy and Hartless say theyve placed a high priority on getting new restaurants open. But not all restaurants can be inspected virtually, they say.First weve got to call them up and find out if they have the technology. You know, Do you have a tablet or an iPhone?" Hagy said.Different restaurants also have different categories of risk, and some will require an in-person inspection.We want to focus resources where theyre most important, Hagy said, like a big restaurant with a big menu, with many items that are cooked, cooled, reheated and chopped up, and that make multiple passes through the danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees.Hartless said restaurants with new facilities can be certified virtually more easily than restaurants that have taken over an old space.Say you have someone taking over an existing facility: Thats more difficult. Its easier to do virtually when you have a facility with all-new equipment, and new walls, floors, and ceilings, she said. If youre picking up older equipment, is it holding the right temperature like it should to prevent pathogens? Are the floors still at a good standard? Things like that.When risk levels warrant an in-person inspection, inspectors try to schedule times when fewer people will be around, to minimize potential coronavirus exposure.Inspectors also might visit in person when responding to citizen complaints. Lately, a large number of the publics concerns have been directed toward social distancing during the pandemic.Hartless said most of these inspections just involve educating restaurant owners about the new rules.In response to complaints in May, both Tulu in Virginia Beach and the Barking Dog in Hampton were asked to shut down sunporches that didnt meet the health departments requirements for outdoor dining.We always start with education, Hartless said. We want to make sure everyone understands the rules: sometimes its confusing. And sometimes they want to push the limits a little. If we get noncompliance, there have been citations. Weve also closed facilities: Weve had facilities that have been doing indoor dining, or consumption on the premises.But usually, said Hagy, it doesnt come to that.Most people want to do the right thing and stay open, he said. But this is new ground. The restaurant owners are confused, the public is confused, and to some degree were confused. Were just trying to come up with something that has some common sense to it. By Ray McGovern June 03, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Russian hopes dashed: Whatever hopes Russian President Vladimir Putin may have had for a more workable relationship with the Trump administration have been trumpled, so to speak. This came through loudly and clearly in acerbic remarks by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in an interview Friday with The National Interest. Ryabkov lamented the sad state of Russia-U.S. relations, while pointing, not very subtly, to China as Russias ace in the hole. He was simply acknowledging that what the Soviets used to call the correlation of forces has changed markedly, and strongly implied that the U.S. should draw the appropriate conclusions. No amateur diplomat, Ryabkov used unusually sharp, almost certainly pre-authorized, words to drive home his message: We dont believe the U.S. in its current shape is a counterpart that is reliable, so we have no confidence, no trust whatsoever. So our own calculations and conclusions are less related to what America is doing we cherish our close and friendly relations with China. We do regard this as a comprehensive strategic partnership in different areas, and we intend to develop it further. In other words: We Russians and Chinese will stand together as the U.S. tries to paint both of us as arch-villains, all the while isolating itself and painting itself into a corner. Sic Transit Trust Putin has come to accept that potent forces favoring high tension with Russia the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Adademia-Think-Tank complex (MICIMATT, if you will) are far stronger than any president; and that, in that context, trying to cultivate a relationship of personal trust with a president, may be largely a waste of time. The system in which Putin spent his early life put a premium on what the Soviets called yedinonachaliya, meaning leadership by a person at the top who is fully empowered to make decisions and have them carried out by subordinates or else. Putins personal experience working successfully with President Barack Obama in early September 2013 to head off wider war on Syria [more on that later] may have deceived him into assuming that presidents of the United States can exercise that kind of power, at will. And, if that were the case, personal dealings at the very top were the preferred way to untie Gordian knots and even cooperate for mutual advantage. In the years since, the notion was fully dispelled that a U.S. president is completely his own man and is rather hemmed in by the MICIMATT and particularly by its Security State component with entrenched, exceedingly powerful intelligence and law enforcement agencies. President Donald Trump calls this reality the Deep State. Trump with Big [Oral] Stick There must be a Siberian equivalent to the expression All hat, no cattle. If there is, I can almost hear it coming from the Kremlin in reaction to some of Trumps rhetoric, like his remarks on May 23 in an interview with journalist Sharyl Attkisson: What am I doing? Im fighting the deep state; Im fighting the swampIf it keeps going the way its going, I have a chance to break the deep state. Its a vicious group of people. Its very bad for our country. Trump has not hesitated to name the Deep State actors that he keeps in his sights ex-FBI Director James Comey; ex-CIA Director John Brennan, and ex-National Intelligence Director James Clapper, for example but, so far, he has shied away from actually taking them on. He has even thrown a few of his closest supporters under the bus like House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes when Nunes tried to send criminal referrals to the Justice Department. Thus, it remains an open question whether Trump will allow the various investigations now under way to bring indictments. This is no parlor game; these would be very serious moves, with consequences hard to predict. If it turns out that the president does have some cattle and decides to put them into play, those he labeled a vicious group of people will be fighting back tooth and nail. RIP: The Russian Hack of DNC Trump may act this time because he was personally the target of the Russiagate affair. Recently revealed evidence is in his favor. Although the latest proof was released three and a half weeks ago, most Americans are unaware that the cornerstone of Russiagate, the charge that Russia hacked into the Democratic National Committee computers, has crumbled. Always evidence-impoverished, the accusation has now been shown to be evidence-bereft by the sworn testimony of the technical expert, Shawn Henry, the head of CrowdStrike. This is the cyber-security firm chosen and paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC (with Comeys blessing) to investigate the so-called Russian hack. Asked on Dec. 5, 2017, behind closed doors by then-ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff to provide the date on which the Russians exfiltrated [hacked] the data from the DNC, Henry replied, there are times when we can see data exfiltrated, and we can say conclusively. But in this case we just dont have the evidence that says it actually left. It was only under extreme pressure from the acting director of National Intelligence that Schiff, now chair of the House Intelligence Committee, released the transcript of Henrys Dec. 5, 2017, testimony on May 7. The Democrats knew for more than two years that the Russian hack was a lie but continued telling it. But now we know. Better late than never? Not really. If a Tree Falls in the Forest If bombshell testimony like that of Henry is not reported by The New York Times or other Establishment media, as has been the case since May 7, who can hear the tree fall or the bombshell explode? How many Americans know that the White House has been right about at least one thing that the charge that Russia hacked the DNC is not supported by any evidence that can bear close scrutiny? I suppose it is true that most Americans would prefer not to know that, but you do not need a PhD to understand the inevitable consequences of letting this all go with a So what? If The New York Times is successful in suppressing bombshells like Henrys testimony, it can suppress anything it deems not fit to print. Lets conduct an experiment: Please FaceTime a couple of friends preferably those who still read the Times and ask if they know that there is zero concrete evidence that the Russians, or anyone else, hacked the DNC; then closely watch their expression. If they send the men in the white coats to knock on your door, youll know why. The Times, of course, just won a Pulitzer Prize for its array of Russia-bashing articles. Not to be outdone, Obamas National Security Advisor Susan Rice told Fox News on Sunday that she would not be surprised to learn that the Russians are fomenting and funding extremists on both sides of the current protest demonstrations in the U.S. Typically, Rice cited no evidence, merely saying, based on my experience this is right out of the Russian playbook. Rice told Fox, Im not reading the intelligence these days. But who, I ask, needs intelligence when you have The New York Times? Perhaps she found guidance in its March 10 story, Russia Trying to Stoke U.S. Racial Tensions Before Election, Officials Say. Or maybe she was one of the Times sources for that story, which would amount to the kind of WMD-style, circular/false-confirmation-to-a-fare-thee-well approach, not uncommon to spreading news in Washington. You cannot say we have not been warned. After all, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Trump last October All roads lead to Putin. Not to overlook the insight of another amateur specialist on Russia, Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), who claims, Vladimir Putin wakes up every morning and goes to bed every night trying to figure out how to destroy American democracy. And didnt those lawyers testify preposterously to Schiffs impeachment committee that, We had better fight the Russians over there in Ukraine, so we dont have to fight them here? when even during the height of the first Cold War no one seriously contemplated Soviet troops invading U.S. soil. Bad Guys Forever I imagine that Kremlin officials read the Times as closely as I used to read Pravda back in the day to discern what is missing, as well as the significance of what does make it into print. Russias leaders must be aware that the Times and most other Establishment media are so deeply invested in Russian hacking, that the faux-story is simply too big to fail. Besides, it has proven all too easy to lead Americans to believe that, in effect, the U.S.S.R. still exists and is ruled by bad guys bent on aggression. By now, Putin must realize it is an uphill, Sisyphus-like challenge to disassociate todays Russia from the Soviet Union. Five years ago, he gave it the college try. On April 16, 2015, he alluded to that dark period, addressing the ugly nature of the Stalin regime and the reaction that persists to this day. He conceded: [It] may not be very pleasant for us to admit. But in truth, we, or rather our predecessors, gave cause for this. Why? Because after World War II, we tried to impose our own development model on many Eastern European countries, and we did so by force. This has to be admitted. There is nothing good about this and we are feeling the consequences now. It is likely to be a mix of sang froid and skepticism on Putins part, as he watches political developments in the U.S. in the coming months, against the background of what he has experienced with U.S. counterparts in recent years. Obama-Putin Tete-a-Tete Brings Results On Sept. 4, 2013, the day before Obama arrived in St. Petersburg for a G-20 summit, Putin on live TV accused then Secretary of State John Kerry of lying the day before in congressional testimony on Syria. Kerry had continued to blame Syria for the sarin attack, played down the role of al-Qaeda among the rebels, and exaggerated the strength of the moderate rebels. With unusual bluntness, Putin said that Kerry is lying; he knows he is lying; this is sad. Obama, too, was being informed at the time that Kerry was stretching the truth well beyond the breaking point. The president knew this from briefings by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs; by National Intelligence Director Clapper; and by us, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. This may help explain why the president did not ask Kerry to accompany him to St. Petersburg; why he chose to work out the deal personally with Putin; and why he chose to keep Kerry completely in the dark for five days. At a London press conference early on Aug. 9, 2013, Kerry had been asked whether there was anything Assad could do to prevent a U.S. attack. Kerry answered dismissively that Assad could give up his chemical weapons, but he isnt about to do that; it cant be done. Later that day Kerry got word from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that, oops, the deal could be done and was about to be announced. By happy coincidence, that same evening I had an unusual opportunity atop the CNN building in Washington to watch neocons like Paul Wolfowitz and Joe Lieberman vent their frustration over Obama chickening out and squandering the golden chance to get the U.S. into direct war in Syria. [ See the sub-section Morose at CNN in How War in Syria Lost Its Way.] Obama, it turns out, was proud at having gone against the advice of virtually all of his advisers to stop the juggernaut rolling downhill to war. Two years later, in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, Obama bragged at having been able to defy what he called the Washington playbook in calling off the attack on Syria. Trust is the Exception, Not the Rule Putin had to learn the hard way that the circumstances in September 2013 were sui generis. Putin was able to offer Obama a deal he could not refuse, in order for Obama to extract himself from a very difficult position. Without Kerry or other advisers looking over his shoulder, Obama was able to take advantage of the offer despite the prevailing war lust not only among the neocons, but among Obamas own advisers. Just six days after his successful meeting with Obama, Putin put a hopeful gloss on prospects for improved relations with Washington: My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust, Putin wrote in a New York Times op-ed on Sept. 11, 2013. The Russian president was basking in the glow of having (1) gotten Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to agree to surrender Syrian army chemical weapons for UN-supervised destruction, (2) personally persuaded Obama to agree, and (3) helped prevent military escalation in Syria which neither Putin nor Obama wanted. The deal was very much in Obamaa interest, taking the wind out of the sails of most of Obamas advisers, including Kerry, who did nothing to disguise their lust for an open U.S. attack on Syria. U.S. forces were in place. The planned attack would be justified as retaliation for a sarin gas attack near Damascus on Aug. 21, 2013. Kerry led the charge against Syrias al-Assad, repeatedly blaming him despite abundant evidence that the sarin attack was a false-flag ploy whether Kerry knew it or not designed to mousetrap Obama into ordering a Baghdad-style shock and awe on Syria. The immediate reaction of U.S. officials to this op-ed should have helped keep everyones hopes down. Indeed, the reaction proved to be a harbinger of things to come taking the form of a Western-sponsored coup in Ukraine, sanctions, and, of course, Russiagate. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), then chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee spoke for many Washington insiders by saying, I was at dinner, and I almost wanted to vomit. [For more on this topic, see Consortium Newss Rewarding Group Think on Syria,] Nor did the hardliners chagrin over the lost opportunity for war on Syria dissipate much in subsequent years. Sen. Bob Corker, (R-TN), who followed Menendez as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, was one of the most outspoken critics of Obamas decision to cancel the planned attack on Syria in 2013. On Dec. 3, 2014, Corker complained bitterly that, while the U.S. military was poised to launch a very targeted, very brief operation against the Syrian government for using chemical weapons, Obama called off the attack at the last minute. Corkers criticism was scathing: I think the worst moment in U.S. foreign policy since Ive been here, as far as signaling to the world where we were as a nation, was August a year ago when we had a 10-hour operation that was getting ready to take place in Syria but it didnt happen. In essence and Im sorry to be slightly rhetorical we jumped in Putins lap. Sound familiar? The events of autumn 2013 are a case study in itself. Putin garnered a great deal from the unique experience of dealing personally with an Obama-in-need. Putin then found, as a result of his subsequent dealings with Obama and Trump, that he had to re-arrange his thinking about how much power a U.S. president actually has when it comes to confronting the entrenched Security State even if a presidents desire to improve relations is authentic. Social Media as Proof The Russian president understood, as the years went by, that ordinarily Obama would defer to the Washington playbook and the MICIMATT. And so would, most times, Trump. But the neocons got even with Putin for his key role in cheating them out of doing shock and awe on Syria. To an appreciable degree, that accounted for the neocon boldness in carrying out the coup in Kiev a half-year later, and in their contrived exploitation of the terrible loss of 298 lives on MH17, blaming the Russians sans any convincing proof. As with the 2013 sarin attack near Damascus, so too in the case of MH17, Kerry emphasized that social media are an extraordinary tool. Right. But equally useful for deception as for truth. The lame attempts of various imaginative (but not imaginative enough) folks, many of whom seem to be employed by Western intelligence services to use their imaginations in applying social media to the MH17 affair, are transparent to any discerning observer. While he kept blaming the Russians, Kerry never produced the evidence he told NBCs David Gregory he had three days after the plane went down. Heres Kerry to Gregory on July 20, 2014: We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory. We know where it came from. We know the timing. And it was exactly at the time that this aircraft disappeared from the radar. Remember: In the wake of the shoot down of MH17, the U.S. successfully pressured many other countries to impose economic sanctions on Russia. Agreements at the Top Thwarted On Syria, Putin witnessed the lack of yedinonachaliya in the U.S. political and military system. At the behest of Putin and Obama, Kerry and Lavrov worked very hard for 11 months to arrange a ceasefire. One was signed Sept 9, 2016. On Sept. 17 U.S. aircraft bombed fixed Syrian Army positions killing between 64 and 84 Syrian army troops; about 100 others wounded evidence enough to convince the Russians that the Pentagon was intent on scuttling meaningful cooperation with Russia. Heres Lavrov on Sept 26: My good friend John Kerry is under fierce criticism from the US military machine. Despite the fact that, as always, [they] made assurances that the U.S. Commander in Chief, President Barack Obama, supported him in his contacts with Russia (he confirmed that during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin), apparently the military does not really listen to the Commander in Chief. It is difficult to work with such partners. A month later Putin publicly lamented: My personal agreements with the President of the United States have not produced results. Putin complained about people in Washington ready to do everything possible to prevent these agreements from being implemented in practice and, referring to Syria, decried the lack of a common front against terrorism after such lengthy negotiations, enormous effort, and difficult compromises. In sum, Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkovs remarks on Friday strongly suggest that at this juncture the Russian leadership does not put much store in commitments by Washington including those that may come from the president. For the next few months, at least, Moscow will be in a passive, wait and see posture. With so much mutual work to do particularly on arms control this is a pity. Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. During his 27-year at the CIA, he was Chief of the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch and a presidential briefer. In retirement he co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). - "Source" Post your comment here South Korea called Thursday for a halt to a civic campaign to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into North Korea, hours after the communist nation threatened to scrap a military tension reduction agreement and exchange projects unless Seoul stops the campaign. The unification ministry also said it is planning to legislate a ban on such "tension-causing acts," arguing that the campaign causes danger to the lives and property of residents in border regions where the leaflets are sent via giant balloons. "Actually, most of the leaflets have been found in our territory, causing environmental pollution and increasing burden on local people to get rid of them. ... Any act that could pose a threat to the life and property of those people should be stopped," ministry spokesperson Yoh Sang-key said. "Taking into consideration relevant circumstances comprehensively, the government has already been mulling measures to fundamentally prevent such tension-causing acts near the border," he said. Earlier in the day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, issued a strongly worded statement condemning the leaflet campaign, saying good faith and reconciliation can never go together with such hostile activities. "Clearly speaking, the South Korean authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making sort of excuses," she said in the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. "If they fail to take corresponding steps for the senseless act against the fellow countrymen, they had better get themselves ready for possibility of the complete withdrawal of the already desolate Kaesong Industrial Park following the stop to tour of Mt. Kumgang, or shutdown of the North-South joint liaison office whose existence only adds to trouble, or the scrapping of the north-south agreement in military field which is hardly of any value," she added. Kim also said the summit agreements in 2018 and the military deal intended to stop all kinds of hostility and tension-raising action and the sending of anti-North Korea leaflets runs counter to such agreements. She pointed her finger directly at the anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border earlier this week by a group of North Korean defectors. The leaflets, totaling about 500,000 and carried by balloons, criticized the North's leader for threatening to take "shocking actual action with a new strategic nuclear weapon." The leader's sister also called those defectors "human scum" and "rubbish-like mongrel dogs," urging South Korea to take every possible action, including enacting a law against such act without using "freedom of expression" as an excuse anymore. "If they truly value the North-South agreements and have a will to thoroughly implement them, they should clear their house of rubbish, before thoughtlessly blowing the 'supporting' bugle," she said. "Before making lame excuses, they should at least make a law to stop the farce of human scum to take thoroughgoing preventive measures against any inglorious things," she added. North Korea has strongly bristled at anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border, regarding them as a serious hostile act aimed at undermining the authority of its leaders. South Korea's government has advised against sending such leaflets, citing concerns about the safety of residents in the regions where the leaflet-carrying balloons are launched because the North could take retaliatory military action on the areas. Defector groups and anti-North Korea civic organizations have often ignored such an appeal, citing their right to freedom of expression. Under the current law, it is also impossible to ban the leaflet campaign. The latest strongly worded statement came as inter-Korean relations have been stalled amid a stalemate in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington since the no-deal summit in February last year between the North's leader and U.S. President Donald Trump. In October last year, North Korea demanded Seoul withdraw all its facilities built at the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast, saying it will build its own international tourist zone there. South Korea shuttered the joint tour project in 2008 after one of its tourist was killed by a North Korean guard. South Korea closed the joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong in 2016 after Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations. The two Koreas agreed to resume the mountain tours and the industrial park, two major cross-border exchange projects, when things are met in their 2018 summits, but little progress has been made due to global sanctions. Earlier this year, the two Koreas also temporarily shut down a liaison office in Kaesong due to the coronavirus outbreak. Thursday's statement marked the third of its kind issued by Kim Yo-jong this year, pointing to her growing involvement and influence in relations with South Korea and the U.S. as the closet aide to her brother, experts said. In her first-ever official statement in early March, Kim strongly slamming South Korea's presidential office for complaining about the North's short-range projectile launches, claiming they were just an act of self-defense. Weeks later, she also issued a statement, saying U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a letter to leader Kim and offered assistance for the North's efforts to fend off the coronavirus but cautioned against misjudging the two countries' ties based only on the personal relations of the two leaders. (Yonhap) Scientists associated with top Indian research institutions have estimated that the ancestor of the novel coronavirus strain, discovered in Wuhan, was in circulation since December 11, 2019, according to a report in the Times of India. Experts have found that the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Indian strains with roots in China was being transmitted as early as November 2019. By employing MRCA a scientific technique called 'time to most recent common ancestor' scientists evaluated the viral strain, now being passed on in Telangana and other states, and found that it emerged between November 26 and December 25. The median for the said period is December 11. It is, however, not yet known if the virus was brought by travellers from China before January 30 as mass testing was not being done in India at that time. Scientists from the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) among others have calculated the age of the most recent common ancestor of several strains of the novel coronavirus and have also found a new strain that is different from the one already known, the report added. It has been named Clade I/A3. Notably, the strain of the virus discovered in India's first COVID-19 case in Kerala was linked to its Wuhan ancestors. However, the one spotted in Hyderabad was found to be different. It was ascertained that its origin is not from Wuhan China, but somewhere in Southeast Asia. The precise country from where the virus originated is not yet been ascertained, Dr Rakesh K Mishra, CCMB director, told ToI. Regarding the most recent common ancestor of the new strain (Clade I/A3i), started doing the rounds between January 17 and February 25, with the median falling on February 8. Clade I/A3i envelopes 41% of all genomes sequenced and deposited in the public domain from several states across India, Dr Mishra was quoted as saying in the report. Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Delhi have the maximum number of this new clade, he added. The first five months of 2020 have been extremely difficult and painful for almost the entire world. The nightmare scenario long envisaged by sci-fi writers seemed to have come true. While the invisible enemy COVID-19 is yet to be eliminated via efficient medicines and a redemptive vaccine, the steps that have been made so far should not be ignored. China's experience in dealing with the problem is didactic. News that almost 10 million tests were conducted in Wuhan, the city at the focus of the original outbreak and that no confirmed cases were uncovered along with only 300 asymptomatic patients found, generates some much-needed optimism. The results of the Wuhan tests announced only a few days after the conclusion of the 2020 Two Sessions reflect the commitment of the Chinese government to act in a practical way in order to prevent a second wave attack by the virus. This is in line with China's vision that all policies need to be anchored to public well-being. Public health cannot but be a priority. China has learned from the pandemic and is determined, as the recent report on the work of the government asserts, to reform the system for disease prevention and control as well as enhance treatment capacity. An emerging economy such as that of China still faces significant challenges needing to be addressed. While patience is required, the key of success lies in government determination not only to implement already approved economic plans but also to adjust according to developments. China's future is based on solid foundations established in tackling COVID-19. As it is the case with the improvement of public health, economic recovery is an equally significant task. In a period during which outside observers are wondering why no predictions on the 2020 growth rate have been made, the government responds with a human-oriented philosophy that puts employment first. One of the most interesting parts of the government work report relates to the number of students 8.74 million expected to be awarded their degree this year and looking for jobs. Because of the ongoing turmoil the government is creating employment services in coordination with colleges and local government agencies focused on specific projects. The way the government treats young people is indicative of how China is working. If the most talented, dynamic and promising part of the society is disenchanted and disillusioned, the country will be the first loser. Examples from other parts of the world are not encouraging. Southern European countries in particular Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece did not manage to support young people in the years of economic crisis. It will take many more years for the wounds thus created to heal. China, in contrast, counts on young people and does not want to see them led off onto a path different from that for which they have studied and dreamed. The government prefers to adopt a selective and qualitative approach in relaunching the national economy. In parallel with the creation of jobs and the multifaceted support of potential employers, public money will not be spent immoderately. The purpose of fiscal measures is not to reach an impressively high percentage of GDP but is to be driven by a tailor-made calculation of whatever the country needs to continue on the path of economic stability. Among other things, the Chinese government systematically promotes startups that cultivate innovation, facilitates consumption of specific goods, for instance of automobiles, and embarks on a new type of urbanization. The pandemic has impacted the national economy that suffered contraction in the first months of the year. Now, China is slowly returning to normalcy, and is endeavoring to prevent deviation from critical objectives such as the alleviation of poverty by boosting agricultural production and using new technologies. Chinese citizens can be confident the worst of the pandemic is over and their country will emerge stronger. George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 1 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Embassy Office Parks REIT ('Embassy REIT'), India's first and only listed REIT, along with a number of their corporate occupiers - Cerner, Cognizant, L & T Technology Services and AXA XL, have collaborated to invest and provide sanitizers to approximately 9,20,000 students and supervisors, across 2,879 centres in Karnataka for each day of the Karnataka State Board Secondary School examinations. "Embassy REIT and our 160 plus marquee tenant occupiers have a deep commitment towards our communities. Through our successful Embassy Office Parks Corporate Connect program, we have focused on collaborating with our occupiers to address needs of the community in which we operate. On this occasion, we are happy to be able to step up and augment the efforts to reduce pandemic risks to students who will be appearing for their state level exams," said Mike Holland, CEO, Embassy REIT. "We are happy to be working once again with our corporate partners - Cerner, Cognizant, L & T and AXA XL, to enhance the safety of students in Karnataka and it is heartening to see their participation," added Holland. Through the Corporate Connect Program, over the past four years, Embassy Office Parks has partnered with 20 corporates for 34 community projects with the belief that collaboration leads to greater impact. "Cerner has been keen to do our part in supporting actions taken to fight against COVID-19 pandemic. We were approached by Embassy REIT to join them in collaboratively giving back to the society during this time. We have already pledged our aid and invite other corporates to do the same," said Domnic Prashanth, Lead Program Manager, Cerner. "Cognizant has a long history of contributing to the health and well-being of communities through its Foundations and its employee-led volunteering program outreach. We are honored to be a part of this initiative led by the Embassy REIT to ensure the safety of students in times of an unprecedented pandemic," said Deepak Prabhu Matti, Head of Cognizant Outreach. "We are supporting several governmental and non-governmental organizations across India on COVID-19 initiatives to help contain the impact of the pandemic on communities. Providing hand sanitizers to hundreds of thousands of students taking SSLC examinations across the state is key to ensuring that the pandemic does not come in the way of an important educational milestone for them,"added Matti. "Supporting the less fortunate has always been a priority for LTTS. We are delighted to partner with the Embassy REIT and provide a helping hand to students and pledge our support towards their health and safety. Measures taken thus far should benefit the students who would otherwise be unable to take their exams due to a lack of proper sanitization and social distancing. Together, we can make a difference and we invite more organizations to join us in this endeavor," said KN Prabhakaran, Head of CSR at L & T Technology Services. "To support the ongoing endeavors in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, AXA XL in India have collaboratively provided over 300 liters of hand sanitizers as a basic preventive measure for approximately 9.2 lakh students, who will be appearing for Karnataka board exams in the upcoming months. Having previously aligned with Embassy REIT in the past on CSR projects, we found that this was an ideal time to partner again, allowing us to ensure that our efforts can jointly benefit a larger demographic," said a representative from AXA XL. Through the COVID-19 lockdown, Embassy REIT has launched various initiatives with a focus on extending support to the police and fire personnel serving on the frontlines of the pandemic. Embassy REIT has set up eight hydration stations in multiple cities where Embassy properties are located (Bangalore, Pune, Noida and Mumbai). These hydration stations are open 24 hours a day so that police personnel working across shifts can take rest and refreshment between shifts. In addition, Embassy REIT has procured hand over 50,000 sanitizers, more than 2,00,000 disposable protective masks and nutritional snacks for the task forces in these cities. Everyday over 15,000 police employees are supported by this initiative and this program has touched the lives of over 2,00,000 police personnel till date. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) People protest over the death of George Floyd in New York, the United States, June 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, who helped Derek Chauvin constrain George Floyd, and Tou Thau, who stood by without stopping his colleagues, were charged with aiding and abetting murder. WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday upgraded the charge against a former Minneapolis officer who pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck to second-degree murder, also charging three other former officers involved in the incident with aiding and abetting murder. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced at a news conference that Derek Chauvin, the now fired and arrested Minneapolis Police Department officer who court documents said knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, was charged with second-degree murder, an enhanced charge from the third-degree murder and manslaughter he was previously accused of. "I believe the evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge of second-degree murder," Ellison said. Additionally, the attorney general announced that arrest warrants were issued for three other officers who, also fired by the department, were involved in the death on May 25 of the 46-year-old black man. Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, who helped Chauvin constrain Floyd, and Tou Thau, who stood by without stopping his colleagues, were charged with aiding and abetting murder, Ellison said. "I strongly believe that these developments are in the interests of justice for George Floyd, his family, our community and our state." Informing reporters that he is the lead prosecutor of the case, Ellison acknowledged that although the prosecution team believe in the appropriateness of the charges they filed, "what I do not believe is that one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and loss that so many people feel." He added that "constructing justice and fairness in our society" would be a "slow and difficult work" ahead, urging leaders in government and all citizens "to begin rewriting the rules for a just society now." In response to the just-announced charges, Benjamin Crump, the attorney for George Floyd's family, said it is not a time for celebration since an arrest is not a conviction, adding that the family wanted Chauvin to be charged with first-degree murder. "We cannot celebrate because an arrest is not a conviction, and we want justice," Crump said. "You know, we don't want partial justice. We want whole justice." Crump said. "The family has always wanted first-degree murder. They wanted him charged to the full extent of the law," he added, referring to Chauvin. Further condemning racial injustice in the United States, the lawyer said "there are two justice systems in America. One for black America and one for white America, when there should be equal justice for the United States of America." One of the ex-officers, J. Alexander Kueng, is set to appear in court Thursday afternoon, according to court records. Asked about the timetable of the prosecution process, Ellison said "we're probably a number of months before this case will be in front of a jury." (Newser) President Trump's Monday night photo op in front of a Washington, DC, church has proved controversial, but according to the White House press secretary, it should be viewed alongside some of the most iconic images in history, including one of Winston Churchill during World War II: "Through all of time, we have seen presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for a nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination," Kayleigh McEnany said at the White House Wednesday, looking at notes on the podium as she did so, per the Hill and the BBC. "Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage. It sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people. And George W. Bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after 9/11 and Jimmy Carter putting on a sweater to encourage energy savings and George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act flanked by two disabled Americans. For this president, it was powerful and important to send a message that the rioters, the looters the anarchists, they will not prevail, that burning churches are not what America is about. And that moment, holding the Bible up, is something that has been widely hailed, by Franklin Graham and others, and it was a very important symbol for the American people to see, that we will get through this, through unity and through faith." story continues below St. Johns Episcopal Church had been damaged by fire the night before Trump's visit, as unrest gripped the city over the deaths of black people at the hands of police, and protesters were cleared from Lafayette Square just before Trump left the White House to walk to the church. Law enforcement officers used chemical agents, and McEnany on Wednesday said their tactics were appropriate. "I think US Park [Police], when having bricks thrown at them and frozen water bottles, had the right to act," she said. "They acted with the appropriate level of force to protect themselves, to protect the average citizenry and to protect the peaceful protesters who were among them as well." USA Today and the Washington Post report that Trump's camp is claiming tear gas was not used, but rather "pepper balls" and "smoke canisters"which, per both outlets, would have essentially the same effect as actual tear gas. (Read more President Trump stories.) A gang of women claiming to be spiritual healers have ripped-off unsuspecting Melburnians who believed they could heal them by praying over their cash and jewels. The female gang has targetted at least two elderly women in Melbournes south. The victims, both older women from Eastern Europe, were allegedly duped by the gang, which appears to include at least one elderly woman itself. Detectives have released CCTV images and footage of three women they believe can help solve the investigation. A woman Victoria Police believe can help solve an investigation into a gang of dodgy faith healers Faith healers are popular throughout the world. Venezuelans turned to faith healers as the nation's health care crisis soared in 2017 Victims have told police they had cash and jewellery stolen from a group of women they did not even know. Both have claimed the group posed as spiritual healers and made bold claims that they could 'heal' the vulnerable women. Detectives have revealed the gang instructed the women the ritual would only work if they packaged up their cash and jewels and handed them over. The gang further claimed their magical powers would only work if they prayed over the riches at a particular location. It was then the scammers put their cruel plan into place. Detectives claim their victims were deliberately distracted while they swapped their victims precious items over. The gang first struck in Cheltenham - 18kms southeast of Melbourne - on February 14 in the month before COVID-19 lockdown. They struck again two days later in St Kilda - just outside of Melbourne's CBD. A third woman has told investigators she was also approached by a group of women in a similar scenario in South Melbourne on March 11. An elderly woman police wish to speak to about a series of deceptions in Melbourne A woman is seen at the clinic of Venezuelan spiritual healer "Guayanese Brother" in Petare neighborhood, Caracas, on September 25, 2019 Another woman police hope to catch-up with over a faith healing scam. Police believe she may be able to help with their inquiries This time they left empty handed. Detectives from the Port Phillip Criminal Investigation Unit will hold a press conference on Thursday to appeal for public assistance to catch the scammers. Anyone who recognises the women are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au Having to deal with not only the pandemic that has affected his country the most but also nationwide protests against racism, the US President Donald Trump may be under the greatest pressure. Amid his onerous domestic preoccupations he may, however, have come up with a spark of an idea in mooting the expansion of the Group of Seven (G7) summit of world leaders to a G10 or G11 with the addition of Russia, India, South Korea and Australia. It should not matter that the timing of the proposal seems a bit 'off and Trumps exuberant style will not match any old-fashioned view of diplomacy. The annual summit has run into a maze of geopolitics with Germany opposing the re-inclusion of Russia, which was in G8 until its annexation of Crimea led to expulsion in 2014. The need for a proper world forum to address issues surrounding the spread of the virus and its wide economic ramifications, is being felt the most now. The G20, essentially an international grouping to coordinate economic policy, may be too unwieldy while an emasculated UN is hardly seen as capable of a leadership role. With the US hosting the G7 this year, Trump cancelled a virtual meeting while trying to preserve the traditional powwow of the most powerful leaders of the free world. The invitation to India, extended on a phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has come in for appreciation, especially since things being fraught at the border are an index of Chinas restlessness in the time of the coronavirus. Power equations have changed substantially since the expansion of Indias economy has seen its heft surpass that of some G7 nations. Its non-hegemonic presence is considered as lending balance in multilateral organisations. Any summit to bring leaders together to forge a joint political and economic strategy post-Covid 19 would have to recognise that inclusion is the best way forward. The crisis the international order is facing is best addressed by a group with greater clout than the original Group of Four who met in the White House library four decades ago. DALLAS, June 4, 2020 New study shows U.S.-based corporate tax departments are balancing tightened budgets with the need to automate their heavy workflows, alongside training their teams on using new software effectively. In-house team leaders must reconcile these challenges if they want to take on more substantive advisory roles supporting their own corporate strategies. These are among the findings in the 2020 State of Corporate Tax Departments Survey: New Technology Demands New Skills and New Attitudes. The automation of tax technology is an opportunity for agile, forward-thinking in-house tax departments to better manage their operating processes and assume broader consultative responsibilities, said Brian Peccarelli, President of the Corporates Segment and Chief Operating Officer Customer Markets for Thomson Reuters. At a time of major changes in the global economy and U.S. tax codes, corporate tax teams are poised to utilize third-party software to cost-effectively manage the complexities of regulatory change and compliance worldwide. The survey found that international tax reform and working more efficiently as a group with limited resources remain as top priorities for the in-house professional. Demands placed on in-house departments that have recently become a higher priority include reducing international tax liability, providing more business-centric advice, seeking departmental cost reductions, ensuring general data accuracy and integrating existing technology. The current talent environment for in-house professionals also ensured that many tax departments mentioned plans to adjust teams as a priority, citing a disconnect between legacy staff who are experts in tax and younger employees who tend to be more tech savvy. The initial survey included over 300 survey responses and 20-plus in-depth interviews conducted from late 2019 until mid-February this year. The survey was updated in early April via a pulse survey of some 55 senior in-house tax executives to gauge how the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed their priorities. This is Thomson Reuters Institutes first-ever annual report examining the landscape in the corporate tax field. The full report can be downloaded here: https://tmsnrt.rs/3dvzokR Notes to Editors other takeaways: Corporate tax teams struggle to keep up with growing regulatory change and complexity; Americas biggest corporate tax departments are grappling with how best to address key reforms and complexities in the U.S. Internal Revenue code from the 2017 Tax Codes passage, and their need to keep pace with tax code changes overseas; 86 percent of U.S.-based corporate tax departments must keep up with international tax operating responsibilities; Over half of in-house tax departments would describe themselves as under-resourced, though only a third of them had plans to increase headcount; External advisors are crucial trusted partners. Big decisions arent made without the input of a long-term advisory firm Pain points with advisors: lack of knowledge of the specific company lack of understanding of drivers of corporations cracks may be opening-up as more work is offshored by advisors Over 50% of tax departments describe their level of technological optimization as either Chaotic or Reactive the two lowest levels. Only 10% are Optimized or Predictive Chaotic teams are also much more likely to feel under-resourced About Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is the worlds leading provider of news and information-based tools to professionals. Our worldwide network of journalists and specialist editors keep customers up to speed on global developments, with a focus on legal, regulatory and tax changes. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com. CONTACT Mark D. Harrop Director, Communications - Corporates +1 (347) 803-5575 mark.harrop@thomsonreuters.com SEATTLE - Amazon on Thursday backed away from a decision to block the sale of a self-published e-book about the coronavirus after critics, including Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, criticized the ban. On Thursday morning, Alex Berenson, a conservative-media favorite, tweeted to his more than 118,000 followers that Amazon banned his 6,400-word booklet. The booklet, "Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 1: Introduction and Death Counts and Estimates," argues that the mainstream media is overstating the threat from the virus. Berenson dubbed them "Team Apocalypse." The tweet ricocheted around social media, retweeted more than 8,000 times. Musk retweeted it with a comment to his 35.6 million followers, calling the decision "insane." He directed his comments to Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post. "Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!" Musk added. Within a few hours, Amazon reversed itself, sending Berenson an email that it would publish the book after all. Amazon spokeswoman Sarah Elison said the book was removed in error. Initially, the company implied in an email to Berenson the decision related to concerns about coronavirus misinformation. "Due to the rapidly changing nature of information around the COVID-19 virus, we are referring customers to official sources for health information about the virus. Please consider removing references to COVID-19 for this book," Amazon digital publishing unit wrote. The book criticizes decisions by politicians to shut down the economy, as well as the media coverage of those moves. Berenson writes that a new goal of reducing coronavirus deaths at any cost has taken root "as if deaths from COVID are the only kind of deaths or societal damage that matter." The spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19, has slowed in recent days. After Amazon decided to block the sales of the book, Berenson contemplated making "Unreported Truths" available on his website, he said. He is also in the process of creating an Apple publishing account to sell books in its e-book store. But he said Amazon's initial decision would have eliminated a massive market for the booklet. "Amazon dominates both the electronic and physical book markets, and if it denies its readers a chance to see my work, I will lose the chance to reach the people who most need to learn the truth - those who don't already know it," Berenson wrote in an emailed statement. Berenson is not a scientist or a doctor. His primary credential is that he is a former New York Times reporter who worked for the publication from 1999 to 2010. In February, Amazon began removing listings for products that made dubious claims about the novel coronavirus, stopping the sale of cleaning products that claimed to "kill" the virus. In March, the company took down pages offering digital books about the disease for sale, including one that trafficked in the conspiracy theory that the virus was human-made, according to a Wired article. Decisions about publishing opinions with regard to the virus push Amazon into the culture wars that have recently roiled other tech giants such as Twitter, Facebook and Google. Last week, Twitter attached a fact-check label to tweets from President Donald Trump that falsely claimed that mail-in ballots are fraudulent. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, defended his company's decision to take no action on a Trump post regarding protests in Minneapolis last week that said "when the looting starts, shooting starts." In its original note to Berenson, Amazon cited its content policy. Those guidelines, listed on Amazon's website, are broad. The company says it provides "our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable." But the company also notes that it reserves the right "to determine whether content provides a poor customer experience and remove that content from sale." There's little doubt that some find Berenson's work objectionable. Epidemiologists and other health-care professionals have challenged some of Berenson's analysis made via his website, Twitter and on Fox News programs, particularly his criticism of coronavirus modeling and his claims that the U.S. health-care system is not under strain. Scientists also criticized his 2019 book, "Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence," for exaggerating research that pot increases the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses. For Hungary's nationalist leader Viktor Orban it marks the country's darkest day: "June 4, 1920," a date carved into a triangular column marking the spot where the Hungarian, Romanian, and Serbian borders meet. It was on that day, soon after World War I, that a treaty was signed in the Trianon palace in Versailles, France, defining Hungary's new shrunken frontiers after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire. "Flags here will be at half-mast on June 4," said Robert Molnar, mayor of Kubekhaza, a village beside the tri-border, ahead of the centenary Thursday. "The Trianon borders split up villages and families," Molnar told AFP, pointing at church towers across the fields -- each in a different country. Hungary, as part of the defeated Austro-Hungarian empire, was forced to sign away two-thirds of its territory, and half of its multi-ethnic population. At a stroke, more than three million ethnic Hungarians -- or Magyars -- a third of the total, as well as key economic resources and several historic cities became part of neighbouring states. - 'Betrayed by the West' - "The great powers led by France unjustly punished Hungary, no matter the cost," Csaba Pal Szabo, director of a state-financed Trianon Museum, told AFP at the museum's archive in the city of Szeged near the Serbian border. "We were betrayed by the West." Szabo objects to what he says were unfairly drawn borders "not reflecting ethnic populations on the ground". Among the historical maps and memorabilia on display are 1920s propaganda material proclaiming "No! No! Never!" -- and calling for territorial revision. Hungary's interwar leader Miklos Horthy later allied with Nazi Germany, partly in a bid to reclaim lost lands. But another treaty in 1947 confirmed the borders set out at Trianon. During the subsequent four decades of communist rule, any mention of Trianon was taboo in case it riled fellow socialist states. This was despite widespread discrimination endured by Magyar minorities -- especially under Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. - 'National Cohesion' - EU membership for Hungary and most of its neighbours has since 2004 brought more cross-border freedom of movement. Even so, moving on from Trianon has proved difficult. On coming to power in 2010, Orban adopted an assertive "national policy" aimed at uniting Hungarians after what he calls the "dismemberment". Orban, 57, swiftly declared June 4 a "Day of National Cohesion", and has since sent lavish financial aid to schools, cultural and religious groups in the diaspora. He also granted dual citizenship and voting rights to more than a million non-residents -- many of whom have voted for his Fidesz party in Hungarian elections. A "National Cohesion" monument will be unveiled soon in Budapest bearing the Hungarian-language names of villages, towns and cities in pre-WWI Greater Hungary. After historians spotted that many of the localities listed on it were never populated by ethnic Hungarians, a government official denied the edifice expressed a desire to turn the clock back. Orban's fondness for Greater Hungary nostalgia encourages an idealised picture of relations between Hungarians and other ethnic groups before WW1, according to analysts, and appeals to ultra-nationalistic voters in particular. In recent speeches, he has made what appear to be more conciliatory calls for regional cooperation to "build Central Europe". But Orban's critics worry that his policies have frayed relations with Hungary's neighbours -- and could harm the prospects of the diaspora communities. In Romania, Hungarian aid to Transylvania is seen as meddling. Orban is accused by nationalists there of fomenting demands for autonomy in the mostly ethnic-Hungarian Szeklerland region. Many new dual citizens in non-EU members Serbia and Ukraine meanwhile have used their Hungarian passports to emigrate to Hungary or richer western Europe rather than stay home. - Moving on - The diaspora population in Hungary's neighbours has dwindled to under two million, mainly due to emigration and assimilation over the past century. But many Hungarians still have relatives or roots there, ensuring that Trianon remains an emotive issue. Budapest's liberal mayor has called for a minute of silence across the city Thursday, a sign that the trauma cuts across party lines. "It's unclear how Hungary can ever get over it," historian Gabor Egry told AFP. "Official commemorations emphasise only the suffering, not the nuances or diversity of the minority experiences in the different countries, or how things have changed." Balazs Erlauer, a 34-year-old Magyar from Serbia's multi-ethnic Vojvodina region who moved to Hungary when his family fled the 1990s Yugoslav wars, said he "would happily forget about discussing Trianon" if he was allowed to do so. What bothered him, he told AFP, was not "lines on a map as much as nationalistic aggression". Australians flying home predominantly from Pakistan and India are the only confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded in NSW for more than a week. Sixteen returning travellers who arrived in Sydney tested positive for the virus between May 25 and Wednesday June 3, data provided by NSW Health shows. All 16 are undergoing mandatory 14-day hotel quarantining. Nine cases were returning from Pakistan, two from India, and the other five were from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tanzania and the UK, the travellers told contact tracers. The drugs were found in the back of a lorry. Pic NCA Police said a 12million cannabis seizure - their biggest bust in NI - will put a huge dent in the illicit drugs trade. And Justice Minister Naomi Long said it send a "clear message" to criminal gangs intent on destroying communities of their commitment to smashing their operations. The National Crime Agency and PSNI found around 600 kilos of herbal cannabis hidden in a load of vegetables on a lorry heading to Templepatrick in the early hours of Wednesday. It is understood the lorry had come through Larne port to get into Northern Ireland. Two premises were also searched, one in County Londonderry and one in County Tyrone. They estimate the haul has a street value of between 10-12million. NCA investigators arrested three men, including the lorry driver, on suspicion of conspiring to import controlled drugs. They are aged 62, 37 and 32, and from County Tyrone, County Londonderry and County Armagh. All three remain in custody. National Crime Agency Belfast Branch Commander David Cunningham said: "This is an incredibly significant seizure of controlled drugs, the biggest the NCA has ever made here in Northern Ireland. A seizure of this size will have a huge impact on the organised crime groups involved in its importation, depriving them of commodity and, most importantly, profit. We are determined to do all we can with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle drug supply routes, not only here in Northern Ireland but across the UK. The crime groups involved bring violence and exploitation to our streets and into our communities. Our investigation into this seizure continues, and Id like to thank our colleagues at PSNI for their support. Detective Chief Inspector Brian Foster, from Police Service NIs Organised Crime Unit, added: This seizure of drugs is significant both in terms of the quantity and also the disruption this will have caused to the organised crime group who would have brought these drugs into our communities to make money for their own selfish gain. This successful operation demonstrates the significant benefits of joint working with law enforcement partners and we will continue to work closely with NCA to disrupt the nefarious activities of organised crime groups operating in Northern Ireland. Naomi Long said: Drugs bring nothing but misery and those who line their pockets off the back of that misery simply do not care about the destruction and harm they are causing to young and vulnerable people within their own communities. Todays joint operation between the National Crime Agency and the PSNI not only represents the largest drug seizure ever made here by the NCA but it also represents a huge disruption to the profiteering gangs who would seek to distribute drugs throughout our communities. The NCA-led investigation into drug supply is continuing and I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard and so diligently to achieve this result. That investigation goes on and by working together in this way, we will continue to pursue those involved in drug dealing and bring them before the courts. I would urge anyone with information relating to drugs or criminal behaviour to pass it to the PSNI on the 101 number or to the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111. Nestle Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayan is expected to step down from his role on 31 July, however, media reports state that the board of directors at the company proposes to extend his tenure by another five years until 2025. The company will hold its annual general meeting on June 19. Narayan has been associated with Nestle since 2008 and has helmed India operations as Chairman and MD since 2015. During his career at the company, he has been in charge of various portfolios for the business across the globe including the role of Chairman and CEO of Nestle in the Phillipines. Eight years ago, Peggy Marchanti and Holly Loftis were told that their husbands, serving as military advisers in Afghanistan, had been fatally shot by an Afghan policeman. This week, the two military widows received another shock: Abdul Basir Salangi, the police officer who admitted murdering their husbands in Kabul in 2012, was freed from prison last week after serving less than four years of a 20-year sentence. I got off the phone and I called my son and just started crying, Ms. Marchanti said after learning of the prisoner release from a journalist. Her husband, Maj. Robert D. Marchanti, 48, of the Army National Guard, was shot and killed while working as an adviser in a small room inside the Afghan Interior Ministry complex in February 2012. Lt. Col. John Loftis, 44, an Air Force military adviser working nearby, was also shot and killed. French insurer AXA has identified 1,700 contracts signed with restaurant owners in France where the terms are not clear as to whether business interruption losses due to the COVID-19 crisis should be covered, its CEO told Le Monde in an interview. The company suffered a setback last month when a Paris court ruled that it should pay a restaurant owner two months of revenue losses caused by the virus pandemic and ensuring lockdowns. AXA had argued its policy did not cover business disruption caused by the health crisis, though it has also said it would try to find an amicable solution for problematic contracts and offer compensation. We have 20,000 contracts with restaurants, the vast majority of which do not cover operating losses in the event of pandemic, AXA chief executive Thomas Buberl told French newspaper Le Monde. There is some debate only for 1,700 of them because they are not clear. From the start, Ive asked our teams to focus on these contracts and we started talks with the restaurants concerned. Buberl said his company had reached an agreement with 200 restaurants and that the payouts would allow them to cover a substantial part of their costs. The court case set a potential precedent for coronavirus-related disputes across the world. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva; editing by Sarah White and Ed Osmond) Related: Topics COVID-19 AXA XL Contrasting the often openly racist treatment of blacks in the United States with his own treatment as a guest of the Soviet authorities, he wrote a small book published in Moscow, A Negro Looks at Soviet Central Asia, that praised what he saw as the absence of racism. Others became less convinced that communism was the answer. Richard Wright, the author of Native Son, joined in 1933 the Moscow-funded Communist Party USA, believing that the Soviet Union was working to uproot racism. He quit after white members of the party withdrew an offer of housing upon discovering that he was black. While officials have mostly avoided gloating over Americas agonies, they have nonetheless seized on the opportunity to demand that the American pot stop calling the Russian kettle black. Im watching with horror the situation in the United States, where the authorities are maliciously violating ordinary citizens rights, Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, who has presided over a violent pogrom against gays in his territory, said on social media. Police officers are carrying out lynch law right on the streets of American cities. Insisting that she took no delight from the unrest in the United States, Ms. Zakharova, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, threw down the gauntlet to Washington over its claims to champion human rights: Of what leadership in this direction by the United States of America can we speak after what we have all seen after the actions of the police, and the actions against journalists, she said. Official outrage over Mr. Floyds death and its stark exposure of Americas racism problem, however, has been offset by the authorities strong desire to avoid encouraging protests or justifying violence. Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the US government are facing terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas. Stephen T Parshall, 35, Andrew Lynam, 23, and William L Loomis, 40, were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles, according to a criminal complaint. Federal prosecutors say the three white men with US military experience are accused of conspiring to carry out a plan that began in April in conjunction with protests to reopen businesses closed because of the coronavirus. More recently, they sought to capitalize on protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air, prosecutors said. 'People have a right to peacefully protest. These men are agitators and instigators. Their point was to hijack the protests into violence,' Nicholas Trutanich, US attorney in Nevada, told the Associated Press. He referred to what he called 'real and legitimate outrage' over Floyd's death. The complaint filed in US District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday said they self-identified as part of the 'boogaloo' movement, which prosecutors said in the document is 'a term used by extremists to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization'. Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the US government are facing terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during George Floyd protests in Las Vegas (pictured) The suspects - Stephen T Parshall, Andrew Lynam and William L Loomis - were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles, according to a criminal complaint. Authorities released the photo above of the Molotov cocktails The three suspects were each being held on $1million bond each in the Clark County jail Wednesday, according to court records. The complaint said Lynam is an Army reservist, with Parshall formerly enlisted in the Navy and Loomis formerly enlisted in the Air Force. Each currently faces two federal charges - conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive, and possession of unregistered firearms. In state court, they've been accused of felony conspiracy, terrorism and explosives possession. Trutanich said they'll be prosecuted in both jurisdictions. 'This type of planning and intent on causing mayhem is terroristic and will not be tolerated,' said Steve Wolfson, the district attorney in Las Vegas. Attorney Monti Levy, representing Loomis, declined to comment about the state case and did not immediately respond to a question about whether she'll represent Loomis in federal court. A deputy public defender representing Parshall declined to comment and an attorney appointed to represent Lynam did not immediately respond to messages. Prosecutors said Parshall, Lynam and Loomis sought to capitalize on protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes during an arrest last week. Police are seen patrolling the streets of Las Vegas after deploying tear gas to clear crowds on May 30 A confidential informant met Lynam and Parshall at an early April rally in Las Vegas calling for the reopening of the state's economy, the federal complaint said. The men were carrying firearms and Lynam said the group 'was not for joking around and that it was for people who wanted to violently overthrow the United States government', according to the complaint. The informant said that during a May 27 meeting, Parshall and Loomis 'discussed causing an incident to incite chaos and possibly a riot, in response to the death of a suspect,' a reference to Floyd. Loomis stated he wanted to firebomb a power substation, according to the informant in the criminal complaint. What is the 'boogaloo' movement? The anti-government 'boogaloo' movement is a loose network of gun enthusiasts who often express support for overthrowing the US government. Its name, a reference to a 1984 movie sequel called Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, is a code word for a second civil war. The movement is rooted in online meme culture, but the coronavirus pandemic has become a catalyst for real-world activity. Many 'boogaloo' followers have shown up at COVID-19 lockdown protests armed with rifles and wearing tactical vests over Hawaiian shirts and leis, a nod to the 'big luau' derivation of the movement's name. While some 'boogaloo' promoters insist they aren't genuinely advocating for violence, law-enforcement officials say they have foiled bombing and shooting plots by people who have connections to the movement or at least used its terminology. The current boogaloo movement was noticed by extremism researchers in 2019. From November 2019 into 2020 boogaloo-related chatter has increased nearly 50 percent on platforms like Reddit and Twitter. Advertisement But on May 28, Lynam instructed the group to observe the riots occurring nationwide and use that momentum as a driving force to possibly take action against a fee station at Lake Mead on federal land north of the Hoover Dam, on May 30. Other targets discussed included a US Forest Service ranger station, the complaint said. The informant stated that Loomis and Parshall's 'idea behind the explosion was to hopefully create civil unrest and rioting throughout Las Vegas'. They wanted to use the momentum from riots occurring nationwide because of Floyd's death 'to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement, that others see the explosions and police presence and begin to riot in the streets out of anger,' the complaint said. On May 28-29, FBI agents observed Parshall buy fireworks at a tribal travel plaza, and he indicated to the informant that he had glass bottles, rags and gasoline Molotov cocktails, the complaint said. On May 30, all three and the informant agreed to take part in the Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Las Vegas, the complaint said. The charges come as intelligence officials are warning that 'violent opportunists' have been emboldened nationwide by attacks on law enforcement officials amid protests. In a Tuesday internal intelligence assessment, US Department of Homeland Security officials warned 'this could lead to an increase in potentially lethal engagements with law enforcement officials as violent opportunists increasingly infiltrate ongoing protest activity'. AP obtained a copy of the document, which cites the shooting of a Las Vegas police officer during protests, and two other officers shooting a heavily armed man at a nearby federal courthouse. 'Law enforcement officers continue to be the primary targets of firearm attacks, though several incidents last night involved violent opportunists shooting into crowds of protesters,' the assessment states. WOOD RIVER The Madison County Health Department was recently honored for its sponsorship of the Medical Reserve Corps. The department received an Outstanding MRC Sponsoring Organization Award by the Medical Reserve Corps Program from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The award, which is given annually, is based on the continued commitment to fostering the identity and growth of the countys MRC, while helping sustain the support and enthusiasm of existing volunteers. The MRC includes several hundred volunteers who would assist the Health Department in the event of a public health emergency. Specific tasks might include assisting with epidemiological investigations, dispensing medications, helping clients, restocking supplies or assisting with clerical duties. They are the reason our MRC unit is able to continue to prepare in order to protect and promote the health and welfare of Madison County residents, Cathy Paone, Madison County MRC volunteer coordinator, said. Some of the volunteers have been helping with community outreach and manning the local COVID-19 testing sites, and are expected to have an expanded role as the fight against COVID-19 continues. This is especially true if there is a vaccine developed that would require widespread immunization. The countys MRC was established in November 2005 under the direction of Madison County Health Department Director Toni Corona. It currently has 453 volunteers. It is a great honor, Corona said about receiving the award. We are so appreciative of our residents willingness to engage in our community to help with public health issues and emergency response. Madison County Health Department is proud to house the Madison County MRC and support their ongoing efforts to help us protect the publics health. Today the MRC does more than simply respond to emergencies like the current coronavirus pandemic. Our MRC unit is fully integrated into our public health emergency response plan and volunteers have played important roles in our full-scale exercises, stated Paone. When we asked to expand the role of our unit from being ready to respond in an emergency to also engage in opportunities to promote emergency preparedness and other health and wellness initiatives in the community, the proposal was immediately and enthusiastically approved by our director. That includes participation in the Substance Abuse Outreach Project, part of the fight against the opioid crisis in Madison County; and collaboration in the Partnership for Drug Free Communities - Treatment and Recovery Subcommittee; in addition to working with a number of organizations and agencies. The MRC continues to look for additional volunteers. For many Americans, 2020 has left them feeling at a loss for how to help, Corona said. It has also provided an opportunity for citizens to recognize and seek different ways to help their community than ever before. Being part of the MRC gives our residents a chance to put in to action a shared belief that by joining our neighbors and local leaders we can make our country stronger and better for decades to come, she added. For more information or to volunteer, visit www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/medical_reserve_corps_(mrc).php or contact, Paone at 618-296-6096 or cmpaone@co.madison.il.us. Courtesy Fort Bend Constable Pct 4 A private funeral for Fort Bend Deputy Constable Caleb Rule, who died in what authorities said was friendly fire, will be held Thursday afternoon in Needville. The service, which is only open to law enforcement and family members, will be held at Carmel Church at 1 p.m. Media Contact Jan Edwards, President jan@ptwfoundation.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Orlando Non-Profit Paving the Way Foundation Selected for Prestigious June 2020 GlobalGiving Accelerator Seeks to Raise Funds to End Child Trafficking and Educate Youth on the Dangers of Being Lured In Average Age of Entry into Child Trafficking is 11-14 Years Old ORLANDO, Fla. - (June 5th, 2020) Local Non-Profit Paving the Way Foundation has been selected to participant in the prestigious GlobalGiving Accelerator program, to aid the Orlando-based organization's mission to stem child trafficking, educate children from being lured in, and create the next generation of advocates. Paving the Way Foundation takes human trafficking prevention education to the next level, having trained more than 14,000 students, parents, and educators in Orlando and around the world in the past three years. It's fierce commitment to empowering communities to disrupt the cycle of child trafficking has made it a great fit for the GlobalGiving Accelerator program. Paving the Way Foundation is one of 600 organizations from 96 counties selected to participate in this exciting three-week challenge from June 8th to June 26th. "We are honored to be the only Central Florida Organization to have been accepted," says Paving the Way Foundation's President, Jan Edwards, "Now it's time to raise the next generation of advocates. Florida ranks third in the nation in calls to the National Trafficking Hotline; and the average age of entry into child trafficking is 11-14 years old. With the extra time kids are spending at home, it's critical to educate them about this silent crime and how to prevent it! We are determined to interrupt the cycle, and we invite everyone to get involved" The funds raised through the GlobalGiving Accelerator will be used to educate youth in developing healthy connections, decreasing insolation and taking actions to prevent exploitation. Principal Jordan Rodriguez of Seminole High is very familiar with the power of the program. Edwards and her team educated more than 800 freshmen last year at the school. Knowing its value with his students, Rodriguez believes the course should be taught at all schools, "Learning about human trafficking...how to spot grooming and recruitment tactics, knowing what actions to take...is essential for our kids today," says Rodriguez. "If this saves one life, it's worthwhile!" To learn more about Paving the Way Foundation, www.pavingthewayfoundation.org or to make donations, go to https://globalgiving.org/projects/our-kids-are-not-for-sale # # # The Greater Meriden Branch of the American Association of University Women has announced the recipients of their 2020 high school scholarships. This year the AAUW has awarded four $1,500 scholarships. Congratulations to these outstanding students, Shawn Carter Shay from Lyman Hall High School, plans to attend the University of Connecticut, Era Pasha from Southington High School, plans to attend Penn State, Elizabeth Wozniak from Platt High School plans to attend Western Connecticut State University, and Rebecca Wozniak from Platt High School plans to attend Western Connecticut State University. The scholarship committee would like to thank its members, friends, local businesses and the Humblebees for their generous donations. The money raised made it possible to fully fund the AAUW scholarship program even though our Book Author Luncheon had to be cancelled this year. Reuters Global smartphone shipments will fall nearly 12 percent to 1.2 billion units in 2020, market research firm IDC said on Wednesday, citing lower consumer spending due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted business supply chains, with major smartphone makers such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd flagging financial hits, but also squeezed consumer spending worldwide. "Nationwide lockdowns and rising unemployment have reduced consumer confidence and reprioritized spending towards essential goods, directly impacting the uptake of smartphones in the short term", said Sangeetika Srivastava, senior research analyst with IDC. Apple, which was forced to shut retail stores in the United States and Europe following the outbreak, introduced discounts on the iPhone 11 in China and released a new low-price SE model to weather a plunge in global smartphone demand. Research firm TrendForce said in April it expected global smartphone production to slump a record 16.5 percent in the June quarter from a year earlier. That follows a 10 percent drop in output worldwide in the March quarter, when the outbreak spread and peaked in China before sweeping through Europe and the United States. However, shipments from China's factories to vendors rose 17 percent in April from a year earlier, suggesting signs of an early rebound in domestic demand in the world's largest smartphone market. In China, where the economy has begun to reopen and factories have resumed operations, IDC expects a single-digit decline in this year. The research firm also expects upcoming 5G deployment to help the recovery of smartphone shipments next year, adding it does not expect growth to return until the first quarter of 2021. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright didn't run his message through a gauntlet of approvers to fine-tune the phrasing. But his words were deliberate and chosen with feeling. "I am George Floyd ... I am Philando Castile, I am Michael Brown, I am Alton Sterling, I am Tamir Rice," Wright wrote Monday in a lengthy social media post. "Just like most of the Black Airmen and so many others in our ranks ... I am outraged at watching another Black man die on television before our very eyes." Read Next: Army, DC Guard Investigating After Military Helicopters Buzz Protesters in DC Wright was the first member of senior military leadership to speak out publicly following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis. Wright's words contained concern for black members of the Air Force, and a call for change and improvement in the service, including a review of the military justice system. And in response to Wright's message, fellow Air Force leaders backed him up. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein released his own heartfelt call to action a day later, followed by a six-minute video in which Goldfein spoke to Wright about his experiences and the need for change. On Wednesday evening, the two appeared together in a town hall session to answer airmen's questions and entertain their concerns. The Air Force approach to the issue, led by Wright, has been hailed by many as an example of strong military leadership. Officials speaking to Military.com on condition of anonymity said the message was united because of the strong relationship between Wright and Goldfein and their interest in making sure that they helped lead the conversation with their airmen. Wright felt compelled to say something as part of a larger conversation about being black in America, especially as it relates to the military judicial system, where equitable justice and progress has lagged, according to one defense official who spoke to Military.com on background Wednesday. In May, the organization Protect Our Defenders released newly obtained materials from an Air Force study that found that black airmen in the most junior enlisted ranks were twice as likely to receive discipline as those from other demographics, a revelation that prompted calls for change from lawmakers and activists. Wright's decision to speak out was also personal, the official said. He sought advice from close friends inside and outside the Air Force as he decided what to say, and in what medium. "He talked to his wingman, who is one of his best friends, and that's Gen. [David] Goldfein, and [Goldfein] supported him wholeheartedly," the official said, adding that Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett has also been supportive. Goldfein's own letter to the force states, "Every American should be outraged that the conduct exhibited by police in Minneapolis can still happen in 2020. "We all wish it were not possible for racism to occur in America ... but it does, and we are at a moment where we must confront what is," Goldfein wrote Tuesday. "What happens on America's streets is also resident in our Air Force. ... We will not shy away from this. As leaders and as Airmen, we will own our part and confront it head on." A second defense official noted that Goldfein -- who has made inclusivity a top priority as the service's top officer -- wanted to "act fast" and decisively to bring Air Force values into the conversation. His memo was sent to every wing commander and above, with a directive to "ensure wide distribution of this message," according to an email first posted on the popular but unofficial Air Force page, Amn/Nco/Snco. Many hailed the Air Force's proactive communication on social media. Dave Lapan, vice president of communications for the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a former spokesman and adviser for the Defense Department, said unequivocally, "This is leadership." "Our military is largely -- not perfectly -- a reflection of the society we serve. Racial inequality is a problem inside and outside the ranks," Lapan tweeted. "These two senior leaders know it affects airmen, in uniform and out, their families and co-workers. This is a call to action." Wright and Goldfein -- who are retiring in coming months -- spoke out even as Defense Secretary Mark Esper has urged the force to "stay apolitical in these turbulent days." "They're acting with more of their heart," the second official said of both chiefs. "Some of the hallmarks of leadership is doing exactly what they're doing -- taking lead on the issue. "I think there's a real commitment to action in terms of trying to uplift and give opportunities to those that might not have them," the official added. It's also notable that Wright is the only current nonwhite uniformed service leader -- officer or enlisted. In March, Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown was nominated to be next Air Force chief of staff, the first African American tapped for the position. His nomination still awaits a vote in the Senate. Former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson also praised Wright and Goldfein for their actions. "Kaleth Wright and Dave Goldfein have a combination of competence and deep connection to the people they serve that is really unusual," she told Military.com. For example, Wright regularly communicates with airmen on social media and has a recurring podcast, "Blueprint Leadership." The podcast features not only top officials, but also airmen of various ranks, to explore topics near and dear to their careers. "They are completely genuine and two of the best leaders I have ever worked with in any field," Wilson said. Separately, the two defense officials emphasized that neither Goldfein nor Wright defied any order from the administration or the top levels at the Pentagon with their decision to speak out. On Tuesday night, The Washington Post reported that military service chiefs had been warned by Trump administration officials not to comment publicly on events following Floyd's death. "The communication lines were open," the first defense official said, when asked whether the services have been coordinating with one another. It may just be that top leaders are still "working on finding the right words," the official said. On Wednesday, Army and Navy leaders added their voices. Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James McConville and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, as well as the Chief of Naval Operations and the commander of the Navy's Sixth Fleet, sent letters out to their respective service members asking them to reflect on recent events, and encouraged an open forum to address the tough, uncomfortable issues. "We're all reacting to this tune and come at it from different perspectives," the second defense official said. "And I just think this is how it has developed. "[The Air Force] wanted to get things out. And [it] did, I think, in a timely manner." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: 'I Am George Floyd:' Top Enlisted Airman Voices Outrage, Calls for Justice Review Luanda, June 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Jun, 2020 ) :At least 12 people have been killed in fresh clashes between the Angolan military and separatist fighters in the northern oil-rich province of Cabinda, a rebel group said Wednesday. "Fighting resumed on Tuesday 2, June 2020 at 7 pm (1700 GMT) between the Cabinda Armed Forces (FAC) and the Angolan military... in the village of Chivovo, and resulted in the death of 12 people," the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), said in a statement. FLEC is the largest separatist movement in Cabinda, and has several factions, of which the FAC is the biggest. It said the victims were four soldiers, two FAC members and six civilians. An unnamed Angolan army official confirmed the clashes. "The attacks took place against FAA (Angolan Armed Forces) bases around 8pm (on Tuesday)", the official told AFP. FLEC said President Joao Lourenco's government had "ignored" calls by the United Nations "for an immediate ceasefire to better combat the Covid-19 pandemic". Cabinda, a coastal exclave, has been rocked by a low-level separatist insurgency since it officially became part of Angola at independence from Portugal in 1975. The FLEC-led struggle has been fuelled by anger over the government making huge profits over oil reserves. Cabinda accounts for 60 percent of Angola's oil production. The southwest African country is the continent's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria. Riot police detain a protester during a demonstration against Beijing's national security legislation in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on May 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) Australia, UK, Canada, NZ Foreign Affairs Committee Chairs Request UN Special Envoy to Hong Kong The Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and New Zealand have called on the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to send a special envoy to Hong Kong to protect the rule of law and human rights. In a joint letter released on June 2, Australian Senator David Fawcett, Canadian MP Michael Levitt, New Zealand MP Simon OConnor, and UK MP Tom Tugendhat said that Hong Kong was experiencing an erosion of the rule of law and an increasingly serious and urgent human rights situation. On June 2, Levitt said on Twitter that the four chairs stand in solidarity with Hong Kongers. Today Ive joined fellow Foreign Affairs Committee chairs from AUS, NZ & UK- Sen David Fawcett, Simon OConnor MP & @TomTugendhat in calling on @UN SecGen @antonioguterres to send a Special Envoy for rule of law & human rights in #HongKong. We stand in solidarity w/ Hong Kongers. pic.twitter.com/wlflsFssLV Michael Levitt (@LevittMichael) June 2, 2020 Commenting in the letter that the CCPs introduction of the National Security Law violates Article 27 of Hong Kongs Basic Law the four said they had concerns over the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) record of abuses when faced with dissent from its rule. We believe it is imperative that the international community move rapidly to ensure there is a mechanism for observing and transparent reporting on the impact of the new law. Australian Senator David Fawcett said on June 2 that he and his international compatriots felt that it was important to ask the UN Secretary-General to protect the people of Hong Kongs legal right to freedom under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Pro-democracy protesters gather during a Lunch With You rally at a shopping mall in the Central district of Hong Kong on June 1, 2020. (Issac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) Regarded as a lawfully binding treaty between the UK and China, the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed on Dec. 19, 1984 and registered with the United Nations by both countries on June 12, 1985. Protecting the basic rights of Hong Kong citizens, the Joint Declaration established Hong Kong as a special administrative zone within China and asserts that the CCP will not implement a communist system or any communist policies in Hong Kong until 2047. Speaking to The Epoch Times on June 3, Senator Fawcett said he was conscious of the shared commitment our nation has, along with New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom, to the judicial system and common law. For Beijing to impose the Security Law on Hong Kong, without the direct participation of its people, legislature or judiciary, is a breach of the legally Sino-British Joint Declaration, said Senator Fawcett. Article 27 of Hong Kongs Basic Law which states that Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike, Fawcett continued. Protesters gesture with five fingers, signifying the Five demands not one less in a shopping mall during a protest against Chinas national security legislation for the city, in Hong Kong on June 1, 2020. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo) Admitting he did not seek prior approval for the letter from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Fawcett noted that unlike authoritarian regimes, parliamentary democracies such as ours afford back-bench members and senators the freedom to speak on matters of concern without having to seek prior approval. These are values worth speaking up for both at home and abroad, and uniquely in the context of Hong Kong where citizens of our nations serve as Judges in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, Fawcett said. Fawcett expects the United Nations to use the powers available to it to ensure the right to basic freedoms currently enshrined in Hong Kong law are upheld. He said Hong Kong should be a matter of concern for all countries. Mayor Levar Stoney of Richmond said on Wednesday that he would propose an ordinance to remove all four Confederate monuments that the city controls along Monument Avenue. Mr. Stoney said he would introduce the bill on July 1, when a new state law goes into effect giving local governments the authority to remove the monuments on their own. Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy it is filled with diversity and love for all and we need to demonstrate that, Mr. Stoney said in a statement. Michael Jones, a City Council member who has been a leading voice for removal of the Confederate monuments, is also sponsoring the proposed ordinance. This is not my victory, he wrote on Twitter. To our great grandparents, who lived in their shadow and to young protesters who echoed the call - this is all yours. At least two cities have removed contentious statues from public spaces this week amid the protests that have followed the death of Mr. Floyd, a black man who worked as a bouncer. Prosecutors have charged Derek Chauvin, a white police officer who has since been fired, with murder and said three other officers aided in the killing. Florence Atiye, a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Rivers, has died of an undisclosed illness after journeyi... Florence Atiye, a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Rivers, has died of an undisclosed illness after journeying to Lagos for a family visit, an official has confirmed. Chiwendu Chukwu, the NYSC coordinator in the state, said on Wednesday that Florence had embarked on an unapproved trip amid the ban on interstate travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said a report received by the states NYSC secretariat had revealed that she first complained of fatigue while en-route to Lagos but her health would later deteriorate after she met with her family. Chukwu said that, while the nature of her illness is yet to be disclosed, the deceased passed away after efforts to save her life proved abortive as she was rushed to a hospital in Lagos. I dont know, were yet to be given information concerning the nature of her illness. But what her sister told me was that she told them she was coming home and boarded a vehicle, the state coordinator told TheCable Lifestyle. She was charged 10,000 but bargained for N8000. On her way, around Edo side, she started complaining she wasnt feeling so well. Her sister said it might be the stress from the journey. By the time she got to Lagos, she was very weak. They rushed her to the hospital. As much as I was told, she (the sister) knew nothing about any illness and it wasnt as if she was sick before she left. No one could tell but she didnt say she was sick when she was going home. After speaking to the sister yesterday, the mother couldnt talk because she has been crying since the incident happened. We have arranged for our staff in Lagos to go and see them because we cant move from here (due to the ban on interstate travel). From what they told me, the girl has been buried. Atiye Olawale, a man claiming to be a brother to the deceased lady, had first broke the news on Facebook while paying his last respect for her. Good night my lovely sister, Atiye Florence. But this is not our agreement. Rest in perfect peace, last born of the house. Till we meet and part no more, Olawale wrote in an emoji-laden post. Painful exit. You told me that I should come and visit you once you come back from Port Harcourt to Lagos of which I made move. Before getting there, you call me on my way that Bros Wale, dont bother yourself. I will be fine but greet our mother for me till I come back from my journey. Not knowing that you were saying your last word. While the Facebook user did not reveal the cause of her death, there were widespread reports on social media that the 2019 Batch C Stream II corps member slumped and hit her head against a brick wall while in her house on May 27. The reports claimed that she died on May 30. Chukwu, however, refuted the claims that she slumped and died in Rivers. Its true we lost one of our corps members. But the information being passed across social media that she slumped and died is wrong. Thats not what happened, the state coordinator said. She traveled to see her parents in Lagos because I spoke with her sister yesterday. I was told that when she got home in Lagos, she wasnt feeling well. They took her to the hospital where she died. So, she didnt slump and die in Rivers. She traveled home and died in Lagos. We have even informed our delegates in Lagos to go pay condolence to her family there. We have always told corps members to let us know anytime theyre embarking on such journeys. Theres actually a process that they go through before they leave the state. But, since there havent been interstate movements in this period, that is why we didnt even know she was traveling in the first place. Its just quite unfortunate it all happened this way. Murmurs started permeating throughout hundreds of protesters. They stopped at West Jefferson Avenue and West Grand Boulevard before Belle Isle to look at their phones and learn the news. The curfew, at least the night of June 4, would not be enforced as long as they continued their peaceful ways. Detroit Police Chief James Craig, referencing new criminal charges issued against three Minneapolis police in the killing of George Floyd, called Wednesday night a time for celebration and unity" as protesters marched through the city well past curfew. He said his officers wouldnt enforce the 8 p.m. emergency curfew imposed on police brutality protesters during previous nights. The news reached the protesters as Nakia Wallace blared it over a loud speaker to a crowd she led for approximately 13 miles around downtown and outer Detroit. It launched a Victory March back to the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, 1301 Third Street, as cathartic waves of relief for no more tear gas or other violence washed over them. The day before, Detroit police arrested 127 protesters who were marching past the curfew. I feel like, theyre peaceful, no officers are being attacked, we just want to make sure they safe, the officers stay safe, no damage to property, Craig said after 8 p.m. had come and gone without incident. "Curfews are discretionary. If violence started, I could stop it now, but what I want to is celebrate the fact that we got four officers that committed murder ... They want their voices heard and we support that. Earlier Wednesday, Craig spoke about his previous decisions to use force and detain protesters for curfew violations, including the arrest of organizer Tristin Taylor, who was initially jailed on a felony count of inciting a riot, but later released later with a reduced charge of misdemeanor resisting arrest. What was the foremost in my mind, we have a curfew, Craig said Wednesday afternoon. Taylor, 37, of Detroit, has helped organize daily marches that have begun at 4 p.m. at the Detroit police headquarters. Hours after his release from jail Wednesday afternoon, Taylor went directly to the march. We arent the ones who have a problem with peace, Taylor said in response to Craig not enforcing the curfew Wednesday. He said police acted like bullies over the weekend, which prompted much of the violence. Related: Groups accuse Detroit police of doing what demonstrators are protesting Craig on Wednesday afternoon said some of the motivation for making the curfew arrests, despite the protest remaining peaceful, was due to information investigators had that some protesters embedded within the march were believed to have other agendas" that might have included violence and property destruction. This is about keeping our city safe, reducing the likelihood of property damage, Craig said Wednesday afternoon. " ... We responded appropriately ... Its not my goal to arrest, but they violated the curfew." Ninety of the protesters arrested Tuesday were from outside Detroit. Six from outside of Michigan, including California, Maryland, New York and Washington D.C., Craig said. Detroit police in riot gear have clashed with protesters on four of the six nights since marches began Friday. Stefan Perez, 16, of Detroit, is partly credited with defusing a standoff that resulted in protesters dispersing without violence Monday. Perez spoke to the crowd before Wednesdays protest about maintaining safety during the half-marathon length of marching. You all will be in history books, he said with his fist in the air. No matter how you all protest, regardless of what you all do, all I want you to do is be safe. I dont want none of yall getting hurt. Each of the protests remained mostly peaceful until the large groups, at times numbering over 1,000, were confronted by Detroit police in riot gear. A small number of protesters on previous nights were seen verbally antagonizing or throwing objects at police, which led police to advance on the crowds, firing tear gas, nonlethal bullets and in some cases tackling fleeing protesters. Craig said protesters on prior nights damaged police vehicles and threw various projectiles, including railroad ties and small boulders. MLive reporters also witnessed bottles and fireworks being thrown or fired at police. There has not been large-scale property damage, arson or looting during the Detroit protests. No violence, vandalism or arrests were reported as when the protest ended around 10:30 p.m. in front of the police headquarters. The protest will continue tomorrow at 4 p.m. with discussions and possible marching. More on MLive: Groups accuse Detroit police of doing what protesters are fighting against Detroit protest organizer arrested Detroit police arrest protesters on fifth night of marching Curfews set in 3 Michigan cities Protesters clash with police in Kalamazoo Detroit protests turn violent Detroit protests end peacefully Grand Rapids protesters scatter Lansing protesters riot on Sunday HOUSTON - (June 4, 2020) - Eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used as the base of an inexpensive coating to protect fruits and vegetables, according to Rice University researchers. The Brown School of Engineering lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan and colleagues have developed a micron-thick coating that solves problems both for the produce and its consumers, as well as for the environment. When the coating was applied to produce by spraying or dipping, it showed a remarkable ability to resist rotting for an extended period comparable to standard coatings like wax but without some of the inherent problems. The work by Rice undergraduate students Seohui (Sylvia) Jung and Yufei (Nancy) Cui is detailed in Advanced Materials. The coating relies on eggs that never reach the market. As the United States produces more than 7 billion eggs a year and manufacturers reject 3% of them, the researchers estimate more than 200 million eggs end up in landfills. Even before the impact of the new coronavirus, the world wasted a third of the food produced around the globe, the researchers wrote. "Reducing food shortages in ways that don't involve genetic modification, inedible coatings or chemical additives is important for sustainable living," Ajayan said. "The work is a remarkable combination of interdisciplinary efforts involving materials engineers, chemists and biotechnologists from multiple universities across the U.S." Along with being edible, the multifunctional coating retards dehydration, provides antimicrobial protection and is largely impermeable both to water vapor to retard dehydration and to gas to prevent premature ripening. The coating is all-natural and washes off with water. "If anyone is sensitive to the coating or has an egg allergy, they can easily eliminate it," Jung said. Egg whites (aka albumen) and yolks account for nearly 70 percent of the coating. Most of the rest consists of nanoscale cellulose extracted from wood, which serves as a barrier to water and keeps produce from shriveling, a small amount of curcumin for its antimicrobial powers and a splash of glycerol to add elasticity. Lab tests on dip-coated strawberries, avocadoes, bananas and other fruit showed they maintained their freshness far longer than uncoated produce. Compression tests showed coated fruit were significantly stiffer and more firm than uncoated and demonstrated the coating's ability to keep water in the produce, slowing the ripening process. An analysis of freestanding films of the coating showed it to be extremely flexible and able to resist cracking, allowing better protection of the produce. Tests of the film's tensile properties showed it to be just as tough as other products, including synthetic films used in produce packaging. Further tests proved the coating to be nontoxic, and solubility tests showed a thicker-than-usual film is washable. Rinsing in water for a couple of minutes can completely disintegrate it, Ajayan said. The researchers continue to refine the coating's composition and are considering other source materials. "We chose egg proteins because there are lots of eggs wasted, but it doesn't mean we can't use others," said co-corresponding author Muhammad Rahman, a research scientist in Ajayan's Rice lab, who mentored and led the team. Jung noted the team is testing proteins that could be extracted from plants rather than animal produce to make coatings. ### Co-authors of the paper are Rice graduate students Morgan Barnes, Aparna Adumbumkulath, Onur Sahin, Seyed Sajadi and Lucas Sassi; Rice research scientist Corwin Miller; Rice postdoctoral research associate Soumyabrata Roy; Matthew Bennett, an associate professor of biosciences at Rice; Rafael Verduzco, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice; Robert Vajtai, a research professor in materials science and nanoengineering at Rice; Reaz Chowdhury, a graduate research assistant, and Jeffrey Youngblood, a professor of materials engineering, at Purdue University; graduate student Jefferson Friguglietti and Fatima Merchant, an associate professor of computer engineering technology and computational health informatics, at the University of Houston; graduate research assistant Chinmay Satam, graduate student Yue Ji and J. Carson Meredith, a professor, James Harris Faculty Fellow and executive director of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology; and postdoctoral researcher Shenxiang Zhang, Miao Yu, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, and Nikhil Koratkar, a professor of mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Ajayan is chair of Rice's Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and a professor of chemistry. The Robert A. Welch Foundation and the Brazilian Ministry of Education's Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel program supported the research. Read the abstract at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.201908291. This news release can be found online at https://news.rice.edu/2020/06/04/egg-based-coating-preserves-fresh-produce/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews. Video: https://youtu.be/dCSvs1_WgFg Video produced by Brandon Martin/Rice University Related materials: Ajayan Research Group: https://ajayan.rice.edu Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering: https://msne.rice.edu George R. Brown School of Engineering: https://engineering.rice.edu Images for download: https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/06/0608_EGGS-1-web.jpg Eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used as the base of an inexpensive coating to protect fruits and vegetables, according to Rice University researchers. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/06/0608_EGGS-2-web.jpg A coating developed at Rice University made primarily with protein from eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used to extend the freshness of produce. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2020/06/0608_EGGS-3-web.jpg Rice University undergraduate student Yufei (Nancy) Cui prepares a solution based on protein from wasted eggs. The solution can be used as a coating that extends the freshness of fruit and vegetables. With her is Rice research scientist and mentor Muhammad Rahman. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. He said newer compounds, which may have been used in the pepper ball projectiles deployed at the protest, might or might not fit a traditional definition of tear gas but are as potent and come with scant research on their safety. Any difference is semantic, he said. It's great to see facing high-end gaming monitors, but most people only need a simple one that works. Acer Malaysia wants to provide more option to such people with AOpen, a sub-brand that has a new range of affordable monitors. To celebrate the release of AOpen, Acer Malaysia is launching a promo campaign from 5 to 12 June 2020. According to Acer Malaysia, the AOpen monitors will mainly focus on affordability. However, the company will aim to do so without compromising too much. AOpen monitors will still have features like BlueLight Shield and Flicker-less technology, which will help reduce eye strain from long hours of use. The new monitors will also have a 6-axis colour adjustment so that you can calibrate the monitor to aid customers who require obtaining exact colours and hues. There are three new monitors currently available under the AOpen sub-brand. First, there's the AOpen 22CV1Q is a 21.5-inch VA monitor (1920x1080) with a max refresh rate of 75Hz and it costs just RM289. Then there is the slightly bigger AOpen 24CL1Y, a 23.8-inch IPS monitor (1920x1080) that will retail for RM379. Lastly, there's the AOpen 27HC5RP, a 27-inch curved monitor with a refresh rate that can go up to 165Hz (via overclocking). It also has AMD FreeSync, thin bezels, and can be tilted - all for just RM699. Quite a steal, if you ask me. As part of the official launch tomorrow, Acer Malaysia will have a 9-hour Shocking Sale on Shopee. It will be held on 7 June 2020 starting from midnight (12 am to 9 am). During the sale, you'll get to shave another RM40 off from the AOpen 22CV1Q and RM50 off from the AOpen 24CL1Y. So, do any of these monitors catch your eye? Let us know what you think about them on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more news and updates. Lesotho's former first lady, Maesaiah Thabane, returned to custody on Wednesday after a court revoked bail that she had been controversially given over the murder of her husband's estranged wife. The 43-year-old was charged with murder in February after police quizzed her on the brutal killing of former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's wife two days before his inauguration. She spent one night in jail before a High Court freed her on a 1,000 maloti ($57) bail. But on Friday the country's Court of Appeal cancelled that bail. Police failed to re-arrest her immediately because she was out of country accompanying her octogenarian husband, who was seeking medical attention in neighbouring South Africa. On Wednesday she arrived at the magistrate court in Maseru under the escort of armed police officers. Magistrate Thamae Thamae told her she would be taken to the female correctional facility in fulfilment of the appeals court judgement. "The decision of the High Court to grant you bail has been set aside by the Court of Appeal," said the magistrate. "You will remain in the correctional facility. You will report back on 16 June 2020 to find out the progress of your case." Police officers immediately whisked her away. She came to court sporting a black-and-olive-green coloured tracksuit, a knee-length winter coat, sneakers and headscarf. She had donned an anti-coronavirus mask to cover her face, but her slumped posture suggested unhappiness for someone known for self-confidence. Maesaiah Thabane is suspected of orchestrating the shooting of Lipolelo Thabane, who was gunned down outside her home in the capital Maseru. Police have also charged her for the attempted murder of Lipolelo Thabane's friend Thato Sibolla, who was wounded at the scene. Lipolelo and Thomas Thabane, now 81, had been embroiled in bitter divorce proceedings when the 58-year-old was killed. The former premier agreed to step down in January after police linked his mobile number to communication records from the crime scene. He resigned officially this month, bowing to pressure from his rivals who accused him of hampering investigations into Lipolelo's death. Thabane has denied any involvement in the murder. His wife initially went into hiding after police first called her in to testify in January. She has not yet been asked to respond to the charges That said, someone imagined what a modern Dodge Ramcharger might look like and he did a pretty job, too. Sure, theres no reason to believe that the nameplate is coming back, but the render is nonetheless soul food for the nostalgics. More old nameplate revivals are taking place in the digital realm than in real life and in all honesty, we prefer the former because weve seen some iconic nameplates describing SUVs - yes, Mach-E and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, its you Im looking at. The Ramcharger was decommissioned in 1993 in the U.S., but it still has fans The Ramcharger was the Durango's predecessor and it shared underpinnings with the Dodge Ram pickup truck. Its first two generations were sold in the U.S. from 1974 to 1993, while in Canada and Mexico the Ramcharger got to live for three more years. In Mexico, however, the model lived until 2001. Nicknamed Rhino, the Ramcharger was also a close relative of the Plymouth Trail Duster. Both cars were offered in four-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive configuration (the latter as of 1975) and could be had with a 318 V-8, which was the most popular engine choice although it made just 120 horsepower at 3,600 rpm. Optionally, Dodge would fit the Ramcharger with a 360 V-8 of the LA engine family. Oscar Vs render here draws inspiration from the second-gen Ramcharger, which he believes was the best design due to its subtle rear fender flares and curved rear windows. Thats exactly what we can spot on his vision of a modern Ramcharger, along with a lot of styling cues borrowed from the Ram 1500 pickup truck, especially as far as the front end/hood area is concerned. Come to think of it, this could be a worthy adversary for the upcoming Ford Bronco, but theres a catch here: weve got no info that might hint at Dodge looking to revive the Ramcharger moniker, except for some mysterious spy shots sent over by a TopSpeed reader. Dont hold your breath on that, though. At the rate carmakers are bringing back past nameplates, anything can happen and since SUVs are at their peak right now, who knows what Dodges head honchos might come up with in the near future. 2020 Ramcharger Powertrain Options Horsepower Torque 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 410 429 lb-ft 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 395 410 lb-ft 6.7-Liter Cummins I6 370 850 lb-ft Source: wb.artist20 via Instagram More Information Fort Bend County Judge KP George has initiated a new program to give teens and young adults a platform to create change in the county. The Fort Bend Youth Leadership Council will be comprised of young representatives from the community with a variety of interests. People who are high-school aged though 30 years old can serve on the council. The council's slogan is "Empowering Young People to Collaborate and Drive Change," and its goal is to bring passionate and driven young people together to help shape their futures. "The Fort Bend Youth Leadership Council will strategize, organize, and advocate for true policy change on the issues they identify as a priority with support from a team of mentors," George said. Members of the council will represent different foci, including areas like justice reform, income inequality, education, diversity and racial equality, environmental issues, women's rights, healthcare and voting rights and elections. Taral Patel, George's chief of staff explained, "We'll create different committees based on what people are interested in, and we'll have different age groups within those committees, so we'll really get diverse engagements and interests." The council will come together to decide which issues they want to impact. Once they're ready to mobilize, a team of elected officials and community leaders will help direct them to resources that can enable them to support their initiatives. "Using these resources, we'll connect the dots and connect them with the right people or think tanks or organizations," said Patel. "The whole idea is working together with young people on a lot of these social issues that are calling for change." George had been planning the youth council for some time now, but recent events drew the committee to the forefront of his priorities. "I am constantly amazed by the young people in our communities," George said. "They are the future of our county, state and country, which is why we need their help to fight for the issues they care about." Related: Students' Black Lives Matter protest moves to bigger park in Katy Patel said that George was inspired to start the council when he noticed there was no age diversity among local leaders and representatives who were making decisions for the county. Younger Americans, he noted, are often even more connected to current issues than their older counterparts. "In all these panels and discussions, there are no young people. And it's the young people that are having real conversations on the streets and out in the world," Patel said. The council will meet via Zoom or a similar platform. George is currently accepting applications for the council. Patel said that he is also working with school districts to identify panel candidates. "It's really young people that are on the forefront of all kinds of things. So our goal is to give them access to some resources and knowledge that will guide them," said Patel Apply for the youth council here. claire.goodman@chron.com Sometimes, it is possible to have a happy ending. That was the case when I saw the picture from our coverage of Tuesday nights protest downtown. Late into the evening after many Midlanders had gone to sleep -- protesters and police gathered in a circle to pray. Then, some exchanged hugs and called it a night. Think about this for a moment. All around the nation, we have seen protests evolve into something else: violence, destruction and division. However, here in Midland, hours of protest culminated in prayer. As a Midlander, I couldnt be prouder. I am not saying that our community can put a bow on the conversations and events of the past couple of weeks. But maybe today, our starting point is different. Maybe today, our approach can be less contentious. Maybe today, we speak less and listen more all of us, on all sides. I had the opportunity Wednesday to speak with Midland Police Department Sgt. Georvarsey Geo Mitchell for a profile that is scheduled to appear this weekend. He talked about the prayer and embraces as examples of the police department he knows and the love police officers have for the community. He said police officers want to make things right, and he hopes both sides can have the mentality to understand the other side better. Last night was the perfect deal, Geo said. Maybe protesters see the police participation in prayer and embrace as a welcomed sign that they were heard. A few of our readers seemed to agree with Geo about what they saw in Jacy Lewis pictures of togetherness. As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, the prayer posts on the Reporter-Telegrams Facebook page have been liked more than 1,750 times and shared about 865. The Reporter-Telegram doesnt see social media engagement like that all the time. So, thank you, for voicing your opinion. I dont know whats going to happen today or tomorrow. There possibly could be another rally that follows a different script. But at this point, that would be the exception not the rule for how Midlanders have acted. The actions of protesters and police, so far, show Midland in a different light. That is something we can be proud of. And that is something we can build on, as city, police department and community leaders continue the conversation about what happens next. I look forward to those conversations more today than I did the day before. I see that people can spend hours voicing their opinions, but at the end of the day, stand next to and embrace the person they are protesting against and put the community ahead of all. That teaches the rest of us an important lesson. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I saw a few that are worth more than that. The death of the great sculptor Adam Henein at the age of 91 on 22 May turned social media into a memorial space, with artists and art lovers expressing their love and respect for the rock sculptor and painter who fused ancient Egyptian and modern European concepts and founded the Aswan Sculpture Symposium in 1995. This week sculptor Hassan Kamel told Al-Ahram Weekly about helping Henein restore his early sculptures at his house in Haraniya (later turned into a museum) on his return from Europe in the 1980s: I was then a fresh graduate, and I was thrilled to engage with him. He was not just an artist, he was a believer in beauty, nature and ancient art and saw his work as a normal part of these cycles. I belong to a generation of sculptors who benefited from the Aswan International Symposium, he added, which was not just a yearly event, but rather an educational laboratory where different international sculptors met up to exchange techniques and work in such an amazing creative environment. It worked as the link connecting our ancestors creative legacy, Heneins inspiration, and contemporary art. When this writer asked him about Henein sculptor Hisham Abdel-Moeti was likewise effusive: My first encounter with Henein was at the Small Artworks Salon, which took place at the Arts Compound in Zamalek back in 2000. He scrutinised my small sculpture and then invited me in a fatherly tone to participate in the next round of the Aswan International Symposium, opening the door to a whole new level of development. In addition to his brilliant abstract figures and simple lines, Abdel-Moeti added, his drawings and paintings are equally significant. He is best described as a Sufi artist, whose understanding of nature and assimilation of the philosophy of ancient Egyptian art contributed to his international fame. The Weekly visited Heneins house-museum in Haraniya in 2016, a year after it was opened and a week after the Adam Henein Sculpture Award was announced. Excerpts from that encounter are reproduced below. The 1950s was a rich cultural period: impressionism, surrealism, abstract expressionism. I learned about them all, but I had no inclination to join any movement, political or cultural. I had my own experience and emotions, so I had no time for such activities. Seeing the ancient sculptures had a magic effect on me. I went home that day and modelled a small clay figure of Ramses II. This was the start of my intellectual and artistic journey, how I learned the concept of art. Art should come from within, it should not be imposed by theories or concepts. Art is a dialogue between the artist and nature, or the surrounding environment; a dialogue between the artist and his subject. The museum includes sculptures I made when I was a student, one wood sculpture in particular. Art is a strange experience that knows no boundaries, so you should not judge a work by its makers age; great work can be the result of zero experience. This is what we call spontaneity, which is the law ruling art. I was playing like a happy child with my tools, and it felt great, playing with nothing in particular on my mind. I didnt like my professors teaching methods, with their focus on European art trends. It was okay, but I have always felt there were closer and greater patterns in ancient Egyptian art. I had the opportunity to watch people living in Luxor, the simple details of their daily routines, their animals, their attitudes. You compare this with images of ancient times, and you realize the meaning of art. People who lived there in the company of the great abstract ancient monuments helped me to understand how to make art in my own way. On arriving in Paris I took part in a group exhibition with sculptures made in Egypt. At the exhibition I met a female artist, who happened to be the wife of Vasily Kandinsky, and she was very impressed by my work. That woman, I just cannot remember her name now, asked me bluntly, Well, what are you doing here in Paris? You should go back to Egypt. And it was true. The good thing about being in Europe was learning about different art schools, seeing outstanding masterpieces and honing this Egyptian originality as a fingerprint of my own. I draw a lot. Drawing is easy and fast. Sculpture is slow. But I dont draw sketches. Sculptures come out after many different sketches or as the completion of a given sketch. I used to work for 15 hours a day, but not anymore. My stamina has diminished in the last few years. The unfortunate situation of art today is largely due to the disconnection between art and people, and this is what pushed me to establish this museum, to make art from different stages of my career available for people to see. I am soon leaving this world, and it is good to leave something behind, as a message. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 June, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: 'Haftar cannot win this war,' Turkish Foreign Minister says of Libya conflict Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 2:01 PM Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Libya's eastern-based renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar will not manage to emerge victorious out of the ongoing conflict in the country. Ankara provides military support to the rival Government of National Accord (GNA) to fend off offensives by Haftar's forces. "Taking back the coastline from Tripoli to Tunisia, recapturing international airports, and progress made from air and land operations shows essentially that Haftar cannot win this war," Turkey's official Anadolu news agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying in a televised interview on Wednesday. Haftar's militias recently stepped up their attacks, but GNA forces who are under the command of Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj began to repel them with a counterattack and captured key positions, Cavusoglu added. "The Haftar side doesn't want a political solution in Libya, nor do the countries backing Haftar such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Wagner [Group] mercenaries," the top Turkish diplomat pointed out. On May 21, Turkey warned that attacks on its interests in Libya by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) forces will have "grave consequences." Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said at the time that the forces had received warplanes with "foreign support" and that they had vowed to target Turkish positions in Libya with an air campaign. "In the event Turkish interests in Libya are targeted, this will have very grave consequences," he said. Separately, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin underlined that attacks on Turkish positions would prompt heavy retaliation, according to Turkish-language NTV television news channel. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing local sources, reported on May 24 that some 10,100 Turkish-backed militants, some of whom are non-Syrian nationals, have arrived in Libya so far. Another 3,400 militants are currently receiving training in Turkish camps, said the Britain-based watchdog group. Two seats of power have emerged in Libya since 2011, when a popular uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his execution by unruly fighters. Haftar in eastern Libya is supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates; whilst the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli enjoys military backing from Turkey. A bill passed by the Turkish parliament earlier this year allows the Ankara government to deploy forces to Libya to intervene in the civil war in the North African country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says bees and other pollinators are vital to life on our planet. The FAO disclosed this on its official Twitter handle, Wednesday, stating some of the significant roles pollinators such as bees play in keeping the ecosystem breathing. https://twitter.com/FAO/status/1268266916222840835?s=20 It says the pollinators help 75 per cent of crops producing fruits to pollinate and as well help to increase biodiversity. According to the FAO, the pollinators help to improve food production, provide micronutrients-rich foods and maintain ecosystems. By cherishing bees and other pollinators, not only do we safeguard the environment and create a sustainable ecosystem, but also support the livelihoods of rural and indigenous peoples which is particularly critical in extraordinary times like the current COVID-19 pandemic, the FAO said in a recent report while celebrating World Bee Day 2020. The FAO report says the virtual celebration of this years World Bee Day was organised by the FAO in partnership with the government of Slovenia which spearheaded the creation of the day by the UN General Assembly in 2017, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and Apimondia the International Federation of Beekeepers Associations The FAO director general, Qu Dongyu, was quoted to have said, beekeeping delivers significant social, economic and environmental benefits, it can be carried out with locally available materials and limited resources. Mr Dongyu said beekeeping could provide a safety net, particularly to the landless, women, youth and the disabled, enabling them to produce some of their own food and enhancing their resilience. Infograph showing benefits of pollinators. [CREDIT: Official Twitter handle of Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations] Honey can also be safely stored for long periods, he said. Meanwhile, Aleksandra Pivec, Slovenias minister of agriculture, forestry and food, who took part in the virtual event, said This year, the COVID -19 pandemic crossed our paths but it also made us aware of how important safe, stable and sustainable food chains and systems are for people and the planet, for which bees and other pollinators are vital. Bee engaged the theme of this years celebration is important as it encourages and urges us to turn our words into action, the report quoted her to have said. COVID-19s impact on beekeeping sector The FAO report says COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact on the beekeeping sector and the livelihoods of beekeepers. Being a labour-intensive sector, it noted it suffers from the transport and movement restrictions imposed by the governments in response to the pandemic spread. The panelists who discussed during this years bee day celebration reportedly encouraged the governments to support beekeeping sector since it offers decent working opportunities and income generation to people in extreme poverty. They said it is important to recognise bees crucial role in fighting poverty and malnutrition, and help beekeepers overcome the challenges they encounter in the time of pandemic. Supporting beekeepers Also, the panelists highlighted the vital contribution of bees and beekeepers to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), supporting rural livelihoods, improving food security and nutrition as well as boosting rural economies. In fact, three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits or seeds for human consumption depend, at least in part, on bees and other pollinators, the report reads The report says pollination has a positive impact on the environment in general, helping to maintain biodiversity and the vibrant ecosystems upon which agriculture and humanity depend. Ex-judge charged with bribery to go on trial in Russia's Stavropol Territory RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 12:39 04/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 4 (RAPSI) A court in the Stavropol Territory will hear a case against judge emeritus Nikolay Kaishev charged with bribery, the regional Investigative Committees directorate has told RAPSI. Investigators believe that Kaishev acting as a judge of the Mineralnye Vody City Court attempted to conspire with a plaintiff trying to recover penalty from an insurance company. Kaishev hearing a 100,000-ruble ($1,500) civil claim filed by a man against an insurer demanded 50,000 rubles for delivery of a ruling in favor of the claimant. He was arrested after the sentence delivery and receipt of the money. New Delhi/London, June 4 : With a pending legal issue remaining unresolved, Indian fugitive businessman and founder of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, may escape his extradition to India for some more time. He remains out on bail in England. Sources in London said Mallya was likely to use all his heft to thwart the extradition process. A top Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer said on condition of anonymity, "Mallya is going to exploit all legal remedies. First the official order has to come out and Indian Mission has to be informed." The officer said the investigating agencies are aware of the possibility that Mallya, being a former Rajya Sabha Member, could seek political asylum in the UK. They said they had information to this effect. Another CBI source said on Thursday that Mallya's extradition would take time as "formal extradition order in this regard has not been issued" by the United Kingdom. Further, there is a legal option for the fugitive liquor baron to exploit. On May 14, the UK High Court rejected Mallya's plea seeking permission to file an appeal in the Supreme Court in London. "The final extradition order copy pertaining to this has not been issued," said a top CBI officer heading the agency probe in the fraud case against Mallya. "Vijay Mallya's extradition is not happening now. Once the UK government takes necessary steps, we will look into it and inform everyone," said a top CBI officer. Sources further said that currently no CBI investigating team is in the UK. The case is being handled by a Special Investigation Team headed Joint Director Manoj Shashidhar. Under India-UK Extradition Treaty, the UK Home Office will have to formally certify the court order for Mallya to be extradited to India within 28 days. The date is to end on June 11. The liquor baron has lived in the UK since he fled India on March 2, 2016. Under the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, Mallya is the first accused in India to be booked. In 2019, a Mumbai court named Mallya as an offender under the Act, empowering probing agencies to seize his properties and assets the world over. Mallya is facing charges of loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New York, June 4 : An Indian-American businessman has been praised for protecting about 70 people from arrest for violating curfew in Washington during protests against police brutality. Rahul Dubey, who welcomed protesters into his home on Monday night got "a round of applause from protesters and supporters" the next morning, ABC TV in Washington reported. Dubey told the station: "I hope they continue to fight and I hope they go out there today peacefully as they did yesterday. Our country needs them and needs you and everybody more than ever right now." NBC TV said he took dozens of protesters into his "home overnight after police boxed them in and tried to arrest them for violating curfew". He "let them stay there until curfew let up the next morning as police continued to arrest people outside" it said, quoting a protester identified only as Meka. Meka tweeted that police "shot mace at peaceful protesters in a residential neighbourhood" and that Dubey "gave us business cards in case they try to say we broke in". There have been widespread protests around the US following the video-recorded extra-judicial killing of an African-American man by a policeman who choked him to death by kneeling on his neck in Minneapolis last week. Some of the protests have turned violent with a section of the demonstrators looting stores, damaging public property and setting a church in Washington on fire. Following the violence, Washington and dozens of cities and towns have imposed night curfew. Dubey told ABC that as he sat outside his house on Monday evening, he saw police setting up a holding area for people arrested for violating curfew and some people asked him if they could charge their phone and use his bathroom. He let them into his house and let them stay. Some of those who stayed there overnight told ABC they had been pepper-sprayed by police. A woman who was identified only as Taylor by ABC said that "she felt like she was going to die" before Dubey let them into his house. [June 04, 2020] Simplilearn Strengthens International Presence; Partners With South Africa-based Deviare Pty Ltd BENGALURU, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn, a leading global digital skills training provider, today announced its partnership with Deviare, a South Africa-based digital and IT solutions platform. Through this collaboration, Simplilearn will offer digital skilling programs in the field of Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud programming, and Full-stack Development for learners and corporations in the African market. As an authorized partner, Deviare will take Simplilearn's best-in-class digital training programs to the entire region, enabling learners to gain from the company's high-touch learning platform. The partnership is expected to benefit over 10,000 learners who are now on the Deviare platform in the current financial year. These technical skilling programs are accredited by Media, Information, and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) of South Africa. Simplilearn already has a strong presence in the US, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and the United Kingdom. With this relationship, the company is expanding its footprint in the African continent too. This association with Deviare reiterates Simplilearn's commitment to preparing a global workforce for the changing digital economy. It adds to the company's other international partnerships with leading higher education institutions and online platforms to extend its global coverage. Speaking on Simplilearn's venture into the African market, Krishna Kumar, CEO & Founder of Simplilearn, said, "Upskilling and reskilling of the workforce has become a global agenda along with other global subjects like climate change. The rapid evolution of technology and its integration into business operations has created new roles and opportunities. Organizations need to invest in skilling their workforce for these new roles to prepare for an increasingly digital future. Through this partnership with Deviare, we hope to enable and catalyze the digital transformation journey of businesses from different sectors across Africa. This goal also aligns with the South Africa government's mission of skilling thousands of professionals in the IT sector to prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution." South Africa and the rest of the continent is on the brink of transformation ushered by Industry 4.0. According to a global report, this digital transformation will create 133 million new jobs across the globe with vast new opportunities for fulfilling people's potentials. Mr. Lubabalo Dyantyi, Co-founder and executive director, Deviare highlighted, "The debate on reskilling and upskilling is a global agenda. Governments and businesses are coming together to address the issues of building a relevant skilled workforce. Our collaboration with Simplilearn, a globally trusted online digital skilling company, is coming at the right time. With this association, we aim to play a big role in helping businesses across Africa navigate their digital transformation journeys." As part of a recent program initiated by the IT Ministry of South Africa, Simplilearn and Deviare together supported the skilling of over 500 IT professionals. The success of this program has given a strong foundation for further upskilling programs throughout South Africa. Sharing his thoughts on this collaboration Mr. Dyantyi also stated, "Last year, the South African Government debuted a large-scale multi-year project to train young people in data sciences, cloud architecture, and related skills as part of the country's drive towards equipping itself with the skills needed to meet the Fourth Industrial Revolution head-on. We have produced around 180 data scientists, 200 cloud practitioners in both AWS and Azure, 159 data engineers, 40 learners who are now proficient in machine learning on Tensorflow, and 140 cybersecurity practitioners." With this strategic collaboration with Simplilearn, Deviare started working with Microsoft South Africa to deliver skills in Cloud Computing. Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Siyabonga Madyibi, Executive Director for Corporate and Legal Affairs, Microsoft South Africa says, "The vast majority of businesses in South Africa and across the globe are adopting cloud for at least some of their applications and workloads, and we recognize that the demand for skilled professionals in this field is skyrocketing. Cloud computing offers a wide range of options for skilled people and is becoming a sought-after capability, with Microsoft Azure skills topping the list. With this in mind, we have worked with Deviare to train more than 700 young people in cloud computing, with a focus on Azure. In addition, we have worked together to build digital mobile labs that enable remote access to training for those who previously were excluded due to geographic limitations." Simplilearn derives more than 50% of its revenues from its international operations. Having maintained its leadership position in the space of digital skilling for learners, corporates and enterprises; today, Simplilearn has helped more than one million professionals across 150 countries to upskill and prepare for the digital future. About Simplilearn Simplilearn enables professionals and enterprises to succeed in the fast-changing digital economy. The company provides outcome-based online training across digital technologies and applications such as Big Data, Machine Learning, AI, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Digital Marketing, and other emerging technologies. Based in San Francisco and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn has helped more than one million professionals and 1,000 companies across 150 countries get trained, acquire certifications, and reach their business and career goals. The company's Blended Learning curriculum combines self-paced online learning, instructor-led live virtual classrooms, hands-on projects, student collaboration, and 24/7 global teaching assistance. For more information, visit Simplilearn.com. About Deviare Pty.Ltd. Deviare is an African Technology firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its core capability is the use of its enterprise digital platform for workforce skills transformation and technology services. We combine tested methodologies with technology platforms to help organizations navigate their own unique digital transformation journey. Deviare helps organizations build capability and capacity for digital transformation through targeted advisory services, digital skills training, and technology solutions. For more information on Deviare, please visit http://www.deviare.co.za/digital-transformation-training/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100016/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] TROY, Mich., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bianchi Public Relations, Inc. a metro Detroit based public relations (PR) agency with deep automotive and mobility technology media relations and communications experience and the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) announced today they have added three new locations to the global network, raising the number of offices serving PR clients throughout the world to 53. The three new locations in the network are located in in Little Rock, Arkansas; Denver, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon. PRGN will be represented in Little Rock, Ark. by Ghidotti, a public relations and content strategy agency representing many of the South's premier brands. The agency focuses on relationships, reputations and results and is rooted in the foundations of public relations, while growing a focused offering on content marketing. Founded in 2007, the agency serves some of the region's best-known brands such as McDonald's, Ark. Children's Hospital, CHI St. Vincent and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. In addition, PRGN is now represented in Denver, Colo. by Novitas Communications , a full-service public relations firm that specializes in corporate communications, issue management, and crisis communication across numerous industries. Novitas helps clients craft and implement communications campaigns that influence public opinion, enhance brand recognition, and keep stakeholders informed. Prichard Communications will represent PRGN in Portland, Ore. Prichard Communications helps social changemakers across the United States make the world a better place. Clients include foundations, nonprofits and government agencies. Prichard is a Certified B Corporation, joining a global movement of people using business as a force for good. "The network is elated to welcome Ghidotti, Novitas Communications and Prichard Communications to the PRGN family," said Aaron Blank, current president of PRGN and CEO of Seattle-based agency The Fearey Group. "With these new offices, we continue to expand our network of globally-connected communications professionals, while also recognizing the high standards of service and expertise these agencies bring." "Bianchi PR has been a proud and active PRGN member since 2014," said James A. Bianchi, APR, president of the Detroit area PR firm. "We are excited to add these three dynamic agencies to our global network, extending our reach and capabilities for our clients across five continents." PRGN partners are independent, local, owner-operated public relations and marketing communications firms that share expertise and resources, while providing broad-based comprehensive communications strategies to clients worldwide. Companies or organizations interested in the services of PRGN's local agency network can visit www.prgn.com for more information. About Bianchi PR With special expertise in business-to-business PR and social media for automotive and mobility technology suppliers and the professional service firms that serve them Bianchi PR was founded in 1992 and has been ranked the top independent PR agency based in Metro Detroit by PR trade industry journals PRWeek and O'Dywer's. Bianchi PR was also ranked among the top 10 automotive/transportation specialist PR firms in the United States. Among Bianchi PR's ongoing business-to-business PR clients are 1stMILE LLC, Adient, BASF Automotive Refinish, Cooper Standard, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, KIRCO, Munro & Associates, Rolls-Royce Power Systems/MTU brand, SAE International, Schaeffler Group and Yanfeng Automotive Interiors. The firm's experience also includes work with technology companies, consulting firms and industry trade organizations. For more information, visit www.bianchipr.com or call 248-269-1122. About Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) Clients across six continents depend on the combined resources of the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) to deliver targeted public relations campaigns in markets around the world. PRGN is one of the world's largest international public relations networks measured by revenue. PRGN harnesses the resources of 51 independent public relations firms in 53 locations and more than 1,000 communications professionals to connect international companies and organizations with individual and culturally diverse markets globally. Visit PRGN online at www.prgn.com or on twitter at @PRGN. SOURCE Bianchi Public Relations, Inc. Related Links http://www.bianchipr.com Oh yes! I said to myself when I read the news that the federal government was thinking about giving cash grants for home renovations as part of a stimulus package. Call Chris the builder and let's get cracking on fixing up the studio so my mother-in-law can move in (yes, really). And what brilliant politics, hitting two of the government's (any government's) favourite interest groups homeowners and tradies right in the sweet spot. Australias overheated city housing market doesnt need an injection of value-adding tiling and plumbing to its burgeoning capital stock. Credit:Glenn Hunt But hang on a minute, I said to myself when I had given it a bit more thought. We were about to do that work anyway before coronavirus interrupted. We were going to finance it out of the huge equity we have built up in our home during two decades of real estate boom. We don't need taxpayer cash. And Australia's overheated city housing market doesn't need an injection of value-adding tiling and plumbing to its burgeoning capital stock. This achievement reflects our dedication to providing our customers the best end-to-end experience, allowing them to reduce costs and focus on growing their business. Unirac, Inc., North Americas leading manufacturer of PV mounting systems, is pleased to announce its SOLARMOUNT PV Mounting system is the first solar racking product to receive a Notice of Acceptance (NOA) product approval for construction in Miami-Dade County, Florida. With its provisions for High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) wind conditions, Miami-Dade has the most stringent building code requirements in the United States. The NOA (NOA No. 19-0429.02) will significantly reduce the cost and timeline for residential solar installation throughout the state of Florida and in other high wind regions. The Miami-Dade County Product Approval System is an internationally recognized protocol to evaluate the standards and quality of building products in severe high wind environments. The NOA establishes code compliance and provides a pre-approval of the building product, thus simplifying the design, permitting and approval process, resulting in cost savings of several hundred dollars per project. Solar contractors in other high wind areas also benefit from the Miami-Dade NOA. Authorities Having Jurisdiction across Florida, in other coastal states, and as far away as the Caribbean, Guam and Hawaii accept the NOA as meeting their local product approval requirements. Ernest Gallegos, Uniracs Director of Products, said, A Miami-Dade NOA is the gold standard of product approvals for high wind regions. This achievement reflects our dedication to providing high quality products with exceptional engineering, and to Better Solar Starts Here, our commitment to provide our customers the best end-to-end experience, from design to final installation, allowing them to reduce costs and focus on growing their business. We appreciate the partnership of Miami-Dade County in attaining this challenging product evaluation. The NOA is available at http://www.Unirac.com or from Miami-Dade. Unirac will host a free webinar on Friday, June 26 at 1pm EDT for solar contractors who would like to learn more about Miami Dade NOA; register here to reserve a space. For more information about Unirac products please contact your Unirac distributor or contact Unirac at (505) 248-2702 or info@unirac.com. About Unirac, Inc. UNIRAC is the leading provider of solar PV installation products and services for residential, commercial, and light utility solar installation. With more than 20 years of experience serving global solar markets, UNIRAC products have been installed more than 750,000 times and are helping to provide more than 5 gigawatts of clean, sustainable energy. Proudly headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, UNIRAC products are installed by leading solar contractors worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.unirac.com, follow @Unirac on Twitter or @UniracSolar on Instagram, or connect on Facebook and LinkedIn. Police have launched a probe into a care home which was ordered to close after 15 residents died following a major outbreak of coronavirus. Temple Court in Kettering, Northamptonshire, was forced to shut its doors following the Covid-19 related deaths of patients who were sent there after being discharged from hospital. The home is now being investigated by police and council bosses. Officers are speaking to relatives of the 15 residents following claims they were sent there without being tested after being released from two separate hospitals. The site, which is run by Amicura, part of the Minster care group, had to move all of its surviving residents to other homes in the week of May 11. Police are investigating what happened at Temple Court (pictured) in Kettering, Northants, after at least 16 people died in the space of eight weeks, most of whom either had, or were suspected of having, Covid-19 It was closed after being told to do so by the local authority's adult social care department and health authorities following concerns over the care being provided. Do you have relatives at this care home? Email luke.may@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement A Northamptonshire Police spokesperson said: 'Northamptonshire Police is aware of the recent issues relating to Temple Court Care Home in Kettering. 'We are working with the Safeguarding Adults Team at Northamptonshire County Council to investigate these further.' The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates care homes, carried out an inspection last month and its findings are due to be published soon. The local authority is also carrying out an investigation under section 42 of the Care Act which happens when there are allegations of abuse or neglect. Nationally care homes have been severely affected by the pandemic, with latest figures reporting that more than 11,000 care home deaths have been due to coronavirus. Residents' relatives have expressed their anger after Covid-19 swept through the care home in Kettering Families who have lost their loved ones at Temple Court said they are demanding answers and hope the police investigation is a start to finding out what happened. Timeline of events at Temple Court March 19 The home is believed to be Covid free as it welcomes its first NHS resident during the pandemic. March 19-26 A total of 15 residents arrive in twos and threes from the NHS March 28 The home records its first death among the NHS patients, it was confirmed to be a result of Covid-19 April 4 - 16 Eight residents at the home die, seven of which were NHS patients. All were confirmed or suspected of having Covid-19. One longer term Temple Court resident died of 'other causes,' a spokesman for the home said. April 19-May 1: Six deaths at home in total two NHS patients, both suspected Covid; four longer-term TC residents, one confirmed Covid, two suspected Covid, one other causes Advertisement Mikhail Waskiw, from Roade, Northants, was among those who died last month having contracted coronavirus while at the home. He was moved from Northampton General Hospital on February 28 after his family were told he had a chest infection on April 3. He was taken into Kettering General Hospital on April 5 and died the following day. His son Garry, 58, said recently: 'Obviously I am a bit angry. I don't blame the carers in the care home, but we do want to know what has happened.' Simon Bennett, whose dad Robert was a resident, said: 'None of the relatives seemed to have any idea that there was coronavirus in the home and there were so many deaths.' His 80-year-old father has since been moved to another care home after Northamptonshire County Council and Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group stepped in. A relative of one resident told Northants Live: 'Its not The Ritz, but its heart is in the right place.' One woman, who did not want to be named, said they were 'angry and broken' about the death of their relative, who had only gone to Temple Court for respite care. She said the week after lockdown, when families were barred from going in, she had spoken to her father-in law on the phone. My father was like a lamb to the slaughter By Andy Dolan and James Tozer for The Daily Mail Widower Mikhail Waskiw was in fairly good health until a ten-week hospital stay involving a hip operation meant he needed respite care. The 91-year-old Ukrainian Second World War refugee was discharged into Temple Court on February 28 for what was expected to be a three-week stay. Victim: Mr Waskiw died with coronavirus His son Raymond, 62, told the Daily Mail yesterday that around a fortnight after the home went into lockdown in mid-March, he was phoned to say his father had picked up a chest infection and had been prescribed antibiotics. Within 48 hours of that call my father was dead, the retired builder said. He added: They were like lambs to the slaughter. We only found out he had contracted coronavirus after the death on April 5. He died of bronchial pneumonia, with Covid-19 a contributing factor. Moving people from hospitals into care homes meant that care homes became breeding grounds for the virus. Its a scandal. Raymond lives just a few hundred yards from his fathers home in Roade, Northamptonshire, and either he or brother Garry would visit their dad daily. But when the home closed its doors to visitors on March 13 the family never saw Mr Waskiw again and were not informed about the outbreak. Mr Waskiw, who became a great-grandfather a fortnight before his death, was admitted to Northampton General Hospital a week before Christmas following a fall. Advertisement She said: 'His words were; 'What about me?' He thought he had been abandoned. 'I said, 'I want to get him out of there'. I called social services and they said 'I really wouldn't suggest him coming out at a time like this.' 'Nobody will ever be able to comprehend not being able to see a loved one for three to four weeks before they died and not to be there at the end. 'Three times in the last week of his life we asked for a phone call with him, but the home did not call.' A spokesperson for Temple Court said: 'The police are statutory members of adult safeguarding boards and it is routine practice to get in contact in cases such as this. 'We have been given no indication so far what they are investigating, but we will cooperate fully with their enquiries. 'Our priority has always been the wellbeing of our residents and giving them the best care possible. 'The home was left in an extremely challenging position after a sudden influx of residents from the NHS - some of whom had very complex needs - and a subsequent outbreak of Covid-19. 'A large number of staff, including the home manager and senior team, were absent due to the virus and we were left disproportionately reliant on the use of agency staff. 'After becoming overwhelmed, we worked closely with NENE CCG, the local authority and Care Quality Commission (CQC) to move them to settings that were not as compromised.' The home is currently rated as required improvement by the CQC following an inspection carried out in May 2019 It found a number of issues including a lack of risk assessments, incomplete records and management not always being aware of accidents that had happened. A spokesperson for NHS Northamptonshire CCG and Northamptonshire County Council said: 'As in all cases where concerns are raised about quality of care provision, our first priority is the wellbeing of residents. 'All residents of Temple Court residential and nursing care home have now been moved to new placements elsewhere to ensure that no one is at risk, and in line with our standard practice a multi-agency investigation has begun into the issues raised. 'With initial enquiries under way, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.' ***Do you have relatives at this care home? Email luke.may@mailonline.co.uk*** AB Klaipedos Nafta (hereinafter - the Company), as the operator of the liquefied natural gas (hereinafter - LNG) terminal in Klaipeda (hereinafter - the Terminal), informs that after the closure of annual terminal capacities allocation procedure and conclusion of respective agreements, for the period from the 1st of October, 2020 until the 30th of September, 2021, 8.363.500.000 kWh LNG regasification capacities were allocated. The Company notes that the above indicated Terminal capacities were allocated in advance, i.e. before start of upcoming Gas Year. It should also be noted that Terminal users can order Terminal capacities after the annual Terminal capacities allocation procedure. The Company at its website www.kn.lt constantly announces and updates the information regarding free capacities of the Terminal, which are available for booking during the Gas Year. Jonas Lenksas, Chief Financial Officer, +370 694 80594. The government leader requested ministries and localities to strengthen coordination with Lao counterparts. The meeting focused on assessing the progress and results of the implementation of cooperation projects with Laos in the fields of electricity and hydropower, transport connection, seaport, and airport, as well as speeding up the construction of the Lao National Assembly House. Participants also discussed measures to remove difficulties for businesses and promote bilateral trade in the context of jointly fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. BLOOMINGTON The front line in the fight against racism, injustice and the death of George Floyd was formed on Wednesday evening in Bloomington-Normal by 17- and 18-year-olds. A quickly organized rally and march to protest institutional racism and violence against African-Americans, including Floyd, was led by a group of Bloomington-Normal high school and college students who have had enough. They were joined by other teenagers and community allies who numbered about 500. "That gives me hope," Justin Turner, 17, of Bloomington, said as he looked over the crowd assembled on the lawn and sidewalks in front of the McLean County Law and Justice Center, noting that most of those rallying were young people. "We are the future," he said. "We are going to see change." Seven teenagers spoke at the rally in front of the Law and Justice Center, 104 W. Front St., then the 500 people marched to City of Refuge Ministries, 401 E. Jefferson St. Along the way, they chanted "I can't breathe," "No justice, no peace" and "Say his name George Floyd." Among messages on their signs were "White silence equals Violence" and "Black Lives Matter." When the 500 arrived outside the church, they knelt in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds the time that a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25 pressed a knee into the neck of George Floyd, a black man, who died after saying, "I can't breathe." Then they marched back to the Law and Justice Center, continuing to chant. After the event concluded, some participants continued marching and chanting around downtown Bloomington. Before the event, Gavin Cunningham, 18, of Bloomington, who will be a freshman at Illinois State University this fall, told The Pantagraph that he and friends organized the Black Lives Matter Solidarity Rally. "We're doing this to spread awareness, to reach out to our whole community," said Turner, who will be a senior at Normal Community West High School. "It's important because there is power in youth voices," said Ashyanna Watson, 17, of Bloomington, who will be a senior at Normal West. "We do not hate the police," Turner said. "But we will not stand if one of us gets slaughtered in the streets and that person does not get justice." Cunningham, who is white, said "Everyone who is white ... needs to sometimes just not talk. ... You need to listen to someone who doesn't look like you, to someone who doesn't act like you; hear the other side ..." During his speech, Turner said: "We must not turn a blind eye to violence. We are the future. This is our last stand. We are the only hope." Amon Brock, 17, of Normal, who will be a senior at Normal West, said that being a young black man was like walking around with a target on your back. "When will enough be enough?" he asked. Jasmine Jordan, 17, of Normal, who will be a senior at Normal West, said she was in a history class one year when every black student in the class was assigned a seat in the back of the classroom. Kayla Cobb, 18, of Normal, who will be a freshman at the University of Missouri, said her brother was met with a police dog when he was stopped for a traffic violation at age 16 and some classmates told her she looked like a prison inmate when she wore her hair in cornrows at age 12. These and other experiences have prompted her to speak up. "Youth have led revolutions in this country for years," Cobb said. Watson said she has been asked in school hallways if she was where she was supposed to be "as if I don't belong." She has heard students use the N-word at school. "So, now we stand together for change," Watson said. Among those in the crowd were Jennifer Poncin, 49, of Normal, a Unit 5 math teacher. "I think it's important that white people don't stand down when other people say and do offensive things to people of color," Poncin said. "I love that so many young people are here and getting civically involved." Turner asked participants to continue to work for change peacefully. "Leave here with an intention of peace and love." Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech. Love 24 Funny 4 Wow 2 Sad 3 Angry 3 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. June 3, 2020 News By JIM GARAMONE, DOD News Defense.gov Secretary Says He Does Not Support Invoking Insurrection Act Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper said he doesn't support invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow active-duty service members to act as law enforcement in quelling unrest in American cities. At a Pentagon news conference today, Esper said the National Guard is handling the situation on the streets and is the organization best-suited to assist local law enforcement. Esper called the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis policemen a horrible crime. "The officers on the scene that day should be held accountable for his murder," he said. "It is a tragedy that we have seen repeat itself too many times." The secretary said racism is real in the United States, and "we must all do our very best to recognize it, to confront it and to eradicate it." In the past, the United States military has been asked to support governors and law enforcement to help maintain law and order so that other Americans can exercise their rights, free from violence against themselves or their property. For example, the 101st Airborne Division deployed to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect integration efforts at Little Rock High School, and troopers from the 82nd Airborne Division deployed to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But the support usually comes from the National Guard, and thousands of guardsmen are deployed across the nation right now. "It is not something we seek to do, but it is our duty, and we do it with the utmost skill and professionalism," Esper said. "I'm very proud of the men and women of the National Guard who are out on the streets today performing this important task and, in many ways, at the risk of their own welfare." "The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations," Esper, who once served in the National Guard, said. "We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act." Esper praised the job National Guard service members have done over the past few months. "The National Guard has gone from tackling natural disasters, such as floods, to combatting coronavirus across the country, to now dealing with civil unrest in support of law enforcement on the streets of America," he said. He noted that, at the same time, many thousands of guardsmen are also deployed overseas. The U.S. military has often led the way in race relations, integrating African Americans into the ranks in 1948, for example. The nature of the military is to embrace diversity and inclusion, he said. "While we still have much to do on this front, leaders across DOD and the services take this responsibility seriously, and we are determined to make a difference," Esper said. All members of the military have taken an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. That means defending the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment: freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly and to petition the government. "The United States military is sworn to defend these and all other rights," he said. "And we encourage Americans at all times to exercise them peacefully. It is these rights and freedoms that make our country so special. And it is these rights and freedoms that American service members are willing to fight and die for." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KYODO NEWS - Jun 5, 2020 - 00:55 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Finance Minister Taro Aso said Thursday that Japan's relatively low mortality rate from the new coronavirus reflects the country's higher "level of social manners." "I have received phone calls (from overseas) asking 'Do you have any drug that only you guys have?' My answer is the level of social manners is different, and then they fall silent," said Aso, who doubles as deputy prime minister, at a parliamentary session in the House of Councillors. Japan has seen about seven deaths from the coronavirus for every 1 million residents, Aso said, a level far below the United States, Britain and France. "The United States imposed fines on people who broke lockdown rules, and France did so too. But we didn't have to do such a thing, and we made it only by requesting" that people suspend nonessential businesses and stay at home, Aso said. "We should be very proud of this." According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the COVID-19 mortality rate per 100,000 people was 0.72 in Japan, while it was 32.76 in the United States, 43.33 in France, and 59.88 in the United Kingdom as of Wednesday. The rate was relatively low in Asia, with China at 0.33 and Thailand at 0.08. Japan has avoided an explosive surge in coronavirus infections so far, with about 17,600 cases and more than 900 deaths as of Wednesday. The government fully lifted a state of emergency on May 25, seven weeks after the initial declaration was issued, as experts judged the spread of infections had come under control. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus hailed the result of Japan's efforts in tackling the virus spread as a "success" after the lifting of the emergency declaration. Nonetheless, the Japanese government is bracing for another wave of infections. Tokyo issued a warning Tuesday amid signs of a possible resurgence of virus infections, as the new cases that day marked the highest level since the lifting of the emergency. U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) on Tuesday joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), as well as Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), in addressing the ongoing protests for equal justice for Black Americans. Harris was Thursdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are her words: In the last couple of days, Ive been saying America is raw right now. Her wounds are exposed. The reality of it is that the life of a Black person in America historically, and even recently with Mr. Floyd, has never been treated as fully human. And it is time that we come to terms with the fact that America has never fully addressed the systemic racism that has existed in our country. Thats just a fact. And so, the people protesting on the street are protesting understanding that we have yet to fulfill that promise of equal justice under the law. And there is a pain that is present that is being expressed in their constitutional right to march and to shout. Like Senator Booker, I am a child of parents who marched and shouted in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. I would not be here as only the second Black woman elected to the United States Senate were it not for those folks who marched and shouted for justice. I would literally not be here were it not for those folks who took to the streets. My parents had their stories of how the police returned on the on the marches, but they still marched and it was their march that laid the path for me to be here today, to speak at this moment, and to speak to this moment. And as a former prosecutor, a profession I chose because I also growing up the way I did knew how law enforcement had a long history of enforcing laws indiscriminately, and often based on race, and racism, thats why I chose to become a prosecutor. And I can say, with full certainty that it is time that the leaders in this United States Senate, in this United States Congress, take action to reform a criminal justice system that for far too long, has been informed by systemic racism and by racial bias. It is time that we say that bad cops are bad for good cops. It is time that we say that one should not be subjected to the indignity of being told to get on your knees and put your hands behind your head, simply because you are walking while Black. And it happens every day in America. Theres not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend, or a coworker, or colleague, who has not been the subject of some form of racial discrimination at the hands of law enforcement, not one I know. And Im talking about people at every level of life, including people who graduated, Harvard and Stanford and you name it. And the only thing that is common among them is that the color of their skin is black. Thats why the people are marching in the streets. And the reality is that racism in America is bad for everyone. Racism is bad for everyone. Racism against Black folks, and Latinos, and Asians, and our native brothers and sisters, its bad for everyone. So, this is a moment in time where we have to address this. And we have to address it sadly, in the context of a pandemic, that has also laid bare, long standing disparities in our public health system, in our education system, in our economy based on race. This is happening at a moment in time, where we have a so called commander in chief, who also has the title of President of the United States, who I promise you will never speak the words Black Lives Matter. Well, they do. So, this is a moment in time where this co-equal branch of government has a responsibility to stand for the principles of those words that are etched in that marble building across the street, equal justice under law. And to do it in a number of ways, understanding that the policing issue is the tip of the iceberg. It is, underneath it is also these issues of long-standing racial disparities based on housing, based on education, based on public health. But right now, this is the moment in time to address the issue of policing. And so, the package of bills that Senator Booker and I and so many of our colleagues are pulling together is specifically to address that, because it must be addressed. It is a pervasive issue. And its 30 years after Rodney King, and the chants and the marches and the songs are about the same issue that we were marching for back when my parents did in the 60s and when we did after Rodney King 30 years ago. So, nows the time to act. Leader Schumer, I thank you for your leadership of our caucus and your leadership as a great American leader on an issue that has too long plagued us and that we have the power to address. Thank you. 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. Tim Mosenfelder/Getty ImagesAntwan Andre Patton, better known by his stage name Big Boi, is speaking out about the nationwide social unrest following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer. "It's mentally draining," Patton tells ABC Audio. "To watch it all day long. We've seen it time and time again and the people have had enough. As we should." According to the Outkast frontman, what's currently going on in America -- and around the world -- is bigger than just a protest for change. "It's not just flesh and blood, it's the spiritual war that's going on," he continues. "It's really a fight for your soul. So you got to pay attention to everything." While the COVID-19 quarantine has given Patton a much-needed break and time to reflect on his life, the rapper says he still can't seem to "understand how" America will just let itself "burn down for three officers." "It's plain as day what happened," he says. "They're ready let the whole thing go down the hole. So the people ain't gon' let up. This ain't going away. Until justice is served." On Wednesday, the initial charges against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was seen on video with his knee on Floyd's neck, were increased to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Additionally, the other three former officers who were at the scene, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane, have now been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. An independent autopsy revealed Floyd's cause of death was "homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain." By Candice Williams Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 18:50:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia reported 277 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily number to date, pushing the national total to 8,247 cases, the health ministry said on Thursday. Health ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that 270 of the new cases are foreign nationals detained at an immigration detention center on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. The facility was the first such detention depot where cluster infections were found among foreign detainees, before similar clusters were detected in several other facilities. Noor Hisham said the detainees might be infected due to the confined space in the facility but they were tested negative in the previous screening. He emphasized that new local transmissions involving Malaysians were only single digit as only four cases reported on Thursday were local transmission involving Malaysian citizens. Meanwhile, another 28 cases have been released bringing the total cured and discharged to 6,559 cases or 79.5 percent of all cases. Of the remaining 1,573 active cases, six are currently being held in intensive care and two of those are in need of assisted breathing. No new deaths have been reported, leaving the total deaths at 115. Ten Houston-based homebuilders made the Builder 100 ranking of the nations top builders for 2020. LGI Homes, a publicly traded company based in The Woodlands, kept the No. 10 position on the list with 4,804 closings in 2019. The closings were up 18 percent from 6,512 in 2018. David Weekley Homes, one of the nations largest privately held builders, ranked No. 17 on the list with 4,804 closings, up 2 percent from the previous year. The recently released ranking, which is based on a survey of companies by Hanley Woods Builder publication, found that the nation's top 100 builders closed 350,003 home sales in 2019. That's up nearly 7 percent over 2018. Most of the Houston builders reported increases, too. RELATED: LGI Homes reports record sales despite pandemic Rounding out the nations top 10 builders are D.R. Horton, Lennar Corp., PulteGroup, NVR, KB Home, Taylor Morrison, Meritage Homes, Toll Brothers, Century Communities. Arlington-based D.R. Horton, which closed on 58,434 homes in the U.S., is also the largest builder in the Houston market. Other Houston companies on the Builder 100 are: Perry Homes, No. 24 with 3,046 closings (up 16 percent) MHI (McGuyer Homebuilders), No. 33 with 1,789 closings (up 4 percent) Legend Homes, No. 41 with 1,417 closings (up 49 percent) Chesmar Homes, No. 43 with 1,329 closings (down 1 percent) Long Lake Ltd., No. 47, with 1,134 closings (down 3 percent) CastleRock Communities, No. 52 with 1,018 closings (up 3 percent) Westin Homes, No. 62 with 787 closings (up 31 percent) Anglia Homes, No. 78 with 592 closings (unchanged) Some builders are reporting a strong start to 2020 despite the recent slump as shoppers stayed home and job losses began to mount in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. RELATED: Home sales spike in Houston for first time since pandemic began Legend Homes, which builds in Texas under the Legend Homes, Bella Vista Homes and Princeton Class Homes brands, said it is on track for a 20 percent increase this year. The company, which offers starting prices from the $170,00s to $250,000s, attributed its sales increases to its shift toward first-time buyers. "As Legend Homes is approaching its 30th anniversary next year, we decided to go back to basics and focus on building an affordable home, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tanya Rizzo said in an announcement. Greg Yakim, head of CastleRock Communities, says his company normally sells about 1,000 homes a year in Texas, but is on track to sell 1,300 in 2020. He had expected a slowdown with the drop in oil prices and fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The company's weakness segment is houses in high end communities, while custom home sales are going strong. So far, knock on wood, this is going to be a record year for us, Yakim said. Were surprised. Were going to be way better than OK. NGW Releases Q1 Results and Announces Brand Sale Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Next Green Wave Holdings Inc. (CSE: NGW) (OTCQX: NXGWF) ("Next Green Wave", "NGW" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the following operational and financial milestones: In the months of March, April and May 2020, the Company operated with positive cash flow, and achieved both positive EBITDA and positive Net Income.* In the months of April and May 2020, the Company surpassed US$1Million of revenues in each month exclusively (March 2020 was US$900k) and in the last 3 consecutive months, the Company earned revenues over US$2.9 Million.* The Company has entered the final stages of both licensing and construction related to the extraction facility and expect this to be fully operational in Q3 2020. Q1 2020 Financial Results Now Available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) The Company would like to highlight some Q1 2020 achievements: Surpassed US$1 Million in Revenues.* As shown in the table below, the Company has materially increased its quarter over quarter revenue, while significantly reducing both its cash-out operating expenses and marketing expenses. Have increased plant quality with some strains testing as high as 40% total cannabinoids. Table 1 To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6127/57238_86bcbc3264c548ee_002full.jpg "Considering the challenges and obstacles this Company, and the industry, have had to overcome, the Company is proud to announce the accomplishments above. We have been achieving results that are starting to meet our expectations from both a financial and operational standpoint, however, even though we have produced some extremely high-end finished product recently, there is still room to grow." - Mike Jennings, CEO Next Green Wave Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHdao2bQuh0 As part of the growing demand for Next Green Wave premium flower, the company has launched a new lineup of products under the NGW brand. The new Next Green Wave flower and concentrates can be found across California including San Diego, LA and Oakland. The new flower was released first locally in Coalinga at Have A Heart and quickly expanded through our other retail partners and distributors. Figure 1: New Next Green Wave Flower & Concentrate Packaging To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6127/57238_86bcbc3264c548ee_004full.jpg The company is pleased to announce today that it has closed a sale of selective assets: trademarks and intellectual property rights relating to SD Cannabis and Hartluck, inventory relating to the Hartluck brand SD Cannabis packaging, and; the rights to the lease to the CBD retail store in San Diego (collectively, the "Acquired Assets") to SDC Parts, LLC ("SDC Parts"). Pursuant to an asset purchase agreement dated May 29, 2020 among the Company, Crossgate Capital US Holdings Corp., SDC, SDC Parts and certain principals of SDC Parts (the "Asset Purchase Agreement"), the Company sold the Acquired Assets to SDC Parts. Pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company received 5,163,406 common shares of the Company that were owned by certain principals of SDC Parts in exchange for the Acquired Assets. These shares were returned to the Company treasury. Subsequent to the closing of the transaction, the Company's issued and outstanding shares have been reduced from 164,670,189 to 159,506,783 common shares. "This is a mutually beneficial arrangement between SDC Parts and the Company and allows the Hartluck and SD Cannabis brands to seek the attention and capital needed to expand, while allowing Next Green Wave to continue to focus on developing its core business model in developing its cannabis business. This transaction also allows us to tighten our share capital structure and returns several million shares to the treasury. We look forward to working with SDC Parts to help both company's grow and succeed. " - Mike Jennings, CEO Next Green Wave Core Focus Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6127/57238_86bcbc3264c548ee_005full.jpg The Company is also pleased to announce the details of its first shareholder call scheduled to take place on June 4, 2020 at 1:30PM PST. Pre-registration is mandatory and can be completed by clicking HERE. After registration, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the call. Michael Jennings Chief Executive Officer, Director Next Green Wave Holdings Inc. About Next Green Wave Next Green Wave is a fully integrated premium seed to shelf craft cannabis producer offering products through its in-house brand portfolio and wholesale flower for other large cannabis manufacturers. The Company owns and operates a 35,000 sf indoor facility in Coalinga, CA which is home to our nursery, cultivation, distribution, and future extraction business. NGW has an exclusive seed library consisting of 120 cannabis strains and hybrids including award-winning cultivars and is nearing completion of developing tissue culture cloning technology with bio-tech leader Precigen. Marketing, product design and formulation are produced in-house, please follow along us at www.nextgreenwave.com or on Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. For more information regarding Next Green Wave please contact: Paul Chow Director Tel: +1 (604) 609.6167 IR@nextgreenwave.com *Forecasts assume no meaningful impacts or disruptions to our operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic beyond the new protocols and safeguards already implemented throughout the Company **All financial information is provided in U.S. dollars. The Company provides financial metrics that are not prepared in accordance with IFRS. Management uses non-IFRS financial measures, in addition to IFRS financial measures, to understand and compare operating results across accounting periods, for financial and operational decision making, for planning and forecasting purposes and to evaluate the Company's financial performance. Management believes that these non-IFRS financial measures reflect the Company's ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful comparisons and analysis of trends in the business, as they facilitate comparing financial results across accounting periods and to those of peer companies. Management also believes that these non-IFRS financial measures enable investors to evaluate the Company's operating results and future prospects in the same manner as management. These non-IFRS financial measures may also exclude expenses and gains that may be unusual in nature, non-cash, infrequent or not reflective of the Company's ongoing operating results. As there are no standardized methods of calculating these non-IFRS measures, the Company's methods may differ from those used by others, and accordingly, the use of these measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures used by others. Accordingly, these non-IFRS measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. While the FY 2019 information available on SEDAR is audited, the quarterly information disclosed above is not. Neither Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") nor its Regulation Services Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Next Green Wave Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, dependence on obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals, including acquiring and renewing state, local or other licenses and any inability to obtain all necessary governmental approvals licenses and permits to complete construction of its proposed facilities in a timely manner; engaging in activities which currently are illegal under US federal law and 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, particularly in California, due to inconsistent public opinion, perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry, bureaucratic delays or inefficiencies or any other reasons; any other factors or developments which may hinder market growth; NGW's limited operating history and lack of historical profits; reliance on management; NGW's requirements for additional financing, and the effect of capital market conditions and other factors on capital availability, competition, including from more established or better financed competitors; and the need to secure and maintain corporate alliances and partnerships, including with customers and suppliers. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although NGW has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. NGW no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information or for any other reason except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57238 Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 16:19:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Resettled villager Hu Shanghai and his wife prepare lunch in their new home at a poverty-alleviation resettlement community in Shangfeng Township of Xiushui County, east China's Jiangxi Province, May 21, 2020. The family moved here in 2017. During China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, the local government in Xiushui has built 141 resettlement communities for more than 10,000 impoverished rural residents, who used to struggle with life in the county's mountainous areas. The resettled rural residents now have access to better hospitals, schools and job opportunities. Many resettled residents are re-employed in new poverty-alleviation businesses such as tea plantations, silk factories and fruit orchards. All 121 such businesses, established with a poverty-relief fund worth 446 million yuan (about 63 million U.S. dollars), have helped 10,370 resettlement community inhabitants shake off poverty. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi) Family, friends and Bollywood colleagues of late filmmaker Basu Chatterjee arrived at Santa Cruz crematorium to bid him a final goodbye on Thursday afternoon. Basu died on Thursday morning following age related health issues. He was 90. Ashoke Pandit, president of the Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), was seen at the funeral. Sandip Sikand and other friend also braved the rain and water-logged streets to pay a final tribute. "Only family members were present, around 10 people, including both the daughters and sons-in-law. I was there because I wanted to be part of his journey," Ashoke told PTI. Chatterjee, who is survived by his daughters Sonali Bhattacharya and Rupali Guha, died in his sleep at his Santacruz residence. "He passed away peacefully in his sleep in the morning. He hadnt been keeping well for quite a while due to old age problems and died at his residence. It's a great loss for the film industry," Ashoke said. Many people in the film industry and outside condoled the death of the director, who placed the middle class and its everyday joys and struggles at the centre of his cinematic world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered Chatterjee as a filmmaker whose cinema touched peoples hearts. Also read: Kareena Kapoor is a proud aunt as she shares a glimpse of niece Inaaya showing off her handmade family tree "Sad to hear of the demise of Shri Basu Chatterjee. His works are brilliant and sensitive. It touched people's hearts and represented the simple and complex emotions, as well as struggles of people. Condolences to his family and innumerable fans. Om Shanti," the PM said on Twitter. Sending his prayers and condolences, Amitabh Bachchan described Chatterjee as quiet, soft spoken and gentle. his films reflected the lives of middle India a sad loss.., he said on Twitter. (With PTI inputs) Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Aaron Adams, 38, has been charged with murder and being a felon in possession of a weapon in the death of his girlfriend, 32-year-old Ashley Davis, in New Jersey A New Jersey man has been charged with murder in the killing of his girlfriend after the Pennsylvania woman was found dead from a pellet gun wound in the basement of his home. Aaron Adams, 38, of Ewing, initially was charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon in the death of 32-year-old Ashley Davis, 32, of Levittown. The murder charge was added Wednesday, according to the Mercer County Prosecutors Office, but a motive for the shooting remains under investigation. According to a press release from the prosecutors, at 6.30pm on Monday, police in Ewing responded to a report of a deceased woman at Adams' home on Glen Stewart Drive. Officers found Davis in the basement with visible wounds to her body. She was pronounced dead at the scene. During the execution of a search warrant at the home, police seized two long BB guns and a short BB gun from the basement, along with numerous bags of heroin. Davis was found dead from a pellet gun wound in Adams' basement in Ewing, New Jersey (pictured), on Monday Police allegedly found three BB weapons and numerous heroins bags inside the home Following an autopsy, Davis' death was ruled a homicide. The medical examiner has determined that the 32-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound by a metal air pellet gun that struck internal organs and caused massive internal bleeding. Records indicate that Adams has a previous criminal history that includes multiple felony convictions, including for aggravated manslaughter stemming from the fatal stabbing of a 21-year-old man at house party in Atlantic City in July 2006, reported The Trentonian. In 2010, Adams was sentenced to six years in state prison for the manslaughter conviction. Following his release, Adams in January of this year pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated assault involving domestic violence. In March, he was sentenced to one year of probation. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has named the previous head of a state body overseeing the defense industry as prime minister, two months before a presidential election. Raman Halouchanka, a 46-year-old former diplomat who had been heading the State Military-Industrial Committee, was promoted to the premiership on June 4, a day after Prime Minister Syarhey Rumas was dismissed along with his government after less than two years in office. Analysts say the appointment of a man with experience in the defense sector is intended to consolidate Lukashenka's rule and could signal that the 65-year-old Belarusian leader's readiness to get tough if necessary to hold on to power. Lukashenka, who has led the former Soviet republic for a quarter of a century, is widely expected to win a sixth term in office in an election scheduled for August 9. His critics say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media, and none of the elections since he took power in 1994 has been deemed free or fair by Western standards. 'Discipline And Order' At a meeting with senior officials, Lukashenka emphasized that Halouchanka would be "responsible for discipline and order in the government, for the final result," according to state news agency BelTA. "Most importantly he is a reliable person who can be trusted," he added. Lukashenka called for stability, saying: "Today is not the time for breaking things. It's not even time to build. Today, it is necessary to save what has already been built." During a June 1 meeting with the chief of the Belarusian KGB, Valery Vakulchyk,, the president warned there would be no revolution in Belarus following mass rallies in Minsk and other towns and cities during which dozens of opposition supporters were detained. The same day, prominent opposition leader Mikalay Statkevich was sentenced to 15 days in police detention. Elections authorities had earlier rejected his bid to stand against Lukashenka in the upcoming election. 'Arbitrary Arrests' Human Rights Watch (HRW) last month warned that Belarusian authorities have intensified their crackdown on protesters, opposition bloggers, journalists, and other government critics with a new wave of arbitrary arrests ahead of the August vote. Signaling their concern, the U.S., British, and European Union missions said in a joint statement on June 3 that "media freedom and the right of peaceful assembly are essential to legitimate elections." "Journalists must be able to report freely and unhindered. Citizens must be allowed to peacefully express their opinions. This is why we are also concerned regarding the recent detentions of peaceful protesters and imprisonments of journalists," the statement said. The country of 9.5 million people has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections, but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties to reduce Russias influence in the country. With reporting by Reuters and dpa [June 04, 2020] HP and BASF Expand Industrial Alliance to Advance Digital Manufacturing News highlights: Worlds leading chemical company BASF collaborates with technology leader HP to transform manufacturing with innovative new materials, joint development of advanced applications with market leading customers, and go-to-market initiatives First of its kind, sustainable, industrial-grade polypropylene (PP) developed for HPs Jet Fusion 5200 Series 3D printing system to accelerate production with optimal balance of performance and cost 1 Materials innovation and joint development of new PP applications enables initial partners including Extol, GKN Powder Metallurgy/Forecast 3D, Henkel, Oechsler, and Prototal to realize breakthrough economics, speed up design processes, and manufacture high-quality 3D printed parts faster; Alliance enables shared commitment to sustainable production and acceleration of a more circular and low-carbon economy HEIDELBERG, Germany and PALO ALTO, Calif., June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BASF, the worlds leading chemical company, and HP, the leader in industrial 3D printing solutions, today announced an expansion of their strategic alliance to advance digital manufacturing. Together, the companies are working closely with innovators in the auto, consumer, medical, and industrial manufacturing sectors to open up new market opportunities, jointly develop new best-in-class applications, and achieve unmatched quality, breakthrough economics, and more sustainable production. At the center of the expanded collaboration is the launch of a first-of-its-kind polypropylene (PP) for additive manufacturing. The HP 3D High Reusability PP enabled by BASF was developed and qualified for HPs Jet Fusion 5200 Series 3D printing solution to enable companies across industries to design and produce 3D printed parts faster, more cost-effectively, more sustainably, and at higher volumes than ever before. The advancement of our long-standing partnership with HP truly demonstrates our shared vision to help transform industries, enable sustainable production, and enable our customers to shape the Additive Manufacturing industrialization, said Francois Minec, Managing Director, BASF 3D Printing Solutions. BASF 3D Printing Solutions unveiled its new Forward AM brand last year as it continues to pursue its goal of driving industrial scalability with future-oriented, leading-edge materials and technology. The introduction of PP is another important step as we collaborate on best-in-class materials to transform manufacturing. Our teams have worked closely to develop a high quality, sophisticated PP that fully leverages the advanced capabilities of HPs Jet Fusion 5200 platform truly a win-win for innovative companies investing in the shift to digital manufacturing. HP and Forward AM by BASF share a deep commitment to accelerating the shift to digital manufacturing by delivering innovative, sustainable solutions and materials that open up entirely new opportunities, said Ramon Pastor, Interim President of 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing, HP Inc. The powerful combination of the worlds leading materials science and most advanced 3D printing capabilities yields superior quality, reliability, workflow, and cost savings for customers. From advanced prototyping to the production of final parts, we are excited about the impact this new PP will have for designers, engineers, and businesses around the world. BASF and HP have a long history of innovating together. BASF is a foundational partner in HPs 3D printing materials ecosystem and the two companies have collaborated on an array of sustainable and innovative materials including ULTRASINT TPU01 thermoplastic polyurethane released last year. Developed for HPs Jet Fusion 5200 3D Series, the new PP enables the 100% reuse of collected surplus powder2, leading to less waste3 and more efficient production. Already, the Forward AM team and HP are working with industry leaders including Extol, GKN Powder Metallurgy/Forecast 3D, Henkel, Oechsler , and Prototal to jointly develop applications with the new PP on HP Jet Fusion 5200 3D printing systems. Polypropylene has historically been a highly desirable material in industrial manufacturing due to its low cost, colorability, chemical resistance and UV stability, with nearly unlimited use in the worlds leading industries including consumer appliances and the $2 trillion automotive market. The availability of a new additive material that replicates a traditional material used for a wide variety of auto parts found in vehicles interior, exterior, and under-the-hood offers significant advantages for auto makers. We have been truly impressed by the joint effort between Forward AM by BASF and HP to help us accelerate our digital manufacturing initiatives, said Matthias Weikopf, senior vice president for research and development, Oechsler AG. The introduction of new materials such as PP enables us to quickly and cost effectively design, iterate and produce innovative new 3D printed parts for customers across industries. We expect a fast ramp up of entirely new applications that leverage the inherent advantages that 3D printing provides for auto makers, home and commercial appliances and the medical industry. About BASF At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 117,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of 59 billion in 2019. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com . About BASF 3D Printing Solutions BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH, headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, is a 100% subsidiary of BASF New Business GmbH. It focuses on establishing and expanding the business under the Forward AM brand with advanced materials, system solutions, components and services in the field of 3D printing. BASF 3D Printing Solutions is organized into startup-like structures to serve customers in the dynamic 3D printing market. It cooperates closely with the global research platforms and application technologies of various departments at BASF and with research institutes, universities, startups and industrial partners. Potential customers are primarily companies that intend to use 3D printing for industrial manufacturing. Typical industries include automotive, aerospace and consumer goods. For further information please visit: www.forward-am.com . About HP HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of personal systems, printers, and 3D printing solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at http://www.hp.com/go/3Dprinting. Copyright 2019 HP Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. _________________________ 1 Compared to other materials in the HP 3D materials portfolio as of May, 2020. 2 Based on internal HP testing, May 2020. HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solutions using HP 3D High Reusability PP enabled by BASF provide up to 100% powder reusability ratio, producing functional parts batch after batch. For testing, material is aged in real printing conditions and reclaimed powder is tracked by generations (worst case for reusability). Parts are then made from each subsequent generation and tested for mechanical properties and accuracy showing no degradation of properties up to three generations of use. 3 Easier to process than standard HP 3D High Reusability PA 12, providing proper fusing along with good spreadability and compatibility due to its small particle size. Lisa Kramer Phone: +49 6221 67417-130 E-mail: [email protected] Noel Hartzell, HP Inc. +1 415 786 4323 [email protected] www.hp.com/go/newsroom [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The use of significant amounts of tear gas by police against protesters across the United States in the last week could exacerbate the on-going coronavirus pandemic. A chilling report published in the New York Times yesterday highlighted the fact that the gas, which is being used without hesitation to disperse protesting crowds, directly attacks the lungs, and its corrosive effects could make people far more susceptible to respiratory illnesses like COVID-19. The past week has witnessed day after day of popular protests in hundreds of cities around the country following the murder of George Floyd by four police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, Memorial Day. Scenes of largely peaceful crowds chanting and marching have been interspersed with those of police and military personnel in riot gear wantonly beating protesters, firing rubber bullets and unleashing canisters of tear gas. Justified by the Trump administration and its fascistic supporters as essential to maintaining law and order against anarchists, thugs, looters and terrorists, these measures deserve condemnation given that they are fundamentally undemocratic, illegitimate and deliberately disproportionate. What makes the situation even worse is the fact that it is unfolding in the midst of the deadly pandemic. A protester runs through tear gas on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Las Vegas (AP Photo/Steve Marcus) Those looking to Trump and his administration for any clues to understanding the current crisis might be forgiven for thinking that the United States has turned the corner and that the coronavirus is a thing of the past. The reality, however, is starkly different. As of yesterday, the official COVID-19 death toll in the United States stood at nearly 109,000. The number of those infected with the virus is over 1.9 million and continues to increase. These numbers, widely regarded as underreported, would have been even worse but for the stringent lockdown measures that had been put in place more or less since mid-March. And now, despite the dire warnings of public health experts, those measures are being relaxed around the country. State after state, responding to the bullying tactics not just of the Trump administration, but also the initiatives of Democratic governors, has started opening up, setting the stage for what experts warn will be a far worse wave of infection in the coming months. In this context, epidemiologists have issued grave warnings about the dangers of the ongoing mass protests. Politicians, like Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, have tried to cast themselves as caring human beings by warning people to stay at home since such gatherings could become superspreader events. It is indeed true that social distancing is practically impossible in such situations, as is a guarantee that all participants would be wearing facemasks or any protective gear. Specific aspects of protest gatheringsyelling and chanting in close quarterscreate a situation that is ripe for spreading contagion. What the New York Times report, however, makes clear is that it is not just the gathering of citizens in close quarters that is dangerous. The specific tactics that are being employed by the oppressive arm of the state apparatus seems almost calculated to ensure the continuation, and increased virulence of the pandemicherding protesters into smaller areas citing crowd control; shoving large numbers of people into vans, buses and holding cells; and using tear gas to disperse crowds. The immediate effects of tear gascoughing, stinging in the eyes and throat that can last for about 30 minutesare only the tip of the iceberg. A 2012 study conducted by the US Army on the effects of CS gas, the main component of tear gas, found that recruits exposed to the agent had a substantially higher risk of acute respiratory illness several days after exposure. Unlike the physically fit Army recruits, many people on the streets might have underlying conditions and thus the effects of the gas could be even worse. Sven-Eric Jordt, a Duke University researcher who has studied the effects of tear gas, told the New York Times that he was shocked at how often tear gas was being used against protesters and that he was really concerned that this might catalyze a new wave of COVID-19. Tear gas, long used as a riot-control tactic by states, has been linked to higher risk of chronic bronchitis and all kinds of lung ailments. While the research on the effects of the gas has not kept pace with its actual usage, it is considered harmful enough that its use is prohibited in war. Given the nature of the coronavirus pandemic, its use should be considered beyond the pale in any context. Its indiscriminate use by the police, and the incitement to use such tactics by the Trump administration, is yet another illustration of the ruling elites callousness and complete disregard for the lives of the working class. Women who have experienced childhood trauma become mothers earlier than those with a more stable childhood environment shows a new study conducted in collaboration between the University of Turku and the University of Helsinki in Finland. The trauma children experience form living in war zones, natural disasters or perhaps even epidemics can have unexpected effects that resurface later in their lives. During the Second World War, thousands of Finnish women and girls volunteered to aid in the war effort as part of the paramilitary organisation 'Lotta Svard' exposing some to the trauma of war. Researcher and lead author of the study Robert Lynch from the University of Turku used extensive data collected on these volunteers to study the effects of childhood trauma on adults. The study showed that young girls and women who served in the war became mothers earlier and had more children compared to women of the same age who did not participate in the war effort. - If we can measure the effects of trauma on basic things such as the timing of motherhood, then it almost certainly has major effects on many of our other important behaviours, such as overall aversion to risk, sociality or the pace of sexual development, explains Lynch. - This study is groundbreaking because it overcomes many of the pitfalls of research on humans that has made it difficult to know whether trauma is actually the root cause of starting a family at a younger age. The extensive dataset made it possible for us to compare women before and after the war and also take family background into account by comparing sisters. This is strong evidence in support of the idea that trauma affects reproductive schedules, adds senior author, Researcher John Loehr from the University of Helsinki. The study has clear relevance for the millions of children and adults worldwide who experience trauma through wars. However, relevance likely also extends to other sources of trauma, such as natural disasters or even the current COVID-19 epidemic. Evolutionary theory predicts that individuals experiencing an unstable environment with high mortality are better off reproducing sooner rather than taking the risk of not having the chance later. - There appears to be a sensitivity window that extends from childhood into early adulthood where behaviour adjusts to match the circumstances experienced. The consequences can be far-reaching even after the situation stabilises. A childhood trauma can influence people's adult lives in ways that they are unaware of, such as the timing of their motherhood, explains Academy Professor Virpi Lummaa from the University of Turku. Background: Prior to and during the Second World War, many Finnish girls and women volunteered for the 'Lotta Svard' organisation that was a major part of the war effort. Tasks within the organisation varied greatly, and many of the women performed duties that exposed them to the trauma of war. Towards the end of the war, girls as young as fourteen years of age were entrusted with some of the more demanding jobs usually reserved for adults. The project was funded by the Kone Foundation with data from Karjala Liitto registers and digitised church register data provided by Karjalan tietokantasaatio. ### Learning from our past project: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/projects/learning-from-our-past GRAND RAPIDS, MI Grand Rapids Community College is among 20 colleges receiving a U.S Department of Labor Job Corps Scholars grant for $1.18 million to launch a career preparation program. The grants that totaled nearly $24 million were awarded for a new national demonstration project aimed at providing at-risk youth with job skills instruction, educational opportunities, and individualized employment counseling. The grant targets Job Corps-eligible youth ages 16 to 24. C.S. Mott Community College in Flint was the only other Michigan college to get funding. GRCC will provide the services during a 12-month career technical training program, which will be followed by up to a year of employment counseling to help participants find good jobs. As we look towards defeating coronavirus and reopening our economy, the Job Corps Scholars Program provides an innovative way to prepare at-risk youth for participation in the job market, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said in a statement. "Combining job training, classroom education, and employment counseling will give participating young adults an opportunity to excel." GRCC will work with community partners to identify about 80 potential students, including those who have faced numerous obstacles to success, including homelessness. GRCC President Bill Pink said the college will play an essential role in West Michigan emerging from the coronavirus crisis. Our economy will be strongest when everyone has opportunities to contribute and succeed. Im proud this program will help people overcome obstacles and gain skills that can lead to rewarding careers, but also can transform their lives, Pink said in a June 1 press release. The Jobs Corps Scholars Program is supported by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 with a goal of strengthening the connection between workforce development and education. GRCC plans to work with community partners to identify about 80 potential students, including those who have faced numerous obstacles to success, including homelessness. Officials say staff is planning an intensive, holistic approach to providing comprehensive services, building on each students unique strengths and experiences. Students will gain in-demand skills and will work with its partners to learn through employer panels, site visits, networking opportunities, and mock interviews with feedback to help them gain good jobs, according to the college. Our goal is to help people prepare for careers, but also for them to have resources and skills to be successful long after graduation, said Julie Parks, GRCCs executive director of Workforce Training. We have tremendous partners among West Michigan employers and community groups, and we appreciate the support and confidence of the U.S. Department of Labor to make this happen. The college will help students with academics in addition to career training. GRCCs intensive Fast Track program is a three-week learning lab to boost math and reading skills. This demonstration project is also aimed at providing the Labor Department with insight into ways to improve the effectiveness of the Job Corps program. Grant recipients include accredited, two-year, public community colleges; accredited, public two- and four-year historically black colleges and universities (HBCU); and accredited tribally controlled colleges. More on MLive: Grand Rapids police chief tells protesting crowd hell work for change HopCat, BarFly Ventures file for bankruptcy Grand Rapids changes five polling locations ahead of Aug. 4 primary F ormer US Defence Secretary James Mattis has blasted Donald Trump's behaviour and accused him of seeking to "divide" American people over the George Floyd protests. Mr Mattis has remained mostly silent after he resigned in 2018 when the President decided to withdraw US troops from Syria. But, in an interview published by the Atlantic on Wednesday, Mr Mattis said he was "angry and appalled" by how Mr Trump was handling unrest sparked by the death of Mr Floyd in police custody. Mr Trump responded by tweeting that Mr Mattis was an "overrated general" and that it had been an "honour" to fire him. Condemning his actions, former Defence Secretary wrote Americans were witnessing "the consequences of three years without mature leadership". "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try," he said. "Instead, he tries to divide us. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. "This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children. Thousands of people have been arrested as protests continue to erupt across the US following the death of Mr Floyd in Minneapolis. James Mattis said Donald Trump has failed to show 'mature leadership' / REUTERS The 46-year-old African American was filmed gasping and pleading I cant breathe as a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Mr Trump faced fierce criticism after suggesting he would deploy the National Guard and active-duty military assets to manage the protest. But on Wednesday Defence Secretary Mark Esper overturned the Pentagon decision to send active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, DC region. George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' 1 /16 George Floyd protesters 'take the knee' AFP via Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA Getty Images Speaking about the use of the military during the protests, Mr Mattis said: "Militarising our response, as we witnessed in Washington DC, sets up a conflict... between the military and civilian society." Mr Mattis clearly stated his support for the protesters in the interview saying: "I have watched this weeks unfolding events, angry and appalled. "The words Equal Justice Under Law are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. "This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demandone that all of us should be able to get behind." George Floyd protests from around the world He encouraged Americans not to be "distracted by a small number of lawbreakers". "The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our valuesour values as people and our values as a nation," said Mr Mattis. "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. On Monday, law enforcement officers on foot and horseback aggressively drove protesters away from Lafayette Park in Washington, clearing the way for Mr Trump to do a photo opportunity at St Johns Church, known as the church of presidents. Mr Mattis criticised the "bizarre photo-op" and said clearing the park of demonstrators beforehand was an "abuse of executive authority". CLIFTON PARK The organizer helping Shenendehowa school students plan a Black Lives Matter march on Monday afternoon said the teens who are planning the event feel intimidated by town officials and the State Police who want in on the plans. Jamaica Miles, founder of All of Us Community Action and a seasoned organizer, said the police and town officials have been calling student organizers, which she said is scaring the group of black and brown teens who want to address racial injustice. One of the students said they just keep calling. Do I have to answer the phone?, Miles said. They are kids and they are scared. Im a mom. They are visibly shaken. This is fear tactics. This is intimidation. New York State Police confirmed they did reach out to the students, but only to invite them to a meeting with the town and the sheriffs office. The purpose of the meeting was to work with the organizers on a plan that would ensure everyones safety, State Police spokeswoman Trooper Kerra Burns said. The protest is planned to travel down Route 146, a very busy state highway. Our goal is to provide support for a safe, peaceful protest. Supervisor Phil Barrett said he called two of the student organizers, one of whom, he said, called him first. He did not hear back from either of them. He said he wants to help the students and could only do so if he had more information on the march. He doesnt understand why the students would not trust or be reluctant to talk to town officials. I dont know everybody personally, said Barrett who plans on going to the march. But, I would think, over the course of time, our consistent support of the Shen community has sustained credibility. We are not working against them. Thats the furthest thing from the truth. We are trying to work with them to ensure a safe experience. We are on the same team. This is Clifton Park. Miles said in her decade of organizing protests and rallies, she only got one call from police prior to a rally and that was in 2016 when she organized a 9,000-person protest at the state Capitol. She cant understand why they are calling students who already feel intimidated by threats made against them on social media. Im not buying the spin we want to help you and support you, Miles said. You know the event is happening, show up. You know how to do your job. You dont need anything from us. Barrett said the students do not need a permit to march down Route 146 on Monday afternoon. But he put out a statement earlier in the week saying he wants to be contacted by the organizers about their plans. It is customary and prudent for anyone that intends to attract a large gathering of people, to contact the town to ensure adequate steps are taken to ensure the safety of everyone involved, Barrett said in the statement. He also said that large gatherings are a concern because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also noted the town fully respects the right of people to peacefully protest and asked those planning the event to call the supervisors office. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Barrett said he plans to walk with the protesters. Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo and Shenendehowa Superintendent Oliver Robinson said they are also open to marching with the students and are waiting to hear more so that they can participate. The march, planned for 2 p.m. and running from the Clifton Commons to the State Police barracks on Route 146, was organized by the students, Miles said, because many of the police officers who work in Albany, Schenectady and Troy live in Clifton Park. The students, she said, wanted to reach the police where they live. I felt what they were saying and it gave me chills, Miles said. These are black and white students that are organizing this. They have personal experience about what has happened in their community. The Times Union was unable to talk to any of the student organizers. One student said she could not talk without her mothers permission. Her mother later called the Times Union and denied her daughter was involved. She would not give any further details. Regardless, Miles said the students are expecting a few hundred people to show up including clergy, faith leaders and members of the Democratic Socialists of America. She said the adults, especially the clergy and faith leaders, will keep the students safe, especially from agitators and instigators who she fears might show up. (The students) feel passionately about speaking out against police brutality, about lifting up black lives, she said. The white students are there to support their black peers and have their voices heard. All of us, the community action group is there to support them in that. Esper has been serving as defense secretary for almost a year, which makes him, in Trump terms, a long-running cabinet veteran. Given the way the president treasures cabinet members who arent afraid to speak their mind, insiders expressed confidence that he might well remain in the administration for quite a few more hours. As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, said the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, on Wednesday. Its certainly been a tough time for the cabineteers. Attorney General William P. Barr is getting the blame for all the messiest aspects of that Trump trip to the church. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been fighting off investigations into whether he gets government employees to run his personal errands. We are only bringing that last matter up because it provides a chance to revisit Trumps defense of Pompeo that its better to have him use federal funds to buy a home helper than forcing him to wash dishes because maybe his wife isnt there. After all, if Pompeo wasnt in the kitchen he might otherwise be on the phone with some world leader. Yeah, and one thing we do not have to worry about is Donald Trump doing housework when Melania and all the help are out of town. What could be more un-dominant? The presidents super-favorite word came up in his speech to the nation this week, when he urged deployment of the national guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. In passing, he also assured Americans that they had no need to worry about your Second Amendment rights. Have you noticed how often Trump throws the right to bear arms into these conversations? Its as if hes worried that any time he tells the country things are OK, he has to reassure them that wont mean less armaments. Just recently, while he was unveiling a program to help support agriculture during the coronavirus crisis, Trump assured visiting Virginia farmers: Were going after Virginia with your crazy governor. They want to take your Second Amendment away. You know that, right? Youll have nobody guarding your potatoes. (Adds details from rallies) * Thousands hold annual vigil in Hong Kong despite police ban * Anniversary strikes nerve as national security laws loom * Police use spray on some protesters setting up roadblocks * Hong Kongers light candles across city * EU and U.S. back memorials for 1989 crackdown By James Pomfret and Scott Murdoch HONG KONG, June 4 (Reuters) - Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters on Thursday who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China's bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too. Scuffles broke out briefly in the working-class Mong Kok area where hundreds had gathered and some demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, prompting officers to use spray to disperse them, according to Reuters witnesses. It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which police had prohibited this year citing the coronavirus crisis. Several protesters were arrested, police said. Earlier, a few thousand people joined a peaceful main rally in Victoria Park, many wearing masks and chanting slogans such as "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time" and "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong." "We are just remembering those who died on June 4, the students who were killed. What have we done wrong? For 30 years we have come here peacefully and reasonably, once it's over it's 'sayonara' (goodbye)," said Kitty, a 70-year-old housewife. The anniversary has struck an especially sensitive nerve in the former British-ruled city this year after China's move last month to impose national security legislation and the passage of a bill outlawing disrespect of China's national anthem. It also comes as Chinese media and some Beijing officials voice support for protests in the United States against police brutality. In Beijing, security around Tiananmen Square, a popular tourist attraction in the heart of the city, appeared to be tightened, with more police visible than on ordinary days. June 4 commemorations are banned in mainland China. Story continues In Hong Kong, which just reported its first locally transmitted coronavirus cases in weeks, police had said a mass gathering would undermine public health. But many took to the streets to light candles and stand for a minute's silence. Seven Catholic churches opened their doors. Some people held photos of the 1989 events, including a famous one of a man standing in front of a tank convoy. Millionaire publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai and Democratic Party founder Martin Lee, who were both arrested in April over protests last year, left a church service together. "We are afraid this will be the last time we can have a ceremony but Hong Kongers will always remember what happened on June 4," said Brenda Hui, 24, in Mong Kok, with a white battery-illuminated umbrella that read "Never Forget June 4." WESTERN SOLIDARITY The European Union and United States both expressed solidarity with the Hong Kong demonstrators' desire to mark the Tiananmen anniversary. Democratically-ruled and Beijing-claimed Taiwan, where more than 500 people gathered in Liberty Square, asked China to apologise, which the mainland called "nonsense." "In China, every year has only 364 days; one day is forgotten," Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wrote on her Facebook page. "I hope that in every corner of the earth there won't be any days that are disappeared again. And I wish Hong Kong well." China has never provided a full account of the 1989 violence. The death toll given by officials days later was about 300, most of them soldiers, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands of people may have perished. There was no mention of the anniversary in Chinese state media. But Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, tweeted a screenshot of the U.S. statement with his own commentary. "The Tiananmen incident gave Chinese society a political vaccine shot, which has enabled us to be immune to any colour revolution. 31 years later, riots emerged and spread in the U.S. They only think of exporting it, but forget to prepare vaccine for themselves." Hu did not elaborate. The term colour revolution is often used to describe peaceful uprisings in former Soviet states but has also been used to describe other popular movements. In Hong Kong, officials have repeatedly said a ban on groups larger than eight is a public health measure with no political motivation. Earlier on Thursday, some students in Hong Kong followed the annual tradition of repainting a Tiananmen memorial message on a university campus bridge: "Souls of martyrs shall forever linger despite the brutal massacre. Spark of democracy shall forever glow for the demise of evil." (Reporting by Marius Zaharia, Jessie Pang, Pak Yiu, Sarah Wu, and Carol Mang in Hong Kong, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Writing by Marius Zaharia and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Jane Wardell and Andrew Cawthorne) WASHINGTON - The Senate passed legislation Wednesday to provide more flexibility to small businesses that have received forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, giving them more time to use the money just ahead of a deadline to forgive the first round of payments. The legislation passed by unanimous consent and now goes to President Donald Trump's desk, following House passage of the bill last week. The White House has not said whether Trump will sign the bill, but the president has indicated support for the goals of the legislation. The central aim of the legislation is to allow businesses 24 weeks - instead of eight - to spend loans they receive under the Paycheck Protection Program and have the money forgiven. The restaurant industry and other business groups had pushed for the change, saying that eight weeks was not enough time given that the coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses to stay shut longer than anticipated when the Paycheck Protection Program was created in late March as part of the $2 trillion Cares Act. Lawmakers of both parties supported the change. "Currently, workers may be brought back for the eight weeks, but what good is it if they're then laid off at the end of that short period? It's unrealistic," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday on the Senate floor. "And small businesses need assistance that can cover the full length of this crisis." The Paycheck Protection Program was overwhelmed by demand as soon as it was created, with the initial $350 billion in funding exhausted within weeks, despite a glitchy rollout and controversy over large companies that got the money intended for small businesses. In April, Congress approved an additional $310 billion so that more companies could receive funding. "The Senate has always committed to standing behind this popular program," said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Back in April, when it ran low on funds, we worked together to add more resources. And today, we are passing another piece of legislation that makes a few targeted changes to the program." But demand for the program has slowed and there is more than $100 billion left, which some business groups attribute to concerns about strings attached to the program. Businesses that got loans in the initial weeks after its creation are now running up against the eight-week deadline to spend the money, even though some haven't been able to reopen yet. Also, a majority of the money has to be spent on payroll in order for the loans to be forgiven. The Treasury Department initially established that 75 percent of the loan had to be spent on payroll for the money to be fully forgiven, but the House bill changed that figure to 60 percent. Some key senators including Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, had concerns about the way the House bill was crafted, arguing it might not allow businesses to have loans partially forgiven if they spend just short of 60 percent of the money on payroll. They said they would work to pursue technical fixes to the legislation going forward. But with the House out of session, senators viewed it as urgent to pass the legislation into law in time for businesses that are running up against the eight-week deadline to benefit from it. The legislation approved Wednesday also allows payroll tax deferral for recipients and extends a two-year repayment deadline for the balance of loans that are not forgiven. There was dispute about a provision of the House bill that extends a June 30 rehiring deadline. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has criticized the program for sending money to some businesses that don't really need it, initially blocked an attempt by Schumer to pass the new bill. Johnson was seeking assurances that the extension of the June 30 deadline wouldn't mean that businesses could continue to apply for new loans past that time, just that they would have more time to rehire employees. Ultimately Johnson withdrew his objection after working with key lawmakers on a letter to be entered into the congressional record to memorialize his interpretation of the provision. The Paycheck Protection Program offers loans up to $10 million to businesses with 500 or fewer employees. Through May it had issued more than 4 million loans totaling more than $510 billion. Reunited: Andrea Monti hugs his girlfriend Katherina Scherf who just arrived from Duesseldorf, Germany at Romes Fiumicino airport. Photo: Reuters Italy has become the first European country to fully reopen its borders, and visitors from the UK and the EU will not have to go into 14-day quarantine upon arrival. A ban on travelling between Italy's 20 regions was also lifted - since March such journeys were prohibited unless they were for urgent work or health reasons. It meant families could be reunited after three months of separation. "We did it, with the sacrifice of everyone," said Francesco Boccia, Italy's minister for regional affairs. Like all countries, Italy has had to weigh the dangers of opening up too early against the need to rebuild its shattered economy. The national government had to overrule objections from some regions - Tuscany and Campania among them - which were worried about new infections being carried from Lombardy, Veneto and other northern regions that were worst affected by Covid-19. "Right now, it's a disaster. I can't afford to pay my normal staff because we're doing so little business," said Maria, owner of a trattoria in Trastevere, a fashionable area of Rome near the Vatican. "We just hope tourists start returning in the next week or 10 days. But I wonder if they have the will, psychologically and economically, to come." The virus has by no means been vanquished in Italy - on Tuesday there were another 55 deaths and more than 300 new cases. On Monday, there were 60 deaths. While 160,000 people had recovered from the virus, 40,000 remained infected. Some of Italy's most famous attractions were reopened, including the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum in Rome and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. An exhibition in Rome of 120 Raphael works, which had to close after just a few days due to the lockdown, was reopened and its run extended until the end of August. The ruins of Pompeii reopened to visitors last week. With Italy facing a predicted 10pc contraction of its economy, the government was desperate for tourism to return, as it accounted for 13pc of its GDP. "Italians can move freely around the country again," said Luigi Di Maio, the foreign minister. "This is an important message of reassurance to the world. The opening of the country allows us to show to other countries an Italy that is united and solid." But it was unclear if and when tourists would start to arrive in any significant number. Rome's main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, handled just a few thousand travellers yesterday, compared with 110,000 this time last year. While shops, bars and restaurants had been open since May 18, cinemas and theatres have to wait until June 15. The majority of people in cities like Milan and Rome were continuing to wear face masks when they left home, and social distancing protocols were being maintained in shops, restaurants and offices. Daily Telegraph, London 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. New Delhi, June 5 : Amid the politics over the death of a female elephant in Kerala, the Congress on Thursday slammed BJP for giving communal colour to the incident and demanded unconditional apology. In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Organisations) K.C. Venugopal said: "The BJP must tender an unqualified and unconditional public apology for giving communal colour to the most unfortunate incident of the killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala." His remarks came amid the death of a pregnant elephant caused by eating a pineapple stuffed with fire crackers in Kerala's Palakkad district. The pregnant elephant had died in the slushy water of the river Velliyar on May 25. Venugopal was responding to remarks made by Union Minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar and senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi. Earlier on Thursday, Javadekar, who is the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in a tweet said: "Central government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill." Maneka Gandhi, who is also an animal right activist while targeting the state government said, "Malappurram is known for its intense criminal activity specially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it". Describing the incident as unfortunate and most cruel, Venugopal said: "The incident invited condemnation and criticism across the world. Any kind of mindless and unreasonable violence against wild life is totally unacceptable and unjustifiable." Slamming the BJP leaders, the congress leader from Kerala accused the BJP leaders of spreading false information. "Although, the incident took place in Palakkad district, the Ministers and right-wing trolls are relating the incident to the neighbouring Malappuram district. They are deliberately spreading communally motivated false information on the district," he said. He said, furthermore, without any connection whatsoever, they even dragged the name of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in this diabolic incident. "This propaganda has proven once again that the BJP will stoop to any level to twist the facts for their narrow divisive political purposes. They are shedding crocodile tears over the incident and this divisive propaganda has exposed BJP's hypocrisy totally," the Congress leader added. Earlier in the day, Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel has lashed out to people who want to take advantage of the situation and misrepresent facts to divide the society. Patel tweeted: "It is sad that the climate in our country has become so bitter that even in the tragic death of an elephant, some are trying to misrepresent the facts to twist into an issue of one community Vs the other?" Meanwhile, Kerala forest department team probing the killing of the pregnant elephant is leant to have taken two persons into custody. The local Manarakadu police station on Wednesday registered a case in the gruesome incident. Australians are increasingly calling for more support for local business in a bid to boost the economy and wean its reliance off China. According to a new YouGov survey, as many as 88 per cent of people thought the country was too dependent on Chinese imports. A staggering 98 per cent of older people said they wanted to see a boost to local manufacturing while seven out of 10 people said they had become more conscious of Australian-made products when shopping. 'Now more than ever Australians want to be making our essential products here,' Australian Workers Union national secretary Daniel Walton told Herald Sun. 'We don't want to be reliant on China.' A staggering 82 per cent of people believe the government has a duty to use homemade products for infrastructure projects - even if it costs more money (stock image) Mr Morrison said the economic fallout could have been much worse, were it not for his government's response to the pandemic As many as 82 per cent of people believe the government has a duty to use homemade products for infrastructure projects - even if it costs more money. The news comes after Australia entered its first recession in 29 years. The economy shrank 0.3 per cent in the March quarter due to the bushfires and early stages of coronavirus lockdowns, and a much larger fall is expected in the current June quarter. 'I really didn't want to see a recession ever again in Australia,' prime minister Scott Morrison said earlier this week. 'As a government we worked so hard to bring the budget back into balance ... to see COVID-19 hit it like a torpedo is absolutely devastating. 'Where we find ourselves now is heartbreaking.' Mr Morrison said the economic fallout could have been much worse, were it not for his government's response to the pandemic. He said Australia was making its way back from the coronavirus crisis with the help of a $688 million home builder scheme. 'It's going to be a hard road back,' Mr Morrison said. Unions and business say the recession shows the need for government support beyond the six months envisioned when the coronavirus pandemic hit. ACTU president Michele O'Neil said the government needed a comprehensive plan to create jobs and lift Australia out of doldrums. Australians are increasingly calling for more support for local business in a bid to boost the economy and wean its reliance off China A staggering 98 per cent of older people said they wanted to see a boost to local manufacturing while seven out of 10 people said they had become more conscious of Australian-made products when shopping The union movement has proposed an eight-point plan which includes lifting wages and living standards, investing in public and community services, infrastructure spending and investment in education and training The union movement has proposed an eight-point plan which includes lifting wages and living standards, investing in public and community services, infrastructure spending and investment in education and training. 'The uncertainty created by the government's refusal to both broaden who is receiving JobKeeper today and extend its life beyond September is causing additional hardship and reducing consumer confidence,' she said. Ai Group chief Innes Willox said the growth figure showed governments were playing an important role in countering the downturn, but more was needed. 'The further support set to flow over the next few months will reinforce a rebound in activity and reduce but likely not eliminate the need for additional measures after JobKeeper ends in September,' he said. Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the economic slowdown had been coming before the virus hit, but had been made worse by the necessary shutdowns to reduce the spread. 'Having introduced the support for the economy too narrowly and too slowly, Australians can't afford the government to withdraw that support too quickly or too bluntly,' he said. A Black Lives Matter March, which had been planned for Longford this Saturday, has been postponed due to a number of concerns from the community regarding Covid-19 regulations. Organisers this evening thanked everyone who expressed an interest in attending, or who supported the march, but said that they have decided to postpone it in response to community concerns. "We wanted to hold this march to unite the people of Longford, in a space where we could openly acknowledge the evils of racism, and the need for us to eliminate it," said one of the event organisers, Eric Ehigie. "However, due to concerns regarding the number of local people with Covid-19 being exacerbated by the march, we have decided that it may be best to hold it at a later date." The peaceful, anti-racist protest was being organised for Longford this Saturday afternoon, with plans to adhere to social distancing, in tribute to the life of George Floyd. George Floyd was an African American man who was killed by a police officer who pressed his knee to Mr Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, while he was handcuffed, face down on the ground. It happened on May 25 in Minneapolis. "This march was planned, not only because we believe it is necessary to highlight how institutionalised racism in America has took the lives of far too many people of colour; George Floyd being but one of those, but also because we felt the need to emphasise how racism is a virus that knows no borders, and that affects us all in a detrimental way - including people of colour here in Ireland," Mr Ehigie added. Following a large number of concerns expressed online by members of the public, organisers agreed that the event should be postponed, but have encouraged people to continue to take a stand against racism. "One thing weve all noticed during these times is how the tragic event in America has paradoxically emancipated those most affected by racism, and those who sympathise with the people who racism impacts. People are now demonstrating, organising and stomping boots throughout the world, and using their voice to call for the global society to come together to put an end to this treacherous disease, that has eroded, and still erodes our social fabric incrementally. "So continue to use your voice when they try to silence you, take a stand when they say you cannot, call out injustice wherever you find it and never stop struggling until we all get to a place where ones skin colour is not the arbitrator of her/his disposition, but instead his/her character is." Speaking to the Leader this evening, Eric Ehigie acknowledged the importance of taking public concerns into consideration. "It is only right to take into account the genuine concerns of the community during such a time," he said. "The aim of the march is to bring people together, and that cant be done with such backlash coming from the community. Although it wont take place on Saturday, we hope to hold it on a date that is more convenient." Minister of Education Tarek Shawki has announced that 16,000 thermometers, 34 million face masks, 6.5 million pairs of gloves and 6,000 bottles of hand sanitiser have already been distributed to schools where a total of 650,000 students are due to begin sitting their Thanaweya Amma exams on 21 June. Before the exams begin examination halls will have been sterilised twice, once in the very early morning of exam day, and then again, 30 minutes before students begin arriving. Two ambulances will be stationed in front of each school for emergencies, and two rooms in the schools designated as exam centres will be set aside to quarantine students showing coronavirus symptoms until they can be taken to the hospital. In a press statement Shawki said students sitting the Thanaweya Amma, the general secondary education certificate that is necessary to enter university, will have to arrive an hour before exams begin so invigilators can measure their temperature before they are allowed on school premises. Students will only be allowed in with a face mask, and gloves. Parents will not be allowed to gather in front of the schools gate, said Shawki. When students arrive at school premises they will have to queue, two metres apart, while their temperature is measured. Ministry of Education Spokesman Mahmoud Hassouna told Al-Ahram Weekly that invigilators will also ensure students have sterilised their hands before entering the examination hall, and they are wearing their face mask and gloves. Each examination hall will contain 14 students. They will sit at individual desks spaced two metres apart, said Hassouna. Should a student display Covid-19 symptoms, either on arrival or during the course of the exam, an ambulance will transfer them to a specialised hospital. The cost of sterilising exam halls in schools across the country for a month, and buying the necessary preventive supplies, will cost LE950 million, said Hassouna. Mona Zaki, the mother of a Thanaweya Amma student, is not convinced by the precautions that have been announced. She would much rather students were allowed to take their exams online, or submit a research project in lieu. What would happen if students took their exams online? It is an exceptional year, so let the exams be exceptional too, says Zaki, who questions whether the precautionary measures offer any real protection against the virus. Shawki said students had been given the option to postpone their exams until next year should their parents wish to do so, but that exams this year must go ahead as planned to minimise the risk of cheating. Thanaweya Amma student Maram Khalifa believes there is little risk in holding the exams. Parents worry too much. There is no need to be concerned as long as everyone wears face masks and gloves and the examination halls are sterilised twice a day, she said. Shawki said the Ministry of Education is discussing possible scenarios for the new academic year, due to start in September. It is essential to plan ahead, he said, given that national and international health officials expect the coronavirus crisis to continue for several months. Meanwhile, the Supreme Council for Universities (SCU), headed by Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, met to discuss the precautionary measure that should be adopted to protect students who are due to begin sitting their finals on 1 July. None final year students have either already taken their exams online, or handed in a project in lieu of the exams. Ministry of Higher Education Spokesman Mohamed Al-Tayeb said SCU members had agreed to adopt precautionary measures similar to those being taken in schools. Students will be required to wear face masks and their temperature will be measured before they enter university premises. Gatherings of students after the exams will be banned and social distancing rules will apply inside examination halls which will be sterilised daily. Each faculty must dedicate spaces to quarantining students who display COVID-19 symptoms, and ambulances will be stationed outside university premises to convey suspected cases to health facilities. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 June, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: London: Two Australian reporters have been attacked live on air while covering an anti-racism demonstration which turned violent outside Downing Street. In separate incidents now being investigated by police, Nine News journalist Sophie Walsh was assaulted in Hyde Park on Wednesday morning by a man shouting "Allahu Akbar" and making stabbing motions. Later in the day, Walsh's colleague Ben Avery was chased down a central London street by a crowd hurling bottles and other projectiles. Walsh initially feared the man may have been wearing an explosive vest and was trying to kill her on what was the third anniversary of the deadly London Bridge terrorist attack. As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, insurers could face a tsunami of claims from businesses looking for interruption coverage, experts say. These lawsuits are ramping up in the United States and Europe, said Toronto insurance lawyer Sivan Tumarkin. Canada is starting to see its own lawsuits, both class-action and individual, from business owners looking to claim business interruption insurance. In March, when the pandemic was starting to take hold here, several Ontario dentists spent two weeks trying to get their provider to pay them under their business interruption insurance, which specifically mentioned pandemic-caused closures. Insurance giant Aviva Canada did eventually pay; its CEO said the dentists had a unique arrangement for such coverage. In Toronto, restaurant owner Hemant Bhagwani launched a suit against his insurance provider related to three of his restaurants after his business interruption claims were denied. And a Saskatchewan-based law firm has launched a national class-action suit representing businesses that have had business interruption claims denied. Whether such suits will be successful or not will largely depend on the type of coverage the business has and, in the case of those with standard policies, the courts interpretation of what constitutes physical damage. After the 2003 SARS outbreak, Tumarkin said insurance companies started offering policies that cover a pandemic or infectious disease. But COVID-19 has shown that even these policies arent enough: some insurance companies will say the virus needs to have hit geographically close to the office to result in a payout. Theyre trying to avoid a floodgate situation, he said. If such a case comes before a judge, Tumarkin said the policy better have a specific exclusion or the judge is sure to favour the insured and in many cases the claim will be settled out of court to avoid bad PR, he said. But many businesses dont have that extra coverage, he said. Traditional business interruption policies dont offer pandemic-related coverage, said Vanessa Barrasa, media relations manager with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Regular business interruption policies are focused on one type of interruption: physical damage, such as fire or water. The payout is meant to cover the cost of repair and replacement, Tumarkin said. Getting a payout in such situations will be much harder, but there are some precedents that indicate it may be possible. A recent Ontario court case unrelated to COVID-19 has turned heads in the legal community, said Tumarkin, and some think it could make regular business interruption policies that cover physical damage applicable to COVID-19 shutdowns. The suit, MDS Inc. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company, is under appeal, said Tumarkin. MDS lost out on millions in profits because a nuclear reactor from which it purchased radioisotopes was shut down by a leak for 15 months. The judge ruled in favour of MDS, which argued its business interruption insurance should cover the loss in profits, even though it wasnt due to physical damage to the MDS facility. Though some may think this decision could pave the way for more lawsuits concerning regular business interruption insurance, Tumarkin said he thinks the decision really stretched the definition of physical damage, and wont have a significant impact on COVID-19 business interruption lawsuits. I dont think this is a game changer, he said. Toronto lawyer Allan Rouben said the decision could pave the way for some interesting arguments about the definition of physical damage during COVID-19, though he thinks businesses would face an uphill battle. He said a case on this exact question is currently being tested in the United Kingdom, which could change the winds for business interruption lawsuits if it plays out in favour of the insured. I certainly wouldnt shut the door on it, he said. The U.K.s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, is trying to obtain a court declaration on the question of whether insurance policies focused on property damage should cover the pandemic. For Toronto restaurant owner Andrew Carter, COVID-19 has resulted in an unprecedented situation with his insurance company. Carter started receiving business interruption insurance payouts in November 2019 after one of his two restaurants, the Wickson Social, suffered water damage. But after the COVID-19 business shutdown, Carter said his insurance provider told him that he would no longer be receiving the payouts because if his business had been open, it would have been closed by the shutdown, and that would not be covered by his policy. Carter said he told them if it werent for the water damage, the Wickson Social would be doing takeout to which he says they responded that in that case there would be no business interruption, and therefore would not be paying. Carter said hes frustrated because he pays thousands of dollars for the insurance, and doesnt see how COVID-19 should halt the payout. He is currently considering legal action. A spokesperson for Intact said in an email that Intacts business interruption coverage does not cover a pandemic. They said in Carters specific case, they are working with (him) to find a resolution. They also said Intact is working to provide support to business customers during COVID-19 such as financing, flexible payment options and premium adjustments, to the tune of more than $245 million so far. Tumarkin said while this is an unusual case, its an illustration of how hard insurance companies are working to avoid making payments during the pandemic. Thats one of the reasons why (insurance companies are) being so careful, he said. They see a tsunami of claims coming. Theyre also afraid that the government will potentially step in and regulate them in a way for the future that theyre not going to like. Tumarkin said he thinks we will continue to see more business interruption lawsuits, especially class-action suits, not just in Canada but worldwide. He believes companies will pay out many of these suits, but settle outside of court. Rouben also thinks Canada is going to see more business interruption lawsuits, especially if whats happening in the U.S. is any indication. He added that the courts may look to similar cases in the U.S. for precedent. After COVID-19, Tumarkin said he thinks more businesses will opt for the extra coverage that includes pandemics, and that insurance companies will increase the cost of this type of coverage. Barrasa said in the past, uninsured events like the pandemic are usually followed by the insurance industry reviewing and then introducing new coverage to address these events. For example, following the Calgary floods in 2013, residential overland flood coverage was introduced, she said. As protests of police violence against black Americans roll across the country, we are witnessing the convergence of three trends in response: new urban-warfare theories developed by military strategists; the recent practice of outfitting police with the most intimidating and sophisticated warfighting gear possible; and an even longer trend among police of treating demonstrations and protests as tantamount to revolution. This militarization of the police has contributed to the very conditions that have led to the protests which then create a feedback loop, as they feed a desire among figures like Cotton and Trump for the actual military to step in. Mayor Eric Garcetti Looks to Find 250-Million Dollars of Cuts in the City Budget, for Police Reform and New Opportunities in Underserved Communities. Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti announced he has responded to Obamas call for action and signed the Mayors Pledge. The mayor updated the community with the current status of safety measures that will take affect immediately. Through the call for justice there have been pockets of violence, but the mayor sees hope for change as the overall goal for protest. In light of the murder of George Floyd, cities across the nation have grown aware of the viral video of Floyd being violently held down, with a knee digging into his neck, and cutting off his circulation. He died on the street of Minneapolis by police hand. Thousands nationwide began to protest, raising awareness around the injustices that have been growing in the black community for generations. Within those peaceful protest, energy escalated to uncontrollable lengths for some, a certain few reacted in violence and began looting small businesses. Wednesday, June 3, the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama shared his concerns in a virtual town hall meeting with other political leaders, using his platform to call out all local government. Through the initiatives like My Brothers Keeper and the 21st Century Policing Task force, the former president announced The Mayors Pledge. Geared for every public official within local government to look at their use of police force and pinpoint where they can make immediate change to that department. Garcetti mentioned he was one of the first to sign the pledge. The mayor is working with city council, to identify 250-million dollars in cuts to reinvest into the black community and create change within the city law enforcement. The mayor is looking to construct a new reform for public safety and opportunities for underserved communities. In coalition with the Los Angeles Police Commission, there are plans to work in have ongoing deescalation training, comprehensive reporting, and other revisions to the police force. ADVERTISEMENT Garcetti stated, Weve seen it all with our eyes, the horrific actions that not just one officer took, but four officers took. In a modern-day lynching to take the life of an unarmed black man in America, this is a reflection point for our city and for our country, a moment we will either rise and take this as the opportunity for hope and progress or yet another dark chapter that might have a momentary flash and go away. The mayor was joined by Eileen Decker, President of the Los Angeles Police Commission. She spoke of the review and revision in the police department. Today this body, the Los Angeles Police Commission, is charged with the oversight of the Los Angeles police department, and is establishing an aggressive reform agenda which continues the evolution of our commitment to the 21st Century Policing issues that the mayor just addressed. Decker announced the first steps towards continual reform and greater responsibility from the Police Commission. She mentioned a revision to police finances, the commission is looking to identify 100-150 million dollars of cuts from the Los Angeles Police Department budget. Additionally, there will be enhancements in community neighborhood policing. There will be an immediate freeze on new entries to the Cal-Gang data base until the police commission finishes their audit of the entire gang entry and removal system. In addition to outside oversight commissions, there will be a policy within the force for other officers to intervene and report misconduct within their department. There will be an expansion of the juvenile diversion program to reach all 21 geographic areas and divisions, to lessen the incarceration of the youth in this city. Decker said there will be support from the commission behind meaningful legislation that advocates change. The mayor closed the briefing by encouraging local government across the nation, to embrace the steps taken towards reform and change that will happen under the Los Angeles Police Commission guidance. These are the foundations from marching forward together and for ensuring that we save lives on the streets of our city and yours as well. 100 Million People at Risk From Severe Storms As above-average temperatures bake the nations midsection, another round of severe weather is forecast on June 4, potentially impacting cities where recent protests have unfolded. Another round of severe storms will move through Thursday, with over 100 million people potentially impacted this afternoon and evening. It comes as over 325,000 remain without power [Thursday] morning, mainly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, following storms a day earlier, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said. Over 220 reports of damaging winds Wednesday were made from Wyoming to New Jersey. Severe weather chances Thursday stretch across the eastern two-thirds of the country, with the highest likelihood of damaging winds and hail spreading across South Dakota, northeastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, and Iowa. This area is also the most likely to see tornadoes, although the threat for wind and hail is greater. Once again, this places Minneapolis, the epicenter of protests over the death in police custody of George Floyd, on the fringe of a level 2 of 5slight riskfor strong thunderstorms. Afternoon storms may also fire up across the Mid-Atlantic with a slight riskalso level 2 of 5centered over populous Washington, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. This area is most at risk for damaging wind gusts and storms rolling through the region. A slight risk is also forecast between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, Texas, where large hail and damaging winds will be the main threats. The threat of severe weather diminishes Friday but returns Saturday and Sunday to the Northern Plains. The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Enraged over denial of chicken biryani, a section of COVID-19 patients in Tripura vandalised a government facility and harassed some health workers. The incident occurred late Wednesday night at the Saheed Bhagat Singh Yuba Awas in West Tripura district where the state government kept the asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. The incident prompted the authorities to order a probe. Official sources said a section of the patients had vandalized the government lodge and harassed health workers alleging bad quality of food served to them. However, according to local media, the patients resorted to vandalism and beat up some health workers as they were not served chicken biryani and other good quality food which they had demanded. Calls made to the District Magistrate as well as the district Superintendent of Police went unanswered. Till Thursday afternoon, the state recorded 622 cases. Altogether 173 patients recovered. There were no deaths. Assam has also recorded a number of incidents where the returnees kept in quarantine centres created fracas and misbehaved with health workers alleging poor quality of food served to them. In one incident, when the inmates of a quarantine centre were venting their ire on the same issue, the health workers deployed there had locked themselves up in one room fearing trouble. Alarmed by the rising incidents and resultant fear among health workers, the states Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma warned on Thursday that the unruly returnees would be arrested. If the inmates of quarantine centres create a nuisance or behave badly, they will be arrested under non-bailable Sections and sent to jail, the Minister warned. If people undergoing quarantine in government facilities are facing any problem, they should inform us directly. Dont create a nuisance, he told journalists with his message directed at returnees. A lot of people have benefitted by contacting the Minister directly through Twitter. He earnestly deals with every genuine grievance. The worst of the COVID-19 recession is over after May job losses were less than Wall Street had predicted, according to a new economist report. On Wednesday, ADP National Employment Report revealed that companies lost 2.76million jobs last month. While that number is startling, its well below the 8.75 million jobs estimated to be lost for the month. 'The good news is I think the recession is over, the COVID-19 recession is over, barring another second wave, a major second wave, or real serious policy errors,' Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moodys Analytics said to CNBC. Moodys Analytics put the private payrolls report together with ADP. However, ADPs count can be volatile and vary from Wall Street estimates. Moodys Analytics economist Mark Zandi claims the 'COVID-19 recession is over' after 2.76million jobs were lost in the month of May, well below the projection of nearly 9million job cuts. Hundreds of people pictured in line outside a downtown Brooklyn unemployment office waiting for their EBT Food Stamp cards on May 12 The news of a improving economy comes as states have reopened and businesses reopen their doors such as this Miami restaurant pictured May 28 Weekly jobless claims have slowly tapered off following an initial spike in late March May's job loss report was particularly optimistic following April's record loss of 19.557million positions. However, Zandi warns that 'the recovery will be a slog until theres a vaccine or therapy thats distributed and adopted widely.' In total, more than 40million Americans have filed unemployment claims over the past two months as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzes the economy. Last weeks jobless claims are the first signs of a slowing layoff pace and as states open up and people return to work. Continuing claims, meaning the number of workers receiving unemployment benefits for at least two weeks, sunk by nearly 3.9million. Economist Mark Zandi warns that 'the recovery will be a slog until theres a vaccine or therapy thats distributed and adopted widely' in response to COVID-19 More than 40 million new claims for unemployment benefits have been filed in the past two months when the coronavirus started paralyzing the US economy Continuing claims peaked at 24.9million on May 9, but that was three days before the sample week that ADP and the Labor Department use for their estimates. 'The job loss is abating. Layoffs appear to have peaked in late March and early April and they were winding down by early May. I would expect job growth to resume in June,' Zandi said. Still, Zandi says he expects the unemployment rate to rise above 20 percent the worst rate since the Great Depression adding that some 50million Americans will be impacted by a coronavirus-induced recession. The governments initial estimate for unemployment was 20.5million out of work but that number was likely under-counted due to a discrepancy where millions of workers were classified as 'absent from work' instead of unemployed. Zandi projects that unemployment will likely level off around 10 percent, which was its peak level in the crisis, and remain there until Congress approves more fiscal stimulus to get the economy running again. THE East Limerick Red Cross has launched a fundraiser in a bid to complete their new ambulance station in Doon. The voluntary group were given the land by Limerick City and County Council two years ago, and have been fundraising for the new purpose-built centre since then. Normally, it is through covering events like the Limerick Show, the group is able to get money. However, this year, with virtually all public events cancelled, and demand for the ambulance service on the rise, a shortfall of approximately 30,000 has opened up, said David Ryan, the groups public relations officer. This is why a GoFundMe page has been launched online. Basically, all our duties this year would have been bringing a lot to it. That's what keeps them above board. But all the shows and events are cancelled as are the church gate collections. But ironically, the ambulance has never been as busy. So the funds have stopped coming, but the ambulance got busier with community support and patient transfers, David explained, We were on target to have it done, but due to Covid-19, things stopped. The Red Cross provides patient transfers to and from hospitals, event cover, and first aid training. The new ambulance base, beside Doons graveyard, will provide parking for two ambulances as well as train and upskill many first aiders in the area. It will also be made available to community groups should they need an area to meet up. To donate to the cause, check out the link here Alternatively, telephone 085-8297550. A member of the far-right militia, Boogaloo Bois, walks next to protestors demonstrating outside Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Metro Division 2 just outside of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 29, 2020. LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images Three self-proclaimed members of the far-right "boogaloo" movement were held on domestic terrorism charges after federal prosecutors accused them of trying to spark violence during police brutality protests in Las Vegas. The "boogaloo" movement was defined in the charging document as "a term used by extremists to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization." The three men previously served in the US Navy, Army, and Air Force, according to the filing. Each defendant was charged with conspiracy to damage and destroy by using fire and explosives, and possession of an unregistered firearm. According to the filing, the men in late May discussed "causing an incident to incite chaos and possibly a riot" in response to George Floyd's death. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Three former US servicemen and self-proclaimed members of the far-right "boogaloo" movement were arrested on domestic terrorism charges and accused of carrying unregistered firearms and trying to spark violence during protests against police brutality. According to the charging document, which was reviewed by Business Insider, the three defendants previously served in the US Navy, US Army, and US Air Force. The filing also noted that the men "self-identified as part of the 'Boogaloo' movement," which prosecutors described as "a term used by extremists to signify a coming civil war and/or fall of civilization." According to the Associated Press, all three men are white. According to the Clark Country Detention Center records, Stephen Parshall, 35, Andrew Lynam Jr., 23, and William Loomis, 40, are each being held on $1 million bond. A preliminary hearing will be held on June 17. According to the federal filing, each defendant faces two federal charges, including conspiracy to damage and destroy by using fire and explosives, and possession of an unregistered firearm. Story continues Federal prosecutors say the men planned to sow discord at protests in Nevada in early April. They first assembled at a rally to reopen the US economy in Las Vegas, where, according to the filing, one of the men said the group "was not for joking around and that it was for people who wanted to violently overthrow the United States government." The filing stated that all members of the group possessed firearms, including "pistols and rifles, including variations of AR-15's." It also alleged that the three men met several times in May to discuss targeting multiple places to place an "economic burden on businesses and the government." Late last month, according to the filing, the men discussed "causing an incident to incite chaos and possibly a riot" in response to George Floyd's death. Floyd was a 46-year-old black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death has sparked nationwide protests in over 300 cities as demonstrators call for an end to systemic racism and police brutality against black men. The defendants "wanted to use the momentum of the George Floyd death ... to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement, that others see the two explosions and police presence and begin to riot in the streets out of anger," the filing said. According to the filing, on May 29, the men attended a Las Vegas protest in response to Floyd's death. They allegedly carried rifles during the protest; one of them "taunted police by getting in their face and yelling at them"; and when another defendant became upset "that protests were not turning violent," he attempted to provoke the crowd into rioting. The three defendants were arrested on May 30, as they prepared to use explosives at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Las Vegas. Trump and Republicans push false claims about far-left activists sparking riots but refuse to condemn right-wing extremists Hundreds of protesters gather at Government Center including a protester with an ANTIFA flag draped over his shoulders during a rally sponsored by the Youth of Greater Boston to demand justice for George and support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Boston on May 31, 2020. Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images The arrests come as President Donald Trump and his allies urge law enforcement officials to crack down on the protests and accuse "antifa" a loosely organized far-left group of anti-fascism activists of sparking violence during the demonstrations. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz compared antifa to terrorists and asked to "hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East." And Sen. Tom Cotton also compared protesters to "Antifa terrorists" and advocated for "no quarter" for them, a military term meaning that even a combatant who lawfully surrenders should be killed. The practice is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Despite Trump and Republican lawmakers' allegations against antifa related to the protests, according to NBC News, there is little evidence so far to support their claims. The White House also spread a conspiracy theory that antifa activists have placed caches of bricks around cities to incite riots, though there is no evidence to back up this theory either. The Nation also reported on Monday, citing an internal FBI situation report, that the bureau has "no intelligence" indicating antifa was linked to violence in anti-racism protests that took place on Sunday, which Trump blamed on the group. But the FBI's report did warn that people associated with a far-right social-media group had "called for far-right provocateurs to attack federal agents" and to "use automatic weapons against protesters." Politico also reported on Monday that a Department of Homeland Security intelligence note warned law-enforcement officials that a white supremacist channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram encouraged its followers to incite violence to start a race war during the protests. Citing the FBI, it said that two days after Floyd's death, the channel "incited followers to engage in violence and start the 'boogaloo.'" One of the messages in the channel called for potential shooters to "frame the crowd around you" for the violence, the note said, according to Politico. On May 29, the note said, "suspected anarchist extremists and militia extremists allegedly planned to storm and burn the Minnesota State Capitol." NBC News also reported on Monday that Twitter had identified a group posing as an "antifa" organization calling for violence in the protests as actually being linked to the white supremacist group Identity Evropa. Twitter suspended the account, @ANTIFA_US, after it posted a tweet that incited violence. A company spokesperson also told NBC News that the account violated Twitter's rules against platform manipulation and spam. Read the original article on Business Insider Anonymous members of New Jerseys Pandemic Response Team have sent a letter to state lawmakers to inform them that Governor Phil Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli have ignored expert advice in dealing with coronavirus, especially in handling the states nursing homes. In the letter, which was leaked to NJ Advance Media, the whistleblowers allege that Murphys administration has refused to consult the science to make policy decisions, and is instead making things up as they proceed, or making decisions and justifying them on the back end. Murphy has decided to open several aspects of the economy without the data to back it up, the health officials state. They also claim that Persichilli and members of the Governors cabinet ignored their warnings about protecting the states vulnerable population in nursing homes with widespread testing. To completely ignore long-term care testing until late April, when at that point, tens of thousands of tests had been offered to only mildly symptomatic New Jersey residents (again, remember that one has to be well enough to drive or be in a car to get the test at these centers), is a clear failure, they write. The letter slams the administrations directive for nursing homes to allow Covid patients to return regardless of whether they were still infectious, saying the decision-making ultimately led to preventable deaths. Very few of these nursing homes were tangibly ready to take these residents back based on the Commissioners criteria because the state failed to allocate enough PPE and staffing resources to them to do so, they explained. Nearly 6,000 residents of New Jersey facilities died from the virus nearly half of the states coronavirus deaths. The situation mirrors that of New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has been criticized for a similar policy. Murphy responded to news of the letter by saying he had no time for that. The New Jersey Ethics Commission has opened an investigation into leaks after documents were leaked to NJ Advance Media showing that nursing homes had shortages of personal protective equipment. More from National Review (Photo : REUTERS/George Frey) The drug hydroxychloroquine, pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump and others in recent months as a possible treatment to people infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is displayed at the Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S. May 27, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Diego Vara) Boxes of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are seen at the pharmacy of the Nossa Senhora da Conceicao hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Porto Alegre, Brazil, May 26, 2020. The New England Journal of Medicine published a new study that shows hydroxychloroquine's inefficacy in treating COVID-19. The University of Minnesota was the first to look at hydroxychloroquine using a double-blind study. It randomly assigned 821 people to take either the drug or a placebo. About 80% of them said they had high-risk exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 patient, according to Newsweek. For five days, 414 patients were given doses of hydroxychloroquine while the remaining 407 volunteers were given the placebo. According to the study, 14% of the placebo group developed COVID-19 while 12% of the hydroxychloroquine takers got infected. Despite the lower percentage and no reported deaths, the difference is not statistically significant. Study shows hydroxychloroquine does not prevent COVID-19 but countries continue to prescribe it "Our data is pretty clear that for post-exposure, this does not work," University of Minnesota infectious disease physician and lead researcher, Dr. David Boulware, told Reuters. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) ceased its trials last week as other studies revealed that hydroxychloroquine could cause serious side effects such as heart trouble, although the Minnesota study did not find evidence of these claims. For Boulware, none of the claims that the drug is dangerous and that it works against COVID-19 are correct. The University of Minnesota's Infectious Diseases and International Medicine department has yet to comment on the results of the study. During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump promoted hydroxychloroquine as a cure against the virus. He began supporting the use of the drug after a lawyer who appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight claimed that the drug has a "100% cure rate," based on a study conducted by French scientists. The following day, Trump claimed that taking hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin together "(has) a real chance to be one of the biggest game-changers in the history of medicine." Countries continue to use hydroxychloroquine Many countries approved the preliminary use of the drug. However, France banned doctors from giving hydroxychloroquine to patients, "whatever the severity of the infection." It was the first country to reverse its support over the drug use, although the health ministry said its stance may change if new evidence emerges and proves otherwise. The United Nations similarly aired their concerns about the safety and efficacy of the malaria drug in treating COVID-19. The agency cited a study published in the Lancet medical journal. Among the 96,032 who participated in the trial, those who took hydroxychloroquine and its relative chloroquine--with or without azithromycin or other similar antibiotics--were found to have fewer chances of survival and a greater risk of acquiring heart problems. This prompted an Australian hydroxychloroquine trial for the COVID-19 trial to review its use on Tuesday, June 3. Meanwhile, some countries such as India and Brazil have continued their support for hydroxychloroquine and said they would continue to prescribe it despite the discouraging results of various studies. India lifted its ban for the use of hydroxychloroquine in April after Trump touted the drug. Earlier this week, the U.S. sent about 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil to help in its coronavirus fight. The two nations began joint research for the drug's ability to treat or prevent COVID-19. Brazil is the second worst-affected country of the pandemic with over 580,000 confirmed cases. It is much less than the U.S. with at least 1,850,000 COVID-19 cases. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. MANZINI Patients seeking medical attention at Sithobela Health Centre were yesterday treated to a spectacle, reminiscent of a scene from South African apartheid movie Sarafina. Sarafina is a South African movie depicting violence and protests that engulfed the republic at the height of the apartheid era. The incidents that occurred at Sithobela were similar to this epic movie in that the nurses set on fire tyres at the entrance of the hospital. This emanates from a challenge that exists between the nurses and the administrator of the health centre, Mlondi Lupupa. Following the strained relations between the two parties, the nurses decided to boycott work. The tiff boders on allegations that are yet to be verified by the Ministry of Health, through the office of the Principal Secretary, Dr Simon Zwane. The allegations cannot be printed due to their sensitive nature. The nurses, last month, protested and demanded the removal of the administrator. This resulted in Dr Zwane mediating between the two parties. In his role, that sought to bring peace, Dr Zwane informed the nurses that after a month, he would bring back a report that would detail what was unearthed following the allegations that were made by the nurses. Investigate However, due to the depth of the allegations, Dr Zwane said, those tasked with investigating the matter requested an extension of the timeframe they were given. He said this was communicated to the nurses on Tuesday through the matron of the health centre. When informed that yesterday was day two of the nurses protesting and boycotting work, the PS said: That is illegal as we took our time to listen and address them. He said the nurses should be patient as they were to be given a comprehensive report on the allegations they had raised with his office. Public The public should not suffer just because they (nurses) have not yet received a report on what was discovered. It is really uncalled for and they should stop it. Dr Zwane said the ministry took the matter (investigation) seriously, just like it did regarding the burning of tyres as the nurses protested. On the other hand, the nurses left their work to nursing sisters who had to attend to patients. This is when the nurses were burning logs and old vehicle tyres within the premises of the health centre while singing and dancing around the burning tyres. Sithobelweni Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Bhekitje Dlamini said he was updated on the standoff between the administration of the hospital and the nurses. Dlamini said what he had gathered was that nurses were irked by not being briefed on what the Ministry of Health discovered after the PS initiated an investigation. They claim that the PS had promised to submit a report on what the ministry had found on the impasse, he said. On the other hand, the administrator refrained from commenting on the matter. He said the best person to be engaged on the subject was the matron. However, the matrons phone rang unanswered for the better part of the day. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) ("the Company"), developer of sustainable technologies and a full-service environmental engineering company with a focus on clean water, clean air, and advanced antimicrobial products. President & CEO of BioLargo, Dennis P. Calvert, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly for an interview. Jolly began by asking about the Company's subsidiary, Clyra Medical Technologies Inc., which recently launched a new product called Clyraguard. "This is a personal protection spray," explained Calvert. "It is hospital-grade, FDA-registered and cleared, and is 99.99% effective. This is an absolute winner," said Calvert. "How big do you think this product can become?", asked Jolly. Calvert shared that Clyraguard has the potential to benefit a wide variety of people. "We know that it is the perfect product for a frontline healthcare worker," said Calvert, adding that the product is also suitable for individuals that are considered high-risk or are simply looking for protection against a number of pathogens. "We don't know of any product that matches the feature benefits of this product," said Calvert. Calvert shared that Clyra has already begun selling the product, which is currently retailing at around $25 for a four-ounce bottle. "[Clyra is] building distribution as we speak, and adding team members to really help build that distribution. So, we think this is going to be a big blockbuster for the company." Jolly then asked about the Company's patented CupriDyne Clean product, and about the progress of their joint venture in South Korea. Calvert shared that the Company has finalized a joint venture with one of the leading waste water treatment groups in South Korea. "We got that transaction put together just a few months ago," said Calvert, discussing the tremendous potential of this agreement as the effects of the pandemic begin to subside. "Where are we at with the PFAS solution?", asked Jolly, commenting on the Company's industrial water treatment technology aimed at eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water, called the BioLargo AEC. Calvert explained that the BioLargo AEC is a solution to the PFAS crisis which is both effective and affordable. "We'd like to be in commercial trials within the next 120 days," he continued, adding that the primary focus of this project is currently to produce a scaled-up version of the technology, which company management expects will be completed soon. Calvert explained that potential commercial trial clients are lining up. To close the interview, Calvert expressed the potential of the Company's long list of technologies, which have continued to advance despite the current challenges of the pandemic. "We think that the future is right here before us," closed Calvert. To hear Dennis Calvert's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7598978-biolargo-discusses-clyraguard-biolargo-pfas-treatment-technology-scale-up-and-commercialization 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 BioLargo, Inc. BioLargo, Inc. is an innovator of technology-based products and environmental engineering solutions provider driven by a mission to "make life better". We feature unique disruptive solutions to deliver clean air, clean water and a clean, safe environment (www.biolargo.com). Our engineering division features experienced professional engineers dedicated to integrity, reliability, and environmental stewardship (www.biolargoengineering.com). Our industrial odor control division, Odor-No-More (www.odornomore.com) features CupriDyne Clean Industrial Odor Eliminator (www.cupridyne.com), which eliminates the odor-causing compounds and VOCs rather than masking them, and is now winning over leading companies in the solid waste handling and wastewater industries and other industries that contend with malodors and VOCs. Our subsidiary BioLargo Water (www.biolargowater.ca) develops the Advanced Oxidation System "AOS," a disruptive industrial water treatment technology designed to eliminate waterborne pathogens and recalcitrant contaminants with better energy-efficiency and lower operational costs than incumbent technologies. We are a minority stockholder of and licensor to our subsidiary Clyra Medical (www.clyramedical.com), which features effective and gentle solutions for chronic infected wounds to promote infection control and regenerative tissue therapy. Contact: Name: Dennis P. Calvert Phone: (888)-400-2863 Address: 14921 Chestnut St, Westminster CA, 92683 Email: dennis.calvert@biolargo.com Safe Harbor Act This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations, estimates and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. 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/57259 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Experts on child and domestic abuse on Thursday told the U.S. House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence that reports of child abuse and domestic violence rose as COVID-19-related shelter in place restrictions trapped victims in close quarters with abusers and and unemployment caused by the pandemic increased financial pressure on families. Bainbridge Township Republican Rep. Dave Joyce, a former Geauga County prosecutor who co-chairs the task force, said that in addition to killing over 100,000 Americans and putting millions out of work, the disease has put countless women and children at greater risk for sexual and domestic violence, many of whom have "lost access to the resources that are often vital to escaping abuse. Camille Cooper of RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), which operates a national sex assault hotline at 800.656.HOPE, told the task force that during the pandemic, abuse reports from minors comprised more than 50 percent of complaints to its hotline for the first time in its history. The majority were quarantined at home with their abuser, and had lost access to critical support structures like teachers and mandated abuse reporters in safe spaces like schools. Many said the abuse they suffered had increased in frequency and severity, Cooper reported. She said the COVID-19 crisis also made adult sexual assault victims reluctant to seek medical care in hospital settings for fear of catching the virus. Sixty-one percent of the YWCA domestic and sexual violence hotlines around the country reported an increase in calls during the pandemic, and 47 percent of YWCAs domestic violence shelters reported an increase in demand for emergency housing, YWCA CEO Alejandra Y. Castillo told the task force. She said that the Greater Cincinnati YWCA is spending more than $38,000 per week on motel bills and security guards for clients who were moved there for safety reasons. Joyce asked witnesses to suggest ways online learning platforms can be used to give students an opportunity to report abuse. They told him that ensuring that all students have access to the internet would help. Cooper said children access her groups services online far more frequently than they use the telephone. One of the minors that contacted us recently said that she had to pretend to be doing homework online, just to talk with us online to get the help that she needed because she did not have access to a telephone," Cooper reported. "Her abuser would not allow her to use his mobile phone, so her only form of communication was WiFi. And thats how she was able to connect with us and we were able to connect her directly with 911. Michelle DeLaune of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said more than 99 percent of the reports her organization receives are filed online by people who dont wish to speak with anyone. She said complaints to her organizations cyber-tip line were 300 percent higher this April than they were in April of 2019. Its hard enough to talk about whats happening to them in the first place, never mind having to do it with a complete stranger on the phone, said DeLaune. More coverage: SNAP benefits can now be used online in Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown wants Senate to declare racism a public health emergency Sen. Sherrod Brown denounces President Trumps handling of protests, Sen. Rob Portman calls for a national commission on race Battle over protecting businesses from COVID-19 lawsuits likely when Senate considers its next relief package Ohio shoppers can use SNAP benefits for online grocery purchases starting this summer, USDA decides Ohio congressman seeks impeachment inquiry of judge in Michael Flynn case Sen. Sherrod Brown clashes with Trump officials over COVID-19 response Annie Glenn, widow of former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn, dies at age 100 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 Amid ongoing protests in the US over the death of African-American George Floyd, Amazon on Wednesday said it will donate a total of $10 million to organisations that are working to bring about social justice and improve the lives of Black and African Americans. Recipients -- selected with the help of Amazon's Black Employee Network (BEN) -- include groups focused on combating systemic racism through the legal system as well as those dedicated to expanding educational and economic opportunity for Black communities. Donations to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Urban League, and UNCF, among others, seek to support education and justice for Black communities across the U.S., Amazon said in a blog post. "Amazon's leadership and BEN have worked hand-in-hand to identify organizations in the Black community that make a difference and will contribute to them in a meaningful way. In addition to the organizations listed, we will work with our chapters to identify local groups to support," said Angelina Howard, President of BEN. "We will continue these conversations about how Amazon can support employees and the entire Black community beyond these tragic recent events." The last time a Rio Arriba County sheriff was arrested, in August 2014, some asked, For which crime? Former Sheriff Tommy Rodella had come under federal investigation for implementing a pre-prosecution diversion program in which people with traffic citations could donate to a scholarship fund managed by the Sheriffs Office, and the charges would disappear but no scholarships were actually awarded. No charges were ever filed in that case. iInstead, it was an off-duty road rage incident that sent the former State Policeman, magistrate judge and sheriff to federal prison for 10 years for civil rights violations. Rio Arriba County residents must be feeling a little bit of dejA vu now that Rodellas successor, Sheriff James Lujan, has been arrested and faces trial on multiple misdemeanor charges of obstructing police. Lujan allegedly showed up drunk in plainclothes at a SWAT standoff in Espanola in late March and ordered city officers to leave. The tense interaction was captured on officers lapel cameras. Another tense police interaction with Lujan occurred May 21 when he was arrested at the Sheriffs Office for refusing to give detectives the password to a cellphone he had used during the March 21 standoff. Police lapel camera video of his arrest is available at ABQJournal.com. Lujans arrest is the latest criminal case involving a public official in Rio Arriba County, where some local offices seem plagued by corruption, patronage and nepotism. Unfortunately for Rio Arribans, theres little recourse at this point beyond waiting for Lujans criminal prosecution. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb, who has been appointed special prosecutor after state Attorney General Hector Balderas and 1st Judicial District Attorney Marco Serna recused themselves, notes defendants are typically barred from possessing weapons while on pre-trial release, and most police officers charged with a crime are placed on administrative leave and have their guns confiscated. But as an elected sheriff, none of that applies to Lujan. A spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office told the Journal theres no process to place a sheriff on administrative leave. The state also lacks a recall process for citizens to petition to remove a public official from office. However, AG spokesman Matt Baca said a district attorney can petition a court to remove a public official from office for wrongdoing, but he says that typically occurs after a case has been adjudicated. During his May 22 arraignment, Los Alamos Magistrate Court Judge Pat Casados allowed Lujan to carry a weapon while at work, although its unclear when Lujan will be off-duty since many sheriffs are on call 24/7. Sheriffs also dont need a law enforcement certification in New Mexico, unless they are making arrests or traffic stops. Lujans alleged oversteps and the fact he continues to wield the enormous powers of a county sheriff underscore the gravity of our choices each Election Day. Lujan was elected twice, narrowly defeating Rodella in the 2014 Democratic primary and winning re-election with 51% of the votes in a four-person Democratic primary in 2018. (Rio Arriba County hasnt had a Republican county office holder in more than 50 years, so whoever wins the Democratic primary essentially gets a free pass into office). Meanwhile, Lujan has two and a half years left in his second term. Depending on the speed and outcome of his trial, he could serve out much of his second term as sheriff. The state Constitution limits sheriffs and other county office holders to two consecutive terms. Candidates involved in controversy before they are elected often generate even more controversy once in office Lujan and Rodella are prime examples. While he was a State Police officer, an internal affairs investigation charged Rodella with using his position for personal or political gain and falsifying official reports. As a magistrate judge, Rodella was removed from the bench by the New Mexico Supreme Court for alleged impropriety. Lujan has seemingly picked up the baton of impropriety. Now both of them could have their law enforcement careers ended by criminal prosecutions. In short, elections do indeed matter. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Amazon delivery driver pauses during busy day to pray for baby with heart condition Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An Amazon delivery driver's prayer for a baby boy with a heart condition in Idaho has gone viral and is inspiring many. As Monica Salinas was making a delivery to a home in Nampa, Idaho, she noticed a sign on the door explaining that a high-risk child named Lucas lives inside. Lucas is under a year old and has a heart condition that puts him at heightened risk for respiratory complications, such as the coronavirus. Derek and Raquel Pearson had been taking extra precautions during the pandemic and were depending on online orders for many products so they wouldn't have to go shopping elsewhere and then risk exposing their son to the disease. He needs special thickeners to be able to eat, otherwise he aspirates his milk. So we really depend on getting all of these supplies online so we don't have to go out to the store and bring a virus home, 30-year-old Raquel Pearson said in an interview last week with news station KTVB. We just want to minimize exposure to coronavirus. While waiting for an important order to arrive a few weeks ago, Pearson noticed on the doorbell camera that Salinas, a delivery driver for a company called Custom Services through Amazon, paused after she rang the doorbell and placed the package on the doorstep. There was a note and it said their baby's food was essential, and every time I see that note, it just touches my heart, Salinas, 41, told the local news station. I just stopped to do what my heart told me to do, to say a prayer for the baby and for the parents because that's got to be very painful for all of them to see their baby hurt and struggle. I just prayed that they can make it through another day, one day at a time. Salinas, who sings in her parish choir, subsequently told Catholic News Agency in an interview Sunday that when she saw the message on her May 2 route, she felt moved to pray: "Dearest God, please protect this family through your Precious Blood, and this baby, so that he may grow to become a man. Pearson did not know at first what Salinas was doing standing there for a moment after she dropped off the package. But then, she saw Salinas make the sign of the cross and realized she was praying. Pearson told Catholic News Agency that when she saw the gesture, she started crying. We were very grateful that a stranger would take time out of her very busy day to pray for our baby, Pearson explained. Pearson shared the video and expressed her gratitude in a local COVID-19 Facebook group. The video soon caught the attention of many people online as well as international media outlets. God has always been very important in my whole life," Salinas explained. "And I would like to let everyone know that God is good. I always tell people, every day, that God is good, one day at a time." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump was rushed to a secure bunker in the White House on Friday evening after a group of protesters hopped over temporary barricades set up near the Treasury Department grounds, according to arrest records and people familiar with the incident. The security move came after multiple people crossed over fences that had been erected to create a larger barrier around the White House complex around 7 p.m. Secret Service officers detained at least four protesters, who were charged with unlawful entry at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, according to arrest records. The incident took place near the border between the White House lawn and Treasury Department, about 350 feet from the East Wing, and close to a Treasury fence line that has been at the center of past security failures. The breach occurred around the time that the Secret Service alert level on the White House complex was elevated from "yellow" to "red," according to a law enforcement official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal safety maneuvers. Officials familiar with the incident told colleagues that the president, the first lady and their son Barron were rushed to the bunker because of the episode, according to two people familiar with their accounts. The events contradict the president's claim Wednesday that he went to the bunker simply to inspect the secure location. Two of the people who were arrested said they were stunned by the idea that their actions prompted the abrupt relocation of the president. "I didn't even realize what I did was illegal," said one of the protesters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the pending charges. "I stepped over a barricade. I never got onto the Treasury grounds or White House grounds." The White House and Secret Service declined to comment on what precipitated Trump's move to the bunker, part of a classified security system for safeguarding the president. "The White House does not comment on security protocols and decisions," spokesman Judd Deere said in an emailed statement. "For operational security reasons, the U.S. Secret Service does not discuss our protectees or our protective means and methods relative to all U.S. Secret Service protected facilities inclusive of the White House," an agency spokesperson said. Trump, who has been angered by reports that he was moved to the secure underground facility and the impression that he was in hiding, on Wednesday disputed that he was rushed to safety. "It was a false report. I wasn't down," Trump told Fox Radio host Brian Kilmeade. "I went down during the day, and I was there for a tiny, little short period of time, and it was much more for an inspection. There was no problem during the day." Pressed by Kilmeade on whether Trump was "inspecting" the bunker because the Secret Service expressed concern for his safety, the president insisted that wasn't the case. "Nope, they didn't tell me that at all," Trump said. "They said it would be a good time to go down, take a look, because maybe sometime you're going to need it." Former Secret Service agents said Trump's explanation did not make sense, noting that all presidents and their families are routinely given a security briefing in their first days in office. They are briefed on steps the Secret Service will take in an emergency and also shown secure locations where they will be taken in case of danger. Relocation to the underground bunker is part of various security steps the Secret Service may use in the case of potential threats to the president's safety. The incursion by protesters near the White House complex Friday came as swelling demonstrations filled the streets of downtown Washington in response to the killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police, with many people rushing barricades and throwing bottles. It was the first night of protests in the city, and the large crowd swarming so close to the White House took Secret Service officers aback, officials said. Lone protesters sometimes have tried to make a statement by jumping the fence, but not since the civil unrest of the 1960s have groups come directly at the White House grounds in such numbers. Trump's frustration with the impression that he was in hiding amid the tumult contributed to his decision Monday to walk from the White House to nearby St. John's Episcopal Church. Less than 30 minutes before his walk, federal agents rushed at protesters in Lafayette Square and an adjoining street with shields and batons, tossing gas canisters and pepper spray pellets into the crowd, causing a chaotic scurry. The arrests Friday took place near a Treasury Department fence line that borders the White House grounds and has figured in key security failures in the past, including a March 2017 incident when Trump was at home and was also rushed to the bunker for a short period. In that incident, Jonathan Tuan-Anh Tran, a California man carrying two cans of Mace and a letter to Trump about "Russian hackers," hopped the Treasury fence line. Due to outdated and failing sensors and alarms, he was able to reach the east side of the mansion and attempted to open doors there. Tran remained on the property for 17 minutes before he was spotted behind a pillar and apprehended near the South Portico entrance. The entire White House fence line was recommended for replacement after a 2014 fence-jumper incident, but the portion around Treasury had been delayed by Secret Service budget constraints. - - - The Washington Post's Alice Crites, John Wagner, Felicia Sonmez and Peter Hermann contributed to this report. By A.J. O'CONNELL aoconnell@thestamfordtimes.com STAMFORD -- The Stamford Board of Education will pay $37,500 to settle a federal lawsuit which claimed the schools failed to protect a Stamford High School student from racial attacks. The settlement agreement, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by The Stamford Times, states that the school board has 30 days to pay the $37,500 to Stamford High graduate Candace Owens and her father Robert Owens, through their attorney, Norman Pattis, of Bethany. The lawsuit was settled on Jan. 10. William Dunn, chief financial officer for the public schools, last week said that the schools' legal services and legal settlements are paid out of the school board's legal services budget. There is $375,000 in that account for the 2007-08 school year, said Dunn. Candace Owens and her father Robert Owens filed the lawsuit against the board of education on May 24, 2007 in New Haven federal court for "knowingly failing and refusing to protect" her from continued harassment from students who left death threats and racial and sexual slurs on her cell phone's voice mail this past spring, when she was a student at the school. According to the settlement agreement, the board of education "denies all claims of wrongdoing" and settled the suit "to avoid the cost and expense of litigation." The lawsuit, filed by attorney Norman Pattis, of Bethany, in New Haven district court, alleged that the board of education took no action on Owens' behalf after she and her family reported a series of threatening phone calls on her cell phone to school authorities. The voice mail contained two minutes of death threats, racial slurs and sexual epithets recorded by three or four male voices, allegedly white, male classmates of Owens, who is black. In one message, the callers take turns making death threats. In another, a single racial slur is repeated over and over. Neither Pattis nor Robert Owens returned phone calls. The family informed the school of the threats and the identity of the callers on Feb. 5, according to the lawsuit. "Despite the facts above, the defendant has taken no disciplinary action whatsoever [against] any of the callers, all of whom have been identified as students at Stamford High School," states the lawsuit. "Upon information and belief, the defendant failed to act in part because one of the callers is the son of Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy." Malloy confirmed in March that his son is involved in the case and has cooperated fully with the police investigation. The mayor has made no further comments. The Owens allege in their lawsuit that their daughter was subjected to harassment in and out of school, and was tutored at home because she was unable to attend school while the young men who allegedly harassed her were still in school. "The conduct of the defendant described above has been extreme and outrageous and has been carried out with actual knowledge that it will probably cause Ms. Owens to suffer extreme emotional distress and in reckless and or malicious and wanton disregard of such consequence," states the lawsuit. The Owens sought compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees and costs. At least one of the students alleged to have left the voice mails has been arrested. The 17-year-old connected with her case was arrested on March 26, the day that Owens returned to school, accompanied by representatives from the Connecticut NAACP. In September, Arnold confirmed that none of the students involved in the case are now students at Stamford High. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:16:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Fighters of the UN-backed Libyan government's forces are seen in the Qasr bin Ghashir area, southern Tripoli, Libya, on June 4, 2020. The spokesman of the UN-backed Libyan government's forces, Mohamed Gonono, on Thursday announced taking over the entire capital Tripoli and expelling the rival eastern-based army. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) TRIPOLI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The spokesman of the UN-backed Libyan government's forces, Mohamed Gonono, on Thursday announced taking over the entire capital Tripoli and expelling the rival eastern-based army. "Our brave forces have taken control of all of Tripoli, after regaining control of southern Tripoli from the militias of Haftar (eastern-based army commander)," Gonono said in a statement. Also, Salah Namroush, undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense for the UN-backed government, said in a statement that the UN-backed government's forces are "pursuing the militias of Haftar outside borders of Greater Tripoli." Namroush added that many senior officers of the eastern-based army have fled to the city of Bani Walid, some 180 km southeast of Tripoli. The eastern-based army has not made any comments regarding the UN-backed government's "victory." Local media published footage showing heavy deployment of the UN-backed government's forces in all the locations that were controlled by the eastern-based army in southern Tripoli. The eastern-based army has been leading a military campaign since April 2019, in an attempt to take over Tripoli and topple the UN-backed government. The violence killed and injured hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 150,000 others. Enditem Credit: CC0 Public Domain The first signs of insufficient sleep are universally familiar. There's tiredness and fatigue, difficulty concentrating, perhaps irritability or even tired giggles. Far fewer people have experienced the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation, including disorientation, paranoia and hallucinations. Total, prolonged sleep deprivation, however, can be fatal. While it has been reported in humans only anecdotally, a widely cited study in rats conducted by Chicago-based researchers in 1983 showed that a total lack of sleep inevitably leads to death. Yet, despite decades of study, a central question has remained unsolved: why do animals die when they don't sleep? Now, Harvard Medical School neuroscientists have identified an unexpected, causal link between sleep deprivation and premature death. In a study on sleep-deprived fruit flies, researchers found that death is always preceded by the accumulation of molecules known as reactive oxidative species (ROS) in the gut. When fruit flies were given antioxidant compounds that neutralize and clear ROS from the gut, sleep-deprived flies remained active and had normal lifespans. Additional experiments in mice confirmed that ROS accumulate in the gut when sleep is insufficient. The findings, published in Cell on June 4, suggest the possibility that animals can indeed survive without sleep under certain circumstances. The results open new avenues of study to understand the full consequences of insufficient sleep and may someday inform the design of approaches to counteract its detrimental effects in humans, the authors said. "We took an unbiased approach and searched throughout the body for indicators of damage from sleep deprivation. We were surprised to find it was the gut that plays a key role in causing death," said senior study author Dragana Rogulja, assistant professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS. "Even more surprising, we found that premature death could be prevented. Each morning, we would all gather around to look at the flies, with disbelief to be honest. What we saw is that every time we could neutralize ROS in the gut, we could rescue the flies," Rogulja said. Scientists have long studied sleep, a phenomenon that appears to be fundamental for life, yet one that in many ways remains mysterious. Almost every known animal sleeps or exhibits some form of sleeplike behavior. Without enough of it, serious consequences ensue. In humans, chronic insufficient sleep is associated with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression and many other conditions. Previous research has shown that prolonged, total sleep restriction can lead to premature death in animal models. In attempts to answer how sleep deprivation culminates in death, most research efforts have focused on the brain, where sleep originates, but none have yielded conclusive results. Gut accumulation Spearheaded by study co-first authors Alexandra Vaccaro and Yosef Kaplan Dor, both research fellows in neurobiology at HMS, the team carried out a series of experiments in fruit flies, which share many sleep-regulating genes with humans, to search for signs of damage caused by sleep deprivation throughout the body. To monitor sleep, the researchers used infrared beams to constantly track the movement of flies housed in individual tubes. They found that flies can sleep through physical shaking, so the team turned to more sophisticated methods. They genetically manipulated fruit flies to express a heat-sensitive protein in specific neurons, the activity of which are known to suppress sleep. When flies were housed at 29 degrees C (84 degrees F), the protein induced neurons to remain constantly active, thus preventing the flies from sleeping. After 10 days of temperature-induced sleep deprivation, mortality spiked among the fruit flies and all died by around day 20. Control flies that had normal sleep lived up to approximately 40 days in the same environmental conditions. Because mortality increased around day 10, the researchers looked for markers of cell damage on that and preceding days. Most tissues, including in the brain, were indistinguishable between sleep-deprived and non-deprived flies, with one notable exception. The guts of sleep-deprived flies had a dramatic buildup of ROShighly reactive, oxygen-containing molecules that in large amounts can damage DNA and other components within cells, leading to cell death. The accumulation of ROS peaked around day 10 of sleep deprivation, and when deprivation was stopped, ROS levels decreased. Additional experiments confirmed that ROS builds up in the gut of only those animals that experienced sustained sleep loss, and that the gut is indeed the main source of this apparently lethal ROS. "We found that sleep-deprived flies were dying at the same pace, every time, and when we looked at markers of cell damage and death, the one tissue that really stood out was the gut," Vaccaro said. "I remember when we did the first experiment, you could immediately tell under the microscope that there was a striking difference. That almost never happens in lab research." The team also examined whether ROS accumulation occurs in other species by using gentle, continuous mechanical stimulation to keep mice awake for up to five days. Compared to control animals, sleep-deprived mice had elevated ROS levels in the small and large intestines but not in other organs, a finding consistent with the observations in flies. Death rescue To find out if ROS in the gut play a causal role in sleep deprivation-induced death, the researchers looked at whether preventing ROS accumulation could prolong survival. They tested dozens of compounds with antioxidant properties known to neutralize ROS and identified 11 that, when given as a food supplement, allowed sleep-deprived flies to have a normal or near-normal lifespan. These compounds, such as melatonin, lipoic acid and NAD, were particularly effective at clearing ROS from the gut. Notably, supplementation did not extend the lifespan of non-deprived flies. The role of ROS removal in preventing death was further confirmed by experiments in which flies were genetically manipulated to overproduce antioxidant enzymes in their guts. These flies had normal to near-normal lifespans when sleep-deprived, which was not the case for control flies that overproduced antioxidant enzymes in the nervous system. The results demonstrate that ROS buildup in the gut plays a central role in causing premature death from sleep deprivation, the researchers said, but cautioned that many questions remain unanswered. "We still don't know why sleep loss causes ROS accumulation in the gut, and why this is lethal," said Kaplan Dor. "Sleep deprivation could directly affect the gut, but the trigger may also originate in the brain. Similarly, death could be due to damage in the gut or because high levels of ROS have systemic effects, or some combination of these." Insufficient sleep is known to interfere with the body's hunger signaling pathways, so the team also measured fruit fly food intake to analyze whether there were potential associations between feeding and death. They found that some sleep-deprived flies ate more throughout the day compared with non-deprived controls. However, restricting access to food had no effect on survival, suggesting that factors beyond food intake are involved. The researchers are now working to identify the biological pathways that lead to ROS accumulation in the gut and subsequent physiological disruptions. The team hopes that their work will inform the development of approaches or therapies to offset some of the negative consequences of sleep deprivation. One in three American adults gets less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and insufficient sleep is a normal part of life for many around the world. "So many of us are chronically sleep deprived. Even if we know staying up late every night is bad, we still do it," Rogulja said. "We believe we've identified a central issue that, when eliminated, allows for survival without sleep, at least in fruit flies." "We need to understand the biology of how sleep deprivation damages the body, so that we can find ways to prevent this harm," she said. Explore further Lack of sleep is not necessarily fatal for flies New Delhi/London, June 4 : The founder of Pakistan's major political party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain on Thursday accused the Donald Trump administration of shielding Pakistan's Army which has occupied three provinces of the country using brutal repression. "With political and financial support of the US, Pakistan has occupied militarily three provinces of the country -- Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwaa -- besides the Gilgit-Baltistan region, and their barbaric and brutal repression is still going on," Hussain said in a statement posted on social media. The MQM, a Left-Liberal political party, was founded in Pakistan by Hussain in 1984. However, the party split into two factions -- MQM London run by Hussain and MQM Pakistan headed by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. Hussain on Thursday said the decision makers of the past and the present US administration, he said, have persistently failed to understand the sufferings of people of Pakistan. For one reason or other, the successive US governments have supported Pakistani despotic regimes. The US, he added, has always ignored the fact that Pakistani authoritarian regimes are the most brutal and racist in the world. "This is a known fact that Pakistan Army is the creator of Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and hundreds of other jihadi outfits where thousands of religious fanatics and terrorists are being trained as strategic assets of ISI," he said. Pakistan's powerful military and its intelligence agencies under the camouflage of so-called democratic civilian government is one of the most repressive in the world, Hussain said. ointing out that extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and arrests of dissenters on false and fabricated cases in Pakistan had continued under the Imran Khan government, Hussain said, no institution and no international human rights organization, including the UN had held the perpetrators in Pakistan accountable for such crimes. "Despite all these realities the US administration and other international financial institutions including World Bank and IMF are the main financial supporters of Pakistan which is also known as epicentre of all sorts of terrorism," he added. South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun ordered the country's chief envoy to the United States on Thursday to extend "proactive" consular protection for Korean nationals amid escalating anti-racism protests there. An anti-racism movement, sparked by the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, by a police officer late last month is turning violent in some parts of the U.S. A total of 126 cases of property damage have been reported at South Korean-run businesses in the U.S. so far as some demonstrators took to rioting and looting in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago and Minneapolis, according to the South Korean foreign ministry as of Thursday. Having a phone call with Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuck in the morning, Chung received a briefing on the latest state of the unrest in the U.S., as well as related damage cases on South Korean-operated stores and businesses there, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Chung instructed Lee to "proactively make protective efforts for Korean nationals through Korean consulate generals" in link with the property damage in the troubled cities. The prime minister also urged the ambassador to "cooperate closely with U.S. authorities to prevent further harm to Koreans," the office said. "The foremost importance is to prevent any harm to human life," Chung told Lee, calling for efforts to ensure the safety of Koreans in the country. (Yonhap) KOVA Windows are available in a wide range of custom sizes and configurations, such as Horizontal Slider, Picture Window and 2-Panel Sliding Patio Door. Shown: 2-Panel Sliding Patio Door. We set out to build windows that meet our own project requirements, so KOVA invested in industry expertise and cutting-edge manufacturing equipment to create a product that delivers great design and efficiency for the entire building envelope. KOVA, the official building products brand of Katerra, has launched a new line of high-performance windows available to trade professionals in a wide range of custom sizes and configurations. 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New Delhi, June 4 : Rajiv Bajaj has said that the nationwide lockdown implemented to curb the spread of the Covid pandemic has decimated the economy "You flattened the wrong curve. It is not the infection curve, it is the GDP curve. This is what we have ended (up) with, the worst of both worlds." The Managing Director of Bajaj Auto was in a conversation with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi that was broadcast on social media on Thursday. This is Gandhi's fourth interaction with who's who of the business world as he tries to build a case against the central government led by Narendra Modi. Speaking about the unlocking and impact of lockdown on the economy and the disease, industrialist Rajiv Bajaj referred to Japan and Sweden, who did not close their business but tried to propagate cluster control method. In this system Social distancing was encouraged, but shops and restaurants stayed open. Some students continued to go to school and borders stayed open to European visitors. It helped the economy continue to grow in the first quarter, unlike many other nations, but later deaths multiplied. Bajaj also said some countries used the herd immunity thing. However, "when people hear about this in terms of being articulated as herd immunity, they tend to think that herd immunity means let the vulnerable die. "It doesn't mean that at all. They are missing the details, whether it is in terms of sanitisation, masks, distancing etc. "Sweden, Japan etc. are following all these practices but they are not trying to go further into the unproductive zone . The 53-year-old, who had had in 2017 made it to India's 50 most powerful personalities, also said that we have followed the West. Rahul Gandhi has been instead asking the union government not to drive the lockdown the way it did, but be supportive and leave rest to the states but it has not been done so. "It's surreal. I don't think anyone imagined that the world would be locked down in this way. I don't think that even during the World War, the world was locked down. I think even then things were open. it's a unique and devastating phenomenon," said Gandhi. India pressed the pause button for two long months, he could not fathom. "The lockdown was really hard on the poor and migrants. They had nowhere to go," when Gandhi brought this up, When asked what he would have done, Gandhi told Bajaj, "The central government has to act as an enabler. It should have moved the battle to chief ministers, but what happened in India is that the central government has backed off now. It's too late now. ""It's a failed lockdown in India, it's the only country where number of infections is increasing wheh lockdown is being eased," Gandhi added. During the conversation, Gandhi called for a compassionate response and the urgent need for the government to listen to stakeholders and experts On April 30, Gandhi held the first such dialogue when he discussed the coronavirus pandemic and its economic implications with former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan. Next his conversation was with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee who had said India should come out with a large enough stimulus package to revive demand. Last week he spoke to globally renowned public health experts - Professor Ashish Jha of Harvard Global Health Institute. and Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text We saw the ultimate display of his reality-show leadership Monday evening, when his daughter Ivanka reportedly had the idea that he should walk to St. Johns Episcopal Church and hold a Bible. Shes got one maybe the Gideon kind from a hotel room. She put it in her $1,540 handbag and off they went, with officers shoving, shooting and gassing the peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square. Charges have been brought against six Atlanta, Georgia police officers involved in the brutal and unprovoked assault of two young college students returning from protests against the murder of George Floyd on Saturday. The two African American youths, 20-year-old Taniyah Pilgrim and 22-year-old Messiah Young, were driving on a congested street in a blue sedan and were seen interacting with another young man, Chancellor Meyers, who was on foot and apparently targeted by the police for arrest. The police, after tackling and apprehending Meyers, turned their attention to Pilgrim and Young, while Meyers could be heard tearfully proclaiming his innocence in the background. Young, the driver, was filming the incident on his phone, as would have been his right. With Meyers horrified screams in the background, Young pled with the officers to leave Meyers alone. Young asked the officers to allow Meyers to get into his vehicle to which one of the officers replied that he could go or go to jail. Young then drove away, fearing for his safety, repeating the phrase, Im not dying today. A short distance down the road, the car then got stuck in traffic. The officers easily caught up with Young and barked orders to put the car in park and open his windows, while beating the windows with their batons before completely smashing the drivers window. The police then repeatedly screamed, He has a gun! He has a gun! and then tased the young man, forcing him out of the car. No gun was found in Youngs possession nor in the car after the incident. A second group of officers confronted Pilgrim on the passenger side. Even though Pilgrim screamed that she was exiting the car, police deployed a taser against her anyway. The fact that several of the officers wore gas masks and issued muffled commands that could not easily be understood only added to the students horror and confusion. Pilgrim later told ABC News, I thought both Messiah and I were going to die. A video of the incident caught on police bodycam can be found here. According to statements by lawyers for the pair, Pilgrim was detained in a police paddy wagon for several hours, sitting side by side with three other detained women in extremely hot and cramped conditions. Her requests for a face mask to prevent coronavirus infection were repeatedly ignored. In televised remarks, Pilgrim stated that the officer who led her away glibly told her she and Young were on the verge of being shot before exiting the car. Young informed reporters and interviewers that the arresting officers punched him in the back 10 times after he exited the vehicle and that the arrest and brutal treatment at the hands of the police led to a massive gash on his forearm requiring 24 stitches. Video of the incident also shows an officer tasing Young even after he was already immobilized on the ground. Young also reported that one of the barbs from the taser gun remained in his back for six to eight hours while his requests to remove the barb were repeatedly ignored by police and staff. Footage of the arrest was broadcast on live television and has been widely shared on social media, attracting national and international attention. The city administration was thus compelled to act against six of the officers involved. Arrest warrants have been issued for officers Lonnie Hood, Willie Sauls, Ivory Streeter, Mark Gardner, Armond Jones and Roland Claud. The charges include aggravated assault of Young, aggravated assault of Pilgrim, as well as simple battery and criminal damage to property. Pilgrim and Young were both pleased with the arrest of the officers. Im so happy theyre being held accountable for their actions. There was not one justifiable thing that they did, Pilgrim told ABC News. I feel a little safer now that these monsters are off the street and no longer able to terrorize anyone else from this point on, said Young. Two of the six officers, Streeter and Gardner, were terminated from their positions Sunday while the remainder have been reassigned to desk jobs with the department. All have until Friday to surrender with a $10,000 signature bond set for each. With a signature bond, a defendant will forfeit the bond amount if he or she does not appear in court, but a deposit is not required with the court beforehand. It is typically reserved for minor felony type cases involving defendants with no prior criminal history. However, the city of Atlanta is providing this concession to police officers whose actions led to severe unprovoked injury and trauma and nearly cost the lives of these two innocent young people. It is notable that the two terminated officers having the most prominent roles in the assault, Streeter and Gardner, are both African American. Moreover, the city of Atlanta has a female chief of police, Erika Shields, and a black female mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, the latter considered to be a serious contender for the vice presidential nomination by Democratic presidential front runner, former Vice President Joe Biden. This gives the lie to claims that police brutality is simply a product of white racism even though it is certainly a factor in many instances of police brutality. Biden has been particularly impressed by Bottoms incredible response to events in Atlanta last Friday in which she publicly lambasted violent protesters. You are disgracing our city. You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country, she cried out. Her response to the officers involved in the assault on Young and Pilgrim, however, was far more muted and conciliatory. She agreed with Shields, who characterized the officers as good men who had just made some mistakes. Bottoms tenure on the city council and now as mayor has been marked by vicious attacks on the poor and working class, in particular, draconian legislation against panhandling by the homeless and attacks on city workers pensions. Police brutality, as the events in Atlanta make clear, is fundamentally the product of capitalism. The shuffling of personnel within police departments and city halls on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender does nothing to address the problem. Claims that police departments can be reformed, such as the #8cantwait campaign being pushed by Democratic Party activists and Hollywood celebrities, are likewise a dead end. Legislation changing use-of-force methods and requiring more stringent reporting of police misconduct, even if passed, will be largely ignored. The police are now acting, with the instigation of President Donald Trump and the full support of the Democrats and Republicans, as a domestic occupying army on behalf of the financial aristocracy. Use-of-force restrictions at home will be ignored, just as rules of engagement are ignored in wars abroad. It should be noted that the implementation of body cams after a wave of high profile police killings sparked popular protests during the Obama administration did nothing to prevent the attack on Young and Pilgrim even though officers had their body cams in operation the whole time. Furthermore, the attack on these two students is not isolated as the ruling elite is desperately trying to stamp out resistance and assert its authority over the working class. Not only protesters but uninvolved bystanders have been brutally assaulted: Seattle police pepper sprayed a seven-year-old girl; New York Police Department cruisers mowed down protesting pedestrians, and police fired rubber bullets at residents watching National Guard troop transports drive down city streets, to cite only a few examples. Over the last couple weeks, support and prayers have poured out of Rutland and the rest of Central Massachusetts as Detective John Songy battled coronavirus at a hospital in Worcester. All those prayers were helping to lift Songy up to God and heaven, Rev. James Boland said Thursday at a funeral Mass for Songy, who succumbed to illness related to the virus last week. Songy has been remembered as a detective with attention to detail, a man with a heart of gold, and an outdoorsman who loved off-roading in his Jeep. When his family sees Songy again in heaven, Boland said, maybe well even see that Jeep Rubicon sitting right next to him as well. Songy was on a ventilator in critical condition at Saint Vincent Hospital when he died on May 29. Like when crowds stood outside the hospital to support Songy last month, the community poured onto Rutlands Main Street Thursday morning, offering another show of support for Songy, his family and his brothers and sisters on the police department. As police officers and dozens of residents lined Rutlands quaint Main Street around 10:15 a.m., a silence fell around Saint Patrick Church. Some donned T-shirts that read Songy Strong. Officers standing at attention outside the church wore face masks as the sun beat down. A breeze rolled through, offering a brief respite from the heat as an American flag nearby waved at half-staff. Songy, 48, joined the Rutland Police Department in 2012 after working as a patrol officer in Oakham. He leaves his parents, Alfred and Elaine Songy; his wife Joanne Songy; his daughter, Katlyn M. Songy of New Braintree; a stepdaughter, Shantell B. Madera of Florida; a stepson, DeVante Cotto of Leicester; and his sister, Sherill Colonero-Fitzgibbons of Maryland, according to his obituary. John and Joanne both tested positive for coronavirus on April 23. Joanne was able to overcome the virus at home, but Songy was rushed to the hospital on May 2 with shortness of breath. Songy received a plasma infusion treatment on May 5. He was also given the drug remdesivir. His body rejected remdesivir and his organs began to fail, putting him in critical condition. He was placed on a ventilator on May 10. Before his death, Songy was able to receive the anointing of the sick, Boland said from the pulpit. John was not walking alone in those times. He was walking with all of you, but our lord and savior was walking with him as well, strengthening him in that moment, Boland said. Songy was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was a graduate of Worcester Vocational Technical Institute and worked for years as a machinist at Service Network and Heald Machine Company. Songy began his new career as a police officer after attending the criminal justice program at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, according to his obituary. As a detective, Songy had precise attention to detail, but more importantly, empathy and respect for everyone, recalled Chief Nicholas Monaco, who spoke at the church along with Officer Brent Carpenter. Songy loved the outdoors and would often be found four-wheeling in his Rubicon Jeep. He loved to travel across the country. On those trips, hed visit family and attend Jeep rallies, his obituary read. Many of his fondest memories were spent with his father on their annual trips visiting family in Louisiana, the obituary reads. Those Jeep trips were recalled during Songys service on Thursday, as well as his love for Cajun food and his chattiness. Carpenter said at the pulpit that he and other officers learned to avoid Songy, a man of many words, if they were in a rush and needed to get somewhere. But, those talks with Songy and his stories were also one of the things they looked forward to the most, Carpenter said. Though Songy wore plain clothes to work, Carpenter recalled, he would never hesitate to jump into a scuffle if other officers needed help. Songy has made a lasting impression, said Carpenter, who added that knowing Songy for the last eight years has been a privilege. Following the funeral Mass, officers and onlookers stood outside the Rutland Fire Station, just steps from the church, to listen to a final call for Songy over the police radio. Songys family were seated outside the station, surrounded by officers standing at attention and Rutland Sgt. Troy Chauvin playing the bagpipes. Procession for Rutland Police Detective John Songy Posted by MassLive Worcester on Thursday, June 4, 2020 At least one other Massachusetts police officer has died from illness related to the virus. Boston Police Officer Jose Fontanez, a 29-year veteran of the department, died in April from illness related to coronavirus. While Songy was still in the hospital, Rutland Police Officer Jesse Catino, Johns partner, organized a drive to show support. Thousands stood outside Saint Vincent Hospital, a sign of solidarity. The amount of people who showed up to support Songy amid a global pandemic speaks to the kind of man he was, Monaco said. As long as we continue to carry that goodness that John gave us, he will live on and his death will not be in vain, Monaco said. Thank you for your service, Monaco said, starting to choke up, your dedication and your friendship. Rest in peace. We have the watch. Related Content: Sinn Fein's finance spokesman, Pearse Doherty, has said that it is unfair to cut the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) for part-time workers by 42%. The payment for part-time workers is to be reduced from 350 to the Jobseeker's allowance rate of 203 per week The payment for full-time workers will be phased out over time. Mr Doherty said: Theyre talking about part-time workers, but what does that actually mean? Does that mean everybody who doesnt work 40 hours is going to see their income drop?" He said many seasonal workers - including students - would be working full-time during the summer, even if they were working part-time back in March. Deputy Doherty said that cutting payments for everyone would be the wrong thing to do, although acknowledged there is a need to deal with "anomalies". However, the Sinn Fein TD said that those who have been most severely affected by the pandemic are people on low-pay. He said: People like my mother who worked the couple of shifts she could get, cleaning the cafe and all the rest during the winter period worked every hour she got when the hotels opened. "These are the types of people that Regina Doherty, Leo Varadkar and Paschal Donohoe are sitting around saying we should cut their supports. Not only is it unfair to those seasonal workers, but its actually the wrong thing to do for the economy. "When a conservative government like Germany is going to give 300 to every single child in the state our Government is talking about taking away money from families, and therefore taking money away from the domestic economy and businesses." Canadians are proud of the huge success of Canadian writers, not only in Canada but globally. From peak-Atwood to Booker prize winners, our writers are fundamental to our sense of who we are and our place in the world. What most Canadians may not know, is that this success has been underpinned for decades by public financial and other support to these writers and the Canadian book publishers who bring their works to life. The rationale for this financial support is obvious and it has been supported by governments of all political stripes. Canada is a small market for English language publications (with roughly 26 million Anglophones), sandwiched between two English-speaking cultural behemoths in the United States and the United Kingdom. Until the second half of the 20th century, Canadas publishing industry was virtually non-existent and we read almost exclusively British or American books. Today, Canadians are still primarily exposed to American authors or books published by multinational conglomerates based in New York, or in the case of the company with the lions share of the Canadian book market, Germany. But thanks to consistent government policies and programs, its at least possible with some effort to find and enjoy Canadian books At least its possible for the time being. The COVID-19 pandemic, and its parallel economic crisis, is threatening to wipe out Canadian bookstores and publishers both large and small. Even Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books, the largest book retailer in Canada, has acknowledged that her firm needs public assistance in order to carry on. If Reismans Indigo goes under alongside the scores of independent bookshops left in the country, we can forget about finding Canadian authored books because there wont be Canadian publishers to make them, and there wont be Canadian bookstores to get them into the hands of Canadian readers. Maybe some people will think, Ill just get my books from Amazon; others will wonder about providing public support to a large company like Indigo, since its controlled by a billionaire couple. Well, if one considers the multi-billions Canadian governments (again, of all stripes) have contributed to the automotive industry or the tarsands, then it seems to me that supporting a key plank of an independent, Canadian cultural industry is surely worth the investment, ideally as part of turning our economy green. Canadians may think Amazon is a good way to get books, including by Margaret Atwood and Lawrence Hill, but what this ignores is the critical role of book publishers in developing the next generation of Canadian authors. The reality is that without a viable retail ecosystem geared toward promoting and selling Canadian books, Canadas cultural independence is at risk, because the next generation of Canadian writers will not get their chance. My sense is that Canadians value their cultural, economic, and political independence from the U.S. and the U.K., and my hope is that they will agree that the government has a role to play. Minister Steven Guilbeaults Department of Canadian Heritage must step in to support Canadian booksellers, including Indigo. But, support for Canadian bookstores should be contingent on each retailers demonstrated commitment to promoting and selling Canadian authored and published books, and should be further tied to accepting limits to the ecologically and economically ruinous policies of unlimited returns. Yes, bizarrely, when publishers sell books to bookstores, they are almost always returnable for 100 per cent credit. This leads stores to routinely ordering more copies than they need, in case of a surprise success. The book return model is a 20th century solution to problems that emerged in the industry during the Great Depression. While developments in logistics and technology have rendered the model obsolete, it continues. What I propose is that Canadian-owned bookstores should receive comparable levels of support as Canadian-owned publishers do and in exchange, accept comparable conditions that contribute to a cohesive cultural policy. As a publisher, I am heavily incentivized through various subsidies, grants, and tax credits to prioritize the publication of Canadian authored books. Im even incentivized to print my books locally, which contributes to good jobs for Canadians. I operate under the assumption that its not my job to maximize profit at all cost. Otherwise, Id take a pass on new, unproven, Canadian talent and focus instead on importing bestsellers from abroad while printing primarily in India or China. I publish what I do with half a mind to public service and half a mind on profits, and I think thats the reality for many Canadian book professionals. While Canadian book retailers, including Indigo, need to be supported, they should be similarly incentivized to order, promote, and sell the books that firms like mine produce. If we dont take bold steps today, I fear for the future of this countrys cultural independence. Mother of hiplife musician, Jerry Anaba popularly known as Okomofour Kwadee, commenting on the latest picture of her son that has gone viral on social media has pleaded with Ghanaians to come to the aid of her 'sick' son. According to her, she has done everything possible a mother is supposed to do for her son, but her son's condition has not improved. "Ghanaians know his state and what he is going through. I am his mother, I didn't sit to watch my son go through that situation. I have tried my best. He's at Santasi. I have said everything I have to say to him. I have taken him to lots of places just to see him heal and get better. But he doesn't like that. I am still doing that," she said in an interview with Peace FM monitored by GhanaWeb. Speaking on the efforts she has put in place, the musician's mother explained that she has taken her son to prayer centres and all other places where she thinks can help solve her son's predicament. "As a mother, you cant watch to see your son go into that state so you will take him to prayer centres and other places that you think can solve his situation," she said in the Twi dialect. She added that her only hope is to see her son go back to his normal life and revive what he loves doing best, music. The photo of Kwadee which has gone viral saw the rapper looking very frail; that has left many of his fans in a state of shock. For some time now, Okomfour Kwadee has been battling with mental challenges which landed him at a rehab centre. In 2018, the news about him being abandoned at the rehab centre by his family went viral. After it was reported to have recovered, it emerged he had sadly relapsed again. Watch the video below: 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 Michael Shields and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization will resume its trial of hydroxychloroquine for potential use against the coronavirus, its chief said on Wednesday, after those running the study briefly stopped giving it to new patients over health concerns. The U.N By Michael Shields and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization will resume its trial of hydroxychloroquine for potential use against the coronavirus, its chief said on Wednesday, after those running the study briefly stopped giving it to new patients over health concerns. The U.N. agency last month paused the part of its large study of treatments against COVID-19 in which newly enrolled patients were getting the anti-malarial drug to treat COVID-19 due to fears it increased death rates and irregular heartbeats. The study continued with other medicines. But the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said its experts had advised the continuation of all trials including hydroxychloroquine, whose highest-profile backer for use against the coronavirus is U.S. President Donald Trump. "The executive group will communicate with the principal investigators in the trial about resuming the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial," Tedros told an online media briefing, referring to WHO's initiative to hold clinical tests of potential COVID-19 treatments on some 3,500 patients in 35 countries. The WHO's decision to suspend its trial prompted others to follow suit, including Sanofi , which said on May 29 it was suspending recruitment for its trials. A Sanofi spokesman said the company would review available information and run consultations in the coming days to reassess its position following the WHO's latest decision on Wednesday. The WHO's chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, called for other trials of the drug to proceed. "We owe it to patients to have a definitive answer on whether or not a drug works," she said, adding that safety monitoring should also continue. Swaminathan said the WHO would be keen to see more results of clinical trials of Avifavir, a drug she said would be used to treat COVID-19 in Russian hospitals "very soon". In the same virtual briefing, WHO officials said they were especially worried about outbreaks in Latin America and in Haiti, one of the world's poorest nations, where infections have been spreading rapidly. The coronavirus has infected almost 3 million people in the Americas and more than 6.43 million worldwide. (Additional reporting by Josephine Mason in London and Matthias Blamont in Paris; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Techson advances its proprietary Limestone research platform with the release of version 2.0 - a heady set of new and powerful features that its clients and partners have requested since Limestones debut release in 2019. Limestone is designed to be more than just a patent research tool. It scales and accelerates specific workflows of IP legal professionals and intellectual property owners. Version 2.0 is highly adaptable to fulfill the unique needs of any firm or organization. One of the many advancements Techson is proud to announce is its Limestone Trademark Classifier which was built to automate acceptable identification and classification of goods/services in any trademark application or search. The technology is used to reduce application and prosecution delays while minimizing costs, enhancing filing accuracy, and improving trademark quality. Limestone Trademark Classifier is being evaluated by global trademark filing offices for use by examining attorneys and applicants alike. Limestone 2.0 advancements center on three technology areas: Trademark Classification after having successfully built a technical literature classifier in Limestone 1.0, Techson set its sights on a series of proprietary training datasets and algorithms to solve the often overlooked problem of proper goods/services identification in trademark applications. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) expanded our suite of classification, report and analytics APIs to be more robust and seamlessly embeddable into your existing IP workflow platforms. Reduce user disruption while energizing their work environment. Self-Service Portal the ability for law firms, corporate IP counsel and their staff to request, consume, and share myriad of automated research reports using a freemium and transactional purchase model, among other powerful features. Secure automated results delivered to your inbox in minutes. Our Limestone platform has been evolving since the very first release last year, and we are thrilled to announce these major enhancements after extensive market use by our clients, partners, and our very own researchers, says Luke Barbin, CEO of Techson. Its exciting to have an application-agnostic research platform at our fingertips. We have yet to encounter a research problem that cant be tackled using Limestone, and well be announcing some exciting new Limestone solutions by the end of summer. In Q1 2020, Limestone was independently evaluated head-to-head against eight other leading patent research and analytics platforms in a structured ground truths test. The study was conducted by a world class patent research team, and their conclusions placed Limestones performance at the head of class in every single test case outcome. The study concluded that when pairing research experts with a platform like Limestone, you can expect a 20% productivity and quality gain in your patent research outcomes. About Techson Techson was founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas by IP attorneys, research experts and technologists with a vision to more fully serve the patent, trademark and innovation industry with IP consulting and machine learning/AI automation. Techsons founders and executives have worked with and for the worlds largest patent owners and law firms. Techsons researchers have conducted more than 15,000 research projects, and its 150+ clients include Fortune 500/Global 2000 corporations and Am Law 100 law firms. Its principals have also supported over $100 million in patent transactions and helped companies secure tens of millions in private equity and venture capital investments. Learn more: http://www.techsonip.com or http://www.limestonesearch.com Or, contact Techson at: info@techsonip.com #techsonip #patents #trademarks #AI #limestonesearch #relentlessresearch #intelligentproperty It is generally believed by the experts that it is of vital significance to share information and experiences as well as to have cross-border and cross-region cooperation in the course of the war against the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) has done a lot of work to this end by giving full play to its role and by coordinating the global responses. Although different countries may have different systems and cultures, and the process of pandemic development and transmission may not be the same, yet the basic law of prevention and response is more or less the same for the same kind of sudden outbreak of infectious diseases. The international community should learn from each other and mutually abide the law in order to form the largest joint force to fight the pandemic and to eventually overcome the pandemic. The experts also expressed that the Global Health Forum can play an important role as a platform for the global fight against the pandemic at this special period when the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging around the world. The 2nd conference adjusted its agenda and topics for discussion in accordance with the development situation of the pandemic and made the relevant plans to ensure the health of the guests participating in the conference, control the imported cases and prevent the rebound of the pandemic. Global Health Forum was set up by Boao Forum for Asia in 2018, and its 1st conference was successfully held in Qingdao, Shandong in June 2019. The GHF has built a high-end platform for exchanges and cooperation in the field of health for political, commercial and academic circles around the world, and has promoted the construction of the world's health systems and the development of the health industry. The 2nd Conference of Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia (GHF) is to be held in Qingdao, Shandong Province in October, 2020. SOURCE Organizing Committee of GHF Related Links www.yslmcm.com 12:25 | Cusco (Cusco region), Jun. 4. Machu Picchu Town Mayor Darwin Baca reported that a Tourism and Health Safety Commission has been formed in coordination with civil society and the Ministry of Health (Minsa) in order to implement the protocol mentioned above. According to Baca, progress has been made with the Municipality of Machu Picchu Town and the access to the Inca citadel, which is being established along with Consettur (a transportation company) and awaits the contribution of the Ministry of Culture , which administers the llaqta or Inca citadel. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The Tourism Department says it has assisted tens of thousands of tourists stranded nationwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We have assisted as much as 30,347 foreign and domestic tourists po, Ma'am, especially galing (those coming from) from the different regions coming to Manila because they will take their repatriation and exiting flights out of the country," said Department of Tourism NCR Director Woodrow Maquiling Jr. in the Laging Handa virtual briefing on Thursday. Most of these travellers were stranded in different tourist spots around the country such as Boracay, Siargao and Palawan, he noted. The agency had also aided in mounting 112 sweeper flights for stranded local tourists and 35 for foreign tourists, along with consulates and embassies in Metro Manila who have organized their own flights for their nationals, said the tourism official. "We were able also to assist yung mga (the) sweeper boats galing sa mga (coming from) different regions sa seaport po," added Maquiling. "So we assisted as much as six sweeper boats via 2GO especially from Palawan and Mimaropa region." Major airline companies have recently announced the resumption of domestic flights, but only for essential travel. However, trips for leisure and tourism purposes still need the go signal of the Inter-Agency Task Force and concerned local government units, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said earlier this week. Tugade also said international travels will be allowed, with priority flights provided for returning residents, overseas workers, and diplomats, among others. The FBI Boston office issued a warning to Massachusetts police departments this week warning that individual officers could be targeted, sources confirmed to MassLive. The report warns departments that the FBI received credible intelligence that rioters are looking for the home addresses of police officers through public records searches. The internal report was put out as protests continue across the country in the wake of George Floyds death. The concern was that the peaceful protests could be taken over or disrupted by people looking for the opportunity to cause violence, sources told MassLive. An FBI spokesperson would not comment on the internal report but did issue a statement. It reads: Our standard practice is not to comment on specific intelligence products. However, as part of the continuous dialogue with our law enforcement partners, the FBI routinely shares information about potential threats to better enable law enforcement to protect themselves and the communities they serve. We urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to law enforcement. After peaceful protests in Worcester and Boston ended over the past week, dozens of people were arrested in disorder that occurred later. Boston police arrested 53 people and Worcester police arrested 19 people in the unrest that took place when the peaceful protests ended. One of the 19 people arrested in Worcester is now facing federal charges. The FBI has asked the public for photos or video of individuals engaged in criminal behavior on May 31 in Boston. CHANGSHA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China's target year for the eradication of poverty is 2020, which means that around 5.51 million people who remained impoverished at the end of 2019 will be lifted out of poverty by the end of this year. Great strides have been necessary to reach this goal, and the improvements can perhaps best be illustrated by an inspiring return trip to Shibadong. The idea of "targeted poverty alleviation," first put forward in 2013 at the then poverty-stricken Shibadong village in central China's Hunan Province, includes the requirement of tailoring relief measures to different local conditions. In 2018, "targeted poverty alleviation" was included in the first ever resolution addressing poverty eradication in rural areas to be adopted by the UN General Assembly. PRECISION "Precision" is a buzzword when it comes to targeted poverty alleviation, meaning that appropriate resources should be used in the right place at the right time. The first step is to precisely identify impoverished residents. A working team was dispatched to Shibadong in late 2013 to sort out which households needed assistance. To make sure that the process was fair, they published the evaluation criteria. Excluded from the definition of poverty-stricken households were people who had broken the law and those who lived in buildings of two or more stories. Because the incomes of villagers tended to fluctuate and some people moved into the area while others departed, another round of village-wide identification was carried out in 2017. Rich in natural beauty and scenic landscapes, Shibadong was hampered by its rugged terrain, which meant a lack of transportation and arable land. So the next step was to cultivate suitable businesses to help the locals to thrive. Kiwi fruit was a suitable crop for the local environment, but the limited arable land and the scattered distribution of villages prevented Shibadong from developing kiwi farming on an industrial basis. Therefore, Shibadong rented land from a neighboring village on which to plant high-quality kiwis. Meanwhile, the tourism industry is booming in the village, thanks to its unique Miao culture and special landscapes. Some villagers operate restaurants. Others run family inns. Over 40 housewives have established a cooperative for producing and marketing Miao embroidery, an attractive form of intangible cultural heritage. What is more, the village has arranged for locals to go out to study, launched a range of lectures to provide technical training and linked farmers with the market so that households can find ways to make money on their own terms. Official figures estimate that over 90 percent of the registered impoverished population across China have received support in employment and industry-based relief. ALL-ROUND ASSISTANCE There are various reasons for a family to be trapped in poverty. Some are common, while others are unique. Infrastructure has long been a weakness in rural development. With the goal of building a beautiful and livable village, Shibadong has been vigorously promoting ethnic folk customs throughout its construction. The improvement of roads, drinking water, power grids, residential buildings, landscapes, tourism facilities, and public service facilities in the village have completely transformed the original situation, doing away with traffic jams, shabby cottages and a degraded environment. During the hiatus caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the village stepped up its infrastructure construction to prepare for the post-pandemic tourism boom. Medical expenses used to be an unbearable burden for rural residents. But all the residents of Shibadong have now been covered by basic medical insurance and serious disease insurance. The Second People's Hospital of Hunan Province also set up a telemedicine site in the village. Long Yuanzhang, an impoverished villager, was hospitalized for pulmonary infection last year. His insurance has covered 1,524 yuan (about 214 U.S. dollars) out of the total medical bill of 1,544 yuan. "The disease cost me almost nothing, thanks to the insurance," he said. By the end of 2019, targeted medical insurance had helped 4.18 million impoverished people with health problems shake off poverty, data with the National Healthcare Security Administration showed. For those households facing extreme difficulties, pairing-up assistance has been adopted. Soon after the anti-poverty team entered Shibadong, five officials paired up with the five most impoverished households. From on-the-job training to getting loans, even setting up romantic dates for aged bachelors, the officials pooled their resources to tackle the most urgent difficulties for the villagers. Back in 2013, the per capita disposable income of the 939 villagers in Shibadong was only 1,668 yuan, with 57 percent of the population living below the poverty line. In 2017, Shibadong officially ridded itself of poverty. In 2018, the village's per capita disposable income stood at 12,128 yuan. The Chinese government vows to continue applying the current poverty alleviation standards, increasing the allocation of resources and taking stronger steps to implement poverty reduction measures. The aim is to ensure that all of China's remaining poor people are lifted out of poverty by deadline of 2020. London: British police said on Wednesday a German man has been identified as a suspect in the case of a three-year-old British girl who disappeared 13 years ago while on holiday in Portugal. The Metropolitan Police did not name the man, but said he was 43 and was in and around the Praia da Luz resort area on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007. Madeleine McCann disappeared when she was three years old on a family holiday in Portugal. Credit:REAL MADRID TV The long-running case of McCann, who vanished shortly before her fourth birthday, has intrigued Britain for years. Her parents say Madeleine went missing after they had left her and her twin siblings asleep in their holiday complex while they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. An investigation by British police has identified more than 600 people as being potentially significant. Officers were tipped off about the German suspect following a 2017 appeal. Australia on Thursday extended its support for Indias candidacy for permanent membership of a reformed United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Australia extended its support at the first virtual summit with India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison jointly participated in the summit. During the meeting, the two countries elevated the bilateral Strategic Partnership concluded in 2009 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). Australia reiterated its support for Indias candidacy for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC) and Indias candidature for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2021-22 term, read a joint statement on CSP between the two countries. Several countries have backed India to be a permanent member of the UNSC. The body has five permanent members China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. Both sides reiterated their support for continued bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and their commitment to further strengthen global non-proliferation. Australia expressed its strong support for Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), it said. The NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries that controls the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. Also Read: Two Pakistan High Commission employees caught for espionage, declared persona-non grata Also Read: US President Donald Trump postpones G7 summit, plans to invite India, Russia, Australia Australia welcomed the International Energy Agencys (IEA) strategic partnership with India and looks forward to continuing to work closely on building stronger ties between India and the IEA community, the joint statement said. The two sides also unveiled a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo- Pacific and signed seven agreements focused on crucial areas such as defence and rare earth minerals. In his remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is committed to expanding its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace. This is important not only for our two countries but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world, stressed Modi, adding further that Australia is one of Indias friends. So the criteria for the pace of development in our relations should also be ambitious, he said. In his remarks, Morrison also reflected on the joint declaration between Australia and India on a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific which looks forward to bring together scientists from the two countries. We share an ocean. We share responsibilities for that ocean as well. Its health. Its well-being. Its security. The relationship we are forming around those issues on our maritime domain, the Australian Prime Minister stressed in the summit. Also Read: US terminates relationship with WHO, announces measures against China For all the latest World News, download NewsX App A cyclone made landfall Wednesday south of Indias financial capital of Mumbai, with storm surge threatening to flood beaches and low-lying slums as city authorities struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Live TV coverage showed inky black clouds framing the sea on Indias western coastline. Trees swayed wildly, as the rain pounded the coastal towns and villages of the central state of Maharashtra. In the state capital Mumbai, the home of Bollywood, Indias largest stock exchange and more than 18 million residents, high winds whipped skyscrapers and ripped apart shanty houses near the beach. Mumbai hasnt been hit by a cyclone in more than a century, raising concern about its readiness. In the hours before the storm hit Indias shores, drivers and peddlers deserted Mumbais iconic Marine Drive, fishermen yanked their nets out of the wavy Arabian Sea and police shooed people away from beaches. As the cyclone wended its way up Indias western coast, homes in city slums were boarded up and abandoned, and municipal officials patrolled the streets, using bullhorns to order people to stay inside. Cyclone Nisarga was forecast to drop heavy rains and sustained winds of 100 to 110 kilometers (62 to 68 miles) per hour through Wednesday afternoon after slamming ashore near the city of Alibag, about 98 kilometers (60 miles) south of Mumbai, Indias Meteorological Department said. The state of Goa, south of Maharashtra, already received 127 milimeters (5 inches) of torrential rain about a weeks average, the agency said. Some 100,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas in Maharashtra and neighboring Gujarat, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. Both states, already among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, activated disaster response teams, fearing extensive flooding could further impair overwhelmed health systems. If hospitals and clinics are damaged by the cyclone, the city wont be able to cope with the large number of COVID-19 cases, and social distancing measures will become virtually impossible to follow, Bidisha Pillai, chief executive of Save the Children in India, said in a statement. Some 200 COVID-19 patients in Mumbai were moved from a field hospital built beneath a tent to another facility to avoid the risk of strong wind gusts, officials said. N. Pradhan, director of Indias National Disaster Response Force, said in a video statement that evacuations were nearly complete and that social distancing norms were being followed in cyclone shelters. Let us fight this danger like we are standing up to the corona pandemic and are on our way to defeat it. Likewise, we will prevail over this situation too! Maharashtras top official, Chief Minister Uddhav Balasheb Thackeray, tweeted. The cyclone also threatened to worsen prospects for an economic turnaround as a 9-week-long coronavirus lockdown began to ease this week. India has reported more than 200,000 cases and 5,800 deaths due to the virus, and epidemiologists predict that the peak is still weeks away. Maharashtra, which accounts for more than a third of Indias cases, has seen the rate of infection slow in recent days, beneath Indias national average. Some special trains departing from Mumbai that for weeks have carried millions of economic migrants who lost their jobs in lockdown were rescheduled, and newly restored domestic airline travel postponed. Nisarga comes just two weeks after Cyclone Amphan tore through the Bay of Bengal on Indias east coast and battered West Bengal state, killing more than 100 people in India and neighboring Bangladesh. Such storms are less common in the Arabian Sea than on Indias east coast, usually form later in the year and do so over a longer period. But Nisarga may represent the ways in which the warming of oceans due to climate change is already altering lives, experts said. The frequency of cyclones in the Arabian Sea is predicted to increase, said Adam Sobel, a climate scientist at Columbia University. The temperature of the top layer of the sea, from which the cyclone draws its energy, is unusually high, said K.J. Ramesh, former chief of Indias Meteorological Department. Much more frequent and intense cyclones have been appearing over a shorter time in recent years due to climate change, he said. Forecasting such storms becomes a challenge, he said. ___ Schmall and Ghosal reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writer Chonchui Ngashangva in New Delhi contributed to this report. Photo credit: EUMETSATs Meteosat 8 satellite image of Cyclone Nisarga over India. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics India New York is expanding its testing facilities to the thousands of people who participated in recent George Floyd protests, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police May 25 has sparked international demonstrations that have drawn tens of thousands of protesters in cities across the world. Cuomo said the protests drew about 20,000 people in New York City alone and more across the state. "You have 30,000 people who have been protesting statewide. ... Many of them wear masks, thank God, but there's no social distancing. You look at the encounters with the police. The police are right in their face. They're right in the face of the police," Cuomo said at a news briefing. "If you were at a protest, go get a test, please. The protesters have a civic duty here also. Be responsible, get a test." He added that people should wear masks and inform other people that they have been exposed to the coronavirus. "If you were at one of those protests, I would, out of an abundance of caution, assume that you're infected and tell people," he said. Cuomo has previously warned New York residents that the mass protests could threaten the state's reopening plan and progress in curbing the spread of the coronavirus. The governor noted the possibility of an infection lag where it can take four to five days on average for symptoms to show. In serious cases, infected patients could be hospitalized in 8 to 12 days, Cuomo said. The total number of hospitalizations across New York continues to fall, with 52 deaths on Wednesday, up slightly from Tuesday, Cuomo said. While the course of the Covid-19 pandemic appears to have slowed, Cuomo emphasized the importance of staying vigilant as the state continues reopening in phases. "We're making great progress, but as fast as these numbers come down is as fast as those numbers go up," he said. "New York City had the highest number of protesters. We have to be smart. The protesters themselves could wind up causing the spike, so we have to be smart," he said. As heated protests continue to shake Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs, New York City extended its curfew through the end of the week. The curfews take effect at 8 p.m. and will be lifted at 5 a.m. The city is still on track to begin "phase one" reopening on June 8. The governor also added outdoor dining to "phase two" reopening guidelines. It must be an open-air dining space with tables spaced six feet apart. All staff are required to wear face coverings and customers must also wear face coverings when not seated. As of Thursday, there are seven regions in "phase two" the Capital Region, Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Southern Tier and Western New York. Cuomo said Westchester, Rockland and the Hudson Valley will enter phase two on Tuesday and Long Island on Wednesday. "Phase two" of reopening allows office-based workers, real estate services, in-store retail shopping and some barbershop services to resume. Kiran, 67, founded Biocon, a bio-enzymes company, in 1978 with just two employees and US$500. Since its inception, Biocon has grown to employ more than 11,000 people and become one of the strongest innovation-driven biotechnology companies in Asia with revenues of US$800m for FY19. Biocon and its subsidiaries are making a lasting impact on global health care. Millions of people living with diabetes now have access to affordable insulin, while millions more who are battling cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other debilitating diseases now have access to affordable biosimilars. Manny Stul, Chairman and Co-CEO of Moose Toys and Chair of the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year judging panel, says: "Kiran is an inspirational entrepreneur who demonstrates that determination, perseverance and a willingness to innovate can create long-term value. The judging panel were impressed by her ability to build and sustain growth over the past 30 years and by her integrity and passion for philanthropy that has delivered huge global impact. She has built India's largest biopharmaceutical company on a foundation of compassionate capitalism and putting patient needs before profits." Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited, says: "At its core, entrepreneurship is about solving problems. The greatest opportunities often arise at the toughest times, and that's been my experience throughout my entrepreneurial journey. My business focus is global health care and the provision of universal access to life saving medicine; however, my responsibility as an entrepreneur is greater than simply delivering value to shareholders. Wealth creation can be a catalyst for change, and all entrepreneurs have a responsibility to the world around them and the communities in which they operate. Women also play a hugely important role in economic development, and for too long their contribution has been ignored. It's important that we use the platform of EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year to encourage more women to participate in entrepreneurial pursuits. I'm truly honored to receive this prestigious award." Carmine Di Sibio, EY Global Chairman and CEO, says: "Entrepreneurs are the unstoppable visionaries who inspire innovation and fuel growth and prosperity by building remarkable companies and services. Kiran's passion to develop low-cost, cutting-edge pharmaceutical alternatives has brought affordable health care to patient communities all around the world. Her drive to innovate has created huge growth for Biocon Limited and helped diversify the company's portfolio of therapies for chronic diseases. Kiran is a truly inspiring EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year winner." Stasia Mitchell, EY Global Entrepreneurship Leader, says: "With an exceptional record in creating long-term value, Kiran's clear vision of making a difference to the lives of millions of people around the world make her a worthy EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year winner. Her impact on improving global health access and affordability will endure for decades to come. She is a beacon for other entrepreneurs to follow." About Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited A first-generation entrepreneur, Kiran graduated as a Master Brewer from a brewing school in Australia and returned to her native India in 1975 to find work as a brew master. After two years of unsuccessfully trying to overcome the hurdles of entering a male-dominated brewing industry, Kiran started Biocon Limited, producing bio-industrial enzymes in the garage of her rented house in Bengaluru, India. A year later, Biocon became the first Indian company to export enzymes to the US and Europe. Now, Biocon and its subsidiaries are the pioneers in areas less frequented by Indian pharmaceuticals companies, including fermentation-based small molecules, human insulin and insulin analogs, biosimilars for key antibody drugs, novel therapies, and high-end contract research services. With customers in over 120 countries, the company is a world leader in biosimilars and APIs for statins, immunosuppressants and other specialty molecules. In 2014, Biocon was India's first biotech company to go public and only the second Indian company to pass the US$1b mark on its first day of listing. The company's market capitalization is currently over US$4b. Biocon is also leading the way on universal access to affordable life-saving medicine. For example, in September 2019, the company announced that it would supply rh-insulin at less than US$0.10 per day (for the average 40 units of insulin required per patient per day) to low- and middle-income countries less than a third of current rh-insulin prices. The company has supplied more than 2 billion affordable doses of biosimilar insulins to patients globally in the last 15 years. Compassionate capitalism that addresses inequality is at the center of Kiran's business and leadership philosophy. Founded in 2004, the Biocon Foundation provides basic health care, sanitation and early diagnosis and treatment of common cancers and non-communicable diseases to marginalized communities. Kiran has also been an angel investor for numerous successful health care startups in areas such as affordable breast cancer screening, chemotherapy determination, and low-cost warming devices for premature and low-birth-weight babies. The Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research, a nonprofit research institute established by Kiran and dedicated to developing scientific breakthroughs for treating a wide range of human diseases, has also developed several advanced yet affordable cancer diagnostics. In 2016, Kiran signed The Giving Pledge, committing 75% of her wealth to philanthropy and giving back. About the judging panel The independent judging panel was chaired by Manny Stul, Chairman and Co-CEO of Moose Toys and EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 winner. Joining him were: Rosaleen Blair, CBE , Founder and Chair of Alexander Mann Solutions , Founder and Chair of Alexander Mann Solutions George Hongchoy, Executive Director and CEO of Link Asset Management Limited Hernan Kazah, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Kaszek Ventures Sipho Nkosi , Chairman of Sasol , Chairman of Sasol Emine Sabanc Kamsl, Co-Founder and Vice Chairperson of Esas Holding Broadcast coverage and high-resolution content are available here for download for broadcast and online use. Notes to Editors About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation is available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients. About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. Winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/eoy. Alan Duerden Yvonne Diaz EY Global Media Relations EY Global Media Relations +44 (0) 7392 106 100 +44 (0) 7990 560 615 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE EY Related Links http://www.ey.com (Newser) AMC may not be coming back from this. The movie theater chain, which shuttered all its locations amid the coronavirus pandemic, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday that it has "substantial doubt" it can survive, CNBC and the Wall Street Journal report. "We are generating effectively no revenue," it said in the filing, which included preliminary earnings results showing that it expects to have lost $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion during the first quarter that ended March 31, and that its revenue fell to $941.5 million, a drop of almost 22% from the $1.2 billion in revenue during last year's first quarter. Results from the second quarter, which ends June 30, are expected to be worse. "Substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time," the filing says. story continues below The company said its ability to weather the storm will depend on raising enough cash to fund operations as the closure continues. As of now, its cash balance of $718.3 million is enough to get it to the summer (when it currently expects to reopen) or perhaps a bit later, but "if we do not recommence operations within our estimated timeline, we will require additional capital and may also require additional financing if, for example, our operations do not generate the expected revenues or a recurrence of COVID-19 were to cause another suspension of operations," the company says. "Such additional financing may not be available on favorable terms or at all." Operations are currently suspended through the end of this month. Even as governors start to ease restrictions, AMC noted that movie releases may continue to be delayed or moved to digital platforms by studios, and customers may not come back to theaters in a normal capacity. (Read more AMC stories.) The LA Galaxy will meet with new Serbian winger Aleksandar Katai on Thursday to discuss a series of alarming social media posts by his wife. Tea Katai made the since-deleted posts on her Instagram story this week, the Galaxy confirmed Wednesday night in a statement that called the posts 'racist and violent.' The team says its meeting with Katai, who has appeared in only two games for the Galaxy, will 'determine next steps.' Unfortunate: The LA Galaxy will meet with new Serbian winger Aleksandar Katai on Thursday to discuss a series of alarming social media posts by his wife. Tea Katai made the since-deleted posts on her Instagram story this week, the Galaxy confirmed Wednesday night in a statement that called the posts 'racist and violent.' Tea Katai's posts included a profane call, written in Serbian, to 'kill' protesters. Another called protesters 'disgusting cattle,' also in Serbian. 'The LA Galaxy strongly condemned the social posts and requested their immediate removal,' the team's statement read. 'The LA Galaxy stands firmly against racism of any kind, including that which suggests violence or seeks to demean the efforts of those in pursuit of racial equality. 'The LA Galaxy stand with communities of color, and especially the Black community, in the protests and fight against systemic racism, social inequality, bigotry and violence.' Angry words: Tea Katai's posts included a profane call, written in Serbian, to 'kill' protesters. Another called protesters 'disgusting cattle,' also in Serbian She did not approve of the looting: Here she said Black Nikes Matter They are proud parents: The two seen with their baby on social media The 29-year-old Katai joined the Galaxy in December after spending his first two MLS seasons with the Chicago Fire. He has made nine appearances for Serbia's national team, including three last year in Euro 2020 qualifying matches. Aleksandar disavowed his wife's posts in a statement on his own Instagram account Wednesday night. 'These views are not ones that I share and are not tolerated in my family,' he wrote. Not OK with him: Aleksandar disavowed his wife's posts in a statement on his own Instagram account Wednesday night A strong statement: He said what his wife wrote was 'unacceptable' and that he condemns white supremacy 'I strongly condemn white supremacy, racism and violence towards people of color. Black lives matter. 'This is a mistake from my family and I take full responsibility. I will ensure that my family and I take the necessary actions to learn, understand, listen and support the black community. He also said he understood that it will take time to earn back the support of the people of Los Angeles. 'I am committed to putting in the necessary work to learn from these mistakes and be a better ally and advocate for equality going forward,' the athlete added. A good player: Katai signed with the Galaxy as a free agent on December 31. He scored 18 goals in 62 appearances over the previous two seasons for the Fire, who acquired him from Alaves in Spain's La Liga. Seen in March 'I am sorry for the pain these posts have caused the LA Galaxy family and all allies in the fight against racism.' Tea, whose Instagram account is private, has 11.2K followers. Katai signed with the Galaxy as a free agent on December 31. He scored 18 goals in 62 appearances over the previous two seasons for the Fire, who acquired him from Alaves in Spain's La Liga. Katai got off to an impressive start to his MLS career with 12 league goals in his debut season for the Fire, but his production slumped last year, leading Chicago to decline its team option for 2020. At work: Seen in June 2019 in New Jersey with the Chicago Fire and the New York Red Bulls He spent the first eight years of his pro career in Europe, including 69 games with Serbian powerhouse Red Star Belgrade. Katai started the first two games of the current MLS season for the Galaxy, who expected him to become a key part of their attack alongside Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez and Cristian Pavon. MLS play was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, but several Galaxy players returned to the club's training complex two weeks ago to begin individual workouts and rehabilitation. MLS and its players' union agreed to a six-year labor contract on Wednesday. The teams are expected to return to competition with a five-week tournament in Florida this summer. HONG KONG - Thousands of people, white candles in their hands, descended on a Hong Kong park to commemorate the massacre of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, 31 years ago, defying a first-ever ban on the vigil, ostensibly due to the coronavirus. Shouting pro-democracy slogans, they drowned out announcements warning that gatherings of more than eight are illegal in the park and ignored nearby police on standby - hoping to preserve the fragile freedoms in their city before they are forever gone. "This has been a difficult period for Hong Kong, and I really fear that this will be the last year we can mark June 4 in any way here," said Crystal Chan, a 22-year-old student who was moved to attend for the first time. Chants of "fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong" rang out behind her. "The message the students were trying to send in 1989 is the same as ours; that is the desire of freedom." The threat to the vigil underscores the deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong as the Communist Party moves to tighten the chokehold around the financial center, notably through a far-reaching law against sedition, subversion and separatism that Beijing plans to implement within weeks. Beijing's loyalists on Thursday also pushed through a bill to criminalize disrespect of China's national anthem. At Victoria Park, where the thousands of protesters gathered, many instead played "Glory to Hong Kong," a song born out of last year's protest movement that is considered the territory's de facto anthem. "The existence of the candlelight vigil has always been a symbol to show that 'one country, two systems' still works," said Lee Cheuk-yan, who chairs the group that organizes the commemoration, referring to the governance model that previously afforded Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy. The ban on the vigil, he said, showed it no longer holds. "Let's see if the police dare to stop us," he said at the vigil, which was still dramatically smaller than last year's crowd of 200,000. "Let's see if they want to tell the world that it is game over in Hong Kong even before the national security law [is passed]." China's crackdown on June 4, 1989, followed weeks of demonstrations in Beijing and elsewhere as people called for democracy. The Communist Party eventually ordered the military to open fire, leaving hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead. This year's anniversary comes as Hong Kong is caught in a bitter clash between China and the United States. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of himself meeting with Tiananmen survivors. On Monday, despite appeals from organizers, Hong Kong police refused to grant permission for the vigil, citing social distancing and public health measures to manage the covid-19 outbreak. Organizers, however, noted that schools have reopened in Hong Kong; subways, supermarkets, bars and restaurants are once again packed, and large-scale religious gatherings are permitted as the city has largely contained the virus. Aside from the health rationale, Beijing's proxies have signaled they won't tolerate the vigil any longer. Leung Chun-ying, a former Hong Kong chief executive who is now a political adviser to Beijing, said recently that the event could be outlawed under the new security law. Facing a crackdown, organizers instead called on Hong Kongers to light a candle wherever they are to honor Tiananmen victims, and nominated gathering points where small groups could hold remembrances. Still, some defied the ban and headed to Victoria Park - which authorities sealed off with metal fences and barricades. Last year's crowd was especially large, as people commemorated both the 30th anniversary of the massacre and asserted their freedoms amid looming threats from China. A few days later, hundreds of thousands gathered on Hong Kong's streets to protest an extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China, launching eight months of massive demonstrations and sometimes violent unrest. "Every time there's a crisis in Hong Kong and more suppression, people will turn out," said Lee, who also co-founded the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China. Though the vigil has been dwindling in popularity among the young - some had lost faith in the exercise of singing and lighting candles, while others wanted to disengage with the struggles of mainland China - it has helped build a culture of political awareness and protest in Hong Kong. "We fight for the same things as they did [in Tiananmen Square] 31 years ago," said 24-year-old Hammond Tong. "The Chinese Communist Party has not changed one bit - the oppression, suppression and persecution has only increased. We must not forget, nor can we stop fighting." He said he regretted that he had never attended the vigil, dissuaded by conservative parents and the distractions of daily life. In the past year, fearing persecution, a growing number of Hong Kong students have moved to democratic Taiwan. Students at National Taipei University organized a Tiananmen vigil Thursday, where lawmakers, professors and Hong Kong activists were scheduled to speak. "The main thing is democracy, how we can support democracy," said Yifang, 21, one of the organizers, who gave only one name out of concern for her security. On Thursday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Twitter she hoped China would openly confront the Tiananmen Square massacre in the same way Taiwan has brought to light the atrocities of the island's decades-long period of martial law. "In Taiwan, there were once days missing from our calendar, but we've worked to bring them to life," Tsai wrote. "I hope one day China can say the same." From tens of thousands of candle-holding attendees last year, to fenced-off venues and riot police this year, the Hong Kong clampdown has upset victims of the massacre who continue to push for China's leaders to acknowledge the incident, as well as others who came to Hong Kong hoping to flee the party's rule. Zhang Xianling, part of the Tiananmen Mothers group whose children were killed in the square in 1989, said in a YouTube video that she felt deeply sorry about the ban on the Hong Kong vigil, but hoped that people will find ways to mourn the victims and condemn the Communist Party's "savage acts." Among those heeding the call for remembrance is Cheng Yu-Ching, a 57-year-old who fled mainland China for Hong Kong just before the Tiananmen massacre and plans to never return. Her father, a landlord, was killed in China's Land Reform movement in the 1950s under Mao Zedong. "Today is a very special day for me, and all Hong Kong people," Cheng said. She said she will watch an online vigil at home, and light a candle. "Mourning does not have to be limited by a specific form, or whether we can gather together, but is something that is felt in our hearts." - - - The Washington Post's Tiffany Liang in Hong Kong and Nick Aspinwall in Taipei contributed to this report. Buried Spitfires of Burma: In April 2012, the Telegraph and the Guardian both report that British Prime Minister David Cameron negotiated an agreement with Myanmar President Thein Sein for the recovery and repatriation of twenty crated Spitfires buried at RAF Mingaladon, just outside Yangon, shortly after the end of WW2. The agreement came about through the single-minded determination of an ordinary farmer, David Cundall. Beginning in wartime Burma, Buried in Burma explores how Davids dream unraveled over the course of a historical whodunnit that spans seven decades. In so doing it follows one of the most bizarre, colorful, and off-the-wall stories since the sensational Hitler Diaries transfixed the World in the 1980s. Airworthy Spitfires are eagerly sought after by museums and collectors all over the world. They are worth millions of pounds. Not surprisingly, a race developed to secure the contract to excavate this treasure trove of aviation history, with competing teams putting in applications from Singapore, Israel, and the UK. After months of lobbying, the Myanmar government finally awarded the contract to David, staging a formal ceremony (with the UK Ambassador) in the new capital of Naypyidaw, the City of the Kings. News of the signing ceremony quickly circled the globe and correspondents and TV crews gathered in Yangon, waiting with increasing excitement as David prepared to fulfill his lifes dream of recovering the planes. Paul Woodadge speaks to Tracy Spaight and Andy Brockman live on the day their book The Buried Spitfires of Burma is released. Our story begins in the chaos of August and September 1945, when Japanese forces in the Burma theater finally surrender, almost a month after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the War was over, war material continued to arrive in southeast Asia for many months, since the supply chain stretched all the way back to the UK and ships already underway continued to arrive well into 1946. Shipments included at least 124 crated Spitfires which were delivered to Calcutta in 1945. The fighters were bound for operation squadrons across South East Asia, to help destroy what remained of Japanese air power. But according to legend, before they could be unpacked, they disappeared! Some say that the orders came from the very top of the British Government, perhaps from Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself, perhaps from the Kings own cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Allied Commander in Burma, but whoever gave the order it saw the Spitfires buried amid the deepest need to know secrecy, by engineers of the famous Construction Battalions, the CBs. Others say that the British could not be bothered to return to England what was, by late 1945, just so much surplus aluminum, particularly as thousands of warplanes were being scrapped on airfields from Norway to Australia. The only fact that anyone has been sure of is that no one not the world press, not the British Government, not the Myanmar Government got to the bottom of the story. That is until now. The core of our book explores how a team of researchers and archaeologists, funded by video game developer Wargaming, solve the mystery of what exactly happened at Mingaladon in 1945- 46. Readers follow the clues as we sleuth through the archives at the UK National Archive in Kew, the RAF, and the US Navy archives in Britain and the USA, examining operational log books, shipping manifests, and the recollections of veterans who served at Mingaladon in 1945-46. Its CSI Yangon where we visit the scene of the crime (Mingaladon), interview witnesses (veterans who saw and heard things), forensically examine clues (the documents, photographs and evidence in the ground) and look for the body the missing planes! The result is a fascinating, surprising, and elegant mixture of Indiana Jones AND Sherlock Holmes. There were crated planes shipped to Burma. Our living witness did see crates on the airfield at Mingaladon. Those crates almost certainly did contain airplanes. But as the team stares down into the deepening trench at Mingaladon airfield in January 2013, we realize that we have uncovered an even bigger mystery. Someone has already dug up the site! We interweave Davids quest with an uncannily similar expedition to Ottoman controlled Jerusalem in 1909-1911, led by Captain Montague Parker and Dr. Walter Juvelius, who sought the lost treasures of Solomons Temple beneath the Haram esh-Sharif including the Ark of the Covenant itself. This ill-fated expedition ends with a mob of citizens chasing the British team through the labyrinth of streets of old town Jerusalem, in the biggest public relations debacle for westerners since the sack of the city by crusaders in the First Crusade. Davids quest similarly ends when senior officers of the Tatmadaw, who have a reputation for brutality, arrive with trucks full of military police and shut down the Spitfire dig. David Cundalls quest features a supporting cast of unforgettable characters ranging from Foreign Office officials at the Yangon Embassy to Burmese Generals; from a former head of Israeli Intelligence to a billionaire real estate tycoon. From a shady Treasure Hunter reviled throughout Asia for looting historical sites to the British Prime Minister David Cameron and President of Myanmar, to some of the key players in the international networks engaged in WW2 aircraft recovery for wealthy private collectors and museums. We include fictional characters like the Naga snake and the Hinthe bird to represent Burmese spirituality, and historical figures like British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent Willie Willis. Our team proves through a careful desktop study, geophysics and field archaeology that the legendary Spitfires of Burma are exactly that: a legend. David refused to accept this conclusion and began attacking the competency and conclusions of the research team in the press. Like the conquistador Lope de Aguirre in Werner Herzogs 1972 film Aguirre Wrath of God, David believes so firmly in the legend that he turns his back on the team and spends the next two years digging up Mingaladon airfield. No planes are ever found. We later discover that David dug at the airport at least eight times between 1998-2000, and again in 2004-2005! We explore Davids Spitfire obsession through the lens of the classic work, When Prophecy Fails and make comparisons with the legend of the Oak Island Money Pit, Yamashitas Gold and other legendary quests in search of fabled modern treasures. We also survey the landscape of modern culture which enables conspiracy theory and pseudo history to thrive, drawing upon David Aaronovitchs Voodoo Histories and Michael Shermers Why People Believe Weird Things. Finally, we examine the role of the broadcast and print media, 10 Downing Street, and the Burmese government in creating and sustaining the Burma Spitfire legend. Buried in Burma highlights the conflict between archaeologists and treasure hunters, those who believe and those who demand evidence; all against the backdrop of a former Colony emerging from decades of military rule and transitioning to Democracy and full participation in the community of nations. You can get your copy here Amazon and you can find our more on their website www.buriedinburma.com Tracy Spaight holds a bachelors degree in history from Santa Clara University and a masters degree in Science & Technology Studies from Cornell University. He was a visiting scholar in the History of Science at Cambridge University in 1998-1999. He has held fellowships from the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst, the National Science Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation, as well as media grants from the Texas Council for the Humanities and the Texas Commission for the Arts. From 2012-2019, Tracy Spaight was the Director of Special Projects at Wargaming.net, an international video game developer and publisher. Since 2012, he has developed interactive exhibits, 360 VR films, Augmented Reality Applications for history museums around the world. Some of his recent projects include developing an AR experience for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk (featured in Wired and Mashable) and the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland for the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Andy Brockman holds a Masters degree in Archaeology from Birkbeck College of the University of London and is a specialist in the archaeology of modern conflict. In addition to leading the research and fieldwork for the 2013 expedition to investigate the myth of the buried Spitfires of Burma for Wargaming.net. Andy has directed excavations on one of the earliest anti-aircraft gun sites in south east London dating from the Zeppelin raids of 1915 and the famous Home Guard training school at the Stately Home of Osterley Park in West London. Media work includes originating and appearing in an episode of Channel 4s iconic archaeology series Time Team which took a counterfactual look at the defenses of London against a Germaninvasion in World War Two. He acted as historical advisor for Channel 5s documentary What the Dambusters Did Next, and accompanied author and presenter John Nicol on a visit to Sweden to investigate the story of Lancaster bomber Easy Elsie which crash landed north of the Arctic circle after attacking the German Battleship Tirpitz. He also worked as a researcher on Channel 4s the Real Dads Army and the BBCs the Reel History of Britain episode which looked at home movies showing the World War Two, Home Guard. He currently owns and edits the heritage current affairs website thePipeLine, where his work investigating the commercial looting of historical shipwrecks and maritime military graves such as HMS Queen Mary, has attracted the interest of the mainstream media including the BBC One Show, the Guardian and the Times and led to questions in the UK Parliament. Paul Woodadge Battlefield Guide, historian, author and film maker. Since I became established in Normandy, I was fortunate lucky enough to become internationally regarded as both a battlefield guide, and also as a friend of the WWII veterans. Although not qualified in terms of academic achievements, people seem to appreciate my passion and enthusiasm for showing people the historic sites. This has made me the go to guy for many organisations and fellow historians around the world. I am grateful for the thanks and acknowledgement I receive in books by many leading historians including: Normandy 44, DDay and the Battle for France by James Holland, Storm of Warby Andrew Roberts, In the Footsteps of the Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander, Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc by Patrick K ODonnell, Breakout from Juno by Mark Zuehlke and many others. You can visit Pauls website here www.ddayhistorian.com and YouTube channel WW2TV Finally we can put this story and adventure to rest sadly it was all a pipe dream. Hospitality and tourism workers are in high demand despite state border closures and a looming recession. Job ads site Seek has revealed where the available work is, amid government forecasts of double-digit unemployment in 2020 for the first time since the early 1990s. In the final fortnight of May, the number of advertised positions surged nationally by 49.2 per cent compared with April. Queensland had the biggest job ads increase of 62.5 per cent, followed by Tasmania on 62.2 per cent and South Australia on 59.1 per cent even though those states remain closed to the rest of Australia. The Australian Capital Territory covering Canberra posted the smallest job ads increase of 23.9 per cent in a city where the public service is the main employer. Scroll down for video With coronavirus restrictions last month eased, demand for hospitality and tourism staff soared in May by 239 per cent across Australia, Seek job ads data showed. New South Wales (Sydney's Pyrmont Hotel, pictured on June 1, 2020) had an even bigger 276 per cent increase in a state where the borders have remained open to the rest of Australia Hospitality and tourism With coronavirus restrictions eased last month, demand for hospitality and tourism staff soared by 238.5 per cent across Australia. New South Wales had an even bigger 276 per cent increase in a state where the borders have remained open to the rest of Australia. Victoria, an equally open state, enjoyed a similar 255 per cent increase. Interestingly, Western Australia saw a 186 per cent increase in demand for hospital and tourism workers, despite its state border remaining closed. Sales Nationally, the number of advertised jobs for sales staff surged by 166.5 per cent in May, with Victoria enjoying an even bigger 172 per cent increase. Jobs associated with retail and consumer products rose by 140 per cent Australia-wide. Advertised positions in the education and training area rose by 125.1 per cent. NSW saw an even bigger increase of 169 per cent, in a state that has reopened its classrooms. Pictured is a teacher with pupils at Homebush West Public School in Sydney's west on May 25, 2020 This occurred despite a record 17.7 per cent plunge in retail sales during April, which followed a record 8.5 per cent spike in March during the early stages of the coronavirus lockdowns. Where the job ads rose Queensland: UP 62.5 per cent Tasmania: UP 62.2 per cent South Australia: UP 59.1 per cent Victoria: UP 58 per cent Northern Territory: UP 57.5 per cent Western Australia: UP 43.6 per cent New South Wales: UP 39.9 per cent Australian Capital Territory: UP 23.9 per cent Australia: UP 49.2 per cent Source: Seek job ads for May 18 - 31, 2020 compared with April 2020 Advertisement Trades and services Demand also rose for someone to fix something around the home with trades and services jobs up by 76 per cent. Queensland saw an even bigger increase of 98 per cent, with Victoria also having an above-average increase of 92 per cent. Education and training Advertised positions in the education and training area rose by 125.1 per cent. NSW saw an even bigger increase of 169 per cent, in a state that has reopened its classrooms. Looming recession With a recession on the economic horizon, for the first time in almost three decade, not all jobs saw in increase in demand. Insurance and superannuation job ads plunged by 10.3 per cent in May while mining, resources and energy jobs fell by 1.3 per cent. Mining-rich Western Australia, the home of lucrative iron ore exports to China, saw its overall job ads rise by a weaker-than-average 43.6 per cent. WA is more exposed to China, Australia's biggest export market for iron ore. In April, Australian iron ore exports fell by $1billion as overall goods exports dropped by 3.5 per cent, Australian Bureau of Statistics international trade data released on Thursday showed. A reduction in export volumes saw a 1.3 per cent fall in the number of mining, resources and energy job advertisements in May. Pictured is a Rio Tinto haulage truck in Western Australia's Pilbara region Seek managing director Kendra Banks said it was still too early to declare a coronavirus recovery in the labour market. 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 'As we head into June, we traditionally see a slowing of job ad posting due to the end of the financial year with a boost in July and August when budgets are reset,' she said. 'It will be interesting to see if the easing of restrictions, the economic measures put in place by the government and the new financial year translates to more jobs advertised in July.' Australia's economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter, marking the first contraction since early 2011, as a result of the summer bushfires and the COVID-19 restrictions. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Wednesday confirmed Australia's economy was likely to already be in recession, something that hasn't occurred since 1991, with the official national accounts data for the June quarter likely to also show a gross domestic product contraction. His Treasury department and the Reserve Bank of Australia are both forecasting a 10 per cent jobless rate by the end of June, a level unseen since April 1994. The national unemployment rate soared from 5.2 per cent in March to a five-year high of 6.2 per cent in April, as 489,800 people left the labour market in despair as another 104,500 people joined the ranks of the officially unemployed. This occurred as state governments closed non-essential businesses, from pubs and clubs to gyms and cinemas, in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus. Insurance and superannuation job ads plunged by 10.3 per cent in May. Pictured is a stock image As Democrats and Republicans face uncertainties about their party conventions this summer, delegates and activists say the events are key to show contrasts between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. Delegates say they are undaunted about attending in person as organizers adapt their plans to allow more space between visitors. Nothing beats the excitement of a live performance and the chance to meet with other activists, according to delegates. Anybody can watch the Super Bowl. They never suffer from selling tickets, said Brian Hester, a Democratic delegate from Ohio who is eager to attend his first national convention. Theres something in human nature of being at a historical event and saying youve touched history or were part of history. Conventions offer the opportunity for iconic moments when nominees or other speakers have a national audience to make a memorable impression. In 2016, former Gen. Michael Flynn led the chant of lock her up that summarized Republican criticism of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In 2008, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin highlighted her gender and her toughness as the GOP vice presidential nominee when she asked whether the audience knew the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull. Lipstick, she said. And in 2004, Barack Obama, then a little-known state senator campaigning to become a U.S. senator, electrified the Democratic convention by disavowing pundits who sliced and diced the country into partisan red and blue states. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America, he said. On July 27, 2016, former Vice President Joe Biden laughs after calling Donald Trump "clueless" as he speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. But both parties are struggling with how to provide historic moments in uncertain times. Because of the threat of the novel coronavirus, Democrats might move a portion of their speeches and meetings online to avoid the large crowd of a traditional convention planned for Milwaukee. Republicans, on the other hand, are working to ensure their event makes a splash. The party is scouting Nashville and other locations after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper notified the Republican National Committee Tuesday that its event planned for Charlotte would have to be scaled back because of the health threat. Las Vegas, Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla., and Georgia are also contenders to host the event. Story continues I think its really upsetting that the nature of the convention is still up in the air, said Austin Smith, 25, the youngest member of Arizona's Republican delegation, who had to campaign for his seat and isnt worried at all about getting sick. Its important to show the rest of the world who we are as a nation. Were really excited to help the president." 'Let those on the other side ... go fete all their big donors' Democrats postponed their convention a month, from July 13-17 to the week of Aug. 17, because of concerns about the coronavirus. But given the recommendations for social distancing, no decisions have been announced about whether delegates will crowd into a convention hall or perhaps hold most of the action online with smaller gatherings. I dont think theres anyone that would say, at this point, that tens of thousands of people should come together for a political convention, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a news conference last week. Former Democratic Party and convention chairman Joe Andrew argued that holding the event largely online offered a dramatic contrast with Trump. The national audience is watching on television anyway. But holding events online that show smaller gatherings would highlight concerns about the novel coronavirus that has killed 100,000 Americans and thrown 40 million people out of work, he said. Let those on the other side, the incumbents, go fete all their big donors, said Andrew, global chairman of Dentons law firm. Theyre walking into a trap. The trap is youre going to cover all those rich people in those suites having their canapes, drinking their Chablis and eating their brie, while everyone else is talking about 25% unemployment and 100,000 deaths and the mistakes that were made on the way to it. The contrasts are a killer. Andrew argued that Democrats are already more enthusiastic to defeat Trump than any other Republican opponent in years, so a convention isnt needed for excitement. Messages in speeches should offer contrasts between the candidates for undecided voters, who dont attend conventions in-person anyway, he said. The goal should be to find new and different ways to communicate that messaging to people that you get it, that you understand what theyre going through and that you literally share their day-to-day experiences, Andrew said. You wear a mask because they have to. Donald Trump officially accepts the Republican presidential nomination on the final night of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio Thursday, July 21, 2016. (Via OlyDrop) Republicans seek options Republicans were eager to meet as planned in Charlotte, but the party announced Wednesday that it would move the convention planned for Aug. 24 to 27 because Cooper couldn't promise that a full, traditional convention would be allowed. The Republican National Committee had sent Cooper a letter last week demanding guidelines, which prompted Cooper's response Tuesday and the scramble for a new location. Republican delegates said Cooper was passing up an economic boom for his state. "If Roy Cooper doesnt lead on this, I think hell upset a lot of his own people if we dont have the convention there," said Smith, the Arizona delegate. "They have that opportunity to send millions of dollars into that city, to help them." Another Arizona delegate, Pam Kirby, 52, echoed Smith in saying she has no concerns about getting sick at the convention. As a leader in her state party and the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Kirby said she has never felt more connected to the Republican Party than under Trump's leadership. He does a very good job of speaking to the everyday American people," Kirby said. "Thats his strength. Thats how hes connected with people from all walks of life. Members of the Delaware delegation cheer wave signs for Joe Biden as he takes the stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on July 27, 2016. Enthusiasm despite risks Robert Dion, an associate professor of political science at the University of Evansville, said the overwhelming majority of Americans experience conventions through the news media or on television. But after attending the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte, N.C., Dion said there is no duplicating the excitement for participants of a live event, even if it meant he got little sleep and can't remember a good meal. There is nothing else like the excitement of being in a room with thousands of party leaders and party activists," Dion said. "It was exhilarating." Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, is ready to attend the convention in person with a hotel lined up across the street from the convention center. But his state convention May 9 was held online and yielded a dramatic increase in participation. About 4,000 people watched speeches including one from vice presidential prospect Stacey Abrams, who spoke from her home in Georgia, compared to the 400 to 600 who typically attend in person, he said. Some 900 votes were cast during two weeks of online voting on the platform and resolutions, he said. Thats by far the largest group of delegates that ever participated in adopting the platform, adopting the resolutions," Buckley said. People are fully engaged. Theyre feeling that theyre part of the process." Bill DeMora, the Ohio delegate selection director, said delegates are enthusiastic. In January, 3,000 people filed to run for 89 slots as district delegates, he said. In a recent survey, 70 of 80 delegates said there were still interested in traveling to Milwaukee, he said. During the last three weeks in the midst of the pandemic 400 people have filed applications by a Friday deadline to become delegates in at-large seats or as party leaders and elected officials, he said. They obviously wouldnt sign up if they knew they had to go to Milwaukee and didnt want to go, DeMora said. People are eager. Obviously, if Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin become what New York City was in March, thats going to be a whole different scenario. DeMora has visited Milwaukee seven times since the site was announced. Hes been conferring with the hotel and busing company to have social distancing at breakfasts and while shuttling to events. But he hasnt been since March 10 and 11, and hes not sure how events will play out in bars and restaurants he lined up to hold up to 800 people. Do I have any idea what the convention is going to look like this time? No, DeMora said. But I know theres no way anyone is going to go to a venue that packs people in shoulder to shoulder at a bar to drink. Ohio Republicans are also planning to attend their gathering, as The Cincinnati Enquirer found when it contacted 29 of the 82 delegates pledged to support Trump at the convention. "I am ready to follow the president, said delegate Ken Blackwell, former Cincinnati mayor and failed Ohio governor candidate. Several states including Florida and Georgia have volunteered to host the GOP convention, but Ohio state Sen. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said he will be attending no matter where it is held. It appears that the (coronavirus) morbidity rate and severity has been overestimated by an extraordinary amount hospitalizations, deaths, effect on otherwise healthy people, Huffman said. For now, national delegates await each partys decision. Hester said hes got his Amtrak ticket, but doesnt want to put anyones health at risk. There are ways we can effectively communicate to the American people by having a convention that is virtual or in-person, Hester said. I'm very excited to go. I think were going to show that this party is united, whether we do it by Zoom or in person in Milwaukee. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP, Democratic delegates eager for party conventions, despite virus From Lake Forest to London, we should protest whenever someone takes their knee and puts it on the neck of any individual, black or white. It is a humanitarian issue," Brooks said. "No one should have to cry for their mother, no one should have to cry I cant breathe, no one should have to endure such agony. No one in the United States should ever have to endure that. Nairobi (AFP) - Burundi's president-elect Evariste Ndayishimiye is an army general likely facing a tricky balancing act to bring change to the troubled nation while pleasing the elites who put him in power. Ndayishimiye, 52, widely known by his nickname "Neva", was on Thursday declared the victor of a May 20 presidential election, after the country's top court dismissed an opposition bid to have the result overturned due to alleged widespread fraud. The general was handpicked by the ruling party to replace President Pierre Nkurunziza, who reigned for a tumultuous 15 years in the tiny landlocked country. Described by those who know him as more open-minded than many in the ruling CNDD-FDD party, he is not associated with the worst abuses of recent years. But neither did he stand out as trying to rein in the violence that erupted after the 2015 election, when Nkurunziza won a third term that was seen by many as unconstitutional. The violence that followed left 1,200 dead and sparked a refugee exodus. A UN commission later accused the government of gross abuses including summary executions, rape and torture. Ndayishimiye, who serves as secretary general of a party that has consolidated its power since 2015 by quelling any opposition, was chosen for his fierce loyalty, according to one official. He is set to inherit a deeply isolated country, under sanctions and cut off by foreign donors, its economy and national psyche damaged by years of political violence and rights violations. - 'A dangerous tightrope' - The Burundi Human Rights Initiative said Ndayishimiye's appointment was a compromise between Nkurunziza and a small but powerful cabal of generals who control the levers of government. Nkurunziza had pushed instead for Pascal Nyabenda, the president of the national assembly, and a civilian he thought he could control from afar, the advocacy group said. But the generals wanted a military man and a former comrade from their days as ethnic Hutu rebels fighting against the government during the civil war. Story continues They settled on Ndayishimiye, a general who rose through the ranks during that conflict that ended in 2006, but one outside the innermost circle. "He... will have to walk a dangerous tightrope in the high spheres of the ruling party," the Burundi Human Rights Initiative said in an April report. "Whether his primary debt is to Nkurunziza or to the other generals, Ndayishimiye will have to balance competing powerful interests, while ensuring that his own position remains safe." A party official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ndayishimiye was chosen because he was "faithful, ready to die for his party". But if elected, he "would be between a rock and a hard place" in his early term, kept at arm's-length and beholden to his backers. "He will walk on eggshells in the first few years and will have to wait a long time before he gains some room for manoeuvre," the official said. - Uphill battle - Ndayishimiye had only just begun his studies at the University of Burundi when civil war broke out in 1993 -- a conflict that would rage 13 years and cost at least 300,000 lives. He was in his second year of law school when extremists from the Tutsi ethnic group massacred dozens of Hutu students on campus. The young Ndayishimiye only just escaped, putting down his pen to take up a gun. During the war he rose through the ranks of the CNDD-FDD. In 2003, he was the party's main negotiator in ceasefire negotiations that ended the bloodshed. In the post-war years, Ndayishimiye held several high-tier positions in government, including minister of the interior and public security, and as the president's military and civilian chief of staff. Those who know Ndayishimiye personally describe two sides to the man -- one seemingly honest and open to consensus, but fiery and quick to temper. "He's a rather open-minded man, easy at first, who likes to joke and laugh with his friends," said one friend, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. "But unlike Nkurunziza, who is a cold-blooded and very sober animal, Evariste Ndayishimiye can be quite angry, and gets carried away very easily, and risks becoming infuriated." One diplomat said Ndayishimiye displayed an "openness and honesty unlike other generals". "He was the best choice, but he will have a lot to do to encourage change and openness to the opposition, in a party dominated by an extremist, sectarian branch." A born-again evangelical like Nkurunziza, Ndayishimiye is a fervent believer, but of the Catholic faith. Observers say his early conciliatory tone could engender some goodwill from the international community, and assist in slowly bringing Burundi in from the diplomatic cold. Ndayishimiye "has sent out signals of openness to the international community, and it is ready to recognise him and to reconnect with him," said a senior ranking diplomat in Bujumbura. LETTERS: More concerned with Colin Kaepernick than police brutality?; feedback ignored by City Council in Colorado Springs New Delhi: The whole country is in shock over the news of an expecting elephant's death after she was fed pineapple filled with crackers in Mallapuram, Kerala. Netizens, Bollywood, television and Bhojpuri celebrities took to social media and expressed their anger over the incident. Top Bhojpuri stars such as Dinesh Lal Yadav aka Nirahua, Aamrapali Dubey, Anjana Singh and Kajal Raghwani condemned the monstrous act and urged for justice. Take a look their posts: The horrific incident took place on May 27, 2020. "Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth. "It is certain that she was offered the pineapple filled with crackers to eliminate her," Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Surendrakumar told PTI. He said the post-mortem revealed that the pachyderm was pregnant. "I have directed the forest officials to nab the culprit. We will punish him for 'hunting' the elephant," he added. Meanwhile, Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan said, "A preliminary investigation has been launched into the incident and the police have been directed to take stringent action against those responsible for the act." Roughly eight months after Facebook said it would begin labeling state-backed media, its finally applying those labels. Beginning today, Facebook will label media outlets that are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government. The labels will appear in the Ad Library Page, on Pages and in the Page Transparency section. Users in the US will begin to see them on posts in News Feed, too. Facebook also plans to label ads from state-controlled media outlets. In the US, Facebook will block such ads altogether out of an abundance of caution -- even though it admits they rarely appear. Thats part of an attempt to protect elections in 2020 from foreign influence, Facebook says. Facebook claims it worked with more than 65 experts on media, governance and human rights to determine what makes a media outlet state-controlled. It looks at each outlets mission statement, ownership structure, editorial guidelines, funding and more. It also considers whether organizations have measures in place to protect editorial independence. Facebook did not say why it took so much longer to apply the labels than expected, but it may have had something to do with the fact that different state-backed media outlets have different levels of control. For instance, Russias RT and Chinas Xinhua have been used to spread propaganda, but the UKs BBC and Canadas CBC maintain more distance from their respective governments. While Facebook did not say which media outlets it will label, Qatars Al Jazeera previously spoke out against the labels. The outlet is privately owned but has a member of the Qatari royal family as a board chairman. Al Jazeera said Facebook would cause irreparable harm if it applied the state-backed label. Facebook says organizations can submit an appeal if they believe the label is applied in error and that it will continue to refine its approach moving forward. The Causeway International Value (Trades, Portfolio) Fund released its portfolio for the first quarter earlier this week, listing two new positions. The fund, which is part of Sarah Ketterer (Trades, Portfolio)'s Los Angeles-based Causeway Capital Management, was founded in 2001. Executing a bottom-up investment strategy based on fundamental research, the portfolio managers look for value opportunities among mid- to large-cap companies in developed international markets to achieve long-term capital growth. Sticking to these criteria, the fund established holdings in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (XMAD:BBVA) and Komatsu Ltd. (TSE:6301) during the quarter. Other notable trades included the sale of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:RDSB) and KDDI Corp. (TSE:9433) as well as an increase of the Cie Financiere Richemont SA (XSWX:CFR) stake. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Causeway invested in 15.8 million shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, allocating 1.11% of the equity portfolio to the stake, after previously selling out in the first quarter of 2014. The stock traded for an average price of 4.37 euros ($4.91) per share during the quarter. The Spanish bank that is known as BBVA has a market cap of 21.3 billion euros; its shares closed at 3.16 euros on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 316, a price-book ratio of 0.49 and a price-sales ratio of 0.94. The Peter Lynch chart shows the stock is trading above its fair value, suggesting it is overpriced. 86798dcdf5f409057e78f9635bdefa6d.png GuruFocus rated BBVA's financial strength 3 out of 10 on the back of a low cash-debt ratio that is underperforming in comparison to its history as well as its industry. Weighed down by margins and returns that underperform a majority of competitors, the bank's profitability scored a 4 out of 10 rating. Although its revenue has been in decline for the past five years, the company also has a business predictability rank of one out five stars. According to GuruFocus, companies with this rank typically return 1.1% per annum over a 10-year period. Story continues The fund holds 0.24% of BBVA's outstanding shares. Komatsu Having previously exited a position in Komatsu in the second quarter of 2018, the fund entered a new 2.57 million-share holding, dedicating 0.95% of the equity portfolio to it. Shares traded for an average price of 2,260.32 yen ($20.79) each during the quarter. The Japanese company, which manufactures construction, mining, forestry, military and industrial equipment, has a market cap of 2.16 trillion yen; its shares closed at 2,288 yen on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 10.41, a price-book ratio of 1.2 and a price-sales ratio of 0.84. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock is undervalued. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 7 out of 10 also supports this assessment. c686eba2c8967e90c797b2a1a1cc7232.png Komatsu's financial strength was rated 5 out of 10 by GuruFocus. Although the company has issued approximately 472.4 billion yen in new long-term debt over the past three years, it is at a manageable level as a result of adequate interest coverage. The Altman Z-Score of 1.9, however, indicates the company is under some financial pressure. The company's profitability fared better, scoring an 8 out of 10 rating on the back of an expanding operating margin, strong returns that outperform a majority of industry peers and a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 5, which implies conditions are stable. Komatsu also has a three-star business predictability rank, which is on watch as a result of a decline in revenue per share over the past 12 months. GuruFocus says companies with this rank typically return 8.2% on average annually. Of the gurus invested in Komatsu, David Herro (Trades, Portfolio) has the largest stake with 2.52% of outstanding shares. The T. Rowe Price Japan Fund (Trades, Portfolio) also holds the stock. Royal Dutch Shell In its largest trade of the quarter, Causeway exited its stake in Royal Dutch Shell, selling 5.6 million Class B shares. The trade had an impact of -2.42% on the equity portfolio. The London-listed stock traded for an average per-share price of 18.14 pounds ($22.83) during the quarter. GuruFocus estimates the fund gained 14.13% on the investment. 6d253346698441650b74ec29df1875e9.png The oil and gas giant, which is headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in England, has a market cap of 106.88 billion pounds; its shares closed at 13.42 pounds on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 13.82, a price-book ratio of 0.72 and a price-sales ratio of 0.42. Based on the Peter Lynch chart, the stock appears to be undervalued. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 7 out of 10 aligns with this observation. 7d4a8299465cee9d19d8985a243396a6.png Weighed down by a low cash-debt ratio and weak interest coverage, GuruFocus rated Royal Dutch Shell's financial strength 5 out of 10. The Altman Z-Score of 1.97 suggests it is under some stress. The return on invested capital is also eclipsed by the weighted average cost of capital, which indicates the company earns less than it spends. The company's profitability scored a 6 out of 10 rating, driven by margins and returns that outperform over half of its competitors, a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 4 and a one-star business predictability rank that is on watch as a result of a decline in revenue per share over the past five years. No gurus currently hold the stock. KDDI With an impact of -1.56% on the equity portfolio, the International Value Fund sold its remaining 3.6 million shares of KDDI. During the quarter, the stock traded for an average price of 3,233.52 yen per share. According to GuruFocus, the fund gained an estimated 58.24% on the investment. 1fc8f2df6592ec401666c556a5a3dfdc.png The Tokyo-based telecommunications company has a market cap of 7.28 trillion yen; its shares closed at 3,165 yen on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 11.47, a price-book ratio of 1.7 and a price-sales ratio of 1.42. The Peter Lynch chart suggests the stock is undervalued. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 5 out of 10, however, indicates it is more fairly valued. 074b75f8bb38e6aae418b0c4281e12b8.png KDDI's financial strength was rated 6 out of 10 by GuruFocus. Despite issuing 403.5 billion yen in new long-term debt over the past several years, it is at a manageable level due to comfortable interest coverage. The Altman Z-Score of 2.47 indicates it is under some financial pressure, however, as its revenue per share growth has slowed over the past year. The company's profitability scored an 8 out of 10 rating. Although its margins are contracting, they still outperform a majority of industry peers. It is also supported by strong returns, a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 5 and a one-star business predictability rank. Bernard Horn (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest guru shareholder. Cie Financiere Richemont The fund boosted its stake in Cie Financiere Richemont by 334.3%. It invested in 1.3 million shares, bringing its total holding to 1.7 million shares. The trade had a 1.58% impact on the equity portfolio. Shares traded for an average price of 68 Swiss francs ($71.09) each during the quarter. GuruFocus estimates the investment, which represents 2.05% of the fund's total assets managed, has posted a loss of 1.67% for Causeway. fff13931820a9c001cc4bcb676a21f22.png Commonly known as Richemont, the Swiss holding company, which has luxury goods brands like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc under its umbrella, has a market cap of 34.65 billion francs; its shares closed at 61.32 francs on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 34.22, a price-book ratio of 1.91 and a price-sales ratio of 2.27. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock is overvalued. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 6 out of 10, however, leans more toward undervaluation. 46f56685c0d66f6e5dbf5ecb1e71adc8.png GuruFocus rated Richemont's financial strength 6 out of 10. Although the company has issued approximately 3.8 billion euros in new long-term debt over the past three years, it is at a manageable level as a result of sufficient interest coverage. The Altman Z-Score of 3.06 also indicates it is in good standing despite recording a decline in revenue per share over the past year and assets building up at a faster rate. The company's profitability scored an 8 out of 10 rating. Although the margins are in decline, the still outperform a majority of competitors. Richemont also has strong returns, a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 5 and a 3.5-star business predictability rank. GuruFocus data shows companies with this rank return an average of 9.3% annually. Herro is the company's largest guru shareholder with a 0.93% stake. Charles de Vaulx (Trades, Portfolio), the IVA International Fund (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio) also have positions in the stock. Additional trades and portfolio composition During the quarter, the International Value Fund also divested of its holdings in East Japan Railway Co. (TSE:9020), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY), Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX:GIL), Cobham PLC (LSE:COB), Ingenico Group SA (XPAR:ING) and SK Innovation Co. Ltd. (XKRX:096770). It also added to or reduced several other positions. Around 40% of Causeway's $4.4 billion equity portfolio, which is composed of 67 stocks, is invested in the industrials and financial services sectors, followed by smaller holdings in the health care and communication services spaces. 84e823c8ad31b91ab773b5b1c6be9b31.png According to Causeway Capital's website, the fund returned 20.1% in 2019, slightly underperforming the MSCI EAFE Index's 22.7% return. Disclosure: No positions. Read more here: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Takes a Bigger Bite of Restaurant Brands Bill Nygren Adds 4 Stocks to Portfolio in 1st Quarter Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Turns Up Stake in Liberty SiriusXM Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. As the world changed before our eyes, travel followed suit. Grand international adventures have taken a back seat to exploring within our nations borders. Luckily, domestic travel within the United States is far from second-rate; were the fortunate stewards of some of the most diverse and mind-blowing landscapes in the world, from deserts and forests and mountains toyesa tropical paradise. Whether you live close enough to drive or plan to use South Florida as a jumping-off point, the Florida Keys beckons with the ultimate in easy-breezy island living, as close as we can getfor nowto an exotic Caribbean getaway. Theres azure water, swaying palms, and that sort of laid-back vibe that promises to quickly erase all your routine worries. Take a quick day trip to the Upper Florida Keys, the stretch of islands from Key Largo south to Islamorada, for a transportive experience guaranteed to rejuvenate. Key Largo, the first island in the Florida Keys archipelago, is about two hours south of West Palm Beach or an hour south of Miami by car, so the island chain is easily accessible on any vacation to South Florida. A Florida Keys flats guide idles away from the dock during the dawn of a new day in Islamorada, Fla. Featuring an angling diversity found in few saltwater sportfishing destinations, Islamorada is known as the Sportfishing Capital of the World. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau) Up for an escape to the Keys? Everyone knows that tips from locals rather than tchotchke tourist traps make for the best experiences, and while I wouldnt call myself a local, I did spend many a childhood summer in the Keys with locals. Most of the places we frequented then are still standingand still as fun as I remember now that we continue to visit the Keys on a regular basis. With that, here are the recommendations Id make to anyone planning a day trip to the Upper Keys. Quick Tips for Day Tripping the Upper Florida Keys Get an early start. Theres only one road in and one road out of the Keys, so plan accordingly. The Overseas Highway is a 113-mile road that extends U.S. Route 1 (or US1) through the Florida Keys, all the way south to Key West. If you pick a peak travel time, expect to wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic for a truly appalling length of time. The bright side is that if you do find yourself stuck in traffic, the views not too shabby. Drive to the farthest thing first. If youre trying to do the Upper Florida Keys in a day, my advice would be to drive to your southernmost chosen activity first, and then spend the day working your way back north, activity by activity. That way, when youve checked everything off your list for the day, your return trip is much shorter. If youre basing yourself in Miami or the Palm Beaches, I wouldnt recommend driving much further south in the Keys than Islamorada; broaching three hours in a car begins feeling less like a day trip and more like a full-on road trip. Theres nothing wrong with a road trip or long weekend in the Keys, of course, but youll want to devote more than a day to exploring. Things to Do on a Day Trip to the Keys Sink your teeth into key lime pie from Mrs. Macs Kitchen Mrs. Macs Kitchens famous key lime pie. (Courtesy of Mrs. Macs Kitchen) Whether you opt for a full sit-down meal at Mrs. Macs Kitchen or just stop in to grab a slice of (or, better yet, an entire) key lime pie, dont leave the Keys without indulging yourself in the world-famous delicacy of Mrs. Macs take on Floridas favorite tangy-sweet treat. Its ice-cold, creamy, and made from scratch with fresh key lime, a thick graham cracker crust, and dense, sweet whipped cream that cuts the tart bite of citrus. There are two locations in Key Largo, located within half a mile of each other, and the restaurant also serves local seafood, soups, salads, and all-American comfort food. You might want to grab a slice on the way in and leave time to grab another on the way out, toothats how good this pie is. Hand-feed tarpon at Robbies You can hand-feed a snack to tarpons at Robbies of Islamorada. (Courtesy of Robbies of Islamorada) Ever wanted to hand-feed a fish twice your size? Me neither, but Robbies of Islamorada is a cant-miss Keys classic. Despite how touristy this spot has become, Robbies is one of those only-in-Florida experiences you wont find anywhere else in the world. Buy a bucket of chum, head out to the docks, and test your bravery in feeding the cloud of massive tarpon awaiting a snack. If you go outside the summer months, youll have to fend off flocks of pelicans, but the humidity isnt as stifling and the heat isnt as blistering, so pick your trade-off. Book an afternoon snorkel or scuba dive trip (in advance) A diver explores the coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo, Fla. The reef system in the Keys is the only contiguous coral barrier reef in North America. (Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau) Dive charters are a dime a dozen in Key Largo and they all leave from the same dock, but they fill up quickly, so make sure to reserve your spot in advance. Depending on your groups needs, you can book a trip that accommodates divers, snorkelers, or both. In addition, most of these dive companies will have all the gear you need available to rent, so no need to secure it yourself. Allot at least four hours for this on-the-water excursion; this will take up the bulk of your day, but its time well spent. And try your best to get on a boat heading to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Sea creatures are abundant in the state parks shallow, protected reefs, making for amazingly long and entertaining divesand if youre lucky, you may even get a chance to swim around the world-famous Christ of the Deep statue. Kayakers paddle along mangroves at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Fla. The nations first underwater preserve encompasses 70 square miles of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests. (Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau) Eat fresh fish You cant leave the Keys without eating your fill of fresh fishblackened and served with a side of fries, if youre anything like me. Pair it with a citrusy ale by Islamorada Beer Company, brewed locally in the sportfishing capital of the world, for a complete taste of true Keys cuisine. If youre on the hunt for the best fish in the Keys, you cant ask for a better meal than lunch or dinner at The Fish House in Key Largo. Its been an unbeatable Florida Keys staple since 1982, and with one bite of the fresh catch prepared in their signature Matecumbe styletopped with fresh tomatoes, shallots, basil, capers, olive oil, and lemon juice, then bakedyoull see why this restaurant has been so heavily awarded and lauded by locals and visitors alike. Theyre also one of the few remaining establishments that sources whole fish from local commercial fishermen and fillets them on the premises, so the seafood really doesnt get much fresher. Looking instead for a dirt-cheap meal and beyond-casual atmosphere? Large portions and great value awaits at Shipwrecks, a dive bar with a view in Key Largo. You may raise an eyebrow at the ambiance, but youll have a hard time finishing the $9.99 basket of mahi, and you can eat outside and enjoy golden hour by the water. If a tropical-island atmosphere is whats most important to you, head to Gilberts, a laid-back tiki bar located under the bridge that connects Key Largo to the mainland. You can sit beachfront (a rarity in the Keys) with your toes in the sand, enjoying live music, and a fruity cocktail as the sun sets over the water. The African Queen, the original vessel from director John Hustons classic 1951 film by the same name, sails on a Key Largo, Fla., canal, in this file photo. Built in 1912, the 30-foot boat that carried Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn has been refurbished to provide Florida Keys visitors an opportunity to ride the cinema icon . (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO) My must-have ingredients for a perfect day in the Upper Keys include a unique only-in-the-Keys experience, time underwater on the third-largest barrier reef in the world, and delicious fish caught probably the same day in the same waters Im overlooking as I eat. Its a full day if you try to squeeze everything into a day trip, but youre guaranteed to depart the Keys with a renewed appreciation for the wonders of domestic travel. Skye Sherman is a freelance travel writer based in West Palm Beach, Fla. She covers news, transit, and international destinations for a variety of outlets. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and Twitter @skyesherman T he stunning island nation of Antigua and Barbuda has announced it will introduce a phased reopening to its tourism sector, with the first commercial flight landing today. Antigua and Barbuda is opening its borders to both regional and international travellers from all countries, but a series of protocols will need to be followed for visitors to the islands. All incoming passengers will be required to wear a facemask when they land on the islands and it must be worn in public areas throughout their stay; all incoming passengers must also complete a health declaration form and screenings and thermal checks will occur on arrival. Visitors may also be asked to undergo a virus test on arrival to their hotel. Minister of Tourism & Investment, the Hon. Charles Max Fernandez said in a press conference: Today we take the first steps to restoring and reopening our tourism economy. Our tourism-dependent region has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic Tourism is the economic lifeline of our country, it helps build our infrastructure, and employs a third of Antiguans and Barbudans. It has turned out to be the most challenging year in our history. It should be noted that we are opening up to travellers from all countries. Those travelling to Antigua are not required to be tested in their home city. All incoming passengers will undergo an antigen test when they arrive. Colin James, CEO, Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority added in a statement that the nation looks forward to welcoming visitors back and is excited that its borders are opening. He continued: This is still a highly unprecedented time and we realise that we are now entering a new and ever-changing landscape. Priorities in the travel industry have shifted, and our guests priorities are different we have worked diligently across all sectors on the islands as well as in collaboration with our Caribbean neighbours to prepare for the new normal and to ensure a healthy and safe environment for all. Antigua and Barbuda joins a number of other Caribbean nations starting to open their borders. The Aruba Tourism Authority expects its borders to open between June 15 and July 1, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation says it hopes to commence commercial travel on July 1 and Saint Lucia started welcoming visitors back to the island today, June 4. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Wyoming rose by six on Thursday, according to the Wyoming Department of Healths daily update. No new probable cases were announced. Eighteen new confirmed coronavirus recoveries were also announced, as were three new probable recoveries. 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. The new confirmed cases come from Campbell, Fremont (two), Sweetwater and Washakie (two) counties. 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. There are now 921 cases 709 confirmed and 212 probable and 735 recoveries 562 confirmed and 173 probable recorded in the state, as well as 17 deaths. More than 79 percent of confirmed patients have fully recovered. Patients have tested positive for coronavirus in all 23 of Wyomings counties. Wyoming is tied for the second fewest recorded coronavirus deaths of any state with Montana and Hawaii Alaska has the fewest and Wyomings death rate (3 per 100,000 residents) is fourth-lowest to Montana, Alaska and Hawaii, according to the New York Times. The states infection rate (158 in 100,000) is sixth-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 17.9 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, 34.3 percent are American Indian, 11.3 percent are Hispanic, 0.7 percent are Asian, and 1.1 percent are black. The racial identities of 7.6 percent of confirmed cases in Wyoming are not known, and 2.5 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 49.1 percent of the cases, the patient came in contact with a known case. Community spread has been attributed to 18.5 percent of the cases. In another 9.7 percent of the cases, the patient had traveled either domestically or internationally. The state has attributed 6.9 percent of cases to communal living. In 10 percent of Wyomings cases, health officials dont how the person was exposed to the virus, and 9.2 percent of cases are pending investigation. Officials have cautioned that the reported numbers are low because of testing limitations, though the availability of testing has increased. 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. Cases in Wyoming by county (probable in parentheses) Albany: 23 (2) Big Horn: 5 (1) Campbell: 19 (13) Carbon: 9 (7) Converse: 14 (10) Crook: 5 Fremont: 255 (32) Goshen: 4 (1) Hot Springs: 8 (4) Johnson: 14 (4) Laramie: 122 (66) Lincoln: 11 (4) Natrona: 65 (14) Niobrara: 1 (1) Park: 2 Platte: 1 Sheridan: 12 (4) Sublette: 1 (2) Sweetwater: 24 (8) Teton: 69 (31) Uinta: 10 (3) Washakie: 34 (5) Weston: 1 Deaths in Wyoming by county Fremont: 6 Washakie: 3 Laramie: 2 Carbon: 1 Johnson: 1 Natrona: 1 Teton: 1 Rate of spread Testing statistics The Wyoming Department of Health has published the following data: As of Tuesday, there have been 25,843 tests performed for COVID-19 in Wyoming. Wyoming Public Health Laboratory: 13,531 Commercial labs: 12,312 National cases There have been more than 1.8 million cases nationally, with about 107,000 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. A man carrying two guns including an assault rifle 'loaded to the max' was arrested after trying to pose as a member of the National Guard in Los Angeles, police said. Gregory Wong, 31, was arrested outside city hall in Los Angeles on Tuesday after genuine National Guard troops noticed something was wrong about his uniform. He was held on suspicion of illegal possession of an assault weapon and for impersonating a National Guard member, according to Fox News. Wong, who according to his personal website is a former US Army Paratrooper, had a night scope on his helmet and was also wielding the correct National Guard pistol. Cops and at least 4,500 National Guard troops were on the streets in Los Angeles responding to protesters who were out in force across the country for a ninth straight day after the death of George Floyd. A man carrying two guns including an assault rifle 'loaded to the max' was arrested after trying to pose as a member of the National Guard in Los Angeles, police said. Pictured: Gregory Wong, 31, appears in military uniform in dozens of photos on his personal website Wong was arrested outside city hall in Los Angeles on Tuesday after genuine National Guard troops noticed something was wrong about his uniform Genuine National Guard members reportedly noticed that the patches Wong wore on his uniform did not match his alleged length of service, a source told the Los Angeles Times. Before his arrest, Wong was spotted getting out of an Uber before allegedly falling into formation with real National Guard troops, according to KABC. The outlet also said the assault rifle in his possession was also a 'ghost gun' which did not have a serial number. Wong's rifle, as well as spare magazines which he was carrying, was 'loaded to the max' when he was arrested, according to Fox News. Genuine National Guard members reportedly noticed that the patches Wong wore on his uniform did not match his alleged length of service, a source told the Los Angeles Times. Pictured: Members of the National Guard outside LA city hall on Tuesday He was held on suspicion of illegal possession of an assault weapon and for impersonating a National Guard member. Pictured: Wong seen in military uniform on his personal website Wong told investigators he was heading to downtown Los Angeles to help with security at a friend's establishment, according to police. 'While investigators are still looking into the incident, at this time it does not appear that Mr. Wong intended to harm anyone,' LAPD Officer Drake Madison said. On his personal website, Wong says he was an active paratrooper from 2008 until 2014 and remained as a reserve member until 2016. He adds that he 'recently picked up World War 2 reenacting, cosplay and background acting' and is 'constantly chasing' his dreams. On the site he is pictured in a number of military uniforms, including those from World War Two and Jurassic Park-themed outfits. Floyd, a black man, was killed in Minneapolis after white police officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck on Memorial Day The ninth night of protests came to a relatively peaceful end on Wednesday as crowds in several cities dispersed without aggressive intervention from police enforcing curfews. In Los Angeles, protesters gathered in Hollywood to voice their discontent. Before his arrest, Wong was spotted getting out of an Uber before allegedly falling into formation with real National Guard troops Hundreds appeared to be peacefully marching near La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard. The demonstrators blocked traffic at the intersection just before 1pm and each got down on one knee and took a moment of silence. Los Angeles County ordered another overnight curfew which was four hours shorter than previous nights. The curfew began at 9pm Wednesday and will end at 5am Thursday. Previous curfews ran from 6pm to 6am. A county statement says officials are assessing public safety needs on a daily basis. A few municipalities in the sprawling county continue to have stricter curfews. Huge demonstrations in Los Angeles on Tuesday were peaceful, and subsequent arrests were only for curfew violations. Wong's rifle and spare magazines which he was carrying were reportedly 'loaded to the max' when he was arrested On Wednesday the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced that 60 people were facing charges for crimes during protests in the city over the past week. Most of the charges were for looting, but others include assault and/or battery of a peace officer, robbery, burglary and receiving stolen property. The district attorney's office said it expected more charges to be brought later this week. About 2,700 people were arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department between Friday and Monday, Officer Rosario Cervantes told CNN. It's unclear how many of those arrests were linked to protests. In Washington, DC, crowds thinned out slightly after sundown, but hundreds of people were still in the streets when the 11pm curfew came and went. The ninth night of protests came to a relatively peaceful end on Wednesday as crowds in several cities dispersed without aggressive intervention from police enforcing curfews. Pictured: National Guard troops were posted outside the District Attorney's office Anxiety hung in the air between the protesters and a line of troops watching over them in riot gear as the former group projected messages onto buildings that bore the same words they've chanted for days, including: 'We can't breathe', 'Stop Killer Cops', and 'Demilitarize the police'. Tensions were more obvious in New York City, where at least 90 people were arrested in connection with protests. At least one NYPD officer was injured when a scuffle broke out between police and protesters marching to Cadman Plaza after dark. Protesters gathered at the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard as they prepared to march during a demonstration in West Hollywood In New Orleans, police deployed tear gas on crowds that refused to comply with orders to not walk across the Crescent City Connection, a bridge that stretches across the Mississippi River. But overall, there was a marked quiet across the country compared with the unrest of the past few nights, which included fires and shootings in some cities while police resorted to forceful tactics including tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to break up crowds. In Atlanta, streets that were filled with hundreds of protesters during the day emptied out when a 9pm curfew went into effect. Similar scenes unfolded in Philadelphia, where the 7pm curfew was accompanied by a sudden rain shower that soaked protesters on their way home. SAN DIEGO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA) (the "Company"), the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States that launched the world's first-ever cannabis-derived nutraceutical products, brands and supply chain, announced today that its investment company Kannalife, Inc. ("Kannalife") (OTCQB: KLFE) has appointed biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry veteran Terrence O. Tormey to the company's Board of Advisors. "Kannalife continues to prove itself as a leader in cannabinoid research and its reputation to add well-respected biotech and pharmaceutical leaders like Terrence Tormey to its team amplifies its efforts," said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. "It's an honor to have Terry join our advisory board because his experience, vision and knowledge in the life sciences industry will help us start to design our commercialization and distribution plan for Atopidine," said Dean Petkanas, CEO of Kannalife. Mr. Tormey brings over four decades of experience in the life sciences industry and has held numerous C-Level management positions, board seats, and has led successful sales and marketing campaigns with well-known companies including Wyeth, OMAX Health, Prevention Pharmaceuticals, and McNeil CPC (Johnson & Johnson). Most recently he was the CEO of Kibow Biotech, a company involved in the development of novel renal care treatment for chronic kidney disease. "I am honored to serve as an advisor to Kannalife. The company has remarkable scientists behind the entities in development. These scientists are addressing a most challenging unmet medical need that is pain relief without opioids. Specifically, a treatment for Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) that, when approved, will help improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients," Tormey said. About Medical Marijuana, Inc. We are a company of firsts . Medical Marijuana, Inc. ( MJNA ) is a cannabis company with three distinct business units in the non-psychoactive cannabinoid space: a global portfolio of cannabinoid-based nutraceutical brands led by Kannaway and HempMeds ; a pioneer in sourcing the highest-quality legal non-psychoactive cannabis products derived from industrial hemp; and a cannabinoid-based clinical research and botanical drug development sector led by its pharmaceutical investment companies and partners including AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. and Kannalife, Inc . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was named a top CBD producer by CNBC . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was also the first company to receive historic import permits for CBD products from the governments of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Paraguay and is a leader in the development of international markets. The company's flagship product Real Scientific Hemp Oil has been used in several successful clinical studies throughout Mexico and Brazil to understand its safety and efficacy. Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s headquarters is in San Diego, California, and additional information is available at OTCMarkets.com or by visiting www.medicalmarijuanainc.com . To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s corporate video, click here . Shareholders and consumers are also encouraged to buy CBD oil and other products at Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s shop. About Kannalife, Inc. Kannalife, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical medchem company focused on the development of proprietary and patented novel, monotherapeutic molecules for patients suffering from unmet medical needs of neurodegenerative disorders - including chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), a chronic neuropathy caused by toxic chemotherapeutic agents; hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a neurotoxic brain-liver disorder caused by excessive concentrations of ammonia and ethanol in the brain; mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), a disorder associated with single and repetitive impact injuries; and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease associated with highly repetitive impact injuries in professional and amateur sports. Atopidine is Kannalife's novel, patented small molecule that has been shown to have protective and anti-inflammatory properties in pre-clinical testing. The same studies show that it has also outperformed cannabidiol (CBD) in preventing inflammatory responses relevant to UVB-radiation, including cytokines, TNF-a, IL-1b, and IL-6. KLS-13019 is Kannalife's leading patented, investigational, novel, monotherapeutic product for the potential treatment of a range of neurodegenerative and neuropathic pain disorders, beginning with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Neither KLS-13019 or Atopidine have been reviewed or approved for patient use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any other healthcare authority in the world. Their safety and efficacy have not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. The Company's KLS Family of proprietary molecules focuses on treating oxidative stress-related diseases such as HE, chronic pain from neuropathies like CIPN, and neurodegenerative diseases like CTE. Kannalife conducts its research and development efforts at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center of Bucks County in Doylestown, PA. For more information about Kannalife, Inc., visit www.kannalife.com and visit the Company's Twitter page at @Kannalife . FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined 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. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Medical Marijuana, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) DISCLOSURE These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. LEGAL DISCLOSURE Medical Marijuana, Inc. does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. CONTACT: Public Relations Contact: Andrew Hard Chief Executive Officer CMW Media P. 858-264-6600 [email protected] www.cmwmedia.com Investor Relations Contact: P. (858) 283-4016 [email protected] SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc. Related Links http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com A demonstrator holds a sign with the image of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers, during a protest against the death George Floyd in Minneapolis, in Denver, Colorado on June 3, 2020. - US protesters welcomed new charges brought Wednesday against Minneapolis officers in the killing of African American man George Floyd -- but thousands still marched in cities across the country for a ninth straight night, chanting against racism and police brutality. (Photo by Jason Connolly / AFP) (Photo by JASON CONNOLLY/AFP via Getty Images) Breonna Taylor would have turned 27 years old on June 5, 2020. However, on March 13, she was shot and killed by Louisville police officers who forcibly entered her home to execute an unannounced drug raid, despite the fact that their main suspect was already in custody. The three officers involved have yet to be arrested or charged. To honor Breonna's life and help demand justice, freelance writer Cate Young (@battymamzelle on Twitter and Instagram) started the #BirthdayForBreonna campaign this week. Cate quickly organized the initiative, which outlines nine actions people can take to ensure Breonna's death is not ignored and those responsible are held accountable. She worked together with both friends and strangers who reached out on social media to volunteer their help, whether it be with website coding or art design. Cate told POPSUGAR she was inspired to launch the campaign upon realizing that Breonna shares a birthday with her own mother, and after noticing that Breonna's name hadn't been publicized as much as she thought it needed to be in the months following her death. "I wanted it to be stuff that . . . other people could do if they also couldn't be - or even just didn't want to be - on the streets." Cate ensured that each action item part of the #BirthdayForBreonna campaign is easy to do from home so that people like her who are immunocompromised and those who cannot attend protests for various reasons would be able to get involved. "I wanted it to be stuff that I could do and that other people could do if they also couldn't be - or even just didn't want to be - on the streets, and still make a difference," she told POPSUGAR. In addition to encouraging people to sign the official "Justice For Breonna" petition on change.org and donate directly to Breonna's family on a GoFundMe page, Cate's list includes efforts like sending birthday cards to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to demand that he charge the officers who killed Breonna. The campaign's website also has a handy button that, when clicked, opens a fully written email template addressed to various Louisville officials. Just plug in your name, location, and send - it's as simple as that. Story continues On the occasion of what should have been her 27th birthday, I am writing to demand justice for Breonna Taylor. Additional #BirthdayForBreonna actions below. #SayHerName https://t.co/0h3CHs2MZu pic.twitter.com/5s8kkeEwtP - Anna Rose Holmer (@BARFH) June 4, 2020 The response to #BirthdayForBreonna has been "incredible," Cate said. The effort landed on the radar of celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion and Busy Philipps, both of whom promoted it on their social media accounts, encouraging their followers to take part. Cate said, "People really, really, really jumped right in . . . there have been so many cards and they are so beautiful. I started an Instagram highlight just to highlight them, and it filled up in one day." On what she hopes others learn from participating in Breonna's birthday campaign, Cate said, "I want people to know that they don't have to wait for people to tell them what to do. It's important to show up for Black women and not just when they die - in their lives, too. That's something that you can do in your everyday life: you can advocate for the Black women that you know, you can check yourself, you can make sure that you're not making their lives more difficult, at the bare minimum. That's just something I want people to be mindful of." Be sure to visit bit.ly/BirthdayForBreonna to learn more, and share the link with your friends so they can follow suit. Twitter temporarily suspended a Boston activist groups account Thursday after it shared support for Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollinss recent comments on police brutality, the organization claimed. Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston, a nonprofit group that provides legal action, aid and education in and around Massachusetts, posted a statement Wednesday in support of Black Lives Matter that also criticized comments made by the Boston Police Patrolmens Association about Rollins. After the post was published, Twitter suspended the organizations account but later gave back full access after LCR Boston appealed the suspension, the group claimed. Over the past few days, we have received death threats targeting our staff for standing against racism, LCR Boston said in a statement. Now, our Twitter account ... has been suspended after concerted targeting by those trying to divide and silence us. The social media companys communications team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Lawyers for Civil Rights account (@LCRBOSTON) was suspended by @Twitter after we posted this statement in support of #BlackLivesMatter: https://t.co/chqqhAuZOD pic.twitter.com/AxG7AhIPJC Lawyers for Civil Rights (@LCRBOSTON) June 4, 2020 The BPPA, which represents officers across Boston, sent a letter to Rollins Tuesday that accused her of inciting violence after she said we are being murdered at will by the police & their proxy" when talking about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The union called the Suffolk County prosecutors comments incendiary and anti-police," prompting a response from Rollins on Thursday in which she claimed her statements were Anti-Police BRUTALITY and not anti-police. She also criticized the BPPA for not yet issuing a statement condemning the killing of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. She tweeted, "White fragility is real people. On multiple occasions in the past week, Rollins expressed her appreciation for Boston police and other law enforcement officials, noting, though, that officers need to be held accountable for wrongful actions. I work with them every single day, Boston police detectives, Mass state police troopers; they are exceptional men and women, the prosecutor tweeted. But we have to stand up when those that arent, fail us. Because we are dying in the street. LCR Boston has been using Twitter to disseminate crucial know-your-rights information in support of racial justice and protesters in the wake of Floyds killing, according to the organization. The statement that led to the groups Twitter account being suspended was signed by more than 30 racial justice organizations, lawmakers, community leaders and clergy members in support of Rollinss firm stance against police brutality and racism, LCR Boston said. In screenshots of an email from Twitter to LCR Boston Executive Director Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, the social media company claimed the organization violated its rules. Rule violations could include using a trending hashtag with the intent to manipulate a conversation or drive traffic to ones account, tweeting excessive and unrelated hashtags, posting identical hashtags from multiple accounts or compensating others to engage in artificial engagement," Twitter said. Rollins was one of several Twitter users Thursday to take to the social media platform to criticize it. We will not be silenced, censored or dismissed. I stand with @LCRBOSTON today and always when they call out police brutality and systemic oppression & racism. All of these antics just make us more resolved, Rollins tweeted. We will not be silenced, censored or dismissed. I stand with @LCRBOSTON today and always when they call out police brutality and systemic oppression & racism. All of these antics just make us more resolved. https://t.co/zBKIorAAkM DA Rachael Rollins (@DARollins) June 4, 2020 In its comments about the BPPA, the organization condemned in the strongest possible terms" the associations letter to Rollins, claiming the group took the prosecutors words out of context. LCR Boston pointed out that Rollins has noted there are many officers who eschew excessive force and serve their communities with respect. However, the group said, it is necessary to speak up when law enforcement officials fail the people they are meant to serve and protect. The Boston Police Department is not immune to such failures, the organization alleged. For the BPPA to attack the powerful statements of D.A. Rollins without any mention of the context of her remarks - a national racial justice reckoning with yet another brutal killing of a Black man by law enforcement officers - is wrong, LCR Boston wrote in its statement. The organization requested the BPPA immediately retract its letter, issue a public apology to Rollins and Bostons communities of color and to offer to meet with community leaders, according to the statement. The associations silence on Floyds death is telling, LCR Boston also noted. It does not reflect unity, or empathy. It is a profound step backwards, retreating from decades of progress on diversity and community policy, the group wrote. That silence is, to use the BPPAs own words, dangerous, divisive, and wholly unwarranted. Related Content: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) clarified on Thursday that tricycles and pedicabs remain banned on national highways in all areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ. DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the decision was reached after consulting with DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, and Department of Transportation Secretary Art Tugade. Malaya said only road clearing operations are suspended and the department has no power to prohibit tricycles and pedicabs from roads as the law provides that local government units (LGUs) govern these transport vehicles. "What we suspended is the Road Clearing Operation 2.0 because of COVID-19, but it will be only temporary," Malaya said in a statement. But the DILG pointed out that its previously issued circulars ban tricycles and pedicabs from plying in national highways. Operation of tricycles are only allowed in secondary roads and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has a directive of only one-passenger and no back-ride in these vehicles in all GCQ and MGCQ areas, Ano said. The DILG chief also reiterated the pronouncement of Roque that mayors may not give authorization in allowing back-ride in GCQ and MGCQ localities in line with the directive of the IATF-EID. Ano also reminded tricycle drivers to observe health and safety guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The government understands the need for transportation, but we need to follow physical distancing and other health and safety protocols because the threat of COVID-19 is still there," he stressed. "We should not be complacent. Malaya emphasized that drivers must wear face masks or face shields, gloves, and allow only one passenger per trip in observance of physical distancing except during a medical emergency wherein the patient needs to be accompanied. The DILG also reminds LGUs that all forms of public transport vehicles, terminals, and facilities must be regularly disinfected. To promote physical distancing, the DILG ordered all public utility vehicles and private vehicles to only cater 50% of their seating capacity. Physical distancing also must be observed in queueing for boarding the vehicle and upon entering the PUV terminals. Malaya also assured that transportation for medical frontliners will be continuously provided. Priority shall be given to medical frontliners in terms of access to public transportation, which should include free transport services, provision of government transportation, and priority in terminals and in PUVs, he said in reference to the departments Memorandum Circular 2020-083. Tricycles and pedicabs have been allowed to operate since June 1 as Metro Manila and nearby provinces shifted into a more relaxed GCQ setup. Pandemic response sees homeless housed on university campus early release prisoner plan not required This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jun 4th, 2020 Wrexham Council will be looking for long term alternative accommodation provision for the for the rough sleeper community after buildings earmarked for demolition at the university were used for an emergency pandemic response. However a change in UK policy meant early release prisoners have not joined them at the Plas Coch site. In documents seen by Wrexham.com the plans being formed in early April followed Welsh Government instruction to all local Authorities to source emergency temporary accommodation for the rough sleeper community. At the time Wrexham Council said: The current numbers of rough sleepers are increasing in Wrexham due to a number of factors inclusive of, early prison release, release from approved premises, increase in domestic violence cases, closure of caravan parks and people being asked to socially isolate from where they have been sofa surfing. Welsh Government has confirmed that the accommodation to be sourced is required to be self-contained with en-suite facilities to enable those in need of secure accommodation to move swiftly into supported and safe environments. This will enable them to self-isolate when necessary and to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. The Council did not own a suitable asset that fitted the criteria and they also noted the majority of local hotels had already been closed or secured for use by the Health Board. The above site on the Wrexham Glyndwr University campus was identified for use, which at the time was mothballed and dormant pending demolition and sale of the site as part of the recent large planning application lodged by the university. There are three blocks, each containing six self-contained rooms with bathroom facilities, and a visit by the council deemed them in reasonable and sound condition. The University agreed to their use, and Welsh Government has been footing the bill. A robust management plan of the university site was developed, and the ability to utilise other accommodation, possibly Council house voids, for those rough sleepers identified as being unable to mix was also explored. Earlier this week Council Leader Mark Pritchard praised the university, stating: We were struggling in Wrexham to find some extra accommodation and buildings. We did speak to a lot of landlords and they just wouldnt work with us. I must say the university were fantastic. They didnt have to do this. Remember, that the building was ready to be demolished for future construction, but they allowed us access and they worked with us. They didnt have to hesitate. They said yes, straight away. So I was pleased. Cllr Hugh Jones said:I think basically the challenge weve dealt with immediately in terms of providing the accommodation, and the challenges going forward in terms of the future, is how we meet the Welsh Government targets of removing everybody from the streets, given that there are those individuals sofa surf or rough sleep as a choice. Our main objective is to deal with the most vulnerable. I think thats going to be the challenge going forward. We had been told the council were planning to house in the region of 50-100 people, and the early stage development of ideas was working in the possibility of early release prisons from HMP Berwyn. We asked if that was the plan, and did it happen. Cllr Pritchard said: I dont believe it has happened. I dont believe that any prisoners have been placed there. Cllr Hugh Jones explained: In terms of prisoner release its only been about 76 people across the whole of the UK. My understanding is that Berwyn has not released anybody early. Chief Executive Ian Bancroft added: In terms of the original plan, there was a big push by Welsh Government and UK Governments to have an early release program. That was not followed through in the end, which I think is what Hugh has mentioned, in terms of that that it didnt happen, which is why we havent had to locate a number of people there. What Cllr Jones has been referencing is the fact that just like as normal, there have been some releases from prison. That would have been the release from prison as per normal, that would have gone into various sites, but we havent had that major program recently. The Ministry of Justice announced on 4 April that as many as 4,000 prisoners who were within two months of their release date and had passed a risk assessment would be freed. As of 31 May, the figure stood at less than 100. As the site was referenced as temporary we asked what that meant, as the recovery period referenced in council documents point to anything up to 18 months. Cllr Pritchard said: I dont think it will go over six months because obviously the university is ambitious, theyve got plans for their campus, they want to invest lots of money. And as I say, theyve worked with us, weve been very grateful for what they have done. They given us an opportunity and some time to try and work with other providers to find alternative provision. A Gresham police officer shot and killed a man in Southeast Portland during an encounter late Sunday night, but days later most circumstances surrounding the shooting remain undisclosed. Police identified the man who was shot and killed as Israel Berry, 49, and the police officer who shot him as James Doyle, an officer with Gresham police since 2018. About 9:35 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to the 12400 block of Southeast Kelly Street in Portland to a call of a man making threats, according to a Portland police news release. During an encounter between the man and officers, Doyle shot Berry. Police have not said how many times Doyle fired his gun. No Portland police officers fired their guns, the news release said. In a news release Monday, Portland police said Gresham officers were in Portland to provide mutual aid as Portland officers worked the massive protests that were happening throughout the city. No other details have been released in the ensuing three days despite requests from The Oregonian/OregonLive. Berry was white, but the lack of information and transparency about the incident reflects the frustrations being protested for the past week regarding situations when police use of force is employed. Protesters have been calling attention to the many black people who have been killed by police in the United States most recently George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he couldnt breathe and went unconscious. In Portland, protests have continued for six consecutive days, all but two of which have involved clashes with police at some point of the night. Demonstrators say they are demanding change and accountability from the Portland Police Bureau. Gresham police released the name of the involved officer three days after the shooting. The Portland Police Bureau, which is investigating the shooting, did not comment nor release any further details. Berrys roommate, Chris Green, said he was shocked to find out what had happened. He said a police officer came to their home and told him about the shooting but would not share more details about why police shot his roommate or what led to it. I tried asking questions, but they didnt give too much info," Green said in a phone call with The Oregonian/OregonLive on Monday. I want to know why he died. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. A health and safety probe has been launched into a group of care homes where 14 residents died from Covid-19 after whistleblowers claimed they were told not to wear face masks. Guidelines said workers did not have to wear the protective gear if Covid-19 symptoms were not present at the homes in Sheffield. Numerous Horizon Care workers reported being told not to wear masks at Wood Hill Lodge as no-one had tested positive at the home, despite residents suffering from coughs and fevers. The care home group said no symptoms were displayed before April 2, when the first case was confirmed, and staff were told to wear masks when a patient tested positive. A health and safety probe has been launched into a group of care homes after whistleblowers claimed they were told not to wear face masks (file photo of a caregiver and elderly woman) There have been 14 coronavirus-related deaths at the operator's homes in Sheffield and 10 confirmed Covid-19 deaths. The virus was suspected in four of the deaths but could not be confirmed due to a lack of testing. One whistleblower told the BBC: 'If we would have been wearing masks from the beginning of March, if we had worn the full PPE and all the staff had been allowed to wear them, and all precautions had been taken, then I feel some lives would have been saved.' Another said: 'It made us feel unsafe being told not to wear masks, scared, every day you were terrified to go back.' A third worker claimed: 'You get one mask per 12-hour shift, if you drop it or it falls on the floor then you have to go and ask for another one.' Horizon Care, which is a wholly unrelated business to Horizon Care and Education, said the accusations relate to their staff following the correct guidance on the use and distribution of PPE. The group also pointed out that, while they agree with people's right to question the guidance, such questions should be directed to the UK Government and not the care providers required to implement these guidelines. It noted that guidance on PPE has changed 25 times since the beginning of the outbreak and said allegations relating to PPE being needed at the beginning of March 'ignore the fact' the pandemic was not declared until March 11. The care home group said no symptoms were displayed before April 2, when the first case was confirmed, and staff were told to wear masks when a patient tested positive (file photo) The group was reported by UNISON to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Health and Safety Executive following reports from staff working in the homes. The CQC has been working with the operator to ensure they have the adequate support and the Health and Safety Executive is investigating the claims. UNISON assistant general secretary Christina McAnea said: 'All employers have an obligation to protect staff and the people they look after. Horizon Care has clearly failed in its duties. 'This case highlights the urgent need for the government to reform the social care sector. The fact it's fragmented and underfunded means unscrupulous employers are able to exploit staff. 'Unless action is taken some care companies will continue to fall short of the high standards required.' The care home group said no symptoms were displayed before April 2, when the first case was confirmed, and staff were told to wear masks when a patient tested positive (file photo) In a statement, Horizon Care said it has 'worked hard' to support residents and workers. A spokesperson said: 'We can confirm that ten residents have sadly passed away across three of our services, having tested positive for coronavirus. 'Each resident will be greatly missed by the staff team who so diligently cared for them, and our thoughts are with their loved ones during this difficult time. 'Horizon Care has worked hard since the beginning of this pandemic to support our residents and staff team. This includes implementing a comprehensive pandemic policy and issuing regular communications to support staff to implement Public Health England guidance. 'We have always fully complied with UK Government and Public Health England advice in relation to infection prevention and control and have always had enough PPE made available to the staff team as per official guidance. 'We could not be prouder of our staff team who have worked incredibly hard in unprecedented circumstances to support and care for our residents.' The family of a disabled man say they have been 'completely forgotten about' after they were told to source protective equipment for his NHS-funded carers themselves - despite inflated prices and quality concerns. Cameron Harrison, 24, from North Hertfordshire, who is blind, has limited hearing, is unable to speak, uses a wheelchair and is tube-fed, has adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a genetic illness which means he requires around-the-clock care. While he would normally have three NHS-funded carers and community support, the family have been managing with just two carers throughout the pandemic and have been required to supply them with PPE. Cameron's mother Karen, 50, revealed she is concerned about how long the crisis may go on for, saying: 'It is hard work and at the moment both me and my husband are just emotionally and physically drained.' Cameron Harrison, 24, from North Hertfordshire, has adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a genetic illness which means he requires around-the-clock care (He is pictured with mother Karen) Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, Cameron had three NHS-funded carers who would visit each day, but the family have been managing with two since the outbreak (He is pictured with mother Karen on a trip to the park) Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, Mr Harrison had three carers who would visit each day, in addition to attending a sensory college run by disability charity Sense during the week and residential care for 60 days a year. Karen, who works for the Leukodystrophy Charity - which helps families with conditions like her son's, said only two carers were now able to help and all other support had stopped. She said: 'He needs full personal care. Everything that Cameron needs, we have to do for him.' Cameron's carers are paid for through a personal health budget provided by NHS Continuing Healthcare. Cameron is blind, has limited hearing, is unable to speak, uses a wheelchair and is tube-fed, meaning he requires care all the time NHS Continuing Healthcare is a package of care provided outside hospitals, such as carers in people's homes, that is arranged and funded by the NHS through clinical commissioning groups. The budget is provided into an account for Cameron's care and is paid out to the carers, who are recruited and managed by his mother, rather than being provided by an agency. In March, Karen contacted the NHS to ask about personal protective equipment (PPE) for the carers. Karen said: 'They said you could use your personal health budget to actually pay for the PPE but they weren't helping at all to source the PPE. What is Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)? Adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD, is a deadly genetic disease that affects 1 in 17,000 people. It is an X-linked genetic disease, therefore it mostly affects boys and men. ALD involves multiple organs in the body so it most prominently affects the brain and spinal cord. This brain disorder destroys myelin. Myelin is the protective sheath that surrounds the brains neurons. Without the myelin sheath the nerve cells that allow us to think and to control our muscles no longer function correctly. ALD knows no racial, ethnic or geographic barriers. Source: Hunters Hope Advertisement In March, Karen contacted the NHS to ask about personal protective equipment (PPE) for the carers but the family were told they'd have to pay themselves 'I was assuming that because they looked after him, they fund his care - and in my mind, they have a duty of care to Cameron and his carers - I kind of expected they were going to somehow deliver me some PPE. What is PPE? Personal Protective Equipment (or PPE) is being used by NHS staff caring for patients who tested positive for coronavirus. These can include plastic visors, medical masks, gloves and protective gowns. PPE has been in severely short supply for many hospitals across the UK, despite the government insisting they had 1 billion items of PPE shipped to the UK from abroad. Some medical staff have been forced to make their own visors, masks and gowns, with many local businesses also offering to mark and ship products to hospitals Advertisement 'They said they weren't delivering and gave me the Government website which kind of explained what PPE was, but it was more for people in care homes or care agencies.' She added: 'I just feel like we've been completely forgotten about, we're a group of people who are just being left to muddle through. 'They've sidelined us. Care agencies are big business, care homes are big business and people all know about them, but we're a little voice.' Karen was able to buy a limited supply of masks online, but said they were difficult to find and often an 'astronomical' price. She said: 'The budget is not an unlimited pot. We don't know how long this is going to go on for, but that all eats into his budget for care. 'For about six boxes of gloves and about 100 masks that still comes to 200 and that was just on a website online - I don't know what the quality is.' Mrs Harrison was able to buy a limited supply of masks online, but said they were difficult to find and often an 'astronomical' price Cameron's carers are now using the masks sparingly, but Karen said she had been given no guidance and that said the advice on if carers should wear PPE and when was a 'minefield'. She added: 'If Cameron was to become very poorly and needed ventilation that would be a very difficult conversation with the doctors as to whether they would deem it correct to ventilate him. It would be a horrendous time.' Genetic Alliance UK, a charity which supports those affected by genetic conditions, has called on the Government to ensure that all people cared for at home and their carers are properly protected, and that family members are given appropriate advice without being asked to source their own equipment. Health Minister Simon Harris says his "gut feeling" is that Ireland will move to Phase 2 of the roadmap for reopening the economy on Monday, but cautioned against speeding it up just yet. Mr Harris was speaking as Cabinet prepared to meet together in person for the first time since the Covid-19 crisis began. The cabinet is to meet on Thursday night for an extended session in Dublin Castle's conference centre. The castle has been selected in order for all if not most of the cabinet can be in attendance while maintaining Covid-19 social distancing rules. The cabinet is expected to discuss the potential date for the ending or tapering off of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment as well as issues relating to Brexit and other issues under Tanaiste Simon Coveneys portfolio. Friday's cabinet session will return to Government Buildings as usual to discuss the next stage of loosening Irelands lockdown restrictions to enter Phase 2 on Monday, as well as regular cabinet issues. Changes to the government's roadmap by Cabinet are also expected to focus on improving the "wellbeing" of people impacted by restrictions, said government sources. This could include the opening of some playgrounds in certain areas, alterations to rules regarding children, and easing visitor restrictions in nursing homes, particularly in outdoor settings. Mass testing for the virus by staff across nursing homes and training for employees is expected to be approved by Nphet while compulsory rules for the testing of patients being transferred into facilities is also expected to get the green light. This will all be determined by Nphet data issued on Thursday. Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that consideration had been given to adding to the outlines given in the government document. If you think about the table that is set out in the road map, there isnt a great deal of text in the boxes, what we do is elaborate that and provide more detail and guidance that will support the implementation of whatever measures we think are appropriate to recommend. Ive also said that were giving consideration to other things that might help things in terms of children." Mr Harris said that while the overall metrics which will decide whether or not Ireland moves to Phase 2 are "positive" but that he was concerned about the number of cases which came from close contacts to another. More than half of all cases are due to close contact, figures show. However, Mr Harris said that the speculation that the government could bring a number of the measures from Phase 3, due to begin on June 29, forward did not sit well with him. One suggestion had been that the stay at home restriction would skip the 20km guideline to be brought in on Monday and move to allow people travel countrywide. My general sense of it is that Phase 2 looks right to me." "My gut is that if we get through Phase 1 and Phase 2 that would be a real confidence boost before we move on and see the big changes in Phases 3 and 4. "There are some things in Phase 2 that will result in a lot more movement. Once you get to 20km thats actually a lot of movement. There are also some measures in Phase 2 that allow people to meet indoors with social distancing and there are also measures that allow us to visit people cocooning or shielding or whichever term you prefer. "My sense is it is roughly speaking the right balance. Another 1.9 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, an astronomically high number in normal times, but a positive sign that the record pace of job loss from the coronavirus pandemic is slowing. Yet the continued flow of unemployment filings, well beyond what is normally seen in a cyclical recession, could be a sign of deepening economic damage as companies that have already furloughed or laid off employees reach a breaking point, experts said. For some businesses, federal aid or the promise of local reopening plans simply arent enough to bear ongoing losses. Erica Sladky lost her job when her employer gave up the ghost. Formerly a biotech engineer at South San Franciscos MBP Titan, Sladky said the company furloughed a group of employees including her in April, because of the pandemic and other circumstances. That temporary layoff became permanent on May 1, and she has yet to find another job, though she is hopeful. Ive made it to three final-round interviews, Sladky said. She counts herself lucky, since some Bay Area biotech companies are still hiring, and hopes to get a job offer soon. She has been on unemployment since April 15. John Blanchard She doesnt foresee joining any exodus from the area. Sladky describes herself as a transient with no firm home. She recently moved to the Bay Area from Nebraska to take the job at MBP. Ive always wanted to live here, Sladky said. Im not going to let COVID send me back home. Some large companies may be able to withstand economic shocks. But smaller and mid-size companies like Sladkys former employer may be folding, contributing to the stubbornly high number of new unemployment claims each week, according to Jason Reed, a professor at Notre Dame Universitys Mendoza College of Business. After two months of being on lockdown, youre starting to see temporary furloughs and layoffs start to transition to more permanent layoffs, Reed said. He noted that while filings had declined since 6.8 million people sought aid in one week in March, recent weeks had consistently seen more than 2 million people request benefits. Two million is an astronomical amount of claims still being filed week after week, he said, adding that 6 million Americans filed for unemployment during a three-month period in the depths of the 2007-09 recession. Since late March, 42.7 million have filed for unemployment, and as of May 23, 21.5 million remained on unemployment benefits. Though claims dropped 12% nationwide, they rose in California to 230,461 for the week of May 30, up 13% from the week before. More than 5.6 million unemployment claims have been processed in California since the pandemic began, and a total of $3.4 billion in benefits were paid last week, according to the state Employment Development Department. For companies to start bringing employees back to work, demand for goods and services must pick up. And that may not happen soon, according to Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Economics. Even if a salon or retail store is allowed to open, theres a lot less demand than there was before the pandemic, he said. People leaving the job market because of child care needs or poor prospects for getting hired will also weigh on economic productivity, Reed said. We could see a consistent unemployment rate of 14%, but we could also see 4 million people leave the labor force, he said. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Since the official rate reflects only people actively seeking work, that figure could hold steady without reflecting the millions who have stopped looking for jobs, Reed said. Economists said at some point the labor market will stabilize with a more predictable number of new and continuing unemployment claims each week. The question is not only when do we bottom, but where do we bottom? said Michelle Meyer, head of U.S. Economics at Bank of America. Is that continuing (unemployment) claims of 5 million or 10 million a week? she said. Is that the unemployment rate at 10%? The current job loss reflected a forced hibernation, she said. A stabilized job market will show the residual damage, she said. Part of that will almost certainly include fewer jobs, even for skilled professionals like Sladky, the biotech engineer. Sladky said the number of available jobs in her field has visibly decreased. Shes considering taking a less-skilled position, although it hasnt come to that yet. At some of these biotechs there are operators or technicians, Sladky said. Those roles pay less, but she could turn to them in a pinch: Ive contemplated doing that if it doesnt work out. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice Online broker Charles Schwab received antitrust approval from the Justice Department for its acquisition of TD Ameritrade, sources told CNBC's David Faber on Thursday. Shares of Schwab gained 5.5% and TD Ameritrade jumped 9%. Schwab announced last November it would buy rival broker TD Ameritrade in the all-stock deal valued at $26 billion. The merging of the two biggest publicly traded discount brokers will create a mammoth with more than $5 trillion in client assets, $3.8 trillion from Schwab and $1.3 trillion from TD Ameritrade. The acquisition calls for 1.0837 Schwab shares for each shares of TD Ameritrade, sources said. The companies expect the deal to close in the second half of 2020. The deal raised concerns about Schwab's dominance in the registered investment advisors space, but the DOJ did not see any violation, sources told Faber. The new company will hold over a third of the registered investment advisor custody market, JMP Securities estimates. While some Wall Street analysts are worried the consolidation of two of the biggest players could flag antitrust issues, the company will capture only about 11% of client assets in the retail financial services market, Schwab said at the time the deal was announced. The news was first reported in a tweet from Faber on Thursday morning. tweet Consolidation in the brokerage industry was expected, given the massive disruption that has taken place, with all the major brokers dropping commission fees at the end of last year. Schwab was the first major player to make the move, eliminating commissions last October. The big online brokers saw new accounts soar in the first quarter, when stocks experienced the fastest bear market and the worst first quarter in history. Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said in an earnings release that the broker saw "monumental volumes" of trading from the 609,000 new broker accounts added in the first quarter, with over 280,000 in March alone. TD Ameritrade said last month that retail clients opened a record 608,000 new funded accounts in the first quarter, with more than two-thirds of those opened in March. The broker industry's next approval is likely to be Morgan Stanley's acquisition of E-trade, which isn't expected to flag any antitrust issues, analysts told CNBC. Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. Have you noticed how almost every other word out of Donald Trump's mouth lately seems to be some variation on "dominate"? "If you don't dominate, you're wasting your time," he told America's governors. "They're going to run all over you. You'll look like a bunch of jerks." "You have to dominate": US President Donald Trump poses with a Bible outside St John's Episcopal Church. Credit:Bloomberg This, of course, was in that telephone rant about protesters. There is something about crowds of people willing to take to the streets to denounce racism that seems to make the President feel, um, unmanly. "I will not allow angry mobs to dominate," he told the country during his visit to the space launch. Minneapolis authorities, he contended, were "weak and pathetic" until events spiralled out of control and the National Guard moved in. ("Domination it's a beautiful thing to watch.") Tweeting on the same subject, Trump reported: "Great job done by all. Overwhelming force. Domination. Likewise, Minneapolis was great. (thank you President Trump!)" 9:15 p.m. |Nearly 15 minutes after the 9 p.m. curfew, a couple of police officers approached the chanting crowd to advise them that it was past curfew. The crowd issued a few last chants and some prepared to leave. Those staying are starting a hashtag BLM after dark. 8:40 p.m. | As the sun started to set behind the building lining Travis Park, friends Jaylon Dukes and Paul Lozano III, both 22, reflected on why they think these protests, and not protests for other black men and women, will lead to lasting institutional changes. Because we dont plan to stop protesting until changes are made, said Lozano, an accounting student at the University of Texas, San Antonio. Other times there are protests and then the protests just stop. Agreed Dukes, Were not going to stop until we force the changes that need to be made. 7:50 p.m. | A Black History Education event is planned for 8:30 p.m. at Travis Park. Shamar Mims, 22, a student at Texas State University, will lead the session, he announced on the megaphone at police headquarters. Then some are going to exercise civil disobedience, as he put it, by staying past 9 p.m. curfew. 7:15 p.m. | Under the watchful eye of lines of police cruisers parked about half a block away, the protest came to an official end a little after 7 p.m., with leaders pleading with the crowd to leave peacefully and give trash to people with plastic bags. Many held back, however, chatting in small groups, taking photos, drinking water and munching on snacks. 6:20 p.m. | Back at Police headquarters, theres a brief pause as people pass around snacks. Energy energy energy! They call out as people grab Cheetos, crackers and granola bars from large zip-locbags. When the speakers resumed the megaphone, they brought attention to Justin Howell, the 20-year-old who was shot by Austin PD and is in critical condition. Howell graduated From San Antonios Communication Arts High School in 2018. They held a moment of silence for him. 6:10 p.m. | After ralling at the courthouse for over an hour, the protesters marched back to SAPD headquarters. One protester wearing a large, orange Tyrannosaurus rex costume held a sign reading Dinosaurs for black lives. Several people held signs with one arm and umbrellas in the other to hide from the blazing sun. Many brought their dogs, others brought skateboards and skated to the police headquarters Along side of the march back, a few people handed out water bottles to disperse to the sweaty, masked crowd. Silvia Foster-Frau 5:55: p.m. | There are hundreds of people at the courthouse and more continue to trickle in. The event is more organized tonight, with scheduled speakers rallying behind a list of demands from Uniting America Through Wisdom. After Mayor Ron Nirenberg spoke to a group, some protesters turned angry, screaming that the mayor was the problem. Protesters began to clash, yelling at each other over whether the group should give city leaders a chance to make changes. 5:30 p.m. | Mayor Ron Nirenberg gave an impassioned speech to protesters, asking that they forgive mistakes and, "Hold me accountable for it. Because Im the mayor of this goddamn city, and were going to make changes together. 5:10 p.m. | Mayor Ron Nirenberg arrived and spoke with Pharoah Clark, leader of the group Uniting America Through Wisdom. When their conversation ended, Nirenberg had Pharoahs list of demands in one hand, and was shaking his hand in the other. They plan to have a formal meeting soon. 4:50 p.m. | Friends Brea Melton, 18, and Jazmyn Taylor, 19, say they attended a protest over the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012. And while they were much younger then, they say the protests that have occupied downtown San Antonio this week feel different. With Trayvon, no one saw what happened, so they gave up, said Martin, a pre-med student at Texas Tech University. With George Floyd, you have it on video, eight minutes of a police officer with his knee on Floyds neck in broad daylight. Taylor Pettaway 4:10 p.m. | So many were taking advantage of the ad hoc voter registration area set up toward the back of the protest area that the volunteers ran out of pens, and people had to wait for someone to finishing filling out their registration form before they could start on theirs. One first-ever registered voter, Isaiah Adams, 23, said he was never educated in the importance of voting in school. But now Ive educated myself and I see how vital it is to the future and to making this city the type of city we want to live in, said Adams, a writer. So Im definitely going to vote in November. 4:00 p.m. | Protesters with Uniting America Through Wisdom plan to start their march to the courthouse around 4:30 p.m., where more speakers and a reading of their demands are expected. From the courthouse, they will head back to Public Safety Headquarters. 3:40 p.m. Lorenzo Menchaca returned to San Antonio from Portland, Oregon, two days early from a camping trip specifically to participate in Thursdays protest. I wanted to be here because I dont understand why people continue to teach their children to be racist and homophobic, said Manchaca, 20, a business finance student at Northwest Lakeview College. As one of the organizers addressed the crowd, Menchacs, who said he identifies as half Hispanic and half white, said he was encouraged by the diversity of the crowd. Hes white, he said, indicating the speaker. One hundred years ago you would never have seen a white person involved in this kind of protest. 3:30 p.m. | Protest organizers say the next step in the change they want is getting police and city officials to sit down and listen to reform ideas, not only within the law enforcement agencies, but reform in state law and policy as well. But the thing about it is, these officers and the officials and whoever's in charge can say that they're with us say that they support us and say all of those things, but if they're not actually acting on those things, then, you know, it's not really a change, said Lexi Quaiyyim, 24, one of the organizers of the Black Lives Matter protests in San Antonio. The aspiring model has been one of the key voices in the San Antonio movement since protests began last Saturday. 3:10 | Standing in the shade of police headquarters building, Vanessa Salas discussed what the protestors hope to accomplish on this, the sixth day of public action. We need to make fundamental changes in the police department operations, said Salas, a nail technician who runs her own salon. A big thing we want to see is the defunding of the police department. The police budget is $479 million and thats ridiculous because theyre constantly bullying people of color and not protecting the community. 3 p.m. | Though not as a large previous protests, a few dozen people gathered at San Antonio Public Safety Headquarters Thursday afternoon to remember George Floyd and to advocate for law enforcement reforms. The mayor of Los Angeles has vowed to cut $150million from the city's police budget and give it to communities of color. Thousands took to the streets in both Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles yesterday, where Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to redirect $150million toward black community health and education from the Los Angeles Police Department's budget. Garcetti took a knee while praying with faith leaders at one protest outside police headquarters early yesterday. However, later in the day, hundreds gathered outside the mayor's house to demonstrate. During a press conference, Garcetti said he was 'committed to making this moment not just a moment. It is time to move our rhetoric towards action to end racism in our city.' In addition to the sizable redirection of funds, Garcetti told reporter officers will be required to report misconduct going forward and to intervene when witnessing displays of excessive force. In this May 19, 2020 file photo Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during a news briefing in Reseda, Calif., Tuesday, May 19, 2020. A protester raises his fist during a peaceful demonstration over George Floyd's death on June 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, California Joined by community faith leaders Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti takes a knee in prayer during a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday By July, he said, a LA Department of Civil and Human Rights and an Office of Racial Equality will be up and running. LA City Council President Nury Martinez tweeted a full copy of the planned motion last night. 'Today we intrduced a motion to cut funding to the LAPD, as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & the #BlackLivesMatter call that we all support to end racism [sic],' the tweet reads. 'This is just one small step. We cannot talk about change, we have to be about change.' Thousands took to the streets of Los Angeles in peaceful protests yesterday, and smaller demonstrations dotted other California cities. Authorities renewed overnight curfews in the city and other areas that have seen clashes with police and groups of thieves wreck hundreds of businesses. Elsewhere in the city, police cordons backed by National Guard troops kept a tight watch on marchers in Hollywood, where hundreds were arrested a day earlier, and at a crowd of thousands at City Hall. A protester speaks to National Guard troops posted outside the District Attorney's office during a peaceful demonstration over George Floyd's death on June 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, California Protesters ride on top of a vehicle this morning, in downtown Los Angeles during a protest over the death of George Floyd who died May 25 after he was restrained by Minneapolis police. Protesters wait with their arms up to be arrested by the police for not respecting the curfew in front of the City Hall as thousands demonstrated over the arrest in Minnesota of George Floyd, who later died in police custody, in Los Angeles, California, USA, late last night More than 10,000 people have been arrested in protests decrying racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death, according to an Associated Press tally of known arrests across the US. Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offenses such as curfew violations and failure to disperse. Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges. As the COVID-19 cases continue to rise across Africa, East Africa is facing another crisis. A second wave of desert locusts is threatening to ruin new crops just a few months after initial swarms hit the region, where more than 20 million people are facing food insecurity. "The timing is horrendous, because the farmers are just planting, and the seedlings are just coming up now since it's the beginning of the rainy season," says Keith Cressman, the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAOs) Senior Locust Forecasting Officer. The February to May rainy season is the ideal time for farmers to plant crops, with harvesting anticipated from June to early July, which is precisely when the next swarm generation of locusts will be forming. The rains have been good this year, and the damp, humid conditions are perfect for locust eggs to hatch. The desert locust is considered the most destructive migratory pest in the world. The current outbreak begun with heavy rains from two cyclones in May and October 2018 on the southern Arabian Peninsula. To date the locusts have spread through Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, and over the Persian Gulf. A single swarm covering one square kilometre contains up to 80 million locusts. FAO estimates the number of locusts could increase another 20 times during this rainy season which could worsen the humanitarian situation. Restricted movement due to COVID-19 has not made fighting the locusts any easier. FAO is stepping up support to affected countries despite the logistical challenges, working with national governments, farmers and agricultural producers to help contain the outbreak. "There is no significant slowdown because all the affected countries working with FAO consider desert locusts a national priority," said Cyril Ferrand, FAO's Resilience Team Leader for East Africa, in a statement. He added: "While lockdown is becoming a reality, people engaged in the fight against the upsurge are still allowed to conduct surveillance, and air and ground control operations." FAO is intensifying remote data collection through a network of partners, civil society, extension workers and grassroot organizations providing information from remote locations especially in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan. The agency is also supporting surveillance efforts as well as aerial and ground spraying across 10 countries. More than 240,000 hectares have been treated with chemical pesticides or biopesticides across the region and 740 people have been trained up to conduct ground locust control operations. But COVID-19 has dented the supply of motorized sprayers and pesticides. The most efficient method to treat incursions of swarms so far is spraying bio-pesticides in the air using aircraft. The sprays are being sourced from countries like Morocco, the Netherlands, or Japan. However, due to the lockdowns, international integrated supply chains have collapsed, delays and prices increased, and reliability plummeted. "The biggest challenge we are facing at the moment is the supply of pesticides and we have delays because global air freight has been reduced significantly," Mr. Ferrand said. He added: "Our absolute priority is to prevent a breakdown in pesticide stocks in each country. That would be dramatic for rural populations whose livelihoods and food security depend on the success of our control campaign." For more information on COVID-19, visit www.un.org/coronavirus Global Music Industry To Decline 28% to 34% In 2020 [MARK MULLIGAN] Global music industry revenue will decline significantly in 2020, says MIDiA analyst Mark Mulligan, and while live music will see the biggest declines, virtually every music sector will feel some pain. By Mark Mulligan of MIDiA and the Music Industry blog Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but the global music industry will decline in 2020. Although we are now nearing the post-lockdown era in many countries across the globe, we are only just at the start of the recession phase that is coming next. Over the coming months we will start to see concrete examples of the downturn (including Q2 financial results) that will transform the recession from an abstract possibility into something far more tangible. Although live music is the most obviously impacted, all elements of the music industry will be hit. In a forthcoming MIDiA client report we will be publishing our detailed forecasts of exactly what this impact could look like. In this blog post I am sharing some of the top-level trends. In order to forecast recessionary impact on music revenues MIDiA broke down all of musics sub-industries (recorded, publishing, live, merch, sponsorship) and all relevant sub categories (streaming, sync etc.), and then divided these into the financial quarters of the year. We then modelled the impact of lockdown, longer-term social-distancing measures and the recession on each of these quarters. We then put this model through bear, mid and bull cases. The sum totals are what you see in the chart above. In all cases, the Q2 decimation of live revenue and the subsequent slow clawback in the remainder of 2020 account for the majority of the decline. In our mid case (i.e. what we consider to be the most likely case) we forecast a 30% decline on 2019 revenues with the following sector-level changes: Recorded music (retail values) +2.5% Publishing -3.6% Live -75% Merch -54% Sponsorship 30% This is how we are thinking about each sector: Recorded music: Music streaming will be far less affected by a recession than many other sectors. But under no circumstances is it immune, and ad supported in particular is anything but resilient. When the recession bites, consumers will cut discretionary spending, including subscriptions. We expect the increase in existing music subscriber churn to be relatively modest but the growth of new subscribers to slow in markets hardest hit by a recession. Unfortunately, millennials streamings heartland are the most vulnerable to job cuts. Ad supported is going to struggle whichever way you look at it. Spotify was struggling to make ad supported work even before the recession, while Alphabet was seeing a weakening Google ad business even last year. But it is the other parts of the labels businesses that lockdown has hurt most so far: physical sales due to store closures; sync due to the halt in TV and film production; performance due to store and restaurant closures. Q2 revenues could average out at between -2% and +1.5% up on Q1. If the recession deepens significantly in the second half of 2020, the combined effect of higher unemployment and reduced consumer spending could result in a worst case scenario of -4.0% annual growth for recorded music. If the economy recovers in 2021, recorded music revenue will return to growth also. Music streaming will be far less affected by a recession than many other sectors. But under no circumstances is it immune, and ad supported in particular is anything but resilient. When the recession bites, consumers will cut discretionary spending, including subscriptions. We expect the increase in existing music subscriber churn to be relatively modest but the growth of new subscribers to slow in markets hardest hit by a recession. Unfortunately, millennials streamings heartland are the most vulnerable to job cuts. Ad supported is going to struggle whichever way you look at it. Spotify was struggling to make ad supported work even before the recession, while Alphabet was seeing a weakening Google ad business even last year. But it is the other parts of the labels businesses that lockdown has hurt most so far: physical sales due to store closures; sync due to the halt in TV and film production; performance due to store and restaurant closures. Q2 revenues could average out at between -2% and +1.5% up on Q1. If the recession deepens significantly in the second half of 2020, the combined effect of higher unemployment and reduced consumer spending could result in a worst case scenario of -4.0% annual growth for recorded music. If the economy recovers in 2021, recorded music revenue will return to growth also. Publishing: Music publishing has been a steady earner for so long and as a consequence has enjoyed an influx of investment in recent years. 2020 though looks set to be a year of revenue decline. Our base case is for a -3.6% change on 2019. Key to this are: reduced syncs due to the halt in filming; reduced performance royalties due to a) live music decline; b) commercial radio declines; c) retail and leisure closures. Physical mechanicals, though small, will be hit by store closures. If the economy recovers in 2021, music publishing revenue will return to growth also, though performance revenues will see long-term transformation due to changes in lifestyles, e.g. more homeworking means less commuting (less radio) and less time spent in urban centres (less retail and leisure) both of which impact publisher income. If the economy recovers in 2021, publishing revenue will return to growth also. Live: Even if live events can be put on in Q3, reduced capacities and some venues not being able to operate at all will mean that live revenue growth will be a slow clawback a process that will run into 2022 and that will only be partially offset by the (much needed) growth in virtual event revenue. Even if live events can be put on in Q3, reduced capacities and some venues not being able to operate at all will mean that live revenue growth will be a slow clawback a process that will run into 2022 and that will only be partially offset by the (much needed) growth in virtual event revenue. Merch: Although there have been some great merch success stories during lockdown (including veteran UK synth poppers OMD selling 75,000 of merch during one live stream) merch sales are so often closely tied to live. Once the lockdown bump is over, the natural cycle of merch sales will remain disrupted by lives slow clawback. Although there have been some great merch success stories during lockdown (including veteran UK synth poppers OMD selling 75,000 of merch during one live stream) merch sales are so often closely tied to live. Once the lockdown bump is over, the natural cycle of merch sales will remain disrupted by lives slow clawback. Sponsorship: Artist sponsorship will be hit by brands scaling back their marketing budgets as the advertising economy contracts. In addition to the forthcoming MIDiA client report we will be exploring these themes and others in our free-to-attend webinar next week: Recovery Economics: Bounce Forward Not Back. Register here. Share on: By Abankula Members of Nigerias House of Representatives have killed a motion seeking to recommend castration for rapists. The House, at the plenary on Thursday, rejected the motion which was recommended by Mr James Faleke. Faleke, representing Ikeja in Lagos had recommended that persons found guilty of rape should be castrated. His motion came in the wake of rising cases of sexual violence in Nigeria and the national outrage the phenomenon has caused. Faleke asked the Inspector General of Police to immediately probe rape cases as all other reported cases of violence against women. The call was superfluous as the police had already taken up such investigations. The police have also announced measures to strengthen their desks dealing with domestic violence all over the country. In a statement Wednesday, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ordered the immediate transfer of the investigations into the sexual assault and death of Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa from Benin to the Force headquarters, Abuja. The IGPs directive was sequel to the preliminary report from the team of investigators and forensic experts earlier deployed to assist the Edo State Police Command in the investigations into the unfortunate incident. The DIG in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), DIG Anthony Ogbizi Michael, will henceforth supervise the investigation of the case. In a similar vein, Adamu also ordered the immediate deployment of specialized investigators and additional investigation assets to all the Gender Desks Offices and the Juvenile Welfare Centres (JWC) across the country. This is to strengthen and enhance the capacity of the Units to respond to increasing challenges of sexual assaults and domestic/gender-based violence linked with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other social ills within the country, said a statement by Force Spokesman Frank Mba. Related OTTAWA Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerbergs face is postered across Winnipeg and other Canadian cities, as part of a campaign calling on internet giants to pay royalties to news media. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerbergs face is postered across Winnipeg and other Canadian cities, as part of a campaign calling on internet giants to pay royalties to news media. "Everyone, including Facebook, depends on quality content being produced," said Daniel Bernhard, the head of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a media advocacy group. The group has created a "Wanted" poster with Zuckerbergs face, accusing him of "theft of news content" in a campaign launching today. The posters point to a website calling on Ottawa to follow Australia and France in making Facebook and Google pay a fee for the news content displayed on their platforms. "Its important that we enforce our rules and say, You are selling ads against this content; you should pay for it," Bernhard said. The House finance committee is currently studying the idea, alongside scores of other COVID-19 response measures for various industries. 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. Currently, people who search current-affairs topics or browse social media see the headline of a news report, but also the first sentences, or seconds of a video. Many publishers have opted to put their content on so-called "accelerated mobile pages," in which an entire article appears when clicked on from Facebook or a Google search. That avoids paywalls and many of the ads newsrooms rely on, in exchange for more users seeing content from these media companies much more often than those with full paywalls. The Australian government has asked regulators to implement a structure when the countrys media companies can ask web giants for compensation. Frances competition watchdog is overseeing similar negotiations. Some have called this a "link tax," but Bernhard said the point is to funnel cash to local newsrooms instead of government coffers. He said the pandemic threatens the advertising dollars that prop up credible news outlets. If they closed, Facebook would rely even more on fringe websites for content. "What was previously a really big problem is now a fatal threat, and the casualties have been mounting," Bernhard said. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca On May 28, the third Session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), Chinas top legislature, passed a decision on Hong Kong national security legislation with an overwhelming majority of votes. It is a manifestation to exercise and safeguard national sovereignty at the national level through establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It is also in accordance with international law and international common practices. However, the Western politicians, led by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, try to pick faults in various ways, falsely accusing that Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy would cease to exist due to the move by the Chinese government and threatening to impose so-called sanctions on China. The opposition from Pompeo and his supporters is a deliberate distortion of the "one country, two systems" principle. Even worse, the move has constituted blatant intervention in China's internal affairs. It is a brutal violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations, fully exposing the double standards and robbers logic of the US. Hong Kong belongs to China, Hong Kong affairs are purely Chinas internal affairs, and the US has no right to criticize or interfere. The legislation time, manner, or enactment in HKSAR are entirely the matters within Chinas sovereignty. Pompeo and his supporters jumping to feet and criticizing China for the legislation are markedly not out of fairness. They are confusing right with wrong and echoing with the anti-China rabble-rousers in Hong Kong, just to find excuses for interfering in Chinas internal affairs with the Hong Kong issue. Some Western politicians have deep-rooted Cold War mentality and zero-sum thinking. They could resort to every conceivable means to contain China. Since the turbulence over proposed legislative amendments last June, thugs have arbitrarily blocked roads and set fires, hyped up "Hong Kong independence" and "self-determination", and opposition politicians have collaborated with foreign forces to intervene in Hong Kong affairs, threatening national sovereignty and security and harming Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. Under such circumstances, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress formulated relevant laws in accordance with the Constitution, the Basic Law of the HKASR and relevant decisions, which is bound to promote the HKSAR to better fulfill its responsibilities in safeguarding national security, and conducive to maintaining long-term stability of Hong Kong and the residents well-being. Chinas move is surely not violating the "one country, two systems" principle or depriving the HKSAR of the high degree of autonomy; instead, it is a way to firmly uphold the "one country, two systems" principle and ensure the principle to move in the right direction. However, Pompeo and his supporters have simply ignored these facts and reasonable measures, joyfully thinking that they have found a good opportunity to play the Hong Kong card again. Some devious Western politicians seem to be very sophisticated. Playing Hong Kong card can realize their true intention of curbing China's development by spreading panic and hatred; it can also shift the attention of the outside by slander and buck-passing. At present, the measures taken by the US are not working well in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic at home, and it is trapped in the sluggish economy and social turmoil; on the other hand, the US withdraws from multiple organizations around the world without proper reasons, and interferes in other countries' internal affairs, poorly recognized in international public opinion. In the face of both internal and external pressures, the US seeks to divert peoples attention by blaming others, still a brilliant move in the eyes of some political actuaries. However, whether the foundation or reason is sufficient or good is not a matter of consideration for the US now. Pompeo and his supporters surely know that the governance of the HKSAR by the Chinese government is in accordance with the Chinese Constitution and the Hong Kong Basic Law, instead of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. With Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, the UK's rights and obligations stipulated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration were all completed. The US side has no legal basis or right to invoke the Joint Declaration to make irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs. Nevertheless, the US firmly holds its hegemony and upholds the "double standards" without the bottom line, demonstrating its extreme arbitrariness, extreme irrationality, and extreme shamelessness. The US should have had enough empathy for the national security of other countries because of its huge loss in the September 11 Attacks. What is jaw-dropping is that on the one hand, the US has formulated dozens of laws for its own national security issues, striving to create an impregnable fortress to safeguard its national security; on the other hand, it tries to exploit its domestic laws to stigmatize, demonize and even make threats with sanctions against the proper measures taken by China to plug the national security loophole, with the attempt to break Chinas national security network. In comparison, the US is remarkably selfish and cold-blooded. However, the boomerang effect of "double standards" comes soon. The US politicians once called the citywide riots and illegal marches in Hong Kong "a beautiful sight to behold." Now, the "beautiful sights" take place over a dozen US states, and the US politicians can enjoy this sight from their own windows. I just dont know whether they still have the courage and feeling to sympathize and appreciate it. In response to the noises made by US politicians and their political attempt to play Hong Kong card, China has made solemn representations to the US. China will take all necessary measures to hit back if the US side is bent on harming China's interests. While China does not want to cause trouble, China is not afraid of trouble either. The Chinese government is unswerving in its determination to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, to implement the "one country, two systems" principle, and to oppose any external forces to interfere in Hong Kong affairs. Any attempt to leverage Hong Kong affairs to interfere in China's internal affairs is destined to be delusional! AP Three former Minneapolis police officers charged as accomplices to the killing of George Floyd are set to make their first court appearance on Thursday after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that they face charges of abetting and aiding second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are each charged with one count, considered "unintentional" felonies. They are currently in custody in Hennepin County Jail. Derek Chauvin, who was charged last week by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after he was captured in widely shared footage with his knee on the back of Mr Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day, now also faces charges of second-degree murder, the attorney general announced on Wednesday. He was moved from county jail to custody in a state prison. He is expected to appear in court next week. All officers have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. Their court hearings on Thursday will likely determine bail and future court appearances. Mr Kueng and Mr Lane were the first officers to arrive on the scene on 25 May after responding to reports of a man using a counterfeit $20 bill at Cup Foods, according to charging documents. When they approached Mr Floyd in a nearby car, Mr Lane pointed his gun at him, then pulled Mr Floyd from the car and placed him in handcuffs and into a patrol car. Mr Chauvin and Mr Thao arrived on the scene moments later, and Mr Chauvin pulled Mr Floyd from the car while has still handcuffed, then shoved him to the ground while Mr Kueng held his legs. For several minutes, Mr Chauvin kept his knee into the back of Mr Floyd's neck, while he called out "I can't breathe", "mama" and "please". None of the officers moved from their positions, according to charging documents, even as Mr Kueng checked for a pulse, while Mr Thao, who stood watch over Mr Chauvin, tried to turn away witnesses from the scene. Story continues The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined Mr Floyd's death a homicide. Family attorneys for Mr Floyd said he was killed at the scene. In a statement, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the latest charges are "a meaningful step towards justice" as protests continue across the US demanding justice and an end to police brutality in the wake of Mr Floyd's death. "But must also recognise that the anguish driving protests around the world is about more than one tragic incident," he said. "George Floyd's death is the symptom of a disease. We will not wake up one day and have the disease of systemic racism cured for us. This is on each of us to solve together, and we have hard work ahead." Asked on Wednesday whether he would consider plea deals for the officers, Attorney General Ellison said that "it's simply way too early to begin that conversation". He pointed to the state's historic lack of convictions for police misconduct while urging elected officials and other public figures to continue pushing for criminal justice reform. "Winning a conviction will be hard," he said. "History does show that there are clear challenges here and we are going to be working very hard and relying on each other and our investigative partners and the community to support that endeavour." Mr Ellison said that mass protests and demonstrations are "dramatic and necessary" while "building just institutions is more of a slow grind but equally important". Read more Hundreds set to gather for George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis Three officers charged as accomplices to George Floyd killing Minneapolis police department faces civil rights investigation Minneapolis police left 44 people unconcious using chokeholds, report Mother of George Floyd's daughter calls for justice After a dip in the month of April, Costco Wholesale Corporations COST net sales shot up in the month of May. Notably, the companys growth strategies, better price management, decent membership trends and increasing penetration of e-commerce business supported the performance. Cumulatively, these factors helped this operator of membership warehouses in registering impressive comparable sales run. We note that net sales increased 7.5% to $12.55 billion during the four-week period ended May 31, 2020 from $11.67 billion in the year-ago period. This followed a decline of 1.8% during the month of April as stay-at-home orders, social distancing and some mandatory closures resulted in lower traffic and soft sales at warehouses. Sales in the month of March had risen 11.7%. Costcos comparable sales for the month of May rose 5.4%. This followed a decline of 4.7% in April but an increase of 9.6% in March. The monthly comparable sales reflected an increase of 5.5% and 12% in the United States and Other International locations, respectively, partly offset by 0.9% decline in Canada. Excluding the impacts from change in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, comparable sales for the month under discussion rose 9.7% with 9.2%, 4.9% and 17.9% increase in the United States, Canada and Other International locations, respectively. This Issaquah, WA-based companys e-commerce sales have been showcasing a sharp increase, courtesy of loyal customer base who have been shopping for essentials from home amid the lockdown. E-commerce comparable sales soared 106.2% during the month of May. This follows an increase of 85.7% and 48.3% in the months of April and March, respectively. With the prevailing trend of digital transformation in the sector, retailers are rapidly adopting the omni-channel mantra to provide a seamless shopping experience online and in stores. Costco, which shares space with Walmart WMT, Amazon AMZN and Target TGT, is also following the trend. Costco operates e-commerce sites in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. To drive its online sales, the company launched CostcoGrocery to deliver non-perishable items to buyers homes, and expanded the same-day grocery delivery service in collaboration with Instacart. Recently, it acquired Innovel Solutions, a leading provider of third-party end-to-end logistics solutions. The buyout will boost Costcos e-commerce capabilities and facilitate sales of "big and bulky" items. Story continues To Conclude Costco continues to be one of the dominant warehouse retailers based on the breadth and quality of merchandise offered. In fact, its strategy of selling products at heavily discounted prices has helped it to remain on growth track. Additionally, a differentiated product range enables it to provide an upscale shopping experience for members. Notably, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have rallied approximately 23.7% in a year compared with the industrys growth of 22%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking. Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for stay at home technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early. See the 5 high-tech stocks now>> 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 Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research An inmate at a New York City jail has died after officers pepper sprayed him in his cell. According to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 35-year-old Jamel Floyd barricaded himself inside his cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn at 10am Wednesday, then used a metal object to break the cell-door window. The bureau said Mr Floyd became increasingly disruptive and potentially harmful to himself and others, and that officers responded by using pepper spray to subdue him. Mr Floyd, who had been at the facility since 30 October, was unresponsive after being pepper sprayed and was given medical attention at the scene. When he failed to respond he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death is under investigation. New York congressman Jerry Nadler, who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, called the news of Mr Floyd's death "horrifying". New Yorks detention facilities have faced a crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, with prison physicians calling for non-violent inmates to be released where possible in order to stop the virus spreading through a vulnerable population where social distancing is almost impossible. However, the bureau made clear in its statement that there is no indication Mr Floyds death was related to the virus. With Associated Press EBRD loan of US$ 4 mn to Caspian Beverage Holding and US$ 48,000 grant from GEF Expansion of leading Kazakh beverages producer Caspian Beverage Holding to employ ozone-friendly fridges Consumers in Kazakhstan will enjoy greater variety and wider availability of beverages offered by the popular local producer Caspian Beverage Holding (CBH) following the enlargement of its distribution network with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The sales expansion is expected to result in increased market share in Kazakhstan and improvements in operational efficiency across the company and its subsidiaries. A five-year EBRD loan of up to US$ 4 million will help CBH procure refrigerators which are compliant with the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) using a natural, non-toxic and ozone-friendly hydrocarbon refrigerant also known as R290. The funds will also be used to support CBH working capital needs, including the acquisition of beer kegs and other specialised equipment. The project is supported by the EBRD through its agribusiness and SME development strategies, and included advisory interventions financed by the Government of Kazakhstan and the EBRD Special Shareholders Fund. The introduction of new technology is supported by the Global Environment Facility under the EBRDs Resource Efficiency Transformation Programme (RESET) through a US$ 48,000 grant. They will help reduce annual CO 2 emissions by nearly 620 tonnes and energy consumption by 40 per cent compared to existing units. To date, the EBRD has invested 8.63 billion through 273 projects in the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Support of small businesses is particularly important as the country moves to reform its economy and strengthen its private sector. FILE PHOTO: Giant balloons in the shape of a Chinese military tank and Tank Man are placed at the Liberty Square, ahead of June 4th anniversary of military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, in Taipei TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Taiwan called on China on Wednesday to apologise for the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing, a call dismissed as "nonsense" by China's foreign ministry. Thursday marks 31 years since Chinese troops opened fire to end the student-led unrest in and around the square. Chinese authorities ban any public commemoration of the event on the mainland. The government has never released a full death toll, but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand. The government of democratically-ruled and Chinese-claimed Taiwan, in a statement on the anniversary's eve, said Beijing should face up to the people's expectations for freedom and democracy and begin political reform. China should "reassess the historical facts about the June 4 incident and sincerely apologise", the China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said. "We believe that those currently in power should have the courage to correct mistakes, immediately initiate reforms and return power to the people," it added. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected Taiwan's calls. "The relevant remarks of the Taiwan authorities are totally nonsense. As to the political disturbance in the late 1980s China has drawn a clear conclusion," Zhao told a daily news briefing. "The great achievements after the founding of new China fully demonstrate that the development path chosen by the new China is totally correct and in line with China's national conditions," he added, referring to the period post-1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded. Taiwan tends to use the Tiananmen Square anniversary to criticise China and call for it to face up to what it did, to Beijing's repeated annoyance. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be taken back by force if necessary. On Thursday, activists will mark the Tiananmen anniversary at a series of public events in Taiwan. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Cate Cadell; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) HOLLYWOODJay Myers, aka Daddy JM, appears in the new SeeHimFuck.com offering, Newbie Daddy & His Anaconda, his first-ever professionally-shot scene. 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More than 8,000 private beds in England were bought up by ministers in March at an estimated cost of 2.4million a day, in anticipation of NHS hospitals being overwhelmed by the Covid-19 outbreak. The beds have been under public control for nearly 11 weeks, thought to have cost the taxpayer at least a staggering 150million already, with the figure rising every day. But the health service's intensive care wards were not overrun during the peak of the pandemic and the majority of the private beds went unused. Up to a fifth of routine operations on the NHS were also postponed to make way for a surge in virus patients, resulting in tens of thousands of patients enduring delays to treatment. Private hospitals are now meant to be operating as 'Covid-free hubs' to get back up and running for vulnerable people, including cancer patients. But a senior consultant said today 'very few' of these patients were being referred to the private hospitals, leaving them almost completely empty. It has meant 'tens of thousands' of cancer patients - who need urgent treatment to boost their survival rates - are missing out on vital treatment every month. Private hospitals taken over by NHS at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to fight the coronavirus pandemic are sinfully empty, claim medics. Pictured: The ICU wards at the hastily built Nightingale Hospital have barely been used throughout the crisis Professor Karol Sikora (pictured) is consultant oncologist and professor of medicine, University of Buckingham Medical School The 8,000 beds are said to be costing the NHS 2.4million per day, according to the Mirror. They have been under public control since March 21, which was 10 weeks and 5 days, or simply 75 days, ago. Rough estimates suggest taxpayers have already forked out 180million for the beds. Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham Medical School, told MailOnline: 'Once it became clear the private beds would not be needed for Covid patients, the idea was to use private hospitals as Covid-free zones. But that has only partly materialised. 'Because the NHS is not doing surgeries, thousands of cancers are going undiagnosed. Surgery is needed in some cases to diagnose someone with the disease and get them started on their treatment. 'Because the patients are not being diagnosed, they are not coming through the system. FROM 2.5MILLION BRITS MISSING OUT ON CANCER TESTS TO 1.3MILLION PEOPLE NOT GETTING ROUTINE SURGERY: HOW THE REDUCED NHS SERVICE HAS AFFECTED BRITAIN SURGERIES CANCELLED More than 8million people will be stuck on NHS surgery waiting lists by autumn because treatment delays due to Covid-19, experts fear. Last August there were a record-high 4.41million patients in England on waiting lists for routine operations. But that number is expected to more than double because of a backlog triggered by the Covid-19 crisis, according to the Nuffield Trust. Nigel Edwards, its chief executive, last month told MPs hospitals have only been able to carry out around '15 to 20 per cent' of elective procedures. His claim came on the back of a separate study by health analysts, which predicted 7.2million people would be on waiting lists by autumn. SCRAPPED CANCER TREATMENTS Almost 2.5million patients have missed out on vital cancer tests and treatment because of the pandemic. The NHS faces the shocking backlog of cases as it tries to return to normal and also cope with new victims of the disease. Cancer Research UK says 2.1million patients are awaiting crucial screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer. Another 290,000 have missed out on urgent referrals to confirm or rule out tumours. Advertisement 'We know there should be 30,000 new cancer patients every month - but this month there have been less than 5,000 that have come for treatment. 'It's not that there are less people with cancer, it's that they are not being diagnosed because of a bottleneck in the NHS. 'The whole thing has set us back a year, no other country has struggled this much to open healthcare back up. I don't know what's behind the bottleneck, maybe it's a staffing issue.' Senior clinicians at private hospitals claim hundreds of the country's best doctors have been left 'twiddling their thumbs' during the outbreak putting people's health at risk from other illnesses and postponed operations. It has left private patients with no option but to join huge NHS waiting lists triggered by the pandemic. Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think-tank, said hospitals have only been able to carry out around '15 to 20 per cent' of surgeries, meaning up to 1.3million patients are missing out every month. In one case, a 78-year-old woman with breast cancer was denied surgery at a private clinic by the local NHS manager even though the hospital was empty, according to The Times. The patient was instead referred back to the NHS. Cancer Research says almost 2.5million patients have missed out on vital cancer tests and treatment due to shocking backlogs during the crisis. Medical bodies last night said the biggest threat to the nations health was the lack of healthcare rather than coronavirus itself. FATHER WITH TERMINAL CANCER IS STILL WAITING FOR SURGERY - TWO MONTHS AFTER IT WAS CANCELLED A father with terminal cancer is still waiting for surgery two months after it was cancelled the day before it was due to take place. Glynne Pugh, 68, has bowel cancer and was given 12 months to live last November. He was due to have an operation at St Jamess University Hospital in Leeds on March 23. His family were told the postponement was due to the closure of the operating theatre for coronavirus training. Mr Pughs son Bradley, 32, said at the time: It was just devastating mum and dad were completely in shock and obviously tearful. As a family we understand how much pressure the NHS is under, but we feel that, as dads operation is life or death, the cancer might spread. There is only about six months left, thats the problem. Glynne Pugh, 68, pictured above with his son Brad, has bowel cancer and was given 12 months to live last November. He was due to have an operation at St Jamess University Hospital in Leeds on March 23 His father has survived cancer twice before and his family insist he is strong enough to endure treatment again, but the operation remains vital. There was hope there for the whole family, which was everyone was holding out for, said Bradley, of Stroud, Gloucestershire. Advertisement Richard Packard, chairman of the Federation of Independent Practitioner Organisations, which represents private consultants, told The Times: 'The money being poured into the private sector is a total waste. 'The NHS cannot afford to subsidise private hospitals and nor should it have to. Likewise, the UK simply cannot afford to allow medical and surgical capacity to sit idle whilst pathology and waiting lists build and patients suffer.' One London-based private consultant orthopaedic surgeon said last month there was a 'sinful' and 'shocking' mass of empty private hospitals and empty beds. 'Most of them are gathering dust, with a whole load of doctors twiddling their thumbs. And it's costing the NHS millions.' The surgeon said only 'emergency' and 'time-critical' operations were being allowed at his hospital. A second medic said his hospital was 'fairly empty and under used' while another said he was 'pretty bored'. 'I am unsure if the hospitals are being used in the most efficient way,' he admitted. A fourth doctor said private hospitals in north London were 'largely empty' despite repeated offers to help out with patients from overrun NHS wards. In March it appeared the NHS might need every ventilator and intensive care bed, with some scientists warning that tens of thousands would be dying every day. 'It was the right thing to do at the time as we had to look at what was happening in Italy and Spain and react accordingly,' said one medic. Another doctor added: 'Preparing for an epidemic is a very difficult balance. If you get it right, it's by pure luck.' However, he warned that more people could end up dying early of illnesses like cancer and heart disease: 'At what point does the cost of this 'medical lockdown' to people's health outweigh the benefits?' Some private hospitals are reportedly in talks to extend their NHS contracts that put them under public control - as a safety net in case of a resurgence in Covid admissions. One consultant told The Times this arrangement suited private hospitals because it meant the taxpayer was covering the salaries of senior staff. Private hospitals' ability to make profit will be severely hampered when these deals end. Social distancing measures, a lack of PPE and new cleaning regimes will mean they will have to operate at greatly reduced capacity. BREAST CANCER PATIENT HAD TO STOP TAKING DRUGS TO SUPPRESS HER DISEASE BECAUSE IT WEAKENED HER IMMUNE SYSTEM For three years Joanna Addis has received cutting-edge drugs to keep her breast cancer from growing. But in April the 54-year-old was told her treatment was to be paused for three months. Her treatment a combination of the drugs palbociclib and letrozole was thought to be too dangerous to take during the pandemic because it depresses the immune system. Fears: Joanna Addis lives with her husband Volky in Stockport Mrs Addis, who lives in Stockport with husband Volky, had been taking the treatment since 2017 after surgery failed to control her cancer. I try not to think about what will happen over the next two months, but I do worry about what my scan in June will show, she said. If my disease was to progress, Id feel like I had wasted a treatment option and the time it could have given me. Striking off such a valuable treatment not because of my cancer becoming unresponsive, but because of the risk of the virus, doesnt seem fair. I ended up in hospital soon after I came off palbociclib as pain in my right hip became so severe that I couldnt walk, which felt like too much of a coincidence at the time. Thankfully, no cancer progression was found, but I do really worry what may happen if I need to stay off the treatment for even longer. Everything just feels so out of my control at the moment, which is really difficult. Advertisement Under new Government guidance, any patient who goes to hospital for an operation must isolate at home for two weeks beforehand and take tests upon arrival. NHS England was unable to offer any data on how many private beds were being used but a spokesman said 'tens of thousands of patients' had been treated. They added: 'While the priority for private hospital beds was to provide surge capacity for coronavirus patients should it have been needed, meaning it is a mark of success that some of this has not been needed, with numbers of coronavirus inpatients falling, private hospitals are now increasingly playing their part in bringing NHS services back safely.' Meanwhile, Cancer Research says 2.1million patients are still awaiting crucial screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer due to the backlog in the NHS. Another 290,000 have missed out on urgent referrals to confirm or rule out tumours, and at least 21,600 patients have had lifesaving surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy postponed. Doctors say most private hospitals are still completely empty, others have been carrying out only one operation per day. Some private hospitals are now being used as 'Covid-free' hubs to treat cancer patients and conduct other surgeries on patients vulnerable to the virus. But the Federation of Independent Practitioner Organisations branded this a 'gross under-utilisation' of capacity. Even before the virus took off in the UK in March, cancer waiting times were at their worst since records began in 2010 with understaffed hospitals struggling to cope. This means that patients who have already waited months for a cancer diagnosis or treatment will face a 'bottleneck' in accessing care. The NHS now faces the shocking backlog of cases as it tries to return to normal and also cope with new victims of the disease. Hospitals will be further constrained by strict infection control measures that mean only limited numbers can have CT or MRI scans each day as machines will have to be thoroughly cleaned. Chemotherapy will also be restricted to a few patients at a time due to social-distancing rules. The numbers awaiting cancer treatment are extremely worrying, according to Sarah Woolnough, policy chief at Cancer Research UK. 'UNDERUSED' NIGHTINGALE MAY STAY OPEN FOR 18 MONTHS More patients could soon be treated at the NHS Nightingale Hospital amid frustration from medics that it is being underused. The huge 3,600-bed field hospital, which was built in just nine days at Londons ExCel Centre, has admitted only 40 coronavirus patients. But in a leaked letter, NHS boss Sir David Sloman said the number of intensive care beds in use would be increased to 84 in the next few weeks, plus 14 beds for patients who are recovering from the Covid-19 virus. The hospital may remain open for 18 months to ease pressure on NHS hospitals. Advertisement She added: 'We're going to have this huge backlog to clear. It's a massive backlog of services and treatment to deliver. It's absolutely huge, it's thousands and thousands and thousands.' Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research's chief clinician, said: 'My colleagues and I have seen the devastating impact of this pandemic on both patients and NHS staff. Delays to diagnosis and treatment could mean that some cancers will become inoperable.' The longer a patient waits to be diagnosed and treated for cancer, the greater the likelihood their tumours will spread to other tissues and organs to the extent they become inoperable. Cancer Research's data shows that across the UK, 12,800 patients have missed out on surgery, 6,000 on chemotherapy and another 2,800 on radiotherapy. The figures for surgery are particularly worrying because these procedures would otherwise remove tumours that may now have grown or spread. Many hospitals have delayed chemotherapy, radiotherapy or operations to remove tumours to enable them to cope with a surge in virus cases, as well as to cut cancer patients' risk of becoming infected when they come in. At the same time, patients with worrying symptoms, including lumps on their breasts or frequent urination, which could be a sign of prostate cancer, have been reluctant to make appointments with GPs. Some family doctors have not been sending patients to hospital for certain diagnostic tests as they have also been halted, particularly procedures to detect bowel cancer. Routine screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer has been suspended in most areas over the past two months despite being crucial for detecting early stage tumours. Lynda Thomas of Macmillan Cancer Support said: 'Long before the pandemic hit, cancer waiting times were at their worst. Since the coronavirus outbreak, it is has become even harder for people with cancer to get the care and support they need and their anxieties have multiplied.' Baroness Delyth Morgan of the charity Breast Cancer Now said: 'It's extremely concerning to hear of the major impacts the pandemic continues to have on thousands of people affected by cancer. The outbreak has led to many people's cancer treatment being paused or delayed, an extremely worrying drop in the number of people being referred to see a cancer specialist, thousands of screening appointments being cancelled and some clinical trials being paused.' DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenergo, the leading provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions (FIs), and Chartis Research, the leading provider of research and analysis on the global market for risk technology, have collaborated to create a focused return on investment (ROI) report and model for CLM solutions. The model demonstrates that FIs implementing the Fenergo solution can generate a ROI up to 700% over a four-year implementation period by reducing operating costs, accelerating client onboarding and achieving greater flexibility and regulatory control. Key Findings: Fenergo's CLM delivers an average ROI of 379% over four years Within the first year, financial institutions are seeing a ROI of up to 195%, in using Fenergo's CLM solution Challenger banks saw the highest ROI (704%) while using Fenergo's CLM solution over a four-year implementation period, due to these institutions' agility and modern infrastructures Fenergo's CLM solution provides a ROI of up to 106% for large complex global banks Regional universal retail banks can achieve ROI of up to 289% while private banking and asset management arms of global banks can achieve up to 309% over four years Erik van Gelein Vitringa, Lead Product Owner KYC/Client Acceptance ABN AMRO, said: "Regulatory compliance is still a priority for many financial institutions. By providing a group-wide end-state solution for our client lifecycle management processes, Fenergo helps us to achieve our goals. Obviously, the ability for us to be able to demonstrate compliancy to relevant laws and regulations contributes to cost control at bank level although that is hard to quantify. In addition, from a practical business value perspective, Fenergo is a vital part of our broader KYC framework. Not only are we harmonising processes across the bank, but we are also rationalising our IT landscape, embedding straight-through processing in client onboarding, and increasing operational efficiency in many ways. In that regard, the ROI is evident, and this is just the beginning." CLM solutions enable FIs to obtain a 360 client view, manage new and existing clients and related data, documentation, and regulatory requirements, ensuring full compliance with global and domestic regulatory obligations throughout the entire client lifecycle. ROI in this report was influenced by the structure of the institution, its overall size and operational agility, the number of employees in its CLM business unit and the extent to which it has a modern digital infrastructure. The model focuses on the benefits of the CLM processes rather than the evaded risks. "Consolidating cost metrics across the enterprise and business lines is a major focus for most financial institutions in today's climate. As the industry responds to the impact of the global health crisis, ROI that can be attributed to specific outcomes is crucial to the decision-making processes of any technology implementation," said Leonardo Lanzetta, Head of Data Management & Analytics Group, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc. Manual or semi-manual CLM processes are often undertaken by disparate business lines and technology systems causing many FIs to lack a comprehensive view of internal processes and associated cost structures. This can make calculating the ROI of CLM a major challenge. To address this issue, Fenergo in collaboration with Chartis Research, designed a model to specifically help financial institutions determine the value they can gain from digital CLM solutions. The model was applied to Fenergo's CLM software platform to determine how it can help FIs to increase productivity, accelerate time to revenue and lower costs associated with reducing regulatory risk. "As the COVID-19 impact continues, it's clear that the effectiveness of financial institutions' response will depend on governance and technology. To manage their risk exposure, all FIs need to develop new technology strategies and invest in systems and maintenance," said Sidhartha Dash, Research Director, Chartis Research. "How financial institutions act now could ultimately affect the reputation and resilience of the business in the long-term." The ROI model is based on detailed data sets, including C-suite interviews at nine different financial institution types. The report provides some indicative results, achieved by applying the model to Fenergo's customer base, and gives a high-level view of the potential outcomes and cost impacts. "It has never been more important for financial institutions to have the ability to quickly respond to rapidly changing economic conditions. Manual processes for Anti-money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance are hindering financial institutions in their ability to quickly onboard clients. The digital transformation of CLM is key to achieving the crucial 360-degree client view from front-to-back office connectivity across different business units, allowing for rapid onboarding and faster time to revenue. This research by Chartis offers a strong and compelling business case for implementing a CLM solution in today's challenging business environment," said Marc Murphy, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Fenergo. Fenergo's award winning platform is utilized by over 80 global banks including Danske Bank, ANZ, PNC, National Australia Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Anglo Gulf Trading Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mizuho. To view the full report please click here. Fenergo Fenergo is the leading provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions. Its software digitally transforms and streamlines end-to-end CLM processes - from regulatory onboarding, data integration, client and counterparty data management, client lifecycle reviews and remediation, all the way to client offboarding. Fenergo is recognised for its in-depth financial services and regulatory expertise (from a team of over 30 global regulatory specialists), community-based approach to product development and out-of-the-box rules engine which ensures financial institutions are future-proofed against evolving Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money-Laundering (AML), tax and OTC derivatives-based regulations across 100 jurisdictions. Fenergo recently expanded into new markets including asset and wealth management, private, retail, business and commercial banking and has over 80 global clients. The solution is underpinned by Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation and Machine Learning technologies, using advanced OCR and NLP capabilities to extract information, expedite compliance and improve operational efficiencies. CHARTIS RESEARCH Chartis is internationally recognised as the leading provider of research and advisory covering the $74bn global market for risk IT. Their team of ex-practitioners and research directors are engaged by financial institutions, central banks, technology vendors and consulting firms for strategic decision making, product selection and thought leadership. Established in August 2018, THADI specializes in the production, processing and trading of fruit, cereals, livestock, forestry products and agricultural supplies. The company is running two farms in Cambodia, Snoul in Kratie Province and Daunpenh in Ratanakiri Province,with a total area of nearly 20,000ha. The company is expected to harvest over 300,000 tonnes of fruit of various kinds this year. THADI held a trip for a delegation from the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia and the Khmer-Vietnam Association in Cambodia to visit the two farms on June 2 and 3. Chairman of the Khmer-Vietnam Association in Cambodia Chau Van Chi said that, in addition to accommodation, health care, and vocational training,workers at the farms are provided with schools for their children. This is a good opportunity for many families to change their lives and create a better future for their children, Chi noted. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural production activities at THADI have been maintained in a stable manner, creating stable jobs for the locals. The company has also planned to expand the farming area by 5,000ha and expand stock raising farms, fruit packaging plants, agricultural supplies depots, and mechanic repair workshops in 2020. It is scheduled to recruit more than 8,000 workers in pursuit of its large-scale and sustainable agricultural production in Cambodia. FP Trending Poco is working towards launching a new smartphone in India. A video tweeted by Poco India mentions that the device is expected to come soon. The Xiaomi sub-brand has, however, not revealed the name, date and other details of the upcoming phone. With a dream of serving Indian consumers, @IndiaPOCO was born 2 years ago in Delhi, India. We took ahead the #MakeInIndia initiative by making products and services that are crafted for India. We were, are and will always be #POCOForIndia! the tweet said. With a dream of serving Indian consumers, @IndiaPOCO was born 2 years ago in Delhi, India. We took ahead the #MakeInIndia initiative by making products and services that are crafted for India. We were, are and will always be #POCOForIndia! pic.twitter.com/RfC6Ew0kOj #POCOForIndia (@IndiaPOCO) June 3, 2020 Poco India General Manager C Manmohan tweeted that the phone manufacturer started with the intent of making some amazing products for India. We will pursue this dream of providing the best experience with the help of our fans. Thanks to all our POCO fans and @IndiaPOCO team for bringing out the best. We are #POCOForIndia, he added. The brand is running a new marketing campaign #POCOForIndia on Twitter. This campaign comes at a time when several people in the country are boycotting China-made products due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Poco has recently launched Poco F2 Pro smartphone which is currently available for purchase in the United States and Europe. Poco F2 Pro comes with Snapdragon 865 chipset, pop-up selfie camera, and quad-rear camera setup. It has 5G connectivity. It is expected that the company may now launch Poco F2 Pro in India. Another smartphone that could get launched in India is POCO M2. The phone was recently spotted on the Wi-Fi Alliance and Bluetooth SIG databases with model number M2003J6CI. The Poco M2 Pro will run on MIUI 11 and have Bluetooth 5.0. It will come with dual-band Wi-Fi support and have Android 10. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) renewed calls for a $2,000 per month stimulus check in the wake of economic damage caused by the CCP virus pandemic. The government should be here for the people in a moment of crisis, Harris, a potential running mate for Joe Biden, told The Appeal. People should be able to count on their government to see them and to create a safety net for them, so that these people dont fall into povertyor further into povertyduring the course of this pandemic. Last month, Harrs, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) proposed a bill that would distribute the funds to people. They argued that the $1,200 checks that were sent out by the federal government starting in April, passed under the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, werent enough. Their bill would include $2,000 per month for children as well. Those who make up to $120,000 are eligible. Can you imagine someone saying, You only need to pay rent once ever? Harris said. The reality of life is that people have recurring expenses. Previous proposals in the House also called for sending people the same amount of money. A House Democrat-sponsored bill, the HEROES Act, would give $1,200 for most Americans and children, although top GOP lawmakers have expressed an unwillingness to pass the measure due to what they described as unnecessary additions. The campus of Georgetown University is seen nearly empty as classes were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, DC, May 7, 2020. (Saul loeb/AFP via Getty Images) There have been other proposals floated by other senators, including Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who is seeking to give Americans who return to work $450 extra per week, which would be in addition to the salary they are earning. The move, according to him, would make it more lucrative to return back to work following months of shutdowns to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The point is to have a bonus to go back to work, which helps everybody, helps the worker, helps the small business and helps the taxpayer, Portman told CNBC this week. Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said the next stimulus bill will be the last and likely wont include a monthly stimulus check. McConnell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have both said that its likely another stimulus measure will have to be passed. Unemployment insurance is extremely important, but it is not designed to encourage you to stay home; it is designed to get you through a trough until you can get back to work, McConnell also said. I think you can certainly assume we will not be paying people a bonus for staying home in another bill. And Mnuchin in May said that there is a strong likelihood we will need another bill, but we just have $3 trillion were pumping into the economy. UNCIVIL RIGHTS The death of George Floyd in police custody raises a host of issues that we'll be writing about all this week. Prior days' editorials can be read at timesunion.com. TUESDAY: Violent protest is hijacking the conversation that we must have. WEDNESDAY: Can a hyper-politicized Justice Department defend civil rights? TODAY: Opening police disciplinary records is only one step. FRIDAY: Attacks on the media, rhetorical and physical, impair public understanding. SUNDAY: Where does America go from here? The now-fired Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd, an unarmed, handcuffed black man, had been investigated 17 times by his department's internal affairs unit. We know this because Minnesota law allows citizens to know such information about the police officers who work for them. Had Derek Chauvin been a police officer in New York state, though, we wouldn't know it. Our state Legislature has refused to change a law that protects police misconduct from coming to public light. It's just one of the things that needs to change if this state is to instill a greater sense of accountability and public confidence in law enforcement. Police personnel records are shielded under Section 50-a of the state Civil Rights Law. The aim was to prevent criminal defense lawyers from using police officers' records to impugn their testimony. But over time, judicial interpretations of the 1976 statute have created a nearly blanket shield on police records. Over time, legislators broadened the law to also cover firefighters, corrections officers and other peace officers. Even the original chief sponsor of the 50-a legislation, the late Sen. Frank Padavan, said it was never intended to be applied so broadly. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Now, amid a national uproar over Mr. Floyd's killing, 50-a reform seems to be up for discussion. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that if the Legislature sends him a bill, he'll sign it. That may give him cover if lawmakers bow again to law enforcement pressure, but it's not quite putting his political capital where his mouth his. A strong message from the governor like a program bill of his own would be more convincing and potentially effective. Any change in 50-a needs to cover corrections officers, too. In a justice system that disproportionately imprisons minorities, misconduct behind bars must not be cloaked in secrecy. Prisons where brutality flourishes are not correctional facilities but breeding grounds for recidivism. The state also needs to do what it can to encourage broader use of body cameras, including grants to help departments acquire them. The value of video records in bringing misconduct to light has been well demonstrated. But real change must begin in the hiring and vetting process. The state should take the lead to develop best practices in hiring and training, the latter both initially and throughout an officer's career. Americans are outraged at what they perceive to be the underlying cause of Mr. Floyd's death: institutional racism in law enforcement. Those who hold citizens' freedom and their very lives in their hands every day, as well as the system they work under, need a crystal-clear sense of right and wrong. And when something does go wrong, there should be no more hiding it. In Kandahar, another black day as women, kids die in bombing Iran Press TV Wednesday, 03 June 2020 4:44 PM Nine civilians, including women and children, have been killed in a roadside bomb explosion targeting a small bus in southern Afghanistan. Jamal Nasir Barekzai, spokesman for the Kandahar Police, said five others were also wounded when the bomb tore through the vehicle in Arghistan district of the province on Wednesday. Baheer Ahmad Ahmadi, the provincial governor spokesman, said several victims were women and children. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Barekzai blamed the Taliban militant group. On Tuesday, a blast in a mosque in Kabul's fortified diplomatic district killed two people including a well-known prayer leader. The UN mission in Afghanistan says homemade bombs used by the Taliban to target Afghan security forces have killed at least 10 civilians in the past two days. It has urged the militants to 'stop using these illegal improvised mines.' On Monday, seven civilians in the northern province of Kunduz were killed by a roadside bomb blast that authorities blamed on the Taliban. A bombing by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group also killed a journalist and a technician of a local TV station in the Afghan capital on Saturday. The attacks come in the wake of a three-day ceasefire offered by the Taliban to the Afghan government that ended last Tuesday. Violence has surged despite a deal between the Taliban and the United States in February that paves the way for the withdrawal of all foreign forces by May next year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Korean soldiers patrol along a barbed wire fence Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, on the South Korean island of Ganghwa on April 23, 2020. The sister of North Korea's leader has warned South Korea to stop defectors from sending leaflets into the demilitarized zone separating the countries, saying it may cancel a recent bilateral military agreement if the activity persists. Kim Yo Jong, who serves unofficially as Kim Jong Un's chief of staff, issued the warning in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA on Thursday. She was referring to thousands of "anti-DPRK leaflets" recently dumped along the North's side of the heavily fortified DMZ titled "Defectors from the North". DPRK, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the North's official name. "If such an act of evil intention committed before our eyes is left to take its own course under the pretext of 'freedom of individuals' and 'freedom of expression', the south Korean authorities must face the worst phase shortly," the KCNA statement said. Responding to the North Korean statement, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, called for a halt to the leaflet operations. Sending leaflets increases tensions with North Korea, poses environmental risks and endangers private property, ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key said at a regular briefing. "The government has taken measures to stop leafletting several times," he said. Kim Yo Jong warned of the possible scrapping of the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war as a result of the clandestine leafletting. The military pact reached in 2018 was "hardly of any value", she said. She also warned the North would withdraw from the Kaesong industrial project and shut down the joint liaison office in the North's border city unless Seoul stopped such actions. Kim Yo Jong has been the most visible presence around her brother in the past two years. She serves formally as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Committee. Cabinet has approved Park Agrotech Limited, a Ghanaian company in the agribusiness sector, as the preferred strategic investor for the Komenda Sugar Factory, Mr Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry, announced on Wednesday. He told Parliament, in Accra, that Agrotech was expected to work with STM Projects Limited, an Indian company with extensive experience in the management and operation of Sugar Mills and plantations both in India and other parts of the world. Mr Speaker, following the approval by Cabinet as required by conventional practice, the Transaction Advisors entered into final negotiations with the successful bidder with the view to entering into concession agreement for the operations of the Komenda Sugar Factory, the Trade and Industry Minister said. Mr Kyerematen was responding to a question by Mr Samuel Abdulai Jabanyite, Member of Parliament for Chereponi on behalf of Mr Yusif Suleman, MP for Bole, on the current state of the Komenda Sugar Factory. The Minister said over first three years of the agreement, Agrotech would invest $28 million in capital expenditure and working capital, including paying an annual concession fee of US$3.3 million for a period of 15 years. The Agreement would be effective upon completion of Condition Precedent, which includes the approval of the Agreement by Parliament, adding that the required documentation would be brought to the House in due course. The Minister said during the final negotiations it became necessary for action on the implementation of the project to be delayed until the finalization of the National Sugar Policy, which was intended to provide the strategic policy framework for the implementation of the project. He explained that after series of extensive stakeholders consultations, the National Sugar Policy was finally approved by Cabinet in 2019. Mr Kyerematen also stated that the approval of the Sugar Policy paved the way for the Concessionaire to be formally introduced to the Chiefs and Elders of the Komenda Traditional area in November, 2019. He informed the House that the formal agreement between Park Agrotech Limited and Komenda Sugar Development Company Limited had now been executed. He assured the legislature that as soon as the restrictions on foreign travels arising from the Covid-19 pandemic is lifted and the necessary protocols and approvals have been secured, the technical partners of Park Agrotech would begin a comprehensive programme to bring the sugar factory back to life. I wish to assure this august house that as soon as the restrictions on foreign travels arising from the Covid-19 pandemic is lifted and after all the necessary and relevant protocols and approvals have been secured, the technical partners of Park Agrotech will begin a comprehensive programme action to bring the Komenda sugar factory back to life, he said. 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 Rep. Waters Statement on the Murder of George Floyd Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued a statement on the murder of George Floyd of Minneapolis, MN. George Floyd was an unarmed African American man who died in police custody after Minneapolis police officers forced him to the ground and one officer pinned his knee on George Floyds neck for five minutes. Floyd was recorded on video pleading for help and repeatedly telling the police I cannot breathe to no avail. Her statement follows: George Floyd is yet another unarmed African American man who has been killed at the hands of the police. George Floyds murder is a painful and tragic indication that we have, in fact, entered into an era where some law enforcement officers, white supremacists, and other radical extremists are feeling empowered to target, brutalize, and kill unarmed African Americans with impunity. I extend my sincere condolences to George Floyds family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. As our community reflects on the actions by police officers that led to George Floyds death, we cannot help but be reminded of Eric Garner, another unarmed Black man who, like George Floyd, cried out I cant breathe but was ignored by New York City police offices and died as a result of their negligence and excessive use of force. We think of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson, Breonna Taylor, and countless other African Americans who have been killed at the hands of officers who swore an oath to protect and serve their communities. I am grateful to those who captured video footage of the inhumane and unconscionable treatment that George Floyd was subjected to by law enforcement officers. Just as we have witnessed with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery by armed white vigilantes who were not arrested until video footage was released publicly, were it not for the video footage of George Floyd being pinned to the ground by the knee of a police officer for five minutes, the swift action by the City of Minneapolis to remove the four officers from the police department may not have occurred. ADVERTISEMENT While I am pleased with the firing of the officers involved in this incident, George Floyds death must be properly investigated by an independent counsel, and all who were involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Such injustice at the hands of the police must not be tolerated. Unfortunately, African Americans cannot trust the current U.S. attorney general or the current president of the United States to provide leadership and use the power of their offices to confront the racial bias, targeting, and use of excessive force by police officers across the country. In the absence of leadership from our nations highest office, I will be in contact with the nations leading civil rights organizations and criminal justice reform advocacy groups as we unite and confront this epidemic of violence head on, and with one strong voice. A Japanese student allegedly killed two members of his family in a crossbow rampage and injured at least two others before being arrested on Thursday morning. Police in Takarazuka city in western Japan arrested the college student at the scene of the incident in a residential neighbourhood, according to the local Kobe Shimbun newspaper. The suspect, 23-year-old Hideaki Nozu, is believed to have deliberately shot his mother and grandmother with arrows from a crossbow at their home in Hyogo region, according to Japanese newspaper The Mainichi. Pictured: Police officers in Japan wearing protective face masks stand guard in a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, May 25. Police arrested a 23-year-old college student in Takarazuka city on Thursday after he reportedly shot his mother and grandmother with a crossbow Emergency services were called at around 10.15am to a distress call about 'what appears to be an arrow in the ear of a woman.' Two adult women - in their 70s and 40s - were rushed to a hospital but were confirmed dead, the Shimbun newspaper said, adding that the man reportedly confessed saying: 'I killed several members of my family.' The man was arrested by police on a nearby street, and has been charged with attempted murder, national broadcaster NHK said, adding at least two other people had been injured - a man and a woman who were both being treated in hospital. It said police were alerted when a woman called saying: 'My grandchild shot me with an arrow.' In Japan, violent crime is rare and weapons are tightly controlled, with people required to pass numerous tests to own a firearm. Bows are not illegal, but the ownership of arrows or bolts is also restricted. Pictured: Stock image of a crossbow and crossbow bolts The two who were injured are believed to be his brother and another younger female relative, whose injuries are said to be non-critical. Local police declined to comment on the case. Violent crime is rare in Japan, and weapons are tightly controlled. As of 1958, Japanese law states 'no person shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords,' although restrictions have loosened slightly since. If a Japanese person does want to own a firearm, they must attend an all-day class and pass a written test. They must also achieve at least 95 per cent accuracy during a shooting range test, pass a mental health evaluation, and come out clean in government background checks and interviews with family members. Bows are not illegal, but people are not allowed to hunt wild animals with them in Japan, and the ownership of arrows or bolts is also restricted. A white man in Virginia called the cops to falsely report that he was assaulted, but police say he turned out to be the aggressor and they believe its because the victims are black. Authorities responded to a call from Edward Halstead, 53, in Lake of the Woods, Locust Grove on Tuesday at 7.15pm. But after they 'interviewed several people' they 'determined that the caller was in fact the perpetrator'. 'It appears based on the interviews, that the perpetrator of the crimes did so because of the race of the victims,' the Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. This booking photo provided by Orange County sheriff's office in Virginia shows Edward Halstead. Deputies in Virginia say Halstead assaulted three people because of their race Sheriff Mark Amos confirmed to The Associated Press that the victims are African American. They said the assaults happened in a common area. Police said they wouldn't be commenting further. Halstead was booked into Central Virginia Regional Jail on charges including attempted strangulation and three counts of felonious assault and battery due to the victim's race. One of the charges is listed as a class 6 felony hate crime. It was not immediately clear if Halstead had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. He appeared in court Wednesday and the cases has been continued until Friday morning. It came amid rising racial tensions in the US as African Americans and allies march and protest in many forms for the Black Lives Matter movement. Earlier Tuesday, the sheriff posted a personal statement about the nationwide protests over police mistreatment of African Americans, saying 'the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers is disgusting, and criminal!' Earlier Tuesday, the sheriff posted a personal statement about the nationwide protests over police mistreatment of African Americans Floyd died last Monday at the hands of four police officers. He was being detained on suspicion of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Minneapolis Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes until he expired. He pleaded for his life and repeated said: 'I can't breathe.' 'George Floyds murder is not an action that I would ever tolerate nor are my deputies trained to treat people the way he was treated!' the sheriff wrote Tuesday. 'I took an oath to provide service to everyone, and I will do this to the best of my ability. As your Sheriff, I take responsibility for all my employees, and I will not tolerate any bias within my agency,' said Amos, who is white. 'I will support our citizens in their First Amendment rights to peacefully protest. However, we will not condone or tolerate criminal behavior,' he continued. 'It's important that the community hears that we stand together for equality.' Despite its ride-hailing unit announcing layoffs, Ola Electric Mobility (OEM) plans to hire several senior executives over the next few months. OEM recently recruited Vithal Acharya as its new human resources head, and is looking to hire at least six more senior executives in the following months, according to a report by The Economic Times. "In the current challenging times, the company has not gone in for layoffs or resizing and, in fact, is looking to hire more people across various roles," an executive told the publication. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. The company had said it is a one-time restructuring across its India mobility business, Ola Foods and Ola Financial Services. "We continue to hire for roles across the board at Ola Electric. We are also onboarding over 75 campus hires in the next couple of months from leading business schools and premier technical institutions across India," an OEM spokesperson said. J acob Rees-Mogg quoted former prime minister Margaret Thatcher as he dismissed talk of a Brexit extension, telling MPs: No, no, no. Speaking on Thursday, the Commons leader said the Government remains committed to the UK fully leaving the EU by the end of December. He took inspiration from Baroness Thatchers no, no, no speech, which was delivered in 1990 amid calls for greater central control in Europe. To quote Margaret Thatcher will we have an extension? No, no, no," he said. Asked to confirm the Governments plan, Mr Rees-Mogg said: Ensuring we leave the transition period successfully in full by the end of this year is one of the Governments and, even more importantly, the British peoples highest priorities. An extension to the transition period would be neither in the UKs nor the European Unions interests. Both parties want and need to conclude a deal this year to complete the transition period. An extension to the transition period will bind us into future EU legislation without us having any say in designing it, but still having to foot the bill to payments to the EU budget. We must be able to design our rules, its in our best interests, without the constraints of EU regulation. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove insisted there is ample time for the UK and EU to reach an agreement on trade matters, arguing Germanys forthcoming presidency of the EU will bring the leadership required. Michael Gove has insisted there is "ample time" to reach an agreement / Getty Images Speaking during a separate debate, Mr Gove told MPs: The detailed work that has been undertaken by both sides should not be set aside or diminished. All that is required is political will, imagination and flexibility. I believe certainly with the advent of the German presidency of the European Union on July 1 that we will see the leadership required in order to guarantee that we secure the agreement we need. But SNP home affairs spokeswoman Joanna Cherry urged Mr Gove to swallow his pride and seek an extension to the transition period. She said: The deadline at the end of this month is a very real deadline because after the end of this month it wont be possible to extend under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, and no other plausible route to an extension has been put forward. Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Alistair Carmichael said, despite the Governments public commitments, food produced to a lower standard, like chlorinated chicken, could end up on British supermarket shelves. Brexit briefing: 210 days until the end of the transition period He said: Now in fact we hear that as a consequence of the so-called dual tariff process it is quite possible we will see such products being imported to this country. But Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt said: Trust the people. The British people are full of common sense, they value rights, they value animal welfare. We should trust the consumer on food standards and there are massive opportunities for our farmers for rest-of-world trade. Business and employers group Ibec has warned that the Governments conservative approach to lifting Covid-19 restrictions will prolong the economic downturn. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) meets on Thursday to discuss the road map for reopening the country. The Governments five-stage approach to easing the lockdown will keep many of the restrictions in place until August 10. From Monday, small retail outlets can reopen with a small number of staff provided the retailer can control the number of customers that enter the store. Early signs in other economies are that consumer fear of the virus and ongoing social distancing will play a major role along the path to demand normalisation Gerard Brady, Ibec chief economist People who can work safely while maintaining a two-metre distance from others will be able to return to work. Ibec said in its latest quarterly update that the Government was reopening the economy at a slower pace than in other countries and this would result in a higher rate of unemployment and a larger budget deficit by the end of the year. The length of the lockdown in Ireland, including a more conservative pace to reopening of the economy than our peers, will help determine the scale of the fall in economic activity. If we plan to have a significantly longer lockdown than most developed countries then we cannot, at the same time, plan to run a deficit which is at the lower end of that same group of countries unless we are providing lower relative supports for businesses. 12/ Finally, if a longer lockdown is necessary, it means a bigger deficit or less support. Government can do any 2 of the 3 things on the triangle but it cant do all three. There is no good option here, all that awaits us is trade-offs. We need to find a way of teasing them out. pic.twitter.com/jIE6enPqqC Gerard Brady (@GerardBrady100) June 4, 2020 Ibec chief economist Gerard Brady claimed the country is experiencing the sharpest compression of economic activity in living memory. He said: Whilst many of the collapsing economic figures presented in this report are the result of necessary public health decisions, their impacts on incomes and balance sheets are no less real. The recent road map published by government gives welcome clarity on when sectors may expect to be allowed reopen again, but it is also clear that normal conditions will not return for some time. Contrary to early hopes, the public health and economic crises will not be temporary and will last well into 2021. Early signs in other economies are that consumer fear of the virus and ongoing social distancing will play a major role along the path to demand normalisation. We now have to accept that the impact of living with the virus is likely to last a year or more. Meanwhile, Labour leader Alan Kelly has called for a number of phases to be brought forward to help open up society and the economy. Mr Kelly has also supported calls for the travel restrictions to be lifted by June 29. Speaking outside Leinster House he said: I dont believe that we have to be as rigid as we are. The fact is that you have to move with what were seeing and I honestly believe that the public in many cases are ahead of the politicians on this. If you look at some of the behaviours, by and large the majority of people are behaving in a certain way. I think theyre ahead of the politicians in relation to where they want to go now as a society and I think that means we should bring (the roadmap) forward. I believe there are some aspects in phase four that can be brought to phase three or two, or maybe aspects of phase five that can come to phase four. Irish society has conditioned itself in relation to Covid and how we all behave in relation to cleanliness, in relation to our hygiene, in relation to absolutely all their etiquette, in every way. Thats why people are more confident and possibly getting ahead of everybody else. LAWRENCE, Mass. - For Albert Baraka, the ceremony outside the federal immigration office in Lawrence, Massachusetts, was brief, but life changing. The 20-year-old, who came to the country six years ago as a refugee from Congo, joined nine others Thursday morning to recite the oath of allegiance, the final, ceremonial step to becoming a U.S. citizen. A junior studying business management at Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont, he said hes looking forward to being able to cast his very first ballot this election. In these hard times, its a blessing, Baraka said, standing with his mother, who became a citizen earlier this year, and his younger sister. Voting is the most important thing for me now because I feel like its important to choose wisely in who you want to be your leader, and to speak out on what you believe in. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is charged with overseeing the nations legal immigration system, resumed in-person services in many cities across the country Thursday after closing offices mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The agency conducted naturalization ceremonies in small groups and allowed limited, in-person visits for interviews, biometric intakes and other immigration matters. In Massachusetts, Baraka was among more than 100 people to officially became a U.S. citizen outside the Lawrence office Thursday. But immigrant rights groups say the agency still hasnt come up with an efficient plan to get through the backlog of people already approved to become citizens who had oath ceremonies cancelled in recent months because of the pandemic. More than 100,000 people nationwide are impacted, and thousands of them each day risk running out of time to become an American citizen before the presidential election, according to Boundless Immigration, a Seattle-based tech company that helps immigrants through the citizenship process. Registration deadlines for primary elections are approaching in a number of states this summer, and would-be voters must be citizens when they register or risk facing criminal charges or even deportation, Boundless and immigrant rights groups have said. Xiao Wang, co-founder and CEO of Boundless, said hes skeptical the agencys reopening plan will meaningfully address the backlogs, which he predicts will only grow as the election nears. Just holding naturalization ceremonies that are smaller and socially distanced is missing the broader opportunity to dramatically improve the process, he said. USCIS, which has said it needs $1.2 billion in emergency funding just to avoid insolvency because of pandemic-related economic shutdowns, said reopened field offices are sending out notices to applicants to reschedule their cancelled ceremonies. A key aim of this agency has been and continues to be the timely naturalization of qualified and vetted candidates for American citizenship, any suggestion to the contrary ignores an 11-year high in naturalizations last year and a 12% reduction in pending naturalizations, spokesman Joe Sowers said in a statement Thursday. In Massachusetts, meanwhile, local immigrant rights groups have asked the federal court to intervene. More than 4,000 people in the state have been denied the ability to vote because of the delayed ceremonies, a number that will swell to more than 12,000 if oath ceremonies are not consistently conducted before the fall, Harvard Law Schools Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program and other organizations said in a letter to the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts on Wednesday. The Boston court and USCIS should consider holding virtual ceremonies, or at least waive the oath requirement during the pandemic, said Sameer Ahmed, a clinical instructor with the Harvard Law School program. Coming up with a plan in case a resurgence of COVID-19 cases forces further economic shutdowns is critical to ensure even more aspiring Americans do not have to wait indefinitely in the future, he said. USCIS has said federal law requires people to take their oath publicly and in person and that key parts of the ceremony cant be done virtually, such as collecting permanent resident cards and issuing citizenship certificates. The current plan in Massachusetts calls for USCIS to swear in 80 to 200 new citizens a day, starting with Thursdays small group ceremonies in Lawrence, a predominantly Latino city along the New Hampshire state line, according to Judge Dennis Saylor, chief justice of the Boston federal court. USCISs Boston office will follow suit Monday, he said. Then, around mid-July, when the state enters the next phase of its economic restart, the Boston federal court will hold about four ceremonies each day with up to 25 people in each group, according to Saylor. That should clear the backlog of citizenship cases by at least early August. Every single judge of this court views this as a priority, he said. If I have to stand outside in a parking lot with a bullhorn to get it done, Id do it. But its more complicated than that. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) The Philippine government's "heavy-handed" focus on the battle against illegal drugs and security threats has led to some "serious" human rights violations in the country, according to a new report by the United Nations' Human Rights Office. In a 26-page report released Thursday, the UN agency noted that human rights concerns in the Philippines "have become more acute in recent years," citing the widespread killings of alleged drug suspects. Deaths of several human rights defenders have also been documented in the past few years, including in the first quarter of 2020, when the country started to battle the COVID-19 crisis. While there have been important human rights gains in recent years, particularly in economic and social rights, the underpinning focus on national security threats real and inflated has led to serious human rights violations, reinforced by harmful rhetoric from high-level officials, read the the report, which was mandated by a UN Human Rights Council resolution. "This focus has permeated the implementation of existing laws and policies and the adoption of new measures often at the expense of human rights, due process rights, the rule of law, and accountability," it further noted. The document likewise pointed to other rights concerns including the filing of charges against political opponents, and red-tagging and incitement to violence, among others. It also cited how a "major media network was forced to stop broadcasting after being singled out by the authorities," apparently referring to the controversial shutdown of media giant ABS-CBN. "The response to COVID-19 has seen the same heavy-handed security approach that appears to have been mainstreamed through the ramped-up drug war and counter-insurgency imperatives," the report added. In line with these, the agency called for independent and impartial probes into the alleged human rights violations in the country, adding that the UN High Commissioner "stands ready to assist credible efforts towards accountability." It also urged Philippine officials to continue upholding and protecting the rights of citizens, and asked for a review of policies and legislation in relations to narcotics. Human rights advocates have repeatedly slammed President Rodrigo Duterte's flagship anti-drug campaign, which has led to the death of thousands of suspected users and dealers. Government data shows over 6,000 people have been killed in anti-illegal drug operations since Duterte took office in July 2016. Local and international rights groups, however, say thousands more have died in extrajudicial killings, a claim the government has repeatedly denied. Malacanang has no immediate comment on the UN report. Its release comes on the heels of Congress' passage of the controversial anti-terrorism bill, which seeks to expand the definition of terrorism, and proposes stiffer penalties for those found engaging in such acts. Netizens have voiced out concerns over the hasty passage of the measure, saying the proposed law may be used to target those who express dissent against the government. Officials have earlier assured that citizens have nothing to worry about the bill, as there are several safeguards under the Constitution. Read the full report here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 21:24:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Tougher penalties for discrimination against African Americans is one sure way of protecting the lives of African Americans who have for a long time suffered injustice, a Zambian sociologist said on Thursday in an interview with Xinhua. Maata Mwiya, a lecturer at the University of Zambia in the Department of Sociology noted that while condemning an act of killing an unarmed person is commendable, there is need to make it more punishable to discriminate against others. "It starts with condemning because that is the indication that the act itself is deviant and it is unacceptable behaviour," Mwiya said. He pointed out that historically, there have been some incidences of racism in the United States and that sometimes the system is the one that creates a situation where individuals become criminals. He said this in response to comments on the recent murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died at the hands of a named police officer in Minneapolis in the United States. Protests have since taken place across the U.S. on the back of the killing of Floyd, with demonstrations across the country against systematic racism. Activists, celebrities and members of the public have joined hands to fight back against police brutality, particularly against African Americans. Mwiya has also implored African governments to fight racism by promoting African ingenuity and values. He noted that racism started with colonialism and that to prevent it, Africans across the globe need to be culturally strong and less dependent on the west and emphasized the need for Africans to develop themselves and their communities. "Colonialism taught us to accept Westernization as civilization. But for as long as we continue to accept the Western way of life as civilization and associate Westernization with civilization, we will continue to be looked down on and be discriminated against," he said. Enditem The needless and brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, not unlike the slaughter in My Lai, has forced a reckoning. Like the military during Vietnam, American police departments are in dire need of reform; our leaders and their policing policies have similarly failed us. But it would be an enormous mistake for our society to demonize police officers in the same way we once demonized soldiers. Its the officers themselves who, just as Hugh Thompson Jr. was, will be part of the solution. Soldiers well understand how war crimes committed by members of their own forces place their lives at risk. In late 2004 and early 2005, I served as an infantryman in Nasr Wa Salam, the town surrounding Abu Ghraib prison; this was only months after the media revealed the abuses that had occurred before we arrived there. Every day we left our base, our patrols were met with hard stares and, often, violence. The heightened frequency of I.E.D.s and ambushes aimed at us were fueled by reports of torture that had taken place within the prison. It made our already dangerous jobs more dangerous. We cursed the names of those whose crimes had placed our lives at heightened risk in much the same way I imagine police officers from Los Angeles to New York City are today cursing the name of Derek Chauvin. Both communities and police officers are harmed by police crime. In a Pew Research Center survey published in 2017, 86 percent of officers said that high profile civilian deaths at the hands of the police have made their jobs harder; 93 percent said theyre more concerned for their safety in the wake of these tragedies. Today, as protests nationwide wear on into their second week, these burdens on their mental, physical and emotional health have only multiplied. Despite this, police leadership around the country has resisted reform efforts. In 2014, President Obama formed the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Over the two years of its existence, only 15 of 18,000 police departments across the country signed on to its signature initiative. Over the years, some progress has been made widespread adoption of body cameras, civilian review boards on police misconduct and federal investigation by the Justice Department in egregious cases of police brutality. But none of those reforms have solved the problem nor have they dealt with the disproportionate lethality of police violence against black citizens. Activists around the country organizing for police reform already well know that police crime can devastate civilian lives and their communities. But they should also remember that it harms and endangers police officers who serve those communities in good faith, and that these officers could prove to be staunch and essential allies. While instances of the police around the country using excessive force at protests is hurting this cause, there are also hopeful signs that meaningful alliances are beginning to form. Jake Paul has run into some legal trouble. The YouTuber is facing criminal charges after he was identified in a video of the looting of an Arizona mall amid protests that began in response to the killing of George Floyd over the weekend, PEOPLE has confirmed. Paul, 23, was charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly, a spokesperson for the Scottsdale Police Department told PEOPLE. Both charges are misdemeanors. "Following the riots and looting that occurred on the evening of May 30th 2020 at Scottsdale Fashion Square mall, the Scottsdale Police Department received hundreds of tips and videos identifying social media influencer, Jake Joseph Paul (23), as a participant in the riot," said the spokesperson. "Our investigation has revealed that Paul was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by the police. Paul also unlawfully entered and remained inside of the mall when it was closed. As a result, Paul has been charged with Criminal Trespass and Unlawful Assembly (both misdemeanor charges)." Paul was issued a summons to appear in court next month. A rep for Paul did not immediately return PEOPLE's request for comment. The social media influencer denied taking part in looting in a tweet on Sunday, saying he spent the day "doing our part to peaceful protest." RELATED: Jake Paul Addresses Backlash After Video of Him at Looted Arizona Mall Surfaced amid George Floyd Protest "To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism," he wrote. "For context, we spent the day doing our part to peaceful protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen, which led to us being tear-gassed for filming the events and brutality that were unfolding in Arizona." "We were gassed and forced to keep moving on foot. We filmed everything we saw in an effort to share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we traveled through; we were strictly documenting, not engaging," he continued. Story continues "I do not condone violence, looting, or breaking the law; however, I understand the anger and frustration that led to the destruction we witnessed and while its not the answer, its important that people see it and collectively figure out how to move forward in a healthy way," Paul said. "We are all doing the best we can to be helpful and raise awareness; this is not the time to attack each other, its time to join together and evolve." Paul documented the demonstration on his Instagram Story, claiming that he had been tear-gassed and that his eyes were "bleeding." But he was later identified in a separate video watching looters vandalizing a P.F. Chang's restaurant at the Fashion Square mall. Paul was later seen walking inside the mall as more looting took place. He was not seen causing any damage in the video, however many people on Twitter called him out for being around the raid. To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations: Irina Shayk put her home quarantine on pause for some light exercise with her three-year-old daughter Lea on Wednesday. The 34-year-old Russian model pushed her daughter in a stroller while getting in a stroll in New York City. The two made sure to gets some fresh air before the city's curfew went into effect at 8 p.m. following days of protests following the death of George Floyd. Getting fresh air: Irina Shayk, 34, put her quarantine on hold for a stroll around New York City with her daughter Lea, three, on Wednesday Irina was a picture of spring in her oversize button up plaid shirt in pastel shades of green, blue and pink. She paired the flowing item with a set of cut-off jean shorts that revealed her tanned and toned gams. The 5ft10 beauty wore a slim pair of black sunglasses to block out the light, and she wore her brunette locks back in a low-slung bun to reveal her gold hoop earrings. She completed her ensemble with white trainers and a black handbag that she dropped in her stroller while carrying Lea, who wore a fierce leopard print dress with black socks and red sandals. Bright style: Irina was a vision of spring in her oversize pastel plaid shirt, which she paired with cut-off jeans, white trainers and slim black sunglasses Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Irina didn't bother to wear a mask for her stroll, and she didn't put one on Lea. The CDC doesn't recommend cloth face coverings for children under two, but she's old enough that it shouldn't have been an issue. However, the duo did their best to keep at least six feet from others. Taking a risk: The Russian-born model didn't wear a mask for her outing, and she didn't put one on Lea either, despite CDC recommendations; pictured May 27 in New York City Making it work: Irina has been coparenting with her ex-husband Bradley Cooper, 45. Last week, she spent four hours at his home and the whole family ate a takeout dinner together; shown in November Irina has been coparenting her daughter with her ex-husband Bradley Cooper, 45, since the start of the pandemic. Last week, she spent four hours at his home and appeared to order takeout to eat together as a family. Though she has stayed fairly quiet as protests sprouted up throughout New York, the cover girl revealed her support for those demonstrating when she shared a photo of George Floyd on Sunday. Floyd was killed on May 25 by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis policer officer, when he pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for close to nine minutes, including nearly three minutes after he stopped breathing and became unresponsive. On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded the charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and charged the other three officers at the scene with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. All four were previously fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. He debuted in 1962 with Stern, which he completed while commuting between the Manhattan office where he worked as a magazine editor and his home on Long Island. The books portrait of a troubled family mirrored his own. He had married the model and acting teacher Ginger Howard in 1954 and soon regretted it, although they did not divorce until 1978. (He married Patricia ODonohue five years later). His four children included the writers Josh Alan Friedman and Molly Friedman Stout, the cartoonist Drew Friedman and the Kipp Friedman, a photographer. The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), a regional civil society organization, has lauded Government for extending the closure of the nations borders, as part of measures to contain the COVD-19 pandemic. Mrs Theodora Williams Anti, the Programmes Manager, FOSDA, speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday in Accra, said maintaining the nations border closures was essential because Ghana, which had now recorded over 8,000 COVID-19 confirmed cases was not yet out of the woods. It would be recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on May 31, extended the closure of Ghanas land, air and sea borders to human traffic until further notice. The President also outlined a gradual phased easing on some public gatherings beginning June 5, with a maximum attendance of 100 persons. Mrs Anti said the easing of restrictions by the Government was in line with general international best practices and that globally, nations were easing the COVID-19 restrictions because people must adjust to life with the coronavirus. She said the Government had done quite well in managing the COVID-19 pandemic; stating the step by step approach and the usage of science and data by the Government in handling the situation has boosted the confidence of the people and allayed their fears. Generally, we have all done well; both as a Government and as a people, but there are still issues with compliance with the COVID-19 protocols. Mrs Anti appealed to Government to tread cautiously in the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions so that it does not lead to an escalation of the pandemic. She called for the gradual adjustment of social measures and public health, while regularly assessing risks. She appealed to Ghanaians to take more seriously the World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols and Ghana Health Service Guidelines on combating COVID-19. She also appealed for a better implementation of the Governments COVID-19 stimulus package for Ghanaians, businesses and individuals to ease the COVID-19 burden, because people had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. She said apart from the health sector and the ongoing package for businesses, there was still a lot more to do with easing the COVID-19 burden and that the Government should look at that area strongly. She urged Government to put in place a system that would keep data on individuals, so that in case of an outbreak of a similar pandemic in the near future, the nation would be in a better position to help the vulnerable. 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 Vice Education Minister Park Baeg-beom, second from left, inspects classroom conditions at a private education academy or hagwon, in Gangnam, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji The Ministry of Education is facing a backlash from cram schools over its plan to revise relevant laws to secure the legal grounds for sanctioning them if they violate quarantine rules, according to an association representing private learning institutes, Thursday. The ministry's decision to have cram schools strengthen quarantine comes as the spread of COVID-19 shows no signs of abating in the metropolitan area, while students are returning to classrooms under the government's phased reopening plan for schools. As more and more infections have been reported among students in private cram schools, worries linger over the continued spread of the virus among students who have particularly vulnerable immune systems. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Red Lake Gold Inc. (CSE:RGLD)(FWB:P11) ("Red Lake Gold" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce certain corporate developments. Intent to Spin-Out Alma Gold Inc. The Corporation advises that it has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Alma Gold Inc. ("Alma Gold"), a corporation existing under the laws of British Columbia. Alma Gold has executed an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Chambers Settlement Gold Project in New Brunswick, Canada (the "Chambers Settlement Gold Project") from Avalon Gold Resources Inc., an arm's-length party based in Toronto, Canada. The Chambers Settlement Gold Project has had recent exploration thereon with follow-up work planned by Alma Gold. The terms of the Chambers Settlement Gold Project involve a series of cash payments over a four-year earn-in period, and the granting of a 2% royalty, half of which may be re-purchased by Alma Gold. The Corporation has retained Mercator Geological Services Limited of Halifax, Nova Scotia to ready certain exploration plans, as well as other technical materials expected to be used in conjunction with the corporate plans disclosed herein. Red Lake Gold intends to spin-out shares of Alma Gold to its shareholders at a yet-to-be-determined ratio. It is expected that Alma Gold will conduct a financing in conjunction with an intent to pursue a public listing of Alma Gold. Further information and disclosure documentation, including the applicable record date, shall be forthcoming as available. Fenelon Gold Inc. The Corporation is also pleased to report that it has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Fenelon Gold Inc., for the purposes of advancing its Fenelon North Gold Project, which shares a 50km common property boundary with Wallbridge Mining Company Limited. Through the Fenelon North Gold Project, the Corporation controls a significant amount of mineral tenure exceeding 60,000 acres which includes substantial holdings within the Jeremie Pluton, a structure that has recently seen increased exploration industry focus (see also Red Lake Gold news releases dated June 2, 2020 and February 12, 2020). Additional information on the Fenelon North Gold Project may be found at: https://www.redlakegold.ca/fenelon_north The Corporation further advises that it recently sought certain regulatory relief by way of written application to Quebec's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. Subsequent to that application, and in conjunction with publicly-disclosed province-wide relief granted by the Government of Quebec to claim holders in the province, the Corporation beneficially received certain relief from particular regulatory requirements (the "Fenelon North Gold Project Relief"). The net result of the Fenelon North Gold Project Relief was that the applied for relief portion of the Fenelon North Gold Project received an extended good-standing date through to early 2023. The Corporation expresses its gratitude to the Government of Quebec, under the leadership of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, for Quebec's conscientious and balanced efforts to manage public health and economic vitality. Update on the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project In conjunction with the corporate developments announced herein, Red Lake Gold believes it will be well-positioned to direct resources to the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project as certain COVID-19 restrictions and constraints are lifted in Ontario. Additional information on the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project may be found at: https://www.redlakegold.ca/whirlwind On Behalf of the Board of Directors Ryan Kalt Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Email: info@redlakegold.ca Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical fact constitute "forward-looking information" as that term is defined in National Instrument 51-102 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the intention to pursue a spin-out of shares of Alma Gold to the Corporation's shareholders, a concurrent or subsequent financing, and a public listing of Alma Gold; the Corporation's being in a position to direct resources to the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project as well as other statements that are not statements of historical fact. The material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include the assumption that the conditions precedent to completion of the spin-out of shares of Alma Gold and the public listing thereof (including receipt of all necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals) will be satisfied in a timely manner; all necessary approvals in respect of any concurrent financing will be obtained in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; that the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, although evolving, will stabilize or at least not worsen; that the extent to which COVID-19 may impact the Corporation, including without limitation disruptions to the mobility of Corporation personnel, increased labour and transportation costs, and other related impacts, will not change in a materially adverse manner; and general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual results, performance may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks involved in (i) conditions precedent to the potential spin-out of Alma Gold not being satisfied in a timely manner or incapable of being satisfied at all; (ii) adverse market conditions; (iii) the need for additional financing; COVID-19 risks to personnel health and safety and a slowdown or temporary suspension of operations in geographic locations impacted by an outbreak. The forward-looking statements herein are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of the Corporation on the date the statements are made, and the Corporation does not assume and expressly disclaims, any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Red Lake Gold Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592750/Red-Lake-Gold-Inc-Announces-Intent-to-Spin-Out-Alma-Gold-Inc-to-Shareholders-Provides-Additional-Corporate-Updates The Canadian Press OTTAWA The federal government is being forced to retire one of the Canadian Coast Guards important science vessels, dealing a blow to the countrys ocean research capabilities for at least the next few years. The Canadian Coast Guard announced Wednesday that age had finally caught up to the 59-year-old CCGS Hudson, and the ocean research science vessel is being decommissioned even though a replacement will not be ready until at least 2025. The difficult decision came after one of the ship's m UK to go ahead with 2-week quarantine for new arrivals despite potential impact: home secretary LONDON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- People arriving in Britain by any means, including air and sea, will have to go into self-isolation from next Monday at a designated address for 14 days as a condition of being allowed through frontier posts, Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs Wednesday. Amid criticism from opposition politicians, Patel insisted that the measure was proportionate and was aimed at preventing COVID-19 being brought into Britain from other countries at a time when coronavirus cases in Britain are falling. Patel said the quarantine controls, backed by fines of up to 1,000 pounds (1,260 U.S. dollars) for breaching the rules, would be reviewed at the end of June and regularly afterwards. The rules will not apply to people arriving in England from Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. As to worries that these restrictions would hit the aviation industry, Patel said in her statement to the parliament that the government understands how tough the public health measures to prevent a second wave of coronavirus are for this sector, noting that it will continue to work closely with companies and carriers. "We will tomorrow (Thursday) host a roundtable to work across the travel sector and the broader business sector as well on how we can innovate and move forward together," she said, adding that "a long-term plan" for industry will be formed. As to tourism, she said the government knew these measures will present difficulties for the industry, noting that it has an unprecedented package of support for both employees and businesses. "These measures are backed by the science, supported by the public, and essential to save lives...We will all suffer in the long run if we get this wrong. That's why it's crucial that we introduce these measures now," said the secretary. Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire from main opposition leader Keir Starmer over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another 359 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 39,728, the Department of Health and Social Care said Wednesday. Starmer said this was a critical week in Britain's response to COVID-19 as lockdown measures were eased with many schools reopening. "This is the week, of all weeks, where public trust and confidence in the government needed to be at its highest," Starmer said. The states incarcerated population is on track to drop below 10,000 this month for the first time in nearly 30 years, a milestone accelerated by the global coronavirus pandemic. Still, the drop in overall prison population more than 2,000 people, or 16 percent since March 1 is overwhelmingly the result of fewer prisoners entering the system rather than a sharp rise in releases, a Hearst Connecticut Media analysis shows. The population of white prisoners declined by 19 percent, while the population of black and Hispanic incarcerated people has fallen by 14 percent, the analysis shows. Its not clear why that discrepancy happened. Racial and ethnic minorities make up a majority of the overall prison population. The state Department of Correction has come under pressure to release more inmates nearing the end of their sentences, especially those who are older or medically vulnerable to coronavirus. And the department has called attention to the declining prison population. A press release Tuesday claimed significant increases in discretionary releases, and devoted six paragraphs to the release program, including comments from Commissioner Rollin Cook, who said, The impressive and substantial decrease in our population speaks volumes about the caliber and hard work of our staff, as well as that of our partners in the criminal justice community. The department cited a national report showing Connecticut ranked No. 6 among states reducing their prison populations between the end of December, 2019, and early May of this year. But no mention was made in the release about a massive decline in the number of prisoners entering the system. The department released 1,995 people from its sentenced population between March 1 and June 1, according to an analysis of publicly available data. It appears that an additional 138 that were released in that time period have returned to prison. In the same period a year ago, 1,845 people were released and in the three months prior to March 1, 1,600 people were released. The intake side is where the more dramatic numbers show up. Between March 1 and June 1, just 446 people entered the states sentenced population far fewer than the 1,749 added in the same period a year ago and the 1,550 added to Connecticut prisons in the prior three months. Department Spokeswoman Karen Martucci noted two policies that have had an impact on releases. In early April, the department created an exception to allow people to eligible for release if they had completed at least 40 percent of their sentence. Normally, prisoners must have completed 50 percent of their sentence to be eligible for discretionary release. The department reported a 51 percent increase in March in discretionary releases for people with more than six months remaining in their sentence. Additionally, Martucci said the department prioritized release for people over 50 with preexisting health concerns. Its work on both ends, Martucci said. You have less people coming into the system and more than would typically be released in the back end. First state to halve prison population It is expected that as the state reopens and the court system catches up that the downward trend will slow as more people enter the system. And although the sentenced population has continued to decline, the states pre-trial population began to slowly increase again in the week of May 20, as the state began to reopen Martucci said the department is also nearing the point where the pool of inmates eligible for discretionary release is negligible. The population of sentenced inmates over 60 years old was 521 on March 1, and on June 1, there were 464 inmates over 60 years old a decline of just 57 people, according an analysis of DOC data. The population between 46 and 60 years old declined by 474 people in that same time frame. Mike Lawlor, a professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven, noted that when the state drops below 10,000 incarcerated people, it will reach another important milestone: halving the states prison population from the peak, reached on February 1, 2008 when state prisons housed 19,894 people. That would make Connecticut the first state in the country to reduce its prison population by 50 percent, and regardless of the fact that part of that reduction is due to a global pandemic, its still significant, said Lawlor, a former co-chairman of the General Assemblys judiciary committee who headed criminal justice policy under former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The declines accelerated over the last two years. Nearly every month, the state has taken in fewer people than have entered the system, resulting in a decline in the prison population of roughly 1,000 per year leading up to the coronavirus crisis. Almost all of that drop [in intakes] is in younger people, Lawlor said. This has a lot to do with juvenile justice reforms adopted 10-plus years ago and changing the way we are dealing with young people. Business as usual As COVID-19 has continued to infect communities inside and out of the states prisons, families and inmate-rights advocates have implored the state to release more of the incarcerated population to avoid infection. Organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut have filed lawsuits to that end, asking the state for a plan to protect and release more inmates. None of the suits have been successful thus far, and COVID-19 infection rates have declined. But the calls from activists have not changed despite lower infection rates inside the prisons than anticipated. The system has seen 871 confirmed cases of COVID-19, or 7.5 percent of the average population over the last three months. As of Wednesday, 695 had been medically cleared to return to their original facilities. Seven inmates died of COVID-19-related causes. Melvin Medina, public policy and advocacy director for the ACLU of Connecticut, called the Department of Corrections approach to release with only slight increases over the normal rates of release business as usual, and said that the reduction in intakes is evidence the state could reasonably reduce the entire criminal justice system with little or no negative impact on communities. We dont have a COVID vaccine and COVID-19 isnt going away, Medina said. COVID-19 is likely to remain an ongoing factor that the Department of Correction has inadequately solved to this date. Medina added that the discrepancies in the proportional decline of inmates based on race indicates a lack of planning by the department, and called on the department for further transparency in testing and hospitalizations among inmates. I believe the claim that their community is not at risk is not really based on any information that the public can analyze and verify, Medina said. The Department of Correction, despite its marketing campaign, isnt dong anything different than it normally would do. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt A Nigerian man has narrated how he and others were allegedly extorted by SARS officers who arrested him after getting a haircut. He said the SARS officers were from the Anti Cultism Unit in Gbagada Charlie Boy, Lagos and they picked him up before 8pm on Wednesday June 3. @Dav_Okwulili also alleged that the security operatives arrested people sitting in front of their houses and assaulted those who resisted. The Twitter user who claims he and others were bailed out with N10,000, said there was a lady who has been in the police cell for two days because he refused to sleep with one of the police officers. He tweeted; MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE @PoliceNG SARZ (Anti Cultism Unit) @segalink @YemieFASH Why i am writing this is basically not because of me, but because we have a messed up & unprofessional set of people being employed without proper process and orientation. I left my house around past 6pm yesterday to get plastic buckets with a friend because he just moved into a new apartment around Gbagada. On returning, i branched into a saloon to have my hair cut which was around past 7pm. I was done with my hair by quarter to 8pm then paid and left, i got across the road to take Napep from the salon to where i stay. The next thing, i saw four men in black, boldly written on their shirt Anti Cultism Unit with guns. Then one of them grabbed me from the waist, while he said i should get into the bus, i asked why?he said, they are police that i should get inside. I obeyed and entered (before i start receiving slaps). Then i was searched, which i was having just 4k and my atm card, my phone and its charger. They said i should give them my phone, i refused and said that it was private.that they aint permitted to search it. They asked what do i do, i said i am a Software Developer and i mentioned the company i work with, they requested for my ID Card, i said i just came to cut my hair and i did not come with an ID (which in my head i said f**k up). They said i should not call anybody nor use my phone. Few minutes later, a call from the office came in, cause we have been working remotely, i picked and the phone was dragged from my hand, which i didnt bother dragging cause i cant afford to start fixing Samsung screen. (fast forward) They drove us down to Gbagada Ifako, Yetunde Brown street, to Deeper Life HQ, and to New Garage. Tho while they where driving, they picked more people, even those that where sitting in front of their houses, if you resist, they will use slaps and puncheswhich i was clearly avoiding, they even used tear gas on one. We got to the station (Anti Ciltism Unit, Gbagada Charlie Boy) around quarter to 10pm. We came down from the bus with our hands up, which i so felt humiliated and portrayed as a criminal. They removed our slippers & shoes, took us inside, while they wrote down our names, and went out for second parade. I saw alot of people, both female & male, inwhich more were still being brought in by different units. I over heard some saying they picked them from Ikorodu, OniPanu, Mushin, OshodiBariga & Ketu etc. One of the girls said she has been there for 2days now, cause she didnt agree to sleep with one of the policemen. We were treated as criminals, they took us to the passage of the cell, told us to sit on the floor, while more people were brought in. The odour from the toilet covered the cell, inwhich i had to hold my urine till i couldnt take it anymore. Not to talk of the cell itself, the mosquito were vampires, they ate the living hell out of me, cause there was no light. For a while I couldnt sleep. I woke up more than 20times to find out it was still 3AM. Also everyone was sharing how they got picked. By day break, we were called out by the unit that brought us in. We were taken to the back of the cell to write statement sitting on the floor They gave us our phones to call someone, one by one, it was in the process i took those pictures, inwhich one of them noticed and requested for my phone, but was smart enough to do the needful, so i was unable to capture their faces. To cut this story shot I was finally bailed by both of my friends that have been trying to reach me all through yesterday till today. Note: We were so much that i couldnt count. But an estimate of the money they made: You will bail one person with at least N10,000, nd if you multiply N10,000200 people, we have 2million. Also before you go into the station to see anyone, you will deposit N1,000 at the gate. I can not express this more as everything that happened is still funny to me, cause this is my first time ever, sleeping over in a policestation, combined with how messy this one is. This is just to create awareness of the mess the society is in, cause i believe there are still some people that will spend the next 5 to 7 days in that station. FOSTER CITY, Calif., June 04, 2020, provider of enterprise-grade in-memory computing solutions based on Apache Ignite, today announced it is hosting a live, complimentary webinar entitled "How Digital Integration Hubs Power Digital Transformations on the IBM Z Platform" on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. ET. The webinar will be co-presented by Mythili K. Venkatakrishnan, Distinguished Engineer, IBM, and Nikita Ivanov, Founder and CTO, GridGain Systems. Key industries, including banking, face increasing market pressure to accelerate the digital transformation of infrastructures that rely heavily on the IBM Z platform. Mythili Venkatakrishnan, IBM Distinguished Engineer, will address how these companies can leverage Digital Integration Hubs to achieve flexible information flow between their core transactional systems and hybrid cloud environments and provide added agility for event-based architectures across the enterprise, all while delivering reduced complexity, high throughput and low latency. The webinar will also explain the role of in-memory data grids within Digital Integration Hubs. Nikita Ivanov, Founder and CTO of GridGain Systems, will cover the key features of GridGain for z/OS , such as ANSI-99 SQL and key-value APIs, massively parallel processing, and support for RDMBS, NoSQL, Hadoop, SaaS and streaming data sources. Attendees will learn how Digital Integration Hubs on the Z platform can leverage data from operational, streaming, data warehouse, data lake, and other data sources; the role of in-memory data grids within Digital Integration Hubs; and various ways companies have deployed these solutions to increase customer visibility, drive revenue, and reduce costs. WHAT: Webinar: How Digital Integration Hubs Power Digital Transformations on the IBM Z Platform WHO: Mythili K. Venkatakrishnan, Distinguished Engineer, IBM Nikita Ivanov, Founder and CTO, GridGain Systems WHEN: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. ET WHERE: Register online (https://www.gridgain.com/resources/webinars/digital-integration-hubs-power-digital-transformations-on-ibm-z-platform) Additional Resources To learn more about the GridGain in-memory computing platform: Read the "Introducing the GridGain In-Memory Computing Platform (https://www.gridgain.com/resources/papers/introducing-gridgain-in-memory-computing-platform)" white paper Watch a short video and learn more about GridGain for z/OS (https://www.gridgain.com/products/software/gridgain-zOS) Gain knowledge from the GridGain Developer Portal (https://www.gridgain.com/developer)and GridGain webinars (https://www.gridgain.com/resources/webinars) See how GridGain helps CTOs & CIOs (https://www.gridgain.com/persona/ctoscios), Architects (https://www.gridgain.com/persona/architects), Business Decision Makers (https://www.gridgain.com/persona/business-decision-makers) and Developers (https://www.gridgain.com/persona/developers) Read GridGain customer success stories (https://www.gridgain.com/experience/featured-customers) and industry use cases (https://www.gridgain.com/experience/industries) About GridGain Systems GridGain Systems is revolutionizing real-time data access and processing by offering an in-memory computing platform built on Apache Ignite. Common use cases for the GridGain platform include application acceleration and as a digital integration hub for real-time data access across data sources and applications. GridGain solutions are used by global enterprises in financial services, software, e-commerce, retail, online business services, healthcare, telecom, transportation and other major sectors, with a client list that includes ING, Raymond James, American Express, Societe Generale, Finastra, IHS Markit, ServiceNow, Marketo, RingCentral, American Airlines, Agilent, and UnitedHealthcare. GridGain delivers unprecedented speed, massive scalability, and real-time data access for both legacy and greenfield applications. Deployed on a distributed cluster of commodity servers, GridGain software can reside between the application and data layers. CONTACT: Terry Erisman GridGain Systems terisman@gridgain.com (650) 241-2281 GridGain is a trademark or registered trademark of GridGain Systems, Inc. Apache, Apache Hadoop, Hadoop, Apache Ignite, Ignite, Apache Kafka, Kafka, Apache Spark, and Spark are trademarks of The Apache Software Foundation. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. The Delhi government has constituted a second five-member expert committee to evaluate its preparedness to handle an increase in Covid-19 cases, and suggest measures to augment health infrastructure in the city. The committee is headed by Dr Mahesh Verma who is the vice-chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and former director of Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences. The panel includes Dr Sunil Kumar, medical director of Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, Dr Arun Gupta, president of the Delhi Medical Council, Dr RK Gupta, former president of the Delhi Medical Association, and Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director of Max hospital. Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage A senior government official confirmed that the first committee, formed on March 27 and headed by Dr SK Sarin, director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, continues to function. The two panels will execute separate mandates, the official said. The June 2 order, signed by special health secretary SM Ali, constituting the second committee reads that the panel has to submit a report of its recommendations by Saturday (June 6). We received the orders on Wednesday itself, and the committee has been called to meet on Thursday, said Dr Arun Gupta. The formation of the new panel comes at a crucial time when the Delhi government is deliberating if health services in the city should be limited to its residents, and if the citys borders should remain shut an issue the committee will also consider. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asked residents of the Capital to weigh in on these matters, and the government will decide on the course of action by next week. In the meantime, Delhis borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh remain shut. The moment we open the borders, people from across the country will come to Delhi for treatment. There are about 9,500 beds for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in Delhi; currently, there are only 2,300 patients. The beds will fill up in just two days if patients from across the country come for treatment to Delhi. Should we open the borders? Some say, borders should be opened but the hospitals services should be reserved for those living in Delhi till Covid-19 pandemic, Kejriwal had said in a press briefing on Monday. We have been given the mandate to evaluate the available health infrastructure, and suggest what the government should do next. This will include the question of whether or not to restrict Delhi hospitals services to the citys residents. It is not ethical to deny health services to anyone when beds are vacant. But when they are full and it comes to choosing who gets a bed, how do we decide? The committees members will look at what can be done, said Dr Mahesh Verma. Delhi has been recording around 1,000 cases of Covid-19 everyday for almost a week now. This is the third scenario for which preparedness measures had been suggested by a committee the government had constituted earlier. The Delhi government is in the process of ramping up its bed capacity to around 9,800 by mid-June as per the recommendations of the first committee. The previous committee had been set up in March-end and asked the government to prepare for three scenarios 100 cases a day, 500 cases a day, and 1,000 cases a day. Delhi can expect to start recording around 2,000 cases a day by next week, said an expert following the trends, on condition of anonymity. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Its not really a secret that the lockdown has dealt a major blow to filmmakers, and showbiz in general. Boney Kapoor, too, is no different. In fact, the producer has three films that are stuck in various stages of production Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan, a Telugu film titled Vakeel Saab featuring Pawan Kalyan [the remake of Pink] and Ajith-starrer Tamil actioner, Valimai. While Vakeel Saab is 10-15 shoot days away from completion, Valimai is nearly 50% complete. On the other hand, around a month-long shoot is still left for Maidaans completion. In fact, a few days back, Kapoor and his partners took a call to dismantle the massive set of the film spread over 16-acre before monsoons arrive in Mumbai. Now, the massive set will start to be rebuilt in September, and Kapoor is hopeful that the shoot can commence around November. It goes without saying that it has resulted in a massive loss for the team. Thankfully, however, we had already shot all the indoor and also some outdoor portions of the film [in Lucknow and Kolkata]. But now, we will have to wait for the set to come up again to shoot the Olympic games of Helsinki, Rome, Melbourne and Jakarta Asian games, says Kapoor. Not just Maidaan, the Wanted maker was cruising along with the shoot of his Telugu film, Vakeel Saab along with Valimai when the shutdown came into force. In all likelihood, we would have completed the films by now had there been no lockdown. But what can you do in such an extraordinary situation? Now, we hope to finish work on all the films at the earliest, whenever work re-starts. Sometimes, I feel I must be the only producer, who has three big films from different film industries of the country stuck at various stages, says Kapoor. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON What Do We Want a Post-Pandemic Myanmar to Look Like? Statement from the Executive Publisher on Death and Protest of George Floyd Statement from the Executive Publisher on Death and Protest of George Floyd The brutal murder of George Floyd sickens me just as it has many in our community and throughout this country. Unfortunately, what occurred on the streets of Minneapolis is the fear that every Black man and woman in America has had to live with for decades. Its the fear as parents we have to live with each and every time our children walk out the door. The protest we have seen across this country in the past several days is the overflowing results of a community that has suffered for far too long. But we must be smart, we should not and cannot put our community and our people at risk. We have all been locked up as a result of COVID-19 and we cannot now risk destroying our city or our health by engaging in activities which put our community or our lives in jeopardy. I believe in protest, I believe in Black people having the right to express our outrage but I dont believe in destroying property, in destroying businesses, in destroying our community. Real civil disobedience, real civil rights leaders want no part of rioting of looting just destroying things for the sake of destruction. ADVERTISEMENT Lets be smart, lets be safe and lets keep the faith and please VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!! NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 3, 2020 / David Kollar had a difficult start to his life. He was a young immigrant to Canada, arriving at the age of 7 from his home of Slovakia. He had a difficult childhood and struggled with school and eventually dropped out. However, this did not stop him from trying to achieve his dreams of doing some bigger and creating a business. "I was born in Slovakia and moved to Canada as an immigrant at the age of 7. After working over 20 jobs, getting kicked out of multiple high schools and dropping out of college, I started my journey in fashion at 16 years old. A decade later Kollar Clothing became a household name in North America, selling in over 250+ retailers globally." States David. David did not learn design skills through a normal education pathway. Instead, he relied on the skills that he taught himself over the years. He harnessed the power of the internet to help guide him as well, using sites like YouTube where people were posting their own fashion content to understand his own pathway in design. "I started the company by teaching myself how to design, by asking questions, and by watching YouTube videos. In 2020, Kollar Clothing is a multi-million dollar brand that has been worn by celebrities such as Shawn Mendes, Steph Curry, Chris Delia, Young Thug, Gunna, and Lil Keed to name a few. I am a young entrepreneur who started a business with only an idea and a dream." Explains David. David is different from other designers because his goal is to make quality luxury clothing that lasts. He believes that it is easy to make fast and trendy clothes, but making them last is the difficult part. That is why he strives to do just that. If they aren't trendy and quickly put together, then they cost a fortune. This is something that David also does differently by making his clothes affordable as well. "Everyone makes luxury products at ridiculous price points; some of it is not even good quality. Everyone also makes fast fashion with fair prices that are trendy, but the product falls apart. Kollar is about defining luxury menswear by quality and not by price point. Kollar's goal has always been creating detailed, high-quality products at attainable price points, but keeping it exclusive and letting it sell out and then moving on to the next style. This creates a hype that real fashionistas can buy a product and enjoy the quality, especially during times like these when everyone has lost their jobs." Says David. Story continues As with many other businesses, David has been struggling due to the pandemic. People are less willing to spend money on luxury items because they do not have a lot of money to spare on non-essential items. David and his team are trying to adapt to the situation by making good clothing that can be worn both indoors and outdoors. "Right now the main obstacle we are facing is Covid-19. We are trying to be more creative with how we make products to ensure we're creating products that are comfortable that can be worn at home and when you're outside. Our goal is to continue to sell attainable price points but not be cheap on quality and create too many products that may saturate the brands longevity and branding." Remarks David. David is an excellent rags to riches tale that shows how dedication and hard work can get you far in life. His trial and error process led to him refining his brand and finding the right niche that fit his brand. He started his company with only 500 dollars to his name and is now a multimillionaire. "I really started from the very bottom. Coming to Canada from Slovakia, my mom had to sew in the basement for brands to ensure she could take care of her kids while paying the bills and feeding them. I started the brand with $500 and now it is a multi-million dollar company. I employ a lot of young employees and give them an opportunity to work in fashion. I mostly hire people with passion and a hardworking personality like what I had growing up when creating my brand." David Claims. If you would like to find out more about David, you can follow him on instagram @davidkollar, and you can check out his website at kollarclothing.com. CONTACT: Paula Henderson 202-539-7664 phendersonnews@gmail.com About VIP Media Group: VIP Media Group is a hybrid PR agency. Their diverse client base includes top-class entrepreneurs, public figures, influencers, and celebrities. SOURCE: VIP-Media View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/592651/How-David-Kollar-Started-his-Brand-with-just-500-and-now-it-is-a-Multi-Million-Dollar-Company Revelers celebrate Memorial Day weekend at Osage Beach at the Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., on May 23, 2020. (Lawler50/Twitter via Reuters) No New COVID-19 Cases From Crowds at Lake of the Ozarks: Health Official Scores of people claimed that crowds coming together at the Lake of the Ozarks during Memorial Day weekend would lead to a spike in CCP virus cases, although that hasnt been the case so far, a top health official said. The answer, to our knowledge, is no, said Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, after a reporter asked whether new cases of COVID-19 came from the crowds coming together at the lake. Health officials in Camden County traced the contacts of a Boone County resident who tested positive, but didnt locate any other cases, Williams said. Thats now been a good while ago, 10 days, 11 days, he said. St. Louis County officials asked people who partied at the lake to self-quarantine for 14 days or until they tested negative for COVID-19. County Executive Dr. Sam Page said at the time that people who went to the lake engaged in reckless behavior that endangered countless people. Crowds of people gather at Coconuts Caribbean Beach Bar & Grill in Gravois Mills, Mo., on May 24, 2020. (Shelly Yang/Kansas City Star via AP) But the Camden County Sheriffs Office said the county relies on tourism for economic activity, adding in a statement that it was the right and responsibility of each individual who frequented pools, bars, and other businesses at the lake to assess the risks for themselves. Social distancing is not a crime, and therefore the sheriffs office has no authority to enforce actions in that regard, the office said. Nearly the entire country shut down in March amid the CCP virus pandemic. As states began reopening in April and May, different steps attracted widespread criticism. Crowds gathering at the Lake of the Ozarks was one example. The people there were packed into pools and other areas. Health officials say social distancing, or staying 6 feet or more away from non-household members, is a key part of preventing a resurgence of the CCP virus. This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19. (Niaid-RML via AP/The Canadian Press) Williamss statement came as Missouri officials have been testing more people, but seeing the percent of people testing positive drop. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has dropped by 40 percent over the past month, Republican Gov. Mike Parson said at the same briefing. Our hospitals are not overwhelmed. Our positivity rate continues to decline. People are recovering and we are moving forward, he said. The falling number of hospitalized COVID-19 stems from increased testing, Williams told reporters. As you decrease those new cases on the front endand we think testing helps us do thatthen you decrease the number of people, especially our elderly, who get sick and end up in a hospital, he said. The virus causes severe illness primarily in elderly patients and those with weakened immune systems. The average age of deaths in Missouri attributed to the disease is 77. Many of the deceased lived in nursing homes. As Emory leaders speak out against racist violence, the community will come together Friday, June 5, to unite for an anti-racist world. A university-wide online solidarity vigil is set for 4 p.m. Friday. Earlier in the day, the Emory medicine community will hold White Coats for Black Lives events on the Emory Quadrangle and at six hospitals. Masks and social distancing will be mandatory. All of us are grappling with the violent deaths of Georgia resident Ahmaud Arbery, Minneapolis citizen George Floyd, Kentucky citizen Breonna Taylor, and too many other instances of racism and violence against people of color, Emory President Claire E. Sterk said in a message sent to the Emory community May 30. These senseless acts strike at the heart of Emorys commitment to upholding equity, diversity and inclusion. Now, more than ever, we must stand together against intolerance and racism. Sterk will speak at Fridays online solidarity vigil, which is hosted by the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life along with Campus Life. Other speakers include Carol Henderson, vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer; LaNita Campbell, director of the Office for Racial and Cultural Engagement; the Rev. Greg McGonigle, university chaplain and dean of religious life; and Olivia Johnson, a student in the Laney Graduate School. The event will also include a reading from Jericho Brown, Emorys Winship Distinguished Research Professor in Creative Writing, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Attendees should register to attend and are encouraged to light a candle for those who have died. The Emory community stands for justice in all aspects of our mission, and when confronted with hatred and prejudice, we must speak out, Sterk emphasized in her message. Emory respects the dignity and value of all human beings, and our community will continue to engage in conversations that matter, no matter how difficult the dialogue, so that together, we might seek a more just and equitable world for all. Emory President-elect Gregory L. Fenves, who takes the helm of the university Aug. 1, sent a message to the community June 2 reflecting on the tragedies of the past weeks and the protests in Atlanta and across the nation. The murder of George Floyd, under the knee of a police officer, horrified me as a human being and as an American, Fenves said. Mr. Floyds death, coming in the wake of so many other killings of African American citizens including Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia has unleashed anger and outrage about systemic racism that has not been addressed more than 60 years after the Civil Rights Movement started. We are still fighting the same battles and people have had enough of racist violence, of organized hatred and of longstanding social inequities. But amid the despair, the Emory community has the ability to lead change through education, research, health care and creative expression, but also by leading with your hearts, he continued, noting that he learned from his father that it is our duty to speak up to not be silent so that injustice could be rooted out and overcome. It is my hope, then, that the tragedy of George Floyds murder and those before him will awaken us all to our deepest flaws and help us heal, change and create a better future, together, Fenves said. Interim Provost Jan Love called on the Emory community to remember that education is only one tool, but it is powerful and to note that the universitys motto the wise heart seeks knowledge deliberately combines head and heart. Righteous rage is a healthy immediate emotion in response to the outrageous violence we are witnessing perpetrated against black people, Love said in June 3 message to the Emory community. If you want to be part of meaningful, productive and life-giving change, definitely get mad, but then get busy. We all have work to do. Lets do it together. White Coats for Black Lives The Emory School of Medicine community will gather in seven locations earlier on Friday for White Coats for Black Lives events. Participants will kneel for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in remembrance of George Floyd, as well as countless other victims of racist violence. Our aspirations for a racism-free world seem so very, very far away. For that, we should all be sad, angry, and at the same time energized to do all that we can to serve as forces of change to support each other, regardless of race, and to confront both racism and the racists who would seek to divide and damage, Emory Healthcare CEO Jonathan S. Lewin said in May 30 message. The events take place at 1 p.m. and all are welcome to attend; masks and social distancing will be mandatory. Locations include the following: Tough times for car dealers Britain's battered automotive sector axed 2,000 jobs Thursday after the coronavirus crisis slashed sales of new vehicles. Car showrooms in England reopened this week as the UK government eased COVID-19 lockdown measures that have slammed the brakes on the industry. However, UK car dealership Lookers on Thursday said it would axe about 1,500 jobs and shut 12 showrooms. It came as Aston Martin revealed it would cut 500 jobs as James Bond's favourite carmaker seeks to recover from diving demand and ballooning losses that began long before the virus appeared. Elsewhere on Thursday, data showed that sales of new cars in Britain plunged 89 percent to around only 20,000 vehicles in May. That compared with 184,000 units in the same month of last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Sales are down 51 percent in the first five months of 2020, compared with a year earlier, it added. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the coronavirus had caused an "inevitable yet devastating impact on the market". He added: "This week's reopening of dealerships is a pivotal moment for the entire industry and the thousands of people whose jobs depend on it. "Restarting this market is a crucial first step in driving the recovery of Britain's critical car manufacturers and supply chain, and to supporting the wider economy," said Hawes. At the same time, the UK car industry remains much troubled by Brexit. Nissan on Wednesday warned that a no-deal Brexit would threaten the Japanese carmaker's largest plant in Europe based in Sunderland, northeast England. Britain left the European Union on January 31 but remains under the bloc's rules until the end of the year while both sides try to thrash out terms of a new relationship. Fears are growing however that no new trade deal will be reached in time. Explore further Nissan warns again on no-deal threat to UK car plant 2020 AFP [June 04, 2020] Timber Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Dr. Gianluca Pirozzi and Edward J. Sitar to Board of Directors Decades of experience in drug development and finance to support company advancing novel treatments for rare dermatologic diseases Woodcliff Lake, NJ, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Timber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Timber" or the Company) (NYSE American: TMBR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of treatments for orphan dermatologic diseases, today announced the appointment of Gianluca Pirozzi, M.D., Ph.D. and Edward J. Sitar to its Board of Directors. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Pirozzi and Mr. Sitar to the Board as we continue to advance innovative clinical research evaluating novel treatments for rare dermatologic diseases with limited options, said John Koconis, Chief Executive Officer of Timber. Their experience supporting the success of public and private companies will be invaluable to us as we expand our clinical development programs in the years ahead. Dr. Pirozzi is currently Senior Vice President, Head of Development, Hematology, Nephrology and Translational Services at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Imbria Pharmaceuticals and is a scientific advisor for the Smith Magenis Syndrome Research Foundation. Dr. Pirozzi brings nearly two decades of experience in drug development, previously serving various roles at Sanofi including Head of Development, Rare Diseases. He holds an M.D. from Universita Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and a Ph.D. in immunology from Sapienza Universita di Roma and completed a post-doc in immunology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. I am excited to have the opportunity to elp people living with some of the most serious conditions in medical dermatology, said Dr. Pirozzi. Timber is well positioned to advance innovative clinical research in areas of high unmet need, and I look forward to joining the Board and supporting the team. Mr. Sitar has more than two decades of experience managing finances for companies in healthcare IT and services, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Innovate Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and previously served various roles at CareDox, Inc., Ammon Analytical Laboratory, Cancer Genetics, Inc., Healthagen, ActiveHealth Management, Cadent Holdings, Inc., MIM Corporation (now BioScrip, Inc.), Vital Signs, Inc., Zenith, and Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Sitar holds a B.S. in accounting from the University of Scranton and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in New Jersey. "I am really excited to work with the team at Timber as we build a dermatology company that assists patients whose needs are currently unmet, said Mr. Sitar. The Timber team has unparalleled experience and I look forward to guiding them as we build a financially strong and successful company. About Timber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Timber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of treatments for orphan dermatologic diseases. The company's investigational therapies have proven mechanisms-of-action backed by decades of clinical experience and well-established CMC (chemistry, manufacturing, and control) and safety profiles. Timber is initially focused on developing non-systemic treatments for rare dermatologic diseases including congenital ichthyosis (CI), facial angiofibromas in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), and localized scleroderma. For more information, visit www.timberpharma.com . For more information, contact: Timber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. John Koconis Chief Executive Officer [email protected] Investor Relations: Stephanie Prince PCG Advisory (646) 762-4518 [email protected] Media Relations: Adam Daley Berry & Company Public Relations 212-253-8881 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Wednesday was the seventh night of Black Lives Matter protests that started following the death of George Floyd, who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Fewer protests took place nationwide, but small collections of people stood on street corners in many Oregon cities. Salem - More than 100 protesters held up signs and chanted at passing cars at 3:30 p.m. on Lancaster Drive in front of Willamette Town Center in Salem, according to the Statesman Journal. Protest organizer Maria Oliva, 19, said they wanted to protest on that street because many people drive on that road. The protesters moved tp the town centers parking lot for an open mic at about 5:30 p.m. Hood River - The Hood River News reported that about 150 people lay down in the street, blocking the Exit 63 overpass bridge, as part of a protest honoring Floyd. Hood River Police Chief Neal Holste responded to a 6:30 p.m. call that people were lying in the road and parked his car south of the group to protect them from traffic. Oregon State police troopers parked to the north and cars were directed to another route to avoid hitting the protesters. Monmouth - Photos posted on Twitter on Wednesday showed people gathered at about 5:30 p.m. for a protest at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Main Street. They held up signs, raised their fists and chanted, Black lives matter" at passing cars. Scenes from Monmouth pic.twitter.com/oKW7NAy9Gf E. Garcia Gundersen (@Erik_Gundersen) June 4, 2020 Happy Valley - Thousands of people, many wearing black clothes and carrying signs, met at Clackamas High School at about 6 p.m. for a Black Lives Matter march. The participants marched to Happy Valley City Hall, observed 8 minutes of silence for Floyd and then marched back to the high school, KATU reported. The marchers are now marching back to Clackamas High School. #LiveOnK2 8:19 pm pic.twitter.com/Ou3mnWZPgo Corry Young (@photocorry) June 4, 2020 Sisters - The Nugget Newspaper reported that Justin Veloso of Sisters participated in a single-person protest at the corner of Locust Street and Oregon 20. He held a cardboard sign that said STAND AGAINST RACISM." A sign that read JUSTICE 4 GEORGE FLOYD was taped to the fence behind him. Justin Veloso of Sisters expressed his beliefs in a single-person demonstration at the corner of Locust Street and Highway 20 on Wednesday afternoon, June 3. Photo by Ceili Cornelius Posted by The Nugget Newspaper on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 St. Helens - Hundreds of people protested police brutality by holding up signs for passing cars and marching in the streets. Demonstrators in St. Helens cross Columbia Boulevard chanting "Black Lives Matter" and George Floyd's name. Eder Campuzano/Staff Forest Grove - Videos posted to Twitter showed hundreds of people once again gathered around the big flag on Pacific Avenue. They stood on both sides of the median where the pole is located and held up signs for passing cars to see. They also kneeled and observed a few minutes of silence at 5 p.m. Newport - Videos posted to Snapchat, and eventually featured on the @washcoscanner Twitter page, showed protesters gathered in the streets of Newport to as they listened to speakers, marched, held signs displaying messages such as BLACK LIVES MATTER to passing cars and protested police brutality. At one point, the group led a chant, shouting, Racism sucks! Portland - Protests continued for the seventh night in many areas of Portland. The 6th night of protesting has commenced with a group of over 100 outside the federal court. Posted by The Register-Guard on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 Beaverton - About a half-dozen people stood along Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway about 7 p.m. silently holding protest signs. -- Eder Campuzano contributed to this report. - Madison Smalstig l msmalstig@oregonian.com l @madi_smals l Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories As a teenager, with no clear view of how to achieve that goal, he felt lost. He rebelled, racked up some misdemeanors disorderly conduct, larceny under $50, resisting a public officer and learned what it feels like to see his fate in the hands of a white man in a black robe. We all make mistakes. But its only a certain race, a certain ethnicity, a certain minority that has to bear their mistakes for as long as they live, Hayes says. If you have a record you have no right path, you have no option, you have no other choice but to go down the path that the world has designed for the minority and for the black man. KYODO NEWS - Jun 4, 2020 - 22:24 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that Japan will provide about $300 million to a global organization dedicated to increasing access to vaccinations in developing countries. The financial support to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will be extended for five years from 2021 to make contributions to global public health efforts, Abe said in a video message aired at the nongovermental organization's online meeting hosted by the British government. The Japanese government provided around $95 million to Gavi for the previous five-year period from 2016 to 2020. The upcoming donation of $300 million, including $100 million already pledged in April, is the largest amount Japan has provided to the nongovernmental body to date. Gavi provides vaccines, purchased using funds collected from donor countries, to developing countries at low cost. It also assists countries in purchasing medical supplies for immunization. "By involving the world, (Japan) wants to lead the development and spread of new therapeutic medicines and vaccines," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, said at a press conference in Tokyo. Related coverage: Japan pushes homegrown vaccines for coronavirus to secure supply OPINION: Preparations necessary for global security in coronavirus age Frontline health workers in Japan face discrimination over virus Taiwan called on China to atone for the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on Thursday, as the island marked the anniversary of the day student-led protests were violently crushed by tanks with small vigils of its own. Hundreds of people were killed during the Communist Party's suppression of demonstrations calling for democratic reforms. Open discussion of the incident is forbidden on the Chinese mainland, with censors scrubbing mentions of protests, and dissidents often visited by police in the days leading up to the June 4 anniversary. "Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year," Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said on Twitter. Tsai said Beijing needed to confront the legacy of the incident, just as Taiwan had been forced to reckon with its own authoritarian past before its transition to democracy in the 1990s. "There were once days missing from our calendar, but we've worked to bring them to light. I hope one day China can say the same," she wrote. Hundreds gathered in Taipei on Tuesday for a candlelight vigil to mourn the Tiananmen dead, according to organisers. Some of those in the crowd were Hong Kongers who have relocated to the island following last year's tumultuous pro-democracy protests which were fuelled by years of rising fears that Beijing was stamping out the city's freedoms. - 'Never give up' - "We can freely and safely express our thoughts on June 4 in Taiwan and demand redress," Judith Ng, 47, told AFP, near a banner reading: "Free Hong Kong, revolution of our times". Ng said she moved to Taiwan in December with her teenage son who took parts in protests. "We will never forget June 4 and we will never give up fighting for Hong Kong's democracy," added Edith Chung, another Hong Kong immigrant and organiser of the vigil. Taiwanese have closely followed the unrest in neighbouring Hong Kong. Beijing regards Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. It has proposed a "one country, two systems" model similar to how it runs Hong Kong. But Taiwanese have widely rejected the proposal, a sentiment that has only increased as police crack down on protests in Hong Kong. "I hope the truth about June 4 will be unveiled and I also want to show support for Hong Kong," Taiwanese lawyer Zoe Lee, 24, told AFP after joining the annual Tiananmen vigil for the first time. On Wednesday Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council called on Beijing to offer "sincere apologies" over the Tiananmen crackdown. China's foreign affairs ministry derided the comments, which spokesman Zhao Lijian described as as "complete nonsense" on Wednesday. Tensions between Taipei and Beijing have surged since Tsai was elected in 2016 because her government considers the island to be a de facto independent state rather than an part of China. She has pledged humanitarian assistance for Hong Kongers after Beijing's parliament approved plans outlining a new national security law for the city. Hundreds attended an evening vigil in Taipei In a major turn of events in a war that has killed more than 1,000 civilians, the internationally recognised government in Libya announced on Thursday that it had taken full control of the capital, dealing a significant, though perhaps not yet decisive, defeat to a renegade military commander. It quickly followed the Tripoli-based governments recapturing of the airport, a severe and symbolic blow for Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar and his backers in the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and Russia. On this blessed day and after one year of blatant attacks on Tripoli by militias and their supporters, we bring to you the news of the liberation of Tripoli and its surrounding areas a few hours ago in a huge battle, said Fayez al-Serraj, prime minister of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), following a meeting in Ankara with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Trump administration is undermining laws against sex discrimination in education with new rules that narrow the definition of sexual harassment in public schools and colleges, California and other states charged in a lawsuit Thursday. The rules announced by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for school administrators handling claims of harassment will reverse decades of effort to end the corrosive effects of sexual harassment on equal access to education, lawyers for 17 states and the District of Columbia said in a federal court filing in Washington, D.C. DeVos has argued that standards for harassment cases under President Barack Obamas administration were too broad and unfair to the accused. Too many cases involve students and faculty who have faced investigation and punishment simply for speaking their minds or teaching their classes, she said in November. In 2017, she announced guidelines that would make it harder for accusers to prove their claims and easier to defend against them. A lawsuit by womens rights organizations was dismissed in 2018 by a federal magistrate in San Francisco, who said the guidelines were not legally binding and states that ignored them would not lose federal funds. The new rules, announced last month, are binding and enforceable by forfeiture of billions of dollars in federal education funds. They are due to take effect Aug. 14 far too soon, the states argued in their lawsuit, with campuses closed because of the coronavirus, and virtually no time for consultation or review. One new rule says that unless an accuser is alleging sexual assault, she must show that the alleged harassment is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the (schools) education program. That standard, the states said, requires students to endure repeated and escalating levels of harassment before filing a complaint. Under Obama administration standards, accusers could prove their claims by a preponderance of the evidence, showing they were more likely true than false. The new rules allow, though they do not require, schools to choose a more-demanding standard, clear and convincing evidence. The rules also bar some claims of harassment outside school grounds for example, the states said, at an off-campus apartment where the students lived. Former students will no longer be allowed to file cases, even where the former student left school because of the sexual harassment, the suit said. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Another change, applying only to colleges, will entitle the accused student to enlist an adviser to question the accuser at a hearing. DeVos said cross-examination would make the proceedings fairer, while opponents said it would traumatize and intimidate victims. The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images The suit asks a federal judge to block the new rules. From mocking the #MeToo movement to pushing this backward rule that makes our schools less safe, President Trump wears his disdain for gender equality and safety on his sleeve, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Former President Jerry John Rawlings on Thursday hailed the nations frontline health workers for their efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. I commend all health workers as well as all other frontline workers for proving equal to the task in this defining moment of ours, he said during the 41st Anniversary of the June 4 Revolution in Accra. The event, on the theme: Strengthening the Spirit of Patriotism, Resilience and Integrity in Difficult Times, was marked virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Former President Rawlings said: The health force across the country, some of whom have been infected with the virus in the line of duty, have taught us a sense of purpose, selflessness, commitment, dedication and patriotism. He recounted that early this year the world was struck by a pandemic whose effects eventually affected every facet of human life. He said despite the interventions from state institutions to alleviate the plight of the under-privileged, there was still a lot to be done by all Ghanaians in their very own communities to support those groups of people. Unfortunately we have hurt our own people by institutionalising corruption for far too long; giving a little few the access to amass wealth at the risk of the livelihood of the ordinary citizens who are languishing in poverty and misery, the former President said. The morality and authority of truth is godly and divine and it should always supersede and override the truth of the authority of mortals. He said national monuments, groups, events, institutions and important state assets were labelled after some deserving individuals to inspire and direct subsequent generations on the good path they must emulate. Former President Rawlings said in some instances, it serves as a crucial reminder for historys defining moments. He said in Ghana, these actions that subtly influences Ghanaians were sometimes taken for granted. Former President said surprisingly, some important roads in Accra had been named after undeserving personalities. 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 China long depended on Hong Kong to be everything it was not. The citys freewheeling capitalism and personal freedoms, both absent from the mainland, made it one of the worlds premier financial hubs. Together, they flourished for decades. Hong Kong: China long depended on Hong Kong to be everything it was not. The citys freewheeling capitalism and personal freedoms, both absent from the mainland, made it one of the worlds premier financial hubs. Together, they flourished for decades. Now China is doing what was once unthinkable: Imposing its will on Hong Kong in a way that could permanently damage the former British colony economically and politically. In pushing for a new national security law that many fear will curtail the citys liberties, the Chinese Communist Party is calculating that control and stability outweigh the benefits the city has long provided. Other countries are threatening to retaliate in ways that could leave Hong Kong a shadow of its former self. The United States has vowed to end the special economic treatment it has long granted the territory. Britain has said it could open its doors to three million Hong Kongers, laying the groundwork for a severe brain drain. But Beijing sees its position as strong while the rest of the world is divided and still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. The United States will hurt itself more by coming down hard against Hong Kong, officials believe. Hong Kongs protest movement, at least for the moment, seems demoralised. And when it comes to the global economy, the Communist Party is wagering that the world needs China, with or without Hong Kong. The response of the business community has been muted so far. Even if it protested, business has always come back to China, whether in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown or the British handover of Hong Kong back to China in 1997. There will be some unhappy people for some time, said John L Thornton, a former president of Goldman Sachs who has long-standing ties with Chinas leadership. But the drum rolls, the dogs bark, and the caravan moves on. Thats the political judgment. They have had a fair amount of empirical evidence that the concerns will disappear. On Wednesday, HSBC said Peter Wong, its Asia-Pacific chief, had signed a petition supporting the national security law. Unquestionably, Hong Kong has declined in importance to China as the mainland economy has surged. In 1997, Hong Kongs economic output was nearly one-fifth the mainlands, making it a necessary growth engine for Beijing. Deng Xiaoping, then Chinas top leader, had agreed to allow Hong Kong to keep its business and personal freedoms for decades to come, saying years earlier that there was no other possible solution. Today, Hong Kongs output is less than three percent of the mainlands. While investors still prize Hong Kongs rule of law, low taxes and transparent business environment, they have grown more accustomed to doing business in mainland cities like Shanghai, where the stock market is bigger than Hong Kongs by value. Nevertheless, Washington believes Hong Kong is still too valuable for China to jeopardise. President Donald Trump said last week that he would strip Hong Kong of the special status granted to it by Washington. Depending on what he does, it could subject Hong Kong to the same tariffs and trade restrictions imposed on mainland China. If the United States wants to raise the stakes sharply, it could harness one of its major strengths: Its vital role over the global financial system. China relies heavily on Hong Kongs unlimited access to US dollars, the worlds de facto currency. China tightly limits the amount of its currency that flows past its borders, making the Chinese renminbi less useful in making global payments and loans, striking deals or participating in international finance. About three-quarters of all renminbi payments flow through Hong Kong, according to data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a network that facilitates global financial transactions. US retaliation may be enough to get many businesses to leave. In a survey released on Wednesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, more than one-quarter of companies questioned said they were considering moving elsewhere. Individuals may leave, too. The British government, which says the national security law violates the handover agreement, said it would offer a path to citizenship to nearly three million Hong Kong residents almost half the citys population if China proceeded. This would amount to one of the biggest changes in our visa system in British history, Britains prime minister, Boris Johnson, wrote in an opinion piece in the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, on Wednesday. If it proves necessary, the British government will take this step and take it willingly. Firms that help Hong Kong residents apply for British visas have seen a surge in interest. One firm, British Connections, said 120 people had applied for British travel documents between May 22 and 31 May, up from 67 in the same period last year. Hong Kong residents have also explored other options, including Canada, Australia and Ireland. Those departures could deprive the city of talent and embarrass Beijing to boot, which is perhaps why China reacted furiously to Britains announcement. All Chinese compatriots residing in Hong Kong are Chinese nationals, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for Chinas foreign ministry, said at a news conference, adding that China could take unspecified countermeasures. Chinas response has suggested Beijing is willing to sacrifice Hong Kong to get its way. Other Chinese cities, like Shanghai and Shenzhen, have pledged to make investor-friendly legal and financial changes to fight for Hong Kongs business. The resort island of Hainan has promised to turn itself into a free trade port like Hong Kong. More broadly, China sees the risk as limited. In the face of Trumps threat, for example, China is calculating that he is bluffing. US business interests in Hong Kong are extensive. If the White House takes the more drastic route of limiting Hong Kongs access to US dollars, Chinese banks have other ways to maintain access to the global financial system, said Victor Shih, an expert on the Chinese financial system at the University of California, San Diego. China also holds more than $1 trillion in US Treasury bills, which accounts for more than four percent of the US total debt. While China cannot quickly sell that debt without making major problems for itself, such a move could cause disruptions globally. Chinese officials also believe that Hong Kongs business elite, historically a moderating force on Beijing, has been successfully persuaded or pressed to go along. Many have extensive business holdings in the mainland. We probably need not overinterpret it, Li Ka-shing, Hong Kongs richest man, said of the law in a statement. Some of Hong Kongs biggest investors contend that business will continue as usual. Weijian Shan, a major private equity investor in Hong Kong, recently wrote a memoir detailing recollections of his difficult childhood under the harsh policies of Mao Zedong. In a letter to his clients this week, he expressed little concern about Beijings new security law for Hong Kong. There will not be any change in the rule of law, independent judicial system or freedom of expression, he said. China is also acting at a time of political strength. It has contained the coronavirus within its borders, a feat few other countries have managed. The moment may have emboldened Chinas top leader, Xi Jinping, to take steps that his predecessors dared not. Other rivals have been weakened. Trump is struggling to pass the blame for US missteps in dealing with the outbreak and is increasingly consumed with unrest at home. Other Western democracies, historically allies of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, are preoccupied with their own crises. The United States, with its steady retreat from global leadership under Trump, is in no position to rally them, say supporters of both the protesters and Beijing. We expect foreign condemnation for everything we do basically is their attitude, said Andrew Nathan, a professor of political science at Columbia University. You guys can bark all you want, but you cant bite, so what do we care? Beijings gamble has already yielded gains in one key arena: Suppressing the protests that inspired it to act in the first place. While some protesters have vowed an even more determined fight against the new security push, others acknowledged that the movement was fractured, tired and pessimistic. Peaceful mass protests have been barred by laws aimed at containing the coronavirus. Those who join anyway are arrested en masse by an increasingly aggressive police force. Many of the front-line protesters who clashed, often violently, with police have fled Hong Kong or have been arrested. A few activists have clung to hope that China still needs and wants the worlds approval. If the rest of the world doesnt trust China at all, they would have to gang up against China. Is this a way forward for China and for Xi Jinping? Martin Lee, a prominent veteran democracy supporter, said. We have to persuade them that it is ultimately and eminently in the interest of China that they win the confidence of the rest of the world. It is not clear that Beijing agrees. Lee, 81, who is sometimes called the Father of Democracy in Hong Kong, was arrested in April for his participation in protests last year. Alexandra Stevenson and Vivian Wang c.2020 The New York Times Company Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:34:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SHANGHAI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A charter flight carrying German company executives and their families arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Thursday. The flight from the European nation carrying over 200 passengers was organized by the German Chamber of Commerce in China. It was the first business charter flight carrying foreigners that landed in Shanghai in more than two months, indicating the resumption of foreign-related commercial activities in China after the COVID-19 epidemic has eased. The passengers underwent medical checks before departure and will undergo a 14-day quarantine after arriving in China, according to the chamber. There are more than 5,200 German companies in China, with over one million employees including German nationals. Pan Hua, chief representative of the Hamburg Liaison Office China, told Xinhua that bringing German employees to China on a charter flight can help maintain the stability of global supply chains. Last week, the first business charter flight organized by the chamber arrived in north China's port city of Tianjin. Enditem Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Thu, June 4, 2020 22:06 595 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc36556 2 News Giza-pyramid,travel,destination,coronavirus,COVID-19,lockdown,Instagram,#TakeMeBack Free What destination did you fantasize about to pass the time during the long weeks of lockdown? According to an analysis of Instagram posts with the TakeMeBack hashtag, travelers in quarantine spent a lot of time dreaming of destinations across the globe, most notably in Egypt, but also in Indonesia, Greece, the United States and France. With borders closed and planes grounded, fans of getting away from it all had no other choice but to leaf through old photo albums to fantasize about traveling. On Instagram, many users of the social network posted snaps of their most fondly remembered vacations. An online lender in the United States, CashNetUSA's SavingSpot, has crunched the numbers for 208,362 posts with the hashtag TakeMeBack to see which destinations around the world were the most sorely missed by people during lockdown. Without a shadow of a doubt, mythology and mystery figured large in the minds of armchair travelers lost in a revery of faraway lands. Embarked on trips down memory lane, the first destination for many was the Egyptian pyramids, and in particular the iconic Giza pyramid complex, which accounted for twice as many TakeMeBack hashtags as its nearest rival, the Indonesian island of Bali. Another paradisiacal island was also ranked third on the list, the picturesque Aegean destination of Santorini. Next stop Florida in the United States, where the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, which is also the worlds most visited attraction of its kind, inspired many a nostalgic moment. Last but not least of the top five, the French capitals iconic Eiffel Tower was the focus for romantics who like to say, Well always have Paris. France has also been lauded as a global destination of choice in another recent survey reported by the Daily Mail, which ranked Paris as the worlds second most memorable city after New York and ahead of London. Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, got a N300 million contract for the fencing of Federal Polytechnic Ukana, Akwa ... for the fencing of Federal Polytechnic Ukana, Akwa Ibom, (N200 million), and Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene (N100 million), according to the senate committee on Niger Delta. Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, got a N300 million contractfor the fencing of Federal Polytechnic Ukana, Akwa Ibom, (N200 million), and Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene (N100 million), according to the senate committee on Niger Delta. According to Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman of the committee, Akoabio got the contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). In a letter seen, in 2017 when Akpabio was the senator representing Akwa Ibom north-west, he requested a N500 million contract from the NCDC. Aside the N300 million for fencing, N150 million was for entrepreneurship training on the use of modern farming implements for youths and women of Akwa Ibom north-west senatorial district. Another N50 million was for the renovation of a hostel at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state. All the projects were requested to be put into the NDDC budget at the time, according to Nwaoboshi. Nwaobosho told journalists on Wednesday that the contracts were fully paid for but there was nothing to show for it. Findings show that while there was no physical evidence of implementation of these projects, checks show contracts were awarded and fully paid for, Nwaoboshi said. Such practices have turned the region to sites of abandoned projects. After President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the NDDC from its inception in 2001 to 2019, Akpabio lamented that the commission had become known for abandoned projects as politicians turned it to their ATM. We have also had a lot of political interference, people have not allowed NDDC to work as it ought to, people coming with ideas not to move the region forward but to move their pockets forward. It has always been so I think people were treating the place as an ATM, where you just walk in there to go and pluck money and go away, I dont think they were looking at it as an interventionist agency, he had said. The president has appointed an interim management committee for the commission. However, the senate raised a panel to probe the committee over alleged mismanagement of N40 billion. But Kemebradikumo Pondei, acting managing director of the NDDC, had accused the federal lawmakers of witch-hunt, alleging that they inserted non-existent projects in the budget of the commission. On Tuesday, Akpabio said he would not allow the NDDC to be raped under his watch. He was responding to the allegation of Nwaoboshi, who initially spoke of the N500 million contract but did not release any document. In his response, Akpabio had said the letter eventually released by Nwaoboshi was on recommendations for zonal intervention projects as requested by the leadership of the senate. By William Schwartz | Published on 2020/06/03 With the conclusion of "The World of the Married" last month South Korean dramas are now left with no obvious hitmakers. It's an unusual circumstance for the market in recent months, as "Hospital Playlist" had been preceded by "The World of the Married", which had been preceded by "Itaewon Class", which itself had been preceded by "Crash Landing on You" in terms of major pop culture staples. And only three weeks before "Crash Landing on You" had started, "When the Camellia Blooms" was still airing. Advertisement But even with the big competition gone, ratings for the remaining dramas are stagnant, comparatively even regressing somewhat. "Dinner Mate", for example, now only gets ratings in the 4% range, having exceeded 6% in its opening week. "Born Again" likewise has crashed to 2% from its opening week ratings of 4%, with "Fix You" faring only slightly better with 2.5% ratings from its opener of 5%. Even relatively successful dramas show such signs of drooping, with "Good Casting" going down from 12% to 8% and "The King: Eternal Monarch" slightly rebounding up to 7% last weekend, having achieved even lower ratings than that since its highpoint of 11.6%. The TV Chosun drama "The King Maker: The Change of Destiny" has outperformed its rivals on better networks simply by keeping steady, bumping up to ratings slightly over 4%. Though South Korean dramas appear to be doing poorly overall, some bright spots remain. The low profile tvN drama "My Unfamiliar Family" did quite well in its first week, jumping from 3% to 4% despite a relatively unknown cast. The family drama has a strong modern hook about familial relationships, and is even comparing them to the past through the intriguing story device of the family patriarch temporarily losing his recent memories, and seeing his wife as he did forty years ago. New dramas will also be coming soon, with "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" marking a comeback for Kim Soo-hyun alongside "Encounter" director Park Shin-woo. "The Good Detective" from jTBC is also being marketed as a potential major drama. However, in any event the unpredictability of the current South Korean drama is itself a new normal. Strong concepts wane in execution as all dramas struggle to gain momentum. Written by William Schwartz Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Precipitate Gold Corp. (TSXV: PRG) (the "Company" or "Precipitate") is pleased to announce latest target refinement results for the Copey Hill Gold Zone as derived from an expanded compilation and review of historical geochemical data from the Company's 100% owned Ponton project, located approximately 20 kilometres ("km") due east of the Company's Pueblo Grande project in the Dominican Republic. Final interpretation of the Copey Hill Zone historic surface geochemical sampling data (soil, rock and stream sediment) confirms and enhances the large and strong multi-element geochemical anomaly characterized by elevated concentrations of important epithermal-style elements such as gold, silver, arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium. The accompanying multi-element geochemical figure and grid sampling map illustrate the detailed contours of the anomalies outlined at Copey Hill. Based on currently available data, the Copey Hill anomaly measures up to 1,200 metres by 1,000 metres and remains open to the northeast. At such time as current COVID-19 restrictions allow, the Company expects to commence a follow up program of detailed geochemical sampling and a possible magnetic geophysical survey to test for possible expansion of the zone and further delineate near-term drill targets. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1718/57251_765fa2b3f454091e_003full.jpg To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1718/57251_765fa2b3f454091e_004full.jpg As previously reported by the Company, the Copley Hill Zone hosts the region's strongest multi-element geochemical anomaly, likely reflective of a near surface epithermal gold system. The accompanying multi-element geochemical map clearly demonstrates the consistency of elevated concentrations of multiple epithermal related elements within the zone. Copey Hill has never been drill tested and will be the focus of the Company's drill targeting plans. See the accompanying maps or the Company's website (www.precipitategold.com) for the zone's summary illustrations and also additional Ponton related figures. Copley Hill Epithermal Gold Zone, Major Attributes Early stage rock sampling with gold values up to 4.1 grams per tonne ("g/t") , associated with fine grain silica (+/- pyrite) veins, often with boxwork and cockscomb textures; , associated with fine grain silica (+/- pyrite) veins, often with boxwork and cockscomb textures; Pronounced epithermal gold system characteristics with coincident rock and soil geochemical anomalies, including gold, silver, arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium (and other important epithermal pathfinder elements); with coincident rock and soil geochemical anomalies, including gold, silver, arsenic, mercury, antimony and thallium (and other important epithermal pathfinder elements); Significant size potential with current anomalous zone measuring about 1,200 by 1,000 metres and open to the northeast; Hosted in prospective Los Ranchos Formation volcanics, similar to the host rocks at the Pueblo Viejo Gold Mine located about 35 kilometres to the west; and located about 35 kilometres to the west; and Excellent logistics and road access, with a high power electrical line bisecting the property. Jeffrey Wilson, Precipitate's President and CEO commented, "We're pleased that, in spite of current COVID-19 related restrictions to our planned ground work, we have been able to utilize existing historical data to refine and improve our understanding of the target via desktop analysis. The Copey Hill Epithermal Gold Zone is evolving in the right direction as this final compilation and interpretation of the historic surface geochemical sampling data reinforces our belief that the zone reflects a near surface epithermal gold system. Refining the specific scope and characteristics of these anomalies allows the Company's technical team to effectively formulate plans for follow up exploration. Copey Hill provides the Company and shareholders with a highly prospective gold exploration target with drill-worthy anomalies, in an area of excellent access and logistics. Once the current Covid-19 related restrictions are relaxed, we intend to immediately commence fieldwork, including soil sampling, geological mapping and ground magnetic geophysical surveying to advance the target to a drill stage as promptly as possible." Ponton Property The Ponton Project is located about 20 kilometres east of the Company's Pueblo Grande gold project or 45 kilometres north of Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic. The Project covers 3,250 hectares, has excellent road access, is bisected by a high power electrical line and importantly is underlain by the similar prospective Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary aged Los Ranchos Formation volcanic rocks that host Barrick's Pueblo Viejo Gold-Silver Mine. Work completed by past operators includes both property-wide reconnaissance scale exploration and detailed follow up work on two of the three surface geochemically anomalous zones identified on the Project. The property's three notable exploration zones are (i) Copey Hill, an epithermal gold target, (ii) Majagual Hill, a copper-gold porphyry target (tested in 2017 with five diamond drill holes) and (iii) a broad area of early stage rock and stream sediment anomalies, which require follow up investigation. The Project's historical surface geochemical database includes 2,880 soil, 1,403 rock and 317 stream sediment samples. At the Majagual Hill copper-gold porphyry zone prior work includes surface trenching, 4.7 line-kilometers of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying, and 1,666 metres of diamond drilling (5 holes in 2017). The Ponton Project historical soil, rock, stream sediment and core samples collected by past operators were collected on a wide range of surface or drill hole densities and were submitted to Bureau Veritas (previously Acme Labs) for multi-element ICP-MS analysis, all data is stored in various digital formats and is in the Company's possession. This news release has been reviewed by Michael Moore P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Precipitate Gold Corporation, the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under NI 43-101 standards. About Precipitate Gold: Precipitate Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on exploring and advancing its mineral property interests in the Pueblo Viejo Mining Camp and Tireo Gold Trend of the Dominican Republic. The Company is actively exploring its 100% owned Ponton and Juan de Herrera projects. The Company's Pueblo Grande Project is subject to an Earn-In Agreement with Barrick Gold Corporation, whereby Barrick can earn a 70% interest by incurring US$10M within six years and producing a qualifying Pre-feasibility Study. Precipitate is also actively evaluating additional high-impact property acquisitions with the potential to expand the Company's portfolio and increase shareholder value, in the Dominican Republic and other favourable jurisdictions. Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.precipitategold.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Precipitate Gold Corp., "Jeffrey Wilson" President & CEO For further information, please contact: Tel: 604-558-0335 Toll Free: 855-558-0335 investor@precipitategold.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service 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 may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Precipitate Gold Corp.'s ("Precipitate" or the "Company") current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Company and on assumptions it believes are reasonable. 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 Precipitate to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the exploration concessions may not be granted on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the concessions acquired by the Company may not have attributes similar to those of surrounding properties; delay or failure to receive governmental or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation affecting mining; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Precipitate 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Precipitate does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57251 Bake-off winner Nadiya Hussain has revealed she's experienced more racism in the last five years working on TV than ever before in her life. The TV chef and author, 35, who was born in Luton but now lives in London, took to Instagram and penned: 'Just because you dont experience racism, doesnt mean it doesnt exist, it does! I have experienced more racism in 5 years working in the TV/Food industry than any other time of my life and its time to call it out! Nadiya, one of six children born to Bangladeshi parents, shared the post with her 523,000 followers alongside the hashtag: #CallRacismOut. Nadiya Hussain, 35, has revealed she's experienced more racism in the last five years since finding fame and working on TV than ever before. Pictured, on This Morning in London on 7 December 2017 In a heartfelt post, Nadiya penned: 'Just because you dont experience racism, doesnt mean it doesnt exist, it does!' (pictured) Her comments come following the death of George Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis, which has since resulted in over a week of protests around the globe for equality. A white police officer had pinned him down with his knee on Floyd's head for nearly nine minutes while arresting him. Donald Trump has called Floyd's death a 'tragedy' but sparked further anger by threatening to send in US troops to quell the riots. A pantheon of celebrities including Kylie Jenner, Madonna and Taylor Swift were among 28million people who used the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday in a show of solidarity after Floyd's death. I have been trying to find the happy side to everything, Nadiya (pictured above during Bake Off) said, but sometimes I find that draining in itself' Nadiya shared the post with her 523,000 followers alongside the hashtag: #CallRacismOut (pictured) In January 2018, Nadiya posted a passionate response defending herself against anti-Muslim comments on Twitter. The television star said she felt like a 'punching bag' and was constantly having to 'take one for the team' after being attacked on the social media site. In a string of emotive tweets, the British-born mother-of-three revealed her frustration at being told to 'go back' to 'Muslim countries', saying: 'Im getting fed up of being told to go home! For the millionth time, I AM HOME!' She also implored her followers to realise that racism still exists, saying 'The world hasn't changed that much'. And speaking on Desert Island Discs in August 2016, she said: Ive had things thrown at me and been pushed and jabbed. It sounds really silly because I feel that its just become a part of my life now. I expect it. I absolutely expect to be shoved or pushed or verbally abused because it happens. Its been happening for years. BAME people may face a higher risk of dying from the coronavirus because they are more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency, scientists claim. The pandemic is seeing higher rates of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds dying if they catch the coronavirus. The reasons are still unknown and will likely be numerous and complicated. But some experts think a lack of vitamin D may play a role. People with darker skin need to spend more time in sunlight in order to get the same amount of vitamin D as a person with lighter skin. For this reason, the NHS suggests people with an African, African-Caribbean or south Asian background could benefit from take a daily supplement throughout the year. Vitamin D may have a protective effect against severe coronavirus by regulating the immune system, and deficiencies of it have been linked to other respiratory viruses. However, the largest study to investigate the link between BAME, Covid-19 and vitamin D in a UK population found no proof. Data in the Public Health England report showed that the mortality rate - the number of people dying with the coronavirus out of each 100,000 people - was considerably higher for black men than other group. The risk for black women, people of Asian ethnicity, and mixed race people was also higher than for white people of either sex. The report warned the rate for the 'Other' category was 'likely to be an overestimate' William Henley, a professor of medical statistics at University of Exeter, told MailOnline the link is worth exploring. He said: 'Preliminary research suggests vitamin D levels may also impact on the risk of people suffering from severe COVID-19 infections. 'In the UK and northern European latitudes, vitamin D deficiency is a public health concern because ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation is of insufficient intensity for vitamin D synthesis during winter months. 'This is a particular concern for people with dark skin, such as those of African, African-Caribbean or south Asian origin, who will need to spend longer in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D as someone with lighter skin.' The NHS says: 'If you have dark skin for example you have an African, African-Caribbean or south Asian background you may also not get enough vitamin D from sunlight.' Everyone over the age of one should get at least 10 micrograms of vitamin D per day, the NHS says - it can be found in oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, in red meat and in egg yolks. Short periods of time in the sun around midday can also be enough to get the daily recommended amount - although it is not clear how long this takes. Studies have found that levels of vitamin D deficiency among dark-skinned ethnic groups in Europe can be more than three times as high as they are in white people. WHY ELSE MIGHT BAME PEOPLE BE AT HIGHER RISK OF DYING WITH COVID-19? Scientists are still investigating the reasons that black, Asian and minority ethnic people are more likely to die with the coronavirus. Some of the prevailing theories so far are that they are more likely to live in high-risk areas - such as densely-populated cities - and are more likely to have illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure which individually increase the risk of dying. Research presented to Number 10's SAGE panel found there was no greater risk of death for Brits of BAME backgrounds when all factors were taken into account, suggesting that 'comorbidities' - long-term health problems - appeared to account for higher rates of hospitalisation and intensive care among ethnic minority people. After highlighting the importance of the 'patient characteristics' in the chance of someone needing intensive care, the report said: 'BAME groups are younger and more likely to have diabetes.' A study published by researchers at University College London in December last year found that ethnic minority people in the UK have higher rates of type 2 diabetes. Dr Tra My Pham and colleagues found that, using data from more than 400,000 patients in Britain, type 2 diabetes was 2.3 times more common in people of Asian ethnicity than in white people, 65 per cent higher among black people, and 17 per cent higher in those of mixed race. The virus has also been seen to hit city centres harder - particularly in London and Birmingham. Both have seen higher rates of infection and also more deaths than smaller or more rural areas. Cities have higher proportions of non-white residents, raising the risk of BAME people catching the virus in the first place. Greater numbers of people in one group catching the virus will inevitably lead to more deaths in that group. And non-white people are also statistically more likely to live in poverty, which raises their risk of having worse general health - something that can make them more likely to die if they catch Covid-19. Advertisement Government data has shown people from BAME groups are more likely to die from Covid-19 than those who are white. A report published by Public Health England this week revealed that black people with Covid-19 have died at a rate more than double that of white people. Black women died at a rate of 119 per 100,000 and men 257 per 100,000, while white women's death rate was 36 per 100,000 and white men's 70 per 100,000. For people of Asian ethnicity the rate of death from Covid-19 in England has been 78 per 100,000 for women and 163 per 100,000 for men. Professor Henley said: 'This can be partly explained because people from ethnic minorities suffer from a number of social and economic disadvantages. 'However, some of the increased risk suffered by ethnic minority groups cannot be explained by known factors and vitamin D may play a role in explaining this increased susceptibility. 'There is an urgent need for more research to explore whether vitamin D plays a causal role in protecting against severe COVID-19 infections. 'We dont have definitive answers on this yet. But it could potentially be an explanatory factor [for BAME risk].' A lack of vitamin D has been linked to susceptibility to pick up viral infections and has previously been correlated to underlying health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, which are known risk factors for COVID-19. Researchers at the University of East Anglia recently published a study which found a link between low vitamin D levels and high infection and death rates. In some hot countries, including Italy and Spain, intake of the vitamin is low and the virus is rife, despite an abundance of sunshine. Researchers say this is partly because residents in southern Europe have darker skin pigmentation, which reduces the body's ability to produce natural vitamin D. The highest average levels of vitamin D are found in northern Europe, where there is higher consumption of cod liver oil and vitamin D supplements, the researchers say. One researcher suggested the pandemic could be curbed by addressing vitamin D deficiencies in European countries where there are more darker skinned people. Writing in the British Medical Journal in April, researcher Robert Brown, of the McCarrison Society in Jersey, said: 'Northerly resident; Europeans with darker skins; BAME, and African Americans; as well as more southerly elderly Spanish and Italians; are often vitamin D deficient. 'IF, vitamin D deficiency, increases the risk of COVID-19 related; infection, hospitalisation and mortality; one would expect, and indeed sees, higher COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality, in; dark-skinned northerly residents.' Vitamin D helps boost the immune system's innate response. But it also reigns it in when necessary. Therefore a deficiency could exacerbate an exaggerated immune response. A common issue for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 is their immune system responds aggressively as it tries to defeat the invading pathogen. This can lead to an enormous immune response and trigger a dangerous 'cytokine storm', which can lead to respiratory failure and multi-organ failure. It plays a major role in the death in many COVID-19 patients and has become a focus for where to target treatment. The largest study to properly investigate whether vitamin D deficiency had a part to play in BAME Covid-19 deaths found no evidence this was the case. Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at University of Glasgow, led the research which studied levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in 449 people's blood. This was a measure of deficiency. They found that there appeared to be a link between deficiency and the likelihood of having severe Covid-19 but this disappeared when other factors, such as linked illnesses, were taken into account. The researchers concluded: 'Our findings do not support a potential link between vitamin D concentrations and risk of COVID-19 infection, nor that vitamin D concentration may explain ethnic differences in COVID-19 infection.' Professor Sattar had previously slammed the 'overstretched findings' of a study which said vitamin D deficiency was a risk factor for Covid-19 death in men. Researchers in Brussels Free University compared vitamin D levels in almost 200 COVID-19 patients with more than 2,000 healthy people. Men who were hospitalised with the infection were significantly more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency than healthy men of the same age. Deficiency rates were 67 per cent in the COVID-19 patient group, and 49 per cent in the control group. The same was not found for women. Professor Sattar said: 'I must say the vitamin D paper is potentially critically flawed. This is because blood vitamin D levels go down when people develop serious illness. 'This means that it is likely the occurrence of illness that is leading to lower blood vitamin D levels in this study, and not that low vitamin D levels are causing COVID-19. 'Hence, I think the authors have massively overstretched their conclusions.' Carolyn Greig, professor of musculoskeletal ageing and health, University of Birmingham, said: 'At present there is still insufficient evidence for vitamin D as a treatment for COVID-19.' Tui said Boeing would provide compensation for a significant portion of the financial impact of the grounding of the 737 Max Tour operator Tui has struck a deal with aircraft maker Boeing for compensation over the 737 Max plane, netting a cash bonus to fight the impact of the pandemic. The travel specialist said Boeing would provide it with compensation for a significant portion of the financial impact of the grounding of the plane, which had hit its earnings over the last year. Boeing will also give it credits for future orders, and agreed that Tui will get fewer 737 Max aircraft over the next few years. Deliveries are expected to be delayed by about two years, reducing Tui's expenditure at a time when cash is tight. The exact details of the companies' settlement have been kept confidential. Tui said in May it expected to axe 8,000 jobs and shed 30 per cent of its costs after the coronavirus halted holidays, bringing it to a standstill. The company said the agreement with Boeing would help it shrink its airline businesses, which it is doing amid predictions the travel market will take several years to recover from the pandemic. All 737 Max craft were grounded in March 2019 after two crashes killed 346 people. OAKLAND, Calif. For the last few months, some people who bought a new smartphone in Europe with Googles Android software were presented with an extra option while setting up the device: choosing a search engine other than Google. This so-called choice menu started appearing on new smartphones and tablet computers running Google software after March, part of an effort by the internet giant to address a 2018 ruling from European authorities that the company had abused its dominance in smartphone software to unfairly give an advantage to its search engine. The move to provide users with an easy choice in search has now caught the attention of the Justice Department lawyers who are preparing to bring antitrust charges against the internet giant as early as this summer, according to an executive who has interacted with antitrust investigators. A case would be one of the biggest monopoly actions taken by the United States in decades, and department officials are looking at whether what Google has done for its European customers could make sense for customers in the United States. Over the last year, the Justice Department and state attorneys general have been investigating the companys business practices around web search and online advertising technology. Google controls about 90 percent of web searches globally and it captures about one-third of every dollar spent on online advertising. By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 02, 2020 | 02:37 PM | MURRAY Murray State officials say Lisa Robin Sanford's facility, Sacred Break Throughs, offers a variety of mental health services for Mayfield, Hickory, Paducah, and Benton. She is offering individual sessions, group sessions, couple's therapy, and online sessions. Sanford has worked at Recovery Works in Mayfield since April of 2018 as an inpatient substance abuse counselor. She is also an active member of the American Counseling Association, Indian Education Foundation, Women in Wellbriety, and the National Alliance in Mental Illness, and was recently awarded a registry into the Marquis Who's Who in America registry for her professional contributions in counseling and mental health advocacy and other personal achievements. She says her own recovery over the years has formed her approach to therapy, which includes her strong belief in human resilience, the ability to overcome obstacles, and empathy toward others and themselves. In her practice, Maple Street Counseling Center LLC, Lisa Frost has specialized in assisting clients with anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, and coping with trauma. She works under the clinical supervision of Dr. Justin Brogan. She obtained additional education in addition and substance use disorders, as well as trauma-informed care, anger management, and domestic violence practices. She is a member of the Kentucky Counseling Association, and the American Counseling Association, she was also the 2017 recipient of a KCA scholarship. Frost completed her internship and practicum at the Murray State University Counseling and Assessment Center, and University Counseling Services, as well as Four Rivers Behavioral Health. She has been employed by the Massac County Mental Health Center as an outpatient substance abuse coordinator with Recovery Works as their inpatient substance abuse counselor. Two Murray State alumnae have opened their own mental health facilities in western Kentucky. The Gavi international group raises money to fund immunisation programmes through to 2025 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Governments, companies and individuals around the world have pledged $8.8bn for a global vaccines alliance to help immunisation programmes stalled by the coronavirus pandemic and support the development and distribution of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The virtual meeting on Thursday beat a funding target of $7.4bn for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to provide vaccines at a reduced cost to 300 million children worldwide over the next five years, the international group said. More than 50 countries took part, as well as individuals such as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation pledged $1.6bn. Together, we rise to fulfil the greatest shared endeavour of our lifetimes the triumph of humanity over disease, said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit. Today we make the choice to unite, to forge a path of global cooperation. As scientists around the world race to develop and test a coronavirus vaccine, Gavi and partners also launched a new financing drive to buy potential COVID-19 vaccines, scale up production and support delivery to developing nations. A vaccine must be seen as a global public good a peoples vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message. There needed to be global solidarity to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access. US donates $1.6bn The pandemic has exposed new ruptures in international cooperation, notably with President Donald Trumps recent decision to terminate the United States relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). However, Washington pledged $1.16bn to Gavi, and Trump sent a recorded message to the conference, telling delegates: As the coronavirus has shown, there are no borders. It doesnt discriminate. Its mean, its nasty. But we can all take care of it together we will work hard. We will work strong. Gates, co-founder of tech giant Microsoft, earlier said pharmaceutical companies had been working together to try to secure the required production capacity. 200604123114587 Its been amazing, the pharmaceutical companies stepping up to say yes, even if our vaccine is not the best, we will make our factories available, he told BBC radio. Last month, the WHO, the UN childrens agency UNICEF and Gavi warned that vaccine services were disrupted in nearly 70 countries, affecting some 80 million children below the age of one. Measles is still a global killer, said Annie Sparrow, assistant professor of population health science and policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, citing outbreaks in countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the US and other parts of North America as well as in Cambodia, Ukraine and Italy. This is not the last pandemic and we need to make everyone a little bit stronger and more resilient because putting all of our money into the COVID vaccine doesnt prepare us for the next pandemic or the one after that, she told Al Jazeera. We have to be very smart about this and look at vulnerable populations. Polio eradication drives were suspended in dozens of countries, while measles vaccination campaigns were also put on hold in 27 countries, according to UNICEF. We cannot exchange one deadly outbreak for another. We cannot afford to lose decades of health gains that everyone has worked so hard to achieve, Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, said. We need joint, concerted efforts to put vaccination back on track and there are many ways we can do this. Guterres urged the conference to commit to finding safe ways to continue delivering vaccinations, even as COVID-19 spreads. Recent Gavi-supported modelling from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated that for every coronavirus death prevented by halting vaccination campaigns in Africa, up to 140 people could die from vaccine-preventable diseases. More children in more countries are now protected against more diseases than at any point in history, said Seth Berkley, the chief executive of Gavi. However, these historic advances in global health are now at risk of unravelling as COVID-19 causes unprecedented disruption to vaccine programmes worldwide, he said. We face the very real prospect of a global resurgence of diseases like measles, polio and yellow fever, which would put us all at risk. - Naomi Campbell recently turned 50 years old - The superstar model, who looks as stunning as ever, had a beautiful message for all her supporters and friends - Naomi has been a staple of the global fashion industry for well over three decades Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Naomi Campbell, who's always had love for South Africa and Africa as a whole, recently turned half a century old. The beauty shared a touching birthday message with her followers, thanking everyone who's been there for her. Naomi made special mention of her mother. READ ALSO: Nana Akomea: STC boss celebrates pretty wife's b'day with ravishing photos of her In the image, the model was decked out in a lace white dress and surrounded by a multitude of different-coloured roses. She wrote, "I'm so thankful to have amazing people in my life and grateful for all 50 of my years on this beautiful planet. I honestly did not think I would get here. My journey, so far, has been extremely colourful. (I am) always reminding myself I am a work in process, growing and learning every day. And Mum, thank you for giving me life and life lessons." Naomi's most iconic fashion moments include her rocking Vivienne Westwood in 1991, strutting her stuff in Gianni Versace Couture in 1995 and walking the Victoria's Secret runway in 2005. Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the The Managing Director of the State Transport Company (STC), Nana Akomea, has celebrated his beautiful wife, Eno Akua Awuah-Kyerematen, as she turned a new age. With a heartfelt message, Akomea eulogised his young wife along with her stunning images to mark her birthday. The former Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) rightfully acknowledged that birthdays are massive milestones for many which ought to be celebrated in grand style. Ghanaian female accounting graduate and mushroom farmer recounts her experience | #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 AXIS Re Hires Bobby Kwan as Property Senior Underwriter AXIS Re, the reinsurance business segment of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited ("AXIS Capital") (NYSE:AXS), today announced the hiring of Bobby Kwan as Senior Underwriter for Property Lines, effective August 17, 2020. In this role, Mr. Kwan will work in tandem with the Asia Pacific Property Team to manage AXIS Re's Property book of business in the region. He will be based in Singapore and will report to Les Loh, President APAC, AXIS Re. "Bobby is a strong addition to the AXIS Re team, bringing with him vast underwriting and management experience, a robust network and technical knowledge of the Asia Pacific region," says Mr. Loh. "I look forward to seeing him drive and develop our Cat and Property portfolios in the market." Mr. Kwan has more than 30 years of underwriting and management experience, including a recent 10-year tenure at PartnerRe and a 20-year tenure at AXA Re/Paris Re, prior to its 2010 acquisition by PartnerR. About AXIS Capital AXIS Capital, through its operating subsidiaries, is a global provider of specialty lines insurance and treaty reinsurance with shareholders' equity at March 31, 2020 of $4.8 billion and locations in Bermuda, the United States, Europe, Singapore, Canada and the Middle East. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A+" ("Strong") by Standard & Poor's and "A" ("Excellent") by A.M. Best. For more information about AXIS Capital, visit our website at www.axiscapital.com. Follow AXIS Capital on LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005585/en/ WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Highly energetic, hot electrons have the potential to help solar panels more efficiently harvest light energy. But scientists havent been able to measure the energies of those electrons, limiting their use. Researchers at Purdue University and the University of Michigan built a way to analyze those energies. There have been many theoretical models of hot electrons but no direct experiments or measurements of what they look like, said Vladimir Vlad Shalaev (shal-AYV), Purdue Universitys Bob and Anne Burnett Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who led the Purdue team in this collaborative work. In a paper published in the journal Science on Thursday (June 4), the researchers demonstrated how a technique using a scanning tunneling microscope integrated with lasers and other optical components reveals the energy distribution of hot electrons. Measuring energy distribution means quantifying how many electrons are available at a certain amount of energy. That crucial piece of information was lacking for expanding the use of hot electrons, said Harsha Reddy, a Ph.D. student in Purdues School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and an equally contributing lead author on this paper. Hot electrons are typically generated through shining a certain frequency of light on a carefully engineered nanostructure made of metals such as gold or silver, exciting so-called surface plasmons. These plasmons are believed to eventually lose some of their energy to electrons, making them hot. While hot electrons can have temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, its their high energy rather than the material temperature that makes them useful for energy technologies. In solar panels, energies from hot electrons could be more efficiently converted to electrical energy compared to conventional approaches. Hot electrons also could improve the efficiency of energy technology such as hydrogen-based fuel cells in cars by speeding up chemical reactions. In a typical chemical reaction, the reactants need to have enough energy to cross a threshold for completing the reaction. If you have these high-energy electrons, some of the electrons would lose their energy to the reactants and push them across that threshold, making the chemical reaction faster, Reddy said. Reddy worked with Kun Wang, a postdoctoral researcher in a University of Michigan group under professors Edgar Meyhofer and Pramod Reddy, who co-led the research effort. Together, they spent more than 18 months developing the experimental setup and another 12 months measuring the hot electron energies. The researchers built a system that allowed them to detect the difference in charge currents generated with and without exciting the plasmons. This difference in currents contains the crucial information needed to determine the energy distribution of the hot electrons in the metallic nanostructure. Shining a laser light onto a gold film with tiny ridges excites plasmons in the system, generating hot electrons. The researchers measured the energies of the electrons by drawing them through carefully engineered molecules into a gold electrode at the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. Researchers at the University of Liverpool synthesized some of the molecules for these experiments. This method could be used for enhancing a wide range of energy-related applications. This multidisciplinary basic research effort sheds light on a unique way to measure the energy of charge carriers. These results are expected to play a crucial role in developing future applications in energy conversion, photocatalysis and photodetectors, for instance, that are of great interest to the Department of Defense, said Chakrapani Varanasi, a program manager for the Army Research Office, which supported this study. The work also was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. 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: Kayla Wiles, wiles5@purdue.edu (working remotely, but will provide immediate response) Sources: Vladimir Vlad Shalaev, shalaev@purdue.edu Harsha Reddy, heragamr@purdue.edu Note to Journalists : For a copy of the paper, please contact Kayla Wiles, Purdue News Service, at wiles5@purdue.edu. An illustration of the experimental setup for measuring hot electrons is available via Google Drive. ABSTRACT Determining plasmonic hot-carrier energy distributions via single molecule transport measurements Harsha Reddy1, #, Kun Wang2, #, Zhaxylyk Kudyshev1,3, Linxiao Zhu2, Shen Yan2, Andrea Vezzoli4, Simon J. Higgins4, Vikram Gavini2,5, Alexandra Boltasseva1, Pramod Reddy2,5,*, Vladimir M. Shalaev1,*, Edgar Meyhofer2,* 1School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. 3Center for Science of Information, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. 4Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, UK. 5Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. #These authors contributed equally to this work. *Corresponding authors. Email: pramodr@umich.edu (P.R.); shalaev@purdue.edu (V.M.S.); meyhofer@umich.edu (E.M.) DOI: 10.1126/science.abb3457 Hot-carriers in plasmonic nanostructures, generated via plasmon decay, play key roles in applications like photocatalysis and in photodetectors that circumvent band-gap limitations. However, direct experimental quantification of steady-state energy distributions of hot-carriers in nanostructures has so far been lacking. We present transport measurements from single molecule junctions, created by trapping suitably chosen single molecules between an ultra-thin gold film supporting surface plasmon polaritons and a scanning probe tip, that can provide quantification of plasmonic hot-carrier distributions. Our results show that Landau damping is the dominant physical mechanism of hot-carrier generation in nanoscale systems with strong confinement. The technique developed in this work will enable quantification of plasmonic hot-carrier distributions in nanophotonic and plasmonic devices. A man covers his head with a paper envelop to cool himself at a public park in Gwangju, Thursday. Yonhap South Korea's weather agency issued this year's first heat wave advisory for the country's southern region Thursday, raising concerns over wearing anti-virus face masks amid the warmer weather. The weather agency said the advisory went into effect in Daegu, 302 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as well as the nearby cities and counties of Cheongdo, Gimcheon, Chilgok, Seongju, Goryeong and Gyeongsan, starting 11 a.m. The advisory was also issued in parts of South and North Jeolla Provinces, including Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gurye and Sunchang counties, it added. The daytime temperature was forecast to peak at over 33 C in the affected areas, while the mercury was expected to rise over 30 C in other parts of the country, such as the eastern coastal area and Chungcheong provinces. After meeting GNA head al-Sarraj, Turkish leader says history will judge those who caused bloodshed by backing Haftar. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged increased support for Libyas internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) fighting Khalifa Haftars forces, calling the renegade military commander and his allies the biggest obstacle to peace in the war-torn country. Speaking at a joint news conference with GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Ankara, Erdogan said on Thursday history would judge those who caused bloodshed and tears in Libya by supporting Haftar, whom he described as a putschist. Erdogan also said a solution to the crisis in Libya can only be achieved politically and through efforts under the auspices of the United Nations. Turkey and the GNA signed in November a military cooperation pact alongside a maritime demarcation deal, which gives Ankara oil exploration rights in the Mediterranean Sea that Greece and other countries reject. 200531155649091 The Turkish support has been crucial in the GNAs efforts to push back Haftars self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), which launched an offensive in April last year to seize Tripoli. On Thursday, after a string of recent military gains, the GNA said it had captured all areas surrounding the Tripoli city administrative area. Ankara has sent equipment and military personnel to Tripoli following the signing of the agreements and has urged Haftars backers to end their support of his eastern-based forces. The LNA has been backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt. Historic stance For his part, al-Sarraj thanked Turkey for its historic and brave stance in Libya and said the GNA would continue its struggle until Haftar was eliminated. The latest advance of the GNA around Tripoli is expected to hasten steps towards a potential truce. On Monday, the UN said both sides had agreed to resume ceasefire talks, warning that weapons and fighters being flown into Libya in defiance of an embargo threatened a big new escalation. Several peacemaking efforts in Libya have collapsed or been stalled since clashes began in 2014. In a flurry of diplomacy, Serrajs deputy was in Moscow and Haftar was in Egypt this week. An increased presence in Libya would give Turkey strategic positioning near Egypt, with which ties are strained. Tensions in Mediterranean In the news conference, Erdogan also said Turkey and Libya would advance exploration and drilling for oil in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. If this Ankara goes ahead with the move, Libya will also serve as another foothold for Turkey in the Mediterranean, where Turkey has been at odds with several neighbouring states. Greece and Cyprus called last years maritime deal with Serraj illegal, an accusation Ankara denied. Greece says Ankaras maritime deal infringes on Cretes continental shelf. Turkey which has also been criticised by Israel and the European Union says the deal abides by international law and rejects the notion islands can have such shelves. Turkey previously said it could begin exploration and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean under the GNA deal within three or four months. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The demonstrations, the looting, the arrests, the anger. It has played out in cities across America following protest marches against police brutality and racism, all stemming from the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a now-former Minneapolis police officer pushed his knee into Floyds neck. Jeff Lobdell Sundance Grill in downtown Grand Rapids. Posted by MIBest on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 WASHINGTON, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alion Science and Technology announces today that it has been awarded a $39M U.S. Air Force (USAF), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) task order to support the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), and Special Operations Force (SOF) Directorate. The AFLCMC provides ISR/SOF with state-of-the-art technical support for every fighter, bomber and cargo aircraft; training system; remotely piloted aircraft; missile and aeronautical weapons currently in the USAF inventory as well as for a number of foreign military allies. Alion will provide engineering, airworthiness, system security and assurance, and risk management analyses in developing, implementing, and executing product logistics, sustainment and acquisition across the portfolio of ISR aeronautical weapon systems. "Maintaining fleet readiness is critical for our military to succeed. Alion has a high level of expertise in engineering, avionics, airworthiness and cyber with the right team in place to meet the needs of this program," said Todd Stirtzinger, Alion Senior Vice President and General Manager. "Alion's risk management, logistics analysis, and cost analysis tools and methodologies will excel the government's ability to implement programs to track equipment reliability, plan for risk mitigation and sustain lifecycle management of aircraft. Our agile methodologies will allow for quick execution of new requirements." Many systems components are experiencing Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) in addition to RMQSI issues due to the age of the system and its components. These sustainment issues drive the need to implement engineering, analysis and testing programs identifying approaches for reliability and supportability improvements to aircraft systems that will lead to increased equipment reliability and a reduction in support costs. This task order has a 60-month period of performance and was awarded under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center (DoD IAC), Defense Systems Technical Area Task (DS TAT), Multiple Award Contract issued by the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency. This material is based upon work supported by the DoD Information Analysis Center Program Management Office (DoD IAC PMO), sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) under Contract No. FA807518D0002. ABOUT DOD IAC PROGRAM The DoD IAC program operates as a part of Defense Technical Information Center and provides technical data management and research support for DoD and federal government users. Established in the 1940s, the IAC program serves the DoD Science & Technology (S&T) and acquisition communities to drive innovation and technological developments by enhancing collaboration through integrated scientific and technical information development and dissemination for the DoD and broader S&T community. ABOUT ALION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION Solving some of our nation's most complex national security challenges, Alion works side-by-side with our Defense and Intelligence communities as we design and deliver advanced engineering solutions to meet current and future demands. We go beyond the superficial and dive deep into the root of the engineering complexities, and bring innovation to reality. With global industry expertise in Big Data, Analytics, and Cyber Security; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Live, Virtual, and Constructive Training; Electronic Warfare and C5ISR; and Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing, Alion delivers mission success where and when it matters most. To learn more, visit www.alionscience.com. Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited. 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 Air Force Installation Contracting Command (AFICC). SOURCE Alion Science and Technology Corporation Related Links http://www.alionscience.com The shelves of Kmart will be empty for up to two months after they were stripped bare by overzealous shoppers during the coronavirus pandemic. Retailers Kmart, Target and Big W have struggled to replenish home improvement products and kitchenware after COVID-19 lockdowns prompted a spike in sales as consumers were forced to stay at home. Household items including cake tins, blenders, candles and chopping blocks have been sold out in major Sydney stores in Chatswood, Bondi Junction and Pagewood. But retail bosses say shelves won't be restocked until the end of July because the low-cost items are mass produced in China - ground zero of the global pandemic. The shelves of Kmart will be empty for up to two months after the shelves were stripped bare during the coronavirus pandemic (pictured in late May) Commsec chief economist Craig James told 9 News the shortage is a byproduct of Australia's dependency on foreign imports. 'Australia is one of the most dependent countries in the world on China. Something like 38 per cent of exports go to China and something like a third of our imports come from China,' he said. The supply chain fell into disarray as workers went into lockdown, worsened by the run on goods with Australian restaurants closed during the pandemic. Commsec chief economist Craig James said the shortage is a byproduct of Australia's dependency on foreign imports (pictured, a Sydney store) Kmart has sold out of games, candles and cake tins and chopping blocks at many of its stores Kmart, Target and Big W said office, furniture and kitchen stocks should be replenished by the end of July WHEN WILL KMART SHELVES BE RESTOCKED? Home office equipment: mid-July Furniture and accessories: mid to end of July Kitchen and dining: mid-July Nursery: end of June Bikes and exercise equipment: end of July Source: Kmart Advertisement 'China is one of the biggest manufacturers of that type of product, particularly for discount department stores,' QUT Business School's Associate Professor Gary Mortimer told 9 News. 'That's one of the drawbacks from sourcing overseas - if there's a stoppage overseas you start to have a significant impact on your supply product.' Angry customers vented their frustrations on social media. 'Stop buying from China and make our own here in Australia,' one man suggested. 'Everyone wants to buy Australian until they see the cheaper Chinese product sitting next to it,' another Twitter user pointed out. 'Should we panic buy?' someone else asked. Kmart, Target and Big W said stocks should be replenished by the end of July. 'Our teams have been working tirelessly to bring stock orders forward and to secure additional stocks in categories where we have experienced a spike in popularity,' a Kmart spokesperson told the network. 'This includes pushing through shipping earlier of finished products that may be prepared earlier than expected.' When Ukraines Privatbank filed a lawsuit in the United States against its former owner Ihor Kolomoyskiy one year ago, it claimed the tycoon had used a slew of anonymous shell companies registered in the U.S. state of Delaware to carry out what it called a brazen heist. Kolomoyskiy and his partner Hennadiy Boholyubov used Delaware-based limited liability companies (LLCs) -- which are popular for their lack of beneficial ownership disclosure requirements -- to acquire U.S. businesses and properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars with stolen funds, the Kyiv-based bank claimed. The men have gone through great lengths to conceal their ownership and control over U.S. assets, the lawsuit filed in Delawares Chancery Court on May 21, 2019, said. Two new bills now on their way through the U.S. Congress could make it much harder to do that and easier for U.S. law enforcement agencies to immediately identify owners of shells, speeding up investigations. Citing unnamed sources, the Daily Beast reported in April 2019 that the FBI has been investigating Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov for potential financial crimes, including money laundering. Lax registration rules in states such as Delaware, Wyoming, and New Mexico -- which require less information to create a company than to get a library card -- have helped turn the United States into a leading offshore haven for criminals and corrupt officials the world over, including from the former Soviet Union. The Tax Justice Network, a British-based advocacy group, ranked the United States second only to the Cayman Islands in its 2020 survey of the nations most complicit in allowing wealthy individuals and criminals to hide and launder money. Now Congress is pursuing legislation to create a federal database of beneficial owners of shell corporations and LLCs to combat their abuse by criminal elements and corrupt officials. It comes amid a renewed global push for greater financial transparency following the 2016 publication of the Panama Papers -- a leak of reams of secret legal documents and financial data that highlighted a global scheme to evade taxes worldwide. You cant underestimate some of the unintended consequences that some of this sunlight creates. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Corporate Transparency Act in October, with a bipartisan vote of 249-173. Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York who is one of the bills sponsors, said in May that she is hopeful it will pass Congress this year. A separate piece of legislation known by the acronym ILLICIT CASH its full title is the Improving Laundering Laws And Increasing Comprehensive Information Tracking Of Criminal Activity In Shell Holdings Act -- is currently in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Cui Bono? Both bills require beneficial owners of corporations and LLCs with 20 or fewer employees and $5 million or less in annual revenue to submit their full name, date of birth, current home or work address, and the identification number on their valid U.S. or foreign identity document to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an arm of the Treasury Department. Such companies would have to submit an updated list of beneficial owners each year. The House bill also requires foreign beneficial owners to submit a copy of their passport. A beneficial owner is described as anyone who exercises substantial control or owns 25 percent or more of the company. We're the only advanced country in the entire world that doesn't already require disclosure of this information. Frankly, it's an embarrassment, Maloney said in a May 20 webinar on the legislation organized by the Wilson Centers Kennan Institute, a leading U.S.-based center for research on Russia and Eurasia. All 28 member states of the European Union are already required to maintain registries of the beneficial owners of companies set up within its borders and are moving to make them publicly accessible to varying degrees. The tougher European standards have driven some criminals to move their money to the United States, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who is now the senior Republican in the Senate, said during a 2018 Congressional hearing. Even offshore havens like the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, and Panama have introduced beneficial owner registrars, KPMG, one of the worlds largest audit firms, said in a January post. The BVI and Cayman Islands are expected to make theirs publicly searchable in 2023. The U.S. database envisioned by the bills would only be available to law enforcement agencies that have an actual investigation into related matters and would not be publicly searchable. Financial institutions would also be able to utilize the database, but only with the permission of the companies. The bills have the backing of law enforcement organizations and financial institutions. What a lot of this is about is making it easier for law enforcement to cut through the layers of ownership and entity structures and identify the big fish at the top, Lawrence Hamermesh, a professor at the Widener University Delaware Law School and a former practicing attorney, told RFE/RL. It moves the needle. If you are bent on crime, it represents more of a deterrent, he said. We're the only advanced country in the entire world that doesn't already require disclosure of this information. Frankly, it's an embarrassment. Some experts believe the effects of the legislation may be underwhelming Lawrence Donahue, a principal at Law 4 Small Business, a New Mexico-based law firm that specializes in setting up LLCs, told RFE/RL he did not think the bills would have much impact in combating criminal activities involving anonymous shell companies. Law enforcement agencies already have the ability to discover the beneficial owners of U.S. shells by subpoenaing tax and bank records, he said. Companies are required to disclose beneficial ownership to financial institutions when they open an account. And those bent on breaking the law are going to send in false information in any case to FinCEN, Donahue said. Nelson Bunn Jr., executive director of the National District Attorneys Association, disagreed, telling RFE/RL that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) currently does not collect beneficial ownership information in a manner that would help investigators. Furthermore, obtaining IRS records for an investigation is incredibly complicated and would require the involvement of federal law enforcement and the federal judiciary, a timely and costly procedure. This would significantly delay investigations, precludes state and local investigators who do not have the resources to partner with federal law enforcement, and creates a significant resource challenge for all state and local prosecutors to receive information that may still lead to a dead end in the investigatory process, he told RFE/RL. Implementation Issues Ross Delston, a Washington-based attorney, certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS) and former banking regulator, said Congress will need to expand FinCENs resources if the bill is to have any real impact. "Without a substantial increase in budget and personnel of FinCEN, this bill will fail for lack of implementation, he told RFE/RL. FinCENs ability to verify information about foreign beneficial owners, such as those located in the former Soviet Union, could be challenging as some due diligence tools, including credit data, may not be available, Delston said. Several states allow people to form LLCs without disclosing publicly who the owners or managers are. The paperwork to set up LLCS can be completed in minutes and the process generally costs just a few hundred dollars, depending on the state. Individuals registering LLCs in Delaware have to submit just the name and address of a person who can be a communications contact for authorities. The contact does not have to be a member or manager of the newly registered shell company and does not have to reside in the United States. While other U.S. states may require slightly more information to register a company, none of them verify the data submitted, allowing for potential abuse. Furthermore, LLCs in states requiring more transparency can be owned by anonymous LLCs registered in Delaware, Wyoming, or New Mexico. Clint Coons, a founding partner at Anderson Law Group, which specializes in asset protection strategies that include LLCs, said the only way to prevent criminals from abusing the system is to require every beneficial owner to validate their identity through a government-issued ID that is kept on file. "That would solve it, but no one has the bandwidth or the money to do that," Coons said. Bad Company? Viktor Bout, the Russian arms trafficker who is serving a 25-year sentence in a U.S. prison after being convicted in 2011 of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals and sell weapons to terrorists, had used a dozen shell companies to hide assets in the United States, including in Delaware. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who served a prison term in the United States for money laundering, made use of a web of entities around the world, including anonymous shell companies registered in Wyoming. LLCs are now regularly used to acquire U.S. real estate, especially high-end properties in New York City and Miami, to allow owners to maintain privacy. But criminals and others seeking to launder money, though, have abused the practice, buying real estate through LLCs in all-cash transactions. The Treasury Department has begun targeting such transactions in select cities while New York has been taking steps to collect more owner information. Denis Katsyv, son of a former Moscow Oblast transport minister, used LLCs to disguise his all-cash acquisition of a $6.25 million condominium in Manhattan partially with money that the U.S. Justice Department said was stolen from the Russian budget. Should one of the bills pass, its impact might be felt not only in Manhattan and Miami but also abroad, including in Moscow, Kyiv, and other centers of power in the former Soviet Union, where some of the $300 billion in annual illegal proceeds moving through the United States originates. Alexander Cooley, director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute and the author of a book on Central Asian money laundering, said tighter U.S. controls could displace some money seeping out the region to the Middle East and Asia but that America will continue to remain an attractive destination. However, he said U.S. legislation to set up a register of beneficial ownership could have indirect effects on the region by reinvigorating the process of setting better global anti-money-laundering standards, which would put pressure on other jurisdictions to improve their own legislation. You also cant underestimate some of the unintended consequences that some of this sunlight creates, Cooley said. Regional rulers and their families don't like to have this cosmopolitan lifestyle out there and on display, and I think that is really key, he said, pointing to a British investigation into the wealth of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaevs grandson, which has attracted attention in the Central Asian country. Matt Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute, said during the May 20 webinar that the nations that emerged from the Soviet collapse may have developed differently had their leaders not been able to easily squirrel away state money in the West. Imagine the way in which they would have to govern their own countries differently if they have to keep their ill-gotten gains at home, Rojansky said. Wouldnt they want a little bit more rule of law at home to protect that money rather than being able to rely on exporting it to jurisdictions like ours, right here in the United States? Coronavirus cases in the United States have been slowly ticking up since the Memorial Day holiday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. New cases hit a peak of 31,578, based on a seven-day average, on April 10 before steadily falling to an eight-week low of just over 20,600 a day on May 28 and have been rising ever since. New cases in the U.S. have risen over the last three days in a row with a seven-day average of 21,763 new cases reported Wednesday, the data shows. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Research shows that it can take anywhere from five to 12 days for people to show symptoms from the coronavirus, which may explain why U.S. cases are only just now starting to rise after several states reopened beaches and relaxed social distancing rules over Memorial Day, which fell on May 25. The virus, however, can spread a lot earlier than that and can even be passed along by people who don't have any symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. Covid-19 patients who develop symptoms are contagious for one to three days before showing any signs of sickness, the WHO said. The coronavirus, which emerged about five months ago, has sickened more than 1.8 million people and killed at least 107,175 in the United States, according to Hopkins data. While cases are slowing in hot spots such as New York state, cases are on the rise in places like Florida, Texas and Arizona that removed shelter-in-place orders much earlier. On Thursday, Florida reported 1,419 new coronavirus cases, its biggest single-day increase, according to state health data. Florida now has more than 60,000 cases. Earlier in the day, CDC Director Robert Redfield told lawmakers he was worried Americans aren't following the agency's advice as states begin to reopen after shuttering businesses and limiting activities as part of social distancing measures intended to curb the spread of the virus. Crowds of people have been seen in recent weeks at protests, over the Memorial Day holiday and, Redfield noted, at the SpaceX launch over the weekend. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards All 50 states have begun easing quarantine restrictions even though Redfield said "not all states" have met the White House criteria for reopening businesses. "We will continue to message as well we can," he told the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing on the coronavirus. "We're going to encourage people that have the ability to require to wear masks when they are in their environment to continue to do that." The virus can take anywhere from two weeks to eight weeks from the first onset of symptoms before a patient is sick enough to die, according to the WHO. The median time from the first sign of symptoms to recovery for mild cases is approximately two weeks and between three to six weeks for patients with severe or critical disease, according to the WHO. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Earlier in the outbreak, U.S. health officials said there was a hypothesis among mathematical modelers that the outbreak "could potentially be seasonal" and relent in warmer conditions. "Other viral respiratory diseases are seasonal, including influenza and therefore in many viral respiratory diseases we do see a decrease in disease in spring and summer," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on a Feb. 25 conference call. "And so we can certainly be optimistic that this disease will follow suit. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards (Bloomberg Opinion) -- It's natural to want some good news in troubling times. There are potential dangers in reading too much into things. In Italy, there's an ongoing public debate about a possible encouraging shift toward a weaker version of Covid-19. A leading virologist and doctor have endorsed this idea as the number of deaths, cases, severely ill patients and viral load theyve seen on swabs are declining or holding steady even as the country reopens. The virologist, Arnaldo Caruso, suggested that the virus could vanish even without a vaccine and that distancing and masks may no longer be needed soon. Caruso did acknowledge the possibility of other explanations and a future resurgence in an interview; even so, the notion of a weakening virus is understandably popular and may well emerge in the variety of other nations that are past the worst of their outbreaks. There's a high burden of proof for making such a claim, though, let alone using it as a basis for public health decisions. It most definitely hasnt been met, and the mutation argument could lead to bad choices if taken too seriously. Viruses change over time, sometimes in significant ways. These mutation-driven shifts are why we need new flu vaccines every year, and why seasonal outbreaks vary. There's also an evolutionary trade-off between deadliness and transmission a virus that kills too many hosts can't spread so some become milder. Scientists working on vaccines speed up the mutation process to produce so-called live attenuated virus vaccines, which contain strains that produce immunity to the original virus but not a severe illness. The question is whether the virus that causes Covid-19, known as SARS-CoV2, might take this journey on its own. There's an enormous difference between a lull caused by a persistent shift in the virus, and one caused by other dynamics. The first means that the virus has a real chance of petering out as a major threat over time. The second scenario means that the virus could return with a vengeance if countries and individuals put their guard down. At the moment, there just doesnt seem to be enough evidence to support the idea of a shift. Story continues Coronaviruses are slow to mutate compared to influenza, and Covid-19 doesn't appear to be different. Most mutations dont result in any kind of meaningful change to how a virus acts. Early studies of SARS-CoV2 genomes have found genetic changes but not a lineage that meets the definition of a new strain, a branch of the virus thats functionally different from others. One pre-print look at over 15,000 genomes from the University College of Londons Genetics Institute examined the possible emergence of a more transmissible strain. The mutations it found appeared to be either neutral or slightly harmful to Covids spread, and a less infectious version is less likely to stick around. The researchers didn't look at the possibility of a mutation that makes the virus less deadly, but said most recurrent genetic changes theyd seen so far dont seem like evolutionary adaptations. Even for pandemic flu a virus much more given to rapid change than the one that causes Covid-19 a few months would be a short timeline for a widespread functional mutation. There isn't a clear-cut evolutionary case for a virus like SARS-CoV2, which has already managed to infect more than 6 million people and often causes mild symptoms, to quickly get milder. If anything, it seems more likely that it would be genetically stable. Without a lot more data and information about the specific populations that are being compared for both swabs and clinical experiences, the evidence mutation fans provide remains anecdotal and may be compromised by selection bias. Less viral activity in lab experiments as described by Caruso could be more compelling, but he describes this as a very early result and it doesnt appear to have been confirmed or tied to a biologic explanation. If the virus isnt shifting into a milder form, what else can explain why it doesnt seem as bad in some places? The fact is, many other things could be at work. The virus may well appear weaker in areas on the other side of a peak because expanded testing and surveillance are catching people earlier in the course of their illness, as opposed to months ago when most were only tested if they got sick enough to brave a packed hospital. Clinicians also know more about how to treat people, and are no longer as overwhelmed. A solid portion of those most vulnerable due to a weakened immune system or other factors have likely already been infected, especially in hard-hit areas in Italy. Those that haven't are better protected by public health measures, a lower level of community spread, possible temporary seasonal effects, and at least some degree of acquired immunity in the population. Given all that, the most prudent path for a long time to come is to treat Covid-19 as the deadly threat it was in Italy a short few weeks ago and continues to be around the world. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Max Nisen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, pharma and health care. He previously wrote about management and corporate strategy for Quartz and Business Insider. 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. HANDOUT / Centers for Disease Control and /AFP via Getty Images The number of coronavirus cases confirmed this week will be the most in three weeks, according to the Midland Health Department. The health department reported four coronavirus cases to raise the total this week inside Midland County to 12 (three on Monday, five on Tuesday and four on Wednesday). The overall cases count is now at 141. Reporter-Telegram records show 19 cases from May 10-16. The most reported in one week was 29 from April 19-25. The four on Wednesday were: --a female in her 60s who is currently an inpatient at Midland Health. The source of exposure for the woman is travel within the United States; --a male in his 50s currently self-isolating at home; --a male child (0-9) currently self-isolating at home; and --a male in his 30s currently self-isolating at home. The source of exposure for the three males was contact to a known case. Those testing positive over the last three days include three people in their 30s, three between 0-9 years of age and two adolescents between 10 and 19. The Midland Health Department also reported that 73 of the 141 confirmed cases have recovered, three have completed isolation, 21 are at home isolating, 31 are at the hospital, a nursing home or rehab facility and 13 have died. The health department will continue to monitor the individuals in accordance with the CDC. Cheryl Day, Beaumaris We must start to properly funding tertiary education When did we turn one of the world's best publicly-funded tertiary education sector into a pseudo-privatised business that now is looking at bankruptcy in the face? If we are to be the clever country, we need to properly fund it. Mike Fajdiga, Beaumaris An increased focus on learning and exploring ideas Elizabeth Farrelly's piece on the decline of universities (Opinion Online, 30/5) spoke volumes. It is timely to focus on the important values of society and humanity in broad terms. What is education without a real focus on learning together, exploring ideas and (perhaps most importantly) harnessing the potential for the more vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our communities? Hefty fees and "credential box-ticking status" aside, the real value of education is coming to the surface in our somewhat Orwellian world. A peaceful, pragmatic revolution is certainly in order. Stephanie Ashworth, Pascoe Vale South And the vice-chancellors keep getting richer... Reading Elizabeth Farrelly's article prompts one to wonder why the vice-chancellors of 12 Australian universities, paid more than $1million per annum, are not subject to independent remuneration tribunals such as the one which stipulates that the Prime Minister receives around $550,000. Jo Monie, Flinders THE FORUM Exclusion of the needy If we needed more evidence that the federal government is out of touch with the real world, its latest scheme to assist the building industry (The Age, 4/5) is it. The eligibility figures and time frame put access to it out of the reach of all but those in the upper economic bracket. It excludes those who most need assistance but it will no doubt appeal to Coalition voters with a bank balance sports rorts by another form. Where is the assistance for social housing, the homeless, family violence victims, the arts, the small trader who fell between the JobKeeper cracks, etc? The building and allied industries will be the ones which benefit from this poorly considered scheme. Would these be the same tradies who often failed to show up to inspect and quote on a job, or the ones who insisted on part-payment in cash before they took on the job? Mike Trickett, Geelong West A missed opportunity The Morrison government has found another way for taxpayers (current and future, given our new levels of debt) to subsidise improvements to some people's private properties. How is this sensible economic management? Our elected representatives need to subject this half-baked scheme to some proper scrutiny. Most galling is that the opportunity to support jobs in the construction industry, by putting more money into building and renovating much needed social housing, is being squandered. Spending on social housing would have a lasting public benefit. I suspect that construction contracts for social housing, which is generally highly regulated, will also be less open to rorting than HomeBuilder. Kate Jackson, Kew Forgotten fire victims Scott Morrison's HomeBuilder scheme is designed to encourage homeowners to begin a renovation partly to "support the more than one million builders, painters, plumbers and electricians across the country". I hope he is also planning to "incentivise" those same tradies to rally on behalf of the many people in fire-ravaged areas who are still waiting to have their blocks cleared, let alone their rebuilds started. I am sure many of those will satisfy the means test, having had not only their homes but their livelihoods destroyed. You do remember the fires, Mr Morrison? Ken Hurle, Ivanhoe There goes my guttering Let me get this straight. In order to receive $25,000 from the government, I have to borrow at least $150,000. Any thoughts of replacing my aged gutters have been dashed. And, of course, tradespeople will provide realistic quotes. Rowena Hazelden, Box Hill South Lifestyle repairs come last Where should government support for the construction industry be targeted? Perhaps 1) housing for the homeless, ahead of 2) affordable public housing to attend to the backlog of neglect, and then 3) repairs and renovations to existing housing to attend to safety, health and energy efficiency shortfalls. At a later stage there might be room for new home subsidies. Once all that is done (you wish), we could think about "lifestyle" renovations. Jim Spithill, Ashburton Pensioners come first How about grants to people who live solely on the aged pension and whose homes are desperately in need of expensive repairs, instead of subsidising renovations for the more well-off? Robyn Lovell, Epping A once great nation Donald Trump constantly denigrated and corralled journalists at his rallies, telling them: "You are total fakes". In American cities today, police are inspired by his rhetoric to take licence and bash reporters and cameramen with batons and hurl them to the pavement, while peaceful protests descend into riots. Once the greatest nation on earth, the United States is truly rotting from the head down. Peter McCarthy, Mentone In Jesus's own words In the United States and Australia, leaders who pose with the Bible should commit to following its teaching. So what did Jesus say about law and order? Jesus called out the power-hungry leaders of his day. He said, "Everything they do is done for men to see". And, "You have neglected the more important matters of the law; justice, mercy and integrity" (Matthew, 23:5, 23.) Geoff Francis, Doncaster East Multi-rich, desperate poor The stark dichotomy in the United States to which Malcolm Fraser (Letters, 2/6) refers is not so much the very best with the SpaceX mission against the very worst as seen in the riots in response to institutionalised racism. Instead it is exemplified by the staggering wealth of an individual and big corporations to fund space missions juxtaposed with those who face institutionalised discrimination and racism, and extreme economic and social disadvantage. Lisa Frazer, Templestowe No longer the deal maker When Donald Trump leaves office and his presidential library is established, the empty shelves could be filled with unsold copies of The Art Of The Deal. Peter Gurry, Mornington Force's systemic racism In a week where the United States has torn itself apart over the senseless killing of an unarmed African American man, the actions of a New South Wales police officer in kicking the legs out from under an Indigenous teenager, who was not resisting arrest, and pinning him to the ground demonstrates a severe lack of judgment at best. At worst, it represents systemic, prejudiced undertones against our Indigenous community. The NSW Police Commissioners' suggestion that the officer was having "a bad day" does not pass the sniff test. Real leadership means recognising where you have wronged someone and owning it, not dismissing it. Eben Rojter, Coburg Our shifting loyalties When four police officers were killed on the Eastern Freeway on April 22, there was a general outpouring of grief as we realised that the police bleed, have families and loved ones, and have feelings too. It was briefly fashionable to regard the police as heroes. Then a stressed-out young policeman over-reacts to abuse from a young man who happens to identify as Aboriginal, and suddenly our police are racist thugs again, just like (white) American police. How soon we forget. Albert Riley, Mornington Rise, Minister Gittins Age columnist Ross Gittins for treasurer, or finance minister or whatever portfolio take his fancy. If only those who are currently in power had half his nous and sense of decency. We can only dream. Ann Maginness, Cheltenham Too dangerous to rally How deeply we may regret Saturday's planned rally against Indigenous deaths in custody. When every life matters, why are Indigenous leaders encouraging protesters to risk their lives in a march where organisers and the police cannot enforce social distancing? The rally may lead to the spread of the virus, in many geographical directions, amongst people with compromised health issues. This could lead to a second spike in infections. Please organise this march for the first Sunday in spring.Then, hopefully, more innocent lives will not be lost. Chris Taylor, Hawksburn The Premier must act Current restrictions, under guidelines from Victoria's Chief Health Officer, allow outdoor gatherings of up to 20 people. Will Premier Daniel Andrews instruct Victoria Police to enforce this restriction when protesters gather in the city on Saturday? If not, community members concerned about public health and safety should report any gathering of more than 20 people to police by calling the Police Assistance Line, as is advised on the Health Department's website. Dr Henry Zeimer, Caulfield North An alternative 'rally' Normally I would attend the Black Lives Matter Rally. However, I would not feel safe and I fear that I would not be assisting the very successful campaign to defeat the coronavirus. Instead of this very worthy rally and march, may I suggest that the organisers ask people to stand outside their homes, at a specified time, all over Melbourne and surrounding areas, with placards supporting the Black Lives Matter Campaign. Rod Oaten, North Carlton Splash the money around On July 1, Victorian ministers and senior MPs will collect the second half of their 11.8per cent pay rise. Is this part of Premier Dan Andrews' coronavirus-recovery stimulus package? What will they rush out and spend their money on? And what productivity increases will we get in return? Verity Webb, Yarraville The end of 'our' market According to your report, a new civic square abutting the Queen Victoria Market will provide "community space for reflection, relaxation, and informal recreation" and space for cultural activities and events (The Age, 2/5). However, close reading of the council's "economic justification" documentation makes it clear its plan is to create a concrete, lettable event space surrounded by multi-storey buildings and lined with cafes and bars. More than half the current market area, including five or six of the 11 historic sheds, will be repurposed for entertainment, hospitality or hireable spaces. Traders will lose vehicle access and have nowhere to leave their trucks, while their rents are planned to double. The small, migrant-run family businesses will be no longer be viable and they will give way to franchises and upmarket craft stalls. Is this repurposing of the market what Melburnians want? And does Melbourne really need more wine bars? Miriam Faine, Hawthorn What really matters The COVID-19 restrictions, the hardship and the privation will count for nothing if Collingwood does not beat Richmond on Thursday. Alex Risk, Geelong West AND ANOTHER THING The United States America, Trump's apocalypse. David Seal, Balwyn North Trump stood on the roof of his tower and, holding the Bible high, said: "I am God, bow down and worship me". Warwick Spinaze, Tootgarook Hands on hearts, singing God Bless America, may be replaced with uplifted hands and the desperate cry, "God save America". Susan Caughey, Glen Iris Are there tears cascading down the Statue of Liberty? Stan Marks, Caulfield Go Terrence Floyd, you beauty. David West, Strathmore To false followers speaking and acting in his name, Jesus said, "I never knew you; go away from me". Lorraine Parkinson, Doncaster Trump wants to send in the army. Could Minneapolis become the new Tiananmen Square? Walter Valles, Clayton South One man holds the Koran while another holds the Bible to justify atrocities. Ruth Davis, Carrum Trump uses his Bible the way a drunk uses a lamp post, for support rather than illumination. And his base loves it. Peter Salway, Beaumaris Reduce the G7 to G6, please. Phillip Payne, Mandurang Politics So who are the better economic managers? Not the Liberals. Hello recession. Robyn Westwood, Heidelberg Heights Who will Josh blame for the recession we had to have? Shaun Lawrence, Richmond Why expect an apology for robo-debt? The idea was to screw the leaners. Roger Green, Ferntree Gully If you like your martinis shaken, not stirred, if you need a sleek storage spot for your fine autos, and if you have a taste for modern design, a Los Angeles property will certainly rev up your interest. On the market for $62 million, this modern marvel is the week's most expensive new listing on realtor.com. The listing details, paying their respects to Ian Fleming's creation, secret agent 007, refer to the mansion as the "Bond house of the future." It offers plenty of James Bond-level high-tech wizardry, as well as perks for a car aficionado, including a 15-car auto gallery, a model race track, and a race car simulator. Built in 2018, the phenomenal property was designed by the Seattle-based architecture firm Olson Kundig for Kipp Nelson, partner at Long Arc Capital and a former competitor in Formula Three racing, the Wall Street Journal notes. Nelsons custom abode was six years in the making. After he found the site in 2014, he purchased the property for $12 million and then began the long process of constructing this sleek, stylish home. The end result is an organic blend of wood, stone, glass, and concrete set upon a promontory with panoramic views of L.A. "[It] is valuable for many reasons, says listing agent Rayni Williams, of Williams & Williams. She cited the work of award-wining architect Tom Kundig as a primary value driver and added, "I've seen a lot of L.A. homes, and we have yet to see a home like this. Views realtor.com Living area that extends outside realtor.com Kitchen realtor.com Dining room realtor.com Model race track and race car simulator realtor.com Wine cellar realtor.com Master suite realtor.com With 15,642 square feet of living space, the three-story layout includes five bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. The home has hidden panels that reveal design features at the touch of a button, with moving walls that extend or close off rooms, open glass doors outside, and close shutters. Designed for entertaining, the compound can host up to 250 guests at a time. The master suite was described in Architectural Digest as a sexy lookout tower" and is open to views on three sides. It features a walkway to a gym and private views from a rooftop terrace. From the main living space, so-called guillotine doors open out to a deck with a fireplace, lounge, and an array of pools, according to the listing description. The property is surrounded by 125-year-old olive trees. On the lower level, the car-lovers fantasy can be found, with the auto storage gallery, Formula One simulator, and race car track, named Kippway, after the owner. Theres also a home theater and wine cellar for less adrenaline-laced pursuits. Branden Williams and Rayni Williams, of Williams & Williams, hold the listing. The post $62M Modern Masterpiece in L.A. Is Week's Most Expensive New Listing appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. On 03 June 2020 The Board of Directors of Chennai Petroleum Corporation at its meeting held on 03 June 2020 has considered and recommended a proposal, to the Board of Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) subject to requisite statutory approvals, for implementing the 9 MMTPA Refinery Project at Cauvery Basin Refinery, Nagapattinam District, through a Joint Venture, at an estimated cost of Rs.28,983crore. The Board of Directors of Chennai Petroleum Corporation also accorded in-principle approval for Incorporation of a Joint Venture, with IOCL & CPCL together holding 50% stake (i.e. 25% each in the JV) and balance 50% to be held by a Financial/Strategic/Public Investors and for CPCL to invest upto Rs. 2500 crore in the Joint Venture, subject to necessary approvals. 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 U.S. Department of Defense in a statement Tuesday said it accepted a proposal by the Korean government to pay the cost of all Koreans working for U.S. Forces Korea. The department "has accepted [Korea's] proposal to fund the labor costs for all U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Korean National (KN) employees through the end of 2020," the statement said. "USFK expects all KN employees to return to work no later than mid-June." Around 4,000 Koreans working on U.S. military bases in Korea were furloughed on April 1 as the two countries struggled to reach agreement on how much more money Korea will pay to keep 28,500 American soldiers stationed here. Korea offered to pay the workers' wages first, but the U.S. insisted on waiting until the agreement is reached. Experts said the U.S.' about-turn reflects concerns that their drawn-out absence could affect troop readiness levels. Vendors sell vegetable on the streets of Beijing - AP They were only recently regarded by the Chinese authorities as a scourge on the well-ordered landscape of their brave new world. But now the Communist Party is praising the countrys street vendors as one of the solutions to the economic slowdown sparked by Chinas deadly coronavirus pandemic. After years of cracking down on street vendors in order to 'beautify' its cities and improve hygiene standards, China is now allowing them back to give its Covid-ravaged economy a boost. Chinese premier Li Keqiang gave them his blessing when he recently praised the city of Chengdu, in Sichuan Province, for apparently generating 100,000 jobs overnight by allowing 36,000 street vendors to set up shop. Signalling a more tolerant attitude to the hustle and bustle of street stalls and markets, China's Central Civilization Committee office has said it will not include vendors who occupy outdoor spaces or other public areas in its city assessment program for 2020, indicating a temporary relaxation on the management of the sector. At the same time a delegate from Chinas top legislative body, the National Peoples Congress, called for the relaxation of controls on street vendors to grant them legal status. It came after local government officials appeared to give the green light for the return of street stalls, with pictures of vendors setting up shop to sell shoes, clothes and vegetables along a sidewalk in Chengdu going viral on social media. Officials in the city essentially turned a blind eye to street vendors operating without permits. For many it brought back memories of the citys long lost bustling street life, with people posting under the hashtag street vendor economy and photographs of night markets circulating widely online. The move has been welcomed by the vendors, who are usually unemployed or from low-income families. Song, a 59-year-old street vendor in Beijing, said: "I feel that mobile stalls should be allowed, since if a small cart is used, it won't affect road traffic, and people can get things cheaper than in bigger stores." Story continues Some economists predict lifting restrictions on street vendors will lead to a jobs surge. Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, predicted that agricultural produce markets, small commodity markets and morning markets could create at least 100 million jobs. "Last year, one point of GDP growth was estimated to have generated about 2 million jobs. Assuming that there are 5 to 6 million new street stalls this year, it can be equivalent to about 2-3 percentage points of GDP growth," he told the Global Times. One immediate spin-off has been a surge in the stock value of Wulin Motors, which sells a cargo van that can turn into a mobile stall. WASHINGTON In an extraordinary rebuke, former defense secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday denounced President Donald Trumps heavy-handed use of military force to quell protests near the White House and said his former boss was setting up a false conflict" between the military and civilian society. I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled, Mattis wrote. The criticism was all the more remarkable because Mattis has generally kept a low profile since retiring as defense secretary in December 2018 to protest Trump's Syria policy. He had declined to speak out against Trump, saying he owed the nation public silence while his former boss remained in office. But hes speaking out after this past weeks protests in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody. Trump responded on Twitter Wednesday evening by calling Mattis the worlds most overrated General. I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree, Trump tweeted. Glad he is gone! Mattis had a scathing description of Trump's walk to a historic nearby church Monday to pose with a Bible after law enforcement forcibly cleared Lafayette Square of mostly peaceful protesters. READ MORE: Floyd protests cross the city for a fifth day as Philadelphians say theyre hopeful for lasting change He said he never dreamed troops would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us," Mattis wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership." Mattis called on Americans to unite without Trump. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children," he wrote. Mattis said of the protesters that Americans should not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. He said they are rightly demanding that the country follow the words of Equal Justice Under Law" that are on display at the U.S. Supreme Court. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values our values as people and our values as a nation," Mattis said. Mattis took particular issue with the use of force to move back protesters so Trump could visit St. John's Church the day after it was damaged by fire during protests. Several different groups, including the National Guard and the U.S. Park Police, were involved. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution," Mattis said. One day after Trump announced he was pulling all U.S. troops out of Syria, where they were partnering with local Syrians to fight the Islamic State, Mattis tried but failed to change Trumps mind. So, he resigned. Trump soon turned on Mattis, calling him a failure. He said falsely that he had fired Mattis. Whats he done for me? Trump said January 2. How had he done in Afghanistan? Not too good. Im not happy with what hes done in Afghanistan, and I shouldnt be happy. Britain's Indian-origin Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, has been tested for the novel coronavirus after feeling unwell at the despatch box in the House of Commons. Sharma, 52, was seen feeling uneasy and sweating during a debate on the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill in Parliament on Wednesday. Alok Sharma began feeling unwell when in the Chamber delivering the second reading of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, a spokesperson for the minister said. In line with guidance he has been tested for coronavirus and is returning home to self isolate, the spokesperson said. Shadow business secretary, Labour's Ed Miliband, was seen passing the minister a glass of water as he looked visibly unwell. 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 If Sharma tests positive for the coronavirus, anyone in his proximity within two metres for more than 15 minutes would have to self isolate for two weeks as per the current UK government guidelines. As a senior member of the Cabinet who has been a regular at all meetings, his illness will raise concerns over the impact a positive test would have within the top rung of the government. The minister was among hundreds of MPs seen queuing for hours on Tuesday to cast their votes under new social distance rules as Parliament returned to a physical setting after a hybrid version, which involved remote attendance by MPs via screens set up in the chamber. Sharma's illness will renew concerns expressed by several MPs over the return of physical voting after digital voting was discontinued. While only a limited number of MPs are allowed to sit within the Commons chamber at any given point, Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg had stipulated the return of all parliamentarians to the Palace of Westminster in central London. He has faced backlash from all sides of the House over the decision to abandon digital voting options, including from MPs with health conditions who are unable to participate in proceedings. Lisa Nandy, Labour's Indian-origin shadow foreign secretary, was among those who expressed concern following Sharma's illness. The government stopped MPs from working from home and asked us to return to a building where social distancing is impossible. MPs are travelling home to every part of the country tonight. Reckless doesn't even begin to describe it. Many of the MPs had posted images on social media of the long snaking queue across the Parliament complex on Tuesday as they lined up to cast their vote while trying to maintain the requisite two-metre distance to prevent the transmission of the deadly virus. A House of Commons spokesperson said: The House's priority is to ensure that those on the estate are safe while business is facilitated. We have closely followed guidance from PHE (Public Health England) on action to take following a suspected case of Covid on site, including additional cleaning. Our risk assessment outlines the measures we have already put in place to reduce the risk of transmission in Parliament. A judge ruled Thursday that dying Ponzi king Bernie Madoff should finish his life in prison and refused his bid to be released early from prison. Madoff, 82, was sentenced to 150 years behind bars in 2009 by Judge Denny Chin for a decades-long scheme that scammed thousands of people of $17.5billion. Judge Chin ruled this week that when he set the prison sentence, he intended Madoff to die in jail and that nothing has happened in the last eleven years to change his mind. Madoff's representatives have now called on President Donald Trump to commute his sentence. Ponzi king Bernie Madoff was refused a request for 'compassionate release' from his 150-year prison sentence because he is dying of kidney failure after Judge Denny Chin on Thursday ruled that he should die in jail. The former financier is pictured here leaving court in 2009 In his ruling Thursday Chin, who now sits on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, noted the continuing suffering of Madoff's thousands of victims after he fraudulent scheme, which deceived them into thinking their money was invested properly, was exposed in December 2008. 'I also believe that Mr. Madoff was never truly remorseful, and that he was only sorry that his life as he knew it was collapsing around him. Even at the end, he was trying to send more millions of his ill-gotten gains to family members, friends, and certain employees,' Chin wrote. The judge said he'd reviewed public statements made by Madoff and found they 'show that he has never fully accepted responsibility for his actions and that he even faults his victims.' Madoff, housed at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, has requested compassionate release though his lawyers. The request lets some prisoners go home if they are likely to die within 18 months. Prison authorities had determined Madoff was likely to die within 18 months of terminal kidney failure. In his request for early release, his lawyer cited end-stage kidney disease and other 'chronic, serious medical conditions,' including hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Bernie Madoff, 82, was sentenced to 150 years behind bars in 2009 by Judge Denny Chin for a decades-long scheme that scammed thousands of people of $17.5billion Attorney Brandon Sample, who represents Madoff, said in a statement he was disappointed with Thursday's ruling. He said he now hopes President Donald Trump would consider commuting the sentence. 'We implore the President to personally consider Madoffs rapidly declining health,' Sample said. Sample had argued that Madoff was confined to a wheelchair and wanted to contest claims by prosecutors that he has failed to show remorse. Prosecutors opposed the request, saying 500 victims opposed early release and only 20 letters were written by victims in support of release. A trustee has recovered roughly $14billion out of the more than $17billion lost by investors, but the damage to victims was worsened because Madoff created fraudulent statements to suggest their investments had grown enormously, authorities said. The fraud was exposed in December 2008 as the national economy collapsed. Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced by Chin in the summer of 2009. Chin said in his written decision Thursday that in 2009 'it was fully my intent that he live out the rest of his life in prison'. He noted that Madoff's lawyers then had asked for a sentence of as little as a dozen years, hoping their client would again see 'the light of day'. Madoff requested early release from the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina 'I was not persuaded,' Chin said. 'I did not believe that Mr. Madoff was deserving of that hope. Nothing has happened in the 11 years since to change my thinking.' The U.S. Bureau of Prisons had already denied Madoff's request, concluding in December that his early release would 'minimize the severity of his offense.' The denial of Madoff's release comes just days after the Supreme Court decided that it is leaving in place a ruling that allows the trustee recovering money for investors in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme to pursue more than $4billion that went to overseas investors. The high court on Monday declined to get involved in the case. As is usual, the justices did not comment in turning away the case. An appeals court said the trustee, Irving Picard, could go after money that went through foreign investment funds back to foreign investors. A lower court had said those transactions were beyond the reach of U.S. law. Berni8e Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over decades. It was the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He is pictured here, left, with his wife Ruth who was also placed under investigation Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He admitted swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over decades. The convicted fraudster was among the infamous inmates who suggested they may file for early release because of coronavirus. 'This health crisis may further accelerate his death,' Sample told New York Daily News in March. 'I think this serves as potentially another additional reason why continuing to keep him in confinement is not in his interest nor in the public's best interests. 'To the extent someone is aged and has a serious medical condition, I lack confidence in the Bureau of Prisons to keep those kinds of prisoners from being exposed to the virus, or care for those persons if they become infected.' East Asia Will Be a Post-Pandemic Success In conversation with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable, Jayant Bhandari of Capitalism and Morality offers his take on what the post-COVID-19 world will look like. Maurice Jackson: Joining us for a conversation is Jayant Bhandari, the founder of Capitalism & Morality, and a highly sought-out advisor to institutional investors. Jayant, there are a lot of mixed, contentious emotions regarding COVID-19. Irrespective of one's position, it's incumbent for us all to prepare for how the world will function going forward. Let's discover which parts of the world, and how readers may thrive in a post coronavirus world. Sir, you recently wrote a musing entitled "What the Post Coronavirus World Looks Like." In this piece, you outlined a number of distinctions that may create a great divide between East Asia, the West and Third World countries. From a 30,000-foot perspective, who do you see coming out as the winners, when and if the world returns to some aspect of normalcy, and why? Jayant Bhandari: Readers really need to keep emotions out of business. We have to be attached to objectivity to be able to understand what is the right action to take. In my view, from what I have seen happening, East Asia will emerge out as among the most successful places in the world after COVID-19 is over. In fact, East Asia is already emerging. You can see that in Taiwanthere were virtually no cases and they cleaned up the place very quickly. Pretty much the same happened with South Korea, Japan and Singapore. Hong Kong suffered a bit, but they took very strong, good, quick actions and got mostly rid of the virus, or at least brought it under control in a way that it does not affect their economy. China has also managed to clean up the virus to a very large extent. Now, I am [not] concerning myself about the culpability that China [has] with the virus, I'm just talking about the economy. These countries will emerge successful from the virus. I love China for its people and for the changes China has been going through. What I might not have always an appreciation or respect for is the Chinese government. I think China will emerge perfectly fine. The investment world can no longer ignore China, as it is the fastest growing major economy in the world. I am very keen on investing in East Asia because I see very limited downside risk and a lot of upside, due in part because a lot of share prices, along with commodity prices, have suffered because investors have lowered their expectations, particularly of the growth in China, which I think is wrong. China will continue to grow. It will suffer for a few more months but it will emerge out successful. On the other hand, the Western countries are countries that are rooted to the concepts of liberty and Christianity. And that is why the Western countries have such a strong moral framework. In fact, East Asia is successful to the extent that it feeds off the moral and rational fabric that the Western countries have put together. Maurice Jackson: How about the Third World? Jayant Bhandari: Unfortunately, five out of the 7.5 billion humans live in Third World countries, which are Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Latin America. And these countries, I think, are rapidly on the path to implosion. But also, because the Third World has horrible government leadership, one can see chaos emerging everywhere in the Third World. I am afraid and confident that Malthus and Darwin will wake up and walk hand in hand to remove millions of people in the Third World. And I'm absolutely sure that will happen within the next few years, if it has already not started. So my biggest fear is, what is going to happen to the 5 billion people that are in the Third World. I expect there will be a massive humanitarian crisis, never seen in human history. Maurice Jackson: Jayant, for someone new to our conversation, what is the distinction between Third World economies and emerging economies? Jayant Bhandari: There is nothing like emerging markets. There's only one emerging market, which is China. The understanding of China in the Western world is very negative. And that is primarily because of the way China is portrayed in the West. Thirty years ago, China once was compared with Uganda and Tanzania or Rwanda. Today, China is consistently compared with the U.S., which is where fallacy lies. You have changed the yardstick on how you understand and measure China. China was a Third World country, and China has emerged very, very rapidly in the last three decades. China is still not the U.S.; China will not be the U.S. for the next 30 or 50 or maybe 80 years. However, China is a rapidly growing economically. And more importantly, it is a society that is on a positive path, politically, socially and culturally. And all I care about is whether they are improving or they are not improving. And China is improving, hence I call China an emerging market. The rest of the Third World countries have faced continual degradation since the time European powers stopped running them. Now, we don't necessarily see it that way because in the last 30 to 40 years, economies of the Third WorldLatin America, Africa, and India and Pakistan and the Middle Eastwere growing very rapidly. Oil prices were booming in the '70s, '80s, '90s, and until recently, actually, Latin America benefited hugely from export of natural resources, and so was the case with Africa. And the Indian subcontinent benefited hugely from free import of Western technology. So these were all dependent on external benefits coming for free to these countries. And those benefits disappeared about 10 years back. The Third World economies have been stagnating for most of this decade. Third World countries, institutionally, have been falling apart consistently since the time European powers gave up leadership of these countries. And that degradation of institutions of the Third World will start to emerge and become increasingly visible going forward. But I think COVID-19 has been a catalyst. It has actually rapidly changed the curve and it has added a very high influencing factor to destroy the Third World. So these five billion people are destroying themselves very rapidly right now. And I don't think there's much time left for these Third World countries to fall apart and implode. Maurice Jackson: Jayant, as you were speaking, my mind was reflecting on a conversation we had about two years ago, where you made the distinction on the Third World economies [of] how the individuals there still do not understand the concept of the wheel as they carry items on their head. And also you had shared that they still do not have lead piping, which was introduced over 2,000 years ago by the Romans. Jayant Bhandari: The reality is that, one can go and travel Third World countriesand by the way, today I am in Indiaand in India you will see something very funny consistently, particularly if you pay attention. Girls and women, girls in school uniforms, girls who are educated, so-called educated, carry pots of water on their head. Now you have to understand that, despite that they have been so-called educated, they don't really get the concept of wheel. They can draw a wheel, they can see a wheel but they don't really understand how to use [it], put that wheel into action, how to use that wheel to improve their lives. And that is why technology might be in front of them, smartphones might be in front of them, but they dont understand the utility the wheel will perform in their lives. And that is where the biggest problem in the Third World isthe education received, combined with prosperity and technology, isn't helping these people. . .these are virtues [that] have become vices and the tools for these societies to impose their tribal world views on other people. Maurice Jackson: In my experience, far too often investors/speculators are only bean counters, and they only look at the numbers. And oftentimes these individuals overlook the significant role that the intangibles and other mitigating factors play in their investment pieces. How do cultures and value systems fit into the narrative? Jayant Bhandari: Most of the world outside the Western society was tribal. We were living like animals before the Western people started exporting their culture, religion and technology to the Third World. So now, yes, I can always pinpoint and find deficiency in the Western society and how they might have exploited let's say, the natural resources of Africa. But Africans did not even know that there was copper to be found in that rock, they had no such concept. They did not have the concept of tools, they did not really have the concept of written language. Nothing is perfect, Maurice, so we can still isolate some of the bad things European did, and I acknowledge that they did a lot of bad things, but overall the influence of the Western society on the Third World was massively positive. It converted what were, actually, people who were behaving like animals, because they did not really have a civilization. There were no institutions or a structure in these societies. Europeans brought in the concept of civilization to these societies in the Third World. So, that is the importance of culture. Culture enables two important things, it enables accumulation of capital, and it enables accumulation of knowledge and information. And both of these things are the legs on which civilizations stands. And without which, you can't have capital, you can't have companies, you can't have progress either intellectual or capital. And if you don't have those cultural bases, everything that Europeans left in the Third World countries will fall apartand you can actually go to the institutions and buildings throughout the Third World they're always falling apart. You can give them the best airports and the best railway station, and within six months you will see paints peeling off, bricks coming out of the walls, no electricity. Fundamentally, that is where culture is very important. Things tend to fall apart if you don't have the right culture, conducive to capitalism, conducive to civilization, conducive to accumulation of capital and conducive to accumulation of information, knowledge and philosophy. Maurice Jackson: Weve covered the East Asia and the Third World, how about the West? Jayant Bhandari: I'm quite a lover of the Western society and civilization. Western civilization of course, could not heavy-handedly control its people. The West, I think, will emerge fine, at least from the virus. There are other problems in the West today, but West will emerge out fine. But remember that the population of the Western society and Eastern society combined, is only about 2.5 billion people. Maurice Jackson: What are some key distinctions that are creating the demise of the West? Jayant Bhandari: Statistically, the biggest problem has been that people of non-European origin and that is statistically, and we can go into the depths of why this has been the casebut statistically, people of non-European origin, particularly females, and colored, and Black people, Hispanic people, they tend to vote for a nanny state. They tend to vote for a big government, and that goes against the Christian values that were the basis of Western civilization. That goes against liberty and goes against the culture of self-respect and self-responsibility. Western societies that are leaning more and more to the left have embraced whining and grievances and dependency that has taken hold increasingly among the underclass in the Western society. Now, here is the problem, Mauriceand again, I'm talking statisticallyvery rapidly 50% of the U.S. is becoming people from non-European origin. And they, as a result, have a very high democratic influence on who runs America. And unfortunately, as I just said, they tend to vote for a nanny government, they tend to vote for the Democratic Party, the leftist people. And as a result, Western society, particularly the U.S., will very rapidly become a leftist society once Trump is gone. Maurice Jackson: My wife and I are both immigrants. And it's funny how the family members and friends that we have that lean to the left, their vocabulary is completely different than our vocabulary. We're proud Libertarians and Christians, but their vocabulary on the left is, when am I getting my check? And they're bragging about receiving something for nothing and not realizing the long-term consequences on future generations. And unfortunately, they're going to be rewarded again for doing nothing in the near future. And one might say to themselves: "Well, I can't work. How can I do something?" The reality is, your creative juices should be flowing right now. And we should be trying to create utility, because trust me, there's something that you can do that can benefit others and benefit you financially in a constructive way. And only in the United States, and this another discussion my wife and I were having again, prior to this interview, will you see someone that is obese, meaning they consume more calories than they burn, begging for food. Jayant Bhandari: And I feel these people should be ashamed. And I know there are people with disabilities or people who have a natural reason to be obese, unfit or being unable to work. But a lot of people like me, and that includes me, my partner, a lot of friends I have known in America, they came to America without any money. They came almost with their clothes on and nothing much else. And that's what happened with me. And America is such a generous society, America is so open-minded, it enables people to become rich very quickly. And all the people I have known who immigrated to America or moved to America to work, very soon had their own houses and started driving cars, had decent jobs. And they had jobs which they enjoyed and jobs where they were respected. So any American who failed to make a good life on his own and instilled in his children a culture of grievances and whining is such a loser. And I feel so envious for him because, were I given his place, I would not have lost a couple of decades of my life trying to find my way to reach the West, which they did not have to worry about, and they still missed that boat. Maurice Jackson: Prior to our interview, you made a statement that I thought was really profound. And you stated, "When you change your heroes, you change your behavior." There's so much truth in that statement. Can you expand on that for us? Jayant Bhandari: What has happenedand we were talking about, of course, before we started recording [was] about colored people, and that applies to both of our communitiesthe colored people have developed this concept of grievances and the concept of whining and getting free stuff. And one of the big reasons is that, colored people have started to look up to people who advocate giving out free stuff. Their heroes are people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or a couple of other very ultra-leftist politicians that have become very visible in the U.S. political space recently. If I wanted to have a colored person as my hero, and I don't need a colored person as my hero, my heroes are people like Doug Casey, Rick Rule. . .Adrian Day, these are the people I look up to. And I have Bob Moriarty. . .a lot of them are white people. I am a racially blind, I don't care about their color. What I care about is whether they are rational, enlightened, good people. And I want to follow them and I want to learn as much as possible from them. And Stephen Cox is another one of the great people I have got to know for the last 15 years. So, I can name people and a lot of those are white people, and I don't care which society they come from, which racial group they come from. And before you started recording, we're talking about a writer known as Booker T. Washington. And everyone should read his book called "Up from Slavery;" it's a beautiful book. Booker T. lived during the Civil War time and his book is about developing a concept of self-responsibility, a concept of being proud among the black communities. And he actually achieved a lot; he earned respect of white people, he earned respect of white people within and around his community. And eventually he even tried to help the underclass Europeans living around him. And that is the kind of hero [I would have], if I really wanted to have a black hero. And again, for me it does not matter, he is my hero because he was a great guy. So everyone should read his book, "Up from Slavery," and the name of the writer is Booker T. Washington. Maurice Jackson: Speaking of Booker T. Washington, I like to share an intellectual exercise I've been conducting probably now for 10 years. And I know that our Silver Stackers will appreciate this. Whenever I'm at a social event, I ask the following question: "Do you believe that President Obama should be the first African American on a coin?" And I ask this making sure that there is always a black person and a white person. And in my experience in the 10 years, it's been a resounding yes, by the black, and a resounding no, by the white. And you could see the their nonverbals change. I don't care if we were talking about angels and the color pink was all around us, there's some tension in the air. And I share with them, your opinions have no bearing on the outcome of the correct answer. I reach into my pocket and I grab a 50-cent piece minted in 1946: it has Booker T. Washington on it. This is a 90% silver coin, no different than a Kennedy 50-cent piece. And I share with them that, no matter how passionate you feel about it, it's already been done. And the reason it was done was to stop the spread of communism in the African American community. And by the way, Booker T. Washington was also on the second coin minted with an African American by the name of George Washington Carver, again a 50-cent piece, 90% silver. But I also share with them that I was not born a U.S. citizen, so English is not my first language. But I do know that President Obama was biracial, just like I am. So therefore, he could never be the first African American minted on a coin. Jayant Bhandari: And Maurice, this is so sad that, despite that he was actually a very popular guy, he's no longer remembered, at least it seems no longer remembered by the black community and the rest of the American people. And he should be one of our heroes, but carry on. Maurice Jackson: Which is really unfortunate because the left was inspired and influenced by a gentleman who was the nemesis of Booker T. Washington, and that will be W. E. B. Du Bois. He was the founder of the NAACP. What a lot of people in the black community don't realize about W. E. B. Du Bois was that he was also a communist. So both of them realized there were wrongs done by slavery, but took two completely juxtaposed positions. And one has been embraced by the black community, and it was the influence, again, of W. E. B. Du Bois. But to me, my hero is Booker T. Washington. All right, let's get back on track here. You referenced in your musing, the need for order. Can you expand on that for us? And is that the same as being controlled by Big Brother? Jayant Bhandari: Well, the last thing you want to have is order brought in by the Big Brother, because the moment you have top-down order, there might be order, but the problem is, there will be huge systemic risks because of two reasons. Firstly, the guy at the very top does not really understand what is happening at the ground level, so he does not really know what is happening at the ground level and cannot really define policies to keep order in the society. Also, at the same time, people in such a society act like children because they have someone else always telling them how to live. As a result, the combination of these two things create a very infantile society where people have no sense of responsibility. And as a result, this creates a massive systemic risk in the society. So, what I don't want is top-down order, what I want is bottom-up order, an order within an individual. And within an individual requires, for a lack of word, domesticating that individual. Making that person understand the concept of civilization. And that was an order that was brought in by among many other things, Christianity. I am an atheist, but I truly understand the huge value Christianity provides as one of the most important legs for the Western society. So, it is a self-imposed order that you accept. You accept the concept of integrity, you accept respect for other people, you accept doing charity for the people who need to be helped, and these are the concepts which are uniquely Christian. So this is the kind of order that I'm interested in, a bottom-up order where an individual is self-responsible, he does not have the culture of whining and grievances, and he does not impose himself on other people. So that is what I am referring to when I state "the need for order." Maurice Jackson: If East Asia looks to be the primary beneficiary of a post-COVID-19 era, how can someone [reading] benefit financially? Jayant Bhandari: There are a lot of emotions in the market, which means there's a huge amount of volatility in the market. If you understand what that volatility means and how you can exploit that volatility, you can actually buy something when it is very inexpensive and get an extra upside from that huge volatility. So that is where East Asia comes into the picture. A lot of East Asian stocks have suffered. Now there is, of course, a problem: you have to be very nuanced in your thinking because you don't know what bank balance sheets will look like. You don't know how easy it will be for Chinese clothes manufacturers to be able to export to the U.S. in the near future. Therefore, readers have to be aware of some of those things, but this volatility, this fall in the stock prices, actually might be beneficial for readers in getting an extra upside. Readers have to remember that a lot of these stocks have bounced back over the last month. If I had to buy something, I would just want to keep an eye on good companies and wait for another fall in the stock prices to exploit that volatility again. Maurice Jackson: Many of our audience members are active participants in resource stocks. Sir, how will the resource space respond for investors in a post-coronavirus world? Jayant Bhandari: It's very interesting question, because I just told you for now, it is difficult to know what a bank balance sheet or exporter balance sheet will look like, because we don't know what the trade situation between China and U.S. will be like in moving forward. Therefore, the more upstream you go, in terms of what a company makes, the better it will be for you, because the more you are closer to commodities, the better your understanding of the cost and revenue is. For example, speculators know exactly what the revenue will be for oil, gas, mining companies, base metals, gold and silver, to include what your production would be and what your costs would be because you know what costs go into these industries. As a result, the more upstream you are, the better off you will be in valuing these companies. And you can hedge yourself; you can play with the futures. I don't always advocate investing in mining companies, but I think commodity businesses are going to be at a huge advantage because you are much better able to value these companies in the current scenario. Maurice Jackson: Jayant, you're a highly regarded name in the natural resource space as you consult with institutional investors on unique value propositions. Can you share some golden nuggets that you see as buying opportunities right now? Jayant Bhandari: Sure. Just be mindful of the fact that some of these stocks have gone up over the last three weeks or so, and I would not be surprised if they fall. I would only give limit orders and I would give stink orders actually, just to get as much benefit from volatility, which I think will continue to happen over the next few months. One is Anaconda Mining Inc. (ANX:TSX). They came out with a good quarterly, it's trading around $0.25/share. I wouldn't bid for it at higher than that. I think it's a good company based in Canada, which in my view is a safe jurisdiction. And from what I know the mine continues to run and continues to spit out a good cash flow. Another company, O3 Mining Inc. (OIII:TSX.V), [is] a company I've mentioned to you a few times. It has gone up quite a bit from $1.10 to $2.50/share recently. But I still think it has a very good upside, I would bid for it around $2 or less, to see if I can get that company. There's another company called Mirasol Resources Ltd. (MRZ:TSX.V), which Is trading around $0.40/share. I would wait for it to fall to maybe about $0.35. I know there are a lot of sellers because this company has everything in Latin America. But if you buy it below $0.35, you will be buying it for cash value. Maurice Jackson: It goes without saying, you're also the most respected name when it comes to arbitrage opportunities. I still remember your call on Sunridge Gold, that went up over 600% in less than three months. Do you have any arbitrage opportunities to share with us? Jayant Bhandari: Absolutely, and arbitrage opportunities are some of the most basic ways to make money. We should just keep ourselves limited to what we understand, so arbitrage requires very simple math. Tethyan Resource Corp. (TETH:TSX.V), situated in Canada, is being acquired by an Australian company. So if you buy Tethyan, which offers you about 20% arbitrage upside at the current price of CA$0.15, you not only have an arbitrage opportunity, but the company that is acquiring it actually is a very well-run company from what I know, and it actually has a very good upside as well. So, have look at Tethyan Resource. But remember that these shares will convert into Australian or London stocks after the merger is over. So you should have an account with a brokerage like Interactive Brokers, where your shares can automatically convert to ASX or London-based stocks without a fee. And you can then sell those stocks at a reasonable commission, not at a very high commission, if you hold this company and, let's say, use TD or Scotiabank. Maurice Jackson: Moving on to physical precious metals, from a scale of one to 10, and 10 meaning the highest, what number would you assign to owning physical precious metals right now? Jayant Bhandari: As I said just a while back, Maurice, [for] mining and commodity businesses, the more upstream you are, the safer you are in terms of valuation because you know what is going in and what is coming out much better than when you get into very complex businesses, let's say like Apple cell phones, or banks, or clothes manufacturers, because you don't really understand what costs and revenue will look like, and whether you can sell or not. So the more upstream you are, the better off you are. And hence mining and commodity businesses are very good for me. But also, if you can actually own commodities, you are even better grounded to valuation, solid valuation. And that is where I think it's extremely important to own a good part of your net worth, let's say 10 to 20%, in precious metals. Now the easiest precious metals to own are gold, silver, platinum and palladium. And if I could buy these when the prices are good, I would certainly want to accumulate more of these. I would assign a big 10, that investor should own physical precious metals. Maurice Jackson: What financial words of wisdom would you like to impart for someone that does not own precious metals? Jayant Bhandari: So, the more downstream you go, Maurice, the more you are in abstraction for now, because the economic structure of the world is going to change and has already changed. Now this is not necessarily because of COVID-19, it is more because of some of the crazyand I would say, stupiddecisions several governments have taken. This has created an economic chaos around the world. And the more grounded you are to value in these days, the better off you will be. At least you will get a peaceful sleep. And also you are more likely to protect your savings. Maybe you won't make a lot of money but my guess is that, you will actually make money in gold and silver. So yes, it's extremely important to be invested in physical precious metals. But also, if you understand more of downstream businesses like banks or clothes manufacturers, then go for it. I invest in Singapore, Hong Kong and China, and I know the risks I'm taking. So I will continue to invest in them. But if you don't know a lot about investing, then precious metals and commodities is actually an extremely safe way to protect your savings. Precious metals are actually, across the board, very safe ways to protect your savings. And because they're safe ways, a lot of people will be buying these in the near future, so investors should take advantage of the low prices and start buying now! Maurice Jackson: And if readers are looking to purchase physical precious metals be sure to contact me. I'm a proud licensed representative for Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments. Now let's discuss a topic that is germane to all of the aforementioned, yet never discussed, it seems, on any other financial platform, and that is philosophy. Mr. Bhandari how does philosophy fit into today's discussion? Jayant Bhandari: For me, the most important thing is the foundation. And the foundation is, why we have a civilization, why we are no longer animals, is because of culture, because we are able to think for the future, we can accumulate knowledge and information, we can plan for tomorrow. And as a result, philosophy is very important, because philosophy and reasoning allows us to add value as we go forward. So, for me, that is the cornerstone, that is the foundation of everything. Some people tell me that I should focus on investing and not worry about philosophy. But for me, what is not seen, what is the foundation, is the most important. Maurice Jackson: Sir, you are the founder of a philosophical form focused on reason, argumentation and liberty. Please introduce us to Capitalism & Morality. Jayant Bhandari: I have been running this seminar in Vancouver, Canada, for the last 10, 11 years now. This is a one-day philosophy seminar in which people like Doug Casey, Adrian Day, Rick Rule, Jeff Dice, Walter Block [speak]; a lot of these people have spoken in the past and they continue to come in and speak in that seminar. It is a very enlightening seminar in my view; I do it every summer. The next one will be on July 25, 2020, in downtown Vancouver, subject, of course, to the fact that people, by that time, are allowed to travel between the U.S. and Canada. Maurice Jackson: In closing, sir, what keeps you up at night that we don't know about? Jayant Bhandari: Well, right now Maurice, I am stuck in India. And I've been here for the last two months because of an atrocious lockdown that Narendra Modi has enforced in this country. It has created a massive humanitarian crisis, which I think will lead to deaths of millions of people. And it will probably create a massive amount of chaos in this country. And as I said earlier, there will very likely be no recovery in the foreseeable future. India will implode and fall apart; disease and a virus will have a field day in this country. I feel very bad about what I'm seeing with my eyes. Unfortunately, I feel sad for the people who are suffering because of horrible leadership that exists in India, including the Third World. Maurice Jackson: Mr. Bhandari, last question: What did I forget to ask? Jayant Bhandari: Well, I think we have talked about a lot of things. Maurice, I still hope I can run my seminar on July 25, 2020, in Vancouver, subject to the fact that travel between the U.S. and Canada opens up. Maurice Jackson: Jayant, for someone listening that wants to learn more about your work in Capitalism & Morality, please share the website address. Jayant Bhandari: [Go to] www.jayantbhandari.com, and go to a tab called Capitalism & Morality, where [you] can watch speeches of the last 10, 11 years. And you can also register for this year's seminar. Maurice Jackson: Before you make your next bullion purchase, make sure you call me. I'm a licensed representative for Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments. We provide a number of options to expand your precious metals portfolio from physical delivery, offshore depositories and precious metal IRAs. Call me directly at (855) 505-1900 or you may e-mail maurice@milesfranklin.com. Last but not least, please subscribe to www.provenandprobable.com for mining insights and bullion sales. Jayant Bhandari, thank you for joining us today on Proven and Probable. Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world. Disclosure: 1) Maurice Jackson: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: None. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: None. Proven and Probable disclosures are listed below. 2) Jayant Bhandari: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Anaconda Mining, O3 Mining, Mirasol Resources, Tethyan Resource. 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You understand that you are using any and all Information available on or through this forum at your own risk. Images provided by the author. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A 12-year-old wild elephant that trampled a youth a few days ago in Jharkhand, is being looked after by villagers and forest officials. The elephant had sustained injuries in the incident and is being served food mixed with vegetables. The villagers came to rescue of the tusker forgetting the damage caused by it, forest officials said. The jumbo reportedly killed two people and damaged several houses and crops in Rahe, Silli and Angarha blocks in the past one month. The elephant, which is struggling to walk due to acute pain in his front left leg, has taken shelter in a hillock between two villages - Hesadih and Rigrigram - under Silli block. Even as veterinary doctor has prescribed the medicine, serving the medicine to the wild elephant is a big challenge for forest officials. The local villagers have extended their services to help the elephant recover from the injury. The villagers are providing pumpkins and bottle gourds in which medicine is infused and they are placed near a water body where the jumbo comes to quench his thirst every day. Around a week back, we noticed the elephant in nearby hillock. We found the elephant was in big pain and tears rolling out of its eyes. It was not able to walk properly. We informed the forest department and requested to rescue the elephant immediately. Otherwise, it will die in pain, said Kalipada Mahto, a resident of Hesadih. The veterinary doctor of Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park, also known as Birsa zoo, Dr Ajay Kumar was called for treatment of the elephant. I was told that the elephant was suffering due to acute swelling, which might have caused due to injury, on his left leg. I went there around a week back but did not find the elephant. I prescribed few medicines including broad spectrum antibiotic and non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs along with proteolytic enzyme, Kumar said. The Angarha forest ranger RK Singh said, Serving medicines to a wild elephant is a big challenge due to possible attack by it. Then, we came up with an idea to serve it through vegetables. We infused the medicines in pumpkins and bottle gourds and placed them near a water body. The elephant comes down every day from the hillock to quench his thirst and it also eats the vegetables. The vegetables are provided by the villagers. They also placed paddy to feed the elephant. We served medicine by this way for past three- four days. But, the elephant did not come down on Wednesday. We are concerned but nobody dares to go to the hillock, as four more wild elephants have come to the place on Tuesday night, Singh said, adding, we are now finding out other options. Jharkhand is one of the worst-affected states by man-elephant conflicts. As per the data available with the forest department, man-elephant conflicts claimed 650 lives between 2009-10 and 2018-19. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Singapores first LNG bunkering vessel launches FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) and Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd, is pleased to announce the launch of Singapores first LNG bunkering vessel in Keppel Nantong Shipyard in China. She was moved from land to water on 28 May 2020. Construction of the 7,500m3 LNG bunkering vessel is progressing smoothly and is on schedule to be completed in 4Q2020. The LNG bunkering vessel will enable FueLNG to be the first in Singapore to provide regular ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services within the Singapore port. It supports initiatives implemented by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to increase the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel, facilitating the growth of Singapore as a global LNG bunkering hub. Mr Saunak Rai, General Manager of FueLNG, said, There is a growing number of LNG-fuelled vessels in the world and FueLNG is well-positioned to seize LNG bunkering opportunities in Singapore. We have safely completed more than 200 truck-to-ship bunkering operations with no incidents, a testament to our high standards and operational expertise. Building Singapores first LNG bunkering vessel demonstrates FueLNGs confidence in LNG as a marine fuel. The vessel will enhance our range of services and boost our efforts to further increase the availability of LNG in the market. FueLNGs bunkering vessel will further enhance the LNG bunkering infrastructure in Singapore and support the growth of the industry through the development of best practices such as technical standards. The expansion of the LNG bunkering infrastructure will also create more opportunities in adjacent sectors in Singapore, such as ship design, construction, operation and repair, as well as in LNG trading. The vessel, which is able to run on both LNG and marine diesel oil, is currently being built to the proprietary MTD 7500U LNG design developed by Keppel O&Ms technology arm, Keppel Marine and Deepwater Technology (KMDTech) for cleaner and safer bunkering activities. Key features of the vessel include high manoeuvrability which enables bunkering without tug assistance, compatibility with a wide range of vessels, as well as propulsion and power management systems that optimise fuel consumption. The vessel has a filling rate range of up to 1000m3 of LNG per hour and is able to supply LNG to various types of vessels at heights ranging from 3m to 23m above water level. NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the Search Experience Cloud company, today announced its results for the three months ended April 30, 2020, or the Company's first quarter of fiscal 2021. "We have seen the rise of questions on the internet accelerate the digital transformation of every business, particularly in the last couple of months," said Howard Lerman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yext. "Our platform is mission-critical to providing accurate and timely official answers to urgent questions. Given the large TAM opportunity and strong demand for our Yext Answers product, we are continuing to position Yext as The Official Answers Company. We have transitioned to a 'Lead with Answers' sales motion, and our 90-Day Yext Answers Free Trial will allow any company to quickly see ROI and how important site search is to their customers' digital experiences." Last week, Yext announced it is the first search technology partner to join the Adobe Exchange program at the premier level, the top tier of Adobe's technology partner program. "We're thrilled to work more closely with Adobe, the behemoth in the digital experience space, to extend Yext's Search Experience Cloud to an even wider pool of marketers," said Lerman. "Now, every Adobe rep in the world can refer Yext Answers to their customers, and Yext can show customers how Answers will deliver lower support costs, higher revenue conversion, and deep customer insights on their websites." First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Highlights: Revenue of $85.4 million , a 24% increase compared to the $68.7 million reported in the first quarter fiscal 2020. of , a 24% increase compared to the reported in the first quarter fiscal 2020. Gross Profit of $64.2 million , a 23% increase compared to the $52.2 million reported in the first quarter fiscal 2020. Gross margin of 75.2% compared to 76.0% reported in first quarter fiscal 2020. of , a 23% increase compared to the reported in the first quarter fiscal 2020. Gross margin of 75.2% compared to 76.0% reported in first quarter fiscal 2020. Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss: Net loss of $29.2 million compared to the net loss of $19.0 million in the first quarter fiscal 2020. The increased net loss was driven primarily by higher operating expenses, due to an overall increase in employee-related costs, as well as an increase in lease expenses, primarily as a result of our new lease arrangement for our corporate headquarters in New York, NY which commenced in May 2019 . compared to the net loss of in the first quarter fiscal 2020. The increased net loss was driven primarily by higher operating expenses, due to an overall increase in employee-related costs, as well as an increase in lease expenses, primarily as a result of our new lease arrangement for our corporate headquarters in which commenced in . Non-GAAP net loss of $11.9 million compared to the non-GAAP net loss of $5.7 million in the first quarter fiscal 2020. The increase in non-GAAP net loss was primarily attributable to the higher operating expenses as described above. compared to the non-GAAP net loss of in the first quarter fiscal 2020. The increase in non-GAAP net loss was primarily attributable to the higher operating expenses as described above. Net Loss Per Share and Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Share: Net loss per share of $0.25 in the first quarter fiscal 2021 compared to net loss per share of $0.18 in the first quarter fiscal 2020. in the first quarter fiscal 2021 compared to net loss per share of in the first quarter fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.10 in the first quarter fiscal 2021 compared to non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.05 in the first quarter fiscal 2020. in the first quarter fiscal 2021 compared to non-GAAP net loss per share of in the first quarter fiscal 2020. Net loss per share and non-GAAP net loss per share were based on 116.6 million and 106.5 million weighted-average basic shares outstanding for the first quarter fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, respectively. Balance Sheet: Cash and cash equivalents of $248.8 million as of April 30, 2020. Unearned revenue of $152.6 million as of April 30, 2020, a 22% increase compared to $125.4 million as of April 30, 2019. Cash and cash equivalents of as of April 30, 2020. Unearned revenue of as of April 30, 2020, a 22% increase compared to as of April 30, 2019. Remaining Performance Obligations ("RPO"): RPO of $293.8 million as of April 30, 2020. RPO expected to be recognized over the next 24 months of $277.8 million with the remaining balance expected to be recognized thereafter. RPO does not include amounts under contract subject to certain accounting exclusions. RPO of as of April 30, 2020. RPO expected to be recognized over the next 24 months of with the remaining balance expected to be recognized thereafter. RPO does not include amounts under contract subject to certain accounting exclusions. Cash Flow: Net cash used in operating activities was $0.7 million for the first quarter fiscal 2021 compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $0.8 million for the same period of fiscal 2020. Readers are encouraged to review the tables labeled "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" at the end of this release. Recent Business Highlights: Announced global technology partnership with Adobe. Yext is joining the Adobe Exchange program at the premier level, the top tier of Adobe's technology partner program. Adobe content management system clients can choose to upgrade their search experience with Yext's innovative site search product, Answers. Offered our new site search product, Yext Answers, for a 90-day free trial. Launched No Wrong Answers integrated marketing campaign to help more organizations across industries transform their websites with Yext Answers and provide consumers with official answers. Announced collaborations with the States of New Jersey and Alabama to launch a comprehensive information hub, powered by Yext Answers, that centralizes accurate information and updates about the COVID-19 pandemic. and to launch a comprehensive information hub, powered by Yext Answers, that centralizes accurate information and updates about the COVID-19 pandemic. Announced collaboration with the United States Department of State on an official COVID-19 travel alert and advisory information hub, powered by Yext Answers. Announced collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to integrate Yext Answers on its COVID-19 webpage. Customer count, which excludes our small business and third-party reseller customers, increased 36% year-over-year to nearly 2,100. Executed a new credit agreement which provides a revolving loan facility of up to $50.0 million . . Appointed Seth Waugh , CEO of the PGA of America, to its Board of Directors, effective March 3, 2020 . Financial Outlook: Yext is also providing the following guidance for its second fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2020. Second Quarter Fiscal 2021 Outlook: Revenue is projected to be in the range of $84 million to $86 million . to . Non-GAAP net loss per share is projected to be $0.13 to $0.11 which assumes 118.5 million weighted-average basic shares outstanding. With the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are withdrawing our previously issued full year fiscal 2021 guidance. Conference Call Information Yext will host a conference call today at 4:30 P.M. Eastern Time (1:30 P.M. Pacific Time) to discuss its financial results with the investment community. A live webcast of the call will be available on the Yext Investor Relations website at http://investors.yext.com. A live dial-in is available domestically at (877) 883-0383 and internationally at (412) 902-6506, passcode 6370206. A replay will be available domestically at (877) 344-7529 or internationally at (412) 317-0088, passcode 10143690, until midnight (ET) June 11, 2020. About Yext The ultimate source for official answers about a business online should be the business itself. However, when consumers ask questions on company websites, too often they are left in the dark with wrong answers. Yext (NYSE: YEXT), the Search Experience Cloud, solves this problem by organizing a business's facts so it can provide official answers to consumer questions wherever people search. Starting with the company website, then extending across search engines and voice assistants, businesses around the world, like Taco Bell, Marriott, and Jaguar Land Roveras well as organizations like the U.S. State Departmenttrust Yext to radically improve the search experience on their websites and across the entire search ecosystem. Yext's mission is to help businesses and organizations around the world deliver official answers everywhere people search. Yext has been named a Best Place to Work by Fortune and Great Place to Work, as well as a Best Workplace for Women. Yext is headquartered in New York City with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Dallas, Geneva, London, Miami, Milan, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and the Washington, D.C. areaand work-from-home offices all around the world. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 This release includes forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding our revenue, non-GAAP net loss and shares outstanding for our second quarter fiscal 2021 in the paragraphs under "Financial Outlook" above, statements regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operations and other statements regarding our expectations regarding the growth of our company, our market opportunity and our industry. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "intend," "potential," "might," "would," "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Actual events or results may differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, and these differences may be material and adverse. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this release primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, strategy, short- and long-term business operations, prospects, business strategy and financial needs. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. and global markets, our business, operations, financial results, cash flow, demand for our products, sales cycles, and customer acquisition and retention; our ability to renew existing customers and attract new customers generally; our ability to successfully expand and compete in new geographies and industry verticals; our ability to maintain and scale our sales force; our ability to expand our service and application provider network; our ability to develop new product and platform offerings to expand our market opportunity, including with Yext Answers; our ability to release new products and updates that are adopted by our customers; our ability to manage our growth effectively; changes to our real estate strategy, in particular the timing of our exit of our existing global headquarters in New York, New York and the timing and size of our capital expenditures related to new facilities; weakened global economic conditions; the number of options exercised by our employees and former employees; and the accuracy of the assumptions and estimates underlying our financial projections. For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, please refer to the risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are available at http://investors.yext.com and on the SEC's website at https://www.sec.gov. Further information on potential risks that could affect actual results will be included in other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this release relate only to events as of the date on which such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof or to conform such statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law. Non-GAAP Measurements In addition to disclosing financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this press release and the accompanying tables include non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share and non-GAAP net loss margin. Non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share and non-GAAP net loss margin are financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. We define these non-GAAP net loss financial measures as our GAAP net loss as adjusted to exclude the effects of stock-based compensation expenses. Non-GAAP net loss per share is defined as non-GAAP net loss on a per share basis. See "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for a discussion of the applicable weighted-average shares outstanding. Non-GAAP net loss margin is defined as non-GAAP net loss divided by revenue. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide investors and other users of our financial information consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitate period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations. With respect to non-GAAP net loss margin, we believe this metric is useful in evaluating our profitability relative to the amount of revenue generated, excluding the impact of stock-based compensation expense. We also believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry, as these metrics eliminate the effects of stock-based compensation, which may vary for reasons unrelated to overall operating performance. We use these non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with traditional GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies and to communicate with our Board of Directors concerning our financial performance. Our definition may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish this or similar metrics. Thus, our non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, nor superior to or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures may be limited in their usefulness because they do not present the full economic effect of our use of stock-based compensation. We compensate for these limitations by providing investors and other users of our financial information a reconciliation of non-GAAP net loss to net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share to net loss per share and non-GAAP net loss margin to net loss margin, the most closely related GAAP financial measures. However, we have not reconciled the non-GAAP guidance measures disclosed under "Financial Outlook" to their corresponding GAAP measures because certain reconciling items such as stock-based compensation and the corresponding provision for income taxes depend on factors such as the stock price at the time of award of future grants and thus cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, reconciliations to the non-GAAP guidance measures is not available without unreasonable effort. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety, not to rely on any single financial measure and to view non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share in conjunction with net loss and net loss per share. For Further Information Contact: Investor Relations: Yuka Broderick [email protected] Public Relations: Amanda Kontor [email protected] YEXT, INC. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands, except share and per share data) (Unaudited) April 30, 2020 January 31, 2020 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 248,796 $ 256,076 Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $1,741 and $995, respectively 47,308 80,583 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 17,202 12,730 Costs to obtain revenue contracts, current 28,143 28,423 Total current assets 341,449 377,812 Restricted cash 12,100 Property and equipment, net 49,033 26,200 Operating lease right-of-use assets 114,101 111,973 Costs to obtain revenue contracts, non-current 22,694 26,051 Goodwill 4,494 4,534 Intangible assets, net 1,148 1,343 Other long term assets 3,871 3,607 Total assets $ 536,790 $ 563,620 Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities $ 55,799 $ 59,482 Unearned revenue, current 152,565 176,806 Operating lease liabilities, current 8,796 8,640 Total current liabilities 217,160 244,928 Operating lease liabilities, non-current 123,109 115,187 Other long term liabilities 2,610 2,293 Total liabilities 342,879 362,408 Commitments and contingencies Stockholders' equity: Preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share; 50,000,000 shares authorized at April 30, 2020 and January 31, 2020; zero shares issued and outstanding at April 30, 2020 and January 31, 2020 Common stock, $0.001 par value per share; 500,000,000 shares authorized at April 30, 2020 and January 31, 2020; 124,029,508 and 122,335,709 shares issued at April 30, 2020 and January 31, 2020, respectively; 117,524,174 and 115,830,375 shares outstanding at April 30, 2020 and January 31, 2020, respectively 124 122 Additional paid-in capital 659,262 636,008 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1,693) (360) Accumulated deficit (451,877) (422,653) Treasury stock, at cost (11,905) (11,905) Total stockholders' equity 193,911 201,212 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 536,790 $ 563,620 YEXT, INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (In thousands, except share and per share data) (Unaudited) Three months ended April 30, 2020 2019 Revenue $ 85,351 $ 68,708 Cost of revenue 21,184 16,473 Gross profit 64,167 52,235 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 58,520 46,398 Research and development 14,378 9,906 General and administrative 20,458 15,191 Total operating expenses 93,356 71,495 Loss from operations (29,189) (19,260) Interest income 468 906 Interest expense (137) (53) Other expense, net (84) (206) Loss from operations before income taxes (28,942) (18,613) (Provision for) benefit from income taxes (282) (346) Net loss $ (29,224) $ (18,959) Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted $ (0.25) $ (0.18) Weighted-average number of shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted 116,606,835 106,453,558 Other comprehensive (loss) income: Foreign currency translation adjustment $ (1,333) $ 314 Unrealized gain on marketable securities, net 35 Total comprehensive loss $ (30,557) $ (18,610) YEXT, INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands) (Unaudited Three months ended April 30, 2020 2019 Operating activities: Net loss $ (29,224) $ (18,959) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 2,045 1,941 Bad debt expense 759 40 Stock-based compensation expense 17,372 13,216 Amortization of operating lease right-of-use assets 3,457 1,578 Other, net 190 (32) Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable 32,395 22,195 Prepaid expenses and other current assets (5,064) 60 Costs to obtain revenue contracts 3,465 (365) Other long term assets (479) (1,913) Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities (4,650) (6,338) Unearned revenue (24,161) (9,708) Operating lease liabilities 2,679 (1,242) Other long term liabilities 559 346 Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities (657) 819 Investing activities: Maturities of marketable securities 24,697 Capital expenditures (21,275) (831) Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities (21,275) 23,866 Financing activities: Proceeds from common stock offering, net of underwriting discounts and commissions 147,000 Payments of common stock deferred offering issuance costs (208) Proceeds from exercise of stock options 1,879 5,000 Payments of deferred financing costs (394) (163) Proceeds, net from employee stock purchase plan withholdings 1,483 1,868 Net cash provided by financing activities 2,968 153,497 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (416) (174) Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (19,380) 178,008 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 268,176 91,755 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period $ 248,796 $ 269,763 Supplemental reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash within the condensed consolidated balance sheets: (in thousands) April 30, 2020 April 30, 2019 Cash and cash equivalents $ 248,796 $ 257,663 Restricted cash 12,100 Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ 248,796 $ 269,763 YEXT, INC. Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (In thousands) (Unaudited Three months ended April 30, 2020 GAAP Stock-Based Compensation Expense Non-GAAP Cost and expenses: Cost of revenue $ 21,184 $ (1,233) $ 19,951 Gross profit $ 64,167 $ 1,233 $ 65,400 Sales and marketing $ 58,520 $ (7,781) $ 50,739 Research and development $ 14,378 $ (3,943) $ 10,435 General and administrative $ 20,458 $ (4,415) $ 16,043 Loss from operations $ (29,189) $ 17,372 $ (11,817) Net loss $ (29,224) $ 17,372 $ (11,852) Net loss margin (34.2)% 20.3% (13.9)% Three months ended April 30, 2019 GAAP Stock-Based Compensation Expense Non-GAAP Cost and expenses: Cost of revenue $ 16,473 $ (818) $ 15,655 Gross profit $ 52,235 $ 818 $ 53,053 Sales and marketing $ 46,398 $ (6,840) $ 39,558 Research and development $ 9,906 $ (2,572) $ 7,334 General and administrative $ 15,191 $ (2,986) $ 12,205 Loss from operations $ (19,260) $ 13,216 $ (6,044) Net loss $ (18,959) $ 13,216 $ (5,743) Net loss margin (27.6)% 19.2% (8.4)% YEXT, INC. Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (In thousands, except share and per share data) (Unaudited) Three months ended April 30, 2020 2019 Net loss $ (29,224) $ (18,959) Stock-based compensation expense 17,372 13,216 Non-GAAP net loss $ (11,852) $ (5,743) Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted $ (0.25) $ (0.18) Stock-based compensation expense per share 0.15 0.13 Non-GAAP net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted $ (0.10) $ (0.05) Weighted-average number of shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted 116,606,835 106,453,558 SOURCE Yext, Inc. Related Links http://www.yext.com Click here to read the full article. Netflix, Disney Sony, Cartoon Network Studios, Dean DeBlois and Aardman are reading presentations at Frances Annecy Film Festival as 2020s Annecy, even online, once more proves to be the biggest animation fest in the world and the international event with the largest Hollywood and now global platform presence. Put together, Annecys latest big wave of programming announcement suggests that its move online will mean no world premiere of a potential Hollywood blockbuster such as, in the past, the Despicable Me movie series. With more studio involvement most probably still to be announced, many of the good and great of the English-speaking animation world do look more than willing, however, to roll up their sleeves to update accredited festival viewers on upcoming releases such as, of titles now announced, Netflixs Wendell & Wild and Sony Pictures Animations Connected. More from Variety NETFLIX A masterclass between stop-motion luminary Henry Selick and composer Bruno Coulais will discuss the role of music in Selicks movies, including Coraline and upcoming Netflix original Wendell & Wild with Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key and two demon brothers. As already announced, in another Netflix-related event, a Making Of panel, Animal Crackers directors Tony Bancroft and Scott Christian Sava will be looking back on the tortuous road from a dream preem in Annecy competition, Variety calls it delightfully inventive, frequently hilarious to final global distribution. DISNEY Frozen 2 filmmakers, including Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee and fellow director Chris Buck, will offer a behind the scenes look at the creation of one of Disneys most ambitious animated sequels and its accompanying documentary series Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2, with episode one available on the festivals platform June 26-28 and the entire series on Disney Plus from June 26. Story continues SONY Sony Pictures Animation will deliver an update from the team behind its upcoming film Connected, out Oct. 23 in the U.S. The video presentation includes producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, director Mike Rianda, head of story Guillermo Martinez, and production designer/lead character designer Lindsey Olivares. CARTOON NETWORK STUDIOS Artists from several Cartoon Network classic series will jointly host a masterclass focusing on the art of storyboarding. Attendees include The Amazing World of Gumball series director Mic Graves, Summer Camp Island creator Julia Pott, storyboard artist Alabaster Pizzo and Apple & Onion director Chuck Klein. DEAN DEBLOIS (Masterclass) How to Train Your Dragon director Dean DeBlois will join Varietys Peter Debruge in conversation on Thursday, June 18. AARDMAN Aardman will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Chicken Run with a reunion between directors Peter Lord and Nick Park. BAOBAB Also in Thursdays presentation announcement, VR animation leader Baobab Studios will take accredited festival viewers through a first look at its newest immersive experience, Baba Yaga, directed by Baobab Studios co-founder Eric Darnell and co-directed by Mathias Chelebourg, and billed as a contemporary portrayal of the Eastern European legend. Available June 15-30, a live Q&A will also be held on June 23. SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN ANIMATION (Masterclass) French filmmakers Nicolas Blies and Stephane Hueber-Blies will lead a discussion on Sexual Violence in Animation, using a trio of cinematic variations on the same theme: Zero Impunity, Ghostdance and Aimer Moins. The masterclass will be available to stream throughout the festival, with a live Q&A hosted on June 22. Zero Impunity, a 2019 Contrechamp competition film, will also be available to stream in its entirety throughout the festival. REEL FX U.S. independent production house Reel FX will give a preview look at Augusto Schillacis short La Calesita, about Argentinas popular merry-go-round operators. RON CLEMENTS AND JOHN MUSKER (Masterclass) Legendary Disney directing partners Ron Clements and John Musker, directors of Aladin, The Little Mermaid, Hercules and many other studio classics, will host a masterclass on the 19. YAKARI Produced by Dargaud Media, Wunderwerk and Belvision, Xavier Giacometti and Toby Genkels Yakari will adapt the popular Franco-Belgian comic book series of the same name about its titular character, a young Sioux boy who follows the trail of a supernatural mustang. Bac Films will distribute in France, where it is scheduled to release on Aug. 19. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. WESTPORT With restrictions on outside gatherings loosened, school officials have announced the incorporation of an in-person graduation experience for Staples High Schools Class of 2020. In order to be granted approval to do this, we have worked closely with and secured an agreement with both the Westport Police Department and the Weston-Westport Health District, Staples principal Stafford Thomas said in an email on Tuesday. Within the next week, we will be sending out graduation day guidelines which we developed in conjunction with the two agencies. A graduation car parade, which will consist of nine small ones, will take place on June 11 at 10 a.m. Waves of 50 cars will gather at Long Lots Elementary School in three batches at 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Every graduate will arrive in one car with family members, Thomas said. Graduates will not drive their own vehicles as they will be on the passenger side in order to best enjoy the experiences of the day. Graduates should arrive at Long Lots by Post Road and Maple Avenue North, and will not be permitted to enter from Long Lots Road down Hyde Lane. The parade route will go from Long Lots to Staples. District and security personnel, wearing masks, will direct traffic and assist in the flow of the procession, Thomas said. Police will escort the cars along from Hyde Lane to Longs Lots Road, then over to and up North Avenue to Staples. Students will be given a chance to get out of their cars in front of Staples where a stage will be set up for them, Thomas said. Graduates will walk across a stage donning their caps and gowns as their name is announced with their diplomas in hand, he said. Parents are able to look on up close from the safety of their vehicles. A professional photographer will also be in place to capture the moment for each graduate, he said. We understand that nothing we do will be able to replicate a traditional graduation ceremony, Thomas said. It is a year where we are balancing numerous safety protocols, moving targets from the state with respect to outdoor gathering sizes, as well as the expectations of our high school traditions linked to a specific culminating event for seniors. That being said, by incorporating the wishes and expectations we have heard from our students and families over the past couple of months, it is our SHS Graduation Committees feeling that this experience will provide a safe and exciting way to honor the class of 2020, he continued. We are extremely excited to blow this day out and end the year for our special seniors in a truly memorable way. Staples radio station will broadcast live beginning at 9 a.m. and throughout the parade. A live camera will also be stationed at the front of the school and the parade will be streamed to Channel 78. June 12 is tentatively scheduled as a rain date for the car parade. A virtual graduation for Staples students is also scheduled for June 16 the original graduation date. The virtual ceremony will have a master of ceremony to guide viewers through all of the segments included in the traditional graduation program. The ceremony will be streamed and a link will be sent to seniors so that they can access the video to view at any time. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com Infants born prematurely may require parenteral or intravenous nutrition to provide the necessary nourishment, as their digestive system is immature and cannot digest nutrients. However, prolonged parenteral nutrition is associated with complications, including cholestasis, or lack of bile flow from the liver into the small intestine, which leads to accumulation of bile acids and injury in the liver. Emerging clinical studies have shown that cholestasis can be prevented in preterm infants with parenteral administration of oil emulsions ? mixtures made of multiple oil components ? but the mechanism mediating this effect remains unclear. Working with preterm piglets, an international group led by researchers at the USDA-ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital found evidence that the protective effect of parenteral oil infusions is accompanied by changes in the levels of gut bile acids (gut bile acid pools) and in the gut microbiome, making this study the first to connect parenteral oil infusions, the microbiome, metabolism and health. The study appears in the Journal of Lipid Research. Studying parenteral oil emulsions "The piglet model enables us to study parenteral nutrition-associated liver diseases, such as cholestasis, in a way that is clinically relevant," said senior author Dr. Douglas Burrin, research physiologist at the CNRC and professor of pediatrics at Baylor. "We treat preterm piglets similarly to how we treat preterm infants in the hospital and look at liver function and gene expression in the piglets to better understand the physiology." The original lipid emulsion developed for parenteral nutrition in infants was based on one component, soybean oil, and it has been the only parenteral lipid option used for preterm infants for about 45 years. Although this oil emulsion has helped support infants' growth, physicians have been concerned that it could be involved in the development of several conditions, including liver disease. This prompted the development of new lipid emulsions with multiple oil components to prevent or treat parenteral nutrition-associated liver diseases. When the first fish-oil and multicomponent lipid emulsions became available, Burrin and his colleagues were the first group to examine their metabolic effects in parenterally fed, preterm piglets. They published their first findings in 2014. The Baylor researchers and others have shown that pure fish oil and multicomponent oil lipid formulations can reduce cholestasis associated with long-term parenteral nutrition, but how this happens still is not completely understood. In the current study, the researchers expanded their original investigations by comparing two previously studied oil emulsions ? soybean oil only (Intralipid) and a combination of soy, olive, coconut and fish oils (SMOFlipid) ? and a new experimental formulation (EXP), that was similar to SMOFlipid, but with additional DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, and arachidonic acid. An additional experimental group (ENT) used for reference consisted of piglets fed infant formula through a feeding tube. The experiment lasted 22 days. New insights into how parenteral oil emulsions work The researchers evaluated the effects of the different oil emulsions in preterm piglets by measuring cholestasis, gut bile acids pools and the composition of microbial communities in the colon as well as the profiles of the microbes' metabolic products or metabolites. The findings confirmed that multicomponent oil emulsions (SMOF and EXP), but not Intralipid, can prevent cholestasis and restore bile flow in preterm piglets as observed in the ENT group. "One of the important findings showed that prevention of cholestasis was accompanied by maintaining normal gut bile acid pools. They were lowest in the piglets treated with Intralipid but increased in the SMOF and EXP groups and were comparable to ENT," Burrin said. A particularly interesting new finding was that cholestasis was associated with changes in the gut microbiome and their metabolite profile. "It's exciting to see such a direct connection between gut bacteria and the lipid composition of parenteral nutrition," said first author Dr. Lee Call, a former Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine graduate student in the Burrin lab during the development of this work. Call currently is a postdoctoral fellow at Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. "At first it may not seem likely that intravenous lipids could have a large effect on bacterial growth in the intestine, but in fact we see that there is a strong correlation between the type of lipids given parenterally and the relative abundance of certain groups of gut bacteria. And it seems that bile is the connecting link," Call said. "These results help us understand more about the effects of parenteral nutrition, which is often a life-saving treatment for preterm babies." "We have been certain that the lipid emulsions contribute an important effect on growth and metabolism, but the mechanism and the direct causal effect was lacking. This work provides those missing links that offer newer insights that will go a long way in the development of better, safer lipid emulsions for use in preterm infants. It is exciting to be a part of this discovery," said co-author Dr. Muralidhar Premkumar, assistant professor of pediatrics-newborn at Baylor and Texas Children's. ### Other contributors to this work include Tiffany Molina, Barbara Stoll, Greg Guthrie, Shaji Chacko, Jogchum Plat, Jason Robinson, Sen Lin, Caitlin Vonderohe, Mahmoud Mohammad, Dennis Kunichoff, Stephanie Cruz, Patricio Lau, Jon Nielsen, Zhengfeng Fang, Oluyinka Olutoye, Thomas Thymann, Robert Britton and Per Sangild. The authors are affiliated with one of more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine; USDA-ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center; Maastricht University, Netherlands; Sichuan Agricultural University, China; University of Copenhagen, Denmark. This work was supported by federal funds from the USDA, Agricultural Research Service under Cooperative Agreement Number 3092-51000-060-01, grants from the University of Copenhagen, Fresenius Kabi, the Whitlock Foundation, National Institutes of Health (Grants DK-094616 and T32-GM088129), and the Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center (NIH Grant P30 DK-56338). Further support was provided by the Gulf Coast Consortia and an NLM Training Program in Biomedical Informatics (T15-LM007093). TOKYO (Reuters) - Finance leaders of the Group of Seven nations will hold a teleconference on Wednesday to discuss measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Japan's Jiji news agency said. It will be the latest of several teleconferences held by G7 finance leaders since the spread of the pandemic that has pushed the global economy to the verge of deep recession. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Azizi Developments, a leading private developer in the UAE, has assigned RAK Ceramics, one of the largest premium ceramics brands in the world, for supply of floor and wall tiles, kitchen and bathroom fittings for 26 of its developments located within the Riviera project in Dubai. A stylish waterfront-lifestyle destination located in the heart of MBR City, Riviera will boast 71 mid-rise buildings with 16,000 residences that are conveniently located in the midst of all the business, leisure and retail hubs of the city. Designed to introduce the French-Mediterranean lifestyle to Dubai, which is not merely about architectural art but also about a certain joie de vivre a celebration of life, an exultation of spirit, Riviera represents a new landmark. The Dubai developer said for Rivieras kitchens and vanity counter tops, it has procured RAKs Maximus mega slab collection with marble effect, made from single pieces of porcelain creating a stunning visual and seamless design. Corridors will be tiled with the Allepo stone collection, and balconies with porcelain tiles from the concrete collection. Bathroom floors and walls will be fitted with modern glazed porcelain tiles, inspired by natural earthly rocks, from RAKs shine stone collection, said Azizi in its statement. Further to this, wooden design living and bedroom porcelain flooring will add a contemporary rustic timber style to Rivieras highly esteemed homes, it added. Azizi COO Afzaal Hussain said: "Our valued customers investment-savvy families of over 100 nationalities - deserve the very best. We pride ourselves on our developments embodying unparalleled modern luxury a design and construction philosophy that sets us apart and ensures investor satisfaction." "RAK Ceramics world-renowned, premium collection of ceramic products was selected as the ideal fit, perfectly matching Rivieras remarkably high quality standards," he stated. "We are delighted to have finalised our agreement with this reputable manufacturer, who much like ourselves is a homegrown UAE brand, and look forward to integrating their exceptional, wide product range," he added. VP (Tiles and Sanitaryware) Ohannes Tomassian said: "RAK Ceramics is highly committed to ceramic lifestyle innovation, and we are delighted and proud to be partnering with Azizi to showcase some of our most exciting and contemporary tiles and mega-slab products in our home market of the UAE. "Azizi Developments is an important partner for RAK Ceramics, and this unique strategic partnership gives both companies a strong edge in the ever-changing ceramics solutions and property development landscape," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Editors note: Following the Advance/SILive.coms coverage of Wednesdays protest in New Dorp, one of the people who confronted the demonstrators emailed reporter Shane DiMaio to apologize for his actions. He agreed to let us publish his email, but we have decided to withhold his name to protect his identity. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- I commend your coverage of the protest march on Hylan Blvd. today, from the 122nd Precinct. I was the guy on the bike you thought was shouting at a protester. I dont believe in color, I dont like when anything is broken down to color. I thank God for the police, both black and white. I did yell God Bless The Police repeatedly, I thought I was supporting the police. One protester came over and threatened to beat me up. Some others stepped in between. I was not impressed with him, but I have to admit I was just as wrong. I also admit I got scared. I am old enough to know better, but I got caught up in the moment. I now realize I was being an agitator, and for that I am sorry. I did not know that fellow had been spat on by a motorist, and there is no place for that. I understand his anger. Under different circumstances I would gladly buy him a beer. A white guy in a pickup truck pulled up next to me, and yelled, F--- the police. That really saddened me. A cop came to me and asked me to leave, and I did immediately. Forget the fact that I should be allowed to shout out just like them. No, it wasnt my place. It was their party, and I was being a jerk. In context, I was following that crowd because I feared them passing my house. I was monitoring them. There were warnings all day, from different sources, that they were marching all the way to Tottenville on Hylan Blvd. I feared looting and fires and windows being smashed. We have been seeing it on TV all week. Cops are making statements that their hands are tied. I learned something today. I found some of those protesters are actually pretty classy, which surprised me. Some a little rude, but thats understandable. I even admire the guy with the upside-down flag (which really irritates me), especially if he really is a Marine like he claims. I already know what it symbolizes, but he took the time to calmly explain it again. After watching your coverage, and seeing that they returned to the precinct, I feel a little better. I hope this can all come to a peaceful end. For what its worth, I apologize. If you get a chance, you can pass that on from me. The Public Relations Department of Tehran Oil Refining and Distribution Company on Wednesday said a fire caused by a gasoline leak at Shahid Tondgouyan Refinery has killed one worker and injured another. A spokesman of the refinery in the south of Tehran on Wednesday told reporters that the fire which was caused by a gasoline leak has been extinguished. In November 2017 another fire in the same refinery killed eight engineers and technicians. News agencies have also reported a fire in the storage facilities of Khuzestan Steel Company on Wednesday as well as fires in 18 railway cars in Eslamshahr, in the storehouses of a food production factory and at as shopping arcade in Mashhad on Tuesday. Fire Department and other officials have said that all these fires were extinguished and have attributed them to accidents. In recent days raging fires that engulfed the forests and meadows of Kohkiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Lorestan, Ilam and Khuzestan in the southwest of the country as well as at Chitgar Park in the west of the capital were contained with the help of volunteers. Media claim some of these fires including the fires at Chitgar Park were deliberate. Iranian environmental activists have criticized the government for lack of coordination between agencies and scarcity of fire extinguishing equipment for putting out the wildfires. The head of the Forestry Organization of Iran says helicopters were not sent to extinguish the fires as the organization owes 300 billion rials (about $2 million) to the Defense Ministry. Latest reports say the Iranian Planning and Budget Organization has undertaken to pay back half of the debt to the armed forces to allow their equipment to be used by the Forestry Organization. During the Covid-19 crisis, the Union of Journalists in Finland has concentrated on supporting members with advice on how to manage during the crisis and to apply for support from the various sources available to them. The UJF is also lobbying to get additional help for its self-employed members. The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the fact that the most precarious workers need protected and that the Employment Contracts Act needs to be clarified. Among the union's actions to support freelances are: Covid-19 pandemic focuses need to safeguard status in law of self-employed Guidelines for freelancers in the event of a Covid-19 epidemic Are you being laid off? What do temporary changes to collective agreements mean? Financial support In addition to professional guidance, the union granted financial assistance to journalists through its own foundation. The union has already awarded 40 special Coronavirus grants - 232.000 in total - to help freelancers and their media projects. The next set of grants will be announced in June. The other main field of work has been lobbying the Nordic authorities for a media support package. Finland has yet to announce any aid for the media while media houses have started announcing layoffs of journalists and salary cuts. This poses a threat to the publics access to quality information and media plurality at a critical moment where this right is more important than ever before. For this reason, the UJF launched a campaign involving employers to secure state aid for media. The union and employers organisation Finnmedia have now agreed to propose that support should be aimed at bolstering the production of journalistic content. Temporary support could be granted to those media that are most affected by the loss of advertising revenues during the crisis. UJF and Finnmedia agree that financial support is the best way to safeguard the media during corona crisis Union welcomes first steps by government for emergency and long-term support for the Finnish media UJF: Covid-19 support must go first to crisis-hit companies and then safeguarding the media on a permanent basis IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IFJ has urged public support for media workers and the media sector. All our proposals are contained in the IFJ platform for Quality Journalism. We praise UJFs work to support Finnish journalists and call on the government to hear its petitions and take action. There are massive protests going on in the United States following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. As a part of the protests, many shops are also being looters by protesters with ill intentions. Apple Stores are hot zones in such a scenario given just how expensive iPhones, MacBooks, and other Apple products are. As it turns out though, Apple is smarter than the protestors breaking into its retail stores though. The company uses an enhanced security system on its demo devices in-store to protect them from exactly such scenarios. All demo and unsold devices in Apple stores are automatically locked and disabled if they leave the store premises. In fact, images have popped up on Twitter and Reddit of stolen iPhones showing a message to return the stolen device back to the store. It also notes that the device is being tracked and that local authorities will be alerted about it. A patent from last year had described the security system the company uses on its unpaid and deactivated devices which are automatically disabled if they leave the store. APPLE DISABLED THE PHONES THAT WERE LOOTED pic.twitter.com/9xp1HhOAeR mJ (@disposablefilms) May 31, 2020 Apple confirmed to MarketWatch that its demo devices that are illegally taken from its stores do show messages like the ones being shared on social media. Apple had started opening its stores in the United States following an extended shut down due to the virus outbreak. However, the ongoing protests have forced the company to shut down some of its stores again for the safety of its employees and the store itself. The company has also put up scaffolding on its iconic Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan to protect it from damage due to the protests. [Via MarketWatch By PTI INDORE: Dilip Bamania, a tribal labourer, is among thousands of migrant workers hailing from western Madhya Pradesh who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus- enforced lockdown and are not able to find a way ahead to sustain themselves. Bamania, 32, was a construction labourer in Gujarat's Valsad district, but after the lockdown came into force, the work stopped there and he returned to his native Tikdibodia village in the tribal-dominated Jhabua district, located about 160 km from Indore. With no source of income and monsoon just about to set in, he is now busy repairing the roof of his hut. "I have no job now. I am not able to understand how will I be able to sustain my family," he told PTI. Bamania said his joint family comprises 18 members, but they have only "two bigha" (less than one acre) of land for farming. "Before the monsoon arrives, I am tilling the land to prepare it for sowing, but I know the income generated from farming will not be able to fulfil the needs of our family and I will have to go back to Gujarat one day to earn the livelihood, he said. However, Bamania, who has four children, has no answer to when he will be able to go back to Gujarat for work. "Right now, several businesses in Gujarat are also shut. Hence, we will wait for the right time to think of going there," he said. Bamania also informed that no government official has so far contacted him to provide work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Due to lack of employment avenues in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Khargone and Barwani districts, thousands of tribals migrate to neighbouring Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and other states in search of work. But, because of the COVID-19 crisis, they have been forced to return to their native places and are now pinning hopes on the government for jobs. Indore divisional commissioner (revenue) Akash Tripathi said, "In the wake of the return of thousands of labourers to five tribal-dominated districts of Indore division, we have initiated schemes of water conservation, basic infrastructure development and others under MGNREGA where a large number of labourers is required." Since the first phase of lockdown was announced on March 24, more than one lakh job cards were made in these five districts under MGNREGA and from April 1 onwards, 4,48,560 people were provided employment under the scheme, he said. However, tribal leader and opposition Congress MLA Heeralal Alawa claimed that after returning home, most of the tribal labourers have no work and are also facing a shortage of ration. "If the state government fails to provide employment to labourers at the local level, we will be forced to launch an agitation," said Alawa, who is an MLA from the tribal-dominated Manawar seat of Dhar district. Sydor's largest direct x-ray detector ushers in a new era of high-resolution data sets with incredible dynamic range, pushing the boundaries of what is possible for scientists to "see" using high-powered x-ray sources. Sydor Technologies, a global provider of advanced x-ray detectors and diagnostic instrumentation for the energy, research, and defense industries, announced today that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract worth $1.15M by the US Department of Energy (DOE). This Phase IIB award will advance the capability of Sydors Mixed Mode - Pixel Array Detector (MM-PAD) technology to a full megapixel array. This unique x-ray detector design was originally developed by Dr. Sol Gruners team in the Department of Physics at Cornell University and is now being commercialized by Sydor Technologies. Synchrotron light sources and x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) are generating shorter pulses with more intense x-ray light that ever before possible. While current detectors are limiting the science performed, the largest Sydor MM-PAD will accommodate x-ray scattering experiments that demand its ultra-wide dynamic range (greater than 108 photons per second per pixel) and its incredibly low read noise (0.16 photons). The new megapixel detector will enable wide-angle experiments not previously accessible to scientists leading to new, higher resolution and sharper contrast diffraction patterns along with the corresponding insights into the target materials. According to Dr. Ben Martin, Technology Development Manager, The proven performance capabilities of our existing detectors scaled to this size enables an exciting new class of x-ray scattering experiments and allows scientists to harness the power of these upgraded light sources. About Sydor Technologies Sydor Technologies is a global leader providing complex measurement solutions that generate critical results for the worlds most advanced applications in the defense, energy, ballistics, security, space, and research industries. Established in 2004, Sydor Technologies is headquartered in Rochester, NY and now supplies systems and support in over 33 countries. For additional information, please visit https://SydorTechnologies.com For more details, please contact: Dale McIntyre, dale.mcintyre@sydortechnologies.com Iconic The Young and the Restless character Victor Newman has had so many wives, it is easy to forget some of them. Though she was only on the show half of a year, Raya Meddines Sabrina Costelana Newman is memorable due to the characters story arc. Raya Meddine and Eric Braeden in 2008 | Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images Raya Meddine was Victor Newmans seventh wife Sabrina was first introduced as a friend of Victors daughter, Victoria Newman, and art curator who she met while she was living in Florence, Italy. Victoria brought her to town and she soon developed a relationship with Victor. The relationship between the two upset Victoria and their friendship ended. Though many first ostracized her in Genoa City due to her quick relationship with Victor, she gained many friends, including Jana Hawkes. Sabrina ended up pregnant not long after their romance began and they got married. She ended up dying in a fatal limo accident along with David Chow, who was romantically involved once with Victors then-ex-wife, Nikki Newman. RELATED: The Young and the Restless Star Camryn Grimes Reveals Shes Bisexual in Lobbying for Batwoman Role Though the character was killed off, Sabrina appeared several times as a ghost. She appeared to Victor, as well as his ex-wives Nikki and Ashley Abbott. The appearances to the latter were in the notable storyline of Adam Newman gaslighting Ashley. He put on one of Sabrinas dresses, pretending to be her. He also played a recording of Sabrinas voice. This made Ashley question her sanity and the mental stress she was under caused her to fall down the steps after running from who she thought was Sabrina. This causes Ashley to miscarry her and Victors baby. Meddines last appearance as Newman was in December 2010, appearing in a dream of Victors along with Hope Wilson and Colleen Carlton. Heres what Raya Meddine said about her role on the show For the character of Sabrina, the writers on The Young and the Restless actually incorporated aspects of Meddines persona. I am Lebanese. I am from Lebanon. My dad was a diplomat and I was raised all over, she told Michael Fairman TV. I was born in New York, raised in Italy, France, Canada, North Africa, Lebanon, The Arab Peninsula, Tunisia, and Yemen. It has been an amazing life! This information was used to craft the character of Sabrina. Y&R head-writer, Maria Bell, and executive producer, Josh Griffith, got that from me and thought it was good, and they wanted to make it evolve. They got that my dad is a diplomat, and that I do speak languages. Its incorporated into my identity. I loved that they used that. She also spoke about the romance story between Victor and Sabrina and if it was odd that her character slept with her best friends father. Of course its odd. The problem is not being clear up front, she explained. If, God forbid, I were in a situation where I fell in love with my best friends dad, or started having an affair with him, I would go and talk to her right off the bat. I would make sure she knows and try to get her blessing! What is important is to try to be as honest or as transparent as possible. Also, you need to live your life, and you need to honor your feelings and be true to yourself. Its not as if Victor and Nikki were together, they were divorced. So, its not as if you went and wrecked a home as a mistress. Co-stars were reportedly shocked by her exit Back in 2008, SoapCentral reported on the actresses exit and said that the cast and crew were primarily blindsided by Sabrina getting written out of the show. We were all a little blindsided. No one tells the same story about why they decided to get rid of Raya, an insider at the show told the publication. Another source insinuated that the exit would be a big one and would have major implications for the series. This will be a big one. Were going to feel the effects of this for a pretty long time, said The Young and the Restless. RELATED: The Young and the Restless: Why the Death of Colleen Carlton Is One of the Shows Most Polarizing Storylines Ever Given the fact that Meddine appeared on the show sporadically for two more years and the fact that ripple effects from Sabrinas death include Ashleys miscarriage and Adam Newmans supervillain arc, its safe to say we still see the impacts of Sabrinas death to this day. The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Rachel Griffiths has been forced to apologise for sharing an Instagram post about getting a manicure amid the outcry over George Floyd's death in the U.S. The actress, 51, posted a picture of her hand while at a nail salon and wrote that the violent street protests in America were 'easier on the soul to watch' with 'beautiful nails'. Fans were quick to brand the post as tone-deaf, especially given that it coincided with Tuesday's viral social media campaign, #blackouttuesday. 'Sorry, I got it so wrong': Rachel Griffiths, 51, (pictured) has apologised after fans slammed her 'shallow' Instagram post about getting a manicure 'as America is burning' 'Shallow I know ... America is burning people are dying ... but still it just seems easier on the soul to watch all this happening with beautiful nails,' Rachel wrote in the controversial post. 'And judging by the line of desperate ladies I am not alone. Shallow people we are but I need to share this important covid update. The manicurists are open!!! Tip generously as they had had not (sic) income since covid lockdown,' she continued. Rachel has since deleted the post, but that didn't stop people from attacking her elsewhere online. 'It just seems easier on the soul to watch all this happening with beautiful nails': The actress, 51, had posted a picture of her hand at a nail salon, while claiming the violent street protests in America were 'easier on the soul to watch' with beautiful nails On Twitter, one user uploaded a screengrab of Rachel's post, branding her actions as an absolutely disgusting display', while another called Rachel's actions 'shamelessly pathetic'. Rachel apologised for her comments later that day, uploading a video to Instagram featuring Stan Grant - a current affairs journalist of Indigenous Australian background. 'The last few days have been wrenching,' she began her caption. Backlash: Rachel (pictured) has since deleted the post, but that didn't stop people from continuing to slam her elsewhere online 'My post early today leant away from that pain but I understand in doing so it pained others who can't look away from what's happening can't turn off and check out because it is their lives their brothers their sisters their children.' The Ride Like A Girl director went on to claim she didn't 'intend to trivialise' what was going on, but rather 'just escape it'. 'I am sorry . I am sorry that I got this so wrong today. I am sorry that I abdicated any meaningful sense making of what is happening this week and has been happening for centuries,' she added, thanking those who have 'called her out'. 'I have along way to go to truly understand my white b**ch privilege': Rachel apologised for her comments later that day, uploading a video to Instagram featuring Stan Grant - a current affairs journalist of Indigenous Australian background 'I have along way to go to truly understand my white b**ch privilege,' she admitted. This post was met with mixed response from Rachel's fans, some of who believed her apology was simply not enough. 'Incredibly disappointed that you didn't feel before pressing 'post' that 'this is...wrong,' one person commented. 'Incredibly disappointed that you didn't feel before pressing 'post' that 'this is...wrong': This post was met with mixed response from Rachel's fans, some of who believed her apology was simply not enough 'So disappointed in you,' another outraged follower added. However, others praised Rachel for the way she handled the difficult situation. 'You are allowed to have a manicure and be genuinely aggrieved as we all are at the same time,' one person argued. 'You are allowed to have a manicure and be genuinely aggrieved': However, others praised Rachel for the way she handled the difficult situation Floyd, 46, died after being arrested by four Minneapolis police officers for allegedly using a fake $20 bill. He was brought to the ground by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for eight minutes. Footage of the incident was spread online, sparking a wave of protests across the U.S. and worldwide. Floyd, who was unarmed and handcuffed, repeatedly said he couldn't breathe. An autopsy later ruled he died of asphyxia. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, and the three other officers on the the scene have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. His death has sparked a wave of protests in the U.S. The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic has exposed the deficiencies in the concept of the National Capital Region (NCR) envisaged in 1985 for coordinated urban development in and around Delhi so that there could be seamless mobility, quality housing, and shared infrastructure, say multiple experts in planning and administration. Over the past month, three of the principal state administrations that make up NCR -- Delhi, UP and Haryana -- have sealed and unsealed borders at will, failed to share or pool health care infrastructure, and not tried to evolve a common strategy in the face of rising Covid-19 cases. Delhi, which has reported 25,004 cases till Thursday, sealed its borders to restrict the number of patients coming in for treatment on Tuesday, just as Noida and Gurugram, which had sealed their borders for weeks despite Delhi letting commuters in, were ready to ease curbs on intercity movement. Noida had 543 cases, while Gurugram reported 1,410 infections by Thursday. This lack of coordination forced the Supreme Court on Thursday to order the Centre to convene a meeting of member states Delhi, UP, Haryana and Rajasthan in order to evolve a common programme and common portal for easing interstate movement in the National Capital Region. The way the concept was developed, however, such a situation was never meant to happen. Capital expansion NCR was constituted due to a spurt in population growth in the region since 1951, largely due to migration resulting in congestion and shortage of civic amenities, as per the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB). The aim was primarily to decongest Delhi, and the region came into being in 1985 under the NCRPB. In the 1990s, with the emergence of Noida (New Okhla Industrial Development Authority) and Gurugram, the urban growth accelerated at breakneck speed. What used to be agricultural fields on the Capitals outskirts became the hubs of industry, offices, and housing. With almost invisible borders, Noida carried the promise of affordable housing and easy commute to and from Delhi. Noida offered all than an upper-middle class person aspires for. The authority planned at least 150 residential plotted areas and at least 600 group housing colonies in view of high demand, said Rajpal Kaushik former chief architect and urban town planner of Noida Authority. While Noida was redefining urban growth on the eastern border of the Capital, business was booming in Gurugram (then Gurgaon) located on its southern border with home-grown carmaker Maruti setting up its plant in the 1980s. Gurugram, a village till then, had vast swathes of barren land and minimal local government. Sensing the potential for industrial and urban growth, private builders such as DLF and Ansal consolidated large tracts of land and soon world class residential condominiums and office spaces sprung up across Gurugram, earning it the tag of Millennium City. Proximity to the Capital and the IGI airport, a large inventory of office space, and the economic liberalisation in the 1990s enabled Gurugram to attract corporate houses, both domestic and multinational, IT companies, BPOs, and Fortune 500 companies to set up base in the city, spurring growth and opportunities. Several industrialists from other Haryana cities such as Hisar, Bhiwani and Jhajjar also came to Gurugram to set up their base, making Udyog Vihar and Manesar industrial hubs. The National Capital Region is seen as a single economic and social unit where people move seamlessly while working in one corner or city and living in another part. It is also one of the largest integrated economic and social corridors in the world. It attracts the best talent, top corporates who want to work and live here. Real-estate growth has happened to a great extent because of economic growth and opportunities offered by a seamless NCR, which has common ethos and culture. It important to ensure people move with ease in this region, said Akash Ohri, senior executive director, DLF. While Noida and Gurugram owe their growth mostly to the economic liberalisation, Ghaziabad in UP and Faridabad in Haryana has been traditional industrial powerhouses of the two states. Today, NCR comprises Delhi and 23 districts from UP, Haryana and Rajasthan and is spread over 55,083 square km. However, the administrative integration has remained largely on paper, with member states working in silos and often sparring over issues such as water sharing, mobility and pollution. A case in point is the fact that the region is yet to evolve a common mobility solution with no reliable public transport, except Metro, to commute across the cities of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram. Mobility issues Despite existing as a massive urban conglomerate, there was no common, reliable public transport in the region before the Delhi Metro came up. Delhi operates nearly 100 buses for Gurugram, Noida and Bahadurgarh, but Haryana and UP roadways buses cant enter Delhi since they run on diesel, which is banned for public transport in the city since 1998, when the switch to CNG was made. Public transport between NCR cities involving para transit vehicles is even more restricted. As against the 95,000 registered auto-rickshaws in Delhi, only 10,000 have permits to ply from Delhi to NCR cities and vice versa. Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the Capital has put in place some of the most relaxed norms for transport vehicles coming from other states. But we do not get the same treatment from them. For example, we charge no passenger taxes on any bus coming from Haryana or any other adjoining state. But DTC buses have to pay extra passenger tax on routes such as Gurugram or Bahadurgarh. We run the buses despite the high passenger tax which in turn, makes the ticket quite expensive. Since long, we have been demanding abolition of passenger tax so that public transport becomes cheap and affordable and more and more public uses public transport, he said. The recent sealing of borders because of Covid-19 has only added to the chaos. The Regional Plan-2021, the second plan prepared by NCRPB, mentions the formation of a unified metropolitan or regional transport authority for NCR. But the plan has remained on paper. It was to ensure better coordination between various government authorities in the NCR for seamless connectivity and movement of commuters. If this authority was in place, the problems we are facing today would have been easily addressed, said PK Sarkar, member of the technical committee of NCRPB. According to a senior NCRPB official, there is a committee of transport secretaries chaired by NCRPBs member secretary which takes up issues related to better coordination between member states. But the committee has not met during the Covid-19 crisis. There has been no request either from the member states in this regard. All state governments are taking decisions as per their local situation, said the official, requesting anonymity. Urban transport experts say that some of the provisions mentioned in the Regional Plan-2021, such as Regional rail Transport (RRTS), development of peripheral expressways (Eastern and Western peripheral expressways), expressway between Ghaziabad and Meerut, expansion of Metro network etc. have been implemented. Sarika Panda Bhatt, a transportation expert based in Gurugram, pointed out that there is a common transport agreement which allows unrestricted movement of vehicles between these states. But as it would appear, such reciprocal gestures do not apply during a pandemic, she said, pointing out the lack of a coordinated approach during a crisis. A second senior official in the NCRPB, who asked not to be named, said: NCRPB is merely a facilitator, and we cannot enforce any regulations. It is up to the states to accommodate each others challenges. But now we are facing a storm, so everyone has shut their doors and windows to keep themselves safe. Satish Mahana, UPs industry minister said, As far as the Supreme Court direction on borders is concerned, the state government will take appropriate decision on itTo ensure that office goers or factory workers dont face any problem in commuting our government has directed Gautam Budh Nagar or Ghaziabad to issue passes. Haryana transport minister Mool Chand Sharma said the government is aware of problems being faced by the people. An industrialist in Faridabad has a factory in Gurugram and transports his goods to Delhi. We can see that people are being inconvenienced. I will speak with the chief minister before taking discussions forward. We have to find a solution that balances protection of both life and livelihood. Pollution politics Every year when the air pollution goes up in the winter months, so does the blame game between NCR states. While Delhi maintains that crop residue burning by farmers in Haryana and Punjab accounts for a bulk of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) pollutants in Delhis air, the governments of the two states fault Delhi for not doing enough to curb other sources of pollution in the capital. Despite pollution posing a major health emergency for millions, the states are yet to reach a consensus on a common approach and collaborate to tackle the problem. Now, the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) regulates and enforces measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across NCR. While referring to the challenges posed by the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease, Sunita Narain, member of EPCA, said the administrations which constitute NCR should go back and remember how they have together tackled air pollution in the past few years, NCR is completely interlinked in terms of movement and the air-shed is one. At EPCA, we found that the only way to deal with it was cooperation. There were a lot of times NCR cities such as Gurugram and Bhiwadi came to us questioning why we were locking them down as well under the graded response action plan, despite their pollution levels being fairly lower than Delhi. But, we didnt allow any compromise and it worked only because the entire plan was executed as NCR as a whole, Narain said. What is currently happening is not the way to go, she added. It is like drawing borders between states right now and it feels like we are drawing international borders. We have been pushing for augmentation of public transport among NCR cities because there is massive to and for Delhi from the neighbouring cities, Narain said. Water woes Politics, protest and posturing have dominated on the issue of sharing water of the Yamuna between Delhi and Haryana. Delhi depends on the Yamuna for most of its water needs and blames the Haryana government for not allowing its share of water to flow in the Munak canal the main water supply tributary to Delhi. Haryana, on the other hand, alleges that Delhi wants Haryana to part with its share of water. The two states are locked in a legal battle over the issue and the courts have time and again directed the two states to reach a negotiated settlement. (With inputs from Vinod Rajput in Noida; Prayag Arora Desai and Abhishek Behl in Gurugam) The United States said Wednesday it was waiting to build an "empowered" UN mission for Libya, frustrating France and Germany which say the delay in approving an envoy is jeopardizing momentum to end the conflict. The position of UN envoy for Libya has been vacant for three months, even with calls intensifying for a return to negotiations as the UN-recognized government beats back a rebel offensive. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Ghana's former foreign minister, was proposed for the role weeks ago by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres but has not been confirmed, with diplomats pointing to US opposition. "It's really urgent now. The situation in Libya is really bad," said the French ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Riviere, as he went public with concerns Monday alongside his counterpart from Germany. Christoph Heusgen, the German ambassador, said there needed to be a political rather than military solution. "By withholding the agreement to a proposal by the secretary general with regard to the special envoy, those responsible... carry a very heavy responsibility," he said. Neither envoy explicitly named the United States. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States also sought Libyan negotiations soon but added: "We want an empowered UN mission that can accomplish this goal." "This will require speedy action to appoint a UN special envoy who has the senior diplomatic clout and personal standing to make that engagement meaningful," the State Department official said. The official said the envoy should "focus exclusively on negotiation" while a special representative of the secretary general would focus on running the UN mission in Libya. Ghassan Salame of Lebanon quit as envoy on March 2 citing health reasons. Guterres first proposed as his successor Ramtane Lamamra, a former Algerian foreign minister, but that choice was vetoed by the United States, leading the UN chief to name Tetteh, who since 2018 has served as the UN representative to the African Union. The United Nations has long had dual, complementary roles of special envoy and special representative in Cyprus and Western Sahara, but some countries see little to show from the model as both conflicts have been in stalemate for decades. Libya has been in chaos since 2011 when a Western-backed uprising overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Since last year, warlord Khalifa Haftar -- supported by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russian elements -- has been fighting to topple the UN-recognized Government of National Unity. The Tripoli government, backed by Turkey, has made strong gains in recent weeks, including recapturing Tripoli's international airport on Wednesday. Unknown miscreants have vandalised the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, prompting the mission to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies. Vandalism of the statue of the apostle of peace happened during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The incident is reported to have taken place on the intervening night of June 2 and 3, officials said. The Indian embassy has informed the State Department and registered a complaint with local law enforcement agencies, which are now conducting an investigation into the incident. On Wednesday, a team of officials from Metropolitan Police in consultation with the Diplomatic Security Service and National Park Police visited the site and are conducting inquiries. Efforts are on to clean up the site at the earliest. WATCH: Gandhi's statue vandalised outside Indian embassy in Washington, DC US Ambassador to India Ken Juster on Thursday apologised for the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi's statute outside the Indian embassy in the US capital. "So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd & the awful violence & vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover & be better," Juster tweeted. Several protests in the US against police brutality against African-Americans have turned violent. In some cases, the violent protests have damaged some of the most prestigious and sacred American monuments. In Washington DC, protestors this week burnt a historic church and damaged some of the prime properties and historic places like the national monument and Lincoln Memorial. One of the few statues of a foreign leader on a federal land in Washington DC, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was dedicated by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the presence of the then US president Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000 during his state visit to the US. In October 1998, the US Congress had authorised the government of India to establish and maintain a memorial to honour Mahatma Gandhi on Federal land in the District of Columbia." According to the Indian Embassy website, the sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi is cast in bronze as a statue to a height of 8 feet 8 inches. It shows Gandhi in stride, as a leader and man of action evoking memories of his 1930 protest march against salt-tax, and the many padyatras (long marches) he undertook throughout the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent. The statue, the design of which was created by Gautam Pal, is a gift from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The pedestal for the statue of Mahatma Gandhi is a block of new Imperial Red also known as Ruby Red a block originally weighing 25 tonnes reduced to a size of 9'x7'x3'4". It now weighs 16 tonnes. WASHINGTON - When a protester approached and pointed her finger at him, the U.S. Capitol Police officer had already decided that he would no longer stay silent. "What are you doing as a police officer?" she demanded Wednesday night as he stood behind a stone wall and a short metal fence separating a long line of armed officers from more than 300 demonstrators. "What are you doing as a black man with that badge on? What are you doing to change things?" "I realize that in police departments across the nation, across the world, there are racists in those police departments," said the officer, who declined to provide his first name but whose uniform read R. Watts. True change, he insisted, could come only from the inside. "This country did not want us, but yet there were people who fought anyway. Now we got spaces here," he continued, pointing over his shoulder at the Capitol building, a symbol of American power that enslaved people who were forced to help build it more two centuries ago. "A man just four years ago was in a White House that wasn't designed for him. You have to start somewhere." The conversation came a half-hour after another group of protesters came to the green lawn and, quickly, became enraged at Watts and his comrades. As an organizer shouted names off a list of black men and women who had been killed by police, a police radio crackled, interrupting the reading. The man with the megaphone asked that the officer turn it down, but he ignored the plea. "You would have done it for the national anthem!" a woman yelled. "That's exactly why we're here," another shouted. And now more protesters were there for the same reason, but this time, they'd found someone who wanted to listen. "You have officers across the country who have never even dealt with black people . . . so if I quit and then all the police department is white, how does that help?" Watts asked. "It doesn't," answered Dameece Neal, who was sitting on the stone wall, facing Watts. "It doesn't," Watts affirmed. He explained that he was the father of four kids - ages 2, 10, 14 and 16 - and that that's why the job he chose, and continued to do, mattered. "I was black before this," he said, tugging on his uniform. "When I'm off duty, I'm black. But not only am I black, I'm black with this on my hip with a T-shirt over it." He pointed at his gun. "When I get pulled over and I'm a cop, I have to let that other cop know, 'Look guys, I have a weapon on me and my wallet's back here. Is it OK if I reach for it?' " he told the protesters. "I say that because I know I'm black. I know I'm black before I'm anything else. And I'm going to be black after this job." He told them he would not say all police were good or that even most were. Some were not good people. Until you deal with one, you cannot know. "But I'm not that, and I have many brothers standing next to me who are not that," he said. "We understand that nobody should lose their life for a petty crime. . . . You write a bad check, and you're dead? From a bad check, really?" Another protester interjected, granting that Watts might be a good officer - but what about all the others who aren't? "What are you doing?" Neal added. "If I see it's wrong, I will speak up," he said. "And I do." Neal, 22, nodded and kept listening. The recent college graduate had grown up in the District of Columbia and never had a conversation like this one before - "not with a police officer" - but this what she had longed to hear. "My heart walks with you guys because I've been this," Watts told them, pinching his skin, "since the day I came out of my mama. . . . I'm proud of each and every one of you guys." "Keep marching," he continued. "Do it for me. Do it because right now I'm here and I can't do what you're doing. But understand, my heart is over here with you guys." Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Despite President Donald Trump's threat to send the U.S. military into states to deal with protesters in the wake of the killing of Houston native George Floyd, Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas will not request that kind of intervention. Meantime, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick brings up God and Jesus in response to questions about military leadership's rebuke of President Trump's threat to use troops in the streets of American cities. The COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery offer Africas youth opportunities to come up with innovations across different sectors, and create much-needed jobs, according to African Union (AU) Special Envoy Ms. Okonjo-Iweala. We can choose to look at the crisis differently by asking: What are the opportunities that can come out of the crisis for young people, given that unemployment is a big problem on the continent? posed Ms. Okonjo-Iweala during a continental online discussion on 13 May. Some people have invented digital trackers for tracking the pandemic and there are all sorts of apps and technologies that are being deployed by, say Nigeria CDC, to monitor COVID-19. The Virtual Consultation Series on COVID-19: Youth Unemployment and Economic Recovery was hosted on 13 May by the AUs Youth Envoy Ms. Aya Chebbi. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala is one of the African Union (AU) Special Envoys appointed to mobilize international support for Africas efforts to address the COVID-19 economic fallout. According to the World Bank, youth account for 60% of Africa's jobless, and according to the AU Envoy, African countries need to engage the youth in all sectors of the economy to enhance efficiency in doing business. Agriculture, she emphasized, remains one of the sectors on the continent with a comparative advantage, and we need young people to think about how the continent is going to feed itself. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala challenged the youth to come up with innovative technologies for better food storage in the face of major post-harvest losses. In sub-Saharan Africa, the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics point to 40 per cent of post-harvest losses and food waste due to problems ranging from spillage to lack of proper post-harvest storage. Here is where young people need to come up with mind-blowing innovations as to how we can store food better, she said. But these technological innovations must be accompanied with proper infrastructure, including laying cables for broadband or accessing satellite links. Call for transparency Participants in the online discussion expressed the need for governments to be transparent and accountable in how they use both domestic resources and foreign aid provided to fight the pandemic. We need to be sure that the money given is put to correct use, rather than just incurring debt [and the money] going into peoples pockets, said Admire Mutimurefu of Zimbabwe. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala asked the youth to participate in initiatives geared towards tracking Africas expenditure, such as working with civil society organizations to demand to know what governments are spending. They could also devise means to track and monitor the funds. The continent is yours, you are 60% of the population. Be active in demanding transparency from your leaders. Innovate, innovate, innovate. This is the moment, she asserted. Likewise, technology experts like Shikoh Gitau are describing the COVID-19 period as Africas stunning moment of technological advancement, especially now with our borders closed. We only have ourselves to rely on, and therefore, we as the youth have to come up with solutions to our problems, says Ms. Gitau, who is a member of Kenyas COVID-19 Advisory Committee. For more information on COVID-19, visit www.un.org/coronavirus Africa Renewal Two Chinese films have been included in the 2020 Official Selection Cannes Film Festival unveiled on Wednesday. One is the Alibaba Pictures-production "Striding into the Wind," directed by Wei Shujun, the other "Septet", directed by seven Hong Kong-based top directors - Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, Sammo Hung, Johnnie To, Patrick Tam, Yuen Woo-Ping, and Ringo Lam. The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was due to take place May 12- 23, but an announcement was made on March 19 postponing it originally until the beginning of July. Festival President Pierre Lescure explained: "We had until April 15 to make a decision. But on April 13, French public authorities announced that no major cultural event could take place during the summer. Its artistic director Thierry Fremaux said in his own statement: "September being traditionally the time of the Venice and Toronto festivals, it was out of the question that we would hold our own festival at that time. As for organizing Cannes later, in October or November, after all the fall Festivals, that was just not possible either. "However, cancelation has never been an option. As you probably know, the Festival was canceled only once, in 1939. And only one other edition did not reach completion, which was in 1968. In 2020, if the film festival could not take its usual form, it was necessary for it to take another form. It could not just disappear." So, this year, whether the films have been selected for the main Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out Of Competition, Midnight Screenings, or Special Screenings, they will be in one single list as the festival's Official Selection. This comprises 56 films, chosen from the 2,067 entries submitted. It's the first time that the number of films submitted to Cannes has exceeded 2,000, indicating that the crisis and the slowdown in post-production processes have had no impact on the number of films sent for selection. Within that number, there were a record 909 debut films. Another feature is the constant geographic expansion of countries of origin. In 2020, the films submitted came from 147 countries, compared to 138 in 2019, an increase of 6.5%. Thierry Fremaux commented: "Even though movie theatres have been shut for three months - for the first time since the invention of film screening by the Lumiere Brothers on Dec. 28, 1895 - this year's selection reflects the fact that cinema is more alive than ever. It remains unique, irreplaceable,". He pointed out that some films had not made the selection process because their authors and producers chose to postpone their release to winter or spring 2021 and thus would be eligible for film festivals next year, including Cannes. He revealed that many other festivals around the world have expressed the desire to welcome the Cannes 2020 selection films. "The Cannes Film Festival will soon unveil how it will operate next Fall. Traditionally, successive festivals such as Locarno, Telluride, Toronto, Deauville, San Sebastian, Pusan, Angouleme (for French cinema), New York, Rome, Rio, Tokyo, Mumba? or Mar del Plata and even Sundance have invited the films of the Official Selection," he stressed. India has taken up with Pakistan the issue of harassment of Indian personnel in Islamabad and obstruction in the discharge of their duties days after New Delhi expelled two staffers of the Pakistani mission, people familiar with developments said on Thursday. There were reports from Islamabad of Pakistani security and intelligence personnel aggressively tailing the vehicles of Indian diplomats, including charge daffaires Gaurav Ahluwalia, and behaving in an intimidating manner outside their residences in Islamabad, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. The matter of harassment of Indian personnel and obstruction in their normal functioning is being taken up through established diplomatic channels, said a person. Several videos shared on social media purportedly showed Pakistani intelligence personnel on motorcycles tailing the Indian diplomats, including Ahluwalia. On May 31, India had expelled two officials of the Pakistan high commission after they were detained by law enforcement authorities on charges of engaging in espionage. Delhi Police officials said the staffers of the Pakistani mission were detained at Bikanervala Chowk in Karol Bagh while allegedly trying to obtain classified materials on Indian security installations, and a case was registered against them under the Official Secrets Act. The detentions were the result of an operation jointly mounted by Delhi Police and Military Intelligence. Pakistan condemned Indias decision to declare the two officials persona non grata and expel them, saying they were detained on false and unsubstantiated charges. A statement from Pakistans Foreign Office contended the two men were tortured and threatened to accept false charges despite identifying themselves as diplomatic staff. India rejected these contentions, and people familiar with developments said the Pakistan officials were caught red handed while indulging in espionage. There have been several instances of the harassment of Indian diplomats in Islamabad in recent years after bilateral ties plunged to an all-time low. One of the areas in eastern Ladakh that have witnessed troop build-up along the LAC is the area around the Pangong Tso Lake. The Union government and sections of the Opposition are presently engaged in a war of words over whether Chinese soldiers have entered Indian territory. While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked the government to 'confirm that no Chinese soldiers have entered India', Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that there are a significant number of Chinese troops present along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). One of the areas in eastern Ladakh that have witnessed troop build-up along the LAC is the area around the Pangong Tso Lake. The Chinese side has objected to India laying a key road in the 'finger area' of Pangong Tso Lake region as also some other regions. Therefore, understanding what is the 'finger area' is crucial to understanding the ongoing tensions along the LAC. What is Pangong Tso Lake's finger area? The northern banks of the Pangong Tso Lake jut out like a palm and the various protrusions are referred to as 'fingers', according to an article in The Print. While India claims that the LAC starts at Finger 8, China claims that it starts at Finger 2, which is presently dominated by India. The situation in eastern Ladakh had deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off near Pangong Tso on the evening of 5 May. The incident spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to "disengage" following a meeting at the level of local commanders. Over 100 Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the violence. The trigger for the incident was China's strong objection to the road being laid by India in the Finger area in Pangong Tso lake. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in North Sikkim on 9 May. Since then, Chinese military has increased its strength in Pangong Tso lake, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldi, and resorting to "aggressive patrolling" in these areas. The India Army is also carrying out similar exercises in the region, sources told PTI. Lieutenant-General (Retd) HS Panag has said in an article in The Print that the likely military aim of China is to stop the development of India's border infrastructure in certain regions along the LAC, including the Pangong Tso lake. Why is the region important? While the lake by itself does not have any major tactical importance, it lies in the way of the Chushul approach, which is one of the main paths that China can use for an attack on Indian territory, reported The Indian Express. In the 1962 war, this was the region in which China launched its main offensive at Rezang La, the mountain pass on the southeastern approach to Chushul valley. As per the report in The Indian Express, the Chinese use light vehicles to patrol up to 'Finger 2', which has a turning point for vehicles. However, in case they are confronted and stopped by an Indian patrol in between, and asked to return, it causes confusion, as the vehicles cant turn back. While it is believed that the construction of roads along the LAC caused the current standoff, India has been seeking to ramp up its road building capacities for decades, an article in The Diplomat points out. In November 2019, the Border Roads Organisation completed the first phase of road networks envisioned under the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in 1999 to bolster Indian patrolling along the Sino-Indian border. In all, around 61 roads totaling 3,346 kilometres have been constructed, the article said. With inputs from PTI An anti-racism protest will go ahead at the US embassy on Saturday, despite the cancellation of another rally over "potential fears of prosecution". Three organisations representing migrants, asylum-seekers and the black community in Ireland said they intend to hold a socially-distanced protest at the embassy in Ballsbridge over the death of George Floyd. Political The killing of Mr Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25 has sparked mass protests and riots in more than 40 US cities. Black Pride Ireland, the Movement of Asylum-Seekers in Ireland (MASI) and Migrants and Ethnic-minorities for Reproductive Justice (MERJ) announced yesterday they still intend to hold their protest, as long as protesters abide by the Covid-19 restrictions and do not travel more than 5km from their homes to take part. They also insisted protesters abide by social-distancing rules and refrain from bringing political party flags and organisational paraphernalia and handing out flyers that are not related to Black Lives Matter. "It is not the time for you to recruit in any way. That is not solidarity, you are taking space from black people," they wrote. "Black Lives Matter was a hashtag started in the US by three black women to highlight the disproportionate murders of black lives. "Anti-blackness is global, and here in Ireland we see it occur in the way we police crime and incarcerate asylum-seekers in direct provision." The move comes after thousands of mostly young participants who took part in last Saturday's solidarity protest were criticised by gardai and government officials for gathering in mass groups despite the pandemic. The unnamed organisers announced on Twitter yesterday that they will not hold a similar rally outside the US embassy on June 8 for fear of prosecution. "We ask that people do not attend any protests, in their own interests," the post said. "We will share details of an alternative digital action. "An Garda Siochana have not threatened or in any way attempted to intimidate the organisers. Safety "However, a number of safety concerns and potential criminal offences surrounding the protest were raised and we have elected to cancel, with the possibility of rescheduling." Health Minister Simon Harris said that while he abhors racism, "it doesn't mean we can ignore mass gathering guidelines - the reality is regardless of your cause or how just your cause is, large gatherings are dangerous". "We have to be careful. Just because we support a cause doesn't mean we have to be silent on a protest that did clearly breach guidelines," he added. A mother and son have been living on high-street benches in south London for six years after being evicted from their flat despite repeated attempts by Wandsworth Council to rehouse them. The Somalian pair used to live in a council flat in Battersea - three miles north of Tooting but after the death of a family member, they were unable to afford the rent and in February 2014, Wandsworth Council evicted them. Temporary accommodation had been lined up for them, according to the BBC, but the mother, who is believed to be in her 70s did not show up with her son who is in his 30s. A mother and son have been living on high-street benches in south London for six years after being evicted from their flat in February 2014 by Wandsworth Council The Somalian mother who is in her 70s sleeps alongside her son who is in his 30s outside a library in Tooting, south London They ended up living on a bench outside a TK Maxx store on Upper Tooting Road a few hundred metres from the bench where they currently sleep outside a library in Tooting. In December 2014, they were hospitalised because of the cold weather and the bench they had been living on was removed by the council because it was 'in their best interests'. The mother tried to return to the bench after she was was discharged while her son remained in hospital for a while longer, only to find the bench had gone. According to the Wandsworth Times, the woman was heartbreakingly found huddled up on a chair nearby using an umbrella to shelter her from the rain. Temporary accommodation had been lined up for them, but the mother, who is believed to be in her 70s did not show up with her son who is in his 30s In April 2015, the mother and son moved to a bench outside Tooting library and have been there ever since. It has been reported that the Somali community feel hurt by the case as they have repeatedly offered the mother and son lodging in people's homes but like the council they have been rebuffed. It is understood that the council believe it would be cruel and futile to move them on as the mother and son would just find another bench. A social worker is believed to visit them every two or three weeks and local charities are also involved with them. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MOTHER AND SON WHO HAVE SET UP CAMP OUTSIDE A PUBLIC LIBRARY IN LONDON 10.30am: The mother and her son wake up 10.45am: The son, believed to be in his 20s, urinates in the corner up against the Tooting Library 11am: The pair enjoy breakfast, which typically consists of a honey sandwich Noon: They drink takeaway coffees and the son listens to his MP3 player 1pm: The mother goes into the library when it opens and the pair then go for a walk 2pm: The son goes and collects their lunch of chicken and chips 2.45pm: The woman goes for a walk and he reads a book under his umbrella 4.20pm: He has an afternoon nap 7pm: They share a coffee 8pm: He sprays himself with deodorant and she applies hand and face cream 9pm: The son collects more chicken for them to eat 10.30pm: The mother falls asleep and he listens to his MP3 player Midnight: The tarpaulin goes over and they both sleep Advertisement A photo taken by Wandsworth Council of the flat the Somalian pair were offered to live in This was one of many flats that had been offered to the pair and it had been refurbished Numerous properties have been offered to the Somalian pair but they have all been turned down. A statement from Wandsworth Council last October said: 'Over the last few years Wandsworth Council has offered them four different properties to move into, all very pleasant and fully refurbished, including the original property where they used to live, but they turned all of them down without viewing them. 'Currently, a property is being held vacant for them and our social work team continues to liaise regularly with the family to try and persuade them to accept it.' The statement adds that if people refuse offers of help, 'that is their decision and choice - we cannot force people to accept our help.' In December 2014, they were hospitalised because of the cold weather and the bench they had been living on was removed from the council because it was 'in their best interests' In April 2015, the mother and son moved to a bench outside Tooting library and have been there ever since It goes on: 'Wandsworth Council is enormously concerned for their welfare and has done everything it can to try and resolve this issue and get them off the streets. 'We will continue to work alongside health partners and other agencies, including the police and local charities, as well as the local Somali community, in closely monitoring this situation - including the physical and mental well-being of these two people and their capacity to make decisions.' Wandsworth Council have been approached by the MailOnline for further comment. The average of a rough sleeper at death is 44 years for men and 42 years for women according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS estimated that 597 homeless people died in 2017 in England and Wales - mainly on the street. June is turning to a more tense period for the health agencies as cases continue to rise big time since May 31 New Delhi: With 8909 fresh cases and 217 deaths in a day, novel coronavirus cases were once again on all-time high on Wednesday in India as overall figures zipped past 2 lakh. The government figures were 2,07,615 cases and 5,815 deaths while other agencies put total numbers to 2,08,543 and 5,834 deaths. Presently, there are 1,01,497 active cases and all are under active medical supervision. Government officials said that during the last 24 hours, 4,776 COVID-19 patients have been cured. Thus, so far, a total of 1,00,303 patients have been cured of COVID-19 and the recovery rate is 48.31%. The fatality rate is 2.80%. Officials added that the testing capacity has increased through 480 government and 208 private laboratories (total 688) and cumulatively 41,03,233 samples have been tested so far out of which 1,37,158 samples were tested on Tuesday. Out of the total new cases, maximum continue to come from four states -- Maharashtra (2,287 cases, 103 deaths), Tamil Nadu (1091 cases, 13 deaths), Delhi (1298 cases, 33 deaths), and Gujarat (417 cases, 29 deaths). In fact, Delhi, that recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,298 coronavirus cases, has now set up a 5-member committee to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and look into overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19. The committee will guide the Delhi government on any areas where strengthening of infrastructure is required to better manage the pandemic in Delhi. Delhi now has 22,132 cases and 556 deaths. However, June is turning to a more tense period for the health agencies as cases continue to rise big time since May 31. With states contemplating opening religious places, malls, market places and interstate public transport, the numbers are expected to shoot up further. The Badrinath temple's chief priest has urged the Uttarakhand government to keep the yatra to the Himalayan shrine suspended till June 30 for safety reasons in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases. This comes after the state government said that it was preparing to start the Chardham yatra on a limited scale from June 8. Haryana on Wednesday resumed inter-state public transport services that had remained suspended for over two months in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown. Barring Delhi, which has ordered sealing of its borders for a week in the wake of the rising coronavirus cases in the city, the Haryana Roadways buses will ply to other states like Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. SAN FRANCISCO, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Datameer , makers of the world's leading enterprise data pipeline and preparation solution Datameer X and virtual data and analytics hub Neebo , today announced its native integration between Neebo and Snowflake . Neebo, Datameer's newest product line, uses the latest advancements in data virtualization to enable scalable, highly secured, and governed self-service analytics across the enterprise. With the integration, data and analytics teams can now: Search for and discover data in very complex enterprise data landscapes in a highly governed fashion Securely access any structured or unstructured data across the enterprisewhether it's in Snowflake or any other source on-premises or in the cloud Create new datasets from any data source without replicating or moving the data; Neebo keeps all data in place at the source making it the most secured and governed way to deliver data to employees across the enterprise With this new native integration, Snowflake users can now experience increased access and modeling performance while reducing data movement and, by extension, the costs associated with data storage and transfers over the wire. Neebo leverages the Snowflake Connector for Spark for optimal query performance and, through the integration, enables: Push down processing . SQL queries and transformation logic are now executed directly in Snowflake instead of within Neebo or other downstream tools that consume the data. In cases of large volumes of data, this drastically accelerates query times while reducing compute and networking costs. In addition, user data uploaded directly to Neebo is intelligently pushed down to Snowflake to optimize join performance where appropriate. . SQL queries and transformation logic are now executed directly in Snowflake instead of within Neebo or other downstream tools that consume the data. In cases of large volumes of data, this drastically accelerates query times while reducing compute and networking costs. In addition, user data uploaded directly to Neebo is intelligently pushed down to Snowflake to optimize join performance where appropriate. Caching. Neebo users now have the ability to materialize their virtual datasets in Snowflake on demandwhether or not the data comes from Snowflake originallyto leverage the data warehouse's blazing-fast query execution speed. This allows users to easily enrich existing Snowflake datasets and perform transformations and joins without any coding or costly ETL processes. These datasets are immediately accessible directly from Snowflake, bringing unmatched performance and optimizing Snowflake compute resources. To learn more about how you can use Neebo to create virtual data sets and maximize your Snowflake investment, watch our VP of Engineering, Matt McManus, demo the integration . About Datameer & Neebo Datameer Inc. is the company behind Datameer X, the most secure and reliable data pipeline and prep solution for machine learning, and Neebo, the virtual data and analytics hub that customers use to virtualize their data landscape and scale highly governed self-service analytics across the enterprise. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Toronto, London, and Halle, Germany. To learn more about Datameer X, visit www.datameer.com . To learn more about Neebo, visit www.neebo.ai . CONTACT: Benoite Yver, VP of Marketing, [email protected] SOURCE Datameer Related Links https://www.datameer.com The story of how and when the Caribbean islands were first colonised by humans has long evaded experts. Little is known except that its geography made it the last place in the Americas to be colonised by humans. The first settlers are thought to have arrived around 8,000 years ago. Now, a study has found the idyllic archipelago was settled in three successive waves. The first two arrived in the western Caribbean around the same time as people started spreading around the Americas, around 8,000 years ago. One of the three groups of Caribbean settlers ventured to the islands from North America and was likely part of the very first dispersals through what is now the contiguous US. The second early wave is of unknown origin. However, there was also a third wave of settlers who arrived in the Caribbean from South America much later, around 2,800 years ago, the study claims. A study of ancient remains (pictured) on the idyllic Caribbean archipelago revealed the islands were settled in three successive waves The study assessed the DNA of 93 ancient Caribbean islanders who lived between 400 and 3,200 years ago using bone fragments One of the three groups of Caribbean settlers ventured to the islands from North America and was likely part of the very first dispersals through what is now the contiguous US. The second early wave is of unknown origin. However, there was also a third wave of settlers who arrived in the Caribbean from South America much later, around 2,800 years ago 'Our results give a glimpse of the early migration history of the Caribbean and connect the region to the rest of the Americas,' says Dr Hannes Schroeder from the University of Copenhagen, and one of the senior authors of the study. The study assessed the DNA of 93 ancient Caribbean islanders who lived between 400 and 3,200 years ago using bone fragments. The DNA was in poor condition and required vast amounts of painstaking work to make it viable for research, made possible by modern breakthroughs. Johannes Krause, Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and another study senior author, said: 'With all that data we are able to paint a very detailed picture of the early migration history of the Caribbean.' The ancient DNA revealed three main groups of DNA, which were brought to the island in distinct events. The DNA found in the bone fragments was in poor condition and required vast amounts of painstaking work to make it viable for research, made possible by modern breakthroughs There was a third wave of settlers who arrived in the Caribbean from South America much later, around 2,800 years ago, the study claims. However, the different populations did not mingle But exactly when they happened, or where they came from and how, remains a mystery. But the scientists believe the Caribbean Sea, though indubitably an obstacle for primitive seafarers, eventually turned into an 'aquatic highway'. 'Big bodies of water are traditionally considered barriers for humans and ancient fisher hunter gatherer communities are usually not perceived as great seafarers,' explains PhD student Kathrin Nagel, another lead author of the study. 'Our results continue to challenge that view, as they suggest there was repeated interaction between the islands and the mainland.' However, although the population of the islands first emerged due to several events, the different populations did not mingle. Obvious genetic differences were observed in the DNA of the ancestors and the later settlers from South America. Despite coexisting for centuries, the authors found almost no evidence of interbreeding. The full findings have been published in the journal Science. ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday encouraged New Yorkers protesting against police brutality across the state to get tested for the coronavirus as officials fear spikes in COVID-19 cases as thousands rally around the country following the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent days since George Floyd died after the Minneapolis cop kneeled on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes as he was handcuffed on the ground. New York estimates 30,000 people have joined protests across the state, with an estimated 20,000 people involved in rallies in New York City. "If you were at one of those protests, I would out of an abundance of caution assume you've been infected," Cuomo said during his daily coronavirus task force briefing in Albany. As hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, continues to decline, the governor said protesters also can go to testing sites to get checked. Cuomo emphasized that New York has seen major declines in the number of positive tests in recent weeks, and just six weeks ago roughly 12 percent of Capital Region residents were testing positive for coronavirus. That rate is now at 1 percent, according to the executive's office. The decline has been most dramatic in New York City, which six weeks ago had about 26 percent of tests come back positive. The region is now at about 2 percent positive. "If you had viral spread through these protests, we're not going to see it in the numbers for awhile," Cuomo said. "In the meantime, we're making all these decisions in reopening, so it's important that people act responsibly for themselves." New York also is assisting businesses that have been impacted by looting and other criminal activity that was carried out by people who infiltrated protests or took advantage of police being busy with protesters. Cuomo said they are directing insurers to expedite claims for businesses that were looted, provide free mediation of disputes and accept photos as reasonable proof of loss for claims so business owners don't have to wait for police reports. More for you Where to get tested for COVID-19 in the Capital Region State officials said any business owner having issues with insurers processing their claims should contact the state Department of Financial Services. Those who are protesting against police brutality and people who are looting and engaging in other criminal activity are not the same, Cuomo said. "Looting now is exploiting this situation with the protests," he said. "They know that police are going to be busy with the protesters. They are then using that as an opportunity to loot." [June 04, 2020] Kvary Arctic Using IBM Blockchain to Trace Norwegian Farmed Salmon to North American Stores ARMONK, N.Y. and KVARY ISLAND, Norway, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Kvary Arctic (pronounced "Kwa-ray"), a major producer of Norwegian farmed salmon, announced today that they will join IBM Food Trust to enhance the traceability of its Arctic salmon and help foster consumer trust across their supply chain. Kvary Arctic is enabling corporate buyers, including select Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. and Canada, and restaurants to scan a QR code which will provide a provenance history for the Arctic salmon and the feed it was raised on. These buyers will be able to download images and video of the farms and see for themselves the conditions and animal welfare standards that Kvary Arctic upholds. The company also plans to introduce a consumer app to provide insight into the quality and sustainability of their seafood in the future. In the past three months, Kvary Arctic reports a dramatic increase in demand for fresh seafood in the U.S., shipping twice the volume anticipated. In the previous year, demand for salmon grew even faster than the demand for beef and poultry as consumers increasingly look for alternative sources of protein. To help meet this need, Kvary Arctic has joined IBM Food Trust, an ecosystem of food producers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers collaborating using a permissioned, permanent and shared record of food system data stored on blockchain. Kvary Arctic is also working with its feed provider BioMar to begin uploading supply chain data to the network, creating an immutable record of the feed used and the conditions where the salmon was raised, packed, certified and shipped to distributors around the world. Kvary Arctic holds itself to high standards, and for example reports using open ocean habitats that contain roughly half the population of conventional salmon farms. This gives them far more space to swim, and Kvary reports, ultimately results in a healthier, better-tasting fish. Kvary Arctic's farms are also located in pristine ocean waters at the Arctic Circle, the company promotes sustainable farming methods and they are 100% certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, an organization that identifies responsible fisheries using both environmental and social standards. Finally, Kvary Arctic's Atlantic salmon is certified by the American Heart Association's Heart-Check Food Certification Program, giving consumers peace of mind that what they are consuming meets the nutritional requirements of the American Heart Association. Blockchain has the potential to build trust in the supply chain by creating a permanent, digitized chain of transactions that cannot be altered. This way, feed manufacturers, fish farmers, distributors and retailers can all access comprehensive product data in nearreal-time. Each member of the chain will download and use an app to scan each salmon lot at each point of receipt. Kvary Arctic can grant permission to distributor and retail partners, allowing them to see data about the grade of feed used, the population and density of the habitats the salmon were raised in, their age, harvest date and more. "Blockchain is the future when it comes to ending fraud in the seafood industry. It is a level of transparency that shows our dedication to being the best of the best," said Kvary Arctic CEO Alf-Gran Knutsen. "The technology tracks a level of detail that helps us reduce food waste so we can feed more people in the world." "Our work with Kvary Arctic further builds on our progress in promoting transparency and sustainability in the seafood trade," said IBM Food Trust General Manager Raj Rao. "IBM Food Trust is delivering the tools needed to collaborate across industries and take the action to preserve and maintain our global fisheries, while protecting the integrity of the seafood supply chains." Several other prominent members of the seafood industry are now using IBM Food Trust to enhance traceability for products ranging from shrimp and scallops to smoked salmon. Atea, a leading provider of IT infrastructure solutions in the Nordic and Baltic region, is also working with Kvary Arctic as the systems integrator. Statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only. About Kvary Arctic Kvary Arctic is a third-generation, family-owned Atlantic salmon farm located on the Island of Kvary along Norway's Arctic Circle. Led by CEO Alf-Gran Knutsen, Production Manager Gjermund Olsen, and Operations Manager Havard Olsen, the Kvary Arctic team is ushering in a new era of sustainability for the salmon farming industry as a net producer of fish protein with a groundbreaking FIFO (fish in : fish out ratio) of less than 0.5:1. Kvary Arctic is ASC and Global G.A.P. certified, and has the merroir of Norway's cold, clear waters with delicate marine flavors and slight brininess. It is one of a small number of farm-raised fish certified by the American Heart Association's Heart-Check program. Kvary Arctic is currently available at retail through select Whole Foods Market US locations with the designation "Whole Foods Atlantic Farm Raised SalmonProduct of Norway" in the fresh case. Learn about the heritage of Kvary Arctic by visiting www.KvaroyArctic.com, Instagram @kvaroyarctic, Facebook @KvaroyArctic, and Twitter @KvaroyArctic, and use #TasteTheArctic. About IBM Blockchain IBM is recognized as the leading enterprise blockchain provider. The company's research, technical and business experts have broken barriers in transaction processing speeds, developed the most advanced cryptography to secure transactions, and are contributing millions of lines of open source code to advance blockchain for businesses. IBM is the leader in open-source blockchain solutions built for the enterprise. Since 2016, IBM has worked with hundreds of clients across financial services, supply chain, government, retail, digital rights management and healthcare to implement blockchain applications, and operates a number of networks running live and in production. The cloud-based IBM Blockchain Platform delivers the end-to-end capabilities that clients need to quickly activate and successfully develop, operate, govern and secure their own business networks. IBM is an early member of Hyperledger, an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. For more information about IBM Blockchain, visit https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/ or follow us on Twitter at @ibmblockchain. Contact: Leesa DAlto, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kvaroy-arctic-using-ibm-blockchain-to-trace-norwegian-farmed-salmon-to-north-american-stores-301070521.html SOURCE IBM [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hall said he had left dinner with his family late Monday evening when their car was surrounded by at least a dozen law enforcement officers. After his arrest, he was questioned for hours by a Minnesota state investigator about Floyds death not about his warrants. Hall was then transferred to the Harris County Jail in Houston, and Tuesday, he returned to his home in the city, after his lawyers fought for his release. Advertisement Police are trying to trace the ex-girlfriend of the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann abduction probe who fled Portugal shortly after he raped a pensioner. The British man whose Algarve property was occupied by the suspect has revealed he was living with a woman who returned to Germany while he stayed on in Praia da Luz. The homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous, said both UK and Portuguese police have asked for his help in background information on Christian Brueckner. He said in a statement: 'My wife and I moved back to UK in 1992. The house was lent out to friends and friends of friends in order to maintain occupancy, look after the land pay the bills. 'The house was occupied for a period of time by what seemed like an ordinary young couple trying to get by in Portugal. Living in England, we had relatively little interaction besides talk of the house, the land and any maintenance issues. 'We met in person when passing through on family holidays to the Algarve. At a later date we discovered that the mans girlfriend had parted company and returned to Germany. The police witness told Sky News: 'In 2006, my neighbour contacted me in the UK to say that the house had been left ramshackled and abandoned with no sign of occupancy. We returned to Portugal and reported the disappearance to the Portuguese police and later discovered that he may have been arrested, details unknown. 'This was the last we heard from him until about a year ago when we were contacted by the UK and Portuguese Police requesting what information we had as they were following a new line of enquiry relating to this person. After leaving the house in 2006, Brueckner stayed on in the area. The farmhouse where the new prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance lived was located just two miles from where she went missing from her family's holiday apartment Christian Brueckner (left) is the new key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case. In 2013 police released a photofit (right) of a man seen lurking near the McCanns' apartment The 43-year-old German prime suspect lived in the rented building on a remote hillside along a footpath that runs from above the beach where Madeleine and her family played on holiday Neighbours described 43-year-old Brueckner as an 'angry' car dealer who vanished suddenly from the home (above, today) German criminal Christian Brueckner lived on the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, including for a few years in the ramshackle home between Lagos and Praia da Luz. The burglar, drug dealer and paedophile had been residing only two miles from the holiday apartment where Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007. Neighbours described 43-year-old Brueckner as an 'angry' car dealer who vanished suddenly, leaving a collection of wigs, fancy dress and exotic clothing. He lived in the rented building on a remote hillside along a footpath that runs from above the beach where Madeleine and her family played during their week's holiday. According to residents, Brueckner littered the land with old vehicles which he bought and sold for a living, which may explain how he acquired the distinctive camper van and Jaguar which are now at the centre of the police investigation. Months before Madeleine's disappearance, the paedophile is said to have left the farm to move into his two-tonne camper van. Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after May 3. Neighbours reveal the German man was 'always a bit angry' A former neighbour told Sky News: 'He arrived in the mid-90s and rented the place from the English owner. 'He went back to Germany at one stage and moved another German guy in to look after it, then came back and threw him out on the street. 'He was always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane, and then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word. I think he left some rent unpaid.' The neighbour added: 'About six months later I was asked to help clean up the place and it was disgusting, absolutely vile. It had been trashed, with broken stuff like computers all over the place.' The neighbour said she was contacted by Scotland Yard detectives last year. They asked her about Brueckner, without revealing why. The living room of the rental apartment where the suspect was living just two miles from the McCann's holiday apartment. Neighbours described the man as an 'angry' car dealer Above, an interior of the rented home where the suspect lived in Portugal. Neighbours said that he vanished suddenly, leaving a collection of wigs, fancy dress and exotic clothing Another part of the house in the Algarve which Brueckner was renting when the British girl disappeared A reporter takes a picture today of the house where the suspect lived in Portugal when Madeleine disappeared in 2007 This year she was visited by Portuguese detectives who showed her photographs of Brueckner and asked more questions. Madeleine McCann went missing in May 2007 while on holiday on the Algarve in Portugal It is understood that many neighbours, friends and acquaintances of the suspect have since been interviewed as police try to establish his movements around the time Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment. He is serving seven years in jail for raping a 72-year-old woman Meanwhile it has also emerged that Brueckner is serving a seven-year jail sentence for the rape of 72-year-old American woman, according to reports. The German criminal was convicted in Braunschweig district court last year for a rape he is said to have committed in Portugal in 2005. He lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, according to Braunschweig Zeitung. Just two years before Maddie's disappearance, the criminal raped an American tourist, the newspaper reported. Brueckner has two previous convictions for 'sexual contact with girls', according to Christian Hoppe from Germany's federal criminal police office, and the farmhouse he rented was on the footpath leading to the beach where the little girl played. The man may have stolen from local holiday homes It is thought Brueckner made his living by stealing from holiday apartments in the area, and he may have entered the McCann's apartment and decided to take their daughter, say Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. The suspect's battered camper van. Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate Scotland Yard insisted it was still a missing person inquiry, but German police said: 'There is reason to believe that there are other people besides the perpetrator who have concrete knowledge of the possible scene of the crime and, if necessary, where the body is stored. 'We expressly ask these people to report and share their knowledge.' Mr Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), said police had not ruled out a sexual motive for the crime. He added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie before spontaneously kidnapping her. Pictured above and below, the Jaguar he re-registered the day after Maddie disappeared In 2007, when the suspect was 30, he is said to have spent his days stealing from hotel complexes and holiday apartments and trafficking drugs, according to police. Last night it was reported that he may also have committed further sexual assaults or rapes during his time in Portugal. Police investigate vehicles the suspect used at the time Yesterday Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate. They also released images of a second vehicle Brueckner owned a 1993 British Jaguar, model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany. Scotland Yard released images of a second vehicle the suspect owned Detectives say it is significant that the day after Madeleine's disappearance, the paedophile re-registered the car in someone else's name back in Augsburg, Germany, even though the vehicle had never left Portugal. The Jaguar is believed to have been in the Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007 and was originally registered in the suspect's name. German police said there were indications that he could have used one of these vehicles to commit the crime and they want to trace anyone who remembers seeing them parked up anywhere. The man lived mostly permanently in the Algarve for 12 years Detectives revealed last night that Brueckner lived more or less permanently in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007. The car is a 1993 British Jaguar, model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany He worked occasionally in the catering business in the Lagos area. But police believe he was really earning his living by committing burglaries of hotel complexes and holiday flats as well as trafficking cannabis. In 2013, Scotland Yard revealed that a blond man had been seen lurking near the 5A apartment about 4pm on the day that Madeleine was snatched. He was described as white, aged 30 to 35, thin, with short, light-coloured hair and spots on his face possibly caused by shaving. Last night detectives said the e-fit of the man released in 2013 had 'not been ruled out', suggesting he may resemble the new suspect. A blond-haired man was also seen on the balcony of a nearby empty apartment and in the stairwell of the McCanns' block. How a mobile phone call is a key piece of evidence Police believe a mobile phone call made by Brueckner could be the key piece of evidence that unlocks the mystery which has puzzled detectives the world over for 13 years. At 7.30pm on May 3, 2007, he made a call which places him in Praia da Luz. For half an hour he chatted to a mystery person before ending the call at 8.03pm. Three-year-old Madeleine was snatched from her bed sometime after 9pm. The Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, during a family holiday with her parents and younger twin siblings Yesterday Scotland Yard took the highly unusual step of releasing the suspect's Portuguese mobile phone number 00351 912 730 680 and that of the mystery witness he spoke to. The unidentified witness, who used the Portuguese phone number 00351 916 510 683, was not staying in the area at the time of the call. The suspect's name was given to the Metropolitan Police in 2017 after the 10th anniversary. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: 'We know a lot about the suspect, but we need to know more about his movements on the night Madeleine vanished and in the days before and afterwards. Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry were sitting at The Ocean Club Tapas Bar and had just checked on their daughter who was sleeping in their holiday apartment when she went missing just after 10pm 'We know he was in the resort on the night, about an hour before Madeleine was last seen about 9pm. 'He took a phone call on his Portuguese mobile from another Portuguese mobile. The call lasted half an hour. 'While this male is a suspect we retain an open mind as to his involvement and this remains a missing person inquiry.' Police investigate two properties near where Maddie vanished German police said inquiries were homing in on two properties near where the toddler vanished and last night they appealed for anyone who could provide information about the rooms the man used to come forward. The last photograph taken of the little girl shows her smiling next to her little sister Amelie and their father Gerry Scotland Yard is launching a joint appeal with the BKA and the Portugal's Policia Judiciaria, including a 20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible of Madeleine's disappearance. Last night, as more details emerged about the suspect, there were questions about why police took so long to release the information. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who is leading the British investigation, said Scotland Yard knew a lot about the man who became a suspect when officers received critical information in 2017. It emerged that since then Scotland Yard had been secretly working with German and Portuguese police to piece together his movements. A photograph of the bedroom from which Madeleine was snatched in May 2007, which was included in police files released in August 2008 Yet Scotland Yard chose to make the information public only when the German police announced their appeal yesterday. Yesterday Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy denied the timing was anything to do with seeking extra funding for Operation Grange, which has cost 12 million so far. Mr Cranwell said: 'We know a lot about the suspect, but we need to know more about his movements on the night Madeleine vanished and in the days before and afterwards. 'It's more than 13 years since Madeleine went missing and none of us can imagine what it must be like for her family, not knowing what happened or where she is. On May 3, 2007 Kate and Gerry McCann went to a small tapas bar metres away from their apartment to dine with friends. But when Kate returned to do a routine check on their children, she found that Madeleine had disappeared 'Following the ten-year anniversary, the Met received information about a German man who was known to have been in and around Praia da Luz. 'We have been working with colleagues in Germany and Portugal and this man is a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. 'The Met conducted a number of enquiries and in November 2017 engaged with the BKA who agreed to work with the Met. 'Since then a huge amount of work has taken place by both the Met, the BKA and the Policia Judiciaria. While this male is a suspect, we retain an open mind as to his involvement and this remains a missing person inquiry.' La Crosse County reported two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday and invited everyone showing symptoms to a free testing event in La Crosse. One of the new cases is a woman in her 40s who had contact with a previous case. Demographic information on the second new case wasnt immediately available. The new case brings the countys total to 65 confirmed cases. The county reports 51 people have recovered. No one is currently hospitalized and the county has recorded no deaths. In all, there are 6,521 total negative test results reported for La Crosse County by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (up 150 from Wednesday). Statewide, officials Thursday reported: Negative results: 279,711 (+11,656) Positive results: 19,892 (+492) Hospitalizations: 2,739 (+39) (14%) Total deaths: 626 (+10) The La Crosse County Health Department continues to encourage social distancing, hand washing and wearing a face covering in public. It reminds people that some of those with symptoms are not able to be tested and others may have no symptoms and can still spread COVID-19. The La Crosse County Health Department is again partnering with the Wisconsin National Guard to provide COVID-19 testing. This time, the health department will also work with the city of La Crosse and Western Technical College. Providing a mass COVID-19 testing site offers a better understanding of the virus in our communities, according to the health department. The testing is available for anyone age 5 and older who is experiencing any of the following symptoms: fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or new loss of taste or smell. Even those with mild symptoms are encouraged to attend and get a nasal swab test at no cost. Antibody testing will not be conducted at this event. Those planning to attend should be aware that there may be lines and participants need to remain in their vehicles, except for those using a walk-up lane provided for those without vehicles. The health department recommends bringing water and sun protection, as well, given the likelihood of hot weather. After testing, people should return directly to their home and isolate themselves until they receive their test results and further guidance from public health. The results will be provided over the phone within three to seven days. If testing kits run out before the end of the event, updates will be shared to La Crosse County Health Departments Facebook page and website. Jourdan Vian can be reached at jvian@lacrossetribune.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jourdan_LCT. 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. Speaking in the Dail yesterday, Sinn Fein TD Ruairi O Murchu called for the Air Corps to assist in the ongoing battle against the forest fire at Annaloughan in North Louth. The local TD asked Tanaiste Simon Coveney to raise with defence minister Paul Kehoe the urgent request from the fire service in Louth for air support in the battle to contain the blaze which has been raging on Coillte forest land for the last number of days. The commercial helicopter, which is retained by Coillte, has been working at the scene since the weekend. Mr O Murchu told the Tanaiste that he understood the council had made a request for the Air Corps helicopter but there was a technical difficulty and it had not yet been deployed. It was needed, the TD said, as the fire is now moving upwards on the mountain and out of the reach of fire service and Civil Defence personnel on the ground. He said there had been an effort to get a commercial helicopter to aid, but this had not materialised and there was an urgent need for the fire to be tackled from the air. Mr O Murchu praised the work of the fire service and volunteers who had worked to contain the fire and he asked Mr Coveney to raise it at government level and to contact Minister for Defence, Paul Kehoe about the issue. He also asked for all State resources to be used in battling the blaze on the Cooley Mountains and added that a plan for dealing with future fires was also needed. The Tanaiste said he would contact Minister Kehoe about the request. Speaking at the scene of the fire yesterday, Sinn Fein councillor Antoin Watters said the fire was getting further and further away from the personnel on the ground as it moves up the mountain and he praised the huge dedication and professionalism of firefighters. There was, he said, an urgent need for air support in order to help bring the fire under control. Furthering the Work Mission The Virtual Threat (TNS) The COVID-19 pandemic has turned kitchen tables and spare rooms into impromptu offices. The sudden shift has left employers with a host of questions about managing employees remotely.In some ways, Alisa Spector Angelo had a leg up on the problem. Shes been an advocate of flexible work arrangements, both as a boss shes president of Compass Business Solutions Inc. and as a human resources professional.Her Cranberry-based consulting firm, which serves as an outsourced HR department for other companies, already had employees working primarily from their home offices. Since March, shes been doling out that expertise to organizations that find themselves suddenly thrust into a virtual work environment.There are questions that can be answered with legal or contractual documents. For example, do non-salaried employees still get overtime when working from home? Yes.Is a company liable if a remote worker trips over his dog during working hours? It depends, but probably yes.Is there a way to ensure confidential company information isnt compromised outside the office environment? Sure.There is also a fuzzier but no less important liability that all companies have managing their reputations. And in a moment of crisis, employees are watching, Ms. Spector Angelo warned.You can have core values posted throughout your organizations. But really, our employees are judging us in this moment and were defining our cultures in this moment, she said. Do our behaviors match those core values?Companies that have the means should consider whether hazard pay or reimbursing for computers and office furniture would be impactful to their employees.Shes been helping companies brush up on their obligations under the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, stressing that anxiety which according to recent Census Bureau data is impacting 30 percent of Americans right now is a covered condition.Plus, there is new COVID-19 federal legislation that applies to smaller businesses than would be covered under FMLA.Ms. Spector Angelo said the key is to communicate to employees: what they must do, like keeping track of their hours for overtime pay, for example; what they can do, if they need to order office equipment or use their personal cell phones for work, will that be reimbursed?; and, finally, what the company can do for them.This is economically crushing a lot of organizations, she said. Some of our clients have gone bankrupt, while others are in solid financial shape.I think that their policy should reflect where they are on all of that, she said.Stephen Bloomburg, a principal in the workers compensation department of Post & Schell PC, has done his share of helping clients brush up on the law and how it impacts the newly popularized work-from-home setting.Employers, whether they are allowing someone to work from home or mandating it, should consider the employees house as a secondary work premises, Mr. Bloomburg said.For injuries and workers comp claims, a secondary work premises counts as much as the first one if an employee gets injured during the course of their workday while furthering the business interests of their employer, that worker can file a claim, he said.A landmark 2006 case in Pennsylvania clarified the issue.A Verizon employee who was working out of her basement went upstairs to get a drink. She was talking and then heard her work phone ringing, so she rushed downstairs, tripped, fell and sustained an injury. The court decided that even though she wasnt working at the time of the slip, she was doing something necessary for personal comfort during work like using the bathroom or eating lunch.Even though there was a momentary departure from an employees work duties, Mr. Bloomburg said, the key in these situations is whether the employee is furthering their work mission.In another case, where an employee went outside to have a quick drink then stopped to chat with a neighbor and injured himself during that conversation, the courts ruled that was too much of a departure from the work mission to be compensable by workers comp.Mr. Bloomburg said it doesnt really matter if the accident could have been avoided by the employees actions. Bundling loose wires and keeping passages free of tripping hazards is, of course, as good an idea in the home as it is in a commercial workplace.But, if the employee is injured while in the course of their assignment, they are going to receive compensation regardless of whether they were negligent, he said.And, as in an office setting, pre-existing conditions aggravated by the new work environment such as a back injury made worse by hunching over a laptop at the kitchen table would qualify for workers compensation, Mr. Bloomburg said.The sudden shove toward a more virtual workforce means more companies also are learning about the cybersecurity liabilities of decentralizing their employees and their data.People are working from personal devices. And theyre handling confidential information from a personal device, said Brett Creasy, president of the Downtown-based digital forensics and cybersecurity firm bit-x-bit LLC.Maybe its a shared computer, he said. Likely, theyre using WiFi. Most arent connected through or have a virtual private network, or VPN, which acts like a tunnel between a remote computer and the offices server.The risk is multiplied with each unsecured connection.The pandemic also has become a popular topic of phishing e-mails.In a report released last month, the California-based cybersecurity firm Proofpoint tracked more than 300 phishing campaigns aimed at tricking people into disclosing their credentials since the beginning of the year. More than half had a COVID-19 angle, the company reported.The answer isnt necessarily a costly anti-virus software, but rather training employees on how to report phishing or other attacks, how to make their passwords more secure, and how to keep company data from falling into the wrong hands.Mr. Creasy said setting up two-step authentication on those platforms would go a long way. That could mean to access your email youd be sent a text with a code.Pandemic or not, its very difficult to keep all of a businesses information within the four walls of its office. Employees send files to their personal e-mails. They take photos of documents with their phones.Most companies dont have policies on securing this information and retroactively erasing those emails and images, he said. Now is the time to develop some, Mr. Creasy said.If my company isnt in a position where I can provide a work-issued computer that has all these controls on it, its just a matter of laying out what the expectations are.Mr. Creasy already foresees a challenge in cleaning the personal devices of remote workers when they return to their office desks. He suggested IT departments prepare to interview returning employees so they can understand what devices were used at home and how.Its not about getting employees in trouble, he said, and that has to be made clear for an honest assessment. Its that companies have an obligation to protect that data, some probably contractually with their clients, he said.Some data might be sensitive enough to require personal devices to be professionally scrubbed of it, he said.And while all that is being sorted out, Mr. Creasy advised already thinking about next time.Maybe its not COVID-20 next year, but some other event that is going to stress the normal operations, he warned. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was not considering placing sanctions on Chinese President Xi Jinping personally over Beijing's push to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was not considering placing sanctions on Chinese President Xi Jinping personally over Beijing's push to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong. Trump on Friday ordered his administration to begin the process of eliminating special U.S. treatment for Hong Kong to punish China and said Washington would also impose sanctions on individuals seen as responsible for "smothering - absolutely smothering - Hong Kong's freedom." "I haven't thought of that," Trump said on Wednesday when asked in an interview on Newsmax TV whether he was thinking about imposing sanctions on Xi. Asked about his relationship with Xi, Trump said: "Haven't spoken to him in a while. It was very good." He praised a trade agreement the two countries signed in January, but criticized Beijing for the novel coronavirus pandemic, which began in China. "China should have never let it happen," Trump said. China said on Monday U.S. attempts to harm Chinese interests would be met with firm countermeasures. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Sam Holmes) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. File Photo New Delhi: The whole world is going through a crisis at the time of the Corona epidemic. The economic downfall has left the world in a state of disarray. As a result of the recession, governments in many countries are experiencing a shortage of essential services. But in the midst of all this, 'Guru ka langar' remains a support for the people. Advertisement PhotoThe sacred practice of langar has been promoted by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGPC) last Monday launched 'Langar on Wheels' to provide food and water to the needy. The Delhi Committee has already been providing langar to millions of people during the lockdown. Now many more needy people will get support under this campaign. To make this task of the Delhi Committee a success, 15 buses will be dispatched. Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee President Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that these buses would run from Gurdwara Bangla Sahib carrying langar, water and other essential services. Advertisement Manjinder Singh Sirsa The buses will stop at various places in the city and distribute food. Under this campaign, food will be provided to every needy person in every corner of Delhi. Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that it was his duty to deliver food to every needy person in Delhi. He also promised to provide food to all those in need during the lockdown. Services were later withdrawn. Sirsa said the campaign would continue like this. PhotoThe Delhi Committee said that the city would be in touch with the concerned welfare agencies and government or non-government officials to ascertain the demand of the needy. Advertisement He said that rules like cleanliness and social distance would be taken into consideration for distribution of this langar. Banners and buses will be set up at various public places in the city for this purpose. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Swedish government on Thursday urged its citizens to take their fight to the internet after thousands in the capital defied coronavirus restrictions to protest against racism and U.S. police violence. Demonstrators bearing signs like "Black Lives Matter" gathered for several hours at a square in the heart of Stockholm during Wednesday afternoon to show support for George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who was killed by police. Pandemic-hit Sweden has a ban on public gatherings of more than 50 people. While COVID-19 deaths have slowed since the peak in early April, healthcare resources are still strained. Home Affairs Minister Mikael Damberg said it was a democratic right to protest but that the rules from the Health Agency must be respected. "I would urge anyone who wants to protest against racism to use digital media instead. Otherwise, many people risk getting sick and dying," he said in a written comment to Reuters. More than 4,500 people have died in the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Sweden, many times more relative to the size of the population than in neighbouring Nordic countries. Floyd, who was unarmed, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, and event that has set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States in decades. (Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Angus MacSwan) (Natural News) The state of Michigan has seen a dramatic decline in childhood vaccination rates ever since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) made its appearance. And yet childhood illness is not necessarily increasing as a result. Less than half of infants five months and younger in Michigan are currently up to date on age-appropriate vaccinations as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children under the age of two are also behind on their vaccinations, though to a lesser degree. While the CDC study looked specifically at vaccination rates in Michigan, experts estimate that similar trends are occurring all across the nation. Many parents are fearful of potentially exposing their children to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), while others are skeptical about the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccines. Michigans extreme stay-at-home orders are also keeping parents from vaccinating their children, as Governor Gretchen Whitmer does not want Michiganders leaving their homes for almost any reason, including to go to the doctor for non-essential treatments. Every age category in which children usually get vaccinated is seeing a downward trend in vaccination rates, the CDC says. Compared to previous years, the number of non-influenza vaccine doses given to children two years of age and younger plummeted by more than 15 percent between January and April of this year. The observed declines in vaccination coverage might leave young children and communities vulnerable to vaccine preventable diseases such as measles, CDC scientists claim, using fear to try to reverse this trend. If measles vaccination coverage of 90%-95% is not achieved, measles outbreaks can occur. The CDC is lying with this statement, of course, as the governments own Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) fully discloses that more people die from measles vaccines than from measles infection. But in order to keep the illusion going, the CDC has to pretend as though children not getting vaccinated amid the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is putting even more of them at risk. To get up to speed on the vaccine debate, be sure to check out the following episode of The Health Ranger Report with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger: Vaccination rates in Washington are also plummeting The situation is even worse or better, depending on your perspective in Washington state. New data put out by the State Department of Health shows vaccination rates throughout the state have dropped close to half, thanks to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). In March, 30 percent fewer children were vaccinated compared to previous years, the data shows. And in April, that figure reached 40 percent fewer children. By the time May data is compiled, that number could easily reach a full 50 percent fewer children being vaccinated. This is obviously triggering the vaccine deep state, which probably did not anticipate that ramping up the lockdowns and other draconian measures in response to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) would inadvertently keep parents from vaccinating their children. Another perhaps unintended consequence of all the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) hysteria is that some 25 different countries around the world have ended their measles vaccination campaigns entirely, at least temporarily. Most countries with polio vaccination programs have likewise suspended operations. It would seem as though the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has inadvertently hammered yet another nail in the coffin of mass vaccination. While many parents might simply be trying to protect their children from the novel virus by delaying the schedule, in time a sizable percentage of them could come to the conclusion that childhood vaccination is not even necessary in the first place. More of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and how people area being affected by it is available at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: EcoWatch.com NaturalNews.com SeattleTimes.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 13:19:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SEOUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors on Thursday sought an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, an heir apparent of Samsung Group, over accounting fraud, according to local media reports. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office asked a Seoul court to arrest the heir of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, on charges of illegal trading and market price manipulation under a capital market act and accounting fraud under an act on external audit of corporation. The country's financial regulator ruled in November 2018 that the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group violated accounting rules, referring the case to the prosecution office for criminal investigation. Samsung BioLogics has been suspected of committing a fraudulent accounting to help the Samsung heir inherit a management control over the entire group from his ailing father Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Samsung BioLogics altered the method to evaluate its affiliate, Samsung Bioepis, into the mark-to-market valuation in 2015, leading to a net profit of 1.9 trillion won (1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the year after years of losses. The biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung, set up in 2011, launched a joint venture, Bioepis, with a U.S.-based Biogen in 2012. In 2015, Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T merged into Samsung C&T, the currently de-facto holding company of Samsung Group. Cheil Industries, controlled by Lee at the time, inflated its valuation by overvaluing Samsung Biologics. Lee was believed to have controlled the merged Samsung C&T, one of major shareholders of Samsung Electronics, and the Samsung family was believed to have controlled Samsung Group with a fraction of shares through cross-shareholding. The financial market regulator estimated the fraudulent accounting at about 4.5 trillion won (3.7 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem A Paris appeals court ruled Wednesday that Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga, arrested in France after evading police in several countries for 25 years, should be handed over to a UN tribunal in Tanzania to stand trial. Accused of financing the 1994 genocide of some 800,000 people, Kabuga had asked for a trial in France, citing frail health and claiming the United Nations court in Africa would be biased against him, and possibly hand him over to Rwandan authorities. His transfer still faces a final hurdle with defence lawyers planning to appeal the ruling at France's highest court of appeal. He attended the hearing in a wheelchair and barely reacted when the decision was read out. A lawyer for the 84-year-old Kabuga said he would appeal the decision to hand him over to the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), which is based in The Hague but has a branch in Arusha, Tanzania. "I was expecting this, because it's a highly politicised case," said one of his lawyers, Laurent Bayon. "A transfer to Arusha, and the detention conditions there, would not allow him to survive, so a full trial would not be possible, neither for him nor the victims," he said. If the appeal is accepted by France's court of cassation, a decision would be issued within two months. If it endorses his transfer, he would have one month to appear before the international court. Described as Africa's most wanted man, Kabuga was arrested on May 16 at his home outside Paris, where he had been living under a false name. A judge in The Hague ruled last month, however, that Kabuga should be tried in Arusha by the MICT, which took over the duties of the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when it formally closed in 2015. Kabuga, once one of Rwanda's richest men, was indicted by the tribunal in 1997 on seven counts, including genocide. He is accused of forming the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres, and the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines, whose broadcasts incited people to murder. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis but also moderate Hutus were slaughtered over 100 days of ethnic violence committed by Hutu extremists in 1994. "These are all lies. Everything I did helped the Tutsis, and my businesses offered them credit -- I wasn't going to go and kill my clients," he told the court, speaking in Kinyarwanda. - Hiding with family's help - The UN tribunal charged him in 1997 with "genocide" as well as "direct and public incitement to commit genocide," using his position as chairman of Rwanda's FDN national defence fund to funnel money to militia groups. It noted in particular that he arranged for shipments of "an impressive number of machetes and other weapons to the Interahamwe militia". He is also accused of directly supervising Interahamwe massacres in Gisenyi, northwestern Rwanda, and in the Kigali district of Kimironko. Prosecutors say Kabuga's money and connections helped him avoid arrest for decades after he fled Rwanda for Switzerland in July 1994, though he was ordered to leave the country just one month later. He later moved to the former Zaire and then Kenya, where he managed to avoid three arrest attempts. In 2002, the US government offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. French officials said new intelligence allowed them to track Kabuga down at an apartment in the Paris suburb of Asnieres-sous-Bois, where he had been hiding out for the past three or four years with the help of his children. Along with top-ranking military figure Protais Mpiranya, who is still at large, Kabuga was one of the most significant suspects still sought over the genocide. Another key suspect, former defence minister Augustin Bizimana and until recently believed to have been on the run, died in 2000, the the UN tribunal said last month. France has long been known as a hiding place for wanted genocide suspects and French investigators currently have dozens of cases underway. Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed in a phone call Wednesday with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio a number of issues of mutual interest, including the coronavirus pandemic, the crisis in Libya, the Giulio Regeni case, and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Shoukry and Di Maio agreed on the importance of boosting cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic field, and discussed ways of increasing efforts to contain the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in a statement. The ministers also discussed the case of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, in light of the high importance both Egypt and Italy attach to continuing the ongoing cooperation between their two judicial authorities during the coming period in order to elucidate facts, Hafez added. The ministers tackled as well the latest developments in Libya, highlighting the importance of reaching a comprehensive political settlement to the crisis among the Libyan parties, and rejecting foreign intervention. They also agreed on supporting efforts to counter terrorist and extremist organisations in Libya, and combating the transfer of terrorist elements and fighters to the country through implementing the EUs crisis management operation, EUNAVFOR MED IRINI, while respecting the state's sovereignty, and in accordance with its mandate and relevant Security Council resolutions. Hafez added that the two ministers also tackled the latest developments in the GERD crisis. He explained that Shoukry briefed his Italian counterpart on the outcome of the negotiations track, and Egypts willingness to resume negotiations, stressing the importance of avoiding unilateral action ahead of reaching a settlement on the issue. Search Keywords: Short link: Hundreds of specimens of a striking rare orchid have burst into flower on roadsides in one of Irelands first pollinator towns. Environmentalists say they have counted 363 individual bee orchids on verges in Midleton in East Cork where a managed scheme to support biodiversity has been in operation under the All Ireland Pollinator Plan for over a year. The remarkable flower, which mimics the patterning and scent of a female bee, first appears in Irish records in 1793 and in the two centuries since, there are just 479 records of it in the landscape - some records refer to a solitary flower, others to a few dozen flowers at a time. Pronsias O Tuama of the East Cork Biodiversity Networking Programme said to now have a record of 363 individual bee orchids in one town is spectacular, especially in an urban setting. This is absolutely amazing and its the kind of action you want to see from a local authority, he said. Its cost-effective for the council because they use less manpower and machinery to cut meadows and verges, and theyve stopped using pesticides, so it has huge environmental benefits too in terms of biodiversity. This result should be praised and lauded and shows that pollinator plans should be rolled out in towns all over the country. Una Fitzpatrick, head of the All Ireland Pollinator Plan at the National Biodiversity Data Centre, said they occasionally receive records of bee orchids each year. So to know that over 300 have popped up on roadside verges across Midleton is amazing, said Dr Fitzgerald. Full credit is due to the county council and the East Cork Biodiversity Networking Programme for changing the way public land is managed through their reduced mowing regime. Those little seeds have been waiting in the soil for decades to get a chance to pop up and show us their beauty. It is so easy to help our biodiversity recover if we want to. The bee orchid is easily distinguishable from all other orchids, with its gold and brown velvety lower petal patterned to resemble the back-end of a female bumblebee. It attracts solitary bees who land on the plant in the hope of mating with a female but in the process, they help to pollinate the native Irish perennial wildflower which can grow to about 30cm to 40cm in height. Last year, the councils East Cork Municipal District successfully implemented a range of actions in public parks, open spaces, road verges and ornamental planting beds around Midleton under the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. Flower beds were planted with pollinator friendly perennials at The Rock and Coolbawn areas of the town, spraying of pesticides was reduced and road verges in Midleton and Ballinacurra were left to flower into long flowering meadows. A five-acre area of frequently mown grass in Midleton Lodge Park, part of the Midleton Distillery complex, was identified as a potential wildflower meadow. The frequency of mowing was altered to leave it uncut until September each year to allow the existing seed bank of wildflowers to flourish. That change led to the appearance of native wildflowers such as self heal, knapweed, yellow rattle and birdsfoot trefoil. BALTIMORE On a Friday evening a few months ago, when it was entirely normal to be in a packed concert hall, Sheku Kanneh-Mason finished playing Saint-Saenss Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The British cellist had torn through the classic piece, which unfolds in a 20-minute whoosh. It just kind of starts, he had said at lunch that afternoon. There are no gaps between the concertos sections, so no breaks for awkward throat clearing. No big solo cadenza stops the momentum. Mr. Kanneh-Masons playing is more poised than fiery: levelheaded, though not exactly cool. But the enameled sunniness of his tone milky yet bright took on dashing spirit in the headlong sprint to the end. Mr. Kanneh-Mason, who turned 21 on April 4, walked offstage to a loud ovation, then stood with his cello for a few seconds before heading back on for an encore. When he emerged, the audience greeted him with a roar. Marin Alsop, the Baltimore Symphonys longtime conductor, smiled as she watched from backstage. Lukashenka Dismisses Belarusian Government Ahead Of Presidential Vote By RFE/RL's Belarus Service June 03, 2020 Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has dismissed his government, state media report, two months before a presidential election. "The president has decided to dismiss the current government. A relevant decree has been signed," Belarus 1 television channel said on June 3. A presidential election is scheduled to be held on August 9, with Lukashenka, who has ruled the country of 9.5 million people since 1994, widely expected to win a sixth term in office. Belarus abolished presidential term limits in 2004. Critics of Lukashenka say his government has shown little tolerance for dissent and independent media. Last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that Belarusian authorities have intensified their crackdown on protesters, opposition bloggers, journalists, and other government critics with a "new wave of arbitrary arrests" ahead of the presidential election. The country has been the target of U.S. and EU sanctions over its poor rights record and lack of fair elections, but Belarus and the West have recently sought to mend ties to reduce Russia's influence in the country. With reporting by Belarus 1 Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/lukashenka- dismisses-belarusian-government-ahead-of- presidential-vote/30651103.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 After Crushing Anti-Government Rallies At Home, Iran Expresses Support For U.S. Protesters Golnaz Esfandiari June 03, 2020 Iran is using the killing in the United States of an African-American man at the hands of a white policeman and the angry wave of protests it has caused as a propaganda tool to settle scores with Washington, which has imposed a campaign of "maximum pressure" on Tehran that includes crippling economic sanctions. Iranian officials have denounced the killing of the man, George Floyd, in the city of Minneapolis on May 25 while using the same rhetoric Washington has used in recent months to blast state corruption and human rights abuses in Iran. On June 1, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi made a rare statement in English to directly appeal to Americans and express support for what he termed their "outcry over state oppression" in protesting Floyd's death. "To the American people: the world has heard your outcry over [state] oppression. The world is standing with you. The American regime is pursuing violence and bullying at home and abroad," Musavi said. Musavi also called on U.S. officials and the police to stop using "violence" against Americans and to "let them breathe." The comments echoed statements issued by top U.S. officials in support of Iranians who took to the streets in recent months, including in January following the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The influential IRGC said the tragic accident was caused by human error amid heightened tensions with the United States after the assassination of the corps' top commander, Qasem Soleimani. But the government initially denied involvement in the plane's downing, angering Iranians. Both U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed support for the protesters outraged by the incident, which killed 176 people. Trump posted a tweet in English and Persian saying that his administration stood with the Iranian people. He added that "we are following your protests closely and are inspired by your courage." For his part, Pompeo said that Iranians "are fed up with the regime's lies, corruption, ineptitude, and brutality of the IRGC under @Khamenei_ir's kleptocracy." On May 30, Iran's Twitter-savvy foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted a 2018 statement by Pompeo where some of the words had been crossed out and replaced with new words in red to reflect Tehran's views and highlight the outbreak of protests in 140 cities around the United States. "The people of America are tired of the racism, corruption, [and] incompetence from their leaders," Zarif's statement said, adding that "the American people are demanding their leaders share the country's wealth and respond to their legitimate demands." "Some don't think #BlackLivesMatter," Zarif said on Twitter, which is among the social-media platforms banned in Iran, although top government officials are allowed to use it. Pompeo retorted back with the tweet: "You hang homosexuals, stone women and exterminate Jews. Iranian Vice President Massumeh Ebetkar, who was the spokeswoman for the hostage-takers of U.S. diplomats in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, retweeted a story about the protests in the United States while writing that "All humanity stands with you against racism, against discrimination, against oppression, against imperialism!" There was also condemnation from the head of Iran's judiciary, hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who is accused of having played a key role in the 1988 mass executions of thousands of political prisoners following mock trials that often lasted just a few minutes. "Today America is not a claimant [as a purveyor of] human rights anymore, but as an accused it should face trial," said Raisi, who has been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury, in a speech aired on state-controlled television. Iran routinely crushes antiestablishment protests, including in November 2019, when at least 300 people were killed during street demonstrations, according to Amnesty International. Many of the victims were reportedly shot dead by snipers. Other critics, including U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, have said that more than 1,000 people may have been killed by security forces in those protests, which were sparked by a major hike in gasoline prices. Iran's heavily censored media, which is often banned from reporting on anti-government rallies, has covered the protests in U.S. cities on their front pages and led their news broadcasts with them. Iranian media reported earlier this week that a candlelight vigil was held in the city of Mashhad for Floyd, who died after a policeman kneeled on the back of his neck for nearly nine minutes, pinning him facedown in a city street. Floyd repeatedly told the officer that he could not breathe. The police officer has been arrested and faces murder charges. Three other police who helped detain Floyd and failed to help him during the incident were fired. The vigil in Iran for Floyd is notable because Iranian officials do not usually allow public memorials for victims of state violence. In December, family members of Pouya Bakhtiari, a young protester killed in the November street protests that spread to more than 100 cities and towns, were detained after announcing they would hold a public ceremony to mark 40 days since his death. Security officials reportedly summoned Bakhtiari's father and told him not to hold the ceremony in a mosque, citing concerns it could create unrest. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/after-crushing-anti- government-rallies-at-home-iran-expresses-support- for-u-s-protesters/30650055.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 Mural of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo by artist Diane Keller and Mural Arts Program was vandalized again. The mural is in a small plaza on S. 9th and Montrose was recently vandalized. Photograph from Wednesday morning June 3, 2020. Read more Mural Arts Philadelphia will cease all involvement with the mural of former Mayor Frank Rizzo in the Italian Market, the organization said in a statement responding to the removal of the Rizzo statue near City Hall. The mural has again become a target for defacement amidst this national chapter of pain, grief, and anger over the recent death of George Floyd and the systemic racism plaguing our country, the statement noted. READ MORE: Heres live coverage of whats happening June 3 It continued: We do not believe the mural can play a role in healing and supporting dialogue, but rather it has become a painful reminder for many of the former Mayors legacy, and only adds to the pain and anger. Mural Arts statement said that the maintenance and repair of the Rizzo mural is not consistent with the organizations mission. The mural was vandalized Friday, one of many similar incidents. We think it is time for the mural to be decommissioned, and would support a unifying piece of public art in its place, it said, though that would be contingent on the property owners approval. At this time, Mural Arts will no longer be involved in the repair or restoration of the mural. David Neukirch, the owner of the pizzeria on the Ninth Street property, said Wednesday afternoon he expects the Rizzo mural to be removed imminently, depending on the weather. This is not a mural that is kept up because the Italian Market Association wants it here, Neukrich said, adding Mural Arts Philadelphia put up this mural in this location years ago and it became controversial. Its a very tough position Ive been put in, he said. I cant just go out and paint over it or take it down. READ MORE: How Mayor Jim Kenney abruptly ended years of delays to remove the Frank Rizzo statue Within 72 hours this week, Alisa Bowens-Mercado said she was tagged in more social media posts than ever and her Instagram following tripled. She has to keep her phone on the charger at all times because all the messages and calls she's receiving are draining her battery. Bowens-Mercado owns Rhythm Brewing Co. in New Haven; she is the first black brewery owner in the state and was named one of the best breweries in the country by Travel Noir. Calls to action to support black-owned business owners have been popping up on social media feeds since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Minnesota man whose alleged killer, police officer Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers face charges related to Floyd's death. The calls to action only increased with #blackouttuesday, an international movement that swept social media earlier this week. Bowens-Mercado said she is "humbled" by the support she is seeing. As of June 4, the hashtag #blackownedbusinesses had over three million posts. Sites like New York Magazine, Oprah Magazine and many others have posted lists of black-owned businesses around the country. In Connecticut, CT Eats Out has rounded up black-owned restaurants in the state and an Instagram page called Collective Resistance CT has begun compiling a list of black-owned businesses in general in Connecticut. Scroll to bottom find these and other resources supporting the black business community in Connecticut. Its a call to action that Henry Young, President of the National Black MBA Association, Greater Hartford Chapter, said could have a great effect on the black community. At the surface it's about justice and police treatment, he said in regard to protests after the death of George Floyd. But we know that throughout history, black communities and communities of color are worse off. Young cited that the coronavirus pandemic hit black communities harder both economically and health-wise. One way to bring peace, I think, is to diminish that inequality and those disparities. And one way to do that is to support black businesses. Black Americans are Americans and we also have the American dream," said Young. "When you support a black business, you actually help decrease the economic gap. Entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to improve wealth. Its also a way to support the black community in general, he said. When you support their business, you're giving to that community, and those folks are spending within that community. Also, black owners are often leaders and strong influencers of positive success. When black businesses suffer, the black community suffers. And when the black community suffers, everybody suffers, said Young. Additionally, based on statistics, black businesses are less likely to be granted a bank loan and have to be self-funded, Young said. Their capital is when you go and purchase from them. It creates a cycle of giving back to the black community and to your economy. Bowens-Mercado said she is "humbled" by the support she is seeing. What people are telling me is that black lives matter. Black businesses matter, she said. "When I started seeing people I have never met before posting things and tagging 'black-owned' and 'buy black,' it brings a tear to your eye. People are in this with us together," she said. But she said Connecticut has some work to do. For me to be the first black-owned beer brand in states history that lets you know the disproportion of some of these industries, she said.Young is originally from Texas; he has lived in California, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago and now Hartford. When he arrived in Connecticut, he said the amount of disparity was unexpected.A lot of time folks like us from the south look to the north and think thats the union. Thats where people fled to. In Hartford, there is a clear line between black and white. It is a place of enormous wealth and a place of enormous poverty. Young said the majority of black-owned businesses in Connecticut are micro businesses, which makes it hard for them to become suppliers for large corporations. Young believes one of the problems is that Connecticut as a state has been losing businesses and lacks incentives for business owners. He would like to see black small business owners thinking large-scale about how to become suppliers for places like UTC and the insurance companies in Hartford. For Bowens-Mercado, for example, she said the next step for her business is to get a major distributor like Diageo to pick up her brand and move it past just the local level. But the businesses that are here have what I like to call the hustle, said Young. They are hungry for success and they exploit all opportunity. They are not down and out. In response to the support she is getting, Bowens-Mercado is donating a portion of proceeds from online sales to Black Lives Matter New Haven. She is calling it "The Great Donate." "We have hit a time when now we're talking about it. We've been saying it as owners and fighting the good fight for economic justice for our industries. Now people are getting it," she said. "We are getting just as many people not of color ordering and purchasing and donating to Black Lives Matter." Supporting black-owned businesses is another form of protest, said Young. Its a way to get the black community to where it wants to be. The black folks that I know really want America to succeed. Its not fun having to always complain, we just want fairness. Resources supporting the black business community in Connecticut List of black-owned restaurants CT Eats Out List of black-owned businesses Collective Resistance CT Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Minority Business Initiative The Black Business Alliance National Black MBA Association, Hartford Chapter Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has placed its facilities on full lockdown as protests triggered by the police murder of George Floyd have spread across the United States and internationally. The BOP runs all federal prison facilities which house nearly 13 percent of all prisoners in the US. This is the first action of this kind since 1995, when a series of prison rebellions beginning in Talladega, Alabama engulfed the system. On Sunday, the BOP sent an announcement to its employees stating, The BOP has implemented a national lockdown as of 4 p.m. due to the ongoing unrest and riots nationwide. It continued, We will assume lockdown protocols for everyones safety and until it is calm around the nation. The BOP oversees 122 prisons across the country with 165,575 inmates and 36,846 employees. This action coincides with an increasingly acute health crisis within the entire US prison system due to the spread of COVID-19. As of May 27, in all US prisons and jails, at least 34,584 people have tested positive for the virus and 455 have died. In BOP facilities alone, there have been 5,239 cases and 64 deaths. Given the widespread lack of testing, these figures are likely an underestimation of the virus true toll. Despite a widely-publicized release order by US Attorney General William Barr on April 23, since the beginning of the pandemic only 3,000 BOP inmates have been released. This mirrors slow releases across the entire US prison system since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As federal law enforcement agents, BOP personnel have also been intimately involved in the violent and unconstitutional attacks by the capitalist state on protesters across the US in recent days. On Tuesday, Barr directed the BOP to send prison riot teams to Miami and Washington, D.C. As early as 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, heavily armed riot teams were seen guarding roads approaching the White House in Washington, D.C. The federal prison lockdown does not only condemn thousands of inmates to indefinite isolation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Politically, it exposes the ruling classs fear of the ongoing international mass protest movement. As the Trump administration intensifies its criminal repression of protesters, it fears that conditions in prisons and the mass sympathy for the strike movement amongst US prisoners will combine and lead to a huge wave of prison rebellions. In conditions where the class lines that divide society are becoming increasingly clear and hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets, the ruling class is not willing to take any chances with its prisons. The potential for prisoner unrest has been exacerbated by their criminal mistreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The BOP put its facilities into a partial lockdown on March 31 more than two months after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the US. The haphazard response to the pandemic actually led to a suspension of most health services for prisoners, forcing them to remain locked-in place in unsanitary facilities and even condemned many to solitary confinement. Furthermore, arrests, imprisonments and releases without testing have continued through the pandemic, meaning that prisons have acted as vectors in the diseases spread through working class communities. Reflecting the international nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the uniformity of the capitalist class callous response, prison unrest has been an international phenomenon since the outbreak of the virus in January of this year. Prison rebellions have been recorded in France, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, Syria and Sierra Leone. Hundreds of prisoners have died in these struggles. The international nature of the current wave of protests will undoubtedly reignite these desperate populations. In recent months, the US has also seen a recent spate of prison unrest. From the end of December 2019, eleven inmates died in a month of violence in Mississippi state prison riots. Despite prison officials explaining the events as a gang-war, inmates insist they were instigated by prison guards. These tensions have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, following an outbreak of the virus at a facility in Lansing, Kansas, inmates ransacked offices before the rebellion was contained by guards. Also in April, the Ohio National Guard was called into the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution under the auspice of helping contain an outbreak at the facility. Historically, prison rebellions have repeatedly coincided with wider social movements and strike waves throughout American and world history. In the late sixties, major prison riots occurred across the US as hundreds of thousands took to the streets to fight for civil rights and protest the Vietnam war. This culminated in the Attica prison riot in 1971 where hundreds of prisoners in New York took 42 staff hostages. After a four-day stand-off, an assault by state forces ended the siege. During the uprising 33 prisoners and 10 correctional officers were dead. Following the Wall Street Crash in 1929, there were also a series of prison riots through the mid-1930s. As conditions continue to deteriorate in prisons and in wider society, prisons and jails will undoubtedly become a focus for class tensions. The USs incarcerated population are almost exclusively working class and enjoy broad sympathy among working people. Many of the slogans and hashtags used in relation to the current wave of protests have correctly made the link between the struggle against police brutality and the end of mass incarceration. The recognition of the inter-relatedness of these issues must not stop there, however. These issues, which plague the working class regardless of race, ethnicity, or nationality, cannot be separated from their ultimate cause: capitalism. Mumbai, June 5 : An unverified Twitter account that identifies as @KillBillBride and introduces its owner as 'Rangoli Chandel, Manager & spokesperson to the Actor, Filmmaker #KanganaRanaut, as well as 'Mother Wife Entrepreneur, has come down heavily on Tablighi Jamaat, the missionary group that was accused a while back of spreading COVID-19 by not adhering to social distancing norms. A tweet on the account, which carries Rangoli's mugshot as Display Picture but no blue tick, goes: "India se kya ghar se bahar na nikle aaisa ban lagao in #TablighiJamaat walo par gutter ke keedo se bhi gande hai joh Police aur Doctor pe thukte hai joh unki madat kar rahe aur waise bhi agar ye na hote toh aj India main patients bhot bhot kum hote (why just India, ban #TablighiJamaat people in a way so that they cannot leave their homes. They are worse than vermins in the gutter for they spit on policepersons and doctors who try to help them. As it is, if these guys were not around, the number of patients in India would be far less) so throw them out right away." The tweet was posted in response to a news tweet that the government has blacklisted 960 foreign-based Tablighi Jamaat members from travelling to India for 10 years. Rangoli's verified Twitter account was suspended in April. -- Syndicated from IANS Atlas from Neanderthals found in Krapina site. Credit: Carlos A. Palancar et al What caused the disappearance of Homo neanderthalensis, a species which apparently possessed as many capacities as Homo sapiens? There are several theories attempting to explain this: the climate, competition, low genetic diversity. Daniel Garcia Martinez, a researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigacion sobre la Evolucion Humana (CENIEH), has participated in a study published in the Journal of Anatomy, on the first cervical vertebra of several Neanderthals, which confirms that the genetic diversity of the population was low, thus hampering their capacity to adapt to possible changes in their environment and, therefore, their survival. The Neanderthals inhabited the European continent until barely 30,000 years ago, and their disappearance continues to be a mystery. Work to decipher their genome has been carried out to determine their genetic diversity, as have analyses of different anatomical characteristics in the fossil record of the species. "We have centered on the anatomical variants of the first cervical vertebra, known as the atlas. The anatomical variants of this vertebra are tightly bound up with genetic diversity: the greater the prevalence of this kind of anatomical variant, the lower the population genetic diversity," explains Carlos A. Palancar, a researcher at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. In H. sapiens, the anatomical variants of the atlas have been extensively studied over recent years. With regard to modern humans, the atlas presents one or more of the different anatomical variations in almost 30% of cases. El Sidron In this study, in which researchers from the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid (MNCN-CSIC) and the Universidad de Valencia also participated, three vertebrae from the Krapina site (Croatia) were analyzed, and the material from other sites such as El Sidron (Asturias) was reviewed. Recently, researchers from the Paleoanthropology Group at the MNCN determined the presence of different anatomical variants in the atlases from the El Sidron Neanderthals. With the objective of confirming the high prevalence of these anatomical variants in the species, they conducted exhaustive analyses of the Neanderthal fossil atlases from Krapina. "Krapina is a site around 130,000 years old, compared with the age of 50,000 or so for El Sidron. This is the site from which the highest number of Neanderthal remains has been recovered, which makes these a sample of particular interest when analyzing the genetic diversity of this species, as all the individuals may potentially have belonged to the same population," says Garcia-Martinez. Explore further Occupation of the last Neanderthal groups in the Cantabrian region More information: Carlos A. Palancar et al. Krapina atlases suggest a high prevalence of anatomical variations in the first cervical vertebra of Neanderthals, Journal of Anatomy (2020). Carlos A. Palancar et al. Krapina atlases suggest a high prevalence of anatomical variations in the first cervical vertebra of Neanderthals,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/joa.13215 Provided by CENIEH Joe Biden has an 11-point lead over President Trump in a new national poll, as state surveys show trouble spots for Trump in Wisconsin, Arizona and even Texas, which is too close to call. Monmouth University pollsters talked to registered voters across the nation and found that 52 per cent now support the presumptive Democratic nominee, while 41 per cent support the sitting Republican president. Biden has slowly made gains since March, when he essentially locked up the nomination, but also had to get off the campaign trail due to the coronavirus crisis. Joe Biden, speaking about the death of George Floyd Tuesday in Philadelphia, has a widening lead in national polling and is performing well against President Trump in some traditionally red states President Trump's handling of the current racial unrest hasn't been fully baked into polling yet. Instead, Joe Biden's lead seems to be coming from Trump's mishandling of the coronavirus crisis Monmouth's numbers showed him with 48 per cent support in March, to Trump's 45 per cent. That grew to 48 per cent in April, while Trump was at 44 per cent. Last month, Biden got to 50 per cent of registered voters, while Trump fell to 51 per cent. Voters seem influenced by the belief that Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis will hinder his re-election chances. The most recent racial unrest hasn't been fully baked in. 'The race continues to be largely a referendum on the incumbent. The initial reaction to ongoing racial unrest in the country suggests that most voters feel Trump is not handling the situation well at all,' said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. Most of the reporting for this particular poll happened before Trump's controversial move to pose in front of St. John's church with a Bible Monday afternoon, minutes after protesters were forcibly removed from the area using 'pepper balls,' shields, smoke and police on horseback. A new Texas poll that dropped Wednesday shows Biden just one point behind Trump in a state that has voted Republican in the presidential election for the past 40 years. Forty-four per cent of Texans said they'd vote for Trump, while 43 per cent said Biden, according to a Quinnipiac survey. Arizona, which has already elected one Democratic senator and polling suggests will elect another in November, is another state that's in play for Biden. A Fox News poll out Wednesday showed Biden with an 4 point lead. He receives 46 per cent of support in Arizona, to Trump's 42 per cent, with the survey's margin of error at plus-or-minus 3 per cent. Incumbent Sen. Martha McSally, who's a Republican, gets just 37 per cent support compared to her Democratic rival, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who sits at 50 per cent support, in the same Fox News poll. In Wisconsin, a traditionally blue state Trump won over Hillary Clinton in 2016, a Fox News poll shows Biden 9 points ahead. He receives 49 per cent of the vote to Trump's 40 per cent. Polling in both Arizona and Texas showed that Trump still had a solid edge when voters were asked who would be better at handling the economy. In Texas, 54 per cent of voters said Trump, while 40 per cent said Biden. In Arizona, 48 per cent said Trump, while 41 per cent said Biden. In Wisconsin, Trump still had a lead when voters were asked about the economy, but it was tighter - with 47 per cent saying Trump and 44 per cent suggesting Biden would be best. West Linn Mayor Russ Axelrod said hes confident the city will take swift and decisive action as soon as possible against police Sgt. Tony Reeves, who the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office ruled is no longer credible to serve as a witness in criminal cases in the county. West Linn officials, according to the mayor, also are exploring options regarding the past conduct of former Police Chief Terry Timeus, who retired in 2017. In a statement released Tuesday night, Axelrod didnt specifically say if the city is moving to fire Reeves but noted it is addressing due process rights under the law in response to the DA report. The mayor and council dont have the power to take disciplinary action or terminate a city employee, but the city manager does. I have confidence in staff after seeing the findings of the Clackamas district attorneys report, and the clarity of what that report found, that they (city staff members) will do the right thing, Axelrod said Wednesday. Reeves was the lead investigator and colluded with Timeus to pursue the unsupported theft arrest of Michael Fesser of Portland in February 2017 for a personal friend of the police chiefs, the Clackamas County District Attorneys Office found after reviewing the case. Timeus friend was Fessers employer at the time, Eric Benson, owner of A&B Towing Co. in Southeast Portland. Fesser, who is black, had brought concerns of racial harassment by co-workers to Benson. The district attorneys investigation also found that Reeves withheld key evidence, engaged in an illegal recording of Fesser, deleted racist and vulgar text messages he received from Fessers boss on his cellphone and disclosed Fessers confidential attorney-client information to Fessers boss. West Linn police targeted Fesser, using " inappropriate and offensive investigative tactics, and lacked transparency, honesty and any sense of fair play, the district attorneys report said. The DAs investigation began after The Oregonian/OregonLive publicized West Linns payout of $600,000 to settle Fessers federal lawsuit against the citys police department for wrongful arrest. Since Fessers arrest in 2017, West Linn police promoted Reeves from detective to sergeant. After Fesser filed a notice of intent to sue the city, West Linn police conducted an internal investigation and gave Reeves a written reprimand for not properly documenting the cellphone and cash he seized from Fesser on the night of his arrest. Reeves remains on paid administrative leave, along with current Police Chief Terry Kruger. The cost of the two officers leave is about $28,500 per month in salary and benefits combined, according to Interim City Manager John Williams. Kruger was placed on leave April 8. The city has contracted with the California-based OIR Group to investigate how Kruger, the police department and city officials handled Fessers wrongful arrest claims since he filed his notice of intent to sue and his lawsuit. A group called Concerned Citizens of West Linn is pressing for Reeves firing in light of the district attorneys report. "I see no reason why the taxpayers of West Linn must continue to pay out substantial monthly salary and benefits to an officer who acted dishonorably and illegally, as documented in the DAs report,'' Kathy Selvaggio of the citizens group wrote to the City Council this week. Peter Mahuna, West Linns acting chief, said in a prepared statement that Reeves "has rights to due process which The City of West Linn and the Police Department intend to strictly follow. I firmly believe the West Linn Police Department will become a better and more professional police department as a result of this investigation and the others still underway. We have a long way to go in earning back the confidence and public trust weve lost.'' The Clackamas County District Attorneys Office also urged the state to strip Reeves and Timeus of their police certifications. Timeus left the West Linn Police Department in fall 2017 and received more than $123,000 in a separation agreement with the city that now is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. "Although our Charter prohibits Council from interfering with personnel decisions, it does permit us to provide general input, as long as it does not appear to direct the City Manager to hire, discipline or fire a staff member,'' Council President Teri Cummings wrote in an email submitted during a council meeting this week. "West Linn has suffered greatly and paid dearly from a longstanding style of City management that dealt with unprofessional and/or illegal behavior by ignoring and/or paying the person to quietly go away.'' -- 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 First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on June 6, 1975 Vera James at the State Theatre with Sydney Film Festival director, David Stratton. Credit:ANTON CERMAK Miss Vera James, 83, sat in the dress circle of the State Theatre yesterday to watch her young self appear in A Girl of the Bush, a 1921 silent film. The film is being shown in the Australian Feature Film Retrospective, which is part of the Sydney Film Festival. Afterwards, in the foyer, Miss James spoke to old admirers and talked of the time when she went back of Bourke to make the film. Heihe Customs in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has supervised the importation of 1.58 billion cubic meters of natural gas via the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline over the past six months. The cross-border gas pipeline has a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China. On Dec. 2, 2019, a 1,067-km section of the northern part of the pipeline was officially put into operation, marking the start of a new era in bilateral energy cooperation. Entering China via the border city of Heihe and running through nine provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, the pipeline has also been connected with existing natural gas networks in China to allow the Russian natural gas supply to reach China's northeast, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta regions. The pipeline is scheduled to provide China with 5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in 2020 and the amount is expected to increase to 38 billion cubic meters annually from 2024, under a 30-year contract worth 400 billion U.S. dollars signed between the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Russian gas giant Gazprom in May 2014. The family of a young black man who was fatally shot by police officers in Colorado Springs last year has filed a federal lawsuit against the city claiming officers violated his constitutional rights through the use of excessive force. De'Von Bailey, 19, was shot four times in the back after someone called in a false robbery report as a revenge tactic, the family lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado said Thursday. A former classmate who knew Bailey and his cousin, Lawrence Stoker, allegedly called in the report because he lost a physical altercation with Bailey. This was murder, pure and simple, his father, Greg Bailey, said. They killed my son as he was running away from them. He did not want to hurt them or anyone else. He was running away, and they shot him in the back like an animal. Image: De'Von Bailey, 19, was shot seven times by police in Colorado Springs Aug. 3, 2019. (Courtesy of the Bailey Family) Authorities said at the time that officers responded to a report of an armed robbery. The responding officers, named in the familys lawsuit, alleged that they were speaking to two potential suspects when one seemed to reach for a firearm. Video footage from a nearby surveillance camera showed a portion of the encounter, in which Bailey can be seen running away from officers before falling to the ground. The lawsuit said Colorado Springs Sgt. Alan Vant Land and officer Blake Evenson described their initial conversation with Bailey and Stoker as calm and civl, but then began approaching the two young men. But Bailey ran as Vant Land approached him from behind, and both officers drew their guns while yelling hands up in rapid succession, the suit claims. Defendant Vant Land did not wait to see if Mr. Bailey would obey his commands to put his hands up; he had already decided to shoot Mr. Bailey in the back, the lawsuit said. Before he had even finished saying the word up for the final time, Defendant Vant Land fired his gun at Mr.Bailey. The familys suit claims Baileys death violated the 1985 Supreme Court decision in Tennessee v. Garner, which states that use of deadly force to prevent the escape of a suspect is constitutionally unreasonable unless the suspect poses a significant threat. Story continues Eyewitnesses stated that they never saw Bailey make a threatening gesture or reach for a gun. A gun was later discovered in his pocket, according to the lawsuit. "The gun was so deep within his shorts that the officers were required to cut Mr. Baileys shorts to remove the gun because it was so difficult to retrieve out of his shorts pocket," the lawsuit states. Defendant police officers determined that the only way to prevent Mr. Bailey from getting away was to shoot him in the back, the suit said. So they did. A grand jury found that the fatal shooting by Vant Land and Evensen was a justified act in November. A spokesperson for the city of Colorado Springs on Thursday said they would not comment on active litigation. The Colorado Springs Police Department did not immediately responded to a request for comment. Vant Land was not available for comment to NBC News. Public information to contact Evenson was not available and it is unclear if he has representation. The familys lawsuit also alleges that excessive use of force and racially biased policing has long been the custom and actual practice at the Colorado Springs Police Department. The suit listed a number of cases where complaints of excessive force were made against the department, including the 2018 death of Jeffrey Melvin, who was hit with a stun gun during a police response to a disturbance call at an apartment building. Mari Newman, one of the attorneys for Baileys family, said the lawsuit filed Thursday will level the playing field between police and the community. This is yet another example of racially biased policing, with a deadly result, Newman said. DeVons rights were completely ignored. Instead, the police took the role of judge, jury and executioner. And the law enforcement community quickly took the side of the police. Highlights Samsung Galaxy A31 has been launched in India The Galaxy A31 brings a 6.4-inch display Samsung's latest phone also gets a quad camera set-up at the back South Korean tech giant, Samsung, has finally launched the Galaxy A31 in India. The smartphone has been announced in the country after first being listed on the company's India website earlier last month. The smartphone comes as an upgrade over the last year's Galaxy A30 which was quite popular with buyers across the world. Among the highlights of the Galaxy A31 are its big 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, a 20-megapixel selfie camera housed inside a waterdrop style notch, and its octa-core MediaTek Helio chipset that comes powering the smartphone. Samsung Galaxy A31: Price and availability The Samsung Galaxy A31 has been launched in India in a single variant, with the device getting 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The price of the phone has been set at Rs 21,999. Samsung has informed the phone will be available all major retail outlets, including Samsung's own stores, Samsung.com, as well as Flipkart and Amazon. The phone is available in multiple colours, including Blue and Black. Samsung Galaxy A31: Specifications In terms of the internals, the Samsung Galaxy A31 brings with itself an octa-core processor MediaTek Helio P65 chipset which sees two cores is clocked at 2.0GHz, and six at a 1.7GHz frequency. The chipset has been paired to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The cameras are a big highlight of the Galaxy A31, with the company equipping the device with a quad-camera setup at the back -- consists of a primary 48-megapixel camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle shooter, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, the phone again goes big on photography, as the device comes with a 20-megapixel selfie lens housed within a waterdrop-style notch on the display. Powering the is a 5,000mAh battery. The battery has been equipped with 15W fast charging support via USB Type-C. The Samsung Galaxy A31 also gets support for software offerings such as Samsung Pay, Samsung Knox, and Samsung Health for improved convenience of users. [June 04, 2020] Meggitt Training Systems Wins Canadian Armed Forces Small-Arms Trainer Service and Support Contract Meggitt Training Systems has been awarded a US$4.4 million contract extension from Public Services and Procurement Canada, on behalf of the Department of National Defence, to provide in-service support to the Canadian Armed Forces for Meggitt's Small Arms Trainer (SAT) and Indirect Fire Trainer (IFT). The original contract won by Meggitt Training Systems (Quebec), a subsidiary of Suwanee-based Meggitt Training Systems Inc., began in June 2015 and includes operator and maintenance support for related training activities, incorporating onsite support for health, usage and equipment monitoring at major bases across Canada. "Our FATS line of small-arms training simulators provide the highest levels of realism for marksmanship, judgmental and collective training," said Andrea Czop, vice president of strategy, sales and marketing for Meggitt Training Systems. "From military-certified ballistics to lifelike video-based scenarios, we deliver as the system of record in Canada, the United States and allied nations around the world." The Meggitt SAT simulator system supports individual and group training across the spectrum f military, paramilitary and security operations. Meggitt's IFTs are used to train soldiers in forward observer, fire direction and mortar crew skills proficiency. "Meggitt has been a proud supplier of weapon simulation to the Canadian Armed Forces for more than 20 years," said Ed Duckless, president of Meggitt Training Systems (Quebec). "We remain a committed partner supporting the operational readiness of Canada's soldiers, sailors and airmen with advanced simulation and training systems." About Meggitt Training Systems Meggitt Training Systems, makers of FATS and Caswell technologies, a division of Meggitt PLC, is the leading supplier of integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training systems. Following the acquisition of FATS virtual training systems and Caswell International's live-fire ranges and services, Meggitt Training Systems continues to grow its capabilities based on the legacy of these two industry leaders. Over 15,000 Meggitt live-fire ranges and 7,200 virtual systems are fielded internationally, providing judgmental, situational awareness and marksmanship training to the armed forces, law enforcement and security organizations. Meggitt Training Systems employs more than 400 people at its headquarters in Atlanta and at facilities in Orlando, Canada, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, UAE, Australia and Singapore. It can deploy service personnel anywhere in the world for instructor training, system installation and maintenance. About Meggitt PLC Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Meggitt PLC is an international group operating in North America, Europe and Asia. Known for its specialized extreme environment engineering, Meggitt is a world leader in aerospace, defence and energy, employing nearly 12,000 people at more than 40 manufacturing facilities and regional offices worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005752/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Thursday said that the latest results from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the early universe took place sooner than previously thought. The new result limits the probe area of the Hubble, paving way for the James Webb Telescope to further the research about the origin of the universe. A team of European astronomers found no evidence of the first generation of stars, known as Population-III stars, as far back as when the universe was just 500 million years old. The team ... Viewers have slammed 60 Minutes for interviewing Pete Evans and giving airtime to his dangerous anti-vaccination and coronavirus conspiracy theories. The former My Kitchen Rules judge has grown increasingly vocal about his disbelief of scientifically-backed medicine and attempts to convince his followers of a link between COVID-19 and the rollout of the 5G technology network. In spite of the potentially dangerous ramifications of giving Evans a platform, 60 Minutes will air an interview with Evans on Sunday night. In a preview for the segment, Evans admitted to being 'skeptical... and also suspicious'. 'If I disappear or have a weird accident, it wasn't an accident,' he said. The former My Kitchen Rules judge (pictured with his wife, Nicola Robinson) has grown increasingly vocal about his disbelief of scientifically-backed medicine and attempts to convince his followers of a link between COVID-19 and the rollout of the 5G technology network While the program doesn't appear to agree with or support his bizarre theories in the short teaser clip, fans said they couldn't 'see an upside' to sharing Evans' opinions. 'This is so irresponsible,' one person wrote in response to the trailer. 'How dare 60 Minutes share dangerous, ignorant viewpoints that absolutely will put people's lives at risk for a few cheap views.' There are calls for the program to scrap the segment, with some commenters suggesting people could die if they follow Evans' 'nonsense'. Evans on Thursday claimed he wasn't paid for his time, and only agreed to be featured when he learned 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes would be interviewing him. 'I believe her reputation as a journalist is about finding and sharing the truth,' he said, before adding he 'didn't care' how he was edited in the segment. He revealed his team had also filmed the interview, which went for hours, and that he would release the 'unedited' footage following the segment on Sunday night. Evans spoke directly to the camera when he said if he has 'an accident' soon, it wouldn't really be an accident, after spouting wild conspiracy theories for weeks Evans on Thursday claimed he wasn't paid for his time, and only agreed to be featured when he learned 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes would be interviewing him 'I have no idea how they will edit it, nor do I care. I invite you to watch and listen to their version and also what was fully recorded from my team,' he said. The 47-year-old claims he was invited to appear on the program for a special segment titled: 'Why are so many people stepping out of mainstream thinking? Where there was trust, there is now deep distrust.' Evans recently endorsed US President Donald Trump's threat to use the military against Black Lives Matter protesters following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. Mr Floyd died in the custody of four Minneapolis police. Officer Derek Chauvin was charged with his murder after footage of him kneeling on Mr Floyd's throat for almost nine minutes went viral. The vision sparked outrage across the world and led to riots, which Evans believes are part of a media conspiracy staged by 'the elite' to distract citizens from the coronavirus pandemic. Fans said they couldn't 'see an upside' to 60 Minutes sharing Evans' opinions. There are calls for the program to scrap the segment before it goes to air WHY VACCINES ARE IMPORTANT Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them. Immunisation not only protects individuals, but also others in the community, by reducing the spread of preventable diseases. Research and testing is an essential part of developing safe and effective vaccines. In Australia, vaccines must pass strict safety testing before the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will register them for use. Approval of vaccines can take up to 10 years. Before vaccines become available to the public, large clinical trials test them on thousands of people. High-quality studies over many years have compared the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Medical information from nearly 1.5 million children around the world have confirmed that vaccination does not cause autism. People first became concerned about autism and immunisation after the medical journal The Lancet published a paper in 1998. This paper claimed there was a link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Since then, scientists have completely discredited this paper. The Lancet withdrew it in 2010 and printed an apology. The UK's General Medical Council struck the author off the medical register for misconduct and dishonesty. Source: Australian Department of Health Advertisement 'With the wave of a wand the media diverted your attention from a 'deadly' pandemic to racial riots, and you didn't even stop to notice,' he said in a previous post about the matter. Meanwhile in the interview, he appeared to justify his beliefs regarding the supposed dangers of vaccinations and medical advice by questioning motives of scientists. 'Science has been bought by vested interests in so many different fields,' he said. Evans has implied on multiple occasions that vaccinations can cause autism and other conditions in children. Last month, he appeared on The Kyle and Jackie O Show to peddle a disproved theory linking vaccinations with behavioural changes in children. Evans, who has no medical training and is seeking to profit from alternative health treatments, said: 'I've met so many mothers and their children and they tell me, "Hey Pete, my boy or girl was a healthy, functioning beautiful child - and they're still a beautiful child - but something happened when they got a shot one day." Evans (pictured) previously linked vaccinations to autism in children. The condition is actually a developmental disorder that has no scientifically proven links to vaccinations 'And within two hours, 12 hours, 24, 48 hours, that little boy or girl completely changed their behaviour. And certainly changed their nature.' There is no evidence that vaccines can cause such changes in children. The chef insists, however, that he is not an 'anti-vaxxer' but 'pro-choice'. Evans' contract with Channel Seven was torn up earlier this year, and his increasingly erratic posts have sparked concerns from a leading medical practitioner. Dr Harry Nespolon, the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said last month he feared Evans was 'in trouble' and advised him to book an appointment with his GP. The chef insisted he was perfectly fine, physically and mentally, all the while urging his followers to 'join the dots' and hinting as a global conspiracy. 'We are waking up, and the elite are afraid,' he recently said. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Network Nine for comment. Pete Evans sparked further outrage on social media following his endorsement of President Donald Trump's threats to use the military against Black Lives Matter protesters The celebrity chef, 47, shared a Facebook post stating that the riots across the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd are part of a media conspiracy staged by 'the elite' to distract citizens from the coronavirus pandemic PIERRE At a May 21 teleconference , South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said she sent a letter asking U.S. President Donald Trump to help end Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation coronavirus checkpoints, noting that they set precedent. Her remark was in response to a journalists question relating her stance against checkpoint legality to her concern over use of the reservation routes to carry supplies for impending construction of the Keystone XL tar-sands crude-oil pipeline, opposed by all nine of South Dakotas tribes. For every action that we take, and the tribes take, theyre setting precedent, said Noem. If we allow checkpoints to shut down traffic in this situation, then we are setting precedent for that to happen far into the future in many other situations as well. She is a staunch supporter of the Canadian pipeline. Citizens of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are seen at a checkpoint on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on May 10, 2020. Photo courtesy Anna Halverson The Cheyenne River, Oglala and Rosebud Sioux tribal governments, which have set up highway health inspection booths inside boundaries of their jurisdiction during the pandemic of the last couple months, insist they do not shut down traffic. Noems letter to Trump went out May 20, two days after the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota criticized her for undermining tribal sovereignty by demanding removal of the checkpoints. Her demands and associated threats of legal action constitute unnecessary escalation of the already strained relationship between the state and tribes, it said. Noem told Trump that the federal assistance she asks is to bring a prompt end to these unlawful tribal checkpoints/blockades on U.S./State highways as a final alternative to formal litigation. Candi Brings Plenty. Photo courtesy American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota Oglala Sioux tribal member Candi Brings Plenty, the ACLU of South Dakotas indigenous justice organizer, echoed Lakota elected leaders arguments, saying, Tribal sovereignty allows the tribes to operate these checkpoints within their land. Brings Plenty noted, Undermining that tribal sovereignty, that authority for the tribes to govern themselves, goes against the treaties the tribes have with the United States government. She highlighted, not just that right but also the need for tribal nations to protect themselves in a time of pandemic. Per the U.S. Constitution, these treaties are the law of the land. But even with an obligation to uphold all treaties, the governments track record is dismal, she said. So, for the tribes, these checkpoints are essential to protecting the health of the people on the reservations. I think theres more at play here than just the right of way, conjectured Kimberly Craven, legal director of the ACLU of South Dakota. Ive been looking at Highway 212 -- the one running east and west -- and thats the one I think TransCanada will want to use to haul all their pipes over, she told the Native Sun News Today. Contact Justine Anderson at justinekanderson@gmail.com Copyright permission Native Sun News Today Join the Conversation Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 03:46:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official announced on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) refused to receive the tax revenue dues from Israel because the Palestinian leadership ended all agreements with Israel. Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Palestinian minister of civil affairs, tweeted on Wednesday that "we confirm our rejection to the money of the tax revenue dues from Israel." "Refusing to receive the money is an implementation of the Palestinian leadership's decision that all agreements and understandings reached with the Israeli government ended," he wrote. According to the bilateral economic treaty signed between Israel and Palestine in Paris in the 1990s, Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians from the trade that comes to the Palestinian territories through Israeli-controlled crossings. Israel has been transferring the money it collects from the Palestinian trade to the PA treasury every month, where the PA pays salaries to its employees and covers its operation cost. For several months, the Israeli government cut money from the tax revenue dues, as Israeli officials said the deducted money represented the amount the PA pays to the families of Palestinians jailed in Israel or killed while carrying out attacks or other security offences. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on May 19 that the state of Palestine and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ended all agreements and understandings reached with the Israeli and the United States government. Abbas's decision was made in response to an Israeli government's plan to annex around 33 percent of the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty on Israeli settlements in the territory. Netanyahu vowed several times that the annexation plan is scheduled to be implemented early next month. Enditem HANGZHOU, China, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Weidai Ltd. ("Weidai" or the "Company") (NYSE: WEI), a leading auto-backed financing solution provider in China, today announced that it has filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (the "Annual Report) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on June 4, 2020. The Annual Report can be accessed on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and on the Company's investor relations website at http://weidai.investorroom.com/.The Company will provide a hard copy of its Annual Report containing the audited consolidated financial statements , free of charge, to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to investor relations department, No. 9 Baiyun Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, the People's Republic of China. About Weidai Ltd. Weidai Ltd. is a pioneer and leading auto-backed financing solution provider in China supported by sophisticated and effective risk management system and technology. The Company transforms used automobiles, a type of "non-standard" collateral, into investable assets, to provide accessible credit for China's small and micro enterprises, and connects the borrowers with institutional funding partners through its platform. For more information, please visit http://weidai.investorroom.com/. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: Christensen Mr. Christian Arnell Tel: +86-10-5900-1548 E-mail: [email protected] In US: Christensen Ms. Linda Bergkamp Tel: +1-480-614-3004 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Weidai Ltd. Related Links www.weidai.com.cn Tahir Hussain instigated mob based on religious sentiments, urged rioters to kill IB staffer Sharma India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: Suspended AAP councillor, Tahir Hussain instigated the mob into killing IB staffer, Ankit Sharma as he was trying to pacify the mobs of both sides, the chargesheet filed in connection with the northeast Delhi riots has revealed. It may be recalled that during the riots, Sharma had gone missing on February 25. His body was recovered from a drain in the Chand Bagh the next day. The chargesheet described the killing as cold blooded. It said that there were 51 injuries on Sharma's body and he was brutally killed. Hussain had gathered a mob based on religious sentiments and had also provided to logistic support to the rioters, whom he knew before hand. Be prepared for something big when Trump visits: Hussain had told Umar month before Delhi riots Citing witnesses, the chargesheet said that Hussain led the mob at Chand Bagh. The witnesses also told the police Hussain was very much present at his house, from where the mob was pelting stones. Hussain also provoked the mob based on religious sentiments and he was urging the mob against the Hindus/Kafirs to kill them, the chargesheet also said. Sharma, on the other hand, was trying to pacify both sides. However, a mob of 25 equipped with rods, knives and stones attacked him. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News He was attacked after being instigated by Hussain. Sharma was dragged to the Chand Bagh areas and was beaten to death. The mob also inflicted injuries with knives, thus causing his death in a brutal fashion, the chargesheet further said. The chargesheet also said that Hussain had said a month before the riots that something big would happen. Be prepared for something big when Donald Trump visits India, suspended AAP councillor, Tahir Hussain had said at a January meeting, a good one month before the northeast Delhi riots. The chargesheet against Hussain says that on January 8, a month before the riots, the suspended councillor had met with former JNU student, Umar Khalid at Shaheen Bagh, where the anti citizenship law protests were being held. Hussain also met with Khalid Saifi of the United Against Hate at Shaheen Bagh and said that be prepared for something big or riots at the time of Trump's visit to India. During his questioning, Hussain said that Saifi had given him money for the preparations. This was given from the account of the companies that he owned and an amount of Rs 1.10 crore was transferred to fake companies in the second week of January. The amount was later received by him in cash, following a chain of transactions, after which the preparations began, the chargesheet, while citing Hussain's questioning and call records also stated. Hussain is then alleged to have distributed cash among the protestors and he further told his supporters to prepare for the big action. It was during this time that Hussain got wind of the pro-citizenship law protests. He went to the Khajuri Khas police station and got his licensed pistol released. He is alleged to have said that this he did to teach them a lesson. For the last three weeks before the 2008 presidential election, neither I, nor many other African-American men could peacefully sleep. A newspaper feature story diagnosed the phenomenon: anticipating the election of a brother to the US presidency. For the last 10 days, a new insomnia has us awash in a toxic, traumatic cocktail of grief, disillusionment, fear, and rage. That's when we first saw vision of our 46-year-old brother George Floyd arrested, tortured and killed by Minneapolis police, in broad daylight, after a storeowner accused him of trying to make a purchase using a counterfeit $20 bill. Demonstrators hold up their arms in front of a line of police officers during a protest for the death of George Floyd near the White House on Monday. Credit:AP After enduring countless police and vigilante killings of African-Americans over the last decade, and getting minimal or no justice, Floyd's murder catalyzed our collective angst. For my brothers and sisters, the grisly scene perfectly encapsulated our shared American experience: white supremacy's full, oppressive weight pulverising us into submission, raping us of our dignity and humanity, crushing our liberty, keeping us in "our place", and excruciatingly extinguishing our right to exist. The councils immigration helpline responded to more than 5,000 calls last year (Paul Faith/PA) Twenty-seven female victims of trafficking were helped by the Immigrant Council of Ireland last year. Some of them were children when they left their country of origin, according to the councils annual report for 2019. It said all but four were trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Three of them were trafficked for domestic servitude and one was trafficked to carry out enforced criminality. Launching today: #ImpactReport2019 Over 5,000 helpline calls answered 27 trafficking victims supported 1,000 selfies donated to Transport Against Racism campaign 382 consultations with children & YP 5 immigration-related High Court caseshttps://t.co/vnCOyhXfn3 pic.twitter.com/9oV84wirPb Immigrant Council.ie (@immigrationIRL) June 4, 2020 The report notes the women were referred to the council by partner agencies and they were then able to provide legal advice and support to help their formal identification as a victim of trafficking. The council helped the women secure temporary residence permissions, regularise their immigration status, renew long-standing residence permissions, obtain citizenship by naturalisation, submit travel document applications and make family reunification applications. The council also took five High Court cases last year, one of which involved a seven-year-old who was denied citizenship because her estranged father failed the good character test due to previous domestic abuse convictions. The little girl had been born in Ireland, to a mother from outside the European Union and an Irish citizen father. The parents had separated and the girls mother wanted to ensure her daughter was rooted in the country she was born in. However, after making the application she was shocked to find it was rejected due to a failure to meet the good character test. Immigrant Council of Ireland provided free legal support to bring the case to the High Court for judicial review. The judge quashed the decision but they are still waiting for the minister for justice to issue a decision regarding her citizenship application. They also issued proceedings in a number of cases related to unaccompanied children seeking family reunification, including one case that is currently on appeal to the Supreme Court. The councils immigration helpline responded to more than 5,000 calls last year dealing with queries relating to citizenship, family reunification, EU treaty rights and work permits. Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal on Wednesday said the state government would reopen the schools next month in a phased manner. Also, the state government will take feedback from stakeholders, including parents, teachers and experts, on whether to conduct classes in two shifts to maintain social distancing, Pal told reporters here. In the first phase, Classes 10-12 would be started in July, followed by Classes 6-9, and in the last phase Classes 1-5 would begin, he said. The colleges and university classes will begin in August, the minister said. Educational institutions in Haryana have been shut after COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in March. Replying to a question, Pal said demo classes will be run in a few schools to find out how social distancing in the classrooms can be ensured. It will give us an idea if we face any problem, because when we take a final decision on opening of schools then making frequent changes will not be feasible, the minister said. Meanwhile, the Directorate School Education has asked District Education Officers to constitute committees to discuss the issue of opening schools with various stakeholders to seek their feedback and send the report by June 7. On Tuesday, Pal had held a meeting with senior officials of his department to chalk out plans for reopening schools. Prime Minister Scott Morrison with the Liberal candidate for Lindsay Melissa McIntosh (L) and first home buyers visits a housing estate in Caddens on May 13, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images) Aussie PM Says Recession Is Heartbreaking, Treasurer Highlights Australias Resilience Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described Australias first recession in 29 years as a heartache for the nation while spruiking the new HomeBuilder scheme to kickstart residential building. Meanwhile, the treasurer has stated that despite the negative news Australia weathered the lockdown better than many other major economies. Australias economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the March quarter due to the combined aftereffects of the bushfires and pandemic. It is expected the economy will continue to shrink in the June quarter. I really didnt want to see a recession ever again in Australia, the prime minister told reporters on June 4. As a government we worked so hard to bring the budget back into balance to see COVID-19 hit it like a torpedo is absolutely devastating, he said. Read More Australian Economy in Recession Where we find ourselves now is heartbreaking, Morrison said. But here in Australia we are doing better than many and better than most. HomeBuilder to Boost Economy Morrison said the economic fallout could have been worse, were it not for the governments response to the pandemic. He said Australia would recover faster with the new $688 million (US$475 million) HomeBuilder scheme offering grants of $25,000 to people looking to renovate their homes or build a new one before the end of the year. The grants will be available to those earning less than $125,000 a year, and for couples earning less than $200,000. Construction in the new estate of Gregory Hills on October 23, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images) Morrison told radio 2GB on June 1 the residential building sector was a key focus saying the government was more interested in larger projects, and new home builds, and expected 140,000 direct construction jobs to be generated from the push. This is not building school halls and all those sorts of things we saw done through big contractors, and small contractors not getting the work, he said. We want to make sure that whatever we do in this space, the jobs get created locally. Treasurer Lauds Economys Remarkable Resilience Treasurer Josh Frydenberg wrote on June 4 in the Australian Financial Review that despite the recession the Australian economy overall showed remarkable resilience. Australia had initially prepared for the economists version of Armageddon however the country managed to withstand the lockdown better than other large economies. Australias performance in the March quarter compares very well to that seen in other nations, with negative growth in China of 9.8 percent, France 5.3 percent, Germany 2.2 percent, United Kingdom 2 percent and the United States 1.3 percent. He said the value of the Australian dollar was also starting to rise, and consumer and business confidence were on the rise as well. In Australias remarkable story of almost 29 consecutive years of economic growth, this is only the fourth negative quarter in that time. Unions and Business Call for Extended Government Support President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele ONeil has called on the federal government to extend JobKeeper saying, The uncertainty created by the governments refusal to both broaden who is receiving JobKeeper today, and extend its life beyond September, is causing additional hardship and reducing consumer confidence. The union movement has proposed an eight-point plan which includes lifting wages and living standards, investing in community services, infrastructure spending, and investment in education. Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said growth figures showed the government was playing an important role in countering the downturn, but more was needed. The further support set to flow over the next few months will reinforce a rebound in (economic) activity, and reduce, but likely not eliminate the need for additional measures after JobKeeper ends in September, he said. Toby Antony By Express News Service KOCHI: Keen to make up for lost business, the Kerala Tourism is preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to open tourism activities with adequate safety measures in place. The hospitality sector is looking to attract tourists from within the state to the key destinations in the coming months with lockdown restrictions being eased in phases. As the peak tourism season falls between September and March, Kerala has been a bit fortunate that the COVID pandemic hit the state during the lean season. A top official with Kerala Tourism told TNIE that, given the existing travel restrictions, promotion activities targeting tourists from other states and overseas may not yield any result now. Immediately after the regulations on tourism activities are lifted, promotions will focus on attracting tourists within the state to a particular destination. We have a large crowd who prefer to travel to destinations in other states and abroad every year. We can attract them to our destinations with adequate safety measures. The tourism department will soon come out with the SOP for the same, the official said. Hotels and tourism event organisers are busy drawing up plans to turn the easing of restrictions to their advantage. Shrikant Wakharkar, general manager, Grand Hyatt, Kochi, said packages are being readied to ensure guests enjoy vacations with adequate safety. The trend we see for the immediate future is that guests would be travelling in their personal vehicles to nearby cities and opting for short vacations. To complement the stay, we have a host of in-house recreational activities, destination experiences and the popular Sunset Cruise on the Vembanad Lake. Another aspect in focus is Nattika, the luxury two-bedroom houseboat that guests can use during their stay, Wakharkar said. Shruti Shibulal, CEO and director, Tamara Leisure Experiences Pvt Ltd, said all tourist locations, restaurants, hotels, houseboats and transportation vendors should implement new health and hygiene protocols for the revival of tourism. Social distancing must continue as a norm and safety needs to be given due importance. The Kerala government can continue to support the tourism industry with strong marketing efforts to attract domestic travellers who will be pivotal in ensuring the survival of the tourism industry, she said. The MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism -- which was witnessing a steady growth until the lockdown -- will also be looking for a revival, with events like the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) and the Kochi Muziris Biennale slated to be held in the latter part of the year. Shruti said her company has events scheduled for late December and early January. One particularly large corporate event with 1,000 attendees for two days, currently scheduled for September and one destination wedding with 700 persons in October remain in the pipeline, she added. Hotels, tourism event organisers are busy drawing up plans to turn easing of restrictions to their advantage MICE will also be looking for a revival, with events like the Kerala Travel Mart and Kochi Muziris Biennale Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 04:24:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China stands ready to work with Germany and the European Union (EU) to strengthen strategic cooperation, uphold multilateralism, tackle global challenges, and jointly add certainty to the current world of uncertainty. In a telephone conversation in the night with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Xi noted that it was the third time since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak that he and Merkel had spoken over the phone, which reflects the deep political mutual trust and close strategic communication between the two sides. The Chinese side appreciates the German government's objective and rational stand as well as its respect for science on the pandemic issue, Xi said. He added that China is ready to work with Germany to support the work of the World Health Organization, promote international cooperation within such frameworks as the United Nations and the Group of 20, help African countries fight the coronavirus disease, and contribute to safeguarding global public health security. Stressing the need to coordinate epidemic control and economic and social development, Xi said the general trend of the Chinese economy towards stable long-term growth with a sound momentum remains unchanged. China, he added, will stay committed to further opening up to and expanding cooperation with the rest of the world, and continue to create a favorable environment for German enterprises to increase investment in China. The recently launched China-Germany "fast track" arrangement will help enterprises in both countries to speed up business resumption, and maintain the stability of international industrial and supply chains, he said. The Chinese president said he is confident that China-Germany cooperation will play its due role in helping pull the world out of the economic recession at an early date. With China and Germany maintaining a stable and sound cooperative relationship, China stands ready to continue dialogue and exchanges with Germany, Xi said. Noting that Germany is to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) for the second half of this year, he added that China appreciates Germany's willingness to actively promote the development of China-EU ties. As a series of significant events of China-Germany and China-EU political exchanges are now under discussion, China is willing to keep close communication and coordination with Germany and the EU to ensure the success of these events and lift China-Germany and China-EU relations to higher levels, he added. Well, in an unprecedented move, on May 26th labelled tweets from US President as misleading. The social media giant highlighted two of Trump's tweets that falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to widespread voter fraud. "Get the facts about mail-in ballots," read a message beneath each tweet. Now, if you click on the message, it is linked to a fact-checked page the platform had created filled with further links and summaries of news articles. Trump hit back at Twitter, saying the social media platform is "interfering" in the 2020 presidential election and completely "stifling" free speech and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!" he said. President even threatened to shut down the platform. said that the move was aimed at providing "context" around Trump's remarks. But Twitter's decision is likely to raise further questions about its willingness to consistently apply the label to other Trump's tweets. And that seems to be true. has now flagged a couple of tweets posted by China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson. According to media reports, the warning labels were added to tweets from spokesman Lijian Zhao, one of which read: "It might be the US Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan." Twitter added the warning more than two months after the tweets were posted, reports The New York Times. Twitter CEO defended the fact checking action against Trump tweets. Dorsey said the micro-blogging platform would continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. "Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that's me. Please leave our employees out of this" tweeted Dorsey. But it was unclear how Trump could follow through on the threat of shutting down social media companies. President, himself is a heavy user of Twitter with more than 80 million followers. Trump's threat to shut down platforms like Twitter and is his strongest yet within a broader conservative backlash against Big Tech. However, President on May 28, just two days after Twitter labelled Trump's tweets as potentially misleading signed an executive order aimed at increasing the ability of the government to regulate social media platforms. Speaking from the Oval Office ahead of signing the order, Trump said that the move was to "defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history". Trump acknowledged that legal challenges to the order are on the horizon, saying he was "sure they will be doing a lawsuit. Twitter again flagged a fresh tweet from US President Donald Trump for violating its rules about "glorifying violence", marking out the leader's posts for a second time. This came hours after Trump signed an executive order aimed at stripping social media giants like Twitter and of legal immunity for the content posted by third-party users. The move came after Trump tweeted that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in reference to the ongoing unrest in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. Trump's comment evoked the civil-rights era by borrowing a phrase used in 1967 by Miami's police chief to warn of an aggressive police response to unrest in black neighbourhoods. Now, while Twitter demoted and placed a warning tweet about the protests, has let it stand, with Zuckerberg laying out his reasoning in a Facebook post Friday. Coming to what Zuckerberg said? "I know many people are upset that we've left the President's posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies. I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric. But I'm responsible for reacting not just in my personal capacity but as the leader of an institution committed to free expression" Zuckerberg wrote. How Facebook employees are protesting Facebook employees are using Twitter to register their frustration over CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision to leave up this post by Trump. On Monday, Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout to protest the company's decision not to touch the Trump posts according to a report in the newspaper New York Times. The Times report says dozens of Facebook workers took the day off by logging into Facebook's systems and requesting time off to support protesters across the country." I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we're showing up. told employees on Tuesday that he stood by his decision not to challenge inflammatory posts by US President Donald Trump, refusing to give ground a day after staff members staged a rare public protest. Zuckerberg told employees on a video chat that Facebook had conducted a thorough review and was right to leave the posts unchallenged. Yesterday, nearly three dozen former employees from Facebook's early days blasted Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's decision not to act against incendiary posts by US President Donald Trump as "cowardly" and a "betrayal" of company ideals. Meanwhile, the Internet Association, which includes Twitter and Facebook among its members, said online platforms do not have a political bias and they offer "more people a chance to be heard than at any point in history. Flash "I can't breathe," begged George Floyd again and again as Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds on May 25. These were the last words he ever uttered. Since then, protestors nationwide have been driven over the edge by the death of Floyd, an African American, in police custody. "When video footage showing police brutality goes viral online, it strikes a nerve with vulnerable groups in the U.S.," explained Yuan Peng, president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. Yuan believes that Floyd's constant pleas for breath, in a sense, encapsulate the life of ethnic minorities in the United States. According to Yuan, the Trump administration, backed by white blue-collar men, has so far done little to address the brewing racial issues in the country. "If anything, the administration has made it worse through a series of measures such as abolishing Obamacare and building border walls," Yuan expounded. "African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to live with depression." In addition, Yuan noted that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. also triggered the escalated protests as many people have been worn down emotionally with the pandemic already claiming over a hundred thousand lives there. Data published by National Public Radio (NPR) this May showed the racial disparities of those affected by pandemic in the U.S. According to the analysis, the death toll of African Americans is nearly two times higher than expected based on the size of the population, and in four states, the rate is three or more times greater. The analysis also found that "white deaths from COVID-19 are lower than their share of the population in 37 states and the District of Columbia." Yuan thus noted that although there have been no large-scale protests over the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., anger and outrage have been brewing amongst people of ethnic minorities. The footage of an African American begging to breathe under the knee of a white police officer inevitably led to an outpouring of emotion. "To make matters worse, the crisis in the U.S. so far shows no signs of easing," said Yuan. Nearly three dozen former employees from Facebooks early days on Wednesday blasted Chief Executive Mark Zuckerbergs decision not to act against incendiary posts by US President Donald Trump as cowardly and a betrayal of company ideals. The open letter, initially reported by the New York Times, deepened a crisis facing Facebooks leadership team, who had to defend their decision at a tense all-hands meeting the day prior following an employee walkout over the issue. Criticism of Zuckerbergs hands-off approach to speech by political leaders crescendoed last week, after rival social network Twitter began putting warning labels on several Trump tweets that the platform said contained misleading information and glorified violence. Snapchat likewise took a hard line, booting Trumps account on Wednesday from a curated discover section of its app which promotes fresh content. It said it would not amplify voices inciting racist violence. Facebook, which left the same posts untouched, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. The former employees, including a staffer who opened Facebooks office in Washington, implored Zuckerberg to implement checks on speech by political leaders as it does for other users, including fact-checks and labels on harmful posts. The company we joined valued giving individuals a voice as loud as their governments protecting the powerless rather than the powerful, they wrote. Facebooks current approach, they said, is not a noble stand for freedom. It is incoherent, and worse, it is cowardly. The group warned that Trumps post on Friday, which used the racially charged phrase when the looting starts, the shooting starts in reference to protests over the police killing of a black man in Minnesota, could incite violence. In an age of live-streamed shootings, Facebook should know the danger of this better than most, they said. Wheeler said that the EPA would still calculate the economic value of such co-benefits. But he said those calculations would no longer be used in defending rules. Co-benefits would not be used to justify the rule, he said in a telephone call with reporters, noting specifically that the change would mean that regulations like the Obama-era mercury rule would no longer be defensible. Selling Hope To Kansas City Kansas City business shares message of hope with the community A Kansas City based company had a message, but had no idea how much it would resonate when they originally shared it. The words "K.C. Strong" can't be missed on the side of the Creative Planning building at I-435 and Nall in Overland Park. More Deets On Social Media Crackdown Protecting Beleaguered Raytown Walmart Raytown teen charged for post about looting Walmart KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A teenager from Raytown has been charged with making a terrorist threat for creating a Facebook event that invited people to loot a Walmart on Missouri 350. Bryant Lewis, 18, is charged with first-degree making a terrorist threat, which is punishable by at least one year in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Suburban Progress Achieved After racial tension, Lee's Summit elects black board member LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) - Voters in Lee's Summit, which has been divided by racial tension, elected the school district's first black school board member, giving her the most votes out of nine candidates. Megan Marshall, a retired Marine, was elected Tuesday to the Lee's Summit School Board with 21% of the vote, according to unofficial results, The Kansas City Star reported. Hollywood Activism Contd Lea Michele Apologizes After Costar Accuses Her of Making Glee a 'Living Hell': 'I Will Be Better' "I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused," Lea Michele said Michele, 33, says in a statement exclusively shared with PEOPLE that while she does not remember making the specific remarks that Ware says she made, that is "not really the point." Campaign 2020 Fighting Could Soon Be Complete Nasa says four asteroids moving at 50,000mph will skim Earth today Nasa has put them all on its 'close approach' list. The space rocks are called 2020 KK7, 2020 KD4, 2020 KF and 2020 KJ1. Asteroid 2020 KK7 should have just zoomed past us. Experts predicted it to be up to 108 foot wide. Nasa estimated that it could come as close as 310,445 miles from our planet. D.C. Defends System The US national security adviser says there's no systemic racism in policing. Studies suggest otherwise "Of course" there's systemic racism in policing, a police chief says. And "I think it probably stands to reason that black and brown folks know their reality better than we do," said the author of "White Like Me." Cop Crackdown Amid Riots 3 more cops charged in George Floyd death, other officer's murder charge upgraded, Sen. Klobuchar says Three former Minneapolis police officers will be criminally charged Wednesday in connection with the death of George Floyd, Sen. Amy Klobuchar wrote in a post on Twitter. In addition, Derek Chauvin, a former officer who had already been charged with third-degree murder in the case, will now be charged with second-degree murder, the Minnesota Democrat wrote. Former Prez Obama Talks Amid American Civil Unrest Obama urges Americans to make "real change" in wake of George Floyd's death President Obama is encouraging Americans to make "real change" in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing wave of protests. "As tragic as these past few weeks have been, as difficult, scary and uncertain as they've been, they have also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened," the former president said at a virtual event hosted by My Brother's Keeper Alliance Wednesday afternoon. Republicans Question More Cash For Coronavirus Republicans turning against new round of $1,200 rebate checks Republican lawmakers are voicing deep skepticism about passing another round of $1,200 rebate checks as they contemplate the next and possibly final stage of coronavirus relief legislation. Senate Republicans on Tuesday said they are more focused on reforming the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program, providing more money for cash-strapped state and local governments, boosting benefits for Social Security recipients and fixing other elements of COVID-19 relief bills passed earlier this year. New And Improved Northeast Thanks To Higher Taxes?!?! New Developments Explore Opportunities in Kansas City's Historic Old Northeast Area Efforts to rejuvenate Kansas City's historic Old Northeast area got a welcome jolt with last December's opening of Pendleton ArtsBlock. The 38-unit development, located at 2300 Independence Ave. in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood, features loft-style apartments and includes arts and supportive services programming. Chiefs Training Camp Cut Back Missouri Western State University expected to be without Chiefs training camp ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - For the first time in a long time, St. Joseph, Missouri, could be without Chiefs training camp . For the past 10 years, the Kansas City Chiefs have held training camp at Missouri Western State University. Rain Moving In . . . Isolated T-storms tonight into early Thursday Hide Transcript Show Transcript THERE IS ONE OTHER STORM OFF TO THE EAST. WE DO HAVE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 10:00 THIS EVENING. 30% STORM CHANCE, SO MOST OF US STAY DRY THIS EVENING. IF YOU'D DO SEE A THUNDERSTORM, POTENTIAL FOR WIND AND HAIL. WE WILL KEEP AN EYE ON THAT. Hottiebut her social justice credentials were called into question despite sympathetic tweeting . . . And so, she must be destroyed . . . More on this story and community news, pop culture and more in this collection . . .And this is thefor right now . . . Doctor, can I do this assignment again? No, you cant. Please doctor, I can do so much better. Im sure you can, especially after I just said how it should have been done. Please doctor, I really need a good grade in this class. Dont we all. Please doctor, just this once. No. N.O. No. If I let you repeat this assignment, to be fair, Ill have to ask everybody else in the class whether they want to do it again. But if I do that, Ill be opening a door I wont be able to close. Ok doctor. But please Bye bye. In the over 20 years Ive been teaching journalism at the American University in Cairo (AUC) such duels with students are par for the course. Its not the greatest part of the job but it comes with the territory. The give-and-take with this student was just one more exchange, like all the others, and should have fallen by the wayside. But it didnt. It stuck in the memory. Because this would be the last time I would see the student this spring semester of 2020. In fact, it would be the last time I would see the class. It would be just about the last time I would see the campus even though there were still over two months left in the semester. For this was the class of Covid-19. This was the semester of the coronavirus. Every year AUCs spring semester begins at the start of February and ends in mid-May, followed by a week of final exams. This semester was no different; it began and ended on schedule. But what happened in between was absolutely not on the schedule. The universitys last class was on 11 March; it would not hold a single class on campus thereafter. First it was the torrential rains that lashed Cairo on 12 March. The university had announced the day before that it would close in the face of this rare, cyclone-like storm. But there was another storm brewing. It had to do with something in the air. Something called coronavirus. The first coronavirus case in Egypt was discovered on 5 March. Egypts first death, a German tourist, was reported on 8 March. Until then, even as the coronavirus ran amok in Wuhan, the general sentiment was that the virus would remain where it originated. There was little fear from a virus in China which, to us in Egypt, is a million light years away, geographically and figuratively. But things started getting dicey when, on 11 March, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic, and when Covid-19 broke loose from home soil and began ravaging a far-off country like Italy. It was thus perhaps no surprise when on 13 March, AUC announced it will move its spring break forward from April to March. After that, the university would begin two weeks of online instruction for all classes. The shift of the 10-day spring break to March had never happened before, but was necessary because it was then that the coronavirus had started its inexorable march on Europe and then the US. As for remote teaching, two weeks didnt seem like a big deal. For most professors, the period is equivalent to four classes which, was thought, could be handled without much ado, even with around 30 students in a class which has become the norm in recent years. But then came a disconcerting announcement. In keeping with the governments closure of all schools and universities, AUC would extend its online learning and remote work to 16 April. That meant two more weeks of remote teaching. That wasnt all. On 3 April, AUC opted for the full monty: completing the spring semester through online teaching. And thats when storm No 3, if you will, erupted. It seems that many, many students were having a difficult time transitioning to online work. Just as serious, they were experiencing these hardships apparently unbeknownst to many faculty and administrators. Their biggest complaint was the work was too much and that their professors were wildly piling on assignments. I was taking five heavy major courses this semester but I was okay with the workload, Mohamed Bahaa, 20, an AUC business marketing major, said, until we shifted to the online mode everything changed. I found myself attending live lectures, having to watch some recorded lectures, several assignments posted and a bulk of e-mails received daily. For sure, the workload was higher than the normal time when we used to attend lectures on campus. It was hard for us students to be able to seek help from a professor or a TA as we would on campus (which is way more helpful than online help with e-mails), Mohamed Al-Shennawi, 19, of computer engineering,said. This semester the content was condensed in the final two or three weeks and the workload was unbearable. Although the students filled in a brief questionnaire provided by the university every week on how things were going, the answers of which went to their professors, this was not the adequate forum they desired to vent their frustrations. While it was thought that the process was going swimmingly, many students, if you take them at their word, were sinking. The natives started getting distinctly restless. The students would defer to their professors, but among themselves, the daggers were out. Voices on their social media groups reportedly were angry and getting more vocal. There were demands for refunds of tuition fees and bus fares. They were also sending ominous warnings of a possible revolt by not doing their homework. Some students managed to rise above the chaos, and others suffered greatly, and their academic performance was affected, Fikri Boutros, senior instructor in rhetoric and composition, said. The noise was eventually heard loud and clear. On 8 April, AUC announced the introduction of a new optional Credit/Fail grading scheme. Faculty would submit standard grades as usual at the end of the semester. If a student liked his or grade, fine. If not, if a student, for example, received a D grade, the student could change that D to a pass, get his or her full three credit hours for the course, without the students grade average being affected. (A similar grading system was applied in AUC when I was an undergraduate after the 1973 October War. But students could not have it both ways: they could decide whether they wanted all their grades pass/fail or all in letters. They could not pick and choose). The pass/fail system of 2020 was one of the most consequential decisions AUC took this semester. While to a large extent it placated students who were on the warpath, it was derided by some professors as being too easy. Its shortcomings were obvious as some students, even if they didnt spell it out, specifically targeted a low grade by doing the minimum amount of work. AUCs online teaching experiment lasted exactly two and a half weeks, not a long time by any means, producing a grading scheme described as overly generous and academically damaging, although, naturally, students viewed it as a godsend. So what went wrong? I believe the pressure was not in the shift to online teaching, says Hamed Shamma, associate professor of marketing at AUCs Department of Management, but the emotional, psychological pressure and fear from such an unprecedented situation that none of us witnessed before. What seems clear is that some professors panicked, with the students right behind. Some professors believed online teaching was unsatisfactory, inferior to face-to-face instruction, so opted to give more work than they would have in a regular class. With no thought of reducing or modifying the workload, they were afraid they would not be able to give a full and proper syllabus online. So they overreached by overreacting. The result was much more work than necessary for the professor and the student. And, as anybody who works in the field can attest, inherent in online learning is more effort; remote work seems to progress in slow motion. While online work means you get work fast, it doesnt necessarily mean you work faster. It also became clear that online teaching and online learning are not the same; the former is just as difficult. The university provided training to faculty to prepare for online instruction. We took learning management systems, including Blackboard and Panopto. Zoom, which no-one heard of three months ago, became the go-to communications fad. But experts say it takes six months to retool just one course for online instruction: we were given a little over an hour. Plus, we were given only the technical aspect. No matter how skilled a professor is in distance learning, the mechanics are not automatically the primary issue. The tools do not tell a professor what to teach, when to teach it, how to teach it. Online teaching depends a lot on a teachers intuition, ingenuity and experience. As best it could, the administration tried to meet the challenge. It urged a relaxed policy on virtual attendance and class timings. To offset difficulties managing stress and anxiety, AUC made its resources available, from the Center of Student Well-Being to the Department of Psychology. The universitys president, provost and my departments chair sent a constant stream of e-mails of encouragement to the professors and students. But our concerns and those of the students were myriad: the fear of the virus and worries that loved ones could get infected; a completely new way of teaching and learning; connectivity issues; hostels that had to be evacuated on short notice; the many assignments that simply would not end; the countrys curfews, Ramadan fasting in sometimes boiling heat, and grades. In retrospect, AUC was not prepared for the consequences of the coronavirus. But really, who was? The novelty of the disease, plus the speed and ferocity in which it struck the globe, ensured that no one had a playbook for its response. There was no roadmap showing how to transition during a pandemic. For the better part of its 100-year existence, AUC has been the best-known private university in Egypt, its reputation extending to the Arab world and beyond. But it had no quick fix to the coronavirus. There was, for instance, a notable increase in cheating, whether copying verbatim from a classmate, plagiarising word for word from material on the Internet, or paying for cheating services. Though it was not rampant, there was a significant spike in violations of academic integrity. The majority of students were thankfully on the up and up, but some saw a golden opportunity to exploit the absence of class proctoring. Consequently, several professors opted not to give tests or exams, even with monitoring software at their disposal, electing instead for additional papers and projects. In the end, the semester ended, but it took an eternity to get there. When the fog cleared, as some students will attest, science lab courses are not online-friendly. Meantime, professors were by and large of the opinion that online work can never truly replace the synergy of classes on campus. Meeting my students in class has always been something that I am looking forward to since I started teaching 16 years ago. Missing this was like missing my second home, Shamma said. Not being able to see the students, talk to them, feel their pulse was the biggest challenge for me personally, seconded Boutros. AUC will have an online summer semester in which the regular grading system will return but the make-up of its fall semester remains unknown. If the fall semester is also online, its going to be an entirely online (distance) learning experience, Boutros said. Therefore, I wouldnt like to see any student or faculty embark on this unprepared. We as faculty are going to have to find ways to create the rapport that we naturally have with students in our classes. Adds Catarina Belo, associate professor in philosophy: It would be good to have a clear plan for the entire semester from the outset, although I understand that this is difficult. The amount of e-mails being sent should be much less because you just get lost in so many e-mails and usually miss important ones, said Ashrakat Hamad, 22, a fresh graduate in communication and media arts. Whatever the future holds, any forthcoming AUC virus-related semester will never compare to the original. The Covid-19 semester will never be forgotten by anybody who had a part in it. It made spring 2020 surreal, frenetic, draining, overwhelming. Pick any adjective and you would be right. Additional reporting by Salma Ahmed *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 June, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: MADISON Gov. Tony Evers is calling for a statewide change in police department use of force policies in the wake of unrest following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Evers wants state lawmakers to pass a bill sponsored by Democrats that would ensure each law enforcement agency in the state has a use of force policy that meets certain requirements. George Floyds death and the lives taken before him are symptomatic of the disease weve failed to adequately treat for four centuries, Evers said in a statement. We must offer our compassion, we must offer our support, but most of all, we must offer our action. We can start with accountability for unacceptable use of force by certain law enforcement officers in our country and our state. Evers statement comes amid nationwide unrest, including protesting and vandalism in Racine, as rage over police violence boils over. Protesters across the nation have drawn attention to Floyd, who died May 25 after Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyds neck as Floyd cried, I cant breathe. On Monday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner declared the death a homicide. The Wisconsin bills requirements would mandate that the primary duty of all law enforcement is to preserve the life of all individuals, that deadly force is to be used only as the last resort and that officers should use tactics that minimize the chance of force being used. Use of force policies would also be required to follow the principles that if force must be used, it should be the minimum amount necessary to safely address the threat and that law enforcement officers take reasonable action to stop or prevent unreasonable force being used by their colleagues. The bill would also prohibit disciplining a law enforcement officer for reporting a violation of a law enforcement agencys policy on the use of force. In addition, the bill would require the state Law Enforcement Standards Board to develop a model use of force policy that would address police interactions with people with mental health disorders or drug or alcohol problems and limit the use of force against vulnerable populations. GOP skepticism The bill may have trouble getting support from Republican lawmakers. State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, a former police officer and chairman of the Senates Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said the police actions against Floyd were terrifying but that micromanaging police departments is misguided. He said he wants to develop a different plan within months to address new ways to investigate and prevent deaths in police custody. Assembly Bill 1012 and Senate Bill 892 were clearly written by liberal activists who have never served with law enforcement, and apparently never even talked or listened to them, Wanggaard said. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians will be selling Girl Scout Cookies by way of a drive-through cookie booth on Saturday at 24Hour Self Storage, 2620 Guthrie St. NW, Cleveland, TN, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Since the disruption of cookie booths due to COVID-19, GSCSA has sold nearly 27,000 boxes of cookies through the national and local Digital Cookie store, but still have around 120,000 boxes on hand. The girls had just two weeks left to sell in the month of March. They made their last order of cookies just days before everything shut down across Tennessee. "This has never happened," said Lynne Fugate, CEO of the Girls Scouts of the Southern Appalachians. "These cookies are never here in June. We have lots of cookies that we need to sell. The drive through will be stocked with the original Girl Scout cookie, Trefoils, Samoas, Tagalongs and everybody's favorite Thin Mints, along with many others. The cookies can be stored in the freezer and enjoyed year-round. This is a big change in plans for us and a one-time opportunity for the community to purchase cookies at a convenient drive-up booth, said Ms. Fugate. Many community members and businesses have purchased cookies to donate to first responders and healthcare workers. Its a guilt-free purchase. Youre helping a Girl Scout and youre helping the people whove been helping us this whole pandemic." In the interest of girl safety, this booth will only be worked by adult volunteers. The sale will be outdoors, physical distancing guidelines will be followed and masks will be worn by those working the booth. RICHMOND, Va. The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that has towered over this Virginia city for more than 100 years will be removed "as soon as possible," Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. The news came after days of protest surrounding the Lee statue and other Confederate monuments on the city's Monument Avenue, sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and protests against racial inequality around the country. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said Thursday he would propose to the city council that the four other Confederate memorials be removed, too. "Ladies and gentleman, it's time. It's time. It's time to put an end to the lost cause and fully embraced the righteous cause. It's time to replace the racist symbols of oppression and inequality," Stoney said at a news conference Thursday. "Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy," he added. On a mostly cloudless, hot and muggy day, demonstrations continued around the statue as cars drove by honking. James Kelley, 29, of Richmond, Virginia, attends a protest at the Robert E. Lee statue wearing a vest marked with the words Justice for George Floyd James Kelley, 29, works at Virginia Museum of fine Arts and has been attending the protests for several days. I see a lot of people that talk about history, and how important that is. At the same time, you got to remember the history of the other side, and those that were afflicted by people like Robert E. Lee, and those who fought for the Confederacy," said Kelley, who wore a bright yellow bicycle vest marked with the words Justice for George Floyd. Northam said that the statue of Lee, owned by the state, will be placed in storage until there is community discussion to determine its future. The four other Confederate statues on Monument Avenue are owned by the city, and a new state law goes into effect July 1 that allows localities to determine whether to remove their Confederate memorials. More on Confederate statues around US: Confederate monuments toppled, burned as protests over George Floyd's death continue Story continues Asked about defenders argument of the history of the statue, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax told USA TODAY: We don't need to be bound by history, we should know it, but we don't need to be bound by it and this history is a history of oppression is a history of excluding people from the promise that America makes to all its citizens. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax speaks next to the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, on June 4, 2020. Northam acknowledged that the Lee statue was different than others on Monument Avenue and around the state. The statue stands six stories tall and weighs 12 tons atop a pedestal. The state's ownership of the statue was part of an effort to keep the statue standing forever, Northam said. "They needed the statues to remain forever because they helped keep the system in place," Northam said of Virginia's leaders who erected the statue in 1890, 25 years after the end of the Civil War. Lee died in 1870. People were gathered at the Lee statue shortly after Northam's announcement Thursday, some protesting the decision, video on social media showed. The night before, a projected image of Floyd's face shined on the monument, which has been spray painted with phrases like "Black lives matter" during the recent protests. The debate over the Confederate monuments in Virginia has raged for years, and black activists and leaders have long said that they memorialize racist, slave-holding leaders of the Confederacy. Proponents of keeping up the statues say taking them down would erase history. Northam said, however, that that argument props up a false narrative about the Civil War and state's rights. "Yes that statue has been there for a long time. But it was wrong then, and it is wrong now. So we're taking it down," Northam said. Rondle Edwards, 87, a Richmond native who became the city's assistant superintendent of schools, said that Lee's statue would have never come down if not for the activism of young, white protestors. "You've got young people who stopped listening to their racist mothers and fathers," Edwards said. "[They're] saying, 'I can do this, I can do this myself.'" Edwards was sitting outside the circle where the Lee monument stands, watching cars honk as they pass by and protestors crowd around the monument waving "Black Lives Matter" signs. After nine black church members were gunned down by a white supremacist in a South Carolina church in 2015, a renewed push to remove Confederate memorials arose around the country. That push gained more support in 2017 after the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, fueled by the city's proposal to remove Confederate statues there. John Oat, 72, is a graphic artist who has been a resident of Richmond for over 30 years. He said he came out to reflect over the past racial violence plaguing the country. "I think you're gonna notice this change in 25, 30 years," Oat said. "I think about the people who died needlessly and what we can do from here to make things better." In recent days, other cities around the U.S. have seen Confederate statues removed, either by protesters or by city officials, in the wake of the nationwide demonstrations spurred by Floyd's death. Floyd, a black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee to Floyd's neck for over eight minutes as three other officers stood by. Virginia to end Lee-Jackson Day: Virginia moves to scrap Confederate holiday dating back to the 1800s and instead mark Election Day Jessica Phelps, 26, a nanny who lives on Monument Avenue half a block from the Lee monument, opened her home to protestors who needed a drink of water or access to a bathroom. For the California transplant, the statue has always been an "overtly racist" symbol. "I've looked at [the monument] and I've been like, why do I live here? Why do I look at this every day? Why is that there?" Phelps said. "If it's offensive to me, how offensive is it to people who have had to look at that for so long and are people of color." Northam pledged that removing the statutes would signal a new day in Virginia for more work on addressing racial inequality in the state. The governor, who faced scandal in 2019 when a yearbook photo appeared to show him donning black face, has dedicated much of his remaining term on the issue of racial justice, including pushing legislation to remove Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday and creating a commission to address racist laws still on Virginia's books. "The legacy of racism also continues as part of a system that touches every person and every aspect of our lives whether we know it or not," Northam said. "So it's time to acknowledge the reality of institutional racism, even if you can't see it." Contributing: The Associated Press Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robert E. Lee statue, Confederate monuments in Richmond to be removed Among the payments, authorities suspect, were thousands of dollars in checks written to Kevin Quinn, who was cut loose from Madigans political and government team when a female campaign worker alleged sexual harassment. Quinn is the brother of Ald. Marty Quinn, who represents the 13th Ward, where Madigan has reigned as Democratic committeeman for decades. The Tribune first reported the checks were under scrutiny in July. Legislative Council members prepare to vote a law that bans insulting China's national anthem in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020. Hong Kong's Legislative Council passed a bill on Thursday that would criminalize disrespect of China's national anthem, a move critics see as the latest sign of Beijing's tightening grip on the city. The bill was passed with 41 in favor and one against. The ruling comes as people in Hong Kong are set to light candles across the city to commemorate the 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal On Tuesday, around 15 people in Santa Fe showed for a protest against police brutality. But Wednesday, more than 600 marched peacefully in and around the Santa Fe Plaza protesting the deaths of unarmed African Americans at the hands of law enforcement. One organizer said she was surprised by the amount of people, considering only a few attended previous demonstrations. Protesters met at the Roundhouse around 6:30 p.m., trickling in slowly from all directions. In a matter of minutes, though, a large crowd began marching toward the plaza. It grew bigger as more and more people joined the march. Soon, protesters began chanting, No justice, no peace, and Say his name. The crowd circled the Plaza multiple times before stopping at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. Tigre Bailando, an artist based in Santa Fe, stepped forward with a makeshift megaphone to address the hundreds of people spread about. It is up to every single one of us to commit to doing the hard search of digging inside, finding that racist seed and ripping it out, he said. He then asked everyone to lie on the ground, hands behind their back the same position George Floyd was in when a Minneapolis Police officer pressed his knee on Floyds neck for eight minutes, ultimately killing Floyd. Whitney Stevenson, a student in Santa Fe, originally from Georgia, said seeing hundreds of people march through the streets of Santa Fe was a welcome surprise. For this to be such a small town, its a large turnout, she said. Many similar protests across the nation have devolved into chaos, with police officers firing rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators and even journalists. However, only a few Santa Fe Police Department officers could be seen around the Plaza and police security cameras were placed in certain spots. Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said in a Tuesday phone interview that the department would let demonstrators protest and allow their voices to be heard. We do see why people are upset and they do want to see change, he said. It was the third demonstration in Santa Fe since Floyds killing and by far the largest. Eventually, protesters made their way back to the Roundhouse. Stevenson, who is black, spoke to the crowd about the systemic issues facing black people in America and how nationwide protests can create change. Our voices are silent; they have been silent for years, she said. No one hears us. No one cares. But now to see that everywhere everyone is coming together. Everyone cares about this moment right now. New Delhi, June 4 : In a U-turn, the Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that payment of wages during the lockdown is a matter between the employer and employees, and the notification on wages was issued to prevent human suffering. On the contrary, the Centre had directed the employers on the full-payment of wages during the lockdown, and sought direction from the top court for the companies to furnish proof of their incapacity to pay wages and salaries in terms of the March 29 order, by placing on record their audited balance sheets and account. A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah queried Attorney General, K K Venugopal representing the Centre, "You have put forth payment of 100 per cent (wages). Question is, do you have power to get them (companies) pay 100 per cent and on their failure to do, prosecute them?" Venugopal insisted that the notification was to keep the workers stay put, and they would only stay, if they are paid. He added that the Centre wanted the economy to restart and the employers can negotiate with employees to settle the amount in wages during the lockdown. The apex court has reserved the order for June 12, and says there would be no coercive action against employers in connection with March 29 Home Ministry notification. The top court observed that there can be negotiation industry-wise, and the government can play a role of a facilitator in this process. The bench pointed out there is a concern that workers should not be left without pay, but the other concern is that in the industry many employers do not have money to pay. "You have to balance between the two sides", the bench told the A-G. Venugopal replied under the Industrial Disputes Act, conciliation and settlement exists, and the most appropriate thing would be to consider the humanitarian situation, due to which this order was issued. The bench queried the A-G on a prayer of companies, which asked the government to subsidise the wages from various relief funds. Venugopal replied that the government already infused Rs 20,000 crore in the MSME sector. "The Centre has done a very good job", said A-G. Justice Bhushan said some negotiations have to happen between employers and the workmen to iron out the issues connected with payment of salaries. Justice Kaul said "We are concerned with March 29 notification....asks 100 per cent payment and prosecution, we have reservations over this." The A-G replied that the interim order of no coercive action may continue. Many companies have moved the top court stating that in the absence of industrial operations during the lockdown, it is not possible for them to make payments to their workers. The bench asked the A-G to answer two queries - whether ESI funds can be utilised for helping workers and whether the order was only issued for migrant workers. On the ESI funds, the A-G said it cannot be redirected, instead companies can borrow; and the notification does not restrict. "Main objective was that if they get paid, they need not migrate", said the A-G. The Centre in an affidavit said March 29 notification on full payment of wages to workers by their employers during the lockdown was not unconstitutional, instead it was a measure taken to prevent perpetration of financial crisis within the lower strata of the society, labourers and salaried employees. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. San Francisco, 4 June 2020: The Report Halal Food and Beverage Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Meat & Alternatives, Milk & Milk Products, Fruits & Vegetables, Grain Products), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025 The global halal food & beverage market size is expected to reach USD 739.59 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The global halal food industry is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to increasing Muslim population and their substantially increasing expenditure on food & non-beverages, which is considered as the main driving force of this market. The total Islamic population is expected to increase from 23% in the present situation to around 30% of the total world population by 2030. World over initiatives has been seen escalating since the last few years with the advent of few events in Asia Pacific and the Middle East & African region, which are the top two regions contributing to the growth of the global market. A major bilateral initiative to mention would be the cooperation between Abu Dhabi and South Korea, which allowed South Korea to gain further access to the global halal food market. Governments of the Islamic as well as the non-Islamic nations and the manufacturers of halal-certified food products have been taking various initiatives in terms of marketing & educating consumers about these products. The confidence of consumers in halal brands has been the most influential factor in the actual purchase of these products. Meat and alternatives were the largest product segment in 2016 with a net market worth of over USD 590 billion globally. Halal meat has always been a remarkable business segment. The formation of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been well placed to take the initiative of setting an international standard for these food items. Owing to the formation of these types of organizational figures the industry participants have been successful to a great extent in building consumer trust and pushing penetration of the product category to even higher levels. Access Research Report of Halal Food & Beverage Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/halal-food-market Further key findings from the report suggest: The global halal food market was valued at USD 436.8 billion in 2016 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% over the next eight years Milk & milk products such as processed milk, cheese, and yogurt are expected to be one of the another primary product segment driving growth for the global industry Beverages such as carbonated drinks, packaged juice, and sweeteners with halal certification are expected to witness substantial demand over the forecast period. The segment is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 4.9% in Turkey. Asia Pacific was the leading consumer in 2016. Around 63% of the global Muslim population resides in this region, which is the main driving factor in the region. Indonesia and Malaysia together accounted for over 55% of the regional demand in 2016. Major companies actively operating in the global halal food industry include Nestle, Glanbia Cheese Ltd, Guenther Bakeries UK Ltd, Kelloggs Companies have been trying to strengthen consumer trust with several marketing campaigns trying to be transparent about their production process of packed halal foods 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 halal food market on the basis of product and region: Halal Food & Beverage Product Outlook (USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Halal Meat & Alternatives Halal Milk & Milk Products Halal Fruits & Vegetables Halal Grain Products Other Halal Food & Beverage Products Halal Food & Beverage Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Central & South America (CSA) Access Press Release of Halal Food & Beverage Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-halal-food-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 Stipe Lozina (pictured) punched and stomped on a heavily pregnant Muslin woman at a Sydney cafe A man who launched a sickening attack on a heavily-pregnant woman at a Sydney cafe has pleaded guilty to assault, but the victim's family is furious another charge was withdrawn. Stipe Lozina appeared at Parramatta Local Court on Thursday, where he admitted to the savage bashing at Bay Vista Cafe in November last year. The 43-year-old calmly approached expecting mother Rana Elasmar before unleashing a barrage of punches and stomping on her head. Ms Elasmar, a Muslim woman, was wearing a religious headscarf at the time. The court previously heard Lozina made anti-Muslim remarks before his attack. CCTV footage that shocked Australia showed him drag the mother-to-be to the ground and repeatedly punching her in the head and upper body. Lozina on Thursday appeared via video link from Parklea Jail and pleaded guilty to assault, but a separate affray charge was withdrawn. The victim's family told 7News the result was 'very frustrating'. The court previously heard Lozina made a racial slur when he approached Ms Elasmar and her friends 'Very disappointed... It doesnt change anything,' her sister said. 'It happened. The repercussions are still there, shes still dealing with the physical and psychological effects.' Ms Elasmar, who was 38 weeks pregnant at the time, was punched 14 times and stomped on twice. Hundreds of wellwishers sent her messages of support and hoped the unborn child was not harmed in the cowardly attack. The 43-year-old attacked Rana Elasmar, who was dining inside Bay Vista Cafe in Parramatta, Sydney's western suburbs, about 10.30pm on November 20 The following month, the woman announced she had given birth to a baby boy named Zayn, who was healthy and unharmed. 'I know this will bring a sense of comfort to you all, knowing that through this difficult time, an innocent baby has not been harmed,' she said. 'He is such a blessing and I will enjoy this special time at home with him while I continue to recover.' On May 30, Elon Musk-owned private organization SpaceX launched its first manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS), with NASAs astronauts Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley being the first crew on board. The two astronauts involved in active interaction with the space agency and their viewers while flying to outer space. On June 4, just days after landing on the ISS, Bob shared some visuals from the space. He captioned them, Just awesome to be back in space and on @Space_Station! Just awesome to be back in space and on @Space_Station! pic.twitter.com/JY7CiOgaXe Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) June 3, 2020 Netizens were astonished at the fast internet speed up in space. With 57 thousand likes on the tweets, the pictures show Bobs first moments in space. A user wrote, I think I need to move into space lol less problems with my Internet then lol, while another quipped, We are using Wi-Fi here on Earth. It's only right to say, y'all using Sci-Fi up there in Space. I think I need to move into space lol less problems with my Internet then lol x Samantha Parker (@Samanth27934394) June 3, 2020 We using Wi-Fi here on Earth. It's only right to say, y'all using Sci-Fi up there in Space. Jogoo LA Shamba (@ObiStoned) June 3, 2020 Here are some other reactions on Twitter: A space tweet! Awesome Aaron A (@Aaroniscoding) June 3, 2020 Can we come and join u. Pretty crap down here ... Sam (@snation85) June 3, 2020 And just awesome to be able to read your tweets from down here on the crazy earth at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to do this. You chose a great time to get away! Marie Norris (@purpletaff) June 3, 2020 Very cool the fact that interacting with this tweet, youre automatically sending a little bit of your data to the ISS!Now my name is flying with you, around the globe! Good luck and take care! Davide Bersini (@daversini) June 3, 2020 Smart choice to leave earth now. A.J. (@PoliticsAJ) June 3, 2020 For those who are unaware, Robert Behnken, also known as Bob, is a former military pilot and was recruited to NASA in 2000. He attended the military test pilot school and holds a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. His love for the military started during his studies and he decided to attend the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. At the start of Phase 1 of the period post-Circuit Breaker, many Singapore students have returned back to school after a month of full Home-based learning. Home-based Learning Cannot Replace Classrooms Mr Ong visited Xingnan Primary School in Jurong West on the morning of 2 June. Speaking to reporters at the media visit, he acknowledged that while Home-based learning ensured that students could continue to learn during the Circuit Breaker, there are still limitations. According to him, self-directed learning cannot fully substitute in-class learning however, it could give students the opportunity to go beyond the curriculum and satisfy their curiosity. And that is especially true when it comes to the face to face (or mask to mask) interactions with classmates and teachers. Every student, every teacher I met told me they were excited to be back, Mr Ong also shared his experience from the school visit in a Facebook post. There was also a 96% attendance rate registered on the first day of Term 3 post-Circuit Breaker at Xingnan Primary School. Students enjoying one anothers sharing about how they spent their time during the Circuit Breaker period. | Photo: Ong Ye Kung/Facebook Blend Classroom Learning and Digital Online Learning: MOE to Review In assessment of Home-based learning, Mr Ong shared: having forced ourselves to do this for a whole month, we also learned how to do it better, and that there are certain strengths in online learning that actually, classroom learning does not have, he told reporters. Home-based learning for the students have taught us a lot, said Mr Ong, allowing children the flexibility to explore and study at their own pace. He added that the Ministry of Education will be reviewing ways to blend classroom learning and digital online learning to harness the best of both worlds in a modern education system. Story continues Mr Ong noted that there are many areas for improvement especially because schools entered full home-based learning at such short notice. He emphasised that education is really not just about taking exams or getting good grades but also about character and socio-emotional development. We cannot deprive a whole generation of that experience, he said. Safety Precautions Implemented in Schools With schools re-opening, some if not most parents would be concerned of their kids. Some observations made during the school visit to Xingnan Primary School included: Students having to go through visual screening before entering school (and asked if they have adult household members who are feeling unwell) Each cohort with an allocated route in getting to their respective classrooms Designated toilets for students Pupils were taught how to remove their masks, placed into resealable bags to be stored, and then worn again after the lesson during a Primary 6 physical education lesson the teacher wore a face shield and used a microphone explaining of safety precautions and procedures Students will put their mask into the ziploc bag and hang it according to their register number before they begin any physical activity. | Photo: Ong Ye Kung/Facebook (We will) come back to school progressively with precaution and make things as safe as possible, Mr Ong said. All schools will proceed with tightened safety measures following schools re-opening post-Circuit Breaker, including: Groupings of students staying in class Staggered recess times and dismissals Daily temperature-taking Appropriate distancing Wipe-down routines Teachers and students wearing masks or face shields (except when eating or exercising) Fixed exam-style seating We cant keep our kids at home for so long In light of how the COVID-19 vaccine could be found only in a year or more, Mr Ong shared in his post that it is not possible to keep children at home for extended periods of time. It will severely impact their socio-emotional wellbeing and their whole-person development (sic), he said. With community cases in Singapore currently on the low, it presents an ideal time to help ease students back into the school environment. As we carefully reopen the economy and parents have to go back to work, (parents) need to have peace of mind that their children can study in a safe and orderly school environment. In his post, he also urges everyone to be socially responsible so that Singaporeans can progressively reclaim (their) lives, freedom and future. The onus is now on all of us, to take care of our personal hygiene, be socially conscious, and work together. At Xingnan Primary, students recite the pledge in Mother Tongue on Tuesdays and Fridays. And in Term 3, they do this in Malay. | Photo: Ong Ye Kung/Facebook You can view Mr Ongs full post here: Lead image via Ong Ye Kung/Facebook ALSO READ: Face Shields Cannot Be Worn In Place Of Face Masks, Allowed Only for Certain Groups Like Kids Aged 12 And Under Based On Revised Policy Andie Chen Thanks Pandemic For Gift Of Grit, Patience And Compassion The post MOE to Review the Blend of Classroom and Digital Online Learning as Schools Reopen appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids. If the transparently outrageous lie of police and generalized American racism is to destroy President Trump, he ought to go down with a ringing refutation of those gross falsehoods. The American people are among the planet's least racist, and blacks' comparative problems, 65+ years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, are primarily of their own making. If you seek the primary causes of blacks' problems in America's complex 21st-century society, look to their percentage of out-of-wedlock births (75+), their rate of violent crime (68 times that of whites), their perpetrator percentage of interracial white-black crime (8590), and the cultural denigration of studiousness as "acting white," not to the conduct and attitudes of America's non-black people or its police. Who will defend this country and its people, collectively more eager to treat everyone fairly than any nation or gathering of people on the planet? A low-value word, even in Scrabble (photo credit: Blue Diamond Gallery). If you must go down, Mr. President, go down with the truth on your lips. Racism in the U.S. exists only in trace amounts, among the police and the general population, and the little that survives is not the cause of black America's endless litany of unhappiness. The source of American black despair lies within blacks themselves, their undeveloped abilities and widespread destructive life choices. But the first can never be whispered and second never spoken. Cowardice leaves nonexistent racism as the default explanation for black failure. And it's all Trump's fault, and they're all piling on: the feckless G.W. Bush; the ex-defense secretary Mattis; Drudge; the hoary, moss-covered Carter; the corporations; the athletes; the airhead celebrities; the universities; and of course the media. And no one is responding. The lie of American racism has never been more obvious and never less often called out for a lie. On the subject of race in America, circa 2020, reality has no spokesman and civilized life, pitted against the enormities of the mob, no defender. A calumny not denounced becomes accepted as the truth. We see now the consequences of allowing the racist libel of America to go so long unanswered. We seem heading for a society where the good and the bad will be dispensed in quantities exactly equal to population racial percentages. To achieve that, black murderers, robbers, and rapists will have to go free, and black high school dropouts given tasks they can't perform and compensation they don't deserve. China is laughing quietly, Japan thanking the gods that it politely but firmly refused mass immigration. From the beginning, Trump was one man against the world. He won because they didn't think he could and didn't take him seriously. Having failed in every other effort to depose the man they loathe, U.S. elites now have a violent rebellion against civil society to work with. And they're cheering it on its destructive course, embracing its lies, heedless of the massive and permanent damage it will do. Opa-Locka, which is located in northwestern Miami-Dade County, FL, is looking for a PR firm to help create a "unique and memorable" identity for the city. Some of the most indelible images coming from the protests over George Floyds death have featured protestors hit by a class of weapons deemed less lethal: rubber bullets, beanbags, pepper balls, pepper spray, and tear gas. These are ostensibly crowd-control tactics used at the far end of a spectrum of escalation; however, videos, photos, and eyewitness testimony seem to capture police officers using these methods punitively, or even out of malice. On Saturday, my colleague Rachelle Hamptons brother filmed a video at a protest in Denver that shows an officer on a truck passing by and taking aim at him, firing a pepper pellet that smashed the back of his phone and exploded in his face. That same day, a woman and her 3-year-old, driving home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, ran into a protest and were tear-gassed out of their car; the toddlers mother told reporters that a police officer then gassed them again, even as protestors were rendering first aid. On Sunday, in a tweet, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, a reporter in Los Angeles, said he had just finished an interview when a police officer aimed and shot me in the throat with a rubber bullet. On Monday, we got video of protesters scrambling up a bank on the Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia, trapped and panicked, as police sprayed tear gas. And there are many more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are seeing absolutely indefensible and unconstitutional uses of less lethal crowd control methods, including impact munitions and chemical agents, Edward Maguire, professor of criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University, said. There will be many, many federal civil rights lawsuits. What happened on the Vine Street Expressway crossed a bright line, according to Maguire. You cant corral protesters and then fire crowd control agents at them. Kinetic impact projectiles, which include rubber bullets, are called less lethal because they sometimes kill. Police in the United States use tear gas, originally a weapon of war, for dispersal at protests. Some dont believe that tear gas should be used on civilians at all, especially in the middle of a pandemic of a severe respiratory disease. But before it is deployed, typical practices of engagement dictate that the police order to disperse has to be given loud enough for members of the crowd to hear it, Maguire said. He mentioned that he had been in many protests, in his capacity as an observer, where police claimed to have given an order to disperse but he never heard it; police then began using chemical agents. Thats completely inappropriate. Police need to give an order to disperse, and they need to give the crowd time to disperse, he said. Police using gas or spray on peaceful protesters sitting on the ground would be another example of an out-of-bounds use: Chemical agents are not supposed to be used as a means of punishment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I asked Frank Straub, director of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies at the National Police Foundation and former chief of the Spokane Police Department, to explain when in the process of policing a protest officers might use these less lethal methods. Straub described a spectrum of crowd control that might start with speaking with protesters, then, assuming the individuals that are protesting dont follow the guidelines, dont want to stay on a predetermined route, dont want to be escorted by police bicycles, police might put skirmish lines in place to restrict movement. Then it becomes this decision that in order to protect individuals, to protect property, whatever the case may be, the line has to be drawn and held, and thats when you get confrontation. The idea would be to identify individual protestors engaging in violence or destruction as instigatorsStraub mentioned a tactic of using a paintball gun to hit such a person and mark them, so that they can be removed from the crowd, hopefully in a very methodical and measured way. Then after that, the police might fire chemical agents, and then projectiles: The idea with those is to aim below the waist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the words methodical and measured dont seem to apply to a lot of what were seeing. The problem, Maguire said, comes when police make the decision to treat the crowd as homogenous. Maguire said that he was involved in writing a guidebook for police on handling protests and mentioned that he found that where police really seemed to struggle was in implementing what he called a differentiated response: treating the crowd as a whole as peaceful, while arresting anyone who engages in property damage or violence. It gets difficult because police tend to have two modes, he said. Theres peaceful protest mode and riot mode, but theres an in-between where youre extracting troublemakers who are breaking the law, damaging things, and being violent, while still allowing protests to continue. The biggest issue is when you handle a protest like a riot, prematurely. Advertisement Advertisement The consequences of unnecessary police escalation can be huge. In addition to generally throwing fuel on the fire of unrest, kinetic impact projectiles, which include rubber bullets, are called less lethal because they sometimes kill. Theyre deadly at close range and often inaccurate when fired from farther away. As Kaiser Health News reporter Liz Szabo wrote in a piece about research on the use of rubber bullets, there arent national standards for when or how police should use projectiles, or data on the actual rate of use of rubber bullets. But after conducting a 2017 literature review on deaths, injuries, and disabilities caused globally by rubber and plastic bullets, beanbag rounds, and other projectiles, researchers found that 3 percent of the people injured by projectiles whose experiences were captured in this literature died, and 15 percent were permanently injured. Advertisement Advertisement The George Floyd protests are making it clear that the use of less lethal methods, in situations like the ones were seeing where police choose to escalate, can be terrifying and dangerous. We have 18,000 police departments in the United States, Maguire said, and youve got massive levels of variation in their preparation and capacity to handle these kinds of events. As Straub said, Theres a wide variety in terms of what type of force is used, and how its used, sometimes even in the same setting, pointing to Atlanta, where two officers were fired on Monday for tasing two college students over the weekend, even as other officers spoke with protesters and kneeled alongside them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a 50-year history of American police responses to protest, Maguire summed up a couple of decadeslong swings: from widespread police use of escalated force in the 1960s (use of dogs, fire hoses, tear gas, electric cattle prods), to negotiated management in the 1980s and 1990s (permitted protests, preplanned arrests), back to escalation, in the years since the protests at the WTO in Seattle in 1999. The old escalated force model is what Donald Trump, ever stuck in the past, has in mind when he asks governors to dominate their cities. But research shows it doesnt work to defuse protests, and actually makes things worse. On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told protestors that he had asked police to minimize their use of rubber bullets. Might this years massive publicity around misuses of less lethal weapons on peaceful protestors provoke another swing, away from escalation, toward something else? Like so many things in 2020, its up in the air. Businessman Vijay Mallya, who is accused of cheating Indian banks to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees, will not be extradited anytime soon as there are legal issues involved, the UK govt said on Thursday. Mallya is currently in the United Kingdom trying to evade extradition to India. Confidential legal issue needs to be resolved before Vijay Mallyas extradition can be arranged, said UK high commission spokesperson. Mallya who founded the now-defunct Kingfisher airlines, fled to Britain in March 2016 after facing accusations of financial irregularities amounting to over Rs 9,000 crore. Mallya has consistently claimed that the charges he faces are baseless and fabricated and the Centre refused to take him up on his offer to clear his loans. Mallya extradition to India is based on a first information report filed by the CBI in July 2015 in connection with a Rs 900 crore loan sanctioned by IDBI Bank to KFA. The Enforcement Directorate has charge sheeted Mallya in both cases, alleging that he diverted most of the money into foreign assets, the Indian Premier League (IPL) team and F1 motorsport firm Formula One. Mallyas assets worth Rs 13,000 crore have already been attached by ED. In a shocking development, Mahatma Gandhis statue outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC was vandalised by some unidentified people involved in the ongoing protests against the death of black man George Floyd in the US on Wednesday (June 3). A probe into the matter has been launched by the United States Park Police. Massive protests have erupted across the US to express outrage over the death of Floyd in Minneapolis city of the country. Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer in Minneapolis placed his knee on his neck even after he pleaded that he was unable to breathe. For his part, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly maintained that the protesters are anarchists and has even threatened to call in Army to maintain law and order in the country. On Wednesday, President Trump claimed that his administration has done more for black people that Abraham Lincoln. "My Administration has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln. Passed Opportunity Zones with Senator Tim Scott, guaranteed to fund for HBCU's, School Choice, passed Criminal Justice Reform, lowest Black unemployment, poverty, and crime rates in history," Trump tweeted. Meanwhile, Former US President Barack Obama on Wednesday (June 4) thanked protesters across the US for coming out on streets to raise their voice against the death of black man George Floyd, and urged young African Americans to "feel hopeful even as you may feel angry", stressing that change is round the corner. Referring to the protests over the killing of Floyd and the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, President Obama said in a speech that these events represent "the kinds of epic changes ... in our country that are as profound as anything I have seen in my lifetime." "I know enough about that history to say: There is something different here," Obama said, referring to the protests of the 1960s. "You look at those protests, and that was a far more representative cross-section of America out on the streets, peacefully protesting, who felt moved to do something because of the injustices that they have seen. That didn't exist back in the 1960s, that kind of broad collation." Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday announced $75 million in pandemic-related relief for cities and towns that will be matched with federal emergency funds. Forty-million dollars will be available for the fiscal year that ends June 30, and another $35 million will be available before the end of the calendar year. With currently available federal funding, towns and cities should be eligible for about $200 million to cover coronavirus expenses, from the costs of cleaning public buildings, operating shelters, purchasing IT equipment, school distance learning and food, as well as hazardous duty pay and overtime. Nows the time for us to start thinking about how we get back to work, Lamont said during his daily late-afternoon news briefing in the State Capitol. It doesnt help us with the fact the income tax and sales tax took a big hit over the last three months. Melissa McCaw, who as secretary of the Office of Policy and Management is Lamonts budget director, said that $600 million from the states robust $2.5 billion budget reserve will be used to balance the deficit in the fiscal year that ends June 30. She warned the next year has a projected $2.4 billion deficit, which will be balanced with more funding from the reserve, plus spending cuts. Between the FEMA along with the Coronavirus Relief Fund and any other federal funding dollars, we believe that municipalities will be fully funded for their expenses through June 30 and then we will begin to evaluate for expenses beyond that time period, McCaw said. They do not cover any lost government revenue; cannot be used for funds that you previously budgeted. The bottom line is it has to be for expenses during the public health emergency between March 1 and December 30. There was $111 million in FEMA funding already released to local school boards for remote learning expenses, plus grants for local health departments, she said, stressing that other groups, including nonprofit social services and smaller hospitals, want additional relief. They are a number of other stakeholders that are indicating that they are feeling challenged financially because of the COVID-related impacts, she said. Quite frankly, their requests for COVID support well exceed $1.4 billion, so there are other areas where we are considering support, and at the same time we need to leave ourselves with some flexibility in the event that some of the areas that are critical to our strategy to mitigating growth and resurgences in the event that we need to invest more resources. Lamont said a wildcard in the whole funding issue is the federal government. We dont have any idea what theyre going to do on another supplemental, Lamont said, stressing that no decision has been made on whether FEMA will pay for three quarters of future testing costs.The federal government can just borrow their way to prosperity, but weve got to keep ourselves on a leash where we can balance this budget and make sure we get the testing done. In reaction, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities praised the governors new Municipal Coronavirus Relief Fund, which local officials will access through an electronic process through a state government portal. Awards will be awarded on the difference between local costs and reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the advocates for towns and cities said that $630 million should be given to local governments from the states $1.4 billion in federal disaster relief. More Information A partial breakdown of pandemic expenses in Connecticut $75 million for towns and cities $125 million to help nursing homes $250 million for coronavirus testing $100 million for personal protective equipment $65 million in increased expenses for state agencies $25 million for higher education costs $10 million for supporting housing. *Source: Office of Policy and Management See More Collapse The CCM stressed that the $75 million budget by Lamont was based on a survey in which towns and cities spent $40 million in unexpected pandemic expenses. Tom Reel /Staff file photo H-E-B said it is standing with the black community and launched a $1 million fund to address racial issues in their communities, the company said in a statement Tuesday night. The Texas grocery chain's statement includes a video message from H-E-B President Craig Boyan, addressing the issues amplified by George Floyd's death. Floyd, an unarmed black man, died while in Minneapolis Police Department custody last week. Since Floyd's death, anguish has turned to protests in every U.S. state, and in some foreign places, as people march against police brutality. Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed PA Wire IRISH tourists who holidayed in Portugal in 2007 and who may remember the movements of a distinctive Volkswagen camper van and Jaguar car around the Algarve have been urged to contact police investigating the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann. Madeleine vanished on May 3 2007 just days before her fourth birthday. She vanished while sleeping with her two siblings in the holiday apartment rented at Praia da Luz in the Algarve by her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann. Her disappearance now ranks as one of the world's highest profile missing person cases. Read More Now, the police investigation - dubbed Operation Grange - has identified a German suspect who is in prison in Germany. He is a convicted paedophile with a history of drug offences, burglary and sex attacks against young girls. Described as white, six foot in height and thin, the German national lived in the Praia da Luz area 13 years ago and used an early 1980s yellow-and-white Volkswagen T3 Westfalia camper van as well as a 1993 Jaguar XJR 6 Mobile phone traces have placed him in the Praia da Luz resort on the night Madeleine vanished. Now, Irish holidaymakers have been asked to contact police if they recall the movements of those vehicles - especially in the countryside around Praia da Luz in late April or early May 2007. They have also been asked to come forward if they can remember any dealings with or sightings of the German national involved. Expand Close Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed. PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect. A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, detectives have revealed. PA Wire Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said information from holidaymakers - including those from Ireland - could now prove critical. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said information from all countries will be greatly welcomed by UK, German and Portuguese police. Irish holidaymakers paid 300,000 trips annually to the Algarve in the 2000s - with Praia da Luz one of the major resorts for Irish families. Hundreds of Irish families were in the Praia da Luz area in the period in which Madeleine vanished. "The (Volkswagen) colour tone is quite distinctive is quite old and probably described as a bit beaten up," Det Inspector Cranwell said. "But it was a white upper body, and a yellow sort of lower body. We know that that vehicle was in the (Praia da Luz) area - certainly the days leading up to it and the week afterwards." Expand Close Missing: Madeleine McCann. Photo: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Missing: Madeleine McCann. Photo: Reuters The van had a yellow skirting and a faded white upper body as well as Portuguese license plates. Police are now trying to trace the movements of the Volkswagen camper van in the week before Madeleine's disappearance and in the weeks after she vanished. It is believed the German national - who was 30 years old at the time - was living in the camper van at the time. "We are really interested if anybody can place that vehicle in certain areas or anywhere around Praia da Luz or surrounding areas? Did anyone see a German male, with that vehicle, was there anything suspicious about that?" "Please contact us without delay so we can get answers for Madeleine's family." Det Inspector Cranwell said their appeal is targetted on all holidaymakers who might have been in the area. He pointed out that the German male might have appeared younger than his 30 years - possibly as young as 25. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cundy said vital clues could now be held by international tourists. German police echoed the appeal and said international tourists could help "fill in the gaps" in the German police inquiry. "Madeleine's disappearance has attracted huge international interest. We are appealing for the public to help us establish what happened," Det Inspector Cranwell said. "It is a complex investigation bringing challenges in different legal systems but we are committed to do everything we can to establish what happened and to find Madeleine." The painstaking Met Police inquiry also revealed that the German suspect received a lengthy mobile phone call on the evening Madeleine disappeared - and have released both numbers in a plea for further information. The call places him in Praia da Luz one hour before Madeleine vanished. Police believe the fact that the German national is currently in prison might help persuade someone with vital information to come forward. "This might be a good time - this is a good time - to come forward and talk to the UK police, the German police or the Portuguese police." While the UK police regard the investigation as a missing person case, the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) have treated the matter as a murder hunt. German Crime Agency boss Christian Hoppe said German police are close to having enough evidence to recommend a charge. They have declined to comment on whether forensic evidence was obtained from an examination of the VW camper van and the Jaguar car. [June 04, 2020] Infiniti's Competitive Intelligence Engagement Helps an IT Services Provider to Reduce Operational Costs by 13% | Request a Complimentary Proposal for Customized Competitive Research Infiniti Research, a leading market intelligence solutions provider, has recently announced the completion of its latest success story on competitive intelligence solution for an IT services provider. This success story highlights how our competitive intelligence solution helped a company in the IT services industry to meet their immediate priorities and attain faster time to market. In addition, this article explains how the client was able to outpace their competitors and enhance market share by 22%. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005647/en/ Engagement Overview: Our client, an IT services provider, encountered a steady decline in profit margins for two consecutive years. In addition, they faced immense competition from local players in Germany. In order to enhance their market share, they wanted to gauge their competitors' strategies and understand their business models. In addition, the client wanted to understand how their company measured up against the top IT services companies in Germany. As such, they approached the experts at Infiniti Research to leverage their expertise in offering competitive intelligence solution. Objective 1: Identify technologies and processes leveraged by their competitors to tackle security threats in the industry Objective 2: Find the right business partners to outsource their projects at times of immediate requirements Objective 3: Identify howthe top IT services providers implemented regulated privacy protection and ensured the safety of their user-data Infiniti's competitive intelligence solution helps IT companies stay agile and create differential go-forward strategies through in-depth competitor research and analysis. Request a complimentary proposal to leverage our competitive intelligence solution. Our Approach: Our experts conducted a competitive intelligence study of the German IT services industry. In the initial phase of the engagement, the experts conducted company profiling and analysis, where they analyzed the client's top ten competitors. The factors such as their current market position, end-users, and profit margins were analyzed. In the second phase, our experts conducted a risk assessment study of the German IT services industry, where they analyzed the operational and security risks facing companies in the German IT services industry. By analyzing risks in advance, the client was able to take risk management approaches to tackle them. The next phase involved a competitive benchmarking study, where the experts compared the client's service offerings with that of their competitors. This phase of the engagement helped the client to understand their strengths and weaknesses in comparison to their competitors. Additionally, the client was able to identify areas where their competitors were doing well and struggling. Business impact of the competitive intelligence solution for the IT services provider: The insights obtained from the competitive intelligence engagement helped the client to understand the competitive landscape in the German IT services industry. Also, they were able to identify technologies and processes leveraged by their competitors to tackle security and operational risks in the industry. Our experts also helped the client to identify the top IT outsourcing companies to help them at the time of immediate requirements. By partnering with Infiniti Research, the client was also able to: Implement an AI-based protection system to secure the company from new security threats Implement regulated privacy protection to protect user data and information Meet their immediate priorities and attain faster time to market Reduce operational cost by 13% and enhance market share by 22% How can companies in the IT industry prepare for the rebound and ensure business continuity amidst the COVID-19 crisis? Our business continuity support solutions can help IT companies to understand the change in volumes and values post the COVID-19 crisis. Contact us here. 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/20200604005647/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Social bubbles - made up of friends and family - may be the best way to keep coronavirus contained when lockdown is lifted, study shows. Researchers from the University of Oxford created a series of models to discover the best measures governments could use in order to keep the infection rate flat. Strict social distancing and isolation measures were likely to be ignored by large parts of the population, so a solution was needed people would follow, they found. However, creating small groups of contacts could keep the risks from COVID-19 low while giving people more freedom, Oxford University researchers have said. Strict social distancing and isolation measures were likely to be ignored by large parts of the population, so a solution was needed people would follow, they found Experts looked at three different scenarios for how people could interact more with others in a post-lockdown world while still keeping the spread of COVID-19 low. This included keeping contact to within the neighbourhood, people you see regularly and creating social bubbles with certain groups of people. RESEARCHERS PROPOSE THREE OPTIONS FOR STAYING CONNECTED OPTION ONE: SIMILARITIES Meeting up with people that are living in your own neighbourhood - and up to a block or two away from your house. Or it could apply to people who share similar interests. OPTION TWO: SOCIAL CONTACTS This option involves sticking to people you usually interact with on a regular basis such as friends and family. It relies on heavily reducing social interaction with people you don't have regular contact with. OPTION THREE: SOCIAL BUBBLES Repeatedly interacting with the same small group of of three or four social contacts on a regular basis. This involves creating social bubbles or micro-communities of people. Advertisement All three strategies were effective in keeping the spread of the virus under control, although social bubbles were in some respects more beneficial, experts said. Lead author Dr Per Block said all of their strategies treated the groups people cam in contact with as if they were in the same household - so didn't need to be 6ft apart. Block said it was important that outside of these scenarios, social distancing was kept up, such as when people went to the supermarket. 'Under the first scenario, what could be done is that you meet people who live within your neighbourhood, so you could extend the radius of your contact to a block or two away from your home,' he said. 'In the second, the idea is you ask yourself - who are the people you interact with regularly? 'So you might have a group of friends, or you have a family that includes your parents, your siblings your nieces and nephews, and you try to limit interactions to these groups,' Block said. This means you'd avoid potentially haphazard contacts - such as the person you see only for specific activities or even Tinder dates. 'The third scenario is very similar to what's been talked about as social bubbles, which basically is keep sticking to the same people,' said Block. The idea is you'd pick a handful of people from outside your household and they'd be the only ones you met with regularly while ignoring the 6ft rule. He said that, in practical terms, it may be necessary to limit the number of people within the bubble as the larger the bubble the more risky it becomes. Two of the scenarios could potentially be combined, such as a social bubble plus seeing neighbours, but that the frequency of interactions would then need to be reduced to limit transmission risk. Real-world data is now needed to see how people interacted within each scenario. 'We can say with reasonable confidence that all of these different options on how to restructure contact seem to work,' said Block. He said each scenario required that 'people stick to it, that people understand that it's useful, and that people trust that others will also do it'. 'In a sense, it's a good question of solidarity that we are all in this together and therefore we should all stick to the rules,' he added. In terms of transmission risk, the 'best scenario' was for everybody to continue to stay at home, he said. 'But of course, this is where we have the biggest psychological and social and economic costs', so isn't the best option beyond purely mitigating coronavirus. 'Now if we would open up society completely... in terms of transmission rates, this would be a disaster,' said Block. 'So what we have tried to do is go somewhere in between and say, 'how about if we only try to keep our contacts to a minimum, but also try to be smart about who we meet with and structure our interactions strategically?'.' The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) have previously discussed the concept of social bubbles. The latest Sage minutes available, from May 7, show that while advisers agree there are benefits from social bubbles for wellbeing and mental health, there are risks if they were to be introduced alongside other changes, or if there is poor adherence. Experts looked at three different scenarios for how people could interact more with others in a post-lockdown world while still keeping the spread of COVID-19 low 'The effects of bubbles are complex. Introducing bubbles alongside other changes could reconstruct excessive networks, particularly when combined with any increase in contacts in other settings,' the minutes say. 'These networks could enable transmission through the population. It will be difficult to assess the effects of individual policy changes on R if multiple changes are introduced together'. Of the latest Oxford study, Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said the study shows lockdown release is about harm reduction. 'One of the most interesting elements of this research is that it directly addresses a key element of current public health advice in the UK,' said Bauld. 'This is the 'stay two metres away from anyone not in your household' rule. 'For separated couples and single people, including our young people, this rule can be perceived as unfair and is unlikely to be followed in the long-term.' Bauld said that this research suggests that the concept of a social bubble and the creation of mico-communities could reduce the risk of people ignoring the rule. 'This would be appealing for couples who don't live together, or as the researchers point out, a group of carers looking after vulnerable adults, or might even allow those in the shielded category to meet up,' she said. 'It was also the most effective strategy included in the research in terms of allowing more contact between individuals while slowing the spread of the virus.' She stressed that human behaviour is not, however, predictable and 'won't necessarily mirror what the statistical models in this study predict.' The research has been published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. BARCELONA, Spain - For florist Laura Gomez and many other Barcelona residents, the COVID-19 pandemic has one silver lining, amid all the death and suffering. For the first time in decades, locals wont feel outnumbered by the throngs of foreign visitors that flood Spains top tourist destination each summer. No one doubts that their absence will deepen Spains pandemic-induced economic slump, but those like Gomez who have avoided infection hope to enjoy at least a few weeks respite from mass tourism, which they believe is ruining their hometown. Las Ramblas are ours again, Gomez said, tending the flower stall her family has run for four generations in a prime location on that iconic Barcelona promenade. She reopened it last week after two months of lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 27,000 in Spain. Where caricature artists normally hawk their works and the incessant chatter of the flowing crowds masks all gentler sounds, you can now hear something unfamiliar: birdsong. You cant imagine how annoying it is with tourists, Gomez said. People asking you all day long where the cathedral is, where the beach is. I am not a tourist information office! She still sells her dwindling number of local clients cut roses and sunflowers, bouquets, seed packets and potted geraniums, shunning the cacti in souvenir mugs that are a staple of other flower stalls. Tourists only want to take a photo, why would they want to buy flowers? said Gomez. No one lives here anymore. Go to the outer neighbourhoods and you see people in the street. Here the people couldnt take it any more and left. Some, however, miss the vibrancy they say tourists provide. It is a pity to see Las Ramblas like this, said Jose Montero, who works nearby and lunches daily at an outdoor restaurant on the street. Las Ramblas needs life. The citys other top site, Antoni Gaudis La Sagrada Familia Basilica with its sandcastle-like spires, remains closed. Without the gawking multitudes, the only sign of life outside was an elderly man dozing on a bench. But whatever their feelings on tourism, Barcelonas residents are about to feel the economic pain of living without a huge chunk of the 10 million foreigners who visit each year. Unlike Italy, which is opening up to foreign tourists, Spain is waiting until July to lift its 14-day quarantine on incoming travellers despite pressure to restart its economy that relies on tourism for 12% of its activity. The national statistics office said on Monday that zero tourists arrived in April. A year earlier, 7 million tourists spent 7 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in Spain. While Europe considers how to safely resume continental travel during a pandemic, Spains government is encouraging Spaniards to vacation domestically. Catalonias separatist-led regional government has even launched a tourism campaign to attract people from elsewhere in Spain. Many business owners and workers, however, fear they may not make it without foreigner customers. Jesus Martin runs the Can Ramonet restaurant specializing in paella near Barcelonas seaside. He is unsure whether he can cover his costs with local clients. This place has been in my family for three generations, so staying open is about more than just money, Martin said. We depend on foreign tourists... I am not sure if we can get by with just Spaniards. Barcelona became one of the worlds top destinations after using the 1992 Summer Olympics to showcase its Mediterranean climate and cuisine, mesmerizing architecture, and liberal lifestyle. Visitors kept on coming, despite a terror attack on Las Ramblas in 2017 and rioting by Catalan separatists last year. The city of just 1.6 million people welcomed a record 11.9 million tourists in 2019, almost 10 million of them from abroad. But even though the sector provides Barcelona with 15% of its economic activity and 10% of its jobs, a growing number of citizens have soured on tourism. A survey of 3,600 residents by the city hall last year found that 61% felt Barcelona could not handle greater inflows. Graffiti saying Tourists, go home popped up, along with protests against short-term rental platforms like Airbnb which residents blame for driving up real estate prices and forcing locals to move out. Many complain about the replacement of family-run stores by global chains, and the rowdy behaviour of foreign youths lured by low-cost flights. Barcelona has become a top destination for cheap, drunk partying. Im all for partying, but Im the first one to go out on my balcony and shout for people to be quiet, said Mario, who did not share his last name because he works in the tourism sector. Mario was rollerblading along a beachfront free of rental bikes and Segways weaving around couples taking selfies. In place of sun-baked bodies luxuriating in the warm sun and gentle breeze, the sand was occupied by a handful of families who flouted a temporary prohibition on sunbathing and let their children frolic in the surf. The beach has become wholesome and pure again, Mario said. Rafaela Perez and her husband considered the hiatus from the hubbub bittersweet as they lingered on the boardwalk. It is glorious to have all this space for ourselves, but we know that it is not good for the economy, the 63-year-old Perez said. We have neighbours who are having (financial) difficulties. And the worst is yet to come. ___ Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Workers move rice sacks from a boat to a warehouse in the Mekong Delta Province of Tien Giang. Vietnam is expected to surpass Thailand in rice exports PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH A report on the industry and trade performance in May and in the first five months of the year released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on June 2 stated that Vietnams agro-forestry-aquatic exports declined over the last five months against the year-ago period. However, the country saw rice exports surge in May. Vietnams rice export volume and value in the last month soared by 47% and 55.3% month-on-month, respectively. Rice export prices in May shot up to the highest level over the past few years, with the average price recorded at US$527 per ton, up 21.4% year-on-year. Between January and May, the average price of Vietnamese rice rose by 13% year-on-year at US$485 per ton. Data from the General Statistics Office indicated that over the first five months of 2020, Vietnams revenue from rice exports amounted to US$1.4 billion, increasing by 17.2% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Thailand exported 2.11 million tons of rice worth US$1.38 billion from January to April, dipping by 32.1% in volume and 15.7% in value year-on-year, according to Thailands Ministry of Commerce. As such, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast that the country is likely to surpass Thailand in terms of rice exports this year. From March 24 to April, Vietnam halted rice exports to ensure food security amid the spreading Covid-19 infection, affecting local rice exporters and export activities. SGT Brent futures have broken above $40 for the first time since early March. Volatility continues to trend downwards, with the biweekly rolling average moving towards mean levels. Physical oil has also recovered, with the Dated BFOE physical benchmark nearing parity with ICE Brent futures, from a discount of $10 in April. The Dubai inter-month structure has also reverted to backwardation for the front months, after a period of super-contango. This means Arab Gulf OSPs will likely see a spike reflecting improving market structure, which would translate to a ~ $2-$4 per barrel increase. Brent Oil A month or so ago, traders were concerned about low prices and producers were forced to watch as wells became unprofitable and were forced offline. The key question now is what a reasonable price ceiling should be, with OPEC+ holding most of the leverage and oil markets set to move into undersupply at the beginning of the third quarter. Should OPEC+ continue to hold back supply, or should it take a breather to recover cash flows? The disputed range of $40-50 is a ten dollar differential that can make all the difference for many shale or high-cost producers. U.S. production, which has been in freefall since March, seems to be flattening out. As I argued in a recent article for Oilprice.com, loosening the leash on production too quickly would be a costly mistake. Instead, it is time to force permanent shale closures or obtain concessions from U.S. state regulators. While Texas and other states have declined to participate in any oil controls, the right political leverage could yet bring them to the table. Global Brent We find ourselves in a very similar situation to the one that launched the oil price war months ago, with Russia and Saudi Arabia unsure about extending the most recent historic cut of ~10mbp. Saudi Arabia is currently proposing a three month extension to September, while Russia appears to be offering a one month extension to July. The OPEC+ meeting scheduled for tomorrow could very will shake up oil markets once again. As before, Russia, with good reason, is afraid of seeing the prices go up above $50+, which could certainly happen if the extension is granted. This would be a shot in the arm for struggling shale producers, and a shot in the chest for OPEC+. Story continues Rigs While crude is enjoying a bullish run, it is putting even more pressure on already poor refining margins, with diesel cracks slumping to decade-low levels in the Atlantic Basin. The chart below is a very basic approximation of global refining margins using a 2:1:1 proxy crack with the most liquid ICE traded products (2 x Brent ICE gasoil ICE RBOB). While actual margins vary with location and refinery configuration, this chart indicates the lowest refining incentives in years. Even with some recovery from March lows, the current proxy margin is half of the 3-year average. But there is hope. If crude prices continue to rise, pressure on margins will rise, leading to lower refining intake. Furthermore, many refining maintenance programs have been delayed to summer. The combination may help tighten refined product balances and improve refining margins. On the flip side, this also means less crude demand, but that may not be such a bad thing to stem rapidly rising prices. Proxy By Amad Shaikh More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Read this article on OilPrice.com A lawsuit by two protesters alleging Portland police used excessive force indiscriminately against anti-fascist demonstrators in an August 2018 rally while protecting Patriot Prayer members can proceed, a federal judge has ruled. Aaron Cantu and Tracy Molina allege Portland police fired aerial distraction devices, commonly known as flash-bang grenades, into a passive crowd while they were in downtown Portland opposing an Aug. 4, 2018, rally by the right-wing group Patriot Prayer. The event attracted more than 1,000 counterprotesters, led to at least three people hospitalized and was eventually declared a civil disturbance by police. They also contend the city has a practice of using militarized force against left-wing or counter-fascist protesters to punish them for their political speech while not using force against right-wing protesters, such as the Proud Boys or Patriot Prayer. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman denied the city of Portlands motion to dismiss the suit and the citys request that the plaintiffs redefine their allegations. The Court finds that Plaintiffs have adequately alleged that PPB has a custom or practice of using excessive force at protests, Beckerman wrote. Plaintiffs allege the specific tactics that the PPB Officers used against protestors during the Protest, and that they used force with little provocation. The city argued that the plaintiffs couldnt prove excessive force in light of prior court decisions that held the city hadnt overstepped its bounds at protests. "Judges, juries, and arbitrators have agreed that the Citys police officers used appropriate force on protestors,'' Assistant Deputy City Attorney Michael Jeter argued in legal briefs. "Plaintiffs have not plead any protests over the past several years where PPB officers were deemed to have used unconstitutional force. Therefore, Plaintiffs cannot plausibly allege a practice or custom of using excessive force on protestors.'' But the judge disagreed. Even if there are court decisions ruling on the merits on PPBs alleged use of excessive force at every Portland protest during the relevant time period, the Court could not conclude that those cases addressed every protestors experience at every Portland protest during the relevant time period, Beckerman wrote. Lawyers for the city had called the plaintiffs allegations far-fetched. That the city somehow condones or sympathizes with fascists is simply an outrageous claim that should be properly stricken, Jeter said in a hearing in March. It unnecessarily impugns the character of the city and its officers. Its scandalous and has no business being in the lawsuit. Cantu said a police flash-bang grenade struck the back of his head and penetrated his helmet and his skull. He said he suffered a traumatic brain injury. His injury prompted former Chief Danielle Outlaw to halt police use of the flash-bangs that are fired into the air. Molina was holding a sign that read, Hey Racists Stop Making Your Ignorance Our Problem Grow Up or Go Home and was trying to get on the sidewalk near Southwest Columbia and First Avenue when police were dispersing counterprotesters, according to the suit. Molina said she was moving along the sidewalk when police grabbed her sign and one officer knocked her to the ground and another tackled and arrested her. She was charged with misdemeanors that were dismissed. Beckerman also allowed the plaintiffs allegations that Portland police used excessive force against them in retaliation for their protected speech and with an intent to chill their speech, while at the same time coordinating plans and security coverage with Patriot Prayers Joey Gibson and his supporters. The Court finds that Plaintiffs allegations are sufficient at the pleading stage to support their claim that Defendants targeted them for their speech, Beckerman wrote. Attorney Juan Chavez, who filed the suit on behalf of Cantu and Molina, called the judges ruling an important step and said the plaintiffs are pleased and grateful for it. Just because the police feel theres exigent circumstances, doesnt mean they can indiscriminately fire into crowds, he said. What were seeing in the streets right now with tear gas takes that a step further. Tear gas is the definition of indiscriminate force. Its just the wind really. It carries. He said he hopes "the city sees that it can still change its policies on how police protest. Its too late for Mr. Cantu and Ms. Molina but its not too late for the rest of us. A third plaintiff in the case, James Mattox, settled his claims with the city earlier this month. Mattox, who was seriously injured when he was shot him in the arm with a rubber projectile during the 2018 protest, will receive nearly $23,000 from the city in an approved settlement. -- 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 A year ago, I interviewed President Trump in the Churchill War Rooms in London. To mark the occasion, I presented him with a replica black Lock & Co hat of the type Churchill loved to wear. Trump was delighted, and immediately tried the hat on. Then he said perhaps the only self-deprecating remark he's ever uttered: 'I think Winston looked much better in it..' Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared his ludicrous march from the White House to nearby historic St John's Church to Britain's greatest Prime Minister visiting London neighbourhoods hit by German bomber planes during the World War II Blitz Trump was flanked by security as he walked to St John's Episcopal Church Trump didn't have to wade through rubble on his way to inspect St John's Church as Winston Churchill (pictured) did when he inspected damaged neighborhoods. Instead, American police forces and National Guard troops used tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets to clear away fellow Americans, including clergy, from an American president's path so he could make his walk flanked by secret service agents I thought of this yesterday when Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared his ludicrous march from the White House to nearby historic St John's Church, where people protesting about the murder of George Floyd had set off a small fire damaging the basement, to Britain's greatest Prime Minister visiting London neighbourhoods hit by German bomber planes during the World War II Blitz. 'Through all of time,' said McEnany, 'we've seen presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for our nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination. Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage and it sent a very powerful message of leadership to the British people.' Sorry, WHAT? It's perfectly true that we've seen presidents and leaders across the world have leadership moments and very powerful symbols to show a message of resilience and determination. It's also entirely correct that Churchill regularly inspected bombing damage during WWII and that sent a very powerful message of leadership to the British people. But neither of these things have any relevance to the pathetic and frankly offensive stunt President Trump pulled the other day outside St John's Church. First, it hadn't been bombed by foreign enemy planes attacking the United States. In fact, it hadn't been bombed at all. Second, Trump didn't have to wade through rubble to get there. Instead, American police forces and National Guard troops used tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets to clear away fellow Americans, including clergy, from an American president's path so he could make his walk flanked by secret service agents. Third, when Trump got to the church, he stood in front of it and brandished a copy of the Bible like he was conferring God's support on himself to justify his outrageous 'where there's looting, there's shooting' warning to the protestors. None of this was a 'leadership moment' showing us 'resilience and determination', not least because the only reason Trump did it was because he'd been embarrassed by the leaked revelation that he'd been hidden in a secret bunker under the White House to protect him from protestors. Nor was his use of the Bible a 'powerful symbol' as he later claimed. It was more a moment of shameful desecration that appalled religious leaders. When Trump got to the church, he stood in front of it and brandished a copy of the Bible like he was conferring God's support on himself to justify his outrageous 'where there's looting, there's shooting' warning to the protestors Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared the president's march to St John's Church, where people protesting about the murder of George Floyd had set off a small fire damaging the basement, to Winston Churchill inspecting damage caused by bombs during WWII 'He used violent means to ask to be escorted across the park into the courtyard of the church,' Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington told NPR. 'He held up his Bible after speaking [an] inflammatory militarized approach to the wounds of our nation. He did not pray. He did not offer a word of balm or condolence to those who are grieving. He did not seek to unify the country, but rather he used our symbols and our sacred space as a way to reinforce a message that is antithetical to everything that the person of Jesus, whom we follow, and the gospel texts that we strive to emulate ... represent. I was outraged that he felt that he had the license to do that, and that he would abuse our sacred symbols and our sacred space in that way. Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence. We need moral leadership, and he's done everything to divide us.' Bishop Budde was joined in that withering assessment by Trump's former defense secretary General Jim 'Mad Dog' Mattis who wrote in The Atlantic that 'Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.' Saying he was 'angry and appalled,' Mattis defended the protestors' right to fight for 'equal justice under law' and raged: 'Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens - much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.' Demonstrators sing 'Lean on Me' near the White House during a peaceful protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd A protester raises a fist near a fire during a demonstration outside the White House over the death of George Floyd Police officers advance on protesters after they set three cars on fire during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd Mattis then used his own WWII analogy: 'Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that the Nazi slogan for destroying us was 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.' We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis - confident that we are better than our politics.' Trump, with tedious predictability, reacted by mocking and abusing Mattis, branding him 'the world's most overrated General and saying 'his primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relationsI didn't like his 'leadership' style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!' Trump even claimed to have given the General his 'Mad Dog' nickname but that's a lie; he was dubbed it by the media in recognition, and admiration, of his often very strident rhetoric to would-be enemies of America. At this point, it's worth remembering that Jim Mattis is one of the most respected and highly decorated war heroes in American history. So, when it comes to assessing military strength and leadership, I'd probably veer to the 4-star General who led thousands of troops in numerous wars rather than a man who dodged the Vietnam war because his doctor signed him off with bone spurs in his heels. Trump's former defense secretary General Jim 'Mad Dog' Mattis, saying he was 'angry and appalled,' defended the protestors' right to fight for 'equal justice under law' It's disgusting to see the President of the United States publicly denigrate a US war hero like Mattis. Just as it was disgusting to see the same President of the United States use a Bible outside a church as some kind of self-aggrandising weapon to virtually declare war on American citizens. But what's most disgusting is that the President of the United States has to be told to unify the country in its darkest hour. I love America; I've lived and worked in the U.S. on and off for much of the past 15 years and it's a magnificent country full of wonderful people. But right now, it's suffering like I've never seen it before. The coronavirus pandemic has brought the world's No1 superpower to its knees, killing over 100,000 people, tanking the economy into a depression, decimating 40 million jobs, and leaving much of the country fearful for their lives and livelihoods. Now, since the shameful murder of George Floyd by a loathsome racist white policeman, it's descended into near blazing anarchy. When Britain faced its darkest hour, as Hitler's Nazis seemed inevitably destined to win the war, our leader Sir Winston Churchill rose up defiantly and almost single-handedly rallied us to believe we could defeat them. He calmed us, he consoled us, he wept for us, he wrapped his cigar-stained hands around us and vowed we would prevail. Yet now, as America faces one of the darkest hours in its history, President Trump's done nothing but pour fuel onto the fires, stoke division not unity, and make things immeasurably worse with his shocking complacency over coronavirus and his equally shocking 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts' escalation of tensions during the George Floyd crisis. Meghan Markle hit the perfect tone in her comments about George Floyd, telling students in a video message about her own painful memories of witnessing the 1992 riots in Los Angeles after the brutal beating of Rodney King, and quoting her old teacher Ms Pollia who would tell her: 'Always remember to put others' needs above your own fears' It comes to something when it falls to Meghan Markle to give the President a lesson in how to show leadership at a time like this. I've not been the Duchess of Sussex's biggest fan, to put it mildly, but I actually thought she hit the perfect tone in her comments about George Floyd today, telling students in a video message about her own painful memories of witnessing the 1992 riots in Los Angeles after the brutal beating of Rodney King, and quoting her old teacher Ms Pollia who would tell her: 'Always remember to put others' needs above your own fears'. Meghan said: 'You're going to have empathy for those who don't see the world through the same lens that you do.' There, right there, is what President Trump desperately needs to understand. The American people are hurting. They're hurting very badly. Many of them may not be people who see the world through the same lens Trump does, and I'm sure he now has very real fears this may all cost him re-election in November. But his primary duty as their president is to offer all Americans empathy and compassion and put their needs above his fears. I honestly don't know if Trump has it in him to do this; he's certainly shown very little evidence of it since becoming President. But he has to try. As Meghan Markle also said: 'I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing.' Whatever Trump says now will be criticised and picked apart. But America urgently needs its president to stop dividing and start uniting, address the people from the Oval Office, and be a damn leader. At the moment there's a Mad Dog in the White House running around causing chaos, and it's a guy that bears no relation to Winston Churchill. As the U.S. government prepared to hand over to Nigeria $300 million in stolen funds looted by the former dictator Sani Abacha, concern was growing across Washington, including within the Trump Administration, over the Buhari Administrations abysmal human rights record, mounting persecution of Christians, and serious disregard for rule of law. Voices inside and outside of the Trump Administration began to sound the alarm and call for these Abacha monies not to be transferred to the Buhari regime. U.S Senator Chuck Grassley led the charge in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justices (DOJ) Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) urging a halt to the repatriation given Nigerias corrupt history, its plan to return stolen money to an official involved in the original corruption, and its refusal to assist the U.S. with an Abacha forfeiture action The concern of Senator Grassley was echoed by U.S. Representatives Steve Chabot, co-chair of the Nigeria Caucus and member of the Judiciary Committee, and Chris Smith, Ranking Member, Subcommittee of Africa, who expressed concern over Nigerias track record on rule of law and the involvement of contractors with a history of corruption allegations, writing, we believe that at least one likely beneficiary of one of these infrastructure contacts, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, has been involved in significant corruption in the past, and can reasonably be expected to engage in such practices again. The Nigerian House of Representatives has even set up an inquiry to investigate these allegations, and the DOJ has threatened to claw back the monies if there is any whiff of corruption. And now the DOJ is opposing plans to repatriate further Abacha monies because AG Malami is planning to hand about $100 million of that looted money back to one of the people who stole it in the first place: Kebbi state Governor Abubakar Bagudu, a top lieutenant of President Buhari and known associate of the Abacha family. This reminds us of when AG Malami hired his friends, lawyers Okpeseyi and Adebayo for $17 million, to collect Abacha monies being stashed away in Switzerland instead of tasking his own Ministry officials to secure the loot. Heres the only problem: the money was already recovered by the Swiss authorities; so why was the $17m contract needed? Human Rights, Protection of Christians Things in Washington are not going Abujas way despite efforts by some in the U.S. Embassy in Abuja and the Bureau for Africa Affairs to turn a blind eye to the Buhari Administrations missteps. Last week, the situation ballooned with U.S. Senator Grassley taking to the floor of the U.S. Senate to condemn Nigerias record of persecution of Christians stating, The Nigerian authorities need to stop this persecution now, and the U.S. government needs to do what it can to support that effort. This followed a letter he co-wrote with his colleague, U.S. Senator Jodi Ernst, urging the U.S. State Department appoint a Special Envoy for the Sahel region to ensure the protection of Christians. Some in Washington try to claim that there is no independent confirmation of this situation. This is willful blindness. The situation has been well-documented and corroborated in detailed recent reports by the Hudson Institute, HART, the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) and Amnesty International amongst others. More importantly, State cannot deny the facts. Their own 2019 Nigeria Human Rights Report found, Significant human rights issues included unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention This pattern of behaviour is consistent with the perilous situation facing Grace Taiga, a 70-year old, ill, Christian woman, who was illegally detained and denied critical medical care by AG Malami over her role as a witness to signing the P&ID GSPA. This illustrates a simple truth: that the actions, or lack thereof taken by AG Malami in the P&ID case are in fact part of a larger, consistent pattern of behaviour. Fundamental freedoms are being eroded. The process of justice; freedom from coercion; the protection of individual rights; religious freedom all of these are viewed not as absolutes, but rather as optional privileges that can be applied or withdrawn on the whim of AG Malami. This is not the rule of law, but rather the rule by law, when the law and its institutions are used as a tool of oppression to impose political, or individual, agendas. P&ID employees and affiliates have been experiencing this reality since the Fall of 2019, in the immediate aftermath of the UK courts decision to uphold the legitimacy of the Arbitral Award. The Nigerian governments pattern of disregard for rule of law is clear: the sham investigation and show trial aimed at P&ID is one of the most public examples. London Calling AG Malami does not seem concerned about the atrocities and corruption that is happening on his watch. The Nigerian media has exposed a recent shopping trip to London by Malami and his team, when they were supposed to be leading Nigerias legal defence against P&ID in the English Courts. As you read the expose, readers are left with an intriguing question: Do these photos portray to us the reason why the government is dragging out a long case against P&ID? Could it be that they can simply guarantee more expensive trips to London for necessary court hearings and meetings (and therefore shopping trips)? One Malami associate a central figure in this shopping excursion - is, so far, unidentified. If you know who he is, contact us. A picture showing two students from an elite private school in Australia appearing to re-enact the death of George Floyd has sparked outrage online. The United States has endured more than a week of rioting in major cities after the death of Mr Floyd last Monday at the hands of Minneapolis police. In a video of the arrest Mr Floyd, 46, can be heard telling police officer Derek Chauvin that he could not breathe as the officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder over the incident while other officers on the scene have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. A picture has since been shared online showing two students from St Joseph's College Gregory Terrace in Brisbane appearing to act out Mr Floyd's death. A picture showing two students from an elite private school in Australia appearing to re-enact the death of George Floyd has sparked outrage online Commenters on the picture were outraged and said the students should be reprimanded The picture was captioned 'RIP George Floyd' and first posted to Snapchat, according to News Corp. The image was then posted on Twitter with users quickly slamming the picture. 'This is absolutely disgusting, these boys go to Gregory Terrace in Brisbane. I'm absolutely appalled and disgusted,' one person wrote. 'Racism is never okay,' said another. In a video of the arrest Mr Floyd, 46, can be heard telling police officer Derek Chauvin that he could not breathe as the officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes St Joseph's College Gregory Terrace, which charges annual fees up to $15,700, said they were dealing with the matter. 'The College is aware of a highly inappropriate post on social media generated by a small group of students. We share in the community disappointment in regard to this,' a spokesperson for the school said. 'The actions of a small number of students in no way reflect the College's values and explicit teachings. We are treating the matter seriously and dealing with it as an absolute priority.' Other photos of a similar nature have appeared online, with one British newspaper reporting three teens were arrested on 'suspicion of sending communications causing anxiety and distress' after posting a picture. Yet another photo has surfaced showing two teens acting out the scene with the caption 'George Floyd challenge'. One commenter said he knew the students and they are being dealt with by the school Protests and riots have been held in major U.S. cities in the last week, including Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC and New York. On Wednesday, the New York City Police Department continued its crackdown across the city by arresting more than 90 peaceful protesters who ignored the citywide curfew for a third night in a row. About an hour after the curfew went into effect, officers began moving in on crowds of demonstrators in Manhattan and Brooklyn, at times blasting people with pepper spray or using batons to shove those who didn't move fast enough. NYPD Chief Terence Monahan said there will be 'no more tolerance' for curfew violators as officials move to restore order on the streets following four nights of chaos and violence that left businesses across the city ransacked and vandalized. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sty Joseph's Gregory Terrace for comment. New York police strictly enforced the citywide curfew on Wednesday, even arresting peaceful protesters who remained on the streets after 8pm WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) said the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice has approved the company's proposed acquisition of TD Ameritrade Holding. Completion of the transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of the customary closing conditions, including receipt of other regulatory approvals and obtaining the necessary approvals from stockholders of both Schwab and TD Ameritrade. The companies continue to expect that the transaction will close in the second half of the year. Integration is expected to take between 18 to 36 months to complete following the close. In November 2019, Charles Schwab agreed to acquire TD Ameritrade Holding in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $26 billion. 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. (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, JUNE 4 - A cultural exchange has been arranged for students from one of the best Egyptian schools, which has a one-of-a-kind teaching model, to study for a week at the Tenuta Sant'Egidio, a nature centre that offers nature camps on Mt. Cimino in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio. The centre is managed by the Environmental Education Management (GEA) Association. Eugenio Benedetti Gaglio, president of the Italian Society of Charity (SIB) and a supporter of GEA, told ANSAmed that the association manages the centre "as part of its philanthropic and rigorously non-profit cultural programme". The Egyptian students are from the Oasis International School, managed by director-general Esmat Ellamee, who said it is "the first school in the world authorised to teach in French the four programmes of the International Baccalaureate", which qualifies its students for university admission in 80 countries worldwide. Benedetti Gaglio, a former businessman and humanitarian with a passion for Egypt, visited the school last year. His grandfather was responsible for remodeling the Italian Hospital in Cairo. The school receives visits by various high officials from Egypt and around the world. During Benedetti Gaglio's visit, the school's art room was named after the Sicilian philanthropist to highlight his role in supporting relations with Egypt. He said that with a team "of professionals from over 18 countries on five continents", Oasis offers "a teaching system in three languages that starts in nursery school", opening to its students the doors of "prestigious universities in Egypt and abroad" and making their CVs valuable for "many international organisations". He said the school "offers its students one of the best teaching methods in Cairo" based on "30 years of experience full of success". He said Oasis offers its students many extracurricular activities including educational visits and trips, including outside of Egypt. The nature camps organised by GEA give small groups of students the chance to discover nature through activities and by sleeping and living in the woods. The activities cover themes tied to natural science and archaeology and turn the educational experience into an adventure through the camp tent called "Egidione's Refuge". The area is fully equipped and includes a biology and ecology laboratory where the students can carry out experiments.(ANSAmed). Crowds rallying in Brooklyn and Manhattan post-curfew were even larger than on Tuesday night. And the police were quicker to enforce the clampdown than they had been in previous days, moving swiftly to disperse demonstrators from rainy city streets and to arrest those who failed to clear out. Terence A. Monahan, the Police Departments chief of department, explained the aggressive approach while speaking to reporters in East Midtown area in Manhattan, where officers dispersed one group of protesters. When we have these big crowds, especially in this area, especially where weve had the looting, no more tolerance, Chief Monahan said. They have to be off the street. An 8 oclock curfew we gave them to 9 oclock. And there was no indication that they were going to leave these streets. In Brooklyn, officers hemmed in demonstrators on Cadman Plaza after the group, which had started at Barclays Center, was prevented from crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. [Get the latest news and updates on the protests in the New York region.] Outside Gracie Mansion, hundreds said they were just fed up. The earlier part of Wednesday evening had been marked mostly by peaceful gatherings of New Yorkers clamoring for change. At one, a large crowd assembled near Gracie Mansion, the mayors official residence on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. Hugh Jackman has been slammed by fans for sharing a photo of a protestor hugging an officer following the death of George Floyd in police custody. The actor, 52, posted the picture, taken during the Black Lives Matter protests, to his Twitter page on Wednesday and captioned the post: 'Solidarity'. Fans immediately hit out at Hugh, claiming he should be sharing pictures of police brutality during the riots instead, and also criticised the star for saying it represents unity. 'That's an unfollow from me!' Actor Hugh Jackman (pictured) has been slammed for sharing a photo of a protestor embracing a police officer during the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles Post: The 52-year-old actor posted the picture to his Twitter on Wednesday and captioned the post: 'Solidarity' 'This is so disappointing. You're helping to spread propaganda. If you want to share something, there's plenty of images and videos of protests from around the world that don't include PR opportunities for police officers,' one person tweeted. 'Jesus Christ, someone show me one celebrity that isn't a disappointment,' another commented. One wrote: 'I'm sorry but you can't post that if you aren't also sharing the videos of police brutality! The news is doing enough of sharing this bullsh*t instead of what's actually going on. Peaceful protestors being attacked for no reason by the cops who are supposed to keep them safe.' 'That's going to be an unfollow from me man,' one person said. 'Wait until you see a picture of the cop tear gassing the protestor right after,' another commented. But some fans praised Hugh for sharing the photo, with one writing: 'Solidarity the way it should be. I support you. Stay safe.' 'Finally a message from a celebrity I can respect,' another person said. 'This is so disappointing': Fans immediately hit out at Hugh for sharing the photo, and also criticised him for claiming that it represents unity Protests and riots have erupted across the U.S. after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in Minneapolis last Monday when a white cop pressed his knee against his neck for eight minutes. Mr Floyd had been accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli. One of the officers involved, Derek Michael Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter days after footage of the incident went viral. Over the past week, protesters in the US have taken to the streets demanding reform after what many consider another senseless death and example of police brutality. On Saturday, Los Angeles descended into violence as cops in riot gear clashed with protesters who sprayed graffiti and torched police cruisers while officers shot rubber bullets into crowds and beat demonstrators with batons. Warning comes after 500,000 leaflets criticising Kim Jong Uns nuclear ambitions are dumped along the Norths border. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Koreas leader, has threatened to scrap a military agreement with South Korea and close down a cross-border liaison office unless Seoul stops activists from launching balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. Responding to Thursdays warning, a spokesman for South Koreas Unification Ministry said Seoul planned to push new laws to ban the leaflet protests. Activists have sent balloons carrying leaflets criticising North Koreas nuclear ambitions and human rights abuses for years, but Pyongyang considers the tactic an attack on its government. In recent weeks, about 500,000 leaflets have been dumped along the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea. They criticised North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un for threatening to take shocking actual action with a strategic nuclear weapon, according to South Koreas Yonhap news agency. The South Korean authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making all sort of excuses, said Kim Yo Jong, who serves unofficially as her brothers chief of staff. Her warning was issued in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. South Korea said many of the leaflets fell on its side of the border and it was working on legislation to stop the practice, which usually involves North Korean defectors. Taking into consideration relevant circumstances comprehensively, the government has already been mulling effective regulatory improvement measures to fundamentally prevent such tension-causing acts near the border, Yonhap quoted unification ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key as saying. Calling the defectors human scum and rubbish-like mongrel dogs who betrayed their homeland, Kim Yo Jong said it was time to bring their owners to account in a reference to the South Korean government. Pact at risk She went on to warn of the possible scrapping of the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war as a result of the clandestine leafletting. The military pact reached in 2018 was hardly of any value, she said. Seoul has touted the military agreement, reached during the third summit between Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, as a major step in the peace process. Under the pact, the Koreas had agreed to jointly search for human remains from the 1950-53 Korean War and take steps to reduce conventional military threats, such as establishing buffer and no-fly zones. But with the larger nuclear talks with the US in deadlock, Pyongyang has been less enthusiastic about upholding inter-Korean agreements as the larger nuclear talks. Operations at the liaison office have already been suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Pyongyang has carried out dozens of weapons tests since the military agreement was signed. Kim Yo Jong also threatened to pull out permanently from joint projects with the South including the Kaesong industrial zone and Mount Kumgang tours both of which have been suspended for years due to sanctions over its weapons programmes. If they truly value the (North-South) agreements and have a will to thoroughly implement them, they should clear their house of rubbish, said Kim Yo Jong, who is considered her brothers closest confidant. South Korea has sometimes sent police officers to block such activities during times of high tension, but it has previously resisted Pyongyangs calls to fully ban them, saying the activists were exercising their freedoms. This time the unification ministry said the balloon campaigns were threatening the safety of residents living in the border area and contributing towards pollution. Australia in its first recession in 29 years as March quarter GDP falls Sydney, June 3 (Peoples Daily Online) -- GDP figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday show the Australian economy fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3 per cent in the March quarter 2020. This makes it certain that Australia will suffer its first recession in 29 years, as the full impact of coronavirus-related shutdowns occurred during the current June quarter, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The last time Australia recorded two consecutive negative quarters for GDP was March and June 1991. The Australian economy was impacted by a number of significant events this quarter, starting with bushfires and other natural disasters, followed by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent imposition of restrictions. The government responded with the introduction of economic stimulus and support packages. Public demand contributed 0.3 percentage points to GDP, driven by a 1.8 per cent rise in government final consumption expenditure. Private demand detracted 0.8 percentage points from GDP, driven primarily by a 1.1 per cent fall in household final consumption expenditure. Spending on services fell significantly, particularly where restrictions impacted most severely, such as air transport services, hotels, cafes and restaurants, recreation and culture. Spending on goods rose, most notably in food and pharmaceuticals, as households prepared for the introduction of restrictions. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, "Treasury were contemplating a fall in GDP of more than 20 per cent in the June quarter. This was the economists' version of Armageddon." "Seen in this context, the fact that the Australian economy only contracted by 0.3 per cent shows the Australian economy's remarkable resilience, he added. Chief Economist for the ABS, Bruce Hockman, said: This was the slowest through-the-year growth since September 2009 when Australia was in the midst of the Global Financial Crisis and captures just the beginning of the expected economic effects of COVID-19. It was a running joke between Jamie Lee Hurtt and her 10-year-old daughter, Azariah, that Hurtt would become TikTok famous and have more followers than her daughter. Neither of them ever expected they would end up going viral together, or like this. During the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent quarantine, Hurtt, like many parents, found herself dabbling on the social media app TikTok. She has mostly posted videos of her learning popular dances, alone or with her children and fiance, Joseph Mckinzie. Hurtt and Mckinzie manage a full and blended house in El Dorado Hills, California, that includes Azariah, Mckinzie's daughters, Leilani, 12, and Isabella, 10, and the couple's two sons together, Joseph Jr., 2, and Jeremiah, 3 months. Jamie Lee Hurtt and Joseph Mckinzie's blended family includes a spectrum of skin shades between them his daughters Leilani, 12, and Isabella, 10, her daughter Azariah, 10, and their sons together, Joseph Jr., 2, and baby Jeremiah, 3 months (not pictured). (Courtesy of Jamie Lee Hurtt) They are a racially blended family, too: Hurtt is white, and Mckinzie's father was black and his mother was white. Azariah's father, who is no longer in her life, was black as well. This week, Hurtt posted something different: a snippet of a personal and raw moment with her daughter. Azariah had asked her parents about news reports she had seen. She wanted to know why the National Guard was there and why some of their favorite restaurants were boarded up to prevent looting. "We looked at each other like, 'I think it's time to have a conversation with her,'" Hurtt told TODAY Parents. When Hurtt and Mckinzie told Azariah about George Floyd's murder and the ensuing unrest, the girl broke down. "I could die from the color of my skin," she said through tears, in a moment Hurtt caught on video. Mckinzie, visibly distressed and shaking his head, replies, "I'm sorry," before embracing his stepdaughter in a hug. Never miss a parenting story with the TODAY Parents newsletter! Sign up here. "It's sad that we even have to have the conversation with her, and it's not like she's naive... but she started bawling," said Hurtt. "She's not a very emotional person at all, so it killed us to see her crying." Story continues Hurtt initially took the video because she wanted to capture the moment for her family, she told TODAY Parents. "That moment wasn't a TikTok. It wasn't for anybody but our own household," she said. "I just wanted to have the memory of that moment for us, for our family." She didn't think to post the video on TikTok, she said, until early the next morning when she was up feeding her infant alone and scrolling through the app. After watching a similar video that made her cry, Hurtt was inspired to add the video to her page in the hopes of showing how racism affects children like her daughter. In a matter of hours, the video went viral. It now has 1.2 million likes and 24,000 comments. "We are fighting for you!!! I PROMISE YOU," wrote TikTok user Brittany Leigh. "This beautiful girl made my heart hurt. Sending prayers and good vibes to you," wrote Naya Smith. "I just had the same talk with my 10-year old daughter," wrote Nichole Mcdonald. "That she could die because of the color of her skin. A child should never, ever, ever have to say this." "Look how many people you've touched," Hurtt told Azariah. She and her daughter have been reading every comment together. It has helped Azariah to see that other people share her feelings, but the pain is still raw for them both, Hurtt said. "How do we tell our children that everything is going to be OK and that she'll be treated like everyone else? You just can't." The Democrat party is at war with America. That is the clear message of the Democrats responses to the crises that have engulfed our nation over the last six months, made our streets war zones, and destroyed the small business communities that are the lifeblood of our system. When the country was attacked by a deadly virus from China in January, the Democrats attacked the presidents efforts to stop it at the border, then blamed him for the 100,000 deaths that followed. Yet Democrat governors controlled the health systems of every major center of the covid19 devastation and were 100% responsible for any policies that failed. When the president attempted to re-open the economy in May, Democrat governors and mayors issued draconian orders to arrest individuals violating their social distancing injunctions by strolling in parks, lounging on beaches and worst of all - attempting to revive their barbershops and salons. As a direct consequence of these imposed shutdowns forty million Americans lost their jobs. To many of us, the Democrats purpose was clear: to depress the economy and blame the consequences on the president. This became the incessant theme of their political utterances and ads. Yet these seditious Democrat attacks on the commander-in-chief in the midst of the war against an invisible enemy maintained a cover of plausibility because of the uncertainties surrounding the virus and how it was spread. This mask was dropped when a civil insurrection erupted in the wake of the horrific police murder of George Floyd. In its wake Americas streets were filled with massive crowds of protesters and as it turned out domestic terrorists. These terrorists, led by the communist organization Antifa, used the protests as a cover for violent and hate-filled attacks on ordinary citizens and their businesses. As these attacks escalated into the torching of city centers and the devastation of poor communities, the hypocrisies of Democrats and their true agendas became inescapably clear. Virtually all the mayhem was centered in Democrat-controlled states and cities. The same mayors who had jailed local business people and ordinary citizens for congregating in groups of more than ten were utterly silent as crowds of thousands formed to tear their cities apart. Meanwhile not a single word was uttered, not a single arrest made, by these same Democrat governors and mayors to prevent the protesters and rioters from violating the social distancing ordinances they had used to close churches and houses of worship the week before. While stores, apartment buildings and even police stations were torched by violent radicals, while ordinary citizens were being terrorized, Democrat governors were reluctant to call out their National Guard and nip the riots in the bud. This reluctance became active resistance when they defied the presidents appeals to them to take every measure necessary to stop the the terrorists in their tracks and restore law and order to our cities. One of the most frightening sights amidst all the mayhem was the direct threat the street terrorists posed to the White House. Thousands of rioters and protesters gathered in front of the White House. What were the protesters doing at the White House in the first place? The president had condemned the murder of George Floyd and called his family immediately after the event. There wasnt a politician or public figure in the entire nation who was defending the killer cop. Why were these crowds menacing the White House and attacking the Secret Service fifty of whose members had already been injured by their violent assaults? Every night for the preceding week, the peaceful protest had turned into violent attacks on law enforcement and the surrounding area. And night after night the Democrat mayor of Washington failed to provide the security necessary to make the street in front of the White House a safe place for the members of our government, including the president. On Sunday May 31, the mob in front of the White House set fire to the 200-year-old St. Johns Church. Fed up with the support that Democrat governors and mayors were giving to the insurrection and the violence, the president decided on a bold step. On Monday June 1, he massed overwhelming numbers of the National Guard, and demanded an early curfew, planning to clear the streets and demonstrate to the seditious governors and mayors what they needed to do. The National Guard drove the angry mob protesters and terrorists away from the White House and then the president and key members of his cabinet walked over to the church. Every American who cares for their country and its president, who was watching this walk, held their breath, uncertain as to whether the president and his cabinet would be attacked and possibly assassinated, as so many public figures on the left had already advocated. Yet no sooner had the walk been completed than CNN and the Democrat media were mocking the president and creating the Democrats new fake news talking point: Trump had ordered the National Guard to use tear gas to attack a group of peaceful protesters in order to feed his narcissism for a photo-op. As if Donald Trump needed a photo op, and as if the peaceful protesters across the country had not systematically provided cover for the black-clad Antifa terrorists wreaking havoc on the country. As if the need to purportedly use tear gas did not expose the menace posed by a crowd that was ready to violate a curfew in front of the White House and resist the representatives of law enforcement who had asked them three times to leave. Along with Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the Democrat mayor of Washington DC, Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the presidents action, summing up the party line: The President of the United States tear-gassed peaceful protestors in order to clear the way for a useless photo-op outside the White House -- just after vowing to activate the military against our own people. Lives and our democracy are in danger. Lives and our democracy are definitely in danger. But the danger comes from a Democrat Party that is at war with their country and willing to aid and abet a terrorist force, Antifa, whose clearly stated purpose is the destruction of the country. David Horowitzs new book is Blitz: Trump Will Smash the Left and Win 1 of 2 Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking users in Incognito Mode Google has been sued in the US over claims it illegally invades the privacy of users by tracking people even when they are browsing in "private mode". Incognito Mode is a feature most of us take for granted by now. All current browsers have at least some iteration of it: a mode where browsing history and cookies are not saved. Many people wrongly assume that Incognito Mode makes you completely anonymous online. That is, in fact, not true, and Chrome even warns you of that when starting a session. However, some argue that Google is still collecting some data, and now the company is facing a $5 billion lawsuit for this. The initial report by Reuters describes that a complaint has been filed at a federal court in San Jose, California. The reason? Google is alleged to still pick up some of your personal information, such as shopping habits and other sensitive data, even when youre browsing in incognito mode. How do they allegedly do it? Through services such as Google Ad Manager, Google Analytics, etc. This collected information is not directly tied to the user, but it could potentially be used to identify a user if the information matches previous search habits. Read More... (L) Jim Mattis speaks during a press briefing on Feb. 7, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) (R) President Donald Trump at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on May 30, 2020. (Saul Martinez/Getty Images) Trump Comments After Former Defense Secretary James Mattis Claims President Tries to Divide Us Amid nationwide protests since George Floyds death, President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a comment critical of former Defense Secretary James Mattis hours after Mattis accused the president of trying to divide the American people. Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the worlds most overrated General, Trump wrote on Twitter late Wednesday. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about it. His nickname was Chaos, which I didnt like, & changed to Mad Dog.' His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations, Trump continued. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom brought home the bacon. I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone! His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom brought home the bacon. I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020 Earlier on Wednesday, The Atlantic published a statement attributed to Mattis, which accused Trump of deliberate efforts to divide the nation over the past three years. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us, Mattis alleged. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. It is unclear what Mattis was referring to in using the word consequences. Mattiss statement appeared to condemn law enforcement measures in Lafayette Square on Monday, characterizing it as an abuse of executive authority. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution, Mattis continued, without mentioning Trumps name. On Monday, U.S. Park Police evacuated protesters at Lafayette Square, ahead of a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. The law enforcement measures took place within an hour before Trump, around 7:00 p.m., walked across the square from the White House to St. Johns Church and held up a bible. President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. Johns Church across Lafayette Park from the White House, in Washington on June 1, 2020. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo) The U.S. Park Police said in a statement that officers had used smoke canisters and pepper balls to clear the area, after protesters became more combative, attempted to grab officers weapons, and continued to throw projectiles that included bricks, frozen water bottles, and caustic liquids. Mattis characterized Trumps trip to the church as a bizarre photo op, and alleged that troops were ordered to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens for the president. President Donald Trump holds up a Bible as he gestures, alongside Attorney General William Barr (L), national security adviser Robert OBrien (2nd-L), and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, outside St Johns Church across Lafayette Park in Washington, on June 1, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) President Donald Trump walks in Lafayette Park to visit outside St. Johns Church across from the White House in Washington on June 1, 2020. Part of the church was set on fire during riots on Sunday night. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo) Military leadership stood alongside Trump at the church, Mattis wrote. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society, Mattis contended, later adding that keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them. Mattis, a retired Marine four-star general, was selected by Trump as secretary of defense in December 2016. He resigned in December 2018 after disagreeing over Trumps decision to pull out of Syria. A suspected looter carrying boxes of shoes runs past National Guard soldiers in Hollywood, California, on June 1, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Amid violent activities across the nation, the National Guard has been deployed in 29 U.S. states at the request of governors, and the Pentagon has moved about 1,600 troops into the Washington area as of Wednesday. The military mobilization comes after Trump announced on Monday that he was dispatching heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop violent activities amid the protests. All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd. My administration is fully committed that, for George and his family, justice will be served. He will not have died in vain. But we cannot allow the righteous cries and peaceful protesters to be drowned out by an angry mob, Trump said on Monday. Trump indicated on Wednesday afternoon that he would prefer not to deploy the military and would personally rather deploy the National Guard to respond to the violence. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneels on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed man who was pleading that he could not breathe, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 25, 2020. (Darnella Frazier via AP) Floyd, a black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyds death and the events leading to it sparked nationwide protests expressing grief over police brutality. But in many instances, acts of violence, arson, and looting have marred the initially peaceful demonstrations. Federal officials, including Attorney General William Barr, say such violent activities have been spurred and coordinated by outside agitators and radicals. Trump on June 1 announced that his administration will designate Antifaan extremist anarchist-communist groupas a terrorist group. He also praised the National Guard for shutting down the chaos in Minneapolis that he said was steered by ANTIFA led anarchists, among others. I want the organizers of this terror to be on notice that you will face severe criminal penalties and lengthy sentences in jail. This includes Antifa and others who are leading instigators of this violence, Trump said at the time. Allen Zhong and Bowen Xiao contributed to this report. A royal family member figured into a serious accident and is reportedly in a coma. French Princess Hermine of Clermont-Tonnerre was injured in the road accident on Monday, June 1, as per the French news outlet, La Voix du Nord. Circumstances around the crash remain unclear, but it is believed that the royal family member was injured in a motorbike crash. Princess Hermine of Clermont-Tonnerre, victim of a motorcycle accident, is in a coma. pic.twitter.com/R8F0u51FkI Royal News (@RoyalFamily_LS) June 3, 2020 Princess Hermine is known for her love of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Gala reported that she is in a worrying state after the crash. Friends of the mother-of-two have been writing well-wishes on social media. Producer Thierry Klemeniuk posted on Facebook, "Let us all pray for our princess. Event manager Viviane Zaniroli said, "In thoughts and prayers for our Mimine, Hermine from Clermont-Tonnerre, in a coma following a motorcycle accident, we think strongly of Allegra and Calixte, her children. My darling princess, you are a warrior. Fight." The 54-year-old Parisian actress slash jetsetter appeared on reality shows like Fear Factor and La Ferme Celebrities in Africa and French films such as "Shooting Stars," "Riches, belles, etc." and "Alliance Cherche Doigt." Princess Hermine is the daughter of Charles Henri, the 11th Duke of Clermont-Tonnerre and Anne Moranville. While she is not officially a princess, Hermine, as an author, is dubbed one by the French press. She also signs her book as "Princesse Hermine de Clermont-Tonnerre." She has written seven books, including "One day my Prince will come - but where, when, and how. In 2001, Princess Hermine described the book as a "guidebook" for those who have lost their touch in romance. "In today's world, gallantry seems to have died out. Men have lost their charm, and women have hardened up." Allegra and Calixte are her two children from a decade-long marriage to French businessman Alastair Cuddeford. They divorced in 2009. Two Other Royal Family Members, Dead Princess Hermine's accident comes weeks after a descendant of Emperor Karl of Austria, Princess Maria Galitzine, who died from heart failure at the age of 31 and German Prince Otto of Hesse crashed his Ducati motorcycles into ramps which led to his death. The princess was living a healthy life away from royal duties in Texas, US, when she suddenly passed away early this month. Austrian Princess Maria Galitzine (31) - married to Indian-origin chef Rishi Roop Singh passed away in Houston,Texas pic.twitter.com/RfauzMWIZC Naveen S Garewal (@naveengarewal) May 15, 2020 Princess Maria left behind her husband and a two-year-old child. On May 4, just six days before her 32nd day, the young princess suffered a fatal cardiac aneurysm. The Houston Chronicle published an obituary that said, "Our Maria passed away in the Houston morning of Monday, May 4, 2020, from a sudden cardiac aneurysm." "She was born in 1988 to Prince and Princess Piotr Galitzine in the city of Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Please keep Maria in your prayers." Prince Otto of Hesse, died on the scene following a motorbike crash into a guard near Lake Constance, in the southern German state of Bavaria. As German newspaper Bild reported, the 55-year-old Prince hit a barrier at speed while driving his Ducati motorcycle. He was reportedly fond of motorbikes and fast cars, and according to reports, he was driving over the speeding limit. The cause of the accident remains unclear, but the motorbike is said to have swerved after overlooking another vehicle that was going at a fast speed. Prince Otto left behind four children, Prince Max, Princess Elena, Prince Moritz, and Prince Leopold. READ MORE: Meghan Markle True Colors Revealed: A 'Backstabber' Like Camilla Parker Bowles, Analyst Says An accused child molester in California is now behind bars, and police say the current COVID-19 pandemic helped them solve the nearly 2-year-old molestation case. The benefit that was brought forward by COVID to help us solve this crime; we had access to a sample and a mask, said King City police captain Keith Boyd. Investigators arrested 28-year-old Leonardo Ramirez after DNA taken from his face mask linked him to the 2018 rape of a girl under 14 years old. Under the current coronavirus pandemic, health orders require the use of face coverings, and Ramirez was wearing one when police called him to police headquarters to talk about an unrelated crime. He showed up and he was wearing a mask, but they offered him a fresh mask and he accepted that mask and then subsequently discarded the mask he had been wearing into a bag, which had been pre-staged, said Boyd. The used mask was then submitted to the department of justice for DNA analysis. And subsequent to that analysis, we were able to obtain a positive match from the sample in that mask and the sample initially obtained during the investigation two years ago, Boyd. Soon after the results came back, Ramirez was arrested. Since the news broke King City police have been showered with praise on social media with comments like good job KCPD, smart detective work right there, good thinking, clever work, thats funny, and thank you for getting him off the streets. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Sneaky, creative yeah, but thats our job to try and find ways to make the community safer and by doing this we were able to take someone who is really a predator off the street, the captain said. King City police said not only do they have the suspects DNA, but they also have a confession. Investigators say when Ramirez was questioned by detectives, he confessed to the alleged crimes. Investigators say the COVID-19 pandemic provided a key opportunity to crack this case. Without the pandemic, detectives wouldve spent more man-hours investigating and trying to get a search warrant so they could eventually get a swab from the accused. Im sure well look back one day and think whats the chance of something like this we would benefit from who thought we could use it to our advantage, Boyd said. Today show host Karl Stefanovic has been the subject of 'hair transplant' rumours for a number of years - all of which he's denied. On Thursday, the 45-year-old presenter was only too happy to make a joke about his tresses in an interview with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Karl asked the Prime Minister about his relationship with US President Donald Trump during Channel Nine's A Current Affair. Tressed out! Karl Stefanovic makes a joke about his hair as he interviews Prime Minister Scott Morrison about President Trump amid rumours he has spent '$55,000 on hair plugs' over the last few years. Here: On A Current Affair on Thursday 'He's always been straight up with me. And he's always shown a great interest in Australia,' the Prime Minister said. 'Through his Presidency the United States has been a good friend to Australia,' he added, remarking on trade and defence agreements. Karl then took it upon himself to get a little more personal, asking the PM's view on President Trump's famous sandy mane. Tressing issue! 'Well, he's got more of it than I do!' Scott said. To which Karl replied: 'Yeah, I can't really complain about that either.' 'Anything else you like personally about him? His hair?' Karl asked the Prime Minister. 'Well, he's got more of it than I do!' the Prime Minister said, to which Karl replied: 'Yeah, I can't really complain about that either.' Karl's hair has regularly been in the news, amid speculation he has spent a whopping $55,000 on hair plugs. Mane appeal! Karl Stefanovic and PM Scott Morrison got onto the topic of President Donald Trump's hair: 'Anything else you like personally about him? His hair?' Karl asked. Pictured: US President Donald Trump A source close to the journalist denied the rumours to Daily Mail Australia in April 'It's just completely untrue,' they said. 'He doesn't know where this has come from. The idea he spent $55,000 on hair plugs is absolutely ludicrous. If he paid $55,000 for that he'd want his money back.' The source also denied rumours he dyed his mane black that same month. New look: Karl Stefanovic's hair appeared noticeably darker on the Today show in April (R). He has told friends the difference was due to poor lighting. (L) Karl with lighter hair in 2018 The $55,000 hair plug rumour began last year when Woman's Day reported Karl had spent that amount on transplants over the years. In September, Karl joked about his 'expensive' hair on This Time Next Year. He stepped away from a woman who was burning her bra on stage, saying: 'Don't want to burn my hair and stuff. Do you know what I mean? It's expensive!' A hair-raising figure! Last year, Woman's Day reported that Karl had spent up to $55,000 on a hair transplant. Karl has denied the claim to friends. Pictured with Georgie Gardner in 2018 In January, Karl slammed his former colleague Richard Reid and called him a 'tosser' after the gossip guru discussed his hair transplant on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! He told The Kyle and Jackie O Show: 'When he said it, I had to turn off that show and I just thought, "You are just a tosser. Richard Reid is a tosser of the highest order!'" Just minutes later, Richard called in to offer his side of the story. He claimed that he and Karl didn't get along during their seven years on the Today show. War of words! In January, Karl slammed his former colleague Richard Reid (pictured) and called him a 'tosser' after the gossip guru discussed his hair transplant on I'm a Celebrity... He also defended his hair transplant revelation by saying he had 'kept Karl's name in the headlines... when he didn't have a job' in 2019. The pair's feud went public in February 2019 when Richard - who hosted a daily Hollywood gossip segment on Today from 2008 until 2015 - let slip on I'm A Celebrity... that Karl had undergone a hair transplant years earlier. Recalling the moment he discovered Karl's hair loss, he said: 'So I go into the hair room, and this guy looks up and he's kind of balding... It was Karl Stefanovic without his spray-on hair! Rivals: The pair's feud went public in February 2019 when Richard - who hosted a daily Hollywood gossip segment on Today from 2008 until 2015 - let slip on I'm a Celebrity that Karl had undergone a hair transplant years earlier. Pictured with Richard Wilkins in October 2007 'And then he went away and got hair plugs. He had one of those six-week vacations and came back with [makes gesture for hair plugs]. And he still used the spray-on until it filled in!' Of course, it wasn't the first time Karl's hair had made headlines. In 2017, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that he'd undergone a transplant because he was feeling 'pressure' to look younger. The publication claimed he'd had a 'subtle hair transplant' a few years earlier to cover thinning at the front and top. Cambridge Semantics, the leading provider of graph-driven modern data integration software for the enterprise data fabric, today announced that it has been named to the 21st edition KMWorld 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management 2020. KMWorld acknowledged companies that were innovative in progressing their products and capabilities to meet varying customer requirements. The annual and evolving KMWorld 100 list is compiled after reviewing how companies have succeeded in helping their clients solve problems and through information gathered from product launches and updates, research reports, white papers, and presentations at the annual KMWorld conference, said Joyce Wells, Editor-in-Chief of KMWorld. The selected establishments consist of an extensive range of knowledge management companies focused on areas such as analytics, collaboration, content management and services, customer and employee experience, workflow and document management. The distinguished list recognized companies like Cambridge Semantics who embraced technological advances, such as the development of knowledge graphs as an approach to go beyond the data and shed light on relationships among people, places, and processes. Cambridge Semantics is honored to be recognized for the sixth consecutive year by KMWorld as 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management, said Chuck Pieper, Chairman, and CEO of Cambridge Semantics. In order for our customers to reach optimal success, it is our mission to provide them with a discovery and integration platform for the enterprise data fabric that applies graph and semantics to manage all of their organizations information assets. Cambridge Semantics Anzo platform enables anyone to find, connect and blend any enterprise data into analytics-ready datasets. The solution is a critical component of digital transformation projects across multiple industries including Life Sciences, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Government and other data intensive sectors. For more information on data management, visit http://www.cambridgesemantics.com About KMWorld KMWorld (http://www.kmworld.com) is the leading publisher, conference organizer, and information provider serving the knowledge management, content management, and document management markets. It informs more than 11,000 print subscribers about the components and processesand related success stories that together offer solutions for improving business performance. KMWorld is a publishing unit of Information Today, Inc. (http://www.infotoday.com) About Cambridge Semantics Cambridge Semantics Inc., The Smart Data Company, is a modern data management and enterprise analytics software company that enables seamless access, integration and analysis of all enterprise data via a graph-driven data fabric architecture. Cambridge Semantics award-winning Anzo platform is a modern data discovery and integration layer to connect and bring meaning to enterprise data from any system across the enterprise. The companys AnzoGraph DB, based on open standards, is the fastest & most scalable graph database supporting data integration and rich analysis with graph algorithms, data warehouse-style analytics, feature engineering for Machine Learning and more. The company delivers products and solutions that enable IT departments and business users across Life Sciences, Financial Services, Government, Manufacturing, and other industries to accelerate data delivery and to provide meaningful insights across the organization at hyper-speed and scale. Visit http://www.cambridgesemantics.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter: @CamSemantics. WASHINGTON - For weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has been eager to publicly turn the page on the coronavirus pandemic. Now fears are growing within the White House that the very thing that finally shoved the virus from centre stage mass protests over the death of George Floyd may bring about its resurgence. Trump this week has eagerly pronounced himself the president of law and order in response to the racial unrest that has swept across the nation, overshadowing the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 105,000 Americans and imperiled his re-election prospects. But political dangers for the president remain. Thousands of Americans many without protective face masks have jammed the nations streets over the past week in defiance of social distancing guidelines from governors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House coronavirus task force, which has dramatically scaled back its operations as states reopen their economies, is scrambling to track the potential impact on infection rates. Any uptick in cases in the weeks ahead could slow the economic rebirth that Trumps advisers believe he needs before he faces voters again in five months. A second wave, whether now or in September, would obviously be a setback to the economic recovery and Trumps re-election hopes, said Republican strategist Alex Conant. What Trump needs more than anything is a resurgence of consumer and business confidence. A second wave or prolonged civil unrest will undermine that. It could take weeks to judge the impact of the nationwide protests on the spread of COVID-19, which had been dramatically ebbing across most of the country before the killing of Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on Floyds neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. Those infected with the virus sometimes take several days to display symptoms, creating a lag in the data. And many protesters were masked and skewed younger a population that is less affected by the virus but may also have greater numbers of asymptomatic spreaders complicating predictions. Dr. Deborah Birx, the administrations coronavirus co-ordinator, has been monitoring the protests since they began, looking for indicators of potential resurgence in cases, a White House official said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said Birx was expected to present the task force with early impressions this week but the fuller picture likely wont be known for some time. Questions are swirling about whether the White House is prepared to handle a possible resurgence after deliberately placing the governments public health response on the back burner to put more focus on restarting state economies. The task force received a stay of execution last month when Trump decided not to dissolve it. The group now has a smaller portfolio as the federal priority shifts to helping states safely reopen and the race for a vaccine has been put under the separate auspices of Operation Warp Speed. The task force is still collecting data, co-ordinating the distribution of supplies and test kits, and serving as a sounding board for states, but officials said theres less to do now that critical supply shortages have been largely eliminated and tests are more broadly available. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations leading infectious disease expert, told CNN this week that he had not spoken to Trump in half a month. White House officials are warily watching metropolitan areas where the protests have ignited, hoping the outdoor settings reduce the risk. The administration will also encourage governors to reestablish testing sites that were destroyed or shut down due to the protests. President Trump continues to lead the nation through this unprecedented pandemic, including expedited vaccine development and responsibly reopening our economy, while also taking decisive action to restore law and order to our streets and ensure justice, said White House spokesman Judd Deere. Soon after the coronavirus reached American shores, the president expressed frustration at how quickly the pandemic crippled the economy, depriving Trump of his best argument for re-election. Trump also had hoped to revive his 2016 playbook to tarnish Democratic rival Joe Biden as an ineffective and corrupt Washington insider, only to have the pandemic all but suspend the campaign. Desperate to change the subject, Trump labeled the Obama administrations use of a routine intelligence procedure known as unmasking as the biggest political crime in history to slam Biden and promoted an unfounded murder conspiracy theory against MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a frequent Trump critic. The president has spoken about the coronavirus only sparingly over the last week, mostly to level broadsides against China and the World Health Organization for what he sees as a failure to adequately warn the world about the threat of the virus. Aides have been encouraged by the lack of a significant spike in cases after Memorial Day and some states reopening. Trump is slated Friday to visit a factory in Maine that makes swabs used to test for the coronavirus, his first pandemic-themed travel in more than two weeks. The event has a 2020 backdrop: Maine divides its electoral votes, and the event will be held in the states 2nd Congressional District, which Trump won four years ago and is banking on again this November. All of Trumps recent official travel has been to electoral battleground states, including Florida, Pennsylvania and Arizona, as advisers nervously track his standing in polls. His campaign has welcomed the recent shift to law-and-order themes, believing the presidents combative rhetoric and talk about sending the military into cities will reassure voters concerned about lawlessness, including senior citizens and suburban women. But, just as with the pandemic, the Biden campaign sees Trumps handling of the protests after Floyds death as fresh proof for the former vice-presidents argument Trump is dangerously unfit for the presidency. Its pitch is that Biden has the experience and temperament to clean up the mess and restore the soul of the nation. The American people are crying out for leadership, said Biden spokesman Andrew Bates. Narcissism, fear, and smallness will never meet this moment, but Trump doesnt know how to offer anything else. ___ Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. BERLIN, June 3 (Reuters) - Russia was excluded from the Group of Eight powers over its annexation of the Crimea peninsula and the basis for that decision still stands, a German government spokesman said on Wednesday. "It is up to the Russian leadership to end this situation," Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference in Berlin. Russia was expelled from what was then the Group of Eight in 2014 when Donald Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, was U.S. president, after Moscow annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine. Russia still holds the territory, and various G7 governments have rebuffed previous calls from Trump to re-admit Moscow. (Reporting by Thomas Seythal; editing by Paul Carrel) Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and US President Donald Trump talk to journalists before a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House earlier this year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has criticised President Donald Trump, saying there has been an absence of moral leadership in the response to protests across US cities in recent days. Mr Varadkar said the world had watched in horror at the events in the United States where there have been large scale protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. The Taoiseach did not reference Mr Trump directly, but said in a speech to the Dail: We've witnessed the absence of moral leadership, or words of understanding, comfort or healing from whence they should have come. Read More Mr Varadkar said this was absolutely wrong. Speaking to TDs, Mr Varadkar said there had been a palpable outpouring of emotion, spontaneous expressions of solidarity against the poison of racism. He described racism as a virus transmitted at an early age, perpetuated by prejudice, sustained by systems often unrecognised by those whom it infects, possible to counteract and correct for, but never easy to cure. Mr Varadkar said Ireland had been enriched by racial diversity in recent decades and that the country was fortunate to have a policing model based on consent and "an unarmed and highly professional police service". However, he said there were many examples of racism in Ireland. Discrimination on the basis of skin colour is pernicious. Sometimes it's overt discrimination when it comes to getting a job or promotion or being treated less favourably by public authorities, including sometimes government officials, he said. Sometimes it manifests itself in the form of hate speech online, bullying in school, name calling in the streets, or even acts of violence. Sometimes it's almost innocent, and unknowing, and all the more insidious. The Taoiseach cited examples of people being asked where they come from originally because of their skin colour or surname looks out of place; being spoken to more slowly; or being made to feel just that little bit less Irish than everyone else. He said this was the "lived experience for many young people of colour growing up in Ireland today". Mr Varadkar said the country had come together to fight Covid-19 and should use the sense of solidarity and community in response to the pandemic to take on racism. We can learn from the mistakes of other countries and make sure we do not follow their path, he said. A number of party leaders used the killing of George Floyd to raise the issue of the Direct Provision system in Ireland. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said that rhetoric in the Irish system decries racism while holding up direct provision and the segregation of our traveller population. Labour TD Alan Kelly called on the Taoiseach to commit to ending the controversial system of housing asylum seekers. Mr Varadkar admitted that a lot of Direct Provision accommodation is sub-standard and that needs to change. He said the Government was attempting to do this, but also said it was not compulsory and is "ultimately a service provided by the state with free accommodation, food, heat, lighting, education, and spending money. It's not the same thing as a man being killed by the police, he added. A sign with the likeness of George Floyd is seen at a protest outside L.A. City Hall. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) In August 2007, Melissa Borton was returning to her Minneapolis home to unpack groceries after a trip to Rainbow Foods with her 2-month-old child and 5-year-old German shepherd. As the then-30-year-old turned her green minivan left into an intersection, she saw flashing blue and red lights behind her. She was confused. She didn't think she had disobeyed any laws. Borton stopped her van and rolled down her window in anticipation of interacting with the two approaching policemen. One was Derek Chauvin, the officer who would be charged this month with manslaughter and second-degree murder for the killing of George Floyd, which sparked national outrage and protests against systemic racism. Chauvin and an unnamed officer "without a word" reached inside her car, unlocked the door and began pulling her out while she was still strapped in, Borton recalled in an interview with The Times. "They fumbled with my seat belt and dragged me away," Borton said. "They didn't say anything to me this entire time." An attorney for Chauvin did not respond to a request for comment. The Minneapolis Police Department would not provide the name of the second officer. As Borton was being pulled from her vehicle, she remembers hearing her "hysterical" crying newborn and barking dog. The officers put her in the back seat of their squad car. While there, she asked the officers why she was being detained. She recalls one saying her van "matched a description." As she sat there, the front of her gray T-shirt began to get soaked with breast milk. Related: Witness Says Officers Wanted to Kill George Floyd "You probably have postpartum depression," she recalled an officer saying. "You should get help for that. After about 15 minutes, they let her go without further explanation. The next day, Borton lodged a formal complaint with the Minneapolis Police Department. Weeks went by, but she never heard back. More than six months later, she took it upon herself to call the department to ask about the status of the complaint. They confirmed that an officer had been disciplined but declined to provide further details, according to Borton. Story continues "They kept that secret," Borton said. "I assumed he would get a slap on the wrist, but that was just my assumption." The repercussions of Chauvin's actions are unclear. Records released by the department Tuesday show that Chauvin had received a letter of reprimand for the incident, the details of which were redacted. Records show that investigators found that Chauvin did not have to remove complainant from car and that he couldve conducted interview outside the vehicle. Further investigation showed that the squad car's camera was turned off during the course of the stop. A spokesman for Minneapolis police declined to speak specifically on the investigation launched by Borton but said it is not the department's current practice to cease contact with complainants nor to refuse to provide details on their case. The incident "tainted every experience I've had with the police since then," Borton said. Borton, who is white, said the episode gave her a very small glimpse into how many black Americans feel about police. "I'm not a black person," Borton said. "But on a very minuscule level, I get that you can't trust police." Borton, now 43 and still a Minneapolis resident, said she tells the story of this interaction to people whenever the topic of Minneapolis police comes up. "There's something wrong with the police around here," she said. Borton said her story shows a "long history of an officer who's unhinged and probably shouldn't have been on the force." Borton is grateful to have not been physically harmed the day she was pulled over, but the emotional trauma is very real and remains with her to this day, she said. "I lived to complain," Borton said. "George Floyd didn't." Borton only recently learned that Chauvin was involved in her detainment. After watching the video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck, she suspected he was one of the officers who pulled her over. "There was something that registered in my brain" when I saw Chauvin, Borton said. "I told my partner, 'I think that's the guy.'" She wasnt certain until she read an article published this week by the Los Angeles Times, nearly 13 years later, detailing the incident. It was there she learned the reason she had been stopped going 10 miles over the speed limit. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 03:25:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MUSCAT, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq issued on Wednesday a royal decree stipulating that an office to be named "the Special Office" shall be set up and the office shall report directly to the sultan. The sultan also issued another decree to appoint Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries as Head of the Special Office. The decree said that "Dr. Hamad bin Said bin Sulaiman al-Aufi shall be appointed as Head of the Special Office, along with his current Grade and financial dues." Enditem Public health officials say four temporary foreign workers at the same establishment in the Southern Health region have tested positive for the coronavirus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Public health officials say four temporary foreign workers at the same establishment in the Southern Health region have tested positive for the coronavirus. Dr. Brent Roussin, the province's chief public health officer, said the cluster of cases does not present a significant risk to the public. Roussin refused to identify the type of business, citing privacy concerns. He said those testing positive are among 18 recent arrivals at the same enterprise who have been self-isolating. They had been divided into groups or cohorts of six to lessen any potential spread of the virus. Four workers from one of the cohorts have tested positive. There have been no positive cases from the other two cohorts. All 18 have been tested, with results pending on three samples, Roussin said. Six local workers connected to the enterprise were also tested, and the results were negative, he said. "That's why we don't feel there's any real risk to the public here," he said. "People are being self-isolated and it appears that this will be a limited cluster." Because of the small numbers involved, tests were conducted on people who did not show symptoms of COVID-19, Roussin said. Temporary foreign workers are required to self-isolate for 14 days upon arriving in the country. The first positive test from the Southern Health cluster was reported Sunday by health officials. Two more positive tests were reported on Tuesday, with the fourth on Wednesday. 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 new case brought the total of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba to 298. There are nine active cases of the virus in the province, and there are none under treatment in hospital. On Tuesday, an additional 824 laboratory tests were performed, bringing the total since early February to 45,923. Meanwhile, in answer to a reporter's question, Roussin said the province is looking at eliminating the blanket requirement of 14 days self-isolation for all those entering Manitoba from other provinces. He said Manitoba might be able to consider the relaxation of self-isolation requirements "in the upcoming weeks." He said the easing of self-isolation measures would pertain only to jurisdictions with a favourable epidemiology. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca In-depth Analysis and Data-driven Insights on the Impact of COVID-19 Included in this Global Goat Milk Products Market Report. The global goat milk products market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during the period 20192025. New York, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Goat Milk Products Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05903757/?utm_source=GNW The global goat milk products market is expected to witness significant growth and demand during the forecast period. The growing awareness via increased campaigns, advertisements, and digital marketing is expected to boost the sale of goat milk products. The increased usage of nutrient-rich goat milk powder in infant formulas and the growing number of the lactose-intolerant population are likely to contribute to the market further. The market is witnessing a surge from emerging economies. The shifting preference for packaged branded dairy products is another factor propelling the growth in emerging markets. Rapid urbanization and the improvement in chillers and cold chain logistics for categories such as yogurt and fresh milk have increased the availability of dairy products, thereby boosting the demand. Product freshness plays an essential part in the growth of goat milk products as more nutritious and shelf-stable variants are being made available, especially in the APAC market, where the health consciousness is gaining traction. Yogurt, milk powder, and drinking dairy products are expected to emerge important revenue contributors to the global goat milk products market over the next few years. However, the market faces certain challenges in terms of food safety, government regulations, and logistics. Growing incidences of food safety scandals in the past few years are expected to hinder the growth of the goat milk products market during the forecast period. The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the goat milk products market during the forecast period: High Awareness of Non-dairy Milk Products Growing Demand from Emerging Economies Increased Government Subsidies on Goat Farming High Prevalence of Lactose Intolerant Population The study considers the present scenario of the goat milk products market and its market dynamics for the period 2019?2025. It covers a detailed overview of several market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The study offers both the demand and supply aspect of the market. It profiles and examines leading companies and other prominent ones operating in the market. GOAT MILK PRODUCTS MARKET: SEGMENTATION This research report includes a detailed segmentation by product, distribution, and geography. The goat cheese segment dominates the global goat milk products market share in 2019 and is expected to sustain its position during the forecast period across geographies. The growing preference among consumers for healthier alternatives is primarily driving the growth. About 59% of manufacturers are offering several types of goat cheese. Chevre or fresh goat cheese is particularly preferred by consumers globally, and it contributed approximately 38% to the global revenue in 2019. The presence of several health benefits, including high protein, low fat, and cholesterol content, easy digestibility, and increased availability is primarily driving the goat cheese segment. The APAC region is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period; however, North America is expected to pose the highest incremental growth. The rapid growth demand in secondary markets such as Brazil, Argentina, Peru, India, and Turkey is expected to boost growth. The rising awareness among consumers is expected to support the growth further. The goat milk powder market is likely to increase due to its high usage in infant nutritional formulas. Goat milk has high protein content and is easily digestible compared to cow and breast milk. More than 51% of the revenue is contributed by the APAC region, with the majority of the consumption being concentrated in China. The rising product availability, packaging, and promotion are further driving the growth. The high prevalence of lactose intolerance, especially among Asian consumers, is also driving the demand in the region. Marketing and distribution strategies are immensely influencing global consumption patterns. In terms of distribution channels, goat milk products are distributed via online and offline channels. While offline channels account for the majority revenue shares, specialty stores and online channels are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Supermarkets and hypermarkets, convenience stores, specialty stores, and medical and pharmaceutical stores are the major offline distribution channels. In North America, Walmart, Whole Foods Market, Costco, and Kroger are the major retailers. In Europe, Auchan, Tesco, Carrefour, and Argos are the major retail providers. Online channels mainly include company websites and third-party e-vendors. The development of digital marketing, e-commerce platforms, internet penetration, and mass data management has paved the way for the growth of the online segment. In emerging economies, the e-commerce sector is playing a significant role in product penetration. Countries, such as India, goat milk products are not extensively found in supermarkets. This has made the millennial and target group in the country to rely on online purchase. The increasing internet penetration contributed to the rising buying awareness and is likely to majorly benefit commercial buyers since they would have plenty of options to consider, such as cost, product features, brand reputation, and post-sale services. Online distribution channels are expected to emerge as a game-changer during the forecast period. Market Segmentation by Product Milk Powder o Whole o Skimmed Cheese o Chevre o Mozzarella o Cheddar o Feta o Others Packaged o Skimmed o Whole UHT Milk Others Market Segmentation by Distribution Supermarkets & Hypermarkets Convenience Stores Specialty Stores Medical & Pharmacy Outlets Online Stores Others INSIGHTS BY GEOGRAPHY The growth of the health-conscious population is primarily driving the market in Europe. Consumers are increasingly seeking products, which are non-GMO, organic, cruelty-free, and environmentally sustainable. Although goat milk products are becoming widely available across retails stores, they still constitute a niche segment in the overall dairy market. The growing vegan population in the region is expected to support the demand and consumption of non-dairy milk. North America is the second-largest goat milk products market with the US leading market in the region. The increasing number of lactose-intolerant people is fueling the demand in this region. The rapidly shifting consumer preferences for healthier alternatives, federal education programs, a growing number of lactose-intolerant people, and the well-developed retail landscape that facilitates innovation in terms of new product launches are the major drivers for the increased consumption of goat milk products. Goat cheese is the most popular product in the North American market. With the growing health-conscious population, the demand has increased in the region. Market Segmentation by Geography Europe o Germany o UK o France o Spain o Netherlands North America o US o Canada APAC o China o South Korea o Australia & New Zealand MEA o South Africa o GCC o Turkey o Others Latin America o Brazil o Mexico o Argentina INSIGHTS BY VENDORS The global goat milk products market is fragmented in nature as the vendors are competing based on product quality, new products, and competitive pricing. Thus, consumer choices and preferences differ across regions and keep changing over time in response to geographical, demographic, and social trends, economic circumstances, and marketing efforts of competitors. Due to the highly competitive and volatile environment, the future growth mainly depends on the ability to anticipate, gauge, and adapt to the constantly changing trends and successfully introduce new or improved products in a timely manner. The introduction of innovative goods that cater to customer demands requires companies to devote significant efforts and resources. Research and development teams need to continuously analyze the trends and designs and develop and manufacture new product categories with distinctive features, size, taste, and shelf life. Key Vendors Dairy Goat Corporation Stickney Hill Meyenberg Goat Milk Products FIT Company Bai Yue Group Goat Partners International Groupe Lactalis Other Prominent Vendors Ausnutria Dairy Corporation Ltd. AVH Dairy Trade B.V. Delamere Dairy Granarolo Group Hay Dairies Kavli Summerhill Vitagermine Holle Fineboon Woolwich Dairy Redwood Hill Farm and Creamery The Good Goat Milk Company Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Co. KEY MARKET INSIGHTS The analysis of the goat milk products market provides sizing and growth opportunities for the period 20192025. Offers sizing and growth prospects of the market for the forecast period 20202025. Provides comprehensive insights on the latest industry trends, forecast, and growth drivers in the market. Includes a detailed analysis of growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities. Delivers a complete overview of segments and the regional outlook of the market. Offers an exhaustive summary of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key strategies to gain competitive advantage. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05903757/?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. __________________________ Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks fell slightly on profit taking Thursday after three days of strong gains on optimism around reopening and hopes of economic recovery. Attention now shifts to a European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting later today, with the central bank widely expected to ramp up emergency bond purchases to support the region's battered economies. The ECB will also publish its new economic forecasts. ECB President Christine Lagarde will hold a press conference at 8.30 am ET. Late Wednesday, the German coalition government agreed to a 130 billion ($211 billion) stimulus package to help Europe's biggest economy recover from the coronavirus crisis. The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.7 percent to 366.51 after climbing 2.5 percent on Wednesday. The German DAX shed 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 index declined 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down half a percent. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton shares fell 1.7 percent. The luxury products maker confirmed that it is not considering buying Tiffany & Co. shares on the market. Spirits company Remy Cointreau jumped 8 percent after it predicted a strong recovery in the second half, driven by China and the United States. HSBC Holdings fell about 1 percent while Standard Chartered gained 0.8 percent after they backed China's imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong. Intermediate Capital Group tumbled 3.3 percent. The asset manager reported a rise in net assets, but profit fell 37 percent for the year ended 31 March. Rolls Royce Holding gave up 3.5 percent. The engineering giant, which makes jet engines, said it would slash more than 3,000 jobs in the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic. BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were moving lower as oil prices declined on concerns that major producers will be unable to agree to extend the record level of output cuts that have supported the recent gains. In economic releases, Eurozone retail sales decreased 11.7 percent month-on-month in April, following an 11.1 percent drop in March, Eurostat data showed. Economists had forecast a monthly decrease of 15 percent. The U.K. construction sector downturn eased in May reflecting a gradual reopening of construction sites as lockdown measures introduced to curb the spread of coronavirus, were eased in England, survey data from IHS Markit showed. The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply construction Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 28.9 in May from 8.2 in April. This was the second-lowest score since February 2009. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index for Germany rose to 40.1 in May from 31.9 in April. Output remained deep in contraction territory in May amid reports of restrictions on workplace activity and a slump in new work. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de (Newser) George Floyd was infected by the coronavirus weeks before he died in Minneapolis police custody, according to autopsy results released Wednesday. The full 20-page report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office states that the 46-year-old had previously tested positive for the virus on April 3, NBC News reports. NPR reports that a nasal swab taken after Floyd's death came back positive, and the reports states that result "most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent ... positivity from previous infection." The autopsy said COVID-19 was not a factor in Floyd's death, reports CBS Minnesota. story continues below The autopsy also noted fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cannabinoids in his system when he died, though none contributed to the cause of death, which was given as "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression" (or death due to heart failure). The report also lists blunt-force injuries on the skin of Floyd's head, face, shoulders, hands, and elbows. The medical examiner and doctors who performed a second autopsy at the request of Floyd's family agree that the death was a homicide. (Chauvin and three other now-fired officers are facing criminal charges over the death.) Minnesota Governor Sending National Guard Troops to North Dakota Border Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order to send the states National Guard to the Minnesota-North Dakota border, citing threats of violence in the area. He announced that troops will be sent to Clay County, noting that local law enforcement has become aware of threats that violent activities during demonstrations planned in North Dakota could spill into nearby Minnesota communities. The Minnesota National Guard stands ready to provide protection for all Minnesotans, Walz added in a statement. While Minnesotans turn their attention to rebuilding our communities and reexamining racial inequities in the wake of George Floyds death, our administration is committed to providing protection for our neighborhoods, businesses, and families in order for those meaningful conversations to happen. Walz didnt elaborate on the credible threat in the area, nor did officials in North Dakota. Its not clear if it is in relation to protests and riots sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis. The National Guard general will work with local agencies to provide equipment, personnel, and facilities to respond. Meanwhile, the states emergency operations center was activated and implemented the Minnesota Emergency Operations Plan. The SEOC will support this mission in addition to its current support of security operations in other communities and the States COVID-19 response, according to his statement. Police hold a perimeter at Lafayette Square near the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the killing of George Floyd in Washington, on June 2, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images) The National Guard was already activated to deal with unrest following Floyds death. Some protests at times turned violent, with businesses being looted and buildings being burned down. Many of the protests were largely peaceful, but they were rocked by bouts of violence, including deadly attacks on officers, rampant thefts, and arson in some places. In Minneapolis alone, more than 220 buildings were damaged or burned, with property damage topping $55 million, city officials said. Calmer protests followed a decision by prosecutors to charge three more police officers and file a new, tougher charge against the officer at the center of the case. The most serious new charge Wednesday was an accusation of second-degree murder against former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyds neck. The three other officers at the scene were charged for the first time with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Some states on Wednesday opened worship centres for Christians and Muslims to carry out their religious obligations but under very strict conditions. The decision is in line with the advice by the Federal Government that states should take charge but with full enforcement of the guidelines as released by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 Control. Osun, Kwara, Benue and Kano states gave the nod for churches and mosques to open for worship. Kaduna State said it will release its guidelines by weekend while talks are ongoing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between the Administration and religious leaders. They are expected to be concluded at the weekend. After separate meetings with Christians and Islamic religious leaders in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola listed the conditions which must be met by churches and mosques for worship to take place. OSUN Oyetola said only regular church services of not more than one hour, and maximum of two services would be allowed. For Muslims, Jumat service including khutbah (sermon) and prayers must not exceed 20 minutes. He said vulnerable individuals such as those from age 65 and above and people with underlying ailments like tuberculosis and diabetes are to continue worshipping at homes. He also directed that all worship centres be fumigated to ensure that the environments were free of virus and other infectious diseases. Oyetola said: Worshipers are to keep reasonable space in churches and mosques and no worship centre must be filled to capacity during any service and solat respectively. Attendance at any service or solat must not exceed one-third capacity of the church or mosque. There should be provision of washing facilities or sanitisers for worshipers before entering the churches and mosques. Also, use of face mask is important; sharing of worship devices such as microphones and other musical gadgets should be discouraged. Water and food distribution during service should be discouraged. Worshippers must avoid exchange of banters and social distancing must be strictly observed. Windows in churches and mosques should be opened during worship for ventilation. Signage and notices should be placed at strategic locations to remind worshippers of best hygiene practices to be observed. He mandated churches and mosques to provide thermometers to check temperature of worshippers, adding that whoever is with high temperature should not be allowed into the worship centres. The governor added that vigils and children activities remained suspended; adding that worship centres with support of security operatives should set up taskforce to enforce compliance with the measures. BENUE Benue State Govenror Samuel Ortom said: The churches and mosques are to hold standard services to accommodate fewer people. Social distancing must be observed in all religious gatherings. Wearing of face masks is mandatory for all. There must be water and soap for washing of hands. Also, alcohol-based hand sanitisers must be kept for use by the people. We are going to monitor what is happening in churches and mosques, he said. He said markets could open, but with strict observance of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocol. Here too, we will monitor as well to ensure compliance. Burials and other ceremonies should not have more than 30 persons at a time. Interstate border travels still remain closed except for transportation of essential services. KWARA The Kwara State Government said worship centres may reopen on Friday on the condition that they satisfy the criteria already agreed. The government, however, warned that the reopening does not mean that the state has flattened the curve of transmission of COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi, speaking after meeting religious leaders, said: Worship centres shall be organised in such a way that one attendant is at least one metre away from the next. Each worship centre shall make provisions for hand washing or hand sanitisers, and infrared thermometer Wearing of face masks shall be mandatory for all worshippers There shall be no hand shaking or hugging among worshippers Children remain restricted from worship centres. People above 65 or persons with underlying health conditions are urged to stay away from worship centres Muslims should perform ablution from their houses. Ablution spots are not allowed for now to avoid the spread of the virus. Muslim women are to stay away from mosques, as suggested by the leadership of the Muslim community in the state; each worship centre is to dedicate a few minutes before service or prayers to educate attendants about COVID-19 and its dangers; adequate ventilation is to be ensured at each worship centre Governments officials shall conduct random visits to worship centres to take samples and do temperature checks Government shall hold affected religious leaders responsible for non-compliance with all COVID-19-related safety measures in their worship centres. This is as agreed by the religious umbrella bodies. Government demands full compliance with all protocols as failure to do so is a huge drain on public resources. The leadership of religious communities agreed that any worship centre that violates these provisions would be shut down and its leadership strictly held accountable. KANO The Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, said in a statement that after due consultations, markets, places of worship and movement of persons are now allowed on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6:00am to 6:00pm. He said it is necessary for such places to ensure compliance with safety rules, including mandatory use of face masks; provision of hand washing facilities/sanitisers; and extensive temperature checks. The commissioner pointed out that while these restrictions have been lifted, interstate movements, except for goods, agricultural produce and essential services, is still in force. He said as schools will remain closed, students should avail themselves the opportunity of radio and televised lessons sponsored by the state government. The immediate-past chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kano branch, Bishop Ransom Bello, said: The setting of the congregation complies with physical distancing. Worshippers are wearing their face masks. Out there, we have water, soap and sanitizers for all worshippers and visitors. We are complying with all these protocols because I personally believe that prevention is better than cure. I agree that Fridays and Sundays should be free for muslims and christians to worship their God. What we need to do as a people is to help ourselves. Government has been doing a lot. We need to strictly comply with the COVID-19 protocols for our good health and that of the members of our families. Here in the church, we teach the congregation, we preach to the congregation, we appeal and advise the congregation to comply with the COVID-19 protocols. KADUNA However, Kaduna State Government said it was still working with the stakeholders to finalise guidelines and protocols to be adopted ahead of reopening, after two and half months of lockdown. The government said a final document containing the detailed guidlines will be out latest by the weekend. But, source said, schools, worship places and social gatherings may still remain under lock and key. Special Adviser to Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Media and Communication Muyiwa Adekeye said the government had opened discussion with stakeholders to get their input to the draft guidelines. He said: Discussion is going on, we are sharing our views and we are listening to people who practice things, because they have the capacity to come up with more cost-effective guidelines. So, we are expecting that, by the end of the week, the guidelines will be ready. Part of the draft document reads: Ensure adequate attention to the most vulnerable population, especially senior citizens above the age of 50 from the costs of community transmission especially those with underlying health risks. Protect the health and safety of our frontline health workers by supplying adequate PPE, medical equipment, incentives and limit risks of infection from active cases. Mobilise the public to mass produce and face masks whenever going out. Identify potential hotspots, especially communities bordering neighboring states and ensure that such areas remain under restrictions of movement to and from. According to the document: Schools are not permitted to reopen due to collateral risk of parents, teachers and caregivers. They should continue to explore virtual learning platforms and TV, radio and Online platforms. Religious gatherings remain prohibited. All services in the hospitality sector are prohibited. These include hotels, social gatherings like wedding ceremonies, concerts etc are prohibited. The reopening of mall is prohibited for other segments. Except ICT/electronic shops/stalls at the mall. Those shops/stalls can open on Wednesdays only. It was nearly 20 years ago that my first piece was published here on NRO. I described my experiences as an undercover cop circulating among the protesters at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, held that summer at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Eager to prevent the type of bedlam seen in Seattle the previous year, when swarms of protesters extended themselves to disrupt the World Trade Organization conference, the Los Angeles Police Department and other local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies prepared and trained in the months leading up to the DNCs opening. The result was a success, with levels of violence and property damage a small fraction of those seen in Seattle. (Part I of my first piece on NRO is here; Part II, here.) Alas, memories fade and hard-earned lessons are sooner or later forgotten. So, when the protests engendered by the death of George Floyd reached Los Angeles, the city was unprepared to follow the practices that had worked so well 20 years ago. Granted, in 2000 we were faced with a scheduled event and had months to train and stockpile the needed equipment, while the current protests arose unexpectedly. Still, events of the past several years have taught us (or should have) that proven strategies and tactics need to be rehearsed and refreshed at regular intervals so they can be implemented when circumstances demand. I have retired from the LAPD and am now working for a smaller police agency in the greater Los Angeles area. I was among those in my current agency who responded last weekend when the LAPD, overwhelmed by the size and geographic spread of the protests, made a request for mutual aid. What I saw, and what was reported to me by former colleagues still with the LAPD, was discouraging, but it confirmed the decision I made several years ago to leave the city where I was born and had lived most of my life. As it did throughout my LAPD career, the departments current command staff consists largely of people who have spent minimal time in patrol or other assignments that might have exposed them to actual crime and its consequences. The preferred path to promotion in the department runs through internal affairs and other administrative posts. There are exceptions, but in insufficient numbers to make a difference when large disturbances break out at opposite ends of the city, as they have in recent days. The current staff roster includes a number of men and women I knew before I retired, some of whom have now risen to positions two, three, or even more ranks beyond what their talents would have carried them to in a genuine meritocracy. This resulted in chaos as police captains, commanders, and deputy chiefs made decisions and issued directions for which their own training and experience had not prepared them. Story continues During my time with the LAPD, efforts were often made to prevent such people from being in charge during crucial incidents. They were relegated to positions from which they could cause little harm or compound confusion. This was not done last weekend, and the LAPDs performance suffered for it. For example, on Saturday afternoon and evening, as officers struggled to contain looting in the Fairfax district, I monitored radio traffic from the scene in which an officer in a circling helicopter asked for more personnel to supplement the cops on skirmish lines and those chasing looters. No more officers were available, he was told. At that very moment, about 200 officers were waiting for instructions in a staging area miles away. They remained in that staging area for four hours before being dispatched to the trouble zone, by which time the looting had all but ended. But it hadnt ended completely, and I spoke to officers who had the maddening experience of waiting for orders at a command post while watching live news programs on their cell phones. A television-news helicopter was filming looters as they ransacked a computer store about a mile away, and the officers, who were among at least 200 at the command post at the time, could look up in the sky and see the helicopter hovering over the scene as it broadcast the images. The spectacle continued for 45 minutes as carload after carload of looters arrived and carried off computers and other merchandise, presumably until there was nothing left to steal. I dont know why anybody in the C.P. wasnt watching the same thing I was, one of them told me. My partner and I could have walked there and handled it ourselves, but they didnt send us. They didnt send anybody. Perhaps some of those in charge were so preoccupied with demonstrating their solidarity with protesters that they simply forgot to do their jobs. Last weekend we were treated to scenes like this one, in which LAPD commander Cory Palka spoke to a group of protesters and promised to take a knee with them if they committed to remaining peaceful. It was a made-for-Twitter moment, and it surely endeared Palka to the group he was addressing, but the gesture was a pointless one, as the group consisted largely of aging hippies and young hipsters, some with young children in tow. An honest assessment of his audience should have told Palka that, even without the pandering showmanship, none of them would have been among the window-smashers and looters who did indeed rampage through the area later that night. It wasnt all bad. Television cameras captured some great arrests, including this one, in which some fleet-footed cops from the LAPDs Southeast Division chased down a looter in Hollywood, and this one, in which two officers from West L.A. Division did the same to a looter in Santa Monica. The second clip is all the more interesting for the candor displayed by the collared crook, who told a reporter he wasnt really concerned with the protests but was just trying to get some money. My impression of things last weekend is that the man represented the great majority of the looters. Turning now to the event that sparked the troubles, the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police. I have spoken to many of my current and former colleagues about it, and among them there is universal condemnation of what was shown in the Facebook video that captured Floyds last breaths. Floyds protestations and those of the onlookers must have been disturbing to hear as they occurred, but with the knowledge of what followed they are deeply haunting. Much of my opinion writing over these last 20 years has been in defense of police officers whose actions have been misunderstood by the public, often after being willfully distorted in the media. Such was the case in 2014 when Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Multiple investigations, including one by Eric Holders Justice Department, concluded that Brown had attacked the officer, who therefore acted lawfully when he fired in self-defense. Despite this, the myth that Brown had his hands up when he was shot was widely embraced after it was repeated endlessly in the media and, sadly, by elected officials at all levels of government. In the aftermath of the George Floyd incident, I have often heard uninformed or purposefully deceitful talking heads invoke Brown as another innocent victim of police violence. I acknowledge my bias in favor of police officers, but in writing about these controversial incidents I do my best to offer a fair analysis from a street cops perspective. I do not reflexively defend police officers and have on occasion endorsed criminal charges when I believed they were warranted. Four years ago, I criticized (now former) police officer Michael Slager for shooting and killing Walter Scott after a traffic stop in North Charleston, S.C., though I questioned whether he was truly as depraved as he had been portrayed in the press. (Slager is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.) And in 2017, when Minneapolis police officer Mohammed Noor shot and killed Justine Damon, who had called the police to report a possible assault near her home, I wrote, Noor is headed to prison, and deserves it. Noor was convicted by a jury of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He is now serving a twelve-year sentence in prison. Derek Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis P.D. the day after Floyds death, faced the same charges, though as I write this comes the news that Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison has, as expected, amended the complaint to charge him with second-degree murder. The other three involved officers, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, all of whom have also been fired, will be charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin. The video of course is damning. There lies Floyd prone on the ground, saying he cant breathe while bystanders shout, Youre killing him. Through it all an oddly expressionless Chauvin keeps his left knee firmly on Floyds neck. And Floyd did indeed die, as the world would soon learn, so it seemed criminal charges would be forthcoming after the thorough investigation this or any killing deserves. No such investigation had come close to completion, and yet Chauvin was arrested and charged within days, an obvious but futile attempt to appease those calling for his head on a spike. They hoped to avoid a riot, but its riots they got, and then some. Now a narrative has been erected and universally adopted, one that brands Chauvin as a racist murderer and George Floyd as a martyr to the never-ending quest for social justice. And who would dare question this narrative, with the video of Floyds death as unambiguous as it is? But there are reasons to question it, and an honest search for truth demands that it be questioned. On May 28, three days after Floyds death, there emerged the first hint that the narrative may have been too hastily constructed and that its foundation was less than solid. The Hennepin County medical examiner issued a press release citing preliminary results from George Floyds autopsy. The cause and manner of death, it read, is currently pending further testing and investigation. This should have given a dispassionate observer pause. Surely, one might have assumed, an autopsy would have revealed evidence of the injuries Floyd had suffered and that no further testing and investigation should be required. This first bit of equivocation from the medical examiner went all but unnoticed in the media as the protests and rioting in Minneapolis grew larger and spread across the country. Later came another press release, this one containing more but far from complete details on why Floyd died. The cause of death was listed as cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. It went on to list other significant conditions: Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use. In other words, George Floyd fit the description of what is known in the law as an eggshell victim. The doctrine of the eggshell victim holds that a defendant is fully liable for injuries he inflicts on a plaintiff even if the plaintiff had a preexisting condition that made him more susceptible to being injured. But for this doctrine to apply, it must be shown that the defendant was acting unlawfully when he caused the injury. This is where things get murky and begin to escape the confines of the narrative. There can be little argument that Floyd had been lawfully detained and arrested before he died. Police had been called after he was alleged to have paid for cigarettes with a counterfeit bill, a minor crime that nonetheless warranted his arrest. And security video from local businesses suggest he resisted being placed in a police car after being handcuffed. The New York Times and the Washington Post have each assembled a video timeline of the events, but both leave open the question of how Floyd went from standing on the police cars left side one minute to lying face down on its right side the next. In the New York Times video, the narrator laments this gap in the public record. The widely circulated arrest videos dont paint the entire picture of what happened to George Floyd, she says. Additional video and audio from the body cameras of the key officers would reveal more about why the struggle began and how it escalated. Given the haste with which Chauvin was charged and the overwhelming media interest in the case, it is curious that the body-camera footage has not been released. Could it be that it has been withheld because it does not bolster the case against the defendants? Police officers are authorized to use force to effect an arrest, overcome resistance, and prevent escape, and if Floyd acted as described in the criminal complaint in which Chauvin was originally charged, the officers were justified in using force against him at least up to a point. In the complaint, the authors of which have seen the body-camera footage, the prosecuting attorney concedes that Floyd resisted being placed in the police car. The officers made several attempts to get Mr. Floyd in the backseat of [the police car] from the drivers side, it reads. Mr. Floyd did not voluntarily get in the car and struggled with the officers by intentionally falling down, saying he was not going in the car, and refusing to stand still. Mr. Floyd is over six feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds. The same document tells us that Floyd, even as he was still standing and resisting efforts to put him in the police car, was repeatedly saying he could not breathe despite clear evidence that he could. Police officers, but few others, know that I cant breathe is the universal complaint of the resisting arrestee. Police officers also know, as most others do not, that handcuffed suspects can fight and escape, especially when officers are confronted by hostile onlookers. (See, for example, this video taken last year in Chicago.) Defense attorneys will argue, not without evidence, that Floyd died not because of the application of unlawful force, but rather that it was his own resistance to lawful force, exacerbated by his documented medical conditions and drug use, that triggered a fatal heart attack. Fentanyl and methamphetamines can and often do bring about fatal arrhythmias even absent the type of exertions attributed to Floyd in the complaint. Yes, there came a point when Floyd ceased to struggle and should have been brought to a seated position. Was it this failure to follow what has for decades been standard police procedure that caused Floyds death, or did his struggling stop only when the fatal heart attack occurred? These are questions medical experts on both sides will testify about at trial, but for convictions the prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin was the proximate cause of Floyds death and that the others assisted him in the act. In all my years as a police officer I have never seen the seeds of reasonable doubt planted in the very pages of a criminal complaint as they have been here. As I wrote of Michael Slager four years ago, it is not a question of whether Chauvin and the others were right or wrong, but rather of how wrong they were. Murder is a serious charge that requires serious evidence. As things now stand, I dont think the prosecutors have it. More from National Review [June 04, 2020] PagerDuty Announces First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Results PagerDuty, Inc. (NYSE:PD), a global leader in digital operations management, today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 ended April 30, 2020. "PagerDuty is pleased to report a strong start to the fiscal year, with a 33% year-on-year revenue increase to $49.8 million for the quarter, demonstrating the continued trust our customers place in the PagerDuty platform. We believe that PagerDuty is uniquely positioned to be a trusted partner in this environment. Our cloud-native platform is designed to enable proactive response capabilities to prevent outages, and gain predictive insights so our customers can automate repetitive work and improve collaboration across virtual teams," said Jennifer Tejada, CEO at PagerDuty. First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Financial Highlights Revenue: Total revenue was $49.8 million, up 33% year-over-year. Total revenue was $49.8 million, up 33% year-over-year. Gross Margin: GAAP gross margin was 86.0%. Non-GAAP gross margin was 86.7% compared to non-GAAP gross margin of 85.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. GAAP gross margin was 86.0%. Non-GAAP gross margin was 86.7% compared to non-GAAP gross margin of 85.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Operating Loss: GAAP operating loss was $12.6 million, or GAAP operating margin of negative 25.3%, compared to a $12.7 million GAAP loss, or GAAP operating margin of negative 34.1%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP operating loss was $4.3 million, or non-GAAP operating margin of negative 8.6%, compared to a $7.9 million non-GAAP loss, or non-GAAP operating margin of negative 21.2%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. GAAP operating loss was $12.6 million, or GAAP operating margin of negative 25.3%, compared to a $12.7 million GAAP loss, or GAAP operating margin of negative 34.1%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP operating loss was $4.3 million, or non-GAAP operating margin of negative 8.6%, compared to a $7.9 million non-GAAP loss, or non-GAAP operating margin of negative 21.2%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Net Loss: GAAP net loss was $11.5 million, compared to $12.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. GAAP net loss per share was $0.15, compared to $0.37 in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP net loss was $3.2 million, compared to $7.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.04, compared to $0.22 in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. GAAP net loss was $11.5 million, compared to $12.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. GAAP net loss per share was $0.15, compared to $0.37 in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP net loss was $3.2 million, compared to $7.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.04, compared to $0.22 in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Cash Flow: Net cash used in operations was $0.2 million, or 0.4% of revenue, compared to net cash used in operations of $7.6 million, or 20.3% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Free cash flow was negative $2.9 million, or 5.8% of revenue, compared to negative $8.8 million, or 23.5% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Net cash used in operations was $0.2 million, or 0.4% of revenue, compared to net cash used in operations of $7.6 million, or 20.3% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Free cash flow was negative $2.9 million, or 5.8% of revenue, compared to negative $8.8 million, or 23.5% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Current Investments were $350.8 million as of April 30, 2020. The section titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below contains a description of the non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations between historical GAAP and non-GAAP information. Recent Highlights Leadership team bolstered: We recently hired Manjula Talreja as our Chief Customer Officer. We also added several new go to market leaders. We recently hired Manjula Talreja as our Chief Customer Officer. We also added several new go to market leaders. Customer Growth: PagerDuty had 13,060 customers as of April 30, 2020. New and expansion customers include LabCorp, Toyota Motor North America, NBCUniversal, SlingTV, Nextdoor Inc., Nvidia, CHANEL, Domino's Pizza, PGA Tour, Crocs, TD Bank and Sephora. PagerDuty had 13,060 customers as of April 30, 2020. New and expansion customers include LabCorp, Toyota Motor North America, NBCUniversal, SlingTV, Nextdoor Inc., Nvidia, CHANEL, Domino's Pizza, PGA Tour, Crocs, TD Bank and Sephora. Product Innovation: We recently announced new automation and intelligence capabilities in Dynamic Service Directory, Business Response and Intelligent Triage solutions, to help teams reduce manual work, prevent outages and improve remote collaboration. These advances in our platform are designed to equip teams with proactive response capabilities to prevent outages, and gain predictive insights so they can automate repetitive work and improve collaboration across virtual teams. The general release of Intelligent Triage, now available on mobile, advances PagerDuty's AIOps solution, Event Intelligence, by providing new automation and intelligence to eliminate repetitive manual tasks. Service Directory gives developer teams access to a central knowledge base that's always up-to-date, and clearly shows owners and experts for each service and their associated run books. Our Business Response capability, now has a new mobile status dashboard. This functionality allows remote teams to collaborate effectively when incidents arise. We recently announced new automation and intelligence capabilities in Dynamic Service Directory, Business Response and Intelligent Triage solutions, to help teams reduce manual work, prevent outages and improve remote collaboration. These advances in our platform are designed to equip teams with proactive response capabilities to prevent outages, and gain predictive insights so they can automate repetitive work and improve collaboration across virtual teams. The general release of Intelligent Triage, now available on mobile, advances PagerDuty's AIOps solution, Event Intelligence, by providing new automation and intelligence to eliminate repetitive manual tasks. Service Directory gives developer teams access to a central knowledge base that's always up-to-date, and clearly shows owners and experts for each service and their associated run books. Our Business Response capability, now has a new mobile status dashboard. This functionality allows remote teams to collaborate effectively when incidents arise. Platform Expansion: PagerDuty customers can now use the Microsoft Teams integration to drive real-time operations across their organization. PagerDuty's integration allows users to not only view critical incident details from within the Microsoft Teams interface, but also perform key incident actions. This integration also allows users to work from where they are, eliminating the need for responders to switch to another platform in order to communicate with their team while resolving an incident. We also recently launched integrations with three automation tools -- Pliant.io, Rundeck, and Ayehu -- strengthening our position at the center of the digital ecosystem. The new integrations, built for PagerDuty by Pliant.io, Rundeck, and Ayehu, join our successful AWS Eventbridge integration, to allow our customers to use their preferred tool when automating incident response work and to give us the most complete offer for automating incident resolution. Financial Outlook For the second quarter of fiscal 2021, PagerDuty currently expects: Total revenue of $50.0 million - $51.0 million, representing a growth rate of 24% - 26% year-over-year Non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.07 - $0.06 assuming approximately 79 million shares For the full fiscal year 2021, PagerDuty currently expects: Total revenue of $204.0 million - $213.0 million, representing a growth rate of 23% - 28% year-over-year Non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.30 - $0.25 assuming approximately 79 million shares These statements are forward-looking and actual results may differ materially. Please refer to the Forward-Looking statements section below for information on the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. PagerDuty has not reconciled its expectations as to non-GAAP net loss per share to GAAP net loss per share because certain items are out of its control or cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, a reconciliation for forward-looking non-GAAP net loss per share is not available without unreasonable effort. Conference Call Information: PagerDuty will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on June 4, 2020. This news release with the financial results will be accessible from PagerDuty's website at investor.pagerduty.com prior to the conference call. Interested parties can access the call by dialing (833) 502-0481 or (778) 560-2551 for callers outside North America, and using the conference ID 2488773. A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible from the PagerDuty investor relations website at investor.pagerduty.com. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through June 18, 2020 and may be accessed by dialing (800) 585-8367 or (416) 621-4642 for callers outside North America, and using the conference ID: 7195588. Supplemental Financial and Other Information: Supplemental financial and other information can be accessed through PagerDuty's investor relations website at investor.pagerduty.com. PagerDuty uses the investor relations section on its website as the means of complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, we recommend that investors should monitor PagerDuty's investor relations website in addition to following PagerDuty's press releases, SEC filings, social media, including PagerDuty's Twitter account (twitter.com/pagerduty), the Twitter account @jenntejada and Facebook page (facebook.com/pagerduty), and public conference calls and webcasts. Non-GAAP Financial Measures: This press release and the accompanying tables contain the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, and free cash flow. PagerDuty believes that non-GAAP financial measures, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance and can assist in comparisons with other companies, some of which use similar non-GAAP financial measures to supplement their GAAP results. The non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in PagerDuty's financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgment by PagerDuty's management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation is provided below for each historical non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure presented in accordance with GAAP. PagerDuty defines non-GAAP operating loss as GAAP loss from operations excluding stock-based compensation expense and non-cash charitable contribution expense. PagerDuty defines non-GAAP net loss (which is used in calculating non-GAAP net loss per share) as GAAP net loss excluding stock-based compensation expense and non-cash charitable contribution expense. There are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-GAAP measures as compared to GAAP operating loss and net loss, including that the non-GAAP measures exclude stock-based compensation expense, which has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense in PagerDuty's business and an important part of its compensation strategy. PagerDuty defines free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less cash used for purchases of property and equipment and capitalized internal-use software. In addition to the reasons stated above, PagerDuty believes that free cash flow is useful to investors as a liquidity measure because it measures PagerDuty's ability to generate or use cash in excess of its capital investments in property and equipment to enhance the strength of its balance sheet and further invest in its business and potential strategic initiatives. PagerDuty uses free cash flow in conjunction with traditional GAAP measures as part of its overall assessment of its liquidity, including the preparation of PagerDuty's annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of its business strategies, and to assess its liquidity. There are a number of limitations related to the use of free cash flow as compared to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, including that free cash flow includes capital expenditures, the benefits of which are realized in periods subsequent to those when expenditures are made. PagerDuty encourages investors to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, which it includes in press releases announcing quarterly financial results, including this press release, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate PagerDuty's business. Please see the reconciliation tables at the end of this release for the reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP results. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our future financial performance and outlook and market positioning. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "should," "believe," "hope," "target," "project," "goals," "estimate," "potential," "predict," "may," "will," "might," "could," "intend," "shall" and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 19, 2020. Additional information will be made available in our quarterly report on form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2020 and other filings and reports that we may file from time to time with the SEC. In particular, the following risks and uncertainties, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: the effect of uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. and global markets, our business, operations, revenue results, cash flow, operating expenses, demand for our solutions, sales cycles, customer retention and our customers' businesses; our ability to achieve and maintain future profitability; our ability to attract new customers and retain and sell additional functionality and services to our existing customers; our ability to sustain and manage our growth; our dependence on revenue from a single product; our ability to compete effectively in an increasingly competitive market; and general market, political, economic, and business conditions. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. We undertake no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. About PagerDuty PagerDuty, Inc. (NYSE:PD) is a leader in digital operations management. In an always-on world, organizations of all sizes trust PagerDuty to help them deliver a perfect digital experience to their customers, every time. Teams use PagerDuty to identify issues and opportunities in real time and bring together the right people to fix problems faster and prevent them in the future. Notable customers including GE, Vodafone, Box, and American Eagle Outfitters. To learn more and try PagerDuty for free, visit www.pagerduty.com. Follow our blog and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. PagerDuty, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (in thousands, except per share data) (unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 2019 Revenue $ 49,786 $ 37,314 Cost of revenue(1) 6,963 5,486 Gross profit 42,823 31,828 Operating expenses: Research and development(1) 15,014 10,906 Sales and marketing(1) 26,736 21,167 General and administrative(1) 13,673 12,484 Total operating expenses 55,423 44,557 Loss from operations (12,600 ) (12,729 ) Interest income 1,353 889 Other income, net 19 21 Loss before provision for income taxes (11,228 ) (11,819 ) Provision for income taxes (231 ) (245 ) Net loss $ (11,459 ) $ (12,064 ) Other comprehensive income Unrealized gain on investments 642 - Total comprehensive loss $ (10,817 ) $ (12,064 ) Net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (0.15 ) $ (0.37 ) Weighted-average shares used in calculating net loss per share, basic and diluted 77,770 32,510 (1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows (in thousands, unaudited): Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 2019 Cost of revenue $ 344 $ 143 Research and development 2,183 860 Sales and marketing 2,285 1,464 General and administrative 3,496 2,345 Total $ 8,308 $ 4,812 PagerDuty, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands) (unaudited) As of April 30, 2020 As of January 31, 2020 (unaudited) Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 139,455 $ 124,024 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,490 and $810 as of April 30, 2020 and January 31, 2020, respectively 36,527 37,128 Investments 211,352 227,375 Deferred contract costs, current 9,769 9,301 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 10,209 7,163 Total current assets 407,312 404,991 Property and equipment, net 13,211 12,369 Deferred contract costs, non-current 16,335 16,387 Lease right-of-use assets 28,000 - Other assets 1,461 1,651 Total assets $ 466,319 $ 435,398 Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 4,625 $ 6,434 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 6,374 7,197 Accrued compensation 14,911 13,911 Deferred revenue, current 91,648 87,490 Lease liabilities, current 4,633 - Total current liabilities 122,191 115,032 Deferred revenue, non-current 4,798 5,079 Lease liabilities, non-current 30,260 - Other liabilities 1,527 7,349 Total liabilities 158,776 127,460 Stockholders' equity: Common stock - - Additional paid-in-capital 497,430 487,008 Accumulated other comprehensive income 779 137 Accumulated deficit (190,666 ) (179,207 ) Total stockholders' equity 307,543 307,938 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 466,319 $ 435,398 PagerDuty, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (in thousands) (unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 2019 Cash flows from operating activities Net loss $ (11,459 ) $ (12,064 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 1,023 470 Amortization of deferred contract costs 2,440 1,608 Stock-based compensation 8,308 4,812 Non-cash lease expense 1,089 - Other 743 281 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (8 ) 1,588 Deferred contract costs (2,856 ) (2,782 ) Prepaid expenses and other assets (2,919 ) (1,635 ) Accounts payable (1,049 ) (1,094 ) Accrued expenses and other liabilities 619 124 Accrued compensation 1,000 (1,315 ) Deferred revenue 3,877 2,441 Lease liabilities (993 ) - Net cash used in operating activities (185 ) (7,566 ) Cash flows from investing activities Purchases of property and equipment (2,713 ) (1,190 ) Proceeds from maturities of held-to-maturity of investments 15,000 - Purchases of available-for-sale investments (32,130 ) - Proceeds from maturities of available-for-sale investments 30,565 - Proceeds from sales of available-for-sale investments 3,096 - Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 13,818 (1,190 ) Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriters' discounts and commissions - 220,086 Payments of costs related to initial public offering - (3,923 ) Proceeds from repayment of promissory note - 515 Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options 1,844 2,240 Employee payroll taxes paid related to net share settlement of restricted stock units (46 ) - Net cash provided by financing activities 1,798 218,918 Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash 15,431 210,162 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period 124,024 130,323 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period $ 139,455 $ 340,485 PagerDuty, Inc. Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Data (in thousands, except percentages and per share data) (unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 GAAP Stock-based Compensation Non-GAAP Cost of revenue $ 6,963 $ (344 ) $ 6,619 Gross profit 42,823 344 43,167 Gross margin 86.0 % 0.7 % 86.7 % Operating expenses: Research and development 15,014 (2,183 ) 12,831 Sales and marketing 26,736 (2,285 ) 24,451 General and administrative 13,673 (3,496 ) 10,177 Operating loss (12,600 ) 8,308 (4,292 ) Operating margin (25.3 )% 16.7 % (8.6 )% Net loss $ (11,459 ) $ 8,308 $ (3,151 ) Net loss per share $ (0.15 ) $ (0.04 ) Three Months Ended April 30, 2019 GAAP Stock-based Compensation Non-GAAP Cost of revenue $ 5,486 $ (143 ) $ 5,343 Gross profit 31,828 143 31,971 Gross margin 85.3 % 0.4 % 85.7 % Operating expenses: Research and development 10,906 (860 ) 10,046 Sales and marketing 21,167 (1,464 ) 19,703 General and administrative 12,484 (2,345 ) 10,139 Operating loss (12,729 ) 4,812 (7,917 ) Operating margin (34.1 )% 12.9 % (21.2 )% Net loss $ (12,064 ) $ 4,812 $ (7,252 ) Net loss per share $ (0.37 ) $ (0.22 ) PagerDuty, Inc. Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (in thousands, except percentages and per share data) (unaudited) Free Cash Flow Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 2019 Net cash used in operating activities $ (185 ) $ (7,566 ) Less: Purchases of property and equipment (2,713 ) (1,190 ) Free cash flow $ (2,898 ) $ (8,756 ) Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ 13,818 $ (1,190 ) Net cash provided by financing activities $ 1,798 $ 218,918 Free cash flow margin (5.8 )% (23.5 )% View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005722/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] DuPont Forest admission fees back on the table Admission fees at DuPont State Forest are back on the table in the North Carolina Legislature, in the form of a study to create a plan for "a sustainable revenue stream" for the popular recreation site. State Rep. Chuck McGrady disclosed the proposed study in his latest newsletter. He and state Sen. Chuck Edwards have been working on the entry fee idea for the past several years, only to have the proposal shot down by opposition from Transylvania County officials and trail users. A bill sponsored by McGrady and Edwards "directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs to study DuPont State Recreational Forests operating model and create a plan to ensure a sustainable revenue stream for the forest," McGrady said. The study is designed to recommend a financial model based on practices in North Carolina or other states, draft an entry fee schedule that favors North Carolina citizens and requires out-of-state visitors to pay more, recommend legislation to ensure that the admission fee revenue is used only for the forests capital, maintenance and operational needs and recommend a list of capital projects or operational changes needed to improve safety concerning roadside parking. The bill requires the Agriculture Department to report its findings and recommendations to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources and the Legislature's Fiscal Research Division by next. Feb. 1. State Department Denies Prisoner Swap As Released Iranian Returns Home Radio Farda June 03, 2020 The U.S. State Department says the release of an Iranian scientist who was deported from the United States on Tuesday is not part of a prisoner swap. Sirous Asgari who was acquitted of stealing scientific secrets in the United States was still in detention as the U.S. said it wants to deport him. Photos published by Sharif University of Technology where Mr. Asgari was a professor show him with his family and colleagues from the university at what appears to be the state lounge of Imam Khomeini Airport. No officials appear to have been present. Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Tuesday in an Instagram post said Mr. Asgari was en route to Iran but did not disclose from where in the U.S. he was returning or where he was heading. The United States and Iran have both refuted that Asgari's release was part of a deal to bring American prisoner Michael White home. White is serving a 10-year sentence in Mashhad for "publishing a private photo". He was released from prison due to the fear of catching coronavirus and is currently staying at the Swiss embassy in Tehran. The Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday denied that the release of Iranian national Sirous Asgari was part of a prisoner swap deal. "The United States has tried to deport Sirous Asgari since December 2019, but the Iranian government repeatedly has held up the process," Morgan Ortagus told the National Interest on Tuesday. "As the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed today, Mr. Asgari is not and has never been a participant in any prisoner swap with Iran," she said. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi on Tuesday also denied a prisoner swap was taking place with the United States where Mr Asgari was held for three years in detention on charges of trying to circumvent U.S. sanctions of which he was acquitted. However, he remained in custody for an expired visa. In a tweet on Tuesday Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cucinelli said Asgari and White had never been related. "We have been trying to deport Asgari since last year, being stalled every step of the way by the Iranian government". "We wish Iran was so enthusiastic to get its illegal nationals back as they would have us all believe, and suggested that Iran take the other 10 currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody with removal orders. "If Zarif wasn't blowing smoke, they would've already made arrangements for these other 10. But instead, they stall," he charged. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/state-department -denies-prisoner-swap-as-released -iranian-returns-home/30650177.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 This morning, Secretary of Defense Mike Esper expressed his opposition to deploying active-duty troops to respond to protests around the country. He also ordered 200 active-duty soldiers from the 82nd Airbornes immediate response force to leave Washington, D.C. and return to their home base. However, Esper later reversed this decision after a meeting at the White House. Esper argued that the option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire situations. He did not provide criteria for determining whether these conditions are satisfied, but did say we are not in one of those situations right now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act, Esper added. In my view, use of active-duty troops is warranted when (1) a city is suffering from riots and (2) the existing police force plus whatever other forces state and local officials are willing/able to deploy are inadequate to stop the rioting. If the second of these conditions is satisfied, then, by definition, the U.S. military becomes the last resort. If the first condition is satisfied, the situation is sufficiently urgent and dire. What is the president supposed to do? Wait until a city is ablaze or scores of innocent people are being killed? I believe the two conditions set forth above are satisfied in cities like Washington, D.C. and New York. In D.C. over the weekend, the police force was heavily deployed to protect the White House. This left rioters free to roam nearby neighborhoods, setting fires and looting. Similarly, in New York, the police force was unable to keep up with rioters. On television, I saw virtually no police presence on Madison Avenue in midtown, among other areas where rioters ran rampant. Was anyone killed in D.C. or New York during the riots? Not that I know of. But the damage to property has been immense. Many lives will be ruined as a consequence. Moreover, death and serious injury have resulted from riots in other cities the past few days. As I said, we cant know in advance whether lives will be lost in riots. Therefore, I agree with Sen. Tom Cotton, who argues in the New York Times for send[ing] in the troops. Says Cotton: The[] rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further. One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do whats necessary to uphold the rule of law. In such cases, the president has the authority to send in troops under the Insurrection Act: This venerable law, nearly as old as our republic itself, doesnt amount to martial law or the end of democracy, as some excitable critics, ignorant of both the law and our history, have comically suggested. In fact, the federal government has a constitutional duty to the states to protect each of them from domestic violence. Throughout our history, presidents have exercised this authority on dozens of occasions to protect law-abiding citizens from disorder. Nor does it violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which constrains the militarys role in law enforcement but expressly excepts statutes such as the Insurrection Act. As examples of this use of presidential authority, Cotton cites President Eisenhowers use of troops in Arkansas when schools were integrated in the 1950s. In addition, and more closely analogous, he points to President Bush (41) deploying the Armys Seventh Infantry and 1,500 Marines to protect Los Angeles during race riots in 1992. Grant Starrett, writing in the Wall Street Journal, provides additional cases. He notes, for example, that President Cleveland sent federal forces to Chicago to enforce an injunction against the labor leader and socialist politician Eugene Debs during a nationwide railroad strike. The Supreme Court upheld the action, stating if the emergency arises, the army of the nation, and all its militia, are at the service of the nation to compel obedience to its laws. Starrett reminds us that the Constitution was adopted in part to ensure that the federal government was capable of combating the challenges posed by mobs, e.g., during Shayss Rebellion in 1786: Ensuring domestic tranquility was so important to the Framers that they included it in the preamble to the Constitutionahead of the common defense, the general welfare and the blessings of liberty. Accordingly, although states can and should experiment with different policies that reflect the wishes of their residents. . .if violent disorder arises, the president must intervene to uphold the law and protect the republic, where states and localities arent up to the task. UPDATE: Some at the New York Times are calling for Sen. Cottons article in favor of sending in troops to be taken down. One moron claims that running Cottons piece puts black NY Times staff in danger. Not if they dont engage in looting, arson, shooting, or beatings. Grant Addison tweets: Weather Alert ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST THIS MORNING... * WHAT...Very cold wind chills. Wind chills as low as 25 below zero. * WHERE...Portions of central, northeast, northwest and southern Vermont and northern New York. * WHEN...Until 10 AM EST this morning. * IMPACTS...The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Temperatures currently range from 5 to 25 below across the region. Light winds coupled with these cold temperatures will produce dangerously cold wind chills through 10 AM. Winds will continue to weaken through this morning with calm winds expected this afternoon. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves. && It is not clear how fully Trump grasps the depths of his political peril; when he was asked Wednesday about trailing Biden in the polls, he replied, I have other polls where Im winning, although he did not cite one. At times, his allies have taken unusual steps to try to calm his frustration, including commissioning and then leaking a poll last month that suggested that Trump had gained ground rapidly on Biden, people familiar with the efforts said, even as other Republican and nonpartisan polling showed the presidents numbers stagnant. Air Force update for COVID-19 By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs / Published June 03, 2020 WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- In an effort to minimize the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 and to prioritize the health and safety of Department of the Air Force personnel, the following modifications have been made: June 3, 2020 NOTE: Starting June 1, we will only send out this update on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday California National Guard service members previously conducting COVID-19 testing in Indio, California, answered the call from nearby Imperial County during a surge of COVID-19 patients. The Cal Guard's aid allowed for increased bed capacity and patient care at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Brawley. Chris Herring, the county's emergency medical services manager, fielded the request for medical personnel support through the state and received 19 Airmen from the California Air National Guard's 144th Medical Detachment, 146th Medical Group and 163d Medical Group consisting of five registered nurses and 14 medics. Read more about their efforts here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/371325/cal-guardsmen-provide-medical-aid-covid-19-hotspot Since beginning operations in support of the state's COVID-19 response 81 days ago, Soldiers and Airmen with the West Virginia National Guard has completed 1,326 missions through our six lines of effort of operationalizing of the event, stabilizing the population, providing logistical movement of critical supplies, innovation, state surge capacity and capability, and conducting data analysis to combat the virus. Currently, 561 members of the WVNG are on duty serving the citizens of the State of West Virginia. Soldiers and Airman have been supporting mobile testing labs, testing lanes, and providing PPE training for various businesses, state agencies and first responders. Read more about their efforts here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/371302/wva-guard-update-covid-19-response A total of 25 specimen collection teams from the Wisconsin National Guard continue to operate across Wisconsin supporting local health departments and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services effort to increase the state's COVID-19 testing capacity. The teams, comprised of nearly 600 Soldiers and Airmen in total, established mobile testing sites at locations ranging from correctional facilities and health clinics, to private businesses, and community-based testing sites. Read more about their efforts here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/371206/1-june-update-wisconsin-national-guard-conducting-mobile-testing-sites-around-state Two Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing have been supporting the Department of Defense's effort to combat COVID-19 since March 2020. Lt. Col. Curt Haase and Master Sgt. John Huck from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, have been embedded with the 64th Air Expeditionary Group to help bring Air Force Reservists into the fight against the pandemic. Read more about their efforts here: https://www.afrc.af.mil/News/Article/2204141/crw-airmen-aid-reserve-medics-combatting-covid-19-hotspots/ Essential missions throughout the Air Force still continue even during this pandemic. Below are some links to stories on how these units have adapted to make sure they can continue to execute these missions despite COVID-19. RPA Training Next transforming pipeline to competency-based construct - https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/2200393/rpa-training-next-transforming-pipeline-to-competency-based-construct/ B-1B bombers integrate with U.S., Turkish tankers over Black Sea - https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2204849/b-1b-bombers-integrate-with-us-turkish-tankers-over-black-sea/ Global Hawks return to Yokota Air Base to provide continuous support to joint partners, allies - https://www.pacaf.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2203962/global-hawks-return-to-yokota-to-provide-continuous-support-to-joint-partners-a/ Public Health on the front lines of the invisible enemy - https://www.barksdale.af.mil/News/Article/2204893/public-health-on-the-front-lines-of-the-invisible-enemy/ Packing Resiliency: 124th FW Airmen Deploy Amidst COVID-19 - https://www.dvidshub.net/news/371223/packing-resiliency-124th-fw-airmen-deploy-amidst-covid-19 Engineers' ICE protect warfighters from intense summer heat - https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2204710/engineers-ice-protect-warfighters-from-intense-summer-heat/ Little Rock AFB's 62nd AS protects training pipeline with airlift assistance - https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/2205475/little-rock-afbs-62nd-as-protects-training-pipeline-with-airlift-assistance/ Sheppard NCOA leverages agile resources in fight against COVID-19 - https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/2204598/sheppard-ncoa-leverages-agile-resources-in-fight-against-covid-19/ COVID-19 Telework Operations Create New Opportunities for 412 TW Teams - https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2206590/covid-19-telework-operations-create-new-opportunities-for-412-tw-teams/ The 309th Missile Maintenance Group keeps 'big stick' on alert through the pandemic - https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2206575/309th-missile-maintenance-group-keeps-big-stick-on-alert-through-the-pandemic/ Air Force Totals of COVID-19 Positive Cases as of 9 p.m., June 2, 2020. CASES HOSPITALIZED RECOVERED DEATHS Military 549 (+23) 7 280 (+8) 0 Civilian 234 (+5) 8 127 (+8) 1 Dependents 273 (+4) 6 142 (+9) 1 Contractors 127 (+3) 7 46 (+5) 2 Total 1,183 28 595 4 *These numbers include all of the cases that were reported since our last update on June 1st. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A 57-year-old retired medic allegedly committed suicide on Thursday, June 4, by throwing herself in front of a moving lorry on the Kajiado-Namanga road, Kenya. Eunice Kinuthia, who worked as a medical doctor at Kajiado County Referral Hospital, died on the spot at Kobil area, a few meters from Kajiado Police Station. Dennis Owino, the driver of the lorry that resulted in Kinuthias death, told K24 Digital that he was heading to Ilbisil area from Kajiado, when the woman attempted to jump in front of the vehicle. When I spotted her, I slammed the brakes on. She held on to one of the side mirrors. The braking impact given the vehicle was in high speed threw her off, causing her instant death, said Owino. Eye witnesses said they had seen Kinuthia seated quietly on the guard-rails since morning. She appeared to be in deep thoughts, one of the witnesses told K24 Digital. Police took her body to the Kajiado County Referral Hospital morgue as investigations continue. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Police in Asheville, North Carolina 'destroyed' a makeshift medical tent set up for peaceful protesters during George Floyd demonstrations. The incident took place in the city's downtown Tuesday shortly after the 8pm curfew went into effect, with more than a dozen cops in riot gear seen clearing out medics who were on the scene to administer aid to activists. Police promptly slashed their water bottles with knives, before dumping the group's food and medical supplies. The Asheville Citizen Times reports that around $700 worth of rations and medicines were destroyed. Footage of the event has been viewed on Twitter more than 3 million times, prompting Asheville's mayor to chime in, describing it as 'a disappointing moment in an otherwise peaceful evening'. Police in Asheville, North Carolina 'destroyed' a makeshift medical tent on Tuesday night after organizers refused to disassemble it before curfew kicked in at 8pm Food and medical supplies were seen scattered throughout the alleyway where the tent was set up on Tuesday. Organizers say around $700 worth of supplies were destroyed Mayor Esther Manheimer told the Citizen Times that 'council has now asked for an explanation' as to why the 'destruction' occurred. In a statement shared on Wednesday, Asheville's Police Chief David Zack hit back, saying: 'The supply station was not permitted by the City of Asheville and was located on private property, without the permission of the property owner.' He also claimed that protesters at the medical tent were in breach of curfew, and that the water bottles had to be slashed because they have been 'used as objects that can be thrown at police officers' . Sean Miller, 21, has been the driving force behind organizing the volunteer medical clinic that was destroyed by APD last night. They are reading for a second night. #protests2020 pic.twitter.com/JZMXjHtGcg David Thompson (@daveth89) June 3, 2020 On Wednesday afternoon, organizers again set up the makeshift station in the same downtown alleyway in order to provide any medical support for protesters. However, the group insisted they would be packed up before curfew in order to comply with the law and to protect their supplies. It appeared to be a somewhat small truce between protesters and police officers, following days of demonstrations over the death of unarmed black men George Floyd. Cops were seen slashing hundreds of water bottles with knives. The police chief said they had no choice but to destroy the bottles, because they had previously been used as objects to throw at law enforcement officials But one protester says he is still rattled by Tuesday's incident. College student Sean Miller called the destruction 'very shocking' and 'very jarring'. 'They grabbed us by the shoulders and pushed [us] out of the alleyway where we were trying to provide medical support," Miller told the Citizen Times. Demonstrator Glenn Grant additionally told the publication: 'They threw several people to the ground. We were thrown, shouted at, screamed at and treated like criminals. No one resisted.' A policeman in Mumbai is winning an outpouring of love and respect for his kind gesture towards a stranger. Param Bir Singh, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, shared a tweet about the cop, detailing how he donated blood to help a 14-year-old girl who had to undergo open heart surgery. Commitment Level: A+, says the tweet. A 14-year-old needed blood group A+ to undergo an open heart surgery. When friends or family could not make it to the hospital due to #CycloneNisarga, PC Aakash Gaikwad donated blood, the tweet says further. Singh used the hashtag #MumbaiFirst and concluded the tweet by wishing the girl a healthy life ahead. The post is complete with a picture of PC Aakash Gaikwad. Commitment Level: A+ A 14-year old needed blood group A+ to undergo an open heart surgery. When friends or family could not make it to the hospital due to #CycloneNisarga, PC Aakash Gaikwad donated blood.@MumbaiPolice wishes the young girl a healthy life ahead!#MumbaiFirst pic.twitter.com/nxiQLHQIoR CP Mumbai Police (@CPMumbaiPolice) June 4, 2020 The tweet has since struck a chord with thousands who have posted several comments praising the cop and his actions. Shared earlier today, the tweet has collected over 3,000 likes and nearly 500 retweets - and counting. Actor Rahul Dev is among those who praised the policeman. Absolutely Wonderful sir ! Rahul Dev (@RahulDevRising) June 4, 2020 Bravo! Our Police always has a heart! posts a Twitter user. Big Salute to Mumbai police and Akash in particular, writes another. Hats off, comments a third. Sir, salute to the police department for helping the child in this crucial time, adds a fourth. Another similar story about a gesture of a Mumbai police team went viral recently. The policemen won tremendous praise after they were seen running behind a Shramik special train to stop it in order to help migrants who were running late. Also Read | Mumbai Police thanks their all weather friend in an Insta post. People are in awe HALIFAX - The gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage was described by police Thursday as an "injustice collector" whose grudges built up over time and eventually exploded in horrific violence. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A woman pays her repects at a roadblock in Portapique, N.S. on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Nova Scotia RCMP are expected to provide an update today on their investigation into the mass killing in April that claimed the lives of 22 victims. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX - The gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage was described by police Thursday as an "injustice collector" whose grudges built up over time and eventually exploded in horrific violence. RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell told a briefing that a behavioural analysis of the killer determined he targeted some victims for perceived slights, though many others were chosen at random. Citing preliminary work from RCMP profilers and a forensic psychologist, Campbell described the shooter as "one who held onto conflict or differences with others, turning them inward until they boiled over in rage." He said a so-called psychological autopsy, which is in the works, will help police better understand the contributing factors behind one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history. Injustice collectors "are individuals who may have felt slighted or cheated or disrespected at any point in their lives ... (and) these injustices are held onto," said Campbell, the Nova Scotia RCMP's officer in charge of support services. The senior Mountie's description of Gabriel Wortman's psychological profile was as close as police have come to describing a motive. And it falls in line with what some of his neighbours in Portapique, N.S., have said about the otherwise talkative and gregarious 51-year-old denturist. One neighbour in particular, John Hudson, has said the man he knew for 18 years was sometimes obsessed with petty jealousies and grievances about the look of his neighbours' homes, past transgressions of relatives or the behaviour of his longtime common-law wife. Thursday's RCMP briefing, the first about the case in more than a month, also disclosed a number of police findings that contradicted earlier versions of what happened on April 18-19. After killing 13 people in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, the killer disguised as an RCMP officer murdered another nine people in five communities the following day. One of his victims was RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, whose cruiser collided with Wortman's replica police car near Shubenacadie, N.S. In late April, the union that represents RCMP officers said Stevenson had rammed her vehicle into the suspect's oncoming car, but Campbell said a reconstruction of the crash revealed that wasn't the case. Campbell said the killer drove his vehicle the wrong way on a one-way street to purposely crash into Stevenson's marked car. RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell, left, and Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman arrive at an media update of the investigation of the Nova Scotia shootings at RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth, N.S., Thursday, June 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan However, Campbell confirmed that Stevenson exchanged gunfire with the gunman before she was killed. "She bravely engaged the gunman," he said, noting that Stevenson was wearing what he described as soft and hard body armour. As well, Campbell said earlier witness reports suggesting the gunman used his fake police cruiser to pull over vehicles and kill the drivers were untrue. Campbell also took exception to reports suggesting the RCMP failed to communicate or co-operate with other police forces when the killer was still at large. "There is detailed information that refutes those claims," he said. "I can confirm that the RCMP was in contact with other Nova Scotia police agencies several times throughout the incident and that information was communicated to all police agencies as it became known." The RCMP has said it is contemplating a comprehensive internal review of the case. As for the firearms used by the gunman, Campbell confirmed three of the five weapons he had with him on April 19 were obtained illegally in the United States, one was obtained illegally in Canada and the fifth was taken from Const. Stevenson. Police are aware of where the illegal firearms came from, but Campbell did not release details. Police had earlier confirmed the killer's firearms included two semi-automatic handguns and two semi-automatic rifles, though they have said nothing about the type or calibre of the weapons. Gun control advocates say details about the firearms used are important to the discussion surrounding the federal government's recent move to ban 1,500 military-style assault firearms. A Mountie fatally shot the gunman at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., about 90 kilometres south of Portapique on the morning of April 19. In addition to Stevenson, Wortman's victims included two nurses, two correctional officers, a family of three, a teacher and several of his neighbours in Portapique. Campbell said even though the chief suspect in the case is dead, police would continue with their investigation as if they were pursuing a criminal case. Police have interviewed more than 600 witnesses in five provinces and the United States, he said. Campbell was also asked about allegations made in 2013 by the gunman's Portapique neighbour Brenda Forbes, who told the Mounties about reports that Wortman had held down and beaten his common-law spouse behind one of the properties he owned. The Mounties had said they were searching for records of that complaint. Campbell confirmed Thursday the RCMP had found two officers who had contact with Forbes in 2013, and they were reviewing their notes and files. He did not provide further details, but made a point of noting that Forbes' account was secondhand. The RCMP has faced intense criticism for failing to use a provincewide alert system to warn people that an active shooter was on the loose on April 19. Instead, the force issued a series of messages on Twitter. The national Alert Ready system can be used to send alerts through television, radio and wireless devices, including cellphones. Chief Supt. Chris Leather, the Nova Scotia RCMP's criminal operations officer, said the system had been used for the first time in the province only a few weeks earlier to provide information about the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was not aware that it has ever been used by police in Canada for an active shooter situation. More importantly, he described the major problems that ensued when he ordered an alert on April 24 after police received word about shots being fired in a densely populated are of Halifax a report that turned out to be false. 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. He said the province's 911 call centre was jammed with calls from people asking what they should do, where they should hide or if they should pick up their children. "This had a negative impact on public safety," he said, adding that the RCMP is now working on a national Alert Ready policy. The 90-minute news conference included other new information, including an admission that the Mounties thought at one point they had the gunman cornered at a residence in Glenholme, N.S., only to discover he had fled before police arrived. "We actually missed the gunman by minutes," Campbell said, responding to a question about an internal email that suggested police were sure they were closing in on the suspect. "There were clear indications we had the gunman pinned down." The senior Mounties made it clear they are still investigating whether anyone helped the killer or knew of his plans. They said they had contacted two of Wortman's relatives, both of whom have retired from the RCMP, and determined neither one had any role in the crimes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. DNV GL launches new certification in infection prevention for the maritime industry DNV GL, the worlds leading classification society, has launched a new certification in infection prevention for the maritime industry. The release of this custom certification aims to help the maritime industry resume operations better prepared for COVID-19 or other emerging pathogens. Genting Cruise Lines is the first customer working towards the CIP-M certification for their vessel Explorer Dream under the Dream Cruises brand. As the COVID-19 crisis begins to recede, the world is looking to return to business. For the cruise industry, passenger safety has always been the priority and the current pandemic has sharpened this focus. To help vessel owners and operators resume safer operations, DNV GL has developed the CIP-M certification, which enables them to demonstrate they have procedures and systems in place for the proper prevention, control, and mitigation of infection, to protect their customers and crews. The COVID-19 crisis has been unprecedented in its impact on the maritime industry, and on the cruise lines in particular, said Knut rbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV GL Maritime. But I hope that with innovative ideas like CIP-M we can help the industry get moving again in a way that gives passengers and crew confidence that exacting measures are in place to enhance the cruise industrys already rigorous health and safety standards. CIP-M builds on DNV GL Healthcares work in infection risk management, which has been ongoing since 2008. With more than 4,000 audits performed in US hospitals, this work, which is inherent to the companys accreditation program, helps organizations improve their management of infection risk. Experts from DNV GLs Cruise Center in Miami customized the healthcare CIP for use in a maritime setting in cooperation with DNV GL Business Assurance. The CIP-M also integrates maritime specific standards, such as the US CDC Vessel Sanitation Program, as well as incorporating national and industry guidelines. The certification surveys and audits are performed by DNV GL surveyor teams comprised of DNV GL Healthcare infection prevention and control experts together with experienced maritime auditors. The ability to demonstrate trusted infection risk prevention and mitigation is a must to win back trust from consumers, said Luca Crisciotti, CEO of DNV GL Business Assurance. Building organizational vigilance against infection risk today requires a level previously common to hospitals only. CIP-M is unique in that it builds on proven hospital standards but is specifically tailored to the context of passenger vessels, while incorporating national requirements to enable a robust immediate and long-term response. At Genting Cruise Lines, the safety and well-being of our guests and crew are of paramount importance to us, said Mr Kent Zhu, President of Genting Cruise Lines. From the onset of the pandemic, Genting Cruise Lines has been at the forefront in enhancing its preventive and safety measures with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind. We were the first in the industry to launch and introduce our enhanced measures, which we will adopt as the new safety norm for our fleet and we hope for the industry too. We are proud to continue to pioneer such an important collaboration with DNV GL, which is a first for the cruise and maritime industry. With consumers heightened expectations on safety and well-being, the customised CIP-M certification from a highly reputable healthcare expert like DNV GL will indeed further boost consumers confidence in cruising as we recommence operations in the very near future, added Mr Kent Zhu. As part of the CIP-M certification, DNV GL assesses vessel operations, including enhanced sanitation procedures, food preparation and handling, physical distancing requirements, use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by crew members, maintenance of public health essential systems, emergency response plans, pre-boarding screening, embarkation and debarkation processes, and itinerary or port planning protocols. Annual surveys onboard and company audits ashore are conducted to verify continued compliance and improvement. The CIP-M assessment of Genting Cruise Lines has already kicked off with a pre-assessment of the companys management system, to be followed by a certification survey of the Explorer Dream. The company is targeting successful completion of the certification programme by the end of June. We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with Genting Cruise Lines as the first cruise line now working towards our new infection prevention certification, said Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, Regional Manager South East Asia, Pacific & India, DNV GL Maritime. Genting Cruise Lines has been very proactive in mitigating the COVID-19 crisis. The experience gained by operating two vessels in Singapore as temporary accommodation for workers, who have recovered from the Coronavirus, could prove useful in their preparations to resume normal operations, she added. On Friday, May 29, the federal government of Canada announced $650 million in funding as Indigenous communities deal with COVDI-19 pandemic. Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller stated, I know everyone is concerned about the possibility... Eagles co-founder Don Henley testified before Congress yesterday in a bid to change the copyright laws that were "badly outdated". The 73-year old Henley said that he had a responsibility to speak out on behalf of his fellow musicians who were affected by the regulations that he claimed unfairly favours digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Eagles had consistently shut down any attempts to post material owned by them digitally. Many fan footage of their concerts were often taken down within hours, if not days. "I want to change or improve outdated laws and regulations that have been abused for over 20 years by big tech," Henley told the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, chaired by Senator Thom Tillis (Rep.) from North Carolina. Speaking from his home under lockdown, Henley testified, "At age 73, I am in the final chapter of my career. But I come here out of a sense of duty and obligation to those artists and those creators who paved the road for me and my contemporaries and for those who will travel this road after us." He also added that these digital giants are "flourishing" while artists have no ability to fight the rampant infringement that occurs on these platforms. Watch his testimony below. John Boyega, Nigerian-British actor, was among several demonstrators who thronged the streets of London to protest the recent killing of... John Boyega, Nigerian-British actor, was among several demonstrators who thronged the streets of London to protest the recent killing of George Floyd, a black American. The Star Wars actor, holding a loudspeaker, spoke passionately to a crowd at Hyde Park on Wednesday afternoon before they marched towards residence of Boris Johnson, prime minister of UK. In the emotional speech, Boyega appreciated those who came out for the protest, noting that it is about time people protested injustice against blacks. Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important, he said in the emotional speech recorded by Haley Ott, CBS News reporter. Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I aint waiting, @johnboyega just told #BlackLivesMatter protesters in Londons Hyde Park pic.twitter.com/P49cbwIp6P June 3, 2020 We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I aint waiting. I aint waiting. Most of the protesters wore masks or gloves and also chanted black lives matter and we will not be silent. Thank you for coming out today, thank you for being here to show your support, Boyega added. Black people I love you, I appreciate you, today is an important day. We are fighting for our rights, we are fighting for our ability to live in freedom, we are fighting for our ability to achieve.today you guys are a visible representation of that. The PM had described the death of Floyd as inexcusable, adding: I think what happened in the United States was appalling, it was inexcusable, we all saw it on our screens and I perfectly understand peoples right to protest what took place. The demonstration further stretches the global outrage that has continued to trail the killing of Floyd. Several celebrities and media firms also joined the BlackOut Tuesday to also protest his death. By Nimot Adetola Sulaimon Nollywood actress, Sharon Jatto has publicly called out a movie producer Victor Okpalan who she claims demands sex in exchange for roles. In reaction to the ongoing outrage against rapists and rape apologists in Nigeria, Sharon slammed the producer for posting the hashtag; Say No to Rape. She claimed that Okpalan auditions young girls to hunt whilst recounting her experience with him at the age of 17. This man had the guts to post say no to rape because he thinks its just social media aesthetics. Do you people understand this. This man holds auditions only for him to haunt(sic) for girls. I was barely 17 when this man asked that in exchange for a movie role I sleep with him. When I told him my age he said shey youll soon be 18, its fine. He literally told me everyone in his film had to do it saying thats the normal thing Thank God I knew I had a choice. What of people who thought that was the only way? This man has had his way with a lot of people who didnt know they did have a choice. Its disheartening. They are plenty in this Nollywood. And it has to stop. Its not a do or die affair. Small thing theyll say theyll blacklist you o You people are actually mad. Please dont hesitate to call the animals out enough is enough. And please your dreams and aspirations are valued and Gods blessings doesnt come with a price tag. Your time will come she said. Sharon was not the only one accusing Okpalan of taking advantage of young girls, with Nollywood dream. On Wednesday, his name trended with various accounts of his sexual escapades. Here are some other links: https://twitter.com/NekxMusic/status/1268318637926088704?s=20 His name is VICTOR OKPALAN AND HE SEXUALLY ASSAULTS YOUNG GIRLS IN NOLLYWOOD. https://t.co/uo7XI41p3w Flora Chiedo (@florachiedo1) June 3, 2020 Related Also on the docket: A police officer who body-slammed a woman for walking away from him. An officer who released a police dog on a man who sat with his hands raised over his head. Officers who bombarded a womans house with tear-gas grenades, rendering it uninhabitable, even though she had consented to their request to search the house for a suspect. She gave the officers keys, but told them he wasnt there. (He wasnt.) - The French government's strong reforms over the past 3 years and growing foreign investor confidence, especially from Indian investors, have enabled France to be ranked first among FDI destinations in Europe NEW DELHI, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Business France's 2019 Annual Report on Foreign Investment in France was discussed yesterday in a video conference held by the French Prime Minister, Mr Edouard Philippe, along with the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire; the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian; the Minister of State attached to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Ms Agnes Pannier-Runacher. Also in attendance were a selected group of CEOs of leading multinationals, including Mr Anand Mahindra - Chairman of Mahindra Group from India. This follows the publication last week of the EY European Attractiveness Survey, which highlighted France as the most attractive country for foreign investors in Europe. According to both reports, France is an increasingly attractive investment location, with a total of 1,468 investment projects in 2019, up by11% compared to 2018, creating or maintaining 39,542 jobs (with a growth of 30% compared to 2018). 52% of these project decisions were investments at new sites, 25% were made in manufacturing activities, 11% in R&D and engineering projects, while 37 projects were linked to global European HQs. Behind these outstanding results of 2019 are the French economy's resilience and the vast program of 'pro-business' reforms undertaken by the French government since the election of President Emmanuel Macron and to simplify and modernize the French economy. Brexit has also led to a change in foreign investors that had earlier chosen the United Kingdom as a European hub. Therefore, some companies are moving their European HQ to the Continent; major financial groups that have decided to relocate their operations from London to Paris include the European Banking Authority and the American insurance business Chubb. Indian Investments in France Indian investors, aware of France's new position, have significantly increased their investment in France. In 2019, 18 Indian companies decided to invest/re-invest in France, creating or maintaining two times more jobs than in 2018, bringing the total number of Indian companies in France to more than 120, with a global employment level of 8,000 jobs. H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, the Ambassador of France to India stated: "I am proud to see increasing Indian investments in France, and impressed by their value addition as they often involve decision-making centres, production/manufacturing operations and logistics. The strong presence of Indian businessmen at major events in France shows how attractive France is for India. The participation of a dozen Indian CEOs during the visit of the French President to Reunion Island on October 23, 2019 and the participation of seven eminent Indian CEOs at Choose France, on January 20, 2020 at Versailles bear witness to this. The French government's decisive reforms over the past 3 years and growing foreign investor confidence particularly from India have enabled France to rank as the top FDI destination in Europe." "The diversity of France's territories continues to drive their attractiveness among Indian investors: Paris region received four projects, while Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes (Lyon) and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur attracted three projects each. Investments were mainly made in the software and IT services sector, while the pharmaceuticals/biotechnologies sector was responsible for nearly 30% of jobs generated by Indian investment," added Mr Christophe Commeau, Trade & Investment Commissioner for India, Acting Executive Director for Business France in South Asia. Audrey Lucbernet, Head of Invest in France Department - Business France in India, highlighted three Indian success stories in France respectively from a start-up, a mid-size company and a big group which benefited from a soft landing in France by Business France: Dualeap: an innovative technological solutions start-up, which decided to establish its headquarters in Toulouse to develop and market its ClearBox aerospace solution. an innovative technological solutions start-up, which decided to establish its headquarters in to develop and market its ClearBox aerospace solution. GeneStore: a specialist in genomics, which chose France for its first European site, by taking over the cell biology research company ICDD, located in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, from where they are currently developing COVID-19 test kits to fight against the pandemic. a specialist in genomics, which chose for its first European site, by taking over the cell biology research company ICDD, located in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, from where they are currently developing COVID-19 test kits to fight against the pandemic. Modi Group: representing the famous Indian cosmetic brand Colorbar, which acquired the French company Provaine brand holder of the customizable varnish 'La nail revolution' in Toulon (Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur). These investment projects played an essential role in France's attractiveness and contributed to make France the most attractive country in Europe for the first time in 2019. More than a confirmation, France's attractiveness is a real statement, showcasing the solidity of its economic fundamentals on which the post-COVID-19 recovery plan will be able to rely, with a decisive shift towards a carbon-neutral industry in a business-minded environment and a renewed international and European-level playing field. Read the 2019 Annual Report here: https://lnkd.in/dYm7w5i About Business France: Business France is the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses, as well as promoting and facilitating international investment in France. It promotes France's companies, business image and nationwide attractiveness as an investment location, and runs the VIE international internship programme. Business France has 1,500 personnel, in France and 64 countries across the world, who work with a network of public- and private-sector partners. For further information, please visit: www.businessfrance.fr Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1176736/Business_France_Choose_France_Logo.jpg SOURCE Business France Were like the National Guard for small businesses, Mr. Gondolfi of Justine Petersen said. I love the idea of us being dispatched. His organization has long had a presence in Ferguson. When vandals destroyed businesses there during protests after the killing of an unarmed local teenager, Michael Brown, by a police officer in 2014, the group made small loans to around two dozen businesses to help them get up and running again. Historically, events like these have a 10- to 20-year impact, said Paul Calistro, the founder of Cornerstone West, a community development organization in Wilmington. Mr. Calistro is working with other groups to contact small businesses that were damaged last weekend and provide the funds they need to rebuild. But, he said, its not just in money its in time. C.D.F.I.s have helped revive poor neighborhoods, replacing empty storefronts with active commercial spaces, increasing local economic activity, building residents wealth and reducing crime. Because they make a wide variety of loans, including housing loans, they amass deep knowledge of their neighborhoods and can tailor their activities to the areas needs. Over the past 35 years, they have made loans that helped start more than 400,000 small businesses around the country, according to the Opportunity Finance Network, the trade group that represents them. Around 58 percent of their borrowers are minorities, according to the trade groups data. Their lending, which is a mix of small-business loans and loans to housing and community facility projects, has totaled more than $74 billion over that time. In Minneapolis, three organizations that focus on minority businesses have helped transform the Midtown neighborhood from a depressed area with few active businesses to a trendy spot where small businesses flourish and city residents flock. The charitable aspect of the groups missions has helped to keep the ills of gentrification at bay. But the current violence is threatening that progress. Minneapolis is where the bulk of the destruction has occurred so far, and local officials said it was the result of premeditated attacks on black- and Hispanic-owned businesses. High redemptions in credit-risk funds could further increase exposure levels of such funds to unlisted debt papers. The schemes in this category have seen their asset size shrink and this is likely to lead to a rise in the proportion of unlisted debt papers. According to industry estimates, several schemes in the category had exposure to unlisted securities in the range of 10-22 per cent. Industry players say that fund houses could find it challenging to bring down unlisted exposure in such schemes in-line with the regulatory norms as redemptions have continued. In May, the ... LITCHFIELD A former employee of the United States Postal Service faces up to 10 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $40,000 in money orders, according to federal authorities. Keith Sanford, 33, of Litchfield, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of theft of government property, stemming from his embezzlement of postal money orders while working for the U.S. Postal Service, a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham said. WASHINGTON (AP) For weeks, President Donald Trump has been eager to publicly turn the page on the coronavirus pandemic. Now fears are growing within the White House that the very thing that finally shoved the virus from center stage mass protests over the death of George Floyd may bring about its resurgence. Thousands of Americans many without protective face masks have jammed the nations streets over the past week in defiance of social distancing guidelines from governors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House coronavirus task force, which has dramatically scaled back its operations as states reopen their economies, is scrambling to track the potential impact on infection rates. Any uptick in cases in the weeks ahead could slow the economic rebirth that Trumps advisers believe he needs before he faces voters again in five months. Read the full story here: Here's an update on all developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage. Nearly 1.9 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, the ninth straight decline since applications spiked in mid-March, a sign that the gradual reopening of businesses has slowed the loss of jobs. The United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are urging that governments and others unite in developing a peoples vaccine to protect everyone against the coronavirus. Officials in other U.S. cities and rural communities and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have issued similar plea to be careful about what you flush as wastewater plant operators report a surge of stopped-up pipes and damage to equipment. Dozens of domestic workers gathered outside the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut on Thursday, some inquiring about flights home, others stranded after they were abandoned by employers who claimed they could no longer afford to pay their salaries. Indias tally of COVID-19 fatalities surpassed 6,000 and its number of infections has risen to nearly 217,000, the Health Ministry said. That makes India the seventh worst hit by the pandemic. Pakistan reported over 4,000 new cases and said 82 more people had died, raising its death toll to 1,770. Its confirmed cases surpassed neighboring China, jumping to 85,264 compared to Beijings total of 82,967. For nearly four months, Capt. Andrei Kogankov and his oil tanker crew havent set foot on dry land. With global travel at a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian captain was forced to extend his normal contract. He still doesnt know when hell be able to go home. The Japanese public is being prepared for the reality of next years postponed Olympics, where athletes are likely to face quarantines, spectators will be fewer, and the delay will cost taxpayers billions of dollars. As of Thursday, more than 6.5 million people worldwide have been confirmed infected with the coronavirus and more than 386,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual number of infections is thought to be much higher, due to limits on testing and many asymptomatic cases. For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for a chart tracking jobless claims, interactive maps tracking the virus' spread and more. --- More on today's jobless report The total number of people who are receiving jobless aid rose slightly to 21.5 million, down from a peak of nearly 25 million two weeks ago but still at a historically high level. It shows that scattered rehiring is offsetting only some of the ongoing layoffs with the economy mired in a recession. Thursday's latest weekly number from the Labor Department is still more than double the record high that prevailed before the viral outbreak. --- This coverage is being provided free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus pandemic. Please support local journalism by subscribing. Alone, and fearing she would die without being able to raise a call for help, Osnat Gad was ready to try anything Osnat Gad felt profoundly alone. Isolated at home with nothing for company but the rattling of her own breath, Gad realized that if she stopped breathing entirely, she wouldnt even be able to call for help. There was no one who would know to call for her. If she was to survive, she was going to have to do it alone. As weeks of illness dragged on, her frustration gave way to fury. She felt like she was never going to get better. Im also a cancer survivor, Ive had a heart condition, and Ive had many flus, sicknesses. I have had operations, said Gad, who lives on Long Island and suffered the symptoms of COVID-19 for more than a month. This was not like that at all. 2nd Attack In early March, everyone was talking about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the novel coronavirus from the city of Wuhan in central China that causes the disease COVID-19. There was no talk of social distancing yet, but there was an uncertain buzz in the air surrounding the virus and what should be done. Family members from Manhattan came to visit Gad, and they went on a hike. One week after the visit, Gad began to feel incredibly sick. The first odd symptom she noticed was losing her sense of taste and smell. At the time, it wasnt widely known that the CCP virus causes some to lose those senses while sick. Two days later, she couldnt even get out of bed. Gad had a feeling shed contracted the virus. The next day, feeling even worse, Gad called urgent care to explain her situation and asked whether it was safe for her to come in. Not knowing enough about the virus, she wasnt sure if she would put others in danger by doing so. She was told to come in. There, Gad tested negative for seasonal flus and was told to go home and self-quarantine for two weeks and take Tylenol every four hours. This was before her local hospital even had tests for COVID-19, though her doctor and nurses said her symptoms showed it was likely she had it. She was advised to stay home because even if she came to the hospital, it was unlikely they could do more to help. Gad kept track of her oxygen levels and temperature, which stayed at normal levels. After a week, she thought shed gotten better. Then one day, she got up to do laundry and was hit with a second attack. I couldnt move, Gad said. After a while, she pulled herself together and had a video conference with her doctor, who told Gad there were other COVID-19 patients who also had a second attack after a week of receding symptoms. The doctor again advised her to stay home and keep taking Tylenol. Learning to Breathe But this bout was much worse than the first. I couldnt even breathe, she said. The days and weeks blurred together as mid-March became late-April. There were times she couldnt move at all. The pain was excruciating, Gad said. The fear of not being able to breathe is tremendous, its a dreadful fear. She called friends for advice. Some advised breathing in steam. Nothing worked. Then one of her friends, Anna, said something in Chinese, and Gads head was so fuzzy she couldnt hear or remember the explanation: Falun Dafa Hao. Zhen Shan Ren Hao. Anna told her to repeat the words. What did Gad have to lose? She said the words, and felt oxygen reenter her system. I was very helplessly sick. I trusted that my friend Anna had my best interest in her heart. I know she cares for me and she wanted me to heal. Her passion and strength was the reason I started chanting [those words], Gad said. Gad said she was raised Orthodox Jewish and had said a lot of prayer in her life. There was this pressure to make sure she said the words very accurately as she had been taught to do so with Hebrew prayer. But when she said the words, it didnt feel like worship but almost like self-help, she said. She wasnt asking some higher power to rescue her, but rather trying to heal herself from the inside out. Well, what I learned is that the mantra is actually allowing you to breathe correctly. After each word, you must stop and catch your breath, Gad said, demonstrating the words and how natural it was to breathe after each one. Gad said it was like these words taught her body how to breathe all over again, and the more she said them, the better she felt. She would start her mornings with the words, and say them before she fell asleep. The effect had been immediate, but she wanted to keep saying the words. The words are made up of nine characters in Chinese that translate to Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance are good. I have to be very thankful to Falun Dafa, Gad said. I can say it saved me. It taught me how to breathe. After what felt like a miracle, Gad had to know what exactly Falun Dafa was. She called Anna and has plans to research this spiritual practice more thoroughly. Traditional Chinese culture has a long history of self-cultivation, or practices of mind and body, and thats why, Gad realized, she felt that saying those words like a mantra was a form of self-help and meditation. Adherents of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that was introduced to the public in China in the 1990s, believe in living by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance to better themselves. [Saying this] completely changed my energy levels. I dont know if its associated or not, Im not a doctor, but I just know that this saved me, because I learned how to breathe by saying the mantra, do you know what Im saying? It was amazing, Gad said. [COVID-19] stayed with me more than a month, maybe six weeks. If I didnt do the breathing, maybe I could not get well. Gad, early in her research into Falun Dafa, had called a local number to learn more, and she hopes to learn the practices slow-moving exercises and meditation. Im reading about the inner strength we have within us, and its only up to us to use it by being good humans, Gad said. I hope I can study it deeply. Sarah Lu and Shiwen Rong contributed to this report. On Wednesday, more than 80 Maple High School seniors were celebrated during a mini-graduation event. The ceremony was unlike any other in the schools history, as graduates and their families arrived at staggered times and social distancing measures were put in place to comply with public health orders during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A day after news broke that he was under federal investigation for problematic tax filings, a somber-looking but defiant New Orleans City Councilman Jason Williams sought to link his personal travails to the larger issue of abuse of governmental power. Williams took no questions as he addressed the media outside City Hall on Thursday, but threw plenty of jabs at Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, who Williams said he still plans to unseat in this falls election. While acknowledging that prosecutors appear to be building a tax case against him, Williams described himself as an innocent target of investigators looking high and low to pin a crime on him. Williams claims hes the victim of an unscrupulous tax preparer who held himself out as a certified public accountant when he wasnt, and that his tax issues should have been treated as a civil matter. The FBI and Internal Revenue Service investigation is the product of dirty tricks from Cannizzaro and his henchman Billy Schultz, a longtime political consultant, Williams said, though he offered no evidence to bolster the claim, and Cannizzaro has no purview over federal investigators. What this really is is the beginning of Leon Cannizzaro's reelection campaign," he said. Meanwhile, Williams also invoked the coronavirus pandemic and the recent high-profile deaths of several unarmed black people at the hands of police or alleged vigilantes. 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 As this global pandemic has shut down cities all over the world, it has not halted the American pandemic of racism and abuses of power by the criminal justice system, Williams said. As uncomfortable as this is for me to be in the crosshairs of any law enforcement, I can breathe. I have the opportunity to fight this injustice. Many like me do not have that luxury. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and so many countless more did not have the blessing that I have today. Cannizzaro has taken a dismissive attitude toward Williams claims, calling them an attempt to distract the media, and in a statement Thursday, he seized on Williams comment about police and vigilante violence. For Councilman Williams to liken his federal tax investigation to our nations current painful reckoning over racial inequality and police brutality was shameless even for him, Cannizzaro said. He appears confused by the difference between investigators from the federal government looking into his tax affairs and a local district attorney who has not, and lacks the authority to do so. +2 NOPD task forces under a glare as troubles highlight limits of federal consent decree As the New Orleans Police Department braces for the release of a damaging federal monitors report on its proactive police squads, new questio Separately, Schultz -- himself a former target of the IRS -- has denied any role in starting the probe into Williams. Meanwhile, Williams reiterated his claim that the errors on his taxes were the fault of his tax preparer, Henry Timothy. Timothy hasn't responded to requests for comment. There was an SUV in the driveway and the name Timothys etched in wood by the front door of his Bridge City house on Monday, but no one answered several knocks. Timothy's lawyer, Steve London, declined comment. This is old-school, dirty New Orleans politics that has held this city back for too long, Williams said. But all you all need to do is look at your own past news stories, and you can see that prosecutorial overreach is a reoccurring theme for this district attorney. Against the backdrop of the national tumult surrounding the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, the highly secretive, loose affiliation of hackers known as Anonymous threatened to hack and "expose" the Minneapolis Police Department.A decentralized, longstanding "hacktivist" group that has a habit of turning up at moments of national unrest, Anonymous apparently called out the MPD in a recent Facebook video, claiming that it would expose your many crimes to the world and that the brutal killing of George Floyd is merely the tip of the iceberg in a long list of high-profile cases of wrongful death at the hands of officers in your state.The Minneapolis city and police department websites were subsequently struck by what appears to have been a cyberattack Saturday, becoming temporarily inaccessible.After claiming responsibility for the attack, Anonymous published what it said were hundreds of email addresses and passwords it stole from the city. However, a closer look at the disclosures showed the information had mostly been culled from previous leaks , and some of the data was already publicly available. This led commentators to speculate that the hacker group was largely using the protests as a way to gain press. A cyberattack on the Minnesota Senate's servers Tuesday also had some traces of Anonymous, as the group tweeted about the intrusion and the attack apparently involved defacement of a Senate website that involved an Anonymous insignia.The incidents involving the hacker group add to a string of cyberattacks that have targeted the state of Minnesota in recent days.MNITs Security Operations Center is defending against distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) cyberattacks aimed at overloading state information systems and networks to tip them offline," Tarek Tomes, the states CIO and commissioner of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT), told a local paper . "At this time, these attacks have not successfully disrupted the state services that Minnesotans depend upon, and MNIT is working in close coordination with partners at the Department of Public Safety and with the federal government to share intelligence and stay proactive on cyberthreats.The city's police department has been the focus of extreme criticism in the days since George Floyd, a local bar bouncer, died in police custody. His death prompted mass protests across the U.S. and the world. WASHINGTON, June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent articles in Experimental Biology and Medicine highlight new advances in COVID-19 biology and treatment. In an effort to provide the scientific community with important information on COVID-19, at the rapid pace required to protect our global health care workers and bring useful therapies to end the pandemic, manuscripts are being handled at an accelerated rate. To accomplish this our EBM Editor-in-Chief is handling all COVID-19 manuscripts to make sure they receive a thorough but accelerated review. The Publisher of EBM, SAGE, is making sure that accepted COVID-19 manuscripts are processed rapidly, immediately available via On-line First, and are open access. Experimental Biology and Medicine EBM has thus far accepted three Minireviews on Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 genome structure, clinical trials, and outstanding issues; how the immune response is linked to COVID-19 disease severity; and the impact of COVID-19 on the practice of dentistry. We have published an important commentary by a group of EBM Global and Associate Editors on the Precision Epidemiology that must be initiated globally to end this pandemic. We have also published an original article dealing with the decontamination and reuse of personal protective equipment being used by our front-line healthcare workers. The Corresponding Authors of these five articles had the following comments on the importance of their contribution. Dr. Sulev Koks of The Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science at Murdoch University (Australia) said, "Our Commentary on 'COVID-19: Time for precision epidemiology (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1535370220919349)' provides a short overview on the main reasons why COVID-19 went out of control and what we have to do on a global scale to stop this pandemic. The solution is based on global, massive and repeated testing to identify infected persons that would eventually give the precise scale of the viral spread, hence the term 'precision epidemiology'." Dr. Pier Carmine Passarelli in the Department of Head and Neck and Sensory Organs at Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS in Rome (Italy), speaking of his article 'The impact of the COVID-19 infection in dentistry (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1535370220928905)', said "Dentists are highly exposed to the risks of contracting COVID- 19, due to their direct exposure to saliva and its aerosol. This paper provides suggestions on how to accordingly change dental practice prevention." Dr. Prakash Gangaradan in the Department of Nuclear Medicine and BK21 Plus KNU Biomedical Convergence Program in the Department of Biomedical Science at Kyungpook National University in Daegu (Republic of Korea) said , "Our article: 'Novel 2019 coronavirus: Genome structure, clinical trials, and outstanding questions (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1535370220920540)' provides an overview of the global pandemic, spreads awareness by bursting myths around COVID-19, discusses current efforts to develop treatments as well as ongoing clinical trials and addresses challenges in the process of vaccine/antiviral development." Dr. Douglas J. Perkins in the Department of Internal Medicine and Center for Global Health at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center in Albuquerque, NM (USA), discussing his article entitled 'COVID-19 Global Pandemic Planning: Decontamination and Reuse Processes for N95 Respirators (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1535370220925768)', said, "The manuscript provides a detailed framework that other institutions can adapt for the safe collection, storage, and reprocessing of N95 respirators using vaporized hydrogen peroxide It is our sincere hope that reprocessing of PPE offers a much-needed solution to keep our front-line healthcare personnel safe during the current supply shortage created by the COVID-19 pandemic." Dr. Andrea Doria in the Rheumatology Unit/Department of Medicine at the University of Padova in Padova (Italy) said, "Our Minireview entitled 'The Amount of Cytokine- Release Defines Different Shades of SARS-CoV2 Infection (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1535370220928964)' discusses that three clinical-immunological phenotypes of COVID-19 can be delineated according to the amount of cytokines released during SARS-CoV2 infection. The management of COVID-19 should be tailored to the single individual patient based on the clinical-immunological phenotypes and the timing of infection." Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine, said, "I am extremely pleased with the high quality of all of the articles on this important topic and thank all of the authors. Experimental Biology and Medicine is a journal at the crossroads of Biomedical Research and the practice of Medicine, which makes it an ideal platform for the rapid publication of COVID-19 research that is of immediate use to clinicians." Experimental Biology and Medicine is a global journal dedicated to the publication of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in the biomedical sciences. The journal was first established in 1903. Experimental Biology and Medicine is the journal of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine. To learn about the benefits of society membership, visit www.sebm.org. For anyone interested in publishing in the journal, please visit http://ebm.sagepub.com. Related Images logo.png Logo SOURCE Experimental Biology and Medicine Related Links http://www.sebm.org The head of Irelands oldest university, Trinity College Dublin, has been overpaid since 2011 as his salary is in breach of what was approved by the Department of Education. Paddy Prendergast is paid 201,000 a year, but an external audit report, seen by the Irish Examiner, concludes that benefit-in-kind relating to his use of the provosts lodge on campus exceeded the approved rate. The issue has come to light in recent weeks and has caused considerable concern among fellows and senior college management who have asked why it has taken nine years to emerge. The findings in relation to the provost were among a number of matters found by the auditors which may expose the organisation to significant financial and reputational risks. Mr Prendergast was elected to the post of provost in 2011. The audit report is damning in concluding the salary package currently paid to Mr Prendergast is in breach of the rules. It has been confirmed that the college does not have approval for the payment of benefits-in-kind. Consequently, the total remuneration exceeds the 2011 approval implication. The college is in breach of the approval provided by the Department of Education and Skills in relation to the Provosts salary, the audit document states. The report details how the college sought a derogation from the department to account for the fact he lives on campus, but this was not given. The report states that approval was provided by the Department of Education and Skills for the salary of the provost in 2011. For the 2019 audit, it has been confirmed that the college does not have approval for the payment of benefits-in-kind. While TCD management said it noted the position of the department, it stated the monetary amount involved is immaterial and the provost pays tax on the benefits-in-kind demand. In a statement, TCD said: This is a technical issue relating to benefit-in-kind. The provost is required to live on campus as part of his contract and it has been agreed that utility bills relating to this are treated as a benefit-in-kind. "Like many other employees, the provost pays tax on this benefit-in-kind making the total remuneration appear to be higher. The provost is, however, paid the standard salary. PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregons largest school district will no longer have police officers in its schools and joins a handful of urban districts from Minneapolis to Denver that are rethinking their school resource officer programs amid national outrage over the death of George Floyd. Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said Thursday that Portland Public Schools needed to re-examine our relationship with the police in light of protests over the death of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes. The district of more than 49,000 students joins Minneapolis, which severed ties with its school resource officers on Tuesday. Districts in St. Paul, Minnesota and Denver are considering doing the same. Protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, have made the end of the school resource officer program in their district one of their demands. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Thursday that he would also discontinue using school resource officers in two smaller metropolitan districts under a program that costs the city $1.6 million a year. The move is in response to the demands of thousands of protesters, many of them young, who have filled the streets of Oregons largest city for six consecutive nights. Having the officers in high schools has been a touchy topic for several years in this liberal city. Students have protested in recent years for an end to the program, at one point even overwhelming a school board meeting. Leaders must listen and respond to community. We must disrupt the patterns of racism and injustice, Wheeler said Thursday of the most recent demonstrations. I am pulling police officers from schools. The presence of armed police officers in schools is a contentious one. While many Portland residents applauded the decision, others raised immediate concerns about student safety in the event of a school shooting or other emergency. Wheeler said the city would make sure officers could respond rapidly in an emergency. The move is a knee-jerk reaction, and the decision by a few districts to stop their programs could snowball to the detriment of students nationwide, said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, whose association represents about 10,000 dues-paying officers. There are an estimated 25,000 school resource officers nationwide, he said. What happened last Monday is atrocious. I dont know how someone who wears a uniform, like I used to do, could get to that point. Thats evil, Canady said of Floyds death. But ... I think theres some shortsightedness here. When its done right, the SRO program really is the epitome of community-based policing. I hate to see the baby thrown out with the bathwater. Beyond their law enforcement role, the model for school resource officers endorsed by the U.S. Justice Department enlists them also as mentors, informal counsellors and educators on topics ranging from bullying to drunk driving with the goal of promoting school safety. But critics of the concept say the officers presence can also lead to the criminalization of students, particularly students of colour, who may be labeled as troublemakers for things such as not paying attention in class, using a cellphone or other minor infractions. In 2015, a school resource officer in South Carolina was caught on video flipping a female student to the floor and dragging her across a classroom after she refused to surrender her cellphone. Nationwide, 43% of public schools had an armed law enforcement officer present at least once a week in the 2015-2016 school year, the last time the National Center for Education Statistics released data on this topic. Properly trained officers work closely with school administrators, Canady said. Generally there is an understanding that anything short of illegal activity should be handled by school officials, he said. _____ Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http:/www.twitter.com/gflaccus Gov. Tom Wolf said hes going to allow his stay-at-home order to expire as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Wolf had indicated he would allow the last 10 counties under the stay-at-home order, including the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia region, to be partially reopened by Friday. Now, Wolf indicated Wednesday he is making it official as coronavirus cases drop. Those 10 counties will move to the yellow phase of the governors plan to gradually reopen Pennsylvania. The color-coded plan has three phases, just like a traffic light: red, yellow and green. As phased reopening continues and all 67 counties are either in the yellow or green phase by Friday, we will no longer have a stay-at-home order in effect, Wolf said in a statement. I remind Pennsylvanians that yellow means caution and even in the green phase everyone needs to take precautions to keep themselves and their communities healthy. Wolf also renewed the 90-day disaster declaration he originally signed on March 6 after the first coronavirus cases were discovered. The disaster declaration had been set to expire June 4. The disaster declaration provides additional support to state agencies responding to the coronavirus. Pennsylvanians have done a tremendous job flattening the curve and case numbers continue to decrease, Wolf said in a statement. Renewing the disaster declaration helps state agencies with resources and supports as we continue mitigation and recovery. These 10 counties will be lifted from the stay-at-home order on Friday: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. THIS FRIDAY: The Lehigh Valley will take a step forward & move to yellow effective 12:01 a.m., June 5, including Lehigh & Northampton Counties. To view the entire list of guidance provided, you may visit: https://t.co/ze4t1i1VF5 pic.twitter.com/86EDJRmfnx Senator Lisa Boscola (@SenLisaBoscola) June 3, 2020 On Friday, the Pittsburgh area and a host of other counties are slated to enter the green phase, the least restrictive. These counties go green on Friday: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clinton, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Lycoming, Mercer, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland. By Friday, 34 of the states 67 counties will be in the green phase. Last Friday, Dauphin County and seven other counties entered the yellow phase, which allows more businesses to reopen, with some restrictions. These other counties moved to the yellow phase Friday: Franklin, Huntingdon, Lebanon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Schuylkill. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Election workers tasked with overseeing absentee ballot counting would be allowed to work in shifts under a bill passed in the Michigan Senate Thursday. Under Senate Bill 756, sponsored by former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, local clerks representing a township with at least 10,000 registered voters could allow election inspectors working absent counting boards to take shifts. Election inspectors couldnt go home, however - they would have to remain on-premises until all absentee ballots were counted. Absentee ballots could not be left unattended at any time. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously on Thursday, is one of several proposals aimed at dealing with the expected uptick in absentee voting since Proposal 3 passed in 2018. Clerks were concerned even before the COVID-19 pandemic that the expected increase in absentee ballots would strain their resources and delay election results. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently ordered absentee ballot applications sent to every registered voter for both the August and November elections. Senators arent yet sold on a related bill from Johnson, R-Holly, that would let larger municipalities prepare the ballots by opening the outside envelopes before Election Day. The bill was initially scheduled for a vote Thursday, but wasnt taken up. Shirkey spokesperson Amber McCann said that bill, Senate Bill 757, is on pause for now due to ongoing questions and concern in the Republican caucus. Senate Bill 756 now heads to the House for further consideration. Related: As Michigan primary draws near, requests for absentee ballots are pouring in Ahead of Michigan primary, Sen. Mike Shirkey shoots down bills to speed up absentee ballots How Michigan voters can request absentee ballots for presidential primary Michigan Secretary of State issues 2020 presidential primary candidate list Who is on Michigans March presidential primary ballot? Michigan Democratic Party leader waits for presidential candidates to return before casting primary vote 'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi at a video interaction with state chief ministers. Photograph: Press Information Bureau A prominent and eminent civil servant has a brilliant take on governance in India. It runs on three engines, he says: PM, CM, and DM. The prime minister, chief minister, and district magistrate. Much as I would've liked to give the person the credit for this fine description, I'd rather err on the side of discretion. Why expose him to blame for the argument that will unfold hereon. This wasn't a description discovered for the times of the coronavirus emergency, but to underline a settled phenomenon. The special powers that governments have acquired during this pandemic with the invocation of the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act have made it more evident. The question we need to ask, and debate, is whether this three-storey dictatorship has served India well enough in this public health emergency. Or has it been counter-productive, and responsible for some of the chaos, especially with unorganised working classes. This PM-CM-DM era gathered strength after the summer of 2014 as the 1996-2014 coalition era ended. Over the past six years, no minister has been heard of much. Even if you look at the most senior among them, members of the Cabinet Committee on Security, with the possible exception of Amit Anilchandra Shah now, none has counted for much. The Cabinet system has declined. The notion of collective responsibility, internal debate, and dissent declined and disappeared. A decision as big as demonetisation could be taken more or less entirely in secrecy from the Cabinet. It isn't as if you could dissent very much in Indira Gandhi's Cabinet. But that only strengthens the PM-CM-DM argument. It is just that 18 years of coalitions had spoilt us. IMAGE: Workers returning from Mumbai walk to board a passenger train at the Danapur railway station in Patna, May 31, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Even in that coalition era, though, regional dictatorships had already come up. Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, and, indeed, Narendra Damodardas Modi in Gujarat. These were all-powerful chief ministers. The most prominent commonality between them and the prime minister today is, how irrelevant and powerless their ministers were. And how power is exercised through a few hand-picked civil servants. The pandemic now necessitated the promulgation of the Epidemic Diseases Act, which the British drafted for their largest colony in the wake of the 1897 plague and was meant to give the central government powers of issuing diktats as powerful as medieval papal bulls. This was fortified by the more recent Disaster Management Act, which brought in complete centralisation of all powers. The UPA wouldn't have foreseen this when it passed this law in 2005 in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. That's why the old wisdom remains: You should be very careful before passing a bad law, never one in a hurry. The framers of the law would think of a disaster affecting one, two, or a few states, as the tsunami did. Here comes a pandemic, and New Delhi found just the legal basis to centralise all power. Centralise to the extent that the prime minister talks to chief ministers on video conferencing, not always giving everyone time to speak (it was done at the last one), but can also speak directly with sarpanches and civil servants on the ground. The Cabinet secretary holding meetings of chief secretaries is by no means unconstitutional or immoral, but raises a question: Where does it leave the democratically elected leaders? Particularly when the stuff hits the fan, as it did with this long-marching labour disaster. Whom do you hold accountable then? Who picks up the pieces? You can catch a contradiction here. If the combination of these two laws and a majority has placed all this power with the PM, where does it leave the CM? And what does it do to your three-engine formulation? IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Run your eye over the political map of India. Under an all-powerful Centre, many mini-dictatorships too prosper. It is a secular phenomenon, cutting across party lines. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, you have all-powerful CMs of regional parties who've used the same special laws to make themselves even more powerful. In West Bengal, Mamata runs a one-woman show. In their own different ways, they are able to either collaborate or defy the central government despite its special powers. Telangana and West Bengal, for example, are testing too little, never mind the admonition from the Union health ministry. Arvind Kejriwal's government in Delhi counts its coronavirus dead, sometimes as if it counts their limbs and divides by 16. Figured the math? Please check out this report (external linkThePrint's Aneesha Bedi, who first broke this on May 15, now being followed by the rest. Is the Congress free from this? It doesn't have many CMs, but Amarinder Singh in Punjab now has more power by himself than any of his predecessors I have known in almost 45 years. It is fascinating how a new political contract has been established between those holding total power in New Delhi and in the state capitals. You only feel sorry for some BJP chief ministers, especially Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vijay Rupani, who've been left to their own devices, with little power and 'scapegoat' written on their backs. Even there, Yogi Adityanath is his own master as is to some extent B S Yediyurappa. Nitish Kumar rules his shambolic republic, smug that he will win again later this year. And Naveen Patnaik in Odisha. IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Photograph: ANI Photo We are too large a political landscape to paint with one brush. Maharashtra is one of a kind. A dictatorship of a father and his son, bumbling in the crisis, never mind that their party has just under one-fifth of the strength in the assembly. We use a strong word like bumbling because they had the responsibility of keeping India's industrial/economic wheel turning, and they're sitting on a confused disaster. Mumbai, the national financial capital, is now the epicentre of the disease. The leaders are neither able to control the numbers, nor reopen the economy. And where's your cabinet? Oh, speak with my son/father please. At which point we come to the DM. Just as the prime minister runs the national Covid fightback through a task force of civil servants, so do the CMs through theirs. At the Centre, this goes to the extent that the key ministers involved -- health, home, agriculture, and labour -- have never even needed to come and speak to the nation (we aren't even complaining about the media). The MPs are irrelevant now, as are the state cabinets and MLAs. The consequences it has on the ground are for real. Orders are written and handed out by people far from the ground with an inadequate idea of realities. That's why that plethora of corrections and clarifications has piled up. If nobody in this huge governance structure anticipated the problems and fears the inter-state labour and workforces might face with a four-hour notice to a complete lockdown, it can only mean they were taking their decisions in the isolation of the Lutyens' blocks and bhavans. IMAGE: Migrants look for transport after they arrive at Howrah station in Kolkata, May 30, 2020. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo Equally, labour-importing states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Delhi) and exporting states (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand) failed to anticipate this. It can only be if the leaderships had mostly forgotten their political instincts, or left it entirely to their DM equivalents. After the first phase of the lockdown, the script has gone a bit awry. And wherever it has, see who's been held accountable. Both Maharashtra and Gujarat have removed the IAS officers heading their respective capitals' municipal corporations. Apparently because they were testing 'too much'/. Bihar too has replaced its health secretary, and Madhya Pradesh has changed its health secretary and health commissioner. The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside. By Special Arrangement with The Print Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Former US defence secretary James Mattis joined White House protesters in spirit on Wednesday with a stinging rebuke of Donald Trumps handling of the protests calling him the only President in his lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Mattis is the first former Trump cabinet member to come out so publicly to criticise the president. He also joins a growing list of past and present top defence leaders who have either explicitly criticised Trump or distanced themselves from him for using US military personnel against protesters, specially those who brutally swept aside demonstrators to make way for the Presidents now-infamous photo-op at a church, with a copy of the Bible in hand. Donald Trump is the first President in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us, Mattis wrote in a statement to The Atlantic, a news publication. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership, he added. Mattis is a highly regarded marine general who Trump loved talking up before they fell out over difference on Syria in the winter of 2018. He was also one of the most bullish of US defence secretaries on closer defence ties with India. He took it upon himself to personally pilot an exemption clause for India, though not explicitly, from a US law that sanctions countries for large defence purchases from Russia. Mattis statement came just hours after Mark Esper, his successor at the Pentagon, tried to distance himself from the use of US military personnel against protesters and, more specifically, from the use of force to disperse peaceful demonstrators from Lafayette Square so that Trump and his entourage could walk unmolested to a nearby church for a photo-op to counter uncharitable media coverage of the President taking shelter in the White House underground bunker on the first night of protests. The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations, Esper told reporters. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act, he added in a significant departure from the US Presidents open advocacy of the 200-year-old law to force states to allow US military forces. Former chairman of the US chiefs of staff Mike Mullen wrote the day before in a piece titled I cannot remain silent, also in The Atlantic, I remain confident in the professionalism of our men and women in uniform. They will serve with skill and with compassion. They will obey lawful orders. But I am less confident in the soundness of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief, and I am not convinced that the conditions on our streets, as bad as they are, have risen to the level that justifies a heavy reliance on military troops. Certainly, we have not crossed the threshold that would make it appropriate to invoke the provisions of the Insurrection Act. Other past US military leaders have spoken out as well recently. But Mattis, or someone with matching clout in the military was the voice that was awaited to unlock the frustration said to have been building up in the forces against the flagrant politicisation of one of the most respected of US institutions. Trump acknowledged the mounting pushback from US military establishment, when he tried to cut down Mattis, belittling him. Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the worlds most overrated General, he wrote in a tweet. His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom brought home the bacon. I didnt like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone! But can Trump turn the tide? A new fence outside the White House has kept protesters further away than before, and some more. But it has not deterred them from showing up in larger numbers. They sit around, sing, chant slogans and occasionally fling two-word expletives in the direction of the White House, too far away to matter. They were entirely peaceful. As were protesters in New York city, largely, and other parts of the country. Protesters have been policing themselves. They try and prevent those among them that try to break into stores, or violently confront law enforcement officers, and destroying property. Tens of thousands of people across Hong Kong lit candles and chanted democracy slogans on Thursday to commemorate China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown, defying a ban against gathering as tensions seethed over a planned new security law. The biggest crowds descended on Victoria Park that has hosted huge Tiananmen anniversary vigils for the past three decades, with smaller rallies erupting in multiple shopping districts and local neighbourhoods. Police arrested some demonstrators in one shopping area, in scenes reminiscent of seven months of violent protests last year, although they allowed the main rally to proceed. The displays of resistance came hours after Hong Kong's legislature passed a bill criminalising insults to China's national anthem, which the pro-democracy movement sees as yet another example of eroding freedoms. China also last month moved to impose the security law on Hong Kong which would outlaw subversion and has cemented fears that the semi-autonomous city is losing its treasured liberties. "I've come here for the vigil for 30 years in memory of the victims of the June 4 crackdown, but this year it is more significant to me," a 74-year-old man who gave his surname as Yip told AFP as he joined the crowds inside Victoria Park. "Because Hong Kong is experiencing the same kind of repression from the same regime, just like what happened in Beijing." Hundreds of people -- by some estimates more than a thousand -- were killed in on June 4, 1989, when China's communist rulers deployed the military into Beijing's Tiananmen Square to crush a student-led movement for democratic reforms. Commemorations of the event are forbidden in mainland China but have been allowed in Hong Kong, which has been granted liberties under the terms of its 1997 handover from the British. This year's vigil was banned, with authorities citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings even though people are allowed to commute in packed trains to work. As dusk fell on Thursday, many thousands of people, including prominent democracy leaders, began pouring into Victoria Park and lit candles as an act of remembrance and resistance. Some wore black t-shirts with the word "Truth" emblazoned in white. Others were in office attire. Many shouted pro-democracy slogans including "Stand with Hong Kong" and "End one party rule", in reference to the communists who hold monopoly power in China. - Neighbourhood, church vigils - Crowds have swelled at Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils whenever fears have spiked that Beijing is prematurely stamping out the city's own freedoms, an issue that has dominated the finance hub for the past 12 months. In response to the seven months of protests last year, China announced plans to impose the security law, which will be approved by national authorities in Beijing and bypass Hong Kong's legislature. China says the law is needed to tackle "terrorism" and "separatism" in a restless city it now regards as a direct national security threat. Critics, including many Western nations, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub. - 'Complete nonsense' - In mainland China, authorities do not allow any open discussion about the Tiananmen crackdown and censors scrub any mention of it off the internet. The candle emoji has been unavailable in recent days on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. Police in Beijing prevented an AFP photographer from entering Tiananmen Square to record the regular pre-dawn flag-raising ceremony on Thursday and ordered him to delete some photos. The United States and Taiwan issued statements calling on China to atone for the deadly crackdown. "Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year," Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of him meeting prominent Tiananmen survivors. China's foreign ministry described calls for Beijing to apologise for Tiananmen as "complete nonsense". "The great achievements since the founding of new China over the past 70 or so years fully demonstrates that the developmental path China has chosen is completely correct," spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. Thousands in Hong Kong defied a ban on gathering to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown Lighting candles are an act of rememberance for those killed Protesting Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers (facing) are blocked by security (bottom) during debate on a law banning insulting China's national anthem Activists wore face masks as they defied a corinavirus ban on gatherings U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks and sign the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday. Business owners who received a forgivable loan through the Paycheck Protection Program are getting more leeway on how to spend those funds. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Friday that restructures how entrepreneurs can use loans issued through a new federal relief program for small businesses ailing from the economic contagion unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic. Many business owners had called on the federal government to update the Paycheck Protection Program as they struggle to meet its terms and fear they may be forced to take on debt even as their businesses haven't fully recovered. The bill, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, was passed in the Senate on Wednesday. The House passed the legislation last week. The new law addresses concerns around loan forgiveness, one of the main attractions of the Paycheck Protection Program. "The President's signing of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 into law is welcome news for small businesses across our nation," said Kevin Kuhlman, vice president of government relations at the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group representing businesses. More from Personal Finance: What to do if you haven't received your stimulus check Is your financial advisor on your side? Private equity investments may be coming to your 401(k) Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh says the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed Ghana's education system and will have a long-term effect on the education sector. Hon. Opoku Prempeh noted that the novel COVID-19 has taught the Education Ministry and its stakeholders positive lessons to catch up with the digital world. On 12th March, 2020, Ghana recorded its first cases of the pandemic which resulted in a partial lockdown in some Regions and restrictions were imposed on public gatherings to safeguard the citizenry against infections of the virus. The public gathering restrictions included the closure of all educational institutions in the country. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his tenth nation update on COVID-19 on Sunday, May 31, eased the restrictions and allowed schools to open for only final year students. However, due to the outbreak of the disease, the schools have adopted virtual teaching and learning for students. Speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', the Sector Minister passed complimentary remarks about the impact of the online learning. According to him, Ghana's "education will never be the same again after COVID-19". "Now the Universities have been able to use virtual learning . . . We have seen that if we use the proper learning management software, we can even open access and double University capacities with very [very] little investment and put the Universities under 21st Century marketing . . . But we need to do that initial investment to make it worthwhile. "We have noticed that the biggest problem with online education was quality. So, there are systems and there are Universities that have been set up doing basically online . . . So, there are systems to improve the quality aspect of online education. The University can have a system where those on virtual learning will congregate at the University at particular times for assessment and interact with the lecturers, and know that it is those people who are doing the courses who the lecturers say they're lecturing and the students say they're learning are true people. We have to use technology to get there . . . education will never be same again after this COVID-19," he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The day after Vice President Biden is sworn into office as the 46th President of the United States, he must direct the Justice Department to thoroughly investigate the former Attorney General William Barr for crimes he committed while in office. Opinion: James DiGeorgia One of President Trumps partners in crime Attorney General William Barr must be investigated and held responsible for his crimes immediately after President Biden is sworn into office on January 20, 2020. Willam Barr is convinced the American people are stupid. Barr believes that there was no correlation between protesters being tear-gassed, concussion bombed, shot with rubber bullets by national guard military police, White House security, U.S. Park Police and even prison guards while also being trampled by Calvary police out of Lafayette Park and President Donald Trumps visit a short time later to a St. Johns Episcopal Church. Barrs criminal activity has been documented to have taken place on his orders and been caught by numerous videos taken by peaceful protesters and journalists from around the world. In answer to the videos and eyewitnesses, including Congressmen, Clergy, and off duty Washington police officers, Barr is attempting to cover up his crimes I am interested in carrying out the law enforcement functions of the federal government and to protect federal facilities and federal personnel; and also to address the rioting that was interfering with the governments functionThat was what we were doing. Barr then chose to be willfully blind to the reality that as many as 76% of people polled added I think the president is the head of the executive branch and the chief executive of the nation and should be able to walk outside the White House and walk across the street to the church of presidents. I dont necessarily view that as a political act, I think it was entirely appropriate for him to do. No Mr. Barr, using weapons of war that we have signed international treaties and which violates U.S. law against peaceful protesters on your orders should lead to your being arrested, convicted and disbarred. Barr should stop a moment and consider if he is indicted and trialed it will take place in the District of Columbia jurisdiction, and the chances of a jury convicting him will be 99.9%. That leaves him the only possible escape of receiving a blanket pardon from President Trump before he leaves office. Trumps pardoning of Barr and the rest of his cronies will not end many of the prosecutions as there are charges that can be filed in the District of Columbia, New York, Illinois, Virginia, and other localities. These will all take place after The Donald J. Trump administration disbands, and President Trump has no pardoning entitlement. A pardon from Trump will not save William Barr from disbarment. His actions since taking office are so egregious he may also find that Congress cuts off his and every one of Trump's cronies Federal pension guarantees. I agree with Congressman Nadler that all funds to William Barrs office be shut down until he appears in front of the House Judiciary Committee under oath. He no longer enjoys the credibility needed just to make a speech of issue a statement. He is, in every sense, a criminal. I also urge President Biden to bust every member of the military that obeyed Barrs unlawful order out of the service with dishonorable discharges and stripped of all veterans benefits. CPAN William Barr Live Broadcast Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday emphasized efforts to expand market-based employment channels and try every possible means to stabilize the overall employment situation for college graduates. In a written instruction to a teleconference held in Beijing, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, noted college graduates are facing grim employment prospects due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. All regions and departments are asked to strengthen the employment-first policy in a comprehensive way, boost employment for college graduates with solid and meticulous measures and promptly carry out initiatives to keep businesses and employment stable. Li underscored the need to promote the greater development of new industries and new forms of business to build a broader platform for college graduates to start their own businesses or seek flexible employment. More support should be given to graduates who are from regions hit hard by COVID-19 or have difficulty finding jobs, he said. Vice premiers Sun Chunlan and Hu Chunhua, who are both members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. The meeting stressed that state-owned enterprises and public institutions are encouraged to significantly increase their posts for university graduates. It also called for further support for needy graduates such as those from central China's Hubei Province, previously severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, and impoverished families. The meeting called for efforts to support innovation and business startups through tax and fee cuts as well as loans and subsidies, among other policies. It also noted the need for solving structural employment problems by advancing supply-side reforms of university education and promoting vocational education. Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya is unlikely to be extradited anytime soon with the UK government on Thursday saying there is a legal issue that needs to be resolved before his extradition can be arranged. Last month, Mallya lost his appeals in the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. A spokesperson in the UK High Commission said the issue is "confidential" and added: "We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve." "Vijay Mallya last month lost his appeal against extradition, and was refused leave to appeal further to the UK Supreme Court. However, there is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mr Mallya's extradition can be arranged," the spokesperson said. "Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved. The issue is confidential and we cannot go into any detail. We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve. We are seeking to deal with this as quickly as possible," the official added. On May 21, the spokesperson in the external affairs ministry said India was in touch with the British government over Mallya's extradition after he exhausted all legal options against New Delhi's request to the UK to extradite him. The UK top court's decision marked a major setback to the 64-year-old businessman as it came weeks after he lost his high court appeal in April against an extradition order to India. Mallya has been based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017. The high court verdict in April upheld the 2018 ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December 2018 that the former Kingfisher Airlines boss had a "case to answer" in the Indian courts. A massive landslide dragged eight buildings into Norway's sea as a huge chunk of coast vanished underwater. Footage captured by drones yesterday shows the devastating moment a piece of the coastline began to move towards the sea in the northern town of Alta. The land disappeared underwater before the force of the sea carried eight building back towards the land. Footage captured by drones shows the moment a chunk of Norway's northern coastline in Alta began to move towards the sea The landslide was 800 metres long and 40 metres high. There are no reports of any deaths or injuries so far, although a bedraggled dog was forced to swim back to land. Although Finnmark police's Torfinn Halvari told Norway's NTB newswire that they couldn't say with any certainty no one had been taken by it. The land vanishes underwater, as it drags some of the buildings in with it As reported by The Local, he added: 'We still have on-site crews working to assess landslide security or the danger of new landslides.' He said that, although the dog was swept away, he swam back to shore. Emergency rescue service 330th Squadron rescued the muddy, scared dog using a helicopter as one worker slipped it into a belt. The land sinks leaving only the buildings floating in the water where it had once been One building is brought back to the land by the current of the sea after the land it was built on was destroyed Twitter users have expressed their astonishment at the footage. One said: '2020 just doesn't quit!' Another said: 'A stunning reminder that Mother Nature is always in charge... can you imagine driving home from a hard day at work and seeing your entire neighbourhood floating into the sea...' A third said: 'This is mad. Even the earth wants to get away from 2020!' A wet, scared dog emerges from the water and the 330th Squadron rescued him by putting a belt around him WALNUT CREEK, Calif., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtually every American is aware of the tragic death on Memorial Day of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes. Three other officers appeared to be complicit in the incident and have now been charged. This tragic death adds to a long list of innocent black lives lost, and has incited uprisings across the country. Heartbroken Americans are desperate to make the statement that enough is enoughpolice brutality must end now and we need reform. Chief Andrew Mills of Santa Cruz, CA taking a knee. We are calling for police chiefs nationwide to join the cause, "Time For Unity." #TimeForUnity source: FOX KTVU Billboard running in Chicago calling for unity in memory of George Floyd. Two East Bay California residents sought to find a constructive way to make such a statement. "It is time for us to unite and take a stand to prevent this from ever happening again," says David Fenton, founder of the media firm Fenton Consulting. "We each need to take responsibility to do what we can as agents of changeto be part of the solution, not turn a blind eye to the problem," added Alana Hope, Marketing Director who consults for the firm. Fenton Consulting is sponsoring billboards in San Francisco and Chicago calling for the immediate cessation of racial profiling and police brutality. "We must push for policy changes that will allow a black man to walk the streets safely without fear of being attacked or killed by law enforcement. It is unacceptable for this country to sweep even one more of these incidents under the rug," says Fenton. Fenton and Hope are asking police chiefs across the nation to influence positive change by uploading a short video of themselves calling for police reform and justice for George Floyd, stating their name (optional), city, state, and one or more of the phrases below, then post it on social media with one or more of the included hashtags. "Time for unity" (TimeForUnity) "Police For Reform" (#PoliceForReform) "Black lives matter" (#BlackLivesMatter) "Never again" (#NeverAgain) "We stand for equality" (#WeStandForEquality) "Our request is for precincts nationwide to participate. If we stand together united, this country CAN and WILL begin to heal," says Fenton. They also ask for businesses to take part: "We believe that businesses can have a great impact by making statements committing to equality and inclusion in the workplace by posting the above," says Hope. Volunteers are needed to reach out to local police chiefs and businesses to request participation in this movement. For assistance in volunteering opportunities visit fentonconsulting.net/post/how-to-support-in-memory-of-george-floyd. Media Contact David Fenton 415-419-5555 [email protected] SOURCE Fenton Consulting Related Links http://fentonconsulting.net A teenager was struck with a baton and another arrested during an incident in Creggan over the weekend. Police conducted searches in the back roads behind Creggan Heights as part of an investigation into dissident republican activity. Approximately 10 Land Rovers attended the scene when an entirely unrelated matter involving teenagers ensued. Mother of one 14-year-old boy, Donna Fletcher (Knight), said officers claimed that her son had a mask on and pulled two wing mirrors off. The young boy, who has special needs, was subsequently arrested, put in the back of the police Land Rover and transported to Strand Road Police Station. At the station, Ms Fletcher said she wasnt allowed in to see him which is unacceptable because hes a child with special needs. They refused to let me in, she added. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 states that an appropriate adult must be contacted and allowed to attend to support and advise their child. A 13-year-old boy who was observing the incident along with his girlfriend was struck with a policemans baton. His grandfather Alan OHagan said: My grandson came down to me after, he would help me about, and he was limping very badly. Him and his girlfriend were up walking when all the stone throwing started so the cops came after everybody and they had to get out of the road but he was caught up in it and a boy jumped out a jeep and whacked him across the leg. When he fell he cut his own elbow but when he got up again he was hit on the hand which left it bruised and swollen. I would condemn them big time for hitting wains. The childs other grandfather, Stephen Quigley, said the boy was left with a big welt on his leg and it was scary for him. He was just going over for a nosey, as children do, when they got caught up in it. INVESTIGATION The PSNI has stated that it was carrying out an investigation into dissident republican activity when officers were attacked by youths. Superintendent Gordon McCalmont said: "Police were carrying out searches in Creggan on Sunday, May 31, in relation to an ongoing investigation into violent Dissident Republican activity. "When police were in the area a 14 year old male was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and resisting arrest. He was released on bail. "Whilst police were effecting this arrest they were attacked by a group of youths. One person was struck with a police baton. "If anyone has a complaint to make about the actions of police they can contact the office of the Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland." The PSNI made clear that the arrest of the 14 year old male was not connected with the searches that were being carried out. Independent Councillor for the area, Gary Donnelly, said it is indicative of British policing in nationalist parts of Ireland. It exposes the lie that people have told us that things have changed. These people spend thousands of pounds on propaganda and publicity to give the impression that they are changed and reformed but the reality for people on the ground is very different. This all comes on the back of heavy-handed police operations in the town. Seeing dozens of armoured Land Rovers swarming in is not unusual, even again yesterday in Creggan (June 1) there were seven or eight armoured vehicles, cops with dogs and those carrying heavy duty weaponry thats the reality. In my view as a republican that shouldnt be happening. Is Li Keqiang Reviving the Economy by Promoting Street Markets? News Analysis Over the past few days, the term street vendor economy has gone viral on Chinese social media. It follows a speech made by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Chinas economic state during the Two Sessionsan annual meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s rubber-stamp legislature and its advisory body to enact policies and agendas. Chinese netizens ridiculed: The United States has started the era of the privately funded space market economy, and we have restarted the street vendor market economy. During a video-based press conference in Beijing on May 28, Li admitted that China has 600 million people with a monthly income of 1,000 yuan ($140). Its barely enough to cover monthly rent in a mid-sized Chinese city. The poverty alleviation task is getting heavier as some people may fall back again into poverty due to the coronavirus, Li added. Li once again emphasized the new round of pro-growth measures would focus on ensuring employment, peoples livelihoods and [helping] market entities. He pointed out the efforts of street vendors in Chengdu city, Sichuan province have helped to prop up the economy. During the pandemic, the Chinese economy was shut down. Overseas orders plummeted, which seriously affected small and medium-sized companies and employment of ordinary people. In March, the Chengdu City Management Committee issued new regulations that removed five restrictions for small vendorsfor instance, roadside stalls are allowed in residential areas, shop owners are allowed to sell their goods outside of their stores, sidewalk sales are promoted in shopping malls, and mobile vendors are allowed to sell on the streets. Since then, more street vendors have been given the green light to operate in Shanghai, Gansu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hebei and other cities. In Jiangxi province, the Nanchang municipal government issued a policy on May 26 to designate 100 streets to open as a night market. On May 27, the central governments Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization announced new requirements. Running business on roads, roadside markets, mobile vendors are no longer listed in the assessment criteria for maintaining a civil city. Recently, state-run media have positively publicized roadside stalls to make a living and praised it as energy of smoke and fire rather than labelling it dirty, messy, poor as it did in the past. Since the CCP started the civil city assessment in 2005, local governments have stepped up their efforts to suppress mobile merchants to meet the annual goal. Getting rid of roadside vendors has become routine in maintaining stability. The violent law enforcement of urban management officers, known as chengguan in Chinese, and bloody incidents as a result of conflict with street vendors have occurred frequently. Today, after fifteen years of suppression, mobile hawkers have again set up stalls running their great, bright and right business. Online discussion of the phenomenon has gone viral. Some netizens said, Now we are encouraging the roadside stalls. Obviously, the domestic market is already poor enough. Some netizens also commented: To encourage the street vendors, one is to bluntly revitalize the peoples economy; the other is that the real winter is coming? Simply tampering with the data wont solve the problem this time. Others expressed the following: The expedient measure of unemployment panic. When it is not allowed, it is so-called dirty and messy, it affects the environment and causes the smog. When you are asked to do it, it is called energy of smoke and fire. Now the economy is bad, people are allowed to run their own stalls. The news encourages and praises it every day. Why didnt you [media outlet] report it when the violent urban management law enforcement took the vendors tricycle? Over the past few months, the CCP virus pandemic has caused a national economic shutdown, and many people have had no income for months. With the spread of the CCP virus in the world, Chinas manufacturing industry has suffered from the loss of large amounts of foreign orders, and company layoffs are frequent. A recent survey by Caijing found that 80 percent of the small and medium-sized foreign trade factories in the Pearl River Delta region have encountered loss of orders, and most factories have shown no activity. Hu Jia, a human rights activist in Beijing, told Radio Free Asia that the Communist regimes decision to grant people some accommodation this time was obviously due to considerations of social stability, political security, and finance. If I dont let him go to the streets to support his family, what could happen when hes anxious? What if he retaliates against the society? Or goes on a street demonstration? When the people have income, it will reduce some of the financial pressure on the government. Without this pressure of economic downturn and social unrest, the regime would not have made the exception. The death of George Floyd, the African American who was brutally killed in Minneapolis by white police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, has sparked global outrage and protests, with people taking to the streets to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Video footage showing the 46-year-old African-American being forced onto the ground, as the officer kneeled on his neck, as Floyd pleaded, I cant breathe has moved people all over the world to take to the streets and social media alike to protest police brutality and racism. The incident has highlighted the suffering of people of colour, the racism within America and the plight of African Americans, and black people everywhere, with the war cry Black Lives Matter. Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, had been quiet about the incident and many had even called her out for laying low during a time like this. But the former actor and Prince Harrys better half, who is an African American, has finally spoken up and paid tribute to George Floyd in a video message that she shared with the graduating class at her old Los Angeles school, Immaculate Heart High School. In the video, she also named other African Americans who were killed in incidents of police brutality in the US in recent years. The 38-year-old former actor said she didnt say anything earlier because she was nervous, the former Suits star said in the video, George Floyds life mattered and Breonna Taylors life mattered and Philando Castiles life mattered and Tamir Rices life mattered. The other three names are of those who were killed by the US police in the past six years. Speaking about George Floyd, Meghan said, I wasnt sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Meghan said, As weve all seen over the last week what is happening in our country and in our state and in our home town of LA has been absolutely devastating, urging the students at her old school to be part of a movement of hope changing the world for the better and that they are going to have empathy for those who dont see the world through the same lens that you do, speaking about Black Lives Matter she added, With as diverse, vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter. Also read: Celebrities, organisations and people show solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement. Heres how to do it right Meghan spoke about when she began secondary school in the same school as them, in 1992 after the brutal beating of Rodney King. She said, I was 11 or 12 years old when I was just about to start Immaculate Heart Middle School in the fall, and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by senseless act of racism.And I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting. And I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up at the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories dont go away.I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, always remember to put others needs above your own fears. And that has stuck with me throughout my entire life and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before. Another video of the Duchess from 2012, long before she was a royal, has also been circulating online in which Meghan can be seen wearing a T-shirt that reads, I wont stand for racism. In the video Meghan says, My names Meghan Markle and Im here because I think its a really important campaign to be a part of. For me, I think it hits a really personal note. Im bi-racial, most people cant tell what Im mixed with and so much of my life has felt like being a fly on the wall. And so some of the slurs that Ive heard or the really offensive jokes, or the names, its just hit me in a really strong way. And then, you know, a couple of years ago I heard someone call my mom the N-word. So I think for me, beyond being personally affected by racism, just to see the landscape of what our country is like right now, and certainly the world, and to want things to be better. Also read: We aint buying, selling s**t: Rihannas Fenty brands suspend sales for Blackout Tuesday She went on to say, Quite honestly, your race is part of what defines you. I think what shifts things is that the world really treats you based on how you look. Certain people dont look at me and see me as a black woman or a biracial woman. They treat me differently, I think than they would if they knew what I was mixed with, and I think that that is I dont know, it can be a struggle as much as it can be a good thing depending on the people that youre dealing with. She concluded with, I am really proud of my heritage on both sides; Im really proud of where Ive come from and where Im going. But yeah, I hope that by the time I have children, that people are even more open-minded to how things are changing and that having a mixed world is what its all about. I mean certainly, it makes it a lot more beautiful and a lot more interesting... By the time I have children I hope that people are more open minded. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Kyrgyz authorities to lift a two-month house-arrest order imposed on human rights defender Kamiljan Ruziev, drop all bogus charges against him, and probe allegations that security services have threatened him. State National Security Committee (GKNB) officers arrested the activist, who is also known as Kamil Ruziev, outside the Karakol City Courthouse in northeastern Kyrgyzstan on May 29. The court was considering a lawsuit Ruziev had filed against the GKNB and the prosecutors office for failing to investigate his complaint that law enforcement officers had threatened him. "Ruziev filed formal complaints against security officers, so Kyrgyzstans security service responded by harassing him with a bogus criminal investigation," Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at HRW, said in a statement on June 4. The authorities "should instead be carrying out a thorough and timely investigation into Ruzievs complaint and any abuse of power by the security officials who arrested him," Rittmann added. During a court hearing on May 31, the investigator in Ruziev's case said he was suspected of forgery. The activist was ordered to go into house arrest for two months. Ruziev and his lawyer have appealed the ruling and filed a complaint against the GKNB for unlawful detention. Ruziev, who heads the Karakol-based human rights organization Ventus, believes he was arrested in retribution for his human rights activities. For the past 20 years, Ruziev has been defending the rights of prisoners and others who have complained of torture and harassment by police and government officials. With reporting by RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service Roxy Jacenko has announced her semi-retirement from the public relations industry. The 39-year-old, who is regarded as Sydney's foremost PR guru, revealed on Monday that being forced to take a break from work due to COVID-19 had made her realise she didn't actually like her job. 'It's been a realisation for me. I hated my job. I didn't like what I was doing,' she said on The Kyle and Jackie O Show. 'I hated my job': Sweaty Betty PR founder Roxy Jacenko has announced her semi-retirement from the public relations industry 'I'm now semi-retired,' she said, explaining how the hectic nature of her job made it impossible for her to enjoy life. 'You don't stop. You're like a mouse on that spinning wheel and it wasn't until we were in forced isolation...' she added. Roxy revealed that her PR business had suffered tremendously as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Eye-opening time: Roxy revealed on Monday that being forced to take a break from work due to COVID-19 had made her realise she actually disliked her profession She said: 'We lost 85 per cent of our clients in three days. And I was like, "Hang on a second, actually, I really dislike what I'm doing."' Clearly shocked, radio host Kyle Sandilands interjected: 'But you're so good at it!' 'Yes, but I mean, I've had a job since I was 14. So now I'm like, it's time to smell the roses,' the mother-of-two responded. Family time: Semi-retirement means Roxy will be able to spend more time with her husband, Oliver Curtis, and their children, Pixie, eight, and Hunter, six 'It's time to smell the roses': Roxy said she was now focusing on running her 'branding bootcamps' and overseeing her daughter Pixie's hair accessories business Roxy said she was now focusing on running her 'branding bootcamps' and overseeing her eight-year-old daughter Pixie's hair accessories business. 'I didn't have the opportunity to go to school concerts and all of that and now I can,' she added. Describing her career as a 'sick addiction', Roxy said she always thought she would retire by 40. While Roxy may be semi-retired, Sweaty Betty PR will continue to be managed by her employees. Roxy founded the company in 2004 when she 24 years old. Sweaty Betty's former clients include Coles, Big W, Peugeot and Puma. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, blocked two of President Donald Trump's nominees Thursday in a rare move by a Republican senator to demand accountability from the president over his recent firings of several federal watchdogs. Grassley, a longtime advocate for inspectors general, announced Thursday afternoon that he is blocking the nominations of Christopher Miller to head the National Counterterrorism Center and Marshall Billingslea to be the State Department's undersecretary for arms control and international security. Miller is an Army Special Forces veteran serving as a Pentagon special operations and counterterrorism official, while Billingslea is assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the Treasury Department. Grassley said he will not allow consideration of Miller's nomination to proceed until the White House provides answers on Trump's firing in April of intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson. Billingslea's nomination, Grassley said, cannot proceed until Trump explains why he terminated State Department inspector general Steve Linick last month. Trump abruptly fired Linick at what both he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said was Pompeo's request, although the details remain unclear. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Inspectors general serve as internal government watchdogs conducting oversight of federal agencies - and although they technically are political appointees, their independence has long been protected. During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has fired four inspectors general. In addition to Atkinson and Linick, he has pushed out Glenn Fine, chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee his administration's management of the government's $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. And he removed Christi Grimm as principal deputy inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, after Grimm's office criticized the administration's response to the pandemic. In addition, Trump last month replaced the acting inspector general at the Department of Transportation. Democrats have denounced the firings as a retaliatory purge and an effort by Trump to avoid accountability. Several lawmakers, including Grassley, have sought answers from Trump beyond his citing of a general lack of confidence in the watchdogs. In a statement explaining his move Thursday, Grassley said he does not dispute Trump's authority to fire the inspectors general, but he argued that "without sufficient explanation, the American people will be left speculating whether political or self-interests are to blame." "Though the Constitution gives the president the authority to manage executive branch personnel, Congress has made it clear that should the president find reason to remove an inspector general, there ought to be a good reason for it," Grassley said. "The White House's response failed to address this requirement, which Congress clearly stated in statute and accompanying reports." Grassley had previously written to Trump on the issue, arguing that his broad declarations of a lack of confidence were "not sufficient" to fulfill the requirements of the 2008 Inspector General Reform Act. Atkinson said in April that he believes he was fired for having properly handled a whistleblower complaint that became a centerpiece of the case for Trump's impeachment. Linick, meanwhile, appeared before Congress on Wednesday in a virtual, closed-door session. But lawmakers of both parties said they came away with little better sense of the specifics surrounding his termination. Pompeo has previously said that Linick pursued investigations of policies he disagreed with, that his office was responsible for leaks, and that he was not supportive of the secretary's "ethos statement" on department behavior. According to a person familiar with Wednesday's congressional interview, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the closed-door session, Linick confirmed that his office was looking into allegations that Pompeo and his wife asked personnel to do personal errands for them, as well as the administration's bypassing of congressional approval for arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but he declined to speculate as to whether either of those matters had prompted his firing. - - - The Washington Post's Karen DeYoung, Seung Min Kim, Ellen Nakashima and Philip Rucker contributed to this report. Farmers have warned that any disruption to the UK and EU relationship would be 'senseless' and 'damaging' as trade talks resume. The fourth round of talks on a post-Brexit trade deal commenced on Tuesday (2 June) and will last four days. Government officials from both the UK and EU are trying to make headway after the last three rounds yielded little progress. But with the impacts of Covid-19 set to present significant economic challenges, British farmers are calling for 'reassurance' and 'common sense'. The National Sheep Association said it was 'concerned' with the movement of direction talks were going in amid the backdrop of the coronavirus. It has called on the government to consider the implications if the trade deal 'halted' at a decisive summit scheduled for the end of June. At the summit, the UK and the EU will decide whether the current deadline for negotiating an agreement should be extended beyond the end of December. Agriculture has already had issues to deal with over the last few months, as we saw exports dry up and the closure of the hospitality and food service industry," NSA chief executive, Phil Stocker said. "While the sheep sector has managed to ride this out reasonably well so far, we know how fragile things will be in the coming months as the bulk of 2020 lambs begin to come through. "If we end up facing a tariff or any disruption to lamb supplies going into Europe it will have a devastating impact on our trade and lamb values." Mr Stocker highlighted that many European processors relied on British lamb, and UK farmers were heavily reliant on the EU market. Disrupting this relationship would be 'senseless' and 'damaging' to the industry at a time when British businesses 'needed all the help and support they could get'. "Remember those statistics, the UK exports some 35% of our production and 95% of that volume goes to the EU," Mr Stocker added. "Thats some 88,000 tonnes and there is no other market that will step in and take that volume in the time we are dealing with. NSA said it is appealing to the government to recognise the risk this could have on the industry and to consider an extension to the Brexit process in light of Covid-19. Phuket airport warns against fake news about reopening PHUKET: The Airports of Thailand management team at Phuket International Airport (AoT Phuket) has warned against fake news circulating on social media claiming that the airport will reopen tomorrow (June 5). tourismtransport By The Phuket News Thursday 4 June 2020, 08:49AM Image: AoT Phuket The fake news post features an image simulating an official notice, the AoT Phuket announced in a statement yesterday (June 3). Phuket International Airport would like to clarify that the said document is just an appointment to check the facilities of the maintenance department, AoT Phuket explained yesterday. The airport opening on the 5th ...... Is not true, the statement said, adding that the fake news had caused much confusion. Phuket Airport is currently under a period of suspended operations of in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand notification regarding conditions and time limits for using the airport for takeoff and landing (No. 3), which CAAT announced by a formal Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) that extended the suspension period for Phuket Airport from 22.15 hrs May 29 to 23.59 hrs June 15. (Until further notice), AoT Phuket explained clearly. If an official announcement [regarding the reopening of the airport] is made, public relations will be provided, AoT Phuket assured in its notice yesterday. However, while the airport is closed to all regular flights, The airport can be opened for service, the statement said. Please do not be confused Phuket International Airport apologizes for the inconvenience this has caused, AoT Phuket added. Woodbine Mohawk Park hosted a 12-race qualifying session on Thursday morning (June 4) under gorgeous conditions and over a 'fast' track. The session featured a cross section of local trotting and pacing stars that are continuing to prep for their return to live pari-mutuel racing. Musical Rhythm was not content to merely trot around the track during Race 2, as the Ben Baillargeon-trained and Mario Baillargeon-driven horse showed multiple moves before hitting the wire first in 1:55.3. The O'Brien Award winner strode out from Post 7 and was first down to the quarter pole in 29 seconds. After having relinquished the lead early in the second panel, Baillargeon opted to engineer a pocket ride past the :58.2 half-mile pole and through the 1:26.4 three quarters. Baillargeon tipped the son of Cantab Hall out in the lane, and the career winner of $888,488 went on to trot to a handy 1:55.3 win. Karma Seelster was all business in Race 4 for trainer Gregg McNair and pilot Doug McNair. The three-year-old daughter of Sportswriter paced out to the lead early and cut all of the fractions (:29, :57.1, 1:25.3) before kicking home to a solid win in 1:53.2. O'Brien Award winner Alicorn also contested Race 4. The O'Brien Award winner stalked her rivals early and geared up in the lane. Alicorn came on to finish third in the mile. Mayhem Hanover, last season's Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Final winner, captured Race 5 in 1:54.2. The son of Sportswriter sat third through the fractions (:28.3, :58.2, 1:27) and then swung out three-wide in the stretch for a well-timed victory. Mayhem Hanover has been installed as a 48-1 shot in Trot Magazine's 2020 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book. To view the spring book odds, click here. Port Perry looked fresh for trainer Luc Blais and driver Bob McClure in Race 8, as the three-year-old son of Kadabra trotted to an uncontested victory in 1:56.4. The career winner of $303,000 left from Post 7 and cut all of the fractions (:30, :58.2, 1:27.2) before home cruising through the lane. To view the harness racing results for Mohawk's Thursday qualifying session, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifying). Up to Thursday, no new fatality through Covid-19 had been reported this week in Malaga province, including the Costa del Sol, and five new cases had been reported in the previous 24 hours. There were only 94 coronavirus patients still in hospital on Thursday in the whole Andalusian region, of whom 30 were in intensive care. The data was published as usual by the regional Health ministry amid hopes that all the region can move into Phase Three in the coming days. Those 94 people in hospital is equivalent to 97 per cent fewer than 30 March, the peak of the pandemic in southern Spain, when there were 2,708 in hospital. In hospitals in Malaga province there were 17 still inside, with four in intensive care, this week. Nationally, there were 195 positive tests for Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours on Thursday, compared to 219 on Wednesday. In the last week nationally 166 have still needed inpatient hospital treatment, of whom 11 were in intensive care. Amid ongoing confusion over the number of deaths reported nationally compared to each region, the national ministry of Health said it was counting 56 deaths across Spain in the last week, bringing its current total to 27,133. The Office of the National Chief Imam is deliberating with stakeholders on whether or not to hold the Jummah prayers on June 5, following the Presidents lifting of the ban on communal worship with preconditions. The Ghana Muslim Mission (GMM) is also meeting to over the issue. Alhaji Khuzaima Osman, the Personal Assistant to the National Chief Imam, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said a final decision would be reached later Wednesday or Thursday. He said the leadership of mosques were, however, free to organise Jummah prayers but they must ensure that they adhered strictly to the safety and hygiene protocols. Meanwhile, in an interview with a cross-section of Muslims, Mrs Nihad Usuf, staff of Pharmanova, said she would not be going to the mosque this Friday. "I will wait for at least a month, after which if nothing risky happens I will consider," she said Mr Fouad Sarpong, a teacher, said he would only go to the mosque after seeing the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases dwindling. He said he would consider his decision when the number of recorded cases starts dwindling. Giving the green light for communal worship, the President, among others asked the authorities to provide hand washing facilities, ensure one-metre distance rule among worshippers, who should be in face masks. A record of worshippers, who should not exceed 100 in any given space, must be kept for each service to make contact tracing easy in case of an incident. The President urged the worshippers to dedicate the June 5 prayers to national development. The President announced the COVID-19 containment ban on public gatherings on Sunday, March 15. Ghana's confirmed cases of COVID-19, now stands at 8,297, with 2,986 recoveries and a death toll of 38. 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 John Waters and Gemma ODoherty, arrive at the High Court in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) The High Court has ruled that John Waters and Gemma ODoherty must pay the costs of their failed challenge of the emergency laws introduced in light of the Covid-19 crisis. Mr Justice Charles Meenan said on Thursday that they must pay the costs of the Minister for Health Simon Harris, the Attorney General and the Oireachtas. In judicial review proceedings against the State and Mr Harris, Mr Waters and Ms ODoherty were seeking to have various pieces of recently enacted legislation quashed. The legislation they wanted to challenge includes the 2020 Health Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, the 2020 Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act Covid-19 Act, and the 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order. However, the High Court last month refused permission to allow the pair to challenge the emergency laws. The judge said he will limit the costs to the two day hearings on May 5 and 6. Ms ODoherty and Mr Waters argued that they should not pay legal costs as the case was brought in the public interest. In his ruling, Justice Meenan said: The applicants principal contention is that, as they brought proceedings in the public interest, they ought not to be penalised by having to pay costs for failing to obtain leave to proceed. In view, this contention does not stand up to much scrutiny. The applicants did not engage with the case being made by the respondents and the Oireachtas in any meaningful way. Rather, they proceeded with their application on the basis that as they were of the opinion they had an arguable case, this, of itself, was sufficient for the court to grant them leave. There is no doubt that issues raised by the widespread restrictions by the legislation and regulations in question are important matters of public interest. However, the manner in which the applicants conducted their proceedings, their failure to consider or answer the case being made against them and to only have regard to their own opinions meant that these proceedings were very far from being made in the public interest. I am satisfied that no grounds have been established for me to depart from the general rule that costs follow the event. I will, therefore, grant the respondent and the Oireachtas their costs. After the ruling, Ms ODoherty tweeted: John Waters and I are not remotely afraid of costs. We are terrified for Ireland which is facing its darkest moment. Our case is under appeal. Not one cent will be paid to the unelected government. The borough assembly approved the Emergency Operations Center to answer a survey from the Alaska Municipal League regarding the presence of cruise ships in Alaska and also heard concerns over cruise ships arriving in port. The assembly had the option to hold a special meeting to provide input on the survey, but the assembly members felt comfortable with the EOC answering the questions. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the communities at a recent AML meeting were cautious and showed anxiety over cruise ship traffic in the state this summer. American Cruise Lines' American Cons... THE WOODLANDS, Texas, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Integris Applied (www.integrisapplied.com) continues its partnership with the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) to evolve the role of the state CIO through the recent publication of NASCIO's paper "The State CIO Operating Model: Leveraging the Power of the Four Forces." Patrick Moore, Integris Applied Managing Director and former CIO for the state of Georgia, served as a principal author of the report. Integris Applied "We have been grateful to work with the entire NASCIO staff especially Eric Sweden to produce a series of publications and tools that help explain the importance and complexity of the CIO role." Moore, who developed the "Four Forces for Government Change" model cited in the NASCIO paper, argues that, "State CIOs are leaders, and their stakeholders are beginning to understand that technology is more than iPhones, apps and websites. Technology is a tool to meet government's goals of improving service to citizens. Building a coalition to adopt a relevant technology strategy is the CIO's job. The "Four Forces" is designed to show the myriad influences a state CIO must managed." Les Druitt, Integris Applied CEO, stated, "CIOs are managing diverse environment with multiple new services and many suppliers. Helping customers and stakeholders see a vision for improved citizen engagement is the modern CIOs job and the work with have done with NASCIO and promoted those concepts. These strategies are grounded in reality and Integris Applied uses them frequently with our public sector clients." Other papers in this series includes: About Integris Applied: Integris Applied is a management consulting firm focused on CIOs and their organizations. We guide clients through the changes required to implement sustainable technology-led strategies. We shape IT organizations and environments with an approach that unifies vision, action and the people who influence both. We have walked in your shoes as buyers, sellers and advisors ... and will walk with you now, on your journey. Media Contact: Patrick Moore (404) 414-9060 [email protected] SOURCE Integris Applied Related Links http://www.integrisapplied.com More protests and gatherings are expected in Toronto in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in the presence of Toronto police. According to police, three events are scheduled in Toronto Friday with three more planned for Saturday. On Friday, a rally is set to begin at Yonge and Bloor Streets at 12:30 p.m., followed by another at 4 p.m. at Yonge-Dundas Square. A candlelight vigil is also scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Nathan Phillips Square. Police are expecting several protests to merge Saturday afternoon, including one staged to begin at Trinity-Bellwoods Park, police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said. An online notice for the Trinity-Bellwoods rally calls for a peaceful protest against the deaths of unarmed Black people at the hands of police officers. At a Thursday-afternoon news conference, Toronto police chief Mark Saunders stressed to reporters that protests have been peaceful to date. Organizers have helped by self-regulating to ensure peaceful protests and Saunders said he is encouraging them to continue doing so. Saunders encouraged members of the public to continue to protest peacefully, acknowledging theres a lot of passion, theres a lot of anger and theres a lot of hope. Asked how he felt in this moment, as a police chief and a Black man, Saunders said: I understand it. Anti-Black racism its not words, its reality, he said, adding its important to talk about the history of racism. The incremental change is why people are so angry right now, Saunders said. There has to be bigger change Ontarios Special Investigations Unit is investigating the May 27 death of Korchinski-Paquet, an Afro-Indigenous woman who fell her 24th-floor balcony while police were inside her familys apartment. Her family had called police for help in what the SIU has referred to as a domestic situation and the family says was a mental health crisis. Knia Singh, a lawyer and the familys spokesperson, said Korchinski-Paquets relatives need to know how a call for help resulted in the 29-year-olds death. After the family cancelled a Wednesday interview with the SIU, the watchdog called on Toronto police to fight leaks to the media. By law, police cannot discuss details of an incident under investigation by the SIU, the civilian agency tasked with investigating police incidents that result in serious injury and death, or involve allegations of sexual assault against an officer. On Wednesday, Gray said the service takes the unauthorized release of information seriously and is conducting an internal investigation. According to the SIU, Toronto police officers were inside the family apartment when they observed a woman on the balcony and a short time later, the woman fell from the balcony to the ground floor. Korchinski-Paquets death came two days after Floyd, 46, died while being handcuffed and restrained by four Minneapolis police officers, all of whom are now facing criminal charges. A massive, peaceful march protesting the Floyd and Korchinski-Paquet cases was held in Toronto last Saturday, with many rallygoers wearing masks and trying to maintain social distancing as best they could amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (The online notices for several rallies announced for Toronto later this week call on protesters to maintain two-metres of distance and wear a face mask.) In a virtual town hall on Thursday night with deputy mayor Michael Thompson, Mayor John Tory addressed the incredible anguish and hurt and emotional fatigue that we have seen in response to events taking place both in the United States and in Canada with regards to anti-Black racism and anti-Indigenous racism. Im proud of the way Toronto responded to this last Saturday, said Tory, referring to that days peaceful demonstration because what we had was a typically made-in-Toronto response that affirmed our values and affirmed that we know we have a problem. Anti-Black racism is still a reality in this city as much as some people will pretend that were doing so much better than the United States that we can be self-righteous about this. We cant. Its a reality here. Tory said body cameras worn by the police wont solve the problem but will help with accountability on all sides and have been approved as part of this years police budget and he is pushing for the cameras to be in use as early as this fall. He said he would like to see the force use a technology that allows cameras to be turned off by someone at headquarters, such as when there is a need to protect the privacy of sexual assault victims, not allowing officers to turn the cameras off themselves. Tory also referred to the SIU investigation into the death of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet. I think in all of the cases that are sent to the SIU they do have an obligation, especially on cases like this, but on general cases of all different kinds, to be more forthcoming about just giving people regular updates so (people) know that it hasnt in some way been swept under the carpet. I dont think they do a very good job of that and I say that with no disrespect . Theyre probably part of old police culture when you dont tell people much. I think thats old fashioned thinking especially when the community is so engaged in these things. The deaths of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who worked as a security guard, and of many other Black people following interactions with police have sparked widespread outrage and protests across North America. On Wednesday, former U.S. president Barack Obama publicly appealed for mayors across the country to pledge to reform police use-of-force protocols. And Thursday afternoon, celebrities, civil rights activists, politicians and Floyds family gathered in Minneapolis for a memorial service broadcast live across the continent. Of the prospect of continuing anti-racism protests in Toronto, Tory said he is aware of notices of upcoming protests and asks people who have legitimate grievances to protest peacefully. He added: There is anti-Black racism here. I have never had that experience, Ive never been stopped while driving. Thompson, who is a City councillor, said Thursday he is deeply concerned Korchinski-Paquets death, saying: At a time when deep racial tension dominates the news media, did Miss Korchinski-Paquet race play a role in this terrible outcome? Were the attending officers adequately trained and equipped to handle someone with mental health issues? The answers we need to bring public closure to the racially and emotionally charged incident has not been made public by the SIU or the police. Im concerned that where there is a vacuum of information, agenda-driven theories and assumptions will rush in. We need to know the facts if we are to react appropriately and to act reasonably as our city copes with yet another police intervention gone wrong. Typically slow to release information before the close of a case, the SIU has provided several updates on its investigation of Korchinski-Paquets death. In a statement Wednesday, the SIU said it respects the familys decision to hold off on an interview over concerns that information may have been leaked to the media by unnamed police sources. According to Singh, the family backed out of the interview over two Toronto Sun articles that included information cited to anonymous sources, including the claim that Korchinski-Paquet died attempting to vault to a neighbouring balcony. The Toronto police service said it does not comment on the validity of information from unnamed sources, but that unauthorized release of information is being investigated by the services professional standards unit. Hundreds also gathered for a rally in Oakville Thursday afternoon. With files from Wendy Gillis David Rider is the Stars City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider Read more about: FALLS TOWNSHIP >> In an effort to be fiscally responsible while ridding Falls Township Community Park of Canada geese, the Falls Township Supervisors approved a multi-faceted, year-long geese mitigation plan at a one percent savings over 2021. Stepped up geese management efforts began in 2015 and have significantly reduced the number of geese at the park, Falls Township Parks and Recreation... Mumbai: A couple facing social boycott, imposed by a 'caste panchayat' in a village in coastal Konkan, on Thursday performed puja of the Ganesh idol installed at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's official residence here after he intervened on knowing about their plight. The middle-aged couple, Parmanand Hewalekar and Preetam, had reached the main gate of the state Government Secretariat here yesterday, carrying an idol of Ganesh, after people of their village barred them from celebrating the puja. Hearing their plight, Fadnavis invited them to his official residence Varsha to perform the puja. The Chief Minister later directed Collector and Superintendent of Police of Sindhudurg to look into the grievance of the couple and take necessary action. He also asked the senior bureaucrats to conduct a probe into the boycott and provide relief to the man and his wife. The couple was on dharna at Mantralaya last night to seek justice against their social boycott. The Hewalekars have allegedly been ostracised by the jaat panchayat of their village Mahadevache Kerwade in Kudal tehsil of Sindhudurg district. The spectre of caste panchayats in Maharashtra resurfaced last month when a 45-year-old autorickshaw driver in Pune was allegedly driven to suicide after suffering sustained humiliation at the hands of an illicit caste tribunal. Arun Kisan Naikunji, who belonged to the Lingayat Gawli caste, allegedly took his own life at his home in Punes Wadgaon Sheri area by hanging himself after he and his family were boycotted relentlessly for two years by the caste tribunal. He had suffered social exclusion for reportedly supporting an inter-caste marriage, which was attended by the victims brother. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Photo credit: Netflix From Digital Spy Aunt Becky hasn't been seen on Fuller House for quite some time. The actor who plays her, Lori Loughlin, was booted off the Netflix sitcom back in March 2019 following her involvement in a college admissions scandal. That followed Hallmark Channel's decision to also end its relationship with her, despite Loughlin playing one of the central characters in When Calls the Heart. "We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations," said the network in a statement (via CNN). "We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including Garage Sale Mysteries, an independent third party production." Photo credit: Netflix Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, and Felicity Huffman (When They See Us, American Crime, Desperate Housewives) were among 50 wealthy people who were alleged to have bribed a number of top-tier US colleges (or universities as we'd call them in the UK) in return for their children being admitted. According to AP News, Loughlin and her husband both agreed to plead guilty, with the ex-Fuller House actor serving a two month sentence, and the designer serving five months. That came after the pair had claimed that they were innocent. According to their lawyer, they believed that the $500,000 payment was a "legitimate donation" to the college. Huffman also pleaded guilty and was given a 14-day sentence. She was released after 11 days. Photo credit: Boston Globe - Getty Images But that didn't help the Fuller House showrunners explain what had happened to Becky. Loughlin's story had been well-documented, but her character's disappearance was shrouded in mystery. Well, we finally got our answer in season five, episode 15. Pamela had been bitten at school and her dad Jesse wanted to get the bottom of it. But his daughter and her teacher were keeping schtum, so he devised a plan to find the culprit. Story continues DJ suggested speaking to his wife, Becky, before doing anything drastic, to which he replied: "Aunt Becky is in Nebraska helping out her mother. I don't want to bother her with such a tiny little thing like this." And there you have it. Case closed. Photo credit: Netflix Season five is Fuller House's final run, which means its showrunners can rest easy knowing that the dark cloud hanging over Loughlin's absence isn't something they'll ever have to revisit. But for Loughlin herself, this is a story which will follow her around for the rest of her days. Digital Spy now has a newsletter sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox. Looking for more TV recommendations and discussion? Head over to our Facebook Group to see new picks every day, and chat with other readers about what they're watching right now. You Might Also Like ATLANTA, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A global leader in the fight against cancer, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) announced today a $100,000 donation by the Press On Fund to support LLS's assault on pediatric cancer. LLS is working with a team of renowned pediatric oncologists to lay the groundwork for a global precision medicine master clinical trial to match children with relapsed acute leukemia to a targeted therapy based on the specific abnormalities driving their cancer. The goal of the trial is to test multiple targeted therapies simultaneously at up to 200 clinical sites worldwide. Press On Fund's donation supports this unprecedented clinical trial called LLS PedAL, which is a key component of The LLS Children's Initiative, a comprehensive $100 million multi-year endeavor to take on children's cancer from every direction, including new research grants to advance novel therapies, enhanced free education and support services for children and their families, and renewed policy and advocacy efforts. "As parents who have experienced this fight first-hand, we know how important LLS PedAL is for children and families everywhere," said Tara Simkins, co-founder of the Press On Fund and mother to Brennan, a childhood cancer survivor. "We are extraordinarily hopeful about this groundbreaking research, offering promise for less toxic and more effective treatment options for children battling cancer." While many children survive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of pediatric blood cancer, the treatments are harsh and outdated. The long-term effects of current therapies can create severe life-threatening complications. And survival rates for children with other high-risk types of leukemia, such as acute myeloid leukemia, are very poor. "Our gratitude for the generosity of the Press On Fund and their commitment to our quest to fight pediatric cancer cannot be overstated", said Piper Medcalf, LLS Georgia Chapter Executive Director. "We need this kind of support now, more than ever. For too long, treatment for pediatric cancer has followed a one-size-fits-all approach and we need to do better. With LLS PedAL, we will." About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a global leader in the fight against cancer. The LLS mission: cure leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rye Brook, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org. Patients should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ET. For additional information visit lls.org/lls-newsnetwork. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The LLS Children's Initiative: Cures and Care for Children with Cancer The LLS Children's Initiative is a $100 million multi-year effort to take on children's cancer through every facet of LLS's mission: research, patient education and support and policy and advocacy. The LLS Children's Initiative includes: more pediatric research grants, a global precision medicine clinical trial, expanded free education and support services for children and families and driving policies and laws that break down barriers to care. To learn more, visit www.lls.org/childrens-initiative. About Press On Fund Press On's unique mission is to identify feasible and groundbreaking alternative therapies for childhood cancers and to invest monies raised in a manner that supports the science and infrastructure needed to cure childhood cancer within our lifetime. Press On, created in 2006, is made up of four families whose lives were connected by childhood cancer and saw a need for additional funding for childhood cancer research. Press On is a field of interest fund of the Community Foundation for the CSRA and uses a 100% donation model. To learn more, visit www.pressonfund.org. Press On Fund's social media handles: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @wepresson Contact: Andrea Greif Vice President, Communications The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (914) 821-8958 [email protected] Contact: Piper Medcalf, Executive Director [email protected] SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Related Links http://www.lls.org New research finds reassuring evidence about the integrity of clinical trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, with some concerns only regarding small pharma companies In a time when we have to rely on clinical trials for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) brings good news about the credibility of registered clinical trials. The authors are two Bocconi Professors of Economics, Jerome Adda and Marco Ottaviani, and a former MSc student of theirs, Christian Decker, now a PhD candidate at the University of Zurich. In a clinical trial, statistical significance is a key prerequisite for marketing approval of new drugs. Under a certain threshold of significance, the results of the trial could in fact be due to chance and not to the efficacy of the drug. Given the research costs involved and the lure of large potential profits by the pharmaceutical companies sponsoring the trial, investigators may be pressured to beautify data, a standard argument goes. Previous studies of results of statistical tests reported in scientific journals across a number of disciplines did actually detect an anomalous concentration of significance values immediately above the significance threshold, raising suspicions of selective reporting as well as manipulation. Adda, Ottaviani and Decker concentrated their attention on the trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, the largest registry in the world, and focused on the differences in the results of phase II and phase III trials of the same drug. In phase II a drug's efficacy is initially established in a small sample of people (usually in the low hundreds); in phase III safety and efficacy are then confirmed in a larger group of volunteers (usually in the low thousands). Reasonable expectations are that the statistical significance of phase II will be confirmed in phase III and that trials that record a significance level under the threshold in phase II will be suspended. Observing all the registered trials, the scholars observe a discontinuity around the significance threshold value only in phase III, but not the spike denounced by previous studies: trials just above the thresholds are only slightly more numerous than expected. They, then, limit their observations to the trials registered by the top-10 pharma companies and by smaller operators. While larger companies are more inclined to suspend experimentation under threshold in phase II, small companies tend to continue with more of the trials under threshold and end up recording a higher share of trials above threshold in phase III. The predicted share of trial results above threshold in phase III for large companies is 65%, and the actually recorded share 68%; with small companies (that bring to phase III also less promising drug candidates), the figures are 57% and 76%. "Even in the case of phase III trials by small companies", Professor Ottaviani explains, "we do not observe the spike of results just above the significance threshold. We think that the registration process is key for transparency". ### Jerome Adda, Christian Decker, Marco Ottaviani, "P-hacking in clinical trials and how incentives shape the distribution of results across phases", in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 2 June 2020, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1919906117. Lesley-Ann Brandt brilliantly portrays the fierce demon Mazikeen on Lucifer. And in a recent Instagram post, the actress paid a powerful tribute to the black women of DC TV, calling them her sisters and her tribe. Lesley-Ann Brandt | David Livingston/Getty Images Lesley-Ann Brandt plays a DC character on Lucifer For four seasons, Brandt has taken on the role of Mazikeen, aka Maze on the FOX/Netflix series, Lucifer. Her character was created by Neil Gaiman and Kelley Jones for DC Comics, and was first introduced in Sandman Vol. 2 #22 in 1990. The character then went on to appear in the DC comic book series, Lucifer. In the DC Comics and the TV series, Mazikeen is a powerful and loyal ally of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis). And as Maze, Brandt is often featured in scenes as a skilled fighter with a fascination for weapons. Lucifer was on FOX for three seasons before it was canceled. But when fans demanded the show return, Netflix swooped in to bring it back for Season 4. The streamer is expected to release a 16-episode fifth season in the near future, but an official premiere date has yet to be announced. RELATED: Lucifer Season 6: Tom Ellis Has Reportedly Signed On Shes been vocal about social justice With protests demanding an end to police brutality, racism, and justice for George Floyd the unarmed black man killed in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis Brandt and her Lucifer co-stars have taken to social media to share their support. Brandt recently opened up about her own experiences with racism, as well as her parents life in their home country of South Africa. My father told about the rage and pain he walked around with inside as a young man living in apartheid in South Africa, she wrote in a May 30 tweet. To understand whats happening , you must understand the pain. And I want to acknowledge my parents. Who through whats happening here in the US, are reliving their own trauma from apartheid in South Africa. They shared experiences with me I cant share publicly Weve cried. Thank you for fighting for me all those years ago. Love u pic.twitter.com/iGTPvjXKC9 Lesley-Ann Brandt (@LesleyAnnBrandt) June 4, 2020 On June 4, Brandt posted an old picture of her parents on Twitter. In the post, she revealed how current injustices are forcing them to remember the horrendous South African apartheid. And I want to acknowledge my parents, she wrote in the tweet. Who through whats happening here in the US, are reliving their own trauma from apartheid in South Africa. They shared experiences with me I cant share publicly Broken heart Weve cried. Thank you for fighting for me all those years ago. RELATED: Riverdale: Vanessa Morgan Spells Out the Problem With the Shows Treatment of Black Characters Brandt shares a powerful tribute on Instagram In a June 4 Instagram post, Brandt shared a powerful picture of eight black actresses, including herself, who currently portray DC characters on TV. The photo features Candice Patton who plays Iris West on The Flash; Meagan Tandy from Batwoman; Azie Tesfai of Supergirl; Vanessa Morgan who portrays Toni Topaz on Riverdale; Anna Diop from Titans and Legends of Tomorrow: Ashleigh Muray from Katy Keene; and Nafessa Williams, who stars on Black Lightning. Women are conditioned to see each other as competition, Brandt captioned the photo collage. Ive never subscribed to that. These past few weeks, Ive leaned into these beautiful queens. We make up the black women of the DCTV universe. I have never been prouder to call these beauties my sisters, my tribe. Thank you. Many of the actresses who are tagged in the post, including Patton and Tandy, commented with supportive emojis and hearts. The U.S. Air Force is asking companies to submit ideas for a next-generation hunter-killer drone to replace the MQ-9 Reaper. It's seeking a drone that may incorporate artificial intelligence and could be inexpensive enough to be considered expendable. In a request for information solicitation posted on the government's acquisition and awards website, the service said it will begin accepting ideas for the "Next Generation UAS ISR/Strike Platform," an improved unmanned aerial system that has both intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and strike capabilities. Read Next: Army General in Germany Suspended Pending Investigation Companies should offer autonomy, AI, "machine learning, digital engineering, open mission systems (OMS) and attritable technology," among other attributes, according to the RFI, posted June 3. Open mission systems are designed to be modular and easily upgraded over the system's lifetime. Digital engineering allows developers to simulate parts through computer models before development. The service is looking for a cost-effective drone, possibly cheap enough to be considered "attritable," or expendable. Air Force Materiel Command, which is leading the search, said developers "are encouraged to consider [or] assume the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Skyborg program as the primary UAS autonomous baseline solution" for the next-gen strike drone. Parallel to the Air Force's proposed Loyal Wingman program -- which aims to send out drones ahead of fighters to act as scouts -- the AFRL has been developing the "Skyborg" program, seeking to pair AI with a human piloting a fighter jet. The Air Force launched an official solicitation for Skyborg last month. While the service is expected to lay out details for its MQ-9 replacement plan in its fiscal 2022 budget, the first delivery for a Reaper follow-on is expected in fiscal 2030, with a projected initial operational capability sometime in 2031, the solicitation states. The Air Force revealed through its fiscal 2021 budget submission that it plans to buy its final 24 Reapers this year, cutting the total buy to 337 aircraft from the planned 363, Air Force Magazine reported in February. Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, told lawmakers in March that, while the MQ-9 has taken on robust operations -- encompassing both ISR and strike -- for more than a decade, it simply isn't suited to the high-end fight for which the service is preparing. "The Reaper has been a great platform for us," Roper said before the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces. "[But] there are things that are more high-end military unique, things that are meant to be able to survive even in a contested environment. A lot of technology will have to go [into that], and there will likely be expensive systems, but we also see a lot of opportunity to bring in commercial technology, push the price point down, have systems that ... we can take more loss with." In 2017, commanders expanded the mission set of the larger, faster MQ-9 as the Air Force began phasing out its unmanned cousin, the MQ-1 Predator. That year, the MQ-9 bagged its first air-to-air kill of another small, aerial vehicle in a controlled test, showing it had the ability to conduct air-to-air combat. The MQ-1 officially retired in 2018. But on June 6, 2019, U.S. Central Command confirmed that a Reaper had been shot down by Iran-backed rebel Houthis, with Iranian assistance. Another U.S. MQ-9 was shot down over Yemen by Houthi fighters that August, according to unnamed U.S. defense officials who spoke to Reuters. "As we look to the high-end fight, we just can't take [MQ-9s] into the battlefield," Roper said. "They are easily shot down, and so what we are preparing to do on the acquisition side as we take down the production line is build the next generation of systems." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: The Air Force Is Looking for a Successor to its MQ-9 Reaper Drone A genetic analysis of wild brook trout in streams across Loyalsock Creek drainage has shown that the fish are very similar genetically, suggesting close relatedness among populations. The only way that could have happened, according to researchers, is fish moving between tributaries in Loyalsock Creek. Credit: Shannon White, Penn State The Latin name for brook troutSalvelinus fontinalismeans "speckled fish of the fountains," but a new study by Penn State researchers suggests, for the first time, that the larger streams and rivers those fountains, or headwaters, flow into may be just as important to the brook trout. With few exceptions, brook trout are found now only in small mountain streams that stay cold enough year-round to meet their biological needs, below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Because these trout in the United States are threatened by a warming climate, many have assumed those headwater habitats alone are critical for their survival. But a genetic analysis of brook trout in streams across the 460-square-mile Loyalsock Creek drainage in north-central Pennsylvania shows that the fish are very similar genetically, suggesting close relatedness among populations. The only way that could have happened, according to researcher Shannon White, postdoctoral scholar in the College of Agricultural Sciences, is fish moving between tributaries in the 86-mile-long Loyalsock Creek. Temperatures in Loyalsock Creek exceed brook trout thermal tolerance from approximately June through September, White pointed out, so fish are believed to inhabit only the bigger river system during the winter. Although the behavior and survival of brook trout in Loyalsock Creek are not well understood, researchers hypothesize that some brook trout move into the mainstem after spawning in a tributary in October or November and stay until late spring, when some swim up new tributaries. "It's pretty simpleif widespread populations are related genetically, it indicates that fish are moving around between those populations," she said. "There's a high degree of genetic connectivity between populations separated by the mainstem, and that indicates that brook trout are swimming into Loyalsock Creek and using it as a movement corridor to connect populations in other tributaries." Understanding patterns of population connectivity is critical for species conservation, White added, because populations that are more connected typically are able to survive and adapt to disturbance and stress. To build what White called "a family tree" of brook trout in the Loyalsock drainage, researchers collected 1,627 adult brook trout from 33 sites, with an average of 49 individuals collected from each site. They clipped the caudal fins of those fish and conducted genetic analysis on those tissue samples. Small streams in the Loyalsock Creek drainage where brook trout live and spawn. Researchers developed a model to estimate the effect on fish movement caused by barriers such as waterfalls and road culverts. Credit: Tyler Wagner Research Group/Penn State To estimate statistically how unique habitat features, such as road culverts and waterfalls found in streams, influence the movement of wild brook trout, researchers developed what they call the "bidirectional geneflow in riverscapes" model as part of a practical framework that uses genetic data to understand patterns and drivers of fish movement. The novel modeling approach is significant, explained researcher Tyler Wagner, adjunct professor of fisheries ecology, because it shows that brook troutat least in the Loyalsock Creek watershedare not confined just to the headwaters. They are using the mainstem as a seasonal, thermally suitable corridor for movement. There is no reason to expect that the Loyalsock drainage is different from others in the East, Wagner contends, so these results likely have implications for the conservation and management of wild brook trout. Specifically, these results suggest that conservation of larger streams and rivers may be necessary to protect and conserve critical brook-trout movement corridors that keep brook trout populations healthy. "Some of the most fundamental questions in ecology relate to how organisms move through their environment," said Wagner, who is assistant leader of the U.S. Geological Survey's Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State. "These questions historically have been hard to address in fishes because it can be difficult statistically to estimate how unique habitat features found in streams and rivers influence movement. To address this void, we developed the riverscapes geneflow model." The findings of the Penn State study, recently published in Ecological Applications, contrast with other research related to brook trout behavior, White conceded. The consensus has been that trout do not move very far, she said. "But Loyalsock Creek is a fairly big watershed, and we have found that fish are moving quite a bit, and populations on opposite ends of the watershed are connected to one another genetically." However, White, who conducted a wide range of research on the brook trout population in the Loyalsock drainage while pursuing her doctoral degree in ecology at Penn State, noted that only a small proportion of the fish traveland it is not just the young males that branch out. This is different from most wildlife species. "In a separate study we used telemetry to monitor the movement of 162 fish and found that there is a small proportion of the population that moves," she said. "It's only about 20% of fish that get into Loyalsock Creek. In terms of males, females, and the size of fish that are moving, it doesn't really seem to make a difference. This would suggest that there may be a genetic component to movement, in the sense that some fish have genes that are programmed to make them travel." Explore further Few hatchery brook trout genes present in Pennsylvania watershed wild fish More information: Shannon L. White et al, A novel quantitative framework for riverscape genetics, Ecological Applications (2020). Journal information: Ecological Applications Shannon L. White et al, A novel quantitative framework for riverscape genetics,(2020). DOI: 10.1002/eap.2147 Above, from "The Crystal Ball" (1904) by John William Waterhouse. Predictions are a fraught enterprise. With computer models too. By Eric Felten, RealClearInvestigations June 4, 2020 COVID-19 has proved to be a crisis not only for public health but for public policy. As credentialed experts, media commentators, and elected officials have insisted that ordinary men and women heed the science, the statistical models cited by scientists to predict the spread of contagion and justify the lockdown of the national economy have proven to be far off-base. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York complained this week about the guessing business experts had presented to him dressed up as scientific fact: "All the early national experts [said]: Here's my projection model. Here's my projection model, Cuomo said. They were all wrong. They were all wrong." Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, whose computer modeling of the coronavirus predicted up to 2.2 million U.S. deaths. He has since resigned. A computer model produced by statisticians at Imperial College London had an outsized effect on government policy, predicting up to 2.2 million American deaths from the new coronavirus and as many as 9.6 million people requiring hospitalization. Instead, emergency rooms and hospital beds in all but the few hardest hit cities remained empty; rather than being overwhelmed by cases, many doctors and nurses found themselves out of work. As the staggering social and economic costs of shutdown have become painfully clear, the failure of the models to accurately anticipate what would happen is raising questions about their use to justify life-altering public policies. If computer models projecting the near-term future of an epidemic were so wrong, what does that mean for the far more complicated computer models predicting the far-off future of the entire planet? As Texas Sen. John Cornyn tweeted: After #COVID-19 crisis passes, could we have a good faith discussion about the uses and abuses of modeling to predict the future? Everything from public health, to economic to climate predictions. It isn't the scientific method, folks. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York on computer models: They were all wrong. They were all wrong." Scientific American sought to dismiss such concerns in an April 15 article headlined Climate Science Deniers Turn to Attacking Coronavirus Models. While not exactly defending the methodology used in the models, the article said they were wrong because millions of Americans responded to pleas for social distancing. It then invoked newer models that would also prove to be wrong forecasting only 60,000 U.S. deaths; there are now more than 107,000 before defending the original alarmist numbers with what almost sounds like an argument for the politicization of science from the coronavirus to climate change: Health experts say the models worked the way they were supposed to -- by providing a glimpse into a dire future that was partially averted because of collective action. Building complex models is both a science and an art. It requires vast amounts of data representing a range of factors that might influence a particular question. To predict the spread of COVID-19, for example, researchers need reliable data on a wide range of factors including how infectious the virus is, how it is transmitted, how much of the population is susceptible to the worst outcomes. They have to assign a weight to each factor in the model, and then crunch the numbers with powerful computers to produce probabilities of possible outcomes. Models may be helpful in thinking about the results of various policies. But they are easily oversold as providing answers with mathematical certainty. Writing in the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal), Devi Sridhar, a professor of public health at Edinburgh University, and Maimuna Majumder, a computational epidemiologist affiliated with Harvard Medical School, chide the modeling community for failing to make the limitations of models clear. Sridhar and Majumder call for transparency about the assumptions modelers make and clarity about how much the predictions shift when even small changes are made to the assumptions. Most of all, they urge humility about just how uncertain such models are. Dr. Anthony Fauci, with President Trump: "They dont tell you anything. You cant really rely upon models. In an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine Caution Warranted: Using the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Model for Predicting the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic three prominent British and American researchers warned against thinking computer calculations could replace sound data and independent judgment. This appearance of certainty is seductive, they wrote. That false sense of certainty is particularly seductive when the world is desperate to know what lies ahead. Their critique was withering. The flaws they found in the model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington included several dubious assumptions: that social distancing would play out the same way everywhere, for one, and that curves could be expected to follow the same general patterns from country to country. Evidence of how the disease had spread the essential data was sketchy, plagued by inconsistent and poor reporting. When the projections were revised, the magnitude of the changes revealed substantial volatility. Volatile predictions are inherently uncertain. But model-makers have presented their work with the impression of specificity. On March 27, for example, IHME predicted the number of COVID-19 deaths in New York would very likely be between 5,167 and 26,444. A rounded number say, 10,000 would have conveyed the ballpark nature of their guesstimate. Instead, the number the University of Washington group published was the very exact 10,243. As one statistician told RealClearInvestigations, the IHME projections suffer from the fallacy of misplaced concreteness. The Imperial College London model also suffered from uncertainty over what factors cause the disease to spread. Consider musical concerts. As states, counties and cities in the U.S. attempt to reopen gradually, the last on the list to be liberated are likely to be live performances that entail mass gatherings. And yet, go back to the Imperial College London study from the response team that did so much to stampede the U.K. into lockdown and one finds this assessment of the danger of crowds: Stopping mass gatherings is predicted to have relatively little impact because the contact-time at such events is relatively small compared to the time spent at home, in schools or workplaces and in other community locations such as bars and restaurants. Respected scientists questioned not only the epidemiologists efforts, but the very value of such models. "Ive spent a lot of time on the models," Dr. Anthony Fauci reportedly told his colleagues on the White House's pandemic task force. "They dont tell you anything. You cant really rely upon models. Mike Hulme of the University of Cambridge: Computer models appear to offer authoritative and quantified predictions of the future. This is as true for climate change as it is for a pandemic. And yet we do. We are impressed with models in part because of their intellectual provenance: They are created by some of the cleverest people and often rely on some of the most advanced monitoring or simulation technologies available to us, according to Mike Hulme, a professor at the University of Cambridge and editor of last years Contemporary Climate Change Debates: A Student Primer. If one is in need of an oracle, models appear to offer authoritative and quantified predictions of the future, he says. This is as true for climate change as it is for a pandemic. Climate modeling and virus transmission modeling have certain similarities, says Hulme. In both cases models are alluring, claiming to offer a glimpse of the future denied to mere mortals, he told RealClearInvestigations. Politicians easily get dazzled by them. People easily confuse precision -- models are good at that! -- with accuracy -- models are rarely accurate. Which is why Hulme praises as wise the decision-maker who isnt sucked into the gravitational force fields of models. There are also differences: Climate models have a leg up on the COVID models if only because theyve been tested for 20 to 30 years, and revised and adjusted accordingly, says Hulme. The COVID modelers have been working with inconsistent, gappy data and untried assumptions. And yet even with the decades of effort that has been put into climate, modelers struggle to predict phenomena such as regional rainfall. The key message, Hulme tells RCI, is not to mistake model-land for the real world. They are two separate places. All models are wrong, he says, but some are useful. Models are far better as tools to help us think with than they are as truth oracles. We must not think that models have some privileged access to the future. That would likely lead to some very poor decisions. A core challenge for models is the sheer number of variables that must be taken into account. With climate, that includes the amounts of greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, but also soot and sulfur aerosols and the activity of the sun. And then there are interactions to be accounted for. Not only do aerosols themselves affect how much sunlight reaches Earth, they affect the formation of clouds, which in turn reflect sunlight out of the atmosphere. Judith Curry: With every climate submodel added, the possibility of error compounds, multiplying the chance that the main model veers off target. Judith Curry: With every climate submodel added, the possibility of error compounds, multiplying the chance that the main model veers off target. If it is hard to model a single phenomenon, it is exponentially more difficult when a given model contains submodels, each with its own uncertainties. Each time you add a new submodel, you are adding new degrees of freedom to the system with new feedbacks, says Judith Curry, former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Then when you couple the new submodel to the larger model, you add additional degrees of freedom to each variable that the new submodel connects with. In other words, with every submodel added the possibility of error compounds, multiplying the chance that the main model veers off target. This issue, Curry says, remains at the heart of many of the problems and uncertainties in global climate models. The accuracy of climate model predictions also depends on assumptions made about future human behavior. If a model is alarming, its worth checking whether it has built in an unlikely eventuality, such as that by the end of the century industry will be burning five times the coal it is now. But predictions of human behavior are inherently uncertain. Whether disease or climate, a modeler has to anticipate the social issues that come into play. Did sudden mass joblessness and government-enforced social isolation help create tinderbox conditions leading to nationwide rioting, looting and arson? Crowds in the streets dont maintain social distancing, which means that mass protests could affect the number of people who become infected by COVID-19. There is no one climate model. The range of models used by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change rely on different assumptions but have been in the ballpark of observed warming. But there is regional variation in warming and many models have predicted rising temperatures in Antarctic waters and loss of sea ice there. Jagadish Shukla: Epidemiological models are empirical models driven by incomplete data; climate models are based on fundamental laws of physics and thermodynamics. Some climate scientists deny that COVID-19 models and climate models are anything alike. They stand by the rigor of climate simulations while agreeing the disease projections are flawed: There are fundamental differences between epidemiological models and climate models, George Mason University climatology professor Jagadish Shukla told RealClearInvestigations. The former are empirical models driven by incomplete data; climate models are based on fundamental laws of physics and thermodynamics. But many researchers vigorously defend the coronavirus models. Right answers are not what epidemiological models are for, Zeynep Tufekci wrote in The Atlantic. When an epidemiological model is believed and acted on, it can look like it was false. What matters in this view is that a model spur action to change the outcome, not that it does anything so mundane as describe the real world. Neither epidemic nor climate models attempt merely to predict what will happen. Instead, they set out to project what will happen if people do or dont change their behavior in response to the models. Modelers arent exactly incentivized to be modest about the worst-case scenarios. As one accomplished academic statistician told RealClearInvestigations, Part of the process is to scare people to get them to take things seriously. Physicist Lenny Smith, professor of statistics at the London School of Economics, says that many climate models operate on time frames beyond the lifespan of the modelers. Often, he says, we cant see the outcome being modeled for 150 years. By contrast, some of the COVID-19 models are being used to predict what will happen the next day. A group of Australian and American data scientists have been comparing the real coronavirus data of a given day against the IHME predictions made the day before. Put to the test, the model has proved to have little predictive value. COVID models are more easily evaluated, since they are making short-term predictions, says Judith Curry. Climate models are making predictions for decades into the future, she says. By the time the climate change is actually realized, there will have been several generations of new climate models. Sally Cripps, statistician: The data science community in particular needs a little more humility. It needs to hose down claims about Big Data being a crystal ball." In other words, the models get adjusted along the way, creating an appearance of accuracy. Its not done chaotically, as the epidemic model revisions have been, but rather in a systematic way that has been kept somewhat undercover. The climate model revisions are called tuning, and were discussed in The Art and Science of Climate Model Tuning by Frederic Hourdin and a dozen other climatologists in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society in 2017. [T]uning is often seen as an unavoidable but dirty part of climate modeling, they write, an act of tinkering that does not merit recording in the scientific literature. The tinkering consists of adjusting the values of the submodels after the fact, bringing the solution as a whole into line with aspects of the observed climate. The tinkering is not advertised, the scientists admit, because of concern that explaining that models are tuned, may strengthen the arguments of those claiming to question the validity of climate change projections. To make those adjustments, climate modelers follow theories; some use observations; some just make a back-of-the-envelope estimate. But it isnt done randomly: Hourdin et al. write, [S]ome models are explicitly, or implicitly, tuned to better match the 20th century warming. Whether its epidemiology, climate, or economics, says Sally Cripps of the University of Sydney, modelers need to acknowledge and explain the uncertainty in their enterprise. The data science community in particular needs a little more humility, she says. It needs to hose down claims about Big Data being a crystal ball, and instead use the data to understand what we dont know. That is the way forward. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 23:29:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed the hope that a COVID-19 vaccine will be seen as a global public good, or a people's vaccine. "COVID-19 is the greatest public health crisis of our generation. Right now, there is no vaccine. As we work together to develop one, there is an important lesson we need to understand. A vaccine, by itself, is not enough. We need global solidarity to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access," Guterres said at a virtual global vaccine summit. "A COVID-19 vaccine must be seen as a global public good, a people's vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for," he added. At the summit, Guterres called on participants to make three key commitments: find safe ways to continue delivering vaccinations, even as COVID-19 spreads; use the networks of vaccine-delivery to deliver a range of other primary health services; make sure a COVID-19 vaccine reaches everyone when it becomes available. "Diseases know no borders. That is why a fully-funded GAVI (Vaccine Alliance) will be critical to ensure we continue the progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals," said Guterres. Twenty million children are missing their full complement of vaccines, and one in five has received no vaccines at all, he noted. Under the shadow of COVID-19, their plight is even more desperate, he added, warning that the gaps in global vaccine delivery could grow wider. Enditem A longtime friend of George Floyd who was in the passenger seat of his car when Floyd was arrested by four Minnesota police officers and brutally killed, says he did not resist arrest. Maurice Lester Hall, 42, witnessed his friend's final moments when white cop Derek Chauvin pressed his knee behind Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as he pleaded 'I can't breathe', killing him. 'He was, from the beginning, trying in his humblest form to show he was not resisting in no form or way,' Hall said. Hall was tracked down and arrested in Houston, Texas on outstanding warrants and interviewed by Minnesota state investigators, where he broke his silence on seeing Floyd's death that has shaken the country. 'I could hear him pleading, "Please, officer, whats all this for?"' he said Wednesday night to the New York Times. Maurice Lester Hall, 42, the longtime friend of George Floyd (above) who was in his car when Floyd was stopped by police and brutally killed, is speaking out. He was interviewed by a Minnesota state investigator on Monday Video of George Floyd being pulled out of his car on May 25 by cops shows his friend in the passenger seat (pictured right), now identified as Hall, get out of the car first Footage of the police confrontation with Floyd ahead of his death shows Hall in white and red in the background Hall says he and Floyd spent part of his last day together May 25 before they were cornered by police on suspicion of using a fake $20 bill at a deli. 'He was just crying out at that time for anyone to help because he was dying,' Hall said. 'Im going to always remember seeing the fear in Floyds face because hes such a king. Thats what sticks with me, seeing a grown man cry, before seeing a grown man die,' he added. Hall is a key witness in the state's investigation into the four officers who arrested Floyd and oversaw his death, that triggered national outrage and protests denouncing police brutality. Hall had provided a false name to officers at the scene of Floyds arrest. He left Minneapolis and hitchhiked to Houston two days later, only after visiting a memorial at the site where his dear friend was killed. Hall had outstanding warrants for arrest on felony possession of a firearm, felony domestic assault and felony drug possession. 'When the whole world was finding out that they murdered George Floyd. I went and said a prayer where I witnessed him take his last breath, and I left,' he said. Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white cop who has since been arrested, was seen in footage kneeling on Floyd's neck for eight minutes as the victim repeatedly said he could not breathe (incident pictured) Another angle of the infamous video shows Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck and the three other cops right beside him in Minneapolis last Monday Hall and Floyd are both from Houston and became friends in Minneapolis through a pastor. He said they had been in touch every day since 2016. Hall said he considered Floyd a confidant and mentor. Hall was arrested on Monday evening by a dozen police officers and questioned for hours by a Minnesota state investigator about Floyds death, not his warrants. On Wednesday Derek Chauvin was hit with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder 'I knew what was happening, that they were coming. It was inevitable. Im a key witness to the cops murdering George Floyd, and they want to know my side. Whatever Ive been through, its all over with now. Its not about me,' Hall said. He was then transferred to the Harris County Jail in Houston. On Tuesday he returned to his home in the city after lawyers argued for his release. 'When Mr. Halls family found us, he had been isolated in jail for 10 hours after being interrogated until 3am. This is not how you treat a key witness, especially one that had just seen his friend murdered by police. Even with outstanding warrants, this should have been done another way,' his lawyer Ashlee C. McFarlane, a partner at Gerger Khalil Hennessy & McFarlane, said. The four former Minneapolis cops involved in Floyds death have been fired and on Wednesday were hit with new charges. Chauvin, the white officer who had his knee behind Floyds neck, was hit with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder. He was previously charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three cops who watched on as Minneapolis police officer George Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck as he died are in custody were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder on Wednesday. From left to right: J.A. Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao The three other officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. They were not initially charged in the case. Chauvin, 44, was arrested last week and is being held at the Minnesota Department of Corrections facility in Oak Park. His bail was raised to $1million on Wednesday. Lane, Kueng and Thao were taken into custody Wednesday and are being held on $1million bail, county jail records show. Second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree murder are punishable by up to 40 years in prison, while manslaughter and aiding and abetting manslaughter are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A young man has pleaded guilty over a fiery crash in Oakleigh East last year which left two dead. In the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, Hayden Currie admitted two counts of culpable driving, reckless conduct endangering life and recklessly causing serious injury. Hayden Currie outside the Melbourne Magistrates' Court last year. Credit:AAP Rear passenger Jacinta Barnett, 19, was taken to hospital but died and Shannon Juriansz, 21, was killed instantly. Sam Barnett said her daughter was an aspiring photographer and wanted to go travelling. A federal court judge has warned he will scrutinise legal costs as he weighs whether to approve a class action settlement over firefighting contamination, amid anger the proposal will see victims keep $126 million of their landmark $212 million payout. Aviation firefighters using foam contaminated with PFAS at Tullamarine, Victoria in 1998. Divisions have emerged over whether the compensation from the federal government will adequately cover property and business losses in three towns polluted by firefighting foam which leached from military bases. The foam contained toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals [PFAS]. A two-day hearing began on Thursday as Justice Michael Lee considers whether the proposed settlement reached in March is fair and reasonable to claimants. If not, the case will proceed to trial. UPPSALA, Sweden, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IAR Systems, the future-proof supplier of software tools and services for embedded development, today announces initial support for the draft RISC-V P extension in its powerful development tools IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V. Thanks to this early support for the extension as implemented by Andes Technology, a Premier Founding member of RISC-V International, developers are able to take advantage of a leading development toolchain when starting to develop applications based on the new RISC-V core extension. The RISC-V International is in the process to standardize a series of standard extensions beyond the integer base instructions which can be implemented or omitted as desired depending on the design goals (for example energy/area/performance/storage goals). The RISC-V P extension is designed to be a standard extension for Packed-SIMD instructions. The extension targets efficient media processing for audio, voice and images, and is a generalization of a Packed-SIMD extension donated to the RISC-V International by Andes Technology Corporation. "We have achieved around 9x performance boost of CIFAR-10 inference with RISC-V P extensions. Packed-SIMD provides edge processors more computing power with higher energy efficiency and minimal increase in cost, and such capability empowers edge devices to deal with voice and slow video processing," comments Dr. Chuanhua Chang, the Chair of RISC-V P extension Task Group and Head of Architecture Division of Andes Technology Corporation. "We are excited to partner with IAR Systems to further accelerate the performance of applications based on RISC-V in general and P extension in particular. Together, we provide powerful solutions that will enable our customers to meet and exceed their project requirements." "Andes is a strong and active player in the RISC-V community, and together we have a lot to offer with regards to performance," says Anders Holmberg, General Manager Embedded Development Tools, IAR Systems. "By jointly supporting the P extension, we bring extended possibilities for powerful RISC-V development and add new ways to optimize application and hardware performance." RISC-V is a free and open instruction set architecture (ISA) based on established Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) principles. Launched in 2019, IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V provides excellent optimization technology, helping developers ensure the application fits the required needs and optimize the utilization of on-board memory. This also enables companies to aggregate value by adding functionality to an existing platform. To ensure code quality, the toolchain includes C-STAT for integrated static code analysis. C-STAT can help prove compliance with specific standards like MISRA C:2004, MISRA C++:2008 and MISRA C:2012, as well as detect defects, bugs, and security vulnerabilities as defined by the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and a subset of CERT C/C++. The current version of IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V provides support for RV32 and RV32E 32-bit RISC-V cores and extensions. Future releases will include 64-bit support, as well as functional safety certification and security solutions. Complementing its strong tools product offering, IAR Systems delivers outstanding technical support from offices around the globe. Learn more at www.iar.com/riscv. ### Ends Editor's Note: IAR Systems, IAR Embedded Workbench, Embedded Trust, C-Trust, IAR Connect, C-SPY, C-RUN, C-STAT, IAR Visual State, IAR KickStart Kit, I-jet, I-jet Trace, I-scope, IAR Academy, IAR, and the logotype of IAR Systems are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by IAR Systems AB. All other product names are trademarks of their respective owners. IAR Systems Contacts AnnaMaria Tahlen, Content & Media Relations Manager, IAR Systems Tel: +46-18-16-78-00 Email: [email protected] Tora Fridholm, CMO, IAR Systems Tel: +46-18-16-78-00 Email: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/iar-systems/r/iar-systems-launches-support-for-the-risc-v-p-extension-for-packed-simd-instructions,c3127886 The following files are available for download: SOURCE IAR Systems CLEVELAND, Ohio Odell Beckham Jr. has been upset, frustrated, saddened and prayerful in the wake of George Floyds death, but now hes outraged and calling for police accountability and reform. Recent events in our country have highlighted the social injustice that has occurred for too long, the Browns receiver wrote on Instagram Wednesday. We all feel the pain of the victims lost who were sons, daughters, spouses, parents, family members, and friends to many. The unconscionable murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery along with the unanswered questions surrounding the deaths of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee have outraged us. Racism, police brutality and other abuses of power can no longer be tolerated. We demand that justice be served. The police officers who were involved in the murder of George Floyd should be prosecuted and held accountable for their actions. Adequate and consistent training for all officers on proper use of force should be required. We are suppose to depend on police officers to protect us. When an officer abuses their authority to harm someone, the good officers (I kno theres plenty of em) have a duty to intervene to protect that person whose being apprehended. If we want to deter the senseless killing of our people, there must be serious consequences for the actions of the officers involved, both through their actions and the others who failed to act in these situations. We need those in power to take action. Its begins with you all. Only then and ONLY then, can we even begin to heal as a country. All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyds death are now facing charges, with Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyds neck for more than 8 minutes, now being charged second-degree murder instead of third-degree. The other three officers on the scene have now been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Beckham has joined other Browns players such as Myles Garrett, JC Tretter and Karl Joseph, who have spoken out against social injustice in the wake of Floyds murder and that of others such as Taylor. IM FRUSTRATED. More so because I dont even kno how to speak or comment on this issue thats been goin on for so long. I hate feeling defeated as if the words I wanna say will@never be enough to stop whats goin on. Im Tired. People are losing brothers sisters daughters Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) May 30, 2020 Losing fathers mothers aunties uncles etc.... VIOLENCE isnt not the answer ... cops killing us is not the answer, us killin cops is not the answer. VIOLENCE WILL ONLY BRING MORE VIOLENCE Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) May 30, 2020 God .... Im praying that u can place your healin hand of grace upon this world . We NEED u right now more than ever. This has gotta end. Enough is enough. Its that time Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) May 30, 2020 At this point u either chose to be apart of the solution or youll remain a part of the problem. The chose is yours. But lets make the right chose so our kids kids wont have to grow up in this world weve creaTed. Im pray for PEACE. I pray for resolutions. I pray for NO MORE Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) May 30, 2020 - New Browns face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Browns-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection for adults and youth, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All NFL proceeds donated to CDC Foundation. More Browns coverage Bitonio: Mayfield will shine in offense, coronavirus risks, other takeaways Browns, Packers wont hold joint practices; NFL tells teams to stay at their facilities Letter to Baker Mayfield: Will 2019 be the best thing to happen to your pro career? Ranking the best Browns to wear each jersey number: 6-10 Myles Garrett offers to take care of anything for family of Louisville chef killed by police Bitonio: Landry 'emotional while addressing racism in Browns virtual meeting Players calling for justice reminiscent of 2017: Podcast Browns and Columbus Crew: We must do more work to end racism Join Football Insider to be part of Baker Week with reporters, fans on June 9 Garrett: This is what Colin Kaepernick was kneeling for Ranking the best Browns to wear each jersey number: 1-5 Brady Quinn: Baker Mayfield will be a top 10 QB in 2020 Why is Jadeveon Clowney hesitant about signing with the Browns? Hey, Mary Kay! GM Andrew Berrys big moves, Clowney situation: Lets talk Browns: Pluto [June 04, 2020] Caps and Gowns Go On at Home: Iowa Virtual Academy to Celebrate Class of 2020 with Online Commencement Iowa Virtual Academy (IAVA), an online public school program of the Clayton Ridge Community School District, will honor the Class of 2020 at an online commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 6. In lieu of their traditional in-person celebration, IAVA is inviting families and friends worldwide to join the celebration online, with live and recorded speeches from school leadership, students and esteemed guests. "While we look forward to our in-person celebration each year, the pride with which we celebrate the Class of 2020 is not diminished by these unique circumstances," said IAVA Head of School Steven Hoff. "We are proud to have provided our students with an education option that allowed them to reach this milestone, and we are happy to celebrate their achievements in any setting." This year, IAVA will graduate 46 students, many of whom have been enrolled at IAVA their entire high school career. Graduating seniors will receive their high school diplomas, and are mking plans to continue their education, join military service, or enter the workforce. Collectively, the class reports having been accepted to colleges and universities across Iowa and beyond, including Allen College, Bellevue University, Des Moines Area Community College, Ellsworth Community College, Florida State University, Indian Hills Community College, Iowa State University, Kirkwood Community College, Northern Iowa Community College, University of Iowa, and University of Northern Iowa. IAVA students access a robust online curriculum in the core subjects and a host of electives, and attend live virtual classes taught by state-licensed teachers. IAVA also offers student clubs, field trips and social outings to foster a sense of school community, such as this week's graduation celebration. Details of the graduation ceremony are as follows: WHAT: Iowa Virtual Academy 2020 Graduation Ceremony WHEN: Saturday, June 6, 2020, 1:00 PM CT WHERE: Register for the online ceremony here: https://tinyurl.com/IAVA2020Grad About Iowa Virtual Academy Iowa Virtual Academy is an online public school program of the Clayton Ridge Community School District, which uses curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. Iowa Virtual Academy's individualized approach gives Iowa students the chance to learn in the ways that are right for them. For more about IAVA, visit iava.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005070/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] This editorial appeared in the May 28, 2020, edition of the (Peoria) Journal Star: Its with much anticipation, excitement and a little bit of dread that businesses throughout Illinois will start reopening Friday. Just because they can open, doesnt mean they will. Its easy to shut down, but its more difficult to open the doors again, especially when there will be restrictions on the number of customers that will be allowed into an establishment and that customers and staff will have to abide by certain safety precautions. Making those adjustments will not be cheap and business owners will have to weigh whether the extra costs associated with reopening will be worth it. Some will decide that its too soon to reopen with COVID-19 still a threat and will take a cautious approach to protect customers and staff. There are plenty of challenges ahead. A couple of times a year we write editorials encouraging people to shop at local small businesses whether it be a retailer, a hardware store or a restaurant. This time is no different. If you are comfortable, if you feel safe, visit a business that has been closed since March and be as generous as you can when you order, buy and tip. You may not be able to because the shutdown affected your paycheck as well, but support a local business if you can. If the stimulus check you received is extra money for you, consider treating yourself and supporting your community. And dont forget nonprofits when you do so. Just about every business was hurt by the shutdown that has been in place since mid-March, but small businesses especially are vulnerable. A 2016 study by JP Morgan Chase Institute showed that half of small business held a cash buffer of 27 days of their typical spending. Theyve been closed more than twice that long with expenses such as utilities and rent going out and no money coming in. Other studies show that the smaller the business, the bigger the risk of going out-of-business. Big business fail, too, but small businesses are the lifeblood of communities. We need them and they need us. Small businesses are big contributors to our communities. Surveys consistently show that for every dollar you spend at a local, independent business, more of that money stays in your community than if you spent that buck with a national business. About 48% of what you spend at a local business is recirculated into the community. A chain store recirculates less than 14%. Its even more for local restaurants 65% to 30%. Unfortunately, it will be awhile before local restaurants will be going full speed. Pickup and carryout remain options, but there will be no dining in. Restaurants with outdoor seating can start serving customers. The weather has been pleasant for the most part so outside seating might be preferred even if inside seating were available. Economics aside, shopping at a local small business provides a better customer experience. You probably know the person behind the counter and you may even know the owner. That should make you feel safer than dealing with strangers. Small businesses give a community character. You can find chain stores in every city in the nation, but that locally owned store is something special in the community in which you live. Our communities may never be the same after what weve collectively experienced the last few months, but we can get start getting on with our lives as best we can. Most people in the region have been respectful, wearing masks, gloves and dutifully washing their hands until their fingers are pruney. That has helped keep the number of cases in our county relatively low. Keep it up and if you do want to shop or dine, remember the locals. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Okey Ezeala An Abia politician, Okey Ezeala has been called out by social media users over a post on rape which he shared on Facebook. The politician who contested for a seat in Abia State House of Assembly on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 election, was accused of justifying rape and insinuating rape victims are indecent. Ezeala Had Written; Rape is evil, but it never happens to a decent soul every victim played a role Here Are Some Reactions To The Post Below; This system developed by KIT fully automatically checks wear of machine tools and, thus, reduces outage times. (Photo: Markus Breig, KIT) Global population is increasing, crucial resources become scarcer. Producing enterprises today have to take the right steps for a sustainable future. On their behalf, scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) study how the production process may be improved by autonomous production control, reduction of wear parts, or principles of resource-efficient production. Their know-how is presently being pooled in the new research focus Sustainable Production. The new research focus Sustainable Production of the wbk Institute of Production Science is to push transition of production processes from linear to circular economy. This also includes remanufacturing, i.e. the reprocessing of spent products at modular plants for disassembly and reassembly, autonomous production control, and integrated quality assurance as well as production networks and business models needed for circular economy. DigiPrime: Information Flow in Circular Economy One of presently 15 research projects in this area is Digi-Prime - Digital Platform for Data-enhanced Circular Economy Business Models. DigiPrime is aimed at developing a digital platform for in-formation flow between various actors in circular economy and at ensuring that no information is lost along the chain of added value. In particular, life cycle data, such as utilization statistics and frequent error causes, will be used to improve internal planning of reprocessing in this complex and dynamic environment. By integrating industrial and social clusters, the project team wishes to reduce barriers in product processing, sales, and use in the second life cycle. In pilot projects, new concepts are developed, tested, and prepared for commercialization. The European Commission funds the project with about EUR 15 million for a duration of four years. Research Focus on Challenges and Goals of Industry A new research focus of wbk does not only result from theoretical considerations, but in close exchange with partners from industry. Together, we identify future challenges and goals. In this way, our solutions can be implemented directly in industry, says Professor Gisela Lanza, Head of KITs Institute of Production Science (wbk). A research focus is of high economic, social, and technical relevance and comprises several research. A research focus of wbk implies that work is performed from various perspectives. It may exist for sometimes 15 years and, hence, extend far beyond the duration of most research projects. Within the new research focus, scientists want to make the processes, plants, systems, and networks more sustainable and, in this way, enhance resource efficiency. Political relevance is reflected not only by climate neutrality that is to be reached in Germany by 2050, but also by the circular economy strategy of the European Union. Among others, this strategy is aimed at developing sustainable processes and products that are long-lived or can be reused, repaired, or reprocessed. Moreover, the demand for new resources is to be reduced. Test rig for studying damage of ball screw drives. (Photo: Markus Breig, KIT) First Steps towards Sustainable Production Companies that will continue to work in linear production chains will also be supported by researchers in enhancing resource efficiency. For this purpose, resource-efficient components are developed and the corresponding plants are designed. Moreover, material and energy efficiency of production processes are improved. A research project on anticipatory repairs is aimed at enhancing resource efficiency of screws, nuts, and the corresponding components. The Acoustic Emission Sensors project focuses on ball screw drives and the question of how these components can be operated as long as possible without any risk. Presently, ball screw drives are exchanged very early on a preventative base, as they are associated with the risk of failing and causing outage of a machine tool and of entire production in the worst case. Acoustic emission sensors, i.e. sensors that measure events in the low-frequency ultrasonic range between 20 kHz and 2 MHz, detect early signals of an imminent failure of the ball screw drive. Such sensors allow to monitor the ball screw drive and to exchange it at an ideal point of time, thus reduc-ing their consumption. The project is funded with about EUR 266,000 by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Resource Efficiency Thanks to Optimized Processes Another method to make manufacture more resource-efficient and respond to disturbance variables in the process is surface conditioning. This priority program scheduled for a duration of six years is funded by the DFG with EUR 12 million. Within the project, processes to optimize component edge layers are studied. The goal is to design dynamic forward controls by combining adequate sensors with simulation calculations and artificial intelligence. In this way, the manufactured components will reach the desired state in the pro-cess in spite of existing disturbances. Service life of the products is increased, material consumption is reduced, and energy efficiency of assemblies is improved decisively. More information: https://www.wbk.kit.edu/english/index.php Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. Motherhood is a journey indeeda smooth one that mums hope for. But especially for new mums, it could turn into a rollercoaster ride filled with twists and turns along the way especially in face of giving birth during COVID-19. It was definitely not what new mum, Kate Yong, had expected in her first pregnancy. She was due to deliver during the Circuit Breaker. I was in the third trimester, week 36 of my first pregnancy, when the Singapore government suddenly announced a partial lockdown, she shares her experience with the Dear Covid-19 memory project, a platform that details the everyday life of Singaporeans during COVID-19 through the letters or stories sent in. With the Circuit Breaker in motion, services that were deemed non-essential had to be cancelled, such as the post-natal massages Yong signed up for. According to the Singapore DJ-producer who is more widely known as DJ Tinc, she would also not be able to use the newborn baby photo package she had purchased. Everything was ruined. I wanted my confinement to be quiet and with time and space to recover. These are moments I can never get back. My baby will never be a newborn again and I cant turn back time. Photo: dearcovid19sg Giving Birth During COVID-19 In light of the COVID-19 situation, husbands are not allowed in the delivery suite if a C-section delivery is to be carried out, according to Yong. And this piled onto the fear that Yong had, in the event she had to undergo a C-section. But on the brighter side of things, the 29-year-old said that she enjoyed the quality solo time in the hospital for her recovery without people visiting every hour. Due to the Circuit Breaker restrictions, visitors were not allowed which the founder of This Beat is Sick (TBIS) academy describes as a blessing in disguise. We wouldnt have had this precious time together if not for the circuit breaker Story continues According to Yong, it was a really nice change of pace for [them] to have her husband by her side during the last month of her pregnancy, due to his shift to working from home. Even though he was working, his presence made me feel safe. Having him around during my confinement also made me feel a lot less stress and depressed. But through it all, Yong said at least all 3 of them are in this together. We wouldnt have had this precious time together if not for the circuit breaker. Giving Birth During COVID-19 Giving birth during COVID-19: We wouldnt have had this precious time together if not for the circuit breaker. | Photo: dearcovid19sg Irreplaceable Precious Moments Still, there were some lost moments that came with the Circuit Breaker restrictions, such as Yongs grandmother missing out on so much of [babys] first month despite being updated through daily video calls. Precious moments like these cant be relived but we make do with what we have. It is still a tough pill to swallow, lamented Yong as she shares how her grandmother is still waiting to see her first great-grandson. With COVID-19, Yong said that it made her realise the importance of not taking freedom for granted and learning how to cherish what she has. As much as this period has given Yong quality time with loved ones, she shared that it also cost her precious moments that she cant get back. Yong announced her pregnancy back in December 2019 via her Instagram page where she expressed her excitement in becoming a mum. With her dream come true, kudos to the new mum who made it through the COVID-19 pandemic. ALSO READ: What Parents, Pregnant Women Need to Know About COVID-19 The post New Mum DJ Tinc Details How Its Like Giving Birth During COVID-19 appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal The New Mexico Public Education Department is suggesting school districts ignore guidance from the U.S. Department of Education that would result in more resources being channeled to private school students. At issue is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Acts $108 million appropriation to New Mexico schools. Under distribution direction sent by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos agency in April, the PED estimates private schools would be eligible for roughly $6.7 million in resources for their students. But under the states interpretation of how this money should be allotted, private schools would likely get less than half of that leaving more funds for public school students. Scott Griggs, executive director of Independent Schools Association of the Southwest, said many private schools are facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources are important especially during this time as all schools are threatened and hurting because we are so tuition-dependent, he said. There will be more families unable to pay those tuitions next year. PED Secretary Ryan Stewart wrote in a letter to school leaders that the departments stance is founded on equity and its reading of the CARES Acts intent. A school districts portion of the states $108 million appropriation from a component of the CARES Act called the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund is distributed based on Title I information. Title I is a federal funding stream aimed at helping students from low-income families. Under typical Title I procedure, districts have to offer money indirectly to private schools by covering the cost of services, such as tutoring, according to the PED; funding isnt distributed to private schools directly. The price tag of the services paid for by the district is based on the number of the private schools students who are from low-income families and might otherwise attend a public Title I school. Stewart is recommending that districts continue using this calculation when it comes time to offer services to private schools through CARES Act funding. Equity and logic dictate that the amount of equitable services received by non-public schools under the CARES Act also must be calculated pursuant to Title I criteria, Stewart wrote to school leaders. However, the DeVos direction sent out in April recommends that the amount for CARES Act-funded services for private schools be based on the total enrollment of a participating private school not just the number of students they serve who are from low-income families. In May, the U.S. Department of Education outlined its intent to make a formal rule on this topic amid the controversy. Nancy Martira, a PED spokeswoman, told the Journal that about 25% of private schools typically use such services in New Mexico. However, the PED is anticipating more private schools in the state will seek resources under the CARES Act, she added. Martira said that the PED is aware of potential legal challenges this debate may result in, however, she said the DeVos guidance is non-binding. While school districts will ultimately decide how to move forward, the PEDs rejection of the U.S. Department of Education guidance was solidified in a formal note to school leaders across the state sent out in late May. PED, along with many other states and legal organizations, strongly disagrees with (the U.S. Department of Educations) interpretation of the CARES Act, and therefore we reiterate our guidance that equitable services should continue to be calculated in the manner in which it is calculated under Title I, the memo says. Pharmaceutical firms are racing against time as the number of coronavirus cases race beyond the 6 million mark globally. Even as several vaccine candidates have been successful in early human trials, reaching completion stage is still a tough task. The Indian government has now permitted a few relaxations to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. It has been done to assist the Indian pharma firms to get the vaccine out in the market soon. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan recently said that four out of the 14 coronavirus vaccine candidates from India may enter the clinical trial stage in the next three-five months. There are currently over 100 experimental coronavirus vaccines in various stages of development, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). So far, China's CanSino adenovirus vaccine, Oxford University's adenovirus vaccine, Moderna's mRNA vaccine and Novavax have emerged as the top most promising vaccine candidates globally. In India, Pune-based the National Institute of Virology (NIV) has recently been given permission to do a clinical trial for the coronavirus vaccine on 30 female monkeys. On Thursday, India reported the biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases. The country registered 9,303 coronavirus cases and 260 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data. With this India's coronavirus cases have climbed to 2.16 lakh, including 1.06 lakh active cases, 1.04 lakh cured or discharged or migrated, and 6,075 deaths. Global progress Remdesivir was the first drug to show encouraging results in coronavirus patients. In May, the drug received emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). It also received approval from the Japanese health regulators. A total of five vaccines, currently being developed by Chinese companies, are getting tested on humans. US-based healthcare firm Eli Lilly and Co on Monday said that it has begun with the world's first human trial of potential antibody treatment of coronavirus. The first set of patients have been dosed in an early-stage trial which is the first study across the world of an antibody treatment against the disease. Another American pharma major Pfizer is conducting clinical trials in the US and Europe for the BNT162 vaccine programme. Chairman of Swiss multinational chemicals and biotechnology company, Lonza, has said that it plans completion of two commercial production lines for Moderna Inc's trial coronavirus vaccine. Russia has also said that it is looking to start clinical trials within two weeks on the coronavirus vaccine. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Renault India gives 15% hike, promotions to boost morale of staff Also read: Rs 2 lakh crore blow to banks if interest during loan moratorium waived, RBI cautions SC MASHANTUCKET, Conn. -- The pit boss arrived at the craps table with a bottle of industrial-strength disinfectant. Then, with pain-staking precision, he sprayed each row of the colorful chips with so much of the pungent chemicals that one of the waiting gamblers actually gagged. Thats when it hit me: The chips have to take a shower before I can take a bath. I was standing at the end of that craps table at Foxwoods Resort Casino, just 24 hours after the gambling mecca re-opened after its two-month coronavirus shutdown. I was surrounded in three directions with plastic barriers made me feel like a cone of silence from Get Smart had been lowered over my head. Mpfff Umpf the dealer at the head of the table told me. Was he wishing me luck? Or telling me to apply more hand sanitizer? With the mask over his face and all the barriers between us, it was hard to tell as he slid the freshly scrubbed dice my way. I made the trip to Foxwoods because I wanted to see what the folks in Atlantic City can expect when Gov. Phil Murphy finally green lights the casinos to open their doors to Jersey Shore visitors in a few weeks. The whole idea of gambling during a pandemic seemed so ridiculous that I spent much of the two-and-a-half-hour drive rewriting the lyrics to The Wonder of It All song from the old Foxwoods commercials. Came for craps, caught corona Now Im dry as Arizona Wheeze and hack Still I had a baaaaall! But the sprawling casino was back in business, and against all odds (sorry), thousands of eager gamblers had shown up for its grand re-opening. They were greeted at the entrance with blue circles on the floor reminding them to stay six-feet apart, a sign instructing them to wear a mask during their entire visit and a temperature-check station that turned away anyone with a reading of 100.4 degrees or higher. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The machine told me, in a reassuring voice, Your temperature is normal. Which was just about the only thing that was. Foxwoods shut off every other slot machine and limited each roulette wheel and blackjack table to just three people. They had sanitizer stations in every direction, with cheery signs that read, A clean hand is the best hand. Will the precautions keep everyone from catching the virus? No, but I didnt feel any less safe here than I do at the grocery store. Still: A casino trip is where you go for bachelorette parties, not to hear lectures about having good clean fun. Now, Lady Luck isnt just betraying Sinatra if she blows on some other guys dice, as the song goes, shes potentially spreading thousands of airborne particles with the virus. Luck be a malady, tonight? Yeah. Not quite the same. All of the safety precautions had another unintended effect. The folks who schlepped here on Tuesday morning -- not exactly peak casino hours, to be clear -- discovered that open spots at the table games of their choice were hard to find. Everyone has a pocket full of cash looking to unload it. If were going to do this, lets DO IT! a man from Boston named Adam Camerlin said after failing to find an open spot during his second trip around the casino floor. Just then, a waitress handed Camerlin a vodka and sprite with a lemon twist, and he and his pals laughed at the absurdity of trying to drink his cocktail while wearing a mask. He lifted the mask and slid a straw underneath. Imagine the unintentional comedy if they lift the temporary ban on smoking. Finally, Camerlin played a hunch and got lucky. He parked himself at the end of an empty craps table at 11:45 a.m. and was told it would open for business at noon. I did the same at the other end. But noon became 12:13 p.m. because of an intense cleaning process that left me wondering if I could have elective surgery on the table with my hard eight. Even when the dice started flying and we started winning, it was impossible to forget the strange circumstances. I hit three points in a row, leading the man next to me to offer up a fist bump -- but the plastic partitions made it feel like we were inmates greeting a visitor in prison. Thats when the dealer took a break in the action to scrub the dice stick. Was he really worried about the coronavirus? Or was he just a modern-day cooler? This was officially a hot table, but no one could squeeze in to join the action -- in fact, a guy with a Patriots mask had been waiting for a spot at another craps table for more than an hour. Even with the casinos capacity limited at 20%, anyone telling a friend to meet me at Foxwoods should expect a lot of waiting around. The point is to come here and have fun. Then you cant get a spot at the table, and you cant have a drink at the bar, and you cant eat at the restaurants, said Rafael Polanco, who drove up from Queens as he waited for a chance to play. Polanco wasnt worried about getting COVID-19. Turns out, he already had it, with the symptoms showing just three days after a Foxwoods visit in March. He figures the antibodies will protect him from getting it again, and even if the science is inconclusive on that, he was willing to press his luck. He ended up next to me at the craps table, his $200 evaporating with one unlucky seven. I was going to offer him a pep talk, but with the plastic barriers and face mask, I learned quickly that banter between players was as fruitless as thinking you can beat the house. Thats when I decided to leave the table. Whats the point to gambling at a casino if the experience is as sanitized as the chips? 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. Two men were fined 400 each for swimming in Venice's Grand Canal on the same day Italy opened its borders for the first time since lockdown. The pair of German men were filmed taking a dip in Venice's most famous canal under the iconic Rialto Bridge yesterday. Augusto Maurandi, who captured the moment and shared the video on social media, passes by the men on a boat. Two German tourists were filmed taking a dip in the Grand Canal in Venice yesterday Augusto Maurandi captured the men swimming in the canal and shared the video on social media He says hello to the first man, who is closely followed by another and they both get out and wave at the camera as they climb the steps out of the water. Mr Maurandi said swimming in the canal is totally banned. Local media reported the tourists were caught barefoot in their swimming shorts in the streets by army officers monitoring the city and were told to get dressed. The reports also stated the tourists were fined 400 each for the stunt. Both of the men got out the canal and waved at the cameraman before being fined 400 each when they were caught by army officers The incident comes as Italy reopened its borders to tourists from Europe, three months after they were shut as the country went into lockdown. From today, travellers from most other European countries will be allowed in with no quarantine and people will be allowed to move freely between regions. Three airports - Rome, Milan and Naples - will resume international arrivals, with flights scheduled to depart from Heathrow and Manchester today. A host of animals, including an octopus and a jellyfish, were spotted in the waters in the canals of the city during the lockdown but now tourists are slowly returning. One angry social media user responded to the video: 'Shame on you! Venice is not Disneyland! Respect others the way you want to be respected.' WASHINGTON - The U.S. trade deficit hit the highest level in eight months in April. Exports and imports both posted record monthly drops as the coronavirus pandemic smothered America's commerce with other countries. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2019 file photo cargo cranes are used to take containers off of a Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation boat at the Port of Tacoma in Tacoma, Wash. The U.S. trade deficit rose in March 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak battered AmericaAos trade with the world. The gap between what the United States sells and what it buys abroad rose 11.6% in March to $44.4 billion from $39.8 billion in February. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) WASHINGTON - The U.S. trade deficit hit the highest level in eight months in April. Exports and imports both posted record monthly drops as the coronavirus pandemic smothered America's commerce with other countries. The gap between what the U.S. sells and what it buys abroad jumped to $49.4 billion in April, up 16,7% from $42.3 billion in March and highest since last August, the Commerce Department said Thursday. April exports fell 20.5% to $151.3 billion, and imports dropped 13.7% to $200.7 billion. April's exports were the lowest in exactly 10 years; imports were lowest since July 2010. 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. Total trade exports plus imports dropped 16.7% in April from March and 24.8% from April 2019. In much of the world, the pandemic and the lockdowns meant to contain it have brought economic activity to a near-standstill. The politically sensitive deficit in the trade of goods with China rose 53% to $26 billion in April; goods exports to China rose 29%, but imports rose more 45% as Chinese factories ramped up production after a draconian lockdown. In April. the United States ran a $71.8 billion deficit in the trade of goods such as autos and appliances. It ran a $22.4 billion surplus in the trade of services such as banking and education. Through April, the U.S. overall deficit in trade of goods and services this year is $168.5 billion, down 13.4% from January-April 2019. Exports are down 9.5% so far this year, and imports have fallen 10.2%. . (Natural News) Israel ordered at least five schools to be closed Wednesday morning after students were diagnosed with COVID-19. The news comes as the Ministry of Health is pushing for a national closure of middle schools and high schools following a spike in new cases among students. In the western city of Tel Aviv, two elementary schools, with around 350 students each, were shuttered after students tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus. Meanwhile, the Makif Gimmel school in Beersheba, which has over 1,000 students, was also closed after a student was diagnosed with the viral disease. In Bat Yam, a coastal city just south of Tel Aviv, local officials closed at least three high schools with confirmed coronavirus cases among its students. Parents have also raised their concerns amid the growing number of new cases, with some avoiding sending their children to school as a result. In some schools, officials have implemented a system to keep students in separate, smaller groups that are kept apart to head off potential outbreaks. According to health authorities, the rising number of infections among students is the main reason for the recent spike in Israels national caseload. Currently, the country has over 17,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 290 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would decide on closing schools in the coming days. According to a statement from his office, Netanyahu requested [for] more statistics and asked to look into how to bolster protection for students against infection. On Tuesday, local media reported that the Ministry of Health was expected to propose a nationwide closure for middle schools and high schools that will last for the rest of the school year. However, Education Minister Yoav Gallant balked at the idea, saying that current infection rates did not justify the closure. Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about the importance of wearing masks, especially for preppers. Social distancing, hygiene guidelines not observed With the new cases included, this puts the total of schools closed across Israel at 30, with 10,000 students and staff forced into home quarantine. The new cases also come as the country is moving to roll back its coronavirus restrictions. Aside from schools, the government has also allowed synagogues, malls and restaurants to reopen. In particular, many have foregone wearing masks in public, as well as other social distancing and hygiene guidelines, given the recent decrease in new cases. The past few days, however, have seen a dramatic rise in infections in schools. Health authorities have confirmed that at least 220 students and teachers have tested positive since schools reopened two weeks ago, including over 150 cases from a single school in Jerusalem. (Related: Israel bars entry to 5 European countries amid coronavirus outbreak, cancels joint operations with US military.) The outbreak has also caused new cases to soar to almost 100 cases a day Israels highest since May. Health authorities have said that these numbers are close to the threshold at which restrictions would be imposed. In response, the government has ordered any school with a single confirmed case to shut down. Health requirements from schools have also been complicated. While some schools required parents to check temperatures at home, others carried out temperature checks before students were allowed in. Parents and teachers also said that making children wear masks was difficult, especially during the summer. Young children also have problems maintaining social distancing as they cannot be forced apart from each other. Pandemic.news has more stories about the Wuhan coronavirus. Sources include: TimesOfIsrael.com Coronavirus.JHU.edu FT.com Cook: This pantry pasta with garlicky bread crumbs is sure to be a family favorite. If you like, you can also add a big pinch of red-pepper flakes and some grated lemon zest. Watch: Catch these 15 great films and television shows on Netflix before they end their run. Or, gain some insights from On the Record, a documentary about sexual assault allegations against a U.S. music mogul. It also seeks to address criticism that black women have been overlooked in the conversation about sexual assault and power. Read: With the U.S. protests against police violence in the headlines, a lot of family conversations are centered on race. Here are some books to help explain racism and protest to your kids. Do: In February and March, 112 people were infected with the coronavirus in South Korea because of Zumba classes. Heres a look at the risks of virus infection during exercise class and what you can do to minimize those. At Home has our full collection of ideas on what to read, cook, watch, and do while staying safe at home. And now for the Back Story on Hugging during a pandemic Tara Parker-Pope, our Well columnist, has heard from readers who are anguished about not being able to visit and touch family members. Its particularly painful for grandparents, who often live alone. So, she wrote a guide to safer hugging. Heres an excerpt. Not only do we miss hugs, we need them. Physical affection reduces stress by calming our sympathetic nervous system, which during times of worry releases damaging stress hormones into our bodies. In one series of studies, just holding hands with a loved one reduced the distress of an electric shock. Rioters Threw Molotov Cocktails at Police Cars Outside Officers Homes: Authorities Three peopleall seen or linked to recent protestsare in jail after trying to set police cars in Georgia on fire with Molotov cocktails, authorities said. The two patrol vehicles were set on fire between 10 p.m. and midnight on June 2 outside the homes of Gwinnett County Police Department officers in Duluth and Lawrenceville. A caller told 911 that a patrol car was on fire at an officers residence in Duluth, the department said in a statement sent to The Epoch Times. When firefighters arrived, the fire was already extinguished. Another caller alerted 911 that someone tried setting a police car on fire at an officers house in Lawrenceville. Witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored passenger car flee the area. That fire was put out quickly with a fire extinguisher. Lakaila Mack.. (Gwinnett County Police Department) Officers tracked down Alvin Joseph, 21, of Lawrenceville, and Lakaila Mack, 20, of Dacula. They later found a third suspect, Ebuka Chike-Morah, 21, of Duluth. A search warrant of one of the vehicles turned up an accelerant related to the crimes, officials said. Joseph, Mack, and Chike-Morah face a slew of charges, including first degree arson, a felony, and criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. Police officers wrote in reports that Molotov cocktail-style devices were used to set the fires. Witnesses told police they saw three black males running from one of the fires. All three suspects were identified as protesters by WSB-TV. Chike-Morah spoke to the broadcaster during a protest over the weekend outside Sugarloaf Mills Mall. One of the police cars in question. (Gwinnett County Police Department) Im just trying to get the message across, he told the broadcaster. Were going to continue walking until we dont feel like walking no more. Joseph was identified in a video from May 30 published by the Gwinnett Daily Post. The footage shows dozens of protesters facing off with police officers, who tried to keep them from blocking roadways. The three suspects are being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Jail. In an unrelated incident, a police officer with the country found his patrol car windshield and drivers side window smashed outside his residence in Lawrenceville. It appeared that someone threw a brick, causing the damage. Anyone with information was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477). WASHINGTON Senate Democrats stood in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds Thursday at the U.S. Capitol to honor the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, all unarmed black individuals whose deaths have spurred worldwide protests against racism and police brutality. Senate Democrats, some kneeling on the marble floors in Emancipation Hall which is named after slaves who helped construct the Capitol were led in prayer by Senate Chaplin Barry Black, who honored the lives of Floyd, Arbery and Taylor and praised peaceful protesters. "We come today to acknowledge that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Black said in a prayer to a silent hall, only broken with the sounds of camera shutters. "We come with hope in our hearts because we know that right defeated is better than evil triumphant." Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., one of three black U.S. senators, also offered brief remarks during the ceremony. Booker honored Floyd's life and noted that it was cut short after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held the unarmed black man down with his knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd, 46, told the officers he couldn't breath and called for his mother. Booker said Floyd's family did not want the world to remember him for only his death, but for being "family orientated, loving and Godly." George Floyd live updates: Friend says he didn't resist arrest; AG warns convicting 4 police officers won't be easy; Brees apologizes 'Abhorrent' and 'dangerous':Sen. Cotton's call for military response to protests receives criticism "Today, we gather here in solemn reverence to not just mark his tragic death but to give honor to his life," Booker said, as his Democratic colleagues, all donning face masks, looked to the ground and cupped their hands in front of them. A handful of senators, including Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, got down on their knees during the ceremony. Story continues Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office said Senate Democrats planned the event as a caucus and thus Republicans were not in attendance. "This is a very painful moment," Booker told reporters after the ceremony, noting that while lawmakers haven't been able to gather together due to the coronavirus, their huddling Thursday morning was a "moment of solidarity." Booker said as he stood in silence, standing near a bronze statue of Frederick Douglass in a hall dedicated to the work of slaves, he looked down and read a message carved into the base of the statue dedicated to the abolitionist that he said "really touched" him. "If there is no struggle, there is no progress," it reads. The ceremony marked just the start of the actions lawmakers are planning in response to Floyd's death. Democrats are planning a host of legislation to combat police brutality and the killings of unarmed black individuals. But massive changes to policing will likely be a hard sell to the Republican-controlled Senate and the president, who in recent days has railed against protesters and called for law and order after some demonstrations turned violent. Some lawmakers have joined protesters marching in streets, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who greeted demonstrators outside the Capitol Wednesday. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Floyd protests: Booker, Senate Democrats hold moment of silence Sydney: A media conference by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to announce a new stimulus package briefly turned comical on Thursday when he and reporters were told by a homeowner to get off a newly reseeded lawn. Morrison travelled to a housing construction site in Googong, 28km (17 miles) south of Canberra to announce his government would spend nearly A$700 million ($480 million) to support an Australian construction sector hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. But as he spoke about the package supporting the "Australian dream" of home ownership, he was interrupted by a local resident. "Can everyone get off the grass please," an unnamed local shouted at Morrison and the travelling press contingent. "Come on, I've just reseeded that." Morrison quickly obliged, giving the man a thumbs up and an "all good". The Internet is in awe of the person who asked the Om to get off the grass. Get off the Grass! Sums up the new housing stimulus program!! https://t.co/BRZ32z27Mc James Stacey (@James_Stacey_) June 4, 2020 this dude who tells the PM to get off the grass is my new favourite person pic.twitter.com/PNdbGjZp4F shoshana || (@TheTonightSho) June 4, 2020 Only in Australia can a bloke yell from his front door get off the grass can ya? Ive just re-seeded it! followed by the PRIME MINISTER replying no worries mate all good, we will step back God bless m i s s y (@__MissyMoo) June 4, 2020 Hey guys, Ive just re-seeded that!Aussie homeowner interrupts PM telling people to get off his grass. This is excellent. The Thick Of It... Down Under pic.twitter.com/uHzES6smyt Tom Boadle (@TomBoadle) June 4, 2020 (With Reuters inputs) Advertisement On any normal year, the start of June would see Appleby packed with revellers from all over Britain, swimming in the River Eden and riding ponies for the start of the annual Horse Fair. But today the streets of the town in Cumbria are deserted after the event, which typically attracts 40,000 people, was cancelled for just the second time in its 250-year history due to the coronavirus. The Appleby Horse Fair is the largest gathering of Gypsies and travellers in Europe. Billy Welch, Gypsy and Traveller representative on the Appleby Horse Fair Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating group, had announced earlier this year that the event would not be taking place due to Government guidance about avoiding large gatherings. Slide me On any normal year, the start of June would see Appleby packed with revellers from all over Britain, swimming in the River Eden and riding ponies for the start of the annual Horse Fair. Pictured left is the Fair on June 3, 2011. Right: June 4, 2020. Slide me Today the streets of the town in Cumbria are deserted after the event, which typically attracts 40,000 people, was cancelled for just the second time in its 250-year history due to the coronavirus. Pictured left: The river Eden, June 7, 2018. Right: June 4, 2020 Slide me The Appleby Horse Fair is the largest gathering of Gypsies and travellers in Europe. Pictured left is people riding horses in the River Eden on June 7, 2018. Right is the same area today, left deserted Slide me Billy Welch, Gypsy and Traveller representative on the Appleby Horse Fair Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating group, had announced earlier this year that the event would not be taking place due to Government guidance about avoiding large gatherings. Pictured left is June 7, 2015. Right: Today He said: 'Whilst we are extremely disappointed to have to make this announcement, it would be irresponsible for the Fair to go ahead at a time when everyone must do everything they can to stop the spread of coronavirus. 'It is not just disappointing for the Gypsy and Traveller community but for the settled community too and the local economy. 'But people's health must come first, which is why the Fair - along with other events across the country - cannot take place. Mr Welch said that when the Fair was cancelled in 2001 during the foot and mouth outbreak, the Gypsy and Traveller community 'respected the decision and stayed away'. 'I am confident of the same response now,' he said. Mr Welch's prediction has been vindicated, as the Cumbria town looks deserted - even as the country eases slightly out of lockdown. 'This will be only the second time the Fair has not taken place in the last 250 years,' he said. 'However, the Fair will be back and it will be better than ever.' Kenneth Redhead, 75, in Appleby, Cumbria, on what would have been the first day of Appleby Horse Fair, an annual gathering of travellers, which has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic Kenneth, who travelled from King's Lynn, Norfolk, has been visiting the Horse Fair for 15 years. The last time the event was cancelled was in 2001 during the foot and mouth outbreak The streets of Appleby in Cumbria remain empty, on what would have been the first day of Appleby Horse Fair The event is an annual gathering which sees tens of thousands of Gypsies, Travellers and others at Appleby-in-Westmoreland. Chair of the Appleby Horse Fair Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating Group, Les Clark, said: 'We appreciate Billy Welch and the Gypsy and Traveller community stepping forward, recognising the situation we are all facing and making this announcement. 'The fair taking place would increase the likelihood of Covid-19 spreading amongst the Gypsy and Traveller population, the population of Appleby and the wider population, putting lives at risk. It would also put further strain on the emergency services and other public authorities who are already working at close to capacity coping with the impact of the global pandemic. 'I urge people to help us spread this message in their communities. We don't want anyone - Gypsies and Travellers and visitors - to set off for the Fair having not heard the message.' A woman has alleged that her Covid-19-positive father was not admitted in time by a Delhi government hospital and died on Thursday, a charge denied by authorities of the facility. The woman, Amarpreet, took to Twitter earlier in the day, saying, "My dad is having high fever. We need to shift him to hospital. I am standing outside LNJP Delhi & they are not taking him in. He is having corona, high fever and breathing problem. He won't survive without help. Pls help." An hour later, she tweeted, "He is no more. The govt failed us." ALSO READ: ... Rioters Deface Memorial Honoring Those Killed by Communist Regimes Rioters in Washington defaced a monument on Monday dedicated to those who have been murdered by communist regimes. Rioters defaced historic monuments throughout the city during protests against death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, according to footage of the incident. The rioters also defaced the Victims of Communism Memorial, a memorial created to commemorate those who have suffered under communist regimes, by spray painting messages on the memorial. Given that Antifa groups openly espouse Marxist ideology and have vandalized our memorial before, its not surprising that the group would deface it and dishonor the memory of more than 100 million dead again, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Executive Director Marion Smith said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. We call on the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to protect public spaces and memorials like ours from further vandalism and destruction, Smith added. People listen during an event at the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington on June 12, 2015. (Brendan Smialowski /AFP via Getty Images) The statue is modeled after a statue of the Goddess of Democracy which was erected by Chinese students protesting in Beijings Tiananmen Square who were gunned down by the Chinese military. To the more than one hundred million victims of communism and to those who love liberty, the memorial says on the front pedestal, while the back pedestal reads, To the freedom and independence of all captive nations and peoples. You do not advance justice by defacing our countrys memorial dedicated to one of the largest victim groups in human historythose killed by communist parties in power, Smith wrote on Twitter Monday. The culprits are not yet known, Smith said, before noting that the site has been targeted by socialist extremist and Antifa groups in the past. Police hold a perimeter at Lafayette Square near the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the killing of George Floyd in Washington on June 2, 2020. (Olivier Douliery /AFP via Getty Images) Photographs from the National Parks Service show that rioters defaced at least three monuments to historical figures in Washington, including the World War II memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Messages on the memorials say Yall not tired yet? and Do black vets count? By Mary Margaret Olohan 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. At first only the 14-foot bronze equestrian statue will go. The giant stone base will remain, at least for a while, as a very different kind of monument. Covered with graffiti from this week's demonstrations "blood on your hands," "how much more blood," "hold cops accountable" it blares a rage against racial injustice that the elegant statue was designed to silence. By Express News Service In association with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, the homegrown chain of Indianised burgers, Burger Singh has not only been feeding migrants and unprivileged people but also pitching in for their travel back home. Till now, the fast food chain has distributed over 4,000 food packets and made travel arrangements for over 1,000 migrants. We are deeply shaken by the ongoing pandemic. Migrants are among the most severely impacted groups. This is our small contribution to their welfare and we urge everyone to display empathy and do whatever they can to help, says Kabir Jeet Singh, CEO and Founder of Burger Singh. The company has also started a campaign page (https://pages.razorpay.com/BurgerSingh) on which the customers can purchase a ticket (Rs 950) or a meal (Rs 100 for four) and get billed like the protocol of an e-commerce site. The taxes go to the government and the ticket/meal goes to labourers returning home. The Gurugram administration brings in the buses, and we try to sponsor the meal and the fuel. This is the biggest humanitarian crises of my generation, and it is up to us to lend all our support to the government and the people of India, says Sanchit Mehta, Head of Business Finance, Burger Singh. Homes flooded, roads washed away as parts of Mexico drenched from passing storms State of Campeche Tropical storm Cristobal made landfall Wednesday in Campeche, creating destruction as it arrived with heavy rains causing a red alert in Ciudad del Carmen, Escarcega, Palizada and Candelaria. The destruction felt by Cristobal was added to the effects left a few days ago by the Tropical Storm Amanda. The head of the Ministry of Civil Protection of Campeche, Edgar Hernandez, reported that so far, these weather events have caused only material damage, especially along roadways. In the city of Escarcega we have significant flooding in 14 neighborhoods, he said. A military vehicle plows its way through severely flooded streets in Campeche from storm Cristobal The army evacuated 138 people in Campeche after flood waters threatened houses, while state police reported that several rivers were beginning to overflow. In Tabasco, minor floods were reported in the municipalities of Tenosique, Emiliano Zapata, Jonuta and Balancan, said Governor Adan Augusto Lopez. Hundreds of homes in southern Mexico were flooded as topical systems passed Civil Protection personnel check in on the elderly in the midst of tropical storm flooding In the southern zone of Quintana Roo, the Coordinacion Estatal de Proteccion Civil (COEPROC) reports that more than 1,100 families in four municipalities were affected by the recent heavy rains that fell as Tropical Storm Amanda passed. The military arrive to assist those who need help The municipalities of Othon P. Blanco, Bacalar, Jose Maria Morelos and Felipe Carrillo Puerto suffered severe flooding and roadway washouts due to the passing of the storm. Adrian Martinez Ortega of Coeproc, says that the governor has ordered support for those affected. A sinkhole caused by heavy rain forced several buses to stop and transfer passengers to another so they could continue on their way Parts of the Chetumal-Escarcega road is completely washed out The Secretary of the Navy made a flyover to verify the damage, while another was made to provide pantries to those most effected. Martinez Ortega said that the National Meteorological Service reported that very heavy rainfalls of more than 130 millimetres in a few hours, were experienced in some areas. According to the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Depression Cristobal is forecast to re-emerge over the southern Gulf of Mexico Friday, after which, it will move northward toward Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle for the weekend, bringing with it a risk of storm force winds. Since mid-March, more than 40 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits WASHINGTON: The epic damage to Americas job market from the viral outbreak will come into sharper focus Friday when the government releases the May employment report: Eight million more jobs are estimated to have been lost. Unemployment could near 20%. And potentially fewer than half of all adults may be working. Beneath the dismal figures will be signs that job cuts, severe as they are, are slowing as more businesses gradually or partially reopen. Still, the economy is mired in a recession, and any rebound in hiring will likely be painfully slow. Economists foresee unemployment remaining in double-digits through the November elections and into 2021. If their forecast of 8 million jobs lost in May proves correct, it would come on top of Aprils loss of 20.5 million jobs the worst monthly loss on record and bring total job cuts in the three months since the viral outbreak intensified to nearly 30 million. Thats more than three times the jobs lost in the 2008-2009 Great Recession. And if the jobless rate does reach 20% for May, it would be double the worst level during that previous recession. Overhanging the jobs picture is widespread uncertainty about how long the unemployed will remain out of work. Most of the layoffs in recent months were a direct result of the sudden shutdowns of businesses in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As many of these businesses reopen, at least partially, workers who had been laid off have held out hope of being rehired soon. But some small employers might not reopen at all if the recession drags on much longer. And even once companies do reopen, their business may not fully return until Americans are confident they can shop, eat out and return to other previous habits without becoming sick. For now, most people who have lost jobs still say they expect their unemployment to prove temporary. Even if just one-third of the job losses turn out to be permanent, though, that would leave 10 million people who will need to find work at new employers or even in new occupations. That is still more than all the jobs lost in the Great Recession. Since mid-March, more than 40 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits. That doesnt mean that that many people are still unemployed. The figure likely includes some duplicate filings: In some states, self-employed and gig workers applied under their regular state unemployment systems before they were able to file under a new federal program that has made them eligible for benefits for the first time. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 19:21:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANKARA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkish and Russian troops held their 15th joint patrol along a key highway in northwestern Idlib province of Syria, the Turkish defense ministry said on Thursday. "Within the framework of TUR-RF Agreement/Protocol, the 15th TUR-RF Combined Land Patrol on M-4 Highway in Idlib was conducted with the participation of land and air elements," the ministry said on Twitter. The first joint Russian-Turkish patrol of the M4 highway in the Idlib de-escalation zone took place on March 15 in a bid to uphold a cease-fire agreement in the region. On March 5, Turkey and Russia sealed a deal to maintain a temporary cease-fire for "all military actions along the line of contact in the Idlib de-escalation area" and envisaged the establishment of a security corridor six km to the north and six km to the south of the M4 highway, after nearly 60 Turkish soldiers were killed in escalated tensions between the Syrian government and Turkish troops in the region. The key M4 highway, located about 30 km away from the southern border of Turkey, links Aleppo to Latakia in Syria. Enditem Tehran, June 4 (IANS) After a three-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Iran and Turkey have reopened the key border crossing of Bazargan on Thursday for trade exchanges. (Str/Xinhua/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Tehran, June 4 : After a three-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Iran and Turkey have reopened the key border crossing of Bazargan on Thursday for trade exchanges. The Bazargan border crossing reopened at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesperson for the Iranian Customs Administration, Ruhollah Latifi. He said that Iranian and Turkish trucks were allowed to pass through the border point on the condition that the health protocols agreed between the two sides are respected. Last week, Iranian and Turkish Presidents discussed reopening of air and land borders between the two countries as novel coronavirus infections and fatality have taken downward trends on both sides of border. The closure of the borders between Iran and Turkey over the past three months has caused a decline of 70 per cent in trade between the two countries compared to the corresponding period last year. New data released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that more than 62,000 US health care workers have been infected with COVID-19, with deaths just short of 300. The CDC admits that these numbers are likely an underestimate due to low testing rates among health care workers. In addition, only 21 percent of those infected and surveyed identified their profession. Nurses and other health care workers have been forced to work through the entirety of the pandemic under unsafe conditions with inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE), paltry sick days, and unorganized protocols. Nurses have protested across the globe, with recent protests erupting at 15 HCA Healthcare hospitals across the US. Many nurses have been reprimanded or fired for speaking out about unsafe conditions. The WSWS spoke with nurses across the US about conditions in their workplaces and their thoughts on the new CDC data showing high rates of COVID-19 infections among health care workers. Unless otherwise indicated, the nurses names have been changed to protect their identity. Julia, a labor and delivery nurse on the West Coast, gave permission to use her Facebook comments from a discussion surrounding the topic of rising infection rates among health care workers. She wrote: The CDC says we should have N95 and goggles when a patient is pushing in the second stage (of labor). Our hospital isnt giving them to us. They are saying its a regional thing, and theyre looking into it. She added, My coworkers and I are pissed and feel frustrated. Management is saying that until regional higher ups decide that we should wear N95s and eye protection then we will continue wearing surgical masks. I started putting my own N95 mask from home under my surgical mask because its better than nothing with any laboring patients who are huffing and puffing. I have to try my best to protect myself and my family. Kendra, a medical-surgical nurse at a major hospital in the Midwest spoke about the poorly organized system of notifying nurses if they have been exposed to COVID-19. Im sure the CDC infection count is an underestimate. So many of us at work have been exposed and nothing has been done. There are rules stating that if you are exposed without proper PPE you are supposed to get tested and not go to work if you develop symptoms, but what if we never know weve been exposed?, she asked. In the beginning of the pandemic we were getting phone calls if you worked with a patient who later came down with COVID-19. Now, those occupational health centers have been overloaded or something because we dont get calls anymore and if we do its weeks later. Imagine, in a few weeks, a nurse could have spread COVID to almost a hundred patients and coworkers. My friend works in the SICU (Surgical Intensive Care Unit), and she worked closely with a patient for a week before they were transferred to another unit and tested positive. My friend didnt find out from occupational health. She found out from a coworker who private messaged her on Instagram! Theresa, a home care attendant in Ohio, requested that her real name be used in this interview. She describes her title as somewhere between a nurses aide and a nurse. Theresa provides live-in care for a patient requiring 24-hour skilled nursing care. When asked if PPE has been made available, Theresa said, When the pandemic began, I remember reading an article from the Columbus Dispatch that included a quote from the Ohio State Department of Health that stated that home care providers do not need PPE. I was appalled. The department of health was telling us that we are supposed to ask our clients if they have a fever or if they have been exposed to COVID-19 and not to go into the home if they appear to be infected. First of all, I would lose my job if I did that. I couldnt just leave my client. She added, We havent received any assistance for masks or gloves. You have to figure out how to get your own. You have to pay for it yourself. Theresa also complained of a dangerous level of neglect on the part of her case manager, a point person who is responsible for checking in and assuring that the needs of the clients are being met. Its been weeks and we havent heard from the case manager. For all they know Im not even showing up to care for my client. No one has checked in to find out if my client has the food he needs. Theresa explained that her client pays for his care under a Medicaid waiver, which also includes a program that pays and oversees necessary home repairs. There is a wall in my clients bedroom that is completely crumbling, but the case manager has taken weeks to respond. Now they are saying that they cant fix it since we are in this pandemic. But this is an essential service. Theresa concluded by picturing what a second wave of the viruswidely expected by expertswould look like for her and her client. There is more than enough evidence to know we shouldnt be reopening. Its going to require us to be home longer. He can only see his brothers through a screen door. He cant have his usual [in-person] therapy. To think about this continuing is super stressful for the client, which makes it stressful for the provider. The lack of PPE, ventilators and sufficient staffing levels has outraged nurses, doctors, EMTs and other health care workers from the beginning of the pandemic. Despite the banners praising them as heroes and claims by politicians, hospital, pharmaceutical and insurance executives that were all in this together, health care workers have borne the health and psychological toll of this crisis, and to add insult to injury, many are now facing mass layoffs. Meanwhile the largest hospital chains have been the beneficiaries of the multitrillion-dollar corporate bailout, unanimously backed by both corporate-controlled parties. The anger of health care workers over the criminal indifference to their safety and the lives of their patients is now merging with the growing outrage over the murder of George Floyd and other police killings and Trumps unconstitutional threats to use the military to crush protests. In a Twitter video viewed nearly 4 million times, New York City nurses are seen standing on sidewalks to cheer on passing protesters who, in return, thanked the health care workers for their sacrifices. In Minneapolis, nurses finishing their hospital shifts joined the protests to treat rubber bullet and tear gas injuries. LONDON (Reuters) - British officials have discussed supplies of 5G networking equipment with companies in South Korea and Japan as part of a bid to develop alternatives to China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The source said the talks with Japan's NEC Corp and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which were first reported by Bloomberg, are part of a government plan announced last year to diversify Britain's range of 5G suppliers. A government spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment after normal working hours in London. NEC and Samsung were not immediately available outside normal business hours. Britain designated Huawei a "high-risk vendor" in January, capping its 5G involvement at 35% and excluding it from the data-heavy core of the network. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under renewed pressure from the United States and lawmakers in his own party, who say Huawei's equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations. Ties between the United Kingdom and China have also grown tense since Britain's decision on Huawei over Beijing's handling of the situation in Hong Kong and the COVID-19 pandemic. London is now looking at the possibility of phasing Huawei out of its 5G network completely by 2023, officials say, and pushing forward with plans to develop a range of alternative suppliers. Security officials are also looking at the impact of new U.S. sanctions which limit the Chinese company's ability to produce the microchips needed for its equipment. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton told UK lawmakers on Tuesday that China was using Huawei "to drive a hi-tech wedge" between Britain and the United States. (Reporting by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper visits DC National Guard military officers guarding the White House amid nationwide unrest following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2020. WASHINGTON Hours after more than a thousand active-duty Army units arrived in the Washington, D.C. area to help local law enforcement with protest response efforts, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday he was going to send them home, only to then change his mind later in the day. On Tuesday evening, the Pentagon confirmed that approximately 1,600 active-duty troops from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York were flown into the Washington D.C. area, as the nation braced for another day of protests over the death of George Floyd. The troops, who are "postured" on military bases near the District of Columbia, have so far not taken part in any support to "civil authority operations," the Pentagon said in a Tuesday night statement. On Wednesday, Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that while he ordered the deployment of 1,600 troops to the region, he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act. The law that would allow President Donald Trump to send the active-duty military to respond to civil unrest in cities across the country. "I say this not only as Secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, the option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire situations. We are not in one of those situations now," Esper said. "I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," he added. Unofficial election results from local primary elections in each party have been posted by county election officials, but remain unofficial and could change due to the unusually large number of absentee ballots still to be counted. Gov. Wolf signed an executive order allowing several counties, including Montgomery, to county mail-in ballots over the next seven days as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday, June 2. 147th House Dist. In the Republican primary for the 147th District seat in the Pennsylvania House, Tracy Pennycuick, a retired military helicopter pilot from Lower Salford, easily won the in-person voting totals, according to Montgomery Countys voting website. Her opponent, Annamarie Scannapieco, a registered nurse from New Hanover, would need nearly 3,000 absentee ballot votes to overturn the lead Pennycuick holds. Unofficial results give Pennycuick 4,174 votes to Scannapiecos 1,274. Assuming those results dont change, Pennycuick will face Democrat and Boyertown School Board member Jill Dennin, who was unopposed for her partys nomination and collected 2,169 in-person votes. The 147th, which includes Douglass (Mont.), New Hanover, Upper Frederick, Lower Frederick, Marlborough, Upper Salford, Lower Salford, West Pottsgrove and Upper Pottsgrove townships, as well as the boroughs of Green Lane and Schwenksville, is currently represented by Republican Marcy Toepel who is not seeking reelection. 26th House Dist. In the race for the 26th District seat in the Pennsylvania House, Owen J. Roberts School Board member Paul Friel easily captured the Democratic nomination. Unofficial in-person results gave him 2,721 votes to 1,276 for his opponent, Frank Gillen. Assuming those results remain unchanged by the counting of absentee ballots, Friel will face incumbent Republican Rep. Tim Hennessey in November. Hennessey, the Houses most senior Republican who is seeking his 14th term in office, was unopposed for the nomination of his party and collected 5,155 votes. The 26th House District includes the Chester County townships of North Coventry, South Coventry, East Coventry, East Vincent, Warwick, East Nantmeal, West Nantmeal, Wallace, Honey Brook, West Caln and West Sadsbury; and the boroughs of Elverson, Honey Brook and part of Pottstown. Presidential Tallies Former Vice President Joe Biden easily won Pennsylvanias Democratic primary and that victory, all-but-assumed since Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race, was supported by local results. In Montgomery County, Biden collected 33,539 votes, or 76 percent of the 45,091 of the Democratic votes cast in person, which represents 9.25 percent of registered Democrats in the county. Sanders won 8,845 votes, or 20 percent of the Democratic votes cast in person Tuesday. President Donald Trump won 37,954 votes, or 90 percent, of the 43,597 Republican votes cast in person, a turnout of just under 9 percent of registered Republicans. Bill Weld, who has withdrawn from the GOP presidential race, nevertheless collected 2,386, or 5.5 percent, of the Republican votes cast Tuesday. In Chester County, Trump won 87 percent, or 27,607 of the 31,481 Republican votes cast in person. Weld won 2,152, or 6 percent. Biden won 24,331, or 79 percent, of the 30,540 Democratic in-person votes cast in Chester County. Sanders won 5,176 in-person votes, or 17 percent. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Oil prices fall as enthusiasm for a possible OPEC+ agreement to continue Junes production cuts for more months subsides, said Rystad Energys Senior Oil Markets Analyst Paola Rodriguez Masiu, Trend reports. OPEC+ is expected to extend its deal for at least another month. The cartel earlier scheduled its gathering for June 9-10, while there are suggestions that it could be held as early as on June 4. Masiu noted that the rally that oil prices have been enjoying since Friday came to a halt today as the deal to extend the cuts that saved the markets from self-destruction was threatened by the errant behavior of some OPEC+ members. Saudi and Russia are pushing hard, not just asking Iraq, Nigeria, and other laggards to ramp-up compliance but also pushing for deeper cuts in the months ahead to make up for past non-compliance. This is a deja vu of a few months earlier when the OPEC+ alliance broke over Saudi Arabia making conditional its engagement to Russian participation, said the expert. Masiu believes it is unlikely that Iraq and Nigeria, both struggling with a crippling economy with give up to the kingdom and the Kremlin demands to hike their quotas. No wonder why the market is trembling, added the expert. Prices also received headwinds from the US, as data reported yesterday by the DOE suggest that easing the lockdown is not having the desired effect in the US demand, noted the analyst. The figures pointed out that US diesel demand fell to a 21-year low and gasoline stockpiles swelled. In addition, civil unrest across the US intensified worries about a slowdown in the economic recovery due to a possible second wave of infections. Brent prices have reached the 40-dollar mark because of market enthusiasm that Junes generous production cuts would be continued by OPEC+ in July and August, instead of gradually fall as per the original agreement. As an early meeting did not get confirmed and hopes did not, so far, materialize, prices naturally deflate now. Speculation is the price mover this week, not that many changes in fundamentals. You can expect prices to now stay below $40, unless new rumors surface or an actual meeting is scheduled, Masiu concluded. The 10th (Extraordinary) OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting held on April 12 this year decided to adjust downwards the overall crude oil production by 9.7 mb/d, starting on 1 May 2020, for an initial period of two months that concludes on 30 June 2020. For the subsequent period of 6 months, from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020, the total adjustment agreed will be 7.7 mb/d. It will be followed by a 5.8 mb/d adjustment for a period of 16 months, from 1 January 2021 to 30 April 2022. The baseline for the calculation of the adjustments is the oil production of October 2018, except for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and The Russian Federation, both with the same baseline level of 11.0 mb/d. The agreement will be valid until 30 April 2022, however, the extension of this agreement will be reviewed during December 2021. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn TROY Mayor Patrick Madden encouraged city residents Thursday to attend the Troy Rally for Black Lives to be held Sunday at Riverfront Park. Madden issued a letter to the city community supporting the rally that follows the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis that led to the criminal indictment of four police officers. Local business owners continued to board up windows and the police department prepared for the rally sponsored by Justice for Dahmeek and other grassroots groups. The organizers and supporters of Sundays event are working toward a peaceful rally. We take them at their word, Madden said in the letter. Our police department will work with them to ensure everyones safety so I would encourage your attendance. Theirs is an important message for our times, the mayor continued. I take a knee in solidarity with the peaceful protesters in humility and empathy and in acknowledgment that collectively we have not lived up to our very own ideals and with a personal commitment to strive harder, Madden said. Some business owners and residents have been on edge as they saw the peaceful marches and rallies in Albany on Saturday and Monday yield to violent confrontations with police as night fell. There was looting in the South Pearl Street and Central Avenue business districts Saturday night into early Sunday morning. Monday night, police used tear gas to disperse crowds Social media rumors have taken off in Troy about what might happen. There was a rumor that there was to be a march Wednesday, but Justice for Dahmeek said that was due to the release of a draft announcement of the Sunday rally set for 2 p.m. at Riverfront Park. There have also been rumors about the stockpiling of bricks and other materials for use as weapons. John Salka, a mayoral spokesman, said the city is aware of those rumors and described them as unsubstantiated. Troy police are coordinating their preparations for Sundays rallies with the Rensselaer County Sheriffs Office and neighboring police departments. Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler and Watervliet Mayor Charles Patricelli said their police departments will be providing support to the Troy police as needed. The agencies have been discussing the situation. In Troys downtown business district most of the storefronts are boarded up. It also appeared that many of the citys garbage cans had been removed from the streets. Madden said everyone should remember that most protests around the country have been peaceful. The rally held Sunday in Schenectady occurred without incident. Perhaps the horrific death of Mr. George Floyd is an inflection point. A point in time we will reflect back on when we made another advancement toward the ideals espoused in our countrys founding documents and the sacred texts of our respective faiths and traditions, Madden said. It will be so only if we make it so. Only if we all understand that not acting in a racist manner is not sufficient. We need to affirmatively work together to make this a fairer and kinder world for all, Madden said. Although the streets of America have never actually been paved with gold, the pervasive dream of "making it big" here persists among newcomers. Thousands of successful American entrepreneurs weren't born in the U.S., and there shouldn't be a wall between immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs and business financing. According to Fundera, 28 percent of all "main street" businesses are owned by immigrants. These businesses are the kinds of providers most people visit all the time grocery stores, nail salons, restaurants, clothing and liquor stores and more. Nearly half of all business growth from 2000 to 2013 was due to immigrant business owners. Related: The Immigrant Entrepreneurs Behind Major American Companies (Infographic) If you're an aspiring entrepreneur who doesn't have a long financial history in this country, here are the funding sources you should know about. Grants for Refugees and Immigrants For immigrants who speak and write English well, there are grants to teach English as a second language on Grant Watch. Use the site's search tool to look for grants specifically available to immigrants and refugees, or try the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Look into micro enterprise development or Wilson-Fish programs, the latter of which is an alternative model currently only available in 12 states (Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont) and a single county (San Diego County, Calif.). These programs concentrate in early employment and immigrant self-sufficiency. Refugees and immigrants who are members of a minority (including women and Latinx entrepreneurs) can qualify for grants and loans from the Minority Business Development Agency. Related: The 5 Advantages You Have If You're an Immigrant Entrepreneur Loans for Immigrants and Refugees There are some limitations on the loans immigrants and refugees can get. For example, SBA loans can go to noncitizens, but you must be a resident alien. Lending Club offers business loans and does not appear to check citizenship or status. Although Stilt only seems to offer personal loans, it specializes in immigrant and visa-holding borrowers. Personal loans should not be your first option when funding a business, but they may be all you can get. To be eligible for a Stilt loan, you must have a physical presence in the United States and an American bank account in your name, with an American address. You do not have to have a Social Security number in order to qualify. For loans, a consistent credit history always helps. Otherwise, borrowers may need a cosigner. Further, if the borrower will only be in the U.S. for short time, it will be harder to get a loan. For foreign nationals and those with diplomatic immunity, it is even tougher to get loan money, as lenders are not protected in case of default. Related: 5 Important Lessons from Immigrant Entrepreneurs Microloans If an immigrant entrepreneur needs a fairly small amount of money, a microloan can be a lifesaver. One source can be local governments and agencies. For example, New Hampshire has the Greater Concord Community Microloan Program, specifically meant for new immigrants to do business in the Granite State. In California, immigrants can get financial help with the trappings for immigration (e.g. getting green cards, etc.). The Mission Asset Fund provides 0% interest loans up to $2,500 to business owners for specific purposes like making a brick and mortar business more energy efficient or changing to a limited liability corporation (LLC). In Pennsylvania, disadvantaged immigrants can turn to the Womens Opportunities Resource Center. Related: Immigrant Entrepreneurs Flock to Franchising Opportunities Venture Capital For immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs who dont mind giving up some of the equity in their businesses, venture capital could be an option. Venture capitalists tend to be looking for exceptional companies, so main street businesses might not have a chance. For truly innovative companies, refugee and immigrant business owners can try for funds from Unshackled Ventures or One Way Ventures. Angel Investing Angel investing can be somewhat formal and come from organizations set up specifically for that purpose, or it can come from family and friends. Gust.com can be a great place for refugee and immigrant business owners to find financing. Related: Robert Herjavec to Immigrant Entrepreneurs: 'People Don't Care About Your Color, Religion or Sex. They Care About the Value You Add.' Crowdfunding Crowdfunding can be another attractive option for immigrant and refugee business owners. Kickstarter, for example, allows permanent residents of several countries to run campaigns on its platform. These tend to be countries in North America, Europe, and Oceania. In Asia, the only eligible countries are Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The list of eligible countries is similar for Indiegogo, but they also have an option for China. If yours is a creative business, consider Patreon but read the fine print. Its unclear where it stands on citizenship, and youll have to directly contact someone there to get the word on your eligibility. Caveats for Immigrants and Refugees Loans might require a Social Security number. Qualifying for permanent residency means you can apply for a Social Security number. Other issues can be a language barrier and, like for American-born entrepreneurs, a lack of business credit or time in business. Related: This Immigrant Entrepreneur and DACA Recipient Raised Over $15 Million in Funding (Podcast) Related: How This Doctor Expanded His Career Beyond Medicine and Into Entrepreneurship Market Optimization Is the Way to Boost Your Late-Career Startup The Best Business Funding Options for Immigrant and Refugee Entrepreneurs Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The aggregate cuts to education budgets currently described as inevitable are in fact a political choice being made by politicians, and they will inflict serious harm on children. The alternatives to that choice and the looming damage are explained in Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment: Will Congress and the President Choose to Bail Out Our Childrens Future?, a policy memo released today by the National Education Policy Center. It is authored by Frank Adamson, a professor at California State University, Sacramento, Allison Brown of the Righteous Rage Institute for Social Justice (RRISJ), and University of Colorado Boulder professor Kevin Welner, who is the Director of the National Education Policy Center. The policy memo is also being released by the Schott Foundation and RRISJ. The authors lay out the three options now facing the federal government: austerity, whereby states suffer budget shortfalls unaided by the federal government, leading to massive teacher layoffs and other resource deprivation; subsistence, whereby the federal government backfills state budgets to maintain the status quo, and investment, whereby the federal government responds to this crisis with the initiative to drive a national renewal of our public education system. The policy memo arrives at a time of multiple calls for federal stimulus spending to support public education, and at a time when protesters across the country are marching against police violence and for equal rights for Black people and communities of color. It details why the country cannot afford to cut education spending at a time of increasing needs for children and families. It also explains how racial inequity in the system will result in further divestment from communities of color at a time when people en masse are demanding transformation of systems that have historically marginalized and failed Black, Latinx, and Native youth and families. Finally, it provides an overview of the types of investments that educators and families want in their schools, including investments in social emotional learning and restorative justice as replacements for the current over-policing of Black and Latinx bodies in schools. A clear and compelling alternative to cutting education spending exists: the historically successful approach of increased investment to fully fund high-quality public education and prepare our future generations. In the end, the authors pose the question: If policymakers are willing and able to put trillions toward supporting wealthy investors and bolstering financial markets, how can they deny a fraction of that to our children to save their futures? Find Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment: Will Congress and the President Choose to Bail Out Our Childrens Future?, by Frank Adamson, Allison Brown, and Kevin Welner, at: http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/austerity The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, produces and disseminates high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. Visit us at: https://nepc.colorado.edu Bangalore: George Floyd, whose fatal encounter with Minneapolis police stirred a global outcry over racial bias by US law enforcement, tested positive for the coronavirus, his autopsy showed, but the infection was not listed as a factor in his death. The official cause of death, according to the full 20-page report made public on Wednesday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner`s Office, was cardiopulmonary arrest while Floyd was being restrained by police taking him into custody on May 25. The coroner ruled the manner of death to be a homicide. Four police officers since fired from their jobs for their role in the incident, which was captured on a bystander`s cellphone video, are being held on criminal charges, one of them accused of murder. The video showed that officer using his knee to press Floyd`s neck into the street for nearly nine minutes while the 46-year-old victim gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, "please, I can`t breathe." Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later. The video immediately went viral on the internet, igniting nine days of nationwide protest and civil strife. Demonstrators have also taken to the streets overseas, from Germany to New Zealand. The autopsy, in listing cardiopulmonary arrest as the cause of Floyd`s death, also cited "complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression." The report listed several additional factors as "significant conditions" contributing to Floyd`s death, including heart disease, high blood pressure and intoxication from the powerful opioid fentanyl, as well as recent methamphetamine use. The report further noted that a nasal swab sample collected from Floyd`s body came back positive for COVID-19, and that Floyd had also tested positive on April 3, nearly eight weeks before his death. The county`s chief medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, concluded that the post mortem test result "most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent ... positivity from previous infection." There was no indication in the autopsy report that coronavirus played any role in Floyd`s death. Dr. Michael Baden, one of two medical examiners who conducted a private autopsy for Floyd`s family, told the New York Times that county officials never told him, or the funeral director, that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19. Photograph: AP A state investigator in Georgia on Thursday alleged that the white man accused of killing jogger Ahmaud Arbery was heard saying a racial slur as he stood over the mortally wounded man, moments after hitting him with three shots from a pump-action shotgun. Related: FBI investigating Ahmaud Arbery shooting as possible hate crime, lawyer says The lead Georgia bureau of investigation agent in the murder case testified that Greg and Travis McMichael, a father and son duo who were in a truck, and a third man in another pickup, William Roddie Bryan, repeatedly used their trucks to chase down and box in Arbery, an African American man who was jogging through a predominantly white neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia, in February. Arbery repeatedly reversed directions and even jumped into a ditch in a desperate attempt to shake off his pursuers, the Glynn county court heard on Thursday. Travis McMichael then got out of his truck and confronted Arbery. He told police he shot him in self-defense after Arbery refused his order to get on the ground, GBI special agent Richard Dial said. A close examination of a video that later emerged of the shooting shows the first shot was to Arberys chest, the second was to his hand, and the third was to his chest before he collapsed in the road, Dial said. Bryan, the driver of the second pickup truck who recorded that video, said he heard the gunman use a racist epithet as he stood over Arberys body before police arrived. Special prosecutor Jesse Evans said Arbery was chased, hunted down and ultimately executed. The evidence presented to support murder charges against the McMichaels and Bryan challenges the self-defense claim. Dial also described evidence that questions the idea that the three men were legitimately carrying out a citizens arrest of a suspected burglar. He testified that Greg McMichael told police that he didnt know if Arbery had stolen anything or not, but he had a gut feeling that Arbery had committed prior break-ins in the neighborhood. Story continues Thursdays testimony also could factor into a federal investigation into whether hate crime charges are warranted. Dial testified that investigators found a Confederate symbol in Travis McMichaels truck and several more racial slurs in messages on his phone. Travis McMichael, 34, his father Greg McMichael, 64, and Bryan, 50, were charged with murder more than two months after Arbery was killed, after a series of recusals by local prosecutors and the emergence of Bryans video of the final encounter sparked uproar across the US and led to a state takeover of the case. Greg McMichael was previously in law enforcement. The three defendants deny the charges. Lawyers for the defendants and the state acknowledged in court the extraordinary context for the hearing, following a week of protests in the US over police brutality and racism, following the death of George Floyd in May and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky in March, who was asleep in bed when police raided her home in a case not involving her, and shot her dead. Seta MacCrory describes herself as a dental cupid. She matches up hygienists looking for temporary work with dentists in need of staff through her business, Substitoothfairy, which she runs out of her Delaware County, Pennsylvania, home. Before COVID-19, MacCrory facilitated 300 matches each month. Now that number is close to zero. On May 8, the Pennsylvania Department of Health set new safety guidelines for reopening dental practices. Since then, MacCrory said, shes been flooded with calls from dentists desperate to restart their practices, but struggles to find hygienists willing to risk constant exposure to saliva and respiratory droplets that could be swarming with the coronavirus. As a licensed hygienist with diabetes, MacCrory, 36, said she understands her peers concerns. But she sympathizes with dentists who call her, crying, telling me they have two more months before they completely fold. I see all angles, she said. My head is spinning. Im in the eye of the storm. Saliva, tartar buildup, bleeding gums: As businesses lurch toward reopening, there may be no workforce facing as tough a challenge as dentists and hygienists. The very nature of their work can put them at high risk for the coronavirus. Yet most hygienists work for independent dental practices that must reopen if they want to survive. On top of all that, numerous dentists and hygienists told The Inquirer, the states vague protocols do little to help and potentially much to hurt. We will be right on the front line in the mouth, working with the bacteria that spread COVID, said Tahita Ross, a hygienist who is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and Delaware. I mean, we cant help but work in saliva. And thats how its transmitted, through droplets. Now that Im talking about it, its like making me scared. During the initial weeks of the pandemic, the state Health Department advised dentists to suspend any procedures that arent emergencies. Thats no longer the case. And heres where it gets complicated: Revised state guidelines tell dentists they can now perform nonemergency work but they cant generate aerosols. In other words, nothing that might send patients saliva out of their mouths and into the air. The exception: as a last resort when clinically necessary, according to Pennsylvania guidelines. But in dentistry, aerosolization is virtually unavoidable. If theres a patient in the chair and you do anything that gags them or they have allergies and they cough in your chair, there can be aerosols that can be produced even if you are not using a drill or an ultrasonic cleaner, said dentist Michael Barnes, who owns a practice in South Philadelphia. Lisa Maisonet, a hygienist who helps run 22 Philadelphia-area dental practices, put it bluntly: Everything we do creates aerosols. Everything, she said. Its like the state said, Heres a swimming pool, jump in, but please dont get wet. Adding to the confusion, the Health Department says dentists should apply their clinical judgment when deciding what is safe. They should go ahead with treatment if not doing so would cause irreversible damage to the patient. Barnes said some of the Health Department guidelines directly contradict other parts. That creates a heavy burden on dentists to determine the right thing to do in uncharted terrain. For now, hes decided not to perform routine cleanings, deeming them too risky. But he would use a drill, which can create aerosols, for a few seconds to smooth a sharp edge of a broken tooth that is cutting into the patients tongue or cheek, as long as hes wearing adequate personal protective equipment, he said. I do have concerns that some dentists may swing too far in either direction, Barnes said. Some may try to get back to normal volume too quickly and risk the spread of the virus. Others may be too conservative and risk leaving their patients with difficulty in accessing urgent dental care. The vast majority of dentists in Pennsylvania and New Jersey work in privately owned solo or group practices. They remain both medical provider and small-business owner a dual identity that requires them to consider the health of their employees and patients, as well as the health of their business. All of a sudden, they have to shut down, lay off staff. They have loans and business expenses, said Anjana D. Patel, a lawyer with Epstein Becker & Green in Newark, N.J., who advises health-care businesses. Once they start opening up, theyre not going to see patient flow like they used to, especially with all these protective measures they have to implement. Its not going to be the same for a long time, and some of them may not be able to survive that. Unlike most medical offices, independent dental practices have not had a larger health system or management organization to help cover ongoing business expenses, such as rent and malpractice insurance, during the pandemic. While emergency dental work was allowed to continue in most states, including Pennsylvania, emergencies account for just 10% of revenue for dental practices, on average. During the pandemic, general practice dentistry revenue plummeted 95% and oral surgery revenue fell 70% nationally, according to the Levin Group, a dental management consulting firm in Baltimore. Physicians who work within a health-care system are more likely to see more emergencies, said Roger Levin, a dentist and the CEO of Levin Group. The independent practice is going to get hit harder because there are no guidelines, no resources, no administrator getting the PPE together. Barnes and many other dentists are following the recommended safety protocols: They screen patients for virus symptoms before a visit; take their temperature upon arrival; require patients to wear masks and wait outside until its time for their appointment; and permit only one adult to accompany a pediatric patient. The states order authorizing dental practices to resume nonemergency services said they should follow these infection-control guidelines but did not outline specific penalties for not complying. However, the State Board of Dentistry, which licenses dentists and hygienists, can discipline or issue violations to providers who flout infection-control protocols. Its very confusing because even in the dental world, none of us knows whats allowed, hygienist Tahita Ross said. Nothing is mandated for us not to do. Its all recommended. One hygienist who returned to work May 18 for the first time since mid-March said her dental practice forced her out two days later after she complained that the office wasnt following safety guidelines, including taking patients temperature and limiting the number of people allowed in the office at one time. The 36-year-old hygienist from Delaware County asked The Inquirer not to publish her name because shes looking for a new job. She shared text messages that, she said, were between her and one of the dentists. Honestly, I am shocked we arent taking everyones temperatures! the hygienist texted on May 19. The dentist responded that taking temperatures could create a false sense of security and wouldnt prevent asymptomatic spread, the hygienist said and text messages show. The hygienist also complained about having to fudge chart notes stating a routine cleaning was necessary to prevent irreversible damage, in order to meet state Health Department recommendations. I took a stand and said, Im not willing to risk my license or my familys safety, said the hygienist, who has a 6-year-old with a kidney condition and a 4-year-old with asthma. And they basically said, So is this your resignation? And I had to say, yes. Since the Board of Dentistry can penalize practices for not following safety protocols, hygienists are in a difficult spot: Stay quiet to keep their jobs or report their boss to regulators, said hygienist Lisa Maisonet. Some dentists are twisting the guidelines so they can make the decision to see anybody they want right now, including doing procedures with instruments that create visible aerosols, by deeming it as clinically necessary, Maisonet said. (Hygienists) are being put into a tough situation. Their licenses are really being compromised and its like they have to feed their families. Ross, the 39-year-old hygienist who was raised in West Philadelphia and now lives in Newark, Del., said her employer plans to reopen for emergency cases only in early June. She said she has reservations about returning to work but sees little option, although right now, she doesnt know who is going to watch her children, ages 10 and 6. If schools and camps were to reopen, I would have to go back because I wouldnt have an excuse not to. It would be like a fear of losing my job, Ross said. I do want to go back to work. I love my job. I will go back as soon as I can. MacCrory, who runs the dental staffing service, said if dentists cant guarantee hygienists a 40-hour workweek because they dont have enough patient volume, theres little incentive to put their health at risk and return to work. Thats because some hygienists are earning more money not working, between collecting unemployment pay and an additional $600 a week from the federal government in pandemic relief. But that wont last forever. Andrea Pelonero, a 50-year-old hygienist from North Jersey, one of the nations hardest-hit regions for the coronavirus, said she doesnt understand why hygienists are worried, given that theyve always had to take precautions against infectious disease, such as HIV. I assume everybody is a bag full of infection at every visit, so what exactly do I need to do differently now? Pelonero said. Its like being a nurse you knew this when you signed up for it, so I dont understand, like people dont want to do it anymore because now theyre scared. What? Werent you afraid of getting AIDS before? Seriously. Wendy Ruderman and Sarah Gantz of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote this story. The Philadelphia Inquire2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. National Police of Ukraine Open source Kaharlyk police unit has been entirey disbanded due to the recent high-profle case of a rape and tortures of a local woman. This became known during the staff meeting of the law enforcers dedicated to the issue of tortures applied in police. The press office of Ukraine's Interior Ministry reported that on June 4. As the unit is disbanded, 60 police workers were removed from the staff. The staff committee of the National Police will decide the fate of their further service. "Unfortunately, cases of tortures and inhumane treatment take place in police agencies of different world countries. However, the system's healthy as it responds to such cases and takes steps to punish the guilty ones in the entire strictness of the law", Minister Arsen Avakov said. Previously, policeman Serhiy Sulyma and his partner Mykola Kuziv were detained by the Interior Security Department of the National Police. Both were charged with a rape case. Both are now at the pre-trial detention cell. Ihor Klymenko, the National Police chief signed the order saying that the Kaharlyk police unit would be disbanded, and its leadership would be fired. Bree Candland at home with her cat, Nelson Mandela. While she appreciates the recognition, the fact that it was a student who nominated her means even more to Candland. She was the only teacher in the group of sixteen nominees to be suggested by a student rather than a colleague, principal, or community member. "I think it's special," she said, "because who knows you better as a teacher than a student?" Madigan Saundersthe senior at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham who proposed Candland for the awarddescribed her teacher as "invested in students in and out of the classroom...Her sarcastic nature [and] warm and glowing personality always welcomes everyone into her room." Saunders also acknowledged how impactful her freshman-year religion course with Candland was for her. "Im a senior, and when I walk by her class I still remember everything from her world religions class," she wrote. A Master's of Art in Theology and Institutional Change When Mt. Ararat H.S. hired Candland as a full-time teacher in 2001, school officials asked her to teach a class about ancient world cultures to ninth graders. (She began at the middle school in the spring of 2001 as a student intern.) That request ended up setting her off on a path that would inspire her not only to propose a revitalization of the high school's social studies curriculum, but also lead her to seminary school. Teaching about ancient cultures, as well as helping students make sense of 9/11 and its aftermath, sparked in Candland a deeper interest in religion. In 2006, she enrolled in Bangor Theological Seminary, graduating five years later (after taking many evening classes) with a master's degree in theology. Her seminary studies gave her the impetus to propose a change at her high school. In 2010, Candland suggested to her department that they offer freshmen two courses on world religions and world governments instead of a class on ancient cultures. "All the best questions the kids ever asked me in the ancient world cultures class were about religion," Candland recalled. Her idea took off, and today all 160 to 170 Mt. Ararat ninth graders study religions and government systems around the world. Older students now also take a semester of economics and a semester on foreign policy. "We're trying to be relevant," Candland said. "Social studies teachers get asked all the time by students, 'Why do I need to know this?' Now we don't get asked those questions. It's obvious. These topics are everywhere." An Epiphany at Bowdoin Within a few minutes of talking to Candland about her career, her love for and commitment to her profession become very apparent. She credits discovering her calling at Bowdoin. When she arrived at the College in 1997, she was not considering a teaching career. "I came to Bowdoin thinking I would be a therapist," she said. But her pre-major advisor, retired professor Penny Martin, encouraged her to take her introductory education course. Very quickly, Candland knew what she wanted to dedicate her life's work to. Part of what convinced her to become a teacher was the camaraderie of her fellow classmates in Martin's class, and part of it was studying a topic she was familiar with after just completing eighteen years of school herself. Over the years, her appreciation for her job, and for her students, has only become stronger. "I laugh all day long at school," she said. "Teenagers are funny and hilarious. They are goofy and insecure and they aren't sure of who they are yet, and you are able to have such an impact on helping them form who they are going to be. And that is amazing." The travel industry has reacted with fury to the transport secretarys warning that travel businesses should not be hanging on to money owed to customers. At the Downing Street daily briefing, Grant Shapps responded to a question from a member of the public, Charlotte from Coventry, about refunds following the cancellation of holidays. She asked: Whats the government doing to ensure that people can get their money back? Mr Shapps explained the legal position under the package travel regulations: while travel firms can offer a voucher, customers can insist on a refund. Ultimately they have to offer the money back if that is what you prefer, he said. Its very important travel companies do treat their customers properly, and Ill be doing everything I can to encourage them to make sure they pay back or offer a voucher if thats what the individual consumer wants. We cant have a situation where theyre just hanging on to money. Paul Goldstein, co-owner of Kicheche Camps in Kenya, said: For the transport secretary to accuse impoverished tour operators of hanging on to clients money is an insult to an already beleaguered industry. Many clients have been very loyal in letting operators keep deposits for the future and this has supported their cash flow. But right now financially the whole industry is teetering with many job losses. It is a disgrace from a government making their policies up as they go along. Sophie Griffiths, the editor of the trade journal TTG, said: No good travel business wants to be holding on to customers monies, but many travel agents and operators are themselves trying to get money back from their own suppliers, in order that they can refund customers. Where firms are holding on to customers money for ridiculous amounts of time, this should of course be called out and challenged. But it would be more helpful if ministers such as Shapps actually committed their time to understanding the dire situation facing the travel industry so that the sector can receive the support it so desperately needs, so that customers can start being refunded more promptly. A spokesperson for Abta, the travel association, said: Members should refund customers as soon as they are able to and without undue delay. Companies will have varying timings they are working to to process refunds for any number of reasons including fewer working staff or having not yet received money back from hotels, airlines and other suppliers affected by the crisis. However, if your travel provider has said they will offer a cash refund, they should let you know how long this will take. Travel businesses are unable to send holidaymakers abroad as long as the Foreign Office advises against non-essential overseas trips. In addition, the governments new quarantine policy means bookings for the summer have dried up. Mr Goldstein said: Having worked in this industry for 35 years I cannot remember being so angry. When announcing the 14-day self-isolation rules, home secretary Priti Patel said: These measures are backed by the science, supported by the public, and essential to save lives We know they will present difficulties for the tourism industry, but thats why we have an unprecedented package of support, the most comprehensive in the world, for both employees and businesses. Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam seemed to relish it before the cameras this week. The United States was enduring extensive shudders of internal instability in the wake of the George Floyd protests. Dubious proposals to deploy the military were on the books. This was a superb stage show. The Chinese move to crush or, to be more accurate, bring forward, the ultimate incorporation of Hong Kong into the PRC structure, had received some breathing space. It all had to do with a little matter called sovereignty. For years, the United States, the United Kingdom, and European Union have seen Beijings sovereignty over the island qualified by the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. On the horizon lay the magic year when this singular status would end: 2047. In 2016, the Under Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Ronald Chan announced that 2047 should not trouble those in Hong Kong. There was no question of the expiry of the Basic Law after 2047. In the one country, two systems formula, the one country has, at stages, been forgotten in favour of the two systems, with Hong Kong having sway in most matters of governance except foreign affairs and defence. Much of this was bound to be wishful thinking on the part of those outside China. Since June 2019, when large and determined protests commenced against the proposed extradition treaty to China, the program of integration and winding back various provisions otherwise guaranteeing autonomy in the province has been fought tooth and nail. The onset of the pandemic provided something of a forced lull, enabling the power brokers on the mainland to take stock. In April, a sense of what was to come was floated. Beijing threatened a sitting legislator with disqualification for sitting in office for resorting to filibustering. New security legislation was aired as a distinct possibility. And a conclusion was reached that the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) and Liaison Office in Hong Kong were exempt from the application of Article 22 of the Basic Law. The provision prohibits departments of the Central Peoples Government from meddling in matters otherwise within the scope of Hong Kongs autonomy. For all that, last months resolution through the National Peoples Congress to enact a national security law specific to Hong Kong was merely part of an organic process that would ultimately challenge, if not displace the one country, two systems idea. Alvin Y.H. Cheung picks up on this in Just Security, suggesting three interrelated and long-running developments: the Beijing and Hong Kong governments abuse of advocating independence as political and legal cudgel; the growing role of the Liaison Office; and the political capture of a previously professionalized civil service apparatus. The proposed provisions are not pretty for the protesters, but then again, such laws are the generic stuff of a state apparatus that needs to prove its mettle. These include stopping or punishing conduct that seriously endangers national security (the usual offences of separatism, subversion or organising and carrying out terrorist activities would apply). In of itself, any security-minded type would have little issue with language that focuses on targeting subversive elements, anything threatening national security and interference from a foreign power. (According to the NPC, the legislation opposes the interference in the HKSAR affairs by any foreign or external forces in any form, and authorises the taking of necessary countermeasures where necessary.) Such language is the essence of muscular sovereignty, however ugly it looks. The reaction towards the unilateral move has been a gift to Lam and Beijing. We use a fist; you use a sledgehammer. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded that the NPCs decision neutered Hong Kongs autonomous status. No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground. Having attacked China intermittently over its handling of the novel coronavirus, US President Donald J. Trump further mudded matters by seeking to, in his instruction, revoke Hong Kongs preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the rest of China. Such privileges are to be found in the US Hong Kong Policy Act 1992, which seems to be sliding into the morgue of treaties and understandings that has been increasingly packed by the Trump administration. Such an alteration of Hong Kongs status will have the ill-considered effect of pushing it further into the arms of PRC control. This point has been made by pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai, who claims that removing those privileges would only make Hong Kong more dependent on China. In this latest rhetorical skirmish, everyone has a take on sovereignty. Naturally, the unfortunates in Hong Kong are wedged in between. Commentary has been quick and sharp on the subject of the NPC resolution, much of it regretful or indignant if you so happen to be in the British or US camp. It should have come to this, rued Caron Anne Goodwin Jones of the Birmingham Law School. The de facto mini-constitution that came into effect after the British handover in 1997 specifically limited Beijing from applying national laws to the territory, except in matters of defence and foreign affairs. Jones naturally puts this down to unnecessary PRC authoritarian paranoia. China, she suggests dismissively, has no grounds for fearing the prospect of Hong Kong become a base for subversion. Nowhere does she mention the eye-poking Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, passed by the US Congress and celebrated by certain protesters for permitting the imposition of sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations in Hong Kong. The mantra about the PRC challenging the rules-based order, a rather seedy way of concealing the role of power behind it, is cited in conclusion. This rings rather oddly in an age where international paperwork on that very order is being torn-up with relish, most of all by that unruly man in the White House who deems all that preceded him bad and the worst. Anything with a pre-existing rule or code must, by Trumps reckoning, be rotten. Be it trade wars or long standing security agreements, the MAGA platform of Trump has insisted on casting all the crockery out and replacing it with makeshift, rickety substitutes. Now, it seems that the PRC has taken a leaf out the presidents own book of ruffling chaos, suggesting that Hong Kongs Basic Law can be tampered with ahead of time. Chinas foreign ministry has not shied away from poking fun at the anger from Washington. US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus was sappy in her remark that Chinas move was a pivotal moment for the world, one that challenged the rule of law, inviting an acid response from Hua Chunying: I cant breathe. Britain has also waded into the sovereignty debate in its own, merry way. The UK government has offered all Hong Kong citizens who hold British National (Overseas) passports and those eligible for the BN(O) status but had not renewed their passports on expiration the right to live and work in the UK as a prelude to becoming citizens. Up to three million would fall into this category. China, in turn, claims the offer violates the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. No one, it seems, wants to read the fine print these days. Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected] Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 18:50:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad speaks in an interview with Xinhua on June 3, 2020. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Syria respects China's right to legislate to safeguard national security, which brooks no foreign interference, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said. In an interview with Xinhua Wednesday, Mekdad voiced his country's support for China's national security legislation for its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Last week, Chinese lawmakers voted overwhelmingly at the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, the top legislature, to approve a decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security. In response, the U.S. authorities have threatened to cancel their special trade treatment for Hong Kong. The threats are considered by the Syrian government as interference in China's internal affairs, Mekdad said. "Each country has the right to legislate for itself and China is not an exception," he said, adding that no other country has the right to interfere with the legislation enacted by the Chinese government. Mekdad said Syria "strongly supports the decisions" made by the Chinese legislature, noting that it is the right of the Chinese people and their representatives. Stressing that Hong Kong is "part and parcel of China," he said the Syrian government respects the one-China principle and fully supports the efforts of the Chinese government to protect the interests and security of the Chinese people and of China as a country. Mekdad said the Chinese government has done a "great job" by doing its best to not only end the colonization in Hong Kong, but also maintain security in the special administrative region. China is following a correct policy of "reintegrating all parts of China into the homeland," he said. "In Syria, we believe in one China." The deputy foreign minister said he thinks that the overwhelming majority of the people in Hong Kong support the legislation on national security, noting that China will succeed in its efforts to stay united. Mekdad also voiced his belief that China has always been a defender of world peace and security. China, as an active member of the United Nations Security Council, has played an important and decisive role in maintaining world peace and security, he said. Enditem By Akbar Mammadov President Ilham Aliyev has said that not a single Azerbaijani has been left in present day Armenias territory where Azerbaijans cultural heritage has been erased and historical monuments have been destroyed. President Ilham Aliyev made the remarks during his visit to Tartar region bordering Armenia on June 3. Not a single Azerbaijani is left in the ancient lands of Azerbaijan and our historical monuments and mosques have been destroyed, the historical heritage of Azerbaijanis has been erased, Aliyev said, adding that representatives of other nationalities have also been expelled from Armenia. Aliyev said that by comparison, Azerbaijan is known for its tolerance to other ethnic and religious minorities. The whole world recognizes that the inter-ethnic relations and inter-religious dialogue prevailing in Azerbaijan are an example for the world. In Armenia, 99.9 per cent of the population is Armenian. This criminal regime has expelled people of all nationalities in various ways. Now the junta regime reigns in Nagorno-Karabakh as well. Of course, the fake elections held by the junta are a show, a show of clowns. All leading countries condemned and did not recognize these so-called "elections". The president also emphasized that the territory of present-day Armenia is the land of ancient Azerbaijan. This is a fact, a historical fact. You don't have to go far. It is enough to look at the maps published by Tsarist Russia in the early twentieth century. Everyone can see that the absolute majority of toponyms in the whole territory of present-day Armenia are of Azerbaijani origin. Commenting on the Armenian authorities, Aliyev emphasized that the previous regimes illegal acts have been revealed by the current leadership of Armenia and presented to the public. Their generals are thieves, their so-called "heroes" are criminals, and their leaders are bribe-takers, he added . He also underlined the fact that members of the former regime have been arrested and are wanted. Aliyev said that this means that for 20 years until 2018, Armenia was ruled by criminals. One of them is now in prison, and the other is still at large. However, he was also banned from leaving the country. In other words, a country's independence has not reached 30 years, and 20 years of the country have been left to criminals, he added. President Aliyev said that it is no secret that Armenia is a terrorist state, and this state has repeatedly shown this and even committed terrorism against its leaders. Furthermore, he reminded that twenty years ago, many members of the Armenian leadership were assassinated in the country's parliament, and the crime has not been solved yet. Everyone knows who ordered this crime. But they cover it up because their terrorist nature lives on today, he added. Aliyev also spoke about the glorification of Nazism in Armenia, saying that a 6-feet-monument has been erected in this country to a Nazi collaborator Garegin Nzhdeh who said infamously during the World War 2 that who dies for Germany also dies for Armenia. It shows that the government in Armenia can change, but the terrorist and fascist nature of this country remains unchanged," Aliyev added. Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Aliyev said that today the position of international organizations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict reflects the truth and justice. As a result of our efforts, all leading international organizations have issued relevant statements on the settlement of the conflict within the territorial integrity of our country. The Declaration on Strategic Partnership, which we have signed with many countries in a bilateral format, supports the territorial integrity of our country and states that the conflict must be resolved on the basis of these principles, he noted. Commenting on the illegal elections held in the Nagorno-Karabakh on March 31, Aliyev reminded that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs-U.S, France, Russia have made a statement saying that they do not recognize the elections. Furthermore, he also noted that the European Parliament, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Non-Aligned Movement, and other organizations - all leading international organizations - have condemned these elections, with the exception of the Council of Europe. The main goals of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is to tarnish Azerbaijan, to discredit our country, to spread lies about our country, to make false reports, to support the "fifth column" in Azerbaijan, traitors and the Armenian side in the conflict. That is why the Council of Europe did not even vote on these fraudulent elections. In this case, what objectivity, what justice can we talk about! Touching upon the documents adopted by the European Council related to Azerbaijan, President Aliyev noted that the Azerbaijani public has witnessed Council of Europe's anti-Azerbaijani stance. The hypocritical nature of this organization is not a secret to anyone, and we do not care whether they recognized these fraudulent elections or not. The main thing is that the world's most respected organizations have not recognized and condemned the so-called elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliyev noted. The president emphasized that the position of international organizations and many countries strengthen Azerbaijans position. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has economic and military superiority over Armenia and reminded that Azerbaijan has liberated a part of Aghdara, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts. Furthermore, the president reminded Armenias bombing of Azerbaijani civilians in 2018, including those in Tartar. They bombed the city of Tartar, the villages of Tartar and Aghdam. What is this, not fascism?, he said. Aliyev stressed that there can be no war against the civilian population, adding that: They were not strong enough for our army, they left their positions and fled, and what did they do? They used force against the civilian population. Reminding that Armenia has cut off water to Tartar, Aliyev described this environmental terrorism. Moreover, President Aliyev reminded the Nakhchivan operation held in 2018. There, thousands of hectares of land also came under our control. We liberated the occupied territories. The Azerbaijani army has shown its strength. The source of our strength is the Azerbaijani people, he added. Aliyev noted that the source of the Armenian army is foreign donations, withouth which the country has no future. They have territorial claims against almost all neighbours - Azerbaijan and Turkey, openly and secretly to another neighbouring country," Aliyev said. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The lieutenant governor, a lawyer, said he considers people in law enforcement, including family members and friends, to be wonderful people. But he added that there are too many men and woman across the country who look just like me, who, instead of feeling protected when they see a law enforcement officer, they feel anxious and in some cases afraid. By PTI NEW DELHI: A process of comprehensive reforms covering almost all areas has been initiated in India as it is viewing the coronavirus crisis as an "opportunity", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday at an online summit with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. In his opening remarks, Modi also pitched for a coordinated and collaborative approach to come out of the adverse economic and social impact of the epidemic that has infected around 65 lakh people and killed 3.88 lakh globally. Referring to the virtual summit, the prime minister termed it "a new model of India-Australia partnership, a new model of conducting business". It was the first time that Modi held a "bilateral" virtual summit with a foreign leader. The prime minister described his talks with Morrison as "an outstanding discussion", covering the entire expanse of ties between the two strategic partners. "Our government has decided to view this crisis as an opportunity. In India, a process of comprehensive reforms has been initiated in almost all areas. It will soon see results at the ground level," the prime minister said. Modi also conveyed his appreciation to Morrison for taking care of the Indian community in Australia, especially the students, during the "difficult time". The overall focus of the talks was on further broadcasting bilateral ties in a range of areas like healthcare, trade and defence. In his remarks, Morrison complemented Modi for his "constructive and very positive" role including at the G-20 role in pushing for a concerted global approach in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Modi said he believed that it is the "perfect time and perfect opportunity" to further strengthen the relationship between India and Australia. "We have immense possibilities to make our friendship stronger," Modi said, adding: "How our relations become a 'factor of stability' for our region and for the world, how we work together for global good, all these aspects need to be considered." The prime minister said India was committed to expand its relations with Australia on a wider and faster pace, noting that it is important not only for the two countries, but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world. "The role of our comprehensive strategic partnership will be more important in this period of global epidemic. The world needs a coordinated and collaborative approach to get out of the economic and social side effects of this epidemic," he said. Relationship between the two nations was upgraded to a 'Strategic Partnership' level in 2009. Since then, both countries have expanded their cooperation in a range of key areas. In its White Paper on Foreign Policy in 2017, Australia recognised India as the "pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries" and a "front-rank partner of Australia". The bilateral economic engagement too has been on an upswing in the last few years. According to official data, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion in 2018-19. Australia's cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas India's total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion. Australian Super Pension Fund has invested USD 1 billion in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. In the last few years, both countries have been focusing on expanding maritime cooperation. India and Australia commenced their first bilateral naval exercise 'AUSINDEX' in 2015 which was focussed at deepening defence and maritime cooperation especially in the Indian Ocean. The third edition of AUSINDEX-2019 was held in the Bay of Bengal in April 2019. Australia has been supportive of India's position on cross-border terrorism and on asking Pakistan to take meaningful action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. Australia also co-sponsored UNSC resolution to declare Azhar Masood a global terrorist. Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - June 4, 2020) - Raffles Financial Group Limited (CSE: RICH) (FSE: 4VO) (OTC: RAFFF) ("Raffles" or "the Company") today announced that it has engaged CHF Investor Relations ("CHF"), a highly-regarded Canadian investor relations and capital markets firm. Dr. Charlie In, Chairman of Raffles Financial, expressed: "Raffles Financial, which has been providing public listing services to high-growth and profit-generating companies across Asia, is now listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange {CSE}, ranking #1 on the Diversified Industries section. Headquartered in Singapore, we are fortunate to have Canada's leading IR specialists, led by Cathy Hume and her team at CHF, providing Canadian investment public and media with in-depth and timely updates on Raffles' developments." Effective immediately, CHF is tasked to handle Raffles Financial's investment community outreach, corporate and shareholder communications, social & digital marketing, online and offline shareholders relationship developments. In addition, they will provide counsel on all aspects of the marketing communications for Raffles Financial private and investment banking initiatives. About CHF Investor Relations CHF Investor Relations (www.chfcapital.com) is a Toronto-based firm specializing in Investor Relations. With more than 80 years of collective IR & Capital Markets experience, CHF has been a trusted partner for many public companies in Canada and worldwide, operating in a broad range of industries including Mining, Technology, Financial Services, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, and Special Situations. Its team consists of a diverse pool of talent that combines analytical and creative skills - high-profile communications and investment industry specialists, digital media experts, content creators and graphic designers - making it a one-stop shop for all your communication needs in the public sector. Story continues About Raffles Financial Group Limited (CSE: RICH) (FSE: 4VO) (OTC: RAFFF) Raffles Financial Pte Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raffles Financial Group Limited) is an exempt corporate finance advisory firm, registered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which provides public listing advisory and arrangement services. Raffles Financial serves as advisor for family trusts, family offices and investment funds. Please visit www.rafflesfinancial.co for more information. For more information, please contact: Cathy Hume, Investor Relations Phone: 416-868-1079 x 231 Email: cathy@chfir.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. Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the anticipated partnerships with financial institutions worldwide and the growth potential through Province Representatives. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company 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. Because of 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/57246 SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) PG&E's 16-month-long bankruptcy proceeding moved a step closer to a possible end Wednesday with the start of closing arguments in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco on the utility's financial reorganization plan. PG&E attorney Stephen Karotkin urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali to confirm the $58 billion plan, arguing that it will bring "expedited distribution to fire victims." "That has been the principal goal since PG&E filed in January 2019" for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Karotkin told the judge. The plan includes a $13.5 billion trust to compensate victims of wildfires caused by breakages in PG&E electrical lines and equipment in the North Bay and Butte County in 2017 and 2018. Half of that fund would come from PG&E stock. The plan also allocates $11 billion to insurance companies that have paid claims and $1 billion to state and local government entities. The closing arguments are scheduled to continue through Friday, after which Montali will issue a written ruling at a later date. Montali's approval is needed before a June 30 deadline for PG&E to be eligible for a $21 billion state wildfire insurance fund for PG&E and two other utilities, to be paid for half by shareholders and half by customers. PG&E met another milestone for exiting bankruptcy last week when the California Public Utilities Commission approved the plan. The utility filed a revised plan with Montali Wednesday morning that resolved some of the objections filed by PG&E's creditors. Lawyers for some of those groups told the judge during an afternoon session that they now support the plan as a result of the changes. Others said they want more time to study the revisions and asked to delay their arguments until Thursday or Friday. The Chapter 11 process allowed PG&E to freeze its debts while seeking new funding and developing a plan to pay its creditors. 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. COLUMBUS, OhioThe number of new unemployment claims in Ohio last week fell for the ninth straight week, though total claims since the coronavirus crisis began are now approaching 1.3 million. For the week of May 24-30, 34,575 Ohioans filed initial unemployment claims, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services data released Thursday. Thats 7,507 fewer claims than were filed the previous week, according to the department. In all, 1,292,413 of Ohios 11.75 million residents have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus crisis led Gov. Mike DeWines administration to shut down non-essential businesses (including bars and restaurants) and issue a stay-at-home" order starting in mid-March. Thats more than the total number of jobless claims filed in the state during the previous three years. The weekly record for initial unemployment claims was 272,188, filed the week ending March 28. During the past 11 weeks, the state of Ohio says it has paid $3.5 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 668,000 people. Nationwide, 1,877,000, people filed initial jobless claims, down 249,000 from the previous weeks revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Ohios unemployment insurance system has struggled to handle the onslaught of claims, with people waiting weeks to receive benefits and facing long waits to talk with a system agent. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Kimberly Hall, testifying before a legislative committee last week, apologized to Ohioans who havent yet received benefits. But she defended her agencys overall response to a tsunami of claims from the coronavirus crisis, blaming antiquated technology and bureaucratic rules for the delay in benefits to the approximately 77,000 Ohioans who still have pending claims. Read more cleveland.com stories: Ohios coronavirus nursing home deaths reach 1,641, with 199 more reported in the last week SNAP benefits can now be used online in Ohio Ohio lawmakers advance elections bill while removing language that rolled back early voting Ohio State expects to have in-person classes this fall: heres how Ohio Senate rejects bill requiring written consent for coronavirus contact tracing, OKs symbolic DeWine rebuke Gov. Phil Murphy will hold another press conference at 1 p.m. Thursday to provide updates on the coronavirus pandemic. It will be streamed from the Trenton War Memorial on the governors YouTube channel. Among the officials who will join Murphy are state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, state Epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan and State Police Superintendent Colonel Pat Callahan. On Wednesday, Murphy provided the guidelines for restaurants and bars to reopen for outdoor dining on June 15. Eateries and taverns must place tables six feet from each other, limit eight customers to a table, post signs that say patrons with a fever or symptoms of the coronavirus shouldnt enter and prohibit smoking in areas where people are drinking and eating. Murphy also announced 112 new COVID-19 related deaths to push the states total to 11,880. Hospitalizations continue to decrease. The governor has two radio appearances scheduled for later Thursday. He can be heard on New York City news station 1010 WINS at 4:50 p.m. Then at 7 p.m. Ask Governor Murphy will be simulcast on Newarks WBGO (88.3 FM), New York Citys WNYC (93.9 FM), and Philadelphias WHYY (90.9 FM) 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. Flowr closes on second tranche of non-brokered private placement of convertible debenture units for gross proceeds of $1,538,000 Francesco Tallarico, Chief Legal Officer and Ashley Thomson, Chief People Officer, to leave the Company to pursue opportunities outside of the cannabis industry TORONTO, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR; OTC: FLWPF) (Flowr or the Company) today announced that it has closed a second tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement. The second tranche closing consisted of the issuance of 1,538 Units (as defined below) for gross proceeds of CAD$1,538,000 (the Second Tranche Offering). The Second Tranche Offering is in addition to the CAD$20,041,000 in gross proceeds that the Company closed on April 27, 2020, bringing the total gross proceeds from both tranches to CAD$21,579,000. Executive Departures The Company also announced today that its Chief Legal Officer Francesco Tallarico and its Chief People Officer Ashley Thomson are leaving the Company to pursue opportunities outside of the cannabis industry. Vinay Tolia, CEO said On behalf of the Board and the Company, I want to thank Francesco and Ashley for their contributions to Flowr and wish them success in their next ventures. Francesco has been an integral part of our leadership team from when we first went public in 2018. He immersed himself in the industry and has been involved in everything from regulatory, M&A, and capital raising. Ashley has been a key member of our executive leadership team guiding the Company through a substantial increase in headcount, implementing best in class corporate structures to enable Flowr to scale efficiently globally and has been integral to creating our corporate culture. Andrew Teehan, Flowrs Deputy General Counsel will assume the Interim General Counsel role to ensure a smooth transition, after the departure of Mr. Tallarico in late June 2020. Andrew joined Flowr in early 2019 after having been VP Legal Affairs at Concordia International and having practiced corporate and securities law at Cox & Palmer and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin. Story continues Ms. Thomson will be leaving the Company in early June 2020. Additional Information about the Offering. The Second Tranche Offering consists of units of the Company (the Units) at a price of CAD$1,000.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one subordinated secured debenture of the Company (each, a Debenture), convertible into 1,724 common shares of the Company (Common Shares) at a conversion price of $0.58 and 1,724 Common Share purchase warrants (each, a Warrant) with an exercise price of $0.76. Each Debenture is comprised of CAD$1,000.00 principal amount of convertible debentures of the Company. The Debentures will bear interest at a rate of 10.0% per annum from April 27, 2020, calculated semi-annually in arrears on June 30 and December 31 of each year. Interest will, subject to TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) approval, be paid annually in Common Shares and paid on December 31 of each year, with the last interest payment to be paid on the fourth anniversary of April 27, 2020 (the Maturity Date). Subject to TSXV approval, the conversion price with respect to the Common Shares issued as payment in kind on account of interest shall be the market price of the Common Shares on the business day immediately prior to the conversion date of such interest payment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the TSXV does not approve the payment of interest in Common Shares for any particular interest payment period, such interest shall instead be paid in cash pursuant to the debenture indenture entered into between the Company and the debentureholders. The Debentures will be convertible into Common Shares at the option of the debentureholder at any time and from time to time prior to the Maturity Date upon such holder providing five (5) business days notice to the Company. The conversion price with respect to the Common Shares issued upon conversion of Debentures is $0.58 per Common Share. Debentureholders converting their Debentures will be entitled to receive accrued and unpaid interest thereon for the period from and including the date of the latest interest payment date, to and including the date of conversion. Any outstanding principal amount of the Debentures not converted prior to the Maturity Date will be repaid by the Company, at the election of the holders of the Debentures, in cash or Common Shares on the Maturity Date. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share (each, a Warrant Share) at an exercise price of $0.76 per Warrant Share (the Exercise Price) for a period of 36 months from April 27, 2020 (the Expiry Date). Any Warrants not exercised prior to the Expiry Date shall be deemed to be void and of no further force and effect. The Debentures will rank subordinate to any and all current secured indebtedness and senior to any and all current and future unsecured indebtedness of the Company and any and all future secured indebtedness of the Company. All securities issued under the Second Tranche Offering are subject to the customary four-month hold period and may not be traded before October 4, 2020. In addition, securities issued to subscribers in the United States will be subject to a hold period under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") and can only be resold in strict compliance with the applicable exemptions from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act. The Second Tranche Offering remains subject to the final acceptance of the TSXV. About The Flowr Corporation The Flowr Corporation is a Toronto-headquartered cannabis company with operations in Canada, Europe, and Australia. Its Canadian operating campus, located in Kelowna, BC, includes a purpose-built, GMP-designed indoor cultivation facility; an outdoor and greenhouse cultivation site; and a state-of-the-art R&D facility. From this campus, Flowr produces recreational and medicinal products. Internationally, Flowr intends to service the global medical cannabis market through its subsidiary Holigen, which has a license for cannabis cultivation in Portugal and operates GMP licensed facilities in both Portugal and Australia. Flowr aims to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and, as an established expert in cannabis cultivation, strives to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking the highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency across a portfolio of differentiated cannabis products. For more information, please visit flowrcorp.com or follow Flowr on Twitter: @FlowrCanada and LinkedIn: The Flowr Corporation. On behalf of The Flowr Corporation: Vinay Tolia CEO and Director CONTACT INFORMATION: INVESTORS & MEDIA: Thierry Elmaleh Head of Capital Markets (877) 356-9726 ext. 1528 thierry@flowr.ca Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian Securities laws, which may include but is not limited to: the anticipated timelines for Mr. Tallarico and Ms. Thomson leaving the Company; conversion of the Debentures into Common Shares; the calculation of interest on the Debentures and dates for payment thereof; the conversion price for Common Shares issued as payment in kind on account of interest on the Debentures, and TSXV approval thereof; payments of interest on the Debentures being made in cash; the repayment of any outstanding principal under the Debentures in cash or Common Shares on the Maturity Date; the terms of the Warrants; the ranking of the Debentures with respect to future indebtedness of the Company; the applicable hold periods and restrictions on resale for the securities issued under the Offering; receipt of conditional final approval from the TSXV for the Offering Flowr servicing the global medical cannabis market and operating GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia; Flowr supporting improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and striving to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking highest-quality craftmanship and product consistency; and Flowrs business, production and products. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, is expected, expects, scheduled, intends, contemplates, anticipates, believes, proposes or variations (including negative and grammatical 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. Such information and statements are based on the current expectations of Flowrs management and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although Flowrs management believes that the assumptions underlying such information and statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Flowr, including risks relating to: the Company being unable to use the proceeds of the Second Tranche Offering as intended; the inability of the Company to make interest payments on the Debentures on the scheduled dates for payment, or at all; the inability of the Company to repay any outstanding principal under the Debentures on the Maturity Date; the inability of the Company to receive TSXV approval to make interest payments on the Debentures in kind by issuing Common Shares; the inability of the Company to incur any future indebtedness; the Company not receiving final approval from the TSXV for the Second Tranche Offering Flowr being unable to service the global medical cannabis market and/or operate GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia; Flowr being unable to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and/or striving to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking highest-quality craftmanship and product consistency; the construction and development of the Companys cultivation and production facilities; general economic and stock market conditions; adverse industry events; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments in Canada and elsewhere; the cannabis industry in Canada generally; the ability of Flowr to implement its business strategies; Flowrs inability to produce or sell premium quality cannabis, risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Flowrs filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators; the Companys inability to raise capital or have the liquidity to operate or advance its strategic initiatives and many other factors beyond the control of Flowr. Although Flowr has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information or statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward-looking information or statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking information and statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Flowr undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. When considering such forward-looking information and statements, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in Flowrs Annual Information Form dated April 29, 2020 (the AIF) and filed with the applicable securities regulatory authorities in Canada. The risk factors and other factors noted in the AIF could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking information or statements. 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. Britain's AstraZeneca has tied up with Serum Institute of India and two Bill Gates-backed global health organisations as it looks to deliver two billion doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine this year and next, double the previous numbers, The company, which has already agreed to supply 400 million doses to the United States and British governments, said on June 4 it had agreed terms with Serum Institute of India, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, to supply one billion doses for low and middle-income countries. AstraZeneca's partnership with Oxford University has garnered international attention as one of the leading coronavirus vaccine candidates, sealing more than $1 billion in US government funding last month as it ramps up testing of the vaccine and manufacturing capacity. The management said it had also signed an agreement worth $750 million with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and GAVI vaccines alliance, both founded by Microsoft-founder Gates and his wife Melinda, to produce 300 million doses of the vaccine. Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, was quoted by IANS as saying he was delighted to partner with AstraZeneca in bringing this vaccine to India as well as low-and-middle-income countries. "Over the past 50 years, we has built significant capability in vaccine manufacturing and supply globally. We will work closely with AstraZeneca to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine in these countries," 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 GAVI said on June 4 it had raised $567 million of a planned $2 billion from international donors for an advanced market commitment to buy future COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries, including a $100 million commitment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Over 100 vaccines are currently in the race to end the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected over 6.5 million people globally. (With inputs from Reuters and IANS) According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one bedroom in Forest Crest are hovering around $1,114, compared to ann $825 one-bedroom median for San Antonio as a whole. So how does the low-end pricing on a Forest Crest rental look these days and what might you get for the price? We took a look at local listings from Zumper and Apartment Guide to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in the neighborhood, which, according to Walk Score ratings, is car-dependent, has minimal bike infrastructure and doesn't offer many public transit options. Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Interstate 10 Listed at $799/month, this 705-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located at Interstate 10, is 28.3% less than the $1,114/month median rent for a one bedroom in Forest Crest. In the unit, the listing promises a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting, a dishwasher and a walk-in closet. For those with furry friends in tow, this rental is pet-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) 17803 La Cantera Terrace This studio apartment, situated at 17803 La Cantera Terrace, is listed for $965/month for its 523 square feet. In the unit, you'll find a walk-in closet, a dishwasher and hardwood flooring; there's also a swimming pool available. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. (See the complete listing here.) Rim Drive Check out this 689-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at Rim Drive, listed at $1,000/month. When it comes to building amenities, expect assigned parking. The unit also has a dishwasher, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting, a renovated kitchen and in-unit laundry. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. (Here's the listing.) 23910 W. Interstate 10 Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 23910 W. Interstate 10, which, at 719 square feet, is going for $1,050/month. When it comes to building amenities, expect a swimming pool and an elevator. The apartment also includes hardwood flooring and a walk-in closet. Good news for animal lovers: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. (See the full listing here.) 5810 Worth Parkway Then there's this apartment with one bedroom and one bathroom at 5810 Worth Parkway, listed at $1,067/month. You'll see a walk-in closet, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting and a dishwasher in the apartment. For those with furry friends in tow, this property is pet-friendly. The building features garage parking. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (See the listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, read on for five marketing tips for real estate agents to showcase local market expertise. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy with periods of snow during the afternoon. High around 15F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Overcast. Low 13F. Winds light and variable. Britain could get a coronavirus bank holiday in October after a Cabinet minister backed the plans to deliver a boost to the struggling UK tourism industry. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the idea for an extra national day off was an 'excellent proposal' and worthy of consideration. UK tourism has been hammered by the coronavirus crisis with almost no tourists coming into the country from abroad due to an international travel ban. Meanwhile, a domestic ban on non-essential travel and social distancing rules has stopped Britons from taking breaks within the country. Tourism agency VisitBritain has proposed an extra bank holiday in October with estimates suggesting it could provide a 500 million boost to the sector. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told MPs today he believes creating an extra bank holiday in October is an 'excellent proposal' MPs today asked Mr Dowden to 'seriously consider' the move and he said: 'That is an excellent proposal. 'One of the challenges we will have is getting the sector up and running as strongly as possible in the summer and extending it for as long as we can. 'This is a matter that I am discussing with my colleague, the Business Secretary. The Culture Secretary also told MPs he preferred a holiday in the UK to overseas trips. He said he will be 'at the forefront of championing the campaign for British tourism' once the sector is ready to reopen, and said the Government's target remains for this to happen in England 'by July 4'. Seaside towns across the country have been particularly badly hit by the coronavirus crisis as it has disrupted the start of the period when they would be expecting most of their visitors. Mr Dowden insisted he and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are 'looking at further measures' which could be introduced to help workers in such locations who are suffering financial hardship. Tory former minister Tim Loughton said research had shown that workers in seaside towns are 'being laid off at the fastest rates of any areas of the UK'. He asked Mr Dowden: 'Will the Secretary of State look at greater flexibilities to allow the hospitality sector to open up sooner, particularly with outside premises, lobby the Chancellor to reduce the VAT rate on tourism to five per cent and make sure that our great British seaside towns can start to recover by making staycations a practical option. 'And he is very welcome to visit the delights of Worthing for a staycation at any time.' Mr Dowden replied: 'I would be delighted to visit Worthing. Indeed I much prefer British holidays to holidays overseas so I would be delighted to visit his constituency and others.' He added: 'I'm working closely with my colleague the Chancellor and we will be looking at further measures. 'And of course once the sector is ready to go I'll be at the forefront of championing the campaign for British tourism.' Mr Dowden said the scheduled reopening of parts of the tourism and hospitality sector in July will only go ahead 'so long as it is safe to do so, and I am working to make that a reality'. The Culture Secretary also announced that the Government will be 'investing extensively' in a new campaign to promote holidays to British seaside towns after lockdown measures are further loosened. Asked what the Government will do help areas like Cornwall, Mr Dowden said: 'I spent many happy holidays there as a child and indeed have taken my own children there on many occasions. 'I think it is really important that, as I said, we're hoping to get tourism back as rapidly as possible, and when it is back we will be investing extensively ensuring we have a major campaign to encourage British people to take British staycations.' Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has spoken out against US President Donald Trump in an impassioned speech supporting the Black Lives Matter movement a week after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minnesota. The 48-year-old megastar took to his Instagram on Thursday morning to post an over eight-minute video of himself giving an impassioned speech lambasting the 73-year-old former reality star over his leadership. The Rock began the video with a long pause before staring into the camera and querying: 'Where are you? Where is our leader? 'Where are you? Where is our leader at this time? At this time when our country is down on its knees begging, pleading, hurt, angry, frustrated, in pain, begging and pleading with its arms out just wanting to be heard?' The action star did not name Trump by name in the speech but he did ask for 'compassionate leadership' following protests around the world. He said: 'Where is our compassionate leader whos going to step up to our country whos down on its knees, and extend a hand and say, "You stand up, stand up with me because I got you. I hear you, Im listening to you. 'And you have my word that Im going to do everything in my power, until my dying day, my last breath, to do everything I can to create the change that is needed, to normalize equality because Black Lives Matter." Where are you?' 'Where are you? Where is our leader?' The 48-year-old megastar took to his Instagram on Thursday morning to post an over eight-minute video of himself giving an impassioned speech lambasting the 73-year-old former reality star over his leadership His favorite book: Trump drew ire for using force on a peaceful protest in order to have a photo-opportunity while holding a bible outside of a Washington D.C. church on Monday As many oppose the BLM movement with the declaration that 'all lives matter,' Johnson addressed the divide between the two sides. He explained: 'Of course all lives matter. Every single one. All lives matter because we, as Americans, we believe in inclusivity, we believe in acceptance, we believe in human rights. We believe in equality for all. 'But in this moment right now, this defining, pivotal, explosive moment where our country is down on its knees -- the floorboards of our country are becoming unhinged -- in this moment, we must say the words black lives matter. We must say it because so many people believe that they don't ... or at least not as much as white lives.' Trump has been criticized by many including several celebrities for his response to the protests and even threatened to use the military to clamp down on the protests. He even used force on a peaceful protest in order to have a photo-opportunity while holding a bible outside of a Washington D.C. church. Johnson said: 'I am not the president of the United States, but I am a man and I'm a father who cares so deeply about my family, about my children, and the world that they will live in. I care so deeply about our country and every single person in it. 'That's who I am. I am a man who is frustrated, I'm disappointed, I'm angry. But I'm also doing my best to stay focused and as calm as I can possibly be in the pocket to make the best decision for my family and make the best decisions for our country.' The National Guard has been deployed in several major cities as a reaction to some protests turning violent as Johnson said he believes that this is not the answer to the gatherings. The Rock said: 'There is military force that has been deployed on our own people. 'Looters, yes. Criminals, absolutely. But on protesters, who are begging and pleading, our protesters who are in pain? You would be surprised how people in pain would respond when you say, 'I care about you.' When you say to them, "I'm listening to you."' Johnson - who has hinted at a career in politics in the past - also called on individual accountability and leadership. He said: 'We must become the leaders we are looking for. Ill ask it one more time: Where are you? Where is that compassionate leader who steps up and takes accountability for his country and all the people in our country? Where are you? Ill tell you what, were here. Were all here. 'The process to change has already begun. You can feel it across our country. Change is happening. Its going to take time. Were going to get beat up. Were going to take our lumps. Theres going to be blood, but the process of change has already begun.' This comes amid days of protests around the world following George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died last Monday after a white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on his head for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, prompting a wave of protests. He was unarmed. A medical examiner's office on Monday ruled that Floyd's death was a homicide as they appeared to walk back initial reports that he wasn't strangled. Unrest: This comes amid days of protests around the world following George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week, a mural and memorial is seen in Minneapolis, Minnesota Gone too soon: Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died last Monday after a white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on his head for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, prompting a wave of protests. He was unarmed The examiner's findings that the death was a homicide by asphyxiation confirmed the same conclusion of the independent autopsy that was also released on Monday, but there are key differences over the cause. Chauvin, who is white and was fired from the Minneapolis police department over the incident, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd's death roiled the nation, which has sparked mass protests against police brutality across the world. The Black Lives Matter movement, which was first founded in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman and was nationally recognized for its involvement in the Ferguson protests in 2014 has been galvanized once more following the death of Floyd. CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- After months of discussion, the Chagrin Falls Board of Education has reached a consensus to place a 3.85-mill levy that would last at least three years on the November ballot. The board made its decision Wednesday (June 3) after hearing a presentation from Anthony Fossaceca -- a parent in the district who has a strong political background -- about placing a levy on the ballot in a presidential election year as opposed to a non-presidential election year. Due to the uncertainty of the economy resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, combined with recent cuts to the districts state funding, the board had been struggling with whether to opt for a levy of 3.85 mills or more on the November ballot or one of 7.9 mills on the ballot next spring. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the board was planning to place a 7.9-mill levy on the November ballot. But due to the dramatic economic impact of the pandemic, the board decided it would not be appropriate to ask the community to move forward with that plan. A Chagrin Falls resident, Fossaceca said he has managed, staffed and consulted on many campaigns during a 30-year political career. He also has been a Democratic candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives. In his PowerPoint presentation -- with the meeting held via Zoom video conferencing and live-streamed on YouTube -- Fossaceca said he believes a levy campaign this fall would face many challenges. Im not advocating one way or the other, he said. But youre going to be competing extensively for message and attention, door knocking and canvassing is going to be unlikely, and social media opportunities will be less likely this fall. The economic uncertainty is going to continue to weigh heavily over everything you do. It will be very difficult to control the narrative head on. And there will probably be some opposition to the levy this year, he continued. Theres always opposition, but it might be a little more vocal this year. The opportunity for a levy passage in the 2021 primary next May could be better, Fossaceca said. Things might have leveled off by then, he said. The political climate could improve; the economy might be rallying back at that point. Schools might be open and fully functioning. There could be a vaccine for COVID-19 at that point, or one well on the way. But theres no guarantee that the political climate will be better next spring than this fall, Fossaceca said. But again, just based on my observations and the evidence I see in front of me so far, this fall is going to be a tough go, he said. It doesnt mean you shouldnt do it, but I did want to lay this all out for you. No-new-taxes message Superintendent Robert Hunt told Fossaceca that going on the ballot with a 3.85-mill levy this fall is appealing to the board, since that amount of millage will be coming off the bills for taxpayers next year. This means that passage of a 3.85-mill levy in November would result in no additional taxes. District Treasurer Ashley Brudno has said that as of Dec. 1, the bonds that have been collected for the construction of Chagrin Falls Middle School -- which opened in 1999 -- will mature, so taxpayers will no longer be responsible for those 3.85 mills. So there's a positive message to be told there, Hunt said. Can you balance that with the political landscape and give us your thoughts on that? Fossaceca said that without a doubt, thats the most positive message the board can make regarding a levy this fall. If you go in the fall, thats pretty much the only message that I think would connect, he said. If you go in the spring, I would try to get it as close to that as you can and then articulate why (the millage) would be higher. Fossaceca added that he believes it would be a tougher sell to come back with a 7.9-mill levy next spring if a 3.85-mill levy were to fail in November. Despite the dire outlook expressed for going on the ballot this fall, three board members -- Mary Kay OToole, Vice President Greg Kanzinger and President Phil Rankin -- said they still favor moving forward with a 3.85-mill levy in November, mainly because of the no-additional-taxes aspect. I appreciate Anthony coming tonight, OToole said. I appreciate his guidance and suggestions. (But) I think we have the unique opportunity with the 3.85 mills falling off, so I would not want to lose that and wait until spring," OToole said. "I would rather try in the fall, and if its unsuccessful, to come back again. Kanzinger said hes concerned about waiting until next spring, because he isnt sure the economy is going to be that much different than in the fall. In addition, I actually think from the pandemic standpoint, whatever issues were having in the fall, were going to be having in the spring, he said. In fact, I think the spring might even be worse, based on some of the predictions. So I feel the uncertainty around (the economy and the pandemic) is going to be basically the same. What also scares me about the spring is just people not coming out to vote, because if the pandemics still going on, its going to be vote by mail. Kanzinger added that hes confident there will be a high voter turnout in the community this fall. Therefore, well know where the community stands, he said, and the fall has the advantage of no increase in money from a tax standpoint. Rankin said he shares a lot of the same concerns. Im concerned about the 3.85 (mills) falling off and not retaining it, as well as the economy being rough for quite a period of time, he said. So Im leaning toward this fall with 3.85. Its going to be difficult Board member Kathryn Garvey initially said she still believes going with a 7.9-mill levy next spring would be best, because its going to be difficult to get the word out in the fall. I think that could be a difference in the spring, she said. There wont be as much noise in the arena, and I think it will be easier to get the message out. With regard to voter turnout, weve been very effective with our May levy campaigns in making sure we get the information to people and then reminding them to go vote. But there are a lot of unknowns. Garvey went on to say that she will support whatever the majority of the board decides to do. I think we need to go out and let our community know that we really need these funds and make sure that our message is heard, she said. So we just have to make sure that happens, whether we do fall or spring. Board member Sharon Broz said she would support a 3.85-mill levy in November, adding its a difficult decision with no obvious right answer. So we just need to really do our best if we go forward in the fall, she said. The levy committee really needs to leverage every parent in the district, to get the message out and then to get the vote out. I think we need to have a really clear, concise message about no additional cost, but also if it fails and we have to come back in the spring that it has to be at least 7.9 (mills). I think people need to understand that from the onset, because I think that is critical in setting us up for a better chance of success in the fall. Garvey said its also important to emphasize that a 3.85-mill levy would be intended to last three years. My opinion about it does change if its a two-year cycle, she said. I think its going to be very difficult to get this passed and then have the next one be within two years. Brudno reminded the board that if it decides to place a levy on the Nov. 5 ballot, the deadline for the final resolution to be certified with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is Aug. 5. Before that date, two resolutions would need to be passed, and that could be done at the boards July 8 and July 22 meetings, she said. Brudno added it should be made clear that even if a 3.85-mill levy passes in November, the cuts totaling over $650,000 that the district has made to this point are not items that are coming back. This (3.85) millage is significantly reduced from what the actual need was, she said. Weve reduced it because of COVID-19 and the downturn in the economy, and I think we really need to make sure that everybody understands that those cuts were made in combination with this millage. Garvey added, We need to get out of the gate on this quickly. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. Following the removal of 'Remove China Apps' from Google Play Store, the tech giant has issued a statement clarifying the reason behind the action taken. Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play, issued a statement reasoning that the app was taken down to ensure a 'healthy and competitive' environment. 'Remove China Apps' developed by Jaipur based company-- OneTouchAppLabs detected apps made in China on the users' phones and provided a simple UI to remove them. In less than two weeks, the app had crossed one million downloads and was the top free app available on the Google PlayStore. READ | Mitron App Removed From Google Play Store For Policy Violation; Privacy Issue Flagged The Vice President stated that when apps are allowed to 'specifically target' other apps, it can lead to behaviour that is not in the best interest of the community of developers and consumers. "We have enforced this policy against other apps in many countries consistently in the past - just as we did here," Samat stated. Soon after being taken down by Google, the creators of 'Remove China Apps' thanked the people for their support. Taking to Twitter, the creators also revealed that even without the App, they could search the origin of any application by going on Google and typing origin country, thereby still continuing, the nation's clarion call to boycott Chinese products and software. The blog post further stated, This is a longstanding rule designed to ensure a healthy, competitive environment where developers can succeed based upon design and innovation. When apps are allowed to specifically target other apps, it can lead to behavior that we believe is not in the best interest of our community of developers and consumers. Weve enforced this policy against other apps in many countries consistently in the past just as we did here. READ | Is 'Remove China Apps' A Chinese App? Here Is The Information About The Latest Application 'We've given some guidance' The Vice President also explained the reason behind taking down 'Mitron' from the Play Store citing a number of technical policy violations. Sam stated that Google is working with the developers to help them fix issues and resubmit their apps."Weve given this developer some guidance and once theyve addressed the issue the app can go back up on Play, he added. On Tuesday India's so-called rival for TikTok-- Mitron app was also removed from the Google Play Store. Mitron app had crossed 5 million downloads within a month of its launch on Play Store. Today, state politicians have even more data at their disposal than we did four years ago to assess the validity of the companys current claims. For example, a March study from the Independent Market Monitor has found that all of its plants in northern Illinois are profitable. Still, all the data in the world wont stop the Clean Energy Jobs Act from presenting a prime opportunity for state politicians to score political points with a top campaign contributor. Sadly, thats all that ever seems to matter for some in Springfield, even during an economic crisis of the coronaviruss magnitude. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Galih Gumelar (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 Critics have predicted Indonesia will see a surge in people downgrading their national health insurance (JKN) plan following a decision by the government to increase premiums, saying it will hinder access to health care for lower class policyholders. The higher premiums, stipulated in the latest presidential regulation issued roughly two months after the Supreme Court annulled an earlier regulation on premium increases, will come into effect in July. The first-class service premiums will increase from Rp 80,000 (US$5.30) to Rp 150,000 per person per month, and second-class service premiums will increase from Rp 51,000 to Rp 110,000 under the new scheme to reduce the deficit of the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), which manages the JKN. 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 A77777 wrote: I got accepted to Questrom (FT MBA) and waitlisted at Jones. Note: Applied to round 3. Question: Should I accept Questrom (with a 10K / year scholarship) or reapply in round 1? Issue: Financial burden imposed from having to take a 140K loan and time to pay off. My profile: Female, 40+ yrs old BS, MS, PhD in Life sciences; MS, PHD: from top 10 US school in the specific area (Not overall) GRE: have yet to take (due to the crisis); (planning to take at home) GMAT: took once, 530 (had technical issues during test), decided to prep for GRE instead bc believe it will showcase my abilities better. What would you do? I am very stressed about the huge loan I will need to take out and the length of time (approximate 10yrs) to pay off. Posted from my mobile device Hi. I missed this message. It seems an EMBA would be more fitting for you.I would not take such a loan for BU. Sorry. You should have a much better shot at other top EMBA programs with about an equal cost profile but quite a bit more benefits.Hope it is not something you did not want to hear. Obviously everyone has reasons to do an MBA but you are worth more! ?_________________ As the nation continues to grapple with the death of George Floyd, a memorial service is planned for Thursday afternoon that will take place in Minneapolis. Here's everything we know about the George Floyd funeral service planned for Thursday. What time is George Floyd's memorial? Floyd's memorial service is scheduled to take place at 2:00 p.m EST on Thursday, June 4. Where is the George Floyd memorial today? It will be held in a large sanctuary at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The funeral is expected to last two hours long, where Floyd's loved ones will pay tribute to the "gentle giant" who died at the age of 46. george floyd memorial service how to watch How can I watch the service? The memorial service is expected to be broadcast across all major networks, including NBC and MSNBC. It will also be streamed right here. Who will be attending the service? The service will be led by Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton told Craig Melvin Thursday morning that he hopes to use his eulogy "to let the world know that we are at a tipping point." "We are going to have to deal with police accountability and really restructure the criminal justice system to deal with this," Sharpton said. "We cannot keep going from funeral to funeral," he added. "I did the funeral of Eric Garner, chokehold victim in New York City, I did the funeral of Michael Brown. At some point, and I think this is the point, and that is what I am going to emphasize today, we got to stop and listen to the cries of the people and reform policing to where they are held to a standard that they have to do public service rather than deal with situations where they are on the other side of the law. "In this case, I feel it was a murder," he said. Ben Crump, the attorney for Floyd's family, was also expected to make some remarks as well. In addition, Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, is planning to attend the memorial service as well. In 2014, Garner died as a New York police officer held him down in a choke hold that had been banned for decades. Garner repeatedly yelled, I cant breathe, just as Floyd did before his death in Minneapolis last week. Story continues I could hear Eric's voice echoing from the grave: I can't breathe, Carr told Hoda Kotb on Tuesday, referring to the words Floyd cried out. And then when the young man said, Momma,' that was like Eric calling out to me and saying, Mom, you have to do something about this. This is still happening. And it just broke my heart. After the memorial on Thursday, Floyds remains are set to be transported to his birth city of Raeford, North Carolina, for a public viewing on Saturday. On June 2, another viewing is set to be held in Houston, Texas where he was raised. And finally, on June 3, Floyds funeral is scheduled to be held at The Fountain of Praise Church in Houston. Return for George Floyd's memorial service on June 4, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. EST. It is not in Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Thursday while taking serious note of the death of a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala after she was fed firecrackers-filled pineapple. IMAGE: The pregnant elephant stood in water after she ate a fruit that was stuffed with explosives. Photograph: Kind courtesy Mohan Krishnan/Facebook Tweeting about the incident that has taken social media by the storm, Javadekar said the government will not leave any stone unturned to bring the culprit to book. "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill (sic), he said in a tweet. In a statement on Wednesday night, Javadekar had promised a stern action against those responsible for cruelly killing the pregnant wild elephant in Kerala. Issuing a statement here, Javadekar had said, Environment Ministry has taken a serious note of the death of an elephant in Kerala. Has sought complete report on the incident. Stern action will be taken against the culprit(s). The elephant succumbed to an act of human cruelty after a pineapple filled with powerful crackers offered allegedly by locals exploded in her mouth. The elephant died at Velliyar River on May 27. According to sources, the post-mortem report revealed that the elephant was pregnant and her jaw was broken. She was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth, sources said. Meanwhile, the Kerala forest department on Thursday said that significant headway has been made in the investigation into the recent gory death of a pregnant wild elephant. A special investigation team set up for probing the death of the elephant, which drew widespread condemnation, was questioning several suspects, it said. The elephant had consumed a pineapple filled with powerful fire crackers which exploded in the animal's mouth in the Silent Valley Forest and it died about a week later on May 27. The forest department also said it would leave no stone unturned to ensure maximum punishment to the culprits. "In the offence registered as per the sections of WL P)A for hunting the elephant, several suspects are being interrogated. SIT formed for the purpose is making a significant headway in this regard. Forest Dept will leave no stone unturned to ensure max punishment to the offenders," the separtment said in a tweet. However, it also said there was no conclusive evidence that injury to the animal's lower jaw was caused by pineapple stuffed with cracker and this might be a possibility. "There's no conclusive evidence that injury to lower jaw was caused by pineapple stuffed wd cracker. However this may be a possibility. Dept. has booked offence against unknown offenders, whose identity is being established," another tweet said. As the incident triggered an outrage, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said a wildlife crime investigation team from Kozhikode has been dispatched to the place of the incident in Mannarkad Forest division in Palakkad district. The elephant died at Velliyar River on May 27 after efforts by forest personnel to bring it to the river bank using two other trained elephants failed. "Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth," a senior forest official had said earlier. The post-mortem revealed that the pachyderm was pregnant. Voicing concern over the incident, Bollywood celebrities including Anushka Sharma, Shraddha Kapoor, Randeep Hooda demanded strict action against animal cruelty. The pachyderm's tragic end in the Silent Valley forest came to light after Mohan Krishnan, a forest officer, posted an emotional note on his Facebook page, narrating it. "When we saw her she was standing in the river, with her head dipped in the water. She had a sixth sense that she was going to die. She took the Jalasamadhi in the river in a standing position," Krishnan, who was deputed to bring the elephant back to the shore, wrote. He had also posted the photos of the elephant standing in the river water. Australias response to the coronavirus outbreak so far has been among the most successful in the world. From a peak of more than 400 cases a day, the rate has fallen to fewer than 20 new cases a day. Australia has avoided the worst of the pandemic, at least for now. Comparable (albeit larger and more densely populated) countries, such as the United Kingdom and United States, are mourning many thousands of lives lost and are still struggling to bring the pandemic under control. The reasons for Australias success story are complex, and success may yet be temporary, but four factors have been important. Success 1: Listening to experts The formation of a National Cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister and the leaders of each state and territory government, was a key part of Australias successful policy response to COVID-19. States and territories have primary responsibility for public hospitals, public health and emergency management, including the imposition of lockdowns and spatial distancing restrictions. The Commonwealth has primary responsibility for income and business support programs. Coordination of these responsibilities was crucial. The National Cabinet was created quite late in mid-March 2020 when cases were beginning to increase exponentially but has proved an effective mechanism to resolve most differences as Australias dramatic and far-reaching measures were put in place. Leadership from the National Cabinet in consultation the Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy had a positive impact. Source: AAP Within a week of the National Cabinet being formed, Australia began to place restrictions on social gatherings. On March 22, ahead of a National Cabinet meeting that evening, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory announced they were proceeding in the next 48 hours to shut down non-essential services. This helped push all other governments into widespread business shutdowns announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that night, to take effect the following day. National cooperation was further enhanced by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), comprising Australias Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy and his state and territory counterparts. From the start of the crisis, this forum helped underpin Australias policy decisions with public health expertise, particularly with regard to spatial distancing measures. Murphy has frequently flanked Morrison at national press briefings. Story continues Success 2: International border closures and quarantine Australias decision to close its borders to all foreigners on March 20, to align international travel restrictions to the risks was a turning point. The overwhelming number of new cases during the peak of the crisis were directly linked to overseas travel, and overseas sources account for nearly two-thirds of Australias total infections. A week after closing the borders, Australia instituted mandatory two-week quarantine for all international arrivals. Together, these measures gave Australia much more control over the spread of the virus. Success 3: Public acceptance of spatial distancing Australias rapid adoption of spatial distancing measures reduced the risk of community transmission. Perhaps galvanised by images of Italys health system on the brink of collapse, Australians quickly complied with shutdown laws. In fact, many people had already begun reducing their activity before the restrictions were imposed. Australians compliance is demonstrated by the low number of community transmissions, despite having less strict lockdown laws than some other countries such as France and New Zealand. Strict travel restrictions and adherence to social distancing were things Australia did right. Source: AAP Success 4: Telehealth One of the federal governments early moves was to radically expand Australians access to Telehealth. This allows patients to consult health professionals via videoconference or telephone, rather than in person. Australians have enthusiastically embraced Telehealth, with more than 4.3 million medical and health services delivered to three million patients in the first five weeks. A survey of more than 1,000 GPs found 99% of GP practices now offer Telehealth services, alongside 97% offering face-to-face consultations. Unfortunately, Australia has also had failings, and it might have been in an even better position today if it had acted more decisively. Although it eventually went hard, the federal government spent the early weeks of the crisis mired in uncertainty. Failure 1: The Ruby Princess About 2,700 passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise ship were allowed to disembark freely in Sydney on March 19, despite some showing COVID-19 symptoms. The ship has become Australias largest single source of infection. About 700 cases (10 per cent of Australias total) and 22 deaths (about 20 per cent of Australias deaths) are linked to the ship. The Ruby Princess cruise ship outbreak was one of four main things Australia handled wrong. Source: AAP Failure 2: Too slow to close borders While Australia was comparatively quick to ban foreign nationals coming from China, it was slow to introduce further travel restrictions as the virus began to spread throughout the rest of the world. It took more than six weeks after Australias first confirmed case for the federal government to introduce universal travel restrictions. Before this, restrictions were targeted at specific countries, such as Iran, South Korea and, belatedly, Italy despite other countries such as the US posing similar or even greater risks. Failure 3: Too slow to prepare the health system Australia was too slow to ready its health system for the prospect of the virus spreading rapidly. When cases began to rise exponentially, Australia was ill-prepared for a pandemic-scale response. This was particularly evident in the testing regime. At first, some people with symptoms went to community GP clinics and hospitals, without calling ahead, putting others at risk. On March 11 the federal government announced 100 testing clinics would be established, but this was only completed two months later, once the peak of the crisis had passed. The result was that as cases began to increase in mid-March 2020, Australia suffered supply shortages for testing. Australia also struggled to meet the rising demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). Australias stockpile of 12 million P2/N85 masks and 9 million surgical masks was not sufficient, and neither had it stockpiled enough gowns, visors and goggles to cope with the crisis. GPs complained of inadequate supplies hampering their work. Eventually, on March 26, elective surgeries were curtailed so PPE could be diverted to the pandemic frontline. Failure 4: Shifting strategies and mixed messages The lack of a clear, overarching crisis strategy has resulted in a reactive policy approach, featuring confusing messages. At first there was confusion about exactly which businesses or events (such as the on-again then off-again Melbourne Grand Prix) should be shut down. There were also inconsistencies between the Commonwealths position and the states. For example, most states closed or partially closed their public schools around Easter and began reopening them when cases went down more than a month later. Despite concerns raised by some state governments, Prime Minister Morrison repeatedly insisted there was no risk in sending children to school. Childcare centres remained officially open throughout. Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave mixed messages about the government's strategy early in the outbreak. Source: AAP The mixed messages have been particularly pronounced on Australias approach to the virus itself. The federal government initially talked about slowing the spread, but some states argued for a stop the spread strategy. This tension increased confusion about how far Australias lockdown restrictions should go. Debate raged between people who argued that herd immunity was Australias only realistic option, and those who pushed for elimination of COVID-19 in Australia. Confusion reigned for too long. Even an April 16 statement from Morrison, designed to clarify the long-term strategy, conflated two different strategies by declaring Australia was continuing to progress a successful suppression/elimination strategy for the virus. In the end, the case count provided its own answer. Several states began to record multiple days and weeks with no new cases, showing that elimination may indeed be possible. As restrictions unwind, a new norm will set in. The risk of COVID-19 emerging again means Australians way of life will have to fundamentally change. Significant risks remain, particularly for states that ease restrictions too fast. Continual monitoring will be required to prevent further outbreaks or a second wave. The authors of this article are Stephen Duckett, Director of the Health Program at Grattan Institute and Anika Stobart, an Associate at the Grattan Institute. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. It was originally published as: 4 ways Australias coronavirus response was a triumph, and 4 ways it fell short on The Conversation website. 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. Federal prosecutors in Nevada charged three alleged members of a right-wing extremist movement with terrorism offenses and other crimes on Wednesday, saying they plotted to use molotov cocktails and other explosives to spark violence at protests over the death of George Floyd. Stephen Parshall, 35, Andrew Lynam, 23, and William Loomis, 40, were charged in federal court with conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive, and possession of an unregistered destructive device. The men also face state charges brought by local prosecutors, including conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism and providing material support for terrorism. Prosecutors said all three were members of the "Boogaloo" movement, a radical right-wing group whose adherents openly anticipate civil war. Human rights advocates told The Washington Post that they have tracked Boogaloo-related groups at 40 protests related to Floyd's killing. Authorities said the defendants talked about targeting various businesses and structures, including a power substation near downtown Las Vegas. "They wanted to use the momentum of the George Floyd death in police custody in the City of Minneapolis to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement, that others see the two explosions and police presence and begin to riot in the streets out of anger," a federal criminal complaint read. Prosecutors said the three showed up Saturday at a protest in Las Vegas over Floyd's death, carrying rifles and encouraging protesters to use violence. The complaint filed in federal court said the group had met in a parking lot beforehand and allegedly started making molotov cocktails: glass bottles, gasoline and rags. Authorities arrested the group on the spot. They said they found in one of the vehicles "myriad" fireworks, firearms, cans of hairspray, gasoline and several partially assembled molotov cocktails. It was unclear how the three men knew one another, but the federal complaint noted that the three were veterans, though had served in different branches, and were members of a Facebook Boogaloo group. According to the court document, an FBI confidential informant first encountered Lynam and Parshall in early April at a demonstration against stay-home regulations in the state. According to that account, the informant accompanied the two men and others as they plotted an attack on the U.S. Forest Service ranger station and attended other ReOpen Nevada rallies with them. It was not immediately clear whether the defendants had hired attorneys or entered pleas. The political skirmishes between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, taking place over the past few months, reached farcical proportions recently. Burdwan University was entrusted with two pro-Vice Chancellors in what appeared to be a battle of wills between the Raj Bhavan and the Nabanna, the state secretariat. Although the matter seems to have been sorted for now with the governor stepping back from the brink, but the situation is hardly likely to resolve itself anytime soon. This is where the tragedy of the situation lies: As West Bengal battles the double blow of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Amphan cyclone that devastated the state, the last thing it needs is complications arising out of political bickering between different arms of the State. A counterproductive political situation To understand the reason for the current political situation, it may be useful to recap its background. The clashes have erupted ever since Dhankhar assumed his position in July 2019. The ruling Trinamool Congress government has often deemed Dhankhar a BJP man in a nominated post since then and the Governor has regarded the governments attacks as merely a tactic to hide its own administrative failures. The BJP has, meanwhile, taken a convenient side-seat in the melee, defending the governors actions as necessary to defend the sanctity of the Constitution. The BJP and the TMC remain locked in a race to win the 2021 Assembly polls in the state. Therefore while from a purely political standpoint, this is a story that is playing out on expected lines, in the larger context, what is essentially transpiring is a political game that is completely counterproductive to the situation on the ground in Bengal. The state, on June 2, registered the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases, with 396 new cases taking the total number to 5,772. The recent lockdown 5.0 announcements came with a set of relaxations to open a bottled up economy grasping for breath, but with the steady stream of returning migrants and the daily addition of cases unlikely to dip soon, the state is confronted with an immense challenge to conjure up an effective exit-route out of the lockdown. The trail of destruction brought about by Amphan has only exacerbated the states headaches. Kolkata is gradually getting back on its feet after days of power and network outages, but its architectural and ecological assets need a well-planned restoration effort. The situation is worse in the rural interior, as large tracts of South Bengal struggle to recover from damaged agricultural lands and settlements. Several reports have emerged of agricultural lands inundated due to broken embankments near the Sundarbans and elsewhere. The state government has proactively announced financial tranches for relief and rehabilitation, but the damage, which Mamata Banerjee deemed greater than that due to the pandemic, could take years to scrape off. The third problem that could arise from the above two is a financial paucity in the near future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced relief of 1000 crore immediately after he surveyed the state in the aftermath of the cyclone, and several organisations and banks have committed large sums to the states relief fund. But with the health sector expected to need sizable financial support until the crisis eases, the cash-strapped state might soon face a tricky situation with regard to fund disbursement. Lack of trust The final problem is more of a psychological problem that has been slowly but gradually permeating: A complete distrust of the populace in the administrative system. The misgivings first arose in April 2020 when the Centre and the State clashed over the number of COVID-19 cases and a central team flew down to Kolkata much to the chagrin of the state government. A lack of transparency left the common man in the lurch as to the extent of the health crisis in the state. The problem was amplified when, right after the cyclone, the city embraced its oft-quoted andolon appetite and took to the streets to vociferously raise its grievances against political inaction. What all stakeholders in the states political hemisphere need to understand is that this is possibly the worst crisis that West Bengal has faced since the anguish of partition, the pangs of which are still felt with a sickening lurch. The economic hit from the pandemic lockdown has fatally harmed the urban buzz and the business dreams of the near future, while the damage from the cyclone is a knockout punch to the states major production centres and supply lines. The effects have already begun to show in the prices of vegetables and food grains due to hampered supply. The economically disadvantaged, largely rendered without a living and a home, suffer the dual entrapment of the virus and inescapable starvation. Need for political coordination What is needed today is dedicated political drive. Political bickering is an unnecessary fallout of a multi-party democracy, more so after placing the nearby elections in context. But those at the top have to understand that if there is a time which requires political coordination, it is now. Disagreements and disputes over crucial issues will only cause delays that will aggravate the problems mentioned above. The government, the opposition and the governor need to keep their disagreements aside and build a much more conducive and united environment to tackle the graver challenges that lie ahead. (Debdut Mukherjee is a student at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore) Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH. Originally slated for January 31 at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. formerly the Staples Center - the 64th Annual Grammy Awards have been rescheduled and will now broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas ... Justin Trudeau ducked and dived on Thursday when asked directly twice whether Ottawa will allow Huawei Technologies of China to be part of Canadas fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless network. The prime minister did everything he could not to answer the questions. He strung together words about having extensive conversations on the subject, weighing various considerations, listening to everyone involved... and so on. We have good news for him: he can stop wringing his hands over this decision and simply say no. The world has moved on, and what was once arguably a complicated calculation involving advanced technology, global business, security concerns and diplomatic imperatives has become a lot simpler. Everything is pointing in one direction: Canada cant trust Huawei, and along with it the Chinese government, to have a significant role in what will be a key part of our economic infrastructure, the backbone of the coming Internet of things that will take digital connection to the next level. The federal government has been pondering this issue for more than two years, kicking the can down the road in apparent hope that events would eventually evolve to the point where the decision would be made for it. Well, that moment arrived this week. Two of the countrys biggest telecom providers, Bell Canada and Telus Corp., announced they are signing deals with Huaweis European rivals, Ericsson of Sweden and Nokia of Finland, to be suppliers for their new 5G networks. Rogers Communications, the third big Canadian telecom, long ago decided that Huawei was a bad bet, so that effectively leaves the Chinese company shut out of the Canadian 5G market. Bell and Telus could read the tea leaves as well as anyone. Until this week they were publicly committed to Huawei, on the grounds that it has the best technology at the best price. They dismissed arguments that allowing a Chinese company to build core elements of the new economy would make Canada vulnerable to manipulation or worse from Beijing. Chinese law, after all, obliges its companies to support, cooperate with and collaborate in national intelligence work when required to by the government. But the tide was turning against China and Huawei, and the telecoms clearly didnt want to get in deeper and then have the rug pulled out from under them. They couldnt afford to wait for Ottawa to make up its mind or at least to announce whatever was in its mind. Canadas allies, too, have made up their minds. The United States has pointedly warned Ottawa against allowing Huawei in, and says it would put in doubt intelligence-sharing through the so-called Five Eyes network. Two of our other Five Eyes partners, Australia and New Zealand, have turned thumbs-down on Huawei as well. Britain, the fifth Eye, decided in January to give Huawei a limited role in 5G. But Boris Johnsons government is now rethinking that decision and, according to reports, is looking to NEC Corp. and Samsung as alternate suppliers. Whats tipped the balance against Huawei is the behaviour of Chinas government throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Other governments are discovering how Beijing withheld or manipulated information about the disease, and they see how its using the pandemic to throw its weight around. Trust in Chinas word is at a low point and thats tainting Huawei as well. Canada has its own issues with the company, given the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at U.S. request. Ottawa clearly didnt want to provoke Beijing by delivering a negative verdict on Huawei for fear of making relations between the countries even worse and killing hopes of releasing the two Michaels imprisoned in China. Thats not a bad motive, but at this point theres little hope that even a favourable decision on Huawei would do much for them. The ship has sailed on Huawei in Canada, and the prime minister might as well acknowledge that reality. Read more about: Instead, Mr. Trump used sacred symbols to cloak himself in the mantle of spiritual authority, while espousing positions antithetical to the Bible that he held in his hands. Thats why I drew the line, as did my colleague Archbishop Wilton Gregory when the very next day Mr. and Mrs. Trump made an unannounced visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. Had the president opened the Bible he was holding, he could have read passages calling on us to love God and our neighbor, to seek God in the face of strangers and even to love our enemies. He could have read exhortations calling us all to the highest standard of love, which is justice. He could have even recited texts that warn faith leaders like me about the sin of hypocrisy. Scripture is clear that God is not impressed by prayers unaccompanied by sustained efforts to create a more loving world. Let justice roll down like waters, God says through the prophet Amos, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Scripture is clear: Justice, which is the societal expression of love, matters most to God. Justice is also what is most important to those who are exercising their right to peaceful protest. They are expressing what we all know to be true: Its past time to fix a law that allows police officers and vigilantes to go unpunished for crimes against people of color. Its past time to correct the gross disparities in health care that Covid-19 has revealed. Its past time to change economic and educational systems that privilege white people. Like everyone else, people of faith are not of one mind my email inbox this week is evidence of that. We show up on every side of every issue. Often we prefer to take no side at all, for fear of offending, or stepping out of our lane, or failing to love everyone without distinction. But there are times when taking a side, and a stand, is precisely whats needed from people of faith. For me, now is such a time. I stand with those engaged in peaceful protest, calling for meaningful change, and especially with young Americans who rightfully wonder if there is hope for their future. This is a crucible moment. By grace and with courage, I believe that we can rise to meet it, and we must. The God I serve is on the side of justice. Jesus calls his followers to emulate his example of sacrificial love and to build what he called the Kingdom of God on earth. In this moment, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry challenges us to ask, What would the sacrificial love of Jesus look like now? Sophie, the Countess of Wessex taking a picture of Ali (centre), a fellow volunteer organising food deliveries at the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking. (PA Images) The Countess of Wessex has shown support for the Duchess of Cambridges photography project by submitting her own entry - of a tireless volunteer who puts in 10 hours a day, before doing his day job. Sophie has been volunteering near to her home in Bagshot Park throughout the coronavirus pandemic. And now, shes submitted a picture of a fellow volunteer for Kates Hold Still project with the National Portrait Gallery. Sophie, 55, sent in a camera phone picture of Ali who has been volunteering at the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking. She writes: Ali helped to establish the mosques food parcel delivery service for NHS workers, people self-isolating and other families in need, which has so far helped 400 households. Ali volunteers at the mosque every day from 7am 5pm, keeping up with his day job from home in the evenings. Alis smile captures the enthusiasm for helping others that is so evident amongst the volunteers at the mosque. She called the photo Packed with Love. Sophie's entry into the Hold Still project. (Buckingham Palace) Its understood the mosque is one of the places Sophie has been volunteering. Read more: Duchess of Cambridge uses Instagram to personally respond to applicants of photo project Kates project aims to capture life in lockdown around Britain, with people encouraged to send in pictures which show life behind closed doors as well as life for frontline workers responding in the time of coronavirus. The 38-year-old mother-of-three surprised other entrants last weekend with personal comments on their Instagram posts, telling some she loved their images, and others they had captured the projects spirit. Hold Still entries will be whittled down to 100 images covering subjects including Your New Normal, Helpers and Heroes and Acts of Kindness. The duchess will be on the judging panel. Sophie volunteering during the pandemic. (Ashford and St Peter's NHS Trust) Read more: Who are Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex? Sophie has been spotted volunteering on several occasions during the pandemic, including packing and delivering food parcels to nurses working in Chertsey, Surrey. Story continues In mid-April she helped make thousands of meals for NHS workers as she volunteered with Rhubarb. That came a few days after she helped out at a homeless shelter where she met staff and volunteers, and assisted in packing emergency Easter parcels for those affected by the pandemic. Kate and Sophie dont often work together on royal projects but joined forces on International Nurses Day to make calls to nurses across the Commonwealth. By PTI KOLKATA: The West Bengal Vice-chancellors' Council has taken exception to the letter to the VCs of the state universities by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar which stated that communications required to be sent to him as the chancellor should henceforth be directed to him and "not through any other authority". The Upacharya Parishad (VCs' council), in a statement issued on Wednesday, said it unanimously feels that the interactions with the governor had undermined the honour and prestige of the vice-chancellors, which was "uncalled for". The statement said the VCs remain committed to the promotion of the cause of higher education in the state and "they perform their duties in consonance with the terms of the existing Acts and Rules issued from time to time, specifying the roles of the state government, Hon'ble Chancellor, vice-chancellors and other statutory authorities". Dhankhar, who being the governor is also the chancellor of the state universities, had in his letter to the VCs on Tuesday said, "Several vice-chancellors have routed communications through the Higher Education department quoting the provisions of the 2019 rules. Such a stance betrays lack of appreciation that no rule can override a provision of the Act." The West Bengal Assembly had, on December 10 last year, passed a new law that enabled vice-chancellors to call meetings of their highest decision-making bodies in consultation with the higher education department and not the chancellor, as was the earlier practice. The new rule further stipulated, "Every communication proposed to be made by the chancellor to any state-aided university shall be routed through the higher education department." Dhankhar, in his letter, had said, "It is noted that the West Bengal State Universities (Terms and Conditions of Service of the Vice-Chancellor & the Manner and procedure of Official Communication) Rules, dated December 9, 2019, do not override provisions of the Acts of various universities." State Higher Education Minister Partha Chatterjee had told PTI on Tuesday that the provisions of the Act passed by the Assembly on December 10, 2019 were actually drafted in 2017. The VCs' council also expressed anguish over the "unfortunate interactions" between Dhankhar and two of its members -- Professor Nimai Chandra Saha of Burdwan University and Professor Debkumar Mukherjee of Coochbehar Panchanan Barma University -- over the phone. The phone call to Saha was made on the issue of appointment of the pro-vice-chancellor of Burdwan University and the call to Mukherjee was related to a show-cause letter in connection with the convocation of Coochbehar Panchanan Barma University, it said. "We are deeply pained by the humiliation faced by Professor Saha and Professor Mukherjee during their interactions with the Hon'ble Chancellor," the council said in the statement. "The Upacharya Parishad feels that the actions of both Professor Saha and Professor Mukherjee were guided by the relevant sections of the West Bengal State Universities Rules, 2019 and they need not have experienced what they faced," the statement by the 20-member VCs' body said. It said as West Bengal is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Cyclone Amphan, every university is grappling with multiple challenges relating to the holding of examinations, completion of courses, admissions to the upcoming session and addressing the material and psychological needs of students and other sections of the university community. "Hence, the situation requires united action by all concerned," the statement signed by council general secretary Subiresh Bhattacharya said. Embassy Spokesperson's Remarks on the Joint Letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Seven Former Foreign Secretaries of the UK Global Times Source:Chinese Embassy in UK Published: 2020/6/3 20:32:07 Question: A few days ago, seven former Foreign Secretaries of the UK sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, expressing concern about the situation in Hong Kong, and urging the Prime Minister to raise this issue at the upcoming G7 meeting and to formally institute an International Contact Group to monitor the situation in Hong Kong, drawing inspiration from the one formed in the 1990s to monitor the developments in the Balkans. What is the comment of the Chinese Embassy in the UK? Embassy Spokesperson: Former UK Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, banded together with six other former Foreign Secretaries, sent a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, making irresponsible remarks on the national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR. China expresses grave concern about and strong opposition to such flagrant interference in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs. I would like to reiterate the following: First, Hong Kong affairs brook no external interference. Non-interference in other country's internal affairs is a basic principle of international law and a basic norm governing modern international relations, which must be observed by all countries. Hong Kong was returned to China on 1 July 1997 and has since been a special administrative region of China. The national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR is purely China's internal affair, in which no foreign country has the right to interfere. It is wishful thinking that China would swallow the bitter fruit of external interference. China will respond firmly to any external interference in its internal affairs by any country or organization in any form. Second, the national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR falls within the legislative power of the nation and the responsibility of the Central Government of China. As is in all countries, China and the UK included, it is the central government that is responsible for making laws on national security. Through Article 23 of the Basic Law, the Central Government of China authorizes the Hong Kong SAR to enact laws on safeguarding national security. This authorization, however, does not deprive the Central Government of its due responsibility and right to safeguard national security. Twenty-three years after Hong Kong's return, Article 23 of the Basic Law has been severely stigmatized and demonized, and no legislation has been enacted, leaving the Hong Kong SAR "defenseless" in terms of national security. In particular, since the turbulence over the proposed legislative amendments last year, anti-China forces seeking to disrupt Hong Kong, colluding with external forces, have carried out separatist activities that threaten national unity, which gravely undermined China's sovereignty, security and development interests. In light of this, it is the right and responsibility of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, as the highest organ of state power in China, to plug this loophole that compromises national security in Hong Kong through legislation in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law. In fact, this has won full understanding and support from the international community. Countries and international organisations, such as Russia, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, the DPRK, Vietnam and the African Union, have expressed support for this legislative action of China. Third, the allegation that the NPC decision is a "breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration" is a false proposition. The Chinese and UK governments signed the Joint Declaration in December 1984 to address the issue of the handover of Hong Kong to China. The rights and obligations of the UK laid out in the Joint Declaration were all fulfilled at the time of the handover on 1 July 1997. Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs. The national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR is by no means a "breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration". Any country who uses the Joint Declaration as an excuse to interfere in Hong Kong affairs is going against the principles of international law that there should be respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in other country's internal affairs. With regard to the issue of "British Nationals Overseas (BNO) passport", I want to point out that the UK explicitly has pledged in an MOU exchanged with China that BNO passport holders who are Chinese citizens residing in Hong Kong shall not have the right of abode in the UK. If the UK is bent on changing this unilaterally, it will not only go against its own position and promise but also violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations. Fourth, the national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR facilitates the better implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" and helps safeguard the rights and freedom of the Hong Kong residents. Since the handover of Hong Kong, the policies of "One Country, Two Systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy have been implemented faithfully, enabling the Hong Kong residents to enjoy unprecedented rights and freedom. The Chinese Government will remain committed to implementing these policies fully and faithfully. I must emphasize that "One Country, Two Systems" is a complete concept. "One Country" is the precondition and basis for "Two Systems". "Two Systems" is subordinate to and derived from "One Country". The national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR is in line with "One Country, Two Systems". It will improve the institutions and mechanisms that are essential to the implementation of the Constitution and the Basic Law in the Hong Kong SAR, and ensure the steady and sustained development of "One Country, Two Systems". It also answers the call of Hong Kong residents for better security safeguards so that they can enjoy and exercise their statutory rights and freedom, and their aspiration for a safer, better and more prosperous Hong Kong. We urge the relevant UK politicians to accept the fact that Hong Kong is now part of China, observe the principle of non-interference in other country's internal affairs, and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs, in any form, by any means. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by the Minneapolis Police. Officer Derek Chauvin, a white police officer with over a dozen complaints for brutality during the course of his career, kneeled on Floyds neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds even though he was lying face down on the ground and hand-cuffed from behind. Officer Thomas K. Lane held Floyds legs down and Officer J. Alexander Keung held his back. The other arresting officer, Tou Thao, stood by and watched. Floyd protested that he could not breathe. Under the circumstances, it is clear that Floyd posed no threat to anyone. Officer Chauvin continued kneeling on Floyds neck for 2 minutes and 53 seconds after Floyd had become unresponsive. When bystanders pleaded on Floyds behalf, they were threatened with being pepper-sprayed. George Floyd was tortured to death. This was a lynching of a Black man, pure and simple. And, for what? He was accused of trying to pass a counterfeit bill at a deli. While one cannot justify passing counterfeit currency, if that is exactly what Floyd did, since when does that warrant a death sentence? And, since when do the police have the right to be judge, jury and executioner of the accused? The Black and Brown victims of police brutality are too numerous to name all of them, but here are a few: Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Christian Cooper, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Yvonne Smallwood, Philando Castille and Tamir Rice. Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman, who was not an actual police officer, but got off anyway. One of the most infamous of these cases was that of Amadou Diallo, an African immigrant who was shot 41 times by police officers of the New York City street crimes unit in 2000. What was his crime? When asked to show his identification he reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. These cases are all disheartening and enraging at the same time. They are the reason for the demand that Black Lives Matter which means that Black Lives Also Matter, not that Only Black Lives Matter. If there is anything positive to take away from this it is that people of all races are speaking up about this. The Movement for Black Lives is multi-racial. After the killing of Amadou Diallo, Bruce Springsteen wrote a song protesting this called American Skin (41 Shots). The New York City PBA criticized Springsteen severely for this, but he did not back down. The organization 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement appreciated the song and supported Springsteen. (While this is not about me, I bought my first computer about 2 months after this and decided to include the word boss in my email address because I appreciated seeing Springsteen [nickname: the Boss], a white man, protesting this killing of a Black man who had done nothing wrong.) As a white man, I have a duty to recognize that I benefit from white privilege whether I seek it or not in ways that are obvious and in others that are not so obvious. White people have a duty to educate other white people about white privilege and the importance of speaking out and standing with our Black and Brown sisters and brothers to demand justice for George Floyd and every other person of color who is wrongfully killed by the police. We must all demand equal justice under the law in every aspect. We must demand that all applicants for the position of police officer be vetted ahead of time to make sure that they have no current or past ties to hate groups such as the KKK or Nazis or to rightwing extremist groups such as the John Birch Society, the Patrick Henry Society or even the National Rifle Association (NRA). While the NRA is more multi-racial than the other organizations, it is not beyond appealing to racist fears in order to recruit members. We must demand that all four officers be charged in the murder of George Floyd and that the charges against all four include Murder One. They should all spend the rest of their lives behind bars. We must demand Justice for George Floyd and all victims of racist police brutality. Black Lives Matter! (Dave Schraeger is Vice Chair of Unidad Latina en Accion NJ, an immigrant-rights organization.) The great reopening is upon us. Next week, Multnomah County is expected to join the 35 other Oregon counties already in Gov. Kate Browns Phase 1 plan allowing restaurants to start cautiously inviting customers back into their long-shuttered dining rooms. But what will await those first customers to venture inside? Will they be seated next to tables filled with stand-in mannequins, ala restaurants in Washington, D.C.? Will they find themselves eating in two-person greenhouses or under protective cones, as diners in Holland and France, respectively, have done? One things for sure: The new normal will be anything but. Dining rooms Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the central theme for everyday life is: Distance, distance, distance. The same will be true inside restaurants, as Oregons reopening plan calls for customers to be separated by at least six feet. At Southeast Portlands intimate Coquine, chef Katy Millard and partner Ksandek Podbielski figure that means they could fit as few as four tables in their Mount Tabor-side restaurant. Other restaurants and bars report similar numbers. Even after each of Oregons 36 counties has begun to reopen, it could be months before people feel comfortable eating indoors again. Taking it to the streets Civic leaders across Oregon are responding to this issue by waiving permitting fees and fast-tracking applications to open more public spaces to restaurants, potentially allowing more of the kind of al fresco dining typically associated with European cities. Already, some restaurant and bar owners are crafting plans to expand into nearby parking lots, rooftops or even some side streets. Greg Higgins, the chef at Portlands original farm-to-table restaurant Higgins, is among them. The restaurants first food cart, Piggins, will open this summer in the Oregon Historical Societys outdoor plaza. Given that this is coming out of this COVID mess, its an incredible opportunity for people to rethink what theyre doing and respond in a really positive way, Higgins said. Sanitizing stations, masked servers and plexiglass barriers are all in restaurants' future in the era of coronavirus.Sean McKeown-Young, Advance Local Mask-wearing servers Masks have emerged as a political lightning rod across America. The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. Last month, Gov. Brown asked Oregonians to be kind and smart when it comes to wearing masks in public, and has required them of restaurant employees. But Brown left the question of whether to require masks of customers to individual businesses. On Mothers Day, Troutdales Sugarpine Drive-in became one of the first Oregon restaurants to require face coverings for customers picking up takeout. Were not being trendy, were being safe, co-owner Ryan Domingo said. And we want customers that will respect that. We, after all, are the ones in harms way, for you. Expect many other businesses to follow suit. Bar seating While tables can be removed to accommodate six-foot distances, bar seating wont initially be allowed in Oregon, and counter seats are forbidden unless they face a wall. That poses a huge challenge for bars and restaurants with limited space. Nostrana chef Cathy Whims, whose team only launched takeout in May, wonders how quickly people will even want to sit at her Italian restaurants big, barrel-roofed bar, or Enoteca Nostrana, the modish sister wine bar next door. I dont know that I would want to sit at a bar right now. With my mask on? The bartenders really close to you? Whats the appeal in that? I cant envision it really. Sanitizing stations, masked servers and plexiglass barriers are all in restaurants' future in the era of coronavirus.Sean McKeown-Young, Advance Local Heat check Temperature checks have become the norm at restaurants in China, Taiwan and other countries that have reopened their dining rooms. Oregon is not requiring temperature checks, but some local businesses are considering the practice. Shaun King, the former Momofuku Las Vegas chef whose Bar King opened in Southeast Portland five days before the shutdown, plans to install a $400 thermal imaging camera linked to an iPad that will show customers their temperatures as they walk in the door. We wont be probing you right in the head, which seems aggressive, King said. But we want people to know that were taking the next level in terms of public safety. Sanitizer stations Several state and local governments have mulled the idea of requiring hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes at stores doors. Moving this from optional to required is not out of the realm of possibility for restaurants. Spring (less) formal Several restaurant owners predict a shift toward a more casual style of eating out. The biggest change were going to see is going to be in fine dining, said Kurt Huffman, whose ChefStable group backs both counter-service (Lardo, XLB) and sit-down (Ox, St. Jack) restaurants. The economics of it dont work. Depending on how elaborate the food is, you just have more people prepping, more people cooking, you need more qualified cooks to cook the food. And the level of service youre trying to provide requires more floor staff. You might have somebody there just to talk about wine. The nicer a place is, the less profitable its likely to be. Still, some top restaurants think they can make a go of it, at least temporarily. Andy Fortgang, the co-owner of Le Pigeon and Canard, thinks customers could get a kick out of an intimate dining experience featuring just him and two-time James Beard Award-winning chef Gabriel Rucker. Shared plates and communal tables In planning menus, chefs might think twice about those ubiquitous small plates meant for sharing anything that comes in one bowl, cup or plate and is enjoyed by several people simultaneously. Meanwhile, Portlands once-popular communal tables are probably a thing of the past. Beast will never exist again, said Naomi Pomeroy, the James Beard Award-winning owner of Beast as well as Expatriate, the cocktail bar across the street. I had two communal tables where you sit right next to people you dont know. I have to shut off a concept I spent 12 years building, and I dont know yet what the next thing is going to be. Sanitizing stations, masked servers and plexiglass barriers are all in restaurants' future in the era of coronavirus.Sean McKeown-Young, Advance Local The kitchen While dining-room space can be altered, a kitchen where staff often work shoulder-to-shoulder can change only so much. At downtown Portlands Love Belizean, the 150-square-foot kitchen isnt much bigger than the restaurants original food cart digs. Still, the tight quarters might not matter if nearby office workers arent allowed to return. Im not sure Im going to be hiring anybody, said owner Tiffany Love. Most of my customers are office workers. Are they going to be coming back to work, ever? Until we see a change that makes us need to hire someone, its just going to be me and my husband. Im sure a lot of small businesses like us will just do family-only. What are the restaurant casualties of Coronavirus? Dont expect to see these things returning for some time if ever. Buffets One business sector at severe risk of being left behind is self-service restaurants, including the buffets, salad bars and conveyor-belt sushi spots specifically currently prohibited from operating as usual. Srimanth Chinnam, owner of Swagat locations in Portland, Beaverton and Hillsboro, is planning to keep his popular lunch buffet closed for a long time, perhaps until a vaccine is available. So many people touching the same spoons, Chinnam said, theres no way to maintain social distancing at the buffet table. Open bowls of mints Matchbooks, candies, toothpicks and other niceties sometimes found as you leave a restaurant? Just consider how many unwashed hands may have fondled those mints before you, and you can forget that practice, at least for now. Paying with cash Well before the shutdown, Donut Palace owner Safou Atwi began double-washing all surfaces with a highly concentrated cleaning solution and bleaching customers money using gloves and tongs. At the time, it seemed like an over-abundance of caution. But by April, most restaurants were allowing customers to pay for takeout in advance over the phone or online using plastic. In the coronavirus era, cash isnt king. Its cards. Self-serve condiments, napkins and soda machines In the days before the shutdown, Oregon restaurants were already rewriting safety plans to make these self-serve staples single-use or only available on demand. Under Oregons Phase 1 guidelines, those rules are now set in stone. Sanitizing stations, masked servers and plexiglass barriers are all in restaurants' future in the era of coronavirus.Sean McKeown-Young, Advance Local And dont forget Reservations will be more important with restaurants operating at diminished capacities, both to diminish crowds gathering around a host stand and help government officials trace outbreaks. Commissaries might be considered for multiple restaurants within the same company. If you own several restaurants, you might have one commissary making some of the food for all the locations in one place. Some of those commissaries will begin operating as ghost kitchens restaurants that are only available through delivery apps. Restaurant reviews will change. With the food industry reeling from the crisis, both professional reviews and those found on Yelp will have to take into account the many ways businesses are adjusting to new models, and customers will have to be more patient overall. Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell The Washington Post and Cleveland.com contributed to this report. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - June 3, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. (TSXV: REVO), (FSE: IJA2) (the "Company"), a multi-asset, multidivisional publicly traded Canadian Company deploying advanced technologies across numerous sectors. CEO of the Company, Steve Marshall, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Jolly began the interview by noting that the Company was recently granted a PSD2 license, and asked about their next steps. "This is a prestigious license, it is highly valuable," said Marshall. "The PSD2 license is basically the opening of the door for the open banking sphere," he continued. "Without this license, we were restricted and it impeded the signing of some of the larger institutions," said Marshall. Jolly then asked about the Company's growth strategy, as well as their upcoming projects over the next two to three quarters. Marshall elaborated on the Company's RevoluPAY application, which is available for both Android and iPhone devices. "It allows payments and receipts of payments," said Marshall, adding that the app also offers cash out options, as well as a proprietary Visa card which is linked to the account. "Now with the PSD2 license, we are in a position to process unlimited volumes of currencies." Marshall then expanded on the Company's verticals, including RevoluCHARGE. This technology allows users to participate in a pay-as-you-go mobile phone service with top-up recharges. "Most of the world is still on a pay-as-you-go system," explained Marshall. Other verticals include RevoluUTILITY and RevoluFIN, which combine with additional verticals to cover a wide range of sectors. "We've also launched RevoluREALTY, which is related to the real estate industry," said Marshall, adding that this vertical was designed to address unnecessary fees associated with real estate transactions. Story continues The conversation then turned to the Company's RevoluEGAME sector, which focuses on the purchase of gaming credits. "We've partnered with one of the world's largest entities," said Marshall, adding that the Company is now offering thousands of games and play credits under this technology. "All of our verticals absolutely require the use of RevoluPAY to transact with each of the verticals, so it's a closed-loop system," explained Marshall. He then shared that the Company has also developed a vertical in the travel industry, RevoluVIP, which serves as a 120 country travel system. "The beauty of RevoluVIP is that it is a membership platform," shared Marshall, adding that users will pay a membership fee in exchange for discounted travel costs. "We see big prospects in that division." Marshall shared that the Company is also working on the development of additional verticals, including RevoluMED and RevoluESPORTS. To close the interview, Marshall elaborated on the potential of the Company's presence in the Fintech space. "We see that as a massive step forward, not only for the company but for the shareholders above all," said Marshall. "We expect it to turn into very large amounts of revenue moving forward," he closed, noting the value of the Company's relationship in the banking industry. To hear Steve Marshall's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7597898-revolugroup-discusses-its-multidivisional-growth-strategy-with-the-stock-day-podcast Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About RevoluGROUP Canada Inc.: RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. is a multi-asset, multidivisional publicly traded Canadian Company deploying advanced technologies in the; Online Travel, Vacation Resort, Mobile Apps, Money Remittance, Mobile Phone Top-Ups, EGaming, Healthcare Payments, Esports, Invoice factoring, Blockchain Systems, and Fintech app sectors. Click here to read more. For further information on RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. (TSXV: REVO), visit the Company's website at www.RevoluGROUP.com. The Company has approximately 165,042,105 shares issued and outstanding. RevoluGROUP Canada, Inc. "Steve Marshall" ______________________ STEVE MARSHALL CEO For further information contact: Don Mosher RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. Telephone: (604) 685-6465 Toll Free: 800-567-8181 Facsimile: 604-687-3119 Email: info@revolugroup.com NEITHER THE 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. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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 or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information. 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/57169 India's Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, following which the defence ministry carried out a massive contact-tracing exercise, official sources said. Kumar's condition is stable and he is currently under home-quarantine, they said. At least 35 officials working at the ministry's headquarters in South Block in the Raisina Hills have been sent on home quarantine after reports of Kumar testing positive for the infection emerged on Wednesday morning. There was no official comment on Kumar's health condition. The defence ministry spokesperson refused to comment on the issue. It is learnt that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not attend office as part of a precautionary measure. The offices of the defence minister, the defence secretary, the Army Chief and the Navy Chief are on the first floor of the South Block. The sources said all laid down protocols on contact-tracing and quarantining of people are being scrupulously followed. Also read: WHO to resume clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus treatment By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a decision to impose a lockdown on the upcoming weekend that will also restrict residents to go to work from 14:00 on Friday till Monday, local media reported on June 4. The new lockdown will be imposed in Baku, Sumgait, Ganja, Lankaran and Absheron regions. The decision was followed by the fact that a number of recovered patients in the country outnumber that of infected people due to residents failure to comply by quarantine requirements. It should be noted that after the session chaired by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, details of this decision will be disclosed to public. Azerbaijan first introduced special quarantine regime on March 24 and the fourth stage of quarantine regime easing came into force on May 31. As of June 4, Azerbaijan has registered 6.260 COVID-19 cases and 76 coronavirus- related deaths. The total number of recovered patients is 3.665. On June 3, associations for the management of medical territorial units (TABIB) suggested to impose a nationwide lockdown across the country during weekend possibly for the duration of a month or two. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The Ukrainian government will resume domestic flights from June 5 and international flights from June 15, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said. He said this at a government meeting on Wednesday, June 3, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "For example, we will launch domestic flights from June 5 and international flights from June 15," Shmyhal said. According to him, it will be allowed to carry by car up to five people, including the driver (excluding children under 14 years). From June 5, the Cabinet of Ministers will also allow the operation of restaurants and cafes, in particular, the reception of visitors inside the premises, if anti-epidemic measures are observed. At the same time, people over the age of 60 may no longer need to comply with their self-isolation obligations. The government will also allow religious events to be held indoors if no more than one person per 1.5 square meters is present. Ukraine introduced lockdown and a number of restrictive measures from March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some restrictions have been eased since May 11. On May 20, the government decided to introduce a so-called adaptive lockdown until June 22. The second stage of the relaxation of lockdown measures began on May 22. Rail and road passenger transportation between cities and regions resumed on June 1. op Several cities are ending curfews after the protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people led to fewer arrests and less violence on Wednesday night. The big picture: Los Angeles and Washington D.C. are the latest to end nightly curfews. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan tweeted Wednesday night that "peaceful protests can continue without a curfew," while San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted that the city's curfew would end at 5am Thursday. Detroit's police chief said he wouldn't stop a peaceful march from taking place after the city's 8pm curfew, the Detroit Free Press reports. In New York City, meanwhile, NYPD officers aggressively dispersed large crowds in Brooklyn and Manhattan beyond the city's 8pm curfew on Wednesday, the New York Times reports. The NYPD's chief defended the police crackdown on protesters in the city, saying: "When we have these big crowds, especially in this area, especially where weve had the looting, no more tolerance." In photos: Global protests over George Floyd's death Energy pulsed through a crowd thousands strong in San Franciscos Mission District on Wednesday as people rallied across the Bay Area for a sixth day of protesting against systemic racism that remained non-confrontational until San Francisco police made late-night arrests. Peaceful groups filled streets from San Mateo to Oakland chanting Black lives matter and George Floyd, whose death last week in Minneapolis police custody sparked nationwide outrage. San Franciscans marched to the Hall of Justice, City Hall and Mission Police Station. Following a peaceful march, Oaklanders stood outside City Hall for a curfew-defying sit-in that hours later morphed into a dance party in the street. Police arrested a group of protesters in San Francisco around 11:30 p.m. after a day of peaceful protesting. In Oakland, the group dispersed around the same time with no police interferance. In Vallejo, a few gathered in the evening near police headquarters where National Guard tanks were stationed, but unlike chaotic nights past, there were no confrontations or violence. Throngs of young people packed the streets surrounding Mission High School around 4 p.m. People listened to impassioned speeches punctuated with roars of support. Chants were barely audible from the farthest reaches of the crowd that stretched for blocks down 18th Street and to the top of Dolores Park. We dont want it to just be a moment, but a movement that can change the future of this country not only for us, but our kids, said Paola Johnson, a 26-year-old social worker born in the city who now lives in San Mateo. She and Monica Lopez, a 28-year-old teacher, said they showed up to be part of history. A large banner of Floyds face rose prominantly above heads near the high schools entrance while drums beat and speakers called for dismantling white supremancy and reimagining the future. March organizers said they did not condone violence or looting: Were not dealing with it. Strangers passed bottles of water assembly-line style. Joel Perez, a 20-year-old University of California Berkeley student, held a box of Nature Valley peanut granola bars shouting Free snacks! Nearby, Pablo Alvarez, a junior at Leadership High School in San Francisco, clutched four bottles of water in his hands to give to other protesters. Alvarez said his teacher told him about the protest. The Mission District teen figured it would be more productive than staying at home on his phone. His world history teacher has taught the class about culture and social issues. I hope for a bigger change, he said. There needs to be a change in some way. Matthew Kan, 35, a pediatric resident at UCSF, wore his scrubs and white coat to the protest. He weighed the risks and benefits of attending a large gathering during the coronavirus pandemic, ultimately deciding it was important to advocate for a more equitable society. I take care of children who grow up knowing...they might lose their lives to police violence, Kan said. Thats why Im here today. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Wednesday she plans to lift the curfew that has shuttered the city every night since Sunday. Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle While Breed indicated the curfew could be put back in place if violent unrest returns, it makes San Francisco the only city after Santa Clara to roll back the curfews that have been imposed across the region as well as nationwide. San Franciscos, which has lasted from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m., was put in place after extensive incidents of looting and vandalism over the weekend. Eight people were reportedly arrested at Santa Rosa protests around 9:30 p.m. for violating curfew, the department said in a statement. Across the Bay in Oakland, thousands of mask-clad protesters gathered outside City Hall for a post-curfew sit-in. People brought tear gas kits equipped with paper towels and vinegar, but the supplies were not needed. Oakland police deployed tear gas to disperse curfew violators on Monday, but refrained from curfew enforcement on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Instead, three hours after curfew, hundreds of people broke into a line dance and grooved to Mac Dres Get Stupid near 14th and Broadway with no police in sight. Shortly ahead of curfew, interim Oakland Police Chief Susan Manheimer said that police resort to smoke bombs and tear gas only in response to violent disruptors and professional agitators seeking to cause destruction and fear. Jimmy Le, 26, said masses of people are needed to make a huge stamp. The Oakland resident held a sign saying F ur racist curfew. I havent seen a curfew on any other type of movement, he said. It seems likes its pretty targeted. 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. Earlier in the day, roughly 500 people marched for an event dubbed Walking in Unity that Warrior player Juan Toscano-Anderson, who is from East Oakland, helped organize. Ive got people in the locker room who are not only going to stand up for what I stand up for, but who are actually going to stand up with me, Toscano-Anderson said. Its a different feeling. Id run through a wall for those guys now. Thats created a different bond on my end. I dont say that lightly. Id run through a wall for those guys now. Meanwhile in San Mateo, police estimated a crowd of 1,600 marchers on Wednesday afternoon. The group stretched for several blocks, chanting as they marched to police headquarters about a mile away. The spirited but peaceful crowd heard supportive remarks from Mayor Joe Goethals, Rep. Jackie Speier and teenage organizers of the event. Joan Eagleson, 71, a retired elementary school teacher, came with her San Mateo neighbor, former San Mateo-Foster City School District superintendent Cyndy Simms, 70. I remember the 60s. We were the generation that was going to make the world better. Here we are in 2020 and things have not changed much, Eagleson said. Its time. If we dont do it now, when? In a world consumed by the coronavirus, she said racial inequality is a different kind of pandemic. Goethals and several officers took a knee to oblige the chanting crowd that filled a large plaza in front of the police station. Much of the group dispersed by 7:30 p.m. ahead of an 8:30 p.m. curfew. I am extremely proud of San Mateo residents they were able to show the power of the protest in their numbers and in how peaceful and positive it was, Goethels said. Rita Beamish, Kathleen Pender, Dominic Fracassa, Connor Letourneau and John King contributed to this report. Megan Cassidy, Sarah Ravani, Matt Kawahara and Anna Bauman are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com; sravani@sfchronicle.com; mkawahara@sfchronicle.com; anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Ellen Pompeo joined Black Lives Matter protesters in Hollywood on Wednesday. The Grey's Anatomy star, 50, took a knee alongside hundreds of her fellow protesters, in a gesture of solidarity with the activist cause. The actress-director-producer wore all white, apart from a black face mask, for the protest against race-based police brutality in the United States. Ellen Pompeo joined Black Lives Matter protesters in Hollywood on Wednesday In one of the photos taken at the peaceful demonstration, the Daredevil actress threw up a peace sign for photographers. The death of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked days of demonstrations across the nation over police brutality against African-Americans. On May 25, Floyd - an unarmed, African-American male - experienced a horrific death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In one of the photos taken at the peaceful demonstration, the Daredevil actress threw up a peace sign for photographers In the disturbing video footage of Floyd's death, he is seen saying that he can not breathe as officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck. Eventually he went silent and limp, and he was later declared dead. Protests swelled after federal authorities said Thursday that they were making the case a top priority but announced no arrests at that time. The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Chauvin, was taken into custody Friday and charged with third-degree murder. The Grey's Anatomy star, 50, took a knee alongside hundreds of her fellow protesters, in a gesture of solidarity with the activist cause Outrage: The death of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked days of demonstrations across the nation over police brutality against African-Americans However following nationwide uproar over the lenient charge, Chauvin's charge was upgraded to second degree murder on Wednesday. The same day, Chauvin's fellow officers Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting murder of Floyd. They have also been charged with second degree aiding and abetting manslaughter. An Instagram Story posted to Pompeo's account on Wednesday Co-stars: Ellen was joined by her former Grey's Anatomy co-star T.R. Knight [L] Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, says a total of 5,984 foreigners have been intercepted using unapproved routes to enter the country since the closure of the borders in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to him, 1,702 were Togolese, while 1,414 were Burkinabes, and 482 from other countries. Responding to questions on the Floor of Parliament yesterday, the minister stated that the foreigners were intercepted by officers of the Ghana Immigration Services (GIS) between March 30, 2020 and May 2, 2020. Under the current regime, particulars of all cargo trucks passing through our borders are taken, including the names of drivers and their mates. This is shared with the Ghana Immigration Service commands of their (peoples) destination points for the commands to refer the people to the Ghana Health Team for screening. He said between April 6, 2020 and May 28, 2020, a total of 10,611 trucks had come through Ghanas borders, with 19,172 drivers and mates after the closure. The GIS, among other actions taken, first sensitized border communities to cooperate and prevent illegal entry. Intelligence gathering on suspected foreign nationals smuggled into the country through unapproved route, as in the case of the eight Guineans and two Burkinabes arrested in Tamale in the Northern Region, he disclosed. The Interior Minister indicated that the government also enhanced enforcement operation through monitoring of activities of the foreigners in hostels, hotels, apartments, markets and other places. Mr. Dery assured the House that the government was doing all it could to ensure that the borders remain closed in line with the measures to contain Covid-19. The countrys international borders were closed to human traffic effective March 22, 2020 to contain and manage the Covid-19. The Interior Minister admitted that the countrys borders were highly porous, with several unapproved routes. He asserted that the government had put in place a multi-agent taskforce to assist the lead agencies for the protection of the borders. Source: Daily Guide 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 passionate but entirely peaceful crowd was much larger than Mondays, and I was struck by its rainbow diversity; African Americans may have been a plurality, but there were also whites, Latinos and Asian Americans in substantial numbers. It wasnt possible to observe the six-foot rule for social distancing, but most of the protesters were wearing masks or bandannas. Some of the face coverings bore the same messages as the handwritten signs some people held up: Black Lives Matter. Stop Police Murder. I Cant Breathe. All 4 former officers involved in death of George Floyd now charged Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Derek Chauvin, 44, a former Minneapolis police officer who was previously charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter for the death of George Floyd, had his charge upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday, while three other former officers were charged with aiding and abetting Floyd's murder. The charges come just two days after Minnesotas Attorney General Keith Ellison took over prosecution of the case from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. "I strongly believe that these developments are in the interest of justice for Mr. Floyd, his family, our community and our state," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in announcing the charges. Im the lead prosecutor on the states case and I will be speaking for it and this is absolutely a team effort. Ive assembled a strong team. We have one goal and one goal only: justice for George Floyd. Chauvin was recorded kneeling into the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, who died in police custody on Monday 25 when he stopped breathing. Ellison said he and Freeman also filed charges against former Minneapolis officers J. Alexander Kueng, 26, Thomas Lane, 37, and Tou Thao, 34, of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for their role in Floyds death. The complaints allege that on the evening of May 25, the officers arrested Floyd at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis. Chauvin used an unauthorized restraint technique in which he pressed his knee into Floyds neck to restrict his movement while Floyd was handcuffed and laying on the pavement. Lane and Kueng held Floyd by the legs and hips to further restrict his movement while Thao stood guard to prevent members of the public, who gathered nearby to witness the police action, from intervening. Chauvin was arrested on May 28 and remains in custody, which Kueng, Lane, and Thao were arrested Wednesday and remain in custody. The recent charges and arrest of the officers satisfied a demand from protesters nationwide who have been marching for days and calling for justice in the streets. To the Floyd family, to our beloved community, and everyone that is watching, I say: George Floyd mattered. He was loved. His life was important. His life had value. We will seek justice for him and for you, and we will find it, Ellison said. The very fact that we have filed these charges means that we believe in them. But what I do not believe is that one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and loss that so many people feel. The solution to that pain will be in the slow and difficult work of constructing justice and fairness in our society, he said. Chauvin is being held at the Minnesota Department of Corrections facility in Oak Park. His bail was increased to $1 million Wednesday, according to court documents. Lane, Kueng and Thao are also being held on $1 million bail. In a statement on Twitter Wednesday, Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the Floyd family, said his clients were deeply gratified by the charges and the arrests. This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that @AGEllison took decisive action, arresting & charging ALL the officers involved in #GeorgeFloyd's death & upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder. #JusticeForGeorge, the statement said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz who appointed Ellison to take over the case called the charges a meaningful step toward justice. "The charges announced by Attorney General Keith Ellison today are a meaningful step toward justice for George Floyd. But we must also recognize that the anguish driving protests around the world is about more than one tragic incident," he said in a statement. "George Floyd's death is the symptom of a disease. We will not wake up one day and have the disease of systemic racism cured for us. This is on each of us to solve together, and we have hard work ahead. We owe that much to George Floyd, and we owe that much to each other, he added. Jacob Rees-Mogg is facing renewed calls to restore the virtual parliament as MPs reacted furiously to the reckless scenes of a minister appearing visibly ill in the Commons just 24 hours after members queued around the parliamentary estate to vote. A spokesperson for Alok Sharma confirmed the business secretary had started self-isolating and is awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test after he began to feel unwell in the chamber. The cabinet minister was seen wiping his brow with a handkerchief several times and was passed a glass of water by his opposite number, Ed Miliband, during a debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening. In a sign of the degree of anger at the government over the issue, the speaker also granted MPs an emergency debate on Monday on how the house operates during the pandemic. The government stopped MPs from working from home and asked us to return to a building where social distancing is impossible, Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy said. MPs are travelling home to every part of the country tonight. Reckless doesnt even begin to describe it. Speaking to Sky News, the shadow foreign secretary went on: I just think this all sends a very bad message to the country. How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Show all 6 1 /6 How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Milan, Italy REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities North Jakarta, Indonesia REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Jakarta, Indonesia REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Venice, Italy REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities New Delhi, India REUTERS How coronavirus lockdowns changed the world's most polluted cities Islamabad, Pakistan REUTERS Were just creating exactly the wrong impression because of the actions that Jacob Rees-Mogg took this week, she added. We all need to be clear that social distancing matters. David Lammy, shadow justice secretary, said: If he tests positive they [MPs] will have gone back into the community and potentially have taken the virus with them. Which is why the representation to Jacob Rees-Mogg was so serious, and its bizarre and dangerous that they were ignored. We could have had electronic voting alongside a parliament that was really, really carefully socially distanced which is what we had before the recess, and that was thrown out. Kirsty Blackman, the SNPs Westminster deputy leader, said the incident demonstrated just how ridiculous and irresponsible the Tory governments decision to end virtual participation in parliament was. She added: They must now rectify this serious mistake and reintroduce hybrid proceedings without delay. It light of this development its difficult to see how else parliament can proceed but what is clear is that this botched system isnt working and needs to change urgently to protect our democracy. Sir Ed Davey, the acting Liberal Democrat leader, also said he agreed with calls for Mr Rees-Mogg to resign as leader of the Commons. Posting on social media, the partys MP Daisy Cooper said he was bringing the house into disrepute, and needlessly putting lives at risk. But speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme, cabinet minister Brandon Lewis said: I dont want to be premature because Alok, who I wish well and hope he recovers quickly, may well have had severe hay fever, were not sure yet. He has had a test, he is self-isolating as you say, to take correct precaution. Defending the end of the so-called hybrid parliament introduced during the height of the pandemic so MPs were not required to be physically present in the chamber the Northern Ireland secretary added: It is important for parliamentarians to be able to properly scrutinise legislation, not just for Covid but for the wider legislative agenda we have to continue with for people across the country, but to do so within proper guidelines. Thats what the house authorities have set up, thats whats been working over the last few days and thats a very good thing. It highlights Aloks situation, if he has got coronavirus, why it is so important that if you are in a work environment, you have got to follow the guidelines. During a recent webinar, Members of the European Parliament and experts expressed their belief that the time has come for the European Union to look for alternatives to China. According to reports, many European leaders participating in the discussion said that India being a diplomatic nation would serve as a good partner for European investments. Read: COVID-19: Italy Reopens Borders To Europe, Scraps Mandatory 14-day Quarantine Rule Europe must search for alternatives As per reports, the web event was organised by the Economic Development Foundation, Istanbul (IKV) which is a non-governmental research organisation that specialises in European Union and Turkey-EU relations. A member of the European Parliament, Thierry Mariani, said that countries across the world were relying too heavily on China and need to look for alternate markets in the post-COVID era. He said, "For me, this new Silk Road is just one opportunity but it cannot be said that it is the only opportunity. If we want to have peace and good development then we should have initiatives with other countries. China is an important country but India is also an important country and would become a more and more important country." The Former Minister of State for Transport of France added that India is part of the peace pipeline initiative in Central Asia and emphasised that Europe should attempt to link Iran, Pakistan, and India. Read: Nushrat Bharucha's Unseen Pictures From Her Exotic Europe Vacation Are Unmissable Former Deputy Foreign Minister od Hungary, Istvan Szent Ivanyi added that Europe does not need to cut all ties with China abruptly but should first begin to explore options and possible future opportunities in India. He also said, "India has huge potential -- both political and economic. It is an important and reliable partner and it can be an alternative to China. I do not say cut all ties and bonds as that would be unrealistic but I think we have yielded something and have to look for the alternatives. India seems to be very good alternative in the future and I think we can use this opportunity." In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has been widely criticised for its role in the spread of the virus and has been accused of not sharing enough information about the disease and its initial outbreak. Over 6,389,896 people worldwide have been infected with the deadly coronavirus, with over 383,219 people losing their lives to COVID-19. (With ANI Inputs: Image Credit - ANI) Read: Real Madrid Beat Juventus 4-1 OTD In 2017 To Win Their 12th European Title Read: Germany To Lift Its Travel Warning For European Nations From June 15 A number of businesses in Hoboken and at least one in Jersey City have decided to not take a chance on local demonstrations remaining peaceful. In response to the looting, vandalism and violence that has accompanied some of the protests in the name of George Floyd, plywood is going up over windows on Washington Street prior to a demonstration planned for Friday in Hoboken. Id rather be safe than sorry, that is all, said John Lawton, owner of Lawton-Turso Funeral Home. I have a window that is priceless. That is irreplaceable, so I would rather be safe than sorry. Other businesses that were boarded up Wednesday and Thursday include Warby Parker, Planet Fitness, Black Bear Bar and Grill, and Athleta, a subsidiary of Gap Inc. The safety of our store teams is our top priority, a Gap spokesperson said. We have made the decision to temporarily close certain store locations as a result of the protests happening across the country. Representatives of the other businesses, which are closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, could not be reached. A protest is scheduled Friday at Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken. The organizer is a group called Allies4Justice. Hoboken Police Chief Kenneth Ferrante said his officers have been working around the clock to ensure a peaceful protest. He said he is willing to work with organizers, but his officers will react swiftly to lawbreakers. While we are prepared to work with the organizers for the duration of the event, we are also prepared to attempt to prevent or respond to any negative situation that comes our way," Ferrante said in a statement. I, as well as all of my officers, have taken an oath to protect and serve, under the authority of the people, and that is exactly what I have done during my tenure and will continue to do Friday and beyond." Demonstrations across the country, sparked by the killing of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer as other officers stood by silently, have been mostly peaceful, but in places like New York, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Philadelphia, hundreds of businesses have been broken into and looted. While demonstrations in Hudson County have been without incident, at least two people from a group of 15 or so walking north on Central Avenue after the Downtown Jersey City demonstration Tuesday were arrested, police said. Joslyn Acevedo, 21, was arrested at Central and Bowers avenues and charged with making terroristic threats toward a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberley Wallace-Scalcione said. An hour later, Christoph Bale, 35, was charged with aggravated assault of a police officer and weapons offenses at Hague Street and Paterson Plank Road. Police said in radio transmissions that Bale pulled two kitchen knifes on a member of the police departments Emergency Services Unit and was disarmed and arrested. The Heights. Dozens of police. One black man on a bike. Last night. Where is the reporting? pic.twitter.com/Br7sZtQcfy Liam (@transmanliam) June 3, 2020 A T-Mobile store on Central Avenue in Jersey City was boarded up prior to Tuesdays demonstration Downtown. An employee there deferred comment to officials in the corporate office. Community activists in Jersey City, as well as Union City and North Hudson, have held large marches and managed to avoid violence from breaking out. Community leader Frank Gilmore and former Jersey City Councilman Chris Gadsden credited cooperation with the police department and the organizers of the events. The rallies just cant be centered around the raw emotion of George Floyd dying," Gadsden said. "It has to be centered around an agenda. It has to be focused. It has to be intentional and has to come out with some kind of plan or action. Gilmore said organizers on Jersey City "made it clear from the beginning that this is a peaceful protest. ... We are going to hold ourselves accountable, we are not just holding law enforcement accountable. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Asked His Niece What Films She Had Been Watching To Cook Up Such Allegations When She Opened Up About Sexual Harassment According to The Times of India, more than nine lakh candidates have registered for TN Class 10 state board examinations. The admit card for Tamil Nadu Board Class 10 exams will be released on 4 June at 2 pm. It will be released on the official website of Directorate of Government Examinations at http://www.dge.tn.gov.in/ . According to The Times of India, more than nine lakh candidates have registered for Tamil Nadu Class 10 state board examinations. Regular students will receive TN Class 10 admit card from their respective schools, while hall tickets will be delivered to homes of those who reside in containment zones. They can also download their admit cards from the official website by logging in using roll number and date of birth. For any query, students are advised to contact their schools or the cellphone numbers given on the admit card. TN Class 10 Board exams will be held from 15 to 25 June. The school education department has ordered all chief educational officers to start preparations to conduct Class 10 board exams safely. Allotment of exam centres would begin from coming Monday as currently more than two lakh teachers involved in invigilation work. All staff and students are required to wear face masks at the exam centre and follow social distancing norms. Last month, state school education minister KA Sengottaiyan announced that Tamil Nadu Class 10 board examinations would be held from 1 to 12 June. The exams were originally scheduled to be conducted from 27 March to 13 April, but got postponed due to the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic. The final exam for Class 11 will take place on 16 June. The paper for absentees of class 12 will be held on 18 June. German chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media in Berlin following negotiations over a federal aid package to mitigate coronavirus impact on 3 June. (Mika Schmidt/Getty Images) Germany announced a 130bn (116bn, $145bn ) financial stimulus package to help boost economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic following two days of coalition government negotiations that ended on Wednesday evening. Although Germany has suffered comparably fewer COVID-19 deaths than other European countries, Europes largest economy has been deeply dented from the lockdown and the collapse in global demand for its exports. The German economy is predicted to shrink by 6.6% this year, and is bracing for its worst recession in post-war history. It is not only the size of the packages which is remarkable but also the fact that the German government has made a complete U-turn in its approach to fiscal policy, INGs chief eurozone economist Carsten Brzeski said. From austerity champion to big spender a few months ago, concluding with such a comment on German fiscal policy would have been almost unthinkable. The countrys vital automotive industry did not get its cash-for-clunkers programme, rather the buyer incentives for new electric cars will be doubled to between 3,000 and 6,000 depending on the model. The electric-car incentives are part of a 50bn pot to be put towards tackling climate change, innovation, and digitalisation. Despite its lobbying, the car companies did not get buyer incentives for internal-combustion engine cars. We couldnt just set out a stimulus package that was done in the traditional sense, chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters on Wednesday (3 June) in Berlin. It had to be a package of measures that contained a view to the future. And this is precisely what we have emphasised. The government will lower VAT from 19% to 16% from next month through September, and from 7% to 5% for the hospitality industry. It also agreed a one-off cash handout of 300 per child for families. READ MORE: Germany bids goodbye to black zero with 750bn coronavirus package It also earmarked 25bn in loans and grants to support small and medium-sized businesses over the next three months. Story continues However, an extension of the countrys lauded Kurzarbeit (short-work) wage support scheme did not form part of the new measures. The Social Democrats, junior partners to Merkels conservative bloc in the federal government, wanted to extend it from 12 to 24 months. This Kurzarbeit programme where the government pays companies 60% of a workers salary so they can be sent home rather than made redundanthas been a great benefit to the economy in this current crisis, and during the 2009 financial crisis. It allows Germany to keep its unemployment numbers down while ensuring companies can ramp up work again quickly without losing talent or needing to start a time-consuming and costly rehiring processes. In May, there were millions more workers on short-time work than at the height of the finance crisis. READ MORE: Coronavirus: 7.3 million Germans put on short-time work scheme in May Last nights new stimulus package, which represents nearly 4% of Germanys GDP, will be financed partially by new borrowing. It comes hot on the heels of its 750bn initial rescue package, deployed in March, which included a $600bn economic stabilisation fund. We can do this because we economised well in recent years, finance minister Olaf Scholz said of the new stimulus package. We want to come out of this crisis with vigour. Confused clappers took to the streets tonight to pay tribute to NHS workers, after 'missing the memo' that last week's clap for carers was intended to be the final hurrah. People took to social media shortly after 8pm after they were surprised to find themselves clapping alone at their doorsteps, with many not realising that last Thursday's clap was 'officially' the last. The event saw widespread weekly support after beginning at 8pm on March 25, however organiser Annemarie Plas, 36, a Dutch national living in south London, called for last Thursday's event, the tenth week, to be the last as 'it is good to stop it at its peak'. Warrington police officers PC Evans and PC Davies stopped for a clap while doing their neighbourhood beat in Latchford, despite last week's 'final' clap Ms Willemse tweeted that she hadn't realised the last clap was intended to be last Thursday Emily Powell said she had also 'missed that memo' that clap for carers had ended Another Twitter user praised her neighbour's perseverance at continuing to set up a sound system to sing on Thursday night in torrential rain Tonight a limited number of people continued the tribute, unaware of the founder's intentions for last week's last hurrah. However many saw the funny side as they found themselves clapping to an empty street. Ms Willemse tweeted: 'Was the only ****head clapping tonight. Apparently last week was the last one... Well I still love the NHS, and all the other key workers who kept us going.' Student Emily Powell tweeted: 'Am I the only one who didn't realise #clapforcarers was over? I definitely missed that memo. Where do people get their info from?!' Keith Derham shared that he just did not realise he would be the only one clapping, tweeting: 'Yeah, I was the only one out on my street before realising last week was the final one. #clapforcarers'. A family outside the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, south west London, join in applause during a Clap for carers to recognise and support NHS workers. Thursday June 4, 2020 A woman outside the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital joins in applause during a Clap for carers. Thursday June 4 Keith Derham shared that he was the only one on his street applauding after not being informed it had ended Louise Buttery said she and her household still did the clap as 'the virus hasn't gone, the NHS are still working' David Guffick from Helston tweeted that he had continued to clap but found the streets 'much quieter' Jillian Kowalchuk questioned whether it was really over and said she had been outside the window clapping tonight One woman found humour in her neighbour's perseverance, who continued to set up a sound system to sing on Thursday night in torrential rain. She tweeted: 'I can't believe the neighbour that sets up her sound system to sing every Thursday night after the clap for carers is at it again tonight. Never let the torrential rain and the fact the clap is over stop your attempt at going viral. That's true graft right there.' Louise Buttery said she and her household still did the clap, tweeting: 'Well we still did!!! The virus hasn't gone, the NHS are still working their a**** off, care home staff are still caring and we are still grateful for everything.' Annemarie Plas, the founder of the Clap for Carers event, joins members of the public for Thursday's applause, which was the tenth weekly clap and intended to be the last Lancaster City Council also took the opportunity for 'one last thank you' to 'covid champions' Explaining her reasoning for ending the event clap for carers' founder Ms Plas said: 'Without getting too political, I share some of the opinions that some people have about it becoming politicised. 'I think the narrative is starting to change and I don't want the clap to be negative.' Some clappers said they had continued to mark the clap with private salutes in their homes tonight because they felt that last week's 'official' end to the event had come too soon - as health workers continue to battle coronavirus on the frontline. Stay positive: Kate Garraway, her son Billy, 10, and daughter Darcey, 14, clapped for carers on Thursday night as her critically-ill husband Derek continues his fight against coronavirus Hope: The television personality wrote: 'No official #clapforcarers tonight but we just wanted have our own mini one as our heart felt thanks go on to all fighting to keep Derek with us' Kate Garraway, 53, her son Billy, 10, and daughter Darcey, 14, clapped for carers tonight as her critically-ill husband Derek, 52, continues his fight against coronavirus in intensive care, where he is in a coma. The Good Morning Britain host took to Instagram to share a video of herself and her children applauding key workers in her kitchen with the caption: 'No official #clapforcarers tonight but we just wanted have our own mini one as our heart felt thanks go on to all fighting to keep Derek with us.' The clap became a point of contention after Doctors and other key medical workers said they felt the event had become politicised. Others appeared to be upset by the lack of participation, tweeting 'I guess we've all stopped caring. Typical' Holly Jane said that she was 'disappointed' in her street for not partaking in the clap and said as the pandemic was ongoing people should clap for carers who 'deserve recognition' Tracey Douglas questioned why the clap for carers had stopped as 'they haven't stopped caring for us!' Tweeting before last week's final clap NHS doctor Meenal Viz said: 'As a doctor, I've appreciated your support during Clap for carers. 'But instead of clapping tonight at 8pm, I'll observe silence in remembrance of my 237 colleagues who have died during the pandemic.' Dr Viz, 27, who has worked on the front line during the coronavirus pandemic, said she supported ending the event last week amid concerns it has become too political. She said the weekly applause had started from everybody showing gratitude for the NHS, showing their love for 'this amazing healthcare system'. 'But it went from that to being a stunt that the politicians chose to do,' she added. Twitter user Gordon McIntosh warned that by stopping clap for carers some would be missing out on a 'social connection which they may not have through the rest of the week' during challenging periods of isolation. In Falkirk, Scotland, a young bagpiper continued to pay his tributes with a song at 8pm tonight Gordon McIntosh warned that by stopping clap for carers some would be missing out on a 'social connection which they may not have through the rest of the week' during isolation Dublin, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global and China Li-ion Power Battery Industry Report 2019-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Amid the thriving development of new energy vehicles, a total of 2,209,831 electric vehicles were sold globally in 2019, a year-on-year spurt of 14.5% and as a percentage of 2.5% in total automobile sales. Especially, Tesla surpassed BYD to rank first in the world with the highest sales up to 367,820 new energy vehicles in 2019, a 16.6% share of the global total. China, the world's largest new energy vehicle producer and seller, sold 1.206 million NEVs in 2019, dipping by 4% year on year with the ramp-down in subsidies for new energy vehicle and occupying 4.68% of the global total, including 972,000 battery electric vehicles with a year-on -year decrease of 1.2% and 232,000 PHEVs with an annualized drop of 14.4%. In 2019, a total of 1,059,733 new energy passenger cars were sold in China, encompassing 853,492 battery electric cars and 206,241 plug-in hybrid cars. In this field, the sales champion BYD contributed 227,232 units or 21.4% of the total in 2019. The boom of global new energy vehicles gives impetus to lithium-ion power battery industry whose shipments swelled 16.6% over the previous year to 116.6GWh in 2019. Five Chinese companies, namely CATL, BYD, AESC (acquired by Envision), Guoxuan High-tech (Gotion) and Lishen Battery rank among top the 10 battery companies by shipments. CATL has become the global champion by power battery shipments for three consecutive years, with its shipments posting 32.5GWh in 2019 with an upsurge of 30.5% year on year, and sweeping 27.9 percent of global shipments. In 2019, 62.28GWh power lithium batteries were installed in China, rising by 9.3% from a year earlier. Assuming the output of new energy vehicles is 5.9 million units in 2025, the demand for power batteries will reach 330.6GWh with a CAGR of 32.1% from 62.28GWh in 2019. In China, power batteries are led by ternary battery. The installed capacity of ternary batteries offered by 64 companies for the Chinese new energy vehicle market escalated 22.4% year on year to 40.92GWh in 2019, accounting for 65.7% of the total installed capacity (nearly 7 percentage points higher than that in 2018). The installed capacity of LiFePO4 power batteries provided by 38 companies fell by 6.4% to 20.26GWh, occupying 32.5% of the total installed capacity (down about 6 percentage points from 2018). The installed capacity of other types of power batteries was 1.11GWh, making up 1.8% of the total. Highlights in the Report Story continues Economic environment and policy climate for lithium power battery industry Lithium power battery industry chain (key materials, battery cells, packaging and BMS) Global and China new energy vehicle industry Global and China lithium power battery industry (demand, price, market size and competitive pattern) 5 global and 11 Chinese lithium power battery companies (technology, customers, lithium power battery business, capacity and production & sales). Key Topics Covered 1. Overview of Li-ion Power Battery 1.1 Classification of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) 1.2 Classification of Power Batteries 1.3 Li-ion Power Battery 2. Market Environments for Li-ion Power Battery Industry 2.1 Economic Environment 2.2 Policy Environment 2.2.1 Policies on NEV Industry 2.2.2 Policies on Battery Industry 3. Li-ion Power Battery Industry Chain 3.1 Overview 3.2 Key Materials 3.2.1 Cathode Materials 3.2.2 Anode Materials 3.2.3 Separator 3.2.4 Electrolyte 3.3 Cell 3.3.1 Cost 3.3.2 Capacity 3.4 PACK+BMS 3.4.1 PACK 3.4.2 BMS 4. Global New Energy Vehicle Market 4.1 Global Market 4.2 Chinese Market 4.2.1 Production 4.2.2 Sales 5. Global Li-ion Power Battery Industry 5.1 Global Li-ion Power Battery Market 5.1.1 Demand 5.1.2 Prices 5.1.3 Market Size 5.1.4 Enterprises 5.1.5 Supporting Relationship 5.2 Chinese Li-ion Power Battery Market 5.2.1 Demand 5.2.2 Prices 5.2.3 Market Size 5.2.4 Supporting Relationship 6. Major Li-ion Power Battery Manufacturers in South Korea 6.1 LG Chem 6.1.1 Profile 6.1.2 Battery Technology 6.1.3 Business Development and Outlook 6.1.4 Customers 6.1.5 Presence in China 6.1.6 Capacity &Output 6.2 Samsung SDI 6.2.1 Profile 6.2.2 Battery Technology 6.2.3 Business Development and Outlook 6.2.4 Customers 6.2.5 Presence in China 6.2.6 Capacity &Output 6.3 SK Innovation (SKI) 6.3.1 Profile 6.3.2 Battery Technology 6.3.3 Business Development and Outlook 6.3.4 Presence in China 6.3.5 Capacity & Output 7. Major Li-ion Power Battery Manufacturers in Japan 7.1 Panasonic 7.1.1 Profile 7.1.2 Battery Technology 7.1.3 Business Development and Outlook 7.1.4 Presence in China 7.1.5 Customers 7.1.6 Capacity & Production 7.2 AESC 7.2.1 Profile 7.2.2 Battery Technology 7.2.3 Business Development and Outlook 7.2.4 Capacity &Output 7.3 LEJ 7.3.1 Profile 7.3.2 Battery Technology 7.3.3 Business Development and Outlook 7.3.4 Customers 7.3.5 Presence in China 7.3.6 Capacity &Output 8. Major Power Battery Manufacturers in China 8.1 BYD 8.1.1 Profile 8.1.2 Battery Technology 8.1.3 Applications 8.1.4 Products 8.1.5 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.2 CATL 8.2.1 Profile 8.2.2 Battery Technology 8.2.3 Customers 8.2.4 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.3 Tianjin Lishen 8.3.1 Profile 8.3.2 Battery Technology 8.3.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.3.4 Customers 8.3.5 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.4 Beijing Hezhong Pufang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. 8.4.1 Profile 8.4.2 Battery Technology 8.4.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.4.4 Customers 8.4.5 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.5 Wanxiang Group 8.5.1 Profile 8.5.2 Battery Technology 8.5.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.5.4 Customers 8.5.5 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.6 China Aviation Lithium Battery (CALB) 8.6.1 Profile 8.6.2 Battery Technology 8.6.3 R&D 8.6.4 Business Development and Outlook 8.6.5 Customers 8.6.6 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.7 Guoxuan High-tech 8.7.1 Profile 8.7.2 Battery Technology 8.7.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.7.4 Customers 8.7.5 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.8 OptimumNano 8.8.1 Profile 8.8.2 Battery Technology 8.8.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.8.4 Customers 8.8.5 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.9 Coslight 8.9.1 Profile 8.9.2 Battery Technology 8.9.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.9.4 Production, Sales, and Capacity 8.10 Microvast Power Systems 8.10.1 Profile 8.10.2 Battery Technology 8.10.3 Business Development and Outlook 8.10.4 Production, Sales, and Capacity For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4tsfvr 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 New York, June 4 : Controlling the rioting and looting that have accompanied the nationwide campaign against police encounter killings in the US has become a contentious issue and Defence Secretary Mark Esper has openly opposed President Donald Trump's suggestion to use the military to quell the disturbances. Esper said on Wednesday that the nation was not in a situation that would legally allow Trump to call out the troops for domestic operations. "The option to use active-duty forces in a law-enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. "We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," the Defence Secretary added. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who will be the Democratic Party candidate to challenge Trump in the November election, has also blamed the President for the turmoil, saying that he "is part of the problem and accelerates it". Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused him in an MSNBC programme of promoting divisiveness and turning the country into a "banana republic". But rifts have also developed in the Democratic Party on tackling the riots. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wanted the national guard, the equivalent of the territorial army but under state control, deployed in the city after widespread looting but it was opposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio. While most of the protests against police brutality towards the African-Americans has been peaceful, a section of the protesters have turned to violence. After a weekend of criminality and rioting, Trump threatened on Monday to use the act to empower himself to deploy troops to quell the "thugs". A Morning Consult poll of registered voters found that 58 per cent supported deploying the military to back the police in cities facing protests. He and Esper had asked Governors to send in their national guard to control the looting. Some of the states deployed the national guard, which is made up of part-time volunteers under state control but can be deployed abroad by the federal government as part of the military as has been done in Afghanistan and Iraq. One of the states to call out the national guard is Democratic-controlled Minnesota, where the killing of an African American man, George Floyd on May 25 by a policeman who choked him to death by kneeling on his neck triggered the nationwide outrage and protests. The murder charge against the policeman, Derek Chauvin, was upgraded to a more serious charge on Wednesday and the three other policemen with him were charged with abetting murder. The worst of the rioting took place on Monday night. In New York City, some protesters attacked Macy's flagship store, which is said to be the world's largest department store and a city landmark, and looted it and also several other famous branded stores like Chanel and Rolex causing millions of dollars in damages. Cuomo, a moderate, criticised de Blasio, who belongs to the party's left bloc, for his failure to stop the looting despite having 32,000 police personnel under his control, and said that the national guard should have been deployed. But he said that he did not want to use his gubernatorial powers to deploy them as it would have required him to sideline that mayor and that would have made the situation worse. The telecast scenes of unhindered looting before and after the curfew caused outrage, as did the looting across the nation. The violent section of protesters also targeted many small businesses owned by immigrant minorities and also African Americans. While some leaders like Cuomo see the danger of the unrest helping Trump and undercutting their party, others - along with some media - are hoping that Trump would be blamed and they accuse him of creating the conditions for it. According to the Morning Consult poll, 49 per cent of registered voters considered the protesters to be peaceful, while 42 per cent are trying to "incite violence or destroy property." Pelosi, Biden and others have criticised Trump for having protesters cleared by the national guard and other law enforcement personnel with flash grenades before walking to a church across from the White House for what they said was a photo op. But they were careful to not condemn the demonstrators who set the house of worship. "If the protesters were so peaceful, why did they light the church on fire?" Trump asked in a tweet. White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany denied that military was not involved in clearing the protesters outside the White House and teargas and rubber bullets were not used in clearing the protesters outside the presidential mansion and defended Trump's visit to the church hyperbolically likening it to Winston Churchill's symbolic actions during World War II. She said that several police personnel have been injured by the protesters, four of them shot, and an African-American former police captain was shot dead by looters. Barack Obama, the first person of African descent to be elected President, said that there was a sense of awakening to the problems of racial injustice and it should be mobilised to bring about reforms in policing, banning chokeholds and strangulations by police. While Trump has been blamed for the police brutality, another African-American man was choked to death by a policeman in New York in 2014 when Obama was President. The policeman was not charged in the video-recorded incident and was dismissed more than five years later by de Blasio's administration. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) San Antonios City Council will consider a $191 million stimulus proposal Thursday to help residents recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make them more resilient. The document before council, COVID-19 City Response and Community Resiliency & Recovery, calls for housing assistance, aid to small businesses and training for San Antonians who lost jobs. Related: Commentary: Online learning not the future of education It will help house more homeless people and expand domestic violence prevention and intervention, among other services for the poorest and hardest hit. Money will come from the federal CARES Act and the citys general fund. It reads like an anti-poverty program that took a pandemic to propel into existence. A coalition of progressive groups have called on council to delay the vote until more information is provided and more residents can voice their opinions. A little more than $27 million in the package will bridge San Antonios digital divide, a long-festering problem that has made unequal educational opportunities even more unequal. Bob Owen /Staff file photo The plan will attempt to close the homework gap by providing broadband access to low-income households by way of private wireless networks. Theyre exactly like those used by governments and businesses to allow employees to work remotely. Related: A conversation with Pedro Martinez about how schools will reopen The plan calls for sharing existing fiber infrastructure and provide at-home equipment to such households rather than short-term hot spots. Such Internet connections wont just benefit students but entire households with essential services such as online banking, telehealth, telemedicine and workforce development. A study by the Federal Reserve shows 38 percent of San Antonians lack internet access, primarily on the citys West and South Sides. At Lanier High School in the San Antonio Independent School District, 75 percent of students live in households that lack broadband access. Thats like not allowing students to take home their textbooks to do homework. Josie Norris /Staff photographer If the proposal brings together all the right partners, two pilot projects will get under way in the San Antonio and Edgewood districts. Its too early to tell, but some hope this first group of students will be connected by the fall. More than 50 neighborhoods lacking broadband access have been identified. After the pilot projects, households in Harlandale, South San and the Southwest ISD will be targeted, followed by a third group of households in the Judson, North East and Northside districts. Jordana Barton, senior adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, was instrumental in persuading local leaders to buy into the proposal. She hasnt been in the limelight. But she has been behind PowerPoint presentations, policy papers and data-driven discussions with city officials, educational leaders and other influencers. Barton, who offices in San Antonio and grew up in a South Texas colonia, isnt new to such behind-the-scenes work. It sounds too simple, but her job is to advance ideas that solve problems and get them on the right desks. Long before the pandemic, Barton was pounding pavement and dirt roads to convince South Texas leaders that the Community Reinvestment Act can be used to bring broadband access to poor urban and rural areas. Her report on colonias reflects communities not just as poor but as proud places where residents have built assets. Her parents still live in the modest colonia home that produced two surgeons, a corporate chief operating officer and an analyst who advises the chairman of the Federal Reserve and its Board of Governors, places where Barton may land someday. The pandemic has provided some silver linings. It helped persuade several key leaders to consider cost-effective ways to help students on the wrong side of the digital divide. The image of our food bank lines helped everybody see just what were dealing with here, Barton said. It helped everyone see how urgent the digital divide is. Partnerships are forming to carry out this project, including the city of San Antonio, the Federal Reserve, several school districts and the nonprofit City Education Partners. The Digital Inclusion Alliance of San Antonio, of which Barton is a founder, has helped keep the digital divide on our radar. Council approval, now or later, rings with the possibility of leveling the educational playing field in San Antonio. That will make it more resilient after any storm. eayala@express-news.net A pair of grandmothers have admitted to holding a 24-year-old woman captive for three hours as part of a bizarre plot to retrieve jewellery. Tanya Sweeney, 53, and Marianne Spiteri, 51, appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court this week where they pleaded guilty to a slew of charges relating to the incident in on October 10, 2018. The pair had showed up to the victim's Geelong home at 6.40am armed with metal pole and baton. They claimed they were there to collect a ring and bracelet on behalf of the woman's ex-partner. But their plot began to spiral when the woman refused to handover the jewellery. She told the pair she had agreed to hand over jewellery in person. Tanya Sweeney, 53, and Marianne Spiteri, 51, drove to Corio Village Shopping Centre (pictured) where Spiteri escorted the woman to an ATM to get cash The two grans stormed into her home, hitting in the back of the head three times with the metal pole, The Geelong Advertiser reported. The attackers then tried to access her online bank account but that failed. They then forced the victim into the back seat of a BMW parked outside, using child safety locks to trap her inside. The trio then drove to Corio Village Shopping Centre where Spiteri escorted the woman to an ATM to get cash but that failed. Later, when they found the woman's bank card in the back of the car they ordered she tell them her PIN number, threatening they would take her for a 'long hike in the bush' if she lied. The women then used her card to withdraw $600 from an ATM and also purchased $11 worth of Krispy Kreme doughnuts before freeing the woman The women then used the victim's bank card to withdraw $600 from an ATM and also purchased $11 worth of Krispy Kreme doughnuts before freeing the woman. The court heard how Spiteri felt 'awful, disgusted and shameful' about the incident. She is currently out on bail after spending 100 days in custody. Sweeney, who has a lengthier criminal history, is on remand. The pair will be sentenced on June 19. Rome, June 4 : People in Italy will be allowed to move freely within the country and the travel restrictions were also eased with travellers from European Union (EU) and Schengen countries, as well as the UK, Andorra and Monaco being allowed to visit the country without subjecting to quarantine. "A month from May 4, when we reopened our manufacturing and construction sectors, we can say the numbers are encouraging," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a nationally televised press conference on Wednesday evening, Xinhua reported. "The trend of new cases is constantly decreasing in all our regions," said the prime minister. "This shows the strategy we adopted is and has been the right one." "As of today, European tourists can also travel to Italy," he added. "They can visit our country without subjecting to quarantine." He added the government is hard at work to ensure Italy is once again "the safe and coveted destination of the tourists of Europe and the whole world." "The acute phase of the health emergency is behind us, but now we face the economic and social emergency," Conte said. "This crisis must also be an opportunity to design the country we want -- to innovate from the ground up, to overcome structural problems we've been dragging for years," Conte said. He said "we have a historic opportunity" because the EU is planning a multi-billion-euro Recovery Fund and Italy will likely receive a lot of this money as one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe. "We must know how to spend this money well," Conte said as he outlined his "Recovery Plan" for Italy, which he said "rests on several pillars." He listed modernization, digitalization, innovation, tax and justice reform, cutting red tape, transitioning to sustainable energy, and building a high-speed train network linking the south of Italy to the rest of the country as key elements of the plan. Meanwhile Health Minister Roberto Speranza sounded a note of warning to his fellow citizens. "We must proceed with caution and continue to follow the rules we have learned ... because they are the key in the battle against COVID-19," Speranza said in reference to social distancing in a statement released on Wednesday, as the last remaining restrictions on personal freedoms were lifted. "The virus is still very dangerous," Speranza warned. Italy reported 71 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's toll to 33,601, out of total infection cases of 233,836, according to fresh figures on Wednesday. Nationwide, the number of active infections dropped by 596 to 39,297 cases, according to the Civil Protection Department. The Philadelphia Inquirer published a headline in Tuesdays edition that was deeply offensive. We should not have printed it. Were sorry, and regret that we did. We also know that an apology on its own is not sufficient. The headline accompanied a story on the future of Philadelphias buildings and civic infrastructure in the aftermath of this weeks protests. The headline offensively riffed on the Black Lives Matter movement, and suggested an equivalence between the loss of buildings and the lives of black Americans. That is unacceptable. While no such comparison was intended, intent is ultimately irrelevant. An editors attempt to capture a columnists nuanced argument in a few words went horribly wrong, and the resulting hurt and anger are plain. Heres how our editing and headline-writing process operates: Stories typically go through two assignment editors before reaching the print desk, where copy editors weigh the merits of the story, and check for grammar, style and factual errors. Its at that stage, when the print page is being created, that print headlines are written by copy editors. Typically, two print editors review headlines and pages before they are sent to the presses. Our review of this incident found that the process was followed, and the headline was created by one editor and read by another. This incident makes clear that changes are needed, and we are committing to start immediately. We will review the editing process above and implement safeguards to flag sensitive content and prevent single-person publication. We will continue training and discussions around cultural sensitivity, including a previously scheduled program that will begin this week. We will expand on our commitment to build a newsroom that better reflects the community it serves, with more recruiting resources and requirements for diverse finalist pools. And we will define a process for flagging, discussing and publicly disclosing lapses in editorial judgment that arent addressed with a simple factual correction. In addition to our readers and the Philadelphia community, we apologize to the many employees of the Philadelphia Inquirer, whose work selling advertising, printing the paper and developing Inquirer.com enables our journalism. Finally, we apologize to Inquirer journalists, particularly those of color, who expressed sadness, anger, and embarrassment in a two-hour newsroom-wide meeting Wednesday. An enormous amount of pressure sits on the shoulders of black and brown Inquirer journalists, and mistakes like this, made by the publication they work for, are profoundly demoralizing. We hear you and will continue to listen as we work to improve. Stan Wischnowski, Executive Editor Gabriel Escobar, Editor Patrick Kerkstra, Managing Editor The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit that is in charge of deporting undocumented immigrants is not providing COVID-19 tests when each individual is removed from the country. Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Henry Lucero, the executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, confirmed to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin that ICE instead produces a checklist that questions each detainee of any symptoms they may have and that there body temperatures are also registered. Since the coronavirus pandemic spread across 59 ICE jails, a number of undocumented immigrants have tested positive for the deadly virus upon arriving at their native countries. A detainees at ICE's Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center is checked by a staff doctor An immigration official uses a protective face mask as a preventive measure against COVID-19 upon the arrival of Guatemalan migrants deported from the United States in Guatemala City on March 12 Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the United States in May for sending back migrants infected with the coronavirus to his Central American country and straining its weak health system. As of May 21, 119 infected detainees had been deported from the U.S. 'We understand that the United States wants to deport people, but what we do not understand is why they send us flights full of infection,' Giammattei said in an online talk hosted by the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. 'We've had serious problems with deported people,' he said. 'We haven't been treated by the United States in a way that I'd say is kind, in relation to the deportees.' Henry Lucero, ICE's executive associate director for the Enforcement and Removal Operations, appeared before Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and said the agency is not testing detainees for COVID-19 when they are deported Giammattei temporarily stopped accepting its deported nationals from the United States in April after three deportees tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving on a March 26 flight with 41 Guatemalans, including 10 children. Guatemalan health officials detected positive cases in two passengers a few days after their arrival while tests proved to be positive for a third passenger a week later Two passengers, aged 29 and 31, were confirmed to be infected with the virus a couple of days after their arrival. A third passenger, a 37-year-old man who was deported Arizona, tested positive Tuesday while in quarantine. Lucero, however, defended ICE, stating that no sick detainees had been deported in the past while he was grilled by Durbin. 'We are aware of reports that after they are returned to their home countries,' Lucero said before adding 'that some countries have tested individuals that were positive. But there were no known positives that were removed actively with COVID-19.' Lucero indicated ICE has entered agreements with some countries to provide testings for deportees. Guatemalan immigration officials use protective equipment as a preventive measure against the new coronavirus, COVID-19, as they received Guatemalan migrants deported from the United States, at the Air Force base in Guatemala on March 12 Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia contracted the virus at Otay Mesa Detention Center in California and died May 6. The 57-year-old native from El Salvador became the first of two undocumented immigrants in custody of ICE to die from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States Record show that as of June 3, ICE had tested 3,113 undocumented immigrants, including 818 who are currently infected and in custody. Overall, a 1,595 inmates have tested positive for the global pandemic that in the last six weeks caused the deaths of two detainees, both natives of Latin America. Guatemalan Santiago Baten Oxla, 34, died at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia, on May 24 after he contracted the virus while imprisoned at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, a private facility contracted by ICE. El Salvador native Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, 57, was declared dead May 6 at a San Diego hospital where he was being treated since April 24 after testing positive for the virus. He became infected at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, a for-profit penitentiary also under contract to ICE. ICE currently is holding 25,421 undocumented immigrants and has released 392, who were deemed at risk of contracting the virus, following federal court orders. Lucero said that 290 of the undocumented immigrants who were released had convictions and charges, including sexual assault, murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, domestic violence, child cruelty, drug and weapons offenses, and driving under the influence. (Bloomberg) -- While technology billionaires have been among the most visible champions of the fight against Covid-19, perhaps none has as much at stake as Jay Y. Lee., Samsungs anointed heir. South Koreas largest corporation and its de facto leader have been key players in one of Asias most successful coronavirus containment campaigns. Since March, Samsung has dispatched its own doctors to hard-hit zones, flown Korean engineers overseas via its private jet, doled out roughly $39 million worth of aid globally and played a central role in ramping up production of testing kits -- hailed by healthcare experts as a turning point in Koreas battle against the disease. Samsung -- the worlds largest maker of memory chips, mobile devices and electronic displays -- and its fellow conglomerates helped flatten the virus curve. But for Lee, success comes at a time of particular scrutiny. The well-publicized effort burnished his image months before the denouement of a years-long scandal and trial into alleged influence-peddling and Lees succession plans. In the legal clash, which inflamed resentment against Koreas most influential conglomerates, Lee stands accused of using thoroughbred horses and other gifts to buy government support for plans to cement his familys control over the Samsung empire -- something both Samsung and he have denied. In a sign of how popular opinion will play into the case, Lee this week requested a public assessment of the validity of the indictment, invoking a measure allowing the formation of a civil panel to review cases. Then on Thursday, prosecutors, at risk of losing some authority, decided to seek an arrest warrant for the billionaire for alleged violations of capital market and audit laws, Yonhap News reported. Samsung got on the prosecutors nerves. The move to request an outside review is something thats undercutting prosecutors and could enrage them, said Chung Sun-sup, CEO at corporate research firm Chaebul.com. Lee might have thought that he could get support from people who distrust prosecutors. Story continues Read more: Samsung Heir Vows an End to Family Rule After Succession Scandal Lee could face a prison sentence of several years in the current trial. Regardless of Covid-19, the outcome could prove a watershed moment in the sensitive relationship between the countrys corporate chieftains and government. The hearings, which will likely wrap late this year, are regarded by many observers as a litmus test for whether Koreas courts are truly independent of the powerful business interests that hold sway over the economy. The 51-year-old Samsung heir convened a rare press conference in May to apologize for his companys mis-steps over succession. Swearing his children would never run the company, he pledged to give back to society and praised his fellow citizens dedication throughout the outbreak. It gave me a chance to look back on our past and as a member of the business community, I feel a greater sense of responsibility, Lee said. I pledge to create a new Samsung that is level with the national dignity of South Korea. The surprise announcement drew public support from both ruling and opposition parties as well as the chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission. But critics and academics pounced on Lees comments as bereft of substance. Thats because it came just before a deadline set by an internal Samsung oversight body for just such an apology. The independent compliance committee, established this year after a judge in the graft trial questioned Samsungs measures to prevent legal violations such as bribery, assessed Lees apology as a meaningful step but wanted more details. Samsung has never done as much in the past to assuage critics of the conglomerates, said Kyungmook Lee, a business professor at Seoul National University. As the largest chaebol in South Korea, the way they contributed to the nation during the Covid-19 crisis and apologized over past wrongdoings is helping soften public sentiment and improve the image of both the company and its heir. Thats important because suspicion of the judiciary in Korea runs deep. Over the past decade, at least half a dozen high-profile industrial magnates have been sentenced to prison for corruption, only to have those jail terms mitigated or suspended by the courts -- including Lees father. Even President Moon Jae-in, who swept into power on promises to clean up endemic corporate malfeasance, grappled with public outrage after a judge in Lees first trial unexpectedly freed him after just a year in prison. In suspending Lees sentence, the judge concluded the billionaire couldnt resist requests from a sitting president and that the greater responsibility lay with public officials. Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2017, has denied taking any money for herself. Paranoia about chaebols influence continues to dog the second phase of Lees hearings, which commenced late last year after the Supreme Court overturned the lower courts decision to suspend the moguls sentence and ordered a retrial. Lees hearing has been delayed for months as prosecutors argue that one of the appeals court judges overseeing the current case is biased and inclined to go lightly on Lee. The justice in question has shown a flair for the dramatic by, among other things, lecturing the executive at length in October on how he can better run Samsung, advising him to take inspiration from Israeli businesses. The appeals court judge has so far kept out of the fray. In South Korea, the public opinion often influences trials and sways verdicts, said Heo Pil-seok, chief executive officer at Midas International Asset Management. While Samsungs facing several critical situations, its trying to make a plea for clemency to the public, he said, referring to not just its Covid-19 efforts but also Lees apology. Read more: Samsung Warns of Profit Slide After Virus Slams Tech Sphere Samsung and Lees approach to the sudden flare-up of the novel coronavirus was in many ways no different than his peers. Noted philanthropists Bill Gates and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma donated millions or offered technical assistance. Others like Amazon.com Inc.s Jeff Bezos, faced with public criticism that their companies are placing workers in jeopardy, focused their efforts on protecting the workforce. And tech corporations joined manufacturers around the globe in trying to plug a shortfall in ventilators and masks. Samsung representatives emphasized that the companys main goal was to combat the disease, save lives and protect employees, and dismissed any suggestion they were connected to the hearing. In addition to dispatching personnel, the company also converted a training facility near Daegu into a treatment center, helped expedite business entries into China, even handed out free smartphones to quarantined patients. Samsung Electronics is joining the global fight against COVID-19 to safeguard the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners and local communities, it said in a statement. The smart factory program and other global relief initiatives by Samsung Electronics have nothing to do with the ongoing legal proceedings over the case of Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Our efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus have always been to help our employees and their families that have been impacted by this pandemic as we are all in this together. Samsung plays an unusually crucial role in Koreas economy and national ethos. Its transformation from economic minnow to technology export powerhouse owes much to its family-run conglomerates. Known as chaebol -- which means wealth clique -- these pillars of the nations miracle economy encompass household names like LG, Hyundai and SK. Theyve supported government initiatives for decades, spearheading a modernization effort thats created world leaders in shipping, steel, and now technology and electronics. Largest of them all is Samsung. The 82-year-old conglomerate is both a symbol of the Asian countrys technological and diplomatic rise as well as a touchstone for what many think is wrong with the economy today -- the overwhelming dominance of a handful of dynasties who call the shots in everything from cars to phones. Samsungs striving to overhaul its image to win a positive trial ruling, said Chae Yibai, a former opposition lawmaker and a long-time corporate governance activist, referring to the months-long virus campaign. The entire process is like a play, with a judge taking on the role of director and the compliance committee acting as a sub-director. The leading man is Lee. South Koreas Chaebol, Engines of Growth and Scandal: QuickTake In the current drama, Lees star is on the rise. His approval ratings in independent surveys have climbed since the conglomerate, heeding the governments call, swung into action in March. The top keywords in domestic internet searches covering Lee from January to April were virus or management, according to surveyor Global Bigdata Research, pushing out trial-related terms among the top 30. Hes even won over some of the smaller businesses thatve traditionally played second fiddle to the chaebols. Local mask manufacturer E&W said its output increased about 50% after it adopted Samsungs solutions in its facility setup and distribution. Samsung also dispatched about 10 experts to each of four test-kit makers to instruct their engineers on how to ramp up volumes while resolving bottlenecks through automation. Keeping a sound ecosystem of SMEs is essential to Samsung as well as for the long-term benefits of all economic players, said Junha Park, head of Samsungs smart factory operation team. Lees approval rating in surveys conducted by the Global Bigdata have risen in 2020 since the outbreak. They fell to 9.77% in the two days after his public apology, down from an average of 16.37% over the 30 days prior. But negative views also plummeted to 20.6% from 44.2%, while those on the fence shot up to 72.8% from 39.4%. That latter point is key. Credibility is very important, said Daniel Yoo, head of global investment at Yuanta Securities Korea. Clearly the corporate image, about Samsung and South Korea, has been improving. Chaebol Backlash Loses Bite as Jailed Execs Walk Free: QuickTake The most immediate challenge for Samsung is empowering and keeping its de facto leader free during an era of heightened uncertainty. Regardless of the personal outcome of that trial, the longer-term perceptions of chaebols may hinge on Lees promise to corporatize Samsung. Some view his vision as the first step in finally reining in the chaebols, by breaking decades-old succession lines. Others suspect Samsung will find some other way to safeguard the Lee familys control. Thats because its not up to Lee, but to the companys shareholders and board, said Shin Se-don, an emeritus professor of economics at Sookmyung Womens University. The apology was unlike Samsung, said Shin, who worked at Samsungs research institute in the late 1980s. After Lees announcement, ruling and opposition parties both suggested Lee could be legally excused. Thats different from what most people think. (Updates with prosecutors seeking an arrest warrant in the third paragraph) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. China Post recently issued a set of six stamps on the classic children's cartoon, Gourd Brothers, to commemorate the International Children's Day. A total of 7.5 million sets were issued, and each costs 6.4 yuan ($0.90). In an event that paid tribute to the cartoon, children made small gourds from Lego bricks with their parents at the Legoland Discovery Center Beijing. The cartoon is popular among those born in the 1980s and 1990s and the event allowed them to share their childhood memories with their children. Besides enjoying a range of miniature landmark architecture made from Lego bricks, children took part in training classes in the center and made their own works based on their imagination. VALLETTA, Malta - Europes leading human rights organization is calling for immediate action to bring to shore some 400 migrants that the Malta government transferred to chartered pleasure boats at sea. The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, said in a statement Thursday that the situation is unsustainable and requires immediate action. The migrants have been living aboard the boats just out of Maltas territorial waters, many for weeks, after having been rescued from human traffickers unseaworthy boats in the Mediterranean Sea. Malta chartered the pleasure cruise vessels after closing its ports due to the coronavirus emergency and says it is waiting for other European Union member nations to step up and take in the migrants. So far, only France has agreed. The Council of Europes human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, has stressed in recent months that migrants should be brought to shore safely and promptly despite the coronavirus pandemic. The commissioner also has underlined that human lives should not be put at risks due to disagreements between EU member states. I am concerned that since then, additional ships have been rented and that the number of people kept on them, without a clear prospect of prompt disembarkation, has substantially increased, she said Thursday. SOS Mediterranee, a humanitarian group that has operated rescue boats in the Mediterranean Sea, earlier this week lamented that the migrants being held on the chartered tourist boats were being used as political pawns. An Associated Press photographer captured images of the migrants walking on the decks of the boats, their laundry hung from improvised clotheslines. Maltese armed forces were arrayed in boats nearby, keeping watch on the four vessels usually used for pleasure excursions to ferry tourists to the tiny Mediterranean island nations attractions. France hasnt said how many migrants it will take in, but has insisted it is up to the EUs executive commission to organize with other countries. The European Commission has confirmed it is facilitating talks among EU nations to identify potential destinations for the passengers stuck on the boats off Malta. There is an urgent need for co-operation and solidarity between member states to find solutions for those on board the Captain Morgan boats, European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz said Thursday. They need to be disembarked as soon as possible. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the thousands of people protesting the death of George Floyd have a 'civic duty' to be tested for coronavirus and help avoid a spike in new cases as the state slowly restarts its economy. 'If you were at a protest, go get a test please,' Cuomo said at a press conference on Thursday. 'Tell people that you may have been exposed to COVID. If you were at one of those protests, I would, out of an abundance of caution, assume that you were infected.' Theres widespread concern that people packing in tightly for demonstrations, sometimes without faces coverings, could lead to a huge surge in cases just as the nation's epicenter emerges from its months-long nightmare. Cuomo was particularly concerned about daily mass demonstrations in New York City, which is poised to relax some economic restrictions amid an intense effort to tame the outbreak. 'If you were at a protest, go get a test please,' Cuomo said at a press conference on Thursday. 'Tell people that you may have been exposed to COVID' Theres widespread concern that people packing in tightly for demonstrations could lead to a huge surge in cases. Protesters are seen in Brooklyn on Thursday 'Go get a test, please,' Cuomo said at his daily briefing. 'The protesters have a civic duty here also. Be responsible, get a test.' Cuomo estimated that more than 30,000 people had participated in protests across the state, with 20,000 in New York City alone and 1,000 on Long Island. He said the state has 700 testing sites, and that participation in a protest would be immediately added to the list of criteria for testing. Protests have continued around New York despite state rules against gatherings of more than 10 people. Regions of the state outside of New York City have begun phasing in economic activity amid progress in slowing the spread of the virus. Fewer people are being hospitalized statewide for COVID-19 and the daily death toll was 52 on Wednesday, compared to around 800 at the peak of the outbreak. The city is set to begin the first phase of its reopening Monday, which allows curbside retail, construction and manufacturing. Protesters rally during a George Floyd demonstration at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn Thursday 'New York City had the highest number of protesters,' Cuomo said. 'We have to be smart.' 'I'm not a nervous Nellie, I'm just looking at the numbers,' said Cuomo, noting that an estimated 30,000 people have protested in the state. 'Many wear masks. But there is no social distancing. Police are in their face.' Officials in Chicago this week expressed similar concern, and asked protesters to quarantine themselves for 14 days. Cuomo took time in his daily coronavirus briefing to sympathize with the protests, calling Floyd's May 25 death in Minneapolis while in police custody a murder and adding, 'I share the outrage.' 'It is a metaphor for the systemic racism and injustice that we have seen,' he added. Nurses and healthcare workers attend a Black Lives Matter rally in front of Bellevue Hospital on Thursday in New York City Following protests not only in New York City, but in the upstate cities of Buffalo, Albany, Rochester and Syracuse, Cuomo said the state would observe a 'symbolic moment' of silence at 2pm for sharing grief and understanding. 'This is an injustice that should never happen again,' he said. Cuomo said his concern about increased spread of the virus during the demonstrations would not impede the state's regionally phased reopening, which is set to allow New York City to open on Monday for limited economic activity. A second phase of activity, which New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said could start as early as July, will include outdoor restaurant seating. With more people wearing face coverings, the state has made significant progress in halting the spread, as reflected in a drop in the rate of people testing positive for the virus over the past six weeks to 2 percent from 26 percent, he said. Deal being seen as part of security cooperation to balance Chinas growing economic and military weight in the region. India and Australia have sealed a deal to get access to each others military bases, the Indian foreign ministry said a pact that would clear the way for more military exchanges and exercises in the Indo-Pacific. The mutual logistic support agreement was signed during a virtual summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Thursday. The agreement allows Indian and Australian military ships and aircraft to refuel and access maintenance facilities at each others bases. India has a similar pact with the United States, which is seen as part of broader security cooperation to balance Chinas growing economic and military weight in the region. Indian troops are locked in a standoff with Chinese troops on their disputed border, the most serious crisis in years, on top of concerns about a huge trade imbalance in Beijings favour. Australias trade frictions with China are also growing, and its push last month for an international review into the origins and spread of the novel coronavirus drew opposition from China. Morrison was due in India in January but was forced to cancel the trip because of the bushfires crisis in Australia. The holding of the summit now, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, showed the importance the two leaders attached to bilateral ties, officials said. This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a bilateral virtual summit. This signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said before the signing of the deal. India is also considering Australias participation in annual naval exercises it holds with the US and Japan in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in a cementing of security ties between the four countries, military officials said. A similar exercise in 2007 had angered China. People walk by an entrance to the New York Times building. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) Demonstrations for the civil rights of black Americans that have gripped the country in recent days have spilled into the corridors of the New York Times, as writers protested the publication of an opinion piece calling for the military to be brought in to quell the unrest. Writers from across the news organization including its style section, film team, technology reporters and contributors as well as a former public editor have blasted the decision of opinion page editor James Bennet to run the op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). These writers and others at the Times tweeted "Running this puts black @NYT staff in danger" above a screenshot of the piece. Other journalists and former New York Times staffers joined in. A spokesperson for the Times did not return requests for comment. In the inflammatory piece published Wednesday, Cotton said "some elites" had excused an "orgy of violence in the spirit of radical chic" in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, excuses he said were based on "a revolting moral equivalence of rioters and looters to peaceful, law-abiding protesters." He called for the use of the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy the military or any other means in cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws, to restore order. "Ill probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral," responded Nikole Hannah-Jones, who was awarded this year's Pulitzer Prize for commentary for the 1619 Project, the New York Times exploration into the role of black Americans in U.S. history starting with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in 1619. "As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this." Ill probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral. As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this. https://t.co/lU1KmhH2zH Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 4, 2020 The NewsGuild of New York, of which the New York Times newsroom union is a part, expressed concern over the move to publish Cotton's piece, saying it "poured gasoline on the fire." Story continues Bennet took to Twitter to defend his decision: The Times editorial board has forcefully defended the protests as patriotic and criticized the use of force, saying earlier today that police too often have responded with more violence against protesters, journalists and bystanders. Weve also crusaded for years against the underlying, systemic cruelties that led to these protests. As part of our explorations of these issues, Times Opinion has published powerful arguments supporting protests, advocating fundamental change and criticizing police abuses," Bennet added. "Times Opinion owes it to our readers to show them counter-arguments, particularly those made by people in a position to set policy. We understand that many readers find Senator Cotton's argument painful, even dangerous. We believe that is one reason it requires public scrutiny and debate. The outcry by the New York Times' writers is one of the most visible and proactive protests by staffers at the paper in recent years and the latest in a series of controversies involving the opinion pages since Bennet was hired in 2016. The New York Times and its staff are often a target for President Trump and his conservative allies; the president regularly describes the profitable, award-winning newspaper as "failing." Under Bennet, the paper's opinion pages have brought in the views of more conservative writers, including columnist Bret Stephens and editor and writer Bari Weiss. Stephens, a former deputy editorial page editor at the Wall Street Journal, was hired in 2017 in a move to "broaden the range of Times debate about consequential questions." But his columns on climate science and other topics have drawn a backlash from readers. In December, the paper published an editor's note over a Stephens column titled "The Secrets of Jewish Genius," disclosing that it had cited a study by an author with a history of making racist statements. Stephens said that at the time he didn't know the study promoted racist views and was not endorsing it. I want to explain why we published the piece today by Senator Tom Cotton. https://t.co/GvWwf7i0Wu James Bennet (@JBennet) June 3, 2020 The decision to publish pieces by such as figures as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erik Prince, who founded the private military company formerly known as Blackwater, also stirred controversy. Bennet has also brought on new liberal voices, including Jamelle Bouie and Michelle Goldberg. The employee protests at the New York Times came during a week when workers at Facebook publicly criticized their company for Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's decision not to take action when Trump shared a post including the phrase "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." San Francisco, June 4 : California-headquartered global Cloud data services company NetApp said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli company Spot, formerly Spotinst, with an aim to establish leadership in Application Driven Infrastructure. While the two companies did not disclose the transaction details, according to a report in Israeli publication CTECH on Wednesday, the deal was worth $450 million. Spot is a leading player in compute management and cost optimisation on the public Clouds. NetApp said that in partnership with Spot, it will establish an Application Driven Infrastructure to enable customers to deploy more applications to public Clouds faster with Spot's "as-a-service" platform. It will lead to continuous optimisation of both compute and storage for both traditional IT buyers with enterprise applications, Cloud-native workloads and data lakes, the company said. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of NetApp's fiscal year. "In today's public clouds, speed is the new scale. However, waste in the public Clouds driven by idle resources and overprovisioned resources is a significant and a growing customer problem slowing down more public Cloud adoption," Anthony Lye, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Public Cloud Services, NetApp, said in a statement. Together, NetApp and Spot's Application Driven Infrastructure for continuous optimisation could help customers save up to 90 per cent of their compute and storage Cloud expenses, which typically make up 70 per cent of total Cloud spending, and will help accelerate public cloud adoption. "Spot was founded with a vision to revolutionize the way companies consume cloud infrastructure services, using analytics and automation to deliver the most reliable, best performing and most cost-efficient infrastructure for every workload on every cloud," said Amiram Shachar, Founder and CEO, Spot. "We look forward to joining the NetApp family and building together the future of Application Driven Infrastructure and helping customers to deploy more workloads in the cloud." The ruling was delivered on June 4. Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has ruled that fifth president of Ukraine, Member of Parliament Petro Poroshenko must be brought to the premises of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) for questioning on June 10. The court's ruling that authorizes compulsory interrogation of Poroshenko was passed on June 4, the SBI's press service said. Read alsoPoroshenko declares almost US$29 mln in 2019 income He will be interrogated as a witness in a criminal case probing into the circumstances of the transfer of 43 paintings across the customs border of Ukraine in circumvention of customs control. The interrogation is to begin at 11:00 Kyiv time on June 10, the address is 15 Symona Petliury Street, Kyiv. On June 4, Poroshenko was expected to visit the SBI at 11:00 and 12:00. The first visit concerned the 43 paintings case, and the other one is related to the so-called "Biden call recordings" case. It became known on May 22 that Poroshenko had urgently been summoned to the SBI for questioning as a witness on May 26 in a criminal proceeding probing into the transfer of 43 paintings across the customs border of Ukraine in circumvention of customs control. Poroshenko failed to appear for interrogation was he was present at Kyiv's Ivan Honchar Museum to open an exhibition of those paintings. On the afternoon of May 26, SBI investigators arrived at the museum to conduct urgent investigative actions and search the museum's premises "in order to preserve the assets [paintings]." The director of the museum, Petro Honchar, said that the SBI agents had broken the entrance door of the premises and had not let him get into the building. He also added that Poroshenko had not commissioned the museum's administration to relocate the paintings that were on exhibit. The SBI officers conducted an inventory of the paintings from Poroshenko's collection and seized the originals of the related customs declarations. On May 27, the SBI again summoned Poroshenko for questioning as a witness in the two cases scheduled for May 29, yet he did not appear. His lawyers said that the summons had been handed over to the ex-president improperly, so he had skipped the interrogation. Nels Nielsen at the front counter of the Petersburg Post Office on his last day at work on Friday. Nielsen said he spent most of his time over the past 14 years of his career helping customers at the front counter. Nels Nielsen spent last Friday at the Petersburg Post Office like it was any other day. He helped customers retrieve long awaited packages and mail letters. The only thing that was different were the balloons hanging throughout the lobby congratulating him on his retirement after 28 years with the United States Postal Service. Originally from northern California, Nielsen arrived in Petersburg in 1978 to work at Petersburg Fisheries. After 14 years working at the cannery, he began working at the post office in 1992. He started out as a part-time office clerk, though it could hardly be calle... ALBANY Albany Common Council members will hold a news conference Thursday to outline a series of police reforms including actions to strengthen independent investigations of the city police department, impose department-wide use of body cameras and create new ways to draw minority recruits to the force. The action comes after days of protests in Albany and around the country over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other black men at the hands of police and the disclosure Wednesday the city was throwing out criminal charges against a couple who clashed with police as they tried to record record officers arresting another man. Mayor Kathy Sheehan later called incident "troubling." The reforms that the council will call for include a repeal of 50A, which shields police disciplinary records from public disclosure, give subpoena powers to the Albany Community Police Review Board, establis formal lines of direct communication between the community, mayor and police chief. The recommendations would also encourage the city, district attorneys office and the county sheriff to set up scholarships for students in historically underrepresented groups to enter the criminal justice field. Finally, they want all Albany police to wear body cameras. Kimani Addison and Desiree Shuman were arrested Tuesday as they used phones to record an arrest of another man near South Pearl Street. Inciting riot charges filed against Kimani Addison and Desiree Shuman were dropped by police on Wednesday. Sheehan said videos that surfaced of their arrests "does not appear to depict efforts by police to de-escalate a situation, nor it does it depict the sensitivity I expect from all city employees in this moment and every day. Addison told the Times Union he was simply trying to film the arrest of another man when he got into an argument with a detective over the detective's demands that Addison move further away from where police were taking the other man into custody. The 26-year-old admitted he cursed at the officer during the exchange but insisted he back away from the scene as ordered. Addison said the recent nationwide outcry over the May 25 death of Floyd prompted him to use his phone to record Tuesday's arrest. I didnt want them to violate that mans rights in front of me, he said. I felt that as a black man, I should stand up. Earlier: Charges dropped against man who says he was brutalized while recording an Albany arrest At points, other officers appeared to step into the situation but the confrontation between Addison and the detective continued and Addison was tackled by police. Shuman was arrested after she allegedly attempted to intervene. Addison said he was punched and then shocked with a stun gun once he was on the ground. The two later appeared at a Black Lives Matter rally in Albany. Shuman's arm was in a sling and she told others her arm had been broken. Tuesday's incident follows two violent clashes between police and protesters. On Saturday night, protesters smashed the windows of police cars and threw rocks and bricks at riot-gear-clad officers behind South Station. Police fired tear gas and drove off the protesters but the altercation was followed by vandalism and some looting along main thoroughfares in the city, including South Pearl Street and Central Avenue. A second clash occurred Monday near the public safety building on Henry Johnson Boulevard. That confrontation also featured protesters throwing objects at police who responded with tear gas. The conflict continued into the early morning Tuesday when police said they arrested nine people at the intersection of Quail and West streets. Amid rising border tensions, two Pakistan officials who were expelled by India over spying allegations returned home to Pakistan via the Wagah border crossing, which has been closed for several weeks because of the coronavirus lockdown. Representational Image/Reuters The Indian government had said on Sunday that the two had been detained for "indulging in espionage activities", and given 24 hours to leave the country. According to various media reports, both working in the embassy visa department -- had been detained Sunday while trying to obtain information on an Indian security establishment. Here's what exactly transpired: According to a report in Hindustan Times citing officials of the special cell of Delhi Police, said three officials of the Pakistani mission were detained at Bikanervala Chowk in Karol Bagh at 10.45 am on Sunday while allegedly trying to obtain classified materials on the Indian security establishment. The three men identified as Abid Hussain Abid, 42, an assistant in the Pakistani mission, Mohammad Tahir Khan, 44, a clerk, and Javed Hussain, 36, a driver had been under surveillance for the past few months, it was said. Pakistan Embassy/CNN The duo claimed that they were Indian nationals and allegedly even produced fake Aadhar cards. Later, during interrogation, they confessed that they were officials at Pakistan High Commission and worked for ISI, according to The Wire. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had further stated that the Indian government had declared both officials as persona non grata for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission and asked them to leave the country within twenty-four hours. The two have since returned to Pakistan. Reacting to the development, Pakistan summoned India's charge d'affaires to express its "condemnation" of the expulsion order. The foreign ministry called the allegations "baseless" and said Delhi's action was a "clear violation" of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today, Stan Lee wrote in his Marvel Stans Soapbox column in 1968 to address how people discriminating against each other on the basis of colour could lead to the end of the world and how there would be no superheroes in masks and capes to protect them in real life. In 1968, Stan Lee used his Marvel "Stan's Soapbox column to talk about the ignorance of racism. "Racism and bigotry are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today Sooner or later, we must learn to judge each other on our own merits https://t.co/3kowLk0WxT pic.twitter.com/Lw8FtxIyuk Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 12, 2018 It is disappointing to acknowledge what Lee said over 50 years ago continues to be one of the major sources of fear and hate in the minds of the people against each other when they were supposed to be brothers and sisters, when they were supposed to be equals. And even though Stan isnt here with us anymore, the work he put on paper, the scripts he wrote, the characters he gave birth to, continue to fight the social evils of the world even today and his principles are relevant as ever. Two years before writing that column, writer-editor Jack Kirby and Lee came up with the idea of introducing Black Panther into their ever expanding Marvel universe. Making his first appearance in Fantastic Four #52 (1961), T'Challa became the first hero of African descent in mainstream American comics (even though other heroes from the same race were introduced on a small scale). Marvel Comics The idea was that if Marvel was really going to be a universe, then more African and African-American characters were necessary. Lee even asked his artists to add more black characters in crowd scenes and also brought forward a recurring character in Dr. Bill Foster in The Avengers. While Lee made a beeline towards greater inclusion with Black Panther, a more subtle means to show the struggles of a world of racism and discrimination came up with the X-Men comics. Marvel Comics A race of mutants were taken to be dangerous by some and inferior by the others. They had to live in a world where people were either scared of them or couldnt look at them without disgust on their faces. Rings a bell? In 2018, The Washington Posts David Betancourt pointed out that two of the most prominent X-Men, namely Professor X and Magneto, showed the characteristics of two iconic Civil Rights activists in Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, respectively. X-Men started with the goal to teach its readers that discrimination of anyone based on biological factors they have no control over is wrong With Xavier meant to represent MLK and Magneto meant to represent Malcolm X https://t.co/11kwI3b6f6 Lankey (@TryRaisins) June 2, 2020 ... although anyone has the right to dislike another individual, its totally irrational, patently insane to condemn an entire race - to despise an entire nation - to vilify an entire religion, Lee wrote further in his column. Sooner or later, we must learn to judge each other on our own merits. Right after the creator of superheroes died at the age of 95, a video in which he talks about what Marvel meant to him, surfaced online and the message he gives out to the world is something we all can use right now. Marvel has always been and always will be a reflection of the world right outside our window, Lee says. That world may change and evolve, but the one thing that will never change is the way we tell our stories of heroism. Those stories have room for everyone, regardless of their race, gender or color of their skin, he continued. The only things we dont have room for are hatred, intolerance and bigotry. Reuters He cant make guest appearances in the movies anymore but his teachings will continue to help us learn a thing or two from time to time. Urging the government to release all political leaders and workers imprisoned after August 5, CPI (M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami on Thursday said prolonged detentions indicate that things are far from normal in Kashmir, despite New Delhis claims. J&K Peoples Movement leader Shah Faesal and two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders - Sartaj Madani and Peer Mansoor - were released from detention on Wednesday. All political prisoners, including PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, PDP leader Nayeem Akhter, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar and NC Hilal Akbar Lone should be released without further delay, he said in a statement issued here. The leaders, including Peoples Conference chairperson Sajad Gani Lone and others, who were released earlier, have since been kept under house detention, which should be put an end to immediately, he said. Hundreds of activists, including some teenagers, who are languishing in jails within and outside J&K must be released, demanded Tarigami. Noting that many Kashmiris had been languishing in jails over several years, some without trial, Tarigami asked the government to give them a fair chance to defend themselves in court. We have maintained that dissent should always have a place in a democratic society. Curbing the dissent and those holding a contradictory viewpoint has proved counterproductive, he said. He said the low-speed internet was impeding the work-from-home (WFH) regimen of professionals, including doctors, and students attending online classes. Patiala About 250 high quality piglets imported from the United Kingdom (UK) under the National Livestock Mission for the northeastern states are now being sent to Punjab due to an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The NLM under the Union department of animal husbandry and dairying had imported 262 piglets from the UK in February for the northeastern states for high quality pig breeding in India. As per the programme, the animals were to be distributed among Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland, which had come up with a special pig breeding policy. However, after the highly contagious ASF claimed the lives of hundreds of pigs and wild boars in the northeast, the NLM changed plans and Punjab was entrusted with the task of caring for them and to continue the breeding process. The animals, which at present are quarantined at the Animal Quarantine and Certification Service Centre in New Delhi, will be housed in government piggery farms in Punjab. Preparing to welcome them, the department of animal husbandry has initiated a sanitisation drive at Patiala districts Nabha piggery farm, an innovative pig breeding centre. Dr Inderjit Singh, director, Punjab animal husbandry department, said a formal communique from NLM to keep the animals in Punjab had already been received. We have admitted to the terms and conditions of the project, which is completely sponsored by the NLM, while the department will provide all logistics to carry high-quality rearing of pigs in Punjab. Pig farming to get a boost The move, he added, will give a boost to pig farming in the state with large-scale breeding of high-quality imported breeds of pigs in the coming years. We have planned to shift these animals to pig farm at Nabha in Patiala district and have started creating space to accommodate them, Singh said. The department has already deployed special teams on deputation kick start the process to move the animals. Dr Ravi Bhushan Gaba, the animal husbandry departments deputy director at Patiala said sheds and pigsties were being built at the Nabha farm. Due to ASF, we are being extra cautious. Sanitation drives are being carried out daily at the farm which is designed for highly productive piglet breeds and extension activities. ASF advisory issued The animal husbandry department has already issued an ASF advisory. Though no case has been reported in Punjab so far but the pig farmers have been alerted about the animal disease, which is turning deadly in the northeast states, Gaba said. ASF is a severe viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs resulting in an acute haemorrhagic fever. No medicine or vaccine cure has been developed as yet. Experts believe that the disease has a 100% of case fatality rate (CFR) among pigs. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring the effort to protect religious freedom both a domestic and foreign policy priority, Newsweek writes in the article Donald Trump Signs Executive Order to Make Religious Freedom a Foreign Policy Priority. Trump quietly signed the executive order on Advancing International Religious Freedom on Tuesday, as nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd's death continued to dominate headlines. The executive order dedicates $50 million for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to fund programs that promote and defend religious freedoms abroad. The order also calls on diplomats to work harder to hold partner countries to account over religious discrimination. "Religious freedom, America's first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative," the order states. "Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom." The president did not appear to hold any public ceremony for the signing, which, according to The Hill, took place after the president and First Lady Melania Trump visited the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon. In a tweet, the first lady celebrated the executive order, noting that it came on the 41st anniversary of Pope John Paul II's first pilgrimage to Poland. Vice President Mike Pence also tweeted in support of the order, writing that he was "proud to stand with [Trump] today as he continued to take decisive action to promote Religious Freedom around the world." In a statement published online, USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa welcomed the order, saying the agency was "grateful for the President's leadership in advancing religious freedom around the world." "Americans have always believed our first freedom is the freedom of religion, and it is a key component of our national security strategy," Barsa wrote. "Whether in response to genocide committed against Christians and Yazidis in Northern Iraq, or the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya in Burma, the institutional culture regarding international religious freedom has become a top priority at USAID." Trump's executive order comes following the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) annual report, which was published in April. For the first time, the report recommended that India be designated a "Country of Particular Concern" due to its "sharp downward turn" in religious freedom in 2019, particularly regarding concerns over the country's treatment of Muslims. With India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi having accepted an invitation from Trump to attend the next Group of Seven (G7) summit on the same day of the signing, according to India Today, it is unclear whether the president plans to address those concerns. In a statement published online, however, USCIRF Chair Tony Perkins applauded Trump for "continuing to prioritize international religious freedom as a national security imperative and a foreign policy priority." "This Executive Order encourages swift action by the U.S. government to hold accountable foreign governments that commit severe violations and substantially increases U.S. economic assistance to support programs that advance religious freedom around the world," Perkins said. "USCIRF has long called on the U.S. government to develop an overall strategy for promoting religious freedom abroad, as well as country-specific action plans, and we welcome the fact that this Executive Order requires the State Department and USAID to do exactly that," USCIRF Vice Chair Gayle Manchin said in a separate statement. "We also appreciate the express reference to U.S. officials working for the release of religious prisoners of conscience, which is a high priority for USCIRF." The day before signing the religious freedom order, Trump had walked from the White House to pose for photos outside the St. John's Episcopal Church, where he held up a Bible. The president faced swift condemnation over the photo op, as protesters alleged police had used smoke canisters and pepper balls to force them to clear the area ahead of the gesture. Rev. Gini Gerbasi, the rector at St. John's Episcopal Church of Georgetown, told CNN that she had witnessed police fire the smoke canisters and pepper balls at peaceful protesters so the president could make his way to the church without incident and pose for photos. Gerbasi said that she herself had been forced to run from police out of fear after trying to help demonstrators. The rector said she had not been aware of Trump's plans for a photo op outside the church and was left in disbelief after learning that protesters might have been dispersed in order for the event to take place. "I was already stunned and shocked and deeply, deeply offended that they had taken what had become holy ground and had been holy ground for 200 years and literally desecrated it, turned it into not a metaphorical battleground, but a literal battleground," Gerbasi told CNN. "Just the aggression and the innocent protesters, driving them off of church property, for whatever reason. At the time I didn't know why," she said. When she received a text message informing her that Trump was at the church posing with a Bible, Gerbasi said: "I couldn't believe it." MINNEAPOLIS - Two of three Minneapolis police officers accused of aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd were rookies barely off probation when a more senior white officer ignored the black man's cries for help and pressed a knee into his neck, defence attorneys said Thursday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows Derek Chauvin, from left, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder of George Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by him and the other Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Kueng, Lane and Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS - Two of three Minneapolis police officers accused of aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd were rookies barely off probation when a more senior white officer ignored the black man's cries for help and pressed a knee into his neck, defence attorneys said Thursday. Earl Gray said his client, former Officer Thomas Lane, had no choice but to follow the instructions of Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with second-degree murder in Floyd's May 25 death. Gray called the case against his client extremely weak. A judge set bail at $750,000 apiece for Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, when they made their first appearances in Hennepin County District Court Thursday. Simultaneously, and just blocks away , celebrities, friends and relatives gathered to memorialize Floyd at a Bible college. The Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers last week and charged Chauvin initially with third-degree murder the following day. But protests that began on the streets of Minneapolis quickly spread across the nation, calling for justice for Floyd and other African Americans who were killed by police. Defense attorney Earl Gray, center, talks to reporters, Thursday, June 4, 2020, outside court in downtown Minneapolis after his client, former Minneapolis police Officer Thomas Lane, made his first court appearance in the death of George Floyd. A judge set bail at $750,000 apiece for Lane and two other fired Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting in the killing of Floyd. (AP Photo/Jeff Baenen) On Wednesday, the three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. If convicted, they potentially face the same penalty as Chauvin: up to 40 years in prison. Gray said Thursday that all Lane did was hold Floyds feet so he couldn't kick, and he underlined that the criminal complaint says Lane asked Chauvin twice if they should roll Floyd over and expressed concern that Floyd might be in delirium. He said Lane performed CPR in the ambulance. What was my client supposed to do but follow what his training officer said? Is that aiding and abetting a crime? Gray asked. Gray and Kuengs defence attorney, Tom Plunkett, asked the court for lower bail, saying their clients had been police officers for just four days when Floyd was killed. Police records indicate that while the men were rookies, they had more experience than a handful of days on the force. According to their records, they joined the department in February 2019 and became full officers in December. Minneapolis officers must serve a year on probation and spend time in field training with a more senior officer before they are fully qualified. Kueng, who is black, became a police officer because he wanted to make his community a better place, Plunkett said. He said Kueng was raised by his single mother on Minneapolis predominantly black north side. 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. Plunkett and Thao's attorney, Robert Paule, did not address the merits of the charges in court and declined to comment after the hearing out of respect for Floyd's family during the memorial. Judge Paul Scoggin set their next court dates for June 29. Gray said he plans to renew his arguments for lower bail then, saying it could take more than a year for Lane's case to go to trial. A date for Chauvin's first court appearance has not been set, and his attorney has not publicly commented on the case. The latest criminal complaint says his actions were a substantial causal factor in Mr. Floyd losing consciousness, constituting substantial bodily harm, and Mr. Floyds death as well. The complaint against Lane, 37, notes that while he suggested to Chauvin that Floyd should be rolled over he "took no actions to assist Mr. Floyd, to change his position, or to reduce the force the officers were using against Mr. Floyd. Kueng's complaint says the 26-year-old was positioned between Chauvin and Lane and could hear their comments. Thao, 34, was seen in the cellphone video standing near a crowd of bystanders, and his complaint says although he fetched a hobble restraint designed to restrict the movement of a person in custody from the squad car, the officers decided not to use it and maintained their positions. Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights have ordered a civil rights investigation of the police department to determine how to address racial discrimination and create systemic change. Representative Image The Centre on June 3 presented a set of ordinances to push forward its One India, one agriculture market project and allow farmers to trade freely. The move is aimed at building a seamless national market for farmers to sell produce, protect them from price risks, and improve their earnings and better agricultural investments. The Cabinet had earlier cleared the way by approving the Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Facilitation and Promotion) Ordinance, 2020 aimed at a barrier-free trade between states. It will allow farmers to sell across the country and utilise electronic platforms. Under this, farmers can sell produce outside Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) to any buyer directly. Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said such trade will not be taxed and buyers will also not require a license in lieu of PAN Card. He further stated that disputes if any must be addressed to the sub-divisional magistrates and district collectors within a span of two months. Farmer presently are forced to depend on state regulated Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and face tight regulations and entry barriers, which could affect the fair price. State restrictions have also impeded movement of farm produce across the country, the statement said. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Also Read: Cabinet approves amendment to Essential Commodities Act; changes to benefit farmers Another ordinance passed is the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 which allows farmers to enter contract arrangements with retailers, exporters and processors. This is expected to push risk of fluctuating prices from farmers onto companies who are better equipped to handle it. It will also provide farmers access to new technology, reduce their marketing cost and improve income, it noted. Tomar emphasised that farmers interest would be protected in all circumstances and the ordinance will ensure that farmers receive a share of the higher prices. Weve seen that end with tragic results across the country and were not about to allow that practice to happen here in Chicago. If theres an issue, call 911, Lightfoot said. I absolutely support neighbors being vigilant as to whats going on on the streets and in their blocks but taking up arms, that leads to chaos and were not supporting vigilantism in the city of Chicago under any circumstances. Los Angeles officials announced plans to slash the citys police budget by up to $150 million in order to reinvest the funding in communities of color, as protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue to rock the city. The city will identify $250 million in cuts so we can invest in jobs, in health, in education and in healing, for women and minority communities, and the black community in particular, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday. L.A. Police Commission President Eileen Decker said $100 million to $150 million will be cut from the police budget. The mayor said cuts would be made to every department, including the Police Department, because we all have to be part of this solution together. We all have to step up and say, What can we sacrifice? The LAPD had been set to receive a sizeable increase to its $1.189 billion budget, bumping it up to $1.86 billion, but that plan that will now be scrapped. The plan had been met with outrage from residents that increased over the past week as police clashed with protesters. The mayor proposed several other reforms, including a moratorium on entering individuals into a state database that identifies and tracks alleged gang members. Critics had argued that the database lacked transparency since it is inaccessible to the public. The citys police force will also require officers to intervene if they observe an excessive or inappropriate use of force and report the issue, and a Department of Civil and Human Rights will also be established, Garcetti announced. We need to make sure that black Americans see an end to the days of murder in broad daylight and of traffic stops simply because of the color of their skin, Garcetti said. Protests and rioting began last week and stretched into this week after the death in police custody of George Floyd, a black man who died after white former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for several minutes, including after Floyd passed out. Chauvin now faces several charges including second degree murder, and three other involved officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder. More from National Review S panish police have arrested three people, including a well known pornographic actor, in connection with the death of a man during a mystic ritual in which he inhaled psychedelic toad venom. The ceremony took place in the Valencian town of Enguera in July of last year and resulted in the death of fashion photographer Jose Luis Abad. The Guardia Civil did not name those detained over the case, but it allegedly involved the Spanish porn actor Nacho Vidal. In a statement, the force said that two men and a woman aged from 37 to 50 had been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and violating public health laws. Officers began the investigation after the death of a person during a mystical ritual involving the inhalation of vapours from the venom of the bufo alvarius toad, the statement said. At the conclusion of an 11-month investigation, we have been able to establish that an offence of involuntary manslaughter and a public health offence had occurred, allegedly committed by those who organised and presided over the ritual. The force's statement also warned others of the dangers of the ritual undertaken. This was a commonly practised activity carried out for therapeutic or medicinal ends, but which posed a serious threat to public health despite being dressed up as what appeared to be an apparently inoffensive ancestral ritual, it said. The Guardia Civil also said the ceremony involved highly suggestible people who were especially vulnerable and were seeking alternative ways to cure certain ailments or addictions. Mr Vidal's lawyer meanwhile described the death as sad but accidental, and denied suggestions that his client had acted as a shaman during the ritual. He told the Spanish news agency Efe: Nacho is very upset by the death of this person, but he considers himself to be innocent. With all due respect to the dead man and his family, Nacho maintains that the consumption [of the venom] was completely voluntary. The bufo alvarius toad, also known as the Colorado river toad or the Sonoran Desert toad, is one of the largest such animals found in North America. It possesses an extremely potent toxin that it uses to defend itself against predators. The venom it secretes also contains a very powerful natural psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT, the effect of which has been compared to ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic concoction from the Amazon typically consumed as part of a shamanic ritual. Medical researchers have studied the substance as a possible treatment for addiction disorder, depression and anxiety. Derry's four grammar schools have yet to comment on whether they will be using the transfer test to select pupils next year. Parents of Primary 6 children who are due to sit the tests later this year are demanding answers. The Derry News this week contacted local grammar schools Lumen Christi, St Columb's College, Thornhill College and Foyle College on this issue. However, none of the schools made a statement about their plans. Last Friday, five Catholic grammar schools in Co. Down announced they would not be using transfer tests to choose their admissions for 2021. It comes after Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, sent a letter to Catholic post-primary schools in Derry, in his role as a trustee of Catholic schools in the diocese, asking for the transfer test to be scrapped this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Derry-born Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin echoed this sentiment, saying it would be 'in the best interests of children' that the tests did not go ahead. However, Education Minister Peter Weir rejected their calls, stating there was no viable alternative to the transfer tests. Last week, the principal of St Eithne's Primary School in Derry, Terence McDowell, spoke to the Derry News and called for the transfer tests to be done away with this year as it had not been possible to prepare pupils in the normal way. Mr McDowell pointed out that circumstances in pupils' homes can vary greatly and would impact on their parents' ability to home school them. The article struck a chord with a number of parents at the school, who are now calling on the grammar schools to announce their decision on the matter. Sharon Downey, whose daughter Olivia is in Primary 6, said the lack of clarity is adding to the anxiety caused to children and their families. "We need to know the answer," she said. "The schools need to make a decision so we know what's happening one way or the other. "We are sitting here doing our best to teach our children and getting them to sit practice tests and it might be for nothing. "It would make you concerned about their mental health." Karen McDevitt, who is mum to Primary 6 pupil Sally, said she feels her daughter, who is just 10-years-old, is being let down. "The anxiety levels are through the roof for parents and children," she said. "If they have agreed to scrap the GCSE, A-Levels and AS Level exams this year, then why would you let them go ahead for these young children?" Ms McDevitt, who is working from home and homeschooling her daughter at the same time, said it has been extremely challenging. "We are just muddling through. "It's very difficult as there are topics in the tests that they haven't even covered yet. "They will be starting Primary 7 in September having missed around 14 weeks of school. "When they do go back in September they probably won't be in for a full day so they will be losing out again." Aisling Robinson, whose daughter Molly is also in Primary 6, agrees: "My daughter has been confined to the house. "She is used to learning from a teacher with her friends around her for support. "The ways things are taught have changed a lot since I was at school so it is very difficult. "These children have all the anxiety of living through a pandemic but then all the pressure and uncertainty of the transfer test situation on top of that again. "I want her to keep her mind active and do her work because she still has to prepare to go to big school, but if we were told the transfer tests weren't going ahead it would be a big relief." After failing to completely hold back the advancing regime, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani is looking to rebrand himself as essential to the future political scene in Syria reports Alsouria Net. The commander-in-chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has appeared increasingly in public in recent weeks, attending frequent meetings with various groups, civil actors and personalities in northern Syria. In past years, during his transition from commander of Jabhat al-Nusra, which was affiliated with al-Qaeda, to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and up until now, as commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Jolani limited himself to just a few media appearances to talk about the latest field and military developments. But this past May saw Jolani increase his public activities. He not only appeared to discuss military matters, but also turned to meetings with civil and medical actors. Jolanis latest appearance, on Monday, saw him meet with medical associations and syndicates in northern Syria alongside a number of medical authorities, with the aim of finding a solution to the rising prices of medicine in the area, according to Telegram accounts close to Tahrir al-Sham. Mondays meeting came after a number of meetings he held with various sides starting on May 2, 2020, including with the wounded and injured in a hospital. Afterwards he met with Tahrir al-Sham fighters near the frontlines in rural Idleb, then visited a displacement camp, tribal leaders and the residents of Jabal al-Zawiyeh. He then met last week with children of the martyrs, on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr. These public appearances have been distinguished by two things: first, the media coverage that has accompanied him on all the visits, with the Tahrir al-Sham-affiliated Ebaa News agency photographing Jolanis every move. Second, Jolani appears carrying a pen and notebook in some of his meetings, recording the complaints of those he speaks with, indicating his interest in their problems and working to solve them. These meetings have all followed popular protests against Jolani and Tahrir al-Sham policies in Idleb after their fighters shot a civilian dead during a demonstration refusing the opening of a commercial crossing with the regime. Protests against Tahrir al-Sham broke out in a number of villages and cities across Idleb last month, with demonstrators chanting Idleb is freeget out, Jolani! Jolanis recent movements and increased activity come as Tahrir al-Sham realizes its popularity is low, especially after the latest battles in Idleb, in which the group appeared weak and unable to defend the areas under its effective control, according Abbas Sharifa, a researcher who studies Islamist groups. According to Sharifa, Tahrir al-Sham, has realized through a number of indicators that its popularity is low, which prompted the group to think hard and work on two levels: first, returning and adhering more to popular activities, and second, investing in political rehabilitation to ensure Tahrir al-Shams future presence and authority. Sharifa attributed Jolanis frequent appearances to an, attempt to communicate with all sectors of society and broadcast his public meetings as a clear message that he still exists and still has popular approval, and that any conflict with Tahrir al-Sham is a conflict with the people. Jolani is searching for popular legitimacy and social backing to help him stay in place, because he knows that any breakdown of his social roots means easy disintegration, Sharifa said. In his view, the Tahrir al-Sham leader is working to communicate, perform services and solve residents problems. According to Sharifa, Jolanini is trying to search for personal legitimacy. If he acts as an institution, like what is always promoted in talk of the existence of the government (the Syrian Salvation Government), then problems must be solved, Sharifa said. The Salvation Government is the one holding the notebook and pen, not Jolani, who is looking to rebrand himself as a person and not an institution. This comes as Jolani changes his speech, as he indicated in an interview with International Crisis Group in February that despite his ties to al-Qaeda (via Jabhat al-Nusra), he vowed not to use Syria or any other faction as a launching point for foreign operations, and to focus on fighting the Assad regime and its allies. 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. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Maastricht, Netherlands Thu, June 4, 2020 08:09 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdbf300d 2 Science & Tech robot,Netherlands,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,technology Free At the Dadawan restaurant in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht, an unusual group of new staffers has been brought in to help after the Netherlands eased its coronavirus lockdown this week: robots. A robotic trio of waiters named Amy, Aker and James roll back and forth from the bar at the Asian fusion restaurant, handing out drinks -- and lessening the number of trips that human staff need to make through the restaurant. Each robot has a simple humanoid figure, including arms to hold serving trays. Simple displays on their faces shows a smile, or occasionally a frown. The service can be a bit stiff. "Hi, here is your order. Please take it away from the tray. I will go back automatically in 20 seconds", Amy informs a pair of women seated at a booth, after presenting them with two glasses of ice tea. Customers must pick up their own drinks. Read also: In Spain, bar bot serves up contact-free beers Though robotic servers were introduced in China several years ago and have since become a novelty at restaurants around the world, only a handful of Dutch eateries have so far introduced them. For now, Dadawan's robo-service is limited to drink delivery, but the owner hopes to quickly widen their repertoire. Restaurant representative Paul Seijben said waiters' jobs are not threatened by the newcomers. "Our team is actually really happy with the robots", Seijben said. Staff, who wear face masks, load drinks onto the trays, press a table number, then stand back as the robot rolls away. Restaurants in the Netherlands were closed from mid-March to June 1 for everything but take out and delivery. Since Monday, restaurants have been allowed to receive up to 30 people with a minimum distance of 1.5 meters between tables. Diners must make an appointment in advance. A day after the single biggest daily surge of 269 cases, Assam recorded 243 new COVID-19 positive cases on Thursday to take the states tally to 2074 cases. The state had recorded 1000 cases on May 29, almost two months after the first case was detected on March 31. But it took just 6 days for that figure to double and cross the 2000 figure mark. Return of over 2.5 lakh persons to the state from all over the country since ban on inter-state movement was lifted on May 4 and domestic flights resumed on May 25 are reasons for the spike in positive cases. According to official estimates, nearly 1,800 of the total cases in Assam are of people who came from other states by roads, railways and air. Till Thursday evening, 443 patients had recovered, 4 had died, 1539 are undergoing treatment and 3 migrated back to their states before recovery. The state has ramped up testing facilities considerably to test swab samples of all those coming back to the state. Till Thursday 133029 samples were tested at the seven authorized government laboratories in the state. Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said recently that the state now has a capacity to test nearly 10,000 samples daily and by June 15 around 2 lakh samples would be tested. The state has a policy of mandatory testing of all those who are returning to the state. All returnees are required to undergo a total 14 days of mandatory quarantineincluding institutional and home. Swabs of returnees are taken before they enter institutional quarantine. Once their test results come in 3-4 days, they are allowed to go home and spend the rest of the 14 days in isolation if the test results come negative. The state has 3,338 isolation beds, 595 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 398 ventilators to treat critically ill patients in government and private hospitals. The state has several mass quarantine facilities where over 27,000 persons can be kept. Trumps tweet about Stone came amid a spate of tweets and retweets on other subjects, and it was not immediately clear if or when he intends to move forward with a pardon something for which Stone has said he is praying. In 2015, Taylor Swift bought and later restored the historic Samuel Goldwyn Mansion in Beverly Hills. Where Real Estate Is Never Boring! Real Estate Mogul Taylor Swift's Homes While Taylor Swifts meteoric rise to music stardom is impressive, so too is her growth as a real estate mogul. As of 2020, she owns approximately $100 million in mansions and penthouses in Nashville, Rhode Island, Beverly Hills and New York City and is presently looking for a home in London to be near her boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn. As a tween music prodigy, Swifts parents moved from Pennsylvania to Nashville to help jump-start her career. A few years later at age 20, Swift embarked on her ten-year real estate adventure purchasing her starter home in the center of Nashvilles Music Row for $1.99 million. The 3,240-square-foot condo overlooking the city kept her close to the recording studios and her new peer group. With her singing career growing rapidly and the necessity of spending time in Los Angeles, Swift needed a comfortable retreat and purchased a Cape Cod-style home in Beverly Hills in 2011 for $3.55 million that she sold a few years later for about $4 million. Back to Nashville in 2011, Taylor bought a 5,000-square-foot, Greek Revival-style mansion on almost six acres for her parents in the elite suburb of Forest Hills for $2.5 million that she still owns. In 2012, Swift bought a mid-century-modern home in Los Angeles for $1.78 million which she sold for $2.65 million in 2018. By 2013, Swifts music and real estate careers had both hit the stratosphere with multiple Grammy, MTV, Peoples Choice, Billboard and Entertainer of the Year Awards, and her cash purchase of a 12,000-square-foot beach mansion in Rhode Islands Watch Hill for $17.75 million. It is the house where Swift is known for the parties she throws for her girl squad. But soon back on the East Coast, New York City was calling. By Valentines Day in 2014, Swift was checking out the trendy Manhattan neighborhood of Tribeca. She settled on two penthouses for $20 million, which she combined to cover 8,309 square feet of living space encompassing ten bedrooms and ten baths. She added a third next door in 2015 in the form of an $18 million townhouse and further in 2018 by adding an apartment in the same building for $9.75 million. The best of them all came in 2015 in Beverly Hills when Swift bought the historic Samuel Goldwyn mansion for $25 million. In honor of Goldwyns award-winning career as a film producer and contributions to the film industry, Swift decided to restore the home to its original 1934 condition when it was built for the Goldwyns. In 2018, she applied for and won Los Angeles landmark status for the estate ensuring that the home will never be significantly changed or demolished. Now at age 30, Taylor Swift isnt slowing down for a second. Her new Netflix documentary, Miss Americana has just hit the Internet with a splash and it is rumored that she has jumped the pond and is in London checking out its real estate market! Visit TopTenRealEstateDeals.com for more historic, spectacular and celebrity homes and real estate news and Celebrity Home Video Tours. One of my all-time favorite Mungerisms is the "lollapalooza effect." There are so many things you see differently once you absorb the thinking of Berkshire's Charlie Munger. And observing that most major events have multiple, simultaneous causes--not one single cause--is one of them. The financial crisis of '08-09, for instance. Was it the banks' fault? Was it the borrowers'? Was it Fannie Mae's? The answer is not any single one of them. The answer is not taking sides. It's realizing that it took all of them to make it happen. As Munger put it in his famous Harvard speech: "What you should search for in life is the combination, because the combination is likely to do you in." And right now, the combination of low rates, Covid-19, and the George Floyd protests does not bode well for local police forces, or any other local services. Start with low rates, the biggest underlying problem for local budgets. Low rates increase the size of current pension obligations, because money can't compound as quickly to meet future bills. You need to put $30 aside today, say, to pay $100 in the future, versus just $10 or $15 when the 10-year Treasury yield was above 5%. And that extra $15 or $20 has to come out of somewhere in the budget, or else you have to raise taxes or borrow the funds. The pension funding gap was already $4 trillion as of December. It's why The Economist warned that "Police officers, teachers and other public workers face a brutal reckoning." And that was before coronavirus hit. The pandemic has decimated local budgets because revenue collections from sales tax and income tax have collapsed. State and local budgets will lose an estimated $270 billion through the middle of next year, per Morgan Stanley. Money from the federal government and the Federal Reserve will at best try to fill that hole, while the underlying pension funding problems remain. The pandemic has also pushed rates to record lows, with the 10-year still only yielding around 0.75%. And when tough choices have to be made in coming years about which local services get what, the murder of George Floyd and the enormous protests over it have likely just pushed the local police further down that list. The mayor of Los Angeles just announced that $100 to $150 million of his $1.8 billion local police budget will be cut and reallocated to communities of color. (Another $100 million or so will be cut from other sources.) Feels like a lollapalooza effect. One final point: the only way to avoid further budget cuts, other than borrowing, is to raise taxes. And Illinois--the most extreme example of pension underfunding--shows to what extent governments will go. The state "doubled its gas tax last year...tripled a real estate transfer tax, and raised taxes on cigarettes, vaping, electricity and even dry-cleaning fluid. It made marijuana legal and taxable. It approved gambling, so casinos can be taxed, too. Tags for virtually all cars and trucks went up in January," per The New York Times. As much ink is spilled over national politics, the real drama in coming years will play out locally--with far fewer reporters and resources to cover it. See you at 1 p.m! Kelly P.S. The Exchange is also available as a podcast! Click here to subscribe. Twitter: @KellyCNBC Instagram: @realkellyevans Overhaul, expansion on cards as New Delhi BJP chief takes over India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: Adesh Gupta in his maiden media briefing after being appointed as the Delhi BJP chief said on Wednesday that he will focus on expansion of the party and hinted at an overhaul of the organisation in coming days. He is likely to take charge as the new president of BJP's Delhi unit on Thursday. Adesh Kumar Gupta replaces Manoj Tiwari as Delhi BJP chief Gupta, a former North Delhi mayor and first-time councillor from West Patel Nagar, surprised many in the party after he was declared by the BJP as a replacement for the incumbent Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday. "The morale of ordinary workers is natural to go up with my appointment. It encourages them to work hard believing they can also reach the top," said Gupta, who began his political career as a member of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1986. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News Citing his priorities, he said he will work for the expansion of Delhi BJP among the sections of society it has not been able to make inroads, especially in the slum clusters. However, the current priority is to help out people amid the coronavirus pandemic and "expose" the Kejriwal government that has "failed" in ensuring proper medical facilities to COVID-19 patients, he claimed. "We will play the role of constructive opposition to ensure the interests of people are not hurt due to failures of the government," he said. He said changes in the party organisation will be effected in coming days in consultation with senior leaders of the party. He hinted that he will prefer "active members" in his team and get rid of "non-performers" as and when an overhaul comes about. "Not everyone will be replaced but hardworking workers will definitely be given their due," he said. Gupta, who faces a daunting task of securing the confidence of top leaders in Delhi, who are way much senior to him, said he will employ the formula of communication and respect, to ensure their contribution for the growth and expansion of the party. To most people, the idea of being friends with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex sounds pretty incredible. From all outward appearances, they are one of the most likable couples that anyone can think of, and we can only imagine that it would be amazing to be able to spend time with them on a regular basis. However, we know that the duke and duchess have their own inner circle, most of whom show their love and support whenever they can. One of the first major events of the year happened when the unexpected announcement was made that Meghan and Prince Harry had decided to step back from royal life. Although fans around the world were disappointed, many were still keeping a close eye on the couple in anticipation of what would happen next. Everyone wanted to know what they would do, and most of all, where they would live. Now, Harry and Meghan have settled down in California, and they are going out of their way to ensure that they have the privacy they want. Here is why Meghan and Prince Harry are reportedly in no rush to make friends in LA. The split that no one saw coming RELATED: Meghan Markle Reportedly Has a Long History of Ghosting People Prior to Megxit, millions of fans had known for quite some time that Meghan and Prince Harry were having problems. Even so, no one was quite ready to hear that they would be resigning as senior royals and becoming independent, in search of a quieter life. The couple was always adamant about having a certain degree of privacy, and ever since they went public with their relationship, the British tabloids have been relentless. Meghan, in particular, has taken an extreme amount of backlash in the media, and it got to the point where both of them had simply had enough. As the youngest son of Prince Charles, Prince Harry is sixth in line for the British throne and as senior royals, he and Meghan were receiving massive amounts of attention that proved to be extremely overwhelming. Making the move to LA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Samir Hussein/WireImage For a while, many fans were convinced that Meghan and Prince Harry would be living permanently in Canada. They did spend some time there, along with Baby Archie, immediately following the announcement of their split from the royal family, but it was soon revealed that they were looking to live in California. Meghan was born and raised in LA, so the move certainly made sense for her. It is quite possible that it may have been a bit of a culture shock for Prince Harry, who has lived in England since the day he was born. It wasnt too long before, according to the Los Angeles Times, that Prince Harry and Meghan settled into a lavish, eight-bedroom mansion, owned by Tyler Perry. The sprawling property is located in an exclusive gated community, and the couple is taking extreme measures to ensure that they have the privacy that they want. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are reportedly in no rush to make friends in LA Now that Meghan and Prince Harry are officially residents of LA, can we expect to see pictures of them hanging out with a large group of high-profile friends? Chances are, no. Page Six reports that the couple is planning on maintaining a certain image even though they are now independent, and they are going to be careful about their friendships. I am sure their social life will consist of dinner parties with people they can trust and connect with, Melanie Bromley, head of news operations for NBCs E! channel told The Sunday Times, reports Page Six. They are going to be very wary about opening up their social circle too much, as fraternizing with the wrong people has the potential to be hugely damaging to their image and plans. Chances are, they know what the consequences could possibly be if they form relationships with the wrong people, so they are taking all the necessary precautions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Angeline Callista and Brandon Bernandus (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 14:04 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc1b750 3 Opinion COVID-19,pandemic,reopening,reopening-economy,large-scale-social-restrictions,social-restriction,containment-policies Free While the risk of reaching a catastrophic number of cases and deaths continues to increment, the COVID-19 epidemic has had a great socioeconomic impact on people. More than 3 million Indonesians have lost their jobs due to businesses closing down and the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). The national poverty rate is predicted to hit 10.6 percent this year, up 1.3 percent from the previous year. Indonesia has attempted to ease socioeconomic pressures in supporting the most affected communities by expanding its social protection programs. Fiscal budget limitations, combined with the mistargeting of recipients and ineffective administration and distribution, however, have slowed these efforts. Given the mounting socioeconomic pressures, the government is considering a plan to phase out the PSBB. There are two fundamental conditions that a country must meet to start phasing out social restrictions: a high healthcare capacity to treat the infected, and a strong containment capability to the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, Indonesia has not fulfilled either of these conditions. In terms of healthcare capacity, Indonesia is still on the weaker side of the spectrum. Most COVID-19 hospitals in Indonesia are currently facing a shortage of medical workers, with dozens of doctors and nurses infected and dead, and many others testing positive. Moreover, insufficiency of medical equipment is also a major issue, as hospitals are still asking for personal protective equipment (PPE). Our current containment capability also remains insufficient. Two months since the virus first emerged, Indonesia has only performed less than 200,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, or swab tests. For comparison, this is the number of tests South Korea performs in 14 days, given its capacity to conduct up to 15,000 PCR test per day. Moreover, unlike other countries, Indonesia has not maintained an epidemic curve, a visual display of the onset of illness among cases associated with the outbreak, to predict future clusters of infection. Indonesia only maintains data on confirmed cases. This clearly indicates that Indonesia is not ready to phase out the PSBB. Opting to end its social restrictions in the near future will mean bearing big consequences for the country. With reduced social distancing, the number of cases will spike to further burden the healthcare system. Infections will spread rapidly, illnesses increase, and the death toll will reach new heights. Moreover, this will result in a divided and unstable society. Forcing those who feel safer at home to resume activities outside the home will be considered a risk to their health and may result in extreme resistance. On the other hand, those who must head outside their homes to make a livelihood are exposed to a higher health risk. At the end, it is a lose-lose situation for both those who want to stay at home and those who must go out. Division and inequality will then become further exposed. However, If Indonesia remains adamant about phasing out its restrictions in an attempt to restart the economy, focusing on building a strong containment capability is a far better option, since it is cheaper, faster, and less risky compared to playing catch-up by trying to strengthen its healthcare capacity. The following strict policies and measures can be put forward in an effort to strengthen our containment capability and complement our weak healthcare capacity before phasing out the restrictions. First, boost the testing capacity to a preventive level. With the current testing capacity, Indonesia is barely able to cover suspected cases of COVID-19 infection. Some have said that the number of cases shows an increase only when test kits are available, which implies that the figures do not reflect the real situation. To protect public health, Indonesia needs to aim for mass testing of all patients under surveillance (PDP) and persons under monitoring (ODP). For comparison, Wuhan, where the outbreak began, tested all 11 million residents in 10 days to ensure that it was safe to resume economic activities. Second, ensure cross-area clearance. The regions in Indonesia all have different levels of readiness in disease management and control. Many have said that cross-regional control remains weak because of double standards and poor compliance. To control the movement of people, countries like China and Singapore have implemented the use of QR codes at checkpoints for entering and leaving offices and public buildings. First-time users must register their ID and phone number, record their body temperature, and scan the QR code provided at checkpoints to each building and store. This mechanism works the same way as the QR payment system that has been expanding in use in Indonesia, which could help the government manage the virus spread. Third, the enforcement of safety and health protocols to change public behavior must be tightened. Aside from implementing thermal imaging scanners and the use of safety equipment, the government can deploy a task force to ensure public compliance. Authority could also be reinvented in coordination with the private sector and local communities in conjunction with an intensive public awareness campaign. Last, social unity and stability could be by developing a community care plan. The Indian state of Kerala has relied greatly on community engagement in its provision of community kitchens and production of masks and hand sanitizers. The local government is also supporting citizens by providing internet access and mental health consultations. A large proportion of Indonesian communities are working in a similar fashion. Indonesia can easily adopt the mechanism with adequate support from government and the private sector. Indonesia is clearly not ready to phase out the PSBB. However, if a decision to phase out the PSBB must be made, only in implementing the right measures will we be able to balance public health risk and socioeconomic hazards. *** Angeline Callista is a social affairs specialist; Brandon Bernandus is a strategy consultant. Both are graduates of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. THE State is now facing a potential lawsuit for tortious assault and battery by a family that was tear-gassed by police while at the Queens Park Savannah in Port of Spain last Sunday. Acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob has been given 28 days within which to provide specific pieces of information to attorneys representing the family or, in default, a civil claim will be filed at the High Court, the familys attorneys warned yesterday. Because he recently lost his job as a sound engineer because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor said he has no insurance to help defray the costs of his hospital bills. He said doctors estimate he could be hospitalized for a week. The Australian Tax Office has launched fresh legal action against accounting giant PwC and meat processing firm JBS in an escalation of its ongoing conflict with the 'big four' firm over tax avoidance. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal the tax office filed paperwork in the federal court on Tuesday afternoon for a lawsuit against PwC and three other respondents - Brazilian meat processing company JBS Australia and subsidiaries JBS Holdco and Flora Green. The ATO has escalated its conflict with PWC. Credit:Ryan Stuart The legal action comes after ATO failed to prosecute PwC last year for its alleged role in assisting Swiss mining group Glencore in moving $30 billion of international shares into offshore tax structures. The plan was allegedly designed by PwC Australia as an accounting exercise, but much of the documentation was carried out by law firms notably King & Wood Mallesons in Australia which enabled Glencore to claim legal professional privilege. Tran, who describes herself as black Asian American, said she was shocked it happened to her. At the same time, looking at all the stories on social media, she's not surprised. "I've lived here all my life, and I didn't know it was this bad," she said. "Every time I look back at the video, I just see so many women being arrested. I saw so many protesters, and I thought, 'Where are the rioters?'" Now, nothing is the same, she said. She thought deputies and the National Guard would protect them. "And they didn't," Tran said. "We were unarmed and peaceful protesters. ... And they reacted as if we were pulling a gun on them." She said she plans to fight the failure to disperse charge. "We did nothing wrong but exercise our constitutional rights," Tran said. Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird had ordered the curfew after what started with peaceful protests ended in looting early Saturday near 27th and O streets and in fires and destruction along Lincoln Mall the next night. In all, it led to 75 arrests, the first of them Sunday night. LONGMONT, Colo. Authorities say a man died after he became trapped in the rigging of a sailboat that was docked at a lake in northern Colorado. The Longmont Times-Call reports 75-year-old Ralph Martin became caught in the rigging during a windstorm on Carter Lake on the evening of May 19. Firefighters could not conduct a rope rescue because of high winds but were able to free the Longmont man by bringing the boat to shore and tipping it on its side. Martin died at a hospital the following day. The Larimer County coroners office said Tuesday he died of blunt-force injuries, hypoxic organ injury and sudden cardiac arrest during the rescue. Advertisement The German paedophile prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann probe is reportedly eligible for parole this weekend as police desperately try to prove he snatched her and hunt for his ex-girlfriends who could help unlock the case. Officers are hoping to trace a German woman, who is believed to have stayed with suspect Christian Brueckner in a house near Praia da Luz, Portugal, before walking out on him prior to the three-year-old's disappearance on May 3, 2007. The Algarve farmhouse they shared, which has several abandoned wells on the property and surrounding wasteland, is 25 minutes' walk from the hotel where Madeleine went missing. It also sits above the beach where the three-year-old played with her parents. A blond man with a pockmarked face matching his description may have staked out Madeleine's apartment for up to four days, according to The Sun. Police also want to speak to a underage Kosovan ex-girlfriend who he lived with in Braunschweig, and may have returned to Portugal with on his most recent trip around five years ago. Brueckner is currently behind bars in Germany serving 21 months for dealing drugs. While he was in prison last December he was also found guilty of raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Praia da Luz just 18 months before Madeleine disappeared. The seven-year jail term for this conviction will not start until his appeal has been heard. His legal battle with the German authorities over the rape case means he could walk free within days having served two-thirds of his drugs sentence in Kiel prison, Schleswig-Holstein, according to the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau. The paedophile was arrested while living on the streets of Milan in late 2018 on a European Arrest Warrant over the Algarve rape of the 72-year-old American. He was brought back to Germany and charged in August 2019. A month earlier he was convicted of drug dealing in the German resort of Sylt and handed the 21-month term he is currently serving. In December 2019 a court in Braunschweig, where he had lived before fleeing to Italy, convicted him of the rape because DNA from his hair was found in the woman's holiday home - making it a 244billion to one chance it was not him, the judge was told. But he is appealing the rape verdict on the grounds his extradition from Italy was illegal with Germany's Federal High Court due to rule on the case, and if they find against him he will then start his seven-year sentence. German legal experts said last night that his appeal means he is on the verge of getting parole and could get his freedom as early as Sunday. As police in Britain and Germany appeal for witnesses who could help convict prime suspect Brueckner, it has also emerged: Brueckner has been linked to the 2015 disappearance of five-year-old girl called Inga Gehricke in May 2015. The little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes was dubbed 'Germany's Maddie McCann'; The mystery caller who spoke with the German paedophile minutes before Madeleine was abducted has been named as Diogo Silva by Portuguese media; More details of his child abuse has emerged including a sex attack on a nine-year-old girl and exposing himself to a six-year-old; A friend who lived above his shop claims he was violent, beating up his underage Kosovan girlfriend and cruelly locking up his dogs in a shop 'for weeks' while the couple went on holiday to Spain and Portugal. This is Christian Brueckner, the new key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, whose identity is protected in Germany despite being in jail for raping a US tourist in Praia da Luz in the months before Madeleine vanished. Here he is pictured in a bar in Hanover, Germany, with an unidentified woman This is Christian Brueckner's home in Braunschweig near Hanover, where he had lived before he fled to Italy and was arrested over the rape of an American in Praia da Luz He also ran this corner shop in Braunschweig, where the tenant living above it described him as violent at revealed that he had an underage Kosovan girlfriend Officers are hoping to trace the woman, who is believed to have stayed with suspect Christian Brueckner (pictured) in a house in Praia da Luz, Portugal, prior to then three-year-old Madeleine's disappearance. A man matching his description was seen outside the McCann's apartment in the four days before the efit Madeleine McCann who vanished from the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007, while on holiday with her family What do we know about Maddie murder suspect Christian Brueckner and his criminal past? 1976: Christian Brueckner is born in Wurzburg under a different name, believed to be Fischer. He was adopted by the Brueckner family and took their surname. 1992: Christian Brueckner is arrested on suspicion of burglary in his hometown of Wurzburg, Bavaria. 1994: He is given a two-year youth jail sentence for 'abusing a child' and 'performing sex acts in front of a child'. 1995: Brueckner arrives in Portugal as an 18-year-old backpacker and begins working in catering in the seaside resorts of Lagos and Praia da Luz. But friends say he became involved with a criminal syndicate trafficking drugs into the Algarve. September 2005: He dons a mask and breaks into an apartment where he rapes a 72-year-old American tourist. The victim was bound, gagged, blindfolded and whipped with a metal cane before being raped for 15 minutes. She said afterwards that he had clearly enjoyed 'torturing' her before the rape. April 2007: He moves out of a farmhouse and into a campervan now linked to the crime. The farmhouse is cleaned and a bag of wigs and 'exotic clothes' is found. May 3, 2007: Madeleine McCann is snatched at around 10pm from her bed as her parents eat tapas with friends yards away. Brueckner's mobile phone places him in the area that night. He returns to his native Germany shortly after that. October 2011: He is sentenced to 21 months for 'dealing narcotics' in Niebull, in northern Germany. In 2013 police released a photofit of a man seen lurking near the McCann apartment and Scotland Yard said that suspect last night had not yet been ruled out of the probe 2014: He moves to Braunschweig where he starts running a town-centre kiosk. He then goes back to Portugal with a girlfriend. 2016: He is back in Germany. He is given 15 months in prison for 'sexual abuse of a child in the act of creating and possessing child pornographic material'. May 3, 2017: Brueckner is said to be in a bar with a friend when a ten-year anniversary appeal following Madeleine's disappearance is shown on German television. He is said to have told him in a bar that he 'knew all about' what happened to her. He then showed his friend a video of him raping a woman. MailOnline understands the friend went to police shortly afterwards. June 2017: He heads back to Portugal and extradited again to Germany. The reason was a sentencing of the Braunschweig district court to 15 months' imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a child. August 2018: After his release from prison he lives on the streets. But he was jailed again for drug offences. First Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters addresses the media during a press conference on the Madeleine McCann case at the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig September 2018: Brueckner is arrested in Milan, Italy and extradited to Germany and put on trial for raping the American tourist in 2007 after a DNA match to hair found at the crime scene. July 2019: He is jailed for 21 months for drug dealing in the northern German resort of Sylt. August 2019: Brueckner is charged with the rape of the American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005. December 2019: He is convicted of rape of extortion of the tourist based on DNA evidence. He is given a seven year sentence, but this has not been imposed pending an appeal. June 3, 2020: Scotland Yard and the German police reveal that that they have identified a suspect in the Maddie McCann case June 4, 2020: Prosecutors in Braunschweig, where he lives, say they believe Madeleine McCann has been murdered, says spokesman Hans Christian Wolters. He is named in the German press as the prime suspect. Advertisement Detectives want to track down his ex-girlfriend, who is thought to have left the area prior to Madeleine's disappearance, while Brueckner is said to have stayed in Praia da Luz, possibly sleeping in a campervan detectives believe may have been used in the kidnapping. They hope to find out more about the movements of Brueckner around the Portuguese tourist hotspot. It is part of their investigation into Brueckner, the paedophile prime suspect who has 17 convictions and who is serving seven years in Kiel jail in northern Germany for rape. It comes as a former acquaintance of Brueckner told a German television news channel how he was once threatened by the 43-year-old in Braunschweig, Germany. The man, whose name was changed by RTL to Norbert M, said he had lived in an apartment which was previously run by Brueckner as a kiosk and knew he had a 'minor girlfriend from Kosovo'. Mr M told RTL: 'He became more and more aggressive. 'I heard that he left the kiosk and then went to Portugal or Spain with a girl. He then left dogs in his kiosk for weeks.' He added: 'I can imagine that he is behind the disappearance of Maddie.' The comments came as yesterday prosecutors in Germany labelled Brueckner a 'multiple sexual predator'. It was also claimed Brueckner had been convicted of a child sex offence in his native Germany when aged just 17. Yet the drifter, who reportedly has as many as 17 criminal convictions, was apparently overlooked by Portuguese police. It also emerged yesterday that he had been convicted of raping a 72-year-old US widow in her Algarve home 18 months before Madeleine disappeared. Brueckner is now the focus of the 13-year investigation into the disappearance of the three-year-old from the Algarve. Yesterday a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann hailed the 'significant' breakthrough. But they faced renewed anguish as German prosecutors stated they believed their daughter was dead and also suggested officers knew how she died. Brueckner is in jail in Kiel, northern Germany. But one German media report yesterday suggested he was on the verge of getting parole, having served two thirds of his sentence. According to a German newspaper, he becomes eligible for freedom from Sunday, if the Federal Court of Justice in Germany decides to grant him parole. On Wednesday, Scotland Yard, which has been carrying out a 12million review of the Madeleine case, dropped the bombshell revelation there was a new suspect, as German police launched an appeal via that country's equivalent of CrimeWatch. The Metropolitan Police said it had received more than 270 calls and emails since launching a new appeal on Wednesday over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. DCI Mark Cranwell, from Operation Grange, said: 'Following our appeal for information yesterday, I want to thank those members of the public who have contacted us. 'As of 4pm today, Thursday June 4 2020, we have received over 270 calls and emails into the incident room. 'We are pleased with the information coming in, and it will be assessed and prioritised. 'We continue to urge anyone with information to come forward and speak with us.' The mystery caller who spoke with the German paedophile minutes before Madeleine McCann was abducted has been named as Diogo Silva by Portuguese media. Christian Brueckner spoke with the caller for 30 minutes on the night the three year old went missing from her family's villa in the resort of Prai da Luz. Scotland Yard took the unusual step of releasing two mobile telephone numbers as part of their latest appeal to end the 13 year mystery. The first number +315 912 730 680 is believed have been used by the prime suspect. He received a call from another Portuguese number + 351 916 510 683 while in the Praia de Luz area. The call started at 7.32pm and ended at 8.02pm. Just over two hours later when Kate McCann went back to the villa from the tapas bar where she and husband Gerry had been dining with friends she discovered her daughter missing. Silva's name was published by the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias. Yesterday German prosecutor's spokesman Hans Christian Wolters said: 'We think that Madeleine McCann is dead and are appealing for witnesses. The 43-year-old is a multiple sexual predator already convicted of crimes against little girls.' He suggested police had determined the method used to kill the three-year-old and said others would have 'concrete knowledge' of how she died and where her body was hidden. The suspect is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla - meaning 'old school' - during his time in Portugal An aerial view of the farmhouse where Christian Brueckner is said to have stayed with his girlfriend near Praia de Luz in Portugal The property around the land and the surrounding wasteland is said to have several abandoned wells on it The house is situated between the resort of Praia da Luz and the larger town of Lagos four miles away Madeleine vanished from this holiday apartment in the popular Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz - Apartment 5a - while her parents were with friends nearby and regularly checking on their three sleeping children The German suspect had lived in a warehouse outside Praia da Luz for several years but moved into a campervan just before Madeleine vanished Did he take 'German Maddie McCann' too? Police link jailed paedophile to abduction of five-year-old girl in woods in 2015 Inga Gehricke vanished from Diakoniewerk Wilhelmshof in Saxony-Anhalt during a family outing on May 2, 2015 in an case that detectives have been unable to solve ever since The new Madeleine McCann prime suspect was today linked to the disappearance of a five-year-old girl in his native Germany eight years later. Inga Gehricke vanished from Diakoniewerk Wilhelmshof in Saxony-Anhalt during a family outing in a case that detectives have been unable to solve ever since. Her disappearance on May 2, 2015 happened just 48 miles away from where new Maddie suspect Christian Brueckner owned a house in Neuwegersleben at the time. Inga has often been labelled the German equivalent of Madeleine, who went missing aged three during a family holiday on the Algarve in Portugal on May 3, 2007. Now, it has emerged that police investigated Brueckner, 43, in February 2016 over the disappearance of Inga, according to Saxony-Anhalt newspaper Volksstimme. Detectives discovered a device at his home containing child pornography and it has been claimed he had no alibi for the day in question when Inga went missing. But it appears no further action was taken against him in relation to Inga, which has been questioned by lawyer Petra Kullmei, who represents the girl's mother. Advertisement Scotland Yard still insists that it is a missing person inquiry and the McCanns say they have never given up hope she will be found alive. Madeleine disappeared while her parents, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were having a meal with friends at a tapas bar close to their apartment. Augsburg resident Alexander Bischof has told how he befriended Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner after being introduced by a mutual friend. 'This is still unimaginable,' says Bischof who says he met him 12 or 13 years ago. 'He said he needed help and was looking for an apartment in Augsburg. He was driving a Jaguar, which he bought from the 'mutual acquaintance'. 'Because I'm also a Jaguar lover, we had a topic of conversation right away,' says Bischof. At one point he offered Brueckner the opportunity to stay with him and his wife if he wanted to. He said Brueckner was 'often underway - sometimes he traveled to Portugal, sometimes to Sylt, to Munich. In between, he spent nights sleeping in my attic.' Otherwise, he stayed in his VW bus. Most of the time he went to Portugal, where he is said to have had a girlfriend. Once he took them into Augsuburg to meet his girlfriend where they spoke to each other in English. 'At some point I reached the conclusion that he was involved with drugs,' he added, and was in prison in Portugal for two or three months, during which time he handed over the Jagguar car to him. 'When he came out, he was back here quickly, I didn't know more at the time,' he says. Later, he gave the car over to an acquaintance in Munich. 'He always made surprisingly quick decisions,' he added. After some time Bishop distanced himself from Brueckner. 'He uses my living quarters and he's involved with drugs - I couldn't handle that,' he said. 'I thought I couldn't do that,' Bishop said. 'After a few years the law stood at my door. The police wanted to search the living quarters where he had stayed.' At that time he learned that he had 'some things in his past.' He did not know what. Only that it would be a 'capital crime'. During a re-interrogation, the officials mentioned the name 'Maddie'. When Bishop first heard about the murder allegations he was shocked. 'I would never have trusted him to do that,' he says. He would never have thought it possible that he had something to do with girls. He said; 'We never talked about young children, our conversations were about cars, football and Portugal, men's stuff.' The suspect, who is in prison in Germany for rape, has been linked to an early 1980s camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which is seen here on the Algarve in 2007. Police believe it may have been used in the crime but they have not found the DNA evidence needed to charge him He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and the surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007 including just days before Madeleine's disappearance. It has been seized by police. The news today has given hope to comes as a shot in the arm to her parents Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured in 2017), who have never given up hope in the search for their daughter Scotland Yard is launching a 'major' joint appeal with the German and Portuguese forces, just over 13 years after she vanished. Pictured: DCI Mark Cranwell Who did suspect make 30-minute phone call to shortly before Maddie's disappearance? The German suspect is known to have been in and around the area of Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine McCann went missing shortly after 9pm on May 3, 2007. A half-hour phone call was made to his Portuguese mobile phone between 7.30 and 8pm, around an hour before Madeleine is believed to have disappeared. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell told reporters on Wednesday that he was taking the 'really unusual' step of releasing two mobile phone numbers as part of the appeal. The first, (+351) 912 730 680, is believed to have been used by the suspect and received a call from another Portuguese mobile, (+351) 916 510 683, while in the Praia da Luz area, starting at 7.32pm and ending at 8.02pm on the night of May 3 2007. The mystery caller who spoke with the German paedophile minutes before Madeleine line McCann was abducted has been named as Diogo Silva by Portuguese media. Silva's name was published by the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias. Advertisement Portuguese police were facing serious questions yesterday about why Brueckner was not identified earlier as a suspect given he had child sex abuse convictions dating back to 1994. He lived two miles from the resort where she vanished and phone data indicates he was in the area on the night. If Portuguese officers had done basic checks of known sex offenders his name could have emerged within months. The ex-lead Portuguese investigator on the case, Goncalo Amaral, has claimed the suspect had been ruled out of the inquiry in 2008. But he allegedly came back into the frame after a conversation in an internet chatroom about Madeleine and her abduction. Yesterday it emerged Brueckner only became a suspect for Scotland Yard in 2017 when he is said to have told a friend at a bar he 'knew all about' what had happened to Madeleine. According to Sky News, Brueckner was prompted to make the comment when her face flashed up on a TV screen in a German pub during a report on a UK appeal for information on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance. A spokesman for the McCanns said: 'This would appear to be the most significant lead they are trying to close down in 13 years.' German police said their phones 'rang hot' after the appeal went live. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, leading the Met Police investigation, said more than 270 calls and emails had been received. Today more details revealed about the remote farmhouse which gave Christian Brueckner unrivalled views of Praia da Luz. The convicted child sex offender is now a key suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in May 2007. When Brueckner lived in the farmhouse above Praia da Luz, he seldom mixed with his neighbours and allowed the property to fall into disrepair. Last night one neighbour told the Daily Mail: 'I immediately recognised him from the pictures in the media. He kept to himself and lived with a girlfriend for some of the time.' When Brueckner lived in the farmhouse above Praia da Luz (pictured), he seldom mixed with his neighbours and allowed the property to fall into disrepair Brueckner, now 43, is understood to have lived in the farmhouse from 1999 to 2006 and may have been living in a distinctive campervan at the time Madeleine disappeared The farmhouse is a 25-minute walk to the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie How top-secret probe helped identify Maddie McCann prime suspect By Shekhar Bhatia For Mailonline A top secret probe involving police forces in three countries helped investigators zone in on Christian Brueckner. The 43-year-old's bar room revelation that he had information about what had happened to Madeleine McCann threw a spotlight on him and then made him the 'significant' target for detectives. Police in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz had an open file of a 72-year-old American was brutally raped and robbed in her home. The rapist had remained free. The connection was made. But his claims about his connection to the disappearance of Maddie put a three country police operation into full swing. Officers from Britain, Germany and Portugal linked their investigations and interviewed informants and those who might have come across the German without revealing the nature of the investigation. This was likely to have been the method to ensure word did not spread that the 43-year-old Brueckner was suspected in the kidnapping and probable murder of Maddie. Officers did not want potential informants to be put off or be indentified in the media before their probe had reached a satisfactory conclusion. Police kept their suspicions to themselves even when he was gaoled for seven years for rape. Police had found a body hair on the victim which was proved to have come from Brueckner's body. Almost 12 years after his horrific attack on the pensioner, his DNA had led him to jail. But officers believed there was one more crime he had to answer for; the taking of Maddie. Six months after Brueckner being put behind bars, however, police appear to have seen their investigation in need of a re-boot and thus the joint press conference appealing for information by Scotland Yard and Germany's Federal police. They have identified two vehicles used by Brueckner and spoken to the British owner of a house in Praia da Luz about the suspect's background. Significantly, they did not tell the house owner why they were keen to know every piece of information about him. But they are thought to still need more evidence to shore up their case against Brueckner. Detectives also decided not to reveal Brueckner's identity when they talked last night of their break-through and that a major suspect had emerged. But they hope that by showing some of their cards, the people they believe know about Brueckner's involvement and how he allegedly took her from her family will come forward. Advertisement Brueckner, now 43, is understood to have lived in the farmhouse from 1999 to 2006 and may have been living in a distinctive campervan at the time Madeleine disappeared. The single-storey property is surrounded by disused water wells and sits on a hillside which leads on to a footpath to the beach where the little girl played. It also sits close to where Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate used to jog along the clifftop in search of solace during the aftermath of her disappearance. The farmhouse is a 25-minute walk to the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie. In 2014 police sealed off an area of scrubland close to the farmhouse and used ground-penetrating radar to detect whether the soil had been disturbed. Another neighbour said of Brueckner last night: 'He moved in in the mid-Nineties with a German girlfriend who left around a year and a half later. They seemed to have a tempestuous relationship. I would hear them arguing. I knew very little about his life but he seemed to me to be a choleric man.' Another added: 'He had a fall-out with another German he sub-let the place to for around six months. He treated him very badly. 'But I never for one moment suspected he could have had anything to do with Madeleine McCann's disappearance. It's something that never even crossed my mind. His life was pretty much of a mystery to people round here. His girlfriend left a long time ago and she hasn't been seen around here since.' A third neighbour said: 'This is an idyllic spot and we are all proud of our houses and look after them. But this guy let his place go to ruin. He left it looking a right mess and it took the owner some time to make it right.' The owner of the property is a British man who rented it to the German suspect and his girlfriend. The homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous, said both UK and Portuguese police have asked for his help relating to background information on Brueckner. He said: 'In 2006 my neighbour contacted me in the UK to say that the house had been left ramshackle and abandoned with no sign of occupancy. 'We returned to Portugal and reported the disappearance to the Portuguese police and later discovered that he may have been arrested. This was the last we heard from him until about a year ago when we were contacted by the UK and Portuguese police requesting what information we had as they were following a new line of inquiry relating to this person.' Speaking to Sky News, he added: 'My wife and I moved back to the UK in 1992. The house was let out to friends and friends of friends to maintain occupancy, look after the land and pay the bills. 'The house was occupied for a period of time by what seemed like an ordinary young couple trying to get by in Portugal. 'Living in England, we had relatively little interaction besides talk of the house, the land and any maintenance issues. 'We met in person when passing through on family holidays to the Algarve. 'At a later date we discovered that the man's girlfriend had parted company and returned to Germany.' Police are now trying to trace Brueckner's ex-girlfriend to establish a full picture of the suspect's movements on the Algarve. She is thought to have left Praia before Madeleine's disappearance. Brueckner, a known drifter, also spent time dog-sitting for German friends at a house in Monte Judeu, a few miles from the seaside. Maddie murder police lay bare the child sex crime past of Jaguar-driving wannabe playboy who was actually a drug-dealing drifter and rapist - as it's revealed he could be out of jail on parole in days By Sam Greenhill and Claire Duffin for the Daily Mail The new Madeleine McCann suspect was unmasked last night as it emerged he had been on the police radar for more than two decades - and he could be let out of jail on parole within days. As prosecutors labelled him a 'multiple sexual predator', it was claimed Christian Brueckner, 43, had been convicted of a child sex offence in his native Germany when aged just 17. Yet the drifter, who reportedly has as many as 17 criminal convictions, was apparently overlooked by Portuguese police. It also emerged yesterday that he had been convicted of raping a 72-year-old US widow in her Algarve home 18 months before Madeleine disappeared. Brueckner is now the focus of the 13-year investigation into the disappearance of the three-year-old from the Algarve. Yesterday a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann hailed the 'significant' breakthrough. But they faced renewed anguish as German prosecutors stated they believed their daughter was dead and also suggested officers knew how she died. Brueckner is behind bars in Germany. But it was claimed that he could walk free within days, as he will become eligible for parole on Sunday. Cruising the Algarve in his classic Jaguar, Christian Brueckner posed as a fun-loving playboy. The German drifter spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle but not long after Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007, he left Portugal and returned to his homeland. It was in a German bar exactly ten years later on the anniversary of the three-year-old's disappearance that Becks-drinking Brueckner turned the spotlight on himself. As Madeleine's face flashed up on the bar's television screen, he reportedly turned to his drinking partner and claimed he 'knew all about' the case. He is alleged to have said something to suggest he knew what had happened to Maddie, according to a report on Sky News. Later, it is claimed, he showed his companion a video of himself raping an elderly American widow in Portugal in 2005. The friend contacted German police. Brueckner who chose a moniker for his Facebook page that means 'madness' in German swiftly became of interest to the detectives probing Madeleine's disappearance. It was three more years before his name became public. Photographs obtained by the Mail show blue-eyed Brueckner enjoying a night out in a Hanover bar in 2011. Wearing a pinstriped blazer, the self-styled Romeo appeared to be enjoying himself with a group of friends. One picture shows him cradling a small dog. Last night one friend told the Mail that Brueckner's 'life situation' was 'a bit chaotic', but added that 'if everything is true then he was indeed a master of illusion'. In fact, despite the Renaissance man image he seemed desperate to cultivate, Brueckner, 43, has long tried to hide a gruesome life of crime ranging from petty thefts to horrific sexual assaults. Born in 1976, Brueckner was raised 'in a home' according to German news magazine Focus. He committed his first burglary in his home town of Wuerzburg in Bavaria when he was just 15. Within two years, he was convicted of sexually abusing a child, earning him a two-year youth sentence in 1994. A report by Germany's Der Spiegel claimed he served only part of this term. Brueckner went on to notch up convictions for drug dealing, driving under the influence and without a licence, the news magazine reported. As a young man, Brueckner is said to have dreamed of emigrating with his girlfriend of the time. After turning 18 and acquiring a driver's licence he took off to the Algarve town of Lagos with his girlfriend, the German newspaper Bild reported. After returning to Germany, Brueckner continued stealing and drug-dealing. In October 2011, a district court in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein sentenced him to one year and nine months for a crime involving 'narcotics in large quantities'. The term was initially suspended. It quotes him as saying: 'We didn't know anything about Portugal. We went to Lagos because we liked the name so much. We had a tent with us and camped in the wild.' He eventually settled in Praia da Luz the picturesque resort where the McCanns took their three children on holiday. Brueckner stayed there for 12 years, telling families he was working as a caterer and odd-job man. In truth, he was dealing cannabis, trafficking drugs and burgling holiday homes and hotel rooms. Christian Brueckner spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle but not long after Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007, he left Portugal and returned to his homeland. Photographs obtained by the Mail show the drifter enjoying a night out in a Hanover bar in 2011, wearing a pinstriped blazer, sitting next to an innocent shot girl Portuguese detective says 'Christian B' was dismissed as a suspect in 2008 - but a discussion 'years later' on an online forum about Maddie and her abduction was brought to the attention of police; The German drifter spent 12 years pursuing a bohemian lifestyle in and around Praia da Luz at two houses, one in the town and one two miles away between the neighbouring town of Lagos As Madeleine McCann's face flashed up on a bar's television screen in 2017, Bruekner reportedly turned to a drinking partner and claimed he 'knew all about' the case. He is alleged to have said something to suggest he knew what had happened to Maddie The farmhouse where the new prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance lived was located just two miles from where she went missing from her family's holiday apartment Bruekner is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla - meaning 'old school' - during at least part of his 12-year stay in Portugal until 2007 - shortly after Madeleine disappeared Pictured above and below, the Jaguar he re-registered the day after Maddie disappeared The suspect's battered camper van. Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia camper van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate On May 3, 2007 Kate and Gerry McCann went to a small tapas bar metres away from their apartment to dine with friends. But when Kate returned to do a routine check on their children, she found that Madeleine had disappeared By 2014, Brueckner was living in Braunschweig, near Hanover, where he boasted to friends he had opened a local shop. He claimed he worked from seven in the morning until midnight but the business, along with his relationship, failed and he began to hit the bottle and live on benefits. Extraditing a foreign suspect will be difficult It is expected that Met Police will want any suspect charged in the Madeleine McCann case to be tried in the UK, given the nationality of the victim. The force has consistently said that if the suspect were British, then they would push for a prosecution at the Old Bailey, rather than Portugal where the crime was committed. But if the suspect happens to be from any other country, the chances of extraditing them to the UK for a crime which took place overseas is unlikely. If a German national is ever charged, it is unclear if Portuguese authorities, who have been heavily criticised for their involvement in the past, who pursue a prosecution of allow Germany to try their own citizen. Portugal the maximum prison sentence that can be imposed is 25 years, whereas Germany can hand down an indeterminate life sentence - although there can be the option for parole after 15 years. Advertisement In 2016 he was sentenced to one year and three months' imprisonment for 'sexually abusing a child in the act of procuring himself and possessing child pornography'. After his bar-room claims about Madeleine in May 2017, Brueckner appears to have returned to the Algarve. Within a month he was held under a European Arrest Warrant and extradited back to Germany. That September, he was sentenced to 15 months in prisonfor the sexual abuse of a child according to Thomas Klinge, spokesman for the Hanover public prosecutor's office. After his release in August 2018, he later told a court, he was homeless, spending nights sleeping on park benches. He travelled to Milan but within a month he was arrested and extradited to Germany yet again, this time to face trial for drugs offences. In October 2018, he was convicted of dealing drugs and sent to prison in Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein, where he remains to this day. Prosecutors also had enough evidence to charge him with the horrific sex attack he had filmed 13 years earlier. His rape trial took place last December. Reports of the proceedings descibe Brueckner as 'eloquent' and state he leafed through legal texts as evidence was heard. He called what had happened to the traumatised pensioner a 'bad deed', but denied any role in it. In court he repeatedly mentioned the names of ex-lovers, insisting they would testify as to the 'normalcy' of his sex life. He branded witnesses as liars and claimed that DNA from a strand of hair used to convict him must have ended up on the victim's bed after he had petted one of her cats. Yet as so often before, the court rejected his denials and Brueckner was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years, pending the outcome of an appeal. One trial witness described Brueckner as someone who 'always paid attention to his appearance'. As the Madeleine case enters a dramatic new phase, there will certainly be a lot more attention paid to him now. New Madeleine McCann sex offender suspect had been on police radar for 'more than two decades' and 'has as many as 17 criminal convictions' The new Madeleine McCann suspect was unmasked last night as it emerged he had been on the police radar for more than two decades. As prosecutors labelled him a 'multiple sexual predator', it was claimed Christian Brueckner, 43, had been convicted of a child sex offence in his native Germany when aged just 17. Yet the drifter, who reportedly has as many as 17 criminal convictions, was apparently overlooked by Portuguese police. It also emerged yesterday that he had been convicted of raping a 72-year-old US widow in her Algarve home 18 months before Madeleine disappeared. Brueckner is now the focus of the 13-year investigation into the disappearance of the three-year-old from the Algarve. Madeleine McCann would have turned 17 last month. In 2012, five years after her disappearance, her family issued an age progression efit photo to show what Madeleine may have looked like aged nine (right) Maddie's parents refuse to believe their daughter is dead until her body is found, close friend says Madeleine McCann's parents refuse to believe their daughter is dead until her body is found, a close friend said tonight. Kate and Gerry cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie could still be alive as police probing her disappearance have sensationally revealed a prime suspect in a huge breakthrough in the 13-year mystery. As police could be closing in on her kidnapper - a 43-year-old German who is currently in jail after committing other offences - the couple 'remain on tenterhooks' as they anxiously await updates. A pal of the couple from Rothley, Leicestershire, said: 'German police are now leading on this inquiry and are treating it as murder. But what proof officers have got has not been spelt out at this stage. Until a body is found and it is proved to be Madeleine's, Kate and Gerry are not giving up hope. 'This is the biggest police activity for many years, it appears to be a significant breakthrough after all this time. In 13 years never before has any police force said 'We believe this person to be the prime suspect.' There is tangible evidence, the suspect was in Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing and he had been behaving suspiciously and is now serving a prison sentence. 'But does it make him Madeleine's abductor and, if it does, where is she and why now has he suddenly come to light when his name was given to police three years ago. And has he had any involvement in paedophilia? 'There are still many unanswered questions and we cannot speculate. 'Kate and Gerry want answers more than anyone but while the Metropolitan Police are still treating Madeleine's disappearance as a missing people's inquiry, it gives the family hope that she could still be alive. Nothing has changed for them. They will continuing hoping until they know for sure.' The friend said that heart doctor Gerry, 51, and ex GP turned medical worker Kate, 52, remained 'incredibly grateful' to the British force for its continuing work over nine years. McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell declined to make a comment, saying: 'Kate and Gerry have given a direct statement through police.' The family have recently been buoyed up by news of a Chinese boy being found alive 32 years after being abducted. The pal said: 'This is the news they are dreaming of receiving themselves one day.' Advertisement Yesterday a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann hailed the 'significant' breakthrough. But they faced renewed anguish as German prosecutors stated they believed their daughter was dead and also suggested officers knew how she died. Brueckner is behind bars in Germany. But it was claimed that he could walk free within days, as he will become eligible for parole on Sunday. Brueckner is in jail in Kiel, northern Germany. But one German media report yesterday suggested he was on the verge of getting parole, having served two thirds of his sentence. According to a German newspaper, he becomes eligible for freedom from Sunday, if the Federal Court of Justice in Germany decides to grant him parole. On Wednesday, Scotland Yard, which has been carrying out a 12million review of the Madeleine case, dropped the bombshell revelation there was a new suspect, as German police launched an appeal via that country's equivalent of CrimeWatch. Yesterday German prosecutor's spokesman Hans Christian Wolters said: 'We think that Madeleine McCann is dead and are appealing for witnesses. The 43-year-old is a multiple sexual predator already convicted of crimes against little girls.' He suggested police had determined the method used to kill the three-year-old and said others would have 'concrete knowledge' of how she died and where her body was hidden. Scotland Yard still insists that it is a missing person inquiry and the McCanns say they have never given up hope she will be found alive. Madeleine disappeared while her parents, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were having a meal with friends at a tapas bar close to their apartment. Portuguese police were facing serious questions yesterday about why Brueckner was not identified earlier as a suspect given he had child sex abuse convictions dating back to 1994. He lived two miles from the resort where she vanished and phone data indicates he was in the area on the night. If Portuguese officers had done basic checks of known sex offenders his name could have emerged within months. The ex-lead Portuguese investigator on the case, Goncalo Amaral, has claimed the suspect had been ruled out of the inquiry in 2008. But he allegedly came back into the frame after a conversation in an internet chatroom about Madeleine and her abduction. Yesterday it emerged Brueckner only became a suspect for Scotland Yard in 2017 when he is said to have told a friend at a bar he 'knew all about' what had happened to Madeleine. According to Sky News, Brueckner was prompted to make the comment when her face flashed up on a TV screen in a German pub during a report on a UK appeal for information on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance. A spokesman for the McCanns said: 'This would appear to be the most significant lead they are trying to close down in 13 years.' German police said their phones 'rang hot' after the appeal went live. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, leading the Met Police investigation, said more than 270 calls and emails had been received. As the nation roils in protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man, in police custody, the military services are responding, reaching out to their members and calling for action and understanding. As of Wednesday, leaders from each of the services had published memos to their force addressing Floyd's death and the ensuing anger that has let to the deployment of tens of thousands of National Guard forces nationwide. In a Tuesday letter, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said it is time for a dialogue in the ranks on racism, the right to peaceful protest and the military's core values if ordered to back up local law enforcement. "I, like you, am steadfast in my belief that Americans who are frustrated, angry and seeking to be heard must be ensured that opportunity," he said in a message Tuesday to the service chiefs and combatant commanders. "Please remind all of our troops and leaders that we will uphold the values of our nation, and operate consistent with national laws and our own high standards of conduct at all times." Read next: Army General in Germany Suspended Pending Investigation In case the message didn't get across, Milley included a handwritten note: "We all committed our lives to the idea that is America. We will stay true to that oath and to the American people." Milley's message came a day after he and Defense Secretary Mark Esper were heavily criticized for joining President Donald Trump in a brief walk from the White House to St. John's Episcopal Church after nearby streets were forcefully cleared of protesters. In front of the church, Trump posed for photos alone while holding up a Bible. Esper then joined him for a group photo. Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis charged that Esper and Milley had come perilously close to making symbolic political statements by joining with Trump. He also took particular exception to Esper's remarks earlier Monday on a conference call with the nation's governors, in which he urged them to "dominate the battlespace" on their streets. "We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate.' At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors," Mattis said in an essay Wednesday for "The Atlantic." The service chiefs issued their own statements, calling upon troops to stay out of politics, eradicate racism in the ranks, and fulfill their duties if called upon to protect Americans' rights to free assembly. The Air Force led the way Monday when the service's top enlisted leader, Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth O. Wright, released a personal statement on social media about his experience as a black man and his fear that one of his black airmen would die at the hands of a police officer. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein later released his own statement, and the two held a town hall meeting Wednesday evening, inviting troops' questions about race and the national conversation. In their joint message Wednesday, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston called for unity and warned against the evils of racism. "Our ability to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, is founded upon a sacred trust with the American people. Racial division erodes that trust," they wrote. The chief of naval operations, the commandant of the Marine Corps, the Air Force chief of staff, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau issued similar statements. In a video, CNO Adm. Mike Gilday said, "Over the past week, after we've watched what is going on, we can't be under any illusions about the fact that racism is alive and well in our country. And I can't be under any illusions that we don't have it in our Navy." Gilday called on sailors to reach out to each other "and just listen." Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard, wrote in a memo, "I am sickened by the death of George Floyd" and outraged that such incidents "keep happening in our country, where unarmed men and women of color are the victims of police brutality and extrajudicial violence." He called on Guard members to listen to take action to root out hate and division. "We ask for the intercession of what Abraham Lincoln called 'the better angels of our nature,'" he wrote. "Join me." In addition to efforts in all 50 states to assist in the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 32,400 National Guard members have now been activated by governors in 32 states and authorities in the District of Columbia to back up local law enforcement in controlling civil unrest stemming from the protests, the National Guard Bureau said Thursday. Trump had warned that he might invoke the Insurrection Act to send active-duty troops into the states, but he appeared to be easing off on that threat. "It depends," Trump said Wednesday in a Newsmax interview with Sean Spicer, his former press secretary. "I don't think we'll have to" deploy active-duty troops, he added. "The National Guard is customary, and we have a very powerful National Guard." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Mattis Breaks Silence on Trump, Denounces Divisiveness as Protests Rage WASHINGTON A U.S. Navy veteran whose family said his only crime was falling in love left Iran on Thursday after nearly two years of detention, winning his freedom as part of a deal that spared an American-Iranian physician any more time behind American bars. Michael White flew from Tehran to Zurich, where he was met by diplomat Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran. Whites mother said the nightmare is over now that her son was out of Iranian hands. In Atlanta, a federal judge approved a sentencing agreement for Florida dermatologist Matteo Taerri, who had been charged with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran as well as banking laws. The developments capped months of quiet negotiations between countries that are at bitter odds over U.S. penalties imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal and over the killing by American forces of a top Iranian general in Iraq at the beginning of this year. White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with. He was convicted of insulting Irans supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison. I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely in American custody and on his way home, Whites mother, Joanne White, said in a statement. She thanked the State Department and Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and onetime New Mexico governor, for raising her sons case with the Iranians. As White flew to Switzerland, U.S. prosecutors completed the American part of the arrangement by asking a judge to sentence Taerri to time served on his conviction stemming from the 2018 charges. There are numerous foreign policy interests that are furthered by this particular sentence, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May said in granting the governments request. Taerri was charged with attempting to export a filter to Iran that he said was for vaccine research but that U.S. authorities said required a license because it could be used for chemical and biological warfare purposes. He was also accused of structuring a series of bank deposits below the $10,000 limit to evade reporting requirements under federal law. He pleaded guilty late last year and has already served months behind bars, but in April was permitted to be free on bond pending his sentence. The Justice Department in March withdrew its request to have him detained, citing what it said were significant foreign policy interests. The United States government and the government of Iran have been negotiating the release of a U.S. citizen held in Iranian custody, prosecutor Tracia King said at the hearing. This case, and more specifically the sentence recommendation, is directly related to these negotiations. A citizen of Iran and the United States, Taerri is permitted as part of his sentence to remain in America and to travel abroad. Whites release was cheered by Trump, whose administration has said it considers the release of detainees and hostages a priority. I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! he tweeted. A spokesman for the White family, Jon Franks, said in a statement that the charges against White were pretexts for a state-sponsored kidnap-for-ransom scheme. He added: The tragedy of this case is Michaels only only crime was falling in love with Iran and its people for whom he cares deeply. Despite widespread speculation, Whites release was not related to the deportation to Iran this week of Iranian scientist Sirios Asghari, the officials said. Whites release was linked instead to the Taerri case. Irans foreign minister, Javad Zarif, tweeted that such deals can happen for all prisoners. No need for cherry picking. Iranian hostages held in and on behalf of the US should come home. White was released from prison on a medical furlough in March as Iran struggled to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, and turned over to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. Richardson said in a statement that the release should have and could have been done earlier, but I am glad and relieved that Mike is on his way home to get treated. White was diagnosed with COVID-19, but has been recovering. Whites mother has told The Associated Press that she was especially concerned about her sons health because of his battles with cancer. Trump administration officials in recent months stepped up public pressure to release White. Last month, for instance, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned White by name and thanked Switzerland for its work on arranging the furlough. The U.S. has also urged Iran to release other Americans jailed in Iran. Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American, remains in Irans Evin prison after being convicted of collaborating with the United States charges a U.N. panel has said are bogus. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with U.S. and British citizenship, was part of a group of environmental activists sentenced on espionage charges and remains in custody. Namazis brother, Babak, said he was happy for the White family but distressed that his brother was not released. He also noted that his 84-year-old father, Baquer, who was also convicted, is out of prison but has not been permitted to leave Iran despite his poor health. In December, Iran released Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American Princeton University scholar held for three years on widely disputed espionage charges, in exchange for the release of a detained Iranian scientist. In March, the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran 13 years ago, said they had been informed that U.S. officials had determined that Levinson was probably dead. There was an air of apprehension over Birmingham Thursday as rumors spread about the possibility of a visit by the Ku Klux Klan during protests over the death of George Floyd. UAB closed early, as did the courthouse and many private businesses in Birmingham. But within minutes after the citys 7 p.m. curfew passing, with only a handful of arrests for violating the city order, it seemed calm had returned. Full coverage of Alabamas George Floyd protests A crowd gathered outside of Linn Park beginning about 3 p.m. and steadily grew to roughly 100 as the hours went on. Some were familiar faces from previous protests, but there were a lot of new faces as well and they came from all over Jefferson County. Many of those who attended Thursdays protest said they did so because of rumors that the KKK was in town. Although police had received intelligence about possible violent protests and counter-protests, authorities said they do not know where the KKK rumor started. Protestors gather in Linn Park before the citys curfew goes into effect at 7 p.m. Posted by al.com on Thursday, June 4, 2020 Birmingham resident Sterling Hutchinson, a father of four, emerged as a leader at the event. Hutchinson said he had to do something, say something, following the death of the unarmed and handcuffed Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Just to see that man lying dying in broad daylight, I could see nobodys face but my sons, I saw my face, I saw my uncles face, so I could only just imagine and it went to my heart, he said. Also, the Klan said they were coming to kill our mayor, to shoot every black person they saw down here, so I came for that. I came because were not afraid. Im not afraid to stand up against the Klan, Im not afraid to stand up for my mayor and Im here to stand for that, Hutchinson said. He did a justice for us. He took that (Confederate monument) down. He took it down for us, so we should be out here standing with him, he said. Were here to protect. As the 7 p.m. curfew neared, Hutchinson took a cell phone call from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who requested Hutchinson and the group leave peacefully so they wouldnt be arrested. Woodfin assured Hutchinson the police would handle whoever showed up afterward. The crowd dispersed. Nearly one dozen protesters, who said they had been at the event in Mountain Brook earlier, came to Linn Park about 6 p.m. They said they had no intention of leaving and were willing to get arrested. Birmingham police repeatedly gave the remaining group warnings to leave and some did. In the end, a handful were taken into custody without any resistance. It was a peaceful end to a day that, due to the rumors, many feared might end in chaos. UAB announced via a campus-wide alert it would close its campus mid-afternoon. Due to possible protests downtown, UAB will close at 2 p.m. out of an abundance of caution, according to the alert. They are now chanting pic.twitter.com/CtQAGEKicR carol robinson (@RobinsonCarol) June 4, 2020 Additionally, Jefferson County Presiding Court Judge Elisabeth French issued and administrative order closing the downtown courthouses at noon for the remainder of the day. City workers installed chain-link fencing around the entire perimeter of Linn Park. Today, fencing has been placed around Linn Park for public safety purposes to ensure unregistered gatherings do not occur, according to a statement from the City of Birmingham. Parking meters in surrounding the park had been cordoned off to prevent parking next to county buildings. Kelly Ingram park was also fenced off. The threat of continued unrest and protests in Birmingham led to a fence being erected around the citys Linn Park and early shutdowns Thursday by employers. The streets around the park and Birmingham City Hall were closed with barricades and police cruisers are stationed at intersections around City Hall. Some businesses were closing, and plywood barriers were being installed over the glass lobby at the Pizitz building. Birmingham police Sgt. Rod Mauldin said earlier in the day that they were taking precautions for any possible protests or counter-protests. As a city, our main priority is to keep our residents, employees, businesses and visitors safe and updated with credible information, according to Mayor Randall Woodfins Office of Public Information. We have received many inquiries that the city is shutting down today due to potential unrest. This is not true. To be clear, the city has not announced a shutdown nor does it plan to announce a shut down today. A few notes: We are under a state of emergency. If your group would like to gather, we will work with you. Also, if there is anything occurring in our community that jeopardizes your safety, we will inform you directly. If you dont hear from us, please keep your daily routine. pic.twitter.com/C8FNOT2TUw Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) June 4, 2020 We remain in constant contact with Birmingham police and other law enforcement on a local, state and federal level about threats connected to the city. All official notices about closings or imminent threats will come from the Mayors Office of Public Information. On Wednesday night, City Hall was placed on a brief lockdown after officials learned that individuals in Linn Park had been in cities where there had been peaceful protests that were followed by civil unrest, according to the citys statement. There was no civil unrest near City Hall yesterday. However, a group gathered in Linn Park refused to leave after the citys 7 p.m. curfew. Following their failure to disperse, they were arrested. Austrian business and labour groups have struck a deal on a collective wage agreement at Ryanair's Lauda airline to ensure its Vienna base will not shut down, though the parent company has yet to approve it, those groups said on Thursday. Lauda had said on Friday it was shutting down its Vienna base after failing to reach an agreement with the union on pay. The move would have involved the loss of around 370 jobs in Lauda. "After long and difficult negotiations and repeated attempts by the WKO to bring about a compromise, a solution for a collective wage agreement was achieved on Wednesday night," the Chamber of Commerce (WKO), which represents businesses in negotiations with unions, said in a statement. Austria's Vida union said the deal lasting until 2023 involved a gross monthly wage of 1,440 euros for flight attendants and 2,000 euros for co-pilots, but Lauda management and Ryanair have yet to give their approval. "It is now up to Laudamotion and Ryanair to accept the Austrian social partners' collective wage agreement and thereby save its employees' jobs and its base at Vienna airport," Vida said in a statement, using Lauda's legal name, Laudamotion GmbH. The WKO and unions are referred to as social partners. Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary had previously said that the group would close Lauda's main hub in the Austrian capital and bring in Ryanair jets instead unless the staff agreed to a pay cut and a new labour agreement. Vida had long refused to agree to Lauda's proposals as it said they would hit some employees unacceptably hard, provoking criticism from some staff who said they wanted their jobs saved. Pilots in particular had opposed the union. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie New Delhi: Uday Kotak, Managing Director & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, and the new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday said that the industry body has decided 10 points strategy for the post-Covid India which will prioritise protection of lives and livelihoods. Kotak said that the industry body will work with the government to save livelihood and getting out from the lockdown smoothly with more focus on healthcare and education. He added that CII will reprioritise its stance in healthcare, emphasising that nvestment in healthcare has to go up from the current 1.3 percent of the GDP. He also highlighted that e-edicine and going digital is important. Other aspects that CII will focus on, will be education and nature and seek ways to go sustainable, he added. Kotak said that from now on CII will have a medium term outlook for the economy. Citing that India is fortunate on the external account, he said CAD for 2021 is likely to be zero. Kotak said, though internal fiscal challenges will be an issue, it has to strike a balance between aspirations and protecting business. He also opined that the COVID Pandemic has impacted individuals, businesses and the government., adding that government will have to spend more on economic package He said that we need to balance between digital world, e Commerce and nature of jobs etc. This will require that our people get more digital skills. Kotak appreciated the government in its endeavour on Digital India. We need to calibrate on physical world and digital market. There is a risk that certain jobs will change forever, Kotak said. He also laid stress on providing social security, which he said is an important debate which will come up going ahead. DUBLIN, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "North America PP Nonwoven Market 2020-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report on the North American PP nonwoven market depicts that the market is likely to show growth at a CAGR of 6.87% in the forecast period between 2020 and 2028. The United States and Canada comprises the North American PP nonwoven market. The Canadian nonwoven fabric market is growing due to the aging population in the country, which is responsible for the increase in the adoption of medical devices as older people are more prone to diseases. PP nonwoven textile is used in medical devices due to its unique properties. Hence, the presence of the elderly populace is consequently propelling the regional market growth. The increasing research and development activities on nonwoven textiles are accelerating the market growth in the forthcoming years. The clothing manufacturing industry in Canada is trying to design & produce high-end clothing and high-performance garments, including performance clothing like sportswear and protective apparel. The low-cost apparel from the regions in the Asia-Pacific is primarily meeting the requirements of the customers in Canada. The camping industry is witnessing growth in the country. Polyurethane and acrylic resins find applications in the manufacturing of tents. The affordable cost of polyethylene resin and the growing camping segment is estimated to push the demand for breathable films over the next few years. These factors are likely to augment the growth of the PP nonwoven market in the country. Some noteworthy companies in the PP nonwoven market are Mitsui Chemicals Inc, Asai Kasei Corporation, Toray Industries Inc, Fitesa S/A, Freudenberg SE, Johns Manville, Ahlstrom-Munksjo and Kimberly Clark Corporation. Key Topics Covered 1. North America PP Nonwoven Market - Summary 2. Industry Outlook 2.1. Market Definition 2.2. Key Insights 2.2.1. Emerging Demand for Spunbonded Fabric 2.2.2. Mounting Interest in Furniture Industry 2.3. Porter's Five Force Analysis 2.3.1. Threat of New Entrants 2.3.2. Threat of Substitute 2.3.3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 2.3.4. Bargaining Power of Buyers 2.3.5. Threat of Competitive Rivalry 2.4. Key Impact Analysis 2.4.1. Company Background and Experience 2.4.2. Cost 2.4.3. Ease of Use 2.4.4. Durability and Security 2.5. Market Attractiveness Index 2.6. Vendor Scorecard 2.7. Market Drivers 2.7.1. High Demand for Baby Diapers 2.7.2. Developing Demand for Durable Applications 2.7.3. Surge in Aging Population 2.8. Market Restraints 2.8.1. Uncertainty in Raw Material Prices 2.8.2. Stringent Environmental Regulations 2.9. Market Opportunities 2.9.1. Growing Demand for Polypropylene-Based Composites 2.9.2. Low-Cost Labor in Emerging Economies 2.10. Market Challenges 2.10.1. Rise in Cost of Investment 2.10.2. Easy Obtainability of Substitutes 3. North America PP Nonwoven Market Outlook - by Product 3.1. Spunbonded 3.2. Staples 3.3. Melt Blown 3.4. Composites 4. North America PP Nonwoven Market Outlook - by Application 4.1. Hygiene 4.2. Industrial 4.3. Medical 4.4. Geotextiles 4.5. Furniture 4.6. Carpet 4.7. Agriculture 4.8. Other 5. North America PP Nonwoven Market - Regional Outlook 5.1. United States 5.2. Canada 6. Competitive Landscape 6.1. Kimberly Clark Corporation 6.2. Berry Global Inc . 6.3. Avgol Ltd. 6.4. First Quality Enterprises Inc. 6.5. PF Nonwovens Czech Sro 6.6. Fibertex Nonwovens A/S 6.7. Mitsui Chemicals Inc. 6.8. Toray Industries Inc. 6.9. Asai Kasei Corporation 6.10. Johns Manville 6.11. Ahlstrom-Munksjo 6.12. Fitesa S/A 6.13. Freudenberg SE 6.14. Polymer Group Ltd. 6.15. Low & Bonar For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xl69yh Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Canimar Abajo. Credit: Kathrin Nagele The Caribbean was one of the last regions of the Americas to be settled by humans. Now, a new study published in the journal Science sheds light on how the islands were settled thousands of years ago. Using ancient DNA, an international team of researchers found evidence of at least three population dispersals that brought people to the region. "Our results give a glimpse of the early migration history of the Caribbean and connect the region to the rest of the Americas," says Hannes Schroeder, associate professor at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, and one of the senior authors of the study. "The DNA evidence adds to the archaeological data and enables us to test specific hypotheses as to how the Caribbean was first settled." More data, more details The researchers analyzed the genomes of 93 ancient Caribbean islanders who lived between 400 and 3200 years ago using bone fragments excavated from 16 different archaeological sites across the Caribbean. Due to the region's warm climate, the DNA from the samples is not very well preserved. Using targeted enrichment techniques, the researchers managed to extract genome-wide information from the remains. "New methods and technology allowed us to increase the number of ancient genomes from the Caribbean by almost two orders of magnitude," says Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, another senior author of the study. "With all that data we are able to paint a very detailed picture of the early migration history of the Caribbean." The researchers' findings indicate that there have been at least three different population dispersals into the region: two earlier dispersals into the western Caribbean, one of which seems to be linked to earlier population dispersals in North America, and a third, more recent wave, which originated in South America. Excavating Canimar Abajo (2018). Credit: Esteban Grau Gonzalez Connections across the Caribbean Sea Although it is still not entirely clear how the early settlers reached the islands, there is growing archaeological evidence that, far from being a barrier, the Caribbean Sea served as a kind of 'aquatic highway' that connected the islands with the mainland and each other. "Big bodies of water are traditionally considered barriers for humans and ancient fisher hunter gatherer communities are usually not perceived as great seafarers. Our results continue to challenge that view, as they suggest there was repeated interaction between the islands and the mainland," says Kathrin Nagele, Ph.D. student at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany and one of the lead authors of the study. Biological and cultural diversity in the ancient Caribbean "The new data support our previous observations that the early settlers of the Caribbean were biologically and culturally diverse, adding resolution to this ancient period of our history," says Yadira Chinique de Armas, assistant professor in Bioanthropology at the University of Winnipeg and co-director of three large-scale excavations in Cuba. Mirjana Roksandic excavating Playa del Mango. Credit: Luis Viera Sanfiel The researchers also found genetic differences between the early settlers and the newcomers from South America who, according to archaeological evidence, entered the region around 2800 years ago. "Although the different groups were present in the Caribbean at the same time, we found surprisingly little evidence of admixture between them," adds Cosimo Posth, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and joint first author of the study. "The results of this study provide yet another layer of data that highlights the complex and multi-nature of pre-Columbian Caribbean societies and their connections to the American mainland prior to the colonial invasion. It's reflected in the archaeology of the region, but it is fascinating to see it supported by the biological data," says Corinne Hofman, professor of archaeology at Leiden University and PI of the ERC Synergy project NEXUS1492. "Genetic data provide a new depth to our findings," agrees Mirjana Roksandic, professor at the University of Winnipeg and the PI on the SSHRC project. Explore further Caribbean settlement began in Greater Antilles, researchers say More information: K. Nagele el al., "Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean," Science (2020). Journal information: Science K. Nagele el al., "Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean,"(2020). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/ 1126/science.aba8697 Newly-appointed Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna has outlined her priorities at the position. In particular, these are the revision of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement based on Ukraine's national interests, the revision of the terms of financial cooperation with the EU, and the establishment of cooperation between all branches of power for sustainable movement towards EU and NATO membership. "Three main priorities of my work are the formation of Ukraine's internal position on the format and scope of political and economic revision of the Association Agreement, the revision of terms of funding Ukraine not only as a country with which the EU cooperates, since we talk about the integration of markets. The third priority is establishment of cooperation in the Government-Parliament-President format regarding the development, adoption, implementation, and promotion of decisions towards the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and Ukraine-NATO Annual National Programme based on the national interests of Ukraine," Stefanishyna said at the Verkhovna Rada before her appointment, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. European integration is a natural process for Ukraine, she stressed, and it is important to ensure that the process of integration into the EU and NATO "takes place primarily on the basis of Ukraine's national interests." "It is possible if there is coordinated work of all branches of power and coordinated work within the Government," Stefanishyna believes. As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted resolution No. 3584 on the appointment of Olha Stefanishyna as the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine. The decision was supported by 255 lawmakers. ol Bloomberg photo by Kiyoshi Ota Another 28 new coronavirus infections were reported in Tokyo on Thursday, the fourth day in a row the capital saw cases rise by double digits. That would bring the total to 128 over the past week, the biggest seven-day increase since May 15, just over a week before the state of emergency was lifted nationwide. Despite new cases in other parts of the country having slowed dramatically, the uptick in the country's dense capital remains a concern. Tokyo on Wednesday accounted for about half of the 26 new cases reported in the country of 126.5 million people. Osaka prefecture, with a population of about 8 million, reported no new cases. Massachusetts health officials said on Thursday that another 50 residents have lost their lives to coronavirus, bringing the statewide death toll to 7,201. Officials also confirmed another 471 cases of the virus, which includes 59 probable cases, for a total of at least 102,063 cases across the state, according to the Department of Public Health. That data is based on 7,115 new molecular tests and 1,022 antibody tests reported on Thursday. On Monday, the state began including probable coronavirus-related deaths and cases, in addition to confirmed ones, as part of its daily reporting. The new data contributed to a rise in total COVID-19 deaths and cases Monday, but the added probable cases and deaths stretch back to March 1. According to the Mass. Department of Public Health, probable cases consist of individuals who have not been tested by the standard viral test but have either had a positive antibody test and either had COVID-19 symptoms or were likely to be exposed to a positive case. They also include individuals who did not have an antibody test but had COVID symptoms and were known to be exposed to a positive case. Although the new reporting initially resulted in more cases and deaths being reported compared to the several prior days, overall the state continues to report favorable results in the virus trends. Gov. Charlie Baker said earlier this week that officials are still looking to expand testing capacity, and aim to have the capacity to test up to 45,000 people a day by the end of June. Roughly 4.4% of the population is tested for the virus every month, Baker said. Baker on Wednesday said that hospitalizations have declined by up to 50% over the past 30 days, and that health officials have observed a 77% decline in the rate of positive cases since the beginning of May. Baker will decide this coming Saturday whether Phase 2 of the states four-part reopening plan will proceed as early as June 8. Coronavirus in Mass.: Cases, maps, charts and resources Here are the cases listed by county: Barnstable County: 1,443 Berkshire County: 568 Bristol County: 7,508 Dukes County: 41 Essex County: 14,969 Franklin County: 337 Hampden County: 6,268 Hampshire County: 894 Middlesex County: 22,485 Nantucket County: 14 Norfolk County: 8,625 Plymouth County: 8,282 Suffolk County: 18,790 Worcester County: 11,529 Unknown location: 310 Related Content: Last month marked the eleventh anniversary of the bloody end of Sri Lankas nearly 30-year war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on May 18, 2009, ordered by the government of former President Mahinda Rajapakse. More than 40,000 men, women, children and the elderly were killed in the final weeks of war in indiscriminate firing of the Sri Lankan military. Hundreds of young men and women including LTTE fighters who surrendered to the military are still missing. More than 300,000 civilians who survived the war were interned for months in military-controlled camps in Vavuniya. About 11,000 youth were herded into so-called rehabilitation camps. President Gotabhaya Rajapaksewho together with his brother Mahinda presided over this bloodbathheld a war victory celebration this year in the Colombo suburbs, paying a glowing tribute to war heroes. Rajapakse declared he would oppose penalizing war criminals like those leaders in US and other imperialist countries. (See: Sri Lankan president demands legal immunity for the military) The Tamil people have recalled the May 18 catastrophe every year since the end of the war, commemorating their loved ones. This year, the military and police intervened to suppress any commemoration. While the military threatened to arrest anyone engaged in remembrance of terrorists, the police took out court orders banning the events, claiming that gatherings of more than five persons are prohibited because of the coronavirus. Colombo directed the crackdown in the north, fearing any expression of opposition among workers and the poor against war crimes. On May 18, soldiers and police were heavily deployed in the north and east of the country. Soldiers in uniforms and plainclothes were seen at junctions of roads to Mullivaikkal, armed with weapons, poles and knives. Participation in the Mullivaikkal event was low. Police also kept Tamil bourgeois politicians like former Chief Minister of Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam from attending the site. On the same day, Wigneswaran, who is also the leader of Tamil Peoples Alliance (TPA), addressed a meeting at his party office in Jaffna. Wigneswaran said he continuously emphasized the need for an international investigation into the genocide in Mullivaikkal. He added, The accountability program carried out by the UN Human Rights Council has failed. Therefore, steps should be taken to place Sri Lanka in the International Criminal Court, and to remove Sri Lanka from the UNHRC. He called for establishment of a global Tamil advisory council including persons from the Tamil diaspora to form into a committee to work out a case. Wigneswaran concluded his appeal by requesting that the international community must come forward to deal with human rights violations taking place all over the world including the genocide committed against the Tamils in Sri Lanka. From whom is Wigneswaran asking justice for war victims? These are imperialist countries including the US and European Union (EU) states, and also the regional power, India, who provided the successive Colombo governments with logistics, weaponry and training for the Sri Lankan military in the guise of supporting a war against terrorism. These powers are not defending human rights anywhere in the world as Wigneswaran and other Tamil bourgeois politicians imply. Washington, together with other powers, has violated human rights and engaged in genocidal wars including in former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, killing millions. These were immense war crimes. These powers are also unleashing brutal repression on helpless immigrants and suppressing democratic rights of workers in their own countries. Wigneswaran is not appealing to these powers for justice, but signaling that he lines up behind them. The former chief minister was a leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which supported Colombo and Washington as they prepared a resolution in October 2015 at the UNHRC to end war crime investigations. The resolution called for toothless domestic inquiry, letting the government and military get off the hook. It confirmed the insistence by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) that the democratic rights of Tamil masses including justice for war victims could only be realised through the united struggle of the working class for socialism. In contrast to the reactionary positions of Wigneswaran and other Tamil bourgeois parties, the SEP in Sri Lankaand its forerunner, the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL)maintained a principled opposition to the separatist bourgeois politics of the LTTE, which at times used terrorist methods to achieve its agenda. Its separatist line was based on seeking the support of international powers to carve out an ethnic Tamil state which could have served as a strategic outpost of the United States. The RCL/SEP explained that the LTTEs defeat was not just a military question but a result of the bankruptcy of this separatist perspective. In a perspective article on May 21, 2019, it wrote: This movement was utterly incapable of making a political appeal to the Sinhalese workers and oppressed or countering the ceaseless attempts of the Sinhalese bourgeoisie to whip up anti-Tamil chauvinism. Because of its separatist outlook, it was unable to make such an appeal even to the Tamil workers in India. And its anti-democratic character, which found expression in the ruthless repression of any political oppositionparticularly within the working classin the areas under its control, led to the disaffection of wide layers of the Sri Lankan Tamil population itself. It continued: The tragic events in Sri Lanka mark the end of a whole period, but have resolved none of the countrys profound contradictions. In the period that is now opening up, the SEPs struggle to unite Tamil and Sinhalese workers against all forms of nationalism and communalism in a common fight for a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Eelam will provide a way forward for the masses of the island. It will also serve as an internationalist pole of attraction for working people throughout South Asia as part of the struggle for the socialist unification of the working class on a world scale. Chief responsibility for the Sri Lankan war, however, lies squarely on the Colombo ruling elite and successive governments that used anti-Tamil discrimination to divide working class opposition along ethnic lines in order to defend capitalist rule. This racist discrimination and systematic provocations culminated in the outbreak in 1983 of a war that lasted decades. The SEP continuously opposed the war, demanding the withdrawal of Sri Lankan military from the north and east. It explained that the war was not just against the LTTE, but that its chief aim was suppressing the entire working class. Wigneswarans appeal to the major powers for a so-called international investigation exposes the reactionary politics of Tamil bourgeois partiesincluding the TNA, the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) and similar, smaller organizations. These parties principally back Washingtons geopolitical agenda and its war preparations against China. Amid the devastation caused by COVID-19, Washington has intensified its provocations against China. Tamil parties are seeking to take advantage from it. The pro-US stance of Tamil bourgeois parties once again was openly expressed by the TNPF leader, Ponnambalam, in his May 18 speech. He declared that amidst US-led global strategic competition in the South Asian region, Tamil nationalists should stand up against the faction supported by the Sri Lankan government. He added that Tamil parties must understand the international politics surrounding the island of Sri Lanka. Competition of the major nations on the island of Sri Lanka should also be observed. Through this we must focus our attention on the opportunities and losses of Tamil national politics. He called for a policy to bargain with superpowers intelligently. Sri Lanka is strategically located in the Indian Ocean. Ponnambalam, who has continuously appealed to Washington, is implying that the Rajapakse regime in Colombo is taking the side of China and they can bargain with America. For what would he bargain? Sops of privileges for the Tamil propertied elites, in return for supporting US war preparations against China. On this reactionary line, Tamil parties including the TNA lined up with Washingtons regime change operation in 2015 that ousted Mahinda Rajapakse, who leaned more towards Beijing, and brought Maithripala Sirisena to power with the pro-US United National Partys support. The TNA became a de facto partner of the government in supporting a shift in Sri Lankan foreign policy in favour of Washington, the suppression of war crimes investigations, and the implementation of an IMF-dictated austerity program. Wigneswaran, who was elected in 2013 as Northern Province Chief Minister on a TNA ticket, was part of these machinations. He later took his distance from the TNA as it became deeply discredited among workers and poor and organised the Tamil Peoples Forum, the Tamil Peoples Alliance (TPA) and Eluka Tamil (Rise up Tamils) to trap mass anger behind reactionary nationalist politics. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government was shattered by working class unrest against austerity amid an international resurgence of the class struggle. Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim workers alike participated in these struggles showing their objective unity in the struggle against capitalism. Since Gotabhaya Rajapaskes government came to power, TNA and TPA have hobnobbed with it. As the pandemic created unprecedented crisis in Sri Lanka, the TNA twice participated in all-party conferences and held secret meetings with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. (See: Tamil National Alliance backs Sri Lankas Rajapakse regime on COVID-19) The common fear of the Tamil and Sinhala ruling elite is the developing objective conditions for united struggles of the islands working class. Tamil-speaking workers and youth must oppose the pro-imperialist program of the Tamil parties. The defence of democratic rights of the Tamil masses depends on uniting workers struggles across the ethnic divide in a struggle for international socialism. Only the SEP, the Sri Lankan section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, fights for this program. By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 04, 2020 | 04:10 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY Paducah and McCracken County leaders are inviting residents to join the conversation about concerns and experiences regarding racial disparities in a series of 'Community Conversations', hosted by Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless.The virtual meetings will be held on select days in June and will be limited to no more than ten participants.At this time when our community cries out for change, the next steps must involve all of us. Ive spent a lot of my time as Mayor listening. But my perspective is limited because I am white. Ive done my best and tried to have these conversations through the years, but if people of color still dont feel heard, thats my responsibility not theirs, said Mayor Harless. Across the country and the world, groups are gathering just to be heard. I want to provide a structured, thoughtful way for members of the Paducah community to engage with each other and truly listen so that together we can identify ways to strengthen our resolve to be a city committed to equality and inclusion which ultimately leads to growth and success.Each virtual meeting will be co-facilitated by a community member who has agreed to take part in the conversations. In addition, members of the Paducah City Commission and McCracken County Judge Executive Craig Clymer have been invited to listen and participate in the sessions. Due to open meeting laws, only one commissioner will be present on each call. Meetings will be held at 6 pm on the following dates: June 10-12, June 15-19, June 22, June 25-26, and June 29-30.What we discuss with the community over the next few weeks will be crucial as we work with local diversity and inclusion groups, community and faith leaders, and the Paducah Police Department in the development of an action plan that works to tear down structural racism locally. This community deserves nothing less. I hope one day we will have these issues resolved in our community. But until then, we must keep working, Harless added.To sign up for a time slot in one of the 'Community Conversations', visit https://bit.ly/communityconvo20 or click the link below. On the Net: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 01:27:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Council (PNC) on Thursday reiterated the commitment to implementing the decision to disengage from all the agreements with Israel and the United States. The PNC, the highest legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), convened in the West Bank city of Ramallah, stressing that the Palestinian leadership's decision comes in defense of rights, said a PNC statement, published by the official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA). "There is no alternative to ending the occupation and restoring the legitimate rights to freedom, independence and return," said the statement. The PNC warned that Israel's policies and measures "reflect the determination of the Israeli government to continue occupying the lands of the Palestinian state, and dragging the region toward further deterioration and escalation." Furthermore, the PNC urged the ending of the internal division and restoring unity under the umbrella of the PLO, in order to confront the U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East Peace Plan and the Israeli annexation plans. Enditem Riots and destruction. Racial tensions. A pandemic. A law-and-order presidential campaign. Images from space so beautiful, and so far away, that people on Earth wish they could escape up there, too. All of that happened in 1968, one of the most tumultuous years in American history. And it feels like it's all happening again in 2020. Historians and political scientists say the comparisons between 1968 and 2020 represent an acute case of historical whiplash because of seemingly analogous events repeating themselves, but also - and perhaps more importantly - the sense that America is on fire and coming apart at the seams. "The parallels are there, especially in how just so many things seem to be happening at once - and almost all of them negative," said Jeremy Mayer, a George Mason University political science professor who studies racial politics, the media and elections. "People really feel that." Peter Levy, a York College civil rights historian, agreed: "I think we all feel it and all know in general that there are some comparisons." But, like Mayer, he thinks that "when you drill down into some of the specifics, they may not exactly be the same. It's kind of like a composite." In 1968, the chaos was more violent and more destructive. There were assassinations. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was gunned down in April, and then, only two months later, Robert F. Kennedy was shot to death, too. The riots that shook Washington, Chicago, Baltimore and other U.S. cities in 1968 were far more destructive and widespread than the looting and fires currently spreading around the country, Mayer said. The unrest shook cities but also college campuses. The protests then were about racism and police brutality, like today, but also the Vietnam War. In 1968, more than 500,000 American troops were fighting in Vietnam, the bloodiest year of a long war far more divisive than the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan. And while many Americans celebrated the recent launch of Space X's rocket shuttling two U.S. astronauts into orbit as a hopeful advance of humanity in restless times, Mayer does not think the event compares to the Apollo mission of 1968 that produced the famous Earthrise photo. "I'm afraid to say the space interruption of 1968 was a much bigger deal," Mayer said. "It's nice that a private company got to the space station, but it's not like the Apollo mission." But there also comparisons that converge and evolve in interesting ways, the scholars say. Take the pandemic. Like the novel coronavirus, the flu pandemic back in 1968 had its origins in China. It was then pejoratively referred to as the Hong Kong or Mao flu. President Donald Trump has called the coronavirus pandemic "the Chinese virus." A half-century ago, the pandemic killed 100,000 Americans, a number the 2020 pandemic has already surpassed. But back then, the pandemic did not become a political issue. There were no shutdowns or broad calls for wearing masks. "The pandemic, whether we overreacted or underreacted or whatever you think about it, it has affected all of us," Mayer said. "Whereas in '68, it was actually possible to ignore the news and not be affected by either Vietnam or the race riots, depending on where you lived. Here, the pandemic has touched every American in one way or another." Then there was the chaotic political environment. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not seek reelection, totally surprising the Democratic Party. The Democrats, like in 2020, ultimately nominated a vice president - the current one, Hubert Humphrey - at a convention marred by violence. He ran against Richard Nixon, who lost as vice president himself his presidential bid in 1960 to John F. Kennedy. This time, Nixon ran on a "law and order" campaign in the wake of the riots, much like political observers expect Trump to do in this election. In fact, he's already started. He tweeted this on Sunday: "LAW & ORDER!" Though there isn't a third-party candidate in 2020, there was an insurgent one in 1968 - George Wallace of Alabama. During his campaign, Wallace often repeated a line from Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who in 1967 threatened the black community with attack dogs and said, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." Trump used the same quote last week to denounce the unrest in Minnesota and elsewhere fueled by deadly police violence. That didn't go unnoticed by political observers, scholars and opinion writers. Nixon called his target voters the "silent majority." Nixon's running mate, Spiro T. Agnew, had mounted a fierce response to Baltimore rioters while serving as governor of Maryland. So Nixon sent him out to deliver some of the harshest law-and-order rhetoric on the campaign trail. Agnew often dismissed the racial unrest in inner cities by saying, "If you've seen one slum, you've seen them all." Nixon won. "One of the things that I think a lot of people don't realize is that urban rioting in American history has almost always helped conservative forces," Mayer said. On Nov. 3, the country will find out whether that history repeats itself again. Forty million Americans are unemployed and extra unemployment benefits expire at the end of next month. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are grappling with deep ideological divisions over what to do with the popular program in the middle of a pandemic and an election year. Most Republicans have roundly rejected the House Democrats approach of extending a $600 weekly boost to unemployment checks though January 2021, and some say the enhanced benefits may need to end altogether. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said it might need to go back to the normal state unemployment benefits, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the additional funds were a terrible idea [that] never should have passed in the first place. Many Republicans think the extra money makes it less enticing for Americans to go back to work already a concern for people considering the dangers of being infected by coronavirus in the workplace. Were never going to recover economically from the pandemic if everybody is at home watching Netflix, said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). The way were doing it now has as much chance of passing as my son has of getting a Porsche for his birthday. Not going to happen. Nonnegotiable. Fights over unemployment benefits amid a recession have long been politically charged, pitting the need to aid a reeling population against Republicans decadeslong efforts to shrink government. And some in the GOP concede that Congress cant just cut off that relief money cold turkey. Particularly if Senate Republicans want to hold on to their majority in November, they risk being seen as giving short shrift to so many jobless Americans three months before the election. The unemployment rate is still going to be pretty high, maybe for some time. Even as the economy starts to open up and expand again, it will take a while for some of the jobs to come back, said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). So I suspect the program will be needed for a while. Well have to come up [with] some sort of solution. Story continues Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., responds to reporters at the door to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. Thune and Republican lawmakers met with Attorney General William Barr about expiring provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and other government intelligence laws. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) A small-business aid program was set to expire on June 30, but the Senate passed legislation Wednesday to extend it, so the July 31 deadline on enhanced unemployment benefits is now seen by Senate Republicans as the likely driver for action on the next package. The House passed a $3 trillion coronavirus bill in May that has no prospects in the Senate. But the Senate goes on recess for two weeks in July, meaning crunch time starts now. Senate Republicans are discussing a proposal from Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to provide workers extra money when they go back to work or a gradual decrease of the $600 weekly benefit over time. Others, like Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), have proposed subsidizing payrolls as a way of decreasing unemployment but keeping workers salaries. But no Senate Republicans interviewed for this story even the two who supported the $600-a-week benefit in March said they support simply renewing it again. Asked whether he will again endorse the bonus unemployment benefits, Gardner said he will continue to support American families and American workers. And Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she supports keeping enhanced benefits but capping them at workers previous salaries. We should make people whole, but they should not be better off not working than working, she said. Gardner and Collins are the only Senate Republicans up for reelection in blue states, and that even they are at odds with House Democrats suggests a chasm so deep it could bring down the benefit program altogether. Theres some inclination that we may be willing to taper it off rather than end it. But that may not be good enough for Democrats, so it could be that it just goes away, said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Some economists argue that an extra $600 per week is an efficient economic stimulus, since the money is likely to be quickly spent and pumped back into the economy. And there is little debate among Senate or House Democrats about extending the program. Thats been an essential lifeline for millions of Americans, said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). But Republicans have been arguing now for weeks that spending more money is less effective than reopening the economy. They say the small business Paycheck Protection Program has been made less efficient by the unemployment benefits. Theres just a disagreement in the party over when to pull the plug and how quickly. I dont know if we should cut it in half or do what Portmans saying with a rehiring bonus, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who led the charge against the $600 benefit in March. Im open minded. I want to help people and supplement unemployment. But not to the point where you are actually skewing the wage structure. Marianne LeVine contributed to this report. Photo: Glacier Media Helijet is getting ready to add more flights between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Starting Monday, June 8, the Richmond-based company will be increasing the number of scheduled flights between Vancouver and Victoria to five roundtrips each weekday, up from the current three. Scheduled flights between Vancouver and Nanaimo will also double to four roundtrips each weekday. With businesses gradually reopening, and the provincial government planning to resume sitting later this month, were preparing to support additional travel demand for our flights to and from Vancouver Island, said Danny Sitnam, Helijets president and CEO in a release. Although the entire air travel industry has been severely impacted by COVID-19, we pledged to keep operating with a reduced flight schedule as an essential service link to safely serve our communities, our dedicated guests and to keep the majority of our workforce employed. Sitnam said the company is now in a stronger position to increase service, as passenger numbers are expected to increase. Helijet has also taken measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19, including: limiting the maximum number of passengers in all aircraft to six, instead of the usual 12, sanitizing aircraft cabins before each flight, and passengers must also undergo a health check prior to boarding. Bernard Madoff, who defrauded investors of more than $US19 billion ($27.4 billion) in history's biggest Ponzi scheme, won't be released early from his 150-year prison sentence. US Circuit Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan rejected Madoff's request for compassionate release on the grounds that he is terminally ill and likely to die in the next 18 months. After Madoff, 82, submitted his plea for his freedom in February, 520 of his victims wrote to the court, with 96 per cent of them arguing against his early release. Bernie Madoff was the mastermind of the worlds biggest Ponzi scheme. Credit:Bloomberg "When I sentenced Mr. Madoff in 2009, it was fully my intent that he live out the rest of his life in prison," Chin said in his ruling. "Nothing has happened in the 11 years since to change my thinking." The tough line against Madoff comes as other white-collar criminals have been granted early release or home confinement because of the risk they might contract coronavirus in prison. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his onetime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen were allowed to complete their respective sentences for bank fraud and violating campaign finance law at home. The following is a statement by former Secretary of Defense James Mattis published by The Atlantic. Mattis, a four-star U.S. Marine Corps General, served as President Donald Trump's 26th Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2018. In Union There is Strength I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words "Equal Justice Under Law" are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demandone that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our valuesour values as people and our values as a nation. When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizensmuch less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a "battlespace" that our uniformed military is called upon to "dominate." At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflicta false conflictbetween the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them. James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that "America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat." We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law. Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that "The Nazi slogan for destroying uswas 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.'" We must summon that unity to surmount this crisisconfident that we are better than our politics. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children. We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Park. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln's "better angels," and listen to them, as we work to unite. Only by adopting a new pathwhich means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding idealswill we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad. James Mattis WASHINGTON - Federal authorities drew a new line in the Washington streets Wednesday, pushing protesters away from the park near the White House that has been at the center of demonstrations for days. For the first time, rows of military personnel stood face-to-face with the crowd, with no physical barriers separating them. The decision to eliminate access to Lafayette Square caused protesters to spread out during the day, moving to other areas such as President Donald Trump's downtown hotel and the U.S. Capitol. The sixth day of protests, which had a lighter feel with musical moments, followed another day of relatively peaceful demonstrations. But by nightfall, a giant group was stacked up in front of the military lines on 16th Street for two blocks. Just before 10 p.m. there was a brief moment of tension, and many of the protesters left and marched toward the Capitol. The increased federal response frustrated both District of Columbia officials and crowds that gathered to protest the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. District police were not involved in the showdown, and said they weren't even entirely aware of what agencies were now patrolling their city. Asia Horne and Haley Mahon, in the city for their fifth day of protests on Wednesday afternoon, said they felt they had walked into an unrecognizable version of downtown, with police and military personnel seemingly on every sidewalk and barring every intersection. When they tried to march with hundreds of others to the Lincoln Memorial, they found that it had been converted into something akin to a military fortress, guarded by immense ranks of law enforcement. "I've only lived here three years, but I did think the nation's capital was supposed to be more open," said Mahon, 21. "These national landmarks are supposed to be open to the people." Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, and other city leaders also pushed back against the Trump administration's response, which included bringing National Guard troops and several federal law enforcement agencies into the District. District leaders were unhappy with the expanded presence of federal officers and Guard troops, many of whom covered their names and removed their insignia, refusing to say where they were from. "We should all be concerned about who is giving the orders," Bowser said at a news conference. At midafternoon, the Minnesota attorney general announced an elevated murder charge against the officer seen with his knee on the neck of Floyd last week, and charges against the three other officers at the scene of Floyd's arrest. Authorities were waiting to see whether the developments lowered the temperature of protests, which proceeded with full-throated intensity around Washington earlier in the day. At 4 p.m., a crowd of about 1,000 protesters marched through the city's downtown neighborhood, stopping in front of Trump International Hotel. There, they all took a knee, blocking the intersection at Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street, as they chanted "Black Lives Matter" and "F--- Trump!" The hotel appeared empty, with a couple of first-floor windows smashed in. With access to Lafayette Square blocked off, a man who would only identify himself as Mo said it would make sense for the president's hotel to become the new focal point of demonstrations. "We need to send a message," he said, as the chants of more people marching up Pennsylvania Avenue echoed in the distance. "He ain't hearing us." Chef Jose Andres stood handing water and sandwiches to the marchers. "Cheese sandwich?" He asked as people walked by, sharing thin baguettes and cold water out of a Jaleo bag. "I am a bad thrower and you are a worse catcher," he told one protester who dropped his water bottle on the ground. For the first time Wednesday, protesters could not get near Lafayette Square, the two-block-long expanse directly in front of the White House. On Tuesday, federal authorities erected a nine-foot chain-link fence around the park, which created a 30-yard separation of demonstrators from Park Police, National Guard units and federal officers packing the site. The separation led to an uneventful night after Monday's chaos, as District police chose not to enforce the city's 7 p.m. curfew, and the federal authorities took no aggressive actions. But on Wednesday, federal officials established roadblocks with hulking military vehicles in a one-block perimeter in all directions around the park. The action put heavily armed officers closer to the protesters on Wednesday evening, with nothing to separate them. Two rows of soldiers in camouflage uniforms and riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder on 16th Street NW, where protesters fled chemical gas and flash-bomb grenades days before, and the line at times included Federal Bureau of Prisons and Guard personnel. Some carried stinger rubber ball grenades, which have been used to disperse crowds. Others grasped pepper spray and what looked like grenade launchers for smoke explosives. Angelique Medley, 21, was in the front row of protesters, shouting "This has to stop!" Medley said none of the officers replied. "I came for my dad - a black man who lived through the civil rights era," she said. "He taught me to challenge authority, except his." On Wednesday morning, after a night in which there were no clashes at Lafayette Square and 19 arrests citywide, mostly for violating the curfew, Bowser shifted the curfew from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. "We have allowed peaceful demonstrations every night," the mayor said. "What we are concerned about are people who are not peaceful and destroying our city." On Wednesday afternoon, people lay facedown near ornate fountains at the east front of the Capitol, hands held behind their backs as though restrained, as Floyd was before he died. At noon, hundreds stood in the rain at the Capitol chanting "Justice now!" and "I can't breathe!" Asad Caicee, 18, had once again made the trip from the Maryland suburbs to protest the president. But when he approached Lafayette Square, he saw that the street was blocked off with police officers and military vehicles, making it impossible for him to even see the White House. So he went with the group to protest in front of the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. "It's tyranny," he said. "Our ability to protest is being violated with these blockades." Numerous federal agencies and Guard members from some states have deployed around the city. In one case, federal officers expanded a White House perimeter. Peter Newsham, the District police chief, said he was not given advance notice of the operation. On Wednesday, the Ellipse was blocked off, as were 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Both Newsham and Bowser also criticized the deployment of a helicopter, which hovered over protesters on Monday night and sent glass and other debris flying. "It was a potentially very dangerous scare tactic that was meant to intimidate D.C. residents," Bowser said. "It is wholly inappropriate in urban settings." The U.S. Park Police, who have jurisdiction over Lafayette Square and participated in the Monday sweep against protesters, have put two officers on administrative duty as the agency reviews their interaction with Australian reporters, acting Chief Gregory Monahan said in a statement. The two reporters from 7News were live on-air Monday when they were struck by police in riot gear at a protest by the White House, prompting Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison to request an investigation. Such conflict was replaced by music in many places, including at the Capitol during the day, and on 16th Street in the evening. At 8:30 p.m., with thousands still gathered as close as they could get to the White House, Arianna Evans strode to the heart of the crowd, gripped a microphone and quieted the demonstrators. Unlike on previous nights, they fell silent en masse, almost immediately. Swinging her long violet braids over her shoulder, Evans, a 24-year-old college student from Maryland, began by warning anyone who wanted to loot and cause destruction to go away. This fifth day of protests is and will remain peaceful, she vowed: "We will flush you out," she told would-be troublemakers. Then she handed the mic to Kenny Sway, a District musician she'd met just hours before at another protest on Capitol Hill. He asked the still-silent and docile crowd to sit cross-legged, raise their cellphones, turn on the flashlights and wave the devices in the air. With the sun setting over his right shoulder, he launched into a rendition of "Lean On Me," thousands of voices joining him on every chorus. Evans sang along, too, thrilled it had all come together. They hadn't planned it - but after she and Sway fell into conversation at the earlier Capitol Hill protest, he decided to follow her to the White House with his microphone and speakers. At nightfall, the crowd began to thin. Some drifted away, some marched to other parts of the city. The front line of soldiers acknowledged that they were Utah National Guard members. - - - The Washington Post's Perry Stein, Steve Thompson, Fredrick Kunkle, Samantha Schmidt, Clarence Williams, Emily Davies, Rachel Chason, Jessica Contrera, John Woodrow Cox, Ann E. Marimow, Peter Hermann, Joe Heim, Kyle Swenson, Susan Svrluga and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report. Tyson Foods is reinstating an attendance policy that punishes workers for missing shifts, even as it reports new COVID-19 outbreaks in its Iowa meatpacking plants. Company spokeswoman Liz Croston confirmed to the Des Moines Register on Wednesday that Tyson Foods is returning to the policy it had put on hold in mid-March, when the coronavirus began spreading rapidly through closely spaced workers on the meatpacking lines at Iowa processing plants. Under the policy, employees are assessed points for missing shifts. Those who accumulate too many can be fired. When it announced what it called an "adjustment" in the policy March 18, Tyson said it was doing so to encourage team members to take the proper steps in the event of illness or lack of child care. In photos provided by Tyson Meats, the company installed clear dividers at work stations in the plant, show here at the boneless loin line table. Black unemployment 2020: African Americans bear brunt of economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus Still no stimulus check?: Some must act to get their money Croston said Tyson will still excuse absences by employees who have tested positive for coronavirus or have symptoms of COVID-19. She added that the company has tried to slow the spread of the virus in its plants since mid-March through measures including taking employees' temperatures, equipping them with masks and gloves, and placing acrylic barriers between their work stations. "Our top priority is the health and safety of our team members, their families and our communities," she said. A spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents employees at multiple Tyson Foods plants in Iowa, did not return an email and call Wednesday seeking comment on the decision. League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa political director Joe Henry, who works with meatpacking employees across the state, criticized the company's decision. He said many employees are still uncomfortable returning to work. "Going back to any prior attendance policy is the wrong move to make, especially with the continued outbreak with (Tyson) facilities and other facilities across the state," he said. "You cant do that." Story continues Tyson Foods on Tuesday reported two new coronavirus outbreaks at Iowa plants. It said 591 of 2,300 employees at its Storm Lake pork processing plant had tested positive, as did 224 of 1,500 workers at its beef and pork processing plant in Council Bluffs. According to USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, there have been at least 20,000 coronavirus cases linked to meatpacking plants across the country. There also have been at least 73 worker deaths. About 3,000 meatpackers have tested positive for the virus in Iowa, more than in any other state. According to the analysis, about 6,700 Tyson Foods employees across the country have contracted COVID-19, more than double the number for any other company. State officials have not robustly reported coronavirus cases at Iowa plants. Iowa Department of Public Health Deputy Director Sarah Reisetter said last week that government officials would only disclose outbreaks if reporters directly asked about them. On Tuesday, Reisetter reversed course, announcing that state officials are working on a "systematic" way to report coronavirus cases linked to meatpacking plants. At Smithfield Foods, another large meatpacking company that has been hit with a coronavirus outbreak, spokesman Reid Spencer said in a statement Wednesday that "any non-COVID-19 related absence is subject to our standard attendance policy." The company, which had about 900 cases at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant in April, is providing sick leave to anyone who tests positive for the virus or who came in close contact with someone who tested positive, Spencer said. Smithfield Foods employees who are older than 60 or who have diagnosed, underlying conditions that make COVID-19 especially dangerous also receive paid leave. Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Register. Contact him at 515-284-8215 and tjett@registermedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Tyson Foods resumes attendance policy despite Iowa COVID-19 outbreaks Ayten Amin's Souad tells the story of a 12-year-old girl searching for answers after her sister Souad's suicide Egyptian film Souad is one of 56 films of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection for the 2020 cancelled edition due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), as announced by delegate-general Thierry Fremaux on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Wednesday. Minutes after being listed among the Newcomers, Souad, a 1h 30m film of VIVID REELS production, has stirred a round of applause in the filmmaking circle in Egypt for its makers, led by successful director Ayten Amin. "I cant wait to share this film with the people it was made for and about," Amin said on social media on Wednesday. Souad was a Cinegouna Springboard winner of the 2018 El Gouna film platform. The realistic cinematic picture is an attempt to reveal social problems and weaknesses through the story of a 12-year-old girl searching for answers after her sister Souad's suicide in a village in Zagazig. The film explores tragic consequences. "I was honoured to work with gifted people who were generous enough to share with me part of their lives and souls. I am forever grateful for their generosity," she added, expressing gratitude for her big crew. One of the directors of the TV drama hit Sabea Gaar ("The Seventh Neighbour"), Amin -- best known for Villa 69, Spring 98, and Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician -- is taking confident steps in her career since her notable debut Her Man in 2006, proving outstanding talent and gaining many awards and screenings at various international film festivals. Arab cinema is present in 2020 Cannes with other films. In the Newcomer selection is Passion Simple, by Danielle Arbid from Lebanon, Algerian-French production ADN (DNA) by Maiwenn listed in The Faithful category, and the Lebanese Broken Keys, by Jimmy Keyrouz named among the first feature list. The 2020 Cannes list includes 16 films directed by women, up from 14 in 2019. Originally scheduled for to 23 May, the 73rd Cannes festival was first delayed to late June-early July, but was finally cancelled, in the second time ever since World War II in 1939, while the prestigious competition of the Palme d'Or for best film will not take place this year. The films will receive the Cannes Festival's support and can still premiere at other possible fall festivals like Toronto, Telluride, New York and San Sebastian. The selectors received more than 2,000 submitted films via the internet to watch at home. The 2020 selections includes American filmmaker Anderson's The French Dispatch, Summer of 85 by French director Francois Ozon, Lover's Rock by Britain's Steve McQueen, and Japanese director Naomi Kawase's True Mothers. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: The New York Times has come under fire after it published an Op-ed by Republican senator Tom Cotton who called for the military to be brought in to take charge of the situation as protests erupted in major US cities over George Floyd's killing. "In these circumstances, the Insurrection Act authorizes the president to employ the military or any other means in cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws," Cotton wrote in the piece. He lashed out at protesters for 'rioting, looting and attacking police personnel." "This week, rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s," he begins by saying. "Bands of looters roved the streets, smashing and emptying hundreds of businesses. Some even drove exotic cars; the riots were carnivals for the thrill-seeking rich as well as other criminal elements,"he wrote further. The New York Times has come under fire over the article, even from its own staff saying that it put the life of black staffers at risk. The journalists with the NYT posted a screenshot of the article and wrote how they felt vulnerable and at risk. Running this put Black @nytimes staffers in danger. In solidarity with my colleagues who agree. pic.twitter.com/UfkZkE1xvj Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe) June 3, 2020 Running this put Black @nytimes staffers in danger. pic.twitter.com/m0JqPRlpjQ Sandra E. Garcia (@S_Evangelina) June 3, 2020 All over my feed today, NYT staffers in protest against pro-military op-ed from Republican senator Tom Cotton. Running this put Black @nytimes staffers in danger. pic.twitter.com/QxJ5S75BSl Assia Labbas (@assialabb) June 4, 2020 Running this puts Black @nytimes staffers in danger pic.twitter.com/u7hPl0urWX alison roman (@alisoneroman) June 4, 2020 I spent some of the happiest and most productive years of my life working for the New York Times. So it is with love and sadness that I say: running this puts Black @nytimes staff - and many, many others - in danger. pic.twitter.com/1EIvzgORWj Lydia Polgreen (@lpolgreen) June 4, 2020 Running this puts Black @nytimes staffers in danger. Standing in solidarity with my colleagues. pic.twitter.com/B8fnYLvskm suzie sainwood (@suzannesamin) June 4, 2020 Running this puts Black @nytimes staffers in danger. Standing in solidarity with my colleagues. pic.twitter.com/B8fnYLvskm suzie sainwood (@suzannesamin) June 4, 2020 However, James Bennet, the editorial page editor later clarified and wrote, Times Opinion owes it to our readers to show them counter-arguments, particularly those made by people in a position to set policy, Mr. Bennet wrote in a thread on Twitter. We understand that many readers find Senator Cottons argument painful, even dangerous. We believe that is one reason it requires public scrutiny and debate. Jamil Jude, artistic director of Atlanta's True Colors Theatre Co., broke down while taping the black organization's latest podcast. It was the realization, in the wake of George Floyd's killing at the hands of police in Minneapolis, that he'd grouped his forthcoming season under a title - "Joy and Pain" - that proved all too prophetically apt. "I said to the staff, 'Guys, I didn't know the plays we were picking would be so relevant,' " Jude said in a telephone interview. "To know that (the plays') diametrically opposed ideas are inextricably linked to being black in America." To an unusual degree, theater companies and other arts groups across the country have been lining up to declare themselves in mourning over the recent police killings and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement - and by extension, with black colleagues such as Jude. Events such as the Public Theater's virtual benefit, "We Are One Public," were canceled, and theater troupes of every size have pledged allegiance in the fight against racism. "Round House stands with the protesters across the nation who are expressing their outrage," reads a statement on the Bethesda, Md., theater's website. No less a personage than Lin-Manuel Miranda went online to apologize for not having restated his values publicly until five days after Floyd's killing. "That we have not yet firmly spoken the inarguable truth that black lives matter and denounced systemic racism and white supremacy from our official 'Hamilton' channels," Miranda said May 30 in a taped message on the Twitter feed for "Hamilton," "is a moral failure on our part." Such expressions have been welcomed by members of the arts community who have been most deeply traumatized by the latest police killing. That is to say, its African American members. Several of them - leaders of companies as geographically diverse as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore., and Working Theater in New York - said in interviews that words, in a field that exalts them, are important. But they've also heard them before. The concern they raised in recent conversations is whether those sympathetic words from groups with predominantly white audiences would translate into action, in both their missions and offerings. As Hana S. Sharif, artistic director of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, put it: "If people are willing to hold the institutions to the values they are putting forward, then this moment of all these theaters standing with you could be valuable." Sharif is among a small but growing coterie of men and women of color who are being appointed to the top positions at nonprofit theaters: black theater artists, such as Nataki Garrett at Oregon Shakespeare, and such Latinx leaders as Stephanie Ybarra at Center Stage in Baltimore; Jacob G. Padron at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn.; and Maria Goyanes at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in the District of Columbia. On the particular issues that Floyd's death has brought to the fore, though, one turns to black theater-makers for a deeper understanding of how theaters might inculcate the fight to eradicate racism. And that brings up the topic of how potently institutions - reassessing in this time of shutdown - might reorient toward the interests and values of younger and more-diverse audiences. "One of the questions I have to be really clear about is why I was hired. Wasn't it to ensure the sustaining and future of this theater?" said Sharif, who came to the Rep in 2019 after a career at Center Stage and Hartford Stage. "In that case, we have to talk about relevancy, who we are serving - who is going to be here 10 years from now. That is really a question of shifting theaters from where you just see pretty art to where theaters become a haven for social and civic engagement, for us to engage with each other." That this moment of upheaval has compelled many theaters to state their values is in part a reflection of the growing impact of black artistic leaders, directors and playwrights. Such black writers as Jackie Sibblies Drury and Michael R. Jackson - recently minted Pulitzer Prize winners for drama - and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Aleshea Harris, Suzan-Lori Parks, Dominique Morisseau, Jeremy O. Harris and Jocelyn Bioh, have set a standard for vibrant playwriting in the United States. One measure of their collective impulse to drive the conversation was evident when Jude was asked to sign on to a statement about Floyd on behalf of the entire Atlanta theater community. He replied that it would have far more meaning if every theater wrote its own. Several did. "The statements are to win the moment," Jude observed. "What it is, is a quick moment of self-analyzing. But if it doesn't come with a strategic plan, then we wake up one day, and we have just programmed another whole season of plays by straight white men. It was just who the artistic director had in his Rolodex." Leaders such as Nataki Garrett, who became Oregon Shakespeare's sixth artistic director in 2019, talk about the bred-in-the-bone white assumption of superiority as a "construct" on which the culture is based. Not every white person shares that with equal conviction, of course. But theaters' programming choices - as with other touchstone facets of the arts - have tended to support the majority mind-set. In other words, white leadership has, generally speaking, been most attentive over the decades to plays by white people about white people. So why would audiences of other backgrounds identify in large numbers with those organizations? "We have to keep in mind that the theater is inside of the 'construct,' " Garrett said. "It's like any other institution. The American theater has to change, but America has to change." She's arrived at the festival at a fascinating juncture. Under former artistic director Bill Rauch, the repertory company made huge strides toward shifting its gaze, with casting and slates of offerings that sought to follow the precepts of equity, diversity and inclusion. Now, she wants not only to attract more visitors of color, but also to explore varied works that inspire empathy in her majority-white audience. That requires more profound acknowledgment by whites of racism's stranglehold on America's past and even its present - a reality that many reject, or don't want to hear about. So it's a formidable challenge, one that has you wondering about what has to change first: the conversation on a stage or the one around the dinner table. To Kristen Jackson, Woolly Mammoth's connectivity director, which entails community engagement, the more-sensitive words and casting methods that theaters are employing are useful, but only up to a point. "The language of equity, diversity, inclusion has now been co-opted into something really more like virtue signaling," she said, "and is maybe offering some means for analysis, but without an accompanying call to action." Perhaps some of the action called for is a barrier-breaking broadening of the theatrical approach, along the practical lines of what Working Theater is doing. The company heads into disparate sections of New York under its Five Boroughs/One City initiative and finds ways to tell stories about the communities it visits: a play in Bushwick, for example, about gentrification; another on Staten Island, about an Italian family reunion dinner; a third in Brighton Beach, about the cultural intersections of Russians and Pakistanis. "The theory was, we're all trying for the same thing - make a living, feel safe, feel secure," said Tamilla Woodard, the company's co-artistic director. "Everything I do is, how do we erase these lines of demarcation?" One sensed in all of these discussions a raw anguish over recent tragedies, a fatigue with the status quo - and yet a surprising optimism that theater can still rise to the occasion, adapt and help us see the world through fresh eyes. "We have the capacity to shift," Garrett said. "People are marching in the streets in the middle of a pandemic! If that's not a resounding call for change, nothing is." The European caustic soda market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the market studied are rising demand for alumina in the transport sector and increasing demand for paper and paperboards. New York, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Europe Caustic Soda Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 2025)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05903712/?utm_source=GNW On the flip side, unfavorable conditions arising due to the COVID-19 outbreak, energy-intensive production process, and environmental concerns are hindering the growth of the market. - The organic chemicals segment is expected to dominate the European caustic soda market over the forecast period. - Germany represents the largest market over the forecast period owing to the increasing consumption from segments such as organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals, pulp & paper. Key Market Trends Organic Chemicals Segment to Dominate the Market - The organic chemicals segment represents the largest application segment of caustic soda in Europe. This application is also the third-fastest growing segment for the market studied in the region.? - Caustic soda mainly acts as a reagent or basic solution to manufacture organic chemicals. Organic chemicals use caustic soda for manufacturing different major organic chemicals, such as methanol, sulfites, phosphites, hydroxyl ethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl hydroxyethylcellulose, cellulose ether, methylcellulose, propylene oxide, polycarbonate, ethylene amines, epoxy resins, acetic acid, and epichlorohydrin. Moreover, it is also used for neutralization and gas scrubbing by many organic chemical manufacturers.? - Epoxypropane (propylene oxide), another important organic chemical, also uses caustic soda for manufacturing. It is used to make polyurethanes.? - 3A Composites launched its new brands for polycarbonate and polyester range by Polycasa. The extruded polycarbonate POLYCASA PC is now called IMPEX and the extruded multiwall polycarbonate sheet POLYCASA SPC is now called IMPEX MULTIWALL. ? - Covestro started expanding its production lines in Germany for high-quality polycarbonate films, which are likely to be online by the end of 2020. The company equipped these production lines with the latest technology, and they are designed specially to produce multi-layer flat films.? - Germany, Belgium, and Spain are the major countries producing organic chemicals, with the increasing demand for caustic soda in the production of polycarbonate, methanol, polyurethane, epoxy resin, acetic acid, etc. The demand for caustic soda in manufacturing organic chemicals is expected to be moderate during the forecast period. ? - Owing to the above mentioned factors, the demand for caustic soda from organic chemical segment is expected to rapidly increase over the forcast period. Germany to Dominate the Market - Germany is forecasted to account for the largest share of the European caustic soda market over the forecast period. - In terms of the total installed production capacity for the manufacturing of caustic soda, Germany ranked first in Europe, with the total estimated production capacity of approximately 5,752-kilo metric tons and a share of about 38.75%. Some of the largest players in Germany are Dow, BASF SE, Covestro, INOVYN, Vinnolit, etc. Apart from domestic production, the country primarily imports its caustic soda from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Poland.? - The German chemical industry represents the chemical manufacturing industry across Europe, generating an estimated contribution of about 28% of the total revenue of the chemical industry in Europe. The German chemical industry invested a total of about USD 4.6 billion on the R&D, making it the fourth-largest R&D spending nation across the world, after China, the United States, and Japan. ? - The German chemical industry, which took a major upturn in 2017, continued to show positive growth till Q4 2018. The downward trend in the German chemical industry began in Q4 2018 and continued to the first two quarters of 2019. With the BASF SE company announcing its decision to transform the organization, Covestro experiencing decline in sales, and Bayer AG struggling with the Monsanto acquisition, the German chemicals sector has been witnessing a huge downfall. ? - In H1 2019, the production of the German chemicals industry witnessed a slump of 6.5%, while the pharmaceutical production also declined by 2.5%. As a result, the total revenue generated declined by 4% Y-o-Y over H1 2018 and reached a total of EUR 95.9 billion (USD 105.7 billion).? - In H1 2019, the production of fine and specialty chemicals witnessed a decline of 4%, the production of cosmetics and soaps witnessed a decline of 4.5%, and the production of polymers and detergents and personal care products has also witnessed a huge decline. The outlook for the rest of 2019 is also weak with the expected decrease in production. This trend has hugely affected the demand for caustic soda. - Hence, owing to the above mentioned factors, the demand for caustic soda in Germany is expected to further grow over the forecast period. Competitive Landscape The European caustic soda market is partially consolidated. The major companies of the market studied include Dow, INOVYN, KEM ONE, Nouryon, BorsodChem, among others. Reasons to Purchase this report: - The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format - 3 months of analyst support Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05903712/?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. __________________________ Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 The fierce judge is known among legal circles for her no-holds-barred remarks The former barrister has been a judge in Victoria's County Court for 17 years Youll have six kids by six different mothers,' she told them in court yesterday The mum-of-two warned Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira their lives will be ruined A tough-talking judge who berated two thugs for stabbing drug kingpin Tony Mokbel told the pair they would 'have six kids by six different mums' in a courtroom dressing-down. Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira, both 22, were given seven years in prison for stabbing Mokbel in the exercise yard of Victoria's Barwon Prison in February 2019. In sentencing remarks which have since gone viral, Judge Gaynor told the pair 'no one would care' about their exploits in 20 years time. In fact, it was just one of a series of scathing verbal attacks given to the criminals in the courtroom, something Judge Gaynor has become well-known for. Youll have six kids by six different mothers, and if youre still using [drugs], youll probably assault them. Theyll be kids youll never see,' she lambasted the pair. 'You'll burn off your brothers and sisters who will get sick of you, and the only ones who will care for you are your parents. Judge Elizabeth Gaynor berated Teira Bennett and Eldea Teuira in court yesterday over the prison stabbing of Tony Mokbel 'When you're 40 you see what GFAM and the bros do for you. You'll end up drag-raddled, lonely old men.' The pair, who are members of the gang GFAM, entered Victoria Country Court laughing on Wednesday, but Judge Elizabeth Gaynor was distinctly unimpressed. She painted a grim picture of the lives the men could expect if they continued to offend and suggested they were both cowards for the attack on Mokbel. 'At the end of the day you two young blokes - two on one - mauled and maimed a 53-year old man,' she said. 'Let me tell you, gentleman, in a few years GFAM and the bros are not going to do it for you ... you're going to want a life,' she lambasted Teuira and Bennett in court on Wednesday. 'You may think you're heroes within the jail but do you think in 20 years time that's going to matter?' 'You may think you are heroes standing up for GFAM the way you reckon you did on this occasion, but the only reason you are getting any attention is because it was Tony Mokbel.' Judge Elizabeth Gaynor warned Teira Bennett (pictured) that he would go on to have six kids to six different women if he doesn't turn his life around The former barrister, who has been a judge in Victoria's County Court for 17 years, is known among legal circles for her no-holds-barred approach. Judge Gaynor told A Current Affair in 2018 that her tough stance towards thugs stems from caring for her own children. 'People probably don't think about this, but judges live in the community too. I don't want to live in a community that's unsafe and dangerous and crawling with criminals,' she said. 'I think the community thinks we're out of touch, that we're too soft, that we live in some sort of luxurious gated community. 'You don't want your kids to go to a tough high school because of the mates they might pick up. But imagine the potency of jail - it's a thousand times worse.' Judge Gaynor berated Eldea Teuira (pictured) for his attack on drug lord Tony Mokbel Judge Gaynor said no one comes into the world wanting to be a judge and you would be a 'psycho' if that was the case. She said the courts are under attack from growing public scrutiny. 'I'll read a report of something we've done in the paper and you'd think, if I didn't know what was going on, that the Judge was a complete idiot,' Judge Gaynor said. 'Because that's the way we're presented, as if we have no reason for doing what we do.' Despite her hardened shell, David Galbally QC, who has known Judge Gaynor for years, described the mother-of-two as a 'thoroughly decent human being'. 'She has all the emotions that we all have as human beings,' he said. 'It's very difficult for judges to have to deal with matters like this.' Tony Mokbel (pictured) is treated by paramedics after being attacked in jail in what has been described as a 'snuff movie' Ningro Prampram Member of Parliament (MP), has queried why the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID), has not invited the Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Lawyer Obiri Boahen, over his comment that anyone who is opposed to the compilation of the register, will be beaten. Samuel Nartey George, who was part of some Members of Parliament (MP) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who showed up to support the National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, who was invited by the top hierarchy of Police CID yesterday, for questioning over his comments considered a threat to the Electoral Commission (EC) with respect to its new voters register. How do you invite Bernard Mornah who was advising? What did Bernard Mornah say? He said if you go ahead with this registration at this time, there would be confusion. If there is confusion you will beat us if you beat us you will kill us. How do you invite Bernard Mornah for that but you fail to invite Nana Obiri Boahen. What did Nana Obiri Boahen say? He said anybody who was opposed to this, they will beat you and kill you. Is it because Nana Boahen is a member of the NPP? Why has the police not invited Obiri Boahen or we have two different sets of laws in Ghana? We will continue to resist oppressor rule, he said. Mr George, asked that those of us who believe in justice and those of us who believe in the truth are more than the police and army except they kill all of us. The MPs drove in circles, while honking continuously, around the premises of the police headquarters, in solidarity to with Bernard Mornah Cassiel Ato Forson, Inusah Fuseini, A.B.A. Fuseini, Kwame Agboza, Adam Muntawakilu, Nii LanteVanderpuje, and many others. Mr Mornarh, described his invitation as high-handedness and that he was not guilty. He revealed that his timely intervention prevented a confrontation between his supporters and the police. According to him, but for his peaceful nature, there would have been chaos at the premises of the CID, as, what he termed as the provocative behaviour of the police, almost elicited a reaction from his followers. The police initially prevented Mr Mornah and scores of his supporters, who were accompanying him, from getting close to the Headquarters. Commenting on the development on Eyewitness News, Mr Mornah, accused the police of deliberately trying to foment trouble with his arrest, but his timely intervention ensured that things were normalized without. But for my peaceful nature -when we got to the Fire Service junction, the manner in which the police started stretching forward was like they were ready to kill. If I had allowed the crowd that followed me into the Police Headquarters, I am sure we would be talking about a different scenario. I asked everybody to stay still. If I hadnt done that, it will have led to a collision between them and the police. The police were battle-ready, coming with water canons, armoured cars, and virtually dressed ready to go for jungle warfare. The manner in which they came was provoking the crowd and if the crowd had acted otherwise, I am not sure we would have been talking now. Let it be known, that I have always been peaceful and I have always thought that we should have peace of our own he said. Mr Mornahs supporters, most of whom were clad in red, were marching alongside him to the police headquarters where the PNC Chairman was expected to honour an invitation from the CID, over comments he made concerning the compilation of a new voters register. Some armed police personnel stopped the group at the Police Headquarters traffic light and prevented them from proceeding to the premises. He was, however, discharged after he and his lawyers were subsequently allowed into the premises of the Police Headquarters, following the temporary holdup. An internal police memo which went viral had indicated that the police service had anticipated the crowd which accompanied the PNC chairman to the police headquarters, and hence, deployed a special security team to the area to ensure public order. The CID on Thursday, May 28, 2020, issued the invitation to the PNC National Chairman, who is quoted to have said that he will resist every attempt by the EC to compile a new voters register. People who are already Ghanaians and already registered are going to be taken out of the voters register. Dont think confusion will come at the registration station but if confusion comes there, you think the EC staff will be safe? We will beat each other there and we will kill each other there if that is what the EC wants to lead this nation to, Mr. Mornah is reported to have said at a press conference organized by the Inter-Party Resistance Against New Register (IPRAN) on May 26, 2020. But, Mr Mornah in an earlier interview said he does not see anything threatening about his comment. According to him, his comment was only a piece of adviceto the EC against the compilation of a new register ahead of election 2020. I have said that if the Electoral Commission is intending to lead us through this dangerous path, they should know that there will be confusionIt is a caution. If caution becomes threats, I will not run away from it, he stated. MP for Wa Central, Rashid Pelpuo, said inviting Bernard Mornarh, was unnecessary as his comment was only a word of caution. I think the invitation is wrong. I think its an attempt to gag Bernard Monarh; he is not just a small man. Hes speaking and hes reflecting what exactly can happen to us if we tamper with the new register. It is the heartbeat of our democracy and the government must be warned that in tempering with this it can hurt our democracy we are all striving; and thats just what Mornah was saying. So why will such a thing be a problem to government? he stated. MP for the Adaklu Constituency in the Volta region, Kwame Governs Agbodza said Im here to solidarise with our comrades Bernard Mornah and to force this government to respect the constitution. We are against this tyrannical of Akufo-Addo. We cant even speak in our own country. Mutawakilu Adam, MP for Damango, also raised concerns over Akufo-Addos style of leadership. Akufo-Addo is now more of a dictator than a democrat. Any small utterances that people make they want to subdue the person and make sure the person do not have the right to freedom of speech. We are fighting freedom of speech. He, Nana Addo said all die be die who arrested him? Bernard Monarh, was invited by the police over an alleged inflammatory statement which strongly cautioned the EC of a potential outbreak of political violence at registration centers. The PNC chairman said the likely violence will be as a result of the exclusion of the existing voters ID card from the list of identification requirements for the new voter registration exercise. Source: The Herald 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 WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced the nomination of a 38-year-old judge and ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to serve on a federal appeals court, despite Democrats objections that hes inexperienced and biased against the Obama health care law. The panels 12-10, party-line vote Thursday sets the stage for Justin Walkers likely confirmation in the GOP-controlled Senate. Walker, a protege of both McConnell and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, told senators last month that he will have an open mind on the Affordable Care Act, adding that he was writing as an academic and commentator when he criticized as indefensible a Supreme Court ruling upholding the law. Walker, who was confirmed as a federal judge last fall, declined a request by Senate Democrats to recuse himself on matters related to the health care law if hes confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court is widely considered the second-most powerful in the nation and frequently serves as a launching pad for a seat on the Supreme Court. Four current justices, including Kavanaugh, served on the D.C. circuit. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, called Walkers nomination a travesty and an affront to other, more qualified conservative judges. Walker is not qualified for the job and we all know it, Durbin said. The nomination is moving forward not only as a personal favour to McConnell, but also as a direct attack on the Affordable Care Act in the midst of a public health crisis in America, Durbin said. Durbin and other Democrats say Walkers confirmation could threaten the health of millions of Americans protected by the law known as Obamacare, which the Trump administration is challenging in court. Democrats also complained that the committee was advancing Walkers nomination during the coronavirus crisis and nationwide upheaval over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The seat Walker would take will not be vacant until September. This committee is rushing to confirm a nominee for a vacancy that does not yet exist, said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. McConnell, a longtime family friend who employed Walker as an intern in his Senate office, said that in his short time as a federal judge in the Western District of Kentucky, Walker has wasted no time in expanding his strong reputation for intellectual brilliance, legal acumen and total fairness and impartiality. McConnell and other Republicans praised a ruling by Walker defending a Kentucky churchs right to hold Easter services, despite a stay-at-home order in response to the coronavirus. At his hearing last month, Walker defended comments he made during a March speech in which he lavished praise on Kavanaugh, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 2018 after a bitter partisan fight over allegations of sexual assault and other claims. Walker clerked for Kavanaugh when he was on the D.C. appeals court. In Kavanaughs America, we will not surrender while you wage war on our work, or our cause, or our hope, or our dream, Walker said in the speech, which was attended by McConnell, Kavanaugh and other conservative luminaries. Walker told the Judiciary Committee said he was describing the kind of judge Kavanaugh is, adding that he will defend Kavanaugh and former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy another mentor until the cows come home.? Walker drew a Not Qualified rating from the American Bar Association when Trump nominated him last year to be a federal judge in Kentucky. The group changed its rating just before the May 6 hearing, calling Walker Well Qualified to serve on the appeals court. The group cited Walkers experience as a clerk to Kavanaugh and Kennedy and his six months as a federal trial judge. Walker, a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School, was confirmed as a judge in October. He previously was a lawyer in Louisville and Washington. More than 200 groups, including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP and the National Council on Jewish Women, oppose Walkers nomination, citing his record against expanding access to health care and against safeguards for the environment, consumers and the workplace. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain Thu, June 4, 2020 09:50 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc00f91 2 World Spain,porn-star,mystic-ritual,murder Free A porn star has been arrested on manslaughter charges following a man's death during a mystic ritual in which he inhaled psychedelic toad venom, Spanish police said Wednesday. Nacho Vidal was detained last week in the southeastern Valencia region in connection with the death of a man in July 2019. Media identified the victim as fashion photographer Jose Luis Abad. "The police operation began following the victim's death during the celebration of a mystic ritual based on the inhalation of venom of the bufo alvarius toad," a police statement said. The toad, a rare species which is native to the Sonoran Desert, stretching from northern Mexico into California and Arizona, secretes venom containing a very powerful natural psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT. Its effects have been compared to ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic concoction from the Amazon consumed as part of a shamanic ritual. Following an 11-month inquiry, police arrested Vidal, one of his relatives and an employee on suspicion of manslaughter and crimes against public health. Investigators said they had discovered such rituals were being carried regularly on grounds they offered medicinal benefits. But in reality, this "apparently harmless ancestral ritual" posed a "serious health risk", luring people who were "easily influenced, vulnerable or who were seeking help for illnesses or addictions using alternative methods". Local press said the ceremony took place in the country residence of Vidal, a media-savvy porn star in his mid-40s whose Twitter feed is full of ads for his 25-centimetre aromatic candles of the male genitalia, available in black, white or cerise. JAC Class 8th result 2020 declared: The Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) declared the results of Class 8 examination on Thursday JAC Class 8th result 2020 declared: The Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) declared the results of Class 8 examination on Thursday. After verifying the JAC 8th Result 2020, the headmasters will share the result scorecards or marksheets with the students. The result is now available for Head of Schools on official website of the board, and students can obtain their scorecards from their schools. Therefore, students and parents who were planning to check JAC 8th Class Result 2020 directly will not be able to do so via jacresults.com Around 5 lakh students cleared the class 8 exam successfully. The pass percentage touched 91.60 percent this year. Earlier, Chairman Arvind Singh Prasad had said that the results will be declared on 4 June, following which it will be made available on websites - jac.nic.in , jacresults.com , jac.jharkhand.gov.in and jharresults.nic.in . However, today the result has been made available only to principals of affiliated schools The headmasters can verify the results and later share it with students. A report by The Times of India said that JAC Class 8 examination 2020 was conducted from 24 January. Around 5.12 lakh students appeared for the examination. How to check JAC Class 8 result 2020: Step 1: Headmasters may visit either of the websites jac.nic.in , jacresults.com , jac.jharkhand.gov.in and jharresults.nic.in Step 2: Click on the Class 8 result link Step 3: A new page will open up where you need to log in with the school's affiliation code and other credentials Step 4: The result can then be downloaded and shared with students. JAC had on Tuesday declared the result of Class 9 examination. Around 97 percent of students have passed the examination. The total number of students who had appeared of the exam was 4,17,030 of which 4,06,293 students have cleared it. JAC Class 8 and 9 exam 2020 results were earlier scheduled to be declared in March. They were, however, postponed due to COVID-19 lockdown. Jharkhand Academic Council has also started evaluation of Class 10 and Class 12 exam answer sheets from 28 May. Results of the examinations are expected to be declared in June itself. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a 45-minute meeting with business minister Alok Sharma on Wednesday, just hours before Sharma was taken ill and tested for the coronavirus, Johnson's spokesman said on Thursday. The spokesman said the meeting, also attended by finance minister Rishi Sunak, was socially distanced throughout and that Johnson would follow medical advice if Sharma's COVID-19 test result came back positive. London, June 4 (IANS) Starting June 8, people arriving in the UK will have to go into self-isolation at a designated address for 14 days as a condition of being allowed through frontier posts, Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs. Amid criticism from opposition politicians, Patel on Wednesday insisted that the measure was proportionate and was aimed at preventing COVID-19 being brought into the UK from other countries at a time when coronavirus cases were falling, reports Xinhua news agency. Patel said the quarantine controls, backed by fines of up to 1,000 pounds ($1,260) for breaching the rules, would be reviewed at the end of June and regularly afterwards. The rules will not apply to people arriving in England from Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. As to worries that these restrictions would hit the aviation industry, Patel said in her statement to Parliament that the government understands how tough the public health measures to prevent a second wave of coronavirus are for this sector, noting that it will continue to work closely with companies and carriers. "We will tomorrow (Thursday) host a roundtable to work across the travel sector and the broader business sector as well on how we can innovate and move forward together," she said, adding that "a long-term plan" for the industry will be formed. As for tourism, she said the government knew these measures will present difficulties for the industry, noting that it has an unprecedented package of support for both employees and businesses. "These measures are backed by the science, supported by the public, and essential to save lives... We will all suffer in the long run if we get this wrong. That's why it's crucial that we introduce these measures now," said the Secretary. Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire from main opposition leader Keir Starmer over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starmer said this was a critical week in the UK's response to COVID-19 as lockdown measures were eased with many schools reopening. "This is the week, of all weeks, where public trust and confidence in the government needed to be at its highest," the Labour leader added. The UK has so far registered 281,270 COVID-19 cases, with 39,811 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in Europe. --IANS ksk/ The authorities of Washington have decided to extend the curfew for Wednesday night, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said. The curfew will come into force at 23:00 local time on Wednesday (06:00 Moscow time on Thursday) and will be over at 06:00 Thursday (13:00 Moscow time). "The public safety recommendation has been that we adjust our curfew tonight," she said. "The curfew hours will be from 11 PM to 6 AM." The mayor said the decision on whether to extend the curfew for Thursday night as well will be made later, depending on the situation in the city, TASS reported. Earlier, Bowser imposed a curfew from 23:00 Sunday (06:00 Moscow time Monday) to 06:00 Monday (13:00 Moscow time) due to the unrest caused by the situation surrounding George Floyd's death. On Monday, she extended the curfew for two more nights. Mass unrest has engulfed many U.S. states over the death of an African-American Minneapolis man named George Floyd. He died after a police officer kneeled on his neck and choked him to death while being taken into custody. On May 26, all police officers involved in the deadly arrest were fired and one policeman, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. To counter the riots, local law enforcement is often supported by the U.S. National Guard. So far, approximately 40 cities, including Washington and New York, have enacted a curfew. In horrifying incident involving child labour and gruesome violence, an eight-year-old domestic worker was beaten to death by her employers for accidentally setting their pet parrots free while cleaning the cages, reported PTI. Small Pets The minor girl Zahra worked as domestic help in a couple's home in Rawalpindi. She was taken to Begum Akhtar Rukhsana Memorial Hospital by her employers after being beaten up. However, she succumbed to her injuries. The couple was taken into custody on the same day and will remain there till June 6. Rawat police station officials have stated that Zahra's employers have admitted that both of them had beaten up the minor girl after she unintentionally let their "expensive pet parrots escape from the cage". Eisenberg Rothweiler (Representational image) Based on the FIR that was filed in the Rawat police station, the child suffered from injuries on her face, hands, below her rib cage and legs. It also stated that the child had wounds on her thighs which might suggest that she was sexually assaulted as well. The police are waiting for forensic examination to confirm that. Hailing from Punjab's Kot Addu city, Zahra was employed by the couple four months ago to take care of their one-year-old child. The girl's relatives said that the husband and wife had promised to provide her with an education. Reacting to the incident, Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sherry Rehman said child labour "has to stop". Another PPP leader Sharmila Faruqi also condemned the incident, saying that the "barbarity" of the crime is "sickening". AP Violence against domestic help is unfortunately a common practice in Pakistan, claim reports. Back in 2016, a 10-year-old domestic worker was rescued from the house of a judge after neighbours complained of torture inflicted on the child by her employer. On June 3 at 3:11 p.m. EDT (1911 UTC) NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed Tropical Storm Cristobal using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument. AIRS found coldest cloud top temperatures as cold as or colder than (purple) minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) east of center over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Credit: NASA JPL/Heidar Thrastarson One of the ways NASA observes tropical cyclones is by using infrared data that provides temperature information and indicates storm strength. The AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered that data and revealed Cristobal has the potential to generate heavy rainfall. That rainfall is now soaking Mexico and portions of Central America as Cristobal meanders. At 9:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 3, Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall in the Mexican state over Campeche, just to the west of Ciudad del Carmen. At the time of landfall, maximum winds were estimated to be 60 mph (95 kph) with higher gusts. Since landfall, Cristobal weakened to a depression, and moved very slowly in a southeasterly direction into northwestern Guatemala. As the storm weakened, it expanded, now heavy rainfall is expected in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and Honduras. Damaging and deadly flooding has already been occurring in portions of Mexico and Central America. Cristobal is expected to produce additional extreme rainfall amounts through the end of the week. Colder Cloud Top Temperatures Indicate Strength Cloud top temperatures provide information to forecasters about where the strongest storms are located within a tropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones do not always have uniform strength, and some sides are stronger than others. The stronger the storms, the higher they extend into the troposphere, and the colder the cloud temperatures. NASA provides this infrared data to forecasters at NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) so they can incorporate in their forecasting. That data is reflected in the NHC forecasts of rainfall amounts. On June 3 at 3:11 p.m. EDT (1911 UTC) NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed Tropical Storm Cristobal using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument. AIRS found coldest cloud top temperatures as cold as or colder than minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) south and east of center, over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. NASA research has shown that cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms that have the capability to create heavy rain. A Look at Extreme Rainfall Potential NHC forecasters using infrared and other satellite data noted that Cristobal is expected to produce high rain accumulations through Saturday, June 6. NHC noted,"The Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatan are expected to receive an additional 6 to 12 inches, with isolated storm totals of 25 inches. Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca can expect an additional 5 to 10 inches, while southern Guatemala and parts of Chiapas can expect an additional 15 to 20 inches, and isolated storm total amounts of 35 inches dating back to Saturday, May 30. El Salvador can also expect an additional 10 to 15 inches, with isolated storm total amounts of 35 inches dating back to Saturday, May 30. In Belize and Honduras, an additional 3 to 6 inches with isolated amounts to 10 inches are forecast. Rainfall in all of these areas may produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides." Cristobal on June 4, 2020 NOAA's National Hurricane Center updated Cristobal's status on June 4 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) and noted that since it made landfall on June 3, it had weakened to a depression. The center of Tropical Depression Cristobal was located near latitude 17.6 degrees north and longitude 91.0 degrees west. That places the center of Cristobal about 160 miles (260 km) south-southwest of Campeche, Mexico. The depression is moving toward the east-southeast near 3 mph (6 kph). The estimated minimum central pressure is 998 millibars. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected through tonight [June 4]. Re-intensification is expected to begin on Friday. Cristobal's Forecast Path Forecasters at the NHC said that Cristobal is expected to turn back into the Gulf of Mexico after moving over extreme northwestern Guatemala and eastern Mexico today and tonight. The center is forecast to move back over the southern Gulf of Mexico [June 5] Friday day or Friday night, over the central Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, and approach the northern Gulf of Mexico coast [June 7] Sunday day and Sunday night. Explore further NASA finds heavy rainfall in Tropical Storm Cristobal Congress just passed the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act of 2020 and improved the Paycheck Protection Program (PPPP) for small-business loans. The bill enhances the PPP by increasing the time small businesses can use funds and receive forgiveness from eight weeks to twenty-four weeks and by reducing the payroll cost rule from 75 percent to 60 percent. The President is expected to sign the bill immediately, and the SBA and Treasury will be tasked to update their regulations, guidance and forgiveness application. Under the original law, small businesses who received a PPP loan had eight weeks to use the funds, and so long as they used the loan proceeds for qualifying purposes, the entire loan could be forgiven. This eight-week timeframe is known as the covered period and is the timeframe in which qualified spending of the funds is eligible for forgiveness. Under the new law, the eight-week period was extended to 24 weeks or December 31, 2020, whichever is first. Any funds not used for qualifying purposes within the covered period is not eligible for forgiveness and must be paid back by the small business. Many small businesses had their PPP loans funded in April and May were unable to open back up for business because of legal or health reasons, and others just had a fraction of business demand that they had pre-pandemic. They were seeing their eight weeks pass by while being unable to open back up. These small businesses were being hurt the most by the pandemic, and by extending the covered period to 24 weeks, Congress has greatly improved their ability to use their PPP funds to bring back workers to payroll. Related: SBA Releases PPP Forgiveness Application and Makes Critical Clarifications and Documentation Requirements Steven Nicokiris, CPA, Managing Director and Shareholder with the New York office of CBIZ MHM, LLC, calls the new law a game changer for small businesses in areas affected most by COVD-19. We have several retail and restaurant clients that received PPP loans in early/mid April, and the eight-week covered period will be ending in mid-June," he explains. "Many of these businesses will not even be able to re-open on a limited basis until late June or July or later. Realistically, many NYC businesses will need months to bring back employees in an intelligent manner as their businesses come back to life. The 75 Percent Payroll Cost Requirement Is Reduced to 60 Percent The second-most significant change to PPP is a reduction to the payroll cost rule from 75 percent to 60 percent. This rule required forgiveness requests for a PPP loan to be comprised of at least 75 percent payroll costs, while the other 25 percent can be spent and used on other qualifying forgiveness purposes such as mortgage interest, rent and utilities. By reducing the payroll cost requirement to 60 percent, small business owners will be eligible to have more of their PPP funds forgiven. Many small businesses that had higher rent or mortgage payments were finding it difficult to use 75 percent of their PPP funds within the covered period of eight weeks. Unfortunately, the language in the bill that changed the payroll costs rule to 60 percent specifically stated that this is 60 percent of the loan amount. It reads: An eligible recipient shall use at least 60 percent of the covered loan amount for payroll costs." This language of covered loan amount is a departure from prior SBA guidance which said that 75 percent of the forgiveness request must be for payroll costs. The language from the new bill implies that a small business is only entitled to forgiveness if they use 60 percent of the loan amount on payroll costs. The prior SBA guidance, on the other hand, did not consider the loan amount and instead only looked at the amount a small business requested to be forgiven. Theres a big difference between the two, as you can always reduce the forgiveness request based on what you use to meet the 75 percent requirement, but once you get the loan you cant reduce the loan amount and are stuck at spending 60 percent of that number to get forgiveness at all. For example, under the prior rule, if you received a PPP loan amount of $100,000 and used $50,000 on payroll costs, then under the old 75 percent payroll cost rule you would be able to request forgiveness of the $50,000, as you would just reduce your forgiveness request to match what you spent. Under the new law, the language seems to state that forgiveness would only be available if the small business used at least 60 percent $60,000 in this example on payroll costs and if the small business only spent $50,000 on payroll costs over their 24-week period, then they will be entirely ineligible for loan forgiveness, as they would not have spent 60 percent of the loan amount on payroll costs. The change in the payroll cost rule from 75 percent forgiveness request to 60 percent loan amount will trip up some small businesses who received a large loan amount based on 2.5 months of payroll under a vibrant economy in 2019 and are unable to bring back workers or ramp up business quickly enough to spend 60 percent of the loan amount on payroll costs. House and Senate leaders have already been working with Treasury and SBA to see if they can provide favorable guidance on the rule and have also discussed a follow-up bill to fix it. Bringing Back Workers The original PPP law reduced the amount eligible for forgiveness if the small business did not bring back the same number of employees that they had pre-pandemic. The new law made changes to the requirements on bringing back workers and gives small businesses until December 31, 2020 to restore their workforce to pre-pandemic levels. The bill also created new exceptions to the new law that excuse a business from brining back workers if they can document that they were unable to re-hire a worker (e.g. the worker rejected an offer to return) or a similarly qualified worker. They can also be excused from bringing back their workforce to pre-pandemic levels if they can document a health or safety requirement related to COVID-19 that restricted their business. Related: Which Public Companies Have Returned Their SBA PPP Loans? (Updated) Plan Moving Forward Small businesses who received PPP funds and who were already planning to submit a forgiveness application with their bank will need to wait, as the SBA and Treasury will be updating guidance and the PPP forgiveness application. The good news for many small businesses is that the additional 16 weeks will provide more payroll cycles and will result in more PPP funds being forgiven. The changes to PPP in this new bill are significant and will allow more small businesses to benefit from this popular small-business relief effort. Related: Zoom Is Killing It Financially, Thanks to Remote Work The 4 Most Common Business Setbacks and How to Recover 8 Books for Shifting Your Entrepreneurial Perspective Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved A New York City police officer on an anti-looting patrol was ambushed last night in Brooklyn by a man who walked up behind him and stabbed him in the neck, police said. The stabbing set off a struggle in which the assailant was shot and two other officers suffered gunshot injuries to their hands. The bloodshed happened just before midnight in the hours after an 8pm curfew that was intended to quell unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. 'What we know at this point and time is that it appears to be a completely, cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer and thank God we aren't planning a funeral right now,' said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. Police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot and another stabbed in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City An ambulance drives through the scene where two NYPD cops were shot and another stabbed in Brooklyn last night NYPS cops swarm the scene in Brooklyn last night, after two of their colleagues were shot and another stabbed in the neck All three injured officers were expected to recover. The man who attacked them was shot multiple times and was hospitalized in critical condition, Shea said. He noted that it was one of several attacks on police officers in recent days, including one in which a driver plowed into a police sergeant who was trying to stop looting in the Bronx and a lieutenant who was struck in the helmet by a brick during a brawl with protesters in Manhattan. There were peaceful marches and protests throughout the day Wednesday, but police moved in to break them up when the city's curfew took effect at 8pm. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who appeared with Shea outside the hospital where the officers were being treated, called it a 'very tough night' and lauded the officers for their bravery. Some details of how the attack unfolded were still unclear, but Shea said the man casually approached two officers stationed in the area to prevent looting at around 11.45 am and stabbed one of them. Police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City Police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City A couple watch as police gather at the scene where two New York City police officers were shot in a confrontation late Wednesday evening in Brooklyn last night in New York City Officers a short distance away heard gunshots, rushed to the scene and saw the man with a gun in his hand, believed to have been taken from one of the officers, Shea said. The responding officers then opened fire. The commissioner said 22 shell casings were recovered. He didn't say whether the officers' hand wounds came from the guns of fellow officers. Shea didn't speculate on the motive of the stabber, who was not identified, but Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch blamed anti-police rhetoric during the protests. 'Are we surprised? Are we surprised we're here in the hospital again. Did we doubt because of the rhetoric we're hearing, the anti-police rhetoric that's storming our streets, are we surprised that we got this call? I'm not. We said it's going to happen,' he said. A witness said he saw police 'hiding behind their vehicle' as the shooting unfolded last night. The bloodshed last night happened a block away from a place where demonstrators and police engaged over the weekend in an hours-long standoff, during which a police car was burned and protesters beaten with batons. (Pictured: Protesters gather outside the NYC mayor's residence yesterday) Many took to social media to condemn police officers' heavy handed tactics on peaceful protesters on Wednesday A spokesperson for the mayor's office said Bill de Blasio was on his way to Kings `County Hospital to visit the officers injured last night 'I saw them shooting and then two those officers started hiding behind their vehicle, like they were trying to avoid being shot,' Jean Jones, a resident of Flatbush, told the Post. 'I just heard gunshots, at least 16 if I was being conservative.' Mayor Bill de Blasio was on his way to the hospital to check on the officers, according to a spokesperson for the mayor's office. New York City has been roiled by days of protests over police brutality, and the spot where the shooting took place is just a block away from a place where demonstrators and police engaged over the weekend in an hours-long standoff, during which a police car was burned and protesters beaten with batons. A neighborhood resident, though, said there was no protest in the area at the time of the shooting, and it wasn't clear if there was any connection to the unrest. The area was filled with police personnel and vehicles in the hour after the shooting. Married At First Sight star Stacey Hampton's choice in men has certainly raised eyebrows in the past. And the 26-year-old's latest flame, Michael Fares, is no different. The glassware business owner is filmed shooting an AK-47, holding a semi-automatic rifle and clutching a Viking 9mm handgun in several unearthed photos and videos on his Instagram page. Michael played around with several weapons back in September 2018 during a trip to Lebanon. He was filmed shirtless and shooting an AK-47 to the ground after pulling his large black SUV over to the side of the road. During the trip, he also visited a shooting range, where he posed with a semi-automatic rifle and fondled the trigger of a black Viking 9mm handgun. In March this year, Michael went shooting again during another trip to Lebanon and shared a photo of himself firing a rifle into the air. Stacey's new beau also likes to enjoy wild, exotic getaways with his friends and family. In a post from December 2018, a shirtless Mick posed posed next to a bikini-clad female friend who was holding a giant bottle of Belvedere vodka. He also likes to show off his extensive tattoo collection, which includes a number of inkings over his back, stomach and biceps. Law graduate Stacey was previously in a relationship with Rebels bikie boss, Shane Michael Smith, who she split with back in 2017. The former couple share two children: Kosta, four, and Kruz, two. Speaking to WHO magazine earlier this year, she said of her ex: 'He's honestly the greatest person and I think he's ashamed of his past.' 'I met him when I was really young, 19, through mutual friends and I wasn't aware of his lifestyle but I fell for him so quickly,' she continued. 'At the time, I didn't realise he actually had charges from ages ago that had come up - assault charges.' Shane - who is the Rebels' Adelaide president - was convicted of bashing two nightclub bouncers back in 2017. Stacey also endured a bitter split with her TV 'husband' Michael Goonan earlier this year, following a very short romance. The couple called it quits after she was accused of cheating with her co-star Mikey Pembroke. Michael had previously been accused of cheating with another co-star, Hayley Vernon. They both denied their alleged infidelities. Michael has since moved on with another co-star, KC Osborne. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Stacey Hampton for comment. A third man has appeared before the Special Criminal Court charged with involvement in the attempted murder of Christy Keane by the Limerick-based McCarthy-Dundon crime gang. Noel Price, 42, of Kileely Road, Kileely, Limerick appeared before the three-judge non-jury court, this Thursday, where he was charged with, having knowledge of the existence of the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation, he assisted in making available a vehicle to that criminal organisation with the intention of facilitating the attempted murder of Christy Keane or being reckless as to same. The offence is alleged to have occurred between June 27 and June 29 2015. Detective Garda Barry Moylan of Henry Street Garda Station told solicitor Michael O'Donovan for the Director of Public Prosecutions that he arrested Mr Price at 11am in a holding cell at the Criminal Courts of Justice building on Parkgate Street in Dublin. He said he explained the charge in ordinary language and that Mr Price made no comment. The defendant, who is already in custody in relation to other matters, will appear again before the Special Criminal Court on Friday June 12. Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, directed that he appear by video link. On Wednesday, two other men also appeared before the Special Criminal Court after they were charged in connection with the shooting which took place in a car park near the UL Arena on June 29, 2015. John Costello, 39, of Hennessy Avenue, Kileely, is charged with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, to wit the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation, and that he provided transport to persons with the intention of facilitating the commission of the attempted murder of Christy Keane Larry McCarthy, 42, of Tower Lodge, Old Cork Road, Limerick, is charged with making a vehicle available to a criminal organisation, the McCarthy-Dundons, in the attempted murder of Mr Keane, between June 27 and June 29, 2015. The alleged offences come under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has harshly criticised Jewish West Bank settler leaders for disparaging President Donald Trump over what they perceive to be his less than adequate plan allowing Israel to annex parts of the West Bank. Despite what is widely viewed as a pro-Israel peace plan, settler leaders have voiced concern that the maps they have seen leave many settlements as isolated enclaves. They also reject any recognition of a Palestinian state, as outlined in the US plan, and have pressed Mr Netanyahu to make changes. On Wednesday, David Elhayani, chairman of the umbrella Yesha Council representing the settlers, told the Haaretz daily that the plan proved Mr Trump was not a friend of Israel. Mr Netanyahu, having just met settler leaders to hear their grievances, lashed back. President Trump is a great friend of Israels. He has led historic moves for Israels benefit, Mr Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday. It is regrettable that instead of showing gratitude, there are those who are denying his friendship. Speaker of Parliament Yariv Levin, who has been involved in implementing the plan, went even further, calling Mr Elhayanis remarks rude and irresponsible. He said they exhibited an ungratefulness that was particularly damaging at a time when there was an important effort to advance the historic process of applying sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. Mr Netanyahu has announced that he will annex parts of the West Bank, including the strategic Jordan Valley and dozens of Jewish settlements, in line with Mr Trumps Mideast plan. He has signalled he will begin moving forward with annexation next month. The US plan envisions leaving about one third of the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967, under permanent Israeli control, while granting the Palestinians expanded autonomy in the remainder of the territory. The Palestinians, who seek all of the West Bank as part of an independent state, have rejected the plan, saying it unfairly favours Israel. They have already cut off key security ties with Israel and say they are no longer bound to agreements signed. On Thursday, the Palestinians announced they would refuse to accept the tax money Israel routinely collects for them. The moves have raised concerns of a return to violence if the plan is actually carried out. The annexation plan has also come under harsh criticism from some of Israels closest allies, who say that unilaterally redrawing the Mideast map would destroy any lingering hopes for establishing a Palestinian state and reaching a two-state peace agreement. Madeleine McCann's parents 'still continue to hope' their daughter is alive despite a German prosecutor saying police believe she is dead, their spokesman said today. Kate and Gerry McCann are being comforted at home in Rothley, Leicestershire, by close relatives and being kept updated on developments by Scotland Yard officers. It comes as a new suspect, German sex offender Christian Brueckner, is now being linked to the girl's abduction in 2007 in Portugal in a 'significant breakthrough'. Kate and Gerry McCann are pictured at a Child Rescue Alert event in London in October 2014 Christian Brueckner (left) is the new key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case. In 2013 police released a photofit (right) of a man seen lurking near the McCanns' apartment McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell told MailOnline: 'German police say they are assuming that Madeleine is dead but they have no proof. British police are keeping an open mind and Portuguese police are reacting with caution too. 'So Kate and Gerry still fervently hope that Madeleine will be found alive despite everything that appears to be happening. They continue to hope she is alive until they can be shown incontrovertible evidence which proves that she is not.' He added: 'But they are being realistic and simply want to know what has happened to their daughter and establish the truth, and for those responsible to be brought to justice. 'They will wait to hear what the police tell them. They want a resolution and after all these years they want peace.' At a press conference in Braunschweig today, a prosecutor's office spokesman confirmed that the 43-year-old jailed rapist is being investigated for murder. Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said today that German authorities are 'assuming that the girl is dead' McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchel (pictured on ITV's This Morning today) has told MailOnline that Madeleine's parents 'still continue to hope' their daughter is alive Mr Mitchell said that of 'all the thousands of leads in the past nothing is as clear cut as this latest one,' adding: 'Three police forces are saying he is the key suspect. It is the most significant development.' A friend of heart doctor Mr McCann, 51, and former GP turned medical worker Mrs McCann, 52, said the couple had 'mixed emotions' as they await possible news of their daughter's fate after more than 13 years. The friend said: 'It's a difficult and nerve wracking time for them and the whole family. Of course they want to find Madeleine alive but after all this time they just need answers.' Former headteacher Brian Kennedy, 80, Mrs McCann's uncle who lives in the same village as them, has been to visit the couple and their 15-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to offer some 'support and comfort'. It is understood Mr McCann has had time off work from Leicester's Glenfield Hospital as the family remain behind closed doors. The last photograph taken of Madeleine McCann shows her smiling next to her little sister Amelie and their father Gerry at 1.30pm on May 3 in Portugal, the day she went missing Mr Kennedy said yesterday's bombshell revelation from the Metropolitan Police had came 'as much a surprise to us as everyone else.' Madeleine McCann is pictured during the family's holiday in Praia Da Luz in 2007 Mr and Mrs McCann had been sworn to secrecy and were told not to share any news even with close family, their friend said. Brueckner is said to be serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005. He is known to have lived on the Algarve coast between 1995 and 2007 and his Portuguese mobile phone received a half-hour phone call in Praia da Luz around an hour before Madeleine, three, went missing. Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said today: 'In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on May 3 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder. We are assuming that the girl is dead. 'With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence.' He said the man was regularly living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, where he worked jobs, including in the gastronomy business, but funded his lifestyle by committing crimes, including thefts in hotel complexes and apartments, as well as drug dealing. The farmhouse where the new prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance lived was located just two miles from where she went missing from her family's holiday apartment Christian Hoppe, from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told the country's ZDF television channel last night he is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for 'sexual contact with girls'. German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung reported the suspect was convicted of rape in Braunschweig District Court in December last year. German magazine Der Spiegel reported he was extradited from Portugal in 2017 and initially convicted of drug trafficking. Mr Hoppe said German police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine. The suspect's battered camper van. Scotland Yard released images of the VW T3 Westfalia van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting, with a Portuguese registration plate He added that the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex - where Madeleine was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie - before spontaneously kidnapping her. A BKA appeal said: 'There is reason to assume that there are other persons, apart from the suspect, who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left.' Scotland Yard said the suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007. He is believed to have been driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine's disappearance and is thought to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after May 3. The 43-year-old German prime suspect lived in the rented building on a remote hillside along a footpath that runs from above the beach where Madeleine and her family played on holiday He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007. The day after Madeleine went missing, the suspect had the car re-registered in Germany under someone else's name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal. Both vehicles have been seized by German police, who said there is information to suggest the suspect may have used one of them in an offence. The BKA is also appealing for other potential victims to come forward. Scotland Yard has launched a joint appeal with the BKA and the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria (PJ), including a 20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for Madeleine's disappearance. The Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, during a family holiday with her parents and younger twin siblings The Met's investigation has identified more than 600 people as potentially significant and was tipped off about the German national, already known to detectives, following a 2017 appeal 10 years after she went missing. She vanished shortly before her fourth birthday and would have turned 17 last month. The Met's Operation Grange, which had received 12.3 million in funding up to April since it was launched in 2013, still considers the case a missing person inquiry. Detectives said there is no 'definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead'. Downing Street said the latest developments appeared to be significant and added that Number 10's thoughts were with the McCann family 'who have had to endure so much'. Zak Brown does not think other active drivers will follow Fernando Alonso in combining Formula 1 with a bid to win the fabled Indy 500. McLaren is unique among the ten F1 teams in also having an Indycar operation. Spaniard Alonso skipped Monaco in 2017 to contest his first Indy 500 and, now retired from F1, he intends to race again this year. "That's pretty difficult - not that today's drivers couldn't do it," Brown, McLaren's supremo, told the Indy Star newspaper. "Someone like Lando Norris I think would love to do Indy, but to just throw him in cold for the race would be ill-advised." But Brown thinks Alonso could manage to combine F1 and the Indy 500 again if he returns to the sport next year. The 38-year-old is linked with the 2021 Renault seat. "If he does Formula 1 next year, you could see him, with his experience at Indy coming off this year, just jumping in at Indy and having the experience to be competitive and be safe," he said. But he thinks other drivers would struggle. "Not only do I have doubts at how competitive that situation would be, it's also a bit dangerous. I just don't think it's enough track time to deem it a wise decision." (GMM) The Supreme Court on Thursday took a dim view of the unilateral decisions being taken by each state in the National Capital Region (NCR) on their whims, and said a uniform and consistent policy must be framed for inter-state movement of people. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan cited the bunch of petitions that highlighted the difficulties faced by commuters on borders of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the NCR, and said a consistent view was imperative. The bench, which included Justices Sanjay K Kaul and MR Shah, said that the recommendation is that there should be one pass recognised in the NCR and this one pass should be recognised by all states. The bench emphasised on 'One policy, One path and One portal' for allowing movement of people across borders in the NCR. The bench, in its order, stated that "all state officials shall endeavour to find out a common programme and portal for inter-state movement in the NCR." It asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure a meeting by officials of all the states involved will be convened within a week to decide a common portal for inter-state movement in NCR. The top court asked Centre, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to come up with a uniform policy and regulations, and submit their response within a week. The court will take up the matter next week. Meanwhile, Anil Grover, Additional Advocate General for Haryana government, informed the bench that it has lifted all restrictions on the borders with other states in the NCR. There was no lawyer appearing for the government of Delhi in this matter even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday announced sealing of its borders with the adjoining states amid the rising coronavirus cases in the national capital. The Delhi government then embarked upon an exercise of inviting suggestions from the citizens of Delhi. Subsequent phases will see the reopening of some indoor spaces and the return of such cancelled features as fireworks displays and the rides. Not until the final phase will group events be allowed to return to the pier and the new hotel, The Sable at Navy Pier, be allowed to open. Two Congress lawmakers have resigned from the Gujarat assembly and brought down the partys tally in the 182-member House to 66 ahead of the June 19 elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from the state. The resignations prompted the Congress to divide its remaining legislators into seven groups and rush them to different places in the state to prevent further desertions until the polling is held, party functionaries aware of the matter said. The Gujarat seats are going to the polls along with 20 others across the country. A party needs 35 first preference votes to win a seat as the strength of the Gujarat assembly is now 173. Five Congress legislators earlier resigned from the assembly in March. Two more seats remain vacant in the state assembly because of litigation due to poll-related disputes. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 103 seats needs two more votes to win three of the four Rajya Sabha seats. The Congress is banking on Bharatiya Tribal Partys two, the lone legislator of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and independent lawmaker Jignesh Mevani to win two seats. The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramilaben Bara, and Narhari Amin. Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki are the Congresss candidates. Gujarat assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi said Congress legislators Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met him on Wednesday evening to handover their resignations. I have accepted their resignations. They now cease to be the legislators, he said on Thursday. Congress leader Ahmed Patel accused the BJP of horse-trading amid the Covid-19 crisis. Isnt Gujarat government the only one in the world where: 1) Government has abandoned people in the middle of a global pandemic? 2) Refused to fund train fare for poor migrants? 3) But leaves no stone unturned to fund horse-trading activities for a Rajya Sabha election? he tweeted. Paresh Dhanani, the opposition leader in the Gujarat assembly, also accused the BJP of breaking the Congress to win the Rajya Sabha polls. The BJP has opened its shop to buy Congress legislators from the money amassed through corrupt means. The BJP is using the state machinery and money power to win elections, he said. The BJP rejected the allegations, saying Congress legislators were leaving the party as they were unhappy with its leadership. I believe that some more Congress legislators would also resign in the near future. They are leaving Congress because they are unhappy with the party leadership, Amin said. Congress legislators Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala cross-voted in favour of the BJP when it fielded external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Jugal Thakor for Rajya Sabha in July last year. The two seats were left vacant after Union ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to Parliaments lower House, or Lok Sabha. Ahmed Patel managed to get re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time in August 2017 after a keenly contested election. The Rajya Sabha elections were earlier scheduled to be held on March 26, but were deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent imposition of the nationwide lockdown to check its spread from March 25. The NCP has separately removed its Gujarat chief Shankersinh Vaghela and appointed Jayant Patel in his place. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Meghan Markles anti-racism speech to students at her former high school was delivered without notes, and after she had conversations with community figures about the killing of George Floyd. Floyd was killed in Minneapolis after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Meghan, 38, had not previously spoken out about the killing, having mothballed the social media account she shared with her husband Prince Harry when they were senior royals. They have not launched a new, personal social media presence yet and have been speaking through charities since they moved to LA. But Meghan broke her silence on Wednesday as she addressed the graduating class of Immaculate Heart High School, which she attended as a teenager. A friend of the Duchess told Newsweek: "As you can probably tell, it's pretty raw and she spoke without notes. "But she's been having lots of conversations about the issue before filming. "Both her and Harry have been having private calls with community figures about everything, so I'm sure that helped form her view." Meghan told women in South Africa she was there as a woman of colour. (WireImage) Read more: Meghan Markle shares devastation at George Floyds death in speech to her former LA high school The duchess admitted she had struggled to know what to say, adding: I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldnt, or that it would get picked apart, and I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Meghan told the students at her old school about her own experiences of seeing race riots in LA when she was a teenager, and told them she was sorry they had to grow up with the same things happening. But she encouraged them to treat what is happening as history, and to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. She also urged them to vote, a comment which might have been seen as too political were she still a senior royal. She said: You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice. You are going to use your voice in a stronger way than youve ever been able to do, because most of you are 18, or youre going to turn 18, so youre going to vote. Story continues Meghan and Harry left the UK after stepping down as senior royals. (Getty Images) Read more: Full transcript of Meghan Markle's impassioned anti-racism speech given to students at former high school A spokesman for the couple told Harpers Bazaar: "She felt compelled to directly address and speak to these young women about whats happening in this country right now around the killing of George Floydas well as whats been happening over many, many years and many, many generations to countless other black Americans." A source added: This is something that is incredibly personal to Meghan, especially given everything she has experienced. And as a couple it is, of course, very important. They are both feeling it, just like the rest of us. One of those who graduated virtually tweeted: Im crying. im crying blm gia (@hyunsukspmoclip) June 4, 2020 Its not the first time Meghan has addressed racial issues. In one significant moment as a senior royal, she told a group of women facing gender-based violence in South Africa: On one personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the Royal Family, I want you to know that for me, I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour, and as your sister. Veterinary researcher to use $3 million-plus NIH grant to develop vaccines for several tick-borne diseases Thursday, June 4, 2020 Roman Ganta, professor of diagnostic medicine and director of Kansas State University's Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases. | Download this photo. MANHATTAN Roman Ganta, director of the Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseasesin the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, has received a $3.125 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his longtime work on tick-borne diseases. This is the second major highly competitive NIH R01 grant secured by Ganta within a year. The research focus for this grant is to develop vaccines against several important tick-borne diseases that affect human and animal health. Previously, Ganta has received several grants from the NIH under the R01 research grant program: $2.7 million in 2019, $1.8 million in 2014, $1.8 million in 2007, and $1.7 million in 2002. Ganta also received NIH funding through P20, R13 and R56 grants. The goals of Ganta's research with the previously funded grants are to study pathogenesis, host immune response and develop novel genetic tools to combat human monocytic ehrlichiosis, or HME, caused by the rickettsial bacterium, Ehrlichia chaffeensis. With new funding, Ganta will work to develop vaccines against HME and other important tick-borne diseases caused by several Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species pathogens. "Tick-borne diseases have been continuously emerging in the U.S. and many parts of the world for over four decades and remain a threat to the health of people, dogs and farm animals," said Ganta, a professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology. Ganta's research at K-State since 1998 remains at the forefront in tackling various tick-borne diseases with a primary focus on pathogenesis, surveillance, diagnosis and disease prevention with funding received from federal, foundation and industry sources. He credits the successful progress that he and his research team have made over the last two decades in securing a second NIH R01 grant even while the other grant is still active. "Our prior NIH-funded studies have demonstrated the feasibility of developing live attenuated vaccines for the first time for Ehrlichia species pathogens," Ganta said. "Live attenuated vaccine development is feasible using our recently patented technology of targeted mutagenesis that is broadly applicable for several rickettsial diseases caused by Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species pathogens. This is the foundation for the new five-year NIH grant." Ganta anticipates making substantial progress toward developing vaccines that will be suitable to combat various tick-borne diseases affecting the health of people, dogs and various vertebrate hosts. Ganta has been continuously funded by the NIH to pursue research on HME since 2002 and the latest grant pushes that funding to 2025. Ongoing NIH-funded research supports investigations on how Ehrlichia chaffeensis regulates its gene expression in response to tick and vertebrate host environmental signals and how it develops strategies to evade host immunity for its persistent survival in vertebrate hosts and ticks. London [UK], June 4 (ANI): Altaf Hussain, the founder and leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has appealed to the US Pentagon to stop civilian and military aid to Pakistan in order to end misery, agony and sufferings of minority people of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. In a letter addressed to the US government, Hussain said, "Pakistan has occupied militarily three provinces of the country namely Sindh, Balochistan, KPK and Gilgit-Baltistan region and their barbaric and brutal repression is still going on." "Time has come to ask your powerful decision-makers to stop civilian and military aid to Pakistan in order to end misery, agony and sufferings of people of Sindh, Balochistan, KPK and Gilgit-Baltistan," the letter read. Referring to the ongoing protests over the killing of African American man George Floyd in the US state of Minnesota, Hussian said that the administration officials are trying their level best to bring improvements in police excesses to promote harmony amongst the people and to eradicate racism through-out the USA. "Protest in more than 50 cities, lawlessness and violence is unprecedented. For every misery, pain and suffering there are lessons to be learned for every peaceful and democratic member of the free world," he said. "But unfortunately, decision-makers of past and present US administration are persistently failed to understand the sufferings of people of Pakistan and for one reason or other the Pakistani despotic regimes of past and present are being supported ignoring the fact that they are the most racist and brutal in the world," he added further. The Pakistan Army is the creator of Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and hundreds of other Jihadi outfits where thousands of religious fanatics and terrorists are being trained as strategic assets of ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), said Hussain. He also noted that Pakistan's powerful military and its intelligence agencies under the camouflage of so-called democratic civilian government is one of the most repressive in the world. Despite all these realities the US administration and other international financial institution including World Bank and IMF are the main financial supporter of Pakistan which is also known as epi-centre of all sorts of terrorism, Hussain said in the letter. (ANI) VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2020 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV:AZT)(OTCQB:AZZTF), pursuant to its new corporate strategy, is focusing this year on drilling the famous Tombstone silver-gold-zinc-lead-copper district located in southeastern Arizona. Aztec holds an option to acquire a 75% interest in the Tombstone property which includes many of the original patented mining claims in the district. Aztec recently completed a 4 line, 7.1 km AMT geophysical survey over the Tombstone property to detect conductive and resistive bodies down to 1,000 m depths, well below the historic underground mines. Management is now conducting a comprehensive review of all exploration data to prioritize targets for the next phase of exploration at Tombstone but it is clear there are two main types of exploration targets: 1) shallow, bulk tonnage, "heap leach"-type, epithermal gold-silver oxide mineralization, and 2) deeper, high grade, "Taylor"-style carbonate replacement silver-lead-zinc-copper-gold deposits (CRD) Aztec CEO, President and Chief Geologist Joey Wilkins commented, "Now the silver price is back above $18 per oz, it is a great time to own an historic silver mining district! Aztec has generated several exciting new targets at Tombstone over the past three years through its systematic exploration programs as well as methodical evaluation of historic exploration and production results. The close proximity and geological similarity of the Tombstone district to the Hermosa silver district 60 kilometers (37 miles) away which hosts the recent "Taylor" discovery prompted us to take a hard look at new geological interpretations for the Tombstone district." Tombstone Project Overview The Tombstone project is located 100 kilometers (km) southeast of Tucson, Arizona and covers much of the historic Tombstone silver district. Tombstone is renowned for its high grade, oxidized, silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper epithermal and CRD mineralization hosted in veins, mantos, pipes and disseminated orebodies that were mined in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Host rocks to the mineralization were primarily clastic sediments of the Cretaceous Bisbee Formation. Below 200 meters (m) in depth, the Bisbee is underlain by the same Paleozoic limestone formations that host the Taylor zinc-lead-silver deposit located 60 km southwest of Tombstone. Taylor was discovered by Arizona Mining in 2015 and they accepted a takeover bid from South32 Limited in 2018. (view Tombstone Map - Location, Regional Geology, and Mines here). Although the historic silver mines at Tombstone were generally small, Aztec believes they could be related to much larger epithermal and CRD orebodies below the old mines. Since 2017, Aztec has completed geological mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveying to identify the most prospective areas for epithermal gold-silver mineralization around and below the Contention open pit, and CRD zinc-lead-copper-silver-gold mineralization below the entire district. Tombstone Project Highlights Well located property on patented land (164 hectares), covers much of the historic Tombstone silver mining district, great infrastructure, local town, road access, full services, water, power on patented land (164 hectares), covers much of the historic Tombstone silver mining district, great infrastructure, local town, road access, full services, water, power Historic silver district produced 32 million oz silver from 1878-1939, in high grade, oxidized, silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper vein and CRD deposits, and small open pit heap leach production in late 1980's produced 32 million oz silver from 1878-1939, in high grade, oxidized, silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper vein and CRD deposits, and small open pit heap leach production in late 1980's Seven prospective target s in Cretaceous and Paleozoic rocks related to major NW and NNE trending structures hosting porphyritic intrusions crosscutting a possible caldera ring structure s in Cretaceous and Paleozoic rocks related to major NW and NNE trending structures hosting porphyritic intrusions crosscutting a possible caldera ring structure Main high-grade target is a potential bulk-tonnage carbonate replacement deposit in Paleozoic limestones similar to the Taylor discovery (100 million tonnes of 10% Zinc Equivalent) located 60 km southwest of Tombstone (mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization hosted on the Company's property) is a potential bulk-tonnage carbonate replacement deposit in Paleozoic limestones similar to the Taylor discovery (100 million tonnes of 10% Zinc Equivalent) located 60 km southwest of Tombstone (mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization hosted on the Company's property) Distinct magnetic anomalies confirm multiple target areas, Contention pit hosts dikes along strongest structure, excellent potential for CRD deposits with similar geology to the "Taylor" deposit confirm multiple target areas, Contention pit hosts dikes along strongest structure, excellent potential for CRD deposits with similar geology to the "Taylor" deposit Aztec high-grade samples in Contention Pit, grade up to 3,178 gpt silver and 23.5 gpt gold, epithermal stockwork mineralization open along strike. Out of 94 samples collected from within the pit, silver ranges between <0.1 and 3,178 gpt (114.5 average) and gold ranges <0.005 and 23.5 gpt (1.60 gpt average) in Contention Pit, grade up to 3,178 gpt silver and 23.5 gpt gold, epithermal stockwork mineralization open along strike. Out of 94 samples collected from within the pit, silver ranges between <0.1 and 3,178 gpt (114.5 average) and gold ranges <0.005 and 23.5 gpt (1.60 gpt average) *Historic shallow mining at Contention pit for epithermal gold-silver mineralization, historic drilling by USMX around the pit returned multiple intersections including 1.61 gpt Au, 91.2 gpt Ag over 44.2m (see the Company's news release dated September 18, 2018 " Aztec Minerals Acquires Late 1980's-Early 1990's Drilling and Trenching Data for the Tombstone Project, Arizona" for further disclosure on USMX drilling) at Contention pit for epithermal gold-silver mineralization, historic drilling by USMX around the pit returned multiple intersections including 1.61 gpt Au, 91.2 gpt Ag over 44.2m (see the Company's news release dated September 18, 2018 " for further disclosure on USMX drilling) *Historic deep drilling for CRD mineralization returned multiple intersections grading up to 32 gpt silver, 0.61% copper, 6.5% lead and 2.6% zinc over 7.2m core length * In 1989, before open pit mining commenced, Santa Fe Gold drilled 4,803 m in 7 core holes mostly along the western property boundary to test the district for deeper, high grade CRD polymetallic mineralization. Every hole intersected semi-massive sulfide CRD mineralization over narrow widths and one hole (T-8) drilled below the north Contention pit intersected broader, high grade CRD mineralization as follows: 0.61 m @ 409 gpt silver and 8.4% lead-zinc in hole T-1 0.91 m @ 917 gpt silver and 2.9% lead-zinc in hole T-4 0.15 m @ 879 gpt silver, 0.81% copper and 20.5% lead-zinc in hole T-6 7.16 m @ 32 gpt silver, 0.61% copper and 9.1% lead-zinc in hole T-8 These Santa Fe drill intercepts clearly indicate the presence of high grade, CRD, silver-gold-copper-lead-zinc mineralization below the historic mines at Tombstone and most of Aztec's property is undrilled and remains open at depth. * In 1993, after open pit mining had ceased, USMX drilled 7,350 m in 86 shallow RC holes around the north end of the Contention pit to delineate shallow, bulk tonnage epithermal gold-silver mineralization. No drilling was conducted below the pit floor or the south end. Historic drilling highlights were as follows: 44.2 m @ 1.61 gpt gold and 91.2 gpt silver in hole TR-01 68.6 m @ 1.42 gpt gold and 28.6 gpt silver in hole TR-02 38.1 m @ 1.73 gpt gold and 35.3 gpt silver in hole TR-08 35.1 m @ 1.54 gpt gold and 24.1 gpt silver in hole TR-12 30.5 m @ 2.65 gpt gold and 37.6 gpt silver in hole TR-41 41.1 m @ 1.20 gpt gold and 49.1 gpt silver in hole TR-70 These USMX drill intercepts clearly indicate the presence of bulk tonnage, epithermal oxide gold-silver mineralization around the north end of the Contention pit and most of the pit remains undrilled on Aztec's property. (view Tombstone - Historic Drill Highlights here). *Aztec has not verified these historic drill results and is not relying on them. Aztec has in its possession the historic drill logs, maps and reports but does not have any information on the quality assurance or quality control measures taken in connection with these historical exploration results. Aztec plans to commence the next phase of exploration work at Tombstone, including core and/or reverse circulation drilling, and down-hole geophysical surveying in the deeper holes, in the 3rd quarter, 2020. Joey Wilkins, B.Sc., P.Geo." the President and CEO of Aztec, is the Qualified Person who reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release. The TSX Venture Exchange has approved the issuance of 300,000 warrants as a loan bonus which was announced in Aztec's News Release dated May 22, 2020 pursuant to $60,000 in loans from two insiders and a strategic investor. The loans bear an interest of 12% per annum and have a term of 6 months, which Aztec can prepay without penalty. The bonus warrants have an exercise price of $0.20 per share and expire on June 3, 2021. "Joey Wilkins" Joey Wilkins, Chief Executive Officer Aztec Minerals Corp. About Aztec Minerals - Aztec is a mineral exploration company focused on the discovery of large gold-copper deposits in the Americas. Our core asset is the prospective Cervantes porphyry gold-copper property in Sonora, Mexico. The historic, district-scale Tombstone properties host both bulk tonnage epithermal gold-silver as well as CRD silver-lead-zinc mineralization in Cochise County, Arizona. Aztec's shares trade on the TSX-V stock exchange (symbol AZT) and on the OTCQB (symbol AZZTF). For more information, please contact: Joey Wilkins, President and CEO or Bradford Cooke, Chairman Tel: (604) 685-9770 Fax: (604) 685-9744 Email: joey@aztecminerals.com Website: www.aztecminerals.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 or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects" or "it is expected", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE: Aztec Minerals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/592671/Aztec-Focuses-on-Drilling-the-Tombstone-Silver-District-in-2020 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is in talks with a rival to Huawei Technologies Co. as Boris Johnsons officials revise the British governments stance toward China in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic. Officials spoke with Japanese technology company NEC Corp. in May as part of efforts to diversify the range of equipment providers for the U.K.s fifth-generation mobile networks, a person familiar with the matter said. The government is also looking at Samsung Electronics Co Ltd as a possible option to provide crucial 5G infrastructure, the person said. The aim is to move the country away from reliance on Huawei, in the face of growing political opposition within Britains ruling Conservative Party and wariness toward China among the U.K.s international allies. Johnson gave the Shenzhen-based telecommunications giant the green light to supply parts of the 5G networks in January, a move that angered U.S. President Donald Trump who had called for the company to be banned. But the prime minister and his close team have become far more skeptical of China since the Covid 19 crisis hit the U.K., as have others in his party. Tories, including officials in the administration, have been critical of Beijing over Chinas handling of the initial stages of the coronavirus outbreak. Tory Revolt Government officials now believe it will be impossible to stop a revolt from Tory members of Parliament blocking Huaweis involvement in 5G mobile networks when the government brings forward legislation later this year, people familiar with the matter said. The political reality of opposition to Huawei has made it urgent for Johnsons ministers to push ahead with finding alternative providers so the country does not need to rely on Huawei for 5G systems in the longer term, the people said. Huawei equipment currently makes up about a third of Britains 4G mobile broadband antennas, and rules introduced in January meant it would be able to supply up to 35% of those for 5G, as well as full fiber broadband. Story continues Officials have been ordered to draw up plans to phase out the Chinese companys involvement in U.K. 5G networks by 2023. But no single company can currently step in to replace Huawei entirely, which is why the government is looking to a range of companies to diversify the supply chain and end reliance on a handful of mobile network providers. The discussions between the government and NEC focused on bringing the company into the U.K.s 5G market, at first potentially through a trial program to develop technical capabilities, called 5G Create. A person familiar with the matter said the move showed the government is serious about diversifying the market and moving away from reliance on Huawei. More Talks Samsung, which currently has no 5G equipment in U.K. moble networks, will be invited in for talks with the government soon as part of the wider bid to diversify the network supply chain, the person said. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is leading the work as part of a 200 million pound ($252 million) 5G trials program to develop the U.K.s mobile network infrastructure. The company declined to comment. NEC are currently involved in various 5G activities in different parts of the world but we are not able to comment on this specific project, a spokesperson for NEC said in an email. U.S. officials have urged allies to ban Huawei from 5G networks on security grounds, arguing that its equipment could be used by Chinese spies, something the company has always denied. U.K. digital security officials are reviewing the role of Huawei in light of the U.S. governments recent additional sanctions on the company, which could have a significant impact on British networks. The security and resilience of our networks is of paramount importance, a government spokesperson said. Boris Johnson Offers 3 Million Hong Kong Residents Haven in U.K. At the same time, Johnsons team is responding to a broader shift in the Wests stance toward China. Political tensions have grown in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. Chinas plan to introduce a new security law in Hong Kong, a former British colony, has also provoked dismay in London. Johnson has called on Beijing to back down but warned hell give as many as 3 million people the chance to seek refuge in the U.K. if the new security law is imposed on Hong Kong. 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. Applications from migrants in Mumbai to head back to their home states have dried up, with only one more Shramik special train expected to leave the city. As per information provided by Maharashtra government, a total of 837 trains have left from the state till Thursday, with around 12 lakh stranded passengers, mostly migrant labourers. The last scheduled train for Manipur is set to leave from Mumbai as soon as the Manipur government permits the same. A total of 837 Shramik trains have left from Maharashtra with around 12 lakh migrants. One last scheduled train will leave from Mumbai with around 1,000 migrants for Manipur. There is no more demand at present. If we get more applications, we will ask for more trains in the future, said Amitabh Gupta, principal secretary (home special). Incessant rains in Manipur have disrupted train services and Shramik trains have been forced to stop at Guwahati. We will send the remaining migrants as soon as the Manipur government gives the go-ahead, Gupta said. Around 8 lakh people have also left the state in buses and cars. A senior Maharashtra police official said, A huge number of migrants, several lakhs, who did not register with us have left on foot or in trucks and tempos. Actor Sonu Sood also helped over 1,000 migrants to return to their home state. The entire exercise of sending back labourers, which began on May 2, witnessed several incidents of migrants dying in road and train accidents or due to heart attacks. Migrants also died onboard the Shramik trains due to dehydration. Constable rushes to donate blood to girl amid cyclone Aakash Gaikwad, a constable from Tardeo police station was lauded by home minister Anil Deshmukh for donating blood to a 14-year-old girl for her open heart surgery at Hinduja Hospital on Wednesday. Due to the cyclone and Covid-19 positive cases, doctors and the teens family were finding it difficult to get blood. Gaikwad rushed to their help after learning about it. No case of gathering in public Mumbai Police on Wednesday lodged seven FIRs against 12 people and arrested four for lockdown violations. Incidentally, not a single case of gathering in public was reported. This could be attributed to the cyclone warnings which instructed people to remain at home. In the seven FIRs, a maximum of three were for not wearing masks, two for shops operating despite being non-essential services, and one each for unnecessary use of vehicle and another for an unclassified violation. Cop on sick leave dies from Covid-19 A 48-year-old constable from Kurla police station who was on medical leave for a year died on Tuesday after contracting Covid-19. This takes the total death toll in the Mumbai Police to 19, and 30 in Maharashtra Police. As of Thursday morning, 1,510 city personnel tested positive and are receiving treatment. A majority of 1, 319 are from the constabulary or assistant sub-inspector (ASI) level. The remaining 191 are officers. Of the 30 deaths, one is of an officer while the remaining are of constables/ASIs. (With inputs from Manish K Pathak, Faisal Tandel) Internet giant Google would give USD 37 million to fight racism, CEO Sunder Pichai has announced, in the wake of the nationwide protest in the US against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd. In an email to his employees on Wednesday, the Indian-American CEO of Google and Alphabet, also urged them to stand together in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honour the "memories of Black lives lost." Pichai, 47, said the company would be giving USD 12 million in funding to organisations working to address racial inequities and USD 25 million in Ad Grants to help organisations fighting racial injustice provide critical information. "Our first grants of USD 1 million each will go to our long-term partners at the Center for Policing Equity and the Equal Justice Initiative. And we'll be providing technical support through our Google.org Fellows program. This builds on the USD 32 million we have donated to racial justice over the past five years," Pichai said. "Our Black community is hurting, and many of us are searching for ways to stand up for what we believe, and reach out to people we love to show solidarity. "Yesterday, I met with a group of our Black leaders to talk about where we go from here and how we can contribute as Google. We discussed many ideas, and we are working through where to put our energy and resources in the weeks and months ahead," the 47-year-old CEO said in the email. The US is in the midst of the biggest civic unrest in the country's history following the death of 46-year-old Floyd when a white police officer pinned him down and kneeled on his neck as he gasped for breath. The incident has triggered nationwide protests in the country. In some cases, peaceful protests turned violent resulting in large scale looting, damage to properties and monuments, and vehicles being set ablaze. Thousands of people have been arrested. Curfew was imposed in several cities, including New York and Washington D C, as most protests turned violent during the night. Pichai said that the length of the moment of silence represents "the amount of time George Floyd suffered before he was killed. It's meant to serve as a visceral reminder of the injustice inflicted on Mr. Floyd and so many others. "We acknowledge that racism and violence may look different in different parts of the world, so please use this as a moment to reflect on those who have been lost in your own country or community at a time that works for you," he said. In the email, Pichai also shared the result of the company's internal giving campaign held last week. "I'm pleased to share that you all have contributed an additional USD 2.5 million in donations that we're matching. This represents the largest Googler giving campaign in our company's history, with both the largest amount raised by employees and the broadest participation," he said. He said that the events of the past few weeks reflect deep structural challenges. "We'll work closely with our Black community to develop initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions- and we'll keep you updated. As part of this effort, we welcome your ideas on how to use our products and technology to improve access and opportunity," he said. Pichai's announcement comes days after top India-American CEOs, including himself and Microsoft's Satya Nadella, expressed solidarity with the African-American community following Floyd's death. "Today on US Google & YouTube homepages we share our support for racial equality in solidarity with the Black community and in memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery & others who don't have a voice," Pichai wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "For those feeling grief, anger, sadness & fear, you are not alone," Pichai said, sharing a screenshot of the Google search home page which said: "We stand in support of racial equality, and all those who search for it." Also read: George Floyd death: Indo-American businessman Rahul Dubey opens doors to protestors, hailed as a 'hero' A hit-run driver would have known they had struck a man on the Princes Highway in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs on Wednesday night, poice have said. A passerby spotted a man lying in the middle of the highway just after 8pm on Wednesday. Emergency services were called and took him to hospital, where he later died. Police believe the man was hit by a car and have identified the make as a 2010 to 2016 Holden Cruze sedan based on a rear-view mirror found by the side of the road. The colour of the Holden is not yet known, but the car is expected to have serious damage to the driver's side, the front guard, bonnet and front windscreen. The Virtual Nightingale Challenge Workshop for 283 nurses and midwives has ended with a task to utilise Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the provision of healthcare to meet modern day nursing and midwifery demands. Mr Felix Nyante, the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, at the closing ceremony, said the Council was driving an ICT transformation agenda and would soon digitize its services to clients and stakeholders. We have digitized our indexing, registration, checking of results, whilst we will soon introduce the renewal of Personal Identification Number (PIN) and Auxiliary Identification Number (AIN) cards as well as the renewal of license online, he said. Mr Nyante said currently Ghana stood as the first country in Africa to have developed and implemented online licensing examination for nursing and midwifery trainees. He said all those digital platforms would not have been possible without the support of the Netherlands Embassy through its Capacity Development in Higher Education Programme Initiative (NICHE) and the Netherlands University Foundation for International Cooperation. The Council, he said, was also implementing NICHE projects in the various training institutions in partnership with a consortium comprising CINOP Global and Advocacy Services and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He thanked the partnering organisations and facilitators for their invaluable contributions and presentations to enhance ICT use. Mrs Matilda Adams, the Chapter President of the North American Ghana Nurses Foundation, USA, expressed confident that nurses and midwives in Ghana and abroad would lead the way in expanding and diversifying the healthcare delivery system. Strong leadership is critical if the vision of a transformed healthcare system is to be realised, she said, and that the nursing and midwifery profession must produce leaders throughout the system. Mrs Adams said from the bedside to the boardroom, nurses could serve and be accountable for delivering high-quality care while working collaboratively with leaders from other professions. The Reverend Veronica Darko, the Chairperson of the 14th Governing Board of the Council, noted that nursing and midwifery research and practice must continue to identify and develop evidence-based improvements to care, and these must be tested and adopted through policy changes in healthcare delivery. She urged the participants to translate new research findings into nursing education and the practice environment. Improved regulatory systems, policies, attitudes and habits could increase the innovations those professionals could bring to healthcare at a time of tremendous complexity and change such as managing COVID-19, she said. Mrs Adams said it was expected that at the end of the Nightingale Challenge in December 2020, participants would be well equipped with leadership skills to excel in the education, bedside, administrative, regulatory and policymaking sectors in the country and abroad. The four-day sessional programme was organised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in partnership with the University of Ghana Medical Centre, and the Mental Health Authority. Teaching hospitals, Ghana Health Service, Police and 37 Military hospitals, the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives, as well as the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, participated. The participants were equipped with leadership and mentoring skills through cross-cutting topics and emerging issues on nursing and midwifery. 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 World Health Organization on Wednesday said it would resume using a controversial drug in coronavirus trials, while Italy led European nations reopening borders even as the pandemic carved its deadly path through Latin America. The WHO has been holding clinical trials to find a treatment for COVID-19, which has killed more than 380,000 people and wrought vast economic damage since emerging in China late last year. The UN agency paused trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine last week, citing a study in The Lancet medical journal that suggested it could increase the risk of death among COVID-19 patients. But that study has come in for a steady stream of criticism, with even The Lancet now issuing an "expression of concern" to acknowledge the seriousness of the questions raised. As Europe slowly opens up again, the United States, where President Donald Trump has championed hydroxychloroquine, and Latin America have emerged as new centres of infections for COVID-19. Across the world, nations are cautiously reopening schools, beaches and businesses after months of quarantine, even as some still face rising numbers of cases. European nations among the hardest hit by the outbreak have mostly flattened out infection curves. They have turned to the tricky task of balancing economic recovery against the risk of a second wave of cases. Italy -- the first country badly hit in Europe -- is leading the way, hoping tourism will revive its recession-hit economy three months after its shutdown. But with health experts warning over reopening too quickly, some fear foreign visitors may be reluctant to travel. "I don't think we'll see any foreign tourists really until the end of August or even September," said Mimmo Burgio, a cafe owner near Rome's Colosseum. "Who's going to come?" - Wheels up - International flights to Italy are only expected to resume in three major cities: Milan, Rome and Naples, and some of Italy's neighbours are still wary of lifting travel restrictions there. Austria said Wednesday it would scrap virus controls on all land borders, except for Italy. Germany will replace its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, with guidance on individual countries. "This decision raises great hope and expectations but I want to say again: travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas cautioned Wednesday. Belgium will reopen its borders to travellers from the EU, Britain and members of Europe's passport-free travel zone on June 15. London City Airport will restart international flights in early July. But Britain -- with the second highest death rate in the world after the US at nearly 40,000 fatalities -- is still advising against non-essential travel. The race to find a vaccine meanwhile gathered pace. The continent's four largest economies -- France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands -- are forming an alliance to speed up production of a vaccine on European soil, Dutch officials said. - 'Gas to fire' - Growing optimism about a swift global economic recovery fuelled stock markets Wednesday as investors took heart from lockdowns easing. But the scale of economic damage from punishing quarantines remains huge. Australia reported it was heading for its first recession in nearly three decades after the economy shrank in the January-March quarter. The World Bank warned this week the world faced "staggeringly large" losses because of the pandemic, with recovery efforts expected to be hampered by a shortage of resources. While Europe emerged from the darkest days of its outbreak, the virus tightened its grip on Latin America, especially in Brazil, where populist President Jair Bolsonaro opposes lockdown measures. Brazil has now passed 30,000 deaths -- the fourth deadliest outbreak in the world after the US, Britain and Italy. Some Brazilian states nevertheless began to emerge from weeks of quarantine measures, ignoring warnings from the WHO and epidemiologists that it is too soon. "In the current situation, relaxing the measures is adding gasoline to the fire," Rafael Galliez, an infectious diseases expert, told AFP. Still, surfers and swimmers streamed back to the beach in Rio de Janeiro as the city eased lockdown measures. "I think that here, in the water, there is no risk," said Cesar Calmon as he delighted in the waves off Ipanema beach. burs-jj/dl By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans State Border Service (SBS) has officially informed the Georgian Border Guard about the possible violation of the state border between the two countries, the SBS press service reported on its website on June 3. Thus, according to the report, Azerbaijani SBS received the information that a group of Georgian citizens would commit provocative actions by violating the state border at the Keshikchidag State Historical and Cultural Reserve on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border on June 4. In this regard, the State Border Service officially states that any provocation on the state border will be resolutely prevented, and the organizers of the provocation will be responsible for the possible consequences, the report said. It should be noted that on July 14, 2019, Georgian citizens committed an act of provocation in the service area of the "Shamkir" border detachment of the Border Troops of the State Border Service at the Keshikchidag area on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border. The border between Azerbaijan and Georgia was defined during the Soviet era. After gaining independence, a joint commission on the demarcation and delimitation of the 480 km Georgian-Azerbaijani border was established in 1996. However, one-third of the borderline (166km sections) between the two countries, including the area where part of the complex is located, remains unresolved. On December 19, 2007, by the Presidential Order No. 2563, a historical and cultural reserve was declared in the area in order to further study, protect and promote the rich historical and ethnographic and cultural monuments in the cave complex. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz This article will be regularly updated with new information on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7 Plus (this is a preview article) encompassing official teasers, credible leaks, rumors, and any insider claims as it becomes available in the run-up to the release of the upcoming premium Android tablet. The last update was made on June 3. Samsung is primed to release its next tablet offering as the Galaxy Tab S7. The direct successor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 series, the flagship device is rumored to arrive alongside the Galaxy Note series this year. As with that older tablet, it could arrive either with a without a major press event. Regardless of whether Samsung uses a press event or a simple press release it should follow a similar timeline. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 launched back in August of 2019. And its predicted to arrive in several different configurations this time around too. Those would be the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7, Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, and tentatively the Galaxy Tab S7 5G Advertisement It could also be dubbed the Galaxy Tab S20 instead. That would be in keeping in line with the changed branding for Samsungs flagship smartphones. Whatever the case, the rumor mill has started turning, pointing to top-level specs and a renewed focus on productivity. That should equate to a better experience at a slightly higher cost. Here were taking a look at the three expected devices, in the form of a preview. Top-level specs and a design to match Now, leaks regarding the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 design have been sparse. But it isnt unreasonable to look to its past devices here. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 measured in at 244.5 x 159.5mm and came in at just 5.7 mm thin. It was centered around a completely metal build, bringing the weight to just shy of a pound. Extrusions such as buttons and the camera were kept to a minimum, in keeping with the overall design of the Galaxy Tab S6. By all accounts, users should probably expect the same from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7. Samsung may opt to reduce bezels and thickness further. But it will most likely, in general, follow a similarly minimal design. Advertisement Setting aside the overall design, Samsung has been rumored to release the standard Galaxy Tab S7 in an 11-inch form-factor this time around too. Thats up a half-inch from the previous generation of devices. Some speculation has been suggested that the company could bring over its 120Hz display technology as well. That would follow past trends with Samsung delivering specs from its latest flagship smartphone in its top tablets. Along those same lines, the device is expected to support 4G LTE and both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi 6 bands. The Bluetooth version supplementing that has not been reported as of this writing. The company will most likely launch the gadget with both Wi-Fi-only and LTE versions. Qualcomms top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865 CPU is expected in the build, following the Galaxy S20 specs. No indication of RAM or storage has been found yet. But the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 shipped with 128 GB of storage and up to 256GB. RAM fell in at either 6GB or 8GB. So the specs here should be the same or better. Advertisement The battery size supporting that hardware has not been leaked. But this device should ship with at least 25W fast charging support. One UI 2.1 or One UI 2.5? Android 10-based One UI 2.1. Thats the latest released version of the OS and recently shipped out to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6. It delivers a plethora of new features on that device which should make their way over to any new tablets Samsung might release. For instance, it replaces Bixby Home with Samsung Daily, and it adds multilingual translation, text undo/redo, and search features on Samsung Keyboard. Samsung Daily replaces Bixby Home on Android 10. Samsung has also added a multilingual translation feature, a text undo/redo feature, and an ability to search for music in Spotify on Samsung Keyboard. Music Share and Quick share were added as well. The former of those is comparable to Apple AirDrop, allowing the sharing of photos, videos, music, and other file types to other Samsung Galaxy devices with a tap. The latter allows shared Bluetooth connections for media devices. Advertisement Of course, thats atop several other enhancements to dark mode, icons, animations, and more UI tweaks. Samsung could also opt to utilize One UI 2.5, which is in the works. But it remains to be seen if that UI will be ready quickly enough or if Samsung might choose to send that to its smartphones first. It also isnt clear whether thered be any tablet-specific enhancements with version 2.5. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus would contend with size and 5G Aside from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7, the South Korean tech giant is also expected to launch a second variant this year. That would, tentatively, be the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. And, in order to compete with Apple and stand out from other OEMs, it will come in a 12.4-inch form factor. Advertisement Reportedly, the device would likely bring a bit more to the table. Not only is there a chance that Samsung would launch the tablet with a slightly higher set of specs in terms of RAM and storage. The company will also reportedly launch the device with a 5G variant. That would take the price up a bit but would also vastly improve productivity since users could get a much faster connection on the go. Theres been no indication which carriers might be chosen for that. But every indication is that at least Europe and possibly the US would see sales of the tablet. Model designations SM-T870 and SM-T875 have been seen and purportedly linked to the smaller Wi-Fi and LTE variants. Designations SM-T970 and SM-T975 have been associated with the same for the larger device. But a third, noted as SM-T976 is suspected as a 5G version. Advertisement S Pen, Keyboard, and DeX Mode Each of the above-mentioned variants will almost certainly hold to other recent trends for the Galaxy Tab S-series of devices. To begin with, each will undoubtedly ship with a distinctive S Pen stylus. Samsung typically iterates with features for that stylus on its flagship phones but hasnt done so for its tablets. Instead, its mostly been the design of the pen that has changed. That may or may not stay the same for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and its various configurations. Rumors and leaks surrounding the pen are limited to the fact that the Galaxy Tab S7 series will come with one. It also remains unclear whether that will attach to the device magnetically or be housed internally. The former seems more likely since thats been the trend with Samsungs most recent top tablets. Similarly, there hasnt been much reported about the keyboard here. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 and Tab S6 Lite each came with a magnetic, pogo-pin keyboard. But the smaller screen size meant that the keyboard was relatively cramped, even if it did enable a laptop-like DeX experience. Advertisement Both the smaller Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7 Plus should benefit on that front since a larger screen size leaves more space for the keyboard to be spread out. The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, at 12.4-inches, approaches laptop size, so DeX on that tablet should provide a near-laptop-like experience. One final expectation, based on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 series will pack a 3.5mm headphone jack. But that may not turn out to be the case since the Galaxy Tab S6 didnt ship with one. When will Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 arrive? Rumors surrounding the suspected launch date for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7 Plus point to August. Thats following in line with previous launches in the device family. But thats also backed up by recent certifications. One certification, in particular for model number SM-T976B, points to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus being readied for launch. The device was spotted passing through certification for the Wi-Fi alliance. Such certification, as with those from the FCC, Bluetooth, and TENNA filings, are typically only granted after finalization in the lead-up to launch. Alongside certification, rumors also suggested that Samsung may rename its Tab S series as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S20 and Tab S20+ instead. That naming convention hasnt been confirmed in the documentation. But it would follow in line with the latest flagship smartphones from the company. Pricing is a mystery, for now Another facet of the upcoming Galaxy Tab S7 series from Samsung that not yet leaked is its price. But there has been some speculation based on the previous pricing of the Galaxy Tab S6. Samsung is predicted to raise the price of the Tab S7 series but to keep it below the price of its chief competition, the iPad Pro, to start. That would place it, speculatively, between $650 and $799, likely ranging closer to $650 for a base model. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 could cost quite a bit more based on the previous pricing too. A Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 with LTE costs right around $729. So a comparable device with newer hardware will cost a bit more. The 5G variant, conversely, would then cost more still driving speculation that the device will cost as much as $749. However, Samsung could as easily push the price further up, competing more directly with Apple due to the inclusion of 5G. That could feasibly push the price up into the $800 range. All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice, the couple, who live in the U.K., wrote. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace. A report issued Wednesday by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) finds that more than 600 nurses worldwide have died in the coronavirus epidemic, and that an estimated 450,000 health care workers of all kinds have been infected. The death toll among nurses is more than double the 260 reported on May 6 by the ICN, partly from more countries issuing reports but mainly from the ongoing impact of the pandemic, which has now hit 6.5 million people globally, with more than 380,000 dead. The Geneva-based nursing association said there was no actual count of the number of health care workers infected because so many countries health agencies were not tracking deaths and infections by occupation. The ICN has accumulated statistics from some countries and anecdotal reports from others to produce a low-end figure of 230,000 health care workers infected. The higher estimate of 450,000 is based on the finding that 7 percent of all those contracting COVID-19 are health care workers and then taking 7 percent of the 6.5 million total cases reported. Doctors and nurses kneel in front of Downing Street in London, Thursday, May 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) Infection rates among health care workers are particularly high in Latin America, while 30 percent of all cases in Ireland are health care workers. In other countries, including Spain and Germany, the infection and fatality rates for health care workers are much lower. The United States seems to be at the higher end of the rangeinitial estimates had health care workers comprising 10 to 20 percent of those infectedbut there are no current figures that cover all 50 states. The ICN renewed its appeal for national governments to both keep comprehensive records and step up the provision of Personal Protective Equipment and other measures to protect nurses on the front line of the struggle against the pandemic. For weeks now we have been asking for data about infections and deaths among nurses to be collected, the statement declares. We need a central database of reliable, standardised, comparable data on all infections, periods of quarantine and deaths that are directly or indirectly related to COVID-19 Without this data we do not know the true cost of COVID-19, and that will make us less able to tackle other pandemics in the future. The ICN report also notes disproportionate deaths among black, Asian and minority ethnic HCWs (health care workers), specifically Filipino workers in Britain. The alarming report from the nurses group came as the global total of infections rose by more than 100,000 for the fifth straight day, an unprecedented rise that is concentrated in the Western hemisphere: Brazil, Chile, Peru and Mexico, as well as the United States. World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, For several weeks, the number of cases reported each day in the Americas has been more than the rest of the world put together. He cited in particular Brazil and Peru, while Dr. Mike Ryan, who heads the WHO health emergencies program, expressed concern about a growing outbreak in Haiti, still in its early stages. Mexico reported its highest single-day increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, 3,891. Brazil reported a record 1,262 new deaths caused by the coronavirus, raising its total to 31,199, third-most in the world, with 550,000 confirmed cases, second only to the US. Other global hotspots include India, which reported 9,614 new cases, bringing the total to well over 200,000. Meanwhile, the impact of coronavirus in the United States continues on a massive scale, although it goes almost unreported in the national media in the midst of the political upheaval triggered by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. While daily death tolls have declined in New York, New Jersey and Michigan, the initial epicenters, more than 1,000 people a day are still dying in the United States from COVID-19. The most rapid growth is in the southern and western states, which carried out the earliest and most broad-based reopening of the economy and ended nearly all lockdowns by mid-May. According to the latest update from Johns Hopkins University, 20 US states have increasing daily rates of new coronavirus cases, including California, the most populous state, which had 17,000 new cases last week, its highest weekly toll since the pandemic began. Los Angeles County alone accounted for 10,000 cases. In the Midwest, Wisconsin reported its highest number of new cases in a day, 483, bringing the states total to 19,400, with 616 deaths. New Delhi, June 4 : To augment commercial links with countries like US, China, the Philippines, Switzerland and Belgium amid ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the Centre on Thursday approved six major appointments to foreign posts for a period of three years. The appointees include two senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers who have been working with the Prime Minister's Office for long. Senior bureaucrat Brajendra Navnit and young IAS officer Rajeev Topno, who are among the six, have been currently working with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and have been given tasks to achieve success in their field as expected by the government. The others are Ravi Kota, Lekhan Thakkar, H. Atheli, Anwar Hussain Shaik, and N. Ashok Kumar. Brajendra Navnit, a 1999 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, has been chosen as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the WTO, Geneva. The Joint Secretary-level post is under the Commerce Ministry. Navnit was last year given an extension in service as Joint Secretary in the PMO. He was appointed as Joint Secretary in PMO in a massive mid-level reshuffle in 2016. Before that, he was then working as Director in PMO. Topno, a 1996 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, has been appointed Senior Advisor to the ED, World Bank, Washington DC. The post, also at Joint Secretary level, is under the Department of Economic Affairs. The 46-year-old officer is currently working as a Director to the Prime Minister's office. He was appointed private secretary to the Prime Minister on July 16, 2014. Kota, a 1993 batch Assam Cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as Minister (Economic) in the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. The Joint Secretary-level post is under the Department of Economic Affairs. Takkar, a Central Secretariat Service official, has been appointed Counsellor (Economic) in the Indian Embassy in Beijing. The Director-level post is under the Department of Economic Affairs. Atheli, a 2000 batch Indian Civil Accounts Service officer, has been appointed Advisor to the ED, Asian Development Bank, Manila. The Director-level post isunder the Department of Economic Affairs. Shaik, a 2000 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service official, has been appointed Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the WTO, Geneva. The Director-level post is under the Department of Commerce. Ashok Kumar, a 2004 batch Manipur cadre IAS officer, has been appointed Advisor (Industry and Engineering) in the Indian Embassy in Brussels. It is also a Director-level post under the Department of Commerce. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the appointments to foreign or captive posts under the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Commerce for a period of three years for the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier, said a Ministry of Personnel order. As per the subject to the condition, the diplomatic equation of Kota, Thakkar, Navnit, Shaik and Kumar will not be upgraded during the course of their posting abroad due to any reason, such as revision of pay scale from the prospective or retrospective date, earning of annual increment (s) and promotion in parent cadre, said a memorandum issued by the Ministry. The order has been circulated to the Secretaries of the Departments of Economic Affairs and Commerce. A similar copy has been forwarded to the PMO, Cabinet Secretary, Secretary, External Affairs, and other departments concerned. This seems India's plan to kick-start exports once the country emerges from the shadows of the Covid-19 pandemic. The task for these officers includes cutting down import dependence, especially from China, by focussing aggressively on substitution while improving safety compliance and quality goods to gain global market share and boost commercial activities with the US, Philippines, Switzerland and Belgium, said sources. The move comes as India is mapping out post novel coronavirus pandemic plans to boost India's economy as well as making it self dependent. The Commerce and Industry Ministry is mulling setting up groups to draw up strategies for sectors where China has vacated space and countries are looking to diversify suppliers. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) OnePlus had announced that its new OnePlus 8 series would finally go on open sale in India on May 29. However, due to some production issues, the sale was postponed. OnePlus had made the announcement on its forums saying that the full-fledged sale will not be happening this Friday. Instead, a special limited sale across online and offline channels for the OnePlus 8 was announced on the same day. The company is yet again hosting a sale for the OnePlus 8 today which is scheduled for 12PM on Amazon India as well as the OnePlus India website. Expect limited stocks of the handsets yet again and it seems that only two RAM and storage configurations will be available in two colour options. This means that the base 6GB RAM variant will not available for purchase. The OnePlus 8 8GB + 128GB storage model is priced at Rs 44,999 while the 12GB + 256GB variant is been priced at Rs 49,999. Some of the launch offers include flat Rs 2,000 off for customers paying via State Bank of India credit cards and EMI as well as an additional Rs 1,000 Amazon Pay cashback for pre-booked users. There will also be no-cost EMI option of up to 12 months and Jio benefits worth Rs 6,000. There is no confirmation as to when the OnePlus 8 Pro would go on sale in India. ONEPLUS 8 SPECIFICATIONS The OnePlus 8 comes with a 6.55-inch Fluid AMOLED display with 20:9 aspect ratio, HDR 10+ support, and 3D corning gorilla glass. It offers support for sRGB, and Display P3 colour profiles and a 90Hz refresh rate display. The panel operates at FHD+ resolution. The handset is powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset and is offered with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. The device offers a 4,300mAh battery, which is said to provide 13% more capacity than its predecessor, OnePlus 7T. There is also a triple-camera setup at the back. The primary camera is a 48-megapixel powered by the Sony IMX586 sensor just like last year. The rest is a 16-megapixel sensor with an ultrawide lens, and the third one is a 2-megapixel macro camera. Other features include an in-display fingerprint scanner, 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.1, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, USB Type-C port and Warp Charge 30T (5V/ 6A). BRECKSVILLE, Ohio, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Illuminating Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), plans to spend $4 million in 2020 to continue enhancing its underground power system in the Greater Cleveland area. Over the past five years, the company has invested more than $15 million in upgrades to its underground system to support service reliability for nearly 536,000 of its customers in Cuyahoga County. The Illuminating Company maintains 11,000 miles of underground wire across the region. The company plans to upgrade approximately eight miles of underground lines in Strongsville and 15 miles across the Cleveland area in 2020. Older, uncoated underground lines will be replaced with new power lines coated in a thick shell to make them more durable against elements like dirt, rocks, lightning and water. Since work began in 2015 to harden the system, the company has replaced more than 90 miles of underground lines that served customers well for many years but were ready for an upgrade. "This work demonstrates our commitment to hardening our system against power outages so we can keep power flowing to our customers around the clock," said Mark Jones, regional president of The Illuminating Company. "We operate one of the nation's largest underground electric systems, and these upgrades allow us to continue providing safe, dependable power to our customers." To determine the best locations for the underground upgrades, utility personnel reviewed outage patterns across The Illuminating Company's service territory and identified areas that would most benefit. More than one-third of company's completed work was performed in Strongsville, where the company maintains about 1,200 miles of underground lines serving 40,000 customers. The Illuminating Company serves more than 750,000 customers across Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. Follow The Illuminating Company on Twitter @IlluminatingCo and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IlluminatingCo. FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,500 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com. Editor's Note: Photos of The Illuminating Company crews upgrading the underground power system are available for download on Flickr. Video of the work being explained and performed can be found on the company's YouTube channel. SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp. Related Links http://www.firstenergycorp.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Canceled express bus service as a result of ongoing protests across New York City left some Staten Islanders scrambling for an alternate route last night on their way home from work. On Tuesday evening, just after 7 p.m., the MTA announced via Twitter that all Staten Island-bound express buses were completing their final trips and that service would be suspended for the rest of the night due to protest activity in Manhattan. The protests were among several across the United States following the alleged murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. This decision left a number of Staten Islanders who work in Manhattan seemingly stranded, with no adequate time given to plan an alternate route. Deborah OBrien, of New Springville, said that she waited at her express bus stop in Bowling Green for several minutes before even noticing that service had been suspended. I didnt even notice the sign on the pole saying that the bus was canceled for a little bit, I was just standing there, OBrien recalled. Eventually, another prospective rider came along and noticed the sign stating that service had been suspended and redirecting commuters to the Staten Island Ferry. There was a sign saying the bus had been canceled until further notice and take the Staten Island Ferry, OBrien said. So I had to wait another 30 minutes for the ferry and then have my sister pick me up, because I didnt have time to figure which local buses were running. OBrien said that the most frustrating part of the situation was the lack of information from the MTA outside of what was posted to Twitter with short notice, making it difficult for riders to plan their commute. The struggle to return to Staten Island was even more severe for essential workers traveling late at night, with all ride share services, like Uber and Lyft, suspended after 8 p.m. due to the city curfew, and all subway service suspended after 1 a.m. for daily disinfecting. What are the alternatives for people who are essential workers finish work after 1 a.m. that use the express bus to go back to Staten Island? No express bus, no subways? What do they do? one Twitter user asked the MTA. Any response? they added, after three hours without a reply from the agency. The MTA says that it was forced to suspend the express bus service abruptly due to the sudden, evolving nature of the protests. Unscheduled protests and incidents of vandalism in multiple parts of the city led to sudden and unpredictable road blockages, closures and detours last night, forcing delays and cancellations on a number of bus routes, said MTA spokesman Shams Tarek. For those traveling during the overnight subway closures, the MTA says they were accommodated by a combination of local buses, the Staten Island Railway and the MTAs Essential Connector service. Overnight during the nightly subway shutdown, local buses, the Staten Island Railway and the MTAs Essential Connector For-Hire Vehicle service continued to provide service for customers traveling to and from Staten Island, Tarek said. Just 50 Debenhams stores will reopen in England on June 15 as coronavirus restrictions are eased. The struggling department store chain went into the lockdown with 142 stores but not all of them will reopen immediately and some will not reopen at all. The company plans to reopen three stores in Northern Ireland on June 8 and its other two sites in the province shortly after. Weathering the storm: The struggling department store chain went into the lockdown with 142 stores but not all of them will reopen immediately and some will not reopen at all It will reopen 50 stores in England on June 15 with further stores opening later that week. But in total, only 120 will resume trading, with 17 shutting for good and another five at risk amid negotiations with landlords. Debenhams said preparations for the reopenings are 'well under way', with strict social distancing and hygiene procedures being implemented across all stores. Meanwhile, its stores in Scotland and Wales will reopen once government restrictions are eased, it said. Steven Cook, Debenhams' managing director, said: 'We have been working hard to ensure our colleagues and customers can work and shop with confidence.' TRIPOLI, June 4 (Reuters) - Forces fighting for Libya's internationally recognised government said on Thursday they had regained control over Tripoli and a military source with the eastern forces that have been attacking the capital said they were withdrawing. The Government of National Accord (GNA) military operations room said in a statement it had control over all borders of the Tripoli city administrative area. Separately, a military source in the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said it would complete its withdrawal on Thursday from the Tripoli districts of Ain Zara, Abu Salim and Qasr Ben Gashir towards a town near its stronghold of Tarhouna. (Reporting By Libya newsroom Editing by Gareth Jones) It now seems certain the social lockdown imposed during the COVID scare will be extended with a second wave blamed in part on people protesting the police execution of George Floyd. Packed crowds protesting George Floyd's death have health officials worried about possible COVID-19 outbreak https://t.co/o2A7njr5vE WLWT (@WLWT) June 2, 2020 As it now stands, there is no way the massive protests in America will come to end anytime soon. The yellow vest protests in France went on for months, only to be sidelined by COVID. Make no mistake. Macron and the neoliberals were seriously freaked out by week after week of yellow vest protests and riots. The elite considered it a serious threat to the French state and its corrupt establishment. Trump has absolutely no viable options. He has threatened to send federal troops into states in violation of what remains of Posse Comitatus. It was mostly destroyed by the national security state logic of the neocon John Yoo and the Bush administration. Trump has threatened to use the Insurrection Act to go after rioters and looters. It should be mentioned that police (now embedded with federalized National Guard soldiers) are exploiting the violence to attack peaceful demonstrators, for instance, the following chemical attack in Philadelphia. Former Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw oversaw a police force that violently policed protests. Now she is the Police Commissioner of Philly and her cops are deploying tear gas on protesters during the COVID-19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/SVTSw2k14q nyc law grrrl (@nyclawgrrrl) June 2, 2020 The Chicago Police are notorious for use of over-the-top violence in reaction to dissent in the Windy City. Apparently little if nothing has changed since 1968 and the savage beatdown of protesters, media, and bystanders by Mayor Daleys police during the Democratic Convention. Few deny George Floyd was sadistically executed, but whats missing here is the fact his murder is part of a far larger issue that is not being addressed. The paramilitarization of state and local law enforcement by the federal government has resulted in heavily armed police-soldiers that regard both the guilty and innocent alike as enemy combatants. Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the onset of the disastrous war on drugs, the Pentagon has fed a steady stream of hardware designed for war and mass murder into police agencies from sea to shining sea. For the last 19 yrs in the guise of fighting terrorism both political parties have funded militarized police forces throughout the country. Billions of dollars for tanks, tactical weapons, tear gas & training has created this bullshit.Are we now the enemy? pic.twitter.com/1MrvlhFCHI Tim Robbins (@TimRobbins1) June 2, 2020 This is not incidental. The state has prepared for war in America over a period of several decades. During the Iran-Contra testimony of Col. Oliver North we learned the government planned to rendition and imprison thousands of American dissidents during a war in Central America against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. North was involved in the illegal CIA war against Nicaragua and its support of the Contra mercenaries. As I write this, federal military occupations of downtowns, neighborhoods, critical infrastructure, etc., are underway. The severity of the riots has provided cover for a super-charged move to fully implement a military police state. It wont be realized as such by many if not most Americans. The rioters and looters piggybacking on race and police brutality protests are providing a perfect excuse for the state to militarily control the larger blue or liberal metropolitan areas of the United States, possibly for some time to come. No doubt this civil war will run through summer and land square in the lap of both parties during the conventions. Due to the riots and protests, the Democrats have pushed their convention back to August from July, probably in the hope, there will be some kind of resolution that will settle the dust by the end of summer. Its not going to happen, even though, as of Wednesday, the rioting and violence have ratcheted down a notch or two. Likewise and undoubtedly more violently during the RNC convention the following week in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Late note: North Carolina rejected convention taking place in NC, no doubt realizing and dreading the consequences). Expect militarized national conventions, unlike anything in the past. With the U.S. and much of the world engulfed in the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and health risks have threatened to make study abroad difficult, if not impossible. But that doesnt mean students wont still want to learn about other cultures and see how people in other parts of the world approach different issues, such as climate change, income inequality or human rights. Ideally, students would learn about these things in different cultural contexts by actually going to other countries. But since travel abroad to certain countries is off-limits or discouraged due to COVID-19, the question now becomes: How can study abroad still be done? As a longtime proponent of international education, one solution I see and one that more and more universities are beginning to pursue is to have students study abroad online. American University, Arcadia University Northeastern University and the University of Buffalo are already advancing virtual study abroad. Their programs range from online courses at a U.S. universitys international branch campus to courses offered in partnership with foreign universities. A new approach These options involve courses designed and taught by either U.S. professors or professors based abroad selected and trained by a U.S. college or university. This is done to make sure the course aligns with the students graduation requirements. Valery Matytsin\TASS via Getty Images But I see another way to do virtual study abroad that I believe would radically change the way it is done. And that is, U.S. colleges and universities could offer courses from other parts of the world precisely as they are delivered there, not modified to mirror American courses. The idea would be to expose U.S. students to views from outside of the country. U.S. colleges and universities could make sure that the selected courses are accredited by reputable organizations, such as the German Accreditation Agency or the Japan Institution for Education Evaluation. Story continues These courses would be delivered through the most advanced technological platforms available. They would also count toward graduation or even be made a graduation requirement. Or they could be a course requirement for a major. Many universities abroad already offer courses in English that are taught remotely. Being involved with the University of Freiburg in Germany, Ive seen firsthand how the online capability of foreign universities increased dramatically as they had to switch online due to the pandemic. Studying abroad online, therefore, is something that could be done right away. Broader understanding Potential courses could involve climate change studies in Germany or mental health in Denmark. Or instructors could deal with immigration in Italy, the interplay of religion and politics in India or Israel and even human rights in Hong Kong. Students could even enroll in a set of courses on various countries responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual study abroad would also enable more students to gain exposure to views from other countries because it costs much less. Not all students can readily afford travel and other costs associated with living abroad. Studying abroad carries important employment and financial benefits. A 2017 survey from the Institute of International Education survey found that study abroad leads to significant gains various critical skills need for the contemporary workplace. Further, 78% of those interviewed say they discussed their study abroad experiences in job interviews. Eliminating barriers For virtual study abroad to become a bigger part of U.S. higher education, I see at least three bureaucratic hurdles must be overcome. The first hurdle is resistance from university leaders. As I inquired about the prospects for virtual study abroad, several senior college and university administrators told me that there is no such thing. For them, study abroad is defined exclusively by physical travel to another country. This is understandable, of course, as many study abroad students anecdotally cite the cultural and social experiences outside the classroom as important to their overall experience. These administrators, however, are misguided and out of sync with a world afflicted by COVID-19. I also see it as an affront to global climate sustainability for the only option for study abroad to involve air travel and the consumption of vast amounts of fuel. Secondly, U.S. higher education must accept that there are other ways to educate students beyond the way it is done in the U.S. While the desire to ensure academic integrity is understandable, demanding that international courses be just like the ones already offered in the U.S. obstructs students from encountering other ways to teach and learn. And, lastly, new, temporary rules that let federal student aid be used for online courses delivered by a foreign university need to be made permanent. The Department of Education made the temporary rule changes in April and May so that thousands of U.S. study abroad students could complete their courses remotely here in the U.S. after COVID-19 forced them to return home. Making the changes permanent will enable many more U.S. students to keep studying abroad virtually. Currently only 10.9% of college students study abroad at some point while theyre earning their degrees. In a world shaken by a pandemic and where many traditional higher education practices are surely to be reinvented the virtual study abroad I envision has the potential to give U.S. students a deeper appreciation of perspectives and ideas from other parts of the world. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.] This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Read more: William G. Durden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Chennai, June 4 : It is not just computers and laptops that can be made to order. Even a truck with a carrying capacity ranging between 18.5 ton to 55 ton can be custom built as per the customer specification, said senior officials of Ashok Leyland Ltd. The Hinduja group flagship company Ashok Leyland on Thursday launched its modular trucks under the brand 'AVTR' that enables truck buyers to customise their vehicles at the time of purchase. In the process, Ashok Leyland also cut down its inventory cost by reducing the number of unique parts by 50 per cent. "Our new product will be a game changer for the industry. The new range can be taken to overseas markets," Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja told reporters. Hinduja said the past 18 months was challenging for the industry and the next few quarters will further test the industry's resilience. Ashok Leyland is offering 18.5 ton-55 ton capacity trucks under its AVTR brand with BS VI engine. According to Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, the modular trucks are designed in such a manner that they can be right hand or left hand drive. The left hand drive vehicles can be taken to the global market. Queried about the common parts and the costs saved by the company N. Saravanan, Chief Technology Officer said the number of unique parts has come down to about 4,500 to 5,000 under the modular platform from 10,000 unique parts. While company officials remained silent on the costs saved by reduction of unique parts and the increase in volume of common parts they said the availability of parts at the service stations will not be a problem. Earlier, truck buyers used to customise their trucks, body based on their area of operation and the type of load their vehicles carry. But the AVTR range of modular trucks gives a truck buyer various options of axle configurations, loading spans, cabins, suspensions and drive trains enabling him to configure his vehicle best suited to his business needs. According to Anuj Kathuria, Chief Operating Officer, there are possibilities of offering modular trucks to the defence sector. The company supplies Stallion range for the Indian defence. Petrol prices in New South Wales have spiked overnight, prompting warnings over price gouging ahead of the long weekend. The cost of fuel across 18 outlets in Sydney jumped more than 30 cents above the average price of fuel in the city, to 135C per litre for regular unleaded fuel. While another eight outlets hitched the price up to 136.9 cents per litre on Wednesday night. The National Roads and Motorists' Association fears retailers could be increasing prices to take advantage of travellers heading away for the long weekend. The National Roads and Motorists' Association fears retailers could be increasing prices to take advantage of travellers heading away for the long weekend (Pictured: a fuel station in Blackheath in the New South Wales Blue Mountains was charging 165. cents per litre on Sunday, about 60 cents above the average) NRMA Spokesman Peter Khoury says there is no excuse for outlets to be increasing the price. 'Across the community we are trying to encourage people to plan a road trip and start to head out after months in isolation, so now is hardly the time to be artificially forcing up your prices and ripping families off,' Mr Khoury said on Thursday. 'While global oil prices are starting to increase ... the terminal gate price still remains relatively low so there is no reason for service stations to be pushing up their prices.' Mr Khoury believes retailers could be trying to improve their profit margins to reverse the fall in global oil prices. The average price of fuel in Sydney has fallen to 103.7 cents per litre for regular unleaded, and is expected to fall below a $1 a litre. While the cost of diesel remains inflated by almost 15 cents per litre over its wholesale price, sitting at an average of 115 cents per litre. Petrol prices in New South Wales have spiked overnight, prompting warnings over price gouging ahead of the long weekend. A photograph from Blackheath in the Blue Mountains on Sunday revealed one retailer was charging 165 cents per litre to fill up, more than 60 cents than the average. The NRMA says many retailers are failing to pass on the savings at the pump after a global fall in oil prices linked to the coronavirus. Meanwhile the cost of fuel in Adelaide dropped to its lowest levels since 2003 last month, with one outlet charging on 63 cents per litre. Increased Demand for its Products Has Company Hiring Across the Country DENVER, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tuff Shed, Inc., Americas leading seller and manufacturer of storage buildings and garages, has been a bright spot in the U.S. retail sales and manufacturing sectors and is now looking to bring on more employees and installers to be part of its construction teams across the country. The Denver-based company suffered like most businesses earlier this spring, with sales and installation challenges during late March and early April. But consumer and institutional demand for storage buildings and garages has fueled a remarkable comeback within a very short period of time for Tuff Shed, and the company is now reporting record breaking sales during the month of May. Weve had to balance the needs of essential healthcare and governmental entities during Covid-19 with the increase in more typical demand by consumers with additional storage needs, says Tuff Shed Chief Operating Officer Mike Casey. In addition, home owners are spending more time at home and many of our customers are now looking for home offices, studios, educational space, and other ways to create more usable space. To address the increase demand for Tuff Shed products, the company is actively hiring new employees for prefabrication roles, and on-boarding new subcontractor installers. As part of this effort, Tuff Shed is recruiting for construction roles, conducting Social Distancing Hiring Expos at several of its locations. Were looking for people with great attitudes who can be great coworkers for our amazing team, says Casey. Construction and manufacturing experience is always a plus, but were willing to train people with no experience who are looking for a new and stable career. In most roles we are even paying a hiring and retention bonus as well. The twist on virtual hiring events is just the latest example of how Tuff Shed has pivoted in response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company implemented additional measures to keep its employees, contractors and customers safe, such as shifting to virtual appointments and site checks, doing extra cleaning and distancing at its factories, and ensuring that its installers also followed procedures around using disinfectant, wearing masks, and never entering customers homes. Story continues The safety of our employees, community, and customers is our top concern, says Tuff Shed Founder and President Tom Saurey. We responded to this crisis early and have continued to practice social distancing rules, require mask use, and are working on keeping all of our facilities cleaner than ever. Tuff Shed also responded to the call for unique building uses which emerged during the COVID-19 crisis. Most notably, Tuff Shed installed structures to be used as part of COVID-19 testing at healthcare facilities in several states during April and May. During this same time, Tuff Shed began installing a large number of buildings in Sacramento, Ca. as part of that citys approach to limiting COVID-19 by providing safe shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Finally, the company has seen significant increased demand from its primary customer residential homeowners for buildings to be used as home office space, home schooling space, expanded space for additional family members living at home, and for storage of household goods. The company footprint includes 52 production facilities across the country, and a total of 150 brick-and-mortar retail storefronts and cross docks. Tuff Shed also is a Service and Install partner for The Home Depot, offering an exclusive line of building products at all of the home improvement retailers stores in the lower 48 United States. Tuff Shed products include wooden storage sheds and garages. The company works with its customers to design and accessorize buildings, then pre-fabricates key building components at its manufacturing facilities so it can deliver and install buildings on the customer site. Over its 39 years Tuff Shed has designed, fabricated and installed more than 1.2 million buildings across the country. More About Tuff Shed Tom Saurey founded Tuff Shed in 1981 in Rexburg, Idaho and moved the company headquarters to Denver in 1986. Strong sales and sustained growth have drawn industry praise for the enterprise, with recognition including the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Rocky Mountain Region in 2004 for Saurey, along with ColoradoBiz Magazines Manufacturing Company of the Year in 2004, and Denver Business Journals Deal Makers of the Year Award in 2005 for Tuff Shed. The Home Depot has twice recognized Tuff Shed as its Service Provider of the Year, first in 2007 and again in 2015. Tuff Shed sold and installed its one millionth building in late 2017. In 2018, Tuff Shed acquired competitor Sheds USA, helping to complete Tuff Sheds nationwide service footprint. For More Information: Laura Driscoll 303-817-5216 Laura@goaheadrpr.com The Bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Koforidua, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, has asked all Parishes and Quasi-Parishes not to commence church activities on Sunday, June 7 until an official communication is given. In a Memo to the Clergy and Religious in the Koforidua Diocese, Bishop Afrifa-Agyekum explained discussions were still ongoing to reach a consensus on the way forward. I wish to inform you that congregational church service are not to commence in any Parish or Quasi-Parish until I officially communicate to you. He added: In the meantime, we are working hard on some protocols that will guide the diocese. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Add in his 10th address on Sunday, May 31 announced the easing of restrictions for religious activities to commence from Friday, June 5 for Muslims, first of all. Pastors are expected to contain a maximum of 100 persons for Sunday Church Service for a period of one hour. Churches are also expected to ensure fumigation and disinfection is done before reopening the churches. Source: 3news 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 Long is now eligible for parole, with survivors calling for him to die in prison The drifter lit the fire just after midnight while many in the hostel were sleeping Homeless fruit picker Robert Paul Long started a fire in the Palace Backpackers hostel in Childers, 300km north of Brisbane on June 23, 2000 A murderer who burned 15 backpackers alive at a hostel in rural Queensland could be released in weeks, as survivors beg for the 'psychopath' to rot in prison for the rest of his life. Homeless fruit picker Robert Paul Long received a life sentence with a 20-year non-parole period after starting a fire in the Palace Backpackers hostel in Childers, 300km north of Brisbane on June 23, 2000. The drifter, now 56, lit the fire in a bin in the lounge of the hostel just after midnight while 88 people were inside, having spoken earlier that evening of his desire to 'bash' a backpacker. He was convicted in 2002 of killing 15 people, but found guilty of murdering only two of the victims - Australian twins Stacey and Kelly Slarke. Long has now served his minimum term and could be back on the streets in just weeks if an application for parole is granted. Sisters Lauren Lewicki and Kate Smith, who were among 69 others to survive the inferno, said they will never stop fighting for Long to be kept behind bars. 'We just 100 per cent believe the punishment doesn't the crime. It's shocking that he could be out. It makes us really worried,' the sisters, who now live near Perth, told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'How can you justify killing 15 people and attempting to murder 69 people? It just doesn't fit.' Long had fled the scene of the fire at the Palace Backpackers hostel in Childers (pictured) but five days later was tracked down by police - who he lunged at with a knife The drifter, now 56, lit the fire in a bin in the lounge of the hostel (pictured) while 88 people were inside, having spoken earlier that evening of his desire to 'bash' a backpacker Sisters Lauren Lewicki (pictured, left) and Kate Smith (right), who were among 69 others to survive the inferno, said they will never stop fighting for Long to be kept behind bars Ms Lewicki, Ms Smith and other survivors made submissions to the parole board, who will decide if Long will walk free. The sisters said Long deserves to stay in prison and die behind bars. 'We'll never stop fighting. What about those parents who will never see their children again? We'd never get over it if we didn't do everything we could to keep him locked away,' Ms Lewicki said. The fire also killed seven backpackers from Britain, two from the Netherlands, another Australian and one each from Ireland, South Korea and Japan. The regional mayor of Isis Shire - which covered Childers at the time - said he hoped Long could stay behind bars for the rest of his life. 'It's not something you expect to happen particularly in a small country town like this but it keeps bringing back the fact that without Robert Long, this would have never have happened,' former mayor Bill Trevor said. A fireman is pictured running from the scene of the fire (pictured) in the early hours of June 23, 2000 A painting of the 15 young backpackers who died in the fire which was unveiled in the restored Childers Palace Memorial (pictured) The gutted interior of the Childers hostel (pictured). Long is eligible for parole almost two decades after he torched the 100-year-old building 'l'll truly never understand how someone could do what Robert Long did and particularly wait downstairs to make sure the place was on fire. 'It's one of the most despicable acts that I think another can do to a human being.' Long had fled the scene of the fire but five days later was tracked down by police - who he lunged at with a knife. An officer shot him in the ear - at which point the murderer mistakenly said: 'I'm dying anyway, I started the fire.' His confession was scrawled down on a $10 note by a police officer as he had nothing else to hand. A prominent lawyer said police only levelled two murder charges against Long in case he was acquitted - at which point he could then be charged with murdering the other victims. Christine Campbell (pictured), Long's ex-partner and mother of his daughter, said she was abused and stalked by the 'psychopath' for years The attorney-general called for Long to spend a minimum of 25 years in jail but the appeal was refused. Christine Campbell, Long's ex-partner and mother of his daughter, said she was abused and stalked by the 'psychopath' for years. 'It's like putting a caged lion, and he's locked up, and when he gets released, he will do it again,' Ms Campbell told A Current Affair. Ms Campbell said Long is 'jealous of everyone and everything,' and called for him to never be released. 'He should stay in jail for the rest of his life, that's what I think should happen, and never, ever get out... to prevent him from doing anything else, because he will,' she said. Survivor Richard Tempest was inside the Palace Backpackers during the inferno, and was forced to crawl on his stomach through thick black smoke to escape. Mr Tempest believes Long should be hit with additional murder and attempted murder charges for the other 13 lives. '15 young lives in their twenties and thirties, you know travelling and working, just having fun and having their life experiences, and they're just taken away. How can somebody just do that?' he said. 'What about the other 13? You have done 20 years, life, for those two, start the next sentence now for the next 13, and the attempted of 70.' JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli cyber group Team8 said on Wednesday it launched Team8 Capital, a new venture capital fund that will focus on technology investments in data, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. Team8 Capital will invest at the seed and other early rounds of funding, expanding on its model that builds new companies from scratch, it said. A creator of cyber defense startups, Team8 is backed financially by Moodys Investors Service and other companies like Microsoft, Airbus and Qualcomm, Walmart, Cisco and Barclays. Team8 has received commitments of $104 million for the fund, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Sarit Firon will be managing partner of Team8 Capital. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Tova Cohen) Police in Britain have received hundreds of calls and emails within the first 24 hours of the launch of a new appeal over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The Metropolitan Police says it has received more than 270 calls and emails since launching a new appeal last night. Meanwhile, in Germany, where news broke last night of a jailed paedophile being made a key suspect in Madeleine's disappearance, 30 detectives took calls from some of the 5.5million viewers of a ZDF television show named 'Aktenzeichen XY ungelost' - similar to Crimewatch - following an episode about the case. DCI Mark Cranwell, from Operation Grange, which is the Met Police's investigation into the disappearance of Maddie from her hotel room in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007, said: 'Following our appeal for information yesterday, I want to thank those members of the public who have contacted us. The Metropolitan Police says it has received more than 270 calls and emails since launching a new appeal last night. DCI Mark Cranwell (pictured), from Operation Grange, said: 'Following our appeal for information yesterday, I want to thank those members of the public who have contacted us 'As of 4pm today, we have received over 270 calls and emails into the incident room. 'We are pleased with the information coming in, and it will be assessed and prioritised. 'We continue to urge anyone with information to come forward and speak with us.' German prosecutors today revealed they believe Madeleine McCann is dead as it emerged their paedophile prime suspect has 17 convictions and began abusing 'little girls' as a teenager but was overlooked by Portuguese police. Christian Brueckner, who is serving seven years in Kiel jail in northern Germany for rape, was shopped by a friend after he confessed during a drinking session that he 'knew all about' what had happened to Maddie, MailOnline can reveal. Portuguese police face serious questions after their German and British counterparts found Brueckner, 43, was not put on a shortlist of 600 suspects despite his long criminal record, history of child abuse and his decision to leave Praia da Luz shortly after the three-year-old's disappearance on May 3, 2007. This is Christian Brueckner, the new key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, whose identity is protected in Germany despite being in jail for raping a US tourist in Praia da Luz in the months before Maddie vanished. In 2013 police released a photofit of a man seen lurking near the McCann apartment and Scotland Yard said that suspect last night had not yet been ruled out of the probe A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in what could be a major breakthrough in the case. He is in jail in Germany for the rape of an American tourist 18 months before Maddie vanished - The German suspect had lived in a warehouse outside Praia da Luz for several years but moved into a campervan just before Maddie vanished The controversial Portuguese detective who initially led the investigation into Maddie's abduction, Goncalo Amaral, said he ruled him out of the inquiry in 2008 and claims that Brueckner is a 'scapegoat. The German spent 12 years living in the Algarve dealing drugs, burgling holiday homes and had even raped a 72-year-old American tourist in her apartment. The sex attack on the US-born pensioner followed a break-in - and police have long believed Maddie may have been snatched during a burglary. German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told a press conference today: 'We think that Madeleine McCann is dead and are appealing for witnesses. The 43 year old suspect is a multiple sexual predator already convicted of crimes against little girls'. Gerry and Kate McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell told MailOnline this afternoon the family still have hope she's alive but are 'realistic' about her fate. Christian Brueckner allegedly shared details about Maddie's abduction with a friend over a drink on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance when her face appeared on the German pub's TV screen in 2017. He then showed his friend a video of him raping a woman. The confidant went to the police but after three years of investigations they have gone public with extraordinary details about his paedophile past and offered a 10,000 euro reward after failing to gather enough evidence to charge him with Maddie's murder. Detectives believe that he used a VW campervan he was living in to spirit the three-year-old away after snatching her, but after shipping the vehicle to Germany they have not found any of Maddie's DNA inside, according to Sky News. A Jaguar he owned until the day after the abduction is also in their hands but forensics teams have found not clues. The suspect, who is in prison in Germany for rape, has been linked to an early 1980s camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which is seen here on the Algarve in 2007. Police believe it may have been used in the crime but they have not found the DNA evidence needed to charge him He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and the surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007 including just days before Maddie's disappearance. It has been seized by police. News magazine Spiegel today revealed that Brueckner has 17 convictions in Germany for child abuse and child pornography offences, driving without a licence, assault, burglary, theft and drink driving. Kate and Gerry McCann 'still fervently hope that Madeleine will be found alive' Kate and Gerry McCann are pictured at a Child Rescue Alert event in London in October 2014 Madeleine McCann's parents 'still continue to hope' their daughter is alive despite a German prosecutor saying police believe she is dead, their spokesman said today. Kate and Gerry McCann are being comforted at home in Rothley, Leicestershire, by close relatives and being kept updated on developments by Scotland Yard officers. McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell told MailOnline: 'German police say they are assuming that Madeleine is dead but they have no proof. British police are keeping an open mind and Portuguese police are reacting with caution too. 'So Kate and Gerry still fervently hope that Madeleine will be found alive despite everything that appears to be happening. They continue to hope she is alive until they can be shown incontrovertible evidence which proves that she is not.' He added: 'But they are being realistic and simply want to know what has happened to their daughter and establish the truth, and for those responsible to be brought to justice. 'They will wait to hear what the police tell them. They want a resolution and after all these years they want peace.' Advertisement Brueckner's first burglary was in his home town of Wurzburg, Bavaria, in 1992, when he was 15. He was also given a two-year youth sentence in 1994 for sexually abusing a child when he was a 17. After his 12 years in Portugal he was jailed for drug smuggling in northern Germany October 2011. In 2013 he abused another little girl and was caught with child porn, and was jailed for those offences in 2016. It was only in 2019 he was jailed for the rape in Praia da Luz after being found living on the streets in Milan. Brueckner, described as a drifter, was living in Praia da Luz when Maddie vanished from an apartment 13 years ago as her parents Gerry and Kate were out for dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant. German police have revealed that the suspect had arrived in the Algarve in 1995 aged 18, a common destination for the country's teenage backpackers. For the next 12 years he lived around Praia da Luz and nearby Lagos, telling family he was working as a caterer and odd-job man, when in fact he was dealing cannabis, trafficking drugs and burgling holiday homes and hotel rooms. Today it was revealed he had tortured and raped a 72-year-old American tourist in her holiday home close to the McCann's apartment in 2005, 18 months before the three-year-old was snatched from her bed - but was only jailed last year after German police began investigating. He planned the rape having broken into the victim's house wearing a mask and armed with a rope to tie her to a wooden beam. She was blindfolded, gagged and whipped with a piece of metal before being raped and robbed - but hairs left at the scene later linked him to the crime. She told the police: 'He enjoyed torturing me'. He denied the attack but friends had gone to police saying that videos of him raping other women had 'fallen into their hands' and they were in no doubt that they were 'real scenes', the court heard. Weeks before Maddie disappeared he moved from a rural farmhouse into a VW T3 Westfalia campervan taken in the Portuguese resort in the days before she vanished. He also had a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate that was registered to another person in his home country 24 hours after Maddie was taken - but he was still driving it, Scotland Yard has said. Both vehicles have been traced by police. The suspect is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla - meaning 'old school' - during his time in Portugal The house is situated between the resort of Praia da Luz and the larger town of Lagos four miles away How top-secret probe helped identify Maddie McCann prime suspect A top secret probe involving police forces in three countries helped investigators zone in on Christian Brueckner. The 43-year-olds bar room revelation that he had information about what had happened to Madeleine McCann threw a spotlight on him and then made him the significant target for detectives. Police in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz had an open file of a 72-year-old American was brutally raped and robbed in her home. The rapist had remained free. The connection was made. But his claims about his connection to the disappearance of Maddie put a three country police operation into full swing. Officers from Britain, Germany and Portugal linked their investigations and interviewed informants and those who might have come across the German without revealing the nature of the investigation. This was likely to have been the method to ensure word did not spread that the 43-year-old Brueckner was suspected in the kidnapping and probable murder of Maddie. Officers did not want potential informants to be put off or be indentified in the media before their probe had reached a satisfactory conclusion. Police kept their suspicions to themselves even when he was gaoled for seven years for rape. Police had found a body hair on the victim which was proved to have come from Brueckner's body. Almost 12 years after his horrific attack on the pensioner, his DNA had led him to jail. But officers believed there was one more crime he had to answer for; the taking of Maddie. Six months after Brueckner being put behind bars, however, police appear to have seen their investigation in need of a re-boot and thus the joint press conference appealing for information by Scotland Yard and Germanys Federal police. They have identified two vehicles used by Brueckner and spoken to the British owner of a house in Praia da Luz about the suspects background. Advertisement The suspect then returned to Germany where he was jailed for dealing drugs in the North Sea resort of Sylt and later 'sentenced on numerous occasions to prison terms for sexual abuse of children in the past', Christian Hoppe, from the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) has said. He had been registered in Braunschweig since 2014. In court, he said he worked until seven in the morning until midnight but the business, along with his relationship, failed and he began to hit the bottle and live on social assistance. He returned to Portugal where he was arrested in June 2017 and extradited again to Germany. The reason was a sentencing of the Braunschweig district court to 15 months' imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a child. After his release in August 2018, he was homeless, the accused continued at his trial. He spent nights sleeping in park benches before fleeing to Italy where he was arrested in Milan in September 2018. Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor's Office, said: 'In connection with the disappearance of the three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann on May 3 2007 from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, the Braunschweig prosecution is investigating against a 43-year-old German on suspicion of murder. 'We are assuming that the girl is dead. With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence.' He said the suspect was regularly living in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, where he worked jobs in the gastronomy business. Be he claimed the suspected funded his lifestyle by committing crimes, including thefts in hotel complexes and apartments, as well as drug dealing. He added: 'The Braunschweig prosecution is now concerned because before going abroad he last had his residence in Braunschweig.' Police also revealed last night that the German suspect made a 30-minute phone call that located him in Praia da Luz just an hour before the Maddie was last seen on May 3, 2007. The following day he suspiciously transferred the ownership of his Jaguar car to another person despite continuing to drive it, police said. ICON Applauds New Executive Order Advancing International Religious Freedom International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) June 4, 2020 WASHINGTON, June 4, 2020 / "We are incredibly grateful to President Trump for prioritizing international religious freedom. This new order demonstrates a continued commitment to promoting and protecting religious freedoms abroad by stopping crimes against people of faith and it comes at a critical time for Nigeria. "Right now, Boko Haram, widely known as one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world, is actively committing a genocide against Nigerian Christians and committing crimes against humanity on the wider population. Tens of thousands of innocent lives have been lost, mostly women and children. Thousands of churches have been torched. Entire communities, villages, and towns have been devastated. Millions have been kidnapped or displaced from their homes following persecution. "Not only has President Muhammadu Buhari failed to stop the violence despite repeated requests from world leaders, but attacks against Christians have become more aggressive and deadly under his administration. It's even been reported that Nigerian Christians who are in desperate need of food support during COVID-19 are getting 'relief scraps' compared to Muslims. This is not acceptable. "The president's new order empowers DOS and USAID to take the necessary steps to drive positive change - for example, sending a Special Envoy to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region. We applaud this development and hope it is a turning point in stopping Nigeria's humanitarian crisis once and for all." The president's order follows a recent increase in Congressional support for addressing the crisis in Nigeria. Recently Senator Grassley The letters, and President Trump's executive order, follow the April publication of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's As part of its global Silent Slaughter campaign, ICON tracks and reports the atrocities taking place in Nigeria every day. The tracker can be found For more on the Silent Slaughter campaign, About International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) International Committee on Nigeria is a consortium of Nigerians and other nationalities who have combined efforts to help Nigeria. Our mission is to create a community where rule of law guides every facet of societal interactions in Nigeria. ICON promotes human dignity, the right to live, religious freedom, and the protection of the vulnerable against all forms of persecution. SOURCE International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) CONTACT: Elizabeth Heaton, 202-445-9858, Share Tweet NEWS PROVIDED BYInternational Committee on Nigeria (ICON)June 4, 2020WASHINGTON, June 4, 2020 / Christian Newswire / -- The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), a nonprofit working to secure a future for all Nigerians, released a statement today, applauding a new executive order signed by President Trump advancing international religious freedom. The order directs the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to take action to combat religious freedom violations and calls for a budget of at least $50 million for programs to fight religious violence and persecution abroad and protect religious minorities.The president's order follows a recent increase in Congressional support for addressing the crisis in Nigeria. Recently Senator Grassley spoke about the need for action on the Senate floor, and sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking what the Administration is doing to ensure "that Christians and other religious minorities in Africa's most populous country are safe from persecution," and about the status of requests to appoint a special envoy to Nigeria. Senator Joni Ernst sent a letter to President Trump saying, "we must not lose sight of the long-term threats to Christians in Nigeria... your leadership can stop the violence and save lives."The letters, and President Trump's executive order, follow the April publication of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2020 Annual Report , which documents the state of religious freedoms around the world. The report is critical because Nigeria is listed as a "Country of Particular Concern," or CPC, among other things. A CPC designation is considered the most serious category of documenting religious freedom violations and infringement.As part of its global Silent Slaughter campaign, ICON tracks and reports the atrocities taking place in Nigeria every day. The tracker can be found here For more on the Silent Slaughter campaign, click here About International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)International Committee on Nigeria is a consortium of Nigerians and other nationalities who have combined efforts to help Nigeria. Our mission is to create a community where rule of law guides every facet of societal interactions in Nigeria. ICON promotes human dignity, the right to live, religious freedom, and the protection of the vulnerable against all forms of persecution.SOURCE International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)CONTACT: Elizabeth Heaton, 202-445-9858, elizabeth@eahstrategiesllc.com Flash Poland will hold its presidential elections on June 28, with a run-off round two weeks later, Elzbieta Witek, speaker of the Polish Sejm (lower house of parliament), announced on Wednesday. Witek said during a press conference that she had received no objections from the National Electoral Commission (PKW) against the proposed election date, and hoped that the election campaign will be fair and that all election activities will be carried out efficiently. The elections, which were originally scheduled for May 10, did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party was eager to let the voting go ahead by mail on the back of favorable polling numbers for incumbent President Andrzej Duda. A conflict with a minor coalition party, however, led to the delay. Duda, a former MEP for the right-wing PiS, was polled to have over 50 percent support during the pandemic, while other candidates were unable to campaign on the ground due to the lockdown. A support rate of over 50 percent could normally hand him a second term without the need for a run-off election with any viable runner-up candidates. However, poll results have tightened since, showing currently that Duda is heading for a second-round neck-and-neck contest. His main rival, polls show, is Mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski, who is endorsed by the main opposition party Civic Platform. Trzaskowski replaced Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska on May 15, after the party's original candidate tanked in opinion polls. The newly announced elections will be held traditionally with optional postal voting. The PKW can, at the request of the country's health minister, mandate postal-only voting in districts where COVID-19 could cause health concerns. Poland is one of the few countries in Europe where the curve of the pandemic has not been flattened. The Health Ministry confirmed by Wednesday a total of 24,545 COVID-19 cases in the country, with the death toll standing at 1,102. Kyle Sandilands has set the record straight on arguably the most controversial incident in his radio career. The 48-year-old and his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson sparked outrage in 2009 when they asked 14-year-old rape victim about her sexual experiences during a lie detector segment. Speaking on The Ben, Rob and Robbo Show on Tuesday, Kyle said: 'I was under the assumption that poor girl was 21. I was in New Zealand operating out of the Sofitel Hotel on a ski holiday when it happened. I had no control of any buttons.' Candid: Radio presenter Kyle Sandilands (pictured) has set the record straight on arguably the most controversial incident in his career - the 2009 lie detector scandal 'On my sheet it said she was 21 and at no stage did anyone know she was going to get asked that question [about her sexual past],' he added. Kyle said he had chosen to keep the girl's identity hidden over the years because she was so young at the time and he 'didn't want her to suffer'. 'I could come out and say what the lie detector actually said when she said that... I could have said what the real situation was but the girl was 14, so if someone's going to suffer over this it's going to be me, not a 14 year old kid,' he said. 'I had no control': Kyle revealed he was 'under the assumption that the girl was 21', not 14. He also said he couldn't properly control the segment because he was broadcasting from a hotel in New Zealand and didn't have his usual set-up He also revealed that the mother of the young girl had made contact with him since the scandal. 'She's made contact since, the mother, and said, "Hey, like we see this comes up every now and then, you should say what happened, what really happened." [But] I got blamed, I took it because it was my responsibility at the end of the day,' he said. 'It was my show and I wasn't going to throw a desperate, confused, worried mother and a troubled 14-year-old girl under the bus.' Shock: In August 2009, a 14-year-old girl became emotional during a lie detector segment on Kyle and Jackie O's 2Day FM breakfast radio show and reluctantly admitted she had been raped when she was 12 years old. Pictured left: Jackie 'O' Henderson In August 2009, the teenage girl had become emotional during a lie detector segment on Kyle and Jackie O's 2Day FM breakfast radio show and reluctantly admitted she had been raped when she was 12 years old. Kyle then replied: 'Right... is that the only [sexual] experience you've had?' At that moment, Jackie swiftly cut off the segment and announced the show's hosts and producers had no prior knowledge of the rape. It was too little too late, however, and the segment became a major news story. Even 2DayFM advertiser Optus announced it was appalled by the incident. Amid the backlash, Channel 10 confirmed that Kyle had been axed from the judging panel of Australian Idol. Axed: Amid the backlash, Channel 10 confirmed that Kyle (pictured) had been axed from the judging panel of Australian Idol The network's programming boss David Mott said at the time: 'We thank Kyle for his contribution to Australian Idol over the last four years. 'But it has become increasingly clear that as Idol has remained a family-focused show, even more so this year with the 6.30pm Sunday time slot, his radio persona has taken on a more controversial position over this period which is not in the interest of the show. 'The recent controversy surrounding Kyle's radio program has highlighted more than ever the conflicting attitude of the two careers.' Kyle's Australian Idol contract was reportedly worth $1million. In August 2013, Kyle and Jackie O announced that they would be moving from 2Day FM to KIIS FM. WASHINGTON -- Washington on Wednesday ordered the suspension of all flights by Chinese airlines into and out of the United States after Beijing failed to allow American carriers to resume services to China. The move adds to a growing friction between the world's two biggest economies amid the coronavirus crisis and in the wake of a two-year trade war that has not been fully resolved. The U.S. action, which takes effect June 16 but could be implemented sooner if President Donald Trump orders it, applied to seven Chinese civilian carriers, although only four currently are running service to U.S. cities including Air China and China Eastern Airlines, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said. "U.S. carriers have asked to resume passenger service, beginning June 1st. The Chinese government's failure to approve their requests is a violation of our Air Transport Agreement," the department said in a statement. U.S. air carriers sharply reduced or suspended service to China amid the COVID-19 pandemic. United and Delta submitted applications at the beginning of May to resume flights but have been unable to receive authorization from Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), the DOT said. The latest spat between Washington and Beijing centers partially on the CAAC deciding to determine its limit on foreign airlines based on their activity as of March 12. U.S. carriers had by then suspended all flights due to the pandemic -- meaning their cap was calculated to be zero -- while Chinese-flagged flights continued. The "arbitrary 'baseline' date... effectively precludes U.S. carriers from reinstating scheduled passenger flights to and from China," the U.S. order says. The department also said there are indications Chinese airlines are using charter flights to get around the limit of one flight a week to increase their advantage over U.S. carriers. "Our overriding goal is not the perpetuation of this situation, but rather an improved environment wherein the carriers of both parties will be able to exercise fully their bilateral rights," the order said. A passenger walks past American Airlines check-in terminals at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, Arlington, Virginia in this photo taken on May 12, 2020. Photo: AFP Downgrade for American In early January 2020, before the pandemic struck, U.S. and Chinese carriers operated approximately 325 weekly flights between the two countries. Trump has blamed China for the U.S. coronavirus outbreak and blasted the country in a fiery speech last week over a new security law in Hong Kong. China for its part has mocked the U.S. stance on Hong Kong in light of civil rights protests across the U.S. following the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man. "Racism against ethnic minorities in the U.S. is a chronic disease of American society," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said earlier this week. "The current situation reflects once more the severity of the problems of racism and police violence in the U.S.," he told reporters in Beijing. Meanwhile, American Airlines, which is not planning to resume service to mainland China until late October, saw its debt rating cut Wednesday by S&P Global Ratings due to the reduced demand for air travel. Airlines have been among the hardest hit by the global pandemic, as air transport been virtually shut down, forcing many to announce massive layoffs. S&P cut American's debt grade a notch to "B-" saying the cost-savings measures it has taken "will be insufficient to offset the effects of sharply lower demand from the impact of the virus on the company's credit metrics." American is a beneficiary of the government's Payroll Support Program, under which it will receive $5.8 billion through July 2020, but S&P said the carrier still has a cash shortage. The fight over air space comes after the U.S. imposed restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei and ordered a probe into the actions of Chinese companies listed on American financial markets. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the stay on the appointment of 69,000 assistant basic teachers, saying the youth are suffering the most due to the negligence of the Yogi Adityanath dispensation. Her attack came hours after the Allahabad High Court stayed the appointment of 69,000 assistant basic teachers in UP. "69,000 teachers recruitment case: Once again the dreams of the youth of Uttar Pradesh have been eclipsed. Due to the chaos of the UP government, all the recruitments are stuck in the court," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet. "Paper leak, cut-off controversy, fake evaluation and wrong answer key -- Due to all these shortcomings of the UP government, the matter of recruitment of 69,000 teachers is pending," the Congress general secretary in-charge UP East said. The government's negligence is hitting the youth the most, she said. In a remarkable potential break from her party, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters on Thursday she is "struggling" with whether to back Donald Trump's reelection bid this November. The Alaska senator also lauded former Defence Secretary James Mattis' condemnation this week of Mr Trump, saying the retired Marine general's letter to The Atlantic denouncing his former boss were "true and honest and necessary and overdue." Ms Murkowski said she was "really thankful" for Mr Mattis' letter because she has been "struggling for the right words" to express her thoughts on the president's handling of recent events such as the anti-police-brutality protests that have swept the nation in the wake of the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd. "When I saw General Mattis' comments yesterday I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up," she said. Mr Mattis, who resigned from his post last year in protest of the president's abrupt decision to drawn down US forces in Syria, penned a letter in The Atlantic on Wednesday criticising his former boss's militant response to the anti-police-brutality protests throughout the US over the last week. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," Mr Mattis wrote. Mr Mattis also reproached the administration for ordering law enforcement to clear peaceful protesters near the White House on Monday before Mr Trump embarked on a short walk to the St John's Episcopal Church so he could pose in front of TV cameras holding a bible in his right hand. US Park Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bang grenades to clear a path for the president's walk to the famed church. "When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside," Mr Mattis said, taking a dig at current Defence Secretary Mark Esper for his participation in Monday's procession. Mr Esper has sought to distance himself from the photo op on Monday, saying he did not know that was the White House's intended plan. Ms Murkowski is often cited as one of the most moderate members among the Senate GOP. She was considered a swing vote during the president's impeachment trial in February before ultimately deciding to acquit him on both articles. "I didn't support the president in the initial election," Ms Murkowski reminded reporters on Thursday. "I work hard to try to make sure that I'm able to represent my state well, that I'm able to work with any administration and any president. He is our duly elected president. I will continue to work with him. I will continue to work with this administration," she said. Republican Senator Mitt Romney, the only Republican who joined Democrats voting to convict Mr Trump in February, said Mr Mattis' letter was "stunning and powerful." He added: "If I ever had to choose somebody to be in a foxhole with, it would be with General Mattis. What a wonderful, wonderful man." While Mr Mattis is one of the most highly respected military veterans and US defence thinkers among Republican lawmakers, his comments are unlikely to spur any sort of mass exodus within the party from Mr Trump. Several other GOP senators shrugged off Mr Mattis' condemnation of the president, despite declaring their respect for the retired general. I respect General Mattis. Im the son of a Marine myself. Its just a very difficult moment here. We need the states, local governments, to ensure they are protecting the safety of people and property, Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines said, HuffPost reported. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Mr Trump's closest allies in the chamber, told Fox News that Mr Mattis just doesn't realise how under siege Mr Trump's presidency is from outside forces. "From the time President Trump wakes up until he goes to bed there's an effort to destroy his presidency," Mr Graham said. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper Explains His Part in Trump's Church Photo-Op Sputnik News 03:26 GMT 03.06.2020 The US Defence Secretary has faced heavy criticism after accompanying President Donald Trump in a prearranged photo opportunity in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had been dispersed with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades ahead of the president's visit. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, a Trump appointee, on Tuesday said that he was not aware of the destination of President Donald Trump when he accompanied the president on a walk from the White House across Lafayette Square to St. John's Episcopal Church, where the president posed for a widely-criticized photo-op in front of the historic church. "I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops," Esper told NBC News on Tuesday night. "I didn't know where I was going. I wanted to see how much damage actually happened". Earlier in the day, a senior Pentagon official told reporters that Esper and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, were not aware that they would be accompanying Trump on his visit to St. John's Episcopal Church. "They were not aware that the park police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square," the official said of Esper and Milley, adding that the two Pentagon leaders were attending a meeting in the White House regarding Trump's recent decision to deploy US military assets to states to handle the ongoing protests across the country. On Monday, Trump said that he would deploy US military forces to states that have not invited the National Guard in sufficient numbers to "dominate" the streets; the president's idea to deal with the ongoing protests across the country over the murder of African-American George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer. Following these remarks, Trump, joined by a group of top officials within his administration, walked from the White House across Lafayette Park, where protesters had just been dispersed with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. The president then stood in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, damaged in a fire on Sunday night, and posed for a prearranged photo opportunity while holding up a Christian bible. On 25 May, an African-American resident of Minneapolis named George Floyd was killed by a white police officer while being arrested. The officer who killed Floyd, identified as Derek Chauvin, put his knee on the victim's neck and kept it there for over 8 minutes, even after Floyd gasped "can't breathe" and begged for air. The tragic has incident has triggered ongoing nationwide demonstrations across the US and in many international cities. All four officers involved in Floyd's arrest and death were quickly fired after the incident, and a few days later, as protests spiraled out of control, Chauvin was subsequently arrested on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Containment booms have been placed on the river to prevent oil from spreading further, but Greenpeace said on its website that they will help collect only a minor part of the pollution, and therefore it would be safe to say that nearly all of the diesel fuel will remain in the environment. Australian actor Dean Geyer has defended Lea Michele amid the growing backlash against her, after playing her boyfriend on Glee's fourth season in 2012. The 34-year-old is the first former co-star of Lea's to publicly support her as she faces multiple accusations of on-set bullying. Dean said on Thursday the 33-year-old actress was the 'most welcoming' cast member when he joined the hit Fox show, and that he never witnessed her making anybody feel uncomfortable. His comments come after Heather Morris said Lea had been 'very unpleasant' to work with on Glee, and Samantha Ware claimed she had made her life 'a living hell'. Support: Actor Dean Geyer has defended Lea Michele amid the growing backlash against her, after playing her boyfriend on Glee's fourth season. Pictured: Dean and Lea filming in 2012 Dean - who played Brody Weston, the boyfriend of Lea's character Rachel Berry, for 14 episodes - had nothing but nice things to say about her. 'Lea is still one of my favourite co-stars that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is extremely hard working and super fun to be around,' he said. 'Her work ethic is so strong it forces you to always be on top of your game, and that's something I looked forward to everyday on set. I definitely learned a lot.' Dean added: 'When jumping onto a hugely successful and established show like Glee, I went into it expecting to be known as the "new guy" for at least a month, but that wasn't the case at all. I almost immediately felt welcomed, and to be totally honest, out of everyone, Lea was the most friendly to me.' 'I can only speak of my own experience': Dean said on Thursday the 33-year-old actress was the 'most welcoming' cast member when he joined the hit Fox show, and that he never witnessed anybody being uncomfortable around her Memories: 'Lea is still one of my favourite co-stars that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is extremely hard working and super fun to be around,' said Dean. Pictured in 2012 Pals: Dean went on to say that he didn't agree with the backlash against Lea. Pictured in 2012 Dean went on to say that he didn't agree with the backlash against Lea. 'I can only speak for myself and my own experience, but from what I saw during my time on set, there was nothing but professionalism and a genuine sense of community amongst the cast and crew,' he said. 'No one showed any signs of discomfort while Lea was on set. If I'm basing my opinion off my season, there definitely shouldn't be a reason for a backlash.' The former Australian Idol star, who recently released new music on iTunes and Spotify, concluded by saying he was 'grateful for the experience and opportunity to be involved with such an iconic show' alongside Lea and the rest of the cast. 'Very unpleasant': On Wednesday, Heather Morris (pictured), who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce on Glee, became the latest person to slam Lea's behaviour on set Statement: Heather said Lea 'should be called out' for the way she treated others for so long On Wednesday, Heather Morris, who played Brittany S. Pierce on Glee, became the latest person to slam Lea's behaviour during filming. The backlash had started earlier this week after Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward on the show's sixth season in 2015, tweeted that Lea had made her life a 'living hell' on set. Heather tweeted: 'Let me be very clear, hate is a disease in America that we are trying to cure, so I would never wish for hate to be spread to anyone else. With that said, was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so. For Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she should be called out. 'And yet, it's also on us because to allow it to go on for so long without speaking out is something else were learning along with the rest of society. But, at the current moment its implied that she is a racist and although I cannot comment on her beliefs, I think were assuming, and you know what happens when we all assume' Speaking out: The backlash had started earlier this week after Samantha Ware (pictured), who played Jane Hayward on the show's sixth season in 2015, tweeted that Lea had made her life a 'living hell' on set Apology: In response to Samantha's comments, Lea apologised for her behaviour on Wednesday. She insisted she had 'never judged others by their background or colour of their skin' but acknowledged she had made mistakes The bullying allegations came to light after Lea took to social media on Friday to pay tribute to George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man who died in custody in Minneapolis earlier that week after being forcefully restrained by a white police officer. 'George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end,' she tweeted. Samantha quoted Lea's tweet several days later, writing: 'Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I'll never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's*** in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.' In response, Lea apologised for her behaviour on Wednesday. She insisted she had 'never judged others by their background or colour of their skin' but acknowledged she had made mistakes. The Broadway star also vowed to learn from her past behaviour so she 'can be a real role model for my child' when she gives birth in a couple of months. Other stars, including Glee's Amber Riley, have also spoken out against Lea, who was recently dropped by the food delivery company Hello Fresh over the controversy. 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:
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The Bible, literature, and royalty are just a few sources for these vintage names. This article was first published on Stacker Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 22:11:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, June 4 (Xinhua) -- China has donated another batch of medical supplies to aid Cambodia's fight against the COVID-19. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian handed over the items to Cambodia's Health Minister Mam Bunheng at a ceremony held in Phnom Penh on Wednesday afternoon. Wang said China highly valued the special visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen to China on Feb. 5 when China was in a critical stage in coping with the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, he said China would never forget personal contributions made by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk to support China's efforts to stem the virus spread. "China-Cambodia joint fight against COVID-19 is a model for international cooperation," Wang said at the event. Speaking at the ceremony, Bunheng expressed his profound thanks to China for donating medical supplies to Cambodia, saying that the items are very useful for the country to strengthen its measures of prevention, control, and response to the COVID-19. Noting that Cambodia and China are "iron friends," he said, "This assistance is a new testament to the unbreakable friendship, solidarity and cooperation between Cambodia and China." "Our joint COVID-19 fight clearly reflects our joint commitment towards building the Cambodia-China community of shared future," he added. The batch of medical supplies was just one of many that the Chinese government and people had provided to the Southeast Asian country for the COVID-19 fight. In March, the Chinese government sent to the country a team of doctors specializing in fighting against COVID-19, along with tons of necessary medical equipment and supplies. Cambodia has so far reported a total of 125 confirmed COVID-19 cases, mostly imported, and no death has been recorded, said the Ministry of Health, adding that currently, only two out of the patients remain hospitalized. Enditem Validated and designed by the Huobi University, world leading digital economy educators and researchers, the Global Blockchain Leadership course aims to help students explore new knowledge at the forefront of business changes and step into the core circles of the blockchain industry. The course has been successfully run for 5 terms where 150 entrepreneurs and investors from Asia's top blockchain companies have taken part. GBLP courses have five modules - Global Blockchain Trend, Industry Application, Digital Finance and Investment and two study tours. The courses have been taught in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Hainan, Tokyo, and Silicon Valley. They include case studies and analysis in blockchain industry trends, global blockchain policy and regulation, blockchain applications, investment strategies and Fintech integrations. As of June 04, 2020, Huobi University has provided training and education programmes in blockchain to more than 30,000 students since 2018 across the globe, including executives from China, U.K. Japan, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. "Work in blockchain education has a long-cycle and slow-impact but we are proud of the multi-dimensional curriculums. Huobi University has designed five levels of curriculum to meet different demands for learners coming from diverse backgrounds. We look to have more industrial experts, talents to join us as instructors and bring our programme distinct perspectives and robust features," commented Dr. Jianing Yu, President of Huobi University. About Huobi University Huobi University is the blockchain education entity of the Huobi blockchain ecosystem. Huobi University focuses on teaching and researching on distributed business models, blockchain applications, and new models on digital finance to empower the business entities and entrepreneurs. President of Huobi University Dr. Jianing is one of the most influential blockchain educators in China and was once praised by China Weekly as a leader in blockchain thinking. Dr. Yu joined Huobi and co-established Huobi University in 2018. He has a PhD degree in Economics and was the director of Institute of Industrial Economics of the China MIIT (Ministry of Industrial and Information Technology). Business & Media Contact: Hailan Jia: [email protected] SOURCE Huobi China Molson Coors Beverage Company adds Bodega Bay hard seltzers to portfolio Molson Coors Beverage Company has added Bodega Bay hard seltzers to its portfolio as the category, which is in its infancy in the UK, starts to attract more bigger players. The company will support the rollout of the Bodega Bay range in stores across the country and it will look to secure new listings with multiple grocers and convenience stores. The brand was first launched into the UK last year and this led to listings in premium retailers including Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Daylesford. It is now also stocked in Sainsburys and Morrisons. The news also follows Molson Coors rebranding as Molson Coors Beverage Company at the end of last year, signalling its intention to continue expanding its portfolio beyond beer. Jim Shearer, category, insight and innovation director for EMEA & APAC at Molson Coors Beverage Company, said: Bodega Bay has successfully launched in the UK market thanks to its unique brand and truly great tasting liquid immediately tapping into the big trends towards premium ready-to-drink alcoholic drinks and a desire for low calorie, naturally flavoured options that reflect a more health conscious lifestyle. "The growth and opportunity in the hard seltzer category is clear, but we wanted to partner with a brand we felt had the ability, because of the sheer quality of the drink and brand proposition, to become a cornerstone of the category as it grows. With Bodega Bay we feel we have the perfect brand and partner to help our customers make the most of the hard seltzer opportunity and build real longevity into the category. Charlie Markland, founder of Bodega Bay, said: Joining forces with Molson Coors feels like a really natural and right next step for us. We wanted to work with a partner who had real presence in the trade, who could help us scale up, but also who had clear expertise and strength in managing and growing a new premium brand. Weve seen the team at Molson Coors do that with Doom Bar, with Rekorderlig and Aspall. We have a shared ethos around how to nurture and grow brands in the trade and this partnership means we now have the routes-to-market and know-how to scale-up in the right way. Were starting in the UK, but the plan is to scale internationally with Molson Coors, targeting Western Europe markets, Australia, Japan and South Korea. The Bodega Bay range of low-calorie sparkling alcoholic drinks at 4% ABV includes two distinctive, quintessentially British premium flavours the flora and fauna-inspired Elderflower, Lemon & Mint, and superfood-infused Apple, Ginger & Acai Berry. Made for what Charlie Markland calls healthy hedonist consumers who want to enjoy an intensely refreshing alcoholic drink with friends but dont want to compromise their healthy lifestyle with high calorie, artificially sweetened options, the Bodega Bay range contains entirely natural ingredients, just 73 calories and are gluten-free and vegan-friendly. The drinks are available in 25cl cans which are ideal for on-the-go or outdoor occasions, with a Californian-inspired design that will provide a point of difference on the shelves. With a desire to be a summer drink with a purpose, Bodega Bay has also recently partnered with The Thirst Project, pledging to invest at least 1% of its sales to bring clean drinking water to people in need across 13 countries worldwide. This equates to 17 litres of clean drinking water per every can sold. Last month Kopparberg launched its hard seltzer range and White Claw moved into the UK for the first time. Related articles: Melbourne researchers have shown that a newly discovered natural antibiotic, teixobactin, could be effective in treating bacterial lung conditions such as tuberculosis and those commonly associated with COVID-19. University of Melbourne researchers are finding ways to beat dangerous superbugs with 'resistance resistant' antibiotics, and it could help in our fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) complications. As bacteria evolve, they develop strategies that undermine antibiotics and morph into 'superbugs' that can resist most available treatments and cause potentially lethal infections. The Melbourne team has shown that a newly discovered natural antibiotic, teixobactin, could be effective in treating bacterial lung conditions such as tuberculosis and those commonly associated with COVID-19. Their work could pave the way for a new generation of treatments for particularly stubborn superbugs. Teixobactin was discovered in 2015 by a team led by Professor Kim Lewis at Northeastern University in Boston in 2015. His company is now developing it as a human therapeutic. The new University of Melbourne research, published in mSystems journal, is the first to explain how teixobactin works in relation to the superbug Staphylococcus aureus - also known as MRSA. MRSA is among bacteria responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans, particularly post-viral secondary bacterial infections such as COVID-19 chest infections and influenza. University of Melbourne Research Fellow in anti-infectives Dr Maytham Hussein and Associate Professor Tony Velkov's team synthesised an aspect of teixobactin to produce a compound that showed excellent effectiveness against MRSA, which is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. Dr Hussein said that there was no way to stop bacteria like MSRA from developing resistance to antibiotics as it was part of its evolution. This made combatting it extremely challenging. "The rise of multi drug-resistant bacteria has become inevitable," Dr Hussein said. "These bacteria cause many deadly infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients such as diabetic patients or those with cancers, or even elderly people with post-flu secondary bacterial infections." The University of Melbourne team is the first to find that teixobactin significantly suppressed mechanisms involved in resistance to vancomycin-based antibiotics that are recommended for complicated skin infections, bloodstream infections, endocarditis, bone and joint infections, and MRSA-caused meningitis. The development could lead to new lung infection treatments and Associate Professor Velkov said it would greatly facilitate the pre-clinical development of teixobactin. "Bacteria often develop resistance towards antibiotics within 48 hours after exposure," Associate Professor Velkov said. "The bacteria failed to develop resistance towards this compound over 48 hours. "These novel results will open doors to develop novel antibacterial drugs for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Gram-positive infections - bacteria with a thick cell wall - which are caused by certain types of bacteria." ### Appeals court in Paris rules Kabuga should be handed over to a UN tribunal in Tanzania to stand trial. A French court has ordered Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga to be handed over to a United Nations tribunal for trial. UN prosecutors accuse Kabuga of bankrolling and arming ethnic Hutu militias that killed 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda during a 100-day period in 1994. The 84-year-old is currently being held in a Paris prison. He is indicted for genocide and incitement to commit genocide, among other charges. Kabugas arrest in Paris last month ended a manhunt that lasted more than 20 years. Once one of Rwandas richest men, he was indicted by the tribunal in 1997 on seven counts, including genocide. He is accused of forming the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres, and the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines, whose broadcasts incited people to murder. These are all lies. Everything I did helped the Tutsis, and my businesses offered them credit. I wasnt going to go and kill my clients, he told the court, speaking in Kinyarwanda. His lawyers say he would not receive a fair trial at the tribunal, which is based in The Hague and in Arusha, Tanzania. They also argue his health is too frail for him to be transferred to the African country, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. But the court said his health was not incompatible with a transfer. I was expecting this, because its a highly politicised case, said one of his lawyers, Laurent Bayon. A transfer to Arusha, and the detention conditions there, would not allow him to survive, so a full trial would not be possible, neither for him nor the victims. If the appeal is accepted by Frances court of cassation, a decision would be issued within two months. If it endorses his transfer, he would have one month to appear before the international court. Described as Africas most-wanted man, Kabuga was arrested on May 16 at his home outside Paris, where he had been living under a false name. Last month, a judge in The Hague ruled that Kabuga should be tried in Arusha by the MICT, which took over the duties of the UNs International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when it formally closed in 2015. Paul Ohonbamu has resigned his appointment as commissioner for information and orientation in Edo state. This is coming a few week... Paul Ohonbamu has resigned his appointment as commissioner for information and orientation in Edo state. This is coming a few weeks to the June 22 governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Godwin Obaseki, the governor, is vying to retain the partys ticket for a second term but a faction loyal to Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the APC, is believed to be backing Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a pastor. Ize-Iyamu, who was candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2016 election, had defected to the APC in the heat of the crisis between Obaseki and Oshiomhole. In his letter of resignation, Ohonbonu said he quit his post in order to operate outside the cabinet. I hereby tender my letter of resignation as a commissioner in Edo to His Excellency, Mr Godwin Obaseki this June 4, 2020, he said. Without setting a precedent, I have decided to step aside as cabinet member and operate outside for the general good of Edo and pursuit of happiness for the citizens. I am particularly delighted that His Exellencys second term bid is firm and sure-footed. Whether we shall meet again I know not, therefore our everlasting farewell take. If we do meet why we shall smile, if not it is true this parting was well made. Obaseki has replaced Ohonbonu with Stewart Efe, who was the public relations officer, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin city, until his appointment. In a statement, Osarodion Ogie, secretary to the state government, said the appointment is with immediate effect. The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has approved the appointment of Mr. Stewart Efe as Commissioner for Communication and Orientation. His appointment takes immediate effect, Ogie said. In April, Taiwo Akerele, Obasekis chief of staff, resigned based on administrative and governance grounds. EDWARDSVILLE A police officer testified Wednesday that a Glen Carbon man already charged with 52 counts of unlawful violation of an order of protection allegedly called the victim on Monday and Tuesday. Glen Carbon Detective Jerry Coppelli testified that Michael Consiglio, 29, used a Madison County Jail cell mates phone to call his former girlfriend and order her to stay home and not talk to anybody. Coppelli said Consiglio blamed the victim for his confinement. Assistant Madison County States Attorney Phil Voss said after Wednesdays hearing that Consiglio has been blocked from calling the victim. He said the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled authorities cannot forbid prisoners from using the telephone. As of Wednesday, Consiglio had been charged with 77 counts of violating an order of protection. The order was signed in April, but Consiglio was not served with notice of it until May 20 after he was arrested and held in the Madison County Jail without bail. Consiglio appeared in an arraignment hearing before Circuit Judge Kyle Napp on Wednesday who found there was probably cause to hold Consiglio for trial. Coppelli testified Consiglio is charged with aggravated domestic battery for allegedly choking a victim on April 7. He was also charged with a Feb. 28 domestic battery in New Orleans. The officer testified Consiglio was also charged with aggravated domestic battery as a result of an April 27 incident in which police arrived at the Glen Carbon home to see four young children crying and screaming, stating their mother was beaten. Coppelli said the victim was found lying in a pool of blood and suffered three fractures to bones in her face and a fracture to her finger. Consiglio has a record dating to 2007 when he was convicted of felony theft. He also has convicted for theft, attempted burglary, two counts of violation of probation. He served 30 months in prison for a 2009 theft charge and four years in prison for a 2011 burglary conviction. He also has two prior convictions for domestic battery and three counts of probation violation. He has two misdemeanor domestic battery convictions, a misdemeanor battery conviction and a conviction for driving under the influence. He is currently on probation for driving under the influence. The Portland NAACP and the Urban League of Portland have organized a virtual panel discussion on support for black Oregonians from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The event will be live-streamed from the Portland NAACPs Facebook page. The event, titled Investing in Black Lives: A Path Toward Healing, was organized in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25. The panel will include Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, city officials and leaders in the local black community, according to a press release from Portland NAACP. According to the release, the event will elicit input and suggestions from people to make progress on true equity and solidarity across race. The public can participate during the Facebook Live stream through comments and questions. Watch the Facebook Live event below. Investing in Black Lives: A Path toward Healing Investing in Black Lives: A Path toward Healing Posted by Portland NAACP 1120 Branch on Thursday, June 4, 2020 -- The Oregonian/OregonLive A shake-up of the prices of vocational education courses, abolishing unnecessary regulators, expanding access to student loans, introducing government-funded vouchers for training and simplifying subsidies are among proposals floated by a Productivity Commission report. In the interim report to be released on Friday, the commission calls on state and federal governments to fix the vocational education and training sector, which it says is "underperforming, excessively complicated and suffers from ad hoc policy approaches". Vocational education and training has suffered from "ad hoc" policy enrolment declines. Credit:Nick Moir The findings support Prime Minister Scott Morrison's push for an overhaul of the national skills and workforce agreement, which governs federal, state and territory support for the training sector viewed as a critical element of the country's economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The report found the current "Byzantine" approach was overdue for replacement and the total $6.1 billion spent by governments could be used more effectively. It found providers needed to be more responsive to the needs of students and employers. As most of Louisiana enters Phase 2 of reopening and loosening restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on June 5, take a look at how new cases are trending in your parish and other nearby parishes. Some guidelines for Phase 2: - Businesses that have been operating at 25% capacity boost that to 50%. - Bars that dont serve food will be allowed to open for the first time since March, albeit under a stricter 25% capacity. - Other businesses that have been shuttered, including spas, massage establishments and tattoo parlors, will be allowed to reopen with restrictions. Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up - The state is still not mandating people wear masks while in public. But public-facing employees will continue to be required to wear masks. - Gov. John Bel Edwards administration is urging restaurants to deploy temperature checks at the door as restrictions are loosened further. - High-risk individuals the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are encouraged to continue to stay home. - Everyone is encouraged to wear masks when outside of the home. - Businesses are urged to keep employees working from home if possible. To see the grotesqueness of what's happening in America ... this is not the America I dreamed of as a child. This is not the America I grew up wanting to be a part of, the America where I served in the military. I was born in New York and raised in Ghana. When I was 16, my parents saved enough to send me back to the United States. My first job was at a McDonald's. Since then, I served in the Air Force and created content and technologies for the likes of Boeing, Lucasfilm, Universal Music, Miami Children's Hospital and Microsoft Xbox. Today, I am the head of CEEK Virtual Reality, where we are working to create innovative content solutions and tools for virtual reality and augmented-reality experiences. As a business owner, the looting breaks my heart. But we've been trying to talk about inequality and systemic racism for so long. It took seeing George Floyd die in front of our eyes for the world to confront it. For blacks in tech and blacks in business, we've been saying we can't breathe. Weve been denied opportunity based on the color of our skin. Over and over, weve been told, You are not wanted here, we will not support your kind. It's a bit hypocritical when I see some of the same Silicon Valley VCs who have denied opportunity to people based on gender and race holding up signs that say, "I can't breathe." This has been going on for way too long, and it's time for it to stop not just on the streets, where people have been bleeding to death, but also in boardrooms and the startup community and all these different places where the doors have been locked. I've had investors say to me, "I want to put someone else in the role as founder, because I'm not going to go and raise capital in Silicon Valley with a black woman. It's too difficult." Why should that matter? I've created patented technology for Boeing. I've put a satellite in space with my signature on it. Over and over again, you are denied opportunity because of the color of your skin. The question gets asked, "Where is the black unicorn?" Does anybody wonder why we don't have one? I cried for George as a mother hearing her son say, "Momma, momma, momma." Mama couldn't save him. But I also cried because as an innovator and black woman in business, I've felt no different. Its like the world is just standing there watching, refusing to hear you. It's a very sad place to be. Related: Here's How Business Leaders Are Responding to the George Floyd Protests Image Credit: Mary Spio When you look at organizations and their leadership, look at how much diversity is recognized. Write to them and demand that they build a diverse organization that represents that platform. If we are not in the room to speak, no one is speaking to it. In the words of Martin Luther King, "In the end, we will remember not the wickedness of our enemies but the silence of our friends." This is not about, "Poor me, save the Black woman." Women-owned businesses are outperforming other businesses despite the hurdles. It's the whole concept of the wounded deer jumping the highest. We have to be very innovative. We're very careful about how we're spending what comes in. It's a necessity to open the aperture and let other people with other perspectives come in. Something like George's murder is a catalyst to have these discussions openly and say, "Let not his death be in vain. Let's not protest black and blue and forget green." There is a solution: We all have to work together. We have to be vigilant. If we see something we believe is not right, we need to talk about it and not wait for things to get to where they've gotten. We've seen communities come together, and they will continue to come together. And some people are reaching out and saying, "I need to look more closely at how I've operated in the past because I realize theres room for me to improve." There are a lot of people whose dreams are being killed on these streets. There are a lot of people being killed in other ways that we need to think about it, especially when it comes to business. The only way things will change in business is if people protest racist, sexist systems by holding VCs that take from pension funds accountable. If you work and put money in a retirement fund, make sure you know where that fund is being invested and demand accountability. You can voice your frustration by holding platforms that have little to no representation in their leadership accountable. Make businesses with discriminatory practices accountable. Related: Here Are Legitimate Fundraisers Helping Damaged and Destroyed Small Businesses Image Credit: Mary Spio We must demand change, or the excuses will continue. When you look at the percentage of people of color and women that get funded in VC land, you realize Silicon Valley has had its knee on the necks of women and people of color for a long time. Social justice today must be inclusive of all facets especially entrepreneurship. We can not build a civilization for the world with only a small fraction of humanitys brain power. Innovation should be inclusive. The world cannot continue to keep its hands in pocket and whistle and have discussions on why there are no black unicorns galloping alongside the Zuckerbergs, Bezoses and Musks. Stop the apathy. Stop the excuses. Let us breathe! Mary Spio is the founder of virtual reality app CEEK, as well as a former deep space engineer for Boeing and U.S. Air Force satellite communications technician. Related: Using Tax Preparer to File Taxes May Delay Your Coronavirus Stimulus Check Is Dave & Buster's Entertainment Stock a Good Reopening Play? Second Coronavirus Stimulus Check: How to Check the Status Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved French car manufacturer Renault on Tuesday secured a government loan of 5 billion euros, to deal with the global slow down in the automobile industry and the crisis brought on by Covid-19. The company announced last week it would need to cut 15,000 jobs globally, nearly a third of them in France. However, after a series of difficult negotiations with managers and trade unions, Renault has agreed, in exchange for the loan, to restructure its factories. During a visit to Etaples (Pas-de-Calais) last week French President Emmanuel Macron had already told Renault employees of the Maubeuge and Douai factories that "their future was guaranteed." This in the face of a major company overall announced by Renault last Friday, which said due to the slowdown in the automobile market, they would need to cut 15,000 jobs globally, 4,600 in France. The French state has 15 percent of shares of the Groupe Renault, which employs some 48,000 people in France. The President's promise was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon by France's Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, who announced a state guaranteed loan of 5 billion euros to bail out Renault following a meeting with leaders and trade union representatives in Paris. Jobs guaranteed in Maubeuge The reassurance of a loan was good news in particular for the factory in Maubeuge, in the north of France, which had been striking against the proposed merger with another site in Douai, some 70 kilometres away. "We have a guarantee of keeping 2,100 employees on the site until 2023, and even beyond that date," Jerome Delvaux, secretary of the CGT-MCA union, present at the meeting told France Televisions. However, other workers at the Choisy-le-Roi factory outside of Paris, are on strike over the fact that their factory is the only one out of 14 still threatened with closure and facing a merger with another site. Renault workers from different plants came out in large numbers to protest against the job cuts proposed by the company last Friday. Story continues Secretary of State for the economy Agnes Pannier-Runacher told France Inter radio on Wednesday that under the new deal, Renault would not fire its employees, but instead would integrate them elsewhere into the company. "We've taken our responsibilities," she said, "now Renault has to come up with a plan that will not see workers laid off, and support the sites which are most competitive." She went on to give Maubeuge as one of the more competitive sites in France, adding that the government believed it has a bright future and should be saved. Worst crisis ever faced by Renault "What we're doing is accompanying Renault in one of the worst crises that it has ever faced," she explained. "For that, they will need to accept some restructuring. Job positions will be lost, but not people. Staff are not going to find themselves unemployed from one day to the next." Renault president Jean-Dominique Senard has indicated however that despite the government bailout loan, 4,000 jobs would still have to go in France by 2023. He emphasised that the restructuring plan was already underway before Covid-19, and that crisis simply sped the process up. "This is good news, the state supports us and I'm very grateful," he told France Info on Tuesday. Projects in Morocco, Romania and China stopped "If we use this loan, it will be reimbursed entirely by Renault. We will make it our objective that not one single euro from taxpayers will be used for Renault." He said there was no question of sudden job loss, nor of lowering salaries to cope with the crisis, but staff would probably have to work a bit extra in the coming months to make up for the lost time during lockdown. Elsewhere, Senard said that Renault has stopped the development of sites in Morocco and Romania, had repatriated activities in Turkey and Slovenia and stopped a project to build electric motors in China. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Following the new guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu government, cab aggregator Ola said on Friday that it has resumed its services in Chennai. The statement from Ola said it is following safety and precautionary measures across all vehicles. Earlier, Ola had resumed operations across other major cities in Tamil Nadu including Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Salem. Now it has resumed operations in Chennai following the relaxation of the lockdown by the state government. The statement said it has introduced five layers of safety that include strictly adhering to steps that ensure the highest standards of safety and hygiene for every ride. This includes compulsory mask usage for driver-partners and passengers, deep sanitization of cars before and after rides, urging passengers to load and unload their luggage themselves as well as encouraging cashless payments, amongst others. A flexible cancellation policy has also been introduced that allows either the passenger or driver-partner to cancel the ride if they feel the other party is not following the rules or not wearing a mask. Ola has mandated all vehicles on the platform to follow hygiene and safety standards that will include the cars being cleaned and sanitized before every ride. Fumigation of the vehicle will also be done every 48 hours. Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson and Head of Communications at Ola, said, As per the latest guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu government, driver-partners operating three and four-wheelers on the Ola platform in Chennai will be available to serve mobility needs of citizens on the Ola app, with the highest levels of safety and precaution. This also brings relief to tens of thousands of drivers-partners whose livelihoods have depended on serving citizens." I'm amazed that we've been hearing about this case for years and year and years. And it will very likely never stop because she was a cute Caucasian child. However I do feel bad for family (Maybe not the parents as I heard they are shady, never really looked into this case) and friends who were obviously affected by her disappearance. Reply Thread Link Her parents aren't shady lol Reply Parent Thread Link Yes they are lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link They were negligent. Reply Parent Thread Link I thought I read the family has connections to the Royal Family and it was some pedophile cover up Reply Parent Thread Expand Link the parents were slandered by the British yellow press (and one asshole of a Portuguese detective) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Exactly how shady does someone has to be to not sympathize with having thier child kidnapped and likely raped and murdered? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I always think about her twin siblings. How weird growing up knowing you were IN that room where she was taken yet not knowing what happened. Reply Parent Thread Link It's been thirteen years. What changed now? Black children don't even get thirteen days of such devotion from authorities after their disappearance. Horrible for her parents etc but come on. Reply Thread Link I actually choked when p*ers m*rgan said this morning that there would never have been this ongoing response if she were a Black child. What's happening. Reply Parent Thread Link broken clock, tralalala? Reply Parent Thread Link Ewwww die P\ers. Reply Parent Thread Link Man I woke up feeling like Im living in an alternate dimension. I even had to do a historical fact check. Weird times we live in. Reply Parent Thread Link the right wing press have such a strong iron grip that now he's had to go leftist for shock value. he's still a charlatan Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Sort of on the same topic, but I love that ITV got called out for posting about Black Lives Matter with a 'This you?' on Piers. I'm not here for him trying to reform himself lately and people propping him up over his response to Covid. Reply Parent Thread Link This is just a coincidence. He's a known rapist and pedophile. He was recently convicted of raping a 72 year old American woman in 2005 in Portugal. They probably tried to reconstruct what he was doing while he lived in Portugal and found some connection to the McCann case. Reply Parent Thread Link I was just reading about this. I'll believe it when I see it. The cops seem so incompetent and they've had so many suspects they were sure of that had nothing to do with it. If anyone is interested in the case I recommend the Netflix docuseries about it Reply Thread Link I swear that I've heard this before??? I was listening to a podcast about Madeleine like 6 months ago or maybe more and they def mentioned a guy who was already in custody in Germany who had a history of being a pedo that was a possible suspect. Is there something more now that makes him actually likely to be the culprit or is it all just the same shit, based on his proximity to the area and his criminal history? Or is this a second German pedo??? Reply Thread Link https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/madeleine-mccann-suspect-martin-ney-paedophile-police-investigation-a8900256.html It sounds like a new suspect because this guy is 43 and that guy was 48 last year. Like, what ever happened with that? And they were both German and currently in prison, kind of odd. I really don't think they know what they're doing. Reply Parent Thread Link I believe them to be the same suspect, with the news last year just getting his age wrong. The police were tipped off about him in 2017, though I've even read they got their first info it might've been him as far back as 2013. The detailed stuff that you can read about him in the German media definitely makes it seem as if the German prosecutors are convinced it's him. Reply Parent Thread Link the press dug it up to distract from the BLM protests imo Reply Parent Thread Link That's sad (although unsurprising), but can they stop spending millions on this case now? Reply Thread Link I love crime documentaries, but I can't watch anything concerning children. I help teach kindergarteners and 1st graders. It hits too close to home. Reply Thread Link Yeah, I'll SOMETIMES listen to a true crime podcast that deals with a child's murder, but mostly not because I just can't stand thinking of those horrific things happening to a little kid like my niece or nephew. It makes me feel sick. Reply Parent Thread Link Strange comments so far. Would it be better if every missing child case got this attention? Yes. Does that mean this should not have been pursued? No. Especially since the police was tipped off by a friend of the suspect who he had drunkenly confessed to, a classic scenario for picking up a cold case again. Now what the British police and British media have made of this for many years is one thing, but any child abuser/kidnapper/murderer that you catch is good news because it reduces the chances of other children coming to harm - those people don't tend to offend just once. As evidenced in this case, as the suspect has a history of raping women and children and the big question here is why he didn't get longer prison sentences in the past. People's glib reaction (not here but I've seen it in a lot of comment sections) of "ohhh ofc now this is revealed as they need more funding, just before the summer so the police can vacation in Portugal again" is bizarre to me to say the least. How cynical do you have to be to read the very strong indication, if not basically confirmation, that this poor girl was raped and murdered and have that be your first thought. The German police has basically already confirmed that he's going to be tried for her murder and the only open question is whether it'll be a trial based on circumstantial evidence or whether the public can come forward with more information still, especially former acquaintances of the guy, now that they know he's already in prison for another crime and can't retaliate. Reply Thread Link They just now assume she's dead after 13 years? No shit Sherlock, I assumed she was dead after about two days. Things like Elizabeth Smart showing up months/years after they are kidnapped are not that common. I figure if they don't find a kid who has been kidnapped within 2-3 days, odds are they're already dead. Reply Thread Link It's something different for the police to declare someone "assumed dead" rather than just "missing" though. Obviously anyone who's not totally naive would've assumed so long ago, but the police doesn't operate on gut instinct or probability only. Reply Parent Thread Link i think the common thought at the time, and for many years, was that she was trafficked. Reply Parent Thread Link They need to stop giving our tax money to this case. Especially when you have cases like Shukhri Abdi closed in weeks. Reply Thread Link I'm not attacking you in anyway, but if that was your child would you want the police to just stop searching for them? The parents are absolute dumbasses for leaving their children alone to go party, but I can't imagine what it must feel like to not know what happened to your child. It probably eats them up inside every day. Every missing child is important and deserves to be investigated to its conclusion good or bad. Reply Parent Thread Link In an ideal world we could throw millions at cases indefinitely but we do not have infinite resources. And the level of money that was continually poured into this case even after it hit a brick wall for several consecutive years has no reasonable justification. You can make emotive pleas about what if it was your child, but it *was* several other peoples children who didnt get a fraction of this funding or effort and who knows, might actually have been found if they had. I dont question any parent for continuing to lobby for that and who cares what else is on the roster, thats your baby and youre entitled to have that tunnel vision, but I think its wholly appropriate to question why the authorities continued to give such preferential treatment to a single case that wasnt progressing. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Every missing child is important and deserves to be investigated to its conclusion good or bad. i genuinely mean this as an observation and not in a shitty way but i find it really ironic that you used this sentiment in relation to a case that has been allocated an incredible and disproportionate amount of time, resources, and money that other missing children cases, especially those involving minorities or lower class families, never, EVER receive Reply Parent Thread Link What happened to Shukhri was horrendous. The other kids were laughing at her while she drowned. It's beyond disgusting. Reply Parent Thread Link I would've bet money on the parents' guilt. Reply Thread Link I would have too up until recently, but then I read a lot about the case after seeing the Netflix documentary, and it seems my impression was completely skewed, unconsciously, by the tabloid press Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah everyone assumed their guilt so I was like, they are probably guilty, but when I actually read about it I honestly don't think they CAN be guilty just from a logistics POV with the amount of other people who would have to be involved and the time frame. Like, for them to be guilty at least every friend they were vacationing with would have to be actively complicit and possibly others as well. They were negligent, but I don't see how they could be actually directly guilty. Reply Parent Thread Link Didnt it come out they drugged her that night to make her sleep or was that a different family? I assumed they accidentally overdosed her and she died so they tried to cover it up. Leaving her alone in the hotel in a foreign country was definitely bad and made me side eye them. RIP Madeleine Reply Parent Thread Expand Link When I was watching the documentary, it made my skin crawl when they started talking about the organized pedo rings. The most disgusting thing in the world. Reply Thread Link Yup, and then that story about that one boy who went missing and then turned up in child porn a few years later Reply Parent Thread Link yes, rui pedro, it's so sad Reply Parent Thread Link this whole situation maks me sad thinking about how many pedos are out here doing terrible things and are never getting arrested Reply Thread Link When it comes to kids and cases like that I always assume some child abuse is involved and I just zone out I remember when the news came about that dude from Lost prophets I almost threw up like shit like that is just so blah I cant even go there Reply Thread Link Is this the case where a guy asked for money to tell where her body is and now he is in prison for murder in South america Reply Thread Link Are you thinking of Natalee Holloway? Reply Parent Thread Link ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador's financial picture looks increasingly bleak, a fiscal update released Thursday reveals, and the province's finance minister says help from Ottawa will be necessary to get through the challenging period ahead. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 4/6/2020 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Tom Osborne speaks with reporters before a meeting with federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador's financial picture looks increasingly bleak, a fiscal update released Thursday reveals, and the province's finance minister says help from Ottawa will be necessary to get through the challenging period ahead. The province reported a net debt of $14.2 billion, up from $13.95 billion in December, at a fiscal update presented Thursday. The reported deficit had risen to more than $1.1 billion, up from $522 million presented in the 2019 budget. That's without accounting for cash from the federal-provincial agreement known as the Atlantic Accord, which will direct funds from Ottawa's shares in the Hibernia offshore oil field to the province over decades. Projected revenue for the fiscal year ending on March 31 fell short by $690 million, due to a drastic drop in oil prices, offshore oil production shutdowns, pandemic-related closures and a January snowstorm that required extensive shutdowns in several municipalities. But Finance Minister Tom Osborne warned Thursday that the worst impacts of the pandemic are yet to come for the province, which was already facing economic troubles. Osborne said falling oil prices and other impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including unemployment and business closures, will impact the budget for the year, expected before Sept. 30. "The path forward is going to be difficult, and we can't cut and tax our way out of this," Osborne said in St. John's. "This would have a devastating effect on the people of the province and on our prospects for economic recovery." Osborne said the current economic challenges have made the Liberal government's goal of balancing the budget by 2023 impossible. Oil revenues projected at $1 billion fell short by $181 million. With production shutdowns and oil prices projected to remain low, Osborne said the province would be "lucky" to see $500 million in oil revenues over the next fiscal year. He said more borrowing will likely be necessary to make up the difference. Financial assistance from Ottawa will be also necessary, Osborne said, whether through the equalization program or other another fiscal stabilization program to help provinces through the pandemic. "We are not asking for a handout, we are asking for fairness," he said. Osborne noted Thursday that the province is still facing challenges with cost overruns from the Muskrat Falls dam, which has essentially doubled in cost to more than $12.7 billion since it was sanctioned in 2012 and represents about one-third of the province's debt. In March, Premier Dwight Ball wrote to inform Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the province had struggled to borrow money due to collapsing revenue sources from the offshore sector and the province's resource-based economy. Ball later said that moves by the Bank of Canada to support provincial funding markets allowed legislators to authorize a borrowing capacity of $2 billion. As of Thursday, Osborne said the province had borrowed $1.2 billion, or about 60 per cent of the limit. Progressive Conservative finance critic Tony Wakeham said the "significant drop in revenues" caught his attention, as well as the $1.2 billion already borrowed in the first six months of 2020. "Now we have a revenue problem compact to go with our expenditure problem, so it's a bit of a double whammy," Wakeham said by phone. "Certainly there's going to need to be some review of how we're doing things and why we're doing them." He said more clarity is also needed on the government's economic recovery plan, so businesses can plan accordingly and get the economy moving. Economist Wade Locke, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, said there were no surprises in the update that he called a "manifestation" of long-standing fiscal problems. Locke said a well thought-out, realistic plan is necessary to try and bring expenditures back in line, something he said the current government has shown little imagination for. 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 looks like our approach is that we will go back to the federal government and they will help us, with little consideration to what we can do ourselves," Locke said in a telephone interview. He said it's not an ideal situation for a government that's poised for an imminent change-over, with the election of a new Liberal Party leader to replace Ball as premier set for August. Locke said a realistic economic plan will be challenging for people, but he noted that the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows how policymakers can bring people on board with dramatic but necessary changes to get through a crisis. "People bought in that COVID is a problem that it is all of our problem," Locke said. "If we had the same degree of enthusiasm for the economic and fiscal crisis, we could deal with that." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2020. OAKLAND, Calif., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakland City Councilmembers, small business owners, Labor and community groups announce plan to support small business and create vibrant communities by modernizing business tax. Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas said about the effort, "The decisions the City of Oakland makes now will help us weather the current crisis and set a better course for our communities as we emerge, recover." She went on to say, "Oakland must act to both protect city services and support struggling small businesses by making our local tax structure equitable and fair." The proposal would modernize Oakland's tax structure, now twenty-years old, making it progressive, like other cities in California so firms with more revenue pay more than smaller firms. It would close loopholes, such as the exemption on new buildings paying a gross receipts tax. It would shift the tax burden off small businesses, many owned by women and people of color and create a tax structure that is equitable and fair. "If Oakland wants its small businesses to emerge from this crisis, the city must address the deep inequities in our current tax structure." Said Tracey Weaver of Urban Furniture and Boutique, Urban University Oakland, who went on to say, "It is time we modernize this outdated tax structure, so that it is fair to every business." Carroll Fife, Oakland Director of ACCE said, "After the last economic crisis, many of the historic small businesses that shaped our community were forced to shutter their storefronts." She added, "The loss of these small businesses deeply exacerbated gentrification among our most vulnerable neighborhoods." Oakland is facing sharp budget cuts and while this proposal would not provide immediate relief, it would create a tax structure that would create revenue to protect city services. Liz Ortega, from the Alameda County Central Labor Council said, "We need more than just cuts, when addressing our budget shortfall." She went on to say, "During the last economic crisis, many of these services were slashed and never restored. Oakland must save vital city services and choose to prioritize people over profit by reforming its antiquated tax code." The Lift Up Oakland proposal to modernize the city's business tax structure is sponsored by City Councilmembers Bas, Thao and Kalb. If passed by the city council, it would be on the November 2020 ballot. To pass it would take a 50%+1 majority of voters. More information can be found at https://liftupoakland.com/ SOURCE IFPTE 21 Related Links http://www.ifpte21.org Nepal's economy is expected to suffer a hit of over $1 billion due to coronavirus containment measures which have hurt business activity and tourism in the Himalayan nation, a central bank official said on Thursday. The shutdown is expected to have knocked some 168 billion Nepali rupees ($1.4 billion) off Nepal's gross domestic product in the current fiscal year ending mid-July, the official told Reuters. The country, wedged between China and India, has been under a lockdown since March, when two cases were reported. Confirmed coronavirus cases have since risen to 2,300 with nine fatalities, and officials say the peak could be months away. "These are our estimates of losses to national production only for this year due to COVID-19," said Chinta Mani Siwakoti, a deputy governor at the Nepal Rastra Bank, the country's central bank. The new financial year starts on July 16. Only last month, the government lowered its growth forecast for the year to 2.3 percent from 8.5 percent due to the health crisis. 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 Siwakoti said hotels and restaurants, which were the hardest hit by the lockdown, would be slower to recover because tourists would be restrained for some time even after the pandemic. "The extent of total economic loss depends on how long the lockdown continues and how soon economic activities revive," said Siwakoti. A central bank panel is studying the impact of the pandemic on the $32 billion economy, he added. The lockdown is in place until June 14, but Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is under pressure from politicians, business groups and the public to re-open the economy before then. Some businesses have vowed to defy restrictions and open from Thursday. About 20 percent of Nepal's 30 million population is poor and heavily dependent on the informal sector. Local residents Diana Washington and Dacia Dixon stand in front of a looted Walmart in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Chicago Residents Denounce Looting of Their Neighborhood Bronzeville, a historic center of strength for Chicago's black community, cleans up destruction CHICAGOCliff Edgeson found shattered glass and empty shelves at his local Walmart on the morning of June 1. He lives in Bronzeville, a neighborhood that Chicago has designated as a food desert because it lacks affordable, nutritious food. Its hard to get groceries. Now its going to be even harder, Edgeson, 62, told The Epoch Times. Its tearing up our own community. Edgeson called 911 the night of May 31. He had spotted the looters, many of whom were black teens, he said. But no police came to stop them. His calls were among more than 10,000 calls to 911 about looting over the weekend. Looting had spread so fast, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a June 1 press conference, that the police couldnt have stopped it even if the force were four times bigger than it is. Citywide, police arrested 699 people; nearly two-thirds of them were looters. Cliff Edgeson stands in front of the Walmart, which was looted on May 31, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) A Walmart that had been looted the night before is seen in the Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Its crazy, messed-up, and ridiculous, Edgeson said. Ive never seen anything like this. Sandra McDowell, another neighborhood resident, says she understands the frustration over the death of George Floyd. But while the death of a black man dying as a white officer knelt on his neck has sparked nationwide protests and social unrest, she opposes violent acts. They used a mans death to destroy things that take many years to build, McDowell said. Its frustration in a wrong way. Sandra McDowell, a resident of Chicagos Bronzeville neighborhood, speaks against the recent looting in the area, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Many small businesses in Bronzeville were damaged, including many that were already struggling because of COVID-19-related closures. Fadi, who declined to give his surname, lost 90 percent of the merchandise in the beauty salon he started three years ago; hes not sure if the insurance company will cover the losses. Its sad. Its miserable, he told The Epoch Times. A salon owned by a Bronzeville resident named Fadi was among the small businesses targeted by looting on May 31. Employees clean up the salon in Chicago, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Damaging the Black Metropolis Revival The damage has occurred as Bronzeville, historically a black cultural and economic center for Chicago, was experiencing a revival. Once dubbed the Black Metropolis, it was home to the first black-owned bank and the first black YMCA in the nation, when segregation still excluded black people from other YMCAs. It fell into decline steadily in the latter half of the 20th century. Now, nearly half of Bronzeville residents earn less than $20,000 a year. But in recent years, new retail shops and homes have popped up. A $46 million project established a local retail and apartment complex that was hailed as a model for community-led redevelopment. Marcus Witt, a lifelong resident of Bronzeville, rode the rising tide and opened a beauty salon four years ago. On the night of the looting, he stayed at his salon and kept a pistol handy to protect his livelihood. Marcus Witt stands in front of his salon in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) No looters came to his salon. But he was devastated to see the damages to other small businesses, including a neighboring phone store that lost all its phones, he said. George Floyd wouldnt want this, Witt said. Witt supports peaceful protests, like those led by Martin Luther King Jr. He was 6 years old when King came to Chicago. They were peaceful marches. Everything was peaceful, he said. You can accomplish nothing with violence. Picking Up the Broken Pieces The morning of June 1, freelance photographer Jason Taylor drove around Bronzeville and cleaned up broken glass. This is where our children play, Taylor told The Epoch Times. I cannot wait for the city to clean up. Taylor is single and has no children, but he sees Bronzeville as his house, and its neighborhood kids as his children, he said. Having spent most of his life in Bronzeville, Taylor finds his own black community divided. On one side, you have organizations like Black Life Matters that focus on systematic injustice, he said, while you also have those who want to build up the individuals in the community through education and knowledge. He favors the latter approach. He spends time with neighborhood kids on a regular basis, many of whom lack a father figure. I dont have any kids but I raise a lot of kids, he said. Jason Taylor shows his time tattoo; he believes it takes time to heal. He helps clean up after looters in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, on June 1, 2020. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) You have to take it upon yourself to build up your community, Taylor said. When everybody starts to do that, that is the best organization. His message for the young looters is: Dont listen to social media. Dont listen to the internet. Think. Really think about what youre doing. YouTube CPAC UPDATE 8:55 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed seniors in his daily address outside Rideau Hall. "Seniors, who have given so much to our country, are among the most threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic." The Prime Minister, today announced that seniors eligible for the Old Age Security pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement will receive their special one-time, tax-free payment during the week of July 6. Through this measure and others, the government is providing nearly $900 more for single seniors and more than $1,500 for senior couples, on top of their existing benefits, to help these vulnerable Canadians with extra costs during the pandemic. The federal government promised to spend $2.5 billion on May 12. Seniors eligible for the OAS pension will receive a payment of $300, and those also eligible for the GIS will receive an additional $200, for a total of $500. UPDATE 8:52 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says new federal data shows that COVID-19 is in decline across Canada but the country is not out of the woods. Trudeau says a new modelling report will be released later today that shows many communities are seeing very low numbers of new cases and most of them can be traced. He says it is encouraging that the virus is "slowing and in some places even stopping" but in some places there are still large numbers of new cases. Trudeau says the continuing threat means that as more people start returning to working outside their homes, adhering to physical distancing measures and wearing masks remains very important. He says the country also has to do better at testing and tracing contacts of people who contract the novel coronavirus to stamp out flare-ups. There are more than 91,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the country but outside of Quebec and Ontario the number of new cases being identified each day is very low. The Canadian Press UPDATE 8:26 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says new federal modelling shows that COVID-19 is in decline across Canada but the country is not out of the woods. He says the continuing threat means that as more people start working out in public, adhering to physical distancing measures and wearing masks remains very important. And he says the country will have to do better at testing and tracing contacts of people who contract the novel coronavirus to stamp out flare-ups. ORIGINAL 8:10 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provides an update on federal response to COVID-19. OTTAWAIt shouldnt be this hard to get government aid in an emergency. At least, thats how Hassena Baksh sees it. Her sisters restaurant, Pams Roti, has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this week, she said they couldnt afford to pay the rent of more than $4,000 this month, so they wanted their landlord to apply with them for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program, a government subsidy designed to lower rents by 75 per cent so businesses dont shut down. Except he wouldnt not without proof Pams Roti actually qualifies, so he doesnt end up losing money by wrongfully applying for the government aid, he told the Star. Its one example of what business organizations say are the shortcomings of the rent relief program that relies on landlords agreeing to apply for support that commercial tenants desperately need. Only 16,000 applications had been received for the program since it opened May 25, a government official confirmed Wednesday. Thats a fraction of the almost 1.2 million small businesses in Canada. The situation left Baksh and her sister Jameloon Pam Singhwho said they were willing to sign all the necessary paperworkfearful the restaurant that has served Caribbean eats on Bloor St. W. for decades would be forced to close its doors. Baksh called on customers to help press their landlord to apply for the subsidy, and said one of them set up a crowdfunding site. It had raised more than enough money to cover the June rent by Wednesday evening. This is my neighbourhood. I lived here for 50 years. I was 16 when I came here and Ive been in the restaurant business for nearly 40 years, said Singh, who opened Pams Roti after emigrating from Guyana in 1967. The commercial rent subsidy is meant to allow small and medium-sized businesses that have seen revenues drop by 70 per cent during the pandemic crisis to apply with their landlords for a forgivable loan from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Tenants can reduce their rent by 75 per cent if their landlord agrees to apply, and to cover 25 per cent of the rent for April, May and June of this year. The federal and provincial governments pay the rest. Asked about the dearth of applications for the subsidy Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford warned landlords not to hold out on the program. Ive begged the landlords to work with the tenants. These are struggling businesses, these are small family-run businesses in a lot of cases and they're hurting right now, Ford told reporters at Queens Park. Well, what theyre doing is they're testing me. And that's going to be the wrong thing to do. We'll give it a few more days, and then we'll act so all the landlords out there: you want to play hardball? Well play hardball then. Because I'm going to protect the little guy. Pams Rotis landlord, Henry Goldberg, said he didnt refuse to work with the tenants. Responding to questions by email, Goldberg said he is willing to defer half their June rent, but that he doesnt want to apply for the subsidy unless the sisters provide him with documents to show the restaurants revenues have indeed dropped by the required amount. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, tenants dont have to provide documents to prove revenues have declined enough to qualify they just need to sign an attestation that they have to the best of (their) knowledge. But the CMHC may review any records they deem necessary to ensure the attestation is accurate, spokesperson Leonard Catling told the Star this week. Catling said tenants are responsible for ensuring that all information provided is true and accurate, and that landlords are entitled to rely on the tenants attestation if they acted "reasonably" and have no knowledge it is incorrect. But Goldberg said he worries that if the attestation ends up being wrong by accident then the government will deny the application after I have already lost the money by agreeing to reduce the rent. He said CMHC could not assure him this wouldnt happen when he contacted them about the program. He also questioned what it means for a landlord to act reasonably regarding the tenants claimed drop in revenue if he believes they are "still doing an active business with obvious support from the community. It may be that this program just doesnt apply to them. Perhaps they didnt realize this when they started this campaign, he said. Baksh launched that campaign earlier this week, when she took to social media to urge Pams Roti customers to urge Goldberg to apply for the rent subsidy. Asked about Goldbergs offer to defer half the June rent, Baksh said the landlord should simply apply for the subsidy. She did not immediately respond to the Star on Wednesday evening when it was clear the campaign raised enough money to cover the rent. Speaking by phone earlier this week, Baksh said they are willing to sign the necessary attestation because its obvious revenues have declined by the required amount, given how it is only now doing take out orders and was closed completely for about three weeks in April. She also bemoaned the governments design of the program, saying that tenants should be the ones getting the money directly, so they dont need their landlords co-operation to access government aid. Business groups are also raising concerns about the program. Laura Jones, executive vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, called it a mess and said the government needs to redesign it so more businesses can get the help they need. Jones said the requirement for businesses to have lost 70 per cent of their revenue is too high, and that tenants shouldnt have to rely on their landlords to apply. She also said her organization has received hundreds of calls from landlords and tenants complaining that the application process is too complicated. Were three months in, and still missing the mark on rent relief with a program that is helping some but leaving many others still trying to fend for themselves, she said. Rent is one of those make-or-break factors ... That may be the difference between surviving and failing. Karl Littler, senior vice-president of public affairs with the Retail Council of Canada, said provincial governments should ban commercial evictions during the crisis. That way, landlords would have an added incentive to apply for the rent subsidy, since it would not be possible to replace tenants that cant pay rent with ones that can. The council reported Monday that 48 per cent of its members have said they cant pay their rent, while 34 per cent said their landlords have threatened to change the locks or evict them if they cant pay the rent. Its definitely not been received by all landlords with open arms, so obviously that is a concern, Littler said Maeva Proteau, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Bill Morneau, said the 16,000 applications for the subsidy received so far would represent almost $100 million in reduced rent. We know that many businesses are worried about being able to pay rent, she said. We strongly encourage property owners to take advantage of the program. With files from Robert Benzie Read more about: JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has harshly criticized Jewish West Bank settler leaders for disparaging President Donald Trump over what they perceive to be his less than adequate plan allowing Israel to annex parts of the West Bank. Despite what is widely viewed as a pro-Israel peace plan, settler leaders have voiced concern that the maps they have seen leave many settlements as isolated enclaves. They also reject any recognition of a Palestinian state, as outlined in the American plan, and have pressed Netanyahu to make changes. On Wednesday, David Elhayani, chairman of the umbrella Yesha Council representing the settlers, told the Haaretz daily that the plan proved Trump was not a friend of Israel. Netanyahu, having just met settler leaders to hear their grievances, lashed back. President Trump is a great friend of Israels. He has led historic moves for Israels benefit, Netanyahu said in a statement Wednesday. It is regrettable that instead of showing gratitude, there are those who are denying his friendship. Speaker of Parliament Yariv Levin, who has been involved in implementing the plan, went even further, calling Elhayanis remarks rude and irresponsible. He said they exhibited an ungratefulness that was particularly damaging at a time when there was an important effort to advance the historic process of applying sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. Netanyahu has announced that he will annex parts of the West Bank, including the strategic Jordan Valley and dozens of Jewish settlements, in line with Trumps Mideast plan. He has signalled he will begin moving forward with annexation next month. The U.S. plan envisions leaving about one third of the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967, under permanent Israeli control, while granting the Palestinians expanded autonomy in the remainder of the territory. The Palestinians, who seek all of the West Bank as part of an independent state, have rejected the plan, saying it unfairly favours Israel. They have already cut off key security ties with Israel and say they are no longer bound to agreements signed. On Thursday, the Palestinians announced they would refuse to accept the tax money Israel routinely collects for them. The moves have raised concerns of a return to violence if the plan is actually carried out. The annexation plan has also come under harsh criticism from some of Israels closest allies, who say that unilaterally redrawing the Mideast map would destroy any lingering hopes for establishing a Palestinian state and reaching a two-state peace agreement. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-04 22:26:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KIGALI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Rusizi district in western Rwanda from Thursday has been partly placed under a lockdown that will last for two weeks based on the assessment of COVID-19 outbreak in the region, Rwandan Ministry of Local Government said. In the three sectors that make up Rusizi's Kamembe area, unnecessary movements and visits outside home are not permitted except for essential services such as healthcare, food shopping or banking, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry directed all employees, both public and private, to continue working from home, except those providing essential services. Travel between Kamembe town and other areas is banned except travels for medical reasons or essential services, it said. The government also banned operations of shops and markets, except those selling food, medicine, fuel, cleaning products and other essential services. The statement also indicated that restaurants and hotels in Kamembe may use few workers and only sell takeaway. Other areas in Rusizi will continue to operate normally but must adhere to guidelines from the ministry of health including social distancing, mandatory wearing of face masks in public and washing of hands frequently, according to the statement. Relevant authorities will continue to monitor the situation to know if there are other areas in the district that need to be put under the lockdown, it said. Thirteen COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday in Rusizi that borders Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the ministry of health. The move came after Rwanda further eased a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, whereby transport between provinces and motorcycle passenger service have been resumed except in Rusizi and Rubavu, another town bordering DRC. Enditem Coronavirus in Colorado: Live updates - Nearly 1.9 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S.; 30-39 year-olds have the most coronavirus cases in the state Mitch McConnell offer his support to Mark Esper Thursday amid reports President Donald Trump is furious at his defense secretary, a blatant plea from the top Senate Republican for Esper to keep his job. McConnell's appeal came as cracks started to appear among Republican senators' support for the president after Monday's controversial photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church and strong criticism from retired four-star General Jim Mattis. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday she was 'struggling' on whether she could support President Trump in the 2020 election. 'I was really thankful,' she said of Mattis' criticism of his former boss. 'I thought General Mattis' words were true and honest and necessary and overdue.' 'I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns we might hold internally,' she said. And when asked if she can support still support Trump, Murkowski replied: 'I'm struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time.' Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was 'struggling' on whether she could support President Trump in the 2020 election Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell voiced his support for Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who is fighting for his job Attorney General Bill Barr walks with President Donald Trump on Monday, as does Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah also praised Mattis' words but held off on directly criticizing the president. 'General Mattis' letter was stunning and powerful. General Mattis is a man of extraordinary sacrifice. He's an American patriot. He's an individual whose judgment I respect, and I think the world of him,' he told reporters on Capitol Hill. 'If I ever had to choose somebody to be in a foxhole with -- it would be with a General Mattis. What a wonderful, wonderful man,' he added. Murkowski and Romney have crossed swords with Trump before. Murkowski voted against Trump's controversial Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Romney voted to convict Trump on one of the two articles of impeachment, although the Senate overall voted to exonerate Trump on both charges. Trump found himself in a quagmire of criticism and a storm of controversy after law enforcement officials used pepper spray, chemical agents, rubber bullets and officers on horse back to clear the area around the White House so the president could walk to St. John's Episcopal Church to get his photo taken holding a bible. A few Republicans spoke out against the president as did several Democrats and prominent military officials, including Mattis and the current chairman of the joint chiefs. Esper tried to distance himself from the mess and found himself in trouble with his boss. Should Trump fire Esper, the Senate would have to confirm his replacement. McConnell would be wary to hold confirmation hearings during an election year, when Democrats would use the opportunity to grill the nominee on Trump administration policies and its response to the protests that sprang up around the country in the wake of George Floyd's death. McConnell also gave his seal of approval to Attorney General Bill Barr, who has managed the administration's response to the protests and gave the controversial order to have peaceful demonstrators removed from the White House complex on Monday. Barr was criticized for the level of force used but does not appear to be in Trump's dog house. 'In these challenging times, the President and the American people are very well-served by the expert advice and principled leadership of people like Secretary Esper and Attorney General Barr,' McConnell wrote on Twitter. 'I appreciate their dedicated work at this difficult time for our nation and their steadfast commitment to their constitutional duties to preserve peace and order, uphold liberty, and protect the American people so they can freely exercise their rights,' the Republican senator from Kentucky added. 'I am glad President Trump has assembled such an impressive team that is working hard for all Americans,' he concluded. Esper was fighting for his job Wednesday after he broke from Trump on the use of a special military authority and then, after a meeting at the White House, announced a sudden reversal on a plan to start withdrawing active duty troops from around Washington. And he may find himself saved after three prominent military officers broke ranks to criticize Trump, a move that will likely distract the president from Esper's transgression. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joined retired generals Jim Mattis and John Allen in criticizing the president's handling of the George Floyd protests. Army General Mark Milley said in a memo to troops they should 'defend the Constitution' and said that armed forces will continue to protect Americans' right to 'freedom of speech and peaceful assembly,' as the president has called in troops to defend Washington, D.C. Milley's attempt to distance himself from the president comes as he was recently rebuked by retired generals after he marched out of the White House as part of Trump's entourage for a photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church while dressed in his combat uniform rather than his service or greens uniform. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley issued a public rebuke of Donald Trump in a Thursday memo where the told troops to 'uphold the Constitution' as the president called the military to defend Washington D.C. against George Floyd rioters Milley's letter came after General John Allen (left) and former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (right), both retired four-star Marine generals, denounced the president's decision to call in the U.S. Military to assist with rioters Republican Senator Mitt Romney voiced his support for Jim Mattis but avoided directly criticizing President Trump Milley's action came after former Defense Secretary James Mattis issued his first ever open criticism of his former boss in an opinion piece published in The Atlantic on Wednesday. 'Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,' Mattis said in a rare quip against the president. Mattis, a retired four-star general, also likened Trump's actions to the rhetoric used by Nazis to 'divide and conquer.' Trump responded by calling Mattis the 'world's most overrated general.' And retired Marine Corp four-star General John Allen lashed out at Trump in an op-ed Wednesday claiming his actions in the midst of violent nationwide riots over the death of George Floyd are 'shameful.' Allen, who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan then was an envoy in the international effort against ISIS, insisted Trump's presidency could be the 'beginning of the end of American democracy.' 'The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020,' Allen wrote in an op-ed published to ForeginPolicy.com. 'Remember the date. It may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment.' Esper, meanwhile, irked the White House after he told reporters Wednesday he was opposed to invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to send the U.S. military to impose control of cities even as the president talked tough on Twitter and ordered an infantry battalion to Washington, D.C. It was a statement that caught the White House off guard at a time Trump is brandishing his maximum authority and was said to anger the president, who saw Esper's move as a breach of the chain of command. Defense Secretary Mark Esper visits DC National Guard military officers guarding the White House Attorney General William Barr, center, stands in Lafayette Park across from the White House on Monday before President Trump made his walk Esper also sought to back away from Monday's controversial photo-op at St. John's church, where the area around the White House was cleared of peaceful protesters so Trump could pose with a bible. He said that while he knew he would be going to the church, he thought he would be visiting troops. He ended up posing with Trump and officials including Barr, who the White House said ordered the area cleared Monday morning, only to discover it hadn't occurred hours later. 'What I was not aware of was exactly where we were going when we arrived at the church and what the plans were once we got there,' Esper said. He also tried to walk-back a comment that referred to U.S. cities as 'battle-space.' 'In retrospect I would use different wording' he said of his conference call with Trump and governors,' he said. Esper's public rebellion raised immediate questions inside the White House over how long he can survive. 'As of right now secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, and should the president lose faith we will all learn about that in the future,' white House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said when asked if Trump still has confidence in him. McEnany was asked if Esper had made his views on the Insurrection Act known to the president before his public statement, as well as whether Trump had confidence in him. 'As of right now secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper,' said White House press secretary Keyleigh McEnany 'Not that I'm aware of in terms of expressing his opinion,' she responded. 'And I wouldn't get into the private conversations that went on here in the White House. And with regard to whether the president has confidence, I would say if he loses confidence in Secretary Esper I'm sure you all will be the first to know,' she said. McEnany referred to the Insurrection Act which Esper argued publicly against as a 'tool' the president could use. 'The president has the sole authority to invoke the Insurrection Act. It is definitely a tool within his power. This president has one singular aim, it is protecting america's streets. We cannot have burning churches,' she said, referencing the damage to St. John's on Sunday night. 'The Insurrection Act is a tool available,' she said. (Newser) A massive oil spill in Siberia is being called "Russia's Exxon Valdez"and Vladimir Putin is furious with a company that allegedly failed to report it. The Russian leader declared a state of emergency in the region Wednesday and slammed executives at Norilsk Nickel, the BBC reports. Officials said Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Uss only found out about the spill on Sunday, two days after it happened, when "alarming information appeared in social media." Authorities say around 20,000 tons of diesel oil from a power plant leaked into the Ambarnaya River, north of the Arctic Circle, turning long stretches of it red. story continues below "Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact? Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media? Are you quite healthy over there?" Putin told the head of the Norilsk subsidiary that operates the power plant, per the Guardian. The environmental disaster was apparently caused by another one that is unfolding more slowly. Climate change is causing the permafrost to melt, which caused the collapse of pillars supporting the fuel tank. Authorities say the cleanup will be an extremely long and expensive process, since the river is too shallow for barges and there are no nearby roads. Russia's environment minister says he has ruled out burning the fuel, since "such a huge bonfire over such an area" would be extremely risky. (Read more Russia stories.) A Huawei logo is seen on the side of a building at the headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, on May 30, 2019. (Jason Lee/Reuters) Huawei Hid Business Operation in Iran After Reuters Reported Links to CFO LONDON/DUBAIChinas Huawei Technologies acted to cover up its relationship with a firm that had tried to sell prohibited U.S. computer gear to Iran, after Reuters in 2013 reported deep links between the firm and the telecom-equipment giants chief financial officer, newly obtained internal Huawei documents show. Huawei has long described the firmSkycom Tech Co Ltdas a separate local business partner in Iran. Now, documents obtained by Reuters show how the Chinese tech titan effectively controlled Skycom. The documents, reported here for the first time, are part of a trove of internal Huawei and Skycom Iran-related business recordsincluding memos, letters, and contractual agreementsthat Reuters has reviewed. One document described how Huawei scrambled in early 2013 to try to separate itself from Skycom out of concern over trade sanctions on Tehran. To that end, this and other documents show, Huawei took a series of actionsincluding changing the managers of Skycom, shutting down Skycoms Tehran office, and forming another business in Iran to take over tens of millions of dollars worth of Skycom contracts. The revelations in the new documents could buttress a high-profile criminal case being pursued by U.S. authorities against Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of Huaweis founder. The United States has been trying to get Meng extradited from Canada, where she was arrested in December 2018. A Canadian judge last week allowed the case to continue, rejecting defense arguments that the U.S. charges against Meng do not constitute crimes in Canada. A U.S. indictment alleges that Huawei and Meng participated in a fraudulent scheme to obtain prohibited U.S. goods and technology for Huaweis Iran-based business via Skycom, and move money out of Iran by deceiving a major bank. The indictment alleges that Skycom was an unofficial subsidiary of Huawei, not a local partner. Huawei and Meng have denied the criminal charges, which include bank fraud, wire fraud, and other allegations. Skycom, which was registered in Hong Kong and was dissolved in 2017, is also a defendant. At one point, Huawei was a shareholder in Skycom but, according to corporate filings, sold its stake more than a decade ago. The newly obtained documents appear to undermine Huaweis claims that Skycom was just a business partner. They offer a behind-the-scenes look at some of what transpired at the two companies inside Iran seven years ago and how intertwined the companies were. The documents are variously written in English, Chinese, and Farsi. Huawei declined to comment for this story. Chinas foreign ministry said the United States was politicizing economic and trade issues, which is not in the interest of Chinese or American firms. We urge the United States to immediately stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese firms including Huawei, it said. It referred specific questions about this story to Huawei. The attorneys for Huawei (L-R) Michael Levy, James Cole, and David Bitkower arrive for the hearing over allegations that Huawei affiliates breached U.S. sanctions on Iran, at the Federal Courthouse in New York on March 14, 2019. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images) Normal Business Partnership Reuters reported in March that Huawei had produced internal company records in 2010, including two packing lists, that showed it was directly involved in sending prohibited U.S. computer equipment to Iran. Huawei declined to comment on that story, citing ongoing legal proceedings. The newly obtained documents show that Huaweis efforts to obscure its relationship with Skycom began after Reuters reported in December 2012 that Skycom had offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Irans largest mobile-phone operator in late 2010. In January 2013, a second Reuters report described how Huawei had close financial ties and other links to Skycom, including the fact that Meng had served on Skycoms board of directors between February 2008 and April 2009. In its response at the time to the Reuters reporting, Huawei said Skycom was one of its major local partners and that the relationship between Huawei and Skycom was a normal business partnership. But a newly obtained Huawei internal document from the Chinese companys Iran office, dated March 28, 2013, indicates Huawei controlled Skycom. The document in Chinese stated, In consideration of trade compliances, A2 representative office is trying to separate Skycom and Huawei. A2 was Huaweis code for Iran, according to the U.S. indictment. The document also noted that Huawei had installed one of its own employees to manage Skycom in Iran to urgently avoid the risks of media hype. Huawei had made an urgent decision to appoint Hu Mei as Skycoms general manager in Iran, effective March 10, 2013, the document noted. Hu was a director of Skycom and was also listed as a Huawei employee in an internal Huawei directory. The document detailed how Huawei quickly recognized a flaw in putting Hu in charge of Skycom. Hu was based at Huaweis headquarters in China, and the job required dealing with business matters on the ground in Iran, the document stated. So, Huawei decided to appoint instead a Chinese employee based in Iran to manage Skycoms Tehran office, the document shows. Huawei decided to name Song Kai, deputy representative of its Iran office, to run Skycom in Iran. He was informed of the decision in an internal Huawei message that was reviewed by Reuters. Please update your resume, Song was instructed. The message said that the change had been approved by a man named Lan Yun, who was identified as the chief representative of Huaweis Iran office. Hu, Song, and Lan couldnt be reached for comment. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend her extradition hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Jan. 23, 2020. (Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters) Powerpoint Presentation In response to the Reuters articles of 2012 and 2013, several Western banks questioned Huawei about its relationship with Skycom. They included HSBC Holdings PLC, where both Huawei and Skycom held bank accounts. HSBC declined to comment for this story. In August 2013, Meng met with HSBCs deputy head of global banking for the Asia-Pacific region. She is accused in the U.S. indictment of making numerous misrepresentations regarding Huaweis ownership and control of Skycom. Meng gave a PowerPoint presentation during the meeting that said Skycom was merely a business partner of Huawei. The newly obtained documents show that Huawei soon became directly involved in shutting Skycom down. In a letter dated Nov. 2, 2013, Song, the Huawei employee appointed to manage Skycom, told a major Iranian client that Skycom has decided to annul and terminate its business activities and dissolve the branch company in Iran. Songs letter was addressed to a vice president of Irans largest mobile-phone operator, Mobile Communication Co of Iran, or MCCI. MCCI couldnt be reached for comment. The next day, Skycom, MCCI, and a new Huawei companyHuawei Technologies Service (Iranian) Co Ltdsigned an agreement. It stated that Skycom planned to transfer its contracts to the new Huawei entity. The agreement listed eight contracts worth a total of 44.6 million euros (about $50 million), with about 34.6 million euros remaining on them. Any money owed to Skycom was to be paid to the Huawei entity upon completion of the contracts. All the parties promise that this three-way contract remains confidential, it stated. By Steve Stecklow and Babak Dehghanpisheh London, June 4 : Rhiannon Roberts has signed a new contract with Liverpool FC Women, the club has announced. The Welsh international was a regular in the middle of the park for Liverpool last season and has now committed her future to the club by agreeing an extended deal. She joined Liverpool in July 2018 and has made 27 appearances in her two seasons with the club, while gaining 29 international caps. Roberts was part of the Liverpool side that turned out in front of 23,500 fans at Anfield for a Merseyside derby last season, and she had a special word for the club's supporters. "I'm absolutely delighted to extend my stay at Liverpool," Roberts said in an official statement. "It's a big club to be a part of and I've always wanted to be here and stay here, so I can't wait to get started again and start preparations for next season." The COVID-19 pandemic brought a premature end to the Women's Super League season and Roberts acknowledged the impact it has had on so many people. The 29-year-old continued: "It's been tough for everybody at the minute. I had my wedding cancelled and it is quite a stressful time for a lot of people, so to get this over the line I'm really happy." Upcoming Bay Area political events. Note: Numerous anti-racism and anti-police brutality rallies and marches are scheduled this weekend around the Bay Area. A running list of events can be found here. SUNDAY Refuse fascism: Protest scheduled for noon at 24th and Mission streets in San Francisco. More information is here. Anti-police brutality and anti-racism: A peaceful, family-friendly demonstration honoring the lives of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Tony McDade. Noon outside Oakland police headquarters, 455 Seventh St. More information is here. Pleasanton car caravan: A car caravan to support Black Lives Matter and George Floyd. 4 p.m. Gather at the post office, 4300 Black Ave., Pleasanton. More information is here. Justice for George Floyd and Chinedu Okobi: A march calling for George Floyd and Chineu Okobi, who died after being tased by San Mateo County sheriffs deputies in 2018. Organized by Justice for Chinedu, Raging Grannies of the Peninsula and Democratic Socialists of America. 5 p.m. starting from Capuchino High School, 1501 Magnolia Ave., San Bruno. TUESDAY George Packer: Journalist discusses his new book on longtime diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club. More information is here. Bakari Sellers: Former South Carolina state legislator discusses his new memoir, My Vanishing Country, about growing up in the rural South as an African American and about his fathers rise as a civil rights activist. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club. 3 p.m. More information is here. Berkeley home cooking: A virtual rally to support legalizing the sale of home-cooked food. Organized by Foodnome. 7 p.m. More information and Zoom link here. WEDNESDAY Edward Snowden and the surveillance state: Barton Gellman, journalist who chronicled Edward Snowdens story, discusses that experience and the surveillance state. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club. 10 a.m. More information is here. Surviving autocracy: New Yorker journalist Masha Gessen on getting through Donald Trumps presidency. Hosted by the Commwealth Club. 12:30 p.m. More information is here. Covering Pelosi: Political journalist Molly Ball in discussion with Politicos Carla Marinucci on the life and times of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club. 3 p.m. More information is here. Child care and the pandemic: A discussion on creating affordable, accessible child care during the coronavirus pandemic. Panelists include San Francisco Supervisor Norman Yee, Gina Fromer of the Childrens Council of San Francisco, early care educator Pat Sullivan and Graham Dobson of the city Office of Early Care and Education. Hosted by Mannys. 5:30 p.m. More information is here. THURSDAY LGBTQ asylum seekers: The challenges and hurdles facing LGBTQ+ immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers coming to the United States. Hosted by the Commowealth Club and San Francisco Pride. Noon. More information is here. To list an event, please email Chronicle politics editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com File image Hong Kong's Legislative Council passed a controversial national anthem bill on June 4 that would make disrespecting China's national anthem a criminal offence, a move critics see as the latest sign of Beijing's tightening grip on the city. The ruling could stoke further protests just as people in Hong Kong are set to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square by lighting candles across the city. More details awaited. A woman has alleged that her COVID-19-positive father was not admitted in time by a Delhi government hospital and died on Thursday, a charge denied by authorities of the facility. The woman, Amarpreet, took to Twitter earlier in the day, saying, "My dad is having high fever. We need to shift him to hospital. I am standing outside LNJP Delhi & they are not taking him in. He is having corona, high fever and breathing problem. He won't survive without help. Pls help." An hour later, she tweeted, "He is no more. The govt failed us." Her tweets were widely circulated by netizens. Authorities at LNJP Hospital, a dedicated COVID-19 facility, denied the charge, and said the patient was "brought dead". According to the report shared by the hospital, the man, in his mid 60s, died at 7:37 AM. "As per the report from the emergency department, the man was tested for COVID-19 at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the report came out on June 1, in which he was found positive for coronavirus infection," a senior official said. The patient was sent to home quarantine from there, hospital authorities said. On Thursday, he was brought to the casualty in an "unconscious state" and flat ECG line, and was declared "brought dead", they said. Asked if the woman was made to wait at the hospital, a hospital source said LNJP Hospital, bring a dedicated COVID-19 facility, sees a "lot of rush" of patients. "Also, there are four doctors in casualty department who can attend to four patients only at a time, besides following all social distancing and other safety guidelines. But the triage team looks out for any person in the queue who needs any immediate medical attention," the source said. The woman, later in a tweet, demanded that all her family members be immediately tested for coronavirus. "I lost my father today morning to COVID, we want other family members to get tested today only. which labs are not doing they are in danger. We are trying since morning. My mother, brother, his wife and two kids. Pls help (sic)," she said. On June 2, the woman had also tweeted: "My father is corona positive and in Delhi, no helpline is responding @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia @dilipkpandey. Immediate support is needed". In another tweet, she had said, "I am extremely thankful to @dilipkpandey and others for immediate attention and support. We are proceeding on next steps as advised by doctors !" A record single-day spike of 1,513 fresh cases took the COVID-19 tally in Delhi to beyond the 23,000-mark on Wednesday and the death toll due to the disease climbed to 606, authorities said. Earlier this week, the bank responded to Barybinas claims by saying that no two customer situations are the same. If a customer decides to end their mortgage early, we work with them on a case-by-case basis to discuss their options, including how they might be able to reduce charges, before their mortgage is discharged, TD Bank said in a statement to CTV News Toronto. The customers situation was given careful review and such considerations were taken into account such as strong knowledge of mortgage agreements as a lawyer and a real estate agent, the fact the house was put on the market to sell it in November 2019, months before COVID-19 surfaced, and the customer did not speak with us about their options until after they sold their home and had discharged the mortgage. Barybina countered that she immediately removed her November listing due to having no buyers, and the home only resurfaced on the market in March. She said that TD Bank itself declined to lower the penalty when she tried to negotiate. Its so offensive, Barybina said. All over the news we hear We are all in this together and Let's support each other. They are calling on us to help them but when the reverse happens and I need them, they turn around and say no without any consideration. A scientific adviser to the Government has cast doubt over the effectiveness of a blanket quarantine for visitors to the UK. Professor Robert Dingwall, a member of a sub-group of Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), made the comments after Home Secretary Priti Patel came under pressure from MPs over the plans which come into force in England on Monday legally requiring most people arriving in the UK to self-isolate for 14 days. She insisted the idea was backed by science, was essential to save lives and crucial to make sure gains made in fighting the virus were not lost. But Prof Dingwall told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We are not seeing new clusters that are taking off from people who have been travelling abroad. I think we would really need to get the level in this country significantly further down before quarantine started to become a useful measure. That I think, even then, we would have to see something that is targeted on countries with a significantly higher level of community transmission than ourselves and there arent too many of those around, Im afraid. Home Secretary Priti Patel has defended the quarantine laws (House of Commons/PA) Travellers who flout the rules face fines of 1,000 or prosecution, with police being allowed to use reasonable force to make sure people comply. Road haulage and freight workers, fruit pickers and anyone arriving from within the common travel area covering Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are among those exempt from the restrictions. Prof Dingwall, a Nottingham Trent University academic who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) which reports to Sage, added: If youre a holiday destination in Europe in a country that has worked really hard to get its levels of community transmission down and youre perhaps looking forward to seeing the end of the virus circulating, apart from in isolated outbreaks, then you have to wonder would they really want to welcome a load of British tourists from a country which hasnt fully got this virus under control yet? Story continues Meanwhile, Greek tourism minister Harry Theoharis said the current restrictions on travellers from most UK airports meant it would be difficult for the majority of holidaymakers from Britain wanting to take a trip to the European country. Bar from a handful of airports including London Southend, Bristol and Edinburgh travellers would face testing and quarantine when arriving in Greece until the UKs coronavirus situation improves, he said. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis defended the quarantine policy, insisting it was the right time to do it. But he admitted under the new rules a family from Spain could visit the Lake District for a holiday, while a family from London cannot. He told BBC Breakfast: As long as they are following the guidance and doing the quarantine as outlined, and giving the details to Public Health England (PHE), somebody from abroad can come to the UK but they will have to quarantine for 14 days. Ryanair boss Michael OLeary has been critical of the plans (Jonathan Brady/PA) The plan will be kept under review and alternatives such as international travel corridors between countries were being worked on, he said. The regulations must be reviewed every three weeks, with the first taking place by June 29. The measures could be in place for a year, when the legislation expires, unless the Government decides to scrap it sooner. Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary continued to lay into the scheme, describing it as designed by Dominic Cummings for Dominic Cummings, who as we all know, doesnt observe quarantine. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said the form passengers needed to fill out was not even available on the Government website yet, claiming the policy was ineffective as people were allowed to use public transport to get home and go out to buy food. He added: This is going to do untold damage to British tourism. We dont understand, as an industry, why the British Government doesnt follow the European science that says it is perfectly OK to fly as long as you all wear face masks. Finance ministers of Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to implementing official bilateral debt relief for the world's poorest countries through year-end and possibly longer. "COVID-19 has exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities in many low-income countries, highlighting the importance of debt sustainability and transparency to long-term financing for development," the finance ministers said in a joint statement released by the U.S. Treasury Department. "We are committed to implementing the Debt Service Suspension Initiative agreed by the G20 and the Paris Club, by suspending official bilateral debt payments for the poorest countries to year-end 2020 and possibly longer, providing those countries fiscal space to fund social, health, and other measures to respond to the pandemic," the officials said. Given the importance of private financing for sustainable development, the G7 ministers welcome leadership by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in coordinating private sector participation, and look forward to follow-up, according to the statement. The G7 ministers also said they look to the international financial institutions to step up efforts to provide technical assistance to reduce public debt vulnerabilities, strengthen debt management capacity, and enhance debt reporting practices. "I welcome the continued strong support among the G7 for helping low-income countries address the impacts of COVID-19, including through participation in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a separate statement, adding the ministers agreed to convene on a regular basis to work together on critical economic issues to restore their respective economies. "I look forward to making significant progress to review with the G20 Ministers at the meeting in July," he said. In April, G20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed to "support a time-bound suspension of debt service payments for the poorest countries that request forbearance" following a teleconference meeting. Afghanistan is testing only about 20 percent of its daily suspected coronavirus cases, officials and experts said, as confirmed infections crossed 17,000 in the impoverished country on June 3. Afghan health authorities reported 758 new positive cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the number of total confirmed infections to 17,257. "The Health Ministry is really concerned about the spread of the virus," Deputy Health Minister Waheed Majroh told reporters. "Unfortunately, the number of cases nationwide is more than what we record daily. We have capacity to conduct up to 2,000 tests a day, but the demand is way more." The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement on June 2 that "between 80 to 90 percent of potential cases are not being tested," citing figures provided to them by the Health Ministry that said between 10,000 and 20,000 samples were being received per day. The charity warned that Afghanistan was on the brink of a health crisis after confirmed cases spiked by 684 percent in May. Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of tests coming back positive -- about 40 percent -- the IRC said, indicating high levels of undetected infections. The IRC urged the international community to work with Afghanistan to improve its testing capacity. Four decades of war have devastated the healthcare system, Vicki Aken, IRC head in Afghanistan, said in the statement. "Many health clinics do not have the proper protective gear to treat or refer COVID-19 patients and are turning away those showing signs and symptoms," Aken said. The spike in cases came after Afghanistan grappled with rising violence in recent months that diverted vital attention and resources away from the fight against the disease. The country's few hospitals focus mainly on basic care and trauma wounds and lack the expertise and equipment needed to deal with infectious diseases. The virus's spread has surged amid a nationwide lockdown that residents have largely ignored, with many preferring to take their chances with the disease than lose a day's work. A police officer near the White House slams a riot shield into a cameramans chest. The authorities in Minneapolis fire projectiles at a TV crew, prompting a reporter to cry, stop shooting at us. A black journalist is encircled by riot police and arrested live on the air. Attacks against journalists covering demonstrations against racial injustice have prompted foreign governments to call on American authorities to respect press freedom and protect reporters, both local and foreign. For the United States, it is a role reversal. The attacks bear a striking resemblance to police brutality against journalists around the world over the years ones that have been swiftly condemned by officials in the United States, where press freedom is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. But this week, it was the governments of Germany, Australia and Turkey condemning attacks on reporters in America. Lucknow, June 4 : While the spread of coronavirus has stabilised to a certain extent in the urban and A-class cities of Uttar Pradesh, barring districts bordering Delhi, the infection now seems to be spreading in the rural belt. The districts like Kannauj, Auraiyya, Farrukhabad, Unnao, Etawah, Sultanpur, Firozabad, Basti and Ayodhya are now reporting more corona cases. Health experts claim that this is mainly due to the return of migrant workers, especially those who escaped medical screening or were asymptomatic. In Kannauj, for instance, a mother-daughter duo who had returned from Gurugram, infected ten members of their family in the Galla Mandi area of Chhibramau, which has turned from green to orange zone now. Kannauj had reported 12 cases on Tuesday. On Wednesday, three more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Farrukhabad, six positive patients were detected in Auraiyya, five in Unnao and four in Etawah. Kannauj Chief Medical Officer Krishna Swaroop said, "With this large-scale influx of migrants from urban cities to villages, the rural areas cannot be ignored and need special attention as far as monitoring is concerned. Infected people are being home quarantined or admitted to hospitals with the help of community management." The district authorities have roped in block development officers, besides village heads and Civil defence volunteers, to take due care to avoid the spread. A senior health official said that the situation is alarming in rural pockets where the majority of the people use one water sources -- whether a well or a hand pump. "Migrants who have returned to the villages, are escaping quarantine centres and violating safety protocols. There is no resistance form the local people too, because most cases are asymptomatic," he said. The official further said that social distancing was an alien concept in rural areas where people tend to collect even at the slightest provocation. "Besides, the wedding season is beginning and social distancing will be hard to maintain. We can only step up the awareness campaigns and increase testing," he added. Jakarta, June 4 : An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's North Maluku province on Thursday, but did not trigger a tsunami alert, the meteorology and geophysics agency said. The agency initially issued the quake at 7.1 magnitude before revising it down to 6.8, Wahyu Kurniawan, official in charge at the agency, told Xinhua news agency. The quake jolted at 3.49 p.m. with the epicentre at 89 km northwest Daruba village of Pulau Marotai district and the depth at 112 km under sea bed, the official said. "For this quake, we did not issue a tsunami warning," he added. Indonesia is frequently hit by earthquakes as it sits on a vulnerable quake-impacted zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire". -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 100 Years Ago 1920: Gov. William C. Sproul leaves for Chicago this afternoon over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and will arrive in the convention city about 4 oclock tomorrow, barring accidents. He will be accompanied by a number of distinguished men of the State who are going along to boost for the governor as a candidate for president. When asked at his home at Lapidea this morning if he had any statement to make he said Just say that I am going to Chicago to do the best I can for Pennsylvania, and my friends will do the same thing. That is the message I leave with my people. 75 Years Ago 1945: An added service to Delaware County servicemen, their families and friends is inaugurated by the Times today in a question and answer series on our Service Page. Latest information on the G.I. Bill of Rights, questions of family benefits or other matters will be furnished in writing to Times reader on request. In addition, a series of daily questions and answers of general interest will be published with news of servicemen. 50 Years Ago 1970: Avondale, the historic mansion house built in 1785 by railroad pioneer Thomas Leiper, has been sold to Chester real estate man William A. Pastuszek and Chester physician Dr. Joseph Brill. The historic property was sold by the two Leiper heiresse, Mrs. David Milliar (formerly Maria Leiper) of New Hampshire and Mrs. Leggy Leiper Gibson of Cleveland, Ohio, for an undisclosed sum. Attorney Edward Kassab who represented Pastuszek and Dr. Brill said plans were undecided but his clients have both a historic and an economic interest in the property. 25 Years Ago 1995: College students in Delaware County are getting the message: No one is immune to AIDS. By request of the students themselves, Delaware County AIDS Network Education Coordinator Lisa Cosentino has coordinated on-site HIV-testing at two local colleges. At both schools, Villanova University and Bryn Mawr College, testing was in such demand, the network had to return a second day to fulfill all requests. On-site testing is now being scheduled for the fall at Pennsylvania State Universitys Delaware County campus in Middletown. 10 Years Ago 2010: State gaming officials are touting a 12.63 percent increase in tax revenue collected from Pennsylvania slots in May 2010 compared to May 2009, though five casinos, including Harrahs Chester, generated less revenue this year. Harrahs was down 12.12 percent. There is certainly an impact from the economy, said Vince Donlevie, general manager and senior vice president at Harrahs Chester. COLIN AINSWORTH TCN News National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ), headquartered in New Delhi, has released a detailed report on increasing human rights violation cases against Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalized communities of India during COVID-19 lockdown. Support TwoCircles In April and May alone during the nationwide lockdown, NDMJ and SASY intervened in 67 cases of caste and gender-based violence, the nature of these cases revealing layered untouchability through socio-economic boycott and physical assault as the main cause. Reports of the murder of Dalit men, brutal physical attacks on Dalit families, rape and murder of minors, domestic violence have flooded media sections covering the community. Also, cases of Dalit women being branded witches and their heads tonsured, forced to consume human waste, honour killings and death of sanitation workers were recorded by the Dalit monitoring agency. The more shocking news of negligence in treating Corona positive patients surfaced from Tamil Nadu, with 39 cases of caste atrocities in the state during the lockdown in which SASY intervened legally. Cases of serious physical assaults and Ambedkar statue desecration came from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryanas semi and rural areas, with majority victims among agricultural labourers. In these instances were also examples where Dalits were denied to harvest crops due to the fear of spreading Coronavirus and were assaulted by landowners and influential farmers. NDMJ has urged the respective state governments to register FIRs under the SC/ST PoA Act and violation of curfew rules (144 curfew) so that the culprits can be arrested under the Goondas Act in cases for the atrocities. According to NDMJ-SASYs report, this pandemic has also exposed the broken system of untouchability and casteist attitude at work, other than disclosing health sector failures of the government. NDMJ-NCDHR has been monitoring the impact of COVID-19 since the start of nationwide lockdown, revealing massive government failures in health and relief access to the minorities and marginalized sections of the country owing to the usage of the term social distancing. The report proves with cases and all over India that social distancing as a measure to curb the spread of the disease has led to a surge in physical assaults and social boycott of the already marginalized community. In this regard, the report highlights that the term actually bred into the caste practice of untouchability in many nuanced ways during this pandemic, leading to multilevel atrocities against them. The experiences of marginalized communities have to do a lot with the practice of social distancing similar to untouchability since generations, therefore NDMJ-NCDHR has instead preferred physical distancing as more appropriate terminology, which is also endorsed by WHO guideline. Identified as the most vulnerable community members, the network has been intervening in various relief work campaigns through close engagement with district and state-level authorities so that the community has better access to healthcare, rations and kits. To better address these cases during the lockdown, the NDMJ has recommended District Collectors to conduct meetings once in a month with State Vigilance Monitoring Committee (SVMC) to review the existing situation with Dalit and Adivasi Rights Social activists. The report of the same can be generated to the Chief Minister with whose recommendations, better procedures could be implemented. The report has further revealed that COVID 19-situation and the consequent lockdown has resulted in many deaths, murders and suicides due to mismanagement. This is most reflected in the looming migrant crisis wherewith the sheer desperation of the economically and socially marginalized communities to reach home was not well planned, resulting in deaths due to starvation and exhaustion. While a 12-year-old working in a chilly farm at Kannaikoda village of Telangana was confirmed death due to exhaustion and starvation due to walking for 3 days at a stretch covering a distance of 150 km, the suicide of six on the railway tracks and death of 80 persons on Shramik trains and stations were reported according to railway officials. Despite being at the frontlines, sanitation workers are still at the bottom of priorities, informs the report. Continuing with exhaustive details of deaths and negligence, it has outlined the plight of sanitation workers, who being a significant part of frontline workers have suffered due to inadequate availability of healthcare essentials. Lack of protective gear during the pandemic made the situation worse, heightening their susceptibility to the virus. According to estimates, 40-60% of the six million households of Dalit sub-castes are engaged in sanitation work and their vulnerability is worst hit amid the pandemic. NDMJ states that sanitation workers at this point of time are only provided with some pairs of gloves, thus exposing the governments lack of prioritizing minorities. The report concludes on the note that all such incidents indicate a major humanitarian crisis and mismanagement by the concerned officials. In a larger picture, data and stats of increasing incidences of violence against Dalits speak of their inhuman treatment, calling for policymakers to address this urgently. NDMJ-SASY have made important recommendations regarding the instances of human rights violation including probing cases of domestic violence, mechanization of sanitized work and increment of budgetary allocation to prioritize the public health sector. Especially in view of Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalized sections, the report has demanded that survivors of caste atrocities should be provided relief and rehabilitation under the Contingency Plan of the SC/ST PoA Act as well under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan to provide them with new employment opportunities. The groups reiterated there is an urgent need for state governments to constitute a special monitoring committee at district and taluk levels to reduce and prevent incidences of caste-based discriminations and violence. The image of the United States as the centre of Western civilisation is collapsing before our eyes. Will it be possible to rebuild the old image again?, commented the Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Tuesday with reference to the recent events in the US. This sums up the fear of substantial sections of the European ruling class. The claim that capitalist private property and the market economy provided the basis for freedom and democracy, and that altogether this amounted to Western civilisation has served as the ideological cement for capitalist rule in Europeand the United States played not an insignificant part in this. In Western Europe and Germany in particular, it was the US through its economic power and democratic traditions that helped revive the bourgeoisie following its discrediting due to its crimes during the war. In 1990, the American model, although somewhat tarnished even then, played an important role in Eastern Europe in selling the restoration of capitalism and its horrific social consequences as a step in the direction of freedom and democracy. Reading through the European comments on Mondays events, one senses that they are not particularly troubled by Donald Trumps efforts to establish a presidential dictatorship. Rather, they fear the presidents provocative actions could provoke resistance and class struggles that will endanger the capitalist system and spread to Europe. After all, the social and political situation is no less explosive there. With a few exceptions, the comments acknowledged that the nationwide protests are not just directed against racism, but are motivated by social oppression and exploitation and are being joined by people of all races and ethnicities. They accuse Trump of dividing instead of reconciling. By contrast, they hardly say a word about the mobilisation of the military and the preparations for dictatorship connected with this. The Norwegian tabloid newspaper Verdens Gang wrote, Once again it becomes clear how unequal US society is. These problems run deeper than Trump, but the US has never needed a unifying president more than now. Germanys Suddeutsche Zeitung commented, When the country goes up in flames, the president ought to mediate and unify. But Trump doesnt want to and cannot do so. He is incapable of protecting and calming his compatriots. The Swiss Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ) pointed to three key factors it believes are at work, Racist police violence against blacks, a greater susceptibility of blacks to COVID-19, and an economic crisis that has hit minorities the hardest. All of this is connected, it continued, adding, Economic disadvantage leads to a lack of access to health care, which allows health problems to become chronic thus increasing the vulnerability to the lung disease. No wonder that frustration is widespread. In such a situation, says another comment in the NZZ, the US needs a unifying figure who can calm the country down, unify it, and lead it forward in cooperation with other political forces. But Trump is doing what he does best, polarising the country and inciting people against each other. The Tagesschau (a news and public affairs programme) on Germanys public broadcaster ARD commented, An uprising is the language of those not being listened to. With words of reconciliation, Donald Trump could calm things down quickly. Instead, he is escalating the situation with ruthless Rambo rhetoric. The suggestion that the situation could be brought under control if only Trump would give up his Rambo rhetoric is of course absurd. As the WSWS has explained in numerous analyses and comments, the preconditions for the current social explosion have been brewing for a long time. The Democrats have contributed no less to this process than the Republicans and Trump. The gulf between rich and poor increased more rapidly under Obama than any of his predecessors, and police violence continued apace. The Democrats, much like the European media, fear that Trump could provoke a revolutionary uprising that could no longer be controlled. This is why they are doing everything to evade the issue and suppress the protests against Trump, with whom they agree on virtually every question of domestic, social and foreign policy. Like the German bourgeoisie in 1933, they fear a mass movement of the working class more than a fascist dictatorship. In Europe, preparations for authoritarian forms of rule and dictatorship are already far advanced. In Hungary and Poland, the parties in power have suspended basic democratic rights. The leader of Italys far-right Lega, which was in government for a year-and-a-half, responded to Trumps Twitter announcement that he would classify the Antifa organisation as a terrorist group, by marking the post with a Like. In France, President Emmanuel Macron brutally suppressed Yellow Vest protests with the police and now attacks demonstrations in solidarity with George Floyd. In Germany, the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats made the far-right Alternative for Germany the official opposition in parliament and have implemented its policies in the grand coalition. Anyone who dares to criticise capitalism or resist the growth of militarism is branded a left-wing extremist and criminalised. At the same time, neo-Nazi structures within the state apparatus are built and covered up. The crisis of American democracy, which is the underlying cause of Trumps attempt to establish a personal dictatorship based on the military, is the product of unprecedented levels of social inequality and endless wars. It cannot be reversed on a capitalist basis. The same process is taking place in Europe. The struggle against the fascist danger requires the independent mobilisation of the working class, which must assume the leadership of the defence of democratic rights. A London bus driver who died with Covid-19 defied calls from his family to stop working during the pandemic because he was proud to be keeping the capital moving. More than 200 people lined the streets as a double-decker displaying Richard Whitfields name in its destination blind joined the funeral procession from Bexleyheath bus garage to the crematorium. The father-of-four, 56, had not taken a day off sick for 15 years before he was struck with coronavirus. His sister Shelene Whitfield said: Richard was the most lovable person. He was a larger than life character and a gentleman. It was amazing to see so many people line the streets for the procession. The garage organised so much. They werent just friends, he had a second family at work. A double-decker emblazoned with Mr Whitfields name followed the procession Mr Whitfield, from the Isle of Grain in Kent, suffered from diabetes and was on medication for blood pressure, which put him at risk of more severe symptoms. He knew he would be more vulnerable but refused to stop working. He started to feel unwell at the beginning of April and began self-isolating. He was taken to Medway Hospital after struggling to breathe on April 11, and died on April 30 after two weeks in intensive care. His sister added: He was proud of his job and he loved it. He had a mask and sanitiser that he provided himself. We did say he shouldnt be at work, but he just said, Im a key worker and I have to get others to work. Daughter Sarah, 39, said: Dads death has devastated the family. He was a fantastic man and his funeral just showed how he was loved by so many. None of us wanted him to go into work during the pandemic and we were all telling him that. They are key workers, making sure other everyone can get work and need to be protected. Richard Whitfield and his dog, Bobby Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 43 TfL staff members, including 33 bus workers. TfL has said there will be an investigation into the deaths. Tom Cunnington, Head of Bus Business Development at TfL, said: My heartfelt condolences go to the friends and family of Mr Whitfield. He was a dedicated and popular member of the Go-Ahead team in Bexleyheath and he will be greatly missed. The safety of Londons bus drivers, who have played such a vital role in supporting the fight against coronavirus, is our absolute priority. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) Following backlash, a few lawmakers denied authorship of the much-criticized Anti-Terrorism Bill despite being listed as principal authors of the measure. At least two key figures, Deputy Speakers Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas and Loren Legarda of Antique, claimed that they did not co-author House Bill 6875 which was approved on third and final reading on Wednesday evening. Santos-Recto's son TV host Luis Manzano tweeted a screencap of a text message from his mother, saying that she did not author the measure. She, however, said she is still in favor of it "with reservations." "I am not a principal author of House Bill 6875. I'm in favor of it WITH RESERVATIONS. I have concern about the country's national security policy," her message read. "I just hope that the law enforcement agencies will implement it in accordance with the Constitution, full respect to human rights and without any abuse whatsoever." Legarda also denied signing any form to signify her authorship of the measure. "Just to clarify: I never signed a co-author form re anti-terror bill. In fact, I voted no to the measure," her tweet read. Meanwhile, Agusan del Norte Rep Lawrence Fortun said his name was "inadvertently included by the committee staff" as he explained his "no" vote during the deliberation. "Hindi po ako naging author ng panukalang ito kahit kailan (I was never an author of such measure in the first place). Inclusion of my name as co-author was a mistake, inadvertent in the part of the committee staff," said Fortun. Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon, who defended the measure himself on Tuesday, withdrew his authorship and voted against the bill the following day, claiming that it did not reflect "his real work." "My vote is no to the bill. My name could not be attached to a bill that is not my real work. So, my withdrawal as author of the measure is another thing that I would like to present to the House," he said, noting that the lower chamber should have crafted its own piece of legislation instead of passing the controversial measure as is. The measure adopted by the House was the exact version that was passed in the Senate last February. With 173 affirmative, 31 negative, and 29 abstention, the lower chamber approved on Wednesday the controversial bill which repeals the Human Security Act of 2007 and allows the government to detain suspected terrorists without a warrant of arrest up to 14 days, extendable by another 10 days. It also imposes 12 years of prison time to any person who threatens to commit any act of terrorism, proposes any such acts or incites others to commit terrorism. The names of Legarda, Biazon, and Fortun were already removed under the latest details of the committee report posted in the House website, while Santos-Recto is still listed together with at least 55 congressmen as principal authors. Most of these lawmakers are allies of President Rodrigo Duterte. In the report received by the Bills and Index Services last May 30 from the committees on national defense and public order and safety, around 71 names were initially attached to the measure. The names of the four lawmakers are still visible in that version. Duterte certified the measure as urgent just last Monday, days before Congress adjourns sine die. The Senate then noted that the bill would be as "good as passed." Artists, human rights advocates, and progressive groups have appealed for the junking of the bill, noting that it can be used to silence government critics. Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo and other members of the opposition have called against the railroading of the measure, which can be misinterpreted and abused by the government. Netizens also called against the passage of the bill, as the hashtag #JunkTerrorBillNow remained trending on social media on Thursday, along with the line 'ACTIVISM IS NOT TERRORISM.' By Peter Szekely and Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said several days and nights of demonstrations in the state after the killing of George Floyd could accelerate the spread of the coronavirus, and urged protesters to get tested. "I'm not a nervous Nellie, I'm just looking at the numbers," said Cuomo, noting that an estimated 30,000 people have protested in the state. "Many wear masks. But there is no social distancing. Police are in their face ... If you were at a protest, get a test, please." Officials in Chicago this week expressed similar concern, and asked protesters to quarantine themselves for 14 days. Cuomo took time in his daily coronavirus briefing to sympathize with the protests, calling Floyd's May 25 death in Minneapolis while in police custody a murder and adding, "I share the outrage." "It is a metaphor for the systemic racism and injustice that we have seen," he added. Following protests not only in New York City, but in the upstate cities of Buffalo, Albany, Rochester and Syracuse, Cuomo said the state would observe a "symbolic moment" of silence at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) for sharing grief and understanding. "This is an injustice that should never happen again," he said. Cuomo said his concern about increased spread of the virus during the demonstrations would not impede the state's regionally phased reopening, which is set to allow New York City to open on Monday for limited economic activity. A second phase of activity, which New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said could start as early as July, will include outdoor restaurant seating. With more people wearing face coverings, the state has made significant progress in halting the spread, as reflected in a drop in the rate of people testing positive for the virus over the past six weeks to 2% from 26%, he said. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients also continued trending lower, he added. (Reporting by Peter Szekely and Barbara Goldberg in New York Editing by Matthew Lewis) Police follow drugs lead in Phuket Town murder-suicide PHUKET: Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Phuket Town yesterday (June 3) that involved a couple who reportedly had a falling out over an arrangement for selling drugs. drugsviolencecrimemurdersuicidepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Thursday 4 June 2020, 10:26AM The revolver used in the shootings. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Capt Udom Petcharat of the Phuket City Police was called to Wat Saen Suk in Phuket Town at 4:30pm after people attending a funeral there reported hearing a single gunshot ring out, then finding a man dead on the ground with a single bullet wound to his head beside one of the buildings. Police arrived to find the body of Thanet Oley Chuisod, 42, of Rassada, slumped over on the ground beside a crematorium building at the temple. Mr Thanet had suffered a single bullet wound to the head, and a revolver was beside his right hand, Capt Udom reported. The revolver contained five spent bullet casings and one bullet yet to be used. Officers also found 10 more bullets in a pocket of Mr Thanets shorts, he added. Capt Udom explained that before Mr Thanets body was found at the temple, police had been called to a small spicy food shop in nearby Suthat Rd Soi 10 in Phuket Town, where Mr Thanet had pulled up on his motorbike, dismounted and then gunned down Suphattra Meesia Suwanworn, 27, before speeding off on his motorbike. Miss Suphattra, also a resident of Rassada, was shot three times. People at the scene rushed Miss Suphattra to the Phuket Provincial Hospital (often called the OrBorJor Hospital), but she was later pronounced dead, Capt Udom said. Capt Udom reported that officers conducting the police investigation had been told that Mr Thanet and Miss Suphattra were involved in selling drugs together. They reportedly had just had an argument. Capt Udom noted that Mr Thanet had been arrested for breaking the nightly curfew. Police will question more from people who had close contact with them and other people living near them, Capt Udom said. Mr Thanets body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for further examination, he added. SPRINGFIELD The phrase say their names is written in bold large print across the side of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in honor of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality. The words are part of a mural that is being painted by three artists all donating their time to create the piece for the community center. Ronn D. Johnson, president of Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services in Springfield, said he had been looking for a way to participate in the national outcry for justice for George Floyd when the mural idea was presented to him. I had been thinking and reflecting and praying for some strategic words or message that I could present to our community, to our families, to the children we work with and to the staff and board members. Words we could put out as our message during these times, Johnson said. He decided to collaborate with Common Wealth Murals, organizer of Fresh Paint Springfield, and Rosemary Tracy Woods, executive director and chief curator of Art for the Soul Gallery, to create this permanent art installation on the side of the building. Indifference to issues of systemic and personal racism is something that only whites have the privilege of feeling and I think its our responsibility to break through that indifference, and for me art is one of the most powerful ways to do that,said Britt Ruhe, director of Common Wealth Murals, based in Easthampton. She said she hopes the mural will be a source of inspiration for the community. Art inspires us to think things and feel things that we dont spontaneously think on our own. Thats my hope for this mural that people will come down, stand in front of it, say their names, read the names and imagine what it would feel like to stand here with your mothers name on this wall or your child or your brother or your friend, she said. The mural is designed and will be painted by internationally-known muralist and graffiti artist Wane One from New York City, with assistance from two additional muralists, Nero and Souls. Wane One painted the East Columbus Parking Garage during the Fresh Paint Springfield Mural Festival in 2019 and a mural for the Friends of the Homeless Shelter on Worthington Street in Springfield. Nero painted a mural on Spring Street. What we are trying to do is a tribute to innocent people that have been killed by the police and to uplift and give hope to the community, Wane One said. We have to bring attention to injustice and racism, these things exist. They have been here for a long time. The mural will contain over 60 names of people of color killed by police in the last 12 months. There are many, many more people of color killed by police going further back than that, but we wanted to call attention to the frequency with which this happens, much more often than its caught on camera, Ruhe said. In addition to the mural, there will be a table with with paper cutouts of white doves where members of the community are encouraged to share their own tributes and remembrances. During the kickoff event spoken word artist Kyreen Tabar Kynard, of Springfield, shared a piece he wrote called " Always Remember." Related content: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for taking the time to join us online today to discuss the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987). This forum is aimed at developing shared understanding of this enabling piece of legislation for orderly and sustainable development of a digital financial ecosystem that is competitive, safe, efficient and inclusive. Act 987 is a product of active collaboration between Bank of Ghana and public and private sector stakeholders including; Ministry of Finance, Attorney Generals Department, National Communications Authority, Ghana Association of Bankers, Telecoms Chamber, FinTech Chamber and development partners. On behalf of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, I would like to express the Banks profound appreciation for your immense support that has made this endeavor possible. As you may be aware, this workshop was initially scheduled for March 2020, with the intention of having all participants in one location and under one roof. However, this arrangement was not fated to be. The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled rescheduling and a choice of new venue in the virtual space. This foisted choice of virtual venue is heartening as it sets the right stage for discussions with entities whose arena of activity is largely in the cyber space. Over the past decade, the Ghanaian economy has undergone phenomenal transformation as a result of growing adoption of digital technology. Individuals, businesses and government have shown strong preference for digital payments for reasons of convenience, efficiency, speed, affordability, round the clock availability, and robust audit trail. Besides the evolving consumer preferences, digital innovations have proven capability for tackling the nagging financial exclusion problems as evidenced by the tremendous success of mobile money in Ghana. Commencing with the Branchless Banking Guidelines in 2008, the Bank has continuously evolved policies to harness the potential of technology for efficient, affordable and inclusive financial sector development. In 2015 the Bank issued the Electronic Money Issuers and Agent Guidelines in replacement of the Branchless Banking Guidelines, and marked a departure from bank-based approach to financial service delivery. The narrow target of Electronic Money Issuers Guidelines meant that Fintechs which were not electronic money issuers were regulated out of the ecosystem. With the enactment of Act 987, the Bank of Ghana has once again demonstrated leadership and foresight in creating the enabling environment for competitive, innovative and inclusive development of the financial sector. In addition, Bank of Ghana, through the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), has facilitated implementation of a portfolio of modern and robust interbank payments systems. These systems include e-zwich, GIP, ACH, GH-Link and Mobile Money Interoperability and establish the foundation for nationwide digital delivery of financial services. The role of Fintechs in innovating on these infrastructures to meet various needs of society is paramount. We look forward to seeing deep collaboration between GhIPSS and Fintechs (Payment Service Providers) to harness the potential of these systems for the benefits of society. As a Bank, our commitment doesnt end there. Were still actively working on establishing a Sandbox to promote innovation in the market, and test concepts such as a Central Bank Digital Currency. Finally, weve also continued to evolve our own organizational structure in response to the dynamic nature of the sector. Before 2016, the payments sector was managed from a unit within our Banking Department. We subsequently established the Payment Systems Department in 2016 to adequately supervise a growing mobile money sector, in addition to ensuring an effective payment system. This year, as a further commitment to promote FinTech, we have established the FinTech and Innovation office to supervise and promote the activities of FinTechs in Ghana. Hopefully, you have heard recent announcements of license application approvals for some Payment Service Providers. We will continue to work with you to ensure that you are taken through the licensing process to enable you deliver value to consumers and the broader the financial sector. This workshop is not just an opportunity for us to give you the highlights of the law, the licensing requirements, and the application process. It is also an opportunity for us to get feedback from you as to how the industry is evolving, and how this can be reflected in our laws, regulations and supervisory requirements. I encourage everyone to actively participate in this workshop. Continue to engage with us even after this workshop, on how we can continue to promote the Fintech agenda in Ghana. Thank you very much and I wish you all a fruitful discussion. 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 BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 4 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Kazakhstans State Commission for the Restoration of Economic Growth is preparing a draft of a new Strategic Development Plan of Kazakhstan until 2025, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans prime minister. The topic was discussed during the first meeting of the State Commission for the Restoration of Economic Growth chaired by Kazakhstans Prime Minister Askar Mamin. The draft is to be submitted for review of Kazakhstans president by August 1, 2020. The draft is to determine the guidelines for the new economic course of the country for the medium term, including fundamentally new approaches to institutional and structural reforms in the economy, taking into account changes in the external economic situation. The strategic plan will be the answer to the new economic reality. We need to develop and take measures to form a new structure of the economy of Kazakhstan with the maximum use of the country's competitive advantages, Mamin said. The commission was set up on May 28, 2020 by a decree of Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev. The decree was signed in order to develop proposals for the restoration of economic growth in the new economic reality. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Britain will have to give up some sovereignty if it wants to reach a free-trade pact with the European Union, according to Germany's ambassador to the bloc, who warned the post-Brexit deliberations could drag on through October. The two sides have made "no real progress" in talks on an agreement, according to Michael Clauss, who said that barrier-free access to the EU single market will require the U.K. to pay a political price. "Is a deal possible? Yes, definitely," Clauss told an online event on Thursday organized by the Brussels-based European Policy Centre. "But I think it also means that the U.K. needs to have a more realistic approach. To put it short: I think we cannot have full sovereignty and at the same time full access to the internal market." An accord on future EU-U.K. ties is shaping up along with the European economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic to be a top focus of the upcoming German presidency of the 27-nation bloc. Germany is due on July 1 to take over the EU's six-month rotating presidency from Croatia. "If we get these two things done, I would say this will then be a remarkably successful presidency," Clauss said. "This Brexit issue is going to absorb most of the political attention we expect in September and October." He reiterated the need to reach a free-trade pact this year because the U.K. seems unlikely to request a prolongation of the post-Brexit transition period. In that context, the effective deadline for an agreement is end-October in order to leave time for the subsequent formal approval steps before year-end, according to Clauss. Under the terms of the U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU earlier this year, a transition period preserving the economic status quo runs until the end of 2020 and can be prolonged by as long as two years while both sides negotiate a free-trade deal. A decision to prolong the transition phase -- something U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out -- would have to be taken by the middle of this year. Failure to strike an accord by Dec. 31 would mean the return of tariffs and quotas as well as the imposition of bureaucratic barriers for businesses. Aviation, counter-terrorism cooperation and arrangements for people living and working in each other's countries all risk being left in limbo. "This is a must-do," Clauss said. "We work under the assumption the United Kingdom is not going to ask for an extension. That means a deal needs to be struck in the next six months." Scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad have identified a distinct trait in the coronavirus found in the people infected in the country, mostly in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Telangana. IMAGE: Passengers undergo thermal screening at Kempegowda International airport after authorities eased restrictions in Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo They have named this unique cluster of virus population as 'Clade A3i' found in 41 per cent of the genome sequenced in India. The researchers sequenced 64 genomes. "Here is a fresh preprint on genome analysis of SARS-CoV2 spread in India. The results show a distinct cluster of virus population, uncharacterised thus far, which is prevalent in India - called the Clade A3i," the CCMB tweeted. This cluster seems to have originated from an outbreak in February 2020, and spread through India. This comprises 41 per cent of all SARS-CoV2 genomes from Indian samples, and 3.5 of global genomes submitted into public domain, it said. The CCMB is a laboratory under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Epidemiological assessments suggest that the common ancestor emerged in February and possibly resulted in an outbreak followed by a countrywide spread, as evidenced by the low divergence of the genomes from across the country, the paper stated. Rakesh Mishra, the director of CCMB and co-author of the paper, said most of the samples from Telangana and Tamil Nadu were similar to 'Clade A3i'. Most of the samples are from the early days when the outbreak started in India, Mishra said. There were little similarities in the samples found in Delhi, but none in samples from Maharashtra and Gujarat, he said. The trait is also similar to the ones detected in Singapore and the Philippines, Mishra added. He also said that genome sequencing of more samples will be done in the coming days that will help in knowing more on the subject. The paper is yet to be peer-reviewed, Mishra said, but added that the development will help in understanding the virus better. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study characterising the distinct and predominant cluster of SARS-CoV-2 in India, the paper stated. Dileep V Kumar By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government is planning to submit a Kerala Covid Package to the Centre that aims to continue the disease containment activities and strengthen the states public health sector further. A draft package prepared by the state Covid-19 expert committee is currently under the perusal of the finance and health departments for further additions. One of the major demands put forth by the package is for the central governments assistance to establish a Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health on the lines of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US. The stimulus package announced by the Centre to uplift various sectors affected by the Covid-19 has not helped the health sector. At present, positive cases are increasing at a rapid pace in the state. There is a real fear we may face community transmission if the virus spread is not contained. For better preparedness a special package is needed, said a health department official. According to the official, the expert committee has asked the state government to consider short- and long-term health packages. In April, the Centre had announced an India Covid-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package. which grants aid for the development of dedicated Covid hospitals, isolation blocks, procurement of PPEs, N95 masks, etc. The New Patriotic Partys (NPP) Council of Elders has congratulated President Akufo-Addo on his acclamation as the partys 2020 Presidential candidate. In a statement signed by its Chairman, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, the Council says our country has been most fortunate to have at this time, a person of your calibre in the saddle of leadership whose handling of a very difficult and delicate situation has won the admiration of many of his colleague Heads of State the global acclaimed of the strategy and leadership of our dear President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deserves our sincerest praise and acclamation. You have made our dear country, Ghana very proud. The NPP on June 3, announced that it had acclaimed President Nana Akufo-Addo as its presidential candidate for 2020 elections. NPP made this known in a statement issued by its General Secretary, John Boadu. It says the Party has also resolved to acclaim the sole candidate who had filed his nomination to contest in the Presidential Primaries, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Party's 2020 Presidential Candidate. Primaries Also, the party announced that it has scheduled June 20, 2020, to hold its parliamentary primaries in the 168 Constituencies where the Party has sitting MPs to elect its parliamentary candidates for the 2020 General Elections. These critical decisions were taken by the party at a National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Council meetings jointly held on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, it indicated. The date for the acclamation of the Presidential Candidate and his Running Mate will soon be communicated to the general public. Equally, the Party will soon issue guidelines for the conduct of the Parliamentary Primaries, it added. The Council of Elders stated that Ghana could not have had a better leader than Akufo-Addo who has always dedicated his life to the betterment of our society and always acknowledging the need to provide a safety net for our unfortunate brothers and sisters. The Council says Ghana has been blessed to have Akufo-Addo, a leader of extraordinary courage, vision and dedication during this period of global pandemic of the coronavirus which has held the entire world to ransom. Daily Guide Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, June 4, 2020 14:45 596 fc6853813033f564188675f8bdc20d71 1 National Jokowi,testing-capacity,COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-korona-indonesia Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo has increased the COVID-19 testing target to 20,000 samples per day as new cases mount in several regions of the archipelago. He has called on all stakeholders to make plans to achieve the new testing target. Im thankful that the previous target of 10,000 samples per day has been surpassed. I expect the next target to be 20,000 samples per day. We must start planning [to meet that target], he said in his opening speech at a virtual limited Cabinet meeting on Thursday. According to a report published by the national COVID-19 task force on Wednesday, the total number of tests has reached 11,970 per day. The President also urged the national COVID-19 task force, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to focus on mitigating the spread of the virus in the countrys three hardest-hit regions: East Java, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan. Please make them [a priority] so that we can further flatten the infection curve, he added. As of Wednesday, East Java had reported 5,318 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 429 deaths; South Sulawesi had reported 1,668 confirmed cases and 75 deaths; and South Kalimantan had reported 1,033 confirmed cases and 90 deaths. Surabaya in East Java has been designated a black zone as the region had recorded 2,803 confirmed cases and 256 fatalities linked to the disease as of Wednesday, making it the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the province. The German suspect being investigated over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is battling to be freed from prison. The man, named by German media as Christian Brueckner, is believed to be a rapist who was jailed in December for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal. The attack happened in Praia da Luz in September 2005, a year-and-a-half before Madeleine went missing nearby. He denied the crime and has launched a legal challenge against his conviction that will be considered by the European Court of Justice. It received the case on 8 May and The Independent understands that as it was filed under the urgent preliminary ruling procedure, a decision will be made between three and six months from that date. The Braunschweiger Zeitung reported that the mans defence lawyer called for him to be acquitted during the trial and appealed to Germanys Federal Court of Justice. The man is challenging the evidence and witness testimony against him and accuses the German authorities of violating international law and making legal errors during his extradition. He was transferred to Germany under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) relating to a different criminal offence. Under the principle of specialty, extradited people can normally only be prosecuted for the crime for which the EAW was granted. The rule does not apply in all circumstances and the requesting country can ask the extraditing judicial authority for consent to change or add offences. The Federal Court of Justice referred the issue to the European Court of Justice in April. If judges find that German authorities made a legal error, the mans conviction could be overturned and the case will have to restart. German suspect identified in Madeleine McCann disappearance German officials said the man being investigated over Madeleines disappearance had a criminal history including sexual offences and child sexual abuse and was serving a prison sentence, but did not give further details. He is believed to be the same man convicted in December of raping the American woman in Portugal in 2005. Comparisons between the man wanted over Madeleines disappearance and the rapist who was tried at the Regional Court of Braunschweig last year strongly indicate they are the same person. Both men are 43, originally from Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, and moved to Portugal in 1995. Both lived near Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared on 3 May 2007 from the holiday apartment rented by her parents at the Ocean Club resort. Last years court case heard evidence describing a room with a sofa and a wooden beam, which matches photos of the new suspects home shown on German television. Witnesses said the rapist drove a Jaguar. Police are seeking information on a German-registered Jaguar that was used by the suspect at the time of Madeleines disappearance. The BKA said the suspect had several previous convictions including for sex offences, child sexual abuse, burgling holiday apartments and hotels and drug trafficking. The rapist has the same criminal history, and reports of his trial said he had previously been jailed in both Portugal and Germany. He was arrested for attacking the American woman after a former friend from Portugal came forward to police revealing that he had stolen a video camera showing the assault. The witness told the court that he stole the camera from his friends house in Praia da Luz in 2006 and that it showed an older woman being tied up, beaten and raped. The Madeleine McCann case Show all 25 1 /25 The Madeleine McCann case The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann One of the last photos of Madeleine before her disappearance EPA The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann Madeleine McCann was three when she was abducted during a family holiday in 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Top worn by a man that detectives investigate with connection to disappearance of Madeleine McCann A computer generated image of the distinctive burgundy long sleeve top worn by a man that detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are looking for The Madeleine McCann case Apartment in Portugal from where Madeleine went missing An aerial view of the Ocean Club apartments and pool where Madeleine McCann went missing Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Kate McCann Kate McCann speaks to the press outside the court house in Lisbon on 12 September 2013 following the first audience of the McCann couple's libel proceedings against former inspector Goncalo Amaral for a book written about the case of their missing daughter The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Kate McCann and Gerry McCann before the start of the 'Miles for Missing People' charity run in Regent's Park in London, 2011 The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Kate and Gerry McCann make an appeal at a press conference in the holiday resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal 7 May 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann The McCann's give an interview with a Spanish television channel at their home in Rothley The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Madeleine McCann was abducted in Portugal in May 2007 AP The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Preliminary forensic analysis on samples recovered from the McCanns' hire car raised the possibility of a match with Madeleine's DNA profile, according to the leaked report Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Pope Benedict XVI blesses a photo of four-year-old abducted British girl Madeleine McCann, while meeting her parents Gerry and Kate McCann, after his weekly general audience at the Vatican, 2007 Reuters The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Gerald McCann and Kate McCann speak to the press on 4 May 2007 at the Ocean club appartement hotel in Praia de Luz in Lagos after Madeline vanished while her parents were out to dinner The Madeleine McCann case Portuguese police search for Madeleine Dozens of Portuguese police aided by dogs search for missing three-year old British girl Madelaine McCann in front of the Ocean club appartment hotel in Praia de Luz in Lagos The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Gerald McCann and Kate McCann walk holding their two other children outside the Ocean club apartment hotel in Praia de Luz in May 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann Madeleine McCann pictured at the age of three, left, and as she might have looked aged nine PA/Teri Blythe The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have described as "pure speculation" reports in the Portuguese press suggesting that a chief suspect in the disappearance of their daughter was killed in a tractor accident four years ago. PA The Madeleine McCann case Tribute for missing Madeleine in Rothley, Leicesteshire Three year old Cally prepares to add a yellow ribbon to a floral tribute for missing Madeleine McCann in Rothley in Leicesteshire, 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Support for the missing Madeleine Everton captain Lee Carsley (L) leads his team onto the field, followed Mikel Arteta (C) and Manuel Fernandes (R) wearing Tshirts bearing a message of support for the missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, prior to the English Premiership match between Chelsea and Everton, at Stamford Bridge in London, 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann A poster appealing for information about Madeleine McCann at a Spanish railway station PA The Madeleine McCann case BBC's Crimewatch reconstruction of Madeleine McCann's disappearance Former porn star Mark Sloan (L) was cast in the BBC's Crimewatch reconstruction of Madeleine McCann's disappearance BBC The Madeleine McCann case Clarence Mitchell holds two artist's impression of the new suspect McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell holds two artist's impression of the new suspect on 20 January 2008 in London. The description has come from British woman Gail Cooper, who was staying with her family close to the McCann's apartment in Portugal The Madeleine McCann case Image of a woman sought in the case Clarence Mitchell, the press spokesman for the McCann family, releases a photofit image of a woman sought in the search for missing Madeleine McCann Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann Police released two e-fits of suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Raymond Hewlett Convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett, who is being sought in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann PA The Madeleine McCann case A picture of a suspect An artist's impression of a suspicious man seen by a witness apparently watching the McCann family's apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the day before Madeleine McCann went missing Channel 4 German police examined cold cases and found the victims original report of the attack, which had not been solved, and the culprit was charged in August last year. The suspect was first linked to the McCann case in 2013 after information was given in response to an appeal by Gerry and Kate McCann on the German equivalent of Crimewatch. A senior officer from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said it was not sufficient to trigger an investigation and certainly not for arrest, but police zoned in on the suspect after further details were given to the Metropolitan Police four years later. The information that we can gain from our investigations is increasingly leading us to believe that the suspect could be the culprit, Christian Hoppe added. The BKA is leading the investigation, which it is treating as a murder inquiry. There is reason to assume that there are other persons, apart from the suspect, who have concrete knowledge of the course of the crime and maybe also of the place where the body was left, a statement said. We explicitly ask these persons to contact us and provide information. The Metropolitan Police said they were still treating the case as a missing person investigation, and that they had no definitive evidence indicating whether Madeleine is alive or dead. As the years go on, we are realistic about what we might be dealing with but there is always hope, said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy. We are asking the public for help to prove or disprove whether this man was involved in Madeleines disappearance. We retain an open mind about his involvement and we will follow the evidence wherever it may take us. A VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspect (Metropolitan Police) Investigators are appealing for information on a campervan, car and mobile phone number linked to him that could be critical for the case. Police are seeking information on: A VW T3 Westfalia campervan. Early 1980s model, with two tone markings, a white upper body and a yellow skirting. It had a Portuguese registration plate. A 1993 British Jaguar, model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany. The phone number +351 912 730 680, which was being used by the suspect. The second number is +351 916 510 683, which called the suspect on the night of Madeleines disappearance. The Operation Grange incident room can be contacted via 0207 321 9251 or operation.grange@met.police.uk. Italy "deserves to smile" after all the sacrifices says Conte. The coronavirus crisis should be used to "redesign" Italy, said premier Giuseppe Conte on 3 June as he laid out plans for the next phase of the covid-19 emergency. Conte said that Italy had an "historic opportunity" to renew the country by using grants and loans from the European Union to enact ecomonic, structural and social reforms, with a particular focus on the poorer south. The premier also said that statistics on the coronavirus emergency have been "encouraging" over the four weeks since the easing of restrictions on 4 May, adding: "We deserve to smile after weeks of hard sacrifices." Noting that the acute stage of the emergency was now in the past, Conte said however that Italians must continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing. "The trend is decreasing constantly from Lombardy to Sicily but the virus has not disappeared," he said. Conte's address coincided with the lifting of inter-regional travel restrictions and the reopening of borders to EU visitors as Italy attempts to revive its crucial tourism industry. The family and friends of George Floyd, the unarmed black man killed while in custody of Minneapolis police last week, remembered him on Thursday as an inclusive, joyful and optimistic brother, cousin and uncle, as hundreds of others gathered to pay their respects following more than a week of mass unrest over his death. Thats amazing to me that he touched so many peoples hearts, you know, because hes been touching our hearts, Philonise Floyd said at the service describing his brother, whom he called Perry, as a powerful, friendly presence who could make anybody he spoke to feel like theyre the president. Floyds nephew Brandon Williams described his uncle as a real genuine person akin to a father figure growing up, detailing his love for LeBron James and his constant positive attitude. But when family members were finished memorializing Floyd, the injustice of his death was the underlying thread of a fiery eulogy delivered on Thursday by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights icon, who told the crowd that I want us to not sit here and act like we had a funeral on the schedule, because George Floyd should not be among the deceased. He did not die of common health conditions. He died of a common American justice malfunction, Sharpton continued. He died because there hasnt been the corrective behavior that has taught this country that if you commit a crime it doesnt matter if you wear blue jeans or a blue uniform, you must pay for the crime you commit. Floyd was killed on Memorial Day when a since-fired Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinned the handcuffed Floyd to the ground with a knee to the neck for nearly nine minutes, according to viral video of the deadly encounter. The video shows Floyd and bystanders pleading for help, with Floyd exclaiming that he couldnt breathe before losing consciousness. His death set off unrest that has extended for more than a week and reached around the globe. Story continues In some cities in the U.S., the protests over Floyds death descended into violence, with looters setting fire to businesses while police and national guardsmen in riot gear fired tear gas and rubber bullets and clashed with protesters, as well as members of the media covering the demonstrations. The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at a memorial service for, George Floyd at North Central University Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) The memorial service, which was carried live in its entirety on national cable networks, came less than 24 hours after additional charges were announced in the case. On Wednesday, charges against Chauvin were upgraded from third-degree murder to second-degree murder, while three other officers involved in Floyds death were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. The state of Minnesota and the Department of Justice have also announced civil rights investigations into the episode and the Minneapolis Police Department. As Sharpton spoke in the sanctuary of North Central University, whose president on Thursday announced a new scholarship in Floyds name, a giant reproduction of the mural painted at the site of Floyds fatal encounter with police hung overhead, depicting Floyds face in the middle of a sunflower, adorned with the words I can breathe now. A number of marquee names attended the service, including stalwarts of the civil rights movement such as Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Minnesota politicians, including Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith; and entertainers such as Kevin Hart, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Master P, Will Packer, T.I. and Tiffany Haddish. Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, whose 2014 death after being put in a chokehold by New York police and whose cries of I cant breathe on viral video first fortified the Black Lives Matter movement, was also in attendance. The bulk of Sharptons nearly 40-minute eulogy served as an indictment of systemic racism in the United States, with Sharpton casting Floyd as an apt metaphor for the black experience in America for centuries. He described the first time he went to the place of Floyds death last Thursday. When I stood at that spot, the reason it got to me is George Floyds story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck, he said, a refrain that drew shouts of agreement and a standing ovation from the audience. What happened to George Floyd happens every day in this country in every area of American life, Sharpton asserted. Its time for us to stand up in Georges name and say get your knee off our necks. A man comes out of a single-parent home, educates himself, rises up and becomes the president of the United States. You ask him for his birth certificate because you cant take your knee off our neck! he exclaimed at one point, a pointed reference to former President Barack Obama and the birther conspiracy theory popularized by President Donald Trump. The reason why were marching all over the world is because we were like George, we couldnt breathe, Sharpton continued. Not because there was something wrong with our lungs but you wouldnt take your knee off our neck. We dont want no favors. Just get up off of us and we can be and do whatever we can be. The dig was one of several aimed at Trump during Thursdays service by Sharpton, who is also somewhat of a kingmaker in Democratic politics. The upheaval of the last week has drawn the support of every living former president, each of whom has spoken out against racial inequities in the United States, expressed condolences over Floyds death and applauded peaceful protesters calling for systemic change. It has also become a point of contention for the current occupant of the White House, as Trump has faced criticism over his attempts to militarize the response to protesters, pressuring governors to call in the National Guard and deriding those who declined to do so as weak. Trump has been chided for dismissing protesters as members of anti-fascist groups while skirting over protesters complaints of systemic racism throughout the country and, in particular, among the nations police force. Sharptons eulogy was littered with swipes at the president, whom he likened to someone who forgot to set their watch forward for daylight saving time. There have been protests all over the world, noted Sharpton, before launching into what appeared to be a pointed rebuke of the president. Some have looted and done other things. None in this family condones looting or violence, but the thing I want us to be real cognizant of is, theres a difference between those calling for peace and those calling for quiet. He took aim at Trumps 2016 campaign slogan, Make America Great Again, and at the criticism leveled at the commander in chief over the last week. The reason yall late catching up to what this protest means is because you didnt turn your clock forward. Talk about make America great. Great for who and great when? Were going to make America great for everybody for the first time, he said, eliciting laughter and applause from the crowd. I saw somebody standing in front of the church the other day that had been boarded up as a result of violence. Held the Bible up in his hand, Sharpton said, referring to the presidents widely condemned photo-op on Monday at a historic church near the White House that caught fire during a night of protests over the weekend. Ive been preaching since I was a little boy. Ive never seen anyone hold a Bible like that, but Ill leave that alone. But since he held a Bible, if hes watching us today, I would like him to open that Bible, Sharpton continued, admonishing the president for using the Bible as a prop. He added: And for those that have agendas that are not about justice, his family will not let you use George as a prop As the service continued, Vice President Mike Pence weighed in on Twitter to express sympathies and prayers on behalf of himself and second lady Karen Pence, reiterating the presidents pledge that justice will be served in his case. The president himself made no public mention of Floyds memorial service on Thursday. But Sharpton also expressed hope that Floyds death and the ensuing unrest might be a turning point a sentiment echoed by others over the last week repeatedly arguing to the crowd that I know its a different time and a different season. The service concluded with Sharpton asking attendees to stand in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time Chauvin was videotaped with his knee on Floyds neck. Somebody said, Reverend, eight minutes is a long time, Sharpton said. That meant it was long enough for the police to understand what they were doing. It meant it was long enough for one of them three cops to stop what was going on. It means it was long enough for whatever this officer had in mind for him to rethink. During the period of silence, at least one cable network, MSNBC, showed live split-screen video of mourners gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, in New York City and at the site of Floyds death in Minneapolis. As you go through these long eight minutes, think about what George was going through laying there for those eight minutes. Sharpton continued. Begging for his life. I heard someone say narrating his own death. We cant let this go. We cant keep living like this. I dont try to hide my profound love of food. Most of the fondest memories I have involve a delicious meal somewhere along the way. I remember large family gatherings at the Bavarian Inn or Zehnders, enjoying wonderful conversations while passing plates of chicken, fresh baked bread and the irresistible buttered noodles. On our yearly trips to Florida which we of course missed out on this year we forgo some of the usual expenses, such as many tourist traps, and instead opt for visiting small towns, taking in the local sights and sounds, and of course sampling some of the superb local fare. Even in the short time since I began at the Tribune less than a year ago, I have enjoyed visiting several local restaurants and partook in great conversations with the wait staff. I have been looking forward to continue familiarizing myself with local establishments like the Pasta House, Hecks Bar, The Bank 1884 and others, but the pandemic put a halt on my plans. When the governor announced that many business operations could resume, including dining in at restaurants, I am ashamed to say my first thought wasnt about the weight it lifted off the shoulders of owners, operators and staffs of these establishments. Instead, my mind immediately started flowing through the options on what my first meal out in nearly four months would be. Where should I go first? What should I order? On one hand, I could go for a diner classic, like a hot meatloaf sandwich served on a thick slice of white bread and a side of fries, smothered in gravy. Or I could opt for something a little more upscale, like a nice thick charbroiled ribeye served with a side of garlic mashed potatoes and some fresh green beans. Of course there are many other options like maybe a nice southern omelet drowning in sausage gravy, a side of hash browns and a mountain of bacon. However, it seems like its been forever since I sat down to a juicy patty melt featuring perfectly toasted marble rye. Now, I know my doctor would have some strongly worded advice encouraging some healthier meal options, but right now I dont care. Frankly, as I have discussed before, the pandemic has brought on some enlightenment for me. I realized some things I valued that quite simply werent worth my effort, and I realized the unmeasurable value of other things that I probably took for granted. Born and raised in a family of foodies, I am not afraid to say I am an excellent cook. I love to cook and have served many stellar meals. There isnt much in the world of food that I cannot cook, so my desire to dine out isnt based on the premise of having something I couldnt otherwise. I have been fortunate during the pandemic, both my wife and I remained gainfully employed. We ordered out from restaurants offering curbside pickup on a regular basis, hoping to do our part to keep them afloat. However, I am ready to sit back and enjoy some good food, good company and good service. I am ready to see some familiar faces and meet many new ones, and frankly I am ready to do my part in restarting this badly damaged economy we have been left. Scott Nunn is the mildly unhealthy assistant editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. He can be reached at 989-245-7140 or scott.nunn@hearstnp.com. George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis last week when a police officer used brutally excessive force to arrest him. It was the latest in a string of high-profile cases nationwide in which citizens, most of them African Americans, died from reckless police force. Once again, protests over police brutality turned violent and rioting ensued. The U.S. is torn apart over the national mass quarantine. Liberal blue states accused red restart states of recklessly endangering national health by allowing their populations to go back to work before the virus has left. Red states countered that blue states were hypocritical in wanting federal money to subsidize their locked-down residents while expecting other states to generate needed federal revenue. They also contended that there was no longer scientific evidence to justify the lockdown. The nationwide protests and rioting have inadvertently adjudicated the issue: States cannot jail the law-abiding barber who wears a mask at work but allow the arsonist without one to roam the streets burning with impunity. There is mounting evidence that an array of federal officials had plotted to disrupt Donald Trumps 2016 campaign and his presidential transition, leaving Trump supporters furious. Meanwhile, likely Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is sequestered in his basement. He often appears confused. Yet Biden seems content that the more people do not see or hear him, the more they like the idea of him as president. Indeed, the more inert Biden has become, the more his poll numbers have risen against Trump and his tweeting. As the U.S. protested and bickered, China attempted to strangle what was left of Hong Kongs enfeebled democracy. Chinas theory seemed to be that if its going to be blamed for the spreading virus due to its deceit anyway, it might as well not let such a pandemic go to waste. The Chinese strategy in reaction to disclosures that it hid vital data about the virus and exposed the world to contagion while it quarantined its own cities has devolved from So what? to the current What exactly are you going to do about it? China also decided to ramp up its perennial border confrontations with India, as its forces encroached on Indian soil in the Himalayas. What better way to show the world that a defiant China is dangerous than agitate the worlds largest democracy? Beijing has warned European nations that if their independent media continued to condemn China, there could be commercial retaliation. A few European journalists still exposed Chinese deceit, even as shaken EU leaders backtracked and tried to contextualize Chinese misbehavior. Japan and South Korea worried that China might move on Taiwan. They knew that if China did, only the United States convulsed by quarantines, riots and a contentious presidential race could stand up to Beijing. For years, China has bullied and waged a virtual commercial war against Asian democracies such as Japan, South Korea, India and Australia. It has subverted almost all international trading norms. The Chinese government assumed that Western elites would get rich by being complicit in Chinas cheating and would thus help sell out their own countries. They were mostly right on both counts. As China westernized its economy, it conned gullible Western officials that eventually it planned to become a useful member of the family of nations. In truth, China strategically hoarded cash from its asymmetrical trade surpluses. It planted its functionaries throughout transnational organizations and subverted them. It beefed up its military and planted island bases in international waters. It compromised strategically important nations by investing in their infrastructure through its neo-colonial and imperialist multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative. China may have been forced by the global epidemic to give up its nice-guy facade. But it has insidiously pivoted from global friend to its new role as overt global villain. If the world had been anxious over the intentions of a suspiciously nice China, it will become downright terrified of an overtly hostile China. In other words, China is not wasting the disaster of the Wuhan outbreak. It once gained a lot by faking friendliness, but now it seems to think it has no choice but to get even more by being authentically belligerent. As part of the about-face, China no longer flatters the West in passive-aggressive fashion, but rather shows its disdain for a weak Europe and an increasingly divided U.S. Chinas real message to a fence-sitting world? While America tears itself apart with endless internal quarreling and media psychodramas, while Europe appeases its enemies, and while the rest of Asia stays mute, waiting to see who wins, China is now on the move without apologies. Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author of The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, from Basic Books. You can reach him by e-mailing authorvdh@gmail.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is slated to announce the removal of the historic statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from its pedestal following demands from George Floyd protesters. Northam plans to announce the removal of the monument, which is owned by the state, on Thursday and it will be put into storage. The statue, unveiled in 1890, has become a gathering point for demonstrations over the past week, where protesters demanded justice for the police killing of George Floyd and the end of police brutality. When news broke of the pending announcement, protesters gathered at the base of the heavily defaced monument on Wednesday erupted in cheers. Confederate and controversial monuments in Alabama, Virginia, and Tennessee have been toppled following pressure from George Floyd protesters. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is slated to announce the removal of the historic statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from its pedestal following demands from George Floyd protesters. Demonstrators pictured sitting near the statue on Wednesday The statue, unveiled in 1890, has become a gathering point for demonstrations over the past week, where protesters demanded justice for the police killing of George Floyd and the end of police brutality. Protesters pictured waving signs at the base of the statue on Tuesday Protesters carrying signs that say 'Black Trans Lives Matter' and 'Abolish The Police' pictured in front of the historic monument on Tuesday Over the past week thousands have gathered around the statue that depicts the general on a horse, and defaced with graffiti A group of protesters gathered around the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday chanting 'Tear it down' Also on Wednesday, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans to remove the other Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue including statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gens. Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart. He said he would introduce an ordinance on July 1 to remove them. On Tuesday morning the bronze statue of Confederate soldier 'Appomattox' was taken down in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia by its owners who feared it would be vandalized in demonstrations. The statue, erected in 1889 to honor Confederate soldiers, has been a point of controversy for years but remained standing despite repeated demands for removal, until this week. Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted photos of the statue removal saying: 'Alexandria, like all great cities, is constantly changing and evolving.' A city spokesperson said the owner of the statue the United Daughters of the Confederacy notified the city Monday that they would remove the statue. On Tuesday morning the bronze statue of Confederate soldier 'Appomattox' was taken down in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia by its owners the United Daughters of the Confederacy for fear that it would get vandalized as other Confederate monuments have amid protests The statue, erected in 1889 to honor Confederate soldiers, has been a point of controversy for years but remained standing after repeated demands for removal, until this week. A crane pictured picking up the historic statue Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted photos of the statue removal saying, 'Alexandria, like all great cities, is constantly changing and evolving' The bronze statue stood at its post in downtown Alexandria for nearly 130 years. The statue stands with his back to the nation's capital as he gazes towards where the bloody battlefields of the Civil War once stood Mayor Wilson said the group opted to remove the memorial because other segregation-era statues have been vandalized in protests sweeping the nation. It was removed following seven days of protests, both peaceful and violent, across the country to decry the police killing of black man George Floyd. The owners had previously planned to relocate the 131-year-old statue in July, in accordance with a new state law that allows localities to remove, relocate or contextualize Confederate monuments. On Monday night the 115-year-old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Birmingham, Alabama was removed from its pedestal after it became a focal point in protests against police brutality on Sunday night into early Monday. In Birmingham, Alabama the 115-year-old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument was removed from its pedestal on Monday night. The historic monument located in Birmingham's Linn park was removed Monday evening after it became a focal point of protests that led to unrest in the city on Sunday night into Monday Workers pictured taking apart the historic statue that served as constant reminder of the losing faction in the American Civil war The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Birmingham's Linn Park was heavily defaced by protesters decrying police brutality over the weekend Sarah Collins Rudolph smiles with her husband George Rudolph in front of the remains of the Confederate memorial. As of Tuesday morning all that remained of the statue was its vandalized base Robert Walker poses for a photograph on the remains of a Confederate memorial that was removed overnight in Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday The statue was removed after the citys Mayor Randall Woodfin vowed to remove offensive statues in the city. It was dismantled on what would have been the 212th birthday of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. The statue had been heavily defaced and covered in graffiti in protests in the city this past week. Now all that's left are the graffitied words 'Black Lives Matter.' Mayor Woodfin said city leaders will not disclose the location of the monument in order to protect it from further damage, as per WBRC. City leaders will decide with state leaders about where the monument will eventually go. Birmingham: An unidentified man walks past a toppled statue of Charles Linn, a city founder who was in the Confederate Navy, in Birmingham, Alabama on Monday following a night of unrest Before the fall: The standing Charles Linn statue in Linn Park in Birmingham, Alabama pictured in 2018 Protesters pictured surrounding the fallen and vandalized Charles Linn statue Birmingham where confederate monument was just taken down pic.twitter.com/nXXiNZ3rfr Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) June 1, 2020 Sarah Collins Rudolph, whose sister Addie Mae Collins died in the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, had to see the sight for herself on Tuesday. She lowered a protective face mask to take in the absence of an edifice she long considered a symbol of oppression. 'I'm glad it's been removed because it has been so long, and we know that it's a hate monument,' Rudolph, 69, said Tuesday. 'It didn't represent the blacks. It just represented the hard times back there a long time ago.' In Montgomery, Alabama a statue of General Robert E Lee, the Commander of the Confederate Army in the Civil War, was toppled on Monday. The empty pedestal that once held the monument pictured Tuesday The standing statue of Robert E. Lee in front of Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama pictured above in photo from 2012 This image shared to Facebook shows people standing around the fallen monument in protests over the weekend Police pictured next to the fallen Robert E. Lee statue after it was toppled in front of the Lee High School, which has a majority black population, in Montgomery, Alabama Last week a crowd of protesters decrying police brutality toppled a statue of Confederate Navy captain Charles Linn in a park named after him in Birmingham, Alabama. The Linn monument, just like many other Confederate soldier monuments in the South, has been a point of contentious debate. Previous efforts to remove it were blocked by the Alabama attorney general in defense of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, a Republican-backed legislation aimed at making it harder to remove Confederate monuments. But the protests led locals to deal with the monument in their own way. One person shared video of the statues fall on Twitter saying: 'This is the only kind of destruction we need. Stop burning down the community and burn down the confederate relics.' In Montgomery, Alabama a statue of General Robert E Lee, the Commander of the Confederate Army in the Civil War, was toppled on Monday. Four people were charged with criminal mischief after they removed the statue amid nationwide protests. A Montgomery Public Schools spokesperson confirmed Tuesday the system has the piece and that it is in storage for safekeeping. In Nashville, Tenneessee a statue of controversial former lawmaker and newspaper publisher Edward Carmack, who was known for his racist views, was torn down on Saturday Protesters brought down the statue that stood outside the state Capitol after a peaceful demonstration turned violent on Sunday A group of protesters gather around the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia chanting 'Tear it down' Spray paint that reads 'Do Black Vets Count?' is seen World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, Sunday. The memorial honors and remembers the one million black veterans who served In Nashville, Tenneessee a statue of controversial former lawmaker and newspaper publisher Edward Carmack, who was known for his racist views, was torn down on Saturday. Outside Tampa, Florida, a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter lowered a huge Confederate battle flag that has long been flown in view of two interstate highways. Confederate monuments that havent been toppled have been heavily vandalized, such as the Robert E. Lee memorial and the Stonewall Jackson statue in Richmond, Virginia and the Confederate Defender statue in Charleston, South Carolina, which are now covered in graffiti and spray paint. The Mississippi State Department of Health said Tuesday that it will start releasing the names of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities where people have tested positive for the new coronavirus. The action comes only after a newspaper sued the department. A Hinds County chancery court judge ruled May 26 that the department must respond to a public records request from the Pine Belt News and its parent company, Hattiesburg Publishing Inc. Other news organizations also sought the information from the department. The department has been releasing statistics that include the number of COVID-19 cases found in long-term care facilities. But the state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, has previously said releasing names of facilities where residents or staff members test positive for the virus could stigmatize the facilities, making it difficult for them to hire new employees. Some other states, including Louisiana, have been releasing the names of nursing homes with cases of the highly contagious virus. The judge said in her ruling last week that the Mississippi department must either release the information sought in the public records request or cite a specific exemption in the state Public Records Act that would allow the information to be withheld. After the judges ruling, the attorney generals office recommended that the Health Department begin releasing the names of the facilities with COVID-19 cases. The department said it will start posting the information on its website Wednesday. Please keep in mind the list will include the name and county of the facility only, not a breakdown of the number of cases associated with each facility, the Health Department news release said. The department said the Public Records Act provides for release of public documents already in existence. Information requests for facility-specific data will have to be addressed at a later time. the Health Department said, adding that the department is not currently able to pull frontline epidemiological staff to perform such queries as they are focusing on contact tracing and case investigations. The Health Department said Tuesday that Mississippi with a population of about 3 million has had at least 16,020 confirmed cases and 767 deaths from the coronavirus as of Monday evening. That was an increase of 268 cases and 28 deaths from the numbers reported a day earlier. The number of deaths includes 10 that occurred between May 6 and May 27, with information from death certificates arriving later. The number of coronavirus infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected without feeling sick. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. For others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause severe symptoms and be fatal. The Health Department said at least 1,935 cases of the virus have been confirmed in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, with at least 395 virus-related deaths in those facilities. The department also said Tuesday that 187,270 coronavirus tests had been conducted in Mississippi as of Monday. More than 7,880 of those were blood tests that detect whether a person has antibodies that usually show up after an infection is resolved. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits COVID-19 Homeowners Mississippi Forces loyal to Libyas internationally recognized government said Thursday they had fully recaptured the capital city of Tripoli after more than a year of fighting with renegade commander Khalifa Hifter. "Our heroic forces have full control of Greater Tripoli right up to the city limits," said Mohammed Gnounou, a spokesperson for the Government of National Accord (GNA). Since April 2019, Hifters self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) has waged an offensive on Tripoli, the seat of the UN-backed government. His forces have suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks, as the GNA, backed by Turkish-supplied drones and fighters, pushed the LNA out of several key towns. Last month, GNA forces captured the strategic Al-Watiya air base from the eastern-based troops, and on Wednesday they took control of Tripolis international airport, which had been closed since 2014. For the past six years, the oil-rich country has been embroiled in conflict between the two administrations and their array of foreign backers, which have flooded the country with illegal arms. Hifter, a former US ally who controls much of the eastern portion of the country and its oil facilities, counts Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia among his supporters. The UN-backed GNA enjoys military support from Turkey and Qatar. The recapture of Tripoli comes days after the UN missions to the country announced the rival governments had agreed to resume talks aimed at securing a lasting cease-fire. A truce brokered in January by Russia and Turkey, which support opposite sides in the war, failed to quell the fighting. As of mid-May, the UN said it had documented more than 850 cease-fire violations. London Thousands of people demonstrated in London on Wednesday against police violence and racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has set off days of unrest in the United States. In Athens, police fired tear gas to disperse youths who threw firebombs and stones at them outside the U.S. Embassy toward the end of an otherwise peaceful protest by about 4,000 people. No injuries or arrests were reported. The London demonstration began in Hyde Park, with protesters chanting "Black lives matter," before many of them later marched through the streets, blocking traffic. Some of them converged on Parliament and the nearby Downing Street office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A few scuffles erupted between protesters and police outside the street's heavy metal gates. Inside, Johnson told a news conference that he was "appalled and sickened" by Floyd's death on May 25 when a white Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on the handcuffed black man's neck for several minutes. Earlier, "Star Wars" actor John Boyega, who was born in Britain to Nigerian parents and grew up in south London's Peckham neighborhood, pleaded tearfully for demonstrators to stay peaceful. "Because they want us to mess up, they want us to be disorganized, but not today," he said. Boyega recalled the case of Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old black man from southeast London who was stabbed to death in 1993 as he waited for a bus. The case against his attackers collapsed in 1996, and a government report cited institutional racism by the London police force as a key factor in its failure to investigate the killing. "Black lives have always mattered," Boyega said. "We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless and now is the time. I ain't waiting." Police appeared to keep a low profile during the demonstration and the ensuing marches. Earlier, the U.K.'s most senior police officer said she was appalled by Floyd's death and horrified by the subsequent violence in U.S. cities. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the force would "continue with our tradition of policing using minimum force necessary." While the London protesters expressed solidarity with Americans protesting Floyd's death, many also pointed to issues closer to home. "Racism is a pandemic," said one placard at the London demonstration. What does the meeting between Taliban and Jaish-e-Mohammad mean for India Why killing of Masood Azhars nephew Fauji Bhai is a major shot in the arm India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, June 04: The killing of Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bhai comes as a major shot in the arm for the security forces. Rehman, the nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar was the one who had plotted the foiled Pulwama attack rerun. Rehman was a top mob maker of the JeM. Police sources tell OneIndia that he was linked to the recent car bomb, which had been intercepted in the Valley last week. The security forces launched a cordon and search operation following inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area. Police officials said that the search operation turned into an encounter as the terrorists opened fire at the security personnel. Top Jaish-e-Mohammad bomb maker, Fauji Bhai shot dead by security forces It may be recalled that last week, the car from which the Jammu and Kashmir police recovered explosives and thwarted a Pulwama type attack belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen operative Hidayatullah Malik. India Covid-19 positive cases cross 9,000 in single day for the first time | Oneindia News He is a resident of Sharatpora in Shopian and had joined the outfit in 2019. Malik is an active member of the outfit, police sources tell OneIndia. We are still ascertaining, who these terrorists were trying to target, the source also said. Based on the analysis the police say that the car was laden with 40 kilograms of explosives. The explosives were placed in a drum on the rear seat of the car. Security forces recovered an IED from a Santro car. The same has been diffused by the bomb disposal squad of the army and police at Avindgund, Rajpora in south Kashmir. After searching the vehicle, a joint team of the 44 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and Pulwama police recovered the IED. The action was taken based on concrete intelligence that was provided 4 days back. The IGP of Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that a major incident of a vehicle borne IED blast has been averted by the timely input and action by the Pulwama polices CRPF and Army. The vehicle bore the number JK08, B1426. This is reportedly the number of a scooter, sources also said. Grade A intel, seamless coordination: How Forces thwarted JeMs attempt of another Pulwama strike Had the car managed to get away, it was would have been a catastrophe. So many lives would have been lost. It is thanks to pin-pointed intelligence that we were able to intercept the vehicle. An Intelligence Bureau official explained that they had picked up chatter earlier this week. It was clear that the JeM was planning something very big in the Valley. The intelligence was found to be Grade A in nature and hence the operation was so precise, the officer further explained. While there were clear inputs about a major terror attack there was no specific information on which route the driver would take. The police, Army and the CRPF formed separate teams, spread out and covered all possible routes. When the car was first spotted, the security forces opened fire. The driver/terrorist stopped the car and fled from the spot. Kashmir's police officer Rayees Mohammad Bhat said, 'this is such great work. Imagine if this had led to loss of lives', he said on Twitter. The Kashmir police said in a tweet that a major incident of a vehicle-borne IED blast is averted by the timely inputs and action by the Pulwama Police, CRPF and Army. It may be recalled that last week, the police was attacked by terrorists in Pulwama. Two jawans were injured in the attack. The terrorists had opened fire when the security personnel were patrolling the area. Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne more than 65 years ago. At that time she was already married to Prince Philip, therefore many royal fans have wondered why her husband isnt king since the wives of kings are usually queens. Read on to find out the reason why Philip isnt even though his wife is the queen. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, | Oli Scarff/Getty Images) Prince Philip got 3 titles when he married Elizabeth Because Philips father was a prince and his mother was a princess, he was actually born with his own regal titles as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. However, his family was exiled from Greece shortly after his birth. In 1947, he renounced his right to those thrones in order to marry then-Princess Elizabeth. Upon their marriage, Philip received three new titles. They are the Duke of Edinburgh, the Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. His wifes coronation took place in 1953 and four years later, she made him the Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Whitehall. The palace released a statement which read: The queen has been pleased to declare her will and pleasure that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh shall henceforth be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The reason Philip is not a king Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, | Ray Collins WPA Pool/Getty Images RELATED: Prince Philip Has Angry Obscenity-Filled Outburst, Shouts Get Off My Land! Some have questioned if Prince Philip is not a king because he married Elizabeth before she was the queen but that has nothing to do with it. Town & Country noted that the real reason Philip is prince consort and not king is because the title of queen can either be used to describe the ruling monarch or in the more ceremonial meaning, the wife of a monarch. That is why wives of British monarchs tend to receive the ceremonial title of queen or queen consort, which was the case with Elizabeths mother, the Queen Mother, who became queen consort when her husband was crowned king. The title of king, on the other hand, can only ever be used to describe an acting monarch and does not hold a ceremonial meaning. One royal wont have queen consort title Camilla Parker Bowles | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images When Prince William ascends the throne one day his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge will become queen consort. This is also true for the woman Prince George marries. However, the same cant be said for Prince Charles bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. When Camilla and Charles were married, the couple revealed then that the duchess would not use the Princess of Wales title out of respect for Princess Diana. They also announced that Camilla would not take the queen consort title when Charles is crowned. In February 2020, a rep for the heir apparents second wife stated what title she would go by instead. The intention is for the duchess to be known as princess consort when the prince accedes to the throne, Camillas rep told the Daily Star. RELATED: Prince Philip Cant Stand Queen Elizabeth IIs Favorite British Tradition A new survey has asked Brits if UK society is racist, amid global protests around the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police last month. (PA) A new poll has revealed how racist British people consider themselves. A small portion of Brits believe the UK isnt a racist society, according to the findings of the poll. The new survey, published by YouGov on Thursday, asked 5146 adults the question: To what extent, if at all, do you think the UK is a racist society? According to the results 6% answered not racist at all, while 8% of people believe the UK is very racist, while nearly half - or 44% - believe British society is fairly racist. The data comes amid global protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the US. The new poll asked adults if they thought the UK was a racist society. (YouGov) Around 36% of respondents said Britain was not very racist. A further 7% said they did not know. Mr Floyd died after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on 25 May, sparking days of protest across the world. In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, peaceful demonstrations were held in UK cities such as London on Wednesday and Birmingham and Bristol on Thursday. The survey also published results according to demographics such as respondents' political views. (YouGov) YouGov also revealed the demographics of respondents in the the survey, breaking down answers into categories such as age and political views. Of Labour supporters, 13% said the UK was very racist, while a quarter said the nation was not very racist. Among Conservative voters, 3% and 53% answered the same two questions. Meanwhile, the majority of people who answered very racist (14%) were aged between 18-24, while just 4% of those aged 65 or over agreed with the statement. A larger portion of young people aged 18-24 believed the UK is a racist society than those who do not. (YouGov) Around 4% of younger people said Britain was not racist, while 5% of the older age group said they believed the UK was not. Campaigners across the UK have highlighted the inequalities in society, especially amongst those who identify as BAME (Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities). According to data published last month by the Office for National Statistics, black men and women are more than four times more likely to suffer a coronavirus-related death than white people. Story continues Figures released on Wednesday showed people from BAME backgrounds are more likely to be fined or arrested under coronavirus regulations than white people in London. A protestor holds a placard during the Black Lives Matter protest at Hyde Park on Wednesday, 3 June. (PA) Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was appalled and sickened to see what happened to Mr Floyd, but urged people to maintain social distancing as they protested. Police chief constables from across the UK also issued a joint statement, saying they stand alongside all those across the globe who are appalled and horrified. Meanwhile, campaign group Stand Up To Racism announced an online-only rally this Sunday, with speakers to discuss how we turn the new wave of anger over racism and injustice into an effective movement for change. An online fundraiser for the UK chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement had reached more than 270,000 on Thursday morning, with the funds going to support black life against institutional racism. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News UK In El-Arish, the provincial capital of Egypt's North Sinai, a group of women sew colourful Bedouin designs on masks to combat coronavirus, as an insurgency simmers in their restive region. Egypt's toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has reached over 28,600 cases, including more than 1,000 deaths, while North Sinai itself remains the bloody scene of a long-running Islamist insurgency. "I learnt how to embroider when I was a young girl watching my mother," homemaker Naglaa Mohammed, 36, told AFP on a landline from El-Arish, as mobile phone links are often disrupted. A versatile embroiderer, she also beads garments and crafts rings and bracelets. Now with the pandemic, she has been designing face masks showcasing her Bedouin heritage. Bedouins are nomadic tribes who traditionally inhabit desert areas throughout the Arab world, from North Africa to Iraq. Many have now integrated into a more urban lifestyle. Egypt's Bedouin textile tradition of tatriz -- weaving and beading rich geometric and abstract designs on garments, cushions and purses -- has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. It has survived in the Sinai Peninsula, whose north has been plagued by years of militant activity and terror attacks spearheaded by a local affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group. Keeping Bedouin heritage alive Security forces have been locked in a battle to quell an insurgency in the Sinai that intensified after the military's 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. In February 2018, authorities launched a nationwide operation against militants, focusing on North Sinai. Around 970 suspected militants have since been killed in the region along with dozens of security personnel, according to official figures. The finished products are washed, packed and shipped off to distribution centres in Cairo, where they are sold online in partnership with Jumia -- Africa's e-commerce giant -- for about 40 pounds ($2.50) each. By - (El Fayrouz For Environmental & Social & Economic Services Association/AFP) Local and international media are banned from entering heavily militarised North Sinai. But for Amany Gharib, who founded the El-Fayrouz Association in El-Arish in 2010, the violence has not dissuaded her from keeping Bedouin heritage alive while at the same time empowering local women. She now employs around 550 women like Mohammed -- many of them casually or part-time -- as part of a textiles workshop. "The masks are composed of two layers -- one inner layer directly on the face which is disinfected, and the colourful, beaded one outside," Gharib explained to AFP. All the women take the necessary precautions while working, including wearing gloves and masks while using sewing machines. The finished products are washed, packed and shipped off to distribution centres in Cairo, where they are sold online in partnership with Jumia -- Africa's e-commerce giant -- for about 40 pounds ($2.50) each. The beading process takes about two days for each mask, Gharib said. Living with terror Amid the volatile security situation, Mohammed has been able to eke out a meagre living with her embroidery skills. "We work and are given our dues depending on the orders we get... with the masks it has been a new challenge we've tackled," she said. The beading process takes about two days for each mask. By - (El Fayrouz For Environmental & Social & Economic Services Association/AFP) Dire economic conditions in Egypt have been even tougher for women of the Sinai since the pandemic began. "Times are really tough for the women but we have adjusted," Gharib said. And while militant attacks on security checkpoints have continued, Gharib expressed confidence in the army. "We feel a sense of security and stability with the military presence. We trust them," she said. The region witnessed the deadliest terror attack in Egypt's modern history when militants killed more than 300 worshippers in a mosque in November 2017. Gharib said that in North Sinai's tight-knit community, each family knew someone who had been killed in an attack. "Anyone of us who is killed, we consider them a martyr," she said. "We are in a war with terror... but the people have learnt to live with it." Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2020 The Texas A&M System condemns all racist behaviors, actions, and comments that tear at the moral fabric of our nation. The System is appalled at the deplorable and egregious acts of brutality by some police officers against African Americans. As the nation grieves, the A&M System is also experiencing sorrow and has devoted its platform to stand up against unjust racial disparities. Based on diversity as a core value of our system, we denounce all forms of violence perpetrated against African Americans. The death of George Floyd, and many others, at the hand of police officers is a despicable and unacceptable outcome. Suffice it to say: IT MUST STOP. All forms of racism, from bias and micro-aggressions to racialized violence, create an undue weight on our faculty, staff, students of color, and administration. As such, there is a direct need to continue to educate and act on our values of inclusion and equity. The Texas A&M System shall take all necessary steps to ensure that its employees and students are committed to the tenets of human respect and decency. To make a positive impact, we will make a unified commitment to translate our ideals into action for sustainable and proactive change. Equally as important, The Texas A&M System shall remain committed to providing an inclusive environment where all its members can thrive safely. The A&M System believes all universities under the auspices of the Texas A&M Banner shall speak out against systemic and institutional racism at all levels. Likewise, we urgently call on all Texans and the nation to resist hateful and racist actions and refuse to drink from the bitter cup of divisiveness. Dr. LaVelle Hendricks, Chair, Texas A&M University-Commerce Angela Allen, West Texas A&M University Dr. Carol Bunch Davis, Texas A&M University-Galveston Larry Davis, Texas A&M University-Central Texas Dr. Toney Favors, Texas A&M University-Texarkana Dr. Manuel Flores, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Elma De Luna-Gonzalez, Prairie View A&M University Tim Gritten, Texas A&M University-San Antonio Dr. Peter Haruna, Texas A&M International University Tiburcio Lince, Tarleton University Dr. Sherdeana Owens, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Dr. Christine Stanley, Texas A&M University Dr. Julia Ballenger, Texas A&M University-Commerce Dr. Joyce Miller, Texas A&M University-Commerce Dr. Minita Ramirez, Texas A&M International University Carl Greig, Texas A&M University-Texarkana Dr. Corinne Valadez, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Dr. Jennifer Schroeder, Texas A&M University-Commerce Dr. Brenda Moore, Texas A&M University-Commerce COVID-19 contact tracers have revealed that they are now receiving Gh70 as daily allowance instead of the announced Gh150. Mr President, on Sunday, the 5th of April 2020, you made a public announcement that Contact Tracers across the country would be given a Gh150 daily allowance for their efforts in the fight against Covid-19. This announcement was very timely and welcoming since by then none of us knew how much we were getting even after working for days. However, for the entire month of May, the money was not paid until on the 1st of June when we were asked to come the next day for our monies. We proceeded to our accountants for the money the next day only to be informed that, we are taking Gh70 per day and not the announced Gh150 per day, a part of the letter reads. They have therefore written an open letter to President Akufo-Addo to address their concern. Below is the full open letter: Good day sir, Accept a warm felicitation from us. We pray our letter finds you in a good health condition as you lead your beloved country in this fight against an invisible enemy. Mr President, on Sunday, the 5th of April 2020, you made a public announcement that Contact Tracers across the country would be given a Ghc150 daily allowance for their efforts in the fight against Covid-19. This announcement was very timely and welcoming since by then none of us knew how much we were getting even after working for days. Mr. President, for the month of April, the money was paid as you announced and we thank you for that. However, for the entire month of May, the money was not paid until on the 1st of June when we were asked to come the next day for our monies. We proceeded to our accountants for the money the next day only to be informed that, we are taking Ghc70 per day and not the announced Ghc150 per day. So Mr. President, we would like to humbly enquire whether your office has reviewed the amount or some entities within the region want to cheat us. Mr. President, when the announcement for the recruitment of health professionals to work as Contact Tracers was made, almost everyone was afraid to partake. A few of us showed up for the orientation and training, and a few among those who showed for the training actually showed up for work for fear of contracting the virus. But some of us against all odds sacrificed and contributed our quota in this fight. We faced some stigmatisations and distancing from even family members due to fear. People feared getting close to us just because of the work we do. But that did not deter us in fighting to make Ghana safe again. The successes chalked in the fight would not have been possible without our tireless efforts in Tracing and Testing some 153,056 people and recording 4956 positives. This could not have been possible without us. Mr. President, it is unfair for us to work all week including Saturdays and Sundays only for us to be denied what is due us. It is unfair sir. So we call on your esteemed office to issue a statement, possibly through the daily Ministerial Press Briefings to shed some light on this issue. Thank you Mr. President Convener Coalition of Contact Tracers, Ashanti Region. 0200983057 Cc: Minister of Health Minister of Information Director General, GHS 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 Thursday, June 4, 2020 Overall Derek Chauvin was the white policeman who lead the team of four policemen who together killed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day May 25th. Chauvin started as a military police officer with the U.S. Army from September 1996 to February 1997 and again from September 1999 to May 2000. Just as the sixties started with the Watts Los Angeles riot of 1965 and ended with the 1968 riots after Martin Luther King had been killed, today's protests and riots began with the Michael Brown whitewashed police murder in 2014 and the Baltimore 2015 riots. Today's widespread mainly peaceful protests followed by some riots come 52 years after the King riots, evidence of the 54-year Kondratiev cycle of world political events. Enclosed is my very well received article back then included in the Journal of Nonviolent Research, Fall 2014, Aug 18, 2014. Military training and background are often found in murderers, especially mass murderers, and contributes to America's unusually high murder rate. Homicides by police are remarkably steady over the years despite great changes over the years in crime rates in America, suggesting that is part of the police culture unique to America among the developed countries where police shootings are quite rare comparatively. The military arms to police program was stopped by Obama and reinstated by Trump. This is how militarism and empire affect the domestic situation in America. Protests have been in 380 cities in America and spots around the world. Militarized Terror Policing 8-17-14 INTRODUCTION This is what we have come to. Seventy years of hollowing out our economic manufacturing sector went to support the political military sector instead. Started in the name of the Cold War and perpetuated with the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq now in the name of terror. Endless backfires overseas from CIA operations gone bad. Now our police have become an occupying army in our cities. MICHAEL BROWN AND SAINT LOUIS Saint Louis proudly rose to be the #1 per capita military spending city of the top 25 metro areas as the manufacturer of the F-15, the best fighter plane in the world during the 1991 Gulf War. But militarization causes crime problems and the empire attitude of power and control. The Saint Louis County former police chief learned his anti-terrorism from the Israelis, and the militarized response to the protest of the Michael Brown execution by a policeman embarrassed even Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. So on August 14, 2014 one hundred US cities held vigils and moments of silence against police overreactions like this one and many others in recent years or months. Here in Madison, Wisconsin, I called a rally and over 100 people showed up along with three TV cameras and a Capital Times story. We raised $540 for the funeral expenses of Michael Brown. Military spending and murder rates are twice as high for the Southern militarized states including civil war Border States and former slave states like Missouri. But even low military low crime Madison has had three white men shot dead by police under questionable circumstances in the last year. HOMICIDES AND THE MILITARY Among the developed countries, the higher the military spending rate the higher the homicide rates. So when the Cold War ended in 1991, the cutting in half of the military spending share of the economy cut our murder and crime rates in half as well. But political trends can often run counter to economic ones. Nixon's war on drugs started the militarization of our police forces, then we doubled our total prisoners from 1 million in 1990 to 2 million in 2000, exactly when crime and the unemployment rates were dropping. And in 1997 the 1033 program began offering military hardware to our civilian police forces. But the big push came after the controlled demolition of three skyscrapers in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, blamed on terrorist commandeered airplanes despite the fact that 1700 degree kerosene aircraft fuel fires cannot melt steel that melts at 2600 degrees. Despite the fact that freefall collapse would have left a pile of debris fifteen stories high, not the three stories of actual debris that resulted. Traces of the CIA nano-thermite explosive were everywhere according to peer reviewed papers. The truth is the first casualty in war. International graph of murder and the military: https://www.academia.edu/4862977/CRIME_and_the_Military DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY The agencies making up homeland security had budgets averaging $15 billion a year in the three years from 2000-2002, doubling immediately on forming the new agency to an average of $32 billion the next three years 2003-2005. That first doubling began the militarization of police forces in earnest. Then with the NSA spying on all our emails and phones, homeland security jumped up to $69 billion in 2006, with a five year average of $45 billion from 2007 to 2011. Thanks to all this money armored vehicles started to become standard in small communities of 70,000 people or so. MILITARY BUILDUP The military budget increased 50 percent in the three years after 9-11-01, explaining 1.7 million of the 2.8 million manufacturing jobs lost from September 2001 to August 2003. Trade treaties and outsourcing explain the other 1 million jobs lost. This military buildup distorted the growth rates around the country, as real estate prices soured in the military buildup states like Connecticut, Texas, California, and Florida. These later became the leading mortgage fraud states in the coming debacle. Much later, the military buildup rate of increase suddenly doubled in 2008 as the money for the 2007 Iraq surge finally caught up with the troop activity. This military burden cracked the fragile fraudulent mortgage market as the unemployment rates steadily increased that year peaking in late 2009. Economists have calculated the recession beginning in December 2007. As the steam evaporated from the overheated military buildup economy, the housing market crashes, especially in the military buildup states. Nature of Military Empire Social Decay: https://www.academia.edu/11421799/MILITARISM_CONTROL_Empire_Social_Decay_WWW_97_6p Please cite this work as follows: Reuschlein, Robert. (2020, June 4), "Militarized Police Problem" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Militarized-Police-Problem,2020231819.aspx Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nobel Peace Prize nominee 2016-2020 with accelerating interest from Norway. Intense interest in an unusually consistent pattern shows up on my website as following my work, hard looks per year went from 2 to 3 to 48 to 128 to 217 (projected). Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com Info: www.realeconomy.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 01:55:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The government of Finland published on Thursday a list of what it considers essential changes to the European Commission's proposed package for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Finland hopes that solutions can be found to reduce the relative share of direct "support type of assistance" in the package. Finland had told the European Union (EU) earlier that it prefers a system based on loans but is prepared to review other solutions as well. The government said that the overall size of the EU recovery tool should be smaller and proportionate to the subsequent payment obligations and their duration. It also underlined that the proposed package should be subjected to a public debate both domestically and in Europe. It emphasized that broad "civic backing" is required to make the scheme legitimate. Finland also insists that the maturity of the package should be cut from the proposed 30 years and that the budget sovereignty of the EU member states should be restricted for the briefest possible period only. Furthermore, the validity of the recovery tool should be cut shorter than the four years proposed by the European Commission. The government said it appreciated that the proposed recovery tool had green strings attached. The government has forwarded its negotiating position to the Finnish parliament, which is scheduled to review it on Friday. Enditem After long refusing to explicitly criticize a sitting president, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused President Donald Trump on Wednesday of trying to divide America and roundly denounced a militarization of the US response to civil unrest. The remarks by Mattis, an influential retired Marine general who resigned over policy differences in 2018, are the strongest to date by a former Pentagon leader over Trump`s response to the killing of George Floyd, an African-American, while in Minneapolis police custody. They accompany a growing affirmation from within the Pentagon`s leadership of the U.S. military`s core values, including to uphold a constitution that protects freedom of assembly and the principles of equality. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people does not even pretend to try," Mattis, who resigned as Trump`s defense secretary in 2018, wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic. "Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort." Trump has turned to militaristic rhetoric in response to demonstrations against police brutality following Floyd`s killing by a white police officer, who knelt on the unarmed man`s neck for almost nine minutes in Minneapolis last week. On Monday Trump threatened to send active duty U.S. troops to stamp out civil unrest gripping several cities, against the wishes of state governors - alarming current and former military officials who fear dissent in the ranks and lasting damage to the U.S. military itself, one of America`s most revered and well-funded institutions. "Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict a false conflict between the military and civilian society," Mattis wrote. Trump reacted on Twitter by calling Mattis "the world`s most overrated General!" "I didn`t like his `leadership` style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!" Trump wrote. A prominent figure in military circles, Mattis`s strong words could inspire others in uniform and veterans to speak out. They are particularly surprising given his extreme reluctance to criticize Trump in scores of interviews and appearances since he left office over policy differences with the U.S. president. His comments follow denunciations by other retired top brass, including Navy admiral Mike Mullen and retired Army general Martin Dempsey, both former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The current chairman, Army General Mark Milley, issued a message to the armed forces reminding them of their oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, which gives Americans the right to "freedom of speech and peaceful assembly." Similar messages were delivered by other top military leaders. COMPARISON TO BATTLE AGAINST NAZIS As he called for unity, Mattis even drew a comparison to the U.S. war against Nazi Germany, saying U.S. troops were reminded before the Normandy invasion: "The Nazi slogan for destroying us ... was `Divide and Conquer.` Our American answer is `In Union there is Strength.`" Mattis also took a swipe at current U.S. military leadership for participating in a Monday photo-op led by Trump after law enforcement - including National Guard - cleared away peaceful protesters. He criticized use of the word "battlespace" by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Milley to describe protest sites in the United States during a call with state governors this week. Esper, Mattis`s successor in the job, has said he regretted using that wording. "We must reject any thinking of our cities as a `battlespace,`" Mattis wrote. Esper said at a Wednesday news conference he did not support invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces to quell civil unrest for now, in remarks that did not go over well with either the president or his top aides, an administration official said. The head of the National Guard, whose troops have been reinforcing local law enforcement, issued a strong statement. "If we are to fulfill our obligation as service members, as Americans, as decent human beings, we have to take our oath seriously," said Air Force General Joseph Lengyel, the chief of the Guard. "We cannot tolerate racism, discrimination or casual violence. We cannot abide divisiveness and hate." Iran frees American, U.S. allows dual citizen to visit Iran in deal Michael White, a freed U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran since 2018, poses with U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook in Zurich By Humeyra Pamuk and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy veteran who said he contracted the coronavirus while detained in Iran since 2018 was freed on Thursday as part of a deal in which the United States allowed an Iranian-American physician to visit Iran, his lawyer and a U.S. official said. Iran's decision to release American Michael White and the U.S. move to let dual citizen Majid Taheri visit Iran, both of which were confirmed by Iran's foreign minister, appeared to be a rare instance of U.S.-Iranian cooperation. A White House spokesman expressed hope that White's release could lead to an opening in the bitter relationship. The two nations are at odds on a host of issues including the U.S. decision to abandon a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program and impose crippling economic sanctions on Tehran, as well as their jockeying for influence across the Middle East. White had been released from an Iranian prison in mid-March after being sentenced in 2019 for an unspecified offense, but had remained in Iran in the custody of Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran since the two cut diplomatic ties shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. "I'm improving. I did contract coronavirus in the Mashhad central prison prior to going out on furlough. But I'm recovering pretty decently," White told Fox News Channel on the tarmac of Zurich airport, adding he had been "in poor shape." "I feel all right, and happy to be back," White said, thanking President Donald Trump "for his efforts both diplomatically and otherwise, making America great again." He also thanked the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. "I just got off the phone with former American hostage Michael White, who is now in Zurich after being released from Iran. He will be on a U.S. plane shortly, and is COMING HOME," Trump said on Twitter. "Thank you to Iran, it shows a deal is possible!" Trump added. Story continues The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed it played a role in what it called "the humanitarian gesture" on White and Taheri and said it "stands ready" to help further. The negotiations to get White released followed several months of discussions with Iran, said a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity. Taheri's lawyer said Taheri would visit family in Iran and seek medical treatment before returning to the United States. He has pleaded guilty to violating U.S. sanctions, the lawyer added. RARE BRIGHT SPOT The deal is a rare bright spot in an otherwise deeply frayed relationship that has grown more hostile since Trump took office in 2017. Asked whether White's release could be an opening in terms of U.S.-Iranian relations, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told Fox News Channel: "Hopefully so." U.S.-Iranian relations have been bitter since the Islamic Revolution toppled the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran in 1979 and Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Tensions flared after Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions, and worsened after a Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike in Iraq killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. Both nations have called for the release of prisoners due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Iran is one of the worst-hit countries in the Middle East, while the United States has reported the world's highest number of deaths and infections. White's release came two days after the United States deported Sirous Asgari, an Iranian professor imprisoned in the United States despite being acquitted on charges of stealing trade secrets. Iranian media reported his arrival on Wednesday. The U.S. State Department and Iranian officials have denied Asgari was part of a swap with White or anyone else, calling his case separate. Last December, Washington and Tehran worked on a prisoner exchange in which Iran freed U.S. citizen Xiyue Wang, who had been held for three years on spying charges, and the United States freed Iranian Massoud Soleimani, who faced charges of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Jonathan Landay, Tim Ahmann, David Brunnstrom, Mark Hosenball and Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Peter Cooney) When Tony Mantuano announced back in November that after 35 years he was leaving Spiaggia, Chicagos most acclaimed Italian restaurant, he explained that he planned to live in Italy without an end date. But he also added that he wasnt planning to retire, and that he had "the luxury of taking however much time we need to figure out whats next. One weather feature will move through Michigan Friday, and leave a pretty nice weekend in its wake. Lets look at the weather across Michigan this weekend. The weather feature creating our weekend weather is called a back-door cold front. We call it back-door because it comes from a somewhat abnormal direction- the northeast. Most cold fronts moving through Michigan cross the state from the northwest or west. When a back-door cold front moves through it drops down into Michigan from Ontario. The weather behind the cold front is what youd expect from the northeast. The wind is usually northeasterly with temperatures have that cool, off Lake Huron feel. Rainfall is usually sparse with scattered thundershowers along the front. Not every location sees rain as a back-door cold front passes through Michigan. In this case, the scattered thundershowers will happen Friday afternoon and evening. So the weekend should be dry with no rain anywhere in Michigan. Forecast map for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 6, 2020 shows no precipitation across Michigan. The weather map above for early Saturday afternoon should say one thing to you. There wont be any storm system across Michigan Saturday. Surface weather map for 2 p.m. Sunday, June 7, 2020 Sundays weather map looks just as quiet as Saturday for all of Michigan. The back-door cold front does influence temperatures differently across Michigan. The northeasterly component to the wind makes the east side of Lower Michigan cooler than the west side. Saturday morning low temperature forecast Saturday morning temperatures will range from summery in Detroit, Ann Arbor and southeast Lower to chilly 40s across the U.P. Saturday high temperature forecast Saturday afternoon will also have that big temperature spread across Michigan as cooler air slowly oozes into northern Michigan. From Cadillac northward, Saturday afternoon temperatures will be in the 60s. On the southeast end of the state, the Detroit area will still hover around 80 degrees. Sunday morning low temperature forecast Sunday morning will be cool at sunrise with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Sunday high temperature forecast Sunday will have a cool northeast wind blowing off Lake Huron. With this wind, the east side of Lower Michigan will be the coolest spot. Some spots in eastern Lower will struggle to make it to 70 degrees. While Ive talked about northeast winds a lot here, the wind wont be really too strong. Wind forecast for 2 p.m. Saturday Winds will actually still be northwesterly or northerly Saturday afternoon. The winds will range between 10 mph and 17 mph. Thats not a strong wind, but it is breezy. Sunday afternoon wind forecast The wind forecast for Sunday afternoon shows a northeasterly wind. The wind will be strongest across the Saginaw Bay. Its a dry and mostly sunny weekend in store for Michigan. Its not a real hot weekend. In fact at times it will feel quite cool. (Natural News) The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored in the bloodiest way, as violent terrorists take to the city streets to destroy property, assault innocents, and threaten a race war against white people. These lawless thugs are engaging in insurrection against the United States and the rule of law, threatening the security and freedom of all. Now one famous actress, Frances Fisher, is calling for a race war against white people. On Twitter, Fisher sounded off: They want a race war. Well give them a race war. Im with #BlackLivesMatter. We will win. Lawless anarchists and domestic terrorists are gaining power, emboldened by celebrity support and sympathies On Tuesday, June 2nd, Facebook users began replacing their profile picture with a black image, showing their support for black lives. Worshiping a specific race on social media does nothing to mend what is broken inside the hearts and minds of those who seek to do harm to innocent people. Succumbing to the rage and lawlessness will only embolden their pursuit of power and will only validate what they are doing to innocent peoples lives. The lawlessness currently plaguing the streets of America wont suddenly cease just because people show their apologies and social media sympathies to black people. Police brutality is a problem and George Floyd should be alive today, but these thugs ruling the streets right now no longer respect authority, the rule of law, or common decency. The damage is so widespread, entire police precincts are giving up, their vehicles destroyed, and buildings burning. Some of these Antifa thugs and their collaborators want to wage war with white people, and celebrities are encouraging it. These thugs want war and reparations, and they seek to rule by the force of anarchy, using destruction to get their way. Frances Fisher also took to Twitter and quoted cop killer Assata Shakur (Joanne Deborah Chesimard), a violent member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA), who was convicted of the first-degree murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains, Fisher tweeted, enlivening the spirit of the fugitive cop killer. The tweet, now deleted, reveals intent, and shows what is to come in the US. Get ready for what is to come by staying up-to-date with Preparedness.News. Sources include: InformationLiberation.com FBI.gov BAI Communications Australia Announces New COO BAI Communications is a global company that designs, builds, and operates communications networks, including broadcast, radio, cellular, Wi-Fi and digital, for customers across Australia, Asia and North America. Comprised of Broadcast Australia, Hostworks, BAI Canada, Transit Wireless and RFE, BAI Communications carries out a range of worldwide projects. In Australia, BAI is one of the largest neutral host broadcast and telecommunications service providers, operating one of the most extensive transmission networks in the world. The Australian arm of the company recently publicized a high-level personnel change: the appointment of Peter Knott to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). According to the company, as COO, Knott will lead core business operations and will be responsible for the network strategy, service integrity, service delivery, HSE (health, safety and environment), property and energy functions. He first joined the company in 2016 as General Manager for Commercial Finance, and later became the companys chief financial officer (CFO) "I am honored to take on the role of COO for BAI Communications Australia, said Knott in a statement. I am incredibly energized to help lead the company through its next phase of innovation coupled with operational excellence. I believe the potential for growth and value creation is tremendous, given BAIs intelligent and passionate people, modern technology, and worldwide expertise. As such, I am committed to building on our reputation as the industrys trusted partner of choice, delivering exciting opportunities for our people and smart solutions for our customers. Knott previous spent several years as a commercial director role at WorleyParsons, a global engineering firm. Going forward, the company hopes the appointment will help it extend its service offering to existing and new customers, drawing on its global experience designing, building, and operating communications infrastructure and networks. BAI Australia CEO Peter Lambourne welcomed Knott to his new role, which began officially on the first of June. Please enable JavaScript to view the It is Peters passion for people, vision, customer focus, and proven record of delivery that makes Peter the ideal candidate to lead our core business in the next stages of its development, said Lambourne.Edited by Maurice Nagle While almost half of NCR residents do not want borders opened due to high number of coronavirus cases in Delhi, about 66 per cent of Delhiites want reopening of the borders with Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. According to a survey by LocalCircles, more residents of Noida and Faridabad are in favour of border opening than of Gurugram and Ghaziabad. Delhi shares its borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Everyday lakhs of people cross these state borders in the NCR to get to work in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad. Linking the rising cases of COVID-19 patients to Delhi, UP and Haryana had sealed their borders with the national capital except for a few days when Haryana opened them. From June 1, the Delhi government announced that its borders will be sealed for a week. "LocalCircles conducted a survey in Delhi and NCR at the city level and asked the residents if their city borders should be opened for unrestricted movement of people. Citizens of Delhi were asked if the Delhi borders with NCR cities -- Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad -- should be opened and unrestricted movement of people should be permitted," LocalCircles said in a statement. As per the survey, 66 per cent answered yes while 31 per cent said no. While Delhi has over 20,000 coronavirus cases, Noida and Ghaziabad together have around 750 positive cases. "In the survey conducted amongst residents of Ghaziabad, 52 per cent said borders should not be opened and 48 per cent said they should be opened," LocalCircles said. Even in Gautam Budh Nagar -- Noida and Greater Noida -- while 65 per cent residents said borders should be opened 34 per cent said they should remain sealed. When residents of Faridabad were asked the same question if the Faridabad administration should open the Delhi-Faridabad border and permit unrestricted movement of people, 54 per cent said yes and 38 per cent said no. "When residents of Gurugram were asked if the administration should open the Delhi-Gurugram border and permit unrestricted movement of people, 50 per cent said yes and 48 per cent said no." The Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines released on May 30 said that there will be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of people and goods and no additional permission will be required for such travel. However, the MHA had left it to the respective state governments and local administrations to take a final call on the matter. Over 20,000 citizens from Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar participated in the survey. "54 per cent respondents were men while 46 per cent respondents were women. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants are validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey," the company said. Overall, the NCR cities have collectively about 2,500 Covid cases. On the other hand, Delhi has reported more than 23,000 COVID-19 cases so far and stands at the third position as the most infected state in the country. The founder of Lucy's Law has called for a probe into the premature death of Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury's Pomeranian puppy, Mr Chai. The devastated Love Island stars announced on Wednesday their dog, who was flown in from Russia, had tragically passed away, due to a seizure and host of neurological issues, just six days after welcoming him to the family. Celebrity vet Marc Abraham who was behind Lucy's Law campaign told The Mirror: 'The Government has made it quite clear with Lucy's Law you can't sell a puppy without it having been seen with its mum in the place where it is born.' Devastating: The founder of Lucy's Law has called for a probe into the premature death of Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury's Pomeranian puppy, Mr Chai Lucy's Law campaign was created to end the scandal of animals being bred in cruel conditions and transported long distances to be sold. It asserts that anyone wanting to welcome a new puppy or kitten in England must now buy direct from a breeder, or consider adopting from a rescue centre instead. Licensed dog breeders are required to show puppies interacting with their mothers in their place of birth. It was named after a cavalier spaniel who was rescued after being kept in a cage on a puppy farm. Heartache: The Love Island stars announced on Wednesday their dog, who was flown in from Russia, had tragically passed away, due to a seizure and host of neurological issues Vet: Marc Abraham who is behind Lucy's Law campaign said: 'The Government has made it quite clear with Lucy's Law you can't sell a puppy without it having been seen with its mum' Shock: Molly-Mae's new puppy, gifted to her from boyfriend Tommy, was not from a registered breeder, The Kennel Club confirmed Earlier on Wednesday, Molly-Mae, who was gifted the pooch by Tommy for her 21st birthday, addressed the backlash from importing Mr Chai from Russia, stating: 'Whilst we completely understand everyone's opinions about being shipped over from Russia, what you need to understand is that is not what made him die. 'He was going to die regardless. The autopsy results showed his skull wasn't fully developed and part of his brain was exposed. He didn't have a single white blood cell in his body'. 'If we had the time again we would have got a dog from the UK or got a rescue dog from the UK.' Tommy bought the dog through Cheshire-based business Tiffany Chihuahuas & Pomeranians, which is licensed by Cheshire Council but not a Kennel Club assured breeder. Breeder Elena Katerova has denied breaking the rules telling the publication, clients see the mother with their puppy via videos. So sad: Earlier on Wednesday, Molly-Mae, who was gifted the pooch by Tommy for her 21st birthday, addressed the backlash from importing Mr Chai from Russia She said: 'I'm truly devastated to learn about the death of Mr Chai. He was a beautiful young dog with a loving, playful temperament. I'd watched him grow up, having regular video calls with his birth family. 'My heart goes out to Molly-Mae and Tommy. Mr Chai was a healthy dog, I only work with trusted people and have a small network of reputable breeders who care for their dogs to the very highest standards and and see animals as part of their family.' Back in 2018, the breeder came under fire when This Morning viewers saw the teacups dogs she was holding were shaking. During the segment, Elena was involved in a debate whether owning 'teacup dogs' was a form of cruelty. The miniature breeds, which can cost a potential owner 8,000, are prone to health problems as a result of their breeding. While Elena insisted that they were healthy, vet Scott said that it was dangerous MailOnline has contacted breeder Elena and Molly-Mae for comment. In a video posted on Wednesday, the couple tearfully discussed their puppy Mr Chai's death. Puppy love: Speaking about receiving Mr Chai, Molly said he was absolutely everything, adding that the couple were both nearly in tears when he came home to them Molly-Mae told her viewers: 'Neither of us wanted to film a video or talking about this but after everything we've seen today and reading everyone's opinions, I think it's really important that we actually do sit down and talk about it and explain how we are feeling and what we now know after receiving the autopsy results.' After describing how Mr Chai was energetic in his first few days with them 'as a puppy should be', they soon noticed he started showing symptoms, with Tommy explaining: 'His poo was runny, he was vomiting, he wasn't running.' The pair took him to the vet and Molly recalled that while waiting outside, she could 'tell something was wrong', adding Mr Chai was 'wriggling' and said dogs 'almost know when they are about to die'. Molly-Mae said 30 minutes later, the vet rang and informed them Mr Chai had had a seizure and died. Upset: Meanwhile, the dog breeder they brought the pup shared her devastation over the pup's death and insisted that he had been 'healthy' Heartbroken: On Tuesday, the reality star announced Mr Chai had died, six days after welcoming the pup into her home after receiving him for her 21st birthday present 'We were both utterly shocked', she explained. 'Tommy literally just threw up everywhere'. A representative of Molly-Mae and Tommy confirmed Mr Chai had died of 'a seizure and neurological issues.' A statement read: 'Chai died of a seizure and neurological issues. This probably relating to the puppies skull not being fully formed (see note on anterior fontanelle below). 'Chai passed away with a number of health issues outlined below and the puppy clearly was not at full health and potentially had been carrying an infection and fighting it for some time before reaching Molly and Tommy.' It then listed a number of ailments the dog suffered from, including: 'no white blood cells present in blood, anterior fontanelle not completely ossified, body condition 3/5, liver congested, spleen enlarged congested, adrenal glands enlarged, kidneys congested, colon congested, lungs congested and Heart right ventricle dilated.' Mr Chai's death has prompted several stars to speak up about the importance of researching when buying a dog. Tough times: Mr Chai's death has prompted several stars to speak up about the importance of researching when buying a dog. The couple set up an Instagram account for Mr Chai last week Ashley James, 33, wrote: 'Please please do your research before getting a pet. Do not import dogs from other countries unless they are rescues from charities. Please look into #lucyslaw and if you do go to a breeder then always make sure you see a fit and healthy mum!' While Katie Piper said on Instagram: 'PLEASE PLEASE if you are getting a puppy during lockdown or in general please think! Puppy farms are exploiting the demand. 'Puppy farms in the UK are now illegal because of a new law (Lucys Law) and @pupaidofficial campaign. BUT puppies are coming in from Europe. Being torn from their mothers on horrendous puppy farms at only a few weeks old and driven here in vans, to be then dressed up and sold for huge prices. 'They often die because of their treatment and trauma. When buying a puppy use a British registered breeder & ALWAYS ALWAYS meet the mum.' File image We will give you the loan under the Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) scheme but use the money to pay up your existing loan dues," thats what some banks tell micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) seeking to avail the credit guarantee scheme. Some banks are adding a clause to this effect to the GECL loan offer, effectively denying the cash support for MSMEs for fresh spending. I run a small leather shoe manufacturing unit. When I approached the bank for a loan under this scheme, they have given me a letter saying the loan will be given but I have to use this amount to pay back an earlier line of credit. This means I cant use this money for my business revival, said an MSME owner on condition of anonymity. The businessman had an existing loan in one of the PSU banks. He had drawn a credit facility of Rs 7.5 lakh from the bank in January this year for working capital purposes. This loan has a maturity period of one year. The bank has now offered a fresh Rs 7 lakh loan under the GECL scheme but has added a condition in the offer letter to adjust this fresh loan to close the January loan. This condition has been added by the bank to the original scheme circular. Moneycontrol has reviewed a copy of the letter. According to this letter, this loan has to be repaid in 36 months and carry a rate of interest of 9.25 percent per annum. Some banks are adding a clause to the GECL loan offer, effectively denying the cash support for MSMEs for fresh spending. This condition defeats the very purpose of the emergency loan as the government launched this for immediate cash support of MSMEs to tide over the COVID-19 crisis and not for repayment of earlier dues. The Rs 3 lakh crore GECL scheme was launched by the government as part of the Rs20 lakh crore economic relief package recently. Under this, MSMEs with up to Rs 25 crore outstanding and Rs 100 crore turnover can apply for the emergency credit from banks and NBFCs up to 20 percent of entire outstanding credit as on February 29, 2020. As on June 1, PSBs have sanctioned loans worth Rs 10,361.75 crore loans under the emergency credit line scheme. There is intense pressure on PSBs to implement this scheme. According to bankers, branches have been asked to call up clients and approve maximum number of loans under the GECL scheme. But, most MSMEs have smaller loans in the range of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The 20 percent limit means they will get a very small amount under the GECL scheme. Every day I call up around 10-15 clients to make maximum disbursals but the problem is that the limits are very less and these fresh loans are not very useful to companies to attempt business revival, said a credit officer with a PSU bank who requested not to be identified. As Moneycontrol reported yesterday, there have been many cases where MSMEs have declined the offer for an additional loan in view of the bad business situation. These companies fear that if the businesses dont revive in the backdrop of low demand in the economy, they may not be in a position to pay back. In the aftermath of COVID-19, MSMEs' funding woes have increased as banks have turned risk-averse to lend to these firms perceived as high-risk. But rather than loans, these companies were seeking direct assistance in the form of subsidies, tax holidays and so on. MSMEs contribute over 28 percent of GDP and more than 40 percent of the country's exports while creating employment for about 11 crore people. RiskIQ announces investment from National Grid Partners Posted by Publisher Telecommunication London, UK ? June 4, 2020 ? RiskIQ, the world leader in attack surface management, today is pleased to announce an investment from National Grid Partners (NGP), the venture and innovation arm of British multinational utility company National Grid plc. This funding will enable RiskIQ to bring its attack surface management, threat detection, and unique threat hunting capabilities to critical infrastructure industries, which face a host of unique securityOver 6,000 organisations worldwide, including 30 per cent of the Fortune 500, trust RiskIQ\-\-s capabilities for their cybersecurity programmes, including vulnerability management, application security, and penetration testing programmes. The $15M Series D funding round reflects RiskIQ?s proven ability to enable safe, sustained growth and digital innovation by addressing threats outside the firewall, where 70 per cent of cyber attacks now originate. RiskIQ\-\-s existing investors, Summit Partners, Battery Ventures, Georgian Partners, and MassMutual Ventures, joined NGP in the round. \We view NGP\-\-s show of support as an incredible opportunity to help customers in new markets thrive as their attack surfaces expand outside the firewall, especially now amid the COVID-19 pandemic,\ RiskIQ CEO Lou Manousos said. \Like us, NGP recognises that operational technology around attack surface management is no longer just nice to have, and is a must for all businesses. We look forward to this collaboration bringing RiskIQ technology, as well as a platform for information sharing and community defence, to this sector.? Mapping the internet for the past decade, RiskIQ has developed unmatched visibility, allowing organisations to accurately discover and inventory their digital attack surface, including IoT assets, third-party code, internet-exposed services, and mobile applications. The company\-\-s platform autonomously updates this inventory while simultaneously monitoring it for threats ? a mission-critical cybersecurity operation for critical infrastructure organisations to defend against nation-state cyber adversaries. \As a staple platform in their core security environment, our cyber threat analysts use RiskIQ regularly to enrich & identify incoming threats,\ said Lisa Lambert, president of National Grid Partners and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of National Grid. \At NGP, we seek to partner with and invest in high growth companies that are strategic to National Grid. RiskIQ is a category leader in Attack Surface Management, with impressive technology and growth, and we are excited to lead their latest financing round.\ Director Andre Turenne led the investment for National Grid Partners. Along with the investment, NGP will be instrumental in providing ongoing strategic and tactical advice and guidance to RiskIQ as the company penetrates deeper into the infrastructure, manufacturing, and utility markets. \We\-\-re thrilled that our market leadership, vision, and substantial financial prospects made a strategic relationship with us attractive,\ said Manousos. \The investment supports RiskIQ\-\-s continued commitment to growth in new markets and illustrates the recognition of our technology.? challenges entering the new decade. Houstons top officials are asking Harris County courts to suspend evictions filed during the coronavirus pandemic until Aug. 24. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo sent a letter, first reported by Houston Public Media, to the 16 county Justices of the Peace on June 2 and asked them to use the guidelines for cases filed March 27 and onward. Each judge will be able to decide individually what to do. Doing so is not only the right thing to do given the current crisis, but will contribute to our effort to protect public health, Hidalgo and Turner wrote in the letter. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houstons $15 million rental assistance program fills up in 90 minutes The Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency order suspending eviction procedures due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 19, although landlords were still able to file for evictions. After one extension, the order expired on May 19. However, as an analysis from the assistant county attorney notes, the order does not require local courts to restart evictions. The proposed Aug. 24 resumption date lines up with the federal CARES Act, passed March 27. The CARES Act stipulates that tenants living in certain federally backed properties cannot be served with an eviction notice until July 25. Those eviction notices must be a 30-day notice to vacate, so tenants in housing protected by the CARES Act could not be removed from their homes until Aug. 24. Harris County evictions have begun slowly. Some courts began in June, others have yet to resume hearings and are working to find ways to teleconference. Most of the cases heard are those that had been in the works before coronavirus, and that were halted because of the moratorium. On HoustonChronicle.com: They cant leave a Houston motel because of coronavirus. Worse, they might not be able to stay. Housing advocates have warned that evictions filed because of the crashing economy during the coronavirus could leave an unprecedented number of people homeless or doubling up with family, and push them into debt. The city of Houston put $15 million in federal funds to rental assistance. The funds were spoken for within 90 minutes of the application coming online. sarah.smith@chron.com A man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after a viral video was published showing a taxi driver being subjected to a foul-mouthed tirade. In a minute-long video posted on social media, driver Abid Mustafa coolly handles a white male passenger who rants this is England, and well blow you out the f****** water. The 39-year-old cabbie even warned the man at one stage: I will put this on Facebook now buddy, and more people will see you and what youre saying. But the man, who could be heard apparently slurring his words during footage filmed in Birmingham, responded: I dont give a flying f*** mate. Do you really think I give a flying f***? West Midlands Police said that a 53-year-old man was arrested in the Erdington area on Thursday afternoon on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. The victim is being spoken to by officers and the investigation continues, the force added. Father-of-four Mr Mustafa, who is being made the first honorary ambassador of the West Midlands Taxi Drivers Association (WMTDA) for the way he handled the incident, said he had been hurt by what happened. In the last few weeks Mr Mustafa has shuttled vital Covid-19 samples for the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust during the pandemic, before being subject to the passengers abuse. Mr Mustafa said the passenger started his tirade as soon as he was picked up in Birmingham and that he stopped to warn his fare. He promised to stop doing it, then as soon as we got going again, after about 50 metres he started up again, said the taxi driver, who began recording at the end of the journey. He said: I have a heart and emotions and it does hurt. The words do hurt us. But I chose the profession and I have to face these challenges if I chose to be in the Army I would face battles, and this is the same. Story continues Mr Mustafa, who lives in Erdington and is licensed by Wolverhampton City Council, hopes footage of the incident, which happened on May 15, will prompt councils to fit CCTV in taxis, to protect drivers and passengers, and show the public what drivers have to put up with. On all other public transport, like trams, buses and trains, there are cameras, so why cant we have CCTV in cabs? he said. At least 80-90% of this type of abuse would stop then. Having spoken to colleagues, Mr Mustafa believes every BAME driver in the West Midlands has been subject to racist abuse from a passenger at one point or another. Echoing that view, Shaz Saleem, of the WMTDA, said it was poor reward for taxi driver key workers, who have done a vital job ferrying supplies, medical samples and other emergency workers during the pandemic. He said: I understand the row started because Abid asked the gentleman to sit in the rear seats, because of Covid-19 controls which are there to keep both the passenger and driver safe. Mr Saleem added: This story is powerful. Yes, there is a negative, and we all know what happened in the United States with George Floyd, and we need more support here from councils and the police. This driver responded with patience, calm and professionalism should be held up, in comparison to the passengers behaviour. I guarantee you that if the driver had responded to that behaviour in any way, hed have lost his licence. As the video, which has been viewed more than a million times on Twitter, starts, the man is sitting in the front passenger seat, next to Mr Mustafa, with the taxi stationary. The passenger then said: Who do you think you are? You think youre something special Pakistan? The passenger then apparently refers to an incident from last year in which Indian warplanes conducted airstrikes on their neighbour. The man said: Ill tell you what, no wonder the Indians are bombing you, ending the sentence with a laugh. Youre never going to win that battle are you? The taxi driver, who stays cool and polite throughout the abuse, responded: Thats fine, handing the man his change from the fare. His passenger then said: And this is England, by the way. And youre in a f****** job in England. So respect this country, that youre in. The driver replied: Thank you very much sir. Pointing to a camera facing both men, the cabbie then said: I will put this on Facebook, now buddy, and more people will see you and what youre saying. Because people can see your face as well. Despite the warning, the passenger said I dont give a flying f***. The driver then told the man that he will be charged a 25p-a-minute waiting time charge, if the man does not go, adding thank you mate, were all done here. The passenger then leaned across towards the driver, inches from his face, and said: Ill tell you what, do you think Pakistan are going to beat the English? The driver responded: Were not here for a competition, sir. But the passenger said: Well Ill tell you what about wars, wars? Well blow you out the f****** water. As the man gets out of the taxi, he can he heard adding: F*** off. F****** Muslim c***. OWOSSO, MI There were no crowds Wednesday afternoon outside Karl Mankes barber shop in Owosso, as there have been in past days. A handful of customers milled about the lobby and sat in chairs within sight of the barber chair where Manke has continued to cut hair despite a governors order closing all salons and a Court of Appeals ruling last week ordering a Shiawassee County Circuit Court judge to issue a preliminary injunction forcing him to close his doors. Los Angeles community members who were helping liquor store owners defend their businesses from looters were handcuffed and detained by the police. As a Fox News reporter caught the looters raiding a small local business scene on camera, the defenders were handcuffed and immediately yelled that they aren't the looters. According to Fox News, good Samaritans were trying to help the owners of a Los Angeles liquor store protect their business from alleged looters were handcuffed and detained by police who were confused after arriving at the scene Monday evening. "I have children, African-American kids, he's not African-American, his son's not African-American but you're not gonna come to our city and tear our city up when this man has been here for over 30+ years and helped everyone on this city block." "We're not doing that. We're not tearing up anything over here," Monet recalled saying to the alleged looters. When Los Angeles Police officers arrived in front of the store, there was confusion. "I was handcuffed, thrown up against a wall with my husband and brother-in-law, and I'm like, 'What the hell?'" "The news people are here and telling you, it's not her, she's trying to stop the situation." Although Monet was handcuffed, she states that she understands fully and that there also has to be a mutual understanding in the country that police need to respond better in the African American community. "I understand the protest. I understand what this is about. I get it. I'm fighting for the same protest. But we don't want people from other cities to come and tear apart where we live because we have to rebuild this. We did this once before. I understand the anger." Advertisement Cara Delevingne, Kaia Gerber, and Cole Sprouse joined countless others taking a stand against racial inequality as they marched alongside protestors in Los Angeles. The three celebrities took to social media to share their experiences at the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, which began in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes. Cara shared a snap of herself proudly holding up a homemade sign as she posed beside a photo of the late Ahmaud Arbery. Taking a stand: Cara Delevingne, Kaia Gerber, and Cole Sprouse joined countless others taking a stand against racial inequality as they marched alongside protestors in Los Angeles Mask over her face and green scarf in her hair, Cara gazed towards the camera as she held the cardboard 'Black Lives Matter' sign high into the air. 'One step forward, but a long way to go,' Cara captioned the snap, along with the Black Lives Matter hashtag. Kaia shared snippets from the demonstration she had attended, along with a message. In all caps she wrote, 'Silence is not an option. No is not an option. No justice, no peace.' 'Silence is not an option': Kaia shared snippets from the demonstration she had attended, along with a message Joining the masses: Gerber was among the countless protesting racial inequality and police brutality Making a statement: Lily Collins shared snippets from the protest she attended in West Hollywood along with a moving statement Solidarity: Kristen Bell shared this graphic to her Instagram Wednesday Powerful: Protestors laid on the floor while they chanted 'I can't breathe' On the front lines: Demonstrators held up signs reading 'No justice, no peace' Cole was back marching with other protestors several days after getting arrested at the Santa Monica demonstration. He shared video of speakers talking to a massive crowd gathered in downtown Los Angeles. Lily Collins shared moving video from a demonstration in West Hollywood, where protestors lay on the floor and chanted 'I can't breathe.' Showing his support: Cole was back marching with other protestors several days after getting arrested at the Santa Monica demonstration Meanwhile: Ashley Benson and her rumored beau G-Eazy were protesting in San Francisco Let's march: G-Eazy shared photo of the huge crowd protesting in the aftermath of George Floyd's death Inter-generational: Former Baywatch star Donna D'Errico also took to the streets and shared this poster created by her daughter In her lengthy caption, Lily shared steps fans could take to educate themselves while recognizing the privileges afforded to her due to the color of her skin. 'This movement is powerful. And necessary. It's overdue. I am white, I am privileged. I will never experience what black people in America go through every single day, but I am listening and I am learning. I march with you and will fight with you. This is just the beginning, but it's a small step towards changing the system,' she wrote. Lucy Hale shared footage of protestors chanting 'don't shoot' at the downtown Los Angeles gathering. 'amazing peaceful protest downtown la,' she wrote in her shares. Moved: Lucy Hale shared scenes from the 'amazing peaceful protest' she attended in downtown Los Angeles How to help: Gigi Hadid shared a post detailing policies that could significantly reduce police violence Ashley Benson and her rumored love G-Eazy both shared snippets from a protest they attended in San Francisco. While there were plenty of celebrities attending protests, there were even more showing their solidarity on social media. Gigi Hadid shared a post detailing policies that could significantly reduce police violence. 'YOU WOULD THINK THAT THE ABOVE 8 POLICIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED BY EVERY POLICE DEPARTMENT IN AMERICA. That is NOT the case. If so, implementing these 8 use-of-force policies could, together, decrease police violence that results in death by 72% !!!!!!' she wrote in her lengthy caption. Demonstration: Stella Maxwell was also at the downtown Los Angeles protest The national unrest began last week in Minneapolis when Floyd, a 46-year-old security guard, died after police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the back of his neck while he was handcuffed, rendering him unable to breathe in a horrifying incident that was caught on camera. In the incident, arresting officers said Floyd matched the description of a forgery suspect, and subsequently resisted them when they took him into custody. In an accompanying clip, Chauvin was seen pinning his knee into the back of Floyd's neck as Floyd pleaded with him to relent. 'Please, please, please, I can't breathe ... please, man ... my stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts ... I can't breathe,' said Floyd, who later died in police custody. All four of the officers were fired from the police department last week. Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder, while the remaining three officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Doing her part: Dakota Fanning shared how people could participate from home Activist: Beyonce shared this image to her Instagram Wednesday night 'No justice, no peace': Ashlee Simpson shared this photo of husband Evan Ross Tribute: Selma Blair posted an emotional reflection on her Instagram about the death of Floyd This partnership with Sureify aligns with our technology initiatives and meets our members expectations Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal financial services organization founded in 1883, has announced that it will build a new path into the future through an agreement with San Jose, CA- based Sureify. Through this partnership, Modern Woodmen will look to fortify its member customers digital service experiences. The new collaboration will allow the insurer to expand through mobile- and app-based self-service tools, a business necessity heightened in todays remote-operations environment. Sureify was selected to assist with the digital transformation because of its successful history of equipping insurers with new modernization methods, including the award-winning LifetimePlatform. This partnership with Sureify aligns with our technology initiatives and meets our members expectations, explained Jerry Lyphout, Modern Woodmens Chief Operations Officer. Sureify has a great track record of creating the tech pieces that help insurers hold onto their identity while updating the customer experience to meet todays needs. We look forward to working with Sureify to guide us through this process. Bryan Padgette, Senior Vice President for Sureify, applauded the insurers willingness to venture into the new digital landscape. Modern Woodmen is known not just for its products and history, but also for its strong commitment to members and community service. Its an honor to help them increase their digital footprint and advance the organizations service model. We look forward to helping them serve their members and communities with technology that will greatly benefit members. The two companies expect to see immediate positive results from the modernization process already in progress. About Sureify Sureifys mission is to modernize the life insurance and annuity industry by helping carriers acquire, service, and engage their customers with one enterprise platform: Lifetime. We enable omnichannel sales with LifetimeAcquire, a product that drives placement rates via quoting, e-application, automated underwriting, and new business transmission. With LifetimeService, insurers are offering their in-force customers comprehensive self-service portals and native applications. Lastly, the product that started it all, LifetimeEngage, fosters a lifelong relationship between carriers and their policyholders with multifaceted engagement programs and analytics, leading to greater lifetime value of each policyholder. About Modern Woodmen of America Headquartered in Rock Island, Illinois, Modern Woodmen was founded in 1883 as a fraternal benefit society. The organization supports members, families and communities with a unique blend of financial services, fraternal benefits and local-impact opportunities. As part of measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo upon consultation with stakeholders directed commercial vehicles to half their passengers. The call came after Health experts urged all to keep a distance of at least two meters from a person with fever, cough, sneezing, and difficulty breathing to prevent others from contracting the virus. The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has called on the Transport Ministry and the government to put an end to the social distancing policy in commercial vehicles. According to them, reducing their passengers to half the normal number and the increase in fuel prices has cost their drivers and car owners a lot of money. Vice-Chair of the GPRTU, Robert Sabbah in an interview on Happy 98.9 FMs happy Morning Show with host, Samuel Eshun stated, We want to go back to taking the number of passengers we used to prior to COVID-19 and make our sales. We have lost money because of the social distancing policy in our cars and our drivers are also complaining. Robert Sabbah revealed that the union has presented a comprehensive proposal to the Ministry of Transport on the matter and are expecting a response to it soon. He believes the ministry will heed to their request. He went on to assure commercial transport users that should they revert to their old system, they will make sure passenger and drivers adhere to strict COVID-19 preventive etiquettes. We will disinfect our buses and ensure general safety on them. The call by commercial transport owners and drivers to revert to their old ways of doing business has been prompted not only because of the loss of revenue but also because of reports indicating that consumers of petroleum products may pay more for fuel at the pumps following an increment in the BOST margin by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) from 3 pesewas to 6 pesewas. 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 June 03, 2020 Channel Focused Vendor to Showcase Cloud-Managed SD-WAN for Small and Mid-Enterprise Customers Shelton, CT June 3, 2020 TMC (News - Alert) today announced Adaptiv Networks has signed on a Platinum sponsor for ITEXPO and SD-WAN Expo #TECHSUPERSHOW, being held February 9 - 12, 2021 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Florida. Through its in-depth education, showcase of innovative solutions, robust exhibit floor and unique audience, ITEXPO (News - Alert) has become the leading event for IT professionals, C-levels and business owners, developers, and the channel to gather and learn about digital transformation. Resellers, enterprises, service providers, media, manufacturers and developers come to ITEXPO to make their purchasing decisions and select new partners. The massive market disruption this year has accelerated the business case for digital transformation, and the demand for agile networking solutions like SD-WAN, explains Bernard Breton, CEO of Adaptiv Networks (News - Alert). We are proud to sponsor ITEXPO, this experience brings together so many technology vendors and service providers who are leading the way for digital transformation. Were happy to welcome Adaptiv Networks back to ITEXPO 2021 show as a Platinum Sponsor, said Rich Tehrani (News - Alert), TMCs CEO and ITEXPO Conference Chairman. Their SD-WAN solutions offer businesses of all sizes a direct path to success in their digital transformation. Adaptiv Networks is the creator of powerful, software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WANs) for the most challenging locations requiring high availability for business-critical application traffic. Businesses rely on Adaptiv Networks' software-defined network to provide secure, lower-cost, higher-performance and more reliable cloud networks for their voice, data, and video communications needs. For more information or to register for ITEXPO, contact [email protected]. For media inquiries, contact Michelle Connolly. Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages for ITEXPO or SD-WAN Expo should contact TMC's Joe Fabiano at 203-852-6800 x132 or Maureen Gambino at 203-852-6800 x109.. For the latest ITEXPO and SD-WAN Expo news, updates and information follow the event on Twitter (News - Alert) at @ITEXPO, @SDWANExpo. About TMC Through education, industry news, live events and social influence, global buyers rely on TMC's content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. As a result, leading technology vendors turn to TMC for unparalleled branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities. Our in-person and online events deliver unmatched visibility and sales prospects for all participants. Through our custom lead generation programs, we provide clients with an ongoing stream of leads that turn into sales opportunities and build databases. Additionally, we bolster brand reputations with the millions of impressions from display advertising on our news sites and newsletters. Making TMC a 360-degree marketing solution, we offer comprehensive event and road show management services and custom content creation with expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts. For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, @tmcnet. Media and Analyst Contact: Michelle Connolly Marketing Manager TMC 203-852-6800 x 170 [email protected] Edited by Maurice Nagle SACRAMENTO Senate and Assembly leaders issued a joint budget proposal Wednesday, unifying the Legislature against billions in cuts proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a deadline looms to pass a spending plan for California. The legislative proposal closely resembles a framework put forward by the Senate last week, which would delay cuts for months in anticipation of federal bailout. If that aid does not come, the state would dip further into reserves and defer payments to future years to avoid severe reductions to education and safety-net programs. The new version of the plan announced Wednesday includes nearly $900 million more in funding for the University of California and California State University systems, homelessness services and county health programs. Negotiations with Newsom, who proposed steep cuts to close a projected $54 billion deficit brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, are ongoing. The Legislature must pass a balanced budget by June 15 or forgo its pay. Assemblyman Phil Ting, the San Francisco Democrat who chairs the Assembly budget committee, said the Legislature hopes to reach a deal with the governor by early next week. Although finance officials are expecting a slow recovery from the recession that would prolong Californias deficit for several years, Ting said lawmakers want to avoid cutting more than necessary before the fiscal impacts of the pandemic are clear. We are in uncertain times. Were living day by day, he said on a call with reporters. I imagine as long as COVID-19s around, were going to have to keep adjusting. H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Newsoms Department of Finance, said in a statement that with todays progress in the Legislature, well continue our discussions to achieve an on-time agreement that balances the budget, reduces the structural deficit, sets the stage for recovery, and advances our efforts for federal support to maintain core services. Newsoms $203 billion framework, unveiled last month, was nearly 9% smaller than the proposal he laid out in January. It would cancel $6 billion of proposed spending increases, including liberal priorities such as expansion of the states health care program for the poor to undocumented immigrants age 65 and older. Lawmakers adopted many of Newsoms strategies for minimizing reductions to public services, including tapping reserve accounts, temporarily limiting corporate tax credits and borrowing from special funds. But they have balked at his plan to slash $14 billion from schools, health and social services, universities, state worker pay and other programs unless Congress passes a stimulus package for states and local governments by July. They argue those cuts would disproportionately harm the states most vulnerable residents. The Legislatures plan counts on the federal government providing further aid by September. Without that money, the state would tap an additional $2.7 billion of reserves and defer more than $5 billion in education funding to a future year. Schools could borrow against that funding or dip into their savings, with the state promising to pay them back later. About $1.5 billion in cuts would still take effect for universities, courts and county health services. The legislative plan also estimates that hundreds of thousands fewer families will be added to the Medi-Cal and welfare rolls during the coronavirus pandemic than Newsom expects, saving $4 billion next year. That would allow the state to increase funding for schools, which have said they dont have enough money to pay for the coronavirus safety precautions they need to reopen, and maintain health care programs. The proposal to expand Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrant seniors would be pushed back to 2022, keeping it as part of the budget without appropriating money for it next year. The budget agreement between the Senate and Assembly would maintain billions for emergency spending in case of a second wave of infections this fall while requiring more legislative oversight of money. Several lawmakers have expressed frustration that the Newsom administration left them out of spending decisions as the pandemic descended on California. The Legislature is seeking to increase its authority over several other changes sought by Newsom, including his plan to shut two state prisons in the next three years. Its budget plan would give lawmakers more say over which prisons are closed and defer major maintenance projects in the system until a decision is reached. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff Hyundai's $17,350 and Up 2020 Venue Close Up Look More than Half of Venue Buyers are from Gen Z and Y Venue Attracts Female Buyers Venue Brings Style and FUNctionality to an Urban SUV Right-Sized compact SUV with Fun to Drive Maneuverability; Suite of Connectivity Conveniences and Abundant Standard Safety FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., June 4, 2020 Hyundais new compact SUV Venue appeals to multiple generations while also attracting female buyers. Based on a first quarter internal buyer study, more than half of Venue customers are among Gen Z, Y and X, with 64 percent being Gen Y and Z combined. Venue is also popular with female buyers. The Venue enjoys the highest percentage of these much sought after consumers63 percent, making it a real stand-out among Hyundais lineup. Venue is packed with advanced safety and infotainment features, an attractive starting price of $17,350, complimentary maintenance and Americas Best Warranty. The Venue is a seamless combination of style and versatility packed with on-demand conveniences and advanced technologies not typically found in the compact segment. Venue was recently recognized by Consumer Guide as a 2020 Best Buy and 2020 Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost to Own Award for the subcompact crossover segment. Hyundai 2020 Venue Venue is a fun, sporty vehicle that digital natives will love, said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. Whether a first-time car buyer entering the workforce or a young established professional, Venue offers tech thats got people talking and safety that checks all of the boxes for those constantly on-the-go. Venue is a fun, sporty vehicle that digital natives will love, said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. Whether a first-time car buyer entering the workforce or a young established professional, Venue offers tech thats got people talking and safety that checks all of the boxes for those constantly on-the-go. Venue comes standard with numerous convenience features including: a 3.5-inch TFT Instrument cluster display, rearview monitor, 8-inch AM/FM/HD Radio Audio System with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with four speakers, first row USB charge port, 12V outlet, Bluetooth hands-free phone, steering wheel audio controls, cruise control, automatic headlights, air conditioning, remote keyless entry and an exterior temperature display. Venue also includes Hyundai SmartSense, a suite of safety features including Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Keeping Assist and Driver Attention Warning, Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) with Traction Control as well as front, side and head curtain airbags each as standard equipment. Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance (BCA) with pedestrian detection and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA) are optional on upper level SEL trim and standard on the Denim trim. Venue includes a 60/40 split, flat-folding rear seatback to maximize utility for every day adventures, like the local farmers market or transporting musical instruments. Venues SUV styling cues make it an ideal choice for anyone seeking versatility and creative cargo space. The dual-level cargo floor feature provides flexibility to have the floor of the cargo area in either the top position-level with the seats when folded down, or at a lower position to accommodate more cargo. VALUE Venue includes three trim levels: SE (Manual Transmission) or SE Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT) automatic, SEL (IVT) or the two-toned exterior Denim (IVT), each including the all-new Smartstream 1.6-liter Dual-Port Injection four-cylinder FWD engine. Model Engine Transmission Drivetrain MSRP* SE M/T 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Manual Transmission FWD $17,350 SE IVT 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $18,550 SEL IVT 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $19,250 SEL IVT (Convenience Pkg.) 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $20,400 SEL IVT (Convenience & Premium) 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smarstream IVT FWD $22,150 Denim IVT 1.6L DPI 4-cyl 6-Speed Smartstream IVT FWD $22,050 * Freight Charges for the 2020MY Venue are $1,140 and not included in the above chart. Hyundai Motor America reserves the right to change prices and features at any time. Hyundai's Retail Operations Hyundai dealers across the country enhanced their safety measures and adapted their businesses to comply with social distancing guidelines by leveraging Shopper Assurance and Hyundai's Click to Buy capability. The 'Click to Buy' tool makes car buying easy with transparent pricing, flexible test drive, a streamlined purchase and three day worry free exchange, each available from the comfort of your home. SUV UtilityThe SUVs appealing interior space and comfortable cabin provide adequate space for the versatile urban commuter. Venue comes standard with a 60/40 split flat folding backseat to maximize utility for those trips to the farmers market or transporting musical instruments. With Venues SUV styling cues and utility, it is the ideal alternative to a subcompact car. For reference, the following highlights the size difference between its larger sibling, Kona. Dimensions (in.) Venue Kona Difference Overall Length 158.9 164.0 (5.1) Overall Width 69.7 70.9 (1.2) Overall Height 61.6 61.0 0.6 Wheelbase 99.2 102.4 (3.2) Interior (cu.-ft.) Total Interior Volume 110.6 113.3 (2.7) Passenger Interior Volume 91.9 94.1 (2.2) Cargo Capacity, Rear Seats Up 18.7 19.2 (0.5) Cargo Capacity, Rear Seats Down 31.9 45.8 (13.9) Venue offers comfort and convenience features. The cargo space features a rear covering shelf for added privacy and can be conveniently stowed along the rear seatback when not being used. While, the dual level cargo floor feature provides flexibility to have the floor of the cargo area in either the top position - level with the seats when folded down, or at a lower position to accommodate taller cargo. Consumers will appreciate available convenience features such as Dual USBs, 3.5 TFT instrument cluster display to illustrate useful information, rearview camera and Bluetooth hands-free phone. The leather-wrapped steering wheel provides daily comfort for the driver. Fun, Youthful Colors To complement the dramatic design, Venue is available with fun, youthful colors. A total of eight exterior colors are available, including Ceramic White, Black Noir, Steller Silver, Galactic Gray, Scarlet Red, Intense Blue, Green Apple and Denim. Denim can be coupled with denim cloth and leatherette interior with a white contrasting roof. Venue offers a choice of gray or black cloth interiors. An all-new two-tone roof, power sunroof and privacy glass contribute further to the head-turning style options. Venue Naming Hyundais naming theme for SUVs has typically been a city or place. The new entry SUV name references a place people want to be seen in. The vehicle embodies the characteristics of the place to be, while reaching the final desired destination, wherever that may be. The Venue symbolizes a trendy, unique style, perfect for Hyundais newest and smallest SUV. For first time vehicle owners, Venue offers relaxation and protection with its standard safety features at an affordable price. Peace of Mind with Americas Best Warranty All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully-transferable new vehicle limited warranty; Hyundais 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty and five years of complimentary Roadside HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA At Hyundai Motor America, we believe everyone deserves better. From the way we design and build our cars to the way we treat the people who drive them, making things better is at the heart of everything we do. Hyundais technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to create a better experience for customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 820 dealerships nationwide and nearly half of those sold in the U.S. are built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. An employee makes face masks at a factory in southern Long An Province. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. The economy is slowly recovering from the impacts of Covid-19 and social distancing in April as rising consumption and manufacturing figures in May indicate. Sales of products and services rose 27 percent to VND385 trillion ($16.6 billion), with revenues from lodging and food almost doubling. The number of air passengers quadrupled to 563,700 as domestic routes reopened, and the number of people using roads and trains tripled. The number of newly registered companies rose 36 percent to 10,700, while the number of suspended businesses fell by 19 percent. Manufacturing is showing signs of recovery. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reached 42.7 points in May, up 10 points from a record low of 32.7 in April. A PMI reading above 50 represents expansion in manufacturing. Andrew Harker, economics director at British market research firm IHS Markit, said: "The success Vietnam has had in bringing the Covid-19 outbreak in the country under control means the economy can begin along the road to recovery." However, the PMI data for May suggests the road would be a long one, with the manufacturing sector remaining in contraction mode midway through the second quarter, he said. The return to growth would likely be gradual, with little support coming from export markets in the near-term at least as the pandemic continues to affect large parts of the world, he added. But while most economic numbers improved in May, they were down year-on-year for the first five months. Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $1.9 billion in the first five months, while trade turnover was down 2.8 percent year-on-year to $197 billion. "Covid-19 in Vietnams major trade markets has negatively affected exports and imports," the GSO said. Five-month exports fell 1.7 percent year-on-year to $99.4 billion, while imports fell 3.7 percent to $97.5 billion. The consumer price index has risen by 4.39 percent this year, the highest for the period in the last three years, due to a 14 percent rise in pork prices. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday called for pushing domestic consumption to quickly revive the economy. The government has revised the GDP growth target to 4.5-5.4 percent for this year, down from 7 percent growth last year. Pune, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global ERP software market size is set to reach USD 71.63 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period. Integration of Internet of Things (IoT) with business processes is expected to emerge as the central growth driver for this market, finds Fortune Business Insights in its new report, titled Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Component (Software, Services), By Business Function (Financial Management, Human Capital Management, Supply Chain Management, Customer Management, Inventory and Work Order Management, Others); By Enterprise Size (SMEs, Large Enterprises), By Deployment (Cloud, On-Premises, Hybrid); By End-use (Manufacturing, BFSI, IT and Telecommunications, Retail and Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Transportation and Logistics, Government, Others), and Region Forecast, 2019-2026. IoT is a form Artificial Intelligence-based technology that allows inanimate objects to get interconnected with each other and transmit data over the internet. When embedded in ERP solutions, IoT facilitates data collection, collation, analysis, and processing for businesses, empowering them to take informed decisions and strategize. For example, IoT makes possible the origination of orders from multiple sources for the Quote to Cash (Q2C) process. Moreover, one of the important ERP software market trends is the improvement in communication between vendors, suppliers, and end-consumers, which is boosting the uptake of ERP solutions in organizations. Get Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/enterprise-resource-planning-erp-software-market-102498 The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic. We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enterprise-resource-planning-erp-software-market-102498 According to the ERP software market report, the value of the market stood at USD 38.15 billion in 2018. Besides this, the report provides the following information: Panoramic overview of the industry trends; In-depth analysis of the market drivers and challenges; Comprehensive study of the regional and competitive dynamics; and Microscopic research into the various market segments and accurate computation of market values. Market Restraint Dearth of ERP Expertise to Impede Growth Although enterprise resource planning promises high efficiency and enhanced productivity, it has a high initial price for setting up, making it difficult for small and medium scale enterprises to implement it. Even large, financially-strong organizations find it tedious to adopt ERP software as managing it requires expertise and currently, there is a shortage of such professionals in the IT sector. Not every company is equipped with the necessary wherewithal to train its employees in handling ERP, and any kind of wrong training might have counterproductive results. Therefore, the implementation of this technology has not yet achieved the traction that it should have, in spite of offering a host of advantages to businesses. Regional Analysis Rapid Adoption of ERP Solutions to Drive the Market in North America The market size in North America in 2018 stood at USD 14.36 billion and the region is poised to dominate the ERP software market share in the coming years. One of the major reasons for this is the high adoption rate of AI-based technologies such as IoT, Machine Learning, and cloud computing among organizations in the region. Furthermore, many companies are implementing ERP solutions to streamline their processes in a bid to elevate efficiency through advanced automation of routine tasks, which is augmenting the enterprise resource planning software market growth. Expansion of the BFSI, logistics, and manufacturing sectors will be the major factor accelerating this market in Asia-Pacific, as per the ERP software market analysis. In addition to this, growth in the IT industry will further propel the market in this region. Speak to Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/enterprise-resource-planning-erp-software-market-102498 Competitive Landscape Rising Collaborations Among Players to Intensify Market Competition The ERP software market players are increasingly partnering with each other and other organizations to develop novel and sustainable solutions for consumers. This is helping them reinforce their position as industry leaders and at the same time, expand their global footprint. Apart from this, companies are also focusing on enhancing their manufacturing capacity to cater to the rising demand for advanced ERP solutions. Industry Developments: November 2019: Michigan-based software company Plex Systems launched its shop floor-specific designed product, Plex Manufacturing Execution Suite (Plex MES). The offering is a cloud-based suite made up of packages to deliver smart manufacturing solutions to industries. Michigan-based software company Plex Systems launched its shop floor-specific designed product, Plex Manufacturing Execution Suite (Plex MES). The offering is a cloud-based suite made up of packages to deliver smart manufacturing solutions to industries. October 2019: SYSPRO, a South African software development firm, collaborated with Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) to provide smart manufacturing software and solutions to manufacturing companies across the US. The partnership is part of a community-driven project that brings together academia, governments, and industry to promote sustainable manufacturing and R&D practices. List of Companies Covered in the ERP Software Market Research Report are: PLEX SYSTEMS (United States) Acumatica, Inc. (United States) Epicor Software Corporation (United States) Unit4 (Netherlands) Oracle Corporation (United States) Rootstock Software (United States) QAD, Inc. (United States) Sage Group plc (United Kingdom) SAP SE (Germany) SYSPRO (South Africa) Quick Buy ERP Software Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102498 Detailed Table of Content Introduction Definition, By Segment Research Approach Sources Executive Summary Market Dynamics Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities Emerging Trends Key Insights Macro and Micro Economic Indicators Consolidated SWOT Analysis of Key Players Global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecasts By Component (Value) Software Services Consulting Implementation and Integration Support and Maintenance By Business Function (Value) Financial Management Human Capital Management Supply Chain Management Customer Management Inventory and Work Order Management Others By Enterprise Size (Value) SMEs Large Enterprises By Deployment (Value) Cloud On-Premises Hybrid By End-User (Value) Manufacturing BFSI IT and Telecommunications Retail and Consumer Goods Healthcare Transportation and Logistics Government Others By Region (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa Latin America TOC Continued...!!! Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/enterprise-resource-planning-erp-software-market-102498 Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Customer Experience Management Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Component (Solution, Services), By Deployment (On-Premises, Cloud), By Organization Size (SMEs, Large Enterprises), By Touchpoint (Telephone, Email, Web, Social Media, and Others), By End-User (BFSI, Retail, IT and Telecommunications, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Government, Travel and Transportation and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Component (Telephony, Unified Messaging, Collaboration Platforms, Conferencing, and Reporting and Analytics), By Organization Size (SMEs, Large Enterprises), By End-User (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), IT and Telecommunications, Healthcare, Public Sector and Utilities, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 AI Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Technology (Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Others), By Industry Vertical (BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, IT & Telecom, Government, 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/enterprise-resource-planning-erp-software-market-9670 Donald Trump is an exaggeration of the normal course of history in the United States. He takes the ugliness to the utmost limit, bringing in the army, sniffing around for the legal possibility of the mass detention of demonstrators. by Vijay Prashad Silence There is no need to write these words, no need to read them. All this has been written before. There is no need to wonder why George Floyd (age 46) was murdered in broad daylight in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. The script of his death is written deep in the ugly drama of U.S. history. I Cant Breathe 2020 Officer Derek Chauvins knee sat on George Floyds neck for two minutes and 53 seconds. After that time, George Floyd was dead. From the moment Chauvin put his body on an unarmed man, George Floyd saideleven timesI cant breathe. Protest against Murder in USA Scientists who study human respiration say that untrained people can hold their breath from between thirty seconds and two minutes; anything more than that results in a process that leads eventually to death. I Cant Breathe 2014 Officer Daniel Pantaleo slammed Eric Garner onto the New York City sidewalk just minutes after Garner had helped resolve a dispute on the street. Pantaleo pushed Garners face onto the pavement, and Garner saideleven timesI cant breathe. Garner lost consciousness, did not receive medical care in the ambulance, and was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the hospital. He died, effectively, of strangulation. Dismayed Both Floyd and Garner were African American; both were men who struggled to make a living in a harsh economic environment. The UN Human Rights head Michelle Bachelet wrote a powerful statement in response to the death of George Floyd: This is the latest in a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by U.S. police officers and members of the public. I am dismayed to have to add George Floyds name to that of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many other unarmed African Americans who have died over the years at the hands of the policeas well as people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin who were killed by armed members of the public. Each year in the United States, more than a thousand people are killed by the police; African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by the police than whites, and African Americans who are killed by police are more likely to be unarmed than whites. Most of these killings are not associated with serious crime. Astoundingly, 99 percent of the officers who kill a civilian are not charged with a crime. Permanent Depression The Depression, the poet Langston Hughes wrote of the 1930s, brought everybody down a peg or two. It was different for African Americans, for they had but few pegs to fall. Garner was accused of selling loose cigarettes on the street, violating excise tax laws to make a few dollars; Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Even if these accusations could have been proved, neither were earth-shattering crimes; if they had gone to court, neither would have earned these men death sentences. They were killed after being accused of minor infringements. When Hughes wrote that sentence, Lino Rivera, a 16-year-old Afro-Puerto Rican boy, had been arrested for shoplifting a 10-cent penknife. A crowd gathered when the police went to arrest him, a rumor spread that he had been killed, and Harlem rose up in anger. A government report later showed that the protests were spontaneous and that the causes of the unrest were the injustices of discrimination in employment, the aggressions of the police, and racial segregation. This report could have been written last week. It suggests a permanent Depression. System Cannot Be Reformed Historically, police aggression has come before any unrest. In 1967, unrest in Detroit spurred the U.S. government to study the causes, which they assumed would be communist instigators and an inflammatory press. The riots, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission) said, were not caused by, nor were they the consequences of, any organized plan or conspiracy. Instead, the Kerner Commission said that the cause of the unrest was structural racism. What white Americans have never fully understood, the report noted, is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it. By ghetto the reports authors meant the atrocious class inequalities in the United States that hadbecause of the history of enslavementbeen marked by race. Rather than address the deep inequalities in society, the American government chose to heavily arm police officers and send them to discipline populations in distress with their dangerous weapons. The commission proposed instead a policy which combines ghetto enrichment with programs designed to encourage integration into the society outside the ghetto. Nothing came of that report, as nothing has come of any of the reports that stretch backward 150 years. Rather than genuinely invest in the well-being of people, the American governmentwhether governed by Republicans or Democratscut back on social programs and cut back on welfare spending; it allowed firms to erode wages and it allowed them to diminish working conditions. What was terrible in 1968 only became worse for the working-class Black population. The financial crisis of 2008 stole from African American households savings that had been accumulated through generations of work. By 2013, Pew Research found that the net worth of white households was 13 times greater than African American households; this was the largest such gap since 1989, and it is a gap that has only widened. Now, with the global pandemic striking the United States particularly hard, data shows that the disease has struck African Americans and other people of color the most. Some of this is because it is African Americans and other people of color who often have the most dangerous frontline jobs. If Eric Garner and George Floyd earned a minimum wage of $25 for decent work, would they need to be in a position where a belligerent police officer would accuse them of selling loose cigarettes or of passing a counterfeit bill? They Are Normal Society in the United States has been broken by the mechanisms of high rates of economic inequality, high rates of poverty, impossible entry into robust educational systems, and remarkable warlike conditions put in place to manage populations no longer seen as the citizenry but as criminals. Such processes corrode a civilization. The names of Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and now George Floyd are only the names of the present moment, written in thick ink on cardboard signs across the United States at the many, many protests that continue to take place. The taste of desperation lingers in these protests, along with the anger at the system, and the outrage seems to have no outlet. Donald Trump is an exaggeration of the normal course of history in the United States. He takes the ugliness to the utmost limit, bringing in the army, sniffing around for the legal possibility of the mass detention of demonstrators. His is a politics of violence. It does not last long. It is hard to beat the urge for justice out of an entire people. As you read this, somewhere in the United States, another person will be killedanother poor person whom the police deem to be a threat. Tomorrow another will be killed; and then another. These deaths are normal for the system. Outrage against this system is a logical, and moral, response. his article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He has written more than twenty books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 4) Nine areas in Barangay San Dionisio, which has the most number of COVID-19 cases in Paranaque City, were placed under a calibrated lockdown from Thursday morning to Saturday midnight. The lockdown, effective 6am, was placed in the following areas: - Tramo I - Tramo II - Lupang Pangarap - Sitio Masigla - Poultry Compound - Paranaque Homes - Manggahan Wakas - Unified Manggahan - Mary Queen of Peace Mayor Edwin Olivarez said in a statement that residents of the said areas will be tested within the given period to detect COVID-19 cases. "Ang pamahalaang lungsod ay agarang magsasagawa ng masusi at malawakang pagsusuri o mass testing sa mga nasasakupan ng mga nabanggit na piling lugar," he said. [Translation: The city government will immediately conduct mass testing among the residents of the said areas.] The city government will also distribute food and other basic goods for each household from Thursday to Saturday to effectively implement the lockdown. The city's environment and natural resources office will also hold a total disinfection in the said areas on Friday. San Dionisio is the second barangay to be put on lockdown. Olivarez previously placed ten streets of Barangay Baclaran under a three-day calibrated lockdown on May 20 due to a spike in cases. As of Wednesday, San Dionisio has recorded a total of 116 cases, with 40 active cases. Two have died while a total of 74 individuals have recovered from the disease. Paranaque has a total of 765 COVID-19 cases to date, with 485 recoveries and 49 deaths. Bankwell is getting an excellent location for its headquarters in downtown New Canaan... An affiliate of Besen Partners, LLC, a New York-based full-service real estate advisory firm, has leased 258 Elm Street in New Canaan, CT to Bankwell Financial Group. Bankwell signed a 10-year lease for the entirety of the approximately 30,000-square-foot office building, which will serve as the groups headquarters. Its award-winning subsidiary, Bankwell Bank, is considered one of Connecticuts leading banking institutions, with 12 branches throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. 258 Elm Street was acquired by an affiliate of Besen Partners, LLC in October 2019. The three-story office building is located next to the Metro North train station in one of the Tri-State areas most affluent suburban communities and features ample on-site parking. While we had originally planned to subdivide for multiple tenants, the opportunity to lease the whole building to a single tenant as impressive as Bankwell was a change in strategy we were happy to make and an example of prudent investment management, points out Daniel J. Steinberg, Besen Partners Chief Investment Officer. Bankwell is getting an excellent location for its headquarters in downtown New Canaan and in close proximity to public transportation. Adds Chris Gruseke, Bankwells CEO, We are excited at the prospect of gathering more than 100 employees together in our new Corporate Headquarters at 258 Elm Street. With the addition of over 50 of our team members relocating to New Canaan, I am personally gratified to be part of a plan that will bring economic stimulus to our town. We are mindful that, despite our growth throughout Fairfield County and into New Haven County, our bank has its roots in New Canaan and would not enjoy the success we have today without the original support from our local community. I would also like to thank Dan Steinberg of Besen Partners for the patience and flexibility which allowed us to plan this physical transition during these very trying times. Avison Youngs Fairfield/Westchester office, spearheaded by Principal and Managing Director Sean M. Cahill, was hired to market the property and was the sole broker in the transaction. He points out, There was strong demand for a building of this quality and location and we are delighted that Bankwell is the exclusive tenant. New York City Management, a Besen Partners affiliate responsible for more than 180 commercial and residential properties in the Tri-State region, will continue to manage 258 Elm Street. # # # About Besen Partners, LLC Founded in 1988, Besen Partners, LLC is a full-service real estate firm based in New York City. Besen Partners is a leader in real estate advisory, brokerage and management services. In addition, it provides institutional quality real estate solutions to high net-worth individuals, families, trusts, funds foundations and other private investors. The Besen team has been instrumental in the direct purchase, financing, development, asset management and sale of more than $5 billion in commercial property assets and has an impressive track record in partnering and co-investing with prestigious financial institutions and private investors. Besen has brokered over $7 billion in real estate transactions. Its property management affiliate, New York City Management, has managed more than 4 million square feet of commercial assets. http://www.besenpartners.com. About Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. Bankwell Bank, the Company's banking subsidiary, is a commercial bank that serves the banking needs of residents and businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area, including Fairfield and New Haven Counties, Connecticut. For more information, visit http://www.mybankwell.com. About Avison Young Avison Young is the worlds fastest growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its Principals. Founded in 1978, with legacies dating back more than 200 years, the company comprises thousands of real estate professionals in more than 100 offices around the world. The firms experts provide value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management and financing services to clients across the office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality sectors. Avison Young is a 2020 winner of the Canadas Best Managed Companies Platinum Club designation. It has retained its Best Managed designation for nine consecutive years. The University of Pennsylvania, one of the most selective colleges in the country, for the first time will not require standardized test scores for applicants next year, the school announced Thursday. The Ivy League university joins a growing number of schools regionally and nationally that have scrapped the requirement for SAT and ACT scores amid the coronavirus pandemic. They include small selective colleges such as Haverford, Tufts, and Williams, and larger state universities, such as Rutgers New Brunswick and Newark campuses and West Chester University, Standardized testing has always been only one part of a larger review process that considers many factors, including the rigor of coursework and performance in these courses, Penn said in a statement. Some schools, including Haverford, have scrapped the requirement for three years, others for one year. like Penn, and some indefinitely. Penns decision follows the College Boards announcement that an at-home SAT test will not be offered as planned, and as in-person tests have been canceled because of concerns about spread of the virus. READ MORE: Haverford College scraps standardized test requirement amid pandemic Penn accepted almost 8.1%, or 3,404, of its 42,205 applicants this spring for admission in the fall, which represents a slight decrease in selectivity. The latest wave follows an increase in schools that have stopped requiring scores for admission in recent years. In the Philadelphia region, the list includes Temple, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Immaculata, Stockton, Rider, Rowan, Susquehanna, Ursinus, Delaware, Cabrini, Dickinson, Eastern, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, La Salle, Muhlenberg, and St. Josephs. Japan has reported 31 new confirmed COVID-19 cases with the total reaching 17,031, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities on Wednesday. The number excludes the 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo. Meanwhile, the death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at a total of 918 people, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the cruise ship. In Tokyo, the epicenter of Japan's outbreak, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 12 to reach 5,295, followed by Osaka Prefecture with 1,783 infections. Kanagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, has recorded 1,373 infections, Hokkaido 1,102 cases, Saitama 1,002,Chiba 904, while Fukuoka Prefecture has recorded 786 cases of COVID-19, according to the latest figures on Wednesday. The health ministry said there are currently a total of 102 patients considered severely ill and are on ventilators or in intensive care units. The ministry also said that in total, 15,425 people, including 654 from the cruise ship, have been discharged from hospitals after their symptoms improved. Chinas growing influence and aggression in the waters is leading to increased concern among countries around the Indo-Pacific. It is this key factor that is pushing India and Australia closer on maritime engagements. The two have decided to elevate their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and it is expected that the two could ink a crucial agreement, the Mutual Logistic Support Agreement, on Thursday when PM Narendra Modi meets his counterpart Scott Morrison for a virtual summit. The ground work for the agreement was completed in December last year in the 2+2 dialogue between the Defence and Foreign secretaries of India and Australia. The agreement will allow the two countries to use each others military bases. The two countries also conducted a two-week-long bilateral maritime exercise in April last year called AUSINDEX. The exercise was first held in 2015. The focus was on anti-submarine warfare, incorporating maritime patrols and reconnaissance aircraft. When asked whether Australia would like to join the Malabar exercise, the Australian high commissioner to India, Barry OFarrell, said that it was upto the participants to decide on that aspect. The Malabar exercise is a tri-lateral maritime exercise conducted by India, US and Japan. Interestingly, if Australia does join the Malabar exercise at any stage, then all four members of the security dialogue The Quad would be part of it. The Quad was revived in 2017 after a decade and China had reacted sharply to it, suggesting it was aimed at countering Beijing. However, India has publicly maintained that the Quad is not to counter China. PM Modi, while speaking at the Shangri La Dialogue in 2018, had said: India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members. Nor as a grouping that seeks to dominate. And by no means do we consider it as directed against any country. OFarrell said, It is crucial as ever for like-minded democracies and important partners like India and Australia to work together to shape the type of region and the type of world we want to live in presently and post Covid-19. Ministry of External Affairs in a statement ahead of the summit said, We have a shared approach to a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific. The two sides will also look at engagement in cybersecurity and trade specifically maintaining supply chains. The trade between the two countries currently is at $21 billion. Australias cumulative investment in India is about $10.74 billion whereas Indias investment in Australia is $10.45 billion. In a statement India said, It is looking at stepping up investments and trade with each other. The summit is being held virtually after being postponed twice this year; once in January due to the Australian Bushfires and then in May due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is for this reason that both sides are going ahead with a virtual summit, the first for India. Australia has held a virtual summit earlier this year with Singapore. Aditya Shrikrishna By Express News Service "Theres nothing left inside you to make life, says Dr Nikolay Ivanovich to Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina) at the hospital where they are treating the injured, battered, paraplegic soldiers who have managed to hold on to a tiny strand of life. It is 1945 Leningrad and the devastation of irrefragable struggle is reflected in every inch of society and space that director Kantemir Balagov creates in Beanpole. The statement stands like an ominous act of divination about the Soviet Union itself, feeling the effects of the war, the country bearing the brunt of defeating the Nazis and with no hope of recovery soon. The Allied Forces of the West taste sweet success and the baby boomer era begins a generational epoch, a time when the West birthed a generation that would go on to be the symbol of economic superpower, along with the counterculture mores. In Beanpole, Balagov paints a dispiriting picture of that inchoate period in the Soviet Union, as a baby or the absence of one is what comes to define the equation between Iya (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) aka Beanpole and Masha, a soldier who has just returned from war. Balagovs reconstruction of the time is impressive, using green with a mix of limited warm colours to express an emotion tending towards the feeling of being lost, forgotten, or worse, omitted. Obliterated the country might already be, but the tired faces that must deal with incoming maimed soldiers and the scramble for rations are etched in the claustrophobic spaces and long takes of Beanpole. Balagovs frames are busy, there is an early one with a group of patients entertaining themselves with Pashka Mashas son who is under Iyas care while she is away and they are performing charades for him to identify, acting out like animals. They then ask Pashka to act one out for them to guess and Balagov frames this from behind the kid, looking at his audience, an array of dispossessed soldiers, looking down at him as their hope for the future, the one for whom they hope someone will rebuild the country now that theyve taken care of bigger evils. But the evils are still at play in Beanpole, in the form of being unable to bear another baby, in the rigid divisions between the working and the ruling classes, not to mention the apathy of the latter. Beyond the gates of the hospital, a peaceful life awaits, says an official visiting the hospital to check in on the patients and distribute gifts. That is not the face of someone willing to rebuild the country from scratch. Beyond those gates is a point no patient wants to cross, their resolve dialled up to alarming levels in a few cases as we gradually learn. Stepan, one of the soldiers paralysed up to his shoulders, says that he must be the father of his daughters and not the other way round. Balagov was inspired by Svetlana Alexievichs book, The Unwomanly Face of War, oral histories of women who were part of the war as nurses, snipers, doctors, etc in the frontlines. In Beanpole, Iya and Masha have already forged a tempestuous relationship by the time we see them together, but they deeply understand that they also have only each other. And Balagov puts them together in the same frame a lot. Beanpole is full of people especially Iya and Masha negotiating their relationship in a single frame, there are hardly any reverse shots. We have them looking deep into the eyes of each other with just thin daylight between them or hatching elaborate plans to have a baby between them in as few words as possible. Balagov uses these faces in silence more than words to convey their import, a challenge the two actors rise to with imperious aplomb. Iya and Masha, while looking out for each other, suffer in different ways. Iya gets a form of epileptic seizures where she freezes for a few seconds, an ailment that invalidated her out of the army. This is trauma wrought clear on the face while also demonstrating that hers is a life frozen in time, like the time the country itself feels stuck in. Masha is more of a doer, going to any lengths to secure her future. When she visits Sasha, son of the official who visited the hospital and the one who considers Masha his fiance, Balagov leaps to white snow and a cooler shade of blue to represent a different Russia, the bourgeois in all its filthy splendour. It is this test of tensile strength between the two Iya pushed over the edge with her trauma of both on-field experience and a recent tragedy, and Masha pulling for a future that is very reminiscent of what a baby boomer kid in the West would have been in a better place to imagine that Balagov indulges in. She tells Iya about the destined baby, Well raise him together, Ill be studying, and well go to the cinema. Its a dream that got written for a generation that authored its own pop culture and happened to be on the other side of the Cold War. But in Beanpole, Balagov insists, the immediate days after the war already hinted of a more ever-lasting cataclysm, as experienced by the two women struggling to create a shared life for them and one of their own. A quest to nurture challenged by the nature of the surroundings. An Accra-based businessman is unhappy about an auctioneer he claims has stolen his Toyota Hilux Pickup. Ebenezer Yaw Sarpong, who has since filed a complaint against the auctioneer, Dela Akpey, at the Airport Police Station in Accra, said the 'actions' of Dela had affected his business. Narrating his ordeal to DAILY GUIDE on the premises of the Airport District Police Command, the complaint said he took a loan facility of GH277,682 from Societe General Ghana Limited in 2012. He said he defaulted in the loan payment and was taken to court by the bank for non-payment of the loan facility. I was not in court when the case was called; therefore, judgement was issued in favour of the bank. Thus, an officer was appointed to seize my assets, he claimed. He said two days after the judgement, the auctioneer came to his house, while he was away at Airport Hills to seize the Toyota Pickup he bought from Toyota Ghana for his business, as ordered by the court for safe keeping until further action. I later went to the bank to repay the loan and so a letter was issued by the bank to that effect and when I went to court, I was asked to see the appointed officer for my car, he narrated. The victim claims he chased the auctioneer for a year for his car but to no avail, for which reason he reported the matter to the police for further action. He revealed that it was at the police station that he discovered that the vehicle had been sold to a third party who had also dismantled the vehicle and sold as scrap. The complainant alleged that the third party who bought the vehicle from the owner claimed since he had also chased the auctioneer for a year without getting documents covering the vehicle, he dismantled its parts and sold it as scrap. The Airport District Police Command confirmed Mr. Sarpong had filed a complaint and said it was investigating the matter and would soon send the auctioneer to court. ---Daily Guide The Archbishop Ecclesiastical Province of the Niger, and Bishop of Awka diocese, Anglican Communion, The Most Reverend Alexander Chibuzo Ibezim, PhD, JP has called for concerted efforts by all levels of governments, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), civil society organizations, Community Based Organisations, Faith-Based Organisations and other Non-Governmental Organisations with interest in human rights to effectively champion measures targeted at combating child trafficking scourge and abuses still prevalent in Nigeria. Archbishop Ibezim PhD also raised alarm on the high incidence of sexual exploitation of young girls by adults and trafficking in persons for sex, labour and child abuse in the society. This, Archbishop Ibezim frowned at and warned young girls particularly those who have been admitted into Girls Guild in the Anglican Communion to desist from all forms of sexual immorality, fornication, and prostitution in any disguise by accepting Jesus Christ to receive the Holy Spirit in their lives. Archbishop Ibezims views were stated in a press statement released to mark the 2020 Childrens Day and Anglican Children Ministry (ACM) Sunday which was also Pentecost Sunday. The statement was signed by the Director, Media, Research, Communication and Public Relations, Province of the Niger and Diocese of Awka, Comrade Odogwu Emeka Odogwu PhD. Year 2020 Childrens Day is with the theme: Promoting Girl Child Education for Sustainable Development. The statement released yesterday said the Province of the Nigers Archbishop warned Children, Girls Guilds and other youths against mobile phones sexting- sending, and receiving sexually explicit images, and messages via digital device sequel to its pervasive tendencies. He said mobile phones should be used for good tidings and not evil scheming. He warned young girls to stop sleeping around in order to have a glorious future, insisting that prostitution by whatever disguise is not a business to be associated with true Christian girls and women but for those who dont know Jesus Christ, noting that they must desist from all forms of sex before marriage and sexual immorality by being chaste in accordance with the scriptures, having welcomed the Holy Spirit into their life. He decried the dwindling values for chaste life style in the society by millions of youths across the world and the alarming embrace for mundane things, material things and popular culture which most times are evil intended. Archbishop Ibezim further described men engaging children in prostitution as heartless and beasts who are not worthy to live among honest and god fearing people, even as he warned parents to be mindful of companies their children keep to safeguard them from sexual slavery, sexually transmitted disease, prostitution and other forms of crimes in the society. Archbishop Ibezim commended Clergymen in Awka diocese who are in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols during service, and particularly applauded two of the clergymen in the diocese, the Archdeacon Ukpo Archdeaconry who is also the Vicar St Marys Ukpo, Ven Ginika Shalom and Vicar Church of Pentecost, Ukpo, Reverend Canon Uche Umeifekwem for their sense of responsibility in ensuring that their congregation observed social distancing, washing of hands with sanitizers and wearing of facemask as well as other hygiene protocols advanced by government and World Health Organization. He urged other clergymen in the diocese to emulate them. Archbishop Ibezim reminded Christians that without the Holy Spirit, a Christian is powerless and incomplete, hence, a powerless child of God is not a true child of God, but a powerful child of God is a true child of God. He encouraged Christians to stop backsliding when it comes to doing the work of God. He urged Christians to always remember the good things God did in their lives already. He asked the congregation to be strong in faith and embrace Jesus Christ for the Holy Spirit of God to strengthen and resuscitate them. While describing COVID-19 as evil and satanic targeted at the foundation of Christian faith, Archbishop Ibezim tasked priests to continue to give hope and liberate their congregation from bondage through the strength only Holy Spirit can energize. He buttressed that Holy Spirit is a reality and blessed the future of youths, Girls Guild members in Anglican Communion as they are the hope of the church for propagation of the Gospel. Archbishop Ibezim charged Mothers Union ; Womens Guild/Girls Guild members in the diocese not to waiver in their faith and the propagation of the Gospel by catching our children young for Jesus Christ. Today's Sunday was used to mark the celebration of Anglican Children Ministry (ACM) in all the Anglican Churches in Awka diocese, Anambra state with theme "Obedience is better than sacrifice". The Archbishop"s address was read in all the churches with a charge to our children to always obey their parents and shun compromising their Christian faith. In another development at St George's Anglican Church Akwaeze, Anaocha local government area Anambra state, the President, Mothers' Union, Women's guild and Girl's guild Province of the Niger, Mrs Martha Chioma Ibezim, the traditional ruler of Akwaeze, HRM Igwe C.N Okpala, Ezennebo 111 of Akwaeze witnessed the Children Sunday (Anglican Children Ministry Sunday) service conducted by Reverend Canon Samuel Ezunu, Vicar , St George's Parish Akwaeze with the supervision of his Archdeacon, Venerable David Muonanu of Ichida Archdeaconry/Vicar St Simons' Ichida. The congregation observed social distancing , washing of hands and wearing of face masks as well as all other protocols of COVID-19.